Hi! Today's an interesting chapter, for me at least!
Human thought(s)- Mostly Hikaru's
Original: 01/02/2020
Edited: 10/20/2020
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Hikaru walked through the quiet, empty district. The streets were wiped clean, but, for Hikaru, it felt like it was still littered with dead bodies- be it civillian or shinobi.
In the war, when Konoha was destroyed for the last time, they'd fought right at the point Hikaru was walking. Hikaru still perfectly remembered the engraged look in Sasuke's mismatched eyes as they destroyed his house.
Of course, Hikaru remembered the way to Sasuke's house in the Uchiha district. Hikaru had gone there many times to pick up Sasuke for training after Pein's attack, or challenging him to a spar when they were genin. A small, nolstalgic smile wormed it's way past his facade.
His violet eyes closed as he walked down the street, his steps echoing if only slightly, but this was only to Hikaru's sensitive ears.
He wanted everything back, the times before the war, before he had to worry about the Akatsuki running after him. He wanted Jiraiya back, and wanted so many things that were impossible to get back again, and it hurt.
Hikaru just wished he hadn't gotten caught up in this mess.
His knuckles tapped on Sasuke's front door, watching as it opened to an achingly familiar face, yet so young. And while Hikaru has had a week and more to get used to it, it never failed to catch him off guard.
"Hikaru-san." Sasuke grunted. "Why are you here?"
"I'm picking you up for dinner." Hikaru replied back. "We have to go pick up Sakura. Naruto and Kakashi already know the way."
"Hn." Sasuke grunted again, stepping out the door, his pale arms folded across his chest. Black eyes- almost emotionless but Hikaru could read Sasuke like a book- closed for a second, and Hikaru could see his older self in him, if only for a few seconds.
"Let's go." Sasuke said, before strolling casually down the street, slouched over and hands in his pockets almost grumpily. Hikaru let the genin lead the way out of the empty Uchiha compound, the silence suffocating between them. But Hikaru let it be, not sure if he would even be able to choke out a word before he burst out crying.
The dinner would be painful. Hikaru was sure of it. Not only had he made the stupidest decision of his life, he'd invited his team over on a heavy flashback day, the team that was somehow still there even though he remembered them being dead.
"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked, his words almost hesitant.
"My apartment. Sakura lives in the civillain district, and if I remember correctly, your fangirls are widely civillians." Hikaru glanced down at the genin, his mind running through Sasuke's death over and over and over, reminding him of what he had lost. Of what he had done.
The flashbacks hadn't been this bad earlier, Hikaru was sure of it.
Still, they walked through empty streets and too his apartment building, Sasuke wordlessly following him up the steps to his floor. Hikaru walked past Naruto's apartment- not sensing the blond in it- and opened the door.
"Bathroom is the first door to the left in that hallway. Kitchen, then living room. The dining room is in the kitchen. Naruto should be getting here soon." Hikaru made a one-handed seal. "I'll be right back."
He appeared in front of Sakura's door, knocking on it. While the genin didn't remind him very much of the Sakura he'd known at the end of the war, it was still painful to look at her. So when the genin opened the door, he hid his wince very well.
"Hello, Sakura." Hikaru said. "I'm here to take you to the team dinner. Your parents know where you're going, right?"
Sakura shyly nodded her head, tucking a lock of her long pink hair behind her ears. "Yeah, I told Kaa-chan where I'd be going."
"Let's go then." Hikaru motioned for her to slide her shoes on, and he placed her hands on her shoulder, whisking them away in a shunshin to his apartment. Sasuke and Naruto were arguing loudly in a corner, a mix of 'teme' and 'hn. dobe' in the air.
The moment Hikaru and Sakura appeared, Naruto was in Sasuke's face. "Teme, I oughta-"
Naruto blinked, wide blue eyes filling with surprise, before he backed away from Sasuke, a finger scratching his cheeks that were slowly turning red. "Hi, Sakura-chan."
Hikaru ignored the genin as they began conversing- it was more of Sakura fussing over Sasuke, Sasuke not giving them any attention, and a mix of Naruto crushing on Sakura and wanting to fight Sasuke- and the door opened. Hikaru flinched at the soft sound, although he knew it was only Kakashi, who's eyes had darted around the apartment, taking in the exits and enterances.
"Yo!" Kakashi waved almost cheerfully, but most of his attention was on the perverted book in his hands, a spring green colour. The kanji on the front read 'Icha Icha Special Edition: Kaori's Camping Trip'. Hikaru knew that the fellow jonin- he refrained from calling him former sensei- would be giving most, if not all, of his attention to the unread book.
