Ino paused outside of Sasuke's hospital room. It was around one in the morning and by all rights he should be asleep but, she was pretty sure that given the events that caused his hospitalization he wouldn't be sleeping unless they had given him something. So, now that she had already slipped past the nurses why was she hesitating? Because he had seen his brother again and even she knew that was going to be a sore spot.
She wished she had been with him or at least known sooner. Her team had crossed the river several hours later and a few miles upstream. So, it had come to her as a complete shock to learn about the unexpected fight. It had probably been better for her team though. If she had known there would have been no breaks for rest.
Deciding not to knock on the off chance that he was sleeping, she gently pushed open the door and popped her head in. The room was semi private with only two beds but, one was empty. Sasuke was in the other and he didn't seem overly happy to see her. "Hey, how is everything?" As soon as she had asked the question she wished she could take it back. He had broken ribs there was no way to be comfortable with them.
"Are you referring to Kado getting mixed up in some assassination attempt or, the fact that he ran into Itachi while I was gone?"
The blond resisted the urge to rub her temples. Briefly she wondered why he had referred to Kado. Was it because he was referring to his accomplishments over his own or was he feeling guilty about not being here to protect him. "Actually, I was referring to your ride on a giant toed."
"Very bumpy," he supplied with a straight face.
She smiled politely and leaned against the bed railing careful not to actually touch the mattress. "So, how long until we can train again? I'm already missing my sparring partner," she shifted her shoulder blade which emphasized the sword she still carried.
"Two days worth of treatments and then I'm out of here. A week before light training and then another before I can go back to my usual routine."
She nodded and made a calculation in her head. "Are we going to talk about the sumo wrestler in the room or just keep ignoring him?" His response to the question was to turn away as if she wasn't there. "Come on, I thought that aloof attitude was cool when I was twelve but now," she moved so that she was in his line of sight again, "it's just annoying."
"Go away. There is nothing to discuss," he spat out the last word.
Ino stared at him and he stared back, she could see he was holding himself back from exploding at her. Taking a step back she leaned against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. Obviously he needed to talk and just as obvious it wasn't going to be easy. She could just step back and ignore it but, that would be like leaving a thorn under your skin, it would just fester.
So, how could she get around to it without mentioning his name? "Kado did do pretty good breaking up the assassination. If I had been there at his age I would've just frozen. I guess that comes from being an Uchiha."
Sasuke slammed his head into the pillow, "Don't do that."
"Do what," she question innocently.
"Your mind games," he opened his eyes and scoffed at her look of innocence. "You flatter, than reference Kado's latter achievement knowing that surviving an encounter with Itachi is the greater of the two accomplishments. So, you overtly refer to the one incident while you're really want to talk about the other one since that will bring up Itachi. He is what you really want to talk about."
The teen winced as he pointed at her irritating one of his injuries. "However," he started again more calmly, "what you don't realize is his survival was a fluke. If his team had not been with him the outcome would have been different."
Ino raised a single blond eyebrow, "So, one genin wouldn't have survived against an S-class missing ninja but, three of them and it's no big deal?"
"He's not what he was."
Five simple words and Ino thought she understood. His brother was how old, she wasn't sure but, he had to be younger than twenty-five. The older brother should still be in his prime unless, "You mean mentally?"
The teen nodded slightly but perceptively, "It's subtle. I didn't even recognize it at first."
"Sasuke," Ino spoke softly not sure how she should proceed, "Itachi probably hasn't been sane for a long time."
The current head of the Uchiha clan slammed his hand into the mattress and turned a frightening gaze on her. Either on purpose or by accident he had activated his Sharingan. She had been under that gaze numerous times now but, there was something more malevolent about it this time. It almost felt like staring into the eyes of a demon, "He does not get off that easily. He does not get to hide behind insanity. He knew what he was doing and he will know why I'm going to kill him."
Ino worked her mouth which was suddenly dry, "Well, that should be simple enough. He is a missing-nin after all. You're a Chunin now and with no major problems on the horizon no one should complain if you want to hunt down one of the worst criminals in the village's history. I'll even volunteer to be a scout for you," Ino kept her voice calm in a stark contrast to Sasuke.
