Civil Affairs
Chapter 12
Konoha's Sublime Green Bean
Author's Note: Hi everyone, just wanted to quickly mention that I am cross-posting this story on AO3 under the same pen-name "OrthodoxLily". I've never really been involved in AO3 but it's the preferred platform of my friends so I decided to post Civil Affairs there as well.
There is also less restriction (sort of?) on explicit content although at this time I will not be taking advantage of it. While in the future I do intend to take Civil Affairs down some dark and graphic paths, if I am not able to use my words to match my preferred mental image then I will probably just imply and elude to these themes instead. In the event that I do post a more graphic or descriptive version of a chapter on AO3, I will make sure to mention it in an author's note prior to beginning the chapter here on FF. For those of you who would prefer to read the 'un-altered' version, that will give you the opportunity to skip over to read it there instead.
As for Chapter 12: it is currently the same on both FF and AO3.
For those of you who review; thank you. So far, I love my reviewers. When I write a chapter, I do my best to drop subtle hints and little details that I truthfully don't expect anyone to notice but are mostly for my own entertainment. But you amazing people notice them. Blows my mind every time one of you does. I love reading your reviews and I want to thank you for taking the time to let me know what you think or point out which parts of the chapter you liked (or didn't like). I read every review and I take into consideration what you tell me, keeping it in mind for what I write in the future.
I sit there with my editor and go 'oh, listen to this one! They noticed that I did/said 'X'. I didn't think anyone would notice that. How cool!' It's very encouraging and re-reading them gives me a second wind when I'm stuck or have writers block.
Also a huge thank you to all of my readers (whether you review or not). Watching my traffic stats go up is just as encouraging as the reading the reviews. Pumps me up.
As always, I hope you enjoy Kiyoko's misadventures.
WARNING: Mild/moderate description of gore
I sat cross-legged in the center of my apartment floor, eyes tracing the walls and what little furniture we had.
I had managed to convince Lord Hokage to allow me to continue in my position as Uzumaki's caseworker. That had been easy, which indicated to me that the old man was reluctant for me to be transferred as well. I was invested in what I was doing, probably more invested than I ever had been in anything before. I was naturally determined and liked to think I had a solid work ethic, but never had I felt so attached to a task I'd been given. It had only taken five minutes of discussion for me to win him back over and have my position reinstated. In a way, the entire incident this morning was refreshing. Because it had reminded me that Lord Hokage was on Naruto's side and, by extension, on my side.
After that, I'd gone to visit Naruto just like I had assured him the day before. I'd stopped at my desk along the way and taken the books Tamaki had given me with the intention of leaving them with him. I didn't want to keep them at my desk and putting them in the closet at the kid's apartment seemed like a good idea. Hopefully, when I figured out how to teach him, that would end up being a convenient place. While I was there I made sure he put an 'X' on the date, weighed Gama-chan, made sure he'd eaten something and inspected the apartment to make sure nothing had happened to it overnight.
With the exception of an empty ramen cup on the table it was fine. I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Still, giving the small studio apartment a once-over seemed like the right thing to do. Tomorrow was Sunday, my day off, so I made sure he was aware that he wouldn't see me until the day after. As I was leaving, I emphasized the importance of him locking the door behind me and in exchange for this kernel of wisdom, a tiny hand had held out a sparkling white rock.
I'd been uncertain what to do, so I had accepted the gift with a wavering 'why, thank you' and left as quickly as possible.
It was lunchtime when I made it back to the Children and Youth Services department. I sat down at my desk and after staring at it for a few moments, put the new rock in the ever-growing pile on the corner of my desk. I'd need to get a bowl or a container for them. I toyed for a moment with the idea of getting rid of them but came to the conclusion that it wouldn't feel right.
They were gifts. You shouldn't discard gifts.
I had forgotten to eat lunch and instead of being concerned with that took out my official 'Uzumaki Journal' from my filing cabinet. Admittedly, I flinched in anticipation when I opened the drawer but thankfully there were no new pets. I made a revised checklist of all the new tasks I had discovered. The one that was concerning me the most was how I would go about teaching the kid to read and I spent the rest of the day thinking on it. With unfortunately very little progress.
Tamaki had appeared near the end of the day and informed me that I was welcome to stay at the Morino's again and after brief contemplation I had tentatively declined the offer. Her offer had prompted me to consider my, decidedly few, options which had driven me to make the decision to go back to my apartment. Whether the police force liked it or not. If they caught me, I figured I had the right to remind them that it was where I lived. At this point they should have been able to gather all the information they needed.
I'd finally managed to get the courage to defy the police force and break into my own apartment, which truthfully had been an easy feet. Clearly, they hadn't expected me to defy them and I still wanted to investigate the state of my apartment on my own.
I didn't realize how foolish this desire really was until it was far too late.
All I did was walk up to the unlocked, unguarded door, rip off the yellow tape and turn the handle. To be honest, after all the hype, it was a little anticlimactic. Not that I had been hoping for something grander.
The door was only open a crack when I was hit with a disturbing odor.
It was rancid, thick, metallic and, well, it smelled like death. Now, I had never experienced that scent in reality but I could imagine that it smelled quite a bit like this.
It was more than a little alarming and I had hesitated in fully opening the door.
I finally steeled my nerve and forced the door opened, not able to fully prepare myself for the full extent of the odor. It was overwhelming and my eyes began to involuntarily water and bile slowly rose in my throat. I was quick to bring my sleeve up to my nose and mouth, but the damage was already done. I would remember that scent forever. The apartment had been shut up with no air circulation and it was the middle of summer, when Konoha was at its hottest, which had only served to make it fester.
I had been wrong.
It didn't smell like death. It smelled like death warmed over.
Our already dingy, white walls had been smeared with a rusty, brownish substance that I was slowly able to determine was blood that had dried. In some cases it had just appeared to be smeared without purpose but the more I starred, the more I was able to make out hastily written messages. The characters appeared to have ran and some of it had been smudged, but I could make out 'their blood's on your hands.'
