Sasuke dodged the barrage of clones, sending an arc of lightening through his blade to dispel them. The clones disappeared in a puff of smoke, but Sasuke paid them little mind, already using his Sharingan to span the training field for his opponent. He was growing tired of the swarm of clones and wanted to face the real Naruto.
Sasuke located the bright orange chakra signifying the real Naruto and charged towards it, dodging clone after clone to reach his target. Naruto readied his Rasengan, waiting for Sasuke to emerge through the smoke of dispelled clones and directly into his path. Once Sasuke appeared from the smoke, Naruto attacked, extending his arm to aim for Sasuke's stomach and almost nicked the edge of his shirt. Knowing that Naruto was going to use a Rasengan from the brightness of the chakra centered in his hand, Sasuke shifted his body to the side, forcing Naruto to overshoot. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's outstretched arm with his right hand and continued using their combined momentum to fling Naruto away from him and towards the other side of the training ground.
Naruto let the chakra of his Rasengan disappear in order to catch his balance, then formed a shadow clone mid-air to pull him out of the way of the massive fireballs hurtling his way. Once he was safely out of the path of Sasuke's jutsu, Naruto summoned a mass of clones, all gathering chakra into their palms for Rasengan attacks.
"Clones again, Dobe? You're wasting my time," Sasuke taunted with a smug look on his face; he fell into a deep kata stance, Kusanagi slanted, ready to block and attack the onslaught of Narutos rushing towards him.
"We'll show you who's wasting time!" The Narutos shouted in unison. Sasuke's smirk widened and he sent a challenging ribbon of lightening chakra through his sword, illuminating his face hair, and Sharingan with its blue glow. The sea of clones attacked in unison, forcing Sasuke to concentrate on his footwork as he sidestepped and swiped at each clone that dove passed him. He'd never admit it aloud, but Naruto was the best person to train his swordsmanship with. The constant threat of clones forced him to stay balanced in his kata stances and keep the hilt of Kusanagi well-balanced in his hand. He had to make short wrist movements or risk overshooting and not being able to get back into form to guard against the next wave of clones. He also had to use a minimal amount of energy, letting his momentum carry him through his stances rather than brute strength.
Clone after clone disappeared from Sasuke's precise strikes, but the sheer number of clones gave Naruto enough time to focus on gathering his chakra. Gathering chakra still wasn't as natural and instantaneous to him as it was for Sakura and Sasuke, so if Sasuke wasn't distracted, it would take too long for Naruto to finish his plan. He had to hurry though, before Sasuke sidestepped all of his clones and had a beeline straight towards him.
Just as Sasuke was about to push chakra into his feet to jump over the mass of clones, Naruto bit his thumb and pressed it into the ground, creating the telltale seal of blood for a summoning jutsu. Sasuke pushed back, ready to summon Garuda to defend against Gamakichi or Gamabunta, only to be swarmed by a mass of smaller pink, light blue, and purple female toads.
"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!" The toads shouted, nearly clawing at each other to get to him. They jumped on his chest, tackling him to the ground and swarming over his legs. One particularly determined toad, Gamajira, hopped directly on top of his head, gripping his hair with her webbed feet.
"Did you miss us, Sasuke-kun?"
"We've gotten bigger; did you notice, Sasuke-kun?"
"Sasuke-kun!"
"We've missed you, Sasuke-kun!"
"Where have you been, Sasuke-kun?"
"We haven't seen you in forever, Sasuke-kun!"
Naruto clutched his stomach, falling to the ground in a roar of guffawing laughter. He rolled around, nearly in pain from the way his abs were spasming and cramping from his delight. Sasuke glared, growing so red and irritated that the vein near his temple throbbed over his forehead as he tried to detangle himself from the myriad of pre-teen toads clamoring for his attention. It was almost impossible to free himself, since as soon as he removed one toad from his chest, another jumped to take her place. The toads continued to badger him with questions like who he thought was the prettiest, why he hadn't signed a contract with them, and why they hadn't seen him in so long. Sasuke was finally able to free one of his hands and throw a rock at Naruto, hitting the maniacal idiot in the head.
