...
A/N: I'm back! And I haven't updated this story in almost two weeks! To make it up to you, I wrote a lengthy chapter three (relatively, to my estimate, gahaha)
Just the pairs adjusting to some marital situations...also a writing challenge to myself after guzzling half a bottle of wine. I'm not an alcoholic. I swear haha
Chapter Three (Night One): Living Conditions Pt. 1
...
Passing by the great lake of with a wooden dock stood their apartment complex. It used to be the Uchiha District, but after the grueling massacre and the departure of the sole survivor the piece of land hand been put into good use and revamped as the Tamaya District. The quad-building's exterior was like a pearl against the late afternoon sun. Four towers, each of fifteen storeys, are connected by a series of bridges leading onto the building adjacent or across them. The series of apartment complexes was the sandaime Hokage's new solution to the growing population of massacre that occured within this piece of land was but a long-gone repressed memory in the psyche of the villagers and shinobi.
At the office, Shizune wondered why Tsunade would place them in such an area. "Ano, Tsunade-sama. Why would you place their assignment in the Tamaya District? That place is too familiar. Wouldn't it remind Naruto and Sakura of Sasuke?" Busy reading reports, the Hokage did not look at her as she answered "It's the least occupied district in terms of population. In case the remaining Akatsuki members try to retrieve them or the reincarnated members themselves cause trouble, we can more easily contain the situation in that area." True enough, it was common knowledge within their village that the Uchiha land is cursed. So instead they built the complex, cheapened the rent and now most of those who live there are immigrants looking for cheap rent and the occasional outcasts of neighboring shinobi and non-shinobi villages. "It's not exactly a kid-friendly neighborhood, I know. But then those runts are not exactly kids," Tsunade continued "And as long as we are still in the dark regarding this forbidden technique used, I can't have them mingling with our citizens just yet."
Shizune pondered this and asked "I really don't know. I've watched them earlier. They seemed so normal...nobody would have guessed they were Akatsuki." The pig squeaked in her arms. "They are still Akatsuki," the blonde corrected "It would be best to keep that in mind. Granted, they're cuter and less lethal...it doesn't mean we can let our guard down." The assistant couldn't help but agree and wonder what kind of mother she would've been. Perhaps strict? Uncle Dan, if he were alive, would have been at wit's end just to pacify someone like her. She traced the dust gathering at the edge of the office's window "There's one more thing bothering me, Tsunade-sama."
"Go on, Shizune." the godaime encouraged as she signed the first file.
Shizune doesn't really know how to explain it without implying anything "I was part of the team who inspected the apartment complexes and...well...there was something about the-"
...
Bed.
Shino. Lee. Tenten. Hinata. Ino. Sakura. The remaining six who chose to head straight for the complex were greeted with the sight of a two-bedroom apartment - with specific sleeping furniture. The smaller room was obviously dedicated to the sleeping toddlers. One could have only guessed that it was so by the looks of the bed available. It was far too small to comfortably fit a human being of their size. Other than that it was plain, save for the barest essentials: a window, a low table with chair and a small cabinet without clothing. Almost everyone felt bad that their kids had to sleep at such an environment so they planned to decorate.
They were about to unpack their stuff in the master bedroom when they realized that the bed in it was not divided into two singles but rather merged into a queen-sized whole. It was easy anyway. When their partners had arrived they'll just decide who gets to sleep on the couch...there was no couch.
Tenten's face could not be even more disgusted as she imagines her mission partner a.) destroying the supporting feet of the bed with his weight; b.) breaking the bed in half with his weight; c.) shoving her to the floor with his width or; d.) effectively flatten her like a steamroller the moment he turns in his sleep.
