Yin and Yang

A/N: A multiple-chapter colaboration of sorts with mir-rcha. They gave me a very detailed plot plan and then pretty much let me do what I wanted with the plot. We exchange emails between chapters so if there is something mir-rcha wants changed then it gets changed.
I'm going to update chapters based on the response I get from them from now on I think. The next upload will be Double Doggy Dare You I think. So if you want more chapters of this please review and rate, it's the only way I know that you guys liken a fic or not.


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"Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

"Morning."

Sasuke was obviously not going to elaborate on his greetings. "Shall we head off now that the formalities are over?"

"Hn."

"I'll cover your rear."

"..." Sasuke didn't respond, simply scowled and jumped up into the trees surrounding their current hideout.

Kimimaro followed closely behind noting that the Uchiha was in a fowl mood this morning.

Great.

Moody Uchiha's were always so fun. 

The mission was a simple one. Raid and destroy. A group of rogue ninja that were attempting to follow the movements of Orochimaru had been spotted at several outposts. The two males were ordered to go through all of their belongings and obtain anything of importance. No survivors were to be left behind.

Kimimaro wondered if Sasuke would be okay with the 'no survivors' part of the mission.

They had been traveling for twelve hours straight and were about five more from their destination. It was 6pm now and they wanted to arrive at the enemies camp at 5am. That gave them a five hour rest period.

Kimimaro could see slight discrepancies in Sasuke's form that showed that this was the most he had ever travelled in one time span. But he highly doubted that the other would realize his own fatigue enough to stop for now. "Sasuke-kun, I think now would be a good time to stop for the night."

"But I can keep going. We're nearly there."

"Whilst I understand your ability to continue please note that I am wishing to stop for my own benefit. My bones are not used to this much physical activity at this point in time and I wish to rest up before we attack." Kimimaro hoped that Sasuke wouldn't catch on to his white lie. 

"Hn." Sasuke descended from the tree tops at a suitable camp site. 

"Thank you for your cooperation. I request that you take the first watch so that I might rest for a bit." Kimimaro removed a scroll from within his top and held it up to Sasuke. "You hungry?"

"A bit." Taking the scroll from Kimimaro, Sasuke ripped off the seal keeping it closed and two bento appeared in his hands with a puff of smoke. He handed one to his partner and sat down on the forest floor. "Did you make these?" Opening the bento revealed nothing too special. Rice filled the main compartment, pickled vegetables in one of the smaller compartments and teriyaki beef in the other. 

"Yes, sorry if they are not satisfactory enough in taste, I was instructed to provide for nutritional value." Kimimaro opened his own bento and took the chopsticks from their own little compartment, beginning his meal. 

Sasuke started with the rice and noticed it was a bit stickier than what he usually ate. He didn't dislike it, it was just different. The pickled vegetables were perfect in his opinion and the teriyaki beef had herbs and spices all through it enhancing the flavour. "This is really good." Sasuke tucked back into his rice deciding the way Kimimaro cooked it was the best. 

A stray grain if rice stuck itself just under Sasuke's lips. Leaning forward Kimimaro used his thumb to remove the grain and popped it into his mouth. "I'm glad you think so."

Sasuke clamped down on the blush threatenin to tint his cheeks and turned his body away from Kimimaro. "Hn."

Sasuke's 'hn's always ended the concersation, Kimimaro only picking up on a few variations of them. This one meant that the Uchiha was pissed of at him for treating him like a child. Smirking, Kimimaro finished his meal and put the empty bento box on top of the raven's and did a few hand seals to jutsu them into a scroll again. 

"I will sleep for the first two hours, you can sleep for the next two hours then we will head for our destination. We can discuss mission details on our way over there." Kimimaro waited for Sasuke to nod before pulling a different scroll from within his top. Pulling the seal off it revealed a high quality sleeping bag after the puff of smoke disappeared. 

"You store a lot of stuff in your top." Sasuke commented, digging into his weapons pouch to pull out a scroll of his own. Opening it up, Sasuke bit his thumb and smeared his blood over the encrypted seal printed on the scroll. All of his scrolls were designed so that if anybody but him tried to get what was inside out, they would be met with several poisonous senbon to the face. Once the smoke cleared a thick, oversized jumper appeared in his hands. He had already taken to wearing long pants and only wore this jumper when it was cold out and he wasn't moving about to keep warm. Pulling it over his head Sasuke was immediately surrounded by comfort and warmth, the jumper material made from possum fur. He had caught and skinned the possums himself and Kimimaro had woven the fur into wool to knit the jumper with. 

"I do not enjoy pouches and have all the weapons I need at my fingertips," The Kaguya flicked a finger bone tip at Sasuke to prove his point. "Anything I need on missions is stored in scrolls that simply require the removal of a seal. The zip on my top keeps all the objects stored safely within it."

"If you flick one more of those fucking things at me again I'll chop off your hand then slap you with it." Sasuke placed his right hand on his katana to show that he was serious in his threat.

"Like you'd get close enough to try." Kimimaro smirked before climbing into his sleeping bag. "Goodnight, small one."

"Goodnight, senpai."

"Senpai?"

"Well you are going to be my partner on my missions from now on so I might as well call you by the correct title."

"I was under the impression that this was a trial mission to test your abilities." Kimimaro propped his right arm under his head and rested his skull on his bicep, face towards Sasuke.

