Chapter Twenty-Four-

"We haven't had any response from the Rain yet," Tsunade said calmly, adjusting her low-cut haori surreptitiously, looking into the eyes of the thirteen year old Kazekage, "No communication whatsoever."

"They're most likely planning their next action," Sabaku no Gaara replied evenly.

"I suppose we should take advantage of this, then…" Tsunade said, almost questioningly.

The boy raised a nonexistent eyebrow, "I suppose…"

"We don't expect you to get involved in this…conflict," Tsunade said, taking another sip of sake and pushed herself back into the cushioned seat, fingers idly dragging over the tatami, "It would, however, be a problem if you chose to side with the Rain, assuming they take action…"

The ANBU seated behind her squirmed anxiously and the guards behind the young ruler of the Wind Country looked wary.

The boy gave a half snort of disgust, "I have no intention of siding with a nation less than one tenth the size of yours."

Despite the situation Tsunade couldn't help admire his honesty. It was much easier to deal with a person who obviously had the same regard for the deceptiveness and subtleties of politics.

"I have no intention of making some sort of deal involving the transfer of Modoka Sazumi over to the Rain," she said bluntly.

"Why is this girl so important?" one of the Sand's Council members asked.

"We have had an unsteady relationship with the Rain even since their civil war, decades ago," she answered, "Something was bound to happen sooner or later; the girl just happened to be the issue to start it. And I believe that we honestly can't afford to back down."

This comment caused several raised eyebrows, but nothing was said and there was a pregnant pause.

"Well…I guess that's decided," Tsunade said, surprised at how easily this had gone.

"Then it's decided," the child echoed and with a sweep of his robe, he was gone. "Brat," she muttered under her breath, stood up and left the room as well, her ANBU guard behind her.

"How did it go?" Naruto asked, leaping up the second she cam within view.

"Perfectly horrible," she told him, "Perfectly horrible."

"What?"

"Never you mind," she said grumpily, yawning obnoxiously, "Is your friend awake yet?"

"No," Naruto said, looking vaguely confused, "She's supposed the wake up tomorrow…"

"Right, then," Tsunade said, not really paying attention, "Go visit her."

"Huh? But-Hey we're you going?"

"To get drunk."

"…ohh…"

Sasumi stared at the bandaged stub of her left arm in the mirror that the nurses had brought her. It was so strange, how it felt. Her entire body seemed off somehow, much lighter on the left side.

"Yamaki-san?" her doctor said gently, "Are you alright?"

"If possible," she said quietly, "Could you leave me alone for a while?"

He swallowed, adjusted his glasses and left the room.

"I can't believe it's gone…" she thought, wincing as she trailed her fingers over the bandage.

But really, it wasn't like anything had changed. Her arm's condition had been steadily worsening ever since it was broken all those years ago. It would only have been a matter of time before it would have been impossible to move it. It was probably better this way, to get rid of it, before it got in the way of a fight and caused her serious harm. Or that was what she tried to tell herself.

On a whim she threw back the bed covers with her only remaining hand, swung her legs over the bed and hightailed out of the room. Sasumi managed to make it down to the main floor and out into a leafy rock garden that contrasted with the rest of the Wind Country before her body gave in. She flopped down on a stone bench to catch her breath and leaned against it. She felt unusually depressed and needed to see sunlight and breathe the outside air or she knew she would explode. It was cold, because the only thing she was wearing was a flimsy hospital gown, but it was much, much, better than being locked inside-

-just like last tim-

-and it was a beautiful day anyhow.

What would she do after this? She had never seen a one-armed ninja and she was not sure there were ninjutsu that can be done with one hand. Was this-is this just…it? Was this the end? Could she still continue working as a shinobi? What would she do if she could not? How would she survive? More importantly, what was left for her without being a ninja? How would she go on?

