Yep. That's My Twin...

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I stared up at the ceiling while nibbling on the rice, anko paste, and strawberries. I had slept for a few hours before waking back up. I had a dozen of my precious sweets by me when I awoke, so I figured the day would go better from that point on.
Tsunade-hime entered about five minutes after I awoke and gave an irked smile. "How long do you intend on being here?"

"I didn't know Sasuke and Naruto were actually going to use their full power to try and kill each other," I replied honestly, making her sigh.

"Well besides the obvious injuries you face, yes, your chakra system had some damage." She closed the door behind herself and came to take a seat besides my bed. "A Hyūga came in and looked at your chakra system. It will repair itself, and they did what they could to get your chakra nodes open. It will take a week or so, but you'll be able to walk it off then."

"Yeah, okay, but what about the others?" I questioned urgently.

"Everyone is alive and awake. They'll all live and recover soon," the medic assured me.

A massive sigh of relief came from deep within me. I then immediately shot up and asked, "Lee-senpai - did he take the surgery?"

The blonde nodded. "Yes he did, and it was a success."

I gave a relieved smile, glad everything pretty much worked out.

"Even though you may come off as rude with your constant sass, you really do care about your friends a lot," the Hokage noted aloud softly, causing me to nod. "Will you be able to complete the mission the old man gave to you?"

I nodded while staring down at my half-eaten mochi. "Of course. If it keeps them safe an happy, I'll be glad. Besides, a strong ally should come back once I complete the mission, so that's an added benefit."

"Don't you mean two?" The Senju inquired.

My face scrunched up. "No, the other one is more of someone I tolerate. They could jump off a cliff and die for all I care."

"Really?" Tsunade-hime asked with a genuinely surprised tone.

"Yeah," I agreed before giving a deep sigh. I then perked up as a different thought entered my mind. "Have you heard about Orochimaru's immortality jutsu?" I received a nod, causing me to grin. "Well, Orochimaru's jutsu works by switching his spirit to another person's body. There's a catch, however, as he can only perform the jutsu every three years. And I'm willing to bet that Sasuke arrived just after Orochimaru had to switch bodies."

Her eyes widened as her jaw slackened a bit. "Are... are you saying that?"

"Yeah. Since we stalled Sasuke and the otonin, Orochimaru doesn't have full access to the sharingan. Hell, he won't have it for another three years," I concluded with a large grin.

Her pink lips stretched into a grin before she smacked my back harshly. "Hah! And people say betting is bad! Good work, Ren!"

"Ah, I wasn't the one to nearly die to stall Sasuke. Congratulate them first," I advised while trying to rub my aching back.

"Yeah, yeah. You make sure to rest up. I'll tell a few others," the woman assured me as she got up and began to walk away.

I gave as half-assed wave before going back to my strawberry daifuku. I happily stared out the window at the peaceful village that was starting to stabilize itself. I felt happy, happier than I had in the past few months. Even though I knew that life was going to get a hell of a lot more dark, I could still enjoy moments of peace and relaxation.

The sun slowly began to make its journey across the sky as people went along with their lives. People were constantly on the move, whether they recognized it or not. The only truly stable things were the landscape, the thing that kept this village constant and safe.