I am sure I am dreaming. The world around me is pitch black… Or is it? Wait, is it black or is it red? I am not sure. It is writhing all around me. But that is blood… There's blood everywhere… Is that a person?
"You must be the one," the person says. Is it a man or a woman? Is it a child or is it an adult? I cannot say. Their voice is weird, like it isn't a person at all. It comes from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It is in my head, just like a thought, but I can also hear it. But I see a silhouette. Standing right in front of me. Its body is being consumed by the darkness, tendrils of shadow wrapping around it. I can barely make out the shape of its body. "What do you want to do with your life?"
"What?" I mutter. It's so dark… What happened? I know I went to sleep but I just can't remember where I am sleeping. And anyways, this is a weird dream. Nobody thinks this much in dreams. I am thinking almost as much as when I am normally awake. "Who are you?"
"Who do you think I am?"
"I think you're Santa Claus." I shrug and try to look around. But there is only the dark red. With blood on the ground. I can't smell it, I can't feel it, but I know it is there.
"Really now? Do I look like Santa?"
"I think you do." I frown at the person who looks nothing like the old man dressed in red. Does it know who Santa is? I didn't think Narutoverse has such a thing… And anyways, why am I thinking like the person is someone else and not just a part of my weird mind?! This is a dream, for Jashin's sake!
"Fine then. Maybe I am Santa. And am I to believe you're the one who is supposed to help me?"
"Help you with what exactly?" I frown. This doesn't feel like a dream. It feels too real…yet I know it is a dream. What does this person want? I shake my head. I should probably stop talking to myself. I mean, it is a part of me, so right now I am only talking to myself, right? Right. And no I sound even more crazy…
"Getting rid of him. You know who I am talking about, right?"
"No I do not."
"Hm. What do you want to do with your life?" The Santa Claus person jumps to a completely different topic, reminding me of my own train of thought. It really is a part of me. But it did ask that earlier, right? Maybe. I can't remember that either.
"No idea." I decide to play nice.
"Really?"
"Really. Did you know that this is a really stupid dream?" I glance at the person.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, the first time I get to do whatever I want in a dream, and I am stuck in a dark and bloody place with a random Santa Claus person for Jashin's sake!"
It has the nerve to laugh. "Should I feel sorry?"
"Yes."
"Too bad. I do not. It's not like I wanted to end up here either."
I frown. "Then go away."
"I am afraid I am locked in here for the time being."
I shake my head and try to find anything else besides us from the darkness. Weirdo. Sometimes I truly surprise myself with what I can think up.
"Please do not assume I am just a figment of your little brain."
"Then why can you hear my thoughts?" I shoot back it, kicking the ground. Some blood splatters around, without making a sound. Could I just wake up, please?!
"Then wake up. But do not forget my question."
When I wake up, I have a vague memory of having some weird dream, but I can't bring myself to remember what exactly it had been about. Only when I get up on the bed do I even realize where I am, so disoriented I feel. It looks like my room, but for some reason it smells lovely. Something akin to baking… The only time I have seen someone bake anything in this life is when Chiyo would make something for us. But I am quite sure Chiyo is not in my house, so what exactly is going on?
After getting dressed I head to the kitchen where the smell is originating from. When I step in, I see Sasori sitting in a chair, starting at our oven intently. Blinking, I look at it as well. It is on and seems like it is the reason for the lovely smell in my home.
Sasori raises his gaze to me. "Oh, good morning, Risu-chan."
"What?" I ask slowly, still trying to wrap my head around what exactly is going on.
He frowns at me. "Are you okay?"
I shake my head, feeling the dizziness disappear a bit. "Yeah… What are you doing?"
I suddenly remember that we had been making poisons here last night and Sasori had stayed over.
"I'm baking cookies," the redhead states blankly, making me wonder if I am still dreaming. Sasori? Cookies? Give my brain a second to handle that piece of information. I slowly nod. "Oh, and don't worry, I went back home and got the ingredients from there."
That still doesn't explain why he is making cookies. Not that I am against it, it's cute, but just… It's not something I would expect of him, and it makes me really wonder.
"But why are you making cookies?" I finally ask, and suddenly Sasori smirks.
"For that, you will need to wait a bit longer."
Our front door opens, and kaachan walks in with a shopping bag.
