I'm so sorry! I can't even say I've been super busy as I've had down-times where I could have worked on this... But update on my life for a few months that kept be super preoccupied... I packed up and moved out of my apartment of many years, drove over 1,200 miles to my new residence (with two cats in my car, but they did REALLY well) then I needed to start learning/getting used to my new job… still getting used to it honestly, but I like it so far, it takes up a fair bit of time as it's a sewing job, but I get paid a lot better than my old one, especially as I can work from home and I'm an introvert. xD
This chapter also gave me a lot of difficulty. When I did write, I would often churn out a large chunk, but then hit some spot and all inspiration just keeled over, so I apologize for any weird part that might seem disjointed, those are the places that gave me issue and where I didn't look at my work again for days/weeks/months in frustration.
Once again, as I say so often, thank you for reading my story. It means so much to me that you do – that some of you are still ready after so long is mind blowing – and I'm touched every last review, alert, and favorite I get. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Warning – Another one of Ai's (I guess they're mine since I wrote it :X) elevator puns is ahead. I am so sorry…
Silver Streams
We Follow the Path that We Believe In
※
"Ai, Ai, Ai," a singsong voice caroled outside the door. "Please come out to play!"
"Just a second!" Ai replied back. She was sitting at the genkan carefully cleaning her feet before she put her sandals on. Hayate, however, padded bare-footed down the short hallway, pulling open their front door, revealing fourteen-year-old Shisui.
"Happy Birthday!" He exclaimed, holding up a surprisingly large box wrapped in navy blue, polka-dotted in small grey shuriken, with a bright purple bow on top.
"Happy Birthday," eleven-year-old Itachi echoed less exuberantly, but he still had a small smile. His box, tucked neatly under his arm, was a bland manilla color, undecorated in any way.
"The big eight, huh?" The older Uchiha grinned. "To celebrate, we gentlemen are here to treat our best lady to the best day of her life! The solstice festival is tonight and we're gonna par-tay!" As he finished speaking, Shisui kicked her sandals across the genkan, just as Ai reached for them.
"Hey!"
"You don't want those shoddy things!" He then thrust his gift into her arms. "Go on, open it!"
Ai could feel the ridge of the box's top even though the paper, so she dug her small fingers into the crease and ripped both paper and lid free. The strong smell of new leather wafted out. Inside were a pair of black boots that would stop high on her calf. "Ninja boot wear isn't as common as the sandal variety, but I know you hate getting your feet dirty. No more before and after foot washing for you! Go on, put 'em on!"
She 'oo'ed slightly as she picked the right boot up. A zipper ran from top to bottom along the back and on the left side of the zipper near the top, an Uchiha fan was embroidered in bright purple thread. Ai ran a thumb over it.
Itachi sighed. "Shisui, you can't go around handing out the crest like it's free for all."
"Huh?" The older boy gasped. "Why not?" Shisui sat on the step of the genkan and pulled Ai into his side. She was making sure the leg of her pants was tucked neatly into the boot before zipping it up all the way. "We're looking at a future Uchiha here. You want to be a great Uchiha too, just like your best pal Shisui, right? I'm the greatest Uchiha of them all! Isn't that right, Ai?"
Ai picked up the next boot and started putting it on. "I have no opinion on the matter," she answered.
A short burst of air escaped Itachi, who quickly turned his head away and pressed a fist against his mouth. Hayate had less reservations and laughed out loud at the aghast look on Shisui's face.
He let go of Ai and fell back onto the floor, arms spread. "Betrayers, all of you!"
While Shisui played up the dramatics, Itachi took a step forward and handed Ai his own box. She smiled as she took it and when Ai opened it, she gasped.
A rainbow greeted her, made of many small slices tucked one against the other. "It's so pretty," Ai sounded near mesmerized. Shisui sat up to take a peek.
"No fair, Itachi," he groused. "Trying to buy her affections with food and aesthetically pleasant sights."
Ai trailed a finger along the items in the box. They seemed similar to crackers. "What are they?" she asked looking up.
"Senbei," he replied. "My aunt makes the best in the village. I asked her if she could make a bunch of different flavored ones and helped pay for importing what was required to do so. I hope you enjoy them."
She looked back down and trailed her finger over the crackers once more, appreciating the perfectly lined up colors.
"Are you going to try one?" Hayate asked.
"Maybe later." She didn't want to ruin the perfect alignment of shades. At her response Hayate leaned over her shoulder and pulled out a light green cracker. He snapped it in half. "Hey!" He put one half back in the box and the other was placed in her hand.
"We both know you'll stare at them indecisively, unwilling to ruin the arrangement until they've gone stale. I'm helping." He picked the box off her lap and removed the empty boot box. "Now, go have fun tonight."
Standing, Ai brought the piece of senbei to her mouth to nibble at it. A light melon flavor filled her senses and she hummed blissfully. "It's tasty. Thank you, Itachi." He nodded and opened the door. "And you too, Shisui, thank you."
"Of course!" he laughed and placed a hand on her head.
※※※※※
Ai was mature enough to admit she should have been paying attention to Sasuke as he fought himself around Abel and Seth. She'd seen him getting faster back before the chunin exams and since then he'd only gotten better, but ever since Inoichi broke that genjutsu on her, memories had been trickling back. Things she'd forgotten, enjoyable times that she wasn't sure if she'd shut away in anger or if Itachi had locked them up for her.
The thought was as upsetting as it was distracting, so when Sasuke bodychecked her - he at least seemed to realize she wasn't paying attention and his impact was almost more of a ninja love tap - and sent her sprawling into a large, branchy bush, she didn't cuss him out.
"Ow!" She snarled unnecessarily, then proceeded saying numerous colorful things a person should not do to their mother. "A little warning next time," she groused rolling out of the bush, whose scratchy branches clawed at her flesh and clothes.
"Maybe if you paid attention in a fight…"
Damn him, he was right and they both knew it.
Ai's knees hit the ground and as she went to stand, her head was yanked back, causing her to swear again as her scalp hollered in pain. With her hands, she followed her ponytail back to find it romantically involved with one of the bush's twisted branches.
Sasuke snorted.
"Don't laugh at me!" Abel's body shivered, humming in amusement while Seth laid himself on the ground, uninterested, but surprisingly well-behaved. "Traitors." Ai dropped to her backside and scooched closer to the bush in order to gain a little leeway and began trying to separate her hair and plant. It was difficult as more than half her hair was fully committed to making the relationship work and she couldn't turn around fully. Ai cursed her new wooden boyfriend colorfully under her breath, but paused at the sound of metal being drawn. Looking back at Sasuke, Ai found him walking towards her, kunai in hand.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," she slurred together and held up a hand. Sasuke paused. "What are you doing?"
"Helping."
Ai clutched at her hair protectively. "No, no, no. Please don't cut my hair."
"Is it really that big of a deal?"
Ai averted her gaze, her cheeks dusting a soft pink. "I know it's kind of silly. It'll grow back, but… I like my hair long. It was… Back in the bunker our heads were shaved once a week," she waved her hand a little to the back of her neck, "to keep access to the datajack clear. Growing it out was the first real choice I made for myself, for my body. Plus, Yugito always had such beautiful long hair and I wanted to be like her."
Ugh, why did I say that last part? It sounds so embarrassing admitting it out loud.
"Who's Yugito?" Sasuke asked, slowly rolling the kunai in his hand.
"She was, is, I guess, maybe, still, a ninja in Cloud. She was the one who named me Ai."
