AN: For the purpose of this chapter: "English is in italics"
Chapter 40: Three Sheets to the Wind
This chapter was Beta-ed by: Wistfuldaydream, who has been everlastingly patient with me and nothing but supportive with my crazy ideas.
"We're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell."
It was starting to make him twitch. Not that he was a patient creature by nature to begin with, but the ticking had gone from being readily ignored, to a rhythmic background noise and had now settled into his brain as a constant jarring nuisance.
Tick
Tick
Tick
He counted every third tick as having a slightly different sound from the first two. An uncomfortable, slightly louder turn of the gears that clicked into place with a sound that was too damn final but somehow managed to start over again and just keep ticking.
He fidgeted in his seat, waiting, and snuck a quick glance to his right at the sound of a page turning followed by Kakashi's high pitched giggle. On his left, Sakura sighed.
The hallway in front of Tsunade's office was dead quiet, except of course, for the incessant ticking.
"I hate that clock." Sakura voiced his thoughts with a heated glare at the inanimate object hanging on the wall across from them. It read 7:56am; Naruto and Sakura had now been here for over an hour, and Kakashi almost fifteen minutes.
"Hmm." Their teacher added to the stilted conversation distractedly with another turn of the page.
Tick
Tick
Ti-
Its internal gears made a hearty attempt to turn once more, but found itself unable to with Sakura's well cared for kunai now embedded firmly in its face. He hadn't even seen her move.
The ensuing silence was complete and heavy; it made the pulse in his ears seems loud.
"What's taking so long." Naruto couldn't help but whine, and the tone came out more obnoxious than he had meant, his efforts rewarded with a heated look from his pink haired teammate. The door to the Hokage's office swung open with a bang, slamming into the wall and interrupting whatever snappy thing he was sure Sakura was about to lash him with.
Tsunade stood in the doorway, hands on her hips looking both hungover and pissed off. That was pretty normal.
"Get in here." She snapped at them, and Naruto didn't need to be told twice- this time. He was up and bouncing from his seat, eager to get this impromptu meeting over as soon as possible and go have lunch at his favorite ramen stand.
Sakura and Kakashi followed at a more sedate pace, because unlike Naruto the other two members of Team Seven could sense bad news like it was wearing the aforementioned blonds searingly bright orange jacket.
"Right." Tsunade huffed aggravatedly as she leaned against the front of her desk with her arms folded.
Kakashi and Sakura exchanged a quick glance at the lack of formality. Their Hokage was usually pretty big on throwing her weight around- especially if Naruto was in the room. As if she was trying to make up for his glaring lack of respect.
"I have an updated report on Sasuke."
And of course Naruto had to interrupt. "Where is he? Are we sending a team?" Blue eyes bright but serious, his tone not quite begging but close. Tsunade hadn't approved any retrieval teams in months. No point in bringing him back if he's just going to leave again, she had reasoned much to Naruto's dismay. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved, Tsunade had very unpleasant first hand experience with that particular life lesson.
The Godaime scowled fiercely at the young blond. "Shut up and let me finish." Which was punctuated by Sakura's fist coming down on his head.
"Now is not the time Naruto." The pinkette scolded him, and he had the manners to at least look slightly abashed.
Kakashi shifted from one foot to the other, but didn't say anything. His little orange book was now missing from his hands as he slouched forward, hands in his pockets and attention anywhere but on the occupants in the room. For anyone who knew where to look, it was clear that the last Hatake had taken an interest in the Hokage's news.
It was silent again for a beat, the tension in everyone's body language rising.
Sasuke wasn't exactly a comfortable subject.
"Reports of the Uchiha coincides with our most recent report on the Akatsuki brat." Here she paused, waiting to see if she'd be interrupted again but Naruto only stood straighter with lips firmly pressed together.
"We don't know much right now," She continued. "Most of what we've gleaned is from the burning wreckage of one of Orochimaru's underground bases."
Someone's breath hitched.
"Evidence supports that she was being held there, most likely against her will. It's also clear that she left quite a mess on her way out. The Uchiha disappeared with her."
"What?" Naruto spoke quietly, and was promptly ignored.
"It is unknown at this time if they are still together, or if the girl has returned to the Akatsuki. It's being treated as a possibility that Sasuke may have joined their ranks. There are several teams on recon now- but only one thing is clear at this time."
Sakura chewed her bottom lip, her hand somehow finding its way into Naruto's, fingers threading for together comfort. He squeezed gently, and she returned the gesture. Tsunade pretended not to notice.
