I figure you won't read this so Author's Notes are at the bottom...
Chapter Title: 21. Follow the Sun
"Welcome home, Naruto-kun." A deep voice chuckled from the darkness. "That jutsu's not fooling anyone, dobe." Shiya froze in her tracks and nearly felt her heart stop. How could he have figured it out so quickly?! Sure, he was the genius Uchiha prodigy... who had the power of the... Sharingan... in his blood. She cursed under her breath for forgetting that. Could he really see through the jutsu? Or could he just sense that it was a jutsu. She took a deep breath, ready to test her theory.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, quietly.
"Don't act stupid, dobe." She clenched her jaw shut to avoid the natural instinct to snap back. "Release the damned jutsu. I already know it's you, why else would you have come back here?" Shiya grinned realising that Sasuke couldn't really see that she was Naruto and only assumed she was because she'd gone back to the apartment. Under normal circumstances the jutsu would have been nothing against his Sharingan, but combined with Ebisu's seal, it seemed to block Sasuke from being able to see through her.
"Before Naruto-kun left, he told my aunt that he'd let me stay here for the duration of my visit, and until he came back." She retorted, using Kakashi's excuse. "I don't know why you'd think I was him. I think you need your eyes checked, I'm a g-i-r-l, Sasuke-kun." She chuckled, knowing that Kashiya wouldn't really know much about Sasuke's Sharingan eye to begin with. "Or are you just angry that I'm not going to chase after you?"
She moved into the apartment, slightly unnerved by the darkness and, feeling around, found the switch to turn on the lights. Standing in the middle of the room, Sasuke looked stiff and uncomfortable, and even with the lights on he made the space around him seem dark.
"You're too proud to ask me out yourself, aren't you?" She prodded, noticing how nervous he seemed. Maybe he just wasn't used to another person with the same strength as Naruto. The boy shifted on his feet, but didn't make any move to leave.
"Of course not. I already said you aren't my type." He said quietly, but sternly. Shiya rolled her eyes and moved closer to him. She poked him in the chest and let out a mocking laugh.
"Then prove it!" She challenged.
"I'm not stupid like you, Kashiya-san. You just want me to ask you out."
"So then why aren't you?"
"You obviously weren't listening the first time I said it. You're not-" Shiya held up her hand stopping him in mid-sentence.
"I heard you." She sighed exasperatedly. "You don't like anyone do you? Is that it? Or are you into guys like you said before?" She grinned mischievously. "OR could it be that you're just asexual?" He sighed pointedly and pushed her out of his personal space.
"Okay, I get it, you're NOT Naruto." He exclaimed. "He wouldn't care this much about who I liked or didn't like, just so long as I was out of the way so that Sakura-chan would go out with him." Shiya was thankful for the facemask for once, when her jaw dropped and a look of intense sadness overcame her delicate features. Sasuke's comment struck a chord deep within her to know that the dark-haired genin thought so little of Naruto, but all he could see were her furrowed eyebrows, which made her look angry more than hurt.
"Why don't you leave, Sasuke-kun?" She asked, her voice clipped. "After all, this is not your house and you DID break in." He nodded shortly and brushed past her. Truthfully, he was still slightly suspicious of her, but she had excuses for every flaw he could find. Kakashi wouldn't be so easily fooled, nor would he be in on Naruto's pranks, and even Tsunade was a likely story. The girl wouldn't have said the woman was her aunt if Tsunade wasn't. No doubt she had better things to do than be an alibi for the blond boy's daily pranks. He sighed, finally deciding to ignore his eyes and trust the girl. It was the first time he'd been wrong with his Sharingan, but he wasn't entirely surprised as there was only one other Sharingan user in the village and Kakashi didn't have time to train him exclusively.
"It's not your house either, Kashiya-san." He snapped, agitated by her short temper towards him. The dark-haired shinobi left Naruto's apartment without another word.
After making sure her door was securely locked, and all the windows were tightly sealed to protect her from more 'intruders', Shiya flopped down onto her mattress and pulled off Kakashi's facemask. The fabric had been extremely breathable, and she was surprised that it was able to stay in place for the whole day without her having to continuously adjust it. However, it didn't matter how comfortable it was, she was thankful to be able to just get out of it. Lying down lazily, Shiya groaned as she felt her training come back to hit her full force with aches and pains and she was deathly tired. The mattress was so comfortable, if not lumpy in a few places, and even though the thought of Ramen sounded good, she was way too comfortable to get up and wait for the three minutes for it to get ready.
