Ino strolled through the woods searching for Oji. He had to be around here somewhere. The woods fell silent around her, and there was a small sound floating through the trees. She held her breath to hear it, but it was too far away to recognize. Pinpointing where it was coming from, Ino headed toward it to hear it better. Soon she could hear the clear, smooth echo of a wooden flute. It was such a beautiful melody Ino was entranced with it immediately. Who was playing? She snuck closer and soon peeked around a bush to see the musician. Oji sat cross-legged and played the flute calmly. Akkan, the large black panther curved around Oji's side and flicked his tail contentedly.
Ino smiled and blushed slightly. It was something about Oji's calm face and beautiful music that made her soften. She was actually behind him, and soon found herself sitting against a tree in plain view listening to Oji play.
Kali had pulled herself off the bed and was rummaging through her homework when there was a knock at the door. Kali heard Sweet Grass bark once then twice. Kali emerged from the back room and chided the wolf quietly, letting her know it was fine. She opened the door and made eye contact with Sasuke. She smiled warmly, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Hey, Sasuke," she said in surprise. "I didn't expect you today." Sasuke caught himself smiling then turned away in a blush.
"Well, if you're busy, I could…" Sasuke said quickly. Kali took his hand gently.
"I wasn't doing anything," she said softly, "Come on in." She led the way inside. Sweet Grass sniffed the newcomer happily before returning to the matt by the door. Sasuke felt extremely nervous about the whole deal. More nervous than when they were back on the island. He fumbled the glass flower in his hand behind him before pulling it to the front.
"I…I've got something for you," Sasuke said. Kali turned around from looking in the refrigerator for something to eat, and gasped.
"Oh, Sasuke! It's beautiful!" She exclaimed as she took the flower gently. "Where did you find this?!" Her face was glowing with happiness.
"Oh, somewhere," Sasuke answered as he looked down. Kali hugged him around the neck.
"Oh, thank you, Sasuke!" she jumped back and went to the counter. Sasuke was left blushing even further and frozen. "I'm going to put it in a nice vase and put it by my bed!" She quickly found a vase and placed it by her bed. Sasuke watched as she did so.
"Hey, um," Sasuke felt terrible; frustrated by his lack of courage. Kali was looking at him now, caught by his words. "I know this place…we could get something to eat. Do you- um..." Kali stepped close to him.
"I'd love to," she said with a smile. Sasuke felt relief. Something about her warm understanding face made him feel a lot better. Sasuke led the way to the small shop that sold shave ice. Sasuke had just enough money to buy two small cones. Kali suggested sitting for a while, and they ended up on a hill with a few trees. They sat against a large tree facing where the sun would set. Kali enjoyed her shave ice for a while before looking at Sasuke. He was watching the clouds. She leaned closer and tried to look at the same cloud as he was.
"What ya looking at?" She asked. He snapped out of his trance.
"Oh, nothing," he replied hastily. He took a small bite of his shave ice. Arrow suddