A/N: I'll be making this a fairly long chapter, since I wanna do some stuff with Shikamaru and Haku, and you guys are overdue for more Naruto and Satsuki. As such, this'll be a big chapter.
Hope you guys enjoy both parts of it :)
Time for chapter 54
Enjoy!
Life as a live-in member of the Anbu Black Ops was far from a pleasant existence. The food was bland, the hours were long, and there was little time to talk between it all. There weren't many unfortunate enough to be reliant on the organization beyond a paycheck, but Haku Yuki was certainly among the few. In a sense, while she was avoiding a prison sentence through her service, she had merely traded a cell for a barrack. Her freedom came in bursts, and while it was certainly better than nothing, it still distinctly felt like a punishment.
Even having been badly injured during her battle with Gaara of the Sand, she had been patched up to the bare minimum and thrown out into the streets to assist in the cleanup effort. Her platoon mates and superiors had been consistently fair and indiscriminate, but that equality extended beyond normality. Every member of the corps was expected to chip in, injured or not, unless they were completely crippled. Haku had never been one to complain about hardship, as her life had been defined by it, but it was irritating all the same.
Three days had passed since the invasion, and only hours prior, the mass-reordering had finally ended. The village was in semi-respectable shape again. While most members of the corps had not been afforded extra time off, a select few had been pardoned from service temporarily by the Hokage. Haku herself among them. It was unquestionably a gesture of gratitude, and one that she greatly appreciated. She had not been paid, like always, but she was now free to do as she pleased for an entire month.
Kicking a pebble aside as she rounded a corner, the Anbu's destination, the Nara household, came into view. Her greatest struggle during her painfully lengthy shifts cleaning up the aftermath had been her inability to seek out Shikamaru immediately. He had long been her escape from the work she was forced to so diligently do, but time apart had never been particularly harrowing. The past three days, however, had been hellish. Their encounter during the fighting had been incredibly brief, but it had been distressing in the extreme.
It was only natural that Shikamaru's first brush with inflicting death on another would come during active combat, but fate had chosen a cruel method with which to administer the experience. He had been forced to kill a person with whom he was familiar. For reasons both petty and more grounded, Haku had disliked Temari of the Sand from the beginning, but the horror on Shikamaru's face as he stared down at her corpse had made it abundantly clear that his feelings did not mirror her own.
Even setting aside the unpleasant matter of the possible implications of his reaction, the long look she had shared with him was into Haku's mind. The grief, fear, and confusion had been incredibly raw. Truly, the expression of a boy unprepared for the carnage all around him. Hardened and cold as she could manage to be in the face of those very same things, the look on Shikamaru's face had broken Haku's heart. In the end, she had done all she could, and given him a weapon. It wasn't a comforting gesture, but it had been appropriate.
'He's alive. That's what matters.' she thought to herself, walking up the front steps. She then wrapped her knuckles on the wood of the front door. For several moments, no response came. It was a few minutes past eight-thirty in the evening, and while most ate dinner before such an hour, it was not impossible that she had chosen a poor time. Knocking a second time, Haku stepped back. If no answer came again, she would simply wait till morning.
Much to her relief, right at the end of her patience, the door opened. Surprisingly, rather than Yoshino, Shikamaru's father stood beyond the door frame. From what little Haku had seen of him, Shikaku Nara was scarcely energetic, but he looked even more tired than usual. His eyes had circles under them, and his face bore stress lines. Folding her hands at her waist, the huntress bowed formally.
"Good evening. Is it a bad time?" she greeted him politely. Shikaku scratched his scarred cheek listlessly and leaned on the frame.
"Depends on what you're expecting. I'm the only person in the house who isn't sick as a dog. If that bugs you, then yes." he replied. Haku straightened up again and shook her head. Simple illness was no deterrent at all in her mind.
"I don't mind, Nara-sama." she said. The older man mumbled something unintelligible, but stepped aside and motioned for her to enter the house. Doing so eagerly, Haku was immediately struck by how empty the space felt as she walked into the dining room that connected to the foyer. Shikamaru was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Yoshino.
"Yoshino's been in bed since seven. She's been sick for a few days. Shikamaru came down with the same thing the day he got home. I think it's pneumonia." Shikaku explained, pouring himself a cup of coffee as Haku sat herself down at the table.
