The Boy in the Team
Chapter Fifty
Naruko had her head down at the side of the table, snoring as hard as she could possibly do. Shinku's eyes were wide in surprise since a few minutes before, but now they reached a new level.
"The Dobe really fall asleep only in two places," Sasuke grumbled. "In here and at my house —everywhere else, she just keeps an eye close and the other open," the Uchiha shook his head. "And when she does fall asleep, it's not 'five minutes' but more like 'five days'."
"R-ramen," Naruko snored.
"She isn't sick, right?" Shinku muttered. Kushina laughed lightly from her spot in the kitchen.
"Of course not, it's just that my baby's so timid, she's always stressed everywhere else. And you know what they say about a shinobi who sleeps on the job, right?"
"That he's doing a poor one," Sasuke finished with a nod. "Unfortunately, only the Dobe can stay awake for weeks on her side without any effect."
"Weeks?" Shinku choked out in disbelief. "You're lying. It's…weeks?"
"She's mostly sane, right?" Sasuke retorted. "Oh, careful."
The next moment, Shinku ended up pulled closer to Sasuke as Naruko delivered a vicious bite on the table —where his hand had been a moment before.
"Ramen!" Naruko growled.
"Yeah, yeah," Kushina chuckled good-naturedly, "It's coming dear."
"If there were ramen-camps, I'm sure my little girl would be an S-rank threat to them," Minato said with a small smile on his lips.
The moment the pot of homemade ramen made its way on the table, Naruko slithered like a sort of half-breed between a giraffe and a snake towards it, before plunging her head inside.
Kushina simply brought on the table the second —larger— pot.
"Sometimes I wonder if I haven't birthed a boy —really, I don't know who she took those table manners from," the red-haired woman grumbled, before starting to serve the dinner.
The loud slurping began from Kushina's side of the table in less than a second. Minato made an awkward smile, before calmly starting to eat in silence. Sasuke simply held back a snort, while Shinku ate slowly the warm food.
It felt nice.
Naruko opened her eyes after her own pot was empty, like a slumbering bear waking up after a lethargic sleep. She licked her lips and gazed around, her eyes vividly taking in everything. "Hey, is there any ramen left?"
"You mean, except the entire pot you just scarfed down?" Sasuke retorted.
"Meanie," Naruko pouted. "Mom? Can I have some more please?"
"Sure," Kushina said.
It was comfortable.
I'm taking over.
Please… do.
Shinku finished eating quietly, his eyes firm and gazing around. It was imperceptible, and yet Minato found himself narrowing his own eyes for a brief instant. Dinner ended after a few minutes, and in that warm afterglow, Minato found himself braving his own instinct of self-survival.
"Haruno-kun? Concerning that matter with Anbu training," he began, only to find the gazes of everyone else at the table on him, "You won't be able to go," he exhaled.
"Oh," Shinku blinked. "All…right?"
"What? No way," Naruko pouted, but she did appear visibly pleased with herself. "Well, that means it's going to be me and Shin-chan doing missions while Uke-chan becomes a medic! And then Kakashi-Nii will get better and we'll…"
"Naruko, I'm breaking up the team," Minato said quietly.
"Uh?" Naruko's eyes widened, as her iris trembled lightly, "What are you…"
"Sasuke will apprentice under Tsunade," the Yondaime said, "You'll have to remain in Konoha for the time being and Shinku, Kakashi pulled enough strings to have you drafted in Anbu."
Minato released a shuddering breath. "You'll receive training on the field, as of this afternoon we are in a state of war against the land of rice fields and the village of sound. You'll have to come by tomorrow in the office to receive your mask and your new assignment."
Not even a fly buzzed in the kitchen. Naruko just gazed at her father with a look that bordered the agony —as if they had just torn a limb from her. It was the quiet before the storm, as Sasuke's fists slammed on the table hard.
"Hokage-sama! I demand to enter Anbu! You can't—"
"DAD!" Naruko slammed her own fists on the table —actually cracking it in half. "WHY THE HELL DO YOU—"
Look at them. What are you, a kitten sent to the slaughterhouse? Right, kitten have claws…you don't even have those.
A half-broken plate flew in mid-air.
"Naruko! That's no way to speak to your dad 'ttebane!"
"No, I mean! You can't send Shin-chan out there! He barely survives when there's—"
"That's not your—"
"There's no problem if I enter Anbu and—"
Shinku quietly stood from his chair, gazing at the carnage in front of him. Naruko was pressuring her father, with Sasuke acting as her shoulder. The Hokage on the other hand appeared to be awkwardly waiting for some sort of support to come from his wife, who was doing her best to limit Naruko's swearing…but wasn't otherwise interfering.
