As soon as the door opened, Sakura's eyes fell upon the large figure that belonged to none other than the very man that had taught them everything they knew... but... there was something conspicuously different about him.
He wasn't wearing the long cloak they had for so long identified as an integral part of his identity. The familiar red, black, and white colors that had consistently contrasted his beautiful eyes were no longer there. His figure wasn't any longer obscured by the thick and heavy cloak he had perpetually worn around them. And, even more jarring, he was no longer wearing the hitai-ite with the line etched straight through the middle of the Takigakure village symbol.
Kuzu... was much thinner than Sakura had imagined he would be.
For a second, it was as if the world had frozen- time had become suspended. Sakura could only stare at the man she had known since she was six years old looking so very different that she could barely believe her eyes were not tricking her. Beside her, neither of her friends took a step forward, probably just as surprised as she was with what they were seeing.
Then Kuzu grunted, his perpetually breath-taking eyes narrowed, and he crossed his blue sleeved arms over a chest that was clad in a basic Konoha flak jacket. "What are you brats staring at?"
In the small amount of time Sakura had spent staring, a tiny thought of a doubt had begun to try and weasel its way into her brain. What if this man wasn't Kuzu? What if someone had brainwashed him and forced him to work for Konoha? That would have been horrible. Even though she understood Konoha was her home, Kuzu was so much more than just a Village. And she would have been absolutely destroyed if someone had changed their favorite Old Man for the worse.
But as soon as she heard his grumpy tone of voice, along with the slightly worried undertone that could barely be noticed without spending years in contact with the man, she was reassured that no ill had come to the Old Man.
And immediately she smiled broadly, throwing her arms out to either side of her as she began to run at him. "Kuzu!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, eager to reunite with their Old Man once again.
Breaking out into a run was second nature for her at this point- her legs moved at full speed to jump onto the Old Man. And when she reached a jumping distance to the man's body, she propelled herself forward, whole body extending even as she expected Kuzu to move away from her at the last minute. He always sidestepped her whenever she did this- and she couldn't wait for their little song-and-dance to happen once again.
But something incredibly odd happened.
Instead of meeting the tiled floor below and having her whole body splayed out like it always ended up when she ran at the Old Man with a hug... her face met with something solid, yet padded- the pockets of a flak jacket. Her body stiffened at the pure oddity of the situation and she blinked for a second... then she moved her face upwards to look at the male that had not moved away from her.
He wasn't looking down at her. Instead he was looking in the direction she had just come from, at the friends she had left behind.
He grunted, "Today's the only time I'll let you hug me. Hurry up and come here."
Absolutely taken aback by the absolute absurdity of the man's words, Sakura gasped beside herself. That caused Kuzu to turn his face down to look at her, only for his eyes to narrow when they caught something he seemed displeased by.
"I thought I told you to cut your hair." his voice wasn't quite a growl, but he certainly didn't sound happy.
Even with how odd it was to be able to hug the Old Man, Sakura found herself shrinking back at how clearly unhappy he was to see that she hadn't followed through on his orders. She smiled apologetically and explained, "My mom wouldn't let me cut it. She says short hair isn't beautiful enough for me."
With a grunt, Kuzu uncrossed his arms. As one hand pushed Sakura a little bit away, the other went to the pouch that was attached to his right thigh. Then, with his left hand, he forced Sakura to turn around. The girl did so with confusion beginning to come over her- just what was the Old Man going to do?
She heard a weapon's pouch opening up, the sliding of metal, and then Kuzu spoke up. "Seeing how you're a ninja, unless your skills are built around your appearance, you have no reason to worry about fitting into any standard of beauty." as he spoke, Sakura felt the hair of her ponytail being lifted up, and then the band that held her hair together pulled down a little bit lower. "In the even you don't have the luxury to go to a hairdresser to get a haircut, a kunai does a fine enough job."
One second, Sakura's hair was intact and long.
The next, Sakura felt an odd sort of coolness come over the back of her neck... and when she reached up to grab at her ponytail, she found nothing. When she reached up higher, she found uneven strands of her hair coming down to the middle of her neck... Kakuzu had just chopped off half of her hair.
She heard an unimpressed grunt from Kuzu and when she turned back to look at him, it was to find that his left hand was holding onto the chunk of hair he had just cut off. He looked around the room, groaned, and allowed it to drop onto the floor below. And then when he glanced at Sakura, he pointed at the bangs framing her face.
Immediately Sakura caught on to what he was asking without any words and she took a step back, "I'll pin it back!"
