...That Ninja's Sometimes Hold Grudges
Morning, for Victoria, dawned just before the setting sun. There were blurry memories of waking a few times for water and more pain medication, but she was only too happy to collapse back again onto Himawari's borrowed (real!) bed and fall back under the comforting blanket of sleep. Finally, though, her empty stomach demanded she get more fuel for her doing-its-best-to-heal body. Her movements were slow and cautious, but happily, not too painful as she dragged her freshly laundered dress back over her head and shoulders. Last night, she had managed a quick shower before passing out, but based on the awfulness of her bedhead, she would probably need to wash it again just to ease some of the tangles out - and to double-check all the toad spit was really, truly gone. Victoria gave a slight shudder at the memory. The giant, slobbery tongue wrapped around her legs and torso was a terrible sensation that she was certain would never truly leave her. I will never mock the weird squid-captured moment that some animes boast. If tentacles are even half as nasty as toad tongue - which they probably are with the suckers! - then those are truly horrifying moments. Poor anime chicks. I'll be triggered now. I probably can't even go to an automatic car wash anymore.
Dress managed, Tori picked up her much-abused leggings and sighed at the sight of a big tear across one knee: a memento from the tree-falling adventure with Jiraiya. A minimally invasive check of Himawari's desk did not yield up a sewing kit, so Tori tucked her leggings under one arm and toed on a pair of house slippers that had been left with her clothes. Curious, Tori peeked her head in the other two rooms that made up the upstairs. One was clearly Boruto's: it seemed to mirror the set up of his sister's room: with a window in the corner, bed against the wall, and desk and dresser opposite. His posters appeared to be for some sort of ninja-inspired movie series and the top of the dresser was covered in a confusing array of action figures, handheld games, and well-used weaponry. It served as a testament for what Konoha seemed to still be: childhood shoved aside for the makings of war. The late afternoon sunlight gleamed off a wickedly sharp kunai and the cold breathe of premonition shivered down her spine.
Maybe things hadn't really changed as much as Samantha claimed.
Shaking off her dark thoughts, Victoria stepped over to the window to peek outside, but the yard on this side of the house was empty. A quick glance around the room confirmed that Victoria couldn't spy anything else that might indicate the whereabouts of her friend. The sight of Boruto's bulky computer tower and monitor was incredibly tempting...but Tori shook her head slightly and left, closing the door against the sight. Her curiosity about the technological parallels to Earthlife would just have to wait. Food, sewing kit, and knowing where Sam had gone were much higher priorities. Her mind floated briefly to her phone. She had definitely had it when they landed in Jiraiya's timeline, but she hadn't found it in her pocket last night while stumbling towards the shower. Poor thing must have fallen or perhaps been ingested by the toad. Either way, the odds of it ever being found/recharged/undamaged by toad slobber were probably nonexistent at this time.
She knew the third door in the hallway already: that was the bathroom. Another door yielded a linen closet, but Tori didn't spend more than a few seconds looking in the master bedroom for her hosts. Something about the darkening room: the bed unmade on just one side and the view out the window torn in ragged sections by the upflung roof boards screamed of a private agony and loss. Poor Hinata. It didn't really matter that she was a strong-willed shinobi: pain of the heart could wound anyone. Her husband was gone, likely dead, and there was no way to really be certain if she would ever see him again. It was clear, by what the kids had said last night, that most of village did not believe the seventh hokage would ever return from wherever Kowaki had sent him. Quietly closing the door, Victoria rested one hand against the smooth wood and sent a silent prayer to heaven on behalf of the Uzumaki family.
The sound of voices - and lack of other places to snoop for sewing supplies - drew Tori down the stairs. There was some sort of office space off the front entrance - but that wasn't were the voices were coming. Finally she located them: in the half-destroyed kitchen/living room area. Himawari and a boy about Boruto's age were seated at the kitchen table, both bent over a pile of electronic-looking stuff and discussing passionately in some crazy lingo that sounded half like a computer manual and half like Sam ranting about keku-whatevers.
Victoria hesitated, aware uncomfortably of her guest status, but, hey, these were teenagers. They weren't that scary. "Hey, Himawari-San?" she called. The blue-haired girl practically fell over she jumped so quickly at Tori's voice. "Whoa. Sorry. Didn't know you could sneak up on a ninja." Himawari flushed brightly and seemed to be rather quickly covering something up in a way that was obviously guilty. Tori just resisted raising an eyebrow. "I was just wondering if you guys had a needle and thread. I've got a tear in my leggings I wanted to fix."
"Tori-Chan!" Himawari said in surprise. "I didn't know you were awake." She shot a look back at the boy she had been arguing with but he seemed to be rapidly taking notes on a bright green laptop. "Um, yes, yes. I can get you something. Um, do you need something to eat? Water?" The helpful girl quickly started to dig through a somewhat beat-up dresser that had been yanked up against the wall beside the counter. It, like the table, seemed to have been survivors of whatever blow had taken out the far wall.
"Yes and yes, please." Tori wandered over to the table that was covered in books and all sorts of wires and electronics. It looked kind of like the time Victoria's mom had forced her dad to go through and toss out all the pre-millenium computer junk that he had been hoarding well into the 20-teens. "Nice soldering gun," she quipped. "What y'all building?"
The boy pushed up his glasses with one hand and started to answer when Himawari loudly interrupted, "There's some soup! On the counter! Tori-Chan, would you like some soup?"
This time, the eyebrow raise was not avoided, but it came with a soft laugh. "Yeah, I like soup," Victoria assured. Shaking her head a little at the not-so-subtle deflect, she tried to set the girl's mind at ease by turning away from the work and obediently trotting over to the promised soup. "And it's okay if its a terrible shinobi secret. I'll keep my nose out." Opening the lid of the pot, she smiled widely at the fragrant ramen. (Well, really, what else would be the default meal of choice in Naruto's house?) She had just finished dishing a very full bowl when Himawari appeared before her with a small sewing kit and a pair of scissors. Grinning, Tori set the bowl down and then accepted the offering. "Oo, thanks." She smiled widely at Himawari. "You're awesome." Victoria set the kit and scissors down neatly on the counter along with her leggings and then reclaimed the bowl and spoon. "Is it cool if I eat in here? Don't want to mess up your project, of course, so if not, just point me in the right direction."
After being reassured that she was more than welcome to eat in the kitchen, Tori settled into a chair that was indicated to her and a place was cleared on the table among the technological detrius for her bowl. She also learned the name of the be-spectacled boy: Denki.
After awhile, the teens seemed to cautiously go back to discussing whatever they had been working on. Some kind of computer battery from what little Tori could gather. She was content to inhale ramen as fast as humanly possible and then chase the burning heat of hot soup with cup after cup of ice cold water. Denki left a few minutes later with a bunch of the various objects from the table, and Himawari diligently continued the work of soldering. When Victoria was finally full, she delivered the bowl to the sink and snagging the leggings and sewing kit, settled back into her chair to complete her clothing surgery. As she usually did, she ended up starting to hum to herself and was totally startled when across the table, Himawari joined in quietly on the chorus of "my loneliness is killing me, and I - I must confess, I still believe! Still believe!"
"Wait, how do you know that song?" Tori asked, and then it occurred to her right away. Himawari and the like had been spying on them the whole time and The Sam-Tori-And-Jiraiya-Walking-Through-the-Forest Concert had definitely featured some Britney. "Oh. Right. Sorry, so weird. I keep forgetting."
"It must be kind of strange for you," Himawari said apologetically. "We were just focused on making certain you and Samantha-Chan stayed safe, though."
"I'd probably have put more effort into staying on pitch if I had known I had such an intense audience!" Victoria quipped, smiling at the girl to show there were no hard feelings.
"I thought you both were great singers," Himawari assured instantly. "And the songs where you are from! They are so different. So fun!"
"And you just got the karaoke versions. If I still had my cell-phone, I would totally play some of the full versions for you!"
A faintly silver light gleamed in the shinobi's eyes. "That device you had. It has music in it?"
"Yeah. And pictures. And all my phone numbers." Tori sighed wistfully. "And it could reach the internet. I miss meme culture so much..I haven't seen a single gif in over a week. I might very well die of it. Of course, even if I knew where my phone went or how to charge it again, it'd be next to useless here. Y'all are about twenty years behind where my world's at with tech."
"But you could still play the music. If it could be charged."
"Yep."
"I need to go call Denki." She poofed away in what Tori considered a rather unnecessary show-off of shinobi magic stuff. Granted, if I had that skill, I'd use it all the time too. No more blisters for this ninja! I'd be so fancy and super-speedy. Wouldn't Kakashi be so proud?
