And here is my new favorite chapter.
After this chapter is posted, I should be starting Mother drabbles. But don't hold me to that.
It's virtually the same time, just doubled back to see what the Uchiha brat is up to.
Sasuke
The hospital was eerily quite for flue season. It was gearing towards the Rinne Festival, which meant many children would be attending school just to put it together. That ultimately led to them sharing materials and spaces. And with those materials and spaces came germs. Germs gave way to flu and bronchitis. As much as Sasuke loved working with and for children, he could not deny they were true embracers of their stereotypes. They generally were sticky between ages zero to six, did not understand personal boundaries two to maybe ten, and couldn't grasp the 'cover your mouth' and 'wash your hands' rules till thirteen. If it weren't for his proximity to said sticky, germ infested space invaders, Sasuke wouldn't so run down. One of the nurses, Shizune, inquired if he gotten his flu vaccine for the year. Sasuke in fact did not.
Accompanied with a tickle in his throat, Sasuke sat at the nurses station with Hinata and Ino. Both were lecturing (more Ino than Hinata) him on the importance of self-care.
"You doctors are so for the people you forget to take care of yourself." Ino ranted, looking to the quiet girl for support. "I have half a mind to hold you down and inject you with a shot."
"Glad you're not a pediatrician." Hinata giggled hiding behind a stack of folders as Ino gunned for her.
"I second that emotion." Sasuke snickered when baby blue eyes darted to him. "Calm down Yamanaka. I'll have Shizune do it later."
"Right, and those blood shot eyes and dark circles are sleep deprivation." Ino smirked. "Face it Uchiha, you've got cooties."
"I'm just sick, not ten." Sasuke slammed his head on the desk with a cough. "If anything." His voice was muffed from being buried in his arms. "It's smoker's cough."
"That's another thing!" Ino might want to be apart of the fiercest medical team known to Kohona, but she cared far too much about superficial sickness to deal with any sort of gash. "You should quit. We have a great twelve-step program! Hinata you should tell Naruto, both of them could do it together. You know they'd turn it into a competition to see who would win."
"Oh Mother, I didn't know you were blonde." For a shy girl, Hinata was far more sarcastic than Sasuke. She could out sass Ino any day.
"Shut up! I'm just looking out for my friends." Ino pouted, going back to the documents that she should've done a half hour ago.
"Dully noted." Sasuke nodded; head still down in his sleeves. He almost felt like crap. Regardless of Ino's innocent assumption, Sasuke was sleep deprived. He hadn't been back to his uncle's since Sakura practically threatened him. She was moodier than the previous day for obvious reasons, but that still didn't mean she could be a jerk to him. Sasuke was worried, and when he worried it spited his anxiety. Anxiety meant zero sleep. With no sleep, his body could not fight off any sort infection.
"So Sasuke. It's nearly Rinne Fest time. Get Sakura anything?"
No, he hadn't. He was having trouble buying for a Goddess who already had everything. She didn't even like much, nor did she wear jewelry of any kind, she didn't need perfume, and he was sure she hated candy.
Ino swooped on his inner turmoil. "If you can't think of anything, lingerie works. Sai did that last year and let me tell you-"
"Hey Ino. No offense," Sasuke quickly cut her off. "But I swear to Kami if you finish that sentence I will vomit on you."
"Here, here." Hinata raised her pen in the air. She then continued on with her papers.
"You two are no fun." The blonde huffed. She went silent though, reaching for her cell on the counter. She stayed quite till she shoved the phone under Sasuke's hidden face. "I'm just saying. You could help yourself to some festival fun with a gift as lacy as that."
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as he lifted his gaze to blue. They were sparkling in amusement and self-gratification. How did he manage to befriend such a girl?
The phone's display was on a website full of half nude women in lacy undergarments. A lesser man would ogle and drool, Sasuke just snorted and looked away. The particular garments were shimmery olive cashmere. It might have made a good bathing suit if the crotch wasn't missing. A gold chain connected the bra to the 'panties' with several other gold and black chains lacing up the front and sides. Sasuke was hit with a mental image of his daring lover in such an outfit. That only served for his eye twitch to become visible.
