Chapter 34: Catching Up, Moving Forward.
I should have expected it, the disappointment, the heartbreak, the anger, the surprise. Takahiro's expression had never before been that of a shattered man; Hotaka had never turned his back on me with the most disgusted sneer I knew Hyugas to be capable of; Sensei failed, for the first time, in keeping the disappointment off his face, but the sheer shock of what I'd just told them would not let him.
It was Kosuke's silence that caught my attention. Every other member was trying to look for something, anything that would explain if not justify what I'd done. Akira Sensei had crossed his arms over his chest and hadn't taken his eyes off me ever since I'd confessed to being behind the plot that killed Hiruzen. He kept watching my every move- I'd lost his trust.
"I don't understand what all of you furless humans are yapping about," snapped the wolf-sized dog, tired of their blabber. "Akane-chan saw a threat to her pack and eliminated it. Do you think we were safe with a lenient old man under the control of a sadistic parasite? Hiruzen would not have abdicated until his death; Kami knows what damage the rat could have done until then."
They all remained silent as the ninja hound stared them down, daring them to contradict him, daring them to tell him his pup had done something wrong. The notion of pack to Inuzuka, canines or otherwise, was something sacred, one did not fuck with the pack if they were trying to avoid death- bloody and certain. In his case, he continued to say, that he would have ripped the old man's throat out for allowing Danzo to drive Shisui to suicide (if what Orochimaru had said held any truth to it) and forcing Itachi to kill his entire family. Not to mention what they'd done with the Snake Sannin's work.
The silence that followed was quite deafening. I could see the cogs turning inside my team mates' heads, they were taking in everything Kosuke had said. Sensei had a hand to his chin, thinking hard on something I wasn't sure was directly related to our conversation. Taka seemed lost as to what he should believe; he looked like he wanted to be on my side but felt like there was something fundamentally wrong in just killing the Hokage no less. Hotaka was still mostly angry, whether it was or not telling them of my plan or simply because I'd plotted to kill a much esteemed shinobi, either way, I knew he would not be talking to me for a while.
I should have expected that. I knew that it would take a while for them to come to terms with the truth of our precious Hiruzen, of what he'd done, and of what I'd done as a consequence. I knew my reasons were deeply personal and rooted in resentment and grief, and I knew I couldn't expect them to be okay with what I'd done, but their rejection and doubt hurt nonetheless. I just had to give them time to process it, and hopefully they would come around in the end.
…
"Men have always been far more dense than dogs. I don't know why you're acting as if you didn't know that…"Hana smirked up to the cloudless sky as she soaked in the warmth of the sun.
Naruto was training with Lady Tsunade a few feet away, and to say she was turning him into fine powder would have been fairly accurate. Hana had been given her overdue down time after missions and had decided it'd been far too long since we'd hung out- she was sleeping over at our place for a few days. I, on the other hand was taking advantage of every bit of down time I had to study binding seals and chakra suppressing seals. There was no such thing as being too careful.
"Yeah, but they are still my team. I'd rather have them not hate me if I can help it, Haa-chan." I answered as I read the scroll on my lap once again.
"Kosuke seemed fine with it when Akira-san came to report to mom. Of course she already knew. You should have seen how she smiled, she believes it was her who pounded pack mentality into you…" she chuckled.
"Yeah, well, Kosuke's always had a soft spot for me, even more so after the massacre. And as for Tsume-sama, I could give her … %25 of the credit, the rest goes to Shisui."
"Well, I guess mom could share credit with your brother, he was one hell of a shinobi."
Naruto got a kick to the ribs and a dry sounding crack echoed through the clearing. He had been going through dodge training for a couple of weeks now and the amount of broken ribs, sprained ankles and ribs, and overall bruises he'd received as a consequence, was awe inspiring, even to someone who'd been in ANBU for so long. Tsunade was not cutting any corners with his training; that was for certain.
"If I can crack your ribs with such a soft kick, you better dodge tomorrow's because I will not be holding back, got it, princess?" barked Tsunade when Naruto doubled over with a hand to his side. He was panting hard.
