the next morning was dull, a grey cloud covered any evidence of sunlight, still Team 7 trudged through it; Naruto's cuts had healed so no-one saw the pain, Sakura was her chirpy self now that she had taken out all of her anger and Sasuke wasn't trying to think of anything.
All the lights were lit in the Hokage's vast office, giving the fifth Hokage an unnatural glow but that wasn't the strangest sight that morning; perched on the edge of her desk was the black haired teen that Sasuke had run into the night before, except the squares on his cheeks were blue.
"Team." Tsunade addressed them calmly, "this is Prince Midonatio." she gestured briefly at the boy, who smiled brightly, "he arrived last night."
for a moment Tsunade looked annoyed but Prince Midonatio cut her look down with a familuar sounding laugh and jumped gracefully off the desk.
"come now Hokage-sama." Midonatio chuckled, "you know me as you knew my mother and please, call me Midonatio."
"nice to meet you Midonatio!" Naruto yelled happily and shook the younger teens hand, "these are my teammates Sasuke and Sakura."
Sakura coughed loudly and Naruto turned a few shades paler under his whiskers, Midonatio gave him a strange look, "i mean, my girlfriend Sakura."
"oh, the horrendous girl is your, girlfriend." Midonatio questioned and the whole room fell awkwardly silent.
Inwardly Naruto knew that Sakura would be seething at being called 'horrendous' by the youth and he knew he was going to get the brunt of it tonight at home.
"So, Midonatio," Sakura's voice was strained with displeasure, "do you think you're ready for this team?"
Midonatio sent a strange look towards Sakura, one that Naruto couldn't quite place, "i'm more than ready." he said in a voice with no happiness that he had before, "from my blood and my upbringing I'm very advanced." he smiled.
"Excellent." Kakashi broke the thick air with a sharp clap of his hands, "we could use any help since Sai left."
"Glad to be of help." Midonatio laughed.
Tsunade suddenly signed something and handed it to Midonatio, "go train." she told them shortly, "i'll send word when I have a mission for you." with that she dismissed them.
The sky had turned even greyer and half looked like it was going to rain, "so, Midonatio, where are you staying?" Naruto asked the younger boy kindly.
"just in a hotel." Midonatio said with a large smile at Naruto, "my mother is paying for it."
Naruto's whisker marks curved up slightly, "are you really a prince?"
"well -" Midonatio went to answer but Sakura struck Naruto sharply across the back of the head.
"you moron!" she spat, "how dare you ask something like that." another sharp hit.
The awkward silence was back; Sasuke felt a hot rush of something rise within his stomach and blind eye. He was resisting the urge to strike Sakura and the urge to pull a non-reacting Naruto out of her reach but he knew he had to stay out of it.
Midonatio looked furious while Naruto gingerly rubbed his head and Sakura bowed to her new team mate, "sorry about him." she said sickly sweet.
"indeed." Midonatio replied darkly before turning sharply on his heel.
"oi!" Sasuke shouted after him, "we're meant to train." he went after the young prince with hopes of bringing him back for training.
Sakura made an unplesent noise through her nose as they watched Midonatio's retreating back, she shot Naruto a vicious look, "look what you did you useless demon." she snarled
Naruto couldn't meet her eyes, "you're so pathetic. I sometimes wonder why I'm your girlfriend but that what makes me the better person." Sakura continued spitefully, "if it wasn't for me you would be alone and no-one would care if you died."
Nodding numbly Naruto felt tears gather in his eyes but he knew she was right.
"Hey!" Sasuke shouted at Midonatio again after chasing him for a while, "stop will you."
Midonatio finally stopped and turned to the last Uchiha, the only bit of sunlight fighting its way through the clouds caught him and his black hair shone unnaturally.
"how can you stand there?" Midonatio asked softly.
Sasuke frowned, "what are you -"
"while she beats him!" Midonatio shouted angrily.
"she always like that, since the team started." Sasuke said stiffly; he knew Sakura had become worse over the years.
"doesn't make it right." the young prince snarled, "i hate her."
"i hate her too." Sasuke said in his mind and was slightly taken aback by his own thoughts, so he just cleared his throat, "let's go back to train."
Midonatio stood still for a moment, his blue eyes glazed over in thought and finally he grinned widely, "come on then! Race you." and he disappeared in a puff of red smoke.
As it turned out Midonatio was perfect for Team 7; for being fifteen he was very advanced but he only used physical attacks and Sasuke pointed it out that it could be a problem.
"but I'm fast." Midonatio said softly as he twirled a kunai in his hand, "and I'm smart so even though the enemies may have loads of chakra filled attacks, it doesn't mean I'll be hit."
word came to the about a mission just as Midonatio had pinned Sakura to the floor more forcefully then he should have but Kakashi did nothing to stop it.
"there's a merchant several towns over with a poison and an antidote that he fears will fall into the wrong hands. We all have to go and collect both, bringing them back here safely." Kakashi told them in a bored voice.
"Will we be stopping halfway?" Midonatio asked, "since it's so far away."
