I have to dedicate this chapter to all the people in Japan right now, and their families who are worried sick about them. This is also for all the people who have lost their lives in this crisis and to all the brave workers helping to try and clean the country as quickly as possible, and for keeping life moving. God bless them.
(And i'm not even religious.)
Geez... I've been watching footage of it all day... well, um... I'll try not to get all your spirits too down XD.
This is my latest chapter (well, duh) and its focusing on the internal group problems that they are having, etc etc. I don't really need to tell you about it. Just read.
Oh! but to those few of you flaming me, just stop. I don't even know what some of you mean... ('fail chika'? What is this? What did i fail at?)
But for the lovely person who oh so wonderfully pointed out that he/she thought that my 'GMO' facts were from 'Conspiracies-R-Us', I'd kindly enjoy it if you would send me a like to their sight. Conspiracies are actually very interesting XD.
Naruto grinned madly as she dodged the fist that came flying at her face, using her flat palm to hit the skin of the inside elbow and bend the arm. Darting forward in one quick movement, Naruto used her already bent forearm to hit the neck and send her opponent crashing to the ground, a half-strangled gurgle on her lips.
Naruto smiled, holding her fist over Hana's sweating brow as they panted. The two of them had been at this for an hour now, and Naruto was starting to relish her burning muscles as she and Hana sweated for their meager victories. Fighting Hana was sort of like fighting Sasuke, only she was part dog, and instead of moving with the quiet grace Sasuke did, Hana seemed more dependent on strength, like Sakura. And considering that the both of them seemed to busy for her now, it was a nice change.
Naruto held her hand out and pulled Hana up to her feet, and the two moved apart for yet another round. Naruto felt herself go back to her thoughts as she went through the familiar motions of sparring.
Sasuke especially seemed to be on a tight fuse as of late. Every time he saw Naruto, he would get a hunted look in his eyes, and stalk away, to help with shopping, or be dragged off by the twins, Mio and Ryo, for advice on a new tool. It was strange, to be so alienated from them. In Konoha, the three of them were always on missions together, eating, sleeping and moving as a pack. As one. Now, it was as if trying to find quality time with each other was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Taking advantage of Naruto's distraction, Hana moved in, twisting her foot around Naruto's ankle to pull it away. Snapping to reality, Naruto tried to recover, but her slow reaction time ended up making her land hard on her back, arms still flailing for balance. Hana planted one foot on Naruto's chest, wiggling her toes slightly as a tiny smirk played with the corners of her mouth. Naruto gave a frustrated look, then beamed up at Hana.
In these sparring sessions, Naruto had found that while Hana was silent, rarely speaking more than a few words at a time, she wasn't as emotionless as the mask that Sasuke kept up constantly. She was just quiet, almost as if she were trying to hide from something, and that if she stayed still and quiet, it would pass her by.
Naruto, being fluent in Sasuke-ese, quickly adopted Hana's unspoken language.
"Unfair!" She yelled and rolled to the side, gripping Hana's foot and twisting it until the darker girl landed with a 'whoof!" beside Naruto. Naruto looked at her, trying to hold up her furious face, before she broke down laughing. Hana's shoulders shook with silent laughter, her eyes closed in mirth and her white teeth showing through her lips.
They stayed like that, even as their laughter died down, and looked up at the peeling paint on the ceiling. All of a sudden, Naruto turned on her side, propping her head on her hand and looking at Hana.
"What's it like, always being with Whitey?" She asked. Hana had figured out what Naruto's nickname for Tsuru was and had accepted it in stride. Now, she just gave Naruto a confused look.
"I mean, it's obvious you're closer to him than anyone else here, but I don't see anything in him accept for scales and his long tongue." Naruto shivered, memories of Orochimaru popping up, unwanted, in her mind.
Hana smiled. "It's like you and Sasuke, yes?" She asked. Hana had a nice voice, deep and warm, like honey oozing over rocks in the sun.
Naruto thought for a second and sat up fully, crossing her legs. "I don't know, he's a being a bastard as of late." She said. "He won't even tell me what I did to tick him off!" She sighed, exasperated and looked imploringly at Hana. "Does Whitey ever do that to you, or is Sasuke just an ass?"
Hana's eyes turned up at the corners, showing that she was very amused by this thought. "No. He tells me everything." She said quietly. "Maybe Sasuke is misunderstanding?"
Naruto shook her head furiously. "Misunderstanding what? I didn't do anything! Well, maybe it was because I asked him to try that sauce…" At the encouragement off Sakura, Naruto had been asked to make a dressing, using whatever she wanted. When she was done, Sasuke had been asked to try it, and after one mouthful, Sasuke's face took on a horror struck look before he promptly spat it out, his eyes tearing up.
