Book 2: The Three of Us

Chapter 30: Returning Home

The moment the three of us step into the village, I'm already expanding my chakra out in search for Itachi. A smile pulls its way onto my face and I pick up my pace when I find his distinct chakra signature. Waiting outside the Hokage tower for us is Itachi, a smile on his face. Now with him in my vision, I can't stop myself from running towards him as fast as I can. He lets out a quiet, "Oof," as I barrel into him, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him into a tight hug. Hugging me back just as tightly, he lays his head on my shoulder and stays there.

Tsunade watches over everything silently. She gives the Hokage tower a glare that would leave any normal person shaking in fear before making her way into the tower. It was unavoidable that she had a lot to catch up on now that she was back in the village. The looming threat of war has her more stressed then usual. It wouldn't be long until word would spread of the new alliance and the preparations for battle will begin. 

When Kisame makes his way over, Itachi lifts his head, and with one of his arms, grabs hold of Kisame's hand and pulls him towards us. Kisame pulls his arm around each of our shoulders, one hand holding the back of Itachi's neck. Both of them close their eyes as they lean into each others forehead. Feeling the warmth of Kisame's chest against my back and Itachi in front of me, between the two of them, tension I didn't realize I was holding is released and for the first time in a long time I feel like I can breath. For the first time in forever I feel completely safe.

Someone lets out an awkward cough, forcing us to untangle ourselves from each other and look over at them. Seeing who it is, the annoyance that was there briefly disappears. Giving him a smile, I say, "Hey, Shikamaru! It's been a while."

Shikamaru lets out a long breath, shoulders slumping even farther forward then usual, "True-true. I'd love to catch up but Itachi-san is late to his next meeting." 

The smile drops from my face and is quickly replaced by a frown. Itachi's face falls in disappointment, clearly not wanting to leave us so soon, especially for something as tedious as a meeting. 

Shaking his head, Shikamaru lets out a yawn and it makes me notice the bags under his eyes. The sleepiness from him wasn't just the usual Nara laziness, I could tell that the past few days he hasn't been getting much sleep. He rubs his eyes as he speaks, "The meeting should only last two hours at most. I'll make sure your guys boyfriend can head directly home after. But only if you promise to stop being so lovey-dovey in public, it's ridiculous." 

I childishly stick my tongue out at him, "You're only saying that because you're jealous." 

"I'm not jealous." Shikamary says, voice flat. 

"You totally are," I taunt.  

"I told you I'm not," he snaps back. To my left I can see Kisame trying to hide the smile making its way onto his face. Itachi takes one look at Shikamaru before giving us both a knowing look. That was all the confirmation I needed to know I'm right. 

Shikamaru was totally jealous over something. It was unclear if it had to do with Temari or Naruto, and maybe even something to do with Hinata. Couldn't be sure where she fell into the group but it was definitely somewhere important. Those four sure had something confusing going on. There was always some gossip going around on who was dating who, some saying Shikamaru was dating Temari, others saying he was dating Naruto. But than someone else would go and say Hinata was dating Naruto. And when asked, according to the four of them, none of them were dating. That was probably true, either because they were all oblivious or too unsure of themselves to do anything about their feelings. The urge to step in and knock some sense into them all was strong but this is something they need to figure out for themselves. 

I roll my eyes at him, "Whatever you say." 

Staring directly at me, Shikamaru gives me a suspicious look, clearly not trusting my defeat. Giving up for now, he turns to Itachi and practically drags him back into the Hokage tower. Now it's just Kisame and myself left, both of us feeling disappointed that we couldn't be with Itachi yet. With having nothing else left to do for today and being exhausted from traveling, the two of us head back home. 

'Shit man, you guys really don't get a moment to yourself, do you?' Inner asks and I jump slightly in surprise, not expecting her to be out of our mind scape and towards the front with me. In my surprise my attention snaps inward, the world around me feeling disconnected and far away. Knowing I'm some place safe I don't fight the feeling, instead I lean into it, through my mind and closer to where I can feel Inner.

'Inner? Not that I mind but what are you doing out of our headspace? This is unusual for you,' I ask, my brow furrowing in confusion.

'I haven't been able to stay back in our mind scape lately. Someone else is blocking me, but I don't think on purpose. It's probably Shinju.'

Confusion fills me, 'But she's been dormant for a few years now.'

'Something might have changed when I forced that front. Things are never perfect when I do that, it always fucks things up. It could have caused her to come out of dormancy,' Inner says to me, the chalk like form of her in our mind crosses her arms in thought and I can feel the worry she is starting to feel.

'I'm sorry. I know you don't like to be out of the library for long,' I say.

Inner shakes her head, 'It's fine, don't blame yourself. Sometimes shit like this just happens and there's nothing we can do to control it.'

'I don't want her to feel unwelcome but right now isn't a great time for us to being having issues.'

'You just focus on everything happening outside of us and I'll work on this. Got it?'

Letting out a long breath, I reluctantly agree and when it becomes clear to Inner that I have, I can feel as she drift farther away from me into the never ending blackness that makes up the front of our mind. I could still feel her presence as she borders on the front scape and the library, patiently trying to find a way in. Inner stays silent but I can feel as her emotions slip through, a mix of acceptant, understanding and worry. With that I can finally let myself feel a little less stressed. This is what she's good at and I need to trust that she will get everything sorted out.

***

It's been a really long time since I've last posted, so sorry about that. Writers block is literally the worst. I have a bunch of other chapters written for this book but for the longest time couldn't seem to finish this one. 

Only around ten more chapters and then this book will be reaching its end. There are plans to continue this book series but it's not currently my top priority. We are working on a book specifically about Sakura. It's about her life before this series. That book will make the Sakura of this universe make a lot more sense.