#bladedhunter

While it's not an everyday occurrence to find a stranger wandering the halls alone, at the same time, it isn't entirely out of the ordinary, either. Little 'Mitsuki' had seen dozens of uniform-clad strangers file in and out of rooms of their home before. The surveillance team often entered to conduct routine checks and talks with his parent.

Since he spends most of his time in the medical wing, anyhow, Mitsuki knows nothing of note ever really seems to happen as a result of these visits. Curiosity, however, still gets the better of him as he walks up to the skulking figure from behind, a hand outstretched to give his sleeve a tug.

Jiraiya span in his chair slowly. His body laid back and arms rested folded on his chest. He looked less like a leader and more like an imposter sitting in the chair that belongs to a leader.

Another lazy kick against the floor and he slowly swivels back to facing the intended way of the room. His bored expression turning into a smile when his loyal little Anbu came in.

“Sparrow! Finally. I was growing a beard. I thought you elites were supposed to be speedy.” He teased the ninja in front of him. “Or were you avoiding me?”

He stood up with a long hard stretch. As if he wasn’t the man in charge of hundreds of lives and was more a lazy house cat.

Orochimaru was quiet. Almost still. His movements calm and relaxed. Enjoying a quiet day as it was. Honestly it was unreal at times. Doing a few good deeds to be allowed back in to enjoy a peaceful life.

He sips silently at a cup of tea. Bitter and strong green tea. Slightly burnt from too hot of water. He didn’t move when Sasuke appeared. His composure unbothered despite the disturbance.

After years of watching the younger man he knew how to read the salty little bugger. The brooding and silent glare hasn’t changed from when Sasuke was no bigger than a bean sprout. Still cold with a slight curve of the under eyes. Cute really.

stops. 

the   world   stops   spinning.   the   stars   are   still.   the   moon   stares.   her   heart   stops   beating.   air   is   free   of   oxygen. 

he   isn't   doing   anything   wrong.   nothing   in   their   home   has   been   off-limits   to   him   ;   that   isn't   the   kind   of   people   she   and   her   uncles   are.   sasuke   is   a   member   of   the   family   as   long   as   he   wants   to   be   ,   arms   open   ,   without   limit   or   boundary.   he   is   allowed   to   go   and   do   as   he   pleases   so   long   as   he   pitches   in   every   now   and   then   —    helps   with   inventory   ,   pulls   a   few   noodles   ,   sweeps   the   restaurant   when   dada   isn't   around.   he   is   allowed   to   explore   and   discovery   however   he   wants   ;   that's   the   whole   appeal   of   being   somewhere   NEW   ,   to   figure   out   how   the   rest   of   the   world   works   and   now   people   are   different   but   so   very   the   same. 

but   she   can't   help   the   way   she   reacts.

the   way   the   world   shrinks   to   just   this.   just   the   singular   urn   ,   already   so   small   and   somehow   smaller   in   his   hand.   no   one's   supposed   to   know   about   it.   no   one's   supposed   to   TOUCH   it.   she   couldn't   protect   them   when   they   left   ,   she   was   too   small   , but   she   was   supposed   to   be   able   to   do   this    —    protect   them   now   ,   when   they're   nothing   but   dust   and   ash   in   child's   urn   because   there   wasn't   enough   left   of   them   to   each   fill   their   own.   she   didn't   even   know   sasuke   was   upstairs.   didn't   know   he   might   be   near   it.   didn't   know   it   might   catch   his   attention   ,   that   he   might   hold   it.   it's   her   job   to   know   and   she   didn't.

the   world   is   spinning   again.   FAST.   too   fast.   pucca   tries   to   breathe   ,   tries   to   make   air   fill   her   lungs   in   some   meaningful   way   that   gets   oxygen   into   her   ,   but   all   she   can   do   is   stare   at   her   parents'   remains   in   sasuke's   hand.

breathe.   in.   out.   in.   out.   in.   out.

she   can't   THINK.

❛⠀are you my new trainer ? ❜ the seven year old asks. he has no name. they call him by a series of numbers, but most of all, he's known as gaka.

“Come watch the sky with me. Won’t you, Ita?”

He hasn't laid down to sleep in days, at this point. The ambient hospital-calm of hallway benches and bedside armchairs were the extent of the comforts Sai had indulged himself in. Were it not for Ino's insistence, after the arrival of her mother to relieve them both, he would certainly have insisted upon staying put in Inojin's room.

He doesn't leave the ward, however, his typical routine for the past week consisting of taking walkabouts around the hall to restore some of his enegrgy. Sai knows Ino pretends not to notice that she can still sense him near.

With his own levels of alertness dampened by restlessness, he almost doesn't register how close he is to veering into another visitor until he manages to catch them coming out of the periphery of his sights, steadying himself in time to halt in front of her.

"Sorry, miss-" he mutters, though it takes hardly a second longer for Sai to stop himself, blinking the momentary lapse of recognition away. "Apologies, Sarada... I almost didn't see you there."

Hinata's wedding had brought him a lot of emotional turmoils and questionning, mostly from the realization that time is passing by and the routine he grew so attached to, his teammates... Is all changing. For a while he thought he couldn't handle these changes. What would he be without his team? Without their usual shinobi duties? He had never been so uncertain about his place in society and even considered disappearing to live as an hermit in the woods. How embarrassing, it would have gotten him nowhere.

For the first time in a long time, Shino believes to have found his path. He started training to be an academy teacher, Iruka-sensei has insisted that he was good with children and well... They do listen to him. He appreciates that. It's after another day as an apprentice that Shino heads home and to his surprise, gets intercepted by Sasuke. A while it has been, indeed. "Sasuke!" Shino closes the distance between them and- did he grow taller than Sasuke? He was always taller but he recalls that perhaps... A year ago, they were the same height. Will he ever stop?