Arc One, Chapter 10: C-rank Complete!
"No." Kaito sweatdropped.
"But Kaito," Michio complained, "Why can't I come with you?"
"You're not Shinobi material. Unlike me." Kaito posed.
"Loser!" Sora coughed.
"That's a bad cough." Kaito glared.
"I know. I should really get it checked out... I think we were out too long, the cold winds and all affecting me. Probably should give us a curfew!"
"Weren't you in a ring of fire?" Kaito deadpanned.
"Regardless." Sora waved.
Kaito and Sora were sitting in the waiting room of the town hospital. They brought Aoi and Hayato for treatment, and while few people shot silent glares at Mariko, she paid them no mind. She simply went into their rooms to help with the healing. After all, she was the only one who knew how to use medical ninjutsu.
Michio had followed them without his parents' knowledge, and was sure to get a firm scolding at home. Most of the villagers stayed inside of their houses, keeping their children with them, while others would only let their kids come out if they went with them. The squad of assassins had caused quite the scare in the village, regardless of Mariko dealing with them.
Since Mariko had regained her memories, she would be joining them on their return to Konoha. It was hard for Kaito to believe that they had been gone for over a week. He wondered how Ren and his team were faring.
Mariko came walking around the corner, taking the plastic gloves off of her hands.
"All they need now is a couple days of rest." She sighed, wiping beads of sweat from her forehead.
Both Kaito and Sora nodded at the good news.
Mariko rose an eyebrow.
"Only a nod? Is that really all the emotion you have to show?" She wondered incredulously.
They both shrugged.
She sighed. "O-oh well..." she said, and walked out of the shack. "Like student like sensei..." She mumbled to herself.
"W-wait, Mari-chan!" Kaito chased her.
"Hmm?" Mariko turned, untying her blond her from the ponytail it was previously placed in.
"Remember that, small little favor you said that you owed me?"
"Yes, I do." She smiled.
"Well, I'd, uh, appreciate if if you... um... Taught me some water moves? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to... I'm still the best shinobi out there!" He tried to act tough half-heartedly. Mariko couldn't help but smiling. She loved this little goofy ninja...
She rose her hand to her chin and considered this.
"You know," she looked at Kaito closely, "I actually know a couple that would suit you well."
"G-great!" Kaito exclaimed, jumping into the air.
"Oh, but for that you show some emotion," she laughed, "Meet me by the lake when you're ready."
"Okay!" He grinned widely, "First I gotta check on Aoi and Hayato, then I'll meet up with you."
"No problem! I'll be there either way. See you soon, Kaito." She waved, walking away.
. . .
"You look awful." Kaito shook his head. Aoi and Hayato's bed were right next to each other, so luckily for them, they didn't have to go to two separate sections; the place was pretty empty, so the villagers didn't mind when Sora had offered the idea.
"Gee, thanks. I'm sure you'll make all the girls swoon with compliments like that." Aoi glared daggers. On the wooden stand in between their beds sat two cups of water, the one near Aoi halfway empty.
"Sorry, I call it how i see it..." He shrugged, smiling. This earned him a chop on his head from Sora.
"You look fine, Aoi." Sora said over Kaito's moans as he rolled on the floor, a large anime bump on his head.
"Thanks, sensei." Aoi smiled.
"No problem."
Aoi's forehead and wrists were wrapped in bandages. Hayato was still unconscious, though his color had returned along with Aoi's. They both had on light blue garments that fit them loosely. They obviously didn't have any hospital attire for kids in the Land of Coal...
"So what are you guys gonna do to occupy yourselves?" Aoi asked.
Sora shrugged, ruffling her hair.
"I'm sure we'll figure something out."
"Huh, we?" Kaito stood up, "Sorry, but this cat has a date, and I can't afford to be late." He grinned widely. "You're on your own, Sora-sensei!"
"Oh?"
"Yup. It was only a matter of time." Kaito sighed.
'Mmph." Aoi muttered. "I don't believe it."
"Yeah yeah yeah. And since you guys are alright... See'ya!" He ran out of the room.
. . .
A while later, Aoi decided to ask a question that had been nagging her since Kaito left.
"Sensei?"
"Hm? Yes, Aoi?"
"What's he going to do?"
"I think I overheard him say he was going to train or something."
"Okay, that makes more sense."
. . .
Two days had passed fairly quickly, Kaito's progress going very smoothly under Mariko's tutelage. Not only had he learned new techniques, but he improved on the ones he already learned. Sora stayed with his two genin until visiting hours were over; Kaito would come near the evenings, drenched in water—or was that sweat?—when he came. Forutnately for him, on the second day, Kaito came back the exact hour Hayato had woken up. It wasn't a verbose reunion, nor was it a chatty reunion at that, but it was still nice to see their friend up and running again! By the time Aoi and Hayato were released, Marmoru and Rika had already packed the ninjas' bags so they wouldn't have to go to the trouble. While normally this would have been seen as rude and looked at they can't wait for the ninjas to leave, you could tell that they wanted to do something to help by the look in their eyes.