The red literally drained from the avenger's eyes and then he closed them. When he opened them again they were their normal color, "Sorry."
"Pardon," the blonde said surprised, "did you just apologize?" He rolled his eyes as she stepped closer, "You did."
His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist pulling her close, "Don't push it," and then he did something she was not expecting. He kissed her.
"Ramen is the best in the morning," Naruto said rubbing his hands together as a bowl was placed in front of him.
"You enjoy it anytime," Konohamaru replied blowing on his own bowl.
The blond laughed and stirred his bowl not wanting to ruin the moment yet. He wasn't sure how his friend would take the news that he would be leaving on yet another trip. True the kid was older now but, still he seemed to enjoy his company and he liked the little pest too. The blonde did intend to tell him about the third stage of the Rasengan before he left so at least he could work on it.
They continued eating for a few minutes until the younger of the two lifted his bowl and slurped the rest of the broth down. Without turning he said, "You're leaving again." It was not a question just a statement of fact.
Naruto bit off the mouth full of noodles that he had been slurping up and looked over at his younger friend, "How did you know?"
The former honorable grandson shrugged, "The only time I finish eating before you do is when you tell me you're leaving again."
For a second the older Genin wondered if he had such a pattern why he hadn't ever noticed it. "That's observant."
"I'm not an idiot," Konohamaru said annoyed, "How long this time?"
"Four months. It's like a long mission," he added to try and lighten the mood. After all it was a lot shorter than the thirty months it was originally going to be.
"Naruto," Konohamaru started but looked up at the proprietors and changed his mind about what he was about to say. "I'll miss you."
"You'll be busy training and since I'm going to teach you the third stage of the Rasengan. I expect you to have it master by the time I get back." Jiraiya probably wouldn't be too happy if he found out that he had taught someone the third stage before they mastered the second but, the circumstances were special.
The promise of training did seem to lift the others mood. "I have to meet my team in a little."
"Yeah, that's okay," Naruto interrupted. "I'll be sticking around for a few more days."
"Good but, could you walk me to my team's meeting spot?"
It was an odd request but, in an unusual moment of clarity the blonde remembered the glance his friend had given Ayame and Teuchi. There was very little that couldn't be discussed with them in earshot. In fact there was only one thing Naruto could think of and that was a four-legged nine tailed fox. "Sure, just give me a second," he finished his bowl slightly worried.
The two left Ichiraku in silence. Naruto let his younger friend take the lead since he had no idea where they were going. They walked for a few minutes when Konohamaru stopped and turned to face him, "Hey, Naruto these long training trips you go on do they have anything to do with the Fox," Konohamaru had hesitated on the last word as if he had been unsure how to refer to it.
Unconsciously, the older of the two placed his hands on his stomach before realizing it and letting them drop back to his sides. He wasn't sure how he could describe the situation but, he wouldn't lie to his protege. "Sort of but, I really don't like using its chakra. If I use too much I can't control it, sort of like before." He referenced the incident from before when one of the clones seem to have gone demonic on him and almost attacked Konohamaru.
"Mostly it's because of this group called the Akatsuki though." Naruto told him everything or a least as much as he knew. It wasn't until he had to actually brief another person that he realized he knew very little about the group that wanted him dead. Well, technically they had nothing against him but, his death would just be a side effect.
The younger Genin took everything in without saying a word. After a long minute Konohamaru looked up, "Wouldn't it be safer for you to train within the village?"
"I used to think that way too but, since we're just wandering around out there it's harder for them to pinpoint me. Besides, Jiraiya always has to do his research," he said the last part with a smile but, his friend didn't know the other man's reputation.
"I guess that makes sense."
Naruto noticed that Konohamaru seemed a little disappointed. He thought about it for a few seconds and suddenly had an epiphany. Konohamaru hadn't been asking about the Fox or at least not really. He wanted to know why he had to leave. Without warning he reached out and ruffled the boy's hair which he received a glare for, "When I get back we should spar."
"If you wait too long I will mop the floor with you," Konohamaru said his familiar smile spreading across his face.
