Chapter twenty six
A big thank to Homarid for the lovely review =) and to answer your question: in the previous chapter Damaru mentioned she had seen suspicious individuals when she went to retrieve dinner. So the poor dudes who tried to attack them in the middle of the night were just bandits who thought they would be easy targets (grave mistake here).
Anyway, disclaimer (because I have to write it down from time to time): I don't own Naruto's characters except Damaru my oc. Tazuki belongs to Sukki18.
Please enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review!
-Last chapter-
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Damaru when they reached the apartment before running ahead, jumping through the huge hole marring the now pretty ruined building.
Having nothing better to do, Kisame followed her.
He found her kneeling next to the dark haired boy, a silver furred wolf at his side resting, and by instinct quickly checked if they were any hidden enemies. But apparently the three bodies lying on the charred floor a bit away were the only other people beside them.
"Itachi-kun!" asked Damaru, her eyes scanning for any injuries and her hands glowing green "Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened?"
"Calm down." Reassured the grey eyed boy, taking her shoulders to steady her and noticing the gash on one of them, the girl's hairs becoming an interesting shade of pink from the blood seeping out. He narrowed his eyes "You're hurt."
"I was attacked on my way here." Explained Damaru "One Iwa nin and a Kiri one." She turned to Kisame, gesturing to him "Fortunately this man helped me. Without him I probably wouldn't be here now."
"It was nothing." Grumbled Kisame, not used to compliments "The girl was really handling everything well. I just helped her end the fight quicker."
Itachi's black eyes thoroughly scanned the blue skinned man before returning to Damaru who smiled reassuringly at him. Kisame would die before admitting it out loud, but he was somewhat relieved when the boy's scrutinising gaze left him.
"I spoke to the manager." Itachi finally said "He gave us another apartment and medical supplies for our injuries."
"Great." Damaru straightened, helping her teammate doing the same "We'll go there. Are you coming Kisame-san?"
Still trying to figure why he was still listening to a barely ten years old little girl, Kisame followed the two konoha guenins out.
-Now-
"And done." Damaru finished bandaging Kisame's arm, satisfied with her work "You can get the bandage off tomorrow."
"Thanks." Grumbled the blue skinned man, testing his arm and smiling when he felt no discomfort "You're really good at healing."
"Thank you." Damaru smiled "I have a good teacher."
At that moment Itachi came back, entering the room from the window.
"The traps are set." He said shortly before heading to the shower.
Damaru nodded before turning to Kisame.
"You can go home." She said, patting his arm "And don't sleep on your healing arm."
"Yes sir." Kisame smirked mockingly before getting up.
Damaru pouted at him and he chuckled before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"Let me guess." Said Itachi once he got out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel "You got a good feeling about this one too."
Smiling Damaru nodded.
"I'm glad you're beginning to get the hang of it." She condescended, giving him a false air of approbation.
She dodged a pillow, laughing, before throwing her own.
Gin, who was resting in a corner, rolled his eyes with an amused huff as the two engaged in a ferocious pillow fight, before receiving one himself and deciding that enough was enough.
He gathered his bulk down before pouncing on a passing Itachi.
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"It's finished Haku-chan." Rin smiled, patting the boy's short hair.
The boy smiled before hoping off the examination table and walking to Yuki who was waiting for him.
"No major problem?" asked Sakumo.
"He needs proteins and be careful with the sugar and lipids you'll give him for now." Answered Rin "And I suggest to wait a year to enrol him in the academy, even if he's six already. Other than that he's alright, considering how cruel a street life can be."
"Why did you cut his hairs?" asked curiously Shin.
"They were full of louses and ticks. They'll grow back soon enough. Do we have enough rooms at home?"
"He'll sleep in Damaru's bed for now." Replied Sakumo "We'll see what to do once she and Itachi come back. Let's just hope she doesn't bring back another child."
