Kokonotsu
Chapter 4: Kokonotsu is A Dancer? Sakura Knows!
Sasuke was in a foul mood as he made his way to Naruto's house to pick him up for a mission that they were just given. Now Sasuke was never in a particularly good mood, but today it was worse as he had been up all last night thinking of what Tsunade had said. He had finally gotten to the front door and was about to knock, when it suddenly flew open smacking him in the face and revealed an ANBU with a kitsune mask. The ANBU feeling the unfamiliar mass quickly checked the other side to find a furious Sasuke holding his bleeding nose. "Oh Kami!" cursed a familiar girl's voice slightly muffled by the mask, "I apologize for my absentmindedness. Are you okay? Come in, what the hell are you doing here?"
Before he had time to say anything he was being half dragged, half led into the apartment and then pushed onto the couch. The ANBU took off to what he assumed was the kitchen giving him a chance to look around. The room was sparsely furnished with just the one grey couch he was on, a black recliner, a glass coffee table with a crack, and two mahogany wood bookshelves in need of a finish and sanding filled with scrolls that were categorized and then placed in chronological order. Taking a closer look at things Sasuke noticed that there were no pictures any where and there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere.
"Sasuke, I am sorry for what happened. You see I hardly anyone ever comes here, and when someone does show up for a visit or something they usually either stand to the side of the door or come in through a window so that they don't get hit. You must really hate me now, here," Kokonotsu explained in her usual indifferent tone as though it didn't really matter to her one way or the other as she handed him a towel and a bag of ice for the swelling before sitting down beside him.
Sasuke glanced over at the girl out of the corner of his eye to find that she was looking down and fiddling with the hem of the dress she had worn the day before. Sighing he replied, "I'm not mad. Sure getting hit in the face hurt, but it wasn't as if you meant to hit me on purpose, right?"
Caught off guard by his civility she looked him straight in the eye and saw something that she couldn't quite place, curiosity maybe. No, that didn't quite cover it; it was much more than that. Placing that thought at the back of her mind for the moment she instead asked one of her initial questions again, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same of you, I thought this was Naruto's apartment," he countered gruffly.
"We're roommates, Naruto couldn't afford it on his own and I am hardly ever home so he is here by himself most of the time, now answer my question," she demanded coolly.
"I'm looking for Naruto, we have a mission. I didn't know you and the dobe lived together, how long has it been?" he inquired then raised an eyebrow when he noticed that she clenched her fists when he had said 'dobe'.
"We've lived together ever since I was kicked out of the Uchiha mansion. He should be back any minute now to see if I've left yet to see if I have time to go out and eat with him, but I have to leave now for a mission of my own you can wait for him here if you like," Kokonotsu offered stiffly as she shot up from her seat and took off to the kitchen.
"Thanks," Sasuke called out to her taking the towel from his face to find that the bleeding had stopped and placed the ice on it.
"One thing before I go," she stated in a deadly tone when she reemerged wearing her ANBU uniform as she headed to the door, "stay in here, don't let you're curiosity get the better of you, Sasuke. Bye now, oh and tell Naruto that you'll show him that new jutsu you promised."
"How did you-," he tried to ask, but it was too late she was already gone.
Fifteen minutes had slowly passed and the swelling had already gone down when an orange and blonde boy threw open the door with a goofy grin on his face yelling, "Koko-chan, hey you want to go grab some lunch I- Oh, what are you doing here Sasuke? Hey is Koko-chan still around?"
"No she already left on a mission, now come on dobe we need to get started on a mission of our own," Sasuke growled pushing past him and making his way for the door.
"A mission, really? This is so cool! Wait right here, I need to grab something real quick," Naruto yells running into the kitchen before Sasuke had any time to protest.
"An apple?" Sasuke asked when he reemerged.
"Well yeah, ramen is going to take too long to make and this is the only thing that's quick. You didn't think that I ate just ramen all the time, did you?" Naruto questioned with a sly grin on his face as though he already knew the answer.
"Well yeah, kind of," Sasuke replied astounded.
"Your funny Sasuke, you can't have a body like this much less maintain it on just ramen alone, you have to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and fish and chicken and other wholesome food as well," Naruto replied laughing his head off as he pushed the irritated Uchiha out of his apartment and locked the door behind them.
Once he had calmed down enough Naruto resumed eating his apple and once he had finished they had arrived at team seven's training grounds where Sakura was waiting for them. "Sasuke! Naruto!" Sakura yelled, cheerfully waving at the boys as they made their way to her.
"Sakura!" Naruto greeted waving at her and broke off in a run as if to hug the girl, but ran past her instead.
Confused they both looked to where the blonde was running and saw him run up a tree and fall to the ground with a blonde girl in his arms. "Naruto! I'm your client right now you can't be tackling the person that's going to be paying you, you dumb ass!" the girl reprimanded.
"Well maybe you should have been standing out in the open like a normal client instead of hiding then I wouldn't tackle you anymore," Naruto countered good-naturedly.
"Naruto, you know Kokonotsu-chan?" Sakura asked when both she and Sasuke had caught up to him.
"Yeah Koko-chan is my board mate and closest friend," he stated flamboyantly as they picked themselves off the ground and Sasuke could see that Kokonotsu was again no longer in her ANBU gear, but in her blue dress.
"It's a pleasure to see you again Haruno-san, Naruto has told me much of how you've all grown as a team," Kokonotsu greeted stiffly her with a bow before turning back to the other blonde, "Naruto we've been over this, you need treat all clients as you would want to be when you become Hokage."
"Naruto, you should listen to her, she is giving you very good advice," Kakashi said as he appeared in a puff of smoke with Icha Icha Paradise open in his hands reading it.
