OF BUZZING AND CHIRPING

"Schemes of Conclusion"

The multitude of colors were reflecting upon the eyes of the Uchiha beast as sunlight perched upon the seamless gracefulness of waters – which is perpetually blue – and it all came down to that, no death, no winning and losing, no violence whatsoever; the waters moved in slow pace as white lines mingled with it, obviously electricity, and when waters fall down to soak the filthy earth once more, Uchiha Sasuke was discontent. Itachi's water kawarimi is a testimony of that; the young Uchiha's head reeled from unknown zest of acid sentimentality, starving for more violence like the kyuubi he had heard before – further, his composure sought easiness as his arms flail from the tremendous toil it did with raikiri, a modification of chidori, and as the feeling of this divine discontent roused up more and more on his psyche, he thought of following the older Uchiha to finish the scheme of conclusion he carried out beforehand. So he strolled leisurely with a broken smile plastered on his face at his seeming prediction of ending the thing that kept him alive for so many years, that is, of Itachi; his chakra is now visible which is blue in hue, emanating like light but not really, it is somewhat ventilation. The damp ground dries up soon as he takes his steps, a manifestation of unimaginable quantities and qualities of power; his fist closed tight, and within seconds, he was now atop a squat tree, almost dead from the previous fight.

"Sasuke."

Aburame Shino's posture was nothing more than fatigued, his eyes russet in its formality and beauty, his pale skin glowing with sunbeams amidst the blood that seeped – he was dead beat to be more precise, his body asking of recovery – but his volitional assent was much stronger, overwhelming in anything's worth because inspite of all that negativities, he managed to squeak the Uchiha genius' name. "Uchiha Sasuke," he blurted once more.

Uchiha Sasuke remained where he stood, his back facing Shino, his natural disposition towards evilness still discernible; his head swiveled only to for Shino to see his yellow-hued eye, his cheeks full of marks – this seeming appearance left Shino wondering if he was the authentic Sasuke. And perhaps the lad before him is the real Uchiha Sasuke, the heir of the infamous clan of Konoha; perhaps the real Sasuke is a demon without anything regarding sentimentality. This thought made the Aburame genius squirm in apprehension, sad and longing in the end; it would be an illusion thus of the past happenstances where both geniuses of silence created a liaison... surely, yet surely...

"Don't,"

"And who are you to stop me?"

It would be atypical and out-of-character for Shino to feel grief but he actually is grievous, more to the reality that the bond has already been broken with just a simple question of his authority over the Uchiha beast in front of him; Shino will never be as emotionally exaggerated as Sakura but such moment as this is almost exaggerating in all honestly – but hope was lingering.

"I'm Aburame Shino."

Uchiha Sasuke's demonic marks started to disappear then, his body falling down from the tree.

"The Sound Village... it's all... ready,"

"Ready for what?"

"Tsunade-sama, they're preparing for another war,"

"It figures,"

"Their shinobi's aren't around the village, they're all probably somewhere for preparation,"

"This is going to be tough; Konoha just recovered from that old geezer's attempt to overwhelm us, I'm not sure if Konoha is all ready for such war,"

"What're we gonna do, Tsunade-sama?"

"We must prepare, too. Assemble the jounin's – we'll have a round-table about this; contact Jiraiya – he'll be facilitating the chuunin's."

"Right away Tsunade-sama,"

"Shizune, wait; what about Naruto and others?"

"I can't sense them because the Sound Village is all rowdy,"

"And Sasuke?"

"I... I'm not quite sure,"

"Well then, let's all prepare for this war."

The river flowed smoothly, its current and drift a music to both geniuses' ears; hours have passed since that melodramatic scene to convert all so-called negativities into something called 'actualization of hope'; Sasuke laid his body down the earth of lush as he tries to suppress the acidic sentiments that has been keeping him in a dilemma between having to scheme a conclusion in his older brother's life and scheme a conclusion in his natural disposition towards evilness. The latter would be more fruitful besides the emotional fulfillment, Sasuke guessed, so he is now actually besides Shino who is also recovering. Kikai bugs are visible in Sasuke's eyes as those miniatures of destruction heal up Shino's wounds, fascinating him in ways like no other. On the other hand, Shino, with eyes closed, has been trying hard to suppress the pain the healing process was giving him; of course, it would be astonishing for anyone to know how an Aburame quickly recover, but it's only seemingly astonishing if you want to ask any Aburame's opinion. The consequentiality is pain, but it was no wonder for Sasuke for he can obviously feel the pain, too.

