Dragon and Sword Master: Sorry for the late update everyone, but with me back in school, it's hard for me to write, especially with the ultimatum that if I fail, my laptop is taken away, and I consider it my precious so yeah…
Naruto: You're just a slacker like Kakashi
Dragon and Sword Master: And for that, I will ban all ramen in Konoha for you.
Naruto: Wait, what? You can't do that!
Dragon and Sword Master: As the author, I play God, but since I'm in a good mood, you'll get some ramen…just not as much thanks to Sakura-chan. Once again, I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I could give excuses but it boils down to the fact that I, unfortunately, have a real life and I deal with problems in said life. Sorry for re-uploading this, I keep forgetting to add lines...in addition, for all the people who just add this story to your favorite story/story alert lists...can you please leave a short review? I hate to ask this but 13 new favorite story/alert lists and no reviews is kinda disheartening...
Chapter 09: Haunted Pasts, Twisted Memories
Yugito was sleeping in a chair, the mysterious person putting a blanket over her as she succumbed to sleep an hour ago. The green glow of her hands finally faded away. She looked at the young woman and smiled lightly, still remembering when that gun-wielding bastard gave her the task of keeping an eye on the young Yugito. Smiling one last time at the girl, she faded away, Byakuya's injuries finally healed and a small smile was on the raven-haired beauty. As Byakuya's healer faded away, she had one final thought that she whispered.
I wonder what she's dreaming about…
Flashback
The afternoon sunrays slowly crept into the hospital room as it shined over the two occupants. One was a small female about thirteen or fourteen in age lay in the bed, her black hair falling to her shoulders as she rested under the sheets. The other, a young man of about fifteen or so, was sitting in the chair across from the bed, his white hair covering his face as he slept, if his snoring was any indication. As the rays danced across the room, one hit her sleeping form slowly stirring the sleeping beauty. Soon, she revealed her storm-gray eyes to the world as she took in her new surroundings. For one, she noticed she wasn't in that tube anymore or that horrid place that mad man called a lab. Thinking of the hellish place, the female placed a hand over her right shoulder where, underneath her clothing, an intricate seal laid.
Sighing to herself, she once more looked around at her new surroundings, the ceiling and floor being white, with a single door and window for entry. Leaning up in the bed, she finally noticed the young man that sat in the chair next to her. Noticing a headband around his neck, she instantly thought that she was his prisoner. Not quite trusting him, or where she was, she slowly started to slip out of the bed. Figuring that it would be best to quickly run away from her (to her anyway) imprisoned room, she slowly tiptoed to the door, not trying to wake the young shinobi. However, just as she reached the door, a voice spoke out, causing her to stop in her tracks.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," The female jumped, quickly turning around to find the voice coming from the white-haired shinobi.
"And why shouldn't I?" She responded, her body quivering in fear. While she knew that the seal placed on her did something to make her body stronger, she doubted that she could take on a trained shinobi such as the one in front of her. Hearing a sigh, the young man slowly got up, stretching from his nap, his eyelids lifting to reveal red-wine colored eyes, looking back at her.
"Because," He responded, "Ban-chan and I would be extremely crossed with you if the princess we saved suddenly disappeared without a trace." The female couldn't help but laugh slightly at what the white haired called her. Her, a princess? Hardly, she thought to herself. Seeing her still tense, the shinobi just sighed.
"Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. I am Tenjin Areku, but most people just call me Ark," He started, "And you?"
"Ku…Kuchiki Byakuya."
End flashback
A sigh escaped her lips as the memory ended, her storm-gray eyes meeting the darkness of the night that covered the room. Her eyes darted across the room to take in her surroundings, noticing her imouto was sleeping peacefully on a chair. Slowly, she rose from the bed, a soft wince exiting her mouth as the pain from the battle hours before ran up her spine.
I should be grateful to her for healing me as well as she did. Otherwise, I would be as bad as… Her eyes widened as she remembered her bloody companion. Throwing her legs over the bed, she quickly stood up and slowly headed downstairs, taking care not to wake anyone. As she got closer to the first floor of the two-story house, a small thump reached her ears. Silently, she went downstairs, thinking that an intruder had entered the house. When she reached the last step, she quickly darted across the door opening to the wall, hoping to hide behind it to catch the intruder off guard. Turning her head slightly around the corner, Byakuya could only sigh in annoyance at what she saw. In the room before her, Ark stood. Well, more as if he was trying to stand. His body, much like hers, was bandaged up from what she assumed Kakashi's and that brunette girl's first aid. Before her, he moved slowly towards his belt, his unbroken, but still bandaged, arm reaching for his weapons. Having an idea on what he was going to do, Byakuya stepped into the room.
"You know, you're going to reopen your wounds if you move like that," she said as she leaned in the doorway, the moonlight from the window giving her a slight glow about her. With a quick turn, Ark had Shimo loaded and aimed at the intruder. Sensing who it was, the dragon lowered his weapon before sighing.