"Sasuke is no longer with Orochimaru."
There was another beat of silence before:
"Why doesn't he come home?" Sakura's voice was smaller than she would have liked and Kakashi gave her a disappointed look.
It was quick; a flash of an expression, but she knew her sensei well enough to know what his disappointment looked like. She'd seen it more than a few times as a genin. It was the subtle shadow from down turned lips and the crinkle at the corner of his visible eye that said: You're smarter than this, Sakura.
The slight twist in her guts in response wasn't unfamiliar either. It seemed it didn't matter how many promotions she garnered, or how much she grew into an adult; the disappointment of authority figures always hit her the hardest.
Naruto's fingers slipped from hers and he used the freed appendage to comb through wild blond locks.
"He's probably still on about the whole revenge thing. If Nanami was there, chances are his brother might have shown up." He said with a surprising amount of insight.
Tsunade nodded, "It's a possibility." Her words were halting at the end, and Sakura narrowed her eyes contemplatively. She could tell her shishou was withholding something.
Probably something important.
She said nothing though. Sakura was a trained shinobi, bound to her village to serve and she knew a classified secret when the space it should have been in was left empty.
"For now," The Hokage said while rubbing her temples. The shadow her hand cast against her features made the dark circles under her eyes all the more obvious. "The search for the Uchiha is being reinstated. However, it is information gathering only, no retrieval until we know more. I'm not going to waste manpower on that idiot until we know it's worth the risk to bring him in."
"When do we leave." Naruto spoke up.
"You aren't." She quipped, and continued before Naruto could start with his outbursts. "Hatake put together a four man cell and and see if you can track down Orochimaru's whereabouts. Do not engage. Confirm the Uchiha isn't with him."
Kakashi nodded, keeping his continued silence.
"An intel team will be sent after Sasuke, and I'm sorry Naruto but you aren't exactly… subtle. Join Hatake's team if he'll let you but for now that's it. You're dismissed."
Tsunade moved around the back of her desk to rummage for some liquor while Naruto rounded on his old sensei who already had hands up in the universal 'I surrender' gesture.
"Aniki," He seemed to hesitate, like the word tasted foul in his mouth and he started over. "Itachi," calling him by his name didn't seem to stop the imminent break down the elder Uchiha could see crumbling behind his eyes.
"Please don't do this." Sasuke seemed just as surprised by his words as Itachi felt, and the younger boy pressed on before he could think better of it. "I want to forgive you, I want to so badly." The words were quiet, softly spoken and heavy with regret.
Itachi regretted too, he crumbled inside right along with his little brother because out of everything he felt he deserved, it certainly wasn't forgiveness. How could he ever ask such a thing from Sasuke when he couldn't even forgive himself? The idea that Sasuke even held that kind of sympathy towards him was so preposterous and outside the realm of what he had hoped for and all he had worked towards that he wasn't sure how to respond. It was an unsettling feeling, the knowledge that he, for once, was at a loss.
Itachi needed to put a stop to this quickly, he needed to break his brother's resolve.
He needed to ruin him all over again.
The self loathing that curled in his gut was not unfamiliar, and he welcomed it because his own emotional responses were at least normal enough.
Unlike Sasuke's.
"Let me come with you." Sasuke pleaded, the expression on his face was one that he had only ever seen from Nanami. Open, accepting, hopeful.
Itachi closed his eyes as he exhaled slowly, the wet rattle of his lungs only adding to his horrible determination.
Gods, he hated himself.
When he opened them again, just as slowly, Sasuke saw only hatred, and disgust reflected in their depths.
"Brother plea-"
Itachi sat up quickly, bedsheets pooling around his middle. Kisame sat up at the same moment; kunai in hand and eyes scanning the room in response to his teammate's sudden movements.
When he found nothing but Itachi's sweaty, silently heaving form he made a small noise of irritation and lay back down without a word.
Itachi looked down at his side to find Nanami was gone and the space where she had been before he'd fallen asleep was cold.
It was the middle of the night, but Itachi wasn't surprised. She hadn't been sleeping well before their retrieval mission. He wasn't at all surprised that nothing had changed. If anything, his own experience with battle trauma speaking, her insomnia was probably worse now.
It also didn't escape his notice that she had managed to crawl out of the room without waking him.
He was either losing his touch or Nanami was growing.
