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This article, Naruto: Kōseiden - Vol. 5, is property of Nobody. Do not modify or use any of its content without her express permission. |
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The Days Go By[]
As one chapter ends, another begins.
Konohagakure seemed to glitter and gleam in the light of the radiant summer sun, trees filled with lush green leaves as colorful and vibrant flowers bloomed, swaying the breeze that swept through the village. It was, for all the world, the picture of paradise, a testament to the era of peace and tranquility that the elemental nations were so blessed to be experiencing. Yes, the current generation of young and promising shinobi were fortunate to grow up in a world that didn’t know the horrors of war and the tragedy it left in its wake.
Yet, for all that Konoha was so fortunate as to experience their era of peace, that did not mean the scars of war had not been left. Even as the unwilling participants grew and matured, settled down with some having children and families of their own, their trauma was not so easily pushed to the side. What was not resolved would pass on to the children, and none knew that so well as the members of Konohagakure’s noble Kurama clan.
Minegumo was drowning.
Dark and cold water filled his lungs, and his heart pounded within his chest. His eyes struggled to see in the darkness of the endless waves, seeing only an abyss that seemed to stretch without end. Minegumo’s legs pushed through the water, his legs kicking as hard as he could, but none of it made a difference. He could not steady himself in the mass of inky-black water, could find no leverage, and so he could only struggle and panic as he continued to lose air.
He was going to die, Minegumo realized. He was going to die and there was no way to stop it from happening, nothing he could do about it. All he could do was flop around uselessly as his body continued to sink beneath the waves. Grief and terror welled within him, and his eyes stung with tears as a sob welled up from deep within.
Feeling his last breath leave his lungs, Minegumo’s terror grew all the more and it was all he could do not to cry even more. He didn’t want to die, not like this. Didn’t want to leave everyone he cared about behind because he was too weak to fight back
Fight back against what?
Minegumo didn’t know, couldn’t begin to think of the answer. All he knew was that he was drowning; was going to die and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Because he wasn’t strong enough to break free.
Free from what?
From the…genjutsu.
Minegumo’s eyes snapped open, clarity coming through the panic and grief. That’s right, he thought. I’m in a genjutsu. This isn’t real.
That remembrance, that single thought, was a victory. Mind latching onto it and sinking its claws in, Minegumo allowed the biting chill of the water to bring further awareness to him, to shove the sensation of drowning down to a corner of his mind. Yet, even as he did so, he could feel the genjutsu fighting back, reasserting itself little by little as it clawed at the shields of his mind. Shuddering, Minegumo began thinking, mind racing before the illusion brought him back under thrall.
Yes, he was in a genjutsu; but simply knowing wasn’t going to be enough to dispel this illusion, not when it was so strong. Minegumo tried to rack his brain, to think of some way to truly fight back against it. There were different ways to break and beat a genjutsu, he was taught years ago, and they weren’t the same thing. To break an illusion, to shatter its hold and bring yourself back to the real world, was simple enough…but to beat it, to wrestle away control, took skill. Skill that Minegumo wasn’t too sure he truly had.
At that moment, the illusion shattered through one of his mental shields, and Minegumo found himself swept by a surprise current. There was no way to fight against it, so he didn’t even try: instead, he continued forcing himself to remain aware, closing his eyes. Turning on his chakra sense, he attempted to find the disturbance in his chakra network. Sure enough, he could feel it focused around his eyes, a mist that completely nullified his vision and was the source of the drowning sensation.
As he continued to sink, Minegumo focused on that spark of foreign chakra and followed it like a lure. Then, gritting his teeth, he bit his tongue hard; using the self-inflicted pain to further steady him and keep his mind sharp as he summoned his chakra to him in a fierce pulse.
Minegumo’s chakra left him in a pulse, filling the abyss with his wild energy. All at once, the tides went turbulent, twisting and turning as snakes materialized around him. One, then two, then four; slowly but surely, they multiplied again and again upon themselves, swimming out into the murky depths with an intent of a hunt.
Finally, after an instant that seemed to stretch for an eon, the genjutsu shattered, rays of sunlight breaking through the darkness of the dark sea, as the snakes continued to swim about. A moment later, Minegumo found himself back in the real world, on his knees, panting as sweat ran down his face.
Scrambling to his feet, he looked around suspiciously, amber eyes narrowed as he looked for where his assailant could be hiding. Minegumo got his answer as his chakra sense went off, the ground underneath him shaking as cracks appeared in the foundation. With a swear, he sent a burst of chakra directly to his feet and attempted to jump, but found himself too slow. A pair of hands, strong and rough with calluses, burst out from below, grabbing hold of his ankles, and yanking him back down.
Minegumo let out a pain-filled shout as his back collided with the ground; a feeling like lightning flashed through him as a tidal wave of pain washed over his body. For a moment, his mind went fuzzy and he lost the ability to breathe. All he could do was gasp as the pain temporarily stunned him.
Gritting his teeth and once again forcing himself to his feet, Minegumo breathed harshly as his attacker appeared from the underground. A moment later, and he was under assault once more as a series of vicious strikes rained down upon him. Body moving on autopilot, Minegumo pumped chakra into his limbs, enhancing his agility and durability, whilst he did his best to avoid the incoming strikes. On and on, the bout went: punches and kicks that caused the air to ripple coming down on him with the force of an explosion and Minegumo ducking and turning to avoid getting hit. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, he could not avoid them forever.
Turning on his heel to avoid a blow to the face, Minegumo found himself doubling over as a vicious kick landed at his sides. Gasping as the air was knocked out of him, he felt his heartbeat skyrocket as the same terror-inducing mist he’d escaped from just moments ago settled down on his eyes. Within moments, his vision began to blur and darken, and Minegumo felt very real panic go through him.
Not again, he pleaded. Please, not again.
Chakra flaring, Minegumo used the very real combination of anxiety and pain to shatter the genjutsu before it could fully take hold. Then, backflipping to avoid another hit, he pressed his hands into a set of seals as he began his own counterattack.
Throwing his hands out, a storm of white lily petals came to life from the sleeves of Minegumo’s jacket. Washing over his attacker, they filled the courtyard almost immediately, swirling around the pair as the temperature plummeted. Watching a curtain of shiny blue hair, so much like his own, whip about as the owner gave the onslaught of flower petals a curious and surprised look, Minegumo smiled ever so slightly. Then he went on the offensive.
Blurring forward, he returned the violent treatment he’d been subject to in kind, striking at his attacker’s legs and torso as hard as he could. Predictably, they had no problem avoiding, if not outright deflecting his blows, twisting and dodging with a grace that spoke years of experience as a taijutsu specialist. But that’s alright,Minegumo thought to himself. I don’t actually need to hit her.
Sure enough, as he forced her to duck and dive, the genjutsu’s effects began kicking in. The cascading flower petals that’d fallen on his attacker instantly turned to ice, starting off as simple flakes that stuck to her skin. However, the snowflakes stuck to her skin and soon spread, crawling over his opponent and taking over her limbs. Soon her entire body would be encased in ice, and Minegumo would be able to end this whole thing.
As if reading his thoughts, his assailant smiled, small and secretive, eyes flashing just before her body broke down into a swarm of butterflies. Numbering well past the hundreds, they filled the courtyard with shimmering dust, and for a moment, Minegumo couldn’t help but stop and stare even as he swore. His genjutsu usurped, he cut off the flow of chakra before it could be reversed upon him. Looking around, he enhanced his chakra sense, carefully looking for his attacker.
It was perhaps a decision that saved his life.
His senses flared, his mind filling with the spectral image of an attack, just moments before it came to life in the form of a strike aimed directly for his head. Dropping down to avoid the hit, Minegumo quickly rose again, only to have his arm nearly yanked out of its socket as his attacker grabbed hold. The next thing he knew, he was being lifted up like a ragdoll.
“Wait,” Minegumo’s voice shook, momentarily confused, before understanding dawned on him. “Wait. M–”
He was cut off, his assailant using his arms to slam him back down to the ground. His world quickly went to hell.
Again and again, he was thrown around on the ground, his knees scraped as they were dragged through stone; against the wall, his back smashing through solid wood as he struggled out of the hold.
As he was slammed through another wall, splinters and asphalt tunneling through his jacket and embedding themselves into his back, Minegumo found himself blinking back tears as the torture continued.
“Please,” he pleaded helplessly. “Please. I can’t–”
Again, he was cut off, the hold moving from his wrists to grabbing hold of his face, slamming his skull against the doors. All at once, stars flashed behind Minegumo’s eyes as a dull ringing echoed in his ears. Desperately grabbing hold of the hand against his face, he groaned as the fingers digging into his head tightened. Another slam, and he found himself crying out as the pain intensified.
“Stop, please!” Tears running down his face, Minegumo was fully sobbing as he was slammed down yet again. Kicking desperately at his attacker, he screamed as his leg was caught before being twisted violently.
“Mom, stop!”
There was a sudden flare of chakra, bright and filled with protective wrath, and Minegumo found his world shifting again. The hand gripping his face stilled, before it was suddenly yanked away, his attacker pushed back. Dropping to the ground, Minegumo breathed in harshly, coming to rest on his knees as he looked up at his rescuer.
Sôun?
Sure enough, it was his beloved older brother standing before him, back turned to Minegumo and body in a protective stance as he gave their mother a wary look. Getting to her feet, Aki sent her eldest a look that could have shattered glass. Flinching back, Sôun’s shoulders sagged, losing their firmness as he looked away. For a moment, the entire courtyard was silent as the three members of the Kurama Clan’s head family looked at once.
Finally, Aki exhaled, her body deflating.
“That’s it for today’s training,” she said quietly. “Sôun, patch up your brother.”
And then she was gone, her curtain of cool blue hair flowing behind her like a stream. In the wake of his mother’s exit, Minegumo cried once more, all but throwing himself at his older brother, who turned and lifted him into his arms.
“It’s okay, Mine.” Sôun’s voice was gentle and patient as he rubbed his little brother’s back. “It’s okay.”
How was it supposed to be okay? Minegumo almost blurted the words out. It chilled him more than he could put into words, the person his mother became sometimes, scared him with the awful thought that one day he wouldn’t get so lucky, that one day she would actually kill him.
“Let’s get you taken care of,” Sôun said firmly. “Then we can go outside and I’ll finish up your training for today. Sound good?”
Minegumo hesitated. It did sound good, but…
“I want to see dad,” he replied, voice in a mutter.
Ah. Sôun pressed his lips together, but nodded. He couldn’t fault his baby brother for wanting to see their father after what he’d just gone through.
It took only moments for Sôun to patch his brother back up, the energizing power of the healing jutsu making quick work of his wounds. Then they were outside, wandering through the streets of Konohagakure, past the estates of the other prominent clans, with their own manors and members going through their day. Past the shops and homes, and other community areas. Every so often, they would run into other members of the Kurama clan, some who gave simple nods and greetings, others who stopped to offer congratulations. Others still seemed to know the two brothers were on their way to a specific destination and let them by without trouble.
Finally, they reached the end of their quest.
Taking a deep breath, Minegumo slowly inched forward, suddenly nervous in spite of it being his idea to come here. Silence greeted him, as was the norm, and he swallowed, taking another breath to dispel the nerves. Pausing, Minegumo looked back at Sôun, who gave him a thumbs up as encouragement. Right then.
“Hey, dad,” Minegumo said tentatively. “Sorry I haven’t been by in a while: things have been pretty crazy these last couple of months. I passed my Genin Exam,” he pointed to the headband tied around his neck. “Got assigned a team. I’m with Ki and this girl named Hikari. She’s pretty cool. Great, even.”
No response, but he wasn’t surprised. “I went on my first C-rank, not too long ago. We’ve also got a fourth person on our team…he’s not that great, though.” that last part was said in a mumble, his expression souring as he remembered Chikara. He shook his head; he didn’t want to think about the interloper. Not right now.
“I love you, dad,” Minegumo blurted out, feeling an ache in his chest. “I wish you were here.”
He looked up, casting his gaze on the memorial stone and the name of Kurama Arashi, feeling a wave of sadness and heartbreak crest within him. Taking a final, shuddery breath, Minegumo hugged his jacket, startling for a moment as he felt his brother’s arms wrap around him. Relaxing, he leaned into the embrace, wiping at his eyes.
“Do you think he’d be proud of me?” he couldn’t help but ask, looking at Sôun.
His brother smiled, soft and sad, resting his chin on Minegumo’s head. “Of course he would, baby blue.”
“I can’t think of any reason why he wouldn’t be.”
The voice came from directly behind them, causing both brothers to stiffen before turning around. Coming face-to-face with the amber-eyed gaze of their Kage, they startled, before shifting into hurried bows, stammering out apologies.
Kosui laughed, raising a hand. “No need for that,” he said. “Right now, I’m just a regular shinobi, same as both of you.”
As if to prove his point, he pulled out a bouquet of flowers with his other hand, resting them at the base of the memorial stone. Closing his eyes, Kosui bowed, his mane of blood-red hair moving like tossed embers. Rising back up, he put his hands in his pockets, giving the duo a curious look.
“What brings you boys out here?” he asked.
“We’re visiting our father,” replied Sôun softly. “Been a while since the last time we were here.”
“And so you wanted to give your respects.” Kosui’s eyes flickered for a moment. “You’re good sons.”
Sôun blushed, raising a hand to rub at the back of his neck. It wasn’t every day that the Hokage gave a compliment like that, especially to regular ninja like him. “Thank you, sir,” he said.
Much to his mortification, his voice cracked on the last word, and he felt his jaw clench as humility caused the blush to intensify. But thankfully, the Hokage was a merciful man, because he only smiled good-naturedly and turned his gaze to Mine, amber meeting amber.
“And how are you, Minegumo?” he asked. “How is it being back in the village?”
How was it being back? Minegumo thought the question over, and could only shrug in response. Truthfully, he felt weird. He was restless being back in Konoha, and he half expected to run into some other weirdo with an abnormally strong kekkei genkai at any moment.
“Okay, I guess,” he mumbled out.
Kosui hummed thoughtfully. “Arata noted you might be having some trouble readjusting to life in the village,” he said gently. That was a lie, but Minegumo didn’t need to know that. “Did something happen while you were on the southern continent?”
Minegumo scoffed. “Besides getting my ass handed to me and not being able to do anything about it?” he asked sarcastically.
Sôun frowned. “Wait, what?” He looked down at Minegumo. “When did this happen?” he demanded.
“It’s not important,” he replied, avoiding his elder brother’s gaze. “Master Arata ended up killing them all anyway.”
After they all tried and failed to do any meaningful damage against him. He hadn’t managed to really contribute to the fight until he’d activated his Kekkei Genkai.
“If an enemy does not fall to your first method of attack,” Kosui began, “then you need to try another. Shake things up.”
“With what?” Minegumo demanded. “All I’ve got is my genjutsu. My mom won’t even let me sign the fox contract until she thinks I’m ready.”
“Why not branch out?” Kosui suggested. “Now is the perfect time to do so, in my opinion.”
Minegumo blinked, sharing a look with Sôun. “Really?” he asked. Receiving a nod in response, he shrugged. “Branch into what? I don’t have an elemental affinity, thanks to my bloodline.”
“There's medical ninjutsu,” Sôun said. “I could help you, and it isn’t like you don’t have the chakra control for it.”
Remembering his own training and the way his instructors had practically salivated at the prospect of him joining the medic corps, Sôun couldn’t help but grin. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the head of the hospital wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to recruit his baby brother. However, the look of disgust on his baby brother’s face made him stop.
“I’m not nursing anyone back to health,” Minegumo said bluntly. “Or being the guy everyone turns to whenever they have a papercut.”
Kosui coughed, a suspicious noise that sounded closer to a chuckle than clearing his throat. “How about dokujutsu?” was his recommendation. “Sub-branch of the medicinal arts, and comes with the bonus of not having to worry about needing to nurse anyone, as you put it.”
Poisons would be cool. But… “Where would I learn?” Minegumo asked. Most poison users were in the medic corps, and he doubted that any of them would waste their time on a Genin who had no interest in joining their ranks. The others were bukijutsu specialists who typically only coated their weaponry in poisons, instead of knowing any actual techniques.
“As it just so happens, there are some books in the library,” Kosui answered. “They simply require a certain level of clearance, which you now have as a Genin.”
That sold it for him. Bowing again and coming up with a smile, Minegumo gave his thanks and turned to leave, Sôun at his side, when Kosui called back to him.
“Why don’t you keep this a secret, if you don’t mind?” The man asked. “I know how clans can be, and I would hate for your elders to believe your slacking off because of my suggestion, should they be adverse to your learning of a new field.”
Minegumo shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”
It wasn’t like he had any desire to see his mother after this morning.
--- “I’m back!”
As was routine, Hikari called out to announce her return to the Konoha Orphanage as she walked through the doors. From where she was, she could easily make out the sounds of conversation close by, the adults corralling the younger children, while the older kids walked and talked among themselves. As was routine, there was no greeting to welcome her back.
This is fine, she thought to herself.
Taking a deep breath, Hikari smiled as she began the walk back to her bed in the room she shared with the other Genin in the orphanage. Keenly aware of the twigs and leaves that’d made a home in hair, she brushed a hair through it, attempting to draw some of it out. The little she did manage to force out, fell to the floor, vanishing just moments after hitting the wood as seals lit up.
Pausing, Hikari realized that her hair coloring was beginning to fade, the honey-blonde becoming more ashen as her dark roots slowly but surely began to show through.
So much for three months guaranteed.
Shoving down the sudden spike of irritation and forcing herself to remain calm, Hikari changed direction, turning around and making her way to the main living room, absentmindedly stepping over the day’s mess as she looked for her guardians.
Kohaku sat by himself in a chair, going through a stack of papers. As always, the man looked tired, like he’d spent too many nights staying up instead of actually sleeping, and knowing Kohaku, he very well might’ve; the man did his best to be available for all of the kids who might need him, day or night. Once upon a time, Hikari had thought that admirable.
Moving to stand at the arm of the chair, she politely cleared her throat, watching as the man startled.
“Hikari? Hey, welcome back,” he said, attempting to stand. When that didn’t work, not without sending papers everywhere, he settled for opening an arm and patting her on the back. “When did you get back in?”
Ten minutes ago, Hikari thought but carefully did not say. I was standing outside for another ten minutes knocking, because the door was locked. I had to pick it to get in.
“Just now,” she said instead of voicing her thoughts. “Aoi, Umi, Yasuke are all at their appointments.”
Kohaku smiled, the stress visibly leaving his frame. “Thank you so much, Hika,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “You’ve been such a team player, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Probably replace her. Force another one of the senior kids like herself to be an extra parent to a group of children because he needed the help, but was too scared to put in a request with the Hokage. It was a vicious cycle that Hikari had seen play out more times than she could count, and it always ended the same: them gone, while Kohaku stayed.
“Do you need anything, kiddo?” he asked, and it was all she could do not to lunge at him. As it was, her hand twitched; an action that her teammates would’ve noticed and immediately jumped back for. But Kohaku had no way of noticing the tell or realizing what it meant.
Don’t call me a kid. I’m not some little girl. I could kill you without trying. The thoughts forced themselves into her brain like a kunai digging into a training dummy. I need to buy more hair dye. Natsu needs to have his sword repaired or replaced. You need more help than the kids who call this place home.
Hikari shook her head. “I’m going to go lay down before it's time to pick them up.”
And it would be she who picked them up. Kohaku couldn’t afford to leave too often without there being an actual adult to watch over the children. That left escorting everyone too and from the orphanage the duty of the older kids who hadn’t yet left, of which only she and Natsu were left.
Before he could reply, she turned on her heel, feeling her head pound with the beginnings of a migraine. Making her way to the bathroom, Hikari closed the door and made sure it was locked before leaning her back against the door. For a moment, a single moment, she allowed herself to breathe, to feel all of the frustration that’d been building in her, before ruthlessly shoving it back down, banished to a corner in the back of her mind, locked up nice and tight.
