The Silent in Disguise Beautiful Girl of the Dead
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach though I wish I did; nor do I own any of the other animes I pull some of my ideas from!
The Return and the Uchiha Family
Chapter 9 (Sakura's POV)
We left Wave country 2 days after the whole fight and finally the bridge was finished with my whole teams help. Once we were on the road again we decided to take to the trees and make it back to Konoha faster. I had my mask, glasses, and hat off the while time and I talked to Sasuke and Naruto. Kakashi-sensei would make comments every now and then and sometimes I would speed a head of the boys by going full speed. I would only do this when Sasuke would try and copy my speed or at least see me. It never worked, and I could see he was mad about that, but he cooled off quickly. But I had to talk to the boys about them still only calling me Haruno in public so that nothing would be suspicious.
"Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei when we get back to Konoha you have to go back to calling me Haruno so my cover is not blown. I am not so worried about you Kakashi-sensei. But Naruto you have to realize how loud you are sometimes and you can't do that at all. And Sasuke you can not tell your clan at all that I am a girl or what my real name is. After that stunt I pulled with your brother when I first arrived I am pretty sure you just mentioning Haruno at all would set a few people off. I can teach you guys the sign language that all of the people that know about me know to convey information to each other though. Just in case you have to tell me something and you don't want other people to know. Is that clear?" I got a nod from Kakashi-sensei and after a little while I got a nod from Sasuke. Naruto just looked insulted at what I said but nodded anyway and zipped his lips and threw away the key.
"Fine Haruno we won't say a word about who you truly are but can we call you by your real name when it is only the people who know about who you are and we are alone!" Naruto just never gave up and with that winning smile of his how could you really say no. Maybe that was a reason Hinata-chan liked him so much was because of his smile. I mean all I really saw him as was a brother deeply because I could never hurt Hinata-chan.
"Fine Naruto you can call me by my real name when in the privacy of others who know and no one else or one on one with me. Now are we done with those questions?" I looked at them all and they nodded their heads. I quickly pulled up my mask and put on my glasses and hat. We were nearing Konoha and it would be easier to put on my disguise now than when we were a little closer.
We got to the gates 30 minutes later with Naruto screaming at the top of his lungs about how much he had missed the village. Really I was starting to consider the saying 'Silence is golden, duck tape is silver' just for the purpose of making him shut UP! I kept my cool though and just walked past him toward the Hokage's tower to deliver out report and to tell the Hokage that my team now knew my secret but not the part of where I come from. Kakashi-sensei was walking beside me and Naruto and Sasuke were behind us arguing over something that I was not really paying attention to. But it seemed I would be getting into their little argument sooner than I thought.
"Hey Haruno, you're Hinata-Chan's best friend after all. Does she…like me," Naruto said with a blush on his tan and whiskered cheeks. I whipped out a note pad of paper and a pen and wrote on a piece of paper 'we will talk about this later and not out in the open' and then handed it to him. I then got out my I-pod and stuck it in my ears under my hat and blasted the music loud enough for the people around me to get the message that I no longer wished to talk or hear anything. They got the message as they went back to whatever the hell they were doing. I was listening to one of my top 25 favorite songs 'We Stitch these Wounds' by the Black Veil Brides. By the time the song was over we were in the Hokage's office with our sensei giving the details on the mission. There was also Ibiki in the room at the time.
Once the briefing was done Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei were leaving the room but noticed me staying. Naruto was going to say something when Hokage-sama gave Kakashi-sensei a hard look and he dragged Naruto out of the room. I then turned back to the Hokage and Ibiki. "Sakura-chan what is it that you needed to talk to me about? This isn't quite like you." I had to tell Hokage-sama about what I did to Zabuza and Haku as well as tell him that the others now knew my secret.
"Hokage-sama while in wave country my true identity was revealed to Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei during out first fight with Zabuza while I was defending Naruto from a killer blow. But when I told them my story later when we got to the clients house I did not tell them that I was a shinigami or the fact of me coming from the Seireitei or having kido. I did not want to reveal to much to them since I still barely know them. Also after the defeat of Zabuza and Haku we buried the bodies on a hill and after my teammates had gone I sent the souls of Zabuza and Haku to soul society with a mission to give a not to the shinigami of my location and that I am all right. That is all I have to report Hokage-sama." I looked him in the eyes and he seemed to be going over the information I had just given him a long with Ibiki.
"Very well Sakura-chan thank you for reporting this to me. Now I believe your teammates are waiting for you. Here is your pay for the mission and I believe you may go now." I bowed, got my money, and then left the office. All of the boys were waiting out there for me and I just nodded to them conveying my message that everything was alright.
"Hey how about we all go out to eat Ramen together now that we finally completed a real mission and that we seem like a real team now." Naruto said while looking at me. I go tout a piece of paper and then wrote down on it 'tonight Ichiraku at 7:30 we will have dinner together' I then handed it to Naruto and then others read it over their shoulders. They nodded to me and I walked away.
I decided to go shopping for some things I needed and then would go home get showered, changed and then leave for dinner. I made my first stop to the grocery store to pick up a few essentials like milk, eggs, bread, flour, oranges, apples, peaches, steak, and a piece of chocolate to indulge my self. Once I was done with that I strolled down to the weapons shop to pick up a few things like a few extra kunai, shuriken, and sword sharpening materials. I then moved over to the clothing and saw something that was one of a kind in the shop and it was pretty much calling out my name. It was a black zip-up hoodie with the outline of the torso of a skeleton. The bone designs on it were neon blue and the hood had metal spikes on it that looked sharp but were actually dull and were all spaced out about an inch from each other. Then there was a bandana that went with it that had the design of a human skull with fangs on it. If I folded the bandana in half I could use that as a mask and have the bottom half of the skull covering my face. Yeah it would be perfect and I was going to get it.
