Chapter 4: The Truth Comes Out-Sasuke
"Dammit I hate just laying here all day!" Yuzuki had been complaining for weeks about having to rest and recover. "Well that's what happens when you get shot in the leg and in the side. Just deal with it you'll recover quicker if you would quit complaining." She gave him a defiant look crossing her arms. "I'm just not use to this. When I worked for Hanbei he sent out on mission after mission it didn't matter if I was hurt or sick. He would basically tell me to suck it up and move on with the mission or I'd lose my job! But then again that's what happens when you work for a bastard like that."
Sasuke was surprised. He knew that she had been treated badly by Takenaka but he never thought that it was that bad. "Hey Yuzuki tell ya what, I'm going to go talk the doctor into letting me walk you around the castle." Yuzuki's eyes lit up and a smile formed on her face. "Yes Sasuke I would love nothing more right now!" Sasuke laughed and stood heading for the door. "Anything to, stop you from whining over there. It's very un-ninja like."He popped out of the room and almost collided with the doctor.
"Oh hey I was just about to come looking for you." The doctors eyebrows furrowed in alarm. "Is Yuzuki alright? I was just coming around to check on her." Sasuke shook his head and put his hands up. "No no she's fine. A little whiny but that's what I wanted ask you about. You see I was going to ask if you would let me walk Yuzuki around the castle. I promise that she'll take it easy and that I will support most of her weight." Sasuke gave her a cheesy smile to match his childish pleading voice. The doctor stood there for a moment thinking the request through. "Oh all right. I'm sick of hearing her complain myself. Just make sure you're not out too long."
Sasuke ran back into the room as soon as he got the okay. "Okay Yuzuki you finally get to see the outside world again." He knelt down and she put her arm over his shoulder. Slowly and carefully they stood up, Yuzuki clutching Sasuke's shirt with both hands. Sasuke started to walk and Yuzuki hopped along with him on her uninjured leg. "So Yuzuki, are you sure you'll be okay?" She nodded her head without hesitation. "Of course I'll be fine! I have you right here after all don't I?" He nodded liking the sound of the idea.
You can bet I'll always be right here for you.
They walked along until they wandered into the training grounds where Yukimura was training vigorously as per usual. He swung his spear around and stopped when he saw them. "Yuzuki they let you walk around today that's great!" Yuzuki laughed. "Yea well I don't really consider this walking. It's more like Sasuke half carrying me and I'm hopping along but hey its progress right?" Yukimura smiled in agreement and giving Sasuke a strange look. Yukimura's eyes looked half open and he was giving Sasuke a half grin.
"Hey Sasuke, lord Shingen said that we don't have any plans of action and so he wanted me to let you know that you, Yuzuki and the rest of the ninja corps can take it easy for a while. Think of it as a long period of nothing but free time." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him clearly suspicious. When it finally registered in his head what Yukimura was saying he was tempted to go and punch him. Yukimura figuring stuff out one his own was rare. If Yukimura of all people could figure it out then Sasuke knew that he was making it to obvious without realizing it.
"Well see you later Dana." The red clad samurai nodded and went back to his training. Sasuke then figured out exactly where he wanted to go. He swung his arm down to pick her up and started jumping up into the trees. "Sasuke, where are we going?" He smiled down at her. "You'll see." He jumped carefully through the trees until he found the right tree. He jumped up to the highest branch that would support them. He sat down and leaned back against the trunk of the tree and setting Yuzuki down so that she was sitting the same way only that she was leaned against his chest her injured led stretched out along the branch.
He watched as she looked over to the left where a field of cherry blossoms was spread out. He eyes were wide her mouth opened slightly. "It's beautiful Sasuke!" He just stayed against the tree with his hands behind his head. "Just wait till the sun starts to go down." The only two people that knew about this place were Yukimura and himself although Yukimura only came here when he couldn't find Sasuke. Yukimura knew that if Sasuke wasn't nearby that he was in this tree.
