Yesh, go figure - a new year and look I actually managed to update this story - woot go me!

Anyway - on with the show. Try not to get too confused there really is a reason for this :P

Recipe for Disaster

Chapter 15?

Familiar Faces

Mi pulled his hands back from the barrier as Futa faded from view.

“You did very well, Mi-chan,” a whispered voice behind him said.

Mi turned to face the speaker but made no reply. He found it weird that San's twisted features didn't stand out as much as when he first laid eyes on her. So he guessed as demons went, San wasn't as bad looking as he thought or maybe he was just getting used to her. Unlike Yon, he made no promise not to look. San seemed to think him rather brave because of it, but the truth was he was just overly curious. It was why he went along with this stupidness in the first place.

It's never fun to find out your not as smart as you thought you were. He should have told his parents, Moegi-sensei, or even Hito what they’d done but the demons acted before he could. When Futa said she was attacked by one of those weird little animals too, Mi was shocked. That shouldn’t have happened. Glancing down at his wristband he realized that this was how San found his sister. He wasn't entirely sure how she escaped or what San wanted her for, but that didn't matter really, he knew it couldn’t be anything good. Even if Yon was the one to awaken the pair, Mi knew he was just a to blame for the situation as his brother. Now even if he did manage to figure out the demon's plans his opportunities to contact and warn her were even worse since more of the colored chakra threads were missing.

San faded from view so Mi walked toward the bed, the empty sound of his footsteps echoing his growing anxiety. Now that he was stuck in here there was no way for him to help. Lying down Mi closed his eyes. He needed to think. There had to be some way to get out of here, but with no way to talk to his twin, or anyone else for that matter, he’d have to rely on Futa. He just hoped she figured out his little hint about San.

Unable to sleep, Sasuke sat in a chair near an open window absently scratching the ears of the kitten resting there. His thoughts rolled through his head in an unusually disjointed fashion as he tried to sort out his world as it continued to shift out of balance. Feelings of anticipation for the future and an underlying excitement that came along with it were something he was no longer used to.

Whatever it was that really made up the dobe's chakra it seemed to correct everything that had stopped Sasuke's body from cooperating with his former demands. None of the pain or exhaustion he usually had to deal with had manifested...so far, but this was still the longest he'd gone without meds. If Naruto was able to complete his crow training by morning like he claimed, there was a good possibility that Sasuke's dependence on the medicines he'd had to take since losing his sight would no longer be necessary. But did he really want to trade one for the other?

Being blind was never really an issue to Sasuke. It had its drawbacks, but it was never something he considered a handicap. He'd adapted his life around it but now, the routines to which he'd become accustomed felt dull and incomplete in comparison to those few minutes of borrowed light. It invigorated him more than he thought they would.

A burst of chakra a good distance outside his apartment made him wonder. The feeling didn’t dissipate, but instead, muted itself as a layer of chakra he associated with a more familiar signature took its place. It still resonated of the original though.

How very odd, he thought.

“Sasuke-chan?”

“You noticed that too, Denka?” Sasuke asked the cat now walking along his window.

“Nyaa, yes…it is the same as earlier. Shall I check on the kitten?”

The question caused Sasuke's hand to still and he thought about that for a moment. Did he? Picking up the sleeping ball of fur in his lap, he set it on the nearby bed.

“Sasuke-chan?”

“No, thank you, Denka,” he said and standing up. Sasuke pulled on the shirt he'd discarded earlier and said, “I think I’ll check this out myself, this is actually starting to get interesting.”

“Yes it is,” the cat said as it turned and leapt from the window.

Sasuke entered the kitchen and reached into a tall cabinet. There was only one thing there and Sasuke lifted the staff out.

“Sssssssssssss.”

His brain identified the sound as a snake, but what would a snake be doing in his apartment? Another oddity. This could mean only one thing and it piqued Sasuke’s curiosity even further. Sai was sending him a message? Sasuke touched the staff to the floor and the snake curled itself up around until it reached his hand. It stopped as if waiting for something. Things like this usually required a release word of some sort. Moving the staff to his other hand, Sasuke opened the other palm side up and said, “Hebi.”

