Opening her eyes to the sound of a bird chirping on the window ledge in front of her, Kisa watched the yellow and red colored animal for a moment before rolling onto her back and letting out a short yawn. From the sun's position on the mountains outside she assumed it was just a little past nine in the morning, a guess confirmed by the clock on the dresser opposite of the window, bringing her to close her eyes in thought as she pulled the blanket close to her eyes to combat the cool mountain breeze blowing through the windows.
Despite everything that happened after their arrival at Akito' best efforts to make her and Takao feel secure with their surroundings and as comfortable as possible she still believed that she would have had a hard time sleeping in what still felt like a hostile place in the back of her mind. That didn't seem to be the case however as much to her surprise she couldn't recall having too hard of a time falling asleep and now, waking up now in his bed with the warm, soothing sheets nestled atop her, it would appear that she actually slept quite well; something she never would have thought was possible.
Of course, she couldn't deny that part of the reason why she may have felt so comfortable was just where she slept. When they first arrived back at his home he made sure to show them around as all good hosts did when inviting someone in to one's house, at which point he showed them where they would be staying the night. Takao had been given the master bedroom that had once belonged to his parents to both his amusement and satisfaction at the large bed while she was offered Akito's own bed, despite the fact that there was a third, unoccupied bedroom that she knew once belonged to his late brother, Akihiro.
At first she contested the decision as she felt it wasn't right to push him out of his own bed to allow her to be comfortable but Akito insisted, saying that it was by far the cleanest bedroom in the house and that he didn't want her to sleep in a dusty room, bringing her to accept his kind offer without any further objection. Stewing over her decision for some time as she struggled to fully relax at the thought of sleeping in his bed the girl eventually found herself comfortable enough for her weary body to begin drifting off to sleep, but ultimately it wasn't how tired she was that put her mind to rest; it was the way that the bed still smelled like Akito.
As embarrassing as it was for her to even think that this could be the case there was no denying that the fresh, slightly floral scent that lingered on the sheets around her filled her with a feeling that she couldn't quite explain. It was calming, bringing with it the feeling of warmth and solace he had shown her several times over their friendship while also remaining strong enough to keep him at the forefront of her thoughts, and she reopened her eyes and focused down at the sheets at her nose, she couldn't' help but wonder what he was up to. It was in the mornings before Takao woke up that she had the most time with Akito without the crippling immaturity the former typically brought to the table, causing her to seek him out.
Taking one last breath, Kisa sat up, pushed the blankets over her down to her lap and stretched her arms out wide, forcing her muscles to wake up as her vision looked out to the other houses within his family's neighborhood, all of which sat abandoned and many in a state of disrepair following the demise of their owners. When Akito told them that his family lived in a compound she had imagined something small and reminiscent of a few of the smaller clan homes in both Konoha and Kiri, but what she found was that his family actually occupied a fair-sized part of the northern outskirts of town, similar to what she knew as the abandoned Uchiha District back in the Hidden Leaf though significantly smaller.
Folding the sheets back as she shifted her legs to the side of the bed, she let out one final yawn before standing up to her feet and fixing both the loose-fitting tank top and shorts she often wore to sleep so that her stomach wasn't showing as well as her hair which had become quite disheveled throughout the night, all while looking around at the room around her.
By the time they made it to the house the night before it was nearly sundown, leaving little natural light in the home for her to really take in what his bedroom looked like. The walls were light brown and there wasn't anything out of the norm for someone Akito's age, although notably absent from any of the surfaces of his dressers or nightstand were pictures of her family, but with everything that had happened she could understand some semblance of just why that was.
Her hair and clothes fixed to an acceptable level, Kisa picked up her light pink colored hoodie she had brought with her in preparation for the colder late-summer mountain temperatures, zipped it up until only a bit of her chest and Akito's necklace remained visible and made her way towards the hall.
