The day was unequivocally uneventful for me. Despite having to deal with the mountainous pile of labor extensive paperwork that was increasing every time I had turned away out of spite just for the sake of procrastination, it just had to be done on this quaint desk of this depressing, dark, bland, and scarcely furnished office of mine. It used to be worse but this had certainly topped those worst days easily and thus I was stuck there throughout the day and into the night. Suna and Konoha had been working closely with one another since the recent Chuunin exam. Foundation Anbu had been tasked to closely monitor the two countries' safety during the exam, a kind gesture from the Hokage that was willingly sharing resources with the Kazekage. At least, that was what people were allowed to know if they got a high enough pay grade. It was my own suggestion to the Hokage herself. It was a brilliant plan because some of the Suna ninjas were about to evoke a coup on Gaara. I had personally stopped such things from happening to Gaara though. Foundation Anbu had since been operating under the watchful eyes of the two Kages.
How of a tiresome time to be living in. The desk was littered with intels, mission reports, and candidate lists for new Foundation Anbu operatives that I was compiling with Sai-san. I was happy to see a number of my friends interested in joining the ranks of Foundation Anbu. Neji's application was on top of my priority lists, although I think that he would be much suited to serve directly under the Hokage in the Black Ops. There was one other missive that I was expecting today, Fu's report on his current assignment. My pen scratched the paper loudly as it glided on it to form words in the reports I was reviewing. The sound was filling up this empty room and enthralled me deep into what I was doing right then.
'Hmm, you seemed to be highly immersed in that particular document, is there anything fancy in there?' someone loudly said. In a surprise, my blood pressure skyrocketed as the blood left my heart at a rapid pace and of course, my breathing stopped as a familiar black cat registered in my peripheral view at the left corner of my desk. It took me a few moments to level out my nerves and the cat waited expectantly for my reply.
'At the very least, announce your entrance, Juzo-san,' I chided the old cat.
'It's not my fault that you are so distracted, Wasure Rareta Hito*,' the taciturn ninneko said as he chuckled at my exasperation as the familiar black, mahogany scroll with a Mangekyou insignia puffed into existence. In turn, a timid knock was heard from the door. I gestured at the doors for the cat's sake in the hope that he would learn some more human mannerisms that he lacked thereof. I quickly hid the scroll in my flak jacket.
'Come in,' I announced and the door creaked open. The familiar Aburame walked into my office with a piece of paper in his hand. Torune had been on the roster with Fu since I sent him on a mission to follow my best friend and my senior on their journey. They both hadn't been doing it in secret, instead, they went about without masks and voluntarily followed the idiots literally. It's not like I was against it, it's just that they had been helping Naruto on his study with Jiraiya-senpai. I could only hope that the knucklehead didn't trouble my operatives. What I meant was that Naruto isn't the most diligent student when it comes to studying. Both of them hadn't made any indications that something bad had happened and I am not inclined to ask them.
'Ossu, Boss! Sorry to bother your discussion with Juzo-dono, but this just came in this morning,' Torune cheerily said as he passed me a scroll he had and I quickly caught it before I read the contents. It was encoded, of course, Sai had been very helpful in teaching me the Foundation Anbu signature secret codes for reading the encrypted messages. A smile made its way to my face.
'I see, they are coming home,' I breathed and Torune managed to chuckle. One thing I had noticed is that both Torune and Fu had become somewhat loosened up and absorbed a bit of my senpai and my friend's behavioral characteristic and speech pattern in which they weren't as stoic as the first time I had known them.
"This is good news I guess or the Akatsuki had really onto them now. Jiraiya-sama did tell us that if worst comes to worst, they will return to the village," he stated.
'Could be, but it is about time that they return home anyway," I replied as I placed the paper on my 'In' tray that was ever piling up with paperwork for me to review. Torune dismissed himself soon afterward as I became deep in thought about our ever-elusive adversary. My Foundation Anbu operatives and ANBU Black Ops alike had failed to get a whiff about the organization. I couldn't blame them though as the organization was immensely secretive even to its member but Itachi had already provided us with enough information if he could from time to time--the Akatsuki consists of a squad of S-rank criminals working as mercenaries as well as having a leader wielding Rinnegan and the organization was possibly being controlled or manipulated by 'Madara'. That guy would be the most paranoid and highly cautious ninja in the organization and yet to reveal his real plan so Itachi couldn't risk exposure just yet. Such was also the same as Orochimaru's case, the deranged Snake Sannin had slipped through our grasp every time that we got a whiff of them and along with him, Sasuke. I sighed as I thought about my lost teammate, my weaknesses had led him to slip into the dark path. If only that I was more hard-headed, he would've returned way back before he disappeared. I had to think of some tactics to get him back here without any major repercussions on Team 7's part. Thinking of those Uchihas brought me back to the recently hidden scroll in my jacket, without a second thought, I withdrew the scroll to read it.
