AN:
Repetetive declaration: beyond the usual emphasized words and expressions, italicized segments usually are 'the mysterious voice' (or Inner Sakura) speaking, while (bracketed) segments signify 'active thought', non-vocalized or 'private' speech, sometimes an emotional echo or associative thought.
And of course I don't own Naruto, Sasuke or anyone else native to the series, be it manga or anime.
oOo
During the chuunin exam, in the Forest of Death, Orochimaru gives Sasuke the Cursed Seal. So far, so bad and a familiar story.
But when Sasuke wakes, why does he hear a voice that tries to undermine the sannin's influence? And knows things?
And now the changes are piling up... will things become better or worse in the long run?
oOo
Raven Chatter
The Raven is a loyal creature. Those he judges worthy of his attention will have it, whether they need it or not. Unfortunately, that still doesn't tell what kind of attention...
Part Seven: Four Weeks of Fun, Part Three
oOo
Another few days passed, completing the first week. Sasuke kept up his new masks, weighted to act close to his old self for Kakashi, faking a motivation he no longer really felt, but still showing off some of his new, 'more open and mature' self. Neither he nor the voice – which he still hadn't felt like naming – were certain how much, or if at all, he fooled the experienced jounin, but since the man showed no undesired interest, they just gave it his best and let it be.
At least, they had managed to persuade him to minimize his tardiness. Actually, they got him to help in designing a few training routines Sasuke could easily perform unsupervised while still getting the necessary improvement, so he had something useful to do while Kakashi was still absent. So you could rather say, they got him to minimize the consequences of his habitual laziness.
Amazingly they had actually had a civil conversation about that. And about Kakashi's lack of teaching ability regarding academy-fresh genin. As they had not slung accusations or demands around, but kept it to facts and methods, it really appeared to have some results. He had actually promised to take more care of the other two once this business with the chuunin exam had run its course.
Yesterday they had even gotten him to talk about his past, just a little, but he had told him fragmentarily of the teammate he literally inherited his sharingan eye from. Obito Uchiha, he had gotten the name. And he actually acknowledged the way the memory of the dead friend haunted Kakashi still.
In the evening, Sasuke had met his teammates – this time visiting an Akamichi restaurant on outvoting Naruto and making an arrangement for not being bothered by taking one of the booths - and, as they kept each other up to date, he had given them a little summary. Sakura and Sasuke also had decided to keep helping Naruto out with henge shopping and set another schedule for that.
Kami, if that went on, they might need to actually write down all these plans to just keep track!
When Naruto told them he had gotten the toad sannin to put a few more goodies into his training by bribing him with his 'forbidden technique', they were a bit embarrassed, but still able to share a good laugh. Even if Naruto finally had gotten a few bruises from Sakura, they all had to admit he deserved it this time, even Naruto himself.
When they discussed summoning, as Naruto told them about the old pervert's toads he met, they were moderately surprised when he portrayed them in a rather personable light and reminded them he actually liked these critters, showing off his old and dear 'gama-chan wallet'.
Still, Sasuke and Sakura remained steadfast in their opinion of preferring other creatures for summons. Sakura especially stated there would have to be a major event to make her even consider the idea of accepting a contract with slugs, snakes or other 'creepies'. Sasuke offering the idea of searching for a snake-eating summon like mongooses had their full support and engendered another round of laughter.
Once more, Sasuke simply enjoyed the atmosphere and wondered how he had spent half his life hating and brooding only to truly enjoy this feeling that much after barely a week.
He was embarassingly surprised to learn from a suddenly tearing-up Naruto how much the blond felt basically the same way with the biggest difference being his past situation of forced loneliness and isolation.
He pondered whether telling him about what he found out would be a good thing and decided to confer with Sakura about that when the former nuisance, now an only somewhat annoying friend, took his leave for certain unavoidable demands of nature.
oOo
"Hmm. Sakura," Sasuke opened.
"Sasuke-kun?"
"Do you have any idea why almost everyone older than us seems to have some grudge against Naruto? Even the Akamichi here – okay, she wasn't actually hostile, but seemed concerned about the customers reactions. She seemed... relieved when we decided on this booth where almost no one can watch us."
Sakura shook her head. "No idea, only a few speculations. I remember only that my mom told me to stay away from him, others must have done that, too... I guess it might have to do with his family or something like that. Even if he is an orphan, he has a family name. I never heard about any Uzumakis, but if there was some seriously bad blood there before, it might be ostracization by association."
"You mean, the complete reverse how anybody has treated me all the time?" Sasuke asked, eyebrow quirked in sardonic ribbing.
"Oh... um... ah...," Sakura stammered in mortification. Sasuke calmed her by dismissing the remark, allowing her finally to confirm the comparison.
