As Sasuke woke the next morning, he noticed that tensions were high with the Akatsuki. Konan and Nagato both seemed more on edge than usual, though he didn't understand why. He shook it off, standing up from the bed. He was still aching, that was for sure. He also knew that he would have to work on hiding it better within the next few hours, however.
After all, he didn't want Itachi to worry over him. If he was too injured, it would break his brother's heart regardless of if he was mad at him over join with Tobi against his wishes. That much he knew already. When Itachi wanted to be, he could be a complete mother hen. Sometimes he was worse than Konan, to be honest.
The teen headed over to where everyone else was sitting, in the living room space. It looked like they were about to head out soon. They just had to wait a bit, since Naruto and Karin were still sleeping. She had spent a lot of energy healing Sasuke up as best she could, even if it wasn't all the way.
He could see all the stressed looks on each of his brothers and sisters' faces, as well as the rest of the Akatsuki. He took the bowl of oatmeal Kisame handed him silently, heading to sit with the others once more. Everyone seemed in a foul mood. The teen pressed his lips together in regret. He supposed Kisame and Itachi were right. He wasn't ready to take on such huge missions. But, to be fair, if he had known they were assassinating a kage he probably would have joined one of his elder classmates as Itachi had suggested.
Oh, who was he kidding? He was way too arrogant for his own good. He deserved to learn this lesson, he decided guiltily. He sighed at these thoughts, taking a few spoonfuls of oatmeal and gently doing his best to swallow. He noted with a bit of embarrassment that even food as liquified as this was hard to swallow now. He had his tongue back in place, but he knew he had to be gentle. The stitches needed time to mold into his tongue. Kakuzu had said it could hurt it if he messed with it further. It wasn't going to fall off again, was it? Sasuke shuttered at the thought, lowering his half-eaten bowl. He had suddenly lost his appetite.
The others around him were busy with talk of which route they should take, so luckily no one seemed to notice when he stood up to go scrape his leftovers in the cooking pot. Or, well, he thought at first.
"You should have eaten that. You're all banged up. A healing body needs nutrients to heal." Sasori sat on the countertop, behind him as he finished scooping it away. He gave a light shrug. "No, really. When was the last time you ate, Sasuke? We didn't have time for dinner yesterday and from what we gather your...interrigation...started in the morning, barely after you had left the house with Kakashi. I doubt they stopped for a lunch break."
The teen shrugged again, but seeing the warning look on Sasori's face, took a breath. He pointed to his tongue, now stitched through the middle, sideways.
Sasori tilted his head a bit. "Does it still hurt a lot, you mean?" seeing a shake of his head, Sasori frowned a bit. What was wrong, then? Sasuke looked embarrassed but made a slight motion of his hand going in and out of his mouth, and suddenly it clicked. "Oh, you're worried it'll mess up the stitches and fall out?" Sasuke nodded, Sasori getting off the counter and motioning towards the food. "Well, it shouldn't if you're careful. It's not all that solid, after all."
Sasuke only gave another light shake of his head, hoping Sasori wouldn't make him eat it anyway. It made him sick thinking about it, but he also knew he needed to eat something. He was relieved when Sasori gave him a nod, the older ninja offering, "Alright, if it makes you uncomfortable, we can try something else. I happen to know of a restaurant on the way back since I have to go there a lot to meet up with clients. I'll ask Nagato and Konan if we can stop there for lunch. Last I checked, they had tomato soup on the menu." knowing it was one of the boy's favorite foods. "But you need to start working on eating things that require the tongue soon, alright? Maybe just for the first few days."
Seeing the way Sasuke's face lit up a bit at the mention of tomato soup gave Sasori a bit of relief himself. Seeing the prideful teen so sad and wounded was honestly a strange sight. So it was good to see the triumphant smile, even for a moment over something so small.
It was at that moment that Sasuke was practically tackled from behind. "Bastard! You're awake!" Naruto smiled, hugging onto Sasuke from behind. It was quite the surprise for Naruto when he felt Sasuke squirm in his hold, the older boy giving a high pitched grunt. The Uchiha sent his elbow soaring into Naruto's side in a rather painful manner, the blonde yelling in surprise and grabbing his ribs. "Hey! That fucking hurt!" he growled, looking ready to rumble with Sasuke.
