Day two didn▓t turn out to be as long as I had expected it to be, Kurumi was now in a good mood since she had sufficiently groped her favorite psychotic murderers. Not to mention my two new friends, who kept me from killing her as she ranted the same things over and over again. Hogo and Mamoru, the raccoon and black fox who had approached me the night before, spent almost the entire trip fighting over one thing or another. I couldn▓t leave them alone long enough to kill Kurumi so I suppose that▓s good. Kaoru and Mamimi fell into a whispered conversation as they led us along, and Haruko occupied the boys by throwing them into trees or punching them out and carrying them until they woke up. I sighed as she lifted Shinderu for the fourth time, ⌠Haru-Chan! Jesus Christ! They▓re supposed to be alive when we reach Konoha┘all the way! Not just half-way!■
Haruko could only grin at me and laugh and I rolled my eyes, sighing once more and pulling Hogo and Mamoru off of one another again. I placed Hogo with Momo who smiled brightly and snuggled the struggling raccoon lovingly, I knew she wouldn▓t let him go unless I told her to, she was just cool like that. As I allowed Mamoru to climb up and ride on the top of my head I saw something in the distance and I smiled, knowing we had made good time for a two-day trip. ⌠Guys! Guess where we are!■ I announced and everyone was ecstatic that we had finally arrived at the gates of Konohagakure, and standing there, awaiting our arrival was the fifth Hokage. The girls and I quickly dropped the boys off with the Hokage and entered the village, ⌠Alright, everyone meander mindlessly as long as you want. But I want all of us back here at sundown, and don▓t ask, ▒or else what?▓!■ With that everyone took off in their own direction and I knew my first stop, the Ichiraku Ramen bar!
I stopped there and got a few bowls of ramen before beginning my actual wandering, when that started, though, so did our problems. First I walked by a store window and noticed something shiny inside. Of course I turned to see what it was, and in that split second when I had my head turned and all of my attention focused on the shiny object someone decided to trample me. I fell backward and hit the ground hard, my butt pained and my temper quickly rising I glared up at the person who now stood above me. ⌠I▓m sorry! I▓m afraid I didn▓t see you there!■ I growled low in my throat at this comment, sensitive to my vertical handicap, but it was as I felt my eyes burning that I realized exactly who had run into me.
⌠Kaka┘baka┘?■ I heard myself whisper the stupid nickname that I had given him as I had watched him in the show. He looked at me in confusion and I shook my head, as though to shake off the nickname, ⌠I┘I mean, Kakashi? Hatake Kakashi?■
He reached out a hand to me and asked, ⌠Do I know you?■
⌠Oh! No!■ I blurted out, ⌠But I┘I▓ve heard of you┘I▓m from Kuraigakure, my friends and I were sent to escort the Yorukage▓s sons to the Hokage▓s place┘■ seeing the expression of disbelief on his face I looked suddenly put-out, hanging my head and my arms hang limp. ⌠┘and you don▓t really care, do you?■
⌠No, it▓s not that! It▓s just┘you look a little┘young, to be a jounin.■ Kakashi said, choosing his words carefully, I could tell, he was going to say ⌠short■ before he said ⌠young■, but I let it slide for now.
⌠That▓s probably because I▓m not a jounin, I▓m just the top chunin in my village.■ I said in a bored tone, my eyelids half lowered as Kakashi mirrored my look.
⌠Just the top?■ he asked.
⌠Chunin!■
⌠Yes, but you▓re still number one, right?■
⌠Yes┘but I▓m still only a chunin! I only took the exam a few weeks ago. And I only found out I was at the top yesterday┘■
⌠But that doesn▓t stop the fact that you▓re at the top.■
⌠You know what, Kakashi┘I--■ I froze suddenly as I heard a fan-girlish squeal carry to my ears, I sighed exasperatedly and made sure that Mamoru was still latched onto my head. I then disappeared, making my way to find Kurumi, wherever she was making trouble. I found her not too far away, standing near a group of familiar faces and smiling with sparkles in her eyes. ⌠Kurumi! What in the hell are you doing?■ I asked, glaring at her dangerously, but she didn▓t notice she only pointed.
