The Wanderers
Chapter 49 – Healing the Damage
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan wouldn't turn into the Rinnegan. That's just dumb in my opinion.
***Previously-On***
Having infiltrated the Land of Fire, Jito's group broke into the Quiraji facility. Jito competed with Itachi within the machine, their minds battled to the point of madness and back. After going through each other's memories, Jito was able to break through Itachi's barriers and free him from Sensou's control, but he sacrificed himself to keep Itachi alive as he fell out of the machine. Behind the door in the facility, Kakashi's group discovered another prisoner of the facility, Anko. She described to them what happened to Konoha when it was destroyed by Shikyo, but she was far too injured to escape with them. She resolved to destroy the facility with herself inside, taking one final blast to make her mark on the world. With Jito dead, and Itachi unconscious, the group decides to retreat.
***End Summary***
Lee reached out and tapped the side of the wooden barrier that surrounded their group. "Are you sure this is going to fool them? The Quiraji are not that stupid."
Fiore waved off the shinobi's concern and sat down besides Sasuke and his brother, "The best way to hide a tree is in a forest, kid. As long as you lot don't mould any chakra, they won't even suspect we are in here."
"She's right, Lee. We used this to escape the Iwa shinobi a couple of times," said Sasuke beside her. He'd put Itachi down carefully by his side when they had been surrounded by the disguise, and yet he still had no idea why his brother hadn't woken up yet. Every hour he grew more nervous about his brother's condition.
Placing his hand on the wood around them, Kakashi had to admit it was an impressive feat. He didn't know what the wood looked like from the outside, but if it gave them a reprieve he wasn't going to complain. It had felt like a constant battle since they'd come to the Land of Fire.
"We can't just stay here though. It's already been two days." said Konan, having sat down on one of the edges within the tree. She looked down at Jito's body between them, wondering how much longer Lee was going to carry the Senju's corpse. "If we are going to get through to Suna, we've got to make some kind of a break for it."
"I wouldn't mind getting some rest, if that's okay," said Fiore, barely able to keep her eyes open.
Kakashi looked over at the group with an analysing gaze. Both Lee and Sasuke were putting up impressive fronts, but over three days without rest had taken its toll on them. The group's leader let out a long drawn-out sigh and slowly sat down next to Konan.
"I guess we don't have a choice. Why didn't you offer to do this before?"
He got no response from Fiore, and after a quick look Kakashi could see Fiore was already fast asleep on Sasuke's shoulder. The Konoha Jounin couldn't help but smile at the irony of what he saw.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and moved his shoulder so he could support his partner comfortably, "Every damn time. You'd think I was some kind of pillow or something."
Lee turned and gave Sasuke a flash of a grin before looking back at Kakashi, "I know of a way to get to Suna without breaking through the defence line the Quiraji set up on the border."
"Is that so?" asked Kakashi suspiciously. "I gather that's how you've been able to move back and forth between the shinobi village and the Land of Fire so easily?"
Lee nodded, "There is a passageway that goes underneath the Land of Rivers, one that exists near the South Western Fire Shrine."
"I know that place," said Kakashi. "It isn't too far from here. We can go there after we've recovered our strength."
Lee was quiet for a few minutes before he knelt down besides Jito's body and placed a bandaged hand on his arm. The body had gotten cold fairly quickly, and Lee knew it was only a matter of time before it began to rot.
"Why have you been carrying him around, Lee? The man is dead, let him rest." As grateful as Sasuke was to the deceased Senju shinobi, he didn't think he needed to be brought with them.
Lee pulled out a small map from Gai's flak jacket and handed it to Kakashi, "Here are the directions to get to the Shrine, just in case something happens."
Sasuke frowned angrily at being ignored, watching as Kakashi accepted the map. It only took a moment for him to realise what he'd been seeing in Lee's eyes. "You want to give him a proper burial, don't you?"
Lee turned and stared at him for a moment before nodding grimly, "He deserves at least that much."
"We don't have the time to do that, Lee," said Kakashi, though he agreed that if anyone deserved a good burial it would be his old companion. "We need to put him in the ground and get back to Suna as fast as possible."
The taijutsu master frowned at Kakashi and shook his head, "Not a chance. Out of everyone here, you owe him more than that, Kakashi."
The silver haired shinobi was forced to look away from Lee sadly, he had a good point. He didn't know the extent of the taijutsu master's relationship with Jito, but he clearly meant a lot to him. It reminded him of when they buried Gai.
"You should be able to get to the Shrine without my help," said Lee quietly. "Besides the patrols we've already encountered, the Quiraji are likely holding their forces back from directly engaging us."
"They probably want us to tell of the horrors we've experienced," commented Konan from her seated position. "The fact that we didn't encounter Sensou in that place is probably enough evidence."
Kakashi nodded, though he looked away from Konan when he did so. He hadn't told her of his encounter with Shikyo, and after hearing Anko's story about how Konoha was destroyed he still wasn't sure what to make of it.
Every fibre of my being wants to say that she is my enemy and that I should try to destroy her, but she led me to Anko, which meant she wanted me to know what she did. I still don't know her motivations, or who she really is.
"Let's worry about this in the morning," said Kakashi, feeling like his eyes were as heavy as a house.
Beside him Konan nodded before leaning back her head and closing her eyes, feeling herself drift off to sleep. The others quickly followed suit, with Lee volunteering to pay attention to sounds from the outside in case they were discovered.
With Fiore's reassurance that they wouldn't be found, the group took the moment to catch their breath. There were still more battles to fight, and they needed every inch of chakra they could muster.
oOoOoOo
Sasuke wiped the blood off of his sword and looked down at the Quiraji body he had just taken down. "Are we clear?"
His partner nodded as she leaned on her wooden staff, "Seems to be. That was some ambush they set for us. So much for hiding."
Kakashi and Konan stood above the group on a nearby hill, watching as Lee sped away from the group with Jito's body slung over his shoulder.
"Are you sure it's okay for him to just leave like that?" asked Konan, noticing how silent Kakashi had been since they had emerged from Fiore's tree.
Kakashi stared at the departing figure for a few moments before looking over at another section of the land he once called home. It was the same as he remembered it, but felt so alien to him now. It was no longer the home it once was.
"We couldn't stop him if we tried. Besides, Lee can handle himself."
Konan looked over at where he was staring, noticing a large group of Quiraji soldiers moving towards their location. She turned to the other two in their group, "We need to get moving!"
Sheathing his sword on his back, Sasuke nodded and walked over to the wooden box that Fiore had secured his brother in. Even without her wood she was still a formidable fighter, and Itachi still appeared to be in a fragile condition. He was determined to carry him himself, and wouldn't burden the others with his family responsibility.
