Author's Notes: This is set for the timejump of 2 1/2 years after Allies of Sand. This chapter has been edited (again, but for the last time) due to outfit changes and a few minor additions.
Triumphant Return We're STILL friends
Kurai walked through the gates to the village of Hidden Sand and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a little over a week since he'd been sent on a reconnaissance mission on the southern border. Foreign ninjas had been seen recently, asking questions regarding not only the village, but also the Kazekage. Rolling his eyes at his own thought, the young Jounin shook his head, reaching up to adjust the cloth wrapped around his head that marked him as a Jounin. Gaara of the Desert, who he'd spent the better part of his life hating, was now his village leader. Most of the Hajino clan had wanted to leave their home when the idea was brought up, but Kurai and his siblings had vowed to stay. 'We are ninjas, not cowards,' Kurai had told his father and uncles. 'We did not leave when he was born, and I will not leave now. Hidden Sand is our home, and I will have no other.'
"Daydreaming again?" a soft voice broke into his thoughts. Kurai smiled as he turned to hug the redheaded girl who was walking up.
"I missed you, Senjo."
"Same here," she replied as she tugged on his black shirt and gave him a quick kiss. The years since Kurai's slightly reluctant acceptance of Gaara had been happier for the couple. Free to finally grow as his own person, Kurai had made a concerted effort to turn the younger members of the clan to a new way of thinking: Free will. While his father had scowled and called it a disgrace, Senjo and her family stood by the young man. After all, it had been Senjo's friendship with Gaara that had first started the whole thing.
"Any news I should know about?" he wondered.
"Not really. The Genins are still in their competition to see who will go to the exam. Temari left a day or so ago to start the talks with Hidden Leaf, so everything should be coming together soon."
"Good. Then maybe Daichi will-" Kurai stopped walking, senses on alert as he felt a familiar chakra close by. "Hang on a moment, Senjo." Focusing chakra in his arm, Kurai plunged it into the ground and seemed like he was trying to grab something. A few moments later he stood up, holding a leg that he began pulling on. When the person was sitting on the ground, glaring at them, the couple laughed. "You've got to keep more of your chakra in reserve, Daichi," Kurai told his little brother, dusting his hands off on his tan vest and matching shorts. "I can still sense you."
"But not until I was below you," the almost thirteen year-old countered with a grin as he removed his breathing mask. From the shadow of the nearest building came the other two members of his team: Inkei, Senjo's younger brother, and Hattori Riki. She was the "new" addition to the boys, the powerhouse of a girl who was not afraid to assert herself physically. More than once she'd even challenged Kurai to a fight, and she was a decent match for him in terms of power. So far, they were one of the teams most likely to be going to the Chuunin exam.
"He's got you there," Inkei said, pulling his teammate to his feet. Riki shook her head and punched Daichi's arm lightly.
"Come on, we've got serious work to do," she told them.
"But this is serious work," Daichi argued.
"Yeah, yeah, come on." Pulling both Inkei and Daichi, Riki was headed for the village gates. The trio often practiced in the desert near the cliffs, which afforded them not only privacy, but also decent ground for all of them to train. When the Genins had left, Kurai and Senjo continued on their way to the Kazekage's office. They passed Senjo's father Seishin, who winked at the couple.
"Kohaku is in there," he told them. "Best to give her a few minutes." Nodding, they sat down next to Seishin and kept their eyes on the door. For all that their team was inseparable, they had taken very different paths since their return from the Leaf village over two years ago. Kurai had focused himself wholly on his training, becoming a Jounin a year later, to the delight of his father. Senjo, content to train and work with her mother on prisoners and matters of espionage, had so far remained a Chuunin. There'd been talk of Naiteki retiring once Inkei became a Chuunin, which meant that Senjo might soon find herself tested to be a Jounin and take over the village interrogator position. And Kohaku-
"…I understand, Kazekage-sama," came her voice as the door opened. Gaara stood at his desk, dressed in the robe of his office. The hat was lying on the desk, and he ran a hand through his flattened hair. Seishin ushered Kurai inside, but then Gaara turned and saw he had an audience in the hallway.
