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Do you read fanfiction?

Sorry, but I couldn't resist: from ancient times many professional authors built their careers on taking more than inspiration from previous works- Odyssey, Bible, mythology etc. What makes them different from ff writers? Or maybe Milton wasn't professional? Once I've read some prose that if were written in modern English with changed names would be called yaoi fanfic. But it was written in Middle Ages, in Latin and re-telling the relationship of David and Jonathan, so it was called literature.

"But why? Why did you let them go?"

For a moment, the oldest woman in the tribe went silent. Her old, crinkled eyes slowly went across the tiny village; a far cry from when she had first arrived to the shores of a glorious frozen civilization. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. The cold, salt-laden air filled her lungs; the same air she had first inhaled when the last Water Tribe trade ship from the Earth Kingdom docked just an arm's length away where she now stood.

Blue eyes opened and for just a second, she could see the houses built of ice, the towering walls, the curved bridges and sprawling market place. She could see the man she married laughing with the same smile Hakoda and Sokka both inherited. And almost as soon as she saw it, it faded away.

"Grandmother Kana?" a voice asked, bringing her attention back to the present.

The old woman looked at the circle of women around her and the children that had gathered around their legs. "To let them go and live their lives to their fullest, without any regret, is the best I could ever give them. I will not hold them back from the world…I believe there is something more for them beyond our village."

Before anyone else could say anything more, the old woman turned around and slipped silently into her tent. Without Katara by the old clay stove, blowing into the glowing embers to encourage the fire, and Sokka in his corner, filling the tent with the sounds of sharpening stone against metal, the small tent seemed large and empty.

Carefully, she walled around the floor lined with animal pelts. She made her way to her sleeping area and slowly sat down. A small fire in the center of the tent warmed the tent as the old woman shuffled through her belongings and finally pulled out an old leather bag.

Knotted and wrinkled brown hands began to untie the latch with the utmost care. How long had it been since she last opened the bag? The draw string was pulled open and revealed a thin, worn, blue cloth. Old eyes crinkled more at the sight. Shaking hands slowly pulled out the cloth.

The old overcoat fell on her lap. Its former deep blue had been faded with time, just like her eyes. Her hand slowly caressed the nearly bare threads as it ran over the material. The once deep blue color was unique to the Northern Water Tribe. Thin lips pursed. Perhaps her grandchildren would see her home tribe…and everything she left behind. Her eyes closed.

Then Katara could learn waterbending and become the master Kana always knew she would be. After all, it had been years. Perhaps, things had changed.

Kana opened her eyes and looked back down at the worn article of clothing. She could still remember the first time she saw that coat…and the man who had bought it for her one cold winter night.

The headache shouldn't have just disappeared like that. Not so quickly, not without him even trying very hard to heal it. It was as if... someone else had stepped in and done it for him. Touch was normally required for any healer to do that, and no one had been near.

Unsettling. Hopefully a few sword drills would help him to feel better, and then he could get some more sleep. His internal clock had been scrambled a long time ago, but he reckoned it must be somewhere in the early morning. He squeezed his fist and focused his thoughts, and the familiar rush of power shot down his arm and into the pendant. An elegant sword materialized in his hand, and he gave an experimental twirl before beginning his patterns.

Drilling with his family's heirloom sword, his most prized possession, always soothed Li. Here in the quiet of this strange ship, floating through space, he spun and slashed and stabbed the air. Forward Slice, Reverse Slice, High Block. Crescent Parry, spin, Reverse Thrust. Downward Strike.

"Downward Strike."

Li jumped a foot in the air and actually yelped in surprise. She was sitting on the bottom step, hugging her arms to her chest and watching him. How could he have not sensed her? Or even seen her!

Too late he hid the sword behind his back.

"I thought you'd gone back to sleep, you shouldn't be wandering around the ship at night." She fixed him with that unblinking gaze and did not reply. She didn't seem any more inclined to sleep than he was, and did not move from her position on the steps. He blushed a little when he realized his gaze was lingering on her mostly bare legs, and forced himself to keep his eyes on her face. "Anyway, I bet your brother wouldn't like you hanging out down here when you should be in bed. So go on, go back to -"

His mind finally caught up with him and he cut himself short.

"What did you say?"

She clasped her hands together and grinned. Hesitantly, Li held his sword out again and slashed it downward, stopping just short of a metallic clang against the floor.

"Downward strike," she chanted happily.

"That's right. How did you – how did you know that?"

She said nothing, waiting. Li thought a moment, then gripped the handle with both hands and stabbed forward.

"Straight thrust!" Again he changed his grip and sliced the air twice before assuming a new stance. "Slice, Reverse Slice, Middle Block." All fairly basic moves, and he decided to try something more complicated.

"Hooking Block, Inward Reverse Slice, spin, Slice, jump, High Vertical Block in x stance, elbow thrust, side kick, Low Thrust, back thrust with hilt, Straight Slice," she recited perfectly with every corresponding action. She beamed proudly at Li's awed expression.