"How far is this shrine of Lee's?" he asked as he carefully picked up his brother and hefted him over his shoulder.
"About a day," said Kakashi, jumping down to join the other two. He looked over at Itachi's unconscious body, "Is he right to move?"
"Yeah, should be."
Following Kakashi down the hill, Konan planted dozens of paper bombs on the hill she was just on. It probably wasn't enough to stop them completely, but it might give them the time they need to escape.
"Will the boy be able to catch up with before we go into the tunnel?" she asked as the group began to move towards the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.
"If I know Lee, he'll get there before us," said Sasuke, sounding thoroughly unpleased that he had to admit that. "We should worry about ourselves in the meantime."
Running beside him Fiore grinned and twirled her staff between her fingers, "Speak for yourself, Sasuke. I've got your ass covered."
"You made a promise you wouldn't talk about that, Fiore."
"I'll talk about it as much as I want. I own it."
Sasuke groaned and wished he had a hand free to plant it in his face. "Another time, Fiore. Another damn time."
Behind the two of them, Kakashi and Konan both smiled at each other at the situation.
Oh to be younger, they both thought at the same time.
Lee breathed out slowly before looking up at the Senju sign and clapping his hands together.
"I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."
With his prayer done, Lee picked up a shovel he had acquired from a Quiraji scout team and began digging. He only had a few minutes before the soldiers he had sped past found him, but that should be enough time.
I know I didn't know you for too long, Jito. I know I probably wasn't that important on your radar, but everyone needs someone to say a final prayer for them. It's the least I could do.
He carefully lowered Jito's body into the hole he dug; making sure that it was deep enough for there to be no chance for the Quiraji to consider digging him up again.
We helped each other out, and now I guess we are doing it again. You've done enough Jito.
Using the shovel he covered his friend's body and said a silent final prayer. He didn't know what to really say, but he figured that it was the thought that counted.
The world is lessened by your absence. You are a victim of Sensou, same as Sakura and I.
He opened his eyes and clenched his bandaged hands angrily as he thought about his enemy.
I'll make her pay for what she did to us. I'll rip it from her bones if I have to.
Lee slowly turned around, his black eyes looking at the Quiraji warriors that had just surrounded him. A grim smile slowly grew on Lee's face; he could barely contain his anticipation. His knuckles cracked as he began manifesting physical energy into his hands.
But first, there are some minions to whet my appetite on.
Fiore scrapped her staff along the ground idly, whistling a tune to herself. After two hours there was still no sign of them being followed, and Fiore was bored out of her mind. Picking the short stick when you created the sticks was quite the achievement it turned out.
They had reached the Shrine that morning, and besides large amounts of donation money that appeared to have been left behind by the monks when they were slaughtered by the Quiraji. There was no trace of them besides the dried blood stains on the ground and walls.
"I have an odd question," said Konan as she emerged by the living quarters of the Shrine. "I thought the Quiraji didn't kill civilians, yet we haven't come across anyone in this land at all."
Coming up from the basement, Kakashi shook his head to her to indicate that he hadn't found anything either. "The monks in the Land of Fire were powerful fighters, on par with any Jounin of the shinobi world. They likely saw them as a threat and removed them like they did Konoha."
"That's not what I mean though." Konan patted her Akatsuki robe down to get rid of the dust it had gathered, the Shrine looked to have been abandoned for a good two years. "We haven't encountered anyone. Not even the average farmer or child."
Kakashi shrugged, he had no clue. The two of them watched as Sasuke emerged from the nearby forest with a large deer thrown over his shoulder. Kakashi stared at his old student with a raised eyebrow.
"There is still game here," said Sasuke as he dumped the deer onto the ground in the courtyard. It had been days since they'd had fresh meat, and he was quite pleased that he'd gotten such a good catch.
"You know if Shikamaru saw you do that, he'd flip out."
Sasuke shrugged, "He isn't here. Besides, without Lee we won't find this entrance any time soon. Why he didn't tell us where it was, is beyond me."
The two of them couldn't argue with that, so they began setting up a small campsite within the Shrine. They had propped up Itachi on a nearby bench and he appeared to be sleeping quietly, as he had since they had taken him out of the Quiraji facility.
Leaving the deer to the older couple, Sasuke leapt up to his partner and looked over at the field away from the Shrine. "Anything?"
She tapped her staff on her shoulder, "Nope. Did I hear that you found food?"
"Yeah. We should be able to…" Sasuke's voice cut off as he focused his eyes at a particular area of grassland in the distance. It was only for a moment, but he could have sworn he had seen something that didn't belong in the area in front of them.
Fiore understood immediately what it meant when Sasuke stopped talking, turning around to warn the other two. "We've got incoming!"
"How many?" asked Kakashi quickly, moving to jump up next to the two of them, Konan quickly following behind him, leaving the deer sitting on the ground besides Itachi's unconscious body.
Fiore pointed at the mass of enemies rapidly approaching them, "Does a metric shit-ton apply?"
The others of the group could only agree with her assessment, even as they prepared themselves for a fight. Approaching them at a quick pace was a massive army of Quiraji soldiers, one that covered the land almost completely.
"How did we not hear them coming?" asked Sasuke, having drawn his sword and levelled it at his legs. "There's got to be at least two thousand of them."
"I guess they aren't letting us go after all," said Konan dryly.
Staring at the front of the approaching Quiraji, Kakashi could have sworn he could see a familiar looking soldier leading the rest of the enemies. From his estimation they would be in range to attack them in less than five minutes.
Fiore stared at the army for a moment before sighing loudly, "There's at least a hundred Red Guards down there. Isn't this a bit overkill for a group like us?"
"We did just blow up their conversion facility," commented Sasuke dryly. "If that doesn't require some kind of retribution, they wouldn't be worth our time."
"Oh cut the tough guy act, Sasuke. It's unseemly."
From the edge of their group, Kakashi turned as he felt an odd presence coming up to them ahead of the Quiraji army. From the tree line near the Shrine he watched as a green blur shot out of the forest and landed in front of them with a large gust of wind.
"Nice of you to join us again," said Sasuke with a smirk.
Rock Lee stood up from his kneeling position and turned to face the rapidly approaching army, putting up his hand in his usual taijutsu pose, "Sorry I am late. I ran into a few problems on the way back."
"Something like that?" asked Konan, motioning to the army mustering in front of them.
Lee nodded, never taking his eyes off of the enemy force, "They followed me here. Their leader is a far better tracker than I thought."
The army seemed to be right in front of them, but they hadn't moved to attack them yet. The leader at the front barked orders at the Red Guard around them, while the other Quiraji soldiers moved into flanking positions around the Shrine. They were getting surrounded very quickly.
