**WARNING** this chapter contains extreme language, as well as...not a lemon per say but strong implication. If you want me to write a lemon at some pint in the story let me know and I will come up with one at some point.
Chapter XIV: Battle with an Anbu
"I see" said Tobirama Senju as he steepled his fingers in front of him, a frown making its presence known across his face. "it is agreed that you failed your mission, and from the report I would also concur that it was your fault Rook. That being said we can't afford to have you taken off active duty as per your request. We need every ninja available and failing one mission is not sufficient excuse to leave your post for reasons which I suspect involve an ungodly amount of training if I know you like I know I do." "I apologize for any misunderstanding I may have given you in my explanation sensei but it wasn't a request, I am leaving in a week one way or another." "Is that a threat Rook?" Tobirama asked, his eyes flashing with anger.
"not at all sensei I just wanted to be clear I am leaving, though I hope to be able to return under good graces with yourself and the Hokage. Hashirama had been silently watching the exchange from behind his desk until now, "let him go brother, I sense sage chakra in him. Untamed and no control over it means he has found himself a master of the sage art's, so which of the sages will be your teacher Rook. I Will need to know this before approving you leaving the village as a new jonnin with many of our secrets in your body. And should you refuse to tell me…believe me when I say this Rook, I Will Stop You." Rook quickly closed his hanging mouth, he had never felt a threat as great as this before, even the raikage had not inspired this much terror in him.
As well as the fact he had never seen Hashirama this serious before even in skirmishes he usually had a smile on his face, enjoying the challenge. "sir that would be dragon sage of the north, Lord hokage, out of the land of Earth." Hashirama sat back in his chair while he contemplated for a brief moment. "Shiro Namikaze hmm, that's understandable I suppose, he is from this village after all. Or at least his family is, he himself was training to become a sage just before this village had begun to be built, I've met him once in his travels along the way, he seemed to be at odds with the path he had chosen at the time, never the less he is a full sage and of this land at the least so I will permit you to go train with him. And with that the hokage signaled that the meeting was over.
Rook met up with Sanntaru at the Uchiha compound and they headed off to get lunch, Sanntaru looked even more striking than usual as she stood at the gate of her clan, dressed in a full length kimono. Her long hair pulled back in an intricate braided ponytail with her two long bangs framing her face perfectly, she wore no makeup 'not that she needed any to begin with' although she had replaced her black eye patch for a white leather one with a silver cord which intertwined with her braided hair in the back setting a beautiful contrast with her long pitch black hair. Her wooden shoes putting her on eye level with himself. He slowed to a stop as he saw her, jaw dropping for the second time that day, only this time in awe. He wished he had known it was going to be formal so he could have dressed in his best which still wasn't half of what she was.
She blushed as he slowly began to approach again jaw still hanging open eyes wide but when she opened her mouth it was the same old Sanntaru he had been team mates with for five years now. "Rook you jackass close your mouth I don't want dirt in there when we kiss later ok, God your such a pain to deal with." Rook managed to pull himself together enough to put on a sly smile as he approached, head lifted up at an obnoxious angle and eyes squinted in concentration as he stared at her. "is that so?" he said as he took a step too close for personal space towered her and reached up taking her chin firmly in one hand, as he leaned in to her, almost but not quite touching lips together obviously wanting to make her come to him "why don't you check now so you don't get surprised lat…(crack).
The sound reverberated off the walls surrounding them "oooowwww, what was that for" Rook exclaimed as he nursed the welt forming on his cheek from the back hand she had just landed. It was then that he noticed she was glaring at him while cradling her left hand whose front two knuckles were starting to swell. "well for one when did you become such an over confidant raging asshole Rook and before you say anything, yes there is a difference between jackass and asshole. That being one is the idiot I fell for and the other being an overconfident stuck up prick who isn't worth my time." Rook stared at the ground her words hitting home more than any kunai would "heh as always your right again Sanntaru I apologize, my only defense is I have never had a solid relationship before so I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to act, I can only copy what I've seen other guys do in their relationships."
Sanntaru sighed knowing it was a decent excuse "I know you haven't, but all you have to do is be the guy you've always been cause he is the one I started the relationship with, as long as you can be yourself then I'm happy with that." "I'll try my best babe" Rook laughed as he hooked his arm around her waist and led her to the food district Sanntaru smiling smugly at the warmth she got from his proximity to her and way he sounded like himself again with that last phrase.
