Riding high still on the antics of the last chapter, I give you...this. Perhaps I had a bit too much fun...
Where the Heart Is
Sasuke knew he'd been completely drained from the day before when he woke up to a pile of his laundry having been freshly washed and folded, placed neatly on his bedside table. He blinked into the flickering light of a lit oil lamp; someone must've turned that on as well as he recalled going to bed in the dark. He'd thought he'd trained himself to wake up at even the slightest noise but maybe he still had some work to go before he reached that level.
Or, you slept so hard because you actually felt safe here. He instantly strangled that thought down until it gurgled into silence. Stretching as he climbed out of bed, he re-packed the clothes before slipping his shoes on and left out into the hallway.
He easily found his way back into the kitchen, but instead of the lively atmosphere from before, he almost unsheathed his sword as he took in the state of its occupants.
Karin had her face on the table with an expression so lifeless, she drooled on the table's surface. Jugo sat across from her, body slouched back with eyes that were dull and vacant. Suigetsu was walking…if you could call it walking. He shuffled slowly across the kitchen, groaning like something raised from the dead and holding a coffee cup.
"Orochimaruuuu~! When is the coffee gonna be done?" he whined.
"Give…give me a damn moment," Orochimaru grit his teeth, bags under his eyes and hair pinned up in a messy bun. "Damn thing has too many buttons."
Sasuke bit his tongue to not laugh, having never heard Orochimaru use such language before. "Want me to make it? I had a recent stay at the hospital and Naruto and I got pretty good with using a coffee machine."
The man threw his hands up in frustration. "Go for it! It's too early for this shit…" He took up a place at the kitchen table as well, though looked on with disapproval at Karin's rapidly growing drool puddle.
Sasuke picked up where he'd left off, measuring out the coffee to put into the filter. Except Orochimaru's coffee machine hadn't completely caught up with the times and required a paper filter. "You know they make these with filters you can just wash, right? That way, you don't have to keep buying them."
"Sasuke? Not now," Orochimaru pinched between his eyes.
The Uchiha grit his own teeth, but thankfully it didn't take him long to locate the filters. Putting it back into the machine, he poured in a full pot of water into the back, then pressed Start. It burbled for a minute or two until a steady dark stream began to pour forth.
While waiting, Sasuke noticed Suigetsu had fallen asleep on his feet, coffee cup still being held out. He took the time to snicker at his appearance, wearing a bathrobe and fuzzy yellow slippers. Weaving around him, he hunted the cabinets until he found some bread, throwing some pieces into the toaster. He also tracked down a bag of rice and set that to cooking before scouring the fridge for anything else. There, wrapped in a familiar dish, were the remains of the meat they'd had the night before. As there wasn't a microwave, he turned on the stove, preparing to heat it up.
While cooking, Suigetsu finally snapped awake, as though the smell had jerked him out his slumber. His eyes instantly went to the coffee pot though and at realizing it wasn't full, he fixed his gaze upon the Uchiha. "Sasukeeee! When's the coffee gonna be done?" he now whimpered at him this time, pawing at his arm.
"Soon," Sasuke promised, grimacing at the sorry state everyone was in. He never remembered any of them being coffee people before; when did that change?
By the time the coffee had finished, the rest of the food was also ready. As everyone was out of commission, no one helped him to bring the food to the table. Noticing that's where everything else was headed, Suigetsu resumed his zombie shuffle to the other side of the room, falling like deadweight into his chair.
The atmosphere remained the same until Sasuke at long last brought over the pot of coffee. He poured some into a mug for each person, having to forcefully wrap Karin's hand around the handle for hers as it seemed she'd all but been stricken with rigor mortis. He watched as they each took a feeble sip, hoping anxiously that this was the magical potion needed to restore his…friends.
Orochimaru was the first to come-to. "Took you long enough," he instantly sneered.
"Bite me," Sasuke snapped.
"Heh. Already did that. And I seem to remember you actually liking it." Orochimaru's grin was down-right sinful.
Cheeks burning, Sasuke shut up and dug into his food.
Suigetsu took a sip of his coffee, instantly looking a little more alert. "Hey, babe…here, you should drink yours too." He took Karin's cup and sloshed some into her mouth.
"Uuuughhh…" she gave a groan, but gulped it down. "Soooo gooood…" She slowly pulled herself up, joints moving stiffly.
