A Wolf and A Tiger

Chapter 8

Consequences Unforeseen

Zen-Aku and Kakashi were jumping through the forest heading in the direction of where the rest of the retrieval team were left when some medical ninja from the village was seen headed their way before turning and falling into their pace, "Kakashi, what's Zen-Aku Uzumaki's condition."

"My health is not of priority right now, what are the conditions of the rest of my squad," Zen-Aku growled out, he didn't want to deal with un-needed concern for him when the others were still in bad shape when he left, but at least the Uchiha knows where he stands in terms of power.

"Lady Tsunade dispatched the first and second medical core to pick them up, emergency treatment was administered on scene, then they were all immediately transported to the hospital," the leader of the squad answered, "only ones in good shape are Zen-Aku and Shikamaru."

"Kiba Inuzuka's injuries are serious but not life threatening, Alyssa Hyuga and Choji Akimichi are both in critical condition, though Alyssa's wounds are healing, at this point for Choji, it could go either way," the medical ninja heard a growl from the duke org and saw rage in his eyes.

"If Alyssa dies from this, then the world will have true hell to pay for the upcoming years," Zen-Aku growled out as he moved farther ahead than the rest and got back to the village in record time, going full on shadow to get to the hospital in one quick sprint as well.

He easily sensed the animal spirits inside of her and ran for her location and found a sealing room, he easily got inside and heard the healing music playing on repeat while the healing team being led by Shizune stitched her up using strands of her own hair. Thought he music was making it quite difficult to stay focused on sealing up her wounds, "Zen-Aku, you can't be in here while we're sealing her wounds, I know you're worried, but you need to leave," Shizune ordered him while not taking her eyes off of the healing.

"I just came to advise you to turn the music off while sealing up those wounds, then you can turn it back on when done, don't keep playing it if it means you can't concentrate on healing her yourselves," he said as he turned and walked out with his back straight and eyes narrow. Instead of waiting outside alone, he decided to go see Shikamaru, no doubt the boy feels too sad about his recent failure as team leader and might just quit being a ninja from it, he needed a pep talk, or a slap in the face to wake him up about failing a mission is always a possibility.

On his way he saw Anko waiting in the middle of the hallway in front of him and making him stop, "congrats on failing the mission while also possibly providing us with a useful information source wolfie, even when you fail a mission you come out with something good, how do you do it?"

"Be sure not to hurt her, she's my aunt so she will be treated as such Anko," Zen-Aku growled out as he moved past her leaving a cold chill in the air, even for her, the guy must really be in a bad mood since his girlfriend was in bad shape, it was so not a good idea to cross him, now or ever.

He began walking again, going slow as well to keep a cool head, quick movements and he might do something he'll regret, that is something that he doesn't need right now, not when Alyssa is still being taken care of just a little ways away from where he was going. He got just to where he should turn a corner when he heard the doors to the medical room open and out comes Tsunade, "he's going to be just fine," she walked forward after saying that, "the antidote worked, the extermination of cells caused from the pills effects has been rested." She stopped walking and Zen-Aku could hear a cushion move and guessed she set on a bench, "I couldn't have done it without your help, Shikaku, the Nara clan's sacred medicine guide was invaluable, the work that went into that manual, the years of research, well it's quite impressive to say the least."

Zen-Aku was smiling a bit, Choji was fine and from the sound of it, Shikaku was there to help his son his own way, good, just needed to know about Alyssa's condition, and wouldn't you know it, here comes the running footsteps of Shizune right now, he hid further into shadows to hear. "Lady Tsunade," Shizune called as she approached, "Alyssa Hyuga is safe, her condition is stabilized," that was as far as Zen-Aku needed to hear and made a mad dash to her room without waiting for Shizune to finish her report, but if he had, he would have heard different news as well.

Since he was hidden, he didn't see the look on Shizune's face, as she said that, it looked like she was sad about something and was going to say it until they heard the whooshing that cam from him moving so fast, she felt a bit down more after that, "what is it Shizune," Tsunade asked.

