Yay more nonsense!

Four: Assessment

It had been ultimately the most ridiculous request of the day. Trivial in all its glory, it had no doubt been drastically over-exaggerated. All she asked for was dinner. It had taken Sakura a good twenty minutes to work up the courage and another fifteen just to get a word in edge wise. So why suddenly did she find herself dressed in an extravagant orange kimono, her hair expertly tied back, a vast feast laid before her? She tossed her gaze from the door at the back to Sasori on her right and Deidara on her left.

"What's going on!?" She asked for the umpteenth time. She was received by a silencing hiss from Deidara. Grumbling she looked about the dark room in curiosity. It only took about three glances to realize that the walls were not unoccupied. Lining both walls on either side were every single member of the working Akatsuki. She moved slowly from shock, scanning each of their faces individually. She recognized the plant and the shark, they'd been her escorts. She continued from face to face until her eyes found horror embodied. The ever-living memory of her lost teammate stood only feet from her, indifferently idle in her presence (the others seemed somewhat tense, God knows why). Unlike the others who intently watched the doors opposite the ones she'd entered from, Uchiha Itachi stared at her. His eyes, permanently dyed with the Sharingan, met her awe filled green orbs, reading her every thought and fear. This became apparent when he seemed to chuckle, closing his eyes as they moved to the adjacent doors.

Mere moments later they creaked open and the room chilled with anticipation. Sakura adjusted herself to see, only finding a candelabra in her line of sight. She pushed at it, moving it a few inches, and found at the end of the table the shadowy figure that was her father. She felt a flood of emotions, unaware of which to allow presence in the room. "Hello, Sakura." She shivered under the intensity of the moment at hand. Had he really spoken just now? "I haven't seen you in so long." Her answer wasn't as pleasing as she'd hoped. He had spoken, and he really was her father. "Have Deidara and Sasori been treating you well?"

She struggled to find words. "I…uh…you." She couldn't see, but could feel his expression become amused. "What is the meaning of this!?" She blurted, hardly realizing what she'd said.

"Your mother has apparently taught you no manners. It's impolite to answer a question with a question." Her anger at his indifference multiplied. "But I can't hold it against you, it isn't as though it's your fault."

"How dare you insult my mother!"

He sighed. "A lot of work is to be done, I see." He remained ever unemotional. Troublesome. "Your mother is an unfit parent. She taught you nothing more than nonsense." When Sakura opened her mouth to protest the light of a candle glinted in her father's eyes. She chose it unwise to speak. "You're merely living with me to learn the proprieties your mother could never teach you. To live the life you deserve." He spoke the truth, just not the whole truth…

"I don't kill on a whim." She felt Deidara's gaze move toward her. "I'm not ruthless."

"Such crude terms." Her father said. He picked up a glass of wine. "But we will help you to adapt."

She was not pleased with this. "How can I adapt to being evil?" The sarcasm in her voice created a newfound tension.

"If you wish to call it that….how can I say…even the purest can be tainted." He affirmed this statement as useable, nodded, then took a sip of wine elegantly.

The village seemed to have become dustier in the past ten minutes. No, not dustier. Upon close observation it was seen that a fine layer of sand was spread through the main streets of Konoha. Being as ever observant as he was, Sasuke found this odd. It was no surprise then how shocked he was to be introduced to the Kazekage upon return to the Hokage's office.

Sasuke had entered unexpectedly, his clothes changed by Tsunade's order. At the sound of the opening door the room's occupants turned to look, one being Gaara. His last memory of the redhead being a bad one, Sasuke found himself uselessly bracing himself. His eyes met aquamarine orbs, angered at their…softness?

"Ah, you're back," Tsunade said, casually glancing away from the others in the room. "I'm sure you've met Kazekage-sama?"

"Kaze…kage?" He asked, his blatant stupor making the air awkward. If you'd been here--" Naruto shivered under Tsunade's glare.

"A lot changed in your absence, Uchiha-kun." Temari pushed forward, shifting her weight under the immense fan on her back. The truthfulness of that sentence brought an awkward silence over the room. Everyone seemed to fidget uncomfortably—everyone but Gaara and Sasuke. The two remained locked in the others' eyes, no doubt replaying their violent memories of the Chuunin Exams mentally.

Gaara was the first of the two to move. His eyes closed into an exaggerated blink accompanied by the disappointed shake of his head. Gaara had just non-verbally assessed what every one of them had thought at last once: "You were such a promising nin, Sasuke. Why'd you have to go and ruin it?"