"Is he here?" she asked, not bothering to clarify. The elder Nara nodded, strolling over to the kitchen island and leaning on it with a sip from his mug.
"Upstairs, in his room. Has been for the better part of two days. Not that I don't understand why. He has a lot to think about." he said. The huntress pursed her lips and stole a look over to the stairs. She wanted nothing more than to ascend them and open his door, but doing so without permission would be more rude than she was willing to be.
"I'm assuming you know what happened, then?" she inquired. Shikaku took another sip of his coffee and set the mug down on the counter.
"I know a whole lot more than you do, if I had to guess. You haven't been around much lately." he said pointedly. A shifting sound then came from the upper floor, drawing the attention of both to the stairs. The small commotion settled down. Haku turned her chair to face Shikaku fully.
"I saw the entire thing unfold in real-time. I saw him detonate the explosive tags. I saw him cry over her body. I…saw him give up. If I hadn't stepped in, he would've been stabbed to death. I know enough." she said. The Jonin was unmoved.
"Do you know why it hurt him so badly?" he asked simply. Haku held his dark-eyed stare for several moments. She had done plenty of consideration. Likely to the point of overthinking.
"I have a few ideas." she said. Shikaku stepped away from the counter and made his way around to the opposite side of the table.
"For his sake, I'll tell you the essentials so he doesn't have to run through it again. It isn't straightforward. So shut up and listen." he said, sitting down across from the Anbu slowly. Haku flinched at the new edge to his voice. For as much of a stranger as the man was to her in many ways, it was clear that, behind his mask of apathy, he was deeply protective of his only son.
"Alright. I'm all ears."
Headaches were the worst manifestation of human suffering.
They applied pain to every one of the five senses. If a sound was too loud, the skull pounded. A light too bright, the same result. Even smells and tastes could result in an aching pain in the temples. For the majority of the past seventy-two hours, Shikamaru had been suffering from a nonstop, ever-worsening migraine that threatened to rip his sanity apart. He could hardly move without triggering a splitting pain in his cranium, and even when he could ignore the pain, it left him so exhausted that he lacked the motivation to try.
Alongside the pain in his head, his throat was sore, his sinuses congested, and his stomach perpetually unsettled. He had not recovered even slightly since his infection. He had contracted the sickness from his mother, that much was obvious, but it was his own fault for coming home at all. He could have taken up residence with Naruto temporarily had he so chosen, but privacy had been his motivator. The blonde was an attentive and helpful friend, but he was far from quiet or adept at reading the room.
Deep down, he knew that he was accomplishing nothing by sulking, but he couldn't find the energy to care. Wallowing was easy, and easy was exactly what he wanted. He was sick of making an effort at the moment. He was too tired, and if being sickly was the price, he would pay it. Rolling over onto his back, Shikamaru wiped his running nose for the thousandth time. His upper lip was raw. He had somehow managed to fall from the bed several minutes earlier during an attempt to reach for his box of tissues on the nightstand. It hadn't even been worth the fall, as the box was empty.
Sleeping was certainly an option to cure the boredom. He had managed to catch a few hours of rest between his stints of self-criticism, and while the sleep was far from pleasant for its contents, it passed the time. He was unable to make the decision for himself, as before he could, his door handle began to turn. Shikamaru made no effort to move or prepare himself for conversation. His father had checked on him periodically throughout the past few days, and while the man certainly cared, he lacked the drive to push the genin out of his stupor much of the time.
However, the shadow that cast itself across his bedroom floor when the door opened was both feminine and shorter than his father's. and his mother's, for that matter. Propping himself up on his elbows, Shikamaru squinted as he peered into the light. He felt his nerves act up immediately when he recognized the person in his doorway to be Haku. She was wearing her usual anbu uniform, though lacking the mask or pouch. In her left hand was a glass of water, while her right gripped the handle of the door. Feeling an uncomfortable silence creeping in, Shikamaru cut it short.
"I'm sick, and probably contagious. You shouldn't be in here." he said tiredly. The huntress responded by stepping all the way into his room and closing the door behind her. As per usual, she was not easily deterred.
"I've been told you aren't drinking much. I'm not leaving till this cup is empty." she said, making her way across the floor and stopping just short of his bedside. She then offered the glass to him. Disliking the feeling of being prone, Shikamaru threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. He did not take the cup.