"You know it takes more than these chicken scratches to keep me down," he grinned before going back to his business with his pouch. Checking his equipment, he nodded to himself before using his right arm to strap the belt around his waist, his other arm damaged in the fight. Quickly standing, she swiftly walked over to her former teammate.
"You know, you're going to get yourself killed." She said, having an idea what the white-haired man before her was thinking as she pushed him back down to his makeshift bed.
"Oh ho!" Ark's grin widened, "Is Bya-hime actually worried for little old me?"
"Teme," she growled as she took his belt away from him and placed it alongside his weapons. "I only worry about you because if you died, Yugito-chan wouldn't stop crying for days." Taking a seat next to the Hyouton user, Byakuya quickly looked at the damage to his body.
"Stupid Kakashi," She grumbled, quickly removing some bloody bandages and replacing them with new ones. "Once we get back, I am going to teach him a thing or two about first aid." Hearing this, Ark couldn't help but chuckle. This caused him to strain some of his wounds, which made him end up wincing instead.
"Baka!" She hissed. "If you move anymore, you could start bleeding out even more!" Quickly going through some hand seals, Byakuya activated the shousen jutsu (mystical hand technique) to heal Ark's bleeding wound. Sighing, Ark looked away as his former teammate's glowing green hands started to heal him.
"It seems that all I do is cause you pain and worry Byakuya." Ark mumbled, mostly to himself. "First Ban, then Yugito, now this…" Before he could finish his thought, a hard slap found his back, causing his body to spasm in pain.
"Itaaaaai!" He winced, turning to glare at her. "What was that for?" but the swordswoman just ignored him as she continued working. A few moments passed before the silence was broken.
"Do you really think that was him?" She asked softly. Sighing, Ark reached over to his belt, producing a cancer stick. Taking a small drag, he said.
"I really don't know." He breathed, wisps of smoke coming out of his mouth, irritating Byakuya to no ends. "If it isn't, it's a damn good imitation." Sighing, Byakuya got up, stretched and started to head back to her bed.
"Byakuya," She stopped in the doorway, turning her head slightly to look at the chain-smoker. "What if…" Her face scrunched up, as if she tasted something fowl.
"Baka," She said as she turned away. "If it is him, we will deal with it when the time comes. Otherwise, we just have to protect the young ones." She then continued up to her room. "They are still innocent and we should protect them from that as long as we can." She could practically feel the small grin coming from the blind gunner.
Sakura squinted as sunlight dug through the openings in the blinds, irritating her as she tried to turn over and go back to sleep. Unfortunately, the sun would have none of that as its light continued attacking the brunette. Seeing that she was going to lose, Sakura got up, yawning as she did so. Helping Kakashi with Areku was a tiring task, but it was well worth it to see the young man still alive, especially since he was the one to save her from their traitorous sensei.
It took her a few seconds to remember where she was, especially since this was her first time outside of Konoha. After remembering where she was, she slowly got out of her room and headed to where the bathroom was. She sighed in relief as she felt warm water pass through her outstretched hand before stepping into the shower, making sure that it was a quick one. After her shower and getting dressed, she headed downstairs to meet up with her squad and Yugito…plus one additional person. The black-haired female had a sword across her back; the hilt seen only because the back ends of a white scarf draped over it. A complete contrast to the top she was wearing. In fact, the shirt was the only thing that was black. The parachute pants and elbow-length gloves were the same color as the scarf: a bright, and stale, white color. As Sakura was staring at the female in front of her, she didn't realize that the gray-eyes of the female were starting to glare at the brunette. It wasn't until her second sensei started talking that she stopped staring at the elder female.
"Morning Sakura-chan!" Ark beamed. Noticing the slight tension between the two, he said. "Don't mind Bya-hime here, she's not a typical morning person," At this, "Bya-hime" whacked him lightly for the bad joke. She just didn't like the fact that the young Sakura was staring at her so intensely. Sakura then looked at Ark strangely, "Bya-hime?" she repeated, not sure as to how the raven-haired female got that nickname.
"It's short for Byakuya, this stupid idiot over here got it in his head that I'm a princess of some sort and it stuck. Don't even think of calling me that Sakura-san," she said, Sakura nodding meekly as she went to sit next to her teammates as Tsunami gave her a bowl with some food in it, Yugito sitting next to Byakuya, glad to see that most of her wounds healed overnight.
Ark stood up slowly, hissing lightly as his wounds caused him pain. Seeing this, Kakashi looked on in concern and was about to voice it, when the young gunslinger said that he was fine.
"You don't look fine to me Ark," Kakashi said as Ark returned to the table. "What happened with you and Byakuya-san?" He asked as Ark straightened up and got a little angry at the memory.
