Title : Building Trust
Uploaded : 05/05/13
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Simoun
It was almost midday at Simulacrum as the two suns of Daikuriku were almost at their zenith. The sky was already calm and peaceful unlike hours ago when Chor Aquilla battled with the Argentum fleet.
In a balcony at Arcus Prima, Guragief and Anubituf watched the scenery in the distance as they awaited for the said choir's arrival.
Anubituf sighed with exasperation as he leaned forward and placed his folded arms over the balcony railings. "Just what trouble did we get into..." he said tiredly.
Guragief smiled as he glanced at his friend. "Well... We knew that they are not normal kids..."
"Everyone already knows that they are not normal... What with them being male-born...And I'm also sure that it was them who took down those Argentum fighters when we first met Nasuf and Sai with Captain Wauf at the Grand Temple" Anubituf sighed once more as he glanced at Guragief. "But what they did today is even way beyond what occurred that day. Just trying to figure out how they do those stuffs gives me a migraine..."
Guragief chuckled a little at his friend's predicament. "Then... Don't try to figure them out. We just have to believe in them..." Guragief said as he took a step closer to his friend and placed both hands on the balcony railings, his eyes looking at the horizon as he talked. "Most people believe that they are abomination... Abnormality because of what they are... But I believe differently... I believe that Tempus Spatium sent them to this world to make a difference..."
"You always look at the good side of things, Guragief..." Anubituf said with a fond smile.
Just then, a knock was heard at the door.
"Well... Here they are..." Guragief hurriedly went to answer the door.
Seconds later, Chor Aquilla walked in, all looking refreshed. They took their seat opposite the captain's desk as Anubituf closed the door that leads to the balcony behind him. He walked slowly to his desk and took his seat, clearly thinking of what to tell the choir. Guragief stood behind him.
"Everyone is already here? Good..." Anubituf said as he regarded the choir. He leaned back on his chair and crossed his legs as he continued to scrutinize them. The seven-year-old members of the choir looked back at him curiously. 'They look like innocent kids right now... But earlier...' he thought with a grimace. 'Now... How do I start asking kids how they learned to kill?'
"Is this a staring contest or something?" Shikamaru asked sarcastically as a minute or two had already passed but the Captain was not speaking yet but merely looking at them with a frown.
"Staring contest? Shino is good at this game..." Sai remarked with a smile as the former merely raised an eyebrow at him.
"Sai, Shino is always wearing dark sunglasses... You won't really know if he's staring at you or not..." Sasuke pointed out.
Anubituf closed his eyes as he massaged his temple to quell a starting headache.
Guragief's lips twitched as he forced his self not to laugh at his friend's predicament. 'Anubituf doesn't really know how to deal with kids...' he thought and decided to intervene.
"Well, thank you for coming here everyone, even though you're all probably tired and sleepy after your night duty" Guragief started then glanced in Anubituf's direction, silently asking if he was ready to take over.
Anubituf sighed heavily as he opened his eyes before giving Guragief a nod. "I want to know what happened last night" he said, wasting no time.
Kakashi and Itachi exchanged looks. The latter gave a nod before Kakashi began relaying the details of their mission.
"We got information about Argentum fleet's location yesterday so we carried out what was supposed to be just a reconnaissance mission last night, Captain" Kakashi answered truthfully.
Anubituf and Guragief were clearly surprised at what Kakashi said. It was then their turn to exchange looks at one another.
"Where did you get the information?" Guragief asked, curious how a newly formed choir of seven-year-old kids could get such relevant information.
At this question, most members of the choir turned to Shino's direction as the latter adjusted his sunglasses as he always does when under scrutiny, a mannerism he carried from his past life.
"I commanded my bugs to follow them yesterday after Itachi's sortie, Dux" Shino answered as let his bugs come out from his sleeves; not just a few, but hundreds of them.
"W-What-" the sight shocked Guragief and Anubituf as they both saw the little creatures emerging from Shino's body. Anubituf was literally on the edge of his seat at what he was witnessing while Guragief stepped backward, not entirely sure what to do.
Shino paused for a moment to let the two adults compose themselves before continuing. "I let bugs live inside my body... And in exchange, they do whatever I ask them to... This is my unique ability..." he added as more of the little creatures appeared.
The room was silent before Anubituf made a move to stand up. "I think I need a drink. I have something strong here..." Anubituf said nonchalantly as he was about to stand up from his seat and get a bottle from his nearby stash.
