WotN: Reunion

“Wow… You have got a lot of nerve…”

He glanced up from the framed photo he’d been studying, his solemn eyes widening imperceptibly at the figure who’d just entered the dark room.  He tensed, waiting for others to follow, as he was certain they would.  However, several seconds passed by and yet no one else appeared; but when no one else came he quirked a brow slightly in query.

The figure snorted.  “I hope you’re not expecting a welcome committee… Although I’m sure I can scrounge up one if you lift the genjutsu on the guards outside.”

It was his turn to snort.  “You could always do it yourself.”

“Genjutsu’s not my thing… You know that.”

He did, in fact.  He could still recall how gleeful he’d been at the discovery of a chink in that impenetrable armor.  Of course, that had been followed quickly by disgust at himself for even needing such a validation.  He’d learn later that the ninja before him had held weaknesses just like everyone else… they were different, but just as exploitable.

A minute passed in silence, in which time he chose to study the figure before him.  The same blonde hair framing a whiskered face, blue eyes staring back at him…

He recalled a time, after learning of her true parentage, thinking that while Uzumaki Naru bore a striking resemblance to the Fourth Hokage there would eventually become a time when she would more strongly resemble her mother.  The prior Jinchuuriki of the infamous Kyuubi no Youko, Uzumaki Kushina, had been rumored to be as lovely as she had been deadly.  In his travels he’d heard rumors that the blonde kunoichi had managed to surpass the Red Habanero; he couldn’t help but find them to be true…

Aware of his scrutiny, she shifted, drawing his eye to the short sword held casually in one hand.  He quirked a brow.  “You never used to need back up before…”

One shoulder lifted carelessly in a shrug.  “Comes with the territory…” came the dismissive response.

He snorted again.  “I thought the Kage was supposed to be the strongest in the village.”

Something in her expression shifted; her face had remained blank and passive, her eyes focused on his whole body – for any signs of attack, he assessed.  At his comment, her piercing blue eyes met his and for the first time in years, he felt a brief spark of… something…

“What do you want, Uchiha?”

No one had uttered that name in so long and yet the way she uttered it with such detachment, as if she hadn’t spent years calling after him with snarls and growls of ‘teme’ behind it … It felt wrong somehow…

It irked him, causing that spark of feeling to return again, this time a little stronger.  “I heard a rumor,” he told her.

Her expression smoothed again. He frowned inwardly at that; there’d been a time when she had been so easy to read.  He wondered who had taught her to turn her emotions off like that.  

“And you came all the way here –at the risk of execution, mind you—to confirm a rumor…?”

So that ‘Kill on Sight’ order was still in effect…?  He shrugged, glancing away carelessly.  “And offer my congratulations, it seems.”

The hand holding the ANBU-issued blade tightened slightly.  “Congratulations…?”

The dark haired ninja turned back to the frame he’d been studying earlier, the image of the blonde standing across the room smiling back up at him in full wedding regalia.  The eyes in the photo were bright and shining, unlike the flat wary ones staring hard at him now, and her face was near to splitting with a wide, genuine fox grin.

She looked lovely… happy...  “How long ago?”

The blonde shifted, eyeing him a brief moment before shooting the photo a look of fondness so brief he would have missed it if he hadn’t been watching for it out of the corner of his eye.  Her expression hardened again, and she debated whether or not to answer before finally responding with, “Three years.”

“Who asked who?”

She twitched, her expression flitting back between confusion and exasperation.  It was a welcome change from the cool demeanor she’d been giving off before.  “Why the hell do you even want to know?!” she exclaimed.  “No one’s seen hide nor hair of your for nearly ten years and now you decided to just show up in the middle of the night?  What the hell…!  What do you want?”

“I told you—”

“You wanted to confirm a rumor,” she interrupted with a sneer.  “Yeah, I heard you the first time.”  She took a step back, regarding him incredulously.  “So yeah, I’m alive, I’m married, and I’m the friggin’ Hokage.  Rumor ‘confirmed’ yet?”