"I'd rather not talk about it sempai," was all that Ark said as Kakashi stared at him. There was no way in hell Ark and his female companion could come in last night looking like hell just spat them out without giving any details.
"I'm sorry, but I need to know. Our mission might be compromised because…" Kakashi started to say as Ark interrupted him.
"Inu-chan, I don't want to talk about it," he said before getting up, ignoring the pain that laced through his wounds and headed outside. Byakuya glared at the Cyclops before heading out after the gunslinger, only seeing him pulling out another one of those damnable cigarettes. Before he could place it into his mouth and light it, she snatched the cancer stick and stomped on it, effectively destroying the thing.
"What did I tell you about those things?" She asked him with a murderous glare, as all he did was laugh lightly.
"Not to smoke in front of you…I think is what you said the first time I did it," he stated, bringing back a few memories, both good and bad. Shaking his head, he noticed that Byakuya was a few paces ahead of him, quickening his pace to catch up. If he waited a few minutes longer, he would have seen Kakashi's Kage Bunshin appear out the door to follow the ninja duo.
After a few paces, Byakuya and Ark both sensed someone following them. Byakuya sighed and told Ark that she would handle it before she went back to see her young charge trying to follow them.
"Yugi-chan, the two of us will be back late. This matter deals with some personal business between the two of us that we must work out."
"Does it involve what happened…?" Yugito started to ask before Byakuya nodded. "Then why can't you explain it to me? Both of us were in that hellhole…and I want to know why you wanted me to leave you behind."
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you…maybe one day, but not now. I promise on my honor that we will be back later," Byakuya said as Yugito stared at her. "Besides, when have I ever lied to my favorite neko-chan?" She asked as she ruffled her hair affectionately. "Now then, go back to the house and protect the client."
"Alright…" she said, not sure why her older sibling figures were being so secretive all of a sudden, but then again, they were shinobi and kunoichi after all. Byakuya stopped and headed back towards Ark as Yugito just stood there, watching them go. Sighing, she turned around and headed back towards the client's house, a slight frown on her face.
Yugito looked at the Jounin curiously, as she was coming back with a small frown on her face, as she saw a clone of him appear. "What are you planning Kakashi-san?" She asked as she eyed the clone before it headed off as the original went back inside, motioning the young blonde to follow him.
"As I said before, I need to know what's going on, especially since it could affect the mission. I'm a little worried…never once have I seen Ark that heavily hurt." Kakashi said, as the other four looked downwards guiltily. "There was nothing we could do and until I know what's going on, we're going to train. If someone can hurt Ark-san as badly as that, then I want to make sure you're able to at least survive if we encounter them." Kakashi said as the Genin looked at him as if he grew a second head as Yugito just listened, not caring since she wasn't part of the team.
"What do you want us to train in Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, grinning at the prospect of a new jutsu, but wasn't able to hear Kakashi's response as he then heard his tenet speak.
Actually, Naru-kun, I'd like to start training you with my youki instead. Hosaki said as she listened to what Kakashi was saying. Before Naruto could protest, she explained to the blonde that whatever the Cyclops was teaching them; that he could learn it later. In fact, a shadow clone could probably stand in for you.
But Hosaki-chan, I highly doubt I can fool Kakashi-sensei with a Kage Bunshin, especially if it's going to train in my place, unless I flood it with my chakra…and at that moment in time, something brilliant happened: the birth of the Koudo Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Advanced Shadow Clone Technique). Hosaki giggled a little as she saw the wheels turning in Naruto's head. In fact, as Hosaki kept watching the idea form and take on ideas, she thought of how she could use it to her own benefits and go around the annoying problem of overloading a clone… That might actually work… she thought to herself as she started working on ideas that included the new clone.
Rubbing the back of his head nervously, Naruto gave out a sigh. "I'm sorry sensei, but I already promised Tsunami-chan to catch some fish for supper tonight," as soon as the word "fish" popped out of Naruto's mouth, Yugito lifted her face up in excitement.
"Fish, where?" Yugito asked, blushing when everyone looked at her funny. Blushing, Yugito couldn't help looking embarrassed at what just happened.
"Don't worry about it Yugito-chan, I'm the same way with ramen," Naruto said, causing Yugito to blush more. "If you want, you can come and help," he continued, rubbing the back of his head, lightly
"I think it would be best if you sent a clone with Yugito-san, Naruto. Your clones can't do the physical training that I am about to put you through for you, even if they can do pretty much everything else. This way, at least Yugito-san can still call for help if she is in trouble." Kakashi said, not entirely happy with the situation, but he knew the jinchuuriki would never go back on a promise, that was just the way he was.
"Then I guess it's a date, right Yugi-chan?" Naruto asked as the female blonde blushed and nodded. What he didn't notice though, was the small glare Sakura was giving to their newly found female friend. Sakura didn't know why she was glaring at both blondes, but it felt like the right thing to do.
A few miles away in the depths of the forest, Ark and Byakuya had a chill run up both their spines.
