The Boy in the Team
Chapter Twenty-One
Shinku was flying.
It was nice, flying beyond the skies, towards the deep pitch-black darkness of nothing. Clouds streaked by like tiny white bullets. He laughed as he watched tigers play in the fields, while a giant anaconda devoured whole the world. Fire burned through the forest of men, as thunder soared in the sky.
Then, of course, his eyes opened to a freezing cold breeze coming from his open window.
Outside, the downpour that had struck Konoha the day before continued. The chilly cold wind filled him with Goosebumps, but what truly made his breath stop in fear were a pair of bright cerulean eyes gazing just a few inches away from him.
"It's raining, training is postponed. Head to the Hokage tower, prepare to leave for at least a week."
"What?" Shinku muttered. "Again?"
"It's a mission, Kakashi-Nii didn't want to say anything more," Naruko sighed, shaking her head. "Sorry Shin-chan, I don't like it either."
"Where are we going now?"
"Kakashi-Nii didn't say. Don't worry though: I'm a Kage Bunshin so I'll be able to stick around to help you!" she gave him a thumb up, "But don't try any funny stuff uh! I may be made of shadows, but my real self will remember everything we do, and she'll kick your ass if you cop a feel!"
Shinku blearily gave her a sour look.
"What?" Naruko blinked back.
"Aren't bunshin meant to be illusions?"
"Well, duh. Kage Bunshin aren't," she rolled her eyes. "Don't try to learn it though," she hastily added. "For one, it's forbidden and for seconds it might just kill anyone short of me or a Jounin. I've got Fuzzy-Butt to thank, Jounin have quite a lot of chakra…even Uke-chan would die trying to make even a single copy."
"All right?" he gazed at her once more.
She blinked. "What?"
"I'd like to change."
"You see? That's the same problem with Uke-chan. If I had a sausage, you wouldn't care. I feel left alone and I can't help but think this is very, very mean."
She pouted, before crossing her arms in front of her chest and turning to give him her back. "There, now you can change."
Shinku exhaled as he slowly stood up, gingerly touching his shoulder. It didn't hurt that much anymore —just a light dull throbbing. Still, one week outside once more? Hadn't he returned just the day before?
He hadn't even talked with his parents to begin with —not that he usually did.
Shinku opened up one of his drawers, taking out clean clothes. He'd wear the usual pair of trousers —because it was raining to boot— with a black shirt and his dark beige jacket. A sweater ended up in his backpack —because one never knew the weather— as well as a pair of shorts. This time, he actually stocked on socks and at least a change of underwear.
He didn't want to re-live the nightmare of using leaves, so a roll of toilet paper found its way inside his bag —to hell with everyone else.
He grabbed the melted chocolate, now made of mostly brownish tinfoil, and wrapped it in a piece of paper before putting it inside his pocket. Everyone had a lucky charm of sorts anyway, so his would be a piece of melted chocolate.
"Remember to have breakfast," Naruko remarked, following him down in the kitchen. "Might be the last time you can get a cooked meal."
She looked around. "Your parents aren't home?"
"They're off to work early in the morning," Shinku replied as he opened the fridge. "I'll leave them a note."
"You should pass their way to tell them," Naruko said. "Maybe they planned on making a surprise party for your return, and you leaving will put their secret plans in jeopardy!"
Shinku chuckled, but it was a chuckle devoid of mirth. "I don't think they planned anything."
Naruko hummed to herself, shrugging as she looked around like a curious cat. "You have a cookie jar?" her eyes widened in disbelief as she saw the so-called jar in a corner. "Can I have one?"
"You eat?" Shinku asked back.
"Well, no. Actually, I feel and taste everything just fine. I even have a stomach, you know…but the point is, by the end of the day…I'm a clone. I'll disperse back in chakra and the real one will get all my memories and feelings," she shrugged. "So I suppose I'll live on in her? And then there's the taste of cookies. With her memories, I know she'd like to have one. I actually want one, but if it's because I like cookies or because she likes them, and thus I like them, I don't know."
"Is that why Kage Bunshin are…prohibited?" Shinku wearily asked back.
"Uh?"
"I mean…you're the copy of a living being, so doesn't that make you living all the same?"
The Kage Bunshin smiled awkwardly. "Ah, I suppose that would be true," she chuckled. "But I just don't think too much about it, so Shin-chan can I have a cookie?"
Shinku nodded. "Take two if you want."
