Sweat poured off Izumo's form as he dropped down low to avoid the roundhouse kick aimed for his head. Apparently, sparring with Kotetsu actually made the raven haired young man happy because then he could hit Izumo for putting him in this situation in the first place.
As for Izumo? Well, he was just trying not to be killed by the raven haired man.
Really, that chunin certainly did not pull any punches. Izumo grimaced and staggered back, holding the side of his head that Kotetsu just decked with a strong right hook. Izumo lost his balance in the process and ended up falling flat on his butt. Totally uncool, Izumo thought, trying to hide his embarrassment at being so easily bested.
"Sorry, Kamizuki. Forgot you're injured." Kotetsu said.
Izumo didn't think he really meant it though. After all, Kotetsu blamed Izumo for getting him stuck in this mess in the first place. Izumo couldn't really blame the other man for being angry, he just wished that Kotetsu wouldn't take his anger out on him during their sparring matches.
"Ah…'s okay. Listen…I'm getting kind of hungry. Hour lunch break?" Izumo asked hopefully. It was well past noon, creeping into the dinner hours, and Izumo hadn't had anything to eat all day. It probably wasn't smart of him since he was trying to heal, but he had been running late this morning, and he didn't want to keep Kotetsu waiting for him at the training grounds, so he skipped breakfast.
Kotetsu glanced at the sun's position and nodded in agreement. "You still like that tea and sweets shop by Yakiniku Q? We could grab something there to snack on until dinner."
Izumo was impressed that Kotetsu remembered Amaiguriama. When he and Kotetsu were kids, they would always beg their parents and older siblings if they could visit the shop and get some sweets. Nowadays, Izumo and Iruka frequented the shop together whenever they both had free time.
Izumo nodded an affirmative. "They added tables, so we could sit and rest inside to get out of this awful heat."
Kotetsu nodded and began collecting his various weapons and holsters. Izumo stood then donned his shirt and vest before turning to watch Kotetsu's form. Izumo always did this to himself. For the past three days that the two had been training and sparring together, Izumo watched Kotetsu silently when the other young man was distracted. He admired the spiky haired chunin, and he missed the easy friendship the two of them used to have.
Kotetsu straightened after collecting all of his things. The two chunin headed out to Amaiguriama, ambling along and chatting pleasantly with anyone who came across their path.
Izumo noticed that as they walked down the street, people would stop and stare at them. It was making him feel mildly uncomfortable, and he tried to hurry along. Izumo really, really, did not want to be asked about his venture with Mist torture. The nightmares were enough, let alone having to fend them off during the day.
Izumo increased his pace, and Kotetsu hurried along after him once he noticed that his teammate was no longer by his side. Ibiki had warned Kotetsu that Izumo was not to be let out of his sight when they were in public, and it frustrated the young chunin that he was stuck being Izumo's babysitter. Ibiki sure knew how to piss Kotetsu off.
"Why're you walking so fast? It's not like the shop is going to close in the middle of the day!" Kotetsu barked with a harsh undertone in his voice.
Izumo sighed and just kept up with his brisk pace. Unfortunately, Kotetsu's grumbling distracted Izumo just enough that he didn't sense the body right around the corner, and Izumo quite literally ran into the other man.
There was the hard impact of bodies, a grunt, and Izumo was, quite suddenly, in a crouched defensive position that his instincts screamed at his body to take.
Calm down, Kamizuki! Izumo mentally berated himself. You're in Konoha! No Mist ninja is around to attack and capture and torture you. You are among FRIENDS!
Izumo's posture relaxed as he saw the other man stand up and brush himself off.
"Mizuki!" Izumo rushed over to help the silver haired chunin dust off. "I'm so sorry about that!"
Izumo heard a chuckle coming from the other man's lips, and he felt his posture relax. Mizuki was an okay guy. He had always been nice to Izumo, and Mizuki was one of Iruka's best friends. "That's alright, 'Zumo!" Izumo slightly jerked at the nickname. He didn't know Mizuki that well, but he guessed that maybe Iruka told Mizuki about Izumo, just as Iruka told Izumo about Mizuki.
Izumo smiled sheepishly and scratched lightly on his cheek. He was fighting the oncoming blush he could feel, and he hated that he knew Kotetsu was behind him watching the interaction with at least the slightest bit of contempt.
