AN: Here we go CHAPTER 29! Thanks for waiting and enjoy. Any thoughts just leave a review, it would be much appreciated! Ja ne!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
POV: IRUNA
I had just come from my mission briefing with Minato-san and my team mate. I entered the house and found Kakashi was already making dinner.
"Aren't you making dinner an hour too early?" I asked him while taking a seat by the dining table.
"I know."
I felt like asking him why, but… I was caught up with how Obito had been acting towards me. I don't recall doing anything from before I left that would make him act that way with me.
"—okay?" I heard making my head snap to Kakashi, he still had his attention on the counter.
"Did you say something, Kaka-nii?" I asked unsure if I did hear him correctly.
"Forget it."
"What was it?" I asked insistently.
"It's nothing."
"Is it important?"
"No."
I decided to brush it off as I stood up. "I'll be in my room, just knock if it's time for dinner."
I had my things sealed away and checked on the seals that I had with me for my mission tomorrow. I also wrote out a small note and had my Kestrel summon, Haji, to bring it to Sasuke and have him inform Mother and Itachi as well. Sasuke knew Haji. I always had him bring my letter to Sasuke and vice versa during my stay in the avian realm. Haji didn't mind it and on his words 'Would do anything for me'. I suppose one can say that he was the most vocal out of my flock about his loyalty to me.
"Dinner's ready." Kakashi said through the door.
"Coming" I called closing and replacing the seals I had on the window.
Minato-san didn't arrive yet and that left the three of us having dinner together. Naruto, even with his father still in the office, he readily told us how his day went telling us how he finally got two kunais to hit the target, but that was two out of five, which was good enough.
"Hey, Kakashi-san, help me get better at using a kunai." Naruto then said.
"No." The half-masked shinobi answered.
"Come on, Kaka-nii. You've been helping him out and well, since you've been in the shinobi career longer I'm sure Naruto will pick up good practices from you." I said grinning at him.
"You can ask your dad, you know." Kakashi said to the younger blond.
"I do plan on asking him." Naruto answered. "He's just not here yet. Please, Kashi-san!" The blond boy had his puppy eyes out.
I counted to ten seconds in my mind before Kakashi caved in.
"Fine. I'll do it if you can wake up one hour before breakfast time." Kakashi said adding conditions to help Naruto with training with target practice.
"Eh?! But that's too early!" Naruto whined.
"If you want me to help you, pull your own weigh." Kakashi said with a raised nose.
"Fine." Naruto answered. "I'll wake up. I'll wake up earlier than just an hour before breakfast, dattebayou!"
After Narutos' proclamation that he'll wake up, he helped with clearing the table and he went off to his room, hopefully to start with his homework. I stayed by the sofa lying there and staring at the ceiling, thinking of absolutely nothing, or so I thought.
"Having a trouble mind before a mission isn't good." I heard above my head, with the light bulb from the kitchen area behind him, Minato-san looked like an angel with a smile on him. I wonder if Kushina-sensei had a similar thought before? Maybe it was more of her shining savior.
I snorted at that thought before replying. "Don't worry Minato-san I'll only think about it when I return to Konoha."
"If you need someone to talk to I'm here." He said offering an ear.
"I know." I told him. "Why did you choose him as my mission partner? You know that I don't like him."
"I'm sure you two won't let that interfere with the mission." Minato-san answered.
"Let's hope that I can reign on my annoyance. Good night, Minato-san." I said getting to my feet and heading to my room.
I stood at the West gates of Konoha waiting for my team mate to arrive. It didn't take more than ten or so minutes for him to arrive. We just nodded at each other before we took off from the gates to head to a town called Kyarou. We would be meeting with a man named Akira to collect a relic and bring it to a temple in the outskirts of the Fire country. It was classified as a B-rank mission because of the importance of the relic to the temple we were to bring it to, there was bound to be thieves.
It was a four day trek to the town from Konoha using shinobi speed, more than a week if we walked. We reached the town of Kyarou without any problems and it was already late in the afternoon when we got there. We navigated around the town until we found the shrine.
