Yohooo!
I'm terribly late again, I know, and I sincerely apologize, but I do have reasons. Mainly a shitton of essays to write for uni, but I still chipped off some time to work on this. Thank you for the overwhelming response to last chapter, it made me so happy! Especially since I've gotten my first fanart! Go check on my profile for the link or look on my tumblr under the tag 'fanart', it's totally awesome and I've been squealing with joy ever since.
So, have the longest chapter ever as a little pre-Christmas present. I don't know if I'll be able to do something before the actual holiday, though, because essays, so that might be all for the moment. But don't worry, I'll definitely be back.
Chapter again betaed by NightsBlackRose13, and although we had our differences on this one, I think it turned out for the best. Enjoy!
Chapter 17: Socializing with the Dead
I still haven't calmed down when Tsunade finally decides to discharge me later in the afternoon – of course not without reminding me to get a good night's rest. I don't remember agreeing with her, but I must've been convincing enough for her to let me go. She probably mistook my numb state of shock for compliance.
As I make my way to Yashiro's house, I can barely feel the slight drizzle that's coming down on my face. I feel sluggish, sick and cold. My feet are leaden with weight as I drag them along one step at a time, and I'm pretty sure that it's not all attributable to chakra exhaustion. More like, 50-50 maybe.
The other 50% being one Senju Nawaki.
Gods.
I've been teamed up with a dead person.
Dead, dead, dead.
As dead in canon as Otou-san and Okaa-chan. Dead. Dying. Going to die. Soon, again. And close to me.
Again.
I don't think I can handle this.
Again, again, again.
Over the last year and a half, I've managed to get by just so. Because of Obito. Because of the distraction that first training with Yashiro and then the academy provided me with.
Not because I finally overcame it. More like, I shoved it somewhere dark and shut it away. Sound familiar? Well. Old habits die hard, I guess.
I know it didn't work well the last time I did this.
I know this is going to come back later and bite my ass big time.
But.
I just.
Can't.
Even suppressed like this, they're always so close to the surface that sometimes, I imagine I can feel the memories kicking, like pebbles thrown against a thinly glassed window. And every time it happens, I am so close to breaking, I-
I still see Otou-san's destroyed body when I dream.
And on that roof today, I proved to the whole world again that I can't be considered anything close to 'stable' when confronted with mortal fear.
I – I don't know what to do. Shit, what do I do? Why do these things keep happening to me? Does somebody up there or wherever they sit think this is funny? Do they think of it as one big joke, a game of "let's-heap-infinite-shit-on-the-one-misplaced-soul-and-see-how-much-she-can-take"?
Because.
At my sides, my hands ball into fists as suddenly, anger born out of an overwhelming sense of helplessness and desperation builds up with burning pressure.
Screw them and their fucked up humor.
This is enough. I'm done with this game. I'm not playing.
I have just enough of a sense of self-preservation not to want to get myself hurt like that ever again. Once already nearly killed me.
I'm going to find a way out of that team configuration as fast as possible. Or die trying.
)()()(
I haven't even fully entered the house when the next thing comes blasting into my face.
Yashiro is already waiting for me. He grips my arm and proceeds to drag me through the hallway to his study. The way he slams the shoji screen shut after entering can barely be called civil and when I finally catch a look at his face, my general anger at the world makes place for instant shock.
I've never seen him so livid.
He practically throws me on the zabuton that's positioned before his desk and only the fact that I have been training saves me from an embarrassing face-plant. I quickly scramble into an upright position.
"What have you done? What did you tell the Nara boy?" he bellows.
The Nara boy? What?
It takes a few seconds before I realize that this has nothing to do with Nawaki and my new team, that Yashiro probably doesn't even know about my assignment yet, and it leaves me with a profound sense of confusion. I'm so bewildered that I forget my Uchiha manners, blurting out the next best thought that enters my mind.
"What? Shikaku? What did I do?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Etsuko," he spits out. "You and he are friends, you said so yourself. So what did you do that made him all but reject the marriage offer?!"
Oh.
Right. Haha.
Because the whole thing with a dying teammate is not enough.
How could I forget something as trivial as my impending marriage?
I can already feel the sensation of hysterical laughter bubbling up inside of me, threatening to drown the line that marks the border between me and complete and utter panic.
Oh my, the universe truly hates me.