"I will break your phone." He warned darkly. Still feeling devious, Ino handed the phone to Hinata, who squeaked and blushed profusely. "And stop that! Leave Hinata alone, you know she can't handle shit like that." And Naruto would attack Sasuke for it if he let his best girl friend run unsupervised around his girlfriend.
"Fine, you two have uneventful nights. I'm sure after last year Sai get's the hint."
Sasuke groaned. He had another two hours in his shift. Luckily his phone rang.
"Dobe." He greeted after reading the caller I.d.
"Teme. Where are you?" Naruto sounded a bit frantic. "No one was at your house and you weren't in the usual spots. I can't even get into contact with the others to ask."
"Naruto." Sasuke asserted coolly. Dealing with frantic Naruto was like helping a scared deer. One wrong move and they'll lose common sense and flip the hell out.
"Man I looked like everywhere for you, even the rammen shop. Dude, I went to the library to look." The blond did not hear him as his triad flowed.
"Naruto..." Sasuke called more firmly.
"I ran into Itachi but he said he hadn't seen you in a few days. Where are you?"
"Naruto!"
"Yes?"
"What day is it?"
"Tuesda-oooooooh. Work. My bad."
"Dobe."
"Anyway. You get done at like two a.m. or something right?"
"I went in early, I get off at six."
"Come straight over."
"For?" Even if he couldn't see, Naruto knew Sasuke lifted his eyebrow.
"Guess what I just bought."
"..."
"Guess."
"You call me, during work hours mind you, freaking out, only to tell me you bought a fucking game."
Ino laughed. Due to not being able to hear Naruto, she merely assumed the other blond worried his best friend.
"Well yea. I mean... we were waiting for it to come out." Sasuke could see the sheepish 'sorry' twist of lips Naruto used when Sasuke really wanted to bash his face in. "Thought you'd be excited... sorry."
Not the puppy voice. Sasuke loathed the sad dog voice his best friend used. It always worked on him ninety-nine point-nine percent of the time. Leaving Sasuke to sigh in defeat.
"It's fine." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'll be happy to kick your ass after work."
"Sweet! Thanks dude!"
"Bye, Naruto."
"Bye, Teme!"
"Aw. Did Naruto call to check on his boyfriend?" Ino piped from behind her phone.
"Hinata, Ino is being mean." Sasuke whined, putting his head back down.
"Too bad you didn't say you were sick. He would've brought you soup." Hinata chirped as she kept her eyes focused on her writing.
"You two are insatiable." He whined further as Ino cackled. "I'm making rounds." He stood and fixed his scrubs, leaving the females to mock his sexual orientation.
It was in good taste though. For the longest time neither boy gave any indication to liking females, solely ditching their friends to be alone with one another. It wasn't until hormones struck did it dawn on both that the opposite gender was appealing.
Sasuke coughed again, he rather not do rounds. But he didn't want Hinata and Ino harassing him again. So he made his way to the child with the fractioned skull.
Secretly he had checked on the boy in hopes the strange man would be around. He was curious as to who he was and what relation he had with child. All he ever got was a mother by his bed and a father pacing.
Taking the chart off the door, Sasuke entered the dimly lit room.
"Hello, Doctor Uchiha." Well what dumb luck. Like that movie with the strange man in the stripped clothing, Kabuto appeared when you say his name three times.
"Oh, Mr. Yakushi." Sasuke wouldn't let it show that the guy scared him out his skin.
"How is my nephew?"
"Nephew? You said son, previously." Long inky spikes fell as he cocked his head to the side.
"I practically raised him. I consider him mine despite being my sister's. His father, even though around, isn't a great one. And my sister isn't too great with kids. Before he came here, he lived with me, his parents took him out for the day, and here he is."
