A Woman's Touch
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Oh and one person's request is going to be granted in this one. To the reviewer who wanted a Kushina x Sasuke story, sorry. I don't feel that I would be very good at writing that pair. I have nothing against people who ship it, it's just not my thing.
Chapter Notation: Information on Mirai's personality seems a bit sparse. So far, all that I've really gotten is she's cheerful and energetic. So her personality may or may not be entirely canon.
Chapter 4
The next day, Mirai blinks as she looks outside the window and saw lots of Fire Men running around. She was too young to realize they were clones. So the sight confused her.
"It's alright, Mirai. That's just Sasuke. He's using the Shadow Clone Jutsu to make copies of himself." Kurenai assures her daughter as she puts on her sandals.
"Clones?" Mirai asks in a utterly baffled voice and Kurenai nods in confirmation.
She had already contacted Shikamaru, the night before. Her husband's former student was going to watch Mirai while they worked on repairs. The Genjutsu Mistress didn't really think that it was particularly safe to drag her daughter along during reconstruction.
"Nevermind. I'll explain it later. It's still Sasuke though. It doesn't matter how many of them there are." She reassures her daughter.
Mirai frowns. She didn't really understand that, but she nods her head. The toddler trusted her mommy. If mommy said it was okay, then it was okay.
Suddenly a knock is heard on the door and Kurenai goes to answer it. She smiles when she sees Shikamaru. He was right on time. He might be a smidge lazy, but the man was always punctual.
"What a drag. This is crazy. Kurenai Sensei, you know that this is crazy, right?" He asks with a yawn as he walks inside.
His body language didn't fool the experienced Jonin though. Shikamaru was very much taking in his surroundings and memorizing everything. His demeanor might be relaxed, but he obviously wasn't.
"It's not crazy. Kakashi assigned me the mission himself. He wouldn't have done so, if it was dangerous. Besides, he's been very good with Mirai so far." The ruby eyed woman replies.
She didn't know why she felt so defensive. Shikamaru was just asking what anyone else would have in his situation. Sasuke was a former S Class Criminal and as it stood now, he was one of the most powerful ninjas in the world.
The only person who could really pose a threat to him was likely Naruto. Naruto was friends with Sasuke though. The Uchiha was almost untouchable really and no matter what Shikamaru did, it was highly unlikely that he could change that fact.
"Well I normally wouldn't question Kakashi's judgment, but he did used to be Sasuke's teacher. I think he's a little too close to the situation. It's clouding his judgment just a bit. Wait. What?! You let Sasuke near your two year old?!" He demands in outrage.
"Lazy bones! Hi, Lazy Bones!" Mirai says with a giggle when she notices Shikamaru.
Shikamaru found himself smiling despite the perilous situation. Mirai was just too adorable not to smile at. What wasn't adorable was Sasuke being in the same house as a very innocent and vulnerable toddler!
"Hey, Mirai." He says with a smile as he hugs her.
"Thanks for watching her. I really didn't want to have to bring her along during the middle of construction." Kurenai admits.
Shikamaru sighs. He knew that that the Genjutsu Mistress was just following the orders of her Hokage, but it still didn't sit right with him. Sasuke was most certainly not the type of person that he wanted to be left alone with a small child.
"Alright. I'll keep her safe. You have my word on that." He promises her.
"Thank you. I'll be back later." Kurenai tells Mirai as she leans down to kiss her on the forehead and heads off.
Shikamaru watches her leave warily. He faintly wondered if the ruby eyed woman had even the faintest idea what she was getting herself into.
"Your mother is either very brave or very foolish." He tells Mirai.
Mirai tilts her head to the side. She didn't know what foolish meant. It sounded like a bad thing though, but Lazy Bones had never been mean to her mommy before.
"I wasn't making fun of her. Sorry, Mirai. It's just frustrating. You'll understand one day, when you're older. Much older." The young Jonin states.
Meanwhile Kurenai had made her way outside and stares at all the Sasuke's running around. It was quite the sight to say the least. Sasuke may have been a former criminal, but there was no denying that he was attractive.
Hadn't even Mei made note of it? She had once called Sasuke too handsome to kill and perhaps to a certain extent that was true. Though it was also certain that Naruto and Sasuke had come all too close to killing each other far more often than either of them was happy to admit.
"I see that you've already gotten started." She muses.
"I didn't see a reason to wait. I figured that you would wake when you woke and that Mirai needed you more than I did. Was that Shikamaru that I saw come through the District?" Sasuke asks with a raised eyebrow as he stands up one of the beams.
She sighs. Kurenai had no way of knowing how Sasuke would feel about Shikamaru in general. She especially didn't know how the young man would feel about someone else invading his family's sacred grounds. This could get ugly and fast.
"Yes, it was. He's going to watch Mirai while I help you. A construction zone is really no place for a young child." She reasons.
Sasuke seemed to like Mirai. Maybe he would be reasonable about this. Well at least that's what she was hoping for.
"Makes sense. I hope he's not going to be annoying. Half of this village would love nothing more than to kill me or at least lecture me." He states as he starts pounding a nail into the beam with a hammer.
The Jonin mentally sighs in relief. Well that was one disaster averted. She wasn't entirely sure how working with him on rebuilding was going to go, but at least Sasuke wasn't unreasonable.
"I'm fairly certain that as long as Shikamaru believes you aren't going to hurt me or Mirai, that he'll be quite content to avoid you." She says honestly as she begins sweeping up broken bites of glass, stone, wood, and other rubble.
Thank goodness that she and Mirai had powerful sandals. The entire District was easily a death trap just by sheer virtue of the magnitude of debris inside it.
She couldn't believe that Sasuke had actually lived here. Well he was only recently back. That was probably why. It was hard for the young mother to imagine that Sasuke would ever put up with such a hazardous environment, if he could prevent it.
"Glad to hear it. Have you ever done this kind of thing before?" Sasuke asks.
She was smart and strong. He was confident that Kurenai could learn. Sasuke just found it highly unlikely that she had ever worked on construction before.
"I have. I've been a Jonin for several years, Sasuke. There's not much that I haven't tried my hand at. Well at least once." She assures him with a smile.
Despite the strange situation, the raven haired man found himself returning her smile. Her smile was contagious really. No one had ever made him want to smile so easily before. Well at least not after the deaths of all his family members.
"Alright. Good. Can you read a blueprint?" He asks as he walks over to her and shows her one.
"Yes, I can read a blueprint. Let's get started." The ruby eyed woman replies as she glances it over in a rather thorough fashion.
Elsewhere in the Leaf Village, Team Eight was in the middle of a training session. Well at least that's the way that it started out. It certainly wasn't ending that way.
"I can't believe that Kakashi is having Kurenai stay with Sasuke. He's got to be out of his mind." Kiba grunts in annoyance as he slams his leg into a training post.
Kakashi had informed Team Eight that Kurenai was going to be taking a brief break from training them to assist Sasuke with District Reconstruction, earlier that day. Needless to say, the two men in the squad were less than thrilled by that declaration. On the other hand, Hinata was just confused by the strange assignment.
She honestly had no idea why the Hokage would single their Sensei out for such an unconventional mission. The bluenette had decided not to question it though. Kakashi was a smart man. Surely, he knew what he was doing.
"I must admit that I can't understand why he would send Kurenai to assist Sasuke. To my knowledge, the two of them have never interacted before." Shino agrees.
Her teammates apparently felt differently though. The Hyuga Heiress was forced to conclude that it must just be a guy thing. Either way, this was certainly unexpected news and she was uncertain as to how they were supposed to cope with it.
"Hinata, what do you think?" Kiba asks, noting their female teammate's silence on the issue.
"I'm confused, but I think that we should trust the Hokage's judgment. He knows Sasuke better than any of us. If Kakashi thinks that Kurenai will be able to help him, then he's probably right." The Hyuga woman answers honestly.
Her teammates appear a bit surprised at her answer. After a moment or two, they nod in agreement. Hinata might have a point.
