Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The distance from Grass and the Festival village back to Konoha was too far to make in a single day, even at the pace Tsunade drove them, and when they finally stopped for the night, Sasuke made a bee-line for Shikako, who was in the process of extricating herself from the overbearing presence of Gai-sensei. “Thanks for looking after her, Gai-sensei.” Sasuke said, snagging Shikako’s bag from where it sat next to the two and slipping his arm around a groggy looking Shikako’s waist.

“I-” She yawned,”I can walk. I’m fine, I swear.” Shikako protested.

Sasuke disagreed. “Shikako, you’re not even at one fifth your normal Chakra capacity, take your own advice for once."

She yawned again. and gave a sleepy smile before throwing her arm over his shoulder. “Fine, clingy."

“I am not clingy.” Sasuke protested, setting her down with her back to the trunk of an oak.

Ino immediately began to discuss something about earrings with Shikako, and it sounded clan related, which wasn't any of his business, so when Kiba came to snag him for firewood duty, dumping Akamaru into Shikako's lap, he accepted.

"I'm getting real fuckin tired of this." Kiba confided, leaning up against a tree after they walked out of hearing range. 

Sasuke stopped and looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "What, you're just going to quit? You just got that thing."

"The constant defeats." Kiba corrected. "Orochimaru leaving that…hickey of evil on your neck, your brother and The Tailless Tailed Beast after Naruto, the Sound 4, this fucking kidnapping attempt. All we seem to do is lose, or come out even, barely. We can't even punish Grass right, and we all know they're the ones who tried to take Shikako." He stopped. "They want Gaara too right, your brother and the fish, they want Naruto for what's inside him."

"Get to the point Kiba, what of it." Sasuke snapped.

“I’m tired of my people getting hunted like rabbits, and not being able to do anything about it. I need a fuckin win, we need a fuckin win. I have half a mind to kill any Grass nin I see on missions on the principle of it, I hate them so much." Kiba growled. "And there's nothing I can do about it but train harder for it. So no, I'm not fuckin quitting. I just want something I can actually do."

There wasn't much he could say against that. Right now he wanted Grass to burn. With everyone he hated inside it.

Chapter Text

 “It’s good to be home.” Kiba commented gratefully between gasps as he let Hinata down.

“It’s good to have you home dog-breath. Why? Because it was disturbingly too peaceful around here without your incessant barking.” A voice returned from above.

“Shino!” Kiba called excitedly to the shinobi crouched on the top of the nearby electrical pole. “Get down here you bug infested son of a bitch!”

“That name does not apply to me, Kiba.” Shino explained as he casually hopped down from his perch and strode over to his peers. “Why? Because my mother is not a female canine, which is more than I can say for you my friend.” Kiba slapped his hand over his heart with a wounded expression on his face before yanking Shino into a loose one armed headlock.

“Not going to dispute the bug infestation part, Shino?” Sasuke asked dryly.

“I am an Aburame, that is nothing to be ashamed of, copycat.”

He conceded the point.

“I see that you have all made Chunin, congratulations. Why? Because this promotion was a long time in coming, and I am glad we all stand on equal ground again.” Shino praised, prying himself loose of Kiba. 

“Thanks Shino,” Shikako accepted, having recently extricated herself from Gai's care. 

Shino inclined his head. “How were the exams?” he asked, leading the way into the village after moving his way to Hinata’s side.

“Not bad, we all did very well.” She said quietly but happily.

“Hinata did amazing,” Shikako commented. “She smashed Kankuro and his puppet out of the ring in one hit with some sort of chakra fist.” 

Shino looked surprised at that. “I would be interested to see this. Why? Because I was not aware you had a new move to show.”

“I would be glad to, Shino.”

The ten shinobi walked further into the village before breaking up into our separate groups, Team eight got firmly pulled in the direction of the Inuzuka district, and team Gai split up to go back to their homes. “You coming with me all the way back home?” Shikako asked. “Or are you going to come back for dinner.” 

Sasuke shook his head. ”I think I need to go dig some things out of storage.” 

 “Uchiha stuff?” She asked slowly.

He nodded. “Yeah.” 

“Do you want me to come with you?” she offered.

Sasuke hesitated, seriously thinking it over. “It’s ok if you don’t, I just want to see if I can find some of the old Police vests that are in my size. You go home, I’m sure your family is going to want to hear about Kusa’s indiscretion before Shikaku-san hears it from Tsunade-sama.”

Shikako winced, “That’s not going to be pleasant.”

“At least you will have plenty of stories to tell Yoshino-san, and Kiba will never let you live any of it down.”  

“Not helping, Sasuke.” She huffed, walking off with Ino.

........

“Well, it’s now or never.” He thought, his hand resting on the door. Sasuke took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pushed open the door. When he opened his eyes, his shoulders tight as though he was prepared to come face to face with a ghost, he was met with the sight of a warehouse filled to the rafters with the material possessions of his dead kin stacked up in boxes in eight rows twenty meters long, five meters wide, and three meters tall. Sasuke sighed, “And now I get to look through it all.” He murmured. Sasuke hesitated before catching himself and punched a wall. “I have five hours before I have to meet ‘Kako. I have to get started now, regardless of how much I don’t want to find whatever it is I don’t want to find.” He berated himself before climbing up the first stack of pine wood crates and beginning to methodically pry open each crate with a kunai, rifle through it’s contents, and pound the crate back shut in disappointment. “Why the did the Third decide to keep so much of this damn clothing, if it was Mom’s or Dad’s I might be grateful that he kept it, but all I’m finding is box after box of fucking t-shirts.”  

With every box of unneeded clothing piled next to the wall by the door, he moved on to the next set of boxes. “Finally, here’s what I’m looking for.” Sasuke cheered as he opened a box to find a stack of Uchiha Military Police soft body armor vests. Checking the tags, Sasuke grimaced. Too large. The next three boxes contained the same result and his search continued. It seemed that every last item bearing the Uchiha crest was stored in that warehouse, from a crate containing nothing but bedsheets to a crate containing a fancy looking set of tea cups that had probably been used exclusively for Tea Ceremonies. Growing more frustrated by the minute, he checked the time “Three more hours. I’m not even done with the first row yet. I’ve got to find a way to speed this up. Wait a minute.” Sasuke straightened. Swiftly moulding his chakra in the way he’d copied off of Naruto, he formed a hand seal. “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Sasuke turned to his clone and gestured off to the next row. “Get searching, we don’t have all day.” The clone nodded and clambered on to the next row. 

Sasuke stretched and continued. The next hour passed with mind-numbing repetitive boredom as he and his clone searched through box after box of Uchiha emblazoned material in their search to find one single vest that actually fit. “Come on, I know I had cousins who joined the Force when they were thirteen, and vests were part of the uniform. Where are they?” Sasuke cursed as he slammed the lid shut on a box containing a stack of expensive looking kimonos.

“Hey boss!” His clone choked out. “You need to come see this!”

Sasuke whipped around. “You found them!?”

The clone shook his head furiously as he clutched the rim of the open box. “You need to come see this. I’ll take over for you where you’re at.” The shadow clone dragged his sleeve across his eyes and climbed down. 

“If it’s his I don’t want to see it.” Sasuke snapped to the chakra construct as he approached. 

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m you, idiot. I would have dragged it outside and burned it if it had been.” The shadow clone growled as it opened a box to find it full of broken down bed frames.

Sasuke frowned and climbed up the second stack of crates, frustrated by the time his search was taking and nervous about whatever had so visibly upset his clone. When he arrived, he peered into the crate to find a darkly stained wooden chest just over a meter long and flinched as though struck. Boldly painted in scarlet onto the the lid in katakana was a message.

“Property of Mikoto Uchiha. Keep the fuck out!”

Sasuke swallowed as he tried to fight back tears, gripping the wood of the surrounding crate so fiercely that the pine splintered under his grasp. Fighting to get ahold of himself, he wiped his eyes on his sleeve and made an impulse decision. Hauling the chest out of the crate with great effort, he then called his clone over and together they bore it down to the floor. Thankfully, the clone had managed to finally find what Sasuke was looking for. Noting the seal locking the chest, Sasuke swiftly sealed the vests into one of the scrolls in his pack, having adopted Shikako’s “packing with storage seals” method long before. Then he addressed his shadow clone. “Come on, there’s only one person I know who can get me into this thing, and I’m eating with her family this evening.”   

…….

“You must be joking. Why? Because I do not believe that a minor village’s leadership could possibly be that stupid.” Shino Aburame argued from his seat beside Hinata.

“He's not joking, Shino. Grass would have taken Shikako if she did not place that seal.” Hinata assured. 

“And Grass will just get away with it.”Kiba growled angrily, leaning on the grill. “I’m tired of people messing with my pack and coming out even at best.”

“I am aware, but the Godaime cannot do anything overly aggressive against Kusa. Why? Because then Iwa will take up arms and Kumo will leap at the chance as well, and that will be the start of the Fourth Great War.” Shino countered, pulling a small book and pencil out of his jacket and flipping to his last place in it. "I imagine Sasuke is infuriated."

"Listen, me and Shikako are friends, but we're not as close as she and Sasuke are, and if this makes me want to start killing Grass ninja on principle whenever we meet them, he's just about wanting to set the whole village on fire right about now."

"That would be unbelievably stupid."

“Well I know that, don’t I?” Kiba retorted, walking over and peering over Shino’s shoulder. He blinked a few times and shook his head before checking to make sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing. “That’s for your little sister isn’t it?” 

“It is.”

Kiba gestured at the book. “Do you mind if I make an observation?”

Shino placed his pencil down and looked up at Kiba exageratedly. ”Go on. Why? Because I am dying to know what constructive criticism you could make.”

“Well for one,” Kiba noted, gesturing at the horrifying, demonic-looking, eldritch monster-like creature towering over a dimunitive human in the foreground. ”Children’s books aren’t supposed to scare the living shit out of the children.”

Shino sighed, “Right now I am at the point where the Fourth Hokage, our hero, is about to slay the mountain demon and rescue Konoha from certain destruction.”

“So you’re creatively retelling history then.”

“Yes. Why? Because my sister thinks I am much better at telling it than the Acadamy teachers. And now that I am a chunnin, I will not always be around to teach it to her in such a way that she can pass the tests.”

“I’ve got to admit, if that’s the way they taught in the Academy, me and Naruto would’ve had better scores.”

Hinata took a look. "I think it's nice.”

Chapter Text

His mother’s trunk turned out to not be nearly as important as some other things in Sasuke’s life. Like the spectacular blowup that occurred that night at the Nara house. He was, at that point, very glad he had made the last minute decision to not bring that over. The last thing he wanted was to bring more emotional upheaval anywhere near Shikako without being able to help her sort her own out first. 

Ok, that was only most of it, while Sasuke’s worry about Shikako dominated his mind for the rest of that night and the next morning, he would grudgingly admit to putting off opening his mom’s things. He had the itching feeling that when he opened it he would end up finding things that would reduce him to gross, snotty, sobbing. He was not looking forward to it.

Then Shikako threw him another loop. Of course she did.

“Special Jounin.” He congratulated again over dinner at his apartment. “That must be the fastest promotion turnaround in history.”

“Honestly, that was just a bonus.” She pointed out, poking at her rice, chicken and stir-fried green tomatoes. “I’m just glad I was able to escape the clutches of R&D once and for all.”

“Naruto is going to flip when he comes back and finds out that ‘shikako-neechan’ became a Special Jounin while he was gone.” Sasuke sighed, shaking his head.

Shikako grinned and reached out to pat his cheek. “Don’t sell yourself short, we’ve got three years. We’ll make full Jounin as well.” She took a bite of the rice and tomatoes. “Also, ‘nee-chan’? I’m honored.”

“Not mine, Naruto’s.” Sasuke pointed at her with his chopsticks. Whatever warm and jumpy feelings he was starting to experience in his stomach whenever she laughed at something he said or whenever she hugged him, they were not of the sibling kind (he still hadn’t really got over her leaning against him after her fight with Gaara). Not that he knew exactly what they were, nor was he particularly eager to figure them out just yet, he had an idea they’d throw him for another emotional loop. He was still kind of dizzy from the last one he’d been thrown. “You’ll have to settle for best friend from me.”

“Thank you.” Shikako pointed back at the soft body armor vests with the blue-shuriken-and-Uchiha-crest on the back. “Find anything else interesting when you found those?”

“Well damn it, so much for not opening that up yet.” Sasuke nodded, “Yeah, I found a trunk that belonged to my mom.”

Shikako’s eyes shot up to meet his. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, I haven’t opened it yet.” Sasuke answered, placing a piece of tomato in his mouth.

“Do you want me there when you do?” She offered.

“Well, you’ll have to be. It’s locked with a seal that’s beyond me, and you’re the only one who can get it open that I don’t mind touching it.” Sasuke answered blandly. "Besides, it’s not a priority at the moment.” He got up and placed his empty dishes in the sink. 

Shikako was taken aback. "Okay? It’s your mom’s stuff. Why isn’t it a priority?”

Well, this could go horribly, as it had last night, mostly Shikamaru’s fault in his humble opinion, or it could go relatively well. Probably all a matter of not being a career-murdering jackass, or at least not acting like one. “Because you are occupying that position.” Sasuke answered, walking around to the opposite side of the small table and sitting beside her. “This thing with… him targeting Naruto, and Orochimaru is really getting to you isn’t it? Shikamaru doesn’t get it, it’s only going to get worse before it gets better, way worse. You’re one of the few our age who actually gets it and is preparing for it. There’s no avoiding it, only choice we have is to get good enough to kill them before they get us. They’re S-class, and we only have three years to get good enough before Naruto comes back and they come looking, and you think that no one seems to realize it but you and you’re scared. You don’t want to lose anyone.”

Shikako was staring at him and rigid as a board.

“I’m not going to suggest that you stop. I’m on your side, I understand what you’re doing and why. But you’re my best friend, you’re the best friend I’ll ever have,” Sasuke pleaded, voice choking up a little bit, and dammit he hadn’t meant to get like this. “and I want you to be okay before any of my stuff gets taken care of, because that’s what you’ve done for me, so If you ever want to talk about it-”

And then she was hugging him, and he was busy pushing that currently distracting jumpy feeling to the back of his mind again because he needed to make his best friend the priority.

“Thanks.” Shikako murmured. “I needed to hear that. Shika doesn’t get it.”

“No problem.” Sasuke replied, hugging her back. “That’s what best friends do right?”

She squeezed a little tighter before letting go and standing up. She wiped her eyes and looked out the window. “I probably need to go home now.” She announced, throwing her jacket and vest on. “But we are getting that box opened, soon. You help me, I help you.” She poked him in the chest when he got up to follow her to the door.

Sasuke nodded, and opened the door. “Yeah, we’ll deal with all this together, right?”

She agreed and they hugged again, and Sasuke watched her leave. Her back was just a touch straighter than when she’d arrived, and as Sasuke closed the door and filled the sink with water and soap he couldn’t help but think that maybe he improved things a little. He might still be coming to rip away everything he had and Orochimaru might still be looking to possess him, but maybe Shikako was being crushed under all the weight she felt because of it just a little bit less. And if there was one thing Sasuke understood it’s that you deal with your fear and despair in small little increments, because if you face it all at once, all it does is send you right back into an endless black pit.

Chapter Text

It was a week or two before Shikako and Sasuke had any time to pop Mikoto’s trunk open. Between training with Kakashi, with the Sensor Squad, Shikako’s posting with the Intelligence Department, and Sasuke’s continued posting with Border Patrol, they were both being kept extremely busy.

“Hey.” Sasuke greeted as he opened the door a little bit wider so Shikako could enter. “Where’d you get all that?” He asked, glancing at the numerous books in her arms.

“I wrote them, it’s everything I have on sealing.” she explained somewhat proudly. “Jiraiya even proofread this one.” She laid them out on the kitchen table and tapped one that looked like it had colored sticky notes sticking out of it. 

Sasuke frowned in confusion. “When did that happen?” He asked, walking into his bedroom and dragging the wooden box out into the kitchen. 

“You were learning Chidori with Kakashi-sensei.” She replied as she helped him lift it onto a chair.

Sasuke nodded and Shikako got to work studying the seal locking the trunk. “Tea?” He offered.

“Please.” Shikako confirmed, flipping through the notebook and comparing the lock seal to various examples . “Well, whoever did this used Uzumaki-style sealing.”

Sasuke looked back at her eyebrow raised. “Wait, what?” He placed the full pot on the stove and turned it to the appropriate setting. 

“Come here.” She pointed to a picture of a seal in the notebook. “That is literally a textbook example of a Uzumaki-style spiral seal. They’re for being extremely strong, stable, and rare, primarily due….well, due to the Uzumaki clan having been destroyed and the survivors scattered and hunted during the Second Great Shinobi War. We took in most of them because they were our Allies during the First and Second Wars.”

“And now there’s only Naruto, do you think he knows?” Sasuke finished.

“Probably not. I mean, it’s not exactly classified information, any book on the First and Second Wars or on the Senju Clan is going to have information on it. Naruto just isn’t the type to read history books on his spare time. Anyway, do you see the similarity between the one on your mom’s and the one in here?”

“Yeah.”

“Uzumaki spiral sealing.”

“So my mom knew one and they were close enough for them to draw her a lock seal. Because she wasn’t a seal master.” He concluded.

She studied it for a few more minutes. “ Where’s the chakra sink. This has to be powered by something- No. You’re kidding, no way. That’s too easy.” she muttered in awe before simply ripping it off. “That was a dummy seal, it didn’t take chakra from anywhere. It was just a massive, dangerous looking bluff.” She sighed and stuck the seal into her notebook. “And here I was, trying not to trip a minefield like an amature.”

Sasuke carefully decided not to mention how glad he was that it wasn’t a mine considering how close the two were versus how casually Shikako ripped it off. 

“Well, you ready for this?” Shikako asked, catching his attention carefully and bringing it back to the present. “You okay.”

He shook himself like a dog ridding itself of water. “Only one way to find out, right?” Sasuke reached out and shoved the lid up and back, fast enough to prevent himself from hesitating. 

Close to half of the box was filled to the top with a collection of notebooks small enough to fit into a pocket, the other side housed a large set of seemingly random but carefully stacked items. 

“So where do you want to start?” Shikako asked looking at him expectantly, having stacked up her own notebooks and placed them to the side. 

“I think-” Sasuke started cautiously before he was interrupted by the timer beeping it’s announcement that the tea was done. Sasuke started at the sound and got up to pour it. “I think we should just lay everything out and figure out what everything is. We can start to go through it after that in more detail.”

She nodded and began to methodically lay out the contents of the trunk on the table, Sasuke handed her one of the cups and started flipping through the meticulously stacked notebooks. “We can leave leave these in here.” He commented. “They’re all journals, I’ll start reading them later tonight.”

“She certainly seems to have been the nostalgic type or at the very least she liked keeping good records,” Shikako confirmed, holding up a heavy notebook and a collection of envelopes. “Photo album, and these letters are dated from a year before the Third Shinobi War.” Shikako opened one carefully and began to read, her eyes darting along the page. When she flipped to the second page of the letter, she got about a third of the way down before her eyes widened like saucers. “Sasuke, I don’t think you should read these.” she advised carefully, struggling to keep her voice even.

“Why? What are they about?” He asked apprehensively as he set aside an additional set of notebooks that he’d determined to be notes on advanced genjutsu.

“Well, “ Shikako said, grinning mischievously as she fought to keep herself from giggling and not succeeding completely, “Apparently your mom had a boyfriend before your dad.” She explained, eyes glued to the page. “Yeah, for the sake of your own sanity, don’t read these.”

Sasuke went from being apprehensive, to confused, to outright horror in less than three seconds as it dawned on him and he realized both what was in the contents of the letters and that sometimes perhaps ignorance truly was bliss.

“If it helps,” Shikako gasped, fighting for air as she succumbed to the giggling and continued reading. “She was an excellent writer.” 

Naturally, that didn’t reassure Sasuke in the least. “That doesn’t help at all!” He protested, looking as though he was going to be sick. And because Shikako gained nothing but enjoyment out of tormenting him, or so he thought by this point as he wallowed in horror, she simply had to make it even worse. 

“Seriously Sasuke, can I borrow these for while?” She cackled madly, moving on to the next page with glee. 

It took him a second for that to register. “Why?” He asked, perplexed. Then the memory of what he had read out of stupefying boredom during his enforced isolation after Orochimaru’s first attempt at his body came back to him and he blushed wildly “Shikako!” He exclaimed, his face red as a tomato as he was assaulted by an extremely unwanted image and another set of that feeling in his stomach that made him feel like he had swallowed one of Jiraiya’s toads.

Shikako fought down the laughter, which was replaced by the hiccups. She carefully folded and put the letter back into the envelope before exchanging it with the teacup as she shook with mirth. “There, there, Sasuke.” She said, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s ok, we’ll keep you safe from the smut.”

“I hope you’re proud of yourself. There’s not enough soap in the world to clean that out of my ears.” he griped, ears red like the fan on the back of his shirt.

Shikako sighed, her hiccups finally under control. “Ah, on that pleasant note, let’s move on.” She suggested, removing a Konohagakure forehead plate attached to a maroon bandanna from the trunk.

“Can we please.” Sasuke begged, hauling himself out of his own little pit of despair and unwanted information to join her in continuing to sort out his mother’s things. He removed a set of horror novels, apparently autographed by the author, before removing a kimono and a scroll to reveal a long sleeve made of linen, whose contents stretched along the back of the meter long trunk. 

“Hey Sasuke?” Shikako asked, opening the photo album. “ Does he look familiar to you?” She pointed to a silver haired man towering benignly over a squad of genin containing an amused boy with earrings and a bow slung on his back, an exasperated looking dark-haired girl, and a girl with striking red hair who was flashing the victory sign at the camera and beaming like she’d just had the world handed to her.

“He looks like Kakashi.” Sasuke commented as he removed the sleeve from the trunk.

She nodded, “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She agreed distractedly. “Is that a sword sleeve?” She asked, looking at what was in her friend’s hands. “Did she practice kenjutsu?’

“Not that I know of, and she taught me almost everything I knew.” Sasuke paused. “Him and dad were usually busy with work a lot. So mom taught me my Uchiha taijutsu forms and shuriken techniques ... as well as a lot of other stuff.” He peeled the cloth down over the riveted maple handle scales and tsuba of the katana and then the wakizashi before removing them from the bag entirely, which he laid carefully on the table along with the shorter of the two swords before unsheathing the longer. “I guess she did.” He pointed at the well oiled but scratched flat and spine of the blade. “It certainly didn’t get this from ceremonial use, and it’s sharp.” He confirmed, lightly testing the edge with the top of his fingernail. 

“Isn’t one of the Special Jounin you patrol with known for kenjutsu?” Shikako asked, curiously, flipping through the photo album. 

Sasuke nodded. “Gekko Hayate.” He confirmed, placing the katana on the table so he could do a similar examination on the wakizashi. “You think I should ask him to teach me how to use these?”

“Well I wouldn’t use those exact ones, they’re family heirlooms at this point and it’d suck if they broke on a mission. But I certainly am. Lessons on how to use the Raijin no Ken are sorta long over-due. You could probably get a copy of them made, though. I’m sure Tenten knows someone who could do it. Who’s this?” She asked, pointing to a picture of Mikoto, now in her mid teens and a seven year old in a dark blue jacket edged with orange. 

Sasuke barely gave the picture a glance. “Oh, that’s Obito, he was mom’s favorite cousin. Died during the Third War trying to blow up a bridge in Kusa or something.“ Sasuke put the swords back in the sleeve and went to sit by Shikako. 

They spent a few minutes looking over the photo album before Shikako spoke up again. “There’s nine of them.” She said quietly, leaning into Sasuke and rocking her head back on his shoulder to study the ceiling. 

“Nine of who?” Sasuke asked, looking at another picture of the redheaded girl, the Kakashi lookalike and his mother, who was leaning against the boy with the bow and earrings. They looked about sixteen. 

“The Akatsuki. The group Itachi and Kisame belong to.” She could feel Sasuke go rigid as a two-by-four. “There’s nine of them. All are S-class. All are just as insane or more so. Orochimaru used to be a member, that’s how Jiraiya-sama found out about them.” She continued, the words falling out of her mouth like water out of a spring. “Sasori of the Red Sand used to be his partner, and there was another seen hanging out at bounty offices. I told Fu from Taki, and Gaara knows too.” She tilted her head to looked at him. “Gaara gave me Sasori’s folder. I gave it to Tsunade-sama, don’t tell anyone though.”

Sasuke’s expression was a mix of frozen rage and horror. ”Nine?” He stated in shock before shaking his head. 

Shikako nodded and rocked her head back its former position on his shoulder. “Yeah.” She continued to study the subtle pattern on the ceiling formed by the plaster. “Yeah.” she breathed quietly as Sasuke tightened his arm around her shoulders, both caught up in imagining the nightmare they’d be walking face-first into three years later.

“We’ll get through it.” Sasuke said eventually. “We’re the Lucky Sevens.” He turned a page in the album.

Chapter Text

“Kiba you must surely have something better to do than look over shoulder and watch me draw.” Shino commented in a distinctly irritated tone as he sketched a scene detailing an Aburame victory over a Kamizuru set during the Third War. “Why? Because last I noticed you were still working through the jutsu Sasuke left you.”

Kiba shook his head slowly. “Nope, worked through the mud wall, clone, and earth walking techniques before he got pulled to do whatever it is Kakashi-sensei wanted him to figure out, and I finished with the three basic fire jutsu scrolls he left me two days ago. I’ll admit to the last one taking me a little longer to nail down, but I finished it.” The Kamizuru was getting her wasp hive forcibly chewed out of her body by the Aburame’s kikaichu. Kiba took an experimental sniff, and noted that neither their sensei nor his second sister were in the area yet. Kiba frowned. Kurenai-sensei had promised to finally start teaching them some low level genjutsu. It wasn’t really his style, Inuzuka were as notoriously bad at performing genjutsu as they were good at breaking them, but he figured that it wouldn’t hurt to further expand his growing number of ways he could kick someone’s ass. 

“Shy-littermate-Hinata did say that she had to sit in a cruel-not-a-pack-Hyuuga meeting.” Akamaru reminded him through their mental link as he worried a roll of rawhide made from a rabbit pelt. 

Kiba knelt down to run his fingers over his partner’s ears. “It’s noon though. I would have thought that those sticks in the mud would have finished by now.”

“You should have brought something to chew.” Akamaru lectured “Always-eating-Choji’s never bored, he always has something to chew. Lazy-shadow-Shikamaru’s never bored because he always has his clouds to watch. Buzzing-littermate-Shino’s never bored because he has his markings to make.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m working on it.”

Akamaru huffed and dropped the rawhide, nudging it over with his paw. “ Here, throw it. That way you can keep both of us entertained.”

Kiba laughed and threw the rawhide across the clearing. ”So, Shino. Akamaru says I need a hobby. Got any ideas?” 

Shino didn’t answer.

Kiba nudged him in the ribs. “Shino, come on. surely you’ve got something.”

“You could practice giving other people some peace and quiet for once. Why? I’m sure that would fully occupy your mind.” Shino replied.

Kiba rolled his eyes. “Alright, that’s it. I’ll bite. What the hell crawled up your ass and died? You’ve been extra pissy all morning.”

Shino took a deep breath let it out slowly. “I apologize.” He bit out. “Why? Because you are right, I have been taking my anger out on the wrong targets because it would not be right or legal to pursue the proper ones.” 

Kiba frowned. “What happened?” “Get ready to throw down buddy, somebody messed with our pack again.”

“Oh finally, some proper rabbits to chase!”

“Chiyako was publically humiliated and attacked and Mr. Cranberry was grievously injured by their classmates yesterday. She hid in the bushes outside of the Academy crying until Shikako found her and helped bring her home. And this is not the first time such things have happened.” He seethed. 

“False alarm, we can’t beat up Academy children.” Kiba explained to Akamaru.

“Why not? Pups need to be put in their place occasionally.” Akamaru retorted. He liked Chiyako.

“And I completely agree, but this is out of our jaws. Don’t you think Shino would have gotten back at them if he could?”

“Shino sometimes needs a push.” 

“We just can’t, as much as I’d like too. Legal human reasons.”

“You’re quiet.” Shino noted coldly.

“Sorry, I was trying to talk Akamaru out of teaching the bullies a well-deserved lesson. Is there anyway we can help that doesn’t involve beating up cruel little Academy snots?” Kiba offered. “Maybe we can get Mr. Cranberry to eat all of the fleas or something. I don’t know. She’s always welcome at the Inuzuka compound, you know that.”

Shino nodded, accepting the explanation. ”Not particularly. And thank you.”

Shino shifted uncomfortably. “I do not know if this is an appropriate observation to make considering that it is normally frowned upon to have empathy with one’s enemy, but I cannot help but wonder if Orochimaru’s experience with the Academy was similar to Chiyako’s. Why? Because, Chiyako suffers the scorn of her peers like many Aburame before her because society does not look kindly on insects and arachnids, viewing them as signs of filth and decay. Many people’s view on serpents is similar, if not worse due to the high number of venomous snakes in this area because of our favorable climate. I wonder if he was frequently bullied as a child because he associated himself with creatures thought of as creepy and dangerous.” 

“I have heard that in Kiri, dogs are seen as a public menace, and that D-rank missions are often to kill feral dogs.” Akamaru added, trotting up to Kiba and laying the rawhide in his lap.

“I’ve heard that too.” Kiba pulled Akamaru into his arms. “I think I’m lucky that I was born in Konoha and not Kiri, or I would be in the same position. And no, I don’t think it can be too wrong to empathize with your enemy, as long as it does not stop you from doing your duty. The only reason Gaara is our ally is because Naruto empathized with him.”

Shino nodded and put away his notebook and pencil. “We should begin warming up for training. Why? Because my kikaichu can smell Hinata and Kurenai-sensei’s approach.”

“Finally.” Akamaru wagged his tail. “Let me go. I’m going to greet shy-littermate-Hinata. She alway’s needs cheering up after talking with her cruel-not-a-pack-Hyuuga.” 

