The Cost
of Vengeance
By Ami-Chan
Chapter IX: Homecoming
There is always one moment every person waits for without giving up hope. It’s as if that very thing in the future is anticipated, and it can happen any given time. Nara Shikamaru was one of the many people waiting for one thing in particular: Naruto’s return. Every day since he left, Shikamaru went to the Flaming Leaf to gather information about Naruto’s stand alone mission. He heard little or nothing at all. The Wave Country was so far away. He was on his way from his house to the Flaming Leaf. He hadn’t been on a mission in a while, and just waiting around for Naruto to come seemed tiresome. What he heard from Kurenai the other day, that Naruto was on his way back, it must have been too good to be true. His foot stopped mid-step as he heard his name being called. He turned around, and didn’t believe his eyes.
“Naruto?” He uttered in disbelief.
“Oi, Shikamaru!” He greeted him with a smile. “How’ve you been?”
“I’m ok, man…” Shikamaru answered. “I was worried about you though. You shouldn’t have gone by yourself.”
“You worry too much…” Naruto muttered. “Lighten up, man.”
“Oh yeah!” Shikamaru’s mind clicked. “You’ve got to see Sasuke! He went crazy yesterday…he tried to leave the hospital! Kakashi stopped him…”
“I really have to see him…Tsunade-obaa-san said his surgery might kill him. There’s a 50-50 chance…” Naruto blinked as his face faded to a saddened expression.
“That’s bad…” Shikamaru sighed. “Either he makes it or he doesn’t…”
“Shikamaru, I’ll see you later.” Naruto bid him farewell. “I’m going to see Sasuke before he goes through with it.”
“Ja ne.” Shikamaru waved as they departed.
-Sasuke’s room-
“Sasuke!” Naruto ran in and started huffing as he arrived at his bedside. “Are you all right?”
“Naruto…” Sasuke smiled weakly. “I knew you’d return…but before, I lost faith in you…”
“It’s ok, Sasuke…” Naruto grasped his hand. “And I’m sorry that I’ve brought you so much grief.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Sasuke turned his head away. “It was me who drug you into my feud, and I’m sorry about that…”
“Sasuke, we’ve said enough apologies.” Naruto backed away from him and shook his head. “This might be the last time you see me…and I want you to have good memories.”
“What do you mean?” Sasuke’s face was struck baffled.
“I’ll tell you when it’s over, Sasuke.” Naruto answered.
“This is a joke, isn’t it?” Sasuke stared Naruto down. “Get out of here so my shattered arms can be strong enough to hit you, dobe.”
“All right…” Naruto sighed in fake resignation. “Ja ne.”
“At least I hope I’ll see him after Tsunade obaa-san gets here…” he thought as he exited into a hall.
“Naruto?” Sakura blinked. She met him on the streets.
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto’s face perked instantly. “Did anyone tell you I was back?”
“Yeah…Shikamaru told me, and I figured you’d be near here…so I waited.” She replied.
“How long were you waiting?” Naruto felt bad…it must have been hours…
“Not that long…” She said. “Only a few minutes. Shikamaru just told me.”
“Sou ka.” Naruto muttered. “So, did you see Sasuke?”
“Yeah…I saw him not too long before you did…” Sakura looked down about to cry. “He has a 50-50 chance of making it…”
“Hey…” Naruto wiped her tear off her face. “Don’t you remember my promise? I’ll be there for you no matter what happens.”
“I’ll never forget your promise, but I’m still worried about Sasuke-kun.” Sakura blinked, her head still down.
“I’m worried about him too, Sakura-chan.” Naruto admitted. “But we’ve done all we can.”
“Yeah…” Sakura agreed.
“So, do you want to go
anywhere?” He changed the subject, grinning.
“I just remembered!” Sakura blurted out. “I was supposed to meet Iruka-sensei
at the Ichiraku Ramen…”
“Really now?” Naruto smiled. “Let’s go!”