"Wasure Rareta Hito,
There is an unprecedented situation about me that both of us need to meet face to face. Meet me at a Dango shop near Taki and Fire border.
Sign,
Misute Rareta Hito**
P.S: We will be having a long discussion."
I rolled back the scroll before I set it ablaze. I didn't even miss the cryptic postscript at the end that I could only assume that he had found out about his amnesty. There was only one culprit for this predicament and it was sitting on my desk right now.
'Juzo, by any chance, did you tell Itachi about my decision regarding him that you unceremoniously forced me to tell you a few months ago?' I darkly questioned the cat as he gnawed on the fish nonchalantly. Even worse, Juzo merely huffed at me. I blew a heavy breath as I wiped my whole face and I grumbled about taking away the fish and tossed it to Tora before I whipped up an empty scroll to write my reply to Itachi. Juzo immediately disappeared from my office after I sealed the scroll that I was sending through him. Soon afterward, I finally could go home, seeing as it was already late and Hitori might get angry at me tonight. Wouldn't want to mess with an angry Hitori, you'll burn, literally.
The next morning, I woke up to Hitori's shouting from the kitchen as per usual. In all honesty, my coming home late at night had never failed to numb down our nocturnal activities. Hitori never even muttered a single complaint about my late return and instead, she made do with what she had and made every other night ever so meaningful. I could already smell the brine scent of the dashi simmering on the stove. With a heavy sigh, I opened my still drowsy eyes and stood up from the bed. With no clothes on, I could see my whole body in the mirror that we used as a closet door. It was littered with scars, more so on my thighs. Much to my relief, I had ceased harming myself and I was thankful to Inoichi-sama that helped me and Sakura. The most profound scar was from the balcony of the Konoha General Hospital. That one had made its mark on our lives, Sakura and me. We are now the better version of who we once were.
'Honey, you will be late for your trip!' Hitori shouted yet again. She had no doubt had finished whipping me and my escort a bento.
'Yes, yes,' I said as I scurried into the bathroom before she got even mad with me.
My bath was brief as Hitori had already prepared the hot tub and the bathrobe for me beforehand. Now, the protection detail was once a privilege for a director of a ninja unit in Konoha that was going out on a mission outside of the village but since my meltdown at the hospital years ago, Tsunade-senpai had made it her business to ensure that I would always be accompanied by someone if I am going outside of my village, or anywhere actually, as a precaution. I sighed as I thought of this village that had done so much for me that I couldn't afford to let them down and I will not let them down. After the delicious breakfast, I went back to the bedroom to change into my traveling gear. I wore my black jumpsuit with the Foundation Anbu khaki robe on top of it and my mask was safely hidden out of sight within the robe and also not to mention my trusty Fudo Masamune along with a few others supplementary weapons are safely stored in scrolls which were in my back pouch. Afterward, I went to the front door to wear my sandals and stood up to face my love who was holding two bento for me.
'Here is your bento and one for your escort. Who is it going to be?' she asked as she handed me the bento. Our fingers barely grazed one another and a strike of static electricity could be felt. She blushed pink signaling that she had felt it too. When our eyes met, it was the first time we met all over again. Feelings of longing, excitement, and expectation were overwhelming our senses as we got more and more close to one another. I risked a peck on her cheek, to which she replied with ensnaring me in a vice-like hug and kissed me passionately to which I indulged gladly. When we were done, we were both panting and wanting more. Too bad that it had to end for now.
'To answer your question, it's Sai. Thank you for the bento and last night,' I breathed, trying to dispel our lust to no avail. She was looking deeply into my eyes like a kitten wanting a piece of the fish that I was eating.
'Wait for me. I won't be too long and when I am back, let's go out on a date?' I coaxed and it worked. Her face had brightened up considerably.