Kiba complied and Akamaru rocketed across the training ground. “Taijutsu?” He offered, standing up. “You need work with that.”

Shino nodded, taking Kiba’s and allowing Kiba to pull him up off the ground. “I agree. You are still able to beat me in a taijutsu-only spar easily. That needs to be rectified.”

Chapter Text

Part One

“I am such a fucking idiot.” Sasuke cursed himself as he left the training field. “I just had to activate sharingan and escalate it. I could have ended it right there if I had stepped back and tried to calm her down instead. It wasn’t supposed to end that way."

What he had had in mind was to finally start paying Shikako back in similar fashion for her games during the mission to Wave and before their first Exams. He hadn’t intended for his attempt at mischief to turn into a deathmatch. “I need to get control of myself. We really could have killed each other.” That was the ultimate problem, Shikako threw the first blow and Sasuke did exactly what was normally expected, he fell back on his training and activated his Sharingan, leading Shikako to redouble her efforts, thinking that he was Itachi. Then they nearly killed each other. 

Sasuke checked the sun’s progress across the sky as he made his way across the village by way of the rooftops, chakra suppressed as far down as he could make it so that he was functioning without it’s benefits, and decided that he still needed to hurry to get done what he needed to get done so he could be back on time.

Kiba wasn’t at Team Kurenai’s chosen field, so he tracked down Kiba at the Inuzuka compound, watching a little girl in a yellow coat play with a collection of dogs. “I never thought you were into babysitting.”

“I am when it’s Shino’s sister.” Kiba returned with a grin. “What’s up, copycat? I didn’t know you were back.”

“I’m not.” Sasuke answered. “Have you finished with the scroll I left you?”

Kiba gave him a long look and nodded, calmly getting up and making a ‘come with me’ gesture. “Yeah, come with me and I’ll get them. I can tell you’re in a hurry and my room has a window.” He turned to the girl. “Chiyako!” He called. “I’m going to get some stuff for Sasuke. Don’t push them too hard, Daikuro’s still having problems with his ribs.” Kiba led him into the house, a low ceilinged building with wood paneling on the inside that gave the vague impression of a dog’s den. “So what’s biting you? Don’t lie, it’s all over your face.”

Sasuke paused. “Me and Shikako nearly killed each other today.” He said slowly and carefully.

Kiba gave him a particularly careful look. “I’m going to assume training accident.”

Sasuke tilted his hand back and forth, and grimaced. “Kinda not really.” He clarified, explaining the situation more thoroughly as they walked through the halls. 

“At least it ended well and it seems you both know where you went wrong.” The Inuzuka said afterwards, a slow grin spreading on his face as he opened the door to his room and began sorting through the contents of the desk along the wall as he searched for the fire jutsu scroll.

“I really don’t see what’s so funny about it.” Sasuke commented defensively at the grin on Kiba’s face.

“Well look at it this way, copycat.” Kiba explained, locating the scroll and tossing it from one hand to the other. “At least you’ve learned how to have some fun. I’m sure that that’s a big step for you. Anything else you need? I’m sure you didn’t come all this way just for that.” Kiba continued, grinning widely and completely unperturbed by the genuinely unimpressed half-glare being leveled his way.

Sasuke nodded, “Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to be gone for too much longer before I really do come back, and I need you to get everyone ready for a conversation, just the twelve of us, about that issue of us being targeted once I get back.”

That got his attention. “You have new information?”

Sasuke nodded. “The situation is much worse than we originally thought. I don’t have the time to explain fully right now, but the best advice is to get ready for war in three years.”

“Against Kumo? Iwa?” Kiba snapped out.

“Not that I know of, but apparently he and Kisame have friends.”

Kiba relaxed and tossed him his scroll. “I’ll tell them to double time it. Mom found a manned Iwa bunker inside our borders a week or two ago, that should serve as a suitable excuse.”

“What?” Sasuke hissed. “You’re joking.”

“Nope, but I do know a damn good one about an Uchiha that copied the art of the hairball from a cat and regretted it the rest of his life.” 

Sasuke gave him another unimpressed half glare and opened the window. “I’ll see you later, dog’s breath.”

“One last thing,” Kiba stated. Sasuke paused on the window sill. “Mom has apparently decided that it’s perfectly okay to try to hit on Shikako for me without asking me first. Not that I’m really interested in her, but I just thought you should know. You know, as her teammate.” He said, holding his hands up.

Sasuke dropped out the window without another word. And Kiba suppressed his laughter all the way back to Chiyako at the expression on his face. The Uchiha looked like he was going to be sick. 

Sasuke felt like he was going to be sick as he left and raced across town to exchange the scroll with a new set of techniques he could learn. He didn’t like that idea or the flash of sheer panic that gripped his stomach that accompanied it at all. Not that he knew why that idea made him feel sick to his stomach, nor, he thought, was he particularly eager to think about it.

Part Two

The next morning saw Sasuke at the training grounds with a bag of sweet bean rolls he knew he wasn’t going to eat and his cheap, mass produced, ANBU katana in hand. 

 “I’m sorry for not telling you anyway.” he apologized as he sat down next to Shikako and placed the bag next to her.

She took a blank look at the bag before shifting it to him. “That’s not-.” She broke off before placing her head in her hands. “I’m not mad at you anymore, Sasuke. ”  

“That doesn’t mean I still shouldn’t be apologizing. I should have told you.” Sasuke argued. 

“You weren’t supposed to in the first place.” 

“Yeah, and we’re supposed to know about Akatsuki, and whatever it is that Sai is a part of.” He rolled his eyes. 

Shikako let out a huff. “I get why you did it. Just please be careful. If you see or hear things that don’t add up, tell Kakashi-sensei, tell Tsunade, tell somebody.” She paused. “This scares me more than Akatsuki does.” She admitted. “Because, and I’m just guessing here, but they might have been the ones who leaked our location during the mission with the mill owner. Orochimaru couldn’t have gotten that information so quickly if someone high up in command hadn’t gotten it for him. What that implies scares me.”

Sasuke’s mouth went dry. “It implies that someone high up wants me worse than dead, fast. And that’s why you were pissed.” 

“Oh that’s not it. I still can’t believe that you just let them put a goddam seal on you. Did you even ask what it did, or who controls it for that matter?” She burst out, voice rising in in a tone that clearly exclaimed ‘are you fucking stupid?’

Sasuke opened his mouth to argue, then closed it instead, suitably chastised. “Well it isn’t a kill switch, I think they would have activated Orochimaru’s if it was.” He sighed. “You’re right, it was stupid. Next time they want to put a seal on me, I’ll refuse.” He fidgeted. “If I let you put a seal on me that could tell you where I was would that make you feel better about it?”     

Shikako looked up, eyes wide, and then they turned to anger and she hit him again, hard, right over his ANBU seal. “Letting people put seals on you is exactly what I’m pissed at you for in the first place, you idiot.”

“Yeah, but you’re you!” He yelped, “You’re my best friend, you’re not going to blow my head off if I disobey you. I trust you!”

Shikako snorted, still not pleased, but mollified. Her shoulders slumped. “Yeah, it would. Not now, though. That'll have to be a project.”

Sasuke grinned.“Whenever you’re ready.”

Part Three

It was just before eight o’clock on a Thursday night when Sasuke came back from a particularly late patrol and found that he both had nothing to occupy himself, and that his mind was still far too busy to go to sleep. So, quickly making up his mind. . . and stomach, as he had yet to eat, he picked up food from a nearby Akimichi owned restaurant and made his way over to the Hokage tower, and from there, the Intelligence wing. 

“Is Nara, Shikako in?” Sasuke asked as he opened the door to an intake office , holding up the boxes of food and showing them to the chuunin at the desk responsible for guarding the actual door to the Intelligence department just beside the desk.

“Uh, yeah, she’s in, let me figure out where, though. I think they changed her post this week. Just sign the visitor book over there. I’m Arata Daichi.” the chuunin confirmed, dragging a file with Shikako’s name on it out of a drawer and flicking it open. “She’s in the Aviary right now, I hope for your sake that’s not bar-b-que. Those damn birds beg like dogs and thieve like rats.” He said with a wry grin as he got up from the desk. “Come on, you have to have an escort behind that door. I’ll take you back.” He opened the door and held it open for Sasuke to follow. 

“You know, we don’t get visitors like this often, especially not this late. Have you ever thought about where you’re going to do your three month stint?” the chuunin asked as he led Sasuke down a set of halls.

“I’m already doing it right now. I’ve been assigned to border patrol.” Sasuke answered in an annoyed tone. 

 “Well, it’s a good thing you came up now instead of later. We usually break for dinner about this time anyway. So we’ll check the break room first before heading up to the Aviary.” He said, clearly trying to steer the conversation toward a less unsavory topic. The chuunin opened a door and stuck his head in before closing the door. “Not in there, up to the Aviary then.“ He said gesturing onwards.

When they found her, Shikako had a hawk twice the size of her head perched on her forearm that she was feeding scraps of meat under the supervision of a man in a chuunin vest and dark sunglasses. 

“Shikako, you have a visitor.” Arata announced, stepping out of the way so Sasuke could enter. The hawk immediately switched its attention to the newcomer and the boxes in his arms as though it was precision guided, and only Shikako waving another chunk of meat in front of its head distracted it long enough for her to get it back into its kennel. “Mind if I pass him on?” The chuunin asked.

The man with the sunglasses nodded. “Go ahead. She’ll make sure he won’t go anywhere he shouldn’t. Hold that door open.” He strode over to the open door. “I’m going down for dinner. Don’t give the birds anything, Kami knows they’re spoiled enough already.” One of the raptors squawked as though to protest. “Oh shut up.” he shot back before descending the stairs. 

Sasuke held out one of the boxes. ”Looks like you’re having fun.”

Shikako accepted the box and led him over to the broad shelf in the opening for the hawks to leave the Aviary. “We were doing fine before you came in and stole their hearts.” She said, lightly teasing as she gestured at the twenty-some raptors who seemed to be attempting to be boring holes in him with the intensity of their big golden eyes. Shikako hopped up to sit on the ledge.

Sasuke rolled his eyes “Wonderful.” he responded, returning the birds’ stares as he opened his boxed eel donburi with tomatoes and cracked apart the disposable chopsticks. The hawks hunched their shoulders and opened their beaks slightly as the smell of the meat hit their senses.

“Now you’re just taunting them Sasuke.” Shikako scolded, tapping his shoulder with the back of her hand. “Then they’ll take it out on me when I get them out again. Come on, what have you been up to? Kakashi said you were working on something.”

He gave the birds one final glare before answering. ”Yeah, I got an idea for the chidori from your raijin no ken,” he gestured. “I want to figure out a way to increase the range somehow, extend the blade or something.”

Shikako seemed to think for a moment before replying as she opened her gyudon. “Well, it’s just an idea, but you could make some sort of high powered electrical current out of it. It might be easier, just to get used to manipulating the shape of it, right? Or you could try channeling it up your sword. That Chakra Saber is supposed to be receptive to channeling chakra down the blade.”

Sasuke considered this for a moment before replying thoughtfully. “Chidori Nagashi, that could work. I’ll definitely ask Kakashi about it. Also, speaking of swords, I talked to Tenten about getting copies of mom’s made. So she referred me to a guy she knew, and he had an idea to fix that issue of the saber being so fragile and just combine the chakra conductive metal in the saber into the copy of mom’s sword.” He explained, taking a bite.

Shikako looked surprised. “Kakashi didn’t mind?” 

Sasuke shrugged. “He said if it suited me better, I should go for it.” he shifted before asking, “Enough about me though, what’ve you been doing up here?” 

Shikako shrugged. “I finished up my training with the Sensory Squad, went on a mission with Inuzuka-sama, I signed the Deer Summon contract, won a scar competition, Ibiki asked me to join T&I, I refused, and me and Shizune are supposed to start looking at modifying that thing we found last week.” 

Sasuke frowned, “You aren’t known for interrogation?”

Shikako rubbed her hands over her face and began to tell him of a mission in the Land of Stone and combining the shadow paralysis ninjutsu with killing intent to make a not so innocent civvie shit his pants in fear and spill his darkest secrets. “And now I’m in the Iwa Bingo Book as an interrogation specialist and that’s how Ibiki found out.”

“Well at least you found out something new…..did I make a Bingo Book?” Sasuke asked hopefully.

Shikako gave a little grin in amusement. “Yeah, you’re wanted in Kumo’s and Iwa’s, and you already know about Iwa’s bunker.”

“So you’re really liking it here.”

Shikako shrugged. “Office politics suck, and it’s really busy, but it’s a different kind of busy than what we’re used to. It’s….” She gestured with her chopsticks in her search for a word that fit. “ routine, but not in a bad way. It’s not as exciting but I think it’s kind of making me slow down. Which is a good thing, right now, I guess?” She said, somewhat conflicted. “I’m definitely not staying here forever obviously, but for three months, I think I’ll be better off in the long run. I’m being slowed down in training just enough, it seems, for me to still make some progress on the things I want to, but still not be going so fast that I get burned out.” She paused and took a bite. “I don’t necessarily like it, but I like the pace it’s forcing me to, if that makes any sense.” she finished thoughtfully. “You?”

“Being stuck in the village like this sucks, but I’m getting a lot done with training. Kurenai-sensei is helping me go over mom’s genjutsu notes. Hayate is furthering my kenjutsu from where Kakashi left off. I was able to copy a few techniques from the Grass exams and I’m working on getting a hold of them. I guess it’s the same, I’m getting a lot done, I just wish I was out of the village more.” 

“Aoba says that next week we might do some field work, I’ll see if I can get you able to tag along.” Shikako offered. “No promises, but -.” Shikako spread her hands apologetically.

“Thanks, that would be great.” They finished eating and threw away the garbage. “You know, I know you said to not tell anyone, but do you mind if I tell Kiba about the whole picture with Akatsuki? The kidnapping attempt in Grass was the last straw for him and he’s been getting more and more pissed about ‘his people getting targeted by S-class dicks’ since the entire thing with Orochimaru. He’s livid."

Shikako looked surprised. "How much time do you spend with team eight?”

Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck. “Most of it. As I said, Kurenai is helping me with my genjutsu so in payment I’ve been helping Kiba learn a few ninjutsu. Besides, don’t we need all the help we can get? Nine rookies, nine Akatsuki.”

“Not including Gai’s team?” Shikako questioned, a little grin beginning to form.

“The other Hyuuga’s a jackass.” Sasuke responded, annoyed.

Shikako rolled her eyes. “I meant to not tell anyone about the Sasori file.” She said after taking a moment to carefully scan the area for any chakra sensors. “Akatsuki’s fair game if you think the others would want to know, though I don’t think Tsunade would approve.”

“All we’re doing is training anyway.” Sasuke replied.

Part Four 

“Oh so ‘ow you’re ‘ack.” Kiba commented around the plastic needle cover as Sasuke entered the exam room. The dog on the table whined pitifully as he eased the syringe into the dog's scruff. “Oh shut up, you do this every year.” he said in exasperation as he ruffled the dog’s neck fur and threw the recapped needle into the red box mounted on the wall.

“I’ve been back for a week or two.” Sasuke corrected. “I’ve been working out a lot of stuff in my system.” He took a closer look at the dog. ”That isn’t-”

“He isn’t-. And yes, he is Uhei, one of Kakashi-sensei’s dogs.” Kiba confirmed, plucking the next syringe off the desk, and readying it for use. “So what’s up?”

“Are you, Shino, and Hinata free next Saturday?” Sasuke asked, warily eying Uhei. The dog whined and put on a face that could have melted butter.

Kiba caught the exchange. “Uhei, if we pups know some things that we aren’t supposed to, but will make us better able to take care of ourselves and our pack, would you tell Kakashi?” 

Uhei perked up and barked.

Kiba rolled his eyes, “I keep telling you, that’s their choice, but yes, if I have to hold that over your heads to keep you from telling him then fine. Blackmail it is.”

Uhei huffed and barked defiantly.

Akamaru barked up from the corner. 

Kiba pointed back at his partner. “Exactly. What Akamaru said. We’re telling you, they just won’t like it at all. Then where will you get your treats?”

Uhei’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he let out a whuff.

“That’s what I thought.” Kiba noted smugly before turning back to Sasuke. “Alright, he’ll stay quiet. Speak freely.” Kiba dug a piece of smoked dried meat and tossed it to Akamaru, who snapped it out of the air and got down to chewing loudly and happily.

Sasuke nodded to Akamaru, “Thanks-”

Akamaru gave a happy bark and a tail that furiously beat on the floor as an answer.

Sasuke let out a deep breath. “We need to have that meeting we talked about earlier. I’ve talked with Shikako, we’re going to put privacy seals all over one of the buildings in the Uchiha complex and that’s where we’ll have it. And yes, it really is necessary.”

Kiba nodded. “You said next saturday?”

“Yep, the girls are having their thing on Sunday and it seems like we’ll all be in the village.”

“We’ll be there, won’t we Akamaru?”

Akamaru barked in response.

Part Five

“So, we have a problem.” Shikako began, exchanging a short glance with Sasuke as she spoke to the other nine in the room.

“We’ve ‘had a problem’ of one kind or another ever since Orochimaru showed up six months ago. Please get on with the elaboration.” Neji commented blandly.

“You all remember when Naruto was nearly kidnapped by Itachi.” Shikako continued.

 Ino shifted where she stood across the room and Shikamaru tensed, the words “and put you in the hospital screaming” going unsaid like an elephant in the room.

“It turns out he’s not working alone.” Sasuke elaborated. “He’s part of an organization of nine shinobi, all after the bijuu, all S-Class psychopaths. They call themselves the Akatsuki. Known members are Kisame Hoshigaki and Sasori of the red sands.”

The silence could have been cut with a knife. 

Kiba whistled. “Add that to our problems with Orochimaru, Kumo, and that all of us know by now that an active Iwa bunker was found inside our borders and we’re getting ready to get caught up in some serious shit.”

“I agree. Why? Because nine S-class missing-nin going after the bijuu can result in nothing good for us.” Shino explained, clearly disturbed.

“Where is this information coming from?” Tenten inquired, frowning and folding her arms. “This doesn’t sound like the kind of information we’re supposed to have. Not at our level. ”

“It’s not, everything we know about them, which is pretty much everything we just told you, came straight from Itachi’s mouth and was confirmed by Jiraiya, or was discovered by Jiraiya, and the only reason he knows that much is because Orochimaru is a former member.” Shikako answered, her eyes flicking over to the kunoichi. “In fact, Tsunade probably wouldn’t be a fan if she knew I was telling you. But no one else seems to be doing anything, and since we’re the ones who will be around Naruto the most when he comes back, Sasuke thought we should go ahead and get it out so we can start getting ready for them.” she added hesitantly, folding her own arms up.

Tenten didn’t seem to have anything to say to that. Ino, on the other hand... "So let me get this straight, there’s Kumo, Kusa, Iwa, Orochimaru, and nine other S-Class ninja including Itachi, the Tailless Tailed Beast, and Suna’s puppet prodigy, and all of them are after Konoha in one way or another. And yet we’re not supposed to know about any of it?” She asked incredulously.

“That’s only the beginning.” Sasuke began. “Before Naruto left, he and Shikako were placed on a set of missions with a chuunin named Sai, who eventually admitted to ninja taking orders from someone other than the Hokage and is high up enough for Sai to pass for ANBU. Me and Shikako think that whoever this is might be responsible for the Team seven info leaks that let Orochimaru send his people to intercept us.”

Shikako shot him a shocked glance. “Sasuke-!”

“No, let him go on.” Kiba demanded. “Does Tsunade know about this?”

Shikako let out an annoyed snort. “Yeah, there’s no way she doesn’t. His paperwork looked like it was invented the day before, I think those missions were meant to let him draw himself out a bit more.”

Shino nodded. “That seems like a sound strategy.” He commented thoughtfully.

“So, looks like the million ryo question is what do we do about all this.” Choji commented through a new mouthful of chips. 

Everyone turned to look at Shikamaru. 

Shikamaru leveled a mild glare. “Off the top of my head?” He asked. “No idea, why don’t we ask Sasuke, since apparently he’s the one dragging us into all this?”

“It’s not his fault, Shika.” Shikako stated firmly.

Kiba was less tactful. “Shikamaru, you’re not the only one with a sister who’s been in some shitty situations, and Shikako is very capable of taking care of herself. Ask anyone here who saw her fight with Gaara. Get the fuck over it. We’re shinobi, life-threatening danger is what we do for a living.”

“Now,” Kiba continued, turning to the other occupants. “As Choji suggested, any helpful ideas beyond ‘get stronger and kill the bastards?’”

Sasuke hesitated before sighing. “The Uchiha archives are filled to the top with jutsu of every description and element. I’m willing to get you anything you want as long as it isn’t Sharingan related.” 

“I‘ll let you all know if anything comes through Intel.” Ino offered. “I’ll probably stay longer than Shikako will so…”

Shikako smiled slightly. “Thanks Ino, they dress in black cloaks with red clouds. I’ll be keeping my eyes open as well.”

“I cannot learn more than the most basic jutsu and tricks because of the chakra cost of my contract with my Kikai.” Shino explained. “So I will begin breeding significantly more destructive and lethal Kikai instead.” He slumped “As well as improving my Taijutsu.”

“Yosh!” Lee cheered. “I will do the same! You are welcome to practice with us anytime, Shino!”

Shino nodded like a man walking to his death. “Thank you Lee.”

“You are most welcome Shino!”

“I have an idea that I’ll be working on to improve my two headed wolf drill.” Kiba informed. “I guess now would also be a good time to annoy Hana into teaching me medical jutsu.”

“She’d do that?” Ino asked.

He shrugged. “My control isn't good enough for most of it, but it's good enough to learn some basics, but not enough to bother trying to go for a medical certification. Diagnosis and bleeding control mostly.”

“Speaking of Medical jutsu,” Hinata began quietly, tapping her fingers together. “Should we tell Sakura-chan?”

“Let’s wait on that.” Shikako disagreed. 

“Who’s Sakura?” Neji asked.

“Sakura Haruno. She’s a classmate of ours that moved into medical after graduation. Apparently now she’s Tsunade’s apprentice if the rumors are correct.” Shikamaru answered boredly.

“They’re true.“ Shikako confirmed shortly. “Which is why we're not going to tell her yet.”

“If that is all,” Shino started. “I will be leaving. Why? Because I must get to work on my part, and my sister has asked me to assist her in her own projects.”

Chapter Text

“They didn’t need to do that,” Sasuke muttered to me quietly, after a few false starts.

“It’s not about need,” I said, glancing back at mum and dad walking arm in arm. They were taking their time. “Come on. I’ll race you!” - DOS Chapter 109

“Where to?” Sasuke asked, temporarily broken out of his thoughts as Shikako pulled him along with a smile on her face. 

“The Crane,“ She answered. “Aoba invited me to a thing with the rest of the Special Jounin, so I figure we can drop by and get that out of the way. Then we can have the rest of the celebration with the rest of our friends. You know where that is?” She asked.

Sasuke nodded, The Crane was a small, open air bar more similar to a food stand like Ichiraku’s than a traditional bar. He’d met his squad captain there several times over the past weeks. “Yeah. Hey-!” He yelled as she took off like one of the fireworks he could hear over the lake. He raced after her, half feeling like he was flying as he took to the roof tops. He could see Shikako flitting along the streets below like a dragonfly as he overtook her in the final hundred meter stretch to the stall and, having beat her there, hid around the corner of a building on their side of the street. 

With his chakra suppressed as far down as he could get it, combined with the riot of lights and sound, Shikako never saw it coming as she barreled out of the alley and he caught her by surprise as he pulsed his chakra signal loudly to avoid the result of the last time he startled her.

Her face was a picture in shock. “I beat you,” Sasuke said smugly as he hugged her, pleased at his success in paying her back for the mischief she caught him in at the end of their mission to Wave Country.

“Yeah yeah, you’re a regular little ‘yellow flash.’ No need to rub it in.” She said, patting him on the arm.   

He released her and they walked across the street to the collection of tables situated in a small not-alley that was beside a food stall and separated from the street with a banner like Ichiraku’s that had a crane on it.

Shikako waved slightly as they approached and took seats, Shikako between Aoba and himself, while he sat reluctantly by Anko.

“Hey squirt! You miss your big sister?” She asked

“We’re not related.” He responded vehemently.

“Silly cat, anyone who was screwed over by psycho-bastard is my little brother! We’re one big dysfunctional family!” she insisted.

Conversation shifted to Anko trying for full Jounin and that Hayate was late picking up Yugao. 

“They’ll be here.” Aoba affirmed, “Yugao just got back from a solo mission to Rivers yesterday, and they’re probably just making up time.”

“Not anymore, four-eyes.” Hayate coughed, the two ducking in and taking their seats 

“So, Yugao tells me that you commissioned some swords. Tell me everything.” He asked as Yugao sat in his lap.

“The smith is Miyairi Shohei, they are a katana-wakizashi pair and they’re copies of Mom’s swords.” Sasuke began. “ The overall length of the wakizashi is sixty-seven centimeters with a twenty centimeter handle and a forty-five centimeter blade. The overall length of the katana is ninety-four centimeters with a 26 centimeter handle and a sixty-eight-point-five centimeter blade.” He explained to the sword coinessuers. “The handles are a new full tang design instead of the traditional two peg construction with two red maple handle scales and three rivets. The edges are saber grinds.”

Hayate frowned. “The katana seems a little big for you.”

“I’ll grow into it, until then I’ll be using the mass-production, or the wakizashi.” Sasuke justified.

“I’m not planning to use both at the same time anyway.”

“Steel?” He coughed.

“Not at all traditional, it’s why it’s taking so long. He tried it out on one sword, and found that the results were way better than starting with iron sand and now he’s backed up with orders right up to the Daimyo’s kids. From what he’s telling me, he’s taking broken parts of cranes and construction equipment or regular tools and making them into swords.”

Yugao frowned. “That’s ridiculous. The blade would be way too hard and brittle, where is he getting the soft iron core to absorb the shock?”

“He’s not. He’s ditching the traditional approach altogether and tempering it so that the blade is more flexible, and that’s how it absorbs the shock. It gives a few problems with edge alignment, but it’s easy to get used to.” Sasuke admitted. “It’s new technology, and I think that they’ll replace our katanas in ANBU, eventually. They're cheaper, because we can pay for the material by giving him our broken equipment. Mine is being made out of some of the weaponry that got left by Suna during the invasion. He bought it all. They're more durable. They hold an edge better, too.”

 Yugao raised an eyebrow. “I might have to take a look when you do get them.” She said, “It sounds like a perfect wedding present.” She nudged Hayate.

“I heard.” Hayate confirmed with a smile, tapping her upper arm. “Why a saber grind? A convex grind is more durable, and it’s not like you can’t get a convex just as sharp as a saber.”

“Yeah, but then the edge will be thicker and it won’t be as easy to sharpen.” Sasuke debated.

“So which grind do kunai use?” Shikako asked, having finished her conversation with Ibiki. 

“Flat,” Sasuke answered. “If the blade has a triangular cross-section, It’s a flat grind edge. Hollow grinds produce the sharpest, but they’re fragile and prone to chipping.”

“Besides,” Hayate said grumpily. “Why would you know anything about swords? Your’s is the Raijin no ken, you don’t need to worry about metallurgy and edge grinds.”

“You’re just jealous it isn’t yours.” Sasuke pointed out, rolling his eyes.

“Guilty as charged.”

“Shikako!” Ino called merrily, waving across the street. Sakura was with her, looking apologetic. “There you are!”

I clinked glasses with Sasuke and ducked out of the food stall. He nodded to me, but kept on talking with Hayate and his purple haired girlfriend about swords. There were opinions being had. Mine apparently didn’t count. Well, the joke was on them because my sword went ‘zshoom’.

“Not going to go with her?” Yugao asked.

Sasuke shook his head. “I'll leave them to it for a bit.” Catching a glance of Team eight out of the corner of his eye, he made his leave and headed over.

“Sasuke!” Kiba greeted. “Welcome to the year of the dog!” 

“Hn. Kiba, Shino, Hinata. Akamaru.” He greeted in return. “Where are you headed?”

 “The lake.” Shino answered. 

“We’re going to watch the fire dancing!” A little girl in sunshine yellow exclaimed from her place on Shino’s back.

“Ah, yes. You have not met my sister, have you, Sasuke?” Shino asked, himself in off white and red. 

Sasuke shook his head. “Not officially, though I saw her when I had to talk to Kiba once.”

Shino looked over his shoulder. “Chiyako, Sasuke.”

“Hi!” Chiyako announced happily, letting go of Shino’s neck with one arm so she could wave at him.

“It’s good to meet you.” Sasuke returned politely.

“So where’s Shikako?” Kiba asked. “I would have thought you’d be with her.”

“With Ino and Haruno.”

“I-Is that Shikamaru and Tenten?” Hinata asked hesitantly as Chiyako ran off toward Shikako, who was with the other two girls about a hundred meters away, turning on her byakugan and then very quickly turning it off with a blush.

Kiba looked over carefully. “Wow, yeah, it’s them. And I think they’re sucking face too.”

Shino frowned thoughtfully. “I must admit, I did not see that coming. Why? Because I did not know that they knew each other that well.” He paused. “I wonder if her team knows?”

Kiba froze. “Shino.” He said, turning to look him in the eyes with an expression of horror and awe. “That is so evil.” Kiba drug Shino up by the hand. “It’s brilliant!” Kiba exclaimed as he dragged a furiously protesting Shino off in search of Rock Lee and Gai.

“Oh this cannot be good.” Sasuke muttered as he left in search of a street vendor that sold good luck charms. He was going to be prepared this year.

“Happy New Years.” Sasuke said as he sat down beside Shikako.

“Hey, where have you been? You win that argument?” Shikako asked, passing him a bottle of sake.

“It was a draw, and Team eight.” He answered, taking a sip and passing it back along with an omamori.

Shikako accepted it awkwardly. “Thanks.” She said, weighing it in her hand. “You didn’t have to.”

Sasuke shrugged and held up his own. “Believe me, I did. I figured we’d be better prepared this year.”

