Another Sasuke-centric chap

Chapter 63: Life is long, do it slowly (stop running for nothing, my friend)

Chakra circulated through Hinata's entire body. She could feel it moving from her core down her right arm, to her fingertips where it fed into a large mass of chakra beneath her, moving through it, swirling around and around and around. Then it flowed back up from below, traveling up the fingertips of her left hand, up her arm and back to her core where the cycle repeated.

The air around her felt charged, every particle vibrating with energy. She could feel it around her, taking shape. Circling like her chakra. Circling and coiling and forming little balls of energy.

She could feel everything, the chakra cycling through her and around her.

Over and over and over.

The more the cycle repeated, the more Hinata began to lose track of where she began and where it ended.

"—nata. Hinata."

The shape of her own body grew hazy.

"Come back to me, Hinata."

A warm hand was cradling her cheek. Hinata came back to herself with a soft breath.

Eyes fluttering open, for a moment the world was in stunning technicolour. Another blink and she pulled her chakra back, tenseigan receding and the world looking a little more normal, but no less breathtaking.

Mismatched eyes looked back at her, one dark and one pale, both equally entrancing.

Hinata smiled helplessly. Then gasped. "Oh!" Taking his hand in hers, Hinata healed the chakra burns where his skin had touched hers. "Sorry."

Sasuke sighed. His mouth opened to speak, but Hinata continued before he could. "I'm going to say sorry every time. I'm hurting you," she said mournfully.

"I don't care about that."

"I care," Hinata insisted. "I'll get better at coming back to myself, I promise. There's just so much…I can feel the chakra in the planet."

Sasuke brows furrowed. "That's what the Ōtsutsuki was doing. Bringing the moon to the Earth."

"Mm." Hinata nodded, absentmindedly playing with his hand. "Toneri-san did."

"Naruto said he was strong."

Drawing her bottom lip between her teeth, Hinata recalled the events on the moon. She'd felt entirely helpless against him. Toneri had been stronger and faster and more powerful in every way. And when he'd taken control of her body…

Being forced to fight against the boy she loved by a man who had kidnapped her sister, who had already cornered Hinata into obeying him even without the body manipulation….it had made her sick to her stomach.

A shudder ran through Hinata's body and she gripped Sasuke's hand tighter. "…he was," she affirmed.

The sun was warm on her skin, unlike on the moon. But Sasuke was warmer, body always running so much hotter than hers. It was late afternoon and the Uchiha docks were as peaceful as ever, being so far removed from everything, even sequestered away from the rest of the Uchiha district. Reconstruction efforts had wrapped for the day and Hinata could see Sasuke's mood had lightened, his pinched expression having gradually melted away. But it made a reappearance now.

"I don't like it," Sasuke grumbled. His fingers threaded through hers, hands clasping and putting a stop to her nervous fidgeting.

Hinata released her bottom lip and looked up at him questioningly.

"I'll ask Kakashi how to contact him. You have enough to deal with, with the seal."

"Really?" At Sasuke's answering nod, Hinata squeezed his hand. "The pathway we used last time fell apart. Do you think Hokage-sama would know another way?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I think he's our best bet."

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun," Hinata said earnestly.

Lips quirking, Sasuke returned her squeeze before unclasping their hands. "Up for a spar?" he asked, nimbly getting to his feet. "Unless you're too worn out…"

A competitive spark lit up Hinata's eyes at Sasuke's teasing tone. She stood up gracefully, stepping right up to him. She raised her chin until their eyes locked. "Ninjutsu?"

A full-blown devilish smirk crossed Sasuke's face. "I see the regret over the chakra burns was short-lived." He leaned impossibly closer, their noses almost touching. "Why not? Loser has to give up their wagashi."

Startled, Hinata's mouth fell open. "But you don't even like sweets!"

Sasuke let out an amused huff. "Not true. I like the sweetness of victory just fine."

They stared challengingly at each other for a second.

The next second byakugan met sharingan.

Hinata felt the electricity between them. Her gaze dropped to Sasuke's hand. Or perhaps it was actual electricity.

"Chidori Senbon!"

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!"

With chakra-encased feet, Hinata exited the kaiten smoothly and exchanged an invigorated grin with Sasuke before immediately bringing her hands together to flip through the appropriate signs, seeing Sasuke mirror her one-handed from where he'd leapt back to avoid getting caught in her absolute defense.