Naruto laughed, "It will be a hundred years before you can beat me."
"Hey, I helped take down the second-in-command of Sound."
"Yeah so what, I helped take down the leader."
"I'm younger my accomplishment is more impressive."
"There were six of you there were only three of us." They continued to argue until Konohamaru was officially late for the meeting with his team.
Naruto closed his apartment door and did one last mental checklist. He had emptied his refrigerator, taken out the garbage, arranged for his plants to be watered and left his wallet in the apartment with most of his Ryo. That last one was a caution against Jiraiya and his sticky fingers, one day he would make him repay everything he had borrowed. With his checklist complete he locked the door and pocketed the key.
Hopefully he had four whole months of hard training in front of him and the blonde couldn't be happier. He probably had an extra bounce in his step as he bounded down the stairs. As the blonde reached the bottom of the stairs he came up short when he saw Sakura there. She was leaning against the building directly opposite of his apartment building and gave him a casual wave as he came to a stop.
Waving back the orange clad Genin wondered why she was here. He had said his goodbyes to most of his friends after the funeral for Lee yesterday. Worried that something might be wrong he crossed the street to meet her. "Hey, Sakura is something wrong?"
Sakura smiled. "No, I just thought I'd see you off to the gate at least."
"Oh, okay." He was surprised but, in a pleasant way. Naruto deliberately slowed his pace to make these few minutes last. Casting his mind around for something to talk about he could only think of one thing, "Have you and granny Tsunade made up yet?"
She chuckled, "We're not fighting. She's just disappointed in me. I understand why and I was expecting it."
"So, if you knew she was going to be angry, why did you destroy all those files?"
His pink hair companion didn't say anything at first and when she did answer it was just one word, "Ranmaru."
"Ranmaru," Naruto echoed. "Why would he have anything to do with this?"
"Well, at first I didn't really know why. After all it was just information and normally the more you have the better but, they were keeping a person like a lab rat. At some level I saw Ranmaru in that situation." She held up her hand, "I know it's different. When I run tests on Ranmaru it is to make sure he's okay but, sometimes I wonder."
"So," Naruto asked honestly not seeing the problem.
His teammate pushed some nonexistent hair out of her eyes, "I don't know. Some of the files I saw were horrible. They took people to experiment on and they used people to experiment. I cut my own hands off before I would hurt Ranmaru but, how far is it from wanting to just know something and doing anything to learn it. Pursuing knowledge for knowledge alone isn't good enough. There are things that shouldn't be done and they are things that shouldn't be learned from."
They had both stopped walking at some point and Naruto could see that she was on the verge of tears. He hugged her which would normally result in him being slapped upside the head at the least. This time she just leaned into him. "You're not like them. Orochimaru wanted to know everything for the same reason he wanted power, because he could.
Naruto took a deep breath and confessed, "I think I used to be that way too. I wanted everyone to know that I was great." She tensed and he quickly finished. "That was dumb. Now I train because I want to protect the people that are precious to me. I will always train because I don't want to let anyone down. You're like that too. You don't do anything just because but, because you don't know what you might need to know. What you said was true for both of us. We would cut off our own hands before hurting someone who was important to us."
Sakura didn't immediately pull away. When she did her eyes were dry but, his shoulder was wet. She tugged on his arm to get him moving again. After a moment of silence she changed the subject to something more mundane. They continued talking of inconsequential things until they reached the gate where Jiraiya was waiting for him.
The legendary ninja called out, "You're late."
He was about to break away from his teammate to join him when she grabbed his arm and said, "Thanks. For earlier, I just needed to talk."
Naruto scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture he almost never did any more. "Don't mention it."
As the blonde was about to leave her side she grabbed his arm and turned him around. Before he could say anything she pulled him close and pecked him on the cheek. "When you get back I'll treat you to a bowl of ramen."
Naruto felt his cheeks reddened and by the time he regained the power of speech she had already turned around and was walking away. "Like a date," He called out to her retreating back.
The teenage girl's shoulders slumped and she turned around holding a hand up with two fingers separated by an inch, "We were that close to having a story book goodbye."
Author's note: One more chapter.