Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine.
She was in the field of flowers again. They were everywhere, stretching on forever, endless waves of blue and gold and pink and white. The sky above her was crystal clear and impossibly blue, and there was a breeze that carried a delicate, sweet smell, ruffling her hair. It was down again, brushing against the small of her back, the same gold as the flowers at her feet.
She felt like she should have been content there. It should have been a safe place, a place that felt like home, but something in her pulled away from it, balked from the brightness and the colors, the hazy sunlight, the sea of flowers. She knelt and parted the petals that gathered around her bare feet, revealing the grassy dirt below.
There, hidden by the flowers, was a snake. It was a tiny thing, milky white, curled up on itself. It looked up at her with gold eyes, blinking balefully.
She reached out for it, to touch its dry, smooth skin, to feel it twisting through her fingers. When it bit, she didn't cry out. Blood welled from the twin pricks in her finger, dripping off of her pale skin and painting the flowers red.
This, this felt right. The blood, hot and bright, made sense. She stared at it, transfixed. It did not belong here, in this beautiful, soft world.
"Do not play with what you do not understand, child."
She looked up at the man standing before her. He was tall, graceful in his thinness, skin shimmering in the light. Orochimaru.
"How did you get here?" She asked him, voice quavering. The fear in the pit of her stomach was horrible, a creeping, sickening feeling. She could feel it crawling across her skin and wrapping tight around her chest, squeezing the air out of her lungs.
He smiled, milky white lips pulled back over perfectly straight teeth. "The same way you did."
She shook her head. "I've always been here. This is my mind."
"Is it?"
"Yes," She replied with absolute certainty.
He chuckled lightly, mouth twisting in amused condescension. "Do you really believe that? Look around you, girl. You never left my mind."
Isa blinked and, as if someone had flipped a switch, the flowers were gone. There was no land, no sky, just flat, murky space. It wasn't light, it wasn't dark, it was nothing. It was just Orochimaru and her, staring at each other across a plain of grey.
"Haven't you ever thought about how your Mind Transfer Jutsu works? Haven't you ever considered the connection that you forge when you enter someone's mind?" Orochimaru's voice was smooth, threatening even in placidity. "You think that you could just waltz into my brain and expect me to let you back out again?"
"You trapped me here," Isa said. The knowledge came with a dull, sinking feeling. Tears welled in her eyes. She should have been trembling, should have been crying and beating her fists and fighting to escape. But she didn't. She couldn't. You can't lose yourself in thoughts when they aren't even your own.
"Correct. You never woke up," Orochimaru said, golden eyes locked on hers. "You never saved your teammates, you never fought my Sound ninja. It was all a construct, an imagined scenario that you imposed on yourself. It was a natural reaction, I suppose, a self-defense mechanism of sorts."
Isa took a deep breath, nostrils stinging from the bitter, astringent smell of the grey world she was standing in. "Are you going to kill me?"
Orochimaru inspected his fingernails with disinterest, and when he spoke, his voice was toneless, flat, as if he was explaining something to a young child. "No. You're my newest experiment. You see, I'm something of a scholar. I like to research things, test my hypotheses. You're just unfortunate enough to end up as my newest test subject."
"What are you going to do to me?" She asked, dread in every frantic beat of her heart.
His eyes flickered up to hers, watching her like a predator watches its prey. "I want to see how far a human being can be pushed before they break. I want to push the limits of the mind, of the psyche. You will watch your loved ones die a thousand times, and you will feel every second of it. It's all in the name of scientific research, I assure you."
She swallowed and suddenly the blood dripping from her hand wasn't hers. It was Ino's. It was her mother's and her father's. It was Naruto's and Sasuke's and Shikamaru's and Choji's and Kakashi's and it was everywhere.
She ran, and his empty, cold laughter chased her.
"Isa!" Someone was shaking her. "Isa, wake up!"
"What's wrong?" Another voice, low, worried.
"I don't know! I came in here and she was crying. I tried to wake her up but she hit me!"
Hands gripped her arms, holding them securely. "Isa, calm down. You need to wake up."
She jerked upright with a scream stuck in her throat, eyes wide, terrified. Shikamaru was holding her arms, and she collapsed against him, shaking.
Ino was there, smoothing her hair away from her sweaty forehead, murmuring soothing words in her ear. "It's okay," She whispered. "You're okay, you're fine, you're safe."
Isa's chin wobbled, tears threatening to spill over her cheeks. Ino's face broke, and she drew Isa into her arms, holding her tightly. Shikamaru let her go, but didn't move, lingering beside her. Naruto was crouched next to him, a red mark on the side of his jaw.
Isa reached out, fingers brushing against the reddening skin. "Did I... hurt you?" She hiccuped, looking at him with eyes like shattered glass. They shimmered, huge, blue, terribly afraid.
Naruto shook his head. For once, he couldn't summon a smile. "Don't worry about it."
Her mouth twisted, on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry," She said, voice choked. "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."
"Isa," Shikamaru said carefully. "What happened?"
She huddled against Ino and refused to meet his eyes. "I just... had a bad dream." The abject terror was still clawing at her, Orochimaru's face burned into her mind. His face was etched into the darkness of her eyelids, grinning at her every time she blinked.
Naruto's face darkened. "It was Orochimaru, wasn't it?"
The way she flinched away from the name was answer enough.
"He's gone, Isa." Ino comforted her. "He can't get you."
Isa took a deep breath, pain lancing across her face when her broken ribs protested sharply to the movement. "I know. I know, it's just... he felt so real."
Naruto was frowning at her intently. "If he ever shows his face again, I'll kick his ass for you. I promise."
She managed a feeble smile. "Thanks, Naruto."
Choji ducked into their hideaway, brow furrowing when he spotted Isa curled against Ino's chest. "What's wrong?" He asked.
Isa sniffed, wiping at her eyes and sitting up. "I had a nightmare. It was nothing." She tried to sound as convincing as she could. Choji's face relaxed and he smiled in sympathy.
"I'm sorry," He said. "But, hey, you're awake now, so that's good, right? It was just a dream."
She nodded. She could feel the other three watching her closely, but she didn't meet their eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine now. It just freaked me out, that's all."
Choji smiled. "Do you think you can walk?" He asked, glancing at the splint around her ankle with clear skepticism.
"Why? Are we leaving?" Isa asked, glancing quizzically at Shikamaru. He was frowning at her, not the slightest bit convinced that she was really okay, but he nodded.
"Yeah. I sent Naruto in here to wake you up," He said.
Naruto grinned sheepishly. "And that's when you hit me."
Isa grimaced in regret. "I really am sorry, Naruto. I've never hit someone in my sleep before."
He shrugged, brushing her off easily. "Seriously, it's fine." He contemplated her for a moment. "So, how do you feel? Like, physically. You look pretty beat up."
Isa prodded her face tentatively, hissing in dismay when her fingers jarred her nose. Her nose and eyes were tender, her ribs still ached sharply whenever she moved, and her ankle was a throbbing, swollen mess.
"Well, my head isn't spinning any more," She said. "But I don't think I can walk, not on this ankle."
Choji snorted. "Not a problem. Any of us can carry you. Sasuke'll probably volunteer. He's been moping around ever since Ino punched him," He explained when Isa frowned at him questioningly.
"Oh..." Isa trailed off, fingers smoothing over her neck. There was nothing to feel, but she knew that there would be a hand-shaped bruise wrapping around her throat.
"You might want to keep your distance," Ino said, unusually subdued. She didn't look happy, but her eyes were firm when they met Isa's. "He hasn't flown off the handle again, but it's probably not safe for anyone to be around him until we figure out what's wrong with him."
It wasn't his fault, Isa thought, scanning the faces of her friends, each cautiously nodding in agreement with Ino. She wanted to defend her teammate, but even Naruto looked uncertain.
Isa sighed and held out her hand. "Fine. Someone help me up. If we're gonna head to the tower, we should get going."
Choji grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet. He slipped her arm around his shoulders and helped her hobble gingerly out of the root cave. Sasuke was leaning against a tree outside, his arms crossed, sulking. He affected a dispassionate expression when Isa shuffled into view, but his shoulders were tense, his dark eyes betraying his unease.
Isa winced, testing her injured ankle. She sucked in a breath through clenched teeth and shook her head, clenching her teeth against a wave of nausea. "I can't put weight on it," She ground out, taking quick, shallow breaths until her stomach had settled somewhat.
"I'll carry you," Shikamaru said, running a tired hand through his hair. "We need Sasuke, Naruto, and Choji up front in case we run into trouble. Ino, bring up the back."
Ino nodded dutifully. "Sounds good."
"Ready to go?" Shikamaru asked, addressing the group as a whole. "Naruto, you climbed a tree earlier and said you could see the tower from the top, right?"
"Yeah, it wasn't super far. We can make it in an hour, easy." Naruto replied confidently.
"I won't be much use in a fight," Isa piped up, still leaning on Choji. "But I should be able to sense anyone before we run into them, it might save us some trouble."
"Alright, we'll get there in no time!" Naruto smiled cheerfully, bouncing on the balls of his feet, shaking his hands loose. "I can't wait to be out of this stupid forest!"
Isa let go of Choji, wobbled for a moment, steadied by the hand Shikamaru put on her back. He turned, kneeling to let her climb onto his back. "You alright?" He asked her quietly, so only she could hear.
"I'm okay," She mumbled against his neck, arms going around his neck as he stood up. "My ribs hurt, though."
He shifted beneath her, and her arms tightened reflexively. "I wasn't talking about your ribs," He said, tugging at her arms lightly. She loosened them, and he sighed in relief.
She nestled her face into the back of his shirt, feeling him tense as he prepared to take off. "I know. I don't want to talk about it."
He snorted in disbelief, rolling his shoulders to settle her more comfortably across his back. "You always want to talk about your feelings. Normally it's a real drag, but if this Orochimaru guy really messed you up, you probably shouldn't bottle it up inside." He glanced at her over his shoulder, waiting until she lifted her face to meet his eyes. "Just saying."
"I won't, I promise." Her fingers tangled in the front of his jacket, and he nodded, apparently satisfied, or at least willing to drop the subject for now. She could feel him subtly channeling chakra to compensate for her weight; they'd be just as fast as the others, and Shikamaru likely wouldn't even feel her unless her arms tightened around his neck.
She broadened her senses, feeling Ino do the same. Inoichi had trained both of his daughters in chakra sensory techniques, though Ino didn't make use of it as often as Isa did.
Isa clung to Shikamaru as he jumped, scaling the side of a massive tree and launching them into the branches overhead. The others followed, Naruto and Sasuke mere blurs as they took the lead. It was strange to see them all together, to see how both teams moved. Isa knew that Kakashi and Asuma's training methods were very different, and the personalities of the teammates weren't even comparable, but it was still remarkable how different their teams really were.
Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru moved with a smooth, coordinated rhythm, never out of sync with each other. Naruto and Sasuke's movements were more abrupt; they wove in between each other, each change unpredictable, but in tune with the others'. Their dynamic wasn't as fluid as Team Ten's, but they still, unconsciously or not, moved in tandem.
They moved quickly, leaving only fluttering leaves in their wake. The air in the forest was, as always, dead. It was stale and just warm enough to be uncomfortable, the only relief the breeze in Isa's face as they flew through the trees. They only encountered two other teams, and both times they simply altered their course to avoid them.
They kept going, stopping a short distance away from the tower. "I can't feel anyone in the area," Isa said. "There are people in the tower itself, but I think they're on the upper levels."
"I figured there would be some teams already done," Shikamaru muttered, brow furrowed in thought.
