Chapter Text
He cups his hand around the flickering yellow flame, back curled against the vicious wind that whips his hair and stings his eyes. The flame falters, surges, the cigarette catches, and Sasuke pulls in a lungful of smoke gratefully, snapping the zippo closed. This far out, the clanging sounds of construction are dimmed to a dull ringing, and it's a temporary relief-- it wouldn’t be long before the coordinator noticed he was missing.
It’s bitterly cold, and in a rare moment of cynicism, Sasuke is grateful that he can’t feel it in his left arm-- his prosthetic is cheap and doesn’t pick up on the temperature changes around him.
There's a muttering grumble, a curse, the scuff of work boots on gravel and Sasuke turns his head, watching as Tazuna approaches.
“You're a real bastard, you know that?” The old man mutters as he siddles up near Sasuke, behind the dilapidated billboard that's shielding them from the worst of the wind. It's the tail end of a storm, but that didn't stop the endless grind of construction on the Anti-Kaiju Wall.
“Retire, then,” Sasuke says bluntly. “Before you get your dick caught in a bandsaw.”
“Punk.”
Tazuna spits a mouthful of tobacco into the wind and shoves his hands in his pockets.
“I don't have it this week.”
Sasuke's eyes snap to Tazuna’s face irritably and the man only rubs his beard uncomfortably.
“Seriously? This is the fourth week in a row,” he snaps. Tazuna's shoulders bunch up defensively. “What the hell am I even paying you for?”
“You haven’t paid me shit yet. It ain't as easy to get as you make it seem, kid--”
“Don't call me kid.”
“Fuck it, Uchiha. You could ask for anything else and I'd have no problem finding it. Cigs, booze, condoms, I dunno. But testosterone? That's niche shit. They don't make a lot of it nowadays-- got other crap to focus on.”
Sasuke spits a frustrated curse and starts his march back to the tent city of construction workers.
“Fucking useless,” he mutters. Four whole doses missed. He’d probably start bleeding again and in a crowded, miserable construction site full of restless men it was the last thing he needed right now.
He ducks into the skeletal interior of the wall his team was working on, back into the cacophony of grinding saws, pounding hammers, whirring drills, and shouting workers. He's only been up here in this particular asscrack of Alaska for a little over six months, but it's like this every day; rushing, yelling, frustration. Like they're on a timer and it hit zero yesterday.
And they might as well have been. Last kaiju sighting was two weeks ago, and that one had taken down yet another jaeger-- another one would be showing up any minute now.
The dull hum of an engine suddenly roars into clarity and for a single heartbeat, things fall quiet. A thousand pairs of eyes watch as a helicopter descends outside. A sleek, black thing with heavily tinted windows and no exterior logos.
Military, then.
Sasuke puffs on the tail end of his cigarette as he watches it settle on the ground with a final thunk, kicking up snow and gravel and sending it flying.
Sasuke hoped, faintly, that it wasn't for him.
Sasuke knew, grimly, that it probably was.
The door unlatches, throwing itself open, and a figure dressed in impeccable military regalia steps out. The wind and snow obscure the specifics, but that blonde hair is unmistakable.
And Sasuke knew she would be pissed if she had to go looking for him. He grinds out his cigarette on the heel of his boot and tucks it into his jacket pocket to be thrown away later. He's waiting just inside the entrance to the wall's interior, a statue amongst an ocean of movement, and he's spotted immediately.
“Sasuke Uchiha,” Tsunade says, coming to a stop a few steps from him. Sasuke inclines his head respectfully.
“Marshal,” he replies. Tsunade blinks once before turning and walking deeper into the wall, weaving through support pillars and scaffolding beams. He’s expected to follow, Sasuke knows. It's quieter here, if only minimally.
“Heard about Nova Horizon,” Sasuke comments as they walk.
“They were good Rangers. They did their job.”
The silence is thick and Sasuke hates it.
“I doubt you'd come here to vacation,” Sasuke finally cuts in. “What do you want with me?”
Tsunade finally stops and turns, leaning against a support pillar with her arms crossed firmly over her chest. He finally gets the chance to take a good look at her and his stomach sinks.
It looks like she's aged a decade in the five years he's been gone and her posture speaks of the weight of a dozen dead Rangers. He shoves his hands in his pockets and meets her gaze evenly.
“I’m sure you’ve heard that they’re probably going to be shutting down the Jaeger program soon,” she says bluntly. “All remaining Jaegers and their Rangers will be brought to a single Shatterdome-- the rest will be decommissioned.”
“I’ve heard something along those lines. Why should I care?”
Tsunade’s brows harden, but Sasuke Uchiha really, truly, deeply does not give a single fuck. She’s not his Marshal anymore, and he’s not her pilot.
