Disclaimer: Do I even have to say this anymore? Then again, net neutrality has been in question in the past year or so, so there's that. So, yeah. I don't own anyone but Tomoko and her family. Everything else Naruto-related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. As much as it gets to me a bit, rereading Canon to get through Plot Holes.
The themes this time are two piano covers from Kyle Landry, being Flower Dance (where I got this chapter's title from) and his original composition called Forever. I found the two to be hauntingly fitting, hence using them. For a more serious feeling, if you're looking for that, I'll point you to No Game No Life's soundtrack, specifically the song titled Now Loading…
Please enjoy!
Chapter 55: Flower Dance
It's a thought I've been having for a long time. I dunno. Just sometimes, I wonder. I wonder and then I'm just left unsure. But I'll say it to you.
Is it okay to keep believing in people in the face of the end of the world?
No one answered. Then a familiar voice echoed in my head.
You tell me, dear. You tell me how the future goes.
Rin was not feeling all that good. Even with Kakashi and Guy flanking both of her sides on the previous journey to the front lines with their being a three-man cell, the weight of the mission was still sitting atop her head. Heck, it took all her strength to even force a smile. The medical tent was barely a place of comfort because of this, in spite of the usual scents of anaesthetic and metal that was characteristic of blood.
It's going to happen sooner or later… her mind added morbidly, and Rin immediately shook her head. There was no point in lingering on that. It was going to occur whether she liked it or not, and thinking on it would only add anxiety that she didn't need.
She was still a ninja in the end. And ninja had to bottle up their emotions for the sake of the mission.
So why was her heart yearning for home?
She was supposed to be the ninja that the village was banking on to come back with more power. She was supposed to be better than this.
With those thoughts in mind, she rolled up a bit of clean bandage before taking medical scissors to cut off the strap she had just used on a nearby operative. "Here you go. I just finished."
The wounded boy, probably about a year or so older than her with the lines on his face, looked up at her with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Nohara-san. You're good at this."
Rin put on a smile too, but she was sure it looked fake compared to his natural one. "I try, but thank you," she admitted, absently fiddling with a bandage roll to distract herself from the look on the boy's face. Even if his brown eyes and black hair were not all that uncommon, the way he was looking at her was reminding her of someone else that should've been here, and her heart hurt. "It's my job."
If those brown eyes were black instead…
It was natural that the other official member of Team Minato wouldn't come to the front lines. After all, he was missing an arm. He wasn't as combat-oriented as he used to, and last she checked, Minato-sensei had to handle training him up to shape again and he was away elsewhere.
There was nothing she could do. The mission at Kannabi Bridge had passed, and everyone was still alive. She could see everyone again if this all worked out. But still.
Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.
Why did her newest patient have to remind her of Obito? Why did he have to remind her of someone she might lose if the agreement didn't work out?
Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.
She wanted to go home. She wanted to curl up in bed and ignore the war entirely. She wanted to time-travel, even, just to get away.
She wanted to be alone.
She wanted this war to be over with.
"Nohara-san?"
Rin jolted. There it was. She couldn't hide. Even if she was on a top-secret mission that required silence, this was still the calm before the storm. So many things had already changed, so she couldn't run away now. Not when there was still a patient to handle.
"I'm sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a bit." Putting a spin to her usual hospital script, Rin smiled at the boy looking at her, pushing away thoughts of her Uchiha teammate. "What else do you need?"
She could think about Obito later. Even if it meant delaying the inevitable companion she would be gaining by force later.
The jingle of the pink star against her wrist was a dull reminder that she was still alive.
The piano was always a familiar friend no matter what time it was. Even with all the shit that had gone down in the past decade or so, I couldn't stay despondent with the familiar black and white keys sitting under my fingertips. Closing my eyes had me meet Hisako in my mind, and she was already offering an easily recognizable paperback to me from the library. I couldn't miss the turquoise covers any day.