'Hurry back! I want to go to the Dango shop,' she exclaimed happily before she waved at me. Chuckling, I shunshinned into my senpai's office. Tsunade-senpai was finishing some paperwork as Sakura was waiting for an errand from her master, Tonton was happy to see me of course as I always spoilt her with a treat if I ever came across the pet pig for the day.
'Hey, morning, Hikari-kun! You're going out?' Sakura beamed as we high-five as we had always done every time we met. She still rocks her signature maroon color but now she had gloves added to her attire that was slightly altered to suit her taijutsu style. That glove is there for a damn good reason and you wouldn't want to mess with her, trust me, I learned that the hard way. I quickly reached into my back pocket and tossed a treat to Tonton who was appreciative of it.
'Yeah,' I answered. 'Morning, Sakura, Tsunade-senpai. How's the war with the paperwork?'
The Hokage immediately blew a heavy sigh. I mean, who in their right mind would like doing paperwork.
'Che! You would know. What's the business?' she asked as she placed down her brush. My expression was turned into a serious one.
'I am meeting our spy. Foundation Anbu official business, you know?' I calmly said as I gave her a pointed look. She was silent at first and was understanding the fact that I was meeting Itachi. She never really agreed with my decision regarding the rogue Uchiha but she hadn't got much choice since Itachi is the only spy the five nations couldn't provide. The man though was no doubt would be unwilling with my decision and had other plans in mind regarding his future.
'You must be extra careful, Hikari-kun,' Tsunade-senpai finally breathed. Concern was still evident in her expression. It was funny how a strong-willed woman such as she had that expression on her face. It was like how out of place a Hercules beetle would be if its shell was pink. Of course, I had to laugh.
'Senpai, you know that I always have an escort with me, one of my men at that. I confidently trust his ability. Write me quick paperwork for those two at the gate, will you?' I explained and she hastily wrote the particulars on a piece of paper before she gave it to me. 'Thanks, senpai. See you later, Sakura-Tyrant.'
I flickered out of the office using Shunshin no Jutsu before any excessively strong fists rained on me and made my way to the gates with ease. The scenery when I normally run was a flurry of images to me and I found it somewhat comforting to me, being distracted by it and all. The balance between speed and clarity had made me enchanted and took my mind off the countless burden I bore throughout my days in Konoha. I owed a shard of my peace of mind solely to Inoichi-Sama, as he said I was that piece of work--all broken but mended enough to be just sane. In no time at all, I arrived at the gate to which I was the first to arrive.
'Oh, Hikari-sam...' Izumo greeted me before I immediately flickered behind him with a sharp kunai on my hand directed at his left carotid. The man was quick to correct himself.
'Sorry, kid, my bad. It's the hangovers,' Izumo said nervously, earning him a good laugh from his partner.
'Hahahahaha! That's what you get for tricking me into paying your booze last night!' Kotetsu barked. 'So, what's up, Hikari-kun? It's way too early for your standard and I'm surprised that Hitori let you go out on your own.'
'Ha-ha, very funny. I am going out for a bit with one of my men. Official Foundation Anbu business,' I said before I handed over my paperwork to them. Kotetsu looked over the document before stamping it and put it aside. Out of nowhere, Sai who was clad in a khaki robe and mask appeared in a cloud of smoke. The two jumped a bit to the sudden appearance.
'Good morning, Director, Izumo-senpai, Kotetsu-senpai!' Sai said in his signature false enthusiastic tone. The said two swallowed down the bile that was in their throat. They, like all other ninjas in Konoha, were still getting used to us Foundation Anbu. Maybe it was the compulsory mask that we wore even when we were amongst our allies or maybe it was our long and dark history as a thorn deep in Konoha's belly. I could only hope that they would understand that the Foundation Anbu had changed.
'Morning, Cat-san. It's been a while since we saw you,' Kotetsu said nervously, making an effort to greet Sai. In the meantime, I put up my disguise as I wore my mask as Sai conversed with them.
'Ah, the Director didn't seem to put me on outside mission much these days. Maybe I am taking Tiger-san and Boar-san's place as his favorite or maybe I am getting a promotion?' The mouthy stoic guy joked with a monotonous tone. Izumo and Kotetsu's sweat dropped due to being baffled by what Sai had said.
