I sighed, leaning back on my arms. I sat at the far end of the training grounds, watching Naruto bounce around, trying to impress Nariko, whom he had a bit of a crush on.
As I watched them, I noted the quiet boy who sat beside me. He was drawing in his book again. Sakura had run off when I wasn't looking, probably to get away from Naruto. I still don't understand how Nariko could take his yelling in her ear all the time. I never once saw the shy girl annoyed with him, no matter how much he irked the rest of us. Or, maybe she was just really good at hiding it.
Naruto tripped over his own two feet and fell to the ground, face first. I saw Nariko giggle quietly and help him stand again. I smiling, proud of how far she'd come from the scared little girl she used to be when we found her. I frowned at the thought.
"Kei, why are you frowning?" I looked over to my quiet companion, noting that he closed his book before I could see its contents. I was just as curious now as I always had been, but I pushed it back to answer his question.
"I'm thinking about when we found Nariko…" He patted my arm, sending pleasing chills up my arm. I ignored it. "How those people could be so mean to such a sweet girl…it's beyond me! She is so kind. And those people scared her so badly! It's unforgivable!"
Sai nodded, "Yes. It was rather unfortunate. But they can't hurt her anymore. She is safe." I sighed, feeling the mother in me react while I watched Naruto talk endlessly about his journey with Jiraiya.
"I know. I just…I don't want her to go through anything like that again, Sai. People in this world…they aren't all nice or generous. Some are just plain evil. She's opened up so much. I don't know what I would do if something happened to make her go back into her shell."
"That won't happen." I turned to look at him again, seeing the seriousness in his eyes. "She has you, Kei. She has all of us that went on that mission. None of us will let that happen."
I smiled at him, feeling my heart skip a beat. I knew he was trying to cheer me up. It meant that he cared for me a bit. Maybe not the way I wanted him to, but I was glad that he did.
"Yeah…you're right. Thanks, Sai! You're a great friend!" The emotion in his eyes died down and he looked away from me, humming to let me know he heard me.
I began to think about it a bit. Remembering the one mission that saved not only Nariko's life, but my own.
~"Why can't we do some cool mission like taking down a huge mafia boss or something?! I don't want to go on some boring mission again, Grandma!" I sighed, rubbing my temples as Naruto fumed in front of us all.
Lady Tsunade had called for my brother, Kiba, and I to come to her office. Which is where we learned of the mission that Team Kakashi was embarking on and we were to accompany them because of our great tracking abilities.
Naruto was, at this moment, angry because he did not want to go on a "boring" mission, as he deemed it. It is rumored that a village, just on the outskirts of the Lightning Country, may be harboring a dangerous weapon. So, our mission was to try and find the weapon…and to destroy it.
"Naruto…I SWEAR. If you don't shut up and do as you're told, I'll make sure that Teuichi bans you from Ichiraku for a month!" Naruto's face fell and I swear it turned blue in his fear. He shut up real quick.
"That's what I thought. Now, you are going to be given the night to rest up and gather supplies. I want you to leave first thing tomorrow. Am I clear?" We all nodded and walked from the building.
"Hey, Kei! Want to come shopping with me to get more weapons before tomorrow?" I turned to Sakura, biting my cheek in thought. I wasn't a fan of Sakura, but I did need some new weapons myself, so I agreed.
"Great. Anyone else want to come along?" She asked the three boys. The Senseis' had already left. Naruto and their other teammate, whose name I wasn't so keen on knowing, nodded.
"I'm good. Akamaru and me are gonna go train for a while. I'll see you guys later. Let Mom know where I am okay, Maki?" I nodded to my younger brother and we set off to the weapons shop.
A small bell rang as we opened the door, signaling our arrival. All kinds of weapon adorned the walls of the medium-sized shop, all gleaming in un-used glory.
I got the usual set of kunai, shuriken, flexible wire, and senbon needles that I usually had on me, but something shined beside me, just in my peripheral vision.
I stared in awe at the small swords that hung on the wall. The sheaths, a metallic blue with Sakura petals, glittered in the store light. The swords crossed each other, making an X shape on the wall.
