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Reunion of Shadows	By : Lisea18 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Kakashi/Sasuke Views: 1897 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I'm making no profit

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
Title: Reunion of Shadows

Author: Lisea18

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; I'm making no money from writing this
A big thank you to HSBS who
stepped in to be my beta (hugs)
Author's
note: English is not my first language, so please forgive my mistakes.�

Reunion of Shadows 19
One good thing about the
council knowing about he and Sasuke was that when he learnt Sasuke was in the
hospital between life and death, Kakashi didn't have to find a reason to rush
to his side. All he had to do was stuff the old geezer's running mouth with his
stupid papers and run out without a word of explanation. It would have felt
truly wonderful had Kakashi's insides not been torn in anguish.
Kakashi was let in without
trouble; being Hokage tended to be advantageous in that way. He closed the door
and leaned on it as he watched Sasuke's pale form in the ugly white sheets. Had
he passed on that bad habit he had to end up in the hospital all too often to
his student? He would have to talk Sasuke out of that one, really.
"How can you blame
yourself even when you weren't even in the fucking room?" wondered a
strained weak voice, dark eyes glaring at Kakashi.
"Be a nice on-the-verge-of-dying-patient
and shut up will you?" snapped Kakashi, raking a hand in his hair but
relief clearly showing in his stance.
Sasuke snorted before
wincing as it hurt to do so. Smirking he tapped the place next to him, inviting
Kakashi to come sit there. The latter lazily obliged, his eyes taking in the
severe injury on his chest and noticing it was the only one.
"Who did that to
you?" he asked voice as light as he could muster.
"Feeling the hatred
sensei?" taunted Sasuke, enjoying how a grey eye narrowed on him in
aggravation.
Brushing away a few strands
of black hair Kakashi leaned in and kissed Sasuke, letting teeth pull down his
mask before another more intimate one was shared. If his former student hadn't
been injured that badly Kakashi would have fucked him into the mattress just to
ascertain to the both of them he was still alive. Panting slightly, he pulled
away.
"Sai did,"
whispered Sasuke, answering Kakashi's previous question.
"You could have told
me you inconsiderate, stubborn bastard!" hissed Kakashi, cuffing the dark
head for good measure.
"I see you trust him
totally and blame me," huffed Sasuke.
"If he had betrayed
you, you wouldn't be calmly lying in bed, you would be clawing your way to him
to take revenge," pointed out Kakashi.
�An amused smile was tugging at his lips, his eyes
twinkling at Sasuke's pout, even more when the young man sent him a scathing
glare. He patted his head and chuckled as his hand was slapped away, Sasuke
hissing at being treated as a kid. It was just too tempting.
"I wasn't warned
either," mumbled Sasuke, not admitting Kakashi's previous statement had
been totally true.
"Sorry to have called
you inconsiderate," replied Kakashi, kissing Sasuke on the nose and
laughing at the deadly glare he received.
So it had been Sai's ROOT
mission to kill Sasuke mused Kakashi. He hadn't had time, or hadn't taken the
risk, to warn Sasuke beforehand. Now the big question was: should they pretend
Sasuke was dead or not? How would it work out for Sai?
"You're not
apologizing about the "bastard" and "stubborn" part?"
taunted Sasuke.
He smirked as he purposely
let his sheet drop from his shoulder, revealing pale skin and bandages. Kakashi's
eye zeroed in on the offered flesh and he licked his lips, gulping down a bit
as Sasuke was slowly pulling the sheet off, letting it trail on his body like a
caress. Sasuke was opening his mouth for a smart-ass comment when the door
flung open. Kakashi jumping out of his trance and pulling his mask back up so
fast it was a miracle it didn't rip right off.�
The blonde tornado, because
of course it was Naruto, stood a little dumbstruck at the sight.
Sasuke was glaring daggers,
the sheet pulled all the way down to his waist. He was slightly flushed out of
anger or... something else. Kakashi was looking his usual aloof self, even if
Naruto knew he had just pull up his mask just seconds ago, but the way his
fingers twitched told a different story, not to mention how his legs were
crossed as if to hide... something.
"Interrupting some
bonding time?" grinned Naruto, wiggling his eyebrows.
