To those who thought that I had disappeared off of the surface of this planet – I am back! I apologise for the massive break – I was in a foreign country, had no internet, and spend quite a big part of my holiday in a hospital (which also didn't have any internet. Or an IT suit. Sucks.)
So, after such a long time of no updates, I present you with this! I hope it's OK!
As always, a massive thank you to all my reviewers, and, well, on with the story!
BTW, I think some of you will be happy with who will make a reappearance in this chapter!
The next few days passed slowly, the three genin recovering from the shocking events of the chunin exams. There was no more drama between them, and they gratefully settled into the calming atmosphere of Kaoru's house. Sakura was well rested, and had not done anything like she did before - meaning, she had not had any sudden mood-swings. Akane's words had had a great impact on her.
That's not to say that she had lost her talents or stopped using them. Somehow, (Kaoru couldn't fathom how) she had wriggled out from the rebuilding of the village. So she spent her days at the brunette's house, helping his mother make dinner for him and Akane when they came back, and playing shogi or Go Fish with them in the evenings.
They were finally back to being a team. A family. A real one. Sakura had apologized for her behavior during and after the chunin exams. Now that she looked back on how she acted, she was filled with self-disgust. She really did remind herself of the Uchiha. But that was all over. For now, she was ready to focus on rebuilding her relationship with her teammates. Because they'd been there for her, tried to support her through the thick and the thin, but she was just too blind to notice it. She remembered the feeling that coursed through her when she laid, bleeding, dying, in the underground tunnels; the feeling of being so utterly and hopelessly alone. But she now knew that that feeling was due to her own foolishness and her own ignorance. Her headstrong desire to do everything by herself. She refused to behave that way anymore. Akane and Kaoru didn't deserve that.
So she stayed with them, helping around the house, getting the groceries for Kaoru's mom, or doing some simple chakra exercises, anything to lift the boredom. But, even when she was younger, only just starting her ninja career, she had already known that the life of a housewife was not for her. She was growing restless. So, nobody could honestly blame her when, one day, she snuck out of the house to the training grounds. However, before she could even go through her basic warm-up katas, she was shoved out of the way by a familiar blur of black and blue.
The familiar chakra signature registered in the back of her mind, and she felt her curiosity spike.
What could've caused the Uchiha to leave in such a hurry
Sakura considered the question for a split second, then sprinted after the Uchiha. On the way, she discovered the answer to her question - the Village was buzzing with whispers and mutters of "Uchiha Itachi was in Konoha!"
Suddenly, it all made sense, and the rosette pumped even more chakra into her legs and concentrated on locating Sasuke's chakra.
Yet, before she could zero in on the raven, a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks
"Sakura? What are you doing here?"
The rosette stopped dead, then turned to look at the familiar faces of her teammates. She was stuck, unable to come up with the best way to explain the current situation.
"Uchiha Itachi was in the Village." she settled on honesty, for lack of anything else. Kaoru's eyes narrowed and he sent her a questioning look, obviously thinking what the presence of an S-Rank missing-nin had to do with her. But Akane didn't have such restraints.
"Ah, I see." he said snarkily. "And where there's a dangerous missing-nin, you have to be as well, of course, how could I forget. What is it with you and danger? Do you really not like your life, or do you just want to show off?!"
"You don't understand!" Sakura protested, the redhead's words piercing through her like a dagger.
"That's right, I don't understand! You haven't told us anything, Sakura! I thought we agreed that there would be no more running off, no more worrying us, no more secrecy! That everything we'd do would be done as a team! I know you don't need us, but at least warn us before you decide to willingly throw yourself onto a hospital bed again!"
"I never willingly-!" but Akane's look cut her off. The redhead had his eyebrows raised, and a scowl twisted his face into an unpleasant grimace. But, underneath that, the rosette saw hurt.
She'd hurt them. Again.
Sakura took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. She bowed, 90 degrees, face parallel to the ground. "I'm sorry." she apologised when she straightened. "Come with me, I'll show you everything."
She took them to her house, and wordlessly handed them the letter that made her curious of Uchiha Itachi in the first place. The rosette watched as their eyes became wider and wider the more they read, and by the time they finished she was standing with her arms crossed, a bittersweet smile on her face.