"I got the milk and cocoa powder, Sasori-kun. Oh, good morning, Kuroyuri." She blinks at me. I just stare at her. Kaachan? Shopping? For Sasori? Wait… I pinch myself. Nothing happens. Well, I could still be dreaming… Should I ask someone to kill me? Ah, maybe not.
"Thank you, Mihoko-san." Sasori thanks her with a nod when kaachan sets down the bag on the kitchen counter.
"Well, you kids have fun. I'll need to hurry to my mission." Kaachan nods at us and hurries off. I shake my head. I am growing only surer and surer that I am dreaming.
Sasori turns to the bag and gets the stuff out from there, setting them down next to the oven. And I just stare when he gets the baking tray out of the oven.
"Sit." He points at the table, and in utter confusion I just obey while he keeps doing whatever he is doing.
After I have been wondering whether the world is ending or not for a few minutes, Sasori turns around and puts down a plate of cookies and two mugs full of hot chocolate. "Happy birthday."
I blink. "It's my birthday?"
Sasori rolls his eyes as he sits down. "Good thing at least one of us remembers you're getting old."
"I am not getting old!" I exclaim right away. "I turn seven! That's only like one tenth of a normal human lifespan!"
"And yet your brain is probably 35 years old." He shrugs, and I need to stop a shriek from coming out. I do wonder if you even realize how right you are…
Sasori grabs one of his own cookies and bites down on it. I give them one look and mimic his actions. They are absolutely delicious and when combined with the hot chocolate I feel like I am in heaven.
"Is it good?" Sasori asks when I grab my fourth cookie. I nod excitedly.
"Mm-hm. I love you!" I exclaim as I lose my brain-to-mouth filter for a moment and don't think about what those words could mean if we were only a little bit older. Sasori only rolls his eyes at me.
"Glad you like it. I had to ask baachan to teach me how to make them and that gave her way too many ways to be all annoying about it. I have no idea how I put up with it."
"You know, you shouldn't tell that to the one you do the things for since they will only feel sorry for you and all the meaning behind your act goes to waste. Though if you did want me to feel sorry, then sorry."
Sasori snorts. "You're such a weirdo."
"That's probably the reason you endured the terrible experience of learning to bake cookies."
"Maybe." He shakes his head. "Do you want to train later?"
"Hell yeah!"
About an hour later we head for my training ground, only to find it occupied. I am surprised to see Ayaka, Terumi, and Nozomi actually fighting, and against Kazuto and Sanji nonetheless.
"Oh! It's Kuro-chan and Sasori!" Sanji is the first one to notice us. When the others stop their spar as well, I raise my eyebrows at them.
"What are you doing and why weren't we invited?" I tilt my head at the girls. Terumi grins at me, but Ayaka is the one to give me an answer:
"We thought it was about time we got serious about passing the test. It's only a few weeks away, you know. We decided to come train here and just happened to run into these two on the way. They promised to help us."
I nod slowly and look at Sasori. "Looks like we can't train here."
The training ground is too small for two groups to be sparring at the same time.
"Wait a second!" Ayaka smiles at us. "If you want to train, why don't you be the opponents for us?"
"You…want to challenge us?" I blink at her. Aside from Sasori being the oldest here and clearly the most experienced one, I am the best in my genin team, making me only second to him in our little group. And if that wouldn't be enough to make them turn away, me and Sasori always train together. Well, when we can, anyways. Our teamwork is much better together than with anyone else. And these three are Academy students, ones that sparely ever spar since they think they don't need it.
"Training, Kuro-chan, training. We're not challenging you; we're just asking you to train with us," Ayaka tells me, and I sigh. Almost the same thing, yet completely different. If it was a challenge, we could've gone all out, but with training… How boring.
"Why not?" Sasori says to my surprise. I turn to him. "We came here to train anyways. It's good to train with different people from time to time."
I study his face for a moment, and smirk. "Fine. Let's do it."
"Oh, and since you're so much better than us, no using puppets," Ayaka adds, and I immediately frown at her.
"So, you want to train against puppet users and tell them not to use puppets?"
"Are you afraid?" Terumi snickers at me, and I roll my eyes. Well, it is better this way. If they hadn't said anything, they would only ask why we didn't use puppets once this fight is done with… Since that seems to be our plan if I read Sasori's expression right.
