Notes: Due to recent episodes of Shippudden, I decided to go ahead and post this, unhappy with both as I am, before I lost the will to do so entirely. I thought it was just Boruto that was wrecking my love of Naruto. But I never counted on Shippudden forcibly reminding me that once upon a time, Orochimaru used to be cool... by insisting on showing me how uncool they've made him right now.
Chapter Summary: Sarada, and her little brother, attempt to adjust to life with Salada and Karin.
Springtime for Sarada
A Naruto Fanfic by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)
Chapter 3: Salada of the Grass, Part 2
Sakura had agreed to name her first son after his paternal uncle, in accordance with Sasuke's wishes. Perhaps it was fate that the boy was already showing signs of surpassing his namesake.
Mere days after his birth, he displayed an eerily accurate ability to sense his family's individual chakra signatures. Sakura was proud, until the boy learned to crawl, and then followed her when she left for work, or tailed Sarada to the academy. They always found him, eventually, as he simply didn't have the stamina to follow them for long, and a baby wandering the streets alone tended to attract attention fast. Sarada volunteered to take him to the academy with her, just so they would always know where he was. And while it shouldn't have worked out so easily, it did: he was content to be near Sarada, and it was ridiculously easy to convince female classmates to watch him while Sarada was training nearby.
He had thankfully grown out of that phase, once he was old enough to realize he was not being abandoned daily. Still, he liked to know where everyone in his family was supposed to be, so that he could find them quickly in case they ended up elsewhere against their will. To date, this had never happened, and he liked to think that was because of him.
The two women stared at each other for several minutes, saying nothing.
Finally, Sakura decided that she had to say it then, or she might never. "I never thanked you for that first day that we met."
Karin's eyebrows rose in question. "What do you mean?"
"When Sasuke told me to kill you, and you saved me. You didn't have to warn me that he was going to kill me."
Karin looked away. "You still would have died. Kakashi saved you, not me. I just gave you a chance, and not much of one."
"It's more than Sasuke did that day." Sakura took a deep breath and slowly released it. "I've always wanted to ask you. Did you do it because you didn't want him to kill me? Or because you couldn't stand to see me take your place at his side?"
"What do you care? We were enemies then."
"We were women who had been betrayed by the same man in the same day. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Karin sneered at her. "Well, if that meant anything to either of us, then why are we standing here now, each of us with a child by the same bastard who tried to kill us? And are you really telling me that you don't care that Sasuke was obviously cheating on you with me just after he got you pregnant?"
Sakura frowned at her. "I was hoping you would tell me that you didn't find out about that until later."
Karin smirked. "Oh, I knew. I just didn't care. He was mine for as long as I had him."
"Just long enough to knock you up and leave."
Karin's smugness vanished. "Look, if you-!"
"Why are we fighting?" Sakura interrupted. "He's the one who did this."
"Actually, he's not. We both chose to stay instead of walking away. And that's after he tried to kill us both."
Sakura sighed. "I don't want to hate you."
Karin glared. "I don't want to like you."
Sakura blinked in shock. "Are you saying that you do like me?"
Karin scowled at her. "Shut up," she grumbled.
Sakura shook her head. "Our girls don't want to lose touch. I don't think they should have to, just because you and I have issues with each other. So, I'm open to... whatever, if you are. For their sake."
"Oh, so now it's my fault if things don't work out between us?" Karin demanded.
Sakura groaned. "If you don't make an effort, and I do? Yes, it is!"
Karin grunted. "Fine! We'll work... something out later!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Sakura decided to make a peace offering. "Naruto was Sasuke's first kiss. Sasuke actually put himself under genjutsu to erase the memory. But he forgot to erase the memories of everyone who saw it first. So we all know, and he doesn't."
Karin stared at her for a long moment. "I think I could learn to like you, Sakura."
Sarada had fallen asleep shortly after her mother left, so Salada decided to leave her alone for a while. Just outside the room, she ran into the Hokage, and they talked. Salada was surprised by how comfortable she was around him, even before she found out he was Sarada's godfather. He was friendly, funny, and easy to talk to. Honestly, she kept forgetting he was the Hokage, which would probably get her into trouble later on.
Salada abruptly became aware of a rapidly approaching chakra signature. As she had inherited much of her mother's sensor abilities, she could tell right away that the person was young and fire-natured. Since the Hokage did not react, she assumed he knew the child, so she didn't react, either.
Although when the boy came hurtling around the corner, flung himself at Salada, and buried his face in her side, she thought perhaps someone should have reacted.
"Nee-chan!" the boy sobbed, clinging to her. "You're okay!"
Salada shot a confused glance at the Hokage, who shrugged, and then hesitantly put her arm around the boy. "Um, I think you're confused." She glanced at the bedroom where Sarada was sleeping, and then back at the boy. "Hey, by any chance, are you Sarada's little brother?"
The boy stopped crying and lifted his head, allowing Salada to see the now obvious family resemblance. "Yeah." After getting a good look at her, he frowned thoughtfully. "You're not nee-chan," the boy said slowly, but he did not release her. "Not exactly, anyway."
"Well, there's a funny story behind that," Salada began, but the Hokage touched her shoulder to stop her.
"Chi-chan, you could tell Sarada was on this floor, and you just assumed there wouldn't be someone else who looked like her around here, right?" the Hokage asked.
The boy nodded, rubbing the tears from his eyes with his forearm.
Naruto pointed at the bedroom. "She's in there, but she's sleeping, so you have to be quiet."
"Okay." The boy gave Salada another long, curious look before letting her go. Then he bowed to Naruto and quickly headed into the bedroom.
"She didn't mention having a cute little brother," Salada grumbled, looking jealous.
Naruto grinned. "I'm sure it would have come up eventually. Probably at dinner."
"And his name's Chi?"
"Nickname," Naruto corrected absently, clearly out of habit. "His proper name is Itachi."
Salada blinked, her face going slightly pale. "Uh... you're joking, right?"
"He was named for his uncle, who you clearly don't know the whole story behind. Maybe if things work out after dinner, Sarada can tell you more, one day."
Dinner was a complicated affair. Not just because of the delicate subject matter being discussed, but because of the exercise in futility that was the seating chart. In her time as a Hokage's wife, Hinata had become something of an expert in knowing exactly where to place guests in order to achieve maximum comfort during tense situations, and even she was stumped. Further proof, she insisted, that trying to clean up Sasuke's brand of mess deserved triple S-rank pay and benefits. He had managed to upset so many people so thoroughly that there was just no way to get them all through a simple dinner, at least not while they were all in the same room.
That, as it turned out, was the key. Karin, now indirectly responsible for injuring the Hokage's goddaughter, even if it was supposedly covered by the usual chunin exam protection laws, understood she was no longer negotiating from a place of power. That was a good way to get her concerns dismissed.
Naruto did not trust himself to be impartial, so he left negotiating for the Uzumaki in Hinata's hands. She had no history or relation to Karin, and would be far less likely to be influenced.
Neither of them wanted Sasuke present, so, wisely, he was not invited. And knowing him better than most, Naruto felt certain that Sasuke would not have shown up even if he had been invited.
The children were another issue. Considering what Salada had already done to Sarada, Hinata did not want her anywhere near the Uzumaki children. Sakura was less paranoid, since Sarada had been healed and seemed mostly fine. Since Naruto had been the one to invite Salada to dinner in the first place, he finally had to suggest the wildly unpopular idea of Sakura, Sarada, Itachi, and Salada eating in a separate room entirely. Karin caved first, admitting that she trusted Sakura to keep an eye on Salada. Sakura eventually gave in, as she hadn't wanted to miss the negotiations, but had to be content with the knowledge that Karin and Salada belonging to an outside clan that Sasuke had no control over was for the best. That, and since her child had been injured on Naruto's watch, he would not allow them to be inconvenienced any further, in theory.