Sasuke let out a breath of air, not quite a sigh, and started walking forward again. His hand tightened on his weapon.
Ai clutched at her hair, raising her free hand again. "Wait! I thought you weren't going to cut it! Come on, please don't!" Ignoring her pleas, Sasuke walked behind her and his left hand clamped down over hers where she was holding her hair and pulled the blonde strands taut. A prickle of pain rippled over her scalp and then, suddenly, she was free.
The feel of a scratchy branch hit her in the back. Ai blinked, pulling her hair over her shoulder, still attached, but now free of the bush, was her hair's wooden boyfriend.
"It'll be easier to untangle if you can see it," Sasuke explained, walking around her. "I was never going to cut off your hair."
"Oh." Ai began picking free strands of hair, feeling her cheeks heating even more. "Well, now I'm just embarrassed."
"I can see that."
Holding up her hair via the attached branch, she said, "It's kinda like looking at two squids making out."
Sasuke closed his eyes. "Why would you say that?"
"Which I guess is actually them having –"
"Stop," he interrupted, "talking."
Ai smiled; glad he was now as uncomfortable as she was. "Thank you, Sasuke, for helping."
"Whatever," he grumbled, turning away.
Still grinning, Ai set to work untangling her hair, snapping off smaller bits of wood to help unsnarl everything. As she did so, Sasuke, who was showing a decently marked improvement in his cakra flow, went back to practicing with Abel. Seth, meanwhile, slithered his way over to her, curling into a mass behind her back.
It took a while, but when she was done, Ai tossed the stick back into its home bush. Sasuke had just finished downing some water when he finally spoke to her again.
"You should come to Ichiraku Ramen with me."
Ai looked upwards, just to make sure the sky wasn't about to drop on her head. "Why?" she finally asked, looking back to him after pointedly scanning the sky for impending doom.
Sasuke's finger tapped on his water bottle, seeming to think something over, or he was regretting having opened his mouth, it was tough to call. "Our team has been trying to see Kakashi-sensei's face."
"Okay?" she prodded. That sentence still didn't explain anything.
"If you're there it will be less suspicious. We followed him around all day yesterday and I'm sure he noticed Naruto and Sakura." Ai pressed her lips together to keep from saying 'what about you?' and waited for Sasuke to continue. "He was obviously skeptical when we offered to buy him lunch this morning and, I was thinking, maybe it'll seem like we're less up to something if you're there."
"Okay," she repeated. "So, what's in it for me?"
"You get to see Kakashi-sensei's face."
"All right, let's assume for a second I am as shallow as a teaspoon. What if he's ugly? Now what's in it for me?"
"You're not even slightly curious?"
"Eh." Ai shrugged. "I don't really know the guy, but he's always been tolerantly nice to me, he also kept on eye on me during a rough patch, as you know, and I at least partially respect his desire for privacy because of those listed reasons." Sasuke frowned. "But count me in, I guess. I'm hungry." She turned around on her knees, pressing both hands to Seth, with a little application of chakra, he vanished in a puff and Ai stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder and dusting off her pants. Not that the black fabric really needed it.
Sasuke, the gentleman, hadn't waited for her so Ai had to jog briefly to catch up to him. At two soft pats on her leg, Abel fell into a lagging heel, trailing behind her by a few feet.
"Are you buying?"
"No."
Ai sighed. "Typical. Ask a girl to lunch and don't even pay. What is today's youth coming to?" The boy's only response was to grit his teeth and narrow his eyes.
Deciding not to push the matter, Ai walked silently beside him. At least for a few minutes, it turned out Ai got sick of the looks and whispers aimed in their direction and what better way to block them out than a conversation?
"Do you think there are squid summons?"
"Are you seriously bringing up squid again?"
"Would you prefer me to bring up making out?" Sasuke grimaced and closed his eyes, pink blooming on his cheeks. Guess that's a 'no.' "Squid would be pretty cool, right? I don't like them as food, in fact, I don't eat anything that squirts ink, so we'd have that in common and not eating each other is a good first step to a firm friendship. Plus, cuttlefish are adorable."
"And completely useless out of the water."
Ai grinned. She'd dragged words out of him after all!
"The Land of Fire has lakes and rivers." She ignored Sasuke's added 'fresh water' comment in favor of continuing. "And a decent amount of beach, if you're in the right places." Sasuke hummed wholly unconvinced. "What about those snakehead fish, then? They can survive out of water for days." A new idea came to Ai, and she briefly bounced in excitement, turning to face Sasuke. "No wait, alligators! How badass would that be? Useful in and out of water and also pretty adorable."
"Are they?" Sasuke asked giving her a disbelieving look.
"Yeah, in a prehistoric dinosaur type way."
"Your metal ones no longer doing it for you? Got to find something new?"
"Well, they're not really summons. Abel and Tori are out at all times and don't draw on my chakra to stay that way. I only seal Seth away 'cause he might actually bite someone. He can get… particular in large crowds. Or small crowds. Or with people who irritate me. He's been behaving a lot better though lately and hasn't bothered explaining why he's so mellow."
"Maybe you're simply learning to have better control over him now. But what you really need to do is learn how to use your bloodline. You'll need the recognition it will garner you if you desire others to see in the same way as you."
"Yeah, yeah, power, power. Don't beat a dead horse, Sasuke. It is pointless. Aoba says I should get a better feel for nature transformations first, lest I, likely, blow something up. And trust me, having blown up a number of people and places, none of us want that mess."
One of Sasuke's eyebrows went up in a perfect arch. "I heard about the trees at one of the training grounds, but you've blown up people?"
"Eeh," Ai dragged out the sound, waffling her hand back and forth. "Yes. Not that many though. There were… three in Cloud," she held up three fingers, then continued the count, "one in the Land of Frost, it would have been two, but he was cut in half before I managed exploding him, and there was another in the Leaf village… I think that's it."
"You think?"
"I can't recall any others. Just so you're aware, before you judge, they were all trying to kidnap and-or kill me. So, I think I was justified. I was also seven and I haven't internally ruptured anyone since. Progress. Thinking about it now, maybe that's part of the reason the cloud village kicked me out."
Sasuke shook his head, but she could see the slight smirk on his face. "You are… something else."
"Thank you."
"Not a compliment."
It was at that moment they turned a corner and the cry of, "Sasuke!" sounded over the noise of passing people. Ahead, waiting outside the Ichiraku Ramen stand, were Naruto, Sakura, and, surprisingly on time, Kakashi. It was Sakura calling her teammate's name and waving as if he couldn't see the pair of brightly-dressed genin. However, upon spotting Ai with Sasuke, Sakura's hand stopped, slowly falling to her side as her wide smiled turned to confusion, nearly matching the baffled look on Naruto's face. As they approached, she asked, "Were you two… hanging out?" They all appeared to be in varying degrees of shock at the idea.
Snap, busted. Ai glanced over at Sasuke whose face had gone blank. Probably should have thought of that, huh, Sasuke? Now, behold the art of BS'ing!
"No," Ai waved the idea away. "I saw him walk by and accosted him with a conversation on squid. Along with a brief history of elevators and their importance in society."
Sasuke's teammates and teacher looked to him. "I can't unhear anything she said," he complained gamely, voice laced with irritation. Ai smiled and reached into the shoulder bag she carried around.
"I'm thinking of writing a book, but until then," she pulled out a pamphlet and held it out so they could read the title. "A little something for your reading pleasure. Filled with all the finer points of my dissertation."
