He was supposed to have left Konoha by now. Hidan and he had been assigned a new mission that was supposed to take them to a small town, a civilian one, in the outskirts of Iwagakure to help them fend off a group of bandits. Hidan had already set off for their rendezvous point, more than eager to have been given permission to exterminate all life- as long as he made sure that said life was devoted to crime.
Kakuzu was currently in the tree canopy, perching on a branch, while the idiotic children ran around and made good use of the last hours of sunlight of the day. He had already bid his farewell and told them that he would be long gone in a couple of minutes... But he was still there. Watching.
It was astonishing to see the children acting their true age. He had grown up in a time where children had been forced to grow up well before their time... A time when he had been forced to make decisions that no child should ever have had to make before they had reached their tenth year of life. But these kids had been given a blessing they were ignorant to- they were given the blessing of being children.
Sighing softly, he forced himself to turn around and look away from the scene.
(The Inuzuka, his tiny mongrel, and the civilian were all ganging up on the Akimichi. The game was a cross between actual sparring and capture the flag and the poor boy was getting annihilated by the other two brats. They were all smiling, though. They were all happy. Disgusting.)
A twig snapping had him throwing an instinctive kunai in the direction of the noise, where he heard a muffled hiss as the weapon was dodged.
"I didn't know anyone was up here. Sorry for- you're not from the Village."
Daichi Inuzuka, the rowdy boy's father and an excellent tracker in his own right. Some considered him to be the bane of Missing-Nin on the Hokage's shit-list. Kakuzu himself had never had to face off against the man until now, so he had no previous meeting to draw information from. It was hard to take him seriously, though, even with the small reputation he had managed to build- somehow, this supposedly great tracker had not been able to smell him and had been caught off guard by finding him there.
"... You're smaller than I thought you would be."
The picture of Daichi Inuzuka in the Bingo Book had him snarling with clear ferocity in his eyes. It was clearly an old picture, seeing how he had lost one of those eyes at some point. But, still, that picture couldn't have been too old. And it had showed the image of a strong, muscular man with nothing more than passion and viciousness.
The man before him was a sunken in shell of flesh and bones. His large jacket and pants hung off of him, clearly too big for his body. And his own face was beginning to look much more skeletal than alive.
The scarred lips curled into an annoyed smirk as the man hauled himself onto the tree branch opposite Kakuzu. Once he was stable, the long haired Inuzuka crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the tree trunks, as if trying to relax.
Kakuzu knew better than that, though. He could see the barest movement of a chest heaving; the widening of nostrils as they tried to capture more oxygen; the slight tremble in weakened limbs.
There was undoubtedly something off with Daichi Inuzuka.
"We've never formally met, have we, Mr. Old Man?"
Kakuzu quirked an eyebrow at the question, but remained silent. Instead of saying anything, the Missing-Nin took in the rather large pack on the Inuzuka's back, along with the lack of dogs. The pack showed that he was prepared for a mission; but not having any sort of dog with him spoke otherwise.
After noticing that Kakuzu wouldn't speak, the Inuzuka sighed and clicked his tongue. Then he shook his head and looked over in the direction Kakuzu had previously been facing, towards the children. His scarred and hardened face softened, much to Kakuzu's disgust (and unfortunate understanding) when he noticed whatever new stupidity the children were committing.
"Tsume and I had always known you were real. We had just assumed you were some kind of hermit with extravagant fabrications, so we never let my son know what we knew. Tsume had hoped that he would eventually grow out of you; leave you behind and take life seriously." The man's voice was deep, a regular tone of voice for a man as tall as him, but it was unbearably saddened... Tired.
Kakuzu knew that tone of voice very well. He knew that fogged haze in the man's eyes.
Without having had an actual conversation, Kakuzu knew everything he needed to know about the broken man known as Daichi Inuzuka.
Seconds of tense silence passed them by in a slow crawl. Kakuzu knew that he should have been leaving, but he also knew that this man had a reason for having come to meet him... For having struggled to get to him.
Daichi closed his eyes and looked away from the children, towards the horizon, were the sky was quickly darkening because of the winter weather. "I am going to die, sir. And I am too much of a coward to let my family see me waste away. So I am going to go on a mission where I will die. And no one other than you and the Hokage will know the truth."
The final words of a sick man.
Kakuzu would be moved if it wasn't for the fact that he'd seen many of these countless of times before. Although, he was touched upon hearing Daichi admit how much of a coward he was; not many people were honest enough to admit to being such a thing. People were always much too proud to ever admit to being imperfect.