Perhaps sensing how tense the adults were, the children were on their best behavior. Salada in particular was extra polite, something she was clearly not used to being, if Sakura's hunch was right. At least, Sakura could not imagine that it was something Salada had inherited, learned, or even seen from either of her parents. And surely if there was a new, respectable man in Karin's life, she would have bragged about him the first chance she got.
To Sakura's relief, the children mostly watched themselves. Or rather, Sarada and Itachi kept fairly quiet while Salada fired off question after question at Sakura, who did her best to answer them all. Karin had apparently told Salada very little about Sakura, which was simultaneously a relief and a curse, since it meant Sakura was basically interviewing for a position she had no desire to obtain.
About an hour into dinner, Sarada noticed that Itachi was staring at her. This was nothing new: Itachi was a very thoughtful and observant child, and often stared when he was carefully studying something or someone. Still, he had known her for all of his life, so there shouldn't have been anything about her that he hadn't noticed before.
"You're different, nee-chan," Itachi finally said, then went back to picking at his vegetables.
"Different how?" Sarada asked.
"Your chakra. It's different."
This made Sarada pause and frown. If any other child had told her this, she would have ignored it. But Itachi had been especially sensitive to familiar chakra for all of his life. If he said her chakra was different, then it was.
"What's different about it?" Sarada prompted.
Itachi shrugged. "There's more. But only a little more. And it feels different. Not bad. Just different."
"Does this have anything to do with why you thought Salada was me earlier?"
"No. I followed your chakra, and I thought the first person who looked like you, would be you. Once I had a chance to think about it, I could tell the difference. Her chakra is wilder, like flowers in a field. Yours is calmer, like flowers in a vase. But yours is a little wild now, like hers."
Sarada frowned. "You don't seem worried."
Itachi shook his head. "You already have the same blood as her. Your chakra being the same is hardly any different from that, right?"
"Actually, it is. If we had different chakra natures before, then there's no telling what might-"
"So just ask Himawari to look at you," Itachi suggested. "She could see if anything was wrong."
That was only half-true. Between the two of them, certainly it was possible. But while Himawari had the ability to see a problem, she lacked the knowledge Sarada had to correctly identify it as such. Yet she was still the only Byakugan user that Sarada knew who could be convinced to help without asking any questions or telling anyone else what they were doing. Sarada didn't want to alarm her mother unless it was necessary, and especially not if blame would ultimately fall on Salada or Karin. Although it was still very likely that one or both of them was responsible for the change in Sarada's chakra, she was not yet ready to label this a hostile act.
"I'm really, really sorry about this, Hinata," Naruto said for what had to be the forty-fifth time that day, and the sixth time since they'd entered their bedroom that evening.
Hinata smiled, shook her head, and kissed him. "How many times must I say it, Naruto? I don't blame you for any of this."
"Because you blame Sasuke."
"So you were paying attention. Good."
"Hinata, he's my best friend."
She nodded. "Which in no way changes the fact that he caused all of this. I won't deny that he's helped the village. I'm only saying that he causes nearly as many problems as he solves. So if you were at all surprised by today's events, as your wife I would suggest that you retire immediately and let me do all of the thinking for both of us from now on."
Naruto grinned. "Okay, now you're just being mean."
"And yet still nowhere near as troublesome as Sasuke. Which is my point."
"Okay, point officially received. Can we talk about something else, please?"
"Sure. Do you think I was fair to Karin?"
Naruto shrugged. "I guess so. I don't know what she expected, but I doubt she'd get more from anyone than you gave her. She gets to be head of her branch clan, we get to do unannounced inspections for a year to ensure that the Uzumaki name is in no way being damaged. Not that I think she would on purpose, but we can't confirm or deny that she's cut all ties with Orochimaru. And I can't even say with confidence that it would be a bad thing if she was still working with him. So long as you catch him on a good day, he's extremely useful."
"Just like his favorite student," Hinata added in an overly bright tone.
Naruto groaned. "Okay, I walked right into that one."
"Yes, you did. You let me know when you want to retire, darling."
"Not funny, Hinata!"
"I respectfully and lovingly disagree, Hokage-sama. Now, come to bed. For some reason, I am in the mood to ensure that our clan remains larger than Karin's."
"We've already got a head start."
"And I'd like to keep it that way." Hinata paused and gave a hard stare. "Are you really complaining about sleeping with me?"
"...you're right, you should do the thinking from now on," Naruto agreed.
Himawari shook her head and removed her hand from Sarada's bare back. "I'm sorry, but I don't see any differences. Your chakra is the same as the last time I checked it a few days ago."
"Are you sure?" Sarada asked. "My brother was so certain."
With a shrug, Himawari sat down beside her on the bed. "If he said so, then I believe him. He's never wrong when it comes to his family. Maybe he was able to sense something that I just can't see. Or don't know that I'm seeing. I can guess why you asked me instead of my mother, but maybe you should reconsider. This seems important."
"No, it's probably nothing to worry about." Sarada pulled her shirt back on and moved to the door. "Thanks, Himawari. Sorry to bother you."
Himawari waved at her back. "Anytime, Sarada. I don't mind if it's for my brother's team." Once the door clicked shut, she pressed both hands to her belly, lining her fingertips up with certain chakra points. "Time to keep your promise, Kurama. Tell me why you had me lie to Sarada."
"First things first," Kurama replied in a voice that seemed to come from every direction. "What did you actually see?"
"That attack left some iron shavings in Sarada's body, and they're rapidly dissolving. I bet they weren't extracted because no one wanted to mention surgery if it wasn't absolutely necessary, and because the assumption was that Salada and Sarada were closely related enough that Salada's chakra would not prove harmful to Sarada, outside of combat. In a few hours, any traces of Salada's chakra will have been fully absorbed into Sarada's chakra. Now, why did you have me hide that from her?"
"Because she doesn't need to know yet. Never trust an Uchiha with a secret power increase. It was a secret for a reason."
"But we don't know enough about Salada to trust her, do we?"
Kurama chuckled. "Speaking from personal experience, I'd rather take my chances with trusting an Uzumaki any day. Wouldn't you?"
"You have a point. Okay, I won't tell Sarada, for now. Goodnight, Kurama." As the fox's presence faded, Himawari wondered, yet again, exactly how a piece of his consciousness had gotten inside of her. She had a fairly good theory, as she knew where babies came from, but nowhere in any book had she read anything about a tailed beast being partially transmitted that way. And the same also did not appear to be true for her brother, but it was possible that, like her, he would have kept it to himself.
Young Itachi possessed a gift for asking incredibly awkward questions. If not for the fact that this was entirely unintentional, he would have been labeled a true menace.
"Do I have to listen to Karin-san now?" he asked the moment Sakura and Sarada got him home.
"No," Sakura said firmly. At Sarada's questioning look, Sakura decided to explain further. "She's Salada's mother, not yours. I make the rules for you two."
"But if she's nee-san's mother, then-"
"We just established that she is NOT my mother," Sarada interrupted.
"I wasn't talking about you, nee-chan," Itachi pointed out.
"Yes, you were!"
Itachi shook his head. "She's nee-san. You're nee-chan."
"Since when?!" Sarada demanded.
Itachi seemed confused by how upset she was getting. "Since today, when I found out I had another sister and needed to call her something," he pointed out.
"Why does she get to be nee-san, then?"
"Because I love you more. I barely know her."
Sarada's expression softened. "Chi-chan," she murmured fondly, reaching over to rub her brother's head.
Sakura cleared her throat. "As I was saying. You are my kids, so you listen to me. If the day ever comes that I want you listening to anyone else, I'll tell you myself. As far as Karin and Salada go, I still haven't figured that out. But it seems like they want to be allies of the village, so for now, we're friendly. If you want to get to know them, that's fine. If you'd rather keep your distance from them, that's fine, too."
"What are you going to do?" Itachi asked.
"I'm going to bed. And so are you two, since it's late and one of you is on bed rest for at least the next three days, no matter how healed she thinks she is."
Sarada pouted. "Mom, I got impaled. I think we'd know if I wasn't healed. I'd be leaking."
Sakura smirked. "Saying things like that earns you a night of sleeping in my room where I can keep an eye on you. You want to try for two?"
