"Is that all for today?" Sasuske asked Orochimaru. Orochimaru eyed him happily. Had any children seen his face, they would have run away screaming. Actually, probably a good number of adults would have too.
Used to Orochimaru's smiles and frightening expressions of pleasure, Sasuske waited, somewhat impatiently. Orochimaru was so slow! He needed to learn many new things, and Orochimaru seemed content to go at a snail's pace. He might just be trying to drag out the lessons to keep Sasuske interested while he waited around for a few years. But that meant he didn't have that many more jutsus to show him, and in that case…. Well, he wasn't sticking around Orochimaru for his personality, after all. I have no intention of becoming your new body, you disgusting freak. I hate you. Orochimaru said "You already learned two new jutsus today, maybe you can practice them some more instead of wearing yourself thin." Sasuske smirked a little. Orochimaru, thinking Sasuske was agreeing, said "I'll let you practice on Kabuto, if you like." Sasuske, realizing Orochimaru thought he had smiled at the idea of practicing, did an inner double-take. Wait… I get to practice on Kabuto? Sasuske smiled, (well, as close as we can call a smile, anyway. Maybe a friendly grimace?) this time smiling in response to what Orochimaru had said, rather than his own murderous thoughts. Not that beating up Kabuto qualified as anything but murderous thoughts, but… well, Kabuto doesn't really count when discussing murder.1
Orochimaru left Sasuske, rambling on about fixing up some yakitori for dinner. Sasuske turned to contemplate Kabuto, expressing his good mood by not scowling at Kabuto. Kabuto was somewhat frightened at the lack of animosity. Little did he know it was the animosity that had Sasuske in such a good mood, he was just happy about being able to physically express his feelings for Kabuto. Sasuske quickly summoned a horde of snakes, which effectively rooted Kabuto to the spot. Taking his time, Sasuske focused his chakra to perform Rakanken, the Nirvana fist.
About five minutes later, Sasuske lazily jumped into some surrounding trees. He ran off to his secret place. Orochimaru is such an idiot, it only takes a minute to incapacitate Kabuto, lazy weakling. Sasuske could hardly complain, however. If Orochimaru wasn't going to bother teaching him new jutsus, he might as well make good use of his own time. Typically, he spent his free time studying scrolls and working on his new jutsu, but today he was distracted. He looked around the clearing in the woods. It wasn't much, just a little patch of forest where the briars and other trees left him relatively isolated, yet still enough space in between the trees to move about. A patch of sunlight was floating down to the middle of the clearing, and the sounds of the nearby stream mingled with the hummings of forest activity. He strolled to the sunlight and lay down. This place made him nostalgic every time he came, today he thought of Shikamaru. He wished he were here to keep him company as he gazed out at the clouds, thinking about Konoha. Home, He thought. It was like an open wound. Thinking about it was taboo, of course, but here in the clearing, there was no one to see what he was feeling.
As usual, his thoughts drifted to Sakura. He wondered how she was doing. Was she with Naruto? Maybe she was on a mission with Kakashi and him? Had they filled the vacancy in team seven yet? I hope Naruto's doing a good job. He better take care of Sakura. Maybe, maybe with me gone… Maybe Sakura might move on. Maybe… Maybe she would be with Naruto, he would look after her. He sighed. If he had stayed with Sakura like she asked, he couldn't finish what his brother started, he would never finish it. But since he left, Sakura might get involved with another guy… This is so wrong! Its like I am trying to live on only half of my self! I can't stand it! I miss Sakura too much, its like every time I close my eyes, its like she is here, begging me to return. Every time I open them again, I decide to go back to her! Objective Sasuske marveled for a minute at the war his spirit was raging. Much more stress and he would explode. Maybe he would anyway, just to give Orochimaru a fright.
He sighed, thinking again of Shikamaru. Lucky fool, he probably spends half his day's cloud gazing. With another sigh, he got to his feet. Kabuto was sure to have regained consciousness by now. Soon, he would finish regrowing himself and come looking for Sasuske. There was no way Sasuske was letting all themfolks know he went off to be by himself. And if they ever found his special place, well, he might just kill them.
Maybe when he got back to his room he could work some more on developing his new jutsu.
ooooooooooooo0oooooooooooo0oooooooooooooo0ooooooooooooo0oooooo
Meanwhile, back in Konoha…
Sakura ran out of her bedroom, frantically looking around for something to grab to eat. She couldn't find any food immediately, which made actually look at her surroundingsSakura stared at the room she was in. Had she sleepwalked into someone else's house? No…. this must be her apartment, all her stuff was here, but…
Something was wrong, she couldn't quite put her finger on it… but one thing struck her as a little odd… she could see the floor. Hm… am I dreaming about before I started training with Tsunade? Feeling stupid, she pinched herself. She couldn't really feel it… maybe I am dreaming? Only in a dream would I do something so cliché. She pinched herself again, using chakra. "Ow!!" Ok, so what was going on, if she was actually awake? She spotted a piece of paper on a rather forlorn looking clean counter. It was from Naruto, and it read:
Sakura, I hope you enjoyed your rest. I cleaned up a bit after you passed out on me. I
hope you don't mind, but I ate some of your cup ramen. I actually ate more than half
of it, sorry! I'll pay you back after my next mission… Anyway! See you soon!
Oh, and I talked to Tsunade. Don't worry, I told her you were sick and couldn't come
into work today, so don't freak out about being late. And don't punch me either! You
really were sick! Sort of… Anyway, enjoy your day off!
Naruto