Author's Note: These two chapters are originally from my story Sarutobi no Jinchuuriki. You can't really read them without the rest of the story. As such, here is the link. Please note that these are chapters 25 and 26 of the original story (new chapters in their place). Add this after the website name to get to the story: /s/4333644/26/Sarutobi-no-Jinchuuriki
I don't own Naruto. If I did...well, I got so annoyed I stopped reading the manga. So if I wrote it..it wouldn't have gone that way!
XxOOxX
Gaara nodded his head at Kaiyou, who managed to look serious for a moment, before launching herself at him. The jinchuuriki of the Ichibi looked surprised, then wrapped his arms around his friend in a hug. He patted her back awkwardly for a moment, until she pulled back, with a weepy grin. The members of Team 7 and Team Gai exchanged funny looks.
The Kazekage was not quite sure why his friend was so upset, but he'd heard that women tended to be emotional, so he didn't think too much of it. Temari certainly had been weepy upon his return. Kaiyou grinned up at him with that odd look in her eyes, "Don't go getting kidnapped again," she said with a teasing voice.
Gaara blinked his eyes—still ringed in black—at the girl. "I do not think I would like to repeat that experience," he said solemnly. She gave him a look with her brows raised; "Nor will I die again." Kaiyou gave a satisfied nod, and allowed herself to be pushed back to her team, and away from the country.
As she turned her back on her friend and bounced out of Suna's gates, a short blonde figure between the dark Sasuke, and the solid and white-garbed Shino. Raising his hand the Kazekage waved at his friend: so, too, did the sand of the deserts raise and twirl in a friendly manner behind his back, forming a vague outline of a hand. Gaara felt a trill of excitement as he discovered that the sand still responded to his will.
Maybe if he added some chakra…. Gaara wandered away from the gate before his friends were out of sight, wondering if he might be able to mimic his old Shukaku-given defenses. For though he would always be a jinchuuriki, never again would a demon dwell inside his body.
XxOOxX
Kaiyou was completely distracted and enthralled with to things. As a ninja she was always somewhat conscious of her surroundings, surveying the area for attacks, if she wasn't on her home turf. The other thing, was equally automatic, though less common. Kakashi was getting on her nerves.
Kakashi had managed to encourage Gai and his team to race ahead—all while maintaining his hip attitude. Gai had, of course, had an eager participant in Lee. Neji and TenTen had been far less enthusiastic. Kaiyou hadn't minded losing the companionship of TenTen or Lee very much—they weren't among her close friends, and while she enjoyed spending time with Lee—Lee and Gai at once was far too much for any person to remain sane in company with.
She was now regretting not having an ally in Lee. Sasuke and Shino would occasionally pitch in, assisting Kakashi—Sakura was outright helping him. Apparently the foursome had some questions about her time away, and about her relationship with Gaara.
She wasn't quite sure what they were so upset about. He was one of her best friends. Why shouldn't she hug him?
"…my imotou-chan have a crush?"
"Really, Namikaze, the Kazekage? I guess you found somebody better to set your sights on than Sasuke and Shikamaru."
"Sensei, your—ahem—literature seems to have corrupted Kaiyou. I would suggest that she doesn't even realize such behaviors are inppropriate for a woman of her stature."
"Shino, were you implying that I'm short," Kaiyou growled out.
"Yes, dobe, I hope the Kazekage doesn't dump you over your stature…"
"Ah yes, poor Kazekage-sama. A taller woman would be nice so he could bend his head down to her br—"
"Nii-san, finish that statement and I'll kill you," Kaiyou howled out.
Sakura, too, turned glaring eyes upon the scarecrow. He turned his head away innocently, flipped open his porn, and pretended like he hadn't been involved in the conversation at all. "Anyways, when did you start to go out with him? You're supposed to share all of these details…"
Shino and Sasuke shared a look. Girls. Why do they want to share the details? Sasuke, however, was amused to see somebody other than himself being harassed by Sakura. (Tsunade had punched most of her fangirl tendencies out of her, but Sasuke still held a grudge. He also still hadn't quite gotten over his…nickname.)
"Didn't Nii-san say you were going to visit Gaara about six months ago?"
Sakura immediately swiveled her head more securely onto Kaiyou. "Six months huh? Wow, some anniversary…and what's this about Itachi-san? You know him well?"
Shino's eyes glinted evilly, hidden by his wonderful shades. "He was visiting every two months. Perhaps he had some reason to visit?"