"Screw dinner for tonight." She muttered to herself. "It's too far away." She let out a big yawn and rolled over, muttering curses as her muscles groaned in protest. "Some birthday..." She mumbled as sleep claimed her for the night.
***
A couple of mornings later Shiya was woken by the sound of knocking. She got up from her bed and scratched her head. She never expected anyone, and Kakashi hadn't said anything about missions, so there shouldn't be anyone at the door. But there was someone, as the knocking became even louder. Muttering something about unholy hours of the day (even though it was already ten o'clock), she unlocked and opened the door to receive a fist over the head.
"Itai!!!!!" She screamed, glaring spitefully at her attacker, who was none other than Iruka. "What was that for, Iruka-sensei?"
"Don't you 'Iruka-sensei' me!" He didn't look too happy and Shiya couldn't think of what the problem was. "What if I'd been Sasuke or Sakura coming to your door?!" She frowned at the man, still not getting the bigger picture.
"Ano... you wouldn't have hit me?" She guessed, which only served to get her another smack to the head.
"It's only because you're really a guy that I'm allowed to do this." He muttered to himself before leaning over the young blond girl angrily. "WHERE'S YOUR FACE MASK!?" He yelled. Shiya's face shone in understanding, before it set in. She'd gone to the door without it on.
"Oops." She chuckled nervously. "Guess I'm still not used to wearing it when I'm at home, alone." He didn't look too amused.
"I'm just going to have to keep coming over until you get into the habit of putting it on before you answer the door." Shiya sighed, nodding her head every couple of seconds through her old sensei's ten minute lecture. He went over everything form Kakashi spending good money for them, right down to him and Tsunade risking their necks to make sure he stays safe. Avoiding the urge to roll her eyes she let her thoughts drift off.
Since that night, Sasuke had been at least civil towards her, and although he seemed to take an interest in her, it was only while they were training. Otherwise he hardly looked at her, save when she did something remarkably 'Naruto-esque', and then he'd watch her for a couple of minutes before returning his gaze to what ever he was doing before. Sakura on the other hand, found her to be quite a good friend, except for when the blonde was trying to impress Sasuke. She saw a rival in Kashiya and rather than fight with her, the way her and Ino tended to do, she had all but adopted the new girl as a second sister. Naruto would have been ecstatic but the more time Shiya spent at the kunoichi's side, the more... she couldn't quite put her finger on it but she was starting to see the girl on a much lower pedestal. But a pedestal none the less and, to Shiya, that's all that still mattered.
"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!" Iruka yelled into one of her ears. She winced and took a step back.
"Obviously not, or you wouldn't have had to ask." Kakashi replied from behind them. He was sitting leisurely in the window, his face buried in a very old copy of Icha Icha Paradaisu. He may have read all three volumes already, but now it was no longer about reading, and more about showing off. He enjoyed flaunting the 'adult' book in his students' faces. He also had a strange taste for flaunting it for Iruka, as well.
"Go put it on, before anymore people come in and figure you out." Iruka ordered, ignoring the jounin's presence altogether. Grumbling to herself, Shiya dragged her feet back to her bedroom for the fabric.
"What are you doing here, Hatake-san?" He asked in a clipped tone. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the formality.
"We're back to family names, Umino-kun?" He retorted. Iruka's body was tense, and Kakashi's relaxed tones were starting to make him even edgier.
"Don't put this on me. You were the one acting cold to me." Kakashi sighed and turned his gaze to outside the window.
"Even though there are no actual battles, we're still at war. Konoha versus Suna."
"But WE are not!" Iruka snapped. "You make it sound like we're enemies, and then expect me to continue to follow you around like it doesn't hurt me."
"Where's Shiya?" He changed the subject, calling out to the girl.
"Iie! Matte, matte. I can't find it. Chotto! I know I left it here somewhere..." She trailed off, continuing to search for it.
"Stop avoiding it, Kakashi." Iruka spoke up. "You can't keep taking me for granted like this. There may come a day when I just give up and move on. Then you'll find out where your aloofness is taking you. The war will end, Kakashi, but don't expect me to be waiting for you. I know you like me. I saw it in your eyes before Sand attacked. I see it all the time, and sometimes when you're acting like this, I begin to lose hope. If one day you look to see I've gone, don't be surprised." He turned sharply and walked to the door. "Tell Kashiya that I left to go back to my classes." He exclaimed before walking out the door.
Kakashi sighed, watching the man leave. He knew that Iruka wanted him to go right out that door after him, but Kakashi had a job to do, people to protect. He hated what it was doing to them, but he wasn't going to let Iruka be pulled into some quick relationship that put their lives in even greater danger than they already were. One slip and the enemy could have Kakashi eating out of a saucer from the floor just to keep Iruka safe. Even the possibility of having to kill Iruka for the greater good of the village had flitted across his mind, once or twice.
