OMG! I'm back and I have wrote the second chapter! YAY!? Anyone? No? Ah well...On with the story!.
The sun in the sky shined just as bright as it possibly could, while wild birds flew across the land gazing down below to the people of Gecia. Among the people were Sakura and Kakashi who were waiting outside the Inn they stayed in.
Sakura sighed and looked at her watch while she tapped her foot as Kakashi read his Icha Icha Paradise which caused a lot of disgusted looks, but by this time he had gotten used to it and happily read on while waiting for the boys to come out so they could start the meeting with the bank manager. Sakura sighing for the 15th time that day, finally fed up with waiting began pacing around mumbling about various thing that included asses on spiked clubs.
"Geez, what exactly are they doing up there?" Sakura huffed, temporarily stopping as if she was waiting for something, but continued on pacing back and forth. Kakashi who still had his eyes glued to the book lightly chuckled
"This is where Sai would say that they are in the act of making love or something" Looking up at Kakashi she gave an empty look and sighed once again.
"And this is where I thank the gods for not having him on our missions" Sakura replied sarcastically, while doing a exaggerated eye roll. Hearing the footsteps of someone, Sakura looked towards the entrance and saw the two teenagers walking out in a uncomfortable silence as they avoided each other's gaze. Sakura arched her eyebrow at the strange aura around the boys as it was something other than anger for once. Shrugging it off as unimportant she began to speak.
"Nice of you to show up, now we need to get going to meet the bank manager since it's our first lead on the case and after we get the details we can figure out our plan of attack." Sakura informed the half-distracted boys as they kept avoiding each other's eyes. Sakura sighed once again and lead the way to the bank.
Sasuke's POV
Following Sakura through the streets of Gecia, I couldn't help but admire the architecture that this place held, It was obvious that it was Greek inspired, but it also had a lot of different pathways that seemed to lead to nowhere it was like some kind of maze. The people seemed nice enough, but looks can be deceiving, but...something doesn't feel right or feels wrong or is that the same? I feel somewhat nostalgic about this place, yet I've never even been here before. I'm probably just tired...stupid Naruto and his god damn snoring!. Looking over to Naruto I could see that he slept like a baby. Sighing I looked ahead with heavy eyes, knowing that his snoring wasn't the reason, in fact I could barely hear it. The noises from the outside, a guitar. It...was very far and very quiet, but I knew that sound from somewhere, I know I do...
Other than that there was no other reason...Really? I think the little slip up yesterday may have some kind of responsibility?.No. Pretty sure it did. Pretty sure it didn't. How did it not? He straddled us naked. Gah! Shut up! I refuse to argue with my own brain. Internally sighing, he remembered last night's little slip up...
FLASHBACK
"Oi! Dobe hurry up in there!" I yelled pounding on the bathroom door waiting for my turn to take a bath, because frankly 20 minutes was my limit and with Naruto that time dramatically decreased. I was standing outside the bathroom door with only a towel around my waist and my shark tooth necklace around my neck, my pounding ceased as my hand fiddled with the shark tooth. I don't know when I got it, I've just always had it, looking at it I noticed that ever since coming here that I haven't really been able to let go of it. It just seemed to be needed more in some kind of way. I think my mother gave it to me, once again looking at the shark tooth I remembered how she would just stare at this thing around my neck. I know it's crazy, but the more I think about it, I could swear that she looked so sad...
"Sasuke?"
"Huh?" Startled I looked up to see Naruto's confused face, wait why was I here again? Oh right,bath. I've been spacing out more than necessary, God I feel like some kind of...well Naruto.
"A-About time, now move Dobe" I pushed past him not really waiting for an answer. Walking over to the bathtub, yes walk, this bathroom is as big as my own room. I heard a growl from behind me mumbling 'Bastard' and 'Teme'.
"Yeah yeah I'll I be out of your way in a minute your highness, I'm just grabbing my silk string" Naruto said making me give an annoyed stare in his general direction. I just want a bit of privacy, moronic baka...
"Baka..." I muttered under my breath as I turned my back to Naruto, but obviously he had heard it since when he was almost out the room, he turned on heel and began walking towards me. Turning around I glared daggers at him as he just bared his teeth in aggression, striding over in return I challenged the raging boy.
"What did you call me?" Naruto asked in an voice that was dripping with anger, but I stood my ground unphased by the tone of voice as he continued to stride over. "Answer me Teme! What did you-AH!"
"Ow!" I yelped as Naruto came crashing down on me, Hitting the floor I looked up angrily ready to kill the clumsy moron, that complete-!...Wait...What?...
My eyes widened as they saw Naruto... leaning over me...wet...naked...I could feel my face flush scarlet as Naruto stared at me in bewilderment with cheeks only slightly red. At a loss for words I just stared into his eyes, frozen in place, I saw him gulp as his eyes stared back into mine. My breathing began to feel irregular as the feeling of being trapped washed over me, with Naruto's hands at the side of head I felt his leg in between mine, dangerously close to my lower regions. As if Naruto suddenly came to life again he jumped back unable to speak, propping myself on my elbows he just stared at me in turmoil, but as he finally seemed to get a hold of himself.