Shinku did the only thing a proper shinobi could do.
He properly bowed to Kushina —who was gazing towards the rambling scene. "Thank you for the dinner," he lifted his head and simply walked near his teammates, before tapping them both on the shoulder.
"Uh?"
"It's enough," he said. "The Hokage's orders are absolute to the shinobi force. I will come by tomorrow morning then, Hokage-sama. I'll be heading home now, since I have to prepare my stuff for tomorrow."
"Ohi, Shin-chan, you don't have t—"
"It's fine," he interrupted her, "Really. I mean, I'll be the rookie in a team of Anbu. How bad can that go?"
"You're—"
He interrupted Sasuke too, just because he felt like it. "I'll be fine. What? You think I'm the only one who brushes death so many times? I'm sure there's plenty of shinobi who do just fine," he made an awkward smile. "And really…How long can a war go on anyway?"
"I can follow you however," Sasuke hissed back, "There's no reason for me to actually enter the medic-nin corps, it's my decision whether to—"
"Yes, it is," Minato acquiesced, "But it would be better for your treatment."
"Treatment?" Sasuke asked, gazing at the Hokage.
"The cursed seal on you is different from those Orochimaru used before," Minato spoke quietly, "Left untreated, it will kill you in a matter of months. With Tsunade's skills, she increased your life expectancy to a dozen of years provided you cooperate with the treatments and learn how to treat yourself too…"
Naruko had grown deathly quiet at those words, before simply gripping on Shinku and Sasuke's sleeves as if she was a lost child asking for directions. She began to sniffle a moment later.
The sniffle became a full-blown cry by the time Sasuke took the cue to hug the girl. Embarrassed out of his wits, Shinku did the same a second later.
Naruko was bawling like a toddler, her firm grip changing so that she held both Shinku and Sasuke in her fearsome hold. Shinku nearly choked as the grip intensified.
In the end…she was still a kid, wasn't she?
Aren't we one too, though?
Thirteen twice makes twenty-six. I say we're older.
The cool and cold night of Konoha met him as he stepped outside the Hokage's mansion. He could have stayed to sleep, but all of his stuff was in his apartment and he was already feeling uncomfortable at dinner.
"When you're done sniffling in a corner like a bawling kid," Inner mumbled, "You can take over."
"Was it always this cold in Konoha?"
There wasn't a soul hanging around the streets, and the quiet soon mixed with his unruly thoughts. His steps took him on barely seen before streets, until his hands clasped at the key to his meagre apartment and he settled in. Thankfully, the room came with a bed and some spare furniture.
It also came with his two teammates waiting for him.
"I'm sure I left you two behind," he said calmly.
"Duh," Naruko rolled her eyes. "You thought it would be that easy to get rid of me? Shin-chan," she shook her head, "You underestimate my rebounding strength."
"Well," Sasuke grumbled, "The average life expectancy of a shinobi is for the mid-forties anyway. I'll live to reach twenty-five. It's enough to find a nice pure-loving girl and get married…and there's nothing saying this seal can't be removed eventually."
"So," Naruko said, her voice now uncertain, "The biggest problem is Shin-chan," she nodded. "And really, I had even planned for a sleepover at my house," she pouted. "It was going to have pyjamas and ramen and us dyeing each other's hair…"
"Is that how sleepovers usually go?" Shinku asked, warily taking a seat at the table. "I don't have tea, so…"
"Duh," Naruko rolled her eyes. "That's why I sent a clone to get something."
Prophetically, said clone appeared in a rush with a handful of cans, a few packets of snacks and a large overly fluffy pillow. Said pillow revealed itself as a sort of comfortable chair, because Naruko hopped in it a moment later and stretched lazily.
Naruko's eyes drifted to his bed desk, where —now that he looked at it— someone had placed the team picture.
"Here," the girl rummaged through her pockets, before taking out a set of scrolls. "Ramen supplies for downtrodden periods," she patted a scroll, "Extra kunai and shuriken, because you never know," she patted the second, "clean underwear," she sniffled at the third one.
"I am not going to ask how or why you have male underwear," Shinku muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm really not going to ask."
"And these too," Naruko took out the pants of his uniform, "I wrote the storage seals in the inner pockets, so now you can store the scrolls in there and puff them out one at the time to make that…that funny joke about being happy to see someone and…" she sniffled. "I've already cried before, I don't do tears. I'm the awesome kunoichi Naruko Namikaze and I don't do tears."