The shrine was small and there was only a man around our ages with black hair and grey eyes sweeping the grounds. He paused in his sweeping when we approached him and his eyes went to the hitaite Haru-san wore. I have long stopped wearing mine and just kept it in one of my storage seals. It was better that I didn't wear it, not that I wasn't proud being a shinobi of Konoha, but it was one of Jiraiya-sans' tip to me. Especially that I was travelling alone.
"Hello, you two must be the shinobi grandfather requested for." He said bowing a bit. "My name is Akira."
"Nice to meet you, Akira-san. I'm Iruna and this is Haru-san." I said introducing ourselves.
"Please follow me." He said leading us towards the house at the side. "My grandfather has been expecting you."
We entered the house following his trail until we got to the dining room where an old man was having some later afternoon tea.
"Grandfather, the shinobi you requested are here." Akira said just as the old man placed the cup he held back on to the table.
"Ah, why don't you join me for tea? It's quite refreshing and I would love the company."
Akira offered us a smile before he stepped aside for us to enter and we took the seats in front of his grandfather.
"Konoha shinobi" He said to us "What are your names?"
"Iruna" I said.
"Hyuuga Haru" My team mate answered.
He nodded. "I am Takeru, the priest of this shrine. Thank you for coming here for my request." The old mans' gaze then went towards the window and noticing the red orange hue in the sky. "Ah, it's already getting dark. You two are welcome to spend the night here with us. It's only me and my grandson in this large house."
"Thank you for the offer, sir." Haru-san started "But…"
The old man raised his hand making him stop speaking. "I insist if you leave now with the relic it would be dark." He said. "It's not often we get visitors, and we would love the additional company."
"Then, we will take you on your offer." I said in response before bowing to him. "Thank you, Takeru-san."
Takeru nodded to me. "Akira, get the rooms ready!"
"On it!" Akiras' voice rang back seconds later.
"I will be outside." Haru-san said getting to his feet and stepping out.
I stayed in the dining room enjoying the tea while the old man went somewhere in the house. Akira by then showed up in the dining or the kitchen, it seemed to serve as both. He started with making dinner.
"You're grandfather seems to have a habit of inviting people into your home."
"How'd you know?" He said glancing over at me.
"You were in the middle of preparing the rooms we were going to stay in when your grandfather called you to get the rooms ready." I replied chuckling.
"Well, he likes to have visitors around." He said shrugging. "and he loves to tell stories."
"What kind of stories?" I asked curious.
Akira-san while he prepared dinner told me about the life he had with his grandfather. They were just simple stories that happened each day, but it was nice to listen to his stories. It was obvious on how close the two were. Once Akira was done making dinner, I left the dining room to call his grandfather and Haru-san to eat.
It was easy to find Haru-san. He was just feet away from the front of the house and was moving through his stances with his Byakugan on.
"Haru-san, dinner." I said.
He turned his white eyes to me. "What are those?" He asked, his eyebrows meeting, his eyes were on my arms.
I didn't understand what he meant at the beginning until I recalled what I had hidden with my arm warmers. Well, this was something, I didn't think of the day before.
"That would be none of your business." I said flatly. "Did you see where Takeru-san went to?"
"He went inside the shrine." He replied before he went inside the house and that left me to call the old man.
"Takeru-san?" I called from the steps of the shrine, but from the chakra, he was inside the shrine. I remove my shinobi sandals before I went up the steps and knocked before opening the sliding door. "Takeru-san?"
The inside of the shrine was lit with four candles and the old man was at the back of the room. I felt a tingling sensation over my body when I stepped in either there was a charge with the chakra in the air or it was coming from the beads at the altar. I could see him making hand seals before the wooden box on the floor creaked open. Once it opened, I felt small amounts of my own chakra being pulled in and the same goes with the charge of chakra in the air. The old man got to his feet, wrapped the relic in a cloth before placing it in the box.
"What was that?" I asked once the feeling of being drained of my chakra was gone.
"That was the relic." Takeru-san replied.
I frowned unsure which one was the relic, he was pertaining to.
"You have a strange nature about you Iruna-san." The old man told me.
"Er, I don't know what you mean."
"You are somewhat like the beads. You take in and release it back. Well, enough about that, shall we head back for dinner?"
