"Alright, let's see if you can walk." Geshi said one day. Two weeks had passed since Sakura and Sasuke had been found, and Geshi decided it was time to check on the progress of Kakashi's injuries. She gripped his hand tightly in hers as she helped pull him up by his good arm, her legs positioned to create a triangle so as to brace herself.
With a grunt of effort, Kakashi managed to haul himself up, and stood leaning against Geshi for support while he waited to adjust to the sudden shift of position. He stood unsteadily for a moment, then righted himself and attempted a step forward. He smiled, as everything was going fine, but the expression was whipped off his face with the next step as he tripped over the corner of his sleeping roll.
The world moved in slow motion as Kakashi stared in horror at the ground rushing up to meet him. He closed his eyes, waiting for impact, but at the last second he felt strong, feminine arms holding him tightly, preventing him from hitting the floor. Slowly, Geshi helped Kakashi to stand up again, blushing slightly.
"Arigato, Geshi-chan." Kakashi said, smiling. 'Dammit. Why does she have to look so cute when she's blushing?' Kakashi thought, mentally slapping himself. This was not the time to be staring at Geshi's face, when he had to concentrate on walking.
Meanwhile, Geshi was cursing herself in every language possible in her head, including the few words of Latin, Enlgish, and French that she knew. 'Tu es vacca obessus! What the hell is wrong with me?! I haven't blushed in years!' She thought angrily. She wasn't one to show weakness or emotion voluntarily, and she saw blushing as a revelation of emotions. In fact, she barely showed any emotions period. If she wasn't extremely close in relationship to someone, she would refuse to show anything but confidence and self-assurance.
Slowly, Geshi released her vice-like grip on Kakashi, and he took a few unsteady steps forward. Finally, when he had successfully moved about five feet away from Geshi on his own two feet, Kakashi turned around and grinned.
"Seems like you're doing pretty well. We can probably leave soon, but I think you should try these first." Geshi said, strolling over to the large cabinet and opening the doors. Somehow, she managed to pull out a pair of crutches without the entire contents of the cabinet exploding out.
Carefully, Geshi handed the crutches to Kakashi, and held onto his shoulder as he situated himself on the wooden stabilizers. She was pleased to see that her patient could now move even more easily. When he turned around again and came back towards her, Geshi offered her hand to help Kakashi sit down again, and rested the crutches against the wall.
"Anou… I think I'll go get some dinner." Geshi said, slightly uncomfortable as she turned around to leave. The incident when Kakashi nearly fell had made her nervous, and though she was cursing herself in every language she knew, she couldn't shake off her jittery feeling. She felt completely stupid, like she was a lovesick teenager within a hundred feet of her crush, which, of course, was not too far from the truth.
"Geshi," Kakashi said, causing the Kunoichi to freeze in mid-step. "I don't think I want to go back to Konoha yet. I want to go to your village." Kakashi said, grinning slightly. He knew he had hit a weak spot when he saw Geshi flinch oh so slightly. He was very intrigued to see how Geshi had been living all these years, and of course, he wanted to meet his daughter.
Geshi sighed slightly in defeat, knowing Kakashi had noticed. "Fine. You win. We'll leave tomorrow at sunrise. You can tell your students. I'm going to train." Geshi said, and with that she left the hospital building and breathed a deep sigh. She was happy that she was going to see her daughter again, after six years, but at the same time she was a bit worried about her return, with the visitors.
Kakashi grinned, his own little victory tune ringing in his ears. Over the past two weeks he had been aware of Geshi's uncertainty about bringing he and his students back to the village she had been living in, and he had pressed the subject multiple times, only to be rejected every time.
Once the happiness over his triumph passed, Kakashi's eyes took on a more peaceful look as he watched her outside the window, throwing shuriken at random targets while spinning seemingly effortlessly through the air. She was still so beautiful, Kakashi thought, and as his mind registered what he had been thinking, he came to the realization that he still loved her.
The next morning, as the moon began to sink below the horizon, Geshi was still fast asleep. She was definitely still not a morning person, as Kakashi had discovered. The only way she had woken up so early to get breakfast on that first morning was by means of her so-called 'back-up alarm clock'.
She had wanted to get up early to get some food for the morning meal, and had therefore set the quiet little alarm on her bedside clock. When the alarm had gone off at six-thirty AM, Geshi had slammed her fist hard enough on the 'off' button to crack the plastic clock. Five minutes later, she was attacked by the 'second alarm'. Part of the pajama top she had worn to bed had moved up, exposing her lower back. Leave it to Taikai to have an extremely cold, wet nose to press against his owner's back to wake her up in the morning.