"All right?" Shinku said awkwardly. "So…you don't need a tissue?"
Naruko proceeded to blow her nose with a tissue Sasuke offered her. "I've got some hay fever."
"Well," Sasuke grumbled. "If things get tough out there, you just let me know and I'll kick up a storm," the Uchiha crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I'm not the heir of the Uchiha clan for nothing," he puffed his chest and raised his chin up high, "I'll use my political weight if I have to."
Naruko snorted. "Because you have weight? You sure it's not the duckbutt hair weighing you down?"
"Shut up you, what shinobi sane of his mind would go around with ponytails?"
"Hey! They're awesome!" Naruko gripped at them, "And there are at least twenty-nine different sexual acts you can do with ponytails!"
Shinku sputtered, nearly choking on his saliva as he thumped his chest.
"Shin-chan's too innocent," Naruko giggled. "How am I going to survive without the means to tease him? Uh! I know," she clapped her hands. "You've got to write to us. You can send the letter to the Hokage's mansion, and I'll read it first before handing it over to Uke-chan."
"Knowing you, you'd forge a fake letter," Sasuke retorted.
"Ohi! I would never!"
Shinku's lips twitched in a smile. There was no way he could remain depressed, there was no way he could cry. His two friends were overbearing mother hens with overly powerful techniques, bloodlines and abilities. They were leagues away from him, probably centuries of training ahead, but even then they were still his friends…and he was theirs.
Probably literally in Naruko's opinion —who appeared extremely possessive of whoever entered her circle of confidence. They did have their quirks and their own problems, but in some things, he had been better off —training at five, really, who would ever do that to a kid?
"Oh right. Shin-chan I've got to ask," Naruko said, "What's up with that red dot of yours? I thought it was a blood stain or something, but it's still there."
"I didn't tell you?"
"Tell what?" Naruko inclined her head to the side.
"This is a flesh eating bug," he said simply, "Well, it's actually Fu's…it remains red as long as she's alive. She gave it to me in Wave and with it, she can sense where I am…at least, that's what she said."
"Oh! Like a red string of fate?" Naruko said with a soft and half-romantic voice. "That's so…"
There was a small 'drip' sound. Sasuke's noise was dribbling blood. "Such budding love brought forth and kept apart," Sasuke's voice seemed to change inflection as he closed his eyes, sparkles appearing around his face. "Oh what tender thing I have seen, such grace and love so frail…ah, I'm bequest by the purity of—"
Naruko slammed a fist against Sasuke's head, sending the boy to twitch on the ground.
"Sorry," Naruko chuckled, "Sometimes Uke-chan does that."
"Do you always have to hit that hard, Dobe?" Sasuke snarled. "One day you're going to break my skull."
"I know you want me to break your ass, but that's not going to happen," Naruko replied with a bright smile. "You reap what you sow."
They drank tea. They ate snacks. They talked about how Shinku wasn't supposed to pop his cherry with a whore. They sang, they cried, Naruko slipped the sake somewhere in the middle of a can and they drunkenly started singing again completely off-pitched.
The next morning, Shinku woke up entangled in a mass of limbs.
He blearily managed to stand, disentangling himself and waking up the rest of his teammates in the process. He trudged half-heartedly to the bathroom, before getting ready for departure. By the time he stepped out of the apartment, both Sasuke and Naruko were flanking him.
He really felt out of place, especially when the people began to stare and talk.
"Who's that guy near my Naruko-tan?"
"That's the bastard who was overly familiar with my Sasuke-sama!"
"You think he's their teammate? Wasn't it Shikku-something, the Haruno's son?"
"You mean the son of Kizashi? Poor bloke died in the siege. His own shop crushed him."
It was then, just as he was about to step inside the Hokage's tower, that a small voice called to him.
"Hey! Shinobi-san!" he turned, raising an eyebrow at the sight of a kid running closer…to him.
"Yes?" the boy looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place him.
"Thank you for saving my life!" the kid bowed, "My pops said I should thank ya if I saw you," the child looked up towards him with sparkles in his eyes. Sparkles. What. What. What was going on?
Wounded kid. Siege.
"Oh," Shinku blinked. "I'm glad you're better now," he smiled lightly. "I really didn't do much."
"Nu-uh! Dad said I hafta thank you and so I did! Ye saved my life ye did!"
"Shin-chan's hobby is saving people," Naruko said then with a smirk, "but he's really shy about that, so don't spread it around too much."
"Hai, Ba-chan!"