“The UN is allowing us funds for one final attempt on the Breach. We've got something... different this time around. I need an experienced Mark Four pilot to run point and there aren’t a lot of them left nowadays.”
“Lemme guess, it's--”
“Confidential,” Tsunade finishes with a barely-there smirk. Sasuke sighs and scratches his fingers through the scruff on his chin. Tsunade shrugs one shoulder.
“At least until you sign on,” she says.
“And what makes you think I'll be doing that?” Sasuke demands. “I'm retired-- I'm not a Ranger anymore, and I will not be getting back into the Drift with someone else.”
“Do you really have anything better to do?” Tsuande demands, pushing herself off the beam. “You really think you're that important here? For every worker they lose, two more flock in. Unless, living with icicles permanently attached to your dick is so important to you.”
“I'm retired--”
“Grow the fuck up, Uchiha. I should have been retired eight years ago.” The flint in Tsuande's eyes softens and her posture loosens again, fractionally.
“I know you're still grieving your brother...” She says softly. Sasuke's spine goes ramrod stiff, jaw clenching, but Tsuande continues. “But we are at war, Uchiha. And if we don't figure something out, we will lose. This entire planet, billions of people, will be wiped out like we weren't even here. And that's the best case scenario.”
Sasuke purses his lips and pats his back pocket for his pack of cigarettes.
“Find someone else,” he snaps. “I'm not letting anyone else into my fucking head.”
He shakes a cigarette free and turns around, determined to hold his ground and end the conversation. He was a single, out-of-practice Ranger amongst a hundred others. They could find someone else.
Tsunade lets out a loud, annoyed sigh that catches his attention.
“We’ll pay for your testosterone.” she says. “And if we make it through this, the rest of your surgeries.”
And god dammit, he pauses.
“So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to watch the world burn from a wall that doesn’t work... or from a Jaeger ?”
She suddenly swaps to Japanese.
“Wouldn’t you rather be home?”
Sasuke tucks his cigarette back into the package. He sighs.
“... Fuck it.”
Tsunade’s grin is vicious and it’s the most life he’s seen in her expression so far.
“Good.”
Sasuke holds up a finger.
“There’s one condition, however...”
“C’mon Tomato, you’re just making this more difficult for both of us...”
Technically speaking, pets were also considered contraband. But if a ‘stray’ cat had taken to sleeping under Sasuke’s bunk in the barracks, nobody really cared to say anything. Tomato yowled and hissed about being put in the carrier and yeah, Sasuke felt bad, but she was also so spoiled at this point that if he just left her behind she wouldn’t last the week.
Other than his cat, Sasuke doesn't have much shit to pack-- all of it fits in a ratty duffel bag that he slings over his shoulder. Tsunade is waiting by the helicopter, a hand pinned over her forehead to keep her hair out of her eyes as the chopper starts back up. Her nose wrinkles at the sight of the carrier.
“Well... I guess we can get it ESA paperwork. Come on, we’re burning daylight.”
He plops himself down in the leather seat and tucks the carrier underneath, safely enclosed behind his legs, before buckling himself in. The doors are slammed and final checks are made.
“What Shatterdome are we rotting in?” Sasuke asks as Tsunade buckles herself next to a grim faced security guard. Tsunade raises an eyebrow.
“I told you didn't I?” She says. “We're going home.”
Sasuke blinks and then slides lower in his seat, rubbing his eyes.
“Fuckin’ course we are,” he mutters.
“Cheer up Uchiha, you'll see lots of new faces,” she says. Her head turns to the left and stares out the window at the misty white blur of the world as it slowly fades below them.
“Most of the old ones are dead anyways.”
The Nagasaki Shatterdome is the second oldest running Jaeger base and the largest one overall, considering it was the first line of defense against western-driven kaiju. Last time Sasuke had flown over it, there were people crawling all over it, like ants on a hill; helicopters had buzzed to and fro, and the whole place had been lit up like a miniature city.
Now it seemed almost abandoned.
The jet lands with a hard jolt and Sasuke groans in relief-- he hated flying. The jet was marginally better than the helicopter that flew them to the airport, but it still rattled in the wind. Not to mention he had to death glare the attendants to convince them to let him keep Tomato’s carrier on the seat next to him.
He hears Tsunade chuckle as she shifts in the seat across from him, but when he looks up, her face is as serious as ever.
“Still hate flying?”
“Don't patronize me.”
“Relax, you won’t be getting back in one for awhile.”
The jet pulls around to the huge metal doors into the Shatterdome and that same stoic security guard (who hadn't spoken the entire six hour flight) stands and disappears into the cockpit. A few seconds later, he exits and goes over to the door, cranking it open and sliding it out of the way. There's a rickety set of steps waiting for them and Sasuke doesn't trust them for a god damned second, gripping the rail tightly in one hand and his cat carrier in the other as he descends. The air smells sharply of petrichor and the tang of metal; it's sprinkling, probably the last petering efforts of one of Nagasaki's famous storms.