He rested his book on his knee and looked outside, keeping his eye on Iruka's retreating figure. He didn't notice the now-masked girl pop up beside him.
"Why did Iruka-san leave?" She asked, following his gaze.
"Classes."
"And why are you here?" He turned from the window and stood up.
"Shikamaru was looking for you; he wanted to give you another mission."
"Honto?!" She grinned happily. She's always loved working with Shikamaru, just because the boy trusted in her abilities and respected her. Kakashi nodded, a bemused look overcoming his face.
"But we had to let him know that Naruto was out on a mission." He snickered. Instantly the girl's shoulders sagged and she clenched her fists.
"This has been the WORST BIRTHDAY EVER!!" She yelled. Kakashi continued chuckling until the girl shot him a particularly nasty glare. "How'd you get in here anyways?" She could have sworn all the windows had been locked since Sasuke's 'break-in'.
"Oh, a simple window-opening no jutsu." He grinned, reminding Shiya of the time Sasuke had used a similar line on her after she'd tried to pass as him to kiss Sakura. The smug look was exactly the same. She ground her teeth and closed her eyes, counting to ten. Sakura had taught her that one. Who knew, maybe she could use the calming method to list all the ways in which she was planning on murdering her sensei.
~~~~~~~
Okay, just a few things. In the first 24 hrs of the post I got a whopping 12 reviews... a total of 19 for the entire chapter. I was shocked... I've never gotten that many reviews for a chapter, EVER!! *grins* So I'm pretty much happy.
Also, I'm surprised a lot of people thought the 'dobe' comment could have been someone other than Sasuke. Course... a lot of people thought Sasuke had found out so fast... nuh uh... trust me, you'll know it when Sasuke figures it out... he'll have proof. Anyways... to devilishly.sweet, Gaara won't show up for a little bit longer. To Calophi, you are one smart person, after all, it's way to early to end it so soon. And last but definitely not least, to Kuroi Hikari, it will NEVER turn into one of those stories, so don't worry.
Oh yeah, last thing: Who can guess where I got the chapter title from? (Hint: Iruka's quote, "one day you look to see I've gone")
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I'm still working on 22 (should be done by the end of the weekend).
Chapter Title: 21. Follow the Sun
"Welcome home, Naruto-kun." A deep voice chuckled from the darkness. "That jutsu's not fooling anyone, dobe." Shiya froze in her tracks and nearly felt her heart stop. How could he have figured it out so quickly?! Sure, he was the genius Uchiha prodigy... who had the power of the... Sharingan... in his blood. She cursed under her breath for forgetting that. Could he really see through the jutsu? Or could he just sense that it was a jutsu. She took a deep breath, ready to test her theory.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, quietly.
"Don't act stupid, dobe." She clenched her jaw shut to avoid the natural instinct to snap back. "Release the damned jutsu. I already know it's you, why else would you have come back here?" Shiya grinned realising that Sasuke couldn't really see that she was Naruto and only assumed she was because she'd gone back to the apartment. Under normal circumstances the jutsu would have been nothing against his Sharingan, but combined with Ebisu's seal, it seemed to block Sasuke from being able to see through her.
"Before Naruto-kun left, he told my aunt that he'd let me stay here for the duration of my visit, and until he came back." She retorted, using Kakashi's excuse. "I don't know why you'd think I was him. I think you need your eyes checked, I'm a g-i-r-l, Sasuke-kun." She chuckled, knowing that Kashiya wouldn't really know much about Sasuke's Sharingan eye to begin with. "Or are you just angry that I'm not going to chase after you?"
She moved into the apartment, slightly unnerved by the darkness and, feeling around, found the switch to turn on the lights. Standing in the middle of the room, Sasuke looked stiff and uncomfortable, and even with the lights on he made the space around him seem dark.
"You're too proud to ask me out yourself, aren't you?" She prodded, noticing how nervous he seemed. Maybe he just wasn't used to another person with the same strength as Naruto. The boy shifted on his feet, but didn't make any move to leave.
"Of course not. I already said you aren't my type." He said quietly, but sternly. Shiya rolled her eyes and moved closer to him. She poked him in the chest and let out a mocking laugh.
"Then prove it!" She challenged.
"I'm not stupid like you, Kashiya-san. You just want me to ask you out."
"So then why aren't you?"
"You obviously weren't listening the first time I said it. You're not-" Shiya held up her hand stopping him in mid-sentence.
