Chapter 8: First Contact
Thunk..
Thunk...
Thunk...
"Argh!"
"I take it you aren't coping well, Uchiha-san."
He glowered and watched as his blonde teammate emerged from the surrounding thicket, bearing a thin but noticeable smirk on her face. He was relieved to see her back to her feet and he would never outwardly admit that, but this was the one time he did not want to see the girl.
"Hn."
"I see we're back to that now. Still, I can't quite understand that mode of speak, but I'll try." Natsumi remarked as the gap between them shortened until she was just a few steps away from him.
Sasuke pushed himself off the ground and patted away the layer of dust from his pants, his eyes snapped to the subject of his ire as the mighty tree stood tall and undefeated with small nicks as scars from the young shinobi's kunai. He had lost count of how long he had been attempting the climb to the top, the tall trees and thick leaves made it hard to see the sun and its position in the sky but he would harbinger a guess and roughly push four to five hours.
"You won't achieve your goal if you keep giving into frustration." He whipped his head back to glare at the girl; what was that supposed to mean?
"The exercise," She clarified as if hearing his thoughts. Natsumi walked past him and with ease began to scale the tree until she reached the first branch, "Chakra control is all about keeping a calm mind. The more you let your anger control your thoughts the more your chakra reacts, changing from a flowing stream to a raging tide."
Her blue gaze fell upon the lone Uchiha and he could not help but feel as if his soul had been left exposed, bare and naked, to be judged by this enigma that was his peer. Sasuke had grown comfortable with the ambience of the forest and thumping of his sandals against the bark of the tree, that Natsumi's presence had set him off and he was unsure what to do next but entertain her.
"I am calm." He rebutted, but he would frown as he heard a laugh from above.
"Could have fooled me." She scoffed taking a moment to readjust herself on the branch, crossing one leg over the other and leaning her back against the tree.
"What do you want Natsumi? Shouldn't you be helping Sakura, or better yet, resting?"
'Awww, caring for our girlfriend now are we?'
"Kakashi-sensei is taking care of Sakura at the moment, and thank you for the concern Uchiha-san, but I am doing quite well."
A thick pause weighed the air between them and Sasuke resisted the urge to stare. He was concerned about her well-being and despite her astonishing rate of recovery he could tell that she was not at a hundred percent. Whatever that technique was it must be highly advanced for it to drain a chakra powerhouse like that and it got him thinking, just what was it? It was not Shunshin, he spent enough time with Shisui to know how that Jutsu functioned and none of its traits matched the odd and cold void left behind. Was it perhaps a Kekkei Genkai? It was possible but he had never heard of an Uzumaki clan before so he could not even begin to formulate an image of its machinations in mind.
"Come now, try again. Let me see."
He was pulled away from his thoughts by her voice. Those blue eyes peered down at him with an ominous glow, as if he was beneath her. It bothered him to think that a peer of his beat him in every aspect depspite all the blood, sweat, and tears that he invested into his goals. Natsumi did not appear to hold any strive nor any fiery ambition, she coasted through life and confronted all of her obstacles leisurely. He could not help but envy and despise her, perhaps that is what truly drew him to her. She was everything he was not. She was the prize and the motivation.
Clenching his fist tightly around the handle of the kunai, Sasuke braced himself and felt the familiar flow of his chakra. It had to be calm as a stream, he kept reminding himself as he took careful steps forward deciding not to rush it this time around. His feet were firmly planted against the surface of the tree and he was gradually going past his previous checkpoints, but the further he made it them more he felt himself slip.
"Tell me Uchiha-san, whatever happened to your kin by the name of Shisui?"
Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt the traction slip away and watched himself plummet back down to the ground. His back was the first to make impact and he felt the air get knocked out of his lungs. His vision turned white before blurring together an image of his surroundings. It was a nasty fall and if he was less of a shinobi he would have panicked over breaking something in his body. A groan was a sign of life as he slowly picked himself up and shakily rose to his feet. What happened?
"Uchiha-san that looked unpleasant, are you concussed?"
Right, her. He looked up and met her eyes with a dagger-like leer. She, however, was unflinching. She met his glare with mirth and mischief, lips curling into her cheeks like a fox mocking its prey. She did that on purpose, but that brought on the question. How did she know of Shisui?
"You haven't answered my question Uchiha-san. I hope that fall hasn't made you mute."
"How do you know that name?"
