Not Sick Ch 10
Ten Days
The darkness didn't disappear when Sasuke woke up.
If anything, it only grew deeper.
He couldn't see.
The reality of his loss (his blindness) suddenly sunk in. He was completely helpless; disoriented, blind, and prone.
He didn't panic. Uchiha never panicked. Nevertheless, he felt his blood pounding in his head for a moment, the clarity of his pulse astounding in the emptiness that he found himself stranded in.
It took a moment for him to reassert control.
'My eyes shall become yours.'
Itachi. His brother. Shared eyes.
Sasuke slumped, his whole body relaxing. If Itachi was telling the truth, this darkness was only temporary. It would be replaced by the kind of power that he could only dream of. The Mangekyō, without its blindness… or the madness Itachi had spoken of.
And if his brother was lying, then there was nothing he could do about it anyway. He'd be right back where he had been before their fight, sans eyes.
For now, all he could do was-
There was a subdued noise: the sound of someone minutely shifting their stance. Sasuke's head snapped towards it. It took him a second to realise the motion was pointless.
He didn't speak. Neither did the other person in the room.
That didn't matter. Sasuke knew who it would be anyway.
Who else could it be?
But he didn't speak. Didn't acknowledge the blonde who he knew was patiently waiting by the side of his bed.
Maybe if he ignored him for long enough he would leave.
Sasuke doubted it.
The silence quickly became interminable. There was nothing in the world except the sound of his breathing, the rustling of cloth, and the flickering of a light overhead.
Naruto, as always, broke it first. Sasuke's darkness remained, but now it seemed undeniably familiar as Naruto's voice echoed within it.
"Hey."
He hadn't expected anything less.
Sasuke didn't respond.
Naruto waited for a moment, before continuing.
"I know you're awake, Sasuke."
The blind Uchiha still didn't bother to respond. What was there to say?
He heard a snort. "Fine. If you're going to be that way." There was a pause, and more rustling. Naruto was scratching something. "Your brother was just here."
Sasuke continued to do his best to will himself back into unconsciousness. He didn't want to talk to his former teammate right now.
Or ever again, really: that bond was severed. Repairing it (even if it could be done) would be pointless.
"He said he was going to talk to you. Figures he'd use genjutsu to do it, though."
Unconsciously, Sasuke found himself stiffening slightly. How had he known-
Naruto sighed. "I'm not stupid, Sasuke. He poked you, and then popped a couple minutes later. What else could he have been doing?"
Sasuke relaxed again. He heard something outside his room: a muffled groan.
"Oh," Naruto said, sounding unconcerned. "Looks like the ANBU are finally waking up."
He took a deep breath and let it out in an aborted chuckle. "Your brother's really something, huh Sasuke?"
To that, Sasuke finally deigned to respond. Playing dead clearly wasn't working.
"Hn."
The monosyllable managed to convey a small essay's worth of information on what Sasuke thought of his brother.
He could feel Naruto's smile. "Yeah. Thought so."
Sasuke didn't think he'd ever hated his brother as much as he did his former teammate right at that moment. How did he manage to get under his skin so well? It had been less than a minute!
"You know, I came in here to talk to you," Naruto said, unconcerned with the outwardly calm Uchiha laid out in front of him. "But it was almost easier when you were asleep."
He pondered for a moment. Sasuke tried not to think about the fact that he knew what Naruto pondering sounded like. An audible gap in his speech: when he'd just been out of the academy, there'd been a "hmm" accompanying it.
"Nah. It was easier when you were asleep," Naruto concluded.
Sasuke didn't grace that with a response. But he did shift his head slightly against the pillow.
It was too coarse. Not that he was picky when it came to what he slept on.
"It doesn't matter right now, I guess," the blonde said. "I just came to say I was glad you were back anyway. And that I was leaving."
Naruto remained silent after that. "So I guess I'll see you later. When I get back-"
"Why?"
Naruto paused. Sasuke couldn't tell what kind of silence it was: disbelieving, or contemplative.
He didn't ask. After what seemed like an hour, Naruto spoke.
"Why what?" He actually sounded curious.
"Why-" 'are you glad I'm back, idiot: the last time I saw you I try to kill you' "are you leaving?"
He heard Naruto shrug: arms brushing against the side of his jacket. "You were unconscious for a lot of it. But after Itachi took you away, there was a pretty big fight."
That's right. There had been someone; with a deep voice, standing above him. And then Itachi had taken him… somewhere. He hadn't been able to tell, blind and drugged as he was.
Naruto continued talking. "Everyone came out okay, but some of us got pretty messed up. The leader of the Akatsuki was there. He would have gotten me if it weren't for Itachi."
"And?"
"I need to get stronger. So that next time he comes for me, I can keep anyone from getting hurt."
'But not for revenge?'
"So I'm leaving. For Sage training. I don't know when I'll be back. But when I do…"
Naruto's hands pounded together, the sound harsh and loud to Sasuke's starved senses. "I'll definitely be stronger. Maybe even stronger than you."
Three years ago, Sasuke would have known exactly what to say to that.
'In your dreams, dobe.'
But now, the words didn't come to him. Didn't spring automatically from his lips, as they would have. Should have.
He was glad. Maybe he actually was free from Naruto after all.
"Hn."
Sasuke froze.
Why had he said that?
Why had he-
Naruto laughed. "Yeah. But you'll see." Sasuke heard him take a step back. "I'm going now. Gonna make sure that Juugo hasn't freaked out too much."
Sasuke shifted. Juugo was here as well? Why?
Had he followed him?
Of course he had. For whatever reason, Juugo needed to be around him.
"I'll see you, Sasuke."
The Uchiha didn't respond. He was still trying to figure out why ever had in the first place, moments ago.
He heard Naruto leave the room.
And once more, he was alone in the dark, with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.
And despite Sasuke's placid expression, despite his seemingly apathetic stillness, he had plenty of company.
"You made a mistake."
It had been only a day since Itachi's return to Konoha, and Tsunade once more found herself in her office, having a conversation she wasn't especially enjoying.
Danzō shifted in his chair, hunching farther forward on his cane. He frowned severely, his whole face crumpling with the motion.
"The Uchiha-" he said, his voice uncompromising.
Tsunade cut him off with a single raised eyebrow: an eyebrow that very clearly said, "I will punch you out of this office if you talk back."
It would truly be a shame if she had to ruin the pleasant, sunny day outside with a rain of bandaged geriatrics and broken glass.
Danzō's frown only grew darker, but he subsided, leaning back and sitting straight up in the chair. He gave away no sign of what was going through his head. His breathing was even; his eye still.
Tsunade had no idea what he was thinking. But she could guess.
"The Uchiha are another issue altogether," she continued, steepling her fingers. "You did what you felt you had to. The fact that you were likely wrong to do so doesn't change that. Taking action against shinobi intending to assassinate the Hokage is hardly treasonous, after all."
Danzō didn't even pretend to relax, which didn't stop Tsunade's expression from flattening out, or her from leveling a truly terrifying glare at the aging man.
"But," she growled, "However much you thought it was justified, ordering the slaughter of the Uchiha wholesale was hardly rational. Why only keep Sasuke? Surely there were some Uchiha who were unaware of the coup."
Danzō remained as still as a statue, his eye closed.
Tsunade leaned back and crossed her arms, unimpressed. "I think I know why. The Uchiha may have been planning a coup: it hardly matters now anyway. But it was a convenient excuse."
Her eyes narrowed. "I think you wanted the Sharingan, Danzō."
The elder man finally responded. "And you don't think that such a doujutsu would be better kept in my hands than in the hands of unstable traitors?"
Tsunade chuckled. "That wouldn't be your decision to make. That would have been Sarutobi-sensei's."
She bent forward with a glacial smile. "You have always claimed that you live for the village, Danzō: that no matter how suspect your actions seem, you are trying to help Konoha."
