Another chapter, with slight plot advancement, an expected development that will please many of you, and another character appearance. Also, for the first time since the system change, a story note for all of you to read following the chapter.
Chapter Twenty: So It Is
Slowly and painfully Matthew opened his eyes. The light about him seemed extraordinarily bright, though he knew it was merely his eyes being unaccustomed to ordinary sunlight. So he had actually survived; he had not been at all certain that he would. He wasn't sure if he had wanted to or not.
Regardless, it was too late now. He closed his eyes again and began searching within himself. His body had taken severe wounds. Far worse than he'd first thought, actually. In the heat of battle, especially trying to kill his mother, he had barely noticed the injuries he had received. Chakra began pulsing through his body, stitching it back together. For now, it would do. With a slight groan Matthew raised himself slightly from the ground so he could observe where he was.
"Well, I'm glad to see you up again," a voice commented. It was one of the shinobi, Sakura. Not bothering to try to sit up, Matthew glanced about himself. All four of them had survived the attacks. Sakura was standing over him, severely bandaged; a short distance behind her Ino had her upper arm heavily wrapped and was dressing a wound; there was a small fire that Sasuke and Hinata were sitting silently on opposite sides of, both looking worn and damaged but mostly alright.
"I'm glad I'm awake too," Matthew decided to say. Why bother revealing more information than was absolutely necessary? But at that moment Sasuke stood up and glanced at him. His hair and cloak were in their usual positions, which meant his eyes were only barely visible, but at that moment Matthew knew that he had found out somehow. Then it was time to come clean about everything.
Moving was painful, but he forced himself to get to his feet. For the first time he took a look around them and realized they were in the middle of a thick forest of giant mushrooms. Most likely a far more safe location than the city. Evidently he had been unconscious for some time, because a great deal of his chakra had returned.
"It looks like you guys need some serious healing," Matthew commented, glancing over them. Sasuke made an unreadable movement of his head.
"I have recovered, now. Hinata-san will be fine. Check Ino-san's shoulder and Sakura-san in general."
"I'm just fine!" Sakura insisted.
Nodding, Matthew moved to Ino, grateful that it was not yet time. He didn't relish having to finally answer all of Sasuke's questions.
"Hold still," he told Ino. She nodded, but the instant he touched the bandage around her shoulder she winced and pulled away. He raised an eyebrow.
"The inner layers are soaked with blood," she explained. "The skin is really raw there, so I don't want to take it off."
"I need to get a look at the wound to heal it."
"For crying out loud, I got a katana jabbed all the way through my arm! Give me a break!"
Gently Matthew touched her shoulder, fingers glowing and humming just softly. Light began to flow from his hand and through her shoulder, and Ino closed her eyes with a shiver. The feeling was unearthly, but didn't feel bad at all, really.
Abruptly Matthew gripped her shoulder and ripped the bandage away in one violent motion. Ino gave a pained and most unladylike yelp, followed by several most unladylike words. When she had calmed down, however, she realized that her upper arm was whole once again. Her sleeve and the bandage, still with blood and flesh on it, had been ripped away, but beneath it was unbroken skin.
"Go easy on it," Matthew told her. "You'll break open a new wound if you put it under serious stress and it won't be able to handle any chakra flow for a while."
"That's... really impressive," Sakura said after a short pause. "Where did you learn how to do that?" From the corner of his eye Matthew saw Sasuke's eyes shift slightly. Glancing at him purposefully, Matthew turned back to Sakura and answered her question.
"I'd already been taught about the stuff you guys call chakra, though with a bunch of different names. It wasn't too difficult to play around with it and figure out how to use it in new ways. Given that I am a doctor, it was a fairly simple matter to come up with supernatural ways to heal the human body."
"Think you could patch me up, too?" Sakura asked. "I'm alright, but going around with bandages isn't my idea of a good time."
"If you like." Putting his hands on her shoulders, Matthew closed his eyes and concentrated. His chakra slowly drifted down her body, finding the places that needed mending. It was a bit worse than it looked; she had strained and torn several ligaments, and numerous places were very worn down. Setting his jaw, Matthew set about his work.
