Chapter Thirty-Seven:
The signal.
It could barely be seen through the clouds of dust that rose from the strong explosions and winds, but it immediately caught the attention of a number of shinobi. Kakashi froze and threw out an arm. The six ninjas who were following came to a halt and stood at ready. Kakashi narrowed his eyes as a gust of wind swept past, blowing the loose soil particles up into the air, and away to the west. It cleared the vast, battered field for better visibility. The ground was scarred and in areas cracked open, rocks displaced and large chunks of land overturned. Over the disfigured terrain were weapons of all kinds, ranging from the ordinary kunai to chained sickles. Around, or between the earth and weapons were the bodies of fallen shinobi from various countries.
Kakashi slowly straightened from a tense stance, his arms falling to side, the grip around a kunai loosening a little. His eyes were trained on the back of his teacher, who stood around fifty metres away. Kazuma stood still, his hands empty of weapons. Gradually, all the forces of Konoha drew back or came forward to the line where Kakashi stood. They automatically formed ranks according to their levels, the Jounin and ANBU remaining up front. They waited. Obito soon came to join him, but kept his silence, as did everyone else. All the sound of battle had ceased, and only the occasional rustle of the wind could be heard.
Behind Kazuma stood the shinobi of Konoha and the Sand. Before him were the Mist, Cloud and Rock. The forces of all Five Great Shinobi Countries had been present in the battle. Silence, tense minutes ticked by, where every ninja were alert in the case of deception in the enemy. Finally, one man stepped forward from the Rock group and disposed his weapons and holsters onto the ground. Then he made his way to Kazuma. They locked gazes, but neither of them had any anger, hatred or the intention of killing. The shinobi stopped a few small paces away from Kazuma.
"I am Mori Kyouza, leading the ninja of Iwa Gakure no sato," he said. Then he lowered himself to his knees, placing his hands on the ground, and bowed his head formally. He remained in that position. "In order to prevent further bloodshed and loss, Iwa Gakure surrenders to Konoha."
A stir ran through the groups, but no one spoke up, or took action. Kazuma eyes left Kyouza when there was movement in the Mist ranks. A middle aged man walked forward, likewise disarming himself and stopped beside the bowed shinobi. A cut on his brow prevented his right eye from opening, but his other stared calmly at Kazuma.
"Houmura Junkichi is my name," he said. "I represent the Kiri Gakure no sato. We have no desire to bow down and do your bidding, throwing away our dignity. However," he paused, and dropped down to his knees and lowered his head, "a warrior must know when it is the time to fight, and when it is futile. After long years of war against you, we wish to create peace."
Once again Kazuma looked up to see a slightly younger shinobi step forward. His only weapon seemed to be a katana, which he unsheathed and struck into the ground. Then he proceeded to stride towards the leaders.
"We have lost this battle and the last chance to turn the tide against you," he said. "A continuation would only lead to families mourning over pointless deaths. It is clear who the stronger is. Kumo Gakure seeks peace with the Five Great Shinobi Countries." He too bowed his head to the ground. The leading commander from the Sand came forward to stand by Kazuma, who continued to look at the three bowed shinobi.
"Please, stand up," he said. Slowly, they raised their heads and got to their feet. "As the Hokage, I would like to extend my peace to you all. I have no intention of ruling over you. Although the past cannot be forgotten, the future can be changed. Let us build a better future for all the Countries." He paused and received the agreement from the others. "A formal Treaty shall be made and signed in a few days time."
After a few nods, silence reigned once again. Kazuma was the first to turn his back and start walking back to the Konoha ranks. They tensed. If the enemy had been pretending, now would be the time that they attack, when Konoha's strongest shinobi had his back towards them. Kakashi's hand drew back and hovered over the holster. However, the three other leaders also turned and walked back. The Sand ninja backed away as well. When Kazuma reached the Jounin and ANBU lines he stopped and briefly scanned the shinobi gathered. They had lost many, he noticed solemnly, although they had fared better than the Mist, Rock and Cloud. Those who survived were weary and their appearances were battered. None of them stood without their clothes being streaked with blood, either their own, or from their foes. There were levels ranging from experienced Chuunin to ANBU. Medics were also present.
He sighed almost silently and glanced at the sun that was sliding down in the west. It had been a long day. He attempted to smile reassuringly to the shinobi.
"After we clean up, let's go home," he said. "It's all over."
Kakashi went with the others to the scattered bodies Obito trailing after him. Neither of them had suffered from serious injuries, although their clothes were torn and cuts and bruises marked their skin. They went to work in silence. As Kakashi bent down, he glimpsed a somewhat familiar face amongst the dead. Those glazed, distant eyes stared right back at him, and a name miraculously rose to the surface of his mind. Kuraba. He traced back his memories and finally came upon the event that was so blurred and hazy. Kuraba, one of the three Mists they had fought while escorting Gamashi Kengou. He reached over and slid the eyelids closed.
