I know I haven't updated for a while, and that's because, yes Mr. Guest, FINALS. Fuck them. I did pretty well though, so that's good. Almost ready to ship my ass off to college, and then I don't know how I'm going to update. Anyhoo, here's your latest chapter!
The first thing he felt was the chill. It was really cold. And wet, for some reason. Was he dead? Did dead people feel cold and wet?
"If you find one, you'll have to ask them. We don't know either."
His eyes shot open. That definitely was not a human voice. It spoke his language, but the tone was deep and guttural, like an animalistic growl. And distinctly female. Scarily enough, it was familiar, and he was pretty sure that he hadn't met anything in his life that had made this noise.
The voice did a strange, breathy croon off to his side. Sitting up, he registered the fact that he was somewhere unfamiliar. A small cave, of some sorts. It was dimly illuminated by glowing blue crystals sticking out here and there from the ground and the walls. The same crystals made up the floor of the shallow pool he was currently lying in. Next to him, blue eyes glittering with amusement, was a rather large wolf.
Sakusen would have liked to say that he reacted in a cool and calm manner. But that would have been a lie, and Jiji told him that lies were some of the worst acts you could commit. Which was a little strange, given that his future profession basically demanded it on a daily basis.
Instead, he let out a surprised scream, splashing sparkling sapphire droplets everywhere. He reached for his wakizashi, but it was missing from its usual place on his hip. His weapon holster was still on him, but he couldn't reach for anything inside of it. His hand passed through it. Like he was just a hazy image on a screen - there, but not really physically there. Oh man, he had died, hadn't he? He was a ghost now. Crap.
Shaking water out of its coat with a huff, the wolf looked at him with something that looked a little like bemusement. "You're right, of course. Not about the ghost stuff. You're not really here. This is just a dream. Just, a little different from the usual ones you've been having."
Oh thank goodness. He wasn't dead. He was just in a dream. A really, really weird dream. Sakusen blinked. He hadn't said anything at all, but the wolf still seemed to know what he was thinking. "You can read my mind?" he asked tentatively, brushing the hair out of his eyes.
The wolf bared its sharp teeth in a grin. At least, that's what it looked like. Maybe it was a snarl. "Correct. The pup is quite astute. You don't seem too surprised to see me talk, though."
Well... to be honest, the fact that the wolf could talk was a little farther down on his list of immediate worries. Besides, some of the Inuzuka had dogs that could talk. This wasn't too surprising. But none of them were this huge. The largest canine he'd seen was Kuromaru, Tsume-oba's ninken partner. This wolf was at least a head taller than Kuromaru, and the ninken was taller than him on all four paws. This wolf was a monstrously jumbo-sized animal.
"Who are you? Why am I here? How can you read my mind?" he asked instead. The wolf had probably read his thoughts already, and knew his answer.
As if confirming his suspicions, the wolf let out that same strange croon, and Sakusen realized that it was a laugh. "Those are good questions. Questions that will be answered later. For now, let us discuss why you are here." It knelt down on its haunches, staring at him intently.
He couldn't really put his finger on it before, but he was starting to recall why the wolf's voice was so familiar. The voice calling out to him... it was coming back to him. Sakusen remembered now. His pointer finger flew up at the canine accusingly. "You! You were the one that called out to me! On the battlefield!"
"Before you got smashed into pulp, yes," the wolf agreed with a nod. Its eyes narrowed dangerously into thin slits. "Were you planning to die that day? Is that what you wanted? To be erased from this dimension altogether, after just experiencing a small taste of what your world is actually like?"
Sakusen's shoulders slumped. Remembering that moment brought a lump back in his throat - all of the dead and dying, of the blood painting the sands red and brown, the hopelessness and despair he had felt. He really was weak, wasn't he?
"Are you?" Surprised, Sakusen lifted his head to look at the wolf. "Are you content with being weak? In this world, the weak are those who give up without a fight. If you give up, you are dead." Ignoring his flinch, the wolf continued. "It is either that, or you make yourself strong. What will it be? Will you be strong, or will you be weak?"
Sakusen looked up, seeing the shimmering light of the crystal in the bottom of the pool distorted by the moving water. "I... I want to be strong. But then, at the moment, I felt so weak. Powerless to stop what was in front of me. We're all being used by our villages to fight wars, and for what?" He clenched his fist underwater, feeling the cool wetness rush over his fingers. "I realized that day that I don't understand everything. So it could be that I don't get why we're fighting. Maybe there's a good reason that I didn't think of."