"And you, Hatake-san shouldn't be reading such vulgar material in front of either your clients or your students. It makes you seem incompetent of anything and gives the client the urge to fire your ass and request a new team in your place," Kokonotsu glared at the man, "You're a very lucky man that I know better Hatake-san or I would've castrated you by now."
At the killing intent in her eyes and tone everyone felt themselves start to sweat, but when they looked at Naruto they saw that he was still grinning widely and they thought that it must be a blessed thing to be so oblivious. "Come on now Koko-chan, you know that he's not that bad," Naruto tried to placate her and to everyone's surprise it worked as her features suddenly went blank and she sat on the ground.
"I hate it when you're always right, but I guess there's no helping it. The only thing left to do now is wait for the others," Kokonotsu sighed in defeat as the rest of team seven looked in bewilderment that Naruto was ever right about something as he joined her on the ground.
As they waited the blondes started to talk quietly between themselves which turned in into a hushed argument. On the two blondes argued, steadily getting louder and louder and they seemed to forget that team seven was even there. "NARUTO! SHUT YOUR TRAP ALREADY!" Sakura yelled furious, eye twitching when she finally got fed up with it.
Reflexively both blondes covered their heads protectively and crouched earning a curious look from Sakura. Hearing silence Sasuke called down from the tree he had climbed up when he had gotten bored, "Hey Kokonotsu, I thought that you were supposed to-"
"Eh, Sasuke can you see teams eight and ten yet? They should've been here by now," Naruto interrupted him as he called up nervously.
Sasuke sent him an annoyed glare before doing as asked, "Yeah I can see them; they should be here in a couple of minutes."
With that said team seven became alert and Kokonotsu straightened her dress as she got up. Soon the other two teams came into view as they were led by their jounin sensei and the five of them moved to meet them halfway. Once the three groups merged Naruto stepped forward to introduce his friend, "Everyone this is my board mate and closest friend, Kokonotsu, she's going to be our client for this mission. Koko-chan you already know everyone."
"Yes it is a pleasure to see all of you again. Naruto's been keeping me updated on all of you guys, and due to your skill I've asked Hokage-dono if you would escort me to the Hidden Grass Village," Kokonotsu greeted them stoically.
"Still the same cold attitude as ever I see. You've got to be the only one that can beat Sasuke in a no personality contest," Kiba greeted to which Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Don't talk about my Sasuke-kun that way dog breath," Sakura and Ino yelled furiously in unison before turning to glare at each other.
"Yamanaka-san, Haruno-san, do shut up. Uchiha-san is not some possession to be coveted, he is a human being as well you know and has feelings and wishes just like the two of you. Now why don't you listen to your sensei instead of bickering uselessly with each other so that you can gather more information on what your mission is about," Kokonotsu reprimanded coldly.
Sasuke gave the girl a surprised look as the two followed her orders and her defending him when he would have just ignored the annoyance. "Uhm, hm," Kureni coughed to gain their attention, "For this is my mission you guys will be on your own. Kakashi, Azuma, and I are all going to be out on missions of our own for an undetermined amount of time. We expect all of you to be on your best behavior as Kokonotsu-san is known throughout all the nations for not only her beauty and grace, but also her performance as a dancer. It is said that when she dances all are entranced by her."
"Wait, one thing's been bugging me ever since we met a few years back, you can't be much older than the rest of us but I don't remember ever seeing you step foot in the Academy I thought everyone in Konoha attended the Academy. Why is that?" Shikamaru asked skeptically.
"Ah, very good, as you suspect I am only thirteen years old like the rest of you and you're also correct that I never attended the Academy Nara-san. I received special permission from The Third Hokage-dono to be home schooled so that I might pursue my art," she answered simply.
"This isn't going to be an ordinary escort mission it was given a B rank. Your job is to also guard Kokonotsu-san until her safe return to Konoha and to help ensure that you never leave her side you guys are all going to learn how to dance for a big fancy party. Your pictures and measurements have all been sent to the Grass Country via ninja messenger and your costumes will be ready once you arrive. Okay you all have 30 minutes to pack; you will be gone for about a month. Where did you want to regroup Kokonotsu-san?" Azuma asked her after debriefing everyone.
"Why not let the team leader decide that," she suggested stoically.
"Team leader? Do we have to pick someone or have you guys already decided?" Choji asked at this news.
"No, that won't be necessary, Tsunade-sama has already seen fit to appoint one of you herself. The team leader for this mission will be Naruto," Kakashi announced.
"Naruto? Why does that idiot get to be team leader? He'll probably start leading us in the wrong direction after the first day," Sasuke seethed.
"Shut up Uchiha-san, I have absolute faith in Naruto's abilities and will support him in his new appointment, just because you cannot stand anyone at a higher station than yourself is no reason to take it out on others," Kokonotsu snapped before Naruto could say anything causing the guys and sensei to snicker at Sasuke's predicament and the fan girls to gawk at her non-fan girliness as she moved to Naruto's side and grabbed his left arm, "So where are we meeting, Naruto?"
"I think we should meet at the west gate since we are heading that direction anyway and I think we should start getting ready now see you all at the gate in half an hour then," he said then he (with Kokonotsu in his arms) and Hinata disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving all but Sakura, who had picked up on both Kokonotsu's and Naruto's subtle hints, to wonder how the two had gotten so good.
"I can't believe that he would do something so stupid, he had better have a good explanation for this or I may never trust another word that comes out of his mouth again," Sakura says to no one in particular and took off after whoever she was talking about leaving everyone even more confused by what she had said.