Mutual Need
By Aralain
Disclaimer: I don't own the world, just this particular story which was written for entertainment purposes only
Author's Note: This is not my usual relationship… though it is certainly touched by a liberal amount of angst which I think may be my modus operandi… Please let me know how it reads because I'm not sure how this will be perceived. VERY MATURE! Do not read if you are underage…. bla bla… bla…
"No no no! Back up! Give them space!" a voice shouted over the already loud room. Many eyes turned that direction at the higher pitch which to many would usually mean danger, but the laughter that rang around the same area indicated that it was meant in jest.
"Damn right you'll give me space," a light, laughing voice said in response. A bright green pair of laughing eyes matched the voice of the small kunoichi who rubbed her hands together eagerly, staring at three things: a bottle, a shot glass, and a small wooden stool. She drew a deep breath, prancing on the balls of her feet and straightening her arms out shaking them swiftly. She was getting pumped, getting ready. Five drinks down meant the thin messenger shinobi was practically tanked already and the night was still young.
"You won't be able to grab it and if you do, it's going to break in your face and we'll have a mess Kita-chan," a large man beside her said, sighing and shaking his head.
"Do we have a medical ninja in here!?" the woman named Kita called loudly though her light voice didn't have much weight to it. No one spoke up. She scanned the crowd. She pointed directly at a shinobi who was seated with his back to them. "We have a copy nin. I'm sure that magical eye of his can throw out a healing jutsu or two!" she declared, hiccoughing comically.
"I'm a medic!" a voice suddenly said. Chuckles echoed in the small bar once more as the eyes turned to the too-drunk Umino Iruka who'd never performed a medical ninjutsu in his life.
"Good, designated medic is Iruka," Kita said, green eyes sparkling merrily.
"Seriously. This is the stupidest idea I've ever heard Kita-san and I thought I was master of ridiculous drunken challenges!" Genma's familiar voice made its way over to the experienced shinobi, Hatake Kakashi who glanced over before he determinedly feigned disinterest.
"Are you scared Genma-senpai?" the light voice taunted.
"He's definitely scared Kita-san," another woman said.
"You're welcome to back out Senpai. I doubt anyone would blame you. You full jounin are all talk these days anyway, glorified chuunin at best. It's us subordinate Special Jounin who carry this village. Besides, everyone knows that I'm going to win," Kita teased with a slight slur to her voice. Genma sighed, shaking his head. He walked up next to the stool beside hers and removed his senbon, throwing it down into the wooden floor.
Kakashi shook his head, knowing exactly what was about to happen behind him. He turned his chair slightly to watch but only once he was sure none of them could see him. He'd been listening to their banter for over an hour now. More than one person had come up with a ridiculous idea tonight and while he'd never met this particular group of chuunin and apparently lower-ranking jounin, it was clear that Genma was good friends with a few of them, not to mention he was chasing the Kita girl pretty determinedly.
"Everyone ready?" another familiar voice struck him. He hadn't realized Anko was here. He chanced a glance up to see that it was indeed her. She held the two bottles of liquor. The kunoichi named Kita was staring at her bottle hungrily waiting impatiently to begin the challenge. Genma was looking at her with lust-filled eyes, but he was usually looking like that about this time of night at some poor girl or another. It wasn't Kakashi's business who Genma was interested in hounding.
"Three, two, one," Anko counted off before throwing the bottles high and spinning them with an unbelievable amount of power. They were circular blurs in the air.
Genma jumped, trying to maintain his standing position and catch hold of the end in his mouth. Kita jumped in an entirely different way. She jumped over and around the bottle with an astounding speed, turning into the spin and successfully catching the bottle in her mouth. She landed with one hand on the small stood, feet straight in the air. It wavered slightly, lifting up on two legs, but she balanced herself and it settled back down onto three
There was a loud crash as Genma's bottle broke in his face. Kita however was apparently going for style points because she jerked her head to spin the bottle around, catching the back end with a chakra-hold at her forehead and pouring it into the shot glass before grabbing the bottle in one hand, jumping back to her feet. She took the now-full shot glass in the other and draining the small glass before slamming it down. She completed the challenge perfectly. A deafening roar went up from the group and even many who weren't a part. Kakashi found himself suitably impressed even.
"Iruka, it looks like Genma-senpai hurt himself!" Kita called to the red-faced sensei, who jumped to his feet with a mocking diligence before stumbling into Kita's large friend from before.