"Hai Obaa-shishou." Groaned the kid who knew from past experience that not answering was a one way ticket to the grave.
Once the new Hokage decided that Naruto had had enough suffering for a day and that his natural healing would do him no good if his ribs weren't lined up properly, she started to funnel chakra onto his side. Whether fast healing was an Uzumaki or a Jinchuriki thing, I was not sure. All I was certain of was the fact that if there ever existed a better master for the kid, I didn't believe it was in this lifetime.
Tsunade had the chakra control to perform surgeries at cellular level, had achieved the strength of a hundred seal, she was the authority in medical combat procedures and was a pioneer in poison work; she was a harsh teacher but she had a heart of god and the cunning only a shinobi of Kage level could claim. She was the fire Shadow, and she would turn Naruto into one as well.
"I love a woman who's at the top of her game, but damn is Hokage-sama scary when she wants to be." Said Hana as the Haimaru brother whimpered.
"It does give me some sort of comfort though," I added. "I trust women to do the right thing more than I do men, and there is nothing more intimidating, awe inspiring and with more potential than a woman in power."
…..
"Why is the old man here again, Nee-chan? I don't mind Hana-san, 'cause her dogs are cool and she has a sense of humor. Kakashi-sensei is just lousy." Said Naruto as he closed the door to our apartment and saw my friend sitting on the kitchen counter.
The kid had to dodge a shuriken thrown at his head, which he managed to avoid barely, as a few strands of hair were caught in its path.
"I'm not old kid, I'm 26, you're just a midget. And I have more right to be here than you do. I'm her friend and wasn't forc-"
He cut himself off as he dodged the tanto that imbedded itself on the wall behind him.
"This is Naruto's place as well, Kakashi. Don't make the kid feel bad for something he can't help. That isn't nice."
Another bickering bout started when Naruto said it wasn't that Kakashi wasn't nice, the problem was he was an asshole. They both sounded like a couple of five year olds throwing insults at each other, and when they run out of those, they started using cutlery for weapons. I decided to let them get it out of their systems and grabbed my cup of tea as I went to sit on the sofa next to Bull; I needed to revise my fuinjutsu anyway. Things were thrown behind me by the kitchen counter and a few others were dodged when my head had been in the trajectory of a stray chopstick. I sighed.
"I will not be paying to replace any of those, and you better clean after yourselves when you're done being children or I will beat you both blue and bloody."
The mess behind me didn't stop, but I knew they'd heard me, they always did. At least ever since I made good on my promise and left them both under a genjutsu until they made peace. It wasn't long before they ran out of things to throw at each other and decided to part ways with spats that sounded much like "gray-haired dickhead" and "spoilt brat from hell". Naruto went into his room and slammed the door shut with force that would have broken it to pieces were the wood, hinges and frame not reinforced with seal work; and Kakashi came to seat beside me with his own cracked cup of tea.
"How long do you think it'll take for him to notice?"I smiled not looking up.
Kakashi shrugged and pulled his mask down to blow on his tea.
"That I'm still helping you guard and train him? Probably a few more years. I really like the kid, but he can be a bit dense sometimes."
I rolled the scroll closed and looked at him with an amused smile.
"Oh shut up, Akane."
"I didn't say anything!"
"You don't have to!"
"Will you both losers shut up and get a room!? I'm trying to study here, dattebayo!"
I chuckled.
"Gaki, he used to look up to me at first, you know? Where is all that sparkly eyed wonder now?" Kakashi asked whipping a nonexistent tear from the corner of his eye.
My shoulders shook as I covered my mouth to try and conceal my laughter.
"Oh, I don't think there's any left, Senpai."
We both ended up leaving the apartment so the kid could get some solid hours of study in, Kami knew Tsunade was not kind to slackers. I had groceries to buy anyway, and Kakashi needed to replace the entire cutlery they'd both wrecked in the kitchen. After a few weeks of people visiting –mostly Kakashi- we were running low on food. That and Naruto had thrown a terrible sissy fit when he realized his former sensei had eaten his last cup of instant ramen.