"When I'm not with you, I lose my mind," Tori sang softly to herself and her memories, "Give me a siiii-ii-ign...Hit me, baby, one more time!"
With leggings finished and donned, and her tummy happily full, Victoria had only one remaining task on her to-do list: find Samantha. Luckily, Himawari was off her call by then and happy to lead Tori through the rest of the house and out to the back. At the teen girl's prompting, Tori knelt down in front of a pair of traditional bamboo-paper doors. The fusuma door gave a soft woosh as Himawari slid it open. Beyond was a breathtaking sight. A beautiful dojo with lovingly polished wooden floors unrolled before them. The long, impressive lines of the boards were broken only by a row of tatami mats that filled what was once the center of the space. Tori could only think "was" because the two far walls that faced north and west had disappeared. Some massive hand of fate had knocked out the thin bamboo walls like a cat paw batting at a house of cards. Only the massive tree-trunk sized pillars at each corner remained to hold up the roof - and even they had obviously required some shoring up. Yet, the broken beauty of the room was nothing compared to the wild, golden twilight shimmering through the garden and gilding the riotous city beyond. The setting sun threw harsh yet beautiful shadows through everything and set the edges of figure and form afire. And against that backdrop of sprawling trees and shattered bamboo frames, the honey-rich sunset danced and gleamed off of the pair of female shinobis who sparred just inches from the ragged edge where sturdy wooden floor tumbled off into the destroyed backyard. The fighters seemed to move to unheard music: each strike and block perfectly answering the other. Strike right high, now left low. Counter to the left; spin and catch the kick from the right. Left High. Right Low. Step back.
"Again!"
The blinding sunlight behind them dazzled Victoria's eyes and threw their faces into dark shadows. The pattern repeated and the spinning kick chased the shadows momentarily away and then Tori could see that the first fighter was a woman who looked almost exactly like Himawari. It must be her mother, Hinata. The second fighter confidently deflected the kick with a twist of both her hands together. Hinata turned and came back for another quick series of hand strikes. The second fighter blocked to the left, to the right, and stepped back. The two fighters did a quarter turn, effortlessly and instinctively resetting the frame now so that Hinata faced into the sun instead. As they did, the second figure's face finally caught the fiery spill of sunlight. "Is that Sam?" Victoria gasped, utterly surprised. The second figure had moved so confidently, so certainly in her blocks that Tori was certain it was another of the Konoha ninjas.
"And my mom," Himawari said proudly. "They've been out here two hours now. I told my mom that Samantha-Chan wanted to learn to defend herself and that she was trying to learn a style based off the gentle-fist technique. My mom wanted to help even though she's probably exhausted from helping with clean up all day." She then added with a proud challenge in her voice that "My mom is seriously the best."
"Seriously," Victoria murmured in agreement, watching in awe as Samantha ducked Hinata's high kick and then popped straight back up to block a strike from the right. Oh, Tori had seen Sam practice, of course - even been a very reluctant target that flinched way too much at the blows that always stopped far short of hitting her. Yet, this Sam had twelve times the focus and passion of those remembered moments. Even her training three days ago with young Rock Lee and TenTen had had a sense of restraint or timidity: like Samantha wasn't really sure of her own abilities and strength.
"Higher!" Hinata coached; Sam's left arm thrusted higher, pushing away the downward right strike. "Good."
Samantha's breathless laugh of victory made Tori grin and lean forward eagerly as she watched.
"My mom doesn't know why you're here," Himawari said softly, her voice a whisper under the pounding feet and soft grunts of the fighters. "Boruto claimed he knew you two from an out-mission last year. You're from the Grass Village: Kusagakure."
Victoria nodded slightly. "I understand," she promised softly. "How long will it take for you guys to get supplies together for us?"
"We hope less than three days. We're worried about you being seen by someone else. Too many people around here met you in the past. It's best if we get you far away as soon as possible."
"Agreed." Victoria turned to meet Himawari's features. "And..we'll do our best. I know we haven't been the most impressive so far, but now that we know the goal, we'll do our very best."
"You impressed us," Himawari assured. "We wouldn't dare send you back if we didn't think you and Sam were something special. I mean..you got Uncle Kakashi to sing karaoke! And you convinced Sage Jiraiya to pay hospital bills and buy you lunch. Are you certain you don't know genjutsu?"
Tori snorted loudly and her laughter seemed to finally catch the attention of the two fighters who turned to look at them both. Tori stumbled to her feet, ribs screaming angrily as she did. "Samantha Winters! That was incredible!" she cheered. "You looked like a full-on jounin doing those spars!"
Samantha, breathing heavily and hardly caring that sweat poured down her face, turned her attention towards her best friend, grinning wildly despite the taste of salt finding its way onto her tongue. She raised an arm and gave her trademark peace sign, raising the other fist high into the air. "Heck yeah! Did I really?" They had been at it for several hours at that point; a feat Samantha had no idea she had within her to accomplish. But, she loved sparing. She loved learning new tricks and feeling the thrill of excitement in her stomach when she would land a move perfectly. Every time, Sam would come to the realization that she was actually good at what she was doing, and she loved it. Not to mention the whole concept of her learning how to fight from Hinata was thrilling in and of itself. Sam had been nearly beside herself when she realized the opportunity before her.
Earlier that morning, Sam had woken up, unable to sleep because of her chat with Boruto; and feeling the unsettling disturbance twist knots in her stomach, Samantha flipped the blanket off her person and made a trip to the bathroom. Ya know, a good place to wash up, brush teeth (which said toothbrushes had been so generously provided to Sam and Victoria the night before) and stare at your face in the mirror for just a minute too long before nodding to yourself you're ready to face the world once again. It was while she was awkwardly standing in the destroyed kitchen and dining room area that she met Hinata (a beautiful array of light filtered through the white tarp that covered enough of the outside to keep it outside). Well, it was more like being scared out of her wits by the infamous wife of Naruto Uzumaki. Hinata Hyūga Uzumaki (Namikaze?), with all her grace, had quietly appeared behind Samantha and had cleared her throat (the initial cause of Sam's jump into outer space) and smiled with a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Hinata had said, her voice evertelling of the sweet quality of her personality. Sam had shifted awkwardly in her spot, laughed a brief embarrassed quip, before lifting her hand in a small wave and could only mutter "Hi." She could've smacked herself in the face for how utterly lacking in speech she proved to be. But whatever the case, Himawari and Boruto's excellent explanation of their appearance had appeased Hinata the night before and soon, breakfast was being made in the half-destroyed kitchen.
Mundane topics of interest had made Samantha relax enough to enjoy talking to Hinata rather than wonder if she would say too much and blow their cover. It was this wonderful camaraderie that Hinata had mention Himawari expressing Samantha's desire to learn to fight and how, if Sam was up for it, they could begin that afternoon when she got back from village clean-up. Such a tremor of excitement filled Sam's heart and suddenly she was caught by the urge to be out training with a professional ninja (and with Hinata, a Konoha kunoichi!) no matter the form! Hurts and tired toes forgotten, she had eagerly offered to join HInata in her clean-up. That led to several hours of rubble shoveling and many trips to refill her water. But the many days spent wandering Konoha with Kakashi seemed to have prepared her; so that as soon as they got home, Sam eagerly donned a borrowed ninja outfit of Hinata's to spar in (an outfit which desperately needed a washing now!). It had taken a little while to learn the new techniques, of course, but then they had started the drills and it was so awesome! She could feel herself growing stronger with every punch and kick! She was so engulfed in her training, and the thrill that she was actually getting it filled Samantha's soul. She'd not even realized Tori had been watching. When did she wake up? I hope she's feeling better! Sam, huffing and sweating profusely, walked over to her friend, ignoring the cement feel of her legs and the need to vomit as she did so.
"How are you doing? Are you feeling any better?"
Victoria let her eager smile fall away just for a second to reveal the pained grimace beneath her cheer, but then just as quickly slapped it back on. "Not great. Rested though, and full of ramen. Plus, if I'm half dead then I'm halfway to heaven, right?" She quipped even amidst Sam's quick glare for her death phrase.
Good grief, that girl. Sam couldn't help the roll of her eyes. How many times had Tor gone and said she'd happily die if she could be in heaven? Too many to count. Even if the phrase was now empty, Sam still couldn't help but make a comment or glare at her friend because, well, Sam didn't know what she'd do without Victoria.
Tori then gave a small wave to Hinata - a move that seemed to have unconsciously became Tori and Sam's trademark since that first fateful encounter with the third hokage. "Thank you very, very much for letting us stay at your home. Your hospitality is a blessing to us."
Hinata smiled graciously, "It's no problem, really. We're glad to have friends of Boruto over."