What song are you up for today, honey? Her voice was soft and welcoming as usual. Pokemon? Yu-Gi-Oh? Any other anime aside from 4Kids rec'd stuff?
I'm not sure, Hisako. For once, even with the piano under my hands and Mama nearby, the cafe felt a bit more empty. Team Minato had gone out a long time ago, and for once, Papa and Uncle Sakumo weren't home either. They had gone out for their own reasons, and I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going to happen. The sweat was still building up on my back and my hands, and that just wasn't right when there was still work to do. I was still wearing Mama's kimono dress that made me the pianist of Nagareboshi Cafe. I couldn't falter, but—
With nothing else to add, I relented with a smaller, What do you think?
My Nobody blinked, clearly surprised by the question. I wasn't expecting you to ask me, honey. Her voice went softer. Almost like Mama. Are you doing okay?
I… A part of me wanted to snap. Another part of me wanted to go back in time, for just a second, to convince past me to become a ninja. Maybe then Rin-chan wouldn't have gone out with a sour look on her face. Maybe then Rin-chan could actually look at me in the eyes like when we were kids.
Maybe maybe maybe—
I took a deep breath and clutched my Wayfinder necklace. I don't know.
Hisako sighed. The gesture alone proved she already read what I was thinking. It's stressful, isn't it? Waiting.
It is, Hisako. It really is. I let go of the metal star hanging around my neck, instead starting the first chord to Lugia's song from Pokemon 2000 because I knew it was going to distract me. I wanted it to distract me. They went out again, and Papa, and Uncle Sakumo too, and I feel like a sitting duck who has a fat ass.
Hisako's voice turned hard. You did what you could, Tomoko-chan. Don't call yourself those things. You're beautiful in your way and you should own it. She huffed through her nose. Or do I have to sing to get it through your head?
Sure…
It took all I had to keep playing the Song of the Sea on the keyboard and not look out of place in my thoughts.
Wait. What? I thought finally.
Hisako slapped a hand to her chest, eyebrows raised in that way that screamed, "Oh no." She had an idea and was dead set on following through with it. I have Neon from RWBY memorized thanks to you, honey!
Oh god. Please don't—
We're all born with a dream~! We all want to make come true~!
Nope, nope, NOPE! NONE OF THAT! I DON'T WANT ANIME NYAN CAT STUCK IN MY HEAD, PLEASE.
Hisako wouldn't stop laughing by the time I got to the orchestral part of the song in piano form.
Even if my face was tempted to burn just like the times Kakashi was being a hopeless romantic, I let her keep singing because at least it lightened the weight on my chest, just a little bit.
I couldn't get used to the ninja being around forever. As much as I wished otherwise.
Kakashi held back the urge to sneeze, tempted to scowl into his mask while lowering his binoculars. The watch post near the camp was tall and the winds merely brought along a lot of scents and a lot of flower petals. If not for carefully trained tolerance, he certainly would have sneezed.
It felt too peaceful.
"Thinking about your mate again, boss?" Pakkun snarked from his right side, and Kakashi turned to give the pug a raised eyebrow. "I might as well think you want to marry her already."
"I have no clue what you're talking about, Pakkun," Kakashi said sorely instead, looking through the lenses again to focus. There was no one approaching the encampment in the range of a meter or so, at least for now. Who knows how long that would hold up? He took a breath. "You're supposed to focus and help me find any approaching enemies."
"I know, Boss, but you don't have to be so snappy about it." A soft padded paw landed on his leg. Knowing who it was, Kakashi spared his ninken a look. Pakkun stared back — in sympathy or teasing, he wasn't sure. But Pakkun was still looking at him. "I know this mission is a big one. It's natural you'll miss your mate in times of stress."
"I'm surprised you say that already even though you've only met her once or twice," Kakashi snarked back, turning to the binoculars in an attempt to thwart the conversation. "Get back to the mission. It's important."
And why do you call her my mate? We're not even 20, was left unsaid.
