Title: Between Sun and Moon.
By: Kaara.
Disclaimer: … Do I have to go through this mundane routine again? Fine. I don't own Naruto. Happy now?
Warning: Serious lack of explicit fighting scenes. I love them. I hate writing them. You can't make me write them. Live with it.
I was… dead, went to Hell… and got resurrected just now? (runs off from mad readers) I'm sorry for not updating this story! I really do! And I think I'll try to keep on writing, in hope to complete this (one day). So, just bear with me for just a couple of months/years/decades, yes?
And it was kinda disturbing to know that at least three out of five of my reviewers encouraged me to write Kakashi/Sasuke gayness galore. That, or merely stating that of course, they're both already gay. It was that obvious, huh?
Now, shoo, go read fic!
xxx
Chapter Eleven: Jargon
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"You're next, little girl."
Ino could feel her hands trembling, unable to tear her eyes away from the two unknown mercenaries that had just reduced her jounin teacher to mere chunks of oozing red meat. Her mind was frantically trying to send signals to her limbs; move, move, move, or you'll get KILLED! It was a futile attempt, as she still stood her ground, though unwillingly. Both darkly-clad men shared sinister grins, gauntleted hands making odd, clinking noise as they advanced swiftly towards the petrified girl in perfect unison, like a pair of shinigami howling for fresh blood. The chains' smooth rustle resounded loudly in her ears; horrible, horrible ugly chains. She never did like chains in the first place.
She was convinced that she would loathe it from that day onwards.
The necklace felt oddly cold against her skin.
Crook No. 1 lashed out his hand, and Ino found herself staring stupidly ahead as chains whizzed towards her, whistling shrilly from their friction against the air. Her legs still refused to respond to the signals from her brain.
NOMoveIdon'twanttodieMOVEIwanttolivedon'tDIEpleasedon't—
"Ino-chan!"
"Ino!"
She felt hands roughly shoving her out of Death's way, as rattles of metal missed her by less than an inch. Not dead. Someone saved her. Close, much too close. The ground was hard underneath her sweaty palms, sharp blades of grass poking at her exposed, clammy skin. She was sweating profusely, drops of perspiration trailing down from her feverish forehead. Cooling her hot skin. Everything was swimming in her vision, moving globs of colour representing the world. Too much colours, and she still felt nauseous. Ino shakily stood up, supporting her weight with both hands and took short, calming breath, something that Inoshi had taught her after she had killed her first rabbit in their hunting trip.
"You can never accept death as a part of you, because when you do, it will replace your humanity," she could almost hear her father said, his tone low and grave as he skinned the rabbit. She was only nine, still green to the harsh reality of their life, and the knife felt heavy in her hands. "So, princess, stare Death in the eyes and show no fear. Don't lose yourself, and you won't lose the battle."
Why didn't she remember sooner?
She had lost herself for that several seconds, and it almost ran off with her life.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Ino shook her head, forcing her mind back on track. No use berating herself for something that she couldn't change. She couldn't afford to lose herself again. Not now. Not after what nearly happened. Her fingers were clenched into tight fists, and she told herself to relax, forcefully reconnecting the link between her limbs, her nerves and her brain. Time was something that she couldn't afford to waste; seconds ticking away as she congregated her scattered wits. The blonde girl instantly switched her attention to her team mates, and Tazuna-san. She had gathered that they were the one that had saved her frozen ass, as she vaguely recalled two different voices yelling at her. If they were not in a life-and-death situation, Ino was quite sure that both of them would be teasing her right now, gloating of how they rescued her.
She wished that they would, because then, that would meant that they were not in danger.
That Kakashi-sensei couldn't have been dead.
Ino pointedly averted her eyes from the red patch of ground that held the remnant of the jounin and stared at her team mates, trying in vain to ignore the prickle of tears from the back of her eyes.
Naruto and Sasuke were both engaged with the gauntleted killers in a dance of death, each holding on rather admirably, seeing that it was quite clear which side had the most experience. They didn't seem scared, didn't freeze up like she did (oh, the shame!). It was almost as if they were enjoying the rush of adrenaline that only a good fight could bring. Ino followed their movements with burning envy, noting how smoothly Sasuke evaded a vertical slash from one of the dark-clad killers (she couldn't even differentiate them properly; their fashion consultant must've been an undertaker or plain dead, with the black theme and all!) and Naruto's ease in choreographing his attacks with his shadow clones. The blonde boy had slowly abandon his 'swamp-the-enemies-with-my-army-of-clones' infamous technique under Kakashi-sensei's tutelage (Ino flinched at the thought of her teacher), those precious few hours where the jounin would make a sad attempt to teach them something, which usually ended in disaster.