"I-I'm sorry! U-um I-I'll just get outta here" and just like that he was gone and had slammed the bathroom door as I lay on the the floor elbows propped up, with a loosened towel and my face burning like fire. I just was at a loss for words and thoughts, standing up I began to set up my bath and tried to forget what had just happened.
END OF FLASHBACK
Walking down the street I kept silent as the other three chatted happily, Should we talk to him about it?. Well he didn't bring it up so he obviously wants to forget it. Do we?.Pretty much, yeah. I see...
Normal POV
Sighing quietly, Sasuke was going to pick up his pace when suddenly he bumped into someone. Looking up he saw another man half a foot taller than him, with pure black hair that was slicked back but stuck up a little at the ends. He also had a bang of hair that refused to be slick back and went slightly in front of his face in a Elvis kind of style. He wore a slightly loose, long sleeved black shirt with black jeans and grey and red trainers that were worn out. Looking up, Sasuke saw that the man was probably in his 30's, but he had a very youthful look about him also he was rather handsome. But that's not caught Sasuke's attention, it was the other man's eyes that were pure black like his and for some kind of brief moment it was almost as if a memory came into play, but alas it went as quickly as it came, so Sasuke disregarded it and concentrated on the man in front of him.
"Ah, sorry heh!, Careful there son you might walk right into a-" But the man's voice stopped for a moment as he looked at Sasuke, but resumed talking after a moment had passed. "Sorry, you just look like someone I know, but er...once again sorry about bumping into ya Skip!" the man said cheerfully as he skipped off down the street while Sasuke watched the man disappear without another word. Skip?...
"Sasuke? You alright?" Sakura questioned as everyone stopped noticing Sasuke's abrupt halt behind them. Sasuke's stare lingered for a moment, before snapping out of it and nodded towards the rest, reassuring them that nothing was wrong.
They continued to walk towards the bank which was now only a street away, according to Sakura's map and after arriving they were immediately thrown into the meeting. While Sakura had sat with the manager discussing the details Naruto wondered around the office, looking at all the new and strange artifacts that decorated the room. Kakashi had decided to wait outside, while Sasuke stood aloof near the big pane window looking out across Gecia, God it looks like Mamma Mia, maybe that's why it looks so familiar...
"Right, Sasuke?" A voice asked that gained the attention of said Uchiha, Sakura, the owner of the voice, slightly nodded her head urging Sasuke to agree. "We'll only capture the robbers, right Sasuke?" Finally processing where he was and what he was meant to be actually be doing he gave a response.
"If that's what you want..." Sasuke answered plainly causing Sakura to frown a little, but instantly put on a fresh face as she turned back to the old manager who was more than happy with the answer.
"Oh good!, I know they robbed us, but I really hope no harm comes to them, they don't deserve to die." The manager replied optimistically while gaining the strange looks of everyone in the room.
"Wow, that's so..."Sakura had started but slowly trailed off as she didn't want to offend the man, but Sasuke who couldn't care less finished off the sentence without hesitation.
"Push-over like." Sasuke finished, causing Naruto to quietly chuckle a bit as Sakura widened her eyes towards Sasuke.
"Sasuke!" Sakura scolded turning back to the old manager who had begun to laugh loudly at the insulting comment.
"Ha Ha!, I like you, you're feisty! Reminds me of a young lady I used to know! You do actually resemble her in a way." The man said thoughtfully while Sakura was relived that he took no offence, as Sasuke was ignoring the giggling face of Naruto who was hopping around him calling him 'Sasuke-chan' and 'Sasuko' laughing the manager's comment, which was grinding on Sasuke's last nerve.
"Are we done here?" Sasuke asked in a annoyed voice as Naruto continued to laugh around Sasuke, who was all but ready to release the dogs of war on his ass. The old man smiled gently and nodded, dismissing them and wishing them good luck.
As Sasuke walked out of the bank, Naruto was just behind making fun of Sasuke for reminding someone of a girl. Sasuke was using all of his concentration to ignore the blonde so he hadn't saw the figure passing by and for the second time that day, bumped into a stranger.
"Oh! Sorry! That's the second time this-Oh! why hey there Skip, we really need to look where we are going huh?" The man said cheerfully, putting his hands on his hips as he smiled gleefully. Sasuke caught off guard by once again meeting the man he came to a halt as Naruto stopped behind him, fascinated by the way that the stranger talked to Sasuke. The man patted Sasuke shoulder playfully and continued to walk on, but before he was out of hearing range he called back.
"Hey!, If it's fate we'll bump into each other again, Skip!" As all of Team 7 watch the man disappear, they looked towards Sasuke who had been silent the entire time. They continued to stare at him waiting for some kind of explanation, when Sasuke felt their eyes staring at him he slowly turned his head to meet the confused gazes.
"What?" Sasuke said sharply making the others slightly jump, Naruto who had gained an expression of surprise due to Sasuke's casual aura had motioned with his hands in an almost insane dance of some kind showing that what had just happened needed some kind of context.