Straightening up, she stalked to the sink, letting it fill with water that she hurriedly splashed on her face.
“It’s not so bad,” Hikari mumbled to herself, staring at her reflection in the mirror until her eyes began to sting. “Things could always be worse.”
Again and again, she repeated the nine words back to herself, the simple line that had become her mantra and source of strength over the years she’d lived here. Finally, after losing track of just how many times she’d said the words, Hikari allowed herself to stop. Splashing water onto her face one last time, she took a breath, and stepped away from the mirror, smile firmly fixed to her face, like it’d been painted on.
Unlocking the door and exiting the bathroom, Hikari had just taken a step out when Kohaku called out to her from the living room.
“Kiddo?” His voice seemed to ring through the entire house, like a phantom that haunted the building and refused to leave. “I know you said you wanted to lay down, but do you think you can do me a favor while you’re still up?”
“Sure thing, Kohaku,” Hikari was proud of herself for managing to keep the smile on her face and keeping her voice level. “What do you need?”
She was calm. She was perfectly mellow. Happy, even. There was nothing for Hikari to be upset about, because it wasn’t so bad, things could always be worse. She had a roof over her shoulder, someone to help pay for her expenses, and a set of meals to eat every day. She didn’t know what more she could ask for, didn’t have any idea of what the life of a normal Genin in a shinobi village was like beyond Minegumo, so Hikari didn’t bother wishing for more.
If anything, she wished for less. Less time to spend at the orphanage. Less time to spend away from her teammates, who Hikari had grown to love and cherish more than ever thought possible. Less time to spend in her thoughts, where she could only count down the seconds until the next time she was free from this hell, and before she had to return to play mother to children in her own age group.
“Do you mind taking these papers to Lord Kosui for me?” he asked, handing her a thick folder. “I would go myself, but…”
But he was too scared to talk to Kosui and make any more demands for the extra staffing they desperately needed, because they might send someone more equipped. But there was always a kid who needed him and his attention, and it was better to send her, who could fend for herself, to do it. But he wanted a second where he didn’t have to worry about anything, and who better to pick up the slack than a Genin? But, but, but, but, but.
“It’s no problem, Kohaku,” Hikari said, taking the folder and gripping it so tightly her knuckles turned white. Smiling widely, so wide it almost hurt, she shook her head. “I’m always happy to help.”
His expression softened. “I know. And that's why I count on you so much. You never complain or whine, unlike some of those others ones. You’d think I hadn’t cared for them their whole lives from how they act.”
“...Right.” Blinking, Hikari nodded, keeping the smile firmly in place. “Of course.”
It wasn’t so bad. Things could always be worse.
--- Kian’s muscles were sore, screaming at him in frustration for having put them through such an intense morning training regimen. In the few days since the team had returned from Shikkotsu Forest, he had found himself incredibly motivated. Though he had succeeded in finally awakening the Sharingan, it wasn’t good enough for him. He hadn’t been able to defeat the Collector with Crystal Release, nor had he been able to do a whole lot against the Collector with Shikotsumyaku. Fighting against such foes had awakened to him to the reality that as he was right now, there was a massive chasm separating his strength from the strength truly elite, powerful shinobi. Next to the might of the Collectors that Team Thirteen had battled, he was insignificant, nothing more than a pup growling insolently in the face of a full-grown wolf. He was weak, and he could not allow himself to be weak.
To fulfill his one purpose in life, he had to be strong.
As he walked through the gates of the Uchiha clan’s vast, sprawling estate, he slid his hands into the pockets of his shorts, pointedly straightening his posture and walking with his head held high. Nobody spoke a word to him; the most acknowledgement he got was a few resentful glares from clansmen that, he knew, were huge supporters of his uncle. They were Uchiha who had refused to let go of the clan’s old, prideful ways, the same stubbornness that had once contributed to their near annihilation. It was Uchiha like them, who, in their arrogance, made the rest of the village continue to hold the clan at arm’s length in distrust. Kian hated the lot of them and their traditionalist mindset.
Having pride in the clan was one thing, but when that pride was perverted into arrogance, it was dangerous. Kian would never forget the first time his father had warned him about that, had expressed his concerns that one day, the clan would free-fall back into darkness. Under his uncle’s leadership, Kian would’ve had to have been blind not to see his father’s worst fears regarding the clan slowly coming to pass. It made him all the more determined to one day defeat his uncle, expel him from the clan, and take up the mantle of leadership himself. Protecting his father’s legacy was, he felt, the least he could do to show his respect, love, and appreciation for the man who had raised him and always been nothing but good to him. Kian missed his father desperately in moments like these. How ashamed, he wondered, would Seto Uchiha have been, seeing the way the clan he had given everything to treated his only son?
The boy’s lips curled into a sneer as he noticed whispers following him. Let them talk behind my back, act like I don’t exist. I’ll be the greatest out of all of them, and they can die mad about it. Kian reached his front door and slid it open, taking his sandals off before going inside. He stood there for a moment in the living room, glancing sadly towards a framed photograph of him and his father. Sighing, he forced himself to look away and keep walking, finding himself in the garden. When he was feeling pensive like this, he liked being out in nature. It brought him some peace. He sat down on the edge of the deck, his feet dangling over the small pond that the garden featured, and he stared up at the sky. It was dominated by deep, dark grey storm clouds. During the warmer seasons, this was common for Konohagakure and the rest of the Land of Fire. If it wasn’t currently storming, it was threatening to storm, with inexplicable spurts of blue skies and sunshine punctuating the gloom.
Since getting back to the village, he’d kept to himself. He was used to being alone, and since he’d opened up a bit about his time in Amegakure, well…he felt like being around Minegumo and Hikari would be awkward. They meant well, he knew, and they seemed to genuinely care about him, but he hated feeling like he was being looked at like a kicked puppy. Being pitied was unbearable to him. He didn’t want pity. Truth be told, though, he wasn’t exactly sure what he did want. Part of him hated being lonely all the time, but another part of him, the part that was insecure and terrified of being hurt, clung to isolation. It was counterintuitive, maybe, to most others, but the closer he got emotionally to his teammates, the more he had to resist the impulse to push them away, because aside from Tatsuo, they were the only ones who really had the power to cause him pain. They were becoming everything to him, the reason aside from his pursuit of his ambition that he had the energy to even get out of bed every morning. Caring that much about another person, to him, felt like being set up for disappointment, for more loss, and the feelings were doubled because there was two of them.
They must think I’m so weak, he told himself. They’re not dumb, they probably see right through me and know what a scared, pathetic child I really am…
He wanted to run from them. They would’ve been better off without him, he told himself.
Of course, it was really about the fact that when the chips had been laid down, he’d cared so much that he’d been willing to die for them. Kian had fought against the Crystal Release enemy with everything he’d had and then some. He had fought with every bit of passion, desperation, skill, talent that he could muster, not caring about his own survival. All he’d been able to think of, aside from his own enjoyment of the intensity of the combat, was ensuring that Minegumo and Hikari would live. It had been a close call, too. For all of his efforts, he had almost failed. Had Master Arata been a moment slower, Hikari would’ve been killed, and he and Minegumo would’ve been taken. As strong a shinobi as Master Arata was, Kian wasn’t sure that the man could’ve rescued Chikara, Minegumo, and himself on his own.
Kian sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his face thoughtfully.
I’m not afraid of dying, he told himself. I’ve come close to death before… But in that moment, before Master Arata got there…that was the most scared I’ve ever been…
The wind picked up, blowing gently through his hair and caressing his face. The boy opened his eyes again, this time casting them downwards to stare at his own reflection in the pond. Kian noticed the blankness of his expression, the deep violet shade of his irides, the paleness of his own skin… He knew, of course, that the person staring back at him was himself, but he felt no connection to him; it was like seeing a stranger in the mirror. It was disorienting, and as the minutes whiled away, Kian’s vision lost focus. He blinked. A single leaf fell from a tree next to the pond as his eyes followed it, landing delicately upon its surface and causing a small ripple. Kian felt all the breath leave his body as for a brief moment, as the water glided merrily away from the leaf, his reflection was distorted.
It was no longer himself staring back at him, but his father.
Kian shook his head, rising to his feet. Was that just a mere trick of the light? Was it an expression of his desire to see his father again? Was it a byproduct of his own dissociation, his lack of security in his identity? Maybe it was all of the above, or maybe it was just the universe’s way of telling him that his father’s memory still lived on in him, the son who looked so very like the man he’d admired to no end. Either way, he retreated to his bedroom, spooked by the experience. Kian threw himself upon his bed, lying flat on his stomach, half of his face buried in a pillow. There was dead silence throughout the house, punctuated only by the sound of raindrops gently crashing against the roof as the weather finally gave way.
Maybe it’s not so bad, being alone.
Turning Back: Chikara’s Request[]
In his office, Kosui Uzumaki was pacing back and forth in front of the window relentlessly. He was replaying the interaction between himself, Minegumo, and Sôun over and over in his head, the frustration building that there was so little he could do for the boys. Keeping a distance but offering his mentorship at the same time would be a delicate game to play. Perhaps it had been unwise to speak to them at all, but…he couldn’t help himself, an impulse that he supposed he would have to learn to master. Pausing, Kosui stared out of the window, lost in thought.
A gloomy day, indeed… The weather has been particularly unwelcoming lately.
Sighing, Kosui turned away, seating himself at his desk once again. The Hokage pulled a stack of paperwork towards him absentmindedly. When he glanced down at it, he realized it was a compilation of the most recent mission reports that had been put together for him. He supposed that there was no point in putting it off, and besides…he was curious. The first few reports were as dull as expected: routine missions and grunt work for the village’s Genin. Eventually, however, he reached the report that he was most interested to read, a summary of Sarutobi Arata’s Team Thirteen’s mission to Shikkotsu Forest. Kosui had barely begun to read the report when a knock at the door had him looking back up, mildly irritated at the interruption.
“You may enter,” he called out.
“You asked to see me, Lord Hokage?”
Even before he’d spoken, Kosui knew who his new visitor was. Although the specific signature was one he’d only recently memorized, the general feel alone was enough to let him it was someone from one of Konoha’s founding clans.
Sure enough, Konoha’s newest exchange student marched into the office. If he were being truthful, there was a part of Kosui that was still somewhat surprised that there was a branch of the Hyūga clan that’d decided to settle down in Kumogakure. Surprised, and affronted. Since the founding of the Hidden Village era, Kumogakure had always been greedy, always lusting over the talents of Konoha’s clans in their jealousy over their lack of bloodlines. Well, useful bloodlines. For generations, they’d been blocked off, until, from what Kosui could tell, a fool from the era of Lord Seventh had allowed himself to be seduced.
Now, generations later, Kumo had become a real thorn in Konoha’s side, but Kosui was seeking to change that, to reclaim Konoha’s stolen Byakugan and the new techniques that traitorous branch had come up with, and remind Kumogakure of their place on the totem pole. That had been the plan. From what he'd gathered from Arata’s mission reports, that plan was looking like it would be a failure.
“Take a seat, Chikara,” Kosui said, smiling pleasantly and waving a hand to the young boy. “I was hoping we could discuss some things.”
“Discuss?” Chikara echoed back, eyes furrowed in bemusement.
“How’ve you been adjusting to the village?” Kosui asked, forcing his voice to remain pleasant. His eyes briefly flickered to the cursed seal that’d been placed on the boy’s neck, and he felt just the smallest bit of smugness at the counter seal he’d placed over it. “I understand that it’s been a bit of a rough adjustment, between your C-rank and getting along with your teammates.”
“Ah. That.” Chikara smiled thinly. “It has been tough going, yes.”
An understatement. If things had been awkward when Chikara had initially joined his squad, it was outright terrible now.
Kosui studied the boy’s face carefully. He could tell that there was more that Chikara wanted to say but was holding back. From what he had been able to read of the report, he knew that things had been tense between Chikara and Minegumo in particular. It was disheartening, to say the least.
“Well, now would be a good time to elaborate on your true thoughts,” the Hokage stated patiently. “You have my full attention.”
“I’m not getting along with my teammates,” Chikara said carefully. “Minegumo — he and I have only clashed since our first meeting. Everything I do, he looks for a mistake in.” And should one be found, he would go about ‘correcting’ it himself. Even now, Chikara still burned with fury over the way the other boy had shown him up when they’d touched down on the other continent.
“I thought I could get along with him, that we were connecting, but he has shown that he doesn’t care for me.” He spat the words out, bitterness welling up as he remembered how the other boy had treated him both during and after their confrontation with the Collector.
Kosui sighed. He knew, from reports from both Arata and the instructors at the Academy, that Minegumo had developed something of an…intense personality. The boy did not handle change well, nor was he, to be frank, good with strangers or one to be part of a welcoming committee. No, Minegumo had grown into a very stubborn, possessive, independent child. In some ways, this was a good thing, but there was no denying that it could be a headache to navigate at times. He supposed that, on the whole, he wasn’t altogether surprised to hear that Chikara had had difficulty in getting along with him.
“What about your other teammates?” Kosui inquired, an eyebrow raising in interest. “How do you get along with them? With Arata?”
Chikara laughed dryly. “Kian is just barely better. He can be friendly, but he has a problem with me using my natural abilities and it isn’t right or fair.”
He sat up straight in his chair, fists clenched at his sides. It bothered him how Kian seemed to always have a negative reaction to Chikara choosing to read his mind. The other boy refused to see how helpful such an ability was.
“But he’s also even worse. At least Minegumo never physically attacked me.”
Chikara shook his head, getting back on track. “Hikari…” his voice trailed off. “She’s the good one. I feel bad for her, being stuck on a team with the two of them.”
He meant it wholeheartedly. Hikari seemed like a sweet girl: easy to get along with, and more than capable of pulling her weight. The ideal teammate, as far as Chikara was concerned. He could already tell, though, that while she had no problem with him, she wasn’t going to side against her teammates when it came down to it.
“Master Arata is nice enough,” he continued, answering with a shrug. “I don’t think he always knows how to handle us…them.”
Kosui listened carefully, nodding here and there to intimate that he was paying attention. Truthfully, much of what Chikara had to say came off, to him, as whining. He could understand Minegumo and the Uchiha child, who was known to be particularly troubled, being difficult to get along with, but had Chikara been one of Konohagakure’s Genin, he certainly wouldn’t have had much patience for his complaints. To him, it sounded like Arata, who was closer to the situation, had decided to simply let it play out. Kosui couldn’t blame the man. Arata’s job was to turn the kids into soldiers, true shinobi, not mediate petty arguments between them.
“Well, being frank…the only options I have available to help resolve this situation would be to transfer you to a different squad or let you return to Kumogakure,” Kosui informed him, brow knitting together in deep thought. “Do you think you could remain on Team Thirteen and work things out with them? Or would you prefer we discuss the other options?”
“Would the other squads be any better?” Chikara asked. “I don’t want to run into any more conflicts.”
He just wanted to enjoy his time in the village and grow as a shinobi, but it was looking more and more difficult than he originally believed it would be.
“I just want to get along with everyone and not have people hate me for nothing.”
The Hokage hummed thoughtfully. “Let’s see… Team Eleven…Uzumaki Sora, Hyūga Dan, Inuzuka Shusei...probably not a good fit. Dan is the heir to the main branch of the Hyūga clan here in Konoha; I think he would be quite territorial with you. Team Twelve is Akimichi Chōzen, Yamanaka Inohime, and Nara Shikaiya. Their temperaments would probably be a much better fit for you, but those three have unique skills that are calibrated to support one another…it would be an awkward fit for you from a tactical standpoint.”
“So I have no choice but to go back to that squad or go home?” Chikara grit his teeth, blinking back tears of frustration. With a scoff, he shook his head. “Just send me home.”
Kosui grimaced, looking at Chikara over his interlocked fingers. “It may be for the best,” he said quietly, “unless you’re willing to give Team Twelve a chance and try to adapt.”
“My last try ended up with me being kidnapped and experimented on,” Chikara said flatly. “And one of my own teammates assaulted me because I spoke the truth.”
And it was the truth. Kian might not like it, but it just proved his point, as far as Chikara was concerned. He’d allowed his circumstances to turn him into a victim and someone as unrepentant as Minegumo. Fate knew what it was doing by not giving him mercy.
“I apologize for not being able to see this through,” Chikara murmured, looking to the floor as his anger left him. In its place, he only felt tired. “But I’m sure my return to Kumo would be best for everyone involved.”
“I suppose it can’t be helped,” Kosui replied. “I will arrange for a squad to escort you back to Kumogakure immediately. Perhaps it really will be for the best…it will put some distance between you and those who captured you in Shikkotsu Forest. I will also make sure Kumogakure is briefed on your situation…with that cursed seal.”
The Hokage wasn’t looking forward to Kumogakure’s higher ups causing headaches for him. It hadn’t been any fault of his village or one of his best Jōnin that the boy had fallen into enemy hands. Kosui knew that Arata had done everything he could to rescue Chikara, as well, and so had his other students. In fact, to Kosui, it seemed as though Chikara was determined not to give them any credit for putting their own lives on the line… Regardless, he understood that the boy’s mind was made up.
Nodding sharply, Chikara made to stand. As he rose, he paused, before bowing at the waist.
“I know I wasn’t here for very long,” he began. “But thank you for looking after me, Lord Hokage.”
“Of course,” Kosui replied. “I’m sure your Lord Raikage has done the same for the Konoha shinobi that Kumogakure is hosting. Good luck to you. Please look after yourself and make sure to watch your back.”
With that, Chikara nodded and turned to leave the room, his head still spinning as he began to reflect on his brief time in Konohagakure. He wouldn’t be sorry to see home again, that much was certain.
--- The sun had set in Konohagakure. Crystal blue skies slowly bled to violet and orange as clouds thinned out, and the pleasant warmth in the village slowly cooled. As the noon slowly transitioned to night, so too did the villagers begin to wind down from their long days. Some stayed out, going to restaurants with friends to continue spending the time together, while others went home: parents with children, siblings with siblings, cousins with cousins. All began the process of relaxation before enjoying their evening meals and eventually going to bed, and starting the day again come morning.
Almost all. As some stragglers stayed behind to finish their tasks, be it work or training, there were others who could not enjoy the end to their day. Not yet, they couldn’t.
Kurama Minegumo was one of those people.
Hands in his pockets, the young heir of the Kurama bounded through the village, eyes sharp with intent and determination. Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, he hummed to himself, enjoying the feeling of cool evening air against his face. Looking out of the side of his eyes, he smiled ever-so-slightly as he looked at his companion.
With her honey-blonde hair let loose from the braided bun it’d been set in for the mission, Yakushi Hikari could have easily passed for a member of the Yamanaka clan. As it was, a few of them even raised their hands in greetings as they blurred past, only seeing the bright locks that were a signature of the clan of mind-manipulators.
“If another person from that clan waves at me,” Hikari began, “I’m going to scream.”
“I think it's funny,” said Minegumo with a grin. “With your hair dyed like that, you really could pass as one of them.”
“Remind me to buy a pack of red dye tonight,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Passing as Hime’s sister is the last thing I want.”
“Then you’ll be an Uzumaki,” Minegumo pointed out. “And then you’ll really have Sora’s attention.”
Hikari grimaced, leveling her teammate with a look of disgust. “Are you trying to make me sick?”
The corner of his lips twitching in the beginning of a barely-suppressed smirk, it was all Minegumo could do not to start laughing. As it was, he still snickered. A moment later, however, the grin melted from his face as he gave a last jump from a rooftop and landed on the ground of the Uchiha Clan District. As Hikari appeared next to him, Minegumo hummed again, looking around thoughtfully.