Obito came up behind him to see what he was doing. A small frown creased his brow for a moment before they eased back once he remembered. It was difficult to forget things, even if they had only met once, when they were six years old. Their trained memory wouldn't allow things to be forgotten so easily.
When everything was done, the Konoha shinobi were returning to the village from the north western border where the final battle had taken place. When they entered the forests, Obito started to move forward through the group, and Kakashi followed with a small frown. The Uchiha only slowed down when he reached the front where Kazuma was leading. Their teacher immediately noticed them and raised a questioning brow.
"Sensei," Obito said, falling in step with the older shinobi as they continued to leap from tree to tree. "Isn't there a possibility that the enemy will suddenly refuse to sign the treaty? Then everything will start back up."
"There is a possibility, yes," Kazuma replied, taking his eyes off his student. "But none of them had that look or presence of deception. They could well simply be good at pretending, but most shinobi hold pride and honour in whatever they declare. I decided back there that I would take the chance, as any leader would have to at the end of a war."
Obito considered this a moment, then nodded.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
It was a nice, spring day that looked down on two young Jounin in the graveyard. The sky was occasionally dotted with clouds and the breeze blew frequently across the land. Birds chirped merrily on the trees, full of healthy green leaves. A peaceful day.
"Midori," Obito said, lighting a few incense sticks before the stone. "The war's over. They all signed the Treaty. It's finally over."
"It took another almost two more years to settle it, but it's done," Kakashi added.
"With Kazuma-sensei as the Yondaime Hokage, things are going to get better," Obito said cheerfully. "Keep watching Midori, and don't fall asleep while you're at it." He grinned.
"Why do I dread this year's upcoming Obon Matsuri (1)?" Kakashi muttered.
"Oh don't worry, that's only in August, like half a year away," Obito replied.
"Five months," Kakashi corrected. "You know how long it takes for her to calm down?"
Obito thought about this, scratching the back of his head absently. Suddenly a large grin took over his face as he looked down at the stone. "I'll bring you sweets the next time we come!"
Kakashi rolled his eyes. Just then he noticed another presence and turned around. He was a little surprised to see Midori's mother standing there with a small batch of flowers. Apparently, she seemed quite taken aback as well. During all the visits they had made to Midori's grave, they had never met Matsune since the day of the service. Obito turned around when he felt a difference in his team mate and blinked a few times when he saw the woman.
"Matsune-san," he muttered.
She blinked once and smiled softly. "Hello Obito-kun, Kakashi-kun," she said, walking towards them. They moved aside for her and she arranged the flowers before the stone and brought her hands together before her face. She briefly closed her eyes to pray, then opened them, and stared at the grave, the smile still playing on her lips and portrayed in her eyes.
"Over two years now," she said quietly, turning to face the two boys. "My, you've both grown." She chuckled at their surprised, slightly embarrassed expressions. "Thank you for coming so frequently to visit Midori. I'm sure she's very happy. I also want to apologise for my behaviour during the funeral. What I said must have hurt you, but I took no notice. I'm very sorry."
Kakashi shook his head, but Obito's mouth was quicker at moving.
"You must have been very shocked as well," he said. "We hold nothing against you, so please don't apologise like that."
"You are very kind, both of you," she replied, her eyes softening and a gentle smile pulling her lips. She placed her hands on their shoulders. "Thank you, and please take care of yourselves. Did you know that Midori used to talk about you two everyday? And when she did, she looked so happy. Thank you for being there for her, and please live for her sake as well."
"Hai," they said quietly in unison.
"Thank you so much," she whispered, then straightened and walked past them. She blinked back the tears that threatened to rise and strode quickly away, not wanting them to see her crying again.
"But." Obito's voice stopped her and she stopped. After a pause she turned and saw the two boys looking at her. "Please take care of yourself as well, Matsune-san," Obito said.
"Eh?" she breathed, blinking, this time in slight confusion.
"Midori wouldn't like to see you suffering," Kakashi said.
Slowly her face melted into another soft smile and she nodded. Then she turned again and walked out of the graveyard, disappearing down the stone steps. Obito sighed, looking over his shoulder at the silent stone.
"Should we go as well?" he asked Kakashi, who nodded. "See you later then, Midori."
They walked between the isles of gravestones until they too reached the stairs and they descended them. The path, flanked with trees was littered with pink cherry blossom leaves.
