Obsidian eyes watched as both Moru and Kazu left the dojo without a word to him. The two had been sparring each other while Riku and he practiced on targets at the far end of the room. Riku had left over an hour ago saying good bye to the couple that had just left. This whole silent treatment was starting to tick him off.
Yes. He knew she hated him. And, he knew that his brother had broken her to keep her opposition to returning to the leaf left unsaid. But, silence meant scheming and planning. It meant secrets. At least with her yelling at him, telling him off, or objecting venomously to his returning he knew exactly what she was doing, what she was thinking.
When had he ever really known what she was fully thinking? When had her actions been crystal clear to him and not shrouded in fog? Never. It seemed that her team mates acted just like her too. Which was just fantastic.
He knew he had felt another thorn being shoved into his side.
Trying to get his mind off the angering fact that Kazu would NOT stop hindering him in any way she could, Sasuke took his first moment alone in the Hotoya dojo to examine his surroundings. The white rice paper and dark bamboo shoji door type walls allowed for the dojo to be well lit with the rice paper a bright white. The floor was a hard dark bamboo as well making falls and knock downs feel as they would outside on the dirt. Black dragons guarded every corner of the rice paper wall, curling and slithering their way over the paper.
Monumental different colored dragons kept watch over some katana held reverently on stands. The colors of the guardian matched that of the katana guard: red with red, brown with brown, green with green, and etc. What was so special about those katana? Why were they so revered, these painted dragons and the katana they guarded? Did this have to do with her clan? What did this mean?
He counted ten katana within the dojo. Dark irises glanced at the still shut shoji door from which the thorn and her teammates had left. Seeing no sign of it opening soon and not feeling any chakra signatures near the door, he began to move to the closest katana/dragon shrine like thing near him.
The sheath was a stark black with a red ribbon secured around it near the guard used to secure it to its owner. The guard was the same red as the ribbon while the weave on the handle was red and black. A fierce blood red dragon loomed over it on the wall.
Kato Hotoya was in kanji on the dragon's stomach above the katana. Was that the name of the owner of this katana? Why was his sword so revered? Kazu's sword looked like this one except it was gold instead of red. Was her sword going to be put on this wall two? Did it have some special attack?
Maybe later he should do some snooping. His thorn's small clan's history, traditions, and techniques were going to be brought into light. Maybe he could suck up to his thorn to get her to teach him something and then forcibly remove her.
His hand began to reach out. What would happen if he unsheathed the sword? Would he be able to understand what was so special about this blade with its sharp edge glinting in the light?
"Don't touch that, traitor."
His fingers froze before pulling away from almost touching the handle. His jaw clenched. Dark black irises flared before narrowing in on the female blonde shinobi that annoyed just as much as that idiot Naruto, if not more.
Did she always have to call him that? Couldn't she just use his name like everyone else? With her always reminding everyone that he had defected, it would be harder to get accepted by some and others seemed to just ignore her words while scolding her for them, if the responding hit to her arm by the number one knuckle head himself was anything to go by.
His thorn sent a glare towards the boy blonde and the golden beast always perched on her should snapped at him as she rubbed her now slightly red arm where he punched her. He did not like her silence or the glares she openly sent his way. Dark obsidian broke away from crystal blue only when Naruto spoke.
"We are having dinner tonight, so come on!" Naruto barely explained using his too-loud-for-in-doors voice, in other words his normal volume. Sasuke's face scrunched a little at that. Kazu was having dinner with him willingly?
"He's bringing Team 7 back together for a dinner to catch up and hang out like old times," the golden Hotoya explained to the traitor. "It's sunset now, so we are going now, traitor."
His teeth ground together in frustration. The raven haired teen couldn't decide if he found her scheming silence or her hateful words more infuriating.
"Kazu stop that! You're just pissed that you were wrong about him not coming back!" Naruto scolded the blonde girl, pushing her arm softly to emphasize his words. Both boys watched as she tensed; the dragon on her shoulder fidgeting and widening its wings before settling them back in rest. Was she going to yell finally? Would the fog around her intentions lift some? Her fists clenched.
"Let's just get this over with." She muttered softly before swiftly leading the way out of the Hotoya compound and to the Ramen bar.
This was really annoying. To her, it seemed as if Naruto and Sakura had just wanted to do this to rub it in her face even more that the traitor was back. Like they hadn't done that enough the night before when all the chunnin had gathered. It took a lot of will to not reach over the booth's table and strangle Naruto for his apparent stupidity as he sent her another smug grin while talking to the raven haired betrayer.