"And teaching me karate! You're seriously the best," Sam gushed with a slight huff. After all, it wasn't every day one got to train with a legendary character from the Naruto-verse! Plus with the hours of training they had done, Sam was exhausted.
"It's really nothing," Hinata bashfully fluttered a hand in front of herself. "Just like doing genin training."
"Ah," Sam responded with a short laugh, "I guess it would be, wouldn't it?"
Hinata nodded, "Except you're a really fast learner. I'm quite impressed with how quickly you were able to learn the moves I had you learn."
With a small blush, Sam scratched her cheek, "Thanks!" She turned towards Tori once again, having briefly forgotten her friend was there with the small praise she'd received, "So, what's up? How was your day? Do anything interesting?"
"If you call sleeping interesting," Tori quipped. "Lots of snoring. A couple of weird dreams about my cats. Much healing of the head." She nodded sagely. "Oh, and I did get a chance to eat some Uzumaki ramen and..ta-da! I sewed my falling-out-of-trees hole up." Victoria showed off the neatly tied off seam over her left knee. "Very productive 24 hours, let me tell ya."
Sam snorted, even as she admired Victoria's sewing skills. "Uzumaki ramen? Wait… they made you ramen! I'm so jealous!"
"There's some on the stove.." Himawari said slowly, raising an eyebrow as she finally stood up to join the others.
Samantha glanced at Himawari with starry eyes, "Really!? Oh dude, it sounds so good! I always get hungry after working out." She laughed at herself, rubbing her stomach. "And sleepy, actually."
"Well, with how hard you've worked today, it's important to eat afterwards," Hinata chimed in, smiling.
"Heck yeah!" Sam agreed enthusiastically, throwing a fist up in the air.
Victoria was bemused when the party swiftly moved back into the kitchen for another round of ramen. Hanging out with Hinata and Himawari was really nice, mainly because they were both so nice! They were so quick to praise Sam's fighting skills and Tori's sewing skills. When they all had their fill of ramen, Himawari passed around strawberry pocky and gummy bears. Then Boruto came home and somehow or other Tori found herself having to strap on shoes and trudging out into the darkening night with Sam and the Uzumaki children. Apparently, Shikadai wanted to strategize.
"Nope. Sorry, but I got insist on this one," Tori said, folding her arms. "She might seem all nice and everything, but you have not seen what kind of a monstrous entity Sam becomes if she doesn't have clean socks. Ya gotta get her at least two extra pairs." Leaning over to the far left, she poked Sam in her shoulder-blade, calling her attention away from a conversation with Boruto over which weapons she wanted. "Sam: which is higher priority for you: extra pants or multiple socks?"
"Socks," Sam replied immediately. No hesitation. With pants, perhaps one extra pair, but c'mon. You could get away with wearing them at least twice a week without needing to wash them; but socks? Yeah, there needed to be at least a week's worth of pairs.
Boruto raised an eyebrow, looking between Victoria and Samantha almost incredulously, before he glanced down at the clipboard Shikadai had brought and wrote down Sam's need for multiple pairs of socks. "O-okay, we've got socks."
"And they've gotta be soft!"
"Right…"
"I got you, boo," Tori joked, giving Sam a fist bump. "Mkay. So that covers clothing needs then. Question, though. How are we gonna haul all this around and still blend in? Do you have a Mary Poppins jutsu for backpacks or something?"
"Oh oh!" Sam chirped up, raising her hand as if she were in a classroom, "I know the answer! They've got sealing scrolls!" At the ninja's confirmations, Sam then proceeded to ask, "But… we don't actually know how to use chakra…"
"Like, we might not even have it.." Tori mused. "Or, the ability rather. Cuz its life force or something, right? Humans have that." She stared down at her soda bottle as though a whole universe of questions yawned beneath her at that thought. "How alien are we?" she whispered to the strawberry soda.
Sarada pushed her glasses up as she frowned at the two of them. "We can teach you," she said, with all the enthusiasm of a tween-Sasuke insulting Naruto's fashion choices. "You should have learned it as children, but we won't hold that against you." She then gave a tiny smile to soften the words.
"Tha-at's good, because I have a feeling this ain't gonna be very easy to use. 'Cause Tor is right. Do we even have chakra?" Sam glanced over at Victoria briefly before looking at the four ninja once again.
"Let's try it!" Boruto declared, his enthusiasm, in contrast, showing his own parentage to be of the blond and bouncy type. He whipped out a sealing scroll and tossed it down on the table. He then stole Tori's bottle from her hand and placed it on the center of the scroll. "Now you see it.." His hand signs were dizzyingly fast, but not as crazy quick as the ones Victoria had seen Kakashi do. There was a soft poof as Boruto seemingly pressed the bottle flat into the paper, a new character of Japanese appearing where it had sat. "Now you don't."
"Awh man, my soda went flat," Tori punned, smirking at herself.
Sam burst out laughing, because Tori was just hilarious. She wiped a fake tear from her eye, "Oh man, Tor, that was good." She giggled again, giving Victoria a high five. Boruto smirked, Shikadai rolled his eyes, and Sarada and Mitsuki both blinked, though it seemed to Sam that Sarada was trying her darndest not to smile. "So… when do we get to try it?"
Between Boruto, Sarada, and Himawari, they managed to explain that, more or less, the women needed to push some of their chakra into the scroll at the same time that they imagined the item popping out of the scroll and into their hand. After a few minutes, Sarada made Sam a separate scroll with a package of pocky to practice on.
Success did not come quickly…
"Try saying something as you do it," Boruto coached Sam. Like 'Release!' It can help you focus your chakra."
"So chakra is more like a current or wave of light then necessarily a muscle," Tori clarified, frowning thoughtfully. Her forty-fifth attempt didn't yield a result like its predecessors, but maybe she needed to find her own focus method. "Hmm..that reminds me of something from theater camp.." Taking a step back, Victoria held her hands in front of her, a few inches apart and slowly began to rotate both palms in opposite directions until she felt the unsettling sensation of an invisible ball forming between her hands. I'm gonna feel stupid if this somehow works.. Picturing her soda bottle in as much detail as she could, she smacked her palm on the scroll before she lost the sensation of the energy ball. "What the heck!" she shrieked as not only did the bottle come shooting out of the scroll but flew about five feet in the air.
"You did it!" Himawari cheered as Sarada effortlessly caught the bottle before it could hit the table.
Sam looked over at Tori jealously, frowning down at her own work. Which was nothing. Sam had tried just as many times as Victoria, but still felt nothing. Sam knew she was being childish with her pout but… being able to use chakra was just such a thrilling idea, that if she were never able to use it? Man, that would suck she thought, glumly.
"What's it supposed to feel like, exactly?" She asked Sarada. "An energy, you said? But how in the world do you push it out? It doesn't seem to be working for me…" It was times when she failed that she didn't wanna keep going. If she sucked, why continue if she was never gonna get it? Except her personal motto that she'd had for herself for the last several years, at least, was that anyone could do anything with hard work. If you put effort into it, you can do it and be just as good. I guess I can't give up now and be a hypocrite to myself! She thought, and looked towards Sarada as the ninja answered her question.
Sarada placed one finger on the side of her jaw as her lips twisted into a thoughtful frown. "Your chakra… it's a plane inside of you, that correlates to your body itself: the muscles and bones, but isn't physically in the same space. It's more of in-between: like the mortar between the bricks of a wall."
"Picture it like the tingly feeling when your foot falls asleep," Himawari suggested.
"It felt like flinching when a rock hits the windshield as you're driving," Tori offered, "Like your consciousness is more than just you." She was rolling her palms again now that Boruto had re-sealed the bottle for her. "I dunno. It was weird. But also, like, felt normal? I dunno. It's really, really hard to describe." Hesitantly, she edged near the table, suddenly way more nervous about it not working a second time than whether or not it would work the first time. "I'm trying to imagine that my energy or spirit is rolling up in my hands and then I'm gonna try to shove the bottle out with it." Tori more gently pressed her palm against the scroll and was instantly rewarded with the bright pink bottle. Boruto resealed it for her and Sam watched a little despairingly as it popped happily back out as soon as Victoria tried. Shaking her head, Sam turned her eyes and focus back to her own stubborn scroll.
"A ball of energy. A ball of energy." Sam muttered, mimicking what Tori had done and trying to understand what both Sarada and Himawari were talking about. "What if I don't have the ability to wield chakra? Kinda like Rock Lee? Wait… he can at least use a small portion of chakra… he walks on water after all…" Sam frowned at herself. She was always so logical of a person. Despite her faith in God, she still was quite logical about life in general. Sam was even quite sure she'd never be able to be hypnotized because of how logical she was. So… how did that relate to trying to use chakra?