"Tanamari Senjo, so nice of you to visit. You may come in as well." She smiled and bowed her head slightly, closing the door behind her. Gaara had recently been allowing her more access to the missions and results, as befitted her station as her mother's apprentice. Though he still insisted on being formal with her, behind closed doors she addressed him not as the Kazekage, but as her friend Gaara. "Hajino Kurai, your report please?"
"Unfortunately, I found no immediate trace of the foreigners in the border towns. However, the villagers told me that two of them have been coming more frequently, and they are always the same ones." He paused for a moment, not sure how his next bit of news would be taken. "Also, they were able to describe the uniforms they wore."
"Uniforms? So they are from a hidden village?"
"Sort of. They wore black robes with red cloud-like designs on them, and straw traveling hats. One of the restaurants I checked into even said they saw a heavily scratched forehead protector on one of them, but couldn't make out which village it was from. No one really went near them, as one did not even appear human, and crawled on all fours." Senjo's eyes were wide at this point, and Gaara turned to look out the window behind him. Kohaku was standing by the desk, arms folded across her chest. Though she had long given up wearing her armguards, the loose shirt she wore still covered her arms most of the time, and with its brown-and-tan triangle design, there were times Kohaku seemed to blend into the landscape around the village.
"You think it's them?" she asked.
"From what I heard, I'd say it's a pretty fair guess."
"So, Akatsuki finally shows itself," Gaara said.
"Should I alert the guards?" Senjo asked softly.
"They will come for me," came the desert-child's reply. "I will have no useless bloodshed. If they are spotted, the only course of action is to find me."
"But-"
"That is my final word."
"Yes Gaara." Senjo nervously played with the edge of her tan-and-brown skirt, blushing slightly when she saw Kurai glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She was glad for the black shorts she wore underneath, but she still switched to fussing with the pink sash she'd worn since she'd been a Genin and Kohaku had given it to her.
"You wouldn't want back-up?" Kurai asked, refocusing himself quickly. "It would be two on one."
"If they manage to defeat me and go after the village, that is when you will act. Kurai, I will need your word that the Hajino clan will protect the village if I cannot."
"You have it then. This is our home, and we would die for it."
"Let us hope it does not come to that. You are all dismissed." The trio bowed and left the office, and Kohaku followed her friend and brother into the street.
"I'm looking forward to a good meal," she said, placing her mask in a special pouch around the waist of her black pants. She was one of the few hunter-nins the Hidden Sand village relied on. Quick, merciless, and a little sadistic, Kohaku had yet to lose a target she was assigned to. She always said the trick to her success was that she envisioned the target as either Tansei, Kuro, or Makoto, and it was easy to accomplish her mission. She never discussed her missions, even with Kurai, and he found it slightly disturbing. But just the fact that she was normal most of the time was enough to put his fears at ease regarding her sanity.
"You'll be joining us for dinner, then?" her brother asked, an eyebrow raised.
"More than likely. Daisuke is working a late night out on the cliffs, and Daichi's been complaining about there being no one to talk to." She paused for a moment, and then sighed heavily. "And Father's been on his case about the exam coming up."
"It's to be expected," Kurai replied with his own small sigh. "Until we're all Jounins and out on our own, he won't let anything slide."
"Hence why I left as soon as I could."
"Speaking of leaving," Senjo interrupted with a smile. "When are you moving out, Kurai?" He put an arm around her waist and squeezed lightly, running his hand around the black translucent jacket she wore until his fingers brushed against its dark pink border. Senjo squirmed a bit, which only succeeded in allowing his hand to land squarely on the dark pink shirt she wore underneath.
"Soon, I promise."
"Be careful, or you'll have both Daichi and Inkei after you to move in."
