A/N: Don't own Naruto.
Chapter 7 – Surprises
Obito cracked his eyes open slowly, peeking out into his hospital room, hoping against hope that it was empty. He had not been alone since arriving at the facility two weeks ago, and he longed for some privacy. Granted he'd been knocked out the first day of his stay, but since coming to, he'd had absolutely no time to himself. Doctors and nurses alike had poked and prodded at him so much he was beginning to think of himself as more of a science experiment then a human being. He knew his new found popularity had more to do with the sharingan then anything he himself had done, and he wondered for the millionth time, why his family hadn't just come to get him yet.
Medics outside the Uchiha clan very rarely got the opportunity to even seen an Uchiha sharingan, much less to examine one up close and personal. Obito was feeling the repercussions of such secrecy. Every Hiroto, Hina, and Ryo was coming in to try and spend as much time with him as they possibly could before the Uchiha's could swoop in and whisk him away. In fact, Obito was beginning to wonder where the hell they were. Under normal circumstances the clan medics would have already stolen him away and had him recovering in the family's own medical facility, far away from prying eyes. For him to still be in with the general population was so far out of the ordinary he couldn't even imagine what must be going on.
For the life of him he couldn't figure out why he hadn't seen a single Uchiha soul, other than Itachi, since he'd woken up. This thought led him to a whole other line of questions that he had no answers for, such as what was Itachi doing hanging around anyway? Obito had barely ever spent any time with the kid. He was the clan leader, Fugaku's son, and Obito had heard his name in passing; there was gossip that the little bastard was something else, apparently he'd already mastered a few of the Uchiha katon jutsu's and the elders had big plans for him, well according to the old women his grandmother spoke to anyway. And while all that made for interesting conversation and was great for the kid, there was still no reason for him to be visiting so frequently. Obito was far from the best Uchiha in terms of skill, hell, he'd only just activated his sharingan on this completely botched mission, his immediate family was by no means close with the head family, and prior to this hospital stay he and Itachi had never spoken outside the obligatory handshake at clan functions. Yet here he'd been; the past three days had seen Itachi faithfully at his bedside. Not that it meant they were getting to know one another or anything. Itachi was extremely quiet; disconcertingly so. He would stand at the doorway to Obito's hospital room, staring intently at everything but Obito. His hawk-like eyes continuously scanning the trees outside the window, the expanse of his tiny hospital room, and finally turning to take in the narrow hallway corridor before starting all over again, never uttering a word. A toy soldier sentinel, guarding the clown prince of the Uchiha clan. Obito had to laugh, Itachi being sent to guard him was a comical thought. Itachi was five years old, not even in the academy yet, and Obito himself was hardly worth guarding, even if it was by a child. Yet what else could the little weirdo be doing?
Unfortunately there was nobody to ask, since nobody else from the clan had come to see him; not even his own mother and father. What the hell was going on? Maybe he could get Kakashi to find out for him, the prick had always been good at espionage missions, his silent dick head ways were always good for going unnoticed, and Kakashi had been super nice to him due to his guilt at his teammate landing in the hospital, and Obito was planning to milk that as long as he could, forever if possible. He supposed he could just ask Itachi, but in all honesty, the kid gave him the creeps. He had the serious face of a forty year old man, never a hint of a smile on that mug. He was five years old for crying out loud; he should be out playing with other little kids and having fun. Not practicing stoic looks and freaking Obito out with his death stare. Being Fugaku's son must be taking its toll on him, most clan members tried to avoid the brutish clan leader as much as possible; he was known more for his quick temper and outlandish demands from the different Uchiha houses, then his battle prowess. Obito could only imagine how awful it would be to actually live with the man, maybe he should cut Itachi some more slack, there had to be a little bit of normal somewhere in there.
Unfortunately Obito had very little time to spend thinking about Itachi, his family, or otherwise. Not when the thought that his Rin was leaving to train with Tsunade in five days was always at the forefront of his mind. The girl he loved more than anything else in the world was leaving for who even knew how long, Tsunade and Shizune sometimes weren't seen for years at a time, and nothing could infringe on the importance of that. His heart had broken when he'd found out from Kakashi yesterday morning. His first thought had actually been, "Yes! She'll finally be away from Kakashi long enough to realize that he's an arrogant idiot, and that I'm the one she loves," and then reality set in and he realized she'd also be leaving him behind too. What would he do without her? Even if she didn't know it, and reciprocate his feelings, just seeing her made his day better. He would give anything for a smile from Rin; even a boot in the ass from that insipid Kakashi was worth it if Rin laughed. She made everyone of his days a little brighter just by being there, and he couldn't imagine how dark they were going to be with her gone. He racked his brain thinking of ways to keep her around, making plans to sabotage her voyage monopolized his thoughts, and he'd come up with a few he hoped to put in action. He had managed to keep them in town for the duration of his hospital stay, unfortunately he was about to be released at the end of the week and then his sweet angel would be gone. And if he was being honest with himself, which he wasn't, there was pretty much no chance that he could get her to stay.
XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX
Hiruzen's head snapped up from the mountains of paperwork littering his desk, as his door practically flew off the hinges and an irate Uchiha Fugaku stormed through it leaving his assistant, Otomatsu, floundering and sputtering futilely on the other side of the doorway. "Stop! You can't go in there! Hokage-sama I told him he couldn't go in. Uchiha-dono you must come out of there. The hokage is busy. Sumimasen, hokage-sama, sumimasen."
Hiruzen lifted his hand to signal for silence, "Enough Otomatsu. Please leave us, and shut the door. To what do I owe this honor, Fugaku-kun?"
Hiruzen motioned for the Uchiha clan head to take a seat, which the man chose to ignore, and instead made his way over to stand directly in front of the hokage's desk, where he then waited for the office door to shut before speaking.
"Hokage-sama," he began, the calmness in his voice belying the angry fire in his eyes. "Was I not clear on the details of the medical care Uchiha Obito was to receive?"
"Yes, unfortunately you were," the hokage answered stonily, he was still angry with the man over his treatment of the adolescent shinobi. The boy's actions were honorable and selfless, and yet his own family had refused to provide him with an eye that would allow for his complete recovery. Hiruzen would never understand the despicable ways in which clans attempted to maintain blood purity. Punishing Obito so heartlessly for his most unselfish act to date would never sit well with him.
"Then can you explain to me why the boy is sitting in your hospital with a stolen sharingan?!" Fugaku's question had started just as calmly as his first, than built in crescendo until the last half was a shout, punctuated by the banging of his fist on the desk.
Hiruzen stared blankly at the enraged man and counted to ten, nothing good could come of him putting the insolent man in his place, reminding Fugaku who was Hokage and who was not would have to wait. Hiruzen picked his battles with the clan heads; it was often more trouble than it was worth to argue with clan heads outside village councils, all it did was lead to aggravation. "I assure you, I am not the one behind mix-up, even if I am pleased with the outcome. Tsunade assured me that she implanted the eye Itachi, your son, brought over. Nobody stole anything, and for you to suggest such a thing of your former Hokage is offensive and completely repugnant."
"What are you talking about? Itachi never brought anything over to the hospital."
"I assure you, he most certainly did. And if the eye currently residing in Obito's socket is of questionable origin I suggest you look to your own doorstep."
"I will get to the bottom of this hokage-sama, and that slug woman better not have anything to do with this." With that Fugaku strode out the door. Hiruzen sighed heavily, glad that this was his last day sitting in for Minato, and silently prayed, for the fourth's sake, that Tsunade really had nothing to do with this.
XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX
Shizune stepped daintily through a field of wildflowers, far out past the genin training grounds, trying desperately not to crush any of the delicate blooms. She took a deep breath of the Konoha valley air and put her head up to the sky twirling around to bask in the crisp beautiful feeling she got just from being in Konoha. Sweet Kami she missed while she was away. She was leaving with Tsunade-sensei and Rin in just five more days and she wanted to take in as much of her beloved Konoha as possible. She felt terrible for the thought, but she'd actually been glad for the seriousness of Obito's injuries, and his love of Tsunade-sensei. The poor boy had cried and sobbed, he didn't trust anyone to treat him as well as Tsunade-hime could. He would die without her "kind and gentle loving touch," he'd proclaimed. Shizune had almost spit out her coffee at the thought of her sensei's "kind and gentle loving touch." His posturing had been mostly ridiculous and Shizune had seen it for what it was, the Uchiha's crush on his teammate was incredibly obvious, but Tsunade hadn't and who was she to point out his incredible ruse, especially when it had bought her three more weeks to be here at home.
Shizune loved every little bit of her home town, and had fond memories for pretty much everywhere in it. She fondly recalled the sprawling shinobi training grounds and practice fields, they were littered with weapons, both old and new alike, and when she'd been younger Uncle Dan would take to the rarely used ones for "fossil" hunting, her best poison administering senbon had been found on one such excursion, a treasure trove if ever there was one. A stolen first kiss on the top of the awe inspiring Hokage monument, that had been only a year earlier, she and Tsunade had managed to actually be in Konoha for the Spring Light Festival and Ebisu had snuck her up past the guards to watch the fireworks unobstructed. She'd been so enamored with the luminous beauty in front of her that she hadn't even minded when he chastely stole what she'd been saving for Konoha's Yellow Flash with his delicately soft lips. And no matter where they went, how far they travelled, there was no place on earth tantamount to Ichiraku Ramen. Every shinobi in Konoha could tell you of its supreme and unrivaled flavor, there was nowhere on Earth even half as delicious, and Shizune had as many memories as Ichiraku had Ramen flavors of the small stand on the corner of Tobirama and Hashirama. Her favorite place of all however, was the valley out behind the genin training grounds, and she'd tried to come by at least twice a week the entire time she'd been in the village soaking in every last detail of it before she left.
