Chapter 9 - They Took It Well?
To put it mildly the Nara's took the news well. At first they seemed surprised and then worried for me going back home, but when I told them I asked the Hokage for some of my parent's responsibilities they seemed happy for me. Although, Yoshino kept up her strict motherly concern the entire time, not that I minded though. I made a point of picking up my house keys, flask, some clothing, books and other necessities from the Nara's house so that I wouldn't be stranded at my own home.
I then visited Sen Yumi the woman whose hospital checkup I'd missed, as soon as I told her I had met with the Hokage she didn't seem mind one bit. Kiba and Akamaru had actually gone to the hospital to tell her not to wait for me. I also managed to do her checkup at her home so I didn't have to do it the following day like I had originally suggested which was a bonus.
I'd also gone to see Kiba to thank him for going to the hospital for me and to explain everything to him like I'd promised. He also told me where team 8 was meant to meet tomorrow morning which I was grateful for.
I also went to see Kuranei sensei as well, she seemed surprised but then also seemed happy for me too. She additionally said she was happy to support me so long as my new responsibilities did not become a hindrance to my training, which I tried to promise that it wouldn't.
It was rather unnerving to me that everyone I spoke to ended up feeling happy for me going back to live at the Tanaka estate, I don't know why but for some reason it made me feel like contrary to what they all seemed to believe I was not going to thrive there.
I also managed to make it to the market and buy a whole bunch of food to last the next day or so.
Gachi was gone by the time I came home, it was around half 5 when I made my way through the front door with my many bags. The house was silent when I arrived but then again I didn't really expect it to be bustling. When I started packing food in the kitchen for immediate/easily perishable food and the storage room I noticed a note written in Gachi's hand writing attached to the fridge. As I placed some milk on the inside of the door I read it. It simply told me that the sand shinobi had left around 5 and that Baki their Jounin had told her they would eat out tonight. I didn't mind that they had left, it had made making a meal for dinner easier.
Yeah I was incredibly lazy and fried an egg and made a salad. Hey it's my first night, sue me!
I ate at the kitchen table wanting to do anything but go up to the dining room to eat, once I was done I did my washing up, packed my dishes away, and went up both flights of stairs with the small number of my things that I had brought from the Nara's house. The door recognizing my chakra let me in instantly.
I walked very slowly along the halls of my clans home, every step or so I would catch a memory of me and my sister running through the halls in play while our father tried to catch us. It made me smile alittle. When I reached the dining room I glared at it for a moment or so in sadness before stalking off to where I knew my room was located.
You know when I mentioned feeling like things wouldn't be so easy while I was here due to how easily everyone accepted the news of me being back here. Yeah I came across an obstacle when I reached my old room. Gachi had left another note on the door, it read:
'This room has not been cleaned in 6 years. I did what you instructed and didn't touch it for all the years that you were gone unlike every other room in the estate. You are not to sleep in this room until it has been thoroughly cleaned and aired for several days, I implore you, please do not attempt to sleep in this room. I have prepared the master bedroom for you as you are now the head of the family, I understand that staying in your parents old room may be difficult for you but this is part of your role now so it would be in your best interests to get used to doing things that may not sit with you right at first. I promise you that you will grow into it all.
All love and respect,
Gachi.'
I sighed and scrunched up the note in my hand before slowly walking along with my bag of things to the room that my own parents used to sleep in.
You may be expecting a long depressing drawl about how it will be hard to be in the same place they slept and that memories of them will haunt me, keeping me up at night and making me ill. To be fair that might happen but I won't talk about it. I don't want to linger on their deaths and have it hold me back. I'm not one of those people (at least I'd like to think so), I came back to this house with a purpose and I'm not going to let anything stop me. The fact of the matter is that I am the head of the Tanaka clan now so I should be where the head of the family sleeps. Although I need to get a new mattress at some point soon, that is essential. You may think I sound like an unfeeling git now but I'm not that either, I spent 6 years away from home grieving and trying to prepare myself for coming back. Now I'm back and that's it. I just have to deal with it now.
