Trouble
In Amegakure, the sound of rain ripples through a massive tower structure and the footsteps of shinobi wearing the amegakure hitai-ate. His eyes darted around the area cautiously before a figure out of paper was created in front of him, his eyes widened as the paper wrapped around him. Engulfing him completely.
The figure of a woman whose legs has yet to be formed appeared, she raised a hand of paper and a spear formed, the spear launched itself at the mummified shinobi before his shadow lifted from the group and launched a fireball at the woman, making her retreat a few steps back.
The man was freed and he fell to his knees, gasping for air. His shadow got on his feet and materialized into a man with spiky white hair and a lethal looking ponytail. "So it was you after all, Konan" said Jiraiya.
The woman whom Jiraiya called Konan nodded her head "Jiraiya-sensei" she greeted.
Back in Konoha
It's been almost a month since Itachi and Jiraiya left for their mission and Sasuke is forced to hone his skills with Naruto. "Rasengan!"
Naruto launched himself like a rocket at Sasuke, who flipped backwards to avoid contact. Naruto's attack was directed to the ground, creating a massive crater. Amidst the smoke, Naruto coughed and swatted his hand to try and blow away some of the smoke before his eyes widened and he ducked his head slightly and lifted a hand up to catch Sasuke's fist.
He pulled back on the raven and flung him off then leaping after him. Sasuke threw a series of shuriken at the incoming Naruto which was knocked off by the blonde's kunai. Sasuke pulled his body back and flipped, landed on a hand, throwing a raid of kunais at Naruto's feet that just landed with his free hand before pushing back up with his other hand and flipping over once again.
Naruto manages to maneuver away from the kunai and summon his clones "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"
Sasuke watched as a whole army of Narutos surrounded him. He grabbed his kusanagi and activated his sharingan when they all charged at him at once. First he took out ones in the front with a swing of his kusanagi "Chidori Senbon!"
Amegakure...
Jiraiya and Itachi stood limply on their feet, panting as they were surrounded by five different Pain, all had orange hair and the Rinnegan. Itachi winced an eye, he wiped the blood that roll down his cheek from his eye. "It's okay, Itachi. You can turn off your Mangekyou" said Jiraiya. Itachi chuckled "After all that we've only managed to take out one of them, I don't think we can let up yet. Jiraiya-sama" he said.
"Whether you give in or not does not make a difference, you both are going to die here" said the Deva path, he jumped and Jiraiya's eyes widened, he pushed Itachi out of the way and plunged the biggest rasengan he could muster upwards, meeting the palm of the Deva path. Every bit of earth had been blown away, leaving only the water underneath. The Asura path leapt at Jiraiya, ready to plunge a spear through him as his other part kept him busy.
However he was intercepted by Itachi as the latter slammed down on him with Susanoo's sword of Totsuka. The Asura path backed down only to come back with a raid of saws shooting at Itachi who was standing in Susanoo, controlling it.
With a simple swing, Itachi managed to destroy most machinery parts of the Asura path, Itachi's vision throbbed and he struggled to maintain the Susanoo, the Animal path summoned a multi headed demon dog, it charged and rammed into the back of the Susanoo, causing Itachi to jerk forward in surprise, he panted before swinging around to bring around Susanoo's sword when he stopped dead in its track as two of the demon dog's head had bitten into Susanoo's forearm.
Itachi struggled, despite his blurred vision he spotted the Asura path launching a load of missiles at him, he lifted his elbow to bring down Susanoo's shield, the Yata Mirror. The shield successfully blocked the missiles from going through. However he was at a loss when the Preta path caught him off guard and his palms came in contact with Susanoo's ribcage and he begins to absorb it.
Susanoo began to fade and the Asura path launched another attack, a long saw like tail launched at the Susanoo's chest aiming straight at Itachi, and this time. It got through.
Itachi had a 5 millimeter thick saw plate stuck in his abdomen. He grunted in pain as the Asura path lifted him with the saw tail and threw him off like a toy. His back was slammed against the wall, leaving a trail of blood on the wall. Jiraiya cried out and Itachi opened his eyes, struggling to get back on his feet, except he couldn't.