"Ma'am, one of the wounds suffered by Alyssa looked bad for other reasons, the bone that pierced her lower right abdomen, didn't just go through her unscathed, it tore right through part of her stomach and broke apart into smaller fragments, we got most of those fragments out in time. However there was one fragment that went in further than the rest, it was able to pierce her womb in a potent way, and since these bones seem to have come from an enemies own chakra network, the end result was it attacking the cells where it had pierced," she informed her mentor.

Shizune stopped speaking and Tsunade knew why in an instant, as did the other three in the room, Shikamaru, Shikaku, and a quiet Temari since it was her, Kankuro, and Gaara that was sent to aid the team should they be needed, Gaara even saved Lee and defeated the bone guy. When Shizune stopped talking, they knew what she was saying, "I'll notify Alyssa when she's alone, then she can decide if she wants to tell Zen-Aku or not," Tsunade stood from her seat and began walking for her room, probably just going to walk in on him playing that song for her. "Shikamaru, your mission was a failure, however everyone is alive and that's the most important thing, next time make sure things go better you're still a chunin after all," she left him at that while thinking to herself how that Orochimaru took away an entire generation of Uzumaki.

Tsunade was right, while walking to the room Alyssa was kept in, she began hearing the sound of a flute playing a beautiful song, it didn't sound like a recording either, meaning he was playing it live for her, before she got to the door she paused while thinking about that song. How many generations of Uzumaki were never going to get to hear that song, how many generations of Hyuga-Uzumaki children will never hear that song, and how much strain would this put on their relationship, they were the one couple that she hoped would last a long time. She let a single tear drop at what this means, she looked at that data on his sperm, it wasn't completely hopeless, there was enough of a chance of him giving her a child, it would be considered a miracle if it happened, but there was a chance, but now, now that hope is gone forever.

She couldn't wait though, if Alyssa was awake now, she needed to know and later she might be too busy with paperwork and other shinobi to tell her this, so she composed herself, dried her eyes and stepped into the room to see Zen-Aku playing his song over a smiling Alyssa on her back. "Good to see you're awake Alyssa," Tsunade said as if nothing was wrong, had a smile on her face as she walked over to the girl, Alyssa turned and greeted her with a smile while Zen-Aku stopped playing for a moment, "I have good news, you're going to make a full recovery."

"That's wonderful, I'd hate to stay in bed all day while my friends fight, that would just be wrong," Alyssa said with a smile, she was unknowingly making things that much harder on the Hokage, she thought about not telling the girl, but as a doctor she felt that it was only right to tell her.

"Zen-Aku, can you leave for a moment, go to my office and wait for me, I have to talk to her about private womanly matters," Tsunade requested and watched him stand there, she guessed he was raising an eyebrow behind that mask of his, he looked to Alyssa and she nodded before he left.

"What's this about lady Hokage," Alyssa asked with a worried look, "I thought you said I'll make a full recovery," she added before realization might have struck her, going by her eyes widening and then looking sad, "there was something wrong that happened wasn't there."

"First let me ask you something about that healing soul you have inside of you, and I want you to tell me the truth about this," Tsunade requested and saw Alyssa nod her head a bit meaning she'll tell what she can, "how much can the soul heal your body, what are its limits and capabilities?"

Alyssa thought for a moment about it before answering, "I don't know its full limits, but I imagine it works like any standard medical jutsu, or like Zen-Aku being healed by the nine tails, it depends on what the damage is or if the song is playing, the sooner it starts to play the faster I'm healed."

"I'm going to ask you something very serious, and if it can, than that's good news, but if it can't than I'm not sure how to tell you this," Tsunade took a deep breath and wondered how to phrase the question, "can it heal what has been done through internal damage of foreign chakra?"