He liked to think it was the latter. He leaned back into his pillow, and tried to think about anything but his brother and the conversation they had had.
It was the only battle Itachi was used to losing.
"Can't sleep?" A voice sing-songed right into her ear and Nanami made a half-hearted attempt to swat at Swirly Face from where she lay on the couch.
The masked man plunked himself down unceremoniously on the space that was left on the edge of the cushion. Nanami was a small girl and she had managed to press herself pretty securely into the crevice where the back met the bottom cushions.
She gave him a flat look from beneath her forearm.
"I have just the thing!" He said excitedly, leaping up as if he hadn't just sat down. He ran off, deft feet barely touching the floor, shot around the corner and up the stairs. She was sure he was probably waking up more than one person with all his banging around, and the flicker of irritated chakra signatures confirmed it.
She sat up slowly with a sigh and gazed absently out of the window for a moment. The sun was rising; the sky painted with pale pink and red hues.
Her early risers would be up soon, but Nanami didn't feel much like getting up herself. Her ordeal with Orochimaru, and the aftermath of her meddling with Sasuke's mind weighed heavily on her. All the stress she had so efficiently managed to box away during their escape was now finding the time to make its way to the forefront. She hadn't been sleeping well since Sasori… now she just laid there, compromising with herself that if she couldn't sleep she should at least be laying down.
It didn't seem to make her feel any less exhausted though.
It was dark downstairs, only the dim light of predawn coming through the window. Her night adjusted eyes could clearly make out the shapes of furniture and doorways, but it was a strange thing to see it so devoid of life. Usually Echo-sama and Hummingbird would be up, sitting at the table and speaking in low voices about things they'd rather she not hear, things she really had no interest in hearing anyways. But this night had been different, the two had been absent from the common living space for the entirety of the night. Nanami had been alone with her thoughts until Swirly Face had shown up.
She wasn't sure if she was annoyed or grateful by his sudden appearance. She decided on the latter, because it was the more pleasant emotion of the two.
There was a loud pop, sudden enough to startle her into jerking around to look at the source only to find Swirly Face holding a mug of something. She frowned, brows knitting.
It probably wasn't tea, and if it was tea it must have been cold because it lacked the curl of stream. Was Tobi trying to feed her stale tea?
That was… kind of gross.
"Uhm?" She said intelligently as he skipped the couple of steps required to bring himself well within her personal space. That particular gambit in annoying her had lost its effect a while ago when she'd gotten used to it. Not that she had really needed to, Nanami had a strange sort of affinity for her Red Clouds and if any of them desired contact with her she wouldn't complain- but that might just be the part of her that was touch starved talking.
He pressed the mug into her hands, and Nanami found herself staring down into its shadowed insides.
The liquid was clear, and it sloshed around in a circle, following the circumference of its container as it exchanged hands.
Tobi was watching her expectantly, and she felt the corner of her lips twitch in wry humor under his regard. He seemed a bit intense, over one cup of… whatever this was.
She took a discreet sniff, only to find that the smell reminded her of something. It was a feeling that she understood meant that it was familiar to her- but not from this life. She took a sip, and immediately her face contorted like she'd taken a bite of a lemon. Swirly Face giggled loudly and hopped from one foot to the other like an excited toddler.
The liquid burned pleasantly; it ignited feelings and sensations that were familiar but not. She was sure she had had this drink before, but she didn't know what it was called in this life.
She dimly recalled faces, being surrounded by people carrying red cups, laughing and cheering as they drank amber colored liquid together and loudly counted down from three in a single conglomeration of voices that was mostly a lot of slurring and incoherent yelling.
Nanami blinked away the vague images.
And then downed the rest of the mug before pushing it back into the startled Swirly Face's gloved hands. He apparently hadn't been expecting her to actually finish drinking it.
Nanami coughed. "It's like drinking fire." She told him and he nodded vigorously, his short black hair swaying with the movement. She noticed that he was clutching the mug a little too tightly. Her brows furrowed again as the liquid settled heavily in her belly... her skin felt kind of hot.
"It wasn't poisoned was it?" She ran a hand through her hair before tugging gently on a braid that held firm behind her ear.
Swirly Face tilted his head like a confused dog, his mask looking down at the mug in his hands before looking back up at her.
"Nope!" She could hear the pleased grin in his voice, the excitement the single word was drenched in and her frown deepened. Anything that got Tobi excited was probably bad news. Why had she thought it would be a good idea to drink it?