"You wanna explain who he is, Skip?" Naruto asked as the other two had stayed silent just as interested, but were too afraid to ask. Sasuke looked at them blankly as if he hadn't witnessed what had just happened.
"Don't call me Skip" Sasuke replied with a face as serious as Naruto was not believing him to be. Naruto was truly astonished as to Sasuke's normal behavior.
"Am I the only one here who just saw that?!" Naruto questioned as he frantically looked between Sakura and Kakashi who had remained silent, which was only adding to Naruto's loosening grip on reality as his eyes filled with something akin to insanity.
"Saw what?" Sasuke questioned evilly enjoying the obvious pain Naruto was going through with no help from Sakura or Kakashi whom has decided to stay out of this one or just didn't want to know since Sasuke had seemed to forget all about it.
"Really? So that just didn't happen then" Naruto said astounded at Sasuke's lack of reaction as he looked at the Uchiha as if he was the crazy one.
"I have no idea what your talking about" Sasuke stated with an expressionless face, but on the inside he was smirking and laughing as an evil villain would. Naruto however had looked at Sasuke as if he had grown two heads and finally just threw his arms in the air in defeat. Sasuke shook his head as Sakura tried to comfort Naruto who had slumped over with a depressing aura surrounding him, while Kakashi seemed to be in a different world altogether. Exhaling, Sasuke had begun to once again walk in the direction that they were suppose to be going in the first place while the others had quickly caught on and followed.
"So where are we meant to be going now?" Sasuke questioned as he knew 'where' he was going just not exactly 'what' he was looking for, he turned his head to Sakura who had been watching him intently with a worried curiosity staining her face.
"Well, we have already canvassed the bank and since the bank had no cameras we need to get an idea of what our robbers look like." Sakura explained, coming to a halt she took out four pieces of paper and handed each one a piece. "Now, there were only 4 people in the bank that day not including the people who work at the bank, but they had all been blindfolded and we already have their statements so we go to each one and see what we can find out, now usually this would take no more than an hour, but since neither of us have ever been here before and the maps are slightly more complicated and inaccurate, so we have about 3 hours to find our witnesses and meet back at the inn. Everyone got that?" Sakura informed receiving a nod from each person, returning the nod she walked off in order to find her witness. Everyone had split into different directions with their own maps and had begun their search.
Sasuke figured he had got lucky since, the place he was meant to go to the this large village was only 10-15 minutes away if he kept his swift pace and stayed on the main path through the village.
15 minutes later Sasuke had reached his destination and was looking at the wooden pier which had multiple boats and dingies surrounding the wooden walkway. He was meant to be looking for a sail boat, but according to his piece of paper it was a special boat that was called something beginning with S and it was the whitest boat on the pier and unlike the others, the owner didn't use the boat for fishing purposes, but just for relaxation. From the information he had, it didn't say what the person looked like, but the name sounded male so Sasuke had walked down the pier looking for anyone that could possibly help him. Sasuke spotted a chubby man who was obviously graying in age pulling a fishing net from his dirty green boat which was probably originally white, but didn't stop the man from using the unhygienic boat which reeked of rotten fish and other various smells. Sasuke reluctantly walked over to the man, piece of paper in hand and motioned for his attention.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for someone on this pier" Sasuke said as the man continued to pull the net, back to Sasuke he grunted and said
"Yeah, sure who ya looking-" But the man had stopped as he turned around and saw Sasuke with a confused expression. The man seemed to be in shock as if he saw some kind of ghost, Sasuke looked at himself checking if something was wrong, seeing that nothing was out of place he looked behind him to see if there was something that he had not seen, but once again there was nothing. Sasuke turned back to the man with a somewhat baffled face that managed to bring the man back out from his initial shock. "Are...are you?..." The man began, but quickly shook his head, and began to wipe his hands with a cloth. "Er, sure kid who you need to find?" The man finally said with bewilderment still in his voice, Sasuke watched the whole inner struggle that just went down in front of him and was considering to just slowly walk away however Sasuke still needed help and this was the only visible person on the pier, regardless of his level of sanity.
"I'm um...looking for a guy called Shen, he um... has a boat beginning with S, I think he also-" But Sasuke had already been interrupted by the man, who seemed to perk up at the name.
"Oh right!, yeah I know him, the boat the the very end, just call him and he'll appear, Sasuke" The man responded with almost some enthusiasm when saying his name.
"Oh, thank yo-, Wait a minute!" Sasuke exclaimed processing what the other man had just said, the man looked taken aback by the sudden out burst. "How did you know my name?" Sasuke questioned eyeing the man suspiciously, slowly reaching for his emergency kunai, that he managed to get over into Gecia, What? So he constantly carried a weapon with his and he may also sleep with his kunai under his pillow, hey a boy gotta protect himself somehow, just in case and besides in Gecia any type of justu was banned gathering chakra would have been sensed and immediately dealt with, but like he said just in case. Like now with the very suspicious man. "Well?" Sasuke questioned once again, as the man stood there in shock, but quickly thought of an excuse.
