Another chapter out! :D It's really my way of apologising for how long it was between me uploading the prologue and then the first chapter - sorry about that, guys! Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, and will continue to do so.
As always, any feedback you can give me is most welcome.
Just a warning about the end of this chapter: it may deal with some issues of violence that you may not be comfortable with, and whilst I do apologise for that, I'm afraid I'm not going to change it. But enough of that, on with the show!
Disclaimer: Me owning Naruto isn't going to happen. Haven't we already established that by now?
Chapter 3
Kasumi only half-listened to the continuous flow of muttered curses that emanated from somewhere behind her, around the corner of the doorframe. She found herself humming in agreement with the sentiment, despite the fact that the more colourful phrases were ones that someone Naruto's age really shouldn't have even known existed.
She was currently kneeling on the floor next to a tub of soapy water, forced to wash the orange paint from the Hokage's robe. Naruto, who had first of all started on the threshold of his office, was currently scrubbing at the paint that had splattered on the floor.
"And you're both not leaving until every trace is gone." The authoritative growl came from behind the desk. Naruto just pulled a face and continued his grumbling. If only Kasumi had run a little faster, then maybe they would have managed to at least hide until morning. As it was, he could see the sky outside was rapidly darkening.
He sighed and took up the brush again, dipping it into his bucket of water before continuing with the work that he had to do as his punishment.
"Think of it as training, you two," Sarutobi's condescending tones rang out. It was obvious he was deriving great enjoyment from the whole situation. "Manual labour helps build muscle and character at the same time!"
Naruto growled, looking up to direct a dark glower at the man who laughed cheerily. Before focusing back on his paperwork, he was pretty sure he heard the boy mumble something that sounded suspiciously like "damned old man." He merely shook his head, feeling quite smug and triumphant about getting some payback.
Naruto on the other hand was thinking about how they had been caught in the first place.
"Kasumi-chan, hurry up! If we don't hide somewhere soon, every shinobi that jiji can get his hands on will be on our asses quicker than… Than something real fast!"
"Hai, hai," she replied evenly. Naruto bit back a cuss when she didn't pick up her pace at all. Did she not understand the need for urgency?
A moment later she visibly twitched and leapt past Naruto, grabbing onto his arm and yanking him along. It took him a moment to get his feet back under him but she didn't slacken the pace at all.
"Wait! What's wrong with you?" He shouted, struggling.
"You were right." When he looked at her strangely, she shrugged and added with a frown, "I can sense the chakra of four- no, five on our tails right now."
"Woah... How can you do that?" He asked, awestruck.
"I-I don't know!" She replied, sounding flustered and confused. "My mum could do it, and she trained me a bit..."
Despite the fact that they had managed to evade any of the capture attempts for a few hours, there was really no chance of them getting away. The two of them may have been young and hence in possession of an almost endless supply of energy, but they weren't elite shinobi – the groups after them were completely out of their league.
They had stopped to catch their breath and find refuge inside the Shodai's head carved into the mountain. Running up the huge flights of steps had exhausted them, as had all of the dashing around that they had had to do.
In the suffocating darkness the only things that broke the silence were harsh pants for air and the thrumming of blood in their ears. Kasumi tried to calm her pounding heart by inhaling deeply and it did help to a certain extent.
It wasn't solely due to fatigue, she knew. She was scared and in response, adrenaline was being released into her system and pumped through her veins, quickening her heart rate.
A stone crunched somewhere on the far side of the area and Kasumi instantly held her breath, desperately wishing she could merge with the deeper shadows around the edges.
Tentatively she inched away from where she had perceived the sound, trying to identify shapes in the gloom. Her eyes had adjusted to the dimness, but as there was almost no light it was still impossible to see.
She felt the brush of air displaced nearby against her skin and froze. Was it Naruto, or perhaps one of their chasers had finally caught her?
"Kasumi-chan!" The distant cry came from Naruto and instantly she knew that whoever she had felt in the vicinity was an 'enemy'.
Promptly the man lunged at her. She felt his approach as the stagnant air around her moved in a flurry and swiftly dodged; aiming a sharp jab at what she hoped was his solar plexus as she did so. She twisted her fist sharply in his gut, satisfied when she heard a loud and pained exhale.
With that, she turned and ran, not particularly caring for stealth. Her logical conclusion was that if she had been found once, she could be found again. That brought her to thinking about Naruto and she stopped in her tracks. She couldn't just abandon him, although she didn't know what exactly she could accomplish against chūnin or even jōnin.
Where would they take him? She wondered, moving cautiously away from the lighter areas again. Well, there is only one quick way out of here – unless they plan on capturing me as well before they move either of us. It's always possible. She frowned. It would certainly complicate a rescue if that was what they intended to do.
Meanwhile, Naruto was still struggling against his captors, kicking and biting. Two were holding onto him and he was fairly certain that there was another one around somewhere.
"Stop it!" A rasping voice hissed in his right ear. Upon hearing it, he threw his head back in the hope of smashing the man's nose or at least surprising him into loosening his grip.
He clearly caught whoever it was off-guard as he noted a surprised groan when he felt something crunch against his skull. One pair of hands released him to cradle the now-broken nose, then the other did shortly after with the query, "Hey, are you okay?"
