00.21
Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Naruto, but I won't give up!
At the dinner table, the four sat to a wonderful meal
by Tohru. DJ sent Tohru a kiss and then dug into the
food. Tohru nodded and got up from the table, heading
to the front door. She pulled open the door. "Hello,
sensei. Can I help yo--" Tohru said, opening the door.
She was cut off by Kakashi falling on top of her. The
older man rose to his elbows and looked down at Tohru
intently. "Do you mind if I stay here for a while?" he
asked, the teen blushing under him. Suddenly, Kakashi
was lifted off her and stood upright, DJ's fist in his
shirt.
"Welcome to our house," she said, "whaddyou want?"
Kakashi looked past her into the house where Kurai was
lounging on his chair. "I'm worried about that boy
that made a move on Tohru earlier," he confessed as DJ
let go of him. She nodded. "I'll keep an eye on him,"
she said. Kakashi looked surprised.
"Why are you agreeing with me?" DJ looked back at
Kakashi. "I'm watching you, too." He face-vaulted.
"Aa..." From behind her, Tohru popped up. "Wanna have
dinner with us, too?" DJ looked at Tohru's questioning
face and then sighed. "Well, there IS enough food, and
I guess he's already here..." She stepped back inside
as Tohru showed Kakashi in and pulled up another
chair. Kurai caught Kakshi's eye and the two glared at
each other as the eating continued. Gaara spared both
boys a glance before returning to his own food. Tohru
ate happily for a few minutes, then slammed her hands
on the table.
"Would you PLEASE refrain from glaring at each other
at the table? It's RUDE." DJ lifted her head out of
her food. "Oh? So you noticed?"
"Hard not to," Tohru bit out, causing Kakashi and
Kurai to sweatdrop. "Good," DJ mused, returning to her
food, "I guess you're getting more alert." She and
Gaara returned to their own worlds. When everyone was
finished, Tohru took up everyone's plates.
"All right," DJ said, standing, "Thank you for coming,
Kakashi-sensei, Kurai-kun, but please don't come again
soon." The dark-skinned boy face-vaulted. "But I'm
staying with you two," he protested. DJ rolled her
eyes. "Right. Almost forgot." She turned to Kakashi.
"But YOU have a house. Get to it." Tohru sighed and
took Kakashi's arm. "I'll walk you out, sensei," she
offered. At the door, Kakashi paused and glanced at
DJ, who had followed them. "Can I speak to Tohru
alone?" The dark haired girl frowned but nodded.
"Sure, it's not me you're talking to," she said. "But
you keep her out over an hour and I'll be pissed."
"Well you sure are protective of her, mother," Kakashi
muttered as they left, Tohru giggling behind a hand.
For the first few minutes, Kakashi and Tohru walked in
silence. They came upon a different set of apartments,
the jounin mentally counting the doors to his own.
Then, Kakashi broke the silence. "I'm sorry."
Tohru stopped and looked up at her new sensei. "Hm?"
she asked.
"For being rude," Kakashi clarified, now standing in
front of his doorway.
"Oh! No, it's okay, it wasn't just you. But I
wonder... why were you two glaring at each other?"
Tohru asked, confused.
Kakashi's eyes widened, and he burst out laughing.
"Ka-Kakashi-sensei? Na-nandaiyo?" Tohru asked,
clueless. "You're so naive it's scary," Kakashi said,
laughing. Tohru flushed and then smiled in spite of
herself. She gave the older man a playful smack on the
arm, just as the sky broke into rain above them. Tohru
blinked up at the sky when Kakashi put an arm around
her and one over their heads to shield them somewhat
from the rain. Tohru flushed at the closeness as
Kakashi's dark blue mask moved right next to her
forehead. "Listen... someday I'll want to tell you
something. Something important. When that day comes, I
hope you'll listen." He rested his head on top of hers
for a moment, then released her, the flushed gennin
nodding at her sensei. "Of course, sensei. I'll always
listen."
Kakashi nodded. "Thank you."
"No, thank you, Kakashi-sensei," Tohru said, kissing
his cheek swiftly before turning and leaving in the
direction of her own house.
Back at the house, DJ was sitting by the clock in her
night gown... er, extra-large T shirt, waiting for
Tohru to return. Gaara came into the room, sitting
next to her. "Is he that bad?" he asked curiously.
"Nah," DJ responded, "I just like to terrorize him."
Gaara sweatdropped. "It's Tohru I'm worried about.
She's so naive it's scary," DJ confessed, leaving her
spot to fetch a box of pocky from the cupboard. Gaara
nodded, accepting a stick of pocky from DJ. "Nice
shorts," DJ said, glancing at Gaara's boxers. They
were black with red shuriken. The zipper was the
symbol for Suna.