A flipping of fabric and springs makes him start and the security guard is offering him an umbrella. He takes it with an awkward nod of thanks.
Tsunade strides past him, an umbrella of her own in hand.
“Keep up, Uchiha, we don't have all day.”
Sasuke clicks his tongue and follows. Tsunade, of course, is already launching into a debriefing.
God, here he was, wasn't he? Blink of an eye practically and he's suddenly back in the mess of things.
“We only have three teams here at the moment-- Brute Surgeon, who's undergoing some major repairs, Blue Palm, and Fanged Prospect. We’ll be getting another from Hong Kong once they finish with all the bullshit paperwork. So I’m glad you agreed to come-- only two functional jaegers when we’ll be getting an attack sometime soon hasn’t had people in the best of spirits...”
Sasuke’s eyes roam over the faces flitting about the deck and he freezes. The world gets muffled as he spots a ghost lingering near the walls, the only still figure amongst the chaos. His armor is cracked and blood oozes down his arm and face. Despite that, he’s smiling pleasantly. His mouth moves, forming words that Sasuke can’t hear.
He yanks his eyes away, focusing on his feet, on counting the steps and the seams in the concrete. When he risks a second look, the figure is gone. He rubs his eyes, cursing under his breath.
“Uchiha!”
His head jerks up. Tsunade is several paces ahead of him, frowning impatiently.
“It’s called keep up, not catch up. You’ll have time for walks down memory road later.”
Yeah, that was kind of the last thing he wanted to be doing right now. He jogs until he’s matching pace with the Marshal. He retraces over Tsunade’s words, trying to trap his mind on the topic so it doesn’t wander. He sucks in a deep breath through his nose.
“Me being here doesn't make a difference if I don't have a partner or a mech,” Sasuke says, only to wither under Tsunade's irritated glare.
“You have a mech. And I have several candidates lined up for you to spar with in the Kwoon Room this afternoon. Now quit mouthing off before I make sure your bunk is right under the loudest kaiju alarm.”
“Yes ma'am.”
The heavy iron door behind them wheels shut and Tsunade and Sasuke shut their umbrellas in tandem. The bustling noise of the Shatterdome fades for a brief moment as the lift carries them down into its belly.
“We managed to recover some pieces of Alpha Prophet, back then,” Tsunade murmurs after a moment. “The AI was pretty damaged, but we managed to salvage some of it. Hopefully, that'll make the transition back into piloting a bit easier.”
Sasuke purses his lips.
“Thanks.”
“Shall we go see her?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Nope.”
The lift jolts to a stop, the doors open and the world floods back into a cacophonous clarity once again. Steam hisses from pipes above and there's a constant muttering from the people that hurry by. Tsunade leads them down the hall to a final set of huge metal doors.
“Welcome home, Uchiha,” she says as she punches in the code. The lights go blue and the door opens into the Shatterdome hangar.
Sasuke lets out a pained hiss. When he'd left, they were twenty jaeger strong, with six more in the shop. Now most of the bays were empty, and people crawl like ants over Surgeon, who's missing an entire arm, her black metal plates rendered into ribbons by three massive claw stripes. Prospect looks fine, Palm could use a new paint job. But his eye catches on the last filled bay, the huge figure mostly draped in cloth, with sparks flying from underneath as the engineers patch her together.
But hell, Sasuke would recognize those shoulder plates anywhere.
He rubs the line between his flesh and prosthetic with a grimace.
“Beautiful, isn't she? It’s not Prophet anymore, not really, but I think a fresh start is what everyone needs right now.” Tsunade stares up at the swathed figure. Sasuke grunts his approval.
“What's her name?”
“Hasn't got one yet. I was waiting for your input, actually.”
“Huh.” Sasuke readjusts his duffle bag, watching the tarp flutter with movement. “When is--”
“NARUTO, STAY OUT OF MY GOD DAMNED JAEGER!”
A wrench flies out from under the tarp, clipping the side rail of the scaffolding and flying end over end through the air. It would have brained Tsunade had Sasuke not reached over and caught it, cracking the plastic on his prosthetic in the process. He frowns and inspects the damage as Tsunade tugs at her cuffs, unruffled and deeply unamused. A gleeful cackle echoes from above them and Sasuke watches as a blur of yellow and orange darts out from under the tarp and proceeds to--
Sasuke can only describe the way he moves as spidering down the scaffolding, jumping fearlessly over the safety rails and crambering his way down in the most dangerous way possible. He leaps off the edge at the last ten feet, hitting the concrete in a roll and bouncing immediately to his feet. A furious mechanic stops at the railing, glaring down at him, her eyes blazing even from this distance.
