A/N: Oook. I guess I ought to apologize for my totally nuts-o rant in my last posting. I hope you guys read all the way through, or at least skipped all of the craziness to the nice interlude. After writing that, I think I really understand Sasuke a lot better. Not sure about you guys, but it was hard to write that. I kept getting all choked up, especially toward the end. Hmm. This chapter...Well, we have a paranoid ANBU member, yet another instance of Konohamaru mouthing off, Sasuke getting ticked off because kids suck, a visit from Kakashi, and weapons inventory from our little red-head, Moegi. Put it all together, and what have you got? I dunno. You'll have to read it. Warnings? Um. Mild language, some off-the wall taijutsu tactics, and another non-canon character is now entering our story: Aburame Sonora. Like I said, I'm running out of names. Oh, and more OOCness than you can shake a stick at.
Legal Stuffiness: I dont' own Naruto or any of its characters. However, Sarutobi Hanmaru and Aburame Sonora are mine...
Time: 4.5 years after Sasuke's departure
Place:Konoha, Uchiha compound
Mission: Chuunin Exam training (Sasuke, Konohamaru, Moegi), babysitting Sasuke, Konohamaru, Moegi (ANBU)
Chapter 5: Hide-and-Seek and Paranoia
Early in the morning, two small figures entered the front gates of the Uchiha compound, walking casually along the street. They talked and laughed between the two of them, and occasionally, one shoved the other, causing a short fight. Hanmaru eyed them from behind his sharp-beaked mask. "Senpai," He asked as his captain approached from the north. "Do you know them?"
The man behind the fox mask nodded. "Genin on the team he's been assigned to. I suppose they're here for training." The other man was silent. He hadn't stayed alive for this long being complaisant. At a small cough from him, Naruto sighed. "Fine. Go check them out, Hanmaru." The ANBU smiled behind his mask. One couldn't be too careful, after all. It was his job to make sure people understood that. Even his captain. "Hai."
When he jumped down from a rooftop to land in front of the two genin, both instantly tensed, and drew weapons. Then they realized who they were looking at. "Oh." The boy said, "We're here to train with Sasuke-kun." Hanmaru strode over to the boy, taking hold of his chin and turning his face from side to side. After doing the same to the girl, he was satisfied that they weren't clones, replacements, or impostors of any other sort.
"Proceed." He said in his slightly nasal drawl. They moved on toward the Uchiha main house, glancing back at him a few times with odd expressions on their faces. "Damned brats." He said under his breath. When he jumped back up onto the rooftop, he reported to his captain. "They checked out."
"I told you, Hanmaru. Now stop being so freaking paranoid!" The irritation in his voice was apparent. Vaguely, he wondered when the last time the captain had slept. It didn't matter at the moment. They were going to be on two-man shifts from this point on. If he knew the captain at all, he'd want to take rest first.
"Hanmaru, I'm going to see if I can get some sleep. I'll be in the main house." Just as I thought. Well, maybe when he comes back, and it's Kotetsu's turn, he'll be a little more relaxed. He could hardly believe that he wished the man were more relaxed. There were times when he seemed almost lax. Hanmaru's motto was "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean no one's after you." He'd lived by it so far, and it had worked for him. His captain was strangely easy-going, which he'd never understand.
Sasuke sat at the kitchen table with Konohamaru and Moegi. They'd gotten up and dressed, then came over without eating breakfast. Konohamaru claimed he was too excited to eat, but both he and Moegi looked nervous. Both genin had plates of food in front of them, untouched. "You're going to need all the energy you can get, you two." Sasuke heard Naruto's voice from behind him. He turned to see the blonde ANBU, who had removed his mask and was rubbing his neck wearily. "Sasuke trains hard. You'll have to try to keep up."
Rising from the table, Sasuke approached his friend. "You look like hell, Naruto. Go and get some sleep. You can take the spare bedroom." The other man nodded gratefully and disappeared to the back of the house. When he turned back to the table, he saw Konohamaru staring openmouthed at him. "What?" He asked, a bit more coldly than he had meant to.
"You…you're being nice to Naruto-niichan. What's up with that?"