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

With the galvanizing effect of her tenseigan-focused meditation persisting, Hinata could tell it was going to be a thrilling spar. One that she didn't intend to lose. Not with wagashi on the line.

"I pretty much always wipe the floor with them. Honestly, it's getting kinda boring," Hanabi griped. Her hand was loosely wrapped around a paintbrush. Thick globs of paint gathered at the point of the brush, dragged down by gravity. With a brief side eye, Sasuke kicked the paint bucket an inch to the right in time to catch the dribbles of paint before they hit the ground.

"Does your sensei ever pair you up for a two-on-one?" Sasuke asked dully as he sawed through a plank of wood, measuring it perfectly purely by sight.

"…no." Hanabi crossed her arms, wholly oblivious to Sasuke nudging the bucket to the left to follow the dripping paint.

"Might make your spars more interesting. And improve your teamwork. You never know when you'll need to split up on a mission. You should be able to cover each other in all combinations."

Hanabi started to respond, but her eyes caught on something. "Looks like someone's looking for you, Sasuke-san."

Following the younger girl's eyeline, Sasuke quirked a brow at the head of pink peeking in through the Uchiha district gates. When their eyes met, Sakura offered him a small grin and gestured over before ducking out of sight once more.

Eyes narrowing, Sasuke relented. He stepped away from his makeshift workbench and started to make his way to the gates. "Try getting paint on the fence instead of the ground while I'm gone," he threw over his shoulder to Hanabi. As he walked away he still managed to hear her mimicking him under her breath.

Passing through the gates, Sasuke let them inch closed behind him. "Sakura."

"Sasuke-kun." The pink haired kunoichi pushed away from where she'd been leaning against the wall separating the Uchiha district from the rest of the village. "You guys look busy in there!"

"Don't let them fool you. They spend half their time messing around," Sasuke said tonelessly.

Sakura laughed. "Sounds about right. Then sorry to drag you away from supervising."

Head cocked, Sasuke took note of Sakura's white coat. These days it was rare to see her out of it, though at least she didn't look as run down as she had when she'd been dealing with Fujiwara's surgery and then Naruto's arm. Still, for her to have used her precious lunch break to come all the way across the village…

"You needed something?" Sasuke surmised.

"Yes, actually!" Sakura squared her shoulders. "For you to pull your weight at the hospital. I know you know basic iryō ninjutsu and Kakashi-sensei promised me equal priority over any ninja on the roster compared to regular missions. Not that you've been going on any of those, according to Shikamaru, so you have no excuse!" By the end of her rant, Sakura's voice had raised in both volume and pitch, finger pointed accusingly.

Sasuke heard her out without much reaction. From under his dark hair, his eyes slid from Sakura's annoyed face, down to her pointing finger and back up to her face.

"Well?" Sakura asked.

With a tired sigh, Sasuke pushed his bangs away from his face. It had been much too long since he'd last had it cut. He allowed the pleasant memory to distract him for a few seconds. "I wanted to ask you something too."

Sakura's eyebrows jumped, her hand dropping to her side. "You want something? From me?"

Sasuke grimaced. Needing to ask for help probably shouldn't be this difficult. "Back then…Tsunade offered me an arm. Do you know what happened to it?"

Sakura's jaw dropped. To her credit she recovered swiftly, though she couldn't fully hide her shock. "I can't say for sure, but I doubt she got rid of it. It's probably sealed away somewhere." She hesitated and then asked, "Do you…want to use the prosthetic?"

This was something Sasuke had already put a lot of thought into, but rather than answer right away, he paused. It wasn't that he was second guessing himself, but there was something about saying it out loud. Putting it into motion. Finally, he nodded definitively.

"Just so you know, even if it was sealed away to properly preserve it, there's a possibility that it may not be viable anymore and we'd have to start from scratch. Especially since it's been so long since you lost your arm, its already gone through all the healing stages and won't be as receptive to this type of prosthetic as it might have been when it first happened." Still somewhat stunned, Sakura's response was a little rushed. Despite this, it was well thought out and showed her deep knowledge of medicine. "The preparation is no joke either. Naruto's replacement was fairly easy because his arm was used to the prosthetic. But for you, we'll have to strip the skin and apply a restoring ointment every couple of days for at least a few weeks. It'll be painful. And there's still a chance your arm will reject the prosthetic after everything."

Sasuke listened seriously, considering each new piece of information Sakura shared. Then he nodded. "I understand."

"…and you still want to do it?"

"Yes."