"C-calm down. H-hinata! Snap out of i-it!" She slapped her cheeks to avoid thinking of her walking in on Naruto-kun, whose sleepwear consists of a very flimsy orange yukata that exposes his thighs and the middle of his chest. Naruto-kun was pensively staring at the window, moonlight basking in the glory of the silk clinging to the sculpt of his body. He turned to Hinata, his eyes half-lidded "There's my wife." He spoke, spurring a languid smirk on his face that made the color of Hinata's face send tomatoes to shame. "I've been waiting..." His voice was so deep, relaxed, and smooth as caramel sauce being poured. He pat the vacant half of the bed and hummed "Won't you come warm my bed, Hinata-chan?" Back in reality Hinata sniffled away her nosebleed and ran to the opposite corner of the house in embarrassment. Still fragments of her imagination followed her with Naruto whispering in haste "Oh where are you going Mrs. Uzumaki?"
Ino, like her daily outfits, was purple in the face. "I'd be sleeping beside that...Inuzuka?!" She imagined. For a girl who grew up tending flowers beauty and scent really, really matters. "Good thing I came prepared!" Thus, the all-natural parabens free hypoallergenic Yamanaka bath essentials, including a fist-sized bleach-slash-anti-flea soap for Akamaru and a can of lavender aerosol. Since she couldn't find anything that literally helps a human-fish hybrid smell like less of a sashimi she settled for a citrus shower gel and a cucumber-scented loofah. From experience it best rids of the funk underneath her nails whenever she prepares fish. "Damn, Sakura will kill me." She mentally berated herself, remembering billboard forehead had told her that sharks were mammals.
Sakura only packed the bare essentials, such as a pair of clothes that she can use for a week and launder over the weekends, her books, medicine, weapons and hygiene kit. The pink-haired kunoichi was nervous for she had never lived with Neji-san before. Come to think of it, she had never even lived with a guy! She was an only child and her parents had always kept her independent,
respected her privacy. And now, she was faced with a queen-sized bed. There was a sense of satisfaction thinking that the rest, especially Ino-pig, would mentally if not physically freak out at the sight of such living condition which includes the missing couch. But no, not Sakura. "Hmm," she mused with a hand on her waist "Knowing Neji-san, he'll probably insist on lying on the floor." She should have reminded him to bring his futon since the blankets and mattresses were somehow just enough to bottleneck them into the option of sleeping with-err-beside each other. She shook her head, sighed and headed to the kitchen "Mataku, Tsunade-sama..."
And upon witnessing the present left on top of the counter "MATAKU, TSUNADE-SAMAAAA!"
...
Tsunade set her pen down and began cackling. "AHAHAHAHAHA!" She wiped the tears on her eyes while Shizune seemed constipated from her antic "Tsunade-sama! What was that arrangement for anyway?" She came down from her laughing fit and replied "Remember the time I got so pissed off at the news of those Akatsuki brats being rounded up by out ANBU?" Shizune nodded. The pig squelched. "Yes. You went out to get sake. I couldn't stop you." Tsunade sheepishly grinned "Well, you know what I'm like when I'm...intoxicated." Shizune rolled her eyes at this and said "You were slurring. You could barely keep your spit in your mouth and you hurled at the sidewalk on the way back! I had to drag you here!" Tsunade looked sideways, trying to remember if that really happened. She shrugged "Anyway, what I remember was waking up on my desk, having a pounding hangover and thinking what the hell I'm going to do with them." She pushed back on her chair, lifted up her feet and rubbed one of her toes. Shizune gaped, horrified at her sudden lack of manners. "Can you imagine how bad it felt when I had to sort through files and files of registered ninja while at the same time try to think of the best way to handle such a problem through a horrible migraine?"
"Nobody told you to drink yourself to a blackout and now you blame everyone for your headache." Shizune mumbled. This earned a scowl from Tsunade "And where was my faithful assistant...offering dango to Kakashi?" The woman became flustered at the mention of the silver-haired jounin. "Tsunade-sama! You're getting off the point. You have to tell me why! The main question was why did you make such arrangements in the first place!" Tsunade took off her foot from the table and leaned onto the table instead, feigning sleepiness. "I was just curious."
