Sasuke Uchiha has been alone for a long time. It was always easy to manage things solo, especially with the long trek he's made in between brief stops to civilization. The last time he had seen a soul was a substantial year, with his departure from his family being even longer. The transportation to various dimensions that he saw during his decade old battle with Naruto against the Rabbit Goddess, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, had ultimately bore little fruit for the amount of time and energy he exerted.
But the information he extracted upon a theory he concocted had led him to find out a chilling truth. There was an enemy far more terrifying in scope that the crazed otherworld traveler had created an army in hopes of suppressing or stopping outright. The White Zetsu were an ultimate trump card, capable of replicating any being's Chakra they came into contact with and able to reproduce via spores with ease. The ultimate shock troops that could have ended the war, had it not been Naruto's use of Nature Chakra through the mastery of the Nine Tail's power.
To need such a force spoke volumes for how threatening Kaguya's enemy may be. He only hoped that the Ninja of the current generation were prepared enough to properly counter this hidden menace without breaking the fabric of peace they worked hard to obtain. Once he found out the identity and location, he knew what he had to do next.
In the midst of his traveling, Sasuke felt something. It was subtle but he noticed a shift of movement along with menacing intent. It reminded him of the few times he felt it as a child when facing the likes of Orochimaru or the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza.
His right exposed eye flashed red with triple tomoe, the Sharingan heightening his visual prowess and searching for Chakra signatures of any kind. Seeing nothing at all lying in the brush of the forest he walked made him feel uneasy. His senses weren't so easily fooled through weariness nor he didn't imagine he had just conjured it from his own mind.
Deactivating it for a second, he tested the waters to see if the menace had truly vanished and let out an audible sigh.
"Just my imagination?" He queried to himself, turning to walk back upon the path.
A sudden sight penetrated his vista before a sound let alone Chakra could be manifested. In the blur of black and grey came a gleaming sliver of light that arched across the air towards the space just above his brow. Relying on his heightened state of awareness and own reflexes he bent backwards, grimacing as he swore the cutting edge of whatever weapon aimed for him had cut through stray bangs of his raven tresses. With his left eye already focused he'd witness a rupturing in the wind coming from the attack's pressure, cutting through the woodland in a loud boom akin to an explosion without flame or seen ignition.
In the middle of his dodge, his right eye reactivated, pinpointing his enemy and locking onto now clearly visible traces of Chakra. In the span of less than seconds he launched a kick from his bent angle to hit his enemy in the side. Feeling it blocked for the most part, he unsheathed his own sword and let loose a Chidori current through it to eviscerate his enemy in a inverted uppercut while busy blocking his leg.
His enemy swiftly jettisoned backwards to avoid the killing stroke, leaving behind a smoking slashed grass hat.
With both eyes focused on his attacker, Sasuke had a good look at the perpetrator. Apart from the muddied, torn grey cloak wrapped around him he could see that his skin was a pale complexion akin to a person who had never seen the light of day. Bandages were wrapped around the majority of his wiry yet defined arms, similarly to his thin toned torso apart from a tight jumpsuit of black that ran down his ankles to bare feet. But above all of that, the most grotesque feature was a number of eye sized metal implants that went from his palms to tops and bottoms of his appendages to run along in a parallel pattern up his chest and rest around his shoulders. Bald he was, he wore a black cloth headband protector with a single solitary scratch across what looked like a musical note on its front; right across his eyes.
"That headband," The Uchiha breathed out with dilating surprise. With his katana still active and bright with Chidori, both of his eyes narrowed towards this unknown enemy with alarmed intensity. "Who are you?!"
Grimly smiling, the sword wielding attacker planted his weapon in the ground and clasped his hands together. To Sasuke's eyes, his Chakra rose dangerously high as it channeled through his arms. The many metal implants opened cylindrical slots and released whistling currents of Nature Transformation that swam around his arms till they were nothing more than blurs. Hooking his thumbs, he'd point his parallel aligned palms as the slots on his palms opened, and fire outward...
...releasing a tumultuous tidal wave of intense screaming pressure that bowled over the earth and raced towards Sasuke in a flash of light!
"This Jutsu-!" His last thoughts of recognition before he became overcome by the destructive power's might.
Chapter 3 - The New Threat
It had been several months since the new generation Team 7 had been officially assigned and passed their Jōnin's test. From that point they were given the usual batch of D-Rank missions. From helping tend gardens, doing household chores, finding missing people and domesticated pets the grind felt tedious to the impressionable Genin. To make up for it, the squad leader had begun teach them advanced lessons about Chakra Manipulation, Nature Transformation and the elements they are most attuned to.