Oh, right. The weird nostalgia.
Hidan was not an early riser. In fact, he would even say he appreciated his sleep almost as much as he appreciated a good sacrifice. He liked the kind that pleaded a bit, struggled a bit more. But they all bled the same in the end. He felt his lips curl into a pleased, but cruel grin as he blinked open bleary eyes.
He wondered then what had woken him up to begin with, because if his body clock was anything to go by (and it usually really wasn't) It felt very, very early.
A loud crash followed by something shattering sounded from beyond his door and he found himself sitting up before he could even register what was making the ruckus to begin with.
Ah, that sounded like Kakuzu yelling.
He closed his eyes again with a bleary yawn, and lazily burrowed back into his pillow.
And then bolted upright again at the realization that Kakuzu was yelling.
Oh shit.
Two minutes later found Hidan hopping down the stairs on one leg while trying to jam the other into his pants. He managed to get them on as he hit the bottom landing, only to stop dead.
The shattered remains of what was once probably a coffee mug lay scattered in front of the stairs; the only reason he could tell was because the handle was left in a recognizable piece.
Itachi was sitting on the couch next to Nanami, who was babbling like a brook too quickly for him to catch the words. The interesting thing though was the way the Uchiha's sharingan spun in its frantic swirl as he followed the movements of her lips. Odd.
Deidara hung over the back of the recliner with a wide grin and a low, constant chuckle.
In front of Deidara, like some kind of play being put on Kakuzu was attempting to dismember Tobi; who thought it would probably be better for his health if he kept dodging.
It was the most intelligent choice Hidan had ever seen Tobi make.
"What the fuck?" He announced himself politely. It was better to announce oneself than to sneak up on a room full of shinobi after all. Hidan had some fucking manners at least.
Itachi graced him with a quick glance, Nanami didn't even seem to notice as she was apparently too engrossed in marveling over the fishnet that Itachi was wearing. The man was very patiently letting her twist his arms this way and that while she plucked and tugged at the steel wire hidden inside cloth.
Deidara turned, his grin never faltering for a moment. "Welcome to the party, un." He laughed and Hidan sauntered his way into the room to crumple himself onto the floor in a heap at Nanami's feet.
Her eyes alighted on his form, and she smiled like the sun.
Hidan blinked, surprised. Had she ever smiled like that before? He didn't think so…
Really though, a better question was: had anyone ever smiled like that while he was anywhere near the vicinity at all?
He didn't think so.
"Hidan!" She called cheerfully, even though she was sitting right next to him. "I remembered it's called a Solo cup! They are the red ones that everyone drinks out of at parties." She made a strange gesture, looking down at her own hands as if she was holding something only she could see.
Hidan blinked again. "What?"
"She is speaking a foreign language." Itachi supplied to his dumbfounded look. Well, that explained the doujutsu if the Uchiha was trying to memorize the language.
"English." Kakuzu growled out and Itachi nodded as if that made perfect sense. A crumpled, Tobi shaped heap on the floor made a pathetic moaning sound, twitching in an attempt to sit up or stand but failing miserably.
"What's wrong with her?" Hidan asked and then faltered at the smell of alcohol on her breath as she tackled him flat onto the floor. He let her, because he was a bit confused and hadn't seen her bare her teeth in aggression yet.
Not that he'd be opposed to a fight if she wanted one.
"She's drunk, un." Deidara laughed and whether it was at Nanami's predicament or Hidan's as the young girl started running tiny fingers through his silver hair Hidan wasn't sure.
Kisame came in from the kitchen, carrying a glass of water that looked particularly delicate in his grip. He set it down on the end table, silver eyes watching the young wildling as she accosted Hidan.
Nanami looked up at him with wide eyes and gasped. "I think I ate a shark once." She admitted in a regretful tone, not that the man had any idea what she was talking about.
Her bottom lip wobbled a bit and Hidan froze in his attempts to remove her from his hair.
"It was really delicious." She sobbed, still staring at the now thoroughly unnerved Kisame.
"I think it's probably time to go lay down." Itachi said into the ensuing silence, which was quickly broken by Deidara's wild laughter.
"You sound like her father." He joked, and then sputtered out a weird sound when Itachi's red swirling eyes caught his.
"Probably a good idea not to talk about family." Kisame braved nonchalantly to Deidara who looked two seconds from having a violent outburst. Deidara really didn't like Itachi, especially when the elder man was pinning him in place with his doujutsu.
