Chapter 53
"Failure does not mean the end of the world. Usually, anyway. Sometimes it might, but lucky for us, those kinds of scenarios are VERY rare and typically only apply to people in strong positions of power."
Two reports sat on the Hokage's desk, each one containing a different piece of the same story. He arched an eyebrow as he studied the files, puffing lightly on his pipe as his eyes slowly slid upwards. Shikamaru, Sakura, Sasuke and Masaru stood at ready attention across from him, all four looking tenser than usual after delivering their verbal debrief.
"I must say, this report certainly exceeds my expectations," he commented wryly, and Shikamaru nodded tightly.
"The appearance of Senju Tsunade and the masked man threw us off," he explained, trying to sound dull and unaffected like usual, but the others could detect a note of tension in his voice. "We didn't react appropriately, and allowed our emotions to get the better of us, ultimately ending in the mission's failure."
Next to him Sakura shuffled awkwardly, frowning. "It's... it's my fault, mostly," she declared, looking thoroughly ashamed with herself. "My report goes into detail on why, s-so... Don't blame Shikamaru too much." The others frowned at her claim, eying her warily. Thus far Sakura had avoided expanding on why she felt so responsible, leaving the reasoning to their imaginations, but they were at least able to piece together some sort of connection to Yuzu based on her minor meltdown.
Sasuke inhaled deeply, visibly steeling himself before speaking. "We all screwed up," he said bluntly. "We made multiple mistakes over the course of the mission." His voice took on a strained edge, as if it took immense effort and willpower to even admit that much.
The Hokage just regarded them in silent contemplation, eyes sliding to the last team member. "Do you have any input, Masaru-kun?" he asked, and the boy winced before sighing.
"I... lost my cool and attacked without thinking," he admitted reluctantly. "I let the enemy's words get to me, and... I could have hurt myself if he hadn't stopped me." He shrunk back as he spoke, ducking his head in a fair mixture of shame, guilt and embarrassment. The Hokage just nodded, removing his pipe from his lips and leaning forward with a sharp gleam in his eyes.
"This mission may have failed, but these are some of the most extraordinary circumstances for a 'failure' I've ever seen," he informed them bluntly. "While you all made many mistakes, many of your decisions also showed careful consideration and planning despite everything that occurred. All of you are young, and the situation took multiple turns that I expect would have thrown off even more seasoned chuunin and jounin. With that in mind, I cannot fault you for the final outcome."
The group nodded, some of the tension gradually seeping from their shoulders. This mission marked the first time any of them had actually failed a mission, so hearing the Hokage say that reassured them somewhat. "With that said," he continued, leaning back, "I want you all to prepare detailed reports on the events of the mission—particularly the final night—so I suggest you use that as an opportunity to reflect on what you did wrong. You'll have the next week off from active duty, so I suggest you use that time accordingly. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," the group chorused, faces firming with resolve, and he smiled with a satisfied dip of his head.
"Good. I believe that should suffice for now. Sakura-chan, please remain behind, I'd like to hear the rest of your report in private. Everyone else may leave."
The group nodded and filed out of the office, leaving a stiff and rigid Sakura alone to face the Hokage. As they headed down the stairs Masaru heaved a large sigh, shoulders slumping tiredly. "That," he muttered, "was the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever done. I was expecting to get lectured about responsibility or something."
"We'll probably get an earful from our teachers later," Shikamaru sighed, and then grimaced as he added, "Though I'm more worried about my family than Asuma-sensei. Man, my mom's gonna flip when she hears what happened..."
Masaru winced in sympathy, while Sasuke remained unmoved by the complaint. "I don't think Kakashi's even in the village right now," he commented. "He's been on missions nonstop since the invasion because of the shortage."
"Yeah, Tenzo-sensei's been busy too," Masaru agreed with a nod. "I only saw him once after I got discharged, I think he's back on full rotation now." He had some very specific suspicions about what his teacher had been busy with, but he felt it wise not to share them. Mokuton gave his teacher some very specific abilities, abilities which he didn't think he should go around talking about.
