Butterflies
"Me? I'm nobody. I'm not skilled like Uchiha-san. I am not passionate like Haruno-san. I am not smart like Nara-san. I'm not as strong as Chouji-san. I'm not as collected as Aburame-san. Or as pretty as Yamanaka-san. I'm not as confident as Inuzuka-san. If anything, I'm like Hyuuga-san, socially awkward. Oh wait, no, she's just shy. The socially awkward one is me." OC! Team 7 remix!
Interlude 4 – Uchiha Sasuke
8-8
Now. The only thing we are guaranteed in this life: now. Five minutes ago no longer matters. Five minutes from now is not promised to anyone. That leaves only: now.
Not that I believe in any kind of sappy 'seize the moment' crap. I simply know the truth: now is the only moment you have, do with it as you will. It's kind of hard not knowing something like that, having nightmares of your entire clan, your entire family… your parents… to see them slaughtered each and every night.
That's why I… appreciate my team. Other than Kakashi, they understand that now is everything, and those you spend your 'now' with is all that matters. Thank Kami-sama I didn't get stuck with a fangirl; I think that would have pushed me over the edge.
At least, I think they understand that. Naruto has to! He was dead last in the academy, but now, with Namiki pushing him, he's… strong. Not just stronger, but strong. When he gets serious, like he is right now, his eyes almost turn to steel; like a blade ready to cut anything it touches. His taijutsu has not just improved, he pushes me. Like wind pushes fire to burn hotter, brighter.
And Namiki… that girl is… something else. She was better than me when we graduated in taijutsu, but that was it. Every match was won based purely on taijutsu, so she constantly won. She's smart though, she knows that's why she won. She never boasted because of it, after all. Of course, Yoshino-sensei would never have the girl overspecialize, so she was all but forced to branch out. To medical jutsu, to genjutsu, to sound release. She was already a formidable opponent before… now? I'm doing what I can to stay on her good side.
Not out of fear, of course; Uchiha's do not know fear. No, it's out of common sense. The girl is strong, Naruto is strong. When they come together… I shiver. Sasuke, stop thinking about this during a fight!
Still, Naruto's not pushing me too hard. So, whatever. Just stop thinking about things that make you nervous.
Naruto and Namiki. Controlling Namiki is impossible. I've even read that in the Uchiha archives. Namikis are never tamed, they can only be shown a reason why your way is the right way. Naruto though… I think other than Yoshino-sensei, he's the only one in the Elemental Nations she listens to. To think Naruto was the one behind the Hyuuga plot, even if Namiki was the plot executioner, he was pulling the strings. She actually LET HIM pull the strings.
And look at the end result! Two Hyuugas, not just the one he wanted. If I could somehow earn their trust, earn their loyalty. Naruto is by far the easier one, and the more logical one, to approach. However… if anything I suggest goes against what she sees as his best interest, she wouldn't hesitate to step in.
That's why those two are so dangerous together. They have weaknesses by themselves. Sure, those weaknesses are being covered by their individual training and such, but they still have them. However, they do not share the same weakness; in fact, they cover the other's quite well.
Naruto's weakness is glaring: he's an idiot. He gets too emotional too quickly, and that blinds him and drowns out whatever the plan was supposed to be. Add to that, he's focused almost entirely on close quarters combat? Taking him out would be a synch, if he were alone. Well, an enemy AND alone.
Namiki's is… frustratingly growing smaller by the day. Her weakness used to be her reliance on only her taijutsu. Then Yoshino-sensei happened. Once genjutsu was added to the mix, she became somewhat less easy to take out in an all out spar. Then… those sound release jutsus were added when Kakashi came back into the picture. Sure, that snap thing, that's easy to overcome. Even without being allowed to use my Sharingan; the littlest reasoning snaps that illusion like a twig, let alone chakra manipulation.
But… she also knows this. So she times that snap of hers with deadly precision. Then the Hell viewing jutsu, also simple to get out of, if requiring a bit more focus. And that she does it seallessly is… troubling at times, even though she taught me to do the same. She's… not a pushover. She isn't someone to underestimate. And she just keeps growing stronger!
I smirk at that. Solid earth to stand on and a strong wind that will help me to burn my absolute brightest! This is what I've been needing!
"What's with the racket?" Naruto asks, distracted. Well. It's not as if this spar was really doing me much good.
"Let's go find out." I suggest.