"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, if we met, oh I don't know, the kyuubi no youko's kid, we would be pretty apprehensive ourselves, wouldn't we?" Sakura pointed out. Neither of them noticed the shadow at the booth's corner freezing up.
Sasuke thought about that for a moment. Something about that example twinged somewhere inside him. He finally snorted and said: "The child of the monster fox? Naruto? No way the slacker would want to have anything to do with that thing."
Sakura giggled a bit. "Hell yeah, right. I just went for the most outrageous example I could think of," she snickered. "On the other hand, that is the perfect example, now that I think of it." She suddenly became serious. "As you just said, no way our Naruto would want to have anything to do with that. And still, anyone he met who knew about it would judge him by that and not by himself. They would think of clans and teachers and expect him to be like his parent."
"But since he doesn't even know his family, there actually is no real reason for him to be like that unless it's physical, and even then...," Sasuke understood. But what was twitching there in his mind? It wasn't the voice, more like a half-remembered memory... he shrugged it off for now.
"Just as with me and the Uchiha clan, or - the Hyuuga clan. I heard Hinata is the heir to the clan, but since she is so..." he trailed off, fishing for the best word.
"Shy? Nice? Soft?" Sakura proposed, picking it up quickly.
"Yeah," he could go with that. "You have seen other Hyuuga, take this Neji for example. Heh, even the few times I met him the guy aggravated me, and we tried mostly to ignore each other. Anyway, I heard recently Hinata supposedly doesn't project the right image for the clan, so they are planning to depose her, disown her or something like that. Going by what else I have heard, it doesn't sound like a simple or pleasant process. There was something about sealing, but In- I didn't get details." Sasuke elaborated, almost slipping the name of his in(o)formant.
Sakura huffed. "Yes, I can see that. I don't think she deserves something like that, though. I can't see how someone from that family could be – uh-" she broke off.
"Could be, let's call it, 'a fan' of our blond? I know, I know. I stood just beside you, remember?" Sasuke grinned crookedly, as they finally arrived at the topic he wanted.
"Um, yes," Sakura admitted, surprised Sasuke had actually noticed that. She didn't know, of course, that Ino had literally spelled it out for him a few days before. "It's awfully sweet, actually, but if her clan knew it probably made her problem worse. Still, a shame Naruto is so oblivious."
"Yeah, he still only got eyes for you, doesn't he?" Sasuke teased, quoting a line he didn't fully know the purpose of. Oh god, what was he doing here?
He just had stopped one or two girls showering, no, drowning him with a kind of affection he never had been used to, and now he was dealing just in that kind of stuff without really understanding...
The blind leading the dumb by the roadsign, effectively. Still, regarding the circumstances, an amazing job.
"Bleh. I admit, now that we actually try to be friends he's not that bad anymore, but he still is too flaky for me. As a friend, okay, but anything else..." she drifted off and sent him a dangerous look.
"Sasuke-kun..." she purred. Sasuke raised his hand defensively, sweatdropping.
"Please, Sakura, stop it," he pleaded. "Not to mention I still don't really understand why everyone female looks at me like a side of beef," Sakura blinked and blushed at that. What the...? He continued quickly: "I still feel much too messed up to deal with something like that. Look, if I ever feel interest, you'll get to know first, I believe. Think about Naruto and Hinata instead for now. Do you think we should just tell him she likes him that much? Seriously."
Sakura blinked at the concept of Sasuke-kun as matchmaker. Then she shrugged it off and took up the question as a problem to be solved, as she had done often since the academy and beyond.
"I don't know, let me think about it," she murmured. "There would be some problems, I guess. But if he acted on it, he wouldn't try to crowd me anymore... Bleh, I guess thinking about it like that is just too mean. Okay, let's take it seriously."
Sasuke let her think, just listening as she slowly began to speak.
"Fact is, Hinata has been watching him from afar as long as I have known her, but she's so terribly shy she actually almost faints when he starts to notice her in any way. We all thought if we even tried to tease her she might just drop dead in embarrassment, I guess, so no one dared to before. That she managed to give him this salve pot as a gift amazed me, honestly. And she blushed so much when he just thanked her... The girl looks like a classic wallflower who hides herself without the least bit of confidence. I can't understand that, actually – you saw what she was capable of when I –uh- motivated her. That girl, that technique – damn, I understand why anyone fears the juuken. That someone that good could be so withdrawn... If it were anybody else but Hyuuga Hinata I would give her up as a hopeless case, but if they could make it work..."
Sakura paused. "I could try to go systematically, but that would take a while. I'll just call the points as they come for now, so forgive me if I seem to ramble a bit," she said, closing her eyes. Sasuke just nodded. She didn't see the gesture, of course, but seemed to notice it anyway.
Sasuke had a small epiphany – if she was thorough enough and he perceptive enough, he might get at least a hint of what had been going on in all these girls' heads all this time! So he paid close attention to what she said - and how she was saying it.
