Here is chapter fourteen everyone! I have assignments and exams coming up soon, so I'm afraid my updates will be a little less frequent for a while. I'm sorry about that, but I hope you understand and I hope you've enjoyed the story so far =)

14. Tension

It was probably the first time ever since his old team –-Team Minato—shattered that Hatake Kakashi was on time.

The sky was overhung by a veil of early morning grey, tarnishing all colours so the world looked pastel. He hadn't encountered a single soul on his way to the main gate of Konoha Gakure, only the guards, sitting in the wooden booth beside the gate. Although from the looks of it, they had been more asleep than awake still. They hadn't even raised their heads off the desk as he had passed them and neither had they reacted to his admittedly rather drowsy greeting.

Only the birds were really awake and very cheerful at that. Listening to their songs had helped him greatly to concentrate on his destination and not "get lost" on the way and suddenly end up at the memorial stone. The gravity of the situation had helped him defy the invisible forces which usually drew him there.

He was not only on time; he was actually the first one to arrive here! The last time that happened felt like a lifetime ago. He was really getting old.

"Kakashi-san," Shikaku greeted the fellow Jounin with a curt nod of the head. He, too, seemed tense, but then who wouldn't? After all something like this was unprecedented, at least as far as he knew.

He had been a little surprised at first that Shizune was not among the two guards Tsunade was allowed to take with her to the Kage summit, but after some thinking that decision seemed sound enough. Shizune was an excellent medic-nin, but Tsunade, as her teacher, surpassed her by far. Besides, who was to lead the village in her absence if not Shizune? She was probably doing Tsunade's work for years anyhow, so she shouldn't have problems taking over the Hokage's duties. Lastly, the two persons accompanying her weren't chosen for sympathy; she needed skilled bodyguards who not only protected her, but could also give her advisory support. That didn't mean she disliked them, but it sure came in handy to have Konoha Gakure's greatest mind among your companions. Oh, and he, the Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi, wasn't that bad either.

"What a terrible hour to meet, isn't it?" Kakashi chatted away.

They had agreed (although this 'they' hadn't included the two of them) that they would not mention a single word about the reason for the summit until they returned, and even then it depended on the outcome. Neither of them comprehended this excess of secrecy. All it did was keep the villagers ignorant of any threats, but just because they didn't know of them, didn't mean they weren't there. It even seemed foolish and really risky to keep everyone in the dark, instead of having them prepare themselves. But it was the decision of the Kage and the council and ultimately the two of them could do nothing but pass advice. They had no say in this matter at all.

"It is," Shikaku agreed grimly, "and now the one who proposed it isn't there."

"Who's not there?"

The two men turned their heads to see the Godaime march straight towards them in a resolute gait, not bothering to hide her tense state of mind either.

"Hokage-sama." Both Jounin bowed their heads to greet the leader of their village, who registered their gesture with a brief nod.

"Can we go then?"

"Yes," they replied simultaneously and after exchanging meaningful looks the three shinobi turned their backs on their village and started walking.

The Kage Summit was to take place in five days from now in the Land of Iron. The invitation already came two days ago, but since they figured they'd need about four days for the journey, they only set out today and had spent the previous day planning their journey. Actually the Land of Iron was quite far away. The fastest shinobi of the village would need about two or three days, when he sprinted all the way without taking a break. They did not plan on running all the time; who knew in what condition they would reach the summit if they did? They would travel by ship and not one of the usual freighters. They had gone to great lengths to hire a speedboat with suiton users aboard, who would enhance their velocity.

So now they only had to get to the harbour, which they planned to reach this afternoon. Although no word was passed between the three shinobi from the moment they left their home behind, it didn't seem quiet. They were too preoccupied with their own thoughts to mind what was going on around them. Still none of them had failed to pick up on their follower. They were being tailed ever since they left Konoha and by exchanging a brief glance, they had assured themselves that all the others were aware of that fact as well. It was an immensely skilled shinobi, but there has been a reason why the three of them had been sent on this journey. They had taken note of his presence the moment he started moving and it left Kakashi with a terrible suspicion. A foreign ninja shouldn't be able to get this close to the village. Did that mean it was one of their own men?

"The wind has turned," Kakashi remarked casually.