Sasuke turned on his heel, his smile gone, replaced with a furious glare. Sasuke raised his fist in warning, clearly ready to fight despite his injuries. "Damn it, why was I even worried about you? I didn't do anything, why'd ya hit me?" he argued, grabbing the front of Sasuke's shirt.
Naruto quickly let go as he felt a hand on his shoulder but assumed it was only Konan ready to give her normal spill about not fighting with his brother. Instead, he was surprised to see that it was Deidara holding him back. The younger quickly became puzzled. Wasn't Deidara usually the one cheering on their fights?
"Naruto, look at Sasuke." the blonde froze for a moment at how serious Deidara sounded, not used to it with the fun-loving artist. He obeyed, more out of surprise at Deidara's attitude than compliance. "Really look at him," Deidara repeated.
As Naruto focused his view rather than simply flinging himself around with affection at the other without looking as he normally did, his annoyed look quickly dropped. He noticed Sasuke had slowly lowered his fighting pose into one of slight embarrassment as Sasori laid a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder.
Sasuke's comfort with the topic was the least of Naruto's worries, though. Now that he looked at the other, he noticed how banged up he was. The other had bandages wrapped around his ankles and wrists alike. His skin was littered with harsh looking welts as if he had been beaten over the skin with something. There were cut marks littering his body, poorly sewn together with weak thread. The worst seemed to be the three slash marks over his mouth, three perfectly cut lines running from above his lips to just below them. The stitching was terrible, leaving them a bit sore looking. Then, that was only what he could see. He didn't want to imagine what was under the many bandages running along his body.
Suddenly, Naruto knew why Sasuke had elbowed his so hard as well as why Deidara was so serious. He could feel the eyes of both the artists, the only other ones in the kitchen, drilling holes into him. The blonde ducked his head a bit, guilty for throwing himself on Sasuke then starting up a fight without looking. He glanced over at him, hurt to see his brother in such a state. He bit out, "I'm sorry." with anger, though not at Sasuke anymore.
Who the hell had done this to him? Who the hell did they think they were to hurt Sasuke? He felt his anger boiling up inside him, the hand on his shoulder giving a firm squeeze. Deidara spoke, "He's alright, kid. We'll be able to restitch him with the best medical supplies when we get home tonight. There'll probably be some scarring, but they should fade over time. He'll be almost completely the same, physically." he tried to comfort him.
Naruto's hair fell a bit in front of his face, seemingly taking this harder than Sasuke had thought any of them would.
Sasuke knew he was cared about. Before all this, he knew they would always protect him. He knew they'd always be his family. He knew they'd always love him. In what way, though? He was only now realizing.
The best way for Sasuke to describe how he viewed his relationship with the others before all this was to think back to his biological father. Fugaku. He had always loved the man, wanting to make him proud. Wanting to receive his affections the same way Itachi had. In the end, however, it had always felt like Fugaku loved him more out of obligation as his father than for who he was.
As such, that's how he had viewed his relationship with most of the others in his little 'Akatsuki family', outside of Itachi and Konan. He loved them all, but he had always assumed it was one-sided. That they loved him out of obligation rather than true affection, just as Fugaku had.
When Kisame trained him in sword fighting, it was to please Itachi, he figured. When Kakuzu and Hidan sparred with him, it was to build his usefulness, he figured. When Deidara or Sasori used to accept his shitty drawings and hang them on their walls, he assumed it was simply to make him happy so Konan didn't bother them about upsetting him. When Zetsu played chess with him, or Tobi roughhoused with him, he guessed it was out of obligation as an older 'family' member. Even Nagato, who he considered himself closer with than his biological one, had presumed he was loved because Konan had wanted kids and Nagato wanted Konan happy. That was what he had said the first night when they first 'adopted' them.
He had always guessed that the ones younger than him simply looked up to him since he was older, that it was a given. He assumed that Karin and Neji had always comforted him or made it up to him after teasing him simply because it was their job as an older sibling. He had always imagined that their love and protection was just something they had decided to do. Like a check off the list of things to do in a day.