"For some reason I just got the feeling to pummel the little blonde brat." Byakuya said suddenly, which Ark could only nod in agreement, knowing which blonde brat they were thinking of.
"Hopefully he didn't do something stupid to our adopted Imouto…" Ark said as Byakuya nodded.
If anyone else were around, then he or she would be laughing at Yugito. She usually didn't act all giddy and was able to conduct herself as a normal kunoichi…except when the mention of fish came around, only then was she as giddy as a fan girl was. Yugito blamed her mother for her addictiveness to fish, but she couldn't help it, it was in her blood. She didn't even mind that Naruto created a clone to help fish, but it was better than being by herself, especially what happened that one time before…no, she swore she would never think about the hellhole that was Kumogakure.
"Yu-chan? Naruto to Yu-chan…you in there?" the clone asked, as the girl lightly swatted his hand away as a reflex, surprised to have actually felt the hand that was in her face just a few minutes ago.
"How'd you do that?"
"Do what?"
"You're a clone. My understanding of clones is that it's an E ranked jutsu, capable of fooling people into thinking you made copies of yourself, but you're not suppose to be able to touch it. Yet, I just touched you, and you have a shadow. How?" Yugito asked, extremely curious as to how one of Naruto's jutsus worked.
"Curious?" Naruto teased, getting a glare at the bad joke from the blonde. "Alright, alright, yeesh," the clone replied as he took a scroll out of his vest pocket and placed it on the ground. He then transferred some chakra into it and his sword appeared out of it. "If I tell you, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone this information, understand?" Naruto asked seriously, getting a slight nod out of Yugito, not expecting him to become serious all of a sudden.
"Alright, you have my word as a fellow Jinchuuriki," Yugito stated as she looked at him, making sure to pay close attention. The clone stared into her eyes for a few moments before nodding.
"Now then, you can go back to the boss if you have any questions about the jutsu, but from his understanding of it, and ours in a sense, is that he splits his chakra up evenly in order to create one of us, a solid clone. The more chakra he puts into the jutsu, the more clones he makes."
"It sounds like something Hosaki-chan said a while back to me when she apologized for your actions," Yugito said as Naruto nodded, remembering the fact that Hosaki did tell him what happened before he started the tree climbing exercise, before continuing on with his explanation about the jutsu.
"The jutsu is actually a kinjutsu for several reasons, and I'll leave it to the boss to tell you himself. Now then, how about I catch us some fish?" He asked as Yugito nodded eagerly, causing the clone to chuckle lightly and pick the sword up once again, the clone choosing to omit the theory from his explanation.
"Now then, how are we going to fish Naruto?" Yugito asked as Naruto just grinned like a fox, and like everyone else, would come to know just why people called him the most unpredictable shinobi of Konoha.
"I don't know about you Yugi-chan, but I plan on fishing…like this." He said as he sent some of his chakra into the blade and flung it out, causing a wave of chakra to crash into the lake, and causing several fish to land next to them. Of course, the backlash was that the results of the wave soaked both the clone and Yugito, causing Yugito to growl at him menacingly.
Kitten…calm down, he probably didn't mean it… Hikaru said, in hopes of calming Yugito down.
Kaa-san, he did it on purpose!
You don't know that…Hikaru started to say but Yugito interrupted her by showing her a memory of the fox-like grin that Naruto showed her just minutes before. Well then…how about we outfox a fox, hm? Here's what you should do, she said before telling Yugito exactly what to say.
"Naruto?"
"Yes?"
"When were you going to tell Bya-nee-chan that you were practicing with a sword? She would be glad to help you," she asked, causing the clone to look at her with an interested look.
"She could train the boss in kenjutsu?" He asked as Yugito just grinned and nodded, as both Hikaru and Yugito were thinking the same thing: He won't know what hit him. They didn't see that the clone gathered up all the fish in a net. "I think we should get these back to Tsunami-san for the time being though, and she can help her cook these." The clone said as he headed back towards the clearing, Yugito following him. Soon after, the pair met up with Team Seven and Naruto took the fish and dispelled the clone, getting a few things from the clone in the process.
"Um…Yugito?" Naruto asked as the girl looked at the blonde, "After dinner…can I talk to you, alone?" He asked as Yugito got a small blush on her face before agreeing to it.
"Perhaps I should go with you both, just to make sure nothing happens," Kakashi said innocently from behind his book, causing both Naruto and Yugito to blush.
A few miles away from the training clearing, a shiver went down Ark's spine. Byakuya raised an eyebrow at her companion as she noticed the strange look on his face. Before she could ask what was wrong, the Gunslinger scowled lightly. "I just got the feeling that sempai did something stupid again, and I'm not there to punish him for it…" Ark grumbled, before continuing to walk behind the black-haired swordswoman.