"Nobody rejects an offer from the Uchiha clan. They know better than that, especially the so called clan of geniuses. They've already had the audacity to ask for time to consider and we granted them the demand out of good will, but this! This is unacceptable!"
On another note, seeing Yashiro on a ranting rave is kind of hilarious. Maybe I should just start laughing. Humor can solve nearly any situation, right? And if you actually think about it, it's quite ironic that the Uchiha should be so riled up because of the laziest clan in Konoha.
None of the hysteric humor or irony helps me though, when Yashiro comes in two fast strides and grabs me by my shoulders. His voice is dangerously low when he speaks.
"What. Did you. Tell him?"
I go still when Yashiro's words belatedly register in my mind.
Wait.
What did I tell him?
"I didn't tell him anything!" I protest weakly. "I've only known about this since yesterday!"
"Yet you stay away from home for the whole afternoon, only coming back after the announcement from them that they, I quote," – Yashiro's mouth twists into something ugly here – "'feel the necessity to wait until the girl feels ready to decide for herself!'"
My eyes widen in surprise.
He thinks I didn't come home because I was engineering my grand escape from the arranged marriage?
This … is certainly something.
I have to admit, I'm kind of flattered that he thinks of me as capable of the boldness needed to try to do something like that. I almost wish that it was actually true. It's definitely more badass than what really happened.
"I wasn't voluntarily staying away this afternoon," I say in a deliberately slow and measured tone, partly in an attempt to calm him down and partly to cover up my embarrassment over the incident. "I was away because I was in hospital. I had my genin test and accidentally used up all of my chakra. Via ninjutsu. So – chakra exhaustion. There."
Oh well. Nobody said I had to be elaborate with my explanation.
Yashiro narrows his eyes. "Are you getting bold with me?"
I shake my head. "No. It's the truth. I didn't say anything to him. Shikaku decided this on his own."
Surprisingly, he believes me.
I feel him release his grip on my shoulders as he takes a step back. "This doesn't make sense," he mutters, more to himself than anything. "We are the most powerful clan in Konoha. They would benefit greatly from an alliance. The boy is pleased with you and even if he wasn't, it shouldn't matter since you still are a more than suitable candidate."
Excuse me?!
As if I'm no more than a useful commodity.
Something icy crawls up into my chest, a hand made of frozen steel and blunted thorns that closes in and squeezes and – and I think I'm going to be sick.
"Duty should be the only motivation needed in a situation like this. They can't afford to turn this offer down if they want to stay one of the more important clans in Konoha."
I've never heard Yashiro speak so much in such a short time and I wish I didn't have to. In fact, my only desire right now is to be as far away from him as possible.
Or.
The air seems to shift as fury slams back into me with the force of a meteor.
To get up and punch him in the face.
I look up and lock eyes with Yashiro. My mouth opens and when my voice comes out, it sounds abnormally cold even to my own ears.
"It must be hard for you to imagine that other people might have values other than duty that are just as important in their lives." I pause to take a breath. The next words line up in my throat, dripping with intent, and I release them with the measured tension of a drawn bowstring.
"I pity you."
Stunned silence is my only response.
Good.
I decide not to wait for Yashiro's recovery. The noise my feet make while I walk out of his study is just loud enough to be heard, as is the sound of the shoji screen opening and sliding shut behind me. It's deliberate.
I'd like for him to hear me, after all.
)()()(
As soon as I've stepped out of the study, my bravado leaves me and I know that I won't be able to deal with Yashiro should he decide to come after me. My knees feel like butter, I'm still cold and my hands have started to shake violently.
I need to get away.
But I can't be alone right now.
What I do next requires no active thinking and can be considered almost instinctual.
Obito is lying on the ground of our shared bed room, stomach-down and propped up on his arms, before him several sheets of paper and a look of concentration on his face. He looks so tiny, a little bundle with a mop of spiky black hair on top and I'm reminded again that he's only just turned two years old a few months ago. He has a pencil in his right hand and judging by the scrawling on the paper that – with a lot of good faith – can be faintly identified as hiragana, he's trying to write his name again.
Right, I taught him the characters only yesterday.
Today doesn't feel like one day after yesterday. More like one slice of eternity later, sprinkled with events worth decades of history.