Thus, their repertoire of Jutsu swelled quickly and their ability to use their current techniques were only polished further. The training and progress they made in their own skills was the only thing to look forward to due to the mundane nature of their tasks they were given.
Just like their current mission.
A wild animal had been harassing a trading outpost that doubled as a small village. It was in between Konoha and some other villages in the Land of Fire as a fork in the roads of sorts. With the homes made of humble one story buildings, the trading building was large and took up a quarter of the location's space up to two and a half stories tall. Given that they focused mostly on trade, bartering and housing people in a humble inn adjoined to the main structure, it was rare for them to deal with anything outside of their expertise.
That was, until a giant panda began assaulting caravans that led up to its discovery of the small village. They tried using crude weapons and fire, but that only served to anger the creature, heavily injuring anyone who attempted to get in its way. Realizing this was a job for ninja, they called Konoha and Konohamaru's team was tasked with dealing with this local menace.
After a brief talk with the client, they gathered evidence in its most recent rampage where it could be located. They found it, looking to harass some girl around the Genin's age, with red braided twin-tails with green eyes and a lavender dress with a beige apron and simple sandals. On her haunches she attempted to crab walk away from it, but ended up putting her back against a large stone near the bushes she was picking. The savage beast was snarling, drooling with fangs bared as it squashed her spilled berry picked basket.
"H-Help me," She quietly whispered out, watching the panda raise a scarred paw above its head. When it swung down, she let out a terrified scream. "HELP ME!"
The paw crashed down with surprising force, smashing the stone as if it was made of plaster. In the smoke cloud that blew back, it'd notice that its offender wasn't there. Looking around, he heard a loud whistling sound. Turning to look around it'd catch sight of Sakuya, waving at the beast.
"Hey! Come and get it, big and ugly!" She mocked with a immature flip-off towards the animal. Whether it understood or not, the shouts and gestures were enough to make it turn around and stampede with surprising speed. Leaping out of the way at the last second, she dashed and skipped away with bulging eyes as the monster continued to leave c raters behind every impact of its large paws. "BORUTO! IT'S HOT ON MY TAIL!"
Sarada, having rescued the child, raced as far as she could to put distance from the ferocious animal and the girl. Finding a shaded tree not far away she told the little girl not to wander off so she could make her dash back to her team.
A loud boom was heard, making her gawk at the sight of the giant panda being sent hurdling into the sky. When her eyes fixed on what sent it soaring was she witnessed a pair of clapped hands with a back sprawled Boruto. The only conclusion she could come up with was that he slid underneath the mammal and used Wind Release, Gale Palm.
"He sent that big thing flying that high?!" Sarada thought with disbelief, knowing that the young Uzumaki had only learned his Element Affinities a month or so ago. To have developed the Jutsu she saw him practicing to this level was incredible, even compared to her own level of prodigious expertise.
Watching him summon three Shadow Clones, they'd throw him like a bullet straight towards the now falling panda. Pulling back his palms, curling the fingers back, he'd heel thrust straight into the creature's chest with a thunderclap. With spit spewing from the eye rolling monster of an animal, Boruto flipped back to free fall with the now unconscious panda.
"I got ya!" The Boruto Clones shouted to the main body; only to be body slammed from the fall, making Boruto groan at the collision. Rubbing himself, he sighed at the soreness he felt. A looming shadow came over him, making him look up and hiccuped with surprise to see Sakuya's hand reaching out for his; while holding the behemoth beast over her head.
"Need a hand?" She asked cheekily at having caught the beast with relative ease.
Taking the hand with a lopsided grin, he chuckled as he was hefted up to his feet. Looking up at the smelly panda drooling unconsciously in an upside down limp posture. Shaking his head he gave his teammate a look of incredulous near disbelief.
"Geez, here I thought I was the show-off in getting that sweet hang time. But there you go, catching it as if it weighed like a backpack," Boruto complimented with a giggle, making Sakuya laugh on her own.
"When you go through my mom's strength training, you find it less demanding to lift big guys like this," The silver haired girl remarked, pumping her arm a few times to demonstrate her muscles at work in keeping it over her head.
"What do you plan on doing with it?" Sarada chimed in, making both nearly jump at her quiet entry to their midst.
Sighing, Sakuya looked back up at the animal with realization, "Well, we'll take it back to show the village we dealt with it. I'm sure there's some reserve or shelter that takes in these wild animals. It could've gotten lost or got driven out of its original habitat. Look how scarred up the poor thing is."