This was the moment of truth, this would determine her future as a possible mother, would it crash to the ground, or will it rise and sore as high as possible, there was a moment of silence between them until Alyssa spoke, "I'm sorry, but it can't heal me to that extent, it's not a tailed beast." That was it, there would have been hope, and with it she could have held back the damn, but afterwards, the damn shattered and the tears started to fall, she lunged forward and hugged the girl close to her form as she openly cried, "what's going on, what's wrong with me?" Alyssa was crying now, Tsunade wasn't saying anything and was only crying for whatever was wrong with her, so whatever it is must be pretty bad for her not to say anything to her and just crying from the news she has to deliver, news that's making her like this.

An hour later

Tsunade finally calmed down enough to tell Alyssa the news, it wasn't good at all, the reason she was crying was because she can no longer have a child, Zen-Aku could have gotten her pregnant if they were lucky and it would be a miracle, but now, now they'll never have children. One fact cut her deeper than anything else, Zen-Aku wasn't to blame for it, he wasn't the reason they could never have children now, now it was Alyssa who was the problem, a problem that they couldn't fix with the dear zord's soul, and it was all because she couldn't react fast enough.

"Are you okay," Tsunade voiced and broke her out of her musings, she wasn't really okay, and it showed as tears continually streamed down her face, so she shook her head no and pulled the cover over herself, "I know you don't want to discuss this, but are you going to tell him?"

She went from just sobbing to shaking now, the thought of telling Zen-Aku about this, it tore her in two, she wanted to tell him the truth, tell him that they couldn't have children because of her and not him, but this might be the straw that breaks him, to make him go full org and rampage. On the other hand, if she didn't tell him and let him stay ignorant, what would happen if he heard it form someone else, if someone told him and he blamed her for not telling him when she had the chance, such a thing just couldn't happen, so what is it she's going to do?

Her musing were interrupted when a knock was heard at the door, the one behind it opened and revealed the last person Alyssa wanted to see right now, maybe not the last person, but maybe back when he was kinder, when she didn't have to hear his tone of disappointment all the time. "Lady Hokage," Hiashi Hyuga bowed respectfully to the Hokage before turning to his daughter, he saw her form hidden under the covers, "if I may have a moment alone with my daughter," at Tsunade's narrowed eyes he decided to explain, "I merely wish to talk, not cause a scene."

Tsunade kept her eyes narrowed before looking to the little Hyuga wrapped up in a blanket, hoping with all her might to not cry so much in front of her father, but failing miserably, so she decided, "fine, but try not to stress her out more than she already is, she's had enough of it."

She walked out and left the father and daughter in the room alone together, Alyssa not wanting to speak, not wanting to say something that let her voice crack in front of her father, Hiashi didn't want to say anything either, because what he should have said needed to be done long ago. "Hinata, I," this was more difficult then what he first thought, it was always his wife that dealt with this emotional stuff, not him, but he needed to do it, "I'm sorry for what I've done to you," his voice was barely over a whisper and made her stop shaking in shock at her father apologizing. "I'm sorry that I never contacted you, I'm sorry that I made you feel as though you were a failure just because you didn't use our techniques, and most of all, I'm sorry that I let Neji's hate grow so much that he did what he did to you, that never should have happened, especially the end."

Alyssa couldn't believe what she was hearing, her father was apologizing to her, apologizing to her for her boyfriend killing Neji, for making her feel like a failure for so long and letting Neji hate her so much, and the most surprising was not contacting her, he's sorry for it all. She started to pull down the covers to see a glimpse of his face, it wasn't stoic anymore, there were tears pooling at the corners of his eyes, his face wasn't stoic but frowning, his entire heart was breaking from what he put her through, she could see that just from the glimpse.

"You probably saw us that day scowling as we went into the arena and thought it was for you, it wasn't, me and your sister talked in the month during the break, we knew that you were always stronger, knew that you didn't deserve what happened to you, and we told Neji before the match. Yet, he refused to see things a different way, he believed so strongly that the gentle fist was superior to all that he lost all sense a long time ago, despite you being stronger than him when it came to your own technique, you chose to fight using ours and failed so he felt he was superior." Hiashi was openly shedding tears now, and despite this show of weakness, he didn't seem to care, "to be honest, when I heard the news that you fought using our technique, I was proud, thinking that you were finally learning our tradition, yet sad that you didn't win because you thought about us. I am so sorry that I've never visited or contacted you, sorry that you felt the need to lose a match with our style instead of fighting and winning with yours, and most of all I'm sorry that you felt that I didn't care about you, you're my daughter and I will always love you."