"Whoa there kid!, Calm calm... I don't know you're name, I just said Sasko, OK...Sasko..." The man said quickly raising his hands to show he meant no harm, but Sasuke wasn't buying it.
"Sasko? Really? And why would you say that?" Sasuke asked skeptically, hand still on his kunai, the man chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.
"That's the name of the boat, you are looking for, Sasko. I don't know you're name, you must have misheard me." The man finished gulping, waiting if Sasuke would believe him or not. Sasuke was still skeptical, but really had no reason as to not believe him as Sasuke was the one to approach the man in the first place and he was here to solve a robbery not to kill every person he misheard.
"Right..." Sasuke mumbled still eyeing the man, but set off to the boat called Sasko. As the man watched Sasuke walk towards said boat, as he watched Sasuke recognise the boat name, he saw him begin to climb aboard.
"Sasuke..." The man whispered watching the boat with disbelief as smiled to himself, a rare thing for him to do since he was usually a grumpy and sarcastic man, but the sight of a happy memory that walked, talked and breathed in front of him made him get back to work while whistling, something he had not done for 12 years. Suddenly an enormous roar erupted from the boat and the man chuckled quietly to himself, "Maybe I should have warned him about Sasha." Another roar erupted from the boat. "Nah" They man said to himself and carried on working.
Sasuke had climbed on the boat that was called Sasko and had been slightly surprised about the similarities to his own name. As he hopped aboard the sail boat he looked around to see a pristine sail boat, but was littered by the owner's stuff, such as an colorful acoustic guitar that leaned against the pole that held the bigger sails, Sasuke's stare lingered on the instrument as the nostalgic feeling returned to his chest. Tearing his eyes from the guitar he looked around and saw the occasional photograph or piece of clothing, but other than that. It looked abandoned, that's when he saw a black figure on the brown leather seat, with a tail swishing lightly. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw the sleeping animal no more than a few meters from him, frozen in fear of waking the unidentified animal, but it seemed to look like some kind of big cat, maybe a jaguar or tiger. Sasuke held his breath has the animal's eyes suddenly shot open and narrowed his eyes at the intruder, with a deep growl it began to slowly step towards Sasuke who lightly gasped.
"W-Whoa there kitty, calm down, I'm not here to hurt anyone" Sasuke stuttered as he began to slowly step back with his hands in front of his chest as the somewhat reassure the animal, but it wasn't working as the midnight creature let out a ferocious roar which startled Sasuke making him jump at little. "Okay... maybe you just wanna rip my body apart limb from limb, but I'm pretty sure we can compromise" Sasuke stammered as he realized how out of character he sounded trying to reason with a blood thirsty animal when he left his kunai at the bottom of the boat as to not try and scare the witness, but was proving his logic to always carry a weapon, unfortunately he would never live to tell the tale as the beast let out another blood freezing roar, the creature looked ready to pounce when suddenly a voice called out.
"Sasha!" The voice commanded, causing the beast to instantly sit and be calm, contrasting the state it was in just a moment ago. Sasuke dumbfounded at the animal's sudden tranquility looked at the source of the life-saving voice that emerged from the lower deck on the boat. Sasuke stood there mouth opened and stunned at who he saw. It was the man he kept on bumping into today! The very same man who had caused Sasuke much confusion though he did very little.
"Skip?.."The man trailed off looking just as stunned, but it was quickly replaced by a welcoming smile and the man walked towards the animal called Sasha and gently stroked her head. "You know, it's not fate if you actually come and look for me" The man said gleefully as Sasuke overcame his shock and quickly brought the piece of paper to his face and looked back at the smiling man.
"You're Shen?" Sasuke bluntly asked, not believing what he was seeing as the man continued to pet his animal as he enjoyed Sasuke's reaction.
"Last time I checked" The man responded cheerfully as Sasuke stood there completely floored and at a lost for words. Shen chuckled and looked at the boy who seemed to be struggling to form thoughts at that very moment.
"Uchiha Shen at your service!" Shen said giving an exaggerated hand gesture and bowing down, Sasuke whipped his head towards the man with wide eyes.
"What?..." Sasuke whispered out, his hand on the side of the boat steadying him as he almost lost all feelings in his legs, but forced himself to have control to listen to what the man had just said.
"Huh? I said I'm at your service" Shen answered back smiling at the boy's sudden question.
"N-No...you're name..." Sasuke breathed out with all the energy he had left, staring at the other with eyes full of emotion.
"Uchiha Shen? Why?" He replied now with more a slightly confused tone of voice, but his smile had gotten smaller. Sasuke stared wide eyed at the man when suddenly his breathing felt irregular, Sasuke clutched his chest, it felt as if his heart exploded and had frozen at the same time, an overwhelming dizziness washed over the raven-haired boy as sounds became blurry like his vision.
"Skip?" asked a worried voice, the smile on Shen's face had dropped and began to walk over to Sasuke, but Sasuke couldn't help it any more he had completely lost control over his body suddenly everything went black and he collapsed on to the floor with a thud.
