character songs!
katori: I prevail, my heart I surrender/ katori on the road:
Hikage: fireflight, unbreakable /Hikage with sound: winter in me, skylar grey
seichi: hot mess cobra starship / sechi after both Hikage and katori were gone:
character issues! our team has issues with
Hikage: intimacy
katori: failure
seichi: responsibility
"join me, child."
Hikage's mind went blank with shock. she couldn't have heard right.
"you've got my attention, and that's no small feat."
she had heard right. well then she didn't mean it. she was lying. this was a trap.
"this pathetic little village will only hold you back. join me, and I will make you stronger than everyone in this second rate nursery school combined."
those gold eyes shined and her voice was still that even regal purr. she might as well have said all the better to eat you with.
stupid granny was trying her luck. was she completely unaware of who the hokage was? did she really think Hikage would walk away from konoha just like that?!
Hikage realized she was just standing there with a blank face. she tilted her head a little and didn't bother to change her expression or speak. trying to poach a leaf shinobi let alone the hokage's student was treason. a knife in the back. sound was going to turn on leaf. again.
she was strong. she might even have a thirty percent chance or so against one of the less powerful kages. there was still a seventy percent chance she would lose. naruto sensei needed to know about this.
well, there was one relatively safe option to try.
Hikage lifted her eyebrows minimally. twitched the side of her mouth like she was fighting a smirk. leaned to her right, and tossed her head to adjust her hair so it hung in a way that shadowed her face and the color of her eyes shined through. sinister and cocky. and peaked interest. that was the face she put on.
"you think you can make me stronger?" the cocky sneer in her voice matched the insane lopsided grin on her face perfectly.
"stronger than you ever thought you could be, child." eesh, she really wanted to be orochimaru didn't she?
"you know I'm training under the hokage? sanin? holder of the nine tails? the famous naruto uzumaki, strongest ninja ever?" the mocking lilt to her tone would have gotten someone else punched if she had heard that tone regarding naruto sensei.
"he's soft. you wont learn anything from him. he'd be too afraid of hurting you to teach you anything useful."
not true. perhaps he would be if they didn't train so close to the hospital.
"hm. hell of a proposition. but I'm gonna need some kind of motivation for trust."
the otokage looked a little surprised.
"what did you expect me to jump ship out of the kindness of my heart and a chance to get stronger?" Hikage barked out a derisive laugh that would make anyone tick.
"you aren't bound. ally yourself with me and your free to walk away whenever you wish. in the meantime you can have anything you should want."
Hikage had a feeling that first part was a lie. no way could she afford to just let Hikage walk away with sensitive information.
"alright then. I'll take a week to think about it. I'll meet you here in seven days with my answer."
she turned on her heel to strut away, still concentrating on her act.
"you will answer right now." she didn't raise her voice but the raven haired woman obviously meant it as an order.
"ha ha... no. I think I'll decide when I feel like it." her voice was sinister and mocking with the underlying threat made clear. she pointedly reached back and with a low shing partially drew her katana. the challenge hung in the air.
Hikage didn't even bother to turn to face the otokage. she could sense the kimono clad woman's giddy amusement where she was. she liked the defiance in a sick way.
she wanted to make lackeys out of people who would sooner die than be anyone's servant.
"very well, I shall see you again, my sweet pet."
Hikage slipped her katana safely into its sheathe before using teleportation jutsu to transport herself to the hokage's office. she was surrounded by anbu. she would get a fine for that later. it was illegal to teleport to the hokage's office. security reasons.
"naruto sensei!"
...
there was a rather awkward moment of nothing in the room as Hikage realized naruto wasn't in his office and the anbu.
"where is the hokage?!" the urgency was clear in her tone and she was here often enough that everyone knew she was the hokage's apprentice.
the anbu generally don't talk much. but Hikage really needed an answer.
she stormed up to the window and took a flying leap and roof hopped in the direction of the home of the hokage. as an after thought, she threw up a henge to look like some random anbu. she nearly took the window off its hinges when she slammed a window open on the second floor of the large house. then she noticed that she had broken the lock. oh, well.
an alarmed looking naruto stared her down for her abrupt and noisy entrance, reminding her that she appeared to be an anbu.
"henge release!"
naruto relaxed visibly as Hikage appeared as herself but tensed back up at the look on her face.
"what happened?"
"I'll tell you in private."
the blond man shrugged, performed a series of seals and Hikiage felt a brief tingle, then the room was bordered in a blew screen of sorts.
"okay, talk. nobody can hear anything in this room."
he never taught her that jutsu! that, looked super cool! but more importantly...
"its the sound nin. they're going to turn on leaf again."
she wondered if he would shut her down and refuse to listen like most adults would. but he was listening, his expression grave.
"continue" that was an order if she had ever heard one.
"I left the party early, and for a while I spoke to katori hyuuga. after his departure I was met by the otokage"
"your sure?"
"yes. she wanted me to join sound and betray konoha."
naruto made a face.
"what... and how did you respond?"