"I believe, when we were younger, she once said she admired Naruto for his outgoing nature, confidence or something to that effect. I don't remember exactly, we were kids and not even in the same class then, heck, it might have been even before the academy. I think there was something else about Naruto, but I don't remember much from that time. Still, if anyone could benefit from having Naruto around it would be her. You know how he is, charge straight ahead and damn the consequences – and hell, he makes it actually work. In Wave, now that I think about it; in the forest – hell, even with his prelim fight. He really has confidence to burn, more than is good for him maybe. If he can make Hinata pick up just a little bit of that attitude it could do her a world of good. A problem might be if her clan, especially her father as clan head, thinks about Naruto like all these others. That could become ugly. But would he be good for her? I think so, if he understands what it is all about. That's a bit of a problem, actually. Naruto – I know now why he hounded me. He saw us hounding you," she smirked at Sasuke, who drew back a bit, "and copied us. We 'fangirls' were the only role model he had and he tried to- oh, I guess you know what I mean."
Eye-rolling, Sasuke nodded. Sakura pouted a bit, but continued.
"Potentially, if Naruto could pick up quite a bit from Hinata, she also could be good for him. She could teach him some tact and restraint, but she would have to get him to learn. That's another problem. I guess if anything could come from it, Hinata would have to learn from Naruto some confidence and energy first, then she could teach him. That would be the only way I can see that working out without potential catastrophes."
"On the other hand, as I understand how these things are supposed to go and knowing Naruto, he would be all around her at first, trying to cheer her up and get her to do something, so that might come naturally. It's more a question of 'when' than 'if'," Sasuke added cautiously, not to give her the wrong idea.
"Point," Sakura agreed. "I just fear he might swamp her, like he tried with me. The difference is Hinata would probably like that. At least for a while. Well, if she did regularly spend time with Naruto, she at least would know whether she really liked him or if it is just a crush..." She suddenly trailed off.
"Hell No!" Inner Sakura bellowed. "I do love Sasuke-kun, and he will notice sooner or later!"
Kami, I sure hope so, but – Hell no! I'm his teammate, we'll spend time together, and – WE will make it work. I won't give up just because of a stupid doubt!
Sakura finished the inner turmoil with a snap and returned to the topic at hand.
"Okay. Yeah. I think that's enough analysis. I guess we should tell Naruto about Hinata, we just have to find the right way and moment so he doesn't charge off and does something stupid..." She opened her eyes again and looked at Sasuke, who – just stared at her, no across her, with an expression of guilty shock on his face.
"Sasuke-kun, what-" The restaurant's door opened and closed with force, and as she bent outward and looked, she just saw a flash of yellow and orange. Wide-eyed herself, she turned back towards Sasuke.
"Was that-"
"Naruto. Apparently he stood just behind the edge of the curtain and was listening," Sasuke confirmed in a daze.
"Oh Kami! What did he look like? What does he think now?"
"I- I just don't know. I didn't actually see his face, when I noticed him he already had his back to us."
"C'mon! We have to track him and talk to him!" Sakura yelled, pulling Sasuke from his seat and after her.
"Waitamoment, gottapay, yougofirstI'llfindyou," Sasuke spat out, braking at the counter. Sakura let go and nodded, moving out.
"Phew. Okay, here, keep the change. Um – do you know how long our friend stood there at the corner?"
"A few minutes, he was done quickly and back again. I thought he was gonna prank ya," the girl admitted, smiling embarrassedly.
"Well, in a way he did. Bye." Sasuke followed Sakura as fast as reasonable.
So, he might have listened from the beginning? Us speculating about his family? Hm, something about that...
"Want a reminder?"
Now you're butting in again? What reminder?
"Wave mirrors... and a forest snake. You were close. I guess you're ready. Don't fnck this up."
What the...
Sasuke could only shake his head in confusion as he leapt up to the roofs to follow Sakura, who – hopefully – was tracking Naruto.
Suddenly the memories clicked together.
oOo
It was a merry hunt the blond led them on. Sasuke began to believe the stories Naruto had sometimes bragged with, him leading on fully trained ANBU teams for hours after some pranks. Okay, in that case he also might not really want to escape them, but lead them somewhere. Which, if his conclusion was true, might not be a bad idea. Fortunately, the population of Konoha was used to ninjas hurrying through the city over the roofs, so they were not creating a scene yet.
Even low on chakra and still tired from the day's training, they were able to travel quickly enough and stay alert enough to keep on Naruto's trail – barely. Fortunately, the slacker had not tried to actively distract followers with shadow clones or any other real effort – maybe even he was tired and low on chakra, too? How hard was Jiraiya training him really? Especially if Sasuke's moment of clarity was true...
I can't believe it, but it actually makes sense! How else could the perpetual dead last have that amount of power?
