"This Changes Everything" - by Ichigo-chan
Chapter Seven: I Can Tell: I Can't
******
Ichigo: HEY! HEY! ^^ That was quick! Two chapters in two days! I'M THE MASTER! HAHA!
Sakura-kun: but - but - but O_O
Ichigo: ok ok, you helped too. **pats Sakura on the head**
Sakura-kun: **Squee** ^^
I hope a speedy seventh post helps to make up for the EXTREME slowness of my sixth. I haven't even got the feed back on it yet (it takes 24 hours for a story to go up) so, I'm just throwing this own out there without making any considerations.
Plot Summery (again, again, again) - The relationship between Sasuke and Naruto has changed a lot over the years, especially now that they both seem to have come to the same realizations. However, Sasuke finds himself unable too runaway from links to his past - especially those in the form of a strange, tragic, second generation, missing-nin. To find out more about himself, his brother, and to save a life, Sasuke has to decide just how far he's willing to go - as well as what, and who, he is willing to leave behind.
Now, about this SEVENTH chapter - originally I'd done things a little different here, especially in the part between Hoshiko and Naruto, but, I wanted to create a tension between them that could go any number of ways. Plus, I feel like I'm heading down a road towards seriously traumatizing Sasuke but - I don't know, it just seems to be the way things are headed.
Chapter Summery - Hoshiko and Naruto have their first face-to-face encounter and it ends up leaving Naruto a little on edge - especially when Kakashi appoints him Guardian. Sasuke remains melancholy over the whole issue as he feels more confused then every - especially around Naruto - who more then anything just wants to see him happy.
Warnings - Slight Shounen-ai
(Once again, this is my disclaimer: "not mine")
***
Tsunade had stopped Naruto when he went to meet up with Sasuke, telling him it was best if he would stay away for now. Not sure just what she meant, but for once not feeling much up to fighting about it, Naruto gave in and headed back for home.
Walking one of his usual paths, along the outer wall, he heard a strange sort of commotion coming from ahead. Leaves were drifting softly down from the tree tops overhead as the branches shook violently, and there was a sound like an electric shock even now and again, fallowed by and heavy thump.
Wandering over, Naruto stared up into the branches and found himself looking up at the tall, dark haired, girl, whom they'd carried home the previous day. She was scratched and bruised and trying in vain to get over the high walls around the village, but every time she'd reach the top a sharp electric shock would keep her back and she'd have to jump back down the trees below.
"You're never going to get out that way!" Naruto called up to her, laughing to himself.
Startled, she just about lost her footing as she looked down at him. Recognizing him as the boy from the other night she began to climb down, but still stopped a few feet above his head.
"What did you do?!" she questioned angrily, threw heaving breaths - as she had tiered herself out from repeated attempts to escape.
"There's a barrier up all around the village." Naruto snickered, waving his hand around, "You can't get out so there's no point in beating yourself up about it." he smiled up at her.
She scowled at him bitterly, folding her arms across her chest and sticking her tongue out at him childishly - to which Naruto replied with his own.
"Tell me your name." he asked her, his hands on his hips, in a 'stating rather then asking' sort of way.
"Hoshiko." she snapped flatly.
"Oh?" he said, half having expected her not to tell him, "Well I'm,"
"Naruto." she finished for him.
"Uh, yeah. How did you know?"
"Sasuke-sama told me."
"Huh? What'd you call him that for?"
She didn't respond, only stared at him blankly.
"You are not, normal, are you?" she said finally, jumping down from her perch and landing surefootedly in front of him. He could look her in the eyes directly, and just smiled as his adequate response.
"Why do you feel like this?" Hoshiko asked him, boldly grabbing him by the wrists and pressing her pale cheek against his own whisker-marked one. "You have a strange aura."
"Um," he stammered, his face flushing as her awkward closeness rose a fluttery feeling in his stomach.
She just held him there for a moment, her hands holding his wrists firmly and her soft cheek warming his already sweat glazed skin.
