AN: hey there folks. heres another chapter. looks like things are going to get intresting again. Also, i will have an explination as to why some chapter are going to start veering away from the origonal story line in the naruto universe at the end of this chapter. Please read and review. :)
Discliamer: I do not own Naruto; someone else does. XP
Ch. 10
"So. You gave him the sex talk?" I asked as we ran through the village, Kakashi leading the way. He stumbled which made my eyes widen while he righted himself. I had never seen the man stumble before, not even when getting slammed in the chest with a kick.
"Um, yeah." He muttered.
"Wow… so how did it go? And when was this?" I said as we picked up the pace again, heading to the hospital.
"It was in training last month, after you made that smart ass comment on you having eggs." I frowned as I tried to recall what he was talking about. He huffed seeing my confusion.
"You woke up and saw Sasuke with some raw eggs. Remember when we had eggs for breakfast the first time?" After a second my eyes widened as I finally recalled what he was talking about.
"Oh! That! Yeah, I remember. What about it?" I asked as we ran over a power line.
"Well, he wanted to know what you were talking about which led to me explaining your joke. Then he wanted to know how, if eggs are inside a woman how they got fertilized. Ergo the sex talk." I nodded in understanding giving a delicate "Ah," as we landed in front of the hospital. I gave a nervous laugh as he shot me a slightly irritable look.
"And he took it badly. In fact to you remember what happened when you got back?" after a second I gasped, slightly shocked.
"That's why he fainted?" Kakashi nodded.
"wow…" after a second I got my game face on, trying to play it cool.
"Ah well, it's better he know now then later. I can't believe he didn't know though. I mean, he's almost thirteen for crying out loud and a ninja too. Aren't ninja supposed to be masters at the art of seduction and sex?" I asked as we walked in and waited for someone to come to the counter. I could tell that Kakashi had on his game face too, if you wanted to call it that. His tone and body language was far too casual not to be forced.
"That's mostly true, though the ninja in our village don't normally resort to those methods unless under very trying circumstances. It's usually only a small group of kunoichi that do that here on a regular basis, and they are generally avoided; the Kunoichi Seven. That's more because they have a tendency to be rather vicious when it comes to other kunoichi, like setting them up, and the men avoid them because they don't want their lady friends, future and past, to become a target of theirs, though sometimes it can't be helped and a fight breaks out. It's usually only with very attractive men that it will get bad though." My eyes widened.
"They sound like a vicious fan club to me," I said still a bit surprised. After a second, Kakashi laughed making me pout at him in annoyance.
"as they would say in your country, you nailed it." He said, his tone amused before he reached over and messed up my hair.
"Hey!" I cried, trying to put it back in order while he laughed at me again.
"Awww, so cute," cooed a woman right behind me, making me whirl around in surprise, having not felt her chakra or a hint of her presence. She was taller than me by six inches and had sleek raven locks that went to her bottom, and was barley wearing any clothing, showing off her drop dead gorgeous figure. She bent over to where her face was level with mine and began to play with some of my stray hair as she smirked at me, her eyes amused and dark with spite.
"You weren't talking about me and my group, now where you Kakashi," she purred though there was an edge of fury in her voice. I remained perfectly still, ready to fight in a moment's notice though I kept my body relaxed. Kakashi just smiled at her, though I could see his hand twitch slightly.
"No, I was talking about another group. I apologize for the confusion," he said cheerfully. The woman straitened gracefully and sashayed over to where she was in front of the silver haired joinin, her motions smooth though I could feel the antagonism rolling off if her.
"Now that I think about it, none of us ladies have ever turned their sights on you; I guess that'll have to remedied. I bet it's the mask that never comes off. Mm, I wonder what your face looks like," she cooed as she reached up to remove his mask. Kakashi stopped her with a smile.
"Sorry, but it never comes off," he said smoothly.
"Aww," she said with a sexy pout flashing him big sad eyes that should have turned him to mush. They definitely worked on me. When she realized that puppy eyes weren't going to work she seemed to become even more ill-tempered at being rejected.
"I see, I guess it only comes off for her, huh?" she snapped and my eyes widened when she glared at me.