Needless to say, Naruto tossed the dressing and left the cooking to Sakura and Akemi.
Hana's shoulders shook. She had remembered Naruto's outrage at Sasuke when he hadn't even said anything, just spat up the food. Naruto was not a cook evidently. "No, maybe something else?" She asked, trying to find other reasons.
"I don't know what else I did to piss him off." Naruto hung her head, dejected. "Maybe he just doesn't like me anymore…" She mumbled. Hana immediately felt guilty for not coming up with better suggestions.
"When Tsuru is quiet, like Sasuke, he usually won't say anything." She said, sitting next to Naruto and wrapping one of her strong arms around Naruto's small shoulders. "Then I have to ask him, or he keeps it bottled up. Bottling up bad things can hurt more than help." Naruto nodded. She definitely knew what that was like, remembering all those solitary years of being hated without knowing why, and with no one to ask.
"So, I should just ask Sasuke why the hell he's being an asshole?" Hana's eyes turned up at Naruto's choice of words, and she nodded, glad some of her advice was beneficial. Naruto took a deep breath, holding it in, then letting it out in one great whoosh. She sat up with a jump and pumped her fist in the air, determination scrawled across all of her features.
"Alright then! I just need to go find that bastard!" She yelled and began to stomp her way towards the stairs.
Her foot stopped short of the first step and, almost apologetically, she looked at Hana.
"Um…. Maybe just one more round of sparring. My muscles still feel… stiff."
Hana rolled her eyes, seeing right through Naruto's tactic. She still stood up and moved into fighting stance for the other girl though.
Sakura frowned over the pie filling she was making. Because there were so many people in this house, cooking was a daily constant, and seeing that she already knew how to, she, Akemi and Chiyoki spent most of the day in the kitchen, making food for the busy-bodies that went to a fro. The only meal everyone sat down together for was supper.
For supper, a huge, flat table was unfolded, lying low to the ground and everyone sat around it, sampling dishes from the food lined all along the center. Supper was also Chiyoki's favorite meal to cook, and she constantly searched for celebrations as an excuse to cook elaborate meals that took days of advance preparing to make.
But as Sakura fiddled with the mixture of the pie, she felt as if something was missing. She, Sasuke and Naruto were growing apart quickly. They rarely saw each other during the day, and their night meetings were drifting farther and farther apart. If they continued like this, they would never be the closely-knit team that they had once been.
Also, no matter how hard Sakura tried to forget, she couldn't get the image of the man, looking condescendingly down at her as her life faded, out of her head. He had said that they needed to find out what to do in this world, and to find a way to survive. Well, now that survival was down, they just needed to find out their purpose here.
Sakura's eyes scrunched, as she tasted the mixture. They flavor was sweet and rich, not something Sasuke would like, but Naruto would love it. Sakura still felt as if there was something missing from it, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She tried to settle on adding more sugar.
It was those little things that they knew about each other, that made them a team. Knowing each other's weaknesses and strengths. It made them look for the same things in their enemies, picking them apart from the inside out until they could find the one weak spot that would hold their enemy down and keep them down. Now that they weren't as close, they would stop acting like a team, and if the man wanted them to take them down, they would need to act like a team.
Sakura tasted the mixture in her bowl again, still unsatisfied. She looked at the ingredients around her, trying to piece together the missing link that she needed to make it perfect. Suddenly, a wrinkled hand, freckled spotting it, reached around Sakura and took a dip at the edge splatters of batter. Chiyoki licked it thoughtfully, before turning to her cupboard and reaching inside. Triumphant, the woman pulled out a small bottle with a pale colored powder inside.
"It needs ginger. Just a finishing touch that pulls it all together." She said a flashed Sakura a missing tooth grin. Sakura looked apprehensively at the bottle before adding in a slight bit to her bowl and stirring it in, watching as the pale of the powder blended in to invisibility in the mix. She tasted again and felt the taste explode in her mouth. It was sweet and savory, with just the slight hint of ginger that held together it's richer qualities and enhanced them. She smiled at Chiyoki, showing her gratefulness only to find that the woman was already back to her own work.
Suddenly, an idea popped into Sakura's head and she gave a bright smile. She, Sasuke and Naruto needed to come back together, like the ingredients in the bowl, but they were missing one thing that kept the tastes from clashing. And Sakura had the perfect idea of what their ginger was going to be.
"Chiyoki Baa-chan?"
