The Mask

chapter 5

Bzzzzz

Smack

Bzzzz

"Why the hell did I agree to this?" Sasuke shouted as yet another curious insect made it's way over to her only to vanquished by the paper fan she had brought with her. But for each one she vanquished two more took its place. "Better question; How in the hell did you talk me into this?"

"Because I'm a ray of mother fucking sunshine and I shit rainbows?" Naruto smiled from ahead of them shouldering most of their supplies like it was no big deal, he had an ice chest under one arm that sloshed with liquid, and the blankets and umbrellas rolled under the other while he also carried their bags. Most of it was because he all but demanded to carry it, then Sasuke decided to punish him for being a dumbass by putting more on top of him. So far, he hadn't even complained.

Sasuke snorted, crossing her arms and swatting away another insect that dared to wander to close to her. "At least you know what you are."

The outside wall of Konoha acted as an abrupt end to their horizon as it's pale wall continued to bake in the sun. This was the furthest she had been out of Konoha since her last Anbu mission. Fox was there clutching at the wound along his stomach, it was deep and blood was everywhere, but he'd live, this was nothing to him.

Their foe, a tyrannical ninja from a minor village stood across from them shouting about purity, life, traitors, and that nothing could stop him. But his voice was drowned out by the rain in the background that soaked his decrypted city. They weren't heroes, his people loved if not worshiped him. But he was an enemy of Konoha and needed to be dealt with. Where was he from again?

A barb stuck into her mind forced her away from the thought. It didn't matter, he was dead defeated by her and Fox. That was her last mission with Fox. Despite his wounds he ended up carrying her halfway back to Konoha, maybe more, the rest was fuzzy, painful, like a scar in her memory up until her being reunited with her sister once again.

Those were tears she would never forget. Enough to make her question if her staying in Anbu was the right choice, so close to her family that so needed her, but so far away. No, it was. It had to be, of that she was certain, there was no other way. It had to be done.

"Itachi?" Sasuke's voice echoed into the corner of her mind, it was the shove to the elbow that snapped her back to the forefront. The usual scowl on her sister's face was gone, replaced by one of concern. She had come a long way, though much of that was thanks to Naruto. "You're quieter than usual."

"I've gone days without speaking before." It was true, whenever Sasuke went out on a mission her only source of human interaction went way down. Not that it was much different when Sasuke was there. It was the Uchiha way to have a silent regard for all things. "We've gone days without speaking before."

"Woah! Hey, look a squirrel!" Naruto pointed off into a treeline. And then there was the Uzumaki way of regarding all things loudly. "I used to throw Kunai at them for target practice, never hit any of them though."

"Because your aim was that bad?" Sasuke's smile returned, a wry selfish thing, and she fluffed up her hair with one hand. Her sister's choice of outfit was peculiar, she was wearing a large white shirt, that probably belonged to Naruto, that left one shoulder exposed, showing off the strap of her bathing suit, it was tied tight about the waist just above her shorts, where more of the black fabric of her bathing suit was open to viewing.