Kakashi closed his visible eye, placing a hand on his face. He had heard Genma's laugh-filled recollection of Ai getting hauled out of the Hokage Tower courtyard along with a number of other ninja's entertained gossip on Ai's bad elevator pun-innuendos. Aoba had called them 'pun-uendos.' They were all horrible. Aoba for naming them that and Ai for making them up. The title on her pamphlet wasn't any better.
Elevators: They'll Get You Up!
At the silence, Ai flapped the paper at Kakashi. "I know you like to read and given your public predilection, no one will question you." He turned around and walked inside the ramen stand. "Oh! Good idea! We can eat and talk."
"Don't chase him off," Sasuke hissed under his breath and followed his teacher into the stand.
"Ai!" Naruto called, grabbing onto her arm and tugging gently. "Come sit next to me!"
Just as she was about to sit between Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura interrupted with, "I wanted to sit next to Sasuke." She said it so glumly and Ai didn't want to start a fight or make a big deal of it, stood up, which somehow began the most annoying game of musical chairs, sans music. They all shuffled and reshuffled, someone always discontent with seating arrangements, finally ending with Ai between Kakashi and Sasuke, but swearing to Naruto that next time she would definitely sit next to him.
"Promise?" Naruto asked.
"Stick a cupcake in my eye," she agreed, though her phrasing only garnered her weird looks. In the silence, she placed her elevator pamphlet on the counter top and gently nudged it in Kakashi's direction. "For your consideration," she told him quietly.
"I'm not taking that."
"It's your choice," Ai assuaged, "but if you ever change your mind, you know where I work. I have also left these all over town, so you might be able to find one lying about."
"Obviously Aoba isn't training you enough if you have so much free time."
Ai laughed and confessed, "I had a little help copying them." Hayase and Okei – who had found her lurking in a less-used room containing the world's oldest copying machine – had been more than thrilled to help spread her special chaos, in fact, they were even aiding her in hiding them around the village, but she wasn't going to give them up anytime soon.
"Welcome back, Ai!" The cheery voice belonging to the female proprietor pulled her attention away. She hadn't realized they knew her name and Ai couldn't recall if she'd introduced herself last time – which that whole thing was embarrassing and she was glad it wasn't brought up. "What can we get you?"
"Uh," she trailed her eyes down the menu quickly, "the… barbeque pork ramen?"
"Good choice!" Naruto cheered from the other end of the bar.
The young woman – Ai really should learn her name – turned to Kakashi to take his order as well. Ai didn't hear it as she was soon distracted by a sharp tug on the right side of her ponytail.
"Ow," she stated her opinion clearly to Sasuke the hair-pulling culprit. He, in turn, raised a sharp bit of wood up to her, having it pinched between two fingers of his left hand.
"I can put your boyfriend back if you prefer," he said dryly. She had apparently not been quiet enough in her commentary earlier.
"Har, har, har, funny man." Ai pulled her hair over her shoulder, combing fingers through it in search of more wood she'd missed. "I'm fine, thanks," she replied, completely ignorant of the flabbergasted looks she and Sasuke were receiving from his team.
The dark-haired boy twisted slightly, his intent to toss the bit of stick to the road obvious. Seeing that, Ai grabbed at his wrist, plucking at the sharp wood to get it out of his fingers without stabbing herself. Turning his face to her, his expression clearly read 'What are you doing?' without having to say a word. "What if someone steps on it," she explained. His grip on the wood was beartrap worthy and he didn't relent to her. Given the glint in his eyes, he found her attempt to take it from him amusing.
"Then they should have been wearing shoes." He stated factually.
"What if they can't afford shoes?" Ai countered, still fruitlessly pinching at the wood.
Sasuke's look turned into his commonly worn 'Are you stupid?' visage. "The village provides the basic needs to any requiring help. How do you not know that when you were likely a recipient?"
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Huh," Ai hummed. Obviously, it wasn't a perfect system, but she it was good the village was trying. She had honestly never put much thought into it before, Ai had been happy with what Hayate had provided for her. She hadn't been showered in possessions, but she'd had clothing, food, shelter, and Ai always compared her life to the one she'd lived in the bunker. It was a very low bar to beat, admittedly, but she'd never cared that she'd worn clothes she'd outgrown for a few months. She had more than what she had then and life in Konoha had been a large step up compared to Kumo, though Yugito, as short of a time as they'd had together, had greatly improved life there.
It did explain how Hayate had managed to support the pair of them when, at the time he'd found her, he'd been a seventeen-year-old chunin who'd taken the responsibility of raising a young girl.
Ai looked down to her boot-clad feet. She'd always had sandals available, but her obsessive hatred of grimy-feeling feet – a side-effect of living in near sterile conditions she supposed – resulting in multiple cleanings a day was well known. She had never complained about it and Hayate had never said anything, but Shisui becoming her boot supplier had probably been a weight off Hayate's shoulders, she'd outgrown shoes like mad. Hayate had only taken over the buying of boots himself after Shisui had died, but he'd been a special jonin by then and the pay was better and in the following years, she'd taken paying work as well. Even still, money wasn't free-flowing, yet Hayate had done everything he could to take care of them both and she'd love him forever for it.
Caught up in her own mind, Sasuke felt Ai's grip on him – not that it'd been painful by any means – slacken and as close to her as he was, he saw her eyes cloud over, lost to some thought steadily dampening her mood.
Sasuke let the bit of wood between their fingers go and returned to facing fully forward. "Fine, take it, what do I care." His words and movement brought her back to herself and Ai took the sliver of wood, letting her other hand slide off his wrist. She straightened in her seat, resting her elbows on the bar top, twisting the bit of branch between her thumb of forefinger.
"That's actually pretty impressive," she finally said, forcefully changing her mood and continuing the conversation like she hadn't stopped, "considering the village's economy for the last few years has been slowly sinking. But also, a good thing, if the village already has the mindset of being willing to help those in need, though mildly hypocritical given they'll help those in need, but leave those same people unable to fully access the village. Which brings us back to the importance of –"
"Don't start again," Sasuke grumbled. Ai may have been making up her earlier tale of lecturing him on elevators, but he had been on the receiving end of her rants before and he had no interest in hearing any of it again. Though, telling him she'd stop if he could manage to properly infuse his chakra into a weapon had been good incentive. He had not been lying in the slightest when he'd said he couldn't unhear anything she'd said.
She was obviously a sadist as she had shown open enjoyment the whole time.
Instead of continuing Ai looked about. "Is there a trashcan around or, oh," the proprietress offered her a small trash bin. Ai tossed the bit of wood in. "Thank you."
"Of course," the woman – Ai really needed to learn that name – replied chipperly.
A moment later a bowl was set before her by the cook. "Here you go. Enjoy!"
"Thanks." Ai leaned forward to grab a set of chopsticks. As she did, the smell of her ramen wafted up, setting her stomach off in a soft gurgle. It smelled divine. Ai hadn't realized she was so hungry.
Snapping the sticks apart, Ai picked up a small section of noodles and took a petite bite, setting the remainder back down into her bowl.
It tasted divine as well.
Naruto made a noise. "Ai," he practically whined her name, "you're doing it wrong. You gotta slurp a bunch of noodles down in one go! It tastes best that way!"
And splatters everywhere, Ai thought, gaze drifting over to her fellow blonde, showing him her obvious doubt at his words.
"Naruto," Kakashi reprimanded, "don't tell people how to eat their food."
The boy instantly deflated, looking down. "Sorry," he murmured.