"I was under the impression that refusing would place my life in danger,"
naruto almost looked disappointed in her. she hurried on
"so I told her I needed time to think and when I was away from her I came to find you and inform you of the situation. I would never betray the leaf. not for anything."
her eyes pleaded with him to trust her. the steadfast determination an fire behind them was unmistakable. Hikage was no traitor.
"huff, well you handled that better than I would've at your age."
Hikage stared disbelievingly.
"I would've gone off screaming about loyalty and friendship and my ninja way." he smiled a little wistfully.
Hikage wanted to be like him.
"you did good." he gave the classic toothy naruto grin. she almost corrected his grammar, but didn't.
"thanks" she still felt star struck whenever he praised her. he was the strongest ninja alive after all.
Hikage had been dismissed and headed home. she hadn't slept well. it was an eventful evening.
she got up and decided menial labor was the answer to her cloudy mind. she grabbed some mugicha and headed out to do some d rank missions to earn a bit of money while keeping herself busy until it was time to train with naruto sensei. it was weird when she wasn't rushing about to get some training in between serious missions. she had been mostly on b rank missions since she started training with naruto.
whoever was in charge of mission distribution probably figured that there were two apprentice sanin one sort of team seven member (sai) and one chunin level inuzuka on one team and it would be a waste to use them on low level missions. here weren't many a rank because officially they were only three chunin and one jonin former root. well, Hikage now had to beg naruto sensei to let her take the soonest jonin exams. she would normally ask him for a recommendation, but jonin recommendations had to be approved by the hokage so getting a recommendation from the hokage himself was a bit redundant.
yes she could have mentioned this the night before but it had seemed arbitrary at the time. there were bigger concerns then the fact that she had been semi lying to katori in the heat of a moment.
so she made quite a bit more money than she expected when she remembered that she could simply use multi shadow clone jutsu to do forty d rank missions at once. and train by herself for a while in the process.
one of her favorite jutsu.
so she was working through her exercises to make using mugen no masuta easier when the anbu approached and summoned her to the hokage at once. Hikage followed without resistance but was confused as to why he would summon her. they were to train in like half an hour.
it was a weird run to the hokage's office.
pretty much all ninja were used to running along silent anbu, but there was an especially tense air to the one up front... was there something familiar about that dull blond hair?
meh. it was probably just in her head. so they finally arrived and Hikage knew that the look on her sensei's face was not in her head. he looked like he hadn't slept a wink, and there was immeasurable stress in his face. he looked like he was about to inform someone of their impending death. that didn't bode well.
he dismissed the anbu with a wave of his hand. they were alone.
"have a seat Hikage chan." his voice was worn... as if he had spent hours in a screaming match.
she sat silently and stared.
"as I'm sure you know, news of a problem with sound didn't sit well with the village elders. they want to declare war on sound"
Hikage sucked in a breath but her face didn't change. naruto sensei would avoid violence if at all possible. the entire village knew he wasn't one to throw away lives that didn't need to be lost. there was more to be said.
"there is an idea that could be beneficial to konoha's safety... and it relies solely on your answer to my request."
no pressure right? but Hikage's blood caught fire with anticipation. she would do anything for the leaf. this was a chance to prove her loyalty to the nay Sayers once and for all.
"I want you to accept the otokage's offer. I want you to act as a spy for konoha. of course only a select few will know of this mission. this isn't an order Hikage. you can say no."
Hikage understood. she would be branded a traitor if she accepted.
the room was quiet for several minutes. he was asking too much of her. far too much. she wanted to answer him but if she so much as moved she would be screaming at him. shrieking and sobbing and swinging.
this was probably the only thing she couldn't handle. if he had asked anything else she would've readily agreed. but not this. tell him no. tell him no.
no sound came out. it would protect konoha if she agreed. but, but, it was so horrible to consider. what would life be like when she returned? would she return? he didn't expect her to stay away for the rest of her life right?
tell him no.
and he claimed it wasn't an order. what a load. that was just so he could absolve himself of responsibility.
but then..
if it were an order, and she were to return, that would be a pretty good defense.
'your a traitor you left konoha'
'it was an order meant to save your lives I had no choice'
it could work.
Hikage was trying to convince herself to accept and it wasn't working. she wanted to say no. something inside wouldn't let her refuse. she would sooner gouge her eyes out and hand 'em over to madara then say yes. Hikage closed her eyes and took a breath as she started to answer.
'no'
"please" her small voice broke twice on a one syllable word.
naruto just looked at her. for a moment she hated him a thousand times more than she had ever hated anything. the man had the nerve to sit there and look all exhausted and so damn sorry. like he hated to do this to her and actually cared about her feelings. she could just... kill him. he was only three feet away. he would never see it coming. his wife and tsunade and any other capable healers were all miles away... and as a ninja Hikage knew how to kill instantly. there would be no time for healing.
she almost opened her mouth and told him so. but she wasn't really mad at him. she was misdirecting her anger again.
"... order" was all naruto heard because she spoke so silently.
the blond tilted his head a bit and Hikage repeated herself.
"make it an order, hokage sama." her low voice was trembling with what she didn't know. the numbness was setting in.
the apprehensive look on his face showed how much he really didn't want to do that.
"please"
the sigh he let out made him seem older than he was.