"She gets to sleep with you and I don't?" Itachi whined.
Sakura patted his head. "In this case, it's supposed to be a punishment, Itachi."
"I ran away from Ino-san, remember?" Itachi volunteered. "I need punishment, too!"
"He's not wrong," Sarada agreed with a laugh.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "You can both stop trying to convince me, I didn't say he couldn't. And I'm not going to stand in the way of your supporting each other. I only wish I'd had that as a kid."
"Didn't Ino-san support you back then?" Itachi asked.
"Uh, no," Sakura chuckled. "Certainly not in the way she does now. We grew into being better friends as we matured. Well, as I matured, anyway."
Every morning, before she did anything else, Salada recited the same mantra three times.
"I have been blessed with the body of the greatest Sage. It is my invincible temple, and under my absolute control. No outside force will breach it, unless I allow it. It will never weaken, unless I allow it. It can never be defeated, unless I allow it."
It was the first thing that her mother had ever made her memorize, and Salada had come to believe in it wholeheartedly. She had been sick only once as far as she knew, and even that had been a "superbug" that her mother developed and infected her with, to test her resistance. In sixteen hours, the bug was out of her system. Salada had been lead to believe that the other test subjects had not faired nearly as well. She would have been fine with just being told that. So of course her mother had insisted on Salada actually seeing the corpses.
In any other family, that might have been considered abnormal. But Salada had grown up with bedtime stories such as the following:
"Grandma died because too many people drained too much chakra from her, in order to heal their wounds. I have the same ability, but I am never going to use it on you. If I get too weak, I can't take care of you. If you get too weak, you will die. Your body must always be strong, Salada. Stronger than mine, and stronger than Grandma's."
It had been scary, the first few times. But Salada's body was strong, and it did largely heal itself in rapid fashion, so she had learned never to depend on her mother for healing. She did not actually believe that her mother would allow her to die, if it came down to that, but she understood the lesson all the same.
She would depend on her own strength alone. She would lend her power only to those worthy of it. And she would take her own life before she ended up the way her grandmother had.
"Your mom is totally cheating on this bet," Ino complained. "I mean, the deal was I'd have to watch Chi-chan, not you."
"That sounded suspiciously like an insult," Sarada noted, calmly licking her spoon. "And are you forgetting that you lost him yesterday? Being asked to watch the older child is a serious demotion. You're lucky Mom still trusts you with either of us."
Ino completely ignored her. "I mean, don't get me wrong. If I got to sit in bed and eat ice cream every time I went on a babysitting job, I would have happily been doing D-ranks until-"
"You do remember that I'm the one that's supposed to be bedridden and eating the ice cream, right?" Sarada interrupted.
Ino elbowed her gently. "Shut up, I gave you plenty!"
"But your bowl is bigger."
"I'm doing all the work!"
"You're doing the exact same thing as me: sitting in my bed, eating ice cream that Mom bought for me. The only difference is you have more ice cream."
"Cut your Auntie Ino some slack. You and your brother pretty much watch yourselves. This is boring."
"I will remember this on your next birthday," Sarada promised.
"So," Ino said softly. "What's she like?"
"What's who like?"
"Your evil twin."
Sarada rolled her eyes. "She's far from evil."
"I heard she tried to turn you into a Sarada-on-a-stick."
"That was partially my fault. Besides, the rod was six feet long. Only about five inches actually went in."
Ino pouted. "You're not really giving me much gossip to work with here, kid."
"There really isn't much to tell. She apologized. Even offered to let me impale her back."
"That's... morbidly sweet?"
"She seemed pretty serious. I can't decide if she's been impaled before, or if she just felt really bad."
"So you forgave her?" Ino demanded.
"It was an accident and my fault. I don't deserve to be a chunin if I can be distracted that easily. And honestly, I would have been distracted no matter what, once I found out who she was. Better that I lost to her now, than to someone stronger and more determined to hurt me in the finals."
"You must really like her."
Sarada blinked and glanced at Ino, who was staring at her. "Hey. Stay out of my head."
"I'm not in your head. It's written all over your face."
"I'm allowed to like her. Mom said so. Salada isn't an enemy."
"I have a cousin that's been asking me out since we were kids. He's not an enemy, either, and impaling him is one of the nicer ways I can think of to turn him down."
When Sakura had said she wanted to get along for the sake of their daughters, Karin had only believed her so much. It was just something one woman would say to another woman who had slept with her man, or at least Karin had thought so at the time.
So when Sakura and Itachi showed up to Karin's hotel room early the following morning, fresh off a grocery run and intending to cook breakfast, Karin genuinely had no idea how to react. Thankfully, Salada let them in, and soon the kitchen bore more than enough proof that Sakura was a decent cook. Itachi managed not to burn anything, mostly because he only set the table.
Rather noticeable by her absence was Sarada. Sakura admitted that while she had complete faith in Karin's ability to heal (both Sasuke and Tsunade owed their lives to it, after all), she hadn't wanted to take any risks with Sarada's recovery. But Sakura also made it clear that Sarada was able to have visitors, including family, extended or otherwise. Salada appreciated the hint, but Karin did not react at all. She suspected they were firmly in the "otherwise" category.
Once breakfast was done, Sakura offered to clean up the dishes. Much to her surprise, Karin insisted on helping, and told Salada to entertain Itachi while they worked.
For the first few minutes, the two women said nothing, and merely worked: Sakura washed and rinsed, while Karin dried.
"You didn't have to do this," Karin said abruptly.
"Would you believe me, if I said I did it because I wanted to?" Sakura asked.
"I could believe you did this for Sarada."
"Would that be so bad?"
"No. But I'd prefer that you were honest about it."
"Then, honestly? I like you and Salada a lot more than I like Sasuke right now, and I think all of our lives would be easier if you and I could get along. But I couldn't think of a single thing that I could give you, or that you might want or need from me. Making you breakfast was all Itachi's idea."
"It was a nice gesture," Karin admitted. "Salada really enjoyed it. As for something I want? It would be nice, not to have to stay in a hotel every time we come here."
"You want to stay at our place?" Sakura asked in shock.
"I didn't say that," Karin snapped. "I said I don't want to stay in a hotel. Anything better than that would be appreciated."
"Oh." Sakura thought for a moment. "If you would consider letting Salada stay with us, then I'm sure Naruto would be willing to arrange something for you."
"You're sure of that, are you?" Karin asked suspiciously.
Sakura frowned at her. "We'll play nice if you do."
"I suppose that's true enough. Fine. If Salada agrees to it, then-"
"Do I get my own room, or can I bunk with Sarada?" Salada asked eagerly, pushing her way between the two women.
The day before Naruto was appointed Hokage, Shikamaru tied him to a chair and had a very long talk with him. What the lecture boiled down to was that Naruto, strong as he was, had plenty of weaknesses, and it was Shikamaru's job to identify and deal with them. In the most ideal cases, the weaknesses could simply be eliminated.
The first and largest weaknesses on the list were Sasuke and Sakura. They could not be eliminated, obviously. And dealing with them effectively was just shy of impossible.
Sakura, at least, could be convinced not to exploit her bond with Naruto to excess. And even she had been known to pout or bat her eyes at him for purely selfish reasons. Likewise, Shikamaru had actually witnessed and even allowed some of those moments without complaint, because Sakura knew exactly how to exploit his greatest weakness, which was Temari, and Shikamaru was just whipped enough to proudly admit that.
Sasuke was another matter entirely. It was not so much that he exploited his bond with Naruto, so much as Naruto allowed and encouraged him to. It was true enough that Sasuke worked well alone, and the kinds of things he typically handled were best left off the record. But as this latest mess had proven, leaving Sasuke to his own devices without some sort of supervision was just stupid, especially for a Hokage who had known Sasuke since they were kids, and thus should have known better.
