Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the lovely characters, just my OC's.
Asahina was glad to find out that there were no new names to be added to the memorial tablet that already held so many names. Her mission was a success but when she returned to the village, she heard bad news on top of more bad news. Uchiha Sasuke was gone. There goes the last Uchiha. The group that had gone to retrieve them all returned with injuries, some more severe than other, but they were all injured. Yui had told her Kakashi hadn't been home in a full day and she knew exactly where to find him.
Kakashi stood only a few meters away from her in front of the memorial tablet mumbling to himself, "Even now, as a jonin, I have subordinates. But even now, I regret. Even with this eye I couldn't see what was going to happen. If you were alive, what would you say to me, Obito? … Kazuhiko-san… I've been saying it since your name was engraved here but I love your daughter. What would you say to me? Is a man that couldn't even keep his student in the village worth anything? Obito, Kazuhiko-san… If it were one of you standing here… It might have been different."
"Kakashi." Asahina barely waited long enough for him to turn around before throw her arms around him, "I can tell you what my father would say."
He stood unmoving but silently enjoyed her warmth, "… I could probably figure it out myself but I'm not ready to enter the depression stage yet. Could you spare me for a few days?"
"You know… You've got a major confidence issue whenever you stand here." She growled, "Or maybe you just have a confidence issue in general."
"…"
She turned and clapped her hands together in prayer, "Father, it's been a while. How are you up in heaven? Mother is doing well… I'm finally getting a hang of all of the ninjutsus in your scrolls. Can you tell Kakashi he's wasting his time on self-pity? Or can you teach him not to connect all the sadness in life together every time? Seriously, this guy just can't stop. One day he's going to be like 'Oh. My cat died. That's terrible. It's just like the time Sasuke left the village. It's all my fault. I couldn't take better care of the cat just like I couldn't take care of Sasuke. Blah blah blah.' And then he's probably going to stand here and ask you if the cat would've survived if you were the one taking care of it instead of him… Except he doesn't have a cat…"
Kakashi slid his arms around her waist from behind, locking his fingers together, "Should I get a cat?"
"… That wasn't my point, Kakashi." She held his arms in front of her, "You're a good person. Where's that cool, aloof man I fell in love with?"
"Love?" He choked out, pointing to Obito's name, "There…"
"Oh jeez…" She smiled, "Obito-kun... I didn't realize that you were considered aloof. You know. Kakashi knew that I liked someone with the initials H.K but he didn't realize that his own initials were H.K. What an idiot but then again, a lot of people have those initials but none of them are quite like Kakashi."
"… None of them killed your father…"
"See? He's doing it again. Everything is connected to the past, everyone does it but not quite the way Kakashi does it." She managed to turn in his arms to cup his face in her hands, "Kakashi, I love you. Everything will be okay someday."
He was low on energy and therefore low on patience. He swiftly leaned down and planted a kiss on her lips without pulling his mask out of the way. He knew he loved her for a reason. She reached up and yanked his mask out of the way when he reached down for another kiss. He felt her hands clench his shoulders tightly as he ran his tongue across her lips.
Kakashi wasn't a usually clingy or desperate person. Asahina knew it more than anyone but when he stood in front of the tablet, he was always regretting something. At a young age, Kakashi had lost everything and experienced a part of being a real shinobi and like any human being he suffered. She clung to his shoulders, afraid to lose him. She felt him slide his tongue into her mouth and his arms tugged her closer and closer until their bodies were pressed together. Her hands tightened around his shoulders and he pulled away giving her some much needed air. She felt her cheeks heat up. No matter how many times they kissed he always seemed to have an infinite source of air but left her breathless.
His lips pressed to hers in a much less intense fashion, lingering for only a few moments before pulling away, "Thank you, love."
Toshizo had found it. Kankuro was amazing. The way he moved his puppets was swift and precise. Toshizo wanted to learn puppet mastery but not from the sand shinobi. He would take his time and learn. To get stronger and protect the team, he would learn. He was always the one running away. He hadn't done anything to prove his worth as a ninja since the day he graduated from the academy and although he was training everyday he had hardly improved. The only thing that changed was the amount of muscle on his body. He glanced over at his two teammates who sat quietly outside the emergency room.
