Chapter 2
When he checks in on the bijuu mindspace in the morning, Saiken has left a reply to his note: We can get to Taki pretty quick! Should be about five days if Uta can keep up a good pace. See you there! But there’s no indication of when it was written. At minimum, it will be another three days until Utakata gets here.
Sasuke, the only true morning person among the Uchiha of Taki, is making pancakes when Gaara sits up. He must hear it, because he waves his spatula over his shoulder and says, “Do you want strawberries or green tea in your pancakes?”
“I don’t care,” says Gaara. For the last two weeks he’s been eating nothing but hardtack, which is what the innkeeper was willing to give him for free, and scavenged mushrooms; in the past three days he hardly ate anything at all. “I might eat a lot though, if it’s okay.”
“We’re a family of ninjas,” says Sasuke, glancing sideways at him. “We always eat a lot.”
Sasuke has probably never had to worry about having enough to eat for a months at a time, but every ninja knows what it’s like to go hungry for a week or so on missions. Gaara hasn’t told the Uchiha in detail about the unglamorous life of a missing-nin, because he prefers that they don’t know. He doesn’t even like to think about it.
Even Sasuke ends up impressed by the number of pancakes Gaara eats; by the time Itachi comes out of her and Shisui’s room, squinting sleepily, he has eaten all eight of the thick pancakes Sasuke made. They had both green tea and strawberries.
“Please tell me you’re going to give it a rest so me and Itachi can have some,” says Sasuke. “You win, all right? I take back what I said. You eat way more than a normal ninja. Are you starving yourself or something?” Itachi shoots him a look. “Oh, uh, right. Missing-nin.”
“It’s all right,” says Gaara quietly. “I’m full.” Itachi gives Sasuke another nasty look, for some reason, which makes Gaara wonder if somehow it was the wrong answer.
About half an hour later Roushi knocks on the door, obviously not having slept for days. He can barely keep his eyes open, and when he’s standing still he sways dangerously. Gaara helps him over to the table, where he stares keenly at Sasuke’s back.
Sasuke sighs theatrically and starts putting pancakes in front of him.
“Sorry to ask this,” he mumbles, “but can I pass out on your couch for a couple hours? I ran all the way here from Thunder Country. I promise I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I’m functional.”
“We should put a sign outside our door that says ‘jinchuuriki rest stop’,” Sasuke says, though Gaara thinks he’s amused rather than angry. “We seem to attract you like flies.”
“Blame your sister,” says Gaara.
“I blame you,” Sasuke tells him.
“We’ll try to leave before Utakata gets here,” says Gaara apologetically. “I don’t think Shibuki-san would be happy with three missing-nin hiding in his village.”
“He puts up with it because there’s nothing he can do to stop you, and you’re polite enough to go away when he tells you to,” is Itachi’s analysis. “As long as you don’t stay long enough to make other villages suspicious, he won’t mind.”
“We’ll be gone by the end of the day,” Gaara tells her.
“Fuu will be disappointed,” says Sasuke.