We all were up early and at the village gate by sunrise, we met two boys, one glaring at me in anger. He was the boy I had laid out yesterday, I simply smiled at him warmly and waved. The boy beside him smiled back and waved at me, his hand extended high above his head in greeting. We all walked up to them and Kaoru quickly asked their names, ⌠I▓m Kaji, my brother is Shinderu, we▓re twins.■
⌠I noticed,■ Haruko said in a bored tone, ⌠You two look almost exactly alike.■ Indeed they did, both had black hair, Kaji▓s was spiked, though, while Shinderu▓s hung down to his shoulders. They both had identical green eyes and a pale complexion, which betrayed their nocturnal habits. They both wore black pants, Kaji wearing a dark blue shirt over fishnet, while Shinderu bore dark green in the same fashion.
⌠So, shall we get going?■ I said, watching Kurumi cling to each boy▓s arm and grin proudly, as though she could really protect them. She was such a flirt, but as soon as one of her characters showed up, I knew, she would return to the fan girl personality that I knew so well.
We had been walking for hours in silence when the fog began creeping over us, I looked around with lowered eyelids. ⌠You guys, I think we should stop.■ I suggested slowly from the rear of the group, stopping in my tracks.
They all looked back at me and slowed their step to a stop, ⌠What▓s up, Tsuka-Chan?■ Haruko asked, looking at me over her shoulder.
⌠It▓s too foggy, I don▓t think we should continue, unless we want to fall into a trap.■ I said softly, glaring in the direction of a new pair of footsteps. There were two men coming toward us, I turned to them and motioned to the others to stay put. ⌠Kaoru┘Kurumi┘come with me.■ Both girls followed me through the fog and toward the men.
We came nearer to the oncoming footsteps and suddenly they stopped, I froze on the spot, Kurumi and Kaoru almost ran into me from my sudden stop. ⌠No fucking way┘■ I said softly and then stepped back, shoving Kurumi forward.
⌠Hey! What was that for, bitch?■ Kurumi asked, stumbling forward and then glaring back at me over her shoulder.
⌠Stand up straight, stupid, and try to stay calm when you see who▓s dropped by for a visit. Remember, no fan girl stuff.■ That was when two tall men in cloaks and funny-looking hats stepped through the fog, I smiled and began laughing to myself as Kurumi and Kaoru gasped.
We all knew who they were, but the first to voice our identical thoughts was Kurumi ⌠Uchiha Itachi! I can▓t believe it▓s really Itachi!!■ With that she leapt forward and, before any of us could see where she had landed, she was latched onto Itachi, who▓s hat had fallen to the ground and was staring at her in utter confusion. Her arms were wrapped around his waist, his sharingan focused on her grinning face as she buried it in his chest. Kisame watched this unexpected display of affection toward his partner with an entertained smile.
⌠Who are you? And why are you hugging me?■ Itachi asked in complete confusion, to which Kurumi answered with a squeal and a grin, tightening her grip around the man▓s waist.
⌠She▓s your fan girl, Ita-Chan,■ I said confidently, smiling at the pair knowingly, ⌠Possibly the only girl crazy enough to hug you┘and probably the only girl in the world stupid enough to ask you a question like, ▒will you please pull down your pants?▓■ At this Kurumi gasped and looked up to Itachi with a look of urgency in her features.
⌠That reminds me, Itachi, will you please pull down your pants? I want to see how big you are.■ He gave her a look of disgust and confusion, and Kaoru began laughing hysterically as I hid my face in my hand and laughed silently.
Finally I looked up and stepped forward, ⌠Leave the poor boy alone, will you? He looks mortified.■ Kurumi simply grinned at me and tightened her hold on Itachi, then I grabbed her by her hair and pulled her off of him. ⌠I▓m sorry, Ita-Chan, she tends to get like this a lot. Come on, bitch, when we get to Konoha you can latch yourself onto Uke-Chan instead.■
⌠But┘Sasuke▓s not as cool as Itachi!■ Then she looked at Kisame, who watched the scene curiously from under his hat. ⌠Oh! Kisame! My sexy fish!■ I rolled my eyes and let her run and tackle Kisame.
⌠My apologies, Kisa-Chan, she▓s just weird like this.■ Then I picked up Itachi▓s hat and tossed it around a few times. ⌠It▓s too bad I forgot my hat, it was just like this one, oh well.■ I placed the hat atop my own head and began walking away, ⌠Come on, girls■ I called back at the still laughing Kaoru and Kurumi who was now cuddling Kisame mercilessly.