The snake started across his fingertips then traveled slowly up his arm. Sasuke remained still as he concentrated on the raised bumps and ridges of the snake’s ‘skin’ as it passed over his fingertips. Reading like this had taken a good deal of time to master, but in the end it was worth the effort. The snake traveled at a leisurely pace moving ever closer to his head but even that didn't bother him as the words took shape in his head.

Though it was short and oddly cryptic, Sasuke was mildly impressed that it was easily understandable. The chakra signature outside was now approaching his door but there was no reason for that person to be here this time of the night so when there was a knock at the door, he ignored it and returned to his room. Slipping out the window, Sasuke felt the snake slip to the ground in a puddle of spent ink and chakra.

Picking through an enormous pile of medical records, Sakura yawned and stretched before she pulled out another file and began reading. There was a similar incident a long time ago but she only had a rough idea of when that was. The ‘animal’ that attacked her and the boys was by no means a low level summons and the identity of the summoner was still a mystery. Her concentration was crap, though. She needed to rest but there were just too many unanswered questions floating around in her head. First and foremost were the obvious ones regarding Yon’s involvement in all this and there was little doubt in her mind that if one of her twins was involved so was the other.

The only thing that was apparent was that the creature did more than just injure Mi’s arm and by the time she’d realized the true purpose behind the speed of the infection was to create a connection, it was already too late to counter. Now that it was in place, it was proving very difficult to sever. That was why she enlisted Ino's help to see if she would be able to break it by possessing his body. Mi was still losing chakra but weirder still was that he was still generating it while he slept. It stabilized his condition but it was no small irritation to her that she had no idea where that excess chakra going or what would happen to Mi’s chakra network if things continued like this. Even the dire predictions from her colleagues didn't come close to alarming her as much as what Ino discovered that first night.

------

Sakura paced a short line while her husband leaned against the doorframe nearby. This was just taking forever. How long was Ino going to take to complete her assessment of Mi’s condition? Sakura sped up her pace and rubbed her arms in frustration thing that something must be really. She only stopped when she found her way blocked by her husband. Her irritation flared up, but just as quickly faded as Naruto wrapped his arms around her. As the overwhelming tenseness she felt started to ebb into that motionlessness silence he was somehow able to generate, Sakura took in a deep breath. She hadn’t realized she was that wound up and it was a much calmer Sakura that asked as Ino released her possession, “So, what do you think?”

“Sakura, you should sit down,” Ino said with a serious frown.

“Why? What did you find?” Sakura asked.

Ino’s look of concern did not lessen as she turned to her friend and replied, “Nothing.”

“Then he should be alright.”

“That isn’t what I meant, Sakura, but you know when I possess someone, I can usually feel their subconscious.”

Sakura stiffened but nodded as Naruto did as well.

“I can't feel anything...” Ino faltered as she tried to find the best way to explain it. Sakura frowned, that just made no sense and she wished Ino would just spit it out already. She was about to say so but stopped when she felt Naruto’s hand on her shoulder gently tighten.

“I’m sorry Ino, but I didn’t quite get your meaning,” Naruto said.

“This will sound strange, and I don't want to give you the wrong idea, but it almost feels like…his soul is missing.”

“Eh? Missing? Are you sure, Ino?” Naruto asked.

“No, and he's definitely alive, otherwise my possession wouldn’t have worked, but there's also a barrier in place that I couldn't breech, that’s why it’s so strange.”

“Do you think it would help if you did try to break it?” Sakura asked.

“Truthfully, I wouldn’t recommend it. That wall in his head is definitely in place for a reason and there were no feelings of pain associated with it. Without knowing why or who put there, I’m uncertain. It almost felt like it was put there to protect him.”

“So you think we should do nothing?”

“What I'm saying, Sakura, is that if I do try to yank it down I might end up killing him. Is that what you want?”

“Of course not, but you can't seriously expect-”

“Sakura-chan.”

