Disclaimer: 'I do not own Naruto.'
Thank yee thy lovely reviewers: Ami lee-chan, realeza, Heart's Door, and BattleStations.
--sheepish look-- I only hope that I can keep writing to your expectations. :-)
-Sidenote: …Ehm…if there are some people wondering…Kakashi means 'scarecrow' in Japanese…
(A/N): Eh...this chapter isn't as funny...there can only be so much constant, crack funny without a reasonable plot...mumble mumble..
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Night Rain
II: Chipped
...An Amnesty...of sorts...
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Onii-chan had to leave again. He leaves a lot. All part of onii-chan's becoming 'the heir'. He couldn't see me graduate. I had no one else to ask to come with me. Because no one else knew. And they couldn't. But if they did, I hardly think I would be noticed anytime soon. The future of the great Ishiguro line rests upon my older brother's shoulders. I am the extra. I am the dirt that comes with the dug up gold. But to onii-chan, I can be the small, cherished firefly that shines for him, lighting his darkness. And that's all that matters.
o
I had forgotten her voice. Her scent. The sparkle in her eyes. I had forgotten how my father used to once smile and laugh genuinely and complain I was being spoiled. I had forgotten that she would make excuses then, and say she couldn't help but spoil her child who looked too much like his father. It had greatly amazed me that she wasn't a kunoichi or any ninja of sorts and was still able to whip my father into doing something. I was too young to completely walk yet. And I was too young to understand what cancer meant. And I had forgotten that my life was once brimming with happiness. Because I wanted to. Forget.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Hmm…try again later this week, next!"
They truly were the youngest in the group. Everyone else was at least eight or nine, and the majority older. Looks were subtly cast towards the two children, wondering if they were lost and even belonged in line. The looks created a stronger feeling for the two to stick close, yet the morning acrimony still lingered between the two and hovered over their heads.
There was an awkward air of entrapment between sharing comfort in familiarity and closeness with each other amongst the greatly older and taller crowd clashed against the resentful, newfound soreness towards one another. Added in to the already hectic mix was the emerging realization and enlightenment discovered from the other's bluntly put words. The two also had time since the morning to cool their tempers down.
"Ishiguro Amaya."
"Whooooo! Go Amaya-chan!"
"Yeah! You can do it!"
"You go girl!"
"Kick major bootay!"
The girl lightly flushed at the attention and cheers from audience classmates as a small smile broke through. Stepping forward, the two examiners nodded for her to proceed. The year's exam was a bit tougher then those of previous, but unlike the preceding, participants were oddly given two more tries if they should fail on the first one.
'…okay..lets do this..' To perform the jutsus, she needed absolute concentration, and thus cleaned her mind of everything, taking a little longer then regularly.
'Bunshin no Jutsu!' The minimum four, she created eight. The clones vanished with clouds of smoke as they were dismissed.
'Katon: Tongue of Flames!' A slender whip-like stream of fire emanated from her blowing mouth, focused into an 'o' shape. With precise control, she maintained a swirling figure eight. The minimum 5 seconds, she held it for 10. Each doubled respectively.
Traces of residual doubt was still clear on the expressions of the examiners, questioning on permitting a five year old to actually pass. But the child's talent was evident; she was more then capable.
After a brief confirmation with each other, one of the adults turned back to the anxiously waiting girl and announced their decision. "Congratulations, you pass."
More hoots and ovations boomed out as Amaya accepted her hitae-ate with impassioned pride and shaking joy, eagerly tying it into place across her forehead. She jumped around to face her classmates to show off the protector with valiant dignity, a most ridiculous, infectious grin couldn't help but surface onto her face. Even Kakashi helplessly bit back against the tiny smile squirming its way up. He soon snapped to focus though as he was called forth.
"Hatake Kakashi."
As he had solemnly expected, with a scant twinge of disappointment, there were no cheers and words of encouragement for him. The boy didn't exactly scream, 'social'. …What?-He was merely introverted... Some hardly thought the prodigy needed any support to begin with, others kept silent in respect, and several thought any cheering might disrupt his focus or cause him to become cross. Nobody wanted to take any chances.
"Oi! Scarecrow!" Quite a number of 'SLAP!'s broke the silence of the room. There were many hands to foreheads.
"OIII! Dog-breath! I'm talking to you!" More 'SLAP!'s followed. Numerous head bangs against the walls began. And those who were inexperienced with such forewarnings of a scene in the making remained utterly clueless.
His ears twitched, and the boy stiffly turned his head with jerky movements. The dangerous, unpredictable glint was back in his eyes.