"Where is the entrance to the tunnel, Lee?"
"Beneath the golden statue, Kakashi-sensei," replied the taijutsu master quickly.
Their leader turned to the group with his usual serious look when he was working. "Fiore, Konan, get Itachi and find the tunnel."
Fiore stared at him for a moment before nodding to Sasuke and jumped back down to grab Itachi, while Konan lingered to give Kakashi her usual stare.
He put a hand on her shoulder assuredly, looking strange into her amber eyes. "Trust me on this Konan. Get clear and back to Suna."
She gave him another glare, but understood why he was telling her to go. She moved back down to join Fiore, while the others stayed up at the top of the hill.
"You two should go with them," said Lee, reaching into his flak jacket to pull out the scroll that contained his staff. "I'll hold them off."
Sasuke grinned and took a single step forward, "Don't be stupid. You wouldn't last five minutes against that horde."
"Bet I take out more than you, Uchiha."
"How much do you want to bet?" said Sasuke with a cocky grin.
Kakashi put his hands together and began to mould large amounts of chakra, "Can it, boys. We have to hold them off and destroy the tunnel entrance, so get your game faces on."
Beside him, Sasuke thought about it for a moment before sheathing his sword and placing his own hands together. "I have a better plan. One that doesn't involve us getting killed."
"Speak quickly then, they are almost on us," said Kakashi, preparing his body for a large scale technique that should disable a large amount of the normal Quiraji soldiers. They had no more flash bombs, so they had no way of getting rid of the Red Guard without a very good plan.
He was also concerned about the young woman in bright white armour wielding a large bow that appeared to be made out of blue energy. She bore such a resemblance to the warrior called Shouri that had separated them that it was scary.
Sasuke pointed to the area just in front of the army of Quiraji soldiers, "Put a wall about six feet tall between us and them, Kakashi."
He turned to Lee as their teacher quickly ran through the necessary handseals, "You said they can ignore chakra-attacks, right? How about the elements?"
He didn't need to hear Lee's answer to understand what he needed to do, as Kakashi put his hands to the ground and summoned a long wall from one side of the land to the other, right in front of the Quiraji army.
It appeared to slow them down slightly as if anticipating their counter-attack, with the woman at the front yelling at them to find a way around.
"Stand back, you two," instructed Sasuke, clapping his hands together as he activated his Sharingan.
He moulded massive amounts of chakra straight into his eyes and they shot open to glare at the area just on top of the wall Kakashi had just erected.
His two companions' eyes widened as they watched his red Sharingan change into a pinwheel shape that Kakashi immediately recognised, but he never got a chance to say anything as Sasuke activated his doujutsu.
Sasuke grimaced as he felt a large spike of pain shoot through his face.
"Amaterasu."
A wall of black flames shot up from Kakashi's earthen barrier, covering over two dozen feet into the air all around the Shrine. The Quiraji forces fell back immediately upon seeing the black flames, with the group figuring they knew how deadly the flames truly were.
Sasuke grimaced again and deactivated his Mangekyou Sharingan, placing a hand to his face as the others stared at him with surprised expressions.
"How long have you been able to do that?" asked Kakashi, feeling a strange sense of inadequacy at the young Uchiha's new power.
Rock Lee shook himself out of his stupor and spun around to face the Shrine behind them, "That won't hold them back for long. Shouri can ignore it completely, so she'll get rid of it quickly. We should catch up to the girls, and close off the entrance."
"Spandex here is right, we should go," said Sasuke, taking a long breath to centre himself before jumping down to join the others. "I've had enough of this place for a long time anyway."
Two days later the group emerged from the tunnel into the bright desert air of the Land of Wind, a large gust of wind immediately slamming into them as they climbed out of the hole underneath an inconspicuous rock formation.
"Right out of the frying pan…" muttered Sasuke, reaching down to grasp a handful of sand with his free hand. He let it fall to the ground as he hefted his brother carefully, "Why did we come here again?"
"Because Suna has the best medical facility in any of the shinobi countries," said Lee, coming up behind the young Uchiha.
The two of them turned to watch the other three of their group emerge from the tunnel. Konan and Kakashi both had no immediately reaction to their new surroundings, but the look on Fiore's face brought a wide smile onto her partner's face.
Fiore took one look at the desert and let out a long sigh before leaning on a nearby rock with her shoulder. "Lovely. Instead of being stabbed to death, we can burn in our skins." She turned to Sasuke with a frown, "You take me to the loveliest places, Sasuke."
Wary of her teasing, Sasuke ignored her and turned to Lee with his brother still sitting on his shoulder, "How far away are we from the village? I don't want Itachi to be in the desert in this condition for too long."
Lee looked around the area for a moment before turning back to the group with a thumbs up, "It's no problem. We are already here."
The others of the group stared at him confused, but none of them could say anything quick enough as a dozen holes appeared in the sand around them. They suddenly found themselves surrounded by mask-wearing Suna ANBU, each of them pointing swords at their throats.
Sasuke and Fiore immediately reached for their weapons, but Lee indicated that they should put their hands up like he, Kakashi and Konan all had done. The ANBU stood stoically as another ANBU appeared in front of the group and walked up to Lee.
"Password," said the Suna ANBU with a deep tone. The scorpion mark on his mask was quite intimidating to the others, but Lee seemed to recognise the shinobi as his muscles relaxed slightly.
"Quartz sand with glauconite," said Lee carefully, making sure that he said each word precisely correctly.
The head ANBU cocked his head slightly as he crossed his arms across his chest, "Is that the brown or the green?"
Lee stared at him for a moment before groaning loudly and dropping his hands down to his sides, "Bah, I can never remember that." He winced as he stared at the ANBU warrior, "Green?"
For a moment it seemed like he had gotten it wrong as the ANBU didn't respond, but after a few seconds the ANBU leader relaxed and nodded to the shinobi around them, who all sheathed their swords at the order.
The group that had just emerged from the tunnel all breathed out a sigh of relief, though that was mostly out of sheer exhaustion than actual fear from the Suna shinobi.
"Where are you taking them, Rock Lee?" asked the head ANBU in a gruff voice.
Rock Lee indicated to Itachi hanging on Sasuke's shoulder, "We are taking him to the hospital. Sakura needs to examine the Uchiha and I could use a hot meal."
"And the others?"
Kakashi stepped up beside Lee so that he could say his part, "I have a few things I need to discuss with the Kazekage. There is intelligence he needs to know about, for the war."
The ANBU glared at Kakashi through his mask for a moment before turning to Lee, who seemed to understand his concern.
"I vouch for them. They won't bring any harm to Suna."