They were walking between the river and the park when they felt the mysterious presence again, someone was tailing them. They looked at each other and knew it was time to lay a trap for whoever it was. They acted as if nothing was the matter and continued to walk until they felt the shadow disappear. They sat at the table in Rooks apartment as they planned their strategy. "ok so we know whoever it is after me" Rook stated as he sliced a piece of strawberry cake they had picked up in town and placed it onto a plate and handed it to Sanntaru. "agreed so we need you to be bait while I hide and ambush them from an unexpected angle." Sanntaru said while she took a bite of her cake.
"actually I was hoping to get some help on this," Rook said cutting himself a piece "maybe Kenta could help spot them, and possibly Shikarto Nara if we bribe him with Echi magazines. "che yeah right, he'll probably ask me to take my top off again or something for that much work on his part." Sanntaru said grudgingly, arms folded across her chest before she realized to whom she had said it to and spun her head around and saw her fears confirmed. Black swirls and white light were dancing across his pupils and the table in Rooks hands was splintering under his grip. "Rook it was awhile ago I needed his help to do something and I'm not a terribly modest person I didn't see what the problem would be with it." Sanntaru said beginning to panic as Rook stood up and began storming towards the door, intent on ripping the nara's lungs out.
She jumped up and threw her arms around his shoulders in a restraining hug. "it's my fault ok, not his, I should have told you sooner but I just didn't think of it, I'm so sorry." By this time Rook had calmed down enough to feel her tears running down the right side of his back, a reminder that she only had one eye to cry with now. "No your fine Sanntaru it was before 'us' so it's none of my concern, although he is now on my list of people to avoid from now on." "Rook I should have saved everything for you, I knew you were the one I wanted from the beginning so I should have waited, and now that I have you I have nothing to offer only to you, I'm second hand, used goods." Sanntaru sobbed in his back. Rook turned around inside her arms and wrapped his own around her.
"shh its ok babe, it's ok, that just evens us up. It means now I have something to offer you that I've never offered to someone else before instead of me receiving everything from you. This relationship has been unbalanced since the beginning. I feel like I have been the one getting all the rewards and not being able to give back. But now I have found something you can't offer me that I still have to give to you and instead of being mad like you think I should be. I am actually relieved" he spoke softly as he tried to lift her head, but she refused jerking her head back into his chest "I can't look at you right now Rook, I'm too ashamed, please stop staring at me like that, I don't deserve you." This time he forced her head up though she still refused to make eye contact.
He slowly removed her eye patch and dropped it to the floor and picked her up off the ground and into his arms as he kissed her softly, while he carried her to the next room and laid her gently onto his bed. She stared into his eyes with anguish as he sat beside her and brushed her hair calmly out of the way. "are sure about this" Sanntaru asked as another tear rolled down her right cheek her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. "you still have time to save yourself for someone else and not make the mistake I did." In response Rook leaned in and whispered "you're the only woman I will ever want Sanntaru" and with that he leaned into her as she pulled herself into him. and the moon outside shown full as the night took over.
Sanntaru woke the next morning to the sound of Rook making breakfast in his apartments tiny kitchen. She rolled over pulling the covers tighter around herself as the cool autumn air came in from an open window the warmth it provided, a reminder of last night, a memory she would cherish for all her life. Rook stepped into the room at that point carrying two plates in hand. Laying one on a makeshift tray he placed over her lap, it held a perfectly made omelet a piece of golden buttered toast and two sausage links.
He sat his plate down and left bringing back two glasses of orange juice. "Rook as much as I harp on you for being a lazy dumbass, I honestly don't deserve you. Your too good to me, better than I had ever hoped you would." "whatever let's just say we are even after last night. And start a plan to catch whoever this phantom is that's stalking me." They finished up and headed out stopping by the Uchiha compound and grabbing Sanntaru a new set of cloths and gear then headed to the Hyuuga clan Compound to fetch Kenta and the three headed out to lay their trap.
Rook had been walking for hours when finally he felt the phantom on his trail. He led them around the business sector of the village ending on the west district of the village, near where he and Shiro had fought before he made it to the kunai he had placed as a marker for the trap and turned around, Kenta stepped out behind the stranger's position cutting them off from retreat and Sanntaru walked made herself known on the roof top of a nearby building showing that they had absolutely no chance of escape against three jonnin. "Come on out whoever you are, I see you so there is no use in hiding." Kenta spoke loudly as he crossed his arms showing he was set as stone. But the feeling they had all been following suddenly disappeared in a poof. "shadow clone" Rook said in disgust as he took a step forward he froze in his tracks when an Anbu Black ops agent appeared directly in front of him wearing the mask of a dog, with snow white hair spilling out from around it sticking up and to the left while the hair in the back was pulled into a pony tail that fell to the waist.