"Set it on the nightstand. I'll drink it later." he said. Haku stared down at him wordlessly, but did as she was told and set the cup aside.
"I'll hold you to that, then." she said. Another disconcerting silence set in. Shikamaru could not bring himself to look her in the eye. The reasoning was layered, but at its most fundamental level, it was simple shame. Whether she knew anything beyond what she had seen, he knew not, but that did not change that he knew. Their relationship had been complicated from its outset, and he had only scrambled it further.
"Your father told me what happened." the huntress said after a minute had ticked itself away. The genin tensed momentarily, but quickly relaxed himself. His head hurt far too much for physical reaction.
"Some dad." he muttered. Forcing his vision up from the floor, he met her gaze. As per usual, she was unreadable. Her eyes were veiling emotions, but for the life of him, he could not discern what exactly they were.
"He did it to spare you the grief of telling me yourself. And honestly, after sitting through it, I understand why." she said calmly. Shikamaru swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. The discussion was always bound to happen. She had seen too much for it to be swept under the rug. Such a sudden occurrence was far from pleasant regardless of inevitability.
"I don't have anything to say for myself, if you're waiting for me to get defensive. I hate it as much as I'm guessing you do. Probably more, actually." the Nara said, not bothering to start slowly. Haku brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You think I'm angry, don't you?" she guessed. Shikamaru struggled to maintain eye contact. Her composure was unnerving to the highest degree.
"I think it's a pretty safe assumption, yeah." he admitted. The Anbu girl took a deep breath, held it in, and then released it.
"Well, do you want to know what I think of it?" she asked. The Nara nodded reluctantly. Facing what he'd feared hearing head-on was the only sensible option. Delaying it would be pointless.
"I can't lie, it upsets me. It was immature, reckless, and incredibly short-sighted." Haku began. Shikamaru gripped his pajama pants at the knees. She was entirely right, and he hated it.
"But, I think it would be unfair not to be realistic. She manipulated you. She played on your mercy and drew you into a game of cat and mouse with Gaara. Then, she sought you out when you were weak, and pressured you into drinking with her." Haku continued. Shikamaru shook his head.
"It…wasn't like that. I wish I had that excuse, but it just wasn't." he said. The huntress let a look of melancholy show for a moment.
"I know it doesn't fit how you viewed her, but trust me. I've been around the block a bit more than you have. I've met her kind before. I don't doubt that you got along, but she knew what she wanted, and she got it. I can't comment on her much beyond that, but I'm confident in that assessment." she said, pausing for a moment.
"You're a smart boy, but you've never been impossible to lead around by the nose. I would know." she added. Shikamaru felt a strong wave of guilt set in.
"Don't give me an out. I don't deserve one." he said dejectedly. Haku's hands found their way to his shoulders as she lowered her levels to meet him more directly.
"I'm not. I'm giving you a context that you don't seem capable of recognizing on your own. You see yourself as the villain of this story, and that just isn't true. You made a mistake, but in the end, as much as it may hurt, you corrected it." she said gently. Shikamaru felt his eyes well up and let his gaze drop to his knees.
"I got involved in the first place to help people. I wanted to stop Gaara. And I ended up just like him. I murdered somebody." he said, his voice breaking midway through. The huntress took hold of his face by his chin and turned his head up again with a jolting force.
"And that's exactly what I'm talking about. You saved so many people by shutting down his hunts. You did something wonderful. But you can't see yourself as anything but a monster because circumstances forced your hand." Haku said seriously. If her feelings had been hidden before, they weren't now. She was upset. Plain and simple. As quickly as her anger had come, it melted away. Softening her grip on his face to a hand on his cheek, Haku sobered.
"I'm coming off as quite jaded, aren't I?" she said. Shikamaru nodded. Letting her hand drop from his face, the huntress took a moment to collect herself.
"I just…want you to understand that you aren't a bad person. It's a cold, cold world out there, and these things happen. You're caring and kind. It's what I love most about you, but it's a dangerous way to be. You did what you had to do, and that's okay. Can you please try to accept that?" she requested quietly. She was genuinely trying, if quite clumsily.
"That's what everybody keeps telling me. That I'm 'caring'. That I'm special because I don't like watching people die. What kind of world is this? I thought having some decency was normal." Shikamaru said in frustration, standing up and trudging to the middle of the room with no real idea of where he was going. He couldn't handle sitting still anymore. His hands curled up into fists as his frame shook. None of it made sense. Not a single iota.