"Whatever I do, I do for the good of the Leaf," Danzō rasped.
Tsunade didn't chuckle. She laughed.
And then, with a wide grin that revealed her shining teeth, she spoke.
"You see?" she said, a predatory look worming its way into her eyes. "Right on cue."
The Hokage leaned back again. "But now… I don't think you've been helping the Leaf. I don't think you had the Uchiha killed with the good of Konoha in mind."
Danzō stood up, trembling. "How dare you," he hissed. Tsunade cocked her head. "You, who abandoned the village in its hour of need. Who only came back at the whim of a boy who had no right to be anything beyond a weapon for this village: a weapon that Sarutobi allowed to rust beyond all usefulness," he continued, his voice striking like a snake on every syllable.
His hand tightened on his cane, the wood audibly creaking. "How dare you make such accusations? I have been with Konoha since nearly the beginning. I fought along the Nidaime; I watched him ensure that the Leaf would survive long enough for its next generation to bloom. I stayed in its shadow, content to be the roots of the mighty tree that Konoha has become," he spat, his visible eye wide.
"I have spent the last fifty years ensuring that that tree remains tall: remains healthy. If I must prune some of its branches to ensure that, who are you to say-"
"That you were selfish?" Tsunade interrupted, and Danzō froze, staring down at her. She glared back up at him, unwilling to show anything but derision.
"Selfish-" he said, with a mocking tone in his voice, before Tsunade cut him off once more, crushing his counterpoint like she would a brick wall with a finger.
"Yes. Selfish." The Hokage stood up. Internally, she had briefly debated doing so: staying seated would have made her look more in control of the situation.
Unfortunately, the man in front of her was simply too infuriating for her to do so.
Tsunade kicked her chair back, and began slowly walking around her desk. Danzō remained unmoved.
"You didn't want the Sharingan for the good of the village. You wanted it for yourself," she said, barely keeping her voice from transforming into a snarl.
"The village-" Danzō said, his tone patient.
Patient.
Tsunade snapped.
"No," she hissed. Danzō's eye went wide, and his mouth closed abruptly.
"There have been no Root agents with Sharingan implants distributed into the ANBU. There have been no academy students losing fragments of their life and waking up the next day with oddly perceptive eyes."
"The Sharingan is hardly so easy to implant," Danzo muttered. "And even if I had, the Uchiha boy-"
"You didn't even try," Tsunade growled.
She finally finished rounding the desk. Her hands were curling and uncurling into fists.
Danzō, steadily gazing at her, still refused to take a single step back.
"You made no attempt to make the village stronger, Yami of Konoha," the Hokage said bitingly. "There have been no offers of replacement surgery for blinded shinobi."
Tsunade reached Danzō. "There have been no mysterious donations."
She buried a finger in his chest. The stoic man flinched: not at the contact, but because the force of Tsunade's poke could easily be equated to being stabbed with a blunt kunai.
"You have hoarded the power of the Uchiha. You have not shared it with the village. Instead of strengthening Konoha, you have empowered yourself." Her hand slipped up, moving towards the bandages adorning his face.
Danzō stiffened, attempting to raise his own hand to intercept hers… and found that he couldn't move.
He blinked, thinking frantically.
'That poke,' he realised belatedly, staring at Tsunade in startled resignation. 'She did something to my nervous system. I can't-'
Tsunade's hand reached the bandages over Danzō's right eye, and then harshly tore them back.
A Sharingan glared out, its tomoe whirling. The pale flesh surrounding it only accented the blood-red iris. It darted, lightning quick, and focused on Tsunade, who glared back at it.
"Itachi told me what your Sharingan could do, Danzō," she said with deadly seriousness. "What the Sharingan of Shisui of the Body Flicker is capable of."
Her gaze didn't waver, and Danzō stared back, the tiniest bead of sweat forming on the back of his neck.
He had underestimated her.
"So tell me…" the Hokage said, her lips drawing back and revealing teeth. "Would it be for the 'good of the village' to use it on me?"
Danzō didn't dare move.
Didn't dare answer.
From this distance, Tsunade would be able to sense any use of his Sharingan, even if the eye gave away no visual cue of its activation. Which it certainly would.
And as soon as she sensed or saw any evidence of genjutsu use, she would be able kill him in at least a dozen different ways… none of which he'd be able to counter without resorting to the Izanagi. Her strength and medical jutsu simply made her far too lethal up close.
And even if he did utilize his Sharingan's gift to escape death, doing so would simply raise more questions.
Questions that Danzō would not be willing to answer.
How would the Hokage react if she knew that her grandfather's own cells were implanted in his arm?
The bandaged man winced at the thought, and Tsunade's eyes narrowed.
"I'm going to offer you a deal, Danzō," she said quietly, her hand still uncomfortably close to his face. The older man nodded slowly, outwardly calm.
"You will check into the hospital tomorrow. Nothing serious: you've just been bothered by a rather persistent cough, and want to make sure you'll be able to remain fit for duty, just in case." The blonde's lips turned up slightly into something that could, should the definition loosen enough, perhaps be called a smile.
"I will remove Shisui Uchiha's Sharingan."
Danzō took in a deep breath through his nose, but didn't interrupt. He could see Tsunade's hand in the corner of his Sharingan's vision: the ghost image, brought about by minute muscle twitches, of it plunging forward into his temple was deeply unsettling.
"Once Itachi returns, I will pass it off to him: I'm sure he'll find a use for it. You will also release to me all the Sharingan you no doubt have stored away. I don't know why you haven't seen fit to release them to the Village, but that will end tomorrow."
Danzō resisted the urge to grit his teeth. He'd never thought things would go wrong so quickly.
Who could have imagined Itachi's brief return would have led to this?
"You will agree to this."
"Tsunade," he carefully rasped. "You are making a mistake. Trusting that boy-"
"You seemed to have no problem with trusting him with the death of his family, Danzō. You will agree to this, or I will remove it now," Tsunade growled. Danzō's eye went wide, and he instinctively flinched back slightly.
Tsunade's hand darted forward, forming a claw around his eye.
There was a potent silence.
"Choose, Danzō," the Hokage said quietly. "Anesthetics, or none. Prove yourself a true servant of the leaf… or expose yourself as a traitor."
The Yami of Konoha stared at her, stock-still.
"You really believe that the Sharingan will do more good for Konoha in the hands of Itachi?" he asked. His voice wasn't incredulous: that would be an exaggeration. But he clearly found the idea ridiculous.
Tsunade didn't back down. Her amber eyes were clear, and her hand was rock-steady. "I believe it will do more good in his hands than yours, yes. You're not even an active shinobi, Danzō. How long has it been since you left the village? Five years? Six?"
As was his habit, Danzō didn't answer. He merely stared at her.
"This is not a matter of the Uchiha anymore, Danzo," Tsunade said. "This is about the strength of the village. Strength you have denied it."
She shook her head slightly.
"No more games. Choose."
If the silence a minute before had been potent, this one was cloying.
Unusually, Danzō was the one to break it.
"I have never been…" he said quietly, "nor will I ever be, a traitor to Konoha." He sighed. "If you truly believe this is for the best, Tsunade, I will comply."
Tsunade made to back away. Danzō stopped her.
"However."
Her gaze snapped back to him, and he stared at her with flat eyes.
"Know that I will not forget this, Hokage-sama," he murmured venomously, and then turned and left the room without another word, readjusting his bandages as he did.
Tsunade wordlessly watched him go, trying to ignore the sudden cold feeling in her gut.
"Did you hear about Sasuke?"
The boy in eye-searing green spandex relaxed slightly, lowering his raised right hand infinitesimally.
"I have heard he has returned to the village several days ago," he said formally. "But I have not heard much else."
His opponent, a teenage girl wearing red pants with far too many pockets, a plain white vest, and an oversized green scroll which strapped to her back, continued to circle him.
"Did you know that he came back blind?" she asked, eyes darting over the boy's stance, looking for an opening.