"I won't affirm or deny your suspicions – that's Naruto's personal call - but power always has its price. And Naruto has seen that, too. Hard work, duties, pain, lost freedom... these are but simple samples of these prices. What price have you paid for power until now, and what would you be willing to pay?"
If you had asked me last week, I'd have said: Anything. Now I'm not so sure anymore.
"Hmm. Have you a new reason to seek power again at all?"
Not sure of that either. And right now I'm not exactly in the position – leap, land, leap - for fundamental decisions.
"Point. We'll discuss that once you are."
Hrn. "Over there, Sakura." They leapt off the last roof and started the path up the mountain. "Any idea where he's going?"
"I've got an idea, Iruka-sensei once said – yeah, there he is, he has stopped."
Both slowed down together. Naruto – the orange henge in place, making both wonder for the reason so far from anyone else – sat balancing on the railing like a bird or cat, straight on the edge overlooking the Hokage monument. Right in the middle between the Third's and the Fourth's top. Should he lose his perch, he would fall straight down the distance, with almost no chance to catch himself on one of the stone faces unless he drifted back to the cliffside – which, due to the massive stoneworks in carving the memorial faces, was basically hollowed out and thus overhanging quite a bit. They usually would never expect even an academy student to just slip, but something what they had said and what Naruto had overheard had put the blond into a weird mood and none of them knew exactly what to expect, so they closed the distance slowly and carefully, unconsciously trying to avoid any threatening appearance – and also catching their breath a bit. They had heard some scary stories from others – fortunately that seemed all what they were, stories – about people jumping for one or another reason (or apparently none at all, as far as the teller knew), and even if it was ludicrous to expect something like that from Naruto, his reactions had brought uncertaincy upon them.
Without turning around, the spiky-haired blonde said: "I used to love the view from here. Still do, I guess."
Blinking at that non sequitur, his teammates stopped, barely three steps away, no more. Then, without a gesture or a word, they just stepped forward to the railing and framed Naruto on his sides, leaning on the old railing and, each with his or her own thoughts on the matter, taking in the view over Konoha too. It just felt right. No one spoke for a minute.
"Far removed from any stupid people, hm?" Sasuke broke the silence.
Naruto flinched, then rolled back and performed a clumsy stationary backflip, going from perching on the railing to leaning on it just like his teammates.
Sakura let out a relieved breath. "Why did you run, Naruto?" she calmly demanded.
Naruto looked guilty, avoiding real eye contact, but didn't run again. "I don't really know. I was... confused, I guess."
"By what exactly?" Sasuke inquired, also outwardly calm, too.
Naruto seemed to send him a probing look, while still keeping his face down. "I'm not certain. What do you think?"
"I do think about a lot, the last few days even more than ever. But that's not your answer," Sasuke replied.
"I'm sorry Naruto," Sakura said. The hectic hunt and guilty feelings made the rare apology slip out easily.
Now Naruto was surprised, noting the phrase so rarely heard from his teammates.
"For what, Sakura-chan? Talking about me behind my back? Heh, one isn't supposed to actually listen to something like that, I know, but there was nothing you should apologize for. And I guess that's what was so confusing." He crossed his arms on the railing and rested his chin on them.
"I think I understand what you mean," Sasuke slowly said. "We both have been not exactly friendly to you ever since academy, and even if we all suddenly just decided to be friends you didn't really expect us to mean it, isn't it? Then you listen to us talking about you and you didn't hear what you secretly expected. Was it that?"
Oh yes, Sasuke could relate. He himself had fresh experience in hearing unexpected – and unwanted - things.
Naruto blinked – was he crying? – and nodded quietly.
"When you are talking about someone behind his back you usually talk about stuff he isn't supposed to hear, isn't that it? And usually that's pretty mean stuff, but you weren't mean about it. Okay, there was stuff I wouldn't have wanted to talk about, but it wasn't really mean. And you, and even Sakura... okay, I might have been a pest, but you were mean before. It just - it wasn't – I expected you still – at least a bit..." the words seemed to stick in his throat.
Sasuke and Sakura shared a guilty look.
"Oh man," Sasuke started, shaking his head. "The exam must have made us insane. We really have made a total turnaround, haven't we?"
"Heh, I guess so," Sakura added, tentatively smiling. "I haven't thought about it like that, but it's true. Less than a week and we actually don't want to pick on you anymore. If In- anyone told me that last week I would have called her crazy. Feels unreal, is that it? But it's as real as the whisker-marks on your face," she teased a bit, pinching the cheek she could reach, but not as hard as usual, not as a punishment, but just teasing.
Surprisingly, Naruto didn't complain with the expected 'Sakura-chaaan!', but rather seemed to freeze up. Sakura, surprised, let go and mumbled an apology.
Sasuke, on the other hand, was reminded of his deduction.