Byakuya could only nod in agreement. "And my pervert senses are tingling. Something happened to make Yugito embarrassed…" She started to say before they both stopped for a minute. They then looked at each other before only one word escaped both of their lips.
"KAKAAAAAASHHIIIIIIIIIII!"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted in embarrassment as Kakashi casually flipped another page in his book before the Jounin felt two things. First, he felt Sakura-chan lightly glaring at him, but he felt something stronger coming from the left of him. Seeing no one there, he figured that it was merely his imagination playing tricks on him. After all, how were the dragon and the princess suppose to know his trick on the kitty? He shrugged his shoulders and headed inside.
Before long, the client's house, and the house that they were staying at, came into view. Kakashi did a small chakra pulse to sense for anything out of place, in addition to dispelling his clones, which also gave him the same information. Although he did blush lightly at the fact, that Tsunami asked his clones to help clean the house. After digesting the information from the clones, he opened the door and headed inside, the Genin following him shortly thereafter.
"Ah good, you're all back," Tsunami said as she looked up and saw the shinobi that her father hired, as well as the kunoichi that she saved a few days ago, grinning when she saw that Naruto brought back the fish he promised, but she didn't expect him to bring back that many fish at once. "Wow Naruto, that's a lot of fish. Thank you," she said as she went to take the fish from him. However, what surprised her was what he said next:
"If you don't mind, can I do the cooking for tonight?" He asked as Tsunami nodded, surprised at a male asking to cook. A few minutes later, dinner was served for everyone: Team Seven and Ark, Byakuya and Yugito, and Tazuna's family.
Who knew that the gaki could cook like that? Byakuya thought to herself as she looked at the blonde male in a new light after finishing the fish that Naruto prepared. She was still a little angry with him, but it was something that she could deal with.
"The bridge is now almost complete, thanks to you all," Tazuna started speaking, before looking troubled at what he wanted to ask next.
"But…"
"Why are you still helping me, even though I lied about the request details? You could be home right now if you wanted to, so why?" Tazuna asked as Kakashi just looked at the old man for a moment
"Not doing right, when you know it is right is a coward's way and there are no weak soldiers under a valiant commander," Kakashi said as he only got confused looks from Tazuna and Tsunami.
"Even those are wise words from our previous Hokage, even the current and future Hokages can agree with that. In order to be a shinobi, you cannot be a coward. If you are under a leader who doesn't understand what being a coward is, then the men and women underneath the leader will also show no cowardice, but if you are under a leader who shows cowardice, then the men and women underneath the leader will also show cowardice." Ark said, noticing all shinobi and kunoichi nodding lightly, while both Tsunami and Tazuna had a look of understanding on their faces.
Inari just listened, both shinobi's words bringing back memories of his adopted father, both the good and the bad, as tears starting welling up in his eyes. Looking at Naruto and the others, he started getting angry. Slowly the tears fell from his eyes and onto the table before he looked up at the Jounin and glared at them both.
"Why are you all trying so hard that you end up like that? You can't beat Gatou's men even if you do train! No matter how hard you try and say those good-looking words…weak people will always lose against strong people!" Inari shouted in grief and anger.
"Shut up. I'm different from you, a person who doesn't believe in heroes anymore. I'll show you and this country that heroes still exist," Naruto said, infuriating the child even more.
"Just shut up! It pisses me off when I see all of you just come into this country and set up in here as if you lived here all your life! You don't know anything about this country, and you're so nosy! I'm different from you, someone who doesn't know any real pain and just laughs all the time! You say that heroes still exist, but that's a lie. Heroes only exist in stories to amuse little children…there is no such thing as heroes in this world!" Inari shouted, inadvertently pissing Naruto, and all of the other shinobi and kunoichi in the room.
"Is that why you keep fooling yourself into thinking that you're the main character in a tragedy and only suppose to keep on crying? An idiot like yourself can just keep crying for all I care, you crybaby!" Naruto shouted as he got off and headed out the door, doing his utmost to stay calm and not letting his emotions get the better of him, Sakura heading out after him a few minutes after he left.
Right after Naruto and Sakura left, a cold and shouldering pressure was starting to pressurize the room, causing the civilians to feel as if they were dying, the shinobi feeling a huge pressure on their bodies. The feeling got worse and soon, Tazuna and his family were struggling for every breath.
"Byakuya, stop," Ark said in a serious voice as he casually sipped his tea, the killing intent seemingly not affecting him. Byakuya changed her glare from the small boy to him, focusing her killing intent.
"Why should I?" She growled. "This little shit," at this, she pointed to Inari who looked ready to soil himself, "just insulted everyone we knew and what they stood for!" Ark just continued sipping his tea, Kakashi having moved Sasuke quickly out of the crossfire and came back. He merely leaned against the wall, his attention seemingly on his book, but he was really watching what was occurring before him.
"That may be so," The one-eyed Jounin said, flipping a page. "But he is a mere child who doesn't know what he is speaking of," Byakuya then turned her rage to the Cyclops.