That was what he had thought before. Now, seeing the agony on everyone's face as they saw him, something clicked. Sasuke felt foolish for thinking otherwise all these years. They didn't love him out of obligation. Far from it. He could tell that their happiness was connected directly to his, in the same way Sasuke grew upset at the idea of accidentally leaking information on them and getting one of them hurt. The idea alone was unbearable because they were more than just family. They were friends.
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The Uchiha noticed Karin waking up about an hour later and took a breath. It was time to go. The burning on his ankles hadn't completely healed since Karin couldn't use much blood without risking his tongue reattaching strangely, but for the most part, they were better. He could walk around now, which was nice. They just had this sort of dull aching. The pain was mostly subsided due to Karin's medicinal herbs and Hinata's creams.
Kisame glanced over at him, "Are you good to run with us, or do you want to hop on again?" looking completely serious, much to Sasuke's embarrassment. The teen only shook his head back and forth, ducking it a bit. He wasn't completely sure he could keep up, but he didn't want to be carried now that he was in a clearer mindset. He loved Kisame, but his pride could only take so much thrashing.
Within a few moments, they were leaving the hotel room and heading downstairs. Sasuke noticed a man approaching them and averted his eyes. Oh, fuck. Just his luck.
"Hello there!" the man started out with, looking a bit nervous at the large group of shinobi. He was an elderly shop owner that Sasuke recognized far too easily. "We just wanted to warn you all before you leave to be on the lookout. Multiple items have gone missing from our stands outside. We believe a ninja thief is on the loose. No one saw a thing. They just up and disappeared!" he laughed. "At first I thought it was just my clothes blowing in the wind again, but then a few others said they were missing things too." he tried to laugh it off as he warned them.
Sasuke silently gave an annoyed look as Kakuzu glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He could feel the others resisting looking in his direction as well, so he snorted a bit and took the lead to get them out of the small village. Whatever, the supplies had fulfilled their purpose and the shop owners were none the wiser. As they headed out, he noticed the eyes of the Akatsuki on him. Shit, they knew.
Hidan smirked as they made their way further into the Rain territory. "So, putting your stealth classes into use? Pro-tip, don't steal from countries your village is in a fucking alliance with." he joked.
Sasuke sent him a dirty glare, Sasori moving a hand in front of them both. "Don't start it. We're close to the place we'll be having lunch. We'll be kicked out if you two go at it again." thinking of the many times Sasuke and Hidan had gotten into arguments in public, resulting in swearing free for all. He hoped this time they could just go out for a nice and simple meal. He wasn't exactly hungry, but the mood of going out to eat was always something to remember.
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As they filed into the small restaurant, the kids glanced around. It was nice but much different from what they were used to. Since they rarely left the village, it was a rare sight for them. The kids got in first, followed by Kakashi, then lastly the Akatsuki.
They had been forced to bring Kakashi in with them because apparently 'can you keep an eye on my hostage if I keep him tied up outside' was an inappropriate request. They had decided setting him by the window was too easy of an escape, as was putting him on the outer seat. Due to this, here he was, awkwardly stuck in between the curious eyes of the kids and heated looks from the adults. Ah, fun.
The waiter came over, the late teen boy looking a bit nervous as he was assigned the large group of powerful shinobi and their group of younger teenagers. Oh, there was a hostage too which sounded like fun to serve. Why hadn't the manager called the police yet? Oh, fuck.
He made quick work of heading over, not wanting to keep them waiting. "Hello!" he spoke in his work voice, "For menu options, who wants the kiddie menus and who wants the adults?" he doubted these bloodthirsty ninja would want kiddie menus, but he was required to offer since they mostly looked younger than sixteen.
A purple-haired woman opened her mouth but was interrupted by a blonde teen. The boy seemed excited, "I want one of the ones with the coloring pages!" he spoke loudly. The waiter noticed one of the elder teens send him a glare, so the blonde added promptly, "Please?"