One of the paths had pinned him to the wall like a butterfly with chakra rods. Stabbing through his shoulders. Jiraiya and Fukasaku were crushed on a piece of ground, Jiraiya was already unable to move, his fingers twitched and then his eyes widened.
Five rods stuck through his back disabled his movement and soon enough, his heart was just going to stop beating. His empty eyes looked up to meet Itachi's, the men had their moment of telepathic communication and Itachi's body went limp. They had both found out something that was relevant information to fight Pain, now they just needed to get the message to Konoha. The Sannin tried to inform Fukasaku in words but he realizes that his throat had been crushed. Jiraiya's fingers twitched then his hand, it took awhile before his arm was able to move. He lifted a shaking finger towards Fukasaku, the elderly toad got what he meant and immediately relieved himself from his cloak and allowed the Sannin to convey the message through him.
Jiraiya lit his finger with destructive chakra and began to write on the toad's back. The elderly toad held himself back from squirming as the pain rang throughout his small body.
Soon enough, the remaining five paths realized that they had unfinished business and immediately turned back. The Asura path lifted his arm as he jumped down, six missiles were fired at Jiraiya who's hand had just ceased moving. Fukasaku prepared to unsummon himself when his head snapped around, eyes widened at the incoming missiles.
Someone shot out and snatched him away from the fire blast faster than the missiles could move. The earth platform on the water was destroyed and so was most of Jiraiya's sinking body. Air bubbles left his mouth the side of his lips twitched into a smile.
The true measure of a shinobi is not how he lives but how he dies. It's not what they do in life, but what they did before dying that proves their worth. Thinking back of it, my story is one full of failures. Tsunade rejected me every time. I couldn't save my friend, I failed to protect my student… and my teacher. Compared with the Hokages who came before me, my accomplishments have all been petty and insignificant. I wanted to die like them…
There, that ending… was a little better. The frog at the bottom of the well drifts off into the great ocean. Heh heh… yup… pretty damn honourable… pretty damn honourable… I guess it's time to put down my pen. Right… I need a title for the next book… let's see… Ah, got it… "The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki"… perfect.
Heh... I'm cool aren't I, Tsunade. I bet you regret rejecting me all these years... Naruto, I'm sorry I wasn't able to see you become Hokage. I'm happy to have been your mentor and I know you'll do me proud.
You be good now... Naruto.
...
Naruto stumbled and his rasengan missed Sasuke by a long shot, Sasuke immediately swung a kick which collided with the blonde's stomach. "What are you day dreaming at, Idiot" said Sasuke, approaching Naruto's fallen figure. Naruto got up and rubbed the back of his head, wincing. "Geez, can't you pull your kicks a little, Sasuke." said Naruto. Sasuke raised an eyebrow "I already did" said Sasuke. Naruto gave him a look and then narrowed his eyes "Now you're just showing off" said Naruto.
"You just don't want to admit that you got your ass kicked by a half-ass kick" said Sasuke. "You'll be licking my shoes when I'm done with you!" snapped Naruto, both guys drew their kunai, ready to kill the other when Hinata appeared, running towards them. "N-Naruto-kun! Sasuke-k-kun!" she stammered, half panting. "I-Itachi-san just came back from his mission" said Hinata.
Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other then back at Hinata "So?" they said in unison. Hinata's face fell and she swallowed "He's dying"
Sasuke felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him, every muscle in his body ceased to move. Not even capable of a twitch. "Where's ero-sennin?" said Naruto. Hinata shook her head "I only saw Itachi-san and Fukasaku-sama"
"Let's go" said Naruto, Hinata nodded and they started off towards the village, after a few steps Naruto looked back to see Sasuke still frozen on the spot. "Sasuke!" he yelled and snapped the raven-head out of his thought, He turned his head to look at Naruto. "Let's go"
When they reached the hospital, they found Kakashi, Shino and Kiba standing outside the emergency room, apparently squadron 8 had just returned from a mission with Kakashi as their jounin supervisor when they stumbled into Fukasaku and Itachi at the entrance of Konoha.