Naruto's interruption, though not completely unexpected, felt unusually abrupt and Sakura turned away from the pair moving closer to the bed. Mi looked so small lying there and Sakura's head filled with dire thoughts. Of all her children, Mi was the most sensible, the most grounded. Always serious, it was easy to forget that he was still a child. Sakura refused to waste time losing her temper. She needed a clear head if she was going to help her son. Keeping her frustration in check, Sakura said, “Ino, thank you.”

“I’m sorry, Sakura. I wish there was something more I could tell you.”

Sakura shook herself out of her thoughts when she heard something tapping at the window. Looking out, she saw the tiny bird that hopped along the ledge and realized it as one on Sai's messengers. Opening the window only enough for the bird to enter, she immediately closed and locked it once it was inside. After drawing the curtains, she also latched the door before sitting back at the table and pulling out a scroll.

Before she could open it though, there was a gentle knock on the door. The bird dove under an overturned book and chirped once as the latch undid itself and the door slowly slid open. Sakura masked her irritation as the one person in all of Konohagakure she did not expect to see asked, “Is it alright if I come in?”

Shikamaru yawned as he finished sorting through the stack of notes he’d just spent the last three hours picking through. The house was unusually quiet with everyone away and just as he lay down a small squeak caught his attention. Turning the lamp back on, Shikamaru stared at the black mouse sitting on his table. It waved as it squeaked again so it wasn't a normal mouse. It was made of ink and that was one of Sai's jutsu.

What the hell's gone wrong now, he wondered as he rubbed his face.

Moving to the table Shikamaru broke the seal of a special scroll and the mouse pushed it out to the length of the table, taking up a position on the far right. It squeaked one more time before Shikamaru nodded and said, “Hanta.”

The mouse melted into a line of ink that quickly coalesced into a message Shikamaru read with growing irritation. While he regretted not sleeping sooner, this was an opportunity that might not come again so the overtired jounin grabbed his gear and headed out the door. Ideas that had been bouncing around in his head since the initial attack began to line up as the variables involved started to fall away. Still, he was going to need help and headed quickly up the street.

The bunshin Naruto walked along with his wife in relative silence as she headed for one of the smaller wooded areas on the outskirts of town. He listened as she talked about the weather, dinner, and the price of groceries. The only questions she asked were completely random and all of which had to do with either Hito, his training and weirdly enough, the teme. This was something his wife would never do since she already knew it and Sakura-chan never forgot anything, so he was quite sure the woman walking next to him was not Sakura-chan, but since she still hadn't told him where they were headed, he didn't want to distract whoever this was from their chosen destination. The entire village was still on alert and even if it appeared they were alone, he knew Sai was likely keeping track of him.

Whatever Yon had set in motion, he was likely no longer completely in control of. There was also a good chance his youngest son was unaware of it. At least Naruto hoped so. After several more minutes of aimless wandering, the bunshin was getting bored and was struck by an idea. Obviously the only purpose of this walk was to keep him headed away from where the boys were staying. So when they passed a bench Naruto called to his 'wife' and sat down. She looked back with a mildly irritated expression, but the bunshin had no intention of getting up and patted the seat next to him. Since becoming Hokage, the real Naruto rarely had time to do this sort of thing anymore, this made the bunshin a little sad so he made a mental note for his original to clear up more of his schedule.

As she sat down next to him, the bunshin Naruto wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer causing whatever she was to leak a small amount of chakra that was not her own. This made him curious since there was still something familiar but twisted about the feel of it.

“The grass under that tree across the way, looks mighty comfortable, dattebayo,” the bunshin Naruto said giving her a squeeze.

She stiffened at the suggestion while the bunshin suppressed a snicker. His smile widened when he noticed a spike in that odd chakra and the bunshin pulled her even closer. The answer felt so tantalizingly close and in a weird sort of way this was fun.

Might as well see how far this one intends to go with all this, the bunshin thought.

He leaned in closer until his lips brushed up against her ear and he whispered, “What do you say we go try it out, eh, Sakura-chan?”

