Alright, this one's a bit late, but here we are.
Nothing at all to say. So without further ado, let's get into it.
Chapter 6: Reassurances and Beginnings
"I've got him, you guys get the door."
Tazuna held out an old, rusted key to him, which Sasuke took and twisted into the lock. Hearing a faint 'click', he twisted the know and opened the door. The bridge-builder let him hold Kakashi's left side once more, walking into the house first. Team 7 followed behind him a second later, and Sasuke got his first real look at the man's home.
The place was… perhaps quaint was the nicest word for it.
Tazuna's home was easily larger than Sasuke's own apartment, though that wasn't exactly saying much. It was two stories, though that certainly didn't make it ornate. The wood was coming apart in multiple places, whether from ware or termites he couldn't be sure, and a nail or two stuck out from what looked to be recent attempts to patch some things up. There was a small shelf to his left, and Sasuke briefly examined the picture frame that lay atop of it. In it were two people he didn't know, and Tazuna himself.
Though judging from the hand coming from outside the ripped photo, there had used to be a fourth person in it as well. He wondered what the story was there.
On his right, there was a dining room, though calling it that was a bit unfair. It was completely barren except for a table and 4 chairs. Straight ahead was a stairway that likely led to the second story, and on his left was a mostly empty room, though a few futon's were haphazardly scattered about it.
"Lay him down in here." Tazuna spoke up, gesturing to one of the mats.
Sasuke and Naruto nodded, carrying their Sensei between them. They had left Sakura on guard duty, which was a risk, since she was the worst of them with traditional offensive Justus, but her sense for Chakra was better than theirs as well. She would have been able to tell someone was coming for them faster than either of the other members of Team 7 could.
Luckily for all of them, no one had.
They laid Kakashi down onto the bedded floor, being careful not to shake him too much. They weren't exactly sure what was wrong, the man had collapsed before he could say anything about it.
Sasuke had an idea, though.
It wasn't unheard of, back in the days of the warring states period, his father had once told him, for enemy ninja to try and steal the Sharingan, and implant them into their own eyes. It was very rarely successful, since the Uchiha were the second fiercest clan of the era, but a few had, apparently, managed it. According to his father, a non-Uchiha using the Sharingan would lead to heavy exhaustion, horrible migraines, and even fainting spells.
He had questions to ask his teacher when the man woke up, about how he'd gotten that eye, and gotten so proficient at using it.
Still, those could wait for now.
"You guys can… make yourselves at home." Tazuna gestured depressingly at the room, which Sasuke felt just about summarized it's state. "It's not much, I know, but-"
"It's more than enough." Sakura spoke up, bowing lightly to the man, before setting her stuff down and sitting on one of the small futons.
Their client didn't seem to know how to take the compliment, as shallow as they all knew it was, staring owlishly for a moment, before he made his way out into the hallway, and up the central stairs.
"That was nice of you." Sasuke looked back towards where Sakura was stationed, leaning back against the wall with her eyes closed.
"I didn't really know what else to say."
He made a small noise of acknowledgment, before turning to their last team-member.
"Naruto, how are you-"
The boy was fast asleep, laying on his face, with his behind arched comically into the air.
Sasuke sighed but couldn't help the smile that bloomed on his face.
"We should probably follow his example. I wish we could both just sleep, but…" He looked out of the small window, eyeing for anyone that may be trying to ambush them. "We just don't know if someone will attack. And with Kakashi Sensei down, it's especially dangerous."
Sakura nodded towards him.
"I'll take first watch, then. I didn't do any of the fighting today, the least I can do is watch your backs while you sleep." She smiled to show she was just kidding, but Sasuke could see some of the lingering pain behind her eyes.
She didn't like sitting on the sidelines.
"Thanks then, I'll leave it to you." He walked over to the only unclaimed futon on the ground and laid down upon it. It was nothing at all compared to his bed back home, but it was a bit better than lying on the cold floor, so he wouldn't complain.
He hadn't just accepted because he felt bad for her, but also because he was truly exhausted. He and Naruto had first fought off those twin ninja with the chain, then walked a few hours to get to the land of waves, fought against Zabuza, and then carried their unconscious teacher through the backstreets.
Still though, he did want to talk with Sakura, learn how she felt about all this stuff. She was one of his friends, and someone he treasured deeply. Seeing her upset wasn't something he cared much for at all.
As sleep took him, the only things he saw were the blazing red eyes of the Sharingan.
His brothers' eyes.
/-/
Sasuke woke up far quicker than he really wanted to, having slept a measly 4 hours, but he'd have to make do.
Kakashi was awake.
"I'm really sorry about all that, you three." He rubbed the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. "I caused you an awful lot of trouble."