"What's with these anyway, slacker?" he asked, forcing a light tone. "I know you don't have family left, either, but are these birthmarks, clan tattoos, scars or what? I never looked that closely..."
Actually, he tried to imply with his tone that he suspected something, but whether Naruto noticed, or rather how he reacted, would be the important thing.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura scolded. "That was just a joke, wasn't it? Don't be silly."
"Actually," Sasuke started and grabbed the blonde boy by the back of his collar, "the joke hit closer than we thought, didn't it?"
Naruto looked shocked and frightened, but somewhere in his expression seemed to lurk simple resignation.
Sasuke hid his true feelings for the moment – practice makes perfect – and with the contemptuous smirk he had worn so often before began to casually brawl with the resisting fox-boy. His taijutsu abilities still were a lot better than Naruto's, and unless the blond suddenly popped out his army of clones, Sasuke was even more superior at grappling range, where Naruto usually reverted to childish brawling unless it was a real crisis situation. Sasuke hoped it wouldn't turn out looking that way.
"That's what's wrong, isn't it? That's why everybody seems to hate you. And that's why you could pull these stunts off in Wave and against Orochimaru, am I right? That's where this red chakra came from, and everybody thinks some time you'll snap or something and that's why, am I right? As if."
While he held and handled Naruto, deep inside Sasuke was afr- concerned. If the ones who hated and feared Naruto were actually right – No. No Way. The two of them might have hated each other – or rather, believed that, he knew what real hate felt like - but still, they also had saved each other when the chips were down, without really acknowledging it at these times.
"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing? What are you talking about? What do you mean?" Sakura just watched with wide eyes, while Naruto with each sentence panicked more and more. Sasuke let up the unskilled brawl a bit and just held on enough so Naruto wouldn't run away again without actually fighting for it.
"Heh. I think I know. We were right, or at least close. Our dear teammate has something about him which the stupid people hate him for, and he's so used to it or even believes he deserves it that he doesn't care anymore," Sasuke explained.
"Come on, admit it, slacker, I'm right, ain't I?"
"HEY STOP IT BASTARD!" Naruto yelled, breaking the hold, but stumbling and falling down.
An unassuming shape, hidden in the nearby shadows of the groves, gasped quietly.
"Heh," Sasuke smirked, then surprisingly held out his hand to Naruto to help him up. Uncomprehending, Naruto took it.
"Well, am I right or not?" Sasuke dropped the smirk. "Whatever it is exactly, it can't be you. The Naruto I know may be brash, hyperactive, loud, annoying, stupid,..."
"Hey!" Naruto complained, provoking a giggle in Sakura.
"... but also stupidly brave, tenacious and all around surprising. If in some way you really are related to the Nine-Tails, YOU are who you are, not some monster or whatever the people think."
Naruto stared. He knew? No, he thought... what?
Sakura blinked, dumbstruck. The joke was no joke?
The shady figure strangled a gasp with her fists. The Uchiha hadn't been hurting her Naruto? He was what? Why in all heavens would anyone think him a monster?
"NO!" The blond yelled indignatedly. "I'm NOT the Kyuubi's kid! I'm just its cage, its jailer!" Suddenly he slapped his hands over his mouth. Uh oh.
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, only to say a few seconds later, "Same difference."
Naruto blinked.
Sakura stared. Now that was a surprise.
Hinata – for who else could it have been? – blinked and whispered 'Byakugan'. No way – correct, no trace of anything demonic-looking in him. Just the wonderful glow of his chakra coils, even as – proportionally – low on chakra as he currently was they were glowing so much brighter and deeper than anyone else's she had ever seen, the same beautiful shade as his bright blue eyes, only tempered by the filigree pattern in his chakra she so often could see on his stomach, which seemed to be an old and complex seal... of... some... kind?
"Just waiiit a mooment..." Sakura drawled. "The Yondaime was supposed to have killed the demon, so what about that?"
Naruto frantically looked from Sasuke to Sakura and back. No escape, they wouldn't stop until they knew the rest. But he didn't see hate or fear – okay, maybe a bit fear in Sakura, but she wasn't running or screaming or yelling or anything...
"Oh, calm down, slacker. No one of us is suddenly going to sell you bad stuff for inflated prices," Sasuke deadpanned. Naruto stared at him and sat down, hard. His legs just didn't seem to be there at the moment. Maybe they had run away already and forgotten to take him with them? Oh, no, that didn't work that way and oh, there they were. Okay, back to the point. Oh, yes, amazement.
"Sasuke, was that a... joke?"
Sasuke buried his face in his palm. The gesture, unfamiliar as it was, simply felt right for some reason.
"I tried. Don't blame me for only having Naruto and Kakashi as role models or examples."
Everyone present blinked and sweatdropped. Then they decided to simply ignore it.