"I know, I know," Pakkun muttered with a dog-like yawn, and the paw on Kakashi's knee retreated as soon as it came. There was a single second of silence between them before he added, "And don't act like once or twice wasn't enough to solidify the memory. My nose is sharp. And you let me meet her back when I was a pup. The scent was there even back then."
Kakashi was very tempted to put his face into his hands. "…We were obvious back then?"
Pakkun barked a laugh. "I'm still shocked you didn't act on it sooner, Boss. She's a good mate! The rest of the pack has been hounding me to introduce her." There was no need for eye contact when it was obvious through the voice that Pakkun was rolling his eyes. "Only reason why they haven't asked you personally is because we're out here and there's ninja trying to kill us."
Kakashi spared a single glance to glower at the bulldog.
Pakkun shrugged, adding another pause before opening his maw. "Also because you're still pups to us, Boss, and we don't want a horde of puppies running around when it's way too early."
"Ha ha, very funny," Kakashi droned while looking through the binoculars again in the hopes of the nearby foliage having something more interesting than this hot shit-mess. It took a moment to ignore the sudden urge to grip the silver-black metal star tied around his right hand. "I didn't know you were into puns, Pakkun."
"Had to get it somewhere considering my slowpoke of a Master in trying to woo his mate," Pakkun added with the same barking laugh. "You're less of a dog and more like a snail, Boss."
"Shut it." Everyone had issues, I couldn't say it first. Tomoko's past could go into a sealing scroll. There was too much to handle in those early days. It hasn't gotten better. It's easier to handle, but it's not better.
"It's true!"
Kakashi sighs. There was no getting out of this, so he grumbled half-heartedly, "I love Tomoko with all my heart. So there. Are you happy?"
Pakkun merely barked.
"Silly dog."
"More like your silly summons aide, Boss."
Kakashi held back a smile once an explosion echoed in the distant forest. There it was. Finally something happened. "We got company. Ready?"
This time, a growl answered him. "Just about. I'm ready to chew on some legs."
Every time Obito leapt from a tree branch, he found himself liking the Third less and less. Hell, he was starting to sound more like a villain in story books than the kind old man he portrayed himself as back in the Academy days. Minato-sensei explaining the plan was not exactly a run in the park either.
"So, let me get this straight, Sensei," Obito droned, feeling more sick to his stomach than he had before his arm was even cut off, "we're going to be rescuing Rin from a kidnapping that Hokage-sama is letting happen so we can get another Tailed Beast in our arsenal?"
Minato looked very close to pinching the bridge of his nose, probably because of the snark, but nodded anyways, keeping his game face on. "After fighting off A and Killer Bee, the two famous brothers from Kumo, yes."
"Because?"
"They're on our borders," Minato said simply. If not for Obito knowing better, it looked like Sensei was keeping up a poker face when really, his eyes betrayed all of the burning irritation in the back of his head. "And they'd be coming to invade us whether we like it or not."
Obito is starting to understand why Kakashi was always so miffed after missions. "This sucks," he muttered under his breath, leaping a bit faster to match Sensei's already fast pace. "I get that we're making the village a better place, but some of these plans just don't seem… right."
After all, sacrificing Rin to a plot that could just not happen seemed horrible. Like he was cutting his other hand off.
Why did it have to be Rin? One of the kindest girls in the world?
She was a medic, someone valuable to the village.
Why was the Hokage willing to sacrifice her after everything Tomoko said? Why was Rin being offered up to something worse than death?
Minato smiled wryly at him while stopping a tree away. It was enough to spark surprise because when had Sensei ever looked like that?
Obito still tried not to jump once he stopped on a nearby branch.
"I know," Minato replied slowly, blue eyes unreadable in spite of the understanding words. "But orders are orders, Obito."
"Still—"
"The village is going to profit from this, Obito," Minato continued patiently, and this time Obito's train of thought stopped completely. "It should help keep us safe in the future if it all works out, so don't question it anymore, alright?" The finality in his tone solidified it, so all Obito could do was nod while leaping forward.