Alyssa couldn't take it anymore, she tore off her covers and jumped up to hug her father, hugging him tightly around his neck, he immediately hugged her back with tears still in his eyes, "I've missed you too father, I've missed you so much, and I'm sorry for thinking you didn't care."

"No Hinata, I'm sorry for letting you think that, I'm so sorry that this cold exterior of mine is what you see, what anyone ever sees, it took your mother years before she got past it, but please forgive me for not telling you this sooner," Hiashi begged his daughter, hugging her tightly.

"Only if you forgive me for thinking of you as uncaring," Hinata asked as she broke free of her father's hug, it was starting to hurt with her injuries still heeling, he nodded and let her get back in bed, "father," she stopped in front of the bed, facing away from him, "can I return home?"

Hiashi sighed at the question, it was a sad sigh filled with regret, "I'm sorry, while me and Hinabi want you back, the elders are glad to be rid of you, as is the branch family, if I let you back in the compound, I'm afraid they'll send assassins, and I just can't let you die after getting you back."

Alyssa stayed standing there for a moment before he heard a sob, "father, I have something to tell you," she really didn't want to say it out loud, it's already hard enough knowing it, but to say it, "I… I'm not able to have kids anymore," Hiashi got up turned her around to face him.

He could see the tears in a constant flow down her face, he could tell they weren't for him, they were for her, for what she lost and what she's afraid she might lose if she tells a certain someone, "don't worry Hinata, you know that he'll love you no matter what," he hugged her again, gently now. She hugged him back and held on tightly, for the first time in years, she was able to cry in her father's arms, to be consoled by her father, a much colder one than her last, a much more distant one, but for the first time in years, she finally felt like she had a father again.

Hokage's office

Zen-Aku waited there, sitting on the window sill for what seemed like an hour and a half before Tsunade finally made it in, walked in on him playing his song for the hundredth time while staring out into the sky overlooking the horizon, it was quite the sight that greeted her in the office. When he finally noticed her while he was playing, he finished the song and spoke, "I think I'll leave the village for a little while, train and grow stronger, I know I'll have at least three years before either Orochimaru or the Akatsuki can make their move, I'll use that time to train."

Tsunade walked further into the office and stood beside him watching the horizon with him, "you probably heard about Orochimaru needing three years before he could absorb Sasuke, but what makes you think the Akatsuki won't attack for three years," she asked with a side glance at him.

He held up a scroll with the seal of the Mizukage on it, "the fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, has been killed in the civil war going on in the hidden mist village, meaning that the Akatsuki won't act until the three tails has been reformed," Tsunade snatched the scroll form him.

"You should know better than to read people's mail Zen-Aku," Tsunade reprimanded before opening it and reading it for herself, "so this is just a courtesy to let us know of the change of positions, someone by the name of Mei Terumi took over and is now leading the Bloody Mist."

"Yes, as I just said, and as is the number of tails Yagura had sealed inside him, it will take the same amount of years to reform, meaning the Akatsuki can take three years to make sure they are prepared when they finally begin rounding up the rest of them," the org theorized.

"Then we better make sure everyone else is ready by the time the Akatsuki are," the sanin said as she turned around and set back down to her desk, putting the scroll down as well, "and I still can't believe that the only reason Sasuke defected was because of a lie told to him by our spy."

"Itachi knew that this was the end result the moment that he was tasked with spying on the Uchiha's planning the coup, all we need to do is take care of the rest of the Akatsuki, and after Sasuke takes care of Itachi, I'll deal with him," Zen-Aku decided, he knew it would come down to them.