"Hikage murakami, as your hokage I order you to be konoha's undercover spy in sound until I say otherwise."
she almost told him he didn't need to say undercover. it was sort of implied. she couldn't very well strut into sound and announce that she was there she was there to gather Intel for the leaf.
"of course hokage sama. as a chunin of konoha I will to as I'm told." with a deep bow and a stone cold expression she turned to leave, but paused.
"for taking this mission, I-"
"what do you need Hikage chan?" he was trying so hard to sound light and happy. so eager to help people.
"I want to be promoted to jonin. this is decidedly s class and I think an official jonin would be better suited."
before naruto could respond she continued
"and I want to rub it in katori's face when he comes home."
the statement was made hilarious by the utter seriousness with which it was spoken. Too bad about neither of the people who heard it being in a funny mood. Hikage didn't expect naruto's response.
"I am not going to promote you to jonin, Hikage chan-"
Hikmage didn't interrupt him but she whirled to face him with dangerous speed. her face was beyond stone cold it was more like shards of cracked ice.
"fiiiiiine. if your going to pout over it, how about this? when you show me you've mastered sage mode I'll make you a jonin on the spot. you wont even have to bother with the exams." he was really trying to act like the previous conversation hadn't happened.
Hikage was floored. she had traveled all the way to Mount Myoboku and nothing. she hadn't attained sage mode. naruto sensei had been so disappointed in her. he said he wasn't disappointed but how could he not be? she had failed.
naruto had really been trying to convince her to try again lately but why? she didn't have the energy to question him. at the end of the week she left for sound. she should get ready.
"train with me." Hikage's tone was diamond hard.
" right now I have to-"
"train me. every day. as much as possible before I go. its the least you can do"
she wasn't spiteful or vindictive about it. she sounded numb yet serious. naruto looked offended, and Hikage could tell he was about to remind her that none of this was his fault but he didn't bother. he nodded.
seichi inuzuka was relatively happy. not like he didn't have any problems happy, but like dammit I am gonna be happy and nothing is going to get in the way of that.
he was never alone. that was one of the best things about being an inuzuka. he always had chachamori by his side. the semi long haired canine was the best companion.
he was a little bummed about katori leaving, yeah. to be honest he was mostly pissed about how much it was upsetting Hikage. part of him wanted to punch katori, another part of him wanted to comfort Hikage, and another part of him wanted to punch Hikage and tell her to get over it.
Seichi like to think of himself as a mysterious bad boy type with hidden depths despite his teammates' howling laughter at the thought. even chachamori disagreed with him. they're reaction didn't hurt his feelings as a matter of fact he laughed alongside them, because of how tomato red katori's moonish pale face turned when he laughed.
he liked sleeping in, over eating, laughing, the actual fun stuff in life.
not like either of his team members. they both like mugicha which was just so blaaah. seichi liked his drinks a little more exciting. wink wink. alcohol. in case you didn't get it.
another thing his team ingested that seichi could not stand was chocolate. ew.
if Hikage ate anymore chocolate taiyaki than she already did she was going to smell like chocolate forever.
so it went without saying that he was seriously good at reading people. he had to pay particularly close attention but when he did it was near impossible to get anything past him.
Hikage was upset and it had nothing to do with katori. how did he know that for sure? he asked her if it was katori leaving that had her so down, and she said yes. that was how he knew that it wasn't katori. if it were she would never have said so.
as a matter of fact she would have denied it under severe torture if that were the case. she wasn't one to tell the truth about her feelings. of course she was transparent when she let her guard slip even a little bit.
plus, he could smell the change in people when they lied. most of the time.
none of that helped him pass the chunin exams. he failed. katori and Hikage both passed. it didn't bother him. seichi wasn't interested in ninja rank, or power. pride? who cares?
but losing that fight had been a bad moment. he almost died, and it wouldn't have been so bad if katori and Hikage had bragged about their victories and teased him for being weak. but nooo, they had to look at him with concern and pity.
he used to pity Hikage.
he only did it as a joke. that was before everyone heard that she was a traitor. now he knew that was when she thought her sister was dead.
she used to be aloof but a generally sweet kid. she was never mean to anyone. she was okay in her studies. she was constantly busy. always rushing around.
then seemingly overnight she changed her mind about everything.
she was a way better fighter and he realized she was better because she had abandoned one thing that had been holding her back. mercy. she saw never out for blood. now she was. she had stopped trying to win without hurting anyone. now she just wanted to win.
he sometimes wished she would bring back the mercy. she was less scary with it.
he may not be the best ninja but- yeah, there was no but. honestly the whole dealing- with- the- teams-emotional- struggle thing was just plain tiring.
it was like everyone on the team except him had some deep emotional drama going on 24/7. like, dude. relax.
so like, katori had mommy issues and didn't know how to open up. Hikage had abandonment issues and didn't know how to express her feelings like a normal person. i.e. without punching anybody.
sai sensei had... non- emotional issues... and didn't know how to... give appropriate nicknames?
seichi wasn't a very panicky angsty guy. he just rolled with the punches. no point sobbing his lungs out years after the fact.
don't go off about being insensitive. he had problems. he just didn't dwell on 'em. live and let go. or somethin'.