The girl was leaning back, half sitting on a desk while crossing her arms. Slowly she lifted her head and met his eyes. "Don't screw up." A playful smirk, slight tilt of the head. And in that moment, the normality rushing back.
He paused, then gave a side-glance and smirked back. "Like I will."
There were a number of breaths let out in relief and some 'phew…'s were uttered while the clueless…remained clueless.
For each of the jutsus, Kakashi exceeded Amaya's performance by one. He showed not the slightest strain and executed each with smooth, tranquil ease. Nine clones and eleven seconds. As if deliberately surpassing her by just one more in mock.
Of course he would perform the fire tongue jutsu with his back to everyone but the examiners. And of course he would pull that a-n-n-o-y-i-n-g mask back up with inhuman speed before she even got to peek. That paranoid ass.
"Congratulations, you pass." A small, polite applause was given accordingly.
"Heh! You better!" 'SLAP!'
Twitch.
ooo
The cloud of awkwardness had settled in again like a stifling presence. The occasional shuffle of the foot, tapping of the fingers. The two roved their eyes around restlessly, placing them anywhere but on the other, yet sneaking quick peeps once in a while: in the few instances they peeked at the same time, each promptly looked the other way.
Clarity had started to dawn upon the two as their only just granted forehead protectors weighed on their heads, signifying new beginnings as a true ninja. The quarrels of their academy days now seemed quite childish. Such things could no longer exist, as the duty of a shinobi was serious work.
"..Nooo..you quit it.."
"You quit it.."
"Stop it!"
"You stop it."
"Quit peeking at me!"
"Quit peeking at me."
"Pah! What's there to peek at! A mask!"
"… Its called style…not like you would know…"
"Grrr…shut up!"
"Make me."
The sparks zapped out alarmingly from each other's eyes as they contested in their 135th ….or was it the 136th?…glare off. And just as quick, Amaya backed off and curved her eyes up happily in a truce. Kakashi sweat dropped and gave an uneasy grimace. Her fickle mood swings were just frightening sometimes…not that he would admit to any fear on his part of course.
She chirped a cheery tune, "Lets not fight anymore! At least for now!"
Liar. It was a trap. Some wicked scheme of foul play. An evil, underhanded plot. The boy cautiously narrowed his eyes and tensed his muscles, ready to spring into action at any moment.
"Oh!" She exclaimed in remembrance. "I forgot to give you your graduation present!"
AAAHA! So that was it. He knew immediately where this was headed, painfully recalling her very 'special' present to him on his birthday. Good god…five head lumps in a single day…and one very, prolonged pinch. He never really did grow that inch.
For every movement she made forwards, he mimed her exactly: in the backwards direction. Her foot forwards, his foot backwards. And so it continued as the boy held his hands out protectively in front of him.
"…Stay back…back I say…"
She merely continued to smile and step closer.
'…Damn it…at this rate…' Kakashi took a hasty look over his shoulder and troublingly realized he would soon back into the window. And then he would be trapped. And then the torture. And—Gaaah! How'd she get this close!
He had turned his head for barely a millisecond, knowing full well it was fatally unwise to let the girl out of his sight for any amount of time. He-will-not-show-fear-no-never. His jaw was achingly clenched with willpower, knees locked stiff as he faced her down.
"Heehee.." She was grinning now, eyes still curved up disturbingly. Running away looked pre-tty good to the boy now. In fact it looked rather dandy. But the proud Hatake gruffly shoved down any such cowardly thoughts, he would, will not let some little twit show him up. He sniffed and stood immobile, using his height to look down his nose at her. It wasn't an inch, but it was a start.
Holding her hands behind her back, she leaned her front closer, the smile never leaving. He remained stationary with a grim face, bracing himself for whatever came next. But no matter the torment, he will not cry out in pain and take it as the true shinobi he now was. No matter the head throbbing, teeth gnashing, dizzifying pain—
"..Happy graduation." She softly murmured before giving a purely innocent kiss.
Under his right eye, bottom half pressing on the fabric of his mask and the other brushing against the uncovered skin. His body had stiffened further into shock, eyes unimaginably wide and staring straight out. He could feel the eyelashes on his right eye sweep across her nose.
Meanwhile, a collective, horrified gasp had rippled in the room, some staring with bulging eyes. Those who were unfamiliar with the two and their history though, smiled warmly, cooing "awww…" at the adorable scene. Amaya drew back a little and cocked her head to side while giving a giggle and winking an eye.
