*Above image was drawn by @Lukadrik on instagram*

Chapter 10

-Weathered

The Hyuga assists his Uchiha captain through the forest as they head towards the sounds of ninja tools clanging off one another as well as explosions and ground rumblings coming from jutsu being used. Shizake carries his broken mask in one hand, his other arm draped around his friend and comrade. Nitatchi scans the forest with his Byakugan, using it to pinpoint the exact location of his other two teammates. After a few moments of searching the forest he sees four chakra signatures, two of them back to back with the other two on opposite sides of one another. Nitatchi finds a bush close by, observing the battle as he sets Shizake down who also watches the fight go on.

"Ready Shītto?!" Toshi yells, putting her palms together.

"Yeah!" The blonde and black haired ANBU replies, putting his palms together as well, "Wind style: Vacuum suction!"

As Shītto yells this, a tornado arises around him and Toshi, sucking in small twigs and leaves. As it gains more momentum it begins sucking in larger branches and rocks, shooting them up into the sky as they come within the tornado's walls. Soon enough, the enemy ninja begin skidding on their feet, slowly being sucked into the tornado of wind.

"Your turn, Toshi!" Shītto yells while keeping his chakra stream steady with his palms still together.

"Got it! Fire style: dragon blast jutsu!" The girl yells, spewing a stream of fire from her mouth at the wind tornado.

The fire is intensified by the tornado, flames flowing throughout the wind jutsu and combining with it to form a tornado of fire. With the intense velocity of the tornado, the masked enemies are unable to escape the tornado's suction. Within seconds they are thrown off their feet directly into the giant plume of wind and fire. After being caught up in the attack, they are thrown into the sky, which is right when the tornado of fire dissipates.

"Now!" Toshi and Shītto yell simultaneously as they both whip out kunai.

With the blink of an eye, they leap into the sky, striking their enemies in tandem. Blood gushes out of the masked men as they crash on to the forest floor with a thud. The two ANBU land, turning to one another and giving each other a high five for the job well done. They hear a rustling coming from some near by bushes, spinning the kunai into their hands once more. As Shizake and Nitatchi emerge, the two relax, putting their blades away. Shītto realizes his captain has been hurt as he rushes over to his side and drapes Shizake's free arm over his shoulder, taking some of the load off of Nitatchi's shoulders as well.

"I see you two are done with your fights," Toshi says to Nitatchi and Shizake.

"Yep! Shizake crushed that Kankaku dude," Nitatchi replies cheerfully.

"Couldn't have done it without you though..." Shizake adds.

"Well, now that we have everything done with, shouldn't we be getting back?" Shītto says, looking up at the sun hanging behind the gray clouds in the sky.

"Yes. We aren't too far away. It'll take a while considering my condition, but we should be back by sundown." Shizake says.

Toshi nods her head, "Right. Then lets get a move on."

*

The massive walls of The Hidden Leaf Village emerge over the horizon, the ANBU team setting their eyes on them. They pick up the pace, trying to make it within the gates as soon as possible before they are closed for the night. Several village ninja stand guard atop the gates as well as at the entrance, making sure enemies don't intrude at this time of night. As soon as the ANBU team comes into sight, the ninja atop the gate wave down to the ninja below who in return wave the ANBU in.

Shizake lifts his head up, still beaten up from his fight earlier. He looks around at the people surrounding the gate, and to his surprise he spots a pink head of hair.

"Crap – masks on guys." Shizake commands his team.

"That's not the only thing you'll have to worry about," Toshi says as she begins unhooking all the pieces of armor Shizake is wearing. After getting them off she tosses them in the woods near the gates.

"Good call, Toshi."

The squad of ANBU all reach for their masks, sliding them down over their faces to conceal their identities. Shizake goes for his mask but stops when he realizes his mask was shattered due to the battle. He curses under his breath as the girl looks up and notices him. She quickly rushes over, coming to a sliding halt.

"Shizake! What happened to you?" She worriedly asks.

"Sakura, I-"

"We found him out in the training field on a routine patrol. Looked like he overworked himself so we helped him up," Nitatchi interrupts and answers.

Sakura scoffs, "You seem to keep doing this Shizake...thank you guys for bringing him in. I can take it from here."

The ANBU teams hands the Uchiha off to Sakura before jumping on a set of rooftops and bounding off to some other part of the village. Shizake mentally thanks them before allowing Sakura to take his arm over her shoulder.

