Ch. 1 : Thunderstruck
Disclaimer– I do not own Naruto or any obscure references to other owned or written material, either official or those of fandom. They are all property of associated parties. Sort of grates on the nerves after a while, huh?
The dark cemetery was illuminated for just an instant as lightning split the sky. That brief flash lit the landscape as clearly as if it was the middle of the day. For that one fraction of a second, the world was different. The mirror image of what was to follow. Just as quickly as it came it was gone again, leaving the landscape even darker than it had been moments before. In a way, it was a decent metaphor for what had happened to him in the last three months. For longer than he could remember things had been dark, and out of the blue comes this... brightness. Lighting up his world and allowing him to truly see the world for the beautiful place it was... and then in a heartbeat, before he could truly appreciate what he had, it was gone without a trace. Now the world had gone back to what it was before, only this time it was painfully worse.
He was too far from the burial ceremony and the thunder was both too loud and too constant to hear what was going on, but he could guess. Other than the droning voice of the priest, who was performing the eulogy, the small burial plot would be devoid of speech. At this point, there really wasn't anything else that needed to be said. The condolences had been given. The 'we're sorry for your loss's had all been spoken. Now was the time for grieving. There would be time for everything else later. No, now was the part where some old man rambled on about how death was only a part of life, and how the person had gone on to a better place... Bullshit.
He took one last long pull on the cigarette in his mouth, and let it fall to the grass. Kira had hated that he smoked, and he had almost managed to quit. It seemed wrong to be smoking at her funeral, but at the same time the thought of going without one had terrified him more now than the notion of quitting in the first place had. He didn't bother to stomp it out. The rain would take care of that. A quick check to make sure no one could just walk away with his motorcycle, and he retrieved the only thing he had to give. Out of one fabric saddlebag, now soaking wet from the rain, he took a single tiger lily. It was a mistake to have come, and he knew it. His presence would only make things worse for her family, but he had always been a selfish bastard. He approached the site slowly, reluctant to break the solemn moment. As he got closer and closer, he could finally hear the voice of the man winning out over the storm that raged around them.
"It is truly a shame whenever one so young has life taken from them, but we must have heart. For now she resides in a place without suffering and torment. Where she no longer must toil and labor, and now can truly rest in peace. Give not your sorrow to the young woman who we give back to the earth, but to her mother and father who suffer now with us."
First only the priest in his black robe and stupid white collar thing saw him, and what a sight that would be. Shaggy blond hair hanging limp and dripping with rain water, obscuring his eyes behind yellow bangs. His left hand was pushed into the pocket of his leather jacket and his right hung limp with the flower clutched delicately between his long fingers. Thick riding boots left deep gauges in the soft earth, and the bottom of his jeans were flecked with mud and grass. Before long those listening, or half-listening, to the speech noticed the man had grown quiet when followed his gaze. More than one pair of eyes met his own not with expressions of pity or sympathy, but of outright hatred. The kindest reaction was a shake and turning away. The others...
"Why are you here, Naruto?"
Kira's father. A bull of a man that, as far as he knew, worked for a construction company. He was easily six foot five and had the same build as a small car; wide and hard. The man was standing with an arm around a woman who hardly came up to his armpit, and was obviously biting back on his anger. Other than the initial confrontation that came with any boy making moves on a man's daughter, they had gotten along pretty well. But those times had long passed. Before he even had a chance to respond, the woman tucked up against the man's side slipped away from him and stomped over to stand right in front of him. The cracking sound of the slap rang out, somehow being heard over the storm raging around them. Naruto ignored the pain in his cheek as he looked down at the small woman before him.
"You son of a bitch." Her words were barely louder than a whisper as she choked on her rage. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't taken her out on your fucking death machine she wouldn't have... she wouldn't be..."
Her husband put his hands on her shoulders, and she spun into him, sinking into his embrace. Her shoulders shook almost as badly as her knees did, and he wouldn't be surprised if her husband was holding her up. The man looked directly into Naruto's eyes, and while they had understanding deep in them, it was almost covered by the hurt.
