Everything seems to be subject to time, yet it all happens in the Now. That is the paradox.
Eckhart Tolle
"I hate paperwork," a tired and highly agitated Tsunade groans.
Shizune sighs and gives her a sympathetic look, "I know but at least we finally have Sasuke back…"
Ton ton jumps onto the Hokage's lap and curls into her to offer some sort of comfort and the woman immediately begins to pet the little piglet with affection. Her eyebrows draw together with a look of contemplation, her eyes far away from the present time. It was true that they had the lone Uchiha back in the village although she honestly never thought this day would come even if she told Naruto otherwise, but … could they trust him?
Tsunade wasn't too sure what to make of the entire situation. It would be very useful to have him back in their ranks especially with the threat of the Akatsuki so near and if it helped to protect her future heir to the head seat of the village then all the more better.
She couldn't possibly give him his full chakra for it was best to keep him at genin level, but she wasn't stupid. Sasuke could still easily cause damage even with that low amount because of his taijutsu skills but that would only take him so far. The seal that she had placed on him was a tricky one, it was a seal that only she herself or Sakura could remove so even if he did manage to escape, it would be useless for him to find someone to break the hold of his chakra.
Thinking of her ex-apprentice also gave her a headache. There was no doubt in Tsunade's mind that what Sakura did was certainly driving her crazy and she didn't blame her. Thoughts of her younger years with Jiraiya and Orochimaru filtered into her minds eye and her heart sinks a little. She had loathed her snake sannin partner for such a long time after he went rogue and hated him even more after hearing about the disgusting things he was doing. His experiments went past ethics and her medical mind dissected every step, as well as every drug he must've done and used against shinobi and most likely civilians as well; she imagined the pain and suffering each of his victims faced. Her stomach churns at the ideas forming in her head and she forces the bitter bile that threatens to escape her mouth back down.
The three of them had been friends or so she thought. Team Seven was an entirely different thing in comparison to her younger years. Although Sasuke had a tragic past, that didn't stop him from opening up just a little to his teammates. Naruto managed to ease up a lot more and even mature a bit - he even learned how to love. Sakura definitely benefitted from being grouped with those boys for it was them that triggered her dormant potential. Being with each other had influenced them all individually and even if certain circumstances got in the way of squad seven growing up with one another, Tsunade had no doubt in her mind that if they were to be a team again that Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura would be a great force to be reckoned with. Each of them had been trained by a high leveled legendary sannin and if and when the time ever came - they could be the next legends.
"Lady Tsunade...?" the dark haired assistant whispers while waving a hand in front of her friends face.
Honey eyes zero in on the peachy hand waving before her and she shakes her head to clear it. "I want Sasuke fully evaluated. Send him to Ino just to make sure he isn't hiding anything."
"Hai!" Shizune claps her hands together to get Ton Ton to come with her. When she jumps into her awaiting arms they make their way out the main office leaving Tsunade in her thoughts once again.
XXX
"What a drag." Strong lungs take a pull from the cigarette in between his fingers letting it out a couple seconds later.
"I understand that this is probably annoying for you both but considering your tactical experiences … I believed you two were best suited for this task."
Opaque eyes stare at the masked man before him, giving him a questioning look. "You were his sensei, why can't you deal with it?"
Kakashi shifts his gaze from Shikamaru over to Neji. "Because this is out of my hands. What happened in that court room has already dug a hole for itself too deep for me to intervene. Especially with what Sakura did…"
"True, I suppose that makes sense," Shikamaru agrees.
"We have other things to do as well, Kakashi. Naruto is in danger and we must find a better way to track down the Akatsuki in order to prevent his capture." Neji was definitely not pleased with the idea of having to look after the Copy Ninja's old student.
Irritation bubbled within the one eyed Sharingan user, "Jiraiya is handling that issue. He left for further investigation a couple days ago."
The Byakugan user was about to comment back but Shikamaru placed a hand on his shoulder to silence him. "Look, we'll keep an eye on him until we hear word from Jiraiya."
Giving him a nod of thanks, Kakashi turns to leave. He was going to have to pay his ex student a little visit.
XXX
Sasuke is sitting in a dark room currently tied to a chair. He can't see anything and that bothers him immensely. He grinds his teeth together, if there was any light you would clearly see his jaw muscles flexing with his irritation. These people of Konoha were wasting his time.
Time? To do what exactly?
There is a loud creak as a door opens before him revealing the shadow of a woman. The room is so silent that her heels click all too loud in his ears as the sound vibrates and bounces off the walls. She was purposely walking slow in his direction as if she were afraid to approach him. His lips quirk upwards into a smirk. Pathetic.
Once the shadowed figure is about five feet away from him the ground immediately illuminates to a green glow revealing intricate symbols and patterns that seemed vaguely familiar to him.
He looks up to find Ino standing before him with her hands on her hips, his smirk fades away into a frown. "Well, well, well! I never expected this to happen!"
His eyebrows furrow together in sheer annoyance while he glares at the flamboyant blonde woman. "Now, Sasuke, this can happen easy or hard. Personally, I don't want to hurt you but if you provoke me…"
"What're you talking about?" he growls.
"Hm? Well I'm just gonna dig through your head a little. No biggy," she says with a shrug of her shoulders.
She wasn't serious was she? Like hell he'd let Ino shift through his memories like some book open for display but if memory served him right, her clans technique wasn't something that could easily be avoided and with the position that he was in…
"Alrighty lets get started shall we?" her manicured hand raises to rest on top of his raven hair and she sends a bolt of chakra through his brain putting him to sleep as she proceeds to gather intel.
XXX
Her years training with Ibiki had helped Ino maintain the perfect poker face and good thing too because after seeing what kind of things were buried in Sasuke's head … she felt sorry for him but she had a job to do and her emotions could not get in the way of that.
Baby blue clash with onyx meaning business. "That teammate of yours, Jugo, he needs help."
He doesn't say anything. Doesn't want to say anything. This entire ordeal made him feel inferior; it angered him to the point his heart palpitations sped up egging him into wanting to lash out so he bows his head to keep his temper in place.
"If we find him, we could treat him. Lady Taunade, Shizune or even Sakura could find a cure to his madness. He's a threat, Sasuke. A threat that Konoha will not leave be - we will eliminate him if necessary."
Their eyes meet again once Ino introduces the fact that they would kill Jugo if he didn't give the word that they should track him down and bring him back for treatment. If his bi-polar teammate were to be killed then his chances of escaping the village would dwindle. Suigetsu and Karin would certainly be with him and if they were all brought in they could help Sasuke escape.
He nods his head in agreement and the platinum blonde haired woman gives him a wink. She then turns her head to the side as if she were acknowledging someone behind her.
"There's someone hear to see you. Till next time, Sasuke!" she waves goodbye and heads out the room. Not a second after he hears the steps of his visitor approaching and when his profile is revealed by the green glow of the seal, the Uchiha had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.
"Yo."
XXX
A/N: So I'm very disappointed with the amount of reviews that I am getting for this story. The lack of responses I get just shows me that no one really cares if I update soon or not. Hence, the entire reason why I tend to take so long because not a lot of people show true interest in wanting to read. I'm sorry to the people who already constantly review each chapter, I appreciate it so much but perhaps I'll take a break from this story unless convinced otherwise.