Chapter 3
Song of birds
Tsunade had said little to Sasuke when they met again other than a location where they could speak freely about curing his Cancer. She was light on explanations and he found himself not caring about whatever excuse she might have for not just telling him there in her office. A letter exchanged between them and a half hearted goodbye given and they parted.
He found himself awaiting the time agreed on alone overlooking the village. The silence allowed him to think excessively about his past. Battles won, Battles lost, and of course his sharingan. How he obsessed over its loss, what it enabled him to do and see. And just as the sunset he spotted Tsunade waiting for him in front of the Memorial for the fallen. The Bunker room was a dark room with an air that reminded you of a morning spent out in heavy fog in the dead of autumn. It was a sharp contrast to Konoha which had been warm until late afternoon that particular day. A single well made table of the finest oak was placed at the center of it. There was a single bright light that focused on the table that descended from a 20 foot ceiling, looking up from directly below the light would create an illusion of the light spiraling upward.
The exit to the room was well lit by a blue light that pulsed an energy field, a silver light before dissipating into yellow nothingness. Sasuke suspected it either concealed the room or prevented others from gathering intel from the outside. Without his sharingan he found himself theorizing a lot more about the world. His reliance on his sharingan quickly became oppressive and worsened his mood. Either case regarding the energy field didn't change the fact Tsunade had wanted him to meet there along with Hinata Hyuga. A fact he learned as they descended 40 feet into an underground bunker, which happened to be located by the academy.
With an entrance concealed simply in red roses over growing on a brick wall. There had always been eyes staring at the entrance but with little reason to look downward beneath the roses to the entryway. The Hyuga heiress' presence in the room did surprise him, but his outer appearance denied this fact. Tsunade did mention a female ninja around his age awaited him, which had not been pleasant thought considering his last encounter with Sakura. Sakura oozing sadness was not comforting. He did not expect a pleasant encounter. Hinata arrived before Sasuke but how long was a mystery. Hinata had always been patient, which made it difficult to timestamp her arrival.
Already seated in a leather chair, there was no telling how long she had waited for Tsunade to escort Sasuke there but she firmly committed to seeing it through. For Hinata's part she only knew Sasuke from what Naruto spoke of him, and what others said of him. It was like meeting him for the first time. The reason Tsunade gave Hinata for requesting her made sense but it didn't make her feel good or bad. She was the only Hyuga member who she trusted Sasuke wouldn't outright reject the idea of being on a team with.
Her lavender eyes lack of surprise caused Sasuke to turn towards Tsunade for answers. Tsunade had a smug expression hinting at the amusement she found in seeing Sasuke rattled or at the very least bothered, before switching to a more diplomatic expression. Pretending to not have seen Sasuke's expression she carried on. Hinata had been easy to identify even for him, who had little contact with her even before he left Konoha. Pale skin, dark blue hair, and eyes only Hyuga had made it impossible to not deduce her identity.
There was something that caught his eye about Hinata, she had looked at him differently to the other women. It was new to him, which in a very small way made her slightly interesting in a small modest way. Like finding a misshapen fruit in an odd shape never seen before. Something worth noticing but not enough to obsess over or give it a second glance. In a way this would be their first meeting, and his impression of her was being made. Her lavender colored eyes would meet him for brief moments here and there , and her polite greeting would be given but it never lingered. As the minutes passed he expected her to look over at him with a a smile or a flirtatious look and even possibly an excited expression to see him. Hinata did no such thing. But there was no malice , dislike or hate hidden away beneath the surface as they interacted.
Tsunade smiled internally as Sasuke's distraction over Hinata had allowed Kakashi to position himself better in the room. Darkness covered his presence but as Sasuke once proved seeing in the dark was not an issue for someone like him. But that was then, and he no longer had access to his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. Yet there was always a need to be certain about things concerning security. Sasuke had returned to the village but had he truly changed? And would there ever be a time when there was full confidence in his loyalty? Trust earned not given freely, was Tsunade's way of doing things.
