Adrik sighed as Haku insisted on replacing his bandages over his stomach. With her medical prowess and due to being trained by a few of the experienced medical ninjas working in the hospital, neither he nor the staff saw any problems with it. If anything, it was just awkward for him. He and everyone who is close to him knows he would heal from this without any issue. Though, he can't say he didn't expect them to be cautious. There aren't many people who can recover entire organs in just a few days, let alone leave behind no scars.
"Wow, you really healed up nicely..."
Adrik scratched the back of his head and nodded as Haku took the bandages off of him.
"You didn't have to do this, you know. I was gonna be fine."
Adrik raised an eyebrow in confusion as Haku didn't give him more than a hum in response. He saw her eyes seemed dazed as she stared at him.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Haku's eyes widened as her head snapped up to look Adrik in the eyes. She wiped at the slight bit of drool at the corner of her mouth and tried to hide her blush as best as she could while looking away.
"N-Nothing. Not a thing."
Adrik just shrugged after a second and grabbed his white hospital shirt to put on as he moved to sit on the side of his bed.
"Do you wanna go get something to eat?"
Haku looked back at him with her blush returning. Adrik didn't pick up on the slight disappointment that flashed through her brown eyes upon seeing him.
"But you haven't even been discharged yet."
Adrik nodded.
"Yeah, but I'm bored and hungry for once and hospital food tastes like cardboard."
Haku tilted her head slightly.
"Well, won't the doctors be mad? What about Miss Shizune? I mean, she runs the hospital, now, and I don't think she wants her patients trying to escape like some sort of prison break."
Adrik sighed.
"Well that's too bad, because I feel completely fine and you're coming with me."
Haku yelped when she was picked up and hoisted over Adrik's right shoulder.
"H-Hey, what are you doing?! Put me down, Adrik!"
Adrik shook his head.
"Nope. You're the one who wants me to take breaks and spend time with people, so you're stuck with me."
Haku was about to shout something but stopped as she had no retort.
"Just put me down, I can walk just fine..."
"Yes ma'am."
Adrik set the girl down and put his hands in his pockets as she followed him out the hospital room and down the halls. She pouted and looked away with a blush on her cheeks, not noticing the small grin on Adrik's face.
X
Sasuke didn't bother looking up as someone entered his room.
"Lady Hokage."
"Sasuke."
The two greeted each other nearly silently. Tsunade pulled a chair up to the side of the dark haired teen's hospital bed and sat there as if waiting.
The two sat there in silence for a few minutes, one not knowing what to say while the other waited to hear what the first would put together.
"I need to get this thing off me."
Tsunade simply nodded as Sasuke put a hand over the mark on the back of his neck.
"We already have a Seal Master and his student working on a solution. It may take some time, though."
Sasuke nodded. He looked up from his hands and over at the Hokage.
"Is there something you want me to say?"
Tsunade shrugged.
"I don't know, is there?"
Sasuke looked back down at his lap.
"I said sorry as many times as I could before passing out and that didn't fix anything. What do I need to do?"
Tsunade sighed as she leaned forward in her chair.
"A few things. First off, you're on probation for the next three months."
Sasuke raised his eyebrows as he looked at the woman.
"Th-That's it? Three months?"
Tsunade nodded.
"You'd be surprised, kid. The case involving you and the group known as the 'Sound Four' was ruled as a kidnapping. Due to the influence the Curse Mark has on its bearers, evidence of you turning traitor kinda went down the drain. Not to mention the piss poor mental state you were in after getting hit by one of Itachi Uchiha's most powerful genjutsu."
Sasuke sighed to himself.
"I did all of that and there's still idiots who try to defend me?"
Tsunade tilted her head slightly.
"It was Naruto, Sakura, Adrik, Jiraiya and Kakashi who spoke on your behalf, kid."
Sasuke nodded blankly.
"Idiots."
Tsunade sighed as she didn't exactly disagree with the teen.
"Of course, you can't take missions unless directly ordered by myself or someone I give the authority for the next three months. That's about all I could give you, though. You're still early into your career and are already a valuable asset to the village, so it wouldn't look great to keep you locked up like some sort of animal. Not to mention what would happen if we didn't keep an eye on you."
Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed as he had an idea what she meant by the last part.
"But if something like this ever happens again, there's nothing anyone else can do to save you from being put in custody for the rest of your life. And that's probably the only bit of mercy you'd get."
Sasuke gulped as he nodded along quickly.
"Understood."
Tsunade nodded.
