Sweet Dispositions

-Chapter 30-
Nevermind/Don't Go

7 years ago.

March 12th. Nighttime.

The best way to die the list:

Fighting

Sustaining life-ending injuries from a fight

Seeing Sakura and Naruto happy

Suicide

Getting washed over by a wave in a riptide

Fighting was logical. He came to die at the hands of the Raikage. It wouldn't be a historic death. Sasuke relished injuries... If he feels intolerable pain then honest, numb relief, then... all is fair in the universe.

Fighting is honorable, it's what they do. Sasuke received his first kunai at age three. He knew what violence looked like, and what death was like too.

He's gotten mad headaches, grappling with potent memories of Itachi's. Archives with files of the Uchiha made him inexplicably discouraged. Old venom emotions came up, hurting him like the devil.

He never preferred emotions. He never liked loving or leaning on people. Men were supposed to be on their own, by themselves, strong without the tangles of feelings.

  ¤¤¤

March 31st. Afternoon.

He kicked himself for missing Sakura's birthday... but he was better off.

In the bird's chirping, unchanging Kumo was quite comely. Streams cut through the landscape. Great mountain views, the stars really shone at night, like raisins in a bran muffin.

Everyone's laughs passed on their faces like wind brushing through pine trees, pebbles, and boulders.  

Everything was in the clouds; the buildings, the trees that grew and the life that flourished. The altitude made him feel important but unwelcome in the walkable public realm, mainly the village roads.

He gravitated towards the tallest Kumogakure building; the Raikage tower. 

The tall prick Raikage promised to assassinate Sasuke if they ever met again in the tower. Its glassy windows reflected in the white sun, gleaming like a light on a starless night. He won't die by Itachi's hand like he was supposed to but someone else who despised him. 

Suddenly, a newspaper flew onto his leg.

The title grabbed his attention; Kumogakure's Raikage Makes Unadvised Decision To Meet With Notorious Village of Bloody Mist's Godaime's Mizukage... see more on page 6.

And he read;

As more and more citizens of the politically corrupted and despotism-supported village-center of Kirigakure defect, the Godaime Mizukage seeks help from Kumogakure as their economic growth hits an all-time low. After the reign of Yagura Karatachi ended, the village hidden in the mist was stuck in a great recession without any diplomatic relations or stable law procedures.

The Mizukage grouped her efforts in reforming the desolate country by meeting with three of the great village's Kage, to plea for external aid and possible loans. However, it is said that only the Raikage responded to the desperate letters and the Muzukage will meet with our beloved Raikage on March 30th.

The Raikage expressed interest in changing the nature of the Kirigakure Academy. He will see to it that their policies surrounding trade deficits, importation and exportation subventions will change. The Mizukage wants more natural resources and help in rebuilding parts of Kirigakure after the attack from the Akatsuki prior to the Fourth Shinobi War.

This historic meeting was greatly debated against. All notions of canceling the controversial meeting were rejected and unheard. Will the political meeting devolve into a bloody war or a new day for Kirigakure? Will we see when new policies and treaties are made? We will watch, anxiously biting our nails and hope for the goodwill fostered by this encounter to last.

On page 7: The Lightning Daimyo's Tsuma Explains How She Helps The Children of Kumogakure-

Well. Damn it.

Today was March 31st. The Raikage was in Kirigakure, talking to kami knows who. So. That's just great. All there's left to do is drink. A lot. He didn't want to postpone anything. 

¤¤¤

He went to a good bar but the bartender refused to serve him. He had the balls to dispute with Sasuke for twenty minutes and won't let him order a whiskey. Bad service at good places- distasteful.

"Just pour the alcohol. I'm buying. What are you gonna do, lecture me about my life choices?" Sasuke sneered.

The bartender raised his eyebrow, mirroring Sasuke's sour expression. "No." 

"This place is a bar and you're a bartender. You can't say no. Just give me a break and pour the damn thing."

"I'm not on that duty right now."

"What the hell are you doing... other than being a bartender? It's your job to serve me."

"I don't serve criminals. Unless you have shit vision or common sense, you'd know it."  

Sasuke quirked a brow, laughing drily. "That's funny. Everyone in here seemed to have murdered someone now or then. All of them, including you, have prison tag numbers from the Kumo jail," Sasuke scanned the rambunctious clown crowd of criminals.

The bartender only half-listened and flicked off Sasuke's reasoning. He applauded Sasuke, clapping three times.

"You observant little fucker. Sit down, shut up and stop bothering me. I'm serving everyone at this bar," he said loudly.

"Everyone except for me."