Oh, no no, you're mistaken! He and I are just team mates, though he can be a perverted ass at times. We came here to check up on the Hokage and to get our check-ups." I said good naturedly with a nervous smile to her. I wanted to flee from her at that very moment but managed to keep myself from doing so. She looked at Kakashi and me carefully as if making up her mind about something and smirked.
"Whatever you say sweetheart; what-ever you say." With that she swayed down the hall.
"Yikes," I murmured softly when she was long gone. Kakashi let out a tense chuckle and messed up my hair again. When I didn't respond or get mad, he paused, before fixing my hair.
"You ok?" he murmured. I shrugged after a moment, a bit zoned out after talking to that woman. Something about her reminded me of my stepmother which kind of freaked me out. Needless to say I was actually a bit afraid of all women now, other than myself. Women could be a lot scarier than men under the right circumstances, and I had seen those circumstances first hand. The medical ninja for the reception desk arrived and Kakashi spoke with him, but I was still too zoned out to be able to pick up on what they were talking about.
After a second the man nodded and Kakashi took my elbow to guide me as the medic led us to an examination room.
"You stay in here," the medical ninja said before taking Kakashi to another room, though I could tell he was hesitant to leave me alone. I stood there for a minute before blinking, finally coming back down to earth and created a shadow clone.
"Ok, I want you to go check up on the Hokage, alright?" I said. My clone gave me a salute and a nod.
"You got it boss," it said before sneaking out of the room. I lay back on the examination bed getting comfortable, trying not to zone out again. It might take the doctor a while to check up on me.
Kakashi P.O.V.
I shifted uncomfortably as my nurse began filling in my charts, casting a sly look my way every now and then, making me wish I could put my shirt and mask back on.
"Are we done?" I asked impatiently. She just giggled at my discomfort and went back to her paper work. I huffed until I realized that someone other than my nurse was watching me. I leapt out of my examination bed and cast a kunai at the corner of the room with lightning speed. There was a small shriek and a woman fell forward, dropping her genjutsu in her haste to get away from my kunai. She was wearing an over dress like the kind that Kumori liked but she wasn't wearing any under garments to make herself presentable, and her hair was very long and red. Shit. After a second she smirked before melting into the floor with an earth style jutsu, sending me a wink before she was completely gone.
"Hey wait a second! Wait! your examination is not done!" the nurse cried as I quickly pulled my mask and fishnet shirt on, my joinin sweater and flak jacket under my arm before I left the room quickly. The Kunoichi Seven where a group to be reckoned with and I wanted to check up on Kumori after what had just happened. She and I may not be together, but that hadn't ever stopped the Kunoichi Seven in the past. I burst into her examination room to find her covering her chest with her arms as she stared off into space, shirtless though she still had her bra on as the doctor examined her back. They hadn't heard me. I froze when the man began to examine the scar on her hip bone, pulling down the waistband of her pants a bit more then necessary to look at the scar. When his fingertip went across it in a gentle caress, I shut the door with a snap, my eyes blazing as I glared at the shocked man. How dare he try and take advantage of her where she was in no state to voice distaste, I thought darkly. Kumori just blinked but didn't respond other than that, making me worried.
"iIs she all healed?" I demanded. The guys nodded, looking like he wanted to flee the room as I glared at him.
"Good. Now get out," I murmured, my voice as cutting as knives. He left in a flash, leaving me and Kumori alone. She didn't move, merely stared off into space, with her hands limply covering her chest. I pulled her shirt over her head and slipped her arms through, my anxiety mounting when she didn't respond. What was wrong with her?
"Kumori?" I whispered my fear climbing as I took her unresponsive face in my hands. Had she been poisoned? Was this a jutsu that was affecting her? Was this a condition she had? Should I go get a doctor I trusted to check her over again? Was it a drug that bastard had given her?
