Chapter 4 - Communication Standards
I leafed through another stack of papers. It's no surprise Haruka used glasses. If I stared at these documents day in and day out, I'd go blind too.
Haruka. It's been a week and she still wasn't back. It's taking her too long. I'm tired of all the volunteer assignments the hokage was assigning me.
Document organizer, really? Could he get any stupider than that? He's just assigning me busy work because he's frustrated too.
If he didn't want the stress and frustration he shouldn't have taken the job.
I stuffed the next pile of papers into a clean, newly labeled folder, and stuffed it onto a shelf.
A large spike of chakra entered the hallway adjacent to the room I was in. Was he doing it on my behalf? I groaned loudly until he opened and closed the door behind him.
"Ah, Sasuke. How are you doing in here?" Kakashi leaned against the closed door, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Fine," I grumbled. I sat back down at the table and began to organize another pile of papers.
"Thanks for doing this. Not many people want to." He walked past me, stopping in front of the only window in the room.
"That's not surprising." I slipped the papers into a new folder and tried to make it look like his presences wasn't irking me.
"Haruka isn't back yet," he commented.
I rolled my eyes. "That is obvious."
"Aren't you worried?" His tone was light.
"She's a grown woman and a jounin, why should I be worried?" I stood up from my seat, the chair scraping against the floor. I picked up the folder and placed it next to the other one on the shelf.
"You look well." Kakashi was now facing me.
"Whatever. What do you want?" I dropped back down into my chair.
"Has Haruka spoken to you?" His previous playful tone disappeared. His gaze was sharp and patient.
"Haruka and I hardly speak."
"Really? She hasn't talked about the cases she's working or what she's doing in Sunagakure or Kumogakure?"
"She's in Kumo? I thought she was only in Suna?"
"That's not important. I'm just wondering if she's told you anything about it."
I picked up another set of papers. "Like I said. We hardly speak." I jammed the papers into a folder.
"Are you mad about something, Sasuke?" I could hear the humor in his voice.
My eyes narrowed unconsciously. "Why do you say that?"
He shrugged his shoulders. His arms hung loosely beside him, as if he was trying to relax himself. "She didn't tell you she was going on a mission did she?"
"That's none of my business, but I would think," I hesitated. That's what he wanted wasn't it? My opinion. "She should have told me. She's my representative."
"She has other obligations, Sasuke. Don't get in her way." His chakra buzzed. "Let her do her things and you do yours."
###
"What did he want from me?" I kicked a stray rock on the path. It skidded across and hit the side of a building, startling a cat napping on top of a newspaper.
I rolled my eyes, my hand finding their way into my pants pocket. I wanted to look nonchalant, as if I didn't care their stares mattered. Who was I kidding? Them or myself?
"Sasuke!" Naruto screeched.
I sighed and tried to contain any frustration that might build up.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura greeted a little less harshly.
How did I not sense them? Did I still have a seal placed somewhere on me?
"We're going to eat dinner." Naruto wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "You wanna come?"
I looked around quickly. People were staring. People were trying to ignore us.
"Let's go!" Naruto began to drag me before I could answer. What confused me was I wasn't trying to fight him off.
We arrived at Yakiniku Q. It didn't look any different, but I knew it wasn't the same building from the last time I came to the restaurant. That one was gone and destroyed.
Naruto pulled me and Sakura into a booth and ordered the meat and vegetables quickly.
Naruto and Sakura were both sitting across from me. Naruto drooling. Sakura looking as bored as ever.
"How have you been, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, taking a sip from her water.
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Fine."
"How's the volunteering going? Do you have a lot of hours done?" Naruto slapped some pieces of meat onto the grill.
"It's fine. No."
"Really? What did you do today?"
"I was Kakashi's errand boy," I grumbled.
"Did he have you do paperwork?" Sakura piped.
"Sort of."
"He's short staffed right now, which is unfortunate, you'd think more people would want to work for the hokage, but," Sakura shrugged, letting her comment slide.
