Author: falls to his knees and presses his face into the dirt. I'm soooo sorry about this excruciatingly long wait. My Inuyasha fic is almost done, and I thought I would finally finish it and get my focus on this alone…But it seems that writing a final chapter is reeaaaaallly really hard and even though I brooded over it again and again, I couldn't manage to write it.
Well, now I'm saying "screw it!" I'll finish it another time…
Thank you to everyone that continued to yell at me to keep writing.
Now for the reviews that I've been neglecting for too long…
Sand-nin-gurl: Lol, it seems that you are also a rabid Sasuke hater. I guess I can't blame you, he has done pretty much every messed up thing he can do…except kill his own clan. But, I didn't say he was my fav char, just my second fav. Naruto is my favorite character, which just reminds me of how much I love the anime/manga because never before has the main character been my favorite (and "yes", I have played FFVII) Like I said, I have much in common with Sasuke, or at least with what he would probably be like in a less extreme situation. And the thing about Tsunade…you'll have to wait and see :smirks:.
Princessares: Thank you for the support, your review was the last kick in the pants I needed to keep this going. For a while, I actually thought of just discontinuing it, but thank you.
To everyone else that I'm too lazy to name: Thank you all for all the comments, constructive and applauditive. I appreciated every one of them and I hope that you all continue to read this.
:Reads back through his last chapter to see where he was: Oh yeah! So, let's go…:smiles as Wind happens to come up on his shuffle play Naruto music playlist: Perfect…
Chapter 4:
"Thank you very much, all of you"
An elderly lady smiled weakly, eyes shut even though everyone knew she was referring to the three genin before her and the jounin she was currently paying. She transferred the small sack into Kakashi's gloved hand, the crinkling of coins rang lightly through the air as it settled on the jounin's palm.
"That's the original agreement, plus a little for all of you for doing such a good job on my yard. It hasn't looked this good in ages."
Kakashi smiled under the mask, his single visible eye arching to show his gratitude.
Naruto, who had been pouting slightly at yet another "useless" mission, immediately gave his attention to the older woman at the generosity.
"Well of course it hasn't! Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage was the one to do it for you."
He cracked a nearly painfully wide looking smile, showing two lines of teeth that were remarkably clean despite his diet. The woman turned to him, eyes still closed and still smiling before warmly responding.
"And I'm glad I did."
Sakura managed a tired grin, still worn out from the pre-mission work-out as she watched Naruto take in the miniscule praise. A little ways next to her, Sasuke stayed silent, his mind amuck with a thousand things, and as always, held them behind a mask of indifference.
"We appreciate the extra generosity ma'am, but it's about time that we head off."
The woman turned back to Kakashi, still smiling.
"Ok then, have a good day all of you."
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura all responded in their own separate ways while Sasuke stood idly, alert, yet unreactive. When the pleasantries were finally completed, Team 7 all turned and left the small, and very clean yard in unison.
Once they were out of earshot of the house, Naruto was the first to speak up, chuckling deviously before letting out any actual words.
"So how much did she leave extra?"
Sakura grinned lightly at his question, too tired to do much else, but also eager to find out herself.
A nearly inaudible "dobe" was heard from Sasuke that Naruto managed to pick up, effectively sending an angry tremble down his spine before he turned and pointed his finger at the youth, raising his voice.
"Hey you asshole! I kicked your ass earlier, and I'll do it again!"
Sakura's eyes shifted quickly from one boy to the other, a sickly feeling of nervousness welling in the pit of her stomach.
"C'mon guys…you don't need to fight…"
"Hmph…"
Sasuke's reply was cold, emotionless, and aggravating as usual, effectively sending both Sakura's nervousness and Naruto's rage into overdrive.
"About this much…"
Kakashi dropped a couple of coins into Naruto's hand, catching him off guard and silencing his shouts as he quickly figured that he could buy 3 bowls of ramen easily and have some extra change with what was given to him. He likewise walked over to Sakura and Sasuke and dropped the same amount in each of their hands.
"Now, I have to go deliver this and write up the mission report. Bye."
