I stared up at the ceiling while nibbling on the rice, anko paste, and strawberries. I had slept for a few hours before waking back up. I had a dozen of my precious sweets by me when I awoke, so I figured the day would go better from that point on.
Tsunade-hime entered about five minutes after I awoke and gave an irked smile. "How long do you intend on being here?"
"I didn't know Sasuke and Naruto were actually going to use their full power to try and kill each other," I replied honestly, making her sigh.
"Well, besides the obvious injuries you face, yes, your chakra system had some damage." She closed the door behind herself and came to take a seat besides my bed. "A Hyūga came in and looked at your chakra system. It will repair itself, and they did what they could to get your chakra nodes open. It will take a week or so, but you'll be able to walk it off then."
"Yeah, okay, but what about the others?" I questioned urgently.
"Everyone is alive and awake. They'll all live and recover soon," the medic assured me.
A massive sigh of relief came from deep within me. I then immediately shot up and asked, "Lee-senpai - did he take the surgery?"
The blonde nodded. "Yes he did, and it was a success."
I gave a relieved smile, glad everything pretty much worked out.
"Even though you may come off as rude with your constant sass, you really do care about your friends a lot," the Hokage noted aloud softly, causing me to nod. "Will you be able to complete the mission the old man gave to you?"
I nodded while staring down at my half-eaten mochi. "Of course. If it keeps them safe an happy, I'll be glad. Besides, a strong ally should come back once I complete the mission, so that's an added benefit."
"Don't you mean two?" The Senju inquired.
My face scrunched up. "No, the other one is more of someone I tolerate. They could jump off a cliff and die for all I care."
"Really?" Tsunade-hime asked with a genuinely surprised tone.
"Yeah," I agreed before giving a deep sigh. I then perked up as a different thought entered my mind. "Have you heard about Orochimaru's immortality jutsu?" I received a nod, causing me to grin. "Well, Orochimaru's jutsu works by switching his spirit to another person's body. There's a catch, however, as he can only perform the jutsu every three years. And I'm willing to bet that Sasuke arrived just after Orochimaru had to switch bodies."
Her eyes widened as her jaw slackened a bit. "Are... are you saying that?"
"Yeah. Since we stalled Sasuke and the otonin, Orochimaru doesn't have full access to the sharingan. Hell, he won't have it for another three years," I concluded with a large grin.
Her pink lips stretched into a grin before she smacked my back harshly. "Hah! And people say betting is bad! Good work, Ren!"
"Ah, I wasn't the one to nearly die to stall Sasuke. Congratulate them first," I advised while trying to rub my aching back.
"Yeah, yeah. You make sure to rest up. I'll tell a few others," the woman assured me as she got up and began to walk away.
I gave as half-assed wave before going back to my strawberry daifuku. I happily stared out the window at the peaceful village that was starting to stabilize itself. I felt happy, happier than I had in the past few months. Even though I knew that life was going to get a hell of a lot more dark, I could still enjoy moments of peace and relaxation.
The sun slowly began to make its journey across the sky as people went along with their lives. People were constantly on the move, whether they recognized it or not. The only truly stable things were the landscape, the thing that kept this village constant and safe.
I had finished the sweets off and was watching two particular birds fly through the sky when the door to my room opened. "Hello."
"It's about time you woke up."
I looked over in surprise to the blue-eyed girl that entered my room. "Ino-chan, what are you doing here?"
The blonde rolled her eyes as she walked over. "What do you think I'm here for, idiot?"
I gave a half-assed shrug before eyeing up the flower she had. "Duckass isn't here."
"I know. This is for you," she said as she walked over to the window and placed the jasmine flowers into a small vase.
"I'm sure that you're not implying I'm graceful," I stated while looking at the white flowers with a small smirk.
"The other meaning is friendly," the Yamanaka replied with a roll of her eyes.
I snickered softly. "I can't believe you thought I didn't know."
"Of course, I knew you knew," she said before leaning against the windowsill with her arms crossed. "Look, Ren... I know you would gladly push Sasuke off of a cliff, so why would you ever go out of your way to get him back?"