"Oh my goodness…they're gorgeous!" The storeowner walked by me, smiling kindly, wrinkles forming on the corners of her mouth.
"Yes. These are very rare, as well. Only five sets were made. The craftsman, Inouichi Shouni, died before he could make anymore. Many have tried to copy his style and produce replicas, but that is just what they were. Replicas. No one has been able to make another weapon like Inouichi could. The steel blade could cut the finest hair, but could withstand almost the heaviest impact. They are one of a kind."
"Just like me! I have to have them! Will this much be okay?" I showed her my money, an excited gleam in my black eyes. The older lady frowned, counting the money in my palm.
"I'm sorry, dear, but this is not enough. If I sold them for this much, I would be ripping myself off." I frowned sadly, looking down to the ground. I knew I couldn't ask Mom for money. She'd just tell me to go make some myself. And Kiba and Hana needed their money for their own things.
"Oh…really? Man!" I pocketed the money and picked up the weapons that I had previously discarded. I really wanted those swords, but since I couldn't afford them until after our mission, I just bought the other things and left the store with everyone.
The quiet boy hung back, Naruto taking notice to it. "Hey, what cha doin', Sai? Did you forget something?" The boy smiled at his friend, but I could easily see the falseness in it. Why would he fake a smile like that?
"Yes. I forgot to get something for the mission tomorrow. I will see you all later. I have some things that I must do." With that, he turned back into the shop.
I ignored him, my mind drifting to the boy he'd replaced. No, Sasuke and I hadn't been fairly close. Not since the massacre on his family. Before then, we'd been best friends. Even after the massacre, we had an understanding with each other.
Though I was devastated that he wasn't talking to me anymore, I understood why. He'd suffered a great loss. And that was something that I understood well.
I could feel my eyes glassing over from tears just thinking about my past memories. Not of Sasuke, but of another boy.
"Keimaki? Earth to Keimaki! Are you alive?!" Naruto's voice shook through my ears and I turned a harsh glare to him, rubbing my ear.
"I'm right here, Naruto! You don't have to yell! And how many times have I told you to call me Kei? You know I hate being called by my full name!" Naruto's grin became sheepish.
"Sorry, Kei! But you spaced out there! Sakura even left because she thought you were ignoring her!" I blinked, looking around for the bright pink hair. How had I missed that?
"Uh…oops? Well, if you see her, tell her I'm sorry and that I wasn't trying to ignore her. I've just got a lot on my mind. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bye!" I turned to walk towards my house, only to be jumped by a large, dark gray husky.
I laughed as my dog licked my face. It took almost all of my strength to push him off. "Seimaru! There you are! I've been wondering where you've been all day! You missed it! We're going on a mission with Team Kakashi tomorrow. Kiba and Akamaru are coming, too!"
He started to bark back to me, saying that he ran into Kiba and Akamaru on his way to find me and that they told him.
"Oh, really? Well, I just wasted my breath then!" I laughed and Naruto stared at us strangely, muttering something about Inzuka's being weird.
I rolled my eyes and climbed up onto Seimaru's offered back. "Alright, boy. Let's go home! I want to rest up well for tomorrow!" He bounded off, skidding a bit, throwing some dirt up on Naruto. I laughed at the tall blonde sputtered out curses at us as he tried to get the dirt out of his hair.
I sighed, scrubbing my wet hair with a towel as I walked out of the bathroom, almost tripping over Akamaru as he slept in the middle of the hall.
"A-Akamaru! You're too big to sleep in the halls now! What if it'd been really dark and I got hurt because of you laying out in the middle like that?"
He barked his sorry and nuzzled my side. I giggled, petting his head. "Awe, its alright, boy. Just be more careful next time, okay?" He barked happily and bounded down the opposite way to Kiba's room.
I opened the door to my room, the towel slightly blocking my vision as a closed the door behind me and walked to my desk. I heard Seimaru make his way over to me, looking up at me with sad eyes as he saw what I was looking at.