The Old Man... was quite the character.
Kiba, Akamaru, Fū, and him had stayed back as Sakura and Kuzu interacted initially. In Chouji's case, he had been too taken aback by the sudden change in the Old Man's appearance to move- he had been trying to digest what the change could have meant... the hitai-ite that now rested on the top of the man's head... the Village symbol was Konoha's.
Kiba had told them that he, with one hundred percent surety, knew that neither Kuzu nor Fū were from anywhere around Konohagakure. They weren't even from any territory within the Land of Fire. Their intel gathering had allowed them to find out that the symbol on the headband he had once worn had belonged to the hidden village of Takigakure. By all intents and purposes, Kuzu was far from being a Konohagakure ninja.
So... why was he wearing the standard uniform that belonged to their ninja?
"So none of you are going to capitalize on my momentary weakness?" the Old Man suddenly grouched, turning to glare at the four that had yet to move towards him. "I thought I had trained you better than this."
Right. Ninja were supposed to capitalize on weakness- that's something Kuzu had taught them from the very beginning.
Chouji blinked but tentatively began to make his way towards the Old Man.
The room they had been brought to by Shikaku Nara was a medium sized one. It seemed to have been completely vacated of furniture, for there was nothing taking up space other than the people currently inside of the room. With plain cream walls and unassuming white tiles, the room had a slight echo born from being mostly vacant. But because it was a small enough space, reaching the Old Man didn't take too many steps- especially considering how Kuzu had been waiting for them in the very middle of the area.
The Old Man... he had never allowed any of them to hug him after all... the one to have gotten the closest to such a thing had been Akamaru, but that had merely been because he was a puppy and not even the grumpy Kuzu could kick him away. This may actually be the only shot they would ever get in their life to be able to hug him...
Kuzu didn't bend down to hug them himself. But he did not move away when he finally reached him. Tentatively, Chouji raised his arms to level them to his waist, then stepped forward and hugged Kuzu for the first time in his life.
A few seconds later, Chouji grunted when Fū ran at them and jumped onto the old man, wrapping her arms around his neck and barely missing Chouji's head with her right foot. And then Akamaru was climbing Chouji's back, barking animatedly as he moved to ascend the unshakeable mountain that was Kuzu.
Eventually Kiba walked up to them, but, oddly enough, he did not join the hug. He merely... stood to the side.
Kuzu didn't comment on this. But when Chouji turned his face away from the man's stomach and towards Kiba, he found that his eyes were wide in surprise... and Kuzu's left hand was resting on top of his head.
"It's so great to see you again, granduncle! I've got so much I wanna tell you! And there's a lot Sakura and Chouji and Kiba can tell you too! They're my best friends now, you know? They're even more awesome than you said they were going to be! And Ibiki's now my adopted father so I live with him, but don't worry, you can come visit whenever! Ibiki might say he wouldn't like that, but he's a total pushover! Just this week he let us all sleepover and we didn't fall asleep until four in the morning- at least that's what Akamaru told me the clock read."
Chouji smiled softly and closed his eyes just as he tightened his hold on the Old Man. His flak jacket smelled absolutely new and his body was stiff now that he was being hugged by all of them. But Chouji liked to think that the man wouldn't change this moment for anything in the world... he had given it to them on a silver platter, after all.
They were ninja. They had to attack advantage of his moment of weakness and steal that which they had all wanted to feel for quite some time- a hug from their Old Man.
He... had not been expecting such a warm reception from the usually cold and distant Kuzu.
Even now, minutes after Kuzu had pushed them away and asked them to line up in front of him to give reports on what had happened since he had left his grandniece with them, Kiba still felt the weight of his large hand on top of his head. It was as if it had left an imprint when it had landed on his hair... but, and this surprised him to no end... it didn't make him feel bad.
If anything, the phantom memory of Kuzu's hand on his hair felt reassuring.
And... he didn't understand why.
"You five are now a team. That means that secret keeping between you has to be kept to a minimum- if you're going to continue in your shinobi careers as an actual pack, it is imperative you can trust each other with your lives." Kuzu now stood before them with his arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed as he scanned over each one of them.
Chouji was at the far end of their line, to his right was Sakura, to her's was Fū, and Kiba made up the end of the other side of the line they had been ordered to form. Akamaru had wanted to remain hanging precariously on the top of Kuzu's head, but the man had put a quick end to such a thing by picking him up by the scruff of his neck and handing him over to Chouji. The pup was now curled up inside of the large left-side pocket of the Akimichi's pants, head sticking out in attention.