'He is reading a book on human communication skills as a pastime. Give him a break,' I said to them. 'Let's go, Cat. You still need to brush up your joke more.'
'Safe travels, Oni-kun,' Izumo said before I waved at them and turned the other way to run.
It took us the whole morning to reach the fire border and a few minutes more to the Dango shop that Itachi mentioned. For the whole trip, I discussed with Sai about our members' progress on their interpersonal skills. It was essential with what I had in mind with how Foundation Anbu was heading today. They were making steady progress as he stated, pretty much everyone in the Foundation Anbu could hold a normal conversation with other ninjas in the village. I mean like proper, small talk, part of the social kind of conversation. Sai had it worse than the rest of the Foundation Anbu because that guy was a passionate kid that was forced to shut away his emotion. He didn't kill the 'brother' that he was living with during the initiation period as that dead bastard had wanted. Sai was struggling to bring it out in the open rather than the others who were learning it back as he still thought that it was wrong for him as a Foundation Anbu operative to bear emotions. Danzo had fucked Sai's mind well. I curse internally at the bastard. His heartless and callous ways had messed up the entirety of the operatives. Some may not even show progress at all but luckily for me, I know someone who could pierce through his shell as he did to my right-hand guys. In the afternoon, the Dango shop was already within sight, so we slowed our pace until we reached the shop.
'Welcome to my humble Dango stall, shinobi-san,' the old man running the joint greeted us with glee. At least, the customer service wasn't bad thus I might order some Dango as we wait for Itachi. This shop was popular for Dango enthusiasts thus, Anko might be appreciative if I brought these back for her.
'We're expecting one more person, Oji-san. Table for three, please and I'd like to have some Mitarashi while you're at it as well as a takeaway later for the road.' I said and the old man quickly gestured us to our seats before he made his way back to the kitchen. There wasn't any noticeable character around here rather than the civilians seemed to be accustomed to seeing a masked man in a robe sitting here at the Dango shop. I shrugged at the situation before I eased myself more into the seat.
'Who are we meeting, by the way, Oni-kun?' Sai finally broke the silence.
'Our most valuable asset,' I replied before a flock of crows gathered together to reveal the raven-haired Uchiha clad in a black robe lined with red clouds. Sai was quick to reach for his weapon and stood up. I was faster though as I grabbed his forearm and pulled him back to his seat.
'You're early,' Itachi murmured. He was still figuring us out because he wasn't sure which of us was me.
'A shinobi must arrive only when it was of opportune for him, neither early nor late. Itachi-san,' I said to break up the silence. The Uchiha took a seat in front of us. No one said a word but the old man from the shop had come to bring out my order. We were still silent as he served us.
'The usual, Uchiha-Sama?' the old man asked whilst the said man grunted the Uchiha's patented sound. Sensing the tension that was rising, the old man was quick to retreat to his kitchen. As per standard operating procedure, I didn't take off my mask and Sai had immediately used a barrier jutsu around our table to prevent any prying ears from listening to our conversation.
'You look good, Itachi-san. How have you been?' I began but Itachi was eyeing Sai that was sitting as still as a rock on the ground. To some, they might find it creepy but Itachi was the genius and always saw through the underneath. He knew that Sai was Foundation Anbu and he was still contemplating the man's presence in this meeting.
'Don't worry about him. He is here to watch over me. I am not that right in the head. Tsunade-senpai wouldn't want me to chop off my body parts again,' I joked and the man closed his eyes before grunting.
'Meaning?' Itachi questioned.
'Exactly as I said it, I had once cut a few pieces of my thigh and ate it in a mental breakdown. That was not a treasured memory to me and my peers, so leave it at that,' I said, sadly. I could see that he was startled by this revelation and believe me when I say that he had a brief moment of concern on his face before he reverted to his nondescript expression.
'I guess, even the most powerful ninja in the world won't be without some absurd flaws,' he began, 'but I digress. The Akatsuki are beginning to act more actively in our pursuit of the tailed beast. All other unrelated missions had been called off and Leader wanted us to focus on this one. We are being sent out to outrightly pursue the Jinchuriki.'
Instinctively, I slammed my fist on the table. Torune was right and I should have increased the manpower that was with Jiraiya-senpai and Naruto. Then, something clicked in my head, I must be focused and kept being objective in this matter.
