Chapter 378: Following the Falling Star
Malik managed to sleep for almost an hour. . . . .Almost.
For most people, that would have been a perfectly normal amount of time for an accidental nap taken on a pile of pillows in the corner of somebody else's office. Malik, however, had settled down with every intention of sleeping until Shisui finished working, got annoyed enough to wake him up, or physically removed him from Root headquarters. He had been comfortable, his pillows were soft, the room was quiet, and the steady scratch of Shisui's pen against paper had been surprisingly relaxing.
Then Malik woke up because he was hot. His eyes opened slowly. For several seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling.
"...What?" Shisui asked, not stopping her writing or looking back at him.
Malik didn't move immediately. He lay there beneath the thin blanket he had apparently summoned sometime during his sleep, feeling warmth clinging to his skin beneath his clothes. It wasn't unbearable, and he wasn't sweating badly, but it was enough to wake him up, which made absolutely no sense.
Malik could control his own body temperature.
He could make himself warmer when standing in the snow. He could cool himself down beneath a summer sun. He had spent enough time experimenting with his own magic and body over the years that temperature had stopped being something he normally thought about unless he wanted to think about it.
Yet he was hot. "Huh."
Shisui's pen continued scratching against paper as her earlier question stayed unanswered.
Malik pushed himself upright and rubbed at his face before pulling off one of the upper layers of his clothing. He tossed it onto his pillows, rolled his shoulders, and waited for the strange warmth to disappear. His magic responded perfectly when he checked it, his body obeyed him exactly as it should, and within seconds he was comfortable again.
That only made the whole thing stranger. Malik sat there for a moment, looking down at his hands. The dream immediately returned to his thoughts.
Purple light drowning a star falling through darkness. Trees disappearing beneath an explosion powerful enough to tear apart an entire forest.
Then that crater. Malik rubbed his chin. "Hmmm."
Across the small space between them in her office, Shisui ignored him completely. Malik looked toward her.
She had made impressive progress while he'd been asleep. The mountain of paperwork from earlier had been reduced to something considerably less threatening, with several completed stacks arranged neatly across one side of the desk. Shisui herself remained exactly where he'd left her, posture straight, expression focused, dark eyes moving between reports as though the past hour had been nothing more than another ordinary stretch of work.
There was one major difference. The lunch box Malik had brought her was almost empty.
Malik's entire expression brightened. He slowly rose from his pillows. Shisui continued writing. Malik walked closer. Nothing. His smile widened. The woman had eaten. Most of it too.
He leaned slightly over her shoulder and looked into the container, seeing only a few small pieces remaining. There was something deeply satisfying about that. Malik enjoyed cooking in general, but feeding people he loved scratched some strange little part of his soul that money, magic, and political victories never quite reached.
He looked at Shisui. She kept writing. Malik poked her back. No response.
He waited several seconds.
Poke.
Still nothing.
Malik's eyes narrowed playfully. "You're really going to pretend I'm not here?"
Shisui turned a page. Malik poked her again. "You know, ignoring your husband can have serious consequences for a marriage. Emotional consequences. Terrible ones. I could become sad."
Nothing. "Very sad."
Her pen continued moving. Malik stared at the back of her head. Then his eyes drifted lower.
There were moments in every man's life where wisdom presented itself.
Sometimes wisdom whispered and Sometimes wisdom screamed.
At that particular moment, every intelligent instinct Malik possessed told him to sit back down on his pillows, appreciate that his wife had eaten the food he'd prepared, and leave the commander of Root alone while she finished her work.
Malik smiled. Shisui had always been a woman blessed with a very nice butt, and with Malik being an ass man, he took every opportunity to appreciate that fact. "You only live once . . . . . most of the time," he said to himself. Then, with a pleased expression, he intentionally poked Shisui directly on her large, soft, and warm buttocks, savoring the playful moment, "What has two butts and kills people?"
Her pen stopped. Malik's smile disappeared. The office became very quiet. Shisui did not turn around. Her face didn't change. Her shoulders didn't move.
There was no twitch in her eye, no tightening of her jaw, and absolutely nothing in her posture that would have warned an ordinary person about what was coming.
Malik was not an ordinary person. He could feel emotions, but still he finished his joke, "An assassin." And what he felt from Shisui made him stand up immediately.