For Shizune, this is just getting more and more convoluted "What exactly do you mean?" The Hokage sighed "They say that raising children, regardless if they were former murderers, pillagers and terrorists, bring people together. I wanted to test that theory. How true it is." Shizune's mouth dropped again "W-w-what?! That's the reason for making everyone in this mission suffer?!" she exclaimed, each word uttered in disbelief. The Fifth scowled at her again "I'm not making them suffer. They're not gonna do what they don't want to do." She bent to the side, opened the topmost drawer and pulled out the folder for the mission "Besides, to test my theory I was careful to partner up those who have rarely been partnered with each other before." She shuffled the ninja registration IDs and the profiles.
"For example, Ino and Kiba. Despite being chuunin, I have never seen a stain or a crinkle on the Yamanaka's shirt before. And her fingernails are always neatly filed and clear-polished. A pimple would freak her out. Kiba however, spent his chicken pox days rolling in the mud with his dog. Even when he was genin and he was just helping oldies with their groceries he'd come to the office looking like he was a fugitive running for his life. He doesn't really mind showering for days and one time I even caught him catching fleas from his hair and eating them." Shizune had to admit that was pretty disgusting. "I wonder how they'll handle their newfound marital life."
...
Not well, of course.
The sound of barking announced their arrival and there was a loud pounding on the apartment door. Ino gasped as her spoon fell into the broth she was cooking. With a vein bulging in her forehead she opened the door. "Am I under arrest for something?" she sarcastically asked as only the police would rap that hard on anyone's door. Kiba was only puzzled as he raised an eyebrow "Huh?" he looked behind if there was the police but Ino just sighed "Come inside." Akamaru pranced into the cramped space and set down a flopping Kisame, who was literally like a fish-out-of water. "Where's the couch?" he asked. "I don't know. Tsunade-sama must have forgotten have it delivered. I'll talk to the store tomorrow." He shrugged. Kiba made his dog sit in front of the living room and turned on the TV as he nuzzles its fur. Ino frowned, the musky smell of outdoor grass and mud had overpowered her cooking. "I don't really know what sharks eat but I'm just steaming a couple of tuna to be on the safe side." Kiba sniffed the air and eagerly went to the kitchen to check the contents "Mmm...smells really nice. I hope it tastes great too."
Vein popped again "What are you implying?" Kiba seemed oblivious as he replaced the lid on the pot "Nothing. I never pegged you as someone who can cook. You seem...like you'd never touch fish." Vein bulging even further. "What does that mean?" She smiled. Still not looking at her, he answered "Well...you just seem more interested in painting your nails. I never dreamed of you actually dicing and chopping...vegetables? Ew! I hate vegetables." Teeth gritting now "What are you, six?" She was going to grab Kiba to turn him around and smack his face when toddler Kisame flopped harded next to them until he convulsed to a stop. Ino gaped in horror "Ahh! Kiba! Kiba! Look what happened to him!" Kiba winced and stuck a finger to his ear "I'm right next to you! Stop shrieking!" He crouched down and sniffed the toddler. He poked it. It was too rigid...and dry. He scooped up the toddler. "Ino open the bathroom lights!"
When they got to the bathroom he dumped the unconscious blue boy on the small bathtub, whom they suspect is bluer from the lack of oxygen. Kiba worked out the gag in haste, accidentally breaking one of his sharp canine-like nails. He winced in pain but kept going. Water slowly surrounded him and when it filled nearly to the brim the boy, rigid as stone underneath, began wiggling. The gills on his cheek reverberated with life and he began to swim. Around and around the bath tub. The Inuzuka sighed and sank to his butt, next to the Hoshigaki whose complexion has returned to its natural shade of powder blue. Ino returned to the bathroom with a file in hand. Kiba glanced at the toddler "He's fine now. He needs to be wet every once in a while." Ino crouched next to him and lifted his hand with the damaged nails and began filing them. Maybe she's not so stuckup after all. Kiba felt awkward and grumbled a low "Thanks." Ino nodded, fibbing him "Yeah. This doesn't mean I can stand your stench. Do me a solid and jump into that tub too, will you? You smell like dog piss!" And just like that, Kiba is back to his thoughts. Jeez what a clean freak.
...
Tsunade took the second pair of files "Then we have Sai and Shino. They're both good at keeping their emotions to themselves, if they have them at all."