It was a picture of a young boy, about sixteen to be exact. He had medium length, red hair that swept across his brow, deep set blue eyes, and a contagious grin. He was holding a younger girl to him. The familiar curly dark locks and black eyes smiled happily back at my own morose ones.
This was me only a year ago. The boy's name was Riku. We'd been together two years by this time, and neither of us wanted anyone else. We'd been best friends since we were children, but when we were fourteen, we realized that it had blossomed into something more.
We were happy and content. We'd even begun to talk about getting married when we were older. But, one day, my team had gone out on a mission to the Sand Village. I was sick that day, so I couldn't go. Riku didn't want to go. He wanted to take care of me, but I told him to go.
The mission was supposed to be simple. Just deliver a scroll to the Kazekage, so they didn't bother trying to find a replacement for me. I really wish they had, though, I don't know if it would have made a difference.
My team had stumbled across some rogue ninja, whom tried to steal the scroll for ransom. Of course, they weren't happy when the team started to fight back. They'd beaten the ninja, but at a cost. Riku had jumped in front of a fatal blow that was about to impale his brother, our other teammate.
They'd rushed him to the village, but the poisoned blade had done its' damage. Riku had passed before they even got to the gates of the village.
I was broken from my trance when I heard a knock at the door. I took a deep breath, pushing my thoughts to the back of my mind for now. "Come in!"
My mother opened the door, her sharp eyes holding a confused expression. "Kei, this was on the porch. It has your name on it. I had Kuromaru check it out. He says it's fine. Do you have any idea what it could be?"
She handed me an elongated box. There was nothing special about the box, but when I opened the lid, my eyes shined happily. It was the swords from the weapons shop!
I looked up at my mom, while she only shrugged. I set the box down and picked up one of the swords as if it was the most precious thing in the world.
I noticed a folded up paper under the other one and set down the one in my hand to pick it up. When I opened it, my gasped. An intricate picture was drawn on the canvas. It was of me, fighting with the swords.
I flipped the paper over, looking for a name, but there was none. I all but ripped the box a part, trying to find a name, but discovered nothing. My mother had left, closing the door behind her, leaving Seimaru and I to stare in wonder.
"I wonder who bought them…" I picked up the box and sat on my bed. I pulled one out and unsheathed it. The steel shined back at me, almost approvingly.
"Who would spend so much money on me? The only one's who even know about these were Sakura, Naruto, and Sai. But maybe someone else saw me? Ah, who cares! Now I can use these babies on missions!"
Seimaru rolled his eyes me and jumped up on the bed, careful not knock off the blades. "Just put them with your things for tomorrow and let's go to sleep already!"
I pouted, "Fine, fine! You know, I still don't get why you won't speak in front of anyone else but me. I look like a loon talking to myself. Not like I care, but it's different now that you can talk."
I set the blades beside my mission clothes and turned off the light, walking back to my bed. I crawled in and Seimaru shifted up to lay beside me, nuzzling his nose onto my cheek.
"I just don't like talking to anyone else. That's all. Now, get some sleep, Kei. We both need it." I nodded and kissed his nose, cuddling up to him. I fell asleep soon after.
I yawned and stretched, causing my dress to come up slightly. I patted it down and adjusted the swords on my back. I leaned against Seimaru, trying not to fall asleep again.
I was woken from my dozing state by a loud voice. It turned out to be Naruto. "HEY, KEI!" I groaned, glancing at my brother who was fast asleep on Akamaru. How could he sleep though that?!
I sighed, pushing off Seimaru who tensed his muscles to stay standing. He was tired as well. Early mornings were not fun for either of us.
"Good morning, Naruto. Sakura. Sai…" I saw the two other ninja following the blonde. Sakura waved while Sai gave that fake smile again. It was beginning to annoy me.
"Goodness. You look very ugly this morning, Keimaki!" Everyone's jaw dropped, Kiba's included since he'd woken up just in time to hear the insult.
"E-Excuse me?! What did you just call me?" He looked honestly perplexed at my question, like I'd just asked him what Pi equaled.