"It was the least we could do." They had said.
"Thanks Mamoru and Rika. We really appreciate it." Sora bowed, and the rest of his team followed him. Mariko appeared behind her parents, her height shorter than her father but a bit taller than her mother.
"Oh," Rika smiled, "Believe me, if we could do more, we would. You reunited us with Mariko again. We can never pay you back for that."
"If you all ever need a place to stay," Mamoru nodded, "Even for a chat or anything, our home is always open to you."
Kaito grabbed his chest and felt his heartbeat. He was actually making a change already! It was only a matter of time...
He looked up at the sky wistfully.
"Father... Mother..." He whispered under his breath. "Soon!"
. . .
The day they decided to leave, the town's fire had been relit in a huge ceremony. There was a feast of food, free accessories being sold, and all other sorts of grand things that Kaito had to miss. Yes, he was missing the biggest party he might ever have been invited to, just to go in a humid forrest where the torrid sun annoyed him to no end.
They left Mamoru's residence after a tearful depart, Rika holding on to Mariko in the longest farewell hug Kaito had ever witnessed. It was painful to watch, the parents already going through so much the last time Mariko went to Konoha. Tears were going down both the mother and the daughter's face, and if Kaito didn't watch it, tears would soon be welling up in his eyes also.
As planned, Mariko had to come with them. She would request to be able to come back and live in the Land of the Coal, but if not she would still visit occasionally. Rika and Mamoru had made Mariko promise not to go on any vengeance sprees when she saw her uncle and aunt. They didn't want their family to repeat itself over and over with sibling hate.
After leaving the house, the band of ninjas walked to the village's entrance—where a crowd of villagers stood in wait.
The chief elder stood in the front.
"Mariko," he started, "We would like to apologize for our rude actions. Though no words can make up for we've done and how rude and ignorant we were, we would like to start out by saying we are sorry."
Mariko blinked at all of the solemn faces before her. Kaito could see that she was trying to hold back something.
She brushed the hair from her face and said, "I-it's okay. All is forgiven." with a truly sincere smile.
As they walked through the crowd and out of the village, a firework went off. The group turned to look back at the village, where a huge volley of dark fireworks were lighting up the dawn sky. But these fireworks were difference; they came from a small, cup-like contraption, a stick with a string at the bottom that they used to fire it. For some reason, the only color that was going off was blackish purple.
Kaito saw Mariko's lips curl into another smile.
As if knowing what they were about to ask, she told them, "These are fireworks that every resident of the Coal get at fifteen. It was rumored that you can only ignite from the inside when you truly feel the emotion from the bottom of your heart, every other attempt to use the firework uneffective. The blue flames mean the birth of a new child or prosperous crops or fish. The red one means the death of a loved one or favored one, and the purple..." She wiped a tear from her eye, "The purple means deep regret, or safe journeys. I never believed that you had to truly mean it to use them, but this day, I think that might be the case."
"I'm sure it is the case, Mariko." Sora patted her back. "We'll make sure you come back here Mariko. We promise."
Mariko looked to Kaito, then to Aoi, and finally Hayato, all of them nodding in agreement.
"Yeah," She wiped another tear from her eye, looking back to the village on last time, "I know you will."
. . .
The five Shinobi had been walking all throughout the morning, and into the evening. Around the time they came close to Konoha, the sun beamed so brightly it felt as if the sun were glaring at them for walking in its radiance. Approaching the village's gate, they heard a noise.
"Anyone hear that?" Kaito looked around.
"Yeah... It sounds like..." Aoi started.
"Barking." Hayato said. Even he was looking around.
"A wild dog? Out here? Has the village changed that much?" Mariko asked Sora.
"No, this is a first. Even for me."
"Unless it's a dog that ran from its owner..." Kaito shivered, the thought bringing up bad memories of Old Man Sen.
As if on cue, a small little dark gray pup that resembled a husky came out, wagging its tail happily. It turned its attention to Kaito and his group, and began barking. Hayato bravely walked up to it.
"Uh, Hayato—" Aoi warned, but it was too late; he already bent down to pet the pup. Almost instantly the dog licked his hand affectionately, and tried to climb on him. He chuckled—yes, Hayato, the one who showed no emotion whatsoever chuckled!—and picked the husky up, holding him up to his face and touching their noses together.
"Re-san~!" A feminine voice yelled somewhere in the forrest, pronouncing it as "Ray-san".
"Re-san! Where are you?"
A girl came out of the bushes, standing before the group of five. Somehow, though, she only zoomed in on the dog.
