A/N: Actually a big fan of this chapter. Really liked the emotion that I put into these dialogue scenes, and that's kinda rare for me. Hope you guys enjoy, and sorry for the delay! Had this one written a while ago, but work has kept me busy. Hope you like it! :)
To say Jiyuu was setting the pace was a fact. Believing his pace to be a fast one was an assumption.
Hours went by, and great progress had been made, but each passing minute resulted in a decrease in speed. Jiyuu's jumps were a quarter of what they were before, his Byakugan had long since been deactivated, and he maintained this stubborn 'I'm not slowing down' look on his mug. He really was thick-headed, even if it were for the best. Netsu's chakra had recovered quite nicely, and she had no trouble keeping the same pace as her hero, yet it didn't take long for her to notice that such a feat was taking less and less effort.
She gave the branches overhead a quick glance as the two shinobi jumped from tree to tree. They were getting closer to leaving the dead woods, most barren and rotted trees replaced with dry ones, some of which had a few leaves on them. Her eyes snapped back to the Hyuuga's Black Eye, doubt clearly portrayed in the look she shot at his back. Poor bastard was looking like he'd collapse any moment now, and it'd be real bad if he were to do that when landing on a branch. He had done quite a bit just to get her out of there, and thanks to what had been said to Tokage back in the Hidden Rain, his reasons were clear. He wanted to get her back to the person looking for her as fast as possible, and although Jiyuu wouldn't bother saying who it was, she caught on to the fact that her hero would refer to the individual as 'he'. There could only be one man foolish enough to bother hunting down someone like Jiyuu to get her, and that old man was going to get the biggest lecture of his life when she got back...but, that was assuming she was correct.
Regardless of what the future held, the present demanded Jiyuu ease on the brakes for a few hours. This was for his own good, and she would be the one to assist him in getting him to do so; it was the least she could do.
"Jiyuu?"
The Hyuuga's Black Eye only grunted in response, keeping his vision straight ahead.
"Do you want to take a break?"
"There's no time."
That was the quickest she had ever been shot down for anything. A nervous smile wriggled onto Netsu's gentle lips, even though the man wouldn't see it. "Well, we have more than enough time to do so. It's not like I'll be going anywhere."
Jiyuu only lowered his eyelids at the light pushing that Netsu was doing to have her way. Despite how tempting it sounded to rest, he simply didn't want to. He couldn't. His ticket home, to freedom, was finally here, and he'd be damned if he missed his ride back through his typical bad luck. "We're not stopping."
Oh yes, he was determined to a fault, so much so that Netsu involuntarily puffed up her cheeks and grumbled to herself, now frowning into his back. "Are you ALWAYS so stubborn? Didn't your mother raise you better?"
No answer this time, not even a twitch in the eye. He was going to ignore her now, and she saw it clear as day. Just because she saw what he was planning on doing, however, did not mean she would accept it. She was no fool, and understood that his main goal was a clean name in the eyes of other shinobi, and she was his key through the door to such a goal. Therefore, she had just as much, no, more power than even he did in all of this.
Hm...yes, this settles it.
Without so much as a word, Netsu dropped through the tree branches and landed on the soft dirt down below, landing on a knee and quickly standing tall. Her fists placed themselves square on her hips as she waited, and as expected, it didn't take long for Jiyuu to drop down a few meters away before backpedaling to her. He really didn't seem happy.
"Just what the hell are you doing?!"
Netsu lifted her nose to the air when asked such a rude question, even giving him a 'hmph'. "We're going to rest. Right here. Right now." For effect, she even stomped a foot on the ground. "I'm even putting my foot down, see? It's final."
Jiyuu's eye twitched. "...what?"
"You heard me. I want to take a break, and that's exactly what we're going to do."
"You're not the one in charge here."
"Listen here," she began in a more stern voice, lowering her head to face the Hyuuga's Black Eye head-on, "you may have been the one to get me away from trouble, but I'M the objective...and if the objective wants to stay and rest, then we both stay and rest." She shut one of her eyes, and the other's eyelid drooped until she was peering at him with a level of indifference that even he found difficult to comprehend. "Do I make myself clear?"
Professionalism was out the window at this point, as far as Jiyuu was concerned. He clicked his tongue and folded his arms, head slowly shaking. "You must be very used to having things your way back home, being a jinchuuriki and all, but that type of attitude isn't going to work on me."
"How rude...implying that I'm a spoiled little bra-"
"I'll knock you out and carry you to where we've got to be if I have to. Any means of getting there quicker, I'll take it. Don't think I won't."
Netsu actually chuckled at that one. "Yes, yes, that sounds like something you'd probably try, Mr. Hyuuga's Black Eye, but you're forgetting two things: One, I'm a lady, and a 'gentleman' like you wouldn't dare lay a finger on me, especially after saving me from those freaks. Two, it's going to be pretty hard for you if you even bothered trying, especially considering you can barely walk on your own."
The scowl on the Hyuuga Pariah got more intense. "I've got no idea what you're talking about..."
Although, he kinda did. The wobbling in his legs was not exactly subtle, and he caught her glancing down at them once or twice with her single open eye. Kami, look at her, she was acting like she had such high authority here, it sickened him. All jinchuuriki were pompous bastards, every single one of them; this one just happens to be more upfront about it than most, even Mendona apparently had some sense of humility, if he remembered what Tenshi had mentioned to him once a long time ago. Whatever her intentions were for wanting to camp out, he had to admit, he was finding it very hard to keep up his little 'tough guy' act. The amount of time she took staring at his wobbling legs made him blush, and he brought up a fist in front of his face as he grit his teeth.
"I'm fine, you hear me?!"
"Mmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmmm..."
Her hand clasped onto his fist with a gentle grip, one so soothing and relaxed that Jiyuu instinctively opened his own so she could get a better hold of him. It was too late to pull away, Netsu's grip was as strong as iron. She began to walk towards one of the many trees around, this being one of the few with, what appeared to be, leaves up top. She would turn to face him once they were beside the tree, and wasn't surprised to see that he had the face of a defiant child plastered on. Defiant...but with a shut mouth, and not a single hint of complaint. It seemed that he was wordlessly accepting the fact that rest was definitely in order; either that, or he was so tired from fighting the Hyuuga physically that he didn't have it in him to hash it out with Netsu verbally. The Four-Tails jinchuuriki plopped onto the soft dirt beside the tree, and pulled Jiyuu down beside her, the man already looking off into the distance and sighing through his nose like he had no patience for this.
It had been a few hours since she was this close to him, and with no rain or heavy movement distracting her, she finally got to see a clear shot of his face. He was dirty and tired, a winning combination. The eyes had small bags under them, as she had already noticed a while ago, and his gaze was distant, thoughtless...no, that was a lie. He was only thinking about his mission, his freedom. For a moment, he blinked and let out a silent sigh, and it appeared that he had made up his mind to try and relax some, but his eyes bored into one of the many trees around them. He was trying to find some sort of peace in the solitude he currently had with Netsu, but simply couldn't. This must have been killing him.
Perhaps some friendly conversing would do? Netsu believed so.
"...so...you really are the Hyuuga's Black Eye, huh?"
"...yes."
"Not exactly the man I expected after hearing all those rumors, both good and bad. I thought you'd be a little taller."
"..."
"How did you even get a title like that?"
"No clue. People talking, I guess."
"People you helped." That statement got him to look at her, and once more, she gave him that one-eyed stare. "Look, you can act all brooding and mysterious if you want, but I've heard ALL the rumors, every single one. You saved me from those Hyuuga back there, which leaves me to believe that all the good stories about you are true. If I didn't think so, I never would have come along. Every story about you where you're painted as the hero, they all mention you having a kind heart." She grew a small, teasing smile. "You're all rough n' tough on the outside, a regular missing-nin fighting to survive, but I bet you're probably just a big ol' mush deep down, aren't you?"
He would not answer, only crinkling his brow and looking away once more.
It was obvious he wasn't a huge fan of the teasing, so Netsu decided to put an end to it. She leaned the back of her head against the tree behind her, and turned her attention skyward to the dry leaves swaying in the wind. They let silence take over the both of them, and for a short while, the two had forgotten the ordeals that they had both been through. Netsu felt comfortable enough to stretch out some, though not enough to be rude or intrusive of the man beside her. Jiyuu ended up sitting with his legs crossed and palms together in front of his abdomen, meditating on both where they currently were, where they would be soon enough, and reminding himself that there was little to no danger ahead; victory was certain, but patience would be his biggest obstacle to overcome for this mission. The temperature was dropping rather low after half an hour, not that Netsu noticed with the Four-Tails chakra being naturally warming...but she did take notice of the cold air when she felt a slight trembling brush her arm. Without making it obvious that she was staring, she could see a still-meditating Jiyuu shiver now and then. He was trying so hard to conceal it, but he would not bring up his own discomfort.
Netsu stood up, bringing the Hyuuga's Black Eye out of his trance to watch her. She made a quick stride over to one of the nearby trees, one that looked rather dry compared to the others, and placed a foot on it's surface. Then, she did it with the other, and walked straight up the tree's trunk, snapping off branches within reach and cradling them until she collected a large pile. With unmatched grace, she backflipped off the tree and landed right in front of her hero without so much as a sound, and dumped the mass of dried wood on the dirt. Standing tall, she then dusted her hands and made the seal of confrontation, igniting the wood. Ta da! Fire, warm and comforting embers that suddenly made Jiyuu's shivering cease. And yet, he still ended up turning his head away, clearly annoyed.
The feeling was mutual, for Netsu's cheeks puffed up once again. "I didn't make this for me, y'know. It's for you."
"I don't need it."
"Seriously?! You were shivering just a moment ago!"
The Hyuuga's Black Eye spun his head towards her, glaring. "Why are you being so bothersome all of a sudden? You were all nice and quiet for most of the trip like a good little jinchuuriki, so why can't you stay like that?"
This set off a nerve in Netsu, and she actually bent over so that her face was inches from his. The puffed-up cheeks were gone, replaced with a full-on scowl, though the man had clearly been intimidated by worse. "I got an even BETTER question for YOU! Why the hell do you always refer to me as a jinchuuriki?!"
"You ARE one."
"Yeah? So? I have a name too, you jackass!"
"Like that even matters," Jiyuu countered, his lip curling up into a small snarl of his own. "All jinchuuriki are the same, all of them. They all get handed power for literally nothing, and expect to be treated like royalty wherever they go. It's sickening, I've got no respect for someone who takes a shortcut to earning a spot in the shinobi world."
"That's a very skewed view on jinchuuriki if you think we're all like that, bub. And who're you to even be speaking?! You're a damn hypocrite!"