"In our favour?" Shikaku asked, giving the Hatake a penetrating look.

"We'll see about that…" he replied vaguely, while he already had the tables turned. Ever since their last break in a popular and accordingly full teahouse, a bunshin had taken his place, while he had lain in wait, before setting out to pursue their pursuer. Now he was finally ready for a confrontation.

His clone-self came to a halt, as did the other two, and he put a finger into the air in order to determine the direction of the wind. As could be expected from a good spy, the man did not move when his targets didn't move either. Instead, he sought cover within the crown of a massive sycamore, pressing his body firmly against the large trunk. The man was wearing a long, dark-brown coat, the colour of the bark; he blended in like a chameleon. His face was masked, of course, and he was of lean build – they always were.

"No sudden movements," Kakashi spoke calmly and pressed a kunai against the jugular of the stranger, hard enough to draw blood, but it wouldn't kill him as long as he kept perfectly still. "Who are you and who sent you?"

He didn't think asking for why's would get him any farther – guys like these rarely ever knew the why's.

"I know enough ways to make you talk, but I'm sure you don't want to experience any of them-"

He pushed his kunai a little deeper, as the man moved, feeling the soft flesh give way little by little.

"I told you not to move," Kakashi growled and after a moment of consideration, he pulled at the man's shoulder to turn him around. The mask he was wearing didn't give away any affiliation. It was just white with a brown, perpendicular line in the middle of it. No animal shape, as was used by most Konoha ANBU, no Kiri symbol as the masks of the Hunter-nin sported, nothing that helped identify him, although that was why he was wearing it in the first place. That made his next move easy: off with the mask!

Without ever taking his eyes off the other man or his kunai off his throat, Kakashi raised his hand and cautiously placed it at the edge of the smooth mask, digging his fingers underneath it.

"Hatake Kakashi, step away."

"What?" Kakashi's eyes widened slightly, but before he had a chance to figure out what his opposite was talking about, he was hauled backwards by the force of an explosion. He surely hadn't anticipated that. With his hands raised high to shield his face from the flying debris, the Hatake was thrown off the tree but managed to land on his feet as he reached the dry ground. A second later, a dull thud signalled to him that the other man had reached the ground as well. He had not landed on his feet.

"Kakashi!"

He heard Tsunade call him, before she and Shikaku rushed his way and found him leaning over their pursuer.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

Slowly the Jounin rose to his feet and took a step away from the other man, so they could have a look at him. "He killed and made himself unrecognisable in order to avoid being uncovered."

Such an action spoke for a great amount of loyalty to his client, but why did he warn him?

This already promised to be a most unpleasant journey. And it was only day one.

It seemed almost too easy. It didn't feel terribly stealthy to be sneaking out at broad day and yet it was exciting.

Who would have thought that shy, little Hinata would give herself up to a sensation as primitive as a rush of adrenaline?

Who would have thought she'd even dare to?

"Tell me what you see on this card."

"Tsk." Ino sucked in her bottom lip and cast an irritated look at the man, sitting next to her on the plain white sofa. Most of the furniture in this office was plain and white or at least pastel coloured and in the air was the faint, powdery scent of benzoin – nothing that could upset a person that was thought to be upset anyhow. She hated it and did not bother to hide that.

"Ink." Came her tight-lipped response, before she leant back against the surprisingly hard backrest.

Careless… if she really, really wanted to, she could probably crack her skull open by banging it against the edge of it. Not that she wanted to. First of all, she didn't want to pass from this world, leaving a mess behind and more importantly, she was no lunatic, which is why she had no idea what she was doing here anyway.

"And on this one?" the elderly man asked as he switched to the next card, displaying not only black, but also red shapes.

"Ink."

"Please concentrate on the form." He made an effort to help her out. "What does it look like to you?"

"Like a blot," Ino sighed and rolled her eyes, her fingers digging a little deeper into her armrest as she tried not to let the anger that was boiling below her skin erupt. This was such a waste of time. Instead of sitting here, she could have already cleaned her house a dozen times all over (especially seeing as it was always spotless to begin with).

"Yamanaka-san." His voice lost a bit of its neutral, almost lulling quality, but only for a moment. "Please concentrate."