DJ and Gaara went through about three boxes of pocky
together, and were getting bored. DJ stuck the last
stick of the box in Gaara's mouth, and clamped onto
the other end herself. "Staring contest," she
declared. The two stared at each other, unblinking.
They didn't notice Tohru enter the living room with
Kurai until she giggled. Neither blinked. 'Staring
contest,' Gaara projected, surprising Tohru with
telepathy. It went on a while until Kurai poked
Gaara's side, causing the younger boy to blink and
jump, breaking the pocky in two. "That works, too," DJ
said, slightly disappointed that their game had been
ended early. She pointed at Kurai. "You can sleep on
the couch." The dark-skinned boy sweatdropped. "I
guess that's cool... " DJ nodded. "You're sleeping
out here, too, Gaara," she said matter-of-factly to
the other boy, who simply nodded and finished the
pocky in his mouth. DJ pulled Tohru along into their
own rooms for the night.
00.22
The next day, after breakfast, the four left to meet
Team 7. As they were walking, Tohru caught the eye of
some random villagers and smiled at them. She recieved
a glare in return. She heard people whisper her name,
and then 'slut' in the same sentence. Tohru
immediately loosened her hair to hide her face. DJ
glanced over to see her shoulders shaking. "You ok?"
DJ asked, looking through the curtain of hair. "You
seem out of it." Kurai nodded his agreement, reaching
out to brush her hair slightly away from her face.
"Keep your chin up," he said, "We're almost there."
When they reached the bridge, DJ noticed that Tohru
wouldn't meet Kakashi's eye. She glared at the silver
haired man, who proceeded to look innocent and begin
evaluating Sakura's techniques. Kakashi watched the
rest of his students work, and had them practice the
different fighting stances just to see if they had
their footing. DJ's stances were correct, partly from
watching the others and partly from several years of
karate. He noticed, however, that Tohru's stances were
a bit off, so he went behind her, and held her hands
in his while instructing her on the proper foot
positions.
"Look!" said a woman loudly from the street, "She's at
it again! The little tramp is going to bring shame to
the Hatake name."
She was hailed with several shocked gazes and a
searing glare, but her words had done their damage,
and Tohru was gone, Kakashi clutching a log to his
chest.
00.23
Tohru sat against a tree, sobbing and shaking, when
she felt a shadow block her sunlight. She tensed and
looked up to see a person that looked like Sasuke.
"Sa-Sasuke-kun? H-How did you f-find me?" Tohru asked,
wiping her eyes quickly.
"I'm sorry...I think you have the wrong person,"
replied the stranger. Tohru looked up to see an older
boy, possibly 18 or 19, that looked like Sasuke. "Oh!
I'm sorry, I thought you were a friend of mine," Tohru
said quickly, standing up.
"It's fine, I get that all the time," the man said.
"Oh! You know Sasuke?"
"We're related," the stranger said, stepping forwards.
"Did you want to visit him?" asked Tohru.
"No," said the man with a slight smile, "I'm terribly
shy. But thank you for the offer. I'd be so nervous
around all those houses, though... I don't know how I
could ever meet him without going to that busy little
city."
"OH? That's all right, I'll bring him to you--I'm sure
he'll be happy to see you," Tohru replied.
"Thank you... I'm fear I'm as nosy as I am shy. Why
were you painting your pretty cheeks blue with your
tears?" the man asked, wiping a lone tear from Tohru's
cheek with his thumb. Tohru turned, slightly flush
from the contact. "It's nothing." The man turned her
around and gazed at her for a long moment, then sat
her down. "Let me listen to you in exchange for your
help with Sasuke." Tohru nodded, eyes still slightly
bleary from the tears.
Half an hour later, the man said, "So... you're being
accused of an illicit love affair with your teacher?"
"Mmm-hmm... and I know sensei would never love
me..." she trailed off. The man smiled softly and
stood. "It's getting late. You should go. Your team
will be worried, you know."
"Thank you. I'll bring Sasuke here, I promise," Tohru
said, standing up.
"I look forwards to it," he said, disappearing.
As soon as she returned, she was bombarded with
questions. "Where the hell did you go!" DJ asked,
glomping her. "Yeah!" Naruto and Sakura agreed,
tackling her as well. "It's ok--Really, I'm fine,
aren't I?" Tohru asked, smiling. DJ frowned. "'S not
what I asked," she muttered in Tohru's ear as the
others nodded and smiled along with her. "Well... at
least tell us where you're going off to next time,"
Sasuke said. Tohru smiled and then pulled Sasuke aside
from the group. "Sasuke-kun, while I was in the woods
I met someone who looked like an older version of you!