He leaned down, kissed her cheek, and gave her the sweetest smile he could manage. "Well, I best be off."
Shisui calmly opened one of the drawers in her desk. Malik's eyes followed her hand. She pulled out rope. A lot of rope.
Malik blinked. "Why do you have that?"
Shisui stood. Malik backed toward the door. "Shisui."
She stepped around the desk. "Baby."
She kept coming. "Sweetheart, darling, love of my life, beautiful, terrifying woman whom I respect very much."
Malik reached for the door. He didn't make it.
The next few seconds were something Malik would later claim violated at least twelve international Marriage laws, several basic standards of human decency, and possibly one religious commandment he couldn't remember properly.
Outside Shisui's office, Root continued operating normally. Reports moved. Messages were delivered. Operatives passed through the underground corridors.
Nobody reacted to the sounds coming through the commander's door. "SHISUI!"
A masked Root operative walking past slowed for half a second. "WHERE DID YOU EVEN LEARN HOW TO TIE A KNOT LIKE THAT, YOU CRAZY WOMAN?!"
The operative continued walking.
Another Root member approached from the opposite direction carrying a stack of sealed files. "What type of rope is that?! AND WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MUCH OF IT?!"
The two Root members passed each other. Neither spoke. Neither looked toward the office.
They had survived Danzo. They had survived assassinations. They had survived infiltrations, interrogations, border missions, missing-nin, and political purges.
Whatever happened behind that door belonged to their commander and her husband.
They wanted no part of it. "MY LEG DOESN'T BEND THAT WAY!"
A younger Root operative stopped. The older operative beside him put a hand on his shoulder and quietly guided him forward. "Keep walking."
"But Commander Shisui..."
The older man shook his head. "Keep walking." From inside came another shout. "I SAID I WAS SORRY!"
A pause followed. "THAT WAS A REAL APOLOGY!"
Another pause. "Okay, maybe I was smiling, but that doesn't make it less real!"
The younger operative looked toward the older one.
The older operative shook his head again. "Never marry."
They kept walking.
Thirty minutes later, Malik sat on the floor beside his pillows with his arms crossed.
His magic had already cleaned him up completely. His clothes had been straightened, his hair was back in place, and there wasn't a visible mark on him. The only evidence that anything had happened was the deeply offended expression on his face as he flexed one wrist, then rotated one ankle.
Shisui finished signing the last page. She placed it onto the completed stack. Then she leaned back and strechted out her arms and back. A small, satisfied smile appeared.
Malik stared at her. "You look very happy with yourself."
She nodded the smile still on her face. "I finished my paperwork."
He gave her a look. "That's why you're happy?"
"Yes."
"You tortured your husband."
"You survived."
"That's not a defense."
Shisui gathered the last few documents and slid them into their proper folders. "You poked me."
"I poked your back."
Shisui looked at him. Malik hesitated. "...And then somewhere else."
"Correct."
"That doesn't justify whatever ancient Uchiha rope torture you just invented."
"I didn't invent it."
Malik stopped flexing his wrist. His eyes slowly narrowed. "Who taught you?"
Shisui stood and straightened her clothing. "Not important."
"It's incredibly important to me."
"No."
"Was it another Uchiha?"
Shisui walked around the desk. "Malik."
"Was it a Root thing? Do you people have rope classes? Is there some hidden Konoha knot curriculum nobody told me about?"
She stopped in front of him. Malik looked up. Shisui looked down. He smiled as she sighed. "Go talk to Lady Tsunade."
His smile vanished. "No."
"Yes."
"I came to you specifically because I didn't want to talk to her."
"And I found nothing."
That got Malik's attention.
Shisui folded her arms. "I had several people check records while you were sleeping. Old reports, unusual astronomical events, impact sites, stories involving purple objects falling from the sky. Nothing useful came back."
Malik's humor faded slightly.
"Nothing at all?"
"Nothing matching what you described."
That was interesting. More interesting than Malik wanted to admit.
Shisui studied him for several seconds before continuing. "If the dream matters, Tsunade needs to know. She has access to information I don't, especially current mission reports. While it's very rare but not too uncommon, she may know something that hasn't reached Root yet."
Malik sighed. "I really don't feel like bothering that woman."