⌠Excuse me, but you▓ve taken my hat.■ Itachi said, appearing before me and leaning down to look me in the eyes.
⌠Oh? Well, that▓s too bad, I▓m sure you▓ll be able to find another one.■ I smiled and tapped his nose with my finger before brushing past him without a second thought, not exactly the smartest thing to do. He grabbed my shoulder and, as an involuntary reflex, I grabbed his arm and flipped him onto his back in front of me. ⌠Ah! I am so sorry! Reflex! I really didn▓t mean to do that!■ I said frantically apologizing for what I had done.
⌠Who are you, girl?■ He asked, looking up at me with his sharingan and for a split second he looked temptingly sexy.
Shocked, I backed off and blushed softly as I looked down at him with my large brown eyes, ⌠My name is Tsukioka Tsukasa of Kuraigakure and I am very sorry about my friend, she can▓t contain herself.■ I reached out a hand to help him to his feet, he took it but instead of climbing to his feet he pulled me to the ground, with him.
⌠How old are you girls?■ He asked, holding me close to himself and causing me to feel extremely uncomfortable.
⌠Umm┘I▓m seventeen and they▓re sixteen┘why?■ He gave me a strange look and it was all I could do not to knee him in the crotch and run screaming, because he was my age. Or at least he was the last time I checked. His hand clung to my wrist and I can▓t remember exactly what happened next, except that the next second I was straddling his back and holding one of his arms beneath me and stepping on the other. I jumped up and called to Kurumi, ⌠Ku-Chan! Come and get him!■
No sooner had the words left my mouth than Kurumi had latched herself, once more, onto Itachi▓s middle and grinning broadly. ⌠We should get going,■ Kaoru spoke finally, ⌠the others will be wondering what happened to us. Kurumi, we▓ve gotta go. You▓ll see Ita-Chan again, I promise.■ Though reluctant to leave her red-eyed psycho behind, Kurumi eventually detached herself from Itachi and was being towed away by both Kaoru and myself.
We returned to the others, brushed off their inquiries, and continued on our way. As one can imagine I believed that encounter would be the last of our troubles, and the worst. If Kurumi kept up her fan-girl behavior around all of our enemies then we wouldn▓t have much trouble with anyone, especially if they all responded like Kisame and Itachi. Speaking of which, I reached up and touched the brim of the hat I still wore, the hat I had stolen from Itachi without much trouble at all. Suddenly I found myself lost in thought, ▒Itachi is supposed to be one of the most powerful jounin ever┘how did I, a chunin fresh out of the selection exam, manage to beat him to the ground? And I wasn▓t even thinking about it┘what about the others? None of them were far behind me in the listings, not even Momo┘maybe┘I wonder┘what are our special powers, I mean we have to have some kind of cool ninja abilities. I mean, sure, I can walk on a ceiling without a second thought, but that▓s only ▒cause I practiced yesterday┘this ninja shit is going to take some serious getting used to.▓
I hadn▓t even realized how much time had passed by the time I looked up and escaped my thoughts, the sun was already setting and the others seemed to be stopping for the night. I found a place to sit and I watched everyone else set up for that night, as I looked around I found that I knew this place. ⌠It▓s the halfway point,■ I pointed out and everyone paused, ⌠that statue of Buddha, travelers a from Konoha stop here to pay their respects and pray for a safe night▓s rest.■ I pointed across the road to a tall, worn, golden statue with old food and other offerings at its feet. I sat upon a large boulder directly across from it, everyone set up to sleep behind the boulder and hidden from the road as I prepared for a sleepless night of watching their asses.
It was probably around midnight when they all finally fell asleep, that was when I hopped down from my seat on the boulder and strolled across the road to the statue of Buddha. At his feet I laid one of my favorite chopsticks, it was cherry wood and had the kanji Inochi-meaning ⌠life⌠-carved into it. I bowed, my head lowered, my hands clapped together before my bowed head and I silently prayed for an eventful trip full of good fortune for my friends, as long as they were happy I could be as well.