"I didn't hate him that bad," I stated, only to get called out by the girl's mere expression. "Okay, so I would gladly RKO him off of multiple cliffs, but that doesn't mean I would just let him waltz out of the village like that. He was my teammate, my fellow Konoha shinobi. If I were to abandon him and just let him leave, what kind of person would I be?"
Her eyes drifted away before she nodded, buying my lie. "Okay, that makes sense. For a second there, I thought you were going to spout some bullshit about keeping your sister happy."
Nearly caught me there, I thought, making sure to not allow my expression to betray me. "Do I really have that bad of a brother complex?"
"Yes," she answered without any hesitation.
"Ouch," I commented with an annoyed face.
"You'll get over it," Ino-chan stated while waving me off. She gently pushed her bangs aside before glancing towards the Hokage Monument. "I think... your sister wants to become an apprentice for Hokage-sama."
"That wouldn't surprise me," I said, causing her to look at me in surprise. "She was called a useless crybaby a few times in the past, and I'm sure she reflected on it when seeing people so close to her injured over something she couldn't do. She doesn't like being indebted to people, and she most certainly hates being able to do nothing. In that way, we are most definitely twins." I chuckled as I closed my eyes before allowing my expression to turn emotionless. "Jiraiya-sama will most definitely take Naruto under his wing, and Tsunade-hime will do the same for Sakura. As you know, Sasuke has already run off to Orochimaru. Those three will be taught be the legendary sennin for sure."
"What will you do?" The Yamanaka questioned with a slightly worried tone of voice.
"Relax, I too will train as hard as I can." I opened my eyes and gave her a proud smirk. "Just because I won't have a sennin teach me, doesn't mean I'll lay down and accept defeat. I'll continue to gain knowledge and surpass everyone I can."
"All for your sister, right?" The blonde teased, only to be shocked by my response.
I released a single laugh of defiance. "No, not just for her. I have someone I owe a favor to since I lied about loving them right to their face. I can only repay them by getting stronger to help them with a burden they have on their shoulders."
"What kind of asshole are you?!" She exclaimed.
I answered honestly, "The kind of asshole that always gets what he wants in the end, and you better fucking believe I'm going to do everything I can to keep that winning streak up."
~3 Months Later~
It had been three months since Sasuke left the village.
The Uchiha had most definitely made it to Orochimaru by then and started his training.
Sakura had indeed been taken under Tsunade-hime's wing and began the necessary training to become a medic nin.
Word had also gotten around that Naruto was going to leave with Jiraiya-sama to train.
That, of course, left me without a sensei. But, I had a plan for that.
I had completed several missions over those few months, several with Takahashi and his team. I was sort of taken under Takahashi's wings since our ideologies were so similar. Of course, no one else knew I was spouting as much bullshit as I could manage. I was loyal to Konoha, yes, but I wasn't such a rule-oriented piece of shit.
In any case, all that ass-kissing had finally reached it's goal the day after Naruto left.
I was in the forest where I had found a clearing.
Needless to say, after that amount of time, it wasn't really a clearing anymore. There were spiraling tree branches and gnarled trunks that I had been slowly integrating into my techniques to make for better offensive techniques. It wasn't that hard in theory, but your chakra control had to be precise and used with deadly accuracy.
I was a disgustingly sweaty mess after finishing up with my training routine which consisted of hard taijutsu training, tantō training, and finally mokuton training. I suddenly felt two presences behind me and whirled around while grabbing for the handle of my tantō. I stopped, however, upon seeing the smirking face of Takahashi.
Next to the ginger stood a man who didn't quite look his age. That old man had black, shaggy hair, and his right eye was bandaged. He had an X-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a white shirt with a black robe over the top of it, covering from his feet to just over his right shoulder. Even though some may think of him as a frail old man that would need a cane to walk, anyone who looked into that one black eye knew better.
"You know I hate it when you do that," I stated as I pointed my left index finger at Takahashi accusingly.
"I like keeping you on your toes," he replied while giving a closed-eye smile.
I internally flipped the man off as I stood up and got into a standby stance. I looked at the old man apologetically and said, "I'm terribly sorry for the horrible greeting, Danzō-sama, but I'm not fond of people he decide to suddenly appear behind me."