His friend Guragief recovered from his state of shock though and immediately admonished him for his behavior. "Anubituf! Could you please take this matter seriously..."
"Fine, fine..." Anubituf mumbled with a grimace as he made his self comfortable on his seat once more before turning to Kakashi. "Why didn't you tell us about the mission though?" he asked, glancing once in a while at Shino's direction as the bugs started to retreat to the latter's body.
"We don't know you well... even until now and we're not sure how you would react. I mean we are just seven-year-old boys... We don't know if you'd take us seriously..." Kakashi replied.
"Well... You do have a point there. But in the future, inform us of such mission." Anubituf ordered, looking straight at Kakashi's eyes.
"Understood Captain..." Kakashi replied, bowing his head a little as he acknowledged their Captain's command.
"Going back to what happened... Kakashi, please continue..." Anubituf said.
"During the reconnaissance mission, we learned that there are Simouns and Sybillae kept in one of their ships. We had a hunch that would be Chor Caput as they had gone missing weeks ago" Kakashi continued as the adults listened intently. "It was an unspoken decision then that if we are to rescue Chor Caput, that would be the right time to carry out the operation since the enemy fleet were still in Simulacrum territory. But we cannot just go and rescue them with only five of us. That would be like a suicide mission. So we sent a message to our fellow choir members here to follow us..." he added, glancing at Itachi as the latter took the cue to continue on with their report.
"We followed them in Mt. Balsax. There, we divided the choir into two groups - a decoy and the search and rescue team. I was the team leader of the decoy team while Kakashi was the team leader of the other team. We decided to start the operation on the ground mainly because Argentum is not expecting Simulacrum to do ground raids. When we moved in the area, we were greatly outnumbered. There were five airships with about five hundred to eight hundred soldiers. My Team created as much diversion as we could so Kakashi's team can rescue Chor Caput..." Itachi relayed.
"We found the Chor Caput in a room... sort like a lab. The Argentum were trying to decode the secrets of Simoun and they were keeping the Sybillae for this reason. We found them tied in medical beds like some test specimen while the Simoun were placed in a hangar not far from them. I took all the Simouns and placed them somewhere Argentum cannot find. I then asked Sai and Sasuke to take the Sybillae in a safe place before we proceeded to destroy the entire fleet" Kakashi said with a thinly veiled rage.
The room was silent for a few moments as Anubituf and Guragief absorbed the information that Chor Aquilla has just told them before Anubituf asked what has bothered him. "Where did you learn those abilities? I know for a fact that you all attended a training with the Council's support. But I doubt that they taught you those things... What you've shown us today are abilities that are not seen in Simulacrum or any other country in Daikuriku... You're all too young, yet you carry yourselves like seasoned soldiers... Ones that have seen the many horrors of war..."
Once again, Kakashi and Itachi exchanged looks as they were not certain if they should tell them about their past lives as shinobi.
"It's best if you ask Onashia-sama regarding that matter, Captain. Coming from us... it would sound ridiculous, far-fetched and unbelievable… If the words would come from Onashia-sama, you might believe them..." Kakashi answered.
"We've seen things that used to be 'ridiculous, far-fetched and unbelievable' today…" Anubituf said with a smirk as he repeated Kakashi's words. "Why don't you try us…?" he added with a glint in his eyes as if challenging the choir.
Chor Aquilla look at each other, then looked at their Team Leader who merely shrugged his shoulders and nod at Yamato.
Yamato took a deep breathe before he addressed their superiors. "Do you know what reincarnation is?"
"It simply means being reborn, right?" Guragief answered as he felt a chill down his spine to where the subject of their meeting is going.
"Yes. Well… that's exactly what happened to us… and what I believe happen to all beings in all time and dimension. When you die, you'll be reborn in another body… and maybe in another time and dimension… But what happened to us is not just being reborn… We retained memories of our former world... Though the memories may still be dormant for some of us…" Yamato added as he glanced at Naruto who was unusually quiet. "But they are still in our soul, waiting to resurface. What we retain are not simply our memories, though… But our abilities as well… Those techniques that we used earlier in fighting are our unique abilities that we learned from our former world…"
"But why do you have those abilities? Is it normal for people to have them in that world? Or are you simply special?" Guragief asked, intrigued.
