Chapter 18
Mikoto had to rein in the two boys multiple times during their brisk walk to the hospital. At least they called it a hospital. Sasuke had heard his father and mother complaining about the lack of medical knowledge or supplies at their disposal. Since most Uchiha were expected to be put on active duty, they only learned the bare basics of healing with chakra and some first aid to stop bleeding and slow down poisons. Some of the elders had knowledge about plant life and medicine but it paled in comparison to a trained professional.
“Hurry up,” Naruto was circling back and forth between Mikoto and further down the street. His worry had lessened some when he heard his brother would be alright but it wouldn’t disappear completely until he saw him, safe and sound.
“Don’t run,” Mikoto chided but Sasuke could see some of her good spirits came back in her eyes. It was one ability Naruto had that Sasuke kind of envied. Even when he’s stressed, he somehow makes everyone around him feel better. Mikoto eventually took Naruto’s hand and Sasuke pretended not to notice how she squeezed it as they walked.
It was late enough in the day that several people greeted the trio as they made their way to the hospital where Touga was treating Shisui. Thankfully nobody stopped them for long. There were a few children milling about but not as much as there were before. With the newly implemented “Mission Day”, the only children not in the academy were the ones that were beginning to move away from the shinobi lifestyle.
Most of the morning classes involved shinobi duties like strategy and PE. While basics like math and language would be in the afternoon so those children would probably be in school after they helped at home. Naruto was so distracted he didn’t even bother to wave at the kids who did recognize him.
“Here we are,” Mikoto announced. Before she could fully let go, Naruto dropped her hand and ran towards the entrance. After he went in, the two Uchiha left outside looked at each other. Mikoto managed a small smile at Naruto’s antics. “Well, we should probably go in too.” She gestured to the door and Sasuke followed her in.
Usually Sasuke didn’t like hospitals and avoided them at all costs but this one wasn’t so bad. Right now it was more like a clinic than a hospital but it just didn’t have that horrible smell that stung his nose. It didn’t have a lot of equipment either but he knew that would change when it was complete, there was talk of adding more floors to it. It would be the first two story building in the village, if it’s true.
Sasuke heard Naruto talking a mile a minute from somewhere down the hall. “Guess he’s feeling better.” Sasuke commented. It felt like the first breath he had taken since the night before. The two followed the sound of Shisui’s voice. He sounded like he was telling Naruto about some bandits that he ran across. Sasuke looked at him closely when he walked through the door.
There were bandages wrapped around his head and one of his arm was in a sling. It was hard to tell through the gown but Sasuke saw more bandages peeking out of his sleeve on his shoulder. He was smiling and waving off Itachi. “Everytime I take my eyes off of you, you go and get yourself hurt.” Sasuke had been on more than one of Itachi’s scoldings and almost hid behind his mother when he heard his brother’s tone.
He looked around and couldn’t see his father. Shisui must have noticed the action and figured it was the best way to escape Itachi’s wrath. “Uncle went to go talk to Touga. He should be back soon” He answered the unasked question.
“So what happened?” Naruto was quick to ask. Sasuke went and sat next to his friend to hear the story. At the same time, Mikoto passed out the food she had made that morning. Shisui was ravenous between bites but the others ate at a more sedate pace. When he devoured his bento and half of Itachi’s, he began his story.
“Not much to be honest,” Shisui rubbed a spot on the back of his head before he flinched a bit. Itachi gave him a disapproving look at the movement but otherwise didn’t comment. “Nothing too interesting happened on the way to the capital. No bandits or anything. Should have seen the daimyo’s assistant’s face when I handed him the form though.” He laughed but Sasuke noticed that he sent a look to his mom. It was so quick he could have imagined it.
“It took a couple of days for them to finally bring back our approval.” Here he grinned at Naruto and Sasuke. “Not that I was worried. Itachi did the paperwork so I knew it was good.” That sounded right to Sasuke and got Naruto to giggle a bit. “It felt like forever though. I guess word got out pretty quick after that though because I kept getting attacked by bandits on my way home. It wasn’t near as peaceful as the way there.”
There! He looked at Mikoto again. Sasuke was going to get to the bottom of this. “Why were there so many bandits after?” He figured he should go with the obvious question first.