"Except for the Uchiha. You're just as bad as your brother and the Akatsuki. So, once you're done chasing business away, why don't you get out of my fucking face?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Sasuke asked, feeling his Chidori acting up. He tasted the metal in the air.

"A goner if you don't get out of my face."

Sasuke's eye twitched. "Che. Wrong answer."

"You like the sound of your voice too much, don't you? Uchiha, I'm not serving you."

"That's not fair. Just serve me a goddamn drink," Sasuke said, holding his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

"What are you? Five? Get out of my bar before you throw your tantrum. If you don't, there'll be consequences," the bartender cracked his knuckles. "I'd rather let everyone think you're an asshole than have you stay and prove it,"

Everyone in the bar by now was standing, glaring at Sasuke. Like a pack of wolves surrounding a bunny rabbit. Little did they know that Sasuke was the wolf.

"I'd rather be known as the man who killed thirty-seven idiots in a bar because of a prick bartender," Sasuke activated his sharingan and Chidori.

Three shinobi entered a bar, noticing the tense atmosphere. They had shiny Konohagakure forehead protectors and green flak jackets. So, a goddamn visit from the fun patrol.

Why did they have to be all high and mighty when he would see the bartender's blood spatter across the floor like dust on a bookshelf?

"What seems to be the problem here?" the leader of their ragtag douche bag group said.

The bartender played the victim. "This idiot's taking so much shit, his asshole's jealous. This Uchiha causing problems in my bar. This lad wants to die at the hands of mine."

"There's nothing more than your death that I want," Sasuke said cooly.

"Sissy boy, I can kill you in thirty-six ways with jutsu using my pinkie finger."

"Go ahead. Dead men can't tell lies."

"He's just asking for it- a beat down," one of the Konoha shinobi said. "Stop challenging this bartender. You are perfectly capturing the disrespectful, arrogant nature of all Uchiha,"

"Say that again... but slowly," Sasuke said, balancing his sword.

The Hyuuga answered this time. "Threatening to kill everyone here because of not getting a drink is exactly like the Uchiha. Your late clan's blatant involvement in the Kyuubi attack openly describes the over-privileged, insufferable attitude of demon folks like you."

Sasuke laughed. "Oh, you're one to talk. A Hyuuga shitting on my clan- the one fucking clan who brands their members like cattle and explores all the levels of incest."

The Hyuuga's white eyes got all creepy and veined. "Do not dishonor my clan or Konoha like that," he yelled, chakra lighting up his fists.

Sasuke grinned madly. "You've already done enough in that department."

"Uchiha- I suggest you walk out," The third Konoha-nin said. "Now."

"And you! A lifeguard should have shown up at the gene pool, to save the world from you," he snarled. Sasuke turned to the first shinobi who told him off. "And you-you just suffer from a condition called dumb face. Do you happen to floss with mattresses?"

Needless to say, his plan worked- he got his ass kicked. The pain, whoever bloody, was delightful. He was closer to death.

The three men attacked Sasuke end of the story.

He was thrown around like a rag doll. He did hold back when defending himself but not when going on offense. He looked at all the perfect destruction he left behind.

It was almost like poetic justice. He wanted this. He wasn't scared. 

Broken buildings. Crumbled mountains. Split bones. Fat lips. Burning trees. Evaporated hope. Raining sky.

And him, dying in a pile of flowers that smelt sweet to his decaying body. He smelled like pine. He was thrown through the air, landing in some forest. Near a cottage with a blue door and soft, tall grass.

No one will wear a mourning cloak. No one will go to his funeral. No one will miss him. And that's fitting for a problematic, blunt Uchiha like him.

He spotted an exquisite black butterfly flouncing past him in the white. It signified the end of his era. With the resounding cackle of thunder and flash of lightning, he let go.

No more fighting or getting betrayed by masks, pink-haired tramps or memories.

I'm free. Itachi, I have so much to tell you, Sasuke thought and closed his eyes. Finally.

¤¤¤

Under the safety of her umbrella, Mitsuyo grumbled at the weather while hiking through her labyrinth of a forest in the rain with soaked groceries. During this weather, bad things happened. People got struck by lightning, mudslides buried them and houses got flooded. She was just waiting for the next problem.

There it is. Her bad news. Everything but his neck and face poked out of a closed cloak.

Mitsuyo stared at the teenager who was content but in pain. Upon the first sighting of the body, she was unimpressed but not shocked. He had maw-black hair, easily glacial features and was passed out, looking like death. Bah. Idiot drunks, she muttered to herself. Always making a bed wherever they pass out.