Naruto never went back on his word. He would love Sasuke like a brother until the day one of them died. But when that day came, Naruto intended for his village to still be intact, and not burned to the ground by angry abandoned Uchiha spawn. And fortunately, if Sasuke wasn't going to keep an eye on his brood, then Naruto knew someone that not only would, but already had. Unfortunately, having to depend on that person was a problem in itself...
Despite current popular opinion, Sasuke was no fool. The moment he recognized that Karin and Salada were in the village, he went into survival mode, and before Sakura found out. So by the time she knew, Sasuke was already in stealth mode.
A lesser man would have gone into hiding. Sasuke went into stealth mode.
At the moment, stealth mode called for hiding in some abandoned ANBU barracks.
The problem with being in stealth mode, however, was that it meant that Sasuke had to draw on the very best years of his training. Which meant many of the things he had learned from Orochimaru. Which meant that if anyone could find Sasuke while he was in stealth mode, it would be Orochimaru.
Which sort of explained why Sasuke woke up to find Orochimaru staring down at him. But only sort of.
"What are you doing here?" Sasuke demanded, more annoyed than alarmed.
"I am being smug, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru replied with a grin. "You remember how well I do that. And if you had bothered to apply any of the lessons I gave you on planning ahead, you could be smug right now, too. Instead, you're hiding in here. Which I would applaud, if it weren't from your own wife."
"What are you doing here, inside the village?" Sasuke clarified.
"That is yet another question you would not need to ask if you had paid more attention during my lessons," Orochimaru noted with increasing amusement. "Clearly, I did not do as good a job of training you as I first thought. Kabuto would have had tea for two ready by the time I got here."
Sasuke shook his head. "There is no way that Naruto knows you're here right now."
"Of course he doesn't. If he knew I was here right now, then he would also know that you are here right now. And as he does not strike me as someone that is able to withhold information from your wife, she would also be here right now." Orochimaru shook his head in disgust. "Really, Sasuke-kun, I am begging you to stop and think more than three seconds ahead. It is not as difficult as you make it seem."
"Go be smug somewhere else. I'm not in the mood."
"And what would be the point of my being smug with someone who was in the mood for it? This refusal of yours to think is really starting to concern me."
Sasuke glared at him. "If you do not give me a decent explanation as to why you are here, right now, bothering me, I will devote all of my current stress into killing you again. I have no doubt you'd survive it, but you would still be extremely inconvenienced."
Orochimaru chuckled in far too relaxed a manner, for having just been threatened with death by a former pupil. "While I admit to being mildly entertained by your current drama, my first priority is in waiting for a potential customer to see the error of his ways, and accept my business proposal. I plan to be here at least until that happens. I also want to see how far my Mitsuki advances in the exams. He's doing better than your spawn, at least. The legitimate one, that is."
"Your sense of humor is both noted and not at all appreciated. Do me a favor and leave me alone now."
"If you like," Orochimaru agreed, turning to exit. "But I thought I would do you a better favor and offer you sanctuary once more. I am happy to hide you in one of my many hideouts. That is what they're for. Which you would not need me to remind you of, if you would only-"
"I heard you the first time!" Sasuke snapped.
"If that were true, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru replied mournfully as he vanished from view, "neither of us would be here right now."
Mitsuki lived in a modest apartment in a decent part of the village. Although he was frugal as a rule, the rent was easy enough to manage, and he could splurge every now and then without having reason to worry about funds. His neighbors kept to themselves. It was more or less a perfect home life.
At the same time, Mitsuki understood that nearly everything he had in Konoha was a result of who his parent was, and who the Hokage was. He did not understand their relationship at all, however, and had never actually seen them speak to each other in person. It did not seem like the best of ideas, considering Orochimaru's infamous status nearly everywhere. Mitsuki feared that they might feel obligated to attack each other. But he also knew there was nothing he could do to stop them if they did.
Naturally, when Mitsuki opened his door to find Naruto standing patiently with an awkward smile, he was equal parts surprised and horrified, yet did his best to conceal this.
"Hokage-sama," Mitsuki murmured, bowing his head. "You honor me with-"
"I really need to talk to your, uh, parent, if I could," Naruto interrupted. "It's important. And time-sensitive. Now would be great, actually."
Mitsuki stared at him. "I can deliver a message, if you-"
They both froze, upon noticing a large snake winding its body around Mitsuki's left leg. It looked fairly venomous, to say the least.
"That your summon?" Naruto asked.
"No," Mitsuki said firmly.
"His, then?"
Mitsuki blinked. "I didn't invite either of them in, if that's what you mean."
"I would be shocked if you had. Or if he had waited for you to." He directed his attention to the snake. "Tell Orochimaru I want to talk, and there's a mouse in it for you."
The snake hissed at him, but quickly uncurled from Mitsuki's leg and slithered back into the apartment.
"How did you know that would work?" Mitsuki asked, moving aside to let Naruto in.
"I figured they operate the same way my summons do," Naruto replied. "Feed them and they don't complain as much. I'm just glad that was a relatively small snake. I don't carry spare bodies on me. Well, not the kind they eat."
"You don't need to worry about that, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said as he emerged from Mitsuki's bathroom. "My pets know they aren't allowed to feast inside the village. As we agreed."
"Did we agree? Or did you give in?"
Orochimaru smiled. "Am I correct in assuming you have had a chance to rethink my offer?"
"Yes." Naruto glanced at Mitsuki. "Maybe we shouldn't talk in front of him."
"I'm afraid I must insist. He can keep secrets. Mine, anyway. You were saying?"
Naruto frowned, but knew he had little choice. "I know you've been keeping tabs on Sasuke. What is it going to cost me to have access to those tabs?"
Orochimaru's grin widened. "Finally, a student who actually wants to learn from me. I had almost given up hope."
"MOOOOOOOOOOM!"
Sakura destroyed her bedroom door and much of the hallway in her frenzied response to that cry. It was a horrible way to wake up, with the certainty that one of her children was in mortal danger and needed her.
Worse, that cry had come from both children.
Sakura had never felt more like a bull in a china shop as she crashed through a wall and landed in the kitchen, only to find the last thing she had ever expected to see.
Sarada and Itachi were pressed firmly into a corner, clutching each other in fear. Just a few feet from them were three adult bears.
Sakura's mind momentarily went into question mode. How did three bears get into her kitchen? How did even one bear get into her kitchen? She forced those questions away, and took in the scene again, only to have a very curious detail leap out at her.
All three bears were pink. Like her hair. As in they were the EXACT same shade of pink as her hair. As in these bears basically had her hair for fur.
Shaking her head slightly, Sakura quickly became aware of another fact: the bears weren't acting like bears. Granted, in her life, she had thankfully had precious few encounters with bears. And yet she still knew enough to know that if they found themselves in a kitchen, three bears would never walk in a perfect circle pattern, sniffing the floor occasionally.
Reminding herself that she was indeed a ninja girl in a ninja world, Sakura focused her thoughts and looked at her kids. "Did they talk?" she asked.
Itachi stared at her blankly, obviously lost, but Sarada instantly understood. "No," she replied. "And they didn't respond when we asked them to please go away, either. That's when we yelled for you."
"Did they threaten you? Or at least seem angry?" Sakura pressed.
"No," Itachi admitted, even more confused. "Actually, they seem kinda lost. Like they don't know what a kitchen is, or why they're in one. But, you know, they're bears, so... kinda scary still."
"Did you see where they came from?"
Sarada shook her head. "I got up to get some water, and Chi-chan heard me, so he followed me. We had only been in here for a minute or so when Chi-chan saw the first bear by the couch. It saw us see it, and followed us, and then the other two bears followed it. I think they were already in the house when we got up. But once they got in here, they just started circling like this."
Sakura wasn't sure how to take that. As a rule, a bear could not help but make noise in a house, given their size, curiosity, and unfamiliarity with being in a house. The idea that three bears could be in their house while the family was sound asleep was impossible.
But then, so were pink bears.
Sakura whistled sharply.
The bears ignored her.
Sakura stomped her feet.
The bears ignored her.
Sakura shouted, "Stupid pink bears!"
The bears ignored her.
Sakura hesitated, then moved closer.