The moment he returned from cooking his eggs, the cookie jar was empty and the Kage Bunshin's mouth was full.
She slowly munched on them, eying him with wide eyes and her cheeks full.
"Munch. Munch. Munch."
He ignored her as he quickly ate his breakfast, munching on another strand of bread.
"Your parents haff a bakhery right?" she said with her mouth half-full, before swallowing. "You're lucky, you've got to have fresh bread every day right?"
"Actually, it's stale," Shinku remarked. "Fresh bread goes for sale, stale bread comes home for the next day," he retorted.
Naruko frowned, before closing her eyes and sighing. "Well, I'm out of juice. Going to pop any moment now, so… remember your weapons! If you need some more, try to get to a ninja shop. They're usually open at seven anyway. Even if you come a bit late, I'm sure Kakashi-Nii isn't going to be there as early as seven. He'll probably be there by nine o'clock or a bit later —no way he'll have us go under the rain."
Then she popped away, leaving behind just a few tendrils of smoke that soon dispersed in the air.
He gathered what little he still had to take, before taking out an umbrella and starting his walk towards the Hokage tower. The rain came down heavy and laced with ice, the sleet forming dirty puddles of mud along the road. His left hand gripped tightly on the umbrella even as the wind blew strongly against it, until a loud and deafening crack broke it in half.
He sped up, running forward trying to avoid the rain until…
Until he slipped, and nearly fell.
He didn't because countless times of nearly falling, nearly slipping, nearly ending up down on the ground once more, instinctively told him to do something with his feet.
And he did.
Chakra gripped him tightly to the concrete sidewalk, as he froze in mid-step. He…he had actually managed something cool for once.
The day was turning out to be great!
Smiling, even though he was now soaked to the bones, Shinku ran the last few blocks of the city with a smile on his face.
By the time he reached the Hokage tower, he was utterly drenched. His backpack was safe beneath a rubber layer —they sold them water resistant after all— but he himself would have killed for a towel. He actually had one in his backpack, but he'd have to open it to get it, and it was way beneath everything else.
When he arrived, he frowned.
Sasuke and Naruko both waived at him with Naruko holding up a plastered smile.
"Ohi, Shin-chan!" Naruko exclaimed, "Guess what!"
"What?"
"Guess!"
"I don't know…Tora drowned?"
"Really!?" a nearby chuunin exclaimed, "THE HELLSPAWN IS DEAD! HALLELUJAH!" the cheerful Chuunin then dashed out, screaming his joy to the world.
His partner exhaled in disbelief. "You see what you did? Now I have to go and break his dreams again…"
"Sorry Kotatsu!"
"It's Kotetsu," the Chuunin retorted. "Not 'Kotatsu'."
"Oh, it's the same," Naruko rolled her eyes. "Go grab your Seme! Gotetsu!"
"You're just lucky you're the boss' daughter," Kotetsu's lips twitched in a smile, "brat." Then he went.
"Well, anyway Shin-chan!" Naruko exclaimed, "No, it's not that."
"Our mission involves eating and resting?"
"No, I don't think they make missions like those," Naruko muttered, "But if they do, and Kakashi-Nii is ignoring them, he'll hear from me 'ttebayo."
"We'll be doing a C-rank mission," Sasuke said dryly. "Something about having a guide from Takigakure," he added.
"That…will take a week?" Shinku said wearily.
"Nope, at least a week!" Naruko replied, excited for only she knew what reason. "It's a C-rank! We only did one D-rank before! We're like, ultra-awesome!"
"Or maybe you're just the favorite team of the Hokage, moron," a female shrill voice said, just as a platinum-blond girl wearing a purple two piece dress came down from the stairs. Shinku actually thought one thing, before gazing at the rest of Ino's team.
Wasn't the girl feeling cold wearing only that with the weather outside? He was utterly drenched. He really had no idea how every other shinobi he met managed to remain perfectly dry and primed…he was sort-of shuddering, and yet the inside of the Hokage tower was warm.
"Troublesome," another voice —Shikamaru Nara— said next. Chouji just kept on happily munching chips.
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino exclaimed them, in a further loud voice. The girl tackled the raven haired Uchiha with strength, only to end up holding to a log, used as a Kawarimi. "Hey! Ah…he's doing the precious and the shy."
"No, he's actually trying to avoid a fake lying bitch;" Naruko shot right back.
"What do you know;" Ino huffed, pushing her blond ponytail behind her back. "You can pass for a plank board if you want to after all. Go and build a bridge or something."