Double checking to make sure she was presentable due to a somewhat childish and partially uncharacteristic fear of looking unattractive to Akito, she opened the door and exited the bedroom before being immediately struck by the sound of Takao's boisterous snoring which, despite being behind closed doors, was almost enough to echo through the mountains.
Suppressing a laugh with the shake of her head she carefully made her way past the master bedroom and down the stairs towards the living room of the home, bypassing the pre-packed travel bags they had made in order to set out on a minute's notice and peeked her head around the corner to make sure Akito wasn't in the middle of something else before calling for him.
"Akito?" She asked as she stepped into the wide open common area and looked around, though with no sight of the boy her attention redirected to the couch where it appeared he had spent the night. When she accepted his offer to sleep in his bed she just assumed that he would have slept in Akihiro's room, but now, seeing that she had pushed him out of a bed all together, she couldn't help but form a small frown. He really gave up being comfortable so that she would be?
Calling his name again to no avail the girl instead turned her attention to looking around at what she knew would have been the place he and his family spent most of their time together. This too was not at all out of the ordinary for a normal family's home, but what she did take some excitement in was the central fireplace as there atop it's mantle was what she was most interested to see; pictures.
Calmly walking up to the fireplace in spite of her impatience, Kisa quickly browsed over the handful of picture frames in front of her and immediately set her eyes on one picture in particular that showed a young Akito, Deidara and Kurotsuchi together, the later of which stood with a wide smile and her arms hung around their necks pulling them into a tight hug while both bows scowled in displeasure.
Taking the frame in her hands as she cleared away the dust with her thumbs, she couldn't help but form a small albeit jealous smile at the image before her, although before she could dive any further into the image her eyes shifted to the largest of the pictures before her; a large photograph of his family that she wasted no time taking her hands, clearing of dust and scouring for the boy's, both of whom stood in the foreground in front of their parents.
As she assumed, the two brothers appeared to be nearly identical to one another save or their age. Akito was small then, maybe only seven or eight, while Akihiro appeared to be closer to twelve; his forehead protector indicating that he was already a shinobi at the time. Akito also appeared to have had longer hair as opposed to his brother's shorter cut, making him appear to her nothing less than a smaller version of himself. This, coupled with the wide smile on his face as opposed to Akihiro's tamer expression brought a small smile to form on her lips at just how adorable a tiny Akito was, though her glee calmed down as her eyes shifted up to their parents behind them.
His mother Mieko, as she recalled from Lady Tsunade's story, was a beautiful woman. She had light brown hair that extended just past her shoulders, bright green eyes and a kind, compassionate smile that she could tell was brought on just by her family being together. She could see Akito in both her eyes and smile, and without ever hearing her speak she knew that Mieko was where he got his heart.
His father Shigeo, on the other hand, seemed far more stern; as if he didn't care for the photograph all together. He was tall, with dark brown bangs that extended to just below his ear from beneath the bandana-style forehead protector, and that connected to the light facial hair that followed his jawline all the way to his chin where it formed into a goatee.
Like his mother's heart she could tell Akito inherited his appearance form his father save for his facial hair, though if she had to guess it seemed that it was Akihiro who took after Shigeo's mindset as while the boy tried his best to remain serious, Akito didn't seem to care, bringing her to realize just how much had changed since their deaths. He was once so happy and carefree, and although she could still see some of that in him, she could certainly tell that everything that has happened has had a crushing toll.
Snapped from her thoughts by the sound of the front door closing, Kisa quickly returned the family photo to the fireplace mantle before making her way towards the kitchen.
"Akito?" She called out as she stepped up to the pass-through that separated the kitchen from the living room, bringing the boy she called for to look at her with a bit of concern and surprise as he set a large bag of what appeared to be groceries down on the counter, though as it became clear that everything was alright his worried was replaced by a warm smile.
"Hey, good morning. How did you sleep?" He questioned as she smiled back in return and brushed a loose hair from her face.
