Sasuke and Jugo

Sasuke left Yuna's home in a slight daze. No matter how he looked at it, he didn't expect Yuna to hand Itachi's body over readily.

Currently, he was walking through the Uzumaki compound with no real goal in mind. However, he saw someone he didn't expect to see while he was walking.

"Jugo?"

Jugo, a tall man with spiky, orange hair who was currently tending to some flowers, turned around in surprise when he heard Sasuke's voice. A serene smile appeared on Jugo's face when he saw him.

"Sasuke. It's good to see you again."

Naturally, Sasuke was baffled by Jugo suddenly appearing in front of him. The last time he met him was at the start of his fight against Naruto around a year ago. After Naruto overpowered him and Obito intervened in the fight, Sasuke fled the scene without the time to look for Jugo and Suigetsu. After the conflict ended, Sasuke spent some time searching for them but couldn't find any clues about their whereabouts, so he concluded that they either got captured or killed.

He certainly didn't expect to find one of them happily working on some plants inside the Uzumaki compound.

"What are you doing here, Jugo? How did you get here, and what happened on the day we separated?"

Jugo turned around to put his attention back on the flowers while simultaneously answering Sasuke's questions.

"Well, as soon as the fight against Ino-sama started, she trapped me into an illusion and easily captured me."

"Sama?"

Before Jugo could continue his story, Sasuke interrupted him since he was surprised that Jugo was talking so respectfully about Ino.

"She is the girlfriend of my boss's brother, so I'm calling her respectfully. Besides, it is only natural to respect the strong."

Although Sasuke wasn't really convinced, he simply shrugged his shoulders and motioned Jugo to continue his story.

"Anyway, when I woke up again, Yuna-sama was in front of me and immediately lost control and attacked her."

A mirthful smile appeared on Jugo's face when he said that.

"Do you still plan on fighting Yuna-sama, Sasuke?"

A shiver went through Sasuke's spine when Jugo mentioned fighting Yuna, but he clenched his fists before squeezing out an answer.

"Yes, no matter what, I won't simply bow my head in front of all the humiliations I have received. My pride won't allow it."

Jugo shook his head in pity when he heard Sasuke's words.

"I highly advise you not to do that, Sasuke. Do you want to know how she stopped the monster sleeping inside me from rampaging? She crushed it with her presence. In front of a real monster, my other self can only curl up and go back to sleep."

Sasuke gritted his teeth when he heard Jugo's words as the image of Yuna smiling at him after their last fight flashed past his mind, making him flinch.

'Damnit, that smile already haunts me in my dreams, and now Jugo made me remember it in broad daylight.'

Jugo shook his head when he saw Sasuke still struggling with his answer.

'Whatever, this is no longer my fight. I warned him, and if he still wants to kill himself by attacking Yuna-sama, it will be his own fault.'

"Anyway, I will continue the story. As I said, she easily suppressed the rampaging me, and after I calmed down, She said that she wanted to research Suigetsu and my body's conditions. At first, I was rather skeptical about that, but I happily agreed with her offer after she put a seal on me that suppresses my rampaging self. Since I didn't want to laze around all day and do nothing, I asked her for something to do, so she offered me a job as a gardener, which I greatly enjoy."

A deep frown appeared on Sasuke's face when he heard that Yuna wanted to research their bodies while secretly wondering why Jugo, who was quite strong, would be satisfied with being a gardener.

"Is she experimenting on you?"

Jugo understood that Sasuke imaged Yuna doing some Orochimaru-style experiments, causing him to shake his head.

"It's not like you think, Sasuke. One time she requested me to transform back and forth a few times, and there were two instances of her wanting a blood sample. That's all the so-called research she did on me so far, and as far as I know, it's the same with Suigetsu.

Hehe, you should have seen his face when she stabbed the syringe into his arm to get his blood and actually managed to do so without Suigetsu being able to turn into water. I still have no clue how she did that."

Sasuke was satisfied with that explanation. Although he traveled only a short time with Jugo, he still wouldn't want him to get experimented on in any harmful way.

"Is Suigetsu doing well as well?"

When Sasuke asked that question, Jugo stiffened slightly, which Sasuke quickly noticed.

"Did something happen to him?"

"Well, yes and no. First of all, he isn't wounded in any way, but his pride took a huge hit."

"Mhh? His pride? What happened?"

"He challenged the wielder of Kubikiribocho for his sword and got pretty much handled like a naughty child instead of a shinobi. He even got scolded at the end."

Disbelief was clearly visible in Sasuke's eyes when he heard that. After all, he knew the wielder of Kubikiribocho and even met him around four years ago.

'Since when was Zabuza that strong? Although he was pretty dangerous all those years ago, was he really someone who could toy with Suigetsu like that? He must have gotten stronger, but how did he manage to increase his strength by such a considerable degree? After all, the last time I saw him, he was already a fully grown adult, so such an explosive increase in power should be almost impossible.'

Sasuke shook his head to get rid of his idle thoughts and focused back on Jugo, who was still carefully tending to some flowers.

"I assume you won't rejoin me, Jugo?"

After carefully snipping off a few leaves, Jugo shook his.

"No, I'm sorry, Sasuke. I have found my peace here. I always wanted a peaceful life, and now that I have it, I'm satisfied."

"Very well, then I wish you farewell, Jugo."

A chuckle escaped Jugo as he amusedly shook his head.

"Farewell? Aren't we old teammates? I might not be willing to fight anymore, but we can still meet occasionally. There is more to this world than fighting and getting stronger, Sasuke. You should sometimes sit back and relax a little. It will be good for you."

Sasuke snorted when he heard that. He had no time to relax since he had to do everything he could to get stronger. In his opinion, relaxing couldn't make him stronger, so he wouldn't do it.

"Anyway, I'm leaving."

"See you later, Sasuke."

Sasuke paused for a moment when he heard Jugo's words, and after a few seconds of hesitation, he said a few more words before walking away.

"Fine, see you later."

A small smile appeared on Jugo's face as he stood up and walked to the next flower field.

'Well, it's something.'