He looks up at the sound of the shoji screen sliding open and when he sees me coming in, his face lights up with a huge, cheerful smile. He quickly scrambles onto his feet and launches himself into a full body tackle.
"Nee-chan! You're back!"
It might be irrational, but I can't deny that I feel better almost instantly as I hold him and press a kiss on the top of his head. He looks so happy at the simple presence of me that I can almost believe that my existence has value on its own again, that I'm not just a chess piece in clan politics or some experiment for the amusement of a supra-human audience.
"I missed you, Obi."
He snuggles closer in response and I tighten my hug.
We stay like that for a little while until I remember what I was intending to do when I first entered.
"Say, Obi, are you tired of seeing those characters? Do you want to join me on a walk to the playground?"
Obito looks up at me excitedly. "Yay, playground!"
I chuckle and give him another kiss on the forehead, just for good measure.
There should still be a couple hours of sunlight and who knows how often I'll have time to spend with my brother when this whole genin-team-mess starts tomorrow. Better take what I can get.
)()()(
"Did you hear? Konoha's forces, with a bit of help from Suna, managed to inflict a great deal of damage to Iwa with their last offensive. They say that the enemy has retreated behind the borders of Earth for the first time since we have entered the war."
"Finally! I hope that it will all be over soon and that Mamoru can come back."
My gaze is steadily trained on Obito and the game of tag that he's playing with a few other kids as I eavesdrop inconspicuously.
Without TVs – they do exist, it's just Uchiha traditionalism/Yashiro striking again – news apps and sites or newspapers, updates on the general political situation are really hard to come by, especially since nobody sees my diminutive five-year-old existence as fit for conversations like this. Prodigies are all well and good until they actually want to know things. It's just not in line with the principles of a militaristic governance system that aims to methodically train child soldiers. Since, you know, uninformed young minds are easily impressionable, fertile grounds for manipulations and – whoa, I really need to calm down before I think myself into a rage again.
I'm extremely volatile today, for anybody who hasn't noticed.
Ahem. So.
It's nice to hear something positive for a change. Something removed from all my personal drama.
When the two ladies that have been conducting this conversation shift their focus to other things than the war, I drop out. It's impolite to listen in on private discussions, after all. Instead, I fully concentrate on the kids.
Obito's open, friendly nature has made him some fast friends today. At first, he'd been at a loss of what to do since Kakashi wasn't here, but that changed when three children, two girls and a boy, approached us. I didn't recognize them, not even after they'd introduced themselves, but that's hardly surprising. Naruto was about Naruto and his friends, not some random kids of the generation before him.
Anyway, they're Ayumi, Kenta and Yuki, probably from civilian backgrounds. The first two are siblings like Obito and me, Yuki is a playground acquaintance of theirs and they're all between three to five years old, with Yuki being the youngest and Ayumi being the oldest.
Technically, the same age as me.
In reality, no two persons of the same age could be more different.
Ayumi is a child. An authentic five-year-old. Whereas I …
... Well, I'm not.
It's part of the reason why I'm currently not involved in their game anymore, but I don't mind as long as Obito has fun. Which he seems to be having loads of and I'm really glad about it. His positive energy is infectious, amplifying the joy of the other kids as well, and I can practically feel its magnetic power. It's amazing.
He's two years old, charismatic and already better at this PR thing than I will ever be.
I chuckle. Figures.
Of course, it doesn't stop there.
Looking at him and the other children, I realize that although he is the youngest one in the bunch, his motoric ability is at least on par with those of Kenta, the four-year-old brother of Ayumi.
As I said before, I have no clue what kind of speed is normal for the development of babies, but I've always suspected that since meeting Kakashi, Obito's has shot through the ceiling. And right here, I have proof. Obito is as advanced as a civilian kid twice his age.
So, I'm gonna fight anybody who says that Obito is slow and untalented. Because he so obviously isn't. And to be honest, I'm not surprised at all.
That kid that was made fun of and always portrayed as inferior to a certain genius?
Sure, that was canon Obito. A neglected Obito who'd had no one to care for him, no one to nudge him in a direction. Besides, anybody who is constantly compared to Kakashi, who isn't only a genius but had his legendary father to train him from the moment he was born, is bound to end up on the shorter side of the bargain.
That kid that trained tirelessly with the goal to finally be a worthy rival to that same certain genius?
Also canon Obito.
