Chapter Two - A New Road, A New Destination
"Oh really, could this get any worse!" Sakura jeered, slamming one fisted hand into the chest of her attacker, and the kunai grasped in the other towards his thigh. To her dismay he leapt away before it made contact. She had already taken down one opponent, but that one was a novice compared to this cloaked man. Honestly, he was plain annoying, twirling about and flinging the obscuring fabric into her face.
Thrusting chakra to the soles of her shoes and leaping onto a tree branch, Sakura checked on her teammates. Genma was fairing well, having already killed two assailants and easily outmaneuvering his other two. Hana and Ino had paired up, Ino utilizing her Shintenshin no jutsu to reduce their number of adversaries and also to keep one alive for questioning. Since when did missing nin run in this large a group and for that matter, why did they attack?
Sakura watched as Hana's canine companion tore into an attacker's leg, rendering the limb useless; the shinobi fell to the ground. Seeing the cloaked annoyance charging towards the tree she stood in, Sakura made her move. Once again filtering chakra to her feet, she herself dashed down the thick trunk, heading straight for the man. Timing was the key to her attack. Sakura could tell the shinobi planned to catch her at the base of the tree in an upward thrust; he seemed to think she was an idiot apparently. Placing one hand behind her back, she readied herself for a jutsu.
Just as the two shinobi met, the man's kunai sinking into her gut, and Sakura flipping her fingers into position, a wooden log materialized in her place. Sakura, on the other hand appeared behind her foe, chakra spilling from her palm that flashed into the back of his skull. He was dead before his limp body hit the ground with a muffled thud.
Sakura pivoted around, ready to spring to the aid of her teammates only to find the three done fighting and staring at her. Ino and Hana looked disgusted, while Genma was somewhat leering.
"What?" Sakura asked, completely unknowing.
In return, Ino practically shouted, "What? What, Forehead? Look at your hand! That's disgusting!" She pointed, her own hand shaking.
Glancing down at her "disgusting" clenched fist, she grimaced. It was a pretty gruesome sight. Brain matter, as well as pieces of flesh stuck to her appendage, which was something Sakura herself was used to, but Ino apparently was not. Now, feeling fairly self-conscious since nobody had ever made a big deal out of it before and she always washed her hands shortly after a fight anyways, Sakura fidgeted, biting the inside of her cheek.
It didn't seem to matter how strong she became, she would always be a slightly timid and nervous person; she figured this had something to do with the insecurity she'd developed all those years ago with Sasuke.
"Ah, sorry," Sakura mumbled, pulling a scrap of cloth and bottle of water out of her backpack. Ripping off both gloves, she scrubbed her hands clean. "Genma, take care of that one," she said, standing up and pointing at the unconscious nin on the ground. "We'll leave him to Tsun- Hokage-sama when we reach Konoha. We're what, a couple hours away?"
"Yeah," Hana supplied curtly, before leaning down to scratch one of her three dog's ears.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go… I want a hot bath." Sakura said, laughing with her teammates as they shook their heads in agreement.
"Here you go!" Naruto happily said, placing a bowl of ramen in front of both Idate and Sasuke.
"Naruto… ramen, again?" Sasuke remarked, quirking a brow in slight irritation.
Much to Idate's amusement, Naruto just smiled and sat down to slurp his own bowl up with great satisfaction.
"At least it's not tempura again!" Naruto laughed, looking to Idate, "Sakura-chan always makes tempura; she loves the stuff."
"Hn, that's a lie and you know it Naruto. She makes it frequently, but she's always willing to make something we want as well," Sasuke interjected, surprising Naruto in his defense of the absent girl. Sure the two were closer now, but Sasuke usually had no qualm in teasing or still being a bit standoffish when it came to Sakura. Was it simply because Idate was there? Naruto couldn't fathom the idea of Sasuke being protective of their teammate in any other way than just that. A teammate. But, even as Naruto ate, he saw the wary glances Sasuke cast in Idate's direction and he could tell just how annoyed Sasuke became when he mentioned Sakura.
So, for the moment, Naruto decided to just keep his mouth shut. But he would get some answers from Sasuke later. Glancing at Sasuke and plotting, Naruto shoved another heap of ramen into his mouth.
"So," Idate started, "what all have you done since we last saw one another?"