The outfit was exactly my size and looked like it was made for me. I also got a loose black wife beater shirt and then went to pay. Overall the outfit was expensive but so worth it. After I was done there I went home put all the groceries away, took a shower and got changed into my new outfit. I put on a pair of baggy black sweatpants, black converse shoes that had blue checkers as well, and then the black wife beater. I rapped my bindings even tighter today so that way when I put on my hoodie I could where it open since it was a hot day. I also still wore my sister's necklace not caring if someone saw it saying that the 2 girls in the hour glass were my sisters. On paper I could say that at least. I also put on a silver chain around my neck that was plain. I put on a different pair of black fingerless gloves that had padding in them and little spikes on the fingers instead of the knuckles. I then folded the bandana in half so that way the bottom half of the skull with the fangs, jaw, and nose covered my jaw to the top of my nose. I looked like a boy still even with the jacket open and it would help me get through this hot evening.
I put the hood up so that way the spikes could be seen and looked at the clock. It was 5 o'clock in the evening and I had time to spare. I also noted in my mind that Hinata-chan would be ending her training with her team in 30 minutes. And with that in mind I strapped my weapons on and sped out of the house to where the team 8 training grounds were. When I got there Shino and Kiba were both sparring and Hinata-chan and Kurenai-nee were against a tree relaxing. But when surprised me was that team 10 was there and that Kurenai-nee was talking with Asuma-sensei. I had an evil idea forming in my head and it would be used.
I jumped down from the tree not bothering to hide myself and everybody minus Kiba and Shino turned to face me coming this way. Hinata-chan who was pretending to listen to Ino who was talking about how amazing Sasuke was, jumped upon seeing me enter the clearing and hugged me. "Haruno-kun wh-where ha-have you an-and your t-te-team been la-lately si-sin-since no-nobody ha-has s-s-seen y-you? I w-was wo-worried about y-you g-gu-guys." Hinata-chan said while twiddling with her fingers. Even though she was a little more confident now and though she didn't stutter around me she still did it out in public.
"And what the hell are you wearing you little-" Ino was about to say something rude but Asuma-sensei quickly put a hand over her mouth to silence her. He smiled sheepishly at me as if apologizing for her. Then they all seemed to notice what I was wearing and they all jut blinked. Even Kiba who had finished his spar with Shino while Hinata-chan was hugging me was a little shocked. Or at least I thought he was.
"Man those clothes are awesome where the hell did you get that jacket man because I want it." He then raised his hand in the air and I gave him a high-five. I then started to tell Hinata-chan about my mission in sign language and then Kurenai told them all for Hinata-chan what the mission was like. The other genin were looking at me in awe and jealousy, while Ino-pig ranted about how awesome her Sasuke was. I nearly burst out laughing at that. I then went on in sign language about the clothes to which Hinata-chan translated. After that I went over to Kurenai-nee as she hugged me to death and when we separated. I pushed her a little to hard and she went stumbling back into Asuma-sensei. He of course caught her by the waist but I tripped him and they fell to the ground with Kurenai-nee on top of him. The 2 blushed and then I grabbed Hinata-Chan's hand and we ran since it was the end of their training.
Me and Hinata-chan walked to the Hyuga compound together and took the path that had nobody on it. As were walking I talked freely in my normal voice. I then went to a topic I knew would excite Hinata-chan. "You know Hinata-chan on the way back from my mission Naruto asked me if you liked him. He was also blushing and not once had he ranted about how awesome Ino was. Also you should know that my team now knows about me being a girl since my masked was ripped off while I was there. But any way I am thinking that Naruto may be starting to like you." Hinata-Chan's face turned the shade of a tomato and she was smiling brightly at the ground that seemed to be interesting to her. I dropped the subject after that since I knew after saying that if I said anymore I would have to carry her unconscious form back to the Hyuga compound.
When we got there we went to Hinata-Chan's room and nobody thought anything of it since most people knew me there as the person who made their heiress stronger so were perfectly fine with me. But as we passed by the training room in the compound I saw a boy training with Hiashi-sama. The boy had long brown hair tied into a low ponytail; he had the byakugan eyes of a Hyuga as well. He wore a white shirt with brown pants and was quite good at fighting. It then clicked that this might have been the Hyuga prodigy people talked about Hinata-Chan's cousin Neji Hyuga. Well he seemed like he would be the prodigy type he kind of had that look on his face that Byakuya had before I made him a kid again. He looked uptight and had to much pride than was healthy for him.
It seemed that they noticed our presence finally because they stopped their spar and headed towards us. Neji took one look at me and looked disgusted with me. It was probably my clothing since it was not the most stranger friendly clothing that said 'I'm really a nice person, don't worry I won't eat your brains out like a zombie' but the clothing actually said about me was 'FUCK OFF! You little shit can't you tell that I want to be alone. I ditched the glasses for tonight so that way people could see my bright green eyes. But I pulled the hood down low enough so nobody would see my pink eyebrows.
When they got to us me and Hinata-chan bowed to her father. I of course bowed lower and longer since I was not on such close terms with the man except as the person who helped hid daughter. When I rose Hiashi-sama was looking at me with a hand outstretched to shake. I shook his hand firmly and he nodded to me. "Ah, Haruno I do hope that you will be staying a little longer but may I introduce to you my nephew Neji. Neji this is Haruno, Hinata's trainer that has made her so much stronger. Well how are you Haruno, good I hope, but I hear from Hinata you are a genin, but I thought you were offered a job as an ANBU. Why are you instead taking things slowly?" Hiashi-sama asked in a polite tone. I nodded to Neji first in acknowledgement and he did it as well but he seemed that someone as punk looking as me could be the trainer if Hinata or be offered a job as an ANBU at such a young age.
I began my sign language to which Hinata-chan translated to them that I was fine and training hard but I did not want to leave Hinata-chan behind since she was my closest friend and simply did not want to join ANBU yet but would wait a few years after I had completely finished training Hinata-chan. Hiashi-sama seemed pleased with my answer that I would continue to train Hinata-chan to be strong like me. But Neji seemed confused as to why Hinata-chan as talking for me. I then began my sign language again and Hinata said, "Haruno-kun s-says I am s-sorry N-Neji-san for not l-letting y-you know sooner b-but I a-am m-mu-mute and th-therefore Hinata-chan m-must translates f-for me."