"And what about you, Sharingan no Kakashi?" She growled once more. "Are you just going to sit by and listen while he insults Obito, Rin and Arashi?" At this, Kakashi growled back, putting his book away. The air in the room seemed to get even thicker, if that was possible.
"Careful of your next words Byakuya, they may just be your last," Kakashi grounded out, resisting the urge to attack her immediately after saying those damnable words.
"Enough!" Ark shouted, slamming his hands on the table. "You two are acting like children! Is this how one behaves in front of our clients?" At this, the air seemed to have thinned, Kakashi and Byakuya looking slightly embarrassed, but a small amount of anger still on their faces. Well Byakuya's at least, Kakashi was hard to tell. Sighing, Ark turned to the small family.
"Forgive us," He started with a small smile. "When you see friends die who have given your life for you, it's hard to stand by and watch someone insult their memory."
"Like you care," He heard Byakuya mumble. "I doubt you even felt remorse when you…" At this, she stopped mid sentence, the air suddenly becoming twice as thick and with a slight chill to it. Ark slowly got up from his chair and casually walked to the door.
"Excuse me while I get some fresh air," He said with a polite smile. As he walked towards the door, he stopped for a moment to stand next to Byakuya. "Don't you dare assume you knew how I felt when that occurred." He hissed in a whisper. As the gunslinger exited the building, the air returned to normal once more.
Yugito wasn't sure what Ark meant by what he whispered to Byakuya, but whatever it was, it definitely pissed the older woman off. "Surely Ark-nii-kun didn't mean that nee-chan…," Yugito said, causing her sister to glare at her, causing Yugito to look down and away from the swordswoman.
"I think I'm going to bed. If I stay around here anymore, I may do something stupid," Byakuya said before turning around and heading upstairs. A few minutes later, everyone downstairs could hear the sound of the door being slammed shut. Yugito looked first towards the door where Ark left and then up the stairs to where Byakuya went, unsure of what to do.
"Go ahead and take care of your sister Yugito-chan, I'll take care of Ark," Kakashi said before the blonde female could interrupt. "I've seen him like this before, and I know the best way to help calm him down."
"Are you sure?" Yugito asked in concern for both of her adopted older siblings.
"Positive. Now go ahead and help Byakuya, while I help Ark," Kakashi said before he headed out the door, focusing on finding the gunslinger, Yugito hesitantly going up the stairs and to the same room that she shared with the swordswoman.
Naruto was practicing his dismal Taijutsu with a clone, anger clouding his mind from the encounter between that brat and himself. Growling from a cheap shot from his clone that went under his guard, Naruto went through a new set of hand seals, one of the few jutsus that Hosaki taught him after they both learned about his affinities.
"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" Naruto shouted as he forced a strong gust of wind against the clone, causing it to dispel instantly. Naruto growled once again as he saw how easily the clone got into his guard. Then again, Taijutsu was never his strong suit, something that Hosaki swore to improve on before they got back home, if only a little. Before long, he was starting to pant, over exerting himself due to the events with that crybaby brat.
Done?
Yeah, I think so. Thanks for not berating me for what I said.
Normally, I would have. However, it seemed as if Inari needed to hear that, even if it was a little harsh. I'm just surprised you didn't blow anything up. Hosaki said, causing Naruto to scowl.
I don't blow stuff up; I just prank the hell out of people, you know that.
Oh really? Then what about that one time, you placed those stink bombs into the toilets to get back at that teacher?
…we swore never to speak about that again. Naruto said to Hosaki, getting a laugh out of the vixen, causing the boy to blush. He created another clone before feeling a presence nearby. Before anything could happen, he called out to her.
"Hey Sakura-chan, are you here to berate me for going overboard?"Naruto asked as Sakura came into the clearing, seeing him cooling down by beating himself up, literally. She was surprised not to see any holes in the ground
"Now why would I do that Naru-kun? You were in the right, he wasn't. I just came here to make sure you didn't blow something up, and if you did, help you in any way I could," Sakura said, heading closer to the blonde.
"Why does everyone think I blow shit up when I get mad? I have a vixen locked inside of me, so why not ask her for ideas at times and utilize them Uzumaki style?" Naruto asked, pouting as well, not noticing the Naruto-like grin on her face.
"What about the time we snuck into that one teacher's house and planted cherry bombs in all of his plumbing or the fact where school was closed because of a prank you did involving stink bombs mixed with a low amount of heat in the vents, hm?"
"Hey, you swore you'd never bring those things up again!" Naruto shouted as Sakura giggled, glad to see that Naruto was all right. A few minutes passed before the two of them started heading back, Sakura helping Naruto stand.
Yugito went upstairs and into their room hesitantly, not entirely sure what mood Byakuya would be in. Matter of fact, she never saw Byakuya that hurt or scared, or both at the same time, and it scared the Nibi Jinchuuriki.
