Naruto : Venom

At a Grocery Store

"We'll have to get new everything. I'm not going to risk it." Sasuke is idly browsing through an aisle. "Oi. What kind of bread do you like?"

"White." I answer.

"Wheat bread it is."

"Why would you ask me if you weren't going to get what I said?"

"If I buy food you don't like maybe, I don't know, you'll get out of my house and get your own damn food!" Oh boy, he actually sounds mad.

"I'll look into it after our next mission." I assure him.

"You better." He's definitely going to hold me to that.

"Is that Sasuke Uchiha?" Ah, good old Konoha. You wouldn't be the same without whispers from complete and total strangers.

"It is! I'm so glad he's out of that coma." Sasuke tenses. Honestly I'm surprised it took people this long to start talking about him, he's been gone for a month.

"Who's he with? He looks kinda familiar." Finally! Maybe the whispers about me will stop.

"Alvarcus Mar. The one who did all that stuff in the invasion. Wonder if that's when he got that scar on his neck?" Or not.

"I know right? How do you even get a scar like that? If I didn't know better I'd say he got his head cut off."

"You know you can hide that scar." Sasuke says to me. "It would cut back on the chatter about you. I know you're not a fan of all the attention. You hate it almost as much as I do."

"I could, but I won't." I want this scar to be shown to the world. It's a monument, it represent me surviving a run in with a S-ranked shinobi.

"Alvarcus Mar and Sasuke Uchiha you sons of bitches!" Huh, that's new. Usually the whispers are whispers and not yells. Also they're usually not that rude.

"How dare you! How dare you!" The same person yells. I glance over my shoulder. I know this person, I've seen her a few times. I've been to her house, I've exchanged pleasantries with her and her husband. I was a teammate with her daughter. This is Sakura's kaa-san, Mebuki Haruno.

"Haruno-sama." I politely bow to her.

"Haruno-sama." Sasuke does the same.

SLAP

My face stings. I could have dodged that, I could have blocked that. It wouldn't have accomplished anything. It would only have made her more mad.

SLAP

She got Sasuke too. We both let her hit us.

"You think you're heroes? You think you're special? No, you're not. If you were heroes then why didn't you save my daughter! She was on your team! She trusted you both! You were supposed to look out for each other, protect each other! I can't stand to hear these stories about either of you! Everyone is calling you two heroes or shinning examples of what shinobi should strive for! They're wrong! They're all wrong!"

"I know I'm no hero." I calmly say.

SLAP

"No you don't! Don't feed me lies to make me feel better! You're trash! Scum!" Her eyes are filling up with tears. "Why didn't you save my daughter?"

"When I think back on that day it isn't those I saved that comes to the forefront of my mind." I continue in my calm voice. "It isn't the faces of those I killed either. Do you know what I do remember? It's the faces of those I couldn't save." I take a shaky breath. 

My hands are trembling, this I one of the hardest things I've ever done. "It isn't those I saved that make an impact on me, it's those I didn't. People idolized me that day, they blew everything I did out of proportion. I could have road on that fame. 

I could have used it to further my shinobi career. I didn't, and I won't. Because everyone else might see success and impressive feats, all I see is my biggest failure. I'm tormented by the stories that people whisper about me. Every time someone brings up that day I'm forced to remember all that I couldn't do. I'm forced to remember everyone I couldn't save."

I take another shaky breath.

"If you want to blame someone for Sakura's death, blame me."

"Alvarcus that's too far." Sasuke speaks for the first time. "Everyone knows you had nothing to do with it. I know. She knows. You know. The person to blame is the one who killed her, whoever that Suna ANBU was."

I ignore him. "Just leave Sasuke alone, it wasn't his fault. He had no part in it. She was given to me, not him. It's all my fault." I know it is. I've known for a while now, I've just always ignored that fact.

For some scheme, some plan she was killed. There was a purpose behind it otherwise she wouldn't have been targeted at all. But the question I don't have the answer to is what is the plan? What is the scheme? What plan was furthered by Sakura's death? She was a nobody. She didn't have the time to achieve her true potential. Who stands to gain something from causing me and Sasuke such terrible heartache?

"I hate you." Mebuki says. "I hate you both." She storms towards the exit.

She hesitates at the door and calls out to us one last time over her shoulder. "Her favorite flowers are white lilies. If either of you two ever visit her. I may hate you, but you are her friends. I won't-" Her voice cracks. She's breaking down into tears. "I won't stop you two from talking to her. She wouldn't want that. You both meant the world to her."

"Thank you, Haruno-sama." Sasuke bows deeply to her.

"Thank you, Haruno-sama." I follow suit.

...

Three Days Later

"So, when do you want to leave?" I ask Sasuke.

"I'll need to pack a mission bag then we can leave." Sasuke replies as we head towards his home.

We're coming back from a quick sparring session. We limited ourselves to just taijutsu. The bastard still beat me even with my advantage of not being in a coma for a month, but I made him work for it. That being said, when we used just ninjutsu yesterday I demolished him. I just wish I had my fire heart, I would have had so much more fun!

"Works for me. I'll be in the guest room, call me when you are done."

Once we get to the Uchiha compound we split and go into our separate rooms. I'm packed and ready to go in five minutes. It helps that I always have a light mission bag ready, all I had to do was add more clothes and weapons to it. Sasuke has to pack from scratch.

I lay down for a quick nap, I know I have at least an hour. It takes that kid forever to pack.

"Alvarcus I'm good to go." Sasuke calls out to me.

I get off the bed, "And right when I finally got comfortable too." I grumble to myself. "Alright, let's go."

We make our way to the main gate. There are two gennin here this time, they're only a few years older than us. Tsunade must have pulled Kotetsu and Izumo for missions.

Sasuke steps forwards. "Sasuke Uchiha and Alvarcus Mar leaving on a B-rank Escort mission in the Land of Tea."

Both of the gennin's jaws drop.

"You're Sasuke Uchiha and Alvarcus Mar?" The one on the left says.

"Uh... yeah?" I smartly reply. "Do we know each other?"

"NO!" The right gennin says this time. "I mean no. We've heard about you both though. You two were awesome during the invasion. Stopping that giant sand thing! So cool! We got stuck in the shelter with the civilians."

Sasuke and I glance at each other. He tilts his head in a 'go on, you got it' gesture. Great.

"Look," I say. I need to let the gennin down softly. "we're due for a mission. It is time sensitive."

"Of course! Here just fill this out then you can leave!" The right gennin hands us paperwork.

I fill out my sheet. Name, date of departure, reason for departure, expected return date, general mission statement, who I left with. I finish it and give it back to the gennin.

Sasuke hands his back. "I put my name on it. Just copy what he put down." With that he walks out of the village.

"Sorry about him. He's... kinda a jerk. He grows on you though I promise! Like a fungus." I follow after Sasuke.

"Did you just compare me to fungus?" Sasuke asks once I catch up with him.

"No!"

"You did. I heard you. Just for that I'm setting the pace." He grins maliciously at me.

I smirk right back. "Works for me, my stamina is limitless. The Jiongu, remember? I can run all day."

"Just ruin my fun why don't you."

We take off down the road towards the Land of Tea.

...

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