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Chapter IX: Reunion
Orochimaru sat down on the grass, leaning heavily against the tree behind him. A pained frown was on his face, and beads of sweat bedewed his temples as he slowly unrolled the soiled bandages from his arms. It was hard replacing bandages without any help, especially if he'd have to wrap his fingers individually to prevent the flesh from sticking together.
His arms, although having regained eighty percent of their mobility, were far from being helpful. He still could not flex his fingers easily to form seals, and focusing Chakra down his wasted limbs hurt like hell. Once he thought Fushi Tensei could heal him, but only a month into his new body and his arms started dying again. Sarutobi-sensei had always been very clever with punishments.
The Serpent carelessly threw the used bandage over his shoulder and fished for a fresh roll from the medical kit by his feet. He paused as his teeth clamped down on the bandages, as his senses registered an intruder (and quite possibly a threat) coming near him. The Sannin waited in silence.
"Orochimaru-sama?"
It was a kunoichi's voice. Orochimaru spat out the wad of bandages in his mouth. "Here, Sasame-chan!"
The orange-haired Fuma girl appeared and smiled. "Orochimaru-sama, let me help you."
She took the bandages and wrapped him up. He sighed. He never could finish quickly if he was working alone, and he did not want Kabuto to help either. His gut kept telling him something was wrong, but he couldn't quite figure it out yet. Something wrong with Kabuto. It took Sasame of the Fuma clan thirty minutes to finish what was possibly a three-hour work for Orochimaru.
"Thank you, Sasame-chan."
"Iie, it was nothing."
They both rose and walked together for some time. The young Fuma Jounin broke the silence.
"Please say thank you to Naruto for me, Orochimaru-sama."
"Hm?"
"If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be having Otogakure finally moving toward unity."
"..."
"Orochimaru-sama, are you going to Konoha today?"
"Yes."
"Please deliver my message to Naruto!"
"I will."
Sasame watched as the Sannin hop off the trees and disappear. She sighed before turning on her heels. Otogakure was changing for the better. She hoped Orochimaru would take Naruto here some time, so the whole clan could thank him personally. She walked back to where she came from, enjoying the shade of the trees.
Hyuuga Neji knew he was going to pay for it later, but he kept his thoughts to himself as he watched Sasuke from a respectful distance. He had accompanied the Uchiha to a nearby temple. Currently Sasuke was kneeling in front of the god's statue, hands held up above his head as he burnt incense for his deceased family members. The night Neji took him in, the ANBU seriously considered interrogation, but something inexplicable stayed his hand from pouring a drop of the drug into Sasuke's tea.
It had been a week since the fire, and Sasuke still did not utter a single word. Neji was worried for his friend's sanity. He would take the Uchiha to the Godaime later that day, just so he could be sure. Konoha could not afford to have the last Uchiha going mad from grief.
Finally Sasuke rose and quietly stepped out of the temple, eyeing Neji. The ANBU pulled down his kitty mask over his face. He had a task that day, unfortunately. But Sasuke wouldn't be alone, for he entrusted him to Hinata's company. Hinata was not yet here, but she was arriving very soon. Neji's cousin could handle Sasuke easily, what with his fragile condition these days.
"I'll see you later, Sasuke."
That was all and Neji vanished in a blur of movement. Sasuke looked up at the blue sky, wallowing in the breeze. For a moment his eyes turned into the Sharingan, and then back to black again. He gave a soft sigh.
"Sasuke!"
He turned at the sound of his own name and saw Hinata walking toward him, with her sister Hanabi. Sasuke bowed politely at the two as Hinata extended her hand to him in invitation.
"Shall we go?" she asked, smiling kindly.
Sasuke nodded and followed them meekly.
Koyuki bowed deeply in front of Sunagakure's Kazekage, Gaara. The redhead nodded graciously in turn before gesturing with his free hand.
"I am sorry I cannot help you further on this," he said.
"No, I am very much obliged, Kazekage-sama." Koyuki replied humbly. "The information for you is priceless."
A knowing glint sparked somewhere in Gaara's eyes. "I know how it feels to be devastated by the Akatsuki." He said softly as he touched his belly. Though his loss was incomparable next to Koyuki's, he knew very well the empty and painful feeling of the realization that he would never be as strong as he used to be. Kankurou and Temari were always by his side, but Koyuki was alone now. Sometimes company provided the bridge between eternal despair and salvation, as what he'd known.