I took a cautious step forward into the apartment which soon proved not cautious enough, as when I went to take another, my foot met with resistance. I'd stepped in a puddle of a thick, sticky browney-red substance - almost like half dried glue. I stared at it for a long moment, unable to comprehend it at first. It was blood too. The density appeared to have prevented it from drying entirely.
I gagged against my sleeve and for the first time felt a hint of regret for not doing what I was told. I should have just gone home with Tamaki. One thing was for certain; there was no way I could sleep here tonight. I don't think I would ever be able to sleep here again.
Where did all this blood come from?
I rationalized that it couldn't be human blood. There was just too much of it. It likely belonged to a poor farm animal like a pig, goat or a cow. Consistent with that thought, I noticed a few tin paint buckets laying haphazardly around the apartment. Since they looked like paint cans, it was reasonable to assume that the perpetrators hadn't looked out of place when carrying them through the street.
I forced myself to look around more, realizing that I was in too deep to back out now and since I was here I may as well survey all the damage.
I had to swallow hard to clear my throat, several times, since each swallow was met with the urge to vomit.
I moved further into the room, almost choking with every sticky movement. The floor was covered in smeared pools of the thick, half-dried blood. I could see the dried imprints of many different sandal prints, most of which I assumed were from the police force. They made a big deal about me ruining evidence but then proceeded to trample through it on their own. I was beginning to understand that 'evidence' had just been a well-intentioned excuse to keep me from seeing this disaster.
I could see the stuffing from our brown couch torn out of its casing and strewn all around the room; clumps of the yellowed cotton could be found on the floor and kitchen counter. Our kitchen drawers had been torn off their sliders and were on the floor along with all of our silverware and cooking utensils. I cautiously stepped over a large wooden spoon, that I'd forgotten we owned, which was buried in a pool of tacky blood.
As I did so, I heard a loud crunch and lifted up my foot to stare down at the small shard of glass that had caused the sound. This drew my attention the what almost seemed to be an endless sea of broken ceramic, which I recognized as the scattered remains of what little dishware Genma and I owned. It hadn't been valuable stuff; since we typically ate out of cardboard takeout containers. There hadn't been much point investing in nice dinnerware. Still, something about seeing it splayed out and destroyed caused a lump to form in my chest.
Ironically, the only thing that appeared to be untouched was the coffeemaker. I wasn't sure why, of all the things in the world, it was spared. It barely even worked...
I noticed that Genma's bedroom door was closed and I briefly wondered if that meant the invaders hadn't touched it or if the police force members had closed it for his privacy. I realized in that moment that I hadn't seen the inside of Genma's bedroom since I was eight years old and if it wasn't obvious, I wouldn't be able to tell if something was out of place. I was still concerned though and toyed with the idea of going in. Genma's room was where we kept all of our valuables and sentimental items; like our parents wedding rings, the ribbons my father gave me and his radio. Not to mention our very few and highly treasured family photographs.
I dismissed the idea soon.
Something about going into Genma's room, despite him being my big brother, felt foreboding even in circumstances like these. Hopefully it wouldn't be long before Genma arrived home and he would be able to check on our important items.
I moved further into the apartment and went through the archway into my room. Compared to the living room, it seemed to be only half destroyed. They'd torn all my clothes out of the dresser and piled them on the floor, along with my bed sheets, but the mattress hadn't been destroyed like the couch. I flushed a little in humiliation at the sight of my underwear and bras sprinkled from one end of the room to the other. I hoped there weren't any missing.
I didn't really have anything besides my bed, a nightstand and a dresser. There were more smeared messages on the wall but since they weren't 'fresh' anymore I really couldn't distinguish the characters. It was disturbing more by principal then by content, since it was written in blood.
I had to stare for a long time before I noticed that my clothing wasn't just on the floor. There were bloody hand and finger prints all over them.
Something about that sight hit me hard; more than the blood, the messages, the ripped couch and broken dishes. I forced my sleeve closer to my face, to the point that I was almost crushing my own nose, as if hoping the slight pain would keep me grounded.
The room started to spin.
Surprisingly, for the first time since I'd heard about what happened, I had the sense to feel violated.
I started to shake.
While I had been struggling to force down bile the entire time, for the first time I came very close to vomiting. My arm fell away from my face as I buckled down, finally overwhelmed by the combination of sights and the putrid odor. My hands braced themselves against my upper thighs and I began to heave. I stayed in that position, choking and panting for several long minutes, continuing to be assaulted by the scent of the apartment. Thankfully, nothing came up but after the episode I had to stand there for several more minutes to catch my breath.
I continued to shake.
After that ordeal I was exhausted.
That was how I ended up sitting cross-legged in the middle of my apartment floor, in the only clean spot, looking utterly drained and defeated. Every now and then I would begin to involuntarily shake but it would eventually fade away again. Like ocean tides, my shivering would grow and then ebb in a steady pattern.
I wasn't sure how long I had been there but I assumed it was close to 9 o'clock when I heard the front door creak open slowly. I didn't look at the newcomer, giving them a chance to get their bearings and adjust to the horror.
The person didn't take long before they moved to stand behind me, then gingerly sat down. I felt hands slip under my upper arms and lift me up like a child, pulling me to sit in a lap.
"I'm sorry." Genma apologized bluntly, "This whole thing sucks."
I couldn't see his face but I could still picture his blank expression and could feel his chin resting on the top of my head.
When we were children and would fuss or have tantrums, Genma used to do this with Atsuko and I. I wasn't sure whether it had something to do with us being twins or not, but whenever one of us had a fit the other one would always inevitably join in. Every time Atsuko cried...I would cry too, even if I didn't know why she was crying. Whenever these incidents happened, Genma would literally hold whichever one of us had started it in his lap, no matter how hard we struggled, and reach his free arm out to capture the other one. He'd pin us both in place until we calmed down and began to see reason.
