A/N: Hey guys, Happy New Year! Sorry for the later-than-usual post, my family whisked me away on an impromptu holiday. This is kind of an in-between chapter. I wanted to illustrate how Akako functions both with and without Sasuke in the picture. Enjoy =]
Rebirth
Part Three: Chasing You
Chapter 11: Arriving
As we flew, I pondered what had happened over the past few weeks. I had never seen this side of Sasuke before. He was a ruthless tactician, willing to do whatever it took to take down his enemy. A small part of me admired him for it, but mostly, I was repulsed.
It made we wonder if the vengeance Sasuke carried in his heart would ever die.
I was not naïve. I knew that Sasuke had killed far more than I ever had and that his early years as a ninja had been spent trying to fulfill impossible expectations. I knew that his heart had become blackened by hatred but that it had ultimately been tempered by the love Sakura and Naruto had for him. It wasn't every day a friend offered to betray their village or sacrificed their arm for you.
I understood this. I grew up fighting, as well. I desired to become strong so that I could find my family, and although I didn't get the answers to all my questions, I have all the important answers.
I also understood why Sasuke was going out of his way to be so nice to me, now. He hadn't realized how dismayed the act of killing Orochimaru would make me and wanted to make amends. Additionally, he was going to take the time—whether Kakashi liked it or not—to make some happy memories with me. The trip to the onsen had been plenty, though given what I knew about Sasuke's personality, it would not stop there.
It took us less than two days for us to reach Earth Country, flying almost non-stop. We only got off the hawk to eat and relieve ourselves. At night, I sat in front of Sasuke and dozed against his chest.
"I sent a message to Kakashi that Orochimaru is dead, along with his head," Sasuke said, when we landed.
I winced.
When we reached the gates of Iwagakure, I recognized one of the guards as a classmate from my Academy days. He recognized me, too.
"Uchiha-san, Akako-san," he said, "what brings you to Iwagakure?"
"Just visiting," I said.
"Welcome back, Akako-san," my classmate said, smiling at me.
"Thank you, Itou-san. It's good to be back."
"Welcome to Iwagakure, Uchiha-san."
Sasuke grunted.
-paragraph break-
We spent the next few days in Iwagakure. People gawked at us wherever we went, but that was nothing new. A few of my old classmates attempted to ingratiate themselves to Sasuke, which met with no success. Females left him alone after he drove several of them to tears. Every time a male talked to me for longer than thirty seconds, I would see Sasuke's hand twitch towards Kusanagi. They left me alone after a few attempts. It was bizarre.
I showed Sasuke the apartment where I had lived with my mother, then the place where I'd stayed with Ame. I showed him the orphanage, the Academy, and all the places I used to go with Yuumaru and Asahi. I showed him the hospital I'd been working at when the Fourth Shinobi War occurred, and lastly, I brought him to the graves of my teammates and instructor.
"They died defending me," I said, as I laid the three bouquets of flowers I'd gotten for them down. I told Sasuke about Shigure and how he'd taught me to fight with tantou, and I told him how I'd activated my Sharingan.
"I activated my Sharingan the night Aniki slaughtered our clan," he said, with no inflection. He knelt and paid his respects to my fallen team for a few moments, which brought tears to my eyes.
From there, we journeyed to the village where I'd been born.
"I was born there, on a bed," I said, pointing to a corner in the empty hut. "Afterwards, Kaa-san brought me to see Tadao-ojisan, and then we went to live in Iwagakure."
At this, he nodded slowly.
"Is there anything else you would like to see? Would you like to meet Tadao-ojisan, Sasuke-san?"
"No," Sasuke said shortly. "Let's go home."
To my surprise, we did not run back to Konoha. Sasuke barely glanced twice at the messenger birds Kakashi sent, returning them without even opening the scrolls they carried.
"If it's urgent, he'll send someone to get us," he said.
There were a few nuke-nin, too minor to be in the bingo book, stupid enough to attack us as we neared Konoha, but Sasuke dealt with them easily. I did the cleaning up afterwards, using doton to scatter and bury the bloodied dirt. I also did the gruesome work of dismembering their bodies, which Sasuke set on fire. He sent the heads to their respective kage.