"Bya-nii-chan?" Yugito asked carefully, not sure if she would be the next target of Byakuya's wrath.
"What do you want Imouto?" Byakuya asked tiredly, turning her head away from the window. After having their spat, the "princess" decided to retire to her room, opting to sitting on the window still. As she tried to sort her thoughts, her imouto just happened to walk in. Maybe the younger girl could help her with some insight into her dilemma. Taking that as her cue, the neko jinnchuriki stepped into the room.
"What was all of that back there? I've never seen you that pissed off…what happened between you and Nii-kun?" She asked softly. The swordswoman sighed lightly as she turned her gaze towards the full moon. It was a moment before the she spoke.
"War is a horrible thing Yugito. Seeing your fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, lovers die right before your eyes on blood soaked battle fields. All for the sake of protecting what you think is right in the world. To protect your right to exist because someone believes you shouldn't." She started softly, her eyes having a slightly glazed look as if remembering nightmarish times. "Before our relatively peaceful time now, there was an event that occurred called the Third Great Shinobi War." Yugito was wondering where she going with this, but decided to keep her mouth quiet. She didn't know if Byakuya would stop talking if she asked a question or not.
"During that war, there were three of us." The older woman continued. "We saw many horrible and nightmarish things, imouto, some I hope you never see." At this, a shiver couldn't help but run up the swordswoman's spine. "We saw friends give their lives so others to continue on, so that the mission could be finished. To have a snot nose brat say they weren't heroes…" The swordswoman sighed at this point. "Even back then, they were both protecting me, him and Ark." At this, Byakuya paused. Moments passed in silence before Yugito asked her question.
"Who was your third team mate Nee-chan?"
"Hmm?" She said. "Ah right." The swordswoman then turned her head towards the moon before answering the young demon container.
"His name was…"
"Why are you doing this? Were we not comrades?"
"We stopped being comrades the moment you took her from me!"
"What are you saying?"
"STOP IT!"
Ark grunted as he slammed his fist on the roof after that painful flashback. Sighing to himself, he turned his attention towards the forest, the moon's light wrapping around him giving him an ethereal like look.
'Will that memory continue to haunt me?" He thought to himself, phantom pains coursing through his body from times long since past. A particular large pain was from a large scar on his left pectoral, a reminder of that day. Shaking his head, he slowly took a scroll out from his pouch. Unrolling it, he bit his thumb, wiped some blood on the seal and an electric guitar with an ice blue body came into existence.
'Doesn't she understand?' He continued to think, lightly strumming the strings. While at first Ark did this to strengthen his fingers and thus his grip and increase accuracy with his throwing weapons (before being gifted with Shimo and Nobara), he now did it to relax and help gather his thoughts when his mind was a jumble.
"Does she even consider what I felt during that time?" He whispered to himself, his strumming becoming a little louder. Doesn't she understand the pain he was in constantly? Didn't she understand that he was living in pain having to remember day after day of killing his best friend right in front of her, after all the times they been through? The good times when they laughed, the sad times when allies died in front of them…Ark then started to stand up, his strumming becoming a good loud beat. Doesn't she feel the shame that he feels? The anger….the pain…..the burden of that moment…..
(A/N: We do not own this song that is about to be played.)
Listen, a heartless shout
Listen a heartless cry
Listen, a heartless world
Soon, Ark's fingers seemed to dance across the beautiful instrument, his soul seemingly in the lyrics.
Listen, a heartless shout
Listen a heartless cry
Listen, a heartless world
I don't even know your fragrance
I don't even know your actions
All of my memories have been erased
I don't even know what it means to start over
I don't even know what it means to survive
If I think, who did I fall in love with?
Naruto and Sakura were starting to walk back to the house they were staying at before they heard something in the distance. It sounded so hurt…so depressed. They soon realized whose voice that was…it was Ark.
"I wonder what could cause him to get that depressed…" Sakura thought aloud as she and Naruto continued walking, the closer they got, the louder the sounds become.
"Good question, but I don't have an answer for it, sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto said as Sakura voiced that it wasn't a problem. They continued walking in relative silence, letting Areku's music be the only sounds in the night. "Still…I wonder what pissed Ark-sensei off so much though."
"Who knows," she answered before the two came to stand in front of the door. When she opened the door, the two noticed a somber, almost tense, mood going throughout the household. If it weren't for their shinobi training and looking underneath the underneath, then they would have had their weapons out within the instance that they came through the doors.
Soon, Naruto's sensitive hearing heard a crying noise coming from the back of the house. "He's still crying from what I said? I guess he's more of a crybaby then I thought." Naruto stated, sighing lightly as Sakura looked at him for a few seconds before he relented and sighed. "I'll go see if I can help him," was all that Naruto said as he growled lightly, annoyed that he was doing something like this, heading in the direction of where Inari was crying.