She blinked and rolled her eyes to the side, "Oh don't you know? I was to be his betrothed, well that's what he said. Once we were of age we would wed. He wouldn't shut up about it...I just think he was trying to make a poor little hungry girl happy, that's befitting of Shisui."
Sasuke was not an expert at reading people especially someone as enigmatic as Natsumi, but the way her voice softened and the blank expression that had replaced her grin, he picked up what he assumed was sadness. But that did not take away from the matter at hand, she knew Shisui, and in turn he knew her and by the sounds of it, they were close. If she was familiar with curly haired Uchiha she wondered if that extended to...Him.
"I don't know much, it was said that he drowned himself in the river, before it happened." He hated discussing anything within that time frame, it was still a nasty stain on his memory.
But as he examined her face he saw a brief change in her demeanour, one of disbelief and anger. If blinked he would have missed it, but he was certain of it.
"Oh..." She bit her lip and averted her eyes, looking off into canopy of branches, "How tragic...that fool."
She was stunned. Well as stunned as Natsumi could get. The way her body seized up, and her presence seemingly melting away was enough to tell Sasuke she was upset, and it was awkward. The silence was heavy and each time he tried to speak, the words would die out before reaching his lips. What could he say? He wasn't exactly the best at consolation, and all of this was news to him.
'C'mon, say something!'
'Shut up you!'
"Well, I'm many years too late to mourn, but that does not stop you from continuing your training. Hop to it now Uchiha-san." And just like that Natsumi was back. She gingerly made her way down the tree and walked past him, stopping just at the foot of the path leading back to Tazuna's home.
"You're not staying?"
"Hm? Missing me already? I can't blame you." He hated that smirk, but he loved it. He could only sigh and chuckle.
"I'm...glad you're fine."
She smiled and nodded. No more words were exchanged and Sasuke was left to his lonesome once more. Her scent lingered, he could not pinpoint what it was, he wasn't an expert on such things. Vanilla maybe?
'You're so hopeless.'
Natsumi thought herself a fool to believe anything other than Shisui's demise. A part of her hoped that he was not amongst the fallen Uchiha, and that his whereabouts were unknown, but to learn that he took his own life...well it disturbed her to her very core.
Shisui was a fool. An idiot. An obnoxiously adorable puppy in human form. He was far too optimistic for his own good and he made a lot of promises. It was foolish of her to dwell on the past, but Shisui was one of the select few that held significance in her life. He fed her, taught her, trained her...he did so much, and swore to do so much more. Admittedly she knew that love between them was a mutual joke, he was many years her senior and he was a well sought after. Even so, she still clung to that fantasy.
Love seemed so unattainable for her. First Shisui, and then Hinata. Her hime was the heiress of a powerful clan, a very traditional and strict clan. Their kind of love was...disturbing to such an environment, though she suspected that Lord Hiashi knew of their feelings for one another. If Natsumi was selfish she would have risked it all, but she did not want to force Hinata into a stressful situation.
Woe was her.
Amidst all of her thinking she failed to acknowledge the presence lurking in the woods. A shadowy figure watched from the dark, one lone eye stalking the blonde. The being could only mutter one word.
"Mother..."
That alone was enough to snap Natsumi out of her internal monologue. She whipped around and sought after the source of the disturbance, but she could not catch a hint of anything out of the ordinary other than the heavy silence of the forest.
'What was that?' She asked herself as she continued to scout the area. Maybe she was just imagining it all, after all she was yet to fully recover and her current state of mind was not exactly the best at the moment.
Her eyes continued to sweep the area before ultimately giving up as she sensed nothing, "Maybe I just overheard Inari calling out to his mother."
With that said Natsumi shrugged off the strange occurrence and continued her way back to the house. It took mere moments for her to reach her destination and just to in time to come across the sight of a panting Sakura who looked close to passing out.
"You look good."
The pink haired kunoichi whipped her head to the side and shot her a glare. She was sweating profusely to the point that half her dress had turned a dark red from all sweat it had absorbed; grime in the form of dirt and blood tainted her skin where bruises and cuts had formed, even her hair sported strands caked in mud and leaves caught up in tangled tresses. Sakura had seen better days.
"Kakashi-sensei is a..." She took a moment to catch her breath and another to make sure that said man was not around to hear her, "Monster, his idea of training was to chase and hunt me down like an animal!"
The blonde could only listen with an amused smirk pulling at her lips. It was not anything outlandish, a simple test of survival, the kind of practice that Sakura needed. It was no secret that the girl lacked survival instincts, and considering their biggest threat at the moment was a trained killer who undoubtedly was skilled in hunting down their prey, Sakura was in desperate need of such a skill set.