I nodded silently as I left the shrine with him and back to the house. Dinner was pleasant with Takeru telling us stories of his younger years. After spending the night at their house, as morning came, Takeru-san handed us the wooden box with a seal on it. The seal was easy to break, if one was able to use chakra and can go about the traps inlaid with the seal. Easy enough for 'me' to remove.
"Be careful and once you've reached the temple please hand this over to the presiding head priest along with the box." He said, also handing us a letter with the box.
I nodded to him. "Thank you for your hospitality, sir." I said to him.
"Don't mention it. I enjoy having guests over." The old man said smiling.
I took over the responsibility of keeping the relic safe and left the letter with Haru-san. I sealed it away in one of my storage seals before we headed off.
"Won't the object get destroyed if you sealed it away in a storage seal that's just on your arm warmer?" Haru-san asked as we got to the entrance of the town.
"I know that if the storage seal gets destroyed that also includes the object inside. I took that factor into consideration before I even decided where to place my storage seals besides these arm warmers were especially made to order." I said to him haughtily. "They won't get ruined that easily." Although, they couldn't hide anything from the Byakugan. I still don't know how the Uzumaki managed to do it with the barrier point seal they placed in the village.
Haru-san didn't respond and just took off ahead of me. He could at least wait, but whatever not that I can't catch up to him. I just need to endure a few more days with him on this mission and we can go back to Konoha. That was what I repeated to myself, but why couldn't time pass by faster?
Four days have passed and it was also our fourth night to take camp. It would take five more days to get to the Fire temple to deliver the relic that we had. Haru-san didn't bring up what I had under my arm warmers, which I had no obligation to explain to him. I was complacent that he would leave it alone but even for someone aloof like him even he has his curiosity.
"Does anyone know?"
"What?" I asked confused, what was he getting at?
"Those under your arm warmers."
"The Hokage does."
"Are they seals?"
"More or less" I replied shrugging. "I prefer to call them chakra tattoos." It's not like I'm telling him the functions.
He snorted at my choice of words. "If only all seals can be called that." He added bitterly.
"I can remove it."
"Remove, what?" He asked.
"The seal that you have on your forehead." I replied, but what was I saying? Why am I offering that to him?
"I know that you studied under someone that was akin to a fuinjutsu master, but I doubt you can remove it. The only one that can is my clan." He answered. "I don't know how you know about the seal, but it has been kept a secret within my clan and they would wonder how anyone was able to gain knowledge of it. You would only cause problems for your foolishness."
"I didn't say you had to accept it." I growled at him. "I only offered it to you, it's your choice if you accept it or not."
"I'll be taking the first watch." Haru-san replied ending that conversation and I went to my usual position to get some shut eye.
He could have just answered with a simple 'no', instead of saying all of those words. He even called my offer as foolishness! I don't even know what came over me to say that to him! He is the person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting or being acquainted to.
After we gave the relic and the letter to the head priest in the Fire temple, we were on our way back to Konoha. It would just be three or four days to get there. Haru-san decided to take first watch again and I settled myself in the branches to get some sleep, when I heard a voice near me, to Haru-san it would only be a hoot.
'There is a member of the Akatsuki five hundred meters away from your camp site, best to avoid him, especially with the baggage you have.' Renzo, the only owl in my flock, said.
"Come on, he's not baggage." I answered softly.
'I only say the truth. You are the only one that can understand me. I see no point of sugar coating anything.'
"Is it Orochimaru?"
'No.'
"Huh, if I kill the snake, the cursed seal will be gone." I said thoughtfully.
'Do not even dare, Iruna-sama, while you have grown stronger do not be arrogant to think that you can take on Orochimaru. There is a reason he is called a sannin.'
"It was merely a thought, and getting myself killed by him isn't one on my to-do list."
After Renzo said that there was an Akatsuki member nearby, I couldn't let my guard down and stayed awake with my eyes closed. Once we broke camp, it didn't take more than an hour before we came across the Akatsuki member Renzo warned me about, but he forgot to mention the other one.
"Sasori of the Red Sand and…" I trailed of unsure of what her nickname is…
"We meet again" Sasori said, while he remained within his puppets' husk. "Grey trickster"
Grey Trickster, the nickname that I gained for myself after capturing a number or thieves and some low ranked rogue shinobi while I was outside of Konoha. Although that wasn't the reason I gained that nickname.