Genma had always reasoned with us. He never shouted or got angry; to be honest I don't ever remember him scolding us either. He would just reason with us, like we were adults.
I hadn't necessarily been fussing but I appreciated the gesture regardless. It was familiar and comforting to me; I noticed soon after that the waves of shaking had stopped.
"Welcome home." I retorted blandly.
He scoffed lightly in response.
"We're moving." He said after several long moments.
"Figured."
We sat like that a bit longer before we finally decided to move, standing up in unison. My nose had, unfortunately, become accustomed to the smell. While Genma was trying to hide it, I could tell that even he was still struggling with the sheer potency of the scent of warmed, caked on animal blood. It was sad that I had been here long enough to have gotten used to it in any capacity.
Now that I could see him, I noticed that he was still in his full uniform and had dark circles under his eyes. His uniform was dirty, but not ripped or torn which indicated that while he'd had plenty of sleepless nights he probably hadn't seen any action on the border. Or at least not challenging action. When he received the message, he'd probably come straight home. Chances are he'd only arrived in the village within the last few hours and had decided to check on the damage. I don't think he'd expected to find me here: he'd probably assumed that I would stay away like I was told.
Wordlessly, Genma moved to enter his room and emerged a few minutes later with a couple of small boxes. The one on the bottom was unlabelled, but the one on top had a small piece of scotch tape with a quickly scribbled 'twins' on it. Those were the boxes I had been concerned about before and I was relieved to see that they appeared untouched.
Genma nodded to me, silently letting me know that it was time to leave, and continued quickly towards the door. He passed through the kitchen and scooped up the coffeemaker under his free arm. I followed closely behind and reached into the cupboard to discover my thankfully ignored jar of money that I had been saving.
Then we left, with no intention of ever coming back.
XxX
Genma later explained that he had been back for almost an hour and during that time he had arranged for us to stay with Gai.
Our apartment complex was a few streets north of the Yumehara Teahouse, as we were on the edge of the Kamotsu District. Despite being a bachelor, Gai had an immaculate two bedroom apartment in the Mita District a few streets south of that same noteable teahouse. This meant that it wasn't a long walk to Gai's, which I was thankful for because the blast of fresh air I'd gotten when we left had reminded me that sleep was a necessity my body had no issues demanding.
When we arrived, Genma didn't get the chance to knock. Immediately Gai had flung the door open and quickly pulled us both in, shouting incoherently the entire time. Or at least incoherently as far as I was concerned; my older brother was nodding animatedly and I had a feeling he was able to understand. While that went on behind me, I tuned them out in favor of observing my new surroundings.
It occurred to me that in all the time I had known him, I had never had a purpose or reason to visit Might Gai's apartment. I was a little shocked by its appearance to be honest.
I was shocked because it was exceedingly normal looking and I had been expecting something more...eclectic.
His apartment had polished wood floors, clean white walls and while the accents were a tasteful dark green the furniture was modern and either black or grey in color. Hanging throughout the apartment with no particular pattern in mind were pictures of Gai and a man I assumed to be his father. I also spotted quite a few pictures of Gai and my brother at various ages, as well as a few with what appeared to be their entire genin team.
His kitchen had black cupboards and an island, grey granite countertops and a black wood, four-person dining set. The appliances were all matching and couldn't be more than a few years old. It was also pristine. Not a speck of dust, grim or dirt to be seen anywhere. In fact if it weren't for the small collection of tortoise magnets stuck to the fridge, I would suspect he didn't actually live there.
The living room was much the same; clean to the point that it sparkled. There was a dark green, oval area rug that took up most of the floor space underneath the couch and coffee table. The couch was simple and slate grey, with pillows on either end that matched the rug. The coffee table was black wood and with the exception of a neatly potted cactus in the middle, it was absent of clutter. He didn't have any electronics, but I did notice a meticulously organized bookshelf that took up a large portion of the wall.
"Kiyoko!" Gai boomed, forcing my eyes to focus on him instead of my surroundings. "We've decided that you'll have the spare bedroom. It's all ready for you!"
"Uh, okay. But what about you, Genma?" I asked, looking at him curiously.
"I'm going to take the couch. Gai's couch is wide and plenty comfortable - I'll be fine." He said automatically, preemptively answering my potential follow-up questions.
My face slackened at the thought; no matter how comfortable Gai's couch was, it wasn't fair that Genma had to sleep on it after a long mission while I got to sleep in a bed.
"I could always go stay at Tamaki's instead." I mentioned. She had already invited me to stay the night at the Morino household. Even though I had turned her down, I'm sure she would still welcome me if I showed up on her doorstep.
"It's too late for that, Kiyo. She's probably already in bed. If you want to go back to staying there tomorrow that's fine but for tonight you may as well stay here." It didn't surprise me that Genma already knew that I had stayed at the Morino household the previous night. Again; ninja would be the village's best gossips if they had any interest.
I didn't really have a response to that so I remained silent.
Gai, who had been watching our exchange quietly, started gesturing wildly to the guest room door with a large, sparkling smile. I sent him a strained but grateful look and made my way towards the guest room, the man following close behind with a bright smile.
As I entered the room, Gai flicked on the light and I was able to see the guest room in all its glory. It had the same color and design scheme as the rest of the apartment, although it was clear to me that despite how cleanly it was, Gai used it for storage. He'd set up what looked like a temporary cot in one corner, with forest green sheets and a matching pillow. Neatly organized towers of boxes lined the room and he seemed to have rearranged them in order to fit the cot inside.
Once I was done looking around I turned to Gai, who to my surprise was looking between me and the cot with a tentative expression. He obviously was concerned it wouldn't be good enough. That was Gai for you; heart of gold and pushed himself to do everything at 120%.
