Scarlet Justice - ep. 61
"Futures, Endeavored"
[Sasuke Recovery Mission: Conclusion 2]

"What an exhausting time."

I grumble to myself as I walk through the village, feeling too drained for any sort of running or jumping. It's amazing what emotional turmoil can do to a body. Ruki did talk about it the other day; stress levels and blood pressure and brain signals, so many different things that come from your mind that directly activate different parts of you physically. A true double-edged sword. The same emotions that can drive you to illness are the same that can bring your body past its established limits.

But even thinking about those sorts of things is a bother right now. Ugh. I just want to be home already. A hot bath, warm food in my belly, the softness of my bed and some spicy novels. I want at least that much before I fly into my dreams tonight.

"He was right, though. It was definitely reckless." Yelling at the Hokage like that would be a death sentence for anyone else, but whatever. I rescued his golden boy, alive, and completed an important mission relatively cleanly. All threats neutralized, zero losses on my side, and done within three or so days. I did fantastic fucking work. Right, forget about feeling sorry for my outburst...that old man and every single one of those balding old shinobi should have been in that room, their heads lowered to the floor as I chewed them out one by one. And then I would make them lick my feet as the first part of their penance towards me.

Oh, that would be sweet indeed.

"Alas...some fantasies are too bold to come to life. A shame."

The village is just as I left it...only a few days have passed, but it felt much longer than that because of all the tension. Well, with my arm like this, I should be sticking around for a while yet. Perhaps getting reacquainted with some of my favourite places...

With my left hand, I reach for the chain in my right pocket, pull out the attached key, and open the door slowly.

"I'm home."

Luna is washing plates in the kitchen while Midori sits at the table, wearing a bathrobe as she reads a book. A hot cup of tea is next to her.

"Miss Lili! You're home, you're home! Welcome back!" Luna squeals as soon as she sees me and rushes over to wrap me in a hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you again! Your arm...what happened to it?"

"It's broken. I will need about two weeks for it to properly heal, according to Tsunade."

"How distressing. I will take care of you with all that I have, then."

"There's no need to push yourself, Luna. I'll be out and about either way, since I can still walk. Some people to talk to, possible interviews and visits...the work isn't quite done yet, as unfortunate as it is to say."

She smiles and nods. "As expected of you. No opportunities wasted when it comes to business. If that is what you want, I will follow your will. But I would be honoured if you allowed me to spoil you a little after enduring so much."

"As you wish, Luna. Thank you for that."

"I live to serve you, milady."

"Lili, welcome home. You seem like you've been through a lot," Midori says as she stands up. "Perhaps some time to rest would do you good before we talk about your adventures."

"Maybe...maybe so." I feel my cheeks heating up as I look at her. There's this sort of odd sensation...a weighty feeling that I've never experienced. At least, I think so. I go to my knees and bow before her, lowering my head.

"Lili...?"

"Ane-ue," I say with reverence. This...I remember this. Saying her name, back then. "I've returned to you. Please, forgive my appearance."

"Lili...please raise your head."

"Yes." I look up and into her golden eyes from my position on the floor. My heart is beating quickly. I can see that she's blushing the same way that I am now, and she puts a hand over her chest. I feel like I'm...in tune with her at this very moment. I feel like we're truly connected, somehow.

"You...you saw it as well, didn't you?" she asks.

"Yes. I saw it," I say quickly.

It feels like it's just the two of us right now. But I know what she's talking about. The field of heaven. Her place.

"I see. How wonderful. I...can finally share that divine connection with someone. I can finally dance with another in that place. Lili...my darling little sister..."

"Midori-nee...I...I've always..."

"Will you dance with me there? Do you want to see that place again?" she asks, trembling. There's so much happening and it's...overwhelming. But it feels good and right. It feels like I've reached the place where I'm supposed to be.

"Yes," I say. "I want to hold onto you and dance on the heavenly plains. I want to see it again...I want to play there with you, Midori-nee. It's something I dreamed of the moment I realized where I was. Something I think of at this very moment."

