O Koishii O
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The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveler returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of...
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all...
- Shakespeare
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O Chapter Three O
Sakura stood rigidly in front of the wooden desk; her fingers twitched ever so slightly every time she heard the distant shouting of her shishou from the other room.
Beside her a slouching Uchiha Sasuke stood with his usual indifferent expression, but she noticed the small winces he would also make at the audible argument coming from next door.
Her green eyes glanced at him from the side, his sharp jaw line was tense from clenching his teeth and veins popped out from the fierce way he pressed his hands over his cracked ribs.
She bit her lip as a pang of guilt overcame her but slowly faded away with a deranged satisfaction. The arrogant bastard deserved it. She didn't mean to punch him so hard, but in times of anger her control just slipped.
It was definitely a bad habit and something that she needed to stop doing, but Sakura often found that her strong emotions are what pull her through tough battles.
A sniffle and shuffle on her right brought her attention to the unusually quite blonde standing next to her.
She didn't know Naruto all that well, but the very few times she had met him he seemed jubilant to the point of annoying. He also constantly asked her out on dates and was always pestering her with useless questions. But something about Naruto made him different, unique. Sakura just didn't know what it was.
His blue eyes met hers for a moment, and she could see the grin that it contained without looking at his mouth. Sakura gave him an uneasy smile in return and then turned her gaze towards the unfamiliar boy that was to the right of Naruto.
He had deathly pale skin and dark inky hair that was short and slightly ruffled. He was dressed in full anbu gear and was staring stoically up ahead. He must have caught her looking, however, because his blank eyes turned towards her for a moment before returning to its original position.
"I don't accept this team!" yelled an enraged voice.
She felt Sasuke stiffen beside her causing her curiosity to peak, especially when she heard a ruffle of clothing indicating that the frustrated trio had returned.
The man who was yelling had dark hair and a permanent frown on his face, so much so that wrinkles had begun to appear around his mouth. He had sharp dark eyes that landed on Sasuke as soon as he entered, but soon returned back onto the Hokage.
Sakura bit her lip and faced forward. He was Uchiha Fugaku a contentious man who had a deeply embedded hatred for all things Senju, and, she thought, glancing at the boy next to her, he was Sasuke's father.
"Enough!" she heard her shishou roar. The Hokage stomped towards her desk and sat down with a glare.
Caramel eyes looked at Sakura pointedly, almost blaming her for the situation.
"Fugaku-san, I apologize for the umpteenth time, but the teams have been decided and can no longer be changed," she then turned towards the other man in the room, "Akiyama-san, thank you for all your suggestions," she said with a clenched jaw, "But my decision is final."
Finally, Sakura had the opportunity to take a good look at the infamous Akiyama who she had been hearing about for the past week or so.
He was old, older than Fugaku, but his face contained an odd strength and defiance that was mixed in with the experience of his age. His jaw was square and his thin lips looked as though they were carved in a permanent cocky smile.
His hair was dark brown, but marred with gray streaks, and while there was a slight slouch in his back, he still stood like a regal man with his chin high. Akiyama only wore the best clothes, made from the finest silk, and gave off an aura of suffocating pride.
"Of course Hokage-sama," he said bowing with his ever present smile, "Your decisions thus far have been for the best of Konoha," he said, making his double meaning quite clear.
"I'm sure," he continued, glancing at the four young shinobi, "that this new anbu team will serve our village to the fullest of their capabilities."
He bowed once again and walked out the office, but not before giving Sakura an unnerving smile that nearly caused her to shiver.
Tsuande pinched the bridge of her nose, "Fugaku, is there anything else I can do for you?"
The older Uchiha snapped his eyes towards Sasuke who refused to look at his father.
Sakura heard the Uchiha head sigh, and with a soft scuffle and a set of eyes glowering at her shishou or maybe at her, he left the room.
The Hokage then turned towards the four of them, a frown embedded on her face as she examined the team she had put together. She placed her folded hands in front of her and sighed.
"Sakura," she said looking at her sternly, "From now on you will respect your Taichou, will listen to his orders, and will never again be insolent towards him."