"Looks comfortable, Gai. Thank you." I told him, doing my best to curve my lips sincerely. I was sincerely grateful, but after the day I'd just had smiling was a little bit more difficult than usual. Not that smiling was second nature to me in the first place.
He visibly relaxed.
"Wonderful!" He exclaimed, "I did not have a lot of time but I'd hoped you would approve."
"Good night, Gai." I said with a nod before turning towards the door and shouting in the direction I assumed Genma was, "Night, big brother!"
I heard a garbled 'mrryaah' from the other room, which I decided to take as both a confirmation and a 'likewise'.
Gai nodded one more time before turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind him softly. I stood there for a few moments more, collecting myself. I wasn't sure whether I fully processed what I had seen today and I wasn't sure if I ever would. I made the conscious decision to not think about it and just move forward with my life. If I didn't get some sleep, I would be no good for anything.
I still had a list of Naruto problems as long as my arm that I had to handle. Now that Genma was back, it occurred to me that he may have some advice on teaching the kid how to read and write. While I vaguely remembered our father reading Atsuko and I to bed every night, I also remembered Genma taking over and helping us with our literacy homework when we started going to school. That being said, I went to civilian school where they focused on teaching those sorts of things. My love of literature came from my teachers at Koba Academy more then it came from my family.
Still, it couldn't hurt to ask.
My head suddenly started to throb violently and I reached a cool hand upwards to place it on my forehead. It relieved the pain a little bit, but not entirely.
I needed to stop thinking and go to sleep.
While I strongly believed in the motto 'Why leave for tomorrow what you could do today?' I was also aware that if I didn't stop thinking about the Uzumaki caseload it may eventually begin to affect my health. Tamaki's words from Ichiraku's came back to me and I realized that she had been correct in assuming that this case would cause me to burn out if I wasn't careful. I needed to give my mind a break, as much as I was loathe to admit it.
I slowly began undressing, sliding my clothes off and folding them neatly. Gai's apartment building had a laundromat for residents downstairs. On the way over Genma and I had decided that I would wash my outfit there, since I discovered that my clothes in the apartment had been ruined. He'd given me a spare shirt of his from his backpack to sleep in, which thankfully ended up looking like an oversized dress on my much smaller form. If I paired it with my black tights, which thankfully didn't have any holes or runs in them, I would be able to get away with wearing the outfit down to the laundromat in the morning. If I went early enough, I would be able to avoid any prying eyes.
Once I was changed, I flicked the light off and climbed into the cot staring blankly into the darkness above me for several minutes. From beyond the closed door, I could make out the fact that Genma and Gai were still awake and talking. They were hushed, so I couldn't distinguish what they were saying even if I strained.
Eventually, the indistinguishable voices of the two men became white noise which lulled me gently to sleep.
XxX
I was fiddling with our coffeemaker and Genma was still pretending to be asleep when our host came wandering into his apartment on his hands. I was caught a little off guard and took the opportunity to stare with a slightly raised eyebrow.
I was up rather early, since I'd been trying to beat Gai's neighbors to the laundromat, and was a little surprised to see that he had been up long before I was. At least I hadn't seen or heard him leave so I assumed he had been up long before I was. Then again, this was Gai we were talking about, Mr. 120%, I should have known better.
In one swift movement he bounced up onto his feet, flashing me a wide sparkling smile and thumbs up. I could see that out of respect for Genma he was physically trying to restrain his regular exuberance. I didn't know why he was bothering; it was obvious to even me that Genma wasn't really asleep. He'd probably been awake as soon as he heard me get out of bed.
Still, the show of consideration for his friend was sweet.
I felt my lip curve into a slight smile, mouthed a 'good morning', then went back to what I had been doing. I flicked the switch on the coffeemaker a couple of times, gave the plastic cover a light smack and, when that didn't work, unplugged it. I waited about thirty seconds and then plugged it back in. I hit the button, it made a little chuffing noise, but other than that it didn't show any signs of working.
The damned thing…
I was beginning to wonder whether the silly thing really hadn't survived the home invaders and simply looked untouched. Not that it had ever been the most co-operative kitchen appliance but Genma and I were frugal. We wouldn't replace it as long as it worked, even if it only worked sometimes.
During this time, Gai had taken a full carton of eggs from the fridge and was cracking them open in a blender that he had retrieved from...somewhere. He had slowed what I assumed to be his morning routine in favour of watching me complete mine. After watching me go through the motions for about three minutes and almost completing what appeared to be the most disgusting smoothie I'd ever seen, Gai reached over casually and gave the coffeemaker a single, rough slap.
'WHACK!'
I had been too stunned to flinch.
My eyes darted between Gai's retreating hand, his stony expression and the brand new dent in the lid of the coffeemaker.
The coffeemaker whirred of its own volition, which was a noise I was pretty sure coffeemakers weren't supposed to make, and then began spitting out the blessed brown liquid with obvious strain into the pot.
I had a moment of elation which soon turned sour when the appliance stopped after only a single ounce of coffee. I stared at the nearly empty pot for a moment, sighed quietly and then grabbed a nearby tea mug. I poured the coffee in and then put the pot back on the maker.
I hit the red button again.
It spluttered but then began working with little difficulty; dents and all.
"Did you want this, Gai?" I asked quietly, looking at the sip of nearly black liquid that the green clad jonin had literally managed to beat out of the coffeemaker. As far as I was concerned, he'd earned it.
Several different things happened all at once and far too quickly for me to react appropriately to each of them. I just wasn't fast enough.
Gai reached forward and snatched it out of my hands with a 'why thank you, Kiyoko!' and threw it back like one would a shot of strong alcohol. From behind me, I heard a distressed gargle come from my elder brother who came flying over the back of the couch towards his former teammate. In response to my brother's sudden lunge, I squeaked in surprise and tumbled backwards, landing on the ground.
From that position, I was able to clearly see the events that unfolded next, almost as if they were happening in slow motion - although I remained incapable of responding to them.
