©2007 Ekonika (S.N.R.)
Disclaimer: Kyaa!!! I've got Ideas!!! I can't wait to write this chapter! No, wait… it was the NEXT chapter… well, this one'll be GREAT too! I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 13: At Rope's End!
A loud yawn shattered the still of morning; Jiraiya stretched and looked over to the two sleeping teens next to him. Wait a minute… where were they? He jumped up and looked around, finding all their stuff packed and gone. His own belongings were in the corner, all folded and ready to go. He opened the door once dressed, with his belongings in tow, and nearly tripped over his rope.
Naruto stood on one side of the door, arms folded, and Yasu on the other with one hand on her hip, the other around her stuff. They were looking away from each other before, but now they glared at Jiraiya. Well, at least had irritated stares.
"Ero-sennin! What were you up to last night?" Jiraiya gave each of them a return look, just as stubborn.
"What business is it of yours? I was just catching up with an old friend, for once. I didn't even pursue any of my habits."
"No, not that! I couldn't care less what you were doing last night, but putting us in the same bed? What were you thinking?" Yasu said, and Jiraiya learned the root of the twosome's current issue.
"Well, unless you two were going to do anything, there's no problem, is there?" That morning, though, Naruto had woken up curled around Yasu. They'd been calm about it and slowly jumped away from each other, blushing slightly, before figuring out the situation and packing for Jiraiya. The toad sage saw it in their eyes and laughed.
"Let's get to the village, I want to go back and train some more." Naruto started off, bringing Yasu with him. Jiraiya took a breath and chuckled, then kept up with the young ones.
They reached the village easily and Jiraiya sat down once they reached a bench.
"Go train. Just be back by sunset, it's Friday. Oh, and Yasu, keep in mind your mission this weekend. Don't get too worn out. It is a high-level mission, mind you. Oh! That's it! You two, go apply for as many D-rank missions as you can, the more the better. Meet me back here, an hour BEFORE sunset, though. I just remembered your mission starts a half-hour before daybreak."
Naruto and Yasu walked off to the main training ground, everyone recognizing the rope between them now, and ignoring it. In fact, Kiba and Neji challenged Naruto and Yasu to a two-on-two battle. It actually went surprisingly well; Naruto and Yasu soon discovered all limits and benefits of the rope, and while they battled, they communicated easily in a split second what to do, without even thinking or talking. When the battle ended (Naruto and Yasu won… by a little luck… hey, it was a 'no injury' battle) (want detail of the battle? If so, put it in your review. I'm not planning on writing it, but thought you might like to read it.) the twosome thought back on it and realized they had been talking without talking.
'Yasu… we can talk! Without having to use chakra or our voices!'
'I noticed… I wonder if this is what the training was for… want to go get some ramen? It's lunchtime, and we'll be better at training if we have content stomachs.'
"Of course!" Naruto said out loud, and people around him looked at him oddly.
'Naruto, don't speak out LOUD, you'll look like you're having a conversation with yourself, and I'm tied to you, remember. Be considerate of my reputation!'
'But you don't care about your reputation.'
'I know, I was just trying to keep you from looking foolish.'
''Of course', then.'
'Much better.' Yasu and Naruto kept talking all the way to Ichiraku ramen, and they both had a filling portion, and paid for their own food. Afterwards, they spent the afternoon training with shuriken and Akira. Yasu spent a lot of time with Naruto and Akira, because they were who she would miss most on her mission.
During shuriken training, when Naruto still had twenty or so shuriken to throw, Yasu felt odd, like she was being watched. A quick look behind her proved it; Gaara sat at the edge of the training area, and didn't bother to look away when Yasu met his eyes. Naruto came up to Yasu, asking her if something was wrong in their new silent language. She just kept staring, captivated by the sand ninja, who brought his hand to his mouth, making a symbol. Naruto looked in Gaara's direction, but he disappeared in a whirl of sand.
'Nothing. Let's get the shuriken from the target.' Naruto shrugged it off and walked happily alongside Yasu.
They went to the mission area, and Tsunade was surprised to see them there.
"What could you two be up to now?" She watched Naruto and Yasu carefully.
"We just want some D-rank missions, because Yasu doesn't have many yet." Yasu nodded, agreeing with Naruto.
"Alright… I only have three D-Rank missions for now, though."
"We'll Take 'Em!" Naruto put his hand down on the table, drawing attention to the area. Iruka, who was on the opposite side of the room, looked up. Yasu sensed the familiar attention and looked up at him, surprised.
"Iruka!" She stared politely, and Iruka grinned as Naruto saw him and started waving. He gave the twosome a wave before they left for their missions.
It was nothing much, just weeding a garden and babysitting, and dog-walking. When Naruto and Yasu arrived at the garden one, the lady looked him over and shook her head.
"Not you again…" Yasu looked back and forth, confused.
"Don't worry, miss, I won't tear up your herbs this time." The lady sighed, and looked at Yasu.
"Keep him in line, teach him which are the herbs, please. You look good and sensible." She left, and They set to work, next to each other so Yasu could tell Naruto the difference. After the one flowerbed was completed, they split up to get the other two, and Naruto only got a couple small, unnecessary herbs. The lady inspected the work, and tipped them.