"Re-san!" She yelled, smiling.
The pup barked, and jumped out of Hayato's cupped palms, running to his owner.
"Found him?" Two boys followed her, a kunoichi behind them. "Hmm? Who are they?" The boy asked.
"Sora? Is that you?" The lady of the group, a jounin Kaito assumed, gasped.
"Ugh, Hello Shirai-san..."
"Who are they, Shirai-senpai?" asked the girl.
"Team 11," Aoi answered, "And you?"
"Team 12. Hibiki Hyuga." The boy who was silent so far introduced them. He wore mesh armor and a dull blue top under a white long-sleeved shirt with the Hyuga emblem sewn onto it. The right sleeve's trimming was brown while the left sleeve was torn off at the shoulder, revealing his bandaged arm. He had dark brown shorts and black Shinobi sandals. In fact, as Kaito looked, he also had bandages on his right leg. His hair was fairly long, reaching to the middle of his back where it was tied in a low ponytail near the tip. He let some of his hair hang down on the left side of his face, also tied loosely. His headband was wrapped around his forehead.
"Jin Oshiro." the boy who was talking earlier nodded. He donned an open robe thrown over a black keikogi top with golden dragons decorating the trimmings. The robe was a liquid dark green, shades of black splashed on it to make it look similar to a painting of a wild jungle. He had solid golden eyes, chocolate brown skin, and green hair that matched the color of his robe. His hair was neither shaggy or spiky; it was a type of greased, almost tousled look. He had a large golden bracelet wrapped around his right arm that seemed to be around 3-4 inches long, a golden belt looped through dark gray, almost black sweatpants, and some blue Shinobi sandals. The Konohagakure headband was sewn into the shoulder of the black top.
"Kaori Inuzuka." She replied happily. She had her long brown hair in a ponytail, with hair framing the sides of her face. Her eyes were large and black, her forehead protector wrapped around her neck. She donned a gray t-shirt with mesh under a black vest jacket with a clip-on hood, dark grayish pants, and black ninja sandals. Her most distinctive features were her pronounced canine teeth, and red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on her cheeks. "And this is Goremaru." She gestured to the dog circling her legs.
"Kaito Koizumi!" He swiped his thumb over his nose.
"Aoi Suzuki, nice to meet you." She bowed, and almost tipped over when the weight of her bag shifted.
"Hayato Maki." He said quietly.
"Mariko Imada, it's a pleasure to meet you." The blonde bowed.
"Sora-chan~!" A voice moaned behind Kaito. He turned, and saw Team 12's jounin glomping onto Sora, who was trying his best to pry her off of him.
"And I'm.. Sora.. Hayabusa—WILL YOU GET OFF OF ME?" With one final push, she shoved her off of him, throwing her onto the soft green grass.
"Sora-chan, you're so mean," She rested her cheek on her palm, making a pouting face, "Playing hard to get like that."
A tic mark appeared on Sora's head.
Shirai got up, dusting herself off.
"Shirai Iseki, as of the moment. Shirai Hayabusa soon." She winked at Sora, and he shivered inwardly. The woman had long and beautiful red hair, her eyes a steely gray. She sported the standard Konohagakure jounin attire; slices of red added to the blue full-body suit, which was modified to reveal her ample cleavage. Even her flak jacket was zipped halfway.
"What brings you out here, Sora?" Shirai asked him.
Sora raked a hand through his hair.
"We were just about to tell the Hokage about our finished mission. We've got some things to report, so if you don't mind..."
"For you, Sora? Anything. Before you leave, is your team entering the upcoming Chun-"
"Haven't told them about it yet, talk to you later, bye!" Sora rushed, shoving the group into the village.
"Uh, nice to meet you too?" Jin blinked.
. . .
"Hokage-sama?" Sora and his team entered. The wide room was full of clones, each signing papers at different sections of the room. The Naruto at the desk looked up while the others continued. Sakura was beside him, looking over his shoulder at the papers. Sora guessed that Sakura was still volunteering to help whenever her daughter, Sarada, was busy doing something.
"Yes?"
The jounin cleared his throat.
"I've got some things to report."
"Oh?" Sakura said, looking up at Mariko.
Naruto made a handseal, and all the clones disappeared in a wad of smoke.
"Go on." Naruto said.
Sora told them everything. He told them about the bandits on their way to the Coal, finding a Mariko with altered memories, the people in the robes, Raiden, and finally the masked man whom seemed to be behind it all.
This all sounded disturbing to Sakura and Naruto, and they asked for more information, even from the kids occasionally. They went along with the requests without any resistance, answering truthfully and honestly. Mariko was the only one to remain silent the whole time.