Gai's eyes rolled back in his head and he began to vibrate in one place. His hand reached out and caught my brother mid-lunge and tossed him back across the room. I couldn't tear my horrified eyes away from Gai, so I didn't see what happened to Genma, but I did hear him collide with something hard. Then I blinked and Gai was gone, leaving the front door flung wide open behind him.
"Dammit," Genma complained somewhere to my left although I was still frozen and didn't look at him, "I'm going to be all day with this."
"Sorry." I said blandly, still not fully understanding what just happened and recognizing that while irritated, he wasn't irritated at me.
"Nah, don't worry about it. No way you could have known - not that I'd blame you even if you did. Idiot should know better by now." My brother grumbled, coming at a leisurely pace to stand over me and extending a hand towards me. I accepted it and allowed him to pull me into an upright position.
"Are you okay?" I asked, remembering the loud thump that had come from the general direction he'd been tossed in, "You hit pretty hard there."
"Trust me, that was nothing. Gai wasn't even paying attention to me just now let alone trying to hurt me." He reassured, turning to look at the empty tea cup on the counter. "His mind already runs a mile a minute. Add even a drop of caffeine and he can barely remember where or who he is; he may as well be on steroids."
It suddenly made more sense why Gai was well stocked with traditional tea cups but didn't have any coffee mugs. I had found it odd. Ever since the caffeinated beverage had become popular almost two decades ago most families had switched over to the large handled mug for their everyday morning glassware. They usually reserved the traditional tea cups for, well, tea so it had stood out to me when I'd discovered that Gai didn't have coffee mugs. In this day and age everyone drank coffee. Everyone had a coffee mug….except for Might Gai apparently.
"What do we do?" I asked, feeling more than a little responsible for what happened. With the way he'd tossed Genma across the room like he was made of paper there probably wasn't much I could do. That being said, I could at least offer.
My brother crossed his arm and I saw the corner of his lips curl upward into a small smirk.
"You can go about your day. Don't worry about Gai - he'll run out of steam eventually."
XxX
"Hey, Kiyoko! Didn't expect to see you way out here!" I was immediately drawn away from the large '50% Off' sign in the store window to the familiar voice behind me, who I turned to face.
Yuzuha Nara was making her way towards me, dressed in very unfamiliar casual attire and waving. I was used to her standard black skirt suit, bun and heels so like with Tamaki it took me a moment to adjust to what I was seeing.
Instead of fighting her medium length, unruly black hair into a bun she had simply pulled it back into a spiky ponytail. Several strands fell out of the style to frame her face; she was wearing light makeup and long dangling earrings. She had on a pair of black cropped pants and a light green top with short sleeves that I recognized as having the Nara Clan symbol on the shoulder. A simple, brown leather purse was slung over her shoulder and there was a pair of grey, flat sandals on her feet.
While she was normally rather stern, Yuzuha appeared to be uncharacteristically jovial and even had a twisted grin like a child who'd just gotten away with something.
Behind her, looking rather put-out, was a man that I recognized with very little difficulty. The long, bristling red hair, large build and distinct purple facial markings were unmistakable. Choza Akimichi had been Genma's sensei for many years and even after he had become a chunin, the man had remained one of my brother's confidants. Personally, I hadn't seen him in at least four years. It wasn't on purpose, as I knew for a fact my brother still met and trained with the Akimichi Clan Head often. It was simply that our paths rarely crossed.
The closer the woman got to me, the less she waved until she was standing directly in front of me motionless. By the time she did so her face had fallen back into her regular stern expression and she pinned me with her sharp brown gaze.
"Well?" She began, a hand rising up to hold her chin in thought as her eyes roamed my form curiously, "what are you doing way out here in the Harashi District?"
"I'm in the Harashi District?" I questioned with a blank face, taking a moment to look around. With all of my clothes destroyed in the raid on my home, I had chosen to use my day off in order to shop for new ones. I couldn't rewash the same outfit forever: even I wasn't that frugal. Still, I had become distracted following the sale signs and it appeared I had accidentally wandered all the way to the other side of the village.
I supposed there were worse districts to wander into.
The Harashi District was the district that bordered the Nara Clan compound on the edge of the village and for that reason most of the buildings were owned by the deer-herding clan and rented out. It was probably one of the cleaner districts in the village and primarily consisted of middle-class shinobi families who paid rent to the Nara Clan. Now that I knew which district I was in, it was no surprise to see Yuzuha there.
"Typical. Probably following the sales and lost track, huh?" She finally seemed to decide without me having to provide a direct answer.
"Pretty much." I agreed bluntly.
"Not like you to go shopping for clothes." She commented, "Are you looking for something in particular?"
"Not really. I just have to replace my wardrobe."
"Oh! The police force knocked on our door that night but we had no information for them so Shikaku sent them away. I hadn't realized until Tamaki said something yesterday that it had been your apartment that had been ransacked. I was in Tomita Village for most of the day so didn't get a chance to check on you either. Are you alright?" I wasn't surprised that Tamaki had told Yuzuha what had happened. I was surprised to hear that the police force had expanded their search for the perpetrator all the way to the Nara Clan compound.
"I'm fine. I wasn't home or anything."
"I'm glad you're okay. Do you need a place to stay? I'm sure my brother wouldn't mind if you needed somewhere to sleep for a few days. In fact, Yoshino would probably love having you. You're pretty cute - you'd be fun for her to dress up." Yoshino was Yuzuha's abrasive, sister-in-law whom she had formed a close bond with. I probably heard more about Yoshino on a daily basis then I did about Shikaku, Yuzuha's older brother.
There was just over a year in age difference between the two siblings, Shikaku being born July 15th and Yuzuha being born July 17th the following year. For this reason, the siblings had been raised almost as if they were the same age by their parents - their birthday celebrations were even conjoined. This had resulted in Yuzuha rarely being able to see Shikaku as the older brother he actually was, let alone give him the respect one tended to give an elder sibling.