“Sure has changed since the last time I was here,” he mused aloud. “You’d think someone just died.”
Hikari gave a slow nod. “It is very…melancholy, isn’t it?”
When her teammate failed to answer, Hikari frowned, looking around bemusedly before finding him making a rude gesture to an elderly man who’d stopped in what looked to be a walk to the store to give the duo a suspicious look.
Hikari gasped. “Mine!” Quickly grabbing the collar of his jacket, she mumbled out a quick apology to the old man, before all but dragging him away.
“What is wrong with you?” she demanded, voice in a hiss. “Why would you give that old man the finger?!”
“He started it!” Minegumo defended himself. “Acting like we’re some shady missing-nin or something.”
“So you flip him off?”
“Well, I was gonna make him pee himself,” he mumbled.
Shaking her head, Hikari took a deep breath, sending a prayer to the havens for patience. “Come on,” she said, grabbing his wrist. “Direct us to Kian before we get arrested by the police force.”
Kian, meanwhile, had finally awoken from a long nap. The extra sleep and a shower had improved his mood slightly, but he was still feeling out of sorts and was a bit disoriented on top of it, having thrown off his internal clock. He felt groggy and a bit sickly, so he was curled up in his bed with a book, reading in silence. Reading always seemed to center him, and it was one of his favorite pastimes, which was why it was he whom Minegumo usually sought out for help working through his dyslexia. That night’s selection was a classical novel about a samurai whose arrogance brought his whole world crashing down; it was quite riveting, he thought. Kian was lost in the pages when, to his surprise, he heard a knock at his door.
Damn, he thought. This was just starting to get good.
Yawning, he slid out of bed and made his way to his front door, curiosity getting the better of him as he slid it open to see his teammates standing there under the porch light.
“Yo,” he said casually, running a hand through his hair. “Bit late, isn’t it? Hope my clansmen didn’t give you guys too hard a time.”
“If anything, you should worry about Mine terrorizing them,” Hikari muttered, darkly. Shaking her head, she leant against the door. “Anyways, we came to get you.”
From her position, her eyes flickered as she gave the inside of Kian’s house a wondering look. She’d never been inside before, and Hikari was more than a little curious about what it looked like.
Minegumo nodded, bouncing on his feet. “It’s team building night!”
Kian raised an eyebrow at Minegumo, smirking playfully as he folded his arms over his chest, leaning against his doorway. “Is that so?” he mused. “Eh, why not, I’m just sitting here reading, anyway. How about I treat you guys to Ichiraku?” He knew that Minegumo, at least, was always fiending for ramen.
Minegumo smiled, a full expression that overtook his entire face. “Alright!”
Turning on his feet, his blue hair whipped about as he climbed atop of the railing. Giving each of his teammates a salute, he fell back with a grin.
“I swear, I don’t know where he gets his energy from,” Hikari sighed. Still, she gave Kian a grin of her own as she stood up straight. “Glad you’re paying: I’ve been craving a big bowl of beef and pork ramen myself.”
“My theory is one of his moms dropped him on his head as a baby, so now his brain doesn’t have an off switch,” Kian quipped. “Anyway, get whatever you like, the payout on that last mission was pretty good.” Hell, that’s about the only good thing that came from that trip…that and my Sharingan.
Now that he was starting to really wake up, he found that his own energy had returned, so naturally, he decided to match Minegumo’s boisterousness. Getting a quick running start, he leapt into the air in a smooth somersault, vaulting himself over the railing, falling upside down much like Minegumo. At the last moment, he twisted in midair, landing carefully on one leg.
Never gets old, he thought.
“What am I going to do with those two?” Hikari wondered aloud. There was no fighting the infectious smile that appeared on her face as her eyes lightened, however. For all that she liked to playfully complain about her teammates, they truly were her boys.
So that was why she climbed atop the railing and immediately launched herself down. Unlike her two teammates however, she did not do any twists or flips. Instead, Hikari stuck the landing, coming to one knee and striking the earth with a fist, sending a light tremor through the ground that shook the branches in the trees above them.
As leaves fell, Hikari stood, casually flicking her hair over her shoulder as she did so. Now that’s a landing, if I do say so myself.
“Show off,” said Minegumo. “You just couldn’t let us look cool, could you?”
“I’m fine with you guys showing off, too,” she answered sweetly. “Just as long as you’re both aware that you’ll never be as cool as me.”
Kian chuckled softly, sliding his hands into his pockets as he turned away, walking in the direction of Ichiraku. He was glad that it was dark outside; he’d felt an inexplicable wave of heat rise in his cheeks, much to his chagrin. Shaking his head slightly, he got a grip on himself and the sensation passed.
“Well,” he began, keeping his voice even with some slight difficulty, “I’ve definitely enjoyed being back. I don’t know about you guys, but even I’m ready for some down time after…all that.”
Minegumo hummed, pushing his hands back into his pockets. After a moment, he shrugged. “I think it’ll take me another day to get used to things again.”
Which was putting it lightly. He’d been jumpy since they’d gotten back, and had only calmed down enough in the last couple hours to not jump every time he felt someone mold their chakra. As it was, it was the familiarity of the village that kept him from lashing out sometimes.
Hikari nodded. “It was weird walking through the orphanage doors and seeing everyone again. I know we were gone for less than a week, but it feels weird that we didn’t really miss anything while we were gone, you know?”
“I guess it’s because of everything we went through,” Minegumo said softly. “So much happened to us in such a short amount of time, things feel stagnant while we’re readjusting.”
Kian nodded. “Gotta say, though, fighting enemies that powerful…it’s a hell of a motivator,” he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper as a dark expression flitted across his face, vanishing as quickly as it appeared.
He was going to become that strong one day. No, more than that; he would become even stronger. Kian was determined, fixated on the idea of attaining greater and greater strength. Furthermore, he was adamant that on their next mission, he would be far more useful. He would be capable of protecting both of his comrades next time. Kian never wanted to experience the fear of losing either of them again.
Minegumo nodded. “That’s true.”
Although he didn’t know it, his thoughts were running along the same path as that of his best friend. The events of their C-rank to the Shikkotsu Forest had been an eye-opener like no other. While his genjutsu was strong, and his Kekkei Genkai was even stronger, it still wasn’t enough. It couldn’t be. His illusions and the small number of basic ninjutsu in his arsenal just weren’t going to cut it anymore. If Minegumo was ever going to actually make it as a shinobi, he needed to expand his skill set, lest he become deadweight.
“That was the last time I’m ever going to feel weak and useless,” Hikari remarked, voicing Minegumo’s unsaid thoughts. “Next time, whoever tries to take us on won’t know what hits them.”
More importantly, they wouldn’t make it past her. Hikari could barely control her abilities, could barely understand them, but that was going to change. That day they’d all come together as a team after succeeding in their bell test, she’d made a promise that she’d be the shield that no one would get past. It was time to put her money where her mouth was and make good on what she’d sworn, and that meant making sure she had everything she needed to make sure anyone who got up-close and personal with them would regret their decision.
A gust of wind blew merrily through the area as a comfortable silence fell between the trio. Though none of them said it, somehow, each of them knew that they were of one mind, silently reflecting on that night at the pier, the oath they’d sworn to one another. In the wake of everything that had happened on their mission, that oath felt more significant than ever. Somehow, after having been put in the position of fighting for their lives together, those words had become more than just a childish dream given voice.
They had become an ideal, a shared vision that would serve as the light at the end of the seemingly endless tunnel that they walked…together.
Growth[]
If one were to look up currently at the Jōnin Standby Station, one would see a quartet of silhouettes near one of the windows, standing out in stark contrast with the top level’s fluorescent lighting. Given the lateness of the hour, this was an oddity. After all, the station was normally used by Jōnin during the day as a place to breathe, to recoup themselves in between sets of orders from the Hokage. Sometimes, the village’s Jōnin simply visited in order to catch up with each other when off-duty. Invariably, though, by sundown, the station was empty.
On the inside, Sarutobi Arata was looking out through the window over the village as he spoke.
“They all need more specialized training than I can give them,” he was saying. “Whoever this Benefactor is, or more accurately, whoever he’s working for, will be motivated to come after Kian and Minegumo, at the least. Hikari’s special ability…I’m not familiar with it, but there’s no way it isn’t genetic. It’s not like any Hiden I’ve ever seen. I don’t think the enemy she used it against had any way of relaying the information to the Benefator before I killed him, but all the same, it seems almost inevitable that they will learn about it eventually.”
Arata paused. Truth be told, he was certain that Hikari didn’t fully understand her capabilities herself. She’d seemed hesitant to use them, scared almost.
He turned to face the rest of the group he’d assembled: Uzumaki Kosui, Hatake Takuya, and Kurama Akigumo, all part of his generation, comrades he’d once waged war with and worked alongside for many years. Arata trusted and respect each of them, and so it was to them he had turned to seek counsel on how best to manage his students and their unique circumstances.
Eyes closed and leaning against the nearest deck, Kosui’s brow furrowed as he processed what Arata was telling them. To say he didn’t like what he was hearing would have been putting things lightly. Someone, or someones for all they knew, was going around and collecting users of rare or unique Kekkei Genkai. Taking them, using a cursed seal to strip them of their free will, and then…making soldiers of them? Grunts to hunt down other bloodline users? To what end?
“I was the one to put the suppression seal on her bracelets,” Kosui mused aloud. “But I have to confess, I’m not too familiar with her abilities either. At the time, I believed it was simple chakra absorption, albeit sometimes accompanied by a change in skin coloration. Now…”
Well. Now, he was just as lost as before, if not more so.
“We’re too in the dark about this,” he said after several moments of silence.
“Understatement of the century,” Akigumo muttered, speaking for the first time. As Kosui’s eyes opened and cut to her, she sat up from her position leaning against one of the walls. “We’ve already been blindsided, and now we’re getting dragged into something we have no idea about.”
For all the seriousness of the statement, her body language still managed to read as relaxed as ever. But one look in her eye, in the sharpness it held, was enough for everyone to see just how worried and aggravated the woman was.
“Clearly, it’s not ideal,” Arata sighed, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “That’s why I need help ensuring that each of these kids reaches their full potential, so that they have the ability to protect themselves. I can make sure to drill them in the fundamentals, sharpen their chakra control and increase their base attributes, but none of them is anywhere close to being able to learn my personal specialty.”
Aki waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah. The Royal Dagger is so great. No need to humble yourself, Rata-rata,” she replied. Then, she fell silent, a pondering expression coming across her face. “That girl. She’s using the same chakra enhancement that I used to?”
“Yes,” Arata confirmed. “I thought you might be a good mentor for her. She’s a very kind, naïve sort of girl, but she’s a hard worker. Smart. I think you two would mesh well.”
“I’ll see what she’s got,” she said. “She’d definitely got my interest, with the way that Mine’s been gushing about her.”
Arata gave Akigumo an appreciate grin, then turned towards their remaining fellow Jōnin. “Takuya,” he began, addressing the white-haired man who was known as both the instructor of Team Eleven and one of Konoha’s fiercest, coldest warriors. “I wanted to ask for your help specifically with…Kian. He’s awoken his Sharingan and possesses a clear, powerful affinity for Lightning Release. I was hoping you could teach him more advanced elemental ninjutsu. He would be uniquely well-suited to learning it, and…he struggles with his own darkness, that much is clear to me, but he has the heart of a protector, the way he looks out for Minegumo and Hikari. Maybe giving him the power to protect them, the people closest to him, will help motivate him to stay on the right path.”
“Lightning, huh?” Takuya bit at his thumbnail, thinking it over. He could more than understand Arata’s reasoning; unlike his fellow Jōnin and close friend, he’d had the privilege of actually getting to see the children of his friends grow up. That darkness the kid housed was no joke. It was obvious that Kian was getting closer and closer to an abyss. Giving him something to focus on, something to nurture, would help, yes.
But it could also just add more to his plate.
After a moment, he sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “I can teach him, no problem. We can set something up so I can see how far along he is already. No need to make the kid go through basics if he’s already reaching an advanced level, and it isn’t like any of my kids are very interested in taking after me.” The last part was said in a mumble, slight affront coloring his voice. Then, raising his voice, he continued. “That said, just make sure the kid knows what he’s in for. He’s going to need to build up his reserves for the truly advanced stuff.”
Arata nodded. “I wouldn’t worry too much. Like the other two, he’s growing at a remarkable rate. Kian possesses a very impressive reserve of chakra already for his age, and he’s every bit the genius that Seto was.”
“The apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree, then,” Takuya said. For a moment, his eyes glazed over as memories from the past overtook him. Then he shook his head, clearing his thoughts. “But that’s good. We’ll just have to set something up so I can see it myself. I’d rather see how he is in his element than when he knows he’s being evaluated.”
“Can do. As for Minegumo…” Arata’s eyes flickered towards Kosui. “He’s an interesting child. His Kekkei Genkai is exceptional for his young age, from what I understand. Minegumo, however, desperately needs to be pushed to develop a more well-rounded skill set. As talented as he is at genjutsu, he has the potential to be so much more than a specialist. With the sort of curious stamina and untapped chakra reserves that he has, I think there’s a lot you could teach him…Lord Hokage.”
“You flatter me, Arata,” Kosui replied, eyes closed as he gave a pleasant smile. “I haven’t been an active shinobi in several years.” Opening his eyes, his gaze went to Akigumo. “That said, I did see him leaving the library with a book on poisons and toxins for novices. I can probably find someone to help instruct him in that field. It would be a perfect way for him to make the most out of those untapped reserves.”
“That would probably be best,” Aki replied slowly. “That boy is never going to be any type of taijutsu specialist beyond using it in combination with his illusions.”
Arata chuckled lightly. “I think you underestimate him, Aki…and my harsh methods. Taijutsu is his biggest weakness, there’s no denying that, but I already have ideas as to how to improve his skill in that area. Leave that to me.”
Kosui drummed his fingers, a slight twitch in his hand. “And then Akigumo can handle his genjutsu training, of course. Sounds like he…they are all taken care of.”
“Indeed. I appreciate your time tonight, all of you,” Arata said, meeting each individual’s eyes in gratitude. “For now, I’m going to go check on them, let them know to expect to start additional training here very shortly. I’ll follow up later and finalize the arrangments.”
With that, Arata was gone, moving through the night to find his students.
--- The inside of Ramen Ichiraku was exceptionally comfortable and inviting with its soft, plushy booths and dim, warm lighting. All throughout the restaurant, the smells of various ramen ingredients wafted lazily, making Kian, Minegumo, and Hikari even hungrier than they had been before they’d arrived. Luckily, despite the fact that the restaurant was always very busy due to its unmatched popularity, the staff was excellent as usual, so they weren’t left waiting patiently for long before being shown to their table and served drinks.
“What can I get started for you guys?” the waiter asked kindly, flashing the children a warm smile.
“Er…I’ll take a bowl of miso broth ramen with pork, please,” Kian replied sheepishly, glancing quickly through the menu in front of him. “Miso with pork,” the waiter repeated, writing it down on his notepad. “And for you?” he asked, his eyes settling next upon Minegumo.
“Shrimp ramen with extra eggs, please and thank you,” Minegumo answered promptly. “Shio for the broth.”
“Tonkotsu with menma,” Hikari said as the waiter came to her last, giving the menu a scan of her own. She gave Minegumo a wondering look as she set the menu down. “You really do come here a lot, huh?”
He nodded, taking a happy sip of his drink through his straw. “It’s one of my favorite restaurants. The Akimichi stuff isn’t bad, but even their ramen isn’t as good as Ichiraku’s.”
“Yeah,” Kian agreed. “When I was in Amegakure, they didn’t have anything nearly as good as Ichiraku.”
For a second, he didn’t realize what he had just said. He fell silent immediately when it hit him, and he stared down determinedly at his glass of water, but not before his expression darkened noticeably. Kian forced himself to focus on the low buzz of everyone else’s chatter, lest his anxiety overwhelm him.
Hikari blinked, more than a little surprised at Kian sharing even that miniscule amount of information about his past, and right on the heels of the surprise she was feeling came curiosity. As someone who’d never been outside the village until her first C-rank mission, a part of Hikari couldn’t help but have questions. Just what was Amegakure like? What restaurants did they have?
What was it like living there?
“Did you guys know there’s an old rumor that the founder of Ichiraku was a refugee from the Hidden Sky Village?”
Minegumo’s sudden question snapped her out of her thoughts. Blinking, Hikari turned and gave him a bemused look.
“What in the world are you talking about?” she asked.
“Ichiraku,” Minegumo said patiently. “It was founded by a refugee from the Land of Sky.”
Kian wasn’t listening. Instead, he was completely spaced out, nightmarish memories running rampantly through his mind. Dark blurs and shapes seemed to form before his eyes, and he felt completely detached from his surroundings. Without even realizing it, his hands began to shake slightly, the rest of his body slowly following suit.
“Kian!” Minegumo was on his feet in an instant, at his best friend’s side with Hikari right next to him. “Ki!”
“What’s wrong with him?” Hikari’s voice was distraught, gaining the attention of everyone else in the restaurant.
“I don’t know!” he snapped.
Gritting his teeth, he pressed his hands into a seal, molding his chakra, and enhancing his sixth sense. All at once, the world seemed to sharpen as the chakra signatures of those around him seemed to solidify, their vibrations pulsing like something he could physically touch. Taking a deep breath, he brought one of his hands to rest on Kian’s head, allowing his fluctuating chakra signature to wash over him. Almost immediately, Minegumo was assaulted with what felt to him like a storm, his head filled with a barrage of sensations that threatened to make him fall over.
With a gasp, Minegumo snatched his hand back, the pure horror coursing through his veins like ice.
“Mine?”
Hikari’s voice brought him back into focus, and he looked up, vision blurry with what he realized were tears in his eyes.
Quickly wiping his face, Minegumo took a shuddering breath, forcing himself to speak.
“He’s having a panic attack,” He replied, his body trembling in a mirror of Kian’s. “I-I…it’s—” He broke off, looking away. “It’s really bad.”
“Can we do anything?” she asked
Minegumo’s mouth opened, wordless, and he shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. I…I don’t—”
“What about the genjutsu you used back on the mission?” she questioned. “The one you used to calm me down.”
He nodded, brow furrowing. “That might work…” He gave Kian a troubled look, before nodding again, more firmly.
Taking a deep breath, he molded his chakra once more, directing it to flow over his vocal cords as he focused for what he was about to do.
Inton: Hitokoe Jukai no Jutsu.
Kian’s visions shifted dramatically almost instantaneously. No longer was his mind in Amegakure; it was roaming through Konoha’s immense forests, water droplets lashing gently at him. The smell of fresh rain filled his nostrils, and the sound of rumbling thunder rang out. He was filled with an inexplicable calm that seemed to bring him back to his senses. Kian, of course, was quick to recognize the genjutsu. How many times had he helped Minegumo practice it? The flow of his chakra stopped abruptly, then restarted, shattering the illusion.
“What…happened?” Kian asked slowly, running a hand through his hair and realizing that he’d broken out in a cold sweat.
“You were having a panic attack,” Hikari answered, voice small. “Mine snapped you out of it.”
Kian was still shaking, and as he glanced around, he became keenly aware that half the people in the restaurant were staring at him. The attention made him practically shrink from embarrassment, his face flushing, the remaining color draining from it.
Minegumo scowled, and he leveled everyone watching with a glower, eyes going from light amber to solid gold with the subconscious activation of this Kekkei Genkai, he all but snarled.
“Mind your own business,” he growled out, chakra still flowing through his throat. The command washed over the patrons, their eyes glazing over as they turned around. For some, those who were experienced shinobi, the illusion was shattered as swiftly as it’d been applied, and they returned his glare with dirty looks of their own.
“Maybe we should just go,” Kian mumbled, looking down and letting his hair fall into his face to obscure it.