"Fine, when the time comes, you'll be the one to deal with Sasuke," Tsunade said as she began to work on some more paperwork that had accumulated on her desk, "by the way, what do you think I should do with your aunt, she is still a sound ninja who worked to kill the third hokage."

"She also is still loyal to Orochimaru to an extent since her and her little sister have been taken in by him and gave them a home, but if I can turn her loyal to us, we can use her to provide us with information," Zen-Aku guessed before a knock was heard at the hokage's door.

"Enter," Tsunade ordered before someone came through, it was Anko with Tayuya following behind her, cuffed and restrained with rope, "ah, good timing, I was going to send for you two and see if there was any progress and if there was anything we could do to gain your favor."

"If you think I'll aid the fucking village that put the nine tails into both my older sister and my nephew, than you have another thing coming bitch," Tayuya sneered at her before looking to Zen-Aku, "and how were you treated, mother said that nobody knew of Kushina's status, you?"

There was a tense silence in the air after she asked him that, made even more so as the sun was beginning to lower and gave the room an eerie feeling, "I had no knowledge that they didn't know her status until now, I thought it was due to the fourth's reputation she escaped persecution."

"The way mom said it, it sounded like they didn't want anyone to know that the fourth's wife was the jinchuriki, wanted only those on the level of the first hokage to have a jinchuriki wife, damn fuckers," the music inclined ninja growled out, but, "you never answered the question."

"It was made known that I was a jinchuriki the day after their deaths, wanted me to be seen as a hero when instead I was beaten and tortured throughout the years, on birthdays it was worse, they called it fox hunts, ran me ragged around the village until they cornered me. They added to the standard beatings and tortures to also include things to humiliate me, you can guess what they did," Zen-Aku answered and Tsunade bowed her head in shame while Anko tried to keep a blank face, she was failing a bit, the one that didn't take it well was Tayuya.

"You mean this fucking cunt eating village beat you, tortured you, and who knows what else for something you couldn't control and had no idea about and yet you sick brainwashed shits are trying to get me to turn on the person who gave me and my sister a home, fuck you!"

That summed it up, except the brainwashing part, "I get you're mad, but I'm not brainwashed into liking this place, hell, after I save this village a few more times and they'll be eating out of the palm of my hands, then when I'm made hokage I can punish who wronged me."

"Then how about the rest of you then, because from what I heard, the snake skank here is scorned from being Orochimaru's first apprentice, and the old hag over there was so drowned in self-pity that she didn't think about her own godson, any explanation for that," Tayuya countered.

Tsunade sighed a sad sigh at being reminded of that time, "I have no excuse, I never thought about anyone but myself, how I was hurting, how I could make myself feel better, so I never came back to check on Zen-Aku, never once did I think about a member of my family."

Anko was next to speak, "it's not like I was blind to his troubles, but when I took a look at what they were doing to him, and how much of a load was lightened off my torment, I felt such a wait lifted at first that I didn't care, over time it became guilt, but by the time it did, it was too late. The boy was already a genin getting ready to take my second exam, and boy did he pass, took on my former sensei and even helped get his team through it afterwards, then knew the effects of the curse mark and moved for the Uchiha to get disqualified from it, I felt more guilt after that."

Tayuya didn't let up on her anger, "if you think that makes things right, you have another thing coming bitches, he should have never stayed in this village, and if I had known about him at the time, I would have begged Orochimaru to let me take him, even defied him if given the choice."

The other two women looked down to the floor in shame at her admission while Zen-Aku briefly wondered if all Uzumaki women were like this, a feeling from Kurama told him yes they were, wonderful, "you shouldn't focus on what ifs, and what should have happened," he advised.

"Not that advice, listen nephew, since I'm your aunt I get to give you advice, not the other way around, so I'll think about whatever the hell I wanna think about, now what was I dragged here for anyways, other than pointing out to these bitches what terrible people they are," she countered.

"You're here for this," Zen-Aku said before speeding to her and putting his right palm on the side of her neck, right where her curse mark was, it felt like something form her own being was being pulled out of her, must be why she screamed in pain until it was done pulling.