"You'll live, but I suppose you'll need to unwind."
"Y-yeah, I guess you're right."
A deafening silence was shared between the girls with the occasional yells of frustration echoing from Sasuke's location. Natsumi could sense the unspoken words hanging from Sakura's lips as she debated with herself. She could read several emotions behind those weary green eyes, but what was on the pinkette's mind was something only she knew- sometimes she envied the Yamanaka clan for their invasive techniques.
"I suppose you'd like to go and assist Uchiha-san with his exercise?" Natsumi broke the silence.
Sakura almost released a sigh of relief but caught herself, "You mean you weren't helping him?"
She shook her head. Natsumi was not sure why she even headed there in the first place, her idle mind led her to the clearing and curiosity did the rest.
"I offered words of wisdom. Uchiha-san is a mule," Sakura was ready to interject, "Stubborn and strongheaded, he doesn't receive direct assistance well. I needed to give him...a push in the right direction."
Sakura chewed on her lip. She wanted to help Sasuke hoping it would tighten their relationship, but he barely paid any attention to her. Hearing Natsumi speak she also realised that she knew little about how the last Uchiha functioned, something that the blonde before her was well versed in seemingly.
"No," She turned away and focused her gaze on the house, "I think I'll just clean up and help Tsunami-san."
Natsumi hummed in acknowledgement and watched as a dejected Sakura scaled the steps and entered the house. There was only so much she could do for the girl without holding her hand throughout her entire career as a kunoichi, she would need to break out of her love fantasy before it crippled her ability to function beyond it.
"It's rude to stare you know." She eyed the boy peeking at her from his bedroom window. He was quick to duck behind the wall as soon as their eyes met. Natsumi stood with narrowed eyes scrutinising the window where Inari once stood, before scoffing and walking into the house herself.
Inari on the other hand tried to calm his racing heart as he sat just below the window with his back against the wall. He did not like the yellow haired girl, he felt uncomfortable around her, she carried and unsettling aura around her.
Night bled into day as the sky turned from a dull grey to a stark black. Stars sparkled in the distance and the moon hung low, illuminating the forest and bathing the house in its glow.
Laughter came from the kitchen along with the sound of clattering dishes. Sakura and Tsunami conversed sharing tales of their culinary failures as they assisted one another in dishing the night's dinner. It was nothing extraordinary, rather a sign of hospitality and gratitude through what little food that Tsunami could spare.
Sakura had gone searching for groceries with Tsunami earlier and the state of the village shocked her. Poverty plagued every corner of the island. Men, women, and children scrambled for scraps of food to feed themselves or their families, their bodies thin and unsightly as even the rags that covered them fell apart.
She had never seen such a thing having grown up in the more lucrative sectors of Konoha. The experience had shattered her perception of reality and coupled with the encounter with Zabuza, Sakura was beginning to rethink her life choices, in particular her position as a kunoichi of Konoha.
"You appear disgruntled Uchiha-san." A brooding Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts, by a bored Natsumi. He spared her a moment of attention before scoffing and looking off to the side, hoping to avoid her gaze.
"Don't be shy, you can tell dear Natsumi about your troubles." She continued to prod, this time resorting to poking at his shin with her foot.
At first he tried to ignore her, but each poke trailed higher and higher until she nudged at his knee. He jumped in his seat as his knee latched out and struck the underside of the dinner table. He cursed under his breath as all eyes fell upon them.
"Sorry I accidentally kicked Uchiha-san, I guess I'm just too excited for Tsunami-san's cooking." She lied as easily as she breathed.
The aforementioned woman smiled and continued with the final touches of the meal. Sakura on the other hand watched the two for a second longer.
"Yer kids are a bit strange." Tazuna remarked as he flipped through his newspaper. Kakashi chuckled.
Prior to having Natsumi on his team and under his watch, he always assumed she had adopted the stern and precise attitude of the Hyuga clan. Whenever he happened to bump into her she always wore a mask of indifference or a scowl of annoyance, either accompanied by the Hyuga heiress or by herself. She felt nothing like her parents other than possessing the sharp edge and wit of her father, but after months of having her under his wing he could see telltale signs that she was definitely her parents' child.
Behind that cool and collected demeanour was a fiery temper that could devour any flame, just like her red-headed mother. Minato showed himself through her quick thinking and ability to quickly adapt to a situation, of course that was besides her physical appearance.