She nudged him with her foot. Not a light strike but not a hard one either. "Get up, you drunk. You reek of insolence and I suppose sake. Party time's over and you have to leave,"

He didn't.

"Suit yourself," she said.

She passed him and put away the umbrella and groceries she had. When she came back from the doorstep of her shabby house, she noticed the large blood streak that started at her crushed gardenias and ended where the passed out drunk was.

It seemed as though the man... was dragged from her garden... to just outside the area of what her elaborate barrier seal's protected?

Perhaps it was just a genjutsu Kaiya's playing on her. Mitsuyo leaned down and reached for the blood. It smelled... his blood type was AB. Just like hers.

This was real.

The rain made the air cold and washed away the residue of blood. From what she could tell... this is old.

Mitsuyo cautiously glanced at the figure who just closed the curtain, trying to hide her involvement.

Did... Kaiya drag him over here instead of... healing him?

She returned and she nudged the man with her geta shoes. Is he dead? The boy groaned and she noticed the large puddle of blood seeping from his wounds. She gasped. He's going to die, bleeding on her forest ground, what a way to die.

She shifted him a bit and saw the Uchiha crest. This child's Uchiha Sasuke. He recently killed Danzo.

She raised a hand to give a death blow, blinded by anger and fueled by rage and hate. A puncture to his heart-

She stopped.

She can't kill him. She stood up to allow him to drown in the heavy rain forecasted. She got three-steps before sighing.

Mitsuyo was affronted. Despite grieving over the loss of Danzo, she was sure that she couldn't punish the Uchiha in this way by not helping him. But Danzo... she... she loved him so.

And Uchiha Sasuke killed him.

He killed the love of her life.

But he was an Uchiha. One of the last. His father planned the coup and Itachi truly killed everyone. Everyone he probably loved had a part in exterminating her people like rats instead of seeking out peace.

But he's still human. In pain. A child... that looked like her Ryouta while asleep.

Kami is testing her. She didn't want to save him but... he has a full life ahead of him. It's not her choice. He will feel the regret and pain for years to come. Letting him die is not fair. He has to pay.

Mitsuyo stared at Sasuke before hearing sounds in the green that surrounded her.

They were about five meters away from the barrier's end.

She placed seals around the forest which protected them from outsiders. Since the massacre, she didn't trust anyone. She either had to get blood samples or be exposed to certain types of chakra for them to pass through. There was another factor, you could also be an Uchiha to get through without seals or permission.

She brought him inside and lugged him onto the medical examination table. He had many broken bones. Moving him was causing him pain but that gave her a little satisfaction. She was surprised that even with his resilience that he was still alive. His chakra pathway was confused, chakra didn't follow the concentration gradient and some lines were blocked off.

A Hyuuga must have done that. A talented one at that.

She sterilized her hands and put on a mask while tying her hair back.

His main problem was how much blood loss he has. It's too much. She used her techniques that Tsunade taught her and channeled all of her efforts into healing this man.

The cuts ceased but now his internal problems were put in the sun.

She intubated him and inserted an I.V to administer some morphine.

She used a flashlight to check if he had a stroke or increased intracranial pressure. His bones. He had a broken pelvis, his clavicle was fractured. Broken ribs. His lower leg was broken and he seemed to have a dislocated shoulder.

His pain tolerance is notably high.

With a short injection of propofol, he was out like a light. Extreme pain no more.

Kaiya moved by the opened room with a jumping Taiyo in her arms. His moon hair was disheveled and Kaiya was mooching off of Mitsuyo's endless supply of clothing.

Kaiya works as a doctor and leaves Taiyo with Kaiya or the Chou Child Daycare when she works. The amount of neglect is abusive.

She was always spending money on her husband who wasn't the father of her child. Who knows? She lets herself be used all the time by different men on the weekend. Who knows from which man in Kumo did Taiyo get that white hair. Unlike Mitsuyo and Kaiya, Taiyo never used harmful chemicals to consistently dye his hair white.

Taiyo saw Uchiha Sasuke and began sobbing, he didn't like blood. She left and came back without Taiyo in her arms. "What are you doing?!" Kaiya hissed. "There's a reason I left him out to die,"

Kaiya tutted her tongue. "I'm healing him unlike you who dragged him out of the safe zone so he would be attacked. Just- get the basil, the echinacea, and lavender paste," Mitsuyo asked, hoping to confirm her suspicions.

