Chapter 24: Another day

"So you've heard what happened I see." Shikamaru folded his arms and closed his eyes morbidly. The silence about the Uchiha living room held the same morbidness as Shikamaru's tone. Naruto and Sasuke sat about with an awaiting stillness, not saying anything for a considerable amount of time. "Have any of you seen him?"

Naruto shook his head, his eyes still downcast. "No."

No one had seen a trace of Konohamaru since yesterday, but that didn't inhibit them from finding out what happened. The news had got around fairly well despite the power being out and phone lines being out of service, Konohamaru's grandfather was dead, not much news on Konohamaru save he was alive. And no one knew where he was.

"You guys must be worried." Shikamaru commented. "To be up this early." 7 am to be exact.

"What about you?" Naruto said. "I've never seen you awake before 11."

Shikamaru lifted his hands in surrender and dropped the subject, he didn't feel like expending the energy on it.

"Remember what happened when his parents died?" Lee sat down on the ground and let his hands fall in his lap, a small shutter pushed it's way through him from the chill in the air. The house was in bad shape, that went without saying, most of the holes had been temporarily patched and everything was waiting for repair. And though the hole's were covered heat still escaped and cold air still slipped in somehow. "He came here...He said he wanted to get away from all of those people. I was hoping...that he'd be here this time too. I really worried about him, losing all those people in such a short time."

"..." Sasuke didn't say anything, he just sat there and stared at the wall, thinking. There wasn't really much to think about, Konohamaru was alive, he took some solace in that, he just had to see him for himself.

Naruto laid his head on the back of the sofa and glanced through a half upside down vision at Shikamaru. "What about you?"

"Huh? What about me?"

"You said something about your arm yesterday."

"Oh..." Shikamaru slowly unfolded his arms and lifted his left one, his eyes rolled over it as if it was new or unfamiliar to him. 'This arm...' "It changed yesterday..."

"Changed? Didn't you say it hurt?" Naruto asked.

"Yes I did, whenever I tried to use my Chakra...but..." Shikamaru strained his eyes thoughtfully, rotating his arm, searching for something that would be somehow new about it. "But when I fought yesterday it didn't." It felt somewhat like something had snapped and the pressure that made his arm feel like it would burst open was relieved. Another thing he'd have to figure out, like why this was happening to him in the first place. "In fact it was completely different."

"Too bad you guys ran off." Lee said, a little bit more light hearted. "It was very cool."

"Wow!" Naruto turned around and climbed on his knees on the sofa. "Show it to me me!"

"Eh?" Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow upward, then just shook his head and looked away. "I don't even know what it is exactly."

"Lets figure it out then!"

"It's too early."

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Kisame didn't know what time it was when the sound of shifting awoken him, the sound hadn't even registered with him and a simple word came to mind, Saturday. Kisame slept in on Saturdays, Itachi was allowed to wake him up as early as he wanted on any other day, but not on Saturdays. "..?" Kisame yawned softly and lifted his hand to his half matted hair, going through a host of other inane motions before his eyes peeked open.

'Huh?' Kisame let out a soft, sleepy groan and sat up, finding himself in the same position in the bed, in nothing but his boxers as he'd been last night, minus one Itachi. 'What time is it...' Kisame rolled back the black covers and pushed his legs over the side of the bed, his eyes shifted over to the door. And there he was, a half lost Konohamaru peaking his head through the half open door.

And as soon as he saw his face he felt a perfectly average Saturday fading, he didn't say anything, he couldn't seem too. They just stared at each other... "You gonna stand out there all day?" Kisame finally muttered. Konohamaru pushed open the door and stood there, his eyes unfocused and half lidded, his body stiff and half rigged.

'Damn...' Kisame leaned forward, his arms resting in his lap and his expression just as firm as ever. "Geez Kid, when's the last time you slept? You look like hell." Kisame never was one for conversation, all ways blunt.

A small sniffle erupted from Konohamaru, his shoulders began to shake, but even so he just clinched his fist. He felt weak, that much he couldn't deny it anymore, after being on his feet so long he couldn't... ".." Konohamaru took hard, slow steps towards the bed, willing himself to keep going as long as he could. Those few steps from the door to his destination seemed to take forever, each one just made him wish he'd be able to make the next. Until finally all strength left his legs like a receding tide and they gave way. "Uhhaaaa..." He fell forward on to the bed, his body hanging halfway off of it. "I...I can't move." He said, his voice almost broke as he spoke, a sob forced his volume to raise mid-sentence but he managed to repress, it was like forcing back a gag reflex.

"Huh?" Kisame glanced over at the clock resting on the nightstand sitting on the opposite side of his bed. 7:45, and the light of the sun was just barely peaking through the window, lightly illuminating the dim room in the shadows of closed blinds. "Why are you here so early?" Why would Konohamaru be here this early after what had just happened... "Geez, what time did you wake up?"