"I think you should leave."
Naruto nodded, but didn't turn around. At this point he wasn't moving on his own power. He was just on autopilot, and along for the ride. On all sides of him he could hear the whispering. Not loud enough to make out individual words, but he couldn't care less what they were saying. All of his attention was focused on the simple black casket that was ready to be lowered into the ground. On either side was a neat pile of fresh dirt that seemed disproportional to the hole it had been removed from. Atop the black shell was an arrangement of flowers, bouquets, and pictures. Simple things that were all important to someone. A final expression of love for a person who was no longer with them, and never would be again.
As he placed the bright orange and black flower with the others, he was surprised by the lack of color. Most of the other flowers were either soft shades, or just plain white. That was wrong, wasn't it? Kira hated white. In fact, this whole thing would have driven her insane. The crying, the lack of color, the only thing that was appropriate was the weather. He laid his palm on the cool, wet metal and watched as the rain dripped down the back of his hand onto her final resting place. She had always loved the rain. Not really a big surprise, since he hated it. They had been total opposites in more ways than one.
'How can you hate the rain? It's like the whole world is letting itself show the emotion it keeps bottled up the rest of the time.'
His free hand curled tightly into a fist and his fingernails bit into soft flesh, causing little pinpricks of pain. Her voice was so real, she might as well have been standing right next to him breathing those words into his ear.
"How can you love it?" He asked so gently he couldn't even hear it over the sound of the rain. "Its cold, its wet, it makes it hard to ride." Those were the exact words he had spoken to her, and he could just see her smile and hear her laugh.
'That's just because you've never felt it right.' She had grabbed his right hand in hers, spun around so her back was pressed against her stomach, joined their lefts, and spread both arms wide. 'You can't just hide from it, you have to embrace it like a lover.'
His stomach rolled as he relived the moment. He had... He had wrapped their arms around her and hugged her tightly and said.
"I'd rather just embrace you."
Her laugh had made his stomach leap into his throat. A soft expression of pure joy, closely followed by leaning her head back and burying it in the crook of his neck.
'So hold me. And never let go...'
He frowned as he felt something warm on his palm and was surprised to see that he had been squeezing so hard, he drew blood. With that the spell was broken and he felt a heavy hand rest on his shoulder. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was, and he had no intention of seeing the man again.
"She would have been glad you came, kid. But you really need to go. You don't belong here. I'll walk you to your bike."
It wasn't a friendly gesture. Just disguised as one. Really the man was just escorting him off the premises and ensuring he actually left. Naruto resisted just long enough to lean down just enough to press his lips to the casket, then allowed himself to be steered away from the burial plot and his mind to just stall out. He was aware of Kira's father saying something, but it wasn't registering. Just fuzzy background noise, like a radio station that wasn't tuned properly. He forced himself to wake up when they were standing in front of his bike, and he caught the very end of the man's sentence.
"She thinks it was your fault. Her mom, I mean." Naruto didn't bother trying to fake a smile, or any emotion at that. He just looked up at the kindest man he had ever met with eyes as hollow as his chest.
"It's okay. We both know it is my fault."
He ignored everything else that came out of the man's mouth. Every ounce of his focus was on strapping on the full face helmet that had been resting on the sissy bar. Normally he didn't even bother with the damn thing, but now it served a couple of purposes. It kept the rain out of his eyes, which was important in this kind of weather. It would keep the cops off of his back, which was good. He was in no condition to deal with something like that today.
The engine fired up easily, despite the weather, and he pulled off of the sidewalk that he had used in an impromptu parking space. A horn blared from behind him, which meant he probably hadn't been paying as much attention as he should have been and had almost gotten hit from behind. Usually he would have gotten some kind of rush or high from the experience and flipped whoever was pissed off, but he didn't bother.
The last benefit of a full face helmet? No one could see the water slipping down his cheeks that had nothing to do with the rain.
