Author Note: I'm going to be out of town until shortly after Christmas, meaning there will be a slight pause in updates. I generally like to have one up weekly, to twice weekly even, and I'll try to make it up and post an extra length one (or at least the next chapter) shortly after I get back.
At the Valley of the End...
He hadn't known why he bothered to come here, let alone why he chose this moment in time; this juncture of his plans and schemes. Sasuke hadn't really thought about this place at all in so very long. Years, was it? It seemed so long ago, a lifetime or more, but he realized that in truth it had been only around three years of time. Three years away, but they had been the most important three years of his life, he would admit. How could he not?
Three years ago, he was here, at the Valley of the End, fighting against someone whom he shared a bond with. A true bond, not pure or innocent but realistic and gritty. A bond of friendship, and in many ways brotherhood. But Sasuke didn't have good examples of brotherly bonds. But they seemed to define his existence, he realized. He was a man who was directed and driven by brotherhood, shaped by it and molded into his current form. It was his first brother who put him on his path, and it was his second brother who returned it to him.
The Uchiha was sitting down atop one of the stone heads, leaning back with his arms bracing him up. Sasuke looked out over the water. He was atop the head of his ancestor, a figure he knew the basic history of. Madara Uchiha had been there are the start of Konohagakure, but in his hubris he'd ended up throwing it all away and being exiled. Or so the stories went, at least. He wondered how Madara would have seen Sasuke himself, but shook his head. He hadn't thrown away anything, he chose the path rather then being forced upon it. Once, he wondered if perhaps the better path would have been for him to have ignored his brother, grown up strong and started the clan. Would that be a greater insult to him?
But blood demanded blood, and he could not allow his brother to continue existing. That was what he had always told himself when he was younger, before he had to really sit and think about his motives. Early on he hadn't changed that habit, spending his whole time training and working on his control. He always did the hard exercise, the ones that sucked up more and more of his concentration. He had no time to muse about his life, and it wasn't until things began to slow down that he really discovered why.
He was a profoundly selfish person.
Sasuke had left behind loyalty to friends. He'd left behind loyalty to teachers. He'd left behind loyalty to his village as a whole, really. He'd left behind decency, in many ways, given who he'd chosen to go to. He'd left behind his chances of a normal life. He disregarded all those with any link or bond to him, without a care in how his choice would effect them. He was selfish to an extreme, focusing only on his own goal and his own choices. But that was his choice, and he had made it without any regret. And he still had none.
It was not regret, for he felt no guilt for the path he'd chosen, per se. Had he the chance to do it over again, the only things he would change were that he'd have pushed himself even harder. He did not regret leaving Konohagakure, nor did he regret becoming a student of the vile snake. His loyalty and love for Konohagakure had been eclipsed by his desire for revenge and there was no going back. He knew that, and had never ever intended to return. He did not regret that, even though part of him told him that he should have. But the loyalty that would have made him regret it died quickly, a quick but messy death at that. It was inevitable, given the power he was getting out of the deal.
The stone of the statue was cold beneath him, setting sun casting the world into shades of orange and red. He frowned at that. The colors brought up a certain forgotten face he was not keen on thinking of. Naruto was a subject that was never comfortable for him, and he knew it was the same for Sakura. Their former teammate's vow, in this very place, three years ago still echoed in his mind. The loser would not let them go, he realized. He would come after Sasuke someday, and that made the Uchiha wonder if they would end up fighting once again. Naruto was strong, and he would dedicate himself to being stronger. He saw the gleam in the loser's eye when he made that promise, too.
He stood up, staring off into the vague direction of his former home. If it was possible, he would find no reason to ever cross over the waterfall and back into the land of Fire. He was not so confident in his ability to suppress his own emotions and nostalgia. The farther he was from Konoha, the better. Less chances of some sort of attraction to the place actually formed. He already had first hand experience with how fallible his emotions could be from the night he left. He rationalized so many of his choices as being on a whim, but the real truth behind it all was far less in line with his standing as someone who was so in-control of his emotions.