Neji seemed shocked that I was mute and a great ninja but Hiashi-sama who was used to knowing I was a mute just sighed and then dismissed Neji from training and Hinata-chan and I went to her room to talk after also being dismissed. Hinata-chan and I just spent the next hour talking and going over when we would meet to train and I said came up with an idea to have our teams train together. We agreed to do just that and would tell our teams when we saw them. And we were not taking no as an answer. After that was cleared up we just talked about things in her life of course I would stop talking whenever I felt somebody's presence coming near Hinata-Chan's room but besides that I just stayed for an hour. It was now 7 o'clock and even though I could run when there was only a minute before the time set and get there I just wanted to walk tonight.
I said good-bye to Hinata-chan and Hiashi-sama and then left to walk. It was a clear night and there was a full moon and the stars were bright and twinkled in the night sky as if watching over the world. I walked down a crowded road and didn't like the noise so decided to walk on the roofs to Ichiraku.
I was half-way there when I ran into a person. I was not paying attention to my surroundings so I had nobody but myself to blame. When I looked up I saw Genma-kun looking down at me, he looked annoyed first and then realized who I was and grinned at me. I nodded to him and then got out a piece of paper. 'Hello Genma-san' I wrote and showed it to him. He grinned and then said, "Hello Haruno, how are you and why are you so distracted. That is not like you at all." I wrote again 'I am okay, I just can't help but get the feeling that something bad is going to happen to me'. Genma looked thoughtful for a moment and then answered, "Well whatever it is I know you can handle, I mean you were accepted to take ANBU exams at the age of what 9 or something. Around that time I believe. Just forget about it for now because you may miss something important happening around you. Like…that hot little gal over there looking at you or is it me. Either way one of us wins in this situation. So where are you heading right now? And if you are not doing anything I would tell you usually to go and try to sweet talk her but…yeah that wouldn't really work sorry." Genma laughed and when I did look the way he was pointing at in front of me as we stood side by side there was a girl staring at me. That was awkward seeing as how I myself am a girl and definitely not into that stuff. I wrote quickly on a piece of paper to change the subject 'actually I am meeting my teammates and Kakashi-sensei at Ichiraku for dinner tonight and have to be there in 10 minutes. So I must be going unless you want to come with us. I do not think the others would mind'. "Okay kid. Lets go, beside I have to tell Kakashi how a girl was checking out one of his students. Oh how he will be so proud," Genma gushed exaggeratedly. I nearly died at that thought but the thought of my teammates faces would be to funny so…whatever.
Genma and I walked the rest of the way with him making comments about every good looking girl that passed by below us. He even wolf-whistled at a few girls my age and then pointed at me. I nearly died whenever he would do that since the girls would just giggle and wave at me. I would then continue to walk and throw killing glares at Genma. He would just chuckle and continue to do it. I was really regretting bringing him along now.
By the time we got to the booth I was ready to kill myself or him. But I calmed down upon seeing my teammates. I took a seat to the right of Naruto and Genma took my right. Sasuke was on the left of Naruto and seemed to be contemplating something. I ordered my normal chicken ramen by pen and Genma ordered a shrimp ramen. We all just sat there in silence, well not so much silence because Genma kept making passes at Ayame and Naruto was slurping down ramen like there was no tomorrow. But through all of this I still had that bad feeling and it only worsened by the nervous and on edge looking Sasuke. I wonder what was wrong.
Hours before this as Sasuke gets home…Sasuke's POV
I was walking through the Uchiha district back from my mission. I walked into our house and found my Kaa-chan in the kitchen making a snack for my brother and Shisui since they were inside as well. When mom saw me she grabbed me into a hug so tight I couldn't move. "Sasuke-chan where have you been you said you had another mission but you didn't say it would take that long. What rank was it because I didn't think D-rank missions took that long, oh you better tell me everything right now. You had me so worried about you. I nearly had a heart attack when you didn't come home I actually went to the Hokage and he said you were on a mission that would take about a week to do give a few days. Now what happened? Sasuke-chan?" My Kaa-chan asked me with a worried voice. She didn't seem to notice that she hugged me to tight and therefore could not breathe or talk.
Finally Aniki came and got Kaa-chan off of me so that way I could breathe and talk. "Hello Kaa-chan. I was on a C-rank mission with my teammates to wave country. We were escorting a man to finish building a bridge there." I told my Kaa-chan, she looked to calm down and I just hoped that she didn't ask hat happened because even thought I could avoid who we ran into she would know I was hiding something from her. My brother seemed to not care at all but that was how he always was so that wasn't much of a shocker. Shisui seemed to notice me getting uncomfortable so the others probably noticed as well. Well shit this was not good at all if I let them know that we ran into Zabuza on our mission my Kaa-chan might just have a heart attack. Then there was the problem of one of my teammates being Haruno. This was a bad topic.
"Oh really Sasuke-chan, did anything happen on the mission that I or maybe your cousin or brother may need to know?" Kaa-chan asked knowing there was something wrong and was trying to make me admit it.
"No, we just ran into a little trouble over the mission. Nothing major, Kakashi-sensei dealt with the person and me and my teammates just dealt with a follower of his." I said trying to sound as calm as possible but I knew that I had made a mistake. By saying that Kakashi-sensei was the one to deal with the person meant that me or my teammates could not do it. Meaning that this was not just a regular C-rank escort mission. And by saying he had an accomplice with him was a mistake as well because, well that means that this guys was powerful because he had other people to do his work for him. I was so stupid sometimes to just talk and not think about what I was saying. Maybe Kaa-chan just wouldn't ask, hopefully she would just drop the subject. Or maybe not.
"Sasuke-chan who was this person who your sensei had to deal with and what rank was this mission actually. Don't lie to your Kaa-chan it isn't nice at all." Oh no, great I was totally screwed now. My mom was not sounding nice anymore. I was dead meat here. I saw a pitiful glance thrown my way from Shisui and Aniki as a sign of good luck. Well I was officially screwed.
"Well see it actually was a C-rank mission at first but then…we found some complications in the background of why the client needed protection and it may have turned the mission from a C-ran to a B or A-rank mission. We just had a few little fights with a guy who was hired to take the client out but now it's fine." I tried to make that seem like the whole story. Maybe I could just pretend to be a mute like Sakura. I mean nobody got on her case because they thought her to be a real mute boy. Well it seemed like Lady Luck was not on my side today because my Kaa-chan was tired of me avoiding her true question.