The figure who was most defiantly female, stood up, showcasing an extremely slender body with long wiry muscles a tattoo on her right arm as could be seen because she was wearing a skin tight sleeveless black undershirt with grey armor on top and a short black katana with no guard or hilt it looked like a piece of sharpened metal with cloth wrapped around it for a handle, but Rook could tell right away it was a chakra blade. Whoever she was removed her mask and put her hands behind her back as she leaned forward into Rooks personal space looking up at him with questioning eyes. Without warning she kissed him full on the lips surprising everyone, Kenta choked a little and a growl could be heard coming from deep inside Sanntaru's lungs as her hands made claws and she stepped forward.
As suddenly as she had came she backed off as Rooks hands came up to dislodge her. She skipped back a few steps sticking her tongue out and holding up two fingers in a victory sign, "hey hot stuff, names Takatsu Hatake. As you've obviously noticed I've been watching you for awhile, interested in seeing if you wanted to go out sometime. But alas Popeye over there got to you first so now I either one wait out your relationship or two I steal you from her." A huge smile taking up her face as she jerked a thumb back at a fuming Sanntaru. "Popeye? Stealing Rook from me?, you got a death wish you spiky, albino, bitch." Sanntaru had kunai in hand as Rook intercepted her. "lemme go Rook I'm gonna give her an unscheduled C section with a poison dipped kunai."
Takatsu bent over at the waist towered her pulling the bottom of one eye down with her middle finger and sticking her tongue out at Sanntaru "bring it on ya freakin Cyclops, anytime you wanna go to the training field I'm game." Sanntaru was past her limit by this point as she almost slipped out of Rook's grasp she yelled "how about right now you insane, anorexic, cunt, Rook please let me go now, you are not going to stop this." Sanntaru finished the last part barely loud enough for him to hear. He sighed and let her go and as they left for the training field Kenta pulled Rook aside. "hey Rook this cat fight looks like your problem, if you need me I'll be back at the hyuuga compound but I don't want to be involved with this unless you need me too." "heh I know what you mean, and your fine man go on ill catch up with you later." And with that he left in a puff of smoke.
They made it to the training field without incident somehow, Rook sat down leaning back against a tree a little ways away as the two of them squared off against each other. "any last words there little miss pirate." Takatsu said as chipper as she had been since the moment they had met her. "ya, feel free to go straight to hell." And with that they leapt at each other faster than the eye could follow. Sanntaru ducked under the Anbu's left hook which she could tell using her sharingan was just a cover for the uppercut coming in from her right. Her sharingan acted as a sonar by watching the part of her body she could focus on, her ability allowed her mind to connect the dots and paint a mental picture of where the rest of her body was, one half couldn't move without the other.
Sanntaru spun as she ducked under another blow and planted both her hands on the ground and shot out with both feet in a mule kick. Takatsu dodged by throwing herself back with the kick making it look as if it had made contact when it really hadn't. as she landed her hands made their signs in a blink. "Fire Style: White Jet Stream," and with that stream of fire as thin as a pencil shot out from her mouth, as it sliced through everything in its path, forcing Rook to bend his head out of the way as the tree behind him was sliced through as well. He sighed as he watched the fight progress, although this jutsu was of a very high caliber, on par with Tobirama's water severing wave technique quite interesting to watch actually he had no concerns about who would win, and even if she lost she would kill him for doing so much as saving her life he cared for her enough that he wouldn't interfere under any circumstances.
Sanntaru retaliated with Lightning Style: Dance of the Raging Storm. Where dozens of lightning bolts shot up from the ground all tracking Takatsu's position as she dodged all around the field. After the lightning had faded Takatsu turned and ran at a tree bounding up it in one smooth motion she back flipped agilely and threw three kunai at Sanntaru all with paper bombs attached to them causing her to fall back but Takatsu was already moving throwing three more kunai with paper bombs attached to them behind her before she could retreat. Causing her to stop in her place for a split second giving Takatsu an opening "Earth Style: Miniature Six Pillar Prison Jutsu." Out of the ground where her kunai had landed and exploded came six rods as thick as forearms but unbreakable as steel.