Sakura blinked. "Okay," she said. Her voice was filled with resolve and Sasuke knew that if the procedure didn't work, it wouldn't be for a lack of effort on Sakura's part. "I'll talk to Tsunade. And book you in for the prep sessions."

"Thanks, Sakura."

It was clear Sakura was so thrown off by this particular topic that she'd completely forgotten about her reason for being here. Sasuke generously waited for her to remember.

"Hey! Don't think this means you get out of helping out at the hospital," Sakura said, hands on her hips. "We can work around your sessions."

"I'll do a shift," Sasuke offered, unenthusiastically.

Green eyes narrowing, Sakura shot back, "Five."

"Two." Sasuke's utter lack of interest was evident in his tone.

Sakura huffed. "Three."

"Fine."

"Deal."

They nodded at each other.

Sakura's expression grew less serious, taking on a teasing edge. "You know I'd have helped even if you didn't agree to do any shifts. It wasn't a trade."

Sasuke's lips twitched. "I know. That's what makes me so nice for doing it anyway."

Sakura laughed. "Sure," she said, rolling her eyes. "I need to get back. If I hurry I might be able to grab some anmitsu from Amaguriama. Oh!" She went back to where she'd been leaning before. A basket lay on the ground and Sakura proceeded to haul it into her arms and then shove it into Sasuke's in quick succession. "Since I knew everyone would be here, I thought I'd make lunch to keep their strength up! I added a lot of supplements and made everything super healthy and nutritious!"

Not having much choice to the alternative, Sasuke accepted the basket. But Sakura held on as well, both hands gripping the handle.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun…" With her head bowed, it was impossible for Sasuke to judge her expression through the veil of pink. "Why now? What changed?"

Sasuke eyed Sakura's knuckles, noticing that the skin was white from how tightly her fists were curled. It wasn't a demand for an explanation but a sincere curiosity that had moved her to ask. And because it wasn't a demand, Sasuke answered sincerely. "Before…I thought I needed to live with the consequences of my actions to keep myself on the right path. The pain was a reminder to not lose myself to the dark. I didn't trust myself. I still don't," Sasuke admitted. "But…fighting darkness with darkness…" he mused, trailing off momentarily. He shook his head. "Focusing on the future is better motivation than clinging to the pain of the past. I've found that light is more effective at keeping the dark at bay."

"Oh…" Sakura looked up, vivid green eyes glimmering with some unsaid emotion. "I…I'm glad. I should have known you'd have thought it through." Abruptly, she withdrew, hands outstretched and palms open as she released the basket. Fixing a half-hearted grin to her face, she said, "Anyway, I really need to run." Slowly Sakura started to back away, gaining speed with each step. When she'd made it a few meters, she finally turned. Stopping halfway, she said, "Make sure to share the food with everyone!" With those parting words, she took off in a light jog, disappearing around the corner.

Sasuke glanced down at the basket nonplussed. Behind him the gates swung open and a brunette head popped out.

"Yo, Sasuke, do you — hey did Hinata drop off lunch again?" Kiba asked excitedly.

"Sakura did," Sasuke replied.

It was funny how fast Kiba's face dropped. "Oh." Then a mischievous smirk crept across his face. "Oh! We have the makings of an awesome prank in our hands here," he said. "Well. Your hands. Hand." He grabbed the basket, Sasuke putting up no resistance. "My hands now." Kiba spun around.

"This is stupid," Sasuke noted, following the other shinobi to pass back through the gates.

"I don't see you trying to stop me."

Sasuke shrugged dismissively. "Do what you want."

"Thanks, I will!" Kiba returned cheerily.

Sasuke pressed his lips into a firm line, refusing to indulge him.

Sasuke was punctual when he showed up to his first shift at the hospital. He'd been told by Sakura that an iryō-nin named Fumiko would walk him through his duties, but it was someone else who met him at the front desk.

"Sasuke-kun!" Io called, face lit up with excitement. "Good morning! Thank you so much for helping out, I — we really appreciate it!"

Sasuke stared coolly back, not deigning to respond.

Io shifted awkwardly as the silence stretched. "Well then," she said, voice artificially peppy, "Let's get started, shall we? I know you'll get the hang of things right away."

The next few minutes sped by. Without Sasuke's participation, Io was unable to keep up a one-sided conversation and thus opted to concentrate on the training. Sasuke found her much more tolerable when talking about medicine and protocol.

Once she had finished her spiel, Io unfortunately regained her flirtatious manner. "Do you have any questions for me, Sasuke-kun? Any at all? Don't hesitate to ask, I always have time for you."