"We… We can talk about this later, right, Sensei? When this is all over?"
For the first time in their trek, Minato stopped. Then he glanced in Obito's direction with a smile. Obito couldn't tell if the smile was real or fake. "Sure."
The sound of an explosion up ahead threw out any casual conversation. Probably Kumo nin, no doubt, considering the visions and Sensei's smile turning upside down.
"Let's go, Obito."
"Yeah." There was a pause. "Sensei?"
"Hm?"
"Think I could help with something else?"
Rin was trained not to jump when there was a large explosion. After all, she was still a ninja. This time, she was ordered to stay calm and pretend to be weak for the sake of the mission. Kirigakure, or whatever forces there were, could not be alerted that Konoha knew they were coming. That didn't mean her heart couldn't stop because as much as she didn't want to be, she was still scared. In probably a few hours or more, she would get kidnapped and be made into what the village called a "monster."
No, perhaps a "weapon" would be a better descriptor. After all, there was only so much the Hokage could do with the remnants of Team Minato, Danzo-sama said, so by taking the Three-Tails away from Kiri, it could hopefully end this war.
Hokage-sama was low on manpower and Kushina-san was supposed to stay back in the village in case of any emergencies. Sensei was supposed to handle Iwa's forces. There was nothing Rin could say to change any of that.
The Three-Tails would do more for the war than Rin could on her own. At least, that was what Danzo-sama claimed in his orders. So what could she say to that?
It was supposed to be simple. She was supposed to be a pawn of war to bring prosperity to the village — nothing more, nothing less.
It did not account for the fear, for the sheer terror of seeing those ANBU masks come into the camp with no warning. The assaulting forces had no other marker to them. With their dark gray vests and the black of their inner clothes, the animal masks seemed all the more eerie, like something from her nightmares.
Rin did her best to pretend to be calm, but by the time they invaded the medical tent, kunai in hand and armed with smoke bombs, she held up a senbon and prepared herself.
She couldn't go down without a fight, after all. The least she could do was defend herself and maybe, maybe leave a trail for her teammates to find her.
CLANG, the nearest sword went with the needle in her hands.
Shit. It had already begun.
Rin put up her other hand and started activating the nearest wire trap. Resistance may have been futile, but that did not mean being okay with the concept of kidnapping. The Wayfinder around her wrist would make for a good spark.
"Take this!" she roared, and slammed a hand on the ground in time for an explosive to go off. The recoil was enough to disorient anyone nearby who had not fled in fear of losing a limb, but Rin couldn't find herself to care. She had to keep doing something. Something to feel human. Like her life meant something.
In the end, she knew that someone would outmatch her. Danzo-sama said as much. Still.
Once a hand was coming down onto the back of her neck, Rin couldn't help but wonder if Kushina-san would be proud. All that greeted her past that thought was blurring vision and a loss of feeling in her hands.
It was a complete loss.
Hanzo thought that he had the entire plan in the bag. From the ambush of Akatsuki to surrounding the three leaders, it was perfect. Danzo's help was the last straw on the horse's back. All he needed now was to set off the explosive tags and/or wait for the brats to kill themselves in an attempt to save their wench and then a legible threat would be gone for good—
WHAM.
Someone else, someone completely new was slamming into him and he coughed up blood. The wench in his hands was gone. Had she done a Body Replacement? No. The tags were still present. So then—
Another sign came in the form of a sucker punch, this time to the gut and Hanzo choked. "What?" He tried to reorient himself. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. The other shinobi were confused, clearly left unsure, but now there was someone new no one had accounted for.
"You conniving bastard," was the curse. "Can't let go of the power even when your own people are asking for change? You're the enemy of world peace."
From what Hanzo could see, he would be a senile fool to deny what was in front of him. From the white spikes covering about two-thirds of his vision, and red teardrop-like markings on the eyes in the remaining one-third, it all confirmed one person. Hanzo honestly thought he had seen the last of this man back in the Second War. But he was here.
How? Hell, why?