"Oh, well, I guess the cat – or rather the fox - is out of the bag then, isn't it?" Naruto sighed. "And now you want the whole story?"
"Hell yeah!"
"I'd say so."
Hinata, still hidden – or so she believed – nodded.
Naruto sighed again.
"Oh well, short version (can't remember the longer version anyway): The Yondaime didn't, couldn't, kill the Kyuubi, it being just a mass of chakra, but sealed it in a newborn baby, and that was me. He sacrificed his life for that. So now I'm a living prison for the biggest, baddest, evilest and probably ugliest demon in the world. So there. And the villagers mostly think I'm it somehow, or its recarnation or something, but jiji- the Hokage forbade them to kill me, so they just fear and hate me. Now that I know why I don't blame them too much for the way they treat me, but I don't think I deserve it, no-"
"No you don't – eep," a squeak interrupted, making them snap around and look.
Sakura palmed her face and just said: "Of course. I should have guessed. You can come out, Hinata, we won't hurt you - or Naruto, for that matter. The idiot is much too simple to be the reINcarnation of an evil demon anyway," she couldn't help but correct.
"Gee, thanks, Sakura-chan."
Caught, Hinata shyly stepped out of the shadow, pushing her fingers together in embarrassment. "Um, sorry, I didn't... mean to... eavesdrop, but... I was just, um, already here when you came up, and, um, I didn't want to intrude..." she trailed off again, hiding her face in her hood. She didn't want to admit she had been here because she knew it was one of Naruto-kun's favorite places...
"Oi, Hinata-chan, no problem, if you heard just now you have to hear this now too," Naruto waved her over, ignoring her sudden blush (He called her Hinata-chan? Happy...).
"It would be a big problem if you didn't," he added seriously.
Then he continued: "Okay, this is important. The Old Man made a law when I was born, so no one was allowed to talk about the Kyuubi and that it was imprisoned in me, except in private and with others who know already. He made it an S-class secret, if you will, and anyone breaking that law will be killed, so don't tell anyone of the others. I myself am allowed to talk about it, of course, but I didn't know at all until the last day of the academy, the genin exam night, and I guess you understand why I didn't want to talk about it anyway. Believe me, I am not the demon fox."
"Hrn," Sasuke smirked, "I just told you, no one who knows you would ever believe that."
Hinata quickly nodded and blushed. "No way you are a demon, Naruto-kun."
"Heh, if he were I'd be really embarrassed for Konoha as a whole, if it were still standing anyway," Sakura stated.
"Huh? Whaddaya mean, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.
"Simple, if you were a demon and all the villagers treated you like refuse why would anyone who did that still be alive? Even if you were limited to a human body, you were trained in the academy as a ninja, and even a genin could kill the typical civilian easily and secretly, so you could just take your revenge if you were evil. Hey, I'd expect in that case your stupid behavior were a mask and in reality you were an amazing ninja, almost as good as Sasuke-kun," who looked somewhat pained, "and just hiding it so no one would ever suspect you."
Naruto shuddered. "Please don't joke about such things, Sakura-chan."
I have had such thoughts before, he thought, I just never could hate them back that much. Even if I came close sometimes...
"Hey, but what's with the red chakra, by the way?" Sasuke asked, snapping his fingers.
"Oh, umm, yeah, that's the Kyuubi's chakra. When I'm really angry and stuff it comes out and something happens. The old pervert – Jiraiya - says the seal is supposed to let me use its chakra when I need it or something like it, and that when I get older I get better with it, and when I get old enough I might have taken enough of the demons chakra that nothing is left and the fox finally is dead forever or something like that. But if you can believe it, he also says I need to use a whole lot of it for... something, but the damn beast won't let me."
"Heh. I guess you'll have to learn how to show it who's the boss then," Sasuke slipped into his old arrogant mask again and formed a royally condescending smirk.
"Um, Naruto-kun?" Hinata blushed again when everyone looked at her. "Eep."
"What is it, Hinata-chan?"
"Um, if Jiraiya-sama is trying to teach you to- to draw out the Kyuubi chakra, can you do that already- if only a bit?" She had deciphered what Naruto had tried to describe. "I'd- like to know how it- looks."
"It's red and it feels evil," Sasuke drily described. "Except for the color almost the same as..." he drifted off. "Sorry, I think I'm not supposed to talk about that."
"Is it a S-class secret too?" Sakura just asked.
"Um, not that I know of..." Sasuke had to admit.
"Then you could tell us too, Sasuke-kun. Naruto has told us his secret, won't you share yours - now?"
"Um – well, if Naruto can demonstrate for us first, we'll see," He deflected.
Named blond scratched his head. "Okay, we're pretty alone up here, but if anything goes wrong..."