That seemed to satisfy the Suna shinobi, as they all turned on their heels and moved to stand near their leader. The ANBU leader nodded to Lee before the Suna shinobi all disappeared back into the sand beneath them.
"That was…weird…" said Fiore, not sure whether she should care, since all she wanted to do was sleep.
"They are patrolling the area," informed Lee, taking a seat on one of the rocks that looked the most comfortable. "We'll have to wait for them to come back to escort us. Normally I can just go through on my own, but you guys will need an escort."
"How long will we have to wait?" asked Sasuke, putting his brother down carefully onto the sand beneath him. He thought he could see the makings of a sandstorm in the distance, but he was more concerned about his brother's breathing becoming more ragged in the past few hours.
Lee considered the question for a moment before staring off into distance, "Shouldn't be too long. The village is only an hour away."
The sun was low in the sky by the time they got to the village, and yet Suna still shone like a jewel in the horizon. Konan and Fiore were both surprised at the scale of the village considering they had heard it was the smallest village with the lowest strength military force, though they kept that to themselves.
On the canyons that surrounded the village were lines of stakes covered in explosion notes, with dozens of shinobi patrolling the edges of the village.
Despite the clear militarisation of the village, even from the entrance they could see the villagers going about their usual business. Children played in the streets while civilians went through the markets getting their products for the week.
Kakashi and Sasuke on the other hand, couldn't help but notice how much better the village had become since their last visit. Sasuke was impressed at how difficult it would be to lay siege to the new style of village, while Kakashi had to admire the clearly supportive relationship between the shinobi and the civilians as he watched a Jounin help an old woman with her groceries.
The group walked through the valley at the entrance to the village with their ANBU escort, able to see a single figure standing in waiting for their arrival.
"About time you guys showed up. I've been waiting here for a good ten minutes now," said the figure, blowing smoke up into the air as he held a cigarette out of the corner of his mouth.
Both Sasuke and Kakashi grinned when they saw who had come to greet them, while Lee merely nodded in acknowledgement and began conversing with their ANBU escort again about the dynamics of the wonders of youth.
He'd changed a fair bit since the two of them had last seen him, and they were both surprised at the fact that he was smoking in a manner quite similar to his old teacher, but it was impossible to mistake the lazy look in the figure's eyes as he stared at them with a tired look.
"So the reports were accurate," said Shikamaru, extending a hand out to Sasuke first. "And you found your brother. That makes things easier for us."
Sasuke took the hand tentatively, still staring at the forehead protector across the Nara heir's forehead, "You working for Suna these days, Shikamaru?"
They shook hands for a moment before Shikamaru let go and ran a hand through his ponytail, the ring on his finger glinting slightly in the low sun. "It pays the bills, even if it is a pain in the ass."
He nodded to Kakashi, not as a student might have, but as an equal would, signifying how far they had all come in the years since being separated. "I'm sorry you had to come back to this, Kakashi. If it were up to me, I would have stayed retired."
"You seem very informed," said Kakashi with a smirk, it was nice to see Shikamaru hadn't changed too much since he'd last seen him. "I'm sure Asuma would be proud."
Shikamaru chuckled and picked the cigarette out of his mouth, "What, this? Let's just say the lady likes it, and leave it at that. Besides, it's nice and relaxing."
He put the cigarette back into his mouth before turning and nodding grimly to Konan, "You have my condolences, although unfortunately you'll find that your organisation is not particularly welcome here. We had some trouble with one of your members a few years ago."
"I understand that," said Konan, unsure as to how to take in the odd familiarity he had shown her.
Shikamaru finally came to Fiore, and looked her over for a moment with a curious gaze, "You however, I do not know." He extended a hand to her, "Nara Shikamaru, advisor to the Kazekage."
Fiore stared at his hand for a moment before taking it, squeezing it just a little bit tighter than necessary. "I'm Fiore. Can you show us to the hospital? Itachi is in a bad way and could use some help."
"Yes, of course." Shikamaru turned to Lee with a serious expression on his face, "Are you going to give your report to the Kazekage first, and then go to the hospital?"
The taijutsu master nodded, "I don't have much to add beyond what the ANBU already told him." He turned to the others of the group, "I'll meet you guys there."
With that, he disappeared in a slight gust of wind, once again moving at his normal speed.
Shikamaru seemed to just shake off his movements and turned to Sasuke and Fiore, "Go down the main street, take a right, a left and straight down to the end of that road. When you get there, talk to Sakura. She's running the joint, and should be able to help you guys out."
Sasuke and Fiore looked at each other for a moment before nodding and proceeding down the street as fast as they could, with ANBU assistance running behind them.
The Nara heir turned back to Kakashi and Konan, taking in a large drag of his cigarette, "You guys should come with me to the Kazekage. Despite what Lee said, I'm sure there is more you can add."
He went to turn and leave, but Kakashi put up a hand to stop him, "Wait, before that, I have a question, Shikamaru." He indicated to the spikes around the edges of the village, "What are you guys preparing for?"
Shikamaru looked at his old teacher for a moment before breathing out a large cloud of smoke and crushing his cigarette in his hand.
"What else would we be preparing for?"
oOoOoOo
With his ceremonial hat sitting on top of his desk, the Kazekage looked over the odd group of shinobi standing in front of him. He remembered Sharingan Kakashi from the Chuunin Exams four years ago, though it appeared that he had lost his doujutsu since that time for reasons unexplained.
The blue haired woman he did not recognise, though the robe she wore was enough for him to be at least a little bit cautious in her presence. Sasori had worn the same black, red and white robe, though Gaara had heard that the organisation had been destroyed quite a while ago.
"You understand that is a difficult story to follow," he said slowly, his hands sitting on top of his desk. "It is hard to believe that a group of six did more damage than our forces have been able to in the past two years."
"Nevertheless, you have to believe us," said Kakashi, looking down at the young leader. He wasn't sure what to make of Gaara's promotion, though it was fairly low on his surprises list today. "They'll probably bring a big force here if they know this is where we ended up."
"I highly doubt that," said Shikamaru from the window, his cigarette hanging in his fingers. "The Quiraji aren't stupid, they know they don't have the strength to take out Suna in a single hammer blow."
"Regardless, we should put more troops in the Land of Rivers," said Gaara, handing a sheet of paper to his advisor. "Take these to Baki and tell him to send another messenger hawk to the Fifth."
Shikamaru took the sheet with his usual lack of enthusiasm and walked out of the room, leaving Gaara with the two newcomers.
"Now, what am I to do with the two of you?" he asked, looking over the two of them intently.
Konan looked over to Kakashi with a tired smile before turning back to the Kazekage, "I don't think we know what to do with ourselves either."
