So, we get into more political trappings, but more importantly we get into a ton of stressed relationship stuff. I mean, no one thought our protagonist would just be forgiven by everyone so easily? Moreover, more Pakura! Believe me when I say there is never enough Pakura.
But speaking of the female cast, I'm slightly saddened that no one said Kin was their favorite chick in the story so far. Poor Kin, no love in canon or Fanfiction. I for one am quite sad to see her go since she was so fun to write in tandem with our protagonist, and it'll be such a long time before we see her again.
Having trained under the hot desert sun for most of the afternoon, Pakura and her apprentice sat in the shade of an oasis tree to relax, drinking out of canteens they had brought along to remain hydrated during their regimen. It was especially important today because the Jonin had been teaching Ash a water jutsu that required him to expel water from his own body. It posed a higher risk of dehydration out here in the desert, but either way she was sure Ash appreciated the Aqua Hammer. It was nifty for pelting those vultures that hovered around the village from time to time.
Glancing over at the blonde boy that had been her personal student for the last two years, Pakura smiled fondly at the sight of him gulping down a second canteen right after finishing the first. Naturally he had practiced the Aqua Hammer to a level of competence, meaning he had lost a lot of water. In the past he hadn't been willing to display such a need for regular human sustenance, but after this long in Pakura's company he was never uncomfortable about anything. Their relationship was close enough that he came to her about anything and everything.
It was similar to the relationship Pakura had formed with Maki, but not quite. Maki hadn't been an orphan, and she hadn't grown up without the affection or care of some older female in her life. That said, Pakura had always been unsure of what her exact relationship with Ash was. Definitely more than just a master and student. And that went both ways. She really cared a lot about this kid that was reclining on the tree beside her. He'd brought some real worth to her life. Real value; real smiles, real laughs, real passion and experiences that would be lifelong memories. He was family, in every sense that mattered.
Lost in these thoughts for a moment, Pakura was snapped from her musing when the young blonde against the tree asked for her attention with the last words she had been expecting.
"Hey Mom-"
Ash's words died in his throat immediately as he glanced over at his teacher, who looked back in equal shock. The little blonde blanched in horror as he shot to his feet to make a hasty retreat from the woman he had completely misidentified.
He got roughly three steps away as Pakura tried to comprehend the situation and formulate a response to what just happened. Thankfully she had always been quick. "A-Ash, hold on a minute."
The short blonde turned on his heel to seemingly placate her, though he avoided her gaze all the same. "No, just forget it. That was an accident, it's no big deal. Forget about it!"
Seeing through his flimsy act was no great feat all things considered, so Pakura got to her feet to give chase before he actually ran off. She could tell that he was embarrassed. But more than that, he was humiliated. Whether it was because he thought he was being weak by admitting such a relationship or for desiring one of that nature, Pakura had no idea.
Thankfully Ash only made it to the edge of the oasis pool before Pakura had her arms hooked over his shoulders. "Ash, hold on a minute."
The young boy sighed, his body stiff with anxiety. "Look, I'm sorry-"
"Don't be sorry. Or embarrassed. I'm not mad."
The blonde said nothing in reply, though his body did relax just a bit. His silence prompted Pakura to continue. "Look Ash, I know you went a really long time without a mother figure in your life-"
"Pakura-"
"And it's important for anyone and everyone to have a mother-"
"Pakura really it's not-"
Pakura cut him off with a tighter hug. "And I'm glad that, for someone like you who had a choice, you chose me. I'm honored to be the mother of an amazing kid like you."
Silence reigned supreme for a few moments, in which Pakura wondered if she had said the wrong thing. After a moment of silence, she realized the boy in her arms was sniffling.
"Thanks... um, d-does that mean, you... think of me as a son?"
His Jonin teacher smiled as she tugged the boy towards her for a cheeky embrace. "The best son a mother could ask for."
Pakura smiled at a memory that resided in a special corner of her heart, her face hidden behind a Leaf Anbu mask as she stood in the shadows atop one of the Hidden Leaf's undamaged buildings. Needless to say it had not been easy to remain in the Hidden Leaf after Suna forces had pulled out, and she imagined that whoever was in charge of the Hidden Sand right now was trying to attribute something to her fate other than MIA. She would return to Suna of course, but not now. Not until she was absolutely sure he was safe.
That said, the ANBU disguise she had 'appropriated' from an enemy during the battle had served her well while moving throughout the village. In the aftermath of the attack, almost no one questioned whatever an ANBU was doing at any point in time, even other ANBU. Everyone just assumed that all of the shinobi running around the village were doing something important. Of course, she had also been quick to dye her hair, the multicolored nature of her strands by far the most recognizable thing about her. She had settled for a simple dyed brown over a transformation jutsu, on the merit that a transformation jutsu could be seen through.
She had spent the last few days sneaking around the Hidden Leaf and more or less keeping an eye on Ash and his siblings in any way she could. She had of course been terrified to learn that an execution was planned for the trio of kids, but miraculously the Leaf council had decided not to do it even at the behest of the acting Hokage. Of course, it was the logical course of action: considering leverage, possible information, and overall profit, there were way more benefits to keeping the Suna Genin alive as opposed to killing them publicly for a morale boost.
Of course, by now Pakura had managed to discern the nature of Ash's survival. He and his siblings would essentially serve as Leaf ninja, running missions to rake in cash to pay for the damages that they had helped cause. All while under extremely stringent Leaf supervision of course. They would also likely be under house arrest or something, but Pakura cared less about that and more about the fact that they were going to live. Of course, she had possessed a backup plan if they really were going to get executed. Granted, it had an extremely low chance of success and Pakura had been nearly guaranteed to die carrying it out, but the point was that she had a plan if things went that far south.
