Everything hurt. A lot.
Clearly whatever medic psychotic enough to work on him last night hadn't been liberal with the painkillers. If anything it felt like that pink haired devil had gone out of her way to inflict as much damage as possible. Especially because he didn't remember having his stomach cut open, or having his face brutally beat by a mallet.
Itachi opened his eyes to actually seeing. With clarity, where once everything had been dull and kind of grey. A ceiling fan turned slowly above him, blasting him with a cool breeze, the cords for the light and fan control swayed in small circles. And this was without the Sharingan? He hadn't seen this good since he first got his Sharingan.
"Oh, so you're awake." Her voice sent a chill down his spine like a spider was crawling along it leaving a trail of poison. Despite the pain, he turned to see her. She leaned onto the island that separated the kitchen from the dining room paying more attention to her coffee than she was him. It was almost refreshing. And a little bit intimidating.
"What did you do to me?" His voice was dry and cracked.
Her green eyes flicked to him and she shrugged like having him a traitor of Konoha laying on her dining room table like it was an operating table was nothing more than an inconvenience. "Spent about a few hours trying to keep you alive," She stirred her coffee and elbowed a plastic tub the sloshed with a thick red liquid, a large lump sat in the middle. "Pulled that thing out of you, and did a couple tests and experiments on you."
"What organ is that?" He almost didn't want to know, but if this mad doctor was holding one of his organs hostage he should probably figure out how vital it was.
She took a sip of her coffee, smiling into the scent of it. "It was a tumor, It was wrapped around your stomach and your heart. Took About eight hours to get it out of you. You're welcome by the way."
"How old are you?"
"Same age as Sasuke." She glared at him, it was the mad glare of someone fearless, it was the defiant glare of someone determined. Sakura, that was her name, took another sip of her drink. "How're your eyes, can you see?"
He tried to sit up but the numbness in his arms and the pain of his stomach kept him down. "You did this? Why?"
"Like I said, an experiment," Sakura shrugged, walking over to him. Her slender frame gliding across the floor with ease, but each step was firm and proud. By her pink tank top - that left her arms and shoulders exposed - and pink shorts - that left much of her long legs exposed - gave Itachi the impression that she really liked the color pink. Ironic given her hair. She placed the mug down and grabbed at his eye. There were few that dared to look him straight in the eye as she did. And none of them were sane. "Now tell me, do you see any better?"
It was a bit unnerving having her so close to his face while he sat mildly powerless. If needed he could do something about it. No, he was for better or worse trying to fix Konoha. "Yes, as better as I ever did before, what did you do?"
"Fuyumi Uchiha was a medical ninja during the first war, largely because she copied several healing jutsu from enemy ninja, it was thanks to her that Konoha even had a medical program in the first place. During her later years, she became obsessed with finding a cure for the ailment that plagued her people." She finally let go of his eye when it began to water. "Sadly she was killed before she could perform any of the operations. I studied her texts and managed to reverse engineer a few of them."
"Why? You're not an Uchiha." Still the talent and drive she must have. There had to be some reason she went so far, unless. "You have a crush on Sasuke?"
For the first time, he caught her off guard and a blush spread across her face. "That's not something you need to know."
"He's lucky to have someone like you."
More blushing. Ahh, he had forgotten the joy of teasing someone younger than himself. "Don't think I did this from the kindness of my heart. Sasuke left the village to get strong enough to beat you. So as far as I'm concerned you're just as guilty as Orochimaru for making him leave. Your medical bill is to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. Assuming I can trust you like Kakashi said."
"I will cause you know harm, besides I wish to bring my brother back to Konoha as well." He gave her what might have been his first smile in years.
Her face was still red when she turned away. "Yes, well I believe it's time for you go get out of my house, my parents will be back soon, and in case you haven't noticed I have a lot of cleaning up to do. And I should probably go get Kakashi so he can take you to whatever secret base you guys have."
One of Orochimaru's old labs had been serving as his makeshift home for the past year. Hopefully, soon he'd be able to enjoy the sun and stop lurking in the shadows. "Kakashi didn't wait?"
"He did, but it would look kind of creepy if he stayed over here while my parents were out," Sakura shrugged into another sip of her coffee. "I kicked him out a day or two ago."
"I'm sorry did you say day?" She nodded.
"How long have I been out?"
"Like a week."
That explained a lot. "And I've been here on your table for the past week?"
"No, I had you in the bathtub when I was taking out your tumor. Too much blood." She sighed into her drink like it was full of fond memories. "I thought about using you as a punching bag, but killing a patient is something I'd rather avoid."
"I thank you for your hospitality." Itachi forced himself to sit up, bearing the pain. He gasped at the pain as he felt something give.
"Woah," she rushed to his side, "Don't move so fast, you're still healing, take things slow."