It was a bit awkward for him to hear their teacher apologize, and he squirmed in place.
"Hey, you saved us, so we saved you, right?" Naruto was the first to speak up, smiling brightly as he sat up from out of his bedding. "Seems fair enough to me."
Both he and Sakura nodded at that, turning to face their sensei with smiles adorning their faces.
"Heh, you three… Well, alright. I assume you'll be wanting an explanation for all that?"
"Yep."
"Yeah."
"On the double."
Their teacher laughed; his exposed right eye crinkling as he shook with mirth.
Sasuke was pretty sure he already knew, but it would probably be a better idea to have Kakashi confirm it, which would also mean that he didn't have to speak for a long time. Talking to others for a while was fine, but he'd be lying if he said he enjoyed prolonged periods of interaction.
And so Kakashi gave them exactly the explanation he'd been expecting, that he had received a Sharingan in the past, and that using it exhausted him afterwards. Sasuke had initially tried to ask where he'd gotten it from, but the reaction from the man told him that he'd best not tread any further. It wasn't hostile, but more evasive. It didn't seem, to him at least, that Kakashi had killed anyone to get the Sharingan. He was fairly sure no Hokage would have let him get away with that. It seemed more like guilt that kept him from telling them.
So, he'd held off, and when the man neared the end of his story, the whole group had just about managed to shake off the lingering feelings of exhaustion. Though none more than Naruto, who was back to his usual, boisterous self.
"But man, Kakashi Sensei, you had us worried! We thought you'd been poisoned or something, I mean, you collapsed out of nowhere!" The boy was laughing, but Sasuke could tell that he was just trying to dispel the last dregs of worried energy that still hung around him. It had been a bit disturbing, to see the man almost die twice in one day.
Sasuke felt a bit guilty, he'd held off on sharing his hypothesis about Kakashi's fainting spell, instead leaving the group to stew in uncertainty. He'd have to apologize later, even if he had wanted to hold on to his idea on the off chance he was wrong.
It would have been bad to tell them everything was fine on a theory, only for Kakashi to end up dying from poison.
They talked about this and that, trying to cheer themselves up a bit after their many battles, and subsequent lack of sleep, before they were interrupted by a small, black-haired child.
"Grandpa!" The boy rushed in and hugged Tazuna, who seemed delighted to see him.
"Ah, Inari! I was looking for you earlier, where have you been?"
The boy doesn't say anything, instead pushing his head further into his grandfather's embrace, though the old man doesn't seem to mind, instead relishing in it, laughing boisterously. The young child, Inari, apparently, looked up at them, his eyes darkening.
"Grandpa, who are these guys?"
"Oh, these are the ninja who brought your grandpa some safe, Inari!"
The child stepped away from his grandfather, eyes hard.
"They're all going to die."
At that, Naruto stood up, apparently so stunned he couldn't think to say anything. Sasuke himself felt a bit surprised, even if it was muted. He was able to think back to the photo in the hallway, and the events in his mind started to form a pretty clear picture.
"What? Inari, you shouldn't-"
"What the hell are you talking about, you little brat!" Naruto was in front of the boy now, arms crossed defiantly in front of him. "You see this!? You're looking at certified grade A Ninja right there!"
"You think you can beat Gato!? Hah! Yeah right! No one can, you're all going to die!"
Inari practically flew out of the room, pouting with tears running down his face. The three remaining members of Team 7 had stayed quiet, but Naruto was up on his feet, practically seething.
"I'm sorry about him…" A woman walking into the room spoke up, looking downcast. "He's… thing's have been hard for him lately."
The four of them stood silently, not quite sure what to say to that, deciding to simply let the woman continue.
"Ah, my apologies," She held a hand over her chest, bowing slightly. "My name is Tsunami, thank you for taking care of my father."
Sasuke nodded, along with Sakura, and even Naruto seemed to preen a little at the praise, though it didn't last for long, and the boy was back to silently brooding a second later.
"You see…"
/-/
A while later, and one depressing backstory richer, Sasuke stalked up the stares of Tsunami's house. He had, contrary to what he'd told Naruto, come for a reason.
The upper floor was no grander than the lower, but it clearly saw less traffic. There were two bedrooms, one of which was locked up tight. It was that which he'd come for.
He walked over to it and gave it a light knock.
"Hello, Inari? I'm one of the ninjas-"
"Go away."
Yeah, he'd expected that.
"I'd just like to talk to you, I heard about what happened with your father, and-"
"Go Away!"
Forceful, and to the point. The boy just wanted him gone. He just wanted to sit up here and stew and die. Sasuke understood, of course.
This had been him, once upon a time.