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune protested. The godaime merely chuckled "And I stuck them with the most dramatic brat of all. The moment I saw that Deidara I knew he was drama on a stick. Have you seen that guy's hair? It's too yellow! Plus he was the noisiest of them all. That brat threw beads at my face!" She huffed before continuing "Sai is the artist among the twelve. He'll handle him well."
"What about Shino?"
"To be honest, I almost forgot about Shino. These two were the last people I've paired."
"Tsunade-sama!"
The Hokage scratched her head "Shino is very...meh. He doesn't stick out in either a bad or a good way. He's usually great to tag along with...aha! That's why I paired him with that flamboyant runt!" Shizune just shook her head. Her shishou is making up reasons on the fly yet again.
...
Sai was the first among the six to reach the apartment complex "0805 Bldg. C, Tamaya District, Konohagakure." He read from his scroll. He almost staggered as the bird jerked to the side. Apparently his toddler was violently squirming within its beak and managed to somehow loosen the gag on his mouth"Oy! Let me out,hm! Where we goin? I can't see a thing! Hm. Help! I'm being kidnapped, hm. Help!" Sai motioned his ink summon to open its beak. He peeked at Deidara being crushed beneath the palate. The S-Class criminal gawked at him and screamed "Let me out ngngghhgh!" The child was chewing through his summon! With one swift movement Sai opened his scroll and drew. The bird was slowly spiralling into a deathly descent. They'll crash onto the building within seconds! As the bird was plummeting and slowly disintigrating into ink Sai summoned a four-armed one-eyed giant which grabbed the two of them on each hand, scaled the storeys with the other pair and punched the door open. The entire spectacle, and the fist coming towards him didn't even rattle the Aburame, who adjusted his glasses as the gigantic fist just stopped inches from his face. He didn't even blink (or how could one see in the first place?) when the blond brat popped from between the fingers of the fist in front of him "That. Was. AAAAARRRTTT! Hm!" He squeaked. Deidara was slightly dizzied as he struggled to crawl out. The giant disintigrated into ink which evaporated in an instant.
Sai finally reached the door, panting, the slightest hint of annoyance strewn across his face. This was immediately replaced with a fake smile "We almost fell to our deaths. You murderous brat." Shino looked at the child who defiantly gazed up at him "Who're you, hm?"
The Aburame robotically crouched on his knees and rigidly patted the top of his head. "I'm...your daddy." Naruto and Kiba would have lost their heads in laughter by now but this is Sai, who somehow walked straight despite his eyes being closed from a bunched up fake smile "And I'm your daddy too." Deidara pouted "No way! You wear girl clothes! You've got to be momma, hm." He pointed at his exposed midriff. "You're too pale too. I don't look like any of you, hm!"
"You know you'd be pale too if I remove all the blood from your body." Sai told him. Deidara was unaware of the implication "Wha's blood anyway?
Is that what they did to you, hm?" Sai nodded, his expression unchanged, but as soon as he reached his hand to grab the blonde's shoulders Shino picked the boy up and said "I think we're all hungry. Let's go eat." He directed him to the kitchen nearby. Sai examined the plastic. It was all convenience store food. Some katsu, rice, soup, onigiri with special sweet filling and liters of water. "Sumimasen. I don't know how to cook." Sai nodded "It's fine. I'll do it from now on." The brat in his arms, at the sight of food, opened his mouth wide and pointed a finger at it. "The kid is hungry." Sai unpacked the largest onigiri from the set and almost shoved it to Deidara's mouth (without breaking that creepy fake smile) when Shino moved the child away from him "I see that you're mad at him. I advice you do not take it out on the kid. He is our mission. We do not kill the mission. Rather, we feed the mission."
Shino allowed the toddler to stand on the table "What do you want to eat, Deidei-chan?" Sai nicknamed him. The child ambled towards the food and tried to taste them by dipping his finger and licking them. "You have a pretty masterful tongue, Deidei-chan." Even Shino, only human, sweatdropped at the pale man's comment. Deidara sat. His stomach growled and he began to throw a tantrum.