He still couldn't move, frozen in his exact position. Perhaps it was because of the lack of blood in his limbs from all of it rushing to his face instead. His very ears were red. The redness was enough to likely attract an alien from outer space should they look down and observe a tiny red dot on the planet. It even seemed to glow out from underneath his mask, giving the black of the cloth a red tinge.
Jaws dropped further at the next act.
And this was where things got a bit fuzzy.
Some claim it was the window that did the trick. Others boasted the window had broke from the impact. And yet other stories ranged from her having used some powerful jutsu of some sort to growing horns and summoning a league of nasty hobgoblins.
But the basis remained the same.
Kakashi never saw it coming. Literally.
It was as if the scene kept replaying over and over in slow motion, the sound effects enhanced and sluggish. Too late did he miss the mysterious glint in her eye as she winked. Too late did he see the trademark smirk of mischief and ultimate disaster.
His last thoughts were among lines of '…Kakashi…you fool…'
A ninja must read underneath the underneath.
He only felt it. Felt it collide solidly under his chin with a deafening 'THUCK!' vibrating throughout the struck bone. He felt his bottom teeth slam into the upper set with a crunching smash, as if they would all shatter into fine dust. The force knocked him completely into the air as he turned and smacked straight into the window that was once behind him.
It was silent. All jaws to the floor, still dropping into a gross puddle, eyes leaping out 10 inches from sockets: silent. The only sound was the screeching of the boy's face as it gradually slid down. There was a clear imprint of his squashed face against the pane; trace marks of his face were left as it squeaked its way further and further down. And finally, his head hit the floor with a soft thud. And he laid there, facedown and motionless, spread-eagle.
The clock ticked by.
It were the academy students who reacted first, drawing in a deep breath.
"DAAAAAAANNNNGGGG…HE GOT OWWWNED…"
Even Amaya looked a bit surprised, and then sheepishly scratched her cheek with a finger, bashfully smiling. "…I didn't mean to hit so hard…hehe…just came out that way…"
Again, it were the same students who reacted.
"Hehehe..now you owe me a whole bag of sweet dumplings!"
"Ah..man..there goes my whole stash of gummy worms.."
"..Um..uh…how about instead…a paper clip, bottle cap, half chewed piece of gum, and a penny…and…and…a clip of my hair sound…?…Please…?"
"…Ha! You lost! Now you have to go eat ten worms alive!"
"…Ah.. Kakashi…letting me down like this…"
"Wait! Wait! It doesn't count yet! It hasn't been a full minute! C'mon…get up…"
There were curious looks cast towards the raucous crowd of bargaining children who were cashing in their bets like an angry hive of stockowners.
"NEV-AH FE-AH! The broken-half-of-a-ruler-replacement-for-me-stick-of-poking-power is he-ah!" Brandishing the broken ruler like an almighty sword, she launched to the boy's side and began poking whilst crouching down.
Poke-poke-poke-poke…
Over the noise of the bartering, Amaya yelled out in a whining, tired voice.
"Mr. Examiner duuuude! I think he's deeeeaaad! What do I do noooow? Do I feed him to wooolves or whaat?"
"I told you no! Now fork it over!"
"There was nothing about punching him, we clearly agreed on a strangling match!"
"..Ooooh..but its my last pieces of candy!"
"No waaaay! It was totally the window that knocked him out! Not her! So no dice."
One of the examiners rubbed his temples to drown out the loudness and ease the coming on headache, motioning the next exam participant away, indicating it would take some while before they started up again. The other looked equally stressed and sighed, sagely nodding his head.
Yup. Definitely more then capable.
ooo
He decided he liked the pretty, swirling colors. They were fairly pretty after all. Especially the purple ones. The swirling purple colors were quite pretty.
"WAAAAKE UUUP YOOOOU WIIIIIIMP!"
Did he say…'pretty'? Hell no. They were downright horrid. His sight finally cleared and the most gruesome sight met him. She was widely grinning down at him. He curiously noticed that she had a dimple high in her left cheek.
ooooooooA little whiles beforeoooooooo
"Jeez…Amaya…you really nailed him…"
She merely huffed, inspecting her nails as tired glances were made at the knocked out boy and to the indifferent girl. Kakashi was lying on a desk in the exam room, the tests had continued again. Inquisitive faces surrounded and leaned in around the boy, wondering just when he was going to arise.
15 minutes had passed before he finally started to open his dazed eyes only to close them again and repeat the cycle. All the same, excited shouts still cried out in hushed tones when he stared around dizzyingly again for the fourth time, and died down into disappointment as he again closed them.