Instead, I had discovered by listening to Yuzuha, she had become accustomed to getting her way as far as Shikaku was concerned. Once he had gotten married, she had found a partner in bullying the laid-back man in the form of his new bride, Yoshino. While Shikaku had fully expected his new wife to want his sister out of their family home, Yoshino had (to his horror) taken a liking to Yuzuha and insisted that her sister-in-law remain to help her run the household.
She claimed that managing the Nara Clan Head's household was too much work on her own and that she needed the support. Shikaku had been unable to refuse and Yuzuha, with nowhere else to go and delighted at the prospect, hadn't refused. Ever since, the poor man had spent all of his days tormented by the two overbearing women.
"It's fine. Genma's made arrangements for now. We'll probably start looking at new apartments soon." I explained.
It was at that moment something clicked and recognition bloomed across Choza's face.
"You're one of Genma's sisters?" He began, blinking a few times, "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you at first. I hadn't seen either of you in a long time. Last time I saw you, you only came up to my knee."
Apparently it had been even longer than four years. While I had never necessarily been tall I'd been the same height since I was fourteen which at least brought me up to the man's chest.
"When was the last time you ate something?" Yuzuha inquired suddenly, looking me up and down as if examining some exotic creature. I was quiet, mostly because I couldn't remember when I had last eaten. I realized that the last time I had eaten was when I'd had breakfast at Tamaki's yesterday morning.
In response to this thought, my stomach growled.
"I had a feeling. You wouldn't believe it Choza," She turned her attention to the Akimichi Clan head and crossed her arms, effectively cutting me out of the conversation, "this one must filter-feed or something. She can never remember to eat."
Yuzuha did this from time to time. She'd have an open conversation with someone in front of me about something I had or hadn't done. Not eating was typically what she took issue with. Before I had Tamaki to pull me away from my desk at lunchtime, Yuzuha (being my supervisor) had caught on to the fact that I had a habit of getting absorbed in my work and missing meals. It very obviously irked her. When outright ordering me to go eat hadn't worked, the woman had chosen to get creative with her methods.
When there wasn't another person available she would instead have this conversation with thin air. It was her way of scolding me for not taking better care of myself, which was sweet in a way because it reminded me that Yuzuha was concerned about me in more than just a professional capacity.
I was long used to her antics, so I just watched the conversation unfold with a blank expression on my face.
Choza went red and spluttered, his mouth dropping open in shock, likely horrified at the thought of missing even a single meal.
"What?" He exclaimed, "No way! You need to eat, Little Shiranui!"
The exclamation caused the corners of my lips to upturn slightly. When Atsuko was still around, Choza had never been able to tell us apart so he had resorted to calling us 'Little Shiranui' whenever he needed to address us. While I'm sure he'd heard through the grapevine that Konohagakure was now down a Shiranui twin, he probably wasn't able to distinguish which one was missing. Even if someone had directly told him, the chances of him remembering which one was still in the village were pretty slim.
"I have an idea!" Yuzuha told the two of us suddenly, her lips slowly growing back into the twisted grin she'd had on her face earlier. "Choza here was just treating me to a meal at one of his clan's new restaurants. Why don't you join us?"
"Uh, I couldn't possibly impose." I was quick to respond. I'd never been comfortable with someone else paying for my meals, let alone someone I barely knew on a personal level.
It was Choza who spoke up.
"It's not imposing. If anyone is imposing its Yuzuha. Trust me; she's unashamed enough for the both of you. This'll be the third meal she's suckered out of me this week and she'salready well fed. You on the other hand look like you could use a good meal! Consider yourself formally invited, Little Shiranui!" he chuckled as he said the last part, ignoring the sharp glare that the tall, black-haired woman threw at him for implying anything in regards to her weight.
Akimichi didn't typically make comments on people's weight or size; it would be rather hypocritical of them, so I had a feeling that this was just well-intentioned banter between the two. Yuzuha confirmed this by crossing her arms again and letting out a clearly un-invested huff in his general direction.
It took several minutes and a few more embarrassing stomach growls before the two finally convinced me to accept the offer.
The new restaurant Yuzuha had mentioned was in the Harashi District and was only a few streets over from where I had encountered them. It didn't look very big or fancy, but it had a cozy feeling that set me at ease as soon as we entered. The entrance was small and low to the ground. Both Choza and Yuzuha had to duck to enter the establishment while at 5 feet I was just barely unhindered. The short curtain in the entrance brushed the top of my head. Recognition dawned on the faces of the staff, who immediately came forward to greet the Akimichi Clan head. Within moments we were escorted to a four-person booth in the far corner of the establishment.
Choza wasn't there for very long before he got into an animated discussion with one of the servers about dumplings and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Yuzuha and I sitting together in silence. Yuzuha was perusing the menu leisurely, looking very much like the cat that ate the canary.
"Feel free to order whatever you want and as much as you want. Choza recently bought this place so today he's testing the menu out to see what he wants to keep, remove or if there is something that just needs improving. He acts like it's a big pain when I come along but don't worry, that's just a thing we do. He and I have been doing this for almost...damn...10 years now? Give or take a few months..." She folded her menu back up and leaned back in her seat, a smile ghosting across her face.
"He used to bring my wimpy brother and Inoichi but they just couldn't keep up with him. One day, as a sort of prank, the two of them convinced me to go with Choza instead. They didn't expect me to be able to keep up with him - let alone for the two of us to have an absolute blast together. Afterwards eating out became a shared hobby of ours." Her head tilted slightly and I noticed that her eyes were out of focus, like she was caught in a memory.
"Now he invites me everytime the Akimichi take over a new place or he has a grand opening. I bring Shikaku leftovers. Sometimes. When I'm feeling generous." She seemed to be internally laughing at the thought, her grin growing wider the longer she explained.