Glancing down at an apartment complex that she had determined would house her pupil separate from his siblings elsewhere in the village, Pakura sighed in frustration. Aside from the fate of her student and his team, there was another thing to worry about in the form of Konoha's inevitable retaliation towards the Hidden Sand. After all, they had to retaliate somehow. If they just let Suna off the hook for an act of war this straightforward, the rest of the world would think them soft, an invitation for further attacks from other villages.
But as far as Pakura could tell, Konoha wasn't looking to launch a counter-attack, not yet at any rate. There was no obvious military buildup, no organization for attack... right now they seemed like they were too focused on reconstruction to do anything against the Hidden Sand. That was understandable considering the massive damage that had been inflicted on their village infrastructure.
Being a member of the upper echelon of the Suna military hierarchy, Pakura had of course known that the Hidden Sound were going to be their allies for the invasion. But what had only come to light recently was the fact that the Kazekage was missing after the battle, likely because he had been missing before the battle. The running theory was that the Kazekage had been impersonated by the alleged leader of the Hidden Sound, Orochimaru, at the time of the invasion. And that raised many serious questions. Was the Kazekage still alive? How long had Orochimaru been impersonating him? And had Suna gone to war on the orders of Orochimaru under the guise of their kage?
It was possible that Orochimaru had been impersonating the Kazekage for weeks or months. It was plausible that Orochimaru had been masquerading long enough to order the assault on Konoha in the first place.
That said, if that were the truth Konoha couldn't fairly hold Suna responsible for the invasion. Of course, realistically they still could and probably would. Though personally Pakura would find that pretty messed up considering that Orochimaru was their traitor from their village. One way or another, there was no way to be sure of any of that until the Kazekage was found, dead or alive.
These worries plagued the masquerading Suna Jonin with more than a little urgency, but for now she was content to watch over the most important little blonde in her life until the day she was sure he was safe.
There had been an exceptionally unusual chain of events these past few days that had thrown Ash for a loop in far too many ways for him to be comfortable. First, the invasion that had pitted him against the girl he had strong feelings for. Then, a trial that he had expected to be sentenced to death in only for the exact opposite to occur. And now, after a few days of imprisonment following that ordeal, he got to look forward to house arrest as his career as a pseudo Leaf ninja began.
Needless to say, he was far from excited. Despite not being an overly nationalistic individual, Ash still wasn't eager to switch allegiances to the enemy. In Suna, at least he was a respected member of the military community, and despite being an inherent tool as a shinobi, he had still possessed more value as a person there. Now that he would be serving the Hidden Leaf, he would well and truly be a tool and nothing else. His only purpose would be to further the position of the Leaf, to accrue money for them through service. To provide them with information and techniques on his village. He served only a practical purpose, and had no worth emotionally or personally. It was the strict definition of a tool.
But truth be told that was a minor irritant. Serving one village as a ninja was all the same as serving another. It was the people around him that made a difference, and the people around him had changed. In Suna he was surrounded by friends, family, mentors and comrades. He was comfortable in Suna, because he knew who was there, and he knew how they felt about him. Now that he was in Konoha for good, at least as far as the immediate future was concerned, Ash was surrounded by uncertainty.
He had no idea what anyone would think of him. He had settled something with Tenten on the day of the battle, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be angry. She had even said that she hadn't forgiven him. And of course Hanabi was an impressionable young girl that was prone to flat out hate him for being an enemy of her home. And who knew how Sakura or Ino would treat him, especially the latter after the loss of one of her own teammates at the hands of Ash's sister.
Though he hated to admit it to himself, Ash was nervous. Even a little scared. He found it downright silly: he had faced life or death situations without fear before, and yet here he was, almost sick to his stomach thinking about being disliked of all things. It seemed so petty, so childish compared to what he could be afraid of.
Of course, there was a very high chance that he had something practical to fear as well. It was pretty likely that some Leaf ninja or civilian with a grudge would look to exact revenge on the Suna ninja still in their midst, especially if they had lost someone important to them. Ash could very well get a knife in the back in the very near future.
He liked to handle things one problem at a time though, and right now the problem was house arrest. But hey, they were actually housing him. They could have easily just forced him to call a cell home for the next few years, but they were going to provide him and his siblings with a small apartment. Ash had no doubt they would be spartan or downright decrepit, but it was better than he expected considering their role in attacking the village. Of course, he was sure it wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows. No doubt that any money they made on missions would go in their entirety to the village. They'd probably be interrogated often for information and techniques. And it was also very likely that they would receive deadlier missions or just be considered more expendable than their Leaf counterparts. That last one may have been debatable though, since they may or may not have been worth some leverage with Suna. It depended on whether or not the Kazekage had survived the invasion.
That was something Ash had questioned already by now. If the Kazekage was dead... how would Temari and Kankuro take that news? Ash had personally never seen the Kazekage as his father, despite seeing his children as his siblings. The man had always been too detached, too uninterested in knowing Ash as a person instead of a weapon. And that suited Ash just fine because he had found plenty of familial figures in his life to be happy. He was content with the family he had, and the Kazekage's absence from it didn't bother him. For that reason, the Kazekage's absence from the world wouldn't bother him much either. It raised some interesting questions about the leadership of the Hidden Sand from now on, but other than that Ash didn't care.