"Call them off, Dobe!" Sasuke shouted over the hoard. But Naruto could barely hear him over the sound of his own laughter. "Dobe!"
"Okay—haha—okay! Alright ladies, everyone home," Naruto squeaked out between laughing fits. The female toads looked positively devastated with tears clouding their eyes.
"But we never get to see Sasuke-kun!" One whined. The others chimed in in agreement, complaining about how Sasuke-kun was always busy on a mission and never had time for them.
"I promise, I'll summon you more often when Sasuke's around," Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes, still bending over and clutching his overworked stomach.
"Fine!" The girls pouted and one by one disappeared back to their world. Gamajira was the last to disappear with a dejected "Bye, Sasuke-kun," finally allowing Sasuke to move freely. Naruto stuck his hand out to his friend and pulled him up.
"You're an idiot," Sasuke grumbled, bending down to retrieve Kusanagi and sheath the sword.
"Oh, come on! It's been a month; they missed you!" Naruto snickered as Sasuke tried to get his hair back to its spiky appearance, rather than the flattened mop it currently resembled from Gamajira sitting on it.
"Maybe if you hadn't indulged them in the first place, this wouldn't be a problem," Sasuke grumbled, dusting off the remaining dirt from his training attire and straightening his shirt.
"I mean, it's not like you aren't used to it, Sa-su-ke-kun," Naruto jeered, doing his best to mimic the high-pitched whines of every girl in Konoha. Ever since the Ninja Academy, Sasuke had always been popular with the girls of the village. It had annoyed Naruto to no end how they would ignore him, often shoving him out the way, to get close to Sasuke. Sasuke had never really sought out their attention that Naruto could remember, but he definitely didn't discourage it; he just ignored them, but for some reason that made them want him even more. Then Naruto had made the mistake of accidently summoning a bunch of the female toads, and as soon as they set eyes on Sasuke, they had hearts in their eyes. Sasuke-kun was all they could talk about, to the point that Gamabunta had asked if he needed to "handle" Sasuke. As much as Naruto would have killed to see Sasuke get bitched out about responsibilities and not playing with heartstrings, he also wanted his best friend to live.
"Hn, idiot," Sasuke walked over to their bags and pulled out his water bottle, clearly ignoring Naruto's juvenile antics.
"Oh I forgot, you're more of a one-woman kind of man now, aren't you, Sasuke?" Naruto grabbed his own water bottle to take a swig before continuing. "I haven't told Gamajira or the girls yet. Man, they're going to be so mad at you!" Naruto took another sip, nearly choking when Sasuke hit the back of his head.
"Hey! It's not my fault you're a lady's man!" Naruto wrapped his arm around Sasuke's shoulder, coating his friend in all of his sweat from their training session. Sasuke glared at his best friend, then shook his head in exasperation. If there was one thing that would never change, it was Naruto's love of pranks.
"Come on, Loser. I'm not counting that stupid stunt as a win, so you're buying your own ramen."
Over the entire duration of their walk to Ichiraku, Naruto pestered Sasuke with boasts that he had won their sparring match.
"I'm just saying that you asking me to get rid of my summons sounds a lot like you giving up to me," Naruto laughed boisterously. Sasuke ignored the bright idiot, looking straight ahead to the flaps of the ramen stand. He would never in his life admit that Naruto beat him with a swarm of pre-teen toads with a crush; he'd carry that to his grave.
"Hey Old Man!" Naruto shouted, pulling back the flap to lower himself onto his usual stool. "I'll take my usual! Sasuke's paying!"
"I'm paying for one round, Dobe. You're on your own for the rest," Sasuke grumbled, ordering his own usual. They'd come to the ramen stand so many times over the years that Sasuke could perfectly recite the menu without ever using his Sharingan.
"Another sparring round then? Good to see you back safe, Sasuke," Teuchi laughed at his favorite duo.
"Yeah, Old Man. I kicked Sasuke's butt until he was begging for me to stop," Naruto gave Sasuke a smug look, knowing Sasuke wouldn't elaborate or try explaining their fight.