"Just don't overdo it, Naruto," Sakura raised her hands defensively. "We don't want you to go all out, I guess Hinata just wants to see a flicker to compare, right?" She looked questioningly at the Hyuuga heiress, who nodded.
Naruto sighed. "Okay, I'll try." He moved away from the cliff's edge a good distance and concentrated. Hinata activated her Byakugan and gazed at him.
"I usually can call on it only if I'm out of chakra or seriously upset, but ero-sennin has worked me quite hard today, so..." he focused with all his will, scrunching his face up in a manner Sakura found quite amusing.
- PFFFRRRRRRRT! -
... Instead of evil demonic chakra, just an evil, infernal smell arose.
"GAH! Naruto!" Sakura retched, moving upwind.
Sasuke felt by now quite comfortable with his hand on his face. "Nice going, dumbass. If they ever get around to checking your elemental chakra aptitude I'm so being not surprised if you're a wind element." He tried to wave away the almost visible cloud.
Hinata blushed like the setting sun, but couldn't quite suppress a decidedly ignoble giggle.
"M-maybe if you just don't try quite that hard...?" She offered, inconspicuously retreating deeper into her jacket. It was adorably funny, but still very pungent...
Naruto quivered between copying Hinata's complexion and just scratching his neck in embarrassment and laughing helplessly. "Um, sorry?"
Shortly, he tried again and managed to get a short flicker of reddish chakra.
"Okay, the fart was worse," the pinkette stated, not very impressed.
Suppressing a sharp look at Sakura, Hinata offered: "It feels evil, yes, but the way it mixes with your own chakra... when it stopped, for a moment your chakra turned a beautif- a shade of purple before it turned pure blue again."
She almost had swallowed the much-too-forward descriptor, but only almost. Sakura gave her a teasing smile, which made Hinata blush again. Traitorous capillaries!
Naruto seemed oblivious as ever to this slip of the tongue, but Sasuke, who remembered their topic when the blond had fled, believed he caught Naruto taking notice of it. He probably just didn't know how to deal with it, he didn't have the Uchiha's tendency and years of practice in coldly ignoring these things – which he by the way had started feeling a bit conflicted about by now, but only a bit.
"You like that stuff?" Sakura asked incredulous.
"No, no, it's not that, its just..." Hinata stammered, "it has a cer- certain flair about it, a feeling of power, even if it's evil..." She fought to express her meaning, "like Ibiki-san," or father, or some of the elders, "he is so terribly scarred, and very, very frightening, but he was just so im- impressive, do you understand what I mean?"
"Oh," Sakura admitted. "Yeah, I guess none of us will forget this guy anytime soon, right?" Everyone nodded.
Then Sakura put on a determined face. "Okay, Sasuke-kun, your turn."
Sasuke blinked, then nodded with a sigh. "Just don't ask me to demonstrate, okay? I don't think I could control that... thing."
Then he explained: "Hinata-san, have you heard what our team encountered in the Forest of Death, or rather, whom?" The Hyuuga heiress shook her head in negation.
Then, to the girl's horrified surprise, he started to describe their encounter and how he got an unwanted seal himself, and Sakura delivered her part of describing his awakening after days of unconsciousness.
"Can you see it with your Byakugan?" he asked, vaguely pointing at his neck. The shy girl activated her bloodline and nodded after a few seconds.
"It l-looks a bit like a thorny s-spiral carved from onyx t-to my eyes, and in op-opposition to Naruto-kun's seal I can see a shimmer that f-feels like that black chakra you d-described below that. I b-believe I felt it while s-still in the forest too, e-even over this hu-huge distance, but my team was in a hu-hurry, so I wasn't sure."
"Heh, I can imagine. That creep tried to get at me with the promise of power, but if it turns me into an uncontrolled berserker and uses up my body or puts me under his control I don't care for that."
At that part, Hinata visibly (to him) flinched.
What's with her? Sasuke thought.
"Hyuuga clan politics. The control issue hit close to home," the voice explained.
Hmm... interesting.
"And the only good thing that came from that is that I rudely learned power has a price, and I don't think I'm willing to pay 'any price' anymore," the Uchiha closed. Naruto nodded somberly in agreement.
"These kinds of seals seem to be nothing but trouble," Sakura commented.
Hinata reflexively nodded. "It looks like Mitarashi-san's too..." she mumbled unthinking, her attention otherwise occupied (She sat together with Naruto-kun, and his teammates - who weren't trying to hurt him anymore, either. Bliss...)
Sasuke, though, immediately picked up the reference. "There's someone in Konoha with the same kind of seal as I?"
Hinata flinched. "Oh - sorry – I shouldn't have mentioned it," she stuttered, "we're not supposed to t-talk about what we can see on others without their p-permission, that's considered r-rude..."