"Sasuke Uchiha you better tell me exactly who you fought and who your sensei fought immediately because I am fed up with this bull shit, tell me now or I will go to the Hokage!" She slammed her hands on the table and it quaked under her touch. The three of us in the room recoiled at my Kaa-Chan's now ferocious attitude. She was never like that, this was bad.
"Sasuke-chan you better tell your Kaa-chan what happened immediately or else I fear for your life. And for the sake of those rice balls. Now talk, don't even try to lie because not even Itachi-chan here can hide things from your Kaa-chan." Shisui my older cousin decided to say. It would probably be best if I just did that but it would probably make things worse. But hopefully I could escape to my room before she got even madder.
"Okay, so we ran into a couple of chunin ranked rogue ninja which were actually hired by another rogue ninja to take out our client. Kakashi-sensei decided to leave the fighting to me and my teammates to see who the ninja were after. One of my teammates and I took out the ninja before they got to the client and out other teammate just stood there. We took care of the ninja easily and that was when we discovered higher level ninja would be coming after our client. But Naruto wanted to keep going and me and my other teammate who helped me with the fighting agreed. We didn't run into anymore trouble until we actually got to wave country. It seemed a business tycoon named Gato was destroying the economy and didn't want the bridge to be built because then he would no longer have control over the land. When we were near the client house that was when the trouble actually started because we ran into an rogue assassin ninja from Kirigakure. His name was…Zabuza Momochi. Our sensei dealt with him first but then got locked in a water prison. Then the teammate who helped me fight the other ninja came up with a plan to get Kakashi-sensei out of the prison. He successfully got to Zabuza undetected and immobilized the arm that wasn't holding the cage and then got him to let go. After that when he freed Kakashi-sensei we watched the fight between the 2 continued until a tracker ninja from Zabuza's old village came and killed him. After that Kakashi-sensei collapsed when he woke up we found out it wasn't another tracker ninja but a fraud working for Zabuza. From then on we trained on chalkra control to help us fight Zabuza and his accomplice. After we had finished training we went to the bridge with out client and he there we had to fight Zabuza and his accomplice, Haku, again. I started fighting Haku at first and then he made mirrors out of ice and my teammate dived into them right before they closed and got in with me. Then once our other teammate showed up since we couldn't find him before we left showed up and we were finally about to kill the guy when he threw himself in front of his master to save him from a killer blow he was about to receive from Kakashi-sensei. And then he died. Then the man Gato arrived and fired Zabuza and then started to make bad comments about Haku so my teammate who helped me at first with the Ice mirrors scared him away and then decided to fight the mercenaries he was then paying and Zabuza joined him in a fight for Haku's honor. Zabuza died with a bunch of stabs from metal objects in the back and then the civilians of the town got rid of the rest of the mercenaries. My teammate who fought with Zabuza then buried the bodies on a hill over looking the town and then that was it, nothing else happened." I told my Kaa-chan the whole story then along with my Aniki and older cousin. They stared at me, and the silence was suffocating I could probably hear a pin drop. I knew then there was no escaping from my mother. Or brother and cousin who would surely come after me.
"WHAT!" My Kaa-chan yelled and I definitely now heard a ringing in my ears at the pitch the yell was at. She then ran around the table to the stool I was at and started to look me over. "Are you okay Sasuke-chan? Are you hurt? Do I need to take you to the hospital? I swear to god if that Zabuza or Haku left a mark on you I will bring them back to life and kill them myself!" I just nodded a 'no' and she calmed down with her bickering and seemed to relax that I was alright. "Well that's good, now I have one more question I have to ask you Sasuke-chan. I know you have Kakashi-sensei and Naruto as 2 of your teammates. But then you said there was another boy on your squad but I thought that there was a balance system of 1 girl to every 2 boys. Who is your 3rd teammate Sasuke-chan?" Oh boy I was screwed again. Now I had to tell my family that I was on the same team as the person my family despised because they could beat Aniki up. I mumbled a quick 'Haruno' that I knew they all would hear and then ran to my room.
I quickly put all of my stuff away and then took a quick shower. By the time I was done it was nearly 5 o'clock in the evening and it wouldn't be to bad if I left 2 and ½ hours early. I could just walk around; maybe go see Naruto since I did not know where Haruno lived. I got changed into a pair of black jeans, black ninja sandals, and a normal black shirt. I looked at the time and it said 5:30 so now I would only have to walk around for 2 hours. I walked out of my room with my wallet and then into the kitchen where they all were still sitting but now my dad was there as well. They looked up as I entered the room and I quickly said, "I'm going to dinner with my teammates. I'll be back later. Bye." I walked to the door but Shisui got in front of me and redirected me to the table.
"Oh no you don't, Sasuke-chan, we have some things to talk about," Shisui said in a serious voice that I was not used to. He then sat me down in between himself and Aniki. I sat there uncomfortably underneath my Otoo-san's livid gaze. My mother looked concerned for me, while Aniki and Shisui both looked serious.
"Sasuke, why did you not tell us that thing was on your team?" My Otoo-san said enraged at the thought of Haruno
"I didn't tell you because I knew you would not like to hear the person that the Uchiha clan hates is on my team. But I don't see why you all hate him when he is not a bad guy. So what if he hit Aniki he had a right because he was mad at Aniki. You don't even know him, you have to get to know him if you want to judge him. And besides Otoo-san wasn't it you who said that everybody needs to get hit every now and then to get the sense knocked into them. Well that was what Haruno did. Beside he just had a semi-quick temper. So if you all excuse me I have a dinner with my team to get to," I said (A/n. I know that Sasuke is talking a lot but the reason for that is because 1) Sakura is having that effect on him and 2) he isn't that comfortably around his family because he seems insignificant compared to them especially his brother, so he thinks he has to defend himself a lot and therefore he talks a lot) and then tried to get up from my seat but was pushed down by my shoulder by my cousin once again.
"Sasuke-chan we just don't want to see you get hurt by that boy. He just came off as a violent and uncaring person. We just don't know him as well as you do, and therefore can't come to the same conclusion that you have," Kaa-chan said in a caring voice, I knew that she meant well, and did not want to judge so easily. It was true though Sakura could be very Sadistic when she wanted to be but did still have a caring heart and only pushed people around to make them stronger. She was just showing her care in a different way, she pushed me around to work harder during training to make me stronger, because she cared about her teammates.