The medics flocked out of the room and the head of Neji's operations stopped to comfort the girl that sat quietly outside, "He'll be okay. He's in a stable condition and should wake up shortly. We're going to move him to a more comfortable room so you should be able to see him shortly."
"Thank you…" She breathed.
Toshizo smiled when Kai slid his arm around her shoulder. Kai had warmed to them slowly but surely. Toshizo had realized it in the Forest of Death during the Chunin Exams but his male teammate seemed to be crushing on the Hyuga girl. He completely understood why too. Kori was kind but strong, intelligent but fun, talented but humble. She was everything he wanted to be. He had come to idolize his teammates and teacher in their time together. His teacher was strong despite being a female. Asahina was a woman who got her work done but still gave them enough time to have fun. Kai was strict with everyone including himself. The blond was talented and always seemed to be able to fight when he had to.
The group moved silently into Neji's room as soon as the medics gave them the okay. Kori sat silently in the stool beside the bed. The air was thick with a mixed emotion but when Neji's eyes fluttered open it was all gone. His eyes scanned the room tiredly, "I'm alive…"
"Of course you are, stupid." Kori's nose crinkled at the look on his face, "What? You act like you've never seen me before."
"I've never been so happy to see you." Neji grumbled.
"Let's go." Toshizo dragged Kai out behind him leaving their only female teammate with her brother, "Being a ninja is hard, isn't it?"
"No one said it would be easy." Kai's serious tone didn't waver, "You and I have to get stronger. Fast."
"... I understand."
"Shikamaru can't be the only chunin around forever."
"Right."
The two boys resolved to be strong for the sake of the village and their own team. They were unspoken words but they were both afraid. Naruto wasn't strong enough to bring Sasuke back with him but if the time ever came for Squad 9 to forcefully keep one of their own in the village, they would be ready.
Sasuke was gone. Yui couldn't believe it. She had never really thought of Sasuke as a traitor-type but now she was painfully aware of how little she really knew about him. She sat quietly in the park watching her former Kirigakure companion feed the birds. She would've never thought that Sasuke was the type to abandon his friends but she was sorely mistaken. Her crimson eyes scanned the park but found it difficult to find anyone who even slightly resembled Sasuke.
Her mind wandered to the ninja in the hospital. Neji was recovering from his failed mission to retrieve the Sasuke that was running away. It was kind of ironic that both of them were kind of in a useless situation, one being a million miles away and the other being in the hospital. She hadn't really thought of either of them as more than attractive from the start but she couldn't help but sulk over the loss of Sasuke. Yui might've gone for Kai if he hadn't been hopelessly in love with Kori. She let out a bitter laugh. Her feelings for people were shallow and now, she was painfully aware of it.
Sakura was crying her eyes out after the loss of Sasuke and Kori was glued to her brother's bedside. That was love. Yui on the other hand, felt absolutely nothing for either of them. Actually, she didn't feel anything for any of the guys around her. She wanted Zabuza and that was that. It was virtually impossible for her to love anyone other than her brother and he was gone. She had loved her mother and poof, she was gone. She was probably just someone who was destined to be miserable.
"Yui-chan!"
She glanced over her shoulder, "Kiba-kun…"
The dog lover took a seat on the bench next to her, "What are you doing here all alone?"
"I'm not." She gestured to her childish friend who had given up on feeding the birds and ended up chasing them around, "Aya's just a little… occupied."
"So... Is it really okay for you to be out here instead of with Neji? Or maybe you're not quite over Sasuke…?"
"It's fine. Neither of them was like I imagined." She told him.
"Want me to set you up with someone else?" He was smiling but his heart was aching, "I know a lot of cool guys…"
Her eyebrow rose ever-so-slightly at the sound of his offer, "I'm not interested."
It was a relief for him. He had been hoping for that answer but he was almost absolutely sure that she would've said yes if he had shown her a picture first.
"I told you why I was here… So what are you doing here?" Yui asked.
"I'm meeting Shino here." He lied. His companion was probably busily sulking in his own home after being left out of their mission.
"Shouldn't you be resting?"
"I'm fine." He grinned, "You don't have to worry about me."
"Ah… That's right." She felt her lips twitch into a smile, "You have Kori for that."
His face fell instantly, "W-What?"
"Oh. It's not like that? I apologize."