Sasuke sympathized. Kabuto let helplessness and hurt cross his face. Nothing could be worse than seeing one of your own in a hospital bed. Sasuke knew that all too well.
"We'll. I checked through his file, but you are not listed as a primary unit." The Uchiha was still so confused; this story had too many holes.
"That bitch..."
"Pardon?"
"My sister is fighting for custody back. Must have erased me as a immediate parent."
Making a bit more sense. "That's illegal, you know."
"Trust me, I do."
"Well I'm not supposed to tell none family this, but..." Sasuke flipped through the chart. He longed to help, this man suffered enough. "He may suffer from brain damage. It can affect him in the following ways. Memory loss, complete amnesia, motor skill impairments, or even vegetated state. He is up for C.T scans in the morning to see the extent of damage done."
"And only twenty-two." It took him a second, but Kabuto was now addressing him, not the child.
"Yeah. Graduated top of my academy class, only one to be allotted a slot in Tsunade's internship, and a Kohona University Honor Grad."
"Astonishing. I trust you completely with Sora's care."
"Thank you. I shall do my best to get him back on his feet."
Kabuto smiled then turned back to his nephew, stroking his hair lovingly. "How charming. I'm sure that charm has earned you some female attention."
Sasuke shuddered. "Not my charm, more of my social anxiety. Girls find mental disease sexy."
"Oh?" He smiled again letting go of a small titter. "But she finds it endearing right?"
"Yeah," Sasuke smiled to himself, "she does."
"I can see why she is enamored. Smart, charming, funny, and gentle. And not to mention great with kids." Kabuto's tune changed to one of disgust. "Heh. But after all, you're still no match for me."
Sasuke's head snapped to the now empty space. Where in the hell? And what did he mean, 'no match for me'? Sasuke tried to recount the conversation, but only to get more questions about Kabuto. None of what they discussed made sense.
Sasuke sat back at the nurses station eyes closed.
"You should go home, you look like shit." Shizune put a hand to his forehead. "Yep. That's a fever. Why didn't you get your shot?"
"I don't know. My head hurts."
"Hold on." The doctor dipped into the back room, returning with a water bottle and aspirin. "Here, take this and go home. Though you'll have to have someone get you. You can't drive with a fever, might hallucinate."
That's it! He must have been hallucinating the entire interaction out of need for answers. Yes, that answered everything. Especially that Sasuke was slowly going crazy.
"Thanks Shizune-Sama."
"Of course honey."
Shizune left him to call Naruto. Naruto wanted to see him anyway, and well two birds one stone yada, yada.
"You look like death and a skeleton had a pasty ass baby." Naruto frowned. Sasuke mirrored his expression.
"I feel like death and a skeleton had a baby riddled with laryngitis." He coughed into his arm and closed his eyes.
"Did you not get your flu shot?"
"No."
"Well it's your fault then. I do not feel bad."
"Thanks dad."
"Ha, I did sound like Fugaku-san huh?" Naruto and Sasuke sat on Sasuke's couch in his room. Naruto brought over Star Wars' new game and fired up the television. Sasuke played for two rounds before feeling motion sick and just closing his eyes, leaning his head on the back of the couch.
Mikoto had ran in and out the room for the past two hours, catering to her son. Sasuke insisted he only wanted the soup she makes when it's cold out. It was spicy chicken with tomatoes in broth. It was Sasuke's favorite. But Mikoto had other ideas. She brought him an ice pack, a metric fuck ton of blankets and pillows, and tea. Naruto just watched in amusement, not daring to speak.
Sasuke was more potent of a person when sick. Illness usually made the male species whiney and weak, with Sasuke it made him moody and hostile. Kiba had pissed off a sick Uchiha to earn a punch in the gut.
Sasuke was also super independent when sick. Like hell he'd let a woman wait on him hand and foot, he had seen Naruto do it and it was down right tragic. He was self-sufficient at ten and would act like it. But when your mother was Uchiha Mikoto, there was no room for arguments.
