A Very Long Vacation
A Very Long Vacation
A Naruto fanfiction by Andrew Joshua Talon
Disclaimer: I assure you, if I did own Naruto, I would not be writing fanfiction about it. Though I could promise that the series would actually be about the title character and not Sasuke. I am not making money off of this either.
- - - - - -
ANBU Gifu Akira was doing what those of ANBU did best: Dying against the villain despite their supposed elite ninja status, just to illustrate how dangerous the threat is without killing off the main characters. They may as well be wearing red shirts.
(The author would like to apologize for that. We now resume the actual story. )
He stood vigil in his eagle mask over the marketplace, invisible to all, just one of dozens of ANBU agents responsible for day to day surveillance of Konoha proper. He was going over the events that had lead him to his current assignment in his head, for the fifth time.
"Captain Small Dick! Assorted asshole teammates! I just won the lottery! I just won the fing lottery! LOOKY HERE, EVERYONE! I JUST WON THE LOTTERY! F YOU MOTHERFERS! I'M OUT OF HERE, HAHAHAHA! YOU MOTHERFERS CAN KISS MY TIGHT, PIMPLED… Uh…"
The rest of the squad was staring back at him, the captain holding up a newspaper.
"… You didn't hear?"
"… Hear what?"
"They accidentally printed a few thousand winning lottery tickets for the Hi no Kuni Lottery… They called it off…"
"… Oh…"
"… Nice kimono."
"… Thanks… I uh… I got it wholesale… Direct deliver from… Iwagakure… "
"Okay… Note to self, start reading the newspaper," Akira mumbled to himself. A swish of an object passing through the air, he held up his hand and caught a sealed container of hot tea.
"Still upset about the lottery ticket?" His friend and fellow ANBU, Onokume Kensuke, asked, landing next to him with his own tea. He began drinking from it directly thanks to the proboscis on his mosquito mask. Akira grumbled. He'd wanted the mosquito mask, he'd really wanted it, but no, he'd thought the eagle mask was cooler! Being able to eat without taking off your mask definitely enhanced your mysterious aura as an ANBU.
That and it could be pretty offsetting to potential enemies. Especially if you were drinking something red. But, Akira had gone with the eagle instead, thinking it would strike fear into the hearts of the wicked and be badass, and of course, help him get women.
The eagle didn't do any of that.
"Like you wouldn't be? A million ryo, Kensuke. I could have had a million ryo…" Akira stated, out of his thoughts of mask envy and regret.
"You and 3,000 other people," Kensuke snorted.
"We could have shared!" Akira whined. Kensuke shook his head.
"Uh huh…"
"… I seriously, seriously didn't mean any of what I said, I swear."
"No, you just meant it if you win a million ryo," Kensuke said dryly. Akira thought it over, and sighed, head bowing.
"… Yeah, pretty much…"
"WOO HOOOO! ALOHA, KONOHA!" Both ANBU blinked and suddenly found themselves wearing necklaces of colorful, dead flowers. A black haired, attractive woman in white and black ninja attire stood before them, beaming.
"Souvenirs from my vacation! Thank you for doing such a great job, you two! Aloha! That's Hawaiian for "hello" and "goodbye", you know! Goodbye!"
With that, the woman leaped away, leaving Kensuke and Akira to blink, and slowly look at eachother.
"… Was that…?" Akira began.
"Miss Bingo List 309 NA, Uchiha Mikoto?" Asked Kensuke. Akira blinked behind his mask.
"Uh… I… Guess…? Wait, an Uchiha?! I thought they all went rogue or died!"
"Looks like she didn't!" Kensuke enthused. He took off in the direction the resurrected Uchiha had gone. Akira followed at top speed.
"Wait, wait! Hang on! We need to alert everyone that-that there's a dead woman running around the village!"
"We can do that afterwards! C'mon!"
- - - - - - - -
Mikoto grinned broadly as she toured Konoha, taking in all the old sights and sounds, as well as the new ones. There was so much to see! So many people who had changed, had grown up. For a moment she worried that no one would remember her…
But this was ignored in favor of a familiar face on the street. She leaped off a roof and slid to a stop, grinning.