"Um…ugly? You're very ugly today!" I was about ready to punch that smile right off his face. Even Naruto looked fearful.
"Uh…Sai? Kei isn't the best person to call names. Especially not in the morning…" Kiba stood from the ground and stomped over to Sai, a growling Akamaru following. I was too stupefied to even move. I'd never met some one so rude!
"Who the hell do you think you are, calling my sister ugly?! I outta smack that stupid smile right off your face!" He got up in Sai's face, who still looked as confused as could be.
"Uh…Kei? Something you should know-Sai was taught to have no emotions since he was in ROOT. So, he learns everything from books. He read somewhere that you're supposed to call someone the opposite of what you really think. I've tried to tell him that's not how it works, but…" Sakura trailed off, glancing back at the obvious fight about to erupt.
I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks. "So…so you're telling me that he means to say that I look pretty today?" She giggled and nodded. I felt a bubble of laughter in my throat and let it out.
My brother turned to look at me like I was insane. "Kei? Why are you laughing? He just called you ugly!" My laughter died down to a giggle.
"I'll explain it to you later, Kiba and Sai, thank you. You're very…hideous, too!" I snickered, biting my lip to hold back another fit of laughter.
The pale boy smiled falsely again, to which I frowned. Though, the small blush on his cheeks confused me slightly.
"Yo…" We looked over to see Yamato-sensei walking over to us, his usual bug-eyed look on his face. I shivered. He freaked me out with those eyes! He could be so attractive, too if he'd quit trying to look so intimidating.
Three hours later, we were still waiting on our last member, Kakashi-sensei. Naruto groaned. "Why can't he ever be on time?! This is an important mission!"
I sighed. "We need to get moving! We're wasting daylight! Seimaru! Can you smell him?" Seimaru lazily lifted his nose in the air and took a small whiff of the air.
He looked at me, barking to me that he was on top of the bookstore several blocks down. My eye twitched in annoyance. "I'll be right back. I'm going to teach that perverted dolt a lesson!" I sped off in the direction of the bookstore.
Naruto watched me run, noticing the swords. "Hey! Those are pretty neat! When did Kei get those?" Sakura blinked, getting a good look before I turned around the corner.
"Hey! Those are the ones from the weapons shop yesterday! I thought that she didn't have enough money for them?" Naruto shrugged at her, just as confused. Sai glanced their way before looking back to where I'd disappeared.
I grumbled as I jumped from roof to roof, searching for the silver haired Jounin. "Stupid, perverted, old man! He's making us late!" I finally spotted him. He was laying with his back to me, propped up on his arm. It looked like he was reading one of his raunchy books again!
"You've GOT to be kidding me!" I growled quietly. I quietly jumped onto the building and stood above him. My shadow covering his reading light made him turn to me. He gave me a sheepish look when he saw the apparent anger on my face.
"Oh, Maki! What a coincidence! What are you doing here this fine day?" My eye glowed with my burning anger and I reached down, grabbing his ear and pulling him to his feet. He yelped the whole way.
"A coincidence?! Are you kidding me right now, Kakashi?! We have a mission to go on and you're slacking off, reading those disgusting books!" I finally let go of his ear when he reached his full height.
He pouted a bit behind his mask. "But I just have to know how it ends, Maki! I'll die if I don't!" I groaned, pulling him back towards the gates.
"Carol married John and they have kids together. There. Now you know the ending. So, come on! We've got things to do!" I blushed, angry that I knew that. Despite being a disgusting, old pervert, Jiraiya was very insightful. I wrote in my spare time as well so he wanted an opinion from one author to another about an ending.
Kakashi sighed and pulled away from me to walk himself. We made it to the gates even quicker than I realized and found very annoyed teammates. They all, except Yamato and Sai, glared at the tall Jounin to my right.
"Can we go already?!" Naruto waited for no answer before he turned and stalked out of the gated. I shrugged to everyone else and followed, Seimaru at my heels. Little did we know, things were about to get crazy.