His lecherous expression was
one worthy of Ero-senin himself. That is until Sasuke's pillow connected with
his face. Grabbing the "weapon" Naruto's grin got wider if possible.
"I see you're well
enough to be your bastardly self," teased Naruto, giving a once over on
Sasuke to make sure he was, indeed, out of danger.
"I'm just fine
moron," snapped Sasuke, crossing his arms on his chest, wincing a bit as
the movement pulled on his healing flesh.
Naruto muttered a teme and
made his way to the bed, placing the cushion back behind Sasuke's head.
"Hey you saw his
face!" he whispered excitedly, "so horse-teeth? Fish-lips?" he asked;
eyes full in mirth. �
"Fuck you,"
mouthed Sasuke, rolling his eyes.
"I wish," replied
Naruto, winking at his friends to show it was just banter, nothing serious.
Kakashi cleared his throat.
Naruto laughed, launching on Kakashi to pull his mask off and earning himself a
hit from Icha Icha paradise. Sasuke just snorted before complaining about insensitive
morons shaking the bed while he agonized on it. That lead to Kakashi petting him
and Naruto snickering madly until Sasuke pulled out kunais from markings on his
wrists and evicted them both from his bed.
"Maaa, Sasuke-kun,
you're no fun," pouted Kakashi, a kunai between his teeth, eight between
his fingers.
Sasuke sighed, resting back
against the bed. Silence settling back into the room as exhaustion was clear on
the young man's face. Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, sitting
back on the bed as did Kakashi, worried grey eye checking the bandage for
blood.
Waving the two idiots'
worries away, Sasuke let his mind go back to the problem at hand. It was yet
again another attempt at murder... but Sai had given him a message. "They
will cut your tree before he's too sturdy", since it was "your"
it wasn't about the tree they were trying to establish instead of ROOT. So it
meant...
"Naruto, I need you to
tell everyone working with us to be extra careful," requested Sasuke,
before shifting his gaze to Kakashi, "and you need to watch your back to,
it seems we are pushing it and they are out to get us for good."
"I doubt they know
about the plan," pondered Kakashi, "it must be the trial with Karin
and the fact I wasn't demoted for dating you, they are scared of me gaining too
much power, especially since Naruto is now a hero," mused Kakashi, patting
the blonde's shoulder affectionately.
"I will pass the
message," assured Naruto, jumping on his feet, ready to run in the village
to accomplish his mission.
Sasuke eyed him
suspiciously until he was caught and a huge grin dispelled his puzzlement.
Naruto seemed totally ok
with their relationship. All they needed now was to push him into Hinata's arm
and everything would be perfect. Sasuke smirked, Naruto scratching his head and
fidgeting under his scheming gaze.
Kakashi hid his smile
behind a leather clad hand, knowing full well what was going on in Sasuke's
handsome head. Poor unsuspecting Naruto. It was nice to see that the team was
back together, despite all that had happened to break it apart.
"See you later,"
mumbled Naruto, hovering a moment to add "be good," �with a suggestive wiggle of eyebrow before closing
the door after himself.�
Kakashi and Sasuke looked
at each other. Kakashi looking innocence incarnated, Sasuke smirking as he
could distinctly picture horns on his former sensei's head. He raised an
eyebrow at a creeping hand on his thigh. It immediately stopped there,
Kakashi's eyes twinkling.
"Want me to read you a
story?" teased Kakashi, pulling out Icha Icha paradise.
"How I wish I was
still a minor," mumbled Sasuke. He shifted in the bed, freeing his leg
from the hospital sheet.�
Kakashi lay his hand on his
bared thigh, "As if that would stop me," chuckled his former teacher,
starting reading, even changing his voice for good measure.
Sasuke was too hot; it
wasn't at all from the feel the worn leather on his skin, something definitely
Kakashi.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Sasuke's injury was quite
severe even if already perfectly under control and so, to his utter annoyance,
he was bed ridden. They had placated him by pointing out it kept him away from
missions and in the village to supervise the plan against ROOT. That had
cheered him up, until the end of Sakura's sentence: from the bed.
But he decided that would
be the hospital, at least for the first few days. He wasn't crazy enough to run
around the village while slightly incapacitated... not that he wouldn't welcome
a good fight with a member of ROOT, especially if it ended with the death of
the latter. He had been sent on a one week Anbu mission right after Karin's
trial, it had been long planned, but he still couldn't shake the feeling it had
been a way to keep him away from the village until his vengeful mood calmed
down.