"I'm not physically injured, Kita-san, but perhaps there's something else I could use some help with," Genma said, stepping towards her and running his hand down her arm suggestively. She batted it aside with a laugh.
"Perhaps the copy ninja knows some jutsu to help with that wounded pride. They say he knows a thousand jutsu after all. Hatake-san!" she called, waving him over enthusiastically. He didn't move for a moment. He had no idea how this kunoichi even knew who he was, but as he looked back at her, he was unable to keep himself from finding humor in the fact that Genma was being shut down so easily. Apparently he was so hard up tonight that his eyes became fixed upon Anko for a moment before he seemed to shake that thought off.
After a minute, Kakashi tucked away his book and rose gracefully. He walked towards the group, which parted, eyes looking up at him in awe for a moment. He walked straight up in front of Kita who smiled broadly up at him. He turned to Genma, looking down and then up, lifting his headband and spinning his Sharingan for a moment before covering it again. "Hopeless," he muttered. This brought the loudest laughter yet as Genma's face reddened instantly.
Kakashi blinked when he found himself on the other side of Kita in a split-second, staring at the place he had been, Genma stumbling through it as his thrown fist had met air. Kita's hand was wrapped around Kakashi's elbow, but she said nothing about her unbelievably fast reaction. Instead she released him and as if nothing had happened at all. She turned towards the bar and tipping back the large bottle, until the large guy beside her swiped it out of her hands, holding it up above her head. She scowled at him, jumping at it once but then seeming to realize herself. She scowled at him, but chose not to fight.
Kakashi stared at Kita's back, glancing at Genma who was being wrestled out of the bar by Anko and two of his more-sober chuunin friends. Kita had reacted before Kakashi had even realized he was in jeopardy and she didn't even seem affected by it. On top of that, she was clearly beyond her limit with alcohol. He'd have to look into this kunoichi. Only one man he had ever known was faster than that and his name was Namikaze Minato and Minato had used ninjutsu to accomplish those speeds.
He heard more laughter and decided it was time to be done with tonight. As he turned however, he found a pair of dark, intense eyes before him and sighed. Gai… just what he needed tonight. He moved to step around the man but the man stepped in front of him, letting out that humming sound that meant he wasn't going anywhere. Damned idiot!
"Gai-kun!" Kita's voice cried. Gai immediately took a step back, looking around Kakashi and catching a blur of blue and green as the younger kunoichi threw herself at him. He closed his eyes, smiling a small warm smile, one Kakashi couldn't remember having seen on the usually ridiculously overenthusiastic shinobi's face before. It was almost tender.
Kakashi stared at the back of the girl's head of shiny brown hair as she clung to the jounin. It was the Kita girl. She looked small in his arms, even smaller than she already was. When she dropped back down onto her feet, she beamed up at him and stumbled a bit to the right. This caused Gai to chuckle, but he righted her without a word. "Kakashi, have you met my lively and beautiful comrade Gekkou Kita!?" he exclaimed.
"Hayate's sister?" Kakashi asked with a frown.
"My most impressive and astounding accomplishment!" she declared, bowing low and smoothly. Gai's hand on her shoulder was the only thing that kept her from face-planting. When she stood up too fast she stumbled back into him, chuckling at herself unabashed.
"How do you know Gai?" Kakashi asked, thinking that her speed made sense now. She must have trained with Gai.
"Gai-kun? I've always known Gai. He and my brother were best friends back in their academy days," she frowned, looking up at him. "Why? You got a problem with Gai?" she slurred, her body language turning aggressive. Apparently her shots had caught up with her. She took a step towards him, but Gai wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back. She lolled her head back clumsily against his chest and grinned up at him mischievously. "I'm defending your honor, Mai-to Gai," she told him, saying his name in a sing-song voice. He smiled for a moment, but then it faded and he sniffed slightly.
"Someone gave you tequila," he said, his eyes looking around sharply, his arms clamping down around her. "Was Genma here?" he demanded, turning his sharp and incriminating gaze upon Kakashi.
"Gai, lemme go!" the small woman huffed in complaint, looking forward and struggling a bit. Her arms were now wrapped up in his strong grasp, immobilized. She huffed, her hair blowing away from her face then falling back in her eyes.
"Genma?" he demanded, still staring Kakashi down. Kita shook her head to Kakashi almost imperceptibly and Kakashi shrugged.
"Who?" he asked dully before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away. The sounds of Kita and Gai struggling behind him almost had him glancing back, but he kept on, leaving the bar without a word to anyone else. It had definitely been an interesting evening.
:-D Thanks for reading. More to follow