Surveying the clearing when we were done, he looked at me and said, "You should consider being an oinin."
It took us more than a week to reach Konoha at our sedate pace. Sasuke told me stories about his life before we went to bed each night. We woke up whenever we wanted, which was often, surprisingly quite late. He even put my hitai-ate on for me one morning, smoothing my hair carefully as he worked.
"Never lose this," he said, as he finished tying the knot. "It is your mark of honor as a shinobi."
"Yes, Sasuke-san."
-paragraph break-
Sasuke decided that we'd tortured Kakashi long enough, so our last day of travel was spent running almost non-stop. We returned to Konohagakure in the dead of the night. Sasuke and I didn't even make it to our rooms; we simply collapsed at the kotatsu. I woke up with a crick in my neck from sleeping on the floor. Sasuke's hair looked a mess, and he scowled when I giggled at it.
When we arrived at Kakashi's office an hour later, he looked like he didn't know whether to throttle us for ignoring his messages or to congratulate us for killing Orochimaru.
"Just…come back later," he finally said. "I'll send a messenger."
Sasuke smirked before leaving. Several people congratulated us on the street—it had not taken long for the news to travel—as we headed back to the Uchiha complex, but we didn't stop to chat. Instead, we spent the next few hours doing the laundry and cleaning up the house, which had been uninhabited for months. Sasuke left at noon to get lunch, since there were no groceries in the fridge.
"I'm back," he said, returning after an hour.
"Welcome back, Sasuke-san," I said, looking up from my dusting. I almost dropped the rag I was using when I saw the enormous bouquet of flowers he was carrying, in addition to our lunch boxes.
"For you," he said, placing the arrangement on the kotatsu. I felt Sasuke's chakra swell as we made eye contact.
"Th-thank you, Sasuke-san," I stuttered.
I couldn't bring myself to speak as we ate lunch. From the few glances I cast at Sasuke, I could tell he was amused by my response to his gift. No one has ever given me flowers before, and Sasuke is utilitarian to the extreme. Up until now, he'd only bought flowers when he went to visit his family.
Shortly after we finished lunch, a messenger came for us.
"The Hokage requests your presence immediately."
Kakashi slouched slightly when we entered his office. I allowed myself a tiny smile.
"I suppose I should congratulate you. But really Sasuke-kun, did you have to send us his head? Shizune-chan nearly had a heart attack when she unsealed your scroll."
Sasuke's return stare was utterly indifferent to Shizune's plight.
"Report," Kakashi said, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand.
Sasuke spent the next hour detailing how the two of us, along with Suigetsu and Juugo, had found and killed Orochimaru.
"Very clever, Sasuke-kun and Akako-chan."
I wanted to make a comment about Sasuke's treatment of Orochimaru at the very end but held my tongue.
"Well…you're dismissed. Rest up. Don't be surprised if you start receiving missions soon, you're both jounin now, after all."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," I said.
-paragraph break-
A few days later, Sasuke came home with a scroll in his hand.
"You have a mission, Sasuke-san?"
He grunted before handing the scroll to me.
I had scarcely opened it when I put it down, shocked.
"Another S-rank mission? So soon?"
He nodded before serving himself some shogayaki. After dinner, I heard him moving around in his room, getting ready for his journey, while I did the dishes. I had mixed feelings about his mission, but I knew it would be pointless to argue with him about it. He'd already accepted it, after all.
I didn't sleep that night. Instead, I sat outside Sasuke's door, listening to him breathe and watching his chakra pulse. I stood up and started making breakfast around five—he had to report at six.
"I have something to give you when I get back," he said, as he ate.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, perturbed.
He blinked slowly at me, his equivalent of a shrug. Instead of responding, Sasuke swallowed and reached out to touch my face. I froze, stunned.
"You didn't sleep," he admonished. His thumb traced the shadow under my left eye briefly before he dropped his hand.