"It's no problem," Ai reassured softly before taking another bite of her noodles. As she did so, the chef – Ai needed to learn his name too – set Kakashi's bowl of ramen on the countertop with a hearty 'Enjoy!'
Kakashi hummed slightly, watching his ramen with a surprisingly suspicious glint in his visible eye. "So, why did you guy want to buy me food again? Should I expect to find some strings?"
"What?" Naruto squeaked. "No way! Of course not! Why –"
"We just wanted to show you our appreciation for you as our sensei, sensei! Please, eat! Eat!" Sakura interrupted with a semi-decent excuse, if her voice hadn't pitched so high and had cut her sentence down by half the word count.
Humming again, Kakashi prepared a set of chopsticks. "If you say so. It does look pretty good."
Merrily, and not paying an iota of attention to the rising drama, Ai leaned forward to her bowl and took another small bite of her food.
"Sasuke!" A voiced shouted, startling Ai as a blonde and purple blur collided into Sasuke's back, sending him sprawling into bar top with a grunt of pain. "We were passing by and –"
"Get out of the way you fat pig!" Sakura screamed at Ino, her two teammates joining the increasingly crowded booth.
"We can't see!" Naruto shouted over her, pushing up on the bar top and trying to stand on his stool, but toppled it instead. He caught his balance on Choji and almost sent the two of them sprawling.
"Get off!" Sasuke growled at the same time as everyone else. He yanked at Ino's arms wrapped tightly around his neck, which only made her cling harder as she kicked out at Sakura who joined in the yanking.
"Hey, chill out for –" Shikamaru was cut off as Ino delivered Sakura into his gut. Naruto shouted some incoherent outrage at the pink-haired girl's treatment and all six pre-teens broke out into a brawl, shoving and pushing.
"Aren't you going to…" Ai had intended to ask Kakashi if he was going to stop the fight, but she trailed off as her eyes alighted on him.
Kakashi was contentedly eating his ramen, full-out ignoring everyone around him. And his mask was definitely down revealing a surprisingly –
Nope! Ai scream in her head, turning to her noodles. I am not getting involved in this! She shoved a hefty bite into her mouth to work as a distraction, ignoring the struggling pile of limbs to her right.
Happily, the fight ended quickly and she no longer needed to fear a wayward elbow. Unfortunately, it only led to more spectacle.
"What the?" Naruto gasped, finally shoving Choji away from himself.
"That was really good," Kakashi stated, setting his chopsticks down. He was once again fully masked. "Thanks!"
"He ate it so fast," Sakura whispered in wonder. "How… how did he…?"
"Well, I've got a few things I need to do," he said standing and pulling out an orange book. "Thanks for the meal. I'll see you three tomorrow." Kakashi turned his gaze to Ai. "Try to stay out of trouble." He then vanished with a body flicker that kicked up too much dust in Ai's opinion.
Pretty sure trouble finds me, she grumbled internally returning to what was left of her food.
"I can't believe it!" Naruto grumbled, banging a fist on the countertop. "We had the perfect plan! How could this happen?"
"Blame the stupid pig here," Sakura snarled, giving Ino a sharp shove away from herself, pushing the girl into Choji.
"I don't know what your problem is Forehead, but I swear if –"
"What were you guys even trying to do?" Shikamaru, the ever reasonable, interposed before another fight could break out. He'd divided his time in the fight between trying not to get hit and breaking it up.
Sasuke sulkily looked away, letting his teammates chat while he idly watched Ai wipe at a stain on the bar top. She was acting suspiciously tame.
"We were trying to see Kakashi-sensei's face," Naruto explained, "and we would have too, if you guys hadn't messed everything up!"
All six of them looked up at the dreamy sigh that came from the proprietress. She was leaning on her side of the counter, pink-flushed faced cupped in her hands, staring out of the stand towards the road.
"Ayame!" Naruto called, leaning as far forward as he could, "Ayame, you gotta snap out of it! Tell us what he looks like!" The brunette paid the boy no heed, obviously lost to Cloud Nine.
"Surely he can't be that good-looking," Ino murmured as the older girl continued being lovestruck.
"Now I have to know," Sakura added.
Ai sat her chopsticks down and stood, digging into her bag for money. "Thank you for the food, it was delicious. How much do I owe you?"
"Don't worry about it," the chef said, guiding his daughter towards the back, hands on her shoulders. "Your first bowl is on us!"
"Oh, uh, thank you." Ai hadn't expected not to pay, as she'd stormed out before eating her previous first bowl. Embarrassment warred with gratitude that he hadn't brought that awkward moment up.
"Come back again soon," he smiled kindly to her. Ai returned the gesture.
"I will." She stepped out of the stall, ducking the noren as she slung the strap of her bag over her head. Ai paused as Team Asuma stepped back, allowing their fellow ninja to exit as well.
Naruto came out last, hand sliding out of his equipment pouch as he walked. "What should we try next?" His arms crossed over his chest as he spoke.
"We go out on our mission tomorrow," Sasuke answered. "Which means we'll have all day tomorrow, along with the following two."
Uninterested, Ai turned to Ino, remembering she had something for the other girl who was chatting with her own teammates a short distance from Team Seven. Digging into her bag once more, Ai closed the space as she pulled out the books Ino had let her borrow. Seeing her coming, the three paused their conversation as she joined.
"Sorry to interrupt, I wanted to give these back before I forgot."
Ino smiled. "Thanks! You sure read those fast," as she spoke Ino took the small pile from Ai's hands.
"They were interesting and I enjoyed reading them."
"Well, I'm glad you liked them. I thought of a few more that you might enjoy. If you'd like, we can swing by my pla-"
"Ai!"
The shout was her only warning – and a very poor one – to someone smashing into her back. She would have fallen flat into the dirt if not for Team Ten's fast reaction. All three of them instinctively reached forward to catch her, halting her earthly plummet. Ino was the first to let go with a screech of, "Naruto! You can't just lunge at people like that! You could have seriously hurt her!" As she shouted, she ripped Naruto from where he'd collided into Ai's back and tossed him to the dirt.
Before Ino got any closer to rip into Naruto more, Abel landed not just between him and Ino, but between him and Ai. His jaw snapped as his teeth ground, clattering in a sharp cacophony, tail lashing groves into the dirt road. Tori dropped from above, the talons of her feet biting into the wood of a utility pole. The few feathers on her back and wings puffed aggressively. Within the seals on her arms, Ai could feel Seth move and blocked his chakra with her own to keep him from erupting. The ink warmed until it felt close to burning, but Ai managed to keep him shut away. She took a deep breath to calm the blind flash of rage that had arisen as she straightened from Shikamaru's and Choji's grasp.
"Abel." Her command was soft, but firm. The cat's tail and mouth stilled, halting his rattling, while above, Tori's metal feather's lowered, but the two remained in their positions.
"Are you okay?" Choji asked Ai, though he was looking warily around her at Abel.
"I'm fine. Thank you." Despite her words, her voice was flat. Ai turned around, noticing the street had cleared, to face Naruto. He was still sitting on the ground, staring at Abel with wide eyes. "What?" She demanded from the boy, stepping up beside the cat and placing her fingertips on his ridged spine. Abel stepped back at her silent command and with one last look to the orange-clad boy, jumped onto the nearest awning then proceeded to hop onto the rooftop of the building beside it, disappearing over the edge with a bright flash of silver. Tori joined Abel in leaving, springing off the utility pool and flapping her way back into the sky.
Naruto opened his mouth, but before he got anywhere, Ino interrupted.
"Say you're sorry! Now!" The girl stormed up next to Ai.