"I want you to give those three kids these gifts when you deem it right... I know you're a good man, even though you're a criminal. And I know you care about those three."
Daichi was avoiding using the children's actual names. It must have hurt too much.
From the bag on his back, the man pulled out two different kinds of objects. The first was a standard pouch, although it had a fishing rod with some sort of fish on its hook- the symbols of Ebisu, the laughing god, if Kakuzu was remembering his small amount of knowledge on religion correctly. On top of that pouch, there was a simple looking key, mottled with age and its edges dulled just slightly.
"I'm not good with gifts. But I know that this should be a good one for Ch-Chouji," The Inuzuka motioned to the pouch, which now made sense to Kakuzu. It was a first-aid kit. It took him a second to recover his composure, but soon the man was speaking again. "For the other two, I leave the key to my weapon's closet. They can take whatever they want; my family managed to acquire a large quantity of weapons before my mother married into the Clan and everyone else died off."
Ah... So this man was merely a half-Inuzuka... Interesting indeed, seeing how those were barely ever allowed to become ninja.
With his head bowed, Daichi looked like the shell of a strong man. Kakuzu had never met him in the battlefield before, but he had heard some small anecdotes of how dangerous this man had once been... And now he was reduced to this nothing.
"Here you go. I'll-uh... I'll be going now."
Kakuzu accepted the gifts and watched as Daichi turned away, struggling to even move his body.
"Get back here."
He wasn't the impulsive kind... But this was just downright pitiful.
"Go back to your family. Say goodbye to them. Do not leave them like this."
Daichi's whole frame was frozen and rigid as Kakuzu spoke, turned away from him still. "If you are going to die, then your son at least deserves to say goodbye to you. If not for your own sake, then his. You don't have to tell him about your Hokage-sanctioned suicide mission. But at least say goodbye to the little shit."
Kakuzu had seen the effects of this kind of selfish abandonment in shinobi before. And it never brought anything but problems and self-doubt to the kids that were abandoned by their parents.
"Go back to your home and make your final days worth something."
Kakuzu left Daichi Inuzuka there, frozen in that very same spot on a tree branch, not saying anything else.
It was when he had crossed through the Village Gates and was well on his way to his mission's destination that he noticed he had not returned the gifts Daichi had asked him to give the kids.
"Thank you very much, sir!"
Chouji couldn't believe all of the books that were now his!
Daichi Inuzuka smiled at him, a small thing that barely reached his eyes, and ruffled his hair. "Those things would just keeping mounting dust in this house. Hana doesn't like them and Kiba'll never want to be a medic. They'll be more useful in your house."
His heart was beating fast and his brain was working in overdrive with all of the access to information he now had at his fingertips. He couldn't wait to get back home, organize these books, and then begin to read through them!
Huh... He kind of sounded a bit like Sakura back when she had loved reading...
As the Akimichi began to walk away from the Inuzuka home, he heard a round of rather violent coughing coming from behind him. But when he turned around to look back at Kiba's father, it was to find the man with a soft smirk on his lips and an eyebrow lifted in humored curiosity.
"Goodbye. I'll make sure all these books are treated like royalty!" Chouji gave him one final promise, which made Daichi smile, showing even his teeth.
"I know you'll treat them right, kid."
As quickly as he could without allowing his new books to fall, Chouji made his way back home. He would have to return to the Inuzuka home later on with his father to gather the rest of the books and scroll on medical ninjutsu that Daichi had decided to give him. For now, though, he had been able to carry a small stack of some ten books and he couldn't wait to find a place for them in his room!
Sakura had been busy looking over some of the scrolls Kuzu had left for them because of their usefulness in learning some more about pressure points when Kiba threw himself on the ground beside her.
"Whatcha readin', Pinkie?"
"How to knock people out." She answered with a hum, then lifted her gaze from the scroll to scan her surroundings. "Hey, where's Chouji?"
Kiba huffed in a loud and dramatic fashion, rolled on the ground so he was looking up at the sky, and pulled Akamaru out of his favored hiding place- Kiba's hood- so the pup could run around.
"With the Harpy and Deer Boy. They invited us to join them for their little get together or whatever... But I don't want to go."
Sakura quirked an eyebrow at her best friend and returned her gaze to her reading. She wasn't paying attention to the printed words, though. Instead, she was pondering on the best course of action after finding out about where Chouji was.
Kiba didn't hate Shikamaru. He only disliked Ino a bit more than he disliked the Nara himself. But he wasn't the biggest fan of them when they were together. And he certainly got close to hating them when they took Chouji away from them.