But Kakashi-sensei did try. He did!
… And now he couldn't even see how they fared.
Refusing to yield to her grief, Ino gritted her teeth and steeled her clenching heart, grey-blue eyes clouding for a split second, though no tears actually escaped. Kakashi-sensei would've been proud with her. The blonde girl was slowly regaining her old strength, one of her hands flying up to harshly wipe her eyes. Tazuna-san was standing not too far from her, his eyes switching in between Naruto, Sasuke and her. There was relief on his weathered face when he saw Ino getting back on her feet, the wrinkles on his forehead smoothed for a split second. After what looked like a flash of hesitation, Tazuna finally ran to her side, arriving in several long strides. Ino was partly annoyed and partly thankful when Tazuna slid his strong hands protectively against her back, stabilizing her slightly shaking legs. The images of Kakashi-sensei being slashed into pieces stubbornly plagued her mind, and Ino doubted that she would able to sleep that night. If they survive these two madmen, that is.
"You okay, kid?" the old bridge-builder asked, concern dripping from his lowered voice. "You look pale."
Ino turned to him and nodded slowly, though she was tempted to reply with a scathing "Well, what d'you expect? My feckin' teacher got butchered in front of my eyes!", but thought better of it. Tazuna-san was, after all, trying to help her. Her hands automatically slipped into her weapon pouch, relief and confidence coursing like quicksilver inside her veins when her fingers curled around the cool handles of her kunai. I'm a proud ninja, and I'd damn well not die here! Not in the hands of those coward bastards! Ino discarded her duffel bag in one smooth movement and gripped her kunai tighter, falling into a defensive stance in front of Tazuna.
First thing's first…
"Tazuna-san, please stay behind me," she spoke out, a tad surprise that she actually managed to sound calm. Her head was still buzzing, and she still felt like keeling over and puked her breakfast out. "Our mission is to protect you until you arrive in the Wave Country, and even if our teacher is… not here, we still have the responsibility to complete this mission."
The white-haired man scoffed at her authority-like words. "This coming from a little girl that looked like she's about to faint two minutes ago."
A light flush of humiliation coloured the blonde girl's cheeks, and Ino had to fight the temptation to just shove a kunai up the man's ass. Instead, she inhaled deeply and said, "I apologize for that slip. It's solely my fault." Curt and formal.
"You're lucky those two boys were quick to react."
Ino grimaced like she had been slapped with a live, wriggling salmon.
He didn't need to pour salt into the already existing wounds.
Clashes of steel against steel snapped her attention back to the fights between her team mates and those two mercenaries, where Sasuke had just managed to trap one of them with a clever, if not complicated, trick. The chains from the killer's gauntlet were wrapped around his own body, tying him up conveniently to a tree. Ino bit her lower lip in anticipation as the Uchiha moved in for the kill, before realizing that the other killer had slipped through Naruto's clones and had lashed his chain towards Sasuke's blank point, intending to catch the dark-haired boy unaware. It was too late to warn Sasuke, and too far for Naruto to intercept or stop the attack. Ino did what she thought would be rational at that point; she threw one of her kunai towards the whistling chain, the tip of the kunai snagging a link of the chain by luck (though she would rather kiss Tazuna-san than admit that) and misdirected it from Sasuke.
Which resulted in one half of the homicidal duo suddenly (and unfortunately) remembered that Ino was still pretty much alive and well.
Crap. Blast it.
"Tazuna-san, HIDE!" Ino hastily yelled, drawing out another kunai to replace the one that she had used to save Sasuke as the assassin knocked back Naruto and a couple of his clones, advancing towards her and the bridge-builder. She pushed Tazuna towards a nearby tree, gesturing wildly for the old man to get his wrinkled ass out of harm's way.