"Besides, we could always go and check on them." Hinata suggests.
"Now you're talking! That's a great idea. Sasuke has to get used to people being back in his District anyway. He'd be stupid to attack us. I mean the guy just got a pardon. I say we do it!" The canine lover calls out triumphantly.
Shino sighs. He highly doubted that Sasuke was going to take kindly to them just showing up in his District, especially unannounced. He knew Kiba though.
Once that man got an idea stuck inside his head, it was almost impossible to get it out. The Inuzuka was just so stubborn. There was no reasoning with him when he got like this.
"Alright. We might as well. We need to be careful though. Sasuke is still a highly dangerous ninja. Never forget that." The quiet ninja warns them and his teammates nod in agreement.
"We can talk to Kurenai Sensei about it, on her way back to the Uchiha District. I'm sure that she'll be giving Kakashi some kind of status report today. That'd be the smarter move." Kiba reasons.
Shino raises an eyebrow. He was honestly rather impressed. He had expected the Inuzuka to rush into the Uchiha District without any plan. Thank goodness that he had been proven wrong.
"That sounds like a fine idea." Shino says.
A few hours later, Kurenai finishes working on the Uchiha District for the day. She quickly smiles at Shikamaru and reassures him that she would be back shortly. She had to make a report of their progress to Kakashi.
"Alright. I'll be here when you get back." Shikamaru says, though it was rather obvious that he was less than pleased about being left alone with the Uchiha.
She nods and heads off, leaving the two men alone as she pushes Mirai off in her stroller. Sasuke and Shikamaru both eye each other warily. It was obvious that neither of them really knew how to act around each other.
"The repairs seem to be going well." Shikamaru offers awkwardly.
"Yes. I imagine that in a few weeks, the District will be as good as knew. You know why I couldn't tell Kakashi about our progress, don't you?" Sasuke asks in a conversational tone.
Shikamaru wasn't fooled in the slightest. He knew Sasuke well enough to know that the man was far from casual or social. Whatever he was about to say next wasn't going to be good. That much was for certain.
"No. I don't. Why don't you tell me?" The cloud lover dares himself to ask.
"Kakashi assigned Kurenai to help me rebuild the District. That much is true, but that wasn't the only reason that she was sent here. She's essentially babysitting me. Of course, Kakashi isn't honest enough to call her mission that. He wants to know if I'm being a good boy or not." Sasuke says in disgust.
Shikamaru sighs in relief. Sasuke was just feeling sarcastic. A sarcastic Sasuke wasn't a homicidal Sasuke. While it was a drag, it was also unlikely that the last Uchiha was about to launch into a rage and try to destroy the village.
At that same moment, Kurenai had just arrived at the Hokage's Office. She blinks when she saw the mountain of paperwork on his desk and the fact that he was reading a book. A book that was part of a rather infamous series written by a certain Toad Sage.
"Kakashi, I'm here to give you my report. I would like to do so quickly. I didn't want to leave Sasuke alone, so I left Shikamaru with him. I'm not sure that they'll play nicely in my absence. That and Mirai should be put down for a nap soon." She says, only half joking.
"That's good point. Well what are your first impressions? I want your honest opinion about both his physical and emotional health, with a special emphasis on emotional." He says.
Kurenai pauses as she considers the answer to that question. Physically, Sasuke seemed to be in exceptional shape. Emotionally, he was a bit more dicey.
"I don't see anything physically wrong with him. As far as I can tell, he's in perfect health. Emotionally, I think that he still feels a tremendous amount of guilt for his previous transgressions. This is particularly true as it pertains to Sakura and Naruto. I believe that he is trying to avoid them for that reason. On the bright side, Sasuke appears to be perfectly sane." She offers.
Kakashi shakes his head in amusement. Well he supposed that was a good start. Kurenai didn't think that Sasuke was psychotic. Still that was hardly a declaration of love or even of attraction.