"Eh, Inkei can deal with my parents until he's a Chuunin at least. Besides, I think he might soon have a certain teammate after him," the redhead explained, wiggling away from Kurai to close the jacket with its flower-shaped clasps. Once it enclosed her from neck to shins, she felt slightly safer and leaned into her boyfriend once again.
"Oh, you think Riki likes him?"
"I'm not sure, but Daichi certainly doesn't show any interest in her, and Inkei is just… Well, he is my little brother."
"Which means he latches onto the closest female?" Kurai ducked as Senjo swatted him on the head, and the trio dissolved into laughter. They were always like this now when they got together, which wasn't often. Between the twins' missions and Senjo's sometimes odd hours, it was a wonder they ever saw each other. They reached the part of the village reserved for the Hajino Clan, and headed for the main house. Atsui was outside, hanging a few lanterns up for the night. "Hello, mother." The older woman turned at her son's voice, and a smile brightened her face.
"You're back! How was everything? Was the mission successful?" Though not a ninja herself, some of Atsui's family had been, and the clan she'd married into were all ninjas. Missions that took her husband and children away for extended periods were common to her now.
"Sort of," Kurai replied with a shrug. "I'd prefer not to discuss the details now."
"Of course. You three must be hungry. Dinner is almost ready, if you don't mind helping me get the table set?"
"Not at all, Atsui-san," Senjo told her as they walked inside.
"Do you have enough for six?" Kohaku asked as they removed their sandals.
"Daisuke have a night patrol?"
"Out at the cliffs. If it's too much trouble-"
"Kohaku, it's never trouble to feed my children. I always make extra just for this reason. Daichi takes the leftovers when he goes to train anyway." The girl grinned and went to help her brother set the table. Senjo was dishing out everything to the plates and bowls, and soon dinner was on the table.
"Smells good!" Daichi said as he walked in covered in dust.
"Upstairs and wash up, young man!" Atsui said sternly, pointing at him.
"Yes, mother," he said, quickly trotting up the steps.
"Was that just Daichi- Oh, you're all here," Hajino Taru said as he entered the kitchen from the opposite side of the hall. More than likely he had been training in the special room in the center of the house.
"Yes Father. Kohaku is even joining us tonight," Kurai told him. Taru's dark eyes swept over his daughter for a moment as he nodded.
"It's just as well. I'd almost think you'd been avoiding us lately."
"No Father. It's just that I've been going on a number of extended missions as of late." It wasn't a total lie, except that she had been avoiding the house for the past few months. Taru criticized everything the children did, if for no other reason than he believed they could do better. Though he hadn't outright said it, Kohaku had heard rumors that he wanted Kurai to challenge Gaara again soon; the stakes being that the title of Kazekage would go to Kurai instead. Neither boy would ever agree to that, she knew. Daichi came down sufficiently clean, and then they all sat at the table and began eating.
"So Kurai, what was this new mission you were on?" Taru wondered.
"A bit of reconnaissance, actually. There were stories coming from some of the border towns that foreign ninja were asking questions about the village."
"And?"
"The Kazekage and I agree that Akatsuki seems to finally be showing itself."
"They will be coming here then?"
"We believe so. If what I learned in Konoha two years ago was true, they are coming for Shukaku."
"Is there a battle plan for when they arrive?" The trio looked at one another, and Taru stared at them for a moment. "Kurai?"
"Hajino-san, it's not really much of a battle plan, per se," Senjo began. "The Kazekage's orders were to find him if Akatsuki showed up."
"He feels he can take them on single-handedly?"
"He's going to try," Kohaku added. "But he acknowledged that he might fail-"
"That is inevitable. Is there a second plan?"
"Us, actually," Kurai told him.
"Mind explaining that further?"
"The Kazekage told me that if he fails to defeat Akatsuki, he wants our Clan to protect the village at all costs."
"He… He told you that?" Taru had an odd look on his face: Slight surprise mixed with what could've been a smirk.
"Yes sir. He knows that together, we are very powerful. We are the village's final line of defense if the Kazekage falls."