"I think you just spooked us now." Rin smirked, huffing a laugh when she saw the man's panicked face.
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'You've got to be kidding me.' Thought Damaru, staring incredulously at the wobbling man in front of them.
Itachi said nothing, too busy glaring at the man who apparently was their jonin sensei for the exam, his anger echoed by Gin who was growling.
"'lright you maggot!" suddenly yelled the man, taking a swipe out of his bottle "You've got to train for the tournament in one month! Go get some training done and leave me be!"
With that done he turned around, walking away.
It took a several seconds for Damaru to close her open mouth and a few minutes to come up with a viable plan.
"It highly improbable that we'll be able to learn anything new." She said "So I propose we review what we know and think of strategies. Perhaps a bit of spying to know our opponents?"
"It might be dangerous." Replied Itachi "But you're right. We don't have a lot of possibilities."
"How about we make a list of what we know and decide what we want to improve?"
Itachi nodded and they sat down on the ground, Damaru fishing a sheet of paper and a pen out of her bag.
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Sarutobi could say it now: he was impressed.
The first task of Kiri's chuunin exam was hard, but the guards at the coat assured him they had only seen one Konoha teams, and certainly not the one with ten years old children.
After that, when he had wanted to send a competent jonin to help them train, the elders had imposed a complete imbecile.
Even with that, the two had done quite well during the tournament, and Sarutobi could proudly say they had impressed the lords and high dignitaries. He was sure Konoha's future was assured in term of missions. They had defeated each of their opponents with simple techniques, using as little chakra as possible and showing good improvisation skills. They also showed people that even the simplest technique could be used in a lot of different manners ant that you don't always need to know a powerful jutsu to defeat your opponent.
With these conclusions, even the elders couldn't object to the two's promotion to chuunin.
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When Itachi entered the house, he was mercilessly tackled by four little bodies.
Laughing, he fell down, tickling Naruto who was closer to his reach.
The little boy laughed in delight, wriggling out of his hold and running into Damaru's open arms.
Her peridot green eyes met his dark grey ones and in a second Damaru knew his meeting with his father had been strenuous, long and tiring.
"Go change into your pyjamas." She announced to the children "We're gonna have a breakfast-dinner."
A huge smile illuminated the children and they dashed to their rooms to change, even Haku who had recently stopped being glued to Yuki, the cubs yapping excitedly in their legs.
Damaru smiled at their retreating forms and turned to Sakumo.
"For tonight we'll all sleep in the living room. You can go sleep in your room though if you want."
"I think I'll stay with everyone." The man decided "I'll help you to prepare dinner."
"I'll go shower and change." Said Itachi, getting up "I'll bring down the pillows and the covers. Is the air mattress still in the green room?"
Damaru nodded and the dark haired boy went to the second floor.
Sakumo and Damaru walked to the kitchen to prepare a traditional Japanese breakfast along with cookies, muffins and honeyed milk.
"Onee-wan!" exclaimed a pyjama clad Naruto, running to hug her leg "Why are we having eat?"
"What are we having to eat." Damaru rectified gently "What do you want? And don't say ramen."
The blond kid pouted.
"Can we has tomatoes?" asked eagerly Sasuke, running into the kitchen after his blond brother to hug her other leg.
"Can we have tomatoes. And yes, I can cut you one or two."
"Why do can you tomatoes and not ramen."
"Why can you accept tomatoes and not ramen. Tomatoes are much easier to prepare and ramen is a full dish. I promise you we'll go buy ramen sometimes this week."
"Do you need help onee-chan?" asked Shin, peaking inside the kitchen with Sai glued to his hips.
"Well, yes, you can help carry the plates to the living room." Damaru smiled, giving the six years old a plate containing toasts before giving a waiting Sai (he liked to imitate his brother) a little bowl containing cut tomatoes "Careful Sai okay, and Sasuke, I don't want you to eat them before everyone is at the table."