"You're not normal." she finally said again, as though her statement made her deduction the absolute truth. Stepping back from him she looking at him crookedly - as though the very sight of him confused her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto pouted, looking offended.
Hoshiko didn't say anything, just reached out again and brushed her hand against the marks on his cheek, tilting her head to the side and looking at him curiously.
"There's -" Naruto began to stammer - the questioning look in her intense, green, eyes making him feel like he couldn't do a thing to hide the truth from her, "there's something inside of me." he finally sighed, giving in to the mysterious power of her curiosity.
"I thought so." she smiled, looking quite please with herself.
Stepping forward again she came so near to him that their noses practically touched. She then, unabashedly, raised her hand and slid it underneath of Naruto's dark, black, shirt - her hand coming to rest where his seal would have been. "I can feel it."
"Ehhh," Naruto stammered again, pushing her back away from him by her shoulders.
"What?" she questioned, unsure of why he was looking so uneasy.
"I got to go ok?" he half laughed, nervously scratching at the back of his neck.
"K." she nodded, her expression vacant with question.
******
"Doesn't have much respect for personal boundaries does she?" Kakashi laughed when he'd caught up with Naruto, who was walking back home looking horribly disturbed.
"You- you saw that?!" He choked, "She was like - right in my face!" he shouted, wide-eyed and still red with embarrassment as he hugged his stomach - almost as though he could still feel her hand on his skin.
"I know. But she doesn't know any better. It's not like she's been around people all her life or anything." he laughed, amused by Naruto's irked expression.
Naruto just held his hand against his flat stomach, feeling that same awkward fluttering as before.
"Seventeen years old and you're still freaked out by a little female contact?"
"No!" he protested, "But, I don't know her!?!? She's, I don't know - WEIRD." He said ominously, wiggling his fingers as if to be foreboding.
"You'll get used to her." he assured him.
"Get used to her?? What do I have to do that for?!"
"Well she's not going anywhere. Hokage wants to get her back in with normal people. You know - give her a proper life - not just existing day to day like some feral cat."
"But -" Naruto looked up at him wide eyed. "You know," he stopped, his disturbed expression turning to irritation, "that's just the kind of stupid idea that old hag'd come up with too!" he scowled.
"But she is really perceptive that girl," Kakashi went on to praise her, "she must have GREAT instincts to have picked up on you right away. I don't know Naruto, that girls pretty strong. I bet you could learn a thing or two from her!" he grinned.
"NO WAY!" Naruto shouted, stopping in his tracks, "If anything, SHE'D be learning from ME!"
"Ah! Glad you offered!" Kakashi exclaimed, catching him off guard, "I was hoping you'd say that! After all she's going to need somebody to look after her."
"WHAT!?! Why me????" Naruto shouted, looking almost afraid.
"You're the one with a month off work. Sakura's too busy with her tactical program with Shikamaru, and Sasuke's still technically on duty." he explained.
"But - but-" Naruto stammered - unsure of how Kakashi always managed to box him into these sorts of corners.
"Oh don't worry!" Kakashi laughed, patting him on the shoulder, "She wont be living with you or anything!"
"But, but, but," Naruto rambled on.
"Good boy. I know you'll be just fine!" He smiled, ruffling Naruto's hair before disappearing and leaving him to stand alone, in the road, looking utterly bewildered.
******
"What's bothering you Sasuke?" Naruto whispered to him quietly.
They were laying together that night, in the wide-open field, hidden from prying eyes in the tall swaying grass. The air was cooler then usual and Naruto was quite content as he lay there - his head resting on Sasuke's stomach, as he played with his long, dark hair.
"Nothing." Sasuke finally sighed after a moment or two had past - his voice seeming distant and preoccupied.
Naruto's fingers trailed down the side of Sasuke's face and across his neck, finding their way to the cold metal of the necklace tucked within his shirt.
"You thinkin' about Hoshiko?" he asked, as he pulled the pendent out and thumbed at its shiny metallic surface.
"I don't know." he sighed.
"She's really strange, isn't she." Naruto smiled a little, thinking about their odd encounter earlier that day.
"I guess so." Sasuke agreed.