"No," Kaiya said and Mitsuyo closed her mouth with a snap. "Leave him there without general anesthesia. He deserves to perish,"

Mitsuyo growled at her barely sane sister. "Kaiya- for once, do what you are told and start thinking about someone other than yourself,"

Kaiya gasped. "I am not being selfish. I'm being reasonable. What do we owe to this-this murderer? This awful man who caused the war?"

Mitsuyo rolled her eyes. "Oh shut it, Kaiya. We are not Kami. We don't get a say in who we heal. We heal and that's the end of the story,"

Kaiya's blue colored contact lenses got darker with her anger. "Mitsuyo- this isn't an argument over who gets the last slice of sashimi. This is Uchiha Sasuke we're talking about. He's our biggest problem here,"

Mitsuyo sighed. Always neurotic. Always insane. Always murderous. She knew she would say something like that. "Get out," Mitsuyo ordered.

Kaiya stammered, so shocked by the warning. "Me? What about him?"

"Get out! Now. Before I become your biggest problem," Mitsuyo threatened casually. "You know who would win should we ever battle,"

Kaiya knew full well that she meant a fight to the death. Kaiya would lose. She never practiced her jutsu or trained her sharingan. She was weak compared to Mitsuyo. However, when Kaiya would work for Orochimaru- it was her strength that shone through.

Kaiya huffed then left. After an hour of healing him by herself, she was finally done. She was finishing sewing up the cuts just above his eyebrow.

His eyes... he needed eye drops. Special eye drops that only the Uchiha's use. She had them in the other room, beside her many colored contact lenses.

She passed Kaiya, looking like Mitsuyo tyrannized her. Downtrodden in the hallway, she pouted. "You're making a mistake," Kaiya whispered.

After three seconds, Mitsuyo came back.

It took a moment to understand what was happening. Kaiya was injecting something into him. She had no idea what it was. As soon as she made sense of the picture, she acted quickly.

She tackled Kaiya to the ground. Mitsuyo held Kaiya's right empty arm down, away from her body and stepped on Kaiya's left wrist with her other foot while sitting on her stomach.

"What are you doing?!" Mitsuyo yelled.

She just looked pained as she shifted under Mitsuyo. She explained simply. "He needs to die. He's an Uchiha. He killed Danzo. Don't you want to avenge him?" Kaiya shouted back. Mitsuyo's eye twitched, not giving her the right reaction. "Didn't you ever love Danzo?!"

Mitsuyo shook her head. "I loved him. More than the amount of when the ocean's tides meet the sands. Endlessly and eternally,"

"Then why won't you kill Uchiha Sasuke?" Kaiya asked, desperate for an answer.

"He's a child. Screw his upbringing, politics, and past. I can't do anything but help his future but I can aid him now. I'm better than murdering out of revenge. I wish I could say the same for you,"

"His brother killed our clan," Kaiya argued.

She wrestled to get out from under Mitsuyo. Mitsuyo slapped her ear. "His brother did, not him," Mitsuyo said through clenched teeth. "And you never cared for Danzo, so stop using him as psychotic bait. Stop fishing for reasons to kill him,"

"Does anyone really need a reason?" Kaiya snarled.

"Yes!" Mitsuyo slapped Kaiya again. "Being compassionate is hard for you, being evil is easy. You're just jealous that he got to kill Danzo before you did,"

"Danzo killed my foster parents and our actual parents," Kaiya said.

"Why take out your problems on Uchiha Sasuke?! He's not an outlet,"

"It distracts me from hurting you. You're the reason why all of this happened," Kaiya admitted, angry tears brimming her long sweeping lashes.

Is that why Kaiya helped Orochimaru kill Uchiha? Like a voodoo doll? She and Shigeko both hunted them down and they are both flawed but you cannot go around killing to spite her.

"You always called me a stubborn bitch. I would gladly take that over being crazy and heartless any day," Mitsuyo said.

Kaiya stared at Mitsuyo and wiped away the hair in her eyes. "You're just like me. A killer," Kaiya snarled, "with Danzo, Orochimaru, and even Sarutobi-sensei,"

"Yeah but I am not happy to be this way," Mitsuyo hissed.

Mitsuyo got off of her and Kaiya rolled away. She looked at Sasuke on the medical examination table, her face twisting into a displeased grimace. "What are you going to do with him?" Kaiya asked.

"I'll figure something out. He'll be here for a couple of weeks, a month or two at most,"

"I don't want to stay here," Kaiya said.

"You're not welcome, either nightmare," Mitsuyo glared at Kaiya. "Get out of my sight. There's yen on the table. Take it- it'll last three weeks if you're careful. Spend it on Taiyo please- alright?"

"I'll just leave him here with you," Kaiya said quietly.