Ino braced herself for an attack, her eyes warily following the swift approach of her soon-to-be murderer, with full knowledge that she would be sharing Kakashi's fate if she was not careful. The chain rattled like an ominous giant snake towards her, but she had enough sense not to let the horrendous afterimage of the jounin's untimely death to affect her like before. Instead of fear, molten fury demolished any last fragments of doubt, the old thrill of a good fight replacing uncertainty. Ino had thrived to be a fighter, better than most of the kunoichi of her age, and she would rather die fighting, than running off like a coward with her tail between her legs (figuratively speaking, of course). She wouldn't allow this creep to humiliate her in front of her team mates again.
Her grip on the kunai significantly tightened.
Naruto and Sasuke had better protect Tazuna-san after this!
She snorted inwardly at the thought of herself dying a glorious death ("I'll die for you! -cue in a truckload of chains/slashing/general murderous activities- Ack!" Really, she had been watching too much drama lately…), though her mind automatically followed the wide arc of the killer's hands as he brought them forward, nasty-looking claws protruding from the gauntlet. ("Great. First chains, and now oversized toothpicks. What'll he pull out his ass next? Sporks?" ) Despite that, she knew that he was a professional, a dangerous one at that. Though he clearly lacked the finesse of a jounin-level shinobi ("How'd Kakashi-sensei got killed anyway?"), he was way out of her league. The only reason why Sasuke and Naruto had managed to fare against those two maniacs so far was because they were stronger than your average genin.
From the corner of her eyes, the blonde girl saw Naruto rushing towards her, only a few feet behind the mercenary. There was panic and something quite unrecognisable (Fear? For her?) etched onto his whiskered face, but she knew that he couldn't catch up in time. And it was certainly not for the lack of trying. A glance to her left showed that Sasuke had either killed or knocked Crook No. 2 unconscious (she hoped with much vehemence that it was the former), and was also sprinting forward with the intention to aid her. Such loyal, wonderful team mates; they could've made a great team. It was surprising how much one can notice in the span of several seconds, and Ino briefly wondered if her life would start flashing through her eyes.
Heh, that would be fun to watch. Twelve years of achieving nothing.
Ino raised her kunai so that it was levelled with her eyes, crouching into a defensive stance.
Reminiscing could wait for later.
Right now, she had a dead jounin to avenge and a miserable granddaddy to defend.
Much to her surprise (and chagrin), the gauntleted assassin manoeuvred around her, instead of facing her off. Ino was confused by the sudden action, as she was quite convinced that he looked as if he had intended to shred her to pieces. The blonde girl first thought that he was trying to attack her from behind, sneaking an attack like the tricky bastard that he was, but changed her mind upon realizing that he had moved well out of attacking range. The bastard was actually heading to the opposite direction, towards… oh shit, Tazuna-san!
Tazuna's eyes were wide as saucers when he realized that he was the true target, and Ino watched with desperation as the assassin drew closer to their client's hiding place. She knew that even if she tried, she would be too late to stop him. Much too late.
What happened afterwards was something that Ino would never, ever forget anywhere in the near future. Or rather, if anyone ever confront her and asked her what she felt at that particular point in her life, Ino would most probably toss her head and punch that unlucky person's face for daring to ask her that question. Really, it was hard enough to try to explain one emotion that you were feeling at one time; trying to explain the myriad of sensations ravaging her body like a troop of starving hyenas would be a plain impossible task.
Ino honestly couldn't explain how she felt when she saw Kakashi-sensei standing before Tazuna-san, one hand stopping the assassin's outstretched claws.
Relief. Disbelief. Anger. Grief. Fury. Delight. Alarmed. Joy.
Kakashi-sensei!
Ino could feel her legs giving out underneath her, turning into jelly.
Kakashi-sensei… is alive!
Ino would've collapsed onto the ground from the sudden overload of emotions if it wasn't for two pairs of strong hands supporting her, allowing her to lean heavily against them. She could faintly discern Naruto's golden spikes and Sasuke's dark locks from her sides; and the strong trace of blood and sweat from her two team mates. Her eyes were still fixated on the figure wearing Konoha's green jounin vest, hoping, praying that she had not died and went to… well, wherever it was that ninja's went to when they die.
Kakashi-sensei twisted the captured limb in his hand, sending the assassin onto his knees and into a howling frenzy. Fast as lightning, the jounin jabbed several places on the assassin's body with his index finger, before releasing his hold and stared down at his immobile captive. Kakashi patted Tazuna's shoulder before turning to head towards his students. He stood before them, and flashed the three genins a winning smile (not that you can see it from underneath the mask).