"Well, I guess I'll take you to the hospital and get you patched up. You must be drained of chakra if you can barely walk. What are you doing to yourself out there?" Sakura asks concerningly.

"Just...trying to get stronger," He says. She has no clue I just got back from a mission concerning Sasuke

"You sound just like Naruto honestly. You need to be more careful!" She goes on.

"Yeah..." Shizake trails off.

The pinkette raises an eyebrow, sensing something wrong with the Uchiha, "Are you okay?"

"Yes I am...and if you don't mind, I wish to not be treated at the hospital."

Sakura squints her eyes convinced something is up with him.

"Well... I suppose you don't have any open wounds that need healing but you're bruised and cut up so I'll agree to heal you as long as you tell me what's up with you."

Shizake sighs heavily, agreeing in his head to her conditions, "Fine."

Sakura finds a bench, carefully placing Shizake on it. He sits down with a painful grunt, motioning to his rib cage, which is where it hurts the most. The girl begins concentrating her healing jutsu on that area, her hands becoming enveloped in green chakra.

"So..." Sakura starts.

The boy stays quiet, focusing on the mesmerizing green glow of the healing jutsu and becoming lost in it and his thoughts.

"Tch, you can find someone else to heal you then," Sakura states as the green glow dissipates from her hands.

"I... push myself hard like this for one reason and one reason only," Shizake begins.

Sakura half smiles, the green chakra returning to her hands once more as she listens to the Uchiha.

"I train this hard so that I can destroy Itachi..." Shizake says.

"O-oh...what...about Sasuke? Do you wish to bring him back?"

"Not at all."

Sakura's eyes widen, not expecting the answer she was just given.

"But he's your family! Your blood! You don't want him back?!"

Shizake shifts his intense gaze to her large green sparkling eyes, "He went to the darkness on his own accord, his own will. If he wishes to fester there, then he can do so. All I care about is killing Itachi and I know that's all he cares about too."

"Naruto wouldn't accept that answer..."

"I'm not Naruto, Sakura. I know the darkness in Sasuke's heart because it's the same darkness in mine. I know how he feels and I can't rip him off the path that he has chosen. All I can do is hope for the best."

"And what do you hope for?"

Shizake turns his gaze from her eyes to the ground, watching the feet of the villagers that pass them by on the park bench, "I do hope that he comes back, but it doesn't mean I'll do anything about it. I hope that we can kill Itachi for what he has done. I hope... hope that we can avenge our clan. If avenging our clan means for us to walk separate paths...then so be it."

"I see. Shizake...there's something I want to tell you," The pink-headed girl says as she finishes with healing Shizake.

The boy moves his body around, feeling completely refreshed from Sakura's healing jutsu. Although he is still drained of chakra, it is slowly recovering.

"What is it?" He asks.

A red undertone envelops the area beneath her eyes as she fumbles around with her words.

"I...well...um...I...."

"Sakura - you healed me. The least I could do to repay you is listen to what you have to say," Shizake says.

He's just going to reject me like Sasuke did... I shouldn't even bother. But I can't help feeling this way around him...

"It's nothing...never mind," Sakura says.

Shizake raises an eyebrow, knowing that the girl is lying, "If you say so. Well, I should be going."

The girl looks down, sad to see the Uchiha have to leave, "Okay."

Shizake places his hand on her chin, lifting it up so that their eyes meet, "Sakura...thank you for healing me again."

"Anytime, Shizake..." She replies quietly.

Shizake flexes his jaw in thought, knowing that what he's about to do probably isn't the best thing. He can't stand seeing her like this though so he decides to go against his usual self. The Uchiha grabs her hand, which catches her by surprise, but she seems to go with it, smiling and blushing while the Uchiha holds her hand.

"Where are we going?" She asks while being tugged along.

"Somewhere," The Uchiha says with a half smile.

Sakura giggles in return as they continue to whatever destination Shizake has planned for them. After traipsing through the village for a good while, the two find them selves up upon the Hokage stone face mountain. Both of them peer down at the magnificent display of lights dotting the village at night. Sakura looks in amazement at the wonderful view she has been brought to see, her eyes sparkling in complete awe. She looks at the boy she is with, blushing while she admires his every feature. Shizake gets lost in the village lights, once again becoming submerged in his thoughts. He's caught off guard when the pink-headed girl rests her head on his shoulder while also grabbing on to his arm. The Uchiha, not sure how to react, accepts in anyways and lets her do so.