"Now, as you know, my father is dead. In fact, I discovered this letter after he'd died. So there was no way to confirm whether the things written in this letter are true, or find out more about either of the two who this letter addresses." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She'd only ever spoken about her father to Neji, and even then it was in basic facts and memories. "My father was killed by Orochimaru when I was six. Naturally, I was still naïve then, unaware that he'd be ripped from me so quickly and so… brutally. I never asked about his past, how long he'd been a ninja for, who his parents were; I don't know anything. So, when I heard that one of the people who could tell me about his past was in the village, the fact that said person was an S-Ranked missing-nin who would probably kill me before I even had enough time to ask the question didn't even register. I know my mother merely from the photographs dad had shown me when he was still alive; I know she was a chunin medic-nin, and had red hair and gold eyes. That's all I know about her. Just simple facts. So… I can't let go of my father without feeling like I at least know him. Hence, my earlier chase after a missing-nin."
They stood in silence for what felt like hours, Akane and Kaoru absorbing everything they heard and trying to make some sense of it.
"So… you were looking for information about your father, and not… a spar with a missing-nin?" Akane finally questioned.
"Wha-? Of course! Where'd you get the idea that I wanted to spar with a mass murderer? He'd destroy me!"
"Well, you did give the impression of being… worryingly fond of danger, Sakura-chan." Kaoru commented lightly, though his eyes said anything but. "Though, I do wonder, we've been a team for two years now. Almost three. Why is it that you only decided to tell us about your family now?"
Sakura gnawed on her bottom lip, thinking of the best way to reply to that. She sighed when she realised that honesty seemed like the only available policy.
"I sort of got used to keeping everything bottled in. When my dad died, I lost the only person I could confide in. I didn't have any friends at the Academy, seeing as I never made an effort to get to know anybody. The only person I had around me was Neji-chan, but he's not really the person who I could go cry my heart out to. Shirani-san – the owner of one of my favourite shops – and I know each other on a purely business basis. So, as you can see, by the time I met you guys, keeping things bottled up inside was already a habit. Not to mention, we didn't exactly have the smoothest start as a team." She managed a light smirk at the end of that, glad when it was mirrored by her teammates.
"Still, all habits can be overcome, right, Akane?" Kaoru looked pointedly at the redhead, who, instead of snapping at him like Sakura expected him to, actually blushed and nodded vigorously.
Sakura raised a curious eyebrow, but Akane avoided her gaze while the brunette just smirked.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Not at all, Sakura, not at all." Kaoru replied innocently enough. "Now let's go eat something. I propose barbeque. Sounds good?"
Many more days passed like that, the trio hanging out together in their free time between some light C-Ranks. Nobody was in a hurry to get back to the hard, dangerous missions they used to take – they'd had enough danger to last them for a while. But then, the Jinchuuriki came back, and with him, a new Hokage. Tsunade Senju. One of the Legendary Sannin. The world-renowned medic-nin.
Sakura didn't know the woman was still alive, and seeing her looking like she was no older than twenty came as quite a shock to the petite rosette, to the amusement of her teammates.
A week after the official celebration of Tsunade becoming the Godaime, surprising news reached the trio. The woman had looked over Sarutobi's notes, called them to her office together with one Shikamaru Nara, and wordlessly handed them the green flak jackets.
"Now don't expect chunin to be a walk in the park. I still expect you to work your butts off on missions, especially now that you'll be able to lead teams of your own. So don't think I'll let you slack off, even if you do look like you're five years old." She looked pointedly at the only girl in the group, and Sakura had to stop herself from shooting the woman a glare.
Wouldn't exactly make the greatest first-impression.
So they left, baffled, clutching the chunin jackets in their hands, too surprised to even put them on, so they just stared at them in disbelief.
"Funny that after two years of taking jounin-level missions for Sarutobi, we finally get promoted and he isn't even here to see it." Kaoru muttered distractedly.
"Yeah." Sakura agreed, tentatively fingering the material.
"Hey, cheer up! We're chunin now! Why do you look so surprised, Kami only knows we've earned that promotion!" Akane exclaimed, jumping around the duo. "Now, I think this is the perfect time for Kaoru-chan to invite us for some dango, what do you think?"