"I got raised on the idea that good people care and do their best to help. I'm not the best at it, but I've always tried to be that person. And then, the minute I start the career my own parents put me on, those values just…don't fit anymore." he said, talking to no-one in particular. A tear escaped him.
"I don't know what to think or how to feel. At first, everybody was telling me to let go of my emotions. To not care even when I want to. I almost lost my job for saving you. Now, after all of this, I keep getting the opposite message. That I should keep my conscience. Which one is it?" Shikamaru hissed, gripping the sides of his head and sinking back down to the floor as his headache hit him with another wave of pain. Haku was soon on her knees with him, holding him steady by his arms.
"The answer to that question is whatever you decide it is. Who you become is up to you. It won't always be easy, but you can control who you are. So long as you don't give in, your life is yours to control." she said. Shikamaru let go of his temples and set his hands on the floor.
"I'm so damn tired. It's all been too much." he said with a dead chuckle. The Anbu girl pulled him into her and wrapped him up in a hug that finally brought the tears out in full force. For the second time in a week, Shikamaru was crying without restraint.
"You have every right to be. There's no shame in having a limit." Haku said in his ear, rubbing his back rhythmically. There was no judgmental underbelly to her words. None whatsoever.
"Why do you still care? You know what happened." Shikamaru questioned. The Anbu maintained her grip on him unwaveringly.
"You put your life on the line for your people, and took a wrong turn along the way. I don't like it, but it is what it is." she said. Shikamaru managed to relax a tad, but the exhaustion and internal pain were ever-present.
"I'm so sorry." he apologized in a whisper. Haku sighed and made a few inches of space between them.
"You never promised me anything to begin with, so I'm a bit of a hypocrite for being upset with you for more…personal reasons. Either way, apology accepted. I forgave you before I walked into the room." she said evenly. Feeling his throat catch, Shikamaru backed up a foot and coughed into his arm roughly.
"It's not gonna be a habit." he said once the spell had passed, rubbing his raw sore throat. Haku reached up to the nightstand and retrieved the glass of water.
"Good. Now finish this. You need to stay hydrated." she said, pushing the cup across the wooden floor toward him. Shikamaru eyed the water disdainfully. Liquids had not been kind to his stomach since his illness had begun.
"Later." he insisted, doubling down on what he had said earlier. Rather than arguing with him as he had expected, the huntress took a sip from the glass herself. Cupping the side of his face, she leaned forward, and pressed her lips to his. Shikamaru's eyes widened a tad. The water then began to slip into his mouth, with a few drops sliding down his chin. Though he tried to pull his head back, Haku held him in place with the hand she'd left on his cheek.
Quickly deducing what she wanted him to do, the Nara swallowed the water apprehensively. When he did, she released him and let him breathe.
"That was gross." Shikamaru grumbled, wiping his mouth and chin. Haku gave him a bored look and placed the glass in his hand.
"Then drink it yourself. It's one or the other." she said. Finally relenting, Shikamaru brought the cup to his lips and began to down its contents.
"Go slow. You'll puke if you chug it." Haku instructed. Doing as he was told, the genin gradually drank the water. The process took nearly two minutes, but he was able to finish the glass. Setting it aside, Shikamaru wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"You're gonna get sick hanging around me right now." he said. The huntress shrugged and fiddled with a lock of hair hanging in her face.
"Well, we probably traded saliva a minute ago, so that bridge has been crossed." she said matter-of-factly. Crude as her wording was, Shikamaru found that he was too spent to be embarrassed. Looking around the room, he spotted something.
"Have you ever played Shogi?" he asked, choosing to divert the topic away from the invasion. Haku perked up a bit.
"Once or twice, but I don't really remember the rules." she said. The Nara rose to his feet and made his way to his dresser, retrieving the board he had noticed from its back corner. Glancing back at the girl, he held it up.
"Wanna learn? I'm an alright teacher." he offered. Haku crossed her legs and smiled warmly.
"I'd love to."