The lack of concern in his voice was a cue to Naruto that there was more on his mind then he was letting on.
"You're worried?" Naruto inquired, noting the way he seemed so out of it.
"I don't know." he said again.
Naruto sighed, and thought a while - unsure of what to say to him. He ran his fingers back threw Sasuke's soft, dark, hair again, knowing full well he didn't know what to do. He was happy that Sasuke could let him be so physically close to him - but at the same time - he knew that Sasuke had emotional fences around him, so high, that he wasn't going to get over them easily.
"Sasuke?" Naruto questioned quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Are you happy now?"
"What are you talking about dobe?" he asked, still staring up into the starry, cloudless, sky overhead.
"Never mind." Naruto replied, shaking his head and feeling defeated as he sat back up.
Getting to his feet Naruto dusted off his pants and looked down at Sasuke somberly. His doleful and melancholy companion made no attempt to move or get up, but just stared back up at him vacantly, with his usual emotionless, black eyes.
"Goodnight." Naruto said softly, trying to smile in spite of the heavy, sad, feeling washing over him.
"Night." Sasuke replied.
******
As he lay in bed that night Sasuke found himself unable to sleep. He tossed and turned, musing over the last few days in his head, but couldn't make sense of it all. Everything had seemed so clear just a little while ago, but now, something in his gut was telling him differently. It was though someone had taken a paintbrush and smeared over everything in his mind, making it blurred and unclear.
He wanted to get out of bed right then and go find Hoshiko. He needed to talk to her and ask her all the questions which had been burning in his mind. She knew something - knew something he didn't - and he had to find out what it was. He couldn't get her out of his head. She had seen, spoken to, and been with his brother - but in a way that wasn't normal. When she said his name, she wasn't afraid, and she said it with respect. However, the reasoning behind it all was still a mystery.
Yet - for as much as she was on his mind, Naruto was managing to plague him too. He wanted to go to his house and hold him in his arms, the way he hadn't done that evening. He was feeling guilty. Guilty that he'd ever brought Naruto back into his life like that - but guiltier still, that the thought of someone else, was making him uneasy about it. He knew he needed him - and he had all along, and that was the most confusing part of everything - needing somebody.
You deny it and deny it but, some part of yourself is always crying because you hate to think of being alone - of being unwanted. But Sasuke was anything but unwanted. Everybody wanted him. Maybe that's what made him feel the most alone. Surrounded by people who wanted him, but nobody who needed him.
Naruto - he was different though. They needed each other. They wanted each other. The first time he'd kissed him he'd wanted to stop him, but he didn't. But why? He couldn't answer that. But feeling his lips on his skin wasn't like feeling the kisses of any girl. This was different. He felt these - felt them in his chest, tugging at his heart and making him want him even more. But still -
******
"I'm meeting you like this out of respect for your condition, and for the fact that you are a decedent of the Leaf - so I'd appreciate it if you'd at least listen to what I have to say."
The young woman with the awkwardly large breasts stood over Hoshiko as she sat beneath a tree on the outer edge of the village. She knew full well there was no point in trying to leave - because she could feel their eyes on her - the familiar eyes of masked men; the Anbu hiding in the shadows.
"I want to know what you've been doing all these years Hoshiko." Hokage asked her politely.
"Living." she replied bluntly.
"Certainly, but at others expense." Tsunade pointed out.
"You do what you have to to survive." Hoshiko stated bitterly, her eyes never leaving Tsunade's.
"They've told me you knew of Uchiha Itachi." she said, imply her question.
"Yes."
"And how is that?"
"I don't believe that is any of your business." she said calmly - eyes narrowing slightly.
"Fine then, but was it him who gave you the curse?"
"What?" Hoshiko's eyes widened. "How did you -"
"It was obvious." Hokage told her, "Wound-less bleeding whenever you exert your chakara too forcefully? Like you did in the basement. It's rather like a sort of stigmata. We tried to seal it while you were asleep but nothing we did seemed to alter it."
"That has nothing to do with you!" Hoshiko scowled, her hands clutching at her stomach.
