Chapter Six: Presto
"Try it again," Renjiro said, matter-of-factly as Suzu once again failed at maintaining chakra control in her hands.
Sweating with exertion, Suzu took a deep breath and took up her stance once again. Pressing her palms together in front of her, fingers pointed upward, Suzu closed her eyes and concentrated. She could feel the chakra swirling throughout her system and pooling where her palms connected. If she could just maintain control, she would be able to extend the chakra outward, past the surface of her skin, and create a 'gauntlet' of spirit energy.
Just as she felt chakra creep past her fingertips, Suzu lost control, almost swooning in the process, and Renjiro wrapped his arm around her, stopping her from slumping to the ground.
"I think that's enough for today, Suzu."
Suzu nodded gratefully and shakily made her way to the fence where the rest of her companions were sitting.
"Good job, little sis," said Juro, giving her a thumbs up.
"Yeah, you could actually see the chakra this time," nodded Eriko, with a warm smile.
"Thanks," said Suzu, a bit breathlessly, sitting down. They had been training in Konoha for a couple of days now and Suzu had been doing anything but progressing. Maybe it was the strangeness of a new place, but she'd been having difficulty concentrating and it was showing in her lack of advancement. Suzu sighed again and glanced over at Renjiro, who had summoned Keiji from the fence and was drilling him in hand to hand combat.
"I feel like I'm not getting anywhere," she said to her companions, as she watched Keiji run through the drills with remarkable precision, if not power.
"Tell me about it," said Juro, "We've all got a lot on our minds. Too many recent memories haunting us to focus on the tasks at hand."
Eriko nodded in agreement, "It's hard for all of us sometimes, Suzu, but we'll progress eventually. We have to if we're ever going to avenge our loved ones."
Suzu nodded absently, thinking of her parents' kind and loving faces. Before she knew it, her eyes were filling with tears.
"Oh, don't start crying," said Eriko with a half-hearted laugh, her own eyes sparkling, "I'll start crying too." She leaned over and gave the blonde ninja a tight hug, "I know it's hard, sweetheart, but we have to go on. They'd want us to go on."
Suzu sniffled, nodding again, when she noticed that Renjiro and Keiji had stopped drilling. Renjiro appeared suddenly in front of her, looking deeply concerned, "Suzu, are you all right?"
Suzu pulled away from Eriko and wiped her eyes, "I'll be fine Renjiro. I'm sorry."
"Would you like to talk?" asked Renjiro, kindly. "You know I'm always here if you need me, Suzu."
"No, it's okay, really," Suzu responded, somewhat embarrassed. It always bothered her a little when Renjiro paid her so much attention, though she really couldn't help it. He just seemed… overly fond of her, especially lately.
"I'm here if you need me," Renjiro repeated, and Suzu nodded in affirmation.
"Well," Renjiro said, not certain if he should go on, "There's a matter I wanted to discuss with all of you at some point, and now seems as good a time as any."
"What's that?" asked Juro, curiously.
"I'm sure you've all noticed that the Konoha ninja and the Hokage don't trust us entirely," Renjiro began, leaning against a fencepost, "And I can't say I blame them. I certainly would do the same if I were in their position. However, it makes our working with them exceedingly difficult. They can't count on us, and we won't be able to count on them. So what I'm looking for are suggestions on how to gain the trust of the Konoha ninja. Does anyone have any ideas?"
"One," said Juro, almost automatically, which made Suzu think he'd been considering it for some time.
"You remember I promised the schoolteacher I'd buy him a drink? Well, what if we invited several of the Konoha ninja out for drinks. You know, have a good time, shoot the shit, bond or something," Juro shrugged, "That is, if they'd accept."
"That's not a half bad idea, Juro," said Renjiro, thoughtfully, "Although someone would have to bow out to stay with the children."
"Oh, I can do that," said Eriko, sincerely, "It's no trouble, really."
"No, no, you need a night off, Eriko," Renjiro shook his head, "I volunteer to stay with the children in your stead. Besides, the Konoha ninja wouldn't want to hang out with an old dog like myself." He grinned suddenly.
"Yeah, thirty-five is real old, sensei," said Juro, rolling his eyes, "Anyway, you want me to start asking around and see if anyone's interested?"
"Yes," Renjiro nodded, "I think that's an excellent idea."
"Yo, Iruka!"
"Um, yo," Iruka looked up from the papers he'd been grading to find a handsome, green-haired Chuunin standing next to his desk, "Oh, hello Juro. Come to pick up Taya?"
