Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I own my OCs.
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NOTE: Thanks to
thefourthhoakge for ideas.
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Thoughts of a Broken Family, Chapter 32
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Ino Shikamaru: Toshi, now 13 (almost 14). Satoru, now 6 and a half years old.
Sakura Sasuke: Saeko, now 14 and a half
Kiba Temari: Kiyoshi, 15.
Hinata Naruto: Kohana (F), and Atsuhiro (M), 11 and a half. Twins.
Tenten Neji: Hikari, 17. Hiroshi, almost 12 years old.
Kakashi Kurenai: Ayami, now 17 and a half.
Gaara and Crazy Lady (Grace/GaaraCutie): Hajime (M) and Mamoru (M), 8 months old. Twins.
With an excruciatingly painful amount of physical and mental effort, I managed to seem somewhat awake during the next morning's training session. Once again, I wasn't allowed to use my sharingan, and something in my conscious made me worry about it. Surely I hadn't been relying on it that much. But again, I let it go, and focused instead on the training itself. Well, as intently as I could, anyway. Subconsciously, I was fighting, conjuring up the required jutsu at the appropriate times. But my mind was far, far away, in the events of last night. Unfortunately, I hadn't been dreaming, as I'd realized on my way to the training grounds earlier.
"Oi, Sae!" Suzume had called, running up to me as I pushed through the throngs of people crowding the streets.
"Hmmm?" I'd yawned, still half asleep and not wanting to believe what had happened only hours ago.
She'd crossed over to me and weaver her arm through mine. As we moved, she skipped, and I just kind of dragged my tired self along. "We're meeting on the South side of town, just after one o'clock," she whispered in my ear. "We'll find you." Obviously, she couldn't give away our designated meeting location in a street full on ninja.
I nodded grimly, then stole my arm back. "See ya then," I waved over my shoulder without looking back.
When the session was over, it was just before noon, and this time, I really was dead on my feet. There was still more than an hour till the meeting, but I had no doubt that the others were already there, making plans behind my back. Well, have fun with that, I thought to myself. I'd savor my last hour as ruler of my own life. Well, I wouldn't spend it arguing at least. Not with Ayami, or Suzume, or Kiyoshi, or anyone else for that matter.
My feet carried me on a path that I wasn't seeing through my bleary eyes. Ugh. There was nothing to do.Maybe Mom needed help, I decided, then added: Wow, I must be desperate. I walked to the hospital anyway, but my mother was not there. After peering into all the rooms, I trudged in confusion down to the lobby.
"Oh. Hello, Saeko," one of the nurses said.
"Hey. Where's my mom?" I asked.
She smiled warmly. "Actually, I think she went to see the Hokage."
I sighed. "Ok, thanks." It wasn't rare for people to visit Naruto, so I wasn't bothered. Yet. Later, I would be. So I made my way to the mansion, walking with my hands shoved into the pockets of my hoodie, a blank expression on my face. I was heading straight to Naruto's office when I heard the voices. Coming from behind me.
Curious, I turned around and walked back, leaning against the first door to my right. The voices were muffled, and I couldn't make out the words, but I recognized them. All three of them. They were low and almost inaudible voices, but my parents and Naruto were deep in conversation.
"And you're sure?" My mom was asking, I thought.
"Yes," Naruto replied.
Then I couldn't hear anything else. I kept my hands in my pockets, the same curious expression on my face, as I nudged the door open a centimeter with my foot.
"Oh, Sae."
I made my way into the office, my eyebrows pulling together. All three of them seemed really anxious about something. Upset.
"Umm… Hey." It sounded more like a question. "What's up?" Translation: What's going on?
The three of them exchanged quick glances, and I wrinkled my nose. Not good. They were too nervous, so I knew it wasn't about me. If I'd been found it, they'd just be angry. Extremely angry. A few seconds passed, and no answer came. Then mom spoke up.
"Sae… Do you think you could stay with Suzume or Ayami for the next few days?"
"Why?" I asked, confused.
"Because we won't be here." She frowned. "You can stay in the house if you want to, of course, but I'd rather you weren't alone." Alone because of the Akatsuki? Then I knew that the news had reached Konoha.
I took a step backwards. "W-where are you going?" I asked, already fearing the answer. Not there, not there. Please, please, anywhere but there.
"Just to the Hidden Mist village," my dad answered.
They weren't aware that I knew of the betrayal. "Why?" I pressed. The three exchanged glances again.
"The Mist have… formed an alliance with the Akatsuki," Naruto spoke. Though I already knew this, I was shocked. Naruto knew, and he was going to let my parents go out there. No, looking at him, it seemed like he was going to go, too.
And then something clicked. A realization that had been crawling just below the surface, unnoticed, made itself clear. I thought back to the conversation I'd overhead in Tsukimano what felt like years ago.
They're not the best of friends. The Leaf and the Mist.
Feel bad doing this to them. Joining the Akatsuki
Just doing what we have to do. The Akatsuki threatened them.
Why do they want us? Why the unexplained alliance?
They don't. Of course they don't. 'It's just a decoy…'
It was all too clear now. This had been the Akatsuki's plan all along, and I'd been too caught up in my own little world to realize it earlier. But now, the full force of the truth weighed down on me, pulling me beneath the black surface of reality.
"You… You can't," I choked out, staring at the ground in shock.