He says that you're related, but he's too shy to come
down into the village." Sasuke nodded. "Ok. We'll meet
this person first thing tomorrow. Be up by six, all
right?"
Tohru nodded and rose her hand to give the other boy a
high-five. Sasuke looked at her hand curiously. Tohru
looked at him expectantly, but the black-haired boy
just looked at her, confused. "High-five?" Tohru asked
meekly. "High-what?" Sasuke asked, confused. Tohru
blinked and then dropped her hand, grinning. "Never
mind," she said as they returned to the group.
00.24
Sasuke was waiting for Tohru as she crept outside of
the house. "Let's go," she said. Sasuke and Tohru had
gotten all of 30 meters when DJ dropped down in front
of them. "Where's my breakfast?" she asked. Tohru
smiled. "Waiting for you on the stove. I made it
before I left. There's enough for Kurai-kun and Gaara
if they're hungry." DJ nodded and dissolved into
smoke. Sasuke gave Tohru a look of disbelief. "She
sent a clone to ask about breakfast?" he asked as they
began to move again.
"That's DJ for you," Tohru chirped, "Now let's get
going."
The two picked up some speed and arrived easily within
five minutes. When they stopped, Tohru called out,
"We're here!" A figure dropped out of a tree and
Sasuke's eyes widened as he straightened and stood.
"Sasuke... foolish little brother." Sasuke's mind had
no time to react, and he was in front of Tohru, kunai
in hand, facing his older brother.
"Tohru, go back--get DJ and Kakashi-sensei, and
Naruto. Sakura, if you can... GO!" Tohru, to his
surprise, was pulling out weapons herself. "What are
you doing? Get out of here, there's not much time!"
"No way," Tohru said, flipping the kunai blades in her
hands so it was poised to be thrown, "If this is
really Uchiha Itachi, and I led you right to him, then
there's no way I'm going to let him go unpunished."
Itachi rose an eyebrow. "You think you can pass
judgment on me?" he asked.
"I just did, didn't I?" Tohru said, "Now are you going
to fight or talk?"
Itachi's eyes flashed red. "You have no right to judge
me," he said softly, "You know nothing about me."
"She only knows that your murdered your entire clan,"
said a voice from a tree. DJ dropped down, leaning
against a trunk with semi-interested features. "She
knows that you're with the Akatsuki, even if she
doesn't know what it is." Itachi looked slightly
amused.
"And who are you, who knows so much about me and my
past?" he asked, curious but still dangerous-looking.
"DJ," replied the figure, turning to Tohru. "Tohru, DJ
says the food was great. She's contacting Kakashi and
the cell. Give her a signal if you need backup." Tohru
shook her head as the two Uchihas realized it was a
clone. "We'll be fine," Tohru said. The clone nodded.
"If things heat up, let her know," it said as Itachi's
shuriken punctured its head, causing it to disspell in
a puff of smoke.
"DJ," Itachi mused to himself, glancing at Tohru. "She
seems too relaxed to be a ninja. Are you friends?" He
disappeared in a puff of smoke as Tohru's kunai lodged
in his head. Sasuke felt his breath catch as a
presence appeared behind him. Tohru turned in time to
see Sasuke flung at her, and the two gennin hit the
ground with a heavy thud, Sasuke unconscious and Tohru
gasping for breath. Itachi peered over Sasuke's
shoulder, glaring at the girl.
"Don't think you can stop me," he said softly, picking
up Sasuke's body. Tohru gasped for breath, fuming
inside. 'No...He can't take Sasuke-kun... I can't
let him do this! I've gotta stop him!' With a rush of
adrenaline, the Sharingan in her eye flared to life
and breath returned to her chest. She felt a sharp
pain in her right eye and shut it, but forced it open
as she caught Itachi's attention again.
Tohru appeared behind Itachi and went at his head,
causing the older Uchiha to drop Sasuke in his guard.
Tohru grabbed him and set him down by a tree, then
turned on her opponent. "You selfish son of a
bitch... don't you dare talk to me like that! You
have no right to kill Sasuke or anyone else for that
matter! Get it through your head, YOU-ARE-NOT-GOD!"
she yelled, throwing various weapons at Itachi. The
dark-haired man blocked the weapons with a single
kunai and then threw the knife into an adjacent tree,
red eyes flaring.
"YOU listen," he hissed, blood boiling, "how DARE you
presume all those things about me. If you're so
self-righteous, why didn't you accept the help your
friend offered? You're the one with the God complex."