Ignoring her, Sasuke flipped through the booklet she had given him, easily memorizing the material. Snapping the booklet closed, he said, "Where's my first case?"

Io's smile twitched, but she dutifully retrieved a clipboard from the front desk and handed it to him. "Your first patient is in room 102. He's a —"

Sasuke walked away, not bothering to wait for her to finish.

Initially things were going smoothly. Sasuke drudged up his rarely used iryō ninjutsu to heal scrapes and burns and a broken leg or two. But then things started to go awry.

"Where was the pain?" Sasuke asked.

"Here," the girl mewled, pressing her palm against the ribs on the right side of her chest.

"…your intake form said it was the left side."

The girl faltered. "Ah…now it's both sides! It's getting worse, Sasuke-kun. I need you!" She reached out, but Sasuke easily avoided her searching hands and exited the room.

When he slammed the clipboard down on the front desk, Io startled.

"Room 105 is ready for discharge," he said tersely.

Io frowned. "Room 105? But it's only been a few seconds…" She groaned. "Another one?"

Sasuke's glare was response enough.

Io rubbed her knuckles against her forehead. "You know what? Just take your break. I'll try to weed out the fakes and reorganize." She sighed tiredly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but as much as we need the help — and as much as I like having you here — I think it would be better for everyone if you didn't take another shift."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Tell Sakura that."

Io frowned sulkily. "Ugh this sucks. Do you have to deal with this sort of thing all the time, Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke shot her a look and Io shrunk a bit. "Ah…well I see where they're coming from," she said with a sheepish giggle. "But I didn't know it was this annoying."

"Now you know," Sasuke groused.

Taking Io's advice, he decided to retreat to the roof for his break in the hopes of avoiding any more people. He'd filled his quote for human interaction for the day and then some.

A gentle breeze greeted him when he opened the door to the roof. White hospital sheets swayed gently from where they were hung up to dry. As one of the sheets flipped up, Sasuke thought he saw a flash of black. Another one rippled, revealing a glimpse of orange.

Taken back to six years in the past, Sasuke froze in the doorway.

It only lasted a few scant seconds. A stronger gust of wind lifted the sheets and there was nothing to be seen except more rows of white fabric.

Sasuke crossed the threshold and let the door swing shut behind him.

Approaching the protective fencing around the edges of the roof, Sasuke stared down upon the hospital grounds. Midnight blue caught his eyes and this time it wasn't his imagination. He stepped closer for a better view.

Down below, Hinata was winding through the hospital garden with Fujiwara by her side. Every few steps the younger boy would steal a glance at her. Fujiwara seemed to at least be trying to pretend Hinata's presence had no effect on him even if he was failing in Sasuke's eyes. Said eyes narrowed. Sasuke had never felt less threatened and yet his skin still prickled.

Suddenly the energy around him shifted. Sasuke stiffened.

Whirling around, Sasuke caught the tail end of the hospital sheets fluttering back down.

Then a tan hand slipped through the gap between sheets, a broad wrist peeking out of an orange and black sleeve cuff. The sheet was pulled back.

"Hey, what are you doing up here?" Naruto asked, eighteen years old and definitely not a figment of Sasuke's imagination.

The tension left Sasuke's shoulder and he huffed out a breath, embarrassed at himself. "Sakura," he explained succinctly.

"Huh?" It took Naruto a minute. "Ah, her whole hospital revamp thing!" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Wait, you're actually helping? How'd she manage that?" Then, not giving Sasuke a chance to answer — though Sasuke wouldn't have in any case — Naruto guessed, "It's a trade for the arm, right? I'm totally right!"

"Maybe I'm just doing it out of the goodness of my heart." Sasuke wasn't able to keep the sarcastic edge out of his tone and so Naruto just laughed. "Sakura really can't keep a secret."

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Was it meant to be a secret?"

"Not exactly," Sasuke allowed. "But I didn't expect her to go around telling everyone."

"Since when am I everyone?!" Even Naruto's body language was loud, his entire being projecting offense. "We're Team Seven, so it's okay."

"I'm starting to think you want me on the council so that you're not breaking any laws when you inevitably spill village secrets," Sasuke said mockingly. "I'm guessing Sakura and Sai are your other picks?"

Naruto stuck out his tongue. "Well, it's not for your personality!

