(Arts) Payback
(Arts) Return, parts 1 and 2
(Arts) Dealing with it 1
DOS chapter 99, and in the evening (Arts) Dealing with it 2
Sasuke leaves the DOS picture to do Kakashi's training
(Arts) Pack and Hive
DOS chapters 100-106
(Arts) Long time no see (this chapter)
DOS chapters 107-108

"WE got down to the business of working out when we could, actually, get down to business" Dos chapter 109

(Arts)Hard Topics; Part One
(Arts) Getting Settled 1
(Arts) Hard Topics; Parts Two and Three

"So between all the things demanding my time, I was almost surprised when New Year's snuck up on me. Konoha had a massive New Year's Eve Festival every year and it pretty much lasted from the afternoon games to the ringing of the bells at midnight to the taiko drums at dawn. Given that I was working the evening shift, I figured I would miss most of it. It was disappointing, but not overtly heartbreaking." Dos Chapter 109
(Arts) Happy New Years
(Arts) Back in Action
(Arts) Here There be Monsters
Donahermurphy's snippet

Everything in Italics is directly pulled from DOS chapter 109, which belongs to Silver Queen, not me.


"They didn't need to do that," Sasuke muttered to me quietly, after a few false starts.

"It's not about need," I said, glancing back at mum and dad walking arm in arm. They were taking their time. "Come on. I'll race you!" - DOS Chapter 109

"Where to?" Sasuke asked, temporarily broken out of his thoughts as Shikako pulled him along with a smile on her face.

"The Crane," She answered. "Aoba invited me to a thing with the rest of the Special Jounin, so I figure we can drop by and get that out of the way. Then we can have the rest of the celebration with the rest of our friends. You know where that is?" She asked.

Sasuke nodded, The Crane was a small, open air bar more similar to a food stand like Ichiraku's than a traditional bar. He'd met his squad captain there several times over the past weeks. "Yeah. Hey-!" He yelled as she took off like one of the fireworks he could hear over the lake. He raced after her, half feeling like he was flying as he took to the roof tops. He could see Shikako flitting along the streets below like a dragonfly as he overtook her in the final hundred meter stretch to the stall and, having beat her there, hid around the corner of a building on their side of the street.

With his chakra suppressed as far down as he could get it, combined with the riot of lights and sound, Shikako never saw it coming as she barreled out of the alley and he caught her by surprise as he pulsed his chakra signal loudly to avoid the result of the last time he startled her.

Her face was a picture in shock. "I beat you," Sasuke said smugly as he hugged her, pleased at his success in paying her back for the mischief she caught him in at the end of their mission to Wave Country.

"Yeah yeah, you're a regular little 'yellow flash.' No need to rub it in." She said, patting him on the arm.

He released her and they walked across the street to the collection of tables situated in a small not-alley that was beside a food stall and separated from the street with a banner like Ichiraku's that had a crane on it.

Shikako waved slightly as they approached and took seats, Shikako between Aoba and himself, while he sat reluctantly by Anko, who immediately pulled him into something resembling a headlock and he was forced to turn his head to the side to avoid being crushed.

"Hey squirt! You miss your big sister?" She said excitedly.

"Like a disease, and we're not related." He responded vehemently.

"Silly cat, anyone who was screwed over by psycho-bastard is my little brother! We're one big dysfunctional family!" she said, pulling him in tighter.

"Orochimaru is not my father." Sasuke choked out.

Genma took out his senbon and tapped Anko on the shoulder. "Sweetheart, let him go, he's turning blue. You don't want to piss off Kakashi, and Shikako over there has a nasty talent with explosives, or so they say."

Anko took note of Sasuke's distinctly oxygen-needy coloration and let him go, patting him on the back. "Sorry! Got carried away there!" She apologized with a slightly embarrassed expression.

Shikako frowned and passed him a glass of water, which he drank greedily. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Just give me a minute." He coughed.