But it wasn't so easy to
placate him, especially since Neji had been attacked. He was a patient man; he
had waited years to have Itachi. He would wait as much as needed to avenge
Juugo and Karin, but he would get his revenge in the end.
In that state of mind he
went to see Karin. Before going to his mission he had dropped by, but respected
her wish for him not to see her. Now he hoped she was well enough to allow him
to. Indeed, she was gently sitting at her bed, a medical book on her lap. Kiba
had decided to take a little walk while Sasuke chatted with his team mate.
Sasuke, she
greeted in Morse.
It was now official and
certain, she would never recover speech. Sasuke briefly closed his eyes to
fight down the urge to kill someone. Good thing that Kaigo was in jail, those
bars protected him from Sasuke's wrath, and he would make sure he stayed behind
until he rotted. A soft hand on his fisted one broke him from his dark musing.
Are you ok?
"Yes Karin, don't
worry about me," he reassured, gently stroking her hair as he adjusted the
pillows behind her back.
I should get almost killed more often... joked Karin, chuckling, a dark blush dusting
her cheeks at having Sasuke taking care of her like that.
"You're lucky Suigetsu
isn't here, he wouldn't have let this one pass," retorted Sasuke,
smirking.
At least she could still
laugh, cry, scream but not talk. Was Konoha really worth such sacrifice? He
knew it was Root's fault, not Konoha in a whole but...
Home is where your loved ones are, tapped Karin on his hand, you have people here you love and who love
you, you have friends too. Naruto's friends are yours too, especially that
Neji. Juugo wanted you to stay, Suigetsu and I too. It was Itachi's wish. This
will become home.�
"This is the last sacrifice
I'm making..." growled Sasuke.
Kakashi and Naruto will make Konoha into the village it always pretended
to be. We will help.
Sasuke snorted at that. He
was pretty sure most of Konoha didn't even know his fight against Root was very
much beneficial for them too. He hated that about this place. They pretended
everything was as fine as it could be in a Ninja village and they closed their
eyes to the horrors that were behind the scenes. At least, in other villages,
the horror wasn't deceitfully hidden.
Voices carried into the
room where Karin and Sasuke sat.
"No Lee, for the
hundredth time, I don't want to have a friendly recovering fight with
you," said Neji's voice with as much aggravation as the stoic man would
allow.
"Let me give you a
piggy ride since you're feeling down!" insisted Lee's cheerful voice.
"I said no!"
shrieked Neji, obviously having to fend off an overly enthusiastic
teammate.�
Sasuke opened the door,
smirking at seeing Neji trying to get rid of Lee. Feeling sympathetic, he
stepped out, the green-spandex-wearing man's eyes growing round in excitement
at seeing him.
"Sasuke! Would you
like to spar with me? Neji is feeling too faint to," almost pleaded Lee.
"I'm not feeling
faint," mumbled the Hyuuga, however happy his friend's attention was
diverted elsewhere.
"Oi Teme!"
greeted a cheerful voice from the other side of the corridor.
Sasuke sighed inwardly and
turned to the blonde only to smirk as he saw a timid presence behind him.
Hinata was certainly coming to see Neji. He glanced toward the later, the both
of them patting themselves on the back for their little conspiracy.�
"Shouldn't you be in
your bed?" teased Naruto, grinning broadly and poking his head in Karin's
room to wave at her a bit.
"Already slacking off
on your missions, dobe?" replied Sasuke, playful electricity in the air.
"Asshole, it's my day
off. I will be going on a boring mission tomorrow," mumbled Naruto,
scratching his nape.
Sasuke snorted. It meant he
had warned all their friends about Root going for their heads.
Certainly he had given news
to Ino to spread in the village so they could follow what was going on behind
the scene, Kakashi's way of trying to reintegrate Sasuke. It also told him the
council had decided Naruto still couldn't become an Anbu and was to have his missions
in the company of Jounins or no missions at all. They were scared Madara would
try to kidnap him.
"You should not
belittle youthful missions! They keep your spirit up!" cheered Lee.�
"I-I look for-forward
to our mi-mission to-together," stuttered Hinata, fidgeting.