She looked down at the earthy ground and wrapped her arm around her scarred and burned legs. Sasumi absentmindedly rubbed at an indention in her left shin and trailed her hand over her blackened, toenail-less feet. What would they think of her, she thought derisively, if they could see her now? Maybe, if they could see her now, one-armed, burnt, scarred, and pathetic, they wouldn't even bother. She let out a sarcastic snort. They would just laugh and leave her to die.

She should go back inside, but she didn't. Soon, they would realize that she was gone and send out someone to find her.

But…

Sasumi frowned slightly and lifted her head up. It was almost assured that the Rain knew of her presence. And knowing the state she had left them and how violent they had been ever since that civil war more than thirty years ago…

They would want their revenge, that was for certain, whether they would be honorable enough to officially declare war was nor here nor there. Sasumi foresaw blood, destruction, and death that would come to place. And over what? A half-dead teenager with a broken bloodline? And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Unless…

Sasumi sat up straight, grabbing onto her red hair compulsively, tucking it back out of her face. If…if she was dead…it wouldn't solve the problem completely, the Rain would still be angry, but not as mad as if she died. She could go there, finish the job, and she would have to hope that everything would be solved. The ideal solution would be to simply hand herself in, but, call her selfish, she couldn't go through that again. She would rather die.

She was halfway up, when she realized that she could never go through with it. How on earth would she get to the Rain unmolested? It was too far and she was too weak in this state. She sat down back on the bench hard and tried not to scream. It seemed she really hadn't changed that much in six years. Still weak, stupid, and never, ever, learning from her mistakes.

Sasumi, tired of indecision and confusion, closed her eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep filled with dead faces and dark places.

When she awoke, half curled around herself on the bench, the sun had lowered considerably in the sky. She nearly had a heart attack when she realized for the second time that day that she had no arm, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Are you awake?"

Sasumi started, rearing up and smashing her back against the stone bench in a defensive position, her hand immediately going to her nonexistent kunai pouch.

Sasuke was standing a few feet from the bench looking calmly down at her despite her fright.

He looked perfectly calm, but Sasumi could tell he was forcing himself to look at her face, and her face only. Pretending her exposed scars didn't exist.

"People have been looking for you," he said impersonally.

"I fell asleep," she said coolly, stating the obvious.

She raised herself off the bench and walked toward the entrance of the hospital. She didn't know what Sasuke was angry with her about, but it was best to leave before a fight was started.

"Why didn't you tell us about your arm?" his voice came from behind her.

She turned around angrily, though part of her wondered why. She knew they would all ask her this. She knew. Maybe it was the fact she didn't have an answer that made her angry.

"That is none of your business," she said almost scornfully.

"Don't give me that nonsense," he replied, "Tell me straight up: You don't trust us at all."

"And what is that supposed to mean!?"

"Don't lie!" he said, anger beginning to show through his façade, "The only times you have ever told us anything about yourself were when you had no choice but to do so! And even then, how can any of us ever be sure that what you've told us just haven't been some elaborate lie you've made up!"

"What is wrong with you?" she replied, trying very hard not to scream at him, "You don't know anything about me. How dare you try and fathom what might go through my min-"

"Then why don't you tell us!" he replied bitingly, "You know every single little detail about every one of us and we know little to nothing about you!"

"You think I owe it to you?!" she asked in disbelief, "You think that because of this decrypted bloodline, this-this curse, I owe you the little privacy I ever had? Do you think I like it?! Think I gloat over all the pathetic, half-witted secrets humankind possesses? Do you think I gave my left arm, three years of my life being tortured, experimented on, chained to a goddamn wall - for this!"

"Don't exaggerate this!" he snarled, "This is not about that! This is about your arm! Do you think we don't know about how much it would hurt for you to keep using it! Do you know how many tiny fractures you had in that bone!"

"And what exactly was I supposed to do about that?" she said frostily, "It took me a year to find Konoha. Do you think I could just waltz into a hospital after I escaped that hell?"

"You could have told us!" a voice came from the right and they both turned around to see Naruto standing on the low garden wall with his arms crossed over his too small orange jumpsuit.

"You keep out of this!" she barked out, so angry she wanted to cry.

