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Thinking
Biju, etc. speaking
Biju, etc. thinking
Emphasis
Sasuke knew that what he was off to do again wasn't in any way healthy. His mother would be both deeply worried about her son and completely scandalized if she witnessed this particular "occasional" coping mechanism if she were here. But his mother was dead, as was his father and the rest of his once incredibly large extended family, outside of… That Man. He shook the long hair that was part of his henge out of his eyes as he walked down the side streets and alleyways of Konoha.
In order to possibly steal and definitely partake, he had to be careful to keep his senses alert and avoid the Hyuuga and especially his perverted Taicho who held the only other Sharingan in the village. He couldn't be caught. It would lead to more questions and being monitored, and then he'd have to deal with his nightmares and frustrations alone and uninfluenced.
It's not like I drink that much, the Uchiha assured himself. Well, I don't do it that often: that's more accurate. The legal shinobi drinking age in Konoha was 16 unless one was a Chunin. Chunin could be as young as five, as he'd read his Taicho had been upon receiving the rank, and then he supposed they could drink themselves into a coma. Yes, his family had lectured him on the Shinobi Vices, this being one of the Big Three, but the day he'd experienced was a real pain.
Sasuke had no idea what got into Danzo earlier tonight, but he could only guess that some of the man's important plans or missions must have failed. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the man's anger had been absolutely terrifying when he was in Danzo's underground office earlier. It didn't help that he may have been drugged shortly after arriving to meet the man. It felt more like a genjutsu, but his Sharingan wasn't able to detect it, so he guessed that is what happened. Fortunately, he was no longer feeling the effects after getting some sleep. It was unlucky but predictable that he'd woken up from a nightmare of the past that he just couldn't shake.
So here Sasuke was, nearly at his destination: the most unsecured bar in the city. As he approached he noticed two figures half-lying in the alley that led to the bar's stockroom, but that was normal. As both were facing away from him, he activated his dojutsu when he saw one figure shimmer slightly. He couldn't help but smirk. Who would've thought? He recognized that chakra signature; it was rather easy to figure out when the individual had slumped and shimmered, revealing one of his old classmates.
"Hyuuga," he whispered, sitting beside the girl's blonde henge.
"Eeep!"
Yes, that was the response he'd expected. The rather loud belch afterward certainly wasn't. Sasuke didn't allow the little laugh that bubbled up inside of him to come out, but he did sit down beside the girl.
"How'd you know?" the Hyuuga heiress asked, slightly falling toward him. She knew who he was: the jerk's eyes had glowed red, after all.
"It was pretty obvious," Sasuke stated as he pushed the girl's forehead away from him with his fingers. Noticing her henge falter for a moment again, he quickly cast a genjutsu over them so that they wouldn't be easily discovered. "You're going to be in big trouble, Hyuuga. How do you expect to get home in the shape you are now?"
She said nothing, but Sasuke took note of her saddened face and the bruises that had yet to heal on her exposed arms as she let her henge drop. Kami, both of our fathers are - or were… The word "assholes" came to mind, but he flicked the thought away. After all, their situations were entirely different, and he was only guessing that the marks showing on her body weren't a result of training with her team. Yeah, right... It didn't matter: she was a Hyuuga, and Uchihas don't care about Hyuugas.
Before further analyzing why he was interested in the near-incapacitated drunk girl next to him, he grabbed the bottle from her hands. She slapped at him a few times, but there was no force behind her hands. "Let's make a deal. I'll take this, and you'll sober up so that I can get you home without any of your clansmen being any the wiser."
Hinata pouted at the arrogant boy but finally agreed. She'd never had alcohol before, and although the taste was gross at first, it had become easier to drink and the effects caught up to her all at once. She sighed heavily and watched as the Uchiha pulled the bottle to his lips and drank from it easily. Huh. Interesting to know. "Why are you here, Uchiha," she began to ask, but Sasuke put his fingers over her mouth as she muttered his name. He was staring intensely at the lump a little ways away from them: it seemed to have moved a bit closer to them. Hinata couldn't find it within herself to care much about it right now, though.
