Repatriation Ch 19

Sasuke looked at the plans in front of him.  "As much as I had anticipated starting from scratch, I'm actually kind of glad the Hokage had the foresight to see that we had to start from somewhere," he noted.  

"Yes, she contacted me a few weeks ago and had me try to find the original plans for the Uchiha complex.  Lady Tsunade said that you may not want the entire complex rebuilt, but highlighted a few things on here for me to work from," said the designer.

Naruto didn't say another word after his brief outburst.  Now he knew what he was looking at – the plans for Sasuke's new home in the new Uchiha section of town.

It took about an hour for Sasuke to make any verbal changes he wanted to the designer, who in turn made many mark-ups to the lay-outs that sat on the table.  

"…and I think that's it," Naruto finally heard Sasuke say.  Naruto had to admit that as exciting a prospect as this was for his best friend, it was still kind of boring just sitting there listening to these two men banter back and forth with ideas for buildings and rooms.  Upon hearing those words, Naruto perked up a bit.  

"How long do you think it will take to get it built?" asked Naruto.  

"I'd estimate, maybe…," the designer thought for a moment.  "I'd say three months time."

"That's just in time for you to move in," noted Naruto.  

"Yes, the timing couldn't be better," said Sasuke.  He turned back to the designer.  "When you have finished the mark-ups, please let me know.  I'm sure it will be perfect, but I'd like to review the final plans one more time before giving the go ahead."

"Hai, Uchiha-san," answered the designer.  "In the meantime, I will prepare the builders to start collecting the needed materials at the site."

"Thank you," said Sasuke.  

OlOlOlOlOlO

After the meeting, Naruto and Sasuke started walking through Konoha once again towards a new destination.  

"I'm surprised you did as well as you did in that meeting," said Sasuke.  

"To be honest, I think I fell asleep," noted Naruto.

"Yeah, well, I heard you snore once, but thought that was better than listening to you ask 50 times how much longer it was going to be," said Sasuke.  

"So, where are we going now?" asked Naruto.  

"I need to find Ibiki," stated Sasuke.

"Ibiki?"  Naruto shivered.  "He scares me."

"I think he scares most people," noted Sasuke.  "He is the best interrogator that the Leaf has."

I wonder why he needs to see Ibiki of all people.  That was kind of out of the blue.

The two friends walked halfway across the village to a place not many shinobi visited unless they happened to be assigned to either the intel, interrogation, or penal squads.  The building looked very ominous and Naruto could imagine some of the horrors that had probably happened inside those very walls.  The five major nations were all allied and peace had finally come to the world – but there were definitely times in the past when that was not the case and any intel that could be extracted could mean life or death to the shinobi of the Leaf.  He had been told of some of the torture methods that had been used in the past and he could not even imagine being on either the giving or the receiving end.  

"Relax," said Sasuke.  He wasn't naïve, but still could see the tension starting to build in his friend.

Naruto gulped nervously still not exactly knowing why they were there.

They entered through the main entrance and were greeted by the on-duty guard.  Ibiki must have been expecting them because they were quickly escorted to Ibiki's office without question once they asked for him.

"I was wondering when you were going to get around to coming today," noted Ibiki to Sasuke.  "The Hokage sent word that you were coming and that I should listen to what you have to say.  It's a good thing she sent word because I am a very busy man and ordinarily I wouldn't have had the time to meet with you on such short notice."

Sasuke knew to be on his best behavior.  He bowed.  "Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with me."

That kind of just irritated Ibiki.  "Please, just get to the point," he said impatiently.

"You have a prisoner-of-war who does not have a homeland.  She has been here for quite a while, so I'm sure your interrogations have been concluded for quite some time.  Since she has nowhere to go to, I'm sure she was considered one of those who could not be released just yet.  I wanted to know if I could speak with her," said Sasuke.

"Name?" asked Ibiki.

