Side Note: I turned off the sign-a-review thing. I can't believe I didn't see that before. I'm such a dambass. Thank you, The-TempesT!
Chapter 14: Persistence
Tsunade brushed a blonde pig-tail out of her face and crossed off another mission assignment on her scroll. She sighed and groaned. Damn hard work. She longed to throw the mission request log into someone else's hands and laugh as they did her job for her, but everyone was assigned something. She finally felt the effects of Konoha's lost ninjas.
She placed her chin on her desk and looked at the small mirror she had placed there. All this work was taking an effect on her false, youthful beauty. She pulled at the crow's feet decorating her eyes as if she could magically rub them away.
Outside, the night covered the village like a gas mask, twinkling stars peeking through sparse clouds. Tsunade hadn't slept through such a thing in three days.
Damn, I need someone to yell at. Where's Jiraiya when I need him?
The obnoxious, hollow sound of a fist on the door snapped her back into her role. Tsunade tried hopelessly to straighten her hair but gave up within seconds.
"Come in." She called hoarsely.
The shadows danced around the door as the figure crept in silently. The door whispered shut as the silhouette crossed the room to her desk.
"Ah, it's good to see you." Tsunade forced a pained smile, "How are your ribs, Shikamaru?"
The boy glared through the dim light.
"Excuse me for saying so, Hokage-sama, but I didn't come here for pleasant chit-chat."
His voice commanded authority and purpose as it rang through the dully lit room.
"Good," Tsunade returned his seriousness, "because I don't have time for that. What do you want?"
Shikamaru stared for a minute into her unforgiving brown eyes. Tsunade could see his mind piecing together the right words.
"Hokage-sama, are you...sure... that Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are dead?"
Tsunade twitched. His deductive reasoning had never failed to amaze her. This was, in fact, the same question that had haunted her thoughts since the Sound Fortress damage report. But Shikamaru didn't know what she knew. He didn't know the only thing buried was bloody clothes. What exactly did he know?
"Why?"
Shikamaru put his hand over his rib, looked away for a moment, then back again.
"There was something about those people we fought."
Tsunade sighed.
"Shikamaru, I don't have all night. If you have something to tell me, spit it out."
"The people we fought against, they fought like them."
Tsunade toyed with a pen, flicking it around between her fingers.
"Yeah...?" She muttered nonchalantly.
"The one I fought against could use the Kage Bunshin no Justu."
Tsunade yawned.
"A lot of people can use the Kage Bunshin no Justu, Shikamaru."
"But at that age-?"
"He could've learned it from anyone. Shikamaru, you're wasting my time."
"Wait, I'm not done." His voice rose as he struggled against time. "They knew all our moves, exactly how to defeat them."
"Aoba," the jounin appeared at the door, "please remove Shikamaru from my office and take him back to the hospital. I don't think he's had enough rest."
Aoba stepped forward and put a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, which the boy flung off.
"H-hey!" Aoba exclaimed, but Shikamaru didn't even look. He stepped forward and slammed both his hands down on to the desk. It vibrated beneath his weight; Tsunade's mirror fell over.
"The girl had your super strength!" He yelled with all his power.
Tsunade blinked. The pen stopped twitching in her hand.
"Don't speak to the Hoka-" Tsunade silenced Aoba by lifting her hand.
"What?" Tsunade froze as though any movement would rub away his last words.
Panting, Shikamaru leaned off her table.
"That's how I it broke my ribs. While we were fighting, Chouji attempted to crush her with his Multi-Size Technique. Not only was she strong enough to survive the attack, she also was able to lift Chouji and throw him. She threw Chouji at me and, luckily, Chouji returned to his normal size before we collided or I would've had a larger injury."
Somewhere, deep inside her chest, Tsunade's heart thudded like a drum. A girl who could lift and throw Multi-Sized Chouji; few people could carry him when he was normal sized. Could it be...?
Tsunade flinched and chuckled.
"Shikamaru, do you think that if you were fighting Sakura, you would've come out with only a few cracked ribs? That girl has my strength, Shikamaru. She can bench press Choumaru in Multi-Size. If you had been fighting her, you would be within inches of your life, even if you managed to survive."
"But-" Shikamaru stuttered.
"Seeing your dead friends in other people is a perfectly normal part of conquering grief. I'm sure they were just regular ninja." She consoled softly. "Go home and get some rest. I have a mission for you tomorrow morning."
Shikamaru's face fell. He looked worn.
"Whatever." He gave in.
"Aoba, please make sure he gets home safely."
"Yes Ma'am." Aoba bowed and escorted Shikamaru out of the room.
Tsunade watched the door slide closed. She glared at it, thinking hard.
She'd lied. Sakura would never have tried and killed Shikamaru; she valued her friends too much. As her Medic-Sensei, Tsunade understood this more than anyone.
If Sakura was forced to fight a friend, she would do exactly what this mysterious girl had done: hurt them just enough to knock them out.
Tsunade pulled open a drawer in her desk, pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled a message on it. Next, she set the pen down and folded the scrap into a bite-sized square. She stood and turned to the balcony, she yanked back to sliding glass door. A blast of summer night breeze attacked her face like a lover. It invaded her office, sending stray papers scattering to the back of the room. It tossed her shaggy hair, combing it back as she gently stepped outside.
The village glowed like a swarm of fireflies. A few dark figures leapt across the roof tops, a few leaves tripped their way across the barren streets, but all else was still.