Chiyoki turned away from her place at the counter and gave Sakura a curious and inquiring glance, one eyebrow raised slightly.
"Do you have any weapons stores around here?"
"Sakura, where are we going?" Naruto asked as Sakura gripped her hand in a frighteningly tight grip and dragged her and Sasuke through the streets. When Sakura didn't answer, Naruto turned to Sasuke, as if asking whether he knew what was going on. He shrugged, then turned quickly away, how own hand entrapped in Sakura's. Naruto frowned and gave up. She wanted to ask Sasuke what was going on with him, but she didn't want to do it with Sakura around. She had found that while Sasuke would tell her things, he usually wouldn't tell Sakura, and if this was one of those things, then she didn't want Sakura around to mess it up.
"Here we are!" Sakura said and dropped Sasuke's and Naruto's hands. Sasuke rubbed his wrist with a slight grimace, and but Naruto just stared at the little, nearly hidden shop that Sakura had brought them to.
"No way…" She murmured, looking at the bright sign. It had a pitch black dragon coiled around a long sword, the only color on it's body being it's one, faded gold eye. Across the whole thing, the words 'Ryo no Su Weaponry' in gray letters.
"You found a weapons shop?" Sasuke asked incredulously. Sakura smiled, obviously pleased with herself and turned to the two of them, holding out cards.
"Here. I made Ryo make a few so we could get stuff here." She said. "They're permit cards, with money charges on them." She said, somewhat quieter. She planted her hands on her hips. "What do you think?"
Sasuke stared at her, then at the card in his hand, then back at Sakura. Naruto looked dumbstruck, and for a second, Sakura thought she had made a mistake. Maybe this wouldn't fix anything at all…
Suddenly, a blonde blur latched itself onto Sakura's side, squeezing the air from her lungs and make Sakura's ribs creak.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Naruto yelled. In an instant, she was off and inside the store. Sakura shook her head, glad that she had pleased at least one person. Then she looked back at Sasuke.
His slightly bug-eyed look was gone and he had started striding towards the shop entrance, but the slightly happy bounce in his step was enough to let Sakura know she had done well. Beaming inside, Sakura followed them inside.
"Ohmygod this is the best surprise ever!" Naruto was rubbing her face across the flat blade of a silver throwing knife, her eyes closed in bliss. "Oh, how I missed you, lovely killing instruments…" She murmured. Sasuke had immediately headed toward an aisle with throwing stars and shurikens in it, a similar look (or as close as he could get to one) on his face as he examined each one. Sakura herself went for the utility pouch section. She had always carried one as a medical ninja, and she missed the familiar feel of it around her waist.
Sasuke picked up a strange looking kunai knife, it's hilt decorated with what appeared to be a stylized falling star on it. He balanced it on one finger and frowned as it tilted slightly towards the hilt. If this was thrown, the design ridges would catch air, slowing it while the excess weight on the hilt would drag it off course.
He set the kunai down.
Sasuke had found several shuriken that suited his taste, but so far, the kunai he had been looking at were either off balance or highly decorated, not made for throwing. And while Sasuke still used kunai for hand-to-hand combat, he had found himself over the years halting his use of them for close range and only keeping them on hand for emergencies, and somehow, he didn't think his preference would change here.
Sasuke picked up another knife, weighing it carefully. It seemed moderately balanced, but when Sasuke tested the edge, he found that the blade was slightly dull and made of a weaker metal than he was used to.
Sasuke froze when a glint caught his eye. He set the knife down and moved to where a long sword, slightly curved at the end, had caught his eye.
Sasuke barely dared to breathe as he picked it up. It was so much like his old sword, it was startling, but when Sasuke picked it up, he felt newer, less-used leather in his hand. Sasuke held it gingerly, studying that graceful, slow arc near its tip, and the unmarred, razor-sharp, nearly black blade that stretched past the length of his arm. The hilt that joined the blade and handle together was dark steel, fastened with a black knob. The actual handle was plain and black, slightly rectangular and wrapped in thin strips of leather for grip. At the end, a simple, engraved symbol, almost like a fan made of sisal leaves in it. Flipping it over, Sasuke found a Celtic knot, made of thin, wisp-like lines engraved on the other side, forming a star out of triangles.
Sasuke held out, feeling it's perfectly balanced weight fit perfectly in his hand. It was so familiar, working already as an extension of his arm even before he swung it into the deadly arcs he knew so well. Sasuke's arm practically ached to start into the patterns and rhythms he had practiced like a religion up until recently.