"Whatever." I sigh and glance at Sasori only to keep up the façade that this is their idea. "You fine with that?"
Sasori nods with a blank face, but I can see the satisfaction in his eyes.
"Good luck." Sanji smirks at me. "They aren't actually half bad."
He follows Kazuto to the rocks to get out of our way. I throw my bag near them after I have made sure I have the required tools on me. Walking over to Sasori, I glance at him once before we turn to the girls.
"You ready?" Ayaka asks. I am about to nod, when Sasori opens his mouth:
"And remember, it's training, not a challenge."
Ayaka frowns and I sigh. No doubt Ayaka thinks the words are meant for them, but I know they aren't. So, Sasori wants to play with them before we finish this? Fine by me. If it were a challenge, I would've wanted to show them how to finish this in three seconds. But training is training.
"We're ready."
I take out a few kunai and throw them at the girls. Terumi and Nozomi dodge to the sides, while Ayaka jumps back and shoots a wind technique at us. Almost mimicking each other's actions, me and Sasori shoot senbon at the two girls getting closer t us. While Sasori and Nozomi fight with kunai I jump away from Terumi, starting a seal sequence. In the middle of it something interrupts my chakra flow.
I blink at the chakra threads running from my arms to Terumi's fingers. They are not strong enough to disrupt my movements, but they can affect the flow of my chakra just enough to interrupt a technique. I raise my eyebrows and throw a kunai at the girl, forcing her to jump back. The threads are cut. So, she is training to become a puppet master just like she had said all that time ago… Those chakra threads wouldn't be strong enough to control a puppet, though.
I glance to the other side of the battleground and see Ayaka joining Nozomi to fight against Sasori. I know they won't be able to beat him, but I am still a bit wary of their wind and fire style… Surely, they couldn't combine it yet, but still… I sigh and dodge Terumi's straight attack with a kunai. Why did I get stuck with the weakest one?
"Raikyu." I do my next jutsu, a group of lightning balls that automatically charge towards Terumi. I leave her to dodge them and run to join Sasori.
"They really aren't half bad, eh?" I ask when I see Sasori using Suna Bunshin to dodge an attack from both sides.
"Mm." Sasori shrugs. I chuckle and glance at the two girls in front of us. Terumi shoots a fireball at us, and we're forced to jump back. I consider doing some jutsu to attack them but decide against it. It's midday, so my water techniques are at their weakest, and I don't feel like spamming Raikyu at them. I do have Raiton: Jibashi, but I don't really like to use the short-range lightning for anything other than shocking opponents through water.
I take out an array of shuriken and shoot them at the duo when Terumi does the same to me. Looks like she finally dealt with the Raikyu. Glancing at her from the corner of my eye I raise my hands and catch the shuriken with chakra threads, throwing them at the other two as well while Sasori throws a seal that starts shooting senbon in rapid succession at Terumi, not letting the girl get too close to us. Only Ayaka's wind technique saves her from being hit by blowing most of the senbon away.
"Shall we put an end to this?" Sasori asks as the girls back off to catch their breath, and I smirk. Ayaka is quick to give him an answer:
"I was thinking the same thing."
Ignoring her words that are most likely a bluff, I charge at Terumi. The weakest one needs to be taken out before we can put the plan in motion. Terumi turns tail and starts running to the side, away from the other three. I get a bad feeling to my gut but decide to follow her anyways. In a real fight I wouldn't have followed such an obvious plan to separate us, but Sasori can take care of himself.
As me and Terumi meet in a fight with kunai, I see Nozomi readying a fire technique, with Ayaka next to her getting ready for a wind one. My eyes fly open. "They couldn't…?"
"They can." Terumi smirks at me. I squint at her. Well, even if they can combine them, it wouldn't be enough to beat Sasori…
Nozomi shoots a fireball. It is bigger than the ones I have seen her do before: to me, it looks to be at least three meters in diameter. And with Ayaka adding her wind jutsu into it, it grows in size and fierceness, the flames burning brighter, turning it into a cone of fire.