"Tze," she hissed and stared out of the window. "I see shoes, a bag, a scarf, jewels-"

"-You're not even looking."

"What difference does it make?" she snapped and glared at her therapist. "It's still ink on paper, regardless of what I say."

"If you refuse to cooperate I can't give you green light."

Right. He was the man in charge of her future. Unless she didn't pass his tests, she would never be allowed to return to her team again and would probably have to come here every week for the rest of her life.

"What do you want me to do? You ask me what it is and I tell you. It's ink on paper."

"You're not supposed to tell me what it is, but what you see in it," he reminded her again, without looking up from the notes he had so busily taken in the last seconds. The scratching of his pen reminded her of the sound it made when you ground your teeth – a habit she had long discarded, but right now she felt like taking it up again. This man with his stubborn patience and repetitiveness was driving her insane. He wasn't healing her but making her ill.

"How about I just see things the way they are?"

It's been really lonely these past days.

Actually Sayuri was used to it. Being a top-class shinobi, Sasuke spent a lot of time out of the house she was confined to due to her role as housewife. In the last two weeks, however, there's been almost nothing for him to do and he's spent more time at home than he had, ever since they came back to Konoha. But apparently the time of idleness was over. Not even an hour ago, he returned from a five-day mission and the next one was due in a few days again.

Five days weren't really long and she hasn't been entirely alone, either, after all she still had her son, but even so, she had missed him. Really missed him and yet she has also been glad that he's been gone. She had just needed some time for herself, but she's had that now and was looking forward to spending some time with him.

Sitting in the living-room, watching her son explore every single corner of the house and at the same time doing her job of cleaning the floor, Sayuri was busy adding herbs into her mortar and ground them to a fine powder, before squeezing the juice of a fresh aloe vera leaf into it to turn the powder into an ointment. As she was only just done, the bedroom door opened and Sasuke stepped into the living room in fresh clothes – beige shorts and a black shirt with a high collar and the obligatory Uchiha crest on his back and then the bandages covering his wrists.

"How's your hand?" Sayuri asked and rose to her feet, with the stone mortar in her hands.

"It's nothing." Sasuke shrugged; he was never one to show he was suffering.

"Let me see."

She carefully reached for his hand and turned it around. The flesh of his palm was pink with some darker shades, almost a glaring red really, around his thumb and a few blisters here and there. He had burned it pretty bad.

"There, hold still," she said and dipped two fingers into her ointment, before rubbing it in careful circles on his skin, trying to insert as little pressure as possible. She didn't want any of the blisters to break open, but actually it looked rather good. The injury was a few days old after all and nothing happened yet, and quite frankly she didn't think he had been mindful to treat it with caution.

"Try to use it as little as possible."

"Hn." He gave a noncommittal sound and dropped his hand to his side without looking at it again.

"It's really nice outside… don't you think?" Sayuri asked and clasped her hands behind her back sheepishly.

"Just like everyday," he said, remaining utterly unimpressed. He was good at that…

"Shall we take a walk? I'm sure Mikan would like some fresh air."

"Can't, I'm off to training."

"But-" she started, but then cut off her own sentence by biting on her lip.

"But what?"

I don't want to be alone, is what she thought, but what she said was, "Right, whatever."

She rolled her eyes and meant to go back to her working place to wrap up the left-over herbs, when Sasuke held her back by her elbow.

"What is it now?" he asked in a worn-out tone and gave her a hard look. He seemed honestly unaware of why it annoyed her that he apparently couldn't even stand it to stay at home for a single hour and didn't want to spend any time with them in spite of not having seen them for five whole days. It was exasperating.

"Nothing," she hissed and pulled her arm away. If he didn't get it, then that was his problem. She didn't feel like talking to him anyhow. "C'mon Mikan, let's go and take a walk by ourselves."

Sayuri picked up her son and took the colourful leaf that must have flown in through the open door, out of his tiny fist. He didn't like that at all.

"We can take a walk together when I get back."

"Oh, really? When would that be? When it's dark outside and he has to go to bed?" She gave him a scowl that could have cut him in halves, and handed the leaf back to her son to keep him from whining. "You only just came back and now you want to leave again?"