Tayuya hunched over to try and catch her breath, but because she was bound she could only slouch a bit while she panted, "what… the… fuck… did… you… just… do," she panted out, she really wanted to sit down or in some way catch her breath, but not with Anko holding her binds.

"I used this," the duke org held out his palm for her to read, it held the symbol for extraction glowing a soft red, "the reason that the curse mark is so dangerous and hurtful to you is the foreign soul attaching itself to yours, that's how he is able to influence you all so much."

Once she was able to catch her breath, she noticed something different, everything she just said didn't mean anything, it was like her loyalty to him was gone, there was still the feeling of debt for taking her and her sister in, but everything else was done, "where did you find that seal?"

If he was wearing a mask, she could see his wolfish smirk, "simple really, I had been combing through the family sealing books continuously, found a long forgotten one that had the basis for the curse mark design, the first ever curse mark if you will, so I used that to develop this. Now, without the soul of Orochimaru eating away at your soul, you get to use the full power of the curse mark without it eating away at you, but since the soul of Orochimaru isn't there to also take some of the load, you may need to only use it in emergencies," he advised.

Tayuya was shocked at that, if she had bothered to try and get some Uzumaki sealing scrolls, she could have done this herself, but she never thought about removing it since it let her know that she was still Orochimaru's servant, which brought a question, "where's Orochimaru's soul?"

"It's currently being devoured by the nine tailed fox, dying a slow and painful death," Zen-Aku stated seriously with an ominous feeling to it, they would have questioned him on why the fox was eating the soul, but decided against it, who knows what they talk about.

"Very well, from now on Tayuya will be a member of the T&I department, under direct orders from Anko, since she is a senior student and all, until her loyalty to Konoha is proven, she'll be under strict guard with only minimal freedoms until decided otherwise," Tsunade ordered.

"Hey bitch, I never agreed to become a member of this village, I might not be linked to Orochimaru anymore, but that doesn't mean I want to work for the same fucking village that beat my nephew, go to hell and take your offer with you," Tayuya growled out before losing consciousness.

She lost it because Anko chopped her on the back of the neck, "don't worry lady hokage, I'll make sure she understands that it wasn't an offer, you should get back to your paperwork and wolfie can visit his girlfriend, I hope she recovers soon, she hasn't finished training," she left with a grin.

"I'll leave you to the paperwork then," Zen-Aku said as left through the window in a hurry and leaving a grumbling Tsunade, 'maybe I should remind her about the uses of the clone jutsu, nah, I'll let her stew a little bit longer, she still hasn't paid for leaving me alone for so long.'

Hospital

Alyssa was sitting up in bed and waving to her father as he left, the two talked for a long time, stayed silent as well, but talked about many things, at one point Hinabi joined her, had another tearful speech as well, but it was time for them to go and leave her to heal her injuries. Thinking over all that her and her father talked about concerning what to tell Zen-Aku, forget what to tell him, how can you tell the one you love that you can't have children, how did Zen-Aku ever tell her so easily that he can't have kids, it seemed so easy for him. There was a voice in the back of her mind that kept telling her it was because he was an org with no heart, and even after sleeping in the same bed for almost a month now, and even before then snuggling under the stars while he was training for the final round, she has yet to hear a beat. Every minute that passed let the voice get louder and louder until her heart was filling her with doubt, doubt that he loved her and doubt that he could love, but was going through the motions because it was easier to work with someone you can stand than doing everything alone.

Her father helped her snuff out the voice somewhat, talking to her and telling her that he had the same look in his eyes that he often saw in the mirror thinking of her mother when they were younger, but the voice of doubt wouldn't go away, "does he truly love me," she thought out loud.

"Of course I love you," the voice of her love came to her in a growling from the window, she jumped and squeaked at his sudden appearance, she didn't even hear him opening the window, must have been so lost in thought that she didn't hear him, "how can you even think that?"

"I," there was a pause as she thought about what to say as she looked at him, there was hurt in his eyes, true hurt and a plead for her not to hurt him, a pain that she even thought that he didn't love her, "I'm sorry, I was just thinking about how easily you told me you can't have kids."

