Caranril: (lights fireworks) ZOMG. I'm stoked. I got reviewS! As in multiple ones!
Legloas: (runs away) Not the fireworks! Aiiiii!
Caranril: (chortles) Find the confetti stash! Huzzah!
Thanks to: DiagnosisXXfatal (Don't blow too far cause here's another chappie!), WindDancer18 (I've always wanted Neji to be in love. He needs losta lurvs. (huggles Neji plushy)), Arisu Tsuranu (Yay another reviewer on our happy little Dark Before the Dawn boat. Creoso mellon!), Commisar of the Books (Yay for Commisar-san!), Moonlight (Hooeeeooo I'm grateful for your nice long review. That's my first long one for this series. I'm also torn between Kakashi and Sasuke. Oh dear the predicaments of an authoress! Arigatou gozaimasu!)
Caranril: Kaori's fight is coming up very soon. Next chapter I think. No wait. No, yeah I think does. Whatever. Anyway, get your hopes up!
disCLAIMER: While I do not own Naruto nor any affiliated subjects therein, Kishimoto-sama does and therefore he owns my soul.
Chapter 10: These Tears We Cry...
When Sasuke returned to find Kaori in a fluffy white robe and Neji lying on the bed and chatting, he was furious. He'd come back with porridge for Kaori and found her gone. He ran around the entirety of Sunagakure (yet managed to not find her) and had already had a panic attack and finally decided to check the room one last time and there he found them. He was hot and sweaty and very irked. Kaori was even a little afraid of him. When she tried to calm him down by assuring him that Neji had been with her the entire time, he flipped out and began calling her very inappropriate names. Neji was rather embarrassed by the situation as Sasuke accused them of doing dirty things while he and Kakashi were out. Kaori grew furious with every accusation, finally flinging her folded fan at him, which whacked him right in the eye.
Sasuke stood there a moment, holding his watering eye. He had been too distracted to even dodge it. Then he bent over and picked up the delicate item and snapped it in half with one hand. Kaori shrieked and started yelling back at him. Neji crept towards the sliding glass door, determined escape before he got involved.
The front door suddenly popped open with a very irritated Kakashi standing in it. He stalked in, slammed the door shut, and folded his arms.
"Just what in the hell are you two doing?" he asked crossly. "I could hear you two floors down." His two students remained silent. "Oh no, don't stop on my account," he continued. "Please, carry on." He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at them attentively. After a few moments, "I'm waiting."
Kaori glared at Sasuke. "I can't believe you broke that. It was a gift."
"You threw it in my fucking eye!" Sasuke's right eye was now red and swollen, gushing tears down the side of his face.
"I should have thrown it at your fucking dick, dick head," she snapped.
Sasuke plunged his fist into Kaori's face. She went sprawling against the wall, then wheeled about with a bloody nose and attacked her teammate. He blocked her blows and used his unearthly speed to duck under her swings and ball his hand into an uppercut. There was a snap as Kaori's head shot back from the blow. She stumbled, disoriented by the shock to her jaw. She watched everything as if in slow motion: Sasuke gripping her neck and shoving her against the wall, his arm drawing back, his hand coming forward armed with her fan, and then suddenly everything stopped.
Kaori blinked, realizing the fan had stopped a centimeter away from her eye. He would have buried the broken thing into her eye socket. She stared at him, startled. Sasuke had a shocked look in his eyes. Kaori realized it was getting difficult to breath and choked for air. Sasuke's hand released her like she was on fire, and Kaori dropped back to the ground in a heap. Sasuke stepped back, terror etched in his pale features. He tripped over Kakashi's leg, then scampered to the night table between the two beds. He sat there, hugging his knees and staring at the floor. His face was a hard mask but his eyes screamed with fear.
Kakashi cleared his throat and jerked his head at Neji. The Hyuuga quickly followed Kakashi out the door.
"Are you sure it's safe to leave them in there alone?" he asked quietly.
Kakashi released the doorknob. "They seem to work things out better alone. This was the worst I've seen so far." He leaned his forehead against the wall for a moment. "It sure seemed he meant to kill her, didn't it?"
Neji was silent. "Is it the Cursed Seal?"
"I don't know." Kakashi listened for sounds coming from the room. There was only silence.
Kaori stared at Sasuke as she caught her breath. He had been intent on killing her just a moment ago, and now he was huddled between the beds like a scared cat. His black eyes stared at some distant point in the past, and he clutched his knees like his life depended on the anchor. He seemed not at all like the seventeen year old young man she knew; he looked seven. She tried to stand only to fall down dizzily. Her brain got knocked around quite a bit. She opted for crawling towards him, a little at a time, unsure if he was really done with the rampage. When she sat right in front of him with no evidence on his face that he noticed her there, Kaori spoke.