The wolf tilted its head, acknowledging him. Sakusen went on. "But I know that it's wrong. It's wrong to kill someone else you don't know for the sake of some higher purpose. I want the killing to stop. I didn't want to have to kill that person. But he was about to kill my friend. I couldn't let that happen. If the wars didn't exist, and the nations all got along, then we wouldn't have to be put in these situations."
Sakusen lowered his gaze until he was level with the wolf's eyes. "I have an idea for why I'm here. You've probably read my mind already to see what I'm thinking. A summon can read the intentions of their summoner, can't they? I don't know how it works, but I'll say this. I want peace. So I can keep my friends safe, and other people can keep their friends safe. That's why I'll be strong." He extended a hand. "Will you accept that?"
The wolf stared for a long moment, then snorted, looking away. "How naive and idealistic." Sakusen's face froze a little. Was that the wrong answer? "Still, your resolve is remarkable, for one so young. You are the right one. To care about one's own pack, be willing to go to such lengths to keep them safe, and grow strong enough to do so... those are truly the qualities we desire in our summoner."
Sakusen took a sharp inhale. Right on the dot, as usual. Honestly, it wouldn't have taken a genius to figure out the source of his mysterious dreams. Certain people had an inherent affinity for a certain type of animal, and were connected to the dimension through their chakra. It wasn't that much of a stretch to theorize the rift between dimensions weakening during certain times, letting his subconscious jump ship onto the wolves' forest.
Still, even though he'd had his suspicions, this changed everything. Summons were extremely versatile, depending on what they were, but nearly all of them granted a boost in combat capabilities. Some of the greatest ninja were known for their summons, like Jiji and the Sannin. This was great!
The wolf, probably sensing his elation, was quick to shut him down. "You won't be able to summon us for a while. You have neither the proper reserves nor the control needed to call us and maintain the summoning. It will be years before you will be able to do that."
Sakusen deflated like a balloon. Years? That was way too long. He hadn't even lived longer than five of them, and he had to wait even more? Plural, too? Damn. And he thought he had huge amounts of chakra. Did that mean he needed more?
"However," the wolf said, catching his attention, "we do have a certain method of communication available to you. The wolves exist in a separate space-time dimension, not like your frogs and toads and snakes." It sneered when it said the word snakes. "The rift between our dimensions is not physical. The waters here are special - they act as portals into separate worlds. Right now, your form is made of the mist created by the pool."
So that was what the pool was. No wonder it felt weird. Reaching out, he realized that he couldn't escape the edge of the water. It was like a cage, sort of. Suddenly, he felt his vision buzz and shift, and the wolf became distorted, like the images on Jiji's television when reception was bad. Wisps of blue smoke wafted out from his form.
"Our time is growing short. We are expecting great things from you. We will meet later when you can become our summoner."
The wolf gave one last grin. "I'm glad we met. You are an interesting human. I wonder how long you can keep your idealism? Before, you wanted to know my name. I am known as Okami. Goodbye, little pup."
As Sakusen's body grew light and spiraled down a dark, twisting tunnel, his last thoughts were, A wolf named wolf? I can deal with that... I've dealt with worse and less creative before.
Sakusen opened his eyes, and immediately hissed. Yes, this was definitely the land of the living. He felt like a giant bruise. Oh well. At least he was warm.
His shoulder was patched up, and his left arm was stiff. There was some pressure on his legs, like something was on it, which was a little strange, since he didn't remember getting any leg injuries. His ribcage was wrapped in bandages, and he imagined that his head was the same, judging from the tightness around his skull. He probably looked like a mummy now.
Wincing in pain, he tried using his left arm to sit up, but that didn't work so well. The Chuunin that Itachi had killed had torn through his shoulder on his sword-arm side, and his arm wasn't moving very well. He briefly considered trying to call Okami again to get rid of the soreness and the pain for at least a while, but he figured that she wouldn't be very happy with that, with all the "strong live, weak die" stuff she preached.
Resorting to just raising his head, he looked around. The room was a bright, pastel white that hurt his eyes after spending some time in the darker cave. It was clearly a medical room, with all the medical equipment layering the tables next to him. And in front of him was-
Sakusen froze. What he had mistaken for bandages or a cast on his legs was actually a person, draped over his thighs and soundly sleeping. The figure had...
The figure had red hair. Dimly, he remembered flashes of red before passing out. Only one person in the world he knew had red hair like that.
The person stirred and looked up, and Sakusen found himself staring into the violet eyes of Uzumaki Kushina. His mother.