Great. Because of me, everyone’s staring at us. I can’t believe I ruined what was supposed to be a good night. Good going, you actual loser…
He hated being this weak, this messed up. Why couldn’t he simply be normal? Why did he have to be the one to glitch out and cause a scene? Why couldn’t he control his stupid anxiety and flashbacks? Kian was certain that this incident wouldn’t be kept quiet. No, he was sure to be the subject of gossip throughout the village over this. He wanted to disappear.
If possible, Minegumo’s glare seemed to intensify, the look in his eyes turning vicious as anger bubbled inside of him like tea in a kettle. Meeting the affronted looks of the men before him, his fingers twitched at his sides. Seeing the movement, their eyes sharpened, hostility radiating from their bodies. However, before any of them could so much as speak, the server had returned.
“I hope,” he began in a serious voice, “that my eyes are deceiving me and I don’t see a couple of very grown men about to get into an altercation with a child.”
One of them clicked their teeth and waved a hand, a clear dismissal that had Minegumo clenching his fists in frustration. He had half a mind to snap at them, but Hikari’s hand clamped down on his shoulder in an iron grip, and he was forced still.
“Thank you,” she said, bowing at the waist. “I apologize for my friend’s reaction. It’s been a rough few days for us.”
Kian felt too humiliated to even speak. He kept his eyes fixed downward on the table, biting his lip, a physical manifestation of his conscious effort to keep his emotions from pouring out any more than they already had. All of this public drama was his fault…
“Sorry, guys,” he mumbled, quietly enough so that only Minegumo and Hikari could hear him. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…” Kian’s voice trailed off. “You know. Ruin everything.”
“You didn’t ruin anything,” Hikari said, voice firm. “You can’t control how you react to things.”
Minegumo nodded. “And it’s not like we got kicked out.”
“No thanks to you,” she said, dryly. “That passion of yours is admirable, but sometimes it really makes you reactive.”
Minegumo gave a shrug, indifferent, and the waiter returned, placing their orders down in front of them.
“Do you kids need anything else?” he asked, giving the trio a searching look.
As the three Genin shook their heads and thanked the waiter, who walked off to tend to the other customers in his section, Arata walked into the restaurant. He knew that every week on this day, the kids would get together, and he’d figured that Ichiraku was a safe bet to look for them, given Minegumo’s predilection for ramen. Sure enough, as his eyes roamed through the establishment, he caught sight of them and headed over to their table. Arata slid into the booth next to Kian, noting the tension between the three.
“Well, don't all look so excited at once to see me,” he quipped, attempting to break the ice.
“Minegumo almost got us kicked out,” stated Hikari. Ignoring Minegumo’s scandalized look, she used her chopsticks to point in the direction of the men he’d nearly come to blows with, now sitting and smiling amongst each other.
“You’re just going to tell on me?” Minegumo demanded.
“Consider it payback,” was her dry response. Raising a brow, she pressed on. “Or do you not remember blaming our expedition through the mountain back on the Southern Continent on me?”
Minegumo huffed, but didn’t refute Hikari’s claim; the turnabout was only fair, he supposed. That didn’t mean he had to like it.
One look at Kian told Arata that the boy wasn’t going to talk, so instead, he sighed and met Hikari’s eyes. She was, after all, probably the most reliable narrator, since she tended to stay even-keel. This was a stark contrast with her more emotionally driven teammates. Kian tended to get too low emotionally, while Minegumo tended to get too elevated.
“How did Minegumo almost get you guys kicked out?” he inquired, unsure if he even really wanted to know the answer. “Please tell me you guys aren’t running around, acting like little delinquents.”
At the question, Hikari’s gaze swept to her teammates, before returning to that of her teacher. Then, after thinking it over, she told Arata what’d happened: Kian’s sudden panic attack, Minegumo snapping him out of it and then bespelling everyone else, everything leading up to ow. Part of her, a large part, didn’t want to tell him everything, was tempted to omit the details of Ki’s freak out. However, as tempted as she was, Hikari knew there was no hiding it. Arata was too shrewd, and as much as Minegumo used to have a real reputation back in the academy for hypnotizing anyone for any reason, he’d turned over a new leaf. He wouldn’t regress out of nowhere.
“They’ve calmed down,” Hikari continued. “I think they were more just upset that a Genin got the best of them while their guard was down, and then said Genin didn’t immediately apologize. Seniority and all that.”
“I see,” Arata remarked quietly, adjusting his glasses before looking at Kian. “Are you alright?”
Before then, he hadn’t realized how deeply affected Kian was by having been kidnapped. He was certain that that was the root of the boy’s inner turmoil, his anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Though he remained calm and collected outwardly, knowing that if Kian hated anything, it was being fussed over, inwardly he was extremely concerned by this incident. He knew the boy struggled with grief over his father and held resentment towards his uncle (of whom Arata shared Kian’s suspicions, frankly), but he hadn’t seen before that night how truly poor Kian’s mental health was.
“Yeah,” Kian mumbled. “I’m…I’m fine.”
Minegumo’s lips thinned, and his fingers drummed at the table. “What’ve you been up to tonight, Master Arata?” he asked, hoping to steer the conversation.
“That’s actually what I came to talk to you three about,” Arata replied. He glanced around, ensuring that they’d lost the attention of the crowd at large. “With the events of our last mission, it occurred to me that each of you needs extra training of a more specialized nature. Don’t get me wrong, you each performed more than admirably. It’s more of a precaution. To arm you.”
“What does that mean?” Hikari asked after sharing a look with Minegumo. “Are you going to be giving us additional training to expand our skill set?”
She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that. On the one hand, it was undeniably a good thing: an expanded skill set meant greater versatility, which in turn meant she would no longer be so limited in terms of how much she could help out in battle. On the other hand, expanding one’s skill set required a degree of synergy; the new techniques you learned needed to compliment the ones you already had in some way. She wasn’t too sure what could work alongside her taijutsu. The traditional answer was bukijutsu, but with the core of her martial arts revolving around the use of chakra enhancements, that more or less made using weaponry pointless. Not to mention there was her chakra absorption and her other ability…
“When do we start?” questioned Minegumo. He sat up in his chair, giving Arata a look that was one part curious and one part excited, the idea of more specialized training having obviously caught his interest. “Are you going to start teaching us stuff like bunshinjutsu now?”
Kian merely glanced sideways at Arata before finding a new patch of table to stare at moodily, elbow propped up so that he could rest his cheek against his hand. Additional training…ordinarily, he would’ve been excited, but his mood was beyond ruined. All he wanted at that point was just to get home and go back to bed. Even the book he’d been reading didn’t sound quite so appealing anymore.
“We’ll go over the details once all the arrangements are finalized, but I won’t be overseeing this extra training. I’ve found each of you tutors who I think will be able to help me get the most out of your individual talents and respective potentials,” Arata explained. “My focus will be raising your baseline attributes. I’m going to make each of you stronger, smarter, faster, quicker, and more agile; we’ll also be working on maximizing your chakra reserves and fine tuning your chakra control. The goal is to make you each a well-rounded ninja with no obvious weaknesses. I believe all three of you are capable of attaining that sort of skill.”
“I see…” said Hikari, voice soft. Straightening up, she gave Arata a firm look. “Who’ll we be training with? How often will we be meeting up with them?”
“What kinds of things are they going to teach us?” asked Minegumo. “I picked up a book about poisons and toxins from the library earlier today, would my tutor be able to help me with that?”
“What sorts of things you learn will be up to you and your mentor,” Arata replied simply. “Same goes for the frequency of your training. But yes, Mine, you should be in good hands if you’re interested in utilizing poisons. Lord Hokage has someone in mind to teach you. Hikari, you’ll be training with Mine’s mother, Akigumo. From what I understand, you two are already acquainted. Kian will be learning from an old friend of mine, Hatake Takuya, who leads Team Eleven.”
Kian gave a quiet grunt of acknowledgment before grabbing a pair of chopsticks. Pulling them apart, he took a bite of the fresh, hot ramen in front of him, mostly to have something to do aside from sitting there and looking sullen. He was familiar, sort of, with Takuya. Takuya was the same age as his father, Akigumo, and Arata, part of their graduating class and a good friend of theirs. Kian knew that the man was on their level as a shinobi, too, another true war hero. At least that meant training with Takuya wouldn’t be a waste of time.
Minegumo and Hikari both shrugged, likewise digging into their meals.
“Sounds good to me, Master Arata,” he replied after a moment. “Just let me know when we start.”
He was actually looking forward to it, Minegumo was surprised to realize. It would be an adjustment and he didn’t know how well he would get along with his new teacher, but he liked to think it would turn out okay.
Minegumo shifted in his seat. “Does my new tutor know about my…reading problem?” he asked, face flushing as he looked down.
“Yes,” Arata confirmed, his voice light. “They’ll work with you. Nothing to worry about.”
He had to admit, it was strange to see Minegumo look bashful, almost self-conscious. Normally, Minegumo was loud, brash, extraverted, and had no shame. Arata supposed it was only natural for the boy to feel a bit touchy about his learning disability. Now that they had transcended the realm of normal academics, Arata was prone to forgetting that Minegumo was dyslexic at all; the boy was certainly intelligent, and it just didn’t come up often enough to be an issue. However, if Minegumo wanted to learn about poisons and toxins…well, he would have to do some serious reading, there was no way around it.
“By the way,” Arata said suddenly, following a brief, content silence as the three Genin ate, “Lord Hokage mentioned to me that Chikara is returning to Kumogakure, so Team Thirteen is officially the four of us now.”
“Really?” It was like seeing the sun emerge from behind the clouds. Minegumo’s expression cleared almost instantly as he perked up in his seat. “That’s great!”
“You are so shameless it hurts,” Hikari deadpanned, shaking her head.
“Mine’s not wrong, though,” Kian mumbled. “Know-it-all mind reader. Who needs him?”
She sighed, but didn’t argue with the statement. Hikari knew that both her teammates had their own reasons for disliking their would-be fourth member.
“At least it’ll only be two headaches instead of three,” she said, returning to her meal. “Small blessings.”
“Yeah, but we’re your headaches,” Kian protested, smirking slightly in amusement. “You know you love us, don’t lie.”
Arata got to his feet, stretching. “You three enjoy your meal,” he told them, smiling. “Training’s only going to get tougher from here, now that you’ve had a few days to readjust to home. We’ll be meeting pretty early in the morning to get started, so don’t stay out too late.”
With that, Arata waved goodbye to his students and made his way towards the restaurant’s exit, taking care to stop at the cash register up front and pay for the kids’ ramen. He figured they deserved a treat, as hard as they’d been working and as much as they’d been through on their mission south; it was the least he could do as their sensei. Besides, it was as he said: things would only get harder from then on.
A New Opportunity: Collaboration[]
Seven months came and went, with the members of Team Thirteen working harder than they ever had before. Kian, Minegumo, and Hikari had dedicated themselves not just to Arata’s training program, but also to their extra training. As a result, each of them had improved significantly. For months, Arata had drilled them in chakra control, had them meditate, had them run sprints and perform acrobatic feats while wearing weights. He’d had them study more advanced principles of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu and worked with each of them to improve their taijutsu form.
For Kian specifically, improvement also came in the form of adapting more and more to his Sharingan, as well as great strides in the efficiency and power of his Lightning Release, courtesy of Takuya. It was, in fact, because of Takuya that at the crack of dawn, he was heading towards the Third Training Ground. Arata and Takuya had, apparently, decided that it would be beneficial for Teams Eleven and Thirteen to train together. He was less than enthusiastic about the idea, to say the least. Uzumaki Sora and Hyūga Dan were…exactly not his favorite people, so naturally, he was against anything that involved him having to see either of them.
“Hikari, promise me that if I end up killing Dan, you and Mine will help me get away with it,” he sighed, yawning drowsily as he walked in between his two teammates. The sky was a feeble grey with barely any light breaking through; it was truly the crack of dawn.
“Only if you help me get away with it if I murder Sora,” she grumbled, pausing to twist at the waist. “It’s too early to deal with him and his antics.”
“Oh, shut up, you two,” Minegumo said, wiping his eyes. He gave a yawn, sending a scathing look to the rays of light struggling to breach the cloudy sky. He loathed waking up with the sunrise on the best days; having to get up at daybreak put him in an outright foul mood. “This is such damn bullshit.”
Hikari’s lips twitched in the beginning of a smile. “I see that someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
“He always wakes up on the wrong side of the bed,” Kian remarked, arms behind his head as they arrived at the training grounds to find the area suspiciously empty, aside from them.
Pausing, Kian watched as Minegumo and Hikari now walked a couple paces ahead of him. His brow furrowed. Something didn’t feel right… Dan and Sora, missing an opportunity to show them up by getting there before them? If anything, he would’ve expected the loudmouth, go-getting Inuzuka Shusei to have gotten there already. Making up his mind, Kian activated his Sharingan, and he noticed immediately a patch of grass that looked freshly laid.
“Wait!” Kian called out, darting forward, hoping to pull his teammates back.
It was too late. The trip wire hidden underneath the grass was triggered by the weight of Minegumo’s foot treading upon it. All the trio could do was yell out in surprise as they were pelted with water balloons, a trap that in their sleepy daze, they had easily fallen into. Making matters worse was the fact that the water balloons that were erupting all over them weren’t just simply filled with water.
“Fuck, it’s paint!” Kian raged at top volume. “Uzumaki! I’m going to murder you!”
Sora, currently hidden in a nearby treetop, began laughing hysterically. He jumped down from the tree, landing smoothly, immediately doubling over with laughter and holding his sides. Dan and Shusei followed suit, landing on either side of him. Truly, this was one of his best pranks ever, and the absolutely livid expression on Kian’s face in particular made it even better. If he had one regret, it was that Hikari had gotten caught in the crossfire, something he genuinely hadn’t planned on; he’d been aiming for Kian and Minegumo.
“Consider it payback for trying to pawn your work painting fences off on us,” Sora replied, a huge, playful grin on his face.
“I’m going to murder them,” Hikari was seething, jaw clenched and hands curled into fists that shook with rage. “I’m genuinely going to kill them.”
“Oh lighten up, Yakushi,” Dan called out, voice in a lazy drawl. “Look on the bright side: now you won’t have to dye your hair for another couple months!”
Shusei sighed irritably, clawed fingers running through his mop of deep brown hair. “Ya know, I only went along with this because I’m not a snitch, but you two really are morons.” From his perch atop Shusei’s head, his canine familiar, Suisei, barked in agreement.
That did it. With a scream, Hikari lunged forward, the paint covering her arms seeming to explode off of her as her chakra flared to the surface. Arm cocked back and ready to unleash the shockwave she’d discovered herself capable of all those months ago in their first C-rank, it was only because Mine suddenly grabbed at her midsection that she didn’t pummel the duo of laughing boys.
“Hikari, no!” Minegumo held on tightly, very aware of the disparity between his teammate’s physical might and his own. “Ki, a little help here?!”
Flash-stepping in front of his teammates, Kian reached out and put a calming hand on Hikari’s shoulder, looking her directly in the eye. To her, his eyes would seem to grow bigger and bigger, drawing her in with their eerie crimson glare. His hypnotic gaze was overpowering, but soothing at the same time, as he had no sinister intent.
“Hey,” he said calmly, paint dripping from his midnight locks. “I know, they’re assholes, but it’s not worth it. They’ll get theirs at some point.”
Without fail, the illusion took hold, Hikari slowly but surely relaxing as a phantasmal calm flowed through her. Moments later and her arms dropped to her sides, the tide of chakra dying down to a peaceful lull.
“They’ll get theirs at some point,” Hikari repeated, as if half-asleep.
“They sure will,” Minegumo muttered darkly. His eyes cut to Sora and Dan, and taking advantage of Dan’s lack of activated Byakugan, he began funneling chakra to his throat. “A lot sooner than you think.”
Inton: Hitokoe Jukai no Jutsu.
“Punch yourselves in the dicks,” Minegumo ordered, his voice rippling across the clearing in a chakra-fueled wave.
Out of nowhere, both Sora and Dan found themselves complying with Minegumo’s command, punching themselves repeatedly and yelping in pain. Meanwhile, Shusei was unable to help himself. He let out a whoop of laughter before breaking down into a fit of giggling, amused to no end by the scene unfolding before him, even though Minegumo’s victims were his own teammates.
“What a guy!” Shusei barked, grinning from ear to ear. “Hey, hey, why couldn’t Mine have been on our team, huh?”
“Shut up, Shusei!” Sora snapped, forming the ‘release’ seal with his one free hand, breaking free from the genjutsu. “Mine, what the hell?”
“Yeah, man. That’s going too far,” Dan swore. Byakugan now active, it was easy to see how he’d managed to break free from the illusion.
“Ha! Serves you both right,” Kian snorted, keeping an arm draped gently but firmly around Hikari’s shoulders; he’d let her out of his genjutsu already, but he wasn’t taking any chances that she wouldn’t still haul off and smash Sora and Dan into the dirt.
Minegumo nodded, arms crossed. “You got paint in my hair!” he snapped back. “Do you know how hard this stuff is to wash out? I’m going to be looking like some frog-obsessed weirdo for a week. You guys could have at least used blue.”
“Because that’s what’s important here,” Hikari said sarcastically. “Your priorities, Mine. I swear.”
“Either way, you guys look terrible and it’s hysterical,” Sora replied, laughing.
At that precise moment, both Arata and Takuya showed up, appearing in puffs of white smoke. The two Jōnin surveyed the scene, equally dismayed at the fact that clearly, the bickering and arguing had already begun. Noticing that his students were all covered in paint, Arata in particular was a bit perplexed.
“Dare I ask?” Arata sighed, facepalming.
“Let me guess,” Takuya began. “My trio of miscreants up to their usual shenanigans?”
Minegumo huffed. “They caught us unawares.”
“Water balloons with paint added in,” said Dan smugly. “They walked right into it.”
Hikari sneered. “And then you proceeded to show how sorry you were by trying to castrate yourselves.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Dan said, dismissively. However, the effect was ruined by the blush rising to his cheeks. “Mine got us back for it.”
It was more embarrassing than he wanted to admit, getting tripped into one of Mine’s genjutsu and then punching himself in the crotch. Ordinarily, the retaliation wouldn’t have caught them by surprise the way it had, but they’d been so caught up in how successful their prank had been that staying on guard hadn’t occurred to them. Now, Dan was pretty sure that he was going to need to stop by the clinic after training was over.
“Genjutsu?” questioned Takuya, raising a brow. “Don’t tell me my cute little students, one a gifted sensor and another possessing a dōjutsu, got caught by someone who they know has an affinity for illusions.”
Arata, deciding his patience had run out, took a few steps backwards, weaving hand seals. Behind him, the water in the river shaped itself into a sizable vortex then launched itself at the six Genin, flooding the area and drenching them, washing them a respectable distance away and rinsing all the paint off of Kian, Minegumo, and Hikari. Walking casually on top of the water, Arata came to a stop in the middle of the floating students.
“Now, how about we wash away all of this bad blood and try to be productive today?” he mused.
“Great pun, Bro Sensei,” Kian replied sarcastically, pulling himself onto the surface of the water.
Minegumo scowled. “Guess someone met their quota of how much they can take,” he mumbled underneath his breath, wringing out his azure locks. “Am I the only one starting to hate that jutsu?” Hikari asked, following her teammate’s example.
“And I thought Master Takuya was a jackass,” Dan grumbled, giving Arata an unimpressed look. Pressing his hands together, he focused his chakra, summoning small vortices as he focused on dispelling the water clinging to him. Slowly but surely, the moisture clinging to his clothes and hair seemed to levitate off of him, falling to the newly formed lake in the form of needles.