Shikamaru, however, side-eyed him anyway. "Tenzo-sensei?" he repeated. "So what, was Gaku a codename?" Masaru looked at him in surprise, not sure if he should be more concerned or impressed that Shikamaru had picked up on that. He'd forgotten that most of the Rookie Ten wouldn't know about the Tenzo/Gaku name thing.
"Uh, yeah. It's, really complicated and semi-classified, so we're not supposed to call him Tenzo outside the village. But how'd you figure it out so fast?"
"My dad's jounin commander, and Ino's dad is head of T&I," Shikamaru replied with a lazy shrug. "I can think of a couple people who'd visit with new names each time." Masaru hummed, easily accepting the answer. No matter how hard a person might try to keep work and home life separate, some positions just didn't allow for a perfectly clean break between the two. Shinobi had a full-time responsibility to their village after all; even after retirement there would always be a chance of getting called back into action. The invasion had been a perfect example of that.
At this point Sasuke grunted and shoved his hands in his pockets, breaking his thoughts. "Tch, whatever. We're done here, so I'm going back to the apartment to grab lunch and head to the training grounds."
"Yeah, I should get home too," Shikamaru sighed. "Better to just get it over with, I guess. I should probably get down everything about that guy while the memory's kind of fresh."
"Didn't you spend the last two days doing that?" Masaru deadpanned. Lazy as he tended to be, the close encounter with the masked man had clearly disturbed Shikamaru enough to devote all of his thoughts to it. Every time they'd stopped for a break he'd take out the report sheets and just scribble down notes with a frustrated expression, eventually having to pull blank pages from a notebook after running out of room.
"They'll want as much information as possible," he countered with a shrug. "That's probably why he asked Sakura to stay behind." Both Uchiha frowned at that. Sakura had been much the same as Shikamaru, constantly hovering over reports when they had downtime during the return trip, though she'd looked more upset and shaken than the Nara. Whenever they tried to look over her shoulder she'd jerk away and hide the papers from view. Everything about her reactions screamed guilt, but none of them felt particularly inclined to press her on what she felt guilty about.
Sasuke scowled, turning his head away. "Tch. Guess I should work on that too."
"I think I'll just take a walk," Masaru decided quietly. "Just... it's been a rough few days, I need to unwind a bit." He also didn't want to spend any excessive time with Sasuke at the moment. While things had cooled down between them, he thought they both needed some time alone to process... well, everything.
The others just grunted in agreement, accepting his words at face value. After that none of them bothered with the usual pleasantries, each heading their own way. Masaru didn't make it far though before Shikamaru called out, "Hey, Masaru." Surprised, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder curiously to find the Nara eying him, a strange glint in his eye. "You're a lot different from what I expected."
The comment earned a surprised blink from the brunet, Masaru's brow furrowing as he turned to face the other boy. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Back in the academy you were always quiet and just kinda sad," Shikamaru responded with a shrug. "And then when we took that joint D-rank, you were pretty much moping and awkward the whole time when Ino wasn't bothering you. I didn't peg you to be so sarcastic or have such a dry sense of humor."
Masaru blinked and turned away slowly, his expression more thoughtful now as he considered it. Shikamaru was right. Back during the academy Masaru almost never spoke, always preferring to remain silent and keep to himself, and even after graduating he tended to be one of the more quiet rookies. "I guess it's because I'm more used to you now?" he finally said with a shrug. "I'm mostly awkward around strangers. Do I really seem that different though...?"
"Just a bit," Shikamaru confirmed with a nod. "Keep it up. Suits you better than moping all the time." With that he turned and walked away, leaving Masaru to stare after him. After a long moment the Uchiha slowly turned and resumed walking, a faint sense of contentment filling him as he smiled. Looks like he might have made a new friend.
Walking through the streets of Konoha proved to be more therapeutic than expected. All of the rubble left by the invasion had finally been cleared during their absence, leaving the streets feeling a bit cleaner than before. Reconstruction still waged around him, carpenters buzzing around half-finished buildings and other genin helping carry tools, but it felt alive again. Less sad and empty, more alive and vibrant.