"Karin…to be honest, I don't think I ever knew her surname," said Sasuke with a bit of embarrassment.  He had traveled with her quite extensively and even battled a few foes with her by his side, yet to him, back then, she was nothing but a tool – a means to an end.  He never cared enough at the time to ask what her full name was.  "She wears glasses and has flame-red hair."

"Oh, that one," noted Ibiki.  "You are correct that she is still here.  I am going to refer to you to my subordinate who handles her type of case.  Wait here for a moment."

Ibiki left the room abruptly, closing the door behind him.  

"You are seriously still thinking about that girl?" asked Naruto.  "You're not…"

"No, don't even think it," said Sasuke.  "It's just my responsibility to right some of the wrongs that I made over these last few years.  I've forgotten about her for far too long.  I was the one responsible for her being here in the first place.  You were there…remember?"

Naruto thought back to that day when he briefly fought Sasuke.  Sakura was hurting that day still holding onto the act that she now preferred Naruto over Sasuke.  Actually, all three of the remaining Team 7 members who were there could now see for themselves how far the mighty Sasuke Uchiha had fallen.  There was no longer any question about the influences that might have been affecting him – it was now the way he wanted things to be.  

Another man entered the room, shaking Naruto out of his retrospective daydream.  "Good afternoon.  My name is Kaname.  I was told you are interested in one of my charges?  Please come this way."

Sasuke and Naruto followed the man out of the room and down a set of stairs.  They walked for what seemed like forever to get to their destination.  

Finally, Sasuke dared to ask, "Where exactly are we going?"

Kaname turned to look at the two teens following him.  He gave them an obviously fake smile.  "These prisoners are not kept near here.  Generally, they give us minimal trouble, so it's a little 'out of sight, out of mind' when it comes to them."

They finally arrived at a heavy metal door.  Sasuke could see through a small window in the door that there appeared to be a hallway beyond it.  Kaname opened up the door using his palm against a flat panel on the wall.  The door clicked open.

"She is in number four," Kaname said to his two followers.  "I will be back in an hour to get you."

Naruto hesitated just a bit because not only was this area new to him, but he was here for a woman he didn't even know.  The only reason he was here was for Sasuke, and only because Sasuke still needed to be escorted everywhere he went.  

Sasuke passed Naruto to lead the way into the corridor beyond the door.  Naruto followed him and the door slammed shut behind them.  

"Sasuke, we're not getting into anything we shouldn't are we?" asked Naruto.  He definitely didn't like getting in trouble even though he had been in enough of it in his lifetime.

"You've been with me the entire time, Dobe.  All I did was ask to see Karin.  How am I going to get us in trouble for that when the Hokage herself sent me to Ibiki?" asked Sasuke.

"Alright, if you say so," answered Naruto.

Sure enough, the fourth door on the left had a plate on it with the number "4" carved into it.  Sasuke was surprised to find that the door didn't appear to be very heavy…definitely not heavy enough for a prison.  And it was an actual door - not bars.  And Kaname had given them no key to get in.  What kind of prison was this anyway?

He knocked on the door and waited as if it were anyone else's front door to their house.  The door opened.  "Yeah, Tito, what can I…?" said the woman who answered.  "Sasuke?" she questioned.

"Hi Karin," Sasuke answered.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said to herself, but still aloud.  

No one said anything for a few seconds.  It was a very awkward moment.  

"What are you doing here?" Karin asked coldly.  

"I came to see you…I mean, to check on you," Sasuke said, kind of tripping over himself.  As badly as he had treated Karin when they were part of Team Hebi/Taka, the Sasuke of today was in actuality feeling a bit guilty…and Karin could feel the difference between this man standing in front of her now vs. the man she last saw battling Danzo.   She didn't know how she should treat him – like a superior as she always had?  Or as she would any other normal person.  He clearly wasn't as crazed as she remembered.  

"To be honest, I don't know whether to kiss you or punch you," said Karin finally.  "But you can at least come in."