The bears ignored her.
Sakura slowly stretched out her hand and got as close as she dared without more information.
All the bears paused, and the closest one sniffed in the direction of her extended hand. After two seconds, all three bears went back to circling.
Puzzled, Sakura stepped back. "They're the weirdest bears I've ever seen, summons or not."
"If they're summons, can you make them leave?" Itachi asked.
Sakura shook her head. "I'm not their summoner. Despite all appearances to the contrary. The only other way I know of is to damage them to the point where they're dismissed. But attacking them isn't the best idea, seeing as how they're currently calm."
"Why are they calm?" Sarada asked. "Shouldn't they be... alert, at least? Since we're right here with them?"
"In theory." Sakura took a piece of candy from the counter, unwrapped it, and rolled it across the floor. The candy rolled right past the lowered nose of a bear, who made no attempt to sniff or go after it, and rolled into Sarada's waiting hand.
"They should have at least smelled that, right?" Sarada asked.
Sakura nodded. "Even a bear who wasn't hungry should have smelled that. But at least they don't seem to want food. Or us."
"But they followed us," Itachi pointed out.
"They're not following you now. Although they did sniff me. Let me try something." Sakura made a Shadow Clone and had it walk past the bears at normal speed.
Again, the bears paused and sniffed at the clone as it passed them, but then went back to circling.
"I'm going to have my clone walk you past one at a time," Sakura said. "Sarada? You'll be okay by yourself?"
"Yeah," Sarada said after a pause. "So long as they keep not caring I'm here."
Itachi took the hand of Sakura's clone, and together they walked past the bears. Again, the bears paused and sniffed them, but otherwise didn't seem to care.
With Itachi safely at her side, Sakura sent the clone back to Sarada without incident. For no reason that she could explain, however, she knew the next attempt would not be so easy.
Sarada and Sakura's clone began their attempt, with the clone between Sarada and the bears. Again, the bears paused and sniffed. The only difference was that they sniffed for a few seconds longer than they had previously. And then the first bear lumbered after Sarada, like a rather oversized dog. The other two began to follow.
"Stop!" Sakura ordered.
Sarada and the clone stopped. It took the bears a second to realize they had, but they stopped as well. They did not begin circling again, however, and instead stayed lined up as they were. Behind Sarada. Who was quickly picking up on the same pattern Sakura was.
"Mom?" Sarada asked, sounding more than a little scared. "I swear I didn't sign a contract without your permission."
Just to be sure, Sakura dispelled her clone.
The bears ignored this.
"Come to me, honey," Sakura said.
Taking a deep breath, Sarada walked to Sakura.
The bears followed, without even sniffing first. Again, when Sarada stopped moving, instead of circling, the bears lined up in front of her.
"What do they want from me?" Sarada asked desperately.
"Try touching one," Sakura suggested.
Sarada looked at her with obvious fear.
"I think it's pretty clear they aren't normal bears, and they aren't going to attack if we don't," Sakura explained.
Sarada hesitantly stretched out her hand. The closest bear dipped its head and licked her fingers. Sarada let out a little shriek and jerked her hand away. The bear raised its head but did otherwise not react to this.
"Don't do that, nee-chan! You hurt her feelings and she was just being friendly!" Itachi complained. Before anyone could think to stop him, he stepped forward and reached up to pet the first bear.
Again, the bear dipped its head and sniffed at his hand, and made no move to prevent it as Itachi began to gently pat its neck.
"How do you know it's a girl?" Sarada demanded.
"Isn't it obvious?" Itachi asked, grinning at Sakura. "They're Mama Bears!"
"Just because they're pink?" Sarada asked.
"I didn't say anything before, because I didn't think it mattered, but check this out!" Itachi again reached out to the first bear and brushed aside the shaggy fur that had so far hidden their eyes. Sakura was more unnerved than anyone to find that exact same shade of green gazing back at her, through what was unmistakably a Rinnegan.
"A green Rinnegan?" she murmured. "Is that even possible?"
"I don't know what that is, but it must be possible for Mama Bears," Itachi insisted.
Sakura gave him an annoyed glance. "Itachi, they are not my bears."
"No, they're nee-chan's bears. But she made them look like you."
"I didn't make them!" Sarada protested. But even she sounded unsure.
"They do look like me," Sakura admitted, now feeling comfortable enough to pet the first bear as well. Again, it did not seem to mind the attention. "That can't be a coincidence."
Sarada frowned. "But I didn't do it! How do you even make bears?!"
"We should call them Sakura Cubs," Itachi decided. "Hey, just like us!"
"If you ever loved me, never name a bear after me," Sakura groaned.
"But it's a tribute! They're warm and nice to touch, and they'd tear anyone apart who messed with us. Just like you!"
"As usual, hard to argue with him," Sarada chuckled, earning a sharp glare from Sakura. "But if they really are my bears, then I get to name them: Blossom Bears."
"Aw, Sakura Cubs is way better!" Itachi complained.
Sakura ignored the minor argument that followed, because she was very much aware of the extremely rare ways in which anyone got the Rinnegan. And given what had just recently happened to Sarada, she didn't think any of that was a coincidence, either.
Darui would have been content to spend the rest of his shinobi career as a member of the Raikage's honor guard. Supposedly, that was what made him an excellent Raikage: he did not seek glory for himself, or desire anything that the village itself was unable to deliver. So long as his village was whole, and everyone else knew that their power was not to be underestimated, Darui was content.
Contentedness was not the same thing as carelessness, however. And Darui had not survived as long as he had by being thoughtless.
He genuinely liked Naruto, both as a person and a shinobi. He was funny, and there was no one more unpredictable or dependable in a fight. And he trusted Naruto, at least to the point where if Naruto gave his word, Darui typically took him at it.
Darui kept his word, as well, and did not give it lightly. So when he swore to his village that the Sharingan would never endanger it again, he had meant it.
Sasuke was reformed, or so Naruto said. But that was one of the few areas where Darui would never trust Naruto's word. They had nearly lost Killer Bee, and the world its whole way of life, because of Sasuke and the Sharingan. Never again.
Darui had sworn that his village had given up on the Byakugan, and they had. But only because they had devoted those former resources toward the Sharingan. Sasuke had made it too easy for them, really. His blood and DNA had been collected: from the site of his battle with Killer Bee, and then again during the war. They had learned enough from Kabuto and his zombie army. And what they didn't know, Orochimaru was willing to provide, for an inflated price. And no price was too much if security was the result.
If Darui needed any further sign that he had made the right call, it was seeing the international incident that Sasuke nearly made of the chunin exams. He laughed with Naruto about it later, but he also left Konoha reassured that his own village wouldn't be caught unprepared again.
Karin had asked the front desk of the hotel she was staying in for a wake-up call. What she got instead was Sakura punching the door off of its hinges.
"The next time you decide to give my daughter a doujutsu, run it by me first so that I have a chance to beat your brains in," Sakura growled, stomping in and hauling Karin up by the collar.
"I only have the one brain and can't spare it," Karin responded calmly.
"Then I swear I will beat it in right now, if you don't stop pretending that's what matters in this conversation."
"It's not as if I could have asked you for permission."
Sakura glared. "It's not as if you should have done it at all!"
"My daughter would prefer that her half-sister grows up with all the protection she may need," Karin replied. "I'm not sorry if you don't feel the same way."
"So you would be fine with it, if I crammed pills down your daughter's throat, in the hopes of creating a second personality?"
"Oh." Karin seemed startled. "Um... no?"
"Are you actually guessing?!" Sakura demanded.
"Well, it doesn't even sound like something you'd do! You caught me off guard!"
"Pink bears in my house caught me off guard, and that's your fault!"
"Wait, what?" Karin asked. "How did we go from force-feeding pills to pink bears?"
"Rinnegan problems," Sakura spat. "Which I didn't have until your daughter poisoned mine with whatever was in her blood. Honestly, only in my worst nightmares did I imagine that all Grass-nin were poisonous, and you seem to be determined to make all my nightmares real. The worst part is it's not something I can heal!"