Kakashi started to walk off, the sudden beginning and ending of the last event still having left Sakura a bit off set when combined with her fatigue.
"Oh, and Sakura…"
He withdrew a folded piece of paper and threw it back nonchalantly, managing to keep its path completely perfect until Sakura caught it with a free hand.
"That will give you clearance for some specific Chuunin level scrolls at the library. I want you to take them and look them over, be ready for tomorrow."
He continued to walk, slowly counting down the time he expected to have before Naruto exploded. His count hit "0" just as the information settled in for Naruto.
"Hey! What about me? Where's mine?"
Kakashi sighed, reluctant to turn around.
"Those scrolls are to enhance what I saw in Sakura today, of the three of them, there is only one jutsu scroll and it's only barely a Chuunin level jutsu."
Sakura's excitement began to wane when he said that the jutsu was barely Chuunin level.
"But it's still a jutsuuuuu."
Naruto whined out, turning his face in all kinds of pouting manners.
"Naruto…you've already learned plenty of jutsu that are beyond your level. Pass the next chuunin exams and you'll be able to go get the scroll yourself."
Somehow the words came out lazy as usual, and the normally agitated connotation such words would take registered as bored and tired.
"Like what?"
Naruto was, at this point, whining too much to think back over just how many jutsu he actually knew, and how many of them were not genin level.
"Where to begin…? How bout the Kage Bunshin?"
"Oh…that…well aside from…"
"Then there's the Kuchiyose…"
"Uh…"
"And there is Jiraiya's Rasengan which is in a class of difficulty on its own."
He rounded a corner and disappeared from sight before Naruto could respond, leaving a slightly dumbfounded blonde. It was a few moments of silence that ensued before Naruto got mad at having been ignored, and took off down the street to chase after the jounin.
Sakura took the time to open up the folded paper in her hands, still not quite sure what to make of everything that had just happened. Her eyes fell upon three sets of numbers that she assumed were what he needed to show the librarian for access to the scrolls since her identification stated she was a genin. At the bottom of the page was Kakashi's signature and a slight imprint from his thumb made in violet ink.
'Hmm…I wonder what these could be…obviously they aren't all that great…what can I expect though…'
"Sakura…"
Sasuke's voice blended in with a horribly times breeze, and the sound was missed on her. He waited for a reaction for only a moment before trying again.
"Sakura…"
He spoke a little bit louder, this time managing to get through to her and jerking her out of her short thoughts. She looked up, more out of reaction than of conscious thought, mumbling a "huh" as she turned her attention to the boy.
His gaze was stern and focused as always, nearly scowling in the way that only he would do. His hands in his pockets and his body hunched forward a bit, giving the impression that he had actually let his guard down. She met his eyes with ones that turned a bit puzzled, after all, it wasn't everyday that Sasuke called her name with no apparent reason.
"I just wanted to say…"
He paused, his face getting a bit tense and frustrated at what he was about to say, giving Sakura ample time to brighten up significantly, filling in what she thought to be the rest of the sentence.
'I knew that Sasuke-kun would come to his senses and apologize for earlier.'
Her smile widened at the thought itself; if he apologized, she wouldn't need to be mad at him anymore. The thought made sense to her and she eagerly awaited the rest of his apology.
He shifted a bit uncomfortably and turned his gaze to the ground.
"…good job in the training today…"
He looked up to meet her gaze again, all traces of uncomfortability completely drowned out by his rigid face, dying as quickly as they had appeared. Sakura's face went from beaming to confused to a bit frustrated as his comment sunk in.
"…that's what you wanted to tell me?"
Her eyes both drooped and narrowed at the same time, her head cocking slightly to an angle as the skeptical look complimented her reply.
'…you've got to be kidding me…what about Naruto?'
She waited patiently, though agitated, for any kind of remorse from him concerning their teammate; everything in her moving her to turn and stomp off for is supposed ignorance.
A muffled grunt was his affirmative reply, Sakura shut her eyes and shook her head slightly and slowly.
"Hn"
It was the footsteps behind her and loud curses at the disappearing sensei that made her open her eyes. She passed an agitated scowl to the boy before her, leaving her last remarks before turning around.