After taking a moment to consider all things, Naruto sighed. He looked towards Sakura, and she looked back. A silent conversation took place between the two, and when it ended, Sakura spoke:
"Mariko Imada, you were marked a missing-nin along with your brother, Raiden Imada. As such, you will be interrogated by the Anbu. After that, we will decide what you will do next."
"If I may suggest something," Sora rose his hand, "If the interrogation and everything goes well, can she and a select few of Shinobi be stationed at the Land of Coal? They would not only live there, but would provide services to the village, and protect them. The rising circumstance of the village due to the bandits' intervention is becoming a pressing matter that needs to be handled. With these Shinobi, it would be more than enough to stop a few bandits."
Mariko stared at Sora with astonishment at the bold request.
"Pardon me if I were rude." He bowed.
Before Sakura could speak, Naruto smiled and said "If all goes well, I don't see why she, I mean they, can't go." He winked at the group.
Mariko nodded.
"Thank you very much." Mariko held back the urge to smile. She would finally be able to go back. And stay at that!
"Okay, then. I'll escort her while you," Sakura thrusted her finger at Naruto, "Finish the documents."
She turned her back to him and he made a mocking face, earning a snicker from Kaito.
Sakura looked suspiciously at Kaito, then to Naruto, before both her and Mariko exited the room.
"You are dismissed." Naruto waved, still smiling.
They bowed and left the office.
'I think I like this Hokage.' Kaito thought to himself.
. . .
Walking outside the office, the team stopped in the narrow hallway on Sora's command. He dug into his pocket and handed each of them an envelope.
"What's this?" Aoi turned to their sensei, who was scratching the back of his head.
"It's your reward..."
"What! Really?" Kaito ripped his envelope open—Only to find that it was only half of their promised reward.
Staying calm, Kaito looked at Sora.
"I hate you so much." He eye-smiled.
"Aww, this brings back good memories." He ruffled Kaito's hair. Kaito glared and cursed viciously under his breath.
Team 11 walked out of the mansion to see Team 12 yet again.
"Oh? Sora? What a coincidence! Who would have thought we'd meet each other again! It's almost as if the fates wanted us together." Shirai sighed, staring wistfully at the jounin.
"What? Shi-san, you told us to stalk-" Jin started.
"Jin!" She glared fiercely at the genin, shutting him up in an instant. Kaori was too absorbed playing with her dog that she barely greeted the others. Hibiki was the only one to wave at them, smiling warmly before returning to feeding birds with bits of bread.
"Just excuse him," Shirai dismissed it with a wave, "he has such a wild imagination. Don't you, Jin?"
"Y-yes ma'am..." He looked down.
"Uh... yeah..." Sora said nervously, backing up slowly.
Aoi looked around; she didn't know who to strike up a conversation with.
That's when Goremaru barked and ran to Hayato's feet. Hayato, who usually didn't show any emotion towards things, happily picked up the pup.
"You like dogs, hm?" Kaori walked up to him.
Hayato shrugged.
"Hm? Hello? Are you there? Is he mute?" She asked a frenzy of questions. Hayato simply glanced her way once, and then went back to playing with the dog.
Jin walked over, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"I hate that mutt." He snarled.
The dog turned in Hayato's cupped palms and growled.
"It seems like he hates you, too." Aoi chuckled, moving to pet the dog.
Jin looked to Kaito.
"Why don't you wanna pet him?"
"Eh, dogs usually don't like me..." Kaito thought of one of their first missions and shivered.
Jiin shrugged and said, "Whatever you say."
"Sora, are you going to tell them, or will I?" Shirai narrowed her gaze on the kids.
"I'll tell 'em," He sat on a nearby bench, "Shrimps, other kids, have you ever heard of the Chunin Exams?"
Before they could answer, he said "Great," and continued.
"I've already volunteered you guys. A simple clone can do wonders."
"As did I. The Exams are soon, so I advise you all get to know each other, and to prepare yourselves. That includes getting accustomed to each other. You never know when you'll need an alliance." Shirai pointed out.
"When are they?" Kaito asked Sora.
"Uh, in a week or so... There was a minor setback. Just be ready by then. I didn't volunteer you to lose."
"Is that a challenge?" Shirai gave Sora a slight glance.
"It is what is is." He shrugged innocently.
"Then let the contest of love begin!" She shouted suddenly, scaring the genin in front of her.
"Wait, what-"
"Let's go, team, I—we, must not lose this battle!"
She marched off, and after a quick wave, Kaori and Jin followed, Jin yanking Hibiki away from the birds.
Sora slapped his forehead.
"That is not what I meant." He sighed irritably.
"You can't beat a woman's love." Kaito chuckled.
"Yeah, but three genin will, because we will win. Otherwise I'll never hear the end of that woman's mouth."
A/N: This wraps up Arc One, and Arc Two is up next! Thanks to those who stayed along for this ride, but it's not over yet; Next is Arc Two: The Chunin Exams!