Naruto and Sakura ran off towards the Ichiraku Ramen, while Tsunade opened the door to Sasuke’s room. Sasuke looked her over…disappointed. She wasn’t the Sennin who was supposed to heal him, right? He made a face of distrust and he pulled his head under the covers up to his ears. Tsunade crossed her arms. Sasuke was one of the elite Uchiha clan…and he was every bad thing she pictured him to be. Stuck-up, arrogant, and down right spoiled. He was one tiny bit away from being as annoying to her as Jiraiya…
“What’s wrong? Are you scared?” Tsunade asked him. “Whatever your friends told you about me are lies.”
“It’s not that.” Sasuke was unsure if he should say it…but he did. “You’re not the caliber of person I see saving my life…”
Tsunade wasn’t about to go easy on anyone…she lost her temper and punched Sasuke’s shoulder. “I’m good enough, gaki! I might not do it now. Besides, don’t you think the risk of you dying is too high? Spoiled Uchiha…”
“If you were one of such greatness, then there would be no risk of my death during this.” Sasuke commented boldly.
“We’re only human, Uchiha. It takes a lot to recover if you do make it through.” She said coldly. “I need to do this with haste, yet precision. My friend Jiraiya is having this done as well by my adopted sister, Shizune.”
“Will you begin then?” Sasuke asked.
“Yes…” she nodded. “Take these first.”
Tsunade dropped a small white pill into Sasuke’s mouth. He swallowed it. First, his eyes closed. Gradually his hearing faded. He blacked out. At the Ichiraku Ramen, Iruka had his chin rested on his hand. His other hand was gripping a spoon that rested in his half finished ramen. He had been waiting ten minutes…and still no sign of Sakura. He was such a fool to believe she’d come back from seeing Sasuke. He was thinking about something too…how it only seemed like yesterday when he first met Sasuke.
“I remember…I was twenty-one, Naruto was only seven, and Sasuke was eight.”
A knock on the door was heard five years ago at Iruka’s residence. He answered it, and he jumped back when he saw Sandaime. There must have been some kind of mistake…
“Umoino Iruka, there’s someone you need to take in. It’s only for a little while until a friend of his family arrives back from a mission.” Sandaime was quite concerned and serious. This was definitely not a request.
“Who is it?” Iruka asked. “I’ll take him in, but I wonder who else was just as wrongfully struck as Naruto and I…”
“It’s Uchiha Sasuke.” Sandaime responded.
Iruka gasped. “No…”
“I’m sorry to say that it is true, Iruka.” Sandaime looked away sorrowfully. “He’s lost his mother and father…and Itachi has abandoned Konoha.”
“Iruka, what’s wrong?” Naruto came out of his room. “Why’s Hokage-jiji here?”
“Naruto!” Iruka elbowed him in the shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it, Iruka…” Sandaime sighed at Naruto. “Uchiha Sasuke, come here.”
“Yes, sir?” He stepped forward.
“You’ll be staying here until Hatake Kakashi returns from his mission,” Sandaime explained.
“I understand.” Sasuke bowed and entered Iruka’s home.
As soon as the door closed, Sasuke ran to a corner and hid himself. He buried his head in his knees. Iruka and Naruto both walked up to him, while Naruto sat in front of him. He lifted his head up. His angry stare pierced right into Naruto’s soul, and Iruka got this terrible feeling.
“GET LOST!” He cried. His eyes glowed red…
Power emitted from Sasuke’s Sharingan, and before it hit Naruto, Iruka stepped in front of it and it didn’t even faze him. Naruto was shaking all over, and he snuck away. Iruka heard his door shut. He blinked at Sasuke.
“Poor boy…he doesn’t understand death…or why it happened. Not that there’s any reason for it…He’s only eight…” Iruka thought.
“Why do you feel sorry for me?” Sasuke looked straight into Iruka’s soul now. “I deserve no one’s pity…I failed them.”
“That’s what I thought too…” Iruka closed his eyes in reverence. “That’s exactly what I thought when Kyuubi took my parents from me.”
“So you and I are the same…” Sasuke uttered as he stood. Afterwards, he was silent.
“Yes…” Iruka grinned as he slapped his hand on his shoulder. “And like me, you’ll end up great someday! Even though it’s hard without your parents to encourage you…you can make it.”
“You’re wrong!” Sasuke whirled around and clenched his fists. “The only thing I plan to do with my life is to avenge my fallen clan!”