Izumo knew that Kotetsu did not like Mizuki. Not when they were academy students, not when they were genin, and most certainly not now that they were chunin.
Izumo had never found out the reason why Kotetsu hated Mizuki, but the time to ask had certainly passed him by.
"Ne…'Zumo…I got to ask…Is it true? What they're saying? I wanted to make sure you're okay if it is true."
Izumo felt his body tense at the seemingly well-meant question. This was why he had been trying to get to the shop quickly. Not a lot of ninja ventured into that sweet shop, so he would have been left alone for the most part. He had already been asked by seven different people, four of whom he didn't even know, about his capture and torture. And while he wasn't allowed to say anything, it didn't mean that people stopped asking about it.
Every time they asked, it just cut a hole straight through his mind to the memories he was trying to fight off.
Izumo didn't even realize that he had checked out of the conversation when he heard Kotetsu's voice, "Ne, 'Zuki-kun," for some reason, Izumo thought Kotetsu's voice held a bit of mocking condemnation in it. "'Zum and I need to get going. We're taking a break from training and need to get back to it. It's always such a pleasure seeing you."
Kotetsu grabbed Izumo's arm and maneuvered them around Mizuki. Izumo tried to say a farewell, but Kotetsu had blocked his line of sight, and the only glimpse Izumo got of Mizuki was a slight glare directed at the back of Kotetsu's head.
"Why were you being rude to Mizuki? He was just wondering how I was doing." Izumo didn't mean for the words to come out quite that defensive, but that's how they ended up leaving his mouth.
Kotetsu grunted in frustration and let go of Izumo's arm. "Trust me, 'Zum, he was not asking to see how you were doing out of concern for your well-being." The growl lacing Kotetsu's voice had Izumo's mind reeling.
"You called me 'Zum." Izumo's brain was having a slow time processing Kotetsu's words, but yes, Kotetsu had called him 'Zum. "Twice actually…"
Kotetsu held in a smile at the soft whisper that came from his childhood friend. "Yeah…well…" Kotetsu didn't continue on, opting instead to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment.
Izumo's smile was the brightest Kotetsu had seen it in a long time. "You haven't called me that since we were…well…since before…you know…" Izumo trailed off too, not quite knowing what to say.
Kotetsu nodded jerkily. "Well…Mizuki was being a douche, and it just kind of slipped out. Anyway, we should try to pretend to get along in front of other people; otherwise, we'll piss off somebody during our proctor mission and then Ibiki will have both our asses."
Izumo shivered at the imagined torture that Ibiki would put them through should they mess up their proctoring assignment, and he nodded in agreement.
The two chunin came up to the sweets shop, and they both settled in for a nice hour long break.
~i~*~k~
"Kotetsu? You remember saying how we should pretend to get along in front of other people so we don't piss anyone, namely Ibiki, off? Well, how about we tried getting along for real?" Izumo shook his head at his reflection and scoffed at his own weak attempt to try and patch up his old friendship with the spiky haired chunin. "Get real, Kamizuki. Kotetsu wouldn't want to be your friend again if you were the last person on this planet. Not after Emiko…"
Izumo shook his head gently to clear away the rest of his thoughts. Thinking like this was only going to make him depressed. Instead, he made breakfast, ate, changed his clothes, and headed out for training ground 30.
Today was the last day of Izumo's recuperation week. Their little party would set out for the chunin exams tomorrow morning at 0600.
Izumo felt like his body would be capable in a fight, but it was nothing like how he used to be confident in it. His broken bones had all been healed but not with the perfect alignment that he had been born with. Even a fraction of centimeter off, and Izumo's entire fighting stance was thrown off. He had learned a great deal training with Kotetsu this past week, and he was immensely grateful to the other young man as well as to Ibiki. Training by himself would not have given him the confidence that he would need should he be involved in an actual fight.
Let's just hope the chunin exams this year don't involve any fights that the proctors will have to be involved in, Izumo thought grimly but not holding out for much hope.
Izumo arrived at the training grounds early, and began his warm up routine without Kotetsu. He made sure to warm up his body, his chakra, his mind, as well as go through some routine breathing exercises. He had promised himself that by the end of this week, he would give Kotetsu a run for his money. Kotetsu had bet Izumo dinner that he wouldn't be able to pin the spiky haired chunin by the end of the week. So, Izumo was gunning to win that wager today.