UWAAAAAHHHHH!
His arms flailed. He rolled left and right the table and slammed the edges of his fists and toes on the hard flat surface. "I'm so hungry hm!" Obviously, he doesn't like any of the food and refused to eat all of them. The two just stared at him, vexed. "Perhaps he wants milk?" Shino suggested. "According to the book, breast milk is most suitable for newborns." Sai said as he flipped the page.
"Where'd you get that?"
"It's in the kitchen knife drawer." Sai answered. Shino decided that his partner is really intent on murdering the kid. "What does it say about what he wants?"
"He's three. So that means that he is able to chew and digest solid food. Deidei-chan is just a picky eater." He glanced at Shino who stuffed the kid under his high-collared hoodie. "A-ano, Shino-kun. What are you doing?"
"My beetles seem to like the taste of my chakra. Maybe he will too." Judging by the brat's violent squirming and wailing, he definitely would not.
...
"I admit. I was pretty mean to Shikamaru. I assigned him the person who killed his sensei Asuma." Tsunade mused as she arrived at the picture of the Nara. Shizune sighed "Yes. That was questionable, Tsunade-sama. What if he gets overwhelmed by his hatred and harm the kid?" The Hokage closed her eyes and smiled "Shikamaru is too cerebral for that. But we have no choice. He knows Hidan more than anybody else. Besides, Rock Lee is there. Despite being overly...passionate about training...he's a pretty level-headed and polite person. Maybe it's not too late to teach that runt some good words?"
...
"Leh muh dow' yah cockfah'!" The lilac-haired toddler shouted. Did he just call me cockfart? Cche! Shikamaru cruised the village with his shadow stretched upright next to him. He refused to hold the kid. He had a sneaking suspicion that the child will literally draw blood and curse him if he gave it a chance. He still had nightmares of what happened that day...and because of that little runt, he was without a sensei-a guide-and Kurenai-sensei is without a husband who will be a father to their child. This child could only rob people of their families. Now he had to live away from the Nara clan. The mission's duration is indefinite. It might last only days, weeks or years...he contemplated on jumping from the top of the Hokage monument if it had to go on for more than a month. For now, maybe the upside is that he won't wake up to the tip of her mother 's broom sweeping him out of his futon, calling him a lazy ass even though he made chuunin faster than all of his batchmates.
The villagers looked at them disapprovingly. Whispering something along the lines of "Good heavens! That kid's mouth! Does the father even teach his child manners?" "Rude son, perhaps his father is like him." "Is that the kid's father or older brother?" Shikamaru could easily tune them out but the hushed whispers irked him as it reminded him of the runt in his hands (shadows) when all he wanted to do from the moment he saw the brat was to strangle him yet again until his eyeballs pop out of his sockets.
Kami-sama, I need a smoke.
"Yah pineappah heh bastharh! Ah swarh ah weeh...ah weeh...AACHOO!" Hidan sneezed and rubbed his nose. It was succeeded by two smaller sneezes. Chouji, who was walking alongside his friend, suggested "Maybe you should cover him up Shikamaru. He's going to be sick at this rate." Shikamaru looked at him like he had never looked at him before. It was a glare. Still, the Akimichi was undettered and offered to drape his clean handkerchief around the boy's back. There was a long stretch of silence as they passed the old Uchiha lake. Chouji then spoke "Shika...as your bestfriend I know this is the hardest for you. But please, don't forget the mission." He was about to pat his friend's shoulder when he deflected his arm and said "You don't know anything! He played with him before he killed him! I watched Asuma-sensei die with my own eyes!" Whoa, since when did he become angsty like Sasuke? He thought. He shook his head and walked faster, dragging the kid and loosening the handkerchief over him. As the cloth fell to the ground Hidan began to shiver. Chouji did his best to keep up and restore the cloth onto the child. He realized that this was probably how Sasuke felt. When revenge was at your fingertips but you were defeated by circumstance: the Uchiha brothers due to their magnanimous difference in skill, and him due to the bastard's supposed innocence. Damn the ethics of it all!