"I noticed that you seem close." I mentioned, still doing my best to focus on the menu. There were a lot of options and all of them sounded either very interesting or unique. I was still looking for something relatively normal when Yuzuha continued.
"Hm, yeah, I suppose. Of my brother's merry band of misfits I was always the closest to Choza, since we may as well have been raised together. I spent almost as much time with Choza as I did Shikaku. I was supposed to marry his brother after all." The comment and the casual way she had said, caused me to pause and peer over the top of my menu.
As far as I knew, at thirty-one years old, Yuzuha didn't have and had never been in a relationship. I had always considered her a kindred spirit in that way, since much like myself she appeared to have little interest in the males species. For this reason, I was intrigued by the information that she had been engaged at one time.
"I can feel that intense look of yours from over here, Kiyoko." Yuzuha said, moving so she could lean on the table with her head in her hand.
"Just a little surprised." I confessed with a muted tone. Yuzuha was strong and invested in her work which to me gave her an untouchable aura. I had always assumed men felt the same way, if they were not more intimidated by her than I was. Perhaps it was wrong of me, since there were plenty of strong women who got married, but for that very reason I didn't really see her as the marrying type.
She hmm'd for a moment, as if making a decision.
"With the way I think now, I can't really see myself being married either. The clans can still be archaic about stuff like marriage and contracts, so I'd been betrothed my entire childhood. I'd been told since I could walk that I was going to marry Chosuke so it became normal. I never questioned it. Which I should have, by the way. I was a smart kid. I'm a little disappointed in myself to be honest." I hadn't been expecting her to elaborate and had a moment of stunned silence in response to the fact that she had even bothered.
A thought occurred to me suddenly and I slowly placed my menu down on the tabletop.
"Is that why you weren't allowed to study at the Ninja Academy?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"You catch on quick," Yuzuha scoffed and for the first time since I'd met her I was able to detect a lingering bitterness in her tone, "Yeah, our parents didn't want to risk me getting killed before we got married. For some reason they all seemed to think that I wouldn't make it to marrying age if I became a kunoichi. It's a little ironic considering Chosuke ended up being the one killed in action at fourteen. Such a double standard."
I was quiet for a moment, attempting to formulate the correct response. While her tone was so casual it almost hurt, I recognized that it couldn't have been easy to lose the person you were told that you were going to spend the rest of your life with. Underneath her lilting tone there was a sadness. Even a little bit of anger. In a way I recognized it. She sounded like she felt...abandoned. Abandoned by Chosuke.
Which was surprisingly something I'd understood, after what happened with Atsuko. I recognized that Atsuko had chosen to leave and that Yuzuha's betrothed had been taken from her but it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility for her to feel that way. Emotions weren't rational after all. They were the exact opposite.
"I'm sorry." I finally decided to say. I knew it was weak but it was all that I could manage.
She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, her chin still buried in the palm of her hand.
"Thank you. I don't think I'll ever be over it - not really. But, well," she sighed and finally moved herself back into an upright sitting position, "what are you going to do? Can't wallow in self-pity forever."
"Alllrigghhttt!" I was prevented from saying anything further when Choza Akimichi returned to the table, carrying three plates heaped with different flavoured dumplings. "I got these to start us off!"
Choza was clearly excited, his mouth salivating and Yuzuha visibly perked up at his return. Her brown eyes were darting between the different platters with anticipation.
That was how our meal started. After we'd begun on the dumplings, I had been encouraged to order a minimum of three things off the menu to try.
Countless dumplings, a bowl of gyudon and a small plate of sashimi later; I had decided that I had eaten enough to keep me going for the next three weeks.
I discovered that Yuzuha's earlier words hadn't been blind boasting.
She really could keep up with Choza Akimichi which for a woman of her size was remarkable. She matched every morsel and bite the man consumed with little to no effort at all. Even after I had slumped back in my seat feeling defeated, the woman was still (to my fascination) packing it away alongside the clan head. I was still watching them eat and speaking with Yuzuha, who was somehow managing to hold a conversation, when the server approached and offered me some green tea. I accepted gratefully, still not willing to leave my hosts but needing something to do while they devoured every crumb in the building.
The Nara and Akimichi were on their fourth dish and had ordered a few large plates of yakitori when it happened. The surface of the tea in my cup began to ripple and the stacked, empty dishes on the table began to clack together. The windows at the front of the restaurant warped and Choza's attention was drawn away from his meal as he looked around questioningly.
The servers had all stopped what they were doing and were swiveling their heads in all directions. Yuzuha had also frozen, a gob of noodles hanging out of her mouth as she raised an eyebrow in response to the growing disturbance.
"What the-?" Choza pondered aloud, putting his chopsticks down and standing up slowly. Without thinking, I wordlessly followed the jonin from the building - although in hindsight it really hadn't been the smartest thing to do. I heard footsteps directly behind me and discovered that Yuzuha was also coming along, still holding her bowl of ramen with noodles hanging limply from her lips. Whatever was going on she was curious but apparently not curious enough to completely abandon her meal.
I heard something in the distance, that started out sounding like a faint buzzing noise. As it got closer, I was able to distinguish that it was a word.
The same word.
Being infinitely stretched out.
"YYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"
"Oh dear." I said with a deadpan expression, causing Yuzuha to 'hmph?' in response from around her food.
"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"
I saw realization spread across Choza's face and his eyes slowly open, growing wide with what I could only describe as terror.
"UUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Yuzuha blinked.
"BEHOLD THE POWER OF YOUTH AND KONOHA'S SUBLIME GREEN BEAN - I MEAN - BEAST!"
At that moment a green blur zoomed past, too quickly for me to distinguish its form, effectively blowing out the windows in the restaurant behind us. I screeched, jumping forward away from the shattering glass. I noticed that the bowl of ramen was now lying in shambles on the dusty ground.