"I heard you." She sighed exasperatedly. "You don't like anyone do you? Is that it? Or are you into guys like you said before?" She grinned mischievously. "OR could it be that you're just asexual?" He sighed pointedly and pushed her out of his personal space.
"Okay, I get it, you're NOT Naruto." He exclaimed. "He wouldn't care this much about who I liked or didn't like, just so long as I was out of the way so that Sakura-chan would go out with him." Shiya was thankful for the facemask for once, when her jaw dropped and a look of intense sadness overcame her delicate features. Sasuke's comment struck a chord deep within her to know that the dark-haired genin thought so little of Naruto, but all he could see were her furrowed eyebrows, which made her look angry more than hurt.
"Why don't you leave, Sasuke-kun?" She asked, her voice clipped. "After all, this is not your house and you DID break in." He nodded shortly and brushed past her. Truthfully, he was still slightly suspicious of her, but she had excuses for every flaw he could find. Kakashi wouldn't be so easily fooled, nor would he be in on Naruto's pranks, and even Tsunade was a likely story. The girl wouldn't have said the woman was her aunt if Tsunade wasn't. No doubt she had better things to do than be an alibi for the blond boy's daily pranks. He sighed, finally deciding to ignore his eyes and trust the girl. It was the first time he'd been wrong with his Sharingan, but he wasn't entirely surprised as there was only one other Sharingan user in the village and Kakashi didn't have time to train him exclusively.
"It's not your house either, Kashiya-san." He snapped, agitated by her short temper towards him. The dark-haired shinobi left Naruto's apartment without another word.
After making sure her door was securely locked, and all the windows were tightly sealed to protect her from more 'intruders', Shiya flopped down onto her mattress and pulled off Kakashi's facemask. The fabric had been extremely breathable, and she was surprised that it was able to stay in place for the whole day without her having to continuously adjust it. However, it didn't matter how comfortable it was, she was thankful to be able to just get out of it. Lying down lazily, Shiya groaned as she felt her training come back to hit her full force with aches and pains and she was deathly tired. The mattress was so comfortable, if not lumpy in a few places, and even though the thought of Ramen sounded good, she was way too comfortable to get up and wait for the three minutes for it to get ready.
"Screw dinner for tonight." She muttered to herself. "It's too far away." She let out a big yawn and rolled over, muttering curses as her muscles groaned in protest. "Some birthday..." She mumbled as sleep claimed her for the night.
***
A couple of mornings later Shiya was woken by the sound of knocking. She got up from her bed and scratched her head. She never expected anyone, and Kakashi hadn't said anything about missions, so there shouldn't be anyone at the door. But there was someone, as the knocking became even louder. Muttering something about unholy hours of the day (even though it was already ten o'clock), she unlocked and opened the door to receive a fist over the head.
"Itai!!!!!" She screamed, glaring spitefully at her attacker, who was none other than Iruka. "What was that for, Iruka-sensei?"
"Don't you 'Iruka-sensei' me!" He didn't look too happy and Shiya couldn't think of what the problem was. "What if I'd been Sasuke or Sakura coming to your door?!" She frowned at the man, still not getting the bigger picture.
"Ano... you wouldn't have hit me?" She guessed, which only served to get her another smack to the head.
"It's only because you're really a guy that I'm allowed to do this." He muttered to himself before leaning over the young blond girl angrily. "WHERE'S YOUR FACE MASK!?" He yelled. Shiya's face shone in understanding, before it set in. She'd gone to the door without it on.
"Oops." She chuckled nervously. "Guess I'm still not used to wearing it when I'm at home, alone." He didn't look too amused.
"I'm just going to have to keep coming over until you get into the habit of putting it on before you answer the door." Shiya sighed, nodding her head every couple of seconds through her old sensei's ten minute lecture. He went over everything form Kakashi spending good money for them, right down to him and Tsunade risking their necks to make sure he stays safe. Avoiding the urge to roll her eyes she let her thoughts drift off.
Since that night, Sasuke had been at least civil towards her, and although he seemed to take an interest in her, it was only while they were training. Otherwise he hardly looked at her, save when she did something remarkably 'Naruto-esque', and then he'd watch her for a couple of minutes before returning his gaze to what ever he was doing before. Sakura on the other hand, found her to be quite a good friend, except for when the blonde was trying to impress Sasuke. She saw a rival in Kashiya and rather than fight with her, the way her and Ino tended to do, she had all but adopted the new girl as a second sister. Naruto would have been ecstatic but the more time Shiya spent at the kunoichi's side, the more... she couldn't quite put her finger on it but she was starting to see the girl on a much lower pedestal. But a pedestal none the less and, to Shiya, that's all that still mattered.