"I'll show you...how to get there properly. I mean, if you...don't figure it out yourself. You're really special, Lili. You keep doing these things...you keep rising higher and higher towards me, and I can't help but feel joy. But I want to meet you there. I will meet you there, I promise."

"I trust you. I love you."

The words are the same as always. That same, familiar sequence. But they feel so much different today. Like...like my consciousness is slowly fading, and I'm falling into a dream. But I don't mind as long as it's for her. This is...not just a singular feeling of love. Everything from before is rushing back, like it's our first meeting all over again. The first time we met each other, the first time we signed that contract in blood, joining us together. I always, always, always wanted to be near her, not just physically, but spiritually. And now that I've seen it, that place beyond human sight...those desires are stronger than ever before, trying to burst out of me.

"I love you." The words come from me, filled with more meaning than before. "I love you!"

"Lili..."

"Midori-nee...I love you!" I cry out. I'm suddenly on my feet, and I run over to hug her tightly with my good arm. She squeezes me back, in the way that she always did. Always making me feel warm and safe. I'm closer to my beloved sister than ever before. My first sister...the first part of my new family.

"I love you, Lili." Her voice is so soothing. "I will always love you. Thank you for reaching that place...for reaching me. Thank you so much..."

"Have you been alone all this time? I'm so sorry...I-I thought that just being here with you, that would be enough. But you wanted more than just that. You wanted so much more..."

"Oh, you're such a wonderful child," she says, sobbing. "You're so good to me, Lili. Thank you for being born."

"I love you, Midori-nee."

"I love you, Lili."

I finally pull away from her and wipe my tears. As she does the same, I give her and Luna my brightest, happiest smile.

"It's good to have you home again, Lili."

"It's good to be home. I'm so glad that I could see you both again...my precious, precious family."

Midori and Luna hold each other close as I look on. This glow between the three of us is something that I would like to bask in forever. And the proud, bright smiles from my sisters...they make me feel like I can do anything, even in this state.

"Let's spoil our Lili for the rest of the day," Midori says. "I can take care of cooking while you do what you do best, Luna. Does that sound acceptable?"

"Certainly. Miss Lili, let's get you out of those clothes and into the bath."

The rest of the day is the best time I've ever had. I'm treated just like a queen. Luna carefully helps me in the bath and makes sure my cast is dry all the while. She tends to my hair, then works her magic on my skin. I'm wrapped in a soft and fluffy bathrobe afterwards and taken to the living room, where my hands and feet are given the greatest care. And in the meantime, stories from far away lands are recited to me as I'm fed a three course meal by hand, not having to lift a finger to eat. The luxury of cool, refreshing air flows through the apartment as I'm tended to by my older sisters, who happily complete each task and make sure that I'm comfortable each and every moment.

If this never happens again, I won't mind it. This is an absolutely heavenly experience, one that most mortals would give everything for. And here I am, enjoying it at no cost. But I deserve at least this much, don't I? Acknowledged or not, I am a hero of the Leaf.

I savour the last bite of red velvet cake, and find myself supremely satisfied.

"Mm. I didn't think you two would go this far, but I'm so glad you did. Thank you for this..."

"You're very welcome, Lili," Midori says as she fans me.

"Well, in my case...you simply have to ask, you know. I could do this much for you daily," Luna points out.

"But you know I wouldn't force that on you."

"I know. You are quite interesting in that way, milady."

"Hmhm. So it seems." I yawn and smack my lips. "Goodness. It seems that the earlier fatigue is catching up with me. It's only evening..."

"You won't be doing anything else for the day, hopefully," Midori says to me.

"Nothing else for today. Perhaps not tomorrow, either..."

"You really should sleep in. Now would be a good time to start with that. Shall we head to your room, Lady Kobayashi?"

"If you could...I don't think I can move after being so spoiled," I say with a smile. Luna gently lifts me from the couch and carries me to my room. Midori pulls back the covers, and Luna deposits me as I shrug off my robe. She takes it from me and Midori puts the covers securely over me as I yawn again.