"He is not uncaring Kaa-chan he actually saved me from dieing on out mission, and when I got hurt during the last fight he healed me because he also studied as a medic-nin so he could protect his teammates from getting injured or dieing. He actually said he would put his life on the line for us. He has a weird way of showing his emotions because unlike others who can say them out loud he can't because he is mute," I defended and tried show them that he was actually a nice person. Well actually that she was a nice person. "He actually usually shows that he cares by pushing Naruto and I around during training to get stronger so that we won't need him in a fight."
They looked a little shocked and then it all caught up to Kaa-chan. "YOU WERE INJURED AND YOU DIDN"T TELL ME!" Kaa-chan immediately rushed over to me and said, "Where were you hurt? Was it fatal? Does it hurt? Don't worry we can take you to the hospital right now and we can have you fixed in no time Sasuke-chan." I pushed Kaa-chan off of me to show her the back of my arm. I didn't tell the others about me getting a piece of ice cutting into me when we broke out of the dome until Sakura noticed the blood on my shirt. It was deep and was hurting badly but I pushed it away. Sakura immediately reprimanded me and then got to healing me. But even though the wound was deep and should have left a scar, with her healing not even a blemish was left. It looked like nothing had happened. And now Kaa-chan just looked blankly at the back of my arm that had no mark.
"Haruno has perfect chalkra control and is a great medic. The moment he found out I was injured he got to work on healing me since I had lost a little blood. But I'm fine now," I reassured her. She immediately hugged me I then realized that it was probably hard for her to hear that either Aniki or I was hurt in anyway.
"Well then if Haruno healed you then he is fine with me. I'm glad to know there is someone on your team to look after you Sasuke-chan. And I think it is a good idea to have that team of yours over for dinner soon. This was we can get a sense for Haruno and can be comfortable with him and have everything back to normal and apologize for what happened all those years ago. Right Itachi-chan Fugaku?" Kaa-chan asked them and I knew she was glaring since they just nodded though I knew my Otoo-san wanted to say something about Sakura. I had a feeling Aniki just didn't care and was already over it, but still probably just a little upset that a boy of the age of 8 could hurt him. "Okay then Sasuke-chan you can go see your little friends and tomorrow bring them over for dinner and we can all get to know each other." With that I walked numbly out of the house and made my way to the ramen shop as slowly as possible; I didn't know how to tell Sakura that the people she thinks hate her were asking her to come over to dinner tomorrow to get to know her. Naruto would probably see it as a an opportunity for free food. And Kakashi-sensei probably wouldn't even show up. GREAT!
What I didn't know was that my Aniki and cousin were both following me I the shadows to check out Haruno for themselves and get to know him, so that way dinner tomorrow wouldn't be hopefully as awkward.
At the Ramen stand normal time…Sakura's POV
Kakashi-sensei had finally joined us after 30 minutes and now we were all eating ramen together. Everybody had made comments about what I was wearing while Naruto just wanted to try it on. Kakashi-sensei had taken a seat to the right of Genma and was reading while also eating his ramen. I didn't know how that exactly worked because he had a hand occupied and with the other he had to control his chopsticks and pull down the mask quick enough to eat and then pull it back up quickly as well while still holding the chopsticks! But what made me still uneasy all throughout dinner was that Sasuke was still uneasy and I think it had something to do with the very well hidden ninja in the tree behind us as we ate. Though Sasuke couldn't sense them probably it was still nerving to have them just staring at us.
There was something weird about their chalkra it seemed familiar like I had met them but I just can't place where exactly. Well I could tell that they were not hostile I just wanted them out of that damn tree so I could eat in freaking peace. I threw with my chopsticks a piece of meat from the ramen at them with dead accuracy and the others looked at me funny and the old man just seemed offended. I just held up my hand and then turned around. I walked out of the stand and then just stared at the tree with a stance that screamed 'I know you're there just come out already'. The chalkra stirred in what seemed to be surprise and then the 2 jumped out of the tree. I tensed when I saw them because I knew who they were now and I was so going to kill Sasuke.
There standing in front of me were 2 Uchiha men. I recognized one as Sasuke's cousin Shisui Uchiha known for his body flicker technique. But even that was not fast enough to keep up with me going full speed and really trying to run. He would not stand a chance. The other was Itachi Uchiha the heir to the Uchiha clan, aka the person I kicked into the hospital with internal bleeding for a week after I kicked him in the stomach because I lost my temper. By kicking him the entire Uchiha clan hated me, but it also made the whole Hyuga clan pretty much love me because 1 took a blow to their rival clan's ego and I was friends with Hinata-chan.
They looked at me with different expressions on their pale faces. The one called Shisui had a shocked face on that was unusual for an Uchiha since they were known to be expressionless and unfeeling. But I had heard rumors that he was one of those, glass is always half full, and, strangers are just friends you don't know. But the shocked looked went away and he grinned at me. It was weird since I thought all Uchiha hated me because of what I did to their precious heir. I mean I got an ear full from Hokage-sama afterwards anyway. Then the heir himself, Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, had a blank expression as he was known for being unemotional and expressionless. They walked toward me and I walked back into the shop.
The others looked confused as I sat down and then looked back as they heard the flaps of the shop being moved to let someone entered. You could hear a pin drop as the 2 men entered and sat to the left of Sasuke. I acted calm while everybody stared from the 2 who entered to me and then back again. I just continued to eat and then Naruto followed my lead, then Sasuke, Genma, and Kakashi-sensei. Then Itachi and Shisui ordered some for themselves and we ate in silence…sort of, at least. Then all the awkwardness was broken at my expense by Genma as he said, "So on Haruno's and my way over here some girls were checking out our little boy here and if I do say so myself they were real lookers and I am quite proud of this little boy. I will have this boy getting girls in no time like myself soon enough. What do you think Kakashi?" I choked on my ramen as it went down. And Genma hit me on my back as he had a large grin on his face.