"I didn't...go to sleep." Konohamaru slumped weakly to his knees beside Kisame and held on tightly to the covers to keep from falling completely, but the hold was fleeting, his hands felt just as weak as his legs and what little strength resided there was fading. Why couldn't he move? Damnit why couldn't he move?

Kisame just watched him, trying to put this together. "What did you do last night?"

Konohamaru suddenly felt a nervousness , a fear of falling, a fear that if he slipped to the ground he wouldn't be able to get back up. "I don't know..." Konohamaru grunted, repressing another sob that rose up in him like vomit. He tred to pull himself up, at the lest he tred his hardest to keep from falling, but his hands were slipping, slowly un curling from the tight fist that held the covers. "I just took a walk and I ended up here."

'?' Kisame reached down and grabbed Konohamaru by his collar and pulled him up on to the bed almost roughly. Konohamaru reached up and grabbed Kisame's leg as soon as his body was completely on the surface, hugging it desperately. He didn't fall, Kisame had caught him... "You didn't go to sleep last night?" Kisame usually would have yelled at him for doing something like that and showing up here like this. But not after he'd seen him yesterday. That must have been the reason Konohamaru couldn't get up.

"Are...you ok?"

"He's dead." Konohamaru said simply, he attempted to push himself up on to his knees, but he couldn't call on the strength to do so. He felt just like he did yesterday, and he shuttered at the thought of himself covered in his grandfather's blood and unable to move... "He's dead."

Kisame rested his hand on Konohamaru's head, he couldn't find the words again, he felt embarrassed to do just this simple action. An infamous criminal like himself trying to console a kid, the thought was almost laughable even to him.

"That bastard... " Konohamaru's voice was shaky and tired, his eyes so blurry that he couldn't see clearly anymore. He sounded weak and pitiful, he wanted to scream but his body was to weak to allow his voice to do even that. "He killed my Grandfather, he killed my parents, he killed Ebisu, he took Sasuke from me...That bastard. " Tears came to his eyes despite his best efforts to hold them back, his throat grew painful and choked up with the tears held in him.

"It's alright kid." Kisame said, feeling a bit awkward for even letting Konohamaru hang on him like this. But he just forced himself through it, he could do this, just for Konohamaru. "It's ok.." But what was he suppose to say to him? What could he say to him?

"..." Konohamaru tried to speak but a loud cry finally forced it self out of his mouth in the place of his words. Tears spilled freely, rolling down his cheek as sobs forced themselves out. The boy buried his face into Kisame's leg and cried for the second time.

'Konohamaru...' Kisame rubbed the boy's back and rested his hand on the boy's head, he'd let him cry, he almost wanted him to cry in fact, it was better then the alternative of repression. Konohamaru tended to become...unwell at best when he did that.

! - ! - !

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Zabuza opened his eyes, and inanely his vision focused on the ceiling. It was almost customary of him, when he woke up he never moved, he never made a sound, his breathing never even changed, he just opened his eyes and stared upward until his mind became fully aware again. A habit that had caught Kakashi off guard on several occasions.

Kakashi was different, he was quiet compared to most, loud compared to Zabuza. He always shifted around a little, on days when he had a really pleasant sleep and woke up to a really nice morning he yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Zabuza took notice of it and had to get use to sharing a bed with someone who moved apposed to just himself.

He liked the changed, Kakashi was always warm, and it felt good to hold a body. And a satisfaction came about when he thought about who he was holding. Such a satisfaction came about today as he held the bomb squad member who's back was resting against his chest and head was press under his chin, Zabuza's arm draped over his shoulders.

Kakashi shifted under the embrace, under the blanket covering both of them. His mouth slowly opened and a yawn drifted through, slowly stretching his arm above his head with the satisfying loosening of stiff muscles. Finally with a few blinks he opened his eyes half way and smiled inwardly, "Warm..."

"Are you alright?" The deep voice of Zabuza came down from above, sudden enough to almost make Kakashi flinch.

"Yeah." Most of all he was warm, he appreciated warmth and sleep more then ever after yesterday. He'd never wanted to sleep more in his life, but on the other hand he never had hypothermia. "Thank you."

Zabuza looked down at Kakashi, it was just something about those words that felt new, enough to make him blush and look away. "It was nothing."

"I'll bet" Kakashi rolled over and brought himself face to face with Zabuza, a sleepy grin crossing his face when he looked down at the other man. "So, how can I repay you?"

Zabuza smirked, resting one arm behind his head as he looked up at the other man. "Take a wild guess."

Kakashi's grin grew wider as he lent down and pressed their lips together in a soft kiss, he could make the first move, just this once.