"I will end you," Sasuke whispered, moments away from throttling his best friend.
"Fine, fine, killjoy. But just let me tell Sakura! She'll love it! And she needs some stress relief after the month she's had," Naruto pleaded. Sasuke's brow rose in confusion. Sakura hadn't mentioned anything about a bad month; then again, they weren't necessarily concerned with talking when he snuck into her room a few days ago.
"What's wrong with Sakura?" Sasuke asked, trying to appear only mildly interested.
"Oh well you know. She's been in the library or the archives all the time when she's not at the hospital. Something about land ownership, budgeting, and case studies for the children's psychiatric hospital. I didn't really pay attention 'cause it sounded boring, but I guess the council isn't exactly convinced that Konoha even needs a children's hospital, let alone one that specializes in psychiatric concerns."
"Hn, so they're blocking the funding until she can prove that kids are damaged enough to need the hospital," Sasuke shook his head in disbelief. Of course, the council wouldn't do anything until a generation of kids were screwed up enough. As if the 3rd Shinobi War, the Kyuubi attack, Naruto and all the other orphans, and Orochimaru's attack on the village during their chunin exams wasn't enough for them to see through their stubbornness. Sasuke wasn't surprised; it had almost taken a coup d'état and a massacre for the council to finally acknowledge their treatment of the Uchiha as second-class citizens in the village and to get the council to meet with the clan elders. They were by no means on stable ground 17 years later, but at least the Uchiha weren't actively planning to defect from the village; Itachi was even in consideration for the ballot for 6th Hokage if the Godaime didn't name her successor first.
"Huh? You really think they wouldn't let Sakura-chan build her hospital?" Naruto questioned in disbelief. Why wouldn't the council want something that was dedicated to making sure kids were okay?
"You've got to pay more attention if you're going to be Hokage someday," Sasuke shook his head; heaven help them if Naruto ever became Hokage without an intelligent assistant.
"I listen; it's just that sometimes Sakura-chan uses really big words," Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Urusatonkachi," Sasuke blinked slowly, giving himself a moment to grapple with his friend's stupidity.
"Anyway—oh hey look! There's Kanami! Kanami!" Naruto shouted over to the woman across the street. Sasuke immediately tensed, not exactly wanting to turn around. Kanami looked around then smiled when she saw Naruto waving her over. She walked over, ready to greet the loud man when her bright teal eyes widened in shock at his companion. She hadn't known Sasuke was back in the village. She cursed herself for wearing such casual clothing and tying her long violet hair in a ponytail rather than looking more appealing for her first time seeing Sasuke in a month.
Her eyes immediately looked over his body, looking for any signs that he'd been hurt on his last mission. He'd said it was a simple mission that wouldn't require too much of his skill, but she'd been so worried after not hearing from him for weeks. She probably should be used to the periods of silence when he was on a mission, but he was on missions so often it was like they were barely dating.
"Hey Kanami! Are you hungry? Sasuke and I just ordered, so sit and have lunch with us if you have time!" Naruto moved over so there was a spare seat between him and Sasuke. Kanami thanked him, then set down her bag and took the seat he had just vacated. Teuchi appeared as she sat down, dropping off the boys' orders before taking hers. Naruto and Sasuke politely set their bowls to the side, choosing not to eat while her food was being made. She nervously played with the edge of her dress before turning to Sasuke.
"When did you get back, Sasuke-kun?" She gave him a bright smile, looking up at him through her long lashes.
"Three days ago," He answered in his gruff, deep voice that made her stomach flutter restlessly. Kanami had been a sucker for his voice, especially when it was rough from sleep first thing in the morning, or when he whispered her name in their intimate moments.
"I bet you are happy to be home, after so long away. You must have been so exhausted that you slept most of those hours,"
"Hn." Sasuke nodded, not feeling the need to say anything more. He had slept most of the hours after talking to his brother, then spent the next day cleaning his home and grocery shopping. After hearing that he was back, Naruto had burst into his house demanding a sparring session with their usual wager of loser buying lunch. Sasuke honestly hadn't planned on seeing Kanami for at least another day to give himself some time to readjust to being back in the village and back around people that he wasn't hunting.