"che Do Not Take Me For Some Lightweight. I am Sanntaru Uchiha, A student of Tobirama Senju and heir to the sharingan." Her hands flashed the necessary signs and she suddenly disappeared in a bolt of lightning. "hah not bad, but can your genjutsu handle my friends". Takatsu said as she bit her right thumb spreading blood across her palm and slamming it to the ground "summoning jutsu" and with that five dogs appeared out of thin air. "find her" as soon as the command was out of her lips the dogs were gone. She pulled the chakra blade out from its sheath and concentrated, her blade started glowing more as time went by until it became hot as an iron pulled straight from a fire, whatever she cut would melt like butter and instantly cauterize the wound, less likely to be fatal but more likely to leave permanent damage and scarring.
The dogs all started howling at the base of a tree and she took off like a shuriken. In less than a second Takatsu was there her sword buried into the tree, a near silent gasp escaping from Sanntaru's lips and the blade impaled her though she made sure no vital organ was hit. Takatsu stood up in triumph as she placed her boot heel on Sanntaru and pulled the blade out through force. Suddenly that Sanntaru faded away and the real one was behind Takatsu and she snaked her whip around the white haired woman's throat. As Takatsu was on the verge of passing out, being held off the ground by the length of leather, through sheer muscle on Sanntaru's part, Sanntaru whispered into her ear. "you so much as look at Rook again in any way, shape or form and I swear on my name as an Uchiha, that the sage of the six paths himself couldn't stop me from hunting you down and carving both of your eye's out of their sockets…got that bitch?" Takatsu could only manage a small nod before she passed into unconsciousness. The fight was over.
Rook and Sanntaru went out that night to celebrate her victory, "you know I think I want to meet your family" Rook said as they finished. "really? That would be great Rook I was wondering when you would get around to it." She laughed and smiled more than he had seen in a while. "but there is some bad news I need to tell you about now rather than later Sanntaru. I'm going to be leaving with the sage guy I told you about in the hidden cloud village awhile ago. I need the training to be able to protect you and the village as much as I can and maybe I can learn something about this thing inside me as well". He said looking down into his empty hands. "when do you leave" Sanntaru asked completely unfazed by his out of the blue plans."
"In three days" Rook said and before you ask I'll be gone around three years or so. I know it is a long time but it can't be hel…" he cut himself off when he saw her smile. "its fine Rook you have something you have to do, and the reason you have to do it is partially for me so how can I argue with that" she said with a laugh. "I'll be waiting when you get back and until then we'll just have to make the most out of the next three days right?" she grinned suggestively at him and her leg caught the inside of his under the table. Rook paled a little as he coughed while swallowing, trying to maintain what dignity he had inside the restaurant.
Rook stood twitching nervously in front of the gate to the Uchiha compound. He knew it had been his own idea for this and he wasn't going to back out now but still…this was the Uchiha you were talking about. A clan that had rivaled the senju in power for hundreds of years, no matter how prepared you felt, you found yourself shitting bricks when it came down to it. He glanced down checking himself again for the seventh time in the five minutes he had been waiting when the gate started to open and he found himself standing face to face with Sanntaru's father and current head of the Uchiha clan, Isanei Uchiha with Sanntaru standing a little ways behind him staring sheepishly at the ground knowing this was awkward on both ends. "It's an honor to finally meet you sir." Rook said with sincerity as he held his hand out, Isanei took it and was impressed with the rock solid hand shake he received from Rook, few boys brave enough to meet him had offered anything more than a limp hand and none with the strength yet control that this young man had, it wasn't a competition of power but I respectfully firm grip.
"well come in then" Isanei said in a gruff voice. They sat around the table with Isanei and Sanntaru's mother on one end and Rook on the other with Sanntaru in between. "Sanntaru has told us a lot about you over the years Rook. Sanntaru's mother spoke softly to break the tension, "to be honest we didn't think she would ever get through to you after five years but we are glad that you finally gave her the opportunity." Rook sheepishly scratched the back of his head "actually it would be more accurate to say I finally started seeing instead of blinding myself with training, and believe me I really don't deserve her b…"you got that right" Isanei said out of the corner of his mouth while his eyes shifted away from everyone there. Her mother laughed lightly while Sanntaru glared daggers at Isanei, audibly unsnapping her whip lightly under the table.