Someone took a step forward. My mom spoke. "Sae, don't worry, it's going to be all right. We're just… investigating."
The words were so familiar, because I'd been telling them to myself for so long. We're just investigating. But they were no more 'just investigating' then I had been. We, the rebellion, who were 'just investigating', where about to meet to decide when to walk right in to enemy territory. So much for playing it safe. But the meeting was the last of things on my list of priorities. They weren't investigating, and we all knew it.
"No," I protested weakly. "Don't."
"Sae-"
"No! You're not investigating!" The pressure increased, and the words came pouring out. "And they're not joining! They're waiting!"
The three of them watched me as I took a second to mull over my new realization once more.
"Waiting for what, Sae? Who are you talking about?" My mom seemed worried, like she feared I'd gone insane.
I was still confused. "It's a trap!" I blurted out. "I didn't see it before, I didn't understand. They said that it was a decoy, and now-"
"Stop."
My breathing was too fast, too shaky. It all made sense now, and the pressure was too much to bear. My father was watching me intently, the nervousness gone. I'd said too much.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
But I couldn't stop. "It's a trap! The Akatsuki want to lure us in! In Tsukimano, they said-"
"Tsukimano?"
Hysteric, I nodded.
"Sae, you haven't been to Tsukimano before." She was uncertain now, confused.
I shook my head, and drew in a deep breath. And then the hysteria was gone as I realized what I had just done. I bowed my head and bit my lips. Amidst the tension, Naruto had stepped out of the room, and then the atmosphere was too thick to cut through.
"When did you go to Tsuikmano?" His voice was hard, the slightest edge of anger detectable.
"A few nights ago. And once before then." It was useless. I couldn't lie now. It was too late. I cast my mom a pleading glance- my mother, who knew me better than anyone else in the whole world. But she only gave me a sympathetic look before turning and walking out of the room, leaving just the two of us. I shrank back in dismay.
He waited, and I could sense him watching me, and I could not look up. It was all out in the open now. Everything that I'd worked to keep so secret, gone.
"We didn't mean to do anything dangerous," I began. "We didn't. We were just keeping an eye out."
"We?"
Oh, crap. Me and my big mouth. What happened to being so good at controlling myself? Everything in my life was changing, it seemed. "Well, I… I mean…"
He frowned. "Who all was in on this?"
I couldn't turn all of them in like this. "Just me and… Suzume." Suzume didn't have anyone to punish her, but that was such a horrible reason to use her. Surely she would understand, though. I still couldn't meet his gaze- my eyes would give away everything.
"What were you doing, Sae?"
I closed my eyes. "We were…. I was just keeping tabs on them."
"Do you remember what you promised me?" He demanded. Oh, yes, I remembered. Remembered how guilty I'd felt crossing my fingers behind my back.
I nodded. "I wasn't messing with them. All we did was get information from… from…" Crap!
"From who?"
I turned away, shaking my head. "Nobody."
He took a moment to reply, and when he did, my stomach lurched. "I told you to leave them alone, Sae."
My shoulders sagged, my throat on fire. "I didn't do anything," I insisted hopelessly.
"What you did was put yourself right in the line of fire. What would have happened if they'd found out? If your source in Tsukimano was one of them?"
Life's full of chances, and the only way to keep moving is to take them, I wanted to say. "I would have…" I couldn't tell him that I would have fought, even if it was the truth- that would spark the anger. "…Died?"
He nodded gravely. "How could you put yourself in such a vulnerable position when you told me you wouldn't?"
I couldn't reply.
"I told you to stay out of it."
That was it. This time, I was the one yelling. "I can't do that! And we both know it! This involves me now, too. It always has." And will until they're all gone.
I saw something in his eyes then, and I sensed that he honestly wished he hadn't come back. The thought made me nauseas, and I wanted to make him stop. Yell at me some more, don't think like that.
"Look, I didn't die, all right? And I'm not going to. We were just too impatient to wait for the news to reach Konoha."
"But you could have waited."
"No, I couldn't. I had to find out first."
"Why?" he demanded, angry now.
"Because I didn't want you leave again!" I screamed. And it was true. I didn't want him gone ever again. I'd had to start over once before, but it was worth it. He was back. It didn't matter that the Akatsuki were onto us now, waiting for the chance to attack. It didn't matter that I was in more danger now than I'd ever been before. He was here, and I was happy.
My words had left him stunned. He was staring at me, his eyes wide, the anger momentarily forgotten. And I was trembling, something warm and wet pooling in my eyes.
"I don't know. I guess I just thought that… If I found out first… I might be able to do something to stop them. Something to make them stay away, so you wouldn't have to worry anymore, and I wouldn't have to go to bed each night fearing that you'd be gone when I woke up. That I'd be all alone again, and maybe not even remember any of it."
The tears rolled down my cheeks now, and I closed my eyes and shook my head toughly. I'd been lying to myself all along. We were never just keeping tabs. I was always waiting, looking for a chance to strike. How following. After all, what could I possibly do to stop the Akatsuki? The Akatsuki, who had ruined the lives of so many people. The Akatsuki, who had taken him away from me for most of my life, and who were waiting to ambush Leaf Ninja who would never come.
But it wasn't the whole Akatsuki I hated, I knew. No, just one. Just Itachi.
Before my father could recover this time, I turned and ran from the room, leaving him to stare after me.