"Good. Now, I need to get going. You're being discharged tomorrow, so be sure to pay your teammates a visit. Also, please be more honest with them. I heard about everything that happened at the Valley of the End. We both know nobody wants anything like that happening again. Be honest with them and it'll help you a lot, kid."
Tsunade looked back at the door as one thought crossed her mind.
'Don't repeat our mistakes.'
Sasuke nodded to himself as the door closed. He looked out the window with a noticeably brighter expression than he had the last time he was in the hospital.
He turned back when he heard the door open again. He was surprised when Sakura walked in with her head down. Over the past few days, he had been visited by most of the people he knew, many wishing him a good recovery or letting him know they support him. Naruto and Sakura were the only ones that knew every little detail of what happened on their mission to retrieve Sasuke. Naruto was fast to recover and Sakura only really struggled with exhaustion.
Sasuke stared at Sakura who seemed to be gathering her words as she stared down at the floor. She put her hair up in a loose ponytail with the green streak of her hair coming down to frame her face.
"... Hey."
"..."
Sasuke tilted his head slightly as Sakura stayed silent.
"... You came here to see me?"
Sakura nodded silently, making Sasuke sigh.
"I know I already apologized as much as I could to you and Naruto for doing what I did. I assumed you wouldn't want to talk to me afterward."
Sakura shrugged before sitting on the edge of Sasuke's hospital bed.
"I mean, Naruto can't hold a grudge for more than a couple of seconds, so he already visited me a few times."
Sakura nodded along as Sasuke chuckled slightly at his own comment. Apparently, his attempt to lighten the mood didn't work. It wasn't like he was the greatest at that, anyways. He tilted his head down to look at his lap as he scratched the back of his head.
"I've... never heard you this quiet outside of a mission..."
The two sat there for a few long moments in silence. Sasuke looked up at his teammate and his mind flashed back to when they were in the academy. She was a loudmouth with a personality that revolved entirely around "loving" Sasuke and hating Naruto. In just a few short months, however, she became almost unrecognizable from how she was.
Sasuke's mind stopped on one memory in particular that happened just a few days ago.
"Is... Is it about what I said? Before I left?"
Sakura froze for a second before nodding.
"Then I'm sorry for that, too. It doesn't excuse me, but you know why I did that."
Sakura turned her head to look at Sasuke.
"And we both know there's not a chance in hell you'll ever do something like that again."
Sasuke immediately nodded after seeing the anger in Sakura's eyes. It disappeared shortly afterward, being replaced by emotions he couldn't identify.
"You were gonna leave your friends behind all because some freak told you he could make you stronger. I thought you knew better than that. Everyone knows the only thing he wants is your Sharingan. Going to him would be the same as handing him your eyes on a silver platter."
Sasuke looked back down as he nodded. Sakura put her hand on the bed to support herself as she leaned over.
"I was ready to snap your legs in half if it meant you would stay here."
Sasuke nodded again. Sakura tilted her head slightly as she continued.
"When I heard you ran off after Itachi when he infiltrated the village, I was worried, you know. When you woke up in the hospital, you acted like nothing was wrong when everybody could tell something in your head got messed up. I thought you trusted us, Sasuke."
Sasuke looked back up at Sakura.
"I do, it's just..."
"Just what?"
Sasuke sighed.
"How the hell was I supposed to tell you guys I saw your dead bodies that weren't even real? I'd feel like an insane asshole."
Sakura nodded.
"But you still told us. I wish it was sooner, but I'm glad you opened up."
Sasuke looked up at her in confusion.
"Glad? For what? I almost killed you and Naruto."
Sakura sighed as she sat straight up and looked down.
"It's the same thing with Naruto..."
Sasuke's expression fell slightly.
"You guys hide so much from me. I worry about you guys so much but you never say anything. I don't like how it happened, but I'm glad you told us."
Sakura looked at Sasuke for a moment before getting up from the bed and walking to stand next to him. He was surprised when the girl hugged him.
"Please, tell me whatever you want whenever you want. I... I almost didn't know what to do with myself when you left. I was worried that you didn't want to see us again."
Sasuke closed his eyes as he returned the hug.
"I'm sorry... I'll... I'll start being more honest with you... and everyone else."
Sakura let out a small grin, though Sasuke couldn't see it.
"I'd appreciate that."
The two let go of the hug and Sakura stepped back.
"Come see us when you get out, alright?"
Sasuke nodded along with a half smile.
"I will."