"Sawrskeh..." At least she tried to speak. Her jaw throbbed painfully and refused to move properly, and the dripping blood from her nose was horribly irritating. "Uchiha." He wasn't listening to her anyway. He was still lost in that point in time. Instead of trying to speak again, since it hurt so much, she slowly poked his hand resting on a knee. It still clutched the broken fan. The tactile contact brought Sasuke back, but his black eyes were frightened as they met hers.
"Warsh rong?" she slurred quietly.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Sasuke repeated, his voice high with hysteria. "I just tried to kill you, that's what's wrong! Are you really so stupid?" He pulled his hand away from her and tucked both under his arms.
"Uchiha..."
"Why do you have to do that?" Sasuke said quietly, lost in his moment again. "Why do you have to be so much like him? It hurt so bad that first time. That first time I wanted to kill him. I thought I got over it. But just then...you looked...exactly like he did when...when I tried to kill him. I couldn't do it...I couldn't," Sasuke buried his face in his hands, his voice cracking. "I couldn't kill my best friend..." His shoulders shook in silent sobs, and Kaori tried to swallow the lump in her throat. It hurt too damn much.
"Erm," was all she could manage. She wanted to ask so many questions, the foremost being that if she didn't remind him of Naruto, would he have killed her just then?
"Akumako? I'm so sorry," he said quakingly. Kaori crawled next to him, shoving him over to make room for her hips. Then she patted his head gently. There there. Now he could cry all he wanted and not worry about her seeing his face. It took less than a moment for Sasuke to burry his head in his arms and continue his silent cries. She was freaked out by the entire situation. Sasuke was a mess.
He felt like a fucking baby. A huge baby cuddling up to a warm comfort. But the freaking tears wouldn't stop. He didn't understand where these feelings were coming from. He'd spent years locking away all emotions unnecessary for vengeance, and then in a few seconds he'd lost all control and was sobbing like a girl. It hurt to see Naruto's face back then, and then Kaori's face now. It was like they knew he was going to kill them, and had resigned themselves to the inevitable. Like he controlled their destiny. It scared him so much that the lives of his teammates were resigned to his hands. And he had promised to never again hurt his teammates. And just minutes ago he nearly killed the only girl who had the guts to try to kick his ass, even when she was significantly weaker. And now she was the warm comfort he was leaning on weakly as the tears kept flowing. He was a sick bastard. And somehow she stuck around.
He couldn't help but smile at the memory of their first meeting. She'd asked him who stuck a kunai up his ass. That was startling to say the least, but not as startling as her kicking him in the groin or showing up the next day offering her services as an apology. And once again she was offering him her services, only this time as a friend.
Kaori sensed the change in Sasuke. He stopped shaking. She patted his head again, and he lifted his head to meet her eyes. He had tears and snot running down his face, and Kaori couldn't help but smile at the child Sasuke that was shining through. She felt very motherly all of a sudden. She reached up on the bed and grabbed a towel, which she used to dab his tears and wipe his nose. He sniffed.
"Err, arl bedder," she said cheerfully, chucking his chin before taking the other side of the towel and mopping her nose. She groaned at the blood all down the front of her white robe. Sasuke smiled a little, then looked down at his hand. He held up the mutilated fan.
"I broke your present," he said sorrowfully.
"Eshi ca buy a new uhn."
Sasuke frowned. "Neji?"
"Eah."
He smiled again. "You better ice that jaw. You sound like a drunk Lee."
Kaori tried to make a face but winced instead. She grabbed the comforter and hauled herself up, only to teeter unstably. She held her head and willed the dizziness to go away, but it refused to leave. She forced herself onward, only to be gently shoved down by Sasuke.
"Please don't hurt yourself. That's kinda my job," he said sheepishly. "I'll get the ice." He left with the bucket to fill it down the hall, while Kaori propped up some pillows on the bed and leaned against them. She wasn't used to having someone cater to her.
"I even have porridge you can eat," Sasuke said as he returned. He created a make-shift ice pack and sat on the bed next to Kaori, gently pressing it against her jaw. She winced and held the pack in place. Sasuke puttered around the kitchenette, heating up some porridge and taste-testing it for temperature and flavour. When satisfied, he sat next to her again. He held out a spoonful, and Kaori stared at him indignantly.
"Fine." He set the bowl down on the night stand. Then he cleared his throat. "Let's stop doing this. Let's stop fighting and making up. It gets worse each time, and it...hurts. And it obviously hurts you. Sometimes it's hard to say whether or not we're friends or enemies. So...what should it be? Personally," Sasuke hesitated, "I'm in favour of friends."
Kaori smiled as best as she could. She pointed to herself then held up two fingers.
