Watching the village from a high point differed from strolling through the village itself. Jumping from roof to roof and occasionally looking down at the crowd living their lives as if nothing was occurring.
But that view soon disappeared as we reached a forest with a large metal fence with warning signs, keeping civilians away. While I could just jump over it, I knew it would look bad, and Neji would immediately report my supposed transgression since it was clear as the day that he followed me since it was his job.
Fu took an interest in the forest itself but couldn't see more than I walked to the left towards the entrance, and it didn't take long to arrive at the gates of the third training ground. Compared to the creepy thick forest, it had a wide-open area, and right in the middle, three wooden logs were stuck in the ground.
"What's this place?" Fu asked, looking at her surroundings with intrigue.
"This is where everything started. I'm surprised it remained exactly the same." I walked closer to the old wooden logs and rested my hand on the middle one, "If my memory doesn't betray me. The dobe was tied to this log, kicking and screaming, while watching us eat our lunch.
"That sounds a bit cruel." Despite her words, she had one hand failing to suppress her giggling.
"But amusing nevertheless. However, we gave him some from our lunch, and that's how we passed the team test, much to everyone's surprise." It was surprising that our exam played out the same way, despite the glaring anomalies of our supposed lives.
"I'm sure there are a lot of details you are leaving out," Fu commented.
"You are correct. Is just a passing memory, not something to reflect and speak for hours."
"At least you had a team growing up." She said, taking a seat on top of the wooden log and her legs moving back and forth with a distant look in her eyes.
"Your status didn't give you an option, did it?" I tried to pry further about her since she gave me the perfect opportunity.
"I couldn't complain. Only accept whatever they told me to." She replied with the same distant look in her eyes.
"That resembles slavery in a way."
She released a curt, dry laugh, "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. At least it changed when Shibuki-nii became the leader."
My brow furrowed at hearing a familiar name, but I couldn't remember very much about him. Even with my fresh memories, I still couldn't find anything.
"So your conditions improved, yet you preferred to leave everything behind."
Her head slowly turned with closed eyes and a small smile, "Just because you put garbage in a nicer bag doesn't mean it is no longer garbage."
"We will go to Taki when I sort out this problem. It's only a matter of time. I won't break a promise." I reassured again; I wouldn't break my promise. And that line of thought made me internally cringe, as it was something Naruto would absolutely say.
"Thank you." Her gaze turned and watched the passing sky with the clouds.
There was a relatively long silence between us, but I couldn't describe it as awkward. It was honestly calm, and I could even call it relaxing. A small moment to forget the rest of the world and be alone with your own thoughts.
"Can I speak with your tailed beast?" But I couldn't just stay there in silence. It wasn't for me, especially with an opportunity to learn more about her.
"Is that possible?" She swiftly turned with surprise in her orange eyes.
"Of course. I don't think you didn't have had an opportunity to communicate with your tenant in all these years." I was an educated guess on my part as I couldn't judge every jinchuuriki to have a strained relationship like Naruto's or friendly like Killer Bee's
She kept her silence, mulling over the answer for a moment, "Well, I occasionally talk with the Nanabi. They were brief talks, and I didn't really learn much."
"Did it tell you its name?" I asked in fake curiosity as I already knew the seven tails' name and every other tailed beast, but revealing it would be beyond suspicious.
"He did, a long time ago. But he told me to not divulge to anyone his name."
"Him? I didn't know they could have genders."
Fu let out a short laugh, "Me neither."
"Either way, I wish to speak with your tenant directly. I can project myself inside your seal with my Sharingan. I need both of your permission to proceed. If it is too much to ask, then I won't pressure you."
Fu tilted her head and stared at me in silence for a moment, "He is curious why you want to speak with him. But I will decline," she rubbed the back of her neck, "I want to keep things to myself and having another one inside me is beyond weird."
"Very well." It was a shame, but I wouldn't force her, as it would undoubtedly break any trust and future with her if she didn't outright attack me.
"What's this?" She kicked the dirt again, creating a rather sizable cloud that was taken away by a gust of wind, leaving behind a small brown box barely buried on the ground below her feet.