Konoha had nearly fallen in the invasion, but it had emerged stronger than ever.
Really, it would probably be a lot more inspiring if not for the ongoing construction. As he neared one particularly noisy site he winced slightly, the banging ringing painfully in his ears—namely, his right one. The deaf one. Sometimes Masaru forgot about the more annoying parts of sudden partial deafness. Everything sounded imbalanced and his deaf ear would ring occasionally, as if trying to fill in the gap for the sound it should be hearing.
Grimacing, he altered his path away from it and steered into an alley while carefully adjusting the flow of chakra to his right ear. His other senses seemed to fade as he focused purely on the circulation of chakra there, the world darkening as the muscles and tissue tingled with the constantly shifting flow.
"...absolutely disgraceful." A voice drifted into his attention from his left, the words low and only faintly audible in the distance. Even so he could pick up the harsh scolding tone, quiet but with that strong air of authority that instantly made his stomach churn. He couldn't hear everything said, the construction and ringing drowning out most of the words, but he could pick up enough.
"Just yesterday... heiress... shameful to admit... the entire time?"
"I-I-I... I-I-I..." Masaru tensed as he heard the quiet whisper, barely audible over all the other noise, but even so he recognized the soft tones. Hinata? Frowning, he tried to ignore everything else as he strained to listen closer, catching a quiet, high-pitched noise that after a second he identified as a sob. "I-I'm s-s-sorry. P-p-please, I-I'm n-not t-trying to—t-to—"
"Enough," the old man cut in icily. "Your stutter is just further evidence of my point. You are a disgrace to the Main House. It has been over a month, we have let your little 'episode' last long enough. It is time for you to return home so we can deal with your behavior—properly."
"I-I..." Hinata made another high-pitched sound, her soft sobs drifting around the corner. As Masaru listened he felt his fists clench, the world flickering red for a brief second before he squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them again he turned and peered around the corner, his teeth clenched tightly.
A stern-looking old man towered above Hinata, wrinkles giving his face a severe edge and his white eyes icy in their coldness. In comparison Hinata looked tiny and fragile, her eyes red around the edges and swollen with tears as her shoulders shook. Her cheeks looked pale and shined with tears, yet at the same time they seemed just slightly more sunken in than he remembered.
The man's gaze slid to the side, landing on Masaru. Masaru said nothing, just met the man's eyes briefly with a cold look of his own before stepping into sight and walking past them. Hinata jumped in surprise, her eyes wide, but Masaru made a point not to look at her as he continued on on his way. Only after he turned another corner and they vanished from sight did he stop, shoving his hands over his ears and squeezing his eyes shut with a grimace. The noise had started to get to him again, the pounding of hammers ringing and his right ear tingling as it tried to fill in the gap for the sound it should be hearing.
A small nudge on his ankle brought him back to reality, and he peeked open one eye to peer downwards to meet a familiar golden eye.
"Masahige?" he whispered, voice barely audible even to himself. The feline's lone eye squinted up at him, and then with a flick of his ear he rose and trotted away, his thin, coarse-haired tail brushing against Masaru's leg briefly. The contact sent a small jolt through him, and almost as if in a trance he turned to follow.
Masahige led him away from the street, the noises of construction soon fading behind him. The ringing in his gradually faded with distance, and by the time they stopped in another alleyway Masaru felt much better. "Thanks," he sighed, and the feline nodded once.
"You were gone for a long time," he commented, lone eye narrowing warily, and Masaru smiled wanly as he offered a half-hearted shrug.
"I had a mission."
"I see." The cat's chest rumbled a bit, and then he sat on his haunches and reached his nose for the pouch strapped to his side. "While you were gone you got a letter." He carefully pulled out an envelope, his grip on it loose so his teeth wouldn't break the paper, and Masaru blinked before carefully taking it. The handwriting on it was unfamiliar and a bit childish, but his eyes lit up as he realized who it must be from.
"Is this from Fu?" he asked. "I thought this would be sent to the Hokage's office!" The deal with Shibuki had been that they'd address the letters to each village's administration offices, sending them with the normal business correspondence. Hidden villages had plenty of secrets to hide, so naturally both villages had strict procedures about contacting foreign shinobi to make sure nothing sensitive would be sent.