"The Rinnegan is no more a disease than the Sharingan is," Karin protested.
Sakura gave her a flat stare. "The Sharingan is awakened by an emotional imbalance. That is a disease, even if no one likes to admit it. I dare you to name a single person with a Sharingan you've met that isn't at least a little insane."
"Are you including Sarada in that?"
"She wants to keep the pink bears. What do you think?"
"I think they're adorable!" Salada chirped as she emerged from bedroom, riding on the back of yet another pink bear.
Karin stared. It was obviously her first time having seen a pink bear. "Okay, that is very distracting. Also, it wasn't here a minute ago."
"Tell me about it." Sakura released her, then frowned. "Wait, if one is here, then they have to be summons. Sarada must be doing this subconciously."
"I should hope so. If she was purposely doing this, that is one kid with serious mommy issues."
"Actually, it's daddy issues," Salada disagreed. "If it was me, my bears would look like you, Mom. Of course we're going to imprint on the one parent that's always there for us."
"We're getting off the subject," Sakura said. "How do we dismiss the bears? At least temporarily? Sarada has no memory of signing a contract. Not to mention we have no idea where they'd go when they are dismissed."
Karin shrugged. "In case you haven't noticed, I don't have a Rinnegan, and even if I did, such a rare doujutsu isn't likely to come with instructions."
"Then maybe you can understand why I feel it was incredibly foolish of you to put it in my daughter when you have no clue how it works?!" Sakura asked heatedly.
"I have some clue," Karin snapped. "I'm... just not completely sure how the summons work. Or at least not how these summons work."
"And there's no one we can ask about it, except Sasuke. And I have never seen him use the Animal Path for anything, so there's no guarantee he knows anything."
"And if we're being totally honest, if it comes down to asking him for help, I think I'd rather just be stuck with pink bears for a while," Karin muttered.
Sakura stared at her. "Did you know I was about to say that, or not?"
Karin blinked. "No. But it wouldn't have surprised me at all."
"Pffft! Pink bears!"
"Not now, Kiba!"
Sakura was already regretting her decision to ask Inuzuka Kiba for help. It was not even that he knew much about summons. She just thought that in case the bears suddenly did start acting on their own, a few Inuzuka dogs might be useful in rounding them up, or failing that, tracking them down. Although she did not think it would be hard to spot a pink bear in the village.
In any case, they had gathered the four bears at the Inuzuka compound. The resident dogs were terribly interested, but kept their distance all the same. They did not seem scared, however, so Sakura just assumed they were well-trained and didn't question it too much.
Naruto was busy elsewhere, but sent a Shadow Clone to help out, as he had fought someone with a Rinnegan more than once.
Sarada had tried dismissing the bears on her own with no success. Just to be safe, Sakura had taught her how to summon and dismiss after the fact, complete with a demonstration, but the bears apparently did not work that way, or at least didn't want to leave. More troubling was the fact that they either would not or could not communicate with other summons. Even Sarada could not seem to command them to do anything. However, they did follow her when she was in sight, and at least tried to when she was not. If she got too far away, however, they simply stopped trying. And while the bears did not obey orders, anyone who apparently had Sarada's approval or concern could at least get them to walk short distances. Salada had been able to get her bear to stand up on its hind legs by mimicking the movement herself, but it was the only one who learned this trick.
They had been trying various ideas for nearly an hour when Katsuyu finally confirmed a piece of important information about the bears.
"They don't have minds," she announced. "At least, not in the traditional sense. It's why they don't respond when we talk to them, and probably why they can't be dismissed. I don't think they would know where to go in the first place."
"How could they not know where to go?" Sakura asked. "Where did they come from?"
"I have no idea. I have had dealings with bear summons before, and I can assure you that they were capable of communication, however unfriendly it was at the time. I don't think they came from anywhere. Sarada must have created them subconciously. And because it wasn't done on a concious level, they are incomplete beings. They recognize her as their creator, but they don't even know enough to obey her. I believe the only way to handle them is to have Sarada finish making them. At least to the point where they can follow her orders."
Armed with this new information, Sarada tried to complete the bears, but even that did not seem to have any impact. She simply had no idea how to edit a living creature. And despite their having no minds, she did consider the bears to be alive. It was just her fault that they were essentially brain-dead. An idea which began to bother her more and more after each unsuccessful attempt.
Without warning, Sarada simply burst into tears and threw her arms around one bear's neck. She begged and pleaded with it to go home. She apologized for not finishing it. She promised that she would give it a real purpose next time, so that they would be able to help each other.
The bear was unmoved. Although it did at least lick at Sarada's tears, though that was likely not driven by compassion.
It was then that Sasuke appeared at the edge of the compound, uninvited. He took in the scene in silence for a moment. Finally, he raised his voice. "Sarada. How do we say goodbye?"
Sarada stared at him, then gasped. She turned to the bear, shakily lifted two fingers, and tapped it lightly on the forehead. "Next time," she whispered. "Next time will be better."
The bear blinked. Then it vanished in a cloud of pink smoke.
The other three bears instantly vanished as well.
"That's IT?!" Karin demanded.
"That's it," Sakura confirmed softly, a light blush dusting her cheeks.
Sarada wiped her eyes and turned to thank her father, but he was already gone.
Salada was scowling at the place Sasuke had been in. She had not been impressed, plus she'd secretly been hoping to keep one of the bears.
After all of the excitement died down, Karin agreed to let Salada have a sleepover with Sarada. Sakura was not feeling especially charitable toward Karin, but did not want the girls to suffer. And in case the bears did return, Salada seemed to have the most luck with controlling any of them.
Itachi was very disappointed to learn that he was not allowed to participate in the sleeping portion of the sleepover. Sakura did not really have a firm reason in mind, she just wanted at least one of her kids close at hand. Itachi mistakenly assumed he was being banned because he was a boy, and loudly insisted that he had slept with Sarada plenty of times and could thus be trusted not to do anything perverted to Salada. Sakura patiently explained that this was not the reason, although it was hard to be heard over Salada's laughter.
Being alone gave the girls a chance to talk privately, during which Salada decided to open up a bit.
"So you were supposed to impale me? That was the plan all along?" Sarada asked.
"No!" Salada protested, grabbing her hand. "That was an accident!"
"But you were supposed to get your chakra into me. So how did you plan to do that without impaling me?"
"I'll show you. Without the impaling." Salada clapped her hands together, then slowly drew them apart, revealing a black needle between her palms. "See? It doesn't have to be rods. I can shape them into other things, but anything more complicated than this basic shape requires more effort and focus."
"And why is this the first time I'm seeing the needle?" Sarada demanded.
"Because if you had seen them during our match, you would know to look out for them. The plan was to distract you by throwing the rod, and then to get close and surprise you by scratching you with a needle. That's all I needed to transfer my chakra into you. Though, I guess the rod is a more effective delivery system for people who don't dodge."
Sarada glared at her.
Salada shrugged. "Well, it did work. Pink bears, remember?"
"I remember," Sarada snapped. "I just don't like that you planned this."
"Imagine how badly it could have gone if there was no plan at all."
"You just said it was an accident."
Salada grinned. "Yes, and that was with a plan. Without one, I might have killed you!" The grin melted off her face when she noticed the stunned look on Sarada's face. "Um, that sounded much funnier in my head."
"I really doubt it." Sarada sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Well, I won't thank you. You really screwed up my life here, with your planning and your doujutsu and your pink bears."
"Technically, only the plan was Mom's. And everything else was yours."
"Not my point."
"Well, you just learned how much trouble not being precise can get you into with a Rinnegan. You need the practice. I did, and I don't even have one."
"What about anything you did here was precise? Please tell me, because I'm not seeing any of it."
"Um... I infected the right half-sister with my chakra!"
Sarada snorted. "You do remember that I'm your only half-sister?"
"Well, about that," Salada murmured nervously. "I don't really have any proof just yet, but..."
"There's a Sand genin with the Sharingan."