"Now we've got her!" Kensuke shouted as he leaped off the building. His partner followed, hands outstretched, ready to tackle Mikoto to the ground.
"Oh! Hinata-chan!" Mikoto squealed and zipped forward, grabbing the shocked Hyuuga heiress in a warm embrace. The ANBU zoomed past Mikoto and right into the wall.
CRASH!
"You've grown up so much!" Mikoto groped her happily. "Your boobs are out to here! But really, you shouldn't cover them up with your jacket. One, you're just blending into the background, and two, you'll overheat! C'mon, let's go shopping!"
"... A-Aunt Mikoto?" Hinata asked in disbelief, turning bright red. Mikoto nodded happily.
"I-I-I thought you were d-dead!"
"Oh no! I was just on vacation!"
The two women headed away, as the ANBU operatives slowly pulled themselves from the wreckage.
"Oww..." Akira moaned.
"Owww," Kensuke agreed.
Mikoto led Hinata down the street, arm around her shoulder, utterly oblivious to the two downed ANBU as she chattered excitedly.
"Anyway, now that I'm back I see your father hasn't taught you anything about fashion!" The Uchiha matriarch exclaimed. "The man always was such a prude. That coat just screams insecurity!"
"B-But Aunt Mikoto, I just-!" Hinata tried, but Mikoto interrupted her.
"Uh uh! No! None of that! It's the least I can do given that I've been away so long and ooh! Hang on, I'll be back to talk to you later!" Mikoto grinned and fished a rather large package out of her pouch, handing it to the flustered Hyuuga heiress.
"I got you a souvenier! Now, based on your mother's measurements at this age… Hmmm…" She unzipped Hinata's jack and slid her hands inside, groping Hinata's breasts.
"EEP! A-AUNTIE!"
"Yep, just as I thought, D-Cups," Mikoto grinned. "You're taking after your mother, all right! This should be nice and comfortable for you then! Take care, see you later!"
Mikoto rushed off, leaving a bright red, shivering Hinata to open the package, and peek inside. Byakugan eyes widened as she fished a dark blue bikini out of the wrapping. A very brief bikini.
"Oh-Oh my…"
As expected, a certain blonde and his potential reaction to Hinata wearing such a thing came to her mind… And made her faint on the spot.
- - - - - - - -
"No, no… Yes! There they are!"
Mikoto leaped onto a rooftop and ran across the top, skidding to a halt and swining down to peer into a certain open air restaurant.
"Iruka! Anko! Oh, it's great to see you two got together!"
Iruka and Anko looked up from their friendly lunch, eyes widening. Uchiha Mikoto was hanging upside down from the roof of their restaurant, smiling cheerfully.
"M-M-MIKOTO?!" Iruka gaped. Anko let her dango stick drop from between her fingers.
"Yes! It's me! I'm back from vacation... or the dead... Both! So, any kids yet?" Mikoto pried.
"KIDS?!" Anko demanded. It didn't enter into her mind for a second that this wasn't the real Mikoto-For one, nobody would be stupid enough to disguise themselves as a supposedly dead Uchiha. Two, nobody could pull off that air of cheeriness. And three... She was asking about her relationship with Iruka. As she always had.
"M-M-Mikoto-san... Ah... Aren't you dead?" Iruka asked timidly. Anko snorted.
"Iruka, no one would be stupid enough to impersonate her..."
"Yeah! I've just been on vacation!" Mikoto said cheerfully. "So, how about those children, hmmm?"
"Mikoto-san, we're friends. Friends. FOR THE LAST TIME, FRIENDS!" Anko bellowed. Mikoto winced, and crossed her arms over her chest indignantly.
"Really Anko-chan, no reason to shout. After all..."
"What?" Anko demanded.
"Well, it's clear you haven't yet figured it out," Mikoto shrugged. "So I'll just let you stay that way."
"Stay... I...!"
"Oh! Dango!" Mikoto cheered, grabbing some. "I'll see you two later! Don't realize your feelings for eachother or anything while I'm gone!"