'Is there any order in the collecting process, I mean, do you need to start with any particular tailed beast or something?' I inquired, worried about the Kazekage.
'It is not about the number of tails, instead, it is about the assessed risks and the capability of the two-man cell in charge of the capture. Adding to that they had reconnaissance on the target beforehand, it won't be predictable, I'll tell you that much. I'll notify you about who is getting who if I got the chance but the window wouldn't be as good as before. Kisame had already become curious,' he answered. I might have been forced to act soon if it was that way. My eyes were wide as I thought about countless possibilities in my head.
'You know, they tried to gain information on you but when their spy came up empty, they became wary. You need to watch over yourself because you are a threat to the Akatsuki due to your feat with me. They are under the impression that you were experimented on when you were little,' Itachi added and I couldn't help but snort at the comment.
'What else to expect when a kid bested the Uchiha prodigy and the Tailless Tailed Beast on his own. That's nothing new,' I joked and Itachi seemed a bit irritated at my words.
'Pride is a shinobi's easiest key to his downfall, Hikari-kun. Remember that,' Itachi chided and I quickly rubbed the back of my head before I laughed nervously.
'I am only joking, Itachi-san. Sheesh, keep your hair on! I assure you that I am not that easy to get hold of you know. Besides, they got a whole nation and the Foundation Anbu to get through before they get to me,' I retorted. No words were heard from him but the old man came back to bring out Itachi's order. Naturally, we decided to go through our food before continuing again.
'Another thing, which is partly the main reason that I wanted to meet you in person. Why did you have me pardoned and assigned me as the Foundation Anbu Captain and you're second in command?' Itachi said after he took the last bite of his Dango. On cue, I choked on the tea that I was drinking and Sai visibly stirred in his seat. The matter was supposed to be confidential even towards my operatives. Predictably, he turned to me for an answer.
'I should've killed that old cat,' I said in disdain.
'Ninneko is rarely able to keep a secret unless they promise so. Juzo especially,' the Uchiha clarified. I could only sigh heavily as Sai returned to his previous posture.
"That was rambunctious even for you, Hikari-kun. You don't have to do that. My previous plans were necessary for the Uchiha's sake and for me to atone my sins to my clan," Itachi added and I let out a much heavier sigh.
'Itachi-san, tell me, why would you as a brother leave your little brother to live the dark life he is on right now?' I questioned but when I was met with silence, I pressed on.
'Did you know that he had fled the village? Your plans had already fallen to pieces now, isn't it?' I said.
'It doesn't matter as long as Sasuke would search for me and kill me to restore the Uchiha to its former glory,' Itachi defended and I clenched my fist to hold back some of the boiling anger inside of me. 'I will make sure that Sasuke will come back to Konoha.'
I slammed the table, angry. The seal was close to being dispelled due to my action.
'Damn fucking right, you will. Are you fucking dumb? Your family should be more fucking important than any fucking else. Have you ever thought about what he fucking feels at all? Do you even know how fucked up he is? He is fucking obsessed to kill you. Even if he succeeded, what then? Are you sure that he would be in a right fucking state of mind? Have you fucking regressed to a fucking retard, Itachi?' I lashed out darkly and Sai was quick to nudge me. Itachi was noticeably startled at my outburst.
'Your less-than-desirable-self is leaking out, Oni-kun,' Sai said. Immediately, I took a deep breath and remembered a breathing technique from my therapy session to calm my nerves down to which I was successful. Itachi was baffled at my change of personality.
'Sorry about that. When I got heated, my personality changed,' I said and Sai just had to chuckle.
'Well, that's an understatement,' he snorted as he wiggled for a bit in his seat and that had earned him a hard slap at the back of the head.
'Stuff it, pale face,' I growled. 'Anyway, the ones who knew your true circumstances are all dead now and I find that Danzo's order is much too callous to make sense of. So, I should be the one to correct their mistakes and give you a true mission for their sins towards the innocent Uchiha children that died that night. I know you didn't need this on your conscience but the kids that died that night were innocent, Itachi-san. It was on your hands even if you didn't personally kill them. You let them die.''
No words could be heard from the Uchiha before he rose and bid us goodbye. I asked for forgiveness for my harsh words but he grunted and disappeared in a flock of crows. I would have sighed at his behavior but I was distracted by the presence of a distant chakra signature. Immediately, I turned to the source expecting the impossibility.