"What's THAT supposed to mean?"
Netsu clicked her tongue at his ignorance, and stood tall with her fists on her hips. "Psssh. Oh, I dunno, 'Mr. Super Special Rare Eyes.' Aren't you a Hyuuga?"
"That's different!" The Hyuuga's Black Eye stood up from where he had been sitting, and aimed a finger at Netsu's face. "I never asked for them! Never!"
"And neither did half of the jinchuuriki, but we all got someone put in us!" She was short on breath from all her yelling, and took a moment to collect herself and brush away a loose strand of hair from her face. "But...I never really minded," she continued, albeit with a softer tone. "I love Son Goku like a big brother. He's never hated me, and he's always been there for me when I needed someone, be it through bad days when I was still in the academy, or heartbreak over a really bad breakup."
"..."
The scowl on the man drooped, and soon, Netsu found herself looking up at the night sky, which prompted Jiyuu to do the same; the stars were beginning to come out, and the lack of a cloudy sky really did make the spectacle much more beautiful than it normally was for either of them. The kunoichi smiled, and put a hand on her stomach. "So long as I have Son Goku, I'm never really alone. It's a nice feeling, y'know? And deep down...I believe that's what makes a jinchuuriki so strong. Sure, we can use chakra nobody else has, we can use abilities nobody else has, but that can only get you so far if you fight alone. A jinchuuriki always has someone inside rooting for them, no matter what."
Slowly, the two made eye contact once again, though her words seemed to put the man into a more calm state of mind.
"You shouldn't be so quick to judge people, especially when the same could be applied to you, but worse."
Words to think about, and ones that sunk deep into Jiyuu's head. He turned away hearing them, and his anger seemed to deteriorate. Now, he only seemed passive, stoic, his arms folding up as his breathing slowed. What she said held some sense, yet it was spoken by a jinchuuriki. Yes, her argument was to not judge jinchuuriki purely by title, but this proved to be difficult. He recalled what he seen as a child, and what he had learned during his seven years away from home: jinchuuriki were spoiled, and the commoners ate up their demands or wishes with little to no complaints. Money? Food? Weapons? A jinchuuriki merely had to beg, and with such a lack of morals, it often didn't take long for them to consider such options. They were spoiled like this because of their upbringing, most of them coddled by their respective Kage in some form or fashion. If the Kage would coddle you, place you upon a pedestal for all others to see, then you were certainly of importance. This was not some crazy idea Jiyuu had of what it was like being a jinchuuriki, either; as stated before, these were things he witnessed. As a child, he remembered that Mendoza would often be found in the Mizukage's Tower, right alongside Lady Mei and the soon-to-be Mizukage, Chojuro. He was being raised to be a leader from the get-go, and the fact that he had been an orphan later on in life made it easier to have him focus on nothing but what he was being taught. He had nothing else. More research done by Jiyuu lead him into the life of Sakyu, the jinchuuriki of the One-Tail. His parents were civilians, yet he managed to pick up and master the shinobi arts from a very young age, garnering the attention of Gaara. Despite having a home and people who cared for him, Sakyu seldom spoke to even his family, and would lock himself in his room just to further his knowledge. It wasn't like he had nothing else in his life, but it was the one thing he cared about: becoming better. All jinchuuriki feel that they need to be more than they are, a drive that carries them far, and when the fact that they are bijuu containers is added to the equation, it becomes clear just how they are able to excel so early in their life while others struggle. The worst part? They are aware of it, and are not ashamed to be proud of their 'achievements', or the gifts that their begging will grant them.
The thought of it all made Jiyuu...well...he didn't even feel mad. Why? Probably because this Netsu girl seemed rather different from the other jinchuuriki he had either heard of or met. She hadn't really bragged about her title, not once. Sure, she may have been having her way in getting both her and the Hyuuga's Black Eye to rest for the night, but she made it clear that it was for him more than anything. She was concerned, and she clearly held some respect for the man who saved her. Perhaps she was right...although she was probably the only exception to Jiyuu's little idea of what jinchuuriki were. Her logic was solid, however. Jiyuu had certainly been on the receiving end of people's bias and assumptions of the Hyuuga, figuring Jiyuu himself was entitled and thought little of others. To make matters worse, his normal attitude in general slumped from a general positive nature into something less trusting and more bitter. He had a heart, but people only saw the cold flesh and narrowed eyes first...and in some cases, that was the last thing they would see. Many people would assume he was a villain, and others painted him as a hero. Truth be told, he was neither.
He was merely a survivor...but, people will say what they want.
"...I grew up alongside a really bad example of a jinchuuriki," he finally said, not facing her. "And yet, the same idea I held applied to other jinchuuriki I've met."
"Who were they?"
"Mendona, Sakyu, Buru. I'm sure you'll understand what I'm talking about."
She didn't, but she knew each boy very well. Mendona was brash, hot-headed, competitive. Sakyu was quiet, a loner, felt he wasn't good enough. Buru was older, carefree, felt like a big brother to most of the jinchuuriki. They all had done things they weren't proud of, either using unnecessary force to win a battle or stepping on the pride of others, but Netsu knew they all had hearts of gold. She knew this...but there was another thing she knew about them, or rather, two of them.
"Mendona...Sakyu. Two of the six other jinchuuriki that went missing."
"...yeah."
Netsu was silent as she worried about the two, but felt the need to ask just what they had done to offend Jiyuu personally. "Well, what did they do?"
"They were just very sure of themselves, and they weren't afraid to show it. They never cared what anybody thought."
A soft chuckle left her, and this was enough to make him turn to her. She could see in his eyes that he was curious as to what brought about humor, and she waved him off with a hand. "It's just funny. You strike me as just that, and I think it's very 'Hyuuga-like'. You being like your clan, that's probably what MOST people would assume of you, but unlike a certain someone, I'm not so quick to judge."
"..."
"Long ago, you left your village without any reason, but the news about what happened was big. Everybody knew eventually, the Hyuuga wanted you and you were a suspect when Mendona went missing. You left home to get away from both, the Hyuuga and the blame. You've been spending all these years training and hiding for a chance to clear your name, and I bet you were also waiting for the Hyuuga to lose interest in you." Her smile faded, and to his surprise, Netsu approached. She placed a hand on Jiyuu's shoulder, gripping it just tight enough to show she was being serious. "I'm not a fool, I know you want to get back to the Hidden Sand as soon as possible so you don't have to hide anymore. You'll be free, and you can finally do...whatever...right?"
His harsh stare became more gentle, and he gave her a small nod.
"Then you clearly care about how others view you, you don't want to be seen in a negative light."
"Who would?"
"...jinchuuriki."
Well...that was a sound argument, for sure. The Hyuuga's Black Eye opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out, and he ended up zipping his lips and averting his gaze to the fire. It was a perspective he never bothered to see things from, though to be very frank, he never cared to, either. Her point was fair: not all jinchuuriki are the same. She didn't wish to be shoved into this narrow-minded concept of a jinchuuriki and be disrespected for it, all because of a few mistakes that were made by her peers when they were kids. He knew what that was like. He had lost count of all the times people would assume something about him merely because he was a Hyuuga, or how the majority of the shinobi world tended to view him as malicious only because he had become a missing-nin. Nobody bothers to look below the surface, nobody bothers to see what lies beyond a mean scowl and a particular title.
Netsu was right. However, her logic was merely about judging people upon meeting them, something Jiyuu was ready to admit that he did far too often when it came to either jinchuuriki or Hyuuga alike. Ai had been a good example of a Hyuuga that wasn't a stereotype, and Netsu was the equivalent for the jinchuuriki. No, as a matter of fact, that had been Jiyuu's problem all this time hasn't it? Yes...they were both simply what they were...whereas Oda, Mendona, and so on, had been bad examples of what they were supposed to represent. Perhaps judgement would not be something Jiyuu passed upon first meetings in the future...
...but, judgement based upon people's past actions...that was a different story.
Without a word, the missing-nin dug into his pocket and pulled out a ration bar, wordlessly handing it to the jinchuuriki. She glanced at it quizzically, then to him. He wasn't meeting her gaze, once again, and she couldn't tell if he was doing it out of bashfulness, or because he was just trying to be edgy and cool.
"You must be hungry," he spoke up. "You should eat."
A soft smile graced her lips at his kind gesture, and she plucked the bar from his hand with her thumb and forefinger. As soon as the item left his hand, however, a rather fowl noise rumbled through the woods, one that made both shinobi widen their eyes in shock. It wasn't the growl of a beast, the rumble of an army's footsteps, or even the quaking of the Earth below them. No...it was Jiyuu's stomach, and the extended rumbling turned his face bright red. He let out a single, loud, obviously fake cough in order to cover it up, but deep down, he knew it was in pointless.
"Um...where's your bar?"
"I only have one left."
The words had barely managed to leave him before Netsu took her own ration bar between her hands, broke it in half, and held one of the pieces in front of the man's face, surprising him.
"No, that's for yo-"
Opening his mouth to insist she should have the whole thing was something he wouldn't even be able to do. The second he did so, the jinchuuriki had shoved the bar in his mouth; to make matters worse, she placed her hand over his mouth right afterwards, and he shot her a glare. She wasn't playing around, only biting off a piece of her own half and chewing without any regard for how he felt. "Chew," she spoke through a full mouth, and there wouldn't be any arguing going on about the matter. Begrudgingly, Jiyuu did as he was commanded, slowly working down the flavorless food in his gullet before downing it in a single swallow. He tried his best to keep it quiet, but the slight moan of satisfaction was obvious, and it made Netsu giggle once more. She slid her hand from his mouth up to his cheek, and gave him a small pat. "See? I was right, you're a mush."
And, well, after that was a whole load of silence once more, save for a couple of laughs from Netsu and grunts from Jiyuu. The jinchuuriki had finished her half of the ration bar, and the two shinobi sat in silence once more, this time for much longer. Any uncomfortable air that had been between the two was gone, yet the man still couldn't fall asleep. His eyes continued to wander, every now and then falling on Netsu who happened to be staring back. She would give him a smile, and he would give some sort of halfhearted one in return. And then the silence would continue. This cycle would repeat for an hour or so, before Netsu became tired of the quiet. She was naturally a very social person, yet she could tell that Jiyuu was anything but. Perhaps there had been a time where he was, but whenever that was, it had been long ago when his life was...well, not what it currently was. Netsu piped up with a simple conversation starter, one that she hoped would get him speaking.
"So," she began, "you strike me as someone with plenty on their mind. Want to talk about anything?"
"..."