Shusei, on the other hand, was still grinning even though he was now soaking wet. “Guess you got a bath early, eh, Suisei?” he joked as the dog shook vigorously to dry himself off. Barking twice in response, Suisei jumped from the water’s surface back up to his owner’s shoulder, settling there.
“Aw, man, I hate getting wet,” Sora complained, trying to wring out the shirt he was wearing underneath his jacket.
Kian, however, flash-stepped to Dan’s position, grabbing the Hyūga menacingly by the shirt. “Don’t ever disrespect Master Arata in front of me, jackass,” he said coldly, eyes narrowing as they met Dan’s defiantly.
He meant every word of his threat and was fully prepared to follow through with it, consequences or not. While Arata’s tendency to act like a parental figure to the three of them sometimes got on Kian’s nerves, he still had nothing but respect for the man who was a war hero, a tough, but caring teacher, and an elite shinobi. Besides…he knew damn well what his father would think if he just stood by and let one of his oldest, closest friends get disrespected.
“Look who’s playing the hero,” mocked Dan, rolling his eyes. Beyond that, however, he otherwise didn’t bother replying. Instead, looking at the hands that held his shirt, he sneered. An instant later and each of the tenketsu in his body released their chakra, flaring in an omni-directional pulse that lashed out at Kian with focus.
Forced to take a few steps backwards and let go of Dan, Kian’s hands curled into fists. Without any hesitation, Kian lunged forward, throwing a brutal punch directly at Dan’s jaw. Kian felt immense satisfaction wash over him as he felt the skin on his bare knuckles connect with Dan’s face, watching as the Hyūga flew backwards a couple of feet, landing in the water with a splash.
“Oi!” Sora snapped, rushing to Dan’s side and helping pull him out of the water. “What the hell is wrong with you, asshole?”
“Move,” Kian commanded calmly, reactivating his Sharingan. “Move, or I won’t care if I hurt you, too.”
“Ki!” Minegumo appeared in a rush of leaves. “Are you guys insane?”
“Calm down, Mine,” said Hikari, appearing at Kian’s side. She gave Sora and Dan narrow-eyed looks, ready to jump in if it looked like Sora was too.
“Yakushi’s right, for once; stay out of this, Mine,” said Dan, Byakugan active once more. He calmly eased into the style that was his clan’s signature, looking at Kian coldly. “Uchiha wants to go, then we can go.”
It wasn’t just about the fact that Dan had called his teacher an insulting name. For Kian, it was about much more than that. He hadn’t forgotten how quick Dan had been to insult his deceased father. Every molecule of him was on fire with anger towards Dan, screaming at him to inflict pain on the other boy. Kian was practically radiating bloodlust as he rapidly weaved hand seals, his chest swelling.
A massive fireball was expelled from Kian’s mouth, barreling straight for Dan as it radiated intense heat and smoke. Kian, of course, wasn’t done yet; he drew handfuls of shuriken and kunai, lacing them with wire string; as the fireball started to die down, he threw the projectiles straight at Dan through the thick, lingering smoke.
“Oh look,” Dan said, sarcastically. “The Uchiha opened up with a fireball and some shuriken. Whatever will I do?”
Clicking his teeth, Dan kicked off into action, darting forward to meet the fireball head on as he gathered chakra into his palms. At the last minute, he turned sharply on his heel, his arm moving in an arc.
Shugohakke Sanjūni Shō.
The chakra in his palms flared brightly, releasing as a steady stream that took the form of solid, thin, sharp, blades. As the fireball made contact, the blades solidified, their needle make-up slicing into the roaring fire and dispersing the great flame. But still, Dan continued moving: turning once more and releasing another set of razor-sharp chakra streams that he launched forward. The maneuver served two purposes: one, to clear the smoke. While it didn’t impede his Byakugan any, Dan didn’t trust that the Uchiha wouldn’t try something with it. Two, to deflect the hail of weaponry, slicing through the wire-string and sending the shuriken and kunai into the water.
A bit overkill, and just a tad flashy, but Dan wasn’t one to do things by halves.
Kian smirked slightly, even as some of the razor-fine chakra blades sliced into his skin, drawing blood in numerous spots. Of course, he’d expected Dan’s eyes to see through the smoke; but that was the point of a feint, to concentrate an enemy’s attention on one blatantly obvious move while planning another in its place. Lightning began to crackle in his palms as he tightened his grip on the wire strings he held, stretching out his arms and leaping upwards, diverting chakra to his legs to gain more air. While airborne, he instantaneously cranked up the voltage to his new maximum, far surpassing what he’d been capable of months ago on his team’s mission to Shikkotsu Forest.
Lightning raced down the wire strings that Kian held at a speed that matched, or even surpassed, the blink of an eye, spread out and dispersed throughout the water, which quite happily conducted the electricity. Kian had turned the massive body of water that Arata had created into one massive field of electricity, so determined to best Dan that he didn’t care who was caught in it. All he wanted was to hurt the Hyūga boy, the person who had a way of pissing him off like no other.
If he thinks that’s enough to take me down, he’s got another thing coming.
Dan snarled, his chakra once again pouring out of his tenketsu until it covered his body like a shroud. Solidifying into another omni-directional pulse, he used one hand to meet the attack head on, gritting his teeth at the amount of power the technique held as it threatened to destabilize his make-shift shield. With his other hand, he once again harnesses his chakra into a set of razor-sharp streams, carefully molding them into a grid-like pattern.
Let’s see how he likes this, he thought, smiling viciously.
Dan’s plan was a simple one: use the Protective Eight Trigrams to cut through Uchiha’s technique and take advantage of the pattern to turn the piece of trash into mincemeat. With his position in the air, it would be an unavoidable attack; the palms guard was fast and Dan could control the shape to spread out to cover an entire area if he really pushed himself. It was a near-perfect maneuver, guaranteed to clip that bastard’s wings and remind him of his place on the totem pole.
Indeed, that was what the plan had been. With his Byakugan active, the dōjutsu slowed the world around him to a crawl, allowing him the time to allow his mind to race and come up with the best possible scenario with his predictive abilities, albeit limited. So, even as Dan prepared to bring that pest down to earth, he was still able to keep up with everything happening around him. He saw clearly how the electricity crawled like a living thing, moving at speeds that the ordinarily Shinobi would never be able to keep up with. Saw how it raced towards him, his teammates…and the Uchiha’s teammates.
Towards Minegumo.
Just like that, Dan forgot his carefully constructed plan, his heart jumping into his chest as he saw the boy he once called his best friend stand in the water like a sitting duck. It took only a second for a new idea to come to mind, his Byakugan shutting off and the protective eight trigrams dying in his palms as he summoned every bit of chakra he could for what he was about to attempt.
“Damn it!” Shusei howled, diverting chakra to his own legs and performing a high-arcing backflip onto the limb of a nearby tree. He wasn’t, however, quick enough to avoid electricity attacking his feet and rapidly spreading up through his legs; as he stuck the landing, he winced, pain breaking through the electricity-induced numbness.
Sora, on the other hand, was a tad quicker, having recognized the Lightning Release hand seal that Kian had formed. He instantly created a doppelganger that he used as a springboard, leaping into the air and landing next to his fanged teammate. Even Sora wasn’t lucky enough to escape having his left foot fried, however.
“Tsūtenkyaku!”
Swiftly bringing her heel down, Hikari’s super-strength went into effect just before her foot could actually hit the water, creating a concentrated burst of air that she used to kick off and launch herself up. With a series of flips, she landed safely away from the newly-created lake. However, as fast as she was, Hikari was not able to avoid getting struck by Kian’s attack; her hands and the backs of her legs were red and swollen, carrying her teammate’s chakra.
Wincing, she carefully pressed her hands to her bracelets, undoing the seal and allowing her absorption ability to activate, safely metabolizing the lightning chakra and healing her body. However, as she stood up, she remembered her other teammate, who’d stood next to her in the center of all the danger.
“Mine!”
Covering her eyes as Kian’s light show continued, Hikari felt the cold grip of terror squeeze her heart as she realized there was a very real possibility that one of her boys had gotten hurt in the crossfire; but no sooner had she screamed did he appear, landing next to her with a grunt, as if he’d been pushed. Confused over how he’d gotten away when he knew no defensive ninjutsu, but relieved all the same, Hikari all but threw herself at him in a tight hug.
She’d planned to ask him, to question how he’d gotten out of there, but found herself having to hold him down as he attempted to run back to the lake.
“Dan!” Minegumo fought her grip like a wild animal. “Kari, you have to let me go, he’s still in there!”
What do you mean, he’s still in there?
However, at that moment, she got her answer: a bone chilling scream filled the clearing as Hyūga was struck with Kian’s technique.
From their position of safety, Sora and Shusei watched in horror as their teammate was electrocuted, falling to the ground.
No way, Shusei thought, his brow furrowing, his lips curling into a snarl. That’s…that’s too far!
Sora was trembling from anger next to Shusei, overwhelmed at the sight of his best friend screaming in pain. Recklessly, he made to move, but Shusei grabbed the back of his jacket roughly, preventing him from jumping down. Suisei leaned over to give Sora’s cheek an affectionate lick, whining in distress; the dog had easily picked up on the red-haired boy’s emotions and was highly concerned for his safety, smelling the power of Kian’s chakra.
As Kian landed, the stream of electricity faded. His feet landed gracefully atop the surface of the water, which was still sparsely crackling with electricity here and there. The raven-haired boy advanced slowly upon Dan, still dazed in his fury, when suddenly, he felt his right arm being grabbed and twisted behind his head, an agonizing amount of pressure being placed on the hold. It almost felt like his arm was about to be shattered.
Consequences[]
“What in the hell is the matter with you?” Arata snapped. In the instant that Kian had activated his technique, both he and Takuya had used the Substitution Technique to evade it. He now appeared directly beyond Kian, restraining him, holding onto his arm.
“You know what he said about my dad,” Kian snarled back. “You were there! I’m going to tear him to shreds!”
“And risk seriously injuring your own teammates in the process?” Arata spat. “Seto would be so mortified, and he would be ashamed of you. Don’t be surprised if you’re reassigned to a different team.”
With that, he threw Kian from him in disgust.
Kian stumbled, falling to his knees, Arata’s words about his father ringing in his ears. His eyes, reverting from crimson to their usual violet, were already leaking tears, and all the energy simply left him, all the anger vanished. In its place were shame, remorse…and self-hatred. Kian absolutely detested himself for putting Minegumo and Hikari in danger the way he had; Shusei, too. He couldn’t even bring himself to get to his feet, not even looking up as he heard the gentle splashes that told him that Shusei, Sora, Minegumo, and Hikari were drawing closer.
All of a sudden, he felt a foot meet his face, the force sending him flying sideways a few feet and landing on his back, floating in the water.
Sora was suddenly looking down at him, his face contorted with anger as he dragged Kian up by his shirt. The Uzumaki proceeded to punch Kian in the face repeatedly, and Kian just let him, not even bothering to defend himself. With one last knee to the stomach, Kian was doubled up and on his knees again, coughing up blood.
Without a word, Sora rushed to Dan’s side, dropping on one knee beside him to examine him. Immediately, he was joined by both Takuya and Shusei.
“Is he going to be alright?” Sora asked quietly, his voice wavering. He couldn’t bring himself to meet his sensei’s eyes; he was overwhelmed with concern.
“He will if I have anything to say about it,” Takuya answered, carefully lifting Dan into his arms. Pressing his hands together a clone appeared in a puff of smoke, hands moving through a set of seals. “And I do have something to say about it.” Now glowing a rich, vibrant green, the clone pressed its hands to Dan’s chest. Healing energy moved to cover his entire torso. The arcs of electricity that raced over his body seemed to dissipate as his body slowly but surely went from red and deeply burnt, to its normal, healthy color. For several moments, the clone continued its healing, making sure there was no part of Dan’s body that did not receive care. Finally, as the young Genin was patched up, the clone stepped back, nodding its head at its creator before dispelling itself. It was at that moment that Dan opened his eyes again.
Gasping deeply, he sat up, one hand with a tight grip on Takuya, while the other pressed a hand to his chest. Looking around with confusion, Dan blinked, seeing the faces of his sensei and teammates looking down on him.
“W-What…?” Slowly getting to his feet from Takuya’s arms, he wobbled in place for a moment. “What’s…”
“You kinda passed out on us, that lightning hit you pretty hard,” Shusei replied, tilting his head at Dan. “Master Takuya healed you up, though. You’re gonna be alright.”
“Yeah, you’re okay,” Sora repeated, sighing deeply with relief.
Kian slowly rose to his feet, his face bruised, cut up and bloody from Sora’s attack. He wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth, coughing. The boy’s eyes fell upon Team Eleven, Arata walking over to join them, all rallied around Dan, and pangs of guilt attacked him. He couldn’t care less about Dan himself, but he was truly regretful over how low he’d sunk. Shakily, he turned to face Minegumo and Hikari, tears rolling down his cheeks. He opened his mouth to speak, but it quickly fell closed.
“Dan!”
Minegumo had pushed right past him, running after their sensei over to Team Eleven.
Kian stood there, stunned, for a moment. His eyes eventually met Hikari’s, and it felt like a dagger had been plunged into his chest, because he could see the fear and anger in her eyes. All he could do was hang his head, slide his hands into his pockets, and just…
Walk away slowly. As he did, he looked over his shoulder, pausing.
Catching sight of Minegumo, Dan was momentarily surprised, eyes wide as he saw his former best friend rushing towards him. He hesitantly opened his arms, a hopeful guess as to what Mine wanted, and sure enough, his blue-haired friend met him in a tackling embrace, arms thrown and wrapped tightly around his neck, his collarbone quickly growing wet as tears fell upon it.
Slowly, Dan returned the hug, one arm going to Mine’s side, as the other went to his waist. His heart beat hard in his chest as he pressed the other boy close, taking in his familiar scent.
“Don’t tell me you’re still a crybaby after all these years,” Dan couldn’t help but tease.
“Shut up!” Minegumo snapped, stepping back and hastily wiping at his eyes. A moment later, he hit Dan in the chest with the palm of his hands. “You idiot! You stupid, stupid, stupid! Why would you push me when you could have blocked it?”
He’d seen how Dan had summoned his chakra and used his Gentle Fist to deflect the electricity sent his way. At some point, as the lightning continued, the other boy had moved. Instead of retaliating like Minegumo had believed he would, he’d instead shoved him out of the way before Kian’s lightning could strike him, and that thought alone made his stomach twist. Dan had summoned all of that chakra he’d been using as a shield and repurposed it to get Minegumo safely out of the way.
Minegumo hit him again, feeling a fresh wave of tears well up in his eyes. “I thought you were — that he —”
He broke off, unable to get the words out of his mouth, but he didn’t need to. Dan seemed to know what he meant, because he gently caught Minegumo’s wrist in his hand. “What kind of friend would I be if I were to just let you get electrocuted when I knew I could save you?” he asked.
“Spoken like a true possessor of the Will of Fire,” Takuya spoke up, bringing a hand to Dan’s head and ruffling his hair.
“God, why don’t you two get a room?” Sora quipped moodily, arms behind his head as he processed his slight irritation that his best friend was more quick to notice Minegumo than him.
“Don’t whine,” Shusei sighed, elbowing Sora in the ribs.
“I’m just glad he’s okay,” Arata murmured.
It was like a switch had been flipped as Takuya turned to face his fellow Jōnin, face closed off with his jaw clenched.
“Yes, he is,” he said tightly. “No thanks to you.”
Dan’s eyes flickered between the two teachers, a worried expression on his face. “Master Takuya…”
But he was cut off, his teacher holding up a hand that had him falling silent.
“Seto’s son. Has the heart of a protector.” Takuya repeated Arata’s words from that night back to him with barely controlled anger. “Giving him power will help motivate him to the right path.” His voice shook, and he grit his teeth. “I expected this from the Demon Queen, but not from you, Arata.”
“I had no idea that he would act this way,” Arata replied quietly, controlling his own anger at the thinly veiled accusation. “He’s never done anything like this before, and after this, I’m not sure I want him on my team, either. Trust me, I’m livid.”
Takuya scoffed, but dropped the issue as he realized that their students were watching them. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath. “Don’t expect me to continue on. I cannot, in good faith, mentor someone who shows signs of becoming a missing-nin this early on.”
It surprised him more than words could do justice. After Arata’s glowing review and then helping the boy better harness their shared lightning affinity, for this to happen…it made Takuya’s hands shake.
“Master, you’ve actually been training that freak?” Sora inquired, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms. “The little bitch who just nearly killed my best friend?”
Shusei glanced sideways at Sora. One look told him that he didn’t want to touch this conversation with a twenty foot pole. The red-haired prankster was usually upbeat, cheerful, and full of joy, but damn if the guy didn’t also have a nightmarish temper.
“You’re mentoring him?” The sheer betrayal in Dan’s voice was obvious for anyone listening. “You refuse to help me with nintaijutsu because you want me to ‘start from the basics,’ but you’ll help him?”
His brow furrowed as anger swiftly welled within him. Even more than that, he felt hurt. Takuya could be unconventional as far as a Jōnin sensei went, but Dan had never been given a reason to believe the man didn’t have anything other than their best interests at heart. The products of the man’s teachings were obvious to see: he wouldn’t have been able to multitask the way he’d had when that lightning had come his way were it not for his teacher and his instructions. When the time had come that Dan had wanted to delve into the elemental aspect of things and branch into nintaijutsu, Takuya was adamant about him starting slow and learning his basics first.
Now to learn that the same teacher who seemed to turn him down at every turn had been giving the guy who tried to kill him extra lessons…
“Is this a joke?”
Takuya winced. “Dan-Dan…” he reached out, attempting to lay his hand on his student’s shoulder, but stopped as Dan flinched back.
“I owed his father a favor,” Takuya explained gently. “A debt that I could have never repaid otherwise.”
“He saved your life,” Minegumo muttered, giving Takuya an examining look. “Him, Mama Aki, and Master Arata.”
He nodded. “They went looking for me when my own teacher believed I was dead and saved me when my teammates both died because of my failure. I was always indebted to them for that. I had hoped to show Seto’s son the same grace that was given to me years ago.” He shook his head. “But it was a mistake. That boy is no more his father than you are yours.”
Sora snorted. “Bet his dad wasn’t all that great, either,” he murmured snidely. “If he was, he’d have taught that freak better.”
“His father is dead,” Arata reminded him bluntly, staring reproachfully at Sora, who immediately fell quiet.
“Uncle Seto was a great man,” Minegumo said, sending Sora a look of disappointment. “He was the closest thing I had to dad for a long time. Mama Aki was never the same after he died.”
“He was one of the best examples of a shinobi,” said Takuya.
“Sorry,” Sora mumbled awkwardly. “I didn’t know.”
As he watched and listened, Kian felt everything in him break, just shatter all at once. It was unbearable emotional agony, and he bit down on his lip to contain himself, so hard that he drew blood. Unable to watch any longer, he looked away, breathless and shaking with sobs. He couldn’t even move; he was rooted to the spot, wanting to scream but unable to summon his voice whatsoever. All he could feel was the hurt, and the worst part was knowing that he deserved to feel this beaten down and pained. This, he supposed, was the natural consequence of his actions.
I guess you’ll get what you want after all, huh, Dan? he thought miserably, finally forcing himself to resume walking, slowly but surely, one leaden foot in front of the other.
That’s right, the voice in the back of his mind whispered tauntingly. You did this. This is why nobody will ever love you, because you’re nothing but a creature of vengeance. Embrace the loneliness; it’s all you’ll ever deserve.
He broke into a sprint, his voice returning to him as he let out an anguished yell.
As one teammate lost himself to despair while the other reunited with a past friend, the only kunoichi of Team Thirteen stood by herself among the trees.