⌠It▓s him! Kawaii! He▓s even cuter in person! Look! Look, Tsuka-Chan!■ The entire group was staring at her with expectant eyes, all I could do was shake my head with a sigh. They all thought they knew who she was talking about, but I knew they were all wrong by a long shot. I, on the other hand, knew exactly which boy she was talking about, and everyone else soon found out when she was suddenly latched onto Naruto with a bright grin.
Everyone stared at her in astonishment as Naruto stumbled backward slightly from the force of her glomp, she was certainly good at this fan girl stuff. Sasuke stood beside them, watching the scene with one raised eyebrow, and I smiled at him. I walked smoothly over to him and shoved my hands in my pockets as I stood beside him, a smug smirk crossing my face. ⌠Well, Uke-Chan, looks like you must be loosing your touch with the girls. But I still think you▒re cute, Uke-Chan.■ He looked at me for a moment and I smiled at him brightly, giggling like a fan girl just to sound cute.
To my complete and utter surprise his cheeks turned a very light pink, and he looked away from me and said, ⌠humph.■
The only thing I found the strength to do was smile and say, ⌠Oh! Uke-Chan is so cute!!■ Then I glanced over to Kurumi and Naruto, she was grinning evilly and Naruto looked like a ripened tomato, which told me that she had done something bad. ⌠Kurumi! What did you do to the poor kid?!■
⌠I did nothing! I only grabbed his ass!■ Kurumi said, flinging her hands above her head to stress her innocence.
I glared at her and stepped up to stand beside Naruto, ⌠Naru-Chan, what happened?■ He said nothing, he simply held his crotch protectively. I saw this and then turned to glare at Kurumi who stood rubbing the back of her head and laughing guiltily.
⌠Well┘I might have grabbed him there┘but he feels pretty big!■ She tried to defend her actions, but it didn▓t stop me from punching the top of her head.
⌠You idiot! If you wanted to grope a guy▓s front, why didn▓t you settle the urge with Kisame and Itachi?!■ I growled at her and paused, looking over my shoulder to see Sasuke watching me with wide eyes and a horrified expression. ⌠You want something, Uke-Chan?■ I asked as though I had no idea why he was staring at me.
He grabbed my wrist then, and he pulled me aside so that no one could hear our conversation. That was when he hissed at me, ⌠How do you know Itachi?!■
⌠Huh?■ I said, pulling back slightly and then smiling guiltily while rubbing the back of my head. ⌠Well,■ I said finally, ⌠we kind of┘bumped into him on our way over. Heh┘■ then I grabbed the boy▓s hands suddenly and held them up in mine, taking a deep breath I continued, ⌠and I didn▓t mean to! I really didn▓t! The whole thing was an accident, I swear! But┘I pretty much┘kicked his ass┘■ Sasuke looked hypnotized as he gawked at me, all I could do was squeeze his hands in mine and hope that he didn▓t make a move to start a fight.
When he finally came out of his trance he glared at me with his now complete sharingan, and he said simply, ⌠Fight me.■
At first I felt frightened by this challenge, then I felt angry that he would challenge me that easily, then I felt stupid for telling him in the first place, then Sunshine▓s voice rang through my head, ⌠You know you don▓t have to accept┘just shove him off■
⌠But, Sunshine, he▓ll just come after me!■
⌠So tell him you▓ll fight him some other time■
⌠I don▓t know how to say it without sounding like a bitch!■
⌠But you are a bitch┘remember?■
⌠Oh┘right┘but still┘I would rather not fight him at all, and I don▓t want him to hate me either.■
⌠So tell him that, stupid! Make him listen!■
I sighed and closed my eyes a moment before opening them again and glaring at Sasuke poisonously, but smirking despite myself, ⌠I have no desire to fight you, Sasuke. And how long do you honestly think you▓d last fighting against someone like me?■ It was that damned accent again, the Irish accent I had picked up from my great uncle, all the summers that I had gone to visit him in Ireland. That stupid accent tended to turn up a lot when I was threatening someone, and for some reason it made me sound a bit more frightening than normal.
