Future & Present Clash

Chapter 5

Sasuke woke up to the sun hitting his face, his fox companion was gone and he found that he had regained mobility of his body. He looked around for his strange rescuer. He was seriously pissed off with her, she had removed the seal, and although he had loathed the thing, it meant he now had less chakra and power at his disposal in which to fight Itachi and Orochimaru, but apparently the latter was already dead. He picked his katana, why did she leave it right next to him? It was like an invitation to kill her. She came up behind him, fruits held in her arms.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun, sleep well? Breakfast?" she held out her arms, signalling him to pick from the apples, pears, raspberries and blackberries she held. He took an apple and a pear and she ate the rest. Silence settled between them. Not for long.

"So who are you?" Sasuke asked, "How do you know my name?"

"I thought you weren't a talker"

"Hn"

"Fine, I told you already, my name is Namikaze Sasunara, I came here to kill Orochimaru"

"How did you kill him? Were you hired by anyone to kill him?"

"I used a technique called Rasen Shuuriken, and no, no one hired me. As for your name, it was pretty obvious, not many Uchihas running around are there?" she gave a nervous laugh, "Huhum, anyways I saw you training and I thought 'well I'll take him as my pupil'. But seriously we have to get rid of that anger filled/depressed/lonely/emo attitude you have going on there. Embrace nature, smile... hug" she grinned and opened her arms.

Sasuke's hand twitched towards his katana.

"Just kidding... hehehe. But on a serious note, if you are going to continue being like that I won't teach you any of my awesome techniques. I killed your master so I feel like I have to take over your training to compensate"

INNER SASUNARA:

Otou-san BAKA!!! How can you look like an expressionless zombie! What happened to my super cool dad who used to bring me pancakes and ramen in bed when I was sick? TEME I'll kick the shit out of you until you return to normal. HA HA HA!

"Why would I want to learn from a kid like you? You're my age"

"We both know in the shinobi world age means little, take yourself as an example, your sixteen and already have more power than some Jounin only wish for. And I'm not a kid, I'm eighteen and engaged baka"

"Engaged huh? Does he know you are here? Shouldn't you be home, preparing for your big, white, puffy wedding day?" sarcasm drenched his words.

Good his already getting out if his shell, maybe teasing is the key, she thought. She felt a tug in her mind, flashes of an office and familiar faces. Okay I got caught, which means I have little time, maybe three weeks.

"I'm only getting married next year teme, maybe if you survive my training you can attend"

"Hn"

"Okay, get ready, I will teach whilst we are travelling, there is a town nearby with a hot spring, we can stop there"

"Where are you from? I don't see a forehead protector" he asked

"That's because I took it off so that you didn't see it" she answered.

"Why don't you want me to see it?"

"Because it's none of your business"

"Hn. Lets just go. Wait what about Kabuto?" Sasuke asked, genuinely interested in the answer.

"You mean the grey head? Squished like a cockroach"

The two set out towards the nearby town, it took them about two hours on foot to get there, Sasuke hadn't been in a town for some time and was unaccustomed to all the human activity around him, making him even more withdrawn and frowned even more.

At least his showing emotion, Sasunara thought.

They were about to enter the hot spring resort when Sasunara stopped and faced Sasuke who was only a few steps behind her, "You go on ahead, I have something I need to buy, here" she gave him a bag of money, "book two rooms, I'll be right back" she walked off and Sasuke entered the resort, the receptionist was female, in her early thirties and even though he looked sixteen she still tried to hit on him.

"So how can I be of assistance?" she fiddled with her brown hair.

"I need two rooms" Sasuke said in a flat voice.

"Name?"

"Namikaze Sasunara for both" and he gave her enough money for two days since he did not know how many his blond, freaky, new master wanted to stay here for.

She better teach me powerful new techniques or I'll swear I'll kill her, he thought.

The rooms were fairly well furnished with comfortable beds and were right next to each other. Even though it was not him paying he picked the largest room and began practising with his katana.

Meanwhile Sasunara was browsing the town for a ramen shop were she could stuff her face, she passed a clothes shop and decided to buy Sasuke new clothes since the ones he had now practically turned him into teenage eye-candy and she had to keep an eye on his virtue until Naruto Otou-san took over.

He can keep the trousers and sandals but that purple skirt and rope have got to go, maybe I should get some safety pins for his shirt, with his chest all exposed he could get pneumonia, she thought as she browsed the male clothes section.