"You must understand that your presence here is an awkward one for us, Hatake Kakashi. Many people here in Suna do not wish our village to become another Konoha."
Kakashi put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the seated Kage. Gaara seemed to have no physical motion at all; he was completely composed and serious about his duties. If nothing else, he reminded Kakashi of when the Fourth was in office before he died protecting Naruto.
"Your village is impressive to say the least. Suna has come a long way since the last time I visited it."
"Cut the theatrics, Hatake Kakashi. Rock Lee has informed me about your situation, and while I am sympathetic, you must understand that I place the survival of Suna above your search for your companions."
Kakashi felt a smile creep onto his face; the comparison was more accurate than he thought. "Nevertheless, we would make useful allies. We have a common enemy, and we have experience."
He indicated to Konan with a tilt of his head, "Leaving myself aside, Konan is an extremely powerful kunoichi. You'd be remiss not to utilise our abilities, even on a provincial basis."
Ever the stoic woman, Konan did her best to hide the swelling of pride she felt at her partner's words. She didn't have anything personally to contribute as she had no feelings about their current circumstances. A part of her felt like she was being dragged along by Kakashi, but that was immediately squashed by all the memories of the promises they had made to each other and her determination to seek out justice for Amegakure. If that required her to work with Suna, then she was willing to go that far.
The war with the Quiraji was only just starting, and as shinobi they had to get over their previous grievances.
Gaara stared down at his hands for a few moments, running the scenarios through his head quickly. He couldn't argue with Kakashi's points, and the only reason he was apprehensive allying with them was to get the more traditional Suna advisors off his back.
He slowly looked back up at the two of them before standing up from his chair and letting his sleeves fall past his wrists. "There is much to think about on this topic. For now, the two of you should get some rest. We will have time to discuss this issue when I return."
"Return?" Kakashi frowned as he realised that the office of the Kazekage was surprisingly well packed together, as if preparing to not be used for an extended period of time. "Where are you going?"
Gaara stared at him for a moment before turning around to look out of his window at his village, "One of my assistants will show you a place where you can gather your strength again. You will be free to move through the village, but remember that our ANBU will be watching for any suspicious activity."
Kakashi and Konan shared a look with each before turning and bowing slightly to the Kazekage.
"We will be respectful," said Kakashi, marvelling at how composed the young leader was.
Without turning from the window, Gaara opened the door of his office with a small trail of sand, "Please inform your Uchiha companions that this applies to them too. If you have any inquiries, you should run them through Yamanaka Ino at the hospital. She is the liaison for the Konoha survivors staying in my village, and has the trust of the Suna council."
The two shinobi nodded and left the room, leaving the Kazekage to his thoughts. He shut the door soundlessly with his sand and breathed out slowly. There were times he wondered at the choices he made in the position, but when he looked out over the village that he loved he remembered why he had been chosen to make the hard choices.
It's like Uzumaki Naruto said. Once you prove yourself to the villagers they have to accept you, but that is never enough. You have to keep fighting; otherwise you don't deserve their respect.
He looked down at a pair of young children chasing a ball down the sand covered streets, laughing as they enjoyed the relatively cool sunshine.
This village is worth everything I've given it, and more. I'm sure you would say the same thing about your own village if it still existed, Uzumaki Naruto.
Seeing Sakura again was not as Sasuke had expected it to be after two and a half years. The fiery pink haired girl was gone, and had been replaced by a composed young woman who appeared to have the respect of the doctors around her as they entered the large hospital in Suna.
When she saw Sasuke her face lit up and she immediately ran over to give him a hug, and for once he let her proceed with the action, though he could tell it was only a friendly hug by how long she held onto him.
He'd put Itachi onto a nearby stretcher and Sakura had immediately understood why he was here, telling a doctor to take Itachi to a single room so that she could examine him personally. Sasuke introduced Fiore to Sakura, and despite what he thought may have happened the two women appeared to be quite cordial with each other, shaking hands like the professions that they were.
"Come on, let's go have a look at your brother," said Sakura, taking them to the staircase. "It didn't look like anything physical."
Sasuke shook his head as they climbed the stairs, "It was some kind of mental attack. He's been a prisoner for a long time."
It was only slight, but Sasuke's trained eyes were able to sense tenseness in Sakura's movements, though they were well veiled as she spoke to Fiore beside him. She'd been able to gather that they were fairly close by how close he and Fiore walked with each other, and to his amusement that seemed to bring a slight redness to his partner's cheeks, though she fiercely denied it when he pointed it out to her.
When they got to Itachi's room, Sakura told them to wait outside so that she could do a proper examination. Sasuke relented and insisted on being present in the room, but a quick stare from Sakura's green eyes spoke volumes to him on how much she had grown in the past two and a half years.
Fiore made no comment as they sat outside the room, waiting for her to tell them what was wrong with his brother. She knew that there was a chance that his brother wouldn't make it, considering how long he had been out of it, and regardless of the outcome she was determined to stay by Sasuke's side.
After ten minutes Sakura emerged from the room, shaking her head as she pulled out the hairpin that was keeping her pink hair up.
Sasuke's shoulders slouched immediately upon seeing her, "It's no good?"
"It's beyond my skill to heal," said Sakura, disappointed that she wasn't able to help as much as she wanted to.
"So where do we go from here?" asked Fiore, having placed a reassuring hand on Sasuke's back. Normally he didn't like physical affection that much, but he didn't seem to protest.
Sakura looked down the corridor as if it answered her question, seeing a young woman with a long blonde ponytail walking up towards them.
"You called?" she asked, seemingly oblivious to the two of them sitting on the seat opposite the door.
Sasuke looked up and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw himself looking at the other girl who used to be obsessed with him. "Ino?"
Ino stared at him for a moment, not seeming to recognise him. A smile immediately grew on her face and she jumped forward to embrace him in a tight hug, "Sasuke! How wonderful to see you again!"
"Do all women greet you this way?" asked an amused Fiore.
Sasuke shrugged as Ino let him go and went to stand besides an equally amused Sakura, "Don't ask me, I have no idea."
"So what have you been doing? What have you been up to?"
"Another time, Ino," interrupted Sakura, knowing that she'd never be able to stop the conversation once it started. "We need your help."
"Whatever you need," replied Ino, mimicking rolling up her sleeves on her doctor's outfit.
"I need you to call Shizune-sensei to come and have a look at Itachi for us."
Ino frowned for a moment and moved her head slightly to look into the room. She stared at his body for several seconds before turning back to the corridor and shrugging, "Okay then."
She bit at her thumb and ran through a set of five handseals before placing her hand on the nearby wall.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
A column of smoke arose from the ground beneath the wall, forming into a human shape before revealing a woman standing before them.