Glancing over at Tori once more, Sam couldn't help the pout as her friend had made yet another successful round of pulling out the drink from the scroll.
"Don't worry, it just takes practice," Sarada encouraged. Himawari nodded her head, also. The boys simply agreed with the girls, and Sam blew out a breath. "Try saying 'release,'" She muttered, repeating Boruto's earlier words. She continued moving her hands in a circular motion against each other, nearly touching, going opposite directions. As she concentrated for what seemed like forever, Sam felt a tingle in her palms. Felt it like static electricity when you accidentally shock yourself. "Is this it? I think this is it!" She then slammed her hand against the scroll and yelled "Release!" The backlash against her palm caused her to fall backwards onto her back. With a small cough and bringing her elbows up to a more sitting position, Sam glanced at the scroll and an ounce of glee fluttered her stomach as she noticed her very own pocky having popped out of the scroll. "I did it!" She cried out, joyfully. "Yes!"
"Woot! Woot! Go, Sam!" Tori cheered, pumping her fist in the air, almost catching Boruto's ear with said fist. "You're a real ninja now, girl!"
The blond teenager rubbed his ear. "You're louder than Cho-Cho," he complained, gesturing for Tori to refocus. "You're still doing Tiger wrong. It's left pinkie then right pinkie.."
"Oh sorry! Like this?"
Himawari stepped forward, cutting off the sight of Tori who had already moved on to learning how to seal. The blue eyed girl gave Sam a wide grin. "You actually got a really good amount of chakra gathered that time, Samantha-Chan," she said encouragingly. "Much more than you needed for a release. Try it again, but ease back just a bit. Don't want to wear out too fast!"
"Okay! Sounds like a plan. Yay for being a kinesthetic learner!" Sam chimed gleefully, not expanding on what that meant to the confused shinobi. And so they continued to practice for at least another half an hour before Himawari gasped a little and turned her head.
"Someone's watching," Himawari said suddenly, her face strained and alien under the jutting veins that indicated an activated Byakugan. Her finger pointing to the west window was all the warning the team needed: suddenly they were on high alert. Boruto darted out the back door as shadows streaked across the floor from where Shikadai stood and out the window to chase the intruder. From a distance came the muffled sound of Boruto talking and then the front door of their borrowed house eased back open, the moonlight and nearby lamp revealing Sarada, a blond fluff that was Boruto's hair, and a third figure still in shadow.
"Oh. Hey, sensei.." Sarada said slowly from the front entrance that she had darted out to cover. "What are you doing here?"
From behind Sarada's small red form finally appeared a rather attractive man creature with the kind of casually ruffled brown hair that always made Sam's heart patter a little faster. His bright blue eyes seemed to widen a little in recognition as he took in the sight of their plotting. Victoria looked instantly to Sam. Sam didn't need the bright blue scarf to recognize the handsome anbu member, but the consistency of fashion choices always helped make her feel more confident in her assumptions. Grinning widely, she unconsciously clenched her fists in her happy-victory-move. "Konohamaru!" she whispered to Tori in explanation.
"Kona-who-maru?"
"Konohamaru. The third Hokage's grandson and Boruto's team's sensei!"
The man in question had his arms folded as he stared each and every one of them down. "What's going on here?" Konohamaru asked.
Sam could imagine that if this had been animated, there'd be sweat drops along every one of their temples. This was an unexpected development, from the expressions of their new shinobi friends.
"...Study party?" Victoria offered belatedly. She shrugged at the look Shikadai shot her. It's not like any of them were saying anything!
"Uh huh," their sensei said, disbelief evident in his voice. "Ri-ight," he drawled, "I'm sure a study party is exactly what you're doing." Konohamaru let his gaze sweep over his team, briefly glancing at Himawari and Shikadai, before his unsettling gaze looked at Samantha and Victoria. Sam's stomach gave a jolt as she looked into his eyes. She wasn't sure why. Anxiety maybe? But his look promised nothing good. She gulped.
"Well we aren't breaking and entering at least!" Victoria said brightly. "Sarada had a key." She gave a nervously winsome smile. "Um. Hi. So… what's your name?"
Konohamaru sighed, swiping a hand through his hair, "So that's how we're gonna play this, eh? You're gonna act like you don't know me."
Sam scrunched her eyebrow. Clearly she'd said his name. What game was he playing at. Was he trying to mess with their heads? Considering the brief time they had been in the village with Kakashi, there was no possible way he'd remember who they were, even if he had seen them. After all, he'd been like… four or something at the time. Definitely no way he'd remember them. "Uh…" Sam said, eloquently, "Well, we've never met you, before."
"You seem very nice though," Tori offered hopefully, "Very..shinobily.."
"These two women were found down by the railway center," Mitsuki said, his sudden appearance over Tori's left-shoulder making the woman nearly fall over in shock. "Is there a problem with us assisting them, Sensei?"
Konohamaru's forehead crinkled up fiercely as he frowned at the baffled Samantha and Tori. "We must see what Lady Tsunade has to say about this," he finally declared, his two hands fisted at his hips.
Sam perked up a moment, despite the concerning situation, "What, what, what? We're gonna see Lady Tsunade!?" The excitement practically flowed from her psyche as Sam turned towards Tori, tapping her arm quickly, "Tor! Tori! We're gonna meet Tsunade!" She'd whispered, but stupid ninja ears could always hear whispers.
"Sue..naughty.." Tori said slowly, the gears in her mind whirring to try to grab details out of the half-remembered Sam-Rants. "Oh! Jiraiya wishes he could get her, she's busty, and likes to drink? Also really smart, strong ninja? ...Blond hair?"
"Uh, Tori… probably not the greatest thing you should be mentioning right now." Sam sweat dropped, "But you've definitely pegged her."
"Did the red head just call our Hokage busty?" Mitsuki asked, looking to Boruto and Sarada. Shikadai simply slapped his forehead, muttering a small "troublesome," while Himawari giggled. Konohamaru looked stunned for a moment, before he composed himself and cleared his throat.
"Be that as it may, you need to come with me." He turned on his heel, "Boruto, Sarada, Mitsuki, apprehend them and follow me." His team looked at each other, baffled, Boruto sighed with what sounded like exasperation while Sarada frowned. Mitsuki's expression was blank, as if he didn't have anything to say about the matter. The three shinobi ushered Samantha and Victoria along. Boruto gave a silent nod to Shikadai and Himawari who somehow understood his silent thoughts before leaving as quietly as a leaf falling to the ground.
"Apprehend them?" Tori repeated in a whisper to Sam as they trudged reluctantly along. "What are we, dine-and-dashers? We're not criminals, thank you."
"Seriously. Who does he think he is! Even if he was Naruto's apprentice," Sam muttered. "He's got no right to act like we're gonna blow up his village. Good grief!" She could feel the irritation flowing quickly in her veins as Sam silently agreed with Victoria.
"Well, I mean, we could have blown up his village..." Victoria mused, still whispering.
"What!" Sam nearly screeched.
"If we were crazy bad invading ninjas," the other girl continued, finishing her original thought.
"But we're not."
"But he couldn't have known that..."
"Do we look like hardened criminal ninja with abilities to pounce? I think not." Sam gestured to the whole of herself and Victoria.
"I dunno, Sam. You got pretty-crazy eyed over your socks earlier…" Tori drawled teasingly.
"What!" Sam screeched, this time for real. "As if that would mean anything to a hardened shinobi." She huffed, folding her arms.
"I'm sure ninja battles have been waged over lesser reasons than the honor of Samantha Winters' socks," Tori said, still trying to speak in an undertone even if Sam wasn't.
"What!" Sam continued in her screeching, giving up on whispering. Seriously, was Tori trying to convince her of their criminalness? "You have got to be kidding me."
Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki, unbeknownst to the two women, stared wide eyed with unconcealed amusement on their faces. Konohamaru, in contrast, hunched forward, but whether to hide a laugh or because he was annoyed, Tori couldn't tell.
"I'm just saying, he's not wrong," Tori said placatingly, "To think that we maybe, possibly could be a threat."
"That's such a bunch of bullcrap!" Sam said, incredulous, "You're saying he'd think we're criminals because of my socks!"
"No, I'm saying he might just be trying to take us to ninja jail because we could be crazy sock-wielding criminals. Not that we are."
"Oh good grief!" Sam grumbled, "That's the silliest thing I've ever heard."
"I can assure you," Konohamaru drawled from in front of them, "You're not being apprehended because of your sock fetish."
"It is not a fetish! I just like socks, okay?"
