Chapter 21: Letting go
A/N: Here we are with another chapter. The Chunin exams arc has begun, so get your kunai and sharpen your skills. You life is on the line with this arc. Ok, not really, but its fun to say that.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi, Usagi and Yuri and the character Bakuto Masaki and Taimat belong to Bakuto Masaki.
You have been warned.
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Usagi talking"
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Mikomi was out like a light on one of the couches. Sarutobi had finally given her a break from missions and she was taking advantage of it. Since she hadn't slept well during the week, she decided to take a little nap. She was off in La-la land, dreaming about herself and Kakashi going on a date.
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She smiled as she held hands with Kakashi. She walked through a meadow field with the man that she loved most. Everything was absolutely perfect.
Kakashi smiled at her.
"I had such a fun time today, Mikomi. You're an amazing person"
Mikomi blushed.
"Oh, Kakashi. You're embarrassing me"
"No, I mean it. You're really incredible. You're pretty, you're strong, and you're a good sister. You're everything"
"Oh Kakashi"
"I could just kiss you right now"
"Then what are you waiting for?"
He leaned forward to kiss her. His fingers slowly started to pull his mask down.
Mikomi felt her heart beating as she saw more and more of his face.
She almost got to see his face, when suddenly he vanished.
"What the?"
She looked around to see if she could find him.
"This isn't funny, Kakashi. Come out already"
A female's laughter filled her ears.
"Who's there?"
The laughter continued.
"I've been wanting to meet you for some time…Mikomi"
She turned around in the direction of the voice to see the figure of a woman. She could only see her back, but the only noted details that she could see were her pink dress and her braided hair.
"Who are you?"
The woman slowly turned around.
"I'm sure you've heard of me" she said.
She almost saw her face.
"My name is-
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"Nee-chan!"
Mikomi yelped as she was woken up suddenly. She fell off the couch and landed with a loud 'thump'. The pillow that she was lying on fell on her face. Naruto laughed at his sister.
"Man, Nee-chan. That was funny"
She just glared at him.
"What do you want, Naruto?"
She put the pillow back on the couch. Naruto bounced on his feet.
"Guess what? Kakashi-Sensei signed me up for the Chunin exams!"
Mikomi stopped what she was doing and looked at him. The Chunin exams were tests given to Genin who thought they were ready to go up to the next level. Usually, a Sensei would wait for a year until he thought his students were ready. Kakashi had barely been a Sensei for even half a year and he was letting his students do this?
"Are you sure he wasn't kidding? The Chunin exams are very dangerous and shouldn't be taken lightly"
"Yeah, he even gave me the form for it"
He showed her the paperwork. She didn't know what to say. Her thirteen year old brother was going to participate in the Chunin exams. This was too much.
"Have you told Yuri yet?"
"Nope. I wanted to tell you first since you're the one who's always proud of me"
She grew touched at his words, but that didn't erase her uneasiness. Naruto pulled her along with him.
"Let's tell Yuri about the good news, I'm sure she'll be excited"
"Excited isn't the best word to describe this"
"No kidding"
Naruto found Yuri in no time and decided to break the 'good' news.
"Hey, Yuri. Guess what?"
Yuri looked up from what she was doing to see her godson.
"What is it Naruto?"
He held out the paperwork.
"Kakashi-Sensei signed me up for the Chunin exams"
Yuri didn't say anything for a moment. Her face was unreadable. Then suddenly, she let out a blood curdling scream. Naruto and Mikomi jumped a little. Cloud, Bakuto and Tifa ran into the room.
"What happened?" Tifa asked worriedly.
Yuri had tears in her eyes. She went up to Naruto and hugged him.
"Oh, my baby is so grown up! He's finally going to participate in the Chunin exams!"
Cloud and Tifa just looked dumb.
"Chunin exams?"
"It's a test to determine if a ninja goes up a rank or not" Bakuto explained.
"And it's very dangerous" Mikomi added.
She didn't like the idea of her brother possibly dying. He was all she had left of her parents.
Naruto looked at his sister.
"Are you proud of me Nee-chan? I'm one step closer to me dream!"
She had a forced smile on her face.
"Oh coarse I am, Naruto. I'm always proud of you"
Cloud and Tifa could see though her forced smile. Yuri wiped the tears from her eyes.
"This calls for a celebration. We're going to have a big dinner for our little Naru-kun making it into the Chunin exams"
She skipped towards the kitchen to make who knows what.
Naruto went to leave.
"I'm gonna see if Sakura got her permission slip too. I'm gonna show her that I'm better than that stupid Sasuke"
When he left, the grin fell from Mikomi's face. She looked so helpless at the moment. She was glad that her brother was picked to participate in the Chunin exams, but she was also afraid.
"Are you ok, Mikomi?" Tifa asked.
She nodded her head but said nothing.
"Are you not happy that your brother is going to compete?" Bakuto probed.
A tick mark appeared on her forehead.
"Damn dragon, he's egging me on"
"It's not that I'm upset or anything" she said "I just wish that Kakashi waited a bit longer to sign him up. He just became a Genin, so why rush him?"
"But, I thought that this was a good thing?" Tifa said.
"It depends on how you look at it" Bakuto said. "Sure, it's an honor to be in the exams, but it's also deadly. People die constantly from entering into the exams. They think that they'll get out of it easily, but they end up six feet under. People like Naruto end up dead in the first few minutes of the exam"
Mikomi flinched as he said that. She didn't want to think about her brother dying so quickly. She gave Bakuto a hard stare which told him to take back what he said.