"Cut the crap. I heard Kabuto talking to the snake about not liking you going on a mission so soon after your recovery then Orochi-dork telling him to get over it because you were going on every mission with me from now on." Sasuke looked down at Kimimaro indifferently, the next words being said as he closed his eyes and used his chakra to sense his surroundings. "So goodnight, senpai."

"Hm." Kimimaro closed his eyes and let his breathing even out. After a few minutes he  feigned sleep to put Sasuke's mind at rest. One of the side effects of this temporary cure was horrendous insomnia. Without sleeping pills he would not sleep. Even if he was pushed to the point of exhaustion he couldn't even catch one wink. Kabuto had given him energy pills for this mission so that when the time came he wouldn't feel like shit on a stick. He had yet to tell Sasuke of his sleeping problems figuring that the Uchiha would end up mother henning him.

Orochimaru had given him Sasuke's file on all the information they had on the youngest Uchiha and Kimimaro had spent all night going through one of the thickest scrolls he had ever come across. It contained everything from the raven's favourite food to every night he had ever had a nightmare. Whilst the Uchiha gave off the impression that he didn't care about anyone or anything besides attaining power to kill his brother, the young teen actually formed deep bonds with a lot of people. After Orochimaru's confirmation it seemed that he had also formed a bond with Kimimaro. This both worked as a positive and negative for him. He could use this information to...

"I know you're awake."

Kimimaro kept his eyes closed and breathing steady as he assessed he situation. 

"Kabuto told me about your insomnia, was worried you would over work yourself."

"..."

Sasuke opened his eyes and leaned forward so his elbows were on his knees, weight rested against them. "He's always fussing over you. He should be using his time to perfect Orochimaru's stupid jutsu's so I don't have to give my body up for that disgusting snake."

"Orichimaru-sama's techniques are anything but stupid."

"Says you. What idiot recruits a thirteen year old just so he can use his blood line trait for his own one day. I only have limited knowledge on the sharingan. He should go take Itachi's body instead."

"Itachi-san's blood line limit is coming to it's end. By the time four years pass his sharingan will be practically useless."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he looked shocked down at Kimimaro. "How the he'll do you know that." It wasn't a question. More a warning that if Kimimaro didn't give the answer Sasuke wanted he was going to get a fire ball to the face. 

"It is my job to know all about suitable vessels for Orochimaru-sama. Besides, how did you know I was awake?"

"You sleep talk. Don't change the subject. Do you know where Itachi is?"

"Do I really? What do I say is my sleep?"

"Goddammit, senpai! Where's Itachi!?"

"I don't know."

"Liar!"

"Please lower your voice, Sasuke-kun. You will give our position away."

"I don't give a fuck! Where's Itachi!?" Sasuke stood up, fists shaking in rage at his sides. 

Kimimaro frowned before striking forward. Sasuke was pinned to the ground an instant later with Kimimaro's forearm pressed tightly against his windpipe. "Let me make this clear. Whilst you are under the authority or Orochimaru-sama you will do as instructed without compromising missions. Yelling about your brother in the middle of the night is considered such." Sasuke clawed at the arm pressed against his throat before his hands were pinned to the ground with something very dense. He guessed it was bone. "I have also reached my limit in tolerance to your belittling of Orochimaru-sama. Should you do so again I won't hesitate to shove a femur through your gut. I do not know the current residence of your brother because the Akatsuki move around as much as we do, if not more. And even if you did attempt to face him, at your current level he would kill you or leave you paralyzed indefinitely. So wizen the fuck up and use your head.". Kimimaro stood, removing his arm from the raven's  throat. He never swore. Never. Yet such an ignorant boy made him do so. 

Sasuke choked on breath as tears poured from his eyes due to the lack of oxygen and conflicting emotions. His arms were still pinned to the ground above his head, Kimimaro showing no intention of letting him go any time soon. 

Kimimaro pushed the white strands of hair that had fallen out of their tie away from his face. Picking his sleeping bag up he unzipped it and flicked it out over Sasuke's body. "You will remain with your hands bound if you continue to scream into the night and I will be forced to use a sleeping jutsu on you. If you remain quiet I will remove your binds and you will fall to sleep on your own terms. The choice rests on you."

"..."

"Thank you for cooperating, small one."

"..." Silent tears refused to cease falling. Sasuke frowned at himself before speaking. "You said you would remove my binds."

"On the terms of your silence. Patience will remain your foe until you accept it as your equal. Your brother remains patient in his goals, I would not be surprised if it took him another twenty years for Itachi-san to achieve his ultimate goal."

"You speak about my brother like you have been with him recently."

"As I have said before, it is my job to know everything about potential vessels for my master. When Orochimaru-sama expressed his interests in the sharingan I searched all living holders and learnt everything about each of the Uchiha's that could effect him in the long run. You are linked to so many powerful titans that you are by far one of the worst choices as a vessel. But there will always be one Uchiha more powerful than you so you were the only choice."

"Itachi."

"Hmm. Now sleep, we still have a mission to do."

"Like I can sleep now."

"Hmm." Kimimaro made the appropriate hand seals then touched two fingers to the centre of Sasuke's forehead. 

The Uchiha fell into a dreamless sleep without another word. 



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A/N: please let me know what you thought of this chapter, future updates will be few and far between without your opinions. Not forcing you, but I'd really like to know what you think.