The dog walking went better, Yasu got a huge dog that pulled at the leash at first, but she got it in line. Naruto took on two regular-sized animals. Soon, All that remained was the babysitting. Yasu disliked kids, usually. They were too… loud…, but Naruto seemed to like it some. He had enough energy, anyway, and Yasu did as well.
'Thank goodness it was only for an hour.' Yasu thought to Naruto as they went to turn in the missions. The kids were well-behaved… until their mom left. They wanted everything she said they couldn't have, and ended up playing a board game that had a loud popper-dice-roller-thing in the middle of the board, and when the mom came back home, Yasu thanked her and left, barely remembering the money. They told Tsunade all missions were completed, and she logged them in and crossed off the missions.
"Thank you two. Don't forget, tomorrow before sunrise."
That evening, Jiraiya was nowhere to be found. The students searched hastily, although they dreaded the passing of time, for it meant they would be separated. Jiraiya was found shortly, and the teens had had enough time to become depressed about the situation: a whole of two weeks had sunk in.
"Are you guys gonna be alright?" Jiraiya asked once they had carried him from the bar and sat him down. His head was clearing quickly, and Yasu thought he might have formed a jutsu for that purpose, and giggled at the thought. Naruto chuckled when she told him, though, because boys don't giggle, they chuckle. (… lol…) Jiraiya made a handsign, and the rope vanished. Naruto and Yasu looked around in disbelief, and walked to the very edge of where the rope had let them; they paused a moment, then jumped that last step. They were free from the rope!
"Now, like I told you," Jiraiya was all seriousness now, "lesson one was teamwork. You have that down, I can tell. Lesson two was the main skill I was trying to teach you: Mind-speaking. I'm pretty sure you have that down by now, too." 'Right Yasu? Naruto?' He spoke to them both, and they stared at him. 'Well, reply if you hear me.'
'Yeah, I hear you.'
'Yes sir.'
'Great. This is a very restricted technique, Developed by a close friend of mine. I learned it, and I'm liable to be the only one besides you two that knows it. Only a select few may learn, and I began to sense you two could learn. It requires an ultimate quality: love. Now, I'm not saying you love each other, but that you feel the emotion, in its truest form. Now, to be able to talk to someone, they have to have one superior trait: the drive to protect. It's what we like to call 'The Will of Fire' in Konoha.
'Now, no need to get into detail. You have learned the technique to a point of mastery in just a few short days. It took me a month, and I knew what I was doing. This is a new technique, so there are many details that need to be researched, but I don't think it was just a coincidence with you two, which is why I decided to keep the rope on for so short a time.' Naruto and Yasu looked at each other, then at the hermit, and broke into a smile.
"So, what was the third lesson?" Yasu asked.
"Oh, nothing. Just that you would be role models for my book. Now that the rope's gone, I still need to be able to track you two, but that can be done after the chunin exams. Now, off with the both of you, Yasu needs her rest. Her mission is classified a B-rank after all."
The two walked to Yasu's home in silence, even in their minds. When they arrived, Hiroko saw their mood.
"What's the matter, Yasu?"
"Oh! Nothing, I'm just going on a mission tomorrow, I'll be gone for a while." She sighed. Hiroko folded her arms.
"No good moping! Enjoy it tonight! Spend time with everyone!" Yasu thought on Hiroko's words, and understood them when she saw Naruto packing his stuff up. He dropped his sleeping mat in the corner, rolled up. He was folding his clothes when Yasu spoke.
"Want to stay over tonight?" She knew his answer already, he practically glomped her.
"Yeah! Otherwise I'll probably sleep past your briefing." His sudden brightening helped the atmosphere, and Akira came trotting in upon hearing Naruto's voice. The small room became crowded, but Naruto was thrilled that Akira was inside. "You let him in?"
"Of course, he's well trained. And intelligent to boot." Akira snorted happily and stuffed his head against Yasu, knowing she would be leaving by the way she felt; the slight undercurrent of sadness. Naruto suddenly gasped. "What?" Yasu looked around for danger.
"Akira… can talk." Yasu looked at Akira, surprised.
"Funny, he's never talked to anyone but me before." The trio settled down for the night, Naruto making himself comfortable on Yasu's bed. (N-'No way I'm kicking you out of your bed.' Y-'You won't be, I'm inviting you.' N-'With you?' Y-'Yeah, like Jiraiya said, we aren't gonna do anything. It's not a big deal.') Yasu came in from the field after spending some time just laying on Akira's back. Akira followed her in and watched as she climbed in the opposite side of the bed from Naruto. He carefully positioned himself on the floor so he was able to watch over Yasu, and she thanked him silently.
That night, the trio fell asleep in each others' comfort and companionship.
Short chapter… whatever, I want to write the next one. Well, I've got to go feed the boys! (Dogs, of course!) Will be back for the exciting installment of Chapter 14, where you may find the answers to these: Who hired Yasu? What will she be doing for TWO WEEKS? What classifies it as 'B' rank? What parting gift will Naruto have for her? XD Well, it'll probably all fit into one sentence, so don't get too hung up on it.