"It likes you." Sasuke jumped, spinning around, his sword arm automatically moving down to skim the ground. It was the perfect position so that it would seem as if his guard was down, but in reality, a flick of Sasuke's wrist would bring the sword point against any attackers midriff in an instant. It had taken months to perfect.
Before him was a man, forty or fifty years old, with salt and pepper hair that traveled down his cheeks into a moustache. He was looking at Sasuke calmly, his eyes hidden behind a pair of spectacles that were slid slightly down the bridge of his nose. He gave Sasuke a smile.
"And you obviously like it." Sasuke didn't allow himself to relax just yet, but he did drop his fighting stance for a slightly more comfortable one, deducting that this man wasn't going to immediately harm him.
"Sento Rakusha." He said and held out a hand. Sasuke looked at it, but didn't move to take it in anyway. "Sasuke Uchiha." He replied dryly.
The man dropped his hand, seeing that Sasuke wasn't going to take it anytime soon. "Well, Sasuke, I haven't seen you around here. New?" Sasuke gave a nearly imperceptible nod of his head.
"My friends and I just moved here." He said, and then stopped, not bothering to elaborate. He could see the man getting irritated at the lack of response he was getting, but that was just fine.
"That's a fine sword you have there." Sento said, trying a different tactic. Sasuke nodded. He knew very well what kind of sword it was. "It seems that you know how to use it." Another nod. The man sighed.
"I realize I am intruding, but I just wanted to help. It seems like you and your friends do know what you are doing here, even at such a young age. If you are part of the Seiei, I would be happy to assist in any way possible." He said. Warning bells started to flare in Sasuke's head, and his eyes narrowed slightly. But it Sento saw it, he didn't say anything. Just moved off to another aisle.
"Sasuke! Sasuke, look at these senbon… I… found…" the sentence Naruto had had died on her lips as she looked at Sasuke's tightly drawn face. Then her eyes fell to the sword in his hands.
"Looks like your old sword, doesn't it?" Naruto commented. Sasuke looked down at the sword, as it realizing that he was still holding it and nodded absently. Naruto sighed, pissed off at him.
"Okay, what's wrong?" She demanded. Now was as good a time as ever in her mind. If he was going to keep shunning her, she needed answers as to why.
Sasuke shook his head. "Nothing. Just thinking…" about why he knew that Sakura and Naruto were his friends, and who were the Seiei. He added silently.
"No, I mean seriously. You've been like this for the past two months! Did I piss you off somehow?" Naruto asked. Sasuke gave her a confused look, before realizing. She meant why he had been avoiding lately. His eyes darkened.
"No reason." He said, his voice taking on the quality that said he didn't want to talk about it. He saw Naruto's eyes flash as she registered his tone and obviously blew it off.
"There is a reason, and I need you to tell me why. If I did something, I'm sorry, but at least tell me what I did!" She said, her voice gaining volume. Sasuke's eyes went darker.
"It's nothing."
"It's something if it's affected us! Even Hana has noticed it-" Naruto was cut off as Sasuke rammed her into the wall, sheaths clattering against her back and sides.
"Hana. Of course she would notice it, right?" Sasuke asked. Naruto's eyes widened as she took in the genuinely angry look Sasuke was giving her as he spat out Hana's name.
"What is going on with you two?" Sasuke's anger filled eyes closed and his arm loosened, letting Naruto breath easier as Sakura came up.
"Nothing." He said and turned to Sakura. "Naruto and I were just practicing."
Sakura gave him a suspicious look, obviously not believing it for one second. She shrugged, not bothering to pursue it.
"Fine, don't tell me. But save any arguments for when we get to the loft back home." She said and continued on her way.
Naruto rubbed her neck, glaring and trying to shoot daggers at Sasuke through her eyes. Sasuke turned back on her, the furious anger he had had in his eyes before slightly diffused.
"We'll talk about this later." He said. Naruto didn't follow him as he left, sword still in hand, to another section of the store. Something was definitely up, but if Sasuke said they would talk about it later, Naruto was going to make sure they did.
Sasuke is slowly losing it... LAWLZ. anywho, I'm thinking of looking for a beta-reader for my stories, because i sure as hell can't edit them myself. (other people's, no problem. My own... NOT. A CHANCE.)
If anyone knows of someone who wouldn't mind editing a femNaru story thats slightly wacked out, send me a PM! (or a review... I'd just like to know XD)
Also, regarding the Japan scenario, I'm looking for a way to take in a refugee. If you know of anyways to help me find sites on it, I'd be very happy.
A tribute to everyone in Japan...
Peace. No Flames, but lovely reviews are encouraged!