Naruto was dieing of laughter as he hit the table repeatedly trying to calm down but just bursting out laughing again, Sasuke had the Ramen halfway to his mouth and just stayed paralyzed then set it down and just sat there chuckling wildly, Shisui was laughing like Naruto but wasn't trying to hold it back I even thought I saw tears in his eyes, Itachi just turned toward me and smirked with an amused glint in his dark eyes, and Kakashi-sensei was chuckling and turned to Genma. "Now, Now Genma we don't need another you in this village and I would very much like to keep my students just the way they are. Haruno does not need to be corrupted by you at such a young age. He is fine just the way he is…but I didn't know another one of my students could charm the ladies without even trying to." I was now banging my head against the table trying to get their laughing out of my head.
"Aw, look he's embarrassed look how cute he is? I mean he looks like he wants to kill us," Shisui said between his laughing. I got out a sheet of paper and wrote on it 'FUCK YOU ALL!' and then showed it to them all. Naruto I could tell though didn't catch what it said because he reads so slowly.
"Wait! I didn't catch what it said! Show it to me again so I can know what it says," Naruto yelled at me. I then showed it to him again and he feigned hurt. I glared at him and he backed off.
"Now Haruno we are just shocked that a girl would be interested and are quite happy that somebody actually noticed you," Sasuke said in a teasing manner with an annoying smirk on his face. I then got out another sheet of paper and wrote on it vertically 'you look funny with your head turned like that' and then showed it to the side with Sasuke and Naruto on it. And not only did they turn their heads but so did Shisui and then they all turned to glare at me for doing that. But then they just started to laugh/chuckle and then the mood evaporated into comfortable silence.
We all just ate and talked/wrote to each other when we needed to. And still even though Shisui and Itachi were both now out of the bushes I still had a bad feeling like something bad was going to happen any moment now. And then it happened, Sasuke finished eating his 2nd bowl of ramen and then said, "Dobe, Haruno, Kakashi-sensei I have something to tell you and you cannot back out of it. My Kaa-chan will get very mad at you." Some of us just burst out at Sasuke calling his Okaa-san (mother/mom) Kaa-chan (mommy). He just glared at us and I motioned with my hand for him to continue but everybody could see the amusement dancing in my emerald/jade pools. "She has asked that my teammates come over for dinner tomorrow night. At 7:30 once again for her and my Otoo-san to get to know my teammates." And awkward silence was back. I noticed how all eyes turned to me, as if waiting for me to answer so that way everything would be decided that way.
I thought about it for a moment, and then got out a piece of paper and my black pen. I wrote on it 'Well it would e illogical to prolong the inevitable any longer seeing as your family would have wanted to know who was on your team. So I will go.' I then showed it to Sasuke and he breathed out a sigh of relief and Naruto instantly agreed because I was going and then Kakashi-sensei agreed but we all knew he would get there late. Then the bad feeling just seemed to disappear and I had to admit I was really nervous about this, but I would grin and bear it.
After that we all just stayed and ate ramen for the next hour just talking/writing with each other and I decided as long as I had Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, Shisui, and Itachi with me during the meal I would be just fine.
When we finished dinner Genma immediately split to 'pick up some hot chick at a bar to screw for the night' and I nearly gagged. Kakashi-sensei just 'poofed' away as soon as dinner was done. Naruto left when we got to his stop and I continued to walk with Sasuke, Shisui, and Itachi until I got to the path that would be the quickest in taking me back to me place. I high-fives Sasuke, and Shisui hugged me tightly like a little kid. When I got to Itachi I held out my hand and he took it, I slid something into his palm and then I let got of his hand. I waved to them and walked in the direction to my home. I hoped he took what I wrote to heart it was 2 simple words that I hoped would convey everything they were 'I'm sorry' and I really did mean them.
When I got home I quickly fed my Zanpakto and then made my way to bed. I got changed into a pair of black short-shorts and a white tank-top that had on it a picture of a chibi wolf. I then went to bed dreading what tomorrow would hold in store for me.
The next day at Training…Sakura's POV
We were training today, working on our taijutsu but since I wasn't really helping the boys learn when I sparred with them Kakashi-sensei told me to just sit out. I was enjoying having my hood down and enjoying the sun on my skin. I was wearing the same hoodie and bandana as yesterday but wearing a pair of black ninja pants, my normal gloves, and my black ninja sandals. I truly was enjoying the sun but I was getting bored just staying here so I got up and told the others I was going to go for a run around the village walls to exercise.
I pulled on my hoodie, my black ray-bands, and my bandana but left my jacket open exposing my deep red wife beater. I started to run towards the village gates and then began my laps, they were pretty easy seeing as how I wasn't going my full speed, but it was better than nothing. I then pulled out my I-pod and put on the song 'Clap Your Hands' by 2NE1. I began to run faster and faster to the music and I didn't even know it. Soon enough I would jump and swing from the trees then go back to the ground just to have a little more fun. Most of the moves I was pulling in the trees when I would jump into their branches were pretty advanced and showed off my flexibility and grace as I dodged the branches and then went back onto the ground. I then closed my eyes while doing the same thing, letting my senses branch out and sense the things around me.
After 10 minutes of doing this I felt a rapidly approaching person. They seemed to be trying to catch up to me and they seemed familiar…their chalkra was very bright and energetic and seemed to get on peoples nerves when you were trying to relax…it reminded me of someone but who, then it click Maito Gai.
Oh, this was just great, okay Sakura just stay calm and ignore him. Maybe he will just go away. He was a nice guy nobody could deny that but just to…something that made him a turn off to most people. Maybe it was the clothes since nobody wanted to see that, maybe it was how he always ranted about youth, maybe it was his need to always be yelling. Or maybe it was a combination of all three that made you want to impale his head on a stick and then bury said stick under the ground. And now he was besides me trying to get me to notice him.