"And so we do." I answered while keeping my attention on both of them.
"You know her?" The blue haired girl with a paper flower in her hair said.
"Yes, I have come across her before. She is knowledgeable of a wide range of ninjutsu, but also uses fuinjutsu to fight as well. That has always been her trick on how she uses them and how she even comes to use the jutsu without finishing the full set of hand seals. She is also called the Former Uchiha."
"Ah, the Uchiha that was exiled by her own clan." She said.
"Do you have any business with us?" I asked warily.
"Yes." She said, and just as she did Sasoris' tail came out and swiped at Haru-san by the middle of his body sending him a distance away.
"Haru-san!" I got into stance then, I'll have to hope that Haru-san is fine.
"Iruna-san, we are offering you a position within our ranks." The girl said to me.
"Why should I even join you? I don't see the merits of it."
"If you were to join us, Iruna-san, it would help us with changing this world we live in."
"How are you going to change this world?" Not like I didn't know.
"Join us and you will know. We will wait for your decision." She said turning away and before she dispersed into pieces of paper then to origami butterflies.
"I don't see Orochimaru with you." I told Sasori as he turned away meaning to follow after Konan.
"He was in the middle of an experiment in his lab." He replied, odd how he willingly answered.
"A little warning for you Sasori-san. You'll regret trusting that snake."
"Don't think that I'll owe you for that warning." Sasori replied.
"Sasori of the Red Sand, owing me?" I said incredulously. "That is wishful thinking."
Sasori left and Haru-san showed up minutes later. He was disheveled and his clothes were dirty. He looked at me up and down before surveying the surroundings.
"Where are they?" He asked.
"Gone." I replied before I went ahead in the direction of Konoha.
It was time to set-up camp again and I decided to take first watch. Haru-san didn't argue and while I kept my senses on alert. I considered the offer Konan gave me. Join Akatsuki. While it had been an option that I had thought before, it would still constrict my movements, but if I didn't join would Itachi join them because of a whole other reason, or would it be someone else?
I still can't get rid of the thought that there are events that will happen even if one or two persons remain alive. Unfortunately for me while I do know major events in this world I don't know which one will happen or not.
When we got back to Konoha and gave a brief report of our mission. I left Haru-san to do all of the talking because eventually Minato-san will tell me to stay.
"Iruna, please stay, Haru you may go." Minato-san said just like I assumed.
I didn't have to guess why he told me to stay and just told him what Haru-san missed out. Minato-san looked pensive after telling him, why wouldn't he be concerned? Naruto is a jinchuriki. I told him and Jiraiya the goal of Akatsuki, that was to collect the bijuu, but that would mean the death of the jinchuriki if they are able to extract the bijuu.
"What happens afterwards Iruna, once they manage to get all of the tailed beasts?"
"Then it's the end of our world if they are able to do that before the next generation of shinobi even manages to reach chuunin."
"The clan kids generation?" Minato-san asked, fishing for an answer from me.
"Who knows" I replied vaguely. "Minato-san…did anything happen to Obito-nii while I was away? Aside from him getting the cursed seal?"
Minato-san shook his head. "No, nothing."
"Do you think my family knows something?"
"You have to ask Shisui or your siblings about that."
"They already know 'who' I am." I replied.
"You're a shinobi, Iruna-chan." Minato-san raised an eyebrow at me, telling me that there are ways to go about the clan restriction on me.
"Oh, right." I said blinking at him and feeling my ears warm up. "Well, ahhh, are you heading back to the house, Minato-san?"
"After I finish here, you can go ahead of me." He said smiling at me in amusement.
"See you there." I answered, and just as he removed the privacy seal did I use the shunshin and left the office.
After eating dinner, I wrote out our mission report and handed in the report for the mission the following day when Minato-san was in his office. The next thing on my list was to look for Anko. The first place I went to was the T&I department to see if she was in the middle of her observations, but Yamanaka Inoichi-san told me that Anko had left the village for a mission. He didn't tell me when she would return, but my research on the cursed seal would have to be postponed for a while. I couldn't approach Obito-nii about the seal with the way he ignores me.