They arrived but no one said a word. Kakashi's eye immediately fell on Sasuke and before he could speak, he cut him off "Sakura and Tsunade-sama are doing everything they can" basically he just answered the question that Sasuke didn't dare to ask.
Inside the operation room, it was chaos. There were a total of three nurses running around, sterilizing equipment and bringing in fresh water. Even with both Tsunade and Sakura performing a full body restoration on Itachi, they were losing him. for some reasons their chakra couldn't be channeled into Itachi properly.
"Tsunade-sama-" Sakura was cut off by Tsunade "Yeah, I noticed it too. I can't find what's disturbing the flow either" said Tsunade. "If we can find it then I can save him with my Pure Resurrection Technique." said Sakura. "We just have to do what we can to stop his pulse from dropping" said Tsunade.
The monitor beeped and flashed urgently, Tsunade's head snapped toward it before cursing under her breath. "Sakura! Chakra Defibrillation now!" the older medic shouted. Sakura's eyes glanced at the monitor and she quickly moved her hands to Itachi's chest, building up chakra in her palms then pressing down all at once.
"Don't die now, Itachi-san" she muttered, pressing down again. Itachi's body jerked. "Another transfusion!" Tsunade shouted. Sakura bit down on her lip and she pumped even harder "Don't give up, Sasuke's waiting for you" Sakura breathed helplessly.
"He still needs you" she said, her fingers were beginning to tremble. It was then she noticed that the only wound that wasn't closing was his left shoulder would that had been punctured by a large rod. Sakura took a pair of forceps and began to inspect the wound under deeper observation, she realized that there was a small shard the size of a bullet still lodged in the wound, she suspected that it was the cause of the chakra disturbance.
"Sakura! What are you doing!" Tsunade yelled at her. Sakura inspected the piece of black material "I found it, it was a piece of chakra rod" said Sakura, she practically threw aside the tray holding the forceps and the chakra rod shard.
Just when she had placed her hand back on Itachi's chest. The beep went monotone, Tsunade's eyes widened "Shit" Sakura grasped herself back and released her kaiho, the a whirlwind started in the room, the nurses flinched, one of them dropped the tray she was holding. Tsunade blocked her face with a blood stained hand, she took a look at Sakura.
She was too stressed, the technique wasn't going to work. Her chakra levels were dangerously low. Too low to complete the technique. "Sakura! Don't do it, your chakra levels are too low!" Tsunade yelled.
Sakura didn't give in, Tsunade knew it was useless to convince her. She was her student after all. She stepped up to Itachi's cold body and placed her hand on top of Sakura's. Even with Tsunade's help, Sakura wasn't able to complete the technique, Itachi's body was at a limit. Sakura couldn't push anymore chakra into his body or else it would kill him for real.
Sakura's hands trembled as she stood like a statue looking over Itachi's body. Eyes widened and her chest heaving, his body heat was gone.
His body wounds have all closed up, all that's left were the scars. Sakura's eyes glimmered with tears that clung on her eyes "Please... come back"
Tsunade looked at Sakura with sympathy, her eyebrows furrowed with disappointment as she was present when he died. The pink haired medic dropped to her knees as she placed her forehead on her hands that clung onto the side of the operation table and sobbed "You guys were going to visit your parents... together"
How was she going to face Sasuke now?
Sakura suddenly felt warmth from Itachi's body and the color returned to his face. She looked at the monitor, it was jammed. One of the nurses had spilled a tray of sterilizing water onto the wires. Sakura had to check his pulse manually to confirm that he was alive. "H-He has a pulse" she stammered.
Tsunade let out a sigh of relief as a smile was plastered on her face. The nurses eyes lit up from the news. Tsunade placed her hand above Itachi's head, green chakra glowing for a few moments before she removed it "He's in a coma, but he'll live" she said.