Rock Lee lowered his arm even farther, his impressive eyebrows rising. "I did not!" he said, shocked. "How could Sasuke have lost his-"
Tenten moved.
Her hands blurred out, and over a dozen shuriken whipped towards her teammate; four sets of three, set at various heights and angles.
Another pair went out as well, but these two were wrapped in steel wire, guided by the ring and middle finger of Tenten's left hand. They whirled forward, their flight path almost completely unpredictable.
Lee's wide black eyes went even wider, and he darted out, striking nine of the shuriken out of the air with lightning-fast punches. Another set of three buried themselves in his leg, stopping with a clang as they hit the weights there.
He raised the limb high, carrying the embedded shuriken with it, and stomped down hard on the pair of guided stars, burying them deep in the ground.
The steel string jerked forward, but Tenten didn't fight the momentum. Instead, she let herself fall forward, moving into a roll. There was a puff of smoke, and when she came to her feet about a meter in front of a shocked Lee, she brought an extra-long tanto with her, swinging it in a diagonal upward strike.
"Tenten!" Lee exclaimed, pulling his head back slightly. The blade whistled through his hair vertically: the upended bowl that masqueraded as a haircut didn't look any worse for it. "Trying to distract me?!"
He struck out, an elbow aimed for Tenten's temple, and the smaller girl brought up her own elbow and switched the grip on her blade, bringing it down in front of her face to block the hit.
Lee's elbow struck the steel, but Tenten's forearm, pressed against the other side, prevented the blow from budging the short sword.
But as usual, Lee was faster. Even as Tenten blocked his elbow strike, he dropped and swept his foot out, taking her from her feet.
"How unyouthful!" he exclaimed as she hit the ground and rolled away, her breath leaving her in a single audible "whoof".
There was a hissing. Lee looked down, and found dozens of small white tags covering the ground around him.
He didn't allow himself to be shocked. He just jumped.
Lee's leap carried in an easy forty feet into the air, far out of the range of the considerable explosion which engulfed the patch of grass he'd been standing on.
But even forty feet in the air, he could still easily hear the booming voice of his mentor.
"Wrong, Lee!" Maito Gai yelled, striking a familiar pose and smiling at Tenten, who had rolled back to her feet and was spooling out more and more of her weapon scroll.
Neji Hyuuga, standing next to his teacher with his buttoned-up robe flowing slightly in the wind, just crossed his arms and lowered his head, sighing.
"Tenten is merely making the best of her arsenal!" Gai grinned, the sight blinding. "She knows that she is not able to move quickly enough to take you by surprise: and so, she distracted you beforehand, so that she could make the first move of the battle!"
The Hyuuga began to slowly inch away, his feet imperceptibly shuffling towards the edge of the training field.
The light emanating from Gai's teeth (though, considering that they could probably illuminate a small amphitheater, calling them 'teeth' was looking more and more erroneous), intensified. He seized Neji in an incredibly enthusiastic combination of a hug and a headlock, his other hand audibly tightening into a solid fist.
"She is acting as a true shinobi! Deception, subtlety! Such things are the HEART of youth!" Neji closed his eyes tightly as his air was cut off, murmuring something that Tenten could barely hear.
She rolled her eyes.
Tenten could feel Lee's tears falling on her, even as he descended from the sky, his leg raised for an earth-shattering axe-kick.
"Of course, Gai-Sensei!" he wept. His hands were occupied: they were busy writing his sensei's words down in a small green notebook. "How could I forget such truths!?"
Tenten looked up, considering. If she blocked Lee's kick, then he would be vulnerable for a moment in the air.
Then again, Tenten doubted she had anything in her scroll that could block Lee's kick.
Decision made, she jumped back, pulling out an oversized kunai with a long chain run through the handle and a large, dual-edged scythe.
Lee hit the ground a moment later, and Tenten nearly lost her footing.
Saying the field exploded would be a fair description of the havoc Lee's kick wreaked on it. For ten feet around the boy with a terrible haircut, the earth cracked, dirt and grass thrown about in a youthful detonation.
Tenten blinked. Lee emerged from the rubble, whirling like a top. The orange of his leg warmers seemed to form a continuous circle around him; a bright ring that promised concussions to anything that entered it.
The weapon expert cast the oversized kunai out, the chain trailing behind it, and ducked. She spun the double-bladed scythe over her head in a protective motion as she did. If she was going to lose this spar, it would be because one of Lee's kicks had connected: she had to do everything in her power to keep that from happening.
The chain hit Lee's leg and wrapped around it, but the boy kept coming, and Tenten skipped back, one of her hands coming up with its index and middle finger extended.
She concentrated, her forehead wrinkling, and her chakra surged.
The chain cast about Lee's leg didn't outwardly change in any way. It didn't glow, or explode in a puff of smoke, or any of the other things that often signified the activity of chakra.
Nevertheless, Lee's whirling kick suddenly came to a painful stop as he was thrown to the ground, hitting hard enough to leave a dent in the field and rolling, his motion not even close to being spent.
Neji blinked, and subtly activated his Byakugan.
He snorted.
Gai, having released his stoic student after Lee had returned from his short flight, turned his head towards the Hyuuga with a questioning look.
"It's a chakra weight," the Hyuuga explained, his hard voice carrying an unmistakable note of amusement.
Gai grinned and snapped his fingers. He turned back out towards the field, bringing his hands up to cup his mouth.
"Tenten!" he boomed. "You grow more and more resourceful every day!"
She shot a smile at her teacher and teammate, before refocusing on Lee, who was slowly rising, completely unable to lift his right leg. He made it to a knee, and then found himself unable to go any farther.
"Are you going to give up, Lee?" she asked, striding forward. She hefted the scythe in her hand, swinging it idly.
"Tenten!" Lee yelled, incensed. "I will never give up! Do not say such things!"
Tenten loomed over him, resting the scythe on her shoulder. She kept far enough away that he couldn't reach out and grab her: with his leg pinned to the ground, his range was severely constricted.
"Really?" she asked. "Even when you don't have a choice?"
Lee looked up at her, eyes wide. "Err…" he said. Then his face brightened, before relaxing as he did his best to look casual. "So, how did Sasuke lose his sight?"
Tenten stared down at him, her face rapidly shifting from perplexed into a wide smile.
"Lee, that's not how you distract people," she said, suppressing a giggle.
"What have I done wrong?" he frowned.
Now, Tenten couldn't help but giggle. "You have to do it when your opponent doesn't expect-" she began to explain.
Lee hurled three shuriken at her shoulder; the ones he had pulled out of his leg weight.
Tenten gasped and ducked, leaning back slightly. Her foot slid forward.
Lee moved with inhuman speed, seizing her by the ankle.
Tenten swore. Loudly. It was a particularly un-youthful phrase.
Gai gasped. Neji shook his head ruefully.
Lee looked scandalized, but that didn't stop him from yanking Tenten off her feet and rolling on top of her, pinning her under his own, heavier body.
His right leg still refused to move, but now that was just as much an obstacle to Tenten as it was to him.
"Now: do you surrender?" Lee grinned. He was practically sitting on top of his teammate, his elbow inches from her face.
Tenten stared up at him, frustration plain on her face, before sighing.
She rolled her eyes again, dropped her scythe, and nodded.
"YOSH!" Lee sprang off of her… and immediately fell back to the ground, forgetting that his right leg still weighed many times the rest of his body over. Tenten winced at the sound of the impact.
Neji tried to keep himself from smiling. His mouth twitched.
Gai frowned thunderously at him, and the Hyuuga took a quick breath and blinked, straightening up: his features were unreadable once more.
The older jōnin snorted, and then looked back to his two former students.
"Well done, Tenten! You fought well!" he said. She thanked him with a sunny smile, simultaneously bringing up her hand and releasing the weights on Lee's leg.