XxXxXxX
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Seven shots back to back rang out, and the young woman laughed happily as she ejected the magazine and did a quick check on the firearm. Fridays were by far the coolest day of the week in her opinion, because it was the day her uncle would take her to the firing range usually reserved for police officers. When she was throught with the sidearm she removed the protective ear pieces and heard a man's voice right behind her.
"You know, Tenten. You are downright scary accurate with that M1911. Remind me to never get on your bad side."
Behind her her 'uncle' laughed at his own stupid joke as she put the firearm down on the counter and hit the button to retrieve her target.
"Uncle Joe, you know I would never shoot a person." The man she considered more of a father than her very own rubbed the top of her head playfully as he tugged the target from the clip holding it in place.
"And I hope you never have to, Tenny. It isn't nearly as fun as the movies and video games make it seem."
He whistled appreciatively as he looked over the target. All seven shots had hit what had no doubt been their planned destination. Five in a tight circle centered over the heart and... one on each side of the face where the eyes would be.
"Hm," Tenten obviously wasn't as impressed with her own handiwork. "I was a little off with the first shot. She handles totally differently than that .357 you let me play with, and I under estimated it."
Joe cocked an eyebrow and looked it over again. The two of them must have been looking at different targets, because he sure as hell wasn't seeing what she was seeing.
"A little off? Tenny, if my guys could shoot half as well as you do, there would barely be any crime in the EC because the criminals would be too damn scared to come outside!"
The 'EC' was the affectionate local name for the city they lived in. Short for Elemental Country, so named for its sporadic weather. Only in this city could you have snow on Monday, a thunderstorm and Thursday, and be hitting the beach that Sunday. For anyone that wasn't a local, it was infuriating, but for the people who had grown up there it was simply a way of life.
"You say the nicest things, but don't call me Tenny."
He chuckled proudly as she removed her goggles and started cleaning out the chamber of the gun she had just finished using. When other girls had wanted dolls to play with, Tenten had been reading 'Guns and Ammo' and playing around with shooting simulators. Honestly, he couldn't be happier, or prouder, if she was his blooded daughter. Since her dad, his best friend since their childhood, had been promoted to Chief of Police for the EC, it had unofficially fallen to him to keep an eye on her and make sure she stayed out of trouble. You know, parenting stuff. At first he had been shouldering the responsibility as a favor to her old man, but now? He could honestly say he loved every minute of it.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be going to this big thing with your dad tonight?"
The girl's eyes got wide as dinner plates as she shot upright from her seat.
"Oh my god! I can't believe I forgot about that! Dad's gonna kill me if I'm late."
She started hurrying back and forth in the area she had been working in, picking up the gear she had been using and grabbing her backpack from school, as well as the duffel bag she usually kept at the station for just such an occasion. Joe enjoyed the sight of her spaz attack before clapping her on the back.
"Don't worry about this, I'll clean up the mess. Why don't you go use one of the showers at the back and get yourself cleaned up? You have some gun oil on you." She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.
"Thanks, Uncle Joe." She turned to run to the back, but the older male stopped her. "Yeah?"
"I just wanted to let you know. Your mother would be so proud of you." She shot him another one of her smiles that lit up the room, then continued to get cleaned up and ready for the party she was being forced to attend. Just like her mother, she hated formalities and being tied to anything.
XxXxXxX
"So I understand you are in your third year of high school, am I correct?"
Tenten smiled politely at the elderly gentleman she was talking to. The party had been going for about thirty minutes now, and after a couple of obligatory speeches from the organizers, the guests had been left to mingle amongst themselves as they would. Unfortunately, she was the only person of her age she had seen, leaving her with a bunch of stuffy old men and women of various government positions.
"Yes, sir. I'm graduating next year."
"Good, good! I'm sure your father is very proud. Actually, is he here somewhere? I had something I wanted to speak to him about."