Sakura seemed to latch onto that, her eyes glinting brightly. Kakashi too, looked up from his pornography for a moment, his sole eye glinting with curiosity. He'd have to watch…. Sasuke, on the other hand, froze for a moment, as a thoughtful scowl slid onto his face.
Kaiyou, absolutely sick of hearing speculations of her love life—which were all WRONG!—finally broke in before Sakura could get out of her old fangirl fantasies. "THAT'S IT! I'M NOT DATING ANYBODY! ITACHI-SAN DOESN'T EVEN TALK TO ME LATELY! SO YOU, PINKIE, GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS. SHINO STOP SAYING THINGS TO ENCOURAGE HER. AND UKE…QUIT BEING SUCH A TEME!"
The others just stared at her. But Kaiyou wasn't done yet. "Quit fussing over me! Why don't we focus on Sasuke's hickey. Or the fact that he's wearing clothes just designed to make his fangirls jump him!"
Kakashi could only snicker. Was it him or Jiraiya who had managed to bring their dear Kaiyou to the dark side?
Sasuke's face paled, and he muttered, grabbing Kaiyou by the collar and dragging here away, where Sakura wouldn't hear him.
"Hn. Make the girls pass out. And…Kakashi-sensei sent a message to your dad."
Kaiyou brightened, glad to be having a conversation that didn't revolve around her. "Oh! Daddy's going to seal it? Good! Then you won't have to worry about it breaking," she said rubbing her belly.
Sasuke found his eyes following her hand, then he looked abruptly away as her rubbing pulled her green jacket up an inch.
"But really. There has to be a better way to get rid of fangirls than dressing like an uke."
Sasuke slugged her in the head.
XxOOxX
The rest of the trip had been fairly smooth, for the most part. At dinner one night they'd discovered that Kaiyou's right arm wasn't able to tell the difference between hot and cold. She'd reached out and grabbed a pot of hot water—for her ramen—off of the fire and blistered a finger that had brushed against the pot instead of the handle without even registering the heat.
Sasuke hadn't been allowed to train since he was given the cursed seal, in anything requiring chakra.
Yet despite these facts, there had been relatively little fighting among Team 7. Everybody had been in a good mood: Sakura hadn't tried to ask Sasuke out (apparently it had occurred to her that being clingy annoyed him). Thus, despite his inactivity Sasuke was relaxed, and Shino was there to chat with him quietly. Kaiyou, cheery as always, just said that Tsunade would be able to fix her arm up in a jiffy.
With an easy atmosphere, but traveling at a swift speed, they made it back to Konoha. Reporting to the Hokage's office, Minato grinned happily at having his daughter and her team back, before settling down to business. "Team 7, Haruno Sakura. I have already received preliminary reports. Report back tomorrow with the details. In the meantime, Kaiyou, honey, please go visit the hospital. Kakashi, Sasuke, would you please accompany me? I've prepared the sealing ritual for you."
The Fourth Hokage waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. Shino and Sakura filed out first, Kaiyou waving at her dad and informing him that she wanted to go to Ichiraku's for dinner. She then hurried out of the room, eager to see the old hag. Kaiyou hadn't seen Tsunade since the night she'd tricked the old hag into taking on her friends as stu—
Oh shoot! What if she's angry…eh…oh well. It's been 3 years! She can't hold a grudge forever. And it's not as if she'll refuse to heal me…right? Oh hehehhe! I'll just tell her it's only fair, since I kept the pervert from running rampant! Well, for the most part. His spy missions, or when Itachi-san was with me, I didn't…but no Icha Icha for 3 whole years!
Oh gosh…note to self: never tell Kakashi that.
As she had predicted, her activities kept Tsunade from being too angry at her. Plus she seemed to be pleased with Hinata and Sakura as students. Hinata had great potential in surgeries, with her Byakugan, and her healing creams were very useful. Sakura, overall, had more potential as a first-class field medic, however as her poisons and fighting had also benefited from Tsunade's training.
Tsunade, however, could not fix her arm much more quickly than her body was already doing so. Kaiyou's body, with the chakra from the Kyuubi, naturally healed itself from major injuries. Tsunade, looking at the injury, seemed almost shocked at the amount of damage Kaiyous' Rasenshuriken had done to herself.
Every bone in her arm had broken, the nerves, arteries and veins had all been damaged. The bones had been healed, and the arteries and veins healed very quickly. If Kaiyou's body had not healed itself so quickly, the Rasenshuriken would have been a suicidal move. The nerves would just take time to heal.