Victoria snorted loudly. "This guy has your number, Sam," Tor whispered between giggles.
"Oh shush," Sam whispered back with a roll of her eyes, then turned towards their captor; because, essentially, that was what Konohamaru was at that time. "Fine then. Why are you apprehending us, then?"
"Currently, that's classified information," Konohamaru responded and Sam stared at him feeling slightly confused by his tone of voice. She couldn't quite tell if he was angry with them, or what his whole deal was. Alrighty then... Sam mimicked "The Mask's" voice in her own head.
"Um, excuse me," Tori said with her very best politeness. "But, my friend and I are freaking out just a tiny bit - "
"Only because of you mentioning my socks!" Sam couldn't help but mutter.
"Maybe give us a hint? Was it the partying with minors? Too much strawberry soda to be within the legal limit? Or - oh, no. It was the chakra-wielding without a permit, wasn't it?"
"I'm pretty sure you don't need a permit to wield chakra," Sam giggled with a small snort.
"I'm not permitted to give you reason. You'll know once you talk with Lady Tsunade." Konohamaru simply explained without giving any information whatsoever.
"Wow… you'd think he took pointers from Kakashi or something," Sam muttered, remembering his introduction to Naruto's team seven.
Victoria sighed a little wistfully. "I miss his royal hotness," she declared. "Has it really only been two days? Feels like 24 years."
Sam giggled, "I'm sure you'll see him again someday." Though, was she actually sure of that? Nope. Not in the slightest.
"And I thought I was the optimist.." Victoria murmured as their unlikely squad stepped into the shadow of the round and imposing Hokage tower. "I recognize this place. ...Looks like it could use a coat of paint.." Hyperbolic as always, Victoria was not wrong. Thanks to the freshly repaired streetlights, this part of town was actually fairly visible in the night, so it was easy to view the creative destruction that the most recent attack had left behind. The distinct beehive shaped building in front of them looked like it had been redesigned by Salvador Dali and his buddy, Esher. There were blown out walls, staircases no longer leading anywhere, and the east side appeared to have been melted somehow. And yes, the paint was a little faded to an ugly salmony rust. I don't suppose we can blame that part on the Ko-whacky ninja, though.. Sam gave Tori's elbow a small nudge to coax her to keep walking. The small motion served to remind Victoria's ribs to ache again. She grimaced a little at them, but obediently continued to trot after the others. The hallways of the half-standing tower were crammed with salvaged office supplies like desks, computer towers, and chairs. A forest of filing boxes stacked to the ceiling indicated a mad-dash to get valuable equipment out of the elements. For a moment, it seemed to strike Victoria just how awful it must be to constantly have the world turned upside down and inside out. Like… going to work was bad and annoying enough, but imagine going to work and having to shovel half a ton of dirt off where your cubicle used to be? And it wasn't like you could just wait for an insurance company to pay someone else to do it if it was your whole freaking village. Also… did ninja villages even have insurance? Who the heck would write them a policy? Was there a discount for having a jinchuriki around?
In the few minutes it took Tori to muse over the potential deductible for a shinobi insurance policy, they came to a stop outside an imposing set of doors on the second floor. Two vest-clad warriors stood outside the office doors, their faces impassive and guarded. Konohamaru pointed meaningfully at first Sam and then Victoria as he gave a stern glance at his three teammates. "Watch them." He then stuck his head in. Seemingly satisfied with who was in the room, he opened the door and stepped in a few feet. There was an exchange of words that was too low for the non-ninjas to hear and then the blue-scarfed man came back, jerking the door fully open and beckoning Sam and Tori to enter. When Boruto started to follow, Konohamaru frowned and held up a hand. "Not you three." The door was firmly shut against the protesting chunnins.
The two Earth-women exchanged slightly nervous glances before slowly crossing the carpet. A huge, oak desk had been shoved slightly into one corner as stacks and stacks of legal-sized papers dwarfed it. A computer monitor showing a few oddly fist-shaped dents flickered sullenly on one side of the desk. A beautiful woman (both very blond and very busty) was staring at the screen; its blue light making the odd, purplish diamond in the center of her forehead almost seem to glow. This had to be Tsunade! Everything about her was exactly the Sannin that Samantha had described: confident air, sharply intelligent eyes, ageless beauty, and if her beaten-up computer could be evidence, wickedly strong with just a little bit of a temper.
The second Samantha saw the fifth Hokage, her eyes blinked rapidly, unable to help it when she was seeing the real deal Legendary Sannin. Her mouth dropped slightly and Samantha found she was speechless. It was just so cool! It's the Tsunade! She's so flippin' awesome!
As though she could hear Sam's thoughts, Tsunade's gaze finally shot from the screen to the group and then back to the screen. An odd look crossed her insanely even features and then she looked back again, slowly straightening in her chair. She gave the two of them a long measuring glance and then sighed. "Dammit."
Tori's eyes widened as the fifth Hokage leaned over and rummaged around in a drawer. She placed a tiny ceramic cup on the table and began to pour a generous amount of sharp-smelling sake into it. Tsunade then proceeded to drink straight from her bottle as she held out the glass to Konohamaru. When the almost-full bottle was totally empty, (it was a verrrrrry long drink she took), Tsunade set it down on the table, wiped the back of her lip and then sighed. "And I thought the worst thing to happen this week was being forced back out of retirement." She looked Sam and Tori up and down. "Clearly that was being optimistic.."
Samantha blinked again, this time with slight confusion. "Is our presence really that much of a burden?" she nudged Victoria and whispered, "Hey, hey, we're not that terrible, right? I mean… it's not like we've done anything to even make people notice us."
"We stole Jiraiya's frog," Victoria whispered back. "And you've told me before that my puns were enough to land me in jail."
"I have?" Sam's eyebrows scrunched together, wonderingly.
"If not, you probably should have."
"Hah!" Sam snorted, before she remembered they were in the presence of Konohamaru and Lady Tsunade. Konohamaru's admittedly quite handsome features were scowled up into a frown big enough to hold buckets of disappointment, frustration, and anger all at once.
"Seriously?" he demanded. "Seriously. All you two ever do is joke."
Victoria took a half-step back, one hand pressed against her sore ribs protectively. A nervous laugh tickled the back of her throat but she swallowed it down. "Ner-nervous habit," she mumbled. "We, um. We're sorry for whatever happened that - Whatever happened."
Lady Tsunade's brown eyes narrowed. "After everything that happened, Victoria, a mere apology is far from enough to make up for what you two did in the desert. The Village of the Hidden Leaf still hasn't truly recovered from the consequences of that day."
"What?" Sam sputtered. She had felt hurt by Konohamaru's words but was totally blindsided and stunned by what Tsunade said. How'd she know Tori's name? What was she even talking about? What day?
Victoria's mind raced. The desert? Everything that happened? But nothing had happened and they certainly hadn't been to the desert! At least, not yet… But, clearly for these two people something had happened, which meant something had yet to happen for her and Sam. Which meant the future, this future was already or rather had already been shaped by something in the past that hadn't even happened yet! Ah! Freaking time travel! But, no, wait. This is helpful. If the future we are in is shaped by our traveling, that means that we aren't creating new pant-legs with each jump. That means the past is changeable to a degree, but not to the point that it totally messes everything up and causes Boruto's original timeline to cease to exist. Which was actually a huge relief. Victoria had had nightmares of getting stuck in a H. -esque inevitable loop or accidentally erasing the events that had triggered the original time-travel and thus erasing her own self right out of the universe. A pressure already started to build behind her left eyebrow at the dizzying when-ifs of possibilities, but mainly, she felt a little relief, which was especially bizarre considering how bleak things were looking at that very moment.
Samantha's mind was also racing with thoughts of time-travel. Not because she was concerned about the changing affects, but the mere thought that these two apparently knew them from something they had done in the past, yetk it was the her's and Tori's future… it was definitely confusing. This kind of time travel makes sense, though. But wait… how long are we supposed to be in this world, then? And what did she mean the desert? What could we have possibly done?
"I don't understand!" Sam finally sputtered her confusion, trying to bring up the fact that for them, they'd hardly been in this world for very long and hadn't managed to do anything horrible in that timeframe, "We haven't actually done anything. Tori and I… we've only been here for like… a day or so and before then… it's just… well…"
"Just because you don't remember it, doesn't mean it didn't happen." Tsunade sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose.
Konohamaru shook his head, a small measure of disgust darkening his frown further. "That's right. We still have to deal with the fallout even if you get to skip out and start over."
