THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU THINK YOU KNOW SOMEONE


"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked pointedly as I eyed the newcomer on the field. He had a wild face with what seemed to be red fang markings on either cheek and a fur lined hoody pulled up over his spiky brown hair. He also had a little dog with him. The guy had Inuzuka written all over him. This was reason enough to make me nervous, but he was also tossing our ball up and down smugly, and that just made me mad.

"Seems like you guys have been trying to get this thing back. It nearly crashed through my bedroom window, you know," he explained with a feral grin that didn't make me feel nice at all.

I sent a furious look at the crowd of kids around me and grated out, "What'd I tell you guys about sneaking into the Inuzuka compound? What part of 'rabid dogs' and 'eaten' do you not understand?!"

"But Yuka-nee-chan!" Sparky protested, "If we don't get that ball back, we can't play the game anymore!"

I wanted to pull my hair out. And I had a bit of a funny spasm trying not to, fingers twitching and everything, until finally I just covered my eyes in exasperation. I then turned my attention back to the amused Inuzuka and held my hand out. "Sorry about your window. But to prevent these idiots from stumbling into one of your clan's kennels, could you please just give the damn thing back to them? I don't want to have to beg."

"Sure, I guess," He made to hand the ball back, but jerked it out of my reach as soon as I went for it. "But me and Akamaru wanna know what this game's all about!" he grinned, exposing sharper than normal canines. The dog yipped an affirmative.

I felt my eye twitch a bit. You've got to be kidding me. Don't wannabe ninjas have better things to be doing rather than bothering me? And that was why I grated out, "No dogs allowed."

He shrugged and replied, "Guess you don't get your ball back then."

Sparky, Mii, and I stared at each other for a second before huddling up and discussing furiously for a moment the pros and cons of such an alliance, and in my defense, I protested heavily against it, but in the end, it was two against one. I sighed, and stood back up, stomping over to him with a reluctant, "Fine. What's your name, Punk?"

"I'm Kiba." He grinned toothily at me. "And this is Akamaru."

"Great," I replied unenthusiastically, "I'm Yuka, the pitcher, so I'll need that, thanks. You go line up with sparky at first base. The pint sized puppy is with Mii. They'll explain the rules. You break em, you're out. No exceptions."

And that was how Inuzuka Kiba and his partner Akamaru ended up joining Konoha's first little league baseball team. They each ended up replacing the current team leaders due to necessity since the whole game had been brought to a completely new level of brutal, although how Akamaru managed to plan strategies with Mii's team with the whole language barrier thing was beyond me. The pros to the situation? Well, now every time the ball flew off into the Inuzuka compound, we had a willing volunteer to go and get it safely. The cons? I had at least ten more kids to patch up in the infirmary, along with a stupid kid ninja and his dog. He brought his big sister Hana—who helped serve as referee—over to help though, and it made things quicker.

I actually made it on time to work every once in a while after that. Funny enough, I think Hanako actually counted on me being late, because I ran into our mysterious loiterer again, and this time I knew something was up. I was going to question Hanako good and proper but it's just too bad Naruto showed up and she made me take off at three to go and play ninja with him. And it was then, not only did I know something was up, I knew she was hiding it from me too... That hurt more than I liked to admit.

"You realize I'm losing money because of you, right?" I pressed upon him as he dragged me off to the training grounds.

"Is money all you care about?!" he shot back.

"Uh, yeah. Pretty much," I pointed out.

"Liar," he challenged.

"I am not!" I retorted.

"Are too!" And because Naruto could do this all day, I didn't even respond. When we got to a vaguely familiar training ground, he grinned, "Okay, Yuka-chan! Show me what you've got!"

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather—Argh! What the—STOP!" I dodged out of the way of his punches by a hair's breadth each time. "Naruto! Goddammit, you—"

"Come on, fight back! What happened to the cool Yuka-chan who always used to beat the crap out of the bullies?!" And him too, on occasion, it went without saying. I gritted my teeth as I dodged another charge but then a fist came out of nowhere—BAM—and I was down. I didn't move for a second, shaking, and the onslaught paused. "...H-hey, Yuka-chan, you okay? Did I hit you too hard?"