Tsunade did a little bit of her magic, encouraging them to heal more quickly, and better so that there would be no permanent damage, but she could not heal them completely. Before she let the girl go, however, Tsunade made the girl promise not to use the jutsu except in absolute necessity.
Even with her supernatural healing abilities, the nerves could onto take so much damage. There was no replacing nerves that were damaged. And there was no guarentee that the nerves would heal as well a second time. For so many people nerve damage was permanent, no matter was medicine could be provided.
Kaiyou went home that night, cheered for her ramen, but otherwise relatively quiet. The most powerful jutsu she had ever created, was also something only she would ever be able to do. Unless there was some clan in a far away country that had a healing kekkai genkai?
XxOOxX
The sealing process, much to Sasuke's disappointment, was incredibly painful. He'd been the tough Uchiha male, and refused painkillers or something to bite into, however. For a moment his vision had gone black, with bright lights shining into his eyes painfully.
Slowly his world had come back into his brilliant colors—the Hokage's hair, Sensei's book, and the more common background colors. Kakashi had hauled him to his feet.
With a mildly curious look on his face, Minato had looked at the Uchiha boy. "Weak legs, boy?" For some reason, Sasuke felt like he wasn't measuring up. He was a jounin, not some little boy! He forced his legs to hold his weight. A chuckle met his ears. "Ah well, most would have passed out. Sakura is probably waiting to take you home. Oh, and don't use chakra until at least tomorrow," Minato added.
If Sasuke cringed at the thought of Sakura helping him home (regardless of the fact that she had been left in charge of his unconscious body days before, when he originally received the cursed seal) neither Minato or Kakashi acknowledged it.
Making his way outside of the room that he had been led to, as the two older men began to converse about sealing techniques, or something that Sasuke wasn't interested in very much, he felt himself being drawn into thought.
He'd been told that this seal was stronger than what Kakashi would have performed—which is why he had waited for Hokage-sama to perform the seal. There was no chance of this seal breaking. For some reason, Sasuke almost felt a little bit of loss at that fact: there had been such a thrill of power, a rush, an exhilaration when he had first woken from being cursed.
Sasuke had just determined that he would attain that power on his own—no snake pervert would help him—when he saw his brother standing at the reception desk on the basement floor of the tower. His brothers face waved before his eyes as he descended down the stairs to meet his brother.
Itachi looked up: "Otouto. Mission okay?"
His foot reaching the ground floor, the world spun around Sasuke, and he stumbled. "Ugh. Un. Yeah. Later. Questions for you too," he muttered out. His hand went up to his newly sealed curse mark.
Itachi's discerning eyes noticed the swaying movements, and the movements of his little brothers hand. Gently he caught his brother's elbow, helping to support him, and at the same time managing to pull Sasuke's hand from his neck. His eyes saw the mark, and widened.
"I'll deal with Mom. We'll talk after you've slept," Itachi said, taking control of the situation.
His little brother, who had managed to be stoic in front of Namikaze, was nearly unconscious.
XxOOxX
Mornings in the Uchiha household were typically very quiet. Though they were ninjas, neither Sasuke nor Itachi were in the best mood in the morning, so they became even more quiet. The matriarch of their little family normally chatted away and only occasionally demanded an answer from her less than loquacious boys.
This morning, however, did not fit the norm. Sasuke, wanting information from his brother and being actually sent to bed last night, got up earlier than he needed to in order to see the Hokage. Oddly enough, no time had actually been set, but if he knew Kakashi, he should just meet at the standard place two hours later than the meeting time was always articulated as. That meant, if he wanted to speak with Itachi, and evade his mothers questions by grabbing breakfast on the run (still going to take ten minutes, because she wouldn't accept his ruse so easily) he needed to get up early.
The ditching of mothers' questions was a standard part of his morning routine after a mission. Sasuke loved his mother and all, but he didn't enjoy having to explain every detail. And his mother had an eye for noticing his mistakes—even when he recounted the battles later! He was a jounin—but he was still under his mother's thumb. For Sasuke, ditching his mother was absolutely essential.
Knowing this about his little brother, (he too, tended to avoid their mother after missions) Itachi wasn't surprised when the presence of his little brother's chakra signature, and footsteps on the floorboards, roused him from bed. By the time Sasuke knocked at the door, Itachi already had clean pants on, and was in the process of sliding one of his black shirts, with protective chain links in the torso, over his head.