Tenten pointed her in the right direction and breathed a sigh of relief when he doddered off to go bother someone else. She took the opportunity provided to slip away from the crowd before someone else tried to start a conversation that she wanted no part of. Quick side trip by the buffet table to freshen up her drink, skirt the wall a little bit to avoid the crowd, a quick ladylike dash across to the balcony and she was home free. The cold air was a blessed relief and she sighed happily. The overhanging porch was covered and provided shelter from the rain that was still pouring heavily. The cold air stung her lungs and sinuses, and she leaned backwards over the railing to let some of the rain water fall on her face and throat.
"Nice view," A voice to her left called out. "But I doubt your daddy would appreciate it much. No doubt that's not what he had in mind when he picked that dress out for you."
She was proud of herself when she didn't jump at his voice and simply rolled her head to face the speaker. The blond boy was sitting down on an elaborate stone gargoyle with one leg hanging over the side and the other cocked at the knee. He was wearing a ragged pair of blue jeans and a black leather jacket that hung open, revealing a simple white t-shirt. She looked down at her own clothing. Sleeveless pink that hugged her sides and chest with a fold crossing over from her right shoulder to her left hip. It ran down to mid thigh with a slit up one side to allow for better movement. She hadn't been particularly happy with the choice at first, but her father had insisted she choose something feminine for the gathering and admittedly, it had grown on her.
"What makes you think I didn't chose this dress? Maybe I like it?"
"I doubt it. You keep toying with it like you don't like how it feels. If I'd have to guess, I'd say you haven't worn a dress in a while and prefer jeans like mine. Though don't get me wrong, you've got a good look going on. I like the pink, very feminine."
If anyone else had said those words, she would have thought they were hitting on her. But when he said them in that voice, they just sounded hollow. In fact, now that they were making eye contact, she could see that same emptiness was present in his eyes. The idea made her feel uncomfortable and she looked for a change in subject to take her mind off of it.
"You know, it probably isn't safe on that thing. What if you fell?" The blond made a show of looking off one side, then shrugging.
"Probably hit the ground and break a leg, maybe an arm or rib if I landed badly. Still survive it though."
"Optimist, huh?" He snorted with a distinct lack of humor.
"Hardly. I know all about falling and what is possible and what isn't. Right now it would hurt to fall from here to the ground, but unless I did a nose dive I could probably walk, if not limp, away from it."
"Don't you even care about your own safety?"
"Not anymore."
After that he just stopped talking and an uncomfortable silence fell over them once more. Typical, she thought to herself. The only other person her age was an emo kid hanging out on a gargoyle in the pouring rain staring off into space. The silence didn't last long, and she was the one to break the silence again.
"What's your problem? This is a party, you're supposed to be enjoying yourself. You look like you just came from a funeral or something." He didn't look at her.
"I did." She covered her mouth with her hands in horror at her faux pas, but her apology was cut off sharply. "Don't bother. You couldn't have known, so don't worry about it."
"Whose?" The boy exhaled slowly and wiped some of the rain off of his face and out of his eyes.
"My uh..." He cleared his throat, and his voice was rough when he continued. "Kira, my girlfriend."
"How long were you two together?" She wasn't sure why she asked. Maybe it was to keep the conversation going, or perhaps she was honestly curious. Or maybe it was because she could tell he still hadn't gotten it out of his system. Which would make sense, if he had just come from the funeral.
"Three months. Best damn three months of my life, too."
"How did the two of you meet?" The boy patted the pockets of his jacket as though he was looking for something, but when he came up empty he cursed quietly to himself.
"It's a long story."
His tone was cold and serious, and it left no room for more questions. The conversation was obviously over. Tenten knew she was intruding on some moment of private solitude, but she still didn't like the idea of going back into the party if she could help it. Maybe if she just stood there quietly and didn't say anything else, the awkwardness would go away?
"So why are you out here in the rain?"
The question caught her off guard. She hadn't been expecting him to break the self-imposed silence. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that he was looking at her with a glazed over sense of curiosity. The look he was giving her practically broke her heart, it was just so... ruined.