"Kumori," I said firmly, tilting her head so that her eyes were forced to look into mine. I lifted my forehead protector and examined her with the sharingan. After a second, I breathed a big sigh of relief, satisfied with what I had seen. Her eyes' weren't dilated which meant there wasn't any narcotics or poisons in her system. I couldn't sense any other chakras around her and there weren't any traces of them that I could spot with the sharingan. Her breathing was almost as if she was asleep, and she was relaxed, telling me she wasn't in shock or having a seizure. If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that she was just really deep in thought was all. I gave a chuckle and picked her up bridal style in my arms, feeling relieved as I was about to carry her out of the room, not sure when she would snap out of it. A couple of seconds later she straitened with a jerk, blinking like an owl as she looked around.
"Oh, hi Kakashi," she murmured before yawning and stretching. "What's up? Oh and where is my doctor? I think I zoned out on him." She mumbled, looking a bit guilty. I chuckled, feeling relieved that she was ok.
"Oh, he left," I said carefully before setting her cautiously on her feet. She just nodded as if she had expected no less and spoke.
"My clone just released itself. The Hokage is on the third floor in ward A and doing well considering he lost a limb. The doctors managed to reattach it just fine, but when I talked to him, he said that he was going to have to find a replacement for the next Hokage. That white haired guy Jiryah came in and I had to go then. I don't think they are going to let in any more guests today, so we'll have to come in tomorrow as well," She stated. I nodded and pulled on my jonin sweater as we walked down the hallway, heading for the exit while she held my flak jacket. After a second I reach my hand out expecting her to hand it to me only to realize that she had put it on. She snickered evilly at my one eyed expression as I shook my head in mock horror. It was way too big for her and went to her mid-upper thigh in length, but I had to admit, I liked seeing my clothing on her. When we were outside she finally spoke.
"Can we go this way? And can we walk? I would like to get a good look at the village," she said with a cheeky grin. I lifted a finger.
"Only on one condition."
"What?"
"I get my joinin vest back. Then we can go." She sulked looking irritable.
"Fine," she grumbled, making me smile, though she probably didn't see. She handed it to me and struck a very Guy-ish pose as she pointed the way she wanted to go.
"On ward men!" she cried her voice taking on a grand rich sound before she marched around the corner only to bounce back with a thud, and land flat on her back.
"Ow! Shoot you should watch where you're going," she grumbled as I helped her up before she helped the other person to their feet.
"I'm sorry about that. " said Shikamaru with a tiny grin.
" You're the new member to team seven, Kumori." He said cautiously. Kumori nodded with a small grin.
"Hey you remembered."
"Well, it's kind of hard not to with Naruto blabbing about you all the time." I blinked and frowned. Shikamaru amended his statement.
"Actually, he's only mentioned you twice. He was supper hyper and going on about a super cool jutsu or what not." Kumori nodded, understanding what he meant before speaking.
"Well, it was good to see you again. Just be more careful next time," she said with a real smile, earning a small one from Shikamaru.
"Where are you guys going?" he asked as we began to walk away. I motioned down the street Kumori had wanted to go. He nodded.
"Mind if I tag along?" he asked. Kumori shrugged as I spoke.
"Ah, why not,"
Kumori P.O.V.
When I bumped into Shikamaru, I had been mildly confused. That's because it didn't make any sense for him to be running somewhere, only to want to tag along with the two of us. I thought that before I realized he had something in his hand; a paper that looked like a paper bomb but had different inscriptions on it. I frowned, having no clue as to what it was, but under the impression it was part of the reason that he wanted to tag along.
"Here you go," said the man at the counter as I bought some sweet dumplings, handing Kakashi and Shikamaru a stick each. (AN: the Japanese sweet dumplings, or Anko, are usually put on skewers that hold three, and a sweet glaze is poured over them before they are served.) Shikamaru dug in with a word of thanks as Kakashi move to where no one would see him enjoy his treat. I could tell Shikamaru was watching me closely, but I was too busy looking around to pay any attention to that. I gasped and froze when my eyes alighted on the most beautify Katana I had ever seen. All but drooling I took in its perfect shape and its shimmering edges, my face plastered to the glass, much to the shop keepers irritation. After a second I looked at the price tag and groaned as I felt Kakashi and Shikamaru coming up behind me.