"Yeah me too Hinata,
but really I wish I could have more interesting missions. But I can keep
dreaming for once Kakashi agrees with the council," sighed Naruto,
"oh speaking of him, he's dragged all his papers to your room, he was
complaining about a disappearing boyfriend," he mentioned.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and
went to Karin's side, making sure she was well installed. Opening the window he
greeted Chouji who was eating chips, and Shikamaru lazing around in a tree. At
least Kakashi hadn't been kidding about protecting Karin. He called Kiba once,
hearing barking not far away, meaning Kiba was coming back to his post now that
Sasuke was leaving.
"Yoooooooooooooooooooooosh!"
screamed Lee as Naruto agreed to a friendly match.
Neji sighed as he resigned
himself to watching them with Hinata. Sasuke nodded in their direction once and
went to his room. He felt like a lion in cage, he could do much more out of
this damned hospital but was stuck inside. Hopefully Kakashi would soothe his
nerves. He had promised to pass half his days in his room, doing his Hokage
duties that didn't need him at his desk.
He winced as he saw Sakura
tapping her foot and glowering at him from his door. If he wasn't careful he
didn't put it past her to order him to be tied to his bed.
"I did nothing
straining, don't look so grim," he greeted, turning slowly on himself to
show her he was all fine.
She sighed, pushing him
inside to check his vitals. Kakashi was indeed there, with a makeshift desk,
reading Icha Icha paradise.
"Hello Sasuke-kun,"
he saluted, his lazy gaze eyeing Sasuke up.
He was only dressed in a
dark yukata with a fine linen belt.
"Hello
Kakashi-sensei," replied Sasuke, tilting his head slightly, his yukata inopportunely
sliding down his shoulder a bit.
"Don't you start you
two, I said nothing tiring, which means you have to keep your hands off him
Kakashi-sensei!" insisted Sakura, cracking her knuckles to make her point
clear.
"That never crossed my
mind," assured Kakashi, turning a page and looking innocent.
Both Sakura and Sasuke
simply stared at the dirty orange book. Kakashi looking totally unfazed, still
reading, his eye curved in a content smile.
"Whatever,"
renounced Sakura, "I will leave you two alone, I'm counting on you
Kakashi-sensei, if only one paper is left undone at noon I won't allow you to
work here!" she threatened as she left.
"Just how many times
did you pull the scarecrow trick on her to have her agree to this?"
wondered Sasuke, tilting Kakashi's book away so he could kiss his mask covered
lips.
"Just a dozen, I think
she's worried about another murder attempt," chuckled Kakashi, adjusting
Sasuke's yukata, "I will never be able to concentrate if you're
teasing," he explained.
"Why come here then?
Scared?" whispered Sasuke, fleeting away to lean on his bed.
"Now that I'm freer of
my movements I intend to make the most of it," said Kakashi, locking their
eyes together, loving the puzzled look on Sasuke's face.�
Smiling with a twinkle in
his eyes Kakashi kicked a scroll at his feet. It opened only to have several
more appear in puff. Sasuke's eyes widening as he saw they were all Anbu level
scrolls of jutsu and tactics.
"I promised to train
you, since Sakura would kill me if we sparred I thought some reading was a nice
way to keep my promise," purred Kakashi, amused at how Sasuke was already
digging in, barely containing his excitement.
Shaking his head with a
fond smile Kakashi abandoned his favourite book and turned to the pack of paper
waiting for him. They settled in content silence, simply enjoying working in
the same room. At least for a few hours.
Sighing in annoyance Sasuke
sent another well aimed shuriken to his distracted former teacher who obviously
preferred staring at perfectly white and clean walls rather than sign the damn
papers on his makeshift desk. And this was the first day.
"I'm so sexy you can't
keep your eyes off me?" purred the man, seductively caressing his pen with
leather clad fingers.
And he had hoped the man
would soothe him?
"Shut up and work you
lazy pervert!" ordered Sasuke, burying his nose back into a scroll he had
been studying before Kakashi distracted him with his unnerving presence. His
former teacher chuckled and dropped his gaze back on his papers without really
seeing them.
�I had to declare Sai a
traitor,� he suddenly announced.
Sasuke looked up. It was a
logical course of action, Sasuke was alive, couldn�t pretend he didn�t know who
his aggressor was... and so Sai was to be accused otherwise his cover would be
blown.
