夢 - 2021 rewrite

chapter twelve

第7班 第七班

team seven

It was another peaceful morning in Raideshi's apartment. Having just come back from his morning walk and from his third conversation with the stoic and snappy Obito, he'd bought a to-go meal from the restaurant down below and brought it back to his place, where his replacement Mr. Ukki and red bookshelf awaited. He stuck the to-go box in the fridge and picked out two eggs and a carton of juice.

And it was fifteen minutes of fried egg and garlic rice and orange juice, all sliding into place on his glass counter as he dried off a plate, before his bedroom door slammed open and in came Akira, the open window blasting cold air in behind her.

"Akira, take a seat, I fried some egg for you--"

"Was I supposed to learn from the Third or were you guys gonna tell me?" She growled, taking a seat across from him.

"The Third? About what?"

"After my shift last night I came to him to tell him about what happened during my patrol," she said and narrowed her eyes. "And he told me about how you, Satoshi and Hideki all came into his office days ago to tell him about a plan you guys came up with. About apprehending both the Council and the Akatsuki. So what the hell, Raideshi?"

He swallowed down his fifth bite with a trying smile. "Akira, you were on patrol that day. We found it a waste of time to explain the plan and walk over to the Third's to--"

"That's bull and you know it."

"--okay, well," he took a sip of his orange juice. "It was all their idea, Satoshi and Hideki's. They met up with me, told me all about the plan and stuff, and, well, those boys ran off with it before I could intervene."

"Really? You didn't have any time at all before you three went to the Hokage to just, what, say something quick like maybe you guys shouldn't do this?"

"That's the kicker," he continued and smiled. "They told me in the Third's office. Called me in with a messenger and everything. I didn't know the plan until they just threw it up on the Third's desk, and he seemed alright with it--"

"Alright with it?" Raideshi kept his indifference despite Akita's growing anger.

"--yeah, he said something like, well, if you guys know the future so well, go ahead, and, yeah." Raideshi shrugged. "So, what happened during your patrol--?"

"So you had a whole twelve hours before Hideki landed himself on the news and in custody?" She fished out the morning's paper from her pouch, unfolding it and laying it on Raideshi's plate. "I had to come and get the Third to excuse him because Satoshi wasn't even there. And guess what the Third told me when I asked where Satoshi was, huh?"

He sipped his juice. "What did he say, Akira?"

She blew out a harsh breath. "He said, Satoshi left hours ago to find the Akatsuki," she pressed. "So now, we have one man out there, looking for some lost cause because we have no idea where the Akatsuki is at this point in time, and we have another one in today's news as a threat to the Council, and we have the last man here, sitting here, eating some damn breakfast! And all this could've just been, I don't know, stopped, if you had told me, or if you had the sense to stop them in the first place!"

"It's not that simple, Akira," he tried laughing the matter off. "They can take care of themselves, you know? I--"

"That's not what I'm talking about--"

"I know, I know," he raised his arms up in face of her steaming anger. "Look, they're just boys, Akira, they do stuff impuslivel--"

"This is serious, Kakashi. Think of what could've happened. What could happen to Naru--to Satoshi, out there," she continued. "You didn't tell them the consequences, you didn't even tell me what--"

"This isn't about you, Sakura. You know that, you told us that, remember? Now, let's just--"

"I know this isn't about me, and that's why this is so serious, Kakashi." She stood from her chair and crossed her arms. "You didn't tell me. We didn't all agree on this. And the fact that you knew this, that we were supposed to talk everything out, is the problem here, because--"

"Three out of four of us talked. And we all agreed on it. And we knew bringing the conversation to you would only lead to their ideas being shut down over and over," Raideshi said, standing and making his way over to her. "If we keep holding ourselves back for the time being, by the time we move, it'll be too late."

And Akira pulled away from his outreaching arms, looking down at herself as she thought it over. Down at her feet, her arms, her own self, contemplating her own plan. "You're right."

"Sakura?"

She looked up at him, at his now worried eyes, and stared back with her own version of the indifference he carried earlier. "This plan won't work when we're all together," she spoke. "I knew that, deep down, but I just wanted the team together again. But I'm wrong."

"Sa--Akira, what are you--"

"The Team Seven we have doesn't exist anymore. It's years into the future." She took a step back, heading for the bedroom window. "The more we argue the more the plan falls apart, so, you guys can do your thing, I'm gonna go and do mine."

"Sakura, what does that mean--?"

She smiled. And before he could intervene (missing the chance just like he missed it with two boys in the Hokage office), Sakura was gone.