Tears welled up in her eyes at the sight of him awake, and she lurched forward, grabbing him in a hug, all the while sobbing uncontrollably. Sakusen could only use his right arm to awkwardly hug her back, but it didn't matter. She was finally here. And at least for now, everything he'd done to get to this point was worth it.
Haori stood outside of the med room, listening in with a smile. She'd gone to fetch Kushina on the battlefield after seeing Sakusen off, nearly getting impaled by a fucking chain in the process. She was a jumpy motherfucker on the battlefield. There had been a brief reunion of sorts, involving trying to give each other a hug while cutting off someone's head at the same time, but it was a nice moment until she'd informed Kushina that her son was missing and quite possibly on the battlefield.
She knew the kid could handle himself pretty well, but she was not expecting to walk into a full-blown fight. Not that she was concerned or anything for the brat's well-being, of course. Things like this made people tough. Well, she might have gotten a little worried when she'd felt those flares of chakra. Nearly every capable sensor on the battlefield had honed into the fight. What was up with that purple, anyway?
She sighed, leaning her head against the wall. By the time she had gotten there to watch, he had killed the second Iwa-nin, and the Kumo squad (fucking bloodline collectors) had been closing in. She was debating on whether or not to interfere or wait, but the other Uchiha kid had gotten there first. That Shunshin usage was impressive. He certainly deserved that Chuunin vest.
But the kid had almost died on her watch. That was a sobering thought. Even before she'd gotten there, from what she heard of the smaller Uchiha, another ninja - a Chuunin - had been killed. Sakusen had faced an Iwa Chuunin all alone. Without Itachi, he most certainly would have died. It was a miracle they were both alive, really. Some god up there was smiling on those two.
Straining her hearing to catch a hint of what else was going on, Haori nearly groaned when more sobbing reached her ears. Kushina had literally been crying for a full five minutes now. She knew that Kushina could get emotional, but this was too long. Time for an intermission.
Kicking open the door with an exuberant shout, she strolled into the room. The kid looked like shit. Torso, head, and shoulder wrapped in bandages, but he had the biggest smile on his face she'd seen ever since the first time she'd allowed him to use his wakizashi in training instead of the bokken. Which reminded her. It was time to up his training. No more stupid shit like that. A stab to the shoulder because he couldn't react properly during an attack? Shameful.
"Guess whooo?" she sang in a cheerful tone. Kushina looked up at her, and she suddenly remembered that she should probably tell Kushina what had really happened. It was the right thing to do, but... she knew that the woman would have no problem smashing her face into the floor for letting her baby out to fight, even if the Uzumaki was nearly 10 years her junior.
Some secrets were best left untouched, she decided.
"Hey sensei," Sakusen rasped. Kushina's hair suddenly rose, nine swaying appendages hanging threateningly above her head. Haori gulped. The brat hadn't snitched on her, right? Shit shit shit. What did she do?
"Haori?" Kushina asked with an innocently sweet smile on her face. "You want to tell me just why Sakusen was out there fighting? And just where exactly he learned how to curse?"
Fuck.
"Hey Kaa-san?" Something was missing, and Sakusen had finally figured out what. It took a bit long, but he blamed the drugs. "Where's Tou-san?"
Kushina, back from giving Sensei a dressing down (holy crap she was scary as hell and he would never curse in front of her), instantly slumped over a little, all expression dying away. Sakusen's heart nearly stopped. The look on her face was empty and vacant, yet full of despair. Something had happened.
"What happened to him?" he pressed, a little more panicked now. Small tears were now forming in the corners of Kushina's pretty, violet eyes.
Oh no. Oh nonono. What happened? Jiji had told him that they were inseparable ever since their Genin days. If they were apart now...
"Did... did he die?" Kushina flinched, finally looking at him with her mouth open in shock.
"No!" Thank goodness, he was scared. "No, nothing like that. He's out on the front lines. He insisted that he wanted to stay, after-" She choked up, and a tear trickled down her face. Sakusen carefully wiped it away with his hand, and she grabbed it, squeezing tightly.
"You remember Obito, right?" Her voice was impossibly soft, and this time, he knew for sure what was going to come out of her mouth. "Obito died on a mission after the cave he was in collapsed on him. He managed to save his teammates, but he didn't make it out of the rubble."
Sakusen silently mourned, his own tears forming. He was close to Obito, since he was always around Rin. They usually bought him taiyaki, and while Obito was a bit annoying to be around at times, he was the nicest person Sakusen had known. Obito's chakra was bright and sunny, but there was a bit of a dark patch dredged underneath. All Uchiha seemed to have that, though.