The mastermind behind a generation of catastrophes throughout the Elemental Nations? The Uchiha with the arguably most powerful Mangekyou variant in history? The teen who in a few months mastered a rehab programme for artificial limbs in a goddamn cave shortly after being nearly squashed to death?
Yeah.
See, my point is, Obito might have been a late bloomer, but he'd always been genius material. And this time around, with me and Kakashi present practically from day one, things … will become completely different.
In a positive way, I hope.
"Ayumi! Kenta! Time to go home!"
I'm startled out of my thoughts when a young woman approaches the playing children. The addressed siblings run to meet who I assume to be their mother halfway and proceed to grab her skirt and pull her in the direction of Obito and Yuki. I hop down from the bench I've been sitting on and make my way over, too.
"Okaa-chan, look, we met new friends!" Ayumi exclaims.
The woman laughs and lets herself be pulled. Her daughter releases her hold to point to Obito. "That's Obito," she says as my baby brother waves cheerfully. "And that's his sister … uh …"
That's my cue, I guess. I greet the woman with a little bow.
"My name is Etsuko. A pleasure to meet you."
She blinks. "Ah."
Ah? I cock my eyebrows.
Kenta tugs at his mother's skirt and points his finger at me. "Look, okaa-chan, she's a real ninja!"
Her gaze falls onto my left arm.
Right. I'd fixed my hitai-ate there after leaving the hospital. Also, there's an Uchiha emblem right over it.
Well. No need to hide my origins, then.
I don't know what kind of reaction I expect, but I know it's not the one that I'm getting next. Her eyebrows go up and her face takes on an uncertain look that has a tendency to tip over into reproving-mother-territory. Her glance darts nervously from my hitai-ate over my face to her own children and back and seriously, this is starting to feel bizarre.
"So Etsuko-chan," she starts slowly. "Where did you get this? A ninja headband is not a toy, you know? You … you should give it back."
Uh.
I don't mean to be rude, but did the lady not understand what her son said? What part of "she's a real ninja" did she not get?
"I know that this is not a toy, oku-sama" I answer her very politely. Okay, okay, I might sound just a little bit miffed. "But as your son said, I am a genin. I graduated from the academy only yesterday."
The woman's shocked response to that is very physical. Her body jerks abruptly, as if she has burnt her hand or something, and her face reddens at a frankly amazing speed.
"Oh – I – I didn't mean to …" she splutters. "I apologize, Etsuko-cha- uh, Uchiha-san, or … or … officer-san?"
What? Officer-san? Does she honestly think the Police Force would take on a newbie as an officer? Hilarious.
…
… About as hilarious as letting a five-year-old graduate, I suppose?
Oh. Eheh. I get it now.
Oops.
This must appear somewhat disturbing to her, I guess.
The poor, spluttering woman has proceeded to gather her children now and is about to make a quick exit. Before she turns around, she plasters a nervous smile on her face. "A pleasure to meet you, Uchiha-san. Have a nice day." And then she's off.
Ayumi turns her head as she's pulled away by her mother and gives us a farewell wave. "Bye Yuki! Bye Obito! Bye Etsuko!"
Kenta, too, waves shyly at us.
We wave back and I can't help but wonder if I'll ever see them again. Probably not, since I'm pretty sure that I managed to scare any idea of potentially letting her children become shinobi clean out of her system.
It's probably for the better, anyway.
)()()(
I'm walking down an alley. It's dark except for the occasional flickering shadow, caused by the infernal flames over at the Police Force main building. There is a kunai in my hand.
I already know where this is going. No matter what kinds of variations are thrown into the setting, the characteristic feeling of my favorite nightmare is always unmistakable. I grip the kunai tighter and clench my teeth.
This dream is only going to end when I kill that person again. If I'm lucky, they will die without transforming into Otou-san.
I walk and walk, constantly expecting them to show up at some point, but – it doesn't happen. Instead, I reach the end of the alley, coming to a halt right in front of a gate.
This is new.
It looks like the gate to the Uchiha district as it is depicted in the manga. Which is strange because I haven't actually seen it in person, yet. Why would I dream about it?
I take one cautious step forward, then another. A third one, and I'm through that gate.
What greets me here blows my brains straight out of my skull.
I'm standing on a street lined up with traditional houses. There are Uchiha banners spread across the walls, a sweet stand decorated with Uchiha fans and in the distance, I can make out the clan head's house.