Hikage was sitting on the bridge, looking all introspective and down. she had taken a brake from training with the hokage's clone so she could get some food. she had spent all day with the hokage's clone. it wasn't good for sparring but for instruction, it would do.
she would be on her way to a secret location to study with frogs for a day. literally she delegated exactly 24 hours to training with frogs. not counting travel time. what could she really learn from a effing frog?!
summoning was so not his thing. katori went off when he said so. carrying on about respecting katsuyu sama and all that crap. all he saw was a big ass slug.
better hope the enemy doesn't know the sacred salt throwing jutsu.
frogs and snakes were no better.
like no I'm not mocking you. this is just practicing my eye rolling jutsu.
chachamori was always with him. seichi didn't take much of anything seriously. a wolfy grin and minimal effort were all most people could see in him.
of course there was the political clan struggle he had been born into. his parents only saw him as a power trip. they were still trying to forgive him for hurting their chances by being sterile. like he decided that, or anything else in his life.
his job was to be a major ass kisser as soon as kiba sama entered a room. it wasn't that bad, really it was mostly just agreeing with the man. but he was 'encouraged' to act and even dress like kiba. seichi mostly complied, like his haircut and the colors he wore but he loved his hoodie and damn if he wasn't keeping it!
there was no chance of him pouting over anything. playfully- maybe.
so he was inwardly debating whether to try and talk to Hikage about whatever had her so doleful. he could just let her deal with it on her own.
if it were anyone else he would avoid the hassle.
but this was his friend teammate and Hikage chan.
so her ran up behind her and snatched her katana off her back. and kept running, really running until he was up a tree nearby. his speed was his best kept secret.
he was easily twice as fast as rock lee and his goal was to be faster than the fourth.
but, it was a secret. when people knew you had skills they expected more of you. if people expected more of him he would let them down. not to mention the extra workload that presented. so he was up the tree by the time Hikage had turned to lash out with a kunai and get her sword back. she sensed his location, and as always, gave chase. that was another thing. she could never just say fuck it and walk away.
she had some stupid compulsion to relentlessly pursue and destroy at the slightest provocation. and she would catch him too.
he never moved at full speed in front of his team. it had never come to that. Hikage and katori always saved him.
so he ran like a madman, (or at like five percent really) with Hikage hot on his trail
she was getting close to catching him. so he turned down an ally and too to the roofs, prolonging the inevitable. he glimpsed a twinge of shock on her face. oh, crap had he moved a little to fast? more likely his decision and maneuvers had been better then they should.
as he was mulling it over, he felt himself jerked to the side as Hikage snatched her katana back, then the pain when she hit him upside his head.
that wasn't that bad at all considering.
on that note, Hikage used teleportation and seichi was briefly confused as to why she would bother, but he found out when the exploding tags she had littered the side of his head with started to go off.
he barely escaped that without earning a scar. and chances were he would be the one in trouble for property damage.
that chick was insane.
now he felt he had comforted a friend, and was quite proud of himself.
when seichi returned to the training grounds Hikage was there again. now she was actually training a little. she had a scroll open in front of her, and her chakra was acting funny. not really suppressed but almost like shrinking.
seeing her still being so sad and- wait seichi need moment to consult dictionary-crestfallen huh, learn something new every day. (AN had to add seichi is an idiot joke)
chachamori was apparently done comforting people for the day and went to lay under a tree with low hanging branches. seichi joined without hesitation. being lazy was cool. being lazy with chachamori in the shade? amazballz.
maybe Hikage would come around on her own. the party the night before had gone okay. she had left early though. maybe something happened after she left? probably not.
seichi was almost asleep when she kicked him in the ribs.
"what?!"
it didn't even hurt that much anymore. she was always hitting him. since they met as kids, it was all she ever did.
it was still kind of annoying.
"your a moron seichi."
? ? ?
chachamori lifted his fluffy head to survey the situation for danger. having decided Hikage was no genuine threat, he laid back down.
"you are a moron, and as a ninja your a disgrace."
excuse me bitch?! seichi shot up into a sitting position.
"you have a childish sense of humor and your table manners are pathetic on a good day."
as seichi opened his mouth to fire back, a curious (batshit insane) thing happened.
a warm hand patted his hair affectionately.
"but you have the strongest heart, and your an amazing friend."
whaaaat?
she teleported away, leaving seichi confused and wishing someone were petting his hair. it felt really good.
Hikage knew she had incriminated herself back there but she couldn't leave without saying goodbye to seichi and chacha-kun.
it could be the last time she saw him.
no, the hell it couldn't! she was coming back! this mission wouldn't kill her and she refused to be exiled. but seichi deserved something. he had been there for her for so many years. granted he came with crude jukes and half a brain, but he was an excellent friend to everyone he cared about. he would make a splendid clan leader. as long as he left the logistics to the smart people.
she had a plan. regarding sage mode. she could spend a couple days every other week there on the mountain while in sound. she wouldn't have to answer to anyone. and it would further her power. win-win.