"Uh, I didn't want to be stuck inside. Every time I turn around there's some old guy trying to talk to me about something stupid. Besides, it's too beautiful of a night to waste standing around inside. What about you?"
"I didn't want to be here in the first place. For some reason my dad has gotten the idea in his mind that I should be present for this sort of thing. Hell, just showing my face would probably make those stuck up bastards nervous. I don't exactly have the best reputation when it comes to their circles."
He leaned his head back so it rested against the brick wall of the building, and the rain fell straight down on his face.
"Do you like the rain?" It was a stupid question. Why would he be out in the rain if he didn't like it? Come on, Tenten, get it together.
"Can't stand it." The response took her by surprise.
"Then why are you out in it?" He didn't say anything, so she prodded him. "Is it something to do with her?"
He winced and gave her a calculating look. He wasn't smiling, and if anything he looked pissed off that she had asked something like that.
"Perceptive, aren't you? So what about you? I'm assuming you like it or you wouldn't be sticking your head out in it."
"Yeah, there's just something about it that I've always loved. It's like the world is crying... showing emotion that it hides the rest of the time." She felt his eyes boring into the side of her head, and he had a look of pure focus. "What? Do you disagree?"
"A friend of mine said that exact same thing not long ago."
"Sounds like she was a pretty smart girl."
"I never said it was a girl." She smirked at him and winked.
"You didn't have to. It's all over your face." He grunted and turned away. "I never did catch your name, you know. I'm Tenten by the way."
"Naruto. Your name sounds familiar. Anyone I know?" She cocked her head. There wasn't really any reason he should know about her. As far as she knew they didn't share any classes, so the only other reason would be.
"Well, my dad is the police chief, if that helps." This time Naruto laughed, and a fraction of it reached his eyes in genuine amusement. The emotion was fleeting though, and she felt regret. Like it was some precious painting that had just been set on fire.
"It does, actually. I've spent enough time in one of the offices 'down town' that I know quite a few of the officers by name. Ol' Joe talks about you quite a bit. I didn't know he was the chief."
"He isn't. He's like an uncle to me. My dad is..."
They say that if you speak of the devil, he shall appear. Sure enough the glass door leading inward slid open and her father was standing in the doorway.
"Tenten, I've been looking for you. It's getting late and we should be leaving soon." He paused for a moment and looked around. "Are you talking to someone back here?"
She wondered what he meant, but quickly caught on. With the angle of the brick breaking the line of sight between him and the boy perched on the gargoyle, he couldn't see him. Judging by the way Naruto was shaking his head slowly though, he knew that her father was there. She didn't know why he would hide his presence, but she played along like a pro.
"No, just enjoying the night is all. If we're ready to go, I'll grab my coat." The man held it up, folded over his broad arm and she shrugged. "Or not. Okay daddy, I'm following you." She glanced back over her shoulder and saw Naruto nod to her goodbye.
The pair of them were silent as they exited the party, with her father paying respect to the organizer and assuring him that they would be attending the next one. After a conversation that seemed to run in circles for hours, they were in the family Mercedes and driving through the rain. The lack of conversation was maddening for someone like Tenten, but her father had always hated idle chatter. She had learned that early on, and it was easier to just bear it in silence than to try and go against tradition. Still, she was curious about something and her father was the only person she could talk to at the moment.
"Dad, what do you know about a boy named Naruto?" Her father frowned and glanced at her quickly, then returned his eyes to the road. Both hands at ten and two on the steering wheel, driving perfectly at the speed limit without variation. Just like always.
"Where did you hear that name?"
"A couple of older men mentioned him earlier." She lied effortlessly. "They didn't seem to think too highly of him, so I was curious."
"So you're eavesdropping now, hm?" She looked out the window so her father wouldn't see her roll her eyes.
"It was a party, dad. Not a private conversation." Her father was not amused by the statement, but he did consent to her point.