"That and I had a question for you," Juro responded, with a quick nod.
"Okay," said Iruka, "Shoot."
"Remember when I said I owed you a drink?"
"Yes," said Iruka, "I remember."
"Well, how would you like to collect tonight?" Juro replied.
"Tonight?"
"Yeah, we and some of the other Konoha ninja are meeting at Galen's for drinks," Juro continued, "Kind of a get-to-know-you party. We'd like it if you could come."
"Tonight," Iruka repeated, "I don't know." He did have a lot of papers to grade.
"Come on, it's Friday," said Juro, wheedling, "You have permission to stay out late." He grinned at Iruka imploringly.
"Oh, all right, why not," Iruka gave in, "What time is everyone going to be there?"
"Around eight," responded Juro, "Glad you decided to join us, man. We look forward to seeing you."
"No problem," said Iruka. It's not like he really had anything better to do.
"Yo, Iruka," shouted Juro, the moment Iruka walked in the door.
Iruka gingerly made his way to where Juro was waving at him, trying not to disturb anyone in the process. Galen's was packed and dead in the center of it was a large table containing several Konoha ninja, as well as all of the Sound ninja, minus the red haired Jounin. Finding a chair, Iruka sat down and glanced around the table to see who else had come.
To his right was Hatake Kakashi. Not much of a surprise, all things considered, though Iruka was surprised he'd actually arrived before him. From what his former students told him, Kakashi was almost always late.
To Kakashi's right was Asuma, chatting it up with Kurenai. At the head of the table was Maitoh Gai, who seemed to be in the middle of one of his long, overly dramatic recountings of his exploits. Next to Gai and across from Kurenai sat Anko, who already seemed to be deep in her cups. To Anko's right was a guy that Iruka didn't know very well, but who he thought was named Aoba.
The Sound ninja sat to Aoba's right, starting with Juro, who occasionally leaned over the other man to flirt shamelessly with Anko. Next to Juro and across from Iruka sat Suzu, who smiled at him as he took his seat. Eriko sat to Suzu's right, and she too smiled in greeting when Iruka arrived. At the end of the table was an empty chair, and to Iruka's left sat the final Sound ninja, Keiji.
"Are we expecting someone else?" Iruka asked, practically having to shout over the din and motioning to the empty chair.
"Renjiro-sensei won't be joining us tonight. We also invited Genma, but he's on a mission, so this is it," Suzu responded. "How was your class today, Iruka?"
"Not bad," Iruka said, "Though they didn't do as well on their exams as I'd hoped."
Suzu nodded and continued listening as Iruka proceeded to tell several amusing stories about his class.
"Sounds like you have your hands full," said Keiji, and Iruka realized this was the first time he'd ever heard the young man speak.
"I do, but I love it," Iruka responded. "You're Keiji, right?"
"Yeah. I haven't had my chance to walk the kids to and from school yet," Keiji giggled, an Iruka realized that he was almost as far-gone as Anko.
Iruka also noticed that Suzu and Eriko kept looking at Keiji and breaking down into giggles themselves, so he became insanely curious as to what was up.
"I give," he finally said, "What's so funny?"
Suzu motioned for Iruka to lean across the table while Eriko distracted Keiji with conversation. "It's Keiji," she said, her mouth less than an inch from Iruka's ear, causing him to shiver slightly, "I guess it's funnier if you know him better, but he's normally very quiet and serious. Gregarious, silly Keiji is vastly entertaining." With that she sat back, grinning.
"Oh," was all Iruka could say, looking at Keiji once again.
As the night wore on, the crowd at Galen's began to thin, and conversation eventually subsided to normal speaking levels. Iruka didn't drink much, which was normal for him, but he noticed that quite a few of the others were putting it away like pros. Anko especially seemed ready collapse at any moment and take the whole table down with her. Eventually she laid her head on the table, said she was sleepy, and promptly passed out.
"Is she going to be okay," Iruka asked, looking at Anko, concerned.
"She'll be fine," said Aoba, "She does this all the time, actually. I can't count the number of times I've had to carry her home from various bars. She'll sleep it off and be good as new in the morning."
Iruka nodded, "Guess you'll be taking her home tonight, then."
"Yeah," said Aoba, "Speaking of which, we should probably get going." With that, he pulled some money out of his pocket to pay his and Anko's bill and, hoisting her unceremoniously over his shoulder, he stood and carried her out of the bar.
"Bed sounds like a good idea," said Eriko, yawning, and Kakashi said he had to agree. Pulling out money for what they each owed on the tab, they said their goodnights and left separately.