Kakashi, who had just woken up and dressed for the day's travel, decided it would be best to wake the Tokubetsu Jounin at that time. Tentatively, he shook Geshi's shoulder, squinting his eyes. He heard her groan and roll over, but he was careful not to open his eyes just yet. He knew from experience that a tired Geshi could produce a death glare capable of burning retinas.
"Geshi, it's time to get up." Kakashi said softly, but still he received no real response, just a faint moan of protest and something that sounded like 'Five more minutes…?' Finally, Kakashi had enough of just coaxing. It was time to use his secret technique that always worked when waking up his former student.
Kakashi gently made sure that Geshi's hair was out of the way, so that her ears were completely uncovered. Then, carefully hobbling to the other side of the room with his crutches, Kakashi cleared his throat. This trick worked every time the silver-haired Jounin couldn't wake his comrade. "Geshi-chan, it's morning. Let's work." He whispered almost inaudibly, his voice even more muffled by his mask.
Geshi sat bolt upright, her eyes wide open, and she was breathing quickly. Her head whipped in Kakashi's direction, her bright eyes staring straight at him as though to bore two identical holes through his head. "Dammit, Kakashi! You know how I react to that! You always say that and make me think I'm about to spring into action on a show day." Geshi said crossly, calming down slightly, though she still felt the adrenaline rush she got in the morning from anticipating a show.
"That's why I use it every time I need you up fast." Kakashi said, grinning in triumph under his mask, his visible eye curved upwards as an indication to his expression. Geshi, who had gotten up and was rolling up her sleeping mat, swung her head around to shoot the man a glare. Quickly, she stuffed the rolled-up mat in the storage cabinet, then grabbed Kakashi's as well and stuffed it in.
As Kakashi left the room to wake his three former students, Geshi pulled her trunk out from under the cabinet and popped it open. Quickly, she pulled out one of the many navy blue t-shirts with it's plain, yet decorative forest green triangles on it. She grabbed a comfortable pair of Jean-Capri s to wear, along with her green Jounin vest with it's red spiral on the back, one of her few remaining possessions from when she lived in Konohagakure.
Zipping up her vest, Geshi grabbed her hitae-ate from it's hook, and adjusted it to cover her right eye as she activated her sharingan. Just before leaving the room, she grabbed the mud brown mask that would cover her face to protect it from the dust blowing on the winds in Kazekuni.
About an hour later, as the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, five figures could be seen trudging across the sand. Two were female, while another was on crutches. They seemed to be moving at a steady, determined pace on a set course.
"How are you holding up, sensei?" Sakura asked seriously, the medic-nin side of her mind expressing it's concern. She was uncertain about the crutches and how sturdy they were, although she had come to trust Geshi over the past few weeks.
"Sakura, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Kakashi said in a voice that made his answer final, with no room for arguments. And so, the five people continued their trek without a sound, with only the sound of the wind and the soft 'fump' noise that was made every time someone took a step to ease the silence.
As night fell, and the stars began to glitter in the sky, Geshi called a halt to the traveling bunch of shinobi. "Alright. We can stop here for the night, and start up again before dawn." The kunoichi said as she pulled out a tightly wrapped bundle of cloth from her backpack, along with several metal stakes and a small hammer.
Naruto and Sakura did the same, while Sasuke began gathering as many rocks as he could find that were roughly the size of his fist. Soon he began to create a circle out of the stones, then proceeded to go and look for kindling, tinder, and logs to use to build a fire.
Soon there was a large fire burning in the stone circle, with the three tents set up around it. The first tent, a medium-sized orange one, was for Naruto and Sasuke. The second tent, which was a shade of dodger blue and much larger than the first, was for Geshi, Kakashi, and the dogs. The third and final tent was a small, red, one-person tent which Sakura would be using.
After a few minutes of searching, Geshi managed to find four thick, decently sized chunks of log to pull up around the fire circle. She also found several long, thin branches that could be used as skewers. She found a bush, and not just a tumbleweed, as was common in Kaze, and not just any bush.
The bush had raspberries on it, and they were perfectly ripe. Grabbing a basket from her travel pack, Geshi expertly picked as many of the red fruits as she could find by flashlight that would fit in the basket, which she then brought back to the fire circle. Finally, she passed around the branch skewers to each person, along with some chopped up sushi and rice balls she had had stored.