Sasuke's eyes slowly began to open as a nagging pain on his head forced him to awake, his vision was slightly blurry, but it soon cleared up and saw that he was lying on his side on some kind of leathery material and he shifted so he was more comfortable, closing his eyes as he began to feel the tiredness lull him back to sleep, well almost. Sasuke's eyes shot open as he realized that he wasn't in his own home or in the inn. Sitting up and leaning on his hands he looked around to see where he was, Sasuke saw that he was on some kind of boat and for some reason heard a child's laughter echo through-out the boat, only it seemed to be more from the past rather than the present. Taking in a deep breath he slowly let it out, but almost choked on his own breath as he saw the creature that had previously tried to kill him had her head snuggling to where Sasuke's head had been. Now fully aware of his surroundings he slowly began to inch away from the the big cat only to feel the side of the boat hit his back, as dread overcame him realizing that the only way to get from the beast was to go around it.
"OK..." Sasuke mumbled to himself, trying to calm his nerves as he slowly began to crawl, the animal slightly moved and Sasuke came to a halt, but relaxed and Sasuke sighed and continued to crawl getting nearer and nearer to the animal. Suddenly the black creature yawned and blinked it's eyes that focused on Sasuke who had froze. Crap. The creature had jumped up fully onto the leather booth-like seat and slowly stepped towards Sasuke, suddenly lurching forwards, Sasuke closed his eyes and raised his arms to protect himself and waited for the claws, teeth and whatever else was going to kill him, but nothing came, in fact he swore that this killing machine was snuggling against his chest. Sasuke looked down in surprise as it was true! This terrifying creature was cuddling him, the animal looked up and seemed to show off her canines as some sort of smile. Feeling strangely comforted by the friendly gesture, he cautiously petted her head and as if that was some kind of permission, she began to lick Sasuke's face happily as Sasuke had burst out laughing to the kind treatment. I mean he knew he should high tail it out of there, but it wasn't like he was being mauled to death so it wasn't so bad. Sasuke who had managed to calm her down heard a familiar chuckle from the side of him, turning his head his smile had dropped and he felt his body go stiff.
"Well it's good to see that you two are getting along even though you guys got off on the wrong foot." Shen said he smiled at the two playing friends. Sasha gave an annoyed grunt and Shen rolled his eyes in a playful manner "Sorry! I mean the wrong paw" Shen chuckled as he walked over with a glass of water in his hand, as Sasha nodded her head in approval. Sasuke watched nervously as Shen sat opposite him and put the glass down. "You sure gave us a fright there, you alright Skip?" Shen asked putting his face in hand and waited for a response as Sasuke had processed what had happened before he fainted.
"Your a Uchiha?" Sasuke questioned not really thinking what he was doing just as Naruto would call it, 'wingin it'. Shen seemed to be caught off guard by the comment, but simply planted a smile on his face as he seemed to understand his confusion, though it was for completely different reasons to Sasuke's.
"Yeah... I know that they all live in Konoha, but I'm kind of a black sheep so I moved away when I was 17 and I know right? A Uchiha actually smiling? It's super rare, but like I said I'm a black sheep or a white sheep considering that family's attitude." Shen explained smiling through-out the entire time. Sasuke just sat there speechless, unable to talk as he continued to pet Sasha who was still snuggling against Sasuke. "So you gonna tell me you're name or you happy with Skip?" Shen asked bringing Sasuke back from his thoughts, Sasuke blinked a few times before realising that he would have to come up with some kind of answer.
"Well I have kind of grown to that name so...I guess so..." Sasuke said in avoiding giving his identity away. Shen seemed slightly taken aback by the acceptance of the nickname, but shook it off.
"You got a last name, Skip?" Shen tried again trying to get the boy to open up, but Sasuke realized that he couldn't give his identity away, I mean he could but, ya know...no. So Sasuke who was still slightly disorientated tried to think of a last name. "Skip?" Sasuke looked up and knew he had to answer quick.
"U-Um it's da..." Sasuke trailed off in avoiding the question, but knew that it wouldn't be enough, Think! Sasuke Think! "...tte..." Oh God, don't say I think your going to say, "...ba..." No no no no "...yo...?" Annnnd you've officially disgraced the Uchiha name, congratulations Itachi is probably laughing at you right now and your parents have rolled over in their graves. Great. "Dattebayo... that's err, that's my name apparently and I'm sticking with it." Sasuke said as his self-hatred grew with each passing moment.
"Dattebayo?" Shen stated as if he didn't believe Sasuke, and as Sasuke nodded another smiled plastered Shen's face. "Cool" Shen commented with full trust in the young boy. Sasuke was shocked that his terrible lie work, he wasn't good at lying, he never was, he never had to lie he would just say what was on his mind or nothing at all. So lying was a whole new world to him and honestly he felt a tiny bit guilty for lying to the friendly man. Tiny.
"Sooo Dattebayo, what brings you to my boat of dreams?" Shen asked relaxing back into the booth stretching his arms and resting them behind his head. Sasuke perked up in realization of what he was actually meant to be doing.