But Temari and Kankuro... he was their father. A detached one, an indifferent one, a kind of cold one, it didn't matter. He was their dad. And if he was dead Ash wasn't sure how they would take it. In private they still called him dad. His death would likely affect them somehow. But that was something Ash couldn't do anything about until there was something concrete to actually know.
For now, he had something different to worry about anyway, in the form of four ANBU that were going to become his best friends over the next few days. After all, what was house arrest without guards to enforce it? On the very slight bright side, one of them was that purple haired ANBU Ash kinda liked just because of her atmosphere. Or maybe it was the fact that her mask wasn't as ugly as some of the other ANBU and her hair was pretty.
The quite estranged group made easy progress through the backstreets of Konoha's civilian district, which had received a relatively low amount of damage during the invasion being a non-essential quadrant to target. The few civilians that were milling about so soon after an assault on their home quickly moved out of the way of a four man ANBU escort. After all, who was escorted by that many special forces shinobi unless they were dangerous?
Ash almost thought it funny, but his situation was too bleak for him to really get a kick out of anyone's reaction. Still, the lack of traffic because of this made it pretty easy for them to reach their destination, which was pretty nice since Ash had no desire to be in the public eye at this exact moment.
Ultimately he was lead to a rather average looking apartment complex, with nothing too terribly noteworthy other than the fact that it seemed to be abandoned. And not like 'abandoned decades ago' so much as 'abandoned just yesterday.' It was clean and intact, but notably devoid of any sign of residence.
"What's the deal with this place? Why is it empty?"
The purple haired ANBU that always seemed to be the only one willing to answer him did just that. "The landlord was killed during the attack."
Though he really didn't feel personally ashamed about it, Ash still felt a little awkward receiving such an answer. "Oh."
They left it at that, Ash foregoing a question along the lines of why everyone was gone just because the landlord was. Mostly because he was somewhat worried the answer would involve all of them being dead too.
The ANBU guards lead Ash up to a door on the second floor, though Ash had no idea why they chose that one specifically instead of any of the other three dozen doors. Ash was prompted to open the portal into the room by one of his escorts, which he of course wasted no time in doing. As soon as that was achieved, he stepped into the room. Or half a room, rather. Ash stopped just short of the doorway as he peered at the jagged line in the floor that marked where the wood transformed into open air and a great view of the area behind the apartment complex. Behind him, that violet haired ANBU peered into the room as well.
"Also, the back half of the building was blown away during the battle."
Ash sighed as he eyed the kitchen that was clearly half complete. He still had a sink and a refrigerator, but it looked like the pantry and the oven were missing. He also realized that ANBU with a sense of humor was kind of painful.
"Well, I won't say I don't deserve this, but uh... is this going to be fixed anytime soon?"
"Of course. As soon as you accrue..."
The ANBU woman pulled out a note from her back pocket to glance at before continuing. "Exactly eight hundred and sixty one thousand Ryo from the missions you run for village reparations. That's six digits, just in case you were wondering."
"We do have math in Suna, thank you."
"Then surely you know that you'll be able to pay for this building in exactly one thousand nine hundred and thirteen D-rank missions, correct?"
Trying his best to stay in a chipper mood despite all this, Ash continued their math game with a strained smile on his face. "One thousand nine hundred thirteen and one third of a D-rank to be precise. So with one D-rank a day I'll have this building covered in roughly five years! Maybe by the time I'm ninety I'll have covered the cost of a tenth of the reparations."
Surprisingly Ash's gung-ho attitude earned a chuckle out of his ANBU squad of escorts, though once again the girl was the only one that spoke to him. "Don't worry kid. You'll probably get more C and B ranks to pull in income. And in that case you might cover the cost of this apartment complex in three months."
Ash hung his head in literal despair, having never expected to have this much crippling debt on his shoulders at age thirteen of all things. He really wanted to talk about something else. "Alright, real talk, what are the terms to my house arrest? Or just my new life here in general? Restrictions? Rules? Things you'll kill me over? I need details."
Yugao had to admit that this kid was taking things extraordinarily well. He was resilient, no doubt about that. So far it may have been his most admirable quality. Still, Yugao was serious about this part, because it was a crucial part of the boy keeping his freedom and his life.
"You're free to move about the village as you wish. Naturally, you'll be observed at all times by multiple Leaf shinobi."
Ash cocked an eyebrow at her. "At... all times?"
Yugao simply stared back at him, her stony expression hidden by her mask. Ash nodded to his own question. "Right, all times. Don't know if I'll ever shower peacefully again..."
"As I was saying, you'll be under supervision at every hour of every day. If you do anything even remotely hostile or suspicious, we won't hesitate to kill you. You'll likely be called upon for 'questioning' at least once a week until it's been decided you have no more worthwhile information to offer. You will report to the Hokage every single day for missions, with the obvious exception of days you are out on missions."
The blonde frowned heavily at all of this, though he had not been expecting any less. "Do the people who watch me protect me too?"
"From?"
Ash leveled a sardonic glare at her. "Oh come on, we all know someone with a grudge will try to kill me at some point for revenge."
The purple haired ANBU nodded. "So long as you abide by the parameters that have been set for you, you're considered a political prisoner and we will protect you as such."
"And uh, any chance that these 'parameters' will be alleviated over time? Like, you know, if it becomes obvious that I'm not planning to do anything bad, will I be able to go to the bathroom without a buddy in six months?"
"A decision of that nature is up to Lord Hokage. Though, personally, he is a generous man and will likely consider such a thing under the right circumstances."