"Good job, genins. You've just succeeded in defending the client on your own."
Ino felt like crying and laughing at the same time.
Staring up at Kakashi-sensei, she settled on kicking his shin.
The jounin (unexpectedly) didn't avoid the feeble attack, and instead leaned over to mess up their respective hair (much to their chagrin). He straightened up, visible eye curved into a happy crescent. And turned to Tazuna-san, who was conspicuously kicking the stock-still assassin before him. "Now, I assume that you will be telling us what you've been hiding from us, Tazuna-san?"
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"Are you okay, Ino-chan?"
The blonde kunoichi looked up from her spot on the ground, bandages held firmly in her hand from her earlier task in bandaging a small wound on her knee. She smiled at Naruto, who was hovering over her. "Much better." She scratched the back of her head and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry about freezing up before. And thanks for saving my ass."
Naruto grinned back, clear blue eyes sparkling brilliantly. He placed a hand on Ino's shoulder. "You almost scared me to death. But I'm glad you're okay now."
"You need to be careful next time, Ino," the stern voice belonged to Sasuke; the Uchiha having abandoned his spot near to where Kakashi-sensei and Tazuna-san was currently having a conversation. He was standing rigidly in front of her, dark eyes shadowed and unreadable. "You could've died back there."
"Don't you think I am aware of that already?" Ino retorted irately, though her lips curled into a smile a split second later. "Thanks for saving me, Sasuke."
The dark-haired boy scoffed and crossed his arms. "It'd be troublesome to drag your carcass back home."
Hearing Sasuke muttered the word 'troublesome' sent Ino into a giggling fit, a sudden vision of the Uchiha with a pineapple-like hairstyle invading her mind without her consent. Naruto cocked his head to a side at his team mate's strange behaviour, and Sasuke scowled darkly. That only succeeded in making Ino's giggles explode anew and had a rapid increase in volume. She only stopped when Kakashi-sensei strolled towards them in his usual lazy slouch, trailed by a harassed-looking Tazuna-san. She immediately stood up to join her team mates, dusting the back of her pants and tucking back the roll of bandage into her bag.
"We're dropping the mission," their grey-haired sensei unceremoniously announced to his team, running one hand through his spiky hair.
Naruto was the first to break through the shocked stupor that had descended upon Team Seven from the announcement. He looked at Tazuna-san, who looked away (with something akin to embarrassment on his face) upon eye contact. "But WHY?"
"Tazuna-san has broken the contract when he lied about the class of this mission," Kakashi patiently explained, regarding his students with one-eyed half-glare. "We have no reason to protect him onwards, and should anything happen to him in the future, he is no longer our responsibility."
"And if there are more assassins—"
Kakashi sighed. "He is no longer our responsibility, Ino."
"But we can't abandon him here!" Naruto was positively livid with fury, and his eyes burned with rage. "We agreed to protect Tazuna-san until he arrives safely."
"Naruto, I don't think you understand how the missions work," the jounin countered with a surprising amount of patience in his calm voice. "Once a contract is broken, it no longer binds us to the client. We are paid to follow the contract."
Sasuke, who had been silent throughout the exchange, coughed softly and said, "But we can still go on with the mission if we want to, correct?"
The jounin shrugged. "Sure you can. But it won't be good for your own security."
"Then I'm still escorting Tazuna-san back!" Naruto and Ino shouted in unison, their passionate cry ringing through the landscape.
Sasuke snorted.
Kakashi shook his head and wondered for the umpteenth times why he ended up with these brats. "It's up to you. Just don't complain if something bad comes our way."
"No way!" Ino flashed a thumb's up at her sensei, grinning widely. "I thrive on danger!"
Collective sweat drop suspended on everyone's heads.
Tazuna-san came forward, his steps slow and unsure. "I shouldn't have done what I did. But, there was no other way, and I apologize for what had happened to you. I didn't know that Gatou would go as far as sending assassins to wait for me."
"Right, right, ojii-san," interjected Naruto, before more display of remorse could commence. He turned to his team mates, sensei and client, and energetically proclaimed, "Yosh, let's go!"
TBC
Review, or I shall take another year to update!
Kaara