"Yeah, but it probably would've hurt that kid if it had the chance," Boruto mumbled, making the girls look awkward at that mentioning. Looking at Sarada, he remembered the child she rescued. "Where is she?"
"I told her to stay put till it was safe. I'll go back and make sure she can make it home," She remarked, already turning on her heels to disappear in a whizzing blur.
Just when they decided to go back to the village that hired them, they were startled by a instantly arriving Konohamaru. With Sakuya almost dropping the unconscious animal as she caught her breath back, Boruto pointed accusingly at his mentor.
"Hey, don't sneak up on us like that!"
"I wasn't. I just came by to tell you I watched you deal with the 'monster problem' as the locals put it," He grinned broadly with pride, giving them a thumb's up while propping his other hand on his side. "Once we go report to them and collect the reward, we'll make sure to drop our friend off in a forest clear of any nearby settlements. It should be fine not that far away from Konoha; meaning we can report to Lord Nanadaime!"
The arrangement made sense, but only a pair had extreme reactions. One Boruto looked immediately dour while Sarada looked elated. The Uchiha always liked the fatherly attitude he seemed to exude every time she managed to talk to him, whether in the couple private times or in person. She had gathered information about her father and her yearning to finally meet him, for better or worse, had grown so much her heart ached.
The Uzumaki, however, couldn't care less of seeing what he considered to be a deadbeat dad.
Sakuya saw this in Boruto right away, and tried to avoid the meeting with an inquiry to their team leader.
"Um, Sensei Konohamaru," She began, looking a bit nervous, averting her gaze from her blonde friend in case he'd think she was doing this to pity him. "Couldn't you just deliver your report alone? It'll be quite the walk there and I think we can all use a brief rest before we're given our next assignment or whatever training you have cooked up for us."
Exhaling coolly, Konohamaru's smile vanished and it became a knowing look of neutrality that told her he knew her intent, even if his words didn't confirm it. "Sorry, but the Hokage has to address all Shinobi and Kunoichi that go to assigned missions directly. You know breaking protocol will get not just me but the rest of your team in trouble."
"Alright," Sakuya groaned out, barely turning her head to see a morose Boruto, unable to tell if he noticed her feeble attempt to help him out.
"Hey, it's fine. I'll make sure if we have no assignments to give you the day off," Konohamaru reassured them with a uplifting grin.
"Yeah, doesn't that sound like fun," The Hokage's son droned out, making both girls turn to look at each other with worry. Even as the Jōnin did his best to ignore the obvious cloud over one of his Genin's head, there was an obvious feeling of repressed feelings that emanated from their teammate. It was the squad leader's faint hope that he'd keep his lips sealed and try to act decent in front of his father.
Of course, that was never going to happen...
"Why won't you?!" Boruto shouted with indignation, making his three other companions immediate grimace with reflexive embarrassment.
"Boruto, you know why," Naruto exasperatedly replied to his son. The day was nearing its end, and the light was dim in his eyes. He had commented on a television interview, helped carry out nearly forty five tasks in Konoha alone and then participated in some recon missions to help give some Jōnin time off this weekend. All of that was recently completed, culminating in some accumulated stress that was only magnified by his oldest child's rebellious antics; antics he had no time or desire to deal with at the moment. "We're at peace, so the missions you keep requesting don't exist. Even if they were, all of our older and more experienced Ninja are dealing with it. So if you'd just take what you can get, you'll eventually be good enough to gradually make your way up the ranks-"
"But I can do so much more!" The Uzumaki desperately exclaimed with beaming eyes and a smile that hurt his father inside. His hands moved to various signs, making him furrow his brows quizzically as he explained. "I can already use Wind, Lightning and Water Release! Even learning to use Chakra Nature Transformation! I'm so much better than you think I am!"
Breathing through his nostrils, Naruto looked skeptically at Konohamaru who immediately looked sheepish in his usually disarming grinning visage, "Konohamaru, what have you been teaching these three? This kind of training is far too advanced for Genin who only graduated a few months ago."
"Uh, sorry, but most of them already know more or less the basics with Chakra control and standard low level Jutsu," Konohamaru defended, trying to reason with his old friend and rival, with nervous hand movements to emphasize. "They're not run-of-the-mill Ninja who just graduated. They're cream of the crop, and I think they could stand to at least be sent out to C or even B level missions. If I'm around, even an A-Rank mission could be a piece of cake for us if our teamwork has been solid, which it HAS!"