"I'm well aware of that, Kurai. I'm just a little surprised that he would admit that to you, being his greatest rival."
"He's also our friend," Senjo reminded him.
"Not mine." That was Taru's typical answer to Senjo's admittance of being Gaara's friend, and the redhead was slowly getting sick of it. Though no longer openly hostile to Gaara and his siblings, Taru still disliked them, and made it known behind closed doors. Often loudly.
"Senjo," Atsui said after a moment of awkward silence, "Your mother mentioned something the other day about testing you as a Jounin."
"She's thinking about retiring, and wants me to be a Jounin beforehand. But until Inkei passes the Chuunin Exam, nothing is set in stone."
"And your father?" Taru asked, getting into the conversation once more. The redhead smiled as she thought of Seishin.
"He's going to be a ninja until he can't move anymore. Mother would chase him out of the house at least once a day if all he did was sit around."
"Probably what my mother is dreading one day," Kohaku whispered quickly. The children all laughed, and Atsui quirked an eyebrow at them. They quieted down immediately, and dinner was finished in relative peace. Afterwards, Taru and Atsui went upstairs, leaving the others in the training room.
"So Daichi, any word yet one who's going to the Chuunin Exam?" Kurai wondered. The younger boy shrugged and went back to focusing on maintaining his sand armor. While he used to only be able to maintain it on one part of his body, recently he'd been perfecting how to cover his entire body for longer spans of time.
"So far it might be two or three teams, us included. We find out tomorrow, actually. Riki is positive that we'll be going."
"And you?" Again, he shrugged.
"I'm prepared for whatever the teachers say." He opened one eye and smiled a bit. "But it would be really cool if we went. Maybe I would be able to see some of the Konoha ninjas you three met."
"Sakura would probably be able to give you guys a little tour if I gave her enough of a heads-up," Kohaku said. She had kept in contact with the pink-haired girl since she'd met her, and had even seen her take the Chuunin Exam and pass quite a while ago.
"By the way, any word on Naruto?" Senjo asked hopefully. She missed the loud-mouthed blonde, and it seemed he'd dropped off the face of the earth since heading out with Jiraiya over two years ago. Kohaku shook her head and sighed.
"Not a thing. Wherever he is, he hasn't made any contact with Konoha. Sakura's beginning to get worried, but she knows that he's in good hands."
"With a perverted hermit?" Kurai said with a smirk. "He might be one of the Sannin, but he's still a dirty old man."
"Getting a glimpse as to what your future will be like?" Kohaku shot back.
"Hey, I don't stare at girls!"
"Only Senjo," Daichi added with a grin of his own, breaking his concentration and walking over to them while trailing sand. While the redhead blushed fiercely, Kurai gave her a kiss as the other two chuckled.
"Well, look at it this way: If Naruto visits and manages to get Senjo drunk, we'll know his training was a success," Kohaku said as she ducked a swat from her friend. Kurai frowned as his sister dissolved into laughter again.
"If anyone's going to get her drunk, it'll be me," he said defiantly.
"I don't know, Kurai," Senjo said with a giggle. "After all, Naruto might one day be Hokage, and women can't resist a man in power."
"You seem to be doing a good job of resisting Gaara," he replied, quirking an eyebrow. "Or do I need to reissue my challenge over your honor?"
"Gaara-sama is always so calm," Daichi spoke up. "There's no way he'd go for you, Senjo. You're too bouncy."
"Sometimes you need a little bounce in your life, Daichi," she told him, narrowing her eyes. "So if you don't want me to put you into a never-ending nightmare of bouncing Senjos, you'll get back to practicing until you are as good as Gaara or your brother!" The younger boy immediately straightened up and went back to the center of the training room.
"You get more like your mother every day," Kurai said with a shake of his head.
"We all have to grow up sometime, Kurai."
"Yeah, I know. Lucky for us we got it over with years ago." The trio smiled and broke away to practice some of their own techniques on the training dummies.