"Get over it an eat your eggs, Konohamaru. Naruto's right. I expect you two to keep up with me." He smiled, but his voice said that he didn't think they could. The boy scowled at him and began wolfing down his food. Moegi simply ate her meal more slowly, taking her time.
"Sasuke-kun, what will we be doing today?" She asked as she put her plate in the sink and sat back down.
"The first thing you two are going to do is clean up that mess from last night. You put holes in the street, and left caltrops everywhere." They groaned. "No arguments. I don't want to hear them. How about I come over to your house and start throwing jutsus around?" They didn't seem to like the sound of that. Grudgingly, they got up and went out to the front of the house. In the meantime, Sasuke went to check on Naruto. When he got to the door of the spare bedroom, he found that the man had fallen asleep in his uniform, his katana lying next to him on the bed for easy access.
He shook his head, and went to change. The clothes he'd been wearing when he returned were now clean, so he decided to wear those. He strapped his dart launchers to his arms and then tugged on his shirt. Once he'd tied the sash of his hakama pants, he slipped on his sandals, then pulled his hair into a ponytail. Surveying himself in the mirror, he was moderately satisfied with the image he presented. When he got to the front door, he found Konohamaru packing the dirt back into the re-filled holes by jumping on it vigorously. Moegi had a magnet on a string, collecting all of the caltrops, walking a grid-like pattern. Sasuke raised an eyebrow slightly. Kid's got a little bit more smarts than I thought. Now, what about you, Konohamaru?
Once they'd finished, they immediately asked about training. When they got to the backyard, Sasuke said, "Ok. First training…I've got it. We'll have a round of hide and seek."
"Huh?" The two younger genin said in unison.
"Three-way hide and seek. It's pretty challenging, actually." Konohamaru snorted. "What? Do you have something to say?" Instead of the boy saying anything, Moegi cut him off.
"It's too easy for him, Sasuke-kun. He's developed a complete concealment jutsu. Neither of us will be able to find him until he makes his presence known." Moegi's lip stuck out in a bit of a pout, indicating her jealousy at such an accomplishment.
Sasuke muttered, "I'll believe that when I see it…"
The spiky-ponytailed boy smirked. "If you insist…" Konohamaru's hands formed some of the oddest seals Sasuke had ever seen other than Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu. He seemed to melt into the grass, and then disappeared altogether. Sasuke ran his hands over the grass where the boy had been, and then activated his Sharingan. All he saw was grass. A technique to hide from the Sharingan? I wonder if it works for the Byakagun as well?
"Moegi…has he tried this around any of the Hyuuga?" Sasuke suddenly felt a sharp point between his shoulderblades. He hadn't felt the boy's chakra, heard him, or sensed any movement when he'd reappeared.
"Yes." Konohamaru said gleefully. "And they can't see me, either." Moegi was right. It was a complete concealment technique. Amazing.
"Quid pro quo, Konohamaru. I teach you guys something, and you teach me something. How's that?" He crossed his arms carefully, so that he didn't disturb the cords of the dart-launchers, and waited for the answer he hoped for. The boy seemed to think for a moment or two. He and Moegi looked at one another. Then, they both nodded vigorously. "Now, what should I teach you?"
Konohamaru's face scrunched in child-like concentration. Moegi also seemed lost in thought. The boy then said, "You already said you'd teach us the shiruken version of the Kage Bunshin. So that one doesn't count. You have to teach us something else, too."
Moegi asked quietly, "Can you teach me the Shishi Rendan?" Sasuke tapped his finger against his lips.
"I'll have to see your taijutsu first. It takes a certain level to be able to do that." His drawling voice made it clear that he didn't really believe that she had attained that level. He may have changed a lot, but there was one thing about him that would never change. Sasuke would always be one to push others. No matter if it was out of spite, or like now, when he was trying to get her mad enough to be able to fight him. Kurenai said that she was confident when sparring with her teammate, but not anyone else.
The girls eyebrow twitched slightly upward. Still quietly, she said in a tone that indicated challenge, "Should we see how I hold up?" Smirking, he nodded. She smiled broadly in a vulpine grin, and approached him almost casually. What the hell is she doing? No stance, no tension…she doesn't even have her guard up. Then, Sasuke suddenly remembered how fast Moegi had summoned up the caltrops. That was a little late, however. She moved so suddenly that it took him activating his Sharingan just in time to avoid her foot kicking him in the face.
The small girl jumped into the air, and used his shoulders as something of a vault, disappearing over his head. He whirled around to face her, but the wasn't there. She'd slid on the ground on his right side, and Sasuke again narrowly missed her attack, because she'd nearly taken out his knee. He was suddenly reminded of Rock Lee. Moegi attacked again, but this time, he was ready. He blocked her fist, and used her momentum to throw her in a hip-toss. She landed on her back, and Sasuke, still holding her hand, put his foot on her chest.
"Give up?" His tone was amused, which only incensed her further. After throwing him off of her, she attacked him, and he again deflected her attack, this time throwing her headlong into Konohamaru, who had settled onto the back porch to watch. When they'd untangled themselves from one another, Sasuke said, "Ok. That was good. Do you know why your attacks started to falter?"
Moegi didn't look at him. "Because you pissed me off!" Her voice came out as a hiss, and then she made a visible effort to calm herself. "Ok. So I got mad. You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"Well, you seem like you need to be angry to fight. That can't always happen. There will be times when you'll have to kill, and it won't always be in open battle. You get mad in battle, but if it's an assassination, getting mad could make you sloppy, you know?" Sasuke blinked. When had he started channeling Iruka? He shook himself. "I'll teach you. But you've got to teach me about those caltrops." Frowning slightly, he said, "I never really had much use for weapons summoning, but then again, something like that could come in handy. What else do you have in there?" He pointed to the scrolls holstered at her thigh. There were twelve of them, only three inches long.
Pointing to each in turn, Moegi recited from memory, "Caltrops, katana, extra shiruken, extra kunai, spear, staff, smoke bombs, flash-bangs, death-wires, and three of my own design. This one is a disguise outfit for if I need to suddenly change and mask my chakra in public. This one is…well, it's an acid geyser. Last, but not least, is my favorite…the portable hole."
"You're kidding." Both Sasuke and Konohamaru blinked, not only at the mention of something so outlandish, but also at the arsenal she had strapped to her leg.
"No fair, Moegi! You didn't tell me about that hole thing!" The young boy crossed his arms over his chest.
With a coy smile, Moegi pulled the scroll. "Do you want to see, baka?"
"Wait a minute." Sasuke put a hand on her arm. "You have all of this stuff stashed somewhere, I'll guess, since it's a summoning, but what about the hole?" He was fairly baffled by this entire 'portable hole' idea.
The girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I have the stuff. So? There's an old well in the middle of nowhere right on the edge of Sand territory. It's the same as summoning a weapon, only it's a place. The well opening just temporarily isn't there for a few minutes. It's the only one of these things that has a time limit." The corners of her mouth turned down. It was clear that she didn't like the limitations it presented. Still, it was a very interesting concept.
Konohamaru's eyes lit up. "I know! Can you teach me the Chidori?" Before the word was completely out of his mouth, Sasuke smacked him. "Itai! What was that for?"
"I'm not teaching you that, baka. It's really dangerous, even to the user. I don't use it unless I have to. You would probably kill yourself." He heard the boy call him something worse than he had before. In a dangerously quiet voice, he said, "Do you have a problem with me, kid? If you do, let's have it out right now. If you're gonna blow up at me, I'd rather have it happen now, rather than in the Forest of Death." The boy's eyes widened. "Oh. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. But now that I have, I guess I should let you know. The second part of the chuunin exams includes forty-eight hours in that forest, to complete a specified task. As I understand it, the task is different every time. When I took the exam last time, a bunch of people died." At that, Konohamaru's jaw began to tighten. "You two are my teammates. I won't let you down, but I expect the same from the two of you."