"You know there's a reason why we don't rush things, right?" Shikamaru intervened, having stayed to the side of Naruto's paper piled desk. His own look of worry creased over his face as he argued for his superior's sake to the leader of the three impressionable Genin. "Humility and wisdom is obtained through steady progress. If even the most skilled of graduates are given difficult assignments, they will have no appreciation for being submitted mundane tasks or even have patience for ones that demand such a virtue. I can only imagine what would happen if Lord Nanadaime had been put into such a situation that you're wanting to give his son and his teammates-"
Coughing aloud, a slightly ruffled Naruto scratched his neck while shaking his head at his adviser. Watching him resign, the Hokage looked back at the four, especially at a depressed Boruto. A part of him remembered his own impatient yelping for a mission to prove himself and get affirmation.
Closing his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose with his right bandaged set of fingers while speaking to his son, "I'll see if there's a B-Rank mission in need of someone deserving of such skill, if what you and your superior just said. How does that sound?"
"Hope it doesn't put you out too much," Boruto sourly replied, turning his head and casting a glare at nothing in particular. Doubt was in his words and that only made Naruto feel hurt further inside.
If only to make things detour from the current train wreck of emotions, Sarada spoke up and earned Naruto's immediate attention.
"U-Um, L-Lord Hokage," She stuttered out, looking up with a blush of bashfulness spread across her face. "I-I was wondering...w-would it be possible if you could tell me if my father is coming back to the Village soon?"
An expectant look of wonderment was shared by Sakuya, keenly interested on the mysterious Sasuke Uchiha she had heard a lot about. The Hokage seemed to gain a far-off look in his eyes, as if he was wondering the same thing. Licking his lips he turned to look out the window and sigh as he turned his chair to face that direction.
"Who knows?"
Those two words were enough to make Sarada's hopes become dashed. She wanted something more concrete, or even some lingering sign that he could be here. Every day that passed made her wonder if she'd ever meet the man that was called her father. Gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, she turned to walk out suddenly, making the Jōnin call out for her.
"S-Sarada! We're not done-"
A opening of the door followed by it slamming, making the adult Sarutobi wince at the harsh departure.
"No, we are done," Naruto concurred, turning to clasp his hands into a bridge to be placed before his face. Stoically looking forward at all three, he intoned out loud in a diplomatic tone only someone of his position could have gained. "You're all dismissed until called upon again."
"T-Thank you, Lord Hokage," Konohamaru bowed apologetically and with understanding. With Sakuya likewise bowing and Boruto turning his back with a growl, the blonde found himself quickly walking out ahead of the other two. Once they exited, Konohamaru couldn't help but exasperatedly sigh. "That could've gone better..."
"Yeah, you can say that again," Sakuya said, following up with her turning to raise a hand of objection as her Jōnin jokingly tried to do so. When he relinquished, she noticed Boruto just lean against the hallway wall not far where Sarada had slumped down into a knee folded sitting position. She could practically taste disappointment it was so strong in the air.
"Well," Konohamaru lamely continued, walking past them to excuse himself from the otherwise saddened group of Genin. "I'll postpone any activities I had in mind today. Just get some rest and wake up early. We'll be having some new training, and it'll be advanced, per the usual," Turning to wink at Boruto and Sarada, he at least saw a hint of hope in their eyes that tomorrow would bear fruit of something positive. Waving back at Sakuya, he smiled sincerely at the Hatake Kunoichi. "See ya around!"
Leaving in a blink, it left Sakuya to fend for herself when it came to cheering them both up. She was beside herself at what to say, or what to tell them. She knew that the likelihood her words could get through to them was less than likely, but she couldn't just abandon them to their own wallowing in self pity.
"Think, Sakuya! There has to be SOMETHING!" She groaned as she slapped her cheeks and closed her eyes, fierce with concentration.
While she stood in the middle of the Hokage Mansion hallway, she was unfortunately in the path of a running messenger. One of the hawk trainers whose duty was to keep the rarely used form of discreet communication between Villages and field agents, especially of the past. Shoving past her, she stumbled over and looked with angered disbelieve over her shoulder.
When he entered the doorway and closed it behind him, she huffed out loud with indignation, "Jerk! He could've at least tried to know I'm standing here. What kind of message is so important to run into me for?!"
Secret message was something that popped into both Sarada and Boruto's minds. It was one of the few things that the two really had in common. A side of mischief that they could collaborate on was finding things out they weren't supposed to. When both previously down Genin looked at each other, a slight smile worked its way on each other's faces and the pair scrambled on all fours past a bewildered Sakuya in a comical fashion.