The green boy jumped to his feet, and stared at his teacher with wide, eager eyes. Gai stared back, his face expressionless.
His lip trembled, and he closed his eyes. A single tear escaping one of them.
Then, he spoke.
"LEE!" Gai bawled, not even bothering to wipe away the sudden flood of tears.
Lee broke down as well. "GAI-SENSEI!" he cried, sprinting forward, his arms wide.
"LEE!" Gai went to meet him.
"GAI-SENS-OW!" Lee yelled, his head stinging. He turned and found Tenten tossing another pebble into the air: the one she had bounced off his head lay on the ground.
She raised an eyebrow. Lee smiled at her.
Gai reached him less than a second later, and swept him into a rib-cracking hug. "MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT!" he roared, unable to contain himself.
"YOU HAVE LEARNED THE ART OF DECEPTION AND SUBTLETY! I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE PROUD OF YOU!" More tears came, both from Lee and Gai. Neji averted his eyes, staring up at a bird that flew by.
"YES, GAI-SENSEI!" Lee cried, shaking with enthusiasm. "I WILL USE THIS POWER FOR GOOD! I PROMISE! I WILL SERVE THE LEAF WITH ALL MY SUBTLETY!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
Neji shook his head and walked over to Tenten, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, watching the display. He extended a hand to help her up.
She just looked up at him, and then patted the ground next to her.
He raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and eased down next to her. They spent the next few seconds in silence, watching their teacher and teammate make ever more extravagant promises of what Lee would accomplish with his newfound "subtlety".
"That's not going to work, you know," the Hyuuga said bluntly.
"Can't a girl dream?" Tenten shot back, smiling.
"There are dreams, and then there are delusions. Conditioning Lee to cease that… behavior… falls into the latter category."
Tenten shrugged and uncrossed her legs, leaning back and turning her head to watch her other teammate. She idly shifted her legs. Neji looked away as well, staring up at the sky.
"So…" he gradually said, attempting to pick up the conversation once more.
"Hmm?" Tenten turned to him, reluctantly tearing herself away from the sight of Lee doing a series of one-handed handsprings around their sensei.
"Sasuke Uchiha's eyes were stolen, weren't they?" Neji asked bluntly.
"Yeah," Tenten confided. "Sakura told me. How'd you find out?"
"Hinata-sama was surprised at the cruelty of his brother," Neji answered, frowning. "You don't sound very worried, though." The frown intensified. "You know more than me."
Tenten shrugged, than looked around. Confident that no one else was present in the field besides Gai and Lee, who would probably foil any attempts at eavesdropping anyway, she leaned in.
"Not many people know this," she said quietly, "but Itachi Uchiha came back to the village about a week ago."
Neji's eyes widened, but he didn't interrupt: he'd speak once Tenten was done.
"He showed up blind as well, and then demanded that Tsunade-sama implant his eyes in Sasuke: he'd sent them back with the team that went after him."
Neji leaned back, his brow furrowed. Tenten went on.
"So, Sasuke won't be blind for long: Tsunade-sama did the operation almost immediately after Itachi left. He's still recovering in the hospital, but Sakura-"
"Ah." Neji finally interrupted. "That's where you're getting all your information."
Tenten nodded. "Right. Sakura actually helped operate on Sasuke; she's been keeping him company ever since."
Neji chuckled. Tenten smiled apologetically.
"Yeah. He's kinda… moody, apparently. But someone has to do it…" she trailed off.
Neji turned to her, his silence a clear question. Tenten shook her head.
"It's nothing. She's just been… quiet lately. I'm worried-"
"She might be spending too much time with him?" Neji asked.
"Maybe…" Tenten shrugged, looking troubled. "I don't know. Something is wrong. None of us know what, though."
Neji grunted. "I'll talk to Hinata-sama about it. Perhaps she'll be able to do something."
"She doesn't know much more than we do," Tenten warned. Then, she let out a small laugh. "Speaking of Hinata…"
Neji huffed, his frown becoming the kind of expression that often scared the smaller children around the village.
His teammate giggled. "Thought so."
"It's very… inappropriate," he disdainfully said.
"Maybe," Tenten said, barely restraining her laughter at Neji's obvious discomfort. "But you have to admit, it could be pretty romantic."
"What." Neji's eyebrows shot up, and he slowly turned towards Tenten. She backed off slightly, laughing, raising her hands.
"Hey. C'mon. Think about it. Quiet girl meets loud guy… princess meets orphan…" she teased. Neji grew more and more still with each example.
"Hinata-sama is…" he bit out, and then paused, searching for the rest of the sentence.
He wasn't able to find it.
Tenten watched him with unabashed amusement. "Naruto's becoming a hell of a guy lately, you know," she said. "Did you hear he's off learning some super secret technique from the Toad Sage himself right now?"
Neji wrinkled his nose. "Knowing him, he's probably just goofing off."
A day later, Naruto managed to prove Neji wrong.
"So… it's like swirl ice-cream?"
Fukasaku shot Jiraiya a look that very plainly said, "Where did you find this kid?" before turning back to Naruto.
"Err… what?" the small green toad asked, at a complete loss for words.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head, grinning inanely. "Well, you know," he said, making a vague motion with his arm. "You've got my chakra," he explained. His other arm came down, and he began to move it around the other one, which was still in motion. "And then you've got natural energy."
He brought his arms closer together, moving them in a circular motion alongside one another. "And then I combine them, and they make a whole new type of chakra. Like how in a swirl ice-cream," he drew his arms back, going through the whole example again as he continued speaking, "you've got vanilla ice-cream, and then chocolate ice-cream, and then you combine them together and get a new flavor!"
He finished, grinning widely.
If Fukasaku had had a nose, he probably would have pinched it.
Jiraiya just stared at his student, his remaining arm propped on his chin. "That…" he slowly said, "is the dumbest accurate analogy I have ever heard."
"Hey!"
"Hmm," the tiny green toad to Jiraiya's left admitted. "But it does work. Well done, Naruto. Would you like to try it now?"
"Hell yeah!" Naruto crowed. He was excited, and with good reason.
He'd spent the last week practicing how to sit still with Jiraiya.
A week.
Sitting still.
Naruto was honestly surprised he hadn't snapped and murdered the old hermit, considering how bored he had been.
It hadn't helped that Jiraiya had been doing his best to distract him by constantly reading aloud from his books… and occasionally substituting names and features with more familiar ones.
Suffice to say, Naruto now knew more than he'd ever wanted to know about the etymology of the word 'quiver'.
The pervert had claimed it was so that Naruto would learn how to concentrate at all times; so that he could remain still and gather energy even in high-pressure situations…
But Naruto suspected that, sometimes, his master just enjoyed screwing with him.
However: now, he finally had a chance to actually put his boring, boring training to use.
"So… I just sit still and gather natural energy, right Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya nodded. Fukasaku shot him a questioning look.
"Okay!" Naruto cheered. He plopped down on the spot and closed his eyes. A moment later, and he became utterly still. It was as if a particularly lifelike statue had replaced him.
Fukasaku hopped closer to Jiraiya, scurrying up his body and coming to rest on his broad shoulder.
"Are you not going to use the oil, Jiraiya-boy?" he asked quietly, doing his best not to disturb Naruto.
Jiraiya chuckled. He spoke loudly, having no such compunction about his student being distracted. He knew that it would take nothing short a raging Bijuu to unsettle him now.
He'd made sure of that.
"Nah, Fukasaku-sama. No offense to your method, but I don't think the oil is best for Naruto," he explained.
"Oh?" the small green toad asked, glancing at the silent boy. He could feel him probing at the natural energy around him; Naruto could sense it, Fukasaku could tell, but he wasn't sure how to take it in.
"Myoboko oil may be good for helping to utilize natural energy," Jiraiya said, attempting to cross his arms before realizing that he would need two to be able to complete the motion, "but it's a shortcut, plain and simple. Do you remember how I treated it when I began my sage training?"