"He did go see Sakura the night he got back, so I feel like he could have sparred with me before all his sleeping too!" Naruto laughed loudly. Sasuke cursed under his breath and threw a chopstick at Naruto's head, hitting the most sensitive part of his outer ear. Naruto glared over Kanami's head, rubbing his sore ear. Ignoring Naruto's glare, Sasuke looked down to see Kanami's head lowered and her hands clutching her dress until her knuckles were white.
"You went to see Sakura?" Kanami's eyes narrowed and she just barely managed to keep the accusatory edge out of her voice. Of course, he'd gone to see Sakura before her; why was she even surprised?
"Injury," Sasuke said curtly, still glaring at Naruto who hadn't caught on to Kanami's changing mood.
"Yeah, a sprained ankle stops the best of us. And Sakura's place is closer to the gate than the hospital, so it's easier to go there, unless Sakura's working a shift at the hospital. Then Sasuke just pops into her office and she knows he's there," Naruto continued, smiling easily, still oblivious to Kanami's eyes narrowing further.
Luckily for Naruto, Ayame appeared with Kanami's bowl and asked Naruto how the wedding planning was going. She gave Sasuke a knowing look and Sasuke nodded back in gratitude. Naruto took the bait, digging into his ramen while discussing all of the progress he and Hinata had been making with the preparations. Kanami slurped her ramen quietly, and Sasuke knew that while the conversation had turned, it was far from over.
Once she finished her bowl, Kanami thanked Naruto for inviting her and went to leave her ryo on the table, only for Sasuke to gently close his warm hand over her fist and shake his head. Try as she might, she couldn't resist the pleasant shock that rolled down her body at his touch. She wasn't going to let such a simple gesture steal her anger. She gave him a gritted smile, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the shop and into the street to continue her errands for the day. She heard Sasuke get up from his stool, but she was determined not to look back.
"Kanami," He called calmly, with little emotion in his voice. Granted he was never very expressive in public, but he could at least sound contrite and not as if she were a bug buzzing annoyingly around his face!
"What?" She snipped. She usually wasn't one to let her temper show, but Sasuke had gotten under her skin from the first moment their eyes had met in the Shuriken Bar over a year ago. He had smirked at her, and she had never felt more weightless than being trapped by his beautiful eyes and gorgeous mouth. She had thought the intensity of his effect on her would fade to a reasonable amount as all affections simmer when the newness of a crush turns into a deeper feeling of love, but Sasuke had managed to keep her mind, body, and heart as jumpy as a livewire. A year later, and he still had the power to make her feel out of control.
"Not here," he said calmly, his eyes sliding to an older shop keeper who was watching them with piqued interest. Of course. He was always aware of his surroundings and who was paying attention; Kanami wondered if that was mainly from his shinobi training or from his training as a member of the noble Uchiha clan. Sasuke stepped closer to her, gently placing his hand on her elbow before removing it, which was as much affection as she knew he was comfortable showing in public.
"We'll talk later," he whispered so that only she could hear. "I have somethings I still need to take care of, but I'll be over in a few days." He looked down expectantly. Kanami let some of her anger deflate, lowering her shoulders and taking a deep breath.
"Fine," She whispered softly, and turned to go about her day.
Sasuke watched her disappear into the crowded streets of Konoha, relieved that she hadn't resorted to making a scene in the middle of the street. He was not looking forward to their conversation later and wondered how many days he could put it off for before Kami-sama would deliberately throw her in his path. It wasn't that he was avoiding her, per say; the only person he had planned on seeing so soon after his return was Sakura. He just needed some time and space for his hyperawareness to come down. Sparring with Naruto helped him let go of some of that energy, but Sakura knew how to let his mind go blank for a few hours, enough for him to feel normal again.