"Well...I mean, you don't have to," she backpedaled in a softer voice, averting her attention. "I'm sorry. It must be hard being in your position, I didn't mean to be rude."
"No, you're fine. I might as well."
His focus stayed on the burning fire in front of him, and the flickering embers highlighted just how lost he appeared to be. It was strange, he actually felt comfortable around this girl, even enough to bring up his past to some degree. He had gone and rescued people before on the job, he was no stranger to getting a hostage to safety and collecting his money. He never bothered getting to know them, however. None of them were concerned for his own well-being unless he was wounded in a battle, something that seldom happened on smaller jobs. No, the people he would save for his clients tended to only care about their own health, but would have no issues if Jiyuu ordered them to stay quiet or eat, considering he would clearly be the one in control, having saved them and all. He'd know what was up, he would know how to efficiently and safely get whoever he saved back home without a scratch on them, and in return, he would be paid handsomely. It was a simple matter of business: he saves, they pay. It never went beyond that, but this girl? Netsu was completely different. She just forced him to eat, rest, and hell, now she was getting him to talk. Hm...perhaps 'force' wasn't the best term. After all, Jiyuu was doing much of this with little argument...partially because Netsu had many good counter-arguments to throw his way. Regardless, he felt a slight sense of pleasure being here, he felt more comfortable around her than anybody else he'd been near in years, excluding a few obvious people like the Kazekage. He knew from her words that her heart was big, and she would not judge Jiyuu no matter what he said. It was...assuring. He felt a little odd, admittedly; who wouldn't after being a loner for so long? Either way, she was reading him like a book, for he did have a lot to say. He wouldn't say all of it, that would be just greedy of him, using up all that time to rant and rave. No, he wouldn't do all that...but he would bring up one issue that he never could shake off.
"...I just miss home. It's been such a long time for me, I don't even know if I'll be welcomed back."
"Well, that old guy back in the Hidden Rain said everybody was worried about you, right? I'm sure they'd love to see you...including any 'special someone' that you might have back home." Her words made him flinch, and she immediately went cold. "O-Oh, I'm sorry. Did you..."
"Yeah, I had someone. We, uh...we split up before I left."
"I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
"You're fine." The man readjusted himself, crossing his legs and folding his arms as he got more comfortable, continuing to gaze into the fire. "Have you ever had anybody like that in your life?"
"Not exactly," she admitted, and for the first time during this whole conversation, she seemed to sputter as she spoke, her tone of voice dying down and hands clasping onto her beige coat. "Only one person came close, you see, and they were only doing it so they could get recognition for dating a jinchuuriki." The mere thought of it brought a frown to her face. She pulled her knees in and hugged them, suddenly appearing more meek than she ever did. It was her turn to stare into the fire, the dancing embers bringing her slight comfort, but not enough to shake the bad feelings her memories brought. "I don't understand. Jinchuuriki may be given a bit of a helping hand at the start, but we still have to train as hard as everybody else. We still attend the shinobi academy like everybody else. We're normal people, ones that bleed and starve and shiver and die like everybody else. Why do we get treated so differently?" She curled up even tighter, and even shivered. "I just want people to acknowledge me as a person."
"..."
"...sorry, I went off-topic, didn't I?"
"It's fine. It's good to let it out sometimes."
"Yeah...must be rough, being all alone and not being able to talk, isn't it?"
"Of course."
"Hm...I felt all alone when I found out what that 'special someone's' true intentions were. Sickening. It happened just before I ended up getting kidnapped too, not the best note to leave a village on. The last thing I did was scream my lungs out at them until I was red in the face, everybody was staring...and then I stomped home."
"..."
That certainly did sound harsh...and it also hit Jiyuu on a personal level. She may have been abducted while he left willingly, but they both could have left on better terms. Heartbreak...that also had to be the worst way to cut ties, as well. It didn't strike him as mere coincidence that she had been taken right after this occurred, either...it probably looked like she 'ran away' after an incident like that. Whoever was leading this 'Family' organization had spies, ones that were always watching and ready to scoop up jinchuuriki when the time was right.
But, eh...that was all something he could thing about later. His eyelids were beginning to feel heavy, and he knew it wouldn't be long before he ended up passing out.
"Netsu."
"Yes, Jiyuu?"
"I'm...sorry."
"What for?" She asked him this as she turned to him, but smiled when she saw his head slumping forward, and his eyes shutting.
"For...my rude behavior...and...what...happened to you..."
And just like that, he stopped speaking. Eyes finally closed up and whole body slumping, the only thing to come out of Jiyuu now was a soft snoring. Netsu's smile seemed to grow. He looked like such a fool sleeping like that...but not in a pathetic way. No, he was clearly tired of a monotonous style of life, one that was harsh on both the mind and soul, so this had to be a nice change of pace. He slept like he hadn't slept well in a very long time, and she felt that he deserved it.
Welp, guess I'm on watch duty for tonight.
The Four-Tails jinchuuriki stood up slowly, taking off her long, draping beige coat and covering the Hyuuga's Black Eye with it up to the neck. She was close to him, very close, and although he was sleeping, she felt the need to say one more thing before she went on to keep watch. She got in close to his ear, so close that her lips practically brushed against it, and whispered.
"Thank you."
That was that. Slowly, she stood tall and backed away, and then proceeded to walk up the side of the tree they had been resting against until she reached a thick, sturdy branch up top among the dried leaves. She sat squarely on it, and let her leg sway off the side as she folded her arms. It didn't matter how long it took, she knew he deserved this rest more than anybody now. She'd guard him 'till the cows came home, and she wouldn't have a problem with it.
She owed him that much, at least.
The corpses Jiyuu had left scattered about deep in the woods bordering Wind Country and the Hidden Rain were not exactly well-preserved, hence why they were starting to decay. The blood dried, dying the surfaces it covered in a thick, dark red, and filled the air with a stench of iron. Porcelain mask shards were all over the place, along with bone fragments and organs. A regular mess, most would say. The late leader of the pack was still tied to the tree he had been interrogated against with razor wire, slumping and rotting away with the Hyuuga's Black Eye symbol carved into the tree just above him.
A cloaked hunter-nin stared at it, motionless, wordless, with only a single thought running through his head.
He was here.
An obvious conclusion to draw, but it meant more to this particular hunter-nin than it would for any other. It hadn't been too long ago that he and his partner had been coming in this direction, following up on a report received by the Mizukage that the Four-Tails jinchuuriki had been located in the Hidden Rain Village. The quickest route from the Hidden Mist to the Hidden Rain was to cut through the Land of Fire after a boat ride, and one would have no issue getting right into the village...but, upon nearing the border of the Hidden Rain, they had heard rumors of masked shinobi in all black padded leather armor being present...and people had spoken of explosions and a stench of rotted meat being carried by the wind. Thus, the two hunter-nin took a small detour, one not too far off the beaten path, in order to investigate. Lo and behold, here they were...and this symbol on the tree more than proved that this whole situation could very well be deeper than the cloaked hunter-nin thought. His hood swayed a little with the gentle breeze that cut through the forest, and for a moment, he only cared about what the Hyuuga's Black Eye was up to.
The hunter-nin with long, flowing hair walked up beside him, each footstep giving off a metallic clank thanks to the metal rims attached to the bottom of his footwear. "30 in total, from what I could sense."
"You're correct."
"You have not moved from this spot once we arrived. What has your attention to such a degree?"
"Feel for yourself. It's the tree just in front of us."
The second hunter-nin wordlessly complied, and reached out until his gloved hand met the bark. He began to run his palm and fingers along the surface, yet only had to feel half of the symbol before pulling away and understanding. "Hmph...Jiyuu is getting much more careless, taking on so many enemies at once."
"This fight may have not been his choice, you know. It looks more like an ambush than anything else."
"...is it possible that he is among the dead?"
"No, his mark would never have been made if he had lost." The cloaked hunter-nin turned his back to the tree, and slowly scanned the area and all it's corpses. Busted trees and scattered kunai also littered the area, making the place look like a bomb had gone off here and there. "In fact, I think victory was obvious to him. He seemed to have enjoyed this battle a bit too much. It looks like he let loose and gave them some of his more brutal techniques."
The long-haired hunter-nin grunted, and tapped his foot against the tree with numerous soft 'clanks', not bothering to turn around like his partner had. He slowly looked to the sky, and crossed his arms. "Crushed skulls...scattered giblets...the stench of blood. It's not something we're unfamiliar with, but I'm still surprised. This is a much larger quantity than I would expect to find after Jiyuu was finished...but, you already knew that."
"Mmm..." The hooded hunter-nin took a few steps into the mass of bodies, eyes curious and wandering behind his mask. His sandals sank into the red dirt a little with each step, a soft squishing noise emanating from each one. He stopped at one of the bodies that had it's head intact, knelt before it, and placed a hand on it's forehead. The eyes were missing, torn out clean from the sockets...that, combined with the signature skin tone and facial features lead to an obvious conclusion. These were Hyuuga...all of them. If Jiyuu was this violent with them just for being what they were...well, that made even more sense as to why it looked like a horror movie around here. "Something doesn't make sense, though," he mumbled to himself, though he knew his partner had heard and was waiting for an explanation. "These were all Hyuuga, and all their eyes had been plucked out. That's not the kind of thing Jiyuu would do, there's no way."
"Perhaps a wandering rogue-nin pulled them," the other said, turning to face his peer with arms still crossed. "After all, killing a Hyuuga in combat is not an easy feat, and the Byakugan is highly-sought after like any other doujutsu around. If these happened to be Branch members, however, then the joke was on the thief: those eyes will be sealed forever, unable to be used. Regardless, this is not our major concern right now."
The hooded hunter-nin was silent, doubt filled his head. No, there was definitely something shady going on here, and it wasn't just some random rogue-nin who came along and pulled these eyes. This couldn't have been done by some mere brute...no eyes were left, not even the crushed or scattered ones from the poor sods who had their heads blown apart. And the ones with their heads intact...the Byakugan had been pulled with almost surgical precision. Who did this?
...but...perhaps his peer was right. This was not of concern now.
"We should hurry," the long-haired one said. "If this is Jiyuu's work, then surely he'll be headed in the same direction."
The other hunter-nin would only nod in agreement, and within a fraction of a second, the two blurred out of existence, hot on the path to the Hidden Rain.