"It was inspected by the intelligence office, if that's what you mean," Masahige interjected, one ear flicking lazily. Turning it over, Masaru saw the envelope had indeed been opened and resealed at some point. "From what I know they made a copy of the letter for records-keeping, and they expect you to give them your reply to forward. Originally they planned to give it to you after you returned, but I asked to deliver it to you myself."
"Thanks, Masahige." Masaru smiled warmly at the ninneko, bending down to scratch behind his ear when it flicked again. A content gleam shined in his eye, tilting his head to lean into Masaru's hand briefly.
"You look rather pleased today, Masaru-kun," a voice commented behind him, and Masaru perked up, recognizing the voice instantly. Sure enough, when he turned around he found none other than Sai standing behind him, a satchel loaded with painting supplies slung over his shoulder.
His eyes lit up at the sight of the other boy, standing straight while slipping the envelope into his kunai pouch. "Sai!" he greeted enthusiastically. "It's been too long!" The other boy blinked once, mildly surprised by the sudden burst of energy.
"It has only been two weeks, has it not?" he said after a beat, sounding slightly puzzled. "Is that a long time?" Masaru laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I guess not that long. Sorry, just a bit excited I guess." He and Sai had only met a few times since their first encounter, but so far he found the other boy's demeanor refreshing. Overly blunt and a bit naïve, he seemed to be even more oblivious to social norms than Masaru. Still, the two had struck up a good rapport and spent plenty of time discussing their sadly uncommon shared interest: art.
"Ah." Sai nodded, his gaze sliding to the cat behind him. "I did not know you knew any ninneko."
"Oh, right. Sai, this is Masahige," Masaru quickly introduced. "He's one of my mom's old ninneko summons."
"And he's still here?" Sai looked very curious now, and the feline huffed, his chest puffing out.
"Not all summons live in another dimension, brat. I have no reason to stay away from Konoha just because my former partner died." He rose at that point, his rough tail pointed high as he turned around. "I've finished my business so I'll be taking my leave now. Be careful, boy."
"I always am," Masaru replied with a long-suffering smile, and watched the cat gracefully leap onto a trashcan and then the rooftop before disappearing. Feeling content, he turned to face Sai once more, rocking on his feet. "What are you up to? Off to paint something new?"
"I was on my way to the art store, actually," Sai replied. "I wanted to pick up some colored ink paints to experiment after our last conversation." Masaru perked up at the news, flashing an excited grin.
"Really? Great! I was hoping you would. I'm really curious what your paintings will look like with actual colors involved."
"It will certainly require some adjustment. I've used only black ink for a long time now. Would you like to come? I'd like your input on what colors to get."
"Maybe. I was thinking of picking up some more pencils and a better eraser..." Since meeting Sai he'd started trying his hand at drawing, and while his skills paled in comparison to the dark-haired boy or his mother, he did find it fun.
"We could have another art lesson afterwards," Sai offered. As he spoke he... well, at this point Masaru had determined the expression he made was, in fact, meant to be a smile, but it still didn't really feel like one. Something about it felt off, a bit too hollow to be one. Either way though, Masaru had come to recognize the gesture as a positive one and he hummed in thought.
"Well, I'd have to go back home to grab my sketchbook..." He trailed off, a familiar voice catching his attention. Turning his head slightly, he spied a flash of orange disappear around a nearby corner, and felt his smile change to something softer as he turned back to his friend. "Actually, I'm sorry, but I just remembered I have something else to do. Maybe we can go later? I have the week off, so I should have time."
"Alright," Sai responded, nonplussed by the refusal. "I'll see you around, then."
"See you," Masaru replied, and then took off after the flash of orange. Sliding around the corner, he perked up as he confirmed his suspicions and saw Naruto walking down the street, talking to an unfamiliar little boy with brown hair and a long blue scarf.
"I'm telling you Konohamaru, ramen's the way to go!" the blond berated his companion loudly.