"You think it was easy for me to deny you children, to inform you that my sperm isn't compatible with a human egg, it wasn't easy Alyssa, it was anything but easy, as soon as I was told the news I knew that when I told you that you would become sad, so one of us had to console the other. Just because I no longer have a beating heart doesn't mean that I love you any less than someone that has one, I thought you'd know that," Zen-Aku said sadly, yet it had an angry growl to it, an angry growl because of her, because she was doubting his love for her.

"I do know that," she exclaimed before lowering her voice a bit, "it's just," how was Alyssa supposed to say this out loud, "I got some news about my own condition because of that attack," she paused again and bowed her head so that he couldn't see her face, how could she tell him?

Zen-Aku didn't know what to say, what news could she have gotten that meant she was reexamining their relationship, to fill her with so much doubt that she was questioning weather or not she could tell him, but than what she had said caught up to him, how he told her. "That bone caused more damage than the deer can heal, didn't it," he asked and just mentioning this news caused her to start shaking from the sobs, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes before they started streaming down her cheeks again, harder than ever before. Zen-Aku rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her as the tears flowed, "never doubt my love for you, you can tell me anything and it'll be fine," he said as he rubbed her back in a soothing way while putting another hand at the back of her neck in a tender embrace.

Alyssa began shaking more as she cried in his arms, gripping at his own arms as she started to openly weep and wail from everything going on, thankful beyond all measure that Zen-Aku was there, forgiving her for doubting him, comforting her despite this effecting him as well. Never has she been so grateful for the org's own experiences that would allow him to guess her condition, she didn't want to have to say it out loud, it was just better if he guessed it, that would be better, make it an unspoken rule of sorts not to actually say the words.

That was how Sakura found them, wanting to visit Alyssa and probably give her some flowers since that was all she could do at the moment, she was planning to go to Tsunade and ask that she be trained in the medical arts so she could finally be of some use to what's left of her team. She was about to open the door when she heard the heavy crying from Alyssa, she just cracked it open the slightest bit to see what's going on and saw her gripping at Zen-Aku's arms that were wrapped around her lovingly as she cried, hard, whatever happened to her must have been bad. She started to tear up as well, it was hard to imagine that it was her Sasuke that would cause a fellow leaf shinobi so much sadness, it was her love that would do that, so she lightly closed the door back and began walking away, determined to get stronger and become useful.

Alyssa was slowly running out of tears, very slowly, after what felt like forever for them both, which was actually just an hour of her heavy crying, her voice was becoming more horse, her throat was beginning to become sore, and the tears seemed to become less thick than before. Since she was hunching herself over her love's arms, she chose instead to cry into his chest, this time silently cry, but her shakes wouldn't go away, and even though her tears weren't as thick didn't mean that they still weren't coming out strong, there was just too much happening.

Shikamaru thought it would be a good idea to check on his fellow squad-mate after hearing the news and confirming for himself that Choji was going to be alright, he thought he saw Sakura go by Choji's room earlier, probably to see Alyssa, but he didn't know if she was still there or not. He stopped at the door as he heard muffled crying, deciding it would be better to take a peak on the situation he would be walking into, he cracked the door open and saw what was going on inside, saw the position Alyssa and Zen-Aku were in and decided not to interrupt, too troublesome.

After a good time crying into Zen-Aku's chest, Alyssa stopped shaking and just felt exhausted, she was so tired and fatigued from everything happening today, her eyes were feeling so droopy, soon she succumbed to the welcomed darkness that would allow her to be a little distracted. Zen-Aku was fine staying in that position, but she might find it uncomfortable when she woke up with an aching body, so he gently laid her down and tucked her in under the covers before quietly leaving her to get some sleep, she needed it after everything that happened today.