"as you can see Sanntaru gets her fiery disposition from her father's side of the family" the mother chimed in and Rook joined in with her laugh whilst father and daughter stared each other down, having resorted to sharingan for intimidation purposes, "its fine, I would consider it one of the most endearing aspects of her in my opinion." Rook said while watching carefully waiting to intervene if necessary "Yes I feel the same way with Isanei, though constantly breaking those two up has become a full time job in and of itself." She stated while finishing her tea and handing the cup to Sanntaru to refill, effectively breaking the two's silent argument with Sanntaru standing over her father rolling her right sleeve up and her father moving to one knee and grabbing Sanntaru by the collar.
"although I will say it does get tiresome at times, though from the way Sanntaru talks and the fact she has been missing the last two nights I assume the two of you reconcile her anger issues in much the same way as Isanei and I." Rook, Isanei, and Sanntaru all blushed and stared in opposite directions, "I apologize I just find amusement in seeing how uncomfortable I can make a situation before someone says something. That would be the flaw that Isanei found attractive in me." "yeah among other things" Isanei muttered again catching a deathly warning glance from his wife and immediately shutting down again.
"so from what we have heard it would seem you don't have a clan or even a family of your own Rook" Isanei said changing the subject to save himself from either of the women surrounding him. "Father!" Sanntaru exclaimed in shock that he had brought up something that sensitive on a first meeting. "that would be correct, you can't miss what you've never had" Rook put in before Sanntaru could change from shock to anger effectively saving Isanei from his daughter's wrath. Isanei breathed in relief taking Rook's interference as a sign to continue "then, if it isn't to forward to ask, should the two of you bare children that they would be able to assume the Uchiha clan status and follow Sanntaru's line." Despite the appearance of choice Rook could tell that this was a pivotal topic on how he would be accepted by her family, although her believed Sanntaru would stay with him no matter his decision he reasoned that since he had no clan of his own and he himself didn't not care to much about things like that it would not hurt anything and even give their children 'should they have any' a place to belong. All in all it was a surprisingly easy choice to make. "I see no problem with that" Rook spoke taking a sip of his tea and reaching for a dumpling, "that would actually be more beneficial for everyone in the long run, considering that Sanntaru would be free to remain in the clan even after a marriage and therefore able to assume clan leadership unless she would prefer to turn the responsibility over to her younger brother."
Glancing at each other in satisfaction of the path the conversations had taken Sanntaru's parents seemed to relax a little. "there is one more thing you need to know before you and Sanntaru commit to each other. And that would be the lineage of our specific family line inside the Uchiha clan. Sanntaru looked at her father quizzically, this was the first he had ever talked about anything before the founding of the leaf. "I was just a kid growing up in a time of war when the senju clan finally brokered peace with Madara but by that time my father had already been killed. His name was Izuna Uchiha." Isanei paused a moment to let it sink in, it took a moment but both Rook and Sanntaru realized at the same time. As they started in disbelief Isanei nodded his head "yes my father and Sanntaru's grandfather was the brother of Madara Uchiha making us of direct descent of the two most powerful Uchiha ever known, but also the most feared and hated.
Only Hashirama and Tobirama are aware of this, though to my knowledge they bare no grudge nor I to them, I watched the endless cycle of death in my childhood but it was finally put to an end and now I just enjoy the peace and ability to act according to my natural disposition." He said with a smile as Sanntaru elbowed him in the ribs "cant you act at least a little more grown up and mature in front of my boyfriend? "sorry" Isanei said while scratching the back of his head "well now you know our origins, I felt you had a right to know before getting involved with us." "its fine, actually I'm impressed at the lineage I never realized that Sanntaru of such powerful bloodline, it explains how she is able to keep me in check." They all joined in with his laugh together. The rest of the day was a tour of the Uchiha compound while discussing everything from weather to war and everything in between.
As Sanntaru lead Rook to the gate, Rook stopped her with a hand "one more thing before we say goodnight Sanntaru" he said as he moved to her while she stared at him questioningly. "after the events of the last couple days I wanted you to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that your still the one I choose. And to cement that in a way that can't possibly be a lie I've decided…Sanntaru Uchiha, when I return in three years will you do me the honor of marrying me?" she beamed with joy as she accepted the ring he had offered.
Rook waved farewell to Kenta as he broke the stranglehold Sanntaru had around his neck pulling her in for one last kiss. Shiro Namikaze coughed loudly signaling that it was time to go, Tobirama was the only one to actually speak as Rook turned to leave. "Rook I still don't agree with your decision but if you must go, be safe and come back stronger than ever ok." He said with a resigned smile. "gotcha" Rook said over his shoulders and in a flash they were gone.