"But Boss, we have ramen for lunch almost every day!" the boy—apparently Konohamaru—complained. "And we had it for dinner three times, too!"
"Would've been every day if your mom let me," Naruto grumbled.
"Bosssss! Come on, even you've gotta have limits!" Masaru silently snickered as the smaller boy whined in dismay, creeping up behind the pair.
"Trying to rebuild your ramen cup armchair?" he whispered into Naruto's ear, and grinned as the blond leaped away with a startled scream.
"GAH! WHAT THE HELL!?" Spinning to face him in shock, his eyes practically bulged in surprise as he blurted, "MASARU!?" While he boggled Masaru in surprise, a small blur zoomed past him straight for Masaru.
"Stay away from Boss!" Konohamaru yelled, charging with what probably equated to a battle cry. The Uchiha watched the boy rush at him for about two seconds before calmly stepping to the side at the last second, causing the boy to fumble past him and tumble to the ground with an 'oof'.
"Dodging is a thing," he commented casually, smiling pleasantly at the child. Konohamaru grumbled as he got to his feet, whirling around to face him with an angry scowl.
"Shut up!" he shouted, preparing to charge again. Before he could though Naruto quickly got between them, waving his arms.
"Stop! Stop! Masaru's a friend—ack!" He yelped as Konohamaru ran right into him, causing them both to tumble to the ground. As they groaned Masaru just watched with that same pleasant smile in place.
"Hey Naruto," he greeted with a cheery wave. "It's been a while, huh?" The blond just stared at him sourly from beneath Konohamaru, thoroughly unimpressed.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you," he grumbled, and Masaru's grin grew a bit wider. Sneaking up on Naruto turned out to be even more entertaining than he thought. Konohamaru, however, did not seem as amused, as he leaped off the orange-clad genin to glare at Masaru, pointing at him accusingly while yelling.
"You did that on purpose!"
"You mean dodge?" Masaru asked innocently. "Yeah. I'm a ninja, why wouldn't I dodge?" Only then did he notice the green goggles Konohamaru wore, causing him to perk up and glance at Naruto. "Hey, those look kinda like the goggles you used to wear."
"Oh, right! Uh, just a sec, ow." Naruto rubbed his arm as he got up, a bit sore from being knocked down. "Yeesh, that ground's hard... Anyways, Masaru, this is Konohamaru, my subordinate!" He beamed proudly at Masaru and Konohamaru quickly imitated the grin, though he looked a bit more smug.
"That's right! I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru, future sixth Hokage! Right after Boss!" Sixth Hokage? Masaru's eyes darted briefly towards a proud Naruto. Something told him that Naruto probably wouldn't be able to be the Fifth Hokage, since the Third would probably want to retire before that. Or alternatively, he might die of old age.
...Probably better not to mention that last part in front of a child from the Third Hokage's clan.
"Nice to meet you," he replied politely, and then turned to Naruto. "But seriously, it's been a while."
"Haha, yeah, it has," Naruto agreed with a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry if you missed me the last few days. I got a super-cool important mission outside the village!" His voice took on a smug note, clearly preening for praise and awe-filled exclamations, while Konohamaru bounced over to stand next to him with his arms folded over his chest.
"Yeah, Boss ran a B-rank!" he declared proudly. "Bet you can't say that!" Masaru just blinked at them.
"Oh, so that's why you didn't go on the mission with us," he realized aloud, and Naruto nearly fell in his shock.
"Wait, wait, wait, what!? What mission!?"
"I got sent on a mission with Sasuke, Sakura and Shikamaru to get something from a merchant caravan. We just got back, like, an hour ago." Naruto just gawked at him while Konohamaru scowled once more.
"Yeah, well, so what!" the small boy snapped. "I bet it wasn't anywhere as cool and dangerous as Boss's mission! He had to help take a bunch of evil Sand ninja out of the village and make sure they didn't turn back and attack us again!"