Natsumi was the glue of the team, acting as the de facto leader of the group and the one who did most of the talking. Somehow she managed to strike a balance in a team that should have failed upon its inception.
"I think they're adorable." He would comment, "Almost brings a tear to my eye."
Kakashi shenanigans aside, dinner commenced as Tsunami and Sakura distributed the plates and bowls. It was a simple meal consisting of rice, fish, and seawood. It was a farcry from a stellar supper, but all the patrons of the table were grateful nonetheless as they uttered their graces for the food, except for the youngest.
Joyful chatter filled the room as Tazuna shared tales of Tsunami's youth much to the woman's embarrassment. Even the king of sulking found himself cracking a smirk here and there, holding in snorts of amusement.
"I've been meaning to ask Natsumi, are you from a clan?" Tsunami asked in-between bites, she'd heard tadbits of information about the blonde from her pink haired teammate and she was fascinated by her eccentric behaviour, she had always assumed that shinobi were of the same brand, being vicious and merciless without a hint of a soul, but here was this colourful team brimming with life.
Even Sasuke was interested in the question. Natsumi did not bear the Hyuga name, despite how close she was to the clan. She still held the Uzumaki name which felt very familiar and yet so foreign.
"Hmm, well I suppose I can spill a bit. I technically fall under the Hyuga clan, and I am registered under them with Hiasha-sama being my legal guardian. But I am from the Uzumaki clan by birth, unfortunately not much remains of my clan as our island nation and in turn the vast majority of the clan was annihilated by the combined forces of Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo during the Third Shinobi war."
No one spoke, to Natsumi's teammates it was a bombshell. How had they never heard of this? And to Sasuke it drew him closer to her, he lost his clan and was one of the two remaining members and Natsumi was in similar position with the details setting them apart.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I wouldn't have asked..."
"It's quite alright, even though my clan is effectively no more, I still do love keeping their memory alive."
"How come we were never taught about this?" Sakura asked, they had explored many facets of the past shinobi wars during the academy years, but she could not for the life of her recall anything about an Uzumaki clan.
Natsumi shrugged, "Who knows, perhaps it's shame. Konoha was a close ally of Uzugakure, in fact the Shodaime's wife was an Uzumaki. I assume Konoha does not like to talk about it because they did not assist their ally. It's a shame too seeing as how our crest is so prevalent in the uniform."
Kakashi sighed, having known Kushina and the pain she felt losing her clan, it was as if that pain had bled into Natsumi herself.
"Now that you mention it, I did receive a quotation order from some guy. Mentioned something about Uzu and the sort, maybe a relative of yours." Tazuna grumbled as he tried to rack his foggy memory, he couldn't even remember where he had placed that darn paper.
Before anything else could be said, Inari spoke.
"You're all going to die..."
"Inari!" His mother scolded.
"I'm only saying the truth! They're all going to die, just like dad! What are they going to do to Gato! He's going to have them all killed!" He practically screamed slamming his hands on the table.
"That's what you think, huh?" Surprisingly it was Sasuke who spoke up, glaring at the brat, "You think we came here just to die?"
"Yes, you're just kids! Barely older than I am, Gato has hundreds of people! You don't know what he's done, what it's like to live like this."
Sasuke scoffed at the boy, "As if I'll let a lowlife like that kill me, I still have a duty to fulfil, and a clan to avenge."
However, no one expected the words that would leave Inari's mouth next.
"Then you'll die just like your clan!"
It took Sasuke everything he could muster not to jump at the brat, who did he think he was to spit on his clan? Teeth gnashed together and knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists.
"Inari! That's enough!" Tsunami rose from her seat and approached her son, her hand gripped around his wrist and he fought back ripping it away from her with a taut yank. Mother and son glared at one another, the heated staring competition only coming to an end due to the loud scraping of a chair.
"Fine, you keep thinking that. Live your whole life in fear and stay pathetic. Just be grateful you have a mother that loves you, and a grandfather that's trying to improve your life, instead of spitting at their efforts to keep you alive to see another day." The Uchiha snarled and turned making his way to the door and leaving with an audible slam.
Sakura scrambled to leave her seat but seeing Natsumi shake her head stopped her in her tracks, "Leave him be, Sakura. He needs to blow off some steam."
"B-But what about Zabuza-"
"I don't think an injured Zabuza is going to be stalking the woods for an upset Uchiha. He'll be fine."
Sakura was not happy but she could not argue otherwise, who was she to speak? She could only shoot a glare in Inari's direction. The brat had spoiled the whole evening with his tamper tantrum.