"Thank you again...you really are the best."

"Anything for you, Lili."

"Yes. We are always here for you, Miss Lili."

"I'll be here for you, too. Whenever you need me...that's what sisters are meant for," I say drowsily. "Have sweet dreams tonight...I'll be thinking of you, as always."

"Good night, my love."

"Good night, mistress."

"Good night..." I smile and close my eyes.

"Miss Lili? It's time to wake up."

I slowly open my eyes to see Luna hovering over me. It takes a moment for me to remember that I asked her to wake me up early today. This is the third day since my return to the village. A calm Saturday night, a lazy Sunday, and now today.

It's Monday. Damp and cold from the recent rain.

"I have soup warming on the stove. Whenever you're ready."

"Of course. Thank you."

She nods and leaves me alone to get ready for the day. I yawn and scratch at my head. There's still a lingering bit of exhaustion from the mission, but that's nothing unusual. My right arm isn't too much of a bother, and I work the shoulder a bit while doing my stretches. I head to the bathroom and clean up, then head back to my room and get myself dressed. Ease of movement is the most important thing, and today isn't something I need to look pretty for. Even if it was, I'm not interested in my appearance anyways. I choose something simple: a long black sweater paired with black tights. The cast is layered very neatly thanks to Tsunade, so it doesn't look like an eyesore within my sweater sleeve. Hair and makeup...unimportant. Going natural today is fine.

Luna presents me with a large bowl of soup, and I gulp it down quickly. Some hot ginseng tea afterwards, and of course, my favourite milk.

"Today will be sunny, despite current appearances. A good thing to be sure," she says while taking away my bowl.

"Mm." I drink down my milk and she takes away the glass. "You're going painting today?"

"Yes. The weather hopefully will hold, and we can have a proper session. It's been a while since I've seen the girls, as well. Midori has gone on business again."

I talked to her a bit yesterday, about the events that took place on the retrieval mission. There wasn't much talking on her end, though she was curious about the chakra mode, and what I told her of Hina's description of it. She had the same thoughts as Tsunade regarding the outcomes and the political process. There were also oblique threats to consider with her presence and other things...nothing that I could immediately understand, but would soon enough. She's aware of Kabuto and has been talking with the Jakari sisters about next steps, trying not to get too involved but considering her options at this time. It's safe to say that he's now out of the purview of the Leaf, or any of the five shinobi powers for that matter.

I wonder what made that Danzo Shimura fellow so anxious...hm.

"Things are changing in her world. I wonder if she'll have the time to train me like she keeps promising. It's not a bother if she can't do so, but...I know that it's an important thing for her, more than it might be for me. She wants to see the plains of heaven with me next to her."

"Yes, she's eager to have that happen. I know that she'll find time for you," Luna says.

"That much is true. I suppose I should get going, then." I leave the table and find a small pouch nearby, strapping it to my upper thigh. It has all of my essentials for the day. "Will you be home late, Luna?"

"Yes. Supper will be left on the warmer before I leave."

"Thank you for that. Then I will see you soon."

"Yes, milady." We share a hug before I exit the apartment, walking lightly down the stairs. This apartment is nice, but I'm still thinking about moving. Perhaps after a certain point...maybe the aforementioned training with Midori, since I would likely be away for a long enough time. It sounds convenient, but the problem is choosing a new location. That might take some time. Buildings near the Uchiha District are easily purchased, but thanks to this incident and others like it, it would put a bad taste in my mouth living around there.

I walk straight to the Academy complex and meet with my team - they're still my team right up until the moment that we collect our mission pay. Normally, it wouldn't take three days for a payout, but there are obviously things afoot because of what we were tasked with.

Shino looks as healthy as ever, and Lee is here with a pair of crutches. The surgery seems to have gone well. Shikamaru has one crutch, staying off his bad leg as instructed. Hina has gone casual, wearing a red sundress and putting her hair up in a high ponytail. She still has bandage over her left shoulder.