Rolling his head and shoulders, Izumo was finally ready. Kotetsu had shown up about halfway through Izumo's warm up routine, and he had patiently waited for the chocolate haired ninja to finish.
Izumo looked over at his teammate and asked him if he was ready. Kotetsu nodded.
The pair flew apart and took up positions in the trees. Izumo would wait for Kotetsu to strike first. Knowing the spiky haired chunin, he would get bored quickly and throw some preemptive kunai in eight general directions.
Izumo was right. Not even a second later after having those thoughts did Izumo have to dodge two kunai coming his way. Izumo made sure his footing was good before pushing off and landing on the ground. He knew the approximate location of Kotetsu now, but he would sit back and wait to see what the other man would do.
After a few minutes of waiting, Kotetsu jumped out of the tree line with a pair of kusarigama nun chucks wielded in his hands.
Izumo closed his eyes for a brief second, readying himself to attack.
Leaping out of his hiding spot, Izumo pulled out a wakizashi, fortified it with some water chakra and began to duel with Kotetsu, weapon for weapon, hit for block, and move for move.
The two would have been nearly equally matched if Izumo was at his normal fighting level, but Izumo had weakened over the weeks of capture, torture, rest, and recuperation. His movements, although skilled, were slow and jagged.
Kotetsu managed to get the chain wrapped around one of Izumo's legs. Kotetsu pulled, and Izumo fell back. He tried to turn it into a backflip, but the angle was wrong, and instead he landed on his backside with an, "ump!"
He heard Kotetsu chuckle then fully burst out into laughter. Izumo lifted his head to glare, but to his utter horror, he saw just exactly why Kotetsu was rolling on the ground in a fit of giggles.
The yank from the chain had been enough to tear Izumo's leg bindings, and his pants had slipped part of the way off as well. The result? His bright pink candy hearts and deep red lipstick kisses boxers were showing for all the world to see.
Blushing like a madman, Izumo righted his pants over his hips and glared daggers at the dark haired young man who was laughing at him.
Kotetsu wheezed to a stop a few minutes later, wiping the tears from his eyes, and taking a few deep breaths to replenish the air he had lost.
As soon as Kotetsu looked at Izumo, he was in another fit of giggles.
Izumo crossed his arms and stood up. He calmly walked over to Kotetsu and simply sat on the other man's stomach.
This quieted the spiky haired chunin, and Kotetsu was about to ask what the hell Izumo thought he was doing, when Kotetsu found himself pinned by the younger man.
"What the hell!?" Kotetsu shrieked.
Izumo simply smiled. "I win. I pinned you, so I win our bet."
Kotetsu's face went from one of anger and wariness to one of disbelief and stubbornness. "You…but…"
"I win." Izumo released Kotetsu from his hold and stood up, not wanting to make Kotetsu uncomfortable.
"That was cheating!"
Izumo smirked. "I let you laugh for a good five minutes. It was your own fault that you couldn't control your second bout of laughter."
Kotetsu was about to argue, but he saw that he didn't have a good enough case. "Humph. Fine. You win, this time. I'll pay for tonight's dinner."
Izumo smiled and offered to help Kotetsu stand. Kotetsu swatted Izumo's hand away good naturedly. "Seriously though, you can't blame a guy for laughing. Where did you even get those boxers, and what made you think it was a good idea to actually wear them?"
Izumo blushed slightly, turning his head away from Kotetsu's gaze. "They were a gag gift from Iruka. I can't throw anything he gives me away, because he always somehow finds out about it and then pitches a fit until I promise to retrieve and use the present he gave me."
Kotetsu nodded in understanding. He was one of Iruka's friends too, and that genin really knew how to do reconnaissance. Vaguely, the two chunin wondered if Iruka was going to be recruited into T&I or ANBU for espionage work, but the thought quickly left their minds.
"Round two?" Izumo asked after he finished tying a new set of leg bindings.
Kotetsu nodded and the two chunin squared off once more.
~k~*~i~
It was late. They would have to grab a late dinner, but they needed to finish their last spar.
