On the road again

The dull ache of my ribs woke me up, almost as if they decided to ease me into the searing pain the remnants of my left foot sent at me. The next thing I noticed was Naruto lying face down on my stomach, which, I suppose, was the best option when my legs and chest were out of the question. It was still slightly annoying.

I carefully reached with my left hand, trying to avoid straining my ribs before trying to push him back into his chair. Unfortunately, even with the care I took to avoid straining my broken ribs I still managed to make a jolt of pain run through me, making my arms spasm and push Naruto out of his chair. that made Naruto wake up, and, in his wild flailing to avoid falling, he backhanded the stump of my leg, which immediately made me release a series of moans, groans, and screams.

"Anno! What happened?" Naruto asked when he woke up enough to realize that I was screaming.

"Oh, you know, I decided to be nice a couple of years ago and befriend a lonely orphan, and now here we are, a few short years later, with me lying in excruciating pain" I said with a strained smile.

"Huh? What do you mean by that? And why'd you push me when I was sleeping" he asked groggily.

"Why did you hit my leg while it was cut off?" I responded.

The door slammed open to reveal a congregation of people with a wide array of expressions some concerned, and others annoyed, with Sakura in front of the procession.

"What are you two doing? Naruto, why are you on the floor? And why were you yelling, Anno? And why didn't you tell us that Anno is awake?" she asked.

"I was yelling because Naruto punched my stump!" I said.

"WHAT! NARUTO! Why in the world would you punch Anno!" she yelled while glaring harshly at Naruto.

"I- I only did it by accident, I swear! I really am sorry!" Naruto tried to explain frantically.

"don't worry so much Naruto, I'm really fine" - I tried to reassure - "I'm not completely sure why I pushed you out of bed though... I think you were slightly annoying" I said, looking towards the ceiling in a contemplative fashion.

"moron" Sakura sighed.

"Hey, hey, hey, I think I deserve a bit of respect for what I did, after all, I sacrificed my left foot, which, by the way, was my favorite foot, to save your sensei. And even if you want to argue that I got him kidnapped in the first place, well, all I have to say to that is... that it's a fair argument to make, but, I would still like to think that I can get enough pity as a new amputee to get away with this" I said with a smile.

An intensely uncomfortable atmosphere settled in the room as everyone but Kakashi glanced at my stump, clearly not used to my sudden status of an amputee.

"of course, uh, sorry... I think dinner is ready? Right, Tsunami?" Sakura said.

"Yes, it is, oh, uh, Anno, would you like it if we helped you to the dinner table?" Tsunami asked

I looked around the room, watching the unsure expressions of everyone there, Sakura was looking desperate for some way of knowing how to talk to me, while Sasuke was just silently observing the entire situation and trying to figure out how things worked now that I was a cripple. Naruto looked incredibly guilty even though he only hit me by accident. While Kakashi looked at me with mixed emotions I couldn't figure out with only a glance.

"I think it would be smarter for me to stay in bed, after all, there are still one or two tiny injuries I will have to deal with, although, I would like to speak with you Kakashi, just for a short conversation, there are a few things you should know" I said.

"Eh, that works" Kakashi said with a shrug as he pulled out his book, waiting for the others to leave.

"I will get a plate of food for you when Kakashi-sensei is back" Sasuke said as he walked out after the others, shutting the door behind him.

Which left only the two of us, sharing the awkward silence as Kakashi read his book with no sign of slowing down. It was not a completely unexpected result of the two of us being alone, as, made clear by our first interaction, he did not like me. It was probably due to the whole slight treason thing, and with his memorable conviction to teamwork and never leaving a friend behind it wasn't exactly a surprise that he wasn't fond of traitors.

"How did it go after my valiant rescue?" I asked.

"Oh, you know, I fought Zabuza, my genin fought his accomplice, whose name was Haku by the way, I was just about to finish the fight when Haku got in the way and I ended up killing him instead, then Gato's henchmen showed up and Zabuza dealt with them after learning that he was getting scammed the whole time, and then he died from his injuries" Kakashi said flippantly.

"And what happened to Gato?" I asked.

"The people from town tried to raid his mansion, but when they got there, he was already gone" Kakashi said.

"Good, I was hoping to kill him myself" I said.

Kakashi closed his book and looked at me "and why is that?"

"well" - I said with a fond smile like I was reminiscing about better times - "it all started when I was caught committing treason and was subsequently banished from my home"

Then I told him the entire story of what happened after the library incident, leaving nothing out, even the more uncomfortable parts since I didn't know what would and wouldn't be essential to the survival of Konoha.

"Well, that changes some things, I need to report back to Konoha as soon as possible, that means that even if I could send a summon, I'll still be going ahead with this information because I'm faster than they are, besides, you probably won't have any trouble your way back to Konoha" Kakashi said with his usual lazy tone as he started to stand up straight from where he was leaning against the wall.