So instead of walking away, like he was fairly sure most other people would have, he brought out one of Sakura's hairpins, and brought it to the lock. Picking a lock wasn't an incredibly useful skill, especially in a society where it was often far easier to destroy a locked door than open one, but Sasuke hadn't picked it up for any practical use in the field.
No, instead, he'd picked it up because, as it turned out, you didn't get to be the friend of one of Konoha's most famous pranksters without learning a few tricks.
Honestly, at first Sasuke had thought his own involvement in Naruto's life would result in the boy losing his desire to play pranks, but just like almost all of the other things he'd thought about Naruto, he'd been proven wrong. Instead of a reforming the student, Naruto had instead managed to drag him into all of his pranks. Honestly, his parents would've been furious with him.
He still remembered trying to talk the prankster out of graffitiing the Hokage Monument for a solid 5 or so days, only for the boy to not only convince him to go along with it, but to actively help. As it turned out, he had no actual backbone when it came to standing up to Naruto.
Especially since, most of the time, he didn't want to anyways. Despite what he may have said about him, and the pranks they got up to, he couldn't deny he laughed a hell of a lot more when they were hanging out. Hell, he instigated their pranks on occasion.
He smiled just thinking about it, before focusing back in on the task at hand.
With a soft click, the lock came undone.
"W-what are you doing here!?"
Inari was sat on the bed, his hands trying to cover his tear-ridden eyes from view, sniffling quietly. Seeing it, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity, but also a flash of something else…
Anger.
He didn't let it show, though, because that wouldn't have been fair. It was like remembering old memories about yourself before drifting off to sleep and cringing about how foolish you once were. He felt that same way now. He had wallowed in his misery for 3 months, not doing anything other than walk to and from his apartment and the academy.
But Inari wouldn't have any context for what he'd be saying. Sasuke had been given 3 years to truly get past his grief, and even then, he sometimes didn't feel like he was. The boy in front of him had lost his father only a few weeks ago, the wound was still fresh.
But still, someone needed to help him stand up. It had been Naruto to snap him out of it, but he could still remember the way he'd felt back then. He hadn't wanted help, or at least, he didn't think he'd wanted it. It was only after he was given that help that he realized that he'd needed it, and desperately.
This time, Sasuke was determined to be that helping hand.
"I'm sorry about breaking in, but I felt like we needed to talk."
He spoke calmly, assuredly. He needed to have this conversation, for Inari of course, but also for himself. He felt if he confronted this boy, he'd also be confronting himself at the same time. This might finally let him find the closure he'd been searching for these past years.
"Get Out!"
But boy, was he making this hard.
"I wanted to talk to you about what happened with your father, I know it-"
"Yeah! I heard! Now get out!"
Reeeeeally hard.
Swallowing his annoyance, Sasuke walked to the edge of Inari's bed, despite his continued protest, and sat down upon it, remaining silent for a few seconds as the boy went back to sobbing into his knees, curling into a small ball. The boy's outrage seemed to have exhausted him, for he stopped crying a minute or two later, and looked up at Sasuke inquisitively.
"What do you want?"
"Your father-"
"Yeah, I know that!" Inari growled, hands clenching into fists, before he looked away, shame filling his face. The kid probably wasn't used to being so quick to anger, and it was getting to his mood as well.
I should know, Sasuke thought, I used to have the same problem.
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, and tried to come up with something to say that wouldn't immediately be met with hostility.
Well, I could always start with my story…
That might work.
He waited a few more minutes, during which Inari started and stopped crying once again, and Sasuke formulated just what he wanted to say. When he was confident enough to speak, he began.
"I won't talk about your father, if you don't want to."
He looked over towards Inari, who didn't look particularly pleased by that, but didn't immediately shout at him either, which was as good a sign he was going to get.
"I'll talk about what happened to me, I suppose. It's why I came up here."
He cleared his throat a bit awkwardly. He knew what he wanted to say once he got into it, but starting was… a little harder.
I guess I'll just come out and say it.
"3 years ago, my entire clan was murdered on the same night."
That got a response from the boy, who looked up at him in shock and, to his eternal annoyance, pity.
Kid, you're like eight years old, you don't get to feel bad for me!
"Wha- who would do that!?"
Sasuke smiled a bit bitterly.
"My brother, actually."
If it was possible for the boy in front of him to get any more shocked, he managed it.
"My brother single-handedly murdered every single member of the Uchiha clan, except for myself." He was getting a bit angry, a bit upset, but he reeled it back in. It wouldn't do for him to yell at Inari when he was supposed to be comforting him, empathizing with him. "He didn't even spare me, just… allowed me to live, because I was so utterly pathetic."
The darkness within him crept up to the surface, and for a brief moment, it was all he knew.