Naruto didn't bother to wait for the reply before tearing off, intent on making it to the exit as quickly as he could. Unfortunately he had difficulty making out the opening as the sun had sunk behind the horizon and any remaining light was gradually leached from the sky.
Come on; come on! I know I'm going in the right direction so where the hell is- He was abruptly interrupted by colliding into something. Or someone, he added. Whatever it had been, it had felt distinctly soft, and stone certainly was not. He jumped to his feet and was about to get out of there—
"Naruto-kun?" He had trouble hearing the hushed whisper; in spite of that he identified it instantly as Kasumi.
"Yeah," he replied after a moment's hesitation. He groped around in the dark and found her shoulder, ran a hand down her arm until it reached her hand, which he grabbed and pulled her up by. "Do you know the way out?" His question was low, as neither of them particularly wanted to get caught.
She nodded; realised belatedly he couldn't see it and murmured an affirmative. So then they quietly made their way out, ears and eyes straining to pick up any movement.
A gust of cooler air heralded their proximity to the outside and upon feeling it and noticing a gentle illumination up ahead, they both burst into a sprint, relieved to finally reach freedom.
However, such joy was to be ephemeral as, just as they set foot outside, they were completely surrounded by extremely disgruntled looking ninja.
A glance around was enough to convince Kasumi that neither she nor Naruto would have a chance if they tried to fight. She slid out of the fighting stance her feet had instinctively gone into and tried to ease the tension from her muscles.
Naruto, on the other hand, clearly had no such reservations as he began to growl low in his throat and made a move as if he was about to attack. He stopped however, when Kasumi laid a gentle, anticipatory hand on his right biceps. He glanced down at her, indignant, and was about to launch into a rant about how they could easily take them down, when he caught the small, almost imperceptible shake of her head.
He sighed and then grumbled the whole way as they were escorted back to the Hokage's office.
After he had removed every last indication of orange paint ever having been spilled on the floor, Naruto waited for Kasumi to finish her task. He sat down next to her and, after feeling a little awkward; he offered to help her, rubbing at the back of his neck.
"It's her punishment, Naruto – she does it alone. Although it's very nice of you to offer," Hiruzen voiced before Kasumi could answer. She flashed an appreciative smile in Naruto's direction and persevered with tackling one particularly stubborn stain.
About ten minutes later, when she was absolutely certain that the robe was as clean as it had ever been, she stood up and stretched, easing the kinks out of her back. The item of clothing was handed over to its rightful owner, who was wearing its twin, and he smiled.
"Now," he intoned, "let that be a lesson to the two of you. For every action you take or do, there is always a consequence. Perhaps not always a bad one," he mused, "but it also depends on what the deed entailed." And with that little titbit of elderly wisdom he dismissed them, realising that it was after ten in the evening and, even if there was no one at home to give Naruto into trouble, it was entirely plausible that Kasumi could get a scolding.
"Tadaima," her voice was subdued yet tense – was her father still awake? Was he in a good mood? Was he sober? How would he react to her coming home so late?
Countless questions fired through her brain but considering she wouldn't get an answer to them until she saw her father, she shrugged them away.
None of the lights were on and, as she was tired after her eventful day, she made her way immediately for the stairs. Her foot had just touched the first step when her ears picked up movement behind her.
She turned around to hear a hissing voice slur, "And where exactly have you been?" The living room light had been switched on and she saw her father standing in the doorway, noticed the sneer of disgust on his face.
And abruptly her heart plummeted.
"Eto, I w-was helping Sandaime-sama," Not exactly a lie, "a-and we didn't notice the time until we'd finished the work th-that we'd been d-doing. Gomen nasai." She bowed, praying to anyone out there that he would just let her go to her room.
Clearly she wasn't being listened to as he continued in the same aggressive manner, "Bullshit. Tell me the truth – you can't just 'lose track of time' like that. Do you even know what time it is?" His voice raised in pitch and volume. "You-you've been with someone, haven't you?" Her lack of answer seemed to exacerbate his anger and he roared, "Tell me!"
He took a menacing step towards her, hand clenching into a fist, and she unconsciously flinched away, only for her shin to meet the steps. She floundered a little and, unable to regain her balance, fell backwards onto the stairs.
And suddenly she wasn't an eleven-year-old who was to graduate from the Ninja Academy in a year's time, a girl who should be more than capable of defending herself – she felt eight or nine again, helpless against her father's drunken fury.
A small, frightened girl who just curled in on herself and tried to wish away the pain, time after time.
She felt tears burn her eyes and hated herself for the pleading, weak quality to her voice, "Please… Uso ja arimasen."
Her insistence about her innocence just seemed to rile him even more.
"I told you not to lie, bitch." She looked away, not wanting to see the contorted features staring down at her – the livid eyes, the flaring nostrils, the snarling mouth and bared teeth, the reddened face and the pulse pounding against the flesh of his neck.
And, as the first blows landed, she had already resigned herself to it.
Right, here comes the glossary, once more.
Jiji: old man
Shodai: First (used to refer to the First Hokage)
Uso ja arimasen: I am not lying/it's not a lie