"I had a family once."
Itachi's attention snapped back to the little girl so fast that the other occupants in the room couldn't help but wonder what she had said- and whether or not Itachi had managed to figure out what she was saying to begin with.
"My brother looked kind of like Deidara... I think. It's hard to remember though." She continued to babble along, her serene smile back on her lips as if it had never left. Deidara turned to look at her at the sound of his name.
"What the fuck is she going on about?" Hidan asked as he finally managed to pry her off of him. She relented to the Jashinist reluctantly, sitting herself down on the floor next to him. Nanami looked up at Itachi who was the only person in the room who seemed to follow anything she had to say.
Itachi didn't answer Hidan for a long moment, before finally providing a stilted answer.
"Her family."
Kisame blinked, his eyes sweeping across the room for a moment as he seemingly catalogued its occupants. "Us?" He asked, curious now as to what she had to say.
"No." Itachi shot him down.
It was another beat before the occupants all seemed to come to the same conclusion.
What other family did she have?
Tsunade sighed, and rubbed at her temples with her pen-free hand. Said pen was busy tapping an impatient rhythm against her desk.
The whole situation was a mess, and not for the first time since she had taken over the position of Hokage did she wish that it was someone else's mess to deal with.
A sharp knock rapped at her door. "Come in." She prompted, ready to get this over with. Or, in the very least, get the ball rolling so it could be over with sooner rather than later.
Sarutobi Asuma entered, followed by his no-longer genin team. The blond girl had a harsh scowl on her face as she snatch a bag of chips from the young Akimichi who scowled right back at her in return. The young Nara had the same casual lazy slouch his sensei did, but his dark eyes were sharp and aware as he watch her tap her pen against her desk.
"Hokage-sama." Asuma greeted her. She could smell the cigaret smoke on him from where she sat, and it was with a great amount of difficulty that she managed not to wrinkle her nose.
It only soured her mood further though.
"Team Ten." She snapped, and all eyes were on her in an instant, all bickering and lazy body language forgotten.
They were the most cohesive team of all the rookies, and the fact that they specialized in information gathering only made her feel more sure of sending them on this task.
"Congratulations," She continued with no small amount of sarcasm. Damn, she really needed a drink. The shinobi before her only stiffed further.
"Tsunade-sama?" Asuma questioned with trepidation.
"If I'm not mistaken," She said, catching the young Nara's eyes, "This will be your team's first A-rank mission."
Nanami tilted dangerously as Itachi set her down on his bed. Her arm came up on reflex to steady herself against the wall and she shook her head back and forth with the quiet ring of the little bell on her braid.
When she looked back up at him, Itachi didn't miss the way her pupils were blown wide. She blinked as if that alone could clear her mind. She made a small, distressed sort of sound in the back of her throat and Deidara took a few swift steps into the room past Itachi to sit on his bed beside her. He was slightly relieved that the younger blond man had taken the position although he would never say as much aloud. This sort of thing was far out of his comfort zone- not to say that it was within any of the Akatsuki's repertoire of skills; but the younger man was by far better at dealing with a soft Nanami than himself.
She made an aborted gesture to reach for the blond that neither of the men missed. Itachi felt a small amount of relief at the gesture because it was so like her. Nanami, the little girl who had never acted like a little girl. Clearly craving comfort and attention as any child would but with a mind sharp enough to know that seeking it from them would be folly.
Deidara placed a hesitant, awkward hand on top of her head to stroke down the length of her hair and she blinked again, lips parting to let out an unsteady breath.
"So." Hidan prompted as he too came in, sitting down on Kisame's bed with folded arms.
Itachi came to the understanding that it was about to become crowded in his room when Kakuzu came in next, leaning against the wall with folded arms and a blank look on his face; as if he couldn't care less what was going on. The fact that he had followed them up alone didn't lend a lot of credence to that though.
Nanami mumbled something, and her body tilted into Deidara. He stiffed at the contact on reflex before forcing himself to relax.
It was only Nanami after all.
"Un." He grunted in agreement with the prompt.
"Once," Nanami said, and then she shook her head again as if trying to get a grip on herself. It seemed she was unsuccessful and Itachi wasn't surprised. She had consumed quite a lot of alcohol for someone of her stature.
"Before I was Nanami, I was someone else."
Itachi's breath hitched, his sharingan swirling faster in an attempt to keep up with the language that seemed to come to her easier in her state of inebriation.