"I was too pathetic to be worth killing."
Naruto and Sakura had, once or twice, asked him why he hated the pity of others so much. It wasn't like it hurt him, after all, it was just people trying to help him get by. It wasn't their fault that they didn't understand, and he never blamed them, either. But the only reason Itachi had chosen to let him live was that he hadn't thought him worth the effort. His own psychotic brother had thought him so feeble, so small and weak, that he'd shown him pity in sparing his life.
He didn't want pity from anyone, never wanted it. It had been pride before, but after Itachi, it always felt like he was being attacked when they gave him their charity. He didn't care if they had good reason to want to help him, didn't care that maybe he really did need the help. He hadn't wanted it, hadn't desired it from anyone. They'd forced it upon him, a free meal here, supplementary lessons there, it was just them trying to make themselves feel better, it didn't-
"Uhm, Mr. Ninja, Sir?"
The darkness shrouding his mind parted, just a little. It was enough, however, for him to look and see the boy in front of him, worry written all over his face.
How long was I spaced out?
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No! Don't be!" Inari practically shouted out, before his gaze fell to the bed again, unable to meet Sasuke's eyes. He looked back up a few seconds later, a complicated mess of emotions. "I… I understand that sometimes you… get caught in your own head."
Sasuke's own eyes widened, albeit briefly.
Well, it's progress.
"But… your own brother." The boy in front of him fiddled with his hands, not quite knowing what to do with them. "I'm sorry, I… I can't imagine what that must have been like."
"You don't have to be sorry, you had nothing to do with it."
Inari nodded, though his energy seemed even more subdued than before. The boy in front of him sat forward a little, sitting cross-legged on his bed now.
"Did my grandfather tell you to talk to me?"
"No, I came because I wanted to."
The boy sighed wearily, with far more pain than any child should have ever had to endure.
He knew the feeling intimately.
"Do you mind if… if I ask you some things?" Inari looked up at him, his eyes free of tears, but still holding a lingering sadness.
Sasuke couldn't help but smile at the effort.
"Sure."
"Does it… do you ever feel any better?" The boy's voice cracked while he spoke, and he looked away from him out of shame.
"You do."
The boy's eyes widened, and he turned to Sasuke with the barest hints of hope in his eyes.
"R-really?"
"Yeah, it's…" It was quite difficult to describe accurately, but he felt he might as well try. "It's not really something you ever fully get over. It's more like… it get's easier and easier, until one day you're just sort of… not fixed, but… better."
Inari leaned in, eyes focused, wanting to hear more of what Sasuke had to say. He couldn't blame the boy, either, he had wanted some miracle cure as well, all those years ago.
"How long does that take? I feel like it's been forever, but," The boy stumbled over his words as tears formed in his eyes, though he sniffled once and dispelled them. "But I don't feel any better at all. It feels like… like it only just happened yesterday."
He remembered walking into the Uchiha district after he'd woken up, walking around streets that used to be so brimming with people that you could barely find anywhere to move. He remembered seeing them barren, with white tape on the ground where bodies had been recovered. He had found his aunt and uncle's shop, had seen the white tape inside it. He'd stared and stared at the white tape, that was used to represent someone's final moments. They'd been embracing when Itachi cut them down, knowing it was the last time they'd ever be able to.
He'd found their son as well, the tape in the closet, along with the bloodstain. His parents had tried to hide him, tried to protect him. And Itachi had just slaughtered him too. The boy had been 7 years old.
He remembered walking into his own home, reliving the events of that night over and over again, wondering if he'd been stronger, if he'd trained harder, if he'd done better, if he'd talked to them more, then just maybe the regret pooling inside of him wouldn't have been so agonizing. Deep down, he knew that no matter what, he would have felt that way. He knew, deep down, that it wasn't his fault.
It didn't make it hurt any less. It felt like empty words he told himself, empty words the therapists threw at him as they tried to get him back on his feet. Even they had never dealt with a case quite so grisly as his.
"I don't know how long it takes to feel better."
"W-what?" Inari looked desolated with the news, but Sasuke continued before he could get another word in.
"I don't remember when it happened. It wasn't something that I noticed or could identify. I don't think I truly realized that I felt better about it until… probably a year or so afterwards."
Inari blanched, looking downtrodden as his eyes fell.
"A whole year?"
"It took me a year to realize, not a year to feel better." Sasuke put a hand on the boy's shoulder, propping him up a little. "But I will let you in on a little secret."
"What kind of secret?"
"It's how you could feel better a lot quicker; would you want that?"
The boy looked up at him with no small amount of wonder, eyes wide.
"Y-yeah! How do I do that?"