He went on, freaking out a little, fluttering around me like a spastic mother hen, and I clenched my jaw even tighter. It was at that point something snapped and I pounced on him with a vengeance. "You little bastard! What makes you think you can just damage my precious face like that? Huh!? I'll show you what I got, you little—"

And it just kept going downhill from there. The good news? It got my mind off Hanako and her secrets. Bad news? Old habits come back hard. I remembered it just like it was yesterday. Beating the crap out of him was pretty easy actually, especially if you fought dirty like me. Sure, my technique was rusty and unrefined, and not as flexible as his due to lack of practice, but I didn't need perfect form to land a hit. Blind rage was a pretty good motivator, and it made me fast and unpredictable. However, I received just about as much as I doled out. It was still pretty satisfying in the end though. And when the sun started to set, I sat up from where we'd both collapsed, gave him one last good kick and left. No thank you's, no goodbye's.

And speaking of which, the usual suspect was hanging out by my door when I got back. "...What happened to you?"

I scowled at him and grumbled, "You should see the other guy..."

He followed me inside without so much as asking and I just left him there while I went to go wash the dirt and grime of my battered body. When I was done, I continued to ignore him until I had made dinner and sat down across the table from him heavily, my face set in its usual surly expression and stabbed a vegetable with my utensil. "You got anything to tell me?"

"Not at the moment," he informed me, and though he admitted nothing, I got the feeling something was frustrating him. I glared at his face for a long time, trying to figure it out, before giving up slowly and sliding a plate over to him with reluctance.

"Freeloader..." I grumbled, then continued my aggressive vegetable stabbing with no further comment. But it's not like I hated having him over. It was a nice change as opposed to the angry old lady on the other side of me banging on my door for having the music up too loud. Sometimes I just hated it when it was too quiet. I got the feeling that deep down, maybe Sasuke didn't like it either. Maybe that's why he'd never banged on my wall to tell me to shut up before. And I supposed that's why I admitted, "You know, as far as neighbors go, you're not so bad."

He arched a brow at me. "This, coming from the one who tried to avoid me for four years."

I shrugged, "If you were me, you'd probably have tried to avoid you too. Key word: tried. I was very unsuccessful at it, judging by the amount of times I nearly ran you over, and now here you are, sitting in my house, eating my food. I think it's safe to say I failed spectacularly at avoiding the problem..." I frowned down at my stir fry in concentration. "...I don't think you can ever hide from your problems for very long." I looked up at him. "But you can always run, if you're fast enough..."

"But you're stuck here," he concluded.

"And therein lies my dilemma in a nutshell..." I smiled a bitter smile, and rested my chin on my hand serenely.

His eyes were dark. "So in other words, if you could've left before now, you would've been gone without saying a word about any of this...leaving me in the dark." In more ways than one.

"Well, one could argue that you were actually safer not knowing anything..." I pointed out. "If I had gone without telling you a thing, you'd be none the wiser, the worst that could happen is you flee the village after some time to gain power—and let's face it, at the rate you're going now, you're probably going to end up doing that anyway—and then go off and kill your lousy brother. And now that you know something's up, even if you don't end up killing him after you learn the truth, it won't really matter in the end, because he's practically dead anyway."

He froze, staring at me in rapt attention, and I realized I'd said something very wrong, "...Explain."

"...He's sick, Sasuke," I told him in a level tone. "And I don't just mean sick in the head, I mean he has a disease. It's killing him. At best, he only has about three, maybe four years to live...not to mention he's slowly going blind... So it won't really matter what you do... Unless..."

His fingers were gripping the table so hard that his knuckles were turning white. You'd think for one that had impressed his ever loving hatred of the man quite clearly, he'd be up and celebrating at the prospect of his demise, but I got the feeling that's not how Sasuke was. For one thing, judging by what I knew of the kid, I figured Sasuke for the kind who'd want to end it himself—not have some anticlimactic deus ex machina finish the job for him—and for another...well, despite everything, deep down, Itachi was still his brother. And I believe for that reason alone, he beseeched me with his eyes for some sort of miracle. "...Unless what?"