As the dark-haired boy rested, he kept having weird dreams. Visions of Ezraeil first, sitting on his uncle's couch teary eyed. Then of his uncle himself with bright red irises yelling at some man. Of Kabuto holding Sakura against her will to a wall. They were so fast and fleeting that he couldn't depict what they meant. They flowed behind his eyelids in a topsy-turvy motion it was starting to churn his stomach. They came to a screeching halt when a desperate plea skated to the forefront.
Take care of him.
Sasuke jolted, his fever breaking.
"You okay dude?"
"You said you couldn't find any one today. Such as who? And why didn't you call them?"
Naruto brought his hand to his chin. "Coach Kakashi, your uncle, my mom and dad. Even my godfather is missing. Though he may be back in the states. And because it's easier to sense their spirits. People can't rely on technology all the time."
The cogs turned in a foggy head. Sakura, Kakashi and Madara missing from here. Sakura couldn't be home; an evil man lives there now. And Kakashi rarely is seen off field, as for Madara, his uncle usually resided in town or at his home. And the words Kabuto spat at him this afternoon were making sense. His sudden disappearance could be due to...
Please, Sasuke, I beg you. Take care of him.
She didn't...
"Naruto, I'm going to ask you a favor." Sasuke was hesitant in his question.
"I still owe you for Karin, so... shoot." Naruto refused to put the controller down.
"Reach out for Sakura." Naruto stopped playing for that. Dying on screen due to his negligence.
"Sure. But it wasn't working this morning, that's why I was so hysterial."
Dark brows knitted together. "Did you mean hysterical?"
"Yes, Google." Naruto snorted before concentrating. "No good. Something's interfaring."
Damn it she fucking did!
"Inter-. Never mind. What's interfering?"
"You corrected me again."
"Naruto."
"Right, okay, princess grumpy puss. It's hard to explain."
"Explain it the best you can with out use of big words."
"Anyways." Naruto stressed the word. "It's weird and dark. Like when you're dad is mad but twenty times more naferous."
"Naruto."
"Whatever, I'm trying to extend my vocabulary skills."
"Reach for my uncle."
"Okay?" Naruto went quite before making a face. "Coming from the same place and that weird dark one."
"That's what I thought. We have to go to my uncle's."
"But I just got to level six."
"Naruto..."
"Fine. Fine, you win, moody."
Ezraeil
They left him to watch his brothers' sleep and a hole in his heart. Neither boy woke to his whimpering, nor when he tried tapping on them. He felt so alone. His Mother's comforting soul shot signals to soothe him. They were diminishing in strength, no longer soothing the boy. His heart was officially torn. His Mother unknowingly let him witness her death. What helped previously, hurt more than a thousand stabs to the chest.
Ezraeil let his shoulders sag.
"Ezraeil! Anata no Okāsan wa doko ni arimasu ka?" His voice came like thunder, scaring the boy to his feet. There was the human and his blond human friend again. Had mother sent them?
"Kiddo, dokoni anata no okāsan wa nanidesu ka?" The blond had less grace than the dark-headed one.
"I can't understand you two..." His voice was still cracking from under use.
Sasuke, he believed was that one's name, fumbled for some small device.
An automated speech asked where his mother was.
"I... I don't know... she ran off... I can't sense her anymore..." Sobs raked his small body, arms crossing to hug himself as he folded to the carpet.
Sasuke said a few words to his partner before kneeling. A hand slid to Ezraeil's shoulder. Sasuke gave a reassuring smile, to which the youngest of three threw himself into the other's chest. Something told him he could trust the man who made his tummy hurt and his blond friend that let him.
Sasuke
Take care of him...
The words rang loudly in his conscious, yet, they were not his. As he and Naruto ran through the mountain pass, his chest ached.
"Sasuke... I can't sense her anymore."
Whatever the sensation in his chest left him immobile. She was a God. What Naruto was telling him made no sense, God's didn't die. Hadn't Sakura said they just get reborn later? That would explain the Ranginui guy perfectly. How long would it take for her to be reborn, anyways? But what about Uranus? He wasn't reborn...