Neither was he surprised when Sasuke did not wait for his answering call, or when he stepped into the room and shut the door, even as Itachi's shirt slid over his pale chest. Sasuke simply walked over to the sole chair in the room and took a seat.
After a moment, as he grabbed an elastic to tie his hair up in, Itachi turned and looked over at his brother. "How was the mission?" Itachi deftly raised his hands up, finger-combed his black hair down into a smooth handful, and slipped the elastic around, holding his hair into a low ponytail.
Sasuke grimaced. "A success in the end. Sakura proved useful. The Kazekage's younger brother had been poisoned. She created an antidote, one for him and some for the battle. We were delayed from reaching our destination by a clone of Orochimaru."
Itachi raised his eyebrows. Much of Konoha tried to forget the fact that one of the Sannin had betrayed Konoha, by performing illegal experiments on children. Namikaze-sama had not taken well to that, but Orochimaru had somehow been tipped off and escaped. "I presume he…" Itachi pointed to Sasuke's neck.
Sasuke nodded. "We figured out it was a fake, and allowed ourselves not to take the threat seriously. Unfortunately, the fake still had Orochimaru's skills, just not his chakra levels. Next I was aware Sakura was fighting Sasori of the Red Sands. I helped finish that battle: Shino had already been injured."
Sasuke continued on to report of Gaara's resurrection, and Kaiyou defeating Deidara of the Rock, in a factual manner. He didn't give any extra details. In fact he barely mentioned Kaiyou at all, watching his brother for a reaction.
Itachi, being an Uchiha, barely gave any reactions at all on his face. But the eyes were telling, and Sasuke could see a vague impatience flash through Itachi's eyes when he mentioned Kaiyou's victory.
So Nii-san is curious...maybe Shino was right. Sasuke decided to bait his brother.
"While she was traveling did Kaiyou meet up with Gaara, do you know?"
Itachi shook his head. "Avoided the hidden villages." Sasuke shrugged. "Huh, she seemed pretty close with Gaara. Cried over him, and gave him a hug."
For a moment, Itachi's shoulders stiffened, and Sasuke could feel a tiny amount of anger seeping from his brother. A smirk slid over his face, and as it did so, Itachi turned his back toward his brother. For an Uchiha his actions had said a lot.
Sasuke, however, knowing his brother was still at a higher level than he, didn't push the matter too far. He would just file the information away. "She seemed to think you were avoiding her."
Itachi ignored that comment and let his brother leave the room unscathed, his mind filled with old unsettled thoughts. After a moment he grabbed a weapons pouch, his wallet, and his ANBU cloak and mask. As he arrived downstairs his little brother was complaining that he needed to go, he and his team had to report in to the Hokage.
XxOOxX
All of her teammates were cleared for training, which was where they were headed after their meeting with her dad. But noo, her father and Kakashi had strictly ordered her NOT to do any chakra manipulation involving her hands, and no taijutsu. That left sneaking around and chakra control exercises.
It was on her way home that she sensed a familiar presence hiding in the shadows. For a bit she tried to ignore him: he was probably just on duty, and it was never a good idea to bother an ANBU on duty. There probably weren't a lot of gen—chuunin, who could tell when there was an ANBU about, but Kaiyou had grown up around them, and her father, and ero-sannin.
Kaiyou had learned to feel when one of them were about. And hey, if she couldn't feel one, that didn't mean they weren't about. Inside of Konoha, there was always an ANBU wandering around. It took somebody with a great deal of skill to avoid their notice. She didn't think that she was quite there yet…
After a few minutes of her walking toward her home, she realized that the ANBU was following her. Dad didn't order him to watch me, did he? Cuz if he did…
It was as she was walking past a thin passage between two stores, that the ANBU caught up to her, and pulled her into the narrow alley. Within a moment the two were far enough into the shadows to be hidden from sight. Kaiyou abandoned any thoughts of her father ordering her to be followed. This man wasn't, at this moment, trying to protect her.
The shadows obscured the details on the mask, but Kaiyou didn't need those to know who was addressing her. "Gaara. Tell me about him."
Kaiyou scowled, and leaned against the building behind her. "Why do you care? The past six months you've barely talked to me. You give a briefing and—"
"Are you…seeing him?" He put his arm out, blocking her exit, demanding an answer.
Kaiyou's temper flared. "And so what if I am, Itachi? Huh? It's my business!" Said man reached his left arm up, and removed his mask. His face was perhaps slightly more serious than it normally was, but it was hard to tell in the shadows. "Are you," he asked again, more softly.