Gaara rose as well, brown cloak trailing by his heels. "I will accompany you myself to the village gates."
"Thank you very much, Kazekage-sama."
Soon they left the huge mud brick compound and walked down the streets of the village. People hailed Gaara as he passed by.
"Kazekage-sama," Koyuki said after a while. "You told me about this friend of yours..."
Gaara nodded, smiling slightly. "Ahh, yes. Naruto. He is the host of the Kyuubi, and therefore a great target for the Akatsuki. Over the years the organization has tried to extract the nine-tailed fox from him, but they kept failing every time. Naruto is strong, you see...and he has an extraordinary amount of luck with him. I suggest strongly that when you go to Konoha, you contact him after you have introduced yourself properly to the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade."
Koyuki quivered visibly beside Gaara. "I cannot believe I am going to meet the last of the Legendary Three."
Another knowing smile. "You are very taken with Tsunade, it seems."
Koyuki nodded passionately. "Ever since I had been young, I had been fascinated by the stories of the Sannin. Over 1,000 missions, most of them A-class and higher, all successful. Tsunade-sama was the one who inspired me to take up the path of the Healer. There is nothing more I want in my life besides finding my niece than to meet her...and possibly shake her hand!"
Gaara nodded slightly. "I see. Well, when you do meet Naruto...be careful that you do not speak ill of Orochimaru in front of him. My friend is very sensitive regarding his third sensei."
The purple-eyed medic blinked. "I...I see."
They finally reached the village gates. Gaara took a moment to scold lazy young Genins that were frolicking outside instead of studying their lessons in the Academy.
"I wish you the best of luck, Lady Koyuki." Gaara said, bowing.
"Prosperity to your reign and to the Sand, Kazekage-sama."
The medic turned to leave.
"Lady Koyuki! Before I forget..."
"Hai?"
"When you contact Naruto, make sure he introduces you to Uchiha Sasuke." Gaara said contemplatively.
"Eh?"
Gaara blinked slowly. "Because you see, Sasuke's brother Itachi is a member of the Akatsuki. This is a lead you cannot afford to miss."
Itachi listened carefully as Naruto practiced not far from him, still doing the best he could to produce the perfect Kokuangyou no Jutsu. The fox-boy kept cursing and stomping his feet, a sign of his failure. Itachi sighed and closed his eyes slightly.
They were currently in one of Konoha's smaller and isolated parks, basking under the sunlight and breeze. Naruto had insisted that morning after they had their breakfast at Ichiraku Ramen that the baby needed a walk. Itachi tugged along without much protest, a wide straw hat over his head. Naruto had offered to carry the baby while his free hand did not let go of Itachi's wrist. The Uchiha ex-prodigy couldn't help but be amused as Naruto walked ahead, pulling him along, head turning this way and that. Did the Kyuubi brat think that just because he became blind and lost his Sharingan – he was already defenseless? However he made no comment – let the boy think as he would – and because he, Itachi, did not like to talk too much to begin with.
Heion was currently sitting on the bench with him, playing with a couple of Naruto's ancient plush toys. The girl gave a squeak every now and then, telling Itachi that she was doing fine. The bag of baby stuff sitting on his lap was quite heavy. Naruto was an excitable 'uncle', and packed everything including the pack of diapers, three extra bottles of milk and some spare dresses for Heion. Itachi could only shake his head.
"Kokuangyou no Jutsu!"
Itachi turned to the direction of Naruto's voice, lips parting slightly. The rush of Chakra in the air was enough to make the hairs on the Uchiha's arms rise.
"Kokuangyou no Jutsu!"
Itachi very nearly smiled. The key to genjutsu lay, like all others, concentration and Chakra control – but also on the user's intelligence. Now he could partly understand why Sasuke often called the Kyuubi brat a dumb ass.
"Kokuangyou no Jutsu! Dammit, why won't you pull off!"
Heion cried, and Itachi hurried took her into his arms to feed her. Just as he was about to give the baby her milk, the child let out a croon of surprise. Itachi felt the surrounding change, as if someone had thrown a blanket all over the place.
"Good work," Itachi murmured.
"YAHOO! WHOOOO! FINALLY!" Naruto shouted somewhere. "Good grief, I didn't think it'd last this long..."