"I was going to!" Naruto groused at the same time Ai spoke.
"Ino, please. It's okay." The lingering anger she'd felt had drained and with it, Seth finally stopped pushing at the seals, relieving her of the stinging heat. She held the chakra tensed in her arms, just in case he made a lunge for it. "What did you need, Naruto?"
The boy stood, meeting her eyes. Pressure began to push at her head, the familiar sensation she hadn't felt in a while. A distant growling, roaring into a storm. Words began to coalesce. Fire, I am... Ai shifted her gaze to the tip of his left ear before anything she really didn't want to hear crept in.
"First I want to say, I'm sorry for hurting you like that," Naruto fidgeted with his hands. "I guess, sometimes I forget you're not a ninja, given how cool you are."
Cool? Ai thought in disbelief, but let Naruto finish.
"I didn't mean to upset you." He dropped his eyes.
"Please don't do it again, but otherwise, it's okay, honestly. Team Ten here are good catchers. And we can call it even given how Abel and Tori reacted." Ai felt no desire to bring up Seth. "What's the second thing?"
"Huh? Oh! Right!" Naruto instantly perked back up. Beside her, Ino crossed her arms over her chest, obviously not thrilled with the blond boy. Ai was pretty sure Ino was ready to throw him around some more if he got too exuberant again, and given that her teammates were flanking her, they were ready for round three as well. "Well, we were discussing our next plan to try and see Kakashi-sensei's face, right? When Sasuke mentioned that you hadn't been involved in the fight at Ichiraku." Ai glanced over at said dark-haired boy, finding him looking in another direction, arms crossed and looking rather sour. That turd-eating munchkin, had he sicked Naruto on her? She was going to have words with him later. Actually, scratch that, she was going to be the teenage girl she was and ignore him for a week. Naruto was still talking as she looked back at him. "Then I thought that maybe you saw it and I just had to ask you! So, did you?"
"Kakashi's face?" Naruto nodded. "You want to know if I saw Kakashi's face?" Naruto nodded again, this time adding a few 'uh-huh.' "I suppose I may have seen something," she fessed up.
Sakura was by Naruto's side before the shock had fully settled on his face. Even Sasuke had sidled closer, not that she cared about him at the moment. "You did?" Sakura's voiced was laced with excitement.
"You've gotta tell us!" Naruto begged. "Ayame was so dumbstruck by his mug. He's just got to have a weird looking face." Ai raised a brow at his words, she was one-hundred percent positive Ayame was lovestruck, not dumbstruck, but apparently Naruto was convinced Kakashi was ugly and hiding it.
Ai hummed, faking contemplation. "How to describe it…"
Naruto and Sakura inched closer. Even Team Ten seemed interested in what she was going to say.
"Fish lips?" Naruto supplied. "Buck teeth?"
"Hairy mole?" added Sakura. "Triple butt chin?"
"No, that's not it. He looked like…" The two genin leaned in. "Like a normal person."
"What?" Naruto shouted jolting back.
"Come on!" Sakura groaned loudly.
Shikamaru threw back his head and laughed, Choji joining him shortly.
"Nice," Ino grinned.
"That's it?" Sakura asked, "that's all you've got to say about his face?"
"What do you want me to say? That's he's God-forsakenly ugly? Or God's-gift-to-women handsome? Because he seemed pretty normal to me. Maybe he's just not my type."
He may have leaned more towards the attractive side of normal, and his eye wasn't bad to look at, Ai supposed objectively, but maybe other people, like Ayame, found him more handsome and-or irresistible than she did. Not that these brats needed to know any of that. Plus, if Kakashi wanted to show them his face, he could do it himself. She wasn't going to get involved in this mess any more than she already had.
Speaking of messes. "Well, glad I could help, but I'm going to leave now." Before the fuzz shows up to arrest me for disturbing the peace and threatening their soldiers, went unsaid by her. Ai turned to Ino, "Is there another time we can meet up?" It didn't take long for the blonde pair to agree on a day and time that worked for them and once they had, Ai waved a farewell to the group of ninja, setting off down the street.
It's a little early for work¸ she thought, turning a corner, but maybe I'll go in anyway. It's not like – Ai's mind veered off as her senses, both chakra and Tori, notified her of an arrival by her side. A glance over confirmed what she'd been told, Sasuke now walked beside her.
She narrowed her eyes at him. Why was he there? Did he need something?
"For the sake of open communication, I'm telling you know that I'm not going to speak to you for a week." Sasuke sent her a look that said 'what are you on about now?' Ai clarified at his unspoken question. "You sicked Naruto on me."
Sasuke looked away. "He was being annoying and I wanted him to go bother someone else."
The little troll admits it!
"I didn't know he was going to try killing you."
Ai studied him for a moment in silence. As far as apologies went it was awful – and not an apology at all – but considering this was Sasuke, Ai was probably lucky the slightest inkling of remorse even laced his tone. "We'll work on it," she told him. He gave her an odd look, but Ai didn't bother explaining herself.
She was looking forward to not having Sasuke around for a couple days, she'd never say it aloud, but she found his bizarre showing up to her practice grounds after Aoba was gone, unnerving. She had no idea why he came along so consistently; it wasn't like she really helped him with anything.
"Well, have fun on your mission, I guess. I've got a shift at work to get to and Aoba turns me into a gofer if I'm late."
"Sure," he mumbled. "Take care."
His words had her stopping dead in the street and watching as he headed down another road.
Take care? Has he been possessed?
※※※※※
The following day found Ai going out with Aoba to gather the lunch orders for their fellow office workers – they had sadly drawn the short straw. Ai was currently crouched at a storefront staring into their window at the large gold fish swimming back and forth, the two bags of already collected food on either side of her.
Not too far away, Aoba stood at a stall watching as their yakisoba was prepared. No doubt he felt the urge for some paranoid ninja reasons. He could see Ai in his periphery vision, staring at the fish like she'd never see one before. It was oddly endearing.
"Aoba! Aoba!" she called him, waving her whole arm at him, but not actually looking at him. "Check out this fish!"
"It's a Koi fish," he told her.
"But it's gold!" Ai finally turned to him. "Can I have a gold fish?"
"Where would you put a fish that big?"
"It doesn't have to be a Koi fish, just a gold fish."
"Minus the end then, my question still stands."
Ai stood, grabbing the bags and jogging the short distance over to him. "It can stay in a bowl on my desk at the office until I bring it home. Please, Aoba, can I have a gold fish?"
He finally looked away from the cooking food to meet her eyes. "No."
Her eyes went wide. "Why not? Hayate let me have a fish, but it- it-" Ai hiccupped and her eyes began to get watery. Aoba felt a flash of panic. Was she really about to cry over a fish? "Can I have an ice pop then?"
"No." Ai jutted a lip in a pout and turned away.
"Your food, sir." As Aoba claimed the cartons of soba, he could feel the seller's judging stare.
He snatched the bag with a 'thanks' and turned away. "Come on, Ai."
With one last glance at the fish, Ai let out a sigh. It was worth a shot, she thought as she jogged to catch up and walk beside him, sending a quick apology skyward. Sorry, Hayate, for using your name in vain.
Aoba glanced at her from the corner of his eye. For once Ai didn't bring up some subject or other to chat about, she kept staring off to the side, eyes aimed slightly over the rooftops. Was she that upset about her fish and not getting some flavored ice? After a few minutes, Aoba let out a sigh of his own. "What color?"