"Couldn't you use chakra to finish this?" He asked through gritted teeth. Still, he pushed onwards pressing his feet to the ground and feeling his legs tremble from a week of unused. What a sorry state for a shinobi.
Her hand was glowing with chakra already, easing the pain in his stomach. "I could, but some wounds are best healed on their own, especially with the surgery I did. What's best for you is daily sessions of chakra care followed-"
There was a knock on the door followed immediately by said door flying across into the wall opposite sending a storm of splinters up in the air when it shattered. As the dust settled and the sense of unease began to set in Tsunade, The Fifth Hokage of Konoha stepped into the house, a smile that was anything but kind on her face and in one hand defeated Kakashi being dragged along the ground like a child's blanket.
"Sakura." Tsunade's voice cracked like a whip and the girl jumped. "Would you care to explain why your sensei committed treason by killing Danzo? Or perhaps your willingness to assist one of Konoha's biggest traitors? I'd ask you why you decided to skip training but I believe that's painfully obvious at this point."
"Fuck." The word seemed almost foreign coming from Sakura's mouth. But Itachi had to agree.
XXXX
The bridge that spanned the Yokimoto river was little more than a pair of ropes and a couple of sticks. The river below was deep this close to its source but so to was it narrow, barely more than twenty feet at its widest. She could easily jump it if she wanted to, but on the other side of that bridge was the Land of Fire. Home. The thought of finally seeing her home and how much it had changed in, fifteen - she supposed it had been fifteen years since she'd last been into the village - filled her with equal parts excitement and nervousness. It was going to be strange seeing Minato's face on the mountain, stranger still to see Tsunade's.
"Rin!" Naruto shouted from the other side of the bridge, he crossed it like it was nothing. Which it really wasn't. "Come on! We're almost there!"
Hard to think that one day she would be seeing his face up on that mountain too. Still, she looked forward to that day. With a smile that would not fade she walked onto the bridge feeling it sway under her weight. There were other ways to enter the Land of Fire, larger more impressive bridges, or a few decorative grates, and a few that were little more than a signpost on the road. They had chosen this one because it was there. "Hang on Naruto, we still have a few weeks before we get back to Konoha."
"And a hell of a lot of training," Jiraiya grumbled. Sobriety had done wonders for the man. At first. But it was fast becoming apparent that he needed to be perverted in the same way that she needed to breathe. Still, her teacher was a man of his word and rarely took a break from training them. It was impressive really.
"Shouldn't you be jumping with joy at being so close?" Naruto asked, hands behind his head like he was leaning against an invisible tree. "You'll finally be able to do all that stuff you said you wouldn't."
Jiraiya kept his jaw straight and eyes focused. "I'm not quite ready to drink and whore myself to an early grave brat, but rest assured once I get to Konoha I won't step out sleep until I have drunk at every bar and flirted with every beautiful woman that calls Konoha home. You should not welcome my return, you should fear it."
"Rin!" Naruto turned to her pointing towards Jiraiya. "He's doing that thing again where he acts like he's writing a story."
"Leave him be Naruto," Her foot fell onto the land and she was greeted with a small sense of home, The Land of Fire had that kind of magic to it. The sun felt just a bit brighter, the forest more lively, the leafs a bit greener. "But I'm excited to get back to Konoha, why can't you train us there?"
"In theory, by the time we get to Konoha the Akatsuki will be moving again, and I will be busy keeping track of them. It also gives you two six months to try and find Sasuke before Orochimaru steals his body." She had forgotten about that little detail. Jiraiya shrugged motioning them forward. "Besides I made a deal with Kakashi to hand Naruto back over, and there's not a lot I can teach you Rin, maybe Tsunade?"
"I've always wanted to train under Tsunade." Rin smiled at her early dreams of becoming a great medical ninja like Tsunade. Though that was a long gone dream given her current abilities. She channeled a ball of mist into her hand as easy as a breath. A swirling mass of green and blue that was like looking up at the sky through a windy forest. "But there's still a lot I need to figure out on my own."
"Like how to make fish not explode?" Naruto offered helpfully.
Rin pouted her cheeks red, throwing the ball of mist at his head. It was a harmless gesture that would only make Naruto's face slightly damp. "Hey! They haven't exploded in a week, I'm just using too much chakra."
Too much chakra. Before she met Naruto she would have laughed at the idea of her having too much chakra it was always the opposite, now with Isobu's chakra bolstering her own, there was always a surplus. If she asked for a drop she'd get a river. Still, she was close, she will be able to heal again.
They continued along the road basking in the warmth of the sun, the trees here weren't as large as they were in Konoha, but already they seemed much larger than the trees she had been seeing moments ago. The forest floor was thick with foliage and dark, a fortress of darkness fighting a losing battle against the sun until night came. "So where are we going now?"