For a long moment, Sasuke thought. How would he have reacted if he were in Konohamaru's position? Honestly, I'd probably be acting worse. "I know that I can't replace Udon, Konohamaru. But if you quit being such a chibi-teme yourself, and get your head out of your ass, we'll be able to work together a whole hell of a lot easier." Sasuke leaned against the porch railing. Sighing, he pulled up his sleeve to scratch an itch under the strap of his left dart launcher. The boy's eyes widened.
"Damn. That's some hardware you've got. It looks familiar." Moegi's eyes lit up at the sight of the aparatus, and there was a small smile on her face. The girl sure liked her weapons.
"Shizune-san wears them, too. That's where I got the idea. I built this myself, and added a few modifications of my own. But that's besides the point." He pulled down his sleeve. "I really think we could use a little help. Konohamaru, do you know Hyuuga Hinata?"
"Hai. She teaches the little girls at the Academy."
"Can you go and ask her if she and her younger sister can come over? Moegi, please go over to the Aburame compound. Find Shino. If he's not available, try his cousin. She should be about your age." Sasuke thought that it would help if they had a full team to work off of, and even though Hyuuga Hiashi wasn't his greatest admirer, Hinata had enough influence with him to make him relent if she really wanted to.
"Why the Aburame? They creep me out. And Sorano's worse than Shino. She's just…super-creepy!" Moegi looked petrified. She really wasn't looking forward to going to the Aburame compound.
"They're excellent ninjas, Moegi. Just go." The two younger genin took off in separate directions, jumping over rooftops and trees. Sasuke shook his head. Why had people told him it would be like when he was on Team seven? It was nothing like that at all. For some reason, he felt like he needed guidance. He sighed. It had certainly been a long time since he felt that way. A slight noise behind him made him turn. He snorted. "Kakashi. Just the man I wanted to see."
The silver-haired jounin waved his lazy wave, and scratched his head. "I was in the neighborhood."
"Bullshit. You were watching the whole time, weren't you?" His former teacher's eye twinkled. "I might have known. So. I wanted to ask you something."
"Fire away, Sasuke." The man seemed over his initial discomfort from Sasuke's return, which was a relief.
"How did you do it? Managing us, I mean? Kids suck!" Sasuke's outburst surprised even himself. Really, how does one manage children that have abilities like those a genin gains? They've got the ability, and sometimes, the motivation to kill you in your sleep.
Laughing, Kakashi pulled out a familiar slim orange-bound book. "You have to find something that…relaxes you. Want to try?" Sasuke blushed at the mere thought of reading Icha Icha Paradise, or any of the other books by the mysterious frog-Sannin. One page was enough to make him never want to see anyone naked ever again, even himself.
"No thanks. I don't think I need those images in my head. Besides, I'm not their instructor, I'm their teammate. I just want to work well enough with them to get us through the exams safely, the outcome be damned." He really didn't care at this point if he'd be a genin for the rest of his life. He just wanted to get this over with. And he'd made up his mind: nothing was going to harm his teammates. Nothing. He watched his former sensei for a moment, as the man began leafing through the book in a distracted way.
"So where did the brats run off to so fast?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke could practically hear the man smiling.
"They went to get training partners for us." When the masked man's eyebrow rose, Sasuke said, "Hinata, Hanabi, and Shino, or his younger cousin, Sonora. I need some kind of way to test their abilities, but not against each other, or me. We need to work together, not against each other."
The other man nodded. "Not a bad idea. Too bad you guys never really came up with that kind of idea when you were younger. That would have been interesting. Especially to see you and Shino going at it." Sasuke agreed with that. Of all the people he'd fought and sparred with, he'd never fought an Aburame. He wondered what would happen if he did. Then again, he'd been surprised twice already this morning, so there really wasn't any way to know what would happen even if he'd seen some of the Abruame's abilities.
"I'm going inside. Care to join me?" Sasuke moved for the back door. Before he got there, he stopped. "Kakashi-sensei?"
"Hmn?"
"I was wondering. You remember that seal you put around Orochimaru's seal?" He hadn't turned around, but he could tell the other man's mind was working. Shifting feet behind him told him that Kakashi was approaching him, then he felt the collar of his shirt being tugged, and then there was a grunt. He knew exactly what the man had seen. The seal he'd placed there was gone. "Could you put it back?"