Ai looked at him, elated. "Green! No, pink!" He veered to the side, to a flavored ice vendor. Summer may have been coming to an end, but it was still warm enough that there were plenty of sellers lining the market street. At least the yakisoba vender couldn't see him giving in.
It was easy enough to snap the two sticks apart even with his hands laden with a couple bags of food. "This stays between us," he told her as he handed her half over.
"What? Are you embarrassed you bought me an icy pop?"
"That I capitulated, yes." He led the way back into the bustling throng. Though it parted to create a bubble around him and Ai. One of the plus sides of having the 'village crazy' walking with you, Aoba supposed. "And that I'm eating this pink sugary crap."
"But ish tashty."
"Don't talk with food in your mouth," he reprimanded idly, not really caring, but he had to nag her about something lest she start thinking she could get away with other things all the time.
Their icy treat was long gone by the time the pair arrived back at the office where they were practically hailed as heroes by the hungry paper pushers.
"The fastest way to a ninja's heart is food, keep that in mind, Ai," Aoba spoke as the set their food on their own desks.
"Is that why you put up with me?" she asked.
"Partly. I'm also paid an A-rank fee thrice a month to tolerate you."
She sent a kick into his ankle. "Jerk."
"Don't forget to eat your veggies," he sniped back.
※※※※※
"Not today, Satan," Ai spoke as she speed walked from her usual training ground. "I mean, Sasuke." It probably said something about their budding relationship that the Uchiha didn't even bat an eye at her odd words. He didn't even give her his usual 'what are you on about, now?' look.
"Where are you going?" he questioned, falling in beside her.
"I have a date."
"I don't believe that for a second."
"I didn't say it was with a person."
"That I do believe."
"It's a date with the cinema." This time she managed to get the look from the boy. "What?" she asked.
"You don't seem the type."
"I was unaware that you could tell if a person liked movies or not simply by looking at them."
"I meant that you don't seem like the type that would enjoy a dark, crowded room."
"Oh," she let out a small laugh, "you're right. I don't. Which is why I'm going now. No one goes at this time of day, and I refuse to not see the new Princess Gale movie."
"You like those movies?"
Ai was about to ask what was wrong with the Princess Gale movies, but stopped herself. She was actually worried that if said that, Sasuke would list all the inaccuracies and ruin both the movie and her mood. Instead she went with, "Have you seen Yukie Fujikaze? She's gorgeous and holds herself with such dignity! She's like a princess! I want to be just like her."
"An actress?"
"No."
"A princess then?"
"Now you're just being dumb." She changed to topic before he could really go at her. "Look, we can meet up tomorrow and train."
Sasuke clicked his tongue in disgust. "We're leaving for an escort mission tomorrow; it'll likely last a week."
"Awww, oh no. That's too bad. Such a shame. I'm going to miss you so much." Sasuke shot her a nasty look at her disgusting overuse of sarcasm. She grinned. "Keep practicing your chakra flow. If you slack off, I'll have Abel take away your pretty shuriken." The metal cat, walking close to Ai, let out a clacking that was obviously meant to be cackling. It was a good imitation and Ai scratched the tips of her nails on his skull in affection. "You're getting real good with fire, almost as good as me," Sasuke rolled his eyes, "and I'm interested in seeing how lightning is going to go."
"Whatever," Sasuke murmured, looking away. "I'll go train on my own."
"I'd offer to let Abel go with you, but" Ai shrugged, looking to her cat. He shook his head, the shake traveling down his entire body like a dog shaking off water. "He doesn't like to go far if he doesn't have to."
"It's fine," he said, breaking off from her side, taking a road that would lead him to another training ground.
"Have fun," Ai sing-songed airily, twiddling her fingers at his back.
It took her only a few more minutes to reach the wide road the cinema was situated. It wasn't exactly a main road, but still fairly well-traversed. As she approached, Ai spotted Shino, who was already looking in her direction as she approached. "Hey, Shino," Ai greeted as she got closer.
"Ai," her returned with a small nod, hands tucked in his coat's large pockets. The first time she'd seen Shino in casual clothes had been a shock, even now it was still mildly strange. He wasn't wearing his headband and in place of his grey, long-necked jacket, was a dark green one that didn't come as far up his face – and most startlingly, didn't cover his face, though he still wore his sunglasses. In place of his brown pants were black ones, with matching sandals.
The two had agreed to meet outside the theatre, as they both had a few hours of spare time before training with Shibi. Ai was still practicing her communication and vision-sharing with Tori, the time she could do so had extended, though it still made eyes ache fiercely, but the after-nausea had finally stopped. She'd improved enough, that Shibi, more often than not, spent most of his time helping Shino practice with his kikaichu.
As she stepped up beside him, Ai dug into her bag, pulling out a thick bundle of bound paper. She offered it to her friend, which he easily took, looking down at the handwritten cover. Across the front, written so neatly it could have been print were the words, The Fellowship of the Ring. "Pardon the presumption if I was wrong, but you seemed interested when I was telling you about the book, so I took the initiative to transcribed it out." Ai stuck her hand back into her bag and pulled out a second bound sheaf of paper. "And while I was doing that, it occurred to be that maybe you'd like to read the prequel as well. You can read it without this one, but I thought you'd still like it."
Shino took the second book from her as well, reading its cover. It had been a little more difficult for her than the other. She hadn't been able to figure out how to properly title it in a way Shino would understand. Hobbit wasn't a word that currently existed – a lot of the words in the books didn't currently exist, but she'd still included them – so while the words The Hobbit, were still written across the front, she'd also included 'There and Back Again' to help mitigate the odd title. As expected, Shino pointed it out.
"Hobbit," Ai explained.
"Ah," Shino recognized the word, she'd used it plenty enough when she'd been talking about the story. "The race of short humanoids. And this? It is shared between the two books." This time he pointed at the name she'd debated putting on or leaving off, but in the end had added it.
"Tolkien," she told him. "He's the author. Er, original author? The author in my head? I didn't feel right leaving him off, even though no one but I would know."
Shino nodded. "I suppose if you decided to have these formally published, people would likely believe it a pen name."
Ai hadn't thought about that. Her only plan had to been to give them to Shino, but surely there might be other people that would enjoy the books as well. That only left one question, what about the royalties?
I guess I could give the money to a charity. Ai tilted her head. Are there any charities here? "I can have the other two written out in a few days. Ah," Ai hesitated, "maybe you'd like to finish one of those first, though."
"That's all right. You may go ahead and write them. I would like to finish the tale either way."
"Completionists unite," Ai smiled.
"Yo, Shino!" A loud voice called over the crowd, causing the pair to turn. Coming their way was Shino's teammate, Kiba, Akamaru laying on his head. The little dog barked his own hello. "Hey, Ai."
"Kiba," she returned, much less enthusiastically.
He opened his mouth the say something more, but stopped as another voice spoke.
"I'm sorry, I haven't kept you waiting, have I?" Hinata's voice was soft as she joined the small group.
"No way!" Kiba denied. "We're just getting here ourselves."
"Oh, I-I'm glad." Hinata ducked her head in greeting to Ai. "H-hello, Ai. Hi, Shino. Thank you for the invitation."
Shino nodded his head in acknowledgment of Hinata's words. When Ai had last met with Shino, she'd mentioned the upcoming Princess Gale movie and, in politeness, had extended an invitation to him. She'd then panicked at realizing her words and how date-ish they sounded, and immediately told him to invite his team too. Plus, it worked out nicely, Ai liked Hinata and they'd gotten along the few times they'd met, she wouldn't mind getting to know the younger girl better.