Hikari wasn’t sure what to do. She stood by, silent and unmoving, as Minegumo rushed to hug Hyūga and then only watched the conversation unfold. It surprised her, that closeness, after seeing Minegumo compel the other boy into harming himself, and then the way he’d been about to attack him all those months ago. Hikari had always assumed there was bad blood between the two, could recall a time where he’d been the third member of a trio consisting of himself, Dan, and Sora. Then one day, he’d stopped sitting with them and was instead the constant companion of Uchiha Kian. She’d never thought much about it, had no reason to do so, but now…
Now, after one of her teammates had nearly sacrificed her in his quest to kill the other boy, after seeing Minegumo embrace Hyūga with no signs of letting go, after hearing that her teacher had cashed in on a life debt to get Kian a mentor in the guy whose student he’d almost murdered, after hearing the name of Kian’s father come up again...
Hikari was stuck with the realization that she truly didn’t know anything about her boys and the man she spent almost everyday with, and she wasn’t sure how felt about that.
Suddenly, she couldn’t stay there, couldn’t keep watching them have a conversation that Hikari had nothing to with the subject of.
“Sensei, can I go?” she called out, holding on to one arm and looking at the ground. “I’m feeling pretty tired.”
“Yeah…yeah, that’s a good idea,” Arata sighed. “Minegumo, you’re free, as well.”
It hit him that he was now truly exhausted, himself, and the sun had barely even come up.
--- Hours later, the sun was beginning to set, and Kian was wandering the streets of Konoha listlessly, looking for his…best friend? Would he and Minegumo even still be friends after what had happened earlier?
Kian’s face was now clean of blood, but still exceptionally battered, and his eyes were puffy and red from having cried all day long. That morning, when he’d first woken up, he had two best friends, a team, a sensei that cared about him, a new mentor that he’d thought he was slowly forming a bond with. Now, he likely had none of it, and he was in utter disgrace. He doubted Hikari or Minegumo would even want to look at him. Arata had made it clear that he was potentially facing reassignment. Takuya loathed him and wanted nothing to do with him. What hurt the most, though, was the way Hikari had looked at him. Between that and Dan clearly taking advantage of the fallout to make a move on Minegumo, his heart was simply broken, for he’d started to very slowly come to a half-understanding about how he felt about his teammates…which was another mess in and of itself.
Don’t you realize they both hate you now? You’d better stop entertaining those thoughts, the voice chided him coldly. Unless you’ve grown to enjoy the pain.
He shook his head, quieting the voice, even if he fully believed what it had to say.
Even when he found Minegumo, what was he going to say? How could he possibly ever apologize enough for what he’d done, how could he ever make it right? Did he even deserve the chance to try? After all, clearly, there was a side of him that was a fiend, a side of him that even he was now afraid of, a side of him that made him wish he were dead. Master Arata had been right; his father would have been incredibly ashamed of him.
Lost in his thoughts, it took the sound of Minegumo’s voice to snap him out of it. Frowning, he looked up ahead, and sure enough, there he was…surrounded by Dan and Sora, sitting on a bench with them. Biting his lip, Kian wrestled with himself; they hadn’t seen him, and he had no desire to be anywhere near Dan and Sora… Maybe, though, they would eventually leave Minegumo to himself, and Kian would get an opportunity to talk to him. He made up his mind, circling around through an alleyway and scaling up to a rooftop above and behind them, laying flat on his back and out of sight.
Minegumo was in a good mood. Kicking his feet as he watched the sun set with Dan and Sora, eating dango as they laughed about past pranks they’d pulled together…it was nice. Brought back memories of his early years in the Academy, and how the three of them had been troublemakers together. Pranking their teachers, skipping lectures to go outside, not caring what anyone else thought.
Even now, they were laughing as they recalled one of their old pranks: the time they’d gotten away with an entire day of not doing school work because they’d pulled one over on their teacher at the time.
Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, Mine felt his laughter die down and took a deep breath before it started back up.
“Man, the amount of trouble we used to get into,” Minegumo shook his head, leaning back against the bench. “I’m surprised our moms didn’t all just hang us by our toes. Especially you, Sora. Some of the stuff you came up with, I swear.”
“I can’t help that I’m a genius when it comes to pranks,” Sora quipped. Truth be told, though…he regretted his paint-filled water balloon prank from earlier. He still thought the concept was hilarious, but considering everything that it had caused, well…he wouldn’t have done it, if he had it all to do over again, that much was certain. Sora felt partially responsible, even though he couldn’t have predicted Kian snapping like he had.
Dan snorted. “More like born with a dark gift for making children smile and adults cry.”
The words were said without a hint of malice, his body language indicating he was far too relaxed. How couldn’t he be? It was a dream come true, having their trio back together like this. Ignoring what’d happened with that Uchiha pest, and Dan made sure to ignore it lest he burn with indignation, he’d spent almost the entire day on cloud nine. “Besides,” Dan continued. “I’m pretty sure our best prank was when we got Sensei Hayashi. Sora sealing his supplies away was genius by itself, but Mine, you really brought it together with your genjutsu.”
Minegumo gave a smug grin. “I am pretty great, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, yeah, aside from ditching us to hang out with that sick Kian loser,” Sora replied, rolling his eyes.
Up on the rooftop, Kian could already feel tears welling up in his eyes again. He could tell without looking how self-satisfied Dan was feeling, how pleased he was. The jealousy was burning him from the inside out, melting his lungs and searing his throat so that breathing was damn near the most impossible thing in the world. Kian felt hollow, knowing that he’d effectively pushed Minegumo into that asshole’s arms.
“Kian’s not that bad.” Minegumo was quick to come to the defense of his…former best friend? Former teammate? He didn’t know anymore, and it hurt too much to think about. It was almost ironic: less than twenty four hours ago, Minegumo could have told you that he wanted to figure out Kian like a puzzle. “He’s just…going through a lot.”
Now, he was starting to realize that some questions were better left unanswered.
Dan snorted. He could bet the weirdo was going through something. You had to be, to come from that clan and have a bloodline that relied on the people you love being in danger or killing them yourself. Talk about insane, but he didn’t press the issue. He was too happy to have Mine back where he belonged rather than worry about that trash, and if the Uchiha getting a reassignment turned out to actually be true and not just some tough words…well. Things were looking up for Hyūga Dan, that’s for sure.
“All that matters is that the three greatest pranksters since the era of Lord Seventh have reunited,” Dan said proudly. “Look out, Konoha. Your worst nightmares have come true.”
That much, he’s right about, Kian thought miserably. From his perspective, things couldn’t get much worse. Indeed, they were so bad that part of him was beginning to consider just fulfilling Takuya’s prophecy and running away, never to return. Clearly, that was what he was going to become anyway, wasn’t it? A rogue shinobi? Nobody would miss him, he knew that much. Hell, he’d had it right all along. Things would be better without him, especially for Minegumo and Hikari. Well, they were gonna get a new teammate anyway…
“Nah, but who cares what that guy is going through? He just attempted murder,” Sora grumbled. “I swear, the dude’s a head case.”
Minegumo pressed his lips together and sighed, feeling his good mood evaporate as defeat replaced it. What could he say to that? That it wasn’t Kian’s fault, that he wasn’t in his right frame of mind? The Uchiha clan’s Curse of Hatred, while not exactly spoken of, wasn’t exactly a secret. It was well-documented what said curse could do to people who were plagued by it, how it brought out the worst in the Uchiha unfortunate enough to fall into its grasp.
But how much of that was an excuse?
Minegumo didn’t know anymore. It hurt to think about the Kian who he called best friend and the Kian of earlier, who hadn’t cared about anyone else getting hurt in his pursuit of punishing Dan. There’d always been a part of Minegumo that was insecure, that was hurt every time Kian pushed him away and couldn’t help but wonder if they were really ever friends. Before, he could shove that part down, could ignore it without problem. Now he wasn’t so sure if that wasn’t insecurity speaking, or his survival instincts.
“Leave it, alone, Sor. He’s gone now anyways,” said Dan, seeing the way Minegumo’s shoulders sagged. However, even as he said it, he couldn’t stop the slight irritation he felt over how affected Minegumo was, even now, by that trash. “Your sensei talked about extra training. Is that for all of you, or…?”
Minegumo nodded, sending him a grateful look that made Dan smile. “Master Arata wanted us to expand our skill sets, after what happened at our C-rank. Well, he wanted Hikari and I to expand, since ours are the most limited.”
“Training is boring,” Sora joked. “Pranks are much more entertaining.”
Kian got to his feet very slowly, not wishing to alert the other three to his presence. He’d heard about all he could stomach, and it was very telling to him that when Sora had called him a head case…Minegumo couldn’t even say a word. Guess he really does hate me now, no matter what he said about me being ‘not so bad.’ He made for the opposite edge of the rooftop and dropped down silently, deciding that he may as well go and see how badly Hikari now hated him and try to apologize and say goodbye, since Minegumo’s mind seemed to be made up.
The first place that came to mind was the docks, and sure enough, there she was. As Kian approached, her back was turned to him, legs dangling over the water. Deciding that scaring her was the last thing he should do, he cleared his throat gently to announce his presence. When she looked up at him, he shifted awkwardly, unable to meet her gaze. More than anyone else, Hikari had a real talent for making him feel bad when he was out of line.
“Can I sit with you?” he asked quietly, voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. He hastily wiped the tears from his eyes. “I just…wanted to apologize. Say goodbye.”
“I see,” Hikari said after a moment. Turning to face the lake, she patted the ground next to her, forcing her body to remain lax even as she could feel herself wanting to tense up. She hated this, feeling so anxious and unsure, especially around Kian. It made her feel small, like she was back at the Academy, fighting to prove herself.
So, as Kian approached, Hikari didn’t flee, no matter how much she wanted to. Didn’t lash out and hit him, even as the urge came to her. Instead, she sat, watching the sun set over the water and wishing she could restart this entire day.
“I thought you’d have visited Minegumo first,” she said, after several moments of silence.
At those words, Kian, having successfully sat there in silence with Hikari for all those moments, holding himself together, fell apart. He started to sob, hiding his face in his knees, which he was now hugging tightly to his chest. All of his emotions came bubbling right back to the surface, and the pain attacked him anew.
“I tried,” he replied weakly, his voice muffled. “But he’s with Dan…and Sora…and he thinks I’m a head case, just like everyone else. I heard them talking, and I know how Dan really feels about him, and I…I deserve it all, but it hurts. It hurts so much.”
God, did it all hurt.
I missed a lot today. The thought came to Hikari, somewhat detached as she attempted to process everything Kian was saying through his tears. Part of her wanted to shake him, to scream and demand to know what he could possibly have to cry over. Another part of her wanted to comfort him, to assure him that no, he wasn’t a head case, and no, Minegumo didn’t hate his guts.
She stayed silent instead, eyes staying focused on the water, lest she turn and look at her teammate. Hikari wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she allowed herself to actually look at him. Probably nothing good.
“I’m sure you probably hate me, too, but I really am so, so sorry. I lost control. It’s my fault, all my fault, and I never wanted to hurt you. Either of you,” he continued. “That’s why…why I’m gonna leave. Tonight. Before I can cause any more damage.”
Alright, then.
Hikari took a deep breath, forcing herself to think clearly, hands pressed tightly to her thighs. A number of speeches came to her: something heartfelt, that would absolve Kian of all the guilt he was feeling, and would allow them to brush this incident under the rug. They could pretend like it never happened.
“You stupid boy,” were the words she found herself saying instead.
“I am stupid,” Kian agreed quietly, sniffling. “Stupid to think I ever deserved either of you. Stupid to think I could ever be okay or close to normal after what I went through in Amegakure...”
His voice trailed off. Opening up was something he’d never been good at, never in his life. Nobody knew the truth about his experiences in Amegakure, not a single soul, but in that moment he was so upset and broken and numb that he figured Hikari deserved to know, before he left, why he was as messed up as he was. She deserved to understand why he had this…this dark side in him.
“What I did was wrong,” he said, finally lifting up his head to stare out over the water, tears still rolling down his cheeks. “I’m no better than the other street criminals that would leave me for dead, or rob me, or use me, or…touch me.” Kian’s entire body shivered involuntarily, and internally, he was screaming at himself for even allowing the memories to cross his mind. “I wish I could take it back. Dan’s a prick and has always treated me like shit, but I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
“You’re right, you shouldn’t have,” Hikari said firmly. She swallowed down saliva, blinking back tears as the stress of the day refused to leave her and made her anxious even just speaking now. But still, she pressed on. “But you did it, and you can’t change it. And…it doesn’t make you irredeemable, Ki.”
Suddenly, she felt exhausted. She wanted to sleep, to never wake up and just spend the rest of her life dreaming. It beat having to be awake and face all of this…this.
Kian finally summoned the strength to glance over at Hikari. He immediately regretted it, seeing how stressed out she looked. It made him feel even worse, because like everything else that had gone wrong with the day, it was his fault. Part of him regretted even coming to her; all he’d achieved was making her more anxious.
“I feel irredeemable,” he admitted. “All I ever do is make things worse. Even now, talking to you, I can tell I’m just causing you more pain. You and Mine are…so much better off without me.” There it was, his unspoken worst fear, finally given voice. “The worst thing is…all I’ve ever really wanted is to be the reason someone, anyone, is happy.”
Hikari grit her teeth, and turned sharply. “Don’t treat me like I’m some kind of…” she trailed off, trying and failing to find the right words. “I’m a kunoichi,” she said after a tense moment. “Just because I’m in pain doesn’t mean that I can’t handle it.”
Then she took another breath.
“I think you’re being incredibly selfish right now, Kian,” she continued, voice hard with frustration. “You fucked up. You fucked up, and then you come to me saying you’re sorry and then that you’re leaving without even trying to fix things? In what world is that fair?”
Kian felt about two inches tall. Not even Arata had hurt him this badly; it was like there was an icy blade cutting through his heart. She was right, he wasn’t even going to try and deny it. There was something about her anger, though, that seemed to clear his head, make him stop and actually think.
“It’s not, and you’re right,” he said softly after a moment. “I…I’m sorry, I just… Hearing what Takuya said about me, that I’m basically destined to be an exile…I guess I internalized it. I don’t actually want to be apart from you and Mine. Nothing in the world could hurt me more. I’m just…scared, I guess, that I’m…you know. Not wanted here.”
“Ki—” Hikari found herself wiping away a fresh wave of tears. “The only times I’ve ever been happy were because of you and Mine. The two of you are— I don’t know what I’d do without you. If the three of us have each other, who cares about what anyone else thinks? Especially some guy?”
She moved, dropping her head to lay on his shoulder as she brought her knees to her chest. All the while, her own tears continued to fall, like a dam that’d broken and showed no signs of the water held at bay having an end.
“I don’t know what I can do to convince you that I care about you,” Hikari said. “But I do. I do, so much, and it hurts that you don’t see that.”
Kian was stunned momentarily as her head came to rest on his shoulder, but slowly, his arms wrapped around her frame, gently but firmly. He pulled her in close, nuzzling into her hair.
“Hey…it’s okay,” he murmured awkwardly, sniffling. “I’m not gonna go anywhere, that was the fear talking. Look, I…care about you, too. A lot. That’s why you’re the only one now who knows the truth about me and my humiliating, disgusting secret. I’ve never told anyone else, because I’m ashamed as hell. Not even my dad when he was still here. I really am grateful for you.”
“Stupid, stupid.” She moved her arms to return the hug, holding him tightly. “Promise me. Promise me right now you’ll never actually just become a missing-nin, no matter what anyone says.”
As much as Hikari trusted him, the fear of that statement refused to leave her. It took root in her heart and refused to let go, chilling her down to her core.
“I promise, I won’t leave you,” he murmured softly, feeling terrible for having even entertained the notion. As she held him, he could feel his heart skipping beats, thudding emphatically against his chest. He found himself a bit afraid that she could feel it, too, that she would call him on it like she called him on everything else, because he had no idea how to even talk about it, and he wasn’t completely sure what it even meant.
“Good,” she said simply. “I’m holding you to that.”
She meant it. She didn’t know how, but if Kian ever told her that he was leaving, that he was never returning to Konoha…Hikari breathed out. It wouldn’t get to that point. She trusted him, trusted him to keep his word.
After a few moments of silence, he finally asked tentatively, “Does this mean you really don’t hate me? That I can earn your forgiveness somehow?”
“I don’t think I could hate you even if I tried,” Hikari answered honestly. She’d been prepared to tell him that she needed space, that she needed time to clear her head and process everything that’d happened that day. But, as Hikari was starting to discover about herself, she hated being alone and feeling alone, hated when there was distance between her and her boys when there didn’t need to be.
“Let me stay over at your place,” she said. She didn’t want to go back to that orphanage and the caretakers who barely saw her, not after today. Not ever again, if Hikari were being completely honest. “Cook dinner and talk with me. Then I’ll forgive you.”
“Anything,” Kian replied earnestly. He was relieved beyond words that even if Minegumo hated him, he still had Hikari. For the moment, until he and his best friend could talk, he would take it. She meant the world to him, too, and he was so grateful to have not lost her.
“I’m glad you wanna come over, actually,” he said sheepishly. “I didn’t want to be alone tonight, anyway. I think after today, my emotions are so all over the place…I’m kinda scared to be alone right now.”
“You aren’t the only one,” she said softly.
That thought, being alone as the evening began to fade to night, made her think of her other teammate. She could only imagine how he was feeling: the same Minegumo who confessed to her that he just wanted Kian to let him in, being struck, and then Kian finding him with the two people he loathed most.
Hikari sighed. A problem for the Team Thirteen of tomorrow.
They would remain a team. They’d been through too much together to be forced to disband now.
Standing up, she dusted her pants off, before offering a hand to Kian. “Let’s go.”
Kian took her hand, getting to his feet. He laced his fingers with hers slowly, hesitantly, deciding he liked the feeling of closeness it generated at the moment. It made him feel more secure, like she really was there with him and it wasn’t just wishful thinking.
For the first time all day, he could almost believe that things would be alright.
Don't Speak[]
A new sun had risen again over Konohagakure. Bright, but cold; the sun’s rays beamed down through the gray autumn clouds, illuminating the day even as the beginnings of a chill rolled in. As dying leaves fell and covered the ground, the citizens of the Hidden Leaf too moved slowly to start their days, subdued and quiet by the changing of the seasons.
At least, that’s how things looked for one Yakushi Hikari as she looked out of a window of Kian's house. Always one to rise with the sun, she slowly crept out of bed, stretching before pulling back the curtains and allowing sunlight to enter the bedroom.
“Time to start the day,” she said to herself. Start the day, and hopefully mend bridges that've been scorched, but not too badly burned.
Remembering yesterday and everything that’d happened, Kian’s attack and everyone's reactions, made Hikari’s shudder. But it was a new day: that meant productivity and making sure that today was better than the previous. Not exactly a hard task, everything considered.
In his own room, Kian himself was starting to stir. He hadn’t exactly slept well, considering everything that had happened the day before. The only reason he’d been able to fall asleep at all was because Hikari had stayed over, and her presence had brought him some peace of mind. Kian sat up, yawning and stretching, trying to force himself not to think about Minegumo and failing. A lump rose in his throat as he slid out of bed, running his hands through his hair. Every bit of him had wanted this to all be a bad dream that he’d wake up from, but unfortunately, that wasn’t reality. Pulling his shirt over his frame, he made to leave his room, but found his hand frozen on the doorknob. It would’ve been so much easier just to stay isolated in his room, not having to face what he’d done…
Sighing, he left his room and crossed into his kitchen, deciding that it would probably be a good idea to make some breakfast for himself and Hikari, whom he was sure would be hungry when she woke up, if she hadn’t already woken up. She was a true morning person, he knew. He shuffled around, pulling ingredients out of his fridge and gathering cooking utensils. Within a couple of minutes, he was sleepily but expertly scrambling eggs to make omurice, a favorite of his. Kian was used to having to cook for himself at that, so even though he was drowsy and yawning, he managed not to cut or burn himself as he cooked.