"Looks like the party's winding down," said Suzu, just as Kurenai excused herself and Asuma rose to walk her home.
"Whadda ya mean it's windin' down," said Keiji, three sheets to the wind, "I'm juss getting started." And with that, he promptly passed out.
Juro just shook his head, looking at Keiji in fondness and amusement, "I guess someone should carry Keiji back to the hotel."
Juro pulled out his wallet and paid for both his and Keiji's portion of the tab, as well as one of Iruka's drinks, before draping the young man's arm over his shoulder and slowly walking him out of the bar.
"It looks like it's just us left," said Suzu, indicating herself, Iruka and Gai.
"Looks that way," said Iruka in response, watching Gai chat it up with a pretty waitress, "Though it may be time for me to head home soon as well."
"I agree," said Suzu, pulling out some money and throwing it on the table, "I should probably try to catch up with Juro and Keiji."
She stood and started to make her way to the door before Iruka realized she was more than a little tipsy herself. As Suzu neared the exit, she stumbled and very nearly fell. Iruka was up and across the room in a flash, his arm around her waist, supporting her.
"C'mon Iruka, I want to go outside," Suzu said, half-dragging him, "I could use some fresh air."
Once outside, Suzu stumbled a few steps and clasped Iruka tighter, trying not to fall. "I'm sorry," she said a little breathlessly, "Generally I don't get like this. I think I lost myself a little tonight." She smiled disarmingly at Iruka.
"It's all right Suzu," said Iruka, "I won't hold it against you."
"You're sweet, you know," said Suzu, looking at Iruka seriously. The next thing he knew, she had grabbed his collar and was pulling him down into a passionate kiss.
Part of Iruka argued that he should pull away. That he was taking advantage of her in her intoxicated state. Another more vocal part, however—a part that hadn't kissed anyone in quite a while—was screaming 'go for it, go for it' at the top of its lungs.
Iruka gave in to the more vocal part. It was only a kiss, after all.
After a few very intensely heated moments, Suzu pulled away, breaking off the kiss. Part of Iruka was disappointed, but was immediately reassured when she leaned forward and purred, "Walk me home Iruka," right next to his ear.
"S-Sure," Iruka said quickly, "Just let me—I have to pay my part of the check. I'll be right back."
He untangled himself from Suzu's embrace and headed back toward the door, only to stop suddenly, kiss her swiftly again and make her promise she wouldn't move a muscle until he got back.
"I won't, Iruka, I promise," she laughed.
Iruka hurried back inside to pay his portion of the bill. Once inside he found Gai still deep in conversation with the waitress and it took a few moments to get either of their attention. Once that was accomplished, however, Iruka left enough money to pay for his few drinks, grabbed his vest, which he'd left slung over the back of the chair, and rushed toward the door.
Emerging into the cool night air once again, he was startled when he noticed Suzu was not where he'd left her. Looking around wildly, he soon caught sight of her and Juro just across the street. Juro was supporting her and waved cheerfully to Iruka when he emerged, "Thought it might be a good idea to come back for Suzu once I got Keiji back to the hotel. Good thing I did. Little sis definitely needs someone to walk her home."
"Yeah, glad to see she's in good hands," Iruka was slightly confused about the 'little sis' and was more than a little disappointed that Juro had inadvertently stolen his thunder. He tried to be a good sport about it though.
"Bye Iruka," said Suzu, grinning like a Cheshire cat, "I had a really good time tonight."
"So did I Suzu," said Iruka, honestly, trying to hide his disappointment, "You get a good night's sleep."
"You too," he added to Juro, almost as an afterthought.
"Will do, good sir," Juro grinned, "See you around."
"See you later," said Iruka.
"Later," said Juro, and with a wave he led Suzu off toward wherever it was they were staying.
Once they had gone, Iruka gave a deep sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets. 'Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.'
With that final though, Iruka turned and headed home alone.
Meanwhile, Juro and Suzu had almost made it back to the hotel.
"So what was that about," asked Juro, amused, referring to the kiss he'd seen Suzu steal.
"Just a kiss," Suzu responded, but she was grinning from ear to ear.
"Uh huh. Right," Juro chuckled.
"Juro, I really like him," Suzu confessed, unabashedly and sporadically.
"I can tell, little sis. You were all over him."
"Was I really that bad," Suzu asked, suddenly concerned.
"Don't worry," said Juro, "I'm sure he didn't mind." And with that, he half-carried Suzu through the hotel doors, leaving the street silent and empty behind them.