"You're right; all of it, it was right. You didn't miss one. How could you know all that, no one studies the sword anymore."

She shrugged complacently. Mystified, Li drifted closer until he could kneel on the steps beside her and look directly into her eyes. There was no trace of the bloodcurdling terror that had been prevalent earlier, only a delighted twinkle.

"Sakura..." She dimpled at his first use of her name. "Don't, ah, don't mention this to anyone. Okay? Your brother can't know about this." In his hand the magical sword returned to pendant form. She giggled and placed a finger over her lips.

"Secret."

"That's right, secret. Touya no know, right?" She nodded quickly, and he exhaled with relief. "Are you ready to go back to bed now?"

She looked a trifle disappointed, but nodded again.

"Yes." For a moment he tensed up, afraid she might try to touch him, but she only stood and skipped up the stairs. Li was left alone in the dark, his sacred pendant dangling from one finger.

"Something," he murmured aloud to the ship, "is going on here."

Kousuke doesn't smile, but there's a curl to his lip, and he tries to mask it by taking another sip from the brown bottle. On a later day, Makoto will wonder a bit philosophically when Kousuke stopped smiling, but she'll give up the question in favor of other important topics (like, doing work so as not to be fired and how to pay 62,900 yen rent with 40,000 yen salary and do I buy groceries or get electricity for the month) before coming to a conclusion.

The only available option is when Makoto said no, which is most definitely not something that bears thinking about.

"Drinks!" cries Makoto, and goes to coerce her already tipsy guests into a further state of disarray. She kind of enjoys the chaos, which is why she doesn't see the letter slipped under her door until the next morning.

Stopped by for a second, saw you were busy and caught a movie. See you on the flip side, Chiaki

For the next seven months, there is a note pinned to the door of Makoto's apartment with the header of To Whom It May Concern (and I Mean You, Chiaki!) You are such an annoying bitch.

George Weasley goes next. When Dennis displays the photograph, some ignorant critic finds fault with the framing. "Too heavy on one side…empty space on the left. Terrible photograph…missing something vital," he concludes.

Dennis doesn't quite know how to explain, that's the point. These are scars of the war; the blank white emptiness of the backdrop on the right hand side of the photograph is the scar, more than the missing ear that's barely noticeable.

Of course it's missing something vital. That's the point.

Naruto was slouched against the wall beside the door. Hinata was sitting on the ground beside him, resting her temple against the metal leg of a gurney. Sasuke started to sit down across from them, but he had barely bent his knees when Naruto grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he yelled. "You said it was safe!"

"We said it was dangerous," Sasuke replied, glaring at him. "That's why we made her stay here in the first place."

"You were watching!" Naruto slammed him against the wall again. "Why didn't you make her quit in the middle, dammit? She could have DIED!"

The gurney rattled as Hinata pulled herself onto her feet. "Naruto-kun, please . . . please, stop. There was no way to quit. She told us. . . ."

Naruto turned his head enough to see her. "The hell there wasn't! She should have stopped and rested for a day!"

Sasuke knocked Naruto's hand away with his good forearm. "And then the massively enraged fox demon would have taken over the second you stopped concentrating on holding it back and killed everyone. Do you have any idea how much she was counting on you to keep it in control, idiot?"

"Bullshit," Naruto replied, glaring at him. "If that were true, it could have killed you guys in there if I'd slipped."

Sasuke didn't reply. He stared over the blond's shoulder at the door.

After several long moments, punctuated by the unnatural silence in the hallway, Naruto took a step back. He looked at Hinata again.

She was leaning heavily against the gurney and the wall, but she managed to give him a small smile. "She warned us beforehand, what could happen if . . . that's why we had so much trouble convincing her to do the surgery here, close to the hospital."

"You guys. . . ." Naruto turned back to Sasuke. "You. . . . Why? She and Lee . . . and you, you had Itachi to--"

Sasuke punched him in the jaw.

That was a bad idea, he reflected a moment later, as he cradled his bandaged hand to his chest.

"Stop asking stupid questions," he muttered, still refusing to look at the expression in Naruto's eyes.

—

When Lee arrived, the three of them were sitting silently in the hallway. Naruto had dragged two benches over from another hall, and he and Sasuke were sitting on one while Hinata lay on the other.

Tsunade had left the room long enough to tell them that Sakura was unconscious, that whether she had suffered any permanent damage from chakra exhaustion and not breathing would be revealed once she woke up, and that they were to refrain from speaking about anything from that morning in loud voices in public. Then she called for an IV and closed the door again. She wouldn't let them see Sakura.

Several people had been given orders to find Lee once his part was learned, but one of the snakes reached him first.

The security on the floor let Lee through once he handed the still-unconscious Oukei over to a medicnin. He strode awkwardly up to the three of them, favoring his left leg.

"She's okay," Naruto told him before Lee could even ask. "I mean, Tsunade's acting like she's gonna be okay. She said there could be problems, though, but we won't know 'til she wakes up. . . ."

Lee nodded and touched the door. "Can I see her?"