The most unbelievable sensation of warmth and comfort was coating him, and a soft, cool breeze had blown through his dirty, spiky hair. The gentle brushing of wind across his skin made him stir, and gingerly, Jiyuu opened his eyes. The fire in front of him was going strong, the beige coat draped over him happened to be something he was clutching (it smelt like sweat, but there was also an underlying scent of roses that was very pleasant), and the morning sky was only barely starting to come up. There was no sun, yet it's light was turning the black night sky into a deep shade of blue that would only get brighter over time. He was snug, and for once, he didn't wake with a stiff back; the soft dirt ground proved to be a better thing to sleep on than his barely-padded stone slab of a bed back in his hideout. He took his time gingerly stretching beneath the coat before standing tall and rolling his shoulders, grabbing and folding the jacket that Netsu had been kind enough to blanket him with. He felt so...alive...perhaps a good night's rest was exactly what he had been missing all along. His senses were sharp, and his flow of chakra even better than that. He was ready to roll, and if Netsu was up to it, they'd leave right away. His ear twitched, he heard a soft humming from somewhere overhead. A quick glance upwards would reveal to him that Netsu had been keeping watch from atop a thick branch. Her large crimson twintails hung still from her head, and her beady eyes were slowly scanning their environment before they dipped down to Jiyuu. Her smile seemed to brighten up at seeing him.
"Good morning," she greeted.
So innocent, so kind and sweet. The girl was a victim, regardless of title, and it took a small talk while Jiyuu was half-awake to realize that there was nothing more to it. She was a person, and the mere thought of this brought the discussion he had with the girl's father into the forefront of his memory.
"What's your name?"
"Me? I'm Gadian Natsu."
"...Mr. Natsu...by now, I would assume the Hidden Cloud Village has dispatched it's best shinobi to track down your daughter. As...interesting...as your little tale about tracking me down has been, I fail to see why you require a missing-nin hated by the shinobi system to find her, when a team of jounin is-"
At this, Gadian shook his head, small beads of sweat flying off his soaked bald head and hitting the sandstone floor. "But they're NOT! And even if they were on the case, they'd only be searching for the Four-Tails Jinchuuriki, for one of the village's biggest sources of military might! They don't care about who she is, they don't care about her family. They...they don't care that her favorite food is plain old sashimi, or that she enjoys singing...that even as a young lady, she still keeps all the dolls and stuffed animals she had as a child. They don't care that her father had gone out on a suicidal journey just to find her, or whoever her captor was. They don't care about my daughter, Hyuuga's Black Eye...only that she is their jinchuuriki."
To see things in that light casted a whole new series of shadows on a lifestyle he never wanted to ponder over, the life of a jinchuuriki. It just occurred to him...Netsu didn't know who was waiting for her back in the Hidden Sand, that her father was the one who had fought tooth and nail just to find the Hyuuga's Black Eye and hire him for his services. And yet, she seemed so content that she hardly cared. Hell, it was reasonable to assume that she would be willing to live with Jiyuu so long as he kept her safe...but, eh...that wasn't something he was looking to have happen. Perhaps she understood, maybe there were just such a short list of people that cared enough to ask for her to be rescued that she narrowed it down.
"I said, 'good morning,' mister. Are you still asleep and just standing up?"
"Hm? Oh, uh...yeah...good morning."
He sounded so shy when he responded, ohhhh she was loving this. She leapt down from the tree and landed right beside him, standing tall with her hands on her hips and her smile large and proud. "So, are you ready to get going?"
He nodded, and handed her the beige coat. She slipped it on with lightning speed, and he took the liberty of stomping out the fire before the two were on their way. They were blitzing along treetops once again, but this time, the pace being set by the Hyuuga's Black Eye was much more extreme. Netsu had to request he slow down just a little bit, only because she was having trouble keeping up with him and seeing the trees as they came zooming by; he didn't have the same issue, of course, because he had his doujutsu active the moment they took off. They continued on at this fast pace for hours until the sun finally peaked over the horizon, filling the woods with a gentle orange light that only became brighter with each passing minute. She was doing pretty good, Jiyuu had thought to himself. She was keeping the pace and not even breaking a sweat, very impressive for someone who was up all night. He figured it was due to her being a jinchuuriki, but it may have also helped that she took a good power nap when she had been liberated from the Hidden Rain and carried in Jiyuu's arms. She was also quiet the entire time, and he could see with his doujutsu that she was eyeing his back every now and then, a small curious scrunching of her brow following every time she did so. She, too, must have had something on her mind, and since she was so ready to be his shrink for a night, perhaps it was only right that he returned the favor.
"Are you alright back there," he inquired, slowing his pace ever-so-slightly so that he could run beside her.
The kunoichi wasn't smiling anymore. No, she seemed to be all about business now, and it was a little off-putting for the Hyuuga's Black Eye. Automatically, his body began to feel more tense, and he wasn't sure why. Maybe he had been used to getting backstabbed on many of these types of missions in the past, usually due to people attempting to catch him off-guard to collect his bounty. He didn't suspect such a thing from her, not since she was actually a jinchuuriki that had actually been captured...but you never know. However, her question quickly buried his underlying assumption.
"Who's waiting for me in the Hidden Sand?"
"...you didn't figure it out?"
"Was I supposed to? I'm charmed that you're so eager to get me to safety, but I have no idea who's waiting there. You can't blame me for seeing this as a bit...suspicious."
He had to admit, it made sense. In all the excitement that followed after he had liberated her, it was easy to brush off something like this. Normally people never cared where they were going or who asked for them to be saved, they were just grateful and left it at that. But Netsu is a kunoichi, suspicion is a good thing to have at times like this.
"It's your father."
"But he doesn't live in the Hidden Sand, that's not possible."
"Yes, yes, I already questioned him." Jiyuu couldn't help but dip back to his more stoic, business-like self. His tone of voice was solid, full of authority, and his words carried a sturdy sense of truth to them. He wanted to make sure he got his point across: he had been thorough already. "Apparently he had taken a good amount of risks to track down my contact, who then reached out to me and put this job on the table. It hasn't been the first time this has happened, but it is rare for a civilian to do this. It's only happened one other time, and quite frankly, he had some serious help. It wouldn't surprise me if your father bribed a few of your own village's shinobi to find out the first step he should take."
"That can't be," she mused aloud, "my father isn't one to take risks for anybody. He's not the brave type."
"But you're NOT just anybody to him, you're his daughter." She didn't seem convinced, only shaking her head a little. "He's short, stout, balding, has a thick mustache?" She suddenly stopped shaking her head, and looked to the man with widened eyes. "I guess so. On top of that, I also looked him over with the Byakugan. His chakra network was weak, meaning he had never had shinobi training in his life. He's a civilian."
"..." Netsu wasn't sure what to think about the situation. It simply couldn't be...was that really her father? The man wasn't a shinobi, in fact, he was far from being one. And what was that, he had gone on his own to find someone as elusive as the Hyuuga's Black Eye? How? "It doesn't make any sense...I..."
"He told me what he did. He claimed to have met with some real shady people and paid them for information. He got plenty of false information, and he ended up taking longer than he wanted to on his trip to the Hidden Sand. He was lucky...he managed to stumble across my contact, and begged on his knees to meet with me. I hate to say it...but the only reason my contact probably bothered to actually call for me was because of your title. I wasn't going to, and even when I heard you were a jinchuuriki, I still wasn't fully convinced that I should go on this mission. But the man clearly went through hell to find me, so that I could find you; he looked tired beyond belief, like he would collapse any moment. He told me that he lost a large sum of money trying to locate me, I'm not sure how much. I'd have to assume that it was somewhere in-"
"Don't say anymore!"
The sudden burst of emotion not only caught the Hyuuga's Black Eye off-guard, but also caused the kunoichi to lose focus on landing on the next branch. She slipped right on past it, tumbling down to the dirt ground below and landing hard on her side. Jiyuu had stopped moving forward and practically fazed into existence beside her, already assisting Netsu and asking if she was alright. Despite the concern he displayed, the jinchuuriki pulled herself away and walked to a nearby tree. Her palm reached up to the bark and pressed against it, quivering. She was breathing hard at first, almost like she was about to start bawling her eyes out, but she simply refused to. She was not alone, she was in the presence of the man who was sent by her...her father. She had to keep herself together, she was too old to shed tears. Her breathing slowed gradually, but she couldn't bring herself to turn and face the man. No, instead her vision was locked onto her hand, and it's place on the tree. The bark was rough and damp, and for a moment, it reminded her of home. Yes, the Hidden Cloud Village, a land just barely in reach, and yet so many miles away. Home...family...if Jiyuu was being honest, and she doubted he would make all of this up, then she would be reunited with it all once more. It had only been a month...that much, she could figure out...but it seemed so much longer to her. She didn't want to stay with those Hidden Abyss shinobi, but at the same time...
"What's wrong." The statement that came out was no question, despite being worded as such. This was an order for an explanation, curtesy of Jiyuu who stood right where he had been, not wanting to invade her personal space.
It took Netsu a minute, shaking her head and sniffling to recollect herself further. "Nothing," she said as the back of her free hand went up to wipe her eyes. "It's just that my family isn't exactly in a position to spend money all over like that. Their main source of income was actually from me and my payment for completing missions. They're...they're not well enough to work. They're...well...'sick.'"
'Sick' seemed to have some underlying meaning, and it didn't take long for Jiyuu to understand what she meant. His eyelids drooped, and his gaze fell to the ground as he processed the new information. Netsu's father did seem very pale when he had met him, and it seemed like he barely had any strength to spare.
"Stupid...so stupid..."
The kunoichi's open palm on the tree's surface slowly dug it's fingers into the tree, crushing some of the bark into her fist before she let her arm drop. "Why would he do something this stupid," she asked Jiyuu as she turned to face him, though she expected no answer. "Why couldn't he just ask the Raikage to send some Hidden Cloud-nin to look for me? Why did he have to go and risk his life to find me?!"
"From what I remember, your father explained that he felt the shinobi in your village were only going to go so far in terms of their searches, and it's understandable. With jinchuuriki disappearing left and right, it gets a little suspicious having shinobi from other villages poke around, even with an alliance."
"That's not what I meant...why did he...he's sick! Why would he go out and risk his life when he should have been at home resting?! Why would he just leave mom alone like that?! For me?! I don't deserve it!"
Now, it was too powerful for her fight against. Her own confusion about the whole situation, her horrible guilt for being captured and making her sick father go through so much trouble all for her...it broke her. She fell to her knees and let the tears run freely, shutting her eyes and putting an open palm on her forehead as she did so in a petty attempt to recollect herself, but it was useless. She just kept crying, and crying, like she was just told her father had passed away. There was nothing Jiyuu could do here, and this was one of the many things he learned from previous missions that actually became relevant for this one: sometimes, all they need is a good cry for about five or so minutes. And so, he allowed her to let it all out, waiting patiently as she wept and wept. It had been a very long time for Jiyuu since he last cried; he learned very early on in his life as a missing-nin that tears would reward you with no sympathy points, not even as a child. The world would be against you, and you had to give a tough front to show that you didn't care, that you didn't need the world nearly as much as it needed you, regardless of whether that was true or not. He became a silent observer, and hadn't shed a tear in years...not even when thoughts of home and his old friends, his past, came to mind. All that came was a sense of longing, followed by anger, and then acceptance of how his decisions have lead him here...and he deserves to be where he is.