"You just don't get it…"
With her back to Sasuke, she missed any reaction, though she didn't care. The scowl melted off her face, revealing a bright smile for the only one who deserved it. She waved him over, watching his face turn from a playful pout to a wide grin as he ran the last few steps.
"Sakura-chan!"
He stopped short of her, idly noticing Sasuke with his unchanging scowl, himself bursting with limitless energy.
"Hey Naruto-kun."
"So…what kind of jutsu do you think Kakashi-sensei wants you to learn?"
Sakura tilted her head back, casually thinking and humming a bit.
"I'm not sure, but I don't think they're gonna be that spectacular."
"You know Sakura…"
He took a moment to peer over to Sasuke and make sure he was listening.
"I can teach you the really cool move that wooped Sasuke's ass when I brought him back."
Sasuke's eye twitched once, but only slightly at the thought of the technique.
"Really?"
Sakura found herself generally interested in what Naruto had to say.
"Yeah. Ero-sennin taught it to me, its really cool."
From there, Naruto proceeded to do an overly dramatic recollection of training with the Rasengan, along with details that made the nearly impossible technique actually sound impossible to learn.
"You see? It won't be easy though."
Sakura smiled, getting the gist of the technique and already knowing that it was far beyond her to learn. She chuckled a bit as Naruto came to a stop, not even breathing hard due to his freaky endurance.
"Yeah, I see, maybe you can teach it to me some other time."
Naruto crossed his arms over his chest in a mock pout and turned his face to the side, having lost the chance to do one of the few things he truly treasured in life: showing off.
"Fine, but we definitely have to do it sometime."
"Alright"
Sakura smiled weakly as she heaved a sigh of fatigue, her whole frame hunching over as she let out the breath.
"So…Sakura-chan, you wanna go get some ramen with me?"
Whether Naruto was actually oblivious to the fact that Sakura looked like she was going to collapse or whether he was just still being friendly despite her exhaustion would be anybody's guess.
"I'd love to Naruto…"
In her mind, Sakura chuckled at the fact that she actually would have accepted his proposal had she not had other things to do today. Part of her felt bad as she watched his face light up bright enough to match his hair for in the short pause she took.
"…but I'm beat, and I was going to go to the library to get these scrolls. But how bout this, tomorrow, after training, you can help me practice what I learn. That sound good?"
Naruto faked another whine and slumped his shoulders and chest.
"But Sakura-chyaaaan…"
Sakura snickered to herself as she drew herself up and walked past Naruto to go finish the rest of her plans, knowing that the blonde's whine was his way of saying "ok"
"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun."
With an honest smile, Sakura rounded the nearest corner and began the long walk towards the library, to find whatever she was meant to find.
As soon as she had left, Naruto turned back to Sasuke, his eyes hardening as he stared at the boy, afterall, he had noticed the Uchiha had not taken his eyes off of Sakura during the whole conversation.
Sasuke's eyes nonchalantly moved to meet Naruto's, and he stared, half-dazed at the younger boy.
"So what was that all about?"
It was Naruto who managed to break the silence first, the seriousness of hi voice forcing it to drop nearly half an octave. He expected for Sasuke to just shrug and leave without uttering a word, needless to say, he was shocked when he heard the Uchiha reply.
"Nothing."
It was clear, it was simple, it was the one word answer to every question one could ask a teenager, and just like every person ever given that answer; Naruto wasn't satisfied.
It was at this point that Naruto wished that he was a more gifted speaker, as he found himself uncharacteristically speechless before the one he still considered his best friend.
The look of agitation on his face cued Sasuke to speak again.
"Don't concern yourself about it."
With that he turned to leave, hands in his pocket, in the way that he was almost famous for walking. He stepped silently, ignoring what he was sure would be an immediate protest from the blonde and purposefully preparing to block him out. He was mildly surprised when he had turned the corner and he had still heard nothing from the blonde, though it didn't deter him in the slightest.
Naruto could only watch in silence as Sasuke turned the corner, having been left alone again. His eyes dropped to the ground as his right hand slowly crept up to his chest where he had stabbed himself in his vision.