“Something smells good,” came Hikari’s voice as she wandered into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table. “What’re you making?”
This was, Hikari realized, the first time that she’d gotten to see either of her teammates prepare a meal. It made her oddly giddy.
“Do you need any help?”
“I got it,” Kian reassured her, looking over his shoulder and giving her a small smile. “I’m making omurice, figured I couldn’t go wrong with omelette and ketchup, you know?”
“I’m guessing it would be hard to mess that up,” she replied, lips twitching in the beginnings of her own smile.
Though he was doing his best to act normal, he was thoroughly depressed. Omurice was Minegumo’s favorite breakfast dish. He’d learned it specifically for his best friend, just a small gesture so that he could start Mine’s days off well whenever he stayed over. Kian wished desperately that he knew where they stood. More than anything, he didn’t want to lose Minegumo, but for some reason, the hardest person for him to admit that to was Minegumo himself. It was painful.
For her part, Hikari allowed herself to relax in her seat, watching Kian as he moved about in the kitchen. While she felt content, there was still a part of her that also felt restless. It was quiet: neither she nor Kian were overly chatty people, so without Minegumo to fill the silence, Hikari realized she wasn’t the best at making small talk.
“Do you want to help me run some quick errands after we eat?” she asked after several moments of peaceful silence.
“Sure,” Kian replied, grateful for the offer.
It would definitely beat sulking around his house all day by himself, wallowing in guilt and sadness and anger at himself. That would’ve solved absolutely nothing, been not at all productive. He finished cooking the omelettes and fried rice, plating up the food and drizzling ketchup over the omelettes. Kian set their plates on the table then busied himself pouring them each a glass of orange juice before finally sitting down across from Hikari, noting that when the sunlight illuminated her face the way it was currently, her eyes were exceptionally blue.
“What kind of errands are we running?” he asked lightly, taking a bite of omelette and rice, doing his best not to address what he was sure was on both of their minds.
Hikari hummed, biting into her own food before answering. “First is the flower shop, so we can make a bouquet. Then to the store, to buy some things to make a big lunch box.”
She listed each objective off her fingers, like they were items on a list.
“Then, once all of that is done…” She took a deep breath. “We stop by the Kurama Estate.”
Kian froze in the act of sipping from his glass of juice, nearly choking. He set the glass down and sighed, dabbing at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. Trust Hikari to know him well enough to understand what he needed, even without him having to say anything. Maybe he was just really obvious about it, he wasn’t sure. At any rate, she was right; stopping by Minegumo’s was a good idea, if only just to get closure on their friendship. Kian was still quite sure that Minegumo now hated him.
“Alright,” he replied meekly. “That sounds good. I’m…scared to see him, though.”
Hikari’s eyes softened. “I would be surprised if you weren’t,” she said gently. “That’s why we’ll be stopping by there last, after we get everything we need first.”
Looking at Kian now, she was vividly reminded of Minegumo and how forlorn he’d been after their rescue of Chikara. He’d been desperate to understand Kian to the point of being dejected, and now it seemed like the situation had been reversed.
Kian nodded silently, picking at his food as anxiety coursed through him. All he wanted was for him and Minegumo to be okay… He didn’t know what he’d do if they weren’t.
He and Hikari finished their breakfast and went about getting ready for the day, which didn’t take either of them very long, as efficient as they both were. They left Kian’s house, and within a couple of hours had successfully accomplished their errands, which meant there were no more excuses to delay the inevitable. As they approached the Kurama clan’s estate, Kian felt nervousness start to overwhelm him, and he became exceptionally fidgety, messing with the drawstrings of his hoodie. Before they could reach Minegumo’s front door, he paused, terrified.
“What if he says he does hate me, Kari?” Kian asked quietly in a small voice.
“Then he’s talking out of his ass,” Hikari replied.
The door opened to reveal one Kurama Akigumo, her blue hair so similar to her son’s, flowing down her back like a curtain. Arms crossed, she leaned against the door, brow raised as she looked at the two Genin.
“Not that he doesn’t do that on a normal day,” Akigumo remarked.
At the sight of Akigumo, Kian felt himself shrink, instinctively reaching for Hikari’s hand to steel his nerves. He felt the color drain from his face, he was so ashamed; the guilt was already swallowing him up. Minegumo told his mothers almost everything. There was no way that they didn’t know what Kian had done…and after everything they’d both done for him since his father had died… He felt tears begin to sting his eyes.
“I, um… Could I see him, please?” he asked timidly. “I owe him an apology, and I just…” Kian’s voice failed him. He swallowed hard, then continued on. “I wanted to make sure he’s okay, too.”
Aki sighed, uncrossing her arms and moving from the door. Taking a step forward, she enveloped Kian in a hug, pressing him to her chest as she leaned down.
“Baby Ki, you have no idea how much trouble you're getting your teachers in the next time I see them,” she muttered. “A whole village full of elite Jōnin, and not a single one seems to remember what it was like being that age.”
Kian had half-expected Akigumo to be furious, to yell or rage at him, to tell him to go away or inform him that Minegumo didn’t even want to see him. He hadn’t expected her to hug him, and when she did, he couldn’t stop the tears as he hugged her back, shaking from head to toe with emotion.
“I’m sorry,” he choked out. “I would never… I would never hurt him.”
“I know, Baby Ki, I know,” she murmured into his hair. “You’re every bit the sweetheart your father was.”
Kian sniffled, wiping his eyes. Akigumo’s words made him feel better than anything else had in the last twenty-four hours or so, even if he knew he didn’t deserve them.
Pulling back, Aki pressed a kiss to his forehead; keeping one hand on his shoulder, before turning to address Hikari. Taking in the bouquet of flowers, complete with white lilies in the middle, and the large lunchbox held securely in a bag, her lips twitched in the beginnings of a grin.
“I take it this was your idea?” she asked.
Receiving a nod, Aki smiled before ushering them in and closing the door. “He’s in the main courtyard training, but he can take a break for today.”
Eyes still wet, Kian headed slowly for the courtyard, his heart pounding. This was it. It was time to officially figure things out between him and Minegumo. Please, please don’t hate me. Kian stepped out into the sunshine, and sure enough, there he was, practicing his shurikenjutsu in the middle of the courtyard, blue hair glinting magnificently in the natural light. He felt all the breath leave his lungs. Turning to Hikari, his eyes met hers questioningly, as if asking her what he should do.
Wordlessly, she handed him the bouquet, lacing her fingers with his again as Mine paused in his throws, turning around to face them. For a moment, complete silence filled the courtyard, the distance between them felt like a physical barrier.
“What’re you guys doing here?” Minegumo broke the silence first, looking at his teammates with a mix of hope and wariness.
“I came to say sorry,” Kian replied quietly, unable to meet Minegumo’s eyes. “I never meant to put you in danger. I lost control, and it was inexcusable, and I’m so, so sorry, Mine. I want you to know that, even if…” Even if you still hate me for it anyway.
“Ki…” Minegumo trailed off, feeling his throat tighten with emotion. His stomach twisted, hating how Kian refused to look at him. “Why did you just leave? I kept waiting for you, but you never—you didn’t—”
Didn’t stay. Didn’t say anything. Didn’t tell him not to stay with Dan and Sora, didn’t fight for their friendship. Instead, he’d left him behind again, feeling like the world was falling apart around him, with no signs of stopping.
Why are you always leaving me?
“I did go looking for you,” Kian confessed, finally looking up to meet Minegumo’s eyes. “I went looking for you, and I saw you with Dan and Sora… I was right behind you guys, up above you on a rooftop. I didn’t really mean to eavesdrop, I was just waiting to get a chance to talk to you without them around…” His voice trailed off.
Remembering the things that Sora and Dan had said about him, the way Minegumo had barely even tried to defend him… It stung almost as badly as the guilt. He bit his lip, trying not to lose his composure. The last thing he wanted was to unravel in front of Minegumo before they could resolve everything…if that was even possible. Kian still wasn’t sure.
“I heard the things they said about me,” he finally continued. “They made me sick, so…I left. Couldn’t take it anymore.”
“So you just left, then?” Minegumo asked incredulously. “Without even trying?”
That hurt. More than his fights against even that Crystal Release freak or the bone weirdo, the knowledge that Kian had been there and hadn’t even tried to talk to him brought on a fresh wave of tears.
“Without even trying to speak to me? How is that supposed to be fair?” Minegumo’s voice cracked as he began to cry. “Damnit, Ki. Why won’t you ever just talk to me? Why can’t you just let me in?”
Was he untrustworthy? Was Kian just tired of how obsessive and territorial Mine was over the things he cared about?
“I wanted to talk to you,” Kian replied weakly through tears of his own. “I just couldn’t do it in front of them. You think I wanted to show my face just to have it almost broken again, or to hear about my dead dad and how I’m a head case, like I don’t already know that? They have always had it out for me! I’m not defending what I did. Not at all. It was wrong, and I’ll go to my grave regretting it, but let’s not pretend like Dan would have stopped himself from injuring me just as badly. I was just the one stupid enough to beat him to the punch.”
“I don’t care about Dan and Sora!” Minegumo all but shouted. “They’re…they’re my friends, but I’ve gone the last five years not talking to them like I used to. Do you really think I’d ever choose them over you? After everything we’ve been through?”
He took a deep breath, squeezing Hikari’s hand for comfort, trying to center himself. No matter what, he had to keep it together, to be strong until they finished talking this out. If he fell to pieces, it was just going to go south very quickly, and that was the last thing he wanted. Minegumo was everything to him, just as much as Hikari was.
“Mine…look,” he said softly. “You’re my best friend. If I push you away sometimes, it’s not because I don’t care about you or trust you, it’s…it’s because there’s things I’ve gone through that I just…can’t talk about. It’s too painful and humiliating. That has nothing to do with me not wanting you around or not wanting to let you in, I promise.”
If possible, Minegumo cried all the harder, trying and failing to wipe his face. “It hurts every time you walk away from me, Ki. I know I can be a lot, but I’m trying, and I don’t know what to do anymore. I push and we fight, I give you space and it’s…this. What am I supposed to do?”
“Well, I’m here now, and I’m not walking away,” Kian murmured, throwing caution to the wind and drawing closer to Minegumo, arms open in invitation for a hug. “Can we move forward from here? Do you even want to?”
Please don’t say ‘no,’ Mine. Please.
Did he even have to ask?
Minegumo looked at Kian’s open arms, at how close he’d gotten, and the hope in his eyes brightened once more. Slowly, scared that his best friend would change his mind, he stepped within the embrace. Wrapping his arms around Kian’s back and holding tightly, Minegumo pressed as close as he possibly could, pushing his face into Kian’s chest and breathing in his familiar scent.
With an exhale, Minegumo felt all the tension he’d been holding in release itself, his body sagging even as he maintained his grip.
Relief washed over Kian as he hugged Minegumo back, clinging tightly to him. He didn’t want Mine to ever let go of him again, truthfully, and as they hugged, he felt his eyes slowly closing. It was the best feeling in the world, finding out that he hadn’t lost him, that he didn’t hate him. Both Minegumo and Hikari had chosen not to give up on him or throw him away… He was so grateful.
Kian leaned his cheek against the top of Minegumo’s head contentedly, thankful that Hikari had helped him through this and supported him in having this conversation with Mine, thankful that Mine still cared about him. He hadn't lost everything, after all.
That’s better.
Watching her boys hug it out, Hikari let out a breath, her body releasing its own tension. Truth be told, she had been nervous; there was no real way of telling just how Mine would have reacted to Ki’s apology. As a matter of fact, Hikari was sure it would have led to a fight: Minegumo’s vindication clashing with Kian’s pride, leaving a rift that would never be able to be repaired. She’d been prepared for them to fight and yell, but it hadn’t come to it, and she was grateful for it.
That was why, as they continued to hug, she sat the lunch box down and picked up the bouquet of flowers. As Hikari neared, Minegumo turned his head to face her, his eyes bright and glossy with tears.
“Kari?”
Once Hikari got close enough, Kian reached out, fingers closing around her wrist. He gently pulled her in closer, his arm wrapping around her as he adjusted to include her in their hug.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you...both of you,” he mumbled. “Thank you guys. For everything.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Hikari said simply. “We’re a team, for better or for worse.”
Minegumo nodded, moving to rest his head on her shoulders. “I wish we could stay like this forever.”
From inside, Arata was watching, sitting next to Akigumo and sipping from a bottle of water. He was mentally exhausted from dealing with the fallout of Kian’s actions, and he had been fully prepared to transfer the boy to a different squad, as he’d said. Now, however…
“Those two would never forgive me if I had Kian reassigned, would they?” he sighed.
“Hikari might’ve,” Aki answered, taking a sip out of her own cup of green tea and giving it a nasty look. “That girl has a good head on her shoulders, a lot more tempered then I was at her age.”
A wry smile appeared on her face as she remembered the young kunoichi of years ago.
“But Minegumo?” She shook her head. “Don’t be surprised if he threatens to request a transfer of his own.”
Arata ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know what else to do,” he confessed. “I can’t have Kian behaving like that, putting his teammates in danger, trying to kill another Konoha shinobi. If Takuya hadn’t been on hand, he very well could have killed that Hyūga boy.”
The thought still made Arata’s blood run cold. His own student had been so close to committing a murder, right before his eyes. It was the worst sort of gut punch, a real slap in the face after how hard he’d worked trying to instill good values in all three of his students.
“Oh, Arata,” Aki sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Did you forget that you still have a teammate you can turn to? The same teammate who also handled Kian’s return to the village years prior?”
Already, a plan of action had come to mind. She didn’t want to do it, hated even the thought of it, but Aki would never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try to help her godson out in his obvious time of need.
“Tell Kosui you have reason to believe Kian to be high risk,” she said. “Put in a request for an evaluation, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Okay. I can do that. What did you have in mind?” he inquired, raising an eyebrow.
He was certainly open to suggestions. It wasn’t as if he was happy at the idea of having to get Kian reassigned; quite the opposite, actually. Arata cared about him as much as he cared about Minegumo and Hikari. Unfortunately, Kian had simply put him in a very undesirable position. While he and Takuya might have been able to come to grips with what happened, no matter how upset Takuya was, the village higher-ups were much less likely to view Kian with any sort of empathy. If this incident escalated, reassignment might have been a tiny consequence in comparison to what Kian could’ve faced. Furthermore, Clan Uchiha’s relationship with the village was already tense; the last thing the situation needed was to have the Uchiha clan’s rightful heir attacking the Hyūga clan’s heir become a point of contention.
“Mandatory grief counseling,” Aki answered matter-of-factly. “He can’t bottle up his problems if he doesn’t have the choice to.”
It wasn’t a perfect solution, or one that she particularly liked herself, but it was a step in the right direction as far she was concerned. It was all good and well to try and guide him down a good path, and Arata did have the right idea for it, but the problem was that until Kian was able to process everything going on with himself, no amount of mentoring would solve the obvious issue. Not when he didn’t trust him as much as he should.
“Have the kids apologize to one another,” she continued. “…Make sure Mine in particular is there. I had him show me the memory of what happened. Talk about a mess.”
“Mandatory counseling,” Arata repeated faintly, his expression darkening at the mere thought of having to be the one to tell Kian. “He’s going to hate it, but if it’s what needs to happen to keep the team together, then…so be it. I just hope he’ll eventually allow himself to benefit from it. This whole thing is definitely a mess. I’ve never seen Kian act like that.”
Aki hummed. “I’m sure you can remember what it’s like to be a hormonal kid. Feeling like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, and every burden is one that you have to shoulder yourself. They aren’t any different. Probably worse, since they’re in an era of peace and don’t have many opportunities to work off their aggression.”
“Well…yeah,” Arata sighed. “There’s definitely truth in that. It’s just weird to me. Seto had his moments, but he never actually tried to kill a comrade.”
“Kian isn’t Seto,” Aki said gently. “They’ve had different experiences and lived different lives. Kian has a lot of Seto in him, true. But you have to remember that he had an entire life in another village, where he had to fend for himself.” It was an often unaddressed elephant in the room, Kian’s kidnapping. No one quite liked being reminded that one of their own had been successfully kidnapped right from under their own nose, spirited away to another village. Add that to Seto dying not long after and his current ostracism from his own clan, and it painted a picture that most just didn’t know what to do with.
“Instead of looking for Uchiha Kian, heir to Seto,” Aki continued, “look for Uchiha Kian, the boy who’s still figuring out who he is.”
“You’re right,” Arata replied, nodding. “It won’t do him any good to just expect him to be a carbon copy of his father. Times like these make me really wish Seto was here. That boy clearly has a ton of trauma, far worse than I’d thought when he first came under my instruction. Seto would know better how to handle him.”
Aki sighed, nodding along. “Things would be a lot different if Seto were here.”
Every day she felt his passing like a physical ache, the boy who would grow to become one of her best friends.
“They sure would be,” Arata replied mournfully, sadness in his eyes as he turned his head to look out at his students.
If At First You Don’t Succeed[]
Sora yawned, stretching as he leaned against one of the Third Training Grounds’s infamous stumps. Once again, a week after the incident, they had been ordered to show up there at the crack of dawn. Apparently, the joint exercise was back on, and Master Takuya seemed much more urgent about it this time around, so he assumed that there had to be some sort of purpose for it that they weren’t yet privy to. Not that that mattered to him.
“It should be criminal to be required to get up this early,” he grumbled drowsily.
“Man, quit complaining, who wants to sleep in when there’s so much to do?” Shusei replied excitedly. He was ready to see what this training exercise was going to be.
Dan nodded. “Shusei’s right. At the very least, this should be a little interesting.” A week later, he was still in high spirits, a perpetual smile easily visible on his face. It was hard to be in a bad mood when he’d managed to rekindle a friendship back to where it’d once burned bright.
Although he was disappointed to learn that Minegumo was still close as ever to Uchiha, Dan didn’t let it bring his mood down or interfere in his making up for lost time. Konoha’s greatest trio of pranksters had five years to make up for.
Indeed, Dan’s grin was very noticeable; Kian saw his stupid, smug smile as he approached alongside Minegumo and Hikari. His stomach clenched with anger, because he knew exactly what that dumb look on Dan’s face was all about. Sure, he was no Hyūga, but his eyes still perceived many things.
I hate him. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.
As they reached Team Eleven, he yawned and stretched, his arm surreptitiously finding itself draped around Minegumo’s shoulders. Dan, after all, had wasted no time in playing the poor victim card to make a move on Minegumo in front of him; why should he show Dan any sort of courtesy after that?
“Good morning,” he greeted quietly as he leaned against his best friend, his eyes roaming swiftly over each of the other Genin trio before meeting Dan’s gaze directly. “I’d like to apologize to each of you for last week. I take full responsibility for my actions. I went too far, and…that’s not me.”
Bastard. Trash. Damn missing-nin in the making.
Dan clenched his jaw hard enough that it could have been used as an anvil. He’d known that Mine and the Uchiha had made up just as they themselves had, but that didn’t make seeing it any less aggravating. Seeing how relaxed they were together brought back memories of the Academy, how the Uchiha had returned after being gone and Minegumo was suddenly his best friend, leaving he and Sora in the dust.
Dan exhaled, forcing himself to calm back down. This was a taunt, he was sure. A test that would determine whether Mine would be willing to be his friend again, or if he’d once again decide the Uchiha needed him more.
Not this time, Uchiha.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to really get over it, but I accept your apology,” Dan replied. It was an honest answer: knowing that the guy apparently hated him enough to try and kill him wasn’t something that anyone just got over, no matter how deep the bad blood between them was.
What Dan wanted more than anything was to tell Uchiha to shove his fake apology where the sun didn’t shine, but he refrained. After all, if he refused to accept this, he’d be a hypocrite for the apology he was about to give himself.