A nervous tick mark appeared on Naruko's forehead. "Who did you call an auntie now?"
The boy scampered away in a hurry, waving goodbye to Shinku who half-awkwardly returned it.
"Someone's got an admirer," Sasuke's lips twitched upwards. "Maybe I can hand over some of my fangirls to you, Shinku…listen, how about you start wearing a wig and…"
"Denied," Shinku retorted quickly. "I still remember that story about the underwear."
"Damn," Sasuke grumbled. "Fine, leave me to my hell."
He received two pats on the back the moment he stepped on the stairway. "Well…" Naruko sniffled, "remember to write, Shin-chan!"
"And don't you dare corrupt my pure love story!" Sasuke said.
Shinku snorted.
"See you…"
Five Years Later.
"How long does a war last?" Shinku grumbled, hissing in pain as the barbed wire hastily broke to allow for a small hole. He gestured with two sharp motions to Baku, who sent back to him a call sign for the all clear from his spot on the tree.
"Funny you ask me," he hissed as he patted Cat on the back, letting the thin man go first. He disappeared in the mud beyond the barbed wire, carefully exploring for tags or traps.
"All clear," the radio in his ear buzzed. He gave the thumb-up to Baku, who relayed the call sign back beyond the trees.
There was a flicker, and soon Dog and Wolf passed through the hole in the fence.
"So this is the last one?" a meek voice murmured close to him.
"Unless Orochimaru built others," Shinku retorted. "This is the furthest one North however," he gazed at the Dragon mask near him. The girl was the team's new rookie. Just as he had been, five years before, now it was someone else's turn to be the water-food-package carrier.
"Keep sharp," Wolf's voice came through the radio, gruff and stern. "There are signs of movement in here."
"Fresh ones," Dog added softly, "Radio silence."
Anbu teamwork was flexible. Unless there was a captain —which wasn't the case— every member of the team gave orders…except the rookie, who only followed them. The teams formed around the concept that each member knew what he was doing in his area of expertise, and thus had the right to lead depending on the situation.
Dog and Wolf were the infiltration specialists. Baku and Cat were the scouts. He was the team's —much to his own surprise— 'punch' and Dragon was the rookie. She also was the team's medic alongside with Cat.
Baku gestured at him and he gave a negative, looking towards Dragon. Baku made other gestures and Shinku caved in, giving a nod.
"You keep your head down," he muttered to Dragon. "Look towards Baku, he'll warn you if something is coming. I'm going in."
"Ah…y-yes?"
The girl stuttered. It was sort of endearing in a certain way. He had stopped stuttering years before.
Blood.
His nose breathed in the iron rich scent as he crawled through the space in the fence. Following the small signs left behind by cat, he walked the safe line all the way towards the entrance of the complex. A massive bronze door dug deep into the ground, now half-open.
He pushed his back against it, peeking inside. There was silence. He took a step forward, and then another. Quickly, Shinku jumped to the ceiling of the hallway and began to crawl forward. The air was stale.
You ever think our old teammates have to do this sort of crap?
He could imagine Inner with his arms crossed and a sneer over his face, as he floated in the middle of his sand-soaked desert of a mindscape. Near him, a shackled and bound figure stood quiet.
I don't know. We stopped receiving letters from back home.
Just like we never got an answer from Fu—stop.
Shinku stilled.
The sound of heavy breathing reached his ears. A door creaked open, revealing a black haired man holding on to the side of his head and moaning in pain. Half of his body grotesquely mutated, blood seemed to be dripping down his mouth. Shinku clasped a kunai.
Inner.
I got this.
His eyes narrowed, the lips behind his mask became cruel as they twitched in a smirk. The grip on the kunai hardened as he flexed his legs. The Kirigakure kunai was soon in his other hand. Shinku might have preferred the Konoha variant, but he was more of a stabbing person.
He jumped down without making a sound. The kunai stabbed straight at the base of the neck, slicing its way through the spine and cutting it in half as it went.
The man was dead before he reached the end of his back.
Blood sprayed over his uniform, colouring his mask of red.
"There are people in here," he whispered, breaking the radio silence to warn the others.
"Understood Bird," Wolf replied. "Uphold the radio silence."
Shinku didn't reply. He just wiped away the blood from his mask with a quick flick, before returning to the ceiling.
His code-name was Bird.
He was the Assassination specialist.
He…was Anbu.
Author's notes
Time Skip. You didn't expect that, did you?
And it's five years rather than three.
Furthermore, it's 'Anbu Days' time. *to be sang on the Happy Days tune*