"Mount Kyoshi," Jiraiya mumbled biting into a ration.
"The volcano? Why are we going to the volcano?"
"I want to torture you two by having you dodge blobs of lava." Jiraiya's face grew dark and he gave a hollow chuckle that only the truly depraved could muster.
A spot of wisdom overcame her and she hopped beside Naruto. "I think Jiraiya is going a little crazy."
Naruto nodded in agreement. "So, are you excited to see Konoha again?"
"I'm a little nervous," she gave him a week laugh taking the chance to stand just a little bit closer to him. Her voice little more than a whisper on the wind. "I'm just worried about how everyone will react to me being alive."
"They'll be happy! Remember we met Asuma so even if Kakashi-sensei was lazy word still would get around. Probably." Naruto half whispered in reply, leaning in just as close as she was. "But why are we whispering?"
Because she liked being close to him. "Cause it's fun. But I'm kind of worried what I'm going to do when I get back to Konoha."
"What do you mean? You're going to be a ninja!" Naruto beamed at her even as he tried to blow out her eardrums.
"No, I meant what I'm going to do about a place to stay. I thought about staying with Kakashi, but I don't think that's a good idea." Mostly because Kakashi was now a grown ass man that seemed slightly less emotionally stable than the boy she had a crush on all those years ago. Besides, it would be way too awkward!
"Oh hey! I know!" Naruto stretched his arms out to both sides like he just had a fantastic idea. "Why don't you stay with me? I have my own apartment, you can have the bed and I can have the couch. It'll be just like now."
Apparently, it was possible to both want something and be scared shitless of it. Sure she had technically been living with Naruto for more than two years now, but that was no different than being on a mission. And Jiraiya was here. Living in a home, alone with Naruto was far too domestic. Worse what did it mean that he offered that so easily to her, maybe he really did think of her as a sister.
"I wouldn't want to impose-"
"Oh come on it'll be fun! Just think about it," Naruto grabbed her hand and looked at her with sparkling eyes. His cheeks were really red. "Besides it'd make me happy."
It was so easy to picture her and Naruto watching a movie on his couch, him putting an arm around her trying to act cool before she leaned into his chest, getting nice and comfy to watch the movie. Then as the movie went on they would slowly fall asleep, she'd be curled up into him and he'd either start snoring or take her to her bed. Where he would steal a soft kiss on her cheek.
Okay, so reading Jiraiya's manuscript apparently wasn't as harmless as she thought. Still, the thought of her and Naruto cooking something laughing and playing only to stop suddenly when he wiped something from her cheek was a pleasant thought.
"I'll, umm. I'll think about it okay?" Her cheeks must have been beyond red. Why couldn't she just tell him how she felt? The best way to get out of being seen as a sister is to do something that a sister wouldn't do. Right? Maybe she should just kiss him. That almost seemed easier than admitting anything. Even if they were nowhere near that level.
"Actually, Rin." He swallowed unable to meet her gaze as he finally let go of her hand. "I umm, wanted to tell you something you see the thing is that I-"
"I found you!" She knew that voice like the back of her hand. Obito appeared right in front of her, that orange mask of his affixed to his face. He grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her towards him.
"Naruto!" She reached for him. What was happening? Why was Obito here? Now?
Naruto reached for her, their fingers touching even as she was sucked in after Obito. "Rin!"
It happened so fast, one moment she was with Naruto and Jiraiya, the next she was inside a grey world filled with blocks. She stared at her hand, what did Naruto want to say? Why did he let go of her hand? Why didn't she hold onto him? "Take me back."
"It's okay Rin." She heard Obito say from behind her, ignoring her. "We can be here together from now on. Just me and you, we can ignore them while we're in here. I can't believe I didn't try this sooner!"
She turned to look at him. He was crazed, his Sharingan focused on her like a hawk. She wanted to find him. But no like this. "Obito," She stood to glare at him. "Take me back. Stop this, come back to us in Konoha."
"Don't worry Rin," His Sharingan began to spin. The fight and energy left her and the world grew dark. "I'll be sure to keep you safe and happy. So just sleep for a bit. Just sleep. You're safe now."
XXXX
"I love you." Naruto finished staring at the spot where Rin just was. How could he just let her get taken like that? He had just been touching her seconds ago. Why now? Everything was going so good. He was finally going to tell her how he felt.
What to do? What to do? He looked around frantically. Jiraiya also on high alert. They needed help, they needed Kakashi! Konoha was… that way!
"Brat where are you going?" Jiraiya called chasing after him like a tail. He could feel the Kyuubi's chakra leaking out. Making every step count for ten.
"Konoha!"
AN: Shorter chapter. But hey some important stuff happened this chapter. Anyways! hope you all enjoyed. Please review! And follow!