When he opened his eyes and pulled away he found Sakura looking at him strangely. He responded with a raised eyebrow and then stepped away. It had been his intention to sit down beside the fire, but Sasuke rose before he could do so.
"We have some things to talk about," he said darkly. Sighing, Matthew nodded slowly and then followed him when he moved to the other side of one of the large mushrooms. As he went, Matthew noticed Hinata looking after Sasuke with a strange expression. Something had definitely happened, and at the moment it left her scared and feeling alone. Unusual; he'd have to figure it out later.
"I told you you'd tell me everything when it became necessary," Sasuke said curtly when they were some distance away. "Now it is necessary."
"Yes," Matthew sighed heavily, "I know." He leaned back against the stalk of the nearest gigantic mushroom. Strangely springy surface; he hadn't imagined it like that. "I'll admit I haven't been completely honest with you, but you know that. What I didn't tell you wasn't truly important to your mission, or I would have informed you."
"Whatever it is just became important to the mission."
"Again, I know. I suppose I should start at the beginning." For a moment Matthew paused, his eyes closed, then he glanced up and began speaking. "My father, despite being foreign-born, was the leader of a major faction of Fire Country some time ago. He eventually exceeded his term in office and left. At this point he had not met my mother.
"The next part is blank in my story, as I cannot tell you what happened to him. In any case, ten years later, he was a very bitter man with a dream of destroying every single shinobi on the face of the planet. He met my mother, who was a geneticist with similar ambitions.
"Still before I was born, they began gathering an army through dozens of puppet and front organizations. Again, I don't know a lot about this part. My story begins when they began trying to essentially breed warriors to fight for them. They tested with themselves, and created me. One thing they always used to repeat to me was that I had been born in a test tube.
"In all honesty, I was a failure. Genetically I am only average. Still, they put me through every training program they had access to. I've never learned any skills like you shinobi have, but I was trained in many other arts, including the samurai system of 'mosou' which is essentially your chakra. Other than my medical studies, which I did solely in my free time, I was taught only to kill. No healing techniques, no evasion, no illusion, not even any blocking. Just killing."
Sasuke remained silent and let him speak. He was telling his story easily, flowing from point to point without pause. However it was told, it would eventually answer all of his questions.
"A few years before they began to carry out their grand plan, I managed to escape them entirely. For a while I was drifting free, and I managed to get a degree in medicine at a university. But once they began activating all of their allies throughout the world, they came for me. Being a recent graduate, I was too high profile to go unnoticed.
"That is why I made myself vanish again, instead finding a small town in which to try and help people. Their forces had greatly improved since the last time, however, and they began following my tracks. At the time you arrived, there were already quite a few assassins scouring the town for me. The thing was, though they knew what I looked like, they did not really know I was a doctor, nor how I had aged. Plus, the people there are not very open with outsiders. In essence, your arrival just made the inevitable come more quickly.
"From that point, my story is essentially your own. Once we arrived here, it was only a matter of time before they tried to neutralize us. I anticipated this, and used the positions of the attackers and my prior experience to determine where they had been sent from. Given the chance, I attacked there, and discovered that my mother was still in residence in the city. I killed her... I don't suppose you can understand that."
"I understand." Matthew blinked once, as if analyzing Sasuke's response, then nodded.
"I believe you may be right. In any case, from the nature of this attack, I imagine that the final phase of their plan will come soon. Within days, perhaps."
"What is the final phase?" Sasuke asked, folding his arms within his cloak.
"I can't be certain." Matthew gazed at the ground for a moment, pondering. "They never really gave me information that could be used against them. However, unless they've changed quite a bit in the years I was gone, I think I know what they'll do. Their warriors are probably planted all over the world, ready to strike. Most likely, they will move in tandem for a massive assault.
"From their movements elsewhere, this city seems to be the axis of their plan. However, I would imagine that Father intends to strike from here down toward Fire Country. Furthermore, he might come here to oversee the operation himself. Even if we kill him, however, the plan will not be stopped. All of the forces have their own motivations, and will act on their own."