"If the coast is clear, let's go!" Naruto exclaimed, eager to get to the tower now that it was within sight.
They approached the tower cautiously, flinching every time a twig snapped under their feet or a leaf fluttered to the ground. If Isa had had her full strength, she could have cast a genjutsu over them and concealed their passage. Instead, they had to dart across the wide, open space in front of the tower, completely exposed. It was a nerve-racking minute before all six of them made it to the entrance of the tower.
There was no door, instead simply a large archway that lead into an empty room. A banner hung from the wall opposite them; it was clearly very old, the words inscribed on it faded with age, but the edges were not frayed, and it was still legible.
"So what now?" Ino asked, looking around, unimpressed. "Is someone gonna show up and congratulate us or something?"
Naruto was frowning at the banner. "What the heck is this thing? 'If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher'. What's that supposed to mean?"
"'If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack'," Shikamaru muttered, reciting the words from the banner. "'When heaven and earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever'."
"There's a word missing there," Isa said, squinting up at the banner. "Something about how it's going to guide us somewhere."
"Sounds like some weird theological crap," Choji said, squinting up at the banner.
"You have your thinking face on," Isa said, craning her neck to catch Shikamaru's eye. He grinned at her.
"You haven't figured it out already?" He asked.
She shrugged. "You're the genius here, not me."
Naruto groaned. "You guys always have these weird side conversations, I never understand anything you're saying! What are you talking about now? Do you know what we're supposed to do?"
Shikamaru sighed wearily. "We have to open the scrolls. The banner talks about heaven and earth, right? So we open the heaven and earth scrolls at the same time," He explained.
Isa tapped his shoulder and he let her climb off of his back. She leaned on him, fishing through the inner pockets of her jacket, producing the earth scroll. Naruto was holding the heaven scroll, and Ino and Choji had their own scrolls in hand. They carefully peeled open the seals at the same time, unrolling the scrolls and tossing them to the ground.
Isa caught a glimpse of a complex summoning pattern before there was a burst of smoke, and two tall figures appeared. The smoke cleared, revealing Iruka and another chunin Isa didn't recognize.
She smiled, wincing when the cracked skin of her lips tore, reopening cuts that had already begun healing. "Iruka-sensei!"
The unfamiliar chunin snorted, rolling his eyes. "Two teams at the same time? Looks like you trained all the hotshots this year, Iruka. I'm out, they're your kids, you can handle them." He shot a sardonic grin at Iruka, who rolled his eyes, and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Iruka turned to the group, waving cheerfully. "Hey, guys!" He surveyed the assembled genin, all dirty and some significantly more bruised than others, and his grin faded. "Looks like you ran into trouble, huh?"
"That's an understatement," Ino said, voice very dry.
Isa's smile widened when Iruka looked at her, but he looked concerned. "Isa, are you okay?" He asked, surveying her collection of injuries.
"It's not as bad as it looks," She said quickly. That's a lie. It's probably worse.
"It's as bad as it looks," Shikamaru drawled, as if he'd read her mind.
Iruka looked like he wasn't sure whether to be reassured or even more concerned. "Well, you all made it, so I guess everything's okay."
"Yeah, what's gonna happen now, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, eyes alight with excitement.
Iruka chuckled fondly, the crease of worry between his eyebrows disappearing. "I'm assuming both teams managed to get the scrolls?" He asked. Ino and Choji nodded, holding their own scrolls. "Good. It's the third day of the test, right? You made good time."
"We got held up," Isa said. "We would have gotten here on the first day, but we got attacked."
Iruka's frown was back. "Must have been some pretty serious trouble if it delayed you for two days."
"We handled it." Sasuke's voice was low, but dismissive, a quiet warning that none of them were interesting in talking about it. Isa started, staring at Sasuke in surprise. It was the first time she'd heard him say anything all day, it was almost a shock to hear his voice again. He was lurking near the back of the group, hands buried in his pockets, an irritated expression on his face.