! - ! - !

! - ! - !

"Shikamaru please." Sasuke dropped his head in frustration and annoyance, he was even surprised himself that his patience held out this long. "Just show him, so he can shut up." It had been a while, though shorter then it seemed, Naruto didn't seem to want to give up asking Shikamaru to show him.

Shikamaru sighed, 'Yeah...he's just like him.' "Fine, I'll show you." Shikamaru said in defeat, he'd never get any peace if he didn't. 'This is so troublesome...' He'd just think of it as an experimental run, just to test it out... Shikamaru dragged himself to the center of the room, taking short glances around, Naruto sat anticipation on the sofa in front of him, Lee sat beside him with a small admiration about him as he watched. And Sasuke just in a chair nearby, looking on with interest.

He'd do it, if not for any other reason but for peace. Shikamaru clasped his hands together, extending two fingers on his left had and an expression of skilful concentration coming to his face. His Chakra flared up in a flash and like a flame a black aura enveloped his body.

"Whoa..." Naruto smiled as he looked on in amazement, leaning forward slightly. "That is so cool!"

Shikamaru had to admit, he did like that expression he saw on Naruto's face when he did things like this. 'Geez, what a place.' he couldn't help but have an odd thought such as that when he looked down and saw simply black streaking across his left arm like coming shadows from fading light. Maybe it was because he was nervous about it that his mind wondered...

"So." Naruto pushed himself off of the sofa and walked over to Shikamaru, his eyes bright and filled with the darkness illuminating from Shikamaru. "What does it feel like?"

"...Nothing." Shikamaru held the pitch black arm up and twisted it around, looking over it scrutinizingly. "I don't feel it at all...I feel something different entirely."

Naruto softly ran his finger over Shikamaru's arm, it was like gell..."What do you feel?"

"That." He pointed to Naruto's shadow, "And that." Then he pointed to a patch of darkness beneath the couch, "I feel all of it."

Sasuke seemed to take a little more interest when he said that. "If you can feel them, can you do anything with them?"

Shikamaru nodded, he'd done it before, how hard could it be now? Shikamaru closed his eyes and focused on Naruto's shadow, it amazed him how easy it was, as simple as moving a finger. Naruto's shadow stretched out surrealy across the ground, then pulled away from him completely,circling around him like an ominous figure submerged below the depths of a large body of water.

"That is so cool!" Naruto dropped to his knees and watched his shadow, attempting to stick his finger into it just incase it had grown some substance during Shikamaru's technique.

Shikamaru let his hands fall to his side and Naruto's shadow returned to it's rightful place, he had to figure out how this worked. "Satisfied?"

Naruto nodded like a child who'd just got a piece of candy.

'Hmm...' Lee, though interested in Shikamaru's new found powers, had been drawn away by an urge of his own. It was a feeling of slight oppression, almost like a very faint nausea, something he wouldn't have felt if he wasn't paying attention to himself. It drew him into the dining room, across the long table and right in front of the half patched hole in the wall. And there it was, the source of this feeling, it was something as simple as a plant.

A house plant, a ficus maybe, it was hard to tell since it was sagging and brown, dead and half frozen. "..." Lee's expression dropped slightly when he saw it... "It must have froze..." He said to himself, but... Lee dug his fingers into the potting soil and closed his eyes, the soil was still alright. He wasn't sure of what he was trying to do by messing around with it. He just felt this connection, something like Shikamaru with the darkness only it wasn't like a body part, it was more of a mental one, he felt it with his mind, his blood, his Chakra, and is heart.

'I...I can feel it...' He could feel it's death, he could feel the absence of life in this plant. And what he did next just felt right, if he could make his sapling grow, then maybe...

A green aura surrounded the dead plant and it began to shake lightly, then the brown, crinkled leaves began to fall off, sheading the dead cells to reveal small buds underneath. Then the plant began to grow at an extreme rate, the sagging body rising up and taking shape until it firm and new, completely alive again. Lee slipped his fingers out of the soil with a smile at his work, he could hardly believe it worked.He could not only make plants grow, he could make them live.

"That's an amazing skill."

Lee nearly flinched when he heard Sasuke's calm voice behind him, he looked over his shoulder and rubbed his head with a smile. "Thank you."

Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning forward to take a closer look at the revived plant. "So, does it work on people too?"

"I don't know, I never tried it." Lee looked up thoughtfully. "I should try."

! - ! - !

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Iruka leaned forward and peered out of the window, thankful that it wasn't an impassible blizzard anymore. The storm had left behind at lest 3 feet of snow, something he wasn't looking forward to driving in. "I guess my day off is canceled." Iruka sighed, pushing himself away from the window.