"You fear a false god, a man of flesh and blood." Natsumi turned to face Inari, looking him in the eye, "A coward that hides behind his wealth. I don't blame you for being skeptical of our ability, however I do not appreciate your disrespectful attitude towards my team, and your mother. I will bring Gato's head on a silver platter to you, but I will not tolerate any crying."
Natsumi then smiled as she faced the boy's mother, "The food was wonderful, but I would like to excused now. I need to freshen up, Hime would be disappointed to learn that I skipped a bath."
And then Natsumi was gone. The table was quiet, and in that moment Kakashi found himself inwardly groaning. He was just thankful that neither of his students attacked the child.
Where was she? A realm of darkness engulfed her form and she could not feel nor sense anything. Her voice failed, her lips muttering silence in the wake of her attempts to speak. She calmed herself and as she blinked, darkness swallowing darkness, she began to feel.
Her hands were held out with the palms facing upwards. She could feel something scurrying along their surface. A pale glow began to descend from above, rays of light scattering throughout the abyss. She began to see bits of herself, the light bouncing off the white robes she wore and her snow white skin.
More rays of light began to focus on her palms and a form slowly unravelled. She could see hints of dark hair and two glowing red orbs in the place of eyes. It was a man who looked oddly familiar, bearing a resemblance to her Uchiha teammate. His mouth opened and closed as he yelled and waved at her, she could not hear his words and try as she may, but she could not move her body.
He was so tiny and adorable, she could squash him in-between her fingers. But that train of thought fell short as the pale light began to bleed red. Her eyes followed the trails and found the source, it was the moon. Before she could question its presence she felt a sharp pain prickle her forehead and within an instant, the moon turned scarlet. Rings etched themselves on its surface followed by several tomoe, she felt her palms shift and when looked back to them she found a tree sprouting where Sasuke once stood.
And then darkness.
Her eyes flew open, just as her torso shot upright. Cold sweat rolled down her brow, her chest rose and fell in rapid succession. It was a nightmare, and yet she could still feel that sharp pain on her forehead. She ran a finger across the spot and she could feel a subtle bump, did something bite her?
She sighed and plopped back down on her futon. The early signs of the rising sun were beginning to creep through the window as streaks of orange light snuck through the window. She looked over to the side and saw Sakura curled up and asleep with Tsunami still in bed as well.
There was no going back to sleep for her.
'Might as well go check on the Uchiha.'
Sometime Later...
Finding Sasuke was not a difficult task, he was not exactly one for subtlety and it didn't hurt that she had a read on his chakra. As she progressed further into the forest she began to come across scorched earth and trees, clearly he needed to blow off more than just steam.
The trail of destruction led her to a clearing encircled by tall trees. A field of flowers led deeper into the woods, but that wasn't her interest, instead her eyes were caught on the site of the Uchiha. He was sprawled along the grass, he most likely exhausted himself until he could no longer move and opted to sleep on the spot.
She was prepared to approach him, but she felt another signature enter the clearing. She ducked behind a tree and watched as a mystery person appeared. Their body was bathed in a pink yukata and a basket hung from their arm.
She watched as as the stranger approached Sasuke and bent down next to him, reaching for his throat. That's when it clicked, she knew that chakra.
End of Chapter
A/N: Well well well if it isn't me and my absent ass, sorry kids went out to buy milk and the craziest thing happened, I uh...look a distraction!
So it's been a while (more than a year to be exact) since I last updated any of my stories. Chalk it up to the perks of adulting and a waning interest in writing, but recently through sheer force from my friends I returned to role-playing and decided I need to at least cough out a few more chapters for my fics. Now as to be expected after such a long absence things change, my writing is a bit iffy (excuse any and all errors), and plot points alter. I can't remember everything I planned out for this fic (I really need to start documenting my ideas) but there's stuff I can vaguely recall and others that I've come up with over the past few days.
I'm sorry if this chapter comes off as an exposition dump, I just wanted to clear some stuff now and I plan to wrap up the wave arc in a chapter or two, things will of course play out differently compared to the anime and I'm going to most likely divert from the anime/manga's path after the wave arc. Already you can see things are playing out differently, so what does that mean for our sassy lost child? Who knooooows?
Anywho thank you all for the previous reviews and the support, it's late but yall are keep pushing me continue this, and despite my lazy ass, I do enjoy writing this fic.
If I don't update again by the end of the year, I hope you guys have an enjoyable festive season and wish you well into the new year.
Once again thank you, and ciao!