Iruka's frown persisted for another minute, but finally he shrugged. "Regardless, you've all passed the second exam. Congratulations!" Isa sighed in relief, the tension of the last three days ebbing out of her body. "There's still a couple days left for the exam, so you'll be staying in the tower with the other teams who've finished already. There's a set of stairs through the door behind me, just head up and wait for someone to show up after the exam is over."
"That's it? We're done?" Choji asked, disbelief coloring his voice. "There's no test or anything?"
"You were tested," Iruka said. "The second exam is an evaluation of your survival skills, your ability to stay alert in enemy territory, your ability to see a task through to completion, and your integrity."
"Integrity?" Naruto asked. He ran a hand through his hair, confused.
Iruka smiled. "Yeah, integrity. Your job was to retrieve two scrolls and open them once you got to the tower. The summoning jutsus on the scrolls would have worked no matter when you opened them, but if you had opened them before reaching the tower, a chunin would have been summoned and you would have failed the exam. Proving that you're able to refrain from opening the scrolls until you were allowed to is proving that you have the integrity required of a chunin."
"Man, this is way too much trouble," Shikamaru complained, predictably irritated.
"Hey, you're done now," Iruka said reassuringly. "You can all relax."
"Iruka-sensei, we're gonna celebrate when we get back to the village!" Naruto declared, grinning widely.
Iruka laughed. "Okay, Naruto, we'll celebrate. I'm all done here, though, so you guys can go upstairs. Good job, I'm proud of you." He picked up the scrolls and was gone in a cloud of smoke.
They collectively trudged up the stairs, Isa leaning heavily on Shikamaru and Ino, who had slipped under her free arm. Together, they managed to haul the injured girl up the stairs, emerging on the second floor just behind their teammates.
The second floor was dominated by a large cafeteria, and seated nearby was Team Eight. Kiba jumped up with a laugh, bounding over to them with Akamaru as his heels.
"Aw, man, look who finally decided to show up!" He crowed, shoving Naruto playfully.
Naruto pushed back, tired face breaking into a smile. "Shut up! We could've gotten here on the first day, but we didn't want to steal your spotlight."
Kiba snorted. "Not much spotlight. The Sand team got here before us."
"Are you guys the only ones here?" Isa asked.
He nodded, then his eyes widened, taking stock of her appearance for the first time. "Shit, Isa, what happened to you? You look like crap!"
"Thanks, Kiba," She said drolly, in too much pain to really be offended.
He laughed, rolling his eyes. "Oh, come on, I'm just teasing. But seriously, you really do look like crap."
"Yeah, we were attacked a couple times," Naruto said, shrugging. "Isa got the worst of it."
Hinata scurried up to them, staring at Isa with huge eyes. "A-are you okay, Isa?" She asked, voice barely audible in the huge room. She glanced at Naruto and turned bright red, edging behind Kiba's jacket.
"I'm fine. I'll be back to normal in no time," Isa assured her. Given that she was still being supported by Ino and Shikamaru, she privately thought that her recovery time might be longer than she'd like to admit.
Hinata looked relieved behind the blush painting her face. "That's good, I'm glad."
"Oh, Choji, there's a ton of food here," Kiba said. Choji perked up immediately. "Come on, I'll show you guys around."
He lead them through the cafeteria, where Choji stopped to grab an armload of food, and then progressed to the third floor. It was split into four spacious dormitories, with communal bathrooms on either side. Kiba steered them into one of the dormitories, flopping onto one of the beds.
"This is our room," He said. "The Sand dudes set up shop down the hall. That creepy red-head kid is super weird, so we've been keeping our distance."
"I would advise everyone to stay away from them," Shino said. Isa jumped; she hadn't noticed him appear, though he'd likely been there the entire time. "They are remarkably unfriendly."