"Well, I think your mother dropped you on your head when you were a baby." Kaoru replied, smirking.
"And I think that since it was your genius idea, then maybe you should pay." Sakura added, mirroring the brunette's smirk.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a sec!" Akane laughed nervously, sweat-dropping. "Don't team up on me like that ever again. It's seriously scary." He scratched his head sheepishly.
"So you'll pay?" Kaoru probed.
"Eh… Fine." He relented, sighing. "Only because I love you so much."
Needless to say, the comment earned him a nice hard slap on the head from the brunette.
Yet the following week they were greeted with more incredible, surprising news; the Hokage had healed Izaya-sensei. The moment Akane finished reading over the scroll given to them by one of the chunin, he immediately dropped it, eyes wide with disbelief.
"H-He's awake…" he muttered, blinking owlishly. If the circumstances had been any different, his expression would've been comical. But as it was, Sakura was sure that Akane wasn't the only one who looked so shell-shocked.
"How should we greet him?" Kaoru asked, frowning.
"Huh?" It seemed as if Akane didn't follow the redhead's train of thought.
"Well, he had been gone for over a year, right?" he asked rhetorically. "Then we better give him a sufficient welcome-back."
Akane furrowed his brows, staring at the teen in confusion, before his face was split by an evil grin and his eyes glinted devilishly.
"If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then, well… Izaya-sensei will be wondering why he bothered to leave the hospital in the first place."
Izaya blinked still adjusting to the fact that he'd stumble once in a while, and the familiar streets of Konoha were not so familiar anymore. Yes, he'd been briefed by Anko, but really, there were some things that words could not describe. Most importantly, he was worried for his little genin. The cryptic message he'd gotten from them telling him to come to their old training grounds was not the warm welcome-back he'd expected after he'd been informed that he' been comatose for over a year. Far from it, actually.
And yet, instead of being angry, or upset at his students, he found himself walking towards the agreed meeting place, excitement currently managing to overcome how anxious he felt.
Izaya entered the clearing, looking around in confusion. It seemed untouched, but he could've sworn he'd felt chakra coming from it just a few seconds previous.
Yet something was wrong... There was no breeze, no movement, just an incredible visual- Oh.
"This is an illusion." he muttered to himself.
"Correct." the sudden voice startled him. The raven looked around wildly, trying to locate the speaker. "And it's impossible to break it unless you know how it's created." The voice continued.
It was familiar, yet foreign at the same time. It was slightly deep, but soft, and had a unique lilt to it that made it impossible for Izaya to gauge the age of the speaker.
"Who am I speaking to?" he asked.
"You're speaking to us." and suddenly, the clearing melted away to reveal an omnipresent purple essence around him, and from the darkness...
Impossible...
His team walked out, not a day older than how he remembered them, clad in flowing silver kimonos that made them look regal and eternal, yet ephemeral at the same time.
"This is a genjutsu?" he asked, uncertain.
"Yes and no." the Kaoru look-alike answered. "This is us speaking, but unless we're convinced you are who you appear to be, then you'll be stuck in this illusion, and I'll make you watch your death, over and over until you go insane." The casual tone with which the brunette said this sent shivers running down Izaya's spine.
"How do I know you are who you appear to be?"
"I highly doubt you're in any position to ask questions, sensei." Akane snickered.
"Fine." Izaya caved, tired of their little game. "What is the question?"
"Rather simple if you really are Izaya-sensei." Sakura stated. "What did you call your team when they were first assigned to you by the Third?"
"... My little ducklings." He replied, looking away in embarrassment.
Suddenly, the mental landscape shook, similar to how it would in an earthquake, and the three figures melted away, all wearing identical smiles on their faces. Izaya felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he soon found himself on his knees, on the grass, trying to catch his breath. He staggered to his feet, but before he could regain his balance, he was tackled to the ground by three large blurs.
"Sensei!"
Izaya forced his eyes open, and saw three heads of red, pink, and brown respectively. The hug went on for a few more seconds, and then the pressure lifted from his chest, one by one. He was helped back to his feet by someone's hand, and only when he was finally standing did he get a good look at his students.