"If there's anything you need, we'll just be one floor up." Chouji said as he waved goodbye for the night. Shikamaru had been on autopilot for so long that he didn't know he had reached his front door. Lee sensed him somehow and opened the door for him Greeting him "Good evening Shikamaru-kun." His jaw crashed to the floor. The dude was wearing a frilly pink apron on top of his skintight green spandex, this particular spandex stopping above his knees and elbows. "Ah..." The Nara was at a loss for words. "I have prepared a splendid meal for us. It shall quench our youthful spirit and fill it with the fullness of youth!" Shikamaru sighed and dumped Hidan onto his arms. Lee noticed Hidan was having the sniffles. He tried to wipe the snot off his notes when the child had straight up bitten his finger. Lee winced but controlled himself. The kid was smiling slyly, letting the blood dribble down his chin. Lee tried to yank him away but he latched onto it like a pitbull onto a target. "Hi-Hidan-san!" Seeing no choice, he decided to open the First of the Eight Inner Gates.
WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH! Lee screamed
GAAARRRRRRGGHGHGHGHGG! Growled the equally tenacious Hidan, refusing to be shaken out of his trap.
WOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH! Lee pushed even harder.
It's even too troublesome to say 'how troublesome'. Shikamaru popped a piece of beef into his mouth. Chouji and Tenten's dinner went pretty well. The Akimichi bonded over food and the rife knowledge of the Akimichi clan in medical herbs and ninjutsu. It had been a frustration of Tenten as she was definitely pegged more of a fighter than a healer. Meanwhile, she offered her expertise on the function of ninja tools to expand the lethality of the other's expansion and rolling techniques.
...
Upon gazing at the next set of IDs, Tsunade couldn't help but giggle. This intrigued Shizune who bent over in order to be able to peer closer. She narrowed her eyes. What was so funny with Sakura and Neji? She glanced at her shishou, who seemed to have read the question from her face and spoke "I'm betting on these two." The other woman felt like she was gut-punched. This didn't seem good. "W-what do you mean by that, Tsunade-sama?"
The blonde slammed the IDs on the table. It was loud, but not forceful enough to break the table. Thank you, Kami-sama! The amount of paperwork just to repair or replace a relic furniture such as the Hokage's desk would be a headache she'd rather not experience. Still, the Hokage was irritated, her eyebrows twitching at the memories " DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA JUST HOW MUCH THAT IDIOT APPRENTICE OF MINE MOAN THAT UCHIHA'S NAME IN EVERY SESSION?!"
Tsunade recounted the first days, when she hardly knew the pink-haired kunoichi. She was the only remaining genin of Kakashi's Team 7 in Konoha and she had personally applied for apprenticeship under her. Her skills are subpar and mediocre at best but she had the intelligence and the chakra control, as the Hatake had reported, to study medical ninjutsu. More importantly, she was dedicated and a specialist. She was intrigued. Maybe the girl had something in her, despite not having a kekkei genkai, despite not hailing from a reputable clan of shinobi like her and...well pretty much everyone else except Tenten and Sai.
At first, Tsunade was determined to enhance her taijutsu with the aid of chakra. Like her, she could concentrate her chakra in one part of her body and release it, thus resulting to boulder-wrecking punches and ground-splitting stomps. It really required less refinement of chakra concentration in order to perfect. It's less complex and less tricky than medical ninjutsu which involves in just about anything, from cell regeneration to, although in extreme and forbidden cases, alteration of expression of DNA. It was step one. If she couldn't master taijutsu, she might as well not proceed to medical ninjutsu. It's like the difference between coarse-tuning and fine-tuning. HOWEVER...
"I want to be stronger for Sasuke-kun."
"I wonder what Sasuke-kun is doing."
"Sasuke-kun must be training hard."
"He has a lot of chakra. Sasuke-kun."
"Maybe if I found Tsunade-sama earlier, I could've saved Sasuke-kun...and Sasuke-kun doesn't have to rely on Orochimaru for power."
"If Sasuke-kun could see me now...maybe he wouldn't think I'm a burden anymore and I can go with him."