"Why the fuck does she keep speaking that-" Hidan made an agitated gesture, probably reaching for the word he couldn't remember. Kakuzu did not make a habit of repeating himself however, and wasn't nice enough to remind him that the word he was looking for was English.
Itachi was too stunned by Nanami's words to even register than man had spoken, and Deidara didn't miss the widening of the Uchiha's eyes. He looked back and forth between the doujutsu user and the little girl as if trying to will the foreign words into something understandable with effort alone.
"I was swimming in the ocean, I'd done it so many times before I'm not sure why it was any different that time." She continued in a rush a mixed look of panic and relief crossing her features.
"What the fuck is she saying." Hidan griped and was promptly ignored as all eyes were focused on Nanami as she spoke; everyone with different reasons.
"I think I wanted to die." She admitted in a whisper, her dark eyes meeting Itachi's. Her pupils contracted to pin pricks. "And then I was here," She made a sweeping gesture across the room, but Itachi got the notion that she didn't mean with the Akatsuki specifically.
"And I was a little girl again, it took me a while to figure it out…" She trailed off, looking up to meet Kisame's eyes as the large man chose that moment to step into the room.
Something clicked into place for Itachi, memories and questions that had long ago been set aside but not forgotten arranging themselves into the correct order. Before him sat a little girl, who was in fact, not a little girl at all but seemed confused enough to be unsure at the difference. Her strange fixation on his partner, a man she insisted felt like the ocean.
The place she had died.
Itachi's thoughts churned, conclusions after conclusion clicking into place with solid snaps as his understanding of Nanami coalesced into something absolutely impossible but at least it finally made sense.
"I think I'm drunk." She said, looking dazed. She looked up at Deidara in confusion, and then over at Kakuzu against the wall.
"Why's everyone in here?" She slurred.
"Hah!" Hidan crowed, gained her attention. He pointed an accusing finger at her from his place on Kisame's bed. "Speak Japanese for fucks sake no one can understand you!" He barked at her.
Nanami's brows furrowed, and she brought a little hand up to rub at her forehead.
Deidara patted her head again and she looked up into his blue eyes. Turning seemed to upset her balance; she tilted precariously with the movement.
"Well?" Kakuzu spoke impatiently for the first time, acid green and red eyes glaring at Itachi.
Itachi returned the eye contact, unintimidated by the man. There was a drawn out pause as everyone waited for his answer and Nanami seemed to fight to stay awake.
"Some things are better left alone." He finally murmured.
"Bullshit" Hidan barked petulantly. Kakuzu searched his eyes for a moment as the swirling red of the sharingan ebbed away leaving only back in its wake.
His mouth set in a grim line of displeased understanding, Kakuzu nodded curtly in acceptance and left the room with harsh steps and crossed arms.
Kakuzu, out of all of them, seemed to be the one most interested in doing what was best for Nanami. Itachi readily acknowledged this fact in the man's behavior, although he didn't have a clue why.
Perhaps the man had grown attached, but that was a hard idea for Itachi to grasp. He let go of the thought a moment later. What or how the other man felt was none of his business.
Deidara gave Nanami a gently push into the mattress, and she went without complaint as her eyes slipped shut.
"So what that's it? What a fucking waste of time." Hidan stood from the bed, roughly pushing his way past the silent Kisame as he exited the room.
Tobi uncrossed his arms and leaned away from the wall. A frown tugged at his scarred lips. Well, that hadn't been as informative as he had originally hoped, but perhaps he could find a way to wrangle the information from Itachi.
He almost scoffed at the thought; yea, that probably wasn't going to happen. Not yet anyways.
AN: There is some new FanArt for this fic on my author page if anyone is interested in checking that out. I'm so happy that my story has inspired some really amazing drawings, really I'm beyond flattered at this point.
As always I'm all ears to any prompts or suggestions y'all might have for the filler/character developement parts. I'd love to hear about the scenarios you'd like to see.
So on that last bit there with the Konoha-nin, I was originally going to go with S-rank, but after looking up what really qualifies for each classification on the NarutoWiki, I realized how sensationalized S-rank is by fanfiction. A-Ranks can be just as difficult as S, but the difference is usually in the pay, and the political atmosphere involved in the mission itself. So I decided to stay true to cannon on that point instead of over blowing it.
I tried to go with something a little lighter this chapter since the last few felt somewhat heavy to me. Don't worry, it won't be too long before things pick back up in the main story line again. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!