Sasuke smiled, looking down at the hopeful boy before him, hoping that he would present some magical cure-all for the problems he faced. It was a cure, surely, but it wasn't going to be easy like he hoped.
"What really helped bring me out of my drought," He gestured back towards the door of the room, and downstairs, where several loud cries could be heard, coming from a certain obnoxiously loud blonde. "Were my friends."
"H-huh?"
"Around the time I met Naruto, I was stewing and festering in my own hate. I had been for months already. I needed something to break me out of it, needed to feel a bit better about who I was and what had happened. And then that idiot came stumbling down a hill, and I helped him up." Sasuke stood up off of the bed, walking around it and over to the door, resting his hand on the doorknob. "We talked about nothing at all, most of the time, but it was something different. It kept me out of my head, kept me focusing on the real world. By the time I thought about it, I realized I wasn't even all that sad anymore. It was just a lingering feeling, like a scab that's still healing a few days after a cut."
Sasuke looked back towards the boy, smiling a bit embarrassedly.
"He saved me, even if I'll probably never admit it to him."
Inari looked dumbfounded, and a little angry, like he'd been tricked into getting one of his grandfather's lectures. He had been, truthfully, even if it wasn't his grandfather who'd come up with it.
That didn't change the truth, though.
"I think your mother and grandfather just want to help you." He smiled knowingly, because he could tell that Inari knew that, deep down. He had never doubted that for a second, he just didn't want to hear it. "And I think you'd feel a lot better if you let them."
And with that, he opened the door, and walked out.
Or he would have, if not for the voice that shouted "Wait!"
Sasuke turned back, a bit confused, and was nearly knocked over as the boy tackled him into a hug, Inari's face buried in his shirt.
"I-I'm sorry for yelling at you… I wasn't… I'm not-"
"I know." He smiled affectionately at the boy, his face lighting up. "I was there once, too."
"Thank you." He mumbled back.
"Will you come have dinner with your family, later? I think they'd love to see you."
The boy didn't say anything, but he did nod into his chest, sniffling once or twice, before he backed away, sitting back down on his bed, and giving Sasuke as bright a smile as he could manage.
"I'll try."
Sasuke smiled back, feeling a small weight leave his shoulders.
"That's all I ask."
He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.
/-/
Sasuke gave a quiet "Thank you" to Tsunami as the woman set a plate in front of him. It was scarce, but it would be enough for a full meal. He'd have never asked for more, either, knowing just how poor this country, and the people who lived in it, truly was.
Naruto and Sakura sat beside him on his left, arguing loudly about something or another, though they clearly weren't actually mad at one another. There was too much passion in their words, and not enough anger. Upon listening in further, Sasuke discovered they were talking about Ramen, of all things, and found himself laughing.
Naruto's favorite hangout spot had become a favorite of all of theirs, and Sasuke could say with fair certainty that Ichiraku was the best Ramen place in Konoha.
Still though, as he listened to their argument, he couldn't help but scoff at how idiotic it was.
"You know that shoyu is better, I don't even know why we're having this discussion!" Sakura shouted out, looking for all the world like she may snap and kill Naruto.
"Miso is way better than the your crappy shoyu! Don't get mad at me just because your taste buds don't work!" The boy fired back, standing up on his chair and pointing at the girl.
Tsunami leaned in next to him, smirking amusedly.
"Are they always like this?"
"Ooooh yeah."
The woman laughed.
"I'm sorry, then." She spoke as she walked away, smiling to show she meant no ill will, and headed back into the kitchen to finish bringing everything out.
Honestly, his friends could be so embarrassing sometimes.
It was obvious that tonkotsu ramen was superior to all other kinds. He wasn't even sure why the idiots bothered arguing about something so basic.
"Ah, you're all here already!" Tazuna stepped in, wobbling a little bit, and Sasuke couldn't help but notice the man's reddened cheeks.
"Father, I told you to lay off drinking while we have guests here!" Tsunami spoke quietly, probably trying to keep them from hearing her, though her annoyance caused her voice to carry a bit further than intended.
"Ah, did you? Oh! That's right, you did!" He brought his daughter into a tight hug, laughing wildly. "I'm sorry, Nami-chan!"
"Don't call me that!" The woman squirmed, looking back at the three of them and going red in the face at seeing they were trying not to laugh. "Get off me!"
With one final push, the drunken man stumbled off of her, stepping to the side and burping as he practically fell into his chair, laughing all the while.
And then, suddenly, all sound in the room simply stopped as Inari walked in.
He nodded embarrassedly to his grandfather and mother, both of whom seemed a bit stunned, and took the seat to Sasuke's left. It had been, up until that point, Kakashi's seat, but it seemed their teacher, who was just then walking back into the room, understood that something important must have been going on, and decided to take the seat at the end of the table, next to Naruto, instead.