Kushina got into bed with him, gently wrapping her arms around his body, being careful of his injuries. "You knew him pretty well, right? He always talked about you, and how you were going to be such a great ninja - that you were smarter than him, even. Your father was pretty shaken by the event, so he vowed to not return until the war was over. You know," her eyes sparkled, "there's talk of him becoming the next Hokage? You could be the son of the Hokage soon! Isn't that cool?"
"Wow," Sakusen breathed. He knew his dad was good, but he didn't know that he was Kage good. And Sakusen could respect that decision, to stay and fight until the end.
"They call him the Yellow Flash. He has bright yellow hair, and that's the only thing you can see when he becomes serious because he moves so quickly." She kissed the top of his forehead. "I'm sure you'll grow up to become a great ninja too. You can carry on Obito's will, while Kakashi carries his legacy. Now go to sleep. I'm sure you're still tired. You did fight against a Chuunin, even if Iwa's ninja suck ass."
Sakusen giggled. "I'm not tired, though." That was a lie. He was probably on sleep meds or something, judging from his sluggishness. He could feel his eyes slowly closing, and he was already drifting off, safe and happy within the embrace of his mother for the first time.
It would take a whole week for Sakusen's injuries to heal enough so that he could travel back safely. He could just hop on the back of someone going back home, but Kushina was taking no chances. Having her son nearly die in front of her once was enough panic for one lifetime, he supposed.
Itachi wasn't going back either. Fugaku apparently knew Kushina quite well, which made sense because of her and Mikoto's friendship, and had been threatened by her to deliver Sakusen home safely. She wouldn't be going home for the next two weeks, since that was when her term ended.
This meant that for the next few days, the outpost had two bored children wandering around everywhere. Well, two bored children plus their chaperone. Shisui had been downright furious when Sakusen had hobbled out with Itachi for the first time. "Stupid kid, I was literally gone for a couple of months - not even three full months, and you pull this crap while I'm not assigned to guard you..." Kushina had just looked on approvingly throughout his rant, punctuated with flailing arms and fists landing painfully on heads.
Currently, they were walking along the border of the outpost, staying close within the boundaries. Sakusen took a breath and grimaced a little. There was still some pain left in his chest, but nowhere near as bad as the first time.
"How did you do it, anyways?" Shisui was glaring suspiciously at him. "The village is locked tight during wartime, and you're literally one of the most protected people in there. You couldn't have gone out by yourself like that without raising the alarm."
Sakusen broke out in a cold sweat. Haori-sensei still wanted her alibi safe, so he had to resort to the old "oh I'm just really good at doing the impossible" excuse, and hope people bought it. Once he'd woken up the second time, he'd recounted his escape tale to his mother and watched as she fell into hysterics. Not at him, but at the gate guards and Jiji.
"Oh, well," he said, scratching the back of his neck and smiling sheepishly, "I pretended to be sick so no one would have to guard me, and I just... snuck out when the gate guards weren't looking?" He fixed his I'm-totally-telling-the-truth face on. Shisui did not relent. This was bad. "So," he said desperately, trying to change the subject, "When did you get the vest? I didn't know you became Chuunin."
Shisui did an abrupt about-face and beamed, fingering the collar of his flak jacket. "Just got it a month ago! Man, I was so nervous during the exams, 'cause you know during wartime, we host our own Chuunin Exams? So everyone knew how I fought, since I was pretty famous in the Academy and in my Genin days. You guys have no idea how happy I was when Sandaime-sama called my name for promotion. After that, I was sent out with my team. My old team," he finished, trailing off awkwardly.
None of them caught Itachi's unreadable glance in their direction. "Hey, Shisui," he said quietly, "What do you think about the war? Why do we have it?"
Both of the boys instantly sobered up. Sakusen felt a little guilty. He never really thought about how Itachi would feel, having to do the same thing he did and watch the same things that he watched. At least he had a weird wolf therapist to knock him out of his thoughts and back on track. Itachi had none of the sort. Well. Probably no one else had a wolf looking after them like he did.
Shisui stood in thought for a moment, then gestured for the boys to follow him. He led them through the camp, past the ninja on break and up the watch tower, where he shouted to the guard on duty. "Hey, Kaiseki! Wanna take a break? I'll take your watch for an hour or two!"
The guard was more than happy to take a break from looking at nothing, and Sakusen and Itachi exchanged glances and shrugged. The small group climbed up to the top, and Sakusen watched as Shisui strode over to the railing and leaned over, sighing against the cool wind.