Shikako let out a short laugh at that. “Yeah,” She giggled, “I suppose we should.” 

Chapter Text

Tsunade looked back at the both of them with a sincerely unimpressed expression. “Well, at least you’re learning how to do this within the rules.” She said, looking directly at Shikako, who shifted nervously in response. “Fuck it, go ahead. But do your best to make me not regret it.”

Sasuke bowed slightly in an extremely rare display of high respect. “Thank you, Tsunade-sama.” 

The hokage waved her hand in a clear show of dismissal. “Your welcome, now get out of my office the both of you, before I change my mind.”

“Well, that went well.” Aoba commented as they closed the office door behind them. “We’ll meet at the gates in thirty, we shouldn’t be out more than a week at most. Oh, and bring some civvie clothes in your pack as well, nothing that will tip our people off no clan or leaf symbols.”

.

“What is the mission objective?” Shikako asked as they took the jump to the the trees.

“The Genin responsible for keeping discrete tabs in the town of Ranwara has requested a team to investigate her teammate’s disappearance after she stated that she was going to scope out the goings on of an even smaller village further north east. The issue is that Ranwara is close to our border with the Land of Hot Springs, the oceanic side specifically, and as the former home of a now non-functional Shinobi village, it is crawling with missing nin of skill levels from high range Genin to Jounin. They’re mostly harmless and know better than to piss a village like us off, but they are looking work and places to put down roots, and it wouldn’t be too surprising if one got hired to kill off a nosy kid for a wannabe crime boss that just happened to be our contact there.” Aoba explained, adjusting his glasses. “Of course, it also wouldn’t be surprising if it was something completely mundane either, like a bout of food poisoning. Pufferfish is a commonly eaten food by the coast line, and a natural phenomenon known as red tide that sometimes occurs up and down the coast line in Lightning country can turn the surrounding ocean for a mile or two to poison for a few days afterward. Sometimes the residue can make it’s way down a little farther and it can show in the shellfish that end up in fishermen’s nets. Which is why we’re sending a team that wouldn’t qualify as overkill, but could still take care of business should a violent response be appropriate.”

“Our contact is undercover?” Sasuke asked. “Why?”

“Because it’s easier. Nobody is looking for a fisherman’s kid. But on the border of a hidden village, and with Lightning country only ten miles from the town, everyone suspicious has their eyes out for a shinobi. It’s better to have our early warning system be discrete, and it also allows for a better way of gathering information because no one is watching out for a shinobi. So when we get a mile or two from the place, we’ll be changing into civvies, and adopting a cover story. We’ll be cousins going to Yugakure to look for work. Do you two know how to cook?”

Shikako nodded. ”I do. Sasuke?”

“I think I know enough to get by, and I can always Copy someone’s skills if I need anything else.”

“Good, then that’s what we’ll do for a living.” Aoba glanced back at the wakizashi attached vertically to the back of Sasuke’s Chuunin vest. “Civvies your age don’t carry swords though, even if they are the short version, so I hope you have a way to hide that. You probably won’t use it anyway. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have brought it, because we might well be walking into some shit, but if we’re not, it’s important that we not give ourselves away.

“Shikako Nara is my teammate, I know how to make a storage seal.” Sasuke reminded, quirking up the corner of his mouth and touching the hilt of the ANBU tanto. 

Aoba nodded. “Alrighty then.”

.

“This is way too quiet.” Sasuke commented warily as they drew within sight of the coast town. He wasn’t comfortable with any of this if he was honest with himself. He felt all together too vunerable with only one kunai hidden in the ankle of his sandal and the collar-less shirt baring his neck and collarbone to the world. To add to it, the deafening silence as they grew within a hundred meters to the village was reminding him of another day and thriving town settled by silence.

The stench of gallons of spilled blood and bodies only a few hours old hit them in the gut like a sucker punch. Sasuke fell to his knees and wretched. “It smells exactly the same.” Shikako, looking as though she as well was fighting back the urge to sacrifice the contents of her stomach to the earth, helped to haul him to his feet. “Thank you.” he breathed. She nodded in return.

“We need to get back into the woods and gear up again.” Aoba said, disturbed but not devastated. “Then we go in.” 

And normally, Sasuke in no way could ever reasonably be called a coward, but as Shikako placed him behind a tree so he could change, the only thing going through his head was the worst sort of nostalgic panic. Then Shikako shook his shoulder gently, and his eyes snapped up to meet hers and the vision of his brother standing over the remains of scores of men, women, and children vanished.

“Sasuke, It’ll be alright. We’ve been through worse.” 

He nodded, thinking of how Orochimaru’s Killing Intent had brought him to his knees, yet Shikako had fought as though possessed. “I have to do better,” He thought, suddenly furious at himself. “She shouldn’t have to fight for me all the time because I can’t break my own fear. She deserves a better teammate than that. A teammate that doesn’t drag her down.” He shook himself like a dog shaking off water. “Thanks.” He choked out.

“Are you sure you’re alright.” She asked, her hand like a cool dry rag on the back of his neck.

He steeled himself. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” 

She nodded and turned to leave. “Ok.” She took a few steps and turned back. “We don’t have the time now, but if you want, we’ll talk about this when we get back.”

Sasuke nodded, and Shikako left so he could change. Yanking the top of his bag open he quickly put his shinobi gear back on and wiped his mouth with the bleached white civvie shirt before moving to rejoin Aoba.

The Special Jounin gave him a glance over. “You alright?”

“I’m fine now.” Sasuke stated firmly, as much to convince himself as his superior.

“Good, I’ve already sent a crow to inform Tsunade-sama of the situation. Once Shikako gets back, we will enter the village as stealthily as possible to determine the cause of why we can smell human blood and bodies so far out. If there are still people there, we will attempt to detain or delay them. Backup should be sent after us and will most likely arrive within a few hours.”

 “I’m ready.” Shikako stated as she approached, Raijin no ken in hand.

“No need to wait then, let’s get after it.” he said, visibly steeling himself as they took the jump back into the trees and made their way towards the smell of death. 

As they landed on the roof of the first of sixty or seventy buildings, they were treated to the predictable but still chilling sight of the corpses of a village massacred in the streets, some clutching farm tools or lying half in half out of doorways. 

Sasuke froze as the memories began to intrude on him again at the sight before he clamped down on them and shoved them to the back of his mind. 

“Summoning Style: Thousand Scattering Crows!” Aoba announced, biting his thumb and planting it into the thatched roof of a house, releasing a murder of crows into the air. “They’ll find who did this.” he stated, even as the birds began to circle a short ways away over the center of Ranwara.

“He’s still in town?” Aoba commented, perplexed at the sight of his crows circling the center of the village.

“Looting?” Sasuke suggested cautiously, still trying to not pay too much attention to the details of the massacre. Like how that old man’s face was turned the entirely wrong way. “Note to self, trying to ignore something that way doesn’t work.” 

“They’ve been dead for over an hour, and let me say from wartime experience, it doesn’t take that long to loot this many bodies.” Aoba returned in a dry tone that said firmly and calmly ‘and no you are not getting a war story about it.’ “We approach with caution. Hopefully the perpetrator is already dead, dying, or walking wounded. If not, we engage with the intent to capture and disable, we want to know who this sick fuck is.” He ordered, already moving to the roof of the next house.

Sasuke glanced at Shikako before before following suit, wrapping an explosive note around the handle of a kunai as they made their way to the center of the village, making sure to pay attention to their surroundings so that they would not be ambushed. 

In the the center of the village lay a dark haired man in the center of an upside down equilateral triangle inside a circle. And he was so caught up in his muttering and occasional barks of laughter that he either didn’t notice, or didn’t care that Aoba, Shikako, and Sasuke had taken up a position on the roofs of the buildings that immediately surrounded him.

“Let go of the spear and surrender immediately.” Aoba commanded, twirling a kunai attached by the ring to a length of ninja wire in tight circles by his shoulder.

The man sighed, his expression of pure bliss marred for a moment by one of unrivaled irritation. “Lord Jashin, please forgive this sinner as I halt my prayers to your almighty throne of slaughter and devastation that I might glorify you as I pause to correct this collection of godless heathens.” He pleaded before slowly sitting up and turning his attention to the shinobi surrounding him. “How fucking dare you interrupt the worship of my glorious Lord!” He hissed in rage as he climbed to his feet. 

“I’m warning you.” Aoba stated. “Drop the -”

“Shut the fuck up, you atheist!” He screamed, shaking in rage. ”I’ll just have to worship him another way!” 

Sasuke was already moving to intercept, hurling the kunai as he did, his Sharingan spinning and predicting the exact moment the fanatic whipped his arm out to launch a set of spikes at Aoba. The custom explosive note went off exactly as Shikako had drawn it. Twice as intense, with the standard radius, it destroyed both spikes and kunai, peppering the religious psychopath with bits of hot metal but leaving no significant wounds. 

“Be careful!” Shikako warned as she activated her sword and used it to spit a wide capture pattern of electricity at their opponent. “Some of these bodies don’t have obvious wounds. The weapons might be poisoned.”

“You’re gonna wish it was poison, bitch!” the man shrieked, leaping after her.  

Shikako smirked as she immediately dropped to her knees to duck the spear and snag him in the shadow possession, but was foiled by a sealless replacement and was forced to quickly backpedal when she found that he had replaced himself with a barrel on the other side of the building to get behind her. She dodged the spearhead by an inch, the smirk immediately dropping from her lips as she stepped back off the roof only for her foot to find nothing but air. 

“I’ve got you now you heathen!” he laughed before quite literally eating crow as Aoba directed his murder into his face. 

Shikako took the opportunity to leap to safety.”There’s no point in Shadow capture if he can get out that easily.” Sasuke stated, noting the particularly panicked expression on her face.

“We go to disabling then.” Aoba confirmed, “I don’t care if he never walks again.” He lit the building on fire with a quickly applied Katon jutsu.

The Jashinist leapt out of the fire screaming obscenities and lashing out with his spear. Sasuke moved to intercept, dodging the point and lashing out with his sword to take his hand off at the wrist. Levering the spear, his opponent caught the blade on the shaft and struck out and Sasuke’s heart with a short kama he pulled out of his belt, only to be foiled by a crow lashing out for his eyes.

“Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Nails!” Sasuke cried, disengaging himself from his enemy. At point blank range, the Jashinist was supremely lucky that he was able to substitute himself before any more of the projectiles hit him, the Katon chakra imbued shuriken cauterizing the wound as they chewed through his left ulna. leaving his arm useless.   

Unfortunately for Sasuke, his enemy substituted himself with a wheelbarrow just behind and to the side of him, and if not for his excellent peripheral vision and the preternatural reflexes of the Sharingan, he would’ve been down a kidney, lung, and his heart. As it was, he was brutally smashed off balance by the Jashinist, so out of his mind with fury that he ignored his broken arm in his attempt to bludgeon Sasuke’s jaw out of place with it.

Immediately leaping back into action, Shikako lashed out with the Raijin no Ken at distance to give the murderer the tasering of his life. Sasuke took the opportunity to scramble out of the way and rejoin his team. The figure crumbled into dust. “Earth Clone.”

“Summoning: Great Servant of Slaughter!” A voice cried out to their left, and they were forced to dodge as a skinless ape with the scattered features of a crocodile and the size of one of the one story buildings that made up the town roared and nearly killed all three of them with a snap of its enormous jaws. “Fear the wrath of my Lord’s servant!"

“Fire Release: Dragon Fire Bomb!” Aoba yelled, spitting small globs of fire at the monster that exploded like gasoline once they made contact, pissing the thing off more.

Sasuke obliged with another round of Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Nails, which, striking the monster in the bare, uncovered muscle of the chest, truly seemed to enrage it. Grabbing Shikako around the waist, as she was preoccupied by a scroll she was scribbling furiously all over with a cut thumb, he leapt out of the way and brought them both to safety as it lunged and ripped another building to sheds.

Just as they landed, Shikako threw the scroll under the monster, using a chakra string to make sure that it unrolled facing the Thing’s belly. “Sealing Style: The Third Unforgivable!” 

All violence stopped and the world seemed to freeze in shock as the Jashinist stood there, staring at them in the first moment of silence they had experienced of him. The monster suddenly, inexplicably gone in a puff of smoke and naught left but a scroll in the middle of a village to announce it’s passing.

“So what are the first two?” Sasuke thought in half relief, half horror. Then that wonderful moment of silence was broken as the Jashinist screamed in fury and charged again. 

“Shinobi Art: Stone Needles Jutsu!” Aoba announced, launching the kunai attached to his ninja wire directly at the enemy’s chest, chakra flooding down the wire. The kunai struck the shoulder, the chakra paralyzing the victim, who had used up enough of his chakra that he couldn’t fight his way out with a Substitution.

“You fuckers! I’ll fucking kill you, you godless -!” The Jashinist slumped over on the ground as Shikako slapped a knock-out tag onto his forehead and activated it.

“If I don’t get A-rank pay for that, I am going to be so pissed.” Aoba commented, dismissing his crows. 

With the Jashinist subdued and unconscious, there wasn’t much left to do besides further secure their prisoner and begin combing the dead for their missing Genin Corps ninja. 

“What should we do about-?” Shikako asked as Aoba passed them a couple pictures of the two ninja, gesturing vaguely about the bodies lying everywhere.

“Nothing.” Aoba answered shortly. “Not our problem. We’ll need to catalogue specific cause of death for all of them, which we can’t do if they’re six feet under or burned. Unless we get assigned back to this, it’s another team’s issue. A report will be written and the Daimyo will be alerted. But other than writing a mission report and transferring the prisoner to T&I, the three of us can wash our hands of this.”

Shikako nodded, faintly disturbed by the answer.

“The genin are another story. Seal them up. We have to take them back home. Konoha has a ‘no one left behind’ policy, and their families are going to want to know what happened.” Aoba added turning to comb the north side of the town.

Sasuke turned to face Shikako. “I’ll take east and south. I still have enough chakra for a shadow clone and to still be combat capable.”

For a moment it looked as though she was going to disagree, but she just nodded and spread her hands. “I’ll take west then.”

Sasuke made his shadow clone and turned to search their parts of the village.

“Wait, both of you.” Shikako added. “Don’t use your sharingan.”

The Sasuke clone looked at him to confirm. 

“Yeah.” the original Sasuke agreed. “No sharingan.” “I don’t want any more of this in my head.”

They all left to search their separate sections and Sasuke was left with the unenviable task of wrenching dead bodies firmly in the grasp of rigor mortis to compare their bloated, pale faces to the pictures Aoba gave him. “I don’t think not using sharingan is going to stop me from remembering all this.” He thought sickly as he knelt in the squishy ropes of a girl’s intestines to check her face, which matched perfectly. “That’s one down.” He shook himself as he wiped the blood off his knees. “I should have worn long pants.” He grabbed the genin’s ankles and drug her corpse off to the side so he could seal it. 

“Uchiha, Aoba said your team required backup. Report.” 

Sasuke turned to look at the cat-masked figure in black. “Yugao-taicho.” 

“We thought we did. We arrived at 1300 and found the entire town dead. Assuming a larger number of shinobi, Aoba sent a crow for immediate back up and we proceeded with caution.” Sasuke began. “We found the one shinobi responsible, or at least a civilian with capabilities for using chakra higher than usual, because he was capable of seal-less replacement and a summoning jutsu. We fought him and left him restrained with a knockout tag in the middle of the village.” Sasuke held up the scroll. “We’re looking for our genin now. I’ve found one. I think Aoba said that the other was in a town even closer to our Hot Springs coast border.” Sasuke paused. “That one’s probably slaughtered too.”  

Yugao hopped down from the roof. “My team is searching the village. We’ll find the other genin after we’re done here as well.”

Sasuke nodded. “Aoba is on the north side. Shikako is on the west. I have a shadow clone in the south.”

“Tell them to collect the prisoner and go back to Konoha immediately. Ibiki’s going to want him ASAP.” Yugao ordered.

----------

Later, after their reports were handed in, their dead genin turned over, and the culprit placed in one of T&I’s cells. Shikako, Aoba, and Sasuke found themselves back in front of Tsunade giving a verbal report.

“Why is it that you can’t have one, just one mission go according to plan?” Tsunade ranted to herself. “And why can’t I ever see anything to suggest that it was actually your fault?” Tsunade fumed. “Just please get out of my office. It is too late in the day for this shit. I will call you back if we need anything else.”

“That went so much better than I thought it would.” Sasuke breathed in relief as they left the Hokage tower and Aoba made his leave.

“How did you think it would go?” Shikako asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know, but worse than that.” He responded.

Shikako looked as though she was going to say something about that , but then she shook her head and abandoned it. “You’re coming over later right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Sasuke confirmed. “For now, I need a shower.” He grimaced, thinking of the gunk on his legs and arms from the bodies.

-------

Sasuke flared his chakra signal as he knocked on the door. This was the first time he’d been back to the Nara’s since the New Year’s festival, and he was still confused about their acceptance of him into their celebrations.

“Welcome back,“ Shikaku greeted warmly. He opened the door wider and stepped to the side to let Sasuke in. “Shikako is out back with Shikamaru.”

“Thank you.” Sasuke replied. 

“So, first mission out since the Exams.” Shikaku continued. “How was it?” He asked way too casually.

“Yeah, because there’s no way the Jounin Commander doesn’t know that his daughter’s first real mission out of the village with her teammate in three months ended with the uncovery of two civilian villages and two Genin slaughtered by a single man.” Sasuke thought wryly. He nearly said it too, before he recognized it for what it was and felt a wave of appreciation crash over him. And while he didn’t particularly relish his promised conversation with Shikako about walking into another massacre, and he didn’t feel great about discussing it with her father, he got the idea that maybe Shikaku was asking him so he could ask Shikako. That, Sasuke felt he could deal with, and if that wasn’t the case, he could at least treat it as though it was. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak and then thought better of it as he pondered where to begin. “The smell was the worst part.” He finally started. “Other than kneeling in guts.” He conceded with disgust.

Shikaku leaned back against the wall. “It generally is.” He agreed calmly, a clear invitation to go on.

Sasuke felt his mouth go dry. “The sight of it all wasn’t as bad, I only had my Sharingan on for the fight, and I was only looking at our opponent, whoever he was. I-” Sasuke let a breath out his nose. “I don’t know how it was for Shikako. She handled it better than I thought she would.” He snapped his head up. “Not that I thought she wouldn’t be able to.” He added. “I just thought she’d be more disturbed, considering… Considering she’s never seen that before.” He pushed out.

Shikaku tilted his head back and seemed to consider his next words. ”His name is Kiyoshi Himura, he’s a member of a religious cult out of the Land of Hot Springs that worship their god by spreading mass murder.” He explained. “Kiyoshi was very willing to explain his motivations. None of which are classified.” He assured.  

“That’s… How many are there?“ Sasuke asked.

“No idea. It’s only been four hours.” Shikaku pointed out before making his way off toward the kitchen.

Sasuke found Shikako on the back portion of the deck with a shogi board and her brother in front of her. “Hey.” He greeted, taking a seat beside her.

“Hey, yourself.” She returned with a smile, clicking a tile onto the board in a cautious advance. “You know anything else?” She asked casually.

Sasuke nodded and studied the board, “Your dad filled me in on a little of it. It’s not classified apparently.”

Shikamaru huffed in irritation “I’m not even going to ask.” he said, rolling his eyes and getting up to stretch. 

“Not going to finish?” Shikako asked with a frown.

Shikamaru shook his head “I’m going out. I’ll be back in an hour.” He excused, walking away.

Shikako frowned and looked at him before raising an eyebrow “You want to finish?” she asked with a look that could have given one of the Inuzuka’s puppies a run for it’s money.

He snorted and rolled his eyes before moving himself to the opposite side of the board. “You’re ridiculous.”

She stuck her tongue out at him in response. “So what’d dad have to say?” 

Sasuke repeated what he was told and moved a tile carefully before adding. “He didn’t have to leave.”

Shikako rolled her eyes. “He’s just going to find Tenten, most likely.” Shikako tilted her head “That’s an interesting move.” She commented as she swiped his piece. 

“Clearly, I’m just prolonging the inevitable.” Sasuke answered not-so-jokingly. The corner of her mouth turned up in response and she reached for her drink. “You know,” Sasuke said as he reinforced his king defense, “Kiba told me about what Tsume said.”

She expelled the drink in a fine mist and a series of hacking coughs. “Thanks jerk, I had almost forgotten that.” She said, clearly displeased.

Sasuke smiled back disarmingly. “He’s not interested, in case you were wondering. Nor did he seem pleased at what she did.” He informed, a little happy jump in his stomach at her displeased reaction towards the reminder.

“Oh good.” She said, shoulders slumping in relief. “I don’t have the time for that crap right now.” She narrowed her eyes in mock suspicion. “Something funny?” 

 Sasuke moved a piece and nodded. “So I guess we’re even for the teasing about what’s in my mom’s letters?” he asked innocently.

Shikako’s eyes widened and she looked down at the board with a faint grin on her face as she remembered the incident. “Oh that was.... Wow. I was not expecting that. Yeah, I uh, guess we are.” 

Sasuke gestured to the board. “Next move?” He offered cautiously, trying to get his message across.

Shikako met his look with one of suprise, and then one of pure mischief. “Oh don’t worry,“ She said, finally clicking a tile into place. “I’ve got a plan.”

Chapter Text

"So Sasuke tells me you took out a giant summons with one seal," Ino said, teasingly. "I'm surprised we didn't hear the explosion all the way from Konoha."

Shikako frowned in mock-annoyance. "I didn't explode it," she grumbled. "I made a new kind of seal."

"Yeah?" Ino asked.

Shikako shrugged. "Most offensive combat seals are about creating an effect or situation that will fatally injure your opponent. This one skips straight to the 'death' part. It doesn't inflict an injury, it's…. more direct."

"A straight-up killing seal?" Ino asked. "Huh. I thought nobody could make those."

"Well, it has disadvantages." Shikako acknowledged. "Radius and timer isn't flexible, and it's not the kind of thing I can practice, even if I wanted to. Making sure the target is right above the scroll when it opens is the only way to hit anything. And it will only get one thing at a time- if a sparrow's between the scroll and the target, it'll just kill the sparrow instead. Really, a giant summons is the only situation where I can see it really being useful. Maybe if someone with frightening powers of regeneration was trapped for long enough I could use it, but that's about it," Shikako explained, animatedly enough.

Ino rolled her eyes. "You keep complaining about the disadvantages, but that doesn't change the fact that you made a seal that pretty much every seal master ever has tried and failed to make."

Shikako was quiet for a moment.

"I suppose I just… thought about it differently," Shikako said, looking away from Ino, out towards the grass clearing. "Most seal makers try to describe death as if it's a wound, or a type of sleep," she said, "and that's not…" Shikako shook her head. "That's not the right way of thinking. The seal I made... death's like getting lost. I just snipped the anchor line." There was something terribly far away in her eyes.

"You didn't get lost, though. You made it back," Ino reminded her.

"That was Shika." Shikako's voice was so quiet, Ino almost didn't hear her.

"I just… reached back," she continued, distantly. Her hand made a trembling, grasping motion. Shikako looked down at it like it was a strange, alien thing. Like it belonged to someone else. "He was… probably a better anchor than my body would have been. I'm used to using Shika to hold on to." There was something very sad in her expression. "I've never been very fair about it." Something ancient and self-condemning in her eyes.

"You've been fighting with him," Ino said, gently. Factually. Not a reproach, but an invitation. Because asking about her death- no. Shikako would retreat from that. But a fight with her brother, if there was something for Ino to fix, a reason Shikako could excuse herself for talking about something that made her feel so weak…

"Shika and I have different ideas on what makes a person safe," Shikako, the closest to bitterly Ino had yet heard from her. Then she sighed. "But… I think it's more that I haven't… I haven't been able to be there for him, afterwards. It's the one time in our lives he's actually needed me for support, and I've just been…" her lips tightened. "I just shoved everything off for him to deal with alone. Because I can't-" her voice cracked, and her face twisted.

She was silent a moment.

"I think this is the only time he's ever asked me for something," Shikako finished.

The words hung there, rippling through the silence like waves in a pond.

There are some things, Ino knew, that you couldn't let be true. Because it would break you.

And Shikako was frighteningly good at sharpening a truth until she could break herself upon it, if there wasn't someone to ground her perspective. Ino had wondered, more than once, if that was one of the reasons Shikako could be so determined to not deal with things, sometimes.

But Shikako was trying to deal with this now, and it that made it Ino's job to try to turn her perspective around to something… a little more forgiving. And maybe more truthful, at least in Ino's opinion. Shikako's vision tended to magnify her failures and blinker her strengths. It was endearing, sometimes. But worrisome, more so.

"From our last year in the Academy alone, the list of things Shikamaru has asked you to handle because it was 'too troublesome' for him to bother with is longer than my arm," Ino said, mild chiding in her voice.

Shikako looked confused for a moment, and then actually rolled her eyes. It was an improvement over her previous mood, at least. "Ino, walking twelve steps to the front of the room and handing Iruka-sensei our papers isn't what I was talking about. I mean important things."

"Everything's important," Ino replied earnestly. "What we do day-to-day doesn't suddenly stop mattering because we do it so often." She paused a moment, to let her point sink in. "You know Shikamaru's always trusted you to do the gentle pushing," Ino continued. "You just… calmly set things up in a way that prompts him to do the things it would be more troublesome to not do, so he doesn't actually have to bother working up the energy himself. You spoiled him a bit, really."

It cracked a smile from Shikako. One that looked more present than the dazed, wistful thing that had graced her face before. "Especially compared to the non-gentle pushing?" she asked.

Ino smirked in acknowledgement, then let it gentle into something softer. "If you didn't notice him asking for things, it was because you kept giving him what he needed before you even had the chance to consciously register what he'd asked for. And he did the same for you. So don't say he never asked for things before. You two always did that, the whole Academy." Ino said.

Shikako was quiet for a little while.

"I guess we did," she said softly. She let her knees curl up. Then sighed, bone deep. "I wish we weren't fighting." She let her finger worry themselves against the friendship bracelet on her wrist for a minute or two before she continued. "I just… I don't know how to fix things without actually talking about it. And Shika wants me to talk about it, and-" her lips twisted, and she shook her head.

"Do you want me to talk with him for you?" Ino asked.

Shikako paused, clearly torn.

"This is the part where you say 'Yes, Ino,'" Ino prompted.

Shikako huffed a laugh. "I don't mind you talking to Shika about it- hell, tell him this whole conversation if it would help. I just… I'm not sure it will. Not if I don't do it myself." She frowned.

"You let me worry about that," Ino assured her. She paused for a moment. "You're usually pretty private, though. Are you sure you don't mind what I tell him? Or how?"

"If it helps fix this mess, then I don't really care about anything else," Shikako said, a bit of frustration leaking through. But she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Though- maybe not anything we talked about in the hospital? I don't-"

****

The memory ended.

Shikamaru blinked. In the minutes he'd been within Ino's jutsu, his eyes had somehow gotten wet. He swallowed, convulsively.

"Thanks," he managed.

Chapter Text

He snorted. “I wondered- you know, I wondered-” he cut himself off, clearing his throat. “ How could it be worse than anything I imagined?” He gave a sound that might have qualified as a laugh, if it wasn't so helpless.

"You thought he left you alive because he loved you," I said, because the truth carved it out of me. It was a line of attack I was already committed to, too far in to pull back, to turn aside.

(He did, he did Sasuke. He loved you more than anyone, more than his family, more than his village. And that's why you're alive.)

Sasuke flinched and pulled away. "So stupid," he hissed, eyes falling shut. "I thought. That maybe he just… couldn't." It seemed torn out of him, as though he was being gutted by this conversation.

And this was it, wasn't it? This was the time. I knew the truth. Sasuke needed to know it. Danzo was still lurking around the edges and while knowing the truth might put him in danger, not knowing it might also.

Your brother loves you, I pictured saying. You aren't wrong. He couldn't. There are things rotten in Konoha and you need to know-

But I remembered those eyes. The shape of them so similar to Sasuke. The eyelashes that were long and delicate. The red, red inhumanness of them, spiralling and spinning. The feel of the cold, dry hand around my neck and the press of stone against my back.

The feeling of oil sliding slickly past my eyes, burning into my brain-

"But he came back," Sasuke said. "He came back, like once wasn't enough and he-" he cut himself off, spinning on his heel and facing me, expression slamming closed. "I shouldn't be talking about this with you."

(Your brother loved you, Sasuke.)

"Who else are you going to talk about it with?" I asked, logically, perfectly calm. "You know I'm always willing to listen."

I didn't have evidence, that was the thing. The Uchiha records proved nothing, even if I could show them to him without arousing suspicion. The closest I had was Sai and he couldn't say anything about Danzo – and that only proved that Danzo was acting at all. Sai knew nothing about the Uchiha situation. Knew nothing about Itachi.

Even if I said, even if I tried to console him right now, tried to soften the blow of this information, tried to spare his feelings… would I only stir it up further? Would I only introduce more pain and confusion?

"Yeah, I know," Sasuke said. "You want him dead too."

My eyes slid away, my own words – of a sort – parroted back to me. I couldn't say they were wrong.

"I-" I stammered, that cold logic deserting me for a second and I felt-it was on the tip of my tongue, it was - I closed my eyes, steeled myself, and made a decision. Just like the Akatsuki, a long time ago, I had always told myself that if I got a chance, got evidence, I would try my best to tell him, to give him a chance to decide whether he wanted to forgive Itachi like he had in canon, but before he killed his brother and rendered dead any chance of reconciliation. I had promised myself that, before I met the man, before Tsukiyomi, because I cared about Sasuke, because I didn’t want him to break his own heart and not realize it until after he couldn’t fix it. And because I still cared about him, even moreso now than how I used to, I decided that even though I’d never be able to forgive Itachi, even though I thought he was better off dead, even though I wanted to help kill Itachi myself, that Sasuke still deserved that chance, that giving him what little I had was better than giving him nothing at all. Was better than waiting until I had the full evidence of what happened, because by that time, it might still be too late.