They both nodded. "Fine," Mitsuyo said loudly.

"Dear sister, we could have finished him off really quickly. The strongest man in the world can't get hurt, not unless he wanted to," Kaiya said while walking away.

¤¤¤

April 5th. ?

There was a dull throb. It felt like millions of burning hot needles concentrated on one patch of damaged, peeling skin. The usual.

Sasuke opened his eyes. Why was he not dead? He laid here, waiting to be long and gone.

Itachi? This is an odd heaven.

He opened his eyes. Navy... Not his ideal color. Eh. If Itachi likes it- he likes it.

He didn't want to be dickless and just give into the fear. He was a shinobi not an asswipe for a nightmare to ruin. He activated his sharingan, just because the shadows didn't look empty.

Nothing.

Where the fuck is he? Sasuke panicked. He's not with Orochimaru in that Kami-forsaken hideout. He searched for his demons and their friends.

Nothing, still.

He looked out the window. Still night. The wind blew and the fingers of the rain tapped on the windows. His breaths showed up as fog in front of his eyes.

The day is just commencing.

The steady pitter-patter of the damn water seeped through the windowsill and through little cracks on the unfinished roof. It plainly emanated the scent of sea salt, dried sea salt, and the sharp burnt iron scent of lightning.

How long has it been pouring? He doesn't know.

He heard feet padding on the floor and make the dim house groan. What if that's Itachi? He has to-

That's exactly when he tried to move and realized that he was particularly broken this time around.

Pain shot through his nerves and right to his core. It burnt him wholly and it was miserable but occulting. He wasn't supposed to move- his pelvis felt like it was cracked open with a sledgehammer.

So. His lungs, brain, and heart still work. That's all he needed. He was all bandaged up and it was strange. Anyone other than Itachi would have left him to die a slow, painful death but he's still here. Perhaps it really was heaven.

He heard the footsteps again and tried to sit up before the pain hit him fully and he passed out once again.

-x-

April 16th.

He woke up again, in and out of consciousness. He just saw a long string of memories flashing all the same time. Time passed. Maybe? Both and neither.

He didn't feel healed, instead it felt like he was being buried by one thousand simultaneous rasengans while his cells rip apart and the weight of the ocean sat on his already crushed ribs.

They really did their job in not healing him.

He feels the hunger and he feels the thirst although that gets soothed. He also feels the I.V needle's position change time from time.

By the third time he slips into a deep dreamless state, he realizes that he isn't dead. He wanted to be dead. It felt like a failed victory. He's here but not happy about it.

He could sometimes see spots of light or hear a feminine voice. Maybe a bird or film from time to time. Some cries and the groaning of wood. A laugh here and there.

Then it goes dark.

A few more lifetimes passed and he realized the casts and bandages were getting off. He ultimately wondered if he was in jail. His senses told him not because no one would be that nice. And no one would laugh... It wouldn't smell like rice and flowers.

He froze. Someone's coming- either his enemy or enemies. He immediately figured that everything but his left arm was broken or sore in a way. He'll have to work fast.

With the smoothness of butter, he soundlessly got out of bed and grabbed the surgical blade that glinted nearby. It was dull and not properly weighted but he was Uchiha Sasuke, any blade was his to master.

He did notice that obsidian-black locks of hair weren't blocking his view. He reached up, expecting to find spiked glory but found a close-cropped cut. A buzzcut.

He surely but slowly crashed through the paper door and slammed the woman into the wall.

The woman let out a garbled cry of unintelligent words as she fell. Sasuke trifled with the idea of having her as a hostage. The Uchiha never have hostages- they kill. No witnesses.

She was in her late thirties with metallic gray eyes that were haunted. Those eyes have seen things that aged her. They also seemed fake. She had pale smooth skin that vaguely smelled like almonds and soap. She didn't look afraid even though he cut just above her ear.

She was the only one here. No other workers. His shoulders ached and he was wrapped in sarachi. His right arm was in a sling, and he tasted his concussion. Despite that, he felt irrational rage coursing through him like blood. She rescued him and that could never be forgiven.

"I wanted death," Sasuke said, still holding the scalpel to her neck, ready to slice it across her neck. Watch the warm liquid rubies tumble from her artery and pool under them so he could leave.

She sat under him, not fighting either. "You kill me, you die and I'm dead. I've got nothing to live for either but there's a kid who didn't get to choose his fate yet. Do you really want to squander his life too?" The woman hissed, moving closer to the blade.

She didn't care much about her life either, then. A kid? He tightened his grip on the blade.