That was new to me. There were no secret spots hidden beneath the ground years ago.
She kneeled to grab the box and tried to remove the lid, but it didn't come off with ease. She quickly applied force, but the mystery box wasn't budging.
I only kept watching unless she asked for my help.
"Hey, you found one of my secret stashes." A very familiar voice came from behind.
I slowly turned my head to watch the second redhead I knew. She had a grin on her face. However, Fu was caught off guard by the sudden appearance that she dropped the mystery box and crashed on the ground but still didn't budge an inch.
Fu's face went slightly red, accompanied by a frown as she glared at the newcomer, who kept a smirk.
"Why am I not surprised you are here?" I asked her.
Tayuya shrugged and grabbed the brown box before wiping off any dirt it had from the impact, "Is my job to be around, and you are pretty important to not watch."
After the box was clean enough, she merely pushed a button from the top, and the lid came off, revealing three unmarked plastic bottles, which she didn't hesitate to throw at us, one each.
After grabbing one mid-air, I quickly took off the cap and brought it close to my nose but recoiled as the powerful stench had my nostrils burning, "This is cheap alcohol."
"No shit. As if I would store quality stuff in there." She took one swing from her bottle and let out a satisfied sigh, "Is only to satisfy an itch."
Fu took off the cap and went for a single sip. Soon after, the jinchuuriki gagged and went into a coughing fit for a short while, "It burns…."
Fu didn't think twice before throwing it back to Tayuya. At least Fu remembered to put the cap back, or everything would have been wasted if it didn't splash on the spy disciple.
"Heh, weak," Tayuya smirked as she took another mouthful from the acid she dared to drink without hesitation.
My mind was deliberating between drinking or not; some part of me was telling me that the drink was compromised while the other side just wanted me to have a taste. I could elaborate a very idiotically complex plan of how Tayuya had plans in drugging me, but in the time we met and talked, she didn't look like the type to do that kind of thing.
A quick sip was enough to wet my lips with the alcohol.
That was enough to make me cough as the little content poured inside made its way.
"How can you drink this?" I rubbed my burning throat that soon passed to my stomach, giving the sensation that I was suffering from gastritis.
It was baffling how Tayuya could drink it without any issue.
From her part, she merely shrugged, "Those two oldies always drink, and it rubbed off on me." Then took another swing from her bottle and drank everything in a single go, "That hits the spot. So why did you come here? Your clan compound has training grounds, as far as I know."
Only then did she return her empty bottle to the box and turn her gaze to me.
"Nothing important, curiosity more likely," I answered while returning her acid.
Her attention shifted to Fu, "And you greenie?"
She gave a faint smile, "Meeting new places. I couldn't let the chance slip."
"Fair. Can you give us a bit of privacy?" The redhead's sudden request caught me off guard. Even Fu was surprised, but she shrugged and walked away towards the surrounding forest, disappearing from our sight soon after.
I looked at Tayuya with a raised eyebrow, "What's so important that you don't want her to hear?"
She pulled off the cap from the bottle I just handed her, "I wanted to ask a couple of things, don't be an ass."
She took a quick sip from her new drink before returning it to the box with the others.
"You can ask as much as you want. That doesn't mean I will answer any of your questions."
She flipped me off in response, "Asshole. What if we trade questions? I ask one question, and you ask me one in return."
I rubbed my chin in thought; we could consider it a small game of sorts, "Seems reasonable. But I don't know what I would gain from this exchange while you seem to gain the most."
"I'm sure the princess has several doubts. I am fairly confident in my ability to answer all of them." She puffed out her chest with pride, accompanied by the typical smug smile.
"Whatever. But first…" My Sharingan flared up, and my eyes locked in a specific direction within the village, my chakra flowing to the organs to complete the deed before I could deactivate my eyes with a smile of satisfaction.
Broken power.
"What did you do?" Tayuya leaned closer
"Getting rid of the Hyūga."
"You didn't kill him, did you?" She immediately asked.