He paused, his dark eyes sliding over her body—deliberately—for the first time in over a decade.  “Boy or girl…?”

The glint of the blade in her hand was the only warning he got.  Her eyes glinted as she flipped the short blade, shucking it at him with rapid speed and lethal accuracy.  He avoided it at the last possible moment, his eyes flashing crimson.  He blinked for only a moment, but the blonde vanished in a blur, appearing over top of him.  With a quick swipe of her leg, she knocked him flat on his back, holding him in place with a short heeled sandal against his windpipe.

Damn.  She’d gotten stronger.

Gone was the cool detachment, the confusion and exasperation… A ruthless blonde kunoichi with eyes of blue fire stood poised over him, cold restrained fury exuding from her like a dark aura.  

“I’d stab you through the heart right now if I thought you had one,” she hissed quietly.  “Why did you come here?  Why now?  And why--?”

“Why you?” he croaked out, letting out a breath that may have been sigh or a laugh if he’d had more oxygen to commit to it.  The pressure on his neck lessened, but only slightly.  “I don’t know,” he admitted.  “But it would’ve always been you.  You know that better than anyone…”

She stared at him, and for the briefest of moments he saw a familiar flicker of emotion in her eyes.  He remembered soulful blue gazing back at him from across the vast expanse of a waterfall.  She’d been pleading, beseeching… and he’d turned away.

Apparently it was her turn to do so.  Her expression blanked, her eyes hardening at the perceived threat.  “Your foes were defeated years ago,” she said.  “So why are you really here, Avenger?”

“The Avenger is dead,” he murmured back.  “Along with the rest of his clan.”

“Konoha has no use for ghosts,” she retorted, lifting her foot from his neck.  

He nodded, recognizing the dismissal for what it was.  He rose to his feet slowly, regarding the other ninja quietly.  Was it disappointment that he felt…?  He wasn’t sure what he had expected to happen when he came here.  Certainly not a joyous reunion; the possibility of that had faded years ago.  He had done too much, shattered their bonds well beyond the hope of repair.

And yet…

“I’m glad to see you accomplished your dream,” he said quietly.

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t respond.  He hadn’t expected her to anyway.  Yes, he’d managed to avenge his family, but there would be no restoring it to its former glory.  He hadn’t wanted that for a long time.

However, gazing at the petite woman watching him warily, her lithe frame faintly hinting at her expectant condition, he founding himself wondering ‘what if’…

“Have you satisfied your curiosity?” she asked, drawing his attention away from his silent reveries.  

He nodded resolutely, preparing himself for whatever came next.  “I have,” he said resolutely.

The blonde stared at him for several long moments before finally tucking her blade away in the folds of her garish orange robe.  “Then leave Konohagakure no Sato at once.”

It was a surprising demand, but not wholly unexpected.  Perhaps the blonde had not changed all that much after all.  He nodded in acquiescence.  “As you wish it,” he murmured.  “Naruto.”

Emotion flickered in her gaze again, reminding him once again of the little girl who’d done all she could to try and save his soul.  He almost wished she had succeeded…

It wouldn’t do to dwell on such thoughts here, in this place that brought back so many memories –both happy and sad; he turned to leave.

“Sasuke…”

The dark haired ninja paused, turning back to face the blonde behind him.  Her expression was hard, unyielding; this was not Uzumaku Naru, the blonde dobe who’d hounded him for years trying to rescue him… This was the Sixth Fire Shadow of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Her voice was firm and resolute as she spoke, making it clear her words were sincere.  “If I ever see you again – in this village, in this country – I will not hesitate to kill you.” Her eyes glinted sharper than the blade she’d brandished earlier.   “Do you understand?”

He nodded, inclining his head.  “Yes, Hokage-dono.”  Not waiting for her reaction, he raised his hands to form a quick seal.  With a quick surge of chakra, he vanished, leaving the blonde, the village, and his past behind.