With that, Mikoto took off, two ANBU chasing after her. Anko and Iruka looked at eachother. Iruka chuckled nervously, as Anko rolled her eyes.
"Really... She just won't let up... Even after she's supposed to be dead," Iruka laughed. Anko sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"As if she wasn't bad enough when we were genin..."
"Well, c'mon... We're responsible adults. We don't need any woman pestering us to realize our feelings for eachother... Uh... If we had those types of feelings! Eh heh," Iruka covered. Anko nodded, smiling slightly.
"Right! Which we don't," she said.
"Yup."
"And never have."
"Mmhmm."
"After all, we're just friends. And that's okay," Anko stated.
"Exactly," Iruka confirmed. He could recite this speech in his sleep.
"Just because we have an insane amount of sexual tension between us," Anko laughed. Iruka laughed with her.
"Yeah! Hahahaha... Haa... Uh... Eheh..." He blinked. This... Was new. As was Anko's bright blush.
"Um... I didn't say that," she stated.
"I didn't hear that," Iruka agreed.
"Good."
"Good."
Two ANBU, an eagle and a mosquito, stopped nearby.
"Hey, did you see a woman in white run by here and-?"
"That way," Anko stated dully, pointing to her right.
"Thanks!" The eagle ANBU said, before they both rushed off. Anko smirked and shook her head, as Iruka reached for his wallet. It was amazing how calm she was being about all this.
Then again, not much could surprise her these days…
- - - - - - - -
So many people to visit, so many things she'd missed…
The elation of seeing some familiar faces, however, dimmed as she drew closer to the first stop on her way before seeing Naruto.
Her only stop.
Mikoto stood outside the entrance to the clan compound, eying the faded paint and signs with a blank expression. She took a deep breath, before walking through the archway.
Mikoto had always been flighty. She knew this, accepted this and had tried to manage it. Manage her emotions, tame them, like you would an uncooperative bird of prey. The waves of emotions could not be mastered, and for a time her parents had thought she was insane, unstable.
Mikoto knew otherwise. She learned to move with her emotions, to let them happen, but stay on course. The waves bumped her, tossed her mind this way and that but by now she knew how to navigate, and knew how to manage the turbulence. She was happy, she was ecstatic, but the destination remained in front of her.
Her footsteps were the only sound she heard aside from the faint rustling of the wind, her hair waving ever so slightly. Even the colors seemed muted here, compared to the brightly painted shops and homes not two blocks away.
It was as if Death had taken up residence in the Uchiha district, and warmth and light had no place. It could not pay the rent.
Her cousins owned the home on her right… Her great uncle would play shogi with his brother on that very porch…
Mikoto stopped, at last, at her own home. She reached out a hand to the frame, running her hand over the familiar wood. She slid inside a little, fingers noting cut marks right where they had always been. She smiled a little at this, imagining Sasuke carving a line above his head, so proud to be growing taller…
"Soon you'll be just as tall as your brother!" She had laughed, to which Sasuke had beamed.
"Just as tall!" He cheered, running into her arms and hugging her tightly…
Mikoto licked her lips, running her thumb up and down the wood.
She didn't want to cry… She had learned early on that tears were not becoming of an Uchiha. She had defied convention, cried and laughed and cheered and smiled all the times she hadn't been supposed to…
But for some reason, in this tomb of her family she felt the need to carry on some aspect of the Uchiha, if only to believe that there was more to them than death and rebellion.
Mikoto sniffled, and shook her head. "No…"
No… If she was really all that was left of the Uchiha… She wasn't going to stay locked in the past. She was going to make things right, restart this clan the right way.
No more iron chains of nobility. No more envy of status. No more marrying of siblings or joyless houses or madness.
"No more…" She swore, black eyes glistening with tears, as she slid and sat down. The tears poured, and she sniffled but refused to hold the tears back.
"N-No more…" she sobbed, turning and looking at the cracked Uchiha symbol in the wall.
No more…
- - - - - - - -
"Dude… Seriously… Where could she be?" Akira gasped, leaning against a wall for support. He hadn't run that fast in a while.