"I'm not leaving, I go and train."

That has never yet been a problem, so why was it now?

"It's not about what you do, but about you not being here," she snarled. "But good to know what's more important to you."

"Why do you think am I doing all this?"

At last his calm abandoned him. He always acted like he didn't care about anything and like he was above it all, but for that he could get really angry when provoked. It definitely took Sayuri by surprise, since it usually took more than this for him to lose his composure, but by now they had quarrelled often enough, so it no longer intimidated her.

"Enlighten me."

"Tze," Sasuke hissed, not having missed the sarcastic tone in her voice. "I do this, so I'll be strong enough to defeat Madara. The last time I wasn't able to protect you, but next time will be different. I won't let him touch you again."

How come that didn't surprise her now?

"But you don't know when he'll come- or if he'll come at all," she said and put Mikan back down, before carrying on, "So you want to lie in wait all your life and spent that time training and training in order to protect us instead of being with us? We don't even know if Madara is alive or not, so maybe you're just wasting your time."

"He is alive," Sasuke said emphatically. "I know he is… And time spent training is hardly wasted time."

"So being with us is a waste of time, huh?"

"That's not what I said."

"Right." Sayuri waved him off, knowing that that last remark had not only been childish but had done him wrong as well. "So he is alive, but during your fight he was so badly wounded – he even lost an arm! Maybe he will never fully recover. And he must have overused his Sharingan, too-"

"-he is in possession of the eternal Mangekyou Sharingan," Sasuke interrupted her in the harsh tone that always invaded his voice when talking about the other Uchiha. "His eyes aren't like mine. They don't expire while mine do."

"B-but you don't have to shoulder the entire burden yourself. Even if he should come, you don't have to face him all alone. That's one of the reasons we came here, remember? Safety in numbers and all that…"

That has been the very argument that had at long last convinced him to return to the village. He knew he couldn't be there all the time and Konoha-nin looked after one another, they helped each other, regardless of what happened and they would also help them when they needed help. It wasn't Sasuke against Madara, but Konoha against Madara. That should at least give him a little bit of reassurance, shouldn't it?

"We are talking about Uchiha Madara. Mere numbers won't do," Sasuke sighed and from the look in his eyes, he was far away right now, he definitely did take his time before carrying on and when he did, he had the worn out tone of someone who had made a long journey and was now very tired, "I'm the only one who can kill him and next time I'll be prepared."

"But you nearly did beat him the last time and now you have back-up. Don't you think that will be enough?" she asked, her voice softer now. "Or do you really plan to keep on training until the day he comes – even if it takes years?"

"…"

"I know that you only do it for us…" Sayuri sighed, her eyes boring into the faraway look in his, as she dissected his silence, "But instead of protection from someone who might never appear we rather need you in person. Mikan needs his father and I- I just need you. Waiting for Madara could take forever or he might appear in a moment you're not there. Life's too short to spend waiting for the worst to happen, don't you think?"

"…"

Instead of responding he averted his eyes and watched his son rip apart the dry leaf and at length the meaning of what was left unsaid began to dawn on Sayuri and left her blanching. At least that's how it felt. She could literally feel the blood drain from her face, leaving her head feel light and her chest too small to accommodate her erratically beating heart.

"Unless… you don't plan to wait…?" Her voice was shallow and became slower with every word and as Sasuke at length met her eyes again, she could see the determination in his.

"No, I don't." He slowly shook his head. "The moment I think I'm ready I'll set out to search him and end this once and for all."

"Huh?" A helpless sound escaped her and she stared into Sasuke's eyes in horror, losing herself in the blackness that made it almost impossible for her to find her voice again and when she did, it came out as a weak stammer, "N-no… you can't do that…"

"I have to-"

"No! You have a son now – you can't be so reckless!" Her voice rose in volume and pitch; her anger or maybe fear did that. "It's one thing to defend yourself against danger but another to go and search for danger yourself!"

"You two are the reason why I have to do this." Sasuke's gaze strayed to his son, before giving Sayuri a steady, analysing look. Her skin was as smooth as porcelain and just as pale. Except for the subtle shadows under her eyes it was spotless. He would not allow anyone to change that. Not again. Not ever. "Do you want to spend the rest of your life worrying? Because I don't. We are Mikan's parents and it's our duty to make sure he can grow up safely, and he'll never be able to until we get rid of Madara."