Hikage felt like a bit of a loser when she attempted sage mode. there was no explanation for her failure.
it was supposed to be natural. but it wasn't coming naturally. not for her.
she was pretty low emotionally. katori was gone so she couldn't ask his opinion on her situation. he was analytical enough to think it over without getting swept up in her feelings. she had to do her part for konoha.
it was an honor. that was what Hikage kept telling herself. that was what she would say to anyone else in her position. if it were someone else she would probably mean it.
the apartment was dark. she didn't want any light right now. she had tried training and now she was packing in the dark. there was a little light slipping through the curtains. she was packing for the mountain, not for sound. she wasn't ready for that.
when she got back she wouldn't have a choice obviously.
she wasn't looking forward to the oil. but if she could pull off sage mode then she would be strong enough for six paths.
her. a user of six paths.
six
paths
it was unreal. and it was starting to seem completely out of reach.
Hikage knew that whining like an emo little bitch wasn't going to help anything, (and neither was spending time with seichi- language! watch it!)
all she really wanted to do was lay down and be sad for the rest of her life. but she was a kunoichi and she was too tough to sit around feeling sorry for herself like a civilian. she would actually get things done while moping.
she finished packing and headed to the village gates. she handed over her hokage permission scroll and headed off.
the trip was kind of long but not that tiresome. the toads were amazing. the oil was gross. she didn't achieve sage mode. there wasn't much to be said about the trip.
she wasn't sure if she was supposed to bow when met with the great toads but she did. it felt proper.
she was exhausted. one time she got so frustrated that she let loose mugen no masuta and there were no medics. luckily it was only stage one. and the toad hit her with that staff thing, which was only supposed to knock the natural energy out of her, but it halted her kekkei genkai. so that was a small crisis semi averted.
there was the possibility that her mugen no masuta wasn't letting her take in enough natural energy.
Hikage really hoped that wasn't the problem.
it was tiring. but on some strange level, it made her happy. it helped to not think about anything outside the mountain. punching rocks also helped a little. it was as if she could feel herself getting close and then someone threw down a massive wall as soon as she was inches away from success.
what would seichi do?
nothing. he would have shrugged it off and given up by now.
what would sai sensei do?
dunno...
what would katori do?
katori would stop too identify the problem identify the problem with a few seconds, and then try various possible solutions until he found one that worked.
what would naruto sensei do?
easy. he would master this without a problem because he was naruto uzumaki and he was perfect and everything came naturally to him.
Hikage wasn't perfect. she wasn't lazy. she wasn't ... whatever sai sensei was. she didn't have katori's talent for figuring things out when they made no sense.
Hikage was going to ask herself one she hadn't asked in years, ugh...
what would sanami do?
run away. ignore the problem. cheat. whatever else disgusting traitors did. no no no. think hard.
she would... sanami would... she would get to the point where she was blocked and stay there. that way she could look for a way around it. she would inspect the hell out of the block and try to find a weak spot to crash through rather than try and figure it out from a distance. she was smart but hands on.
and as far as Hikage was concerned she could burn in hell.
but that idea could work. slime added, block reached, but instead of backing down at the discomfort, Hikage held on and tried to feel for a way around. it was like running track in a circle blindfolded then ramming face first into a huge iron gate that sure as hell wasn't there when you put the blindfold on, but you cant stop, you can't ask anybody anything, you cant take off the blindfold, both your hands are asleep, you have a pounding headache, and you are running out of time.
it was a tad frustrating, in that regard.
she didn't have much more time. the slime was supposed to work for everyone and it was kind of doing its job, and some how on some impossible level, a stick meant to smack the natural energy out of her smacked enough of her own energy out of her to halt mugen no masuta. what was Hikage thinking wehen that actually worked?
'damn, I got to get one of those'
so as hard as she tried even with help from the almighty toads it wasn't happening. if she had chakra enhanced strength, Hikage would have destroyed mount myoboku. it was a good thing she didn't. after all this mountain was sacred.
so, as Hikage reached her block and tried to sense something about how it worked, but it was like it was right in front of her but she couldn't quite touch it. she pushed a little harder and something at the back of her mind prodded. like she knew the answer to all of this. like she knew but had... forgotten somehow... why would...
BAM!
and the door was slammed in her face and she got the wind knocked out of her. now she was shocked. she knew that feeling. the answer was in a memory all right.
a memory that she had intentionally locked away from herself.
the same jutsu she always used on her less favorable memories. she had learned it from sai sensei as a genin. his wife specialized in jutsu that affected the mind. he devised a kind of genjutsu that would enable a shinobi to suppress any memory at will. the reason for this was that many decent ninja quit because they couldn't handle the weight of their lives and memories. PTSD or some other crap like that. for the record Hikage had killed her fair share of people on missions and in fights, and you wouldn't catch her curled up in a ball sobbing her guts out over it. a shinobi needed to be tougher and more realistic than that.
she could understand if it were a friend or teammate or hell, a ninja who was actually from the same village but these were random enemies.
okay. now she just had to remember what was blocking her!
BAM!
that hurt. again!
BAM!
okay. on more time!
SMACK!
ouch, dammit that wasn't... she had just been hit over the head with that stick again. to be fair she was kind of being a seichi about this.