�As expected,� remarked
Sasuke, not understanding where his sensei was going, �that might even open up
new doors for him in Root.�
�Yeah...� sighed Kakashi,
putting together some papers and distractedly hitting them against the desk so
they were all at the same size.
Sasuke eyed him for a
moment before putting two and two together. He should have known. Gently he
came to Kakashi, embracing him from behind, his head resting on a shoulder.
�I will make them pay for
Juugo and Karin, but it has nothing to do with you. My war is against Root not
Konoha. When you let those Anbu drag me, I was pissed, even more when you
sealed me... but as Hokage you couldn�t do otherwise, and as you said, it�s better
not to give them a reason to kill me,� softly murmured Sasuke, his embrace
tightening slightly, �and you knew I could endure that.�
�Konoha should be the one
proving its worth to you, not the other way around,� sighed Kakashi, one hand
coming to rest on Sasuke�s arm, thumb gently caressing the skin there.
�Konoha was never my home
Kakashi, even when I believed remotely that it was, it wasn�t. But as a
precious friend told me: home is where people you love are, isn�t it?�
"Home isn't supposed
to try to murder you and your friends," deadpanned Kakashi, sadness clear
in his visible eye.
He turned in Sasuke's
embrace, cupping his face in his hands, his lover's eyes getting half-lid as
worn leather caressed him. They stayed like that for a while, simply looking at
each other, feeling the warmth of skin on skin, the turmoil of emotions in
them.
"Why did you come
back?" finally whispered Kakashi, so low it could have been mistaken for
silence.
"For revenge,"
replied Sasuke, not blinking as he told his former teacher the naked truth.
Kakashi smiled at that, his
eye getting distant and sad, but understanding, before focusing again. A
difficult question he couldn't ask reflecting in the grey depth. Why did you
stay?
"Itachi gave up his
life and our clan for peace and this village. He wanted me to kill him so I
would be Konoha's hero," Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, half-smiling as
Kakashi stroke his cheek in support, "Naruto wouldn't have stopped chasing
me, even if I tried to break our link, I still valued it," he continued
mumbling the end before adding lowly, "He makes me believe he can turn
Konoha into the village it pretended to be. I had nowhere else to go anyway...
Suigetsu, Karin," Sasuke fisted his hands, "Juugo," Kakashi slide
his hands in his hair, stroking lovingly, "deserved a home. And maybe I
wanted Konoha to face its crime, by having the produce of them inside it,
reminding them of what they let happen."
Again Sasuke had faced him
straight, not hiding anything. Not that he owed Kakashi the truth, but simply
because that's how you made a relationship work, because he trusted him with
his secrets, with his feelings, and because simply he wasn't one to lie. Slowly
he bent down, his lips on Kakashi's ear, "For you... my guilt ridden
perverted teacher"
"If you were to decide
it's not worth the fight... I... will follow you, my cold-hearted,
revengeful, yet so kind, student," promised Kakashi.
Sasuke didn't doubt it; he
could see how serious this was. This meant more than he could explain. Just as
when Kakashi had said Sasuke had to commit suicide if he wanted to kill
Kakashi's precious one... it meant more than words could convey.�
"I won't run away, I
will destroy them," replied Sasuke, voice sharp and cold.
And Kakashi could guess it
was partly because Sasuke didn't want him to drop everything. If only Konoha
hadn't been hiding such dirty secrets... if root hadn't existed. But then,
maybe they would never have found each other.
A knock on the door made
them part, breaking the spell. Kakashi slouched in his chair as he permitted
the other person to enter. Iruka poked his head in, cautious, making Kakashi
cringe. Not that he was embarrassed, he had no shame, but he didn't look
forward to being schooled especially in front of Sasuke. Seeing it was safe the
teacher entered, smiling cheerfully at his former student.
�Sasuke-kun! It�s been a
while,� he greeted.
�Iruka-sensei,� replied
Sasuke, giving him a curt nod.
�Don�t tell me you�re
bringing me more work,� groaned Kakashi, sliding down even more on his chair,
head flung back in despair.
�New missions you need to
distribute,� replied Iruka, putting the mission scrolls on the desk, on top of
everything else.