Victoria frowned and looked at Sam. "I… don't really know what either of you are talking about," she said slowly, "But I don't think we are the people you are looking for…"
Tsunade snapped her fingers at Konohamaru who reached into the inner pocket of his tactical vest and pulled out a slim leather-bound pamphlet that he handed to the hokage-emeterius. Lady Tsunade flicked through a couple of pages and then turned it around for them to see. Victoria's mouth fell open to see a picture of Sam staring back at her - and there was her! Tori on the other page! They looked like mug shots. Several lines of Japanese text were printed beside each picture and a large S was inscribed in the upper corner of the page. "Samantha Winters. Victoria Lexington. Former friends of the Hidden Leaf, now considered rogue shinobi. Apprehend on sight. Highly dangerous." She pointed an accusing finger at the text. "This is what we had to do. You left me absolutely no other choice. You're lucky. Rokudaime Hokage Hatake convinced the council we prefered you alive over dead."
For the second time in less than twenty minutes, Sam was speechless. She stared at the picture, surprised to see herself looking like herself but… her physical appearance seemed off. Like, thinner. Sharper. A look at Tori's picture and Sam could see the same thing. Tori's appearance looked different, too. And to be considered rogue shinobi? "How is that even possible?" Sam muttered to herself, trying her darndest to read the Japanese script. She recognized the hiragana and katakana - could even pronounce them - and recognized some of the kanji, but had no idea what it said. Dang… if only I'd studied more frequently! Sam looked up at Tsunade, who never lost her angry frown, resting her chin in her hands - then over to Konohamaru who, for all his disgust and anger, seemed to have something akin to regret and disappointment written over his face. She wondered if they saw the differences. Or if they thought that the changes happened over time?
"We trusted you two, but we won't make that same mistake again," Tsunade continued, "Cat! Scorpion! Apprehend these two rogue shinobi on charges of desertion."
"What!" Sam panicked, astonished to see two masked shinobi appear out of nowhere and grabbed her arms, "No! This is a mistake! C'mon!" She desperately looked at Konohamaru's pained face, hoping for some kind of comfort from him but found no solace there, then towards Tori being manhandled by, who Sam assumed, was Scorpion. They shared a panicked look as Sam struggled.
"Excuse me! I will comply if you stop yanking me around!" Victoria declared in her best offended-lady voice. "I happen to have a broken rib right now, Mr. Scorpion!"
"Gag them until you reach the holding cells," Tsunade instructed. "Last thing we need right now is one of you struck by their genjutsu. You'll be transported to Maximum Security Prison in the morning."
"Gag?!" Victoria protested, trying to jerk away from the ninja with the incredibly creepy mask. His grip on her wrist was iron and in between one breath and the next he twisted her arm harshly up behind her back. Scorpion jerking her arm the way he did yanked against her broken rib, and her chest erupted in white fire - at least that's what it felt like to someone who had spent so little of her life in physical pain. Victoria screamed until a piece of fabric suddenly cut into her jaw and pressed her tongue up against her teeth. It tasted horrible, if anyone wanted to know.
"Don't hurt her! Frick, get your hands off me!" Sam struggled, trying to remove herself out of the anbu's vice-like grip. Remembering the training she'd had with Hinata on top of the Kenpo she'd done where she was from, Samantha twisted her hands against the anbu's wrists, trying to strike them with her knuckles and then went in for a strike to his groin. However, he seemed to predict her movements and Sam's arms were roughly pulled up behind her, then quickly put a piece of fabric in her mouth, tying it around her head. Without knowing she'd completely agreed with Tori's assessment of the fabric. Sam felt like she really wanted to gag at the taste. She screamed a little, still struggling against the anbu, unable to stop her terrified gaze from looking towards Konohamaru and Tsunade.
Konohamaru had looked down, a large frown on his face, as if he couldn't handle watching them being taken away. Tsunade continued to watch, and when Sam met Tsunade's eyes, Sam thought she saw regret hidden behind the fifth Hokage's gaze. But that was a thought that Sam wouldn't remember for quite a while.
Through all of her struggling - doing her best to be released from the anbu's hold (which Sam was sure they were enforcing with chakra. She felt something tingling against her skin where their vice like grip was) - the anbu became frustrated and Sam felt a strike against her neck and promptly fell unconscious.
Since this whole… "adventure"… had started, Sam and Tori had joked often about being thrown in ninja jail. ...The actuality of it was not nearly so entertaining. They weren't in the actual prison yet - the blood prison and its moat of lava was several days journey away after all - but the holding cells were pretty grim just on their own. The hokage tower's sub-basement was cold and damp and had lots of spiders. There were no windows and the electric lights were behind very thick yellow glass. The room they were in had four cells framed off by thick rows of iron bars. There was no furniture, just a flat bench-like platform at the back of each 3 meter by 3 meter cell. The faceless anbu had locked them both in without removing the gags or the hand restraints. This didn't change until after a very nervous looking Shizune came down several hours later to check on the finally-conscious Sam and sent a good burst of healing chakra into Tori's ribs. As she was leaving, the anbu with her - he wore a cat-face - untied Tori's and then Sam's wrists in turn with the instruction that they were not to remove their gags until Shizune-San had left. As he turned to leave, Victoria noted with confusion that a pair of bright yellow ear plugs were tucked into the shinobi's ears. Victoria whimpered softly to herself as she rubbed her aching wrists and shoulders. "Now I really wanna go home," she mumbled weakly. She looked across the bars separating her and Sam and felt her chin trembling with unshed tears. "You okay, Sam?"
Sam rubbed her wrists and massaged her neck. "Physically? I'm super sore…" she glanced at her friend, her eyes aching from exhaustion. Being thrown unconscious without your consent really did a number on the kind of rest you got. Sam's stomach twisted as she remembered all that had transpired. "Emotionally? I… don't know what to feel. I think I'm kinda numb to it all, actually. I don't really feel anything." She sighed as she glanced towards Victoria. "How are you holding up? Shizune did some more medical jutsu on you… did that help?"
"A little," she said softly. "I… I am not feeling so strong empowered female right now though. What the heck have we gotten ourselves in-into?" Her chin trembled even more and she hated the feeling of helplessness that she could feel jittering through her. "It's like our lives aren't even our own." A sob caught her throat and the stupid tears spilled over. "What - what are we gonna do?" she gasped.
Samantha came to rest next to the bars to be as much of a support to Tori as possible. As much as Sam's stomach twisted with the idea that they'd be locked up in some high-end shinobi prison, she didn't want to think that this was where their adventure ended. God would not curse them to such a cruel fate when there must have been a reason they were there, right? "I… I don't know what we'll do. But… this isn't the end! I can't just believe that we'll end up at that prison." Honestly, the very idea didn't even seem real. "And… we'll figure out a way to get out of here! We're already considered rogue shinobi," Sam smiled half-heartedly, "So… so…." tugging her hands into the pockets of her pants, Sam felt the familiar, and now comforting, smoothness of the marble.
"I just try to be a good person!" Tori blubbered through her upset tears. She rubbed sharply at her cheeks as though it would push the tears back inside. Tori hated crying when she was scared; it just made her feel more scared and angry at herself. "I shouldn't have to go prison!" She clenched her hands into tight fists: fingernails biting into the soft skin of her palms. "This sucks! Freaking Boruto!"
Sam snorted at Tori's angry rant on Boruto while she played with the marble, letting it roll back and forth between her fingers in her pocket, thinking about all the things they'd been through within the last week and a half. That's when it struck her.
"Dude… dude! Victoria! I don't think we're gonna be going to that prison!" Excitement swelled within Sam as her thoughts began to swirl.
"Why not?" Tori, asked sniffling. Her heart jumped hopefully before her mind yelled sharply at it to stop being an idiot. "Did you remember something? Did a Boruto episode talk about a prison break?"
"Uh, well, no." Sam grimaced, "It's just… Tsunade spoke as if we'd already been friends. In fact, so did Konohamaru. Which means," she emphasized, "We somehow hang out with them and become friends with Konoha! Which means that we, well… either we bust out of that blood prison, or… we never go there in the first place." With hands shaking, either due to excitement or fear of being found out by actual shinobi, Sam pulled out the marble, giving the greatest example of her theory to Victoria as she possibly could, "I've still got the marble!"
"You - " Tori stumbled to her feet and over to the bars. "You have the marble," she breathed, hope coming back to life in her heart. "That means we can get out of here! We just have to hold out 'til Boruto makes it do the sparkly light thing!" Reaching through the bars, she grabbed Sam's arms and laughed away the last of her tears. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see that freaking marble in my life!"