"Be safe," I managed, as he got up.
"I will."
He gave me one last look before disappearing.
-paragraph break-
The first night after Sasuke left, I once again didn't sleep. The second night, I could not sleep, no matter how hard I tried. I debated knocking myself out with cold medicine.
"You look horrible, Akako-chan," Sakura said.
"I know," I said, rubbing wearily at my eyes.
She had come to the hospital to pick me up for lunch on her, though for once, my appetite was failing me.
"How are you going to manage during your mission tomorrow?" she asked, frowning.
I shrugged.
"Shikamaru-taichou will take care of me."
After struggling through the rest of my meal, I thanked Sakura and headed to Shikamaru's house at the edge of the Nara compound.
"Temari-san," I said, greeting his wife.
"Akako-chan," she said. "I'll warn you now, he's still in bed."
"I'll wake him up," I replied.
She snorted before leaving me to my devices.
"Taichou, wake up!" I said through his door.
"Go away," I heard him grumble.
"If you don't open up right now, I'll set your door on fire."
"You can't be serious," he responded. I felt Shikamaru's chakra slowly becoming agitated as I waited, and I knew he knew I was being serious.
"Last chance," I said, as I prepared the hand seals for the Goukakyuu no Jutsu.
"Alright alright, I'm up!" he said, getting out of bed. "Geez, you're worse than Temari. At least I can put the door back on its hinges when she blows it down."
I giggled before retreating to the sitting room to wait. A servant came by with a tea tray. I let the pot steep, wanting the tea to be as strong as possible. I was in the middle of a yawn when Kisuke arrived, followed by Naruto.
"Good morning Akako-chan!"
"Good morning Naruto-san, Kisuke-san," I said.
"You look horrible!" Naruto said, plopping down next to me.
"That's what Sakura-san said earlier," I replied, as I began to pour tea for everyone.
"It's way too early for this," Shikamaru grumbled, as he came in.
"Good morning, taichou," Kisuke said politely.
"So what's the deal?" Naruto asked. He was practically bouncing in his seat.
"Please shut up," Shikamaru replied, taking a long sip of his tea. We all waited, more or less politely, for him to gather himself. Producing our mission scroll, he unrolled it and scanned it for a moment before closing it again.
"Right," Shikamaru began, "this is a simple enough reconnaissance mission. We'll be going to Earth Country to gather intelligence from our contacts and to have dinner with the Tsuchikage."
"What, that's all?" Naruto exclaimed.
"Idiot," Shikamaru snapped, "it's a good chance for you to learn some diplomacy skills."
"My diplomacy skills are fine!"
"We're leaving tomorrow," Shikamaru said, ignoring Naruto's outburst and instead tossing his scroll to the blond. "I know you didn't read it. I have mine memorized, anyways."
"Jerk!" Naruto responded, sticking his tongue out.
-paragraph break-
I forced myself to sleep that night via cold medicine and woke up feeling no better than when I'd fallen asleep.
"Good morning, Kisuke-san," I said, upon arrival at the gates.
"Good morning, Akako-san," he said. "It is an honor to work with you."
"Thank you," I replied, smiling a little. "It is an honor to work with you, as well."
"Good morning guys!"
"Good morning, Naruto-san."
The three of us chatted for a few minutes while waiting for Shikamaru.
"I bet he's still sleeping! Hey, Akako-chan, you want to play a prank on him when he gets here?"
I refused, but I couldn't help smiling at Naruto's antics. He's as bad as Hanemaru.
"Why hasn't Sasuke gotten back from his mission yet?"
"It's an assassination mission," I said shortly. "He has multiple targets."
"But it's peacetime!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Naruto-san," Kisuke interjected calmly, "there will always be unrest, even during peacetime."
Naruto was still pouting when Shikamaru showed up. He ignored Naruto's grousing and starting assigning us positions.
It took us less than two days to reach Earth Country. As we made our way to Iwagakure, the four of stopped by strategic villages to find our contacts, spreading goodwill as we went.
"Must feel like coming home to you," Kisuke remarked, as we approached Iwagakure a few days later.