Naruto rubbed his dry eyes as he stared into his dim reflection in the side of his water glass. He was seated loosely on his couch, with the glass sitting on the coffee table. It was late. Later than he could justify, given that he was still awake. Sleep had not come easily to him since the conclusion of the violent tragedy that was the final round of the Chunin exams. His injuries had entirely healed, and he felt no lingering pain, but he had not yet shaken the feeling of anxiety the events had inspired in him. He was well aware that he had little right to such aftereffects, given how tame his experience had been compared to others, but he was on edge all the same.
In many ways, he had been exceptionally lucky. The majority of the fighting had taken place in the village itself, or at the eastern border, and he had been well clear of both of those places. Even during his rushed journey from the infirmary to aid Satsuki, he had been too focused to pay much attention to the combat. Narrow as his view of the entire ordeal was, the struggle against Gaara had been more than enough to leave a permanent imprint on his psyche. Never before had he felt so utterly helpless. He had pulled out every stop imaginable, and it had been for naught.
The redhead's strength had been so far beyond Naruto's expectations. He had known from their solitary encounter that he was not to be trifled with, but the true extent of his power had been crushing. As much as he regretted cutting things so close in terms of timing in assisting Satsuki, part of him was glad that he had not seen more of their battle. His teammate down on her knees, battered and exhausted while Gaara stood unfazed was an image he would likely never forget. He had done his best to hide it at the time, but the sight had intimidated him right from the outset.
Satsuki was powerful. Likely more so than he was in most scenarios. He had not planned on tapping into the darker spectrum of his strength, but his anger had forced his hand, and it still hadn't been enough. Gaara battered and beat him like all the rest. Had Haku not arrived when she had, as much as it pained the genin to acknowledge, both himself and the Uchiha would have been killed in short order. At this memory, Naruto tightened his grip on the glass of water. He had gained a modicum of newfound respect for the huntress who had once tormented them, but to have been saved by her still left a sour taste in his mouth.
As with Gaara, Haku's level of power had been shocking. She had been a slight step below the redhead overall, but far closer to him than Naruto on his best day. Egoism and frustration with his inability to compete aside, the blonde found himself stuck on what to take away from it all. He did not share Satsuki's self-loathing for the fact that they had been soundly beaten before help had come, though he did understand the feeling on paper, but he felt an uncertainty that refused to leave him.
Gaara's fists and claws had done little to traumatize him, but his words had cut deep into Naruto's soul. Relating to such a vile human being would never sit right, but denying it altogether had not worked in the slightest. Gaara's tale of rejection, mislabeling, and internalized pain had struck a deep chord. Their chosen paths were starkly different, but Naruto could not ignore how painfully similar their experiences had seemingly been. Even in terms of outcome, it was not as though the blonde had never caught himself staring down into a dark abyss. He had always found a way to muzzle it, but disdain and violent emotion had indeed arisen in him before.
"As you are now, who you are now, you don't have a prayer."
The words had rung back in his mind countless times since he had first heard them. Gaara had proven himself to be quite the fan of bluster and deprecating remarks, but of all the things he had said, that specific sentence had felt genuine. He had meant it without sarcasm, and he had been right. He was, in no uncertain terms, more powerful than Naruto had ever been, and by a wide margin. Though logic dictated that Gaara's power could be attributed partially to a greater natural aptitude than the leaf genin possessed, Naruto could not help but wonder if the answer lay in murkier places.
His own dabbling into his demon's power had been extremely limited, but even with the minimal amount he had dipped his toes into it, the fox's power had yielded incredible results. The gap between his personal strength and that of when he gave into the burning chakra was stark. If his words were to be taken at face value, Gaara had taken things several steps further. He had fully embraced the power of his beast. He reveled in it. In exchange for his humanity, he had gained staggering strength that was only bound to grow with time. Had circumstances not been heavily stacked against him, Suna's Jinchuuriki would have escaped the victor, his choices validated.
Naruto pursed his lips and kept his hand wrapped around the water. Emulating Gaara was the last thing he wished to do, but a small, deeply-buried chunk of him wondered if he would find greater peace in such a unity. He had found joy in others, primarily his teammates, but the happiness did not reach his chest. He still struggled to take a single positive aspect of his life to heart. Every moment of joy felt as though he were getting away with something. Feeling things not meant for him.