“GO BACK TO ANNOYING LEE!”
“JOKE’S ON YOU, I'VE ALREADY ANNOYED HIM!” He laughs, turns on his heel, and stops dead when he sees Tsunade standing there. His face pales and he's motionless for a beat, then two.
“... I was supposed to be on deck, wasn't I?” He says.
“Yes, you were,” Tsunade replies.
“I'm in trouble, aren't I?”
“Yes, you are.”
The boy sighs, grins sheepishly, and tucks his arms behind his head. Sasuke blinks as plates in his right arm shift, lines of blue light appearing for a moment, then fading. A prosthetic-- an expensive one at that.
Curious.
“Well, my bad. Who's the hobo?”
Sasuke's eye twitches, and if Tsunade suddenly develops an odd sounding cough he doesn't mention it.
“Show some respect-- this is Sasuke Uchiha. The one you were supposed to draft a candidate list for. Unless--”
“ You’re the pilot of Alpha Prophet?” Naruto doesn’t sound convinced. He gives him an unimpressed once-over and Sasuke purses his lips.
“Former.”
“Yeah, no wonder.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I dunno, I don’t hear about a lot of pilots coming back from getting their mech utterly totaled against a category three.”
Sasuke is a hair’s breadth from grabbing Naruto by the front of his shirt and slamming him against the nearest hard surface when the back of Tsunade’s hand thumps him firmly on the chest.
"Hey, hey, knock it off," Tsunade snaps before either of them can get another word in. She aims a hard look at Naruto and sighs.
“Sasuke, this is Naruto Uzumaki-- despite his lack of professionalism, he’s my personnel coordinator and one of our brightest up-and-coming Rangers. Though if he keeps this up, he’s going to be lucky to be a janitor. ”
The air between them crackles angrily, before Naruto pulls a crumpled sheet of paper out of his pocket and waves it irritably.
"Well, for your information, Old Hag, I did draft the candidate list." He's talking to the Marshal now, refusing to even look at Sasuke. He shifts his gaze to her as well, only to realize that she's not listening to either of them anymore. A hand is pressed to her earpiece and her eyes have the faraway look of someone concentrating on something over the din of the Shatterdome.
"Right," Tsunade sucks in a deep breath through her nose and looks directly at Naruto.
"If you have the list, you won't mind giving Uchiha the full introduction, yes?" She says. Naruto nearly drops the slip of paper.
"What? No! I have to get back to training!"
"Right, and that's why you were bothering my engineers sixty feet in the air?"
Naruto doesn't have a response for that. He crosses his arms over his chest and glares right back at Tsunade as she gives him a terrifying hairy eyeball. Usually it’s enough to get even Sasuke to shut up, but Naruto doesn’t seem even the least bit effected.
So the two are obviously close. Sasuke wonders how he’s never met or even heard of the man before now.
Naruto lets out an annoyed puff of air.
“Fine. Let’s go, bastard.”
“Okay. Deadweight.”
The grinding of Naruto’s teeth is audible but Sasuke only smirks crookedly as he follows after Naruto’s annoyed stomping.
Sasuke was sure that this whole “introduction” business was more for formality than anything; he doesn’t even have to watch where he’s going but his feet know the route to the Ranger bunk wing after walking the route a thousand times. Him and Naruto step through the hulking metal doors and as soon as it shuts behind them, a blessed silence wraps around them.
Naruto is still keeping several feet ahead of him, shoulders hunched and a low grumbling following him as he walked. It’s fine by Sasuke-- less talking meant less headaches. They wind through the the belly of the Shatterdome, past the cargo and ammunition storage, towards the Ranger wing.
It’s still sinking in that he was really back . He’d probably be in a Jaeger with a new drift partner within the week. He’d probably be neck deep in kaiju gore not long after.
His brief amusement at picking a fight with the unruly blond kid faded away, replaced with a numb sort of resignation. He wasn’t really sure what one depressed, retired Ranger with a healthy dose of PTSD could do against the increasingly hopeless world crisis but Tsunade seemed to think he was critical. So here he was until the mission was completed or (the more likely scenario by far ) he went out in a blaze of glory.
“Sasuke Uchiha you son of a bitch!”
He starts, head lifting. He’s standing in front of a heavy set of iron doors, the K-science symbol hastily spray-painted on the concrete walls to either side of it. Someone is walking out of it, peeling shoulder-length gloves off her arms and dropping them into a hazardous waste bin. It takes a second for Sasuke to recognize her.
“ Sakura ?”
A genuine smile spreads across his face as he sets his cat carrier down so he can accept her bone-shattering hug. She looks wildly different since the last time he’s seen her-- hair buzzed on the sides of her head, dark locks dyed a fluorescent pink, and tattoo sleeves twining around both arms. She smells like chemicals and the sharp, fishy tang of Kaiju guts, but damn if she isn’t a site for sore eyes.