Kakashi slapped Sasuke�s
hand away before he could even reach the desk. Sasuke glared at him, visibly
outraged.
�Don�t even think about it,
you�re not taking a mission until you�re fully recovered,� admonished Kakashi,
his eyes twinkling in amusement.
Sasuke just huffed,
shrugged and settled back on his bed, in the middle of his open scrolls.
Chuckling, the Hokage opened the time table telling him who was where, who was
available and how many days off they had had. He tensed as he noticed Iruka
hadn�t left yet, with a sigh he looked up.
�Yes?�
�Did you think over it? I
heard it was now official...� whispered Iruka.
Kakashi smiled at him, his
eyes curving. His hand was distractedly petting Icha Icha Paradise as if
itching to read the book.
�It is and I would
appreciate if you didn�t jumble Kakashi�s thoughts, he�s guilt ridden enough
like that. I don�t need you to add another layer,� remarked Sasuke, his eyes
still riveted to what he was studying.
Kakashi opened his mouth
but clamped it shut.
�Sasuke, it�s for your own
good, both of you�, started Iruka, taking his teacher voice, gentle and smooth
but carrying conviction as thick as steel, �you�re still young and he was your
teacher, you�re looking for a safe place, for reassurance...�
There was no doubt that he
thought he told the truth. Sasuke knew this tone very well; he could remember
the people telling him to forget revenge, that it was bad. He could remember
people telling him what to do, forcing their truth on him. No person was the
same, a solution didn�t work for everyone... they had to find their own path.
Guidance was welcome, but forced conviction just denied what you felt, your own
being.
�Iruka-sensei," sighed
Sasuke, having tuned out what the older man was telling him, "this is none
of your business," he pointed out, as gently as he could.
He saw how the teacher's
stance tensed and the look of stubbornness enter his eyes. They were going to
argue for sure. Kakashi felt the tension too and was already moving to
symbolically part them, even if it was clear it weighed on him. Sasuke's
eyebrow twitched.
"You might have been
his lover but that doesn�t give you the right to judge how our relationship
will work," hissed Sasuke before Iruka could place a word.
"Easy, easy,"
placated Kakashi, glancing at Sasuke with a little smile before turning to
Iruka, scratching his head, "I appreciate the concern Iruka, but we're
fine, ok? If it goes wrong you will be allowed to tell me "I told you
so"," he said, chuckling to dispel the strain.
"It won't," growled
Sasuke, crossing his arms.
"I get it,"
sighed Iruka, rolling his eyes and raising his arms in both peace and
annoyance.
Still shaking his head, he left,
reminding Kakashi to deal with the missions' distribution. The latter waved him
away lazily before turning to his pissed-off lover. He smiled fondly at the
barely visible pout.
"Maah Sasuke-kun, are
you in need of some... distraction?" he proposed, smiling with a twinkle
in his visible eye.
A scroll in the head later
he was obediently and diligently doing his Hokage duties under the watchful
glare of Sasuke who was still managing to study the scrolls.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It was late afternoon and
Sasuke had been allowed to go out as long as he didn't do anything too
stressing for his heart. He was also closely watched by an Anbu guard, not that
he was supposed to know that. He was considering losing the guard and leaving a
scarecrow behind with "blame the pervert" written on it but he
thought better of it.
He had managed to convince
Sakura to let him take the risk only because Karin was due to leave the
hospital today. Sasuke wanted to ready the house for her, fill the fridge and
visit Juugo's grave. She would still be protected by anbu, a reassurance on one
hand, but also a way for the council to keep an eye on her.
Hands in his pockets Sasuke
walked slowly out along the empty roads he had chosen. He couldn't shop without
meeting people... even if he didn't look forward to it. As he had said to
Kakashi, Konoha, even when he believed it was his home, had never truly been.
After the massacre they had left him alone, just like Naruto. No one had deemed
it necessary to look after the 7 year old left behind. Oh, they gossiped, they
tried to push their daughters on him, but they didn't take care of him. He had
been left alone. In crowds of people talking about him he had been utterly and
completely alone. It was still the case. They were going to gossip about him
but they would never truly interact with him.
At least now he had friends
and until now he had made sure to always have a friend around when he shopped,
so their talking would tune out the whispers. Naruto was awesome for that. Or
he would only go to old shops he had previously frequented where people didn't
talk to him at all.