The control and order Kuzu held over all of them... it wasn't just out of being the actual leader of their pack, Kiba noted. Even though they all loved him, this amount of dedication from all of them, even the rambunctious Akamaru, proved that the respect they held for him went much deeper than just loving the guy. If it was just that, they wouldn't be listening to him so intently right now...
"I am not going to lie to your faces and tell you there are no needs for secret among you- you are shinobi and secrets form an integral part of both your defensive and offensive capabilities. It would be a misinterpretation of shinobi life to stand here and attempt to tell you that secrets should not be acquired. Instead I'll tell you that you have to be selective on the secrets you keep from those you believe are important to you- we will discuss exactly how to decide on those secrets later on when I have more time."
From the doorway, Kiba was able to smell equal parts disapproval and agreement coming from Shikaku Nara. This made the Inuzuka's lips purse up in confusion. But he soon turned his attention back to the Old Man.
"Because of this, I will have each one of you report on what happened the night Inuzuka and Fū were attacked. I want full details of everything each one of you did that night- and Inuzuka will tell me if any of you is being dishonest." his eyes hardened as he instructed them, then turned his eyes onto Kiba with a look that left no room for arguments. "Have I been understood?"
Why would he think that anyone in their pack would lie?
Aside from him, none of them really had much of an inclination towards dishonesty... except for maybe Sakura, but she knew better than to try and lie about important things. Honestly, she only ever lied to her parents because of their overprotective and belittling tendencies.
With worry beginning to gnaw at him about who the Old Man might think would lie, Kiba nodded to let the man know he was ready.
Kuzu asked for Chouji to begin- they would be going down the line with the reports.
These children were shinobi in training. There was no reason to treat them with kid gloves- especially now that they had been specifically targeted by dangerous adversaries.
It seemed that the only adult willing to understand this particular reality was just him. Because even the Hokage had warned him about treating these kids too harshly- they weren't genin yet, after all, the old fool had tried to tell him. He didn't have to train them as if they were in the middle of a war because they still weren't fully-fledged shinobi.
Fool's logic if Kakuzu had ever heard it. These children were already getting targeted by unknown assailants that were much more powerful than them. If the adults around them that were supposed to care about them didn't wisen up and begin to take their shinobi education much more seriously, it would only be a matter of time before these kids were dead because of someone else's mistakes.
The Akimichi was the first one to give his report and he spoke about how he had been fetched from his home by the pack of strays this group had contracted to aid them. His father had accompanied him and the strays, though, out of worry that the danger he was running into would be more than the kids could handle.
Afterwards the civilian gave her version of how Akamaru woke her up in the middle of the night and directed her towards the Forest of Death, where she eventually met up with Chouji, his father, and the strays.
Neither of them had seen any action- and Kakuzu believed that it may have been because of the appearance of the Head of the Akimichi Clan had come around with them. It was very possible that the two that had attacked Kiba and Fū had decided to retreat when they had seen that the large shinobi had come around with the reinforcements.
When Fū began to explain the chase she and Kiba had been subjected to, Kakuzu didn't ask any of the questions that had been eating at him since Hidan had told him about the attack on the kids. Instead he kept quiet about his doubts and allowed the girl to finish her story without interruption. Then he turned to Inuzuka and got the final perspective on the happenings of the night.
The boy had taken charge of the situation and led Fū away from their attackers with expertise acquired through years of evading justice in his home Village. The girl had not held him back in any way, but she had certainly not helped in any way either.
Silence fell over them after Kiba had finished.
Akamaru barked and Kakuzu quirked an eyebrow at the dog- was he probably trying to give his own input about what had happened?
"Does Akamaru want to say something, Kiba?" the Akimichi voiced out Kakuzu's own wonder, only for Sakura to continue, "That would make sense. The Old Man asked for everyone's reports- why not his?"
The Inuzuka frowned for a moment, looking down at his partner, and sighed, "Possibly because Akamaru still hasn't learned how to communicate directly with the rest of you? Anyway, hurry up, Akamaru. I'll translate for you."
After a solid minute of Akamaru barking, yipping, and growling, the human Inuzuka elucidated on what the pup had experienced. Most of his story was told from what he had experienced within the backpack the civilian had taken with her to the Forest of Death. There were no new details the pup gave to the information the other kids had given. But he seemed pretty pleased with himself once his human partner had finished translating for him.
The experience of facing down an Inuzuka dog attempting to talk to him... and taking the animal seriously... it was absolutely surreal to Kakuzu.