"This view is so nice..." Sakura softly says.

"I come up here all the time. To get away from it all," Shizake replies.

"I can see why, it's very peaceful up here."

"So... what is it you were going to tell me earlier?"

Sakura lifts her head up off his shoulder, meeting her gaze with his.

"Um...I..."

Damn it Sakura just spit it out already! You might not get this chance ever again!

"I like you, a lot!" She blurts out.

Shizake, taken aback at first, relaxes and half smiles when he hears her admit this.

"I see... so then what about Sasuke?"

Sakura's eyes widen, caught off guard by this question, "W-well...he's gone. There's nothing I can do about that. But you're here...and you seem to care about me..."

Shizake nods his head, accepting her answer. The Uchiha wasn't expecting this to be the outcome of the mission but he's almost happy that this is how it turned out. Years in the ANBU sanded down his emotions, but never got rid of them. The ones that stayed prevalent were anger, hatred, revenge, and compassion, for his clan that is. Others that became nearly non-existent were love, happiness, and joy. But alas, here he is feeling a tiny spark of those emotions that were nearly killed off.

It's rejuvenating almost, I feel...alive once again. Not just drowning in the darkness of hatred.

Sakura patiently awaits for any sign of him feeling the same way about her, biting her lip in anticipation. She looks into his eyes, seeing that he is once again lost deep in thought.

She has the right to know I'm in the ANBU... but that might compromise my identity. Rgh...I'll keep it to myself for now.

"Sakura, there's something I need to tell you as well," Shizake says, grabbing her hand.

Yes! Yes! He's going to admit it!

"What is it, Shizake?"

"I've been informed that I'll be going on missions with everyone soon enough. So...I'll be seeing you often when the time comes." The Uchiha explains, giving her a smile.

Well...that's not what I was expecting from him... but it's a start!

"I-I'm glad, Shizake! It'll be very nice...to see you more often," She says cheerfully.

"Me too, Sakura...me too. Well, it's getting pretty late and I'm still exhausted from training," Shizake says, deciding to end things there for the night.

"You're right...Shizake, it was really nice to spend time with you tonight. I...hope we can do it again sometime soon," Sakura replies.

Shizake gazes upon her, feeling something warm bubble up inside of him, "I hope we can do it again soon too Sakura. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Shizake."

With that, the Uchiha gets up and makes his way down the Hokage Stone Face Mountain. He reaches the bottom and looks up at the top, seeing Sakura still sitting there. Eventually she stands up and leaps down, heading home for the night as well. The wind begins to pick up, cold air rushing through the village and through every inch of Shizake's body. He crosses his arms, attempting to keep the body heat in but the cold begins to nip away at him every so slowly. With haste, he makes his way to his apartment to escape the freezing temperatures that plague the village during this time of the year. The ninja heads through downtown to reach the other side of the village where his home is. He makes haste as the temperature continues to slowly drop.

A figure steps out of the shadow, jumping right into Shizake's path. In return the Uchiha jumps back, surprised at the stranger. His stance relaxes once he notices the purple hair and ocean blue eyes from under the lamp post.

"Azumi, what the hell is with you and being all mysterious?" Shizake jokingly asks.

"Hehehe. Sorry, I just always seem to catch you at the worst times." Azumi answers.

"So, what's up? Make this quick because it's getting cold and I don't have my cloak."

"Right. Well, more updates on Itachi. This time he was seen near the land of Waterfalls. Judging by the last two places he was seen, it looks like he's moving along the outer perimeter of fire country."

"I see... I wonder what he's up to. Anyways, thank you Azumi, as usual. You and your informants sure know how to keep track of someone, especially someone in the Akatsuki. Hm..."

The girl tilts her head, "What is it?"

"Doesn't this seem to easy? Don't you think Itachi would be better at hiding his tracks?"

"Well... my informants are highly trained. It's like they're not even there."

"True... I don't know, you can never be too careful with him. Thank you again, Azumi but I must go. It's getting cold quickly. I'll find you tomorrow, we'll talk then."

"Got it. See ya around, Shizake." Azumi says, disappearing into the shadows of the Leaf Village.

Shizake clutches his fist, wondering what in the world Itachi is doing. The time will come when I finally figure it out. Soon enough I'll find him and soon enough...I'll end him.