"M-Me? And her?" Kiba had never even thought about it but to some people it probably did look like he liked her. No. He would be lying if he said he never thought about it. They were always together but they were nothing more than childhood friends.
"Is the idea ridiculous?"
"She's my best friend." He told her firmly, "And nothing more."
She nodded in understanding, "I didn't mean to assume."
"It's alright." He chuckled, "I guess it could look like that to some people."
"You can be honest. I wouldn't tell her."
His eyes narrowed at her accusingly, "Are you saying I'm disloyal?"
"What?"
"I'm the type of person to stick to his first love forever." He told her.
"Huh?"
"It's alright. You don't have to understand right away." He grinned, "You'll find out someday."
"Hinata-sama. I prepared tea." Kori bowed slightly before handing the older girl a cup, "Neji! Take a break, you idiot! Tsunade-sama told you not to push it!"
Hiashi chuckled mid-thrust and stood back, "Let's take a break."
Neji straightened out and took a seat on the wooden floor beside Hinata before accepting a cup from his sister, "Thank you."
Kori nudged him out of the way to hand the last cup to Hiashi, "Three years is a long time. Hinata-sama, you should see him off."
Naruto would be leaving a training journey today and for three years he would be off training with Jiraiya. Kori didn't know either of them very well but Neji and Hinata both had a connection with Naruto.
Hinata blushed, "N-No… I-I can't…"
Kiba's wild laugh echoed in through the main gate, "She went to see him already but ended up turning red until she passed out."
"… That sounds just like her." Kori laughed her eyes landing on the beautiful girl beside Kiba, "Yui… So, you are training with me today."
"I refuse to be left behind. Tomorrow our team is taking the first of the B-rank missions." Yui nodded.
Tsunade had decided that their squad was ridiculously big but didn't have the heart to change what the Third Hokage had done. Squad Nine had started off like any other squad, three genin and one joinin but with the addition of Aya and Yui they were a huge force. Normally, genin busily completed D or C-ranked missions but the village was still catching up and there weren't enough chunin to take all the B-ranked missions.
Kori dusted her shorts off, "I have something to do first. So you guys can hang around here for a while."
Naruto wasn't the only person leaving the village today. Gaara's group was returning to Sunagakure in an hour. She didn't want to say goodbye so she was just going to avoid meeting them at the gate but she had already bought them a gift so she decided she would say a short goodbye. She stopped to catch her breath before calling out to the group at the gate, "Gaara!"
Shikamaru was already there and he lazily stepped aside for the girl to have her chance, "What a drag."
"Here." She held out the colorful box to him with both hands, "That's for you. Be careful on your way home."
He accepted the box with one hand, "… Thank you…"
His first gift. He had never received a gift before at least not from someone outside his family. His lovely birthday presents were a group of assassins, a few attempts at quietly killing him off, and a few more lessons on how to be a shinobi. He lifted the top warily to reveal an odd book. He lifted the cover cautiously to reveal an embroidered inside and an envelope. He held up the envelopes and noticed his siblings staring at it with wonder. He glanced back down at the book, "… A picture…"
"Ino was taking pictures during the fireworks display… And I thought you might want to keep those memories." She closed the distance between them, gesturing to the first picture, "There aren't that many but I wanted to give them to you. That's you and your siblings. The second one is when Naruto was setting off the firecrackers and almost jumped right on top of you after dropping them. The last one is from when you and I were sitting and watching the fireworks with Neji and Saizo."
"…" He turned over the next few pages only to find them blank. The rest of the book was completely blank, "What do I do with the rest of it?"
"You add more pictures." She laughed, "This is called a picture album. Don't you guys have these in Sunagakure?"
"I'm not sure…"
"Then it's settled. We'll make lots more memories and take more pictures. That way you'll always remember how many friends you have."
"Embrace her." Kankuro snickered, when his little brother made no move to say goodbye, "Then I'll do it."
Kori returned the older ninja's one armed hug, "You know. Toshizo won't stop talking about how cool your puppets are."
"I'm a cool guy." He joked.
Temari offered the girl a hand when her brother seemed to cling to her unnecessarily, "Kankuro, you're annoying."
Kori shook the kunoichi's hand gratefully, "You'll all be missed."
"Don't turn around…" Gaara's voice was firm but gentle and his arms wrapped awkwardly around her shoulders.