Itachi looked at his younger brother in approval and Mikoto worried for a moment that Fugaku’s paranoia had been rubbing off on their youngest. Mikoto gave the same silent approval that she gave Sasuke’s cousin that morning. “Well, chances are that someone found out who I was and figured it might be better if I didn’t make it home.”
“But the only ones that knew why you were there were the daimyo and his council, right?” Naruto looked a bit lost but Sasuke was beginning to worry.
“That’s right, little man.” Sasuke could tell the cheer was fake that time. “Also, I had some real nasty company next to Konoha.” He rubbed his shoulder. “But I managed to get home in one piece, mostly.” He winced again when he poked at his shoulder and Itachi smacked Shisui’s hand away from his wound.
“I am happy that you are alright,” Fugaku interrupted the story as he entered the already crowded room. It sounded a bit awkward but sincere. He was working hard on that.
“You also brought us something amazing.” Mikoto beamed as she inspected the scroll her husband handed her. “With this,” she showed the boys “we can start trading and taking on missions. We’ll also have to get a group ready to do some traveling.” She already started planning. “Some products to take with us too, and of course Fugaku needs to stay in the village to approve missions. Tekka’s going to be busy for a bit at our mission desk.”
Mikoto gave Shisui a quick but careful hug and ruffled Naruto’s and Sasuke’s hair before she grabbed her husband by the wrist and started dragging him away, talking all the while. Shisui turned to look at Naruto and whispered conspirationaly “I think you may take after auntie.” That broke the ice again and the four kids that were left in the room started talking about everything that had happened since they last spoke.
Itachi was filling Shisui in on all of the new buildings that were done when Touga walked in. Technically, he wasn’t a doctor but he was an Elder. He was the one teaching herbology and poisons, which apparently was his specialty when he was taking active missions.
He was usually a nice man but the glare he pointed at Naruto and Sasuke left no room for discussion. The two quieted as they all watched him check Shisui. “You should be fine to return home but come straight to me if anything feels off.” He turned and looked at Naruto. “You make sure he does.” Now that he was finished, the nice old man took the place of the stern medic.
Touga didn’t waste any time shooing the four boys away. It was too late in the day to return to school so they decided to go to the training ground and get some work in. Naruto was excited to show Shisui everything Itachi had been teaching him. Normally, Sasuke would be equally as excited but he was starting to feel the early morning. It wasn’t a big deal anyway. Responding with words was always optional for the two most outgoing members of Sasuke’s family.
He simply sat in the sunshine and watched Naruto for a while. Even this far south, it was starting to get chilly. Their teacher said it shouldn’t get as cold as Konoha so they planted some winter foods like collards, turnips, and lettuce. The weather was also nice enough for cucumbers and squash. If nothing else, between what they managed to plant and hunt, they wouldn’t starve.
One minute, Sasuke was watching Shisui demonstrate a taijutsu and the next thing he knew, Itachi was shaking him awake. He stretched a bit before opening his eyes. Looking up, he could tell the impromptu nap hadn’t been as long as he hoped. After a bit of whining, he was even able to talk Itachi into a piggyback ride home, even though it was a bit childish. When they dropped Naruto and Shisui off at home, he looked down at Naruto from his brother's back and stuck his tongue out at him.
He couldn’t completely hold in his laugh when Naruto started making funny faces at him from his place beside Shisui. Shisui offered to carry the blonde but the group figured if the wrong person saw them (Cough, Cough Mikoto), there would be hell to pay. In the end Naruto walked and Sasuke got the royal treatment. “Do you think Shisui is really okay?” Sasuke couldn’t help but ask after they started walking to their own house.
“Why wouldn’t he be?” Sasuke pouted. He hated it when Itachi asked a question instead of giving him the answer. He said it was so Sasuke could learn to think things through but Sasuke thought he just liked sounding like a grown up.
“He sounded like himself but he seemed kinda worried. So did mom and dad. I was just wondering if he was hurt more than he told us.” Not like he had to tell Sasuke everything but the bad part of being observant is he noticed these things.
“I don’t think he’s hurt.” His brother said eventually. He ended the thought with a short pause. Sasuke knew he was just figuring out how to word his response. Sometimes his big brother lost his words and didn’t know how to talk. Sasuke blamed it on him graduating early from the academy. They apparently didn’t have enough time to teach him how to talk to other people. “I think we’re all just worried about the shinobi that attacked him.”