Sakura wasn't sure if Sasuke was going to be okay with the result, which brought her back to her previous worry. Was he going to snap at her for failing to bring back his brother completely?
Tsunade moved to the door and slid it open, revealing the eager eyes of their fellow shinobi. There was a pause where no one dared to say anything. "He lives"
The wave of relief hit them hard as tensed shoulders drooped and eager eyes were replaced with twinkling eyes. Sasuke felt like he had lost 5 years of his life, when his brother wakes up. He was going to beat the shit out of him.
He noticed that Sakura wasn't coming out, was she okay? He looked over at Tsunade and she didn't seem that happy either. "Where's Sakura" he spoke. Tsunade met his eyes "She's cleaning up" she said. "I'm here" said a breathless voice.
Tsunade turned back to look at her student then stepped aside. Sakura looked heavy, her hands were stained with Itachi's dried up blood. The light in her eyes faded and her body fell "I'm sorry... Sasuke"
Sasuke's eyes widened, his body moved on his own. Just barely managing to catch Sakura, panicking again. He looked at Tsunade with frantic eyes. Tsunade checked Sakura's pulse and breathing "She's alright, just exhausted" she said. There was a soft groan, Sasuke looked down at Sakura as she buried her face into his chest "I'm sorry..." she muttered again.
"Why are you apologizing for...?"
Tsunade cut in "Uchiha Itachi's life is stable, but he's under a coma that requires him to be living under life support permanently until further notice"
"Isn't there something you can do for him? Inject him with something?" asked Naruto. "It's not that simple, Naruto. When the time comes, he'll wake up on his own. But that could be years from now" said Tsunade.
Kakashi placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "You should bring her to an empty ward, we'll continue this conversation later" he said. Sasuke nodded and brought a hand under Sakura's knee and lifted her. Tsunade showed him to an empty ward, she went to wash up her hands as she left Sakura with Sasuke.
Sasuke filled a basin with water and dipped a cloth in, he lifted one of her hands and began to wipe her delicate fingers clean. Her hands were so small in his, he smirked then lifted her hand to his lips and placing a kiss on her knuckles. "Thank you" he mumbled into her hand.
He put her hand back down next to her and brought the basin to the sink, pouring away the diluted water then stepping out of the room where Kakashi, Naruto and Tsunade were standing outside. They looked at him with expectant eyes "She's asleep now"
Sasuke looked at Tsunade "Where was my brother assigned to" his voice was demanding and his eyes were fierce. "And where's ero-sennin" asked Naruto. Tsunade let out a breath "Jiraiya and Itachi were assigned to infiltrate Amegakure as Jiraiya claimed he had discovered the Akatsuki leader's whereabouts so I assigned Uchiha Itachi to accompany him" said Tsunade.
"A-Akatsuki's leader...?!" stammered Naruto. "Then that means Jiraiya-sama is-" Kakashi cut himself short. "I'm afraid I can't tell you what happened in there, but he can" Tsunade looked over her shoulder and Fukasaku jumped out from nowhere.
The elderly frog looked around, familiarizing himself with everyone's faces. "At first Jiraiya-chan's intention was to just gather information, not to fight Pain. However, Pain's abilities were far beyond anything we had imagined. As long as we don't know the extent of his powers, no one stands a chance against him. Still, Jiraiya-chan went out of his way to gather what little information he could get out of fighting Pain. Even with Uchiha Itachi there, they didn't stand against Pain. Pain possesses the Six paths of the Rinnegan. When they were left to die, rather than giving up. Jiraiya-chan gathered the last of his energy to leave this code behind" Fukasaku pulled away his cloak, revealing his small back, encrypted with a bunch of numbers.