She led the two visitors beyond the door.  Naruto's eyes opened wide when he found that what lied behind the door was not a room, but an apartment of sorts.  The décor was comfortable – not fancy, but definitely not meager either.  The light was completely artificial (he had guessed that they were underground given the distance they had walked to get there).  

"Wow," said Naruto aloud.

"You would never guess that I was a prisoner, huh," Karin added.  "Well, to be honest, I'm not really a prisoner.  I'm just a person too dangerous to let go, but not having done anything to be locked up.  This was the Leaf's solution to their problem – giving us living quarters away from everyone else."

"I would think it would be lonely," said Naruto.  

"It's fine," said Karin.  "There are nine of us here and there are a few common areas where we can meet.  But our world doesn't extend past the main door you guys must have seen on your way in.  Compared to that prison I ran for all those years, this isn't bad."

"Seriously?" asked Sasuke.  "You wouldn't want to leave?"  Most of the conversation thus far had been between Naruto and Karin.  Sasuke was still unsure how to proceed.

"I guess I didn't figure I'd ever be given the chance.  I really haven't thought much about it," she answered.  "So, now you know I'm here…what's next?"

Naruto and Karin both looked at Sasuke.  Sasuke looked back at Naruto.

"Don't look at me!" Naruto yelled, putting his hands up in front of him as if to guard against some invisible aggressor.  "You're the one who wanted to come here."

Sasuke looked down at the floor.  "First off…I wanted to say 'I'm sorry.'"

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"I'm sorry!" he yelled at her.  "Uh, sorry," he said in response to his raised voice.  

"You?" she snickered.  "...are apologizing…to me?  I didn't even know you were capable.  That's rich, Sasuke."

"I know!" he said, frustrated.  "You only knew me as Orochimaru's underling, and then as the leader of your team…a team that was designed to serve only my needs.  Everything I did then was wrong and I see that now.  Geez!  I thought I was past most of this!"  He leaned his head into both of his hands.  

Sasuke was obviously hurting.  He had expected as much, but didn't expect it to feel quite this overwhelming.  Naruto put his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.  He also decided to add some details to Sasuke's more recent past so Karin might understand better.

"I'm sure you may not know this, but Sasuke helped me to defeat Tobi to end the war," said Naruto.  "That was when he came back to us.  He was injured and was hospitalized…and then came back to Konoha to repent his actions from the past," said Naruto.

"And they just took him back?  He was a sick bastard, y'know," said Karin.  "Anyone who would shoot a teammate just to reach their end goal is sick.  Do you know I actually thought I loved him before that?  There's nothing like betrayal to wake a girl up from her delusions though."

Naruto thought to himself how he never gave up on Sasuke even after he had betrayed him. So much for her strength of character, he thought to himself.

"The Hokage has handed down her punishment to him for his betrayal," added Naruto.  "He has changed.  Would the Sasuke you knew ever come here to apologize?"

"Good point.  I guess not," surmised Karin.

Silence enveloped the room as each of the shinobi stared at each other.

"Are you ready to go, Sasuke?" asked Naruto.  "It has almost been an hour."

"Just…one more thing, ok?" Sasuke said.  "Karin, do you want out of here?"

"I-I don't know," she answered.  "I would need time to think about it.  Like I said, this is much nicer than almost anything I have ever known before.  And I care about the people who live here with me.  I don't think I could just leave them behind while I am out there running free."

Naruto got up, followed by Sasuke.  Karin could tell they were about to leave and also rose.  

"If you change your mind, have Kaname contact me.  I will do what I can," said Sasuke.  

"O-ok," she replied.  

The two teens made their way to the door.  Naruto went out, but Sasuke closed the door behind him so it was just him and Karin standing there.  He leaned in and kissed her on her cheek.  "I really do feel bad about what I did," he explained to her one-on-one.  "I hope whatever you decide, that you find happiness."  

With that, he swung the door open and followed Naruto out into the hallway.