Kiba could do with shutting his big mouth a bit more regularly, though.
"Yeah, this is exciting," Ai smiled, feeling a bubble of elation inside her rising. Their small group headed for the entrance. "Yukie Fujikaze is so stunning, I love watching her."
"Yes, I do as well." Hinata agreed, before speaking again. "You two have that in common." Ai titled her head in confusion as Hinata continued. "You both move so gracefully and with such confidence."
I do? Ai questioned mentally.
"I wish I could hold myself in such a way, but I'll never be –" At the downward and deprecative slide the conversation was taking Ai interrupted, swinging herself in front of Hinata abruptly and stopping their movement.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" She shouted louder than intended, causing Hinata to flinch, pale eyes going wide.
The two girls completely missed the boys turning around at the beginning of Ai shouting. Kiba baring his teeth, as he tensed up, moving to stop Ai's aggressive words. Shino's arm raised in front of him, stopping his teammate's strides. Shino's eyes however remained on the two girls as Ai continued to speak, her volume drastically dropping as she realized both how loud she was and how terrified it'd made Hinata.
"Every second you spend on doubting your worth, every moment that you use to criticize yourself; is a moment of your life thrown away. It's not like you have forever, so don't waste any of your seconds, don't throw even one of your moments away!" Ai flushed at her own words. She hadn't meant to spew all the mushy crap, but when Hinata started disparaging herself she just couldn't help it. Hinata was a lovely girl, who moved far more gracefully than Ai ever would, and she deserved to know it.
"You're a beautiful person, Hinata! You're sweet and kind and your strong in your own ways! It's no use comparing yourself to me, in fact I highly recommend you don't at all! What I said that was completely hypocritical coming from me, because I put myself down a ton and I honestly have a terrible mean streak, but it's something to strive towards." Especially now that I'm not in a genjutsu enforced depression, Ai thought, be kept that unsaid. "We can work on it together! If you'd like, that is. I completely understand if you want nothing to do with me, you've probably heard loads of stuff that are pretty ba–"
This time is was Hinata that interrupted. "No!" She cried out, her pale face flushing red at her sudden outburst. She continued in a quieter tone, her fingers twisting together. "I mean, I- I have heard things, but I'd like that… being fr… um, working together, that is. It… it sounds nice." Her final words were barely more than a whisper.
Ai felt like her heart was going to explode, Hinata was just so adorable – and her words were a huge relief. "Oh, good, I'm glad. I'm sorry for shouting at you, I didn't intend to raise my voice so much."
"Oh, no, that's okay. I should be apologizing for shouting at you. Please, forgive me." Hinata ducked her head in a bow.
"No, no, you're okay. It's my fault, really. You have nothing to -"
"Okay!" Kiba interrupted the apology fight, or whatever it was the two girls were engaged in. "We're all sorry and now we're all best friends forever, we can exchange bracelets later. The movie is going to start soon, so get a move on!"
The two girls met each other's gaze and smiled. "I love bracelets," Ai tucked her hands behind herself as she walked backwards. "What color do you think Kiba would like?"
Hinata ducked her head slightly and giggled softly. "Maybe something yellow?"
"Ooo, that'd look nice with some rose pink."
"Oh, come on! Pink? Really? At least give me red."
Ai laughed, a gentle calm washing over her. Somehow, this moment just felt right to her and she hoped it would keep feeling that way.
The RykaSpar Discussion Section – cause I've apparently become very chatty about what goes on in my mind while I write these chapters – Feel free to chime in and discuss your thoughts too - Also further down you will discover a side story. Feel Free to skip all this if you want and go straight to the bold.
1 – I don't know if Uruchi and Teyaki (the two who make and sell senbei) are actually Itachi's and Sasuke's aunt and uncle, but in my mind, I feel like most Uchiha children call them aunt/uncle out of respect.
2 – Yes, Ai, yes. Cloud really did kick you out because you blew some people up and your chakra was wildly uncontrolled. Also, they didn't like you hanging out with their jinchuriki. The chakra 'disease' wasn't that worrying to them as it obviously wasn't contagious. You were just too weird and dangerous.
3 – I've always found Konoha's mentally kind of weird… they do seem to care about their people (prioritizing civilians when invaded for example) and even value self-expression, but are HORRIBLE PEOPLE to those seen as 'different.' (Lee, Naruto, the whole Uchiha clan, Guy, the list goes on) and nothing is done about it, so I'm trying to blend the two…? Heavy line blurring is required. Basically, Konoha will provide the basic needs for human survival and aid people to get jobs/become productive citizens, as that is in their favor (gotta keep the economy going – also have any beggars been seen anywhere in Konoha, I can't recall seeing any… so that's part of my reasoning). However, people themselves are still racist, bigoted, corrupt, just plain cruel, etc. And if a person can't be much of a productive citizen, well, *shrug* the village only does so much.
4 – Fun fact of me writing, When Ai said that Kakashi wasn't her type, I had actually started writing a section where Sakura asked Ai what her type was, but nixed it because it didn't fit the flow, but I wanted to start hinting at Sakura having noticed that Ai seemed to be cropping up around Sasuke more frequently. And basically that she's starting to go into Sasuke Defense Mode.
5 – Kakashi is a troll, just in general, but also about who he lets and doesn't let see his face. Especially when it messes with his team.
Credits
The full quote Ai paraphrases at Hinata is this -
"You can be the most beautiful person in the world and everybody sees light and rainbows when they look at you, but if you yourself don't know it, all of that doesn't even matter. Every second that you spend on doubting your worth, every moment that you use to criticize yourself; is a second of your life wasted, is a moment of your life thrown away. It's not like you have forever, so don't waste any of your seconds, don't throw even one of your moments away." – C Joybell C
Seven Years Ago
Near the Border of Land of Frost and Land of Hot Springs
It was morning and Ai was feeling much better. Hayate was speaking with the man behind the desk, checking out of the inn Ai assumed. Bored, she was looking out the window when she spotted something she'd never seen before.
Sitting in a cage set on a low crate was a white rabbit.
Ai grabbed onto Hayate's sleeve and gave a few soft, but excited, tugs. When he looked down at her she asked, "Can I go outside and look at the rabbit?" His eyes darted up, looking out the window, before returning to her.
"Sure, but stay in sight of the window."
"Okay!"
Ai darted outside, the cold air of winter blasting into her face. She was dressed for it, but she quickly pulled her hands free of the gloves Hayate had gotten her. She crouched, so her knees wouldn't be stained in the not-quite muddy patch of dirt, and stared into the cage of the white rabbit. It didn't appear at all bothered by her, sniffing in her general direction before shuffling through the straw on the bottom of its enclosure once more. Carefully, Ai placed a finger on the cold bar, before slipping it between two and wiggling her finger at the white rabbit. Ai grinned as the little pink nose twitched in her direction again, but finding nothing of interest, it returned to doing its own thing.
Ai stood, jogged over to where the road met snow and crouched once more, digging through the edge to find some sad, wilted grass. She ripped it from the ground and returned to the rabbit, sticking the grass through the bars, she enticingly jostled the plant. Or at least Ai hoped it was enticingly.
She was completely ignored.
"I'm afraid you'll have to offer something more tempting than mostly dead grass," a soft voice chuckled behind her.
Ai swiveled, almost landing butt-first on the ground to look over her shoulder. A smiling dark-haired boy about her age stood there. He wore a short blue kimono top, lined in lighter blue and grey wide-legged pants ending at his knees. Bunched in his hands were a bit of leafy greens and a carrot.