They had picked their own seats, the table having Six on each side gave plenty of options. Without a word or request Tsunade watched silently, her eyes watching Sasuke's reaction to Hinata. There was a hope somewhere inside her that he would not object to her joining the team. One could not do this alone, no one could be an expert in all fields. The stubbornness of the Uchiha was legendary, and full cooperation was preferable in this situation. Would he reject her?
This would be a prolonged affair, returning to days he was part of a team like Team 7. Tsunade placed a red file in front of both Sasuke and Hinata. Her hand gracefully moved across the table drawing Sasuke's eyes. A momentary Distraction that would signal Kakashi to move. Kakashi moved quietly to test Sasuke's ability to sense once he was in actual proximity to his personal space. The limitations the cancer forced on Sasuke was theoretical until proven. It was his job to do so.
Sasuke opened the file immediately, his eyebrows furrowed as moved through the documents. There was a moment he doubted the authenticity of the file. Kakashi was practically touching Sasuke's hair before pulling back as moved forward, hovering on the edge of touching his black hair and snapping back his arm. Everytime awaiting the quick reflexes of Sasuke to react. There was no such event. The old Sasuke would have sensed him in the room, so he knew his job was to test how dull Sasuke's senses were.
Tsunade lifted a large brown bag with a black strap from the chair next to her. Filled with folders, 7 having to be red and 23 silver. Dumping them on the table in front of her, she grouped them up neatly. Tsunade pretended to search for the right file, as she counted down internally 5 minutes. Every 30-45 seconds throw a folder into the chair, eliminating it. Hinata shot a glance at Sasuke, reminding herself she wasn't alone with just Tsunade. Sasuke having remained quiet this entire time, was unusual for her. Kiba, Shikamaru , Naruto , Choji, rock lee and just anyone else she could think of made more noise by default.
Sasuke turned toward Hinata, noticing her eyes before she snapped back. Tsunade was 45 seconds before she felt Sasuke's eyes start to focus on her. 5 minutes was all the time she could afford Kakashi to do the assessment of Sasuke. The moment she counted 5 minutes she slammed down her hand on the desk. Kakashi, understanding the signal, started walking towards Sasuke no longer caring if Sasuke became aware of his presence. At the same time Tsunade motions for Hinata to open the file. Hinata opened the file . A mix of information known and unknown flooded her eyes. Sasuke watched her read the file.
Kakashi pulled the chair next to Sasuke and sat himself down. Sasuke felt sweat drip down his face, the sudden realization that Kakashi had been in the room. How long he didn't know but it was too long for him not to sense him. Having him not notice until he was practically rubbing elbows with him rubbed Sasuke the wrong way. Now he was irritated and angry. Sasuke didn't say a word but his shocked reaction caught Tsunade and Hinata off guard. Hinata in particular thought Sasuke' had chosen to ignore Kakashi. Just as she had seen Sasuke Ignore Naruto. Especially when she thought Kakashi was purposely teasing Sasuke by running his hand over his hair from her point of sight.
Sasuke turned to Kakashi anger ablaze in him.
"How long?" Sasuke asked annoyance oozing out of every word.
"Since you arrived, but that doesn't matter….what matters is how little your sensory range is". Kakashi clarified.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. Tsunade and Hinata didn't say a word but both now knew Sasuke strength as a ninja had diminished significantly and to the point he needed an escort. He was practically blind in a sense, and Sasuke pride now could easily get him killed. He tried to compose himself but the cat was out of the bag. Sasuke couldn't sense Kakashi gave a single nod. Tsunade used a softer tone for Hinata as started talking.
"As you know by your clan's involvement in investigating the tunnels". Tsunade stated matter of factly.
Hinata nodded. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, this he did not know.
