Destiny of Uchiha || Sasuke Uchiha x Oc

1. STRAYING THOUGHTS

Kakashi's Pov.

Two and a half years had passed since Sasuke had left the village. Shizuka had disappeared a few weeks earlier and, thanks to Jiraiya, there was no doubt that the two were with Orochimaru.
It took some persuasion on my part, but Jiraiya had eventually chatted and said that he had met Shizuka with Orochimaru when he was searching for Tsunade. Naruto, who had been there at the time, had to promise to keep the encounter to himself.

After Sasuke had disappeared, Naruto set off on a training journey with Jiraiya. So the secret was safe for the time being. Sakura was the only one from the team who stayed behind in Konoha and had started to study with Tsunade. There were no dangerous missions during those two years, which is why I often had time to think about the two absent shinobi.

The thought of Shizuka and Sasuke being together at Orochimaru's calmed me down.
Sasuke had changed since Shizuka returned to the village. At first, the boy was consumed by hatred and driven by revenge. The more time the two spent together, the more he seemed to deviate from his plan.
I knew he had left the Leaf because of her and not because of the power Orochimaru had promised him.
But Sasuke wasn't the only one who had changed over time. Shizuka, who seemed emotionless and cold at the beginning, had opened up a bit. When she was with Sasuke, she seemed more relaxed, every now and then you could see her smirk or smile.
The two of them were good for each other and I think they would make a good couple. Just thinking about the face they would make when they heard this made me smile.

Sakura and Naruto didn't know about the close bond between the two Uchiha, although they also noticed Sasuke's change.
In Sakura's case, it's probably for the better. I think it would bother her even more if she knew that Sasuke had a weak spot for the female Uchiha.

Even though I didn't spend much time with Shizuka, it was still important to me to bring her back. For one, she hadn't told me everything about her past, which I had hoped she would. And I wanted an explanation as to why she had left without saying anything. Shizuka had never been the kind of girl who would join to Orochimaru out of revenge or lust for power. When she did something, it was always well thought out and made sense.

Tsunade promised me that she wouldn't brand them as nukenins yet. At least until we knew what the Uchiha duo was planning. Shizuka's words to Jiraiya that she didn't want to fight or kill him or any Hidden Leaf shinobi finally convinced Tsunade and she sent out more search parties for the Uchiha.
Eventually we gave up the search, while Danzo was keen to intensify the search for Shizuka. He was really persistent and seemed almost obsessed with finding her, which made me suspicious of him and was another reason why I wanted to talk to Shizuka.

I remembered that dubious test where he was determined to push her to her limits. At that point, the whole thing already seemed strange to me, but I hadn't thought about it any further.
Danzo was one of the elders and only wanted to protect Konoha. But by now I didn't know if he was doing it to protect the village or if he just wanted Shizuka here to keep an eye on her. This interest in Shizuka made me doubt his good intentions. Her disappearance and this secrecy about her abilities were definitely connected.

Why were the Uchiha so opaque? Why did they always have to act on their own and not accept help? I wondered, as I had for the last two years, whether Shizuka had learned anything and whether she had become even stronger. How had Sasuke developed? Had Shizuka managed to finally dissuade him from his thoughts of revenge?

»Hello, sensei,« a familiar voice tore me out of my thoughts.
So, Naruto was back.
I stood up from my shaded, comfortable seat on the roof of the Hokage tower and put my book back into my pouch. Even though I wanted to know how the story continued, my thoughts had wandered quite a bit.
»You've grown,« I observed as I took in the sight of the blonde.
»I learned a lot too,« he said with a grin.

A window opened in the Hokage's office and Tsunade stuck her head out to us. »Enough of the chit-chat. You can still do that once we've talked about your team,« she commanded and motioned for us to come in.
In the Hokage's office, Shizune and Sakura were present alongside Tsunade.

»Good, now that Team 7 is back in action -«
Sakura and Naruto lowered their heads, their thoughts immediately turning to Sasuke. They still weren't over it and it seemed to affect them, even though so much time had already passed.
»- you will both compete against Kakashi again to show what progress you've made. After that, I'll decide what happens next,« the Hokage continued unhindered.

»When are we going to look for Sasuke and Shizuka?« Naruto asked, his head still bowed. His hands were clenched into fists.
I was surprised that he mentioned Shizuka as well, even though those two never really interacted.

»Finding Shizuka is the job of her former team,« Sakura noted, seeming just as surprised.
»But she's also a ninja of Konoha, just like Sasuke. It doesn't matter which team she was on. If she and Sasuke are at Orochimaru's together, what will you do? Take Sasuke and leave her behind?« Naruto inquired.
Sakura's face twisted at the word ›together‹, but she didn't let on.

Of course Naruto knew that they were together with the former sannin, but he acted like he had no idea and was saying it hypothetically.
I hadn't thought the young man had that much ingenuity. He usually spoke rather thoughtlessly.

»No, of course not,ü« the kunoichi replied.
»Since there are no further clues as to their whereabouts, we will continue with our normal daily routine. You will not do anything on your own. Is that clear, Naruto?« asked Tsunade sullenly.

She didn't tolerate any backtalk and Naruto knew that. But he still didn't seem very enthusiastic.
The two stood facing each other and had a little stare-duel before Naruto finally gave in and nodded.
»Good, then we'll meet at training ground 3 at nightfall,« said Tsunade and dismissed us.