Jiyuu envied Natsu. Of the few times Jiyuu did cry when he finally arrived and got settled in the Hidden Sand, none of them had ever been about home or family. He wished he could remember what it was like to get that emotional over one's father. The only thing Jiyuu could see when his father came to mind was what had happened when he left. Such anger, such raw and pure hatred for Jiyuu's choices that would tear him from home. There was no sorrow, no sympathy, just blood-boiling anger. He could still hear his father shouting and banging on the dinner table, and his mother sat beside either of them trying to calm them down. There were tears in her eyes, she didn't want her two boys fighting, and to be frank, Jiyuu never wanted that argument to take place, either.
It took Netsu straightening herself out and wiping away her tears to snap Jiyuu out of his own trance; his fake hand had been balled up into a fist so tight that the joints in them were creaking a little, and he quickly relaxed it.
"Sorry." Her voice was quivering, she was trying her hardest to be cordial but such a thing was proving to be tough. "I just...I just didn't expect to hear all of this."
"Because you're precious to him."
"...what?"
"When someone considers another person precious...they will do anything in their power to keep them safe, consequences be damned." Brief flashes of Ketsui coming to save a younger, inexperienced Jiyuu on his first mission came and went, and then the cold stare of anger that was given on Jiyuu's final day remained once more. "Everybody else only cares for the jinchuuriki of the Four-Tails going missing, but that man...he only wanted his daughter back." The kunoichi was quiet, and when the Hyuuga's Black Eye lifted his gaze to meet her own, he saw that she was staring at him wide-eyed, her full attention on him. "I'll admit," he began before letting out a little sigh, "I know just what it's like to have a father like that, one who'd risk their life to save your own. I couldn't have been a worse son to him...I let him down in so many ways that the only remedy for them was to run away, rebuild myself into the son he had tried to raise all his life. The kind of son that he wanted. When I go home...no...if I go home...I just hope I can repay both him and my mother for all the pain, sadness, and disappointment I've caused them over the years. It is but one of the many reasons I have for being who I am today."
The air hung still, and a single leaf fell from the trees overhead. It twirled and tumbled between both shinobi, passing right between their light of sight and breaking eye contact for only a short moment. It was a truth Netsu had not expected to hear, and he spoke it with such honesty. The Hyuuga's Black Eye had multiple reasons to leave home, and 'wiping the slate clean', as broad of a term as it was, couldn't have been more accurate. Jiyuu Tamashi, the man wanted to rebuild himself in many ways, it seemed. While his other reasons for running would remain a mystery to Netsu, one thing was certain: he truly felt that he simply wasn't a good son, and while she wasn't sure of the exact details, a small point had been overlooked. Yes, a very small one he made while explaining the actions of her own father and his reasoning for doing what he did...the parallel could easily be drawn for Jiyuu's side of the story, yet he seemed to have forgotten it.
"...if your parents truly consider you previous, then perhaps you weren't such a horrible son."
"I had, and still have, a fair number of flaws. I think that goes against me."
"Well, I have plenty of flaws. Nobody's perfect, Jiyuu. You don't have to be perfect for someone to love you...I'm certainly not, and my crazy dad went all the way to the Hidden Sand to find you...you...just so you could find me. He wanted only the best, and nothing else. Someone he knew was reliable, and had no problem with doing something as dangerous as that."
"..."
"And who knows? Maybe your parents are out looking for you now."
"Perhaps," he muttered with a slight nod...but, that was that. He turned his back to her and began to walk, clearly not wanting to discuss his own matters any further. "Let's get going, we can't keep your pops waiting."
In no time flat and without any words being exchanged, the two continued on the trail, slowly picking up speed and eventually taking to the tree branches overhead to do so.
Hours had passed. Long, grueling hours of silence and running, but every now and then, a discussion would break out. It was never anything serious, usually small talk like favorite colors and training methods, what they enjoyed doing for fun, that sort of thing. It was a way to escape for both of them. He would stave off thoughts of home, and she would push back guilt over her father's actions. It wasn't a permanent fix to their issues, but at least it was something. It was interesting what one could learn about another person within a few hours, even if the talking was minimal. For instance, Jiyuu learned that Netsu enjoyed mountain climbing in her spare time, without the aid of chakra in any fashion. He also learned that she quite enjoyed being around the Eight-Tails jinchuuriki, Bee, though she wasn't a large fan of his 'rapping'. Ah yes, and she was infamous for challenging the Raikage to arm wrestling matches, as well as for losing them every single time (she claims the last match she had was slightly better, but not by much). On the flip side of things, Netsu had learned that Jiyuu quite enjoyed training himself in every method possible for combat, though one would have to enjoy such a thing if they were to avoid going mad doing nothing BUT train. However, when she pressed him for more 'normal' hobbies, she found that he enjoyed fishing, which was rather upsetting considering he lived nowhere near any water currently. On top of that, his favorite food was...
"Grilled fish. Without question, it's grilled fish."
It normally would have taken a very good eye to catch Jiyuu instinctively swallow as he thought about his absolute favorite meal of all time, but Netsu happened to catch sight of this by mere accident. "Ohhhh, that's nice," she agreed, a small smile curling up. "Hey, hey! Have you ever tried ramen?"
The man's face twisted with disgust. "I despise it."
"WHAAAAT?! NO WAY! HOW COULD YOU EVEN SAY SUCH A THING?!"
"The only time I had ramen was when I still lived in the Hidden Mist," he explained, his Mezame Byakugan sliding over to meet her gaze. "A few Ichiraku Ramen places had opened up there, and I went with my genin squad, Team One. Horrible, too salty. It was like I was served heated ocean water, and the noodles tasted of used laundry. How anybody could enjoy such a thing is beyond me...I hate that it's become such a fad over the years, I honestly do."
"I think YOU were just too young to appreciate it. You really should try it again sometime, maybe even travel to the Land of Fire if you're up for it. The Ichiraku places around there are much better than anything else, since they're so close to the original."
"Original?"
"Yeah! Didn't you know that it started in the Hidden Leaf Village? It became so popular after the Fourth Great War that the owner felt he had the opportunity to open a chain, so he did!"
"The Leaf should keep their 'ramen' right inside their village."
"Too late! It's already wildly successful and just growing bigger by the month!" Netsu even stuck out her tongue at him in a playful way, adding to her teasing words. "So there!"
"It's an absolute disgrace that..."
There was no time to explain what was going on, but Netsu could tell by the sudden silence and Jiyuu's widening eyes that he picked up on danger with his doujutsu. He leapt over to her and grabbed her in a tackle, bringing them both down to the earth and flipping around just in time to land silently on a knee, cradling the kunoichi in his arms. His attention shifted upwards, and she could hear that he stopped breathing; she squirmed out of his arms and knelt beside him, doing as he did.
There was nothing unorthodox about where they were. They were getting deeper into the Land of Wind, and the tropical trees with their lush green leaves were a dead giveaway, as well as the hot, sticky air that danced through the woods. Birds could be heard squawking far off, and the wind began to pick up, making the rustling of leaves even louder. For once in his life, he was thankful to have eyes as special as his, for even the normal Byakugan would have had trouble spotting the two entities rushing by overhead. Two small blurs of highly-concealed chakra darted through the trees, their speed was something very rare to find out in a place this far from civilization. Shinobi, without a doubt of the highest caliber...but where are they going?
Nowhere. It seems as if they also had inhuman senses, for one stopped on a dime, standing tall on a single branch, while the other stopped shortly after. The first to halt had longer hair cascading down his back...and now that he wasn't in such a hurry, the Mezame Byakugan had little trouble picking up on the armor and mask details of the being.
...a hunter-nin from back home...
And then, his attention shifted to the other shinobi, this one more ominous in appearance. He sported a rather thick hooded cloak, one that seemed to flow endlessly with the wearer's chakra. It completely blocked Jiyuu from seeing beneath it, and whatever weapons it may conceal; the flow of life essence even traveled through the mask, meaning there was absolutely nothing that the Hyuuga's Black Eye could see. This person...they were smart, and clearly looking out for anybody with a Byakugan if they were using a strange technique like that. But, the real question was much more important: were they looking out for Hyuuga...or were they looking for Jiyuu? It suddenly dawned on the Hyuuga's Black Eye that he had unwillingly established contact with Suchiru back in the Hidden Rain, a shinobi of Jiyuu's own village. Could he have possibly notified the Mizukage to set hunter-nin after Jiyuu, and where he was heading? No...the Hidden Mist is too far away for any shinobi to get this far in that short span of time. How are these people even here...
Even Jiyuu didn't realize just how stiff he had become from remaining motionless. Both hunter-nin remained absolutely still, not even speaking with one-another to communicate just what their current situation was. The wind made the first's hair flutter about, and the other's cloak gingerly swayed with the breeze. A cold sweat beaded up on the Hyuuga's Black Eye's temple, he could feel it roll down his cheek and hang from the chin. There was such pressure all of a sudden, an unspeakable amount of tension filling the air that made Netsu grip onto his arm and squeeze. It wasn't killing intent, there was no malicious energy about it...but the most unreal stress was crawling over both of them, rattling their minds with panic and fear. Whatever this strange pressure was, it certainly was effective.
Then, the bead of sweat finally dropped from his chin. Jiyuu wasn't sure why, but he knew he didn't want it to hit the ground. At the same time, however, he didn't want to move a muscle, fearing that even the slightest twitch would make his clothes rustle, or shift the dirt below him. And so, he watched helplessly as his bead of sweat fell to the ground, landing in the soft dirt without even making a sound...at least, that was what Jiyuu had thought.
The long-haired hunter-nin suddenly blurred right in front of Jiyuu with little warning, standing tall and holding a dagger by his side. He was looking to lift it up to ready it for an attack, but his forearm was already palmed at by Jiyuu, and the Harmony Fist strike released all tension in the muscles, forcing the hand to open up and drop the dagger to the ground. The hunter-nin hissed beneath his mask and blurred back a good ten feet, hunching a little in anticipation for a follow-up attack that never came. Instead, Jiyuu took up his usual taijutsu stance and waited for an attack to come his way. He could see with his Mezame Byakugan that the cloaked hunter-nin was still high above in the trees, yet decided to snake his way behind cover and position himself behind both Jiyuu and Netsu. He was very silent, very efficient in his methods. They were poised for a pincer attack...but something felt strange. Neither of them were being overly-aggressive. Why? Surely both see Netsu, who was still facing the long-hair hunter-nin with Jiyuu...she had no clue that the second one had moved. Did they perhaps not want to harm her?
