Second chapter! I don't really have much to say here… so enjoy!
The sun was barely coming over the hill and a knock sounded throughout the house of Uzumaki Jiraiya.
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed golden boy groaned, rolling over in bed. Ever since he had joined ANBU, he decided his own place was a good idea. Now he was starting to think it was a bad idea: People always knew where to find him.
The knocking was much too persistent. He answered the door in his boxers and white t-shirt, eyes squinting sleepily. "What?"
There was Uchiha Kaori, looking prim and proper in her shinobi gear and jounin vest, which she was still in the habit of wearing despite her new job. She brushed back her bangs, fixing him with her obsidian eyes. "Morning, Uzumaki. Ready for training?"
He looked at her for a full thirty seconds, eyebrows drawn down as he tried to process exactly what was happening. He had just gotten back from his mission the evening before in a rush and flurry of action; a mission that, quite frankly, had involved too much killing for him to feel clean after, even after several showers. Six months (about 14 missions) in ANBU and he was still puking after almost every mission.
He was in no shape to be going out to train. The new scar he'd acquired on this latest mission wrapped around his side and ached every time he moved. His head was throbbing, his feet were still killing him, and the bed was ever so comforting. All were reasonable excuses for telling this Uchiha girl she was crazy. But then again, where was the fun in staying in bed all day?
He blinked, opening the door wider to invite Kaori in. "Wait here while I get ready."
He's more upbeat, she realized quickly, standing in the living quarters of his small apartment-style home. This must be a good day. Perhaps he was getting back into the flow of things, moving with the times, but she wasn't complaining. To be honest, sometimes she missed the old him, before everything had changed. Then again, the mornings were always the best with him: he hadn't had as much time awake to waste time thinking.
The great Uzumaki Jiraiya, named after one of the great Sannin and the teacher of the Fourth and Sixth Hokage. Quite unlike his sister Minami, he was the perfect Hokage's son- the shinobi every ninja student wanted to be like- in ANBU for six months now and still only sixteen. But he wasn't without faults, especially recently. Then again, he never was going to be the same after that day that had once again been Kaori's fault- one of the things that haunted her.
But there were a lot of things she didn't want to remember and so she pushed them to the back of her mind, instead observing the mess around her. She walked to the entrance to Jiraiya's bedroom, an eyebrow raised critically.
"Your place is a real craphole," the dark-haired kunoichi remarked as Jiraiya rummaged through his drawers, looking for a clean shirt. Most of his laundry was scattered on the floor anyway, so it's not like he had much to choose from.
"I appreciate your directness," the Uzumaki answered bluntly, finally finding one that passed the smell test (a plain gray shirt with short sleeves) and putting it on. "But, at the same time, I honestly don't care."
Kaori shrugged from her spot, finding this to be an acceptable answer.
While rummaging around in his drawer for something else, Jiraiya's head suddenly shot up as he looked around for his clock. "Crap, what time is it? I have a mission report due at ten this morning. I gotta have enough time to do that."
"Relax, Jiraiya-kun," the girl replied, leaning against the doorframe. "It's only six."
Jiraiya made a noncommittal grunting noise. "Because obviously you don't like sleep."
"Correction." Kaori pointed out matter-of-factly. "I don't need sleep."
Then came another one of Jiraiya's vague grunts. The girl smirked slightly, eyes examining the profile of the grumpy sleep-deprived shinobi in front of her. "Obviously I should wait a bit before trying to talk to you. You seem to be a bit ornery."
That was the longest observation he had hear from her in a long time.
"A chipper Uchiha in the morning," Jiraiya grumbled as he grabbed a pair of shorts to change into. "Just peachy."
Things got going quickly. As Jiraiya had learned from his countless trainings with his partner, Kaori pretty much took everything she did extremely seriously. Especially ninja business.
"Rusty on your katana skills?" Kaori taunted as their two blades clashed against each other. Jiraiya grunted, a bead of sweat running down his temple as they struggled against each other. As always, the kunoichi's extreme strength (courtesy of her mother) had him hard-pressed, but he had some tricks up his sleeve as well.
"Nope. Just testing ya, hotshot."