"C'mere, you guys. Feel this breeze. Isn't it nice? And the sun keeps you nice and warm. The Nara clan have it right. Days like this are to be enjoyed."
Sakusen was the first to come over, and carefully set his right arm against the edge. Itachi followed behind him. Both of them were barely tall enough to reach the edge. But Shisui was right. The wind rippled through his hair like his mother when she ran her fingers through the locks. The sunlight was warm on his face, and he shut his eyes for a moment.
"It's nice," Itachi said pensively. "Yep," agreed Sakusen. Shisui smiled. He had his Sharingan active, and Sakusen didn't think that it was just for surveillance purposes. "Look out there. What do you see?"
Sakusen craned his neck out to look farther. There was nothing but green foliage stretching across the landscape, and at the very edge of the horizon he could see the beginning of the desert to Suna. Even farther away, he could make out the great mountain peaks dotted with white. They seemed as small as pebbles to him, from this distance. The sky was a bright shade of blue, with clouds scattered here and there. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
"It's peaceful, isn't it?" Shisui said. "You guys might not know this, but about a couple of weeks ago, we had a skirmish in this area." He pointed to a blackened patch about half a mile away that Sakusen hadn't noticed before. "Over there, one of my buddies used a Fire Release jutsu, and it scorched some of the trees. And there," he waved his hand towards a treeless clearing, "the Suna-nin we were fighting alongside with used a Wind Release jutsu. Cut down some of the trees there, so it's empty."
The older Uchiha rested both elbows on the railing, red eyes moving everywhere. Like he was memorizing the image, Sakusen realized. "But," he continued, "you wouldn't know that. Not unless you were specifically searching for those signs."
Both of the boys nodded, still a little confused at where Shisui was going with this train of thought. "I think that this picture right here is beautiful. There's no conflict. Sure, there are those subtle signs, but for me, that just adds to the meaning. That before this peace, we had war. And we worked hard to end the war, so we can have days like these, and not have to worry about if we're going to die, or if our comrades are going to die." His voice cracked on the word "comrades," and Sakusen wondered if Shisui had someone that he lost.
"You asked me before, why we have wars. It's simple, really. We don't get along. Different nations have different interests, and sometimes those interests will clash with the interests of another nation. That is the start of all wars." He took a deep breath. "What I believe, is that self sacrifice is the mark of a true shinobi. A nameless nobody, protecting peace from within its shadow. To prevent such wars from happening, and stop them fast if they do. That's my ninja way."
Shisui turned to face them fully, and it was the first time Sakusen had seen him so serious. "I'm not telling you to believe in what I believe in. I'm not telling you to fight for what I fight for. I just used this as an example. You," he punctuated with a poke of his finger to Itachi's forehead, "need to find what you believe in on your own. That's not something I can tell you. But I'll tell you guys this."
Shisui grinned once more, creasing his eyes and giving them a thumbs-up. "I'll always be there for you, like an older brother. And you can count on me. I'll never betray you guys."
Shisui's speech must have stirred something up in Itachi, because until it was time to go, Sakusen rarely saw him venture outside of his room. Only at mealtimes did they see each other, and Itachi's tear-troughs seemed to lengthen over time, giving him a tired appearance. Mikoto-oba would be worried.
Kaa-san was busy, as usual. She was in charge of taking inventory of all material, and her voice could frequently be heard through walls while yelling at others. Every night, they snuggled together in bed, making up for lost time.
Haori-sensei was conspicuously absent for a while, and he thought that she'd gone back alone until Kaa-san had informed him that she was out with the scouting party. He felt genuine pity for any enemy ninja she might stumble across. They wouldn't be making it out in one piece.
The only one he had to talk to was Okami, in his dreams. He had elected to keep his knowledge of his summons a secret, at least until he learned how to actually summon them. He might not be taken seriously, since there was zero proof to back up his claim. Besides, he wanted it to be a surprise. He grinned, imagining the surprise on his parent's and his friend's faces after revealing his new partners.
All too soon, Sakusen found himself packing for the trip ahead. He was slated to reach full recovery and use of his limbs by the end of the month, nearly two weeks away, but the medical ninja had received a surprise when they had scanned him, only to find out that he was already almost fully healed. "Uzumaki tend to heal a bit faster," his mother had said with a frown. "Maybe you inherited the good genes!"