Iruka gasped and took a step back. He watched Sasuke open the door to Naruto’s room, where he was supposed to sleep and just leave it open. Sasuke was just eight years old, and he already had a blood lust. It was a sad sight, and at the same time it was a scary one. Iruka came back to the present when a hand waved in front of his face. His head slipped off his hand, and he took a nose dive right into his ramen. Laughter roared behind him. He poked his head up and he glared furiously at Naruto and Sakura both shrugging at him.
“Why you-“
“Watch your language, Iruka-sensei.” Sakura smiled.
“How do you expect me to hold my tongue when you were late for ten minutes?” Iruka stomped his foot on the ground as he stood up from the ramen stool. “I thought you were staying with Sasuke.”
“I would never leave you hanging like that…” Sakura now narrowed her eyes. She was ashamed of her sensei’s doubt.
“So, Iruka-sensei, did you miss me?” Naruto came to the other side of him.
“Of course I did. You were on a stand-alone mission…that was a perilous decision.” Iruka answered, sitting on the ramen stool backwards.
“Anyways, Iruka-sensei…” Sakura looked up at him. “What did you want to meet me here for?”
“I was going to cheer you up since you heard about Sasuke’s chances of survival, but it seems Naruto beat me to the punch.” Iruka sighed. “He’s turned into quite the ladies’ man…I don’t know where he gets it from.”
“Hey…you’re Uzumaki Naruto, right?” A black haired girl made all three of them look behind at her.
“Who are you, and what do you want?” he said, his blush fading.
“I’m Shizune, the sister of Tsunade. I performed surgery on one of your friends…you do know Jiraiya, right?” She asked.
“Jiraiya is awake already?” Naruto’s face was awe-stricken.
“Who’s Jiraiya?” Sakura was totally lost.
“He’s one of the Sennin that came back to the Leaf with him.” Shizune replied. “I heard they became friends overnight…”
“Enough of that…” Naruto wanted to cut right to the chase. “What room is he in?”
“I have to escort you…and only you. No one else can come but his friends since his family isn’t alive anymore…” Shizune muttered.
“I understand…” Naruto nodded. “Sensei, Sakura, I’ll see you later.”
“Wait!” Sakura called out. “What about Sasuke-kun?”
“Tsunade hasn’t come out of his room, so she isn’t finished.” Shizune shook her head. “I’m sorry, but his fate is still uncertain.”
“Sakura, he’ll make it.” Iruka came next to her looking at her gloomy face. “Sasuke is stronger than most his age.”
“I hope me makes it…” she uttered. “I really do…”
Lead by Shizune, Naruto walked down the second hall in the hospital and stopped at the last room on the right. She opened the door slowly and set a foot in. Jiraiya was awake, but his eyes were only slightly open. Shizune sat in the chair next to him. It would be rude to let someone in if he didn’t want them. Jiraiya constantly blinked his eyes. It was useless…he was forced to pay the price of having this treatment. He could only see in shades of gray… no colors at all. He was so disappointed in himself for not seeing the whole thing coming. Shizune tapped on his shoulder to snap him out of his thoughts. Hopefully, she wasn’t there to say he’d be colorblind for life.
“Jiraiya…you remember that kid Naruto, don’t you?” she asked. “Do you want to see him?”
“He’s here?” Jiraiya didn’t see that coming. “Let him in.”
Shizune nodded and she exited the room. She kept the door open. Naruto had been pacing back and forth, and he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her come out. He didn’t know what to do, what to say, anything. He just stopped, even his breath stopped for just one second. Then, he casually whistled and leaned against the wall. The news wasn’t going to be good, he knew that. Yet, he had to ask about it…
“What did he say?”
“Go right in.” Shizune replied.
Naruto nodded and he stepped past Shizune. He closed the door to Jiraiya’s room behind him and he leaned against the wall closest to the door. He and Jiraiya blinked at each other. A weak smile crawled to each end of Jiraiya’s face. This was the last person he expected to come. They only knew each other for one night. Or at least, Naruto only did. Yondaime knew him for ages. Maybe the memories were deep in the back of his mind…because he was a reincarnation. He being the first one here was odd though, unless Tsunade was still busy with Sasuke.
“What are you doing here?” he asked more out of curiosity than anything else.