Every eye in the room was on Inari, who fidgeted a little under the scrutiny. Then, after taking a small breath, the black-haired boy looked up at all of them.
"Uhm… I'm sorry, you all." The boy bowed his head slightly, and Sasuke didn't think he'd felt this proud since Naruto won his first spar against him. "I-I haven't been… that is… I-"
Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder, smiling and nodding approvingly.
"You don't need to do it all right now, just… baby steps."
Inari looked relieved, nodding back to him, and then looked towards his mother and grandfather.
Tsunami's smile shone, her eyes watering slightly, as she made her way over to her son, embracing him tenderly.
"You have nothing to apologize for."
The boy in her arms hiccupped once, then a second time, then broke down crying, hugging his mother tightly. He pushed his head into the crook of her neck and sobbed.
"Welp," Kakashi spoke up, eyeing the three of them. "I say we get some training in before the sun sets, how about you guys?"
"But Sensei," Naruto spoke up, looking aghast. "we haven't eaten-"
"I think that's an excellent idea, Sensei." Sasuke spoke up, standing and giving Kakashi a thankful nod.
"Yes, that sounds grand." Sakura stood up as well, dragging Naruto by the back of his collar and out of the back door.
Kakashi followed behind them, smiling despite the blonde-boys protests, with Sasuke holding up the rear. He looked back in and saw Tazuna trying to meet his eyes. The man gave him a warm smile, bowing slightly, and mouthed 'thank you.'
Sasuke smiled back, before walking outside.
/-/
It wasn't a particularly cold evening, given that it was middle of the summer, but Sasuke still felt himself shivering.
It probably didn't help that they were covered from head to toe in water. Kakashi's excuse of training had, apparently, been serious. He'd told them that now was as good a time as any to practice tree climbing. Unfortunately for their Sensei, all three of them (well, he and Sakura, Naruto was having some problems) had been able to manage the technique with very little difficulty. They'd asked for something that was an actual challenge.
The man had laughed sadistically, and then told them he had another thing for them to practice. He was going to teach them to water-walk.
In hindsight, they'd probably had that coming.
It had sounded like such a great idea at the time, too. They were surrounded on all sides by water, it made sense to use it.
Kakashi had tried, really, really hard to not laugh at them as they'd all fallen in the chilly water. He had also failed, and quite miserably at that, to the point that Naruto had given up on water-walking and decided to try and beat up their Sensei instead. The man in question had taken the attacks in stride, lecturing him and Sakura while avoiding the blonde's blows. He'd said that it needed to be instinctual, you couldn't will yourself to do it, or that, if you were forcing yourself, then being attacked or having something else take your attention would cause you to sink immediately.
It made sense, even if Sasuke had to admit that begrudgingly, given that he was now soaked, as were the rest of Team 7, walking along with him as they tried to dry themselves off with the far-too-small towels they'd been given.
Naruto sneezed, and the sound echoed in the calm night. In the distance, the trees shook lightly with the wind, creating a relaxing ambience for their journey back towards Tsunami's house.
"Get your gross, sneezy face away from me!"
Well, it would have been relaxing, if not for his teammates, who continued to argue about anything and everything they could possibly come up with.
"Who the hell you callin' sneezy!? You've been sneezing this entire time!" Naruto shot back with an annoyed yell.
As if on cue, Sakura herself sneezed into her elbow, shooting the blonde boy an annoyed look as he faked a laugh at her misfortune.
"G-guys?" Sasuke spoke up, eyes narrowed and teeth chattering as he looked over at the two following him, having fallen behind over the course of their bickering.
"What!?" They both responded, turning to face him at the same time.
"Could we like… not right now?"
Both of them grumbled lightly, looking annoyed with him, but decided to finally be quiet, and allow him to get some time to think.
His talk with Inari had not, unfortunately, been the ultimate answer to all of the doubts he carried. That was a shame, certainly, but nothing he hadn't expected. He'd only managed to get past his darkness thanks to his friends, along with being given a few years to fully heal.
Despite the boy not wanting to hear it, time really was the only cure for what he was going through. It wouldn't erase the pain, not completely, but dull it enough that you could sometimes forget, push it to the back of your mind and move past it. As much as you could, anyways. You'd start to remember the good times more, remember those you lost, and be able to hold them with you as you went forward.
At least, that's probably how it is for most people.
For him, He could never quite forget about them, those piercing red eyes. Eyes that didn't even see him, but past him. Towards what, Sasuke didn't know, but he did know what his brother had told him that night, that he had killed his entire family, every single one of them, just to test his strength.
No matter how long it took, no matter how large the gap between them, and no matter the friendships he'd made along the way, there was one thing that stood in Sasuke's heart to this very day.