"No, he is just a little indisposed at the moment," I smirked.
Tayuya frowned before her face softened as she let out a long sigh, probably thinking of the possible fallout she would face in the future, thanks to my recent actions. However, that was enough for her to recover her cocky attitude, as the smirk and arrogance returned to her face.
"Why did you come to Konoha? Last time you told me it would be a long while before coming back."
"It would have stayed that way if you idiots didn't let that head escape." I clenched my hands into fists, my nails digging into my palms. Thanks to them, so many things were ruined, and there was little I could do to change the circumstances.
Tayuya rubbed the back of her neck, forcing a smile on her lips while her gaze shifted to the side, "In our defense, the guy who took that nasty piece of work could just appear and disappear at his leisure. We have no way to defend against that."
Her reply ticked me off, "I literally handed you a book detailing every member and their abilities. How could you not have any sort of countermeasures to stop or at least delay them?"
The redhead quickly raised both hands in fake surrender, "I'm just the messenger, princess. Don't try to pin any blame on me. And should I take that as your question?"
Her cocky smile returned.
"Fuck you."
"I guess not." She lowered her hands, her smile never leaving her face.
I looked to the sky while thinking about my next question, then my gaze shifted to her vibrant red hair, and a past doubt came back, "Are you really an Uzumaki? You have all traits of one."
Tayuya's smile faltered and slowly disappeared, her face becoming barred from expression.
"Next question."
I frowned. It was a genuine question born from curiosity, and she didn't want to answer it, "I thought you were confident in answering all my doubts."
"Fuck off." She gave a fierce reply.
"It is just a yes or no. I'm not asking you for forbidden secrets. I recall you mentioned that a lot of fucked up science was involved." I added the last part as the memory was fresh. At least she should explain her reason rather than being so hostile.
The redhead facepalmed and dragged her hand across her face, "Shit… I shouldn't have drank so much."
I didn't say anything, merely watched her face go through many expressions in a short period. But that ended with a deep breath followed by a long, tired sigh.
"Please, ask anything else but that." She pleaded, putting me in a strange position as it had caught me off guard for the brazen girl to turn meek suddenly.
"Fine. How are you dealing with your cursed seal? I know how that works, and I'm surprised you still maintain your sanity."
Her hand quickly reached for her neck and touched the spot where the seal should be located, and her face adopted a grim expression, "Well, I don't know. This shit was very addicted to use, but after getting captured, the seal stopped working for some reason. And it was a really shit time for me; I've never felt so shit in my life. It was worse than any hangover and broken bones combined. The best I could compare it to right now would be like missing an arm and a leg."
"Strange. So you are technically free from the seal." As far as I knew, the seal had like a portion of Orochimaru's soul fusing with the host's soul, and if the backlash was so severe, then she wouldn't be wrong that it was like losing a limb.
However, I didn't suffer anything, and I could freely use my seal to the full extent.
"I guess, but the process is something I never want to repeat and is my turn. Have you spoken with the shithead?"
I furrowed my brow. It wasn't something I wanted to deal with at the moment, "I just arrived."
"I know. Stupid question. As far as I'm concerned, he was deployed with others to a mission outside the village." Tayuya scratched the back of her head with a sheepish smile.
"So he isn't in Konoha. I should enjoy my time alone before he inevitably returns to annoy me." My mind was trying to reconstruct a possible scenario of how our encounter would play out without things going south immediately; there was bad blood between us recalling the different last fight we had, just recalling that beat down made my blood boil, itching for a rematch to satisfy my condescending ego.
"You owe him an explanation, you know?" She looked at me with a severe expression. Her indirect concern was obvious to me. I had to admit the outstanding charisma Naruto had and the effect on others.
"He shouldn't be concerned with my life, just like I'm not concerned with his," I replied.
Tayuya's eyes narrowed but softened just as fast when she couldn't find a proper response, "I guess you are right in that regard."
Soon silence fell between us since it was my turn to ask another question, but I didn't have one at the moment, and Tayuya was surprisingly patient with me rather than start nagging me or provoking a response out of me.