"Yes, I assumed as much. Do you have anymore observations that you would like to make? Anything at all. Sasuke is not the most expressive person, even the smallest thing may be significant." The silver haired ninja explains.
"He raised no objections to Mirai's presence and seems to like her well enough. He's surprisingly good with her. Perhaps because he feels that such a young child can't possibly judge him for what he's done. He tolerated Shikamaru's arrival, but was wary." She adds.
The Hokage nods at this knowledge. He had expected as much. Sasuke did want to revive his Clan. It would be difficult or at least unpleasant to do that, if he actively disliked children.
It was also a rather convenient way to get Kurenai to think of him in a less threatening light. Women generally were more receptive to men that were kind to their children. It was just human nature and a smart biological adaptation, really.
"I shall take all of that into consideration. Please do tell me if anything else happens that you feel requires my consideration. It does not matter how early or late the hour is. This is an extremely important mission. We both know what Sasuke is capable of. I would rather see him fully reintegrated back into the village and happy. Not only for his sake, but for all of our sakes." The CopyCat Ninja instructs her.
"Of course." Kurenai agrees.
Unbeknownst to anyone in the Leaf Village, things were now set in motion in one of the Ninja Island Nations. It was a small nation, but rich in natural resources. Their Kage was also rather ambitious.
The twenty something woman was highly intelligent. She knew that most people hadn't heard of her nation, unless they were involved in trade. She was going to change that though.
"And you say that he's unwed?" She asks one of her advisors.
"Yes, it does appear that way. I believe that if he was, even we would have heard about it. We are far away from the mainland, but we are not on another planet." Her advisor notes with a chuckle.
Yeshiva nods. That was true. The news might take a bit longer to reach them, but they would have heard of it. If the last Uchiha had married, everyone would know. That included them.
"What do we know about him?" Yeshiva inquires.
"He's of age, if only just. The only other ninja that we know of who could possibly beast him in battle is Naruto Uzumaki. His family's massacre traumatized him. It will likely be difficult to gain his trust. Though we do have some things that we can use to our advantage." The man continues.
She nods and gestures for him to continue as she rakes her beautiful silver brush through her long dark wavy locks. They were as black as night and reached to the middle of her back. Her chocolate brown eyes were fixed on Kai with an unnerving intensity.
"And what can we use to our advantage?" Yeshiva asks.
"The vast majority of the Leaf Village is rather suspicious of him. He's likely not happy there. That and he does want to restore his Clan anyway. We can offer him a new home and of course, we have your beauty on our side." He states.
"That's all true. Perhaps it's time that I paid a visit to the mainland." She says with a smirk.
Meanwhile Kurenai was heading back towards the Uchiha District when she was stopped by her team. Uh oh. She knew what this was. An intervention. They were hoping to talk some sense into her most likely.
"I know what you are going to say and please don't. I was given this mission by the Hokage himself. I can not in good conscience turn it down." She explains.
"I really don't like it though. It's dangerous." Kiba says as he leans down and smiles at Mirai.
Mirai was still in the stroller. She recognizes Kiba and coos immediately. She always liked seeing the Doggie Man!
"This mission does seem to pose significant risks." Shino offers in a moderately more diplomatic way.
Kurenai sighs. She knew that this was going to happen. Luckily, she had braced herself for the inevitable.
"And what about you, Hinata? Are you going to try to dissuade me from doing my job as well?" The Genjutsu Mistress inquires softly.
Hinata shakes her head. She really didn't like it either. The Hyuga Heiress couldn't lie. She was worried, but the bluenette also trusted Kurenai's abilities. She could handle just about anything.
"I have my concerns, but I won't try to talk you out of it. We didn't come here for that though. We'd all really like to visit while you are conducting your mission. I know that it would put all our minds at ease, if we could just see that Sasuke is being nice to you." She explains rather quickly.
"I'll talk to Sasuke about it. I can't promise that he'll agree though. If he doesn't, I don't want any of you to do anything crazy. No sneaking into the Uchiha District. That could end in disaster." She says with a sigh.
"Alright. We promise. We'll wait until you get his permission." Shino assures her and Kurenai nods approvingly.