Well he wasn't the most patient person I the world and said/yelled, "Hello Haruno-Kun how are you on this youthful day! I see you are doing so very youthful exercises today! Oh, how youthful the youth are…but Haruno-kun what happened to the training outfit I gave you as a boy! They are one size fits all! I also see that you are a genin now, but who is your sensei?" Well, shit this was bad I had to say something about that outfit, and I couldn't really say that Kurenai-nee did it because she didn't and if I did I would be throwing her under the bus. I got out my pencil and paper and wrote down something that would distract him from the whole outfit ordeal. 'My sensei is Kakashi Hatake' I knew that would rile him up and it definitely did because the next thing I knew Gai said, "That un-youthful man is your sensei! Haruno-kun if you ever feel like it you can just transfer over to my youthful team. Kakashi is not good for the youth's developments in life! But please I would like it very much if you met my youthful team and encourages them to be more youthful like yourself!" The next thing I knew I was being dragged towards Gai's team training grounds where 3 kids sat. I recognized one as Neji Hyuga, Hinata-Chan's cousin, the other two I didn't recognize but what made me uneasy is the mini-Gai sitting with them. It nearly made me shiver at the thought of another Gain.
"Youthful students of mine would like to introduce you to the youthful friend of mine Haruno-kun! Haruno-kun this is my team of youthful students Ten-Ten-chan, out weapons mistress, Neji-kun a smart and sensible young lad, and my STAR pupil Rock Lee!" Gai yelled and my ears nearly exploded from the sound of it. I nodded my head in acknowledgment and Neji and Ten-Ten returned it. Lee though was a whole other story. He looked at me and then stood up quickly and began blathering about youth and how I should battle with him in the name of youth and some other stuff that I really didn't care about. But the next thing I knew Gai had said something that made me want to die, "What a splendid idea youthful student of me, Haruno-kun here and you Lee can have a little challenge. And the winner can get the point and the point will go to the sensei seeing as how Kakashi and I are eternal rivals." KILL. ME. NOW. I was really thinking of running away from all or this but I was raised in an honorable way of fighting and it would be good to release some steam now before the dinner I had to go to tonight. I just nodded my head and the green clad boy ran towards an open field and I followed at a much more sedate pace. When I finally faced him he was already down in a fighting crouch. And if I knew anything about Gai then he would definitely pass downs his speed to his star pupil.
I got into a fighting crouch as well and I had to say the boy's stance was better than I would have expected it to be. Then he started to run at a high speed and I just stood there waiting for him to attack. At his speed, most wouldn't be able to see him but I was faster than him so it was an easy and simple thing to do. Then he came at me from the right ad right as his foot was an inch from my face I caught it. He looked surprised; I then twisted his ankle at a sharp degree and then twisted his whole body with it. He fell flat on the ground and I could tell he would have a sprain in his ankle. He then got up with a slight lime and then tried to come at me with a rapid series or punches and kicks to my abdomen and head. I dodged all with grace and ease and then disappeared using my full speed. I then appeared behind him and used a low sweeping kick to his ankles to make him unstable. But just as he was about to crash into the ground his hands came out and he caught himself. He then pushed up on his hands hard and then did a back flip in the air. I watched it all and saw that he was going to try to drive his heel into my shoulder. And just as I predicted he came out of his flip with his leg raised ready to kick. But I caught his ankle and threw him into a tree. He was knocked unconscious and the girl of his team, Ten-Ten, ran over to him with worry on his face along with Gai. Neji followed but was walking and glaring at me. I then went over to them and they were trying to tell me to go away but I just grabbed Lee and hauled him out of the tree and then set him on the ground in front of me. I let my hands come out over his wounds and pushed in healing chalkra/spiritual pressure into it and they started to close up quickly. I then put my fingers on his temple and did the same thing and he woke up.
He got up slowly with my help and was soon standing up on his own and looked at me with a new fire in his eyes. "Yosh! Oh, how humiliating of me to lose, but I will win next time oh new rival of mine!" I smirked underneath my mask and then pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. I then wrote something on the paper that I knew would help. 'It is never a loss, you can only truly lose if you don't learn anything or if you don't try to improve yourself and just give up.' I then tore the page out and then gave it to him. The other read it over Lee's shoulder and I noticed that it was getting late and would have to leave to get to the dinner the Uchiha's were having for Sasuke's team. I looked back to them and Ten-Ten was smiling a small smile at me, Lee and Gai both were doing their signature pose, and Neji just smirked at me. I then nodded to them all and then made another note saying that I had to go. I then left the way that I went and pulled out my I-pod again. I put on the song 'I've gotta be me' (A/n Glee cast version is amazing) and them made my way back to my teams training grounds. They were all their waiting for me and packing up their stuff.
I went over to the tree that had my stuff at its base and then slung it over my shoulder and pulled out one of my head phones. I waited for Sasuke to calm down and then made my way over. Naruto then said, "Are we going to go to this dinner or are we just going to just stand here all day?" I nodded to Sasuke and he began to lead the way to the Uchiha district in town. Kakashi-sensei had disappeared after saying something about him having to save a cat in a tree. When we finally got to the gate the guards let us in but not before glaring at me and giving me a warning about doing anything. I didn't care though and just brushed them off easily. But as we walked and I got glared at more and more I got even more nervous. Sasuke had said that his 'Kaa-chan' would be perfectly kind and nice to me and since his brother and cousin already liked me and forgave me that all I had to do was not anger his father. Fun.
When we arrived at the door I took off my shoes just like Naruto and Sasuke and then followed Sasuke through the grand house. When we came to the kitchen there were 3 people in it, Itachi, Shisui, and who I believed was Sasuke's mother, Mikoto Uchiha. She was very beautiful with raven black hair that was long and straight. Her eyes were the same color as any other Uchiha, deep coal black. Shisui and Itachi were the first ones to notice our entry. Shisui grinned widely at us and hugged us all while Itachi just nodded his head and gave a small smirk which I took as a smile. I nodded my head to them and then I turned to Mikoto who was looking at me with a small smile. I bowed deeply to her in respect to her; she was a great ninja and the lady of the Uchiha clan. She commanded respect from all, and when Naruto wasn't bowing I forced his had down to bow to her. I looked up and Mikoto was giggling at us, I tilted my head to the left and she stopped and smiled warmly towards Naruto and I. Sasuke then introduced us, "Kaa-chan these are my teammates the Dobe, Uzumaki Naruto, and my other teammate, Haruno. Kakashi-sensei sneaked off to 'save a cat' and hasn't returned so I don't think he will be joining us tonight."
