Decaying Bluebells

Arc XVI - Itachi

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

Warning: Angst. Language. USUAL. Character death!

Beta: silverseed

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Interlude - Omniscient - 15

Obito watched her pull out her Chūnin flak and present it to his grave. He listened patiently as she retold the events of the exam and she began to clean his grave. It had gotten a little muddy since she had left, and a few weeds had started to grow. She worked with meticulous hands.

He shifted his posture a bit. He was getting a little tired of sitting on the tree branch, but he didn't dare leave yet.

Part of him wondered why he hadn't taken her away, yet. She was there - alone and vulnerable.

What stopped him?

He wasn't entirely certain.

All he knew was that he routinely returned to his and Rin's graves, and he listened to her stories. He inwardly snickered when she retold some of her more ridiculous ones, and he often found himself nodding his head in understanding when she told her romantic plights, and her failures.

His interest was always piqued when she talked about the voices in her head - how she knew things she should not know. Obito was worried that she would uncover too much, but he knew that if she knew, she would not be at his grave.

For the moment, she wasn't a true danger to his plans, and Obito told himself that that was why he did not bother himself with kidnapping her.

It wasn't at all because she reminded him of another girl that died far too soon.

He told himself that.

But he knew he was lying.

. . .

. .

.

"So Deidara's gone now?" Tsunade enquired.

Sasuke gave a firm nod. "I'm certain of it."

Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair, Shizune glancing over at her. "The others are already back. They returned about a week ago."

We both tensed.

"They're alive," Tsunade reassured us, "but it was a difficult battle. A few still remain in the hospital, and one of them, Chōji, is still in intensive care due to his exertion. He'll be fine, I expect, but he'll be out of commission for a while."

Tsunade looked at the storage scroll we had given her with the ingredients. "I'll get started on Itachi's medicine right away. You two are dismissed for now - go and see your friends."

Without another word, we left.

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I gave Yagura a worried look and he continued to glower at me. "Would you stop fussing? I'm fine. The only reason I'm still in here is because the idiot got a lucky shot, now stop it."

"Oh would you calm down?" Ino asked, rolling her eyes. "She's worried. Honestly, you should be grateful my adorable sister is waiting on you!"

Yagura's glower took a colder turn when he turned his attention to Ino. Naruto snickered and munched on an apple. Naruto commented, "You're a lot nicer today."