How far he had fallen because he had allowed the Inuzuka to buy up some of his time all those years ago...
Shaking himself out of such a thought, Kakuzu looked over the row of children once again. They were standing perfectly still, waiting at attention for his next words.
If anyone were to look at them right now, they would think he was a squadron leader and these five were, at the very least, competent genin. Even with Konoha's infuriating interference, it seemed that some of his teachings had gotten through to the children.
He had planned to ask for individual time with each of the kids before they were taken away. He already knew precisely which paths these kids were most inclined towards in regards of their future as shinobi, at least at this point in time. And he knew that he needed to get them started on their individualized schedules as quickly as possible- he didn't trust Konoha to be capable of protecting them if another ambush was ever planned on them.
But now that he directly heard from Fū how she had opted to run away- seemingly without even thinking of the possibility of fighting back- he knew that there was something he would have to address with her. And he knew that this very thing he would be addressing would be something the whole pack would have to hear. This wasn't the kind of secret the young girl could keep from them if she was serious about them becoming the closest she would get in this world to a family.
"Why didn't you fight back, Fū?" he asked roughly, eyes narrowing in her direction.
The girl's eyes widened as soon as she registered the question, then she cocked her head to the side ever so slightly- it was as if she could not believe that he had asked such a thing. Why?
"I'm not used to fighting with a teammate. I didn't think it'd be smart to try something- I didn't want to hurt Kiba."
She was accustomed to fighting with a teammate. But it was a partner that formed a veritable and literal part of her. Unlike with Akamaru and Kiba, the relationship between Fū and the chakra beast sealed within her was much less inhuman. Although, from what he had managed to piece together from the reports he had read from the Akatsuki and the few times the girl herself had talked about her chakra beast, their relationship was stable; it could even be considered somewhat amicable under specific circumstances.
But... Kakuzu had to concede... it made sense that the girl wouldn't want to fight back when Kiba was around. Her Village had not focused on an education that focused on teamwork. She had learned how to protect herself and had begun to learn how to truly become the powerhouse her unique companion could help her eventually become.
With a sigh, he nodded slowly. This meant that he would have to add teamwork lessons for her- which meant that he would have to spend even more time with the young girl. And this was something he wasn't very eager for- the more time he spent around her, the more opportunities she would have to ask him questions about their supposed family. And he wouldn't be able to avoid answer all of those questions.
"Why would you be worried about that?" the Inuzuka piped up after a few seconds of silence,
Kakuzu cut in before the girl could open up any doors that would confuse the children any further, "Her village failed to meet even the simplest standards of a proper education for a shinobi. That is only one of the various reasons as to why I decided to bring her here."
Not completely honest, but it must have been truthful enough to make the Inuzuka think he was telling them what they needed to know. From other encounters with the boy, Kakuzu knew that he understood- better than most adult shinobi- the need for him to keep specific secrets.
"Now." he looked over to the Nara that had been standing as a stern sentinel in the doorway to the room this whole time, quiet yet observant. "Akimichi stay here. The rest are to leave with the Nara. I'll call you in one-by-one after I'm done with him."
"Wait a minute," the Nara stepped forward, face pulled in with confusion. "I didn't get any orders to spend anymore time than absolutely necessary here. And I certainly wasn't told to allow you to be alone with any of these kids at any point."
Kakuzu frowned at this, but soon shrugged. "Fine. Then you stay in here while I talk with each single kid separately. The rest of you are to stay outside and mind your business until you're called in." then he pointed at the door and, essentially, shooed them out.
It was obvious that the Nara Clan Head wasn't happy at all with what he was playing at. But he didn't properly care about what the other man wanted or even believed to be correct. He needed to begin individualized lessons with each of the children as early as possible and the Hokage hadn't forbid him from doing anything of the like- so he was starting this today.
"Alright. You guys heard the Old Man; let's get going." the Inuzuka instructed, making his way towards the Akimichi to pluck his partner out of his pants.
Even with all that Konoha had impeded him educating these children properly, Kakuzu could be grateful of one thing- these children understood the dynamics of being a pack in the way that the Inuzuka had taught them. They respected the boy as their provisional leader when he wasn't around. And even when he was around, the kid was respected as his second-in-command.
The kids shuffled out of the room in varying degrees of curiosity and hesitation. It wouldn't surprise him to find out that they weren't eager to leave so they could find out exactly what he was planning to do with each one of them- but they would be able to exchange information once the day was over.