"-I want you to be okay," I said, weighing the words like they were something as precious as gold. “And as much as I hate him, I’m not going to, would never want to get in the way of you reconciling with him if that was what you ended up wanting to do.” I finished quietly. “I’m never going to forgive him, I can’t, not after… that. But I want you to be okay more than I want him dead.”

Sasuke looked… confused? Angry? “Why, why would I ever want to make things better with him? Hasn’t he torn away enough from me, and come back to do it a second time, that would totally destroy any thought I might have of making things better? Even if he came right here and begged me to forgive him, killed himself to make things right with me, I wouldn’t forgive him. Not after what he did to you and Kakashi, what he plans to do to Naruto.” Sasuke faced me, walking closer until he wasn’t more than an arm’s length away. “You’re worth more to me than he could ever be now.” He said, squeezing his fists until they were white.

My mouth went dry, both because of what he had said, and because of what I needed to tell him. Would I still mean as much to him now that he knew what I had held onto. “When Itachi… put me under Tsukiyomi, he was aiming for you.” I whispered slowly, looking down at the ground as I tried to drag the words out from somewhere deep, deep inside that hurt to dredge up. “To show you what… what he did to your family.” I looked up cautiously, wanting to know what his reaction to that would be. He… he didn’t look suprised. “You’re, you’re not….”

Sasuke sat down slowly and pulled his knees into his chest. “He did it to me right after, it makes sense that that would be what he’d want to hurt me with again.” He answered quietly.

I nodded. “After I got out, felt like I needed to know their names, and coming to you just seemed like it would hurt you more, so I went to the Archives to look up their pictures, and,” I paused to figure out how I would start to say what I needed to say, what he needed to hear, “ a lot of the people I found weren’t killed the way that he showed me that he did.”

Sasuke’s eyes were on me like a falcon’s. 

I swallowed. “For a while I didn’t think much of it. He could have done it to make things more awful for you, or because he didn’t remember all the details after so long. But, it also could have meant that he had an accomplice.” I continued, the words spilling out in an unstoppable rush. Like blood from an artery. “Then Sai happened, and he was weird at first, but then he basically flat out told us that someone other than the Hokage was giving orders to a group of people that could have passed for ANBU. Orders that would have been bad for our allies and you had been getting orders after Orochimaru that weren’t trustworthy and came from high up enough that we couldn’t track them, information being passed to Orochimaru from somewhere too high up to track that put you in danger. And then I remembered, ‘wait, wasn’t Itachi ANBU too?” I stopped, tears slipping out as I tried force out as much I as could reasonably explain. “And maybe I’m wrong, I’m probably wrong, cause all of my evidence is barely tied together if, it is at all. Maybe Itachi went crazy from all the stress and left you alive because he still did love you. Maybe he did it because he’s evil and he wants to steal your eyes to cure his own. But there’s also the chance that he was blackmailed, ordered, threatened, or manipulated into it, and he left you alive ‘cause that’s all he could get away with.” 

Sasuke had gone still, so very, very still, like he had turned to stone or struck by lightning. His eyes blown wide, half horrified, half betrayed. His breathing was shallow. “Why didn’t-?” He stopped, like he couldn’t, like the rest of the question was just too hard to yank out.

“Why didn’t I tell you?” I asked for him. “Because I don’t have any actual proof, because I thought it might hurt you more to say it when I can’t even prove it. Because I thought saying it would put you in more danger than you already are, that if you knew, it would just make things worse, especially if all you had weren’t solid facts.” I answered, half pleading, half feeling that I didn’t deserve whatever I was pleading for. “When you joined ANBU, I was so scared. Now you were right in the middle of it, and I couldn’t tell you then, because you’d definitely be in danger if you wouldn’t have been before.”

“That’s why you were so uptight about Yakumo.” He accused, but the tone didn’t match.

I closed my eyes and nodded, and waited for judgement. Would he be angry? Even if he wasn’t would he ever trust me again? Were we still friends? My breath hitched as I felt him reach over and grab my forearm firmly, and then he yanked me into him.

“I am so angry right now.” He said hoarsely as he pulled me into a hug. “But if you think that means anything’s changed you’re so, so wrong.”

I breathed out heavily, so relieved I felt lightheaded. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

He snorted, and pulled away to wipe his eyes. He sighed. “It doesn't matter," he said heavily, mouth twisting. "It's not okay but it doesn't change anything. At least now I know."

My heart was hammering like I was in the middle of a fight.

"Sure," I said, the word emerging like a bubble through molasses.

"We should go back," he said, reaching out and fingertips barely brushing my elbow, like he was escorting me.

I gave him a weak smile. "You know, this probably makes me a bad friend, but I'm absolutely okay with leaving Sakura to explain everything to the Hokage."

He snorted. "Ah yes, I see what your friendship is worth." He tugged me onwards, clearly meaning to leave the destruction behind us.

You don't know the half of it, I thought, eyeing him sideways.

"I guess there's a lot of damage control to do," I agreed.

Chapter Text

It was a good thing that Ino told Sasuke last. If she had been any earlier he would have still been on shift doing patrol duty. As it was, she caught him just as he was about to unlock his apartment and try his very best to forget the clusterfuck Tora had caused on the north side of the village. And shower, there was no way he was going to do anything without washing the mess Tora had caused to spill all over his clothes

“Sasuke!” Ino yelled, pushing through the desire to to make a comment on how cheerful he looked covered in so much yellow.

He twitched, suppressing the urge to jump like a cat with his tail stepped on at the sound of Ino’s voice so close in his ear. He spun, noting the excited but jumpy posture she displayed. “What?” he replied, a slightly crazed look in his eyes as they met hers. “Please, not another batch of weird shit. It doesn’t even have to be good, just not something that Genma’s gonna bitch at me about later.” 

“Yoshino-san’s having the baby.” She blurted out, breathing heavily.

“Great.” He said, before the news completely processed. And then it did, and his mind went blank and frozen before exploding into “This is great, this is wonderful, I need to get to the hospital, quick, quick, quick, quick….”

Thankfully Ino reminded him about the two gallons of paint covering every inch of his clothes or the maternity ward would have been redecorated.

An hour or two later he finally checked into the Maternity Ward as a visitor and took a seat next to Shikako. “Have I missed anything?” He asked in not quite a whisper. 

“Nope. Mom’s been in labor for the past two hours or so. Shika’s in with here and Dad right now.” She replied, nose firmly in her book, some adventure paperback he’d never heard of, and looking very much like it wasn’t providing as much of a distraction as she’d hoped.

Sasuke frowned, pushing aside any Shikamaru-related apprehension in favor of leaning over in his seat and resting his cheek on his folded hands. “You alright?” He whispered. “You look like you want to run clear across town. She’s gonna be alright, she had the two of you at once. This has got to be less complicated than that.”

“I’m fine.” She answered shortly, but not unkindly. “Being a sensor isn’t as great as it sounds right now.”

“You can’t feel her pain can you?” He asked hesitantly, confused and feeling rather awkward as he said it.

Shikako shook her head. “No, but her chakra signature keeps flaring and stuff and it’s like an itch I can’t ignore.”

Then Shikamaru stumbled out, looking as though he had just broken a rather disturbing genjutsu and grey as a corpse. “You can go in.” He offered faintly as he sat down on Shikako’s other side.  

"No thanks." She refused quietly,leaning her head back and placing her book open-faced atop her face. “I’m quite content not seeing that.”

Inoichi chuckled and patted Shikako’s head as he moved to take Shikamaru’s place, joking that Shikaku had apparently needed reassurance of his own.

Sasuke made a face at that, wondering absentmindedly what exactly Shikaku may have needed someone to hold his hand for. 

“Sounds like a story.” Shikako commented, her voice muffled by the book and sounding very much like that was a story she did not wish to hear.

Sasuke cast a glance around, feeling not for the first time if Ino was sure he was supposed to have been invited for this, and noticed Tenten, looking even more awkward than he did, and sitting several seats away from Shikamaru. “That’s strange. Now why they avoiding each other?” He stole a glance at Shikamaru and came upon his answer. “Oh, he’s just not thinking about anything but Yoshino-san. How unfortunate for her.” He realized sympathetically.

Then Shikamaru seemed to notice his presence, narrowing his eyes, and taking advantage of the book obscuring Shikako’s vision as he signed “Why are you here?”

“Ino told me.” Sasuke signed back shortly, scratching at the corner of his mouth and tapping the fingernails of his right thumb and little finger together.

Shikamaru cast a thoughtful glance at the girl, but Sasuke stole back his attention before he could say anything to Ino. “Before scolding her about inviting me, try paying attention to Tenten, she looks uninvited.” He signed.

Shikamaru looked like he was grinding his teeth together at that before he hid the reaction and made his way over to the girl.

“Crisis averted.” Sasuke thought with relief as he shifted his attention back to Shikako. “How are things?” He whispered.

“Worse.” 

He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms, “Who would have been at mine?” Sasuke wondered, allowing himself the thought. “Father and Shisui, certainly. But who for Mom? Kushina, perhaps? Sakumo was dead by that time….” He trailed off, realizing that he had completely forgotten to tell Shikako what he had discovered from his mother’s journals. He shoved it aside. “Not now. Later, when it’s a little more private.”

An increase in noise brought his attention to the nurses that were emptying out the room and Inoichi making his way back to them. Shikako removed the book from her head. 

Inoichi was smiling. “They’re just moving them to an overnight room.” He said. “Then we can go and visit.”

Shikamaru let out a very long sigh and sagged into the plastic hospital chair. "What a drag."

Ino rolled her eyes at him so I didn't have to. "You didn't even do anything," she pointed out. "Come on, at least carry the flowers!"

He followed everyone over to Yoshino’s hospital room and filed in with the rest, moving over to a spot by the wall. He checked the time and mentally cursed, he had an appointment with the ANBU Commander, Zou, an hour from now. He had meant to take a short nap beforehand, but this had taken precedence. And then Shikaku took an impossibly small swaddled bundle from Yoshino.

Shikaku cleared his throat. "I'm pleased to introduce the newest member of our family," he said. "Kinokawa Nara." He tilted the bundle towards us and Shikamaru stepped up to hold it.

"After my family,"Yoshino murmured quietly.

"Kino-chan, huh?" Shikamaru asked, looking pretty besotted.

Yoshino caught his eye, and beckoned him over. “I’m glad you’re here.” She whispered. “I wondered if Ino would be able to find you, with you being on patrols.”

Sasuke’s mouth went dry. “I’m honored.” He murmured, turning his sharingan on as he watched the goings on to immortalize them forever in his mind.

“You’re family.” Yoshino reassured him, so quietly that he questioned if his imagination hadn’t supplied it. Except for that even in his wildest hopes, that wouldn’t have been something to feature. 

Sasuke felt like he had been punched in the guts. “Thank you.” He returned, equally as quiet. “I have to go. Congratulations, Yoshino-san.”

"Aww," Ino cooed, leaning over my shoulder. "He's got his mom's eyes. Going to be such a heartbreaker when you grow up, aren't you?"

Shikako looked baffled about the statement, and Sasuke had to admit that he felt the same.

“Uh, congratulations.” he stated. “I have to go. So, congratulations again.” Sasuke offered, Sharingan still on as he watched Shikako hold the baby in her arms, something about the sight making him eternally grateful that he would remember it in perfect detail for as long as he lived.

“You’re going to leave without holding him?” Shikako asked.

Sasuke looked at Shikaku, silently asking him for permission. Shikaku nodded and made a ‘go ahead’ motion with his hands. And then Shikako carefully passed the little bundle into his arms. 

“It’s a promotion to captain, you know.” Shikaku tapped out on his shoulder. ”Stay as long as you like.” The Nara patriarch said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I’ll make your excuse.”

Chapter Text

It wasn’t the night after Shikako came home, or the night after that, or even the night after that. It wasn’t the fourth, or the fifth, or even the sixth night after she came home from the disaster in what was the Land of Hot Springs that she had her first nightmare. It was a full week and a half after she stepped foot back in her own house, and slept in her own bed that she awoke from it with thundering heart and sweat soaked sheets that she had remembered to use to muffle her scream only just before it tore it’s way out of her throat. She barely made it to the toilet in time to disgorge everything she had eaten recently with the overpowering taste of blood in her mouth as she tried to push every last fluid ounce of Aoba’s blood that she had been forced to drink out of her stomach. 

Sasuke was dozing in mission-sleep on the couch, as he had ever since he’d come home with his friend the first time, when he felt Shikako’s chakra come awake with a violent, terrified snap and as he shot awake, heard the slap of her feet on the floor as she rushed across the hall.

He might have stopped if that had been all, knocked on the bathroom door and asked if she was alright before going back to half-sleep, but then, the bathroom door was open, and his best friend and beloved was purging like she had just swallowed charcoal voluntarily as a poison extractor. So instead he turned on the cold water and dropped two washcloths in the sink to soak it all up. Then he knelt beside her, running his fingers through her hair as he pulled and held it out of the way as she puked again. 

Pulling one of the washcloths out of the sink and pressing it against the side to wring it out, he slipped the fabric underneath Shikako’s hair and draped it across her neck. 

Shikako shuddered in relief, the feeling of the cold, thin, clear liquid that was most definitely not blood running down her neck washing most of the immediate nausea away. She sobbed in a breath, grimacing at the acrid smell that came with it. “Thanks.” She muttered shakily, taking the second cloth from his waiting hand and wiping her mouth with it.

He nodded. “Anytime.” He whispered. He paused. “Ginger tea?” He asked hesitantly. “It’ll help with the nausea.”

She nodded, needing to taste something better than acid or blood, “Please…. I-I’m gonna take a shower, so I’ll be down in a minute.” She added after a moment, because he was still sitting back on his heels beside her.

“Alright.” He responded, climbing to his feet. “It’ll be ready by the time you’re done.”

“Sasuke?” She said, halting him at the door, “Can you just bring it to my room? I don’t want anyone else to hear.” She explained, accurately guessing that he would want an explanation, and deciding that she wanted to give it to him. 

Sasuke put the tea, enough for two, on slowly, keeping his movements quiet to not wake up the rest of the house, a packet of ginger for nausea, lavender for anxiety, and chamomile for easy sleep. As he waited for the tea to boil, he sat down at the table to think. “Beloved?” he asked himself, the word having come unasked into his head as he walked in on Shikako. He considered how he’d felt about her, the way she’d made him feel, since the Grass exams-no, since He had put her in the hospital in his stead. Really considered them, and not pushed it aside and denied it like he’d been doing up until tonight. “I do love her.” He admitted silently. “I love you, Shikako. I think you are the bravest, smartest, most creative, and amazing, and powerful, and beautiful person I know. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had or will have and I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He announced in the depths of his mind where he was brave enough to say it because no one could hear it, a small smile growing on his face and a feeling inside like a sun was about to burst.

The teapot screamed, and Sasuke swiftly took it off the stove to let the tea cool and steep. Then he took two cups, the one he’d noticed was Shikako’s preferred plus an extra, and filled them with water before putting them in the microwave to warm them up in preparation for the tea. Not long afterward, he heard the water cut off from the shower and then Shikako’s feet move across the hall back to her room.

Sasuke took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and let it out slowly as the microwave beeped. Figuring out how to deal with his newly accepted feelings would have to wait. Shikako needed him as a friend, and only as a friend tonight. So that’s what he would continue to give her. He dumped the water out from the cups, squeezed a generous amount of honey all around the walls of Shikako’s cup, and filled both with tea.

“You can come in.” Shikako answered, dressed in a fresh pair of blues cut off at the knees and elbows, as soon as she heard the knock on her door.

Sasuke carefully opened the door, and stepped into her room, holding both cups in one hand by their handles. Once he softly closed the door behind him, he passed her mug off to his other hand and held it out to her as he approached her bed.

“Thanks,” Shikako said gratefully, flipping up the blankets off the mattress so he could sit down next to her as she took the tea from him.

“You know,” Sasuke began lightly. “I found out who those people were, the ones from Mom’s team photo.” 

“Hmm?” She asked, holding her tea close to enjoy the warmth, relaxed into the fragrant taste and smell of it as she took a drink. She smiled. “This is Ino’s recipe.” She noted. “You even got the honey right.”

“Yeah. She wrote it on my arm when she visited the night you came back.” He confirmed.

“Hmmm. So who were they?” She asked as she sunk down further into the pillows.

“It was Kakashi’s father. Sakumo, Konoha’s ‘White Fang,’ that Chakra Saber was his first before it was Kakashi’s.” "He should have saved it for his son." Sasuke didn’t say.

Shikako nudged his arm with hers. “He did.” She didn’t say.

“I did some digging, and Sakumo killed himself when Kakashi was seven after failing a mission that kicked off the Third War to save some wounded teammates. The boy with the bow turned out to be the guy mom was writing those letters to, Hibiki Hayate. He’s dead now, got killed at the Kumo border when Yugito turned up.” He paused. “The redheaded girl was Kushina Uzumaki, and I’m pretty sure she’s Naruto’s mom. They were best friends too.”

“Naruto will be overjoyed when he hears. I’m glad you’re finding all this out.” Shikako whispered. “Any clue on who his dad was?” She asked, lowering her cup.

“The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.” Sasuke answered as he sipped his tea.

Shikako snorted. “No wonder they wouldn’t let anyone know.”

Sasuke nodded. “I found out another thing about that boyfriend of moms too.” He added. “They were going to get married before he died. They were going to do what your parents did.”

Shikako paused. “Your parents didn’t care much for each other?” she asked hesitantly, taking a drink.

“Mom hated dad, and dad hated almost everyone she cared about.” He answered, rocking his head back against the headboard with a dull thud, feeling equally as hollow as he did when he first read it in his mothers handwriting. “She thought he was a prideful, stuck up bastard. He thought she disgraced the clan with her choice of company except for Minato. But they were each powerful, and her parents last wish was for them to get married, and if she wanted to stay in the clan she had to comply, and cause Hibiki was dead she had nowhere to go.” Sasuke swallowed and let out a short, bitter snort. “You know, maybe it was just because I was a kid, but I never could tell. They never said a single thing against each other when I was around. I’m closing in on the final entries and she wrote that the only good things she got out of their marriage were me and him, and I was the only one she actually got to be a mom to. Naruto would have grown up like a brother to me if not for the clan. And I never could tell, not a single fucking argument...”

Shikako was silent, her mouth dry as a bone. She put her hand over his and squeezed it tight. “I’m so sorry. I-” She paused a moment. “I’m sorry you had to find that out at all.”

Sasuke squeezed her hand back. “What about you?” 

She took a long, deep drink to fill her mouth with the taste of Ino's tea blend as her eyes started to well up. “They killed Aoba. Slit his throat. And as he died, they held me down and made me drink his blood. And tonight, I had a nightmare about it. And all I could think about was the taste of his blood in my mouth, and how it felt to have a full stomach of it, and how I couldn’t breath with it choking me.” She sniffed and took her hand out of his to wipe angrily at her eyes. “I thought after the first couple nights of not dreaming about it, I wasn’t going to.”

Sasuke put their mugs on her desk and pulled her into a hug. “Sometimes I still dream about how he looked in the moonlight, covered in blood. Sometimes it's red skies, or the sound of your screams, or how helpless I felt fighting Orochimaru.” He reassured her quietly. “I’m glad I can be here for you now like I should have been there for you then.” He whispered into her ear. “It seems like every time you suffer, I was the cause of it, or I wasn’t there to stop it. And I’m so, so sorry for failing you.”

She felt a wave of shear revulsion and panic, and the most horrible feeling of loss wash over her as the image of Sasuke in Aoba’s place came behind her eyes and she tried to shove him away, but he held her tight, so she hissed in his ear, halfway to a sob. “Don’t you dare. There was nothing I could do to save Aoba, and if it had been you instead I don’t know if I would have wanted to survive it. Losing Aoba was bad enough, but losing you would have been unbearable. You’ve never failed me, I was always right where I wanted to be.”

“If losing me is unbearable, how do you think I feel when you keep taking hits for me?” Sasuke asked. “I’m not saying you should quit, being your teammate is the best thing that ever happened to me. I just want you to know I feel the same way about you, and I’d kinda like to do my part now.”

She snorted. “It's not all it's cracked up to be. Lots of sympathy points, maybe, but it still sucks.” Her fingers tightened in his shirt before letting go and gently separated from him. “Thanks.” She said, sitting back against the headboard. “Can I have my tea back?” She asked. He passed it back. “You did a really good job with this.” She said.

“Thanks.” He returned with a smile. “It is really good. I’m going to have to thank Ino for it.”

“She is great.” Shikako agreed. 

They finished their tea, and Sasuke got up to put the cups back in the sink. “Goodnight.” She said, laying down and pulling the covers up to her chin.

“Goodnight.” He returned, tapping the bump of her ankle as he passed.   

Chapter Text

 “I am so, so fucked……” Sasuke thought as he sat down at his table and tried not to look at his bed.

The bed that he had woken up to Shikako being in. Shikako his teammate, his best friend, his family, the girl he was in love with, his mind unhelpfully filled in.

“I am so fucked.” He hissed in despair, burying his face in his hands. “I can’t just not tell her. If she does it again and she doesn’t know I love her, then I’m lying to her and taking advantage of her. Which means I have to tell her I love her. I have to tell Shikako Nara I love her….and hope that she doesn’t hate you for it.” A tiny, unwelcome voice whispered in the back of his mind. Which he frantically chased away. “She won’t, she’s my friend. Even if she doesn’t want me, she won’t hate me. So how do I do that?" He pondered. "Do I just tell her? Do I ask her out as well? How would she want to be asked out?” 

“I need help.” he conceded quietly, and very reluctantly, after an hour of getting nowhere.

--------------------------------

The first person he went to was Ino. Because there was probably no one better suited to advise him on how to go about solving his conundrum that the girl who had known Shikako best and longest.

Sasuke entered the flower shop with the kind of stealth that he would normally reserve for an ANBU mission as he made a careful sweep of the grounds, the inside store, and the small greenhouse garden just behind it. Upon finding it empty of customers, he dropped the stealth techniques and re-entered the store… just as Kiba did, Akamaru immediately behind him. “Fuck my life.”

Kiba narrowed his eyes, a slow grin crawling up his face, “Sasuke, long time no see, buddy. Didn’t anybody ever tell you sneaking around like that off duty was rude? I didn’t smell you at all till you stepped in.”

Ino was similarly surprised, though she recovered quickly to greet them both. “Are you off duty though?” she asked. “Dad’s upstairs in the kitchen if you need him, I can go get him if you want.” She offered, pulling out her wallet and passing Kiba a few bills. He handed her a small scroll in return.

Sasuke shook his head as he approached the counter. “I’m not. I was just making sure no one else was …..here.” He paused, trying to ignore how suspicious his answer sounded.

Kiba and Ino shared a look. “What now?” Kiba sighed. “What awful, fucked up thing is coming after us next that no one else can know about?”

Sasuke shook his head. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

They looked at him expectantly. Akamaru, now tall enough that his head was at the level of Kiba’s hip when standing, cocked his head to the side in the way puzzled dogs often do.

“I have a serious problem.” He began. He took a breath before the plunge. “I need to tell Shikako I love her, and I don’t know how.” he said in a rush, trying to spit the words out before he could choke on them.

Kiba turned to Ino. “I told you.”

“I didn’t disagree!” she defended. “I just thought it’d take longer than this.” 

“How long have you been talking about this?” Sasuke asked blankly, feeling rather betrayed.

“Just after the second Chunin Exams.” Kiba admitted. “So what’s the issue? Just go up and tell her. You’re good friends, even if she says no, she’s not likely to hate you for it. You’ll still be friends, right?”

“There is not a romantic bone in your body is there?” Ino complained. “‘Just go up and tell her.’ Are you trying to get him rejected? She’d just think it was a confession, and not asking her out.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that.” Sasuke added, feeling more out of his depth with every second.    

“So what’s the issue? As it stands right now, you go up to her, you tell her how you feel, give her flowers that reinforce the message in that flower language, and ask if she would like to give ‘you two’ a shot.”

He paused, opened his mouth and closed it again. “Last night, Kino was waking her up a lot, so she came over to my place, and when I woke up this morning, she was back to back with me.” he explained quietly, folding his arms across his chest. “And I don’t feel right about that. Because she didn’t know how I feel about her, and if she did, I’m not sure she would have been okay with sharing a bed. And if it happens again, it feels like I’d be taking advantage or deceiving her somehow.”

“Let’s take this upstairs.” Ino said after a minute, coming out from behind the register to close down the shop. Out for lunch, the sign read. “If you’re worrying about that, at least you know your heart’s in the right place.”

Ino’s room was exactly the way he would have thought it might be. Flower arrangements threaded with senbon everywhere, bright colors, and a large aquarium in one corner filled with growing flowers and a long brown rope. “Is that a snake?” Sasuke asked, his mouth going dry, “Why is it always snakes?”

Ino followed his eyes toward the aquarium. “Oh! Yes, that's Hanabi-chan. I found her getting tortured for some sick people's amusement and brought her home after we got her all fixed up.”

That was just like Ino, Sasuke concluded dryly.

“Hanabi-chan, indeed.” Kiba grumbled. 

“She's never given me a problem since we brought her to Anko.” Ino retorted, opening the aquarium to offer the snake a dead mouse from the scroll. It took it from her hand gently.

Sasuke had to suppress a shudder. 

“Anyway,” Ino continued, rolling up the scroll and placing beside the aquarium, “its not as big a deal as you think it is. Especially if you go about explaining things like I think you want to. It's not like you actually did anything wrong. And you're taking steps to make sure she knows before she does it again. You just got caught off guard.” 

Ino paused. “Are you wanting to ask her out? Or are you just wanting to make sure she knows so she isn't sharing a bed with you not knowing what she means to you?”

Sasuke folded his arms and studied the floor. “Do you think she might say yes? I figured she probably wouldn't. She's got a lot going on right now.”

“The last time I asked her about boys, she said it was like asking her about having wings. I don't know, I certainly don't think that she would pursue it on her own. I don't think that's any reason not to try anyway. You're ok with her saying no and just being friends, right?” 

Sasuke nodded, “Of course.”

“Well okay then, I can't imagine her ending that.” Ino reassured him. She paused, “You know that she is not exactly excited at the idea of having kids, right? You're okay with that?”

He considered that. “No, I'm not.” He shrugged, “but I can't have everything. And if it's a choice between Shikako and no kids, or kids with someone that's not her, I know which one I have to pick.” 

“Someone that's not her’ meaning Sakura.” Ino accurately guessed. 

And that, that was Ino, Sasuke cursed. Perceptive enough to be helpful, but also far, far too perceptive for comfort. “I get that Sakura is your friend, is Shikako’s friend as well. I can respect that, and not be cruel to her. But that doesn't mean she doesn’t make me feel like she's looking more at her idea of who I am, and my name, then who I am.”

Ino fixed him with a disapproving look, “I'm not going to touch that. Do you know how you want to ask her out?”

----------------------------

The second was his former ANBU Captain, Yugao Uzuki. She was, after all, one half of the only healthy relationship he knew of that wasn’t either the Nara’s, or Anko’s thing-that-might-not-actually-be-a-thing with Genma and there was no way in hell he was going to Anko for relationship advice. He wasn’t that crazy.

“I need your advice.” He stated when Yugao opened the door. 

She looked back at him blankly, in the way he knew he probably did after seventy two hours of uninterrupted consciousness.

“I can come back later?” he offered.

“Knowing you, no you won’t.” she said, opening the door further so he could enter. “Off duty or on?” She asked as she shut the door and sagged against it.

“Off.” he answered, “I need relationship advice. And you’re one half of one of the only two healthy relationships I’m willing to ask advice from.”

“And you’re not asking the Naras because Shikako is at the root of your problem.”

“Is it really that obvious?”

“To anyone with eyes.” She said rolling her own.” Look, it’s really not that hard. Good relationships start with being good friends, and you're already that. Listen to each other, communicate. There’s lots of ways to make someone feel appreciated, figure out the ones she likes best, and do those a lot. Do over the top things to make her feel extra appreciated occasionally. Don’t go to sleep on an argument. Don’t keep track of arguments. Dates don’t have to be big, just spend time with each other. And as awkward as this is going to be to hear……. And for me to say, cause I really should not be the one telling you this: If you can’t have a mature conversation about sex, you shouldn’t be having it. In fact, don’t even think about any of that, you two are way too young for it anyway.” She advised, sending him off soon after hearing his request.

-------------------------------

The last person he got advice from, he wasn't planning on asking at all, but sitting at the kitchen table feeding Kino from a bottle, with Yoshino cutting up peppers for curry, and Shikamaru having just exited the door to train with his team, he couldn't not be vividly reminded that as welcome as Shikako's family made him feel, they were still her family first, not his. And his relationship with Shikamaru was already strained. Shikako's relationship with her brother was already strained, and in no small part because of trouble he'd been the cause of.

“Yoshino-san,” he started haltingly.

“Hmmm?” 

“Thank you,” he bit off. “You and Shikaku-san have been very generous in the way you've treated me, even when I've been the cause of some of the….issues between Shikaku and Shikamaru.

Yoshino sighed, “What's happened? Are you and Shikako arguing?”

“No!” he shook his head, “not at all.” He paused. “I…...I want to ask Shikako out. And I want to make sure I'm not going to just be causing more problems.”

“Don't worry about Shikamaru.” Yoshino said quietly after a moment. “He's my son, and I love him and Shikako equally, but he's going to have to learn that his sister is capable of decisions on her own, for better or for worse, and trying to control her life isn't going to ever go the way he wants it to.” She waited a moment to let that sink in before continuing. “As for you asking my daughter out, Shikako sees you as family, and so do me and Shikaku, whether that's as another son, or as a son in law doesn't matter to us. That's between you and Shikako. I have no idea what she'll say, but if you're asking what I think about it, I think you'll be good for each other, just as you've been as friends. Especially if you make that the priority.” 

……………...

“Okay. What's up?” Shikako asked their first morning back training after she'd gotten back from ANBU School. “You've been off all morning. Are you alright?”

“I'm fine.” he said, mouth dry. “I just. I have to tell you something.”

“Okay. Well you're -”

He thrust the flowers he had hidden behind his back into her hands. 

“- making me nervous….” she finished lamely, looking wide eyed from the flowers to him and back again.