“I heard they were dragging your ass out of the woodwork-- did you really think crashing your Jaeger could hide you from me forever?” She holds him out at arm’s length and gives his shoulder a solid punch. Like, a really solid punch.
“No, but I had a pretty good run, didn’t I?” He rubs the sore spot with a bit of a grimace.
“God, no shit.”
“Wait, you two know each other?”
Sasuke and Sakura both turn their attention towards Naruto, who looks like someone has just liberally pissed on his dinner plate right in front of him. Sasuke lets out a choked sound as Sakura raises herself on her tiptoes to force him into a headlock.
“Oh yeah, way back in his rookie Ranger days. Stupid asshole always got carried away and ended up in the infirmary.” She knuckles his hair and lets him go; Sasuke gives her a halfhearted glare, but it’s kind of ruined by the fact that she wraps an arm around his waist and he lets her.
“Aw, poor thing, are you jealous?” Sakura teases and Naruto’s face goes beet red.
“Absolutely not!”
Sakura leans in closer and covers her mouth with her hand before stage whispering as loud as she possibly could:
“He had the most enormous crush on me.”
“Really? How unfortunate,” Sasuke whispers back.
“You are both insufferable!” Naruto turns heel and storms off. Sakura throws her head back and laughs, detaching from Sasuke, who sighs and watches him go.
“Well, that’s my ride. It’s good seeing you Sakura-- the look suits you.” He gestures to her tattoos and shaved head.
“I know, right? Switching departments has been really freeing.” She extends her arm and turns it over, showing off the tattoos. Now that he’s closer, he can see a detailed arrangement of butterflies and skeletons on one arm, the other wrapped up in a stunningly accurate portrait of a kaiju.
“Switching departments?”
“Oh, yeah-- kind of got bored of working on people,” her expression dims somewhat. “Why treat the injured when they’re just going to keep pouring in, anyways? Why not go after the source of the bleed? I ain’t no surgical resident anymore, that’s for sure.” She forces a laugh.
“So... you’re in K-science now?”
“ Head of K-science. Well, co-head-- I’ve got an insufferable partner.”
“I HEARD THAT!” Someone yells from inside of the lab. Sakura rolls her eyes. She twirls her finger around her temple and then bares her teeth in an ‘eesh’ gesture as she jerks her thumb at the lab.
“Utterly nuts. Anyways, I was in the middle of something and I’m sure the Marshal has you booked from now to A-time. I’ll see you later, though?”
“Maybe.”
“Ha! Good to know you’re just as flaky and irritating. Oh, hey, before you go...” Her expression softens as she gives his arm --his flesh arm-- a squeeze. “I’m really sorry about Itachi.”
All the breath leaves him as if he had been gut punched. Sasuke swallows and picks up the cat carrier.
“Thanks. I’ll-- I’ll see you later.”
“That’s a promise.”
Sasuke hurries down the hallway, listening to Sakura and her mysteriously bitchy partner yell at each other until she retreats back to her lab (“Forehead, if your samples explode again I will rip your hair out!” “Shut up, Pig, I’m coming!”).
He eventually finds Naruto waiting for the lift at the end of a nearby hallway, foot tapping irritably on the grates. The door opens just as he catches up, and Naruto gives him a sour glare as they both sidle in, hitting the button and waiting for the door to grind shut.
There’s a long moment of silence.
“So,” Sasuke says. “You had a crush on Sakura Haruno?”
“Shut up!” Naruto explodes. “It was a long time ago!”
“I’m just baffled at how you can take one look at her and not realize she’s the biggest lesbian in the Shatterdome.”
Naruto sighs and rubs his forehead.
“It was before she got her tattoos. I thought the pink hair was a one-off.”
Sasuke chuckles quietly.
“Oh, you poor bastard.”
“I don’t need sympathy from you Mr. I-Haven’t-Seen-a-Razor-in-a-Month.”
Sasuke purses his lips, fingers finding the scruff that has sprouted in the past few weeks since his razor had been swiped from his toiletries. It’s sparse and patchy (he’s a month off T, after all) and he’s itching to get rid of it.
“When you spend six months in Alaska in a glorified tent, let me know.”
Naruto fell silent for the rest of the lift ride. The doors open and they step out in what could be loosely called the domestic space of the Shatterdome. The wing where all the techs, mechanics, pilots, and Rangers that kept the Shatterdome running were all crammed into 150-square-foot “apartments.”
There are a few people milling around, probably the last trickle of the lunch bell that rang about half an hour ago. A few of them give Sasuke looks, but none of them are familiar and nobody seems to recognize him as the former pilot of Alpha Prophet.
Well, disappearing off the face of the planet for five years would do that to your image.