What made this low life a deity to the Leaf? She really didn't understand that. At all.
"I'm just so glad you're back, Sasuke-kun!" the pink haired idiot remarked as she hugged his arm. Green eyes locked with sapphire glaring smugly. How many remarks was that? Kazu had lost count at twenty.
She roughly ran her hand down the resting Shaku's back, whom was in her lap. This was just aggravating. She had tried to understand the people of the Leaf's point of view on the traitor when he first left, and she just couldn't. Did they all seriously think he was back for good? How could her village be filled with such blinded fools?
"So did you really kill your brother?" Sakura batted her eyelashes, asking what everyone at the table was wondering. The girl's grip on his arm tightened, brining it closer to her.
Kazu's hand froze in its stroke down Shaku's scaled back. It still sounded weird to hear the word 'killed' and 'Itachi' used in the same sentence in such a way. The former prison tried to force her muscles to relax from their sudden tensing. Her eyes moved from looking around the Ramen bar to look at the deserter.
His dark eyes startled her slightly when she found them staring at her intensely. They were so much like Itachi's; it was uncanny and a little nerve racking too.
"Yes."
It was a simple one worded answer, but it caused so many reactions to happen within her. Sakura's gushing on how strong the traitor must be to do that was lost on the Hotoya. Relief washed through her for a second before she could stop it. Then suspicion crushed that house before it could be built.
There had to be more to the story than just, "Yeah I killed my brother. And?" That man wasn't someone who was just killed. So, what was he hiding? What did he do?
Shaku, sensing her master's distress, uncurled from Kazu's lap and hiked her way up to the tattooed shoulder that was her preferred perch. As the raven haired boy kept on emphasizing on how easy it was to kill his brother, Kazu tensed; her teeth clenched. Her pride was injured with every utterance of the word easy and her memories of her days tortured by that monster were forced into her mind's theater with ever mention of his name.
Shaku glared at the raven haired boy who watched her master while he answered all of Sakura's pointless questions vaguely. He was doing this to her master. This was his fault. The small familiar could feel Junkin's anger and displeasure.
Master, it's time to leave.
Shaku rubbed the top of her head on her master's cheek lovingly. Sasuke had been shocked at just how true his brother's words had rung. He had broken her. It was painfully obvious that any utterance of his name had her on edge. This he could use. Just in case she further shoved her way into his side and ruined his plans.
"Kazu where are you going?" Naruto asked as the blonde girl stood up. Her blue eyes locked onto Sasuke for a second before glancing at Naruto.
"Home." She said harshly before turning away.
YOU WILL PAY FOR DOING THAT TO MY MASTER.
Sasuke searched for the owner of the deep female growl. The red eyes of the small golden dragon perched on his thorn's shoulder drew his attention. They looked back over the girl's shoulder, staring at him.
YOU WILL PAY.
The gruff female voice growled again. This time he was sure it had come from the golden beast. His eyes widened slightly.
It could talk? Since when?
The big busted woman downed another glass of sake as she read over the request. The burn and warmth pooling in her stomach was welcomed by the blonde pig-tailed wearing woman. She was going to have to invest in some more of the alcoholic beverage if things were going to turn out the way she thought.
Hopefully Kazu would play her part. Tsunade was pretty confident that she would. The older woman knew that the last Hotoya was suspicious of and hateful towards the Uchiha. What better person to make sure he would be fateful to the Leaf when he returned than the person who hated him the most?
After all, a suspicious woman was the world's best detective.
She would find out if Sasuke was trust worthy. If anybody did, it would be her and her team.
But none the less, the fifth Hokage had hoped to keep the new Team Kazu within the village boundaries for at least a month. That way they could deal with any . . . problems . . . from the former traitor swiftly. Team Kazu was just going to have to be enough to deal with any problems the Uchiha caused because the Village hidden in the Snow was asking specifically for them to help deal with some bandits in the area.
The now tipsy woman downed another cup of sake. The burn caused her to grimace. It was stronger now; that's just how she liked it.
This wasn't the first time she was wondering if she had done the right thing with Team Kazu. But, the group had never truely let her down before and all of them had put the safety of the Leaf before their own. Tsunade just hoped they were up for the task.
With a slow flick of her wrist, she signed the mission into affect. Good Luck, she thought, you're going to need it.
The sky was in over cast. Different hues of grey glided over one another like leaves floating down a river. It was going to rain soon. At least he knew that much. Where he was, was another situation altogether.