He would kill Itachi.
Once upon a time, he might have said 'whatever it takes' as well. He might have been willing to do just as Itachi had done and killed his best friend for his vengeance. But as he turned around and looked back towards the pair quietly arguing behind him, trying to stop him from hearing them, he couldn't quite stop himself from laughing.
I will kill Itachi, Sasuke thought, but I'd never hurt them to do it.
And perhaps, to someone so broken as his brother, such a thing would be considered a weakness, something to be abused. Perhaps one day, Sasuke would pay for the bonds he had obtained.
As he contemplated this and that, he turned to face forward once more, smothering a laugh as Sakura sneezed directly into Naruto's face as they argued, and noticed that they'd arrived back at Tsunami's.
"Guys," Sasuke called out, silencing the two people arguing behind him. "Let's stop arguing for now, you can pick this up tomorrow."
He opened the door with the key they'd been given and stepped inside the small house.
There was no sign of Tazuna, Tsunami, or Inari, and for just a second, Sasuke feared the worst.
He held up a hand behind him, and instantly all chatter from his teammates ceased. The two could go from casual to business in half a second or less, and he loved that about them. Well, Sakura could, Naruto was still bright orange.
His worries were assuaged a few seconds later though, as the trio snuck their way up the stairs, and pushed open the master bedroom door.
It was to find Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari, all cuddled around each other, sleeping soundly.
There were tear tracks going down all three of their faces, evidently a much-needed talk had been had. Even still, Sasuke couldn't help the easy smile that came to his face, as he stepped back out of the room and began to make his way back down the stairs.
"Aw, that's cute!" Naruto said, just a little too loudly, something he tended to do.
"Shh, don't ruin it." Sakura chided a second later.
They made their way down the stairs a little after Sasuke did, and all three got to work with fully drying themselves off. After they'd done that, and changed into their only spare outfits, which looked suspiciously like all their other outfits, they laid down on their futon's, and chatted about the day's events.
It was a fairly meaningless talk, definitely not like the one that he and Inari had had upstairs. Kakashi came back around half an hour later, having said that he'd be gathering information at night, and checking on the bridge they'd be watching over. He gave them an extremely basic rundown, before falling into his own futon. He was asleep within a minute.
"We should probably follow his lead." Sakura spoke up, smiling at each of them as she laid back, pulling a small blanket around her.
He and Naruto followed suit a while later, giggling to themselves over some dumb joke the prankster had made a second before.
It was, perhaps, a weakness. All of this, Sasuke knew, could and most likely would be used against him in the future, when he and Itachi finally clashed. Still though, as he looked at Naruto's face, crinkling in laughter and holding a hand over his mouth to smother the noise…
He knew what he'd have to do.
If Itachi wanted to attack him with the things he cared about the most, then Sasuke knew he'd have to be prepared. He'd need to grow stronger, far stronger than he was right now.
He thought of his mother, as warm and caring as a person could be. He thought of his father, rough and stern, but loving in his own way. He thought of his aunt and uncle, always greeting him on his way to school. He thought of all the others who'd been killed just because his brother had been bored.
He hadn't failed, he knew that. Even if he had been as strong as his father, it wouldn't have mattered, but he did know one thing.
He would never allow that to happen again.
He looked towards Kakashi, their leader and mentor, who laughed and joked with the best of them, even with the pain behind his eyes. He looked towards Sakura, their teams heart and soul, sleeping soundly. He looked towards Naruto, on the cusp of sleep, with a residual smile still present on his face.
These three, well more Sakura and Naruto, but Kakashi to a lesser extent, meant the world to him. So, he knew what he had to do. He knew what he'd dedicate it all to. Why he'd train day in and day out.
For them, so that when he faced Itachi, that man couldn't hurt any of them.
He'd become so much stronger than that man ever would. He'd become more than the rival his brother desired.
His fist clenched below the blanket.
"I'll protect you all." He whispered quietly.
Though apparently not quietly enough, for Naruto rolled over and faced him, looking curiously at him.
"You alright, Sasuke?" The boy's eyes were lidded, and he looked like he was already half asleep.
"Yeah, I'm just… thinking about some stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Personal stuff." The Uchiha spoke, trying to put an end to this before the boy in front of him could dig any deeper.
"Want to tell me about it?"
As per usual, however, Naruto wasn't the greatest at picking up on social cues.
Or, the boy knew just how to read him, as he tended to do.
He's always perceptive when I don't want him to be.
Sasuke smiled at the earnest expression on the boy's face, ready to wake himself up and have a conversation that he probably didn't want to have, all so his friend could feel a little better.