He flipped backwards onto a nearby tree branch, disengaging the struggle for the moment, but she came after him with a vengeance, hot on his heels. He had to get her off his back, even if it was just for a second. It was a bit tricky forming the seals with a katana in his hand, but he did it all the same and as quickly as he could.
"Wind Style: Wind Dragons."
Two twin dragons of wind raced toward Kaori, jaws outstretched. The Uchiha regarded them calmly and momentarily closed her eyes, forming a sign of her own. "Fire Style: Mythical Fire Flower."
The flames she spit out tore through the weaker element wind dragons, proving super effective. Yet, they continued past the defeated dragons toward Jiraiya in the form of flaming shurikens, spinning rapidly. The ANBU dodged them quickly however, reflexes fine-tuned enough to not be defeated by a few simple throwing weapons. Kaori landed on the tree branch opposite him.
Jiraiya saw his chance and leaped in for close range, katanas clashing yet again. His most powerful ninjutsu style (wind) was predominantly weak against Kaori's fire and he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere using that. Then again, he had been dealing with that fact ever since he and Kaori had fought as ninja students and knew his way around it. While Kaori was stronger than him in ninjutsu, he was more than a match for her in taijutsu.
Time to make this a little trickier.
He blocked her next katana blow with his sandaled foot and winced as it bit into his thick shoe, stopping at the thin line of ultra-strong metal that protected shinobi's feet from landing on any shuriken. Still, they weren't swinging hard enough to do any real damage and it was worth it just to see the stunned look on her face. And both his hands were free to form a sign while she wasn't ready. "Wind Release: Wind Spear."
True to its name, a spear of pure moving air formed in his free hand. She pulled her sword back, eyes calculating as he could see her strategizing. He put both feet on the ground and engaged Kaori again. However, she had no way to defend against two weapons and he held back her katana with his, stabbing his spear toward Kaori's shoulder. However, the Uchiha flipped back and onto the ground before the spear made contact, sticking her katana in the ground momentarily while forming her own hand signals.
"Fire Release: Flame Sword."
Mildly amused, Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Double-bladed combat, huh?"
The ghost of a smile danced across Kaori's face. "You like?"
"Of course."
They came at each other again, this time more of a graceful dance than a struggle: Steel on steel, wind on fire, and the variations between. Any onlooker would've thought that it looked carefully choreographed, a pre-planned exercise finally being put to test. However, it was more due to the fact that every movement was so carefully read and interpreted that they could predict each other's movements and move in tandem, never injuring each other any more than a few scrapes or cuts. Yet, all this accomplished and neither of them had activated their kekkai genkai.
Finally, the Uzumaki boy saw his opening. Kaori was still a little green with her katana (still waiting for her first ANBU mission so she could actually use it) and was prone to rookie mistakes, despite her obvious ability to handle situations and weapons when the need arose. Still, he found the opportunity to slide his katana past hers, efficiently disarming one of her hands with a flick of his wrist. He then shoved her forward and she faltered, backing into a tree as her back hit it and her breath flew out of her. With his wind spear, he pinned her flame sword to the tree, then drew back his katana for a harmless flick to her cheek, just enough to draw blood.
But his katana struck metal instead of skin.
She had brought up her hand just in time to catch the katana's blade on the edge of the steel plates that reinforced the backs of her gloves. Of course, he thought to himself, gritting his teeth. Why didn't I remember about those? Her gloves were specially made because of her ability with fire (and a certain jutsu that she was working on that she wouldn't tell anyone about), but they often had a double use.
Her face was pulled back into a snarl as a flicker of the Sharingan appeared in her eyes. When she really got into a battle, he would sometimes see her doujutsu slightly exceed her control, but it usually quickly receded. Now was the case, as the red faded from her eyes and her eyes suddenly flicked to his side.
Jiraiya also glanced down and spotted the growing wet stain on his side that was most definitely his own blood. He groaned. He knew that wound from yesterday wasn't healed enough. He hadn't even noticed it until now, but he'd obviously aggravated it with his battling.