"You know him?" The ginger asked with a small tilt of his head.
"Who wouldn't? He is one of the three members of the Elder Council who advise the Hokage when making decisions regarding the village," I replied expertly while keeping any sign of sassiness off of my face.
The old man gave a small smirk and nodded. "That is correct. I've heard several good things about you from Kumonoe."
"I would like to say the same, however he hasn't spoke of you," I stated with a blank expression.
"Well, that doesn't really matter right now. I've heard of your talent and situation, and I'd like to offer you a place in my organization," Danzō stated.
My brow furrowed a bit and I tilted my head to the side. "Organization?"
"It's called the Root, and it will train you well. You can receive the power to protect your sister and the village if you take this opportunity," the black-haired man explained simply.
I straightened up and put on a determined face. "It can really give me that sort of power?"
"If you train hard enough, yes," the Shimura answered with a nod of affirmation.
"Of course. I'll join it," I said as I brightened up.
The man gave a small chuckle. "Good. You'll start today."
"May I tell my sister first?" I asked, causing the man to pause.
He debated it for a second before nodding. "Very well. While you're there, tell her that you will be gone for as long as Uzumaki Naruto is."
I remained silent for a second before allowing my face to show minor concern. "That's going to be at least 2 years, sir," I pointed out.
"You want to get stronger, don't you?" The asshole of a man questioned.
I stared down at my feet for a second before nodding. "Very well. I'll do what I must."
"Be back here in five minutes," Danzō directed while waving me off.
I bowed before using the hiraishin jutsu to quickly appear next to my sister. "Yo."
The girl jumped away from the fish she was bringing back to life with a small squeal of surprise.
"Ah, sorry," I apologized as she whirled around out of instinct.
"Haruno Ren, why are you disrupting my pupil?" Tsunade-hime snapped at me.
"Ah, well, I'm going away for a while," I said while looking between the two blankly. "I'm going to be trained under Shimura Danzō until Naruto comes back."
"That's a long time..." Sakura muttered worriedly.
"Hey, think about it this way. This way, when everyone meets up again, we'll all have some great surprises for each other," I said with a bright smile.
The pinkenette hummed softly before begrudgingly nodding. "Okay..."
"Great! Once I get back, I'll be so amazing, I'll make every man fall for me with just a look!" I exclaimed with my hands on my hips.
The girl laughed, causing my large smile to wilt. "Yeah, right. You'll still be as sarcastic and delinquenty as ever."
I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Oi! I'll get super hot and popular with the guys!"
She laughed even harder and actually doubled over while holding her gut. Tears formed in her green eyes, making me realize how much she actually trusted my words.
"I bet you'll be just as flat-chested as you are now!" I exclaimed while pointing at her. Needless to say, I was punched so hard, I flew across the room.
"Before you get "hot and popular," you should learn how to talk to women," Tsunade-hime criticized as she looked down at me from the couch she was sitting on.
I grumbled under my breath before raising up both of my middle fingers. I then stood up and patted myself off. "Whatever..." I turned back towards Sakura with a serious expression. I held my arms out and stated, "I want one last hug before I go."
Her annoyed expression faded away to one of slight sadness. She nodded before quickly rushing over to give me the hug of a lifetime. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you more. I love you," I replied as I gave her a tight squeeze. I then stepped back and teleported back to the clearing where Danzō and Takahashi, also known as Kumonoe, were still waiting.
"What's with that mark on your cheek?" Takahashi asked while pointing at he place where Sakura decked me.
I rubbed the left side of my face and stated, "Apparently, girls don't like being called flat-chested."
The purple-eyed man lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hinoto is going to kill you in less then a day..."
"She's flat-chested too?" I inquired, causing him to look away.
"Yeah..." He agreed.
I gave a small hum before looking at Danzō. "Should I get my equipment now?"
"That was already taken care of. Now, come," the man demanded while turning heel.
I followed after without any hesitation. I was going to fulfil the second-last mission given to me by Hokage-sama... I was going to infiltrate the Root and take them down from the inside. I would get vengeance for Shisui-senpai and Itachi-senpai, and no one was going to stop me. Even if I had to go down to hell itself, I would not fail that mission!
To be continued...