"of course, of course, but before you go, would you mind one last question?" I asked.

"Sure, why not" he said.

"Well, it's just... how long will it take for them to treat me normally?" I asked.

"I'm not sure" - he sighed - "but one thing that I've learned through seeing these situations with other shinobi is that if you want them to get used to it, you need to actually give them a chance to get used to it, they need to see that you're still you, you need to do more than trying to stay away from them"

"Probably, but it's rather strange to suddenly be made of glass, at least, that's the only option I can conceive of based on how they treat me now" I said.

"they'll get over it if you give them the chance" he said.

Kakashi stood up from the chair and walked over to the door, laying a hand on the doorknob before speaking "one last thing, Kyoko's death wasn't your fault, I've experienced something similar before and, well, it wasn't your fault" then he opened the door and left the room.

But it was my fault, I should have done something different, something to save her, it didn't matter that her death was a part of the Mizukage's plan, all that mattered was the fact that it was me who got her involved in the first place.

The stump of my leg throbbed in pain, and I looked down at it. What in the world could I possibly do now? I didn't have one of my legs, and I had no way of bringing it back, there was nothing I really could do at this point, was there? After all, there are many things a good shinobi can survive without, but I was not quite sure if a leg fell into that category.

"I guess I will just have to figure something out" I sighed into the empty room, listening to the sounds of eating from the living room.

"Besides, they don't really need me, based on what Kakashi said, they were doing fine in the fight with Haku before I arrived, the reason Haku even got past them to give Zabuza his sword was probably my interference... I guess I'm just not that good at making choices that help, I really should have just followed orders, but, too late now, and at least it was me who paid for my recklessness this time" I said to myself before lying down to sleep.

"Anno, wake up, breakfast is ready" Sakura said while gently shaking me awake.

"You know, I almost think that losing my leg was worth it if this is how I get to wake up from now on" I said.

"Just get up already, everyone is waiting for you" she sighed

"there's the Sakura I know"

breakfast was a true experience in the awkward and uncomfortable, with the constant silence hanging over us from the inevitable occasions where someone made a joke or comment that could be hurtful to me, it never was hurtful, but it could have been.

"so" - Sakura said, trying to break the newest bout of silence - "do you know why Kakashi-sensei had to leave last night?"

"Maybe he wants to find something cool to reward us?" Naruto asked, eyes shimmering with hope.

"Maybe he finally realized that even he is incapable of carrying Naruto's dead weight" Sasuke said.

"Maybe he figured out that Sasuke is such an idiot and I'm so great that he can't teach either of us" Naruto growled.

"You know what, Sakura?" I said while looking at Naruto and Sasuke as their argument became more and more heated.

"What?" she said, turning completely in my direction since the other two were in their own world now.

"I wasn't sure before but now I am, I've found something more painful than getting my leg cut off" I said.

Silence once again settled over us as the two immediately stopped arguing.

"So... where do you think Kakashi-sensei vent?" Sakura asked, once again trying to break the awkward silence.

"Oh, I know why, you see, during my mission I happened to become the scapegoat for the water daimyo's daughter's death, and they probably plan on using me as an excuse to declare war on Konoha. For some reason Kakashi seems to think that it's important information that the third Hokage should be aware of, I don't really see why but I couldn't exactly stop him" I said jovially.

"WHAT!" the three yelled in unison.

"I knew that would break the silence!" I cried in victory.

"Ok, one question, why did you only tell us now?" Sakura asked, the strain of holding back her need to kick me clear on her face.

"Well like I said, it just didn't seem that important, you know? I mean what was I supposed to do? Let the large chance of us going to war interrupt our bonding time? Our precious reunion?" I asked with the most endearing and innocent smile I could.

"YES! You moron!" Sakura yelled, hitting me upside the head showing that she was finally done with her attempt at patience.

"Oh, sorry, I- I really didn't mean to hit you! It was just instinct!" Sakura yelled, desperately trying to apologize.

"it's fine, really, I did it on purpose, I wanted you to hit me, that's why I tried being so annoying" I said.

"Why would you want Sakura to hit you? She's freakishly strong when you annoy her" Naruto said.

"I'll hit you next!" she snapped back

"Because I figured that if I could push Sakura over the edge into finally hitting me, it might just fix this whole 'let's act like Anno is made of poorly created explosion tags' thing" I whined.

Ii mean, we were just kind of worried, ya' know? You just lost a leg" Naruto said.

"I'm aware of that and trust me when I say that I'm also pretty annoyed about that" I said.

"You barely seem like you care, in fact, you seem to think it's humorous more than anything" Sasuke said.