Kuzu had him kneel down directly in front of him once the rest of the pack had left the room. This meant that his back was facing Lord Nara- and Kuzu had a clear view of the Head of the Nara clan.
"Medical ninjutsu is what you've been the most interested in for the past few years. Have you advanced at all since the last time I visited?" Kuzu asked him, immediately getting down to the point of this specific meeting.
Chouji smiled softly, but ducked his head. "I think so, yeah..."
Even though he knew he had gotten better at healing, now that he was alone with the Old Man... he worried that what he had come to learn wasn't enough for the man's judgement.
"Then show me."
Chouji furrowed his brows at this, chancing one look at the man for a moment, confused as to what he meant. There was nobody hurt... there was no one he could test his healing jutsu on...
"Uh... Kuzu... how can I-" he wasn't able to finish formulating his question. Kuzu had turned his eyes away from him and towards Lord Shikaku and interrupted his question before he had been able to finish.
"Be useful, Nara. C'mere and let the boy heal you." he called, and when Chouji turned around to look at Shikaku, it was to find the man frowning in a complete lack of amusement at what had been said.
"To be an S-Ranked missing nin that only recently received amnesty for a multitude of crimes committed against humanity, you are being much more demanding of the Jounin Leader of the village you ran to for aid than I would have expected." Shikaku murmured with a feigned sigh. To Chouji's ears, it sounded as if he was attempting to seem much more relaxed and disinterested than he actually was.
After this thought, Chouji's mind caught on to one of the first things Shikaku had said- S-Ranked missing nin? What?
"Some may even say I am not being prudent with the way I am handling this situation." even though he was wearing a mask, Chouji swore he saw Kuzu's face visibly sour because of the Nara's words.
Crimes committed against Humanity?
What... what was Shikaku talking about?
Kuzu shrugged softly before continuing with a hiss, "I believe my actions have more than proved how little I care for the opinions of others." and then he sighed softly, "Are you so worried of the boy's abilities? He's more than competent enough to demonstrate the healing I am thinking of without causing you any nerve damage."
Chouji blinked in absolute confusion even as the men continued to talk over him without seeming to worry over the way his eyes had widened and his breathing had become shorter.
Kuzu was a criminal? And he was now in Konoha because... because why?
What were these two hiding from them?
"I am not injuring myself, Kakuzu. And Chouji is not going to be attempting any healing ninjutsu without the proper supervision of an actual medical ninja." Shikaku established in a stern, this-is-not-up-for-discussion, tone of voice. "Count yourself lucky I am even allowing these individualized meetings you asked for."
With a hiss of discontent, Kuzu shook his head softly. "Fine. We can set to work on such a thing on another day, then." then Kuzu sighed softly, moving his right hand to one of the pockets of the flak jacket he now wore, "I've got something for you. It's part of your medical education- although I can't tell you I know too much about what it contains. The Inuzuka's father left it for you."
Absolutely overcome with bewilderment, Chouji could only stare at the Old Man as he pulled out a simple, brown pouch from the large pocket on his left side. There was no grand show to be made of the man giving it over to Chouji- he merely waited for Chouji to offer his hand out before he allowed it to plop down. Once within his own hand, the boy was able to see that there was a faded design drawn onto the pouch. It looked like a fishing rod.
"Daichi left this for me?" he asked, even though his voice was barely louder than a whisper.
Daichi Inuzuka... his first great teacher... the only teacher that had actively focused on only teaching him medical ninjutsu... he had met their Old Man? When? And why had he left this with him, rather than giving it to Chouji directly?
Kuzu closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Asked me to safekeep it until I thought you were smart enough to get it." then, ignoring the overwhelmingly bewildered look in Chouji's widened eyes, he grunted, "You're going to have to be the medic ninja of this unit, Akimichi. Inuzuka doesn't have the patience or chakra control to be assigned such a role. My grandniece barely understands the need to take care of herself. And Haruno's temper suits an offensive role. Those three need someone with a level head to look after them."
He? Level headed?
All the young boy could do was stare. First he stared at Kuzu, so confused and surprised and overwhelmed that he could barely make a coherent thought. Then he stared down at the pouch he had been handed, feeling tears begin to sting at his eyes. Daichi Inuzuka had left this for him. He had trusted the Old Man with a final wish. And he had cared enough about Chouji to leave him something.
If this truly was a gift that would aid in him becoming a better medical ninja... it only served as a testament to the faith Daichi had in him to be able to help others.
This proved that Daichi truly trusted him to look after his son...