Kaori released her hold on the flame sword still gripped in her hand, which slowly dissolved as soon as she let go. She also lowered her fist from where it blocked the katana and then used both hands to push up his shirt. Holding it up with one hand, she pressed the other one to his side, the glowing green power around it healing up his cut.
"Stupid boy," she muttered, face not far from his heaving chest. "You decided not to go to the hospital to get this looked at, didn't you?"
Jiraiya gave a haphazard grin. "No experienced shinobi likes hospitals. Besides, you know me, Kaori-chan. Never one to lie useless in bed."
She raised an eyebrow dryly. "I'm pretty sure that's why I have to continually patch you up."
"That and the fact that you and I both have a habit of throwing ourselves in front of danger," he added playfully, grinning.
The hand that held his side steadily shook for a moment, but she set her jaw, focusing for a few more seconds as the wound was healed up. She ran a thumb over his new, healed skin, checking her handiwork. "No," she corrected him, not shying from the truth. "It finds us. Way too much."
The grin slid off Jiraiya's face and Kaori immediately felt guilty for saying it. He had been enjoying himself, grinning, laughing. Today had been a good day. She didn't mean to bring him back to reality, but she was much too truthful to begin with and she couldn't help her nature. "Well," the blonde-haired shinobi answered slowly, "Everyone's luck has to change at some point, right?"
"Right," the kunoichi murmured, not moving. She almost took pity on him with this agreement, not having the heart to do her usual shoulder shrug.
There were a few moments of silence in which neither of them moved. How could they pass the long silence in which neither of them really wanted to talk about the real issue? There was so much history between them that saying anything could be the wrong thing and neither wanted to risk that.
Kaori was the first one to snap out of it, but only to mutter at him. "Hold still while I heal your other wounds."
Jiraiya squirmed slightly in protest, but was calmed the second he felt Kaori's familiar chakra again. "Okay, fine," he conceded, then continued onto conversation that was on more stable ground, "Your dad still on his mission?"
The girl nodded, her bangs falling over her face, but didn't say anything.
"I thought he was supposed to get back last night? He's the head of ANBU, since when does he even go out on missions?"
She shrugged this time, obviously trying to downplay it. Oh, the intricate, detailed responses one gets from an Uchiha. Still, Jiraiya knew how to act and seemed unconcerned, that in itself reassuring Kaori. "I'm sure he's just a little delayed. Besides, he didn't help my father save the entire village for nothing, ya know?"
"I know," Kaori answered, even a bit forcefully due to her worry. The Uzumaki-Uchiha duo, that was her father and Naruto-sama. And it was the same reason she couldn't ever let Jiraiya go. They were supposed to watch each other's backs, from the start to finish. How many times had her father ingrained that into her mind?
"Done," she finally announced, stepping back.
"Back to beating each other up?" Jiraiya grinned, getting a better grip on his katana.
Kaori looked at him as if it was obvious. "What else would we do?"
They finally wore themselves out about two hours later. Because that's has to happen for us to ever finish, Jiraiya reflected wryly. We have to fight 'til we can't move anymore. But they kept each other sharp. The atmosphere they had right now was almost the same as it was before it happened, before his innocence died. Kaori was the only way he could move past it, yet, when he stepped back to look at her sometimes, he couldn't help but feel the guilt and pain and suffering all over again, and he would crawl back in his shell like a turtle. It was a double-edged sword. But now was… good. Now was reassuring. Now was a good day. And he wanted to keep these moments forever as a reminder when the bad times and the nightmares came back.
"Breakfast?" The dark-haired kunoichi asked him, the hint of a smile showing through her exhausted eyes. "Kazumi's attempting to make pancakes."
Jiraiya nodded emphatically. "Lead the way."
"And then I put in the flour… Raiden, how many cups of that again?"
Silence.
"Raiden-kun. How many cups of flour?"
This time there was the sound of a snore, in which Kazumi's face turned red with anger. "UCHIHA RAIDEN, YOU BETTER NOT BE SLEEPING RIGHT NOW!"
The middle child's head shot straight up. "Uh, huh- what- yeah, Kazumi, you're doing it right," he muttered, doing his best to pretend he had been awake the whole time despite his drooping eyelids. "And two plus two equals five…" At this, his head went back down on the counter and he drifted off again.