Tip-toeing after them, she didn't have time to holler at their foolishness when they both pulled her down to their level to listen in. It was to their benefit that the door hadn't fully closed and a crack allowed them to hear and somewhat see into the office.
"...t's strange. Sasuke's still using the old system," Naruto spoke as he began unraveling a scroll. "Guess he gets no coverage where he goes, so grabbing a cell would be pointless."
"Is it another report?" Shikamaru had asked while tentatively leaning over to read for himself.
"No, it's...a request to meet with him. Alone," Narrowing his eyes, he read it over a few more times just to be sure. Sounding more serious than Boruto or the other two had heard him before, he stood upright and rolled the scroll up, handing it to Shikamaru. "Says he can't wait long and that he's not too far away. Guess he kept the message vague so that anyone intercepting it couldn't find out what he learned. Probably safer this way."
"Is it related to Kaguya?" Shikamaru inquired with curiosity, examining the scroll for a second before looking back up at Naruto.
"Don't know. Guess I'll find out tomorrow," He stroked his chin, thinking hard about the possible scenarios this entailed. Grinning, he looked over at his adviser with a definite sign of excitement. "But still, it's been a few years since I last saw the guy. It'll be cool to see him again!"
"Heh, I'm sure it will be," His old friend smiled wryly. Dipping into an air of caution, however, he spoke lowly as he motioned for the messenger to be dismissed. "Be careful. We don't know what he may be up against, if he's got his back against the wall."
"Don't worry," Naruto lowered his voice, pointing his thumb at his heart. "If Sasuke and I team up, there's no way we can lose!"
The Genin had scrambled as quickly as they could before the door opened again. Launching up into the ramparts of the hallway ceiling to let the messenger past underfoot, a sense of thrilling urgency was met. Sakuya already knew what Sarada wanted to do before she looked up at her as she looked to Boruto and her with conviction in her eyes.
"That settles it," She whispered. "Tomorrow, we're going to find my dad."
"Well, I won't let you do it alone," Sakuya promised, already knowing convincing her otherwise would be foolish. Earning a smile from the Uchiha Kunoichi, they both looked at Boruto. With mixed feelings on the matter, she knew that a part of him wanted to go while the other didn't want to be near his dad after what happened earlier. "Well? Coming with, partner?"
"Tch, as if I'd let you two have all the fun," He nodded, grinning with anticipation of his own. "Gotta say, I'm curious to see what your dad is like. I don't know much about him so it'll be cool to see what he's like."
"Then we're all in agreement," Sarada confirmed with a serious expression, keeping the topic serious. "We'll wake up early and wait near the Village gate, follow Lord 7th to wherever he plans to meet him."
"You got it!" The silver haired Kunoichi answered audibly while Boruto nodded.
"Great," Sarada smiled, glad to have support from her team. "Let's get some rest. I get the feeling we may be in for a long journey."
As the three dropped down and ran off, Sakuya couldn't help that someone was listening in. Even as she confirmed with her senses and her eyes that no one was around when they ran off she couldn't help it. Either way, they were far too committed to back down now.
Whatever happened tomorrow, they were going to see it through to the end, no matter how much trouble may await them.
A/N: And finished! Whoo boy, what a way to start a new year, right?
A new enemy who ISN'T who you think attacks Sasuke! With Naruto being informed by his old friend about something urgent, what could this information be that not even a discreet message could relay? What has our absent Uchiha discovered that he needs to speak with the Hokage about in person? Whatever it may be, Team 7's Genin are determined to find out in the next Chapter of The Evening Saga!
For those who continually follow my story, for some reason, and have a problem with the origin of it, please educate yourself below.
Extra Note: Okay, I didn't think I needed to defend myself writing a fictional piece as a fan, but here we go. I wrote the original story this is hinged on, "A New Beginning," as a nice AU One-Shot story for a friend. I wasn't originally all for the idea of Kakashi and Sakura being coupled together, but after I wrote it, I loved the end result. This doesn't mean I prefer other pairings from canon, far from it, I genuinely enjoy the original story. This is just me taking an original concept and taking it on a ride. This isn't me trying to vicariously live out my fantasies through a false pairing that never happened in the source material. So anyone who thinks to accuse me of being 'delusional' or seemingly out of my mind by writing this, I'm not. I'm writing this for recreational purposes, not to get me off on the idea Sakura and Kakashi banged in another timeline of my making. So for those who continue to post Reviews with nothing but slander and hate in them, please leave your problems at the preview area and DON'T bother reading.