The apprentice bowed deeply, "Hai."
"And Sasuke," she turned towards him with a dour expression, "You are an anbu captain, your egregious behavior was unacceptable, don't force me to revoke your ranking."'
He bowed, clutching his ribs, "Hai."
The Hokage let out another sigh, and rubbed her temples before composing herself once again.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and," she said, pausing as she read the paper, "Sai, you are all to placed on anbu Team 7 with Uchiha Sasuke as your captain."
Tsunade, dropped the paper and looked at Sasuke, "Because you were newly promoted, Team 7 will have a temporary supervisor. He will come on difficult missions, and for training sessions, but I haven't decided who it is yet," she explained, leaning back in her seat.
"Sign your contract, and Sakura," she nodded towards her, "stay afterwards."
The four of them went forward to sign the scroll that would bind them together and make Team 7 official. They would work together for most of the missions they did, but teams were often flexible and members joined and left depending on the specialization needed for a particular mission.
Sakura examined the inky signatures of her teammates on the scroll, before hesitantly scribbling out her own name as well.
When the apprentice looked up, she caught her shishou reaching underneath her desk and pulling out a flask of sake and two porcelain cups.
It was an expensive kind that was only made in the Mist and was known for its horribly bitter taste and high percentage of alcohol. Sakura absolutely hated it, but it was the Hokage's favorite brand.
"Sit," she said, motioning Sakura to drag an empty chair.
The pink haired girl did as she was told, and soon found herself holding a cup of sake that the Hokage had gracefully poured.
"Shishou," she hesitated, staring at her distorted reflection in the full sake cup, "Gomen, I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble."
The Hokage sighed and downed her drink in one gulp, before drinking directly from the flask.
"Its not your fault," she admitted, placing the alcohol down with a clink, "They've grouped together now, trying to find fault with everything I do. The previous Hokage let too much power slip from his control, but that's why everyone liked him."
Sakura nodded, biting her lip. They were reaching a dangerous point here, if powerful men in Konoha didn't want her shishou in power it could cause a terrible rift and maybe even civil war.
"Sakura," Tsuande said suddenly, leaning forward in her chair, "Did you notice the boy on your team, Sai, the one with no family name."
She nodded as a reply, eyebrows scrunching. He seemed unusual from the start, but she didn't think much of it.
"He's from an organization called Root, made by one of my council members, Danzo, who is also a close friend of Akiyama. I want you to keep an eye on him."
"Root? Danzo?" Sakura inquired, "That's new, you told me about the problems with the Uchiha clan, but I haven't heard of this."
Her shishou sighed, "Neither have I, until now that is. I'm not worried about the Uchiha clan anymore, Fugaku is being a pest, but his family will control him and I have a plan to make him happy; however, this new power is becoming a problem."
Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm not going to bother you with the details for now, but I just want you to keep an eye on him. Danzo wants to place more members from Root into anbu, but I was able to limit it to only Sai. Just watch him and make sure he isn't doing anything suspicious."
Sakura nodded her head slowly. She had been placed on this team because with the current situation in Konoha there were very few people Tsuande could actually trust. She was one of those special shinobi and she vowed to protect her shishou at all costs.
"Are you going to drink that?" Tsunade suddenly asked, caramel eyes stalking the full sake cup in Sakura's hand.
The apprentice sighed, and handed the older lady her drink.
"Shishou," she spoke, hands curling in her lap, "Were there any updates about the other problem. In..." Sakura hesitated looking around, "Well, you know."
Tsunade looked up and slowly nodded, "But that's not our concern at the moment. Right now, we need to focus on the internal issues in Konoha," she explained, turning in her chair.
"You should probably go now Sakura," the Hokage said, still looking out the window at her village, "Your Taichou will want to have a word with his new team."
Sakura nodded and bowed, "Hai!"
Sure enough, once she exited the Hokage's office, Sakura noticed the group waiting for her in the hallway. While Sai and Sasuke looked indifferent to the situation, Naruto seemed to be bouncing off the walls.
"Sakura-chan!" he waved, as she approached, "We're on the same team!" he grinned at her, rubbing the back of his neck.