Also, the place is burning.
Flames are everywhere, walls of angry red and orange, shooting up high into the night sky. I can feel beads of sweat evaporating as soon as they appear, the intensity of the heat on my skin, threatening to sizzle and burn right through me. Panic rises and I whirl around in a frantic attempt to get back into the dark, fire-free alley.
Only to realize that the gate, along with the alley, is gone.
What the hell, I just stepped through it!
Where is that frickin' gate?!
I turn around again and find that the scenery has changed again. Not the fire, mind you. It's still burning merrily, only this time it's busy consuming a lone house. I hope nobody is in there because they probably wouldn't survive –
"Nee-chan!"
I freeze.
Obito.
My body moves before my mind has started working again and I hurtle myself head-on into the burning house that I recognize as Yashiro's only now. My Sharingan is activated as I stumble over debris, plunging deeper and deeper into the inferno, and I'm scanning the interior for that tiny but healthy flame that signifies that my baby brother is alive and well.
"Obito!" I shout, immediately choking on smoke and toxic fumes which are probably going to kill me if I inhale any more but it doesn't matter because Obito, Obito, Obito.
So I continue to scream my lungs out, to struggle through the rooms that seem to be multiplying every time I enter a new one until finally, finally, I arrive at our shared bed room. A figure is standing in the middle of it, back turned to me and long hair bound in a ponytail. It's achingly familiar.
"Okaa-chan?" I hear myself ask weakly.
The figure turns around and – it's her. It's Okaa-chan, clad in her shinobi wear, like on the day I saw her last.
A sob tears through my throat.
"Etsuko-chan," she says with a sad smile. "Look at what you've done."
What.
"Look around you. The world is burning. Your home is burning. Look at what you've done. Look at what you've done to me."
I look at her, really look at her, and suddenly I see the blood trickling out of her mouth, her nose, her ears. She's crying tears of blood and the sad smile turns into a vicious snarl that transforms her whole face into somebody that I don't know.
Okaa-chan has never looked at me like that.
"Why didn't you listen to me? Why didn't you just take Obito and follow Chieko, like I told you to? Do you see what you've done? You killed your father. You killed Fumio. You killed me. It's all because of you! And now you've killed Obito, too."
What?! I – no, I didn't –
My breathing speed is quickly approaching hyperventilating levels and all I can think of is that I need to get away. So I turn on my heels and run.
Or at least I try to.
I've not even made three steps when I feel a hand grip my shoulder, spinning me back around.
"It's all your fault! They're dead because of you!"
This voice – it's no longer Okaa-chan's. And when I look up it's confirmed.
I've been looking for them the whole time. And now they're here.
I know what to do.
The kunai finds its mark in their stomach, like every time, and the vibrations of ripping flesh traveling up the kunai are almost comforting in its familiarity. As is the sensation of bile rising in my throat, the acid etching a trail that makes it feel like it's being ripped out.
They slump into a boneless heap, blood pooling around them and my kunai still buried into their body. I summon new energy from the hope that this is going to be over soon and prepare to yank the kunai free.
Only to be stopped by a hand that closes around my wrist with bruising force.
"Etsuko-chan."
Oh no. I'd hoped to skip that part. I refuse to look up and see his mutilated body.
"Etsuko, look at me. Look at me! Won't you look at your father?"
As if guided by an invisible force, my head snaps up and I meet the one-eyed gaze of what's left of Otou-san.
No matter how often I see him in my dreams, I can never stop the panic that engulfs me as a result. It doesn't help that my Sharingan recorded every single detail of that last time I saw him and like always I jerk away. Otou-san doesn't release his grip on me, though.
"Are you repulsed by me?"
"No," I sob. "Otou-san, no! Please, stop!"
"But you need to face what you've done, Etsuko. Look around you."
Helpless as before, I do exactly that.
The room is still burning, but suddenly, there're more people in it. Or, more precisely, more bodies.
There's that person.
Okaa-chan.
Fumio.
"Do you see? Do you see what you've already done? Do you want to see what you are going to do?"
Nonononono, please stop –
He grabs my shoulders and spins me around.
More bodies.
There's Yashiro, Naoko and Toshiro, glassy eyes still open in shock.
Nawaki, crystal necklace glowing as he lies on an examining table of the mortuary.