"E-Eh?" She felt her face heat up oddly, "A-Ah… Umm…"
Temari and Kankuro stood wide-eyed around them as their youngest sibling held a girl. What a strange turn of events? Kankuro often joked with Temari about how Gaara was never going to listen to anything they said. Temari often told Gaara to smile more but he never listened. They were aware that their brother wasn't emotionless but his face only seemed to show negative emotions. Anger, hatred, annoyance, irritation. Those were the expressions most often displayed on Gaara's face. Kankuro often told Gaara not be so quiet all the time but Gaara didn't listen to that one either. And now Kankuro had jokingly told him to embrace his new friend but he did it.
Temari managed to stutter out, "G-Gaara. We have to go."
"Ah…" Gaara sounded completely indifferent as his arms slid back down to his side, the album tucked away in his tunic. There were no final words and no looking back. Gaara just kept walking like he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. His siblings shook their heads. That girl was good for him. They hoped to see more of her someday.
"B-rank mission success!" Kori held up the scroll, blood rolling down her arms.
Asahina shook her head, "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." Toshizo wiped at his sweaty forehead, his first attempt at puppetry wasn't a complete failure, "Everyone gets sick every once in a while."
Asahina broke into another fit of coughs, "That's no excuse. I'm the jonin here…"
Kai gasped for breath but managed to send the woman a hard glare, "Shut up! No one cares!"
"They ran away!" Aya squealed, "Kori-chan scared them all away!"
Kori's leg throbbed despite the fact that she was sitting on Rokuro's back, "Nah. It was Rokuro. Good work."
"I was just following Kori-sama's orders." Rokuro purred.
Kori swung her legs around to slide off the white tiger, "Let's go home. Give Asahina-sensei a ride back."
Yui dabbed the blood from her face, "We only managed to kill one."
"The mission was to get the scroll back." Kori waved it around, "I killed the one who had it so it's not a big deal."
"Hey look." Kai held up his copy of the most recent bingo book, "This guy is a criminal. Let's cash in."
"Seriously?" Aya bounced up and down, brimming with energy despite the encounter.
"My family's into bingo books and criminals." Kai lifted the dead body of his shoulder, "I know a good place to exchange. Of course the money is yours."
Kori shrugged, "You can have it. I'm taking Asahina-sensei home so let's just split up at the gate."
"Agreed." Yui grabbed Aya's hands as she tried to play with the dead body, "Stop."
"Asahina! My love!" Gai came spinning down the road, "How are you feeling today? Youthful?"
"I feel like kicking you in the face." She growled, "Where's Kakashi?"
"That wasn't a very youthful answer!" Gai whined.
Kotetsu and Izumo waved as the team passed through the gate and checked them off, "Asahina! If you're sick, stay at home!"
"I'll kill you." She growled, "I'm a ninja. I can't stay home just cause I'm sick."
"We should hospitalize her." Kotetsu and Izumo chorused.
"Rokuro!" Kori led the tiger away before her teacher could start a fight with the guards.
"Kori." Kakashi had materialized from out of nowhere, "I'll take her from here."
"Take me where?" Asahina protested, "Stop it! Get away from me!"
Kakashi didn't even seem to be listening to the woman's protests as he scooped her up, "Kori. Can you make the report?"
"It'll be my first time but sure." She shrugged, "Rokuro, can I have a ride to the other side of the village?"
"Of course, Kori-sama."
"You shouldn't call me that." Kori sighed but threw her legs over Rokuro's side, "That's not how you address your friends."
"If that's what you want, Kori-dono."
"… Nevermind." She hung her head.
Kakashi chuckled as the genin flew down the road on her white tiger, "They're a very reliable duo."
"Kakashi!" Asahina slammed her fist into his nose, "What do you think you're doing?"
He lowered his voice almost seductively, "Let's go home, love."
"Stop calling me that!" She blushed.
"No can do. Until Naruto comes back to the village, I'm going to keep calling you that. When he gets back I'll find something else to call you." Kakashi teased her in a strange way.
"Three years, huh?" Asahina mused, "He better be seriously training or my students are going to leave him in the dust."
"We'll just have to wait and see…"
I'm like two chapters away from finishing this up but of course the Shippuden part is where it gets complicated... With all these people dying and coming back to life and stuff... Jeez.