Fukasaku chuckled. "I do. You practically bathed in the stuff."
"And that was my mistake," Jiraiya said solemnly. "I chose speed over thoroughness. Even today…" He shook his head. "I mastered a flawed method. I didn't want to make the same mistake with Naruto."
"Interesting," Fukasaku murmured. "So you've ensured that he's already reached the point of being able to take in energy without any assistance."
"Exactly." Jiraiya nodded. "It's all on his own merit: he's got better discipline now than I ever had at his age." He gestured with his remaining hand, and Fukasaku followed the motion. "Look. There's all the proof you need."
Fukasaku stared.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes. They were still the same sky-blue… but the pupil was distended horizontally. Natural energy swirled around him, an invisible maelstrom, and he carefully stood up, looking around him in wonder.
Everything was so bright. Color dominated everything: the sky was vibrant, filled with hues that Naruto could swear hadn't been there a moment before. Every sound was crystal clear, as if it had come from right beside his ear. The slight breeze on his skin chilled every pore.
It was completely overwhelming, and incredibly wonderful.
"Whoa," he murmured. "This is…"
Jiraiya grinned. "Good, Naruto!" he said. "You're getting there already!"
Naruto turned slightly, facing his teacher. "So, this isn't-?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "Nah. You're close, though. Right now, you're in-between being human and being a Sage. I bet it's pretty confusing, huh?"
Naruto looked around, amazement clear on his face. "I… guess," he said. "Everything's so loud."
"Thought so," Jiraiya said. "You've got the senses, but your body hasn't compensated yet." He struck a thoughtful pose. "Though… let's see if you're augmented yet."
"Huh?" Naruto was having trouble concentrating. The world had instantly become thousands of times more distracting with his increased senses.
"Here." Jiraiya tossed him a kunai. Naruto caught it, unable to look away from the play of light across the darkened steel. Normally, a kunai like this shouldn't have reflected any light… but he could see it anyway.
Weird.
He looked up at his teacher, a questioning look in his inhuman eyes.
"Try to stab yourself," Jiraiya said with a wide smile.
"Wuh?!" Naruto balked.
The older sage sighed. "Trust me. I want to see how well your body has integrated the natural energy. If you're far enough along, you'll be fine."
"And if I'm not?" Naruto demanded incredulously.
Jiraiya shrugged, Fukasaku bobbing with the motion. The tiny toad looked like he couldn't decide whether to frown or grin, and so had settled on alternating between both.
Naruto stared at his teacher, and then at the knife in his hand. He shot another look at Jiraiya, who just made a "get on with it" motion.
Gulping, Naruto reversed his grip on the knife and held it over the back of his left hand: above the ghost of an old mark that had been left a lifetime ago by a near identical weapon.
Grimacing, he pushed down.
The feeling of the warm steel on his hand wasn't unpleasant. And it was definitely better than the pain he had been expecting.
Naruto gaped at the kunai. He pressed harder, and was rewarded with a twinge of pressure… but the knife didn't penetrate his skin.
Jiraiya smiled widely. 'Fantastic," he said.
"That…" Naruto smiled, "is so cool."
"It is pretty neat, huh?" Jiraiya said. "And you're not even finished yet."
Naruto looked up at his teacher. The man was beaming. "How do I-"
"Practice," Jiraiya interrupted. "At this point, all you can do is get better at integrating the natural energy into your system. Right now, you're doing it imperfectly. Sit back down, and try again. Once you've made a bit more progress…"
The older Sage grinned savagely. "Then, we'll get into the real stuff."
At around two in the afternoon the day after Naruto had failed to stab himself, Shino looked up from his project, casting his gaze around the compound. For a moment, he'd thought he was supposed to be somewhere
Apparently not.
He shrugged, and bent back down. His insects were demanding his attention.
"You've been way too serious lately, you know?"
Ino panted and twisted her head towards the indolent voice, one of her eyes sliding shut, threatening to be covered completely by the puffy bruise developing above it.
Chōji watched her, horrified by the small trail of blood running from her temple. Shikamaru just remained cross-legged on the cratered and burned ground, one hand on his chin and the other curiously poking at the slash along his elbow. He was staring at her, his dark eyes questioning.
"What do you mean?" she asked, pulling herself back to her feet. Her leg ached, but it was still fully functional. There wasn't any blood getting into her eye, so her head injury was nothing to worry about.
And she still had plenty of chakra. Though she was definitely out of explosive tags.
"It's unusual," Shikamaru said, somehow managing to sound supremely unconcerned while telling her the exact opposite with his eyes. "You're not normally so…"
He stopped, and chuckled. "Well, I was going to say 'pushy'."
Ino scowled. Shikamaru ignored it and continued.
"Not usually so 'driven', to borrow a term from my mother," he said, his face twisting slightly in amusement.
"What do you care?" she said. She let her hand brush against the back of her pants: she was also low on kunai, apparently.
Shikamaru grew severe, and she felt a flash of embarrassment. "I always care," he said.
Chōji finally spoke up. "Ino. Come on. Asuma-sensei told us to look out for each other. What kind of team would we be if we didn't?" He stepped forward. "Let's take a break for a minute, huh? I mean, I'm honestly kinda scared of you right now: you lasted almost five minutes against the both of us, alone."
He shivered dramatically, and Ino couldn't help but smirk.
Chōji saw it and smiled. "Yeah. I say we take a break, maybe go get something to eat-"
"You'd be paying," Shikamaru interrupted, and the larger boy deflated considerably. "And anyway," he shot Ino another look, "she hasn't answered my question yet."
"You didn't ask any questions," Ino fired back. Shikamaru froze, visibly running the conversation back through his head. He winced, and Ino's smirk grew wider; beating Shikamaru at any of his verbal games was always its own reward.
The Nara recovered quickly, rolling his eyes. "Fine," he said. "What's gotten into you, huh?"
"Oh come on." The Yamanaka began circling her two teammates: Chōji gulped, following her movements, while Shikamaru remained on the ground, staring straight ahead. "You already know what it is."
Shikamaru shrugged. "Fine. But I think you're being irrational."
Ino glared at the back of his head, having circled all the way around behind him. Shikamaru didn't notice.
"What happened to Sakura is hardly what you can expect from a normal mission. It's not like the next time we get sent out-"
"We'll run into the leader of the Akatsuki?" Ino asked bitingly.
Shikamaru paused. "No," he said shortly.
Ino snorted. Shikamaru decided that now was decidedly not the time to make a comment on how unladylike it sounded: he was pretty sure she was seriously considering stabbing him in the back.
"It's never that simple, Shikamaru," she said, almost having completed her circle. "You should know this better than anyone. You can never tell when a mission might go bad."
Shikamaru didn't let the barb, intentional or not, ruffle him. All he did was lower his head.
Chōji was looking back and forth between his two teammates worriedly.
"True," the Nara said.
Ino suddenly stopped circling, jerking to a stop.
Shikamaru continued. "We're shinobi. Every time we go out, we put our life on the line. Even if the risk is not apparent at first, there's no excuse to believe otherwise."
The Yamanaka began to struggle against the shadows holding her in place, looking around wildly. Shikamaru pulled his head up, pinning her with his intense eyes.
"But what you're doing is reckless," he said, hauling himself to his feet and ambling towards the Yamanaka. "You're overreacting; pushing yourself too far."
He reached Ino, and his own shadow cast itself out, flowing over the grass and latching onto hers. Another one withdrew from the dark mass, sliding back into the forest at the edge of the field.
"You wanted to spar both of us at the same time, Ino," Shikamaru said, his hands in his pockets. The blonde glared at him, frozen in the same position. "But we're a team. The Ino-Shika-Cho formation. We fight together, not against each other."
He bent forward, his hands remaining in his pockets, and Ino was compelled to do the same. "Stop worrying," he said quietly, his face close to hers. "Chōji and I won't let anything happen to you. I swear it."