It is sufficient enough to say that Jiraiya and Kaori walked in on Kazumi bawling hysterically while Raiden, awake now, desperately tried to get her to stop. However, when he went near the youngest Uchiha, she promptly whacked him over the head with a frying pan, and then went back to crying. Kaori watched amusedly as Jiraiya quickly intervened, prying the frying pan from the ninja student's grip and holding on to her.
"She's psychotic!" Raiden gasped, holding his head gingerly. "All I did was fall asleep!"
"You said you would help me!" Kazumi glared tearfully, trying to fight her way out of Jiraiya's grip. "You're just a meanie."
"No," Raiden defended himself, "You said I would help you. I got dragged into this!"
"Well, then you don't get any pancakes, mister!" Kazumi yelled back, making motions as if she was going to throttle Raiden. When crying wouldn't work, she resorted to anger, but with the two combined… There was nothing Raiden could do.
Jiraiya looked to Kaori for help, who simply shrugged. This was a simple skirmish between siblings; it wasn't her battle. Jiraiya rolled his eyes, taking the situation into his own hands. He loosened his grip a little bit on the struggling ninja student and appealed to her sense of reason. "Kazumi, how about I help you out and Raiden can go back to sleeping?"
"Well, not much point to that cause I'm up now," Raiden muttered under his breath, tracing circles on the counter with his finger.
Kazumi ignored this comment and grinned up at the Uzumaki boy, the picture of innocence. "Aw, thanks, Jiraiya! I like you a lot better than I like Raiden-kun anyway!"
Jiraiya grinned winningly while Raiden rolled his eyes and rested his chin on the counter. "Now I'm trying to compete with the village golden boy for the heart of my own sister. Great."
However, as soon as Jiraiya started helping the youngest Uchiha, everything went a lot smoother. Although Jiraiya was no chef, he was certainly much better than Kaori (who had people complain of food poisoningafter eating her cooking) and Kazumi was in good hands. Kaori and Raiden sat at the counter as Jiraiya and Kazumi flipped pancakes and the conversation flowed easily. Just family, friends, and pancakes and Kaori had never felt more at home.
"Kaori-chan, you want butter and syrup?"
"Yes, please."
"Jiraiya, give me the big chocolate chip one. Pleeeeease?"
"Of course, Kazumi."
"Raiden, quit using your hands and go get a fork and knife."
"But that's stupid. I'm not even using any syrup!"
"Jiraiya-kun, explain to him why he needs to eat like a civilized person."
"Raiden, listen to your older sister and eat like a civilized person."
"But, Kaori, Jiraiya's not using a fork and knife either!"
"Hn. Uzumaki Jiraiya, you are setting a horrible example."
The blonde-haired Uzumaki boy gave a disarming grin for an answer and then took a bite of pancake. "Speaking of setting horrible examples, any idea where Hayato's been lately?"
"Hn," was Kaori's response, although Jiraiya wouldn't exactly call it a response. Inuzuka Hayato was hardly the stellar shinobi with his knack of hitting on girls and overall reckless nature, and with Raiden looking up to him as if he was a god, Kaori had her issues with the happy-go-lucky, idealistic dog boy. If Jiraiya were to truly look at the situation, he would say that Kaori and Hayato had way too much difference between them to ever stop being at each other's throats, but they were both his best friends and so they hung out in the same group and behaved like good little shinobi (excluding certain incidents).
"I don't know, but I haven't been able to find him anywhere either," Raiden commented, mouth full of pancake in a very attractive way.
Kaori's eyes flashed in annoyance as she cut her own food. "Why are you talking to him anyway?"
"Well, he gives me advice on how to piss off Daisuke-" Raiden explained, naming his rival on his genin team, headed by Inuzuka Kiba- "because he says that both Daisuke and you have a stick up your butt and he's has plenty of experience pissing you off, so, in essence, we're both dealing with the same issue."
The eldest Uchiha bit her tongue, half-growling. Hayato was the only one who could really get a rise out of her; otherwise, she was as cool as a cucumber. Something about his blatant lack of respect or personal space just got on her nerves like nothing else. He was a total smooth operator who thought he totally knew what he was doing, yet he also wore his heart on his sleeve like a total moron.