"Tsunade-sama. Do you think Sasuke-kun gets into these kind of fights now that he's under Orochimaru's command?"
"What if Sasuke-kun is wounded right now. Wounded like this? How would I heal Sasuke-kun?"
"Naruto when are you coming back? Do you have any news for Sasuke-kun?"
These memories are downright vexing "Some thoughts you have to keep to yourself!" She roared in the office. The pig snorted and Shizune jumped back, startled. When Tsunade seemed to have composed herself and regulated her breaths, she proceeded. "No offense Shizune but that kid was almost a prodigy. It didn't take much to teach her and she even came up with more efficient ways of healing and mending on her own. Almost all the chuunin she was assigned to heal were falling in love with her. She could even reattach severed arms." She buried herself in her arms again "However, her damn groaning about Sasuke-kun. Punctuating it with every sentence. If Naruto had dattebayo then this cotton candy pixie demon had Sasuke-kun urgghhhh! If that kid comes back to Konoha I better be in a coma! Or at the other edge of the world apart from Sakura!"
Shizune decided that it is best to steer her shishou away from the memories "Maa. Maa. Tsunade-sama you are getting sidetracked again. Why were you betting on Sakura-san and Neji-san again?" She regarded her with annoyance before flitting her gaze to the Hyuuga. "Don't you think that Neji is like Sasuke without the Itachi-induced brain damage?" She pursed her lips further and pouted "Yeah I know he had Hiashi-induced brain damage but Naruto managed to talk and punch some sense into him. He was like...vaccinated from the revenge pox or something."
"Shishou you talk in medical metaphors way too much." she attempted to pacify her. In truth, Shizune knows what her master was talking about. They're both prodigies hailed from a respective clan with powerful doujutsu whom they maximize to the best of their abilities. Both were forced to grow up without parents. Both had nurtured hatred within them and sealed their fate for themselves. One chose to dedicate himself as an avenger, while his white-eyed counterpart had chosen to dedicate his talent to forever spite the Main Family and the clan Head. They're both riddled with angst from a barely-understood past but can be logical and strategic when the situation requires it. Both are natural commanders who would often dictate roles, delegate tasks and explain their formulated plan for the team. The Hyuuga succumbed to defeat before his arrogance and darkness could truly engulf him while the Uchiha had consumed those and in turn had been consumed by those.
"Anyway, I just hope that Sakura sees the light. I don't want her to make herself suffer every day... to dwell on what should have happened." She swiveled her chair to face Shizune "You've seen the girl. For every jutsu she learns, procedures she performs, theories she memorizes, she attaches them all with her past regrets. I don't want her to do that anymore." I don't want her to be like me, who is haunted by the past of my lover, on what we could've been had I known enough to save him.
Shizune really hated to interrupt the Hokage in the midst of her contemplation. "A-ano, Tsunade-sama. If I understand this correctly, you mean that you want Sakura and Neji to end up together?" The godaimed had nodded too fiercely. This made her stutter even more "U-uhm i-isn't Neji technically s-still royalty? Despite the Branch Family and all...wo-wouldn't he be arranged to someone else in the n-near future?" To that, the elder offered a smirk "Cche. Don't underestimate the power of love!"
The power of forced situations you mean, Shizune groaned. Tonton squeaked in affirmation.
"And I'm Hokage and the best medic-nin the Shinobi World can get their hands on!"
That came out as so perverse, she groaned again.
Th yellow-haired Senju cracked her knuckles and the side of her neck, definitely up to the challenge as she smirked "It's about time I educate them of the hazardous effects of inbreeding and selective breeding."
A/N: Coming up next...Tsunade's little present to Sakura. Naruto and toddler Itachi's evening stroll! And everybody else getting ready for bed? Haha we'll see.
Wew that was long!
Thank you MidnaMoo, blackbringer and Splaaash-attack for your reviews and encouragement to continue this particular fic!
Soulhope The Wolf, I'm curious about your thoughts as to why it should be Kisame instead of Itachi. Shuriken your ideas my way, maybe? :)