"It won't be so bad." Asuma laid across his bed, reluctant to move or even to open his eyes with the hopes he'd get some last remanence of rest before he was forced to leave his home.

"Really?" Iruka rubbed the back of his head and paced around slightly. "I don't want to repeat this story over and over, and the paperwork, just think of the forms."

"At the very least we'll get to hear from everyone else, maybe we can piece this together." Asuma pointed out, "And who knows, we'll get to find out what happened to Konohamaru."

"Yeah." Iruka lifted his hand to his mouth and yawned, if he ever needed coffee... "If it won't be so bad then why won't you get up?"

! - ! - !

! - ! - !

Itachi knew Kisame slept in on Saturdays, no matter what, though he was surprised that he didn't smell the scents of food when he walked through the door of his ceremoniously normal hide out. He wasn't sure Kisame was even here. Everything was just the way he'd left it at the early hours of the morning when he'd first went out to report back to Akatsuki. Kisame was suppose to come with him, but Kisame didn't seem to care about any reprimand for his lack of attendance and went back to sleep.

Just like he always did on Saturdays.

Itachi would have continued to think he was gone had he not seen the wet footprints leading upstairs. "Konohamaru..." He didn't expect Konohamaru to sneak off here so soon.

He curiously followed the small prints up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom door. "Hmm..." He smiled with amusement at the sight.

Kisame was asleep like always, and Konohamaru was here just as he'd thought, though the positioning was quite curious. Kisame slept contently under the covers with Konohamaru wrapped in his arms held closely to his chest, he'd probably never admit he was doing this while he was conscious.

With that in mind he'd allow them both to sleep.

! - ! - !

! - ! - !

"For god's sake kid why the hell are you still here?" Kisame didn't bother to look back, he knew who it was. Kisame sat on a stool at a table at the basement, one covered in boxes and rounds of different caliber ammunition, and something that seemed completely out of place, a steel container smoking with mist from the half open lid. It wasn't so strange considering what Kisame's specialty was.

Konohamaru stood in the door way, leaning almost weakly against the frame, his eyes fixed on Kisame's back. "You and Itachi are just alike..." Konohamaru said almost disappointedly, his shoulder was pressed against the wall and his arms hung down limply, there was definitely a slower pace to his voice, completely sober, not holding the life it always did.

Kisame held up a small cap between his large fingers, slipping a needle attached to a nozzle with a hose connected to the steel container into the cap. With a single squirt he filled the cap and set the nozzle down, then skillfully connected the cap to a 9mm round. "He told you to get out too huh?" Kisame set the round aside picked up another cap.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"Making bullets..." Konohamaru dropped his eyes to the white tiles of the floor, he felt cloudy, detached, like he was watching himself from the outside. Maybe it was because he cried for a longer time then he could recant, maybe he didn't have anything left anymore. Well, it was better then to keep crying in front of Kisame, he was the last person he wanted to see him cry. Maybe he could stand Itachi, Itachi never said anything, but Kisame did. "Kisame...can you train me some more?"

Kisame sighed in annoyance, any other time he would have had no problem saying no and kicking Konohamaru out. But Konohamaru seemed lost today, anybody who just wondered around all night in 3 feet snow until he was too weak to move anymore, who knew what he'd do now. Speaking of weak... "Have you even eaten?"

"I'm not hungry." Konohamaru shrugged, in fact he was actually feeling nauseous. Every time he thought of yesterday, or anything pertaining to his grandfather, or his parents, or even Ebisu. His mind went to one thing, their blood, the feel of it on his body, even the taste of it. How Orochimaru... "!" Konohamaru flinched and clasped his hand over his mouth, feeling a sharp spasm of whatever was inside of him threatening to come back out.

'Damn he screwed you up...' Kisame set down the materials he worked with and stood up. "What are you thinking about?" He stood over Konohamaru knowingly, the same annoyance clear in his voice. That reaction didn't come out of nowhere, he'd just spent the last few hours with Konohamaru, he knew it came from some thought.

Konohamaru let his hand fall to his stomach and took a deep breath to stifle it's unease, "Nothing." He replied systematically.

"Ki-"

"Nothing." Konohamaru repeated even firmer.

"Don't give me that crap." Kisame nearly shouted. "If nothing's wrong then you can eat."

"I'm not hungry." Konohamaru said again, some emotion returning to his voice.

After 24 hours without food, of course Konohamaru would normally be hungry, Kisame had seen the full extent of his appetite. "It's always something...Kisame mumbled to himself. "What the hell are you thinking about that's got you about to throw up all over my goddamn floor?"

"Nothing damnit nothing!" Konohamaru yelled, he didn't want to think about it! Not even for Kisame's sake, he wasn't going to think about it and he surely wasn't going to repeat it! If he had to do that, he was sure he'd lose it.