I stared at him calculatingly. "Itachi is one of the last six people alive who don't need to rely on freaky nightmares to really know the truth about what happened that night... He could give you all the evidence you need against Danzo in one fell swoop. Granted, you might have to torture it out of him, and that's only if you decide to save him first." I paused for thought. "And if that's the path you wanna take, then I think I might have an idea... It's a long shot in the dark but it might just work."

Sasuke was quiet for a long time, thinking. And when he answered, it wasn't the question I was expecting him to ask. "...You said there are six people who know about the truth, not including you." His eyes narrowed, and briefly reminded me of burning black coals. "Who are they?"

After a moment, I sighed and said, "I'll tell you, but if you're thinking about good old fashioned revenge, I'll let you know right now, it's not going to—"

"Who are they?"

I really hoped I wasn't going to regret this. "...The two elders, Danzo, Itachi, your sensei's old teammate—who is apparently not as dead as everyone thought...and the third Hokage."

"The Hokage was in on it?" he exclaimed. It was probably the first time I'd ever seen him so shocked barring the first time I mentioned ass hats and random massacres...

"Not exactly." I amended. "He tried to stop it. He failed to stop it. But then again, he wasn't the only one at fault."

"What do you mean?" He shot at me, frustrated. "Stop dancing around the subject. Just tell me what I want to know!"

After a long moment of tense silence, I realized I had to say something. I glared at him but soon relented and lowered my eyes with a cautionary, "...Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." I really didn't want to be the one to do this, but I supposed it was better than someone else trying to manipulate him with it. "There's a reason I wanted you to find out on your own, but you always have to rush ahead and do everything quickly." I narrowed my eyes at him. "There were mistakes on both sides. Your clan refused negotiations with the village—"

"Negotiations over what?" he stressed. "I don't remember any of this—"

"That's because of the fact that you were eight, and stupid," I interjected scathingly, "and it's a universal truth that nobody tells stupid eight-year-olds anything," I cut him off before he could argue, "And don't tell me you don't remember anything strange going on before it happened. Remember Shisui? The supposed Uchiha suicide? And everyone thought Itachi did it?" I pulled my notebook up from under the table and slapped it open to the likeness of Danzo. "Bingo. And that's not even the tip of the iceburg. It all started when the the nine tails was released on the village. Danzo took it as an opportunity to exploit the Uchiha clan. He started spreading dissent within the village about the Sharingan being the only thing now in existence that's able to control a tailed beast. Soon, people began to distrust them, ostracize them, some even suspecting them of foul play, and sequestered them on the outskirts of the village. Naturally, just like cornered wolves, they felt they had no other choice than to strike back..." I stopped talking to look up at him only to see him staring back blankly. I could see the gears spinning on overtime, putting the pieces into place. And with a sudden surge of sympathy, I thought hard for a moment on what I was about to say. "...You're not going to like what I have to tell you, Sasuke. I can't ask you to promise me you won't flip out, because if it were my family, I would. But I can't sugarcoat it for you like Itachi did...it's bad. Really, really bad..."

"You call what...what he did...'sugarcoating' it?" he had a raw look to his eyes that I'd never seen before.

"...Compared to what really happened? Yes. Itachi's lie was designed to protect you from the truth, in more than just one way." I closed my eyes and sighed, trying to imagine someone telling me that everything I thought I knew about my parents' deaths was a complete and total lie. "This is your last chance to run from it, Sasuke. After this, there's no going back."

He narrowed his eyes at me in a moment of critical silence and muttered disdainfully, "I'm not like you."

I stared at him for a long time and answered, "You're right. You're much braver than I am..."

I then bore witness as a human being slowly transformed into a statue in front of my very eyes growing stiller and stiller as each word left my mouth, chipping away at the lies until the ugly, horrific truth was laid bare in front of him. I wasn't supposed to care. It wasn't my problem. I wanted my raise, and that was it. But as Hanako knew damn well, I was physically unable to initiate friendships with people—that would imply trust, and I didn't trust anyone. So, bearing my shortcomings in mind, I used the only thing I had at my disposal. He asked to know the truth. It wasn't of any value to me, so I told him.