Shizune hadn't changed physically since leaving shinobi lands, but she did now wear a long beautiful white and gold robe, with several golden necklaces hanging from her neck. Her dark hair had become longer in the time she had been gone, but the smile she gave the girls upon seeing them was the same it had been when she had been teaching them.
"Ino, Sakura. What have I missed?"
Sakura went to inform her old teacher of the situation, but he was distracted by a green shape standing at the end of the corridor with a smile on its face. The pink haired head doctor turned to Ino and smiled slowly, "I have another appointment. Can I leave this to you guys?"
They nodded and watched as she jogged down the corridor, attempting to keep a profession demeanour until she was out of sight and leapt onto Lee, hugging him tightly.
"Where have you been, you stupid lug?"
oOoOoOo
Pushing through the hospital door, Sasuke showed Shizune to where they had put his brother. Sakura had given them full access to the hospital's facilities with the condition that they didn't interrupt any of her doctors.
"So what is the problem?" asked Shizune as she walked into the room, rolling up her robe sleeves and looking over Itachi's unconscious body.
Ino followed the two of them and flipped through a chart Sakura had written her initial diagnosis on. "From what I can tell here, there is nothing physical wrong with him. He's been through some hellish torture, but I cannot work out why he won't wake up."
Shizune turned and stared at her student for a few moments, before looking down at the blonde girl's stomach with a slightly raised eyebrow.
Ino saw immediately what her old teacher was about to say and cut her off, moving around Itachi's bed and pulled out a small bottle from the nearby drawer, "Sakura tried smelling salts but nothing seemed to work."
"That's because the problem isn't physical," said Shizune, making a note to speak to Ino at a later date about her issue. "There is more to this than physical torture."
She placed her hand onto Itachi's forehead, frowning as her hand glowed with light blue chakra. For a few minutes she was silent, her eyes closed as she conducted her own diagnosis.
"Is she going to be able to help Itachi?" asked Sasuke, still unsure what to make of Shizune's strange new situation at being summonable.
"Shizune-sensei is the best healer I know," said Ino respectfully. "If she can't help him, then there is no helping him."
Sasuke went to ask something else, but he stopped himself when he saw Ino's eyes dull over as if she was listening to someone talk to her in her head.
Eventually Ino rolled her eyes and put down the bottle from her hands. She turned to Sasuke and nodded apologetically, "Sorry, I've got to check on my daughter. She's having issues with her sitter again. That girl is far too picky for a three year old."
She walked past Sasuke, who turned to stare at her with a thoroughly confused look on his face.
"You…you have a daughter?"
Ino turned around and pulled her ponytail out of her face with a wide smile, "Yep. She's growing up to be a good little girl, too. I'll bring her around when your brother is better."
With that she left the room, with Shizune still conducting her analysis and Sasuke to try and work out how that could have happened in the two and a half years they were apart.
"Your brother has severe mental trauma, Sasuke, the worst I've ever seen." Shizune retracted her hand and turned to her current client, "It'll take hours for me to revive him."
Sasuke stared at her hopefully, "But you can revive him, right? He'll be back to normal?!"
She nodded with a smile, placing her robed hand onto his shoulder, "It's good you got Ino to call me here. I haven't seen you guys in ages. It's nice to not be surrounded by tigers for a change."
He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so Sasuke just nodded and motioned for her to proceed.
"There is something else, Sasuke." Shizune motioned for him to take a seat. "I said that there was no physical damage, and that's true, but there is something else."
Sasuke nodded, he was ready for anything.
"I checked as carefully as possible, but there's no mistaking it. Your brother is completely blind."
oOoOoOo
Shizune slowly closed the door behind her, leaving the two brothers to reconnect after Itachi had finally woken up. It hadn't been as difficult as she had thought it would have been to bring Itachi back from his mental trauma, and with the walls she had constructed within his mind she felt confident that he wouldn't relapse any time soon.
She rubbed at the back of her neck sorely; she had gotten soft in her tenure in the other world.
"Shizune-sensei?"
The medical shinobi turned to see Ino walked towards her with a slight flustered look on her face. "Is something wrong, Ino?"
She shook her head with a tired smile, "Same old, same old. Airi being her usual difficult self. She's far too independent for a three year old."
Shizune smiled and patted her old student on the back as they walked together down the corridor, "You are a great mother, Ino. I know Asuma and Kurenai would be proud."
Ino smiled sadly at her before placing a hand on her stomach, rubbing lightly at her shirt, "Yeah, I guess you are right…"
After a few moments they came to an empty room, one where Ino recognised as unused before the ventilation wasn't good for patient care. Shizune indicated for her to go inside, with Ino already knowing what she wanted to talk to her about.
Once she shut the door, Shizune spun a chair around and sat down, leaning on the back as she looked at Ino with a serious expression.
"How long have you been trying?" she asked quietly.
Ino squirmed slightly on her chair, embarrassed that she had to talk about such a thing with her old teacher. "We haven't really been…trying…per se. I just noticed that…afterwards, nothing was happening. And with Airi I just thought..."
"Does Kiba know?" asked Shizune softly.
The blonde shinobi shook her head, "He's oblivious. He's been so caught up in the war efforts that…well we haven't really talked about it."
She looked up at Shizune with a sad look in her eyes, "It's true, isn't it? I had Sakura check a few weeks ago, but I want to be absolutely sure."
"I'm sorry, Ino. But I can tell it from here. It's true."
Ino's head sunk, it was exactly as she feared. "I guess I'll…go tell Kiba then."
As she got up from her chair, Shizune reached over and lightly grasped her arm, staring at her despairing eyes, "He won't care, Ino. You girls were like daughters to me, and none of us were related by blood. Kiba will understand."
Ino nodded in acknowledgement but was unable to drop the sad look from her face. "I want to believe you, Shizune-sensei. I really do. I'm just not that optimistic."
Her old teacher stood up and straightened out her robe before giving her student a reassuring smile, "It'll work out. You guys are young, you have plenty of time. Keep in touch, okay? I've got to get back before Byakko flips out at my sudden disappearance. We were in the middle of a dance."
With that, she disappeared in a large puff of white smoke. Ino took in a deep breath before nodding to the empty room and walking back out into the corridor.
Sasuke opened the door slowly, wondering why his brother had asked to speak to him so late at night. Despite Shizune telling him what had happened to Itachi's eyes, he still couldn't quite believe that his brother was blind.
Itachi sat on his bed within the hospital room, a vacant look in his eyes as he turned his head towards the door. "Thank you for coming, Sasuke."
"Nii-san, you do realise what time it is, right?" Sasuke yawned and sat down on a chair besides the bed, "I was looking forward to getting some sleep."