They sat there watching the sun sink lower behind the mountains. The light from the setting sun made the cherry blossoms glow in pink and orange. The breeze kicked up sending the petals everywhere. The petals looked like embers floating through the trees and the sky. Yuzuki still had a look of amazement on her face and Sasuke thought that now would be a great time to say what he needed to say. He leaned his head down close to her ear and whispered, "Yuzuki, I love you." He waited in a pause of silence until she whispered back. "I love you too Sasuke." He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. She moved her hands up to hold his as they rested against her collar bone. He rested his chin on the top of her head as she rested her head comfortably against his chest. After a while her breathing slowed. "Yuzuki?" He smiled and laughed quietly. This was the first night she had fallen asleep so easily. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep as well.
"SASUKE!" Sasuke opened his eyes to see Yukimura's face. Yukimura had climbed the tree was standing on the branch below his head level with Sasuke's. "Dana why'd you climb all the way up here all ya had to do was call for me." He was trying to keep his voice low since Yuzuki had slept through Yukimura's wakeup call. "But Sasuke that's the thing I did call you several times." Had he really been that tired? He looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was already high in the sky. "What time is it? It has to be noon by now!" Yukimura nodded. "That's why I climbed up here to wake you up. And I see that you and Yuzuki are getting along." Sasuke rolled his eyes remembering the comment he made yesterday. "Shut up Yukimura!"
She placed a hand on Yuzuki's shoulder and shook gently. "Yuzuki, come on wake up it's about noon." She didn't budge so Sasuke lifted her up and jumped down to the ground and waited for Yukimura to climb his way back down. They started walking back to the castle once Yukimura figured his way out of the tree. They gates to the castle were just up ahead. Yuzuki woke up blinking a couple times to adjust to the light. "Good afternoon Yuzuki." She looked up at the sky. "It's noon already! Why didn't you wake me up?"
Sasuke smiled. "There was no sense in waking you up. It's not like you're going to be doing much of anything today." Her expression turned into a pout and Sasuke laughed. "Hey don't worry, you'll be walking around and training again in no time." She rolled her eyes and looked to the side. Sasuke couldn't help but think she look cute when she did that. When Sasuke slid the door to her room open he was greeted by a very angry looking doctor. "Where the HELL have you two been! I told you not to be out long and I haven't seen you since!"
Sasuke walked over and carefully sat Yuzuki down. "Calm down 'mother' all we did yesterday was sit in a tree. And I carried her up the tree in case you wanted to freak out about that to." The doctor looked at him with annoyance. "You were out there all night! I had no idea if Yuzuki was alright!" Yuzuki cleared her throat. "I'm right here ya know and I happen to be perfectly fine. In fact I last night I slept better than any other night spent cooped up in this room!" The doctor looked at her with surprise. "Really?" Yuzuki nodded. "Yes really. I think the fresh air helps." Sasuke laughed quietly to himself. "She fell asleep and hardly moved around at all. She had a peaceful night for once." The doctor sighed. "I guess it has to be the fresh air but for now I need to change the bandages so master Sarutobi if you wouldn't mind waiting outside."
Sasuke walked out almost colliding with Yukimura. Yukimura backed up and Sasuke closed the door. "Did you need something Dana?" Yukimura shook his head. "No I don't need you but lord Shingen says he needs you. Sasuke nodded and headed to the war room where lord Shingen would be waiting. Sasuke knelt down outside the door. "Sarutobi Sasuke reporting." When lord Shingen told him to come in he quickly slid the door open and moved to sit in front of Shingen. "What did you need sir?"
"Sasuke I need you to run an errand for me. Your men have been reporting strange behavior from the Toyotomi and I would like you to go check it out." Sasuke nodded and left making his way back to Yuzuki's room. The door was open so Sasuke walked in. Yuzuki was the only one in the room now. She was laying on her back looking up at the ceiling until Sasuke closed the door. She looked over at him and smiled. Sasuke walked over and sat down next to her and she pushed herself up to sit as well.