The knife on the ground, Jiyuu recognized it immediately. The thin, long blade. The hollow cylindrical handle and the rough metallic grip etched into it's surface. An acoustic dagger. Only one shinobi he ever knew had used those, and he just so happened to be a resident of the Hidden Mist Village. Jiyuu was capable of seeing through the mask of the long-haired hunter-nin, and noticed that there was absolutely no chakra flow going to the eyes. The face was stiff, motionless...but definitely familiar. Yes, it was him without a doubt. And that second hunter-nin, the one sporting the cloak and taking the less confrontational route of engagement...the only one who would bother coating himself in chakra to combat the abilities of the Byakugan. Jiyuu only knew of one shinobi who would bother with such tactics.
The Mezame Byakugan gained an additional four glowing dots, two going vertical and two going horizontal across the glowing pupil. The Four Trigram Mezame Byakugan was awakened, and everything had become sharper. The layer of chakra flowing through the cloak of the second hunter-nin was surprisingly thin, yet effective for any standard Byakugan. Beneath the surface, Jiyuu could finally see on the inside, and noticed that the wearer sported a strange device on his back, one rather similar to Kankuro's puppets. Two arms that extended into the sleeves of the cloak, taking place of the wearer's actually limbs. The real arms were at ease, hands slipped into his pockets and not moving. He wore an all-too-familiar cargo vest on his upper body, and further use of the high-level Byakugan revealed all sorts of custom-made shinobi weapons filling the pockets. On top of that, the man wore glasses behind his mask, and had some sort of devices in his ears...
...hearing aids...advanced ones from the Hidden Rain, actually. Capable of providing sound to those who were deaf.
And that face behind the mask...it sickened Jiyuu, because he knew it far too well.
The Hyuuga's Black Eye's brow scrunched up further, and a deep, bitter hate bubbled up to the surface. "I see you...both of you." The cloaked hunter-nin stopped moving, and grit his teeth beneath the mask. "Don't make me do anything you'll both regret."
Netsu was nervous, not sure just what Jiyuu meant by 'both of you' until she realized the other hunter-nin was missing from her own line of sight. She began to freak out on the inside, and couldn't help but let a little concern well up on the surface. She began to breath harder, and sweat beaded up on her forehead. "Jiyuu..."
"It's going to be fine, Netsu, don't worry."
Nobody was moving, and the tension was choking everybody so hard that they may have forgotten to breath. The long-haired hunter gently scraped the rim of his shinobi boot along the ground until it came into contact with a root, and then just ran it back and fourth along the surface. Now, he could 'see' everything with perfect clarity, including the man across the way. He was stood defensively in front of a kunoichi, yet she appeared just as ready to fight as he did. And he...well...his stance was unmistakable, and the strike he had done to the long-haired hunter's forearm sent waves of nostalgia crashing over him like the rough sea. To top it all off, they referred to each other by name...that sealed the deal.
"Jiyuu Tamashi," the hunter-nin began as he flexed the forearm that had been struck, finally regaining feeling in it. "Or should I say, 'The Hyuuga's Black Eye'. You've made quite the name for yourself...but, you already knew that."
It hadn't been much of a surprise to Jiyuu just who he was facing, he already knew. He would remain where he was currently positioned, keeping his attention on both hunter-nin without fail. "Tanken...it's been a while."
"Yes, it has." The tension in the air began to fade little by little, and Tanken had reached up to his mask, gripped it by the chin, and pulled it off. Hair cascaded down over his eyes as it usually did, but with Jiyuu's doujutsu, he didn't fail to catch that they were still glazed over, lifeless, yet still fully aware. A small, almost nonexistent smile was present, though Jiyuu supposed only he would pick up on that. Tanken's skin was still pale as ever, though his musculature was far more defined than it used to be, as expected, and he developed a more structured, chiseled jawline. Other than that, the man hadn't really changed, save for growing taller. "I can sense your chakra, it's stronger than I remember. You must have worked quite hard to reach your current level." That smile that was so subtle that it took no effort to form disappeared anyway, and it was back to the grim, straight line of stoicism; THAT was the Tanken he knew. "It makes sense considering the number of dead Hyuuga that you had left exposed to rot in the heat, but, you already knew that."
"Is it a crime to defend yourself against missing-nin that attack you."
"No. Either way, it is not my main concern." Tanken tapped the rim of his footwear against the root once more, and then paused. "...that kunoichi with you...did you not just refer to her as 'Netsu?' Would that happen to be the jinchuuriki of the Four-Tails accompanying you?"
"..."
"...Jiyuu, please answer me."
The cloaked hunter-nin that still hid behind the shrubbery narrowed his eyes. He knew he had already been spotted, Jiyuu said so himself. There was no use hiding anymore, so he snaked between the trees until he was behind Tanken, emerging from the dense forest to stand beside his partner The tension in the air completely disappeared from their side of the woods, yet Jiyuu could see that the cloaked man was keeping his eyes locked on him. "Yes, Tanken. That's her."
And then, with the lack of any tension whatsoever bringing slight ease to all present, the cloaked shinobi decided to throw both Jiyuu and Netsu for a loop by showering them both with an intense shock of killing intent. This was something Jiyuu was far more used to handling, and it fazed him little, yet Netsu was the first one to panic. She already understood what was happening, they both believed that he had kidnapped her! She jumped between Jiyuu and the cloaked hunter-nin, and her massive red twintails began to levitate as chakra flowed through them. "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, YOU CREEPS! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!"
Neither hunter-nin shifted in the slightest, yet her sudden action was...well...unexpected.
"Netsu, stop, it's alright!"
"It's not alright," she yelled at Jiyuu, still keeping her attention on the two before her. "They need to know that you're innocent! You SAVED me! They can't hurt you for being the good guy in all of this!"
"You don't need to explain it! Just leave it alone!"
"Explain what?! That some creepy bastard in a mask with a big dot on the forehead took be away from home, then everything got fuzzy, and then I woke up with you carrying me out of the Hidden Rain?! You mean I don't have to explain how you saved me?! Or how you fought with some of those creepy Hyuuga in the black armor just to get us away?! Or how you're taking me to see my dad in the Hidden Sand Village, because he hired you to come rescue me when my own village was too scared to do it?!"
Jiyuu was seething, he wasn't a fan of how she was going about doing this. He understood she did it for 'his own good', but that didn't make him feel less embarrassed.
Tanken tilted his head to the side some, brow crinkling in confusion. "But you are from Lightning Country, the Hidden Cloud Vill-"
"Yes, yes, yes, it's a loooooooooong story, but THAT'S none of your business!"
"Netsu," Jiyuu began, "...I said it's fine. You don't have to stick up for me or anything."
"Oh get real!" The kunoichi now spun to face him, cheeks puffed up and fists on her hips. "Do you REALLY think I'm going to agree to that?! No, I'm not letting you do things the hard way!"
"How I want to do things shouldn't matter to you!"
"Kami, you just LOVE to make things more complicated, don't you?!"
"That's not-"
"What is it then, huh?! Pride?! IS IT PRIDE?!"
"It's none of you business!"
"AH HAH, SO IT IS PRIDE! KAMI, YOU'RE SUCH A CHILD!"
"I'M THE CHILD?! WHAT?!"
The two continued to bicker between one-another, so much so that Netsu's levitating hair even managed to glow a bright orange light and ignite in flames, probably what she had intended to do when facing off against the hunter-nin, though her frustration alone was triggering it. They were really going at it, too, even getting the normally stoic and collective Jiyuu to become animating, flailing his arms in the air. The argument was so intense that they failed to realize that the cloaked shinobi put a stop to his killing intent, not sure what to do. The two Mist-nin watched on without a word, at least until Tanken mumbled a little and put his mask back on. "This is far from what I expected an encounter like this to be...but, at least our suspicions were correct. Jiyuu is not the villain, after all...though, your little 'test' that brought this about was a little extreme."
The cloaked hunter-nin was silent. His eyes became half-lidded from behind the mask, and he watched Jiyuu as he continued to hash it out with the jinchuuriki. It was...well, he wasn't sure. It was nostalgic, reminding him of a time when he and Sakana would constantly argue over petty things whenever the team was together. If memory served well, this would have been about the time where Ketsui would start to laugh as he watched with folded arms, and then the team's genjutsu-user would attempt to step forward and bring everything to a close, although it usually failed to end there. It was strange. The hunter-nin had read up so much on the Hyuuga's Black Eye in all sorts of black ops files and bingo books. He saw the transition of a scared young genin into something more...and when the view of just who Jiyuu was becoming had gotten skewed by rumors, he had assumed that the missing-nin was a cold-as-ice murderer for hire. Not the case at all, it seems. He was very protective of Netsu, and if what the girl said was true, then it made sense. She was his goal, he wouldn't want any harm to come of her. A small detail that the hunter-nin managed to catch as Jiyuu continued to yell back at Netsu was the forehead protector plate he had attached to his black bandana. It was an Allied Shinobi Forces one. So...Jiyuu considered himself to be a shinobi for any village that needed him. How very much like him that was, wanting to be a hero no matter what.
"...Jiyuu."
His voice was deep, but not too deep, nor was it gravely and rough. It was smooth, clean, confident...and it certainly got the two to shut up and stare at him (and, thankfully, got Netsu to put her hair's fire out and return it to normal). The cloaked hunter-nin pulled back his hood, and then pulled off his mask in a similar fashion to what Tanken had done. His hair was spiky and disheveled, still a familair dirty-blonde, yet longer than it used to be; a small ponytail was tied up in the back, and it was just as spiky. If that hair was black...it would no doubt make him look even more like an Uchiha than he already was. His face was chiseled as well, and his glasses sported thicker frames than they had in the past, but it looked good on a more mature, grown-up face. The eyes that were initially revealed had been a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan, though the man quickly deactivated them to show he was not hostile. His hazel-brown eyes were sharp, narrow, and still carried a slight warmth to them, though it's effect was completely lost on Jiyuu. He had gotten a bit more sun over the years, the once-pale skin was now ever-so-slightly sunkissed.
A half-smile formed, and a hand went up to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Just so you know...I never once considered you to be 'the bad guy' after all this time. What happened earlier was, well, a precaution. I knew you could never stoop to the level that most other missing-nin are at."