"We just want to help you."
"No you don't! If you wanted to help me you would have left me alone! Murderers! I don't want to be here with you people!" she was on her feet by now - standing probably a little to near to Hokage. The mask men near by were leaning on their edges, weapons drawn and not hesitant to use them.
"I'd calm down if I were you."
"What do I care about what YOU would do! I do NOT want anything to do with the Leaf! I want to go home! I don't want to stay here!" She shouted, until an intense twinge of pain in her stomach washed over her as she felt her ears begin to burn.
"I told you to just calm down."
Hoshiko breathed uneasily, stepping back and turning from Tasunde holding her stomach until the pain subsided.
"There are people here who can help you."
"I know there are." Hoshiko said, glancing back up at her bitterly.
"Then why don't you let us help you?"
"I think you've "helped" me enough for one life time." she sneered at her.
"That wasn't our fault."
"Then who's was it! Certainly not mine! I didn't ask for this!"
"I didn't say you did."
"I am done with this now!" Hoshiko demanded, turning her back to Tasunde.
They stood there a moment in silence.
"I knew you mother Hoshiko." Tasunde said quietly, "She was truly a good woman."
Hoshiko turned back to her, her eyes dark and serious.
"Yes - yes she was."
***
To be continued -
******
Ichigo: Well? How would you say that went?
Sakura-kun: LOVELY! ^^
Ichigo: I DO hope so.
Sakura-kun: I did good right? ^^
Ichigo:**sigh** Yes, yes.
Sakura-kun: so????
Ichigo: so? ¬ ¬ Fine, you can have a cookie.
Sakura-kun: Yay! ^^ **munch munch**
You know, I'm just glad that's over more then anything ^^ now I just wanna hear what you think!
What to expect in later chapters - Word about the missing-nin taken in to Konoha starts to get around - and it isn't all good things they're saying. Sakura is employed to do her part to help the situation - but things only seem to get worse. Getting Hoshiko to accept the leaf as her home and getting Sasuke to give up on finding out the truth both seem to be impossible tasks.
Chapter Seven: I Can Tell: I Can't
******
Ichigo: HEY! HEY! ^^ That was quick! Two chapters in two days! I'M THE MASTER! HAHA!
Sakura-kun: but - but - but O_O
Ichigo: ok ok, you helped too. **pats Sakura on the head**
Sakura-kun: **Squee** ^^
I hope a speedy seventh post helps to make up for the EXTREME slowness of my sixth. I haven't even got the feed back on it yet (it takes 24 hours for a story to go up) so, I'm just throwing this own out there without making any considerations.
Plot Summery (again, again, again) - The relationship between Sasuke and Naruto has changed a lot over the years, especially now that they both seem to have come to the same realizations. However, Sasuke finds himself unable too runaway from links to his past - especially those in the form of a strange, tragic, second generation, missing-nin. To find out more about himself, his brother, and to save a life, Sasuke has to decide just how far he's willing to go - as well as what, and who, he is willing to leave behind.
Now, about this SEVENTH chapter - originally I'd done things a little different here, especially in the part between Hoshiko and Naruto, but, I wanted to create a tension between them that could go any number of ways. Plus, I feel like I'm heading down a road towards seriously traumatizing Sasuke but - I don't know, it just seems to be the way things are headed.
Chapter Summery - Hoshiko and Naruto have their first face-to-face encounter and it ends up leaving Naruto a little on edge - especially when Kakashi appoints him Guardian. Sasuke remains melancholy over the whole issue as he feels more confused then every - especially around Naruto - who more then anything just wants to see him happy.
Warnings - Slight Shounen-ai
(Once again, this is my disclaimer: "not mine")
***
Tsunade had stopped Naruto when he went to meet up with Sasuke, telling him it was best if he would stay away for now. Not sure just what she meant, but for once not feeling much up to fighting about it, Naruto gave in and headed back for home.
Walking one of his usual paths, along the outer wall, he heard a strange sort of commotion coming from ahead. Leaves were drifting softly down from the tree tops overhead as the branches shook violently, and there was a sound like an electric shock even now and again, fallowed by and heavy thump.