Geshi wasn't very much in the mood for raw meat that night, so instead she stabbed through several chunks of fish meat with her branch and proceeded to hold it over the fire while sitting on her log seat. When the fish was cooked to her satisfaction, the Jounin pulled it off her skewer stick and put it on her plate to marinate with a tiny bit of Wasabi. She grabbed a handful of raspberries and some rice balls as well to complete her meal.
For several minutes, the four traveling shinobi's meal was eaten in silence, until it became obvious that Sasuke and Naruto had silently challenged each other to an eating competition. Kakashi chuckled quietly, remembering a time when the two boys were just genin, doing the same thing in the wave country.
"Dear gods, do you two always fight?" Geshi asked exasperatedly, pausing with a berry halfway to her mouth. The two Konoha shinobi had been arguing on and off throughout the day.
"They've always been like this, I hate to say." Kakashi said, laughing at the two boys as they shot him a death glare.
"I won't lose, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto declared, horking down another large mouthful of sushi, his face turning red from lack of air.
"Like hell I'll let you win, dobe!" Sasuke retorted, proceeding to stuff his face full of rice, until he had a white sticky rice beard.
"Enough! You two are pathetic!" Geshi finally shouted, her eye visibly twitching in annoyance as she glared at the boys. She was fed up with the two hogging all the food, and it was only going to make them sick.
"But I wanna be better than Sasuke-teme!" Naruto protested after he swallowed a large mouthful of raw fish.
"And I can't let him think he's better than me." Sasuke declared, looking slightly more dignified than the orange ninja, but no less stupid.
"Shut it! You are both idiots! All you're doing is wasting food and making yourselves sick." Geshi spat, showing her well hidden angry side.
"But-" Both boys started, but Geshi cut them off.
"No! I've had enough of you two. You're fighting is childish. Now, I'm not going to take sides, but I'm going to sing a little song. It should help explain what happens when you challenge someone stronger than you." Geshi said, trying to force herself to calm down.
"What?" Both of the young Jounin said, there's faces confused.
But Geshi was already clearing her throat, she was going to sing. Everyone turned to look at the Tokubetsu Jounin in the fire light, and Geshi spoke.
Now, somewhere in the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota
There lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon, ah,
And one day his woman ran off with another guy,
He hit young Rocky in the eye.
Rocky didn't like that. He said "I'm gonna get that boy."
So one day he walked into town and
Booked himself a room in the local saloon.
Both of Geshi's dogs turned to watch her as she finished the spoken introduction, and began to sing. The song had a very Western feel to it, but it was an older Western, instead of modern. Naruto's first thought was that it reminded him of one of those old Cowboy movies from America he used to watch.
Rocky Raccoon
Checked into his room
Only to find Gideon's bible.
Rocky had come
Equipped with a gun
To shoot off the legs of his rival.
His rival it seems
Had broken his dreams
By stealing the girl of his fancy.
Her name was Magill
And she called herself Lil
But everyone knew her as Nancy.
Now she and her man
Who called himself Dan
Were in the next room at the hoedown
Rocky burst in
And grinning a grin
He said "Danny boy, this is a showdown."
But Daniel was hot
He drew first and shot
And Rocky collapsed in the corner.
Yeaah.
Now, the doctor came in
Stinking of gin
And proceeded to lie on the table.
He said, "Rocky, you met your match."
And Rocky said, "Doc, it's only a scratch."
"And I'll be better, I'll be better
Doc as soon as I am able."
And now Rocky Raccoon
He fell back in his room
Only to find Gideon's bible.
Gideon checked out
And he left it no doubt
To help with good Rocky's revival.
As Geshi finished her song, there was silence around the campsite. Kashou had crawled forward to rest her head on her shishou's knee, while Taikai lay across Geshi's feet. Finally, Naruto, being the loud-mouthed ninja he was, dared to break the silence.
"So… Which one of us is Danny and which one is Rocky?" He said, still confused, but no longer competitive after hearing the song.
"You missed the point completely. And besides, I already told you I wouldn't be taking sides." Geshi said, sighing in exasperation. "Anyway, we should be getting to bed." She announced, and with that, she got up from her log seat and went into her tent, closely followed by her dogs. Soon after, the sound of hungry canines crunching on raw chicken bones could be heard in the night.