He slumped down on the bed with a sigh. Someone knocked on the door brusquely, and he looked up as it opened to see Haori, back fro her excursions. "Time to go, little warrior. Konoha is waiting, and so is your punishment," she sang out. Much too happily.
"I could be in less trouble if you told them the truth, y'know," he said grumpily. "What happens if I mess up my story? Then they find out you've been lying, too."
"Oh, but you won't mess up," she said, as her eyes shone with a malicious light, "Because if you do, we will be undergoing my extra special training course that I reserve for only the toughest and hardest ANBU I can find."
Sakusen looked down, and Haori frowned when she couldn't get the usual amusing reaction out of him. Why was he moping? It wasn't like he was leaving his only family member be- Oh. "You know," she started with a sly smile, "Kids like you just have to whine a lot about something, and they usually get their way. Especially if they have a mother that hasn't had the chance to dote on them for a while."
He groaned, falling back onto the bed. "Was I that easy to read?" he whined pitifully.
She snorted. "Absolutely. You're no ANBU at hiding emotions. And we're trained to read them. You're an open book. Now, go tell her what you want, before it's too late."
That was Haori-sensei - straight, blunt, and to-the-point. No fucking around, as she put it. But still.
"Won't it be bad if I stay? Because I'm just a burden, aren't I? And I'm a vulnerability if there's an attack."
"What attack?" she asked. "Haven't you heard? You were literally wandering around the whole compound for days on end, and you didn't hear the gossip going around? We need to work on your information gathering skills."
His face morphed into his confused expression. The people talked a lot here, yeah, but it was mostly grown-up stuff, and things he didn't really know about. "Wait," he protested, "I didn't hear anything big, though. What happened?"
"Your dad, kid," she responded with a head-knock, "He killed nearly a thousand Iwa-nin up at the border area. They're all ready to surrender now, we got a team coming in soon with the treaty."
"What? Holy sh-" Sakusen couldn't stop the profanity from coming up, but Haori-sensei beat him to it by literally strangling him with her arms. "Shut the hell up, kid, and don't fucking swear so loud! Kushina's gonna fucking tear me a new one! And as much as I might like the idea on a different day, I don't need a new one!" she scream-whispered, glancing furtively towards the open door.
Sakusen wriggled free like a greased piglet, gasping for air. He wiped his mouth, glaring at his sensei. A familiar smirk crossed his face, and he watched his sensei freeze in place at the sight of his expression. "Well, now," he said, wiping his mouth, "I guess if you don't want her knowing, you owe me a favor, then, right?"
The very same smirk crossed Haori's face, and she leered at him. "Look who's getting all high and mighty? I assure you, any punishment I can dole out to you will be far more worse than what Kushina will do to me. I'm still your appointed sensei, after all. At least you're learning how to blackmail people. Basics of politics and ninja dealings."
He slumped, defeated. "Fine," he muttered, "but are you sure that no one's going to attack? Because I really don't need a repeat of last time."
She waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "Yeah, we got everyone. Why do you think we sent out extra patrols? We needed to clear up the stragglers, so the inside stays safe." Haori clapped her hands excitedly, as if remembering something, and rummaged through her hip-pouch. "Speaking of which, wanna see what we did to them? I have some pictures here. There were a couple enemies left, so we got a bunch of stakes and hung them everywhere like Christmas deco-"
But Sakusen was already long gone at this point, choosing wisely to run out the door and to the outpost entrance. He did not need any more nightmare fuel, thank you very much.
"Where is he?" grumbled Fugaku. "He's late. We're on a tight schedule here. Academy registrations are soon, and I want to enroll Itachi as soon as I can."
Kushina searched the compound, eyes scanning over all the buildings and the doors. Sakusen wasn't that late, Fugaku was just overreacting. Poor Mikoto, how could she stand this ass? She was much too good for him. She deserved much better.
Glancing back, she saw all the Uchiha were looking at her, Itachi excluded, with irritable expressions. Oops, had she said that out loud? She would have to improvise. "Hehe, I mean, Mikoto is such a lucky woman, isn't she?" Fugaku's shoulders relaxed somewhat, but she couldn't resist, and she hit him with her next barb. "Knowing that her son is safe,and not mentally scarred in any way from insensitive acts like bringing him to see the battle."
His scowl returned, and Kushina giggled internally. Okay, maybe he was a little cute when he got all mad. But that was it. No redeeming factors at all.
"If I recall correctly, my son wasn't the only one to be out on the field that day," he countered smoothly. "At least I was making sure that he was safe."