"In the end he was found out and the Six paths of Pain came back to finish us off, if it weren't for the Uchiha boy, I would've been done in"
Naruto's eyes were widened, his fist clenched white and shaking as he dared himself to ask "S-So Ero-sennin... he's..." his voice trailed off. Fukasaku turned his head to glance at Naruto "You must be his apprentice... I'm sorry" he said. Naruto took a step back "No..." his voice was shaky "NO!" he shouted. His voice echoed throughout the hall.
Everyone was looking down, mourning the death of the Sannin. Tsunade's teeth was clenched, tears clung on to her eyes, threatening to fall.
"Did you let him go, baa-chan?" Naruto muttered. Tsunade closed her eyes then looked up to face him "That's right" her voice didn't waver. "Why did you let him go...? You knew Ero-sennin better than anyone! How could you let him go to such a dangerous place!?"Naruto's voice got louder as he shouted at the hokage.
Sasuke placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder "Itachi was there too, Naruto. If both of them together didn't stand a chance, Konoha is in danger. They're coming for you next" said Sasuke. "We need to find out what that code stands for" said Kakashi.
Naruto jerked off Sasuke's hand and stormed off.
They watched his back grow smaller and smaller down the hallway. "He must've been really close to Jiraiya-chan" said Fukasaku. "He's Uzumaki Naruto, he wanted Jiraiya to see him become Hokage" said Tsunade, she sniffed and tried to shrug off any signs of weakness "Kakashi, get that code photographed and have Shikamaru and the Cryptanalysis squad working on this" said Tsunade. "Right"
"This way, Fukasaku-sama" Kakashi approached Tsunade and the elderly toad jumped onto his shoulder.
Tsunade turned to face Sasuke "Watch over Sakura, Sasuke. She's going to have to know." said Tsunade. Sasuke nodded.
...
Naruto ran out the hospital, stumbling out the front door. Hinata was waiting for him, looking at him anxiously. He gave her a sad look before he disappeared into the village tops. She stood there, not sure whether to go after him or give him his space.
Naruto spent the whole day locked up in his apartment, he ignored everyone that knocked on his door. They must've heard the news and came to cheer him up but he refused to be cheered up, he couldn't find the energy in him to do anything. All he wanted to do was to lay in bed all day and wake up the next day to have someone tell him that he was just having a bad dream.
However a small part of him had already accept the fact that he will never be able to see his mentor again. All those times that perverted sage dragged him to peek at the women's bath claiming it was to hone his presence concealing technique or it was to 'gather data'
But the only thing they ever gathered were a mob of angry, violated women.
The first time they met, the first thing he told him was-
"I'm not a pervert... I'm a super pervert!"
The time when he cheered him up when he was doubting the meaning of existence, and the place he can call home.
"They say wherever someone is thinking of you, that place is your home"
His thoughts were interrupted when Shikamaru knocked on his window and gestured him to come out. Naruto ignored him initially, till the lazy genius let himself in from the unlocked window. "Naruto" he began. "That code Jiraiya-sama left for us, we can't solve it without some sort of key. We need your help" said Shikamaru.
Naruto's eyes were lifeless, he hadn't seen a Naruto without energy before and it was freaking him out. Shikamaru sighed "Look, I know you're shaken up at the loss of your teacher. I know how it feels" he said, recalling that brief moment when he feel a world of grief rushing up his whole being when he watched the light from Asuma's eyes fade. "You want revenge, more than anything. But bear in mind that that it won't bring him back, you're just going to end up feeling shittier about yourself"
Naruto's eyes, still lifeless, looked up at Shikamaru as if expecting something to happen. "Think about it, when you have your answer try and come over to the library to help out with the decoding. You might know something"
Shikamaru showed himself to the door and left.
...
The day passed and it was already dusk. Tsunade was just finishing off the last of the paperwork, she handed it to Shizune, her assistant took it and left the room, giving the depressed looking Tsunade one more glance before she walked out, closing the door behind her. The room was dark, she hadn't bothered to ask Shizune to turn on the lights, in fact Shizune suspected that she'd prefer it this way. Her mentor is a stubborn woman, she refuses to show any signs of weakness. However she couldn't help it this time, and she tried to hide her watery eyes with the darkness as she quietly finishes her work.