Mikoto then started to greet us and said, "Hello Naruto and Haruno, I am Mikoto Uchiha it is a pleasure to meet you. Sasuke-chan has said some things about you and I'm sorry that we could not meet sooner. And I believe that I should give you an apology from all of the Uchiha, I forgive you and understand that my boys may be a can be hard to handle every now and then. Beside if you didn't then Itachi-chan would have never have pushed himself to become even stronger and now can handle anything. So I should be thanking you." She then bowed to Naruto and then me. But I got a piece of paper out of my pocket and then wrote on it 'Please Uchiha-san it was nothing really. I just lost control of my temper and I deserve no thanks. Itachi may have chosen to become stronger but it was not something I was thinking about at the time.' I then gave her the note and she read it, smiled and then put it in her pocket.
"Well, Fugaku should be out of his meeting with the elders soon so why don't you all go out into the living room neat the fire and the boys can go get you something to drink." With that she turned back to the food she was preparing and Sasuke, Itachi, and Shisui led us out to the main living room to the fire. Sasuke got Naruto a glass of coke and me a glass of water. We all sat by the fire with Naruto and Sasuke fighting about who truly won the spar that they were doing earlier that day and Itachi was being annoyed by Shisui. I had to say it was going to be a very entertaining evening and then I sensed a male approach us from the front hallway and I stiffened. Shisui and Itachi noticed as well and looked at me with sympathy in their eyes so I knew Fugaku Uchiha was going to be a totally different story from his wife.
Then I felt the man approach me from behind and cleared his throat loudly and Sasuke nearly jumped at it. I stood up from my seat and then turned to face him as he looked directly at me and glared with so much hate that it could melt metal. Thank fully I was used to the look from the members of the Kuchiki clan so it was perfectly fine with me. I just bowed to the Uchiha clan head and then raised myself slowly and put out my hand for him to shake. He seemed to sneer at my hand but took it anyway in a firm and threatening grip and I just returned it with my own. I would not back down from this man. He would only get cockier and his ego would shoot through the roof and I knew that was the last thing this man needed. He just nodded to me and we released each others hand at the same time. He sniffed at me and turned towards Itachi. He started to lecture Itachi about his training schedule, and the way he talked about it made me believe that he thought that this schedule was impossible for someone like me and that Itachi was already stronger than me. But he was wrong the things he talked about I had mastered and done before I was 8.
Finally after an hour of tense moments of being in the same room as that pompous man Mikoto came out and told us that dinner was ready. At the smell Naruto jumped for the food but I held him by the back of his collar so that there would still be food when everybody else got there. I let the others walk ahead of us and Naruto and I walked with Sasuke. When we sat down I kept Naruto's hands firmly in the grip of one of mine. When the others had filled their plates they looked at me and Naruto strangely and at his look and me holding him back Sasuke just shook his head, Shisui and Itachi chuckled, and Mikoto giggled. I then took a small amount of food that would fill me with my free hand and then released Naruto. And look, I was right he fell on the food like a starved bear after hibernation was over. It was actually quite funny and I thought I saw Fugaku nearly chuckle/smile at the picture of Naruto. I just shook my head exasperatedly at him and this seemed to make everybody else amused.
While we were all eating Fugaku would ask me questions and then I would write down the answers. It seemed more like an interrogation than anything else but as time went on he started to just talk with me and I would listen and so he was warming up to me it seemed. I had to say he wasn't that bad and as dinner continued on we all fell into a comfortable silence. Well Naruto was inhaling all the food and every now and then I would hit him over the head for his lack of table manners. I was listening to some of the things the Uchiha's were talking about-mainly about missions and training-and I heard a beat from music. It was faint but we all heard it, I looked at Sasuke and the other Uchiha's and they shrugged and then I turned to Naruto and saw him with my headphones inside of his ears. He had his eyes closed and the music was blasting, he was mouthing the words and I just shook my head and the others smiles/smirked. Naruto had finished most of the food earlier and had been talking for a while but then he just seemed to stop talking because he was hungry again and didn't want to reveal his 'super-secret' training strategy to Sasuke.
I tapped his shoulder just as his head was going back and his eyes snapped open and he jerked backwards. He fell on the hard-woods floors and cradled his head and I snatched my I-pod back from him. I looked to see the song that Clytemnestra and I sang playing 'I feel pretty/ unpretty' (Glee!). My head dropped and Sasuke noticed along with the others and Naruto noticed as well when he got back up. Naruto decided to ask what was wrong and said, "Haruno what's wrong? I'm sorry for stealing your I-pod but I was getting a little bored and didn't want to reveal my secret training method to Sasuke-teme!" I just shook my head and then got out a piece of paper and wrote on it 'my little sister Clytemnestra sang this with my twin Sakura' and then handed it to Naruto. He read the note and then he looked shocked. He passed the note on to Sasuke and then Mikoto, Shisui, Itachi, and then Fugaku. They looked shocked for a second at the mention of me having a sister.
"Haruno-kun you had a twin sister and a little sister?" Mikoto asked me politely. I just nodded my head slowly; this was the song that I always hated to listen to because it brought back another reason why it was my fault that Clytemnestra had died and that she was dead and we would never sing together again. "Oh, what happened?" I got out a piece of paper and wrote on it, "my little sister died and it's my entire fault' I then passed it to her and the others who didn't know what happened read the note. Mikoto looked shocked that I would think that the death of my little sister was my entire fault. But it was, though they didn't show it the other 3 men seemed shocked as well. I unplugged the song and let the music flood the room of the song that I and Clytemnestra and I sang together. She sang the 'unpretty' part and I sang the 'pretty' part. I lulled my head back and let the music ink in and then just closed my eyes.
Another person new a part of my past, sure the Uchiha's knew I had a little sister but for them to find out this way was just depressing me because of the song playing in the room. But thankfully they thought Sakura was just my twin sister and not me. When really Clytemnestra was my little twin sister. It nearly made me cry to remember what had happened that day in the woods with the hollow. When the song finished I turned off my I-pod and saw that Mikoto was near crying at my past. I just ate a little more and then I wrote that I had to get home and that I had a good evening and then left. I ran and ran at my top speed and then when I got home in the privacy of my room I cried. I cried once again and let sleep over take me. And when I was finally asleep I still kept on crying and the only sounds I could hear were my broken sobs and the soothing words of my zanpaktos as they tried to help me. My last thought was this crazy Return and the Uchiha Family.a