Sakumo, curled up in a pool of his own blood, tanto still embedded deeply into his gut.
And, with half his body crushed underneath a rock – Obito.
I howl in agony as a very physical, searing pain rips through my body and I can't, please stop, why me, whywhywhy –
"Nee-chan! Nee-chan, don't cry!"
I feel a tiny hand touching my face and my eyes fly open abruptly.
"Nee-chan?"
For a moment I'm completely disoriented. I'm blinded by the dark and my skin crawls from the lack of fire and heat. It takes a few seconds to realize that I am in my bed, that I've been dreaming and that Obito is standing before my bed, scared beyond shitless. The terrified look on his little face is what ultimately jolts me awake. I gently take his hand from my cheek and sit up.
"I'm sorry for scaring you, Obi," I whisper. I pull back the covers and pat the space right next to me. "Come here."
Obito doesn't need to be told twice. He eagerly climbs in and before long, we're snuggled closely together in a firm hug. I activate my Sharingan briefly to confirm that yes, he is indeed my little brother and yes, he's fine, before I allow myself to close my eyes again.
Right now, falling asleep to the steady beat of his heart seems to be the most comforting thing in the world.
)()()(
It's still pitch black when I wake up again.
I let out a quiet groan and roll on my side, fully intent on falling asleep again, when my mind decides that today is a good day to skip the slow, drowsy morning phase and go directly into high alert.
Nothing better than the reminder of a 7 a.m. training session with your new-but-soon-going-to-die-teammate to start the day. Add the picture of said teammate's corpse on a table and stir. Perfect mess right there.
An undiscernible noise escapes my throat and goes straight into the pillow.
On the bright side, the leaden-weight-feeling from my chakra exhaustion yesterday is nearly gone. Also, Yashiro has not attempted to do anything after I came back yesterday and today I'll be gone so early that I'm going to miss him again. Truly tragic.
Another resigned sigh, some careful maneuvering around my baby brother who is still soundly asleep and a lot of clumsy groping in the dark later, I'm up, dressed in my training clothes and ready to take off. The clock on my nightstand says it's only 5.40 a.m., but a good warm-up has never hurt anybody.
Twenty minutes into mindless warm-up exercises that I execute with needless violence, Regashi approaches.
"Good morning, Etsuko-chan," he greets politely.
"Good morning, Regashi-kun," I greet back, the honorific leaving a strange taste on my tongue. I've never had to call someone 'kun'.
He comes to stand a few feet away from me, close enough to still have a conversation without having to shout but far enough that I don't feel threatened. Up close, I can see that he's really young, at least of the same age or even younger than Shikaku. At first, I'm surprised by that, since the latter only graduated a few days ago – until I remember that the same person is incredibly lazy and doesn't care about the chance of an early graduation.
Sarutobi Regashi apparently does. And so does Nawaki, for that matter.
He's looking at me pensively now, expressive eyes making him look older than he is and giving off a vibe uncannily similar to that of the Hokage. I wonder how exactly they're related and if it's too easy to assume that he's Hiruzen's son. That would make the Hokage much older than I previously thought, though.
"How do you feel? I wish Hanako-sensei hadn't been so hard on you, on your first day."
I shrug. "I ended up in hospital more because of my own carelessness." Which was triggered by mortal fear, but meh. Details. "I'm fine now."
"That's good to hear. You're really early for training, too."
I shrug again. "The same could be said about you."
Regashi smiles at that. "True."
It's an open, earnest smile, tempting me to read more into it than it can possibly mean – but then again, shinobi are masters of hidden meanings. Call me paranoid, but I can't shake off the feeling that he's actively trying to make me feel comfortable. I wonder briefly if the Hokage has put him up to that.
Regashi starts his own warm-up routine after that and within seconds, both of us are working side by side in companionable silence.
Another quarter of an hour later, Nawaki joins us.
I don't even notice him at first. He blends in effortlessly and it's only when Regashi quietly asks him if he knows what Hanako is planning and he replies with a voice as quiet as his teammate's that I'm startled out of my training haze.
Strange.
I'd somehow had that preconceived notion that he must be as loud as Naruto; something about the fact that his vocal expression of determination reminded Tsunade of her little brother. I eye him warily, half expecting him to fall over and lie dead at my feet.
Which does not go unnoticed.