It left him constantly battling an underlying fear that the foundation he had finally managed to build would crumble beneath his feet at any moment, sending him into a freefall all over again. And at the root of it all was the wretched monster locked in his stomach. As he had established long ago, he did not hate the Fox. it went against his most basic moral principle of observation before judgment, but he had always been silently bitter. That bitterness spawned his fear, and that fear rendered him constantly depressed.
Throwing away his trepidation, and embracing the beast for what it was would have sounded utterly asinine mere weeks ago, but after seeing Gaara in action, and hearing him preach, Naruto found the option more tempting than he ever would have expected to. He was still far from ready to make such a leap, but he could feel the idea planting its seeds.
'He's a mass murderer. He's a psychopath. All he wanted was to rub it in your face. You aren't like him. Quit pretending you are.' he chided himself within his mind. Truth be told, the deviant thoughts were almost certainly born of a desire for any kind of answer to a question he had long failed to find a solution for, no matter what it was. They would pass in time, frustrating and confusing as they were. Releasing his cup from his grasp, Naruto began to pull his arm back from the coffee table. He stopped when he heard a clicking sound against the glass.
Slowly drawing the arm back and up, Naruto saw that his nails had lengthened into claws without his knowledge. Reaching back down to the cup, he turned it slightly to better reflect the faint light streaming in from the kitchen. His eyes were red and slitted. Upon further inspection, he found that his arms were shaking as well. He had grown too emotional amid his deeper thoughts. With a tired stretch, Naruto stood up from the couch and grabbed his coat from the back of one of the dining room chairs.
'I guess we're walking again.'
A cold wind blew across Konoha as Satsuki rounded a corner. Late-night walks were not a usual habit of hers, but when she found herself unable to sleep, they tended to tire her out enough to make rest less difficult once she returned home. Her current struggles with sleep were not new or unique. In fact, she had managed to fall asleep several hours prior, but nightmares had shaken her awake with no immediate hope of remedy. The most tedious part had been getting dressed all over again, as for the many odd habits Satsuki Uchiha was guilty of, indecent exposure was not one of them.
Konoha's streets tended to empty themselves out by eleven-thirty or so, but ever since Gaara of the Sand had graced the village, that time had pushed back an hour or two. It left the town eerily quiet once night truly set it, but Satsuki was well used to hearing crickets rather than the hustle and bustle of people. If anything, Konoha's newfound volume made her feel more comfortable. It was a more familiar environment. Kicking a stone across the asphalt, Satsuki stopped for a moment as she reached the arena.
The structure stood largely unfazed by the chaos that had unfolded within its walls, save for a large pile of blasted rubble on one of its sides that had yet to be cleaned up. In a way, it was comforting. A microcosm of the fact that the village was still in one piece after all it had gone through three days prior.
'The inside probably looks a whole lot worse.' the raven-haired girl thought to herself. The fighting had started in the stands, and according to what she had been told after the fact, it had rapidly bled into the inner stadium soon after she and Gaara had departed. Choosing not to dwell too long on the invasion, Satsuki strolled over to the pile of rubble. It was covering what had once been an emergency exit, as far as she could tell. When she reached the edge of it, she spotted something rather morbid.
While there was no body, the bloody outline of a torso could be seen in the grass. Somebody had died in that very spot, likely breathing their last crushed under tons of concrete. To which side they belonged, it was impossible to tell. Moving on without delving too deep, Satsuki hopped up onto the first of the concrete chunks. Slowly ascending the pile, she soon reached the top. When she did, she took a moment to stare up at the night sky. It was completely clear. It had been since the storm of the invasion had subsided. Almost as though nature were offering condolences for the bloodshed with beauty.
Knowing few constellations by name, and even fewer by location, Satsuki moved on from the stars quickly. Though she initially began to climb back down toward the road, she halted when she heard a slight shifting sound from the other side of the concrete pile. Cautiously climbing back up to the top, the Uchiha girl peered down the opposite slope.
"Naruto? What are you doing out here?" she askedskeptically upon discovering her comrade sitting down on a blocky piece of rubble down near the bottom of the mound. The blonde immediately shot to his feet and whirled around. Apparently, he had not been aware of her presence until she had addressed him. He visibly relaxed when he identified who had called his name.
"I, uh, couldn't sleep. Figured a walk might help." he said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. His words sounded mostly honest, but Satsuki couldn't help but feel as though something was being left out of his explanation. Ignoring it for the time being, Satsuki carefully descended down the jagged decline to join him. She stopped a few feet above the Jinchuuriki, sitting herself down on a wedged overhang.