8-8
"She's in there." He sounds certain. I shrug, not really caring too much. "She sealed the door, and Yasu-nee doesn't know what's going on… that means she didn't come home in a good mood." Naruto's tone turned sour quickly, and if I'm not mistaken quite dark as well.
"Something happened." He grinds out. "Something that upset her enough that she didn't even come to me." I shiver. He may be an idiot, but that's a strong idiot that could scare the dead if he's motivated enough.
He sits in front of her door; plops on the ground really. He's… not happy. I sit as well, opposite him. He doesn't even know what happened, he can't even be certain that she's in there, or what her mood is; let along the reason for that mood.
He ignores silly things –like facts– so the look in his eyes shows he's a microsecond from ripping someone's head off. And the more time that passes, the more that look intensifies. Whatever the source of this 'problem' is… I might actually feel sorry for it.
It's almost five minutes later when I hear footsteps coming our way, from downstairs. Asami. "Where's Aya? And why are you obviously plotting someone's bloody murder, sitting broodingly against her door?" I snort. I can't even tell if she's serious, or if she's trying to lighten the mood. It's a fail either way.
"Inside. Door's sealed. Checked." He levels a glare at the redhead. "Was it you?" I shake my head a little. What an idiot. Anything that moves is the cause for this?
"Naruto-kun. Calm down. I don't even know what happened. I saw her running like her tail was on fire, tears in her eyes, so I followed her." I keep my opinion to myself. He may be an idiot, but he's a strong idiot.
She sits next to Naruto, just barely not touching. What is it with Naruto and girls lately? He seems to be collecting them! Namiki, the two slaves, the Hyuuga sisters, now Asami too…? Well, at least only one of them is a fangirl. I wonder how he'd cope with an army of raving lunatics begging him for a date every tick of the clock.
Easy-on-the-eyes lunatics, but lunatics nonetheless.
We sit in silence for a while. Asami seems content to wait with him, for some reason. Maybe she thinks we actually know something? I could be training instead you know!
…
Why aren't I training? Whatever. Taking a break is sometimes more important than training.
It's another ten, maybe fifteen minutes before someone rings on the bell. Well, considering the timing, I'd say trouble's knocking on Naruto's front door. "I'll go see who it is. Try not to kill anyone while I'm gone?"
8-8
"Naruto." Yoshino-sensei calls. He takes one look at whoever's with her, and… all but loses it. I thought he looked pissed before, but this? His eyes turn blood red, his pupils are suddenly slits. Those useless whisker marks on his cheeks look… intense all of a sudden. And… even though he isn't leaking any killing intent at all, I see the promise of death in his gaze. A slow, painful death, to be granted only when he allows it.
"What happened?" Naruto demands. I get a glimpse of his teeth, finding that his canines are suddenly much more pronounced. He looks like a vexed kitsune – not a smart enemy to make.
"She still inside?" Sensei, you're wasting your time trying to talk him down. You'll only rile him up more. Idiots don't deal with emotion well, remember?
"I asked you what happened?" Point in case.
"I'll explain it. I promise." She placates. "But first you need to calm down." Why do people still believe the words 'calm down' do anything positive? They don't, they only remind the person that they aren't calm, and then they instinctively think about the reason they aren't calm and:
"I AM CALM!" That happens.
"No. You're not." Insightful. "I appreciate you being worried and angry for her. And judging from… the situation… I'll assume she came in here crying." Actually, we don't know. We didn't see her. Not that silly things like that are going to stop Naruto now.
His breaths come out in bursts, almost rumbling like rolling thunder in the distance.
"Ino. Downstairs. Now. Chouji. Stay where you are." Ah. The ball of blubber. That's why Naruto's upset, he thinks Chouji has something to do with it. Hmm, if Naruto kills the boy, I could maybe console Namiki and gain her trust that way? A long shot, but better than no shot.
"Yasu's in the kitchen. Sakiko's in the back yard playing." I offer, trying to be 'the supporting role' for now. Uchiha's don't do 'the supporting role' we're always the lead! But… humility is for the victory of tomorrow. "A tip, sensei. Don't beat around the bush. He isn't in the mood." Just tell him what the corpse did, so I can see just what kind of things Naruto is capable of when he's like this.
Sensei snorts, not that I care why. Two sets of footsteps make their way away from us, but only one was one the stairs. Hmm. Must be Nara, the one that didn't make it up the stairs.