Wandering over, Naruto stared up into the branches and found himself looking up at the tall, dark haired, girl, whom they'd carried home the previous day. She was scratched and bruised and trying in vain to get over the high walls around the village, but every time she'd reach the top a sharp electric shock would keep her back and she'd have to jump back down the trees below.
"You're never going to get out that way!" Naruto called up to her, laughing to himself.
Startled, she just about lost her footing as she looked down at him. Recognizing him as the boy from the other night she began to climb down, but still stopped a few feet above his head.
"What did you do?!" she questioned angrily, threw heaving breaths - as she had tiered herself out from repeated attempts to escape.
"There's a barrier up all around the village." Naruto snickered, waving his hand around, "You can't get out so there's no point in beating yourself up about it." he smiled up at her.
She scowled at him bitterly, folding her arms across her chest and sticking her tongue out at him childishly - to which Naruto replied with his own.
"Tell me your name." he asked her, his hands on his hips, in a 'stating rather then asking' sort of way.
"Hoshiko." she snapped flatly.
"Oh?" he said, half having expected her not to tell him, "Well I'm,"
"Naruto." she finished for him.
"Uh, yeah. How did you know?"
"Sasuke-sama told me."
"Huh? What'd you call him that for?"
She didn't respond, only stared at him blankly.
"You are not, normal, are you?" she said finally, jumping down from her perch and landing surefootedly in front of him. He could look her in the eyes directly, and just smiled as his adequate response.
"Why do you feel like this?" Hoshiko asked him, boldly grabbing him by the wrists and pressing her pale cheek against his own whisker-marked one. "You have a strange aura."
"Um," he stammered, his face flushing as her awkward closeness rose a fluttery feeling in his stomach.
She just held him there for a moment, her hands holding his wrists firmly and her soft cheek warming his already sweat glazed skin.
"You're not normal." she finally said again, as though her statement made her deduction the absolute truth. Stepping back from him she looking at him crookedly - as though the very sight of him confused her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto pouted, looking offended.
Hoshiko didn't say anything, just reached out again and brushed her hand against the marks on his cheek, tilting her head to the side and looking at him curiously.
"There's -" Naruto began to stammer - the questioning look in her intense, green, eyes making him feel like he couldn't do a thing to hide the truth from her, "there's something inside of me." he finally sighed, giving in to the mysterious power of her curiosity.
"I thought so." she smiled, looking quite please with herself.
Stepping forward again she came so near to him that their noses practically touched. She then, unabashedly, raised her hand and slid it underneath of Naruto's dark, black, shirt - her hand coming to rest where his seal would have been. "I can feel it."
"Ehhh," Naruto stammered again, pushing her back away from him by her shoulders.
"What?" she questioned, unsure of why he was looking so uneasy.
"I got to go ok?" he half laughed, nervously scratching at the back of his neck.
"K." she nodded, her expression vacant with question.
******
"Doesn't have much respect for personal boundaries does she?" Kakashi laughed when he'd caught up with Naruto, who was walking back home looking horribly disturbed.
"You- you saw that?!" He choked, "She was like - right in my face!" he shouted, wide-eyed and still red with embarrassment as he hugged his stomach - almost as though he could still feel her hand on his skin.
"I know. But she doesn't know any better. It's not like she's been around people all her life or anything." he laughed, amused by Naruto's irked expression.
Naruto just held his hand against his flat stomach, feeling that same awkward fluttering as before.
"Seventeen years old and you're still freaked out by a little female contact?"
"No!" he protested, "But, I don't know her!?!? She's, I don't know - WEIRD." He said ominously, wiggling his fingers as if to be foreboding.
"You'll get used to her." he assured him.
"Get used to her?? What do I have to do that for?!"
"Well she's not going anywhere. Hokage wants to get her back in with normal people. You know - give her a proper life - not just existing day to day like some feral cat."
"But -" Naruto looked up at him wide eyed. "You know," he stopped, his disturbed expression turning to irritation, "that's just the kind of stupid idea that old hag'd come up with too!" he scowled.