With that being said, she bids farewell to her students and heads back to the Uchiha District. It was strange. She was getting so used to the rather dreary place. Well at least the modest construction that they had managed thus far had significantly decreased the feeling sadness and loss that seemed to hang in the very air itself.
"We're back! Sasuke, I need to speak with you for a moment." Kurenai says, once she was inside the house with Mirai.
"Alright, what's going on?" The last Uchiha says.
He was walking towards her. Kurenai wasn't sure how a man could make walking look positively ethereal. She was reminded of the way a beautiful jungle cat would stalk its prey. All deadly grace.
"My team would like to visit your District. I told them that I would speak to you on the matter." Kurenai informs him.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. He wasn't entirely sure that he cared for that. He barely knew her team. Hinata might be alright. Shino was mute. Kiba would probably try to pick a fight though.
"I want you to be comfortable while you are here. If inviting your team makes you feel more comfortable, invite them. Though I'm warning you, I will defend myself in any fights that they may pick with me." The younger ninja replies honestly.
"That's fair." She says and winces.
Sasuke definitely noticed. The Jonin could tell the instant that he did. His face was unusually expressive, when he realized that she was injured.
"Are you alright?" He asks in concern.
"Oh I think that I just overstretched some muscle in my shoulders. It's nothing. I've had far worse." Kurenai assures him.
Secretly, she was relieved that he cared enough to ask. That was definitely a positive sign. Perhaps there really was hope for him yet.
"Sit. Let me have a look at it. I'm fair from a medic, but I did learn a few things at the Sound. Medicinal massage was one of them." He informs her.
Kurenai blinks. Sasuke was offering her a massage. It truly was a strange world sometimes. After thinking about it for a moment, she nods her head and sits down.
"Alright." She says a bit more uncertainly than she would like.
"I don't bite." He assures her as he sits behind her and begins rubbing her shoulders.
Kurenai shivers. It had been awhile since she had been touched this intimately. She knew that Sasuke was only trying to help her shoulders, but that didn't change the fact that he was a very attractive and surprisingly good with his hands.
It did surprise her. She had always associated his touch with destruction, once he reached adulthood. Now he was soothing away the agony that she had been silently enduring with ease.
"That's a bit of a shame. I'm certain that I could think of a few girls in the village who will be terribly sorry to hear that. Some people enjoy a few love bites." Kurenai says.
She mentally kicked herself for doing it. Why on Earth had she said that? Clearly, she must be in dire need of sleep, if she was being that careless.
"That's too bad for them. I don't like girls. I like women." He says with a smirk.
Kurenai blinks. She hadn't expected Sasuke to respond in a potentially flirtatious manner. Then again, it might not be. He might merely be insulting some of his female peers.
"Well some women like love bites as well." She amends her statement.
"Do you?" Sasuke shocks himself by asking and that's when he noticed something strange.
A purple butterfly had just landed on his forehead. The butterfly was completely fearless and actually had the gull to POKE him!
"What the Hell?" He asks in confusion as the butterfly flits out of striking range, but was still visible.
For some reason, Sasuke got the strangest feeling that the butterfly was actually laughing at him. It was laughing and clapping at him. Nevermind. That sounded crazy, even in his own head.
"It's a butterfly." Kurenai says with a smile and she was suddenly rather grateful to have the distraction.
She wasn't entirely certain what Kakashi had in mind when he gave her this mission. The Genjutsu Mistress did suspect that there was more to it than he was telling her, but she doubted discussing her romantic preferences was what the silver haired Hokage had in mind.
"Yeah. It is." Sasuke confirms as he eyes the strange insect curiously.
"Well it's getting late. I'm going to get some sleep. Goodnight, Sasuke." She says as she scoops up Mirai and heads off to bed.
"Goodnight, Kurenai. Goodnight, Mirai." He says as he watches her leave. Little did he know that this wouldn't be the last of the purple butterfly that he would see. Sasuke was about to find out just how much mischief one beautiful insect could cause.