The warm smile was not returned at all, and it threw the cloaked hunter-nin off. In fact, Jiyuu's small frown only grew a little deeper. "Tsuyo...why are you two out here..."
Ah yes, strictly business. Tsuyo saw how it was going to be, and discarded any friendliness he displayed. That smile vanished faster than food off of an Akamichi's plate. "We were headed towards the Hidden Rain to follow up on some intel that said Netsu Natsu was being held there. But, it looks like we were a bit slower than you had been." The answer seemed satisfactory enough, getting Jiyuu to at least step out of his taijutsu stance and stand like a normal person, but the stiff body language showed just how much discomfort he felt. Tsuyo wanted to break through the cold front that was being placed in front of him, and figured he would at least try striking up some sort of conversation, though he had no clue where to start. "...so, uh...how have you been?"
How had he been all those years? Fine, just fine, but he couldn't really think of that right now. All that he could think about was seven years ago when everything fell apart, and how the man in front of him not only severed their bond as friends, but also cut the ties between Jiyuu and Tenshi. An impressive feat for such a spineless runt...it made Jiyuu absolutely sick. This was so long ago, yet the pain just came back. He didn't care for Tenshi anymore, he didn't want to get to know Tsuyo again, he had moved on already...but the pain still felt so raw and fresh.
His frown eased up, and his advanced doujutsu deactivated. "I'm going to complete my mission. Excuse me." He looked over his shoulder at the jinchuuriki behind him, and she could see with ease that he didn't want to be here. "Netsu, let's go. We're about five hours away from the Hidden Sand Village."
"But Jiyuu, don't you-" Netsu couldn't even finish asking if he wanted to stay and chat with the two people who he clearly knew, as he was already taking off at a high speed. "Jiyuu?! W-Wait!" The jinchuuriki pursued at just as high of a speed, and the two hunter-nin could barely make out her screams for him to slow down a little.
Tsuyo watched the two disappear into the distance, silent. Tanken only let out a small 'hm' and walked over to the acoustic dagger he had dropped in the dirt. "Why would Jiyuu react towards you in such a way," he inquired aloud, kneeling and picking up his knife. He wiped the blade on his pant leg to remove it of any dirt, and quickly sheathed it in one of his many holsters on his lower back.
Tsuyo only let out a sigh, and put his mask and hood back on. "Sometimes old wounds don't heal, they're just forgotten."
"I assume we'll be following them both?"
"Yes."
Once more, the Kazekage sat in his office with the bald man pacing about, although this time the village leader found himself being more productive than he had been before. Gadian Natsu had been showing up here every single day that Jiyuu was on his mission, and refused to be anywhere else. Gaara was slightly troubled by this at first, believing that the man's pacing and worrisome nature would prove to be a major distraction. Thankfully, it was not, and the Kazekage found himself typing away on a brand-new laptop as he looked over and managed document after document. The old man had been surprisingly silent, never once pestering Gaara for knowledge on when Jiyuu would return with his daughter. He knew just as well as anybody that he would come when he could, and that demanding that the redhead give him answers would not help matters in any way. Still, he couldn't help but feel anxious. It was only 30 minutes ago that Gaara had convinced the man to go back to his temporary living quarters and get some rest; although reluctant, he was convinced that it would be better for his own health. It finally got Gaara some alone time, despite the Hidden Sand ANBU that he had hidden in and around his office at all given times.
The thin wood door blocking Gaara's office from everything else inside the Kazekage's Tower slowly creaked open, getting the Kazekage to glance up from the laptop he had been typing on. There, in the doorway, were two hunter-nin from the Hidden Mist, standing stiff and silent. Their presence was not expected, and the fact that two highly-ranked shinobi from another village were visiting Gaara on such little notice was, well, troubling. The fact that they were elite shinobi of Jiyuu's home village was even more nerve-wracking...but, the man was not afraid. One, he could not sense even the smallest pinch of pressure radiating from them, meaning they were not here to confront him for any reason whatsoever. Two, Gaara knew that he would never be in trouble for harboring Jiyuu because...well...perhaps the reason did not matter.
The two hunter-nin shuffled inside and parted, standing at either side of the doorway and revealing Jiyuu, one who was without a single scratch nor looked fatigued in any sense, save for some sweat that dripped down his face thanks to the desert heat. At first, the logical explanation would be that Jiyuu had been captured. It made sense considering just who had entered beforehand...but he knew Jiyuu was not one to go down without some sort of fight. Nobody seemed to have been wounded at all, and to top it off, nobody looked tense. What was going on?
Well...unbeknownst to Gaara, the rest of Jiyuu's journey to the Hidden Sand had been a quiet, quick one, and he even picked up two more members for his little party. None asked why Jiyuu stated they would need to visit the Kazekage for this particular mission to end, regardless of how odd it was. Why would a missing-nin want to contact a village leader in person, of all things? There were so many questions...but after a long and tiring mission, it was apparent that Jiyuu did not want to answer any of them, and so long as Netsu met her father here, she couldn't have cared less. Tanken and Tsuyo would just have to settle for being left in the dark for now.
The Hyuuga's Black Eye greeted Gaara with the smallest of nods, and let himself in as he typically would, though this time, he brought a guest. Large red twintails hung from the head of the kunoichi that had been standing behind Jiyuu in the doorway, swaying and stopping just above her ankles just as her beige duster jacket did. She looked very unsure, and her yellow eyes homed in on the Kazekage; there were so many emotions in the young lady's eyes, so much fear and uncertainty, yet excitement and relief. She looked like she was trying her hardest to not fall into pieces right there, and the small smile that Gaara developed upon seeing her did not help matters.
"Netsu Natsu," the Kazekage stated as he stood from behind his desk. "Please, come in."
She did as was requested of her, closing the door gingerly behind her as she came forward. She stood beside Jiyuu, both looking to the Kazekage in silence. There was nothing for either of them to really say, was there? Jiyuu had succeeded, Netsu was free and clearly wanted only one thing at this point.
"How do you feel, Netsu?" Gaara's soothing voice was warm and comfortable, it wrapped around Netsu like a wool blanket and assured her that everything would be alright from here on out.
"I'm fine, thank you."
"Good, very good. Naturally, I believe you would wish to see your father as soon as possible?"
"...y-yes. Please."
It would be done. With only a slight turn of his head and a gentle nod from the Kazekage, all people present could feel a presence leave the room; an ANBU was dispatched to retrieve Netsu's resting father, and it wouldn't be too long before the man was brought into the room. His attention went back to the kunoichi right away, and he sat back down behind his desk. "I'll have some jounin escort both you and your father home when you're both ready to leave, but please, do not feel rushed. If you both wish to stay within the village for a little while longer, feel free to do so. It must have been hard for you through this month, and speaking on behalf of the village, we are all glad to have you here."
"Thank you," she replied with a bow and small smile before turning to the man who actually rescued her. Her smile grew even wider upon seeing him, and a light blush dusted her cheeks when Jiyuu met her gaze out the corner of his eye. "And thank you, Jiyuu. I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am."
He stared for a moment or two before closing his eyes and folding his arms. "Hn, I didn't do much, just what was asked of me. I saved some man's daughter."
Oh, look at him trying to act cool. Netsu could tell with ease that he was doing it just to seem impressive before the Kazekage. "As humble as always, I see." But I know you're excited deep down, you even said why you accepted this mission in the first place. I hope you get what you wanted.
"In all honesty," Jiyuu spoke, "I should be thanking you."
"Huh? Me?" The girl even pointed to herself in question. "Why's that?"
"It's been a very long time since anybody got that chatty with me. And, in terms of jinchuuriki, you're the only one to do so in my life." A single eye cracked open, and it slid to meet the kunoichi's gaze once more. "As far as jinchuuriki are concerned, you're alright in my books."
"Just do me a favor?"
"Sure."
"Keep an open mind in the future, okay?"
"I can do that."
The door to the office had burst open, and a crazy old man barged in...but not just any crazy old man. All four shinobi jumped back at the sudden sound, yet Gaara remained perfectly still behind his desk, elbows on it's surface and hands folded in front of his face. He knew that even someone as sick as Gadian Natsu would get here in record time after word of his daughter being alive and well was shared with him. There the man was, panting and sweating from running such a distance. He was hunched over a little and looked deranged with his eyes so wide open, and those very eyes began darting all over the room before they finally settled on the one person he had come to see. There she was, shocked by the sudden opening of the door, but once the two had made eye contact, everything changed. To each other, they looked like beacons of light, rays of happiness that both had been longing for after an unbearably long month. The room suddenly seemed to glow a little brighter to both of them, and after a short pause of silence to convince each other that they were indeed seeing what they thought they were seeing, father and daughter ran to each other and reunited at long last in a loving embrace. Netsu couldn't help herself, letting tears cascade down her cheeks as she wept and wept without control. Gadian couldn't contain himself either, despite his best efforts; he would not cry, but a few tears would roll down his aged, wrinkled cheeks.
"Dad...you...you're such a fool. You shouldn't have done something this reckless...it's not...it's not good for...for your health..." She barely managed to choke her words out between sobs, but she simply had to speak her mind.
"Oh hush, sweetie," he retorted, embracing his daughter even tighter. "It was worth it...it was worth everything I had to go through, believe me."
"Oh, Dad..."
Even the coldest of hearts would me melted by the reunion, and nobody else in the room dared speak up, not even move an inch, to interrupt this moment. Tsuyo and Tanken were smiling behind their masks, Gaara had his eyes shut and patiently allowed the two to have their well-deserved moment. And Jiyu...
...well...on the outside, he didn't really react to the embrace. On the inside, however, he simply felt nostalgic...like he was looking in a mirror from days long ago. It was like him and Ketsui from seven years ago, embracing and having a strong, loving bond. He didn't want to think of how things ended, or where things would possibly be now. He just wanted to think of what he had, and tell himself that it was the exact same thing that could have been taken away from Netsu had he not done his job. She had it back, that precious love of a parent that had never been severed before...and he was happy for her, despite what his cold facade would suggest. This scene made the Hyuuga's Black Eye feel warm on the inside, even a tad bit envious...but happy nonetheless.
The two finally broke up the embrace, him holding her by the arms with his large mustache curling up in a giant smile before slipping away and turning to the Hyuuga's Black Eye. Gadian looked so much more lively than he had when he came crawling on his knees for help, and a long-lost twinkle in his eye had finally been restored. "My friend, you've done for me a service which I could not thank you enough. Here, as promised." He reached into a pocket, and pulled the sack of money that Jiyuu had turned down upon their meeting. "You said you would accept payment after the job was done...and, young man, I would say that you did a job so fine that none other could compare."