Sasuke threw her an innocent look before following Shin and Sai out, Naruto following the group a few seconds later when it became clear that he wasn't going to have ramen this time.
Haku peaked shyly inside the kitchen too, and Damaru smiled before handing him a pot of honey.
"Do you want to help us?" she asked "You can carry this to the living room if you want."
The little boy hesitantly took the vial before heading back to the living room.
"Can I ask when you'll stop bringing in children?" Sakumo smirked while finishing to prepare the fishes.
"I'd like to bring in a girl." Damaru smirked back, checking if the rice was cooked "If feel there's too much boys in this house."
Sakumo snorted "Curious, it's more or less the same thing Rin has said."
"Ah!" suddenly yelled Naruto, followed by the cubs' barks "Sasuke steal tomatoes!"
There was a squeal and Itachi entered the kitchen, a pouting Sasuke thrown over his shoulder.
"Do you need help?" he asked as Taiyo and Inazuma came galloping into the kitchen, their claws screeching on the tiled floor as they tried to stop and crashed into Sakumo's legs.
Yuki trotted into the kitchen and with a huff picked up Inazuma before pushing Taiyo out of the room.
Dinner was a noisy, happy affair. When all the dishes were on the low table they sat around it. Haku took carefully a place between Yuki and Damaru while Naruto sat between Damaru and Itachi, and Sasuke beside his brother.
Gin took his place beside Yuki, the cubs between them. Sai and Shin sat together, Sakumo next to Shin, and Kakashi and Rin, when they came back, sat together.
It was one of those rare moments when they were all together, and even the youngest realised that they were moments to be cherished.
Late into the night they nibbled on the food and chatted, the children talking about what they had done recently, the older ones trying to tell as much as possible about their missions, turning them into tales much to the delight of the younger ones.
When the children began to yawn too much, they pushed away the low table and put down the air mattress.
Damaru and Itachi laid side by side, the children almost toppled on them. Haku snuggled in Damaru's side near Yuki. Sasuke, Naruto, Sai and Shin settled between the two, half on the matress and half on them.
The cubs chose Sakumo's stomach and Gin laid beside Yuki and the man while Rin chose her fiancé's arms.
Damaru smiled at Itachi who smiled back before the two succumbed to sleep.
'An island of serenity, a bubble of peace in a troubled, stormy sea.'
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"Are you sure?" asked hesitantly Damaru.
"Absolutely." Answered resolutely Rin, intently looking at the tools in front of her.
"It's a lot of work." Damaru tried again "Shouldn't you just do the wedding ceremony? At this rate you'll be exhausted."
Rin sobered, her gaze becoming distant, and she was silent a moment before answering.
"My mother was a civilian." She finally said, softly "She wanted me to become a housewife, and wanted to teach me how to be a good one. We weren't really agreeing on my future, but the time we passed together was agreeable. She taught me how to dress and arrange my hair and face. She showed me tricks in cooking and wanted to teach me the right way to present tea to my husband."
Damaru looked at the now quiet woman, seeing her in a new light.
"I think it's quite romantic." The nurse Rin had 'engaged' to teach her the proper rituals smiled "Tea ceremony is an ancient ritual to show the host's skills, but there are simpler ones. The one I'm going to teach you Rin-chan is one used by the wife to express her respect toward her husband." She turned to Damaru "Don't you want, one day, express your love and respect to your husband Damaru-chan?"
The white haired child blinked. She looked outside, deep in thoughts.
An image appeared in her mind. She was serving tea to Itachi in a kimono.
She fought back a fierce blush, but fortunately Rin and the other woman were too busy practicing to notice.
Once her blush had diminished, she found herself listening carefully to what the older nurse was saying.
After all, you never knew what could happen.
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The wedding ceremony was intimate but beautiful. Rin didn't have a family to call her own since the war had taken them away, and Kakashi had only his father.
Of course Damaru, Itachi and the children were invited, and even the wolves were there in the back (they personally weren't really interested but they were still family).