"Oh, I'm on a mission." Sasuke blurted out stupidly, not one of his most smartest moves to just say that as it didn't really explain what he was doing on the man's boat, but Shen still beamed with friendliness.
"Ohhh like a religious mission? Well if your trying to convert me a little tip would to not faint" Shen joked as Sasuke's face tinged pink from embarrassment and quickly corrected the relaxed man.
"N-No, I'm a ninja from Konoha I-"
"You're from Konoha?" Shen asked interested in what the boy had to say now, well he did before, but now he was super interested. Sasuke caught off guard by the question, quickly composed himself and tried to explain as fast as he could.
"Yeah I'm not a religious nut, Not like there is anything wrong with that! Well not saying you are, just saying I'm not, I don't know if you are, but that's not the reason I'm here, and I um- OK let me start over." Sasuke rushed out, while Shen watched the boy amused by his nervousness. Sasuke took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. God you're acting like the nut... "I'm a ninja from Konoha and I'm here to solve the robbery and you were one of the witnesses so I need your statement." Sasuke said in one breath as he looked at Shen who was still smiling.
"Sure thing, Skip" Shen replied reassuring the boy who was having a mini heart attack and just like that Sasuke had gotten the information he needed, as he jumped off the boat back onto the wooden walkway, he looked back up to see Shen smiling and giving a wave. "See ya Dattebayo-san!" Shen called out as Sasuke cringed at the insulting name, turning back around he called back.
"Please call me Skip, Uchiha-san!" Please, I do not wanna be know as fucking Dattebayo. Shen seemed more than happy with the request and nodded, but Shen before going back to the safety of his boat yelled out.
"Well in that case, call me Shen!" Sasuke gave a small wave as the other man beamed with happiness. Well, Sasuke thought, I guess I got what I needed and more, but he also knew that he would have to talk to this man again to see how he survived the massacre, why he didn't contact him or why no one ever told him about the 'black sheep' of the family. Why didn't Itachi kill him too... Sasuke shook his head knowing that he wouldn't find out today. So he got his work done quicker than he expected, in fact it it only took about an hour according to his watch. So he could either go meet some locals and be nice or not and plan for the gloating of getting the job done the fastest. Definitely the second one. Sasuke walked back to the Inn and sat outside the café waiting for the others to return as he began to ponder on what his smug face will look like.
2 and a half hours later Sasuke saw the rest of his team coming back, though all had of them seemed to have some kind of black cloud hanging over them. Walking over to Sasuke, Sakura sat down across Sasuke and gave a exasperated sigh and put her hand on her head.
"The witness I had was useless, she was some senile old women who kept on going on about how she got her frigging rocking chair and kept stuffing my face with 100 year old candy that tasted like ass." Sakura explained as she subconsciously shivered remembering the ass flavored candy. Kakashi leaned on the wall and gave a sigh similar to Sakura's.
"Mine was a 8 year old kid, who swore there were 500 robbers, they all had swords the size of a house and one had a pet monkey who was smoking a rainbow cigar and he was the one stuffing his face with candy so it was hard to understand him at all." Kakashi stated shaking his head in completely tiresome manner. Naruto furiously shook his head and folded his arms like a child.
"Neh! Mine was some lazy jackass who refused to answer any questions! He kicked me out of his shop and told me I was banned! Gah! I swear if we were allowed to use any kind of jutsu I could have got that information easy!" Naruto complained loudly causing Sakura to groan in annoyance. As the three complainers looked at Sasuke waiting for some kind of add in on their failure, he shook his head pitifully.
"As much as I would like to join in on your pity party, I actually did my job and got what I needed" Sasuke stated putting the piece of paper filled with information on the table. As all three stared at the paper they seemed to be grateful that at least someone got something, well almost.
"Eh?! Teme how did you get that?" Naruto demanded slamming his hands down on the table and staring at the Uchiha with jealousy, while Sasuke looked up annoyed and dismissed his request to tell him the details and decided to instead insult the blonde.
"It's called not being a Dobe, try it some time, oh wait you can't, you're too stupid" Sasuke sneered taking joy in seeing the steam coming out of Naruto's ears, growling slightly Naruto tried again.
"You probably lied to the witness! Who would ever believe the truth from a Teme like you!" Naruto shouted back causing a thump from Sasuke's heart as Sasuke did lie, but only because it sent him on a emotional turmoil that he was still on, so on any other day he would have argued back not affected by Naruto's words, but meeting Shen had caused them to feel harsh. Suddenly standing up he avoided everyone's startled gaze.
"I don't need to take this, the information is there if you want it" Sasuke stated clearly angry, but not trying to let it show, giving one last glare to Naruto he walked off. Everyone was frozen in shock from the sudden departure, since everyone, including Naruto, expected Sasuke to fight and argue back, but he never just walked away like that and though Naruto was dense he could see that when Sasuke glared at him it wasn't the usual hatred and annoyance, but he could see that Sasuke was trying to mask hurt in his eyes, after all, the eyes tell all. Naruto felt his heart sink with guilt as he watched Sasuke's figure disappear, but Sakura spoke up.
