Crow's feathers - Naruto fanfiction

Chapter 77 Those left behind

They looked up when the front door opened. Sasuke came strolling in. There was dirt on his clothes and a large cut ran across his cheek.
Both Daro and Taryn eyed him confused when he walked past them towards the fridge.
“What happened to you?” Taryn asked, but he ignored her. She looked at Daro who shrugged.
Taryn felt a bit nervous. Had he gotten into trouble with the other shinobi? He must have been fighting with someone. He wasn’t clumsy and no cut like that came from falling.
Just when she was about to comment on it, the door opened again and Hiro came in. He wore a grin on his face. His shirt was torn and there was a bruise forming in his cheekbone.
He smirked at Daro. “So, this is where you ran off to? What’s Casey gonna say?”
“Shut up will you,” Daro said, but he was smirking.
Taryn sighed and shook her head. Something told her she didn’t want to know what had transpired.
“Are you two staying for diner?” she asked instead.
“I can’t,” Daro said apologetic, “I’m meeting Casey tonight. And I have to prepare for the mission.”
Taryn nodded in understanding. “You should hurry then,” she said with a smile, “don’t keep her waiting.”
Hiro sighed disappointed. “I can’t stay either. Yumi is coming back from her mission tonight and mom wants to have a family dinner.”
“See you sensei,” Daro said while standing up, “and thanks.. you know…”
Taryn smiled warmly. “I’ll see you when you get back.” She watched the two boys leave and sighed. They were leading their own lives now.
She stood up and made for the fridge.
Sasuke took a step aside to make room for her.
“A letter came for you,” she said while taking out a milk carton.
Sasuke blinked in surprise. A letter? For him? Who would write to him? “Who is it from?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered, “I did not read it. It’s in your room.” She put the milk back. “I’m gonna pick up Ichiru. Omelet with dinner?”
Sasuke nodded absentminded. His mind was still with her earlier words. He barely noticed her leave the house.
Who would write him a letter?

***

“So much paperwork,” Naruto complained. He slumped down in a chair across from Kakashi.
Kakashi sighed. “Yes, that’s the life of Hokage.” He shove a file towards the Uzumaki boy. “You can start on this one. That’s a list from all Academy graduates. They need to be divided into teams and appointed a sensei. The list with available Jounin is with it.”
Naruto’s eyes lit up and he grinned. “I get to pick teams?”
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “It’s a very responsible job, Naruto. Lives can depend in how you divide the teams.”
Naruto’s eyes turned serious. “How do I know what’s right?”
“You’ll have to look at each student’s abilities and figure out how they can complement each other. Don’t place all the strong ones in one team. And put them under a Jounin that can help them improve.”
Naruto’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. This would be a lot harder than he had anticipated. With a sigh he studied the list of students. “Five girls and seven boys. That would make four teams of three. At least one team would have two girls. Or one team of all girls.
Naruto shook his head. He shivered when he thought of girls like Ino and Sakura in one team. They would need a strong boy on their team to tone them down. He was already feeling sorry for the kid. 
He sighed. ‘Here goes…’

***

“You can see the entire village from here,” Ichiru beamed. He was leaning out of the window of the Kazekage’s office.
Gaara sighed while plucking the boy from the windowsill. “Be careful Iku. Your mother is going to kill me if you fall down.”
“Are you causing trouble Iku?”
Gaara turned around, the boy still under his arm, and looked at his sister. “About time you showed up,” he said, “I was just about to toss him.”
Ichiru gasped and started struggling.
Taryn smiled amused. “Why didn’t you?”
“Mom!” Ichiru complained.
Gaara smirked and let go of his nephew. He’d just come back to haunt me.” He turned to his sister. “Any news?”
“Not much,” Taryn answered, “the village is still stable. There’s been progress with Juugo of Tempin too. They’re using chakra suppressors. They seem to be working. He’s been moved from the prison blocks and given an apartment close to where the Uchiha Quarters used to be. He’s under strict guard, but at least he gets to go outside once in a while. I don’t think he’ll give them much trouble. He wants to be a good person.”
Gaara nodded. “I’m sure Kakashi knows what he’s doing.” He eyed her carefully. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
Taryn bit her lip and looked at Ichiru. “Why don’t you wait for me outside? I need to talk to uncle Gaara.”
Ichiru looked from his mother to his uncle and nodded meekly. “Okay.”
“I’ll be right out.” She waited until the door had closed behind him.
“What is it?” Gaara asked concerned.
Taryn sighed. “Kakashi’s been thinking about putting Itachi’s name on the KIA Stone. He wants to know how I feel about it.”
Gaara looked at her thoughtfully. “How do you feel about it?”
“I don’t know,” Taryn said softly, “part of me wants his sacrifice to be acknowledged, but Itachi didn’t want anyone to know.” She sighed. “He’s doing this for me. And I appreciate it, but the whole of Konoha is gonna know the truth. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
“What does Sasuke think?” Gaara asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t told him yet.”
Gaara nodded and looked at the door. “He is going to ask about it one day,” he said, “what are you going to tell him?”
“I don’t want to lie to him,” she said, “he deserves to know the truth.” She sighed, “he’s still so young. I’m afraid he won’t understand.”

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AN Please check out my new story Clash of the Brats.It's a colab with Amaterasu and includes more Taryn and her students :) The first chapter was just posted. I would really appreciate some feedback :)