"Good morning. I slept well." She replied as her eyes turned from his face, which had caused her to think back to him as a child once more in embarrassment, to the grocery bag in front of him with a bit of guilt.
"It looks like you didn't, though." She added in reference to him being up and about so early, to which Akito looked down at the groceries and upon realizing what she meant shook his head.
"No, I did. I just… it's been a while since I've really spent any amount of time here, so there isn't really any food in the house, even less so than there was when we first got back to your apartment in Konoha, and I wanted you and Takao to be able to have breakfast when you woke up." He replied as he began to unpack the things he had purchased, much of which appeared to be normal, everyday items such as eggs and bread.
"You didn't need to do that. You're already letting us stay here, and that's more than enough. Especially since Takao is probably upstairs getting drool all over your parent's bed." She stated gingerly with the intent to make him laugh without upsetting him which, much to her relief, was the case, bringing him to laugh.
"It's fine, and regardless I still wanted to make sure you two could eat. You both made me comfortable and welcomed in your home, so I owe it to you to do the same." He replied as the girl continued to watch him unpack.
"You don't owe us anything, Akito. Besides, didn't the Tsuchikage tell you to keep us in your sight at all times?" She asked with a small grin, to which the boy shook his head and chuckled once more under his breath.
"He did, and it wouldn't have been an issue if Kurotsuchi hadn't seen me from the street as I was checking out. She yelled at me a bit, but she won't tell him. Well... probably. Either way, it's okay." He replied as the girl shook her head.
"You could have left a shadow clone or even a clay clone behind to keep an eye on us, even if it was just in case she showed up. Why didn't you?" She asked, as the boy looked up to her with a smile.
"Because I trust you and I didn't want to give her any reason to think I didn't should she have shown up unannounced." He replied, filling her chest with a reassuring warmth though as their eyes returned to one another he pulled something rather peculiar from the bag; a glass jar with what appeared to be some sort of cloth covering the lid and tied with a piece of twine.
"What's that?" She asked as the boy broke his eyes from her piercing blue orbs and looked down at the item in his hand with a small grin.
"It's kinda of like a jam that's only made here in Iwa, more specifically from the fruit of the trees growing on the mountains surrounding the village." He stated as he set it down on the counter and undid the twine holding the cloth over the cork lid, allowing the girl a better view.
"It looks like mud." She replied as Akito laughed. Pulling a knife from it's holder on the counter top, he carefully cut a thin piece of bread from the loaf and pulled the cork from the jar.
"It may look like mud, but I promise it doesn't taste like it." He replied as he took a bit of the preserves on the knife, smeared it across the edge of the bread and handed it to her, bringing her to stare at him for a second or two before taking it in her hand. Normally she wouldn't be inclined to try something like this, but knowing that he wouldn't intentionally give her something she wouldn't like she carefully took a bite; it's tart yet sweet taste causing her eyes to widen a bit as she did so.
"You were right. It certainly does not taste like mud." She replied while holding her hand over her mouth, bringing the boy to smile as he offered her the knife to take some more.
"This has always been one of my favorites, and if you like this, you really would have enjoyed my mom's." He added as Kisa tilted her head a bit to express her interest.
"She made her own?" She questioned as she sat down at the counter, to which Akito nodded.
"She did, and believe it or not, I helped." He replied as Kisa shook her head in disbelief.
"I don't believe you." She added playfully, causing the boy to laugh.
"It's true! I used to help her gather the fruit on the cliff sides as well as cook it. My father was never a big fan of me doing so as he believed my place was out in the yard learning how to be a shinobi, but my mother used to always tell him that I had plenty of time to be a shinobi, and that I was just a child. I still have her recipe, though I haven't made it since they died." Akito replied, the close correlation to his mother's words and what he said to the children who wanted fireworks the day before standing out from his story and causing her stomach to twist and her heart to ache, though instead of focusing on it she instead spoke up.