"We are special in a way since not everyone in that world have our abilities. We needed them in our job. We are warriors… or shinobi, as they called us… We are trained from when we are young to act as the main militia defense of our country… Civilians in that world do not have those abilities" Yamato explained further.
"Something is baffling me, though" Anubituf said as everyone's attention focused on him. "If what you say is true… and that you are all reincarnated souls from another world, shouldn't you be born female as well like any person in Daikuriku?"
"Hell, no!" Shikamaru answered violently, which made his choir smirked at his reaction.
"Sorry about his outburst, Captain" Neji apologized for Shikamaru who simply averted his gaze and scratched his head lazily. "It is just that Shikamaru has always thought that girls are too 'troublesome'…" Neji added, giving the last word emphasis. "Back in our former world, people are born with permanent gender... Male or female… All of us in Chor Aquilla were born male before and we like it that way… That's the reason why we decided to be born male here as well."
"Decided?" Guragief uttered in confusion.
"Well… That's another complicated matter that we cannot discuss for now, Dux… But when the right time comes… We'll tell you everything" Kakashi finished, since if they continue to discuss about that subject, they will definitely end up talking about the deal they accepted with Tempus Spatium.
'This is too much information... Reincarnation, huh...' Anubituf thought as he closed his eyes and massaged his temple.
'More questions again...' Guragief thought with disappointment.
"Well, that's as much as we can take as well..." Anubituf said with a sigh. "It's not that I don't believe you boys but with everything that happened today... I think that's enough for today... Though in time, I would like to know all your stories Chor Aquilla..." he added with a smile.
"We will tell you in time, Captain. I promise..." Kakashi said as he looked around his friends who gave a nod in his decision. "We promise..."
The room became silent once more before Anubituf finally decided to dismiss the choir so they can rest.
"Well I guess that concludes our meeting then... You may go and take some rest" Anubituf ordered before the choir stood to leave. But before they could make it to the door, he added, "Wait... We'll go with you..."
The choir stopped in their tracks and turned to look at their superiors with baffled, round eyes.
"Huh? Why do the Captain and Dux have to go with us?" Sai asked what most of them were thinking.
"We haven't seen the state of your quarters yet... Think of it as an impromptu inspection..." Anubituf answered with a small smile as he walked ahead of them. 'And… I want to get to know you better Chor Aquilla' he thought.
"Huh? But I haven't cleaned up my bed yet!" Kakashi protested while Shikamaru muttered something that sounds like, 'What a drag...'
"That's exactly the purpose of this inspection... To check if you boys are keeping your quarters as befitting a choir of Arcus Prima..." Guragief answered with an amused smile as he noticed the look of shock in Kakashi's and Shikamaru's faces as they try to catch up with Anubituf.
They were almost at their quarters when Sai noticed that Naruto and Sasuke are not with them.
"Where's Naruto and Sasuke?" he asked curiously.
"I don't know..." Kakashi answered softly as he opened the door into their quarters. He was clearly worried about his friends but immediately forgot about them when he saw the state of his bunk.
Chor Aquilla's quarters was satisfactorily clean, except for three beds.
Anubituf sighed and shook his head when he saw Kakashi and Shikamaru who are both trying to fix their beds. He went to Kakashi's bunk first and picked a forgotten book at the foot of the bed and read its title.
"Sweet Temptation…?" Anubituf read in disbelief. "Wherever did you manage to get this book?" he asked as Guragief, who was beside him, blushed at the scandalous cover picture of two male lovers.
"That's mine Captain…" a voice answered behind them. Anubituf and Guragief both turned around to see Sai wearing his usual smile.
'Why am I not surprised…?' Guragief thought with exasperation.
"Where in Daikuriku did you get this?" Anubituf asked as Guragief took the book from him and read an initial written on the back cover.
"W.D.M." Guragief read and remembered someone with that initial. "Wauf Du Mignon?"
"I don't think Captain Wauf would lend you a book like this…" Anubituf said as he took the book from Guragief. "How did you get this? Never mind that… I'll just tell him to be more careful where he places his books…"
"That's surprising though… For Captain Wauf to read books like that…" Kakashi stated, scratching his chin as he regarded the matter.
"You're one to talk, Kakashi… You read that book for five times already…" Shino commented.
"Well, I can't help it really… brings back memories from when I – " Kakashi said dreamily but was cut off by Yamato.
"Yeah, yeah… Brings back your memories from when you date any willing creature. You even dated Ibiki Morino" Yamato said, causing all the former shinobi to gape at Kakashi.