She nodded slowly and smiled back at him, before turning to look at Sasuke who was eyeing her from his position.
"Well," he said, dark eyes shifting to look at the other members of his team, his eyes narrowed on his look-alike, "Let's introduce ourselves."
Sakura's eyebrows nearly rose from surprise, who knew Sasuke had some civility.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, you must call me Taichou and you will respect me at all times," he said, the last part obviously directed towards Sakura even though his eyes were elsewhere.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," the blonde nearly yelled next, "and I'm going to become the Hokage," he said pointing a thumb at himself.
"I'm Haruno Sakura," she said, guessing it was her turn to speak next, "And- I guess that's it," she ended with a shrug.
All eyes turned towards the new character in this picture who was spiking their curiosity. He must have realized that it was his turn to speak because he looked up and gave them the oddest smile.
"Hello I am Sai," he spoke with an even tone, "It's nice to meet you Ugly, Dick-less, and Traitor," he said with a nod.
It took a moment for them to register his words, however Naruto was the first to recover and attack.
"Hey! What the hell is your problem?!" the blonde said, slamming the still smiling boy into the wall.
Naruto's hands clenched Sai's collar, his blue eyes screamed anger while his ears were tinged slightly red.
Sai's eyes scrunched with his fake happiness, "Well, men do not wear orange, therefore you are dick-less," he then pointed towards Sakura, "Your forehead is flawed because of that diamond mark, therefore you are Ugly," and, he concluded with Sasuke, "Your father dislikes the Hokage and wishes for her to be overthrown, therefore you are a traitor."
Somewhere during his explanation, Naruto had let go of the boy and has walked away as though Sai's strangeness would infect him by touch.
"What is wrong with you?" Naruto said with wide eyes, causing Sakura to mentally agree.
She suddenly turned towards Sasuke to see how he had taken the insult, but the Uchiha seemed to be unmoved.
"You won't call me that again," the captain said gaining the Naruto and Sai's attention, "Especially while we are out on a mission."
Sai bowed, "Of course, taichou," he said, emphasizing the title.
Clearing his throat, the Uchiha turned towards the rest of the group and spoke, "Tomorrow 8am, training ground 3; I want to asses your skills."
He dismissed them and disappeared leaving Sai, Naruto, and Sakura alone. There was a strange silence for a few moments, as they thought about their new team and their sullen captain, before the Root member spoke up.
"Good bye Ugly, Dick-less," Sai said with a nod and a smile.
He poofed away just as Naruto's fist was about to meet his face.
Itachi's smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles and marks that marred the canvas colored scroll. His eyes scanned the neat handwriting once again, before rolling it up into its original form.
He rubbed the seal that originally stuck the two ends of the piece of paper; it had smooth curves that moved in no particular order, and was the color of deep red with a white outline.
It looked like a cloud.
With the sound of his brother entering the house, however, Itachi quickly hid the item in one of his drawers and masked it with a strong concealing jutsu. His chakra then searched out Sasuke's, feeling the obvious agitation his aura contained.
Repressing a chuckle, the pale boy slid open the screen door of his room and quietly made his way through the courtyard in order to reach their moderately sized kitchen. It had started to become dark sooner, as winter slowly crept on Konoha; soon the flowers would begin to shrivel and the nights would be chillier.
Opening the screen door, the heir was met with his younger brother standing by the stove, his back facing Itachi's but his jerky movements gave away his obvious annoyance at something.
"Tea?" Sasuke asked, without turning to see Itachi enter the room.
"Hai," the older brother replied, before sliding into one of the chairs. He idly picked up the scroll on the table and examined its contents.
"Well, this is interesting," Itachi commented, reading Sasuke's copy of the contract. It had the names of all of team seven's members, with a small passage explaining the role and duty of anbu teams.
Itachi briefly heard Sasuke grunt as a reply, but the sound was over taken by the clattering of cutlery.
"You know Sasuke," Itachi said, snapping the team summary close, "I wanted Haruno to be on my team," he admitted, nodding a thanks when Sasuke placed a cup of tea in front of him.