Unleashing another sigh, Ash gazed back into his half demolished new apartment. "Stellar. So uh... when do these parameters take effect...?"
"Tomorrow."
"So... can I go ahead and walk around the village and stuff today?"
Instead of answering, the ANBU woman took a step back into the open and put two fingers to her eyes before directing them at Ash, the universal symbol for 'I'm watching you.'
Not one to be put down in any situation, Ash returned the gesture just before the entire ANBU squad flickered out of his sight and his senses, though they were surely around somewhere. Still, it felt like they were gone, and that gave Ash some sense of false security as he looked back into his new home one more time and took a very deep breath.
"...fuck."
Naturally Temari has many things to be disconcerted about right now, but she was first and foremost displeased with the new living arrangements that were being forced on her. Not that she had been expecting much, but being forced to live away from her siblings was disturbing her greatly for a great many reasons. It made sense that the Leaf would want to keep them separated so they couldn't plot together as easily, but even so Temari had never lived away from her family. She had always been in the same house as her brothers. The thought of that not being the case kind of frightened her.
Of course, it was also a matter of their safety. Temari was worried that someone would try to hurt them in some misguided act of revenge, and if she weren't around she wouldn't be able to protect them. Of course, the ANBU that had escorted her had guaranteed them protection from such attempts as political prisoners, but Temari was equally wary of them. After all, they were still Leaf ANBU, and surely they were upset about the assault on their home. Who was to say whether or not some ANBU would try to kill them?
Unfortunately, as Temari sat on a rather plain bed in a typical apartment room that was all the way on the other side of the village from her brothers (they had been housed in a triangle of sorts), she knew she could do nothing about any of this.
She was especially displeased with the idea of serving the Leaf. She had long detested Konoha for their hand in the Hidden Sand's state of poverty, and she certainly had no desire to help them gain even more wealth, even if that wealth would be widely used to repair all the damage she and her siblings had caused.
Truth be told, Temari felt that ultimately she should be grateful. Working for the Hidden Leaf may have irked her greatly, but it was far better than being dead. She and her brothers were still alive, and that was the most important thing of all.
But there were other things to worry about. Namely, what was going to happen next. Temari already felt a little homesick, and she wouldn't have minded the blistering heat of the desert sands over the temperate climate of this village, if only for a little while. She couldn't help but wonder what would happen to the Hidden Sand now. She and her siblings may have been shown mercy, but it was very unlikely that Suna would escape retribution entirely. Regardless of who had been pulling the strings they had still made an act of war on the Hidden Leaf.
But what about the Hidden Sound? They had declared war on Konoha as well. Surely they were not going to escape repercussions. It would be truly wrong to only strike back against one aggressor. Either way, Temari didn't know what was going to happen or how she could try and stop it if it was something bad, so for now she tried to focus on the matters at hand as she laid back on her bed.
Despite her misgivings, working for the Hidden Leaf wasn't an absolutely awful notion. The village itself, even half destroyed as it was, was usually temperate, and they had access to all sorts of luxury items unavailable back home. Furthermore, though Temari had no personal investment in the place, she knew Ash did. Her baby brother had never cared much for the Hidden Sand, something that bothered her greatly but remained unsaid. She knew he had people he cared about here, most notably that Tenten girl that still filled Temari with no small amount of jealousy.
Would he be happier here? Leaving his old friends and growing closer to new ones? Temari knew this was unlikely, at least in that regard. Ash was not one to forego the relationships he valued for any reason. He would sorely miss the people of the Sand that were his friends. He would miss Matsuri, Yukata, Maki, Pakura, everyone. But that did not mean he wouldn't enjoy his relationships here in the Leaf as well. And even though Temari did not look fondly on whatever time she would be forced to spend in this place, she was at least happy that her brother might be able to enjoy himself.
Ash found it distinctly difficult to move about with any normalcy knowing that he was being watched by elite shinobi all the time, but he still found that less troubling than the looks he was receiving from the people around him as he wandered carefully throughout the Hidden Leaf village. Granted, most of the citizens didn't recognize him, especially since he wasn't gallivanting around with his Suna headband on. The identity of the Suna saboteurs hadn't been made public to the general population, so anyone that hadn't watched the Exam finals had no idea who he was.
The same could not be said for the shinobi population. They recognized the face of one of the ninja that had participated in the Exams and the assault, and essentially none of them looked on him with too much fondness. In fact, it was outright hatred and disgust from just about anyone that bore a ninja rank. Not that Ash had expected any less from the people of this village after an assault like he had participated in, but it made him uneasy. Being hated by a bunch of combat capable individuals was a key part of getting a kunai in the spine.
All he could do was trust in the word of his ANBU escorts, which was unfortunately hard to do considering their allegiance to Konoha. Heck, he was worried it would be an ANBU kunai that would be the end of him. But, in all fairness it did seem like the purple-haired ANBU would stay true to her word, or at least to her orders. She appeared to be that kind of woman at least.
For now though, Ash did his best to ignore the venom in the atmosphere, though it wasn't easy considering which parts of the village he was walking about. Ash was currently touring the areas that had been specifically targeted during his sabotage. He had already passed the ruins of the Leaf hospital, though it had been devoid of bodies and most rubble at that point. Reconstruction on such an important structure was already underway, with wooden scaffolding supporting the many civilian workers that were organizing stone and steel framework around the skeleton of the old building.
Ash had been mildly concerned with being seen so near a place he had destroyed, but he had not been intercepted by his watchers, so he supposed they didn't necessarily care about his close proximity to the hospital.