When I reached the bedroom door I took out a long breath before opening the door and stepping inside. The room was almost as I remembered it, a large wooden framed king sized bed was placed in the centre of the room, slightly elevated by a single step highlighting the bed to anyone who entered the room, an alarm clock was place on a bedside table next to it. The wall to my left wall had large window with light brown curtains tied to the side keeping the light from the slightly descending sun in the room illuminating it. I also turned on the lights for the room to add some extra light. The wall to my right had a smaller grey door which was slightly open, I knew that it lead to an on suite bathroom. To the right of the door was a walk in storage area which kept general storage along with clothing storage. I quickly placed the clothing I had with me in the cupboard. To the back of the cupboard were several cardboard boxes. It didn't take a genius to deduce that those boxes were filled with some of my parent's things. Gachi seemed to have moved most of their things for the time that I finally came home, not that I minded, it would have been a rather emotional experience to do it myself. Next to the large window on the left side of the room was a desk and bookshelf. I dumped the remainder of my things on there. My family have always loved art and wall hangings: Two hung from either side of the door to the corridor so that they faced the bed directly. They were nice, one was of a moon lit sky above a willow tree and lake while the other was of a cherry blossom tree in it's full glory. I remembered loving these when I was younger. I noticed that the photos around the desk hadn't been moved to it was nice to see photos of my full family including Auntie Etsuko.
To my surprise the mattress looked new, it couldn't have been more than a couple of months old especially since no-one would have slept on it.
"I swear Gachi thought of everything." I muttered to myself fondly and thought of what to do next. I needed to write to my aunt in the hidden cloud, she had an immense right to know that I had moved back in here.
I walked over to the desk remembering that there used to be paper and stuff in the bottom right drawer, thankfully it was still there. Moving my stuff from the desk enough that I could write (although stuffing my house keys in the pocket of my shorts) I set about writing my letter.
Dear Auntie Etsuko,
I don't even really know where to begin when writing this letter, so much has happened in the past week or so since our last letter. As you'll properly know the Chuunin exams are due to start in the next week or so. And I guess that lead me on to my biggest piece of news, I have begun living in the Tanaka house again. I know that about now you have begun freaking out and have probably called Keigo to freak out too. Honestly I'm fine, well for now I am. I haven't been here overnight yet. But allow me to explain myself, the Lord Hokage has given me leave to host a genin team and their Jounin from Suna for the duration of the Chuunin exams period on the condition that I returned to my own house and lived there for the same duration, I'm only hosting 4 ninja in the inn section of the estate and that is all. I promise.
The Hokage allowed me to do this as he said it would allow me to get in some practice before allowing me to take on more responsibility within the village and fulfil my roles more. Now that I have gotten that part out of the way I can talk about well anything else really. Gachi (the houses cleaner and supervisor) has put me in mum and dad's old room, their old stuff is mostly packed away in boxes and being in it...I'm okay with it I guess. Really I am. It seems strange right now but whether I like it or not I am now the head to the Tanaka family and I kind of have to get used to being in the same places that dad once was. When you think about it it's not so strange, dad had to do the same thing with his father so it's really natural progression in my mind. I'll guess I'll have to wait until tonight to see if my body will agree with my mind about sleeping here.
I'm really excited about competing in the Chuunin exams though, it's going to be a wonderful life changing opportunity and I know that I'll gain from it.
I mentioned hosting 4 sand shinobi in the Tanaka estate, they seem fine so far. I did only meet them today after all. Their Jounin is named Baki and seems respectable enough, I think he seems wary of me but that probably comes with the package of being housed by a 13 year old leaf ninja girl so what can I do. The genin also seem fine for now, I think that the female of the group may be the oldest. She's called Temari, she seems to be quite blunt, observant and sarcastic so I'm not really complaining, I've not clashed with her at all and I hope to keep it that way. One of the team had red hair so I've finally met someone outside of our family with red hair which is great. He hasn't really spoken much and seems to be glaring at everyone when they approach him...but I don't really want to complain. The last genin is called Kankuro and wears face paint, which is awesome, he seems quite confident and cocky. However, like the girl I could get sarcasm out of him at points. In all I could have done much worse I think.
I've told the Nara's about my living here for now and they seemed completely fine with it so I'm not going to complain about that either. My cooking lessons are also greatly improving so I'm getting decently good, I plan to try out some of the recipes from the cook book that Keigo sent me while I have full access to my own kitchen and can cook all I want.
Wishing both of you the best.
Tsukina.
Having finished my letter I had to go to my father's study to find the Tanaka family seal. A circle with a moon being formed from the left side, a small circle was placed opposite it and was connected to the moon by a line which ran into the moon's centre, from the tip of the moon a single drop fell, this drop was intended to symbolize blood. This was the reason why those born with the changing gradient of hair have the 'Tsu' for moon in their names. It was part of our clan's symbol.
I sealed the letter after placing it in an envelope and writing the village and intended recipient on the front.
After doing so I checked the time, it was about half 7 in the evening, writing the letter had taken longer than I thought. I sighed.