"I don't want to be rude or anything… but just how old are you when you… left that world?" Anubituf asked, trying to be considerate of their feelings about the topic.
"I was thirty, Yamato was twenty-six, Itachi was twenty while the rest are between fifteen and seventeen…" Kakashi replied.
"You're already an adult. I see…" Guragief gestured at Kakashi's bed in disbelief. "Then why is your bunk this disorderly?I would have thought that you would be more responsible…"
"He hasn't changed, Dux…" Yamato answered with a smirk. "Well… how should I say it… death did not cure his and Shikamaru's laziness…" he added as his fellow choir chuckled while Guragief just shook his head in disbelief. 'Trust Chor Aquilla to joke about their death lightly…' he thought.
"Shut it, Yamato…" Kakashi said as he hastily arranged his clothes and weapons that are still scattered over his bed.
"Kakashi... As the choir's leader, shouldn't you set an example for the rest of the members?" Anubituf asked as he folded his hands over his chest and looked at Kakashi's bed.
Kakashi sat up on his bed lazily. "I am setting an example, Captain. But it seems that only Shikamaru and Naruto are following what I do..." he added, matter-of-factly.
"Well, that's because it is not exactly a good example at all..." Itachi said with an amused tone as he stood beside Anubituf and Guragief.
"It is still an example..." Kakashi mumbled tiredly.
"Fix your things, Kakashi..." Anubituf said before he proceeded to Shikamaru's.
Shikamaru who is lazier than Kakashi, stopped trying to organize his bunk. Instead, he spread his blanket, covering all his clothes and weapons that lie cluttered over his bed.
Anubituf once again shook his head in exasperation as he looked at Shikamaru's bed. "Shikamaru… Can you actually lie down or even sit on this bed?" he asked while looking at the blanket-covered bed of Shikamaru. Pointed objects seem to stick out of the blanket.
"Of course, Captain... Why can't I?" Shikamaru said as he sat on his bed to show what he's saying but immediately jumped and yelped in pain with both of his hands on his backside.
Chor Aquilla and even Guragief chuckled while Shikamaru muttered, "This is just too troublesome…"
"Fix it…" Anubituf said as he went to the last cluttered bed. "And this is Naruto's bed?"
"Yes Captain…" Shino answered.
"Where is he, anyway?" Guragief asked. "He was not his usual self earlier…" he said with concern.
"Even Sasuke is not here…" Gaara added as he glanced at the bunk on his left side.
"Sasuke probably went to visit Chor Caput…" Itachi said.
"And Naruto… well… Remember what I said earlier, Dux? That we retained memories of our past lives but for some of us, those memories are still dormant?" Yamato asked.
"Yes…" Guragief answered.
"Well… Naruto is the only one among us who cannot remember his past. So for now, he is just a confused seven-year-old kid. The mission that we took last night is his first serious mission and it seems he can't get over the fact that he had to kill…"
"I'll speak with him then…" Guragief said with empathy.
"Alright then, leave Naruto to us…" Anubituf said. "Kakashi, we'll check your quarters in a few days again..."
"Understood Captain..." Kakashi answered.
"And... Well... Chor Aquilla, we honestly want to get to know you better. I hope that this is a start of a good working relationship with you. I doubted Onashia-sama's words when she said that you are capable warriors. I thought you are just some weird kids... I was terribly wrong after seeing everything today. I'm sorry for doubting your abilities…" Anubituf said sincerely, making Chor Aquilla smile at his words.
"Thank you for rescuing Chor Caput. I am forever indebted to you all..." Guragief added before he and Anubituf walked towards the door and left the choir to finally rest.
When the door closed, Itachi turned to Kakashi. "What's the plan now Kakashi?" he asked as he sat on his bed opposite Kakashi's.
"We need more information about the enemies. We'll be sending reconnaissance missions to Argentum and Plumbum... I'll be sending Shino and Neji to Plumbum while you and Sai will go to Argentum..." Kakashi said.
Just then he noticed Shikamaru who was wearing a frown in his face as soon as their superiors left. "You look troubled Shikamaru..."
"I would like to verify something at the Central Command... I'll go tonight. Yamato, Neji... could you go with me?" Shikamaru asked.
"Sure..." Yamato answered although unsure if infiltrating the Central Command is a good idea.
"Okay... That's it for now...Let's take a rest..."
End of Chapter