"Yeah, they're weird," Ino agreed. She shifted so that Isa's weight was on her, and Shikamaru gladly slipped away, falling gracelessly onto a bed and promptly shutting his eyes. "But can we go take showers now? I've never felt so gross and dirty."
"Yes, please." Isa nodded enthusiastically, and together they hobbled to the bathroom. Kiba and Naruto tried to follow them, but Ino firmly slammed the door in their faces. By the time they were finished, an hour later, steam was billowing from under the door, and the entire bathroom was dripping in condensation.
Isa didn't spend long looking at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her appearance was, much as she'd expected, unpleasant. Dark, purplish bruises ringed her eyes, accompanied by an array of scratches and other, lighter bruises. The whole left side of her abdomen was mottled and tender, and the swelling in her ankle still wasn't going down. She tried combing through her tangled hair with her fingers, but quickly gave up, wringing out the water and leaving it a mess hanging down her back. Ino rewrapped the splint around Isa's ankle, and wrapped fresh bandages around her chest, and then they rejoined their friends, who were sprawled across the dormitory.
Naruto, Sasuke, Choji, and even Shikamaru had showered while they'd been gone. Naruto was regaling Kiba, Hinata, and Shino with the grand story of their adventure, with much added drama, Isa was sure. Shikamaru was asleep, Choji was surrounded by a pile of food and couldn't have been happier, and Sasuke was sitting on a top bunk with his back to the wall, glaring into the distance.
Ino eased Isa onto a bunk, sitting down on the edge of the bed as Isa laid down, snuggling happily into the pillow. "I've never loved a bed so much in my entire life," She said, voice muffled by the pillow.
Ino giggled, pulling her still-wet hair into a ponytail. "I'm gonna go get some food, you want any?"
Isa shook her head. "I just want to sleep. I'll go get something later."
Ino shrugged, and stood up to leave. "Just don't try going down the stairs by yourself, okay? I don't know if your ankle is broken, but you probably shouldn't try to walk on it until a doctor has looked at it."
Isa waved her off with a tired smile. "Yes, nurse."
Ino snorted and left, shaking her head. Isa listened to Naruto tell their story for a little while before her eyes slid shut, and she was asleep.
When she awoke, the room was dark. Moonlight shone through the windows, and the deep breathing of her friends surrounded her. Ino was in the bunk above Isa's, her hand dangling over the side of the bed. Isa carefully ducked underneath it, hopping out of the room as silently as she could. She stood at the top of the stairs, her stomach grumbling with hunger.
She bit her lip, frowning intently at the staircase. I can do this, she told herself. It's just stairs. I can slide down the bannister if I really have to. She grasped the rail and hopped down the first step, keeping her injured foot off the ground. It wasn't the quickest, or safest, route down the stairs, and she only made it about halfway down before she felt someone descending from behind her.
"You shouldn't be walking," Sasuke said, appearing at her elbow. They were the first words he'd spoken to her since the day before, the first time he'd come anywhere near her at all. There was an awkward beat while she recovered from her surprise, a silence that was far too strained to be comfortable.
She pouted at him, shoving away the memory of his fingers around her throat. "I'm hungry," She whined, wrinkling her nose unhappily.
He stared at her, deadpan. "How are you going to get back up?"
"I haven't figured that part out yet," She said, meeting his eyes defiantly. "But I will. Unless you feel like helping." The unspoken offer hung in the air. It's okay. I'm not afraid of you, you're not going to hurt me.
He considered her for a long moment, then, with a heavy sigh, shifted closer. Isa smiled hesitantly and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, his arm going around her waist. It was still slow going, but they made it to the cafeteria without incident. Sasuke let go of her as soon as they hit the landing, rubbing his neck, face closed off, troubled. Isa hopped around on one foot, piling a plate with fruit. She sat down at a table, patting the seat beside her until Sasuke sat down, leaning on the table with crossed arms.
She popped a grape in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "It's not your fault," She said suddenly, breaking their silence.
Sasuke glanced at her, shoulders tense, face inscrutable in the near-darkness. "I could have killed you."