"Good morning, loves," I say in greeting. "The weather is quite interesting by Leaf standards, no?"

I hug Hina and we exchange air kisses, then I hug everyone else with my good arm as firmly as I can. Shikamaru gets an extra pat on the cheek, and we exchange smiles at that.

"Shall we go?" I ask.

"Yeah. Let's get this over with, Chief," Shikamaru says. "Mind if I share some thoughts after we get our hush money?"

"I'd love to hear them. Is anyone here busy?" I watch as everyone shakes their heads. "Good. I'll treat you all to some sweets, then. There's a place that Hina and I love to visit, since the cinnamon buns are lovely."

"Anything to get out of the house at this point," Shikamaru says.

"I take it your mother was displeased that you returned injured?" Shino asks.

"Somehow it was worse than that. She's been smothering the life out of me, treating me like a baby or something. If I move more than an inch in any direction she'll go off like an air horn, crying about how my leg will never heal at this rate or whatever. Damn..."

"Seems like you can't win for trying," I quip.

"It totally blows. She thinks I'm a hero or something. I don't want to be treated like that...real pain in the ass, honestly."

"Well, what isn't painful for you? The list must be short."

"I'm guessing the last few days were better for you, since you're back to bullying me already."

"They were quite nice. I was treated like a goddess upon my return home."

"Yeah, that'll do it." He sighs. "Well, time to do this. Been a pleasure working with you guys, mostly."

"And I've enjoyed working with you, Shikamaru. Hopefully we can team up in the future."

He smiles. "Just give me a call. Don't expect me to like it, though."

We make it to the Mission Assignment Desk. The Hokage smiles as he spots us, and gives me a friendly nod. I nod back and bow at the waist respectfully for him.

"The five of you are here for your mission pay, as expected. It took a while to prepare for various reasons, but I believe that you will all be satisfied with what you will receive. However," he says with a critical look, "do not be afraid to speak up if necessary."

As I thought, he didn't approve of these obvious bribes coming into our hands.

The team grabs their envelopes one by one before filing out, everyone around us none the wiser. Iruka isn't here...right, he's part of the regular forces and wouldn't know about the mission in the first place. I could talk about it to him on my own time...then again, maybe Naruto told him already. I'll figure that out soon enough.

Hina leads the way to our chosen shop for the day, and we pick out a round table to sit at. Our various injuries seem to make us stand out a little, but not in a bad way; the looks we get are sympathetic and there are respectful nods sent to us by civilians. A waitress arrives and takes our orders for drinks.

As soon as she leaves, we look at each other before simultaneously opening our secured envelopes, complete with cheques and receipts inside.

"This is correct...isn't it?" Shino asks cautiously. "Hm. This really is a bribe, then."

"How much?" I ask.

"Two and a half million ryo."

"Whoa...s-so many...zeroes!" Lee exclaims, his eyes swirling.

"Lee has two million...and I have four million here," Hina says casually. "Well, it's plenty to start a new life in the country, if I so desired. Though I suppose this has more to do with the clan than how well I did on the mission. I suspect that Father has received a substantial deposit into his accounts as well."

"I got three and a half," Shikamaru says as he sets his cheque down. "Most likely on account of my clan, too. What about you, Lili?"

"I was the team commander and carried the most responsibility, so with that in mind...they came up with this amount. Six million ryo with an extra three for mission bonuses. Must have been some formula they copied and applied to it. So that makes nine. Nine million ryo." I sigh and use the cheque to fan myself. "What the hell do I need nine million for all of a sudden...well, I shouldn't complain too loudly. Especially since I'm not handing it back to those pricks."

"Probably meant as some sort of gift, assuming they know who you are."

"I guess so. That's not a far off theory."

"I'm going to share one with Hanabi and one with Neji. That leaves two million for myself...I can put it in a spare account and pick up a card for it," Hina says. "What about you, Lili?"