Our apartment had become somewhat of a hotspot among our friends. Those who frequented our home the most were the Inuzuka siblings, Kakashi and even Tenzou on the odd days he'd grow tired of the terrible food served at the ANBU cafeteria. Team eight had stopped visiting around the time I'd told them what I'd done. Hotaka had taken it the worst, and the others tried not to add fuel to the fire by paying visits, even if Akira-sensei and Kosuke came every other week for tea.
Doyun also paid his monthly visits ever since I'd been confined to the Village walls, and he always brought news of Sasuke or Itachi with him, no matter how insignificant they may have seemed. That is, until he came with a piece of news that was quite dire: Itachi was ill. He had caught a chakra-related lung illness, one even Orochimaru had never encountered during his research, who was also very adamant on the fact that, had he not examined Itachi regularly every two months, they might not even have realized before it was too late. And, as if that hadn't been enough, his continuous use of the Sharingan for extended periods of time, was deteriorating his sight rapidly. Orochimaru had told both Doyun and Itachi that if he continued to do as he had been, he would go completely blind in the span of a few years.
The secrecy seals in our home made sure no one but us would know of all of these recent developments, but still I looked to the walls around me to check for the telltale glow indicating they were active. I allowed myself a sigh. I had no Idea what to do to help Itachi; I knew nothing of medicine, nor was I proficient enough in chakra control to attempt to learn Iryo-ninjutsu. I could do nothing but search for someone who could and would help him.
"What do you do when there is nothing you can do to help someone? I can't just sit here and do nothing; I can't leave him to fight this on his own." I asked no one in particular.
Doyun sat across me in silence, looking out the window as if searching for the right words in the sky.
"Just be by his side. Support him, contain him, be his friend. Nothing you've never done before, right? You can't save everyone from life, Akane-chan, but you can have their backs as they walk their own path."
I took a sip of my tea and looked out the window as well. The sky was so blue, life went on for everybody else in the village, in the world. It was a lovely day.
"He's been through so much already…"
An eight year old Itachi covered in blood that was not his appeared in my mind's eye. Stare blank as his face, unmoving, silent, with scarlet eyes and a single black tomoe spinning lazily in each of them. He let me clean him up, change his clothes, feed him, put him to bed. He kissed my head like Shisui always had before he left in the morning.
"You miss him."
I stayed silent and nodded as a tear rolled down my cheek.
I did. I did miss him, terribly so. I wanted my partner back, I wanted my friend back.
It had been so long.
"You love him." He stated.
"I love many people, Doyun…" I smiled bitterly.
"Not like you love him, no." he insisted, "You care and protect many people, yes. But none of us has the place in your heart, in your soul that he does. Why would you go through what you did to avenge him, to protect his brother? This wasn't even about Shisui-san. That wound healed long ago. Itachi still remains…"
My tears started to fall more easily as he spoke, even drawing a sob out of me. My composure, my guard, my heart and secrets, they all fell to pieces as I realized:
He was right.
"I don't have time for this, I have someone to protect, and Sasuke to keep hidden," I said as I wiped the tears off my face. "I don't have time for feelings."
He chuckled.
"Yeah, right. Like you Uchiha aren't the softest of us all deep down. Don't try to suppress it, Aka-chan, you will only hurt yourself."
I smiled bitterly at him and turned to the window once again.
"Maybe, but we are shinobi. We grow up with that belief. Knowing that's what you get when you let your heart win."
Well fellas, this is the last chapter for TWYG. Don't worry, there will be a sequel coming, I just need some time to prep and all that stuff you probs don't care abt but takes legitimate time to get done. I'm sorry for the lack of activity, life's been hard this second half of 2019 on all of us, but hopefully, by mid January, I'll have enough chapters on the sequel done to start posting (even if I already posted the Prologue ;)). Please do bare with me. I'd also like to thank those who followed, fav'd, and reviewed this story. There were times when only you kept me going and I have to thank you wholeheartedly for that. But for now, see ya next time, have very happy holidays and may the next decade be kinder to us all. -PIAB