Anko was right. He was glad he agreed to be briefed first, and had a vague idea of what his students had become, otherwise he'd have had a hard time believing that the childre- no, ninja- before him were really his little genin.
At first glance, they hadn't really changed much apart from the obvious difference in height, hair and clothes.
But Izaya didn't become a jounin by accepting things as how they appeared to be. Most of the time, his ability to look underneath the underneath helped him out of bad situations, but this time, it broke his heart.
He had a good look at each of his pupils, starting with Kaoru. The teen had really grown into himself. He had strong, defined cheekbones, and his eyes, while soft and kind when gazing at him were also wary, and wise. His hair had grown, now nearly the same length as Jiraya's, no longer in its typical ponytail, but loose, the chestnut locks dancing merrily with the wind. His clothing hadn't changed much, but the standard two hip-pouches were joined by a long, slim katana that was draped horizontally over his back.
Next was Akane. He too had grown and looked older and more mature, but it wasn't that much of a shock. Afterall, Izaya had been unconscious for over a year. He was glad for the physical changes, and sighed in relief when the redhead noticed that Izaya's eyes were on him, and presented him with the familiar thousand-watt smile that assured Izaya that he still is and will be the childish member of his team. He easily returned the smile, and then turned to look at his last, youngest student.
He didn't know what to expect, but she still took him by surprise. It wasn't that she had grown in height, for she was still the shortest member, but no longer did she look small and puny. Quite the opposite; what with the way she held herself, she looked strong and confident. Her posture was, at first glance casual: her arms were loosely crossed over her chest, and her shoulders relaxed, but upon further inspection, Izaya discovered multiple weapons stashed all around her body, all within easy reach should the need arise. Her clothes were practical, rather than personal, save for the black fingerless gloves she had on. Yet Izaya cared very little for her outward appearance. It was only when he looked into her eyes that he realised how much one year could really change. Where there was once innocence, a wall had been assembled. Through the cracks, he could see a slight fondness appear when she looked at him, but other than that, her eyes told the tale of knowledge far beyond her years. She did not smile while he assessed her, merely stood there, her eyes scanning over his face, as if searching for something. After a few seconds, it seemed as if she'd found what she was looking for, and it was only because of the fact that all his attention was on her that he noticed the exact moment when the fondness left her eyes, only to be replaced with... hurt?
"Sensei..." She started slowly, her tone disbelieving. "Are you... afraid?"
It worked like magic. The second the word left her mouth, Izaya realised that something had been twisting his gut every which way ever since he laid eyes on the rosette. And, like a trigger, he suddenly knew what it was. He was startled with the realization that Sakura was right. It was fear. He struggled to justify it.
"I was never fond of change. More than that, I feared it! I'd learned that it never brought anything good with it." he paused for a second, noticing the rosette still looked expectant. He sighed, not thinking very much of his wording. "You had changed drastically, Sakura. I-"
But the girl held up her hand, cutting him off. "Stop. I understand. You don't like change. I had changed. Ergo, you don't like me. Guilty by association. I get it." she took a deep breath, and let it out slowly through her mouth. "Don't worry. It's nothing. I was just hoping that after being unconscious for over a year, you'd finally come back and we could be a normal team again. That you'd take the burden of being a leader off my shoulders. Captain of the Demon Siblings they called me. Did you know that? We'd made a name for ourselves. I'd made a name for myself. Apparently people liked the fact that even with being the youngest graduate of the academy in the last decade, I already had a team to manage. My team. I didn't like it. I didn't know what I was doing half the time. Sometimes I still don't. But Akane and Kaoru needed me. So I kept going. I didn't give up. I didn't turn my back on them because I was afraid. And now, we need you. We need you to lead us, to make us a real team once again. But no. Because you just got out of a coma, and you're afraid of all the change you're seeing. You want to know my opinion?" The rosette didn't seem to be able to stop. The words just kept pouring out of her mouth, her expression torn between angry and devastated. "That's bullshit! You can't be a ninja if you can't stand change!" she paused to breath. "But don't worry." she continued, and Izaya jumped. The anger had evaporated from her tone. "You can go back to Anko, I'm sure she hasn't changed, I'm sure she'll console you. After all, we got through the year OK. We got through the Chunin Exams, and the Invasion. So if you don't want us, fine. Because we don't want a coward for a sensei." and with one last, acid glare, the rosette turned on her heel and walked away, stopping only to add an icy "Oh, and I hope you liked your welcome-back present." and with those words, she dissolved into a flurry of leaves, the only sign she was even there.