“I, I love you.” He started, nervous and ashamed, the words stumbling from his mouth and his ears heating up. “You're my best friend, and you're brave and powerful and smart, and funny, and beautiful, and I trust you more than anyone, and I'm very in love with you.” He paused, “I know you've got a lot going on right now, and I'm sorry to add this, but after…...it just didn't feel right to let you keep sleeping over like you did without telling you how I feel. I hope you're not offended. I want to keep being friends, it's the most important thing in my life. You're the most important person in my life. And if you're open to it, maybe we can try something new?” 

Shikako looked embarrassed and stunned and like her world had been flipped upside down. She studied the flowers and how they were arranged. Studied him. “I'm not offended.” she said, shaking her head and taking his hand. “I'm not…...I don't think….you didn't do anything wrong. You're still my best friend, that hasn't changed. I don't feel uncomfortable or like I can't trust you.” 

He slumped in relief. “Thank you.”

She lifted his chin to force him to look her in the eyes. “We're okay. You are still my family. Okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She pulled away. “As for...trying something new.” She paused. “I need to think about it. You went to Ino for help with this, didn't you? This arrangement is too professionally done to have been just you.”

He nodded.

She nodded as well. “Did she tell you about the last time she asked me about…...boys?” she asked hesitantly, gesturing to him.

“She said you equated it to asking what it was like to have wings.” He paused. “She also said it was no reason for me to not ask anyway.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I'm not, I'm not saying it's a ‘yes’. But I'm not finding it…. It's a leap for me. It's a huge leap for me, and the idea is more than a little terrifying for me. Not of you!” she reassured him. “Just, romance in general. But -" She blushed hard. “It may be a leap I want to take, especially if it's with you, because I can trust you not to hurt me, or try to go faster than I want. I liked hearing and seeing,” she gestured at the flowers,”what you think of me.” She drew herself up. “I just don't know, I don't know what any of this is supposed to feel like. And I need some time to think about it. Whether I want to take that leap or not. It's not a hard ‘yes’, but it's not a hard ‘no’ either. It's an ‘I'll think about it.’ You'll give me that, right?” 

“Of course!” Sasuke responded. “Take all the time you want.” 

She shook her head. “I promise you, I won't abuse this. I know this probably took a lot out out of you. And as your friend, because you're my friend, I owe you an answer. I won't leave you hanging for too long, alright.”

“You could still be thinking about it when Naruto comes back. I’m not going to rush you. You have a lot to think about already without all this. It's why I waited so long.” He bit out a harsh laugh. “If not for…” he gestured to her, “I probably wouldn't have said anything until the Akatsuki are all dead.”

Shikako winced. “I didn't make you feel uncomfortable, did I?” she asked guiltily. 

“No! Just, I felt like I was taking advantage of your trust. Or, I felt like I would be, if you did it again without knowing.” He corrected. 

She rolled her eyes. “You wouldn't have been. But it's good to know. I'm glad you told me.” She admitted. “I'm going to go home. These flowers need water and a vase.”

“I have a shift babysitting Kino this afternoon.” he reminded her. “Do you want me to give you some space?” He asked.

She shook her head. “No. I need to go talk to Ino about these anyway.” She said, holding up the flowers. 

Chapter Text

Sasuke was decidedly off his game, Shikako deduced as she kneed him solidly in the hip. Had been all morning. He was distracted, block, anxious, shuriken aimed at right kidney, avoid, and generally this match was the last thing on his mind. 

But he wasn't freaking out, Shikako noticed, so it couldn’t be too serious. Anxious, distracted Sasuke was a totally different animal from frightened, spooked Sasuke. That Sasuke was aggressive, pinpoint focused. He used training to lose himself in the match and threw everything else out the window. 

This wasn't that. Shikako decided, aiming a thrown kunai at his knee. She noted the second-to-last minute, snappy swipe of his own that knocked it aside. Normally it wouldn't have gotten anywhere near that close.

“Should I ask what's wrong? Or leave him to open up on his own?” She debated. “He's been doing better with that.” 

“Yes,” she decided. “He handles it better when he's asked first…or when he's trying to get me talking.” She admitted to herself as he called the match, and with it, the end of morning training. 

“Okay. What's up?” Shikako asked after they had finished picking up their scattered weaponry. “You've been off all morning. Are you alright?”

 “I'm fine.” He hesitated. “I just. I have to tell you something.”

Well now he was just being plain squirrelly, Shikako decided. “Okay. Well you're -”

He thrust the flowers he had hidden behind his back into her hands. 

“- making me nervous….” she finished lamely, looking wide eyed from the flowers to him and back again.

“I, I love you.” He started, clearly nervous and embarrassed, the words stumbling from his mouth. “You're my best friend, and you're brave, and powerful, and smart, and funny, and beautiful, and I trust you more than anyone, and I'm very in love with you.” He paused. “I know you've got a lot going on right now, and I'm sorry to add this, but after…...it just didn't feel right to let you keep sleeping over like you did without telling you how I feel. I hope you're not offended. I want to keep being friends, it's the most important thing in my life. You're the most important person in my life. And if you're open to it, maybe we can try something new?” 

“Oh.” Shikako thought blankly, staring at the flowers as she struggled to process the torrent of words that had spilled out of her friend. The center of the arrangement was dominated by four roses: two yellow, for friendship, one red, for passionate romance, and one white, for purity. Surrounding them were other flowers detailing her various attributes.“Iris for heroism, chrysanthemum for natural perfection, daffodil, power… all of these are things he loves about me.” She realized, the jumpy, pleasantly restless feeling in her stomach increasing and a blush rising unrequested across her neck in equal intensity to the bewilderment and no small amount of fear at the forefront of her thoughts.

“What do I do with this!?” She thought as she considered the far too professionally arranged flowers. “Ino,” She realized. Ino had helped him with this. Had been asked for help and given it. Had must have known her work would be recognized, and helped him anyway. Was she saying that she approved? Or was she just giving the help she would give anyone in Sasuke's position. She would have thought this was very romantic.

“It is very romantic.” Shikako admitted. The confession, stumbling and hurried as it was, with the flowers detailing her attractive qualities, was rather cute and thoughtful. And for the first time she could remember, it made her feel attractive in a way that she liked, made her feel wanted in a way that didn't make it feel like someone was looking over her shoulder at someone else, or in some sort of skeevy objectifying way. 

She lifted her head to study him, and that feeling just increased. His hopeful expression, the way he patiently waited. “I hope you're not offended.” She remembered him saying. “Of course not!” 

“‘It didn't feel right to let you keep sleeping over like you did without telling you how I feel’.”  He had said.

“Oh….that's why he's worried.” She understood. “What would that be like, anyway, waking up to a kiss….” She pulled back mentally immediately. “Where did THAT come from!?” She wondered, panic flooding through her thoughts at the unfamiliar feeling. “I've never thought about that, not even before…”

“Is it that bad though?” She asked herself, “Would trying something so entirely new be so awful?” She tried to imagine doing things that she saw couples do with the boy in front of her. Physical contact with Sasuke had never felt anything but safe, and warm, and comforting. “Maybe….” She thought, “maybe it might be nice.” She shook her head. 

“I'm not offended.” she said, taking his hand. “I'm not…I don't think…you didn't do anything wrong. You're still my best friend, that hasn't changed. I don't feel uncomfortable or like I can't trust you.” She clarified.

He slumped in relief. “Thank you.”

She lifted his chin to force him to look her in the eyes. “We're okay. You are still my family. Okay?” She reassured.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She pulled away. “As for...trying something new.” Shikako paused. “I need to think about it. You went to Ino for help with this, didn't you? This arrangement is too professionally done to have been just you.”

He nodded.

She nodded as well. “Did she tell you about the last time she asked me about…...boys?” she asked hesitantly, gesturing to him.

“She said you equated it to asking what it was like to have wings.” Sasuke paused. “She also said it was no reason for me to not ask anyway.” he added, almost apologetic. 

“We’re going to need to talk about that.” She nodded. “Yeah. I'm not, I'm not saying it's a ‘yes’. But I'm not finding it…. It's a leap for me. It's a huge leap for me, and the idea is more than a little terrifying for me. Not of you!” she reassured him. “Just, romance in general. But -" She blushed hard. “It may be a leap I want to take, especially if it's with you, because I can trust you not to hurt me, or try to go faster than I want. I liked hearing and seeing,” she gestured at the flowers, "what you think of me.” She drew herself up. “I just don't know, I don't know what any of this is supposed to feel like. And I need some time to think about it. Whether I want to take that leap or not. It's not a hard ‘yes’, but it's not a hard ‘no’ either. It's an ‘I'll think about it.’ You'll give me that, right?” 

“Of course!” Sasuke responded immediately. “Take all the time you want.” 

She shook her head. “I promise you, I won't abuse this. I know this probably took a lot out out of you. And as your friend, because you're my friend, I owe you an answer. I won't leave you hanging for too long, alright?”

“You could still be thinking about it when Naruto comes back. I’m not going to rush you. You have a lot to think about already without all this. It's why I waited so long.” He bit out a harsh laugh. “If not for…” he gestured to her, “I probably wouldn't have said anything until the Akatsuki are all dead.”

Shikako winced. “I didn't make you feel uncomfortable, did I?” she asked guiltily. 

“No! Just, I felt like I was taking advantage of your trust. Or, I felt like I would be, if you did it again without knowing.” He corrected. 

She rolled her eyes. “You wouldn't have been. But it's good to know. I'm glad you told me.” She admitted. “I'm going to go home. These flowers need water and a vase.”

“I have a shift babysitting Kino this afternoon.” He reminded her. “ Do you want me to give you some space?” He asked.

She shook her head. “No. I need to go talk to Ino about these anyway.” She said, holding up the flowers.

……

“Ino.” Shikako announced, placing the flowers gently on the counter. “Can we talk?” 

“Of course.” Ino answered with a smile. “Can you close up the shop for me?” 

“Sure. Can I have a vase for these?” Shikako returned, moving to the door and closing it. 

She beamed. “You're going to keep them then!?” She asked, picking a simple brown vase off the back shelf and filling it with water.

“Until they die, yeah.” Shikako answered, flipping the sign from ‘Open! Come on in!’ to ‘Closed, come again later.’ 

“Soooo,” Ino began, leaning in over the counter. “What happened?”

“I still don't know.” “He confessed, I said I’d think about it.” She answered. “Sasuke told me you told him what I told you about what I thought about boys and dating the last time you asked me. He also told me that you said that was no reason for him not to try.” Shikako paused. Ino waited. “You had to have known I would recognize you helped him with these. What were you trying to do, and why did you tell him that? Are you trying to tell me something?”

Ino was silent, her eyes on the flowers in between them rather than her. “I helped Sasuke because he loves you very much and was very concerned about doing what he thought was the right thing and being a good, honest friend, even though you might be mad at him. And I wanted to help him explain things as best and as clearly as he could so he didn't mess it up, and to reassure him that you wouldn't be angry with him.” She answered, looking her in the eyes.

“I told him what you said because I didn't want to give him false hope, and that it wasn't a reason to not try because if you never risk failure, you never risk success. And,” Ino continued, raising a finger. “I do think that if you gave him a try, you might find that you like it, and as close a pair of friends as you are now, I think you'll only be closer to and better for each other as you are now. And even if you don't, I don't think this will be the end of you two. You're already basically the old married couple that does everything together.” She teased lightly. “You're just missing out on the holding hands and kissing.”

“Hey!” Shikako exclaimed indignantly. “That's not fair! We aren't like that!”

Ino smirked. “You two are adorable." She argued. “And everyone with a functioning set of eyes expected this to be a possibility. But I didn't do it to make it seem like I was trying to push you to say yes. I felt like Sasuke deserved, like you both deserved, to have the best chance I could give him to express his feelings for you the right way. And that's what I gave him. I'm behind you whichever answer you give him. I just want you to be happy. And so does he.”

“No pressure, huh?” Shikako asked. Ino nodded. She sighed. “I just don't know what to do.” She explained slowly. “This is most foreign thing I've ever had to face, and one of the most scary things I've ever had to think about. But I really, really liked how it felt to hear him say how he felt….it's the same rush you get when you're in combat, you know?” Shikako said, grasping for anything she could use to explain her thoughts. “The thrill feels exciting to a degree but it's utterly terrifying at the same time, and it's just such a leap for me. The concept is so new like nothing else is. And I don't know if it's something I want to do or not. I care, no, I love Sasuke. I just don't know if I love him the way he does me and up until now I thought it wasn't that way.”

“What's scary about it? The expectations, the dating, the romance? Is the touching? The extra emotional risk?” Ino asked gently.

“I don't want to be a housewife. I don't want to break his heart. I don't want him to break my heart. I don't know if I'll like kissing or … doing more with him or if I'll just feel like I did something I felt disgusted and repulsed by and can't undo or forget. Hugging him and being hugged by him has never not been comforting and warm but is anything else still going to be something I can enjoy and want?” “All of it.” Shikako answered. “It's all like I'm standing on a cliff and about to jump, and I don't know what I’ll hit. Deep water or rocks.” She paused. “Maybe not the dating,” She corrected, thinking about what it was like to just sit on the porch with her friend and play shogi, or work on a seal while he cooked a meal a few feet away. “We hang out enough that I can't imagine that being uncomfortable. But it just seems like a mix between awkward and butterflies inside to think of him adding the candles to it, and I don't know for sure what it will be just yet. And…” “I feel guilty,” She realized. “I feel like I'm stealing something else from Sakura. I feel like I stole her place on the team, like I stole her place on the jounin track, and now Sasuke loves me instead of her and I don't want to lose her friendship. But he's not her prize, and he doesn't have to feel anything he doesn't want to.” 

“What am I going to tell Sakura?” She whispered. “She’ll be devastated. She’ll hate me.” 

“Sakura has no right to hate you for this.” Ino said firmly. “She deserves to be happy and loved, but Sasuke's not under any obligation to love someone just because they love him. He's free to be in love with anyone he falls for. And so are you, and me, and Sakura, and everyone else. And he fell for you.” Ino placed her hand over hers. “This is no different than Shikamaru trying to get you to quit being a field ninja. I love Shikamaru and I love Sakura like family, and I know you do too. But you can't decide your life off of avoiding making them angry, and clearly you know that. Sakura will find someone who loves her like she deserves. It just won't be Mr. Uchiha.”

Shikako narrowed her eyes. “You almost sound like you already know someone is interested in her.” 

Ino lifted her chin loftily. “Maybe I do, maybe I don't.” She teased, “I hold many secrets safe.

This does bring a whole new meaning to ‘KO Shikako’ though, doesn't it?” Ino joked.

“Pffft, stop. Please.” Shikako retorted, rolling her eyes, even as the corner of her mouth quirked into a smile.

“He thinks you’re ~beautiful~!” She sang lightly.

“Stahp, pleease!”

………

“Tadaima!” Shikako called as she stepped through the door around four, kicking off her shoes as she did.

“Okaeri! What took you so long?” Yoshino asked. “You've been gone all day. Did you have an assignment?”

“I had to talk to Ino.” Shikako explained, setting down her vase of flowers and moving over to help.

“I like the flowers.” She said, setting her to the task of cutting up vegetables.

“They're Sasuke's.” Shikako answered with a smile, pausing the work of her knife to brace herself against the counter.

“From him, or for him?” Yoshino asked quietly.

“From….” Shikako slumped, all the stress that had been building up finally collapsing across her shoulders. “He told me he loved me and asked if I might want to try being together. And mom, I still don't know what to say to him.”

Yoshino pulled her into a hug. “Is this why he came over while you weren't here?” She asked quietly.

Shikako nodded silently. 

“Should he have been here?” she asked.

“We're still friends. He's still family.” Shikako confirmed with a whisper. “He was going to not come, because he wanted to give me space, but I told him it was okay.”

“If you want to say ‘no’ you should.”

Shikako shook her head. “That's not it. I don't know what I want to say. For every reason I would want to say ‘no,’ there's a feeling that makes me want to try it. For every reason that makes me want to say ‘yes,’ the idea scares me too much. I know I can trust him. That's not it. He's my best friend, and I know for a fact that whatever happens he'll respect what I need out of him. But that doesn't change how I feel about it. It doesn't change the fact that this is an enormous leap for me. I'm just fine like this. I feel comfortable and happy not having to consider it. I never would have thought about any of this any other way. And I was perfectly fine that way. But now that it's being brought up,” She explained, “I'm not finding myself completely turned off to the idea. The more I think about it, the more I want to try it. I like the way he made me feel, and I want more of it. The more I think about it, the more I'm reminded that I'm comfortable right here where I am, and how foreign and strange I find it and that I don't want to take the chance. It’s both, and I'm having a lot of trouble making a decision.”

Yoshino was silent for a moment. “I didn't even think about me and Shikaku being together until he kissed me right before he left for a mission.” She reminded her. “I didn't think about it either. But I can't say the idea had me anywhere near as stressed as it has you. It happened, I enjoyed it, and it turned out great. I think, ” She paused. “I think that you are thinking about this as though it's a guaranteed straight line of constant progression from him asking you out to you getting married and that's just not how this has to work.

If you find that you're unhappy with the way things are going, you can cut it off. You can tell him you want to back up. You can take a break for a little while and then get back together.” She reassured. “Sasuke strikes me as the kind of person who is going to be fine with anything you tell him as long as he can tell you he loves you when he really needs to say it. And while there are problems that can come with that, it's perfect for this situation. Just be upfront with your concerns and the how this is entirely new and strange for you. Or don't.” Yoshino advised. “There's nothing wrong with staying where you feel comfortable. I'll support you with whatever choice you make.” Yoshino paused. “Having said that, I'd better not find you trying to make all your concerns go away by jumping in the deep end and just getting used to it. That approach is fine for a cold stream in the summer, and a lot of other things, but it is not okay here. It's just going to end up seriously and irreparably hurting you both, and I shouldn't have to say that you're too young for it, but I will anyway.” She said firmly.

“That's definitely not happening.” Shikako confirmed just as strongly. “I don't know if it ever will. I just don't know how any of this works.” 

“Put your friendship first. Just be good friends, have respect for each other's feelings, and talk about your concerns.” Yoshino suggested. 

Shikako relaxed, then tensed. “Oh no.” “Where is Shika?” she asked, hesitant. “He was here when I left this morning.”

“Oh, he finally went on another C-rank. Courier mission for the supply department. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Great, that’s another thing I can leave for later.” Shikako relaxed.

“Don’t worry about him.” Yoshino ordered. “If you say yes, I will make sure he doesn’t try to scare him off.”

“At this point, I almost think I need to scare Shika off.” Shikako grumbled, her crimes against the carrots growing more savage.

Yoshino eyed the knife in her hand, “You know he loves you.”

“I know.” Shikako bit out. “I love him too. That doesn’t mean I have to let him control my life until I’m safe enough for him. Like that’s a thing that exists, anyway.”

“Did he say anything? To you I mean?” Shikako asked. “If he went to Ino….”

“Sasuke?” Yoshino asked. Shikako nodded. “He did about a week ago when you were gone on that mission.” She confirmed. “He wanted to know if it would cause problems, considering how we’ve treated him and his relationship with Shikamaru.”

Shikako’s mouth went dry. ”And?”

She returned that with an exasperated look. “What do you think I said? I told him that whether he was another son, or son-in-law, it wouldn’t matter to us. And to not mind Shikamaru.”

She thought that over.

……………

Around eight Sasuke answered the door.

“Hey.” Shikako greeted quietly, her heart fluttering in her chest.

“Hey.” He returned, stepping out of the way to invite her in. “I would have thought you’d eaten already.”

“I did. Have you?” she asked, stepping in and moving toward the kitchen table. She frowned. “Where did this come from?” She asked, pointing to the greyish wood table and chairs.

“Mine’s almost done.” He answered, shutting the door. He paused. “I made it. Well, me and Kiba. I figured it was about time I stopped using one I could fold up, and all of the, the ones I have in storage, are the short traditional kind.”

“Since when did you take up woodworking?” She asked suspiciously, running her hand along the smooth surface.

"I haven’t. Kiba’s been hounded by Akamaru to get a hobby, so he finally did….and I felt like learning, so we slapped one together.” 

She fixed him with a look.

He stared back confidently.

“ Hounded , huh?” She asked, her mouth quirked in a smile. “Now I know what it’s like to be you. Not cool, buddy. Not cool.” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, “Oh so you can dish it out, but not take it?”

“No, but every time you give it back it's a bit of a surprise. A good surprise.” She waited until he sat down and began to eat. “I-I thought a lot about what you said this morning.” She started, folding her arms on top of the table. “I think we need to talk about what we’re expecting and how we might go about this.” Shikako continued, “Because for every feeling I have that makes me want to try this, I have a feeling that is telling me that I don’t want to. I’ve never felt like this before, Sasuke, and I never thought I would, and that scares me. I can’t even describe how strange, and foreign romance in general is to me. And I need you to tell me what you want and need from this. From me. Because if I agree to this, I need you to be patient with me, and I can’t promise that I won’t wake up one day and need to take a break or stop it completely because it’s just that weird to me. I just don’t know.” She met his eyes. “I know that I love you, that you’re my family, that you’re one of my best friends. I need you to know that, regardless of whether I can return your feelings romantically, you have a place in my heart and my life that is all your own. I just don’t know if I do love you romantically. So before I make a decision, can we talk about all of this?”

He nodded. “Yeah, of course.” He paused. “I don’t really know how this goes, either. Everyone I’ve talked to has told me to go about it with our friendship as the priority. As friends who are in love with each other. So beyond doing what we normally do except that I give you flowers and me telling you ‘I love you’ and other romantic stuff, I really haven’t put much thought in what exactly we do.” He started. He hesitated. ”I’m not going to deny that I really want to kiss you. On the mouth, on the cheek, on your neck.” He elaborated, avoiding her gaze. 

Shikako could see the flush play out across his face and collar. She felt the warmth flood across hers as well to accompany the butterflies in her chest as she imagined that. The idea felt equal parts exciting and anxious.

“I want to play with your hair, and wake up every morning for the rest of my life cuddled up with you. And learn to make you feel really, really good and loved. ” He forced himself to meet her eyes, his shame evident in his tightly crossed arms and fingers gone white against his cut off blues and red neck. “But I know that is so, so far off that thinking about it is the last thing I should be doing right now. I just want you to be comfortable with me and no matter slow you want to go, I’ll be grateful for it. And I’m never going to ask you for something you’ve said you don’t want yet.

I’m not ready for a lot of that stuff either.” He added. “I just want to do whatever we both feel comfortable with and we can adjust from there. No expectations. Whatever you need of me, that’s what we’ll do or not do.” He paused again. “I don't want you to think that I'm trying to deny what you're feeling, or, not feeling, but when you say that you love me, and that I have a place in your heart that's all my own, but you don't know if it's romantic, may I ask, what's the difference?”  

She nodded slowly, and thought about how she wanted to say what was on her mind. “I’m not entirely sure.” She admitted, “But we've never had a conversation about sex, or intimate physical touch, I guess, and that is a major part of most romantic relationships.” She said quietly. “And obviously that's not going to be on the table any time within the foreseeable future. But I don't want to do something like that with you and find myself disgusted by it. That's, that's not fair to you, or me, and I don't want to break your heart. B ut I think if I was to grow in love with someone, it’d be you.” She explained. “I’m still scared, and nervous, and stressed out over where this might go, but I want to try this.” She wrapped her arm around him carefully and tilted his face toward her with the other. Her mouth was dry as a bone. “You’ll be patient with me?”

“Of course.” He hesitated, then pulled her close. “Thank you.”

She nodded, unsure of what to say.

“So….what now?” He asked.

“I think, “ She replied slowly. “That I need to go home, sleep, and when I wake up tomorrow morning, you can prove to me that we can still spar like normal without anything distracting you.” She shifted. “And afterwards, I’ll go to class, and when I get out, you can take me on a date.”

A happy little smirk spread across his face. “I’m looking forward to it.” 

They got up, and Shikako made her way to the door, her hand clasped in his.

“Goodnight.” He said. “I love you.”

“Goodnight.” She returned. “I love you, too.” She added hesitantly.

Chapter Text

For a long time after the mission against the Sound Four, Ino is plagued with self-doubt. Self-doubt over her competency as a ninja, over her future, and most importantly over who she is as a person. Even after her decision to continue working and fighting she constantly second guesses herself over things that should have been easy personal decisions. But she gains it back, eventually, and little by little she figures out what comes from Orochimaru, and what is originally her own. It won't help her regain what she lost, there's no regaining that, even if she could figure out what that is, but the journey and all it's tiny victories are instrumental in rebuilding her fractured confidence in herself. She finds things that she can use to define herself.

She learns the edges of what information she knew before and what she knows now.

She learns that while Orochimaru could only care for a flower's toxicology, Ino knows that the iris, or lily, or angel's trumpet she sells at her family's (she has one of those too, and friends that love her and that she loves back) store is also beautiful. Beautiful for beauty’s sake, not beauty used as a weapon, to manipulate or disarm.

And with that revelation, she adds it to her growing list of things she knows about herself and moves on. She can tell whether something or someone is beautiful, and she can apply that to people's character, no matter how naïve, or foolish, or weak a part of her that she characterizes as Orochimaru says of someone who is also kind, generous, and a good friend.

And one day, she finds out that compassion, and a desire to help hurting people are also integral parts of who she is. Oh she knew that she wanted to help people all along, that it was important. But she isn't quite able to separate the not-totally-selfish-but-just-selfish-enough reasons for that desire: her family (who feeds and shelters and supports her), her friends (who watch her back and keep her from dying and help her on projects), her village (who supplies her and her allies with work and medical care and security to sleep at night), from the genuinely altruistic need she has to help broken people until her first mission outside the village almost a month after she brought pieces of her monster back with her.

It's a relatively unexceptional and unproblematic bodyguard and escort mission for a rather rich minor nobleman who is traveling from Konoha to Otafuku-Gai. Just the kind of mission she needs to ease back into the swing of things.

Until they've delivered him to where he needs to be and he dismisses them, that's where it gets slightly more personal, and a little more complicated. Ino has learned about herself in the past month that she still finds joy in completely nonsensical things like window shopping for clothes, and taking her friends out to have fun, and, in this particular case, convincing Shikamaru to gamble a game of shogi with some unfortunate bastard for enough money to take them all out to eat at no extra cost. "In celebration of our mission completed." she says, while it's really an excuse to spend some extra time with them, get Shika to have some fun (because when your opponent is as poor at this game as he is, sometimes it's just fun to toy with him and she knows Shika likes that kind of humor), and at the end, take Choji out to eat, because he still needs the extra weight and its something he likes to do. Ino loves her team, and she likes to make them happy even when they require some convincing (especially when they require convincing).

So they enter one of the many, many colorful casinos in Otafuku-Gai that promises to have Shogi boards and a plethora of morons for Shikamaru to beat.

It's just as Shikamaru has finished beating his third opponent in under thirty minutes that Ino sees a flash of movement and notices that "Hey, why does something smell like blood around here?"

Subtly, she shifts to allow her a better view of the potential threat, and what she sees makes the breath catch in her throat and makes her wonder, for what seems like the billionth time in the last six months, how people could be so cruel as to delight in the suffering of other people, or in this case, creatures.

Across the room, there is a cage made of chicken wire and glass, approximately one yard square, sitting upon a table. Gathered around that cage are some twenty odd men cheering, and inside it is a dancing, blood spattered ferret, and a tired-looking, chocolate brown cobra that looks almost on the edge of death. It's holding itself up in position to strike with the glass of it's cage and seems to have a small chunk bitten out of it's hood, the flesh stripped off of the ends of three of it's ribs, and it's far from the only wound it has. A three inch strip of skin has been torn off lower on the snake's body, exposing muscle, and there are several bite marks along the rest of it. From what Ino can tell, the ferret is untouched.

She automatically knows exactly what species it is. It's another thing she has picked up from Orochimaru. She knows it's a monocled cobra, that it's venom is primarily a neurotoxin. It's one of the most toxic species on the continent drop for drop, and unconsciousness and death generally occurs shortly after envenomation from respiratory and kidney failure.

But that's not the first thing that comes to her mind,and it's here that she learns that compassion, and a genuinely altruistic need to help broken people is another thing about herself that belongs solely to her, and never Orochimaru. Because what she sees first is a hurting, caged, beautiful, animal in need of a lot of help, that despite everything the master of serpents has done to her, she still feels compassion for it and she still wants to help it. All the rest are supporting details.

So with a lot of fuss, and possibly the threat of violence, and twenty five ryu for a shattered snake, she manages to convince her team to help her stop the fight, and very, very carefully, get the snake in a box with some disinfectant on it's multiple wounds.

And then she takes it to Kiba, who, bless him, seems to understand that this is important to her and even expresses outrage over such barbarity. While he isn't able to do anything more than she did, he does call his mother and an expert, Anko, and although it takes well over three months to slowly bring it back to health, Ino is, eventually, able to take her into the woods outside Konoha one warm, sunny morning. She carefully opens the box like she always does and places her on the ground in front of a stand of bushes and thanks her for this little piece of herself she's rediscovered, fully expecting to see Hanabi, for her firecracker spirit, slither off deafly into the bushes. 

Hanabi doesn't do that. She returns to Ino, nosing around at her knee. 

Ino returns her to the bushes, and Hanabi comes right back. 

They repeat this a third time, and Ino returns to Konoha with tears in her eyes and Hanabi wrapped around her shoulders.

In Shikako's words, Ino knows she is "good at people" and she is that way because she cares about people, and wants to fix them when they are hurt. Even when there is no personal benefit to her doing so, even when they aren't even human, and sometimes, just sometimes even when it could be dangerous to do so.

As for Hanabi, her venom poisons Ino's senbon. It is, after all, the least she could do, the tiny, mortal daughter of Aoda thinks to herself as she lies on a rock warmed by the heat lamp above her with a nice, fat rat in her belly.

Chapter Text

The next morning started out promising. Sasuke was, thankfully, back to his normal self. Clearly eager to prove that their new arrangement wasn't going to change anything he ruthlessly took advantage of all the openings in her guard, never pulled his punches, and was his usual competitive, driven self. 