Shisui raised an eyebrow. Malik pointed at her. "Do not give me that look. You know exactly what I mean. Tsunade gets this little thing right here."
He pointed between his eyebrows. "That little angry wrinkle."
"Go."
"Then her eye starts twitching."
"Malik."
"And suddenly I'm somehow responsible for whatever paperwork she hasn't done."
Shisui grabbed his face and kissed his forehead.
Malik stopped talking. "I love you," she said. His expression softened. "But I have meetings."
His expression immediately became offended again. Shisui continued, "Actual meetings. About actual work. Private meetings."
"Oh."
"Very private."
Malik stared at her. Shisui stared back.
"Ohhhh." He stood. "I know when I'm unwanted."
"You've been here for over an hour."
"And what a wonderful hour it was."
"Leave."
Malik walked backward toward the door, pointing two finger guns at her.
Shisui's expression flattened.
"Love you."
"Goodbye, Malik."
He winked. Then opened the door and slipped outside.
A female Root member happened to be walking down the corridor as Malik emerged. She wore the organization's usual dark clothing, her mask pushed slightly to the side of her head as she reviewed a report. Malik gave her a quick smile as he passed.
"Good morning. You look absolutely stunning today, as if the sun itself was shining just for you." The woman glanced at him, her eyes flickering with amusement and a hint of curiosity. Despite years of Root discipline, she couldn't help but smile softly, a delicate curve that revealed a warmth behind her composed exterior. "Thank you."
Malik put a hand over his heart. "You're very welcome."
A kunai struck the wall beside his head.
Malik froze.
Another hit the opposite wall. A shuriken cut through the air close enough that Malik felt it move past his hair.
He looked back. Shisui stood in her doorway. Malik bowed deeply. "Wonderful seeing everybody." Pink-gold magic shimmered over him, and He happily vanished.
Shisui stared at the empty hallway for several seconds before slowly turning toward the female Root operative.
The woman's smile disappeared. Shisui pointed down the corridor. "One hundred laps around the base."
The Root member's shoulders dropped. "And you're staying late."
"Commander..."
"File rooms."
The woman looked genuinely wounded. "All of them?"
"All of them."
"...Yes, Commander."
Shisui stepped back into her office and shut the door. The Root operative stood there for several seconds.
Malik's invisible voice whispered from somewhere nearby. "Sorry."
Her head snapped around. Nothing was there, but soon Shisui made herself known again. "Malik!" A second volley of kunai came through Shisui's door.
Malik decided it was time to leave.
He moved quickly through Root's underground corridors, passing through one of the many concealed routes that connected the hidden base to different parts of the surrounding forest. Stone eventually became earth, earth became roots and grass, and then Malik stepped through what appeared from the outside to be nothing more than a thick cluster of bushes beneath an old tree.
Fresh morning air hit him immediately. He inhaled deeply. "Much better." Then Malik floated upward.
Branches passed beneath his feet as he rose through the trees, breaking through the upper canopy and into open sky. The Hidden Leaf stretched out some distance away, sunlight spilling across rooftops while the mountains surrounding the village stood against a mostly clear spring sky.
It really was a beautiful morning.
Warm enough to be comfortable.
Cool enough that the breeze still felt good.
Malik hovered there for several seconds, letting the wind move through his clothes.
Then he thought about Tsunade.
More importantly, he thought about where Tsunade was likely to be.
If she wasn't in her office doing paperwork, which Malik considered a safe bet, she was probably training Sakura. Tsunade had been taking Sakura's training very seriously, and Sakura herself had become borderline frightening about it.
Malik smiled. His future wife was working hard. Which raised another very important question. What was she wearing? His smile widened. "Oh, yes. Research." Malik leaned forward and flew.
He moved over the forest at a comfortable speed, following the familiar route toward one of Tsunade's preferred training areas near the base of the mountains. He could have arrived almost instantly if he wanted, but there was no reason to rush. If Sakura was training, Malik knew better than to interrupt her unless it was important.
Well. . . . . . at least He knew better in theory. Knowing better and behaving better had never been the same thing. And he had always struggled to deal with the 2, even more so when it came to the people he loved; a part of him just couldn't hold himself back around them, for better or worse.