The attack is big. Bigger than I would've thought possible for girls their age and talent, but maybe that is the power of wind and fire combined. And it is traveling right towards Sasori. He has already used Suna Bunshin – which takes away pretty much half of his chakra – so I know it would be hard for him to dodge an attack of that caliber. I am sure he would survive even if it does hit him. But my hands and feet are moving even before I get to the end of that train of thought.
"Hey!" Sanji shouts. "That's too big of a jutsu to use-"
I kick Terumi to the side. Lightning envelops my legs as I run to Sasori's side, my hands making seals as fast as they can. I gather chakra to my mouth when I feel the heat of the attack closing in. "Suiton: Mizurappa!"
I gather almost all my chakra to the technique and blow as I can feel the fire almost burning my skin. As the techniques collide, an explosion of steam pushes us all away.
When the steam clears a little, I see everyone staring at me. But I can only feel the anger burning up inside me. Were they trying to kill Sasori?! I bring my hands behind my back and get out my two daggers. The air feels heavy when I run towards the two girls. I hear Sasori cursing quietly. But he follows our plan, and I see chakra threads passing me, attaching themselves to Ayaka and Nozomi to stop the two girls.
"You're dead," I say quietly, the anger fuming inside of me, as I press the knifes to their throats. I see the fear in their eyes, but it is not enough to satisfy me at all. They deserve to be fucking killed for that!
"Risu-chan!"
I glance to my side. Terumi is running towards me. I wait for her and when she is close enough, I kick her to the side. Keeping my hands in place, I twist my body to bring her to the ground under my foot. "Dead."
"Shit, we give up!" Ayaka stares at me in anger, the last drops of fear disappearing from her eyes. After two seconds the chakra threads disappear. My hold on the knifes tightens. Nozomi gulps. I pull the knifes back and turn my back on them.
Somebody whistles. I raise my gaze to Kazuto and Sanji.
"I had no idea you were that good with water style!" Sanji exclaims as he jumps off the rock. "And in the middle of the day in the desert… You must already be the best water user this village has ever had! But seriously, Ayaka, that technique was too powerful. If not for Kuro-chan, Sasori would have been burnt to a crisp."
Ayaka lowers her gaze. "I know. I didn't know I still had so much chakra left… I'm sorry!"
I hiss. Sasori ignores her words as he heads for me.
"Are you okay?" he asks, and I shake my head.
"I should be the one asking that!"
He studies me for a moment. "Hm."
"Kuro-chan." Ayaka turns to me. I glance at her, forcing my anger down. "I just- Sorry."
"Nothing bad happened." I grin at her while the voices inside my head tell me to rip her apart. "It's fine."
Ayaka lets out a relieved sigh and smiles shortly. Looks like even she can't read people despite being quite clever usually.
"I think that was enough training for us," she then announces and soon she's leaving together with Terumi and Nozomi.
"You really are good." Kazuto glances at me. I chuckle.
"We're in the same team and just now you realize it?"
"Our missions aren't hard enough to bring out the best in any of us." He shrugs, and I must agree. Luckily, he and Sanji are idiots as well. They would never be able to read me. No need for them to see how much exactly I had wanted the girls dead just a moment ago. Still do… But I know I can't do that.
"So, what do you say?" Sanji smiles at us. "We versus you."
I blink. I don't have a good reason to say no, other than the fact that right now I might just accidentally kill them. A second battle right after that one could rile me up to try too hard. But of course, I couldn't say that.
"I think that other…training session…was enough for today." Sasori comes to my rescue, and I give him a thankful look.
"Sorry, you can train by yourselves." I smile at my teammates, and Sanji almost pouts at me.
"But Kuro-chan…"
"You can survive without me, can't you?" I ask jokingly, and while Kazuto just shakes his head in the background, Sanji acts like his whole world has just been crushed. "Have fun!"
I grab Sasori's hand and pretty much drag him out of there.
"Do you want to go somewhere specific?" he asks when the training ground has long disappeared behind us. I shrug.
"Not really."
"Hm."
We walk in silence for minutes, and in the end Sasori sits me down in some random park.
"You know, we have this day off. We should make the most of it," he points out. I roll my eyes. "And it's your birthday."
"Like that comes second?" I chuckle. "How'd you even know it's my birthday? I don't think I've ever told you."
Sasori glances at me. "I asked your mother."
"Kaachan?!" I blink. "So, she was in on your devious plans!"
"You call cookies devious?"