And then the thick feeling of the surroundings vanished, and Naruto's approaching footsteps sounded. Itachi could feel the fox standing right before him, hungrily gulping down some water.
"You know, we'd better tell Sasuke you and your baby are okay." Naruto spoke after a moment. "Did you hear that the Chuunin exams were cancelled?"
Itachi nodded slowly but did not answer.
"Look, before I leave for training, I might as well look for your stupid brother and tell him the news. And hey...don't blow up my house, get it?"
"Yes." said Itachi. He had learned his lesson about leaving aerosols near stoves, all right. And as an afterthought, "Where are you going to train?"
"I don't know, it's Orochimaru-sensei who decides."
"You've been to the Sound?"
The answer was annoyed. "Not yet. I wish he'd take me."
"Orochimaru's not stupid to take his student, the probable Hokage, into enemy territory. You have to at least understand that."
There was a momentary silence before Naruto said, "You think I'll be the Rokudaime?"
"Why not?" Itachi replied. "Taught by two of the Legendary Three, you have a myriad of high level jutsus in your arsenal. And your red Chakra..." The Uchiha shrugged. "You're like Sandaime, I expect. He was taught by Shodai-sama and Nidaime-sama."
Naruto giggled. "You're just flattering me."
"Maybe."
Silence.
"Speak of the devil..." Naruto said suddenly.
"What?" said Itachi, senses hyping up. Heion sensed his tension and he felt one of her small hands touch his chest. He absent-mindedly took the small hand in his mouth, briefly suckling the fingers.
"Wait."
"Naruto! What was it? Naruto!"
But the fox-boy already broke into a dash.
Hanabi was the one doing the talking, pointing out things to Hinata and Sasuke. She was a Genin, one to take the last Chuunin exams, which had been rudely cancelled because of Sasuke fleeing the examinations on the spot after hearing the news of his house's demise from Hatake Kakashi. After some two hours of aimless silent wandering, Hanabi finally shut up as well and led the way to a slightly deserted park.
The younger Hyuuga walked a few steps ahead while Hinata and Sasuke walked side-by-side, both silent as the grave. While Hinata smiled at everything Hanabi pointed out, Sasuke kept his head bowed in the entire trip. Hanabi commented on this, but Hinata gently pointed out that Sasuke was currently very fragile and that they should not stress him out. That was Neji's strict order.
"SASUKE! SASUKE!"
The trio looked up in surprise to see Naruto running madly toward them. Hinata's face changed color from pale to beet red in a flash. Hanabi cackled into her own hand, while Sasuke only lifted his gaze and frowned curiously.
"Hi, Hinata! Hi, Hanabi!" Naruto smirked at them before grabbing Sasuke by the shoulders. "Oh, come on!" and proceeded to drag away the Uchiha with him.
"Ah!" Hinata exclaimed. She held out a shaking hand. "N-Naruto...d-don't!"
The fox tilted his head sideways. "Eh?"
"A-anou...N-Neji-oniisan...anou...uh..." Hinata tried to choke out the words. "S-Sasuke's...uhm...f-f-fragile..."
"Fragile?" Naruto repeated before bursting into an annoying cackle. He pointed a rude finger under Sasuke's nose. "This idiot is fragile?" Sasuke glared at him. Naruto had a hand around his shoulder. "I'd borrow him for a moment, don't worry, and you can resume your date later." That was all and he did drag Sasuke away.
"DATE!" Hanabi blurted out, eyeing her sister. "Ugh!" that was all and she stomped off, leaving Hinata alone in the sidewalk. The older Hyuuga sobbed into her hands.
Itachi looked up just as a set of footprints approached. Heion squeaked excitedly and struggled in his arms. There was a rattling gasp followed by a sob, and Heion's weight suddenly left him. Itachi stared.
"See!" came Naruto's voice. "I told you they're alive!"
Itachi recognized the sobbing one as Sasuke. He relaxed in the bench. Heion squeaked happily.
"Naruto...hold the baby for me." Came Sasuke's watery voice.
"Eh? Okay."
Itachi tensed as Sasuke approached. For a moment silence reigned again.
"This is for the house." Came Sasuke's voice. "And for nearly killing me with heart attack"
There was a loud CRACK as Sasuke gave his brother a crisp, back-handed slap.