But Malik shook his head, the air of the fresh morning bringing his mind back to reality at least somewhat. He sensed them before he saw them. Two chakra signatures.
One immense, controlled, and so deeply developed that even Malik, who didn't use chakra himself, could recognize the pure weight, density, and force behind it.
The other younger. If anything, sharper and very much still growing.
Malik slowed. Then he saw Sakura. His smile immediately returned. "Oh, that's nice."
Sakura's fair skin was covered in sweat, the morning light catching against the moisture across her arms and face as she moved. Her long pink hair had been pulled into a tight bun to keep it away from her eyes, leaving her face completely clear as those deep green eyes stayed locked on Tsunade.
She was wearing one of the training outfits Malik remembered very well. Mostly because he'd been there when she'd ordered it.
The sleeveless top was a deep crimson red, fitted closely enough that it stayed out of the way no matter how violently Sakura moved. The fabric stretched with her shoulders and torso instead of fighting against them, and the open design around her arms gave her complete freedom to punch, block, grab, and twist without loose cloth becoming a problem.
The back used crossed straps for support while leaving her shoulders free.
Her training pants were just as practical, fitted close around her legs but flexible enough for the explosive movements Tsunade demanded from her. Reinforcement protected the knees, while a thin black utility belt sat around her waist with several small pouches attached.
Red armguards protected her forearms. Fingerless gloves covered her hands.
Light guards protected her shins, and her tabi-style footwear gave her enough traction to move across dirt, rock, and broken ground without slowing.
Malik remembered Sakura going through several different designs. She had been picky. Very picky.
She had wanted something comfortable enough for long training sessions, durable enough to survive Tsunade, and fitted enough that loose fabric wouldn't get caught during grappling.
Malik had mostly nodded and paid, as a true, very rich and loving fiancée should do. Looking at her now, he considered that money very well spent.
Then Sakura attacked.
She crossed the training field with enough speed that dirt kicked backward from beneath her feet.
Her fist came toward Tsunade. Tsunade moved, barely, but enough, as Sakura missed. Her second strike followed immediately. Tsunade blocked it. Sakura twisted, dropped her weight, and drove a kick toward Tsunade's side.
Tsunade caught her leg in a tight single-handed grip, but still Sakura didn't hesitate.
She used the captured leg as leverage, twisting herself through the air and bringing her other foot toward Tsunade's head. Tsunade released her, and Sakura was forced to use her gained moment into a somewhat awkward landing.
Then attacked again.
Malik's smile faded into something softer. There she was. That same focus. He'd watched Sakura train like this before, and it still fascinated him.
His mind was getting lost in his thoughts once again. She wasn't thinking about Malik. She wasn't thinking about romance, and she wasn't wondering whether he was watching.
She probably wouldn't have noticed him if he started juggling flaming chickens twenty feet away.
Sakura was there to become stronger. Malik loved that about her. He loved being important to the women in his life. He was greedy about affection and knew it.
Yet there was something deeply attractive about seeing somebody he loved care this much about something that had nothing to do with him. He knew she had a deep drive, one that called out to her. Sakura wanted strength. She wanted knowledge.
She wanted to become the kind of medic who could save people other healers couldn't.
She wanted to stand beside Naruto and Sasuke without feeling like the weak link between them. Not caring if that bond grew more and more complicated as time passed, She And Tsunade were dragging that potential out of her one painful lesson at a time.
Sakura rushed forward again. Tsunade smiled, not much, but just slightly. Malik noticed.
Sakura's fist hit the ground. The earth cracked. Malik's eyebrows rose. "Good lord."
Tsunade jumped over the spreading fractures and landed several feet away. "You're telegraphing the heavy strikes again," she called. "Stop announcing what you're going to do with your entire body."
Sakura wiped sweat from her chin. "I know."
The older woman's eyebrow rose at that. "If you knew, you wouldn't keep doing it."
Sakura's eye twitched. Malik grinned. There was his cherry blossom.
Sakura attacked again. Malik floated closer. He didn't mean to. That was important. At least, it was important to Malik.
He was still invisible, still high enough above the ground that he shouldn't have interfered, but Sakura's movements kept drawing his attention. He watched her shoulders, her foot placement, the way she was beginning to hide which side she intended to strike from.