You won't be safe until he's gone.

He was right and she knew it. There was no life with Madara, but without Sasuke there was none either. What if he'd set out and never come back? Maybe he would manage to kill Madara, but at what cost? What would happen to him? It was highly unrealistic to believe that Sasuke would survive an encounter of that kind unscathed, not even remotely unharmed and what then? What if he came back as a cripple and she'd then have to care for two babies? What if he never returned at all? What if he left her alone again? She didn't want to be alone again…

But despite her fear she still knew he was right, but she wasn't yet ready to accept that.

That is why, instead of responding, Sayuri bit into her bottom lip and gazed into the distance, into a future she didn't want to live and tried hard to blind out, but once the images began playing across her mind there was no stopping them. She cursed herself for her weakness.

"Once he is gone," Sasuke began slowly, "maybe you'll sleep better then."

He softly trailed his thumb across the slight shadows under her eyes. He'd love to erase them, but knew that he couldn't. Not yet…

"Huh?"

He noticed? Had all her pretences been in vain? She had tried so hard to hide every trace of sleeplessness, of the nightmares that disrupted the few hours of sleep she was granted and every bit of discomfort from his watchful eyes, so he wouldn't have to worry about her as well, when he was there. But apparently she had failed. And that although she had been sure that his usual indifference and all the smiles she forced on her face when he was there sufficed to fool him. But apparently he was more perceptive than she gave him credit for. And here she had thought she had done a good job…

"You can tell?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"I know you," he shrugged, raising at least the ghost of a smile on her face, but its poignant quality belied the whole gesture.

He knew her alright, but she also knew him and knew how stubborn he was and that he tended to overestimate himself. He was strong, very much so, but that didn't mean that others were by default weak, although at times she wondered if he thought that way.

"I won't be long."

A kiss on the lips and then he was gone, but she still couldn't shake off that queasy feeling for the rest of the day.

It was broad day, actually, but here in the woods hardly any light reached the moss and leave covered ground. It was much colder here, too. And quiet. If he didn't pay attention, Naruto couldn't even hear the chirping of birds or the rustling of the large black pine trees surrounding him. When he looked up, he could only see a small circle of blue, framed from all sides by the pointed tree tops, as though they were growing diagonally, closing in on him. It was just a visual phenomenon, but even so he somehow felt trapped, almost claustrophobic even, which is why he forced his eyes to stay down, gazing through the thick branches of the trees, like a prisoner through his bars as he waited for her to finally show up.

Hinata never wanted to meet at public places and at times he wondered if she was ashamed of him, the Jinchuuriki-boy, although it has been a long time since someone had called him that. She's a shy girl and maybe just now that was a good thing. It sure enough slowed him down and kept him from rushing things. But however new and actually not yet deep their relationship was, he was just proud of her and that made it hard to keep quiet about it.

If it were up to him he would scream it from the rooftops that she was his girlfriend now.

All in due time…

It started out as a simple training day. Neji schooled his Byakugan, his agility, his chakra control – all the way he always did. At some point though, he couldn't even tell now just when that had been, he had planted himself in front of the great oak tree in the backyard of the premises and tested his physical strength on it. Punching on and on, until his knuckles were bleeding, his breath came ragged through parted lips, the bark was destroyed and the whole tree, even the ground seemed to be shaking under the fury of his fists. Or maybe it was him who was shaking. He didn't care either which way. Same as all the colours and contours around him had become blurry, indistinguishable from one another, so had the shapes of his thoughts at the cost of their contents. For an individual who usually overthought his every action, Neji's mind seemed suspiciously devoid of conscious thought. The vacuousness dominating his head did little, however, to restrain him. In fact, it seemed to even augment the force with which he was thrashing the innocent tree, but he couldn't possibly direct his anger at those who were actually responsible for his current misery.

The tree would have to do. It's not like it changed anything anyhow, but as long as he was distracted, he could ignore that fact. To some extent… Well… at least he told himself he could, but in some remote nook of his mind he knew that it was not a tree he was lashing out against and that was something he could not ignore.