Sam smiled triumphantly, feeling a rush of relief at the thought that they didn't or wouldn't stay in prison for long. As she and Tori jumped (well, jumpedish) for joy, a frown played on Sam's lips again. "I hope Boruto doesn't take too long. Does he even know we're here? No, stupid question, of course they do. They walked us to the hokage tower. If we never left with Konohamaru… did they see us being apprehended? I…. was unconscious." Sam rubbed her neck again. It was still super sore! She was sure she'd have a bruise where that anbu smacked her.
Victoria nodded, her own memories of that moment very clear. Boruto had been incensed when his team leader had re-appeared with Sam and Tori in cuffs and escorted by the creepy masked anbu people. The fifteen-year-old shinobi shouting and Tsunade yelling right back in turn had amped up Tori's anxiety levels even worse than the gag that made her feel like she couldn't breathe. "Yeah. He did. He yelled a lot of questions at 'Granny'. Which reminds me - are they related? I mean, the blond..kinda looks like they could be?"
"Nah, Naruto has always called Tsunade 'baa-chan' which, essentially, means granny. Seems his son took the phrase to heart."
"Oh. So just like Himawari calling Kakashi 'uncle.'"
"Exactly!"
"I'll figure it all out someday," Tori sighed. She chewed her lip. "So… I guess for now things are kinda stuck until Boruto gets the marble up and running again. I… just hope they don't separate us-"
"Yeah that would suck,"
"-Based on the frog thing, we probably have to be physically touching for the marble to bring us both." Sam's phone, after all, hadn't made the original trip since it was out of reach. "But… hey, if they do, please save the world quickly, Sam-Sam so I don't lose all my youth and beauty while in prison, neh?"
Sam giggled. Even in a dark, depressing dank cell, Tori could still make her laugh, "I'm pretty sure it's not just gonna be me, ya know." Sam bit her lip, "Besides… we're only here to bring Naruto and Kakashi back… well, according to Boruto, that is. That's the whole reason we're in this mess in the first place."
"Save Kakashi… save the world. It's the same thing really," Victoria declared breezily. "Right?"
"Um, well, no. But yes? I guess?" Sam conceded. She shrugged, "I'd say it's more about Naruto. Naruto's the one who defeated the bad guy in the 4th shinobi world war, and, not to mention, brought Sasuke back. So… I'd say he's pretty darn important."
"You always think it's about the main character."
"That's because it is," Sam deadpanned.
Victoria leaned the side of her cheek against the cold metal bar. "Spoken like a true main character yourself. And look what you got us into, Sam." Tori continued above Sam's 'what!' "If I was the main character, we'd still be back at Kakashi's house blushing and awkwardly running into him as he was coming out of the bath. His hair gently dripping… the towel just almost too low on his hips... Shojo world beats shonen world. For sure."
"Heck no! Shonen is the best! Dude… action sequences!"
"How are you the one of us who has had three different boyfriends?"
"Technically it was only two." Sam brought her fingers up for extra effect. "The other dude was…. well, just a make-out buddy."
"I guess my standards are just too high for mere Earth mortals," Tori declared with the utmost facetiousness.
"Pfft, Standards, shmandards. Kissing is the best!" Sam gave Tori a cheeky grin. Because, well, Sam wasn't wrong.
"That Konohammer was right. All we do is make jokes. It's probably a good thing he arrested us."
"As if making jokes is a bad thing," Sam glared at the memory of being manhandled, "That man… I can't believe how angry he was! That was just really stupid." Sam huffed, wrapping her arms against herself, "It's not like we're really that dangerous in comparison. If we were… man… these shinobi must be pretty pathetic." That's kind of a disappointment when I think about it… "To think we're dangerous! Hah!"
"Jiraiya said we made his ears bleed. And he was a sannin. So...guess that explains the ear plugs."
"Yeah right! He just was sick of our karaoke." Sam scoffed.
"It's secretly our greatest weapon," Tori agreed. "So maybe we should just sing until these prison walls come tumbling down like Jericho."
"'The walls will tumble, the walls will tumble, but I'm not gonna cry! …One more mile to Jericho,'" Sam sang the Hilary Duff song.
Three days was a long time to spend in a concrete box, but at least the two ladies had each other. And since their jailors apparently were afraid of them inexplicably turning hypnotic siren on them, they got to spend it in relative privacy. ("So weird to have the ninjas for once not trying to eavesdrop.." Tori pointed out at one point. "And we complain about the NSA back home. They clearly could learn a thing or two from the Anbu!") So they spent most of it talking, complaining, and yes, occasionally singing. At one point on the second morning Tsunade had actually showed up herself to say that they were waiting on enough qualified jōnin to be available for escort duty. She had said more cryptic things about the mysterious desert incident, but it just left Sam and Tori with more questions than answers.
But then, finally! Hope arrived. Hope, in this case, was the bright blond vision of Boruto bearing a picnic basket with Sarada close behind. The anbu guard, a cow today, was very reluctant to allow such a suspicious object into the cell with two dangerous criminals. "Awh, come on! It's just some snacks from my house," Boruto argued, drawing the curiosity of Sam and Tori. "You know the rations here are crappy and these guys are my friends!"
"Just give it up, Boruto," Sarada sighed, pushing up her glasses. "I told you it was pointless."
The blond huffed grumpily and finally held out the basket in a very grudging manner. "Fine. But if you eat even one of those chips, Iwabi, I'm gonna tell Granny Tsunade."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
Hands shoved deeply into his pockets, the teenager skulked down the rest of the stairs into the sub-basement.
Sound of the fight could be heard from where Sam and Tori were held, making Sam's heart pound with excitement. "Tori! It's Boruto! They've come to save us!" She whispered, her eyes trying to find sight of the stairs. Unfortunately, their holding cells were facing another holding cell across from them, with their visuals impaired by the long hallway on either side. Sam didn't leave her position of holding tightly onto the bars of the cell, trying her best to see their new shinobi friends. If Boruto and Sarada and Mitsuki were here, then they'd definitely come to save Sam and Victoria from their horrible fate.
To Sam's confusion, Mitsuki wasn't there, but Boruto and Sarada came down the hallway; Boruto with a large grin, hands casually in his pockets, while Sarada had a soft smile on her own face.
"You two look like death," Boruto said, giving them a once over. He quickly covered up the slight frown that cropped up when he spotted their appearance.
"Well, it kinda feels like we've been through the ringer," Sam said, honestly. "So…? Did you come to save us?"
"What! Of course not!" Boruto's voice exaggerated while Sarada rolled her eyes. Boruto pulled his hands out of his pockets and grabbed Sam's hands off the bars, holding them steadfastly. "There's no way we'd be able to break you out of here. After all, you're dangerous shinobi!" Though he was saying one thing, his eyes looked pointedly at Sam's hand, and Sam could feel something being slipped into her grip. She blinked a minute, trying to grasp the differences between what he was saying and what his eyes were looking at.
"Right…" She finally replied, slowly pulling her arms by her side, glancing in one of her palms to notice a small piece of paper there. Though bewildered, Sam didn't acknowledge the paper. If Boruto and Sarada were making terrible efforts to announce what they were not here for, then it'd be best that she said nothing. Right? Right.
"You...you know we aren't actually dangerous, right?" Victoria said softly, looking worriedly at the two. "At least, not for any reason we know of..yet?" She looked between Boruto and Sarada. "I don't suppose you two figured out what it was we are going to someday do that landed us in here?"
Sarada shook her head slightly. "I'm afraid not, Tori-Chan," she said. She shot a glance to Sam and then smiled slightly as Sam discreetly tucked the small paper into the pocket of her much-traveled skinny jeans. "It's considered highly classified information apparently."
"Well… do you think… there'd be any chance I could get my hat back?" Sam asked, her eyes hopeful. "I really like that hat!" And it was expensive!
"Oh, please don't give it to her," Victoria protested. Sam protested Victoria's protest, but Tori continued without falter. "It causes lots of problems. But could you keep it safe for us maybe? Until, you know, we save the world and bring back your dad?"
Sam rolled her eyes, "You do know that saving Kakashi isn't actually saving the world, right?"
Tori narrowed her eyes at Sam. "Don't embarrass me in front of the kids."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam replied, her eyes glimmering with amusement.
"I'm sure your hat will pop up some time," Boruto assured Sam with a little wink. "Awesome equipment for traveling shinobis usually does."
"That's a relief!" Sam said, hopeful.
"Travelling," Victoria repeated, "Do you know if we are going to be moved soon then? And… the method of movement?"
"I think things will start moving pretty soon," Sarada agreed, pushing her red glasses back up her nose. "You two better get a good night's sleep."