Walking towards the sound of the crying, Naruto came to the sight of Inari crying, the young boy turning around when he sensed someone behind him and quickly rubbing his eyes. "What do you want? Here to belittle me even further like that woman?"
"No, I already did that…but I may have gone a little overboard," he started to say before the rest of what he said went through Naruto's mind. "Wait, woman? Do you mean Byakuya?" Naruto asked as Inari nodded, reluctantly explaining what happened after they left. Naruto just listened, nodding occasionally. Inari finally finished, looking down in shame as he saw Naruto sitting down out of the corner of his eye.
"Inari…listen. What you said wasn't entirely wrong, but not entirely right either," Naruto said, as Inari looked up at him in surprise. "Let me tell you something Inari: I…did not say that out of spite. I'm stubborn like that but…we heard about your father from Tazuna-san, Inari. I'm...a little like you. I never knew who my father was, but unlike you, I never knew who my mother was either. I'm an orphan…and before Sakura-chan came into my life, I didn't know what the meaning of "friend" was," at this, Inari looked to Naruto, surprised. He was sure that with the way Naruto acted that he had several friends during his past.
"But…with the way you act…I thought?" Inari slightly asked, causing Naruto to chuckle lightly.
"Even though I had nothing going for me, I never let it get to me. No matter the beatings, thrown out of places and other things, I never cried. The reason was that crying wouldn't do anything for me, but I got back at them. Not for revenge, but for people to recognize me and because of that…I will put my life on the line if it means I will accomplish that dream. I'm bored of crying…but…that's why I know what it means to be strong, just like your father. In fact, I may be one of the few people in the world to understand you the most. I'm going to let you in on a secret, what I said to you earlier…those are the same words that I've been telling myself over and over again," Naruto finished as he placed a hand on Inari's shoulder. "Think about what I said, okay? I'm going to sleep now." He said before standing up and heading inside, leaving Inari to think on what he heard, hearing music coming from somewhere above him.
Ark just hummed to the beat, chakra channeling through his fingers to ramp the sound of his instrument up a few decibels as the song reached its crescendo.
In the passing season, in the current of cycling time
Everything gets swallowed up
I'll struggle on towards where you are
The day which where spent in conflict and even the nights
When I crumbled in sorrow have begun to change into the provisions
That keep me alive
Soon, a deep beat joined the song. Turning his head slightly, Ark saw Kakashi standing back to back with him, his silver-moon electric bass strapped on. Nodding to each other, Ark continued his song.
Listen, a heartless shout
Listen a heartless cry
Listen, a heartless world
I don't even know your whereabouts
I don't even know your smile
It's all been drained into a swirl of anxiety
The scars on my heart won't heal
And the tears of my heart won't stop
It seem I'll go mad, trapped in solitude
The two jounin soon lost themselves in the song, the beat and lyrics were the only thing they could hear.
As though the season we fell in love
Just like the lovers of that one time, Everything is forgotten
Without fail I'll come to be with you
The days which where spent in hatred and the nights
When I suffered in despair
They've changed into the provisions which compose me
At the promised place,
Right now I'm waiting at a distance,
Looking everywhere for you
But you won't appear
Someone please answer me
A few more rifts later, the song finished, leaving the two jounin standing in silence. The two didn't speak, since the song spoke for itself, letting the lyrics take their anger with it. Unbeknown to the two performers, a certain princess was listening in as silent tears streamed down her face. Why they were there, even she couldn't give a guess as to the feelings that flowing through her…
Speeding through the forest, the hyouton user added chakra to her legs, causing her to go even faster as trees passed by her. As she fled through the forest, she prayed to any god that was listening to her that the two of them would live through this. She knew her father was good, but she didn't know how long he could…she shook her head. She knew her father would hold them off long enough for her to get to her destination.
Please…let me get there in time…Zabuza-sama…no…otou-san…he trusted me. Haku thought as she continued on, her intent to get to the bridge builder's house as soon as possible to relay the information to Areku. Their lives depended on it…
Dragon and Sword Master: *goes through some hand seals before activating the Death Threat Protection technique* um…hey guys. Long time no see, huh? Sorry for taking so long to update, but as I said earlier: real life problems come first.
Byakuya: Who knew that Ark and Kakashi could sing and play instruments like that?
Kakashi: Well back in the 5th grade, we had several proficiency tests before going to Ninja Academy. One guy I knew took a sword proficiency class, while Ark and I took a music proficiency class.
Dragon and Sword Master: Speaking of which, the song they sung, Cyclone, is done by the band 12012 and is the ending song for the Romeo and Juliet anime. I do not own the song or anime it's from, but I highly suggest listening to the song. In addition, please don't forget to review. While I'm glad people are reading this and adding it to there favorite story/story alert lists, it's still a little disheartening to not see a single review. I like responding to them, it's my guilty pleasure.