I doubted we'd ever be friends, but after this, we were something. I didn't know what, but it was that same something that compelled me to grab a blanket off the couch and drape it over his shoulders. And when he still didn't react, I made tea and set a cup down on the table in front of him. It was something my mom always did for me when I was upset as a kid, and if it made me feel better, maybe it would work on—

The sudden crash as the cup shattered against the wall made me jump. But other than a long, blank stare at the shattered remains of the companion piece to my matching tea set, and the splatter stain that now dripped sluggishly down the wall, besides a feeling of mild disappointment, I didn't give much else of a reaction. It's not like I was expecting anything different, nor could I yell at him for it. Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd flipped the whole table over and started to reenact the nine tails attack in detail using my apartment as a stage...

And so I just got up, cleaned up the mess, replaced his glass with a plastic one, retook my seat, and proceeded to add copious amounts of sugar to mine. As a pastry chef, I was a bit jaded when it came to most sweet things, but as for tea? I murdered it with sugar. Every. Time. I remember Mom always hated bringing me to public tea houses and traditional cafes because it was just embarrassing to be seen with me.

It was typical that it was the thing that brought him out of his stupor, to simply stare at the piles upon piles of sugar I was dumping into my cup as if it were something theraputic. Then his eyes darted up to mine in a message that couldn't have been clearer if he had screamed it at me. That's absolutely revolting. I simply shrugged at him, put down my spoon, took a long sip of the piping hot, sugar saturated liquid, and closed my eyes in satisfaction. It's the little things in life, ya know?

Eventually, with immense effort, he seemed to shake away several levels of what appeared to be disgust and repressed psychological trauma in an impressive display of mental fortitude, and he finally started drinking his tea with somewhat shaky hands. All in all, he recovered much quicker than I probably would've in his position. It was then I told him softly, "Keep doing your research. Find your evidence. Find out what you're up against. The normal revenge schemes aren't going to work here. This is a matter of politics...not sentiment...no matter how much you want it to be." A pause. "...If I were you, I'd take some time to really think about the future. And remember you're not alone in this. You've got Naruto...he's an idiot, but he doesn't abandon his friends—no matter what. And that girl Sakura...she seemed pretty smart, and she likes you, I can tell... They'll help you."

He looked up slowly from the cup in his hands to consider me with careful eyes, then asked quietly, "...What about you?"

I stared back. "You know what my overall goal in all this is... I never said it was to help you." I was thoughtful for a moment. "...But as long as I'm still stuck in this hole with you, I'm all for causing those self-righteous bastards a little bit of grief." My olive-green eyes glinted in the dim light. "I say, let's give 'em all hell—the nice and slow kind—and see where the pieces fall."

"...Sounds good to me," he agreed with a certain malignant shine in his dark eyes. It made me think something big was about to go down in Konoha sooner or later...for better or for worse. But as for me, judging by the feeling I got from that look on his face...I was betting on worse. Way worse... I only hoped I'd be long gone by the time the shit really started to hit the fan.


"By the way...you owe me a new tea set."

"What do you mean, you're leaving?" I demanded hotly. "You can't just do something like that out of the blue! What about work!? What about the customers? What about my raise?!"

"Calm down, Yuka. I can't explain just at the moment, but I'll be back as soon as I—"

"How long!?" I thundered.

She paused as she went to pack a light blue yukata away and considered me for a long moment before admitting with a sort of steel determination in her eyes, "...As long as it takes."

I clenched and unclenched my hands, glaring at her before moving to block the doorway to the loft over the bakery. "Where are you going, Hanako-sensei!? I know you've been keeping secrets! That's what all those weirdos showing up around here was all about, right? That's why you kept distracting me with that Sasuke jerk, and making me take off work with stupid Naruto! Well I'm not moving until you give me an explanation and a goddamn better estimate that that!"

For a moment, there was a cold flash in her eyes and she pegged me with a stare that made me feel like an annoying fly buzzing around an agitated cat. It was bizarre. Hanako-sensei was one of the most gentle—if occasionally stern—women I'd ever met. She always smiled that serene, tightlipped smile and even covered her mouth when she giggled. Everyone loved her. Even that weird sensei of Naruto's who always read the perverted books... Or maybe I should say especially him. He came into the bakery every so often even though, like Sasuke, he had a fairly severe aversion to sweet things. He always had some ridiculous excuse about it though, and refused to budge on the topic, no matter how many times I shot barbs at him about flirting in a place of business where work was supposed to be done. Worse was when Hanako flirted back. Work had become somewhat of a puke fest since he started showing up...but I digress.