"Three for Luna, she'll appreciate it. The other six will stay with me. I already have a house fund and a rainy day fund, along with my allowances. Mother and Midori-nee will have no use for it, they're already using ryo to stuff their pillows and sleep on. I'll use it to have fun, it's not much use otherwise right now."

"The lives of rich people are mysterious," Lee says. "I will buy something for Guy-sensei and Tenten! And perhaps a gift for Neji as well, though he may reject it due to coming into money soon."

"Mother will enjoy a substantial gift," Shino says. "I'll split it and start a proper fund for my own endeavours as well. Why? Because money used properly can create a greater good, instead of the evil commonly used by men."

"Mom can keep it," Shikamaru says lazily. "I'll chip off some for Choji and Ino, Asuma-sensei too. But the majority's going to her. Maybe if she can blow a bunch of cash on a getaway or spa day or whatever, she won't be such a demonic drag..."

"Slacker to the end, then," I quip at him.

"Yup. With the excuse to keep off my leg, I've got a lot more time for cloud watching with Choji. Heh, I guess I can treat him to some of those super-rare steaks he likes to talk about. Yeah, he'll love that."

"That's good to hear. You're making the most of life."

"That's the dream." He sighs. "So...I'll give you the rundown on what's been happening. Lady Tsunade handed out the condensed versions to everyone. The juicier details I got from my old man and his friends. Things aren't what they seem like on the surface."

The waitress returns with our drink orders, and we put away our bribes for the time being. I cross one leg over the other while in my chair. It seems like I will want to pay close attention to this.

"Tell me about our friend from the Hidden Sound first," I say as I sip my strawberry milk.

"Right. According to the info I got...Kabuto has been pretty cooperative overall, aside from a few sticking points. But they're releasing him to some people that the Hokage considers trustworthy. Sana Jakari and her twin sister, Sanae Jakari," Shikamaru says.

As I expected. Seems like Midori has chosen her time to move.

"They're the owners of Jakari Programming Corporation, known more widely as JPC. The Leaf has a strong partnership with them, but they're also rumoured to have connections to a powerful kingdom. Unfortunately, nobody knows what that place is, or where it might be. The arrangements were made in secret, so there aren't any details. But the Hokage made them in person, and most importantly, alone. So it had to be something really volatile, I guess."

Yes, that's definitely Midori's work. The promise to Kabuto I made earlier has been fulfilled, and he finally got to meet her. From that, I can guess that she's decided to spirit him away after all...meaning that I'll see him again at some point. From what I can glean he wasn't interested in collaborating with the Leaf much further anyways. But if there is information to be found, my sister can get it out of anyone she wants. Even if it's not exactly...ethically sound. Or safe for children to witness.

Hina orders cinnamon buns in the background as I think.

"Hm. What about Sakura and Sasuke?" I ask, knowing half of that answer already. "Things should be moving by now concerning them."

Shikamaru nods. "Yeah. Actually...my old man mentioned that you 'aired your grievances' to the Hokage in the meeting you had with him. You didn't...say anything weird, did you?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Oh...good."

"I merely cursed the old man to his face. As you do after a troubling mission, rescuing someone who once tried to choke you to death after a spar, injured your sister with a technique he was taught for the sake of the village, and made one of your precious friends cry with despair." I shrug. "I couldn't call that unusual."

"Fucking hell," Shikamaru says, rubbing his forehead. "I refuse to accept you're human at this point..."

"You should accept that much. If I had ascended past my humanity, it would have been a lot worse."

He cycles through a few different facial expressions before slowly shrugging. "You know, you're right about that, now that I think about it some more. Could have been a lot worse. That's life."

"You're learning. Very good."

"Yeah, well...I'm good with not knowing what exactly you said in there. It's a damn drag knowing what I know as is, but...yeah. Anyways, our favourite cross country explorers. Confusing stuff, but ultimately satisfying, I'd say. Let's start with the fairer half. She's not getting hit with anything bad in view of the public, you know what with the whole 'heroic effort' cover story. Lady Tsunade, though. She's been putting Sakura to work as her apprentice."