"Oi, why are you staring at me like that? That's creepy, you know?!" he nearly shouts at me.
Ah. There is the anticipated upturn in volume.
I'm about to roll my eyes when a sudden idea strikes me.
Let's see what happens. Might be fun.
I keep staring. Hard. And long.
I'm delighted when his face flushes a shade of red closely resembling an overripe tomato.
Eheheh. Hilarious.
"OHAYO MY CUTIE BABIES!"
Nawaki and I both jump out of our skin while Regashi grimaces violently. Before any of us have a realistic chance to properly register what's going on, I feel an arm going around my neck and roughly capturing me in a headlock that clamps down rather tightly on my windpipe. A strangled wheeze from not too far away tells me that the same fate has befallen Nawaki.
"I am very excited, my little dumplings! First day of team training and I already have SO MANY IDEAS FOR US!"
Asdfghjkl.
Can't … breathe … think …
I can still faintly hear Regashi's concerned voice, though. "Sensei, you're suffocating them."
The pressure on my windpipe is released and the sudden influx of clean, fresh air sends my head into a dizzy spin. My legs feel wobbly and I stumble back a few steps in an attempt to regain my balance.
"Ah, my bad!" Hanako's raucous laughter echoes across the whole training field, making my skull buzz with the vibration, and I'm pretty sure that she did something with her voice. Chakra amplification, probably.
Right. Why being stealthy when you can be flamboyant?
I lift my head after I'm finally reasonably sure that I'm not going to vomit.
Hanako – sensei – is ruffling Nawaki's hair while said boy pouts. Her face is set into an entirely unapologetic expression, Natalie-Dormer-lips stretched into a feral grin and eyes twinkling with mischief. Her short hair is an unruly, purple mess, with spikes sticking out in every direction, and I get the feeling that perfect hair is not something that she bothers with.
Abruptly, she moves away from Nawaki and claps her hands.
"Ok, sugar buns, I have decided that since today is your first day as a team, I'll go easy on you to let you get to know each other."
Yo. Makes sense.
"So I got you a mission!"
What.
"Nawaki, Regashi, you should be familiar with the target. I trust you to explain the details to Etsuko-chan. I give you lot, hmm, let's say, two hours! Two hours to complete the mission. We'll meet back here. Buh-bye, my twee little mochi-patochies!"
Mochi-patochies?!
She tosses a scroll to Regashi and doesn't wait for him to catch it. With a cheerful wave and a poof of smoke, she's gone.
For a short moment, the boys and I are still, paralyzed by the silence that's left by Hanako's departure.
Regashi is the first to shake it off. He unfurls the scroll without a comment.
"C-rank," he informs us after a first glance.
I blink in surprise. My first mission is already a C-rank? Is that what I get for being assigned to a pre-existing team? No gentle easing-in? I gulp. Hopefully, it's nothing too terrible. I mean, it is only a C-rank, right? Slightly better than menial tasks.
Right?
Another couple seconds later, Regashi gives Nawaki a pained look. "It's Kawaii."
Cute? What?
I raise one eyebrow and am just about to ask what he means with that when I register Nawaki's reaction.
His whole universe practically crumbles into a heap within the fracture of a second and his face takes on a faintly greenish hue.
My other eyebrow shoots up as well. I mean. His reaction seems crassly disproportionate in relation to the trigger to me. Regashi literally just said something was cute. I narrow my eyes as my gaze flits between my two teammates.
What the hell is going on?
)()()(
I hate this mission.
I hate the issuer of this mission.
I hate Hanako-sensei for making us take this mission.
And I completely agree with Nawaki's earlier reaction.
"EEEEK!"
I let out a very un-Uchiha-like screech when that monstrosity of a dog comes after me again, snapping at my leg and slobbering all over my leggings in the process. Again.
Yes, that's right.
The mission is the retrieval of a dog, with utmost importance put on the fact that it remains unhurt. The creature itself is huge, ugly and aggressive, with burning eyes, a penchant for garbage dumps and enough stupidity to make the sun set in order to never have to shine in its face again. In fact, its lack of intelligence is only rivaled by its brute strength.
It's Tora as a hound, only ten times worse.
And yes, its name is Kawaii.
"Etsuko, duck!"
A split second after Nawaki's shout I'm down. There's a loud whizzing sound as Regashi's kusarigama flies through the air and coils around the beast's neck. Kawaii howls.