"You don't know how frightening they can be!" I assure him and get just an amused eyeroll in answer.
"What about working on puppets?"
I shrug. "If you want to."
"Girls," Sasori mumbles at me and I snort at him. "Let's go visit Yoshida-ojiisan."
I blink but stand up and follow the boy. Yoshida is maybe in his fifties and runs a ninja tool shop. His tools are the best quality and as such can be pretty expensive, but since me and Sasori visit him from time to time and chat with him, he always gives us discounts.
When we're passing by some alley, I hear a soft meow from there, and stop dead in my tracks. "Ah!"
Sasori turns to me with a confused look when I dive into the alley. "Risu-chan…?"
I sit in the alley with a tiny kitten in my hands. It's maybe three weeks old, nowhere near old enough to be wandering about on its own. I raise my bright gaze to Sasori. "Look! Look! It's a kitty!"
I raise the kitten at him, and he only raises his eyebrows at me.
"Yeah?"
"A kitty! Look how cute it is!" I hug the tortoiseshell-colored cat and it lets out a soft meow. I squeak and rub my face against its soft and fuzzy fur. "Awwhh!"
I guess I still love cats as much as I did in my previous life, eh? But in my defense, they're cute as hell! I feat that if Kansuke-sensei was capable of summoning cats instead of rabbits, I would still be in the Academy…
"I guess you love cats," Sasori states. I blink and glance at him. I almost forgot he is still here. He's leaning on the brick wall of one of the buildings with crossed hands.
"Yup!" I grin and raise the kitten again. "I mean, look! It's so damn cute I would kill for it!"
I take the kitten back into my arms and look around in the alley. "I do wonder where her mother is, though…"
"How do you know it's a her?" Sasori raises his eyebrows at me, and I smile.
"Because of the color! Tortoiseshell cats are almost always female."
I hear another meow, this time coming from further down the alley. My kitten meows back, and soon I see a black cat walking towards us with two fuzzy kitties running behind it. I laugh at them and untangle the kitten's claws from my cloak. I am surprised when the cat comes right over to me without any reservations.
"I guess you're someone's pet, eh?" I tilt my head at it. Alley cats wouldn't be this friendly. But why were the kittens here, then, and not in their home…? Maybe it ran away. Who knows.
"I suppose you want your daughter back." I smile at the cat, and it gives me a soft purr, pushing its head against my leg. Laughing, I let the kitten down and pet the mother. "There you go."
The cat purrs again and soon the four of them are heading off down the alley. I glance at Sasori who is awfully quiet and freeze in place.
Sasori is smiling. It's not his usual smug or sarcastic smile, but just…a normal smile. If it wouldn't have sounded absolutely ridiculous, I would have called a smile like that fond.
Turning to look after the cats one more time, I get up and dust myself off quickly before turning to him. "Let's continue!"
"Alright," Sasori chuckles.
Without any more interruptions we find ourselves at Yoshida's shop. Despite being clearly the best in the village, it seems a little bit rundown, and maybe that is the reason some people avoid it, thinking it could only sell shitty equipment. Ojiisan says it's for a reason, that stupid people like that would keep away. He also has a reputation for turning some clients away if he does not like them. I think it's fair enough. If you want to buy stuff, at least be nice to the one you're buying it from.
"Oh! Kuro-chan and Sasori-chan!" Yoshida-ojiisan raises his head at us from behind his counter when the bell attached to the door rings. Sasori gives him a nod and I wave my hand with a wide smile. "I was just wondering when I would see you two again. What would you like today?"
As Sasori starts listing the things he needs, I wander around the shop, at times glancing at ojiisan who looks like he has fallen asleep. He has a habit of doing that, though. Whenever he is listening carefully, it looks like he has fallen asleep.
I find a nice set of kunai I decide to buy and get some senbon also since one can never have too many of them. In the end we leave with loads of bought stuff as well as one chocolate candy for both of us.
"Have you come up with any plans yet?" Sasori asks once we get out, and I roll my eyes.
"Nope."
"Then let's go add the poison to these senbon."
I do not object, and we head for my home. My room has become a real den for adding poison to our weapons. Sometimes I wonder if I would one day drop dead from all the fumes in there, but whatever. At least we do the poison experiments in Sasori's basement.