Kazumi grinned innocently from her spot beside Jiraiya. "Now that you mention it, yeah, Kaori does have a stick up her butt just like Daisuke."
Kaori went back to eating. Was there a time when I was enjoying being around my family?
Traveling over the grassy knoll, the dark-haired pursuer caught sight of his prey.
Going into the cliff face. A tricky maneuver except for the fact that he wasn't afraid to follow. Some would be, especially with prey of this caliber, but not him. In fact, he wanted this man's head more than anyone else, besides the brother he had hunted down mercilessly and gone into the darkness for. Because he would never lose himself like that again, not after everything he put people through. Everyone always told him now that he had a family to think about, but his family was all he was thinking about right now.
He took off so fast for the cliff face, it was almost as if he had teleported to the base. He was head of ANBU. No one screwed with him. He took this mission on his own because of that fact. He chose this mission.
Using his chakra, he walked up the cliff face to the tunnel in the rock and peered inside. Darkness, all of it. The obsidian eyes that flashed so pale now would never turn Sharingan-red again, he knew that, but if only he could goddamn see something. But no worries. He'd walk through it anyway. He had senses other than just sight.
Walking in complete darkness, he couldn't help but remember that day when Naruto chased him down through the tunnel. Now he was the pursuer. Funny how much life flip-flopped.
The sound of movement from his left. He tensed, drawing the katana on his back, like any ANBU would have.
There was definitely someone there. There seemed to be a separate tunnel coming off of the main one and that was where he had gone. He came closer to the junction, tensing, with his katana at the ready when he turned the corner and held himself in an attacking position and-
Damn it. A distraction.
He heard the whoosh from behind, and turned just quick enough to deflect the three shuriken thrown at him. They were still playing with children's toys and he knew there was much more in store. "I know you're there, hiding," he said calmly, in an almost bored manner so as to disguise the fact that his muscles were itching for excitement, "Like the rat you are. Where's the Inuzuka boy?"
Besides, no matter how bad he wanted to kill this man, he had to remember his mission first.
He figured the voice wouldn't answer back, but it did, reverberating in the tunnel. "Around. But, that's not what you really came here for, is it? Uchiha."
Uchiha Sasuke didn't bother replying, instead forming a plan in his head. He didn't even have to think about it twice, just ran through it once and knew he'd have the bastard. He heard the slight movement of footsteps walking away and so he followed them, treading lightly.
That's when he sensed a body ahead of him. Was it-
He knelt, feeling for a pulse. It was faint, but this was definitely the Inuzuka kid.
"Go ahead, complete your mission," the voice mocked, playing on exactly what Sasuke was thinking. "With any luck, the kid'll die, but you might still be able to save him if you hurry. Sorry for the damage. He just got in the way."
Damn you, Kiba, for ever having kids, he thought to himself, knowing he was going to have to let him go. Sasuke of the past would've said, screw the kid that got in the way, I'm getting what I want. However, Sasuke of the past also would've died a long time ago in his own hatred.
"Just know that I'm coming for them."
That was when the Uchiha's thin strand of self-control almost snapped. "I will kill you before you get within a mile of them," he snarled, muscles quivering with the effort of staying where he was, holding himself back, so that this boy lying on the ground in front of him (the same boy, which he couldn't help but remember in the back of his mind, drove his eldest insane) could have Inuzuka devil's spawn of his own someday. A truly worthy cause, Sasuke thought sarcastically.
But he would walk away from here first, like he walked away without killing his brother. Like he walked away from all his nightmares of revenge all those years ago. He would be the one to walk away. And so he picked up the Inuzuka boy and turned his back- turned his back on his enemy- just to show that he had nothing to be scared of. Just to show the arrogance that he would never lose. Just to say, attack me. I dare you.
But nothing happened and Uchiha Sasuke emerged from the tunnel and took off as fast as he could go, some part of him hoping they could get an elite tracking team here in time to pick up some of his scent, but knowing that his enemy wouldn't be that careless.
Like he said before, all he was doing right now was thinking of his family.
Just know that I'm coming for them.