'Might as well go and read or something.' I told myself. With that I picked up one of my medical textbooks I had brought from the Nara's house along with my blanket that I had been sure to pick up, it wasn't special, just a plain navy blanket but I used it most nights so it had gained some sentimental points. I couldn't face making any tea so I opened my window and climbed up onto the roof, it wasn't far up but being the third floor it would be a distance to fall if I was careless. I sat facing the front of the house so I could see the path to the front door. The sun was just beginning to set, the front of the house faced the west so we always got a spectacular view of the sunset. Since the back of the house faced the east the rooms at the back of the room always got the best view of the sunrise. Feeling content I opened up my textbook and began reading.
The section of the textbook I was reading detailed internal bleeding and hemorrhaging. Dealing with internal problems such as those were a favourite of mine as it needed me to visualize the internal workings of the injured part of the body before using the blood jutsu on them to control the loose blood into forming temporary vascular pathways of blood to allow normal blood flow to continue (it also would remove the blood from any unwelcoming parts of the body where damage would be caused such as the brain, heart or lungs, then I would work from there to heal and form the actual vascular pathways and letting the blood rejoin the circulatory system or removing it from the body altogether if it was contaminated to a significant degree.)
I'm not going to lie, long term internal injuries such as stabbings, ruptures, blood clots and hemorrhaging are my specialty. My Chiwana Kekkei Genkai was especially suited to them.
I moved on from there about half an hour later to head injuries and brain damage that I was slightly less suited to.
After just over an hour and a half of reading the sun had long declined and it was beginning to strain my eyes as I had not brought out an alternative light source, thankfully 4 presences gave me an excuse to stop reading.
The four sand shinobi had come back. I sat up straighter and kept my focus on my book. I didn't want it to appear like I was watching them, even though I unintentionally was. After a couple of seconds I heard a groan and suddenly remembered something important.
"Looks like we're locked out." Kankuro groaned and I heard him knock on the door.
"Do you think she's still out?" Temari asked and I strangely the small one was the one to respond.
"No she's here."
Kankuro responded next and he seemed slightly off while speaking to Gaara for some reason, "You mean you can sense her, Gaara?" It seemed like their Jounin was letting them talk amongst themselves.
I heard no reply and thought it would be a decent enough time to announce myself, I did have my house keys after all. Standing up with my stuff I called out below to the four of them.
"Give me a second to come down, I was reading on the roof."
I heard a chuckle from Kankuro who seemed to find most things amusing, "I've heard of stranger things."
"Shut up." Said Gaara seeming bored.
Shaking my head I made sure I was holding everything securely before letting myself step of the edge of the room. I fell a fair way before impacting with the ground, making sure to bend my knees as not to break anything. It was still quite a jump though. I landed alittle way to the left and behind the sand ninja and walked up to them with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry I forgot to unlock the door. I forgot you guys didn't have a door key and I was going to get back in through my window so I wouldn't have needed to come back out to the front." As I came forward I pulled my keys out of my pocket and they cleared a small path so I could open the door, after unlocking it I let them go in before me before shutting the door and locking it again.
"No-one will be leaving again right?" I asked and finally Baki spoke.
"No, no-one will be leaving the premises tonight." He told me and I nodded.
"Okay then that's fine. I can lock up for the night then. Just for future reference unless you have access to your own key, I will normally lock up for the night around 9 at night. I don't want anyone getting locked out, it would make me a bad host."
As I spoke I noticed Baki eyeing my textbook, Temari however was the one to bring it up.
"You weren't lying when you said you were a medical ninja. Were you studying or something?"
I nodded, "Kind of, I'm already practiced in all the stuff in this textbook but it is paramounted that you read up on skills that you're not using all the time so that you don't forget them and screw up when dealing with a patient."
Baki's interest seemed to be temporarily satisfied and moved his gaze away from my book, "What time will you be back here tomorrow?" he asked me and I thought for a moment.
"Around 5 to quarter past 5. I finish up my work at the hospital at 4:45 and that's the last of my training for the day. Unless I know I'm away for the night the front door will remain open all day until 9 until it's locked if that's what your trying to ask."
He nodded, "Fine."
"That's good then. If anyone wants some I'm going to make tea, I'll be in the kitchen if you want it." With that I gave a small bow and headed towards the kitchen, leaving the sand ninja in the lobby. When in the kitchen I placed my things on the kitchen table and set about making tea. Once I was done I poured myself a cup before downing it and pouring another. As I finished I heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" I called and reached into an overhead cupboard for some more cups. In came the three genin, without their sensei, "You come for tea?" I asked and Temari nodded.
"Yeah, we are."
"What about your sensei?" I asked as I reached for a third cup.
"He asked if we could bring some tea up to him." Kankuro explained leaning against a wall. I didn't have a issue with that.