"Quick, someone pull the bag over his head!"
I'm currently the one closest to Kawaii, but Nawaki has the bag. The hound is busy shaking away at the chain of the kusarigama, the moment it frees itself rapidly drawing near, and I only have the blink of an eye to decide on my next action.
So I decide.
I hear Nawaki's voice behind me the same instant I launch forwards.
"Etsuko, catch the b- what are you doing?!"
No time to answer.
I am at the side of the creature, nimbly avoiding its thrashing extremities, and catch the weighty end of the kusarigama, the fundo, in my left hand. With my right, I grab a patch of fur on its large nape. A jump and a pull later, I'm on its back.
Kawaii is not amused.
The thrashing becomes rabid and I'm having an increasingly hard time to simply hold on. I clench my teeth and force enough chakra through my right hand to keep staying stuck, my left hand still clutching the fundo.
Shit, shit, shit. What now?
"Grab the kama, Etsuko!" Regashi yells.
Kama?
Ah yeah, the sickle end of the kusarigama.
Easier said than done. It's dangling from the neck of the beast and swinging wildly in response to its movements. I flood my eyes with chakra, letting my Sharingan predict the ideal moment to unstuck my hand, and go for it.
As soon as my hand closes around metal, I can feel a considerable weight attach itself to the weapon. The chain is pulled taut and Kawaii's whole torso goes down.
"Nawaki, now!"
A honey colored blur rushes towards me and one blink later, the meat chunk that is Kawaii's head has disappeared inside a black bag. Not severed, mind you. Unharmed retrieval, remember?
The effect is instantaneous.
Kawaii freezes in his tracks. He lets out a muffled whine, high pitched and pleading, and it's in that moment that I know that the dog has given up.
Oh thank the gods.
Or not. I'm currently not on speaking terms with them.
I hop down from Kawaii's back and watch as Nawaki attaches a collar, carefully tucking in the seams of the bag. He finishes after a few practiced hand moves and Regashi nods.
"Ok. Let's go to the mission desk."
)()()(
The whole way to the mission desk, Nawaki keeps sending me glances.
We're walking in no particular formation, Regashi leading the way while Kawaii, Nawaki and I trot behind him. The dog has gone as tame as a sheep since the bag went over his head, so guiding it isn't difficult. It's been oddly silent, too. Not that I mind silence.
It's just that I didn't peg them as the silent types. And I have the feeling that I'm somehow to blame for this.
Also, the glances.
…
Oh, for the love of everything that's holy –
"Do I have something in my face?" I say in a dry deadpan.
Nawaki recoils with a guilty look. He blinks a few times while damning redness creeps up from his neck over his whole face. "I – no, I –" he splutters and I'm suddenly reminded of Ayumi and Kenta's mother.
"What he means to say is," Regashi interjects, "that you're really quiet."
Oh.
"I was just picking up on the general mood" I reply cautiously.
"It's just – we know nothing about you!" Nawaki bursts out. "And you haven't introduced yourself properly."
I scowl.
I don't know why, but Nawaki – the boy just rubs me the wrong way. OK, no, I know exactly why he rubs me the wrong way, but anyway – indignation flares up and before I can stop it, my stupid mouth is already snapping back at him. "Well, you didn't exactly set a good example."
Oh man. I can't believe it. I'm having a petty argument with a twelve-year-old. Really mature, Etsuko, well done.
Nawaki reacts like every twelve-year-old would.
"I'm not the new one here!" he retorts, complete with a finger pointing at me.
My turn. "You're all new to me."
This is so going nowhere.
It's also the conclusion that Regashi arrives at and he turns his head to look at Nawaki.
"Nawaki, she's right," he says with a distinctly placating voce. "We're as new to her as she is to us, and we are in the majority." Here, he turns to me. "I apologize, Etsuko-chan. Maybe we can start over after finishing training today?"
I blink.
Regashi has people skills.
Omg.
"OK," I answer, a little late. "Sure."
He smiles. "Great. We can try out that new tea house by the Naka, I hear they have really good green tea ice cream mochi."
I nod in agreement. Nawaki grunts. Regashi smiles.
Ah.
Aren't we off to a fantastic start.
How did you like it? Drill as usual, you know me :) Oh, and don't forget to check out the artwork!