Today however, he would
have to deal with Konoha. It would be a good way to see what image they had of
him. Naruto and Ino, queens of gossip, had supposedly worked on improving that
image.
As planned, murmurs could
be heard the moment he stepped into the commercial street.
"The sole
survivor"..."Did you hear about his brother?"..."He lost a
friend"... "That Karin killed her teammates"..."She was
deemed innocent"..."Can we trust him?"..."he dates the
Hokage"..."He's friends with Naruto" etc etc.
Well they truly were up to
date with their gossip! He would have to wait for the usual tittle-tattle,
confirmation of his identity � as if they would mistake him for someone else -
exchanges of information and so on, to cease before he would hear their opinions.
In the mean time, he would just shop.
His first stop was at the pork
butcher come fishmonger. His eyes trailed slowly over the different meats and
fish, listing the ingredients for the dish he was going to make Karin so she
wouldn't have to cook. He would prepare some for Suigetsu's return too.
"She likes fish."
It was a hesitant statement.
Sasuke raised his head,
meeting the shopkeeper's gaze, a plump woman who was smiling gently at him,
even if timidly. He lifted an eyebrow at her, making sure his stance was relaxed
and open to discussion.
"I assumed you were
shopping for your friend, the poor poor dear"
It was hard not to show his
surprise. There was no doubt she was talking about Karin. Not being rebuffed
made the shopkeeper more at ease and she started to babble as she pointed to
fish and meats.
"This one here, she
likes this. It�s rare to see you shop alone. This one too, she had a sure taste
but you could see she felt out of place. This is her favourite, the poor
sweetie, it's so sad what happened to her, shall I wrap them for you? I saw
your trial you know; it must have been so hard on you, and with your other friends�
death, Juugo right? I'm so sorry you had to deal with all that at your
return," the woman prattled on and on, cutting, weighting, wrapping
anything he nodded to. Finally she took some shrimps and, without weighting
them, gave him all the packages.
"As a well being
gift," she told him, patting his hand softly.
"Thank you,"
replied Sasuke, paying her, still a little stunned.
"You're welcome
dear"
Obviously having seen him
at the butcher's the grocer was waiting for him. All the shops were clustered
together so during market it was livelier. The grocer had readied some food and
was at Sasuke�s beck and call for vegetables and fruits the moment he reached
him. In no time he was done.
"Don't let them win
boy!" he whispered to him, giving him a package of free tomatoes.
"I won't,"
replied Sasuke, nodding his thanks.
"That's the
spirit!" congratulated the man.
"I don't see why
you're all so nice to him," piped up the baker, "he betrayed Konoha
once, he could do it again", he mumbled.�
"Don't be like that;
he wanted to avenge his clan! It was for the best to have him deal with such a
dangerous missing nin," replied a customer, before adding, "even if
now we know the truth about his brother."
"He still violated the
orders and he went to that Orochimaru. His team isn't from here either, they
could plan something!" argued another customer, the baker nodding
vehemently.
"The council is wary
of him for a reason!" he added.
"He killed Orochimaru,
remember? Another missing nin that attacked us! The Hokage and Naruto trust him
and he helped us against Pein and Danzo," retorted the butcher.
"But he's sleeping
with him! Charming his pants off!" shrieked someone.
This last comment elicited
a response from Sasuke. "Konoha destroyed my brother, murdered Juugo and
almost killed Karin, but you're all still alive. That should play in my
favour," distractedly remarked Sasuke, "if someone was charming anyone�s
pants off, that would be Kakashi," he snorted.
"Aww that's mean
Sasuke-kun," drawled Kakashi, puffing up right behind Sasuke.
"You did tell the
council you were "Keeping your friends close and your enemies'
closer", Kakashi-sensei," reminded Sasuke, smirking, as the man
mockingly put his hand on his heart, "aren't you supposed to be working
Hokage-sama?" added Sasuke, glaring and tapping a finger on his upper arm.
"Yes and you're
supposed to be in your room, resting," commented Kakashi, suddenly looking
really serious.
"I got permission from
Sakura to be shopping for Karin, as long as I don't strain myself,"
growled Sasuke, angered he was considered weak.