“Well, this one’s yours.”
Sasuke glanced up to see Naruto stopped in front of a heavy metal door, one of the many ones that line the hallway. The faded brass plate declares it to be number 14 A. An unexpected snort bubbles up from Sasuke’s chest.
“She has to be fucking joking...”
Of course he was in the same god damned bunk. Now Tsunade was just insulting him. His hand clenches harder on the handle of his carrier, and it’s only with the impatient grumbling of Tomato that he remembers she’s been in there for several hours now.
Do it for your cat, he reminds himself.
He cranks the wheel and steps inside to face his demons.
But... there aren’t any. Just a rickety kitchenette, a single couch with a small TV that passes for a sitting room, and a bedroom with two beds that will soon house his new Drift partner. Same cold metal fixtures. Same peeling wallpaper that does a pisspoor job of lightening the gloomy atmosphere.
“The carriers already put your bags in here. And your uniform’s in the locker.”
“Hn.” Sasuke bends over and puts the cat carrier on the floor, opening the door. Tomato immediately bolts out in a black and white streak and disappears into the bedroom at the other end of the micro-apartment.
“The old lady wants you in the Kwoon Room at fifteen-hundred for candidate testing.”
Sasuke wanders over to the fridge, running his hand along the side of it. He braces his hand against it, using his weight to shove it a few inches to the right.
“What’s that story?” He says out of the blue.
“What?”
“You and the Marshal. She usually doesn’t let people get away with dropping the ma’am, much less outright insulting her. What, are you her bastard son or something?”
“What?! No!”
“Oh, didn’t know she was into younger guys...” Sasuke kicks the chairs out of the way and braces his hands on the little round breakfast table in the kitchenette, shoving it across the floor until it’s near the door, right next to the arm of the couch. That’s better.
“ Ew, God no. It’s...” Naruto grumbles, scratching the back of his head as he watches Sasuke rearrange the room with a bemused frown. “It’s complicated. I’ve just known her a long time.”
“So have I. Still doesn’t let me get away with mouthing off.”
“What the hell is with the interrogation? Yeah, she’s like family, whatever . I don’t need to go spouting all my secrets just because you think you’re some hotshot pilot that can get whatever you want!”
Sasuke pauses in the middle of checking on one of the breakfast table’s loose legs.
“Hotshot pilot?” He echoes.
“Yeah-- you think you’re better than everyone else just because you used to be some overhyped prodigy. I know the stories. You don’t impress me.”
The table bangs against the wall as Sasuke stands and Naruto flinches. Sasuke sighs.
A thought occurs to him.
He looks down at his hands and pulls the glove off his prosthetic, running his thumb over the plastic that had been cracked by catching the flying wrench. The arm that had been trapped between huge sheets of warped metal when a set of massive claws had torn through the conn-pod. The arm he had ripped out its socket in order to give that bastard kaiju a killing blow.
He’d need to be fitted for a Jaeger-compatible prosthetic later anyways. He gets his fingers under the fissure and it comes off with a crack, exposing the wires and synthetic muscle tissue underneath.
“W... what are you--?”
“Have you ever drifted with someone, Naruto?”
“... Yeah? I’m a Ranger candidate.”
“Have you ever been in a jaeger?”
“Not yet, but I’m--”
Sasuke cracks another piece of plastic off, tossing it to the ground. Naruto falls silent.
“Have you ever looked a Kaiju in the face?” Sasuke raises his gaze, head tilting as he stares Naruto dead in the eye. “Have you ever had your Drift partner ripped out of the conn-pod? Have you ever felt their fear and agony as they’re hurled into the water? The dread as their drive suit drags them to the bottom of the ocean? The panic as they drown and die and leave their little brother to pilot a jaeger alone and kill a kaiju alone and walk six miles to shore alone.”
Sasuke lashes out and grabs the front of Naruto’s shirt, putting the wires and broken prosthetic casing under his nose so he can smell the oil and sparks where flesh and blood should be.
“Because that’s what hotshot pilots do. So if I want to make sure the brat that’s drafting my candidate list for the next person that’s going to have to live through that every time we risk our lives together isn’t some incompentent nepotism-placed moron, I think I’m fucking entitled.” Sasuke shoves him hard and Naruto stumbles down the steps, hitting his back hard on the concrete in the middle of the hallway. Sasuke gives him a glacial stare.
“Tell the Marshal I’ll see her at fifteen-hundred.”
He slams the door.
A shower, a shave, and a hair tie really do a lot.
As promised, his new uniform is waiting for him in his locker. The dark gray jumpsuit embroidered with his name and number, the logo on the arm and chest denoting him as a ranger. Sasuke huffs a little as he unfolds it-- personalized already. Tsunade knew he’d be coming back.