It was a morbid curiosity that drove the captured Suna Genin through his own carnage, in an attempt to see what misery his ill will may have brought. He was worried that his tour would eventually lead him to stumble on the immolated corpses of an untold number of victims, but no such thing ever came to pass. Even so, the visual was never shaken from his mind.
That being the case, Ash moved slowly through the streets of Konoha, taking in the atmosphere of a village that had just recently escaped destruction. As one might expect, it was a wholly different experience than the one that had existed prior. In the place of bustling civilians was a plethora of construction workers, situated around carnage and destruction left behind by the aggressors. Leaf shinobi stood watch everywhere, on the lookout for the slightest hint of hostility, or just immoral individuals looking to take advantage of the chaos for their own benefit.
And among it all strode the one responsible for it, like an artist appraising his own creation. Not that Ash felt like an artist. Or even an architect. He felt pretty low honestly, but not for the reasons many people would have. No, he did not regret what he had done here because it was 'wrong' or because he had hurt 'innocent people.' All Ash cared about was how he had hurt the people close to him. The rest of the strangers could be dead or alive for all he cared.
These apathetic thoughts completely occupying his focus, Ash almost didn't hear his name being called. In fact, he was pretty sure he missed it nearly three times before something slammed into his waist with enough force to shock him from his ignorant stupor. Ash glanced down in surprise at the beaming face of one exuberant Hanabi Hyuuga.
Her unexpected appearance shocked him first and foremost, but more than that he was surprised to see her smile at him. As though nothing had changed since the last time they had met. Ash meant to question this seemingly nonchalant attitude, but before he could utter a single word six Hyuuga shinobi had him surrounded, their Byakugan active and their palms outstretched.
"Step away from Lady Hanabi, you scum!"
Ash could see that these escorts clearly weren't joking around, but before he could make a move to do anything at all Hanabi was glaring back at the one who had spoken with her own Byakugan. "Don't you talk to my friend like that! I order you to stand down!"
"Lady Hanabi, this shinobi-!"
"I'm fully aware! You will stand down or my father will hear of your insubordination!"
The man that was perhaps the leader of the escort looked uncertain of what he should do, as he was technically supposed to obey the clan heir, but he was also supposed to protect her. Ultimately though, he feared what tale Hanabi could spin to her father to get him in trouble, prompting him and the rest of the Hyuuga ninja to drop their stances and bow. "A-as you wish, Lady Hanabi..."
As for Ash, he was stunned by the very unexpected level of command and sophistication Hanabi could speak with if she so desired. She apparently switched back and forth between whatever facade she needed at any point in time. Ash could only assume that the way she acted around him was her real personality. Or at least he hoped so.
Seeing that her Hyuuga guards weren't going to try and disable his brain or anything, Ash returned his attention to the girl hugging his midsection just in time to see her shooting him a beaming smile a second time.
"Ash, I'm so glad you're OK! I was really super worried!"
"Hanabi..."
"My Dad told me all about the council meeting, and I made this big plan to bust you out, but Dad said I should leave it to him and he would try to take care of it just for me, and-"
"Hanabi, why are you so happy to see me?"
Ash cut off the girl's spiel, replacing her expression with one of confusion as she gazed up at him. "What do you mean? I didn't know if you were alright after all of this. You could have been dead and now I get to see for sure you're OK!"
For the life of him, Ash couldn't see the angle Hanabi was trying to get at. "Hanabi, aren't you angry? You should hate me."
The girl reacted as though this was the most preposterous thing she had ever heard. "Hate you? But you're so nice! How could I hate you?"
"I attacked your home!"
There was a moment of silence between them, though Hanabi just seemed to be contemplating an answer. "...so?"
Another moment of silence passed, though this one was due to Ash trying to form a sentence through his shock. "S-so?! Hanabi, I'll be the first to admit I'm pretty apathetic myself, but you should at least be a little mad about it!"
"I am mad about it. But not at you."
"You should be mad at me Hanabi."
This seemed to perpetuate Hanabi's confusion further. "Why? Did you order the attack on the village?"
"Well no, but-"
"Did you make an alliance with another village to destroy us?"
"No, but I-!"
Hanabi put her hands on her hips. "Then why should I be mad at you? The only reason I could be mad at you is if, in your village, you can opt out of a mission given to you by your kage. And I doubt that's how things work in the Hidden Sand."
Ash just stared at the girl for a brief moment before kneeling down to her level with a relieved smile. "You really are something else Hanabi. I guess you think it's normal to forgive me so easily, but listen; it means a lot to me. Thank you for not holding this against me, I'm glad I at least still have you as my friend."
The small Hyuuga girl grinned at him so widely it looked like her face would split apart. "Of course! You'd have to do something really, really bad to ruin our friendship! Like... stealing my ice cream dessert on Sundays! That would be a heinous crime!"
The two kids of somewhat varying ages chuckled, and Ash was surprised at just how much lighter his burden had become in just the past few moments. He had been so anxious to run into the people he had called friend before the invasion. He was worried that they would all despise him, that they would hate his guts for his treachery. But of all the people available to judge him, Hanabi was able to see and understand his position as a mere cog in the shinobi machine.
He had actually been the most worried about Hanabi. She was young and impressionable, and he was worried that the opinions of disgruntled adults would turn her against him for being 'the enemy.' But he had underestimated her maturity just a bit. She understood. She got that he didn't have a choice in the matter. That he had been doing something he didn't want to but had to.