Darui looked up from the paperwork on his desk and instantly pushed the papers to the side. "Talk to me."
Omoi nodded and took a seat in front of the desk. "I got lost on my way out, and ran into this kid with a hood. Which isn't weird there, but it got jostled when I bumped into him, and I got a good look at his face."
"How do you know he's a genin?"
"Too old for Academy, too young for chunin, and he said, 'Watch it, pops!' before he ran off. Trust me, he's a genin. I bet he was purposely kept out of the chunin exams."
"To avoid exactly the kind of incident that Grass caused by sending their Uchiha offspring," Darui muttered. "Interesting."
"So what do we do, Boss?"
"'We' don't do anything. You keep your mouth shut. I will deal with this."
"Sure, but... what if more pop up?"
"Then you especially keep your mouth shut and especially let me deal with it."
"Boss, I'm starting to think you don't want my help with this."
"Omoi, you did good just to find this out and report back without getting detained. You've done enough. I have a team set aside for just this type of situation. They don't need any help."
Naruto had not enjoyed making a deal with Orochimaru. He rarely did, but not for the most obvious reasons. Orochimaru had repeatedly proven useful, to the point where it was difficult to hold an old grudge against him. After all, Sasuke had come home stronger and in one piece, and if not for Orochimaru, Tsunade would have died in the war.
It was what Orochimaru represented that caused Naruto the most problems. No matter what Orochimaru did now, his reputation always proceeded him, and it was simply impossible to change it, partially because Orochimaru had no desire to change it. No Hokage who wanted to keep their job could be seen openly dealing with such a person.
Still, it was important information. Important enough that dealing with Orochimaru, and all the risks that went along with that, had been worth it. Because even after he was armed with that information, Naruto found it was still possible to blindsided by Sasuke's infidelities. Although, at least with Orochimaru's information in hand, Naruto was not completely in the dark.
So when Kakashi summoned him to an underground bunker years later, Naruto had a rough idea of what he was walking into. He just hadn't realized how bad it would be.
The mistake that Sarutobi and Danzo had made was that they'd allowed their rivalry and bitter feelings to get in the way of their friendship, which had soured their working relationship. But Naruto and Kakashi understood there was no point in such feelings for each other. Naruto needed a person that was well-connected in ANBU to keep an eye on things, and Kakashi, despite his claims of wanting to enjoy his retirement, could still get things done from behind a desk that would have taken considerably longer for anyone else.
Kakashi had also not liked dealing with Orochimaru, for much the same reasons as Naruto. And yet, if the alternative was working against Orochimaru... it was just easier to swallow any distaste and move on.
So it was not too surprising, for Naruto to find Kakashi and Orochimaru discussing something when he arrived.
Gaara being there was a surprise, because his presence implied certain things that Naruto had hoped they would never have to admit to each other.
When Kakashi noticed Naruto, he cleared his throat. "Well, gentlemen. I'd like to clear this up as quickly and as quietly as we possibly can. So I'll tell you exactly what I know." He gestured to the prisoner, who was blindfolded and tied to a chair. "This person was spotted just within the Land of Wind's border a week ago. She bore no affiliation to any village, and when Sand-nin tried to capture her, she fled into the Land of Fire. She was caught by one of our patrol teams three days later. She is suspected of killing a certain Sand genin, who turned out to be an unofficial Uchiha scion. She has offered no information and has proven extremely resistant to usual methods of interrogation."
"I can confirm that she matches the description of the suspected killer," Gaara noted. After a long stare from Naruto, Gaara sighed. "And that the person killed was an unofficial Uchiha."
Naruto shook his head. There were many things he wanted to say to Gaara, but out of respect for their years of friendship, he would save them until they could speak privately. "I understand why Gaara is here. I'm not entirely sure why Orochimaru is here, unless you just thought he'd find this amusing, Kakashi."
Orochimaru smiled. "Should I speak freely, or conservatively?"
Naruto understood that Orochimaru was actually doing him the courtesy of not revealing their deal to the Kazekage, without permission. On the other hand, too many secrets had caused this mess. "Freely."
Kakashi glanced at Naruto, but said nothing as Orochimaru began talking.
"I have been keeping tabs on my former student in his travels. Call it a hobby of mine. I was aware that he spent some time in Suna, and that this time... bore fruit. Others also became aware of this, and were concerned. I was approached, and commissioned to develop some anti-Uchiha measures. I'm sure you can understand why."
"You won't reveal your client's name," Gaara guessed.
"That would be best for my personal ventures. Although I can confirm that it is no village currently represented in this room. So rest assured that your subordinates are trustworthy. At least, on this matter. Anyway, this girl that you've captured is one such anti-Uchiha measure."
Naruto blinked. "You... made her?"
"In part. I would credit her primary genetic donor with her creation, however."
"And that person would be...?"
Orochimaru gave him a blank stare. "I already had plenty of samples in storage."
Naruto groaned. "Dammit, Sasuke."
Kakashi let out a fake cough. "That tells us where she comes from. Sort of. I would rather we not keep her, if she won't tell us anything. In theory, she should be turned over to Suna. But Orochimaru is the only one here who knows where home is for her, and that must be considered. So we have some things to decide."
Naruto stepped closer to the girl, noticing something strange about her. "What's this black stuff staining her blindfold? What in the world did you guys do to her?"
"Ah, that. It wasn't us." Kakashi sounded distinctly uncomfortable. "She's blind. More accurately, she doesn't have eyes at all. Just the empty sockets. And this black substance frequently leaks from them. We don't know what it is, only that it isn't blood, since at the rate it leaks she'd be dead if it was."
"You're telling me a blind person who leaves a liquid trail was able to kill an Uchiha and evade Sand-nin?"
"Apparently she has some other way of seeing, but we have no idea what that is."
"Imagine an Inuzuka with a Byakugan embedded in his chest," Orochimaru suggested helpfully.
"How would that even work?" Naruto asked.
"By producing regular leakage."
"So this black stuff... is supposed to be there?"
"It would be more accurate to say that I couldn't get it to stop being there, but yes. Congratulations, gentlemen. You've met your first Deadeye. They specialize in hunting doujutsu. Clearly, she is a success."
"But she got caught," Naruto pointed out.
"Her target is dead, is he not?" Orochimaru asked.
"And I suppose you want me to give her back to you?"
"I would not be opposed to that. But if you insist on keeping her, or sending her elsewhere, I would not be opposed to that, either."
"So she's expendable."
"One could argue that all ninja are, even if they complete their missions."
"Which means you have more where she came from, no doubt."
Orochimaru smiled. "You know me so well, Hokage-sama."
Naruto shook his head. "Don't remind me, please. Gaara, how big of a problem would it be if you didn't get her?"
Gaara thought for a moment. "Assuming that Suna is compensated for the loss-"
"Please do not ask for a replacement Uchiha. Sasuke and his man parts have caused me enough trouble today."
"Compensation could include financial measures," Gaara continued.
"Oh, good."
"Then Suna would consider the matter closed, at least for now."
"Oh, hang on. You aren't going to insist that Boruto start dating Sand-nin in the future, are you?"
Gaara glanced at Orochimaru. "I would not be opposed."
Naruto closed his eyes. "Dammit, Sasuke."
Kakashi sighed. "I take it we aren't keeping the girl, either."
"No."
"Excellent." Orochimaru went over to the girl and began untying her. "Time to go, Rika-chan."
"Orochimaru-sama?" she asked softly.
"Answers will come later, child. Come along, before they change their minds."
Rika asked no further questions and quietly followed him out of the room.
"We could have studied her," Kakashi pointed out. "Found out more about how she was made."
Naruto glared at him. "We could have executed her and studied her parts. Notice how we didn't do that, either."
"There's no need for that tone. I'm only pointing out that if we have to fight her later, we missed a real opportunity here to find weak points. All because you didn't want to hurt her. And did you not hear that there are more like her?"
"If that day comes, feel free to say you told me so."
"I'll add it to the list. Right under 'Don't let Sasuke do whatever he wants' would be a choice spot."