Sasuke slowly roused to pull out a kunai - but just then a brown-haired, way-too-drunk guy stood up and pulled his blanket over his head and shoulders. He muttered incoherently and stumbled away. Sasuke kept his hand on Hyuuga's mouth and listened carefully, before settling back down. The drunk had stumbled into the trash and made a lot of noise, but had removed himself enough to be out of his hearing range.
Neither Sasuke nor Hinata had heard the distinctive "POOF" of a shadow clone dispelling, as all the noise the clone made with the trash had done its job.
.
Naruto walked sullenly along the main thoroughfare, accompanied by Kakashi's ninken. She'd seen a couple of her roaming clones, and gods - some of them were absolute idiots! The one with the big hat? What was it called again? A top hat? The one magicians use… Her clone bowed to her dramatically and forced her hat to tumble down her arm before grabbing it gracefully. The original Naruto rolled her eyes at the henged moron that had fortunately not said anything. Naruto could only imagine it calling her "Boss" in front of Pakkun and the others. That would bring up questions she didn't want to answer!
It reminded the blonde of one of the several trips she made into the village when she was henged with the Naras. She must've been around 10 or 11, although she didn't remember where the family was supposed to be heading. There was a "magic show" going on, and she ignored Shikamaru's pull to move forward. The man she guessed was a magician had put his tall hat on a table and said he'd make a rabbit appear, and she wanted to see how he'd do such a thing. She had sensed only an incredibly low amount of chakra from the man, so he had to be a civilian. Seeing the man pull a rabbit out by its ears, she had been angered. Who the hell pulls on bunny ears? She'd screwed that trip up royally and embarrassed her family when she punched the magician off his stage for what she saw as cruelty to animals. Worse still, the bunny had been scared to death of her and ran away into the forest.
She refused to pay the cruel man for his loss, but Naruto had a feeling that Shikaku might have. Troublesome indeed.
Suddenly one of her clone's memories hit her and she stopped moving. The Bastard and Hinata-chan? Drinking together? In the alley behind that shittiest of all bars?! What the hell were they thinking?!
"Let's go, Naru-hime. Boss ordered us to take you straight back to the den," Pakkun said dully. Naruto tried to slowly move away from her surrounding captors and back toward that bar, but received a light bite to her right ankle and another nip to her left fingertips. Noting the group of people well ahead of her, she henged into the black-haired, blue-eyed taller woman she used as a henge most often.
There are an awful lot of kunoichis out in the bars this late at night. Although Naruto was tired, she was bummed that she wasn't with any of them. She'd even seen Ten-chan, and her shop-keeping father was pretty strict, as far as she remembered from her first life. Naruto was eager to get away and avoid home, as she was nearly certain that her husband/Taicho was going to break things off tonight. She tried to walk away again, but the surrounding ninken weren't having it.
Realizing she was too weary to go against them, even if she felt she easily could if she was forced to do such a thing, she decided to just go home. The dogs would undoubtedly chase her or report to Kakashi if she tried anything else - especially Pakkun, that little stinker, and she'd most likely be rounded up, pissing off her husband even more. Finally reaching her home's boundaries, she sunshinned to the door and went inside, allowing the ninken entrance. She went upstairs and took a long hot shower before absently pulling on a nightgown.
Kakashi didn't show up for well over an hour after she'd eaten, fed the ninken, showered, and changed. By then Naruto was asleep on the couch, Bull at her feet and Pakkun tucked into her side.
Bull lumbered over to greet Kakashi as he came through the front door, his tail wagging happily. He scratched his biggest boy's head, then gave the same greeting to his other summons, outside of Pakkun. Walking into the living room he saw his pug curled up with his cute little wife. Pakkun was apparently quite comfortable. By the Sannin, what is she wearing?!