"There was a situation in the village. Chouji is involved, but I assure you he is a victim and not the culprit." Well, there goes that idea. Then again, maybe I can twist this around and say 'Of course you'd defend him, he's like a second son to you!' No. That's not my style. I might suggest it subtly later though.
What follows is a carefully thought out play-by-play, too fast to let Naruto interrupt, but not so fast that he wouldn't follow every word of it. Naruto's new target: Haruno Sakura. Well, that's on fangirl less to worry about.
"Where is she." I shiver. If ever there's a zombie apocalypse, I'm calling him to see if he survived. He's make the zombies scared with a tone like that! I shiver again. And this is still without killing intent!
"Safe from you." For now, maybe. "For now, at least." She's honest, if nothing else. "Aya will need you here when she's ready to come out. You know that." You've got to hand it to Yoshino-sensei. She might not be the strongest in the village, but… you've got to hand it to her. He's ACTUALLY thinking about that.
"We both know that you don't need this on top of everything else. That's why I am asking you to calm down." She continues, now steadily gaining ground. "Please."
Naruto snorts. He's not any less upset, but he has a vent for it now. I think I can use this to my advantage as well. I could offer to lure Sakura into a trap; she'd offer both her kidneys to go on a –shiver– date with me. And that could be my way into their good graces.
I mean, if Namiki were to let me copy all her jutsus? Her tactics are nothing if not effective. And Naruto as well, he may be less graceful in a fight, but he doesn't stop until he's the winner – that has to count for something!
8-8
"N-naruto-kun?" Hyuuga Hinata calls from the stairs. I can see that same look in Naruto's eyes, but… once his eyes find hers… the look wavers. "Is everything alright?" She didn't stutter? He's scary enough to make me wonder about my odds against him, and the timid one doesn't stutter? Maybe she's so afraid she forgets to? It's possible, but unlikely.
He looks away from her. He closes his eyes, taking in deep and soothing breathes. He doesn't want her to see him like this? No one else affects him, but her? Well… I'm sure Namiki would too, but… the two of them? That's new. Or is it? Is this his reasoning behind 'pulling the strings'?
It's a good five minutes later before something happens. No one moved a muscle the entire time Naruto was shutting out the world. "No." He answers simply. He opens his eyes, once again blue… if a bit more of an icy blue if you ask me.
Hinata climbs the last few stairs and quietly sits beside Naruto, shoulder-to-shoulder. He looks at her, but all she does is smile shyly. She then leans her head against him…? A fangirl with a brain? Lucky dobe. I'm never that lucky. The second my fangirls see me, they're intelligence is out the window – bound, gagged and weighted, just to be sure.
8-8
"You don't have to talk. I already know." I look up, finding the door open. Only, I wish I didn't look up. Naruto doesn't move, nor does Hinata. But that isn't why I wish that.
Namiki's been crying. And not some poor fangirl that I turn down for a date for the hundredth time kind of crying. Puffy, red eyes warily take us all in. She didn't expect anyone to be waiting here for her, that much is obvious. Her cheeks are still wet too. She must have only recently decided to come out – though that reason eludes me.
Suddenly, helping them kill Haruno seems more like a personal goal that a manipulative side-job.
I don't hear anything else that gets said. All I can see is the hollowness in her eyes; a look that haunted my reflection far too long. I'm not sure why she's still looking at me, but I do know that I'm cornering Naruto later. There's NO WAY I'm not getting included in exacting revenge against Haruno for this!
"N-nn." Namiki noises, her eyes looking away from mine. That hurts, for some reason.
"Everyone. Downstairs." Naruto orders. Whatever. I'm still not even sure why I stayed up here in the first place.
8-8
Everyone's downstairs, nervously awaiting Namiki. Asami was the first to ask if leaving the Akimichi upstairs with her alone was a bright idea, but she certainly wasn't the only one thinking it.
And when the pair finally grace us with their presence…?
Is he wearing… lipstick? Seeing that every female in the room is smiling knowingly… I'll just go with 'yes'.
8-8
End Interlude 4
8-8
A/N: This interlude is supposed to be coupled with the next, but depending on how well that flows, it may well be a good deal longer than this one. I won't explicitly say what Sasuke feels for Aya, but I'm sure the more perceptive of you won't need me to ^_^
Coming up is Asami's second interlude. I... will be doing this one in 1st person PoV as well, for reasons I won't divulge. I will do my usual subtle hints, and those that figure it out before it's actually revealed ^_^ Good on you.