"Lie still, I'm sending my bugs to heal up your wounds; it'd be painful,"

"Yeah, painful; what the—"

"Hinata."

Chuunin Souke Hinata stood in perfect composure and almost nonchalance; her eyes showed no hint of any emotion because it was innate for the Hyuuga clan, but it was apparent for all its worth how Hinata manifested concern. The dark linoleum-hued coat she wore slightly fluttered as the wind passed by, her hands reaching into some familiar places, namely, her back.

Shino smiled but came unnoticed with the two other shinobi's.

"Are you okay, Shino-kun?"

"Yes. Thank you, Hinata."

"Sasuke... Uchiha Sasuke."

The Uchiha genius hesitated, for it was well-known in his mind that the lass in front of him might just cripple him down and drag him towards Konoha. "Don't worry, I'm not here to retrieve you,"

"That's also what Shino said..."

"We're teammates, it figures," she said, expressing amusement. "Here," she continued. Shino accepted the little packet from Hinata, aware that it was Hinata's specialized healing medications. "Thank you again, Hinata," The female chuunin, meanwhile, has initiated her own medic-nin seal, "Choukaiokuyaku," and both injured shinobi's felt much better.

"That technique... it's for medic-nin's," Sasuke said.

"Oh you know, I can dredge up for so many things, like techniques,"

Shino smiled. "I told you she's stronger than I am,"

"Listen, both of you; Shikamaru and others have seen the traces of you Sasuke and Itachi's fight. It's going to be a matter of minutes before they exactly locate you."

"Stubborn people," Sasuke muttered in his sighs.

"You both go,"

"I'm going to the geezer."

"Orochimaru?"

"Right on target, Shino."

"What would you do?"

"Go now," Hinata said as her byakugan outlook manifested an outlook of wariness.

"I'm going to scheme conclusion."

Souke no Chi ni Mesametta Hyuuga Hinata has this impeccable demeanor towards the state of affairs of life; the chuunin has accepted the reality of her life as the head of one of the most powerful clans in Konoha, in which violence and tragedy is affixed into. Her psychoanalytic effort to gradually dissolve the difference between who is strong and weak has earned her victory of fulfilling her destiny of being the toughest Byakugan fighter the clan has ever had. She refused to wear the vest, and wore instead a robe akin to her father's – an indication that her standards for strength isn't discerned with the fashion of Konoha nor the standards set by patriarchy. She walked on the woods, wandering with smile. It would only be a matter of time until her former teammate return from the Sound Village's fortress to end it all; it was a theoretical account on her part as she walks on the shrubs of Sound Village, trying to recall the emotional liaison she herself made with Shino, along with Kiba. The memories... it was ought to lighten her up, and that exactly happened; the flexibility of their team, the ambition and the desire towards greatness – even those petty ones that garner the most weighed sentiment called appreciation.

"Hinata-sama," Neji has muttered as she welcomed it in all humility.

"You're... you're different!" Naruto mumbled, not really sure if Hinata would be offended. He hoped for Hinata to take it as compliment, and the lass actually did.

"I'll take that as compliment."

"You... you don't speak gibberish anymore!"

"Hey! Back off Naruto, she's my teammate! Hi Hinata! How are you? How is Shino?"

"We're both fine, thanks,"

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked, not sounding to interrupt the conversation.

"I'm on a mission."

"Have you seen or even sensed Sasuke?"

"No, what I saw is an empty healing kit; I've got to go, I have to report this to Hokage-sama," and she was gone.

Standard disclaimers, everyone. The fic is nearing the end; reviews are so much welcomed. Special mention to Phyrric Lotus for bearing with this fic... thanks!