"It does," I replied.
We were only a few hours away from the gates when suddenly, I signaled for Shikamaru to stop.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I'm sensing a strange chakra signature," I said, pointing. "It's masked, but not very well."
"You think it could be an enemy," Shikamaru stated.
I hesitated, concentrating harder on the way the green-ish chakra was fluctuating. With a snap, I activated my Sharingan in order to better track the other ninja's movements.
"I'm not sure."
We resumed travelling, but after less than an hour, I stopped us again.
"He's following us. He's masked his chakra better, but it's becoming agitated."
Shikamaru muttered something that sounded a lot like a curse before he crouched down and started to strategize. A few moments later, he got up and let me take point. The four of us, along with a few of Naruto's kage bunshin, fanned out.
After a few minutes of running together, I split off from the group. While Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kisuke set about herding our follower, I went to make a trap for him, breaking up the earth by a ledge in preparation.
Before long, I heard and felt them coming. I caught a quick glimpse of the unknown ninja and saw that he was a nukenin from Iwagakure, though I didn't recognize his face. He was too busy trying to fight off the others to notice my carefully concealed presence.
"Doton: Dorou Doumu!"
At Shikamaru's signal, I sprung my trap, and my three teammates leapt away just as the loose earth and rocks I'd summoned slammed shut over the enemy ninja.
"Great job, Akako-chan!" Naruto said.
"Don't dispel your kage bunshin yet, Naruto," Shikamaru snapped, as the three of them spread out and surrounded the dome.
"Give me a few moments," I said, as I began to leach my opponent's chakra, replenishing the sizeable amount I'd lost in utilizing my technique. The walls of the dome bulged as the nukenin inside struggled to break free, but to no avail.
"Ready?" Shikamaru asked, nodding at Kisuke.
"Ready."
Kisuke was good with seals, so he was the first to jump into the dome after I deactivated my jutsu. Together with Naruto, they subdued the enemy ninja.
"Yatta!" Naruto exclaimed, as one of his kage bunshin hoisted the man onto his back.
"Now we have a nice present for the Tsuchikage," Shikamaru commented wryly. "Good job, Uchiha."
-paragraph break-
Kurotsuchi was pleased we'd managed to capture the nukenin.
"He's been sneaking around Iwagakure for weeks," she said. "He ran rather than admit he killed one of his comrades in cold blood."
Our dinner was rescheduled for the next night, to give the four of us time to rest. After taking a long hot shower, I told Shikamaru that I was going to wander. As I left for my teammates' graves, a hawk appeared in the sky. Looking up as it circled lower and lower, I realized it as one of Sasuke's.
"Hello, taka-san," I said, as it landed on my arm. The hawk nibbled on a bit of my hair as I took the scroll from its leg. It stayed where it was as I read it, so I assumed Sasuke wanted a response to his note.
It simply said: Are you well?
I borrowed a pen from someone and scrawled back: As well as can be expected.
"Fly well, taka-san," I said, as I retied the note to its leg.
I went to the marketplace to buy flowers for Asahi, Yuumaru, and Shigure. There, I was recognized and joined by a classmate from the Academy.
"It's been a while, Akako-san," Touta commented. "I was afraid you wouldn't recognize me!"
"You're a hard one to forget, Touta-san," I replied. He'd been a horrible tease, even as a child.
He grinned, taking no offense.
"How have you been, Akako-san? I heard you're engaged to Uchiha Sasuke."
"Sasuke-san and I are not engaged."
"But you will be, right?"
I shrugged, quickly becoming uncomfortable with the way the conversation was heading.
"Do you see marriage in your future, Touta-san?"
At this, he blushed.
"Actually, there is a girl I've been courting."
"Amazing," I commented.
"Don't you start with me, kunoichi. She knows just how to keep me in line."
"You love her?" I asked carefully, as we reached the graves.
"I do," he said.
"Then good," I said, as we both knelt.
-end of chapter-
A/N: And that's a wrap! One more chapter to go before the epilogue, guys.