He handed him a kiddie menu, noticing a red-haired boy's hand go up shyly as well. Promptly, a red-haired girl followed his movements as well as a blue-haired girl. He had to double-take as two of the adults motioned for one as well. Another redhead and blonde. The waiter handed them out, feeling a bit odd for being so nervous about this group. They were a bunch of damn children!
"I'll be back in ten minutes. Ask one of the others if you're ready before then." he murmured, heading off to work on his other tables.
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Kazuku and Hidan sighed a bit as they watched Sasori and Deidara begin drawing on their papers along with the children. They must have done it a bit too loud, however, as Sasori glanced up to narrow his eyes in warning of their scoffing. After all, the redhead figured if they were going to wait forever for them to come back they might as well enjoy the time.
Sasuke and Neji both opened their menus, taking their childish pride in not having the children's menu. Sasuke didn't have to look hard as he found the soup section. Then it was just a matter of figuring out which tomato soup he wanted. Why were there so many types of seasoned soups?
Neji, on the other hand, found it pretty easy to choose. He found the soba section, then looked through it until he found it. Herring soba it was, then.
Naruto grinned, "I'm getting ramen." Nagato sighing a bit. He had long since given up on trying to rid him of the terribly unhealthy ramen addiction.
Gaara nodded quietly, "I'll have ramen too." glancing over at Hinata, "Are you getting ramen too?" when the girl nodded, Konan looked mildly exhausted. Why bother going out to eat if all the children were going to get is something they could buy at home for a dollar? At least Sasuke and Neji looked like they'd be getting something a bit different than usual.
Karin hummed, leaning on her arm. "I'll have ramen too." since there wasn't really anything she specifically liked on the menu.
The Akatsuki sighed a bit at their children but moved on to their own food for now. Kids would be kids, they guessed.
The adults all set to picking their lunch fairly easily, already knowing what they wanted. Kisame ordered some yakiimo since it looked rather good in the menu's photo.
Sasori glanced over at Deidara, "I want sukiyaki but they only sell it in large amounts. Would you like to share so we don't have to throw the extra away?" his voice dull and uninterested as he considered it.
Deidara's cheeks tinted a bit, nodding. "Might as well. I was going to order it anyway, so it doesn't matter." waving a hand back and forth dismissively, Sasori nodding. Neji, Sasuke, and Karin gave a side look to each other, the three eldest unimpressed with how dense the two artists could be.
Kakuzu and Hidan both rolled their eyes, settling on oden. Idiotic artists.
Zetsu ended up ordering some niku jaga, smiling happily on his light side and giving an annoyed huff on his dark half.
Finally, Nagato and Konan chose to get nabe and yudofu. The two glanced at the kids, "Have you decided on what you want?" Seeing a round of nods, he prepared to order but stopped when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He glanced back around to see Sasuke reaching across the table. "What is it, Sasuke?"
Sasuke handed him a napkin that had been written on with one of the crayons from the packets. Sasuke had written, "Can we get something for Itachi too?"
Nagato frowned a bit, conflicted when it came to Itachi. On one hand, he had been with them for years and was like family. On the other, he had betrayed them. It was impossible to know if he was faking his bond with the children but only revealed it in case he was revealed when they came for Sasuke. For now, the safest option was to be against Itachi.
Seeing Sasuke all banged up and in pain, however, had him reluctant. The boy had been through a lot today. He hated to do it, but once they got home they would have to lock Itachi up for questioning. For the time being, though, he just wanted a nice lunch with the rest of his family. He knew it was selfish to lead Sasuke on, but he just wanted one lunch before chaos overtook. He would tell him when they got home and after Itachi was given the food. "Alright. What should we get?"
Sasuke brightened, scribbling down, "His favorite is kelp rice balls." and showing it to Nagato.
Naruto asked nervously, "Hey- um. Can we get something for Tobi too? I know everyone's upset with him for leaving Sasuke." he waves his hands around, "I am too! I am! But you have him under locks and he hasn't got to eat much since we've been busy looking for Sasuke."
After all, even if Naruto was pissed at Tobi, he was still his family. In Naruto's eyes, he had made a mistake and would have to make up for it. Hinata and Gaara both nodded a bit, being just as soft-hearted as Naruto. Karin looked angry at the idea, Neji crossing his arms in disagreement. Sasuke just looked down at his lap, knowing all eyes were on him. Konan sighed, "It's up to Sasuke."