"So we're moving toward world war."
"That is an adequate summary, yes. Regardless of who wins, Father intends to destroy the political and economic structures that support shinobi of any kind."
"I doubt he will be able to accomplish that." Sasuke closed his eyes. "There are too many shinobi, and they are too entrenched in this world. I am more worried about our own situation. Sakura-san and Ino-san will both be out of commission for a battle. Hinata-san will take some time to recover. I will not be operating at full efficiency for at least a few days. If there are many forces here, things look rather grim."
"Then do you propose running?" Matthew asked.
"We can't run, not now. At the very least we can stop the army building here from attacking Konoha. That will eliminate one leg of their plan, which might topple all of it. If we are sacrificed, it will not be in vain."
"Very well." Matthew nodded grimly. He moved from the large mushroom, then suddenly staggered. For a moment he gagged, then spat blood from his mouth. Sasuke caught his shoulder before he could collapse entirely. Briefly his eyes glowed red as Sharingan spun within them.
"What have you done with your chakra?" Sasuke questioned Matthew, who was breathing raspily. "Your body's flow is twisted and unnatural."
"Temporary healing," Matthew choked. "I nearly died... I can't heal that much in a short time. It will take more than a few days for me to truly recover."
Sighing, Sasuke guided Matthew back to the camp. Then yet another one of their fighters was out of commission. Unfortunate, but to be expected, given what Sasuke estimated he had done. Matthew would not have so seriously underestimated his wounds... which meant he had considered it worthwhile to explain everything, despite what it cost him. Interesting.
Soon the doctor was resting as well, lying back with his eyes closed but his glasses still on. Sakura and Ino had fallen asleep on opposite sides of what had once been their fire; Hinata was nowhere to be seen. Settling down, Sasuke spent a long time staring at the sky. It was still morning, though it did not feel like such.
Everything had been chaotic following the battle. He'd immediately searched for Sakura and Ino and found them hanging on to consciousness atop a mostly decimated roof. Hinata had managed to scry Matthew's location and retrieved him. Completely exhausted, both of them had fallen asleep without saying anything to each other. They hadn't really spoken since that incident, actually. In their secure camp location he'd slept for some time, and had consequently been up that entire night.
But now it was morning. Regardless of the chaos about them, the sun was blazing cheerfully in the early sky, announcing a new day. The fungi-covered forest they were in felt a bit musty, but occasionally fresh air was blown in to them. A draft of it blew past Sasuke, and suddenly, it felt much more like morning. Smiling just slightly, he got to his feet.
It wasn't often that he got to walk alone. There were very few ways that Sasuke allowed himself to relax, and one of the few was walking. But walking alone. That became more and more difficult to accomplish as the years passed and more people began attempting to find him in just such a situation.
Now, at least, he had a chance. It was highly unlikely that he would be interrupted by any of his allies, and their enemies did not seem inclined to attack for the moment. If Matthew was correct, they would not attack at all for some time.
To one end of the forest of mushrooms there was a different type of forest, he found, and it was a nice place. It wasn't at all like the forests of home, but it was still beautiful in its own way. The trees were swaying just slightly in the wind, their strange green spikes waving together in meaningless patterns. Other than the soft sound of his footsteps, there were only a few scattered sounds from woodland animals.
He stopped in mid step, realizing there was someone behind him. Turning slowly, he glanced at Hinata, who was in the path where he had been some distance back. Up until that point, he truly hadn't noticed her. Impressive stealth. At the moment she was standing there looking nervous with her hands together before her.
"Good morning, Hinata," he greeted her quietly, his eyes softening. Immediately her nervous expression dissolved into a slight smile.
"I... I was kind of afraid it had been a dream," Hinata told him softly. "Everything that happened during the battle seems so strange, so unreal."
"It certainly wasn't a dream," Sasuke returned, beginning to step toward her. "I remember it very well." Hinata was walking as well, and they met midway between them, just a short distance apart, watching each other.