"We can't do that!" Naruto replied, suddenly sounding sad instead of angry.

Sasumi opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it, realizing that she had nothing to say. She suddenly felt cold and wrapped her right hand loosely around her left stump of an arm. They were both staring at her with the same look on her face. She didn't like it. It scared her.

"You-you don't make sense, Sasumi…" Naruto said hesitantly, "When I was alone…before Iruka-sensei, gods, I'd have given anything for someone to ask if I was okay, or how I was doing…and, and Sasuke too! Well, he was better at hiding it than I was, but I'm sure after his parents…everyone died, he wanted someone to…" Naruto trailed off as if the rest of it was self-explanatory. It wasn't.

Sasuke did not agree with Naruto's statement, but he did not deny it either.

"Yo-you act like you don't want anyone to ask about you, or notice you. I don't-We don't understand why-"

"You've never been hurt like I have," she said, tired and not liking where the conversation was going.

"Don't talk like that," Naruto said harshly, "We've been alone too and-"

"Leave."

'-I know you've been hurting. You can't just try -"

"Leave!"

"-and push us away like that!"

"Leave me alone!" she cried, half in desperation, half in anger.

"We won't," Sasuke said simply, suddenly composed and calm again.

"I don't need anyone," Sasumi said, throwing her arm back, feeling trapped, "I have never, ever needed anyone!'

"Don't lie!" Naruto yelled, jumping down from the wall, "Don't you dare insult us by saying that you never wanted anyone to-"

"I had parents!"

It burst from her mouth before she thought about or could stop it. She could only keep going. Keep saying things she swore she would never talk about.

"I had them," she repeated, "and they weren't like yours."

Everything seemed a blur, it was so hot, and for some reason Sasumi wondered if she was in a dream and if she would wake up any time soon.

"They didn't die shortly after I was born," she said in Naruto direction, only half aware that Naruto didn't know who his father was, "And they weren't killed in a massacre. In fact, as far as I know, they're still alive."

There was silence and her chest heaved, sweat trickling down her temple in rivulets.

"And they betrayed me. Sold me out."

Her voice was not bitter, because if she was bitter, she would probably start to cry.

"That's all there is to it."

"Sasumi…" Naruto said, reaching out towards her. The only thing he knew how to do, she reflected.

"You should go back, Uzumaki-san, Uchiha-san" she said formally, straightening up, "Now that you have established that I'm not hurt or-"

"You see!" Naruto yelled, startling both her and Sasuke, "There it is again! You being so…official! Impersonal! Like we haven't been on the same team for two years! Call me Naruto! Not 'Naruto-san' or some bullshit like that either!"

Sasumi opened her mouth and then closed it.

Naruto swore loudly and stomped his way out of the garden and disappeared around the corner of the hospital.

"You really should have told us about your arm," Sasuke said and then exited as well, leaving Sasumi to ponder the only time she ever got into trouble for keeping her mouth shut.

It didn't take long for Kakashi to realize there was something odd about his team's behavior. On their way home they hardly spoke to each other, and Sasuke and Naruto refused to tell him what exactly occurred after they found Sasumi, which was the only time Kakashi could think they would have a falling out. After a while, he simply blamed it on the combination of teenage hormones and rough situation they were in and decided not to pry. But it was odd; they were absolutely desperate and worried when Sasumi disappeared from her room (well, Naruto was, Sasuke just sort of frowned) and they returned sullen and angry.

Naruto and Sasuke sort of glance at each other and Sasumi strangely when he asked her to stay later after dismissing the rest of the team upon their return to Konoha, but neither of them said anything.

"I have something for you," he said, rummaging in his bag, pulling out a book. There was an imperceptible tick of her eye.

"It's not what you think," he assured her, almost insulted that she thought he would buy her…well…his kind of books.

She reached out with her remaining hand and grasped the book, inspecting the cover and flipping it open easily. Kakashi inwardly winced as he realized that she was probably used to doing everything with one hand, even reading.