And it truly lightened the weight on his shoulders. Even if everyone else hated him, even if Tenten never wanted to see his face again, despite all that pain he would still have Hanabi. The thought of it made him much happier than he would have imagined. So happy that he made half a move to hug the girl before he had six Gentle Fist stances leveled at him, causing him to freeze before directing an incredulous look at the threatening entourage.
"Seriously? Aside from the fact that our conversation was pretty friendly just now, I have at least four ANBU shadowing me and they don't seem to have a problem with this."
While Ash's words did nothing to assuage the Hyuuga ninja, Hanabi's downright arctic glare did, spurring them to back off. Ash had to admit, she was capable of looking a lot meaner than she was...
Thankfully that Byakugan powered glare disappeared entirely as she leaned in for the hug. Ultimately Ash was glad he was on her good side.
"To be honest Hanabi, I'm surprised you're out in the village right now. So soon after an attack I figured that your father would keep you locked away in the clan compound or something."
The young Hyuuga shrugged. "I'm actually pretty surprised too. Especially since my big sister almost got kidnapped by Kumo ninja during the attack."
Having not been allied with the Hidden Cloud in any way, Ash was genuinely surprised to hear this. "Almost? That means she's OK, right?"
"Oh yeah, she's fine. One of her teammates and that jumpsuit kid helped her fight off the bad guys. My dad's pretty busy talking with some Kumo representative about the incident. Turns out it wasn't actually ordered, and those Cloud ninja were acting on their own, but personally I'm not buying it. Anyway, that's probably why I managed to sneak out of the compound without my dad noticing."
She smiled up at him again. "But I didn't think I'd actually be able to find you! What a coincidence, huh?"
"Definitely. But what did you even sneak out to do today?"
Hanabi just shrugged again. "Nothing. Anything? Honestly finding out what happened to you was pretty high priority."
"Well then, if you've got nothing on your schedule, do you wanna hang out with me? I'm not really doing anything today."
The petite heiress gave an enthusiastic nod and took his hand in hers so he could lead her on. Were it not for their vastly different appearances, you could almost mistake them for brother and sister. The Hyuuga escort didn't look too terribly happy about this development, but they allowed it, maybe because they were placated by the supposed presence of ANBU watchdogs as well. Still, it was kind of awkward having so many stone faced Hyuuga ninja roughly ten feet from him as he walked around the village.
Ash tried to ignore their presence as much as possible, attempting to act normally with Hanabi despite all of his unwanted shadows. It was impossible to do that truly, but their presence did become less bothersome as Ash lost himself in whatever Hanabi lead him to do. Conversation, ice cream, just walking around the more untouched parts of the village and the not so untouched parts. It was during that particular ice cream adventure that a certain topic had come up, right after Hanabi had accused him of heresy for not liking strawberry ice cream like she did.
Glancing towards the mountain that shielded one side of the village as she stuck her tongue into her treat, Hanabi questioned the now decimated monument that rested there. "You know, I wonder if they're gonna be able to get the faces right when they fix that? When the faces were first carved the Hokages were actually around to use for reference. You think the new ones will look weird?"
Biting through the cone that still housed a little chocolate, Ash followed Hanabi's pale gaze to the scaffolding and pulleys being built around the demolished Hokage monument. "I'm more curious as to why they're focusing on rebuilding that before the more important infrastructure. I mean, the monument doesn't really serve any practical purpose."
"Well, it is a major village symbol, so the people probably want it built back up just for that. But it does have a practical purpose too you know. The evacuation tunnels and bunkers are deep in the mountain. It was a real problem when it all got blown up before the attack even started. There was a huge panic without a place to evacuate the citizens to. Is that why it was targeted?"
In all honesty Ash had possessed no knowledge of that at all. Hell, he doubted even Baki had known about that. The thought of his team's sensei caused Ash's eyes to widen in realization: he had no idea what had happened to the man. He had not heard anything about his fate since the day he had been captured. What if he were dead?
Truth be told Ash didn't want to entertain that possibility. Baki was a different type of figure to him than Pakura. Probably not at an extent where Ash would call him 'Dad,' but he was definitely around the lines of family somewhere. Maybe kind of like an Uncle. A crotchety Uncle that got on his nerves a lot and was too stoic for his own good, but still an Uncle. And the thought of him being dead and gone certainly didn't appeal to Ash in any way. Baki was as much a part of his life as his siblings and Pakura, and there would be a definite hole without that crabby man around to pester him.
Resolving to discover his fate later but not willing to entertain the thought right now, Ash finally mustered a question for his petite companion. "Nope. We had no idea. We only did it as a backup to bury the Hokage Tower in rubble. Of course, I guess it wasn't really necessary..."
Indeed, even though a fair amount of rubble had damaged the base of the structure, far more of it had been destroyed by explosive tags. How Baki had managed to plant them on what should have been one of the most secure buildings in the village, Ash had no idea.
Hanabi clearly didn't know either, so all she did was shrug. "Huh. That was pretty smart of you guys though, since it was practical and a blow to our image and all."
"Hanabi, don't you think it's kind of wrong to praise the enemy for how they attacked your village?"
"Not really. Regardless of who attacks who it was still a good tactic. That's just objective observation."
Ash mockingly glowered at the girl before ruffling her hair. "Kids your age shouldn't be using such advanced vocabulary. I would say it's ruining your childhood, but you do still act like a kid..."
She glared back at him. "Hey! I don't act like a kid! Do I?"
"Yeah, you do, but it's really endearing. Besides, you should keep your youth around as long as you can. It's sad to lose the simple joy in life that kids usually have."