Shikako narrowed her eyes at Anko. "You sure, Sasuke?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." He assured her.

Conversation shifted to Anko trying for full Jounin and that Hayate was late picking up Yugao.

"They'll be here." Aoba affirmed, "Yugao just got back from a non-ANBU solo mission to Rivers yesterday, and they're probably just making up time."

Sasuke nearly choked on his daidai when Hayate spoke up as he and Yugao walked up, arms linked behind Aoba's seat. "We're here, we were, and what we do in our bed is none of your business, Aoba." Hayate paused to cough.

Aoba grinned and held up his hands in defence. "Hey, I'm just making an excuse for you. I'm on your side here."

Yugao rolled her eyes and placed the last chair between Anko and Sasuke. Hayate sat and that's when the Great Discussion started.

"So, Yugao tells me that you commissioned some swords. Tell me everything." He asked as Yugao sat in his lap.

"The smith is Miyairi Shohei, they are a katana-wakizashi pair and they're copies of Mom's swords." Sasuke began. " The overall length of the wakizashi is sixty-seven centimeters with a twenty centimeter handle and a forty-five centimeter blade. The overall length of the katana is ninety-four centimeters with a 26 centimeter handle and a sixty-eight-point-five centimeter blade." He explained to the sword coinessuers. "The handles are a new full tang design instead of the traditional two peg construction with two red maple handle scales and three rivets. The edges are saber grinds."

Hayate frowned. "The katana seems a little big for you."

"I'll grow into it, until then I'll be using the mass-production, or the wakizashi." Sasuke justified.

"I'm not planning to use both at the same time anyway."

"Steel?" He coughed.

"Not at all traditional, it's why it's taking so long. He tried it out on one sword, and found that the results were way better than starting with iron sand and now he's backed up with orders right up to the Daimyo's kids. From what he's telling me, he's taking broken parts of cranes and construction equipment or regular tools and making them into swords."

Yugao frowned. "That's ridiculous. The blade would be way too hard and brittle, where is he getting the soft iron core to absorb the shock?"

"He's not. He's ditching the traditional approach altogether and tempering it so that the blade is more flexible, and that it how it absorbs the shock. It gives a few problems with edge alignment, but it's easy to get use to." Sasuke admitted. "It's new technology, and I think that they'll replace our katanas in ANBU, eventually. They are cheaper, because we can pay for the material by giving him our broken equipment. Mine is being made out of some of the weaponry that got left by Suna during the invasion. He bought it all. They are more durable. They hold an edge better, too."

Yugao raised an eyebrow. "I might have to borrow the katana when you do get it." She said. "It sounds like a perfect wedding present." She nudged Hayate.

"I heard." Hayate confirmed with a smile, tapping her upper arm. "Why saber grind? A convex grind is more durable, and it's not like you can't get a convex just as sharp as a saber."

"Yeah, but then the edge will be thicker and it won't as easy to produce deeper cuts." Sasuke debated.

"So which grind do kunai use?" Shikako asked, having finished her conversation with Ibiki.

"Flat," Sasuke answered. "If the blade has a triangular cross-section, It's a flat grind edge. But it produces a bad spine on a sword. Hollow grinds produce the sharpest, but they're fragile and prone to chipping."

"Besides," Hayate said grumpily. "Why would you know anything about swords? Your's is the Raijin no ken, you don't need to worry about metallurgy and edge grinds."

"You're just jealous it isn't yours." Sasuke pointed out, rolling his eyes.

"Guilty as charged."

"Shikako!" Ino called merrily, waving across the street. Sakura was with her, looking apologetic. "There you are!"

I clinked glasses with Sasuke and ducked out of the food stall. He nodded to me, but kept on talking with Hayate and his purple haired girlfriend about swords. There were opinions being had. Mine apparently didn't count. Well, the joke was on them because my sword went 'zshoom'.

"Not going to go with her?" Yugao asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "I'll wait a little while before meeting up with her again. I'd rather not have to deal with Haruno again unless I have no other choice."