Letting out an impatient sigh, Amaya walked towards the ring of students.
"…All right…step back…I'll fix this…"
The crowd quickly diverged for the girl, as she stood right beside his head. She frowned, and then took a deep breath.
ooooooooEnd the little whiles beforeoooooooo
She continued to proudly grin as she straightened, satisfied that the boy was completely awoken. Kakashi groaned in soreness and slowly sat up, rubbing his aching jaw. Carefully so, he moved his tongue around inside his mouth to check for any damages. A bit tender, but his teeth were all in place and thankfully not shattered into fine dust. Except. A small chip in one of his front teeth. He could feel the small groove as he slowly ran his tongue under it.
Damn…it was his still growing, permanent tooth too..his first one on top of that. With an irritated scowl he turned to Amaya. The two had long since developed their own method of communication with various expressions and actions that still remained a confusing mystery to others.
What was that for?
Bigger smile. Hi!
Eye narrow. Stop playing dumb…
Wrinkle of the nose, satisfied smirk. Hehe…you did say…'make me'.
Snort, scowl. Sneaky little…
Pursed lips, lines for eyes. ..Finish that sentence…I dare you…
Low growl. ……… Sniff, eye quirk. ……bitch…
Clenched fist up. WHY YOU!
The departed ring had watched the exchanges of expressions nervously, backing away all the while. They didn't need to know what the girl's raised fist meant though, the message was clear enough and quite straight forward.
"Hehehe…Amaya-chan..lets go…umm…to that spot…for a while."
With her fist still raised in a threatening manner, barely held back by the others, she was dragged away to a safe distance. In the meantime, more odds and bets sprung up.
"EEEEEEWWWWWW!" There was suddenly a large eruption of screams as a green-faced Iruka nauseously threw up bits of worms that still wiggled around in the mess that was his lunch.
The exam halted once more as the children were intolerantly shepherded outside.
"Haha! You threw up! That doesn't count! Now you have to eat ten more worms!"
There were more ear-splitting shrieks as some turned green themselves, gagging and threatening to vomit, taking after the queasy boy who threw up the rest of his stomach.
"OUT!"
ooo
Kakashi still looked around hopefully, despite prior knowledge of his father's mission. There were no signs of the tall, silver-haired man; his shoulders slightly slumped as his face fell. The rest of the graduates modeled their hitae-ates with pride to their parents. Others did so to older siblings or close family friends who warmly praised them. He stood alone; feeling like an outsider in the mass of people he walked out to head towards a place where he often liked to sit and think before school had started.
He found it already occupied with another who sat on the lone swing, the side of her head resting against the rope as the wind gently swung her back and forth. Her eyes were downcast with a saddened, loneliness to them that reflected much of his previously. Of all the graduates Kakashi had expected her to be surrounded with the most family, given, as she was a regal daughter of the Ishiguro. He was debating on whether to walk up to her when a hand placed itself on his shoulder from behind.
"Boo."
He couldn't help but jerk in shock at the hand, but quickly turned with a ready kunai. He blinked for a moment to grasp the situation of which he unexpectedly found himself in: his arm was forced back by a powerful grasp so that his weapon pointed at the back of his neck that was revealed more by a second strong hand clutching the top of his head, forcing it down so the boy faced the ground.
There was deep chuckling from behind. "Hahaha…you're getting better, I'll tell you that." His head and hand was released as Kakashi turned around again, but knowing full well whom the person was.
"Otou-san!" The man was leaned down to the boy's height, crouching on a knee.
"Hey. I finished my mission early. …Hmm?" Sakumo peered closer to the boy, poking Kakashi's nose twice. "Your face looks a little swollen…and…why does your face smell like windex?"
His face took on a flush as he embarrassingly looked to the floor and shifted his eyes. His tongue automatically ran under the tooth chip.
"..U..u..umm…t..t..that…umm…" He mumbled words disjointedly for a response, looking elsewhere.
"…Ahmm..okay then…Well, knew you would make it." He tapped a knuckle against the boy's protector. A rare smile grew on the child's face, one matching the warm pride in his heart that shined through out of his eyes. The protector gave way and slipped down into a blindfold.
"Haha, you'll grow into it." With the adoring warmth growing more fulsome in his face, Kakashi lifted the hitae-ate back up with both hands as his father helped so with a thumb.
"No way, he'll always stay scrawny."
'!'
Besides his father, she was the only one he knew who had the uncanny ability to sneak up on people, specifically on him. While the boy once again leaped in surprise, much to his shame of doing so in front of his father, Sakumo didn't twitch in the slightest and turned his head to greet the girl in a friendly manner.