"Yeah they are really expensive," said Shikamaru with an amused expression. I thought hard for a moment. It was a chakra blade, which meant it was specially made to withstand the most brutal of attacks. That was good. It was also specifically made to be used in conjunction with chakra, meaning it was my kind of deal even more. They were made to be filled with chakra to make it even deadlier, though I didn't know how to do that yet. I was well trained to use a katana, so if I also used one with chakra, I would be a deadly opponent indeed. After a second I went in the store and took a closer look at the sword. Kakashi and Shikamaru followed as the shop keeper pulled it out of the window and let me examine it. After a second I spoke.
"Is this full tang?" the shop keeper nodded.
"How was it tempered?"
"with clay." I nodded before pulling out one of my hairs and dropping it over the edge at the tip. It parted easily and fell on both sides of the sword, leaving me grinning.
"Do you have a place where I can try this out?" I asked the shop keeper. He nodded.
"Follow me please." I sheathed the sword once more and followed after him to the back of the shop Shikamaru and Kakashi still following along. The shop keeper opened up a door that led outside, allowing me to view a mini training ground. There were poles of wood and dummies out for people to test the tools on. I looked to Kakashi.
"How do you use a chakra weapon?" the shop keeper looked a bit annoyed that I was going to test out his weaponry without the proper knowledge. Shikamaru just raised and eye brow, but remained silent.
"Fill the sword with your chakra and grind the edges of the chakra together, like you were making a sword edge." I nodded, pulling out the sword and closed my eyes, experimenting with how to get the chakra grinding. After a few minutes I heard someone sigh. Hmm, guess it was time to test this baby out.
Kakashi P.O.V.
When Kumori began to practice her chakra control on the sword I looked sharply at Shikamaru as a buzzing sound, too high for most to hear started up coming from him. I looked down to see he had something in his hand, and my eye brows rose I surprise when I realized that it was a special seal to identify and track specific chakra. They worked by getting some of someone's chakra and putting it in the seal. From there you could track that person to an extent. The closer you were and the stronger their chakra is, the easier it is to find them. You had to be relatively close for it to work though. Which explained why Shikamaru had been running. When he felt the seal begin to react, he must have sped up in fear of losing the trail. After a second I spoke.
"I bet your father gave you that, and you're tracking Kumori. Any particular reason why?" I asked the young prodigy quietly. Shikamaru gave a little smile as Kumori continued her practice, completely ignoring our quiet talking. He wasn't surprised at all that I had caught on.
"Dads part of the Intel corp. When the village was attacked, there was a lot of someone's chakra signature left all over the village. Some of it was on me when I still got home that day." He said. "Dad wanted to know if anything odd had happened and I told him about how I had been using my shadow jutsu to keep the enemy from interfering with Naruto and Sakura's fight. I had run out of the chakra needed to hold the jutsu about a couple of minutes before Asuma sensei got there. I was about to have to release the jutsu when I suddenly felt chakra filling me. It only left a second before Asuma sensei got there. I had no idea what had happened or who had given it to me. He decided to take the rest that was on me and let me find whomever had helped me out." After a second I nodded. It would make sense that the Intel Corp would want to know what had been going on that day. I would have to fill in his dad soon.
"Kumori has a unique ability with chakra, something I think has to do with the fact that she has five chakra natures." I stated very quietly. Shikamaru's eyes widened.
"Naturally or through training?" he asked.
"Naturally. That and she has an usually good grasp over how to control it."
"Hmm," the kid said before the shop keeper yawned. I could see Kumori's lip twitch and she opened her eyes. With an almost lazy swing of her arm she swept her arm with deadly speed at the pole closest to her. I frowned when the sword when through the wood like it wasn't there leaving it perfectly intact. She continued to walk around, lazily but deftly cutting through the wooden practice poles, though there didn't appear to be anything wrong with them. When she got to the thickest pole she paused. The pole itself was about five feet in diameter and two stories high.