"Really?" She asked as Akito nodded and opened the drawer at the counter between them before rummaging around for a moment or two and pulled out a small book with the title 'recipes' written on it with a pen. Placing it down between them he scrolled through the many pages until he reached the page containing the recipe for 'Mountainberry Preserves'; it's title playfully published by both his mother's and a young Akito's signature.
"See? I wasn't lying to you." He stated as he slid the book before her, causing her to bite her lip as she took it in her hands and ran her thumb across their names in thought. Seeing this, Akito looked down at the preserves and formed a halfhearted smile.
"It might sound crazy, but when I was in Konoha I always made sure to take some with me. That way I could always have something to remind me of home… of my family." He added before reconnecting his eyes to her bright blues.
"She would have loved to meet you." He admitted, bringing the two of them to stare at one another for a moment with racing hearts before he averted his eyes up the stairs on the other side of the living room, just as Takao stepped down into the open area with a wide stretch.
"Takao too." The boy added to announce Takao's presence as the man scratched himself and made his way to where Kisa was sitting.
"Of course she would, I'm a fucking riot." Takao replied as he sat down beside her and looked at each of them awkwardly with sleepy eyes.
"Wait, what are we talking about again?" He questioned, forcing a long sigh of exasperation from Kisa's mouth as Akito laughed and shook his head.
"Nothing at all. How did you sleep?" The boy asked as he returned to what groceries remained in the bag, leaving Takao to look at the recipe in Kisa's hand briefly before she closed it and set it gently to the side.
"Beautifully after that extraordinary long walk up the mountains to this place yesterday. What about you, Kisa? Have fun sleeping in Akito's bed?" He questioned in order to purposely annoy her for closing the book before he could see what she was reading, bringing the girl to huff in annoyance as her face turned red.
"Shut up, Takao." She warned him to which he laughed before turning his attention back to Akito.
"So what's on the agenda for today, hmm? Going to show us around Iwagakure a bit while we wait for the order to move out?" He asked as the boy looked up at him.
"We can if you want, but we will need to be a bit more discreet about it. People in Iwa are not as welcoming as they are in Konoha, even with the Tsuchikage's approval." The boy replied as Takao leaned on the counter and reached for a piece of bread, though unlike Akito and Kisa he placed it in his mouth without any of the fruit spread.
"Don't worry; the people in Konoha grew to love us, and so will the people here." He replied as Kisa looked to him and shook her head before returning her attention to Akito.
"It's okay if you think that going out right now isn't a good idea. I understand that to them we are considered outsiders and the last thing I think we should be doing is provoking any kind of fight." She stated as the boy before her stared at her for a moment before shaking his head.
"Outsiders or not you are my guests and if you want to see Iwa then I will show it to you. We can go whenever you two are ready." Akito responded, bringing Takao's grin to widen as he cut another piece off of the bread to shove in his mouth.
"Excellent! I'mma go shower now then!" He said as he stood up, though as she attempted to walk away Kisa grabbed a hold of his shirt collar and pulled him back.
"Oh no you don't! You constantly use all of the hot water and leave me to take a cold shower! I'm going first!" She exclaimed as the man looked at her, blinked and sighed.
"Fine, but don't take forever. It may seem like I use all the hot water, but you're just as bad. The only reason you don't think so is because you hog the bathroom long enough for it all to come back." He stated in defeat as the woman rolled her eyes, stood up from the chair she was sitting on and looked at Akito with a small smile to thank him for breakfast before heading off to shower, leaving the two men alone.
"So, now that Kisa's gone, I have a question." Takao stated as Kisa made it to the top of the stairs, bringing Akito to look up from the bread he was cutting and hum in response.
"What's it going to take to get a date with that feisty friend of yours?" He questioned, to which Akito raised an eye.
"Kurotsuchi? Are you kidding me, Takao?" He questioned as the man shook his head.