Hikage has never heard of the reverse jutsu but there had to be one. some forgotten memories might be needed in the future for information purposes right? sai sensei was too clever to not have a reverse jutsu.
so continuing her attempts with less morale than before. the toads were confounded at her lack of success. she left heavy hearted. and just a little misty eyed, like the first time she had come here.
that and crazed laughter levels of pissed. something had to be done about that.
and soon she would be off to sound. ugh. emotional taiyaki eating time. chocolate.
she wasn't back to konoha yet and stopped in a clearing in the woods. she finished the last of her fish shaped pancake full of chocolate.
she was still upset. Hikage was trying not to be a baby about it, but it wasn't the easiest thing.
she was heaving with how hard she was breathing. Hikage was on the verge of screaming. it should be okay now, she was alone anyway. instead she did something better/stupider
"mugen no masuta!"
her chakra flared to life veins charged and illuminated. it hurt as it always did. it wasn't enough. she felt so empty and her chakra could overtake and fill anything. she pushed herself to level two.
then she sensed something. with chakra this high it did one of two things for her sensing abilities.
one, the usual, it kind of dulled it. like how a blaring speaker made it harder to hear someone talking.
two, the thing that rarely happened but was awesome when it did, she could sense everything. like how turning speakers on full blast made it easier to hear the music playing.
so it was an unlucky day for- oh, never mind, they weren't approaching her.
so, Hikage set about demolishing some nature. a few rasengans to some innocent trees, a couple big ball rasengans, lots of fire and otherwise destruction. weapons flew in random directions. this was different from training. if Hikage went into a fight like this she would lose. she wasn't paying attention, her emotions had control over her. she wasn't even aiming at anything in particular.
oh, those trees are burning down? here have twin water dragons!
this was a great way to relieve stress without hurting anyone. Hikage had more pent up stress than she thought. come to think of it, this was a bit of an overreaction. but meh. it seemed like overreacting was just something that she did. like how katori hated people getting in his business.
flicker
and it wasn't like other great ninja didn't let their emotions reign. sakura sama was notorious for punching the hokage in fits of temper.
flicker
planetary rasengan was not possible at the moment. when she had first accomplished it naruto sensei had smiled at her and dragged her to his house to tell his wife about it.
flicker
Hikage felt so uncomfortable around his family. she knew them all to some extent, had met lady hinata occasionally, but she was an outsider. Hikage didn't have a family, and that should probably hurt. it mostly didn't. when it did it was more of a wistful envy than real agonizing despair that others described. she didn't mourn for something she had never had. sure she wondered what it was like for people with parents. but there was no helping her familial status now.
flicker- for the love of ramen! (too much time with naruto) what?! what was that damn flickering of chakra coming at her- oh wait.
it was the same fleeting chakra as before. it was moving her direction fast. bold move. most wouldn't approach a chakra like hers. most were smarter then that. perhaps it was curiosity. see, there was a little saying about curiosity and a cat.
there were... four... five hidden chakra signatures coming her way.
part of her welcomed a good fight. all of her recent missions had gone off without a hitch and therefor had minimal violence. it was annoying.
now, Hikage didn't relish killing people or anything. it wasn't the killing she enjoyed. it was the fight. the killing was just a minor side effect that so far had been a not my problem thing. if it were she'd be dead by now.
they were still coming closer. but as she was not the hothead she was made out to be, Hikage wasn't going to murder some random shinobi. it was bad for village political relations.
if they were rouges or outlaws, they were fair game. same if they attacked.
the first figure was outlined against the darkness. Hikage probably looked a little scary. glowing and glaring. the others came to stand in strict formation behind the first. the sound symbol shined clearer than their actual features. it was all that mattered.
a sick sort of excitement brewed from some hidden corridor in her soul. the face splitting grin and borderline maniacal giggle had them taking several steps back. the main light source was Hikage herself.
it was enough to show the look on the sound nin faces before her. this would be a stress reliever and a message to sound.
Hikage didn't like being tailed. by anyone. for any reason.
so no, she would not take pity on the morons gaping at her like suffocating fish.
little known fact, there were two possible meanings to the name Hikage. the first was sunshine. the other was shadow.
the pettiest smile hides the deepest secrets. true as that may be he had never cared enough to actively look for pretty smiles.
this was an unwelcome change of pace. konoha was boring and so... sunny.
but if sasuke wanted him here, this was where he'd be. everyone kept staring. he hated being looked at. with his all black and lack of headband and obvious dangerous aura.
he stood out a little. not to mention he could pass for an uchiha if he really needed to. his hair was actually a dark red. sort of burgundy. but he had the basic facial features. some would call that lucky. it was if you didn't mind being chased down by strange females. was never really his thing.
the years spent training under sasuke uchiha were sacred to him. so when he sent him a message directing him to go join konoha, he packed up and said goodbye to his home village without hesitation.
he wouldn't miss that place. there weren't any official ninja in that village because they only had maybe a little over two hundred people. they couldn't afford any decline in population. if they lost three people they would officially be a big family and not an actual village. he had been orphaned at a young age.