"Y-You! Why are you here?!"
"Jiraiya… sensei?" the red-haired one replied hoarsely, barely holding up the tense leader of the Akatsuki as the lady gaped nearby, clearly having escaped the explosive tags. Heck, they were no longer even hanging onto her legs. Wait.
Oh hell, the tags that were part of Hanzo's plan to ruin the Akatsuki leaders were already fizzling out into ash, unused and disabled.
"Why—?! The plan should have not been leaked!"
"One of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya-sama." One of the nearby Konoha ANBU audibly grit his teeth through the porcelain mask, dread clear in his voice. "You're not supposed to be here."
"Supposed to be, sure, but a hero's supposed to come fashionably late! You underestimate how powerful information is!" Jiraiya tuts his tongue through the rain as if he had just finished a small jog, but the sudden surge of killing intent flooding the area more than proves he's here for business. "And there's nothing more shameful than for a Sage to not come to his students' aid in times of peril!" He swiveled his head once and Yahiko stared back at him in shock, the kunai in Nagato's hand not even close to impaling him anymore. "Why didn't you three call?"
"I-I mean, Sensei," Yahiko sputtered, sounding more like a teenage boy than an adult with the words, "We're the Akatsuki. We're supposed to be the ones to handle things after you left us the nest, right?"
"Yahiko, I don't think that applies now…?" Nagato added dryly, but there was no mistaking the relief in his voice as he stared up at the Sannin. "But um. Hey, Sensei."
Konan sniffed, tugging her soaked cloak closer around herself as a sheet of paper started detaching itself from her cheek. "Y-You really came back, Sensei. Th-Thank you."
Jiraiya took a single second to survey the situation before his eyes darkened. A crowd versus three. What were the odds? "You did well, Yahiko, Nagato, Konan. Now then." He went through a few hand seals, revealing his full shinobi armor from the Second Shinobi World War and puffed cheeks. "It's time the teacher gives another lesson."
Hanzo didn't even have a chance to blink before the rain was engulfed in flames.
"Viper, do you copy?"
"Yes, everything is stable."
"Good." The voice of his lord echoed through his ear almost like water and Viper paused, glancing through the window one more time. The silly girl didn't even close her curtains for privacy. Everything was set. "Whenever you find it adequate, rush in. There should be no resistance."
"As you wish, my lord." Viper took a breath, taking out a glass bottle to pour its contents onto a handkerchief. The substance would not kill the girl, but it would be enough to subdue her without any fuss.
She didn't deserve death, but that did not mean sparing her any more mercy.
Power could not be left to the ignorant. She deserved this.
Carefully sliding the window open without a sound was mere child's play, and judging by the soft heaving of the girl's chest through her futon blankets, she was already deep in her usual slumber.
Viper strode over in what barely amounted to be a second, handkerchief at hand and an arm in clear reach of the girl. Her breathing didn't even falter, barely brushing his fingertips.
Now—
Viper successfully pulled the girl to a sitting position and before she could blink her eyes open, covered her mouth with the handkerchief. The girl immediately flinched, an unconscious reaction in unison with her hands flailing around, the fists barely hitting him through his armor.
"Stay quiet, you," he muttered, pressing the cloth harder against the girl's lips. "You deserved this."
The girl, even with tears starting to come into her eyes, still flailed with the might she had left. Viper still persisted, missing the glimpse of something metal clutched between her fingertips before he felt something wet.
Pain shot out from his chest without warning and Viper still found himself flinching. The handkerchief dropped from his hand in shock and it was enough of a gap for the girl to push him away, panting. "Wha— what the fuck—" was the vulgarity that left her throat as she scrambled out of her blankets, revealing the translucent, flickering blue blade in her right hand as she covered her mouth with her left. Tears bud in her eyes as she blinked them open and Viper blinked back through his mask.
A certainly odd setback, but he could work with—
The girl fully opened her eyes to glower at him and Viper startled.