"Ino, come on, we're going to be late," Shikamaru said.
Their sensei just watched the scene unfold, chilling out with a cigarette in his mouth.
He was actually outside, and yet…well, he just had to ask by then.
"Sorry;" Shinku hazarded, as the Jounin's eyes moved to gaze at him. "How are you staying dry?"
The Jounin chuckled for a moment, before showing the back of his right hand. "Light emission of chakra around your entire body. Can't see it, but it works as both a drier and a cloak. Helps keep the skin dry mind you, not the clothes. For those you'll need more chakra than a kid your age has…"
"Ah," Shinku nodded. "Thanks."
"You Kakashi's team, right?" the Jounin asked then.
"Yes, we are," Shinku shuddered.
"He's an ex-Anbu, I'm sure he'll train you well. He might forget the easy stuff, so don't worry about asking him."
"Ah, thanks," Shinku then turned to gaze at the point where the two blondes had taken things to the usual 'pull the tail' battle. It had actually happened more than once during the academy for the two to fight like that over…anything, really.
Sasuke stood behind Chouji, using the boy's large mass to hide. The Akimichi himself was apparently ignoring the Uchiha —or maybe they had developed a symbiotic relationship, judging by how Sasuke was slipping potato chip packages straight in the other boy's hands.
Shikamaru exhaled once more. "Ino, we have to go."
"You blond bleached whale!" Ino screamed.
"You skinny underfed skeleton!"
"I have curves, you have balloons!"
"I have muscles, you have elbows!"
"Ah! That didn't mean anything!" Ino exclaimed, turning to move next to her teammates. "Just you wait! I'll make Sasuke-kun mine and he'll see you for the bitch you are in the end!"
With that, the girl finally walked outside soon followed by the rest of her team.
"Thanks for the help, Uke-chan!" Naruko pouted. "We agreed you had to distract her!"
"I'm sorry, I panicked!" Sasuke exclaimed. "She just…she just tackled me and I used the Kawarimi! What was I supposed to do!?"
"You're too much of an Uke, you know?" Naruko pointed out. "Are we sure you aren't really one? It's not actually funny to make fun of an Uke if he's really an Uke. It would be like making fun of a tortoise because it's a tortoise or a tree because it's a tree…"
"I'm not an Uke," Sasuke growled. "I'm not fine with people touching me, that's all."
"Aw…" Naruko ruffled Sasuke's hair, much to the boy's annoyance. "You're so cute when you act all pouty like a child!"
"I'm going to rip your hands off," Sasuke deadpanned, "And then feed them to your fan boys."
Naruko shuddered. "No, please no."
Shinku dropped his bag on the floor as he sat down on the bench, heaving a heavy sigh as he carefully massaged his right shoulder.
"Shin-chan, you're all right with the shoulder?" Naruko asked.
"Yeah," Shinku nodded back. "I'm fine. Hurts just a bit but it should pass soon."
"Don't overexert yourself," Sasuke said next. There was concern in his voice. "I had an enlightening talk with my father last night…they don't normally put Genin through this hell, so if you need a break…"
"I'm fine," Shinku waved his hand in dismissal, "I'm not going to break from this."
"Oh, right!" Naruko groaned, slamming a hand against her forehead, "I'm stupid, stupid, stupid!" she flexed her hands in the Kage Bunshin sign, creating another clone. "Head home!"
"Yes boss!" the clone said, snapping to attention before flickering away.
"Except stating the obvious," Sasuke deadpanned, "Was there a reason for the theatrics?"
"Shin-chan's without a scroll!" Naruko pouted, "And he's also without a storage seal on his trousers."
"A…what?" Shinku asked, warily.
"Storage scroll," Sasuke quickly flipped one out of his jacket and twirled it around for a moment. "An entire backpack can be safely stored in here, allowing for ease of transport. Like storage seals in the trousers' pockets. Make your enemy think they're empty before summoning a kunai to slice their necks."
"Never heard of…"
"That's normal," Naruko puffed her chest out. "It requires knowledge of Fuinjutsu. In Konoha, there are…like, few Fuinjutsu users and of those the really good ones are all in my family!" her nose grew slightly from her boasting, "There's my uncle Jiraiya, my mother, my father, Kakashi-Nii has a bit of knowledge because his sharingan makes him copy everything, then…then we're done with the really good ones."