Normally, he would be elated to go and bother Ino and Shikamaru while they were with Chouji. But his best friend didn't really like it when he messed with Deer boy and Harpy girl and it didn't seem as if he really felt like bothering the final member of their pack too much.
With a small frown, Sakura chanced a look at Kiba from the corners of her eyes. He was laying on the floor with a heavy frown marring his features and his eyes seemed as if they were unfocused... Could Kiba be thinking about something that was bothering him? Could him being in a bad mood be the reason why he had decided to not bother Chouji and his old friends?
If so... Just what was bothering her friend? He was always so sure of himself- so egotistical- that he refused to allow anything to actually bring him down. Seeing him bothered by something really worried Sakura.
But she couldn't flat out ask him what was wrong because he was so prideful he'd just yell at her about being too awesome to need to talk about something as girly as feelings...
With a small frown, Sakura rolled up the scroll she had been reading and closed her eyes. She breathed in the sweet scent of the Forest of Death, ordered her thoughts, and finally opened her eyes once again and looked down at her best friend with a smile.
"Hey, Kiba, how would you feel about a spar with me? I want to try and see if these pressure points work and you're the perfect victi- I mean, helper." She made a point of offering the most innocent, bright eyed smile she could muster, earning a look of confusion from Kiba.
First he stared at her with nothing short of doubt shining in his eyes. Then that confusion morphed into insult upon noticing the 'slip' of her tongue. And finally a large smirk broke out on his lips when he noticed precisely what kind of challenge Sakura was offering to go through with.
Normally, she would prefer to consult with Kuzu about any kind of technique she was interested in before she actually tried to use it. So Kiba knew that she wasn't offering to practice on him lightly. Which meant that he understood rather well just what she was offering and was excited to take part in something that could either be dangerous and/or completely thrilling.
"Let's do this thing, Pinkie!"
So that's how she and Kiba spent the rest of their day, sparring with Kiba avoiding most of Sakura's jabs and Sakura trying her best to stun her friend and finally hit him in one of his many pressure points. By the time night had fallen, they were both sweaty and panting as they lay on the large roots of their tree, hunger and the need to sleep screaming at them.
"Hey... Sakura..."
Swallowing to catch her breath, the pink haired girl turned to look at her best friend and found him with a pinched look to his face. This made her post-spar high drop immediately and she began to worry over just what was eating at Kiba now.
"Think... D'ya think I can stay at your house tonight?" He asked softly, voice barely above a whisper. "I... I really don't want ta go home t'night."
It wasn't new to hear Kiba talking about not wanting to return to his home. There were issues in his family that neither she nor Chouji knew about- and neither of them dared ask Kiba about those issues to not get on his bad side. But it was odd to hear Kiba actually asking for permission to stay at her home rather than just force his way inside.
Her mom wasn't Kiba's greatest fan... But Kiba sounded as if he really needed the break.
"Sure, Kiba."
"Kids, I need to be honest with you. I'm sick and it's incurable and fatal. I've only got a couple of years left of life- but I only have months left of quality life. So I'm going to go on a dangerous mission where I will die. But I need you to know: No matter what you might hear, I'm doing what's right. I can't die on a hospital bed. I'd rather give my life in the field."
His father had sat him and Hana down that morning to speak to them about his sickness... His impending death.
Kiba... He had always known his father wasn't the same warrior he had once been. He could remember a time when he would go out of the Village almost every single week- a time when his father was the prime example of a hard working shinobi. But that had changed when he had taken on a job in the Village's Hospital- a change he had explained by saying that his talents were better used in Village... But that had been a lie. He had started to work in the Hospital, yes... But he had taken the job to have an easier access to the treatment that helped keep him alive without having to tell anyone about his truth.
There had been something off about his father for so long... But Kiba hadn't questioned it and had simply accepted all of the explanations his parents had given him when they had been given.
Now his father was going to die. He was going to go off on a mission to receive a proper warrior's death rather than waste away in a hospital bed. And there was nothing Kiba could do about it.
He had never had the best relationship with his parents... But he had never wished anything bad to happen to them. Never.
As soon as their father had finished talking to them about everything that was happening and everything that would happen, he had asked them to stay strong and live their lives to the fullest. Then he had hugged them both, kissed them on their foreheads, hugged them one last time, and had walked out of their house to never return again.
After he was gone, a deathly silence hung over him and his sister. Neither said a single thing. They just... stayed there... Quiet and pensive.
Then his sister, as she had done with every other problem their family ever gave her, had left Kiba alone to go and search for any of her friends. She abandoned Kiba and left him alone in a cold house with the fact that his father was going to die threatening to choke him.