Giving Naruto his back, Sasuke directed his attention back to the gardens. Hinata's distant figure was nearly lost in the cover of the trees. Though he kept his gaze forward, Sasuke could see Naruto growing closer in his periphery. The sound of Naruto's footsteps against the concrete drew nearer and then came to a stop.

"You must want to talk about it. That's the only reason you'd bring it up," Naruto reasoned. "The council."

"The council," Sasuke echoed, hollowly. "My answer had nothing to do with you. You know that."

Naruto let out a mirthless laugh. "Yeah, I figured that out. Eventually."

"Mitokado and Utatane are ancient," Sasuke remarked.

This startled another laugh out of Naruto, more genuine than the last. "Old as hell. Practically halfway in the grave."

"And they've been on the council for as long as I can remember," Sasuke continued.

"Basically forever," Naruto agreed.

"So…"

"So?"

Sasuke turned. Naruto's face was in profile, the shadows of the gate cast by the sun panting dark grid marks on his tanned skin. "So, it's a no now, but it might not be a no forever. A lot can change in that many years."

Blue eyes widening, Naruto whipped his head around to stare at Sasuke with a mixture of shock and awe. "Wait, are you saying…?"

"I can't promise anything," Sasuke cut in. "…but I can consider it as a back up plan. If retiring to take up woodworking turns out to be soul crushingly boring."

A flicker of confusion crosses Naruto's face. Then he was throwing his head back, cackling. "Woodworking? Where did that come from?"

Sasuke simply shrugged.

"Alright, alright. Keep your secrets," Naruto said, laughter colouring his voice.

"At least one of us can," Sasuke muttered.

Naruto punched Sasuke in the arm. "Bastard," he said, sounding too fond for the insult to land. "It's funny though…Kakashi-sensei has been talking to me a lot about that. Iruka-sensei too."

Sasuke's brows furrowed together. "About woodworking?"

Naruto snorted. "About holding off on taking up the Hokage mantle. I mean, they've been saying it from the start, but I guess they're being more…loud?" He ruffled the hair at the back of his head. "They keep saying I have a lot of years to be Hokage and I should enjoy my youth."

"Sounds like something Lee would say."

"Right?! I don't want to wait! This is my dream! It's been my dream since forever!" Immediately after his outburst, Naruto quieted. He broke eye contact, choosing to aim his gaze over the edge of the roof instead. "I don't want to wait," he repeated, softer. "But…I'm starting to wonder."

Sasuke didn't say anything to that. He couldn't. He had no advice to offer and all things considered, he likely wasn't a person who should be giving out life advice. Yet he had a feeling that this was something Naruto hadn't confessed to anyone else.

Why he had been chosen, Sasuke couldn't fathom. But at the very least he was capable of offering space for Naruto to work through his thoughts.

A myriad of expressions played out on Naruto's face, his blue eyes clouding over. Sasuke waited in silence, watching as Hinata and Fujiwara stopped to sit down on a bench. After a few minutes, he looked back at Naruto and found him doing the same.

"I actually came here to check in on Minoru," Naruto said, offhandedly. "But then I saw you up on the roof and wanted to know what you were up to."

It seemed the matter of his future as the Nanadaime was closed for now. "You still do that?" Sasuke asked. He wasn't surprised. Naruto had fought the hardest for Fujiwara from the start. Of course he wouldn't abandon him even after the tribunal was over.

"When I can," Naruto said. "Feels like I always have a million things to do and not enough time to do it." For a moment his eyes got that faraway look again. Then they cleared and he grinned. "Didn't expect that I'd catch Hinata-chan too! Now that I've got you figured out, I'll go break up their little date."

Sasuke scoffed at the transparent attempt to rile him up.

Unbothered, Naruto proceeded to grab onto the chain link fence, fingers poking through the holes. Scrambling up gracelessly, Naruto hauled himself over so that he was straddling the top. Sending Sasuke a salute, he then threw himself off the other side, curling into a ball at the last minute and rolling to a safe stop. Not sparing a second to recover from the jump, Naruto then raced towards Hinata and Fujiwara, yelling so loudly that Sasuke could hear him from the rooftop.

Sasuke watched in amusement as Naruto shattered the tranquil mood, easily coaxing giggles out of Hinata while Fujiwara sulked and avoided Naruto's attempts to poke him.

Inexplicably more at ease than he had been when he came up here, Sasuke started towards the roof entrance.

He had a shift to finish.

Sasuke more annoyed by Fujiwara being around Hinata than Hinata's actual ex being around her haha

Thanks as always to everyone who continues to read and leave me comments

MVH