His fingers curled tightly around the pouch as his hands brought it up to his chest. Closing his eyes, Chouji nodded stiffly, all the while he attempted to contain his tears and stop them from falling while he was still seated before the Old Man.
"Your chakra feels stronger today. Keep up the work and I'll contact you later on to continue with your medical studies one-on-one."
With these final words, Chouji was dismissed.
He walked away in an absolute stupor- hands still curled tightly around Daichi Inuzuka's final gift to him.
Chouji had walked out with tears threatening to fall down his cheeks. This immediately put Sakura on edge- even though the Old Man was a grumpy person, he had proved that he was nowhere near being volatile. Even though he had always tried to seem a dangerous person to be around, they had known for a long while now that he was mostly harmless to them. He cared too much about them to hurt them. If he seemed to have hurt them, it had only been because he wanted to see them become better.
"Chouji? Are you okay?" she asked softly, hurrying over to him.
Absolutely flooring her, Chouji smiled just as one tear fell down his left cheek. With a mute nod, he lumbered towards the wall she had previously been sitting against- where the rest of their friends were still currently resting. She was about to ask him once more what was wrong, but when he began to sit down, he took a moment to stop and wave her away.
Blinking in slight confusion at this, Sakura began to make her way back into the room where Kuzu waited for her. Even though she wanted to understand why Chouji had left looking so close to tears, she understood very well that Chouji wasn't the kind to lie to anyone. If he had told her he was okay, it truly was because nothing bad had happened.
The door was open when she arrived at the room. But she still rapped softly at it, announcing her arrival while simultaneously asking for permission to enter.
Kuzu looked up at her and offered one quick nod, wordlessly telling her to walk into the room. She did so in slight trepidation, passing by Shikamaru's father before she settled on her knees when she finally reached Kuzu. Once she was sat down, she looked at him up at the old man, wondering what he would want to talk about with her.
After a few seconds spent in absolute silence in which he stared down at her through narrowed eyes, the man finally spoke up. "You're an aggressive fighter."
Immediately her eyes widened.
"I'm not aggressive!" she refuted with little hesitation, only to regret such an outburst when Kuzu's already narrowed eyes tighten further in a clear show of not being amused to her. "Why do you think I'm aggressive?"
Kiba was an aggressive person. Just like Naruto. But she wasn't an aggressive person! She didn't like confrontations and she didn't really like having to assert herself. She guessed that maybe she did it when she had to... but she much preferred to let Kiba handle all of the encounters that could turn aggressive or worrying. She was like Chouji in that respect; not Kiba.
"I didn't say you were an aggressive person, Haruno." Kuzu grunted out, shaking his head softly. "You're an aggressive fighter. The thrill of a battle; the adrenaline that rushes through your veins; the excitement of engaging in a contest- all of that excites you. And you gain a sick sort of pleasure from knowing you have the upper-hand on your enemies."
Sakura's heart tightened upon hearing this... even as heavy regret began to fill her up.
She didn't want to believe it... all her life her parents had tried to raise her as proper human being... and a proper human being wasn't supposed to feel so happy to engage in fights...
Oh but how she loved to fight! All of the taijutsu tournaments in class, even though they were incredibly easy, always managed to get her heart pumping in the most enjoyable way!
"Sorry..." she murmured, a feeling of shame beginning to gnaw at her along with the guilt. She lowered her head at this, closing her eyes to not have to face the harsh words she knew Kuzu was about to deliver.
The young girl gasped in surprise, though, when she felt a forceful poke at her head rather than heard any harsh words. "Why are you apologizing for a trait so perfectly shinobi?" and, even though Kuzu's words were cold and somewhat growled out, Sakura felt some of the weight of shame and regret that had come over her lift off from her. "You enjoy a fight and find thrill in confrontation. That paired along with notable amount of chakra control makes you a perfect candidate for the type of ninja I have in mind for you."
Sakura was thrown for a loop as soon as she heard Kuzu speak. But she wasn't allowed much time to even try and process what had been said- Kuzu continued to talk about the idea he had envisioned for her training and didn't give her a second to stop and process her shock.
"I want to be friends with Naruto." Fū smiled softly as she tightened her arms around her granduncle's thick neck. "Kiba said that he's rude, though, and I've got to be honest about why I want to be his friend if I want him to let me make him my friend."
She was really enjoying having her granduncle with her again. They had been together in the room for only a few minutes now- minutes she had taken up by asking him where he had been, what he had been doing, and what they would be doing now that he was in Konoha with her. In that time she had taken advantage of how kind he was being to jump onto his back, hanging around his shoulders even as he remained seated on the ground.