She let out a giggle and the bunshin gave her another little squeeze. She really did look and sound like Sakura-chan, even if her smell was off and the bunshin could no longer resist the temptation to bite her ear. A moment later the woman next to him started to shake and the bunshin let out a low chuckle and said, “I can see this excites you too-”

This turned out to be a bit too much as she cried out and let loose a burst of chakra that made the bunshin Hokage pull back just before she exploded in a shower of dead leaves.

“She blew up,” the bunshin commented as he snatched a random leaf out of the air.

“Yes, much like the true Sakura-san would,” Sai said appearing from the trees.

The bunshin ignored the comment and stared at the leaf in his fingers. That slippery oily feeling still clung to it and the bunshin focused on that while asking, “And how many others do you think are lurking?”

“Possibly, two, Hokage-sama.”

“Two…only two?”

Sai nodded.

The bunshin wasn’t entirely sure why, but he got the feeling there was one more but answered, “I can guess where. Anyone not receive your messages?”

“Both Sakura-san's and Sasuke-kun’s remain unread.”

“Alright then head over to the hospital and check up on my wife, though I pity anyone dumb enough to come after her children. Shikamaru is likely on his way to the Teme’s apartment with his trap since it’s closer.”

Sai nodded as he pulled out a scroll and quickly drew a large bird. Focusing his chakra, Sai animated it and leapt upon the bird’s back.

“You’re not coming?”

“No, but I’ll catch up with you later. We still have that other issue to deal with.”

Sai nodded and the bunshin watched as the pair flew off in the direction of the hospital. After a deep breath, the bunshin sighed. He knew he was too far away to be of any real use to Shikamaru and his original was still waiting for more information, so as he concentrated on the leaf still in his fingers the bunshin released the jutsu.

Naruto's blue eyes popped open and he blinked when he realized he'd fallen asleep while waiting for a report. Looking around his office, Naruto smiled. His bunshin's handling of the situation was amusing and completely inappropriate, but whatever. He knew he wouldn't have done anything differently. Turning his chair toward the window Naruto mulled the over the sensation of that weird chakra. It definitely reminded him of something that happened when he was a kid and it was irritating him that he couldn't remember what. It was also a little unnerving that whatever the creature was, it was able to mimic Sakura-chan's chakra signature almost perfectly. A less experienced ninja wouldn't have noticed the difference. It might also explain how, whatever it was, had thus far gone undetected.

The questions his fake wife asked made Naruto, like his bunshin, wonder if there were possibly a fourth and if so, where would it go? With Sai on his way to the hospital and Shikamaru on his way to Sasuke’s, Naruto turned his attention to his old apartment and after another minute or two Naruto decided to send a bunshin in crow form to check out the area while he headed off to the rendezvous point. He wasn't really worried, but if one did happen show up there, maybe he'd get another chance to figure out what that chakra reminded him of.

“Why are you here?” Sakura asked the person standing just outside the door of her son's hospital room.

“I came to see how the boy was doing.”

Really? she thought but said, “Mi-chan is doing as well as can be expected.”

“Have you figured out what 's wrong with him yet?”

Sakura tilted her head slightly but didn't respond out loud, instead she shook her head in response.

“That's too bad.”

Something was definitely not right. Sasuke usually ignored non-verbal responses, claiming he couldn't see them. Sakura found this hard to believe since he was no ordinary blind man. Either way she automatically took a few steps to her left, placing herself between the him and the bed.

“Was there something else, Sasuke-kun?”

“Can I ask you a question about Hito?”

The tone was weirdly tentative and Sakura thought, Nervousness? From Sasuke-kun? Sakura felt it then, the resonance was unmistakable, but what if she was wrong so she answered, “No, I'm sorry Sasuke-kun. I've told you before I won't help you and I have an important matter to attend to-”

Sasuke coughed as he looked down at the sword sticking out of his chest. Sakura took a small step back when the other exploded in shower of dead leaves.

"You are alright, Sakura-san?"

"Yes, Sai. Where is Naruto?" Sakura asked as the bird popped out from under the book and chirped once and flew to Sai's shoulder.