"Same for me, before you ask. Sleep's been a little rough." she said. Naruto nodded, glancing off into the open air.
"Just a little hard to calm down after all of that, you know? I'm still coiled up." he said honestly. Satsuki fiddled with the hem of her skirt. The sentiment was relatable, and more than likely to more than just her.
"I almost punched a hole in my door when it creaked a little too loud this morning. I know what you mean." she said with a chuckle. Naruto sat back down on his concrete block.
"We didn't even see much action. Maybe we're just soft." he mused. The Uchiha girl looked off toward the northern border, where they had taken turns holding the line.
"I think we're pretty tough. We did our part." she said. While her hang-ups with the way the battle with Gaara had played out were numerous and nagging, she could at least acknowledge that their service had not been in vain.
"Yeah, true. I just…really feel for some of the families. The Inuzuka's especially. They lost both their kids." Naruto said in a low voice. Satsuki leaned back against the rubble behind her.
"They invited me to the funeral next week. I left flowers at their door yesterday. Tsume saw me before I could leave." she recounted. The blonde raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you hated Kiba." he said. Satsuki brushed dust out of her hair and shifted in her uncomfortable seat.
"I can at least respect loss. Hits close to home for me, y'know?" she said quietly. Naruto studied her for several moments.
"You're a good person." he said after a time. Satsuki frowned and leaned forward to get a better look at him below her.
"Thank you, but I don't really see how respect for the dead makes me any better or worse than most people." she said. The Jinchuuriki appeared stumped by the response, as evidenced by the lengthy silence that followed. When it stretched on past a certain point, Satsuki kicked herself mentally.
'Great. You made him feel dumb.' she lamented. Accepting compliments had never been a strength of hers. Especially not those pertaining to her character. Deciding that a change of topic would be wisest, Satsuki pointed toward the arena.
"They still haven't paid me back for my bet yet." she revealed. Naruto gave her a confused look, which brought the Uchiha to a realization.
"I never had the chance to tell you, but I put money down on you at the last minute for your fight with Neji." she clarified. The blonde grinned.
"You were talking all sorts of trash about Sensei betting on me. What changed your mind?" he asked. Satsuki waved a dismissive hand.
"I didn't mean any of that, dumbass. I basically never do, if you haven't figured that out." she said. Naruto sighed.
"You're nothing but mixed signals, you know that?" he complained, though he hardly sounded truly upset. Satsuki let an uncommon giggle slip through.
"What fun would any of this be if I let you read me?" she said humorously. Naruto grumbled something under his breath that she couldn't quite discern. The pair sat in rather comfortable stillness without a word for several minutes. Solitary as she had molded herself to be, the Uchiha had learned to enjoy company in recent months. Especially that of the boy sitting below her.
"Hey, Satsuki."
Snapping from her contented trance, the raven-haired girl turned her attention back to Naruto, who was staring at his hands.
"What's on your mind?" she asked. The Jinchuuriki slowly, almost nervously, looked up from his twiddling thumbs and glanced up at her.
"Does your offer still stand? For if I beat Neji, I mean." he asked, his tone cautious. It took her a brief few seconds, but Satsuki swiftly recalled the conversation he was referencing. A slow smirk spread across her lips.
"Of course. Wanting to take me up on it?" she replied. Oddly, despite the topic at hand having been one of embarrassment the last time it had arisen, the Uchiha found it to be far less stressful when the request was being levied at her rather than the other way around. With an uncharacteristic look of sheepishness on his face, Naruto nodded.
"If you're okay with it." he said. Satsuki promptly hopped down from her higher perch, landing in the grass next to his chunk of rubble. She then took him by the hand and pulled him to his feet. With a gentler smile, she nodded off toward the Uchiha sector.
"Let's go home."
A/N: Alright, so, I know some of you will probably question Haku's willingness to forgive here, but I think it's rather reasonable considering the circumstances, and the fact that, in her own words, she was never promised anything before then.
Did that conversation feel rushed? I feel like I wrote it out naturally, but it wasn't *super* long. Tell me what you thought
Either way, I decided to write one big couples chapter. The last seven chapters were very action-heavy, so some slower, sweeter stuff has felt really nice to write.
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