"You're really tall." she murmured in observation, then asked, "Have you heard about Naruto? He's like me, y'know."
Her granduncle grunted softly, head bowing ever so slightly as she came onto her tiptoes and leaned slightly to the side to get a better look at his masked face over his shoulder. "Why aren't you being honest with Inuzuka?"
Fū pursed her lips at the question, but soon sighed. She could trust her granduncle, after all. Even though she wasn't very sure if she could tell her friends about her... uh... body's roommate- she knew that Kakuzu was someone she could trust with all her heart... even with his unique past.
"Because I want to get to know Naruto because of my-" faster than the blink of an eye, her granduncle covered her mouth up with his left hand, effectively stopping her from finishing her sentence. She blinked in slight confusion at this, then looked forward and remembered that there was someone else in the room with them... Oops.
Chuckling softly, the girl pulled away from his large hand and apologized. Her granduncle growled softly, then commented, "I'll talk to the kid. If you want to befriend someone, he shouldn't be stopping you."
Fū beamed and they fell into silence.
Kakuzu had already let her know about the training schedule they would be embarking on starting tomorrow. And she was incredibly excited to get to learn how to work better with her friends- now that she had them, she wasn't going to let anyone hurt them! But if her enemies weren't too evil, she saw no issue with trying to make them her friends too...
She just really wanted friends now that she had found herself a small family!
Talking about family...
"Hey, granduncle..." she began, voice unsure as she allowed herself to drop back onto her heels. "I've wanted to ask you for a while and I don't really wanna wait anymore... how come... uh..." she wasn't sure how she was supposed to ask her granduncle why he was the Boogeyman of Takigakure.
He grunted and lowered his hand, crossing his arms over his chest once again. "If it's a question about Takigakure, it can wait for when we're actually in private."
Right... the Nara...
"Okay." she murmured, crestfallen.
Then she heard her granduncle sigh. "But if you are truly impatient, I can tide you over by telling you one simple assertation. Takigakure's educational system relies on fostering fear because they believe fear is the ultimate controller of a human being. Whatever you have heard of me, it has only been spoken to ensure the Village continues to remain wary of my possible continued existence. In effect, some of it may even be exaggerated and, in a worst case scenario, even fabricated."
Once again the smile returned to her face and she hugged her granduncle tighter once more before letting him go and skipping so she was facing him directly. Once they were mostly eye-to-eye, she nodded quickly, "I knew that! You're too nice to have done those things!"
The name Kakuzu was equivalent to death in her Village. She had overheard old people talking about how ruthless he had been when he had killed off a whole generation of shinobi, but they had been drinking and she had been hidden, so maybe such information was just a lie. And in the history books he was stricken down as an unrepentant and black-hearted traitor that had attempted to destroy the Village that had only offered him greatness in life. But she only knew that because of the small amount of times Shibuki had managed to convince someone to actually tutor her- and she had never been particularly good at history classes, so maybe she had remembered things wrong.
Although, she did have to wonder... why was Kakuzu known as the Boogeyman of Takigakure if he hadn't done any of the things he supposedly had?
With a grunt, her granduncle nodded back at her. "This Morino guy you're living with- he treating you all well?"
Without a second to spare, the younger Takigakure native began to regale her granduncle with the amazing tale of how awesome Ibiki Morino actually was. As she spoke, she moved from one spot to another of the room, never staying in place for too long. And her granduncle; while sedate and still remaining within his own perch on the ground, seated on his knees; listened patiently and intently to everything she had to say.
As she explained how Ibiki was actually incredibly lost about how children were supposed to work- which was free and with little limitations, as she and Kiba enjoyed to be-, Fū couldn't help but feel incredibly blessed for the most recent happenings in her life. She finally had a family and was acquiring friends that cared for her.
Chōmei had been right all this time. She had just needed to be patient.
She should take some time to visit her later on to catch her up to speed on everything that had been happening out in the real world.
Kuzu was a fan of long silences.
Kiba's hands were balled up into fists on top of his thighs. Akamaru sneezed softly in an attempt to seem like a regular animal in Kuzu's eyes, even as he called Kiba an idiot. The traitor was currently perched on top of Kuzu's head, taking advantage of his momentary weakness to show off being able to reach heights Kiba had never before reached.
"We're not moving until you talk, Inuzuka."
Beside himself, Kiba allowed his eyes to close. He lowered his head, shoulders lifting ever so slightly even as he fought the urge in an attempt to try his best to not make himself seem any smaller.