"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!" Iruka yelled into one of her ears. She winced and took a step back.
"Obviously not, or you wouldn't have had to ask." Kakashi replied from behind them. He was sitting leisurely in the window, his face buried in a very old copy of Icha Icha Paradaisu. He may have read all three volumes already, but now it was no longer about reading, and more about showing off. He enjoyed flaunting the 'adult' book in his students' faces. He also had a strange taste for flaunting it for Iruka, as well.
"Go put it on, before anymore people come in and figure you out." Iruka ordered, ignoring the jounin's presence altogether. Grumbling to herself, Shiya dragged her feet back to her bedroom for the fabric.
"What are you doing here, Hatake-san?" He asked in a clipped tone. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the formality.
"We're back to family names, Umino-kun?" He retorted. Iruka's body was tense, and Kakashi's relaxed tones were starting to make him even edgier.
"Don't put this on me. You were the one acting cold to me." Kakashi sighed and turned his gaze to outside the window.
"Even though there are no actual battles, we're still at war. Konoha versus Suna."
"But WE are not!" Iruka snapped. "You make it sound like we're enemies, and then expect me to continue to follow you around like it doesn't hurt me."
"Where's Shiya?" He changed the subject, calling out to the girl.
"Iie! Matte, matte. I can't find it. Chotto! I know I left it here somewhere..." She trailed off, continuing to search for it.
"Stop avoiding it, Kakashi." Iruka spoke up. "You can't keep taking me for granted like this. There may come a day when I just give up and move on. Then you'll find out where your aloofness is taking you. The war will end, Kakashi, but don't expect me to be waiting for you. I know you like me. I saw it in your eyes before Sand attacked. I see it all the time, and sometimes when you're acting like this, I begin to lose hope. If one day you look to see I've gone, don't be surprised." He turned sharply and walked to the door. "Tell Kashiya that I left to go back to my classes." He exclaimed before walking out the door.
Kakashi sighed, watching the man leave. He knew that Iruka wanted him to go right out that door after him, but Kakashi had a job to do, people to protect. He hated what it was doing to them, but he wasn't going to let Iruka be pulled into some quick relationship that put their lives in even greater danger than they already were. One slip and the enemy could have Kakashi eating out of a saucer from the floor just to keep Iruka safe. Even the possibility of having to kill Iruka for the greater good of the village had flitted across his mind, once or twice.
He rested his book on his knee and looked outside, keeping his eye on Iruka's retreating figure. He didn't notice the now-masked girl pop up beside him.
"Why did Iruka-san leave?" She asked, following his gaze.
"Classes."
"And why are you here?" He turned from the window and stood up.
"Shikamaru was looking for you; he wanted to give you another mission."
"Honto?!" She grinned happily. She's always loved working with Shikamaru, just because the boy trusted in her abilities and respected her. Kakashi nodded, a bemused look overcoming his face.
"But we had to let him know that Naruto was out on a mission." He snickered. Instantly the girl's shoulders sagged and she clenched her fists.
"This has been the WORST BIRTHDAY EVER!!" She yelled. Kakashi continued chuckling until the girl shot him a particularly nasty glare. "How'd you get in here anyways?" She could have sworn all the windows had been locked since Sasuke's 'break-in'.
"Oh, a simple window-opening no jutsu." He grinned, reminding Shiya of the time Sasuke had used a similar line on her after she'd tried to pass as him to kiss Sakura. The smug look was exactly the same. She ground her teeth and closed her eyes, counting to ten. Sakura had taught her that one. Who knew, maybe she could use the calming method to list all the ways in which she was planning on murdering her sensei.
~~~~~~~
Okay, just a few things. In the first 24 hrs of the post I got a whopping 12 reviews... a total of 19 for the entire chapter. I was shocked... I've never gotten that many reviews for a chapter, EVER!! *grins* So I'm pretty much happy.
Also, I'm surprised a lot of people thought the 'dobe' comment could have been someone other than Sasuke. Course... a lot of people thought Sasuke had found out so fast... nuh uh... trust me, you'll know it when Sasuke figures it out... he'll have proof. Anyways... to devilishly.sweet, Gaara won't show up for a little bit longer. To Calophi, you are one smart person, after all, it's way to early to end it so soon. And last but definitely not least, to Kuroi Hikari, it will NEVER turn into one of those stories, so don't worry.
Oh yeah, last thing: Who can guess where I got the chapter title from? (Hint: Iruka's quote, "one day you look to see I've gone")
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I'm still working on 22 (should be done by the end of the weekend).