“I apologize, too,” he continued after taking a deep breath. “What I said about your father…that was out of line, too. We might not like each other, but we’re still fellow Leaf-nin, and there are lines we just don’t cross. If someone brought up my past to hurt me, I’d want revenge too.”
Dan looked away as he said the last part, forcing his hands into his pockets as they shook ever-so-slightly. Just the thought of someone bringing up Seiya made him equal parts nauseous and furious.
Sora watched the pair silently with interest. Hearing Dan apologize to Kian was…unexpected, to say the least. For his part, he still disliked Kian and didn’t trust him, thought he was no good, but he could at least somewhat respect that the guy had had the nerve to apologize so openly.
“Yeah, well…apology accepted,” Kian mumbled awkwardly, shifting his weight and sliding his hands into his pockets. “But until you know what it’s like to be left completely alone in the world, please don’t insult me by trying to empathize with me.”
If it weren’t for Minegumo and Hikari, he would still be alone, unwanted and unneeded. He’d come so close to losing them, too, along with any purpose or happiness… Even now, the thought seared his throat.
Dan scoffed. “You don’t know my life any more than I know yours, Uchiha. Don’t act like you know anything more about me than my clan name.”
Bastard. He tried to be nice, what did he get in return? Being treated like he couldn’t possibly have it hard, as if family was always a good thing.
“Let’s just move on,” Minegumo spoke up, stepping between them before another argument could break out. “You both apologized. Now, where are Master Arata and Master Takuya?”
Kian shrugged, refraining from saying anything. He was too scared of turning Minegumo against him to mouth off and start another fight. Looking like an unhinged monster again wasn’t exactly on his agenda, especially not in front of… I’m such a sniveling puppy, he thought. Clinging to whatever affection I can get. So weak. Already, he just felt deflated, and he hated that Minegumo was still putting himself in between him and Dan. Minegumo had told him that he’d never choose Dan and Sora over him…but was that true? Maybe Mine wouldn’t necessarily choose friendships with them over his friendship with him, but somehow… Somehow, thinking about the way that Minegumo had fawned and cried over Dan, he could see Minegumo choosing the Hyūga specifically over him.
Just in a different way.
Bemused by the scene unfolding before him, Shusei casually sniffed the air, stretching, when the overwhelming stench of human sadness attacked his nostrils. It took only a split second to figure out where it was coming from. Shusei studied Kian briefly, noticed the defeated way in which the other boy was carrying himself.
“Oi, do you guys like dogs?” he asked, grinning brightly, directing his question to Team Thirteen. “You guys haven’t gotten a chance to pet Suisei yet, huh?”
The three members of Team Thirteen blinked, surprised at the random question. Sharing a look among themselves, they turned to Shusei and shrugged.
At that, the pup barked, jumping down from his perch atop Shusei’s head, wagging his tail eagerly.
Maybe this’ll cheer the dude up, Shusei thought.
“This better not be another prank or joke,” Hikari warned, sending Shusei and Sora a look of suspicion.
“Nah, not a prank,” Shusei reassured her, waving his hand airily. “I just like sharing the joys of canine companionship with people, that’s all.”
“I wouldn’t intentionally prank you, anyway,” Sora interjected, smiling cheerfully at Hikari. “The water balloon thing, that was unfortunate, I was trying to get your teammates.”
“That makes me feel so much better,” she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
Kian hesitated for a split second, then got down on one knee, reaching out and offering his hand to Suisei. He remained still quite patiently as the puppy sniffed his hand, deciding whether or not he trusted Kian. After a moment, Suisei barked, tail resuming its wagging, and he licked Kian’s hand. Chuckling quietly, the Uchiha carefully and slowly moved his hand to scratch the pup’s ears. Suisei was delighted; he nipped Kian’s forearm affectionately in thanks.
I’ll be damned, the emo guy knows how to approach dogs the right way, Shusei thought, surprised. Guess he can’t be too bad if Suisei likes him…
Seeing Kian’s smile compelled his teammates forward, coming to stand at his side and reaching out with their own hands.
As the trio pet Shusei’s canine familiar, who was very much so enjoying the attention, Arata and Takuya finally arrived on the scene, appearing in clouds of white smoke much like they had the last time everybody had been gathered. Unlike last time, however, the pair of Jōnin had been watching them in secret, having come to an agreement that if they couldn’t make it through a few minutes unsurprised together, they would have to call off the joint mission that had necessitated this training session in the first place.
“Good morning, everyone,” Arata said smoothly, adjusting his glasses. “Are we all ready to get started this time?”
Dan shrugged. They’d been waiting for their teachers to arrive so they could begin whatever training exercise this was supposed to be.
“What kind of training is this supposed to be anyways?” he asked, looking at Takuya and the other team’s sensei.
Takuya smiled, ruffling his student’s hair, his heart at ease when the boy didn’t flinch at his touch. After everything that’d gone down last week, it had taken a long few days to restore Dan’s trust in his sensei.
“I’m glad you asked, Dan-Dan,” Takuya answered, smiling secretively. “We’re going to be playing a bit of a game.”
“Capture-the-flag,” Arata explained, grinning at their students’ exasperated expressions. “We’ve placed flags at opposite ends of the training grounds. Whichever team can present the other team’s flag to me and Takuya here at the center of the grounds is the winner. Three versus three, no holds barred within reason, but there’s a kicker: you won’t be on your usual teams. We’re going to split you all up. Team Violet is Kian, Hikari, and…Dan. You’ll be defending the violet flag due east. Team Crimson is Sora, Minegumo, and Shusei. Your flag is due west. Any questions?”
Immediately, Kian felt equal parts relieved and infuriated. Having to work with Dan was truly a nightmare, but at least he also had… Kian’s amethyst eyes flickered towards Hikari, whose smile put him a bit at ease. As a reflex, he drew closer to her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.
“We’ve got this,” he said quietly, managing a small smile.
“Damn right we do,” she said, nudging his shoulder.
“Boooooo!” Minegumo jeered, hands in a thumbs-down.
Hikari rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up, you,” she said, pulling him into a headlock. “I don’t know what you’re complaining for.”
“Two dōjutsu users and a Hikari isn’t fair,” Minegumo stated.
“Because two sensor-types and another tag-team is?” Hikari asked dryly.
Sora made a face behind Kian’s back. What’s he playing at? I thought for sure he wasn’t even into girls. Apparently, though, everyone’s least favorite Uchiha scumbag was close with Hikari. He didn’t like it at all, and it took everything in him to manage his flare of jealousy. Getting into it with her teammate wasn’t the way to go about impressing Hikari. As much as it sucked, he was going to have to be mature and deal with it. With great effort, he grinned at Shusei and Minegumo.
“Let’s get it!” he exclaimed, punching his right fist into his left palm enthusiastically.
“Yes!” Shusei barked. “They won’t know what hit ‘em!”
“Should be a little fun at the very least,” Minegumo said, escaping Hikari’s grip. “At least I can test out some of the stuff I’ve been working on.”
“If there’s no questions, you begin in ten minutes on Takuya’s whistle,” Arata informed them. “This is to give each team a chance to work out a strategy and figure out how to work together in the most effective manner. Everyone head to your respective flag, and good luck!”
With that, the Genin scattered, breaking off into their respective teams.
“Okay,” Kian breathed out as he, Hikari, and Dan reached their violet flag. Already, his irides had been drenched in crimson, the pupils of both of his eyes constricted and flanked on either by a pair of tomoe. “Dan. Scan the area with your Byakugan, please. I don’t trust that Sora’s not already got a doppelganger on the way to spy on us.”
“If it’s eavesdropping, it ain’t Sora we need to be worried about,” Dan remarked. Nonetheless, his Byakugan came to life, his world going from vibrant and colorful to inverted and see-through. “Shusei and Suisei can probably make out what we’re saying right now, with just a bit of chakra.”
Which was why Dan got out a bell from his pocket and funneled a bit of chakra into it, before looping it through a kunai and some string and letting it hang from a tree. A high, barely-there, jingling sound could be heard coming from the bell as it swayed in the tree.
Sorry, Shusei. But I can’t afford to go easy on you.
“So what’s our plan?” he asked, hands going back into his pockets.
Kian took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them. “Well, the first step to formulating any battle strategy is to anticipate your opponent’s moves in advance,” he replied calmly. “Luckily for us, Minegumo’s the brains of that operation, and I know him like the back of my hand. He’ll be the one hanging back to guard their flag. It seems counterintuitive since he’s not much of a close-range fighter, but between his skill with traps, genjutsu, and his sensory abilities… He’s uniquely well-suited to defend a single area by himself. Plus, it doesn’t make sense strategically to waste his talents by sending him to steal our flag. Shusei is a flat-out brawler. Fast, athletic, hard-hitting, but his skills aren’t exactly multi-dimensional. Minegumo’s smart, he’ll use Shusei and those canine senses as a patroller to mind the perimeter that his own senses don’t extend to. The real pain in the ass in this situation is Sora. His skills make him the most suited for moving freely to try and take the flag. With his clones and his own sensory ability, he’s the one who can relay information to Minegumo and Shusei while still having the option of pressing forward towards us.”
Indeed, it was an interesting tactical challenge, for sure. He paused, thinking some more, biting down on his lip slightly and tilting his head back towards the sky. Truly, it was a gorgeous sunrise. Kian ran a hand through his hair, then continued.
“We take Sora down first, and by ‘we,’ I mean me. Doing that breaks their chain of communication and levels the playing field,” he mused thoughtfully. “Both of you are close-combat types like Shusei and Sora. I’m the one who can most effectively fight from both distance and close-range, so it makes more sense for me to be the moving piece on our side of the board. Dan, your Byakugan would be just as good for seeing through Mine’s traps and illusions as my Sharingan, but it’s most useful in the same patroller role as Shusei. Hikari isn’t a sensor, but she’s the most dangerous close-range fighter of all six of us. I very much doubt that if Sora or Shusei somehow makes it past you and I, they’ll do well against her. Hikari guarding our flag makes the most sense, but she’ll need you covering her with your Byakugan…until I take Sora out. Once I do that, I’ll signal you, and no matter if Shusei takes over Sora’s role and makes a break for our flag or not, your job is to leave him to Hikari and back me up against Minegumo. I’ll take our chances going against Mine two-to-one over Shusei’s chances of actually beating Hikari for the flag. Remember, the objective is to present our flag first. It doesn’t matter if our flag gets taken if we’re the first ones back to the Jōnin with their flag.”
Once again, Kian paused, then glanced towards Hikari. “Which means… I know you won’t let it happen, but if for some reason, they get the flag, you rejoin me and Dan as quickly as possible, and we all overwhelm Minegumo together. Two of us can keep him busy while the third grabs the flag and hauls ass to Masters Arata and Takuya.”
Hikari clapped. “Nice analysis,” she praised sincerely. Then her expression changed to one more pensive as she absorbed everything he’d said.
“It’s well thought out,” she continued. “But it still leaves some other variables out, like Suisei and whatever extra ninjutsu Sora might have picked up since graduation.”
There was also Mine’s bloodline, but Hikari doubted he would use any of his more harmful genjutsu in this exercise. For all that he had a temper and could be downright vicious to the people he didn’t care for, Minegumo was a teddy bear when it came to his friends.
“Thanks…I try,” he replied sheepishly, his cheeks reddening slightly at her praise, clearing his throat slightly and shifting awkwardly. “I didn’t forget about Suisei, it’s just that canine familiars to the Inuzuka tend to rally to their human handlers. It’s essentially fighting the same entity. As far as Sora…he’s so lazy and unmotivated and determined to coast on his talent that I doubt he’s progressed nearly as much as the rest of us have.”
“So their dogs aren’t like summons then,” Hikari muttered. “Good to know.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Dan wince and found herself pausing.
“What?” she asked.
“While I disagree about the implication that Sora doesn’t take being a shinobi seriously,” Dan began, sending Kian an unimpressed look, “Uchiha is right in this instance. He’s got the chakra to spare to pump his techniques to the maximum a dozen times over, but you won’t have to worry about anything particularly…devastating.”
The words tasted like ash on his tongue, but there was no denying it to be true. It certainly made things easier, but it made Dan embarrassed for his best friend, to the point that he hoped that he was the one to run into Sora. At least he would be able to take him down fast enough and without any hard feelings.
Dan shook his head. “That’s Shusei and Sora, but what about Minegumo? I know he’s picked up poisons and has been practicing the last couple months, but is there anything I need to really worry about?”
Hikari shook her head. “Nothing that’s especially dangerous. So far his strongest one is a paralysis technique, and it takes a few minutes to actually kick in. So just be faster than the cloud and you’re golden.”
“When the time comes, we’ll fight him on two levels, me from distance, you up close,” Kian added, turning to Dan. “If he resorts to his Kekkei Genkai, I’ll close in and break you out of it, but your Byakugan will help against his more basic stuff.”
He tried not to think about the fact that Dan knew what was going on in Minegumo’s life now. It stung, especially knowing that it was really all his own fault. All he’d had to do was keep his cool and they wouldn’t have reconnected…
Now’s not the time to think about it, he told himself sternly. Mentally shaking himself, he pushed thoughts of his best friend back into the depths of his mind. If they were going to succeed, they needed him to be focused and locked in on the goal. Kian was not going to slip up and be the reason they lost this stupid game.
“One last thing before the whistle blows…Hikari, we’re uh…gonna need pieces of your clothing,” he said bashfully, avoiding meeting her eyes. “If I succeed in taking Sora out and Dan regroups with me, Shusei will probably try to close in on you knowing that you’re the one guarding the flag, assuming Mine won’t guess that in first place, so… We’re gonna make it harder on his and Suisei’s noses. Dan will scatter the pieces throughout the area while he patrols to throw them off your real position. If he wants to get the flag, he’s gonna have to find it the old-fashioned way first.”
Hikari blinked, surprised. “That hadn’t occurred to me.”
Looking down at her outfit, her mouth thinned. And to think she’d decided to wear the new one she’d just bought too. What I get for assuming this would be a normal exercise.
Sighing, she tore the sleeves off her jacket, handing each of them a piece. As Dan took one, she grabbed hold of his wrist.
“You’d better take care of that,” she warned. “I plan on sewing it back on when all of this is over.”
Kian folded up the jacket sleeve carefully, sliding it into his pocket and making a mental note of what Hikari’s jacket looked like. She didn’t know it, but there wouldn’t be a need to sew it back together.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the training grounds, Sora and Shusei were huddled around Minegumo.
“Damn,” Shusei pouted. “Dan and his fuckin’ bells, man. I can’t hear ‘em at all over there, I’m sorry, guys.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Minegumo. “There was always a chance they’d do something to stop us from spying on them.”
It just sucked that Dan actually did it. It made Minegumo huff, although he knew he couldn’t actually fault him for thinking smart.
“But just because we can’t hear them doesn’t mean we can’t still plan ahead,” he continued. “We’re two sensors and an Inuzuka: we couldn’t ask for a better team up.”
Already, a plan was forming in his mind. Takuya and Arata knew what they were doing when they’d come up with these teams, they had the potential to work flawlessly together. It just came down to how they approached it. That was why he reached into his pockets and began pulling out all of his supplies: from his regular weaponry, to his emergency chakra blade and ration pils.
“Empty out your pockets and tell me what you have,” he ordered. “I need to know what we have to work with.”
Shusei emptied his pockets as instructed: flash-smoke bombs, flash bombs, smoke bombs, kunai, shuriken, military rations pellets. As he did, Sora followed suit, although Sora only tended to keep kunai and shuriken on him, and a few blank scrolls for sealing.
“What now?” Sora asked, raising an eyebrow at Minegumo. He was very interested in what kind of plan his friend was thinking up.
Examining the collection of tools, Minegumo chewed his lip. Between the three of them, there were enough for each of them to a couple of each type of bomb. Not exactly what he’d been hoping for, but he could make it work. It was the scrolls he was really interested in.
“How good are you with sealing?” Minegumo asked in lieu of an answer. “I want to set up a couple traps.”
“I can do basic sealing and unsealing,” Sora replied. “I haven’t learned more than that yet.”
Minegumo blinked. “Oh. Okay.” That was unexpected to say the least, but he still nodded. “Can you seal ninjutsu?” he asked.
If everything went according to plan, Minegumo could have Sora seal his venom cloud technique and he could set that up to be used. That, along with some of his own bells, looped around some wire string, would make their base reasonably protected. Then it would just be a case of rallying Sora and Shusei, which was going smoothly enough.
“Yeah, I can do that,” Sora replied with a grin and a nod. “What am I sealing?”
“New technique,” answered Minegumo, already pressing his hands into a set of seals. “Just get a couple scrolls and let me know when you’re ready.”
Immediately, Sora went to work, taking a couple of scrolls and writing seals within them and bringing his hands together, ready to weave hand seals. “Let’s do it!”
Minegumo beamed, chakra spiking as he breathed in, saturating his saliva with chemicals. Exhaling, he released a blue, vaporous stream directly onto the scrolls, not stopping until he was completely out of breath. Cutting the technique off, he gasped, stumbling back for a moment, before shaking his head and panting.
As Minegumo breathed out his toxic fumes, Sora’s hands formed seals rapidly; as he finished, the seals written onto the scrolls began to glow a faint, ominous blue, each absorbing portions of the ninjutsu and working it into their formulas. Good thing I can at least do this much...
“Alright,” he said. “Hand those to me. Meanwhile, I want you two to divide each of those bombs so we all have the same amount. I’m going to stay behind and protect the flag while you guys go out. If I’m right, Ki’s going to be out on the hunt while either Kari or Dan stay behind.”
Probably Kari. The Byakugan was too good of a tool to not use for something like this, no matter how much Ki and Dan didn’t get along.
“Ki and Kari know my tactics, and Dan knows you guys,” Minegumo continued. “That means we’re going to have to do something they wouldn’t expect. So Sora, I want you to make a set of clones and leave them around the base. Transform them so they blend in. Then make a pair: one to go with you, and the other to go with Shusei. Have them transform, and I’ll place an additional genjutsu on top of them for whoever runs into Dan. I’ll also keep us linked, so we can keep in contact. Sora, you make them believe that both you and Shusei are out and searching for the flag. Meanwhile, the real one stays back, close enough to help you if needed be, or help me defend the base. I’ll set up the traps, like I said. Anyone who comes near, I’ll hit him with the smoke and then place an illusion down.”
He paused, looking to each of them to make sure they were following along and to see if either of them had questions.
Sora nodded, creating a handful of doppelgangers. Most of them dispersed, leaving Sora with three doppelgangers in front him. He then focused hard, transforming the dispersed clones to blend into the scenery while two of the three in front of him transformed into Shusei.
“I’m good, too,” Shusei replied, pounding his chest enthusiastically. “You can count on us for a patrol.” Suisei barked in agreement. The Inuzuka weaved hand seals, manipulating his chakra as Suisei did the same.
“Suisei, c’mon! Gijin Ninpō: Jūjin Bunshin!” he barked, and in a puff of white smoke, Suisei had turned into a more feral version of Shusei, who was looking similarly bestial in appearance.
As the whistle rang out, Shusei and Suisei immediately leapt off through the tree limbs, heading out on patrol. Sora also set out, pairing himself with a clone that had transformed into Shusei, while sending the other pair of clones out in a different direction. He hoped that Minegumo was right, and that it was Kian who was out to steal their scroll; he owed the Uchiha for what he’d done to Dan. Nothing would’ve made Sora happier than showing Kian up.
Simultaneously, Dan was also setting out on his patrol, the pieces of Hikari’s jacket strewn throughout their side of the training grounds. While she prepared to stand guard, Kian immediately broke for the river, soaking himself briefly in the water to erase his own scent.
He hoped that the other team was as ready as he was.
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