"I'm sorry about that, but there is something I've wanted to talk with you about." Itachi knew where he was by sensing his brother's chakra, but he couldn't see a single thing through his faded black eyes.
"Itachi, we've talked almost all day. Can't it wait until morning?"
"I'm afraid not, Sasuke." Itachi turned his head as if to look out the nearby window to the night sky.
Sasuke sighed and put up his feet onto his brother's bed.
"I want you to look at me with your Sharingan active, Sasuke," instructed Itachi. He had no physical wounds to speak of, and didn't really need to be in the hospital anymore, but there was something that had been on his mind since hearing out his brother's story of the past two and a half years.
The younger Uchiha frowned, but did as Itachi asked. His eyes turned red as he moulded a small amount of chakra, his three-tomoe Sharingan immediately analysing his brother's chakra.
Despite having been a captive of Sensou for so long, Itachi still retained his shinobi abilities, including his extensive chakra pool and sensory abilities.
Itachi noticed that his brother had done what he had said, turning his head back around so that they were locking eyes. It was a strange sensation to not have sight, but he'd built up his senses so that he didn't rely on it.
However he wasn't going to let his little brother share the same fate.
"I did what you asked. What is the point of this?"
Itachi pulled back his blanket and moved so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed, forcing Sasuke to take his feet off the bed. "Sasuke. You can activate the Mangekyou Sharingan, can't you?"
His younger brother frowned and shifted his chair so that he had more space between him and his brother. From what he could tell his brother hadn't changed since the last time they had been together.
"I don't recall telling you anything like that earlier," said Sasuke cautiously.
Even while blind, Itachi was still able to give his brother a disapproving glare, "Don't give me that, Otouto. I'm your brother; I can tell when you are hiding something."
Sasuke rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, "You're a pain in the ass, do you know that? You haven't changed a single bit in nearly three years."
Ignoring his brother's attitude, Itachi leaned forward slightly and clutched his hands together. "This is a serious matter, Sasuke. Tell me how it happened."
"Fine, if you insist. I was on a mission with Cascading Flow; we were trying to take out a supply cavern that was being guarded by Iwa shinobi."
"With Fiore?" interrupted Itachi, knowing how attached his brother had become to the girl.
Sasuke nodded, "Yeah. Anyway, the whole thing was an ambush, and we were quickly fighting for our lives. Fiore is a good fighter, and I'm an Uchiha, but we were surrounded by Iwa's ANBU."
"What happened next?"
"I think you know, Itachi. That night years ago you told me how the Mangekyou Sharingan truly activates. I thought she was gone. What does it matter, anyway?"
"Show it to me," said Itachi, determined to see this through to the end.
Sasuke frowned and stood up from his chair, moving to the other side of the room. "I haven't been using it, if that is your concern. Mother warned me that it had side-effects, and besides the one time when I thought Fiore was dead and one other time recently I haven't used any of its techniques."
Itachi noticed him changing position, but chose not to move to face him. "That is surprisingly cautious of you, Sasuke. Weren't you the one who said you needed as much power as possible?"
"My priorities changed," replied Sasuke softly. He stared out into the cold night of Suna, his red eyes following the light grains of sand blowing past the window.
Still facing the door, a slow smile grew on Itachi's face. He didn't say it, but a strong feeling grew in his chest.
You grew up without needing my help at all, Sasuke.
He thought about the last battle they had fought together, against Kidomaru from the Hidden Sound. While he'd been impressed by Sasuke's abilities, he wouldn't have said he had been particularly proud of him at that time.
You've become a proper man now. Now you are saving me, not the other way around.
"What are your goals now?"
Sasuke thought about it for a moment. His goals had changed several times over the course of his life, and now that he'd found Itachi again they had changed once more.
"I still want to rebuild the clan. But…" He turned around and leaned on the windowsill, crossing his arms across his chest. "I want to do it as a family, not as someone like Father."
"So why do you seek power then?" asked Itachi, trying to get to the heart of the matter.
Sasuke looked down at his hands, at all the scratches and scars he had accumulated in the past two and a half years. He thought he would have to think about his answer, but it came rather easily to him.
"I need to protect those I care about. If I can't…I don't deserve to be a clan leader."
Itachi's smile grew and he nodded slowly, standing up from his bed.
That's what I was waiting for.
"Sasuke, I have a proposition for you. And I want you to hear me out."
His brother frowned and turned around to stare at his brother's back, "What could you possibly ask, at this hour?"
"I want you to take my eyes."
Not one to be easily surprised, Sasuke had no clue how he was meant to respond to that. With an uncharacteristic stutter he quickly came around to the other side of Itachi and tried to see if his brother was messing with him or not.
Unfortunately Itachi still wore his usual stoic expression. It had become even harder to read his face with the dull black of his eyes, yet he knew that Itachi could tell where he was.
"You'll need to run that by me again. You want me to what?"
Itachi motioned to the seat Sasuke had recently vacated with his arm, "How much do you know about the Mangekyou Sharingan?"
Sasuke frowned in annoyance at his brother's tone, but took the seat nonetheless. "Only what you've told me. Is there something I need to know?"
"There is something that Mother wouldn't have told you, but it's something you need to know now. It is the reason I'm blind."
"It isn't because of the torture?" It was true; Shizune didn't know why Itachi was blind. Physically he had no marks on him, but for reasons unknown he couldn't see. Sasuke knew how much Itachi relied on his eyes, even if he constantly lectured Sasuke on doing the same. He couldn't think of a worse fate for an Uchiha.
Itachi shook his head and indicated to his eyes with a finger, "Whenever you use the Mangekyou Sharingan, your eyes begin to dull and lose their light."
"How does that affect you though? You said you weren't able to use any techniques."
His brother put his hand down and shuffled backwards on his bed to get more comfortable. The doctors weren't going to let him out for at least a few more days. "I was forced to use Tsukuyomi constantly, which dulled my left eye. When a shinobi didn't convert completely she forced me to destroy them utterly with Amaterasu, dulling my right."
"Then why would you use them at all? If you go blind from using the Mangekyou Sharingan, then it isn't worth using." Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and considered the implication. "Although I suppose given the right cause, even I would risk something like that."
Itachi nodded slowly with a smile, he was proud that his brother had picked up on that on his own.
"But I fail to see the connection, Itachi. If I were to have your eyes, I would be as blind as you. Are you asking me to give you my eyes?"
"Not at all, Sasuke, let me finish. If one Uchiha, possessing the Mangekyou Sharingan were to give his eyes to another, also possessing the Mangekyou Sharingan, then the person's eyes would be repaired and their eyes would evolve."
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Itachi. My eyes are fine, and I don't see a need for you to give up yours."