"Don't be such a jerk, Shikamaru!" Ino said, trying to squirm. "I don't need protecting! Just because I'm a girl-!"
"It's not cause you're a girl, Ino," Chōji said, walking forward. Shikamaru released the Kagemane, and the blonde jerked, suddenly back in control of her own body. "It's cause you're our teammate."
He smiled. "We know you'd do the same for us. It's what makes us so good. We look out for each other." The Akimichi grew a bit more solemn. "So you shouldn't worry so much about getting stronger. So long as we stick together, you don't have to worry about anything."
Ino stared at him for a moment, before letting out a deep breath. She shot an accusing look at Shikamaru. "That's the only reason you agreed to this, isn't it? To lecture me?" she asked archly.
The lazy boy cocked an eyebrow. "Maybe," he admitted guilelessly. "But I also wanted to try something out."
Another Shikamaru strolled out of the forest, its posture identical to the one that had been talking to Ino.
Ino and Chōji stared at it. It stared back, clearly bored.
"Kage Bunshin?" Ino asked, astonished. Creating shadow clones was rather chakra intensive, and Shikamaru had never been one to have enough to throw around freely enough.
The Nara shrugged. "It's not very practical," he said. "They drain me like you wouldn't believe. I have no idea how Naruto uses them like he does."
He smirked. "But if I have time to set up… they definitely come in handy."
The clone rolled its eyes, and Shikamaru's smirk became rueful. "'Course, actually making them do anything is about as troublesome as making them in the first place," he said, glaring at his double.
The bunshin shrugged: the motion, of course, looked exactly the same as Shikamaru's had. "Don't blame me," it said wryly.
Shikamaru just waved it off. "Yeah, yeah. Get out of here, why don't you?"
The clone popped without further ceremony, and Ino was left staring at her teammate.
There was a moment of silence. The grass rustled in a slight breeze.
"So…" the Nara said.
"Hypocrite!" Ino shrieked.
Shikamaru stumbled back, eyes wide. "Err… what?" he asked, doing his best to look innocent. He wasn't sure what Ino was angry with.
The Yamanaka began ranting, uncaring of the increasingly terrified looks she was receiving from her teammates. "Oh, look at me! I'm Shikamaru! I'm so cool and smart! I came here just to teach my teammate a lesson about how we should rely on each other and work as a team and I freaking show up with a fancy new jutsu!"
She leveled a finger at Shikamaru as she slowly walked towards him. He trembled. Chōji was slowly backing away: his friend was on his own this time. "You," she seethed, "will teach me that."
Shikamaru blinked. "Uh… Ino… I mean, does your Shintenshin even work with-"
"That. Doesn't. Matter." Ino had reached Shikamaru, and she poked him harder and harder in the chest with each word
The Nara helplessly cast a glance at Chōji, who just shook his head.
He looked back at the blonde.
"Well, Ino, I mean… it won't really be helpful for you to-"
"SHIKAMARU!" she screeched.
He yelped, and just like that the brief argument was over.
"So you finally talked to Naruto, huh?"
Hinata flushed bright red, hunching down and picking at her dango, fruitlessly trying to distract herself.
Kiba just laughed. Loudly. Akamaru barked at him, and he quieted down slightly, but his snickering lasted several more seconds.
"Kiba… It's not funny…" Hinata muttered, and the Inuzuka sobered almost instantly.
Though he couldn't quite keep his face straight.
"Sorry, Hinata." He waved one of his hands. "You're right, you're right. But I mean…"
He chuckled again. "I just talk about it and you go so red." He leaned forward. "How did you even manage it? Honestly?"
Hinata continued to play with her food. "I don't know," she said quietly. "I really don't."
Kiba sat back, crossing his arm behind his head. His face softened.
"Spur of the moment, huh?" he said, before smiling, exposing his elongated canines. "I can appreciate that. Instinct, right?"
Hinata remained silent.
Kiba cocked his head to the left. His smile slowly left both his eyes and his face.
"If you don't want to talk about it…" he probed.
Hinata just shrunk farther back. "I would appreciate that," she said quietly.
Kiba shrugged extravagantly. "Okay," he said.
Simple, to the point, and loyal: an Inuzuka through and through.
"What do we talk about then?" he said, the grin returning, if a little smaller from its absence.
Hinata stopped retreating from herself, returning to an upright pose. She finally managed to move one of the dango from her plate to her mouth. "I don't… oh!" She paused, smiling. "How is your training with Kakashi-sensei going?" She began to lightly nibble on the sweet while waiting for Kiba's answer.
"Terrible!" Kiba dramatically raised his arms high and slammed both them and his head into the table, the picture of abject despair. The effect was somewhat ruined when he tipped over a bowl of soy sauce, which spilled all over his elbow.
He shifted his head to look at the stain, and then shrugged. The jacket wasn't as expensive as it looked.
"Really?" Hinata murmured, covering her mouth.
"He never shows up!" Kiba said angrily, frowning in a manner he imagined was somewhat ferocious, but which truly only made him look constipated. No-one had ever dared to tell him this: Hinata because she was too kind, Shino because he didn't really care, and his sisters and mothers because they found the sight of their little Kiba-Kun trying to look dangerous too funny to put to words.
Akamaru barked, and Kiba turned to glare at him, before amending his statement. "Okay, so he sends his nin-dogs instead." He shook his head. "But that's almost worst! They just spend every day…" he trailed off, bring his hand up unintentionally.
"Kiba?" Hinata asked.
"I mean… I spend every day… beating the crap out of them! Yeah!" Kiba said, sounding like he wished he could believe it himself.
His large white companion stared at him, looking more incredulous than any dog had a right to look. Kiba crossed his arms and looked away, resuming his frown.
Hinata just watched the both of them, finally finishing her first dango. She swallowed daintily and continued to stare.
After a second, Kiba sagged. "Alright," he muttered. "They've been kicking the shit out of me."
Kakashi-sensei's nin-dogs?" Hinata qualified.
Kiba nodded shakily. "Yeah. I mean… they're pretty good. Pretty much what I should have expected, but still…"
"How…" Hinata trailed off. She'd seen Akamaru fight many times, but it had always been alongside Kiba. She couldn't really see any number of other dogs, even if they were nin-animals, taking on her teammate and his partner.
"They have a lot of tricks," Kiba admitted. "I mean, I don't underestimate them or anything… but they're quick. And mean."
"Mean?" Hinata inquired, trying to decide if she really wanted another dango. The last one had been a little sweet.
But maybe with a little soy…
Kiba winced. "Let's just say… they definitely picked up Kakashi-sensei's sense of humor."
Hinata tilted her head inquisitively. Kiba just shook his, his expression worth a little more than half a dozen words.
So, seven.
'Trust me. You don't want to know.'
"Uh… okay," Hinata slowly said, not sure if she wanted to know why Kiba was subtly shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"Anyway!" Kiba exclaimed, obviously eager to change the subject, "Have you seen Shino around? I mean, I've been keeping my eye out, but it seems like he's been holed up in his compound for the last week or something. I got no idea what he might be up to-"
"I have been tending to my Kikaichū." The monotone voice emerged from directly behind Kiba. The Inuzuka froze, slowly turning his head towards the noise.
Shino was sitting in the booth behind him, staring down into his salad.
Hinata blinked. She had eyes that could see through walls… and she had no idea when her teammate had entered the restaurant.
"S-Shino?" Kiba stammered. Neither him nor Akamaru had smelled the Aburame coming. How did he do that? "When did you-?"
"I arrived about ten minutes ago," Shino quietly said. "I waited another seven for someone to come to take my order. When no one seemed inclined to, I sent my Kikaichū to retrieve something." He picked up his fork and poked at the assorted greens in front of him, covered in a dark sauce. "I am glad they brought back this salad, though I am somewhat disappointed Why? Because it has no-"
"Melons?" Hinata asked timidly, lifting one of the very fruits from her side of the table. For reasons she would never understand, Kiba had gotten an assorted platter: one that he had barely dug into.
