Not you, too!

12: In Hot Water – Watched from a distance


Sasuke put the baby in a little travel playpen she had bought as she stripped out of her clothing. Choji climbed up on the side of it and batted at Naruto’s head. Neji was nearby slowly peeling the layers of cloth off of her own body.
They had been to many hot springs in their youth and neither were ashamed of their respective bodies, but this was something new.
Sasuke was first to finish and wrap a towel around herself as he had seen the other girls do before heading out to the water. She stood there waiting as her ‘friend’ finished, also as the other females had done.
Sasuke had been subjected to enough other girls to know that they were social creatures and usually went on the prowl in pairs.
“Hurry up. We can set this up near the water and not have to hold them the entire time.” She suggested.
“I am coming.” Neji said, dropping the bra on her pile and wrapping the towel around herself. She had been careful not to watch the Uchiha undress and that was why it had taken her longer. Neji was not a fool, and she knew that Sasuke was a sexy man, so would be just as good looking as a female.
Neji followed carrying Choji to the edge of the pool.
As Sasuke slid into the warm water, she felt a tingle in her senses like she was being watched. She reached up to take Naruto off the edge and used it as an excuse to look around the area.
No one was out of the ordinary and so no one looked like they were watching her. Well, actually a lot of women were watching her, but not in a way that caused her to be concerned. Sasuke was used to that kind of attention.
Naruto pulled at the lock of long hair that was loose from the clip on Sasuke’s head and she looked down at the baby. The child was pulling up and looking over her shoulder at a mesh screen and when Sasuke turned she saw something move behind it.
“Bad Man.” The baby said, waving a hand around and splashing so that Sasuke couldn’t see through the water in her eyes.

Shikamaru reclined in the water and watched Kankurou dip slowly into the pool. The sand ninja looked so different with the outrageous outfit gone and the puppet that was currently tucked in a trunk in the rooms not on his back. The familiar tattoos on his face were not as dark as Shika remembered them, and he wondered if there were some jutsu involved or if they were fading with age.
Kankurou saw him watching and gave the shadow master an odd look. Shikamaru looked away calmly.
“Don’t get uptight, Ganjou. I ain’t interested in you.” He drawled.
“And what does that mean, Tamamura-san?” Kankurou asked.
“I mean, stop glaring at me just cause I happened to be looking your way. You are not my type. I like the soft sort.” Shika said, his mind returning to the contours of Neji in both forms.
“I like them soft too. But I prefer them in one form. That is not my thing.” He stated.
“Oh, really. Are you sure? I mean, you do send out some pretty confusing signals, for a straight guy.”
Kankurou glared at the Nara in the most pain inflicting way.
“So what is your interest in the Uchiha, then? I noticed you baited him before you knew about the Jutsu.” Shika asked his voice low to keep the conversation between them.
“That was all about Gaara. I wasn’t interested in him then.” He said.
“And now you are? You do realize that when we are finished here, things will be very different most of the time. I mean if Neji wants to be my Otohime, I’ll let him. But, I don’t see the last Uchiha pretending to be Sasuru just for your pleasure.” The Jounin stated plainly, but still in the mildest of tones.
“I don’t see myself hanging around much. I am not interested in the last Uchiha. But to spend a week or two as the husband of the sexy Tsuki, is quite a fantasy come true.” Kankurou finished. “I don’t have to remember that the other exists, do I?”
“And just how far have you taken this fantasy, if I may ask?”
“Not far. Just a kiss, but I can go slow.” And he leaned back and tried to imagine the results of this without being reminded of the awkwardness of the actual kiss.