His older brother reached out and poked his brother on the forehead. It had been years since he'd done that, and there was a certain degree of satisfaction in knowing that his little brother was probably giving him the same death glare he always did.
"Sasuke, you don't seem to understand what I'm telling you. If you accept my eyes, your Sharingan will evolve past the Mangekyou Sharingan, to the point that your eyes won't dull when you use your techniques."
Sasuke smirked and leaned back on his chair, "Well, why didn't you say that before?"
Despite the serious situation, Itachi motioned with one of his fingers, sending his brother crashing backwards from his chair onto the floor beyond. He chuckled as he heard his brother cursing loudly as he picked himself up.
"You still have much to learn, Sasuke."
The Kazekage looked up from his desk the next morning to see Shikamaru walking in with a loud yawn, scratching at his head. He nodded respectfully to his leader for a moment before walking over to his desk and sighing at the mountain of paperwork.
"You are up early," observed Gaara quietly. There was a notable difference in the cleanliness of his desk versus his subordinates, but he didn't point that out to Shikamaru. There was never any point.
Shikamaru sighed again and lit up a cigarette, blowing smoke up towards the vent, "Your sister is an evil woman, Kazekage-sama. An evil, evil woman."
Not one for displaying emotion, Gaara simply nodded in agreement and looked over at the schedule on the wall. There were a number of times and dates that he noted of importance, but it was the one that was absent that concerned him most.
Shikamaru left his cigarette hanging from his mouth and stared out the window at the village, "The schedule is pretty light today."
"I want the patrols doubled while we are away," said Gaara, stamping his approval of an S-rank mission before moving on to the stack of A-rank missions. Their village was prospering despite the pressure from the east, and their low numbers were counteracted by their shinobi's willingness to put the village before their own goals. It made Gaara very proud to be the Kazekage.
"The ANBU won't like that," commented Shikamaru idly. "They say they are stretched as it is."
"They don't have to like it. They have to do it." Gaara shifted his paperwork to one side and placed his hands together to stare at his advisor, "What should be done with your old friends from Konoha?"
Shikamaru inhaled the remainder of his cigarette and put it out on his ashtray before slowly blowing out the white smoke around the room. "The Uchihas and the civilian look to be leaving. They have business with Iwa, and I don't think it would be wise to stop them."
"I agree. If they are keeping their troubles out of Suna, then all the better."
"The others, I'm not sure about. I could ask them before we leave if you like."
Gaara thought about it for a second before turning back to desk, "They will be offered the same deal that the Inuzuka's got. They could be useful for Suna against the Quiraji."
"I'm not so sure they will go for that deal, Kazekage-sama. From my observations, they seem to be only focused on finding the others that survived the attack on Konoha." Shikamaru looked over at the sheet he had sitting on his desk, thankful that he hadn't had to cross more names off the list. "There are still too many missing."
"They had no intelligence on Uzumaki Naruto?" asked Gaara, curious as to where his Konoha compatriot had been for the past four years. He knew that Shikamaru had spoken to Hatake Kakashi after he'd dismissed them from his office.
Shikamaru shook his head and stared at the Uzumaki's name on his sheet. He was confident the blonde shinobi wasn't dead, which in turn guaranteed Hinata's survival. Naruto would be deep into the ground before he let anything happen to her. But there were others he wasn't so sure about, including Chouji, Neji and even Tenten. He'd tried to find their locations, but it was like they had disappeared completely.
The crossed out names on his list continued to stare at him from the sheet of paper, as if judging him for existing in the first place. The line through Gai, Kurenai and Shino's names were clinical and to the point, while the one through Asuma was shaky and unsure. He'd hated having to do that when Lee had told him what happened to their teachers.
You guys better be okay. Enough people have died already.
A knock on the door snapped him out of it and he turned to see Kankuro walk into the room with a large backpack slung over his shoulder.
"You guys ready to go?" he asked, holding his backpack by one of the straps over his shoulder. Unlike years ago he didn't need to carry around his puppets anyway, he simply had them stored in scrolls to either side of his black outfit.
Gaara stood up from his desk and tapped the sheets in his hands to straighten them before stacking them in a holder. "We are."
"Are you sure about going with just the two of us?" asked Shikamaru, putting his packet of cigarettes into his flak jacket. "If there was ever a situation that was a trap…"
"It doesn't matter," said Kankuro, watching as Gaara slung his sand gourd over his shoulder and buckled it together. "We are not easy opponents."
"Nevertheless, this is still a risk."
"And one we must take," said Gaara, walking around to the middle of his office. "If the meeting is real, then it is an opportunity that will not occur again."
Shikamaru sighed, he couldn't argue with that. "It'll be nice to get away from the wife for a few weeks though."
"That's our sister you are talking about, you know that, right?" said Kankuro with the same frown he usually wore.
"Which should make you sympathetic to my plight," said Shikamaru with a tired look. "You don't have to live with her right now; you don't understand the wrath I'm experiencing on a daily basis."
Gaara walked past the two of them and opened the door, "We lived with her for sixteen years. We understand perfectly well."
"Besides, you're the stupid one that got her pregnant," said Kankuro with an amused grin.
Shikamaru couldn't argue with that one, so he just sighed again and went to leave the office with the others. "You are going to leave those letters on your desk again, Kazekage-sama?"
"I have an obligation to read and reply to each of them in time," came Gaara's voice from the corridor. "That is my duty."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and walked out of the office, while Kankuro stared at the stack of love letters sitting on Gaara's desk.
I never get any love letters. How does he do it? He doesn't even talk to them.
He sighed and shut the door to the Kazekage's office. They had a long journey ahead, and they would need all the energy they had. Particularly if Shikamaru's concerns were true.
Author's Note:
And bam, transition. The time in the Land of Fire is now over for the moment, and we move onto bigger scale things. It should be fairly obvious what the next bit is going to be about, since it also happens in the real story. Mine will be very different though, I can promise you that.
Yep, Shikamaru is smoking now. And a bunch of other stuff, but mainly the smoking thing. In the novel that I'm working on, the main character is a heavy smoker, and I always wanted him to keep smoking after that one bit when he was killing Hidan. It's basically practise for my other character.
If anyone is confused over why I'm doing that to Ino, there is a purpose to it. That does happen, and I wanted to explore that eventuality. It does feel a bit cruel, but she does already have Airi.
Also don't forget that each of them are at least 18 or older. So they will inevitably have more adult relationships, particularly with each other. Don't worry though, not everyone is banging everyone.
After the next chapter I'll be doing the next Bonus Chapter, which will be all about Naruto and Hinata. I know they haven't been in the story for a while, and that is intentional, but I still want to show what they've been doing for the past little while.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to take each review into account, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.