His father didn't even look like himself... The only reason he had been able to make people believe he still looked like himself was because he had taken to using a henge every day to seem as if he was healthy...
The person Kiba had listened to and seen talking about a fatal disease and going to die the warrior's way had not been his father... This person had been an emaciated corpse... And this would be the last memory he would have of his father.
Like Hana, Kiba decided to seek some comfort within his friends. But when he had noticed that Chouji was with the Harpy and Deer boy, he had felt disgusted. He didn't want to be around people he didn't like, like his family. He didn't want to be around acquaintances or friends. He wanted to be around his pack. And one member of his pack was off with people he didn't want to even think about.
So he had sought Sakura out. And she had managed to make him forget about every horrible thing he had learned today for a couple of hours. She had managed to remind him just why it was that he had decided to make her pack.
Now he was in her home, sipping at a mug of hot coffee her father had prepared for him, all the while Sakura finished preparing a meal for them both. Her parents had not denied him entrance into their home, nor had they been against the idea of allowing him to sleep over. But they had needed to leave if they wanted to be able to get to some stupid show they had tickets for, so now both kids were alone in Sakura's house.
And all Kiba could think about was the fact that his father was going to die and he would never be able to do anything with him ever again.
"If you're feeling up for it, we can always try out that earth jutsu the Old Man taught us after dinner. I've been trying to make my mounds bigger, even though they're not very strong. I haven't found the correct amount of chakra I need to make the perfect mound."
Sakura chattered mindlessly over different things they could do after dinner, as if trying to find something that he was interested in actually going through. She didn't have to offer anything... Yet she tried to keep him distracted.
Sakura knew there was something off with him. Yet she didn't ask him about it. Instead, she tried to distract him.
He didn't deserve such a good friend...
"Or maybe we can go through that sequence of power he said would be good for us to learn. Or maybe-"
"Didn't you have a book or something on poisons and their uses?" Kiba interrupted, only to find Sakura turning back to him with widened and shocked eyes.
He hated reading. But she enjoyed it. And she loved learning.
She had helped him out enough. It was about time he tried to return the favor.
"Let's take it easy tonight. We worked hard enough today."
Sakura stared at him as if he had grown a second head... But after a couple of seconds, she smiled softly and nodded. Then she turned around and turned off the stove to serve up the simple dinner of instant ramen.
He would tell her about everything that was going on with his father. But not yet; he wanted Chouji to be there with them.
A month after he had met the Inuzuka idiot's father, Kakuzu found himself inside of a mercenary den that doubled as a tavern as he looked for possible contracts to complete.
Hidan had thrown himself into a shouting match with the bouncer over being able to enter with his scythe or not- Kakuzu didn't care about that dumbass as long as he didn't try to kill the guy that was just doing his job.
As he made his way towards the target's board by the back of the establishment, he could hear whispers of rumors and facts mixed in with boastful shouts of ninja killed. There was no music in this establishment, but it certainly was not needed. Most of this sort didn't care about the arts or proper music. It wasn't necessary.
"I killed him! That damn Kage won't be able to set that dog on us ever again!"
Normally, Kakuzu ignored such claims. They were usually inconsequential and shouted out by drunkards that wanted to seem more useful than they actually were. But this one... This one stood out to him. This person used the precise words to make him think on the man on a Hokage-sanctioned suicide mission he had come across not too long ago.
Kakuzu halted in his search for the target's board and instead remained standing so he could better listen to the drunken ramblings.
"Yeah, but it ain't like ya got someone important, like that Tsume bitch. Ya just got her yella-bellied husband."
Tsume Inuzuka... The known Clan Head of the Inuzuka Clan. The wife of one Daichi Inuzuka. The mother of one idiotic mongrel.
Daichi was dead.
"But I got 'er husband! An' he was an easy kill! 'E practically begged to get killed! Lookin' like a weak coward, it was easy! Hell, I actually felt kind of-"
A thick black tendril piercing straight through his annoying mouth cut off the bastard's ramblings in no time.
All sound ceased in the tavern as every single mercenary within turned to look at Kakuzu with widened eyes. Violence amongst them was not out of the ordinary- a quick and seemingly senseless murder was not customary, though.
Slowly, with sickening squelches as the tendril pulled away from the disgusting man's skull, Kakuzu pulled away from the deceased and returned his arm to his side. Then he made his way towards his initial destination and found the bulletin board with the pictures of wanted people in the near vicinity without offering a single explanation.
He was dressed in all black. His parents had said that this was the appropriate form of dress when going to a funeral.