Sasuke sat on the side of the pool, drying the little blond and re-diapering him.
“Ah-choo.” Came out and she looked around once more.
“Someone is talking about you.” Neji said from her place near the edge, as Choji bounced on her lap.
“Whatever.” Sasuke replied. Placing Naruto in the playpen she slid back into the water, allowing the buoyancy of her body to tilt her back. “Do you see that screen over there?” she asked Neji. The Hyuuga turned and looked, nodding to the other brunette.
“What about it?” she asked.
“I thought I saw someone peeking, and I know that Jiraiya is back in Konoha. Who do you suppose has the audacity to peek in an onsen?”
“I don’t know but I don’t like it. I think we should have a little investigation, don’t you?”
“Maybe you could just discreetly look with your other sight.” Sasuke suggested.
Neji leaned over and looked around the back of Sasuke’s head and used the pile of the Uchiha’s hair for cover. The byakugan flared to life and she concentrated on the screen.
“Well, that was unexpected. I know that chakra, but I can’t remember from where. Let’s get out of here.” And she lifted Choji out of the water as she released the family secret from her face. Once dry they redressed themselves and the babies before moving out of the bathhouse and heading back to the hotel. Once in their rooms, they put the babies into the rollout cribs provided and they were soon asleep. Neji turned on her monitor and locked the door, before crossing the hall to Sasuke’s room.
“Did you figure out who was at the onsen?” Sasuke asked as she stepped into the room.
Neji shook her head and dropped into the first of the chairs at the small table. “I don’t like it.” Sasuke added.
“Me neither. This mission is scary enough, without creepy familiar chakra peeking at us from behind screens. And how do we get to Gaara when he is so heavily guarded during the night?”
“I think that the night is our best opportunity, actually. In the daytime the guards are inside and there are those women. But at night he seems to be in there alone. He won’t be able to help us with his chakra so low. I can’t shake the feeling that there is a reason for that, that I should know. Naruto said the place gave him the creeps, too.”
“You think the building is the source?” Neji asked.
“Could be. Naruto is always saying things that end up like that. He was the one to solve my Seidan. He said that I always look at the dark side of things, and I should try to see the bright side. Well, the clue to it was – Lined with silver, things are never as bleak as they seem. Look to the other side. The ‘bright side’. I happened to be looking at the diagram in the scroll when he made the comment and I turned the thing over. On the back was the same diagram, only all the darks were light and the lights were dark. I learned that the Seidan looks like that.”
“So, the building gives him the creeps, and Naruto has a demon just like Gaara.” Neji surmised.
“Yeah. I think it is worth engaging a few of our genius minds. What are your thoughts?”
“I think these shoes are killing me.” Neji said, sliding out of the pumps she wore.
“Yeah, I think we got the raw end of these Jutsus. The others get pampered and we get blisters.”
“The building isn’t shaped strangely and the materials it is built from are just like all the others. There isn’t anything in the walls to inhibit Chakra or I wouldn’t have been able to sense it through them. I think it must be something in the building that affects the demon. So, we don’t take Naruto in there?”
“No! That is a definite. Naruto stays out of that place. We need him and I don’t want to see him trapped there also. And that brings up another possibility. Akatsuki.” Sasuke added, barely suppressing the excitement at the possibility of her brother’s involvement.
“The chakra I sensed was not Itachi’s. But Akatsuki is always a possibility.”
When Shikamaru and Kankurou returned it was time for dinner and the babies had woken from their naps. They discussed the theories that had come up and the strange chakra from the hidden peeker.
Finally they dressed for dinner and headed to another restaurant far from the onsen, on the other side of the town. This was their exit route and it payed to scope it out for their get away.
Sasuke picked at her food once again irritated at the sound level in the room. Kankurou was holding Naruto and the baby was chewing on a breadstick.
Neji had Choji so Shikamaru offered to take Naruto when he began to beat his ‘Mother’ with his weapon.
Kankurou leaned over and whispered something to the Uchiha that brought an actual blush to the normally pale and emotionless face. Neji stared in shock.
Once they had eaten, they walked the strollers back to the hotel, taking the time to meander around the edge of a small park next to the village wall.
“There is a weak spot near that clump of trees.” Sasuke said leaning in to the sand ninja in what looked like an affectionate cuddle. “Their roots have damaged the foundation and it hasn’t been detected because they block it from view.”
“Good, can we get through it?” He asked, moving his face into the soft brown locks and allowing his breath to ghost over her shoulder.
“Easily, unless Choji does his meat tank. I don’t see any problem, other than getting the little red-haired pervert out.” She replied, tilting her head away so that he had unrestricted access.
“Mmm, okay. So, now we go home and wait until the baby jutsu wears off. Anything else you think we need to do, first?”
“Well, there are some other things we need to work on, for the sake of the mission.” She said, her breath a little ragged.
“Yes, that is an important item to take care of.” He added.
“Hey, you two love birds. Let’s go back, okay?” Shikamaru called to them from the bend in the path a few meters away.
“Right, we were just discussing that.” The sand man said, speeding up his pace and dragging the other ninja beside him.

:::Yeah, yeah. I'm doing it again. I may go farther too. But, no I'm still not claiming this is a Kankurou/Sasuke fic.

Wow, I seem to be getting two reviews per chapter, that's a lot for me. I wonder why????

Vashta - you jumped the gun a bit, huh? Did this give you a peek at the issue's that our dear, *cough*in denial*cough* sand ninja is going through. Yes, he and Sasuke have been teasing at something for quite some time. But, will they go through with it?


Serenia - My thoughts exactly. I think that if you know your jutsu, you shouldn't have to call it. It would come just like a hungry puppy. And really, that is a hard word to type so if I don't have to, I ain't gonna.

Now, the guys(and gals) are gonna get some rest before the next chapter or at least I am.

The next chapter is A Demon confined – Dainichi is released