However, one specific moment resurfaced in my mind. One that occurred not long ago that left me speechless.
"Why did you kiss me back in Tanzaku gai?" I was blunt to avoid any confusion, but that didn't change the aftermath of my mind, screaming why I asked for something like that.
And I wasn't the only one feeling the growing awkwardness as Tayuya flinched and looked away for a moment before returning with her smirk, "Well, that's pretty much the only thing that came to mind for a reward, and the drink didn't help much either. But you shouldn't complain about a sexy girl like me giving you a taste."
"I didn't expect you to…."
Tayuya raised a hand in front of my face and let out a long-drawn sigh, "Let me stop you right there. I know what you are thinking, and the answer is no. I had a lot of drinks. I was thankful, and you are somewhat handsome. It was a selfish treat for me, nothing else. There is no us or any future."
I stared at her in silence, my mind processing her blunt and harsh answer. Still, that silence didn't last as I had to stifle a laugh before it went into full hearty laughter, it didn't fit my image of the Uchiha, but I couldn't care as it was hilarious what she just told me, "You think highly of yourself. I was merely surprised that somebody with a sailor's mouth could have a soft spot."
The redhead soon became red face as well but with anger as she raised her raised hand clenched into a fist and gave me a very weak hit on my arm that could barely be even considered an attack, and her grip softened before covering her face with both hands,
"Fuck you."
There was a growing mischief growing in me to keep teasing her and fall into her level, but those thoughts were crushed as soon as they came and let her be.
Tayuya quickly grabbed one bottle and gulped down its contents; then, she wiped off any leftovers with her wrists.
I was left wondering what could be going through her head for a long, awkward silence. So our little game of questions came to a halt.
Tayuya abruptly stood up and stretched both arms, "Well, this was enough rest. I should get back to work."
She didn't hesitate to throw the bottle to the ground, causing it to shatter.
With that spoken sentence, she jumped towards the nearest tree and disappeared from my sight.
I didn't stop or say anything, merely watched her do her thing and leave behind her so-called secret stash out in the open with a broken bottle next to it. I didn't know if somebody would come and clean it, and I didn't care.
So, with little else to do, it was time to pick up the jinchuuriki from wherever she went and return to my compound. I merely followed the direction she took when leaving the area and followed it, hoping that she didn't take a detour or turn.
After walking further inside, I found a small opening where the sun shone brightly, giving me a clear view of the jinchuuriki hand standing with her legs resting on a tree, "What are you doing?"
That was the first thing that came out of my mouth.
Her gaze turned to me, "Ah, you are finally done. I was just doing some meditation."
Fu used the tree surface to push herself and show off a surprising ability of contortion as her feet landed first, making a perfect semicircle on the ground before she slowly stood up and proceeded to do a couple of stretching exercises with her arms.
"Mediation while hand standing?"
"Yup."
"I'm not going to question that. Let's go; it's time to go back." People had their own things, no point in trying to understand them.
"Fine by me." She dusted off any leftover dirt from her clothes.
I turned around and took the lead in leaving the isolated spot. It was enough fooling around, and there was some stuff to do back at the compound. Besides, I was sure that my little stunt had earned negative points with Tsunade. But it had pissed me off, so it was a way to get back at her indirectly.
When we finally reached the opening, I was greeted with the presence of somebody; I didn't want to see anytime soon. Said person's gaze immediately turned to me, showing off an undisguisable short soft pink color.
"Sasuke-kun?"
There were few girls who would call me that.
"Goddammit…"
And Karin was back at my clan compound.
AN: Still busy with lots of stuff and Elden ring came out so a lot of free time went into exploring Limgrave. My apologies for taking so long to update but that game is so addictive but at least I am getting close to finishing this game and then moving on to NG+ hahaha, I'm a masochist…
Anyway, I will be resuming writing and try to bring the next chapter in less than a month. Tho this future chapter might be a bit tricky to write to avoid since it has so many pitfalls.
P word /Luferx
Only if you are feeling generous.