Sasuke didn't say a word but his eyes slowly turned to Hinata away from Kakashi. He began studying her face, wanting to see just how involved she had been in. Yes she was the heiress of her clan but back in their genin days her younger sister was rumored to be next in line. He didn't quite know her so it took time to notice those subtle face changes, and now that his sharingan had been taken for him more time needed to study her. For Hinata's part she suddenly began feeling warm, she could feel Sasuke staring at her. Looking her face over. She turned her eyes to try to steal a glance of Sasuke without Moving her head. Just to verify to herself that he was indeed looking at her and not her imagination. Sasuke Turned away once he noticed her "Blushing red". He didn't want to feed any ideas in her head that might form.
"Tsunade is just bringing Hinata up to speed, since you most likely know about this". Kakashi pressed his index finger down on the file. Specifically, Kakashi pointed at the design of the Black Train. Sasuke's eyes trailed down to Kakashi's finger. He looked up to give Kakashi an annoyed look when Kakashi began tracing the train's picture with his finger.
"There was a train built from Amegakure (Hidden Rain Village) to Otogakure (Hidden sound village.)" Tsunade continued as she motioned with her hands.
"While never used in the war because of what Orochimaru did when he left the Akatsuki, it remains there untouched". Kakashi added.
"Naturally because of the debris left behind from the collapse, digging down into the areas would draw attention." Tsunade explained to Sauske in paticaular.
"What was down there?" Sasuke asked.
"We were hoping you might know". Tsunade said in a disappointed tone.
"Never heard of any of this before". Sasuke stated
"Considering Nagato, Orochimaru , and Danzo are involved.." Kakashi stated in low tone.
"Danzo?" Hinata and Sasuke said together.
Tsunade pulled a page from Hinata folder and centered it in front of Kakashi. Kakashi being in the middle between the two. At the center of the page was a high quality photo of one of the box cars of the train. It was stained with old blood. Tsunade pulled a latch from under the table and swung it forward until a clap was heard. A small tv 40-50 inches ascended up from below before it secured itself at the center of the table.
" An alternate and more complex video camera was used to record the daimyō's meeting to form the Allied Shinobi Forces". Kakashi explained.
"In this case a much lower grade of video was used, having seen the video used when we were part of the allied shinobi forces you might have expected more Hinata but we can confirm its authenticity". Tsunade stated.
Hinata gave a nod.
A video recording of a train filled with Sound ninja is shown. Along with what they assume would be prisoners. At Least 26 chained individuals sat in the Box car chained. Hinata audible gasped when she saw a prisoners face up close. Red eyes reflected back but they were not the Sharingan.
"That looks like your Team 8 leader?" Sasuke stated unsure of himself.
The next part of the video shows an attack from a group of Ninja. It was a massacre as the prisoners could not fight back. One attacker moved close enough to see that it was Danzo.
"At this point we assume the tunnels collapsed and killed or suffocated all the survivors, and Danzo either used his sharingan to escape death or just dug himself out while injured when orochimaru destroyed the tunnel system". Tsunade speculated.
"What does this have to do with my disease?" Sasuke asked .
"We were sent this video recording and a map of the location right after the fourth ninja war started, we speculate Kabuto sent it to us in case he was double crossed or killed". Tsunade pressed on
"But we didn't see it until the war ended, keep in mind we had pressing matters". Kakashi answered the unasked question he expected Sasuke to ask.
"Duvalin was an entry found in a medical reference book, a reference book we found in the boxcar….I kept it along with the other reference books when i ruled it out nothing significant."
"The three of us will go investigate this tunnel system?" Sasuke asked in disbelief.
Tsunade nodded
"Kakashi, while I am away, will be acting Hokage. Might Guy will also take no missions until I return, for added security. "
Sasuke assumed she meant Kakashi , himself and Hinata would go. Sasuke's face couldn't hide his surprise.
"Hinata will be able to guide us through the system, I will be explain what medical information is relevant inside , and you're coming along because you may know Orochimaru layout secrets and traps that could help avoid danger or find hidden secrets'. Tsunade stated bluntly.
"I will do anything I need to restore my eyes". Sasuke stated
"And hopefully your health too". Tsunade commented.
"What about the prisoners who look like my sensei?" Hinata asked.
"She might be tied up in this, they had her eyes".
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