“Shisui said they didn’t have forehead protectors but that they fought like they were from Konoha, right?” He wondered out loud, trying to remember the conversation from that morning.
“Now how did you find out about that?” Itachi questioned. It took Sasuke a minute to remember that they didn’t talk about that in the hospital.
“I found out this morning when our cousin told mother what was happening.” He figured it was best to be honest.
Itachi just Hnnn so Sasuke continued. “Why wouldn’t they have on their forehead protectors? Isn’t it the law to identify yourself when you're doing shinobi work?” He remembered that from his lessons in school.
“You're right,” Itachi said. “But sometimes if the village is doing something they know others won’t like, they’ll tell their shinobi to take them off. That way if they're caught, the village wouldn’t get into trouble.” Itachi looked away when he explained this and Sasuke felt like there was more he wanted to say. He wasn’t going to push that now because he had something better to be mad about.
“How dare they!” He was so loud, Itachi had to juggle him on his back so Sasuke wouldn’t tip backwards on the ground. “That means they definitely know better.” He was indignant now and continued his rant the rest of the way home. Even with Itachi laughing at him.
Their mother was in the yard tending to the flowerbeds. They had planted some bulbs a while back but it was still too soon for them to sprout. She smiled when she saw the two of them and even kept quiet about Sasuke being carried. Itachi carried him all the way in the house and they saw Fugaku sitting at the kitchen table reading some scrolls. “Hello, father.” Itachi greeted and though he didn’t quite smile, he did sound fond to Sasuke.
Fugaku merely grunted and started writing down some notes on a separate page. Sasuke got down and quietly went to his room to do his own homework. Technically, he didn’t have homework but since he was still helping out in the afternoons, he tried to read ahead whenever possible.
He heard his mother and father raise their voices several times while he studied. They didn’t sound mad when he heard them but it did sound important so he tried to stay quiet. Itachi was silent too from wherever he was. Sasuke figured he was just doing Itachi things. It was a lot quieter without Naruto sharing the room with him and he managed to clean up the mess they made while the other boy was staying the night.
Neither boy mentioned the late dinner when they were called in the kitchen. The table was cleared off except for a list sitting in front of Mikoto. She looked almost triumphant as she dished out the plates. The moment everyone was served, she started talking about everything that would be needed for a long trip.
It was difficult to get a word in edgewise when his mother got started but Sasuke could be patient. Eventually, she tired herself out enough for him to ask her a question. “So, mom” he waited until all eyes were on him before he continued. “What do you know about seals?” He knew she could do some but he wasn’t sure how to ask about the scroll he less than legally obtained from the librarian.
She seemed to understand that something was happening but she wasn’t sure what. Suspiciously, she explained “I know most of the basics at the academy and more than a few of the advanced circles. I’m not a master and can’t make my own but I do okay. The clan doesn’t really have a seal specialist right now. Are you asking because of the cave I told you to stay out of.”
Sasuke blushed, “No!” He had honestly forgotten about that cave. Now that he thought about it though, it would be the perfect space to draw that big summoning circle. Covering for himself, he grasped the first excuse he could find. “I noticed the other day that Naruto had a seal on his stomach and wanted to know more about it.”
There, that was safe. He thought he was in the clear when he looked up again because Naruto was always a safe topic. He was not expecting his entire family to be looking at him in what looked like horror. “W-what?” Fugaku had half choked on his supper in surprise. Itachi’s face had all but turned to stone.
Mikoto simply sighed and put her head in her hands. “I knew I was forgetting something.” Turning to Fugaku, she reassured “Don’t worry, dear. Nothing was leaking. It was just a very emotional morning.” Sasuke didn’t think her reassurance worked if the look on Fugaku’s face was anything to go by. “Why don’t we talk about this after school tomorrow. That way Naruto can be part of the discussion.” The way she looked at her husband told Sasuke she also wanted time to think about what to say.
Sasuke didn’t know what he just stepped in but he had the feeling it was much worse than a summoning seal he wasn’t supposed to have. When he went to bed for the evening, he hoped he would remember to warn Naruto about the mess he got them both in.