Sakura nodded and went to leave the room. She stopped as Sasuke spoke up.
"I like what you did with your hair, by the way. It looks good on you."
Sakura blushed but didn't turn around. She put her hand on the door handle and opened the door slowly.
"I-I'll uh... I'll keep that in mind."
Sakura left the room, leaving behind a smiling Sasuke.
X
Naruto stared angrily at the beat up form of Jiraiya laying on his floor.
"Try to peep on me and Hinata ever again and I'll tell Aunt Tsunade about it."
Jiraiya immediately sat up before bowing on his hands and knees to Naruto. Hinata could only watch in confusion as the man pleaded to the genin.
"N-Naruto, is this the man you t-told me about? Y-Your godfather?"
Naruto turned around to face the girl and nodded with an irritated sigh.
"Yep. And he's a massive pervert who doesn't know what privacy means."
Jiraiya stood up and puffed his chest out proudly.
"I'm not just a pervert! I'm a super perv-"
"-Just tell me why you're here, Pervy Sage."
Jiraiya shook his head for a second.
"Right. Well, I was on my way back to the village after meeting up with some of my informants. I wanted to stop by your place for a mission I wanna take you on."
Jiraiya paused and clasped his hands while tilting his head to the side with a happy blush.
"But when I saw the two of you in here, I just couldn't resist taking some notes! The two of you make a great couple!"
Both of the teens blushed as they looked away.
"W-Well, we weren't doin' anythin' and you know that! I just wanted to talk to her since I'm finally gettin' a little break from all the action!"
"Riiight... And you two kissing just happened to be part of that, huh?"
The blush on the two teens' faces vastly deepened.
"And what's so wrong with that, huh?! We're gonna be married in three years, so what's the problem?!"
Jiraiya smiled proudly.
"Nothing at all! Now, let's get going."
Jiraiya jumped back out of the window he was dragged through after he was caught peeping. Naruto sighed as he turned back around to face Hinata.
"I'm sorry about that... I gotta go."
Hinata grasped one of Naruto's hands.
"Can you take me with you?"
Naruto looked at her in surprise for a second before nodding.
"Uh, I don't see why not. Come on, let's go."
Hinata smiled as the two stepped out of the apartment hand in hand.
X
"Took you two long enough. What held you up?"
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in irritation as he crossed his arms, closing the door to the Hokage's office behind Hinata.
"For your information, I wanted to go on a nice walk through the village with Hinata."
The two adults in the room simply nodded. Naruto and Hinata walked over to sit in front of Tsunade's desk.
"So, what's up? Pervy Sage said he wanted to take me on a mission after he got back."
Tsunade nodded.
"Right. Well, before that, there's some things we need to get out of the way. Jiraiya?"
Jiraiya nodded and stepped forward slightly.
"We've got two and a half years until the Akatsuki make their first move. As far as we can tell, they will go after each Jinchuriki in teams of two, like the two you ran into before we found Tsunade."
Naruto nodded nervously. Hinata looked over at Naruto in concern. Tsunade spoke up again.
"That brings us to the mission that Jiraiya wants to take you on. It is a training mission to prepare for the Akatsuki for the next two and a half years with Jiraiya teaching you everything he can. I have already authorized your leave for that time, so don't worry about-"
"-What?!"
Both Tsunade and Jiraiya were surprised when the two teens shouted in sync.
"This is the first time I got a chance to be with Hinata since before the finals, and you're tellin' me I gotta go outside of the village for two and a half years?!"
"I-I rarely get to s-see Naruto lately a-and now you're saying we w-won't see each other for almost th-three years?!"
Tsunade put her hand up to stop the two.
"And that is why I haven't already assigned you to this mission. I wanted to get your opinions on it before we proceeded."
Tsunade sighed as she put her hand down.
"Now, it's clear that neither of you approve of this training mission. I have a way to compromise on it, but it isn't much less favorable than it already is. The other option is for you and Jiraiya to stay in the village for half of the mission and then take the other half out of the village, giving you time to be with the people you care about while still preparing."
Jiraiya crossed his arms.
"I still think it would be better to let him get more experience out in the field..."
Tsunade looked at the man in slight irritation.
"The kid has already fought a Jinchuriki, a Sannin, a jonin level ninja, and mastered an A-Rank jutsu in a little over a month. I think he could do just fine with only a year and a quarter out in the field."
Jiraiya huffed as he turned away.
"Fine. But we're gonna have to use some of the secluded training grounds."