"But she is really perceptive that girl," Kakashi went on to praise her, "she must have GREAT instincts to have picked up on you right away. I don't know Naruto, that girls pretty strong. I bet you could learn a thing or two from her!" he grinned.
"NO WAY!" Naruto shouted, stopping in his tracks, "If anything, SHE'D be learning from ME!"
"Ah! Glad you offered!" Kakashi exclaimed, catching him off guard, "I was hoping you'd say that! After all she's going to need somebody to look after her."
"WHAT!?! Why me????" Naruto shouted, looking almost afraid.
"You're the one with a month off work. Sakura's too busy with her tactical program with Shikamaru, and Sasuke's still technically on duty." he explained.
"But - but-" Naruto stammered - unsure of how Kakashi always managed to box him into these sorts of corners.
"Oh don't worry!" Kakashi laughed, patting him on the shoulder, "She wont be living with you or anything!"
"But, but, but," Naruto rambled on.
"Good boy. I know you'll be just fine!" He smiled, ruffling Naruto's hair before disappearing and leaving him to stand alone, in the road, looking utterly bewildered.
******
"What's bothering you Sasuke?" Naruto whispered to him quietly.
They were laying together that night, in the wide-open field, hidden from prying eyes in the tall swaying grass. The air was cooler then usual and Naruto was quite content as he lay there - his head resting on Sasuke's stomach, as he played with his long, dark hair.
"Nothing." Sasuke finally sighed after a moment or two had past - his voice seeming distant and preoccupied.
Naruto's fingers trailed down the side of Sasuke's face and across his neck, finding their way to the cold metal of the necklace tucked within his shirt.
"You thinkin' about Hoshiko?" he asked, as he pulled the pendent out and thumbed at its shiny metallic surface.
"I don't know." he sighed.
"She's really strange, isn't she." Naruto smiled a little, thinking about their odd encounter earlier that day.
"I guess so." Sasuke agreed.
The lack of concern in his voice was a cue to Naruto that there was more on his mind then he was letting on.
"You're worried?" Naruto inquired, noting the way he seemed so out of it.
"I don't know." he said again.
Naruto sighed, and thought a while - unsure of what to say to him. He ran his fingers back threw Sasuke's soft, dark, hair again, knowing full well he didn't know what to do. He was happy that Sasuke could let him be so physically close to him - but at the same time - he knew that Sasuke had emotional fences around him, so high, that he wasn't going to get over them easily.
"Sasuke?" Naruto questioned quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Are you happy now?"
"What are you talking about dobe?" he asked, still staring up into the starry, cloudless, sky overhead.
"Never mind." Naruto replied, shaking his head and feeling defeated as he sat back up.
Getting to his feet Naruto dusted off his pants and looked down at Sasuke somberly. His doleful and melancholy companion made no attempt to move or get up, but just stared back up at him vacantly, with his usual emotionless, black eyes.
"Goodnight." Naruto said softly, trying to smile in spite of the heavy, sad, feeling washing over him.
"Night." Sasuke replied.
******
As he lay in bed that night Sasuke found himself unable to sleep. He tossed and turned, musing over the last few days in his head, but couldn't make sense of it all. Everything had seemed so clear just a little while ago, but now, something in his gut was telling him differently. It was though someone had taken a paintbrush and smeared over everything in his mind, making it blurred and unclear.
He wanted to get out of bed right then and go find Hoshiko. He needed to talk to her and ask her all the questions which had been burning in his mind. She knew something - knew something he didn't - and he had to find out what it was. He couldn't get her out of his head. She had seen, spoken to, and been with his brother - but in a way that wasn't normal. When she said his name, she wasn't afraid, and she said it with respect. However, the reasoning behind it all was still a mystery.
Yet - for as much as she was on his mind, Naruto was managing to plague him too. He wanted to go to his house and hold him in his arms, the way he hadn't done that evening. He was feeling guilty. Guilty that he'd ever brought Naruto back into his life like that - but guiltier still, that the thought of someone else, was making him uneasy about it. He knew he needed him - and he had all along, and that was the most confusing part of everything - needing somebody.