Lying down in the waist high grass, she closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of Konoha valley. The aroma of fresh earth, chrysanthemums, and Kinofuji filled her nostrils and she committed the smell to memory. The practically pillow-like grass cushioning her body and the chills she felt in places where dew ridden blades made contact with her warm skin leaving wet droplets clinging to her body clinging to her body were stored and cataloged as well. Shizune would miss Konoha deeply, as she did every time they went away, and she hoped this day was one she would be able to recall with ease when on their seemingly endless journeys. She'd spent the peaceful day harmonizing with Konoha, and tapping into the will of fire. There was no place on earth she felt as much a part of the will of fire as she did here in the valley staring up at the faces of Konoha's strongest shinobi. She often needed to call on their strength, when she and her sensei were far from home and battling for their lives it helped to think about the place she felt closest to them. The Third Shinobi war was taking its toll on the participants and Shizune found it more and more difficult to conjure visions of home from the battlefield; making this long stay in Konoha even more appreciated. Time in Konoha was the salve for all Shizune's ailments.
The calm and quiet of Konoha Valley seeped into her pores, filling her with comfort and contentment. She could hear the Black Paradise Fly catchers, Ryukyu Robins, and Silky Starlings twittering and chattering off in the trees and the chirping of nearby crickets brought her hope for good luck. Shizune thought about how lucky she was to have been born in the beautiful fire country and once again thanked the Konoha shinobi's of the past for deciding to make it a home. Deeply in harmony with meadow and creatures in it, Shizune dozed off and eventually fell into a deep sleep hidden away in the long grass
The sun sank a little lower in the sky by the time her nap was abruptly brought to an end. A heavy weight landed roughly on her torso, knocking the air from her lungs and forcing her awake. Having just woken up, and a violent awakening at that, her vision hadn't had a chance to clear and was extremely blurry, leaving her assailants identity in question, regardless of the fact that they lay sprawled out on top of her. From the stammering apology she could tell it was a male, hastily trying to remove himself from her body, and unintentionally grabbing her right breast in an attempt to push himself off of her, only to fall back down almost immediately when he realized what part of her anatomy it was he had beneath his fingers and urgently removed his hand at once. As he collapsed back down onto her, his face mere inches from her own, Shizune's eyes managed to find their focus; converging on a pair of beautifully fascinating warm dark eyes. She stared into limpid brown pools and felt like she could drown without a care.
The young man on the other side of that alluring chocolate gaze must have been feeling the same way because suddenly Shizune felt his soft lips crash against hers in a passionate kiss. Shizune reached her hands up to cradle the back of his head and run her fingers through his silky locks as she returned his affections and deepened the kiss. His lips parted to allow her searching tongue entrance as she greedily demanded more. Bodies entwined, they lay in the grass kissing feverishly, ignorant to everything going on around them. Shizune had no idea what she was doing, the always reserved kunoichi found herself rolling around in the dirt eagerly with an unidentified male companion, and what was probably worse, was that she didn't care. He'd swept her off her feet without actually leaving the ground and she was sure beyond doubt that he must be the man of her dreams, better even then the Yellow Flash. Unfortunately, and to both of their dismay, the end to their fun was at hand.
"Where the hell are you, ketsunoana?!"An obnoxiously familiar voice shouted through the field. Shiranui Genma came trouncing into the field. "Kisama, I'm sick of looking for this fucking cat, you better get over here so we can finish this shit! Ibiki, where the hell are y—"
Genma was speechless as he stared down at his best friend, and frequent partner in crime, Morino Ibiki, shamelessly making out with the famous "stick-up-her-ass" Shizune. It had to be a genjutsu, not only did that girl not find any of their pranks funny, she had on more than one occasion used her superhuman strength to pound the two of them into the dirt just to prove how much she disliked them. So there was no way what he was seeing was actually happening. Ibiki had a better chance of getting laid by Tsunade-hime herself then he did of getting a kiss from her bitchy apprentice.
"Kai," he said using his chakra to dispel the disturbing image only to find it wouldn't go away.
A/N:
Please send me a review, if you liked it great, and if you didn't let me know why so I can work on fixing it. Thanks!
-Tobirama and Hashirama are the name of the 2nd and 1st hokage's, respectively, whom I chose to name two of Konoha's streets after, since I don't know any of their real names.
Ketsunoana = asshole
Kisama=lord of the donkeys
Sumimasen is used to apologize to those in a higher or senior rank