Sasuke had an inkling of realization that, in many ways, he was as driven and emotional as Naruto was. His life and path was defined by emotion. Perhaps that was why he was so cold? Was it because he had invested himself so fully in his hate and anger, or was it because he knew, consciously or unconsciously, the control his emotions could exert over him? But what Sasuke was only beginning to realize was that by letting his emotions twist him that once he had let a little bit of his hate go, replacing it with an emotion that, while not love, was as much as he could muster for the pink-haired girl who would had proven rather clearly she would do anything for him.
He removed his old hitae-ite from his jacket and ran a finger over the gash in it's surface, a frown crossing his face as he did. Why had he kept this? He had tried to throw it away so many times, destroy it or simply leave it somewhere. But he couldn't bring himself to toss it away. There was symbolism in the deep gouge. His cut ties to his old home, and cut bonds. How funny that he still kept it, though. The frown on his face grew larger as he realized how much the band now looked like that of his brother. He pulled his arm back, ready to toss the forehead protector into the raging waterfall.
Hesitation overtook him. The missing-nin stood there, arm cocked and ready, but without the will to go through with it. It fled from him as fast as it had come, and he stuffed the hitae-ite back into his cloak with a scowl. He hadn't completely severed those bonds, it seemed. It did not matter, in the long run. There was no returning to Konohagakure for him, despite what Naruto may have thought. It was simultaneously touching and pathetic to him.
Naruto wanted to bring his old teammates back, but in a way he never realized that the only things that would happen if he was. What would happen if he was brought back would be death, and if not that then he would be chained up and locked away in the depths of some prison, rotting away until the end of time. Or maybe he'd get lucky, just be hated and forbidden to ever be a ninja again, maybe seal off his eyes or some other horrible fate just to keep his balls in the breeding pool and the sharingan still in the hands of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
Death, prison, or breeding stock was not a future that gave Sasuke much hope. The Uchiha realized that in the pursuit of one dream, he'd given up on another one. He would never restart the Uchiha clan in Konohagakure, no. Perhaps he would go to Kumogakure and attempt to settle there after this was all over. Sunagakure was right out, not with it's close bond with Konoha. And Kirigakure? They didn't take kindly to bearers of kekkei genkai, he thought, remembering Haku. No, that would not work. Iwagakure would be just as likely to try and use him as chained up breeding stock to a degree that would actually be worse then his old home. Kumogakure was big, one of the strongest villages of all really, and he'd likely even get a fair shake there too. Maybe. He'd heard about how they had attempted to steal the Hyuuga's byakugan before. Having the sharingan delivered to them might give him the push he needed.
Of course, he could go small instead. Takigakure. Small, but growing. Who knows, maybe he could be the first Takiakage he thought with a grin. If nothing more, he'd have even more weight to swing around in one of the smaller villages if he brought the sharingan with him. And, of course, from what he gathered, Sakura's new ability was fused with her on a genetic level. Something about a retrovirus or a similar concept. But the important part was that it was genetic, unlike Kakashi's transplanted eye. That meant there was a chance that the Uchiha clan would be come to be known not only for their legendary dÅjutsu, but perhaps for their gift with crystals as well.
Sasuke froze in place as he realized what he had just admitted to himself in his mental rambling. He realized, of course, that thoughts of reproduction where not exactly peculiar for people, particularly young men of his age. Admittedly, he was not a very normal young man either, even if he had given thought to the matter. But he tended to look at in a cold and detached manner. It was restarting his clan, or it was a saved tool for bringing up loyalty and morale. It was distant, a concept he was quite content to not worry himself with. That was not normal, and he knew it, but it was how he was and he did not regret for a second who he was.
What surprised him was the sudden and very vivid image of a young boy with short black hair forming a red crystal that crackling with electrical energy around his arm as his emerald green eyes shifted into the Uchiha's sharingan. He saw an older man, streaks of silver running through cropped hair that matched the boy, and a woman with locks of flowing pink and emerald eyes standing a short distance away, watching as the young boy trained. Sasuke shook his head violently, clearing his head of the image suddenly. What was that? He hadn't given much thought to the implications of taking Sakura with him until now. Perhaps as an idle or momentary thought he'd considered that he'd more or less chosen her as the one to start his clan with.