"A moment, please...an apprentice?" Hina asks, incredulous. "Her? That traitor? An apprentice to the world's greatest medic? How and why?"

"A coordinated effort," I say as I sip at my milk again. "And it's not what you think, Hina."

"Yep," Shikamaru says with a nod. "It's the sort of thing that would make you wish for a prison cell. This sort of apprenticeship isn't a badge of honour, far from it. Sakura's been put through the ringer since around Saturday, non stop work. Harsh physical training, high intensity studies with loads of written reports, and then medical application. You've got your surgeries, your autopsies in the morgue, basic treatments, the works. So she's been dealing with dead bodies and watching surgeries in real time, like right up there in close. Only two things she's provided are a large bottle of water and a bucket."

"A bucket?" Lee asks. "Whatever for?"

"That's where she throws her guts up into," Shikamaru says. "My old man says she empties her stomach until she can't anymore and walks home crying. Tsunade is making that girl see the worst things with no option to run away. Man..." He scratches at his head. "I give her a week from now tops before she just breaks..."

"And becomes a tool. Which as far as I'm concerned is fair for her," I say. "It's something cruel if you think about it enough. It's also well deserved for that useless bitch."

"Sheesh."

"I see. So she's getting what was coming to her. Well done, Lady Tsunade," Hina says. "It seems that justice has not been completely discarded."

"Does Lord Hokage approve of this?" Lee asks, worried.

"Ah, reluctantly," Shikamaru says with a wry smile. "Sakura will still be part of Team Seven and report for missions in the future, but she's also designated for missions with other teams as part of the Medic Corps. All other times she's with Lady Tsunade and Miss Shizune. And where Sasuke's concerned...he's set to have his major surgery at the end of the week, and then all of his time will be spent recovering. He'll be back with his squad as soon as he gets back to full health. Kakashi will be keeping a strict eye on him along with ANBU."

"I'm sure Kakashi is groaning at the prospect," I say.

"Who wouldn't. My dad said this much...Lord Hokage initially wanted to set an example and put them into prison for a while. Just to drive home the seriousness of the things they did. He handed down an order from the top that made sure those two wouldn't be designated as missing-nin once he found out they left. Of course, that wouldn't erase the problems that would crop up if they made it across the border, and it meant that the village would have been on the hook for any trouble they did cause in foreign nations, but it was a way of protecting them from the absolute worst scenarios. It also meant that the retrieval team could be created in the first place."

"Very interesting. But even at that point, anything could have happened."

"He was hoping to get you on the draw first, and then wanted it so that you volunteered for the mission instead of it being forced. This gets important later on, when we had to decide what ultimately happened with Sasuke," he says before taking a sip of his iced tea. "So if we ended up killing him, there's nothing that anyone could do about it. The cover story would change a bit, but he did end up leaving the village and that meant that things would be out of anyone's control. But he came back alive, so that changed the calculus. Sasuke's...pretty valuable to the village. He's not given any direct special treatment for a lot of reasons, but losing him and all the opportunities he provides would be a big blow to the village. There's also the diaspora to consider."

"More missing-nin problems, I assume."

"The Uchiha weren't averse to skipping town, even if their clan was involved in the Leaf's founding. A bunch of them have scattered to different places, and a few have had children that also manifested the Sharingan. I wouldn't know where exactly those kids are, but they're out there. Part of why losing track of Sasuke made the higher-ups so nervous. Because of that, there was a big alliance between senior shinobi and the pols to override the Hokage's moderate position on sentencing. Instead of any punishment it was ground down to nothing, which wasn't what he wanted. At the same time, if he pushed for something substantial, he would have to join hands with the hardliners, who wanted stuff like prison time, hard labour, and execution. Sasuke's lineage was irrelevant to them, and they saw true justice as punishing everyone who broke the rules equally."