This bitch did not. She would have to give the Sandaime a scolding when she got back. Who in the world lost a kid, for goodness sakes? "Well, my son was able to sneak out from under the Sandaime's watch, and was able to tail your squad completely unnoticed straight to the battlefield. And he killed a Chuunin."
His scowl was back in full force, and Kushina stifled a victory yell. There wasn't any way she would win in an argument with him, especially when his argument did have a kernel of truth to it, but both of them were wisely shying away from the fact that Sakusen was basically raised without parents because they were busy. One of them was doing so because realizing the fact hurt her very much, and the other because he knew how she felt about it, and prodding at that fact would only turn explosive.
"None of us detected a signature in a five-mile radius," he said stiffly, eyes narrowed, "which means he wasn't tracking, he was following the path. It is easy enough for even a toddler to do so. Not to mention, Itachi managed to kill a Chuunin as well."
This guy... "Well, he would have had to plan out and find where you all were going beforehand," she snapped, hair slowly rising. The other Uchiha, including Itachi, slowly started backing away. This conflict could very quickly turn volatile, and none of them wanted to be around to see it. "And," she added viciously, "Sakusen is skilled in kenjutsu!"
"Itachi can throw shuriken and kunai better than genin," Fugaku shot back, arms folded, not budging an inch.
"Sakusen has high chakra levels, more than anyone I've ever seen at that age!" Kushina growled. Her hair was beginning to whip back and forth like demonic tails.
The Uchiha clan head activated his Sharingan. "Itachi has much better control over his chakra!"
"Sakusen can plan out excursions outside the village at his age!"
"Itachi is the most intelligent of all in his age!"
Neither side would budge. Fugaku was much too prideful to back down from a fight, especially one concerning the abilities of his son, and Kushina's temper would keep her going for a while. This was a battle between parents over their precious children. The rest of the squad were reduced to taking cover behind the trees, shaking from the Killing Intent being thrown around.
This was the scene that Sakusen arrived to, huffing and puffing from running all the way. His eyes grew wide. Fugaku's Sharingan was activated, gleaming red and swirling, and Kaa-san's hair was swaying back and forth like tails, and she was giving off a scary red aura. There was only one thing to say here.
Both were so focused in each other that they almost didn't notice the boy shouting at them, and even then it took a couple of moments to process the words.
"Hey! Just fuck already!"
He had no idea what it meant, of course, but Haori-sensei had told him that it tended to break up fights pretty easily. He'd tried it once, on a pair of Chuunin shouting at each other, and both had spluttered incomprehensibly before being broken apart by their grinning Jounin-sensei.
Sakusen was a little confused, though, because Fugaku had an absolutely scandalized look on his face, and Kaa-san looked pretty shocked. But they stopped fighting, right? So it worked?
A choking noise came from behind him, and he whipped around to see Haori-sensei looking like she had just swallowed a frog. He frowned. "Well, you said to use that if two people were fighting, right?"
"Not in front of her," she hissed, "That's a fucking swear word! What did we go over literally a minute ago!"
"That was a swear too?" he asked, bewildered, "I thought because it was in a different context, it meant something different! You use it in so many ways! They can't all mean the same thing!"
Haori was more concerned with the way Kushina was slowly swiveling her head to look at her than shutting Sakusen up. She laughed nervously, patting Sakusen on the head. "Whatever you got to say, kid, say it right fucking now and I mean it." She turned to wave at the previously arguing duo and waved, talking in rapid-fire spurts. "HeygottagoseeyousoonKushi-chaaan!"
Plumes of dust rose down the path as Haori-sensei made the most liberal use of Shunshin he'd ever seen before in his short life. Kushina slowly turned, hair whipping faster than before, and he quickly caught on. He couldn't take kenjutsu classes without a sensei, after all. She owed him a lot after this.
"Hey, Kaa-san?" he called out. The situation was not looking good for Sensei.
"Wait here, Sakusen," she murmured, "I have something to catch right now. I'll be back soon."
"Wait, I want to stay here!" he cried out. "I want to stay at the outpost!"
That got her attention, at least. The red aura settled down, and she did a one-eighty to face him with a guilty look. "Sakusen, I'm sorry, but I can't. I really want to stay with you, but it's just too dangerous out here, and-"
"Why not?" a gruff voice interrupted. A mountain of a man with big, burly arms and shades was standing under the gate to the outpost, leaning against it with his arms crossed, and an amused expression on his face.
"Taicho!" Kushina gasped. "What are you doing out here!"