Tears were building up inside of his eyes and he did not want the Old man to see his weakness.
He heard the Old Man sigh softly but he didn't look up to see what the man would do next.
This... he hadn't been looking forward to this one-on-one conversation. All of his pack had been incredibly excited for the chance to spend alone time with their favorite Old Man. And once Chouji had gotten over his crying spell, he had told him and Fū about how happy he was to have been able to have the chance to spend some time with Kuzu. Then when Sakura had come back out, she had just about gushed over how great a teacher he was- she just couldn't wait to get started on his training regime!
He hadn't been able to get a good understanding of what Fū had thought of her own meeting. But from the fact that she had spent the longest amount of time with the Old Man out of the other three, Kiba guessed that she must have been incredibly focused on spending time with him. And her scent had just about been bursting with positive emotions.
Now that he was here, though... Kiba felt vulnerable. The Old Man had asked all the sorts of questions Kiba didn't want to answer: How have you coped with the attack? What kind of plans have you thought up of to strengthen the pack? Is it true Haruno almost passed out from chakra exhaustion? Why aren't you talking more? What really happened during the attack?
He didn't know if any of his friends had told the Old Man about how he had changed ever since the attack... but Kiba wouldn't put it past the guy to figure out the change by himself. Kuzu just... saw him, unlike any other adult in the world. It was scary. Kiba wasn't used to any grown up caring about him any more than what was necessary for the health and longevity of his clan.
"I..." Kiba opened his mouth to speak, but choked on his own tears. Even as he attempted to hide it, one damning tear began to roll down his cheek.
The atmosphere in the room changed immediately- even as his nose was threatened with becoming clogged because of his stupid crying, Kiba could sniff out the alarm that came from both shinobi within the room.
Would... would it be bad to admit his greatest weakness to the Old Man?
Sharp nails dug into his palms harsh enough to threaten skin to cave and begin to bleed. He bit his bottom lip, unable to truly form a good lie that would throw Kuzu off of his trail. And he shrunk deeper into himself.
Inuzuka didn't admit to weakness.
"I failed." his mind whispered, regretful and ashamed.
A broken gasp escaped him when his ears allowed him to find out he had spoken such a thing out loud. He had meant to keep it bottled up within his mind... he had never meant to tell anyone.
Kuzu's growl rumbled from deep within his chest and another gasp broke from the Inuzuka's lips when the man's huge paw landed on top of his head once again. Kuzu... he never showed affection... not this obviously.
"What was the mission I assigned you?"
Even though the growl had been angered- clearly pissed off... Kuzu's tone of voice didn't sound all that irritated... it sounded... exasperated?
Kiba shook his head. If he tried to speak, he would just burst out crying.
"Protect my grandniece." Kuzu answered for him, clearly chiding him. "I didn't give you a mission to kill anyone that attacked her. I didn't even instruct you to fight back if you ever got attacked. I asked you to keep her safe. Now, if you were supposed to be keeping my grandniece safe, how did your actions on the night of the ambush lead you to believe you failed?"
A sob broke from him just as another tear rolled down his other cheek. He lifted his hands to his face, attempting to cover up his shame before the Old Man could get a good look of his despicable vulnerability.
"You succeeded." Kuzu's voice was closer now, but Kiba couldn't smell him out. Now his nose had clogged up and the tears were picking up speed. "And you more than exceeded my expectations."
Kuzu's voice dropped now, barely a whisper beside Kiba's ear. "There aren't any enemies here to see you cry. The privacy seal won't let the Nara hear you. And I'm not looking at you."
A memory, old and mostly forgotten to the passing of time, resurfaced right then and there. The Old Man had given them all bits of advice to internalize when they had first met him... had it been during their first meeting with him? Or had it been during one of the subsequent visits? Kiba couldn't remember very well now.
But he knew that this particular piece of advice had been directed to Sakura, who had once been a shameful cry-baby. The Old Man had told her that she could never let anyone have the satisfaction of seeing her cry... crying in front of an enemy was like admitting defeat...
But Kuzu had just let him know that no one would see him cry.
The hand in his hair moved ever so softly, petting him in a way he hadn't felt ever since he had been five years old and still had not been stricken down as a problem child within his own clan. The last time his father had done this to him... Kiba couldn't remember... the last time his mother...
But Kuzu was here and now and petting him as if he were a pup that mattered, rather than just a runt that took up space.
Kiba broke.
~..~..~
Hope you enjoyed! Please review!
And, seriously, please try and stay safe out there. The world is insane, but that doesn't mean you have to be.