Fugaku Uchiha sat quietly at the main house's dining table; to anyone else, he would have appeared calm and unaffected, but to his closest family members, it was obvious that he was becoming quite anxious with his task. Fugaku had at first been quite resolute in preparing the list of women for Sasuke to pick from, to ensure only the best possibilities for the future leadership of the clan. What he hadn't anticipated was the sheer number of women he would have to weed through to compile Sasuke's list. Itachi hadn't needed a list. Before the council could bring up Itachi's marriage prospects, he had already proposed to Izumi and informed the council that he would abdicate his title if they did not agree with his choice; the council couldn't have capitulated faster, and Fugaku had been proud to see his eldest so sure of his path.
As he sat with nearly 100 synopses on the women of the clan, Fugaku was grateful with his wife's demands that Itachi, Izumi, and Shisui help him. They'd begun as soon as the council had given the month time frame, scanning the records of all of the unmarried women in the clan who were between 31 and 20. Now they were focusing on the shinobi status of each woman to filter out those who had not advanced to chunin; the women who had not advanced to jonin would be next. Fugaku fought back a sigh as Itachi and Izumi passed him their stacks of the women who had met that qualification.
"My eyes are going to fall out of my head," Shisui pushed his stack away, standing to stretch his sore lower back. Izumi made a sound in agreement, rubbing her exhausted eyes; the characters had all started to run together on the page. Itachi looked at his wife and cousin, giving a sympathetic smile, but turned back to the next pile he was to go through.
"Then it's a good thing lunch is ready!" Mikoto called from the kitchen archway. The four cleared off the table, careful not to mix the piles of applications while Mikoto brought out dishes of steamed rice, vegetables, and fish.
"This looks great, Mikoto-san. Thank you," Izumi smiled at her mother-in-law with relief.
"Oh, you're welcome dear. You've all been working so hard with all this; you were bound to need a break soon," Mikoto folded her legs under her body and sat patiently on the cushion, waiting for her family to pick up their chopsticks. They said the customary "Ittadakimasu" and began eating.
"I didn't think it would be this intense. So many girls!" Izumi said between bites of her vegetables.
"It's important that we choose the right ones. Spending one's life with someone is no task to be taken lightly," Fugaku informed while filling his wife's teacup with the Jasmine blend she'd prepared. Itachi hummed in agreement.
"I'll say. Have to make sure you pick the best of the crop," Mikoto laughed. Fugaku felt his cheeks heat up and let his lips form a small smile at his wife's amusement.
"I can't imagine that Otou-san had anyone else in mind, Okaa-san," Itachi smirked at his mother, taking a bite from his own plate. Mikoto laughed even harder, squeezing her husband's hand with affection.
"If only Sasuke would be so kind to help us out," Shisui chimed in. "Then we wouldn't need this endless sea of women to sort through."
"Surely, there have already been some stand-outs," Mikoto reasoned, but the four bowed their heads with large sighs.
"What about Amari-chan, Yashiki's daughter. She's kind and intelligent," she continued.
"And quiet as a mouse. She doesn't have a strong enough personality to curb Sasuke's stubbornness, let alone lead the Uchiha if she had to," Itachi had already set aside her synopsis as soon as he saw it. His brother was quite pigheaded when he believed he was right, and Amari would give in to his every whim.
"Yayuna then, she's strong-willed—"
"And loved by the men in the village. No way the council will go for her with the whispers of her reputation," Shisui mumbled under his breath, disguising it with a sip of his tea.
"Which is unfair," Izumi jumped in. Shisui held his hands up quickly in surrender, not ready to incur her wrath. Reputation was a sore spot with Izumi since her own mother had been largely ostracized for marrying outside of the clan, and she had faced heavy criticism for not being a full-blood Uchiha. No one said it directly to the head family's face, but they all knew there were whispers about Itachi's choice of bride, one reason why Itachi had been so ready to abdicate his position.
"While there is nothing wrong with her enjoyment, it would not bode well for men to boast that they had encounters with the wife of a head family member, or a woman who would take over as Matriarch if necessary," Itachi placed his hand on Izumi's knee. Izumi frowned, but knew he had a sound argument. While she escaped the boldness of her critics because Itachi would be taking over the clan soon, Yayuna would not be so lucky as the wife of the second son, even if Sasuke was currently the heir. The Uchiha could be quite the pompous archaic clan, and the elders were old curmudgeons set in their ways.