"...My personal affairs are none of your business," She remarked coldly.

I stopped clenching and unclenching and my hands just settled into white knuckled fists as I felt a reluctant sting shoot through me. And then I demanded, "So it's okay for you to pry into my personal life with my stupid neighbor, and that dunderhead, Naruto, as much as you want then, huh? I never wanted to be close to anyone—and you know damn well why that is—yet still you push, and push—and I put up with it because I—I—" I swallowed, my jaw jumping in agitation, not wanting to admit the truth, until I finally couldn't hold it in anymore, and I shouted, "What am I to you, huh?! You were my parents' friend, but where were you when that idiot at the gates stabbed first and asked question's later!? Huh? Do you feel guilty?! Is that what this is? Are you pitying me? Am I just some charity project—"

"That is enough!" Hanako stood to her full height and towered over me, her accent completely gone. For a moment, I felt a wave of...something...some, horrible dread aura washed over me like a Tsunami, and my knees trembled slightly. But as soon as it had come, it was gone, and suddenly, Hanako was Hanako again. Her brows were knitted together in a distressed frown and she rushed over to grip my shoulders comfortingly. "I would never do that to you. Never. Don't ever believe I would, not even for a second. You are a strong little girl, and I'm proud to call you my student. But..." Her eyes flashed with emotion. She seemed torn. "...there is something I must do. Please understand."

My face twisted, and I persisted, "Why won't you just tell me where you're going? Why...why are you leaving me?" I didn't want to admit that I needed her. And it wasn't just because of my raise. "Take me with you."

Something within her seemed stricken, and she wearily took a seat on edge of her bed. Miserable, she insisted, "It's too dangerous for you."

"Me? What about you!" I pointed out.

For the first time, a glimpse of a smile. She shook her head, her accent reverting, "Don't'cha worry about me. I'll be just—"

"So you get to worry about me all the time, but as soon as you get a taste of your own medicine you throw it back in my face! If that's not hypocritical, I don't know what is, Sensei. And if there's one thing you are, it's not that." I glared at her, then stubbornly stated, "I'm not letting you leave without an explanation."

She let out a long sigh, leaning back on the heels of her hands. "You're the most stubborn child I've ever met. I have no idea where ya get it from. Your dad was a wimp—a good man, but an honest cry baby if I ever met one—and your mom, well..." She closed her eyes sadly. "She was an interesting character to say the least... Anyway, I doubt ya got it from me..."

"...You can be pretty stubborn too, ya know," I grumbled, mimicking her accent just to spite her.

She smiled ruefully, and began, "Ya know, I wasn't originally from Konoha to begin with. Like your folks, I came here as a refugee, and we became good friends on the road before our groups were forced to split up. Bandits, and similar roadblocks of the sort... Such a large group couldn't have gotten all the way here without attracting some unwanted attention. We promised to meet back at Konoha, but...ya know how that plan worked out." She sighed heavily. "My country was experiencing multiple skirmishes from within at the time, until one day it all blew out of proportion, and I..." She paused, several emotions passing over her face at once, frustration, rage, but most of all, sadness. "I was separated from my husband, and my children..."

I stared at her. "...I didn't know you had a family."

She smiled her closemouthed smile sadly. "Everyone's got family somewhere. Even your mom's clan, back in Kusa..."

"She never talked about them," I pointed out.

"For good reason... I wouldn't go looking for them if I were you. Bad vibes... Your mom had her reasons for leaving, beyond just the scope of the war. Don't go poking around that vicious thorn bush, Yuka. A fox might jump out..." She shivered a bit, but shook her head before I could ask her more about it and went on, flustered, "I've still got a nephew back home... I wonder what he looks like now. He takes after his brother though... That worries me a bit." She laughed, wiped a tear from her eye, and combed her cornsilk hair over her ear to disguise the action. "I hope he's still alive." There was a long pause before she rephrased with determination, "I know they are. I've caught rumors of them over the years, but this time...I've finally got a real lead." Her eyes shone. "I'm going after them, Yuka. I'm getting my family back. I have to."

