Just Imagine

Chapter 20

Third person pov

Almost a month now. Sasuke had been counting.

More hostile and withdrawn than he was when he was in the academy, he was proving to be no help when it came to the team's already volatile teamwork. Kakashi asked, and tried to connect with him, too help him and find out what was wrong, but Sasuke wouldn't spill. He couldn't. He refused.

Ima was absolutely, without a doubt, real. Sasuke had all the scars, and the backpack that always weighed the same, and the swords and daggers discarded in the morning after a long night fighting through the wilderness with his best and only friend. The only one that mattered. The only girl Sasuke had ever, and probably would ever, have any feelings for whatsoever.

"I don't want another D-rank!" Naruto screeched, launching into a rant about how he was ready, and how he could handle it, and about how he could kick ass. Sasuke was only half-listening, his eyes trained on the sky. His gaze flitted from cloud to cloud as he tried to think of what they might look like. He and Ima liked to watch clouds, on slow days when they both wanted to lay back, rest and relax. But for some reason no words or titles came to mind when he looked to the clouds. It was so much easier with Ima around. Everything was.

"Well, I suppose a C-rank would be alright," The Hokage glanced at Sasuke, who had a cold face, but sad eyes. Something else other than the massacre had happened to that boy, and while Sasuke was strong, whatever was happening was breaking him. "You have completed the proper amount of D-ranks. I don't see the harm in it!"

Sasuke looked away from the window as the door opened, and a tingle went down his spine. An older man, one with a bottle of beer in hand, stood there. He was clearly at least a little tipsy, if not completely drunk. The straw hat on his head shaded his face, which seemed almost permanently sunburned. The wire glasses sitting on his slightly-crooked nose looked ready to slide right off his face, and the bag on his back was heavily loaded with items. The Uchiha raised a brow when he saw the man was wearing a blue bracelet. A bright band that stuck out from his monotone clothes.

He dismissed it.

~

While Ima had gotten better, she still seemed to hover right on the edge of not-fit-to-travel. She was just weak enough that Tsunami couldn't let her leave with good conscience, and yet well enough to get up and walk around. It was an awkward middle they'd been stuck at, and Oberon, Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami's prodding wasn't doing much to help either.

"I'm telling you, you can't get withdrawal from a person! I read about it." Inari said to Ima. They were seated outside, wondering when Tazuna would return. The small family of three had grown to like Ima and Oberon, and despite trying to help nurse Ima back to health, really didn't want to see her or her goat friend go.

"Well, I did. I try to think about the fact that it isn't real, not really, but it doesn't work, because it sort of is real! I mean, it's happening right now, which makes it a thing." Ima huffed slightly, looking down as she grew small daisies from the ground. She was good at plants. They were easy. She could handle them.

"I know, I know." Inari's cheeks puffed out, and he scuffed the dirt with his shoe. Ima had to smile a little. She wasn't nearly as cheerful as she had been, and yet she wasn't quite depressed either. Again, she was stuck in an awkward middle that she couldn't seem to squirm out of. She missed Sasuke desperately, and wanted to image running straight to him, but it didn't work. The imagined illness overrode anything she tried to counter it with. She'd screwed herself over without even trying.

"Where did Oberon go, again?" Inari questioned. "He went to go check on my wilderness, to see its state, and make sure everyone is still alright." Ima smiled. She sort of missed her wilderness, but not really. She'd been stuck there so long that it almost would have been boring, if not for Sasuke. Sasuke was really the only reason she stayed, and he was really the only reason she thought about returning as well.

"Inari, Ima, I made lunch! Come on in eat, will you, dears?" Tsunami poked her head out the back door, smiling. Inari got to his feet, helping the shaky-Ima to her feet. The girl frowned. She remembered running and taking down large beasts, and jumping on bouncy grass, and wading through thick puddles of slime. She remembered when she could swing from vine to vine, and land on two feet after jumping straight off a two story building.

She remembered all the things she could do when Sasuke was around.

And that's exactly what made her lose consciousness.