That can't change the fact that this woman kept him here. He should be grateful but he should have been with the ANBU, in Konoha. They'd finish him off. She has a kid here, somewhere. He wouldn't kill her. However, he could make her angry enough to take him to the police.

Sasuke paused and glared at the shapely woman. "Tell me everything," Sasuke threatened. He didn't have enough strength to use his rinnegan or his sharingan.

"I saved your life. I expect gratitude but seeing that your ass doesn't have any, I'll take you going back to bed. You'll rip out your stitches. Return to bed," The woman ordered as if he was a child.

Sasuke shook his head, pressing with enough force to draw pearls of crimson on her white skin.

The woman laughed, breathy and disbelieving. "You won't?" she challenged.

Sasuke had enough of this and he stabbed beside her head, nicking her ear.

The feline look in her eye smartened when she stopped her laughing, offering an enthusiastic but mocking look. "That's surprising,"

"Kill me," he barked.

She wet her lips with her tongue. "That's too kind,"

Sasuke used his Chidori senbon technique to crush her shoulder blade. "Get revenge, show your vendetta- finish me off. Be like the others and give into your hate," he yelled. "Kill me,"

She gave a sardonic smile. "No can do, runt,"

Her suddenly red eyes twirled and that was the last thing he remembered.

¤¤¤

April 31st. ?

Sasuke groaned when he opened up his eyes. Same shit blue color. He's still here.

He sighed.

Orochimaru liked to stay in caves and underground tunnels. He never knew why. It was hard to get good food. Orochimaru hates the taste of real food. Kabuto liked pissing in his drink and Shigeko hated, hated the taste of anything healthy but she stayed alive and skinny.

Unless Sasuke has a hand in it- they won't be alive. He hasn't seen any of them for three years- so... he doesn't know if Shigeko or Kabuto is alive.

This time, the sullen wench was at his bedside. She used a Kumogakure hair bandana to keep the gray locks away from her eyes. They were a different shade of constellation-blue this time. Peculiar.

She wore a green yukata that revealed some of her okay breasts. They weren't Tsunade-sized but they were nice. For a woman who was near thirty-seven, she was sort of hot. He had time to admire her curvatures and slightly mysterious attitude, she huffed at him. She gave him water. He wouldn't say that he was thankful but his thirst was quenched. His throat stopped burning.

She sighed, putting the bowl away. He felt light and floaty. He shot her a dark look. What did she put in his water?

"Yes. I put some juice to calm you down. You bozu, such an idiot. Thanks for wounding my shoulder,"

Sasuke nodded. You're welcome. You deserved it, he thought.

She showed him the newspaper article titled: Final Uchiha Death? Three Konohagakure Shinobi Killed The Presumed Dead Notorious Criminal. Two months since the attack and no one has heard from the lethally injured Uchiha. The Hokage is worried.

She tossed it away. "This marks the second month that you've been here," she said slowly. She had a high voice that was silky.

Two months? In bed? What happened to him? No. There were full days when he would lay around and think. He did that pondering routine for a week and a half. The other half of that week was him just being awake, unmoving.

"Yes. Two months. Your body hasn't fully healed. It's more mental than physical, isn't it?" The woman looked incredibly angry. Sakura angry. It was a turn-off. "You're blocking your extraordinary healing powers. You don't think you deserve to heal,"

Okay. Any attraction he felt disappeared. He admits it.

She stood up, gesticulating wildly. "Aside from the Uchiha clan killing family to awaken the sharingan, your clan folks put genjutsu on themselves for trivial matters. Fun. Rewatching a certain memory. Like studying for an exam, re-watching a cinema movie they loved or they go your idiotic, detrimental way and torture themselves for two weeks straight. What's wrong with you?!"

The first part of her spiel was true but she's crazy. He looked away, westward. This is bullcrap.

"I know what you were doing, Uchiha. You talk and cry in your sleep," the woman snapped. "Why should I save you if you don't want to save yourself?"

Sasuke's voice was like the groaning wood of an abandoned house. "I deserve this," Sasuke rasped huskily.

"You deserve a life and a kingdom, not death. Restart once again but not with this self-induced nightmare. You have to eventually stop hurting yourself and start anew, find that girl- Sakura, the one you talk about in your sleep,"

Sasuke gave her a sharp look. "I didn't do..." That.

"Don't bet on it, bozu. I have tape recordings,"

"You creepy man," Sasuke said loudly.