"worried you won't get your nap." Sakura mocked as she tried to fix her messed up hair.
With a vicious look Midonatio said, "if we are tired and we get attacked there would be very little chance that we would win." he looked very smug when Kakashi agreed with him.
"very true and, yes, we will be stopping off, only once mind." Kakashi explained, "meet at the gate in twenty." and he vanished in a puff of grey smoke.
"only twenty!" Sakura shrieked, "but I have my hair to fix."
Midonatio snorted, "big deal." he snapped and he vanished out of the door.
Naruto gave Sasuke a quick glance, something to keep him happy for a while but Sakura must have seen him as she pinched his back hard with her long fingernails.
When they got home Sakura was very careful not to strike the blond anywhere the others would see; his back and stomach were red raw but not bleeding so it wouldn't accidentally seep through his clothes.
"You look tired Naruto." Midonatio noted as soon as they all met up.
Naruto was a little shocked that someone had noticed so he quickly laughed, "it's nothing." he said.
"yeah, nothing." Sakura agreed quickly.
Sasuke frowned; he hated how perfect and in sync Naruto and Sakura were, they agreed on everything. He sighed deeply and turned away.
"let's go!" Kakashi called as he stood upside down from the top of the gate, orange book still in hand.
As they left Konoha the sun came out from the clouds and shone brightly on them; Sasuke noticed how fake and unnatural Midonatio's hair looked in the sun, it seemed strange.
Midonatio and Naruto talked for the whole journey, they had nearly everything in common, from ramen to struggling to pass their first exam.
"i don't even know how many times I failed." Midonatio laughed lightly, "since my chakra is so low that I found it hard to do anything quickly."
"i used to struggled learning jutsus -"
"ha! Used to." Sakura sneered quietly to Sasuke, who was still resisting the urge to hit her.
"- so I was behind everyone but then I learnt a really hard jutsu really quick so I knew I could do anything." Naruto said happily, appearing not to hear Sakura.
"you all trained with the greatest Sage's right?" Midonatio asked.
Sasuke felt that instant prang of guilt when his old sensei was mentioned, "that's right." he said in a calm voice.
Midonatio laughed gleefully, "that must have been amazing!"
Naruto told the young prince about his perverted Toad Sage sensei and the years they spent together, making Sasuke feel a left out because unlike Orochimaru, Jiryra taught his pupil not only jutsus but also about life.
The inn they were staying in was rather small, "Sasuke and Naruto will be sharing a room, Sakura and Midonatio in another and I get my own." Kakashi told them as soon as they stepped inside.
"no way!" Midonatio and Sakura shouted at the same time.
"there is not a chance in hell I'm sharing a room with her." Midonatio snapped, suddenly looking older.
"yeah, like I want to share with you shorty." Sakura hissed back at him.
Kakashi sighed deeply, "fine, since you and Naruto are a couple then you should share, but I don't want to hear any funny business." he warned playfully, "Sasuke and Midonatio in the same room." somewhere deep in Kakashi's visible eye looked disappointed.
Sasuke and Midonatio's room was large with a double bed, "i think we have their room." Sasuke said.
Midonatio checked the key number to the one on the door; they matched. He sighed, "at least its a big bed and if you're really uncomfortable then I'll sleep on the floor." he told Sasuke blandly.
Sasuke sighed too, "whatever." he mumbled and threw his bag onto the bed.
The sky quickly turned dark, and Sasuke soon had to turn on a light to be able to read his scroll; suddenly there was a loud bang from the other room and the bed shook.
Sasuke jumped to his feet, poised for attack but the only thing he saw was Midonatio sitting on the bed covering his ears. He dropped his stance and approched the younger boy.
Two more crashed shook the wall as Sasuke got to the bed; Midonatio's eyes were glazed over again as he stared past Sasuke and into nothingness.
Sasuke gripped Midonatio's wrist and tried to pull it away from his ear but it proved difficult, "for a ninja with no chakra he sure is strong." Sasuke thought angrily.
A sudden smash of glass brought Midonatio back to his senses and he stood so quickly that Sasuke was thrown backwards.
"Stop it!" Midonatio yelled at the wall and smashed his fists so hard into it that it made indentations. He was shaking all over.
There was silence, from both rooms; "what's the matter?" Sasuke asked sternly.
After a few more moments Midonatio sat back on the bed, not looking at Sasuke, "don't you ever see it?" he asked quietly.
"See what?" Sasuke was confused.
"the pain."
"who's pain?"
"Naruto's." Midonatio cast a look at the wall, almost as if he could see through it.
Sasuke was taken aback, "Naruto's pain?" he thought, "when was Naruto in pain? Surley I would have seen something." Sasuke felt angry.
"what are you -" Sasuke started but Midonatio cut across him.
"never mind, if you can't see it on your own then there is no point in me telling you." he said mournfully.
Without another word Midonatio climbed under the covers and then didn't move from then on; Sasuke stared at him before deciding that sleep would be a good idea.
No more noises came from Sakura and Naruto's room.