"Of course I'm sad! I just lost a leg! I have no idea what will happen from now on, will I even be allowed to be a shinobi, or will I be stuck just making gadgets for Konoha until I do something about it? But it's not the end of the world... I mean, sure, it sucks, but I'll just have to find some way to fix it, I'm sure I can find some way to either heal it or make a prosthetic or, SOMETHING. I just have to figure it out. And until then I will be expecting to use pity as a weapon against all of you and force you to do menial chores for me" I said.

"Congratulations, I suddenly feel alright with hitting you, in fact, I feel the sudden urge to spar" Sakura said.

"I really would love to, but, I am very thirsty, and while normally I would get some water myself, and some for each of you, but I am just not able to right now, with my sudden and horrific amputation which some would even call soul-crushing, so could you please get it for me" I said, trying to wring out every speck of pity I could.

"idiot" Sakura sighed but smiled slightly as she walked over to get us a glass of water.

And so, we took off towards Konoha, leaving a happier land of waves behind us. Naruto had an emotional farewell with the townsfolk, especially inari, which was a relationship I honestly hadn't noticed. I said my own tender goodbye to Tazuna, and told him all about the fuinjutsu traps I never set up around the house, telling him that I probably deactivated all of them, and that there was almost no chance of them activating on their own.

Then our long journey home truly started, and we made our way back to Konoha, the others slaving away and complaining about carrying all the heavy things we needed to take home. While I enjoyed the view as they carried me home, although their incessant complaints about my weight were slightly annoying.

"So, we are finally here, after such a long and trying journey, it is finally time to rest" I said.

"We carried you the entire time, how exactly is that hard for you?" Sasuke said.

"Well, you weren't exactly gentle while you carried me across multiple countries, honestly, you could have at least tried my suggestion of bending your knees a bit to add some suspension" I said in the most snobbish tone I could.

"If you want to I could knock you out to let the whole trip go faster" Sakura said.

"But we are already here" I said

"I still think it's an experiment worth trying" she said.

We continued to talk as I walked towards the big green gates of Konoha on my crutches so they could finally get a break from carrying me.

"By the way, do either of you two have a place for me to stay for a while? Because while I hope that they will take back my banishment I don't think they will let me back into the orphanage" I asked Sasuke and Sakura.

"You can stay with me" Naruto immediately offered.

I sighed "Naruto, I don't want to stay with you, your home is filthy"

"it's not that bad!" he said

"I have already heard about the time you drank solid milk" I said.

"It was one time..." he grumbled.

"HALT! Who dares approach the mighty and grand gates of Konoha! Built at exactly the same time as the village!" a man with spiky hair and with a long strip of cloth over the bridge of his nose yelled in a grandiose voice.

He was immediately smacked in the back of the head by a man with hair over one eye "what was that!"

"You told me to take more pride in our work!" the nose-cloth one said.

"Pride! Not be stupid" the one with hair over one eye said.

The two swiftly started to bicker until Sakura interrupted them "we're team seven, returning from a c-ranked mission in the land of waves" she called out.

"But there are four of you, and you have no sensei" the one with the covered eye said as he narrowed his eye in suspicion.

"Yeah, but they do look like the ones from the book of new genin teams, don't they?" the one with the nose cloth said.

"maybe" the other one said

"I think I heard something about a blonde kid without a headband too..." the one with the nose cloth said.

"you're right! They told us to take him straight to the Hokage, didn't they?" the other one asked, suddenly no longer suspicious.

"Probably, I'll take him now" the one with the nose cloth said eagerly.

"You can't run away after you deliver him!" the other one called out.

Then the one with the nose cloth grabbed my arm, and the world suddenly flickered, and I found myself suddenly standing on the ledge outside the Hokages window.

I yelped and pressed myself to the wall before yelling "what kind of person decides that the best place to teleport an exhausted, one-legged, person who has never tried teleporting before is on a ledge!"

"Sorry about that, but we weren't teleporting, and we have to move in pretty straight lines to avoid hitting something, you know? And I didn't feel like going up the stairs" he grinned.

I climbed in the window after gaining a bit of steadiness, only to see the Hokage grinning slightly at me.

"I'm aware that I'm the incarnation of grace even with only one leg, no need to make a big deal" I said.

"of course, of course, I know I shouldn't be staring, but the elegance is captivating, now" - he said in jovially, before suddenly looking far more serious - "I would like to hear exactly what happened from the source, if you would" he said.

"of course," I said.

"Good, now, we have one more person who needs to get here before we start, don't worry, he should be here any second" he said.

Then, the door to the office opened slowly, revealing a man with large parts of his left side covered in bandages, black hair, and eyes like the gaping maw of a dark cave.

"Ahh, Danzo, glad you could be here, now, let's hear exactly what happened"