"Very mature," The woman laughed drily. "I saw the news, the fight between you and the Konoha-dogs. You are not weak. Orochimaru trains his pupils until their bones shatter. You wanted to get hurt,"

He looked away, feeling no reason to pay attention. "Nothing to live for,"

She shrugged after minutes of deliberation and pondering. "The future of possibilities, you can live for that. You kept on yapping about 'restoring' your clan. You're too attached to abandon your quest in continuing your dojutsu,"

"You know nothing," Sasuke growled. "Keeping me prisoner and healing me is a mistake,"

The woman clicked her tongue. "Well. You will die without my medicine if you leave. You can leave and get arrested for the insane amount of property damage you managed to amass. You could reveal your intentions to the Raikage and die. Or you could stay here, get four hot meals a day, services like laundry, electricity, temporary shelter and rehabilitation all for nothing. Zero yen,"

She almost died in his hands and she's offering a home to stay in?

She move towards the door, without a second glance. "If you don't want any of this. I expect you gone in the morning,"

She was about to leave but he stopped her.

"Why do this?" Sasuke asked hoarsely. Speaking and forming words hurt his brain but this kindness... ached more.

She seemed caught off-guard by the question. She didn't look back and let out a soft exhalation of air. "You... killed someone who the broken part of me couldn't forget or the healthy part couldn't kill,"

"Who?" Sasuke asked. He killed many people.

"Don't worry. It allows you permanent easement into my life but also all the hate I have is directed at you,"

"You hate me?" Sasuke asked. "Why heal me?"

"Yes... I appreciate you more than hate. You won't even know I am in the house. I will feed you and give you medicine but we do not have to speak. I owe you that much distance. Make your decision soon,"

Then she said; "My name is... is Natsukawa Mitsuyo,"

¤¤¤

Five months later.

One-hundred and sixteen months ago, he didn't even say goodbye. To his mother. June first passed. Her birthday. He didn't want to get another drink nor kill anyone or leave.

The last few months consisted of him sitting in this stranger's room.

He decided to stay. At least until his hair grew back.

Sasuke threw his forehead protector into the koi pond. The forehead protector he wore around his waist to signify his friendship with Naruto. Then Sakura and Naruto went off and dated each other.

The woman... Mitsuyo was a ghost in the house. He only ever saw her when they accidentally crossed paths. He ate all of his meals. Alone. He wandered through the library. Alone. He watched TV. Alone. He walked through the forest. Alone.

She fed him, administered his medicine and did all that she promised. He learned about the silver-headed witch.

She had many artifacts and paintings. She also loved mah jong and playing tennis. She occasionally had hookups with some idiot with glasses. She gardened a lot but sold the veggies at the market. Her favorite color was pink and she ran a daycare about two weeks after he agreed to stay.

As he figured her out, Mitsuyo did the same. She got him fishing gear, caramel treats and almost always had a bowl of rice with his meals. Sasuke loved all those things.

She was very maternal and almost exclusively referred to him as 'child,' or 'bozu,' which bothered him at first. Then he realized it was because she saw him as something to take care of. She had no husband but birthed two kids. One had black hair and dark grey eyes and the boy had auburn locks and black eyes.

He slowly started feeling better or more like he trusted her.

He never exchanged a word with her. She did like talking at him then that shifted and she talked to him. He helped carry out buckets and buckets of rain when thunderstorms hit. He sat in the living room to watch TV while small hyper children ran free. He also helped fish and throwing out the trash. They even made fun of unsuspecting Kumogakure people by dropping water balloons onto the inhabitant's heads, hundreds of feet above.

She finally stopped sliding his creative meals under the paper door and he ate dinner with her. It was quiet and the rain fell.

It was about at four months that he finally responded and talked to her. The first thing he said was, "You've ruined my hair,"

She laughed so hard that rice milk came out of her nose. "That's the first words you say to me? You vain, Uchiha,"

Then he finally trusted Natsukawa Mitsuyo when he chuckled too. He didn't like her but he didn't have to. He could... see his future wife... doing this with Mitsuyo. Getting taken care of.

¤¤¤

May 7th. Three years later. Before the birth of the twins.

"These 9 months passed by quickly. I can't say it was always pleasant but I enjoyed it," Mitsuyo muttered, settling beside Sasuke on the deck.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said," Sasuke murmured. "Have you gone soft, Mitsuyo?"

"Oh hush up, Uchiha. I am a pleasant person to be around," she said. "People would like you more if you were nicer. You have a lot of charisma under that malaise,"

"I'm charismatic?"

"It worked on Someina. Benjiro adores you. And I tolerate you at most. You're an asshole, we all get it. For the love of god, don't change,"

"I'm not nice and I don't want people to like me," Sasuke snapped.