Jugo was the last one, staring blankly into his cup of coffee as though he'd never seen such a thing before. Sasuke wondered if it was wise to even let him have any but before he could take the cup back, Jugo took a drink.
As though realizing this same thing, the rest of the table became still, watching him while clearly poised to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
Jugo rolled the flavor around for a bit, swirling the cup's contents around as though expecting to find some hidden secret ingredient. After smacking his lips for a moment, his face smiled—then instantly frowned. "I don't think I like coffee."
Everyone let out a breath. "I think it'd be wise if you didn't drink coffee anyways," Orochimaru suggested, pulling the cup gently away from him. "It could undo the effects of the medicine."
At hearing that, Jugo willingly surrendered the drink, turning his attention instead to breakfast. "Thanks for the meal, Sasuke."
"No prob," Sasuke said casually, but glowed with pride. He instantly turned expectant eyes upon the others. "Well?"
"I said 'itadakimasu', that is my thanks to you," Suigetsu stated, continuing to eat without batting an eyelash.
And yet somehow, that's just not the same as a proper thank you, Sasuke thought ruefully. When the end of breakfast arrived, he quickly declared, "I'm not doing dishes this time. I cooked."
"I did dishes last night," Jugo also reminded them.
"And I need to fix your food to go, Sasuke," Orochimaru added.
Which left Karin and Suigetsu. Grudgingly, the two cleared the table while Orochimaru set to digging around for something he could whip together. "Oh, Jugo? Could you take Sasuke to the infirmary to help him restock his supplies?" The man asked. To Sasuke though, he gave him a warning look. "Don't get too greedy."
Sasuke easily rolled the comment off his shoulders. "Of course not. You're going to need as much as possible to patch up your botched experiments."
As they left the kitchen, Jugo muttered, "That was kinda harsh. If this were a restaurant, your plate would probably have been spat in. Which, may I remind you, Orochimaru is fixing your food currently."
Sasuke paused as that sunk in. Sticking his head back into the kitchen, he said, "You know I'm only joking, right? Heh-heh…" He retreated with a feeling of apprehension that wouldn't be easily quelled.
With a quick trip to retrieve his bag, the two entered the infirmary. The room was quiet with no current patients. Jugo though must've been there several times before as he pulled down supplies with almost a clinical efficiency. Soon, he had a collection of items assembled. "Not sure specifically what you need but I suppose you can never be too certain."
Examining everything, Sasuke nodded in satisfaction. There were bandages and rolls of gauze, a jar of a rather fast-acting healing ointment, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Additionally, a small kit for stitching wounds was set out too. He began to stuff it all in his pack when Jugo then laid several syringes on the counter.
"For things like anesthetics or antidotes," he said, producing a container of both. "I know you didn't tell us the truth yesterday as to why you left Konoha. You don't have to tell me the real reason if you don't want to, but from what I can tell, it seems you won't be returning to the village for quite some time. That's why you decided to come here instead, right? And, the fact that Orochimaru isn't charging you certainly doesn't hurt," he winked.
Sasuke smirked and winked back at him. "This is actually more than I had planned to take; are you sure Orochimaru won't birth a cow if I take all of this?" He figured he'd ask.
Jugo laughed at the changed expression, shaking his head. "Don't know, but there's plenty more of everything I gave you so he should be able to part with at least this much. I just want to make sure you're ready for anything out there."
It was an unusual thing for Sasuke to feel touched at the gestures of others (probably because most people did nice things for him only in the hopes of dating him), but he was moved by Jugo's thoughtfulness. Clapping a hand on his shoulder, he quickly gave a "Thanks a lot," before striding from the room.
Back in the kitchen, the dishes had been completed but both Suigetsu and Karin had remained. The two were cuddling at the table, giggling about something. Sasuke instead turned his attention to Orochimaru, who seemed to be putting the final touches on one of the many lunch boxes on the counter. "It's not a lot but if you eat conservatively, it should last you about a week," he said, snapping the lid on the final container.
From his pocket, he pulled out a scroll and rolled it the length of a second counter. He transferred the boxes to rest on the scroll before performing a few hand signs. With a large puff of smoke, the boxes disappeared and all that remained was the scroll, rolled up once more. Smiling in satisfaction, he presented it to Sasuke. "This should make it easier to carry around. Just weave the hand signs of the Snake, Ox, and Dog, then put your hand on the sign for the meal you want and the bento should appear."