"I think you need to go apologize" Naruto was in total agreement, but didn't want to appear weak in front of the others or to make Sasuke look weak for Sasuke's sake. So Naruto shook his head with less energy than before and turned to Sakura.
"I'm not saying sorry to a total Teme like him!" Naruto said his eyes still lingering to where Sasuke was just sitting a few seconds ago. Sakura sighed and looked at Kakashi for help. Kakashi gave a small nod to Sakura as he looked back towards Naruto.
"Look just go say sorry and we'll pretend you didn't because your oh so better than Sasuke, but for now just go apologize" Kakashi ordered Naruto in a casual tone, that was all Naruto needed and set off to find Sasuke. As Naruto disappeared into the crowd like Sasuke had, Kakashi turned towards Sakura who was shaking her head disapprovingly.
"Geez, can't they just kiss and make-up already?" Sakura sighed putting her face in her hand and looking at he menu. Kakashi lightly chuckled at the comment and sat opposite of Sakura pulling out his Icha Icha Paradise.
"Careful what you wish for, Sakura" Kakashi responded casually as he saw Sakura go 'Hm' and mumble something about how hot that would be and then something about frogs, maybe Kakashi didn't really listen properly.
For fuck's sake how far can a person walk? Naruto cursed under his breath as he continued to search the crowd for any sign of Sasuke. Someone must have seen his struggle and walked up to him. A brown-haired women in her 40s tapped on his shoulder, whipping around with a hopeful face, it fell from his features as the women gave him a sympathetic look.
"I've been watching you go back and fourth and I couldn't help but ask if you were OK" The women said giving a friendly smile, Naruto blinked and smiled back scratching the back of his head.
"Well did you happen to see a boy about my age, that's 16 by the way, with black hair kinda like a duck-butt and errr, Oh! he looked super pissed and probably gave off a lot of glares." Naruto explained to the woman who was trying to process the information.
"That was a boy?" The woman asked surprised as Naruto tried to keep back his laughter he nodded then the woman suddenly smiled and said "Aww that's so sweet to chase after your boyfriend like that, ah young love I remember it well, I did see him by the way, he walked up that hill where the old lighthouse is, but that thing is locked up tight, so he's probably outside or at the cliff side." Naruto had stopped giggling at the mention of boyfriend, but before he could even correct the women she had walked off with a wave of her hand and wished him luck. Ah screw it, it's not like Sasuke will find out anyway. On that note, he set off running towards the hill at full speed not really thinking about what he was going to say or do just that he had to get there. Upon getting at the top of the steep hill, Sasuke was nowhere in sight he sighed and turned to walk back down the hill, but suddenly remembered what the woman had said about the cliff side. Walking pass the red and white lighthouse, there he saw Sasuke sitting with his legs hanging over the edge of the giant cliff leaning on his hands as the sunset glow illuminated his figure making it look like a light surrounded Sasuke. Naruto felt another pang of guilt hit him as he realized that what he said was so bad that it caused Sasuke to let his guard down right now. Walking over he sat next to Sasuke who didn't seem to acknowledge his presence and they both sat in silence as the sun continued to set with fiery oranges and reds melding together contrasting with the soft purples that flowed through the sky, of course the mellow yellow sun's rays intertwining with the shades in the sky. It truly was a breathtaking sight, as both boys watched the scene before them, Sasuke rested his head on Naruto's shoulder causing Naruto to glance down at Sasuke who still remained silent, Naruto knew that when Sasuke had a lot on his mind, he go see the sunset and when Naruto joined him that Sasuke would usually lean on him, it wasn't romantic at all, just...comforting. It was like this for a while when Sasuke broke the silence.
"You don't have to apologize" Sasuke stated calmly, still looking forwards as Naruto looked down at Sasuke, whose face was covered by his midnight hair. Sasuke sighed "I'm not mad at you or at what you said, something just happened and you were there to be the victim of my anger, but I'm not apologizing to you, like I said something just happened." Naruto opened his mouth to ask what had happened, but was beaten to it. "I'm not telling you what happened so don't ask" Naruto slightly scrunched his eyebrows together and frowned.
"Why not? I am your best friend and your suppose to talk to me, not just lean on me" Naruto said, but instantly regretted it as he felt Sasuke stiffen and raise from his shoulder.
"I see...so it's a problem then" Sasuke mumbled obviously saddened by what Naruto had said, he now just looked down to see the calm waves flowing against the sand in perfect harmony. Naruto mentally slapping himself shook his head lightly.
"No it's fine! I just wish you would talk to me" Naruto explained looking at Sasuke's expressionless face which continued to look down at the sea.
"What's a best friend?" Sasuke asked quietly catching Naruto off guard by the strange question. Naruto blinked but quickly recovered as he answered the question.
"Hmm well I guess it's a person who is on good terms with another person I mean-"
"Then what are we?" Sasuke interrupted looking towards Naruto who seemed to be at a loss for words at the sudden question. "You say your my best friend, but if you were to describe our relationship, would you say that we were on good terms with one another?" Naruto looked at Sasuke for a bit before sighing and looking forwards.