"Now just a minute young lady," the shop keeper said, but it was too late. She leapt strait up into the air with a small burst of chakra and when she was level with the top of it, swung downward diagonally. She landed easily before frowning at the top of the pole as she sheathed the sword gracefully. She gave the large pole before her a well-placed kick. The top slid off, her direction. The shop keeper cried out when it fell, plummeting toward Kumori. She merely took a stance and with lightning speed and power sliced the falling piece in two with enough force that the two halves landed on either side of her. The impact shook the ground and the tops of the other wood poles she had cut, fell to the ground with a simultaneous thud. After a second she elegantly straitened from her position and sheathed the sword with practiced poise. The shop keeper was looking with a twinkle in his eye as Shikamaru watched her carefully. After a second, she began to squeal with glee.
"Oh my gosh, I love it! Do you take down payments? It's perfect! Can I make payments and then get it from you when I'm done paying? By the way, who made this?" she chattered, looking so excited, one would have mistaken the girl who wielded the sword and the girl who stood before us with ease. I chuckled as the shop keeper began to speak to her with cheer, though I could tell he wasn't entirely happy about something.
"Oh, the weapons master. And I'm sorry, I don't take down payments dear. It's an all at once venture, even if I've still got the sword in my care. I'm very sorry," he said, looking sad. It was like someone had popped a balloon, the way Kumori's glee left her. She looked at him with sad shocked eyes that made my heart clench. After a second, a blazing determination replaced the melancholy.
"Alright then. That just means I'm going to have to save up!" she said with an evil grin. "Actually, I think I know how I can earn the money!" she said with a crooked grin before returning the sword to the man with a bow.
"Thank you for letting me see the sword sir. I will be back as soon as I can to buy it from you," she said with a grin. The man bowed back and as we left the store, Shikamaru spoke.
"Do you guys want to come over and play shoji? We could play another game too. It's pretty hard though," he said, speaking specifically to Kumori on the last part. Kumori shrugged, though I could tell she was deep in thought. After a second, I smiled.
"Why not? Besides, I need to talk to your dad," I said before we moved down the road. Kumori cast another wistful glance at the katana before following us, having every intention of getting that sword.
Kumori P.O.V.
"Ah ha!" I cried as I killed off Shikamaru's king, winning the game. He gave a long suffered sigh.
"How troublesome," he grumbled. I just smiled and offered him some of the snack his mother had brought out with a sagely nod of agreement. After a second he grinned and took a cherry before I spoke.
"You said you had another game?" I asked. He nodded before getting up.
"Yeah, I'll be back in a minute." With that he went in the house and I yawned, enjoying the even fresh air that was coming out of the woods. I lay back with another yawn, enjoying the sunshine. It was so peaceful out here. The flow of the energy in this area was so smooth and nice, it was making me want to take a nap. After a second I was lulled into the land of sleep.
I woke to the feel of a tongue gently going across my cheek and I mumbled something. I opened an eye to find that it was in fact a deer; A giant male stag with colossal antlers.
"Oh crap!" I whispered, looking around franticly without moving my body. I spotted Shikamaru's dad and Kakashi just inside the house watching me with interest. I had probably only fallen asleep for a couple of minutes, I thought. The sun hadn't moved leaving the time around five in the evening and the stag continued to lick my cheek. I very carefully raised my hand, watching the feel of its chakra like a hawk as I let it see that I was moving. It was wary for a moment before curiosity got to it and it sniffed my hand. I gently and carefully began to scratch its nose and it made an odd sound, leaning into my hand. I slowly sat up and before I could do anything else it set its head in my lap.
"You've got to be kidding me," I murmured as I stroked its head, not wanting to make it mad, seeing as it could spear me to death with its antlers. Shikamaru opened the right behind me and I looked up in relief.
"Help me," I mouthed to him, pointing to the deer. He smiled before the deer looked up, staring into his eyes, the intelligence in them catching my notice. After a moment, the stag got up with a flick of its tail, before gracefully and majestically walking back into the forest. I let a huge sigh of relief out as I lay back onto the porch with a thunk and began to scrub my cheek furiously. I gave another shudder as Shikamaru sat down, and I sat up again, ignoring Kakashi and Shikamaru's dad.
"So, what's this new game," I asked as he opened the box and dumped all the pieces onto the porch.
"Actually it's a one person game, but it's usually pretty cool to watch other people figure out. Still want to play?" he asked. I shrugged.
"Why not?"