Kakashi said quietly behind him, "I don't think it would be a good idea."
"Why?"
"You've mostly learned to deal with it, haven't you?"
"Yes, but it would be nice if I didn't have to worry about waking up in the middle of the night having it burning like it's going to eat through my body." Sasuke absently touched the mark at the base of his neck. Anger would get him nowhere, but he couldn't help being at least a little angry—ok, really angry—at Orochimaru for marking him like that. It would have been one thing if he'd asked for it. But he hadn't. Now, he was literally scarred for life, and unless the thing faded with the Sannin's death, he'd probably never be rid of it.
"Sorry, Sasuke. Maybe after the exams, Shizune-san can figure something out. For now, you'll just have to keep your emotions even and make sure you don't need to activate that thing." Sasuke sighed. He'd been afraid that Kakashi would say something like that. He kept walking into the house, the other man following him.
Now in the kitchen, Sasuke sat at the table. The jounin sat across from him. "I had a dream last night, Kakashi." A slight twitch of his former sensei's eyebrow showed mild interest. "It was about my brother."
"This isn't where you start turning into a burning ball of Uchiha angst and talking about being an avenger, is it?" The bored tone of the older man's voice told Sasuke that he should try to keep it short if that was the case. He shook his head.
"No. I had an epiphany. I think I understand him now, Kakashi." He drew in a deep breath, stilling his mind, pushing away the fearful memories that tried to invade at the thought of his brother. He had to be strong. "He's too strong, sensei. Even he knows that. No one should ever be that strong. I think he wants me to kill him." If he'd been able to see the man's face, he was sure that he'd have found a look of utter disbelief.
"You sure about that, kid? I mean, he's nuts, alright, but he's got a pretty good sense of self-preservation." Kakashi leaned his chin on one of his hands, elbow on the table-top.
It was no use trying to explain it. "I know my brother, Kakashi." He knew he was right. The only problem was going to be actually killing his brother. He had to be strong. There had to be a way to overcome the Mangekyo Sharingan. He would find it. "Wait. How could I be so stupid?" He growled, his frustration with himself taking over. The jounin's half-lidded eye blinked, waiting for an explanation. "Do you have the Mangekyo Sharingan, sensei?"
"Hai, but I don't have full control over it, and it comes with a price."
More than one price…Sasuke thought for a moment. "Did you kill your best friend?"
"No."
"But in the family history, it says that the requirement for attaining it is killing your best friend…" Sasuke thought back to the day when he had nearly gained that variant of the Sharingan. A tight feeling began to form in his chest. Never again. He would never again contemplate killing his closest friend, the man he now thought of as his brother. Never again.
Kakashi seemed to think for a few minutes as he leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. In a very serious tone, he said, "I didn't deliberately cause the death of Uchiha Obito. He did die because of me. Before he did, he gave me a little gift…" Sasuke knew the story. He'd read the history of his cousin's death. "This brings up an interesting point, doesn't it, kid?"
"What's that?"
"Histories can be vague, can't they? I got it, even though I didn't murder him. That isn't saying that I don't have one hell of a guilt trip, though." This was apparently difficult for his sensei to talk about. He was speaking hesitantly, which was extremely rare. "Maybe, just maybe, it's all in here." His finger rested on his temple. A psychological thing?
"Does that mean that Itachi feels guilty?"
"Every man has his breaking point." When the man was silent for a moment, Sasuke began to think. It was an interesting idea to think that his brother could feel guilty for what he'd done to get the Mangekyo. But could he count on that? There was really no way to tell.
"I guess I'll have to keep it in mind." Damn. By this time, he was starting to wonder what was keeping the other two genin. They should be back by now. There was scuffling heard from the front of the house. Crap, not again. He groaned, rising from his chair and walking through the main living area to the front door. What greeted his eyes was not what he expected.
A/N: Oh, what could have surprised Sasuke? Maybe it's the Easter Bunny? Nah. Too early for that. The only thing I could possibly think that would surprise him at this point would be having Shino ask for his hand in marriage (cringe...twitch). Don't worry. I just haven't thought of anything really good yet. Ah, writer's block!