Even Shisui and Itachi were absent from Konoha, I know they were anbu, but it was too coincidental that they weren't in the village. On my way back to the house, where I had to pass through the business district, I met with Guy-san in the streets together with Kurenai-san, Hayate-san and Obito-nii.
"Iruna-san!" Guy-san greeted me loudly and cheerfully.
"Hello, Guy-san" I said smiling wryly. "Kurenai-san, Hayate-san and…" I trailed off when Obito-nii turned away from me.
"Would you like to join us?" Guy-san asked me.
"Join you, where?"
I didn't even get to hear where before Guy-san decided to drag me with them. Hayate-san just gave me a smile while I was pulled by the arm. I force to sit down in the booth with them. Hayate-san sat beside me while Guy-san was in front of me. Kurenai-san was next to Hayate-san and Obito-nii beside Guy-san. They gave us three menus and I shared one of the menus with Hayate-san.
"You okay with joining us, Iruna-chan?" Hayate-san asked while he looked through the list in front of us.
"I didn't get a choice earlier." I deadpanned.
"*cough* We're not forcing you to stay."
"It's fine, Hayate-san. It's just a bit difficult with…my relative." I said softly, it was a bit noisy in the restaurant. He would only be the one to hear me.
"I've heard." He answered and gossip just travels quickly. "How was your mission with Haru?"
"It was fine, I guess." I said nonchalantly. "We didn't talk that much with each other during the mission."
"Oh? I was sure one of you would start a conversation." Hayate-san said thoughtfully.
"Not with him, I won't." I huffed.
I heard a chuckle then coming from Kurenai-san. "You and Haru are like water and oil. You don't mix well together."
"He started it." I said, all those years ago and that time I went to the Hyuuga compound.
"Sometimes the two that always gets on each other nerves ends up becoming best friends…or maybe more." The only other female with us said teasingly.
"Do not be so complacent that you were able to defeat someone that had a load to carry. I doubt that you are even skilled without your sharingan." Haru-san said before he had closed the gates in my face.
"No, that is never going to happen." I said resolutely, not after his words. "I'll show him. I'll show him not to underestimate me just because I have the sharingan."
"I'm only joking, Iruna-chan." Kurenai-san said to me.
"Even so, he gets on my nerves." I said huffing.
"Oh, look its Haru." Hayate-san said then when the mentioned person entered the restaurant. "Haru, over here!"
Haru-san did go over to our table and bowed to us in greeting. "Care to join us, Haru-san?" Kurenai-san asked.
"Thank you for the invitation, but I have an errand to accomplish." He replied politely.
"Maybe next time then." Hayate-san said.
"Were you able to hand in the report to the Hokage, Iruna-san?" Haru-san directed to me and I was doing a swell job in ignoring him like how Obito-nii was doing with me.
"Of course, it was the first thing I did after leaving the house."
"You live under the same roof with the Hokage. You could have handed it to him once you were done writing it."
"I don't see why I have to give it to him there when he is not the Hokage while in that space." I said.
"As long as you handed it to him." He said before heading over to the counter at the back and leaving with a cloth wrapping with him.
"He's gone, Iruna-chan." Hayate-san said next to me patting my arm.
"Yeah, sure, good riddance." I said.
I stayed with them for a little while longer not noticing that it was already late in the evening. I enjoyed my time with them even though I didn't spend that much time with some of them and they were my sempais'.
"You should join us more, Iruna-chan. It's nice having another girl around." Kurenai-san said to me as she hugged me. "Oh, we should drag Kakashi for the next. He needs to spend more time with us than with missions."
"Good luck with that." I heard Obito-nii mumble to himself.
I waved away as Kurenai-san and Hayate-san left, their houses were in the same direction. I walked together with Guy-san and Obito-nii in silence in a different direction. Eventually, we reached an intersection. Mine and Obito-niis' houses were in a similar direction and after Guy-san left. The tension between us was thick and I deliberately walked five steps behind Obito-nii giving him his space. He did stop in his steps though, making me do the same.
"Were you ever planning on saving them?" He said all of a sudden.
"What?" I didn't know what he was even saying.
"Rin"
I was still confused. What about Rin-san?
"Don't act like you don't know, Iruna." He said coldly. "You knew that she and Kushina-san would die."