One blue eye and one brown eye stared back at him angrily. "Wh-What are you doing?!" Tomoko accused in a voice that wasn't her own, and the blade in her hand flickered again. The brown eye was darting around the room, barely coherent, as if she couldn't see what was going on. "Y-You're not Falcon or any other ANBU I've seen, so who are you!?" She took a shuddering breath as she got to her feet, but her posture faltered. The drug must've started taking effect. Good. This was going to be easier. "Wh-What did you do to me—"
Viper lunged, pulling a kunai into his hand. Subduing her the quiet way was not going well, but he could salvage this—
Tomoko shut her eyes, raising her blade in front of her. "Get away f-from me—!"
The brown in her gaze flickered in time with Viper registering a new presence.
What—
He leapt away as soon as someone slashed at his mask with the intent to kill, barely avoiding his disguise being cut, and Tomoko blinked blearily. Her eyes were back to being a universal blue, darkened and teary. "Who—"
The only door to the room was then kicked open in time with the same someone running and taking a protective stance in front of the girl, revealing a spear as Hoshino Hikari of all people was found brandishing it. "You scum," she growled, pointing the business end to Viper's corner while slowly approaching her daughter. "You dare try to attack my family. Since Judai isn't here, I'm going to kick your—"
"Stay on guard, Hikari," the mysterious presence interrupted, tightening their grip on the sickle and chain in their hands. "This isn't your usual ANBU."
"Think I don't know that?!" Hikari snapped, glancing between them and Viper before rushing to Tomoko's side, catching her once her daughter collapsed. The drug had kicked in, but this was bad timing. More trouble to deal with. "Usual ANBU would not drug my daughter!"
The newest person sighed. "Get her out of here. Get to Kushina and O'Brien outside the house, Hikari." They shrugged off the black mask on top of their face, revealing a single blue eye accompanied by a glassy eye holding up what would otherwise be an empty socket. "I'll hold them off."
"Jim Crocodile Cook." Viper stood up, clicking his tongue. "You should no longer be in service."
"That doesn't mean I can't pull any favors." Jim readied his sickle. "You're not getting away."
"You may try to stop me. You're going to fail."
"I dunno," the blue eye on Jim's face merely sparkled. "Retirement doesn't mean I've gotten rusty."
In the time it took for banter to be said, Hikari nodded, barely balancing the weight of her teenage daughter and her spear in her hands before running off. Tomoko had already gone limp since the conversation started, barely hanging onto the metal that had conjured the blade from before and her mother as they fled.
Viper merely lunged.
The mission could not fail.
"So this is it, huh?" Judai shook his head, tempted to take off his hitai-ite before opting to fiddle with the straps holding his sword handle together. "To think this was all underneath our noses. Danzo's a creepy bastard."
"Not as much as Orochimaru," Sakumo piped in mildly, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. The opening to the den they found was covered in moss and cobwebs, but it was still something they had to tackle, now. "Let's go, Judai."
"Yeah." Judai clenched his teeth. "Let's clean up some shit."
"Where… am I? Am I dead?"
"No," Madara said slowly, not even flinching as soon as the figure looked at him, eyes wide. "You have just been born. Welcome to my abode underground, Zetsu. Or—"
"He's not a Zetsu anymore, Chief! We discussed this!" Guruguru piped up, cheery. "The arm we collected should be enough to reset him!"
"Wha—"
"Welcome to my new plan, Uchiha Obito."
Author's Notes: It's been almost a year, I had a lot of school stuff come up, and to be honest, it was really hard to write this. There was a thread someone made a while back on Reddit that claimed my story was essentially like the infamous "My Immortal", and to be honest, after going through Organic Chemistry and the like to try to get closer to graduating this past year, it hurt. It really hurt to where I had to take a hiatus from thinking about CP in its entirety.
But we're here again. It took a lot to finish this, a lot of blood and tears, but it's here.
I'm sorry for the wait. I'll try to update faster, it's just getting harder with life goals coming up and my undergraduate degree being close to done.
I'll see you all next time.