Tsunade nodded along. She looked back at the two teens as Hinata raised her hand.
"I-If I may... Could I t-train as well?"
Tsunade raised her eyebrows.
"I want to get stronger alongside Naruto, i-if that is not too much to ask."
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, the man shrugging in response.
"I don't see why not."
Jiraiya turned to Naruto.
"And we could get that brother of yours to train, too. I'm sure there's still some things I can teach him with seals and whatnot."
Naruto smiled as he nodded.
"I'd like that."
Tsunade smiled as well.
"You're in luck, then, Miss Hyuga."
Hinata looked at Tsunade and tilted her head slightly.
"I'm starting a medical training program since I felt the skills of the village's current medical ninja were somewhat lacking. I'm training new medical ninjas myself as well if you would like to join. I am sure a wielder of the Byakugan would make for an excellent medic."
Hinata smiled at the offer.
"Th-Then, if you would allow it, I would like to take part in that training as well."
Tsunade nodded.
"Of course. We can figure out a schedule for you. Besides, there aren't too many trainees at the moment so it wouldn't be hard to accommodate."
Hinata nodded and bowed slightly.
"Thank you, Lady Hokage."
Tsunade waved a hand.
"Hey, it's no problem. Besides, you and my little nephew are getting married some day. He'd probably shout at me if I didn't give you the same treatment I'm giving him."
Naruto crossed his arms.
"Damn right!"
Jiraiya walked around the desk and smacked Naruto over the head.
"Watch your language, brat!"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head while Hinata and Tsunade laughed at his plight.
X
Adrik wasn't surprised by what he saw when he unwrapped the cloth. There on the table sat his two daggers, now nothing more than handles and blade shards.
"Sorry, kid. The only way I can reforge them is to basically start over. That would get rid of the seals, so you'd have to find someone like Jiraiya to put them back on."
Adrik breathed out a sigh. He looked over at Mr. Higarashi questioningly.
"So the seals are still active right now?"
The man nodded.
"The seals were etched into the metal of the handle and they still work on the pieces of the blades. Trust me, the retrieval team was dead tired when they finally got these back to me."
Adrik turned back to the broken daggers. Both the man and his daughter raised their eyebrows in confusion when Adrik picked up the handles.
"Then, there's something I want to try."
Adrik closed his eyes to focus for a few moments. Seconds later, the pieces of the blades began to float with wisps of ash drifting from them. A few more moments passed and the pieces moved into place to reform the blades almost perfectly. After some time, the blades looked good as new aside from the faint orange cracks between each of the pieces of the blades.
"Huh... Think they'll still work?"
Adrik shrugged. He turned around and threw his right hand dagger at an old, broken, wooden target. The dagger sunk into the wood as well as it would have before. Adrik pulled it back to his hand by an ash string and felt no difference in it.
"Yeah, they still work."
The man sighed in relief.
"Ah, that's good. I did some research on 'em some time after I gave 'em to you. Turns out my grandfather who owned this place when he was younger got a present from one of his friends in another country who was a Seal Master. Apparently that friend of his forgot to make a calibration seal for people who might wanna use 'em in the future, so nobody's been able to even hold 'em for a long time."
Adrik and Tenten nodded along.
"Did he ever mention where his friend was from?"
The man nodded with a small smile.
"He said the guy was from the Land of Whirlpools. I guess it explains how he got such high level seals on such small weapons."
Adrik nodded and looked back down at his daggers.
"Well, thanks for keeping these until I got out of the hospital. I was kinda worried nobody would find them."
The man waved his hand.
"No problem, kid. Just helping a customer."
Adrik nodded with a small grin as he exited the store, waving behind himself at the father and daughter duo.
X
From a distant tree top, a man looked in on the Hidden Leaf Village. Half of his body was pale white while the other half was pitch black, both sides expressing different emotions. He was encased from below by what seemed to be a sort of carnivorous plant.
Behind the man, another figure appeared coming out of a whirling vortex that appeared in the air. The man wore the same cloak that Itachi and Kisame were seen in and had an orange mask in a spiraling pattern. He wore some kind of mask that went around his entire head, leaving his hair the only thing visible. He spoke in a deep voice to the plant-like man.
"Are you ready to report, Zetsu?"
The plant-like man turned back to the masked man and nodded.
"Very well, then. We must be off."
The two men nodded before disappearing from the area. The plant-like man, Zetsu, sank into the tree branch while the masked man vanished in the same vortex he appeared in, leaving behind no traces that they were ever there to begin with.