Bag in hand she made her way to the resort, giving her name at the reception and getting a glare from the receptionist she made her way to the second floor, where rooms five and six were. Not knowing which room he had picked she opened the door to room five; empty, which meant that he had picked room six, she knocked on the door and a sweaty Sasuke opened it.

"Why are you all sweaty?" she asked, giving him the bag. He took it but left it on the table as he moved back into the room, not bothering to look inside.

"You said that we would be training in the hot spring resort so I got a head start, since I can't practice jutsu in here that well, I started on some sword work"

"Baka our training is in the water, meet me in the mixed bath section" and she walked out leaving a frowning Sasuke behind.

He had been soaking in the water for ten minutes before she came in, she still had her white mask on but her hair was pinned up, a towel wrapped tightly around her body. She sat next to him. He glanced at her and noticed she had a large, black snake wrapped around her body, its head was resting on her shoulder and it had its eyes closed, like it was relaxing and soaking in the water too. Sasunara stroked the long body.

"So how are you today Sasuke-kun?"

"Let's cut the small talk and start training"

"This is training baka, you must train in relaxing your mind, whether you like it or not your mind becomes stressed from continuous strain and exercise, which makes you weak in battle because your brain is tired. So shut up, and answer my question"

Silence

"Answer my question" she said again

"You told me to shut up"

Fume shot out of her ears, 'This is going to be harder that I thought, his more stubborn than an old camel' she thought

He sighed, "I guess I'm normal"

"Trust me you're far from normal" her face strained.

"You don't even know me"

"Then help me to know you. What are your ambitions in life?" she already knew but she had to keep her cover.

"I want to kill my brother, his name is Uchiha Itachi, and he killed our entire clan"

"And what are you going to do after you have accomplished that?"

"I don't know" he looked away. Naruto's name flashed in his mind.

"Do you have friend's anywhere?"

"No" he said. 'Liar' the annoying part of his brain said

His is so lying, Sasunara thought.

"Do you have a lover?"

"No"

"Do you have someone you like?"

He was silent, admitting would make him weak but he did not want to deny his feelings for Naruto either, it felt wrong.

"So there is nothing you want to do after your ambition is complete. Not even going back to your village?"

"I am considered a missing-nin in my village; they would not want me back"

"You can't assume that, if you go back and explain I'm sure they will listen, after all you are one of them, shinobi are taught that teamwork is one of the most important things and the bond between teammates is something hard to break, for you to become a ninja you need to be placed in a team, so I'm guessing the three other people in your platoon are still thinking about you"

Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, their names and faces automatically made their way into his mind.

"Do you have a platoon?" Sasuke asked, trying to find more information about this mysterious stranger.

Sasunara nodded, "They are my closest friends" the way her eyes showed pain Sasuke knew something was wrong.

There was silence for a moment; Sasuke looked at the snake, its eyes still closed. "Is that your summon?"

"One of them, I have various contracts with animals, this is Safi, he was my very first summon, I was six. He loves the hot springs, every time I come to one he tells me to call him"

"You can summon more than one type of species?"

"Yep as long as you can keep the harmony between them, my other favourite summons are Gamakichi and Gamabunta, their toads and they kinda run in the family. I can also summon dogs, slugs, eagles and foxes. If you want to learn how to summon an animal I can help you"

"I can already summon"

"Really? What?"

"Snakes" his voice was constantly flat, like he didn't want to be there.

"Why don't you summon one?"

"Why should I? I'm not in battle"

"Animals are not mere weapons, if you don't understand and accept that then I cannot teach you. Look at Safi for example, his enjoying himself, because my bond with him is strong it means that during battle we will work together much better because of our feelings and thus our powers are much better synchronised"

"Hn" but he bit the tip of his finger and summoned a average sized snake for him

"Who are you?" the snake asked, its body was purple but its head was black.

"Uchiha Sasuke"

"Why am I here, where is the battle?" the snake asked looking around at the strange steamy environment.

Sasunara observed the exchange with a curious expression, she was sure this was the beginning of her father's friendship with the slimy creatures that he cherishes so much in the future.

"There is no battle, I was wondering…if you would like to stay here a bit and bath in this hot spring", he blushed with embarrassment, this was completely opposite of what Orochimaru taught him, summons were weapons, full stop.

"I guess; whatever. My name is Huji by the way" the snake made its way up his arm and curled around his neck, closing its eyes just like Safi.

"See that wasn't so bad" Sasunara said.