Damaru, dressed in a pretty silvery green kimono, threw back a look at the children to see if they were behaving (this ceremony was too important to be ruined by petty squabbles).
But the boys were all lined up and silent, even Naruto and Sasuke who had a love-hate relationship that more than often ended with shouts and cries. She smiled, glad her speech about this moment had had some impact on them.
The couple exchanged the ritual cup of ceremonial sake before giving each other their wedding rings.
The Hokage said a few last words before letting the two kiss.
Kakashi smiled and cupped a blushing Rin' cheek before depositing a tender kiss on her rosy lips.
The couple's happiness and love radiated in the room, and on reflex, Damaru took Itachi's hand, the boy being seated beside her.
The boy blinked, glanced at her luminuous face and smiled softly before squeezing.
Damaru, blinked and looked at their intertwined hands, then him. She blushed brightly but didn't let go.
A few seats behind, Naruto noticed and elbowed Sasuke.
The raven scowled at him and was about to speak but Naruto hushed him before showing him Damaru and Itachi.
Sasuke, surprised, blinked at the two.
"Why are they holding hands?" he whispered, confused.
Naruto seemed thoughtful for a moment before having an idea.
"I see Rin-nee-chan and Kakashi-nii do that a lot of time."
"That means that they're like Kakashi-nii and Rin-nee?" asked Sai who had heard their conversation.
The three eyed carefully Rin and Kakashi before observing Damaru and Itachi.
"Shin-nii." Sai decided to ask his brother "Do you think Damaru-nee and Itachi-nii are a couple?"
Shin blinked before observing the two.
"Perhaps." He finally said "They look a bit like Kakashi-nii and Rin-nee."
"Don't you think it would be sooooo cool if they are?" asked excitedly Naruto, for a moment forgetting to whisper.
Sasuke glared at him and motioned him to keep it down.
"Sorry." The blond smiled sheepishly before continuing "But think about that! If they're together, they can be like our father and mother!"
The children turned thoughtful before Sasuke said.
"I think I have a father, but Itachi doesn't want me to meet him. He says that I wouldn't be happy with him. But I like thinking Damaru and Itachi as my parents."
"They're bit like parents already no?" added Sai before turning to Shin "Ne Shin-nii?"
The silvery blue haired boy nodded.
"But imagine they fall in love like Kakahi-nii and Rin-nee." Said excitedly Naruto "They would really be our parents because they can't be mother and father if they aren't together. Wouldn't you like calling them okaa-san and otou-san Haku-chan?"
The shy boy fidgeted when their gaze riveted on him, but nodded nonetheless.
"But they aren't together." Sasuke rationalised.
"We can help them." Naruto countered "It won't be much an effort, they're almost like parents anyway."
It was at that moment that Damaru turned around to send them a warning look, and they all shut up, sitting rigidly until she turned ahead again.
"Definitively a mom." Mumbled Naruto, a feeling echoed by his brothers who nodded vigorously.
I know I rushed the end of the exam a bit, but when I tried to detail the moment I ended up writing something pretty horrible. So I preferred passing it.
Yes, the choice of jounin makes senses. The Uchihas want to send one of their own, but Hiruzen cannot agree with that because an Uchiha would neglect Damaru. At the same time the council don't want Itachi to graduate since he's an Uchiha and they fear his clan since the Kyuubi's incident.
With Hiruzen's hands tied, Damaru and Itachi ended up with this useless jounin.
The family moment is inspired from my own childhood. During weekend's evenings and in winter we would sometimes do that. My dad would light up a fire in the chimney, we would prepare a sort of breakfast and eat in front of a film (the film often being star wars). A few times my dad would even bring back chestnuts to roast in the fire.
Okay, enough of nostalgic childhood memories. Sorry to bother you with that, you aren't forced to read this.
Anyway, have a happy weekend and until next week!