Shino paused. "Yes."
"Err…" Kiba erred. "Shino, I mean, if you want to sit with us, you should just… you know, sit with us."
Shino languidly transferred booths, sitting down next to Hinata. "I appreciate that, Kiba."
Hinata wordlessly passed him the melon, and he took it without comment, before cracking it with a precise tap of his fingers.
"Glad you came, honestly," Kiba said, stretching out, secretly glad he still had leg space since Shino hadn't chosen the spot next to him.
"Oh?" Shino said, focusing on distributing an equal amount of melon across his salad.
"Yeah, we were just wondering what you were-"
"Up to this week?"
Kiba rolled his eyes. "Stop doing that."
"Stop doing what, exactly?"
"You know what I-"
"Mean?"
Hinata giggled. Kiba gave up, dramatically throwing his arms back. Akamaru panted in approval.
"Whatever. What were you-"
"Well," Shino said, and both he and Hinata ignored Kiba's strangled cry of indignation. "As I said, I have been attending to my insects. Why? Because our last mission made it clear that there were still flaws in my strategy."
"Flaws?" Hinata politely asked. She hadn't seen much of Shino at all during the snafu the retrieval mission had become: an oversized chameleon had seen to that.
"I am slow," Shino said ponderously.
Kiba grinned. "That's bullshit, Shino! When you need to, you can pick it up. Hell, you took on one of those freaks hand to hand, and you came away with barely a scratch."
"As did he," the Aburame intoned. "Even with the advantage of my insects allowing me to dictate the pace of the fight, I was unable to lay a hand on him. Why? My opponent was simply too agile. I could not predict his movements, and the Kikaichū could not compensate."
"So…" Kiba drawled.
"You've been breeding faster insects?" Hinata quietly asked, having determined that adding more soy sauce to her dango had been a partial success. It was no longer too sweet, at least.
But it had tasted less like dango, and more like soy sauce.
Not the best compromise.
Shino nodded. "Precisely. I predict that it will increase my efficiency significantly. Particularly in the event I need to utilize taijutsu. Why? The Aburame live in harmony with our hives. Traits from our Kikaichū often-"
"Okay!" Kiba spoke up, cutting Shino off. He'd never really been comfortable with Shino talking about the influence of insects: it wasn't a matter of disgust, but merely discomfort.
The irony that his relationship with Akamaru was much the same had never occurred to him.
"It looks like we've all been getting stronger!" he said, ignoring Shino's glare and pounding a fist into his other hand. Akamaru barked enthusiastically. "The next time we see that purple-eyed bastard, he's in for a surprise!"
Then, in a distinctly un-Kiba moment, he stopped and thought about what he'd said.
"Wait a minute… sorry Hinata. I forgot-"
"Oh! Don't worry, Kiba," the Hyuuga heir exclaimed, sitting up. "I've been training too!"
Kiba looked at her cockeyed. "I thought you were on bed-rest?" he asked innocently. Shino probed at his salad with his fork, trying to determine if he could manage to eat it without unbuttoning his collar.
He disliked doing so in public places, particularly around strangers.
Hinata lightly blushed. "I was," she said. "But… I… well…" The stammer had returned.
She gave up, frustrated. "I was bored."
Kiba laughed. Akamaru joined in in his own way. Shino just smiled beneath his collar.
"So who did you wrangle into-"
"Neji."
Kiba blinked. "Really?" he asked, suppressing a faded memory of Hinata staring into a pitiless pale face and coughing up blood all over bandaged hands.
He only partially succeeded. His hand tightened imperceptibly.
Akamaru panted and nudged it, and he looked down at his fist. Shaking his head, he allowed it to relax.
Hinata continued, not having noticed Kiba's brief reaction.
"Yes. He's been helping me with my training for the past year or so. We've made real progress in the last week!" she said, her face lighting up.
"Oh?" Shino asked. He'd somehow managed to begin his salad without moving his collar. Kiba stared.
'How the hell did he do that?'
While Kiba stared at her teammate, Hinata elaborated. "I'm nearly able to complete the Kaiten," she beamed. "With just a little more time, I'm sure I'll be able to use it."
Kiba stretched out, cracking his knuckles. He turned to Hinata. "You're still working on the Kaiten?" he asked. "Why? You've got that kickass Rokujūyon Shō thing, right?"
Shino nodded, and Kiba's head snapped back to him.
Yet more of his salad had disappeared.
The Inuzuka's mouth dropped slightly open. Shino ignored him. "I agree," he said quietly. "Yours is certainly the superior jutsu."
Hinata blushed intensely. "I-I don't think so," she stammered. "The K-Kaiten is more contained. It doesn't use nearly as much chakra."
She fidgeted for a moment, before speaking again. "Not to mention… the Eight Trigrams can't be used non-lethally. It cuts everything in the area. The Kaiten is a much better defensive jutsu."
"I don't think those missiles thought that," Kiba chuckled.
Hinata's blush grew even more pronounced, but she shook her head. "That d-doesn't matter," she muttered. "I'm main house. All the heirs have learned the Kaiten. It's tradition."
Kiba yawned. "That's fine," he said with a wolfish grin. "When you take over the clan, you can make your jutsu the new tradition."
Hinata made a sound that fell somewhere between "meep" and "oh".
With that, the team fell quiet. Kiba watched Shino carefully, waiting for the quiet boy to begin to pick at his salad again. Hinata looked down at her lap, trying to banish her blush.
Shino sat silently.
Internally, he was laughing in a way that could only be described as maniacal. He wouldn't be picking up his fork until he was sure his louder friend was looking away.
And even that would only be a feint, in case the Inuzuka took it upon himself to be more subtle than usual.
Kiba would never discover the secret to Shino's eating habits.
Unusually, he was the one who ended up breaking the silence.
"Have either of you seen Sasuke?"
Kiba, who had leaned back with his arms behind his head, shifted slightly. "Nah," he said casually, belaying the sudden low-lying tension. "Know he's still in the hospital, though."
Hinata spoke up. "Sakura's been keeping him company," she said slowly.
Kiba shifted to look at her. Shino seized his chance.
"Oh?" the Inuzuka asked carefully. Something about her tone had bothered him.
Hinata nodded. "She's been… strange." She hesitated halfway through the sentence, as if afraid that the words would bite her once they were freed from her mouth. "Quieter." The Hyuuga shifted. "I'm worried about her."
"Do you think-" Kiba started to ask, before Hinata shook her head.
"I don't know," she murmured.
"It has something to do with him."
Hinata blinked. So did Kiba. They both turned to their teammate. He stared back guilelessly.
"Shino?" Kiba asked, perplexed.
"Sasuke is… dangerous," the Aburame carefully elaborated.
"What?" Hinata asked quietly. "Shino, what do you mean?"
"He left the village," the usually silent boy continued. "He is selfish. Impulsive. He spent the last three years in the company of Orochimaru. This makes him dangerous. Why?" He shook his head slightly. "I shouldn't have to tell you."
"Yeah, but…" Kiba started to say.
And then he trailed off, because the feral looking boy really had no idea what to say next.
What could he say? Everything Shino had said had been the truth.
"Sakura cares for him. He was her teammate: it is understandable. But-" Shino pushed his glasses up slightly. "It does not make him any less dangerous. In fact, perhaps it makes him even more so," he finished.
And then, he returned to his comfortable silence, while the rest of Team 8 fell into a distinctly uncomfortable one.
Both Kiba and Hinata found themselves wondering what their distinctively pink classmate was doing at the moment.
And if she was safe.
There was a crow on the windowsill.
It was staring at her with unblinking black eyes, the gloss of its feathers a stark contrast to the bright streets outside.
Sakura stared back.
She'd spent most of the last ten days in this room.