"Me too," Sasuke translated aloud with a smile. "Want to hear a funny story?"
Kaori nodded eagerly. Sasuke launched into the epic tale of him and his teammates' first day of training with the infamous Hatake Kakashi, who had never passed a Genin in his life.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kakashi opened the door ever-so-carefully, just in case Sasuke and Kaori were still high strung. He peeked around the corner to see Kaori lying on the bed with an towel pressed to her cheek. Sasuke was sitting on the other bed, talking to her. Kakashi pitched forward when Naruto flew into him.
"Kaori-chan!" he cried, leaping upon the bed.
"Ooh. Naruto," she slurred, looking pleased.
"Kakashi-sensei said you guys were fighting again and brought me to 'diffuse the situation'. But..." Naruto looked at Sasuke. "Looks like you guys are okay now."
"Yeah, 'cept I can heardly talk!" she lowered the ice pack.
"I've heard you mention how much you missed Naruto," Kakashi said. "And with the final exam only days away I figure you'd want a bit of fun."
"Ehhh? Kakashi-sensei you make it sound so dirty," Naruto whined, making a grotesque face. Kaori grinned goofily.
"Besides, you made him cry today because he knew you weren't really sick."
"I wasn't crying!" Naruto protested. "It was...allergies. Yeah. I'm really allergic to sand." Naruto sniffled.
"Dumbass. It's not allergies," Sasuke snorted. Naruto shot him a glare.
"Anyway, since you couldn't meet Gaara before, I figured you might be feeling better later, so we're going to dinner at his place."
Kaori's eyes widened. "How can I eat anytin? I can heardly talk!"
Naruto patted her shoulder. "We'll get you some ice cream or something."
"Can I change first?" she muttered, looking at her bloodied robe.
"No." Naruto said seriously. Then he burst out laughing. "Of course you can, Kaori-baka!"
Kaori took to the bathroom first, and afterwards Sasuke, who was still gross from his frantic searching earlier. Kaori's nose and jaw were swelling up, much to her chagrin.
"I look like a watermelon," she whined, her speech much clearer than before.
"I think watermelons look very nice," Naruto said positively, only making the other three roll their eyes.
The walk to the Kazekage's abode was a good distance away, but they set out early enough that they wouldn't be late. The days were definitely growing longer as the sun was only just setting. The shadows made the short Sand buildings look much taller than they were. The odd lighting also made it difficult to see Sasuke. With his black hair and black cloak, the pale face seemed to float around disembodied. Of course Naruto pointed and dragged this out.
It was fortunate that they reached their destination as Sasuke's eye started twitching in irritation. Naruto was immediately distracted and reached the gates first. They were admitted and the iron blockades swung open silently. The walls were tall, but the buildings being protected were surprisingly one-story.
"The typical Kazekage's houses were actually quite elaborate," Kakashi explained. "They sat up near the cliffs and overlooked the village. Then a couple years ago there was an attack. Religious fanatics who heard Gaara-kun was a demon and tried to destroy him. So he stays here now, and it's much better protected. I think it used to be a Shinobi militia base."
A servant girl bowed at the door and led them inside to wash up. There were separate facilities on either side of the house for men and women. The washrooms they were allowed to use were actually inside the servants' quarters, which were located in a military-like dorm. The private houses were in another building.
The group met back in the main hall, only this time to be led through a corridor made of sandstone and lined with torches. The male servant opened the door at the end of the tunnel and bowed as the group passed. Kaori stifled a gasp as they entered a fantastically decorated dining room. Unlike the simple structures the servants lived in, this room had a deceivingly tall ceiling and intricate architecture carved in pillars and along the walls. Many of the designs were crumbled, but the cracks and age added to the beauty.
A large table sat in the middle, lined with chairs and overflowing with food. Naruto and Kaori stared at the display, both drooling ever-so-slightly.
"If His Honoured Guests would take their seats, He will join you in a moment." The servant bowed again and exited through a different door.
Kaori and Naruto fought to keep their hands in their laps and their mouths closed. The food was hot, steamy, and so aromatic the air was heavy with delicious smells. Kakashi and Sasuke had eaten royally-prepared meals before, but Kaori and Naruto had been sadly deprived. As the servant returned with a bottle of sake, the Kazekage and two others entered the dining area. Kaori recognized the woman from the Chuunin exams, being the one who assigned the numbers and declared their opponents. The other looked a lot like Gaara in the face; his sandy blond hair was much shorter than the redhead's. Kakashi stood as they reached their seats, and the three younger ninja followed suit, Kaori banging her knee on the table as she hopped up. The Kazekage inclined his head, glancing at her as she whimpered and tried to hide her throbbing knee. They returned to their seats, and Kaori hung her head. She always acted foolishly when meeting important people. Especially important ninjas.