"This is…" she said, her voice as close to wonder as he had ever heard it.

"One-handed Ninjutsu," he said proudly, "While it's pretty rare, it is possible to be a ninja and use ninjutsu with one arm. Because of the obvious danger to our profession there are actually quite a lot of ninjutsu you can do one-handedly. In fact, I've even heard of a rumor of a ninja with no hands, who…" he cut himself off before he started rambling, "Anyway, unless you want to retire, it would probably be a good idea to look at those."

His student blinked up at him and something flashed in her bright greens eyes.

Suddenly she bowed her head, "Thank you very much," she said softly, her voice filled with almost-emotion.

The next few days were quite strange. Asuma and Kurenai (who had recently been engaged, to his amusement) came to him in complete shock, telling him how their students had come to training saying that Yamaki Sasumi had lost an arm. Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino apparently had especially acted shocked and concerned. He gave them a slightly garbled version of the events in the Wind Country (excluding Sasumi's true identity, and the Rain's involvement, of course.) Other than the questioning looks that he was getting from his fellow Jounin that obviously questioned his teaching methods, he spent most of his time training aforementioned student.

"You can't just expect to be able to fight like you used to," he told her, "Your entire center of gravity is off balance and you're going to have to get used to it before you go on any sort of mission; yes, even the easy ones."

She nodded, wiping sweat off her brow and pushed herself of the ground, getting back into her stance.

"Ready. Set. Go!"

She leapt towards him and aimed a side kick for the side of his head. Halfway there, however, she lost her balance and fell to the ground for what must have been the fiftieth time that day. She grasped her bruised right arm tightly, picked herself up again, and drew a kunai, launching it at him. Kakashi caught it easily and threw it back at her without a thought. It was only when it nicked the stump of her arm that he realized that he had probably made a mistake.

She bit her lower lip, flipped backwards, and began to heal the wound quickly.

"Wait, timeout," Kakashi said, relaxing his stance, "What's wrong? You should have seen that coming."

She stared at him, "What do you mean?"

He frowned, "With your eyes, of course. What did you think I was talking about?"

"But that would be cheating."

"Cheating?" he could've laughed, but he didn't, knowing that she would take it the wrong way, "Sasumi, you don't have a talent to not use it. Especially now, that you're in a weakened state."

She nodded.

"Alright, then. Come at me again."

A few hours later, Sasumi all but collapsed and Kakashi forced her to stop for the day and continue tomorrow. She assured him that she was fine and that she would return home and rest as soon as she caught her breath, so he departed without her. However, on his way back to his apartment he caught sight of his blond student walking determinedly towards the training site where he and Sasumi had just been working. Kakashi blinked and then smirked. Perhaps, he could finally figure out what this standoffish attitude between his students was all about.

He followed Naruto back to the training area, and edged closer as he heard voices.

"You might as well take it, you know," Naruto says, holding out what appeared to be a water bottle to Sasumi.

The red-haired girl reached out and tentatively grasped the bottle.

There was a long pause as she drank.

"C'mon, Sasumi," Naruto said, grabbing her hand a pulling her up, "Let's go back."

Kakashi, slightly disappointed that he wasn't able to figure out what had happened, made his way back to his apartment.

However, the tranquility did not last.

At two in the morning he was awoken by several ANBU and immediately escorted to see the Hokage.

She looked as tired as he felt, and almost as drunk as he wished he was.

"Kakashi," the blonde-haired Hokage groaned, holding up a large scroll, "Do you know what I'm holding in my hand here?"

The world stopped.

"Is that-" he breathed and then stopped, too afraid to finish his sentence.

"This," she said, annunciating her words slowly, "is a declaration of war…from the Rain."

Kakashi closed his eyes and breathed out slowly.

A/N: Yay! Hooray for teenage angst and drama! My favorite!

Anyway, I'm sorry this was late, I sort of skipped a weekend 'cause I was at Acen…

Next chapter will be the start of the war and probably more angst. (Not that that's anything new...) Please review!