“What do you think? I was worried about you, since I know your injuries were worse than Sasuke’s!” Naruto retorted fiercely. “You know, the door’s not that far from me…”
“I’m not asking you to leave.” Jiraiya muttered. “I want you to stay here. Anyone can do anything they want to me now that my senses aren’t working right…my brain was damaged…”
“I think you were born like that…” Naruto narrowed his eyes. “Why else would you be such an ero-sennin?”
“Stop calling me that, gaki!” Jiraiya at last lost his temper…he tried to hold it.
“Gee, ero-sennin…” Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. “You sure seem well enough to insult me…”
“So I blew my top once…” Jiraiya too narrowed his eyes. “That doesn’t mean anything. This is serious, gaki. I can only see in black and white right now…”
“Why’s that?” Naruto cocked his head to one side. “Are you going to be like that forever?”
“Shizune told me that I’d only be colorblind a little while…this is just the treatment’s side-effect.” Jiraiya explained. “That Uchiha might go blind if he makes it…that’s what happens to any Sharingan wielder who goes through with this.”
“What are you saying?” Naruto shook his head wildly. “Even though I saved his life, he’s going to be blind? My efforts were useless…”
“You should have seen that coming. The reason that there’s only a 50-50 chance of him living is because the medicine is so strong. Those who do live have their senses halved or taken away for a while…” Jiraiya explained.
“Sasuke’s finished…” Naruto thought. “If he almost killed himself over waiting for me, he’ll go through with it once he finds out he’s going blind…”
Back at the Flaming Leaf, Shikamaru sat in one of the circle tables across from Asuma and next to Kurenai. He laid back and stretched his feet out, placing both hands behind his head. What a lame mission that was…all the Jounin must have underestimated him. Kurenai and Asuma both went quiet. Kurenai reached out and took a wine glass, sipping it rather slowly. They were hiding something from him. Shikamaru hated secrets. He sat upright and put his hands on the table, grabbing a deck of cards. Both watched him shuffle and deal five cards for each of them.
“Look, I know that bad news is hard to tell, so we’ll get it little by little in a poker game…” Shikamaru didn’t believe he’d stoop this low to a game of luck rather than skill. “So, what’s the first thing on your minds?”
“Well…” Kurenai muttered.
“There are a lot of things…where should I start?” Asuma blinked as he drew four cards after discarding four others.
“Just say something…” Shikamaru overlooked his hand. “I’ll take three.”
Asuma dealt three cards after Shikamaru discarded. “No one else but Kakashi knew this before us, but he willingly told us…”
“Yes,” Kurenai overlooked her hand and took two cards. “Sasuke Uchiha has been released.”
“What’s so bad about that?” Shikamaru was clueless. “He made it, right?”
“He did make it…” Kurenai laid her hand down. It was a pair of jacks. “But the side-effects of that medicine were horrible.”
“Yeah…” Asuma his hand face down and folded. “He couldn’t see. Sasuke’s blind, Shikamaru.”
“You’re kidding me!” Shikamaru’s eyes widened and his chair backed off a little from the table. “Do you realize how hard Naruto’s going to be on himself once he finds out about this?”
“That’s why Kakashi only told us.” Kurenai muttered. “He knew the secret was safe with us.”
“Well, Naruto’s going to find out sooner or later…and it’s better sooner. He’s got everything in his face the hard way…it’s about time he gets a break. I’m telling him.” Shikamaru said boldly as he stood and laid his hand down. “It’s a full house.”
Shikamaru turned and exited while Asuma and Kurenai both stared at the door awe-stricken. Shikamaru had some guts. Like father like son, that was how it was. Shikamaru waited at Iruka’s house for a while, until Naruto showed up at near sunset time. He was caught by surprise to see Shikamaru lounging on the couch. This must have been some big gossip to spread if he waited for him to finish seeing Jiraiya.
“What are you doing here, and where did Iruka-sensei go?” Naruto’s head poked all around.
“He’s asleep…” Shikamaru replied. “He was really tired after he came home from his mission, and he told me that I could wait for you here.”
“Sou ka.” Naruto sat down next to him now. “So, what’s with the long face?”
“Naruto…” Shikamaru was reluctant, but he was about to be brave and say it. “There’s something I’ve got to tell you.”