He can’t help be irritated at her cockiness.
Next to the uniform was a small glass vial and a plastic-wrapped syringe. And a note.
My end of the bargain. Now hold up yours.
He can’t help the relief that floods his chest.
He dresses and makes his way over to the Kwoon Room, and at exactly 1500 he slides open the metal door to see an empty dojo. Tsunade is near the back, talking quietly to a man he... vaguely recognizes? Naruto is leaning against the wall in the back and deliberately doesn’t acknowledge Sasuke’s entrance. Tsunade notices him immediately and he can see her sizing him up.
“Ranger Uchiha,” she calls with a nod. “Good to see you found everything. Come over here and meet the Master.”
He doesn’t really have a choice. She gestures to the man she had been speaking with-- tall and lithe, his green jumpsuit unzipped and tied at the waist, hands bound in boxer wraps as they loosely grip a bo staff. The most bizarre thing about it is that he looks nearly identical to the Kwoon Room Master than had been around when Sasuke had been here five years ago, but dramatically younger.
“This is Rock Lee, Master of the Kwoon Room. He oversees most of the cadet training.” Lee gives Sasuke a too-bright grin and bows politely at the waist.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Uchiha-san, I’ve heard much about you!” He talks loud, too-- eugh. Sasuke makes a face at the honorific as he eyes up the staff rack on the wall.
“You don’t really need to bother with that. Just Sasuke is fine.”
“If you prefer!” He straightens. Okay, he had to ask:
“Are you related to Might Guy by any chance?” He asks. Lee’s eyes widen a little before he laughs sheepishly.
“Adoptive father! I took over after his injury forced him to retire-- I’m told the resemblance is uncanny though.”
“No kidding.”
There’s an odd sort of relief that mixes with the disappointment; Guy had been an overly exuberant but incredibly skilled Master. The fact that he wasn’t dead was better than Sasuke had been expecting, but the reveal of him being forced out of the job he had adored was an unanticipated sting.
“I hope you’ll find my cadets up to par-- they’re all very hard workers.”
Sasuke sniffs and goes over to the rack, hands running over the selection before finding the right one for his height.
“I’ve been known to be stingy. We’ll see, won’t we?”
When he looks at Lee, his expression is measured, as if trying to gauge whether or not Sasuke’s words were an insult. It’s almost funny. Tsunade gives him a weary look.
“Picking fights with everyone you meet isn’t the way to find a partner,” she scolds. Sasuke shrugs and gives the bo staff a twirl, testing the weight. His flexibility is a joke now compared to when he was in his prime, but the movements are as familiar to him as they had been the day he left.
“You know I’m picky, Marshal. I’m not interested in a snot-nosed rookie that’s just going to let themselves get steamrolled by me in the Drift.”
“If you’re looking for someone like Itachi, then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed, Ranger .” Her tone is barbed and Sasuke gives her a dangerous look over his shoulder. She isn’t phased: “We’re not looking for soulmates here.”
Man, he really wished that people would stop bringing up his god damned dead brother. He couldn’t escape the ghost of him, in more ways than one. The silence bares its teeth around them, tense and hostile. Tsunade huffs a breath through her nose.
“Master Lee, please go get the candidates.”
“R-right away, Marshal.”
He practically flees from the room. Sasuke kneels and unlaces his boots, toeing them off and placing them neatly on the edge of the sparring mat.
He supposed Tsunade was right in a manner of speaking. He wasn’t looking for a perfect fit-- he was looking for someone to do a job with. The sooner he got the job done, the sooner he could go back to...
Something. He didn’t quite know what it was yet.
Sasuke flattens the ninth candidate in a row.
“Four-zero, point.” Naruto calls out again, marking something on the tablet in his arms. He’s sounding increasingly bored and Sasuke is getting frustrated. He whirls on Tsunade and Naruto, teeth bared.
“Did you get anyone actually competent on that list or am I going to spend the next hour burning through wannabe cadets?” He snaps. “If these are your cream of the crop, no wonder this god damned program is getting defunded.”
The room goes dead silent and Sasuke can feel the anger pulsing through the group of cadets surrounding the edge of the mat. Good-- if they were pissed, maybe they’d be motivated to work harder instead of just sitting around with their thumbs up their asses.
“Maybe if you were actually trying to forge a connection, you’d find someone.”
Sasuke’s eyes snap to Naruto, still eyeing the tablet with an annoyed grimace on his face from where he had muttered the comment. Sasuke cocks his ear in his direction.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I said if you were actually trying, this would be working!” He snaps at full volume, head shooting up. “This is supposed to be a dialogue but you don’t respect anyone enough to open yourself to a connection. At this point it’s not their problem-- it’s yours.”
Sasuke raises an eyebrow.
“Prove it.”
“What?”