his parents hadn't died of some insane battle with evil. they just got sick. as did he himself. his parents and about ten other people died. in a normal place that wouldn't be too bad but in the village hidden in the rainbow aka nijigakure (that was legit the name of their village! thank god they didn't have shinobi! the symbol on their foreheads would be shaped like a rainbow! NO ONE would take them seriously. like niji nin:'I'm here to kill you by order of the-' target: 'oh shut the fuck up. there's a rainbow on your headband. your argument is invalid. ' niji nin:'I know TT^TT')
anyway, in nijigakure this was cause for panic. one would have thought they were swept up in an epidemic. first, his father grew sick. then he himself had the illness. his mother contracted the illness caring for her son. she was the first to die. then his father. he himself ha been fading when he was saved.
by a medical ninja. he had been eight years old and close to death. the ailment that had killed his parents had been obliterated in minutes.
the loss had been hard on him and his older sister, and his younger brother. that was when his fascination with shinobi began. at first he hated ninjas with a deep honest kind of loathing. it was so easy for them. he lost his parents, his village lost five percent of their population, but one ninja strolls in and out in under an hour like its nothing. the anger festers inside for months.
he wished there was one person he could name and destroy for what happened to his parents. then, he and his brother were sent to live with their aunt and her husband and their kids and that was a nightmare. his aunt was a total doormat and babied her kids outrageously. something bad happened? her kids in trouble? it was those no good cousins I tell you! they were bad news from the start!
his uncle was... indescribable levels of bastard.
eventually, his hatred morphed into a desire to be strong. to protect his loved ones and make up for his parents death.
so, at barely nine, he set out to become a remarkable ninja. he had almost gotten himself killed before the end of the first week. a bunch of rouge low skill ninja were harassing some old woman out of boredom, and he intervened.
so they turned their attention on him. why not?
they had been pretty much dragging out the process of kicking his ass, just for the hell of it when an actual ninja intervened. she was a red head with glasses. Karin Uzumaki.
theoretically she had no reason for helping him. she had no reason to train him and teach him the basics of being a ninja. she had no reasons to convince sasuke uchiha to train him. she had no reason to take him in and act as a surrogate mother to some random brat she had never seen before in her life.
but she did all of these things.
(AN: actually, Karin did have a reason and a pretty stupid one. with his dark red burgundy ish hair and uchiha- esc features, he looked like how Karin imagined a child of hers and sasuke's would look.)
as loyal as he was to sasuke sensei, it paled in comparison to his attachment to Karin. that was all he ever called her. Karin sensei didn't feel personal enough, Karin chan didn't feel right at all. he so wasn't about to call her okaasan. (mom) for a lot of reasons.
like one she was not his real mom, two, he didn't want to feel like he was replacing his dead mother and three, what if he said it and she thought it was weird and it made everything uncomfortable?
so, it was hard when it was time to move on from basics and find something he wanted to specialize in. sadly, he and Karin were different types of ninja. She went out of her way once again to help him by using her sensory abilities t track down the person she insisted would be perfect to teach him. he rarely argued with Karin on anything. but meeting sasuke explained his own name.
not his birth name but
WARNING: FLASHBACK kyosuke
the red haired woman had brought him to some tunnelish place, definitely underground. kyohei was a little scared but mostly grateful for the help. and yes there was a small part of him that was humiliated at being rescued like a helpless damsel in distress.
one minute he was close to dying the next he was healed. it was good, but weird. the red headed woman was hovering above his face. oh, he was an idiot for not noticing earlier. she was a medical ninja. she must've healed him.
how was he supposed to figure this out? he was on his own here. that was one of the most attractive prospects of leaving to be a ninja. no one knew him. he could be whoever he wanted, instead of some pitiful orphan.
she was staring at him strangely. he sat up on his elbows and stared back, blinking onyx eyes at her in confusion.
Karin was thinking. the boy was so pretty. if she and sasuke kun had a child, this would be him. the face was so uchiha, it was probably in danger from being targeted by ita- never mind too soon. but seriously, the face the eyes, the hair was a darker shade of red than hers, as if his other parents hair was black... he was perfect! whoa, whoa, there Karin, we've talked about this. no heading into crazy territory.
what on earth could she be thinking about? kyohei wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"thank you for assisting me, but I must be going."
"wait!"
?
he waited.
"what were you thinking? you could've been killed. where are your parents?"
"why do you want to know?"
"um.. un... well! as a responsible adult and a shinobi I can't just leave some child to wander alone without protection- or the ability to protect themselves."
"I don't need you to let me do anything."
"ha. do you even know where you are? way I see it, you don't do anything until I let you."
"my parents are dead. and I can so protect myself. I'm a shinobi." his nine year old chest puffed with indignation.
Karin rose an eyebrow and adjusted her glasses. her mouth twitched.
message received.
"okay, I aspire to be a shinobi."
"Karin."
"what?"
"my name is Karin. yours?"
kyohei found himself reluctant to tell her. he was sick of being kyohei the abused orphan from hick Ville in the rainbow.
"..."
"you alright?"
"how about if you just name me yourself" he suggested cryptically.
"what? why?"
the boy shrugged.
"okaaay, can I have a hint?"