"Sure I have no problem with that, just so long as it isn't spilt and he brings the cup down for breakfast tomorrow." I said and took out a final cup before pouring 4 cups. I took out a tray and placed 3 of them on the tray before taking the tray over to the table and placing it on the surface. As the three of them went to take a cup I took my own and sat down at the table. Kankuro sat down first on the opposite side of the table about a seat away to my right. Gaara sat on my opposite side to the right too but he sat a seat away from Kankuro creating a distance between the two of them. Temari watched what happened and sighed making the decision to walk around the table and sit on the same side as me, although a seat away so she sat opposite Mr. Facepaint. I wasn't really offended though. I did meet them that day.
We all sat in silence before Kankuro seemed to nervously try and break the ice with me.
"Sooooo, what exactly were you reading about then?" He asked pointing to my book. I looked at him and then the book before answering.
"Internal bleeding, hemorrhaging, head injuries and different types of brain damage." I listed off and watched his reaction. It was quite amusing.
"Geez, if you hadn't told me that you're a medic then I'd think that you're some kind of crazy scientist."
I smiled and took a sip of my tea, "Well I secretly could be for all you know." I joked. Causing Temari to smile alittle.
"Just for the sake of asking, you said that you would make breakfast in the mornings. Around what time in the morning do you think that would be ready?" She asked and I had to think for a moment.
'Well if I'm meant to meet the rest of my team at 8:30 in training field nine then I guess...'
"I guess around 7 in the morning, I'd have to leave around 8 tomorrow and Gachi will be here from 9 to clean up. I'm going to say breakfast will be a 7. There is a guest dining room on the ground floor so you can eat in there if you want...I'll probably be in here making my lunch in case you need to find me...so yeah. 7." As I watched them digest the information I apologized, "Terribly sorry. I have a tendency to drone on a bit."
Temari just nodded and brushed my apology aside, "You told me you can talk alot earlier but it doesn't bother me so far. I'll come in before 7 and lend a hand."
"You cook?" I ask and drank some more tea as she replied.
"No. But I need something to do, I'm an early riser and will needed to keep myself occupied."
"Fair enough. I don't really care, Do whatever you want. Just don't break anything that's all I ask." I told her and stood up from my chair before walking over to the sink and rinsing it under the tap and placing it on the dishes rack to dry, I turned to face Kankuro, "There's a 5th cup on the counter here, once you are finished you can fill it with tea and take it up to your sensei or whatever. I'm going to go to sleep as I have to be up early to make breakfast tomorrow."
Kankuro seemed alittle surprised, "Your going to bed it's only like 9:45?"
I nodded, "Sorry for leaving you but I still have to bath and stuff before I go to bed and it has been a long day, I didn't expect to be sleeping here tonight so I would prefer to be well rested for tomorrow."
Kankuro shrugged and went back to his tea. Temari spoke next, "We shouldn't be too long then we'll go up to bed too."
As I was about to turn to leave I heard Gaara speak up for the first time since the sand shinobi had come into the kitchen.
"Do the windows allow you to get back inside them after climbing out of them?"
I became rather curious about the randomness of the question but answered it all the same but I certainly showed my curiosity.
"I'm not trying to be invasive but why would you want to climb out of the window?" I asked slowly and got a very blunt answer.
"The roof."
"Ahh.." I responded but realised that I had gotten onto the roof to read the exact same way earlier, "Yes you certainly can get back inside the windows after climbing out of them, just make sure they don't shut while your out there as then you would be locked outside the building. I'm sorry, my family is quite strict on security..." As I spoke I remembered something important, "...This is important, someone remind me to give one of you a single key to the main door as otherwise if someone does get locked outside they have to wait for me to turn up to get them inside seeing as you can't get onto the Third floor to find me." As I was telling them this I was tapping my head in irritation that I didn't realize this earlier.
"So to answer your question Gaara, yes, you can get back inside after climbing out your window as long as it doesn't shut and lock you outside."
He nodded and went back to his tea.
I sighed, "Well I'm heading to the third floor. It was nice to meet you 3 and goodnight." I told them. I got a quick 'night' from Kankuro and a nod from Temari who was in the middle of a sip of tea, Gaara glanced at me as I walked out the door but that was it.
I briskly made my way upstairs and shut my bedroom window and drew the curtains, had a decent length bath, brushed my teeth and finally fell back into my new bed, my parent's old one.
"That was certainly one hell of day." I said to myself and played with one of my hair pincers. A slight rustling coming from the roof made me raise an eyebrow but mentally shrug.
"Well he did ask about the roof." I said as I set my alarm for 5:45 in the morning. I slowly got into the bed and shivered as the bed had not adjusted to my body heat and seemed alittle chilly. Knowing it would heat up I pulled the covers up so they brushed my chin and shut my eyes. Wondering about what tomorrow would bring and letting it sink in that I was really back home.
Home...it just didn't seem right yet.