"That's not the
problem, you could be attacked by ROOT," reminded Kakashi, trying to grab
some packages from Sasuke's hands but the latter stubbornly refusing to give
him any.
"I've got Anbu
permanently shadowing me," pointed out Sasuke, hissing as his ass was
pinched. He lost a bag as he slapped Kakashi's hand off.�
"Still, it's a risk I
don't want to take," smiled Kakashi, making sure to keep the stolen bag
away from his former student.
Sasuke huffed, rolling his
eyes. Then he heard a cooing noise and remembered they had company. The butcher
literally had hearts in her eyes as she found their little display utterly
cute. Kakashi laughed as Sasuke recoiled in horror, totally blaming him.
Fuming, he walked away, which by Uchiha standard could be considered stomping
away, toward his house.
Kakashi chuckled fondly and
turned to the baker, ordering the bread Sasuke had forgotten to buy.�
"He's trying to make
Konoha into his home even if it betrayed him so harshly and some people are
still trying to kill him and his loved ones. He's fighting to turn this place
into the village it pretended to be, you should be thankful," said softly
Kakashi, before flipping open Icha Icha paradise and puffing out.
As he teleported into
Sasuke's and his team's house, he had dropped the Hokage robe on the floor,
kicked his shoes off and slowly approached the kitchen where his pissed off
lover was cutting vegetables as if they were Danzo in person.
"I'm glad to see you
have people on your side," he drawled, sneaking his arms around Sasuke's
waist and dropping butterfly kisses on the pale neck, through his mask.
His former student simply
snorted at that but he had relaxed slightly.
"After the massacre, I
was left to fend for myself. They were too scared of Itachi coming back to talk
to me, they also didn't know how to deal with the last survivor, so they just
dropped the issue. I was too much of a reminder something had gone terribly
wrong, and they didn't want to question what. Even that beloved Hokage of yours
couldn't face his crimes," Sasuke's voice was stern, a tint of bitterness
in it.�
Kakashi tightened his hold,
he knew Sandaime had watched over Naruto, and certainly upon Sasuke too but
from afar, the poor man certainly couldn't deal with his decisions. But he had
kept his promise to Itachi.
"Now there is no more
threat, but myself, so now they try to sweet talk me to be on their side rather
than against them, all that topped with a nice touch of feeling guilty. That's
all there is to it, oh and maybe they try to stick to that lie of being the
fluffy village," chuckled Sasuke darkly, throwing his vegetables into the
frying pan.
"Or maybe they just
want to be nice? You're not easy to get close to Sasuke, but your trial helped
show them you weren't an asshole but more an ice-berg with a fiery temperament
and a soft-core," purred Kakashi, bracing himself for a stab with a sharp
kitchen knife.�
"Sometimes people
build walls around them just to see who will try to climb them," replied
Sasuke, giving a fast squeeze to Kakashi's hands before breaking his embrace to
continue his cooking.
Kakashi leaned against the
counter top, pondering. Climbing them huh? Not breaking them down. He had to
agree with that. Walls were made by people who were hurt so much they didn't
want to be wounded anymore... breaking them down
wasn't a good way, climbing them would be respecting the person and his fears.
In time it would surely make the walls melt down from inside?
"You're angry at
them?" he wondered.
He opened Icha Icha
Paradise and lazily watched Sasuke moving around, doing many things at one time
and managing not to burn anything. For a moment he chuckled to himself as he
imagined the young man cooking with the sharingan activated. He didn't help him,
because it was for Karin.
"No"
"No?" pushed
Kakashi, smiling with his eye when Sasuke sent him a dirty look for forcing him
to talk.
"Playing psychologist?"
he growled.
"Na just trying to
climb the wall," teased Kakashi, turning a page while at the same time
peeking at his lover.�
Sasuke rolled his eyes and
went back to his food before something got out of control.
"They do
what they can, at least they have a better insight of the situation," grumbled
Sasuke, "And I don't need them, I have my own precious people to take care
of me," he added barely above a whisper.
Kakashi opened his mouth to
say something but was reduced to silence as Sasuke pulled his mask off, pushed
a piece of sliced apple in and put back the cloth. Smirking haughtily at the
bewildered look on his sensei's face, Sasuke started putting the food in
Tupperware.
ooooooooooooooooo To be continued oooooooooooooo
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Reunion of Shadows