"Is it really true that you don't mind?" Hinata asked, large white eyes hanging on his answer. Sasuke let his expression relax just slightly, though he did not smile.
"I more than don't mind," he told her. "I feel the same way, Hinata. It just never felt like it was the right time to say anything about it. You seemed so truly happy to have found a friend that I didn't want to make things any more complicated. It seems that it takes extreme violence to make people talk to one another."
"I hadn't thought about it that way. That's kind of funny." Hinata smiled a bit broader. "Thank you, Sasuke. But why me? I'm not as pretty as Ino-chan is, I'm not as smart as Sakura-chan... you've refused so many people, what makes me any different? How can you-"
Sasuke embraced her gently but reprovingly. Hinata rested her head against his chest, letting her doubts slip away. How could she have still not gained confidence in herself, she wondered. Perhaps one day she would gain it... but until then, Sasuke would always be there for her. Glancing down at her, Sasuke smiled just slightly behind his cloak. When they parted he opened the front of his cloak enough that his face was visible, and relaxed visibly as he did so.
"No one has a right to insult you, and that includes you," he told her. "Regardless of what you say, you are very beautiful."
"I'm sorry for being silly. It's kind of surprising that you think that; I didn't think anyone would like me, with solid white eyes..."
"I like your eyes. They look nice." Sasuke said it so easily that Hinata found she took it like more of a fact than an opinion. Maybe that had been his intention. Neither one of them spoke for a long moment, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. It was a beautiful morning; Hinata breathed in the strange smell of the forest deeply. The air was crisper out here; it felt much better than the mushroom-filled forest.
"What are we going to do when everybody else finds out about... us?" Hinata asked. Sasuke shrugged.
"They'll deal with it, one way or another. But for the moment, and for your sake, I don't think that anyone needs to know. Not yet, anyway. As much as I'd like to make most people stop bothering me, I really doubt knowing would make much of a difference. For now, it will be enough to have you with me."
"Alright. That sounds like a good idea. But don't you think that Ino-chan and Sakura-chan will be able to tell?"
Sasuke laughed softly. "Them? We do not need to fear that they will ever recognize love for what it is... or at least not for the moment. I doubt they'll make a distinction between our friendship then and our friendship now. Needless to say, we won't have a great deal of time together until this is all over."
"What about afterward?" Hinata wondered, glancing into the grey sky. "Won't we be immediately split up on missions again?"
"There are some A Ranked missions that require more than one person," Sasuke explained. "Not many, but they can be found. I think that the Hokage can be persuaded to be helpful. Besides... I haven't used any of my vacation time for at least a decade."
"I think I would like that. But for now, we should be focusing on finishing this entire war, shouldn't we?"
"Yes." Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he pondered a nearby tree and the situation. "That is the immediate concern." Both of them continued walking in the same direction that Sasuke had been going earlier, side by side, not really looking at each other. Their steps fell at the same moments, so the forest was as silent as it had been before. For a moment Sasuke pondered that with some people, it was almost the same as walking alone. Certainly not any worse.
"Um..." Hinata spoke up, causing Sasuke to glance slightly at her. "Don't most people who are in love usually kiss?"
"Most of them," Sasuke answered amiably, "I wasn't going to do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable." He was looking away, his cloak and hair shadowing his eyes entirely.
"I... I think I would like to, if you don't mind." The slightest of smiles appeared on Sasuke's face. He turned in one smooth motion, parting his cloak and taking her in his arms gently but swiftly.
As it turned out, Hinata discovered it wasn't uncomfortable at all.
Ino and Sakura sneezed violently at the same time and then glared at one another, as if in some sort of competition. Before either of them could say anything they seemed to pause, then glanced away as if embarrassed. It was probably due to general exhaustion. That was to be expected, Matthew reflected; most people were unconscious for some time after being cured of such heavy wounds. Being shinobi, they were apparently tougher. Still, he wasn't willing to assume that was the cause quite yet.