"No, I'm being serious. C'mon, what's a guy gotta do?" Takao replied as Akito shook his head in disbelief.
"I'm not sure if you remember yesterday or not but Kurotsuchi didn't seem keen on the idea, and I doubt that's gonna change. She's focused entirely on taking her grandfather's place right now and has not once gone on a date that I am aware of, and should that day ever come I doubt it will be with someone from outside Iwa. Her fierce loyalty to the village would never allow it." He replied, bringing Takao to huff.
"Oh come on now, you make it seem impossible. You're fiercely loyal to Iwagakure too, but you've still taken it upon yourself to fall head over heels for Kisa. Same goes for her, too. A year ago she would have almost certainly viewed her feelings for you as a betrayal to the Hidden Mist, but now… bam! Here we are in Iwa." The man stated in objection, bringing Akito to look at him in embarrassment. Head over heels? Was that really how far along her feelings for him had become?
Seeing the shy look on his face, Takao couldn't help but grin. Did he really think he was that blind? That he hadn't noticed what was going on?
"Don't you lie to me too, Akito. I might be an idiot sometimes but I'm not dumb enough to think that you two are just flirting back and forth. I've been watching the two of you grow closer and closer ever since we all first met… this is far more than that." He added as the boy's eyes diverted down, unsure of what to say.
"Hasn't anyone in Konoha caught your eye? There are plenty of beautiful Kunoichi there, all of whom would be significantly less likely to strangle you." Akito replied to divert the spotlight away from Kisa and himself, causing Takao to laugh.
"Yeah, but where's the fun in that? I think they are much more attractive when they are different from the rest, and with her it is definitely the risk of physical harm that's got me feeling this way." The man added, instantly souring Akito's expression at the thought of what that statement truly meant.
"Please stop talking. Please." He pleaded, forcing the man to laugh even harder as he reached over and smacked Akito's back in line with his boisterous display of amusement.
"Oh come on now, that was funny!"
Finished with preparing herself for the day, Kisa once more descended down the stairs into the living room in search of Akito. Despite the fact that she didn't agree with Takao's opinion that she hogged the bathroom she did her best to make her time in there fast, though it was her desire for more time with Akito alone that really drove her to hurry.
Stepping down the final bit into the living room, the girl's blue eyes immediately darted up to Akito as he stood in front of the fireplace looking at the pictures on the mantle in a way very similar to how she had done so not long before.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to touch your things." She stated as a sort of way to gauge just how he felt about how she had picked the picture up in her hands to both clean and examine the photograph closer, causing the boy to shake his head.
"Don't apologize, you can touch or move whatever you like. You are my guest, and I know they are hard to see with all the dust on them. I haven't really had much time to clean over the past few months." He replied as Kisa smiled a bit.
"You don't say." She teased before turning her attention to the couch he had spent the night on; the blanket he had covered himself with now neatly folded up over the back. Making her way to the couch and sitting down where she assumed his head would have rested, the woman ran her hand across the soft blanket as her smile diminished a bit. Although it seemed to be a comfortable combination she couldn't quite justify not saying anything about his choice to give up his bed, or atleast the chance to thank him for doing so.
"When you offered me your bed I didn't know that you would be sleeping on the couch. If I had known, I wouldn't have accepted." She said softly as the boy laughed again and turned to join her on the opposite side of the furniture.
"Why do you think I didn't tell you?" He replied, bringing her to pout as he shook his head playfully.
"It's alright. I wanted you to be comfortable and free from the inevitable sneezing brought on by the dust in ethier my parent's or brother's rooms. Although, Takao doesn't seem to mind." Akito added, to which the girl scoffed.
"Takao could sleep outside, unsheltered during a typhoon if he was tired enough, so I'm not surprised." She responded as her eyes again turned to the pictures on the mantle while internally debating whether or not she should bring it up.
"That picture up there… that's you and your family, right?" She questioned as a formality as Akito followed her eyes to where she was staring and nodded.