Tsunade looked down at her hands on her wooden desk, her fingers dug into the wood, making scratch marks as she clenched her hands into fists. She lowered her head onto her fists on the table. "Jiraiya..." she muttered painfully.
That night when he invited her out for a drink, some part of her knew that that was the last time she was ever going to see him. If all it took for her to make him stay was to accept his passes then she would've done it without a second thought. She loved him more than he could imagine and now- he will never know.
...
It was past midnight, Naruto sat up on his bed. He had been lying on his bed the whole time and he didn't sleep a wink. The fact that Jiraiya is dead finally sunk it completely but that became the only thing he could think of and it's haunting him to no end.
He decided to take a little walk through the village in hopes he would spot something he could think about. Even though that was his intention his attention never left the ground, he looked like hadn't slept in years and his footsteps were dragged and heavy.
It was the white light of the 24 hour convenience that lifted his eyes off the ground, he stared at it from the outside like a zombie before finally going in and coming out with a split popsicle. The ones he and Jiraiya ate when they were traveling together. He had seen father and son share one like that and Jiraiya offered to get one for them.
His mentor was more of a father to him than anyone had been, he was the closest thing he had to a father.
Naruto's body hunched over as sat on a nearby park bench under the street light, he held the popsicle with his right hand with both his hands propped over his knees. He made no move to eat the melting dessert, in fact he didn't move at all.
The purpose of this trip had obviously failed because it only made him think deeper into Jiraiya's death. It was like there were voices in his head, screaming and shouting to him that Jiraiya is gone. It sunk in alright, it sunk too deep. It was overwhelmingly painful he couldn't help but to let his feelings overflow.
He was crying because he's accepted the fact that he will never see him again.
Naruto had been so distracted he hadn't even realized there'd been someone trailing him since he left his house. Someone he left unsatisfied outside the hospital. Someone who has always watch him from the shadows, someone named Hyuga Hinata.
Hinata was afraid she would startle him if she got too close so she stayed a distance away but close enough to keep an eye of him. It was his tears that brought her out of hiding, she could no longer stand the sight of him crying because it was always him who comforted her when she cried, the one who gave her the strength to stop crying.
Now it was her turn to repay the debt.
She approached him slowly, appearing out of the darkness before entering the exposure of the streetlight. When he made no move to acknowledge her presence but she sat down next to him nonetheless. It was all silent before Naruto spoke "I wanted him to watch over me... to watch me become Hokage..." his eyes narrowed painfully as the tears continued to roll down his cheeks "To make him proud, you know?"
Hinata looked at him, her eyebrows arching in sympathy before it was replaced with a soft smile "Naruto-kun" she said, arching over and trying to get his attention. Naruto looked over at her, back straightening as he followed her eyes to sit up. She reached over to put her hands on his cheeks, wiping away his tears with her thumbs.
"I know he means a lot to you" she said as her soft opal eyes melt into him like butter. She smiled "But you can't stay depressed forever" her eyes squinted lovingly. She let go of his face and reached for his popsicle which seemed to slip out of his hands the moment she held it. "Jiraiya-sama wouldn't want that" she pulled the popsicle apart and handed one to him "You are his student after all, you need to be strong when he can't be"
Naruto's eyes widened at her, then looked down at the popsicle. Slowly his lips curved into a smile as he took it. "Thanks, Hinata" he pushed his forehead against hers. Grinning cheekily.
...
They had Jiraiya's funeral the next day, the whole village was there, it had been raining since dawn. The atmosphere of the village depressed to the point of it being tragic. People were crying, tears mixed with rain but Naruto's expression remained strong as the rain soaked him, then suddenly the rain stopped, he looked to the side and met eyes with Hinata, holding an umbrella up for them with a smile.
...