"Baa-chan, should've just let me become hokage. Then Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be so stressed," Naruto grabbed his meat and began to chew on it.
"It wouldn't matter who was the hokage. The work would still be there. Don't be stupid, Naruto." Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Why is he so stressed in the first place?" I ask.
Sakura and Naruto both look up, their attention previously on their food. Naruto shrugs, returning his attention to his food. Sakura, on the other hand, leans her chin into the palm of her hand, contemplating.
"We do have a shortage of ninja. A lot of people are retiring or finally settling down to have families. There's a shortage."
"I heard you volunteered at the academy?" Naruto spoke with his mouthful. "How was that?"
"I'd rather not do it again," I replied, grabbing some food of my own off the grill.
"It couldn't be that bad," Naruto continued. "I bet it was nice seeing all the kids, running around, having fun. I think it's cool they're starting those new activities and such. It makes class less boring."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "You do know why they're doing that, right, Naruto?"
"Huh?" He chewed. "Why?"
"They're trying to make it more appealing. For one they want to educate the students and two they're going to need a new group to take over the older groups that cycling out. Come on, Naruto. You have to start paying attention to these things."
He simply shrugs and continues eating.
"It's not just a title you'd be receiving," I say. Both of their eyes land on me. "It's a responsibility to protect the people. They literally entrust their safety and future into one person." I sigh. "You have to take it seriously."
"When did you-?"
"Naruto!" A heavy handed landed on the back of my seat. "Oh? Hey...Sasuke," Choji greeted carefully.
"Naruto. Sakura," Shikamaru nodded his head in their direction. "Sasuke."
"Billboard brow! Sasuke-kun, hey! It's so great to see you so soon after the field day. Seeing all those kids was nice, huh?" Ino punched me in the shoulder. "They were so adorable."
"Ino," Sakura grumbled.
"You'd never guess who I saw, Sakura. Sora-kun. You know, Shino's little brother."
Sakura shook her head. "They're not brothers. I think they're cousins, but Shino's like an uncle to him."
"Naruto," Shikamaru interrupted the gossip. "Come by and see me whenever you're free. I want to talk to you about something."
"Why don't you sit down and join us?" Naruto motioned to the empty seats beside me. "There's room and you know how much I hate going to your office. It's so stuffy."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "You better get used to it if you want to become hokage." His eyes briefly found mine.
I stood up from my seat.
"Sasuke-kun? Where are going?" Sakura dropped her chopsticks.
"Sasuke?" Naruto's cheery tone gone.
"I'm going home." I pushed past the others and walked out the door before anyone could stop me.
###
It was stifling. Their presence. I knew Sakura and Naruto meant well, but I had this overwhelming sense that they were still tip toeing around me. It's like they wanted to tell me something, but they couldn't find the words or guts to tell me. It's irritating.
I ignored the stares from the kids playing in the park. The sun was setting and their laughter and squeals will be replaced by the last calls from cicadas. Summer was ending soon.
I stopped in front of the gate to my apartment complex. I began to fish for my keys when the gate opened up from the other side.
"Sasuke!" Suigetsu greeted.
Juugo stood silently behind him.
"You're a sight for sore eyes. You headed over to Haru's?"
"Haru's…?"
"You know," Suigetsu wiggled his eyebrows. He and Juugo pushed past me, letting the gate close with a loud clang. "Haruka's" he answered. "Karin told us she just arrived from her mission. We're heading over for a late dinner and to hear Karin complain about work. You wanna come?"
"You guys have dinner with her?"
"Let's go, or we'll be late!"
Today's Volunteer Hours: 6
Total: 18
Volunteer Hours Left: 470
A.N. - Thanks for reading! Also thanks for the reviews, I appreciate it tremendously :D
I want to clarify that this is a non-romantic story. This is about Sasuke and his development. It might be angsty and maybe even humorous. Also, Haruka is an OC and she's around Kakashi's age. Hopefully, she'll come off as a 'big sister' type character or something for Sasuke, Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin.
Thanks again for reading! If you have an idea for a volunteer job let me know. I'll take it into consideration :)