Mitsuyo shrugged. "They are pretty foul to be around but you don't like being alone, you've just learned to. Stargazing is what you do with Hinata. Why are you out here alone, without her?" Mitsuyo asked, nudging him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "We're not attached at the hip, Mitsuyo,"

"I beg to differ," Mitsuyo laughed. "You're the worrywart now? Hinata's worked on labor exercises. She worked out all the angles. She's determined to have a safe delivery," Mitsuyo said quietly. "She's fine, buster. I know it's not a word to you or Hinata but... it's true,"

"Tomorrow is her due date... Problematic," Sasuke murmured. "After the kids, Hinata... might not make it. We've stared death in the face? Death visits me, the damned,"

"It won't," Mitsuyo said.

Sasuke frowned. "How do you know?"

"I don't. I say death loves misery, strife, and company... Loves the company of my family and children but... Death won't come knocking at our door. We don't deserve the worst..."

"Not anymore at least," Sasuke finished.

"Benjiro and Ryouta act the same way and it kills me. It's as if I'm seeing my son ever I go. Maybe that's why I helped you," Mitsuyo said.

"Your son. Is that why you like me?" Sasuke asked, finding umbrage and offense.

"Sort of. You do have that charisma in your back pocket,"

Sasuke chuckled lightly.

Mitsuyo got serious. "I'm not that nostalgic but we are ghosts in the shells, aren't we? We're made from stardust, driving a meat coated skeleton," Mitsuyo said.

"And I thought I was pessimistic about life," Sasuke said.

"Hinata's worried about you. She said there's this coldness to you that she can't understand. Something closed your heart,"

"I was born to help nobody or love anyone. There is no way she could understand my torment. The pain of it wasn't gone. It was just slowed..."

Mitsuyo shrugged. "Life before the people we care about wasn't sweet... it is full of abandon and contemplation. We do not enjoy life... rather, we endure it. Whatever happens, Sasuke- endure it. Even... even if Hinata... dies,"

Sasuke got antsy again. "I can't carry on after one more loss. Her loss. It's hard to say goodbye to the ones you just met,"

Mitsuyo sighed. "You're still here after all the time that's gone... the people too. Nothing seems scary or horrible if you go through loss," she eyed Sasuke. "That sorrow to believe your life is a sin. But I should have done more,"

After a melancholic beat, Sasuke added. "Me too. You've seen loss, too," he realized.

She nodded. "I have. Feels like a whole clan sometimes. It feels like that for anyone when they die,"

They looked at the horizon, lost.

"Bliss and conflict. That's what grieving is. Going through conflict then rediscovering the bliss," Sasuke muttered. "My mother's birthday, mother's day and the day she passed... on are soybeans... awful,"

She smiled, avoiding his gaze. "Our clan... was gone too early. It was like watching a sunset at noon. However, reality comes into existence at every moment, the beginning is now..."

He was quiet.

She nudged him. "The beginning is now. Hinata told me you're working on forgiving yourself. How's that going?"

"It's going," he whispered.

Mitsuyo smirked. "I like that. We're not loveless anymore. We've got her... Hinata... reminds me of how leaves move in the wind; wild, grown, free,"

"Will going back to Konoha ruin all the progress?" he asked.

"Nah. She got the will of fire all things nice. I hate Konoha but this stormy, gloomy weather is not her. She needs perpetual sun. She wasn't raised in the shadows of hate like us..."

"Maybe bringing her here was a mistake," Sasuke wondered.

"No... you saved her life. She looked beautiful but now she feels beautiful and confident. That's never a mistake,"

"I wish they treated her better. Maybe she wouldn't have left. Maybe she'd want to stay," Sasuke murmured.

"Even while being friendly, they didn't like her softness. There are bitter folks and sweet gals like her... These differences are necessary for the interest of mankind. The tragedy started when one begins falling for a soul like hers. She helps every fool fall in love. Perhaps you're spellbound, you big bozu,"

Sasuke then smiled. "It's hard not to like her. They don't, back home,"

"Is that why you love her?" Mitsuyo asked.

Sasuke's mouth went dry. "I don't-"

"Save the words for her, you know? Be good to her. She won't leave... even if you ruin her,"

Sasuke scowled... knowing it's true.

"The babies will come out fine, perhaps a little fat and chubby but beautiful, nonetheless. You'll be a good, good father to your children,"

Sasuke actually smiled.

"Let's drink on it," Mitsuyo suggested. Mitsuyo went to the freezer and got two bottles of doburoku and sake.

"Cheers," Mitsuyo said sweetly.

"Cheers," Sasuke said as well.

They both drank and watched the stars.