Kensuke frowned, looking about. His eyes spied the old Uchiha district.
"… Maybe she went home?"
"Home?! Oh f no man! I'm not going in there, it's haunted!" Akira moaned. Kensuke rolled his eyes.
"God you are such a chickenshit… C'mon already!"
The two ANBU made their way across the rooftops to the Uchiha district, soon spotting Mikoto herself on the porch of one of the old homes. Akira shivered.
"I-I dunno man…"
"C'mon… Would a ghost really give us flowers?" Kensuke asked. Akira touched the chain of flowers cautiously.
"M-Maybe she's marking us for burial!"
"You are such an idiot…" Kensuke trailed off as the sound of quiet sobs reached him. The Uchiha woman's head was bowed, her long hair covering her face… Her body language screamed 'anguish' to him. He gulped.
"… You know… She'll probably come out… Sooner or later… So let's just wait outside," Kensuke said. Akira nodded cautiously.
"Right…"
The pair retreated to the entrance of the compound, both silent. The area just seemed to have that effect on people. No telling what might invite a ghost of the past to resurface…
- - - - - - - - -
The hospital window slowly opened, as a heavily bandaged blonde head poked out. Naruto peered around, eyes squinting slightly. A smirk came over his face.
"Shizune-chan," Naruto called, peering over his shoulder. No response. He grinned.
"Yes!" Naruto muttered, slipping out through the window, clinging to the window sill. He couldn't afford to use any chakra, or he'd be caught.
... And he'd also, potentially, pass out, but Naruto didn't concern himself with that.
Now, all I have to do is get to my apartment, get some stuff, plenty of explosive tags and get out to find Sasuke and-!
"Oh, Naruto-kun!"
"GAH!" Naruto cried out, half in surprise and half in pain as he was tackled through the window right onto his hospital bed. The woman on top of him was crying and hugging and nuzzling him... Not things part of him minded but the rest was just... Weirded out.
"I'm so sorry! So sorry!" The woman cried, burying her face in Naruto's chest. The blonde's jaw dropped, and he let out a squeak of pain.
"It's... Uh... Okay...!" Naruto managed through the pain, awkwardly patting the woman on the back. Despite the pain and sudden intrusion, Naruto was able to focus on the woman's features.
Long, soft black hair. Pale white skin. Tear-filled, red eyes with black irises. A messy nose as she looked up miserably at him...
"... Sasuke?" Naruto asked, the first name coming to mind. The woman sobbed again and hugged him tightly, making his eyes bug out in pain.
"Ohhh! I'm so sorry Naruto! I'm so sorry! Thank you for trying so hard to get Sasuke back! I know... I'm so sorry!" She continued to cry, as Naruto gripped her back tightly, trying to get her to loosen her hug.
"Can't... Breathe!"
He heard the door open, and tilted his head back to look. An upside-down Tsunade entered his field of vision, looking annoyed.
"Mikoto!"
"Oh! Hokage-sama! Sorry!" Mikoto said, letting Naruto go and standing up. Naruto gasped for breath, noting that Tsunade now looked amused.
"Well... It was good for you to drop by when you did... Trying to escape again, Naruto?" The Hokage asked, almost sweetly. Naruto growled.
"You...!"
"Sorry Hokage-sama... I just wanted to see Naruto so much, and, well..." Mikoto sighed. Tsunade expression changed again, sympathetic this time.
"I see... You saw."
Mikoto nodded. Naruto blinked and finally got enough breath into his lungs to speak.
"Hey! Obaa-chan, what the hell-?! Who is this woman?!"
"Well," Tsunade began, "Naruto... This is Uchiha Mikoto... Sasuke's mother."
Naruto blinked. He looked back at Mikoto, who was giving him a smile through her tears. He then looked back at Tsunade. He repeated the process, and blinked. He took a deep breath.
"She's what?!"
- - - - - - - -
More to come, so until the next chapter is up, feel free to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Until next time!
And yes, that opening bit was inspired by Reno 911!