You deny it and deny it but, some part of yourself is always crying because you hate to think of being alone - of being unwanted. But Sasuke was anything but unwanted. Everybody wanted him. Maybe that's what made him feel the most alone. Surrounded by people who wanted him, but nobody who needed him.
Naruto - he was different though. They needed each other. They wanted each other. The first time he'd kissed him he'd wanted to stop him, but he didn't. But why? He couldn't answer that. But feeling his lips on his skin wasn't like feeling the kisses of any girl. This was different. He felt these - felt them in his chest, tugging at his heart and making him want him even more. But still -
******
"I'm meeting you like this out of respect for your condition, and for the fact that you are a decedent of the Leaf - so I'd appreciate it if you'd at least listen to what I have to say."
The young woman with the awkwardly large breasts stood over Hoshiko as she sat beneath a tree on the outer edge of the village. She knew full well there was no point in trying to leave - because she could feel their eyes on her - the familiar eyes of masked men; the Anbu hiding in the shadows.
"I want to know what you've been doing all these years Hoshiko." Hokage asked her politely.
"Living." she replied bluntly.
"Certainly, but at others expense." Tsunade pointed out.
"You do what you have to to survive." Hoshiko stated bitterly, her eyes never leaving Tsunade's.
"They've told me you knew of Uchiha Itachi." she said, imply her question.
"Yes."
"And how is that?"
"I don't believe that is any of your business." she said calmly - eyes narrowing slightly.
"Fine then, but was it him who gave you the curse?"
"What?" Hoshiko's eyes widened. "How did you -"
"It was obvious." Hokage told her, "Wound-less bleeding whenever you exert your chakara too forcefully? Like you did in the basement. It's rather like a sort of stigmata. We tried to seal it while you were asleep but nothing we did seemed to alter it."
"That has nothing to do with you!" Hoshiko scowled, her hands clutching at her stomach.
"We just want to help you."
"No you don't! If you wanted to help me you would have left me alone! Murderers! I don't want to be here with you people!" she was on her feet by now - standing probably a little to near to Hokage. The mask men near by were leaning on their edges, weapons drawn and not hesitant to use them.
"I'd calm down if I were you."
"What do I care about what YOU would do! I do NOT want anything to do with the Leaf! I want to go home! I don't want to stay here!" She shouted, until an intense twinge of pain in her stomach washed over her as she felt her ears begin to burn.
"I told you to just calm down."
Hoshiko breathed uneasily, stepping back and turning from Tasunde holding her stomach until the pain subsided.
"There are people here who can help you."
"I know there are." Hoshiko said, glancing back up at her bitterly.
"Then why don't you let us help you?"
"I think you've "helped" me enough for one life time." she sneered at her.
"That wasn't our fault."
"Then who's was it! Certainly not mine! I didn't ask for this!"
"I didn't say you did."
"I am done with this now!" Hoshiko demanded, turning her back to Tasunde.
They stood there a moment in silence.
"I knew you mother Hoshiko." Tasunde said quietly, "She was truly a good woman."
Hoshiko turned back to her, her eyes dark and serious.
"Yes - yes she was."
***
To be continued -
******
Ichigo: Well? How would you say that went?
Sakura-kun: LOVELY! ^^
Ichigo: I DO hope so.
Sakura-kun: I did good right? ^^
Ichigo:**sigh** Yes, yes.
Sakura-kun: so????
Ichigo: so? ¬ ¬ Fine, you can have a cookie.
Sakura-kun: Yay! ^^ **munch munch**
You know, I'm just glad that's over more then anything ^^ now I just wanna hear what you think!
What to expect in later chapters - Word about the missing-nin taken in to Konoha starts to get around - and it isn't all good things they're saying. Sakura is employed to do her part to help the situation - but things only seem to get worse. Getting Hoshiko to accept the leaf as her home and getting Sasuke to give up on finding out the truth both seem to be impossible tasks.