Either way, Sasuke responded by backing away a step, and that was when I blinked and smiled at him with warm innocence. ⌠┘Who are you?■ he asked, I knew his first urge was to say ⌠what are you?■ but I ignored it.
⌠Tsukioka Tsukasa is my name, and I already know you! Uchiha Sasuke!■ He watched me grinning at him for a long moment before I looked over my shoulder, just before a loud scream broke through the silence. It was Mamimi trying to hold Kaoru back, but being dragged toward the others despite her efforts. ⌠Mamimi! Shino▓s over here too!■ I called to her with a laugh and she instantly let go of Kaoru, who went flying forward and tackled Naruto to the ground, to Kurumi▓s unpleasant surprise. I smiled as Kurumi began pulling at Kaoru and yelling at her to get off of Naruto, Kaoru, though, stayed latched onto the boy. ⌠Hee hee┘come on, Uke-Chan, I wanna introduce you to my friends!■
I grabbed his hand in mine and pulled him along behind me as I made our way toward Mamimi, smiling the entire way. As I glanced over my shoulder at Sasuke, I saw that he was blushing only slightly and looking at me in confusion. I wish I could have heard Sasuke▓s thoughts in that moment, maybe it would explain why he never again asked to fight me.
That next week was a party for the six of us, Momo met Konohamaru who took a particular interest in her and they spent the majority of their time together. I found it entertaining that she had found someone to hang around with that was her age, that way she could take her mind off of home and how far away from it we were.
Kaoru and Kurumi clung to Naruto like a pair of love-sick schoolgirls, and I don▓t think he minded having one girl on each arm and getting a peck on each cheek if he said or did something of any interest to either of them.
Haruko found Kiba and Akamaru and I would often see the trio hanging out together and joking around, I knew Haruko wasn▓t the type to cling, even if the guy was her boyfriend. I knew her to be cautious when it came to relationships, kind of like me except my cautiousness was to an extreme that she could never match.
Mamimi spent her time with Shino, even though sometimes she would run into Kakashi, although not in the way I had, and they would talk for a bit. But still Mamimi, like Haruko, kept her distance while still building a warm relationship with her Shino, who didn▓t seem to mind her presence either.
Me, on the other hand, spent my time in the shadows, I kept my eye on all of the girls to be sure they did nothing that their parents would disapprove of. I suppose that▓s the part of my personality that earned me the nickname, ⌠mother,■ but that▓s only an assumption. Either way, no matter how fast or how much I moved around, I somehow managed to bump into Sasuke one way or the other. Like, I had made it my daily thing to go to the Ichiraku bar for lunch and I often found Sasuke waiting for me when I was finished. We would talk briefly, only because he made me nervous so I would try to end the conversation as soon as he started it. The first time I saw him there I had tried to ignore him, though, assuming he was just there for no reason which was always my mindset, I could never tell myself that I was important enough to anyone for them to wait for me at all. Well, as I walked away he followed, his hands shoved into his pockets and his face slightly pink. Finally I heard him breath deeply and call out, ⌠Oi! Tsukasa-Kun!■
I had frozen, unable to move from the sound of my name, I finally turned to him and he stepped forward. ⌠Umm┘Tsukasa-Kun, I┘I was thinking┘could I┘I mean┘would you like┘■ he never finished his sentence, though, because I spoke up before he could.
⌠Uke-Kun, I have to go! I-I have to make sure my cousin has eaten. Sorry. I guess I▓ll talk to you later.■ I turned and was about to leave when he spoke again.
