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Day 22 Prompt: Sprezzatura (Italian)
"To master something with ease, nonchalance, genius."
Two nights later, Sasuke woke violently from a deep sleep. With flailing limbs, he sat upright, gasping for air.
Sasuke was an idiot. An absolute imbecile. A gigantic moron. He needed Naruto to come and punch the stupid out of Sasuke's big stupid head.
All the Hyuga were wearing headbands. At the festival. Every single one of them.
He wished he was flexible enough to kick his own ass.
Izumi had been right, as usual.
He could not believe he realized it only now. Tsunade would kick his ass for being such an idiot. In fact, she might when he woke her up in the middle of the night. Cursing, he launched himself out of bed and towards the closet to get his medical kit and flak jacket.
His angry muttering followed him through the apartment as he quickly went through an abbreviated version of his morning routine. He sneered at himself as he brushed his teeth and pointed angrily at his reflection.
This whole time, he bent over backwards to convince himself that the Hyuga could not be experimenting on their seal. How could a staid, traditional clan ever dream of changing the status quo so dramatically?
Sasuke harshly spit out the foam from his mouth and rinsed roughly.
At the festival all the Hyuga had worn clothing covering their fucking foreheads. Even Hinata. Even Hanabi. Even Hiashi.
Even Hiashi.
Sasuke pulled on his pants like they personally offended him, then needed to pause to adjust because, ouch. Socks, shirt, sweater, flak jacket.
He did not need to double check his flak jacket. He kept two fully stocked and ready to go. But he needed to stop calling himself names for a minute to focus on his next task. Opening his med kit, he pulled out his laminated checklist and quickly cross referenced all the items in the pack with the list and double checked the expiration dates.
Good to go.
He stuffed his med kit in his pack, strapped the pack to his body, made sure everything was off in his apartment, and jumped out the window.
The dialogue with himself continued. This whole time, Hinata had a hard time being sealed. Her eye strain came from her pathways fighting against the constriction of a seal holding her Byakugan in check. If they did not fix it, she could have been blinded. His healing sessions had only delayed the inevitable.
Sasuke huffed out a breath as he landed on a roof.
They must have revised the seal, if her eyes were suddenly strong enough to go on a mission. Or he healed her so effectively, they thought she was in the clear when she was not.
But that was not the worst part. The worst part was the Lightning spy. Somehow, they knew. They knew and were trying to get a set of Hyuga eyes before everyone sealed themselves.
He needed to get to her. He needed to help her.
Sasuke landed in the Uchiha compound right underneath Itachi's window. He picked up a pebble and launched it at the glass.
A few seconds passed and Izumi stuck her head out. "What!" she bleated, sounding like a mountain goat.
"I need Itachi," Sasuke said. He shifted in place. He could not stand still.
She groaned. Her head disappeared only to be replaced by a groggy looking Itachi.
"Sasuke?" Itachi yawned.
"The Lightning spy. Did every team he attack have a Hyuga on it? Because I personally healed two Hyuga on different teams who had been attacked." Sasuke held up two fingers.
Itachi immediately looked more awake. "Shit," Itachi said.
"I'm betting the only Hyuga out of the village right now is Hinata."
"Shit!" Itachi exclaimed. He moved out of the window and a light came on. "Get Shisui!" he called.
Sasuke did not waste any time.
A short while later, Itachi met up with Sasuke in Shisui's kitchen. Shisui double checked his bag as his mother forced caffeine pills on them.
"I already sent a message to the Hokage," Itachi said. He sounded breathless, but not a hair was out of place.
Sasuke nodded, tapping his foot impatiently.
Auntie looked at him, paused, then said: "You don't need any more caffeine," before offering the last pill to Itachi.
Itachi accepted it with a silent nod. When she turned her back to them, he handed it to Sasuke who tucked it into a pocket. They did not need a caffeine crash right now.
"Okay. Ready!" Shisui announced, shouldering his own pack.
His mother zipped up one of the bulging pockets. "Ready," she confirmed.
"Bye Auntie," Sasuke said before Body Flickering out of her kitchen.
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Tsunade glowered at them with bloodshot eyes while Itachi quickly explained the situation. She must have called Kakashi, because he too, turned up mission ready.
"Yo," he said, raising a hand.
"Why is he coming?" Shisui asked, not unkindly.
"Because if something happens to the seal, he'll know how to fix it," she growled.
Kakashi's visible eye crinkled up into a smile. "And I know where it is."
The Uchiha men paused.
Sasuke groaned. Of course, it was not on her forehead. The images of her drinking tepid tea and only accepting cold foods flashed in his mind quickly.
"It's in her mouth, isn't it?"
Kakashi pointed at him. "Ding ding!"
"Should we bring a Hyuga?" Itachi asked.
"Neji would tear the attacker from limb to limb and I really want him captured alive," Tsunade sighed.
"Noted," said Shisui.
The Hokage addressed Shizune. "Do we have a Hyuga jonin who wouldn't come unhinged?"
"Hyuga Ko?" Shizune volunteered.
Sasuke paced. They needed to leave now. His chakra pooled at the base of his throat like it was going to crawl out his mouth and nostrils and go by itself.
"Can we leave already?" he groused.
"Yes," Tsunade said. "We'll send them after you. Keep me updated. Stay safe."
With a sigh of relief, Sasuke shot out the window.
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When writing the report later, Sasuke could not really recall the trip. His heartbeat drummed too fast, his mind blocked out the sight of the trees blurring, his legs fell into the rhythm of jumping from tree to tree.
Itachi would catch his pack, and they would stop to take a quick snack and water break. Then, as soon as he was allowed, he would take off once again.
It took three days to get to the Fire Nation Capital at a normal, sedate pace. Two and a half days had passed already. With any luck, Team 8 was already in the Capital. If so, they would be safe there, and Sasuke would only have to be an escort.
Sasuke paused suddenly, feeling something in the air. The late afternoon sun lay heavy over the trees, sending out rays of orange-gold light filtering through the leaves. The other men stopped on the tree branch next to him. The forest lay quiet except for the breeze whistling past.
"Sasuke?" Shisui asked quietly.
Sasuke did not dare move a muscle. He blinked and looked down at his chest.
A large, iridescent beetle sat on his flak jacket. He held up his hand next to it and it lumbered its way onto his knuckles. Sasuke brought it to his face. Honestly, Sasuke could not tell one beetle from another, but he recognized the small wisp of chakra clinging to it.
"Take me to them," he said.
The beetle rubbed its legs together to make a strumming sound, then deployed its wings. Quick as a flash, it propelled itself forward. Sasuke instantly followed, his comrades not far behind.
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