Why not? She was loyal to him to a fault, so much so it drove her to lengths he would have not even imagined, let alone approved of. But it was her wish, and he had already given in to her on that. She loved him, completely, and she had placed her whole being into his hands. She was not a blind follower, he knew. Sakura even questioned him now, more and more frequently. It was never with malice, almost more like requests, but she would give suggestions and corrections when she felt appropriate. That made Sasuke happy, and he had been quick to show his approval for it and encourage her to continue doing so. He had no regrets on that yet.
But to restart his clan with her? She was not unwilling, he knew, particularly from how she acted around him. They shared a bed, but he had not touched her in that way, nor had he intended to for quite some time, if ever. Or, a least, that was what he told himself. As he stood on top of the ancient stone statue and stared out over the red-tinted waters he couldn't help but feel that little lie to himself unravel. Now, more then ever, she was the perfect candidate for it. Strong, smart, skilled, and despite everything, the girl had managed to sneak ever so slightly into his heart. Not love, by far, but something still.
In the absence of Konoha, she had become something very important to Sasuke. She was his home.
Sasuke turned and launched himself into distance, heading for the trees and the path back to the hideout. It wasn't far for a lone person to go, particularly not with his stamina. He'd push through the night. Both Orochimaru and his lackey, Kabuto, would be gone, off to meet with a spy or something. Sasuke had stopped paying attention to his 'sensei's' business quite some time ago. But it was time to go back to the hideout, preparing for the coming fight.
Back to the hideout. Back to his home.
Back to Sakura.
Meanwhile, a great distance away...
Naruto Uzumaki was in a bind that he had not once ever been in before, and one he was not entirely certain he could get out of, either. It was the strangest feelings of guilt and failure that he'd ever had. He was not particularly accustomed to feeling guilty about anything, as any one of the many chuunin and genin that were assigned to chase him down after one of his many, many, many pranks or stunts he'd pulled in his younger days. And, although it wasn't quite clear to him, he had no parents to really impress upon him the concept of 'guilt' for most things. Iruka had done it somewhat, but even that was only half enforced and muddled by his inability to spend enough time with the boy or keep up his anger for very long.
So the fact that Naruto was here, blue eyes wide open in the middle of the night and unable to fall asleep due to guilt? It was a peculiar thing.
The guilt had started earlier that night, at dinner. Naruto had been reluctant about Captain Yamato when he was first introduced, Kakashi having been sent on his own solo mission. It had been a Class S urgent mission, he had been told by Tsunade, but only after quite a bit of complaining enough that baa-chan got so annoyed that she just snapped and told him. But, that was all she'd tell him and it had only moderately placated the boy. But that had been the start of his bad day.
The second thing had come in the form of that weird, pale kid who attacked him earlier and had ther nerve to call him just a 'basically average ninja' or something along those lines. Naruto had been so angry he couldn't even remember correctly, and it had only been Hinata's urging that kept him from taking a swing at the cocky kid who always was smiling that weird-o, fake smile. And then he had the nerve to start talking down to Sasuke. Hinata had stepped in to stop the fight, only to cause Sai to collapse into a heap by striking one of his vital points. She said Sai should be quiet about things he knows nothing about in a voice more angry then Naruto had ever heard.
Naruto had stood wide-eyed until Yamato unleashed some of his powerful jutsu and threatened to throw the team into a wooden prison unless they started working togeather. So, Naruto had begrudgingly listened... after Yamato also pulled that creepy 'ghoul-eye' look on him.
Though, the blond-haired genin had to admit that Yamato wasn't so bad after all when they arrived at a resort for the night. Though even that had turned out to be less good after Sai started talking about 'little Naruto' and caused a bit of a scene. (Naruto reacted completely fine, of course. Yessir, no mistakes on his part!) But dinner had at least been good. Amazingly so, really. Such a feast, and that had set aside all the bad parts. Naruto thought he might have even seen Sai smile a bit. Hinata was looking a bit red, but Naruto just chalked that up to too much time in the water.