⌠I could show you around town later if you▓d like!■ he said loudly, I could hear the shakiness in his voice and the struggle in his words.
I turned to him and smiled softly, because by now the Prozac had almost completely worn off. Then I said softly, ⌠Of course, Uke-Chan, I would like that very much.■ And with that I took off, only to think of an excuse to get away from him for the next six days.
Now it was our eighth day in Konoha, Naruto dropped by where we were staying to pick up Kurumi and Kaoru and I took Momo to meet with Konohamaru. On my way back I saw Kiba and Haruko sharing their breakfasts with Akamaru, and I also noticed Mamimi sitting with Shino at the Ichiraku bar. My plan for the day had originally been to go back to bed until lunch, at least I could try to sleep instead of being bored for the next few hours, and all by myself. I was walking down the main street when I felt a hand on my shoulder and, just like Itachi, the person who had touched me ended up on his back in front of me.
Sasuke stared up at me with wide eyes and I gasped, almost falling to my knees I felt so shaky and nervous. Finally he blinked, smiled only slightly, and said, ⌠Ohayo┘Tsukasa-Kun┘■
I fell to my knees at this point, swallowing hard and blushing like a beet. Once I hit the ground Sasuke turned over and came to his hands and knees, looking me in the eye expectantly. ⌠Well, aren▓t you going to come up with some stupid excuse to avoid me again?■ I huffed and bit my bottom lip, leaning backward a bit to keep the distance between us, he simply watched me with a bored expression on his face. Eyelids lowered, eyebrows raised, face otherwise expressionless, and finally he spoke again, ⌠Listen, if you hate me you can just say so.■
That was when I leaned forward, ⌠No! I don▓t hate you, Uke-Chan! I really don▓t!■ I said desperately, in fact I wanted him to like me more than anything else. I guess I never thought I▓d ever see Gaara now that I was in Konoha, so it didn▓t matter to me and Sasuke was the next best thing. Well┘after Kiba┘and Naruto┘and Neji┘and Shino┘and Haku┘and Kakashi┘anyway!
He cocked one eyebrow at me and said, ⌠if you don▓t hate me then why--■
⌠I get nervous, okay!? I▓ve been tortured my entire life by the male species! There▓s always something about me that makes them leave! That or they forget about me over the weekend while I remember them for the rest of my fucking life! Sons of bitches! The lot of them!■ I saw him looking at me curiously and I paused, biting my bottom lip for a third time and blushing once more. I looked down at my hands in my lap and waited, suddenly he stood and I felt the tears burn my eyes. He was leaving me, just like everyone else had, everything always ended up like this.
Then I saw a hand reaching down to me, and I heard his voice, ⌠Come on, you know you▓re sitting in the middle of the street? I▓ll get you some ice-cream, it▓ll make you feel better. Or at least that▓s what Sakura tells me.■ He looked away from me, his features distorted and his nose wrinkled as he blushed just noticeably.
I blinked the tears back and stood, refusing to take his hand yet, my trust was not yet secure but he was on his way. He bought me a sundae and we shared it, neither of us smiled the entire time we were together, but we talked. I didn▓t completely open up to him, no, I simply told him that I had trust issues and that any guy who wanted me would have to work extremely hard to get me. Just to tell him, you know, and he seemed interested, he looked me in the eye the entire time I spoke. This was different for me, I had not expected any guy, especially Sasuke, to care about what I had to say.
But it was real, because I pinched myself afterward and it hurt, I now had someone to hang out with while the others spent their time with their boys. The funny thing is, he made me feel special without trying to, and I don▓t think he realized it either. His very presence, and the fact that he listened to me talk as though his life depended on my every word made me feel appreciated.
I thought that maybe my last option would be my best option, but I didn▓t think that we would be separated any time soon. We would hang out for at least another month, until the Yorukage called for his sons to return. I never expected what would come next.