Still standing in front of the door, my arms hung limply at my sides. I felt numb, as if someone had injected novocaine into my bloodstream. I found it amazing that my feet could still move as I shuffled out of the way. "Guess it would be presumptuous of me to assume I could stop you then..."

She shouldered her pack and strode over to me, tilting my face up so that she could see it clearly. I couldn't disguise the hurt on it, so I didn't try. But as usual, Hanako knew exactly what to say. "You're my family too, Yuka. And you're strong. Use that, and don't ever forget that you're strongest when you stand on your own two feet." She smiled and kissed my forehead. When she drew back, she promised. "I'll be back. And this time I'll bring my boys to meet'cha. I'll have told them all about you, of course. They'll be so excited."

I couldn't force myself to smile, and instead spoke exactly what I was thinking, "Don't you dare leave me here."

"Yuka," She told me solemnly. "If ya hate it so much, I swear...one day, I'll take you away from all this myself." She smoothed my hair. "Just promise me that you'll be able to manage on your own for a while. No gettin' into trouble."

I swallowed thickly, but with a slow nod of my head, I agreed, "Y-yeah... Sure. I can do that. No problem."

She considered me dubiously for a moment, but smiled gently, took my hand, and squeezed. "I know ya can."

With that, she was gone and I aimed a feeble little wave at her back until she disappeared into the crowd of bustling people. After she left, I stood forlornly in front of the abandoned bakery with a broom, inexplicably feeling the same. Staring at the dark, empty display cases, I wondered to myself with the sinking feeling ...Now what?

Some ways outside the village of Konoha, there was a little town. In this nameless town there was a nameless little establishment that sold shoe soles, and steel toes for boots. It was cheap work—no one in the little village could understand how it still remained in business—and the unfriendly man who ran the place was less than what you would call 'upstanding' himself...but despite what the outside eye could deduce, it wasn't his main source of income at all...

The man was working on some mindless project when the bell over the door signaled the arrival of a customer. But since the man's usual customers never resorted to using something so mundane he didn't even look up when he grunted, "We're closed."

"Hmm, is that so...? That's too bad." When he heard it was a woman's voice, the man's eyes flicked up from his project immediately. And he was glad they did. She was gorgeous in a classic sort of way. Long, flowing blond—almost white—hair, and a gentle curving smile to her full lips that made her face glow as she surveyed the shoddy merchandise that lined the walls with pale grey eyes. He couldn't tell what age she was, but his interest was piqued, nonetheless.

He aimed his best smile at her and purred, "Is there anything else I can help you with, my lady?" She strode slowly over to the counter, her hips swaying from side to side as she went, and when she pressed herself against it, the man couldn't help but notice her generous endowments... but then, as she leaned towards him...she smiled, her lips slowly pulling back over her pearly...serrated teeth...into a feral grin. The man flinched, but in his line of work, he'd seen worse, and immediately schooled his features into calmness as he bit out, "What the hell do you want?"

"Hehe...why so cold? Ya seemed so eager to help me before..." She chuckled cruelly, but then all the humor fled from her in the way only ninja could present a blank mask and cut to the chase. "Get me a sword and gear. And not one of those pathetic, stabby toothpicks either. I need something big enough to cleave a man in two... I've got a score to settle."

The man swallowed, his grip tightening around the kunai he had under the table, but nodded nonetheless. "R-right...I'll show you what I've got. Come on back and take a look."

Her face lit back up into the gentle mask she'd walked in with and hummed with a giggle she hid demurely behind her fingers...hiding the wicked teeth as well. "So gentlemanly... That's more like it."

Less than thirty minutes later, she disappeared out the back door with enough supplies to take out a small army and a giant axe strapped to her back. The man made it a policy of his not to ask questions... But from what he could deduce about the woman, he already felt sorry for the poor bastard she was after…


So, Ashley is currently unable to update, but fear not! I (Orokashii) will be the one getting the chapters out to you guys every Wednesday until she can.

She said I can make fun of her as payment but it's kind of hard to do when she's so great. (Is that a joke in itself? Sorry, I have a lack of a funny bone when under pressure)

Anyway, she'll still be able to reply to your reviews so you guys better do it! Ghost readers aren't fun readers.

Thanks if you do.