Tohru laughed. "Don't try and get out of this--I don't
think I'm a God, unlike you. I just don't need help
beating your sorry ass."
Itachi's hand was at her throat, and she was against a
tree. Her eyes widened, and Itachi's fingers tensed,
nearly crushing her airway.
"No one speaks to me like that," he hissed, venom in
his voice.
He threw her at Sasuke, who cried out as she landed on
him. "Aaaggh--"
Itachi was about to advance when he turned his head,
listening. Frowning, he returned his gaze to Tohru,
who was on her feet again. "I'll see you again, little
girl. For now, play time must end."
"Damn straight play time's over," she said, rushing at
Itachi. The man simply stared down the attack, and
then dissipated into a sheet of mist. Tohru rushed
through it, cursing. Sasuke sat up, rubbing his
stomach. "Mmm..." He flinched, then looked up. A
battered Tohru stood in the morning sunlight, smiling
down at him.
"He's gone. We won, Sasuke-kun," she said before
collapsing on the ground. Sasuke's eyes widened and he
went to her side. When her eyes opened again, Sasuke
tensed. Two blood-red orbs glistened, both with
comma-less circles in the center. One eye faded back
to brown while the other continued to gaze up at him,
deep red. Sasuke shook his head, trying to clear his
mind of the images of his brother behind those eyes,
pulling down her headband to cover the eye, hoping to
stop the eye from using up all her chakra. He felt a
hand on his cheek and blinked down at the
brown-skinned girl.
"Sasuke-kun? Why do you look so sad?" Tohru asked.
"It's nothing," Sasuke replied, taking her hand away
from his face. Sasuke picked her up, and carried her
back toward the village.
00.25
Kakashi woke to the sound of his window being forced
open. Before he was fully awake he'd sent a kunai into
DJ's chest. His eye widened. "DJ--"
"I knew that would happen," DJ mused as her clone
dissolved, the kunai dropping to the floor. "so I sent
two." Kakashi sweatdropped. "What do you want so early
in the morning?"
"Tohru's being stupid and fighting someone. I've
already alerted Sakura and Naruto, and my main body is
on the move." Kakashi was about to ask where Tohru
was, but the clone dissolved. He rolled an eye as he
felt Naruto and Sakura's chakra approach. "I'm
supposed to follow my students... right." He got out
of bed and threw on his vest and weapons holster,
sandals, and leapt out to meet his students. He found
DJ leading Sakura and Naruto toward the forest.
Dropping down from the roof tops, he fell in step with
his students.
"Took you long enough," DJ said as they barreled on.
"Tohru's stopped just ahead," DJ said, then frowned.
"No, wait--Sasuke's stopped. Tohru's still moving."
This worried Kakashi. "What happened?"
"They were confronted by Uchiha Itachi," DJ replied.
Kakashi's eye widened.
Naruto's ears perked up. "Sasuke's aniki?"
Sakura frowned. "He's never mentioned an older brother
before..."
"That's for him to tell you," DJ said, not trusting
herself with spilling Itachi's secrets before Sasuke
was ready for his teammates to know. Kakashi's eye
narrowed. "Not every person knows about the Uchiha's
past..."
"Well, I'm not ever person," replied the long-haired
girl as she came to a slower pace, "and neither is
Tohru." They crossed a few more meters and came upon
the two gennin. DJ threw herself at the bloody
battered girl in Sasuke's arms.
"Hey! You shouldn't have waited so long to call me!"
she admonished, Tohru wincing at the volume, "I missed
all the action!"
Sasuke let DJ take the girl from his arms, looking to
his own wounds. Sakura gave an 'oh!' and rushed over
to help him. The youngest Uchiha gave her a look.
"Tohru faced off against a strong opponent," he said
as Sakura bent down to look at him, "you should be
worried about her condition." Sakura frowned, put out,
but left him and looked over Tohru's wounds. Kakashi
squatted next to Sasuke as the others fussed over
Tohru.
"What really happened?" he asked, "was Itachi
really..."
"Yes," Sasuke said, "he was here." Kakashi looked
around nonchalantly. "Did he leave?"
"I don't know how far he got," Sasuke said, "but he
might come back." His face darkened. "Also... Tohru
somehow has the Sharingan eye--in both eyes."
This shocked Kakashi. "How?"
"I don't know... it looks as if her right eye is
uncontrollable, it kept spinning even after she
collapsed." Kakashi nodded as Tohru moved away from
her worried teammates to check up on Sasuke.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine," Sasuke said, "worry about yourself."