"You're right," Izumi grumbled. "Besides, Sasuke isn't too fond of women from the clan. He has a different woman in mind it seems."
"Who? Sakura? Really? She'd flatten him before the ceremony even starts," Shisui laughed, reaching his chopsticks to the serving plate for a new piece of fish. Itachi used all of his strength not to roll his eyes while Izumi looked mortified.
"Shisui," Itachi scolded, but it was too late; Mikoto already had a glint of joy and mischief in her eyes.
"Sasuke has been seeing Sakura-chan?" Mikoto asked hopefully.
"I mean they're just f—ow!" Shisui was cut off by a sharp pinch from Izumi, forcing him to drop the piece of fish in his lap.
"No, no. Sasuke has definitely not been seeing Sakura-chan," Izumi laughed awkwardly, looking to Itachi for help. Itachi shook his head and sighed. In earlier years, his mother had not been subtle in her approval of Sakura; she'd kept a close eye on the kunoichi's development, mentioning her achievements as she grew throughout the ranks as a shinobi and medic. Sasuke had always maintained that he and Sakura were comrades, nothing more, but Itachi was convinced their mother was aware of Sasuke and Sakura's arrangement. Why she hadn't pressed the issue Itachi wasn't sure, since Sasuke was notoriously devoted to their mother; he'd never been able to lie to her, so if Mikoto asked him directly, she'd have her answers.
"Sasuke has been seeing a civilian girl for the past year," Itachi filled in before taking a bite of food from his plate. Mikoto's joy deflated and she shook her head in disbelief. It was almost as if the gods were conspiring against her. Mikoto had watched the way her son and Sakura interacted when they were younger whenever the girl came over to collect Sasuke for trainings or missions. Sasuke was always attentive, listening as Sakura chatted happily and turning his body to show her that she had his full attention.
Somehow, Sakura had managed to convince Sasuke, who hated large gatherings, to join her and their classmates for festivals, even after Mikoto or Naruto received a firm "no" when asking if he would be attending. Sasuke's eyes would widen, just enough to show his admiration, when Sakura appeared at their doorway dressed in her traditional yukatas or kimonos. He'd turn his head in as much embarrassment as his pride would allow him to show, Sakura would compliment him, and then he would turn back to give his gesture of kindness before rushing them both out the door. After years of seeing the way Sasuke and Sakura interacted, Mikoto thought that maybe there was a chance for romance to finally bloom between them, but now the dream of Sakura as her daughter-in-law was going up in smoke faster than her garden when the boys were learning their fireball jutsu.
Sasuke wasn't one to waste time, especially on people who he deemed unworthy of that time. So if he had indeed been seeing this civilian girl for so long, Mikoto was sure that he would be asking the clan elders and his father for their approval at the next meeting in two weeks. Mikoto prayed that she would have the strength to welcome the girl into her family with open arms and not compare her to Sakura.
"Right, well good luck with that list! I look forward to hearing Sasuke's proposal about that civilian girl in a few weeks," Shisui grabbed his dishes and set them on the counter to make it easier on his aunt. He walked over to the door and slipped on his ninja shoes before waving. "I'm off to my physical; hopefully, I'll get Sakura-chan so she can give me a lollipop!"
Itachi slowly blinked to disguise his eye roll as his cousin disappeared out the door. Izumi patted his hand beneath the table and gave him a sympathetic smile, not hiding her amusement very well. For such an elite shinobi, Shisui was the least discrete Uchiha Itachi had ever known. It was no secret that Sasuke was protective of Sakura, and Shisui's flirting, while intentionally harmless, rankled Sasuke's nerves to no end.
"Huu, guess Shisui might be my only hope in getting Sakura-chan into the family," Mikoto sighed.
"I wouldn't count on that working, Mikoto-san. Here, let me help you clean up," Izumi offered, rising to help her dejected mother-in-law clear the table.