Sakura had awoken just as Sasuke was leaving for the funeral and Sasuke had no choice but to inform the confused girl about what happened to Naruto's mentor. She had been absolutely horrified and she cried knowing what Naruto must be going through. She had insisted on attending the funeral but she was still far too weak to move herself and Sasuke had canceled his plans on attending the funeral to accompany his depressed girlfriend as they sat on her bed silently with the occasional choked sob that escapes Sakura.
...
Tsunade's eyes never left the ground, her eyes were tired and there were bags under her eyes. Shizune held an umbrella for her mentor and Tsunade didn't even notice.
...
After the funeral, Naruto went to help Shikamaru with the code decryption.
The death of Jiraiya has caused panic throughout the village and this is when the Hokage had to take the pressure on her shoulders. She briefed multiple teams of shinobi, each given a task to complete as preparation for the invasion of the Akatsuki, they were going to warn their nearby ally villages and have them on alert. Now that Pain knows that Fukasaku got away with Jiraiya's message, there is a high chance that they are going to intercept any outgoing messages from Konoha, using messenger kites were too risky. The shinobi teams being sent have to be on the top of their game.
After a week of discussions with the board, Tsunade decided that the ANBU will remain in the village as their main pillar of defense. Team Yamato had been sent out to inform Kusagakure. Team Gai was sent out to alert Sunagakure as their team were the fastest in terms of speed and Sunagakure was the furthest alliance village. Team Kakashi were chosen to inform Takigakure however Kakashi said he'd like to help with the decryption and Naruto was busy with the same thing. So that leaves Sasuke and Sakura.
"Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke. Your mission is to deliver a Hokage message to The village hidden in the Waterfall. If you encounter Pein, do not engage in combat. Find a way to escape and return to the village. Be careful" said Tsunade. Shizune handed Sakura the scroll, it was sealed up with a S rank seal, she could tell.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama" Sakura nodded and left with Sasuke.
They returned home to pack, the rain didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. "I still think you should rest at home" said Sasuke. "I don't think we can afford to rest at a time like this, besides a solo messenger would be too risky" said Sakura.
"Tch"
Sasuke entered his room and gave his door a little back kick to close it as he proceeded to take out his pack and took out various scrolls with seals on them. Seals for all sorts of weapons. He checked his pouch to make sure he had everything and when he was about to go over to his drawer to grab a few more smoke bombs, his vision went blurry and his body began to throb with pain. His back felt like it was on fire, he muffled a shriek and fell to his knees.
This feeling became all too familiar, it was the feeling of him losing control over his cursed seal which hasn't happened spontaneously for a long time now. "Sasuke" Sakura's voice sounded through the closed door. Sasuke panicked and struggled to get back on his feet, he was not going to let himself get pulled from the mission and let Sakura go alone. "Sasuke, do you have extra kunais. I seem to have run ou..." Sakura's voice trailed as she laid eyes on Sasuke's back.
"Sasuke? Are you okay?" she asked. "Yeah I'm fine" he said without turning around. "If you're not feeling well then I can ask Tsunade-sama to pull you-"
"Sakura I'm fine!" he snarled. He turned back to look at her, Sakura's eyes widened slightly. "O-Okay" she mumbled. Sasuke reached over to his drawer and pulled out a new pack of unopened kunais and handed it over to Sakura.
"Thanks" she said and then trotted out the room.
Sasuke closed the door and sighed, the pain was fading and he hoped it'd stay that way till they come back from the mission.
Sakura opened the pack and paused, 'Back then... Sasuke he...' for a moment she thought she had seen a flash of Sasuke's sharingan activate, but then she shook off that feeling. 'Can't be'
At the village gates...
The thunder rumbled, Sakura looked up at the sky. Her gripped tightened around the scroll before she stuffing it in her pack. She looked over at Sasuke, as usual his expression was hard like stone. He looked over to her, they nodded at each other then they disappeared.
Next Chapter
"It's no use, I've read too many. I don't remember them"
"Sasuke? Sasuke! What's wrong"
"The cursed seal is a very delicate technique and it needs... maintenance"
"Then have fun cutting up Haruno Sakura"
"I broke her..."