"Yeah. How could you tell?" He asked jokingly as the girl turned towards him, pulled her legs up onto the couch and tucked them to the side.
"Probably because you haven't changed a bit. Well, that's not entirely true. Maybe you have changed a bit… but there's no mistaking your unruly hair." She added as the boy again laughed.
"Hey, I don't like having my hair cut short like Akihiro did." He replied, to which the girl laughed and shook her head for a moment before staring at him with an affectionate yet tame smile.
"You two look so much like one another, like your father, but you certainly have your mother's eyes… and her smile." Kisa added as Akito looked down to the empty couch cushion between them with the same smile she spoke up displayed across his face.
"Do you have any pictures of your parents, Kis?" He questioned softly, bringing the girl to blush lightly as she reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a small picture she had brought down from her things in preparation of this exact conversation.
"This was taken not long before he passed away." She stated as she reached out and handed the boy the photograph, which he immediately looked down to with a small smile as his eyes came to focus on the young, white-haired girl hanging on her father's back; her arms wrapped around his neck as she looked over her father's shoulder with a wide grin. Just like the photo of himself and his family she couldn't have been more than ten years old, if that even, hinting to him that it appeared they had lost their families around the same time as one another.
"He was a handsome man, and I can see by the way he's smiling that you were his whole world." He stated softly in a compassionate reply, to which Kisa smiled as she brushed a piece of drying hair behind her ear nervously.
"I was. It was just me and him, so we were close. Very close." She replied before looking back up into his eyes with her bright blue orbs, bringing her to bite her lip for a moment before speaking up.
"You and I are not so different after all." The girl stated as the boy cocked his head a little bit to the side with a soft grin.
"Different? What do you mean?" He questioned as Kisa looked down at his hands as they continued to hold on to the picture of her and her father.
"When we first met, I never thought I could ever find something about you that made me see you as anything other than my enemy… but now I know that you are more like me than any other person I have ever met in my life. I'm so very glad that I was able to see that through my hate, and that you gave me the chance to be your friend." She replied, furthering Akito's blush as his chest pounded at the tender moment between them.
These moments reminded him of the night of their date and were becoming more and more common as the days went by, causing them both to feel closer to one another with each passing day and allowing feelings he once feared showing to flourish, forcing him to maintain the steady pace of development Tsunade had warned about to avoid hurting his friend.
"I-I feel the same way, although I didn't think of you as an enemy that day." He replied jokingly in a soft tone as he looked down at the couch, bringing the red-cheeked girl to tilt her head.
"Really? Even though we tied you up and abducted you?" She questioned as the boy shook his head, causing her to become curious as her own heart raced a bit by the uncertainty brought on by the tone of his voice. She knew him well enough by now to know he was thinking about something he wasn't sure if he should say, and she wanted to know what it was. She too was trying her best to heed the Hokage's warning, though it often proved much harder than it appeared.
"If you didn't think of me as your enemy, then what did you think?" She questioned in order to lure him out from his reservations, bringing him to look up at her briefly with a smile before averting his embarrassed eyes down.
"I thought of you as someone who was compassionate enough to save my life despite the differences between our people… someone who I knew wouldn't let anything happen to me." He replied as the girl's grin grew with a playfully sarcastic tinge. To her it seemed as if what he was saying was an innocent attempt to flatter her, and although she didn't dislike the attempt, she wanted to hear the truth.
"You got all of that from how I was acting? Did I scramble your memory when I beat you up two weeks ago?" She replied somewhat jokingly in reference to her cold, cruel demeanor towards him when they first met, though Akito simply shook his head.
"I didn't know that from your actions… I saw it in your eyes." He replied, bringing her eyes to widen and her blush grew darker in color as her preliminary assumption of his intent disappeared and was replaced by the familiar sense of warmth she often felt when he said things like this. Embarrassed and unable to hide the goofy smile creeping over her face, the girl pulled the pillow she had been leaning against out from behind her back and threw it at Akito's face.