'Mother?' I said as I flicked my head towards the direction of the chakra signature. 'No, this chakra had too much evil intent.'
If that person was listening to our conversation, Itachi's cover might be compromised for him to be spied on like this. Then again, one would be wise to watch over their back when it comes to the Uchiha. The same could be said towards all of the other Otsutsuki members, some were forced to join and others were so unhinged that they could betray themselves at a moment's notice. This was saying something about how fearful they are towards the leader of the organization, the wielder of Rinnegan. There was no one I could see even with the Byakugan. I was beginning to wonder if I was having a psychotic break right then but Sai came to my rescue.
'What's wrong, Director? What did you see?' he questioned. The signature had disappeared suddenly, I shook my head and told him nothing. After paying the old man for the Dango and a takeaway, we too disappeared in a puff of smoke.
On our way back, my mind was churning with information and no doubt, questions. Who was it that was watching us, I was 100% sure that I had sensed Mother's chakra but with that much evil intent, I knew that she wouldn't even want to warp into this timeline to see me. Hell, if she had wanted to, she could've done it way before she had those two. I hoped that I was imagining things for Itachi's sake. I mean, he, of course, could take care of himself but this is Mother we are talking about; this world's progenitor of chakra, so to speak. Not many people know how devastating my mother was when she merged with the Divine Tree, which goes to show the length that my brother would go to stop her from destroying this world.
'What are your intentions about Itachi, Director?' Sai suddenly blurted out when we were in the vicinity of the village. I didn't realize how dark the day had been. I digested the information I had received for the whole journey, I must have been too distracted to notice.
'Huh? Hmm, how to explain this? Are you familiar with the concept of the sacredness of human life?' I asked. 'Every life is precious regardless of whether their heart is good or bad. Jiraiya-senpai once said that it is my job as a sage ninja to find the people that beseech my help and guide them back to the path of righteousness. That and I didn't think that Itachi had thought about his choices through. Granted he was cornered by Danzo and his clan but, the Uchiha could still be talked out of their coup d'etat. I understand that the late clan leader's wife, Mikoto-sama was good friends with the late Yondaime's wife. Negotiations would have been fruitful if she would help Sandaime-sama talked to her husband and those poor children that died that night would still be alive today. The kids alone would have been crucial to Konoha. A full squad of Uchihas must have been much more unbeatable compared to having just one rogue and revenge-crazed genin.'
Sai seemed to be satisfied with my answer. When we reached the gates, it was Morino-san and Anko-san's turn to run the night shift. Fortunately for me, I didn't have to go looking for her. I took off my robe and mask and gave them to Sai.
'Do not repeat what you heard from me to anyone, Sai. Itachi, regardless of what he felt about my intentions, won't be returning home and take up that position anytime soon. He is right where the village needed him to be. Within the belly of the beast,' I requested.
'Very well, Director,' said Sai. 'But I was interested in how he would run the unit if he were to come back at all. I understand that he was an Anbu Captain at such a young age.'
'Me too, see you later,' I said to him as I walked towards the gate, inspecting the takeaway dango for any damage during my travels.
'Eh, back already? Did you get scared on the way and had to run back home brat?' Anko-san teased. Naturally, I grumbled at her before hoisting the dango onto her lap.
'Always a pleasure to see you here, Anko-neechan, Morino san,' I said soon afterward.
'Good evening, kid. Did you finish what you wanted to do? Where's your escort?' Morino-san asked.
'I did, I had dismissed him for the day. He could use a time off after all the running we've done for the whole day,' I said.
'What a bunch of pansies,' Anko said as she opened the takeaway that I gave her. 'Holy fuck, this is my favorite Dango from the old man's. Thanks, kid!'
'Whatever at least I didn't have to make love to food as you do,' I teased her.
'You little...' she said as she reached for a kunai from her weapons pouch.
'Welp! I'm off!! Good night!!!' I yelled as I dashed in towards the village leaving Morino-san that was chuckling at our antics and Anko that was swearing at me.
I found myself running to the Hokage tower to deliver the intel to Tsunade-senpai at once. Unfortunately, there was only Sakura in the office finishing her errands for the day. I could send a message to Senpai later. Without wasting much time, I sneaked into the office hoping to surprise her but she caught me like a deer in the headlights. How much she had changed since then.
