o Dedicated to Dancing Feather for the awesome review left on this story. It's nice to hear why someone likes a story everyonce in a while.

Shouldn't Feel Like Home
Part 11 - Miss

I stood out by the closest lake to the base. The sun was setting over the edge of it. For the first time in a long time, I felt kinda melancholy. Parts of me struggled to admit that I missed my old team. Kakashi, Sakura…even Naruto. But at the same time, I looked back to see my new familiar. Guilt washed over me.

"Sasuke, what's with the depressing aura?" The silver haired medic I had come to be acquainted with over the previous six months gave me a questioning look.

"You wouldn't get it."

"You've said that about every conversation we've gotten into. According to you: I didn't understand needing to be strong, I didn't understand feeling inferior, I didn't understand missing home, I didn't understand growing up and growing a pair…"

"Okay, Kabuto….Geeze, you talk too fucking much." I sighed.

"Testy testy~." He taunted me again. Over all that time I had thought I would grow immune to it, and partially I was, but he had new nerves to strike every day. I might have believed him to be the most powerful being in existence if his ability to play mind games was transferred into pure chakra. "You miss that village don't you?" His voice echoed over the empty clearing.

I closed my eyes and sat on smooth rock, jutting from the edge of the lake bed. "A little bit. Here and there."

"Looks like confusion more than anything." He stated, walking up next to me, picking up a stone.

"Oh? Explain?"

He held the polished rock up and looked at it. "You miss the Leaf Village, and the people there, but it's not like you really hate it here. No, we're not the most entertainment driven society out there, but we keep busy enough. Orochimaru-sama trains you better than anyone in Konoha would have too."

"Eventually I will surpass Orochimaru…"

"Than will you go back to Konoha?" The glare of his glasses partially hid his eyes from my view. But that didn't matter. It never did. I learned long ago that he couldn't be read by expressions. Reading him was a lot more complicated.

"No. Probably not. I have a brother to kill…and another reason." I passed off the same nonchalance he's used to targeting me with. I smiled as he asked my other reason. He had finally given me the set up I needed to finally surprise him for the change.

"If I left you alone, you'd probably mutate a second head before poisoning yourself to death. Someone has to be risk management." I looked at him with a smirk.

He blinked at me, his actual reaction breaking through his mask for a brief moment. It may not have been the teasing, bickering, humiliatingly devastating defeat he handed me frequently; but it was more than enough for me.

To Be Continued…