"Sorry," she said, standing up and dropping the bits of grass on the ground. "Is he yours?" The boy nodded. "I just wanted to look."
"It's okay," the young boy was still smiling as he approached her, stopping beside her as he reached his rabbit cage. How he wasn't cold in his get-up Ai had no clue, but he seemed perfectly content.
"I've never seen a real rabbit before," she confessed, looking back at the white critter.
At her words, the boy looked at her, his eyes, a dark brown, were wide. "Really?" At Ai's nod he added, "Did you live under a rock?"
"Well," She thought about it briefly, "not really. There probably were rocks, but definitely a lot of dirt." Ai paused for a moment thinking what else there was, then adding, "And ferrocrete."
"I don't know what that is," the boy said.
"It's similar to concrete, but molecularly bonded with iron. It's good for the building of roads and bunkers. I'm not sure it exists here." At the boy's continued staring, Ai felt her face heating despite the cold. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said any of that. Sometimes I get stuck on the details, then I get carried away explaining things and end up talking way too much." Her eyes went wide and she clapped her hands over her mouth. "Like that." The words were muffled behind her hands. When the boy smiled at her, Ai knew all had been forgiven.
"I was about to give him some snacks, do you want to help?"
Ai brightened, pulling her hands from her mouth to reveal a smile. "Really?" The boy nodded, holding out a strip of carrot. "My name is Ai."
"Haku," the boy returned.
As Ai crouched down to the rabbit's level, she said, "That's a nice name. Haku." She kept grinning at him as he crouched beside her. "I like it."
Her attention was quickly diverted to Haku's rabbit, who seemed to have already spotted the orange offering and was waiting at the bars. Ai poked it through and the rabbit readily began chewing away.
Beside Ai, Haku watched her in interest as her bright blue eyes went wide and her mouth formed a little o. She stared at his rabbit in wonder as if she'd never seen anything like it.
"Are rabbits as soft as they look?" Ai asked, attention still riveted to the bunny.
She really doesn't know much about rabbits, does she? Haku thought, curious how anyone could have never seen a rabbit before or even touched one. They were a common creature sold in towns. He watched the wonder light the eye he could see, as blue as the sky above them. But she has nice eyes, he determined.
"Yes, very soft," he told Ai. "Here." Haku handed her the other pieces of food he'd brought and stood with the intention of opening the top of the cage. He stopped as a malicious feeling crept up his spine.
"Well, look what we've got here," a voice Ai and Haku could only describe as slimy, washed over them. The pair both looked in the direction, spotting two large, gruff-looking men. Haku's soft smile slid from his face and his eyes turned as cold as the snow around them as he stepped in front of Ai. Unbeknownst to Ai, Haku began to gather his chakra, readying for an attack. "Stay back," he ordered as strongly as an eight-year-old could.
The second man chuckled darkly. "Well, ain't they a couple o' cuties." A chill that had nothing to do with the weather ran down Ai's spine and she stood up, better positioning herself for trouble. "I bet we could sell the pair o'em together. They'd make more as a set."
The two men continued to approach, separating slightly as one began to circle around, forcing Haku to shift as he tried to keep the two men in his sight. The bandit's hands casually dropped to the blades on their belts. The first man spoke, his dark eyes never leaving the two children. "If you come along nicely, we'll make sure you're well taken care of." He drew his wide-bladed sword and his free hand lifted, reaching out.
"No!" Ai screamed, startling Haku as her chakra, which he hadn't even noticed as anything more than a regular child's, spiked violently. He had never been much of a sensor, but right now even he could feel it screaming at his back, blazing like a bonfire. In a sudden surge the chakra, raw, hot, and unmolded, shot past him, striking at the man's outstretched hand. In horror the man watched as the skin on his arm bubbled and stretched, luckily for him, that horror lasted only a second, as the boiling rapidly spread up his arm and into his shoulder. Then exploded.
Not far, Kubikiribocho cleaved the life from the second man.
But the chakra didn't seem to realize the difference, and Haku could feel it roiling and like a cornered animal it turned its attention to the next target.
"Zabuza!" Haku shouted, running towards his master, but stopped halfway and turned to face Ai, ready to defend his teacher. He felt the chakra lunge, rushing at him, then break dissipating like a gentle puff of air across his face.
"I'm sorry," Ai wept, arms wrapping around her head as she curled into herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. Please, I'm sorry."
It was then Haku noticed the second ninja. His katana bare and watching Zabuza warily as he stepped closer to Ai.
"I have to quarrel with you, Leaf ninja," his master's voice rumbled.
"Nor I you, Mist-nin."
At their agreement, both lowered their swords.
"Well, this is certainly a mess," Zabuza grumbled, but carefully studied the remains from the first man the girl had killed. There wasn't much left, he'd felt the wail of chakra and arrived in time to see the resulting gory explosion with the impressive blast radius, similarly to his Leaf counterpart who had burst from the small roadside inn.
"That the first time she's done that?" Zabuza asked, noting the girl was still apologizing. Given she was saying 'she didn't mean to,' he found himself thinking she'd done it before.
"First time I've seen," the Leaf-nin admitted.
Perhaps it was some sort of steam-based bloodline that had boiled the man's blood?
He looked back to the Leaf ninja, who was inspecting the scene with careful eyes. The Mist village regularly used apprenticeships in training new ninja, but he was fairly sure Leaf no longer did the same. Plus, the girl's chakra has been so wild, she likely had next to no training, but Leaf was soft and known for taking care of strays. Which lead him to his next thought.
"You find that girl wandering the roadside?"
The Leaf ninja's eyes turned to him. "You could say that."
"You'll want to start teaching that girl soon, before she explodes someone you'd rather she didn't. Or, if you'd prefer, I'd be willing to take her off your hands." He looked over to the small blonde child. Haku had gone back to her side, holding her gently and running his hand over her hair while murmuring softly to her. He'd managed to calm her down, stopping her repeated apologies. Even her chakra had calmed, sinking back to near nothingness.
"While I appreciate your concern," Zabuza grinned behind his bandage mask at the other man's words, "I somehow think she might not do well in your village."
Zabuza chuckled. "Fair enough. It's just the little tykes get along so well."
Haku had brought his rabbit over with him and the girl was gently stroking its white fur. The sight of them, unblemished rabbit between them, made quite a picture as the two kids were splattered in the bandit's viscera.
"Maybe we can set up some play-dates." The Leaf ninja said with a wry grin causing Zabuza to chuckle again.
"Safe travels, Leaf-nin. Haku," the boy perked up at his name, "clean up quickly, we're moving on."
Hayate moved over to Ai, placing a hand on her head. "Are you feeling okay, Ai?" She nodded meekly. "Let's get you washed up before we leave." She carefully handed Haku his rabbit and once it had changed hands, he began to guide her back towards the inn.
They'd only taken a few steps before Ai twisted around, calling out. "Haku!" The dark-haired boy looked at her from where he was tucking his rabbit back into its enclosure. "What you did was stupid, I could have hurt you!" Hayate grinned slightly, she seemed to have regained her wits. "If you had time to jump in front of me, you had enough time to knock me over. Maybe try tackling someone before you jump in front of something dangerous next time."
Haku blinked, like the idea had never occurred to do anything else but to use his body to defend Zabuza. As Hayate began walking her to the inn once more, it was Haku who called out next. "Ai! I like your name too! It's pretty!" She grinned at him and waved as the door shut. He would never forget those bright azure eyes.
(Written mostly because I like the idea that Ai met Haku at some point in her life)