At his question, Naruto dropped his chopsticks and Sasuke seemed to solely focus on his meal. Idate was at a loss; perhaps he shouldn't have asked at all, but it was too late, the deed had been done.
"Gomen," he said politely, quickly trying to make amends "I, of course, should tell you what I have done. As you could imagine, the races are no longer held like they were. Now, the village is peaceful and united; we race only for the joy of it. Jirochou-sama… he did a wonderful job of running the village. I helped him as much as I could. He asked me, before he died, if I wanted to take care of the village, or if I wanted something more. I could never lie to Jirochou," Idate spoke softly, a smile evident in his voice.
"I told him I wanted to see my ni-san again, that I wanted to return to Konoha. So, he hired a traveling shinobi to help train me. I stayed only until the one he chose to replace him was situated. We sent messenger birds to Hokage-sama and she assured that I would be allowed to return. Thus, here I am. I'm not aloud to become anything above a genin for at least two years, and I have to help out at the hospital, but I'm glad to be back."
Naruto had perked up at Idate's comfortable description and, had Sasuke and his story not been so sour, he would have relayed it to this companion. But, as it was, Naruto knew better; it would anger Sasuke beyond imaging if he told about the faults of his past and how badly it had, in fact, hurt his teammates.
Trying to keep the conversation light, Idate asked, "So, are you both jounin now? How about Sakura-san?"
In his usually jubilant manner, Naruto answered, voice boisterous, "Hai, we all became jounin when Sasuke-" he halted, knowing all too well the stare Sasuke was burning through his head. Oh this was going to be hellish; Naruto's specialty had never been in secrecy after all. "When Sasuke, Sakura-chan, and I defeated a number of Akatsuki. Don't know if you've heard of them or not, Idate… but, they deserved everything they got," Naruto finished, looking slightly ill and a little more than uncomfortable. He really was ready to just shut up and let the silence eat at the other two in the room, but, that would have been quite unnatural for him, even if any mention of Akatsuki made him burn and made the Kyuubi writhe in his stomach.
It was bad enough that Itachi, no small factor of Akatsuki, had been the one to drive Sasuke from him multiple times, but then there was Pein. The man, no, monster, that had killed Jiraiya, and that was simply unforgivable. It was like losing a father and that made it all the more painful; having never known his real father, losing someone he could look to as such… well, it had drove him mad. He'd torn through Rain's shinobi, even if they were innocent of that injustice, they had been in his way, trying to protect their God.
But what a false god that turned out to be; a god made of flesh and bone and blood, and oh so breakable as Naruto had found out, dashing madly around the God, clawing and tearing flesh while his own skin seared from the inside out and Pein's jutsu slammed into him, momentarily paralyzing before Kyuubi overpowered the ache and forced him to move again. They'd fought, as those left alive gathered around, Sakura and a rather bewildered Suigetsu carrying Sasuke, exhausted and ragged from his fight with Itachi.
And they'd tried to help Naruto regain control of himself, of his sanity. This Naruto knew after he'd nearly gotten himself killed, as Pein had tried to thrust some flickering and chaotic jutsu into Naruto's chest and he'd barely sidestepped it, receiving it through his lung, rather than his heart. And Kyuubi could heal a lung, but not Naruto's heart.
He'd seen the damage afterwards, after Tenzou had arrived, slapping his hands together and shoving his chakra forward, seizing control of the bijuu's seal and halting its disastrous reign in Naruto's body. What was there to greet Naruto still haunted him. The ghastly number of Rain shinobi he'd killed; Kakashi's unconscious form, leg bent awkwardly and bloodied; and even his own Sakura with deep gnashes on her arms, left from his incensed grip, even his own flesh ran with blood, the ravaging heat from Kyuubi's chakra having split his flesh…
"Naruto," Sasuke said quietly, hand on his shoulder. "You should eat your ramen."
Naruto quickly turned his head down, slurping up his ramen and effectively hiding his tears from Idate and Sasuke, although there was no sense in hiding them from Sasuke; he already knew they were there. The blond shinobi hadn't been the same since numerous incidents. From learning of his true lineage, Jiraiya's death, Sasuke's return, and his own murderous rage, Naruto had moments that were quite un-Naruto like. Moments in which silence was his only companion, and memories haunted him, tore through him like Sasuke's Chidori, Pein's fist, and his own tormented thoughts.