The younger Uchiha snorted and sat down himself.
Itachi continued, "She's the only medic-nin in anbu, and has traveled with the Hokage all her life so she knows almost all the villages and their geographies," he paused to take a sip, "And most importantly, she has connections."
Sasuke rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat, "She irritates me," he said, not looking at Itachi directly.
"Well," the older brother said, sighing, "It's time you grew up Sasuke. "
The tone of his voice made Sasuke look at his brother and finally notice the weariness in his eyes. The topic was changing now, going into dangerous waters, Itachi must have heard something about Sakura and his fight in the hallway.
"Our clan affairs need to remain private," Itachi said with a frown, "Father has been doing the opposite lately, but it's our job to fix that. What you did today was unacceptable, both as a captain and Uchiha, and most importantly as a shinobi."
"I don't want to hear about anything like this again," Itachi spoke with a glint in his eye.
Sasuke's head bowed slightly. There would always be that one side of him that would desperately seek his father 'sand brother's approval, as much as he hated it. And, currently, that inner child who always admired his older brother felt hurt and betrayed.
"Gomen," he mumbled looking at the wall.
"This conflict will subside soon, however," Itachi nodded accepting the apology, "The Hokage called me in today, saying that she's decided to create a new group of advisers which would be made up of clan heads. Father seemed please, for now."
This was new, Sasuke thought, his brow scrunching slightly at the thought. Eventually, it would come down to how much power the Hokage decided to give these heads, and how long they will be sated with their new position.
Sasuke partially understood his Father's irritation towards the new power in Konoha; the Uchiha clan had been repressed and controlled in order to prevent any coups. It must have bothered his father that as clan head, he couldn't do anything to help his own family.
But, his father's thinking was backward and somewhat stuck in the past. His mother had already moved on, and the differences in his parent's opinions was causing a rift between Mikoto and Fugaku.
He repressed closing his eyes from all the stress. Not only does he have to deal with family problems, his new team was completely deranged. Sakura was an annoying brat, Naruto was Naruto, and, his eyes narrowed, Sai was suspicious.
Sasuke suddenly jolted at the sound of their mother entering the kitchen. She was carrying two bags of groceries which were promptly stolen from Itachi and Sasuke who helped her carry it to the counter.
"Oh, what gentlemen I have raised," Mikoto laughed, as Sasuke and Itachi put away the items for her.
Mikoto smoothed out her skirt and moved away to let her sons take over the work. She wanted them to learn how to take care of their own home if they ever decided to move out, after all she wouldn't be with them forever.
Sighing the elegant lady sat down and pushed her hair back with a pale hand.
"Sasuke," she called out, as she watched him put away the last vegetable into the fridge, "I heard you got your team today."
The younger son turned slightly to see a cunning look in his mother's eyes that made him wince. His Okaa-san always had ways of finding out the tiniest details, which was probably why she was the best scouting kunoichi back in her day.
"Why don't you invite them over for dinner tomorrow?" she suggested, giving him an all too sweet smile.
His response was automatic, "No."
Mikoto pouted, "Why not? Itachi brings his team over all the time."
"That's because Hana has been Itachi's friend since the academy and Shisui practically lives in our house," he frowned and looked away, clenching his jaw in defiance.
"Sasuke," she said sternly forcing him to look back at her.
The boy tensed for a moment or two, as Itachi and Mikoto looked on knowingly. They both knew the younger Uchiha tried to act indifferent and cold, but he was just like his father, soft at the core and completely obedient when it came to Mikoto.
"Fine," he grumbled, leaving the kitchen quickly.
Mikoto grinned and looked at Itachi, "This will be fun."
Hey guys! I created a tumblr account so ya'll can get sneak peeks of the next chapters! If you want I can start posting my chapter there too! Let me know what is more convenient for you :)
Here is the link, it's also on my account page thingy.
blog/l0singc0nciousness
Once again Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! Your support means the world to me! If you ever have any questions or suggestions feel free to pm me or leave a review or whatever. I would appreciate your input :))
QUICK QUESTION
For this fic should Itachi be single or taken?