Well, so much for staying out of the spotlight. Sasuke mentally sighed. As he had thought time and time again-- it was his own fault he got left behind. He should have listened to Itachi and Kisame. Tobi had warned him that he wouldn't be holding his hand the entire time. As such, the dark-haired teen nodded. He noticed wide smiles from Naruto, concerned looks from Gaara and Hinata, and dumbfounded looks from the others. He felt Kisame reach around Kakashi to ruffle his hair a bit.
Hinata asked Kakashi curiously, "When was the last time you ate?" before glancing over at the Nagato. "Papa, he hasn't eaten today either. Can we get him something?"
Kakuzu and Hidan both looked at each other with mildly tired looks. Had the academy not explained that you weren't required to feed your hostage?
Nagato looked defeated by this point, nodding. "Sure. Why not. We'll order some miso soup." not bothering to ask the silver-haired man if he liked it or not. He was their hostage, and the only reason he wasn't dead was their difficulty to say no to the kids.
The kids looked mostly content now, the waiter coming back in a few moments with a clipboard. He looked just as nervous as before, much like the other customers. Now that they glanced around a bit, they noticed that they were the center of attention. Everyone was eyeing them with disgust, fear, interest, or a mixture of all three. Kisame gave them a side glare, noticing the slightly uncomfortable kids. He noticed people either hurrying to pay the check or whip their heads around to focus on their foods. Kisame snorted a bit. The judgemental assholes had better mind their damn business.
They quickly filled in their order, the young teen rushing off to go give the order to the chiefs.
Kakashi noticed Kisame's glare and gave a disbelieving look to himself. This was the big, bad Akatsuki? By the mission reports, you'd think they'd enjoy kicking puppies for fun. But here they were, bending over backward for the kid's comfort and happiness.
Konan gave Kakashi a hard look as she noticed his bafflement, the silver-haired man easily glancing to the side to avoid her eyes. She was staring at him as if resisting snapping his neck, the silver-haired ninja only giving an unconcerned look as he watched the kids talk back and forth. It was idle chatter, but it still spoke wonders for the previously shy or lonely children.
Sasuke was passing a note back and forth with Hinata, the younger girl grinning and sending the note back with a response. Sasuke would snicker or lightly glare at her, the two seeming to be having fun. He noticed the older Hyuuga, Neji, looking over his cousin's shoulder at the note occasionally with a suspicious look at Sasuke. Kakashi mused a bit-- still so protective.
The red-haired one, he didn't actually know her name, was bickering back and forth lightly with Naruto about some guy who seemingly had a crush on Naruto. He was denying it, but the red-head didn't seem convinced as she jabbed at him with her elbow, humming, "Baby brother has an admirer~"
Gaara was lightly tugging the girl's sleeve, trying to get her to stop. "Sister, that's unkind. You should leave him alone."
Kakashi noted that the boy looked a lot healthier than he has last seen him during his prior visits to Konoha. His eyes seemed brighter, he was no longer skin and bones, and he didn't have those terrible bags under his eyes. Overall, he looked well. At least, until the tables were turned on his by the girl and she began teasing him. "Tch, you're right. He's not the bad one. At least if he had a crush he'd go up to them instead of being all shy." she smirked, Gaara going red enough to match his hair.
Kakashi had to admit, he was shocked. He didn't think there was a single way anyone could be even mildly unfucked up after living with a dangerous group like the Akatsuki for years. Yet they were, teasing each other and passing notes like normal children. He could feel the Akatsuki's glares as he watched the children, but only stopped once the food arrived.
They all thanked the man, beginning to eat their food. Kakashi noticed Sasuke was particularly happy to chug down the tomato soup. Just as messy as ever, he noticed as he ate his food. It was actually really good. Ironically, he'd give his hostage situation a ten out of ten rating. His contentedness must have been obvious since he noticed the red-haired adult drilling holes in him with his eyes as he shared food with the blonde one. Kakashi stared back with a bored expression, making the other man narrow his eyes. He had a feeling they didn't like him.