"Really not the time, Kakashi. Really not the time."
Eventually, the Deadeyes were traced back to Kumo, through no fault of Orochimaru's. But by then, no one could really blame them. More fatherless children with the Sharingan began to emerge in various villages, most of them nowhere near as well-adjusted as Sarada or Salada. Certain parties had begun to pay a hefty fee to Kumo in order to have Deadeyes loaned to them.
An unforeseen side effect of this was that since Salada had proven resistant to doujutsu, she recieved several missions that brought her into contact with her other half-siblings. Part of this was just good or back luck, but the rest of it was the fact that she was cheaper to hire than a Deadeye, did not instantly kill the targets on sight, and being associated with her was not automatically seen as a negative. Rather, as a double heir, she was highly valued by her village. And since she lacked the Sharingan, her sanity was never called into question.
Sarada was somewhat less fortunate, in that her sanity was questioned. She was eventually able to improve upon her summoned bears. As it turned out, they were not even bears, or didn't have to be. She could shape them into various animals, and even give them different personalities, but for some reason, she could never alter the pink skin or green eyes. So she had given a pig to her mother (which was instantly named after Ino), a gorilla to Itachi (by his own request), and a small fox to Himawari (again, by request). Sarada kept a bear for herself, and assigned a second to Salada whenever she was in the village.
The next time that Naruto saw Rika, it was several years later. She was lying in a hospital bed. Sarada and Salada had found her, strapped to an operating table in an abandoned hideout. She had tried to resist their rescue effort, but had been too dehydrated to do more than offer weak protests. She told them that she her body was programmed to attack doujutsu, and that the moment she had her strength back, she would be unable to prevent herself.
All things considered, it was good that the hospital wasn't in Konoha.
And if Rika remembered Naruto, she did an excellent job of acting like she didn't.
In any case, leaving Rika in the Grass-based Uzumaki branch's care was the best option. Karin could keep her alive, if nothing else, and there were no doujutsu nearby to target.
When asked, Rika would only say that she had not been a prisoner, and that she had volunteered to be experimented on, so that the flaws in her would not be present in the Deadeyes who came after her. Naruto did not have it in him to tell her that Deadeyes in general were flawed, at least as people. They were decent killing machines, though.
The End.
Endnotes:
I know that Sakura and Karin met (more accurately, walked past each other) before what Sakura recalls as their first meeting. But I doubt either of them recalls that actual first time. At least, I have yet to see a flashback that indicates that. And really, if either of them was that observant, I doubt they'd have been head over heels for Sasuke.
Salada's bloodline is based on the idea of Hagoromo having passed on his life-force or body to what eventually became the Senju clan.
I am not sure how to take the idea of Orochimaru just being back in Konoha. My first thought was that he snuck in. My second was that perhaps he has some arrangement with Naruto, as Mitsuki's genetics seem obvious when paired with his abilities, and no one seems at all concerned. Of course, with as ridiculous as they've made it in recent episodes, I suppose there's no point in trying to apply logic to it.
In canon, there are at least three ways to get a Rinnegan: 1) through a transplant, as with Nagato. 2) through combining the chakra of Hagoromo's sons, as with Madara and Sasuke. 3) through apparently just being an Otsutsuki, who are super aliens without mortal limits, as with Momoshiki. I include that last one because it seems that the Boruto the movie is canon.
Yes, pink bears, what of it?
I get that recent episodes are supposed to all be in fun. But when they claimed Orochimaru, one of the most digusting ninja ever, was afraid of Shino's bugs, that killed the joke for me. Imagine: Orochimaru leaving the Kazekage facedown in the desert and rushing away, not because he was concerned about being found, but because he was afraid of the bugs that the body would attract. And by the way, if Orochimaru did get into something that Konoha was firmly against, how exactly is Yamato going to stop him? Of the very short list of people who could stop Orochimaru, I would never expect to find Yamato anywhere on it. If anything, I would list him next to Anko and Kabuto on the very long list of people especially susceptible to anything Orochimaru might decide to do to them. You don't send ramen to defeat Naruto, so don't send Orochimaru's old toys to handle him.
And now, a "treat" for anyone who stayed through the ranting.
Part 2.5: Mitsuki Explains It All
Mitsuki was patient, but even he had his limits, and they were well established.
He could listen to elderly people drone on for hours, if he had the right motivation.
He could smile as children shrieked directly into his ears.
What he could not do was put up with another day of his teammates Boruto and Sarada arguing over who had the best idol.
To be fair, they were very good idols. Boruto practically worshipped Uchiha Sasuke, likely the most powerful shinobi who was technically not part of the village and yet defended it as if he was. Sarada idolized Uzumaki Naruto, the 7th Hokage, who was arguably more powerful than all of his predecessors.
The problem was that Boruto and Sarada could never agree which one was better, and so they would never shut up about it.
Mitsuki tried, he really did. But one day, he simply looked up from his bowl of ramen, glared across the table at them, and said, "You're both in denial."
Boruto and Sarada froze in mid-tirade.
"What are you talking about?" Sarada finally asked. "We're just trying to settle this."
"No, you aren't. You're arguing because that's what your friendship is based on: arguing. You're not even making any new points. You're just recycling the same ones you always use. It's boring and stupid and pointless. If you could actually settle this that way, it would have been settled within five minutes. I can settle this in half that time."
Boruto scowled at him. "Prove it!"
"Happily." Mitsuki cleared his throat and pointed at Boruto. "You say you like Sasuke because you think he's cool and strong. But that's not why you really like him."
"Of course that's why-!"
"You like him because he broke all of the rules, and then made his own. You like him because you couldn't get along by following the rules, either, so you like the idea of someone so strong that they were able to ignore the rules. You like him because he's a shinobi who turned his back on being a shinobi by betraying his village. You think it's cool to not have to take orders from anyone. Even the Hokage doesn't order Sasuke. And I'd bet anything you like that most of all."
Boruto's face was bright red by the end. He said nothing.
Mitsuki turned to Sarada, who immediately tensed up. "You like the Hokage because he takes care of everyone in the village and treats them like family. But what you really like about him is that he especially treats your family like family."
"What's so wrong about that?" Sarada demanded.
Mitsuki ignored her question. "He treats your father like a brother. He treats you like a neice. He treats your mother like a sister. Or tries to."
Sarada's eyes narrowed. "Don't even-"
"The Hokage goes out of his way to spend time with you. He listens to your problems and offers advice. He makes sure that you have everything you need."
"But that's what a Hokage is supposed-"
"He makes your mother laugh in a way that no one else can."
"Don't go there," Sarada warned him.
Mitsuki stared at her, unafraid and unapologetic. "There are people who will never forget that your father was once my father's student. The Hokage's former feelings for your mother are a matter of public record. I do not need to imply anything. The facts are more than enough."
"What facts?" Sarada demanded.
"The Hokage is trying to be a father for you. To fill in for the one that was consistently absent from your life. As you say, that could be considered part of his job. But I doubt every child in the village without a consistent father figure can make the claim that they rated such frequent, personal attention from the Hokage. And surely no mother, other than his own wife, could say-"
"Shut up or I'll hit you," Sarada interrupted angrily.
Again, Mitsuki ignored her. "At least argue about what you really feel. Boruto, you like Sasuke because he doesn't have to listen to your father. Sarada, you like the Hokage because he's doing his best to be your father. You both want the other's father as your own. And they both seem to prefer the other's child, to an extent. Yet neither of you realizes how lucky you truly are, to have your mothers. Or to have a mother at all."
Sarada considered that, then immediately ran home to hug her mother.
Boruto took a little longer, but eventually went home and asked his mother if she wanted help with anything. Which, oddly enough, resulted in him and Himawari being sent to return some empty baskets to Sarada's mother. Instead of appreciating this, she became convinced that this many children acting so politely surely meant that one of them had done something awful recently, and a whole hour had passed before Boruto and Himawari could escape her relentless questioning. Ultimately, though, this did make them both appreciate their own mother more.
The True End.