"Shut up!" She ordered playfully as the boy knocked the pillow away from his face and laughed.
"I'm serious!" He cried, leading the two of them to stare at one another with embarrassed smiles for a moment before turning towards the stairs as Takao once again made his way down into the living room, this time with his long coat over his shoulder, revealing his muscular structure and the several old scars that were spread out across his skin.
"Alright, I'm ready. Leeeeeet's go!"
Setting out into the village, the group spent the next few hours following behind Akito as he gave them as best of a tour as he could given the circumstances of their allowance there. Despite the looks his visitors received he was able to show them Iwa's shinobi academy, a few of his favorite places he went to in order to relax, the top of the Tsuchikage's tower included, as well as a restaurant he had often frequented as a kid. Coupled with the sights of such a divergence from their norm that Iwa was, both Kisa and Takao found himself just as awestruck as they had been the day before, though as their limited tour came to an end it was their final destination that was the most significant.
Coming to a stop at the entrance to a rather ornate structure on the outskirts of Iwagakure, Akito looked up at the massive wooden doors in front of him for a moment before turning to Kisa and Takao with a grin.
"Here it is." He stated as his guests looked up at the stone hall, bringing him to continue forward towards the doors to open the cautiously, allowing them to see what appeared to be a large, round room with a pedestal in the middle; it's base accessible by a small walkway across what was a shallow pond of water.
"Well this looks interesting!" Takao stated aloud as they began to walk inside the monument, instantly bringing Kisa to elbow him in the stomach in annoyance.
"Knock it off, Takao! This is a memorial, not an attraction!" She scolded quietly under her breath as Akito chuckled to himself and slowly made his way across the walkway to the center of the circular room before turning to watch the two as they did the same; their eyes looked around at the water and the rocks below its surface as they did so.
"This place is simply called the Stone Monument. It's a place where an Iwa shinobi could come to reflect on who we are and about what makes us strong; the Will of Stone." He stated as both Kisa and Takao came to a stop before the pedestal as well, the former of which stood between her two friends.
"This is like Konoha's Will of Fire, isn't it? A code for those from this village to live their life by." She questioned as the boy nodded, to which Takao titled his head as he poked the stone in the center of the pedestal in front of them, pushing it out of its position in the center of the monument.
"But it's… a rock. Just a rock." He stated as Kisa scowled at the tinge of irritation that flushed over her.
"Takao!" She scolded as the Akito shook his head.
"He's right, Kisa. It is just a rock." The boy replied as he reached forward and took the stone in his hand, looked it over intently for a moment and then tossed it into the water with the other stones haphazardly, causing Kisa great surprise.
"What?!" She asked as Akito laughed.
"This stone, and all other stones around, are the bedrock of our people. The first Tsuchikage believed that just like these rocks, a person's worth was judged by the will inside of them; a will that could change the entire world." Akito replied as he slowly knelt down and stuck his hand into the pool of water to retrieve another, randomly chosen rock from the pond.
"Any one of us could possess that power, and he believed that what made Iwagakure special was that we all possessed this will of stone. My father believed strongly in this as well, and to him, as long as he had his fellow shinobi by his side, there was nothing that we couldn't do." He added as he placed the rock on the middle of the pedestal and formed a small grin as behind his friends he spotted a familiar face emerging from the entrance to the monument.
"And do you know where he learned that from? I'll give you a hint; it came from the same man who taught you the exact same lesson you are now teaching your friends." The voice called out, instantly causing both Takao and Kisa to identify the voice as the Tsuchikage's, but as they turned around to spot the rather short man behind them, they were surprised to see that he was absent.
"Hmm?" Takao hummed in confusion as he turned back towards Akito to search for the source of the words incase the sound had been redirected by the room's shape, though as he did he came face to face with the Kage as he floated in front of him with his hands behind his back.