Izaya turned his stunned gaze to his two other pupils, but it looked as if they were having an argument with their eyes. He watched on, curious. A few seconds later, Akane sighed, gave the brunette a brief hug, and also disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Izaya couldn't even bring himself to be surprised that the redhead hadn't needed any hand-signs.
Kaoru chuckled at his expression and swung a comforting arm over his shoulder. Izaya started at the fact that they were nearly the same height.
"Don't look so surprised, sensei." The brunette said, still chuckling slightly. "I can explain everything, but first, let's go somewhere more comfortable. Would you mind coming over to my house?"
Izaya shook his head, only half registering Kaoru's words as he struggled to get his thoughts together. They walked side by side in a comfortable silence, the elder trying to make some sense of all the information Sakura had bombarded him with and preparing himself for what the brunette might throw at him, and Kaoru wandering what he should start with. There was just so much Izaya was unaware of.
They reached his house, and Kaoru stepped aside to let his sensei in. The jounin walked over to the sofa, then just flopped on it, all energy leaving him.
"Tea, sensei?" Kaoru asked casually, rifling through the cabinets. Izaya shook his head, then realized the brunette couldn't see him, so he muttered a quiet.'no thanks'.
"Sake, then?" that got him up.
"Aren't you a bit young to drink?!" he asked incredulously. Kaoru turned around with a raised eyebrow, and though he didn't say anything, Izaya could almost hear him thinking 'oh please'. He chuckled inwardly.
"So, sensei." the brunette started, carrying two ceramic cups in one hand, and a bottle in the other. "What would you like to know?"
"Well, first and foremost, I suppose I'd like to know why two of my little ducklings stormed off today. I don't fully understand what I did to make them so angry. Especially Sakura."
"Ah..." Kaoru sighed as he put the bottle down and steepled his fingers. "Well, Sakura wasn't angry." he held up a hand when Izaya looked like he was about to interrupt. "Let me repeat. She was not angry. She was upset. Upset, because she had changed so much to be better. Better as a ninja, a friend, and a leader. She grew insanely strong. But she was also really detached. Yet, regardless of that, we survived. She managed to lead us through what was probably the scariest thing we ever had to do. But she needed to change for that to be possible. So, put yourself in her shoes, sensei. It was something she had to do. Because there was nobody else who could take your place but her."
"So it's all my fault?" Izaya asked, unable to stop his bitterness from seeping into his words.
"I wouldn't call it your fault, sensei. But yes, it was mostly due to the fact that you weren't there." Kaoru reasoned. "But now, that you are here, I suggest you erase those bad memories so we can be a real team again." And he smiled, at once reducing all of Izaya's worries to dust.
"You grew up too fast, Kaoru." Izaya muttered, smiling slightly. Then, he raised his cup of sake in a mock toast. "To the bizarre, messed up, irreplaceable and lovable team that we are." He smirked as Kaoru raised his own glass. "To Team 13."
The news that Izaya had been reinstated spread quickly, and soon, Team 13 was back on active roster, taking the missions they took before the fateful Chunin Exams. Tsunade was slowly becoming sick of having them in her office, to the point where two weeks after they started taking the missions, she ordered them to take a week-long 'vacation' to 'somewhere she wouldn't be able to see them' or else 'she might break something'.
So, Akane decided that they should all do some 'team-bonding' and proposed to make camp at their Training Grounds.
"No."
"No way."
"You wish."
And with those wonderful, enthusiastic replies, they simply settled for having training every day of their ordered 'vacation'.
They were in for a week of chaos.
So. After mooooonths of not posting anything, for which I once again apologise, but health is a priority, I come back to you with this!
I hope it's up to standard, as my writing might have gone a bit spesh over the two months during which I didn't touch the keyboard. Sorry for that!
Anyway, hope you can share your opinion of the chappie in a nice little review!
See ya soon!