"Well," Idate spoke up, nervous and more than a bit uncomfortable as he felt the tension in the room. Obviously whatever had happened between their last encounter and this one wasn't pleasant, and he certainly had no intention of asking about it.
"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I was hoping to visit with Ibiki today. I appreciate the dinner; it was quite refreshing after such a long journey. Might I ask if either of you know where I might find Ibiki?"
Naruto was still silent, so Idate turned his gaze to the Uchiha who was pondering the question presented to him. "I should say he'd be at the jounin headquarters. After all, a group of ANBU should be returning tonight. He's almost always there; just in case," Sasuke finished, voice a mutter.
"Well, I suppose I'll try the jounin headquarters then. Thank you, Sasuke-san. Should I be back before a certain time? I don't want to wake either of you."
"Don't worry about it. The doors are never locked," Sasuke said, a slight smirk on his face. "If they were Naruto would get locked out all the time."
Idate smiled at Naruto's bowed head, and was once again reassured that returning to Konoha had been the right thing to do. Now, Idate thought happily to himself, I'll go find Ni-san.
Later that night, Idate lay in bed, listening to the crickets chirping outside the Uchiha complex and the soft creaks that came from it being such an old building. It had been a good day, he decided finally. Yes, there were moments that were quite awkward. Like when he'd shown up at the jounin headquarters; he was by no means allowed in the building, as it was the host for all missions, including ANBU missions. But, once Ibiki had been notified of his appearance, the jounin in the building had practically ushered him through the front door and throughout the place.
Everyone knew the story. How he'd been tricked by Aoi. Of course, he was still at fault for being gullible, but the people of Konoha didn't seem to have it in their hearts to hate him for it. He'd been a young boy at the time, not old enough to quite establish right from wrong. Some even thought the Godaime was being a bit harsh, but Idate disagreed whole heartedly. He deserved everything he got, if not more.
Idate had spent a good hour talking to Ibiki. Ibiki had explained more fully to him his punishment, as he'd been the one to discuss it with the Hokage. He'd even explained some of what he'd missed with Naruto and the others. Even though Idate was sure there were still some major puzzle pieces missing in their stories, he'd still managed to learn of Sasuke betrayal, and, while he found himself disliking the Uchiha's actions in the past, he'd seen the bond between the two shinobi multiple times now, both this evening and the first time he'd met them. Whatever had happened, well, it didn't look as if it was going to happen again.
What with all the talk about Naruto and Team Kakashi, Idate couldn't help but think about the only female member of the group. How much had she grown? Changed? And would she remember him? Remember what he'd done upon seeing her?
In some ways, he hoped she had no recollection of it; it would be quite embarrassing for both of them. But, on the other hand, if she hadn't changed? Or had, but for the better? Not that he could envision a way for her to improve. Even as a small girl in the face of danger she'd been brave, protecting him when it should have been the exact opposite. She really had been amazing. And now she was in ANBU.
He wondered how she looked in the ANBU uniform. Sure, some small details had changed in the years since he'd seen them, but in general the look was the same. He just couldn't picture her, he hadn't been able to conjure up an image of her older and mature; it was always sweet twelve-year old, pink haired Sakura in his head. Sometimes he wondered if it was an unhealthy obsession he had – wanting to get an updated image of her in his head, in his heart, but it surely had to be healthier than seeing a twelve-year old in his head all the time. Nothing could come of the past. That Idate had learned quite some time back when three people had stepped into his life, dragging him out of his anger and self-loathing. Although the guilt still festered inside of him on the rare occasion, a bad moment. But here, in Konoha, his home, the guilt seemed to subside, it couldn't even keep him awake, tossing and turning, like usual.
Even as Idate drifted off, head pressed to the soft feather pillow and thoughts lethargic, not too mention riddled with a certain pink-haired, faceless vision, he heard the rain start to fall, tapping against glass window panes and the shingled rooftop.
What's this? Two updates within a month, haha... well, sorry they aren't on the same stories, but I've had parts of chapters done for, well, quite some time and I just couldn't seem to get them finished... I think my muse is finally returning though, so you should see a few more updates from me relatively soon... I hope. Anyways, as always, enjoy. And please, if you want to comment on any of my writings, make it this one, haha, I'm soooo curious to see what everyone thinks of this pairing... I've not seen it written ANYWHERE... which is soooo disappointing.