"You say that like you don't have it anymore."
"Well... I don't, I guess..."
Hanabi licked the remains of her strawberry ice cream off her fingers. "That's not true. I think you still know how to just cut loose and have fun like a kid."
"And what makes you say that?"
"Remember the day I met you?"
Recalling that particular escapade made Ash chuckle. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But still, that was a rare occasion. When you get older stuff like that happens pretty rarely."
"But you're not old. You're not even twice my age!"
"Don't you know that ninja age three times faster than normal kids?"
Hanabi looked like she was going to refute him, but then she thought of something that supported Ash's statement. "...huh. I guess that's why my sister's breasts are so big already."
Instead of gracing that with a reply, Ash tried to ignore the questioning images his brain conjured up of Hinata. He found it hard to believe that girl could be boasting anything immense in the physical realm, but then again no one could tell with that jacket she wore...
Ash may have spent some more time on that, but his attention was taken once again when Hanabi nudged him with her elbow. "By the way Ash, that girl has been glaring holes in you for like, two minutes."
The now ex-Suna ninja was filled with dread as he imagined which girl Hanabi may have been talking about. It could have been a number of different people, but he somehow got the feeling that it was the one girl he was entirely confused about at the moment. On one hand he was dying to see Tenten again. To confirm with his own eyes that she was alive and well. He wanted to see her smile again, wanted to hear her laugh at his jokes and nudge him playfully with her shoulder. He just wanted to rewind and put their relationship right back where it was before the day of the Finals.
But there was no use in wishful thinking. He couldn't just wish their relationship back to the way it had been. If he ever wanted to have that back, he had to fix it himself. And he was no coward when it came to what he wanted. Following Hanabi's eyes, Ash spotted exactly who he expected. Whether Tenten had been looking for him specifically or they had just run into each other as a coincidence was a complete mystery.
Ash noted briefly that she had secured a pink shirt similar to the one Temari had ruined during the preliminaries, but that was a minor observation compared to the expression on her face. This was a woman with something to be angry about, and rightfully so. Her stance, her glare, and the set of her scowl all worked in tandem to promise a very difficult reconciliation if one was even possible.
Turning to Hanabi with a serious look on his face, Ash begged for forgiveness in foregoing their day. "Hanabi, I know you were looking forward to hanging out today..."
The little Hyuuga girl gave him an understanding grin. "It's OK. You have to work something out with your girlfriend, I get it."
"And what makes you think-?"
She glanced at Tenten and then back to him. "Any girl that livid has to care enough about you to be that mad in the first place."
Ash conceded that point. "Sorry. I'll make it up to you another day, alright?"
"It's a promise."
With that, Hanabi gave him a light wave and then traipsed off on her own, naturally with her Hyuuga escort shadowing her from a less than subtle distance. That left Ash relatively alone, since they had been enjoying their ice cream at the back of a half ruined house that wasn't being repaired yet. There were only a few people about and Ash imagined they would leave quickly enough if things went too far south between him and Tenten.
Ash decided that he should take the initiative, so he closed the distance between himself and his especially estranged possibly no longer girlfriend. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a sharply raised hand from Tenten. Yes, Ash imagined that he was in quite a bit of trouble.
That being the case, the two of them simply stood apart from each other awkwardly, Ash figuring that Tenten wanted to speak first. That said he simply decided to let her think on the words she desired to say, something the brunette was obviously questioning quite seriously considering the way her brow furrowed in consternation.
Ultimately, Ash grew sick of the tension after a few moments, and he decided that someone had to say something. "Tenten I-!"
Before he could finish whatever he had a mind to say, Tenten slugged him right in the jaw. Hard. Ash knew most men liked to describe moments like these along the lines of 'I could have dodged it if I wanted to,' but his lack of arrogance on this front led him to accept the truth. He could not have avoided that blow even if he had tried. It was too fast, and much too sudden. Needless to say he was knocked flat on his ass, and Ash silently thanked the fact that Temari hadn't been around to witness it. That would have drastically complicated things.
Rubbing his jaw and feeling a little bit of blood leaking from his mouth, Ash didn't say anything dumb in retort as he got back to his feet. No need to exacerbate the issue any further. "Alright, I deserved that. Completely."
Unfortunately, this did nothing to placate the girl, because she punched Ash again as soon as he got up, though he managed to stay on his feet this time. Of course, this being the second assault, Ash was notably less calm about it. "For God's sake Tenten cut it out! Could I keep my teeth please?!"
The furious girl actually had another fist cocked, but she instead dived into a short rant at his request. "You are a selfish, lying, asshole! I can't believe that you had the God damn gall to put me out of commission for the whole battle even after everything you did to me! You fucking prick! You, you-! Ugh!"
There was an almost primal frustration and anger in that final outburst, so much that Ash mustered nothing to defend himself. Besides, he knew that he had no right. Tenten's fury was completely justified, and she certainly didn't deserve to hear any excuses out of him.
Seeing that the boy she had just recently been enamored with wasn't going to say anything to defend himself, Tenten wasn't sure if she should have been even angrier or actually impressed by his maturity.
"That's it? Nothing?"
Since she was asking, Ash gave her the answer she deserved. "Nothing. Your anger is justified. You're right about all of those things. All I can say is I'm sorry."
For the briefest of moments, Tenten's anger almost subsided. She'd already figured out by now that Ash was an emotionally earnest person, and she knew that he really was remorseful just because he said so.