"He is the only son of Mayor Minato. But saying the apple has fallen far from the tree would be an understatement. The boy is a menace to everything the people of this city have worked so hard to achieve." The man was gripping the wheel harder than was necessary, given by the white tinge of his knuckles. "He is a punk that rides around with a gang of friends on motorcycles with no regard for their own safety, or that of others."
A biker, huh? That would explain the leather jacket and boots, but he hadn't given off that sort of vibe when she had talked with him.
"In fact, it he is currently under close supervision and is the primary suspect in a criminal case." She gasped quietly.
"What could he possibly be suspect for?"
"Involuntary manslaughter."
XxXxXxX
With the girl, Tenten he added mentally, gone and the party coming to a close he really had no reason to stick around. He did his best to avoid any of the guests that were still around and made a beeline for the elevators leading down to the parking garage. He hadn't parked inside it of course, that would have looked tacky and this was a classy place. He was parked around the corner and down the street a little ways where no one would see that 'monstrosity' as he had heard an old man with an eye patch once call it. Monstrosity, sure. They just couldn't stand that his motorcycle was painted up like the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the ancient nine tailed beast of legend.
From the fierce maw surrounding the front tire with teeth to the majestic tails flowing over the back one, and covered in black and orange, the machine was a work of art in his humble opinion. It and all eight of its siblings were. Even though it was nothing but paint on a three dimensional surface, the design was so realistic that you could practically feel the luxurious fur of the tails and prick yourself and one of the dripping fangs. The only thing he wasn't one hundred percent on was that it had been proportioned so that the eyes were the headlights. Appropriate and his friends assured him that it looked wild, but he wasn't sure he liked it or not. Still, it was a petty price to pay for such a beauty, and it didn't diminish his love for it a bit.
The engine roared to life, giving homage to the beast it symbolized, and he didn't bother latching his helmet this time. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he felt better after the conversation with the girl and now that his heart was pumping from almost getting caught by her father, he felt alive again for the first time in days. The engine between his legs screamed as he bounced through the gears as quickly as he could, gaining speed until the the streetlights were a blur and he was passing the other vehicles like they were standing still. This was what he had been missing these last couple of days. The feeling of power, of adrenaline coursing through his veins and making his pulse skyrocket. The knowledge that if he screwed up in the slightest, even the barest miscalculation, and he would probably be dead before he even came to a stop... It made him feel alive.
His destination was not the house his father lived in, but the place he called home. Twenty five minutes away from the rich side of town he had just come from, you could see the lives of the other eighty percent of the population of the EC. Run down businesses and apartment buildings ten or fifteen years from being condemned littered the streets. Sirens and car alarms along with breaking glass and the occasional scream were the lullaby of this part of the city, and it suited him more than the carefully cultivated gardens and polite society that he had been born into. In fact, he hadn't even known the sense of belonging he had here until he first met his brothers and sisters in the Academy during his first year.
He pulled into a back alley between two buildings that were damned near as old as the city itself. The one on the right used to be a library or something until the heaviest storm of the decade had trashed the roof and caused a massive leak that had ruined most of the books, furniture, and even some of the supports for the building. After the initial estimate to renovate it had been deemed too high to deal with, the building had been stripped of everything still in serviceable condition and left as a testament to the destructive nature of the city. Still, that four story library was where they had gotten quite a bit of the furniture that decorated their little corner of paradise. It had been an old nightclub with shady history that was built shortly after the library had been closed down for good. 'Dante's', the sign out front had read, and it was a suitable moniker.
Only two of the three floors were visible from the street, and to the average partygoer, it was enough. Fine, rich wood were on the floor and walls, strobe lights hung from the ceiling and bars covered the back wall on the ground floor. Purgatorio, the afterlife for the lost and those in need of spiritual growth, according to an old book. Go up a level and you would find a classy sports bar. Black and white furniture, marble counters and expensive televisions always showing the latest games on thirteen different channels. Truly the very definition of Paradise. On the outside and even from most of the inside, it was a dream come true in terms of clean entertainment. Go downstairs, however, and things took a change for the dramatic.