"Half of my men are complaining about the amount of chakra and Killing Intent you guys are throwing out up here, so I came to check," he said dryly. "The war is almost over, you know that. What's the harm in letting him stay for a while?"
"But, there could still be an attack, and he could get hurt," she whimpered. "I just want him to be safe, until we come back."
"Aww, come on, you think he won't be safe here? He can learn how Shinobi life works, maybe do some work himself. Like an internship," the man cut in. "Besides," he added as an afterthought, "you think he won't be safer here than back at home with that nice sensei of his?"
Kushina hesitated, and Sakusen could clearly see her wavering. All he needed was one last push. It was time to use his secret weapon.
"P-please? I'll be good?" he asked, with big, watery eyes and his hands clasped in front of him.
Kushina caved horribly, bursting into tears right then and there, and bringing Sakusen into a sweeping hug. Out of her line of sight, he grinned at his savior, and Mountain Man lifted his shades briefly to give him a wink. He clapped his hands. "Now that that's settled, we can give you assignments tomorrow. Uchiha Squad, I believe you are free to leave. Sorry for the delay." And with a wave, Mountain Man disappeared back into the compound.
Fugaku seemed more irritated than anything at having to wait for so long, but he dismissed them with a grunt and turned away to leave. Kushina released him, and Sakusen looked back at Itachi and waved, grinning. The Uchiha boy smiled back and waved, then joined the squad in parting ways with the outpost.
Feeling a fist land on his head, he managed to tilt his head up far enough to look into his mother's eyes and her demonic smile. "Now, since we get to spend more time with each other, I think we'll work on curing that cursing habit of yours, hm?" He gulped. Nothing good was promised from that expression.
Omake
Biwako frowned. Something was amiss. Something was definitely not right.
"Hiruzen, where's Sakusen?" she asked, looking around the house.
The Sandaime puffed on his pipe contently, reading his newspaper. "He was sick today, wasn't he? I'm sure he's in his room."
"That's the thing. He's not." Biwako said, going back upstairs to check once more.
It was Hiruzen's turn to frown. That was strange. He was extending his senses, but nothing was registering except for his, his wife's, and the ANBU on guard's signatures. Something was wrong.
Biwako's voice carried from upstairs, as she shouted. "His sword is missing! So is his pack!"
His eyebrows creased, then he relaxed. There was no sign of a struggle, and his ANBU had reported back that Sakusen was well, albeit just a tad nervously. The house was locked, nothing had penetrated the seals, so it was obvious that Sakusen had gone out training. Yes, he nodded sagely, that was it. Sometimes, in life, the simplest solutions were the best and most correct.
Biwako's scream alerted him, and the Sandaime Hokage stood up so fast that his pipe fell out of his mouth and his coffee cup fell over with a crash.
The thumping of feet told him that Biwako was coming, and when she came down, her face was livid. "Look at this," she hissed, shoving a small note in his chest.
Hey there Sandaime-sama~,
Just wanted to let you know that Sakusen may have hightailed it out of the village to chase after that Uchiha kid. I'll go after him, but he's a fast motherfucker, so it could take a while. He might even reach the battlefield if he's lucky. But don't worry, that's a good thing! Because he gets to see what he's up against early! It's like having a cheat sheet to the life of a ninja! Just think of it like this, he'll have an advantage over his classmates! Not saying, of course, that I will let that happen, but on the off chance that this unlikely situation does occur, I'm just informing you of the benefits of this happening. I'll be leaving soon, but he's a slippery one, because, after all, I'm the one who trained him. Wish me luck :).
~Haori
Hiruzen cleared his throat. "Nothing to worry about, I'm sure it's just a joke. She wouldn't let that happen, Haori is one of my most trusted and dependable operatives. He will be back in no time."
Biwako sighed. "If you say so..."
Days later, he was furiously writing a mission prompt for a sensory squad to be sent out on a Search and Rescue mission. Of course, he bemoaned, since when in his life was the solution ever simple?
A/N
Holy crap again I'm reaally sorry for the delay and very annoyed with the way that my computer automatically changes my words into something I didn't mean. Anyways, I gave you all an extra long chapter, plus an omake. I don't know, I have a plan for the omake series later on, but not now, so I will have to work to think of something. I have really fun ideas for the omake in the future, though. Trust me.
Anyways, thanks for sticking with me this far. I know my writing in the beginning chapters is a bit bad, and I will try to remedy that in later chapters. Might go back to fix, might not.
Thanks for reading you guys! Let me know what you think in the reviews please! Thanks to all who have reviewed/followed/favorited thus far, your support is greatly appreciated.