"um... the first syllable is 'kyo'"
his name started with a k just like hers! if his name was a little like sasuke's that would be perfect... ah!
"I know. I'll call you kyosuke, then. it means respectful."
"um, sure thing."
"we can start training as soon as your ready. rest up for now."
kyohei- er... kyosuke was shocked beyond response and just nodded and laid back down.
FLAsHBACK OVER
So he left behind kyohei the orphan to be kyosuke the shinobi. he was way happier nowadays which was a little twisted considering.
so he was nearing leaf and had a note- a fucking note!- from sasuke to give the hokage.
the anbu guarding the gates were as useless as ever, so kyosuke didn't waste his time and snuck past them into the village. as he strolled through the streets he stopped for a snack.
he wanted to wonder why this place kept falling under attack but it wasn't hard to figure out...
he stopped at a random little ramen place and ducked in to ask the aging man at the counter
"excuse me, but could you direct me to the hokage's office?"
"ah, naruto, why I remember back when he..."
kyosuke only listened to the portion of the rambling that contained directions to the hokage.
this was amazing. stranger just waltzes in and is handed directions to the village leader without question. what if he was here to kill the guy?
so seeing as he was ahead of schedule kyosuke wasn't in a rush. it was a nice day. and he felt a little silly heading to see the hokage with a note from sasuke. a fucking note.
so safe to say he was a tad surprised when a massive horde of fur knocked him to the ground. the immediate instinct was to kill it but he wouldn't want to offend anyone by killing their pet bear.
dog. it was starting to look like a dog.
"chachamori! noooo!" a tall tan guy with messy shaggy brown hair and red markings on his face ran up and directed the animal to stop.
kyosuke rose silently and stared. it was such a peculiar situation. the tall guy was now grappling with an enormous puppy.
"I am so fucking sorry, he just got a dental surgery and he's still pretty high... "
deep brown doe eyes stared into icy dark coal gray ones.
"um... hi. I-I'm seichi. seichi inuzuka, of the inuzuka clan. I mean duh, but... yeah."
?
"if you'll excuse me." kyosuke nodded politely and went on his way.
"hey, wait! I've never seen you around here. do you need directions someplace?"
"no, I don't."
what a bunch of bumbling freaks. everywhere you look, sunny skies and happy people. everyone greeting each other like family.
it was so weird. and slightly creepy. nijigakure wasn't this friendly, people didn't know each other this well, and that place was almost too small to legally count as a village.
"ah! hikage! heeeeey! your back."
that had to be the loudest idiot ever.
then someone roughly shoulder bumped him as he was walking and he wanted to throw a punch right then and there.
(we've all had that happen)
"watch it, leaf"
she turned and stared him right in his face. there was dried blood on hers. her eyes were all wide and crazed looking her hair was choppy shaggy looking and the longest parts toched her shoulders. her face contorted to an all out snarl.
metallic silvery jade eyes glared. she was on the tall side, but she wasn't scary.
maybe she thought she was scary but she just looked weird. it took more than that to scare the snake sanin. ... apprentice.
there was an awful lot of blood on her. the smell wasn't great.
"leaf? is that what you said? did you call me leaf?!"
he nodded at the crazy girl and took a step back. that smell though. was this chick drunk? she was swaying and stumbling in place.
"hikage! what did you do? c'mon lets get you to a healer."
the girl was now being half dragged by the dog guy.
"ah, shit, shes unconscious. can you give me a hand here?"
kyosuke was long gone. so seichi and chachamori had to carry their teammate to the hospital.
so this was the hokage's office. kyosuke had been staring into the window for ten minutes and nobody had showed up. tapping at the glass did nothing to rouse the abused and exhausted blond man sleeping on some folders at the desk.
he could just go in the ninja way but that would be rude.
everyone around the world talked about this guy like he was...
but he didn't seem very...
so he got sick of waiting and broke in. silently.
"hokage sama."
"what, what happened?!" he sat up and a piece of paper stuck to his face. he swatted it.
they stared at each other and the blond raised a brow.
"who are you?"
"my name is kyosuke. I-"
naruto was laughing now. loudly.
"kyosuke? your kidding right?"
"it means respectful." the burgundy haired teen bristled a bit. that was the name Karin gave him. yeah that paired with the resemblance to the uchiha was a little funny. but still.
"what are you doing in my village, kyosuke?"
"I have a message from sasuke uchiha." he held out the note.
naruto skimmed the note grumbling all the while. when he was done he leaned back in his chair and heaved the most drawn out melodramatic sigh kyosuke had ever heard.
"fine. great. more work. I'll set it up. we'll figure out a place for you to stay. hopefully you wont end up sleeping in the spare holding cell at the east prison. you'll have to earn your keep, so i'll get you a forehead protector as soon as possible, and we'll have to test you to make sure your at least chunin level. I cant put you on the team if you can't keep up."
what?
"hokage sama, if I may-"
"I don't have time for this, kid. you'll see me when I send for you. "
"what is going on?"
"out of my office before I have you removed."
okay this village was insane. the anbu sucked, the hokage was drowning in paperwork, everyone was I'm in a cult levels of nice and the regular ninja were just...
this was going to be vexing.