"Wouldn't have thought you'd be scared of a civilian girl." Hayate poked.

Sasuke leveled a glare that could melt steel. "By the barest of technicalities, she's not. And you'd be wary too if the most persistent of your fangirls suddenly made an appearance after spending the last seven months learning in a hospital, the last four of which was spent learning part time under Tsunade. And considering how much time my team seems to require the skill of high level medics, I have a right to be worried."

"And the other girl?"

"Ino? She's okay. She was almost as irritating as Sakura in the Academy, but then we went through enough high stress missions our first and second chunin exams, the invasion. I realized that she wasn't as idiotic and ditzy as she first appears, and she's been broken of whatever illusions she had about me. We'll never be that close of friends, but she's not that bad to work with as teammates." Catching a glance of Team eight out of the corner of his eye, he made his leave and headed over.

"Sasuke!" Kiba greeted. "Welcome to the year of the dog!"

"Hn. Kiba, Shino, Hinata. Akamaru." He greeted in return. "Where are you headed?"

"The lake." Shino answered.

"We're going to watch the fire dancing!" A little girl in sunshine yellow exclaimed from her place on Shino's back.

"Ah, yes. You have not met my sister, have you, Sasuke?" Shino asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "Not officially, though I think I saw her when I had to talk to Kiba once."

Shino looked over his shoulder. "Chiyako, Sasuke."

"Hi!" Chiyako announced happily, letting go of Shino's neck with one arm so she coud wave at him.

"It's good to meet you." Sasuke returned politely.

"So where's Shikako?" Kiba asked. "I would have thought you'd be with her."

"With Ino and Haruno."

"I-Is that Shikamaru and Tenten?" Hinata asked hesitantly as Chiyako ran off toward Shikako, who was with the other two girls about a hundred meters away, turning on her byakugan and then very quickly turning it off with a blush.

Kiba looked over carefully. "Wow, yeah, it's them. And I think they're sucking face too."

Shino frowned thoughtfully. "I must admit, I did not see that coming. Why? Because I did not know that they knew each other that well." He paused. "I wonder if her team knows?"

Kiba froze. "Shino Aburame." He said, turning to look him in the eyes with an expression of horror and awe. "That is the most evil thing I have ever heard of bar Orochimaru." Kiba drug Shino up by the hand. "You are fucking brilliant!" Kiba exclaimed as he drug a furiously protesting Shino off in search of Rock Lee and Gai.

"Oh this cannot be good." Sasuke muttered as he left in search of a street vendor that sold good luck charms. He was going to be prepared this year.

"Happy New Years." Sasuke said as he sat down beside Shikako.

"Hey, where have you been? You win that argument?" Shikako asked, passing him a bottle of sake.

"It was a draw and Team eight." He answered, taking a sip and passing it back along with an omamori.

Shikako accepted it awkwardly. "Thanks." She said, weighing it in her hand. "You didn't have to."

Sasuke shrugged and held up his own. "Believe me, I did. I figured we'd be better prepared this year."

Shikako let out a short laugh at that. "Yeah," She giggled, "I suppose we should."


Omake 2

"Shikako!" Sasuke called as he furiously searched his house. "Have you seen my Chakra Saber?"

"What!?"

"Have you seen, my chakra saber?!" He asked again.

"I think I put it away. Why do you need it?" Shikako asked, stumbling out of the bathroom looking sick and holding her back and very round stomach.

"Because I need it!" Sasuke yelled from across the house. "Our village is in danger!"

"How warm my bed is is in danger!"

"And I am deeply sorry about that! But Kumo is doing stupid shit at the border. This is for the greater good!" He argued.

Shikako stormed down the hall. "Chiyako is good enough to take care of that! And I am the greatest good you are ever going to get!"


AN: Well, there it is. I hope you all enjoy it! Yeah, as for the second Omake, I couldn't get that out of my head. And if you don't know what that is ripped off of, I deeply pity you.