I returned to my post shortly and sat, not facing my friends, but facing Buddha, if only to show my respect for the man. I had heard his story in so many different ways I could hold nothing less than the deepest respect for the one who reached nirvana, found that one cannot choose one extreme over the other, but take them both in equal portions and you will be truly enlightened. That was part of what I gathered from I▓d heard and studied about his life, the other parts were a bit more complex than simply equal portions and, to be honest, I never really understood that much.
Anyway, I had been sitting still for a long while before I heard any noise, a rustling in the bushes and a pair of eyes looking out at me. I hopped down from the boulder and crouched by the bushes, hand extended warmly. ⌠Come on, little guy, it▓s alright. Come on┘■ slowly, cautiously, out from the bushes crawled a black fox, its ears and tail tipped in white. ⌠Oh, aren▓t you adorable?■ I reached into my pocket and pulled out my pocky stash, I broke a bit off the end of a chocolate one and held out to the fox.
The fox sniffed my hand carefully, being sure not to come too close, then it sniffed at the pocky and watched me warily as it slowly took the pocky from my hand. As soon as it had the food it bolted back into the bushes and I smiled after it, I had never seen a black fox before, it had been a real treat. But not even a minute had passed before another creature came sneaking out of the bushes, blue eyes and brown fur, I couldn▓t believe it. ⌠Ha ha ha,■ I laughed softly in disbelief, a small raccoon was watching me with puppy dog eyes, it had obviously seen the fox with the pocky and come running. I pulled another stick of pocky out of my pocket and handed him one half as I munched on the other, without a moments hesitation the raccoon snatched the pocky from my hand and began eating it. ⌠Well, you▓re either very hungry or very greedy.■ I said with a smile and the raccoon looked up at me with large eyes.
⌠No, you can▓t have anymore, sorry. Chocolate▓s not good for you if you have too much, I can▓t give you any more.■ I smiled down at the pleading look of the raccoon and thanked Kaoru silently for her years of pouts and pleading expressions, otherwise I wouldn▓t be able to resist the impossible cuteness of this fuzzy animal. I stood and walked back to my boulder, and as I sat atop it once more the raccoon climbed up and bravely sat in my lap. ⌠What? I told you, hon, I can▓t give you anymore chocolate.■
Still he looked at me silently, he didn▓t want the pocky anymore, I reached out to touch him and he simply watched my hand warily. My hand touched his soft head and his eyes shut lightly, he wasn▓t used to being handled by a human, and he shouldn▓t want to either. Why was this raccoon hanging around me anyway?
That question was answered in the next second when the little black fox returned, this time seeming braver, he crawled up to me and attempted to join the raccoon in my lap. The raccoon, however, pushed the fox away and cuddled close to me. In response to this the fox growled and pounced on the raccoon and they began to fight in my lap, I almost fell over at first, then I grabbed each by the scruff of their neck and held them apart from each other. ⌠I assume you two know each other?■ They quieted down and I rolled my eyes, ⌠Listen, I don▓t support fighting┘over stupid things┘■ I added as I remembered that I was a ninja at the moment. ⌠Never mind. Anyway, you both need to start heading home, okay?■ I set them on the ground and both turned to face me, neither making a move to leave, both watching me with pleading eyes. ⌠You want to stay with me?■
⌠┘■
⌠Well┘I don▓t know┘it could get dangerous and I wouldn▓t want you to get hurt┘■
⌠┘┘■
⌠Umm┘what are your names?■
The fox cocked its head, ⌠┘■ and then the raccoon did the same, ⌠┘■
⌠Well, then, Mamoru┘Hogo┘you should rest up, cause I▓m not carrying you both to Konoha.■ They both ran forward and Hogo (the raccoon) hugged one of my legs as Mamoru (the fox) rubbed his body against the other. I lifted both of them in my arms and set them in my lap as I sat back on my boulder, then I petted their heads softly as I began humming a soft lullaby. Me being part Irish I knew quite a few Irish lullabies that my mother had sung to me, my favorite was the traditional lullaby.
As I sang the tune both animals seemed to become instantly tired, their eyelids dropped and they were soon fast asleep. I smiled down at the sleeping fuzz-balls and let my lullaby keep its affect, they looked so adorable as they slept under the protection of my presence. I was glad that I would be bringing them along, they would make for a pair of wonderful late-night companions on the nights that I couldn▓t sleep. Which should soon be every night because I no longer had the medicine I needed to get to sleep at night, I would be nocturnal until we returned home┘if we ever did.