"My apologies" he said. "I forgot how much your brother means to you"
"You god damn right he means a lot to me" she snapped. "He's as important to me as Yugito is important to you"
She walked outside to find her brother.
"Where are you going?" Bakuto asked.
"To find Naruto. I'm going to see f I can change his mind about participating in the exams"
She left without saying anything and went to find the crazy blonde.
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Each step she took felt heavier than the last. The thought of her brother actually competing weighed heavily on her mind. She just couldn't accept that Naruto was growing up and wasn't that cute adorable little boy anymore. It made her feel sad that he was getting older was likely to get into more danger. She made a vow at her parent's funeral that she would never let anything bad happen to him, and if not letting him compete in the Chunin exams would keep him safe, and then she would do it.
"Don't you think that you're being a little overprotective of him?" Usagi asked.
"No. I'm acting the same was as mom and dad did with me. Naruto is the only family I have left and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to him"
"Don't be ridiculous. Naruto alone isn't your family. You have Yuri, Jiraiya, and AVALANCE as your family now. You may not share the same blood, but the bond you all share is much deeper than that"
She stopped walking for a moment. What Usagi said was true. It wasn't just her and Naruto anymore. They made friends that would stay with them until the end of time. A smile spread across her lips. She liked the idea of having someone watching over her when Yuri couldn't. She really did have a family in AVALANCE.
"Plus, Yugito and that damn dragon are starting to be a part of it. Maybe I am overreacting to all of this. Maybe I just don't want to let Naruto go just yet"
"You'll have let him go eventually. You can't hold his hand forever. He needs to learn things on his own and fight his own battles. You've done a good job these past thirteen years, but now it's time to loosen your hold on Naruto"
She sighed.
"You're right, Usagi"
"I always am. Now let's go home and wait for Naruto to return. Let him enjoy the fact that he got accepted into the Chunin exams in the first place. Let's face it, I didn't expect the knuckle head to make it this far. He's not the sharpest crayon in the box"
"You're right about that. Ok, I'll go home"
"Good girl, Mikomi. You're doing the right thing"
"I hope so"
She went back home and managed to stop Yuri from making dinner, much to everyone's relief.
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Yuri's big dinner turned out really well. She didn't make dinner, but it still turned out well according to her. Everyone was pretty much out of it from drinking too much. And by everyone, it meant, Yuri, Cid, Barret and Yuffie. They had a drinking contest and all lost. Cloud and Tifa had to take care of their three drunken friends while Mikomi had to take care of Yuri. Trying to put a drunken Yuri to bed was like trying to give a cat a bath, it didn't work well. Luckily, she was able to put her to bed with a little help from Yugito and Bakuto.
Now, the three Jinchuriki's sat up on the roof to watch the stars.
"That was some dinner" Yugito said.
"Yeah, especially with Yuri's dinking game" Mikomi added.
Bakuto rubbed his cheek from when Yuri hit him. She had a fit when Mikomi tried to put her to bed and he got caught in the cross fire.
Mikomi gave him a sheepish grin.
"Sorry about Yuri. She's kind of crazy when she's drunk"
"That woman can pack a punch" Bakuto said. "She tried to do a few wrestling moves on me before"
The two women laughed.
"Yeah. Yuri used to be a professional wrestler back in the day. She was referred to as the 'Iron Lotus' and was feared by all"
"Oh, sounds scary"
Tifa, Cloud and Vincent came up.
"How are Yuffie, Cid and Barret?"
"They're out of it. They'll be having a hangover by tomorrow"
"So will Yuri and it won't be pretty. Luckily, I have mission, so I won't be around while she's recovering from a massive headache"
"Yeah, but we will" Bakuto said
"That's your lose, not mine"
"Why you"
The two had a mock fight and started slapping each other just for the fun of it. Yugito laughed at her boyfriend's childish act"
"So, Mikomi. Did you talk to Naruto?" Tifa asked.
She stopped slapping for a moment.
"No. I didn't" she said quietly.
"How come?"
She looked at her feet.
"I figured that I can't baby him forever. He needs to learn how to do things on his own and not rely me. I guess that …I need to back off a bit and let him grow up"
Yugito patted her shoulder.
"I bet this must be hard for you"
"It is, but I just need to deal with it. I can't hold his hand anymore like before"
"You'll get used to it" Bakuto said.
"Really?"
"Sure. And if not, then that just shows that you're more of a baby than your brother"
A tick mark appeared on her forehead. She tried to kick him off the roof but failed horribly.
"See? This just proves that you're still a child. You have a lot to learn"
"Don't worry. I'll start learning as soon as I push you off of this roof"
"You can try, but the results will be the same"
A bigger tick mark appeared on her forehead. She stopped pushing him and resumed her slap fight with him.
"Who's childish now?"
"Shut up!"
Yugito laughed at them, while the sober members of AVALANCE just sighed.
"Mikomi will never change, will she?" Vincent asked.
"Nope" Cloud replied.
"But…maybe that's a good thing" Tifa said.
They just watched as Mikomi and Bakuto kept slapping each other through the night. After that night, Mikomi started to loosen her hold around Naruto's chain and let him grow up. Or, at least she tried.
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A/N: I know it wasn't much, but it's better than nothing. I'm just using these 'fillers' for when the action starts. Have no fear, the action will come soon. And if you're patient, I might add two chapters in one day. Just send in those reviews.