He found himself looking at Hinata more and more lately, something he wasn't quite sure about. They hadn't had much time to catch up after he'd gotten back, though they had gone out for some ramen after the mission to rescue Gaara. He learned a bit then, and about some of the rest of his old friends. It was enjoyable talking with her, and he wasn't quite sure to make of it when he found himself staring and fumbling over his words around her. Sometimes she'd blush and look away, and fumble over just as much as him. He was glad that she had been placed on her team after Team 8 got dissolved, though. She always reminded him of happier things.
Without warning, the image had changed in his head. Sai was Sasuke in his mind, sitting there in quiet brooding while secretly enjoying himself; Hinata was Sakura, being more careful about what she picked but smiling all the same; and Yamato was Kakashi, smiling as he watch his students. The image was but a momentary flash that he shook out of his head and ignored. Or at least, he thought he did. As the night began to wear on he became more and more distracted by it. Guilt welled up inside of him and he was now sitting there, eyes wide awake and no sleep in sight.
He was guilty that he was here, smiling and enjoying himself despite the fact that he had so very little in the way of progress when it came to bringing his old teammates home. They were going now to get information, but he suddenly felt a weight on him for having spent so long training instead of looking for him. That and- and his growing attention and, he somewhat reluctantly allowed himself, his attraction to Hinata. Sometimes he was glad how she could take his mind off things, but now he almost felt like he was cheating them.
Rolling over on his futon, he pulled the covers closer over him and sighed. He'd make it up to them. This mission was all about that, wasn't it? He was gonna get that, and then he'd find them. And then he was gonna bring them home. And things could go back to the way they were.
It would be perfect.
Meanwhile...
A room or so away, a certain lavender eyed Hyuuga sat awake on her own futon. Her face was still tinted a rosy red from earlier in the day. It had been when she was in the bath, though not that she spent too much time in it. No, it wasn't that. Instead, it had been what she'd seen. Which was basically everything. She blushed deeper as her mind wandered back to those memories and caused a very strange fire to well up deep inside her as she pulled the covers more over herself in embarrassment. No one was here, and she still felt it, that was how embarrassing this.
She'd heard a ruckus, and Naruto shouting. In her haste the elder of the Main Family Hyuuga did not really hear what he had said and had activated her byakugan on a reflex, turning to the source of the sound. What she was greeted with caused her entire body to turn red in a manner that made her look a though she'd chowed down on one of Kiba-kun's special soldier pills. She found herself so shocked, so stunned and unable to react, that she couldn't even bring herself to turn her eyes off or shut them. Not even when she got a full frontal shot of a certain blond-haired genin with whisker marks and a rather toned body.
And a rather impressive-
Noooooooooooo, she couldn't think about that sort of thing. She shook in her bed. Oh dear... she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight at all. It hadn't helped when he had turned around and she got a nice look at his firm, round-
She whimpered. No, she certainly wasn't getting any sleep...
A short distance outside of Konohagakure...
Although most prisoners of the Village Hidden in the Leaves were stored in a secure facility inside the village, there were a select few prisoners who, either due to their great value, great danger, or both were simply too strong to be stored inside of Konoha. These select few were stored, instead, a few miles outside of the village proper there was a hidden facility designed for the specific purpose of holding these high value, high danger targets who where most likely to have a rescue or assassination attempt taken out against, or who had the highest chances of breaking out. It was a calculated thing, even if the hokage never really had liked the logic.
More or less, the point was that any truly dedicated attempt was going to succeed in getting to their target. Security inside the village was only barely better then outside, and you could make up the difference by having the facility more easily hidden away. And, should someone try to break in and either killer, or assassinate one of the prisoners there they would do so without endangering the village directly in their entrance or escape. It was technically sound, if not the most reassuring. And it was also not at all a preferred posting, but due to secrecy the guards were only rarely cycled out. This made them familiar with the facility, but also very, very bored.
So bored that, until they were nearly at the supposedly 'secret' facility, the pair of black cloaked and straw-hatted figures were totally unnoticed. One of them was tall, easily six feet, and seemed to ooze with an aura of the unnatural and eldritch. To most, he was simply unpleasant to be around and that only worsened the longer one spent and the closer one got. So much was that a problem that it was nearly impossible for and human to spend time around him without wanting to either run away screaming or trying to kill him. The former annoyed him, and the latter generally failed. He tended to kill anyone who did either. Which meant just about anyone he met.