"H-hey, they're not all evil!" Naruto protested. "Gaara's actually pretty cool now that he's—uh." He stopped short, shooting Masaru a panicked look as he remembered his presence. "A-actually, maybe we should talk about that later..." Masaru looked at him for a moment, tilting his head. From the sounds of it, Naruto had apparently befriended Gaara at some point. Which... sort of uncomfortable and worrisome, but really wasn't that odd for Naruto.
"So you had to escort the Sand ninja?" he asked curiously, and Naruto relaxed a bit before nodding.
"Ah, yeah. I'm not really, uh, supposed to say much about it though. Top secret and all that, y'know?"
"That's cool," Masaru responded with a shrug. "I guess it was a success then."
"Yep! What about you guys? And what was Shikamaru doing there? I mean, I get why you'd go, but, he has his own team!"
"It was sort of a test run for him to lead missions, I guess? I mean, now that he's chuunin he won't be working... with..." Masaru trailed off as Naruto's face suddenly turned blank, staring at him almost vacantly. "...Um... Naruto? Are you okay?"
"...Chuunin?" the blond whispered. "Shikamaru got promoted?"
"Did... did you not know?"
Naruto just stared at him in silence, which Masaru took to mean, 'No, I did not know about my former classmate's promotion.' When the silence stretched on a few moments longer than hoped, he shifted and asked warily, "Are you—"
"WHAT THE HELL! WHY'D HE GET PROMOTED AND NOT ME!?"
Masaru and Konohamaru both jumped at the sudden outburst, and judging from a startled shout nearby they weren't the only ones caught by surprise. "He got promoted already!? Come on! He didn't even get to finish his fight! If anyone should've been promoted, it should've been me! I totally stopped Gaara and saved Konoha!"
"Wasn't he technically stopped by that seal array?" Masaru deadpanned, and Naruto cringed, some of the color draining from his face.
"Uh... r-right," he muttered, looking suddenly a bit queasy. "Y-yeah, I guess so..." Masaru frowned, unsettled by the sudden shift. Naruto could go from hyper to disappointed in a heartbeat, but usually he didn't look so... drained. Even Konohamaru was looking at him worriedly, worry clear in his face.
"Boss? Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, y-yeah!" Naruto said quickly, smiling sheepishly. "It's nothing, really!" He laughed loudly and forcibly while Masaru's eyes narrowed. Liar. It was definitely NOT nothing, something was bothering him. He didn't like seeing Naruto upset, that sort of forced smile didn't belong on his face.
"Maybe you're just hungry?" he suggested casually, and Naruto instantly perked up, his smile becoming more genuine.
"Yeah, totally! C'mon, let's go to Ichiraku's!"
"Boss, no!" Konohamaru whined. "We go there all the time! Can't we go somewhere else for once?"
"No way!" Naruto protested with a scowl. "Ichiraku's is the best place EVER!"
"Konohamaru's right," Masaru deadpanned. "You need more variety in your diet than just ramen." The look of shock and hurt on Naruto's face was admittedly hilarious.
"You, too, Masaru?" he whispered, sounding absolutely betrayed. Masaru just grabbed his wrist and started dragging him away, pointedly heading in the opposite direction of Ichiraku's.
"Come on, there's a stir fry place nearby that's pretty good. I'll buy."
"Stir fry?" Naruto yelped. "But that's, like, mostly vegetables and stuff! Come on, at least pick a barbecue place!"
"Hey, I'm coming too!" Konohamaru hollered, chasing after them. As the unlikely trio headed down the street they failed to notice Sai watching from atop a nearby rooftop, humming in thought as he pulled out a small scroll and brush.
'Target shows interest in jinchuuriki. More observation required to determine if interest is benign or hides ulterior motives.' He slipped the notebook back into the satchel and dropped to the street to follow, keeping well out of sight.
Sakura sighed as she exited the administration building, squinting against the harsh sunlight. Her debriefing with the Hokage had extended for more than a full hour, relocating to a private conference room so that Inoichi and Shikamaru's dad could listen in too. They'd wanted as many details on the masked man as possible, and while talking about it had been nerve-wracking she'd somehow managed to answer all their questions about her encounter.