Here there had been that which caused the club's rise to fame, and its descent into ruination. The hard wood changed to cold stone and black lace drapery. There were countless shadows to hide in and the means to indulge in any and every vice known to man. Alcohol, while monitored in both of the upper levels, flowed like water here. Dancing girl were held suspended in cages from the arched roof and various stages were anointed with poles meant for other, less restrictive forms of human contortion. Large private bathrooms in the back provided discretion for those who decided to part with some hard, or not so hard, earned wage to get some company in return. For those who found alcohol to be a bit dulled to the senses, other forms of pleasure could be found in pill, powder, or herbal form. If you could pay the price. Needless to say, it hadn't been too long into the business' rich history that it started to attract attention from the local law enforcement. Soon enough there were busts, raids, and finally, it was shut down.
Now, like the library, it was a shell of its former glory. Ruined and left abandoned, forgotten by most of the city. Until they had found it at least. Now the building rich with the aura of human degeneration was the place the nine of them called home. What had once been a sports bar was an open bedroom, with beds spaced behind what cover there was without any specific pattern. Each of the beds were decorated according to the tastes of its owner, and the same could be said about their positioning.
The ground floor was their parking garage and storage area. There was where the beasts slept at night and whenever they weren't in use. The once perfect hardwood was spattered here and there with the black stains of oil and rags, wheeled back rests, and spare parts lay scattered around haphazardly. In the very center, spaced about three feet apart at varying intervals were six of the nine Bijuu, as they were called. The only ones missing were Ichibi, the raccoon ridden by Gaara; Yonbi, the great red ape that bore Roshi; and his own. After he shut his engine off and listened for a moment, he could hear the conversation going on downstairs, and could tell by the number of voices that everyone else was downstairs. Good, he didn't feel like having to talk to any of them right now. They would question him later, but for now he just wanted to sleep. He pulled the garage door Roshi had installed when he had found and renovated the place closed, and left his helmet hanging from one of the handlebars of Kyuubi.
After a quick shower and a change of boxers, he was laying on the mattress and box spring he kept behind one of the counters for a measure of privacy. He would also admit that the feeling of closeness that came with being surrounded on three sides by walls was a comfort to him, and the reinforced skylight made the bed he slept in one of his favorite places in the world. Simple, inelegant, but it was familiar and it was his. And that was all that mattered. He couldn't be sure how long he lay awake, staring up at the sky. It hadn't been long before he heard the sound of two motorcycles pulling in, one of which was the loudest of the nine – Roshi always had been a proud one - and the other unique in the sound of the running engine. For as long as Gaara had had it, Ichibi had an irregular revolution speed. When he joined up with their little entourage, Roshi had insisted on looking into it as their resident gear head, but had been dumbfounded when not only could he not tell what the problem was, there didn't seem to be a problem at all! It ran perfectly fine, just sounded a bit... off. Which, they would all admit, suited Gaara just fine.
When the engines cut off, the suite drifted back into quiet, and other than the muffled voices, it was just his breathing and the rain battering against the safety glass over head. The last thing he remembered seeing before he drifted off to sleep were the clouds floating past, black and swollen and flashing with lightning. Kira... would have loved this.
A/N: Hey, big surprise he's at it again, right? This is an idea I had running through my mind for a day or two after re-reading one of my favorite manga series, Mars. Anyone who hasn't read it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Drama, romance, love and loss, and most importantly, motorcycles.
This fic is going to be an experiment for myself, seeing if I can handle something less extravagant and more real life. Let me know what you think, even if that is just to attempt to get me back on track with my other works. No promises how high of a priority this is going to end up being, but given that the chapter lengths are going to stay relatively short, at least they will be out pretty quickly after I finally sit down and start writing.
Take it easy guys, and as always. Stay Frosty...
- Nik0laiCarpathia