"All God's may be rebirthed to the world, but there are some that cannot. Uranus for example. I absorbed his powers to my own, therefore killing him and any sliver of hope to be reincarnated. That's the only way we die." Sakura was putting flowers in his spikes again, small smile on full, peach lips.
"Some Immortality." Sasuke snorted with a mocking tone.
"It keeps us from fighting one another."
"I guess that'd make sense."
Sakura kissed his nose. "Aye, meus Princeps."
Right, back in November, he had asked if she could die. Why was he so damn forgetful all the sudden? Could be the fever still in his system.
His chest heaved, kicking up his pace. Soccer was paying off with the distance he could go without a stop.
The illness must've been strong; whatever feeling of dread he felt came tenfold. But it wasn't just his he could feel. Naruto's fear rolled off in droves. They near a clearing, where he saw the tiny war going on. Naruto's parents and godfather were there, as well as his uncle, coach and Tsunade. He didn't recognize the other figures and creatures in the crater of the mountain. But he didn't see Sakura. Had Naruto lead them from her?
"I must ask you all to stop" Him. It was him, the creepy son of a bitch from the hospital who spoke about Sakura. Sasuke assumed he was lying about the child as well. As hypothesized, Kabuto was Ranginui.
Sakura wanted to take this thing on alone? He had to be the size of a twenty-story building! Sasuke couldn't find the reasoning behind going alone for this. If anything, he thought the girl more stupid than before.
Kabuto's looming power suffocated him, making a fire break out in his lungs. Cold ebony eyes zeroed in on the flash of pink in the giants hand.
He wasn't sure about the violet liquid coming from the clenched fist, or why it made him sick. One thing for sure, Sakura was not moving. It wasn't until the massive man brought her to his mouth did Sasuke realize all the purple was blood. Sakura's blood.
Kabuto sank his teeth into her lifeless frame. The field shook lightly. A strangled animal's cry left his heavy chest as he doubled over. It was not pain, but a new awareness, full of brute strength, an electric pulse, a small candles flame erupting to an inferno. Ebony flickered, dancing with lilac and scarlet. Another shriek surged the earth.
I hear your pain, child. Transfixed in alarm, Naruto went to reach for his friend's shoulder. Sasuke violently jerked from his touch. He could do nothing but gaze in awe of the performance.
And I feel it. Sasuke let out another roar.
I wish to sustain you in your revenge. Brilliant purple marred with four black rings, three of the inner rings with three tomoes on each, spinning to a stop, none adjacent to the other.
Rise my child. Rock and soil cracked as the heavens came alive.
Only the skeletal outline could be made of the figure, emerging from the shattered earth, crawling from the depths of hell. The spine snaked to a skull, its mouth agape. Hollowed bones cascaded, taking shape from the skeletons shoulders, down the back in shapes of wings. Rivulets of muscle twined thickly, coating each bone down to the shins. Another crack of lightning emerged from the darkening sky. A cloak covered the now in place skin. Helmet slightly ajar as yellow flames glared from underneath.
And the ravenett stood in the armor-clad knight's center chest cavity, right eye that of Madara's. Naruto noted it looked like a biohazard sign with a ninja throwing star in the middle but in a fierce red and the darkest black. The other eye, the left one, stayed pale purple.
Protect her the way I could not. Those were the last words Sasuke needed to hear.
In the creature's completion, it gave star shattering screech, lifted a left arm, drawing back a bow made from nothingness. He let go as it soared to mark Kabuto's shoulder. An orange ball ran past him to launch into his other arm, forcing him to drop Sakura. Sasuke was quick to reach her, leaving a blade in Ranginui's chest.
Sasuke was lost to the world; all that mattered was the pink-hair beauty in this hand, whomever it's was.
Vengeance shall be sweet, my friend.
Yes it would, Sasuke thought. Yes it would.
Surprise! I did a thing. I hope that thing blew your minds.