Shikako rubbed the bruise on her hip where he'd kicked her with a grimace. “Maybe we were a little too rough.” she thought, only paying half attention to the instructor currently lecturing on the smooth muscle of the diaphragm. “I know I saw him favoring his ribs when we left.”  

She wondered what he had planned, if he even had a plan, for their date. She nervously toyed with her pen, bouncing it on her notepad.

……………..

“So I’m guessing she didn't take your affections well…?” Kiba commented as he assessed the enormous bruise across the left side of Sasuke's ribcage. 

“Actually, we're going on a date later today.” He answered. “In her defense, I didn't tell her about Crane breaking one of my ribs against a tree a week ago.” He froze as Kiba's medical chakra slipped into his skin. “She wasn't the only one being rough, either.”

“Well, you're alright, it's not refractured. You do know that Sakura is in Mist right now too, right?” Kiba retreated to retrieve a tube of lidocaine from a cabinet. “You don't have to still come here to avoid her.” 

“I do not avoid her. I just don't think it's worth clogging up the waiting room for this.”

“But I apparently have nothing going on? Got any ideas for your big day?” He asked, letting Sasuke smear the numbing agent over the bruise. He got a look in return.

“Look, I’m aware that apparently people were betting on this and that people owe you money now, but am I really the one you have to be a smartass to?” He snapped.

“I can't be a smartass to my mother, she was betting the opposite way around.”

“You mean you.” Sasuke replied, shoving his shirt back down. 

“...........I’m on your side remember.” He pointed out uncomfortably.

“I’m well aware…I've got some ideas. I'd rather not share them.”

“You know I’m just going to find out from Ino.”

“He says as though he doesn't actually want me to keep him in suspense.” Sasuke commented, tossing back the lidocaine “I swear, why you don't ask her out is beyond me, the way you two gossip.”

“Eh, we have incompatible life goals. She wants to be clan head. I refuse to raise any child of mine as not an Inuzuka. And neither of us are willing to budge. It’s not worth it to either of us to waste our time with something that isn't going anywhere.” Kiba replied, taking a moment to consider his answer, crossing his arms.

Sasuke paused. “I..." He stopped. “I didn't even think you would answer that. I wasn't even really asking.”

Kiba waved off his concern, “Sasuke, not all of us are as serious about all this as you are. Now please, I have shit I need to do.”

………..

“Well, I took your advice.” Shikako announced to Ino on her lunch break. “We're trying it. He's supposed to be taking me on a date after class today.”

“But is that something you decided that you wanted, or something you went with because I thought you might find that you liked it?” Ino asked, catching her eye.

“Because,” She sighed, flicking her straw to the other side of the glass. “I wanted to try it, because I trust and love him as my friend… and maybe one day, something a little more.” Shikako looked down. “You pointing out that we acted like a couple except for the kissing may have made it a little less frightening too.”

“I'm glad I was able to do that for you.” Ino beamed. “So, when you told him, what happened?”

“We just talked.” Shikako confirmed. “Made sure we both knew that we have no idea how to do this and we didn't have any expectations in mind.” Shikako paused. “He did admit to wanting to kiss me, but he's not expecting anything soon.”

“You're not jealous, are you?” Shikako asked, suddenly remembering what she'd said about Shikamaru and Tenten dating at the start of the year. “Of me being in a relationship before you? I remember what you said during New Years.” 

Ino dismissed her concern with a wave of her hand. “No. Not anymore at least. I might have a few months ago, but now.... I'm not worried about any of that.”

“Oh so does this mean you've been holding out?” Shikako asked gleefully, leaning forward over the counter. “I'm hurt.”

Ino playfully pushed her face to the side. “Nothing so dramatic, sister mine.”

“Did he tell you where he wants to take you?” Ino added.

“I may have just told him that after I get out of class, he's taking me on a date and left it at that. We really just confirmed that we were going to try this and then he asked where we were going to go from there. So I told him. So I have no idea what he wants to do.”

Ino was silent. “He is going to go overboard with that.”

“I don't think so. I told him last night that I wanted to see that nothing changed with us during training this morning, and we got a little bit rougher than we probably should have. I still have a bruise.” She bragged.

“Oh well.” Ino sounded disappointed. “As long as nobody got too badly hurt.”

“You were hoping he'd be falling over himself for me weren't you.”

“It's very cute watching you two together. You have a beautiful friendship.” Ino admitted. 

“Hey. You're just as much family as he is.“ Shikako insisted. “Just different.”

“Last week, I called Shikaku ‘dad’ by accident, and he didn't even look at me weird. You don't need to worry about me feeling left out of your family.” Ino reassured, patting her on the hand.

………..

“How was class?” Sasuke asked, getting up from his seat beside the door.

Shikako grimaced. “I couldn't focus.” She admitted, taking his offered hand and slipping her fingers between his, it felt very locked in, but like security, like 'I'm here for for you.' rather than anything holding her down, she considered. “I already know the material though, so it's no big deal.”

“Does your mom know about this?” Sasuke asked after a moment. “I didn't know if she would want us to come to your house for dinner, so I didn't make any reservations or serious dinner plans.”

“The opposite. She probably thinks that's where you'll take me.” Shikako answered.

“Well, if you're hungry now, we can do that.” He paused. “How much chakra are you running on? I kinda planned on teaching you something.” 

“Yes, please let's go eat. As long as it isn't something like Chidori, I should be fine.” She waited. “Do you plan on telling me what you want to teach me?” she poked. “And where are we eating. Not at your apartment, I'm too hungry to wait for that.”

“Anywhere you want, then. I'll cook your favorites next time in advance.”

Shikako paused to consider that. “Ichiraku.”

“.....No, seriously. Anywhere you want.”

“I meant it! We haven't been there since Naruto left, and it's…ours. You know?” She insisted. “It's homey and familiar, and it's not quite my house or yours but as far as eating out goes…” She shrugged.

“No, I get it. I'm sorry I was so dismissive.” He apologized.

Shikako waved him off. “Please.” She scoffed, “We mess with each other enough that that's going to happen occasionally.” 

“Well, then,” Sasuke hesitantly brushed his thumb over her knuckles. “To Ichiraku's?”

Oh. Oh that feels....interesting.

……………..

“Welcome back! It's been a long time since you've dropped by! How have you been?” Teuchi asked as they ducked under the curtain.

“Fine.” She lied. “It didn't seem right to come without Naruto.” Shikako answered truthfully. “Shrimp please, one egg, no naruto.” 

Sasuke gave his order as well, and claimed the stool next to her. She studied him.

“What?” he asked. 

“Are you going to grow your hair out?” She asked. 

“I wasn't planning on it. Do you want me too?”

She shrugged. “I don't think it would look bad. I don't think you should go any shorter than usual.”

“I'm definitely not cutting it shorter.” He reassured.

“So what have you been doing while I was out?” Shikako asked when their food came out, snapping her chopsticks apart and popping a shrimp into her mouth.

“Not much. Kiba's going to put his application in to get his Hunter-nin certification, so I've been helping him get ready for that. And freaking out about this of course.”

“Good luck to him.” She commented. Hunter nin in Konoha were an interesting culture. On the one hand, they were completely transparent as to their identity once graduated and were distinctly not ANBU, yet went through the same training and had access to some of the same facilities as ANBU. 

“I'm glad you're not freaking out about this now.” Shikako stated.

“I'm still nervous about getting things right. But our friendship isn't in danger, and that was my biggest fear.”

Shikako pulled him into a short hug. “Never. Now what are you going to be teaching me? You never answered that.” She asked, going back to her food.

“You've done a lot to make me feel included in your family.” Sasuke answered hesitantly, looking away. “Way more than you ever had to.” “And I want you to feel included in mine.” He said more firmly. “Learning the Grand Fireball technique is supposed to be the mark of an adult, and it's the only clan tradition I've ever been a part of. So I figured it's something I probably should have taught you as a friend before now anyway, and that it might be fun to do it as a date.” He finished quickly. 

“And I figured the firelight over the water might be romantic, especially with the sunset coming on soon.” He muttered, embarrassed. “I hope you're okay with that.”

She stopped eating and tugged on his hand to force him to face her. “No.” She shook her head. “I’d be honored. You shouldn't think that you have to do something like that just because I did. Your situation is different. You….You have less of your family's traditions than I do, and that makes them easy for me to share.” She said, her choice of words slow and methodical. “For you it's more of a sacrifice, and I'm grateful you want to share them with me.” She grinned, the corners of her mouth quirking up. “But I do think it'll be fun, so, good choice, I guess? I realize I didn't give you much room to figure something out, and this is creative.” 

………

“I'm surprised this thing's still standing, honestly.” Sasuke commented, tapping the boards of the dock with his heel. 

“I guess they paid for it to be done right the first time.” Shikako replied, her mind clearly somewhere else. “How deep is it?”

“Deep enough for a seven year old to dive in and not touch the bottom. Three meters, maybe a little more? I've never really asked.” He looked up. “If you want to go swimming sometime, we can.”

“Maybe next summer. It's going to be getting a bit cold for that soon.” Shikako flopped down on the end of the dock, her toes dipping into the water. “It's getting too cold for that now.” She observed. “Anyway, you were going to teach me to breathe fire?”

“Yeah.” Sasuke flopped down to sit beside her. “The Grand Fireball Technique, it's a pretty simple and straightforward C-rank technique. There's six hand seals: snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, and tiger, in that order.” He started off, running through the hand seals as he said them. “Fire is in the breath, so take a deep breath in and imagine your lungs as a focal point to draw chakra and air. The more chakra you give it, the bigger the flame. When you want to let it loose, make a pincer with your fingers and thumb and create a little spark between the two, like a propane torch and blow all the air and chakra out.” Sasuke demonstrated, and a column of flame shot forward like a lance before coalescing into a familiar sphere about three meters across, creating a sunset glow and pearly steam across the water.

“And that's it really.” Sasuke finished, shifting his weight to lean back against one of the support posts. “Your turn…Princess.” He stated, the last word hesitant, and hastily offered.

Shikako felt the blood rush to her face to accompany the pleasant butterflies in her stomach and embarrassed excitement. “Ummm, ok.” "A-alrighty,” She took a moment to calm down and suppress the intimate yet not unpleasant feeling of being watched. She ran through the seals, and took in the breath, focusing on separating a portion of her Earth chakra, cleansing it of her natural element and transforming it into the smoldering flame made familiar by the feel of Sasuke's. She gathered what Fire chakra she had made in her mouth as directed and blew hard, mimicking the stern flow of air and chakra she had observed and felt from Sasuke's demonstration. ”Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique!” Upon reaching her partially pinched fingers the flow of air and chakra ignited into a roiling, high powered jet of molten flame, and with it, came a unique feeling of elation and raw empowerment she hadn't felt since picking up her lightsaber for the first time. “LOOK AT ME IROH, I'M A GODDAMN DRAGON!”

Even though the flame was only half the size of his. 

Shikako cut the jutsu as her breath and gathered chakra ran out. She laughed, elated and a little breathless. “Well, I guess I need more practice.” 

Sasuke smirked, his Sharingan disappearing with a blink of his eyes. “Maybe a little.” He said teasing. “But it's better than I managed my first try.” 

Shikako grinned and ran through the seals again and expelled another gout of flame, feeling like a dragon trying out her newfound powers, or a bird having just gained mastery of flight. Another plume of superheated steam rose from the lake.

“No wonder you were so proud of yourself when we graduated.” She teased. “Even compared to everything I can do, this is…… very good for my self esteem.” 

“You look beautiful doing it. Does that help even more?”

She stopped, the heat rising in her cheeks completely different to the light feeling of sunburn already there, turning to look him in the eyes, and found that she almost couldn't, his honest admiration of her not something she could pass off as anything directed at anyone but her. At the same time there was concern, as though he could see that her comment had an edge of truth to it he’d like to see blunted, and the feeling of his undivided, very romantic attention focused towards her, now unhidden, made her feel very special indeed. “Thank you.” She managed. 

Despite her new distraction, and a little bit more of Sasuke’s coaching, she did manage over the next hour to get her fireball up to the grand size suggested by the name. 

As she finished, Sasuke took a scroll out of his pocket and unsealed a collection of cheap bamboo and paper sailboats with rubber band powered paddles clearly bought in bulk from a toy store. “You want to play a game?” He asked.

“Am I a dragon?” She returned, her spirits high and feeling playful. 

Sasuke nodded. “We let ten of these things out on the water, and the first one to set six of them on fire wins.”

“You're on.” She whispered in his ear playfully. Sasuke jumped.

“I swear, I should shove you in the lake.” He grumbled, winding up the rubber band engines of the toy boats and setting them free in the water.

“You'd better not.” She threatened, grabbing up a boat to help him. “Not when I'm wearing white scrubs.” 

Sasuke looked at her a little confused, then looked at her scrubs and seemed to realize what white clothing did when wet. “No, no, I won't be.” He agreed. “You've outplayed me again.”

Once all the boats were out on the water, they settled down to watch them drift out into the quickly dispersing steam so their first couple of blasts wouldn't end the game too quickly. 

Shikako leaned up against Sasuke, dropping her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm cautiously around her waist as opposed to her shoulder where his hand would usually rest and she shivered at the feeling as an entirely new kind of goosebumps ran up her spine. 

“Sorry, too much?” He asked, pulling his hand away. 

She snatched it back and replaced it where it had been. “No, just, just, new.” 

He nodded, and leant his head against hers. After a moment he spoke up. “Shikako?” 

“Hmm?”

“I can't thank you enough for agreeing to give us a try, despite your nervousness about it.”

Shikako grinned. “I'm glad I said yes.” She returned, honestly. “You were right. This is fun, and it was a great idea for a first date.”

“Anything I can try to repeat?”

Shikako paused. “Don't take this the wrong way, but it's private. It's just us, in a space we can be comfortable in.”

Sasuke shook his head, confused. “Why would you think I might be offended by that?”

Shikako took a minute to answer him. “I didn't want you to think I would be embarrassed to be seen with you in this kind of a role.”

Sasuke snorted, exasperated. “I wouldn’t have thought that. Anything else?”

Her smile grew broader. “I like the fire, can you teach me more of that?”

“I've created a monster.” He said dryly. 

“Hear me roar.” She replied.

“I'd love to. If you want, I'll teach you Dragonfire next, that's a B-Rank. Or Phoenix Flower.”

“Absolutely. Think they're far enough away now?” Shikako asked, noting the position of the toy boats. 

“Yeah, first one to six wins- Hey!” He yelped as Shikako shoved herself off of him.

“Readysetgo!” She interrupted, flashing through the hand seals to unleash her first fireball to snatch up a boat fifteen meters away. 

Sasuke responded with his own.

…….

“Well, you win, congratulations.” Shikako sighed.

Sasuke shrugged. “I'm just faster on the draw, and I've been doing it longer.”

“The exercise or just the technique?”

“Both, but I didn't think of training like this until you brought up Replacement tag. And then it started to click. And it was more rewarding anyway.” He answered. “You want to stay out practicing a little longer, Tatsu-hime?”

Shikako wrinkled her nose as the color rose to her face. “ Are you going to call me that all the time?”

“I won't call you that at all if you don't want me to.” Sasuke pointed out, sitting up straight. I'm sorry if I crossed any lines.”

“You didn't,” Shikako reassured, “but let's leave the endearing nicknames for a bit later. Alright, Tiger?”

Sasuke winced. “Oh, ow. Ok, you win. I surrender. Where do you want to go?”

Shikako paused to consider that. “I think we should just go back home. Play shogi and relax for a bit. Besides, Shika's going to find out eventually, because I'm not going to insult you by trying to hide it, and I shouldn't have to anyway, and I'd rather just be upfront about it from the start.”

Sasuke was silent for a moment. “Ok, that sounds…..fun.”

“Oh, if it isn't, Mum will have words with him. Don't you worry.” She said, taking his hand.

…………

“We're home!” Shikako announced as she opened the door and lead him inside.

“Okaeri!” Yoshino answered

“I'll drop your stuff off and get your shogi board.” Sasuke offered, gesturing with her school bag in his hand. 

“Sure.” 

“How was school?” Yoshino called back from the living room couch.

“Fine.” Shikako answered, leaning over to give her a hug around Kino.

“Where's Shika?” Shikako asked as she collapsed back on the couch.

“Logistics is keeping him a bit later. Someone new misfiled some paperwork. He'll be back soon, he sent a blackbird.” She answered. “Where's Sasuke.” 

“Getting my shogi board.” She said as just as he entered the living room, box in hand.

“Hello again. Did Kino stay asleep after I left?” Sasuke asked as he sat down.

“For a little while, thankfully. How was your date? Did you two have fun?”

“Yep, I learned how to breathe fire. And we went to Ichiraku's.”

“I said that I would take her anywhere she wanted to eat, because she didn't want to wait for me to cook, and she chose Ichiraku's.” Sasuke added quickly. “I did not make that decision.” 

Shikako brushed that off. “No one is going to think you're being cheap on me.” 

The front door opened. “Tadaima!” Shikamaru announced.

“Okaeri!” The three of them answered from the couch. 

He disappeared up the stairs for a minute before coming back down and shrugging off his chuunin vest. “I got the formula you wanted.” He yawned, hanging up the armor and slouching over to his preferred chair.

“Have you eaten yet?” Yoshino asked.

He shook his head. “Have you?

“It's staying warm on the stove.”

He let out a long-suffering sigh and hauled himself out of his chair with no further complaint. “Do you want anything?” 

“Put some tea on, please. The black tea with mint.” Yoshino requested.

“The whole pot, please.” Sasuke added, as he relinquished the shogi box to Shikako so she could set it up on the coffee table.

He waved his hand in acknowledgement as he trudged into the kitchen.

“Since when did you sign the Blackbird contract?” Shikako asked when he came back, placing a pawn in opposition to one of Sasuke's. 

“Since it was easier to send them with messages than get other people to carry them.” He turned his attention to Sasuke. “Ino said to tell you that she and Kiba want to talk to you both whenever you have time. I don't know what about.”

Sasuke rubbed his eyes and deployed his silver general against her bishop. “This is not how I wanted this to come out.” “That's ok, I do. What do you have tomorrow?” He asked Shikako.

“Class as usual. I'm guessing Kiba knows?” 

“Kiba's like my Ino so, yeah.” He summarized.

Shikako looked up and caught his eye. “I didn't think you were that close.”

He shrugged. “We're not exactly that close, but we're pretty good friends.”

“Knows what.” Shikamaru said, not asked. “Or is it the kind of Classified that we're not supposed to be getting into but you keep dragging us all into anyway.”

“Life keeps dragging us into it. Or do you think that if you stick your head in the sand it'll just magically bypass you?” Sasuke retorted. “And no, it has nothing to do with that.”

“I'm trying the entire dating thing out.” Shikako answered dryly, steering the conversation back to a hopefully less confrontational topic.

“With-” he broke off, the answer obvious. “Since when?” He asked, voice deceptively light.

“Since tonight.”

“Technically yesterday night. That's when you agreed to trying it out.” He corrected as she finished collapsing his defense like a house of cards.

“Aww, I bet you'll memorize it too.” She said sweetly, declaring sweet, sweet victory as she nudged his king out of the way.

“I'm getting it tattooed.” He joked.

She almost asked him where but remembered just in time that her mother and brothers were sitting right next to her. 

Shikamaru studied them as they reset the board. “How's that going?”

“I learned how to breathe fire.” She bragged. “He's perfect.”

“So are you.” Sasuke replied just before she snatched his Silver general and turned it against him. He sighed, unable to stop an exasperated smile from forming. “I just love you so much.” 

She smirked.

Chapter Text

Hinata is jealous of her teammates, she always has been. Her family thinks she's a disappointment, she's never been particularly good at making friends and until she got her team assignment, she really never had many. In short, she's always had to learn to rely on herself because she's never had anyone else she could rely on. Every technique she knows was either taught at the academy, or her family taught it to her before they gave up on her when it became apparent that she didn't meet their expectations. Everything else she knows, she has mostly taught and developed or perfected herself. No one else is willing and capable of teaching her the Jyuuken. 

Not her team, which she is infinitely grateful for. They were the first people who she could rely on, and at the same time, their entire lives were based around all the things she lacks. A strong family who believes in them, and a support system that literally shares their minds. Between Akamaru and Shino's hive, who he doesn't bother to give a separate name because he and his hive are one, they have never been without their partners. And they never will be. From their partners they derive their confidence, their power, their ability to stand on their own two feet and face whatever comes. Because they don't, Kiba stands not on two feet, but six. Shino stands, not by himself, but alongside millions.

Even Kurenai-sensei has a clan, which she is still mostly on good terms with, not counting her father.

And while her team loves and supports her like family, and they are certainly the closest family she will ever have, it's not exactly the same thing as what Kiba and Shino have. 

It is this that leads her to the decision that she should sign a Summoning contract. But like everything else, she will have to do so alone. There is no contract her father will allow her to sign. In all ways that matter, she has been quietly disowned. Not branded like Neji, that is the one mercy she has been given. But not in favor either. Not, at least, to her understanding. 

She will have to Reverse Summon, and take her chances. 

Over the week leading up to the day she has marked on her calendar, she writes a letter to everyone she knows, all the girls from the Kunoichi club, her sister and father, Neji, her Team, Naruto, Sasuke, Choji, Shikamaru, and the rest. They will be passed out upon her assumed death, she will burn them when she returns. 

The night before, she tells Kurenai-sensei what she is about to do. She doesn't try to dissuade her. Hinata can see that Kurenai understands, better than anyone, why she feels this course of action is necessary. Kurenai reiterates the dangers inherent in her choice, hugs her like a daughter with a wish for good luck, and agrees to inform the Hyuuga of the bad news should she not return in a week's time, and her team when they return from their separate missions if she is not back before then. 

She makes the signs. She commits the chakra. She feels the Pull into the great Unknown, and reaches along with it. 

Her back hits the dry earth with a harsh smack. 

Heat

The Heat of the Sun. Merciless, Unrelenting, Life-giving, Powerful. Like Naruto's chakra to her senses.It warms her through to her bones.

Wind whistles through long grass. 

Hinata opens her eyes to a cloudless blue sky. 

Hauling herself to her feet, she takes stock of her surroundings. An endless savannah, not unlike the land where she earned her Chuunin vest, spotted with small groves of spindly trees and rock outcroppings. Her doujutsu reveals that there is a river over the next few rolling hills; there is no sign, yet, of her natural summons. She wonders what kind of creature it will be. Probably nothing too fancy or too battle oriented. She does what needs to be done, and she tries her best, but she's under no illusions that she's someone special either. 

Despite her preference to keep her Byakugan activated, it would be a far wiser choice to reserve her chakra, and shut it down. Summons are often known to require a test, or a challenge of their potential Summoner. Further, hopefully not having a jutsu active will be taken as a sign of peaceful intent. 

She begins to run towards the river, a nonthreatening, steady lope that eats up the ground. When she reached the river, wide, dark and frothing with activity, she paused. Maybe it's a riverside animal, she thinks, before deciding to follow it downstream. 

She doesn't make it a hundred yards before there is a sharp, weighty thrust against her upper back and she is brought forcefully to the ground. She is flipped over and an enormous, gold cat's paw the size of her chest is pinning her to the earth. 

It is an enormous Lioness. The sight of Her, the fact that she ended up here, of all places, of all the Summon realms that she could have ended up at, strikes and soothes a place deep in the well of her insecurities and she nearly cries, is nearly rendered mute at the majestic creature in front of her and at the idea that this is the Summons closest to her own heart. Nearly. 

"I Reverse Summoned here!" She explains quickly, before the lioness can demand an explanation or kill her outright, an outcome not yet entirely ruled out. 

Deep gold eyes blink and ears flick as the lioness cocks her huge head to the side. "Leaving your companions to Fate, hmmm? Maybe you do belong here." She comments. She lifted her paw. "Well, come on, get up. Nichibotsu-sama will want to see you. You may get lucky, our current Contract holder is getting too old to Summon us."

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga, what's your name?" She asked, getting up to follow her.

The lioness paused, "I'm Hinata too, of the Tsavo Pride." She answered, before setting off into an easy, ground eating run. 

They didn't speak the rest of the way, Hinata doing her best to keep up with this other Hinata, so apparently, similar and different to herself as they run through waves of dried grass. 

It's said that when you reverse summon, the creature you are attracted to is not only the closest to your own soul, but the one closest to what you are meant to be. The ones bearing the qualities you have yet to fully learn. Hinata wonders, then, what sorts of lessons she is supposed to be learning from Lions. What sorts of qualities she has that somehow qualifies her for partnership with a creature like this. 

Such thoughts distract her from fully taking in her surroundings, unchanging and not particularly dramatic as they are, until the lioness Hinata directs her towards a collection of large thorn bushes underneath a wide branched tree and the opening between two of the bushes, flanked on both sides by a half grown lion with the odd, unkept, half grown mane of an adolescent male. The lioness greets them, but not by name. "I have a human here, Hyuuga Hinata, who Reverse Summoned here." 

"Well, unless Nichibotsu-sama wishes us to watch, tell us what happens, Hinata-aneki?" 

"Of course." 

Hinata led her through the narrow path between the brambles into a larger clearing dominated by the deep shade of a wide canopied tree and well over a hundred lions in various stages of life, mostly enormous adults, who's attention was now squarely fixed on her.

The largest, a male bigger even than the monstrous bears in the Forest of Death pinned her in place with the force of his deep, golden eyes and a voice so low she could feel it in her bones. "Announce yourself, trespasser, before you are destroyed and devoured as I have so many of your fellow Leaf Shinobi before you." Upon his arm was a head band whose allegiance was to The Village Hidden in the Grass. 

She swallowed, straightening her spine, and steeling her resolve before his declaration. "I am Hinata Hyuuga, I reverse summoned here, and I wish to form a contract with your Pride, Nichibotsu-sama." She declared. 

He turned to the other Hinata,"Did you not tell her we have a summon contract already with an enemy of her people?"

"Gojo-san of the Grass village is quite old, Father, too old even to summon us. He holds our Contract in hopes his son will one day be strong enough to continue his allegiance to us. But this Leaf Village Hinata has been brought here by Fate and the similarities of our natures. I thought she should not necessarily be destroyed out of paw, but be considered at least before we sign on a son who is not deserving."

"I and I alone will determine who is deserving." Nichibotsu rumbled, flexing his claws, long as swords and hooked like the crescent moon. He turned his attention back towards her, and Hinata tried her best not to tremble or fold under the weight of his presence and attention, and hold his gaze with her own. "You have more backbone than most. Tell me about yourself." 

"I-" She paused. What was there to tell? What wouldn't embarrass her before this King of Beasts? What could she possibly tell him that might convince him to not eat her and give her a chance? Although perhaps, perhaps simply herself might be enough, if she was brought here by sheer similarity of their natures. She squared her shoulders. "My name is Hinata Hyuuga." She began. "I am fourteen years old and a Chunin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I enjoy medicine, although I can't practice it's jutsu due to my Jyuuken, and going on missions with my team, Jounin Kurenai Yuhi, and Chunin Kiba and Akamaru Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. My dream……My dream is to be someone my friends can depend on, no matter what."

"Your friends and your team. Not your family?" He picked out. "Have you no loyalty to those who gave you birth?" 

"They have no loyalty to me!" She exclaimed, the words ripping out of her unbidden, her anger and hurt forcing the words out faster than she could properly consider them, the force of her emotions causing her voice to shake. "They believe I am too timid to be proud of, not cruel enough to rule the branch family enslaved to our own, my desire to heal not aggressive enough to be considered proper for the heir to learn. I've been rejected for being myself. They have no loyalty to me!" She reiterated. "If I am to have my family, I must make it myself!"

The King considered her. "Nichiyoubi, Summon Gojo-san and his son. If they desire to keep their Pride, let them defend it, or yield, as we do." He ordered a young male with a streaky yellow mane the size of a horse, as most of them were, who bowed his great head and disappeared in a familiar cloud of chakra smoke. 

He returned with an elderly man she recognized only from earlier editions of the Bingo Book. Watanabe Gojo, Jounin of the Village Hidden in the Grass, now ninety three years old, so old he had been considered no longer worth the threat of an entry in the Book and his page removed in subsequent editions. He was a thin man, with silver white hair and a goatee, he leaned on a bamboo cane. His likeness so deceptively hiding his body count of the two hundred and sixty eight Leaf Shinobi he'd killed over the course of the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars. 

His son, a career Chunin evidenced by his vest, named Satou, was a man in his forties, and unlike his rather infamous father, Hinata had never even heard of him. 

“Gojo.” Nichibotsu greeted.

“It's been a long time, old friend.” the old man returned. 

“It has.” the Lion agreed fondly. “Your son looks a little old to still be waiting to sign our contract.” 

“I didn't want to insult you by association.” He answered plainly. 

Satou angrily opened his mouth to defend himself, but Gojo stamped his cane. “He has shown no initiative to better his position in all the time since he has made Chunin, and takes no mission beyond that of a lowly accountant. My grandson has no interest in even being a Shinobi.”

Nichibotsu looked disappointedly at Satou. “A pity, I enjoyed working with your father. Is what he says true? This is your last opportunity to claim a partnership with us. You see, a challenger has arrived.” He gestured at her.

Hinata raised her head. “I am Hinata Hyuuga of the Leaf.” She announced. 

“Do you wish to defend your claim on us?” Nichibotsu asked. “Perhaps your extended family has an heir you wish to save it for?”

Gojo’s face twisted in hate. “I'll do it, if only to keep it out of their hands.” 

“Father, you are too old!” Satou exclaimed, “You'll die!”

“Then I'll at least die without having to watch my family throw away twelve generations of Shinobi tradition.” Gojo spat accusingly. 

“It will be a joy to watch you fall with honor and courage, then.” Nichibotsu accepted. “I have truly enjoyed our time together. Hinata, here are the rules, neither of you shall leave until the other is dead. There will be no surrender, and I will not halt the fight at any point, regardless of injury taken. Am I understood?”

“Yes,” said Hinata, activating her Byakugan and shifting into her first stance.