"Hello there." His eyes swept across her in a recognizing gaze then curved up. "Ah. So you're the one Kakashi likes to draw pictures of to play kunai target practice on. Nice to finally meet you in person."
'!' Heeeh? Another sneaky person to add on to his growing list of sneaky people to look out for. And he was family too! Well gosh darn it if there wasn't an elaborate conspiracy set against the boy…
"Otou-saan…" Kakashi growled forebodingly.
"..Is that so, scarecrow…" Amaya gave a respectable growl of her own. His tongue unconsciously ran under the chip. …Wasn't she sitting on the swing just a minute before…looking all gloomy and desolate? …Those scary mood swings of hers…
But still, if anything, Kakashi was steadfast in his will not to act like a barbaric child in front of his father.
"…Neh…you have a mask too?" The girl was staring bafflingly at the man with a concentrated look. She pointed a finger and questioned critically. "…Are you part of some weird Japanese mafia gang?" Then she seemed to notice the striking similarities between the father and son. "EEH? Are you part of some weird Japanese mafia gang that makes mini-clones of themselves?"
Kakashi abruptly appeared between his father and the girl, his arms out as if trying to protect the man from any harm, sweetly resembling an overprotective toddler warning their parent not to touch the stove after their recent discoveries of it being hot.
"Show respect for your elders! Especially for one as great as my father!"
"Haaataaake-saamaa, tell your mini-clone to stop being anoooyiiing."
"I'm-not..ah..gah!..what are you doing here anyway?"
"Mm?" She then clapped her hands in recollection. "Oh yeah! I had something to give you!" Here, she started to dig into her pockets.
Instincts were stronger then pride and on impulse Kakashi hid behind his father's still crouching back, poking his head out to watch warily. Sakumo turned his head with a questioning look, though he was undeniably amused. The boy raised himself onto tiptoes and whispered guardedly into the man's ear.
"Be careful…She's a monster in disguise…" The dead serious tone of his voice while giving the advice only caused the listener to quietly snigger more.
"Ah! Here you go!" Amaya happily put forth a small molar tooth.
'..Uuuhwhaa?' With mounting dread he only realized whom the tooth could have belonged to. He had been absolutely sure that nothing was knocked out... Thinning his eyes into leery slits, Kakashi quickly popped back behind his father to secretly check again with a finger. Indeed, there was a gap in the far back of his lower jaw where his tongue couldn't reach. But then…
Pulling the mask back into place, he popped his head back out and glared suspiciously. Before he could speak the girl rolled her eyes and already replied with a ready retort.
"I was the one who got the school nurse to treat you in her office…alone." She added the last part when seeing the accusing look. He didn't need to know just how very hard she tried to peek through the door while the nurse doctored him.
"The medic gave me this tooth to give you since I had kno—"
Kakashi swiftly appeared behind her, clapping her mouth shut with a hand. The indignity needed not to be relived.
But what would work? ...Death threats? No. ...Saying please? Definitely a no. …Begging? Not. In. This. Lifetime.
Stern eye twitch, head tilt. I'll give you two bags of sweets if you shut up.
Five.
Three.
Four.
Three and a half.
Done. The kind with honey in the middle.
What! Those aren't cheap!
Hehe. Too bad.
…Umm…were they communicating telepathically somehow…? Sakumo was standing now, observing the exchanges of facial expressions with a mystified stare. They seemed to agree on some kind of pact as Kakashi carefully and slowly removed his hand, just incase the girl decided to change her mind.
"Right. So here's your tooth!" The boy seized it quickly out of her hands, yet continued to squint at her skeptically.
She rolled her eyes again and stated matter of factly. "..Sigh…nooooo, I didn't do any voodoo with it..that would be really stupid since I could always pluck out some of your hairs…like this!"
She beamingly waved three strands of hair in front of his face. He did a wide-eyed double take and raked his hands through his hair troublingly. ..How did she…?
Amaya causally flicked the hand holding the hairs back, causing Kakashi to catch nothing but air.
"Grrrr..you sneaky little…"
...It slipped out, it really did. A force of habit.
But that didn't stop Kakashi from getting lightly smacked upside the head by his father.
"…Kakashi..what did I tell you about cursing?"
The boy merely grumbled in response while nursing the back of his head, glaring at the snickering girl.
"Meh." She blew the hairs into his eyes before walking off. "See ya in an hour."
It greatly irked him that he was only able to find two hair strands.
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