Still his fists carried on. The bandages around his fingers were soaked with blood, but he was too numb to feel any pain. Maybe that bothered him-

-it did bother him.

"What a brute training for someone in possession of the Byakugan."

Neji perceived a voice – his uncle's? – from right behind him. It was hard to make out exactly because of the hammering of bones against bark. He wondered what would give way first.

"Our fighting style isn't called the gentle fist for nothing. Mere strength won't ever do as much damage as perfect control of chakra."

His uncle, he was sure now, carried on, but Neji decided to pay no attention to him. What did he know? Surely not that more often than not, Neji saw his face in the irregular fissures and curves of the tree's bark… Though maybe he imagined as much.

"Control your emotions or they will control you," Hiashi said with the calm air of someone at peace with the world and himself. "Turn around," he said and Neji could not do anything but obey.

So the young Hyûga turned around and stared at his uncle, still panting, rather with rage than with exhaustion, though. He felt an unbearable urge to hurt the man before him, the one who was about to destroy his future; had in fact already laid the foundation stone to do so. It would feel better than hitting the tree, he was sure of that, but apart from not changing anything he would also have to suffer the consequences for such a major transgression. It was not worth it, but that knowledge did next to nothing to calm him. Hiashi had to feel it. He had to feel the rage welling up in him and yet he did nothing to constrain him. It would have been easy for his main-house uncle to make use of the jûin to bring him to his knees and let the pain erase all hostile thoughts from his mind, the way he had also done with Neji's father – his own brother. But he didn't do it. He remained unnervingly calm.

"I am aware that you might harbour doubts, concerning the arrangement of your marriage," Hinata's father began cautiously and stepped off the wooden porch he had been standing on and approached his nephew. Though he did halt a good distance away from him.

"Hmpf."

"But if you set aside your hasty misgivings, you will see it's for your best."

The clan's best.

"The best for the clan is the best for you," Hiashi said, as though he had read his thoughts. It wouldn't even surprise Neji if he had. Who knew just how far the main house's power over the branch members reached? "People aren't solitary beings. You live in a community; the country, the village, your friends, but there is no one closer to you than family. Blood is thicker than water and as we strive to do what is best for you, you should also strive to do what is best for your clan-mates. Every man has a share of the responsibility for the fate of his fellow human beings. Remember that."

Like there was a way Neji could ever forget that, not even if he tried. Something like this was easy to say for someone who was very far at the top of every hierarchy.

It kind of felt like betrayal. He used to hate his uncle and every single member of the main house, everyone responsible for imposing such a pitiful life on the members of the second house of their very own family. Then his uncle took him under his wing, convinced him that most of his wrath had been unfounded and that he was the master of his own fate and Neji had truly believed him.

Now, however, he had shown him that he had been right after all. No matter how much freedom a caged bird could see through its bars, it didn't change anything about the fact that it was still in a cage.

Despite Neji's silence, Hiashi was aware of how he felt. It was easy to tell from his posture, much easier still from the feeling of his chakra.

"The spectators see the chess game better than the players. Your wedlock will not only be an enrichment for the clan, but also for your own lives-"

"-Hiashi-sama!" Neji spoke up, still enraged, but his uncle lifted a hand to silence him.

"Words spoken during emotional moments are likely to be discourteous, so no more to the matter." Hiashi gave a casual wave of the hand and focused his pale lavender eyes on his nephew. "The greatest value in life lies in selfless dedication. With time you'll grow to understand our decision."

She's had a lot of dreams. For instance she had wanted to be like her sister; to be gracious and kind like her, but she had also wanted to become a strong kunoichi, so she could be her sister's guard, once she took over the position as the head of the village and their clan from their grandmother.

She's had the potential.

She's had the requirements.

She's had the strength.

She's had the will, the determination, she's had all she needed to make everyone predict a bright future for her.

She's had many dreams, but being a wife has never been among them.

Besides she was married already. She was 6 and he was 8 and it happened in a sand box, but this matrimonial sacrament would forever mean more to her than any actual marriage ever could.

She was glad that there was now an ocean between them. It helped a little to distract from the fact that it were far greater forces that kept them apart. Even less bridgeable than the greatest sea.

…

…