Then his eyes wandered. Just a little. Sakura was very pretty. That wasn't Malik's fault. He drifted closer. Sakura ducked beneath Tsunade's arm. Malik drifted closer.
She pivoted. Malik leaned forward. Then Sakura's head snapped toward him. Malik blinked. She couldn't see him. But Sakura knew him.
She knew the strange warmth of his magic. She knew how his presence felt when he was nearby. More importantly, she had spent enough time around Malik to recognize the very specific sensation of her fiancé being somewhere he probably shouldn't be.
Her hand shot upward. Malik's eyes widened. "Oh." Sakura grabbed him out of the air.
Tsunade watched her student suddenly seize what appeared to be absolutely nothing.
Sakura twisted. Malik's invisible body followed. Then the nothing hit the ground. Hard. Tsunade stared.
Sakura moved with trained efficiency, trapping one of Malik's arms while twisting his legs into a position that made escape difficult without either strength or flexibility. Her knee settled against his side as she locked him down.
There was silence. Then Malik became visible beneath her. Tsunade closed her eyes. Of course. Of course it was him.
Sakura blinked. Her training-focused mind needed a second to properly register the gold-and-pink eyes staring up at her. "...Malik?"
"Hello, beautiful."
Sakura's grip loosened slightly. Then she looked at his face. Looked at where he'd been floating. Looked back at him. Her grip tightened again. Malik's eyes widened. "Wait."
Sakura stared down at him. "You were watching me."
"Yes. But that isn't surprising at this point, right?"
"While invisible."
He gave her a sly smile. "Technically, and again, not new with me."
"How long?"
Malik's smile grew. Sakura twisted his arm. "OW! Alright, alright, it was only for a few minutes or whatever, like the time I tried to learn that new dance and ended up looking more like a very confused flamingo. I promise, my love, my cherry blossom, it was just a quick sprinkle of my genuine silliness before I turn back into your charming, slightly goofy partner."
"HHhhhmmmmm . . . .," was the only answer he got from her as she kept her hold on him.
Tsunade folded her arms. Malik looked toward her for help. She gave him none.
Malik made a face before speaking, "Okay! First of all, the most important woman currently sitting on my body is physically torturing me, and I feel like nobody is properly concerned about that."
Sakura raised an eyebrow. Malik immediately corrected himself. "One of the most important women."
Tsunade snorted. Sakura's expression remained flat.
Malik sighed. "Look, if you two keep doing this to me, I'm genuinely worried I might start enjoying it, and then everybody is going to have a whole different problem."
Sakura twisted harder. Malik spoke very quickly. "I HAD A DREAM ABOUT A PURPLE STAR FALLING OUT OF THE SKY AND DESTROYING A FOREST!"
Sakura stopped twisting and relaxed her grip. Tsunade's expression changed. Malik breathed. "Thank you."
Sakura looked down at him for several seconds. "What?"
Malik's joking expression faded. "A dream. Last night. A purple star fell from the sky into a forest. The impact destroyed everything around it and left a huge crater."
Tsunade stepped closer. "Where?"
"No idea."
"When?"
"No idea."
Sakura frowned. Malik sighed. "Shisui already did this part."
Sakura finally released him. Malik immediately rolled onto his back and stretched his arm. "Thank you, my sweet and merciful future wife."
Sakura gave him a look. Malik sat up. "And because you've decided to behave like a gentleman for at least thirty seconds," Sakura said, "I'll let you keep the arm."
Malik gave her a bow. "See? This is why relationships need communication."
She rolled her eyes. "Malik."
"Done." He promised as he stood and flicked his fingers.
Pink-gold magic swept across him, removing dirt and grass from his clothing. Once he was clean, his attention immediately returned to Sakura.
He summoned a towel. Sakura saw it coming and didn't complain.
Malik gently wiped the sweat from her forehead, then moved down along her cheeks and neck before cleaning her arms. Sakura stood there and let him, breathing deeply as her body took advantage of the unexpected break.
Tsunade watched them. "Now explain the dream properly."
Malik did. This time he didn't joke much. He described the falling light. The forest. The destruction. The purple glow. He explained that he had been unable to control the dream, which was the part that actually mattered to him.
Tsunade listened. When he finished, she shrugged. "Never heard of it."
Malik stared. "That's all I get?"