That was the reason why his partner had been chosen for him, despite the fact that neither of them were senior members of Akatsuki. Where the first man walked with a somewhat unnatural seeming gait, the second didn't walk at all. He hopped, bouncing along in such a way that made it hard to gauge his actually height, though he was clearly a few inches shorter then the first man. And where the first man was darkly tanned, the second seemed almost unnaturally pale. Unlike most people, the second man was not put off by the strange aura that the first gave off. He couldn't feel it at all, a fact which unnerved the first man at first but was quickly replaced simply by amusement and happiness at having someone to actually talk to again.
"So, Kat-san, how many are there?" the first man asked in a cheerful voice, turning to look at his bouncing partner.
"I told you not to call me that. My name is Katsura, Yori. Katsura." was the somewhat angry response, the man not even stopping his bouncing or looking at his partner. "And there are about a dozen of them."
"Just a dozen? Awh, awh, I was really kinda sorta hoping for a challenge, Kat-san."
"I said not to-"
"Yes yes, I heard, I heard. Sorry, sorry." Yori replied in an exasperated tone.
"They are ANBU." said Katsura, hitae-ite bouncing up and down from around his neck as he moved. The emblem was old an worn, a deep gash through the crescent moon emblem of Getsugakure, the Village Hidden under the Moon, that it bore.
"Ah, ah, well at least there is that, then." the other man said, adjusting the star emblem hitae-ite of Hoshigakure, Village Hidden among Stars, that he wore on his head as he did. It was not the only one. He wore another hitae-ite around his neck, with the same emblem and the same scratch, and two more just like it on his upper arms, pulled tight over his black and red robes. Another rested around his waist like a belt, covered by the closed robes. All had the same emblem and same scratch of the Star Village. "It isn't really quite what I wanted, not really want I wanted at all. But, but, beggers can't be choosers."
The other man stopped his bouncing for a moment, blank expression on his face as he turned to his colleague. He waited a moment, causing Yori to turn back to him, confused. "Yeah, what is it?"
"I was just thinking." Katsura said, "Are you sure it was this 'aura' that annoyed people, and not your repetitive redundancy?"
A great many miles away, in the Land of Earth...
"Itachi-san, you're even more demure then usual." Kisame said with his trademark toothy grin, turning back to look at his companion. "You haven't said anything since we left. Usually I can get at least a small grunt or something out of you. Not even when we passed though that last village."
Kisame continued to look at Itachi, grinning the whole time, but the elder Uchiha said nothing in response and simply continued on. Inside, he was giddy. He did so love playing with Itachi. It was strange, really. Their partnership was an assigned thing but in truth he had always rather enjoyed the far more reserved Itachi. They were quite the pair, Kisame thought, and trying to elicit a response from the often mute man had become an amusing road game for the ex-Swordsman of the Mist. He called it Itachi Fishing.
"The girls were hanging all over you." Kisame continued, knowing he needed to step up his game. "But that's not uncommon, I guess. After all, you're quite handsome. And you've got me as your wingman. And, obviously, I am oddly colored."
Kisame laughed at his own joke, and then frowned when Itachi ignored him and simply continued to walk in mute silence. "Ah, come on, Itachi. Why you always gotta be so cold." he said somewhat harshly, but inside he was grinning. He could always get him with his.
Sure enough, a moment later Itachi responded, sighing softly before he did, "I am sorry, Kisame. I simply have a lot of things on my mind at the moment."
"Sure, sure." Kisame replied, turning back to the road as he did with a grin. Worked every time, "So what do you think of the new guys?"
"They are adequate." was the only response Itachi gave, but even that caused his blue-skinned partner to laugh.
"Ah, how diplomatic of you, Itachi-san. Very nice." he said with a chuckle, "Yes, they're not that impressive, but I suppose they'll do."
Itachi's expression never changed as he responded, eyes never leaving the path he was walking, "Yes, Kisame. They'll do just fine."