Tohru frowned. "Not until you're ok. It's my fault--"
"Tohru," Naruto interrupted, "Sasuke may be a stubborn
bastard--"
"Naruto!"
"--but he can handle himself. We're worried about
you." Tohru blushed. Kakashi stood up. "I've got to
report this to the Hokage. You all stay on alert and
keep this to yourselves. We don't want to cause a
panic." He disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving
the five gennin alone. Naruto grinned.
"Yosh--no training! Anyone want to go out for ramen?"
DJ immediately volunteered. "I'll go," she said,
perking out of the worried mood that had settled over
the group. Sasuke got to his feet. "I'm going to
train," he announced.
"Not in your condition," Tohru said, "You're coming
with us."
"Yeah," Sakura added, latching onto his arm, "there's
no way we can let you go, especially if your brother's
after you." Sasuke looked at Sakura. "How'd you know?"
Sakura looked at Tohru shyly. "Tohru said that Itachi
was after you..." Sasuke gave Tohru a look. "What
else do you know?" he asked, his voice soft. Tohru
went to reply, then stopped, looking at the other
members of her cell. "I... are you sure... you don't
mind them knowing?"
"They'll hear sooner or later," Sasuke said, "if you
know, I'd rather they hear it from you, now, not as a
rumor." Tohru nodded.
"All right," she said as Sasuke looked at her
expectantly, "I only know that Itachi was the one who
killed your entire clan, save you, when he turned 16."
Naruto's eyes widened and Sakura's hands flew to her
mouth. The blonde was looking at his rival with a new
gaze, a sort of understanding filling an empty space
in his heart and mind. Sasuke had had parents--only to
have them slaughtered by someone who shared his blood
and his mother's womb before him. He had once had a
caring mother, and a proud father. He once had a
family, and that family had been taken away by someone
that Naruto was sure was once precious to his
dark-haired rival. Naruto was almost glad to have
never known a parent's love as Sakura's eyes brimmed
with tears. "Sasuke-kun..."
The Uchiha shook his head. "I don't need your
pity--that's the last thing I want," he hissed before
dropping his voice a few levels, "That's the reason I
never told anyone. I don't need all those pitying
gazes on my back." A hand landed heavily on his
shoulder and he looked up in surprise to see Naruto
growling. "JERK! Is THIS why you walk around with a
stick up your ass!" Tohru and DJ jumped at the
volume. "Naruto-kun," Tohru began, but the blonde
shinobi drowned her out.
"You're such a bastard! I can't believe that's what
you've been on about this whole time!" Sasuke screwed
up his face. "Shut it, dobe. You don't have any
idea--"
WHAM
Naruto's fist connected cleanly with Sasuke's cheek,
sending him to the ground as Sakura screamed. Tohru
ran at Naruto, confused and angry that this was the
reaction he was having to Sasuke opening up to them,
but DJ grabbed her arm. "Wait," she said, "just wait."
Naruto stood over Sasuke, glowering.
"So, you're like this because you miss your family?"
Naruto hissed, his hand balling into a fist. Sasuke
nodded. "You couldn't understand, dobe."
"Yes, I can and I do," Naruto said suddenly level with
the other boy, blue eyes sharp and clear, "Yes, I can
because we're your family!"
Sasuke's eyes widened. Sakura and Tohru blinked, and
DJ sighed in relief. "Naruto..."
The blonde gestured to the five of them, punching a
fist at the sky. "One night, that night, when we all
shared our blood... Before that, we spent nights
together in enemy territory, training, and just being
a team. If that doesn't make us family, nothing does!"
Sasuke's wide eyes were focused on Naruto's
passion-filled ones with no small amount of awe as
Naruto proclaimed their kinship.
"Sasuke-kun, Naruto's right," Tohru said, walking over
towards them and kneeling next to the dark-haired boy.
"We're a family. To be honest, I didn't think of our
team like that before, but now I see." Naruto grinned.
"See? We're family."
Everyone jumped as Kakashi poofed back. "Hm? What'd I
miss?" he asked. Sakura gave a frustrated groan and
Sasuke hid a smile. Tohru beamed. "Feel better?" she
asked the Uchiha. Sasuke nodded.
"ALL RIGHT! Let's celebrate by going out for ramen!
You pay!" Naruto said, slapping Sasuke on the back.
"What!" Sasuke asked, flustered by the sudden
comraderie. The rest of his teammates laughed at his
expense as they watched the two argue all the way to
the restraunt.
Later that night, Sasuke woke up, and his eyes
widened. "How... did I get stuck with the bill?"