Gojo drew his sword from his cane and tossed the scabbard away, his movements that of a man confident but resigned, shaky with age, but practiced. “Yes.”

“Begin.” 

She saw his chakra flow, slow but steady, and interpreted the fire long before it leapt from his mouth. She sidestepped it with ease, advancing smoothly with speed her opponent had long been incapable of. 

Her dojutsu saw everything, nothing he did could be hidden from her. 

Not his jutsu, which came so well practiced he didn't need hand seals, she saw his chakra ebb and flow, she saw the element and structure of them form, few as they were. 

His footwork was as slow as an academy graduate and stiff as creaking branches, she could have seen that without her Byakugan. 

Three jutsu he managed, before she closed the distance, and they spoke of his experience and his age, she could watch the level of his available chakra drop with each one until it was barely enough to keep him standing. She could see the extreme effort each one took of him to manage.

Fire style: Dragon's Breath, a C rank technique that Sasuke had been capable of when he graduated the Academy. 

Lightning style: Radiating Shockwave, another C rank. Slightly harder to avoid, but merely because she was closer than she was before. 

Earth style: Mud Wall, a final C rank created at nearly point blank range in a futile attempt to delay her Jyuuken. She could see him gasping for air in exhaustion. Six quick jabs and it crumbled to dust. As she broke through she saw his sword, charged with the very last dregs of his chakra like the samurai from the Land of Iron, swung towards her face, his eyes enraged and determined. 

Her ultimate defense swatted it aside, and cut his throat all the way to the spine in two lightning quick motions. With two more, her Gentle Fist shut down his brain stem. 

He fell dead into the dust. She turned to face Nichibotsu. 

“You have won your Pride.” the great lion acknowledged. He hooked his mighty claws around the Grass headband tied around his bicep and cut it from his arm. He flung it towards Satou. “We are now allies of the Leaf. If we meet again, our meeting will hinge upon that. Take your father and go. Nichiyoubi, release him from my presence.”

Turning back to her, he summoned the contract scroll with a flick of chakra and unrolled it for her to sign in blood. 

She signed, and removed her headband to replace the Grass one around his arm. “May this relationship be long and profitable.” Nichibotsu rumbles. 

She thinks she understands the first lesson she is meant to learn. 

Lions take what they want. 

Chapter Text

“Do you own any nice clothes?" Shikako asked, pausing her assault on the flashcards she held to look across the couch at her boyfriend, not nearly as weird or terrifying as she'd initially thought, of two weeks.

“I have the kimono I wore for New Years.” Sasuke pointed out over the pages of his book.

“I mean, something to wear to Mist.” She amended pointedly. "To the wedding of a foreign dignitary."

Sasuke shrugged in response. "Theoretically. I haven't looked around yet but I'm sure my cousins had something.”

Shikako considered her words before she spoke. “Why do you wear their clothes?” She asked. “Is it to memorialize them, or because you don't want to spend the money? Or is it just because you already have it all and you don't want to let it go to waste?”

He shrugged. “The last two, I guess. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to buy more clothes when all I had to do was open some boxes and run them through the wash once or twice. It's quicker and cheaper.” He answered. “Why? Is there something wrong with them?”

“Its...its been almost eight years. I don't think you can wash the mothball smell out.” Shikako admitted. “They aren't ugly or anything, they actually look good on you and when we were younger I agree with you, that it made sense. But we're being paid pretty well now, and I think you deserve not to have to go digging for clothes that have been sitting unused, in mothballs for an ever increasing amount of time. You have to be noticing that they are wearing out pretty quickly.”

Sasuke leaned in to his shirt and sniffed. 

“You don't smell awful.” She reassured. “You smell more like the soap you use and the tea you drink more than anything else. But it is there, if I spend the time to pay attention, and I… wouldn't exactly mind if that wasn't there anymore.” Shikako continued apologetically.

“Okay.” He sighed after a moment, letting his head collapse back onto the cushion. “Are they going to be able to put my family crest on what I buy or should I get a sewing machine too?” 

“It's how we do all of ours, and it's not that much when you get a bunch of stuff printed at once. I’ll show you where to go.” Her lips quirked up into a smile. “I promise it won't be too bad. I'll take you on a date this time.”

****************

“Alright, let’s handle the casual clothes first. What colors do you like?” Shikako asked, as she lead him through the doors of the shop and pulled him towards a rack of shirts organized by color. “I’m definitely thinking the darker ones, right?"

“Yeah, no yellow or orange or anything like that, please.” He answered, lazily eyeing the selection of colors.

“You don’t look good in any of those anyway.” Shikako commented, wishing Ino was here with them. "Wouldn't be much of a date then though." “But you like blue, right?” She reached for his hand and held it against a teal shirt. She shook her head and put it back. "But not that blue."

He pulled a forest green shirt from the racks and held it up to her skin. "We could match." He joked.

Shikako stuck her tongue out at him. "Ino will be delighted, look at us, coordinating our outfits and everything. I guess the good thing is you already have plenty of standard Blues and Blacks.” She considered, referring to the typical Konoha uniform tops. 

He tossed a few darker grey shirts in as well. "You wear that a lot too."

Shikako punched him in the arm. "You can't just plagiarize me, that's Nara colors."

"Well, you are family."

Shikako sighed. "Come on, let's get one more new color. You look too good to just wear the same thing all the time."

He stopped so suddenly she didn't catch that he had for a pace and a half, and when she turned around, she found him staring at what would have been the back of her head. “What?” She asked, returning to his side. 

He looked pleasantly surprised and more than a little taken back. “That's the first time you've said something like that, I- I didn't think…” 

“...you thought I was attractive.” Hung in the air between them like a lead weight. Or maybe, she considered, that he didn't think she considered his appearance at all. 

She set the basket down and carefully reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him down into a hug. “You're objectively, unfairly attractive.” She reassured him, quietly into his ear, and she could feel the warmth of his cheeks against hers as she said it. “I thought you would have known, considering how many girls had crushes over you growing up.”

He pulled away slightly, so he could meet her eyes when he responded. “It's different, when it's coming from you. Especially since you weren't one of those other girls.” 

“That's fair, and very true.” She thought, both recognizing how different it felt when he complimented her, how it felt to be reassured like that by someone whose attention and regard for her was so well rooted in their mutual understanding of each other, that it was coming from a place of deep respect and not a shallow desire of appearance and possession only. She resolved to reassure him of his qualities more often. “Words of Affirmation is a love language.” Funny how things like that were relevant to her now. “Well it's true, and I'm sorry I haven't made you feel the same way you've made me feel. I'll be better about it. Okay?” 

“Okay.” He returned. 

She released him and picked up the basket again. “Do you have any ideas on any other colors?”

"I think I'm going to change my headband color to maroon, what would work with that?” 

"The maroon is for your mom, right?" Shikako asked, considering. “That was the color of her headband?” 

“Yeah.”

She nodded. “Let's get some of that then. And maybe some white. And then we can get something nicer.”

After that she led him by the hand to the section where the nicer clothes were. "We can't do something dark for a wedding, so I'm thinking of a nice white shirt and a vest. That okay?"

"Ino is your best friend, I'll do whatever you want, honey." He pointed out, hesitantly trying out another endearment.

Sasuke was….eager as a boyfriend. Eager to find new ways of showing her his affection as respectfully (overly cautious at times, in Shikako's most personal opinion) as he could, and not, at all, in ways she might have expected(feared). He brought her flowers at random times. He put extra effort into cooking things she liked, insisted on doing odd jobs or chores for her and, occasionally, he might try a new affectionate name. It was… unexpectedly in character of him, he was passionate and determined in other parts of his life, and while she expected him to be as enthusiastic in showing her how much he cared in this part of his life, their life, it wasn't always in the ways she had expected. And it, he, was kind of growing on her, if his goal was to make her feel like her cautious, risky step was thoroughly appreciated, and that her fears and concerns were being constantly considered, he had achieved it.

She sighed, "I like 'princess' better." She admitted, color rising to her cheeks to match the look on her best friend's face and the slight warmth she felt when he called her that. "Okay, tiger?"

"Oh absolutely." He drawled happily, a slow grin spreading across his face.

Shikako tossed a white button down shirt in his face. He sputtered."Go put that on." She ordered, pointing at the changing room. "Too much, too much, too much." She took a slow breath and exhaled equally slowly, pushing the all too intense feeling back until she was comfortable again. She started to peruse the colors and styles to try to find something to match him with. "Nothing dark, has to match pale skin, dark hair and a dark red headband. Cheerfully appropriate to a wedding." 

She came up with a couple different colors by the time he came back. He flicked through them and put one of them back immediately.

"Not that color red, please." He requested.

'Why not?" She returned, frowning and holding it up to his shirt. "It'll look good on you and its thematically appropriate. You should at least try it. What's wrong with it?"

"It reminds me of what Sakura usually wears." He answered uncomfortably after a moment. 

She put it back in the rack.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable a minute ago. I didn't mean to." He apologized.

"I know." She said, shortly but not harshly. "It wasn't unpleasant, the way you made me feel. Just out of my comfort zone. And I'm not wanting to leave very far out of that yet. It's not your fault, you weren't trying anything. We're alright. " She patted him on the head. "Now go try those on. We have to make you look pretty for the wedding."

"........I hate you." He said in the driest, most sarcastic, most loving tone he could manage.

He tried on a few before she settled on one particular choice. 

"We have a winner." She said as soon as he came out of the changing room. 

"Yeah? I admit, I really like this one as well. I wouldn't have thought of it. But I like it." He agreed, looking down at the sky blue vest.

"You look great." Shikako reinforced, tugging the vest down and smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles. "Very handsome. You should wear it more often." She requested, turning a little pink around the collar.

Sasuke blushed, "Thanks." He muttered.

She shook her head. "Ok. Let's pay for it and go. I want to make something new that I think you're gonna like, and we need to get some stuff to make it."

She paused. "On second thought…..We are going to Mist on a diplomatic mission. And rich people tend to like mixing business and pleasure. Do you own a swimming suit? If your answer is 'theoretically' or 'cut off blues' your answer is a 'no.'" She added.

He sighed, closed his eyes, and shook his head.

"Then go pick something that fits in a color you like. And then we can go grocery shopping." She said. 

……….

Sasuke knows he's not the only one to notice these things about Shikako. Not the only one by far, and definitely not the first. In fact, by now, just about everyone in their tightest, littlest circle of friends has. They've all noticed these little….inconsistencies that Shikako will occasionally display when she's at her most relaxed, her most carefree, or, like now, when she's trying her best to let someone in a new level.

It wouldn't be too unusual, these scraps of songs no one's ever heard of, these quotes undoubtedly from authors never published, and now, this recipe from heaven no one's thought of yet but her, except for the simple fact that they are done with far too much confidence to be the delightful little quirks of an amazing, intelligent, loyal, encouraging friend they love.

Not that they weren't delightful little quirks, as far as Kiba, Ino, and Sasuke were concerned, and Sasuke suspects that Sakura feels the same, he thought absentmindedly as he watched Shikako layer tomato paste, shredded cheese, and slices of meat on top of unbaked, rolled out dough brushed with melted butter and minced garlic and place it in the oven.

They've known her their whole lives, in one state of closeness or another, and there's no reason to be suspicious. They trust her with their lives, so what's a few weird references to things that don't exist. They've seen weirder.

"How did you even come up with this?" He asks, because for something this simple, he knows it's going to blow his mind. It's so very her, getting to the flavors he likes in a way that's off center just so. He knows he's not going to get a straight answer, he's not really expecting one, and he really doesn't care. But it'd be weird if he didn't ask.

She freezes for a moment, then shrugs. "You like tomatoes and savory things, so I thought it would be fun to come up with a new way to enjoy them."

"Well it's amazing and I love you." He guesses, cleaning the mess they made off the counter, cabinets, and walls. They got into a little flour fight when they were making the dough.

"You haven't even tried it yet." She argues, looking embarrassed and almost surprised, pleasantly so, the way she generally does when he tells her he's in love with her. 

"I know what all the ingredients taste like." He counters, pulling out the shogi board and laying it on the kitchen table. "Besides I've tasted your cooking before." "You're way too confident about this for it not to be good anyway."

She was quiet for a minute before responding "Thank you for your faith in me."

"What kind of friends would we be if I didn't?" He returned, taking her hand and squeezing it gently, knowing this was about far more than….whatever this dish was called. "What do you call this anyway?" He gestured to the oven before making his opening move.

"I don't have a name for it." She said honestly, walking around the table to pick up a chair and place it closer to him. She ignored the board. "Can we talk about something?" She asked simply, turning towards him and resting her head in her hand, and her elbow on the table.

"Anything." He agreed, assuming the same posture towards her.

She idly took his other hand in hers and interlaced her fingers with his, as she considered her words. "I really appreciate you being a gentleman in the way you're treating me. I didn't really expect anything less from you. But you've...you've suprised me." She started off slowly. "I expected you to be affectionate and enthusiastic and determined, you're a passionate person in the rest of your life. You're a hard worker, you rarely give up when you are set on something. I just didn't expect you to do all the romantic things you're doing, and I appreciate that. I expected you to be respectful of my concerns and boundaries and the fact that I'm wanting to go really slow while I get used to this." She took a breath. "But I didn't expect you to barely hug me or that holding hands was the most we would get up to. I appreciate your effort to respect my concerns, but…."

"I've gone a little too far the other way?" He finished for her.

She gave him a wry smile. "Yeah. I feel like we've hugged and, well, cuddled, honestly, more as friends than doing this." She lifted her head to point her hand from him to her. "I just want to make sure that you aren't afraid of asking me for physical contact." She said, squeezing his hand. "If you want to hug me or cuddle or whatever, ask. I might say no, but I'm not going to get offended as long as you aren't asking for something obviously out of line. You're my friend. I trust you to respect me and to not be a dick."

Sasuke blushed. "Can I play with your hair?" He blurted out, sheepishly. "Just, while we wait."

She looked like she was holding something back. "You like my hair?" 

"Yesyesyesyesyes." "Yes." He stumbled out. "It's so long, and soft looking, it's like a river of silk down your back, even when it's all braided up and it's beautiful. And I promise I won't put knots in it. I just want to run my hands through it."

She burst out laughing. Great, heaving laughter until she was sobbing, like she had just heard the funniest thing in her life and he began to feel very betrayed until she gasped out. "Hahahaha, I'm sorry, I *hic* promise I'm not laughing *HIC* at you, hahaha, Sasuke." She gasped for air. "Oh it hurts." She laughed, hugging her arms around her ribs. "It's just that, hahahahaha, when we were in school. Pffft hahahaha all the girls, used, used to talk about how you like long hair." She giggled, fighting her laughter down until she could breath. "And everybody said that you'd ask out whoever's had the longest, prettiest hair. And I never *HIC* would have expected that to be true."

He felt a little blindsided because he's never heard anything about that. And it was a little strange how uncomfortably true that prediction had been at eleven when he thinks he remembers all the girls in their class growing their hair out. "Who started that!?" He asked.

"I don't know?! It's a school rumor, nobody starts those!" She insisted. She took a big breath and sighed. She smiled. "Yes." She answered. She stood up from her chair and paused. "Can I sit on your knees and lean into you while you play with my hair?" She asked. "It'd be a bit more comfortable for me."

He pushed his chair away from the table and nodded, eyes wide. "Of course."

She sat down on his knees, both legs to one side, and leaned her shoulder across his chest into his shoulder, her jaw on his collarbone. She wrapped her left arm around his neck and relaxed.

Sasuke hesitantly wrapped his arm around her waist and began gently undoing her braid, combing his fingers through her hair, beginning at the top and trailing down to the center of her back until it all unwound. When it was, he continued.

"You're good at this." She commented after a few minutes. "You could put me to sleep doing this." She elaborated, struggling to keep her eyes open. "How long until the flatbread comes out?" 

He shrugged under her. "We have a few more minutes. Thank you, I'm glad I'm doing this ok."

"Do you like your hair played with?" She asked. " I notice you running your hand up the back of your head all the time through your hair. Would you want me to play with yours?"

He was quiet for a moment before he whispered into her ear. "Please." 

She obliged, running her fingers up through his hair at the back of his head, combing it up the wrong way. "You know that you doing this so much makes the back of your head look like a duck's butt right?"

"I didn't actually." Sasuke said dryly.

"I mean, clearly it doesn't look too bad. But it is kinda funny." 

He huffed into her hair. "Your hands feel really good there."

"So do yours." She returned.

As though to thwart them both, the oven beeped the end of the timer.

Shikako got up, keeping her hands on his shoulders to keep him in the chair. "I'll get it." She said firmly, walking over to the oven and grabbing a few rags to protect her hands as she removed the sheet from the oven. She frowned.

"Sasuke," she asked. "Can I use your sword to cut this up? I promise to clean it when I'm done."

"The ANBU one is in the third scroll to the left in the night stand." He answered, puzzled.

She went and retrieved it and used the long, curved blade to cut the flatbread creation into eight triangular pieces. "Leave it to cool off a few minutes." She told him. "I'll take care of this real quick." she gestured with the sword.

He nodded. "You know where the maintenance kit is. What do you want to drink?"

"Just ice water, thanks." Shikako tossed over her shoulder.

When she came back, she placed the sheet on the table and picked up one of the triangles by the exposed dough around the edge and took a bite, leaning up against him and letting out a contented sigh, relaxing into the taste like the comfort of an old friend. 

Sasuke completely agreed. The explosion of hot tomato sauce, garlic, and savory meat and cheese was far, far better than he had anticipated. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Shikako, thank you for opening my eyes." He joked. "I've got a new favorite food now."

She grinned. "See, I'm not crazy after all."

He snorted. "Yes you are. You're the best kind of crazy." He tapped her on the nose with another slice, leaving a small dab of the sauce on her face.

She wrinkled her nose.

"May I clean that off?" Sasuke apologized. 

She looked up at him, a very dry, knowing look in her eyes. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Very smooth, but not today." She tapped him back with her own slice.

Chapter Text

Sakura really has nothing to complain about. She knows this. She really does. But she can't help but look back on her first and, thankfully, only Chuunin Exams with a bittersweet contemplation similar to her experience postponing her life as a field shinobi in favor of a medical career. She wouldn't give it up for the world, but, well, the experience wasn't exactly painless either.

Looking over at the ocean from her place by her shishou's side, she can tell that pain of giving things up isn't exactly over. Sasuke and Shikako are doing some playful little game tossing ribbons of water back and forth and there's been a new, almost imperceptible, tension in her interactions with her best friend and a more relaxed relief in the stance of the boy she still loved and hoped to marry one day that was not there when she'd left the village a month and a half ago. She strongly suspects there's something they want to tell her, something Shikako is worried about her reaction to.

She'd asked Iruka-sensei about her upcoming trip to the Hidden Mist, about the Exams in general, and on his lunch break he'd taken her out for ramen, which explained Naruto's obsession with the stuff. While they ate, he explained that Chuunin didn't talk to Genin about the exact set up of the exams, or their experiences until said Genin had been through them once already. It was tradition, he apologized, to let them go through the experience blind. He had happily, however, explained the terrain, the usual weather at that time of year, even the flora and fauna that were common and would probably come in handy. He had left her, with a good luck, and a single warning that it would be very unlike any set of exams she'd faced before, to not get discouraged if she didn't make the cut (it had taken him three tries), and that it would push her beyond every limit she'd set so far, mentally, physically and emotionally. 

And it had. She'd killed her first, second, third and fourth person, actual human people, in the first two days of the second exam, lost someone she knew from the academy, and lost her first patient, all in the span of a week. Her hand still ached from the bone shards she'd been forced to pick out and the spray of warm ocean water still felt a little too similar to the spray on her face from obliterating a person with her now monstrous strength.

But on the opposite side, her entire team had come through uninjured and promoted. By all accounts, a miracle if her classmates' experiences were in any way approaching normal.

She was lucky, and it was merely bittersweet.

"You graduated with Naruto." A raspy, dry voice addressed her. 

She turned around to answer, that yes, she had, as well as Sasuke and Shikako, and what did he do now but came face to face with blood red hair, and serious teal blue eyes at a level with her own, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Lord Kazekage!" She stammered. "Uh, yeah, I, uh, I did. Um, why?"

"Shikako and Sasuke are currently…. occupied, and I have not seen or heard of my brother by circumstance in a while. It occurred to me that I have questions you might be capable of answering. Would you consider him a friend?" He asked in that odd, dry voice, like wind over barren stone.

"Yeah, I guess." What an odd question.

"What was he like, before Team Seven?"

"Loud, obnoxious, pranked anyone and anything other than me or Shikako. Obsessed with ramen and being Hokage." She answered. "Not a bad person, just, a bit much at the wrong times." She left out his mile wide crush on her. She could be absolutely vindictive occasionally, but making fun of that seemed particularly cruel. The Kazekage obviously thought very highly of him for whatever reason.

"Pranks?" He frowned. He sounded as though it was a new concept to him.

"Yeah, like, propping erasers up so when you walk through a door they fall on you, or temporarily dying someone's teeth blue. He spray painted 'BITCH' all over Mizuki-sensei's apartment once. Absolutely hilarious in hindsight."

He didn't seem to know what to say about that. So he politely thanked her for her time and left, looking as though he had just been given a great deal to think about.

"What an odd man."

"What did he ask you?" Tsunade's voice ordered over her ear.

"He asked what Naruto was like when we were in school." She answered promptly. Something that he had said jumped out at her attention. "Shishou, he called Naruto his 'brother by circumstance.' What is that supposed to mean."

Her Hokage grimaced, annoyed. "Something that he shouldn't have said. If you really must know, the brat can tell you when he gets back. Generally, he means they were both outcasts growing up."

"My parents always told me to stay away from him, that he was nothing but trouble and wasn't an appropriate friend for a young lady. They never told me why though."

"They told you that because of faulty information and they didn't tell you why because it's classified under penalty of death." Tsunade answered bluntly, still watching the Kazekage's back as he parted the crowd like a well respected leper to rejoin his siblings. 

The avoidance of the other guests didn't seem to bother him and a chill crawled up Sakura's spine at Tsunade's statement.

"So how were your Exams?" The Hokage asked.

"I lost a patient and killed four people." She blurted out. "But all my teammates are alive and promoted, and I don't know how to feel about it." Her voice wavered and she didn't know how to feel about that either. Ino had praised her emotional honesty as a strength but everything she had been taught as an Academy student had said otherwise and to be certain the first thing she had ever been taught as a medic was that medics do not panic or become frantic and Tsunade was no exception to that rule.

"And you'll lose more, and kill more as time goes on." Tsunade answered. "If you haven't heard this speech yet, here it is. There's three types of patients, the ones who are going to live no matter how bad you screw up, the ones you can save with your level of skill, and the ones who are going to die even if you do everything right." 

Tsunade looked her in the eyes. "Even I lose patients. It's not often, and the number of cases I can turn around is formidable, but if someone's time is up, there's nothing we can do but make them comfortable and every medic has to learn it the hard way. I learned it, you've learned it, eventually your friend Shikako will learn it. Just don't deal with it the way I learned to deal with it. You're better than that."

Sakura nodded. "I feel guilty. Ami was, well, we weren't nice to each other in school but I never wanted that for her. And hitting the guy who did it felt really, really good, cause I was so angry at him for it and the way he just melted under my fist...I don't want to like the way that makes me feel."

"Feeling good about having protected your friend is better than considering it routine." Tsunade said quietly after a moment. "Killing a human being is intense, but no matter what you feel or don't feel, don't feel bad about the response it draws out of you. Everyone reacts differently to it, and the context behind the act is really what is most important, not the feeling of power you get from it, or whatever else your mind brings up in the heat of the moment. You did the right thing, you're a good person Sakura, the fact that you are concerned about this is proof of it." The Hokage knocked back another saucer of sake. "And don't feel bad because you survived and they didn't or you'll feel it all your life, just be grateful for it, and try to keep them alive in your memories. Don't turn out like me."

Sakura has no idea what to say to that, so she just nods her head and tries to wrap her head around what she's been told.

Fortunately, she doesn't find the burn of alcohol particularly pleasant and she's too poor and too logical to find gambling attractive.

"I'm proud of you." Tsunade reassures. "You did very well. And you were up against some stiff competition. You and your whole team."

"Thank you, shishou." She takes a breath, and lets it out. Everything is okay.

Chapter Text

Kiba isn't a gambler, but some days you just know you're going to hit it big.

Today was one of those days.

The sun was bright, the weather was warm, and the wind seemed to always be in their favor. Team Eight was going to get lucky today. 

Really Lucky.

They had just finished a mission in the Land of Stone, a border country between Fire and Earth, some dumbass had stolen from the wrong noble and had fled, of all places, to the one place on the continent where there were more bounty hunters than civilians.

And when Akamaru shook him like a ragdoll, the thief pissed himself and promptly surrendered. 

"Well, that's that." 

Their streak of Luck really starts, however, when they exit the collection office and decide to stop for lunch at a nearby teahouse, because as awkward as he found it to be approached by a random dude with swords in his belt in the men's bathroom and asked in a really shifty tone if he knew Shikako, the knowledge that there was a lone man a few hours down the road in a black cloak with red clouds on it that exited the bounty office at the same time as their friendly informant is by far worth the awkwardness (He has to get the story of how these two know their enigmatic friend, no doubt it's straight weird. If it's not then he'd think she was losing her touch.). 

"Change of plans." He announced quietly as he rejoined his team. "Kakuzu of the Akatsuki is a few hours east." He knows this because the last Bingo Book had him in there.

Hinata straightened up in her chairs and Shino looked like he'd been slapped with a dead fish. Akamaru shot to his paws like he'd been promised the fish. "Prey!? Enemy-pack-chase?!" Akamaru's tail beat the side of the bench like a giant knocking on a door. 

"Should we engage at all?" Hinata questioned, "Maybe we should just follow and send for help?" 

The implication that they still aren't strong enough to stand on their own boils his blood, but Shino nods his head. "Yes, that would be the best decision. Why? Because as Wanted as these Shinobi are, the Front will surely send at least one Jounin and this will give us time to gather information and prepare a plan so we can hit him at our strongest when they arrive."

That makes more sense than he'd like to admit to himself. Besides, Hinata is capable of clear sight out to a kilometer away, and no one is capable of sensing like that. And it's not as though they're likely to lose Kakuzu, there's no loss here in being patient. "Yeah."

Hinata nods. "I'll go send a messenger." She states quietly, and Kiba hangs behind because if he's being honest with himself, Hinata's summon partners terrify him. 

"We should get going up the road. Your kikaichu can make sure we don't run into him?" He asks, and his brother in all but blood answers in the affirmative. 

They leave and Kiba catches the literal tail end of the messenger as it lopes tirelessly away, impossibly golden fur flashing briefly in the sunlight. As absurd as it is, he almost worries about it alerting their enemy, miles away. The animal turns east, and they turn west, and every civilian and non shinobi in sight scatters wisely out of the way of both, like baitfish before a shark.

The Land of Stone is rocky and mountainous, and so while it is a bit of a difficult matter to catch up to their quarry, it is not at all to keep him in sight without being seen themselves. 

Kakuzu strides along the path, purposeful but unhurried, and they keep well out of the way, using a fancy little invention Shikako apparently rigged up on a whim at one of the girls' club meetings to turn a normally redundant telescope into a device that allowed Hinata to just about quadruple her already impressive range with her Byakugan from the top of a hill and taking notes along the way. 

"He's….. He's got five hearts. " Hinata observes, sounding sick to her stomach and thoroughly disgusted. 

Kiba almost interjects there to ask her if she's sure, they're discovering that if it's hot enough it can create a weird distortion effect through the telescope, but she continues. It doesn't become any better.

"And they're all different chakra natures." 

Well….that only happens one way, and it only makes sense that freaks fly together. 

"I wonder if it's a club requirement to be weird as fuck, or if it's just coincidence?" Shino mutters.

Dammit, he was planning on using that line. 

"If no one else would take them, why wouldn't they stick together?" Akamaru reasons philosophically.

That makes far too much sense and makes them seem almost human in a way that he's sure some people who can't be named without Hinata falling to pieces would appreciate, but at the moment he's pretty content with being able to think about all the people he hates as not actually being, well, people and so he shoves that thought to the side. "Anything else?" 

"He's carrying a briefcase full of money." Hinata offers.

Well, that's it's own kind of tantalizing isn't it.

Yet again, Shino beats him to the witty comment. 

"Fantastic. Why? Because I can finally get that hot springs membership I wanted." Shino drawls.

Kakuzu strolls around the next mountain, five kilometers out, and they quietly, quietly like an ANBU team, back off their mountain and slowly make their way to the next set. They can afford to take their time, it's going to be at least a day's worth of this before backup arrives.

Kakuzu eventually sets camp and goes to sleep, but all four of them knows he's not nearly asleep enough, nor his camp unguarded enough for them to try anything. So they set watches, and divide actual sleep amongst themselves. 

Akamaru nudges them awake, Kakashi-sensei is here. He's here over twelve hours early. And he doesn't even look winded. "Rise and shine, sleepyheads." He says, doing that weird smiling-with-his-eye shit he always does that creeps Hana out ("He's gonna twist his eyelid muscles and they're gonna get stuck like that one day.")

"Hitched a ride on the summon?" He asks.

Kakashi-sensei is flipping through their compiled notes instead of his usual porn, which Kiba still swears has to be how Jiraiya slips classified intelligence back home if he could only break the damn cypher, and nods infuriatingly. 

Kakashi-sensei seems intent on taking his sweet time as well, which seems logical given that no one wants to run into a fight with an S-rank missing nin in the middle of a campsite trapped to the nines by said S-rank missing nin, but also because Kakashi-sensei came from the Front, and why would you want to hurry up the process of going back there anyway?

He trades a look with Shino, and Hinata and everyone seems to be on the same page because just when Kakashi-sensei seems just about done, Hinata wordlessly passes him the telescope and the older ninja spends another thirty minutes looking through the thing. He shuts the telescope. "Shikako-chan, you say?" 

Hinata nods.

"You have been getting busy, haven't you." He murmurs. 

And before Kiba can make better decisions about what witty commentary escapes his mouth, he says, "Well I don't think they're doing that just yet." 

