Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Shinobi and The Miko ❯ In the Dark ( Chapter 17 )

Sasuke leaned back on his bunk and sighed. Madara was keeping him busy. After their initial encounter, he had learned some things about his brother and hi village that he was finding difficult to digest. For some reason, though, he felt that the older Uchiha was telling him the truth. It was hard to doubt someone who shouldn't exist but did. It made other things seem quite possible, even likely.

 

So he had brokered a deal. He'd do Madara's dirty work. Hell, he'd even joined the Akatsuki, sort of. He'd brought back what he thought was the eight-tailed beast, only to discover that his eyes had been deceived, something he'd once thought impossible. Just one more thing to add to the list of no-longer-impossible impossibilities. He frowned and shook his head. He must be tired if even his thoughts were this redundant. Rolling over onto his side, he closed his eyes and tried to still his racing mind.

 

***

 

Kaguya tried to remain nonchalant as possible, but nobody missed the fact that her lips were decidedly downturned during breakfast that morning. The last few weeks had been… odd. A few days after they had… fallen in with the one calling himself Uchiha Madara, the same man had shown up one afternoon in the company of three ninja she recognized.

 

Juugo, Karin, and Suigetsu seemed only too glad to do whatever he asked. They and Sasuke formed a squad now, and Madara was ending them out almost daily on missions to she didn't know where. The worst part was that none of them would talk to her about it. She had a feeling something sinister was going on, but every time she tried to breach the topic with Sasuke, he swiftly changed the subject. She could take a hint, and so stopped trying. Still, it was getting to the point where she felt she must know.

 

The five of them were silent as they ate the meal she had prepared; Madara took his meals alone in his study, when he was around to take them at all. More often than not, she was alone in the large hideout save for whichever of Madara's allies was around. She didn't even know who these people were.

 

It was at this point that her thoughts were interrupted. Sasuke abruptly stood, and the other three followed suit. He said nothing as he left the room. In fact, the only one to speak at all was Juugo.

 

“Thank you for the meal, Kaguya-ojou.”

 

Kaguya was initially startled. Rarely, if ever, did anyone around here speak to her. But she recovered quickly and smiled. “You're quite welcome, Juugo-san.” He turned to walk away, but stopped as she began to speak, haltingly this time. “Er… Juugo-san?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Do you know when you will be back this time?”

 

He paused. “Probably not for a few days.”

 

“I see. Well, then… could you… please look out for Sasuke? He hasn't been himself lately.” Her voice grew quieter as she spoke, and he had to strain his ears to catch the last bit. He smiled to himself.

 

“Of course. Farewell.” He walked out, leaving her to pick up the dishes and fill the sink with water.

 

She sighed as she washed the plates, bowls, and chopsticks. The more she though about the situation, the more ridiculous it seemed. She'd made a bargain with someone she didn't know or trust not to talk to her best friend about things he had every right to know. Now, she was living at his residence, mostly alone, while said friend went out on assignments nobody would tell her about with people who had apparently, much like them, escaped Konohagakure. Fantastic. She grimaced. Negative thoughts like this weren't going to get her anywhere. She needed answers.

 

But how? She obviously couldn't get the necessary information from mission papers or anything, unless someone had been kind enough to translate them into Braille. She wasn't going to get anything out of their host, that was for sure. She couldn't even sense him most of the time. Her hearing was really her only weapon in a place like this. But what good was it when nobody would talk?

 

Something came to her. She absentmindedly dried and replaced dishes as the beginnings of a plan formed in her mind. She had to admit, she wasn't sure if it would work. Eavesdropping wasn't something she did regularly, and she wasn't sure of her ability to hide. Perhaps it would be better to take a more direct approach. Yes, that was it.

 

She smiled conspiratorially to herself. She could wait a few more days. But when Sasuke came back, he'd have some questions to answer. No matter how much he didn't want to.

 

***

 

Sasuke only half-listened as Karin talked. Juugo and Suigetsu were both silent, and for some reason, the girl had taken it upon herself to fill that silence with incessant rambling. He rolled his eyes. She probably topped Sakura when it came to annoying. At least the latter knew when to shut up. She was lucky she was useful, he thought wryly. Her chakra-sensing capabilities were decent, if far inferior to Kaguya's.

 

Not this again. Always his thoughts managed to turn in that direction, no matter how much he willed them not to. He supposed it was his guilt that was doing it. He was keeping her in the dark, so to speak. She knew only Madara's name. Not that he was Akatsuki, not that Sasuke had resolved to take down Konohagakure. Not that he had attempted to kidnap the demon ox, and not of his family's past either. He had reasoned that she was better off innocent of the knowledge, and non-participatory. In fact, that had been one of his terms when dealing with Madara. So instead, his ancestor had found the other three, apparently just wandering around somewhere, subdued Juugo, and brought them back instead.

 

He was shaken from his reverie by Suigetsu drawing his sword. Apparently Karin had at long last located their target. He sighed inwardly, readying his own weapon. Doing Madara's dirty work wasn't exactly pleasant, but he supposed it was better than the purposeless alternative. Itachi was dead, what did anything else matter now anyway?

 

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Kiku's Corner

 

Hello, readers and reviewers! Thank you again for all your support and such. Sorry this chapter was a bit short, and probably a little boring. I'm a little blocked, and once a week is not often enough for new manga chapters to come out! I will probably be reduced to weekly or bi-weekly updates soon, so apologies in advance for that.

 

Also, I've decided I'm looking for a beta. So, if you've read the story so far and liked it, and would like to help me out/see the next chapter sooner (lol) then please let me know!

 

In other news, I'm thinking about a Kakashi/Anko spinoff to this at some point. Let me know what you think; if it's a popular idea, I might get started on it sooner lol.

 

Please continue to read and review, it inspires me!

 

Much love,

~Kiku~