Glaring at Naruto as the blond poked him in the ribs with a displeased expression, Sasuke tried to apologize. "I didn't intend to snap at you, Hinata-san. But you understand how that is important to me? So this Mitarashi has such a curse seal too? Who is that anyway? I think I remember the name, but..."
"Um, Sasuke-kun, that was the proctor for the second exam, that crazy woman in the trenchcoat. Mitarashi Anko."
"Ah!" Sasuke remembered. "I remember now. The name Anko stuck, but somehow I didn't recall the rest."
Wasn't she involved in the discussions about Orochimaru? Didn't Kakashi say something about that?
"Not explicitly. But she is in a very similar situation as you in regard to the curse seal. Only completely opposite in a way, too..." the voice said, deciding to reveal more. "The main difference is Orochimaru was her sensei until he went off, she was a guinea pig for the first batch of seals, and he dropped her like a hot potato afterwards. Jerk. If he had stayed loyal, she would probably have, too, to him, but he betrayed her and now she hates him as much as you hated Itachi, if not more."
"I guess I'll have to talk to her about that," he said aloud again.
"Are you crazy? This crazy snake lady is dangerous," Naruto yelled.
"But she might be the best and maybe only source I have for finding out more about this seal. If this snake jerk wants me for- whatever, he'll be back or send someone else. I need to know more," Sasuke replied, massaging his shoulder. Not that the seal actually hurt, the voice obviously had gone good work in aiding Kakashi in sealing the thing - "Thanks for acknowledging my work," it commented drily – but the thought alone irritated him.
Also, it had gotten late – again – and he was tired. And far from home. Stupid emo blond. Oops. Yeah, yeah, pot-kettle-black, I know. I can feel you smirking.
"Oh well, I'll have to try another day anyway. If you don't mind, I'm going home for today. Hm... do you have training tomorrow? Kakashi's given me a free day."
"Dunno, I'll have to look whether the perv is there at all," Naruto said. "Half-day," interjected Sakura, prompting Hinata to add her schedule. "Um, Kurenai-sensei set a half-day too, but she wanted to talk about separate training also, plus..." she winced as she rose. "F-father wants to train me later..."
"Ok, let's meet for dinner or something then, good bye for now," Sasuke decided and left, while Sakura seemed to have taken notice of Hinata's flinch and started to probe. Naruto just waved, suddenly flanked by the two girls – now when had that happened, exactly? – and unable to move without having to shove at least one of them away.
Hehe, Sakura might take the situation in her own hands already. Better her than him, Sasuke thought, relieved, and sped away before she could involve him.
Curiosity fair enough, but he felt seriously stressed out from hanging out with two girls and Naruto, friendly and all, there and then. It would take some more time to break from his old solitary habits for good, not just acting.
oOo
("It gets harder to evaluate him. I'm certain I felt a flare of jealousy when the Kyuubi's chakra was mentioned, but he kept his conscious thoughts under control. Now, is that a good or a bad sign? *Sigh* The boy keeps confusing me.")
oOo
AN: And there leaves Sasuke, and since the 'camera' usually is on him, we leave too. While Hinata, Sakura and Naruto stay. And Sakura seems to take control of the opportunity. Ain't I a stinker, leaving here?
No, you won't get a live scene of that. But you'll read about it later, don't worry too much. Besides, I guess you have a pretty good idea already, don't you?
Gaah, more that twelve pages dialogue, almost nothing else... oh well, I was on a roll. Maybe I could have done better, but that's not quite my style. These kinds of scenes just flow, and if I don't just hate what I wrote, I'll keep it.
Didn't anything else of relevance happen in this time?
We'll see... ^^ And Sasuke's Log will continue...
AN PS: Unfortunately, at this moment in time I have almost completely lost my buffer of already completed chapters, so the next updates will slow down. Expect the next part to be very late, and unless I get the inspiration to fill my buffer again, further parts will be even later, maybe monthly for a while. Damn, I guess the training month will take more than a month to work through. Sorry.
(Minor Edits 27. Aug. 2013
Edit PS: Well, it has been nearly 2 years by now since I wrote this, but I don't consider the story abandoned yet. There have just happened... things... in that time which robbed me of the will to continue. But I just reread my whole work again, catching a few typos and wordings I don't like anymore, so chances are good I can get my mojo up and running again somewhat soon. Hopefully.)
oOo
Micro-Omake:
"Narutobi is a good boy! Believe it!" The blond in the red swirly-mask gave the 'good guy pose', his eye twinkling brightly.
"AAAHHHH!" With a scream, Kakashi woke.
oOo
Next: Raven Chatter Part Eight: Four Weeks of Fun, Part Four
The Raven is not always solitary. In english, a group of Ravens is called an Unkindness; of crows, a murder. Why is this so, and what would you prefer?
Oh well, he probably would have to put actual effort into finding a new goal to obsess over strongly enough, Sasuke thought with wry humor.
oOo