Akamaru, and Shino send disappointed looks his way, Hinata blushes like a tomato, and Kakashi-sensei looks at him in a confused sort of way that lets him know that Shikako and/or Sasuke is going to actually kill him, and Ino will be finishing off what's left of him because this off color witty comment is how Kakashi-sensei is going to find out that his cute little genin are dating.

"Who is they….." Kakashi-sensei starts as realization hits, and then all of him just looks like a slouched, dejected puppy. Kakashi-sensei passes the telescope back to Hinata and sighs. "Here's the plan, I'm going to go disarm everything and take out one, maybe two of his hearts, and then he'll be awake and stopping me from doing anything further. Hinata, you can Earth Walk right?" Hinata assures him that she can and Kakashi-sensei continues, deathly serious. "Great, then once he's awake we'll distract him until you get under him and can hit him with Trigrams until he stops moving." He makes eye contact with all of them. "He's an S-rank missing nin we, frankly, don't know a whole lot about, but don't expect much of a limit to his bag of tricks, all of his hearts are probably different Natures for a reason, and we know that he's fought the Lord First and survived. Be expecting strong, varied elemental attacks. Further, he's noted to have the Jiongu, a body-thread transformation. Just be ready to dodge things."

Kakashi melts into the night and they give him a minute or so head start before beginning the slow, cautious stalk over to Kakuzu's campsite. Their weapons are muffled, their chakra signatures shoved deep, deep down. Shino's hive is quiet, not even a hum of vibration. Akamaru's snow white fur is darkening with every paw print, as they activate the Earth Spear armor technique a little more with every step until his fur is a suit of armor as hard and grey as the stone beneath them. They move silent as shadow, as quiet as the grave, three whole kilometers until they finally can begin dismantling Kakuzu's traps. 

The monster in red and black begins to stir, quick and jerky like a marionette. 

And a blue white flash out of the darkness accompanied by the sounds of a thousand screaming starlings pins him to the earth, once, twice, before Kakuzu kicks Kakashi off and across the clearing. 

He and Akamaru leap into Fang over Fang, aiming to smash him into the rock wall behind him. 

Kakuzu dodges him, but catches Akamaru center mass. Another flash of lightning rips through the darkness and Akamaru howls in pain as a spear of light pierces him, left side, front and back leg. Right, Lightning beats Earth. He moves to disengage, breathing a Dragonfire technique straight into Kakuzu's face to give him time to pull Akamaru to safety. 

Shino replaces him, beetles hungry for chakra, Kakuzu's threads impaling dozens before the chakra is sucked out of them and they are rendered inert. The neurotoxins of their bites by the score slow him down. 

Another roar of fire engulfs the campsite as the first wave of kikaichu are entirely incinerated and Shino is forced to retreat, narrowly avoiding the blast himself. 

"Go back." Akamaru whimpers in pain as he staches his friend behind a rock underneath one of Shikako's dome shields. A simple push of chakra into the seal will activate or deactivate it, so Akamaru can still control it. "I'll be fine."

A series of explosions rock the earth as Kakashi's note-wrapped kunai land in a grid around their enemy and the cycle repeats, attack, dodge, retreat, switch teammate, repeat. 

Kakuzu is clever, he hasn't lived as long as he has being an idiot. He's slippery and powerful, as all S-class threats are. But they're wearing him down, and not giving him an inch of space to work with, and right after they've backed him up into a shadowy corner of rock, after he's let loose another lance of lightning, Hinata makes her move from behind. Her Twin Lion Fists technique and her Lion summons, two giant males, four hundred kilograms apiece at least, flash blue and gold against each other. 

Kiba's had that used against him before in sparring. It's horrible. It's worse than Trigrams, where a single hit is like a dagger made of ice and lightning stabbing through your limbs. It's like an icy flame sucking oxygen from a room, except the room is your body and the oxygen is your chakra and the place where her Lion Fists have touched is the stabbing feeling of Trigrams where she's sucking it all out. So it's no surprise to him that, even as an S-class freak, when Hinata sucker punches him right in the ribs with a vicious right cross, Kakuzu goes rigid. 

Then the Lions drag Kakuzu to the ground with their giant fucking paws and claws like meat hooks gripping his limbs and teeth like tanto blades sunk into his body as Hinata gets her chakra wreathed hands around his neck and drains his chakra dry as Hidden Sand. 

There's a moment of quiet as the four of them process the fact that they just killed a member of the Akatsuki (with help, but it still counts), before the adrenaline hits, joy, and relief, and sweet, sweet victory have them grinning ear to ear. 

Shino scoops up the briefcase full of money and slumps heavily against the rock. "Is Akamaru alright?" 

Akamaru drops the dome shield, and yelps for pain meds as Kiba picks him up. "He'll make it Home, everything got cauterized, but he needs surgery." 

"Get on one of the Lions, and get on back." Kakashi orders, sealing the corpse up for transport. "If you're willing of course. We'll keep up if we can. 

The smaller of the two nods, shaking his mane and licking his bloody claws like a self satisfied house cat. "It's something to do." He turns and butts his head against Hinata's shoulder. "Good work, little one." 

The other rolls his eyes and reverse summons with the familiar cloud of white smoke. 

Akamaru sighs in relief as the ophiate hits and everything painful goes numb. 

Ibiki steps back into the waiting room, then looks at Kakashi, still reading that obscene book, and then looks at Aburame and Hyuuga. "Inuzuka still at the hospital?" Shibi's kid answers in the affirmative and he nods. He pulls his Bingo Book out, flipping it over to the rogue ninja section and crossing Kakuzu's name off the page and scrawling 'deceased' on the margins with his signature. He rips the page out and hands it to Shino. "Take that to the mission desk and go get your bounty. Split it however you want. I want the full reports by tomorrow. Good work. Kakashi, hang around for a bit if you would." 

Hinata pauses on her way out. "Can we keep the Akatsuki cloak, when you're done with it?" 

Ibiki thinks about it, and can't think of a reason why they couldn't. He's not much of a trophy collector, but even he'd want to brag about bagging this fish too if he'd dragged him in. Besides they're friends of two of his kohei, both of whom he likes having around.  

"Sure, come ask in a few days after we've had a chance to do forensics on him. I'll make a note about it." 

Kiba is about to go bring Akamaru home the evening afterwards, when Shino stops him and Hinata, and Kurenai. "I got these made, why? So we can remember it, and we can surprise Shikako and Sasuke with the cloak as a gift." He explains, holding out identical picture frames of copies of the Bingo Book page. 

Kurenai looks gobsmacked, which they've only seen out of her a few, very rare times. "I am so proud of all of you, tell me what happened." 

Chapter Text

Tsunade dismissed the lot of them almost as soon as they entered the village. "I can bodyguard myself." She said waving off Anko to take her team off to get paperwork filled out and Sasuke and Shikako so she could get work done without the office assistants trying to perform exorcisms on everything they might have touched. "Come see me in a week, or two, I'll figure it out."

They dropped by Ino's to inform her that everyone was back, and that a chunin party for Sakura was required before heading home.

"Well that was fun." Shikako said blithely as they left the shop.

Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes. "Kakashi's going to be infuriating. Zabuza married, picking fights with Biju..."

"My cute little genin dating and not telling me. I was heartbroken. How could you not tell your dear old sensei about exploring such a youthful part of your life?" Kakashi slouched pitifully behind them. "It's almost like you don't care."

"If I hear a word of this from Gai, I'll tell Yoshino." Sasuke threatened lowly.

"She would, wouldn't she." Shikako mused with a grin, imagining her mum chewing her sensei out about gossiping, as though he didn't already. She stepped forward with a hug.

Kakashi actually paused at that. "Oh no need for that." He hugged back, patting her head nervously.

She stepped back. "Hi sensei. I thought you were deployed?" She gestured for him to follow, and they continued to make their way towards the Nara end of town.

"More or less." He answered with a sigh, pulling out his obscene book, which he promptly stuffed down Sasuke's vest, and pulled out another. "I do lots of things, just last week I had to go help an old man cross the road."

Sasuke sputtered like an angry cat, and Shikako shelved Kakashi's comment to the side, innuendo for some classified thing that it was notwithstanding. "I thought you grew out of that?" 

"You never grow out of having respect for your elders, Shikako. There's always an elder needing help crossing the street." He did his weird, but endearing little eye-smile and Shikako got the distinct impression that this particular innuendo was referring to an assassination. "It was good seeing you, but I've been expected somewhere dull for an hour now so I have to go. Sasuke, I'll be expecting a book report."

He disappeared before Sasuke could go properly ballistic.

Their eyes met, and he, to Shikako's shock, blushed. He tore his eyes away from hers to look at the ground. "I'm not going to read it. It's going in the trash." He assured her, as though he was being given hard drugs or cigarettes.

"Kakashi's just going to cry about his gifts being unappreciated." She caught his hand and pulled him along, but not before fishing the book out of his vest and twisting it into Hammerspace. "Besides, the best way to handle him is to double-down and give it right back to him. We'll write the book report together and give it to him in front of someone who will get on to him for it. I thought you'd read it already anyway."

"I can't believe you." He grumbled as he followed her along. 

She grinned. "He messes with you because you give him a reaction."

………..

"We're home!" Shikako announced as she pushed open the front door.

"Welcome back! How was Mist? Is that Sasuke?" Yoshino called from the kitchen.

"It was crazy and classified, but it turned out fine." Shikako answered, shucking out of her vest and hanging it on the coat hanger by the door. "Sakura did really well. Is Kino-chan sleeping."

"Yes, I just put him to bed." Yoshino came out of the kitchen and pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad you're home. Your dad is back for another week before he returns to the border. He'll be home for dinner."

Shikako eagerly returned it. "And Shika?" 

"Courier mission. He should be getting back tonight or tomorrow morning." Yoshino replied, kissing her on the forehead before going to hug Sasuke as well. "Go put your things up and get clean. We'll be in the kitchen."

He accepted the hug, still somewhat awkwardly, and followed Yoshino into the kitchen when she took him by the hand. He gave Shikako an apologetic look as he passed his bag off to her to take up to her room.

She rolled her eyes. "I'll leave you some hot water."

"So what was Mist like? I've never been." Yoshino asked.

He shrugged and began cutting the vegetables she set him to. "I wouldn't want to live there. They seem to be overly concerned about their appearance after Yagura." He smirked. "Zabuza is head of their academy now though."

Yoshino's eyes widened in horror as they met his own.

"It's not as bad as it sounds." He reassured her.

It still ended the conversation though.

He was midway through peeling the carrots when Shikako nudged him out of the way, her hair wet and smelling like her shampoo. "Your turn." 

He leaned over to get a better idea of it as he relinquished the knife. "Apples?"

She swiped the knife at him in mock annoyance, which he dodged casually, as she knew he would. "Yes, and spearmint, now go shower."

He left with his smug little look on his face and Shikako turned to face her mother, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Yoshino raised an eyebrow. 

"He likes my hair." She muttered.

"I can tell." Her mum said, an amused grin making itself known.

"Mum, you troll, you're as bad as Kakashi." She huffed, "You're going to tease him for it, aren't you."

"I didn't tease your brother and Tenten and I'm not going to do it to you two, but you do make just as good a couple as you were as friends."

"It honestly doesn't feel like an enormous difference." She admitted. "I was afraid it would be completely different, not just, an additional layer, and I'm glad we did it."

Yoshino leaned over to kiss her forehead. "I'm proud of you, for being brave enough to take a chance on it even though you were so uncertain."

She shrugged, self conscious and not really knowing what to say back, but also kind of proud of herself for the same thing. "Thanks mum."

Shikaku came through the front door not long after. “I heard you had a little more excitement in Mist than you were expecting.” He remarked as she greeted him with a hug. 

“It wasn't so bad after it was all over, no one died, no one really injured.” 

He still held her a little tighter anyway, and she couldn't help but be grateful for it. 

“Also,” she added, when they separated and he turned to Yoshino instead, “Me and Sasuke are, uh, we're….dating now.” 

And that's when Sasuke walked into the kitchen, hair still wet from the shower, and skin still damp where he reached for her hand. “Hello Shikaku-sama.”

“Embarassing.” She thought, feeling her face light up, she felt distinctly watched, but taking his hand anyway.

Shikaku nodded. “Well I know you'll take care of each other.” He sounded completely unsurprised. “Your mother and I do write to each other, you know, quite frequently.” he added, apparently rather amused at their confusion. 

.

.

.

.

Shikako leaned further into Sasuke's chest. "Play with my hair?" She asked. She sighed as his hands slid through her hair and put her arms around him. "I'll tell Sakura tomorrow." She said, dully.

"You're dreading it." He said, his hands stilling in her hair. His breath shivering in his body.

"Sakura and Ino nearly ended their friendship over you when we were in the Academy. I'm the reason why they didn't because it's fucking stupid to end your friendship over a boy." She answered, huffing. "I don't want to lose a friend over this." She raised her head to press her forehead against his own and look him in his eyes, a deep warm grey that she could only tell wasn't black by a trick of the light. "But I'm not going to let her stop me from being with you either, just like I'm not going to stop my field career just because he wants me to."

"I love you." She said, like it was the simplest thing in the universe. "You're brave, smart, powerful, considerate, passionate, determined, romantic, and most importantly, you're my best friend. And I think I am growing in love with you, as much as I can tell what that is. I'm glad you told me how you feel." She said, echoing his confession, and trying, and failing for the first time in her lives, to not notice how close his lips were to hers and how his breath smelled like black tea and mint. 

His eyes widened and his hands drifted gently to cup her jaw and settle at her waist. "Can I kiss you?" He whispered.

She nodded, a bit of a laugh sneaking out at the feeling of her nose brushing his. "Yeah, I think so."

His lips quirked up in a grin and then they were on her own, pressing gently against her even as she pressed back, moving her mouth in time with his as they kissed, gentle and sweet and dare she say it, kinda hot. Literally and figuratively, his chakra was excited and campfire warm up close to his skin, spreading over her own wherever his hands touched. Her face, neck, her upper arms, a strip of skin around her waist he touched where her shirt had rode up an inch as he tugged it back down over her. She took his bottom lip in between hers and tentatively brushed it with her tongue and he broke the kiss with a surprised gasp and an utterly enraptured look that she couldn't tear her eyes from.

Until she sensed her mum coming down the stairs. Shikako turned away to face her as she rounded the corner.

"I didn't say anything about not taking pictures, you're going to want these later." Yoshino explained, holding up the camera. "Can I take one?"

Shikako nodded, a little embarrassed and relieved that they hadn't been caught.

Sasuke kissed Shikako's cheek and wrapped his arms around her. "Can I have a copy?"

"Of course dear. Are you spending the night?" Yoshino answered, lifting the camera and snapping a picture.

He shook his head. "No, I need to go back home." He answered, checking the time on the wall and shifting to get up.

She leaned forward to let him move. "I'll walk you out." She grumbled.

They stopped out on the porch. 

Shikako slumped. "Did you have to say that?" She whined.

Sasuke pulled her into a hug, which she willingly succumbed to. "I didn't remember to turn on my Sharingan." 

She rolled her eyes. "You are the sappiest person I know."

"My name isn't Ino. And you said I was romantic." He corrected dryly.

She snorted in derision. And then she said something even worse. "I'm glad you like the same tea I do." And then immediately regretted it when she recognized the implications of what she was saying.

He, fortunately, did not lower himself to the comments he could have made in response. Nor did he laugh.

She would have died of embarrassment if he had.

Instead he had the good sense to look embarrassed himself and cup her jaw and slip his other hand through her hair. "Can I kiss you again?" He asked hesitantly.

She wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him in and start back up where they left off. She shivered at the brush of his nose against hers as he nuzzled into the kiss, pressing in more firmly. His hands were everywhere, sliding through her hair, drifting up and down her back and sides, cupping her face. And so what if he was? He was being gentle, he wasn't touching anywhere he shouldn't, his chakra felt like a warm blanket over her skin. She tangled her fingers in his hair and tugged him closer.

He tugged her bottom lip with his own and the tip of his tongue flickered briefly across in response and she started in surprise at the sensation, understanding how he had broken their first kiss at the feeling. Her hand curled into the arm hole of his vest to tug him closer. 

And again she was forced to break off to preserve her, their, privacy as she distantly felt Shikamaru coming down the street. Sasuke, not having the advantage her senses allowed, lifted her hand to kiss the scarring on her wrist from Kimimaru.

"Can I get by?" Shikamaru's voice announced in an annoyed, slightly disgusted drawl. "I'd like to go inside now and not have to see this."

They broke apart on reflex, and the gentle, comfortable feeling of warm intimacy and companionship turned into an annoyed embarrassment for the second time that night as she led Sasuke away from the door and out to the front gate. "Sorry." She muttered, her face burning.

Shikamaru brushed past, waiting until they were about halfway across the yard before tossing "Don't put your hands where they don't belong, Uchiha." over his shoulder before disappearing inside.

Annoyed embarrassment turned instantly to humiliation and rage. But he was gone through the door before she could snap something she would undoubtedly regret saying later. She ground her teeth and distantly below the resentment she could feel Sasuke wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against his chest.

"It's ok. I don't care, he can say whatever he wants. He's just doing what brothers do." He said quietly in her ear, taking her hand in his own and interlacing his fingers with hers. "He doesn't know how we are. Let it -"

"Yes he does!" She snapped, breaking out of his hug. "He's known us as long as we've been friends. He's just pissed I'm not his perfectly defenseless sister he always had to take the lead for when we were kids. He's pissed I grew a fucking spine and started making choices he didn't like, and he's pissed I'm dating my best friend who hit me once when you were high on garbage and he knows better than to think you'd ever do it again! Don't make excuses for him, you deserve better, and he knows better." She snarled like an angry cat, moving towards the door to follow Shikamaru inside -

"Shikako-" he started.

-and slammed the door behind her.

"Shikamaru!" She growled, turning for the kitchen. 

He turned away from hugging Shikaku as she entered the room. Kino was in his arms. "What?"

The desire to knock him to the ground faded into impotent bitterness as she noted her parents raised eyebrows and felt a deep reluctance to expose the beginnings of her physical exploration to her parents. "Mind your own business." She snapped lamely, pissed that he had outmaneuvered her.

Yoshino took her brother from Shikamaru. "Okay you two. Go set the table."

She stared her brother down a moment more before he turned to obey their mother. 

Sasuke quietly came back in. "I forgot my pack." He explained apologetically.

"Well if you can't stay the night, at least stay for dinner." Yoshino fussed.

Dinner was strained. Shikamaru's courier mission had taken him closer to the front (and what used to be Hot Springs) than was comfortable for anyone, and it hadn't gotten better when Sasuke had to admit that a portion of what happened at the wedding was classified.

"Of course it was." Shikamaru had sullenly muttered under his breath. 

"Well, that's what happens when heads of state have conversations." Shikako snipped.

The rather obvious explanation shut him up for the moment.

"So what was the village like? Did they have you in a guest house? What was the food like?" Yoshino hurried on.

"Colorful, they're really trying to put Yagura behind them. We ate a lot of seafood, and they had us in a hotel suite. Tsunade in the master, we had an adjoining room. One of the nicer hotels I've stayed in but their hospital isn't as good as ours from the tour we got." Sasuke answered again.

"Two twins or did you sleep on the floor?" Shikamaru asked, false innocence dripping from his voice.

"Shitty couch, and we had to keep watch." Sasuke lied, refusing to rise to the bait.

"Shikamaru stop baiting him. If you wouldn't have wanted to be asked questions about Tenten, don't ask Shikako about Sasuke." Shikaku stated.

"Neji and Lee did, so I don't see why I shouldn't." Shikamaru retorted. "He's already hurt her once."

"I don't give a fuck about how much you want to bitch about me and my field career," Shikako said rising from her chair, "but don't you dare suggest that my best friend would take advantage of me just because you don't like him. And don't even try to pull the 'concerned brother' bullshit, you aren't stupid enough to really believe it, and I never would have said anything like that to Tenten." Shikako berated. 

Shikamaru glared back up at her, "Looked like I needed to say it from where I was standing." He argued. 

And that was it.

"He kissed my wrist, not my tits!" She exploded. "Which is more than I can say for you and Tenten, and I didn't say shit, because it isn't my business!"

"I'm not a -," Shikamaru began.

"Enough, the both of you." Shikaku ordered quietly, ending the argument.

They both fell quiet, grinding their teeth, the anger on her side and resentment on his simmering angrily beneath the surface.

"Shikamaru, what did you say exactly?" Shikaku questioned, steady and firm as the foundation of their house.

"I told him to 'not put his hands where they don't belong.'" Shikamaru answered resentfully.

"And you felt the need to say that why?" Shikaku asked, a tinge of exasperation in his voice.

"Because almost every time she gets hurt it's his fault, and if she won't admit it then I'll remind him!" He spat. "And I'm tired of being the only one here that sees it. Ever since she got saddled with the 'Lucky Sevens' it's been nothing but an endless trail of missions gone wrong, extended hospital stays, and her nearly being killed defending them from threats that she has no business doing anything but running from, her teammates be damned. And instead of doing the smart thing and cutting ties after chunin, she invites him even closer since he doesn't have a family of his own anymore and one day, he's going to be the death of her too. " He said, turning his words into the sharpest knife he could as he accused them all, and across the table, where Sasuke sat pale as a ghost and still as the memorial stone.

He left through the front door and closed it behind him.

Shikako saw red, and then black, turning to shadow and reforming across the table before she could remember that her family didn't know that she could, and as soon as her arms were solid, she backhanded her brother savagely to the floor. But before she could chase him down to hit him again, Shikaku seized her firmly but not harshly by the arm and pulled her away, seething.

"Shikaku?" Yoshino pleaded hurriedly, Kino crying in her arms.

Shikaku created a shadow clone, which took Kino gently in his arms, whispering comfortingly in the baby's ear and leaving the room.

"I'll be talking to you when I get back." Yoshino scolded her son, putting her hand on her utterly horrified and enraged daughter's shoulder and reassuring her, "I'll talk to him." And left hurriedly in pursuit.

"Shikako, please go to your room. I'll be there in a moment." He said after a moment, and released her arm.

She stood there for a moment, torn between a deep concern for Sasuke, a deep trust for her parents, and a white hot hate for her brother.

"Shikako." Her dad's voice broke through. "Your mother will take care of him. Please trust her, and let me take care of you." He said gently.

She turned stiffly and stomped to her room, closed the door and collapsed on her bed, the anger transforming into a black hole in her heart as she lay there trying not to cry out of helpless fear and rage on behalf of her best and dearest friend having his worst nightmares thrown in his face and at her hopelessly deteriorating relationship with her brother, the first friend she had ever had and the rock on which she'd first built herself.

Shikaku knocked on the door sometime later, she couldn't say how long.

"Come in. " She answered woodenly, sitting up and hugging her knees to her chest as she slumped against the pillows stacked against the headboard.

Shikaku came into the room, the calm, steady presence he'd always been, closing the door gently behind him and met her eyes. He sighed, "May I sit?" He asked.

She nodded.

He walked around and sat down beside her. He stayed quiet for a minute. He bit his lip, looking hesitant for the first time in her life. He sighed again and began. "I'm not going to get on to you." He said. "Not after that."

"I hit Shika." Shikako said shakily.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in. "Before I eloped with your mother, and that is what it was before the clan let us marry, me and your uncle and grandfather had a very, very similar fight over your mother." He explained. "Now obviously it wasn't about Yoshino's nonexistent enemies, but it was about the kinds of things you could have said about Tenten if you had ever wanted to be as cruel as your brother just was. Things were said that none of us can ever take back, because they died before we could ever reconcile. I'm not going to approve of what you did, and you and Shikamaru are going to apologize to each other and he is going to apologize to Sasuke, but I understand why you did what you did and I'm proud of you for standing up for your partner even though I don't appreciate how you did it. I know how hard it is to stand against the family you love for someone else." He finished tiredly.

The dam broke in her chest and she started sobbing into his shirt. "H-he just d-doesn't g-hic-get it! I don't h-have a ch-choice!"

"Shhh, it's ok deerheart. What don't you have a choice about?"

"Everything!" She cried. "The Akatsuki, Orochi-hic!-maru, they're coming for everyone whether he likes it or not and I can't just not do anything about it! I can't just play it safe and hope my family won't get massacred too, the only way to stop it is to do something about them and it feels like I'm the only one who understands that. What does he expect!? That if I stand aside and let them have my family, they're just going to leave the rest of us alone!? Being average and normal is not enough whether he likes it or not! And sometimes you just get hurt." She said, wiping her eyes on the heel of her palm. "I thought losing an arm might teach him that even though I'd give him mine to replace it."

"I can't make Shika see that, he's going to have to realize that on his own." Shikaku said. "But I can promise you that you aren't alone, and I will do everything in my power to help you and protect you, no matter how far outside your weight class you feel you have to punch. And I am very proud to have such a determined, loyal, driven daughter who sees the world the way the things are and isn't distracted by the way she wishes it was. I promise you that I don't blame your teammates for you getting hurt fighting on their behalf, and as long as they are like family to you they'll be welcome here. I will never make you face the same choice I had to make." He promised.

"But?" She asked.

"But that doesn't mean that I don't understand why your brother is so worried about you. You can be extremely reckless and willfully dismissive of both danger and being able to ask for help. You are very much my and your mother's daughter and I see so much of us both in you, our strengths, and our weaknesses. And you have to understand that acting like these injuries and behaviors are nothing to worry about does nothing but convince your brother that you are willfully ignoring that danger and uncaring if you live or die. And just like Sasuke's nightmare is that he is going to get everyone he loves killed defending him, and yours is being helpless to stop your families enemies, his is that you are actively trying to kill yourself by getting into situations you have no hope of getting out of. I understand where you are coming from." Her father comforted. "I have had plenty of extended hospital time myself because I have been forced to choose between a frying pan and the fire and chose to stand my ground. The scars on my face prove that, and so do the continued existence of Anko and Ibiki and my old team who made me choose between leaving them to die and fighting the Nibi on my own until help could arrive. I understand the choices you've made. But you and Shikamaru have to come to an understanding without driving each other away before either of you also say something you can't come back from. And that will require the both of you to meet in the middle. I will be happy to help you both get there again. He loves you and you love him, and that's what matters.

Ordinarily, however, you understand that what he said wasn't worth rising to. And it certainly was not worth hitting him over."

"About Sasuke 'watching where he put his hands?'" She clarified, with a sigh. "Yeah. Sasuke was right, it was a stupid thing to get mad over. I just took it as another dig about Sasuke hurting me and at my inability to take care of myself and I was frustrated at being interrupted twice and I snapped." She admitted. "Especially when he was being so hypocritical."

"You don't think that may have been why he was worried?" Shikaku challenged lightly.

She snorted. "It doesn't matter, it wasn't my business then and it's not his business now. And he'd never do that anyway. He's been a perfect gentleman, all he did was kiss the scars on my wrist."

"Well, I hope you don't think that I doubt your ability to take care of yourself when I say that I'm glad you two are taking things very slowly and putting your friendship first." Shikaku stated.

Shikako shook her head. "It's different, you've never tried to sideline me into a research job to keep me from taking missions or keep me away from my team." She frowned. "Were you worried that we wouldn't?"

"It may have been suggested that because the two of you were so close already that you might feel comfortable going faster than either of you should." He said vaguely.

She rolled her eyes. "That's not going to happen, and it's not the way we work."

He nodded. "Your mother and I thought the same." He said. “What was that technique you used? It’s not the same thing as the splitting issue you came to me with before. That was a full, incorporeal, body transformation, and if you've been working on something like that, you know you are supposed to have supervision from either myself or an elder while training it and I would have gotten word about this project long before you had successfully done anything like this. You know these techniques are dangerous at this level, you've experienced that yourself. I do need an explanation from you, because this is exactly the kind of behavior Shikamaru is concerned about.” 

She winced. “It's…….not exactly like that.” She huffed, because she did recognize that he would have been one hundred percent correct to potentially ground her from duty if her situation had been anything other than it was. She considered how much she could get away with telling him without breaking Tsunade’s orders. “Part of this is classified, it's part of the Land of Rivers mission that I……that I was stabbed on.” She began, pulling her gelel stone necklace out of her shirt and removing it. “You'll have to get permission from her about how, and what it really is, but, when I went for surgery, Tsunade pulled this out of my eighth gate. It's made out of my chakra, and if I put chakra in and then pull it out,” she demonstrated, turning her right arm to shadow up to her elbow, “I can turn my body to shadow. It's automatic. There's no actual technique to it, when it was stuck inside me, it took effort not to do it on accident. I haven't been working on anything dangerous like how our usual techniques are. This is just, what the natural shape of my chakra is, I guess, and so this is what happens when I use it. It has the side effect of healing wounds I had going into the shadow state when I come out of it, and I tried to use it when Shika lost his arm, but it wasn't compatible with him. And I haven't tried to see how far it would go either.” 

“May I see it?” He held out his hand for it.

Shikako hesitated to place it in his hand and when she finally did it felt like she was placing a piece of herself there as well. “I suppose I am, in a literal sense.” 

He tried the stone himself, she felt it, but didn't seem surprised when it rejected him too, and gently examined it with his chakra before handing it back to her. Seemingly much more relaxed. “Well, I feel much better about it, knowing what you can tell me, and this does feel exactly like your nature, and I am glad you have not been experimenting like I feared. But you should have come straight to me with this anyway, and if I ever need to have a conversation with the Hokage, on something similar to this, so be it, this is very much a Nara Clan technique, and I have the right to information that concerns complications like these, okay, deerheart?”

Relief washed over her and she fell back into his arms. “Yeah, dad. Thank you.” 

He held her for several minutes before she finally separated and he rose to his feet. "I can't help you if you don't ask for help, okay? No one can. Even if it's uncomfortable, I need you to be better about coming to people about things like this, whether it's a weird chakra stone, or the Akatsuki, or anything else alright?”

She tiredly nodded, pushing her reservations about that to the side. “Okay.”

He nodded back. “Good, be up for breakfast tomorrow morning and apologize." He told her.

She nodded. "Ok."

"Good night, deerheart."

"Good night, dad."