This was the first time she had seen the crow.
She wondered why that was.
Was she just inattentive, or had it been hidden that whole time?
Or had it just arrived?
Whenever it had gotten here, she knew what it meant.
Itachi was still watching his brother.
She found the concept disturbing, for obvious reasons.
What did Itachi think, she wondered. What did he think when he watched Sasuke in this dim room, clean white bandages around his head, lying in bed day after day?
Did he feel regret? Or cold satisfaction?
Or nothing at all?
Her master had told her some of the details of her meeting with the rogue Uchiha.
The Sasuke's brother wanted to help him.
That Itachi had done what he'd done for Sasuke's own good. That he would come back from this better than ever.
Sakura found her hands clenching at the thought. She leaned farther back in her chair, set at the side of Sasuke's bed.
'Bullshit.'
If Itachi wanted to help Sasuke, he wouldn't have killed his family. He wouldn't have torn his eyes out and put him in a day's long coma.
He wouldn't have slipped in here a little more than a week ago and knocked all of the guards' unconscious so he could have a chat with his brother.
Naruto had told her what the visit had been like. Had told her how focused Itachi had been, even blind.
She didn't especially care.
Juugo shifted on the other side of the room, moving slightly in the corner, and Sakura glanced at him before relaxing.
The quiet boy had refused to leave Sasuke's side since Itachi's visit. He'd been one of the one's unconscious in the hallway, in Itachi's wake.
Sakura was convinced he felt guilty. That he'd failed to protect Sasuke.
But she didn't refer to Juugo as "quiet" in her head for no reason. She wasn't sure: he rarely spoke.
She wished that he would. The silence around Sasuke sometimes became crushing.
Ten days.
Ten days, and they'd barely exchanged a word.
Sakura had started to think that Sasuke might truly have left them behind.
And that thought filled her with such anger that for the first time in ten days, sparked by a combination of heartbreak, dull-rage, righteous fury on Naruto's behalf, and a slight case of PMS, Sakura spoke to Sasuke about something that wasn't related to his new eyes.
"Are you really going to do this?"
Juugo shifted once more, but didn't say anything. Sasuke remained silent, staring up the ceiling. His breathing didn't change: his shoulders didn't stiffen.
But even though it had been three years since they'd truly spent any time together, Sakura still knew Sasuke, and she could tell he was listening.
"You're really just going to ignore me?" she asked again, not caring that Juugo was in the room.
There were things that needed to be said.
Sasuke, of course, didn't respond.
Sakura laughed. It wasn't really a laugh.
"You talked to Naruto. He told me."
Silence remained, opaque. But it was shifting. The light's dull buzz was being filled over by something cloying.
"What's the difference between us? We're all Team 7, you know. What's the difference between me and him?" Sakura asked, her tone not really making it a question. It was a dull recital, a statement of fact: Naruto and Sasuke were different from her. They had connected on a level she didn't really understand.
Except for on one night.
"Did he just catch you on a good day?" she continued, not really listening to herself.
'Thank you.'
But thank you for what?
"Did you decide that that day was the annual "Sasuke Acknowledges his Teammates" day? Am I going to have to wait another year to talk to you?" Sakura felt bitterness, subtly jagged, biting at her.
She didn't bother to resist. Perhaps she was entitled to a little bitterness.
"Sasuke. Answer me."
Sakura didn't expect an answer.
"We're not."
Sakura blinked when she got one. Sasuke hadn't moved.
She couldn't even be sure he'd spoken.
Until his mouth began to move, and she realized that yes, Sasuke was speaking to her.
"We're not Team 7. Not anymore."
Sakura smiled. "I don't think that's true."
Sasuke didn't respond for a moment.
"I cut ties. We are… done," he finally said. He didn't sound uncertain: it was too subtle for that.
But the eternal confidence that had always infected his voice was ragged. Almost gone.
"Teams don't cut ties," Sakura said, staring out the window. "It doesn't work like that. We're comrades. Friends. That's not something you can just throw away."
"And yet I have." He sounded so cold. How could he bear to think like that? Speak like that?
She would have found it exhausting.
"Maybe." Sakura found herself shrugging, even though she knew Sasuke wouldn't notice. "But I don't think so. I think that you'll come back."
She could tell that had thrown him off. Secretly, that delighted her like nothing else had.
"I…" he paused. "I'm already in the village."
Sakura turned to him. "But you're not back," she said. "You're still convinced that you've left for good. That we're not your friends anymore: that you don't belong in the village."
"You aren't," he growled halfheartedly. "And I don't. As soon as my eyes… Itachi's eyes acclimate, I'll-"
"You'll what?" Sakura interrupted him. Juugo shifted uncomfortably once more. "Leave the village again? Naruto will just hunt you down. And I'd help him."
"Then I would kill him. And you." He sounded completely serious. And yet, to Sakura, there was a sort of pathetic desperation there that hurt her more than the last three years had.
She wanted to pity him. But she didn't dare. The only thing Sasuke would never tolerate was pity.
So instead, Sakura just shook her head. "You don't understand, Sasuke. Even if you leave… we'll keep doing this forever. You can't kill Naruto. You can't kill him anymore than he could kill you."
"I would. I will."
"He's coming back soon," Sakura pointed out. "Will you kill him then, when he comes to visit you? You know he will."
Silence, but for the buzzing of the lights and the muted chatter of the streets outside the hospital.
"You could have killed him at the Valley of the End. He told me, you know. You could have pierced his heart. But you didn't. And you won't."
She scooted her chair forward slightly, bringing herself closer to him. "And I think you know why."
"Shut up," he muttered, finally deigning to shift under the covers.
"You can't kill Naruto. And you can't leave us behind. However you want to avoid it… you belong here, Sasuke. You belong with people who want to help you."
"With the people who murdered my clan?" he hissed. "With the village that executed my family?"
That gave her pause.
"If I remember correctly, Itachi killed your family," Sakura eventually said, trying to remain calm.
Sasuke snorted. "Under orders. It makes no difference. This place is directly responsible for the death of the Uchiha. I have no interest in staying here."
"Not even for us?" Sakura said quietly.
'Not even for your new family?'
"No," he said shortly.
"Then what will you do?" Sakura asked reasonably.
Sasuke didn't answer.
Sakura didn't stand for that. She leaned forward farther.
"What. Will. You. Do?" she said quietly.
Sasuke's silence said more than he ever would be willing to.
'I don't know.'
Sakura leaned back. She'd never seen Sasuke so unsure.
It was plain as day. He had no idea of anything.
Should he stay in the village?
Should he avenge his clan?
Remain with his friends?
Make more enemies?
Sasuke didn't know.
And now, Sakura knew that he didn't know.
She stood up, out of the chair.
Juugo glanced at her.
She moved to leave the room, stopping at the door.
"Sasuke…" she said over her shoulder. The prone Uchiha stiffened slightly.
"Please."
And then, she left, with only the creak of the door closing to mark her passing.
AN: Guh.
I think I prefer fights.
Just to clarify (in case you were speed-reading or something), ten days have passed over the course of this chapter. Sasuke's got Itachi's eyes, Naruto has gone through Sage training. Couple other people got development.
Anyway. Next chapter, the real fun starts. Look forward to it.
Today, you guys get a double rec. One short fic and one of rather ridiculous length.
First: A Dream of Winter, by Zenthisoror (a name that should look familiar to you). If you've seen The Windmill Turns Both Ways, this will look familiar to you: a thirteen-year-old Sasuke is catapulted forward in time. Things rapidly grow complicated.
Second: In the Blood, by Justplainrii. An epic drama taking place thirty years after the end of Shippuden. If you want to experience one of the most fascinating character studies ever written for Naruto, as well as a frankly incredible mystery, then this is for you.
And that's everything, I think. Thanks for reading: I hope you enjoyed it.
Serendipity, out.
Fun Fact: Lee is not a subtle person.