Sam turned to look at the less than comfortable bench, "Well… we can certainly try." She grimaced. It was hard to sleep without a pillow! Sam was kinda picky that way… she loved pillows. In fact… she just loved being comfy. "I don't suppose you can tell us if there's a specific time we'll be moved?" Sam, to point out she was talking about the marble, pulled out the very object and held it up as she spoke, emphasizing that it was what she was meaning. This way, Sam and Tori would know when they had to be touching hands or shoulders or whatever in order to be moved at the same time.
"Just after dawn," Sarada said.
"You'll be able to tell cuz it gets light all of a sudden," Boruto added helpfully.
"That is how dawn works," Tori agreed, giving Sam a droll look and nodding to the marble before Sam stuck her tongue out at Tori and then tucked the marble back away. "Well, hopefully it's a good journey and we see a friendly face or two along the way." She leaned nearer to say in a very, very soft whisper. "The plan is still the same, right? The parchment scraps?"
Boruto nodded and then shared an unfathomable look with Sam. Victoria frowned slightly, sensing a secret unsaid, but too dangerous to discuss just then with the anbu guards on alert and minus their friendly earplugs.
"Hey down there. Two more minutes."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Boruto called back. He jerked his thumb over one shoulder. "Look at this guy. Give him a little power and what does he do?" The admittedly way-too-overpowered-himself boy gave a little shrug as though to say 'oh well.' "Wish we could have done more to help you guys. Granny Tsunade is not very happy apparently."
"So we noticed.." Victoria drawled. "Given another chance at it, we'll try to stay on her good side."
"I'm sure you'll do your best," Sarada said with her trademark tiny smile. "Himawari and Mitsuki send their best. So does Shikadai, I think."
Boruto laughed. "Yeah. Chickadee is still butthurt about his name."
"Oh man. I never meant to...ruffle his feathers…"
Sam giggled, remembering their previous conversation. Poor Tori. Maybe one day she'll learn. She giggled again before the two waved goodbye to Boruto and Sarada.
Hours later, once Samantha and Victoria had gotten some relative rest (because really, benches with no blankets and no pillows were not comfy at all) awoke to the stillness of the prison cell. Not a peep could be heard, and Sam pulled out her marble, wondering when "dawn" would arrive.
"Think it'll be soon?" Sam asked, sitting with her back against the bars between her and Tori.
"I hope so," Tori murmured, sitting the same way, her own back against the bars. "I don't think I could possibly handle another incident with the bucket at this point.." (Toilet facilities in the Hidden Leaf holding cells were certainly deserving of the lowest Yelp score possible.) "You know, the last few days were, in theory, going to be our chance to rest up and heal and get supplies. But look at us. I have jail hair."
Sam tried to keep the smile off her face, but it was hard. "We both have jail hair," she stated, feeling a distinct need to shower, "At least your hair isn't as greasy as mine!" Sam's hair was so thin, it tended to grease up within a day if messed with too often. It made her wish she had Tori's thick hair, even if Tori struggled with tangles.
"Poor Sam. If I could trade all my wishes for a shower for you, I totally would," Tori promised. "Sadly, no one is in the market for my wishes right now."
"It's scary how well you know my brain," Sam mused.
"We've been friends for over half our lives, Sam-Sam," Tori pointed out gently, tilting her head back to watch a spider slowly spin a web in the corner of her ceiling. "You're my best friend. No matter what."
"Doesn't make it any less creepy," Sam bit her lip, amused,
"You like my creepy."
"Good point." With a sigh, Sam glanced dismally at a trickle of water in the corner of her cell. "If we die here, at least we didn't die alone," she said for dramatic affect. It was nice to know someone would know what happened to her. Even if the same fate befell them, too. Actually, no. That would suck.
"Poor Sam. The evil Tori-brain monsters got to you."
"'Blaming you wins hands down,'" Sam drawled, quoting Goob from 'Meet the Robinsons'; Otherwise known as 'Bowler Hat Guy'. She tossed her pointer finger in a circular motion as she quoted.
Tori gave a small laugh. "What are you quoting?" she asked, knowing Sam's 'quote a movie' voice anywhere. She laughed again when Sam answered with a little huff that Victoria had missed it the first time. "Awh man. That's a good movie. And… oddly inspiring for right now. You know: with the whole 'Keep Moving Forward' bit."
"Whoa… I didn't even mean for that to happen!" Sam replied, "That's so crazy. But it's true! Just 'Keep Moving Forward' and everything will turn out alright in the end. That's even how God works, ya know?" Somehow, their conversations always ended up philosophical and otherwise.
"Yeah," Tori said softly. "Yeah, He does. And… He's gonna take care of us. One way or another, I truly believe everything will be okay."
Sam smiled, even if Tori couldn't see it.
"But just in case..." Victoria reached her hand out behind her and through the bars, Sam clasped it in her own. "At least wherever we go, we're not alone." She smiled crookedly, thinking of when Sam had said that to her in the forest before they got whipped off to fall out of a tree onto Jiraiya.
"Too true! We can certainly be thankful for that!" Samantha jumped when a sudden light began to appear in her fisted hand. "This is it!" she said, quickly; panicked. Sam's heart thumped as she squeezed Tori's hand in a vice-like grip, afraid of the possibility that one of them wouldn't make it simply because they were separated by the bars. Both waited with baited breath for the marble to pull them to their next destination.
Distantly, they could hear a cry of "Hey! What's going on down there!" before the marble grew so bright that Sam had to shield her eyes from its rays. She'd forgotten how bright the thing was!
"Weeeeeee…" Tori drawled as the tingle spread down their clasped arms and the darkness rushed in to replace the brilliant light.
"You're seriously gonna treat this like a rollercoa-" Her reply was cut off and before the guard even made his appearance in front of their cell, that was the last thing the shinobi heard. Samantha and Victoria had vanished.
Omake: What's in a Name?
"Well it seems silly to have everyone just doing the same thing twice," Victoria said, "Especially if we only have a little while before we have to go back to Boruto's house." Her blue eyes lit up with an idea and she gave an eager clap. "So let's break it into groups!" Instantly, the former-teacher's-pet bustled about assigning tasks. "Sarada and Himawari seem to know the most about what kinda food and medical supplies could be used without moms noticing, so they could make a list of those. Sam, you got way more fight skills than me, so you and Boruto hash out defense and weapon stuff. Then, I can go work with Chickadee to figure out personal supplies."
The weird look on Sam's face was the first tip to Tori that she might have messed something up again. "Ch-chickadee?" Boruto repeated, a fist on his mouth forcibly just managing to hold back a laugh. "You - you called him Chickadee?"
"Oh. Is that - is that wrong?" Ears pinking a little, Tori turned back to the dark-haired boy who gave her a very long-suffering look under his spiky, pineapple-shaped manbun. "I'm so sorry. What's your name? I forgot. ...apparently.."
"Shikadai," he sighed.
"Shee-ka-dee?" Tori repeated uncertainly.
"Shee-"
"Shee!"
"Kah."
"Kah."
"Die."
"Die! Shriek-a-die!" She grinned victoriously, but Boruto's howling laughter quickly betrayed that Victoria had gotten it wrong again. "Shak-a-dee? No, It was die - Shark-a-die?"
"Shikadai!" Sarada said over the sound of Boruto's almost hysterical giggling.
"Cheese-and-pie?"
"Shikadai!" Himawari joined the chant with Sarada and the unpronounceable Shikadai.
"Sheets-will-lie."
"Shikadi!"
"Trees won't fly!"
"Tori!" Sam scolded, rolling her eyes, but laughing herself at her friend's ridiculousness.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Tori said, holding up a hand in the girl scout's signal to swear she would stop. "I know that it's pronounced 'chicken-fry.'" The son of the shadow-paralysis ninja wordlessly let his head fall heavily onto the table in defeat. Boruto was literally quivering in the corner, unable to stop his now silent, but utterly uncontrollable laughter. "I'm just kidding! I'm just kidding. It's Shikadai. I've got it now. I've got it. I promise to never call you Shrinky-Dink or Shriek-and-Die or anything else like it again. Promise."
"Chicken-Fry!" Boruto gasped from his corner. Tori knew then that it was too late. Even if she never messed it up, there was no way the poor kid's friend was gonna let him live it down.
Shikadai seemed to recognize the same based on the way he sighed and rested his cheek on one hand. "What a drag. Shoulda stuck with Chickadee."
A/N: And here you have it, folks! The next chapter of this fic! I really hope you get a kick out of it as much as we did. Truly... there was some tear wiping goin' on and cheeks burning from smiling too hard.
But yes... *ahem* So! Please Read and Review! Tell us what you think! Any thoughts on what's happening? :D eh eh? Anything you'd like to see more of? Let us know! We love you, reviewers, readers, followers and favorites! Ya'll are amazing!