Two weeks later

After two weeks of staying home and just talking, a little training, studying, and just being together, it was decided that Zen-Aku should leave the village to train like he originally stated, the only problem was that he didn't want to leave Alyssa alone for that long. She reminded him that she'd be fine, her father and sister were on her side again and made sure the clan knows that since she couldn't bare a child anymore, after she dies they could burn her corpse to stop the Byakugan from getting put in enemy hands, so he shouldn't worry. She still teared up when the words child left her mouth, in fact, anything that had to do with children made her want to cry, watching children play, seeing a pregnant woman, a woman carrying her newborn baby, everything related made her want to cry for the first week. It took another three days before she could stand to go out, and another three days before she could stand children, but she teared up when she was forced to look at them and think on what she'd never have, but by the time Zen-Aku was ready to leave, she was somewhat fine.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me, it might be good to get out for a few years," Zen-Aku asked while holding Alyssa close, they were at the village gates at midnight with Tsunade, Kakashi, Tayuya, and Anko bidding him a farewell, they wanted this done as low key as possible.

"I'm sure, you're the lone wolf while I'm the noble tiger, you need some time to stretch your legs and get out of this cage, and when you do, I'll be here waiting for you," she leaned up and kissed the mouth piece of his mask, it was a rule that only she was allowed to know his face.

"You had better come back stronger than ever Zen-Aku, the Akatsuki will need to be kept in check once the three-tails reforms, and I'm sure that these three years will fly right by," Tsunade sounded sure of that, must be thinking over the past and getting depressed.

"Yeah, drinking in copious quantities can do that to ya bitch," Tayuya commented with a glare at her before being smacked in the back of the head by Anko so she could focus on the task at hand, "be good out there, I still need to hear from your own mouth what you went through, family privilege."

Zen-Aku growled at the reminder before the eyes went to Kakashi, "I just wanted to remind you to stay safe, you may be strong but there are still stronger people out there still, and be sure to send word every chance you get, and are you sure we shouldn't get master Jiraiya to go as well?"

"I'm sure, I just need to go alone and work on making myself stronger, not worry about where that pervert is, would he be in the whore house, gambling house, gambling and whore house mixed in one, street corner somewhere picking up hookers, who knows," the org mentioned.

"That sounds like hell, but it's good to see you taking your training seriously and not using that fake persona you had," Anko mentioned and the others turned to look at her, "what, just because I only started to feel guilty didn't mean I didn't watch him growing out of curiosity," she shrugged.

"Well at least you weren't wallowing in self pity like cow tits over here," Tayuya mentioned and got a slap to the back of the head from Anko before getting her head implanted in the ground by Tsunade striking the back of her head with a chakra enhanced fist, causing the ground to crack.

"We really need to teach her some manners," Tsunade mentioned as she roughly grabbed her by the back of the neck and tossed her to Anko, who caught her lazily before slinging the girl over her right shoulder, Zen-Aku and Alyssa sweat dropped at how the Uzumaki was treated.

"I think it's time to send Zen-Aku off, we want him gone so we can have some peace and quiet around here after all," Kakashi joked to lighten the mood a bit, it didn't work since Tayuya, Tsunade, and Anko glared at him, Tayuya was still asleep, but he felt the glare through her eyelids.

"As much as I hate the way it was said," Zen-Aku drawled out looking at Kakashi who eye smiled, "I really do have to get going," he turned him and Alyssa, who had not yet let go of him, away from the small gathering of people and lifted his mask to give her a kiss goodbye.

The kiss didn't last long, but it held passion behind it, and she savored every second of it since she'd not have another for three whole years, when he pulled back and put his mask back on, she put her forehead on his shoulder, "I almost want to tell you not to go, but I know you need to."

"Don't worry," he hugged her one last time before turning her to face the road he'd be traveling along, "the next time you see me coming down that road, we will both be stronger, and you will hear my song as the most beautiful thing you have ever heard, goodbye my tigress." Zen-Aku walked past her and began walking into the night with only a small duffle bag with storage scrolls in it, he brought out his flute and began to play as he walked, he played his song, and never before had Alyssa wanted to hear a song so badly as when he walked out of earshot.