"We are different"
"How?"
"Well, because our friendship is so strong that we don't have to have daily conversation or kind tenderness or even get along we just have that kind of friendship that as long as that lives on we stay not just best friends, but true friends and we won't ever part because of that."
"..."
Naruto chuckled half-heartedly and looked at Sasuke who was completely floored at the speech and nudged his shoulder.
"C'mon, before Sakura tells us off for getting back at the Inn too late" Naruto said getting up as Sasuke continued to stare at the blonde with wonder, Naruto offered a hand to the silent boy who took the hand and allowed himself to be pulled up. The entire walk back consisted of Naruto talking and telling tales of himself and other opponents, though Sasuke knew he was exaggerating he kept quiet and happily listened to his stories enjoying the company.
Upon returning to the Inn, Sakura was pacing outside the Inn while Kakashi was nowhere to be found. Sakura spotted the boys and sighed, walking over to them she smacked both of their heads lightly.
"Owww! Sakura-chaaaaan!" Naruto whined petting his head as if he was a kicked puppy while Sasuke didn't even respond to the assault and bid Sakura good night and walked into the Inn. Causing Sakura to hit Naruto again, once Sasuke was in the building.
"That's for taking so god damn long!" Sakura hissed as Naruto had his hands on his head crying like a baby.
"Uwaaa! Sakuraaaaa!" Naruto cried out, as Sakura just sighed she looked off into the distance. Naruto perked up and saw Sakura's distracted gaze "Sakura-chan?" Naruto said curiously. Sakura snapped out of whatever trance she was in and looked at Naruto who had stopped acting childish and stood properly. "What's wrong?" Naruto questioned. Sakura shook her head.
"Nothing you have you worry your pretty little head about just-"
"Sakura" Naruto stated in all seriousness which caught Sakura off guard as she had never saw this side to Naruto. The hell? Since when could he be so serious?
"It's nothing, just some personal problems" Sakura confessed looking off into the distance again, Naruto thought about what she had said and a worried face crossed over his features.
"Your chasing after Sasuke again?" Naruto said depressingly, even though his feelings for her were gone he still hated watching his friend rejected again and again. Sakura chuckled lightly at the comment and shook her head.
"No...but at least he would be more attainable than who I am chasing after..." Sakura said, reassuring the boy that she learnt her lesson. Naruto raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Whose more unattainable than that cold bastard?" Naruto said jokingly trying to lighten the mood, but Sakura still wasn't feeling better.
"You'd be surprised Naruto, because it's painful to spot the person you love only to have them searching for someone else." Sakura breathed out, smiling sadly as she looked back at Naruto who looked sympathetic toward her.
"Heh, well sometimes cupid only has one bow left and he only shoots at one person!" Naruto suggested jokingly, but his second attempt at lightening the mood once again failed as Sakura continued to feel hopeless. Naruto sighed and put his hands on her shoulders, making her close her eyes.
"Look you can close your eyes from things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart from things you don't want to feel." Naruto said making Sakura look up and smile with hope, Naruto returned the smile and grinned and laughed lightly.
"Besides what kind of crazy person wouldn't want to go with the most kick ass gal around!" Naruto laughed again as Sakura giggled with him.
"Hmm, a certain cold bastard comes to mind" Sakura giggled as Naruto nodded his head in agreement.
"I'd be surprised if he even liked girls!" Naruto said jokingly, and Sakura grinned and gave a dramatic gasp.
"Sir! Are you implying what I think you are implying?" Sakura joked in a exaggerated tone of voice, while Naruto caught on quickly and joined in on the joke.
"Behold Milady! As I reveal the shocking truth about Uchiha Sasuke!" Naruto bellowed out in a fake posh accent, while Sakura faked another gasp and smiled along with Naruto.
"Oh what is this scandalous secret! I must know!" Sakura cried out in an equally as posh voice, flailing around as Naruto grabbed something off the table and ran back to Sakura.
"Uchiha Sasuke likes banana dongs!" Naruto screamed holding a banana in the air and Sakura threw her hand over her forehead and gave another dramatic gasp. The pair of jokers looked at each other for about a second before bursting out into laughter that would put hyenas to shame.
"Oh god, I've not laughed like this for such a long time" Sakura breathed out calming down after her laughing escapade, Naruto who nodded in agreement put the banana back in it's place before walking back to Sakura.
"Yeah... so your gonna be OK?" Naruto asked hopefully, but Sakura shook her with a sincere smile on her face.
"No, but it was nice to forget about the pain, even for a little while." Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but left it at that, knowing that Sakura was probably spent for the day like he was. They went to their separate rooms after bidding each other goodnight and as Sakura went to sleep contemplating on what Naruto had told her while Naruto went asleep seeing that Sasuke had already fell asleep, but not all was asleep as a figure sat on the rooftop of the Inn and watched the moon rise from it's slumber in a silent dance with the stars, a name ghosting the lips of the figure as it sat deep in thought.
"Shen..."