Then the questioning had turned to her time with Tsunade, which had been more casual and gentle than the clinical interrogation she'd endured before. No, Sakura did not know if Tsunade would ever return to Konoha willingly. No, she couldn't say if Tsunade seemed happy with her life, she found Sakura too annoying to act natural. Yes, she still had Shizune. Yes, she still had that red bracelet, and why would they want to know about that?
Needless to say, Sakura had received less answers than she'd given.
Still, a few of her questions did get answered. Naruto wouldn't leave the village for another external mission anytime soon (nor would the rest of the rookies after this fiasco), and Kakashi-sensei would return from his own mission within two days. Two days until all of Team Seven would be in the village. Two days to prepare to tell them.
"Dammit, I don't want to do this," she moaned, rubbing at her eyes with the heels of her palms. She didn't want to deal with how her team would react, no amount of preparation would be enough. She could already imagine Naruto's heartbroken look, Sasuke's dark scowl and Kakashi's... well, she didn't know how he'd react. She'd tested the waters during the trip back by asking Masaru how he thought Kakashi would react once he found out what had happened during the mission.
His response hadn't been encouraging.
"He's going to invade either our apartment or your house," Masaru deadpanned instantly, catching her by surprise. When she looked at him inquisitively he shrugged and elaborated, "I'm not sure who he'll fuss over more. Our apartment would be easier to infiltrate since there aren't any adults to complain, but you had the worse experience and will probably trigger more of his defensive instincts. It could go either way."
"You sound like you've put a lot of thought into this," she commented, a bit off-put by the speediness of his response, and Masaru leveled her with an unimpressed look.
"Do you know how bad he was during the second phase? I came home one night and found him making dinner. He lectured me on not stocking up on more varieties of food." Sakura paused, glancing at him quizzically.
"Can... Can he cook?" she asked hesitantly, and Masaru shrugged.
"Kind of? He got the rice fine but burnt the vegetables for the side, and he only half-cooked the trout. I think he's used to ration bars and take out, and forgot how to cook actual food."
"That... lines up with our mission. He roasted a rabbit on the way back from Wave, he overdid it and burnt the skin."
"...If he shows up to our apartment with a burnt rabbit corpse, I'm moving out."
"Where would you go? There's a housing shortage right now so you don't have many options."
"Sensei can build me a house," Masaru replied dryly, and Sakura opened her mouth but then paused as she considered the logic of that. Mokuton had its perks.
In the present she sighed and pinched the skin between her eyes. "Maybe it's good he's not here right now," she muttered to herself, and sighed again as she resumed her walk home. She half-expected to get intercepted by someone on her way there, but surprisingly no orange loudmouths or blond best friends popped out to grab her. She didn't know if she should be happy or disappointed she reached her house without trouble.
Sucking in a breath, she opened the door and stepped inside. "Mom? Dad? I'm home."
"Sakura!" Her father's joyous yell sounded from the living room, followed by a loud thud that made her wince.
"Dammit, Kizashi, that's the third time this week!" she heard her mother scold. Sakura pulled off her sandals and made her way over to find her father on the floor next to the couch, her mother standing next to him with a look of fond exasperation. "Really, what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I should go give my little girl a hug," Kizashi moaned pitifully, and Sakura felt her mouth quirk into a smile despite the sharp pang of grief in her chest. Adjusting to her dad having one leg was still so hard, but at least he hadn't let it impact his sense of humor. Her parents were both so strong, to still be able to banter like that even now.
She wanted to be that strong too.
She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Mom, dad, I have something to tell you."
Well this was a messy chapter. Lots of stuff happening here in a short time, all setting up for the next major arc. Not much to say.
Thanks to the reviewers as usual: Elise142, BloodRaven46 (honestly there could have been one in canon, just never seen), xXSpades231Xx (Thanks! 1. a very good question, which I cannot answer because spoilers, and 2. I'm not even sure anymore, "Uchiha Masaru" just sounded good), reebajee (very good speculation~) and May525 (have I not covered the drink? I thought I left some major hints, but I may have cut it out. Either way, its purpose will be made VERY clear when the time comes).
See you next week!