"Hey lord Shingen is sending me on a little mission so I'll be gone for a few days." Her expression turned into a pout but Sasuke saw the humor in her eyes. "Awww but then I have to stay stuck in this room for a couple days." Sasuke laughed. "You'll live I promise. And I also promise that as soon as I get back I'll take you back up to the tree and we can spend all day up there." Yuzuki nodded. "I'll miss you Sasuke." He slid closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their faces were centimeters apart. Sasuke felt her warm breath on his lips and she smelled of cherry blossoms. "Don't worry I won't be gone long," he whispered her bangs tickling his nose.
He brushed his lips across her before he finally kissed her. She leaned forward kissing him back when the door slid open. They broke away turning to see who had opened the door. Sasuke had expected Yukimura but instead he saw the most unexpected of people. "K-Kasuga what are you doing here?" She was standing dumbfounded in the middle of the doorway. After blinking a couple of times she regained her composure. "I was sent her by my lord Kenshin to help you with your mission involving the Toyotomi. Master Sanada told me I could find you in here, I'm sorry if I was interrupting." Sasuke looked back at Yuzuki and stood up. "No not at all I was just giving Yuzuki a kiss goodbye. I'm ready to go when you are." Kasuga nodded and Sasuke took off following her.
"So Sarutobi what was all that about?" Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "I told you I was kissing her goodbye. In case it wasn't obvious I love her." Kasuga laughed. "Do you really? Are you honestly telling me you're in love with a girl you have only known for a short while?" Sasuke's eyebrow was twitching with annoyance. "Says the kunoichi who abandoned her village because she fell in love with a man at first sight!" Kasuga's face turned as red as Yukimura's armor. "SHUT UP SARUTOBI!" Sasuke sighed. This was going to be a very long mission.
They traveled the rest of the way in silence seeming that they both had sort tempers at the moment. When they got to Odawara they snuck into the war room successfully and made sure they were hidden as people filed in for a war council. Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Hanbei Takenaka sat in the front facing group of what looked like highly trained and skilled shinobi. Hanbei Takenaka was the one to speak. "Have you discovered the whereabouts of my head ninja yet?" His tone was cold and Sasuke detected impatience in his voice.
Sasuke wanted to jump down there and give the bastard a piece of his mind but thought better of it. Sasuke knew he was talking about Yuzuki and he didn't like it one bit. "Yes lord Hanbei. She is currently in Kai." Hanbei stood up in annoyance. "I sent her over a month ago to kill the Tiger of Kai and his cub what the hell is taking her so long?" The shinobi that had answered him first spoke again. "You see lord Hanbei she has betrayed us for the Takeda. When we last saw her she was asleep in a tree with the Sanada ninja Sarutobi Sasuke and she looked plenty happy to be there." Hanbei clenched his fist. "I thought shinobi weren't supposed to let personal feeling affect their job?" The ninja nodded. "It seems she forgot about that rule. It is very clear that Yuzuki and the Sanada ninja are in love sir."
Hanbei sat down again and held his head as if he had a headache. "I don't care if she loves him or not your mission is to bring her back here to me so that I can teach her a thing or two about betraying me!" The ninja nodded and left. Sasuke wanted to follow them out but with Hanbei and Hideyoshi still in the room he would be spotted. It was driving him crazy waiting for the two warlords to leave. When they finally left He jumped down and dashed out with Kasuga at his heels. "Sasuke don't do anything foolish." Sasuke ignored her and kept running as fast as he could. "SASUKE STOP!" Kasuga yelled at him. He stopped and turned around. "WHAT!" Kasuga sighed. "There are too many of those ninja and they look like they are far better trained and equipped than we are. So not only are we outnumbered we are out matched! Think about this Sasuke, what is the best way we can deal with these guys."
Sasuke knew she was right. His ran his hands angrily though his hair. "Damn what kind of shinobi am I? I'm better than this! I've never let emotion get to me like this!" He sat down against the tree branch trying to think about how he was going to deal with these ninja. Kasuga sat down next to him. "Calm down Sasuke we'll figure this out. Those guys won't touch Yuzuki." He looked up at Kasuga a silent thank you shown in his eyes. "We'll what the best way to win when you're out numbered and out matched?" Sasuke smirked. "You outsmart." Kasuga smiled. "Exactly!"