Kakashi had become accustomed to Naruto's various pajamas and enjoyed how she looked in them, no matter how ridiculous they were. But this short little white satin number was something else entirely! It really shows off her tan, and… He looked away as she turned over on her back in her sleep, but didn't move from his spot on the couch.
She said she wanted to stay married after all, so yeah, that means I was given permission: I can look! Glancing around the room to ensure both Naruto's extended and deceased immediate family wouldn't pop out from behind anything, he closed his eyes before looking upon the young woman he married.
She's obviously tan but looking up her legs, her exposed arms, what I can see of her breasts: this is her natural coloring. She had no tan lines at all, no scars, no imperfections. She's breath-taking... Naruto's delicate stature was adorable, but her firm legs looked long in comparison with the rest of her body. He stared at her supple arms and legs, and before he realized what he was doing, ultimately up her chemise. For whatever reason, the gods had granted him the petite goddess next to him. She's a little hairless wonder! Kakashi closed his eyes and knew he'd done nothing to deserve her. In fact, in his life, he'd committed too many acts that should deny him forever the blonde before him or anyone really. Gods, he was way…
"Kakashi?" Naruto asked, rubbing her eyes. "Gomen, Kash. Ano, I fell asleep waiting for you. Are you hungry?" Kakashi nodded his head but had a strange look in his mismatched eyes - both of which were currently uncovered for some reason. Denying the pain in her heart, she sat up and stretched before walking into the kitchen. Her "husband" was inexplicably silent, but she continued on, fearing that this was the last time that she could spend this at least somewhat intimate time with him. Private time is a better description. "What would you like to eat?" He only shrugged his shoulders slightly as he continued to stare at her. "Ano, is ramen okay?" She turned away from the silver-haired man. "I mean, it's not as good as Ichirakus by a long shot, but hopefully you'll like the eggplant at least? Or I can whip up anything else you want," she continued before realizing that he'd walked up to her.
Kakashi grabbed her hands and pulled her back over to the couch, and right next to him. He put one hand on her waist and pulled her onto his lap, kissing both of her hands - one after another - as she looked at him with surprised wide blue eyes. "Naru-chan, I'm about the last person you should be with." Naruto looked down and bit her lip. Finally realizing that she had only put on a rather revealing camisole, she tried to pull away from him, but he didn't let her go. "Being with me is going to be a task in and of itself, Hime! If you mean what you said earlier, there's a lot you need… No, a lot we need to figure out."
Naruto looked up at him, shocked at what he was saying. We can actually be together? You don't want to find someone better? Her eyes watered, but she refused to let the tears fall.
"Maa, I don't even… Well, I don't remember that much about my clan and all - and that can be a big deal. Plus, there's being forced to deal with me, and believe me: you won't like me much of the time." Kakashi looked away from her. Naruto didn't understand at all. Looking into her big questioning eyes, he wasn't quite sure what to say. He felt his face heating up, and a coiling in his gut.
Naruto reconsidered everything that had happened today. "Ano, are you - I mean it's okay, totally, if you're not! But, Kakashi - were you... jealous tonight?" Naruto felt completely stupid for asking such a question of the powerful, world-famous Copy Nin, but eventually, the man looked back at her and nodded his head ever-so-slightly. She broke into a soft smile. "I guess we'll just have to figure things out, ne?"
Kakashi nodded his head and finally looked into her beautiful eyes. Settling upon the decision he'd already made, he pulled down his mask and kissed her tenderly. He felt her hands on his cheeks before her arms wrapped around him in response, so he pulled her closer.
"F-father is not happy that I am studying genjutsu, as well as disapproving of studying anything other than our clan's techniques," Hinata added, as she slumped further.
