[05] boy you'll be the death of me

[thethundersaid]

Who: Sasuke & Friends Former Acquaintances, limited one-afternoon engagement. (Sakura & Naruto.)
Where: Isla Empieza (starting at the marketplace)
When: Backdated to February 11th.
What: Sasuke 'fesses up his identity at some point and now is the hour of reckoning.
Warnings: Probably not too violent.
Style: Whatever! Anything! Go wild.
Status: Openish. (Drop me a line so we can sort timeline if you want in!)

Somehow, he hadn't expected Sakura's name to turn up in the journal. Given who else from his world was also here, he likely should have: there was clearly neither rhyme nor reason as to who was pulled from where and when, though if Davy Jones was trying to pick people out for power, he was certainly raking through Sasuke's world thoroughly.

His frame was tense as he stalked through Empieza toward the fountain to meet Sakura, ignoring the way the locals still gave him apprehensive looks and surreptitiously left a space around him even in the marketplace.

Comments

[obstinates]

Naruto frowns and is about to argue with Sasuke about the names until Sakura punches his arm. He settles back a bit, rubbing it and whining quietly. It was official: he was the only fun team member of Team 7. The rest of them were all too high-strung all the time. Who wants to sail around in a ship called the Murderess? What sort of message is that sending to other ships?!

He keeps his eyes on Sasuke and then grumbles a little. "What sorta condition? No smiling?" Asshole.

[thethundersaid]

In contrast to their expressions, Sasuke's grows darker -- possibly unintentionally supporting Naruto's question at first. His posture is tense, voice forbidding as he gestures to the harbour again:

"There are plenty of crews you can join if you want. But you should know my brother is on the Murderess."

And he doesn't know if either of them have a clue just what Itachi has done for them, for the village they've fought to protect, or for the war they've all unwillingly left behind. It's unlikely, given Konohagakure's penchant for keeping secrets (and there's something that needs to change, among the myriad changes that need to happen), and while he'd explain it if the brother he has here were the same as the one he lost in his own world ...

Itachi is too young to know even of his own actions after the massacre, and he's nowhere near strong enough to deal with Naruto or Sakura if they decide to attack him. Sasuke can only protect him, and leave it to Itachi to explain as much as he wants.

"If you harm him, it won't matter what ship you get on or how far you run. You'll find the ocean is too small after all."

/butts in before chii

[obstinates]

Oh, that explains the familiar chakra signature. That's right, it was Itachi's! Now that makes sense, except for the fact it still feels strange. In any case, Naruto blinks a few times once Sasuke admits that Itachi is part of the ship. He wishes he'd been there for that reunion to see how Sasuke had taken things. Of course, Sasuke's next statement at least lets Naruto know that things aren't severely antagonistic between the brothers.

But with Sasuke being so serious, there's only one way for Naruto to react.

It starts small with his shoulders shaking a little bit. Then he covers his mouth as his cheeks puff out. After that, it's way too much for him. "Pfffffthahahah... holy crap you're always so damn serious. Guess that hasn't changed much!" With that, he smacks Sasuke heartily on the back.

Knowing that the Uchiha will probably react negatively to that sort of contact, Naruto quickly jogs ahead, still laughing loudly. "Why would I wanna hurt a friend!? Holy crap, Sasuke, relax a little!" Then he jogs off down towards the ship, eager to meet the crew.

"I GET TOP BUNKKKKKKK, Y'KNOW!"

you butt

[slugly]

Sasuke's brother was here? Sasuke was protecting him? Or he wanted to be the person to kill him? No, he would have done so. Was he the familiar figure around the railing? Sakura doesn't have much time to be shocked at the 'condition' before Naruto is laughing, slapping Sasuke on the back, and running off. She's even more surprised by that, her attention on her blond teammate now and slack-jawed.

Friend? Just what in the hell-

He leaves Sakura and Sasuke standing there, the former at a loss for words. Itachi was Naruto's friend?! Since when-- how--

WHY?! Everything she thought she knew about these two is getting turned on its head.

"Ugh!" Finally, she speaks and grips her pink hair in frustration. "I don't understand anything at all anymore!!"

such butts everywhere

[thethundersaid]

The silence hangs until Naruto breaks it with laughter, of all things, making Sasuke's gaze flinch to him with unmitigated shock. Friend? Friend? Since when has Itachi been Naruto's friend -- Sasuke follows him as soon as he moves, responding to Sakura's confused with just a stressed look before reaching out to grab Naruto by the shoulder.

"What do you know?!" He demands, harsh. He doesn't even want to touch on the bunk comment -- like hell he's sharing a room with Naruto, let alone a bunk, but let Naruto work out why everyone sleeps in hammocks on a ship on his own -- and in any case, this is of more immediate importance.

It's clear from that reaction that Naruto knows more than Sasuke expected, and more than Sakura does, but he has no idea where he'd have gotten the information except from Itachi himself. And it's one thing to share the story when Itachi is already dead, when Sasuke is the only one who can, but Itachi here is very much alive and very much not in possession of his own facts.

[obstinates]

Naruto grunts as he's stopped. Turning with a frown, he stares at Sasuke for a moment. He almost rolls his eyes at Sasuke's harsh tone, but he pauses when he realizes this sort of serious is different from Sasuke's usual oh-so-cheerful behavior. It's obviously because it has to do with Itachi, and that makes Naruto recall his last words with the elder Uchiha.

What does he know? Everything, though it wasn't Itachi who told him directly. He had Obito to thank for that. Still, they did speak as they fought Nagato. They spoke about a few things with Sasuke being one of them. He also remembers how Itachi asked him not to tell anyone about the truth of the massacre in order to keep the clan's honor.

It's not Naruto's business to tell Sasuke anyways. That's something between brothers.