'Why…'
He let out a sigh and shut his eyes, his mind trailing back to the first vision he saw under Tsunade's jutsu. His head fell back on a natural reaction as his mind's eye retraced the vision, the reaction between Sakura and Sasuke. He could believe what he had seen from Sakura, even in just this one day. But he still couldn't believe that Sasuke actually cared, and of all the people that he knew, of all the people he cared about, Sasuke was the one that he wished would understand and care the most.
His hand touched the spot on his chest where there had been two scars, one illusionary and one real. As his hand pressed against the thick jacket, he could almost feel the heat of Sasuke's Chidori piercing the skin once again. He could almost see it once again, the anger, the hate, the frustration, the sadness, the rush of emotions that he had seen in his rivals eyes on that day.
'Why of all people…why can't he be like he was in the vision…why can't he care…?'
In the back of his mind, he heard a dull growl before the voice of none other than Kyubi trickled into his conscious thought.
Why do you care that he doesn't care?
Naruto tightened his grip as he heard the fox inside his head, a grouping of his jacket begin taken into his palm.
"Because you stupid fox…I said to him once that the time I spend with him, makes me wonder what it's like to have a brother…no one is closer to me than he is. He's my best friend, but I wouldn't expect you to understand that…"
The last of his words were muttered even lower than the rest of his phrase, malice dripping off of each syllable as he shut his mind to the beast before it could respond.
'Damn you Sasuke…'
With that, the blonde released his grip on his own jacket and began to breathe deep, after all, he still had someone to visit.
Kiba's eyes opened slowly, taking in the ridiculously bright room about him, his mind trying to piece together the blur of all that had happened to him in the past while. He kept waking up and falling asleep, that's all he knew.
A couple of nurses had stopped in without saying anything, reminding him that he was in a hospital, but that was about it. The only other person he saw was a seals expert who but attached a paper talisman with some kanji on it to his wrist. He hardly registered the fact that it seemed to stick without adhesive, and registered even less that it was the cause of his reduction in sense of smell.
His head pounded as the glare of the white walls did little to ease the pain, and the fuzziness of his memories made it impossible to figure out why he was here, and why he was alone.
He shut his eyes and breathed out a huge breath before exhaling relaxing again, preparing to fall asleep when he heard a familiar, high-pitched yelp. Before he opened his eyes, a small smile crossed his face.
He blinked his eyes open again, as he heard a door slide open to the side. He let his head fall onto it's side as he saw his mother and sister enter the room, Akamaru sitting eagerly in Kirara's arms, covered in bandages but enthusiastic as ever.
Words were not needed as smiles filled the room. Even Akamaru understood and kept quiet, his tail wagging weakly against Kirara's stomach. In silent steps she crossed the room, before setting the pup down next to her son.
Akamaru merely laid down on the bed, content with just being with his best friend once again, and with a heavy arm, Kiba reached up to scratch his dog's head, ignoring the searing pains shooting up his chest.
Nira, in a likewise manner, crossed the room to her brother's bed, visibly perturbed, though Kiba couldn't notice. When she stopped, she also continued to participate in the silence.
In this way, the Inuzuka family, spent the next few minutes. Emotions and tension each riding high as none knew what to say or whether to say anything at all. Too much had happened in the last day, none of them knew how to address it.
The silence was broken finally from an outside source, unbeknownst to any of the Inuzuka, coming to bring startling and shocking news.
Kirara turned to see a spectacled doctor in a white coat, his brown hair was combed neatly, and he stood completely straight. The glare from of the room casted an odd glow from his glasses that not only hid his eyes, but gave off an uncomfortable aura.
"Inuzuka-san, could I see you outside for a moment?"
Author: I….I….I FINISHED A CHAPTER!
I'm sorry about the long long long wait. I had some issues in life that caused me to re-examine the way I look at things, which meant the way I do fanfiction had to change too. For a while I couldn't write, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but finally, I managed to come up with my answers. SO I tweaked some of the upcoming stuff a bit and well…you'll see.
Just to let you know though…I'm pretty sure there won't be any romance though…
Anyway, yeah, yell at me and all for the long break, but hey, better late than never right?