'Hikari-kun?! Back already? You know we got doors, aren't you?' she said with a bead of sweat dropped in her forehead, annoyed by my antics.
'My business had been concluded earlier than expected. How are you doing, Sakura? Good?' I replied as I leaned against the wall right next to the windows. Sakura shook her head while chuckling at my expense.
'I'm good, considering all these errands that Shisho left me. Distraction is good like Inoichi-Sama said. So, how are you?' She answered as she tidied up Senpai's desk. I had to sign a heavy sigh before I answered her question.
'I can't say that I am better per se, but it's been, what? Two, three years since my last episode? I take that as a win in my book. Thus, generally, I am better. I hadn't been hurting myself also. You?' I inquired. She smiled in relief.
'Me too. Thank you, I guess, in a way. If you hadn't, well you know,' she stopped before the mood went dark. Luckily, I got just the thing to lighten up the mood.
'This morning, I received an intel saying that Naruto is coming home. How much did the knucklehead has grown, eh, Sakura?' I raised my eyebrow at her as I could see a wistful smile made upon her face.
'I'm sure he'd changed. We all did. I mean, time could do us quite a several things,' she said and she smiled indulgently, no doubt that she was remembering our Naruto during our days as teammates.
'Yeah, we all did.' I nodded subtly as I took a piece of paper on Senpai's desk and write my intel for her. 'Hey, let me write a message for senpai for a minute.'
"Senpai, Akatsuki is on the move. Targets will be randomly chosen and the captor sent will be chosen specifically to handle their targets easily. Naruto, Jiraiya-senpai, and Fu are returning home, the intel just came in this morning. Also, this might be nothing but Itachi is being watched and the info about the tailed beast captures wouldn't come in as reliably as before. You have to notify the Kages to be alert just in case. --DH."
I quickly sealed the paper and summoned a fiery little sparrow. The sealing work as a means of preventing the document from being read by anyone other than the recipient of the letter and it also prevented the document from being destroyed by the bird's flames.
'Sent this to the Hokage, please,' I said to the sparrow. She chirped happily and grabbed the letter by its beak before she flew out of the office.
'Cute bird,' Sakura exclaimed and she keeps an eye on the bird as it flew away.
'You should be able to summon them too, didn't Hitori told you that?' I said.
'She did, but I didn't know how to prevent anything I would give the bird from being caught on fire. I've burned myself a couple of times too,' she grumbled disappointedly.
'I see, I'll send someone to teach you the fuinjutsu for the flame-resistant,' I said. 'Well, I'm tired and I'm going home now. Do you need to close up?'
'Already done that, let's go,' Sakura said.
In a flash, we exited the office with much ease and I made my way all to my house in haste to see my beloved Hitori. When I reached there, I noticed that my whole family was there.
'I'm home!' I shouted as I took my sandals and dust off my clothes. Hitori would hate dust on her waxed floor.
'Hikari-kun?! Will you call some friends over? Hinata and I had cooked too much food,' Hitori hollered from the kitchen.
'Okay!' I hollered back. I noticed Hiashi-sama was sipping his tea right next to Neji who was sitting quietly next to him.
'Are you guys comfortable?' I questioned them, they nodded minutely as they enjoyed their companionable silence. I wisely left them at that and went back out of the house.
I fetched my flip flops in the cupboard and put them on before I flickered out of the place using Shunshin no Jutsu, grabbing whoever I found. A few minutes in, I realized that Kage Bunshin would do this job well, and thus, I performed the jutsu and my clones parted ways from me. Half an hour afterward, my dining was filled with two unwilling Foundation Anbu; Torune and Sai, the hammered Godaime that was loitering at a nearby pub with Shizune and Tonton, Kakashi-sensei that was at the memorial in the middle of the night for no apparent reason and Sakura along with Kizashi-Ojisan and Mebuki-Obasan, and of course my whole family. We ate and drank through the night to finish Hinata's and Hitori's cooking. All of us were completely stuffed by midnight and drank some Foundation Anbu beer that I had fetched before returning home after the search. A few minutes after midnight, all of them had left for their home and we just had to tuck in for the night without some serious action as we were really tired for the day. That night I dreamt of happiness and fulfillment.
Wasure Rareta Hito--The Forgotten One*
Misute Rareta Hito--The Forsaken One**
6565 words total.