“ Prove it . You’re the overseer, right? If you think that I’m the problem, prove you haven’t been wasting your time on a bunch of hopeless chasers.”
“Absolutely not,” Tsunade cuts in sharply.
“Tsunade, come on--!” Naruto tries. Tsunade turns her fury on him, making him shrink back.
“Enough, both of you.” She doesn’t raise her voice but there’s something in it that makes both men falter. She looks at Sasuke. “You will stick to the candidate list drafted, Ranger, and you’ll find someone to Drift with or you’re going be down a career. Simple enough, no?”
“So you’re admitting they’re all hopeless, is that it?” He uses his staff to gesture to the crowd.
“ Excuse me?”
“If your supposed personnel coordinator can’t cut it in the Kwoon Room with me, then what’s the point of him being here?”
Tsunade is stone silent for a long moment. Slowly, she holds her hand out for Naruto’s tablet.
“Fine. If it will satisfy your ego.”
Despite the previous argument, Naruto lights up like a megawatt bulb and shoves the tablet into her arms eagerly. Sasuke takes a moment to take a pull from his water bottle and wipe the sweat from his face as Naruto tugs off his boots and grabs a staff.
Sasuke sizes Naruto up and he feels the other man doing the same as they step to their own sides of the mat. He’s certainly in great physical shape, his t-shirt fitting snugly over his chest, tanned arms toned with lithe, solid muscle. His blue eyes are sharp, his movements deliberate as he flips his staff around and settles into an offensive stance. Sasuke eases into a more neutral one.
“You’re gonna eat your words, Uchiha,” he says with a toothy grin.
“I’m sure I will, deadweight.” He brings his staff up quickly, stopping an inch from Naruto’s skull. “One-zero. Focus”
Naruto blinks, and then growls.
“Shut it.” He swings his staff and it clacks against Sasuke’s once, before he feints and gets the tip of it under Sasuke’s chin. He smirks. “One-one.”
Okay. Alright. Sasuke steps back and switches his stance. He’s going to have to take this seriously.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Naruto isn’t the most graceful fighter, but what he lacks in that department he makes up for with sheer power and unpredictability. Sasuke arches back to dodge a wide swipe of the staff and gently checks Naruto in the ribs.
“Two-one.”
For the first time that afternoon, Sasuke finds his limits tested. He blocks two strikes, rears back to counter, onto to find his staff hooked and he’s suddenly being bodily hurled to the floor. He rolls to his feet but he’s already checked. A genuine curl of delight goes through Sasuke’s gut.
“Two-two.”
This was getting fun.
They both take a step back, reevaluating, slowly circling each other.
Sasuke makes the first move this time and he feels it turn into a conversation. The cracking of the staffs, the grunts and heavy breaths as they collide again and again, evenly matched. Sasuke’s hands hurt from the vibrations in the staff and Naruto takes advantage of a moment’s hesitation to feint, roll behind him, and check the small of his back.
“Three-two.”
Naruto stands, only for Sasuke to whirl and swipe his feet out from under him.
“Three-three.”
Naruto rolls to his feet, bracing himself, launching back into it. They’re at match point, and Sasuke can feel the anticipation buzzing through the crowd, can feel the sentiment being echoed down his spine, into his fingertips.
With a duck, a twist, and a flourish, Sasuke finds an opening and flips them both to the ground, one knee braced on Naruto’s arm, staff hovering right next to his neck.
“Four-three. My match.” He stands, freeing Naruto.
Naruto curses under his breath, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck. He freezes when Sasuke offers his hand. His eyes narrow suspiciously but he takes it and allows himself to be pulled to his feet.
“I think we’ve both seen what we need to, right Marshal?” Sasuke says. He looks over his shoulder at Tsunade. A troubled frown deepens the lines on her face.
“Yes.”
“Permission to use the test pods, then?”
Tsunade’s eyes are flint. She’s definitely not happy with this outcome for reasons Sasuke can't pinpoint.
“... Granted.”
“Wait, what?” Naruto is looking between Sasuke and Tsunade, bewildered.
Sasuke rolls his eyes and wacks Naruto in the gut softly.
“We’re Compatible, moron. Let’s see how you cut it in the simulators.”
Naruto sputters incoherently for a moment.
“I’m Drift Compatible with you?!”
“Is there a problem?”
“YES, there’s a problem, you’re an asshole!”
“Well, this asshole has a jaeger sitting in the hangar that needs a second pilot. So are you going to put up with me or not?” He raises an eyebrow at Naruto. The man puffs up before jabbing his finger into Sasuke’s chest.
“If you think for one second I’m going to deal with your shitty attitude in the Drift, you’re insane. So you better learn some manners before we ever step foot in a jaeger!”
Sasuke feels his lips curl into a grin.
Good. He wouldn’t have it any other way.