"Gaara! Naruto said excitedly. "This is Kaori!" He pointed at Kaori, whose head snapped up. Gaara inclined his head, and Kaori nervously followed suit.
"Kaori-san," he said quietly.
"It's nice to meet you, Kazekage-sama," she said nervously, hoping her speech was clear enough.
"That's his brother Kankurou and his sister Temari," Naruto continued gleefully. "They helped out when we tried to bring Sasuke back." Naruto glanced at his former teammate. He had his elbows on the table with his chin resting on his intertwined fingers, his dark eyes staring at an indiscernible point. The moment suddenly became very uncomfortable.
"Itadakimasu," Kankurou said loudly. After that and a few drinks of wine, the company lightened up considerably. Sasuke was still brooding in his chair, but he had been upset before they came to dinner. Naruto found the wine to be very tasty and forgot try to catch Kakashi with his mask off, as he had yet to do. He held many arguments with Kankurou, at which Temari rolled her eyes. Gaara was silent unless spoken to, but according to Naruto he was in a good mood. Kaori honestly thought he looked pissed all the time. She would smile and laugh nervously when the others did, but because they held a bond from years of friendship, she didn't understand their stories and felt very out of place. At least the drink and what food she could chew were good. In fact they were the best she'd ever had. Aside from Ichiraku Ramen.
A timid poke at her arm distracted her from the dessert cart that was serving the Sand siblings first. Sasuke leaned near to her.
"Will you...promise...not to tell anyone about earlier? When I...broke?" he whispered.
Kaori gave him a half-smile with her swollen face. "No worries. My lips are sealed."
He gave her a sick-looking smile in return. He looked very uncomfortable at the table and desperate to be somewhere else. He obviously wasn't feeling sociable. And Kaori couldn't blame him.
When the dessert cart came her way, Kaori selected a fabulous-looking slice of cake oozing with chocolate. It was then Kankurou turned his attention to her.
"Tell me, Kaori-san," he said from across the table. "I heard you were attacked? I've been drowning in duties for the exams so I don't know anything about the case."
"Oh, um, yes. I was attacked." Kaori's mouth had gone dry and even the sake couldn't seem to wash out the chocolate cake that had suddenly turned to ashes on her tongue.
"From what I've heard, they haven't pinned it on anybody just yet. Any leads?" This question was to anyone at the table who might be able to answer.
"Her opponent for the finals, Mao, who is a Sand," Temari responded.
"You think our own ninjas would know better than to cause such trouble when we host the exams," Kankurou groaned. "I'd like to beat his ass if it didn't affect Kaori-san's final."
"I've had Izumo and Kotetsu do some research on him," Kakashi continued. "He's from the border and was raised with conflicting principles of Rock and Sand."
"The villages on the border are highly religious," Temari agreed. "That would explain the cult he's got that calls him 'lord'."
"Is he rich?" Naruto chirped.
Kankurou snorted. "He pretends to live modestly, but his accounts are overflowing and constantly being used and refilled."
"He's running an underground," Kakashi realized.
"Yeah, and we should totally be taxing his lying ass!" Kankurou said pointedly.
"I've told you, Kankurou," Gaara said quietly from folded hands, "if we plan to catch him, we can't let him know we've been doing a background check."
"You should have arrested him right after Kaori got attacked!" Naruto said vehemently. "Had I been there I would have given the bastard a bath in his own blood."
"A scandal is the last thing we need right now," Gaara growled. "Things here aren't so simple as they might be in Konoha."
"Besides, do you really think the Sand would believe a foreigner's accusation against one of their own?" Kankurou snorted.
"Kakashi-sensei would have backed her up, and I know they'd believe him!" Naruto argued. Kankurou and Naruto continued bickering over the table, with Kakashi trying to withdraw his name from the argument and Temari trying to talk some sense into them. Kaori wished very much that is was possible to melt into a puddle. She had been relieved that Kankurou had stopped asking her questions, but now the argument was too Kaori-centric for her comfort.
"You realize all this could have been avoided if you had just waited until you hosted the exams to let your foreigner participate!" Kankurou was shouting now.
"Enough!" Sasuke exploded, knocking his chair back in a fit of violence. His face was red with fury and his hair seemed to be standing on end. "You're all fighting about Kaori and she's sitting right here!" He pointed in emphasis. Kaori sank impossibly lower. "Who gives a damn about politics or scandals? Aren't people more important than your social lives? You're all fucking idiots." Sasuke grabbed Kaori's arm and yanked her from the chair. She was startled, but once she caught her footing she followed without hesitation.
"Thank you for the hospitality," he spat over his shoulder as he stormed out the door.