The two had grown, both mentally and physically. They were now taller and no longer did they have any of the childish appearances. No more 'baby fat' remained on their bodies, the muscles well toned and seemingly the only thing between the bone and skin. Their clothing, however, had hardly changed at all. They rarely now wore the Jounin vest since they had both come to an agreement that it attracted too much unwanted attention and it was just a bother to remember it every morning. Obito still wore the dark shirt that reached halfway down his forearm, bearing the Uchiha crest on the back. His goggles still occupied his face and his trousers remained gathered under bandages near the bottom. As he walked, he pulled out a thin, wooden stick and stuck it between his teeth. As Obito kept his goggles, Kakashi still wore his mask. His navy shirt was half sleeved, his forearms wrapped in a thin layer of bandages. His trousers were also tied down at the hem.
When they came to the edge of the path and looked down at the village from their slightly raised location, they could see that there were many Sakura trees in full bloom around Konoha. They paused there, gazing down at the seemingly peaceful village. From there, no one would suspect that the people had just gone through decades of endless war and suffered so much.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Kazuma shifted a pile of papers to the right of his desk and leaned his forearms onto the wooden surface and looked down at another paper lying in front of him. While he read through it, he reached over to a scroll and unrolled it. His eyes flickered between the two for a moment before he placed both of them to the left. From the pile on the right, he took the topmost paper and scanned through it, placing it to the left once he was finished. He took a quick glance at the pile he still had to go through and couldn't help a sigh. The windows in the office were all open, allowing the warm breeze to occasionally waft in, which was his only relief to the never ending paperwork. He glanced at the calendar propped up on the desk: July 25th. The months proceeding after the war's end had gone by quickly.
A knock on his door drew his attention.
"Come in," he said, and an ANBU entered wearing the uniform and mask. He handed Kazuma a scroll, which was read through. "Any problems?"
"No," the ANBU replied.
Kazuma nodded. "Thank you for the trouble."
The elite ninja bowed and swiftly left the room. Kazuma turned his eyes back to the scroll and carefully read through it again. Finally he sighed again and put it down on the desk. He leaned back in his seat and tilted his head to look up at the ceiling.
"Gotten bored of paperwork, sensei?"
"You would be as well if you had so much."
Kazuma smiled turned the chair around to face his two students. Obito was sitting on the windowsill with his legs hanging in the room while Kakashi leaned against the frame with his hands inside his pockets.
"That stuff just isn't my forte," Obito retorted, tilting his head and shooting Kakashi a glare of annoyance. When Kakashi didn't meet the glare, his eye twitched and he turned back to Kazuma. He eyed the large pile of paper with distaste. "Looks like you're kept quite busy, as usual."
Kazuma nodded with a weary smile. "When did you get back from your mission?" he asked.
"This morning," Kakashi replied.
"How did it go?"
"Successful, although I hope you don't send us with a group again," Obito said.
Kazuma cocked an eyebrow. "Why is that?"
He shrugged. "I'm just so used to working with just Kakashi and sometimes you. I couldn't get too comfortable having to deal with them all there."
"I agree," Kakashi added.
"I can understand that. For the past few years you've been together for almost everything, so it's normal for you to become accustomed to it. You don't even have to think about the other because you know what he will do and when. Isn't that right?" They nodded. "Although that's amazing teamwork, it isn't only that. Working in larger groups is also teamwork. Remember, to a shinobi – "
" – teamwork is above all the most important thing," Obito finished with a grin. "We know sensei."
Kazuma smiled again. "Good."
Another knock sounded on the door. Kazuma gave the two a purposeful glance before turning around in the chair and calling out a permission to enter. Kakashi and Obito quickly hid away from sight, concealing their presence to a point where an average ninja wouldn't be able to sense them.
However, the one who entered the office was no average ninja. Yuki closed the door behind him and removed his mask. He glanced at the Hokage, and nodded, then his eyes trailed to the window and his lopsided grin immediately came to his face.
"Long time no see," he said, walking forward, his gaze still trained at the window. Both Obito and Kakashi were regretting the fact that they weren't more thorough with their concealing. Obito was the first to reluctantly show himself, resuming his former seat with a sigh.
"It just last week that we saw each other, Yuki," he muttered.
"Not to worry, not to worry. Time seems to pass too slowly at times, little cousin."
Obito growled quietly. Kakashi also came back to stand beside his quietly grumbling team mate and nodded silently to Yuki. Since the Jounin exam, the ANBU had somehow managed to 'bump into' him quite often. Half of those times, Yuki had talked about his father, and he had gotten used to hearing short stories of his memories. That was often times when Obito wasn't around. When he was around, the time would usually be spent in a 'you tease me one more time and I bite your head off' mood, which was never very serious.
So it surprised both of them when Yuki simply grinned at them once then stopped acting stupid. His face became gravely serious as he locked gazes with Kazuma.