Slowly, Yuzuha's face had begun to go purple. After a moment I realized that the sudden shock had caused her to begin choking on her meal. I scrambled back towards her over the broken glass, trying in vain to assist her in coughing up the noodles that had lodged themselves in her throat. She was hunkered down for a minute, clenching her knees, before to my relief she began to wave me away and pant heavily.
"What in the world was that!?" She exclaimed when she had finally caught her breath.
No one answered her as our attention was caught by a team of ANBU, looking more distressed then I was sure they were allowed, jogging in the direction the blur had disappeared. Their uniforms were ripped and torn, more than one of them appeared to be bleeding profusely. A few of them had chips or cracks in their white masks and their jogging looked agonized, as if every movement was tearing a ligament or straining a new muscle. When the ANBU finally disappeared around a building at the end of the street, Choza brought a large hand up to run through his mass of red hair.
"Who gave Might Gai coffee?" He asked in utter disbelief.
I shrugged my shoulders.
XxX
Thankfully the shattered windows hadn't bothered Choza a bit since he claimed he'd already been planning to renovate the restaurant to have an open patio at the front.
We'd returned to our table and after a few more minutes of eating, Yuzuha finally told the Akimichi clan head that she was dismissing herself. She claimed that the sound of the servers sweeping up glass was failing to maintain her appetite. I took that opportunity to also say goodbye, thanking the clan head vigorously for his generous invitation to lunch.
While I didn't know much about the man he was just as sweet as I remembered from when I was a child. He'd blushed in response to the thanks and told me that once the restaurant went through its grand re-opening I was more than welcome to attend with my brother. His treat. He also admitted that he hadn't seen Genma in a few months and asked if I would let him know that he was interested in sparring with him sometime soon. I agreed to pass the message along, waving all the while.
When Yuzuha and I exited the building together, I expected for us to say our goodbyes and go our separate ways. However, my former supervisor had something else in mind and continued to walk with me through the village, offering to help me replace all my clothing.
"It was about time you updated your wardrobe anyway. You're too young and hip to be dressing like us old fashioned ladies. Have you ever considered pants?" She asked finally, pointing to a store we passed which was not having a sale. There was a rack at the front of the store under the awning that had several pairs of nicely tailored, grey slacks. I could smell the price tag from across the street.
I didn't stop walking and hoped Yuzuha would get the hint that if there wasn't a sale sign I wouldn't be going inside.
Plus, I didn't really like the idea of wearing pants to the office. I just wasn't a pants person.
"I don't think I'd like to wear pants to work," I started, "it would feel strange."
At that exact moment I spotted a bold '30% OFF!' sign farther down the street, accompanied by a rack of promising looking dresses. I made a straight line towards them and once I arrived, began flipping through the styles at almost lighting speed. If nothing caught my eye or I couldn't find anything my size I would move on just as quickly as I'd come.
Yuzuha joined in quietly, holding up a style every now and then that I would either tilt or shake my head at.
"How are things going with the Uzumaki case?" She asked after a few minutes, while I was holding up two dresses in front of me. I didn't really like either but the price was right.
"Well, he can't read or write and I have no idea how to teach him." I said with a straight face, loathe to remember the most recent issue I'd encountered when handling Naruto.
I was met with silence and after a few moments I slowly lowered the dresses to look at her. She appeared to be with deep contemplation, to the point that I could almost see the cogs grinding and clicking into place. I jumped slightly when she suddenly snapped her fingers.
"Well that seems pretty easy. Why don't you hire through the Civil Affairs Office?" I raised an eyebrow which prompted her to elaborate, "A word to the right people and you could probably hire a tutor using a mixture of the kid's budget and grants from the Department of Education. He is an orphan; he has to qualify for something. There's no need to teach him all by yourself. I kind of owe that kid for the refugee thing - how about you let me help you with the hiring process?"
"You seem sure that I'd get the approval and the funding." I responded, making note of the fact that she mentioned that she owed Naruto for helping her with housing the refugees. I recalled thinking how all of those people owed Naruto for their fresh start in life and they would never realize it. Something about the fact that Yuzuha recognized that cultivated my already deep respect for the woman.
She went to open her mouth again but she was paused by a distant and sadly familiar sound. The two of us snapped our heads to the rooftop across the street, where a green blur whizzed by followed by what appeared to be a growing team of ANBU. They had doubled in number since the last time Gai had run by. Quite embarrassingly, one stumbled in what appeared to be exhaustion, tripped and fell flat on its face. Out of consideration for what I assumed was an extremely humiliated elite ninja, Yuzuha and I returned to our browsing and conversation as if nothing had happened.
"Of course you'll get the funding. Likely with the same amount of ease that you were able to convince them to spare that building. Naruto Uzumaki has been a pain in the council's side since he was born." Her head tilted slightly to the side and she bit the inside of her cheek in thought, "As far as I can tell, they're just relieved to have someone whose actually solving problems instead of creating them."
I put both ugly dresses back on the rack, deciding that even if the price was right I wouldn't be caught dead wearing them.
"If you can convince Lord Hokage that it is in Uzumaki's best interest and convince the council that it is in their best interest, then the approval and funding is yours." Yuzuha seemed to have picked up on my silent queue that I was planning to leave and also turned.
"Alright. I think I'll take you up on that offer." I agreed, "Consider yourself on the hiring committee."
XxX
When I returned to Gai's apartment that evening, shopping bags in hand and feeling infinitely satisfied with the way my day had gone, I had to stutter step to avoid stepping on Gai's collapsed form. He was passed out on his back in the middle of the floor with his eyes rolled back in his head and drool running out the side of his mouth.
Genma was perched cross-legged on the couch with a steaming cup of instant ramen in his one hand. Standing in front of him were two ANBU, who even I was able to tell were extremely unimpressed under their stoic white masks.
It looked like they were finally able to catch Konoha's Sublime Green Bean...I meant Beast.