Tsunade extended her arm and snapped her fingers. The sound rang through the silence of the night. Instantly, a sparrow fluttered down onto her out stretched finger, its prickly talons tickled his mid-digits.
Tsunade held the little note up to the bird, which clasped it tightly in its beak. She pulled the small creature close to her face and whispered delicately to it. The sparrow fidgeted restlessly and with one might thrust Tsunade tossed the bird back into the air. It fluttered before catching the wind and glided off into the east.
Tsunade stared grimly at the night as the note disappeared into the moon.
Kakashi - Begin your search on Sea Breeze Island.
-
"You idiot!"
Sasuke casually dodged a stick as it whizzed by his head and impaled a tree.
"Sakura-chan!"
"Back off, Naruto. I'm going to kill him!"
A rock soared dangerously close to Sasuke's scalp before taking a chunk out of a tree.
Their camp site laid it ruins under their feet as Sakura stormed around.
"Sasuke!" She shook her fist menacingly. Naruto clung to her arm, but couldn't stop her; she dragged him roughly across the earthen ground.
"What the hell were you thinking, giving out your real name?" Sakura screeched. "What's wrong with you?!"
Sasuke shrugged.
"I don't see anything wrong with it." He said nonchalantly.
"'don't see anything wrong with it'..." Sakura sank to the ground, Naruto tumbling down next to her. "Sasuke, after all the trouble we've been through..."
"Sakura, we're heading to Lightning Country. Since their attack on the Hyuuga Clan, Fire Country law forbids anyone from crossing its border. The Hokage wouldn't risk a war just to come look for us."
"What about Orochimaru then?"
"Sakura, you worry too much."
Sakura stood up and moved closer to Sasuke.
"And you don't worry enough."
Suddenly he realized just how close she was: too close. She moved easily inside his arm span, her face drawing closer to his.
Hold on, she's going to kiss me? Here!? In front of Naruto? Just like that?!
"W-wait!" Naruto exclaimed
Sasuke gulped. He blushed and blushed deeper knowing that she could see him blushing. She moved closer. Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel her breath on his lips, her nose brush against his, and then her forehead land with a gentle bump against his. He cautiously opened one eye. She was so close; mere centimeters separated him from taking their relationship to the next level.
Her eyes swayed in and out of focus before his. She wasn't just staring into his eyes, he felt like she was looking directly at his soul, seeing all his imperfections one at a time. The hidden side he had lost when he became an avenger suddenly seemed like the only side he had. It was underdeveloped and embarrassing.
Sasuke's face burned and seriously considered for a moment that she had thrust her hand beneath his chest, ripped his heart out and now held it in a firm grasp for all to see. He hated this. In seconds, he had lost all his security, all his outer layers, and was transformed into the person he really was and couldn't be.
"Are you okay?" She whispered. The words tickled his lips. His mind drew a blank.
"Uh-huh." He gasped. His throat felt hot; it was hard to breathe.
"You're being oddly reckless. You're acting like Naruto."
Sasuke barely heard Naruto yell in protest. He felt too exposed. He wanted desperately to run away and hide under something. This notion shocked him. Since when was he one to run away.
He couldn't respond.
Sakura smiled evilly and turned away.
"Fine, but Naruto and I are using fake names again." She walked casually out of the clearing to fish for dinner.
Naruto collapsed on the ground. What a close call. He'd thought Sakura was actually going to kiss Sasuke that time.
Sasuke fell back against a tree, slid to the ground and hugged his knees. His heart beat violently inside his chest and he tried to cool his face down.
He cursed outwardly.
Naruto looked up at Sasuke's fetal form and laughed.
"Shut up." Sasuke looked away, his face starting to cool down.
"She really got you good." Naruto grinned.
"I think I'd rather have her kill me." Sasuke let go of his knees and pouted. "Stupid 'Dance of the Forbidden Lovers.'"
Author's Note: Just to let you know, this isn't a SasuSaku fic. The only pairings decided so far don't involve our heros. Mwahahaha, I was just getting Sasuke back because he's being an ass in the manga. I'm so evil.
I'm sorry if anyone seems out of character. I tried really hard not to change them that much, but keep in mind the situations they're in, because it effects how they act.
Way to go, Bassclef! I named him Takkun as a direct FLCL reference! Brownie points for you. I've made allusions to various other manga/works of literature as well (lol, can you find them? Where's Waldo?). I think it makes the story interesting.
About Naruto's Whiskers: Mike brought up an interesting point. How are Naruto's whiskers hidden? Good question! They're not. Naruto's whiskers are there just as blatantly as reality in the morning. In the first arc, Tazuna saw them, but didn't think much of them. Inari pulled a little bit of advanced pyshocogy. A recent study published took a large group of people, made them watch a basketball game and asked them to count how many times the ball bounced. During the game, a man in a gorilla suit ran across the court. At the end, most of the people didn't remember seeing the gorilla. A similar situation happened with Inari. Besides, Naruto was avoiding Inari for most of the section, so he had very little time to make that connection. It was a bit more difficult with InoShikaCho, but if you read closely you can see none of them actually get a good look at Naruto. When they first meet, Sakura steps on Naruto's toe and he huddles in a corner throughout the meeting. When they meet at the Ramen place, Sasuke sits between Naruto and Shikamaru, blocking Shikamaru's view. Team 10 didn't even notice them during the pageant and, for the battle, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura wore Kakashi-style masks. But rest assured! Naruto will need a better disguise when they bump into people who will look for and notice these things. Oh crap, have I given away too much!?
Ok, I'm done now...