He had no clue as to where he was. All he could see in either direction was trees. Their umbrella of green leaves made the sky barely visible. It was humid and the air felt thick with moister like it usually does in the Leaf before it rained heavily. But, these trees with big white flowers were not in any of the forests surrounding the Leaf.
A giggle caught his attention. He wasn't the only one out here? Where were the others, if there were others? Another giggle sounded. Maybe they would tell him where he was? No not maybe. They would tell him where he was and how to leave.
He moved silently in the way from which the noise had sounded. Twisting his body as to not touch the bark, he glided across the forest floor. His hand found the handle of his katana as he neared the chakra signals he could suddenly feel.
"Hey!" He heard a feminine voice exclaim before breaking out into another barrage of giggles indicating it was fake outrage. Who were these people? Why where they here? Why was he here?
He would get his answers one way or another.
The trees began to thin indicating a clearing coming up. He began to slow. It would be best to surprise those up ahead of him. That way they couldn't fend him off. He would surprise them, beat them, and demand answers.
He stopped just outside the clearing. Leaning his back against the bark he peered around the trunk to spot his victims. He was frozen by what he saw.
A girl, that looked about his age, with golden hair and sapphire like eyes was smiling at a boy with charcoal black hair and green eyes. Her smile was big and her body shook with giggles as the boy told her something. She rocked back on her heels and threw her head back laughing.
He watched the boy watch her. Anger began to bubble in his veins. Who was this guy? What did he think he was doing?
Her laugh stopped abruptly although she still stared at the grey sky, blinking several times. His angered eyes moved from the idiot to the girl. What was she doing?
A cold drop of water on his cheek was his answer. Rain. It was beginning to rain. It came in a light fall like caresses. He gazed at the sky for a moment, letting the rain begin to drench him.
Another laugh made him look hastily back to the girl in boy. His anger rose again. The boy was spinning the girl around in the rain. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open as if she was trying to catch rain drops in her mouth. Giggles occasionally left her open mouth.
The boy slowed in his twirls, pulling the girl in closer while still holding her up higher. Her arms went to his shoulders to steady her. The boy's face softened into a small smile and slowly her giggles died down until her face was softly smiling as well. The rain continued to kiss the ground and cool it.
Although, it did nothing to cool the anger that was boiling under his skin. Who did this boy think he was?
The boys smile faded and he could only watch as the boys face turned serious. His feet were frozen to the ground though he wanted to pull the two apart. The golden haired girl turned cautious. Charcoal hair inched forward.
He was going to kiss her! And she was going to let him do it!
He couldn't do that! She couldn't do that! She was not his. That guy had no right. What the hell! He had to stop this.
He took a step forward, finally breaking the ice incasing his feet, intent on stopping this in any way possible and stepped on a twig. The snap sounded throughout the clearing. Charcoal hair and green eyes did not move or even act like he had acknowledged the sound. Emeralds still gazed at the girl with so much emotion. However, dark damp golden hair fanned out and stunning blue stared back at him. A smirk found its way onto his face. She was paying attention him, not that green eyed freak.
She was shocked, that much was obvious. Her eyes were wide, almost innocent. But, they showed something deeper like she had been through a lot. They were startling, stunning. A bright clear blue.
The picture pulsed three times.
His eyes opened to the sound of banging on his front door. His dream was already escaping his memory; sand slipping through his fingers. The bright blue was fading to his sub-conscious. More insistent banging sounded.
Whoever it was better have a good reason for waking him up or he was going to beat them. Annoyed, he pushed off his covers and padded through the halls of the Uchiha compound to the front door. He yawned before opening the door.
She couldn't believe Tsunade. A mission? Already? With the traitor? This was going to be fun. Not the sarcasm. She stood outside the front door of the traitor's home, arms crossed over her chest.
The compound felt empty, yet full. It was as if the ghosts of its dead members stared at her from the abandoned houses and court yards. It was nothing like her own compound. She would go mad in a place like this. Shaku wrapped her tail around Kazu's neck trying to comfort her master from feeling uneasy. The blonde huffed in annoyance. Could the traitor be any slower?
Angry bright blue greeted him when he opened the door. Kazu stood before him in full ninja gear. Her kasurigama was strapped to her hip, her katana to her back, and her familiar sat on her shoulder. Its tail hung loosely around her neck. Briefly his eyes glanced at the katana in her back. What was so special about that sword?
And, what was she doing here?
"Get dressed and meet us at the gates in thirty. We have a mission."