The blond just glances over his shoulder towards the ship where Itachi is before looking back to his best friend. "I know he loves you more than anything. That's all that matters, right? So I'd never hurt someone like that."

[slugly]

Sakura looks as stressed as Sasuke had been while she watches Sasuke grab for Naruto. She steps forward and reaches out to try and stop it, expecting a fight, but there's no reason to. Instead she listens, soaking everything in because they're talking about Itachi.

What do you know, Naruto?

Before Sasuke can answer, Sakura interrupts. "Loves Sasuke-kun?" she looks as disbelieving as she sounds while she darts her eyes between the two of them. You didn't kill someone's clan to show someone you loved them! What sort of messed up line of thought was that?

And obviously it's not all that matters because of what he had done to both her teammates. He's the cause of so much strife.

But then, why would he say it? Naruto did know something that's changed his whole perspective on Itachi and Sasuke and he forgave. It's something only a few people knew. Slowly her eyes narrow, but she looks just as disoriented as ever. Kakashi isn't here to stop Naruto now. If she could get him to spit it out...

"How do you know that, Naruto? How could you know such a thing?"

[thethundersaid]

Sasuke lets go as if he's been burned when Naruto drops that word as if it's nothing -- his own thoughts echo Sakura's voice, how could Naruto know? How could Naruto know, if Sasuke himself only found out at the last possible minute? Did Itachi tell him? Because there's no way for Naruto to have drawn a conclusion like that without knowing the truth, and the only ones who knew it are largely dead.

No, that didn't make any kind of sense. The only time Itachi could possibly have run into Naruto would have been when he was trying to capture him to rip the nine-tails out of his body, hardly a time to explain the truth behind the Uchiha massacre and the years of Konohagakure's cover-up. Unless ... had Itachi somehow met Naruto during the Edo Tensei?

But even then, he'd tried to pretend with Sasuke at first. So how did Naruto know?

"Who told you the truth?" Sasuke demands, voice a growl. "Who have you been talking to?!"

[obstinates]

"I don't have to talk to anybody to know families love each other!" Naruto quickly bites back. "I may not have a brother, but I had parents. And they taught me that they loved me even if I didn't understand everything goin' on!" How could he have understood at first why he had Kurama sealed inside him? How could he have understood that he had to deal with all that pain and suffering, with the entire village hating him and treating him like a weapon?

"Besides," his voice drops as he thumbs over his shoulder for a moment and then locks his hands behind his head. "Neither of you have killed each other yet. Gotta mean somethin', huh?"

[slugly]

"Naruto..." Families love each other. She always thought Naruto considered Sasuke to be his brother, so he did have one. Maybe Sasuke didn't agree with the sentiment but that never stopped Naruto before. She doesn't really expect him to admit that to Sasuke's face right here though.

Not in front of her.

He comes to the same conclusion she does -- they haven't killed each other, so that means something outside of Sasuke not wanting them to harm his brother. While irritated she still didn't know what was going on or the 'truth' (as Sasuke and Naruto have BOTH called it now), she had to be moved by Naruto's words. She wonders if Sasuke is too so she tries to read his expression.

[thethundersaid]

The explanation is less than satisfying, Sasuke's brow furrowing into an even deeper frown, at once frustrated and confused. Even if Naruto has managed to speak to both of his parents (the Yondaime may have been brought back with Edo Tensei, but Sasuke certainly hasn't heard of any mention of Naruto's mother), something that can be applied to that family can hardly be relevant to the Uchiha. The Fourth made difficult decisions and ended up on the Hokage Monument for it. But still -- even if I didn't understand everything -- it's absolutely clear that Naruto knows something, if not everything.

"You'll tell me exactly what you know about us and from whom," he says finally, but steps back. "Not now --" he glances at Sakura, briefly; it's obvious she's the one who has been left out of the loop, and he intends to keep it that way for now. "But eventually."

For now, there's no threat to Itachi from this quarter, and the story is in Itachi's court to share in the way he sees fit. Sasuke turns after delivering that ultimatum and heads toward the docks, body language making it obvious that he considers the topic finished.

[obstinates]

Naruto first grunts at Sasuke's ultimatum. Really, he was grim back when they were twelve, but he's shooting for a world-record or something nowadays. Oh well, he didn't expect rainbows and such to radiate from Sasuke's body. They'll just have to work on softening him up a tiny bit more. At least learn to relax a little, Sasuke, instead of acting like you've got something up your ass.

The blond watches as Sasuke walks off before turning to look at Sakura. Even the dense one of Team 7 understood that Sasuke didn't want to mention anything in front of their female teammate. Of course, Naruto doesn't plan on mentioning anything in front of Sasuke either. He's got too much respect for Itachi to go mouthing off about things to anybody at all. He did vow, after all, to keep it under wraps.

Besides, it's all in the past. Living in the past causes so many problems. People just need to learn to push forward and forget those things they can't change.

He finally grins at Sakura. "I missed him," and then turns to walk towards the boat, hands locking easily behind his head as he whistles cheerfully.

[slugly]

Sakura feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up with Sasuke's 'not now' and pointed look at her. Angry shock rakes through her and makes blood boil. She's about to go on a rampage, reminding them all that they're a team and teams work together and why the hell is she left out, she outranks both of you assholes. She's seething as she watches Sasuke walk off, fists clenched and ready to attack any bystanders.

Luckily, Naruto knows exactly what to say to cool off her temper at that time.

Naruto's carefree grin and admittance does the trick, if not catches her by surprised enough that she forgets why she was mad in the first place. She blinks away the red rimming her vision and gives him a slow, small smile back.

"Me too."

When she turns to follow the two of them on the boat, she reminds herself of the oath she made and her eyes narrow.

She wouldn't be left behind by those two again. She was going to find out the truth about Itachi.