Shikamaru's dad invited Kakashi and I over for dinner which was just fine because it let me keep working on my puzzle while they caught up. The point was to create a perfect box with all the pieces that Shikamaru had dumped out. I stopped working on it to eat, making sure to compliment and thank Shikamaru's mom, knowing that she probably hadn't liked the last minute company. After I was done with my meal I helped her clean up and went back to my puzzle, though I had to bring it to the dining room table when it got dark outside, the men chatting as Shikamaru asked me questions.
"Done!" I crowed in triumph before frowning.
"How long would you say that was?" I said.
"Two hours, five minutes and fifty seconds," Kakashi said evenly, letting me understand that this had been a test.
"Ah. I see." I said with a nod before having to stifle a yawn. Kakashi smiled and turned to our hosts.
"Well, it's getting into the evening. I think it best we go home now." He said as he stood, Shikamaru's dad rising to his feet as well to clap him on the shoulder with a smile.
"It was good to have you over. I'll see if I can think of something on that," he said as I stood. I bowed respectfully to Shikamaru's mother and father before flashing a grin.
"Thank you both very much for the meal and the company. It was very pleasant." I said earning a big grin from Shikamaru's mom and an eye roll from the kid. I smiled impertinently at the kid before offering my fist for him to bump.
"That was a very fun game of shoji. Thanks for inviting us," I said. He gave the tiniest grin before her returned my fist bump.
"Except next time we play, I'm going to make sure you go down," he said, his tone level, though his eyes where gleaming. I chuckled darkly.
"You're on. When are we going to have this legendary rematch of untold shoji skills?" Shikamaru had the stifle a laugh and I gave a chuckle.
"Any time, any place." I nodded.
"Very well then."
It was a quiet walk back home, with the dark sky and the song of the insects as a gentle breeze caressed us. It wasn't until we were half way there did I finally speak, breaking the pleasant lull.
"So." Kakashi looked at me without moving his head, seeing as we were walking side by side.
"Mm?"
"How did I do? On the IQ test?" I asked as I looked up for a moment at the stars. I paused when I bumped into Kakashi and realized he had stopped walking and was just looking at me, an odd expression in his eye. I let him and went back to looking at the stars. After a few minutes he spoke.
"Very well. You beat Shikamaru's time by forty minutes." I nodded before giving him a small smile as I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, my head still back to gaze at the stars.
"Well, I'm about eight years older than him. By the time he's my age, he should be able to beat my time easy." I murmured before going back to looking at the stars. I could feel Kakashi's gaze he spoke.
"Do you like star gazing?" he asked.
"Mm hmm," I said as I continued watching them.
"Alright then. Come on," he said before leaping onto a power line.
"Hey," I called as I followed after him, though it was a bit hard to see in the dark. He finally stopped when we were at the training field. It was almost pitch black, the moon a small sliver of light in the sky. He sat in the grass and lay back, patting the spot next to him. I lay down and began to see if I could make any constellations from the stars I was looking at.
"Hey Kakashi?" I said as we watched the night sky, the hum of crickets around us a pleasant sound.
"Mm?"
"Could you sign up team seven for a mission tomorrow?"
"Can't. I'll sign us up one the day after."
"Kay. In that case I'm not going to be around tomorrow. I'm going to be all over the village, just to let you know." After a second I felt Kakashi shrug.
"Alright. Just don't get into any trouble or anything," he said. I nodded.
"Kay."
PICTURE OF KATANA SCENE: go to deviant art and look up Kumori Kenpatsu. its the third picture that pops up.
AN: duh duh duh duuuuuuh! ok! will have another chapter soon. also, things are going to start changing in the story because Kumori's very prescence is altering the course of events in the Naruto universe, starting with the Third Hokage living and there being no casualties from orochimaru's attack. I decided to let the Hokage live because the only reason Itachi came to the leaf village was because he died. Also, the Hokage has decided to let Kumori join the Leaf and in doing so is protecting Kumori from Danzo and the others, and so if he died they would be more likely then not to start taking hostile action against her because she's learning at a scary rate. We couldn't loose having Tsunade for a Hokage though, so the third will become part of the advising counsil.