"He is likely on his way to the rendezvous point, he should arrive there in a few minutes. I will remain here with your son until you return."

“Alright, the bridge?”

Sai nodded and Sakura grabbed her gloves as she headed out the door.

Shikamaru sat in a tree with Ino intently watching the figure that now stood knocking at Uchiha Sasuke’s door. There was no answer, but that didn’t really surprise him. Shikamaru looked away from his target long enough to nod to Ino who frowned as she disappeared from the tree.

“So what do you think that is?” Sasuke asked.

“Not sure,” Shikamaru replied as he returned his attention to the doorway below, “but then you could probably answer that question quicker than me.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, in fact I think you recognized that chakra from the beginning, I thought at first that might have been why you didn’t want continue Uzumaki Hito’s training, but I've discarded that idea in favor of a more likely reason.”

“Which would be?”

“That kid gets on your nerves almost as fast as his father used to. Either way, the better question is why you still haven’t bothered to tell the Hokage about that little incident this morning.”

This was just a guess but when the statement was met with silence, that was all the confirmation Shikamaru needed. Obviously the events were related and the Uchiha knew more than he was saying, not that he ever said anything, still this irked Shikamaru so he decided to add to that; “There's another interesting bit of information I thought I'd mention. There were two artifacts that went missing from the Hokage’s library last summer. They've yet to be recovered but after a little research I discovered the items once belonged to a pair of brothers from of all places, the Uchiha Clan.”

“Are you suggesting that I took them?”

Shikamaru ignored the question and continued, “Both were sealed by the Yondaime and placed in special cases that could only be opened by the sealer, the item’s original owner or their kin. The records don’t give actual names of either of the brothers and the sealing pre-dates your existence so this is all just a theory on my part and why I haven’t mentioned it to the Hokage.”

“And you think these events are related somehow?”

“Maybe.”

“And this gains you what?”

“Not a damn thing, it’s bothersome and I never like things that have no rational explanation. You should go or you’ll miss your rendezvous. I can deal with this.” Shikamaru was not surprised by the lack of reply or when the other’s presence abruptly vanished from the tree.

Upon her return, Ino said, “You gonna tell me what that was about?”

“Maybe later.”

“Tch, okay Nara have it your way. Choji will arrive in five…four…three…two…one…”

“Shikamaru!” Choji announced the name in a loud voice, startling the person that was only just turning away from Uchiha Sasuke’s door.

“Choji…what are you doing out this late?”

“Late? I'm not late. I'm actually early today.”

“You are?”

Choji moved closer and waggled a finger at the fake Shikamaru and asked, “Did you forget we have a mission this morning?”

The fake Shikamaru went stiff as his eyes went wide. Choji took an abrupt step back as the fake Shikamaru's whole body started to shake.

Back up in the tree the real Shikamaru supported Ino who sat limply on the tree limb with him and he shouted, “On three, Choji”

Choji grunted and pulled out a glass box a foot tall by a foot wide and readied himself even as Shikamaru began his countdown.

“Three...two...Do it Choji!”

Ino started back to life beside him as Choji simultaneously grabbed the fake's neck and swooped the box. There was an explosion of chakra and dead leaves below the box and when the dust settled it showed Shikamaru just what he wanted to see. Hopping out of the tree, he pulled out the four special seals he'd prepared and secured them to the lid with his chakra.

“Well I guess I can cross that off my list,” Shikamaru said as he took possession of the box that Choji was doing his best to hold it away from himself.

“List?” Ino asked looking on.

Examining the contents Shikamaru said, “I've always wondered what my severed head would look like.”

“Shikamaru, that is just...creepy.”

Shikamaru tapped on the glass and asked, “So what did you find out in there?”

“Not much,” Ino replied, “I wasn't really in contact with it for that long, fortunately.”

“Then let's get this thing over to the lab.”

“Tonight?”

“It's the reason we went for the head Ino...”

Ino shuddered and said, “I know, but I already feel like I need to bathe for a week.”