Sasuke didn't remember Gaara being so tall (somehow the factor of puberty didn't cross his mind), and his hair had gotten longer. It was strange to see him in the white and blue robes of the Kazekage, especially since he was a bloodthirsty beast. At least that's how Sasuke remembered him. The sand nin turned back to the Hokage and spoke softly, the first time Sasuke had heard his voice in years. It too, had gone through puberty, and was respectably lower. "Like I was saying," In other words, Sasuke's appearance was just an afterthought. If even that—just a hindrance, maybe? A waste of time? It was a moment before Sasuke realized they'd spoken to him.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Tsunade looked upset. Like a teacher calling a student out for not paying attention. "I said, we need to know your level of ability so we can correctly place you for this mission. You will be placed in a battle situation with the opponent of my choice." Naruto snickered. At least he'd been granted a partnership with Sakura for his fight with—"Naruto."

"What!?" The blonde shrieked. "Why not Kakashi-sensei? Ero-senin? Gaara?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kankurou finally spoke up. Until now he'd found himself 'playing' with a drawing mannequin (no doubt left by Sai). "Non of them have a grudge against Sasuke. You're the perfect opponent because of your sheer anger and readiness to put everything forward." Tsunade had been nodding in agreement the entire time, only making Naruto angrier.

Before the blond could inject his (useless) opinion Tsunade spoke. "Be at the training grounds in twenty minutes." Sasuke nodded, then left to prepare. Naruto left in a huff shortly after, mumbling something about not wanting to leave at the same time as a "depressive two-timing wanna-be shinobi". This left Gaara, Kankurou, Temari and Tsunade.

"Do you think this wise?" Gaara asked.

"Do you see a problem?" Tsunade asked, on the verge of sarcasm.

Gaara remained indifferent. "I do." Tsunade's attitude changed quickly. "Naruto could be in danger—Sasuke no doubt still has Orochimaru's curse mark. And am I wrong in saying he has yet to obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

At that moment, clouds outside deprived the room of light.

The training grounds held an air of nostalgia for Sasuke. The three stumps, the river; everything brought a different memory to his mind. He was shaken from his reverie when the five others approached him. They were lead by Tsunade and, oddly enough Naruto and Gaara brought up the rear. They all stopped except Tsunade, who slowly approached the raven-haired nin. She spoke softly, a stern expression on her face. "If I even think you're trying to kill Naruto I'll--"

"Hokage-sama." Gaara's voice held warning. Tsunade understood this and stepped back.

"We will all be watching from various points around the grounds." She said, her eyes fixed on the teenager opposite where she stood. Gaara stepped forward.

"You have until tomorrow morning. Sunrise." He handed a small bell across to Sasuke. More nostalgia. "If Naruto retrieves your bell before then, it's over. And vise versa." Naruto held his bell up as proof that there was one. Gaara let a silence hang over them for a while before nodding. "Begin when you're ready." Four of the six disappeared.

Naruto's eyes locked with Sasuke's. Their once soft, innocent blue had hardened with the severity of the situation. He hadn't been present when it was discussed, but he knew the danger he was in. But, naturally, he didn't care.

"I suppose we should start?" Sasuke asked, honestly harboring no ill will.

Naruto charged. "Couldn't have said it better," Sasuke chuckled at Naruto's natural impulsive action. "myself." Naruto disappeared. Of course Sasuke was taken aback, mostly because Naruto was in mid-air, just feet in front of him, ready to fire a punch when he disappeared. But also because Naruto disappeared. Rather than attacking impulsively, he seemed to have a plan. The Uchiha braced himself, gripping a kunai and hunching into a defensive stance. Had he not been living with sound nin he probably wouldn't be able to do what he did next: He cancelled out every sound around him. Then, slowly, he allowed his ears to scan each individual sound as it happened. Wind through the trees…birds…Naruto. He spun on his heel, firing the kunai and destroying one of three Naruto clones. He lunged backward, avoiding the punch of another clone. Where he'd lunched back to, however, was the tight grip of the real Naruto, enveloping him in a fatal hug. One orange arm raised, holding a kunai at close quarters with Sasuke's neck. The other hand reached down in search of the side bag Sasuke stored the bell in. "I win."

Sasuke's chuckle pissed Naruto off. What sent him into a rage was that he was now gripping a log. "You coward!" The blonde disappeared again. The training grounds fell silent with anticipation, the two dueling nin nowhere in sight. What the four observing nin didn't realize was that Naruto and Sasuke were no locked in a replay of their battle from years ago beneath the waterfall. Only now, the stakes were much higher.

Whoooooooshortness.

Because I'm lazy I'm only going to respond to reviews that seemed the most...how would I say...helpful. Nothing personal, I'm just to lazy to sit and type out everyone's name right now.

Aurora Marija: How was it weird? Please, do specify your critiques. It's not helpful to me if I don't know what you're talking about.

Dokami-san: I've been trying to lengthen my chapters, but have been finding that difficult mostly because I write everything out first on notebook paper and find a good place to stop, then find I haven't even passed 3 pages on word. Does the shortness of my chapters take away from the story?

Don't be afraid, kids. I love constructive critisism.

To everyone else, thanks for the reviews. I'll be sure to respond individual reviews next chapter.