"What is it?" the Hokage asked, noticing from the start how uneasy the ANBU had been.
"A third shinobi has gone missing," Yuki replied. "A male Chuunin, age 23. It has been three days since his disappearance, and we have not been able to find him anywhere. He was not assigned any missions and he should have no reason to be away."
"Does he have any connections with the other two?"
"None."
"His name?"
"Sawakichi Junbei."
Kazuma sighed almost inaudibly and propped his elbows up on the desk, resting his chin on his folded hands. He fell into silence, brooding over the case. His eyes became distant, his brows knitted together in a light frown. The other three waited, not disturbing the heavy silence. None of them moved until several long moments ticked by. Kazuma finally dropped his hands and looked up at Yuki.
"Continue your search, and be on the lookout. That's all I can say for now."
"Hai." Yuki waved cheerfully to the two boys then bowed to Kazuma and turned around. He placed the mask on his head and exited.
"Missing shinobi?" Obito asked. Kazuma stood up and walked over to them, not meeting their eyes and instead looking out at the village. He nodded.
"It started around four months ago," he said. "A young Genin disappeared all of a sudden. After he had been missing for two days without contact and reason to be away, we searched the whole village for him, and even scanned the whole Fire Country. We didn't find him anywhere. Two months after that, a Chuunin went missing in a similar fashion, and now another Chuunin."
Obito frowned at this news. "Once the war problem was finally solved, a new one rises, huh," he muttered, though his voice held no joke.
"No," Kakashi said. "There are always many problems. Such as the Kyuubi that has started to be seen in far Countries, I suppose?"
"Kyuubi?" Obito repeated.
Kazuma glanced at Kakashi with curiosity. "How did you come by that information?"
The boy shrugged. "I overheard some people talking about it during a mission."
"Indeed, he has been spotted by a few and he poses a great threat to any Country. Peaceful times are still far away."
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
And that marks as the end of this chapter. I do realise that wars probably aren't ended in that fashion in the middle of the battle field, especially between ninjas…I don't know why I wrote it that way. Really strange. Please overlook it as one of my crazy-minded ideas…
Translations:
Obon-matsuri: the festival of the dead, I suppose is what it is in English.
HanaTenshiHimeko: lol yeah. Between me and my older brother, I was more of the boy, so I find it easier to write about their reactions/reactions. Thanks for reviewing!
Leilani: Thanks. I just hope I can be a little more imaginative…Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
Patty: Thanks for the review. Hehe. I love how Obito and Kakashi act, even though I'm the one writing them…Well, I write what my mind sees, so I guess I like the Obito and Kakashi in my mind…(frown) I don't make sense either. Anyways, glad you're liking it!
Wyldcat: lol! Obito is just so nice…Anyways, thanks for reviewing and I hope you liked the chapter!
Nezuko: sorry about the earring. Didn't really want to go too deep into that, since it was just an exercise to test his observation skills. Anyways, yes, more action will be coming up soon. I think I'm actually starting the curve that will lead me to the homestretch…Oh, and yes, I did go through a lot of difficulties putting in that section with Yuki and Ryo. I was originally going to just skip to this chapter, but I couldn't resist the temptation of such a good idea…Thanks for the idea and review!
The essence of popsicles: lol. I take it that you don't mind my battle scenes…yay! I never really had any confidence in them until a lot of people said they really liked it. Makes me so happy! Yuki fanclub badge. Hehe! I want one too then! And yes, I didn't like how the Kazuma/Tokiya part turned out either…That's why I really don't want to write too much about Kazuma. He's just so…untouchable! Anyways, thanks for reviewing!
Delano: heh, yeah…I get especially descriptive when it's a single event and I have sad, slow music on…I should stop that habit. Lol. Well, I can't say anything about Kazuma yet. Please hang on. Thanks for dropping a review!
Alana: don't worry. I hate headaches too…worse stomach-aches…Okay, getting personal here. Lol. I'm glad you like it, and thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I didn't have the heart to twist the plot so that one of them fails…I love them both so much!
HikaruOfArrow: Thankies! You know, I'm always very careful when I write your name now. 'Hikaru' is kind of hard to type…But I like the idea of the name. (grin)
Katzuki: hey…some people actually have the same taste for humour. (bounces around happily). Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reviewing, as always!
NefariousPhoenix: Yuki without Sharingan, why? Um…no I haven't mentioned it before. I think I've read somewhere in the manga that not all the Uchiha possess the Sharingan…I guess that's the reason…(damn, I wish I could write smileys and not have them be disappeared when I upload it…grumbles). Anywho. Thanks a bunch!
Littleadryan: No problems at all! I'm just glad you still enjoy the story. Thanks for dropping a review in your busy schedule!
Thank you everyone!
Fanyar