They lapsed into silence after that. Shinku stared perplexed, Naruko stood in wait with a crow cawing up in the air —a summon lost on his way to deliver a message, probably— and Sasuke brought his hand to his face in disbelief.
"Just thank her and the 'awesome Namikaze Fuinjutsu skills' if you don't want her to keep waiting like a moron in that pose," Sasuke muttered.
"Ah! Thank…you?" Shinku hazarded.
"Yes," Naruko groaned, lowering her head. "Shin-chan, would a bit of excitement kill you?"
"Excitement?"
"Joy? Cheerfulness? Activity? Saying more than two words?"
"No, don't," Sasuke said then. "I like him as he is," the Uchiha said then gazing at Naruko. "Quiet ones are needed to offset your own 'joy' Dobe."
"Ohi, Teme, the world has enough emos with you. The world needs more awesome! Maybe…you think orange would suit Shin-chan?"
"What am I, a tailor? And no, only you wear orange…for some strange reason."
"Orange is awesome…and I can use Henge to change the color of my clothes, so really…"
Shinku slammed gently the back of his head against the wall, and then closed his eyes. He'd catch a bit of a shut-eye while the other two spoke. He'd never say it straight to their faces…but their voices lulled him to sleep better than any lullaby.
"Shin-chan," a voice called to him.
"Ohi, Shin-chan! Wake up!"
"Uh?" Shinku yawned, before blearily opening his eyes. Naruko smiled, holding out a scroll for him.
"Here you go! Your things are already inside," she smiled.
"Thanks?"
"You're welcome, Shin-chan!" with that, he ended up holding on to a scroll. He zipped open his jacket, putting it inside one of his inner pockets before closing it afterwards.
Now he just knew things would take a sour turn.
Outside the downpour had become a veritable typhoon, and a strange teenager —couldn't be more than sixteen— looked every now and then towards them.
"What time is it?" he asked then.
"Eleven and half," Sasuke grumbled. "I'm actually not angry Kakashi's late, if the downpour ceases…"
In that moment, the Hokage, the frigging Hokage, came down from above holding Kakashi by his neck like a child. "You're an Anbu-class operative, Kakashi, act like one!"
"But sensei, it's raining!" Kakashi muttered, "I hate rain!"
"Grow up!" the Yondaime then dropped the Jounin on the floor. The man quickly flickered back into a normal 'work' posture, coughing gently.
"Ahem…"
"Hey dad!" Naruko waved at the Yondaime. "Do we really have to go today!?"
"Of course," the Hokage replied crisply. "Shibuki-san," the older teenager jumped slightly at his name called, "This will be the team you will be guiding to Takigakure."
"I see," the boy said, slowly coming forward. He had ink black eyes and long, dark brown hair. He wore grey pants, a green shirt, and ninja sandals. His forehead protector actually had two long straps that continued way behind his shoulders —so he was a shinobi too.
Hesitantly, he extended his right hand in greeting.
Naruko blinked.
She looked from Shibuki to Shinku, and then back once more.
"What?" Sasuke said, looking at Naruko.
"Nothing, nothing," Naruko replied with a thoughtful expression.
Kakashi eye-smiled. "Well, let us get going then…under the rain, the cold, harsh, unfeeling rain that will probably make my mood sour…"
"Go now, kid," Minato exhaled.
"You're evil, sensei," Kakashi grumbled as he began to head out, soon followed by everyone else.
"Haruno-san?" Shinku stilled, turning to gaze at the Hokage who had actually called his surname.
"Fight on," with that said, Minato Namikaze turned and climbed back up the stairs of the Hokage tower.
Shinku frowned, and then began to run to keep up with the rest of his team —and their guide.
The mission was a C-rank…it meant there was a slight chance of encountering bandits…it didn't mean there had to be bandits, right? And really, they were just…following a guide. For some reason.
What reason was there to be guided somewhere else, actually?
Author's notes
I just read, once more, the 'Protect the Waterfall Village' mission on the Wiki.
Fun fact: Takigakure is supposedly proud of 'never been conquered'. Guess what a team of missing-Nin does? Yep, captures it. For the Hero Water.
Guess Fuu was probably lethargic elsewhere…
But, oh well, there's Shade here to fill the plot holes with something.
Even if that means pain, suffering and blood. This was a nice banter-and-love-and-cookies chapter.
And I actually realized it just now but…wow, the number of Guest Reviewers I have on this story is staggering. Thank you all for taking the time to reading and commenting!