But then she remembered exactly what he had done to her, all while willingly acting like they were going to have a nice happily ever after to their newfound affections, and the anger resurfaced with new intensity, only slightly mitigated by the facts she knew were true but refused to let mellow her out.
"Sorry isn't enough. The only reason I'm even considering forgiving you is because I know you were just trying to keep me safe there at the end. Consider yourself lucky that I'm even thinking about it!"
With that, she turned on her heels and began to storm off, prompting Ash to call out to her since this was far from the reconciliation he had been hoping for. "Wait, Tenten-!"
She whirled on him in an instant, moving quick enough to almost make Ash flinch in expectation of another punch. "No, shut up! I'm still mad at you!"
"B-but how will I-?"
"I'll come find you again if and when I'm ready to forgive you! Until then, don't even think of talking to me!"
Ash decided to take those words to heart as he watched her retreating form with a bleeding lip. Despite the pain in his face, he felt good. Real good actually. Yeah, Tenten was angry enough to slug him dead in the face -twice- (three times technically) but she had said that there was a possibility of forgiving him. Just not right this moment. And probably not today. Maybe not even this week. Even so it was still more than he had hoped for this morning.
It was a shame she was still angry now, but whatever. She said she would come to him when she was ready. And hopefully that encounter would include less punching and more kissing or at least hand-holding or even a smile.
Putting his hopes to rest for a moment, Ash glared at the sky around him. "Hey! I know you ANBU ass-hats are watching! What happened to protection as a political prisoner?!"
Though none of the ANBU made a visual appearance, the girl that was always their spokesperson spoke from her hiding place, wherever it may have been. "So sorry, but we didn't really think she was a threat."
"Oh yeah, an angry woman, not a threat. Good one Kitten."
"Call me that again and we'll see just how far my protection goes."
"Are you gonna tell me your name then? Because all I have to go on is your mask."
"No."
"Kitten it is then."
Elsewhere, one of the other ANBU escorts shook his head in downright amazement. Admittedly, this kid was kind of admirable, in the insane razor's edge kind of way. He at least got respect in that regard, because he definitely deserved it.
When Ash finally returned to his half of an apartment, night had already fallen. There was a very interesting transition from the night outside of his door to the exact same night on the other side of his door, but it almost had a laughable irony to it.
Not that he was laughing. Ash was getting a disturbing sense of Deja Vu that unfortunately reminded him of different times. There was the foreboding shadow of servitude looming, and Ash felt just like he had the day he received his Suna headband all those years ago. Bitter and cynical at the prospect of serving a power that he did not value against his will.
If there was one thing Ash had always hated, it was being a cog in the machine. A simple gear that could be replaced at any point if it broke, a spring that could be removed if it refused to function. The events of the past week were enough to amplify his hatred tenfold. Because he was just a cog in the machine, he had been forced to hurt people he called friend on a level deeper than any physical wound. And so Ash detested it all even more than the norm. He hated the hierarchy, hated the expectation of servitude to someone with more power. He hated the system that fed perpetual war, the system that constantly spurred shinobi to gain more power for the sole sake of possessing it over their enemies. He loathed it all.
One day, things would be different. By whose hand he had no idea, but they would change, for better or for worse. The system had supported itself for centuries so far, but eventually it would collapse. The nations hellbent on never ending war would eventually wage one that would claim them all. Their societies would collapse, and one victor would claim the spoils as their own.
This was the inevitable fate of all nations that fought with others, but it was something that was beyond Ash's control. Besides, he was too tired to dwell on such dismal things for long. Tomorrow marked the first day of his service to Konoha, and he imagined that it would entail a potentially hazardous mission of some sort. It was best that he got his rest now, despite his concerns for the near future.
Ash was surprised to find that the bedroom in his apartment was actually in one piece, but he was eternally grateful for the privacy that entailed. However, he was surprised to find that the bed itself was occupied, not by a person, but by an object. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a book. A little orange book that he most certainly recognized.
Taking it up into his hands, Ash saw that it was indeed his copy of Make Out Paradise, made obvious by the wear and tear on specific pages and particular spots. He knew he had accidentally left it back at the apartment prior to the invasion...
However, he discovered how it had made its way here when a small note fell out of a few of the pages. Naturally he wasted no time in opening it, and it wasn't long before he was smiling, taking in the short yet meaningful message.
Thought you might need this to keep yourself entertained. Probably shouldn't let your new girlfriend see it. Don't corrupt that Hyuuga girl like you did Matsuri.
That seemed to be all there was to it, but when Ash flipped it over, he saw there was a quickly scribbled note on the other side too.
Also, had your mail from Iwa rerouted to the Leaf.
Ash had honestly forgotten about that in the hectic happenings of the past month and a half. He and Kurotsuchi (with frequent additions from Deidara) had kept in decent touch all these years, and Ash had always looked forward to the correspondence. He imagined Kurotsuchi would be bent out of shape by his absence, but she'd probably forgive him when she read his wicked story.
In the end, one may have been shocked that there was no heartfelt concern or reassurances in this little message. But Ash didn't need that. It didn't have to be said. She never had to vocalize what lengths she would go to for him. If he needed her, she would be there. If he asked for her help, she'd gladly give it. If it meant keeping him safe, nothing would stop her.
Ash smiled ruefully to himself.
She was his mom, after all.
So, a short intermission chapter, but nevertheless an important one. Fluff all around, and the lack of forgiveness of Tenten's part. Obviously it would have been pretty lame if she had forgiven him right off the bat.
Oh, and the introduction of troll Yugao of course. We can expect a lot more of that in the future.