Hikaru shook his head in soft exasperation, before turning to face the now-bickering genin. "Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura. Let's eat, I already have everything set out."
And at the promise of food, they dropped their argument and followed Hikaru into the kitchen/dining room. Their eyes widening at the display- except for Sasuke's and Kakashi's.
A black tablecloth was laid over the wooden table, and five plates that had helpings of rice on them were spread out in even spots, chopsticks and other utensils by each plate, along with a glass of water. A few dishes were spread out on the table, each one still warm and steam still rising, and Hikaru knew that the genin's mouths would be watering.
Grilled fish was one of the dishes, and Hikaru looked at Kakashi, who just nodded almost invisibly. Onigiri was also there, along with some freshly chopped tomatoes that Sasuke immediately locked eyes with. There was no ramen in sight so Naruto would have to try new things- not that he already didn't eat anything other than ramen, Hikaru just knew that he'd never had fish or onigiri before. Or tomatoes, for that fact.
Hikaru sat down at the far end of the table, Sasuke and Kakashi on either side of him. Sakura was next to Sasuke, while Naruto was next to Kakashi. Hikaru grabbed onigiri and a slice of tomato, Sakura grabbing an onigiri.
Naruto glanced at their choices, face twisting into a confused expression before he, too, grabbed onigiri. Kakashi and Sasuke both grabbed grilled fish, and Sasuke took the rest of the tomatoes, causing Naruto to whine almost immediately about not getting one.
Hikaru couldn't help the smallest smile on his face as they all started to eat. This was one of the things he, as a genin, had never gotten with his team. Sure, near the end of the war they'd had this once or twice, but never with such abundant food. Never with such carefree joy.
And he knew he missed his teammates and sensei- something inside of him screamed to add 'former'- but the longing was almost too great.
But once the meal was finished, bickering forgotten, they'd gone to the living room to chat.
"So, what have you guys been learning in training?" Hikaru asked, sitting in a single chair near the window. The other four sat on two couches.
"Kakashi-sensei is gonna teach us super cool jutsu once we figured out our chakra natures, dattebayo!" Naruto immediately yelled.
"Can't teach you any cool jutsu until you learn your element and chakra control." Kakashi chided.
"What does that mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura curiously asked, green eyes gleaming with interest from where she, once again, was next to Sasuke.
Sakura fell down to the ground with a thud, paler emerald eyes dulling almost immediatly. Madara cackled nearby, his voice shooting tremors of pain and fury and heartache through him. It was another copied jutsu from Naruto's arsenal, a careless and simple mistake. But it had killed Sakura, staining her light pink hair a deep crimson red, her eyes dull and dead, lips curved still in an ever-present frown.
"You guys are going to complete an excersise tomorrow about chakra control." Kakashi said, his visible eye closing in a smile.
Hikaru froze, his mind whirling. It wasn't the same. Kakashi should've taught them about chakra control on the Wave mission- not now.
He couldn't help the tremor that suddenly rushed through his hands, eyes darting towards the clock. A kunai was embedded in the wall, and it took Hikaru a second to recall that he'd thrown it there from his nightmare earlier.
Then he glanced away from it, locking eyes with Kakashi. His former sensei was more perceptive than he seemed, so when he glanced up at the clock, Hikaru knew his eyes had also landed on the kunai.
But Kakashi didn't say anything about it, his eyes merely darting back to his genin. "Maa, maa, it's already seven. I didn't notice we've been here for so long. I'd better take my cute little genin home, ne?"
Hikaru nodded. "Thank you, Kakashi." His eyes closing as he sat up fully in the chair, only just now noticing how his mind spun with tiredness. He ruffled Naruto's hair. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?" He addressed all of them.
Kakashi shared a glance with Hikaru, who had stood up, feeling lost. Lost because his team- although not technically his team- was leaving him again, leaving him behind like they had when he was out traveling with Jiraiya.
But he found his resolve, quickly masking his emotions. "Goodnight." He said.
"Night, Hikaru-san." Kakashi responded as he ushered his genin out of the doorway, and Hikaru stood and watched them go.
Then he was dizzy, so so dizzy, even though the door had not quite closed, but he could do nothing and hadn't even realized his henge slipped away until Kakashi looked back, surprise lighting his eyes.
Then Hikaru couldn't breathe, furious at himself for even letting himself get dizzy and tired, as if that was his fault. Because Kakashi couldn't worry about him, that spelled danger in all capital letters.
Then the door closed, leaving Hikaru with a powerful sense of longing and betrayal.
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Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's actually much longer than expected (there was supposed to be another short part after this that was about 100-300 words, but I decided to nix it after seeing the word count.
This chapter contains 1780 words