So that's why Team Guy always eats so well; Tenten's transportation jutsu can transport home cooked meals! They don't have Neji anymore, maybe I can join their team…wait, too soon, Sasuke? Yeah, probably too soon…
Coming back to himself, he nodded to Orochimaru. "Appreciate it." That too was put in his bag. "If that's all, then I'm about to leave now. It was…nice catching up with all of you." He pulled at his collar a bit, feeling uncomfortable.
"Sure you don't want to stay?" Orochimaru hissed hopefully. "It's not like you have anywhere else to go."
Suigetsu and Karin jerked their heads up. "Wait, you can't go back to Konoha?" Karin asked.
"…Not right now," Sasuke admitted, cursing Orochimaru for just blurting it out. "Things aren't looking so good in the village so I'm on leave for the time being."
"Whoa, must be pretty bad for them not to want you around," Suigetsu whistled. "Just stay here, man! Afterwards, we'll go to Konoha together and make sure they take you back! They're missing out on a pretty amazing shinobi and if they can't see that, then that's their loss," he gave a thumbs up.
Sasuke felt his heart throb. Stupid bonds. "It's fine," he swallowed, trying not to get emotional. "I already have a route planned and somewhere I can settle down at for a few months."
"If you're saying no because you're afraid I'm going to take over your body, then fear not," Orochimaru said with a note of aggravation. "I already have that covered. I honestly don't mind, Sasuke." He gave him an expectant look, as though wondering why he was still arguing the issue.
This hurt. These feelings hurt. It was just like when he'd at last accepted Naruto as his equal and as his friend. Minus being black and blue and lying at the bottom of a gorge. He was not going to let them wheedle him down. He was going to be strong; he could do this.
"I said no and that's final," he raised his voice, but made sure to stay shy of outright yelling. "I thank you for your hospitality, Orochimaru, but after those initial three years, I have no desire to remain under your care." For the first time ever, he bowed to the man, something he hadn't done for anyone in a very long time. "Thank you for everything."
The room was quiet for a moment as most everyone stared at him in surprise. Orochimaru made a conflicted sound of regret. "I might not be able to convince you to stay, but so be it. If that's the case, then at least take this." He pulled from his sleeve a roll of money. "I'm going to assume this isn't a paid leave. Whatever money you have now might run out."
"I don't need—" Sasuke began.
"Just take it!" Orochimaru snapped, forcing Sasuke's hand to wrap around the money. "I'll be damned if a pupil of mine ends up hungry on the streets. You're smart, Sasuke, but even when you left my care, you worked for the Akatsuki, which gave you another income. You don't walk in the darkness anymore, but who knows if you'll find work somewhere else? Please, take the money…so that I don't have to worry."
Sasuke felt a hot prickle behind his eyes. He refused to cry; not here, not over goddamn Orochimaru, of all things. He heard a sniffle though and turned to see that Jugo already had tear tracks down his face. "Gonna miss you," he laughed, wiping his eyes. He stepped forward and hugged him again.
Karin and Suigetsu came over as well and hugged him, squishing him between all three. "I'm going to be at the northern hideout. If you need anything at all, stop by, okay?" Karin sniffed.
"Will do," Sasuke mumbled, still fighting his own emotions.
"And if you do find yourself in a bind, don't be too proud to come back," Suigetsu added, rubbing Sasuke's hair. "We know you're tough, but we don't mind carrying some of the burden with you. Honestly."
"Sure thing." This was too much, he was so close…
Orochimaru didn't join their huddle, but watched on with a reluctant smile. Once they'd said their goodbyes, they followed him as he led Sasuke through the base to a set of stairs near the back. Climbing up first, it led seemingly nowhere but with a hard push, it revealed a trap door in the ceiling where sunlight filtered down. He peeked through the crack to ensure it was safe before stepping back to allow Sasuke to climb up.
"Take care, Sasuke."
By now, Sasuke didn't trust his voice. He gave a casual wave in a desperate attempt to keep control over himself, setting off without a backwards look.
Orochimaru closed the trap door, sealing it once again. The other three were still there, looking on sadly. "Just…give me a moment," he said to them and quickly hurried away.