He sighed, knowing that when Naruto was like this, it was often far better to go along with what the boy wanted.
"I was… thinking about my brother."
The boy opposite him didn't go silent as he might once have, he simply nodded and let Sasuke continue. He'd told his friend about that night a year or two back, leaving out some parts here or there that he was either too disturbed to think about or too disgusted to remember.
"He told me that in order to get strong like he had, I'd have to… to kill my closest friend."
That got a reaction from the boy, thought it wasn't the aversion or disgust he'd expected, instead the boy sat up in his futon, now fully engaged in the conversation. Perhaps he understood, without Sasuke having to tell him, that he'd never do such a thing.
"I never would. I'll grow stronger my own way, but…" He was having a hard time finding the words for what he wanted to say, fumbling around a bit. It didn't help that this wasn't a particularly happy topic.
"Wait a second," Naruto gave him a wicked smile, a teasing expression fit on his face. "If you're telling me this, doesn't that mean…"
The boy scooted over to him.
"That I'm your closest friend?"
Color rushed into his cheeks, and he looked away from the boy in front of him, swatting at him with his left hand.
"It does!" Naruto spoke, far too loudly for how late it was.
"Oh, shut up! I don't know why I tell you these things!"
"Do you hear that, everyone!?" Naruto leaned back, nearly shouting now. "Sasuke Uchiha actually likes me!"
"Alright fine then," he jumped over and tackled the boy, wrestling with him on the floor. "I guess I will kill you after all!"
"Psht, you couldn't kill me," The boy grunted out, pinning Sasuke to the floor as they continued to grapple. "Not in a million years! I'm too tough!"
"Yeah!? We'll see about that!"
"Guys, what the hell are you doing?" Sakura spoke tiredly, sitting up out of her futon and yawning, looking towards them annoyedly. "I'm trying to sleep, could you guys not do this right now?"
"Sakura! You won't believe this!" Naruto chattered as Sasuke tried desperately to fuse the boy's face with the ground. "I'm Sasuke's closest friend!"
Sakura looked at them both with a deadpanned expression, seeming far too tired to have to deal with this crap.
"I'm going back to sleep. Wake me up again and I'll kill you both." The pink-haired girl laid back down, though Sasuke couldn't tell if she was actually asleep.
As their wrestling match winded down, with Sasuke winning, of course, the two settled back into their beddings, pulling their blankets around them.
"Hey Sasuke?" Naruto spoke up, looking over at him from his sleeping bag.
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted you to know that you're my closest friend too."
Curse that dumb boy and his dumb face. Curse his own reddening cheeks and curse his sentimental heart.
"And I want you to know, that no matter what happens," The boy gave him that sun-like smile, which seemed to blot out the dark of the world. "I'll trust you with my life."
"So would I." Sakura spoke up quietly, not facing either of them, but having clearly listened to their conversation.
"B-but I might… the darkness inside-"
"Nope, you're my friend." The blonde looked him dead in the eye, as if being his friend was all that mattered in the world.
Somehow, Sasuke thought that, come the very end of the world, Naruto would honor that.
"You're our friend." Sakura chided, looking annoyedly at the blonde-haired boy. "And that means you're stuck with us."
Sasuke couldn't quite hold in his mirth. He chuckled once, twice, and then devolved into a fit of laughter. He rolled on the floor, even as his two friends giggled to themselves as well, all semblance of quietness gone.
After a minute or two of that, he finally tuckered himself out, arms splayed out around him, smiling lightly.
"Thank you, guys."
"Hey, what are friends for, right?" Naruto said, as he rolled back into his futon and shot him a thumbs up. "Alright, I'm tired. Night."
"Oh, so when you want to sleep, the conversation ends, but when it's me, you just keep on going, huh?" Sakura scolded; eyes narrowed as she reprimanded the boy for keeping her awake all this time.
He let them argue themselves asleep, or, more accurately, he let them argue until Kakashi finally decided to stop feigning sleep and reprimanded them, telling them to go to bed. During that time, he couldn't help but smile peacefully. The day's events were finally getting to him, as he yawned into the back of his hand, snuggling up as best he could with his comically small blanket.
He felt just a little warmer than he had yesterday.
Sleep hit him a few minutes later.
He dreamt of kinder days, his mother and father's faces filling his mind.
And for once, no piercing red eyes interrupted.
End Chapter 6
I went through like, 3 or 4 different versions to the ending of this chapter, but ultimately decided that they were far too melodramatic. Sasuke doesn't need to have a life-changing revelation every chapter, sometimes he can just feel nice.
Next chapter will be mostly plot, Haku and Zabuza and all that. This arc won't last too terribly long, I should have it done within 2 or 3 chapters.
Alright, see you guys next week.