She shrugged, peeling an orange daintily. "You didn't."
His eyes flickered to the bruises around her neck, and a muscle in his jaw ticed. She played idly with the orange peels on her plate, but her eyes stayed on him, lingering at the collar of his shirt, where the curse mark was hidden.
"Does it hurt?" She asked.
He rolled his shoulder unconsciously, hand clamping over the mark, then he nodded. "Yeah, it hurts. Not like it did after I... woke up. But it still hurts."
She reached over and her hand tugged at his, cautiously pulling at his shirt, sliding down his collar until the curse mark was exposed. It was inky black against his pale skin, viciously out of place against his neck. Her fingers trailed across it, tracing its outline. He didn't flinch away, but his face was tight in discomfort.
"I'm sorry," She whispered. His eyes searched her face, but she was frowning at his neck, refusing to meet his gaze. "I should have done something. If I'd been stronger, I could have kept us safe."
He tensed under her hand, and when he spoke, there was an angry edge to his voice. "We were all weak. We were no match for that guy. He was toying with us."
She could still see Orochimaru in her mind's eye, standing in the clearing, wreathed in the coils of a monstrous snake. Her fingers curled into his shirt. "We'll be ready next time," She said quietly. "I won't let him hurt us again."
"You sound like Naruto," Sasuke said. Isa smiled and pillowed her head on her arms, looking up at him through heavy-lidded eyes. He looked back at her, shadows dark across his face, still hunched over, still closed off, but still there. They didn't say anything for a long time, the silence stretching, hanging thick. If Isa hadn't been so tired, she might have laughed because two months ago she hadn't had a single word to say to Sasuke Uchiha, and now they sat there with sentences strung between them, featherlight, memories of 'periwinkle' and 'friend' etched into the space that separated her from him.
Isa blinked sleepily, yawning. She buried her face in her arms, mumbling incoherently.
Sasuke snorted, expression impossible to read in the darkness. "Come on," He said. She whined in protest when he pushed against the table, scooting the bench back and standing. She raised her arms toward him, blinking pitifully until he stooped, pulling her arm around him and dragging her to her feet.
The half-eaten plate of food was abandoned, forgotten behind them as they climbed the stairs. He left her at her bunk, pausing just long enough for her to find his hand in the dark, fingers squeezing his for just a moment.
I forgive you.
His hand twitched against hers, and then it was sliding away. "Go to sleep, Isa."
A/N: Okay so this is a little filler-ish, but I couldn't exactly skip right to the Preliminaries, so we're stuck with this. This chapter was really about Isa really starting to deal with everything that's happened to her, specifically Orochimaru and how she's sort of assimilating that. It might not be really apparent yet, but she's still a little bit in shock about the whole thing right now. I really don't want to talk too much about it, because I want you all to discover this on your own, but you'll be seeing a lot more about how Isa deals with trauma, which is something I'm really enjoying writing about. And we also got to see some relationship development, and that's always good. I don't want to get all meta in an author's note, but I really like exploring relationship dynamics, so in the near future I'm going to be spending an exorbitant amount of time on the aforementioned dynamics. I think it's really interesting how Isa occupies a different role in each relationship she has, and how those roles are beginning to change, and other characters' reactions to those changes. Anyway yeah, I love character development a lot. I should probably just leave it at that or else this is going to turn into a whole character analysis and we don't need that. So I hope you enjoy, and Chapter 15 will be out next Wednesday!
P.S. I know that this is literally ages away, but I'm thinking that once we hit the end of the original series, I'd like to write an intermission series. It'll be mostly original content based on what Isa's doing in between the original series and Shippuden. I really, really, really want to get into that because there's a lot of important stuff that's going to be happening to her during that time. So I think I'll do that, it'll be a completely different story, it won't be attached to Tempest, I'm just going to treat it as Part Two of the series. If you guys hate that idea, let me know, that's fine, it's just something that I've been thinking about for a while.