Naruto shook his head. "She hasn't let any of us in."

Lee let his hand fall. Then he sat down on the floor next to Hinata's bench, beside the door.

"Come here," Sasuke said harshly. Lee gave him a confused look, but then his leg jerked.

"Oh!" Lee said, before pushing down his leg warmer enough for a blacksnake to slide out. He started to hand it to Sasuke, but it moved away from his touch and slithered up to the hand Sasuke set near the floor. It tried to curl around his arm, but Sasuke braced his other hand against his elbow, blocking it.

"I didn't tell you to slow him down," he said flatly, lifting his arm.

The blacksnake draped itself heavily over his wrist and bit at the skin above his elbow. "It's cold," it replied. "And you made us go through this damn village first before even getting to the forest--people kept trying to step on me!"

"Things are different here," Sasuke said.

"But I still brought him back," it finished, in a tone that indicated it had done him a huge favor. The snake pushed its head through the space between his bandaged thumb and index finger and slid partly through, before resting its head on his upper arm. Sasuke grit his teeth to keep from wincing. Naruto made a faint growling sound. "And I want hares," the blacksnake informed him. "Five of them. Hispid hares."

"There aren't any of those in this country," Sasuke told it.

The blacksnake casually wound its tail around his wrist. "Then think of something, genius."

Asshole, Sasuke thought at it. "Where are the others?"

"They went back when I found him."

"Fine." Sasuke attempted to extract his bandaged hand from the snake's grip. "That's all. Thank you, Martel-san."

The snake disappeared. Sasuke wiped away the blood from its bite with his wrist.

"Thank you for that, Sasuke-kun," Lee said after a brief silence.

The other teenager shrugged and didn't look up. "I was already bleeding."

——
——
——

When the door was closed behind them, Hinata gave Sasuke a worried look. "I'm sorry . . . Sakura-chan mentioned it to me, so I thought . . . I didn't mean to say anything that would cause you trouble."

Sasuke shrugged a shoulder faintly. "You didn't know."

Naruto walked past him, turning to the left and heading for the back stairs instead of the waiting room. Shizune had cordoned off the entire hallway, not even posting anbu members at the ends. They had to jump over a few tripwires that were only visible to those leaving rather than entering.

As Naruto pushed a gurney that was blocking the way against the wall, he glanced back at Sakura's door.

"I'm not gonna let her down," he said quietly.

"What?" Sasuke asked, taking the opportunity to change the subject.

Naruto didn't reply immediately. Once they got to the stairs, though, he said, "I don't want to be Hokage anymore just to make people acknowledge my existence." He pushed open the door. "Hell, they're already doing that."

Sasuke glanced over. Naruto was almost smiling.

"And I don't really want to be Hokage to protect the village," he added, as the door closed behind them. He started down the stairs. "I don't really like half the people here anymore. They break my stuff, they harass Sakura-chan and Lee . . . Iruka-sensei gets all the troublemakers in his classes. Some people are even not-so-nice-people to Kakashi-sensei, just because you were his favorite." He looked at Sasuke. "Did you know that first week you came back, someone tore up the garden at your foster parents' house?"

Sasuke had been carefully keeping step with Naruto, while Hinata trailed behind them, but he faltered at that. "What?"

"They got caught, and Tsunade kept them in jail for two days before even letting them talk to anyone . . . but. I don't really care about protecting them or whether they give a damn about me being alive or not."

Sasuke was beginning to curse the fact that Naruto was walking on his right side, so the only way he could draw a weapon would be with his bad hand.

Hinata was biting her lip. She started to reach out, but then drew her hand back. But when they reached a landing, she reached out and touched Naruto's wrist.

He didn't acknowledge the action for a moment; but when he took the next step off the landing, he reached back and took her hand in his own.

"I still will," Naruto said. "Even if I don't care, if anyone died, it might work back so that one of my precious people gets hurt by it. So I will. But, I told Sakura-chan, I'm gonna be Hokage so I can change things."

He squeezed Hinata's hand. "There's too much . . . it's fucked up. The Hyuuga branch house, the way we treat people who flunk out of the Academy or who don't want to join, all this clan-ranking bloodline crap, the way. . . . It's not right." He shoved open the door to the first floor. "I don't want to live anywhere but here, but there's stuff that needs to be fixed."

Sasuke chose his answer with more care than his slighting tone implied. "You can't build a utopia out of a ninja village."

"I'm gonna try," Naruto snapped. "I made promises, dammit."

It's definitely him, Sasuke decided.

He slid his good hand in his pocket. ". . . If it happens, it'll have to be you that does it. No one else would be stupid enough to dare."

Naruto didn't reply to that, but he did almost smile.

[/b]Lelouch of Britannia[b]: So what would happen if Lelouch remained a prince of Britannia? Only good things. Seriously, this may be one of the best fanfictions I have EVER read. It's very clear from the first chapter that the author put more love and thought into this story than the original creators of Code Geass did to theirs. I highly recommend it to every Code Geass fan.