"Hn. My father would have been the same," Sasuke concurred. What an interesting night it had turned out to be. He'd have to think about it more in the morning, as right now, his thoughts were floundering a bit. Screw Danzo. And damn that Uzumaki…
"Ano, Uchiha-san," Hinata began, looking toward the "last Uchiha" and feeling terribly guilty, even in her drunken state. Should I even admit it? What the heck… "Uchiha-san, I have to apologize!" Sasuke turned his head slightly toward her a little more, and she guessed that she had his attention. Hinata tried to ignore that he took the very last swig from the liquor bottle she'd bought. It was something from Iwa, and the bartender had told her (in her henged form earlier,) that it was "a winner," whatever that meant. "Gomen! Gomennasai! I - I had… wished for some of my clan to disappear before - ano, before what happened to your great clan!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. How often had he, himself, felt overwhelmed by his oh-so-prestigious clan? How often had he seen Aniki - er, That Man, looking defeated and on the brink of despair? "I don't know if that damn Naruto is telling the truth or not," he slurred, only to hear what some would call his "drinking buddy" increased sniffling tears.
"Naruto-kun - I mean, ano, Naruto-chan saved me, you know." Hinata paused, remembering their past interactions "Twice! She was there with your brother - gomennasai! Ano, she was there with I- Itachi-san and saved me from those Kumo kidnappers. Gomen, Uchiha-san, but I owe them my life"
"Hn."
"And, and…"
"Hyuuga." Hinata stopped her reminiscing as Sasuke scolded her. "It's all too obvious how you feel, but Uzumaki is the LAST person that would be an appropriate clan Matriarch - particularly for one of the great clans." Hinata started sniffing again. So annoying. "She is brash, loud-mouthed, and her language is ridden with profanities." Most of the time… Honestly, Sasuke would totally blow the blonde off if it weren't for her relationship with his… That Man, plus all the work that complete ass Danzo was putting into helping him rebuild his clan in the strongest way possible. Why is it that she of all females has the supposedly strongest genetics, chakra, and "life force?"
Kami-sama: he'd rather marry the despicable Hyuuga sitting next to him or even some of his fangirls instead of Uzumaki Naruto!
"Not all the time! Eeep!" Hinata began poking her fings together, as the Uchiha scowled at her. She decided to scowl right back, as best she could, anyway. "Uzumaki Naruto also defended me from bullies." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Your cousin was there, too, I believe. His was, sort of a… rather unique Uchiha? Curly-haired…" She paused, but then her tiny smile dropped. "And then, shortly after, Naruto-chan was hurt and lost her memories."
Sasuke was regarding her rather severely now as if she was lying. "Father said!"
Sasuke should've hit or at least radiated Killer Intent at her for mentioning both his brother and annoying cousin, but he couldn't find the will to do so, especially considering she had implied or backed up his teammate's claim of a head injury. "Hai, but doesn't matter. Look at you, Hyuuga-san: getting beat up for gods-only-knows what your father is thinking. Not to mention what your supposed illustrious cousin inflicts upon you!" He received two tenketsu blocks for that and looked at the Hyuuga whose veins were bulging around her eyes. It hurt, but at least this meant Hyuuga was sobering up!
"S- s- screw you, Uchiha-san!" Hinata's entire face turned red. "Neji-nii-san is only trying to help me!" Hinata replied heatedly in her unfortunately high voice. "I - I - I don't want to see my little sister, Hanabi, have to head the clan as it is now!" She began crying in earnest.
Sasuke had had enough. Pulling the wimpy Hyuuga heiress up, he looked around the corner and sunshinned her away. She vomited at the end of her first accompanied sunshin and he pushed her body down and away from him. A promise was a promise, though, and he'd get her home, even though Hinata was a no-good Hyuuga.
Just before he fell asleep in his bed, Sasuke once again wondered if what Naruto said and wrote was true. Could Aniki have been manipulated, and was his family's slaughter somehow a result of something more complicated? No, that just… couldn't be possible!
In his dreams that night, Sasuke saw his brother's tears as he looked down on him that night - and for some reason, there was a guy in an orange mask well behind his weeping brother.