"Keep your money."
The old man arched a brow, and his smile weakened. "...what? What do you mean?"
To be honest, Jiyuu didn't understand it quite well, either. His response of 'keep your money' came out automatically, despite logic telling him that he would need that sack of ryo in the near future. He lifted his chin in the air a little as he tried to find an explanation for saying such a thing, and it was only when he shifted his attention over to a stunned Netsu that he figured it out.
"...this was just a favor," Jiyuu explained, bringing his attention back to the man. "And now, you can do me a favor, and take care of your family like you always do. That alone will be payment enough for me."
The speed in which Gadian lit up could not have been quicker. He shambled over to the missing-nin, and gave him a deep, extended bow. "Hyuuga's Black Eye...I have no words that can express just how thankful I am. Please, if you are ever in the Hidden Cloud Village, do not hesitate to visit us. You will always be welcome in our household." With that being said, Mr. Natsu stood tall and happy, beaming with pure bliss as he spun on a heel and headed for the door. "Let us be on our way, Netsu. Mother is worried sick about us both."
"Just give me one moment, Dad. I'll meet you outside." Her words were spoken without her even bothering to face the older man, and when the father looked over his shoulder to see her staring intently at the man who had saved her, he understood what was happening. He chuckled some, and waved her off. "Very well, I'll wait for you. But please, do not take long."
Mr. Natsu made his way out of the office, and just behind him, two Hidden Sand jounin was following, ready to escort him and his daughter back home during their week-long trip. The jinchuuriki was red in the face like mad, and her lip quivering; clearly nervous about something. She wouldn't take her eyes off of Jiyuu's own, and the man could only arch his brow in question. "What?"
She ran over to him, cupped his face, and gave him a long, long, looooooong kiss on the lips. Needless to say, this had not been what the Hyuuga's Black Eye expected to happen, though it was obvious to all others; perhaps being alone for so long had made certain things which should have been common sense completely nonsensical. He became just as bright of a shade of red as she had been, though he didn't lift so much as a finger to stop her. He...well...he couldn't remember the last time a girl had kissed him. Normally whenever he completed missions like this, he would take the money and leave, and in the cases where a client happened to be too poor to pay him, he would tell them to keep their money and he would move on. This? Believe it or not, this was new. The last time he had been kissed by a girl was when he still dated...her...back home. Even then, it was nothing like this...the ones from back then were wooden, faked, a complete act because she wasn't as happy as she thought she would be, and it took a long time for Jiyuu to realize it.
But, uh...now wasn't exactly the time to be thinking about that.
Netsu ended her kiss and continued to hold Jiyuu's face in her hands, giving him a sly smile and an even slyer look. "That was for being so sweet and not accepting the money," she explained before giving his cheek a light pat. She then pulled away, slowly brushing his cheeks as her hands retreated. She walked backwards, staring at her hero with half-lidded eyes while she walked through the doorway, and gently shut it closed.
That, as they say, was that.
It took Gaara clearing his throat to knock Jiyuu out of his stupor, causing the Hyuuga's Black Eye to jolt upwards and turn to face the Kazekage, face still red and struggling to maintain a stoic front. "Seeing as you have completed a mission such as this, I'll send word to the Mizukage about everything that you have been doing for the past seven years, and how you saved the Four-Tails jinchuuriki. I'm certain that the Mizukage will happily dismiss your missing-nin status and create a cover story of some sort to explain your disappearance."
The business talk was more than enough to make Jiyuu's blush fade away, and for him to become stone-cold once more. This was moving very fast, perhaps a little too fast. It looked like Gaara was ready to kick Jiyuu out of the Hidden Sand for good, and without wasting even a second. "Why would you bother doing all of that?"
"Well...it's clear to me that these two hunter-nin have discovered you. Surely they wouldn't forget to mention you in their report, or how I have so casually allowed you into my office without apprehending you. And I know you will not kill them, either, so do not bother trying to suggest you would do such a thing."
"What makes you think that..."
"Because you would have done so already." Gaara's eyes opened a sliver. "Regardless, I do believe that it's been quite some time since you've come here. I thought you had come looking to do just one thing, and that was 'start over'. You have been given such an opportunity, and took full advantage of it. It is now time for you to go back home, and show everybody that you are not the person you were when you left...as you must have wanted to do."
Go...home.
...yeah...that was what he wanted, right? He wanted to go home, right? Or...did he want to be free of his missing-nin title? There were so many bad memories back home, so many severed bonds and shattered pieces of the pass, lying around and waiting for Jiyuu to wound himself with. Home. It was something he always thought of, especially during this particular mission. Suchiru had seen him, told Jiyuu that his parents were worried. Parents. Plural. Both of them. That included Ketsui. Did his father truly regret what he had said to Jiyuu all those years ago? The very thing that got Jiyuu to run from his house in the first place? Maybe, or perhaps the guilt of chasing away his son never left. And Tsuyo, he was right behind Jiyuu, and he could feel the genjutsu-user staring right at his back. Not once had he heard 'sorry', nor did Jiyuu want to. What he had done after all that Jiyuu did for him, after helping Tsuyo come along and fight to be a braver person, 'sorry' simply wasn't going to cut it. Nothing would. And Tenshi...oh Kami, what about Tenshi? Would she regret her decision? That was something that Jiyuu honestly didn't know, nor could he predict. Hm...Tanken was here...in fact, the short moment that he had been talking was the first time Jiyuu had ever heard the lanky shinobi speak more than Tsuyo. He would have brought up Tenshi's regret without haste as a method to soften Jiyuu up, urging him to come back. And Sakana...thinking about her made Jiyuu's bandaged hand tighten into a fist so hard, it began to make the sound of wood creaking and strings straining. So much time had passed...would anybody even care anymore? Jiyuu spent so much time ignoring the past, yet he would loath in it whenever he began to reminisce.
Did he really want to go back home?
...not really, no. He may have said the opposite to Netsu, but he didn't know how to really explain it. There was nothing there for him...but it looked like Gaara would not house him any longer, regardless of his status as a shinobi. Jiyuu overstayed his welcome, and the Kazekage was holding the door wide open for him to get out.
"Alright," Jiyuu said after some silence, breathing in deep and nodding a little. "Alright...fine. Tell Temari that I said thanks for the jutsu scrolls, and Kankuro for the replacement arm."
Gaara nodded, and that was all it took. Jiyuu turned to face the two hunter-nin, looked to them both slowly, and left the office through the doorway. Tanken was the first to follow after Jiyuu, and after slight hesitation, Tsuyo followed as well, closing the door to the office. It was clear to him just what Jiyuu was thinking, and exactly why he was so reluctant to come back home. Old wounds that never healed. He swallowed a lump in his throat, knowing full and well that he had personally left a rather large scar on the man's emotions, and wasn't sure that heading home would make things any better. In fact, it would probably take that very same wound and rip it open even further, making it far worse. Still...coming home may do the man some good. Besides, this was what Ketsui-sensei had requested, as well as Warai. He'd do it for them, regardless of what Jiyuu wanted.
At the very border of the Hidden Sand, Jiyuu trudged away without bothering to wear a disguise of any sort. To his surprise, none of the Hidden Sand shinobi attacked him; they gave him concerned looks, some even glaring, but none would attack. It seemed that some ANBU had gone around and informed them of what Jiyuu had done, yet trust took time to grow within people. Jiyuu wasn't concerned with that, however, as he only wanted to go back to his hideout and gather what little things he had before he was shipped back to the Hidden Mist. Tsuyo had already questioned him on why he was heading away from where they should be headed, and the simple response of 'I want to get my stuff' was all it took...but the two hunter-nin would follow him where ever he went, it seemed.
As they passed the bordering sandstone walls that guarded the village from outside attacks, two very distinct shinobi were waiting for Jiyuu. Kyofu, and Jari...members of Kankuro's old, and last genin squad. Sakyu was not present. Kyofu had grown even bigger in size than he had been while he was younger, actually standing taller than Jiyuu by about half a foot. He wore the standard chuunin attire for any Hidden Sand shinobi: a dark beige chuunin vest, and dark brown shinobi pants, though the sleeves were missing and his forearms still donned his special steel-plate gauntlets, scratched and dented from years of use. He wore his forehead protector around the neck, and his short, brown hair had grown slightly unruly, yet tame enough to be considered formal. Jari had developed into a beautiful young vixen, something a lot of prepubescent boys already thought her to be while she was still a genin. Her attire now consisted of black skintight leggings, shinobi sandals, and the standard-issue chuunin vest zipped up just low enough to reveal her cleavage and the fishnet shirt she wore beneath it; her upper body was typically concealed by a white poncho, so nobody really ever got to see anything. Her forehead protector was also tied around her neck, though she typically wore it much tighter than other people would; it was clear she was wearing a necklace beneath it, though she threatened to kill you if you asked about it. Her long, flowing blonde hair cascaded along the small of her back and ended just above her poncho, and her special scythe, Ikari, was sat in it's sheath just beneath it.
They both seemed a little upset, no doubt already receiving word about what Jiyuu had done, and where he would be going. They knew he had been in Wind Country as long as Gaara had...hell, Kyofu would train with him, and Jari would often invite him for some afternoon tea (he rarely showed up). To see him leave after he worked so hard to earn his freedom was a little upsetting, despite knowing they should be happy for him.
Jiyuu inclined his head a little, as if to ask 'what' to them. Jari spoke for them both.
"We'll miss you."
"It's not like I'm going to die. I'll see you guys around."
"Yeah," Kyofu spoke up, "but who knows how long it'll be?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll cross paths before you know it."
Jari tried to look more serious, but she only looked as if she were trying to hold back tears. "Please...please, Jiyuu. Bring Sakyu back to us as soon as you can."
The man couldn't help but sigh, though he did it too quiet for them to hear. Great. Now this was going to be the new thing people asked of him? It wasn't exactly something one could decide on and set out to do within a week, he only managed to save Netsu due to some fresh intel. But of course, how could he just say no to old friends? He only gave them a small nod, and walked on past them with Tanken and Tsuyo following behind, for there was nothing more to say. The rest of Jiyuu's tale in Wind Country was simple; he went to his little hideout, sealed up anything he had stored inside of it (there wasn't much), and stored his seal scrolls within a small bag that he flung over his back. From there, he and the two hunter-nin began a long, grueling run across the desert towards the east. Once they reached water, they would catch a boat back to the Hidden Mist, and Jiyuu would find himself finally back home.
The less he thought about it, the better.