"Looking for something?" The Tsuchikage questioned with a stern face, instantly causing the man to yelp in surprise as he stumbled backwards and fell into the monument's pool of water butt-first, much to Onoki's amusement as Kisa stared in disbelief.
"What's the matter? You act like you've seen a ghost." He stated as Takao stared up at him.
"W-What the hell?! You can fly?!" He questioned in shock while standing up from the pond and shaking the water from his hands as the Tsuchikage moved himself to Akito's side.
"In a sense." He replied as he looked down to the rock on the pedestal, somewhat proud of himself that the teachings he had passed down to his student from his own master were not forgotten.
"I remember teaching your father that same lesson many years ago, long before I taught it to you. Back then I never thought I would live long enough to teach two separate generations of shinobi the way of our people, although I guess it must have stuck if you can so easily remember it." Onoki added as Akito smiled and nodded his head.
"You taught me well, sensei. I've never forgotten anything you've told me." The boy replied as Onoki scoffed.
"Except how to listen, occasionally." He responded before turning his attention to their guests and then back to Akito as Kurotsuchi entered the room and leaned up against the wall of the hallway leading back outside, raising Akito's concern.
"Is everything alright?" He questioned, to which Onoki hummed as he closed his eyes in thought.
"It seems that your target has come back into our sights a bit sooner than we anticipated." He replied, bringing both Kisa and Takao's eyes to widen as Kurotsuchi spoke up with the details.
"Anbu just dropped off the information not too long ago. Some of their informants in the outskirts of the Land of Earth spotted a trio of shinobi who matched the description of the three who you've been tracking heading up the mountains towards the border with the Land of Iron." She stated as Akito grunted under his breath. That was he nearly caught them the first time, why would they be going back there?
"Are they sure it's them?" He questioned as Kurotsuchi nodded.
"Yes. Two men, one woman, each with white hair and yellow eyes and another report of mutilated corpses in their wake. It's them." She responded as Kisa looked to Akito who stared at her as if to ask her once more if this was what she wanted, to which she nodded, prompting him to turn back to Kurotsuchi and the Tsuchikage respectively.
"We will head out immediately for the Land of Iron." He stated aloud as Onoki's eyes narrowed on him and his feet slowly planted themselves to the ground.
"Are you sure you three will be able to handle this? While I have no doubt in your abilities, this is typically a mission I would assign to the Anbu. However, most of them are currently preoccupied with the hunt for Deidara, as well as trying to locate Han and Roshi in order to warn them of the danger they face with the Akatsuki; an assignment I cannot risk taking them away from. Will you three be able to complete this task?" He questioned his student, though before he could answer Takao spoke up.
"Don't you worry about that, Lord-T; we'll get this time for sure!" He stated as he rang out the soaking wet sash around his waist, causing Kurotsuchi to roll her eyes.
"That's very reassuring." She mocked as Takao spun around and pointed at her; his teeth exposed menacingly as he did so.
"Oh it is. I promise you that they are going to pay for what they've done… the real question is, where will you want their heads when we bring them back?" He added as a show of both seriousness and, albeit unintentionally, a bit of Kiri's legendary bloodlust, causing the woman to become more serious as Kisa stepped in to sooth what she saw as tension forming in the room.
"We will not fail, Lord Tsuchikage. You have my word." She stated in a confident yet respectful tone, leading Onoki to stare at her for a moment before finally humming to finalize his decision.
"Alright, get moving then. Please do try to be safe out there this time, however. All of you." He warned before dismissing himself from the moment with his bodyguard by his side, allowing the three man team to be alone again as they looked at one another.
"I won't let them escape this time. They will pay for what they did to Jun." Takao stated as his friends looked at him and then to one another in a solemn manner before each nodding in agreement. This was their chance to right the wrong made several months ago, a wrong that they had each lived with every day since then, and they wouldn't let that chance go to waste.