It's a terrible place to be. And no doubt fuelled by the meddling of people like Danzo Shimura. I know that the Hokage could not kill Sasuke because of all the things that had happened before. It would make the village much weaker and in a short amount of time.

"I still don't understand what the endgame is here," Shino says. "Letting him free is one thing, but he still might have his ambitions flare up so that he leaves the village again. What happens then?"

"There's a definite answer for that," Shikamaru responds. "A system in place that will involve three people of this village: Lili, Naruto, and Erika. It's only the Hokage that has the actual details on this, but if I had to guess...even he doesn't have infinite mercy, and it might just be a flat out assassination if he steps the wrong way again. I don't know enough to make detailed comments. It's an extreme sounding thing, but it's not like he has anywhere else to go now. The Hidden Sound and all of its bases are confirmed to be destroyed. Erika on her mission with Gaara recovered two people, and Kakashi one person...they're apparently unique characters that would provide solid value to the village, and are cooperative enough. Lady Tsunade is set to examine them so she can figure out if they can give her more data about the cursed seal, for Sasuke's sake mostly. Also, Uncle Choza said something interesting that I agree with..."

"He might be thinking that they can provide some sort of positive influence for Sasuke, and perhaps in the other direction as well," I say.

"Yeah, exactly. My old man was talking about it, too. Me...meh. I don't think it'll work, but I'm willing to eat my words if Sasuke stops being anything besides a dumbass," Shikamaru says with a shrug. "There's also Danzo to consider, he seemed pretty interested in Sasuke's well-being which isn't a good sign. I think he'll try to groom him, ultimately. Almost too perfect."

"At this point, we'll have to rely on Naruto to pull him out of the darkness," I say. "That's why I brought him back. I'm no good with trash like that..."

"Yeah. Real pain in the ass." He sighs. "At any rate, it's gonna be at least a few months before Sasuke can return to any sort of fighting shape. No doubt he'll be simmering in his trademark anger, but there's not much we can do about that. Either someone reaches him in time, or he gets tempted to the dark side, again. And if Danzo gets his hooks in him, he's not a problem that we can just erase like Orochimaru."

"Unfortunate." I think for a moment. "By the way, has Naruto...?"

"Lady Tsunade said he hasn't gone to the hospital at all. Kakashi said he hasn't left his house since...Friday, I think. Sakura went up to see him and he didn't respond at all. I wonder if he's just depressed, or waiting for something..."

"Yes, I see." I take a long sip of strawberry milk and go into thought again. Sasuke is in limbo...I really wonder what I should do. Or rather, what I should say. Things have clearly changed.

The mission to save him physically has ended, but this battle for his soul is going to be trouble on its own. And it's not going to be a passing issue I can solve in three weeks while my body heals. I need to figure what I can do...this will take some time. Even if I don't like him, I meant what I said many times before. He is a valued member of the village. I can't let him disappear into darkness and do nothing about it.

Our desserts arrive. I share a cinnamon bun with Hina and enjoy another delicious glass of milk. The rest of our meeting is spent sharing lighter stories; Hina has gained a fair bit of respect for her performance within Hyuuga, Lee is crying over the praise he got from Guy, Shikamaru was his lazy self over the past few days and Shino was fussed over by his mother. He's also gained a fair bit of status in his clan, with an entourage that he has no idea what to do with. I'll have to help with that at some point.

It's still morning after all of that time talking, but we decide to part ways and go back to resting properly. Shikamaru will obviously be at home, Shino will be training a bit with his father as he's recovered nicely since the mission ended. Hina is going to check on Naruto. Lee chirps about training, but I scold him along with Hina for even considering it. Shino agrees to escort him directly to Guy, in order to prevent any shenanigans from occurring. We exchange hugs one last time and give out our farewells...and with that, the Sasuke Recovery team is officially disbanded.

The day isn't over yet, though. I have a few things that I want to take care of...it's been a few days since I've returned, and there's no sense in putting them off any longer. My first stop will be the hospital. I really want to see how Ino is doing.