Izumo had improved immensely since the beginning of the week. Kotetsu used to have to go easy on him, but now Izumo was actually challenging Kotetsu every once in a while. Kotetsu was impressed at the rapid progress, but he quickly reminded himself that Izumo was an elite chunin who just happened to run out of luck recently. It wasn't like Izumo was a newly promoted chunin hoping to best an experienced one.
Izumo threw a punch to distract from the knee he was angling up to hit at Kotetsu's side. Kotetsu saw through his fake, and he managed to block both hits.
Kotetsu shoved Izumo's leg away and his arm down while bringing up his own knee. Izumo spun and Kotetsu's knee narrowly avoided colliding with Izumo's stomach.
The brown haired chunin spun back to aim a backwards kick at Kotetsu's head, but Kotetsu caught his leg. The momentum from Izumo's spin was too great, and the two chunin ended up on the ground. Well, Kotetsu ended up on the ground with his back in the dirt. Izumo ended up on Kotetsu, the two being chest to chest.
Both chunin were breathing hard, and Kotetsu waited for Izumo to climb off of him. Normally, the brown-haired man was good at getting off right away, but not this time.
Kotetsu looked into Izumo's face, searching for what the chocolate haired chunin was thinking.
Glazed over eyes stared back at Kotetsu, and Kotetsu was confused before he muttered a curse.
"Kamizuki, you've got to snap out of whatever memory you're trapped in." No response. "Izumo, if you can hear me, you've got to get off of me so I can help you better." Izumo's eyes were still clouded over, trapped in whatever personal hell the other chunin was remembering. "'Zum!"
Izumo had told Ibiki and Kotetsu about these episodes when they met with Ibiki two days ago; Izumo said he noticed it after the third day of training. He had gotten to his apartment and sat down on his couch. He didn't sleep, but when he was aware of himself again, two hours had passed.
Izumo said that had been the longest blackout period. The other times it happened it had only lasted minutes, the shortest being about three.
Kotetsu was afraid of moving Izumo while he was like this because he didn't know how the other man would react. They may both be elite chunin, but Kotetsu didn't exactly have the upper hand at the moment, especially if Izumo didn't recognize him as an ally.
So, he waited. He looked into the hazed over eyes and pleaded that whatever memory was going through Izumo's mind would be short, so they could leave the training ground, eat, and rest for tomorrow's mission.
A slight grumble drew Kotetsu's attention to focus on Izumo. Kotetsu watched as the other man dropped his head into the crook of Kotetsu's neck and nuzzled the skin and hair there. He tensed, and Izumo sighed.
"You smell so good, Ko'. I wish you'd let me be this close to you in real life…but you hate me there, don't you? You've hated me ever since Emiko. I hate that we aren't friends anymore, did you know that, Ko'? I miss you like crazy. I may act like I don't, but there's not a day that goes by that I wish I could take back everything from that day just so we could stay friends."
Kotetsu tensed slightly as he felt tears falling onto his jaw and neck. Izumo…was crying.
It broke Kotetsu's heart more than he would care to admit. Izumo had been his best friend when they were young…but…
Kotetsu shook his head as he felt Izumo's body trembling. The raven-haired man wrapped his arms around the chocolate haired man to soothe his sobs and to push away some of the awkwardness.
Izumo was clutching onto Kotetsu's uniform for dear life, and Kotetsu didn't have the heart to shake him off.
~i~*~k~
Izumo came back to himself, sobbing, trembling, and surrounded by warmth. He must still be half in his hallucination, because there were warm arms around him and a soothing voice trying to settle down his crying.
Izumo sniffed and reached up to wipe at his eyes, but he froze when his hand came into contact with skin that wasn't his.
Snapping his eyes open and looking in front of him, Izumo never felt more embarrassed in his entire life. He had just cried all over Kotetsu, and Kami-only-knows what he told Kotetsu while he was still in the memory/hallucination.
Kotetsu looked at him with something akin to pity, and Izumo couldn't take it. He tore out of Kotetsu's embrace and walked away from the other chunin.
"Forget about dinner. It wasn't a fair pin anyway. I'll see you tomorrow at the meeting place."
Kotetsu watched as Izumo gathered his things quickly, and all but ran out of the training grounds.
Inhaling a deep breath, Kotetsu breathed out one word that described everything perfectly, "Fuck."