There was very little for him to do at this point but recover. He had told Sasuke everything he knew, and ended the life of one of the people that had caused his. Father would be in the city, but it would not be possible to kill him. After that incident, he would be far more heavily guarded.
Still... it was all going to be over soon. For good or for ill, the plan was going to come to completion, and go head to head with the world of shinobi. Obviously, Father didn't intend to try and match them strength for strength; that would be sheer idiocy. That meant he could only be counting on some other factor to give him victory.
Then again, victory was probably not his objective. Father would probably be content with the shinobi losing, even if he destroyed himself. Abruptly Matthew realized that he never thought of his biological parents as anything other than Mother and Father. They had insisted he call them nothing but that, and their real names had rarely been used. Oh, he knew them, certainly; the data was stored inside his mind from the one or two times they had been mentioned in his presence, but there was no association between those collections of sounds and his parents.
All this time Matthew had been aimlessly staring into the large mushrooms. He was distracted when Sakura walked across his field of vision to sit beside Ino. After the split second she obscured his line of vision, Matthew discovered a man crouching atop one of the mushrooms and blinked.
He did not loudly broadcast his presence. Ino and Sakura had still not noticed him. Whoever he was, he was calmly crouched there, watching them. Most of his body was covered in a long grey coat; an obsidian pair of sunglasses made his eyes invisible; his black hair was tied behind him.
The man remained there, completely silent, merely watching. Matthew found no urge to say anything and merely watched in return. Sakura and Ino were fairly involved with their conversation, and paid no attention to either of them.
Some large insect flew into their clearing, buzzing loudly. It began dive bombing the women's heads, eventually making them both too annoyed to keep arguing. Just as Sakura was about to hurl a shuriken at it, it promptly flitted away into the forest, just over the shoulder of the man. Sakura and Ino both froze.
"Shino-san?" Sakura asked, slightly amazed.
"What are you doing here?" Ino asked in the same moment. Matthew relaxed and let the scalpel in his hand slip back into the holder on his sleeve. Evidently this was a friend.
In response the man dropped from the mushroom, landing easily and walking over to them. Matthew realized that he was tall when he stepped beside Sakura and Ino. He had the look of a Leaf shinobi; he was probably a colleague of theirs from missions past. Certainly not the type to run on as much as they did, and not the type Matthew wanted to meet in a dark alley.
"This is for you." His hand slipped into a pocket and emerged with a scroll. "Show it to Sasuke-san and Hinata-san." Immediately Sakura snatched at it, opening the scroll and reading it before Ino could.
"Gah!" Sakura muttered. "Still can't read Naruto-san's handwriting." After puzzling over the message a moment she glanced up at Shino with a raised eyebrow. "Really? How many? Who?"
All Shino did was shake his head slightly. Sakura rolled her eyes and threw up her hands; Ino took the opportunity to grab the scroll from her and read it over herself. Matthew considered getting up to read it as well, but Ino was reading partially aloud so it didn't appear to be necessary.
"...compensating... worldwide conflict... gathering… talked to Gaara-kun - Naruto-san is the only person who would ever call him that - ...cut off army before it reaches Konoha... blah, blah, blah. What I get out of this is that all of the bad guy's forces from the entire world are going to be converging here soon, and that there will be some people from Leaf sent to assist." She glanced up. "You had the right question, Sakura-chan. Who's getting sent to help us?"
"You'll find out at dawn," Shino answered simply. Briefly his head shifted to glance down at Matthew, but he only glanced at him for a moment and then turned away.
"That's it?" Sakura asked. "Aren't you here to help us?"
"That is for others. I must yet work," his voice returned softly. Without pausing, he moved in between the stalks of the large mushrooms and quickly vanished into the shadows of the forest.
"Still as creepy as ever," Ino muttered. Sakura merely nodded, then sat down to think. Ino soon sat down as well. Matthew glanced at both of them, waited for a long moment, then merely shrugged. In his life, stranger things had happened.
Regarding Ino and Sakura: As much as I want to make a Greek poetry joke, I shall restrain myself and merely state that their relationship should not be misinterpreted as anything other than platonic.