Kaiyou didn't even seem to notice his question. "Geesh! Why is everybody asking me that lately! What, I bet you got it from the Uke, eh?" The girl was glaring into his eyes now, irate. They were just friends! Couldn't people accept that? Well, I told him 'no' then, and it's still-"
Itachi felt relief blossom in his heart for a moment, and his body acted before his mind did (a common ailment for shinobi). His arm, moved from blocking the girls exit, to wrapping around her waist. Tilting his head down he caught her lips, situated in that angry face turned up to his half a foot above hers, and kissed her.
For Itachi time froze.
Flashback to six months before
Kaiyou was excited to be returning to Konoha soon. He could see it in her face, and in her voice, as she talked about getting to see all of her friends. Itachi felt happy for her too. Being on the road alone with a perverted man for so long, couldn't be that much fun.
Jiraiya had left Kaiyou to his care for the night, claiming he had a contact in town. As soon as he'd left, Kaiyou had started giggling. Itachi had looked at her, waiting for an explanation. "He met with his contact last week! No, I do recall seeing a bar with a woman working the counter, who he'd …." Kaiyou just grinned.
Jiraiya had abandoned them to chase after a woman. Itachi wasn't quite sure that he approved. Kaiyou was still a young girl, one who was wanted by an evil organization. Should her guardian really leave her alone?
Nevertheless Jiraiya had, and Itachi knew that the risk of attack was very low. As was his routine he camped out with Kaiyou that night. It was easier to return to Konoha in the morning, and it gave the girl some time to write letters.
There was one difference this time, though, in his trip. His dreams. When he fell asleep he dreamed of Kaiyou.
A hand shook his shoulder, and woke up, blinking bleary eyes. A face formed before his eyes—six whisker marks on rosy cheeks, tan skin, and big blue eyes, framed by shoulder length blonde and red hair.
His eyes moved away from her face to look at the rest of her: barefoot, wearing black shorts and a white thin-strapped tank top, clinging to her body.. Itachi drew his eyes back to her face. She was biting her lips, her soft pink lips.
His hand reached up from where he now sat, and slid along her scalp. The girl closed her eyes, and lowered herself to her knees. A moment later her warm lips were captured by his mouth, and Kaiyou was moving closer to him.
And then she was lying where she had woken him from. A burning sensation filled his body, as her sweet mouth touched his over and over and over. Her skin was soft under his hands, and she had never looked more beautiful than now as she looked up at him.
Bending down to kiss her again, she smiled as he whispered, "My love," to her-
Itachi had woken up then, his face flushed, and pulses pounding throughout his body. Four feet from him, Kaiyou lay under her blanket, a strand of blonde hair framing her face, the red mixed into her hair glinting by the dying embers of the fire. Looking at her, at the girl who had invaded his dream, he felt his body betray him further.
Assured she was asleep, Itachi got him, holding his blanket in front of him, and left for the river. There had to be one around here—near to a river bank, on high ground, was the best place to make a camp. Finding one, he quickly jumped into the water, clothes and all. Standing there, letting the water cool his body, and his fevered mind, he slowly came to a conclusion.
Kaiyou was off-limits. He an ANBU, an assassin, did not deserve this beautiful girl. Her father…her father might see his affection for her as betrayal. Itachi vowed to himself he would not allow himself close to the girl.
Itachi had left before Kaiyou woke.
Flashback over
Itachi yanked his lips away from the girl, releasing her from his arms. He had betrayed his vow, not once but twice that day. He had gotten close to her pretending to be on duty, and then he had kissed her. He refused himself the right to contemplate how soft, how warm she had been in his arms.
Itachi mumbled at her, "Sorry. I shouldn't have…a killer…doesn't deserve you…" and left.
Her eyes wide, Kaiyou fell to her knees. Inside of her heart a war was going on, and she could not call out for him to wait. Despair quickly won out, and closed around her. Only as his lips had touched hers had she realized that she loved him, that she loved her friend. But he had also apologized for kissing her, and she didn't understand his mumbled words. A single tear slipped from Kaiyou's right eye.
She had killed. She was not worthy of love. Itachi did not ….
Shoving her tears away, Kaiyou quickly ran home, and prepared to drown her sorrows in ramen, refusing to be a weak girl who burst into sobs in an alley.
XxOOxX
Please don't hit me! I never promised an easy relationship…
Review please!