Daichi Inuzuka's funeral.
Kiba's father was dead.
The procession was a small one. Only a handful of people from outside of the Inuzuka Clan had been invited. And only a small number of Inuzuka had turned up to say their final goodbyes to Daichi's ashes.
Chouji had thought that all of the Inuzuka Clan would turn up to say their goodbyes to the husband of the Clan Head. But his father had explained to him that all Clans had different traditions- and it seemed that the Inuzuka were not the kind of Clan to have every single member come out to the funeral of one member.
Chouji recognized Tsume Inuzuka, with her harsh glare and dry eyes. He also knew Hana, Kiba's sister, and understood why she had tear filled eyes, even though there were no tear tracks on her cheeks. All of their dogs were standing faithfully by their side... And Daichi's own pair of dogs were standing beside Kuromaru with the most forlorn look on their faces Chouji had ever seen on any dog born into the Inuzuka Clan.
The rest of the Inuzuka there, which were a small handful, he did not know.
He stood beside Kiba as one of the Inuzuka Elder's spoke about Daichi's well lived life and well earned death. His best friend was glaring, much like his mother, but had tears in his eyes, much like his sister.
Sakura stood to Kiba's other side with tears falling freely down her face.
Chouji himself felt like crying... But did not dare. He did not know Daichi Inuzuka well enough to feel that he deserved to cry over his death. Even though the sadness around him weighed on him- ordered him to allow his tears to fall.
Behind them stood his parents and Sakura's own. They were the only outsiders that had been invited to come.
Once the elder had finished speaking, Tsume made her way towards the edge of the cliff they were standing before, which faced an endless forest. She had an urn filled with her husband's ashes tucked tightly into her side.
"He died like a warrior. Now he will rest as an Inuzuka that lived so well deserves- free to roam wherever his soul wishes."
He swore he heard her choke up on the final words. But Tsume squared her shoulders and opened up the urn to allow her husband's ashes to be swirled away by the wind.
Ten seconds later, the whole of the Inuzuka Clan that had come began to howl.
It was such a sad sound that Chouji was not able to stop himself from crying then.
Daichi Inuzuka was gone.
Death was real.
Somehow, she had never thought about death. Even though death was a natural part of a ninja's life, she had never felt the need to ponder about it before. She had remained mostly ignorant to what it was... Remained ignorant to how it came about.
A ninja could die on a mission, like Daichi had. That sort of thing happened all the time. Yet, somehow, she had never thought it did.
After Daichi's ashes had been scattered, Tsume thanked the people there for having come to say their goodbyes to her husband. Then she had informed them that there was a small lunch waiting for them in the Inuzuka shrine, per tradition, if they wished to come along.
Without asking for permission from her parents, Sakura followed Kiba away from the rest of the crowd. Chouji came along as well, even though he did ask his parents if it was alright for him to leave before they did.
She did not know where Kiba was taking them, but she knew that he didn't want to be a part of the lunch that was being offered by his clan. So she just followed her best friend through different scenery until they eventually reached their spot in the Forest of Death.
Once they were there, Kiba slumped to the ground and breathed out heavily.
Sakura closed her eyes and held onto his shoulders as she sat down beside him. Then she moved her hands so she was hugging him by the waist and leaned into his side.
When Chouji wrapped his arms around both of them, it was only right for them both to lean into their final best friend.
After a couple of seconds, Sakura heard Kiba sniffle into her shoulder. Then she felt something wet drip onto her clothes an her grip on her best friend tightened.
No words were exchanged among them after that. They only held each other as Kiba cried.
His father was dead.
He had been a horrible son.
His father was dead.
His father was dead and Kiba had been nothing short of a terrible child.
His father was dead.
Kiba breathed in, a shaky thing that burned his throat, and tightened his hold around his friends.
His father was dead... But at least he still had his pack with him.
He had not been a good son. He had been rambunctious and defiant and rude. He had not appreciated his father when he was around... And now all he wanted was for one of his father's shitty smiles or horrible jokes or exasperated reprimands. But he would not be able to get any of that anymore because his father was dead and gone.
He had not been a good son... But that did not mean he would be a horrible friend. His pack was great even though his family wasn't. And he would do everything in his power to be the person they deserved to have around them.
His father was dead and he had done a horrible job of making the man proud of him. But his pack was still here and alive and he'd be damned if he ever let anyone harm them.
~..~..~
And that is the chapter! Sorry for the sudden angst, but it was kind of necessary. Hope you all liked it! Please review!
Also, if you're interested in My Hero Academia and me writing for it, please vote on a poll I have up on my profile!