"What do you want me to do, invent an answer?"
"No."
"Then I've never heard of it."
Malik sighed. Sakura took the towel from him and wiped the back of her neck. "Could it have been symbolic?"
"Maybe."
"Could somebody have sent it to you?"
"Maybe."
"Could it be something that hasn't happened yet?"
Malik looked at her. Sakura looked back. His expression brightened. "See, this is why I'm marrying you."
Sakura rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth lifted. Malik thought for another moment. Then something occurred to him. "Where's Naruto?"
Tsunade blinked. Sakura lowered the towel. Malik looked between them. "What?"
Tsunade stared at him. "Why does Naruto matter?"
"Because that man is basically a walking signpost for trouble."
Sakura opened her mouth. Stopped. Thought about it. Then slowly nodded. "...That's actually fair."
Malik pointed at her. "Thank you."
Tsunade's expression became thoughtful.
Malik continued, "Whenever something weird is happening, Naruto either knows about it, is running toward it, is already inside it, accidentally caused part of it, or somehow made friends with somebody involved."
Tsunade rubbed her forehead. She hated how reasonable that sounded. Malik noticed. His eyes narrowed. "You know where he is."
Tsunade didn't answer immediately. Malik leaned toward her. "Tsunade."
"Don't."
"You know something."
"I know many things."
Malik waved that answer off. "Not about paperwork."
Her eyebrow twitched. Sakura quietly stepped away from Malik. Smart woman. Tsunade took a breath. "Yesterday, Team Guy was assigned a mission."
Malik became still. Tsunade noticed that too. "Tenten, Neji, and Lee were sent to Hoshigakure."
Malik stared. Then he raised one finger. "Three out of four people on that team are my fiancées."
Sakura sighed. "That is what you took from that?"
He waved a finger at her. "That's important information."
Tsunade ignored him. "The Village Hidden Among Stars has an object they call the Star. Their shinobi use it during training because it's supposed to enhance chakra."
Malik's expression slowly changed. "Can you personally describe anything about this star, or at least a color?" He asked her. Sakura noticed first, nodded, then shrugged. "Is it Purple?" She asked with all the open, honest curiosity between her and Malik as they both looked at Tsunade.
Tsunade looked at her and shook her head. Malik leaned forward, his eyes glowing softly, but a simple, small, kind smile on his face as he asked, "Don't be like that. What color is it?"
"I don't know."
"Does it glow?"
"I don't know."
"Did it fall from the sky?"
Tsunade frowned. "I wasn't given a history lesson about the thing." Malik stared at her. Tsunade stared back. Then she sighed. "Naruto heard about the chakra-enhancing properties and decided Orochimaru might be involved."
Malik rubbed his face. "Of course he did."
"He demanded to go."
Malik nodded. "Of course he did."
"He wouldn't leave me alone."
Malik nodded again. "Of course he didn't."
Sakura covered a smile with the towel. Tsunade's expression darkened slightly at the memory. "He bribed me."
Malik's hand stopped. Slowly, he lowered it. "...Naruto bribed you?" Sakura's smile grew. Malik smiled as he crossed his arms. "My main man Naruto is so broke that people break into his house and leave him food. I know this because Hinata and I do it. Often."
Tsunade crossed her arms, her eyes drifting to the sky. "He bought an expensive treat."
Malik stared at her. "And? What? Spent his monthly wood money all on a treat for you?"
"And promised to leave me alone for a week."
Malik's face became deeply serious, and he nodded at that. "That's a strong offer."
"It was." She agreed.
Malik smiled; maybe Naturo could actually learn a lesson or 2. "I respect the art of negotiation."
"I did too."
Sakura stared between them. "You two are ridiculous."
Tsunade ignored her. "So I added him to the mission."
Malik became quiet. His eyes drifted toward the distant trees.
Hoshigakure.
A village named after stars. A chakra-enhancing object literally called the Star. Naruto suddenly involved. Three of Malik's fiancées already there. Malik slowly nodded. "Well."
Sakura watched him carefully. Tsunade did too. Malik shrugged. "If something happens, they'll contact me."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
Malik stretched his body, already tired and out of energy. "What do you want me to do? Fly there because I had a weird dream and heard the word star?"
"That sounds exactly like something you would do."
"Normally, yes." Malik smiled. "But Neji is there. Tenten is there. Lee is there. Naruto is there. They're capable people."
Sakura's expression softened slightly. Malik trusted them. "Or at least most of them are capable people. Sometimes Naruto can be in a mood, and my sweet Lee can sometimes be easily distracted, plus she is sometimes too trustworthy; bless that sweet girl's heart. Unlike Neji and Tenten, they both think the worst about people, naturally cynical, paranoid, and pessimistic."
He worried about them, because Malik worried about everyone he loved, but worrying didn't mean treating them like helpless children. If something was wrong, they knew how to reach him.
And if they needed him? Malik would come. Immediately.
Until then, he wasn't going to fly across the country and crash their mission because his dreams had decided to become mysterious.
Malik walked toward a large tree at the edge of the training field. He summoned his pillows.
Both Tsunade and Sakura stared. Malik arranged them beneath the shade and sat down comfortably.
"What are you doing?" Tsunade asked.
"Waiting."
"For what?"
Malik looked at Sakura. Then at Tsunade. Then back at Sakura. "For training to continue."
Sakura narrowed her eyes.
Malik smiled innocently. "I have important observations to make."
"Observations."
He nodded before adding. "Notes."
"You don't have anything to write with."
Malik summoned a notebook. Sakura stared. Malik summoned a pen. "See?"
Tsunade rubbed her forehead. Malik opened the notebook and wrote the title for his Observations on the first page: '#1 Notes and Observations of 2 very beautiful and some would say very sexy ninjas fighting/training'
He waved his hand at them, dismissing himself with the gesture. "Please continue. Pretend I'm not here."
Sakura looked at him. "You were invisible five minutes ago and still managed to get in the way."
He nodded at that. "That was different."
"How?"
He waved his arms. "I was closer."
Sakura's eyes narrowed. Malik pointed toward the ground. "I'm staying right here."
Tsunade looked toward Sakura. Sakura looked toward Tsunade. A silent agreement passed between them.
Malik did not like that. "Why are you two looking at each other like that?"
Tsunade rolled her shoulders. "Break's over."
Sakura immediately groaned. Malik looked at her. "Break?"
Tsunade nodded toward him. "You interrupted training."
"You're counting that as her break?"
"Yes."
He made a face. "For how long are you going to keep training?"
Tsunade looked toward Sakura. "Five more hours."
Malik's eyes widened. Sakura simply handed him the towel. "Hold this." Malik took it. "Baby, do you need water?"
"I'm fine, and don't call me Baby in front of Tsunade."
He nodded. "Food?"
"No."
"Emotional support?"
Sakura smiled. "Watch."
Malik's expression softened. "Always."
Sakura turned. Then she attacked Tsunade. The training field exploded back into movement.
Tsunade met Sakura's first strike with one arm, redirecting the blow before countering immediately. Sakura ducked, twisted, and drove herself forward again, her exhaustion from earlier already forgotten beneath the focus settling back into her eyes.
Malik leaned against his pillows. His notebook remained open in his lap. He wrote exactly one thing.
Sakura is very pretty.
Malik stared at the sentence.
Then added:
Also getting terrifyingly strong.
He considered that. Fair. He looked up again. Sakura rushed Tsunade. Tsunade blocked. Sakura adapted.
The mountain stood behind them while sunlight filtered through the surrounding trees, the warm spring morning continuing peacefully around the violent training session below.
Malik watched. For a while, the purple star left his thoughts. . . .Not completely. . . .Somewhere in the back of his mind, the dream remained. The falling light. The destroyed forest. The crater.
And now Hoshigakure and The Star. Maybe it was connected. Maybe it wasn't.
Malik had lived long enough in this world to understand that sometimes strange things happened without him being at the center of them.
He had also lived here long enough to understand that whenever Naruto Uzumaki walked directly toward something mysterious, that peaceful explanation tended to have a very short life expectancy.
Malik rested his cheek against one hand. Sakura narrowly avoided one of Tsunade's counters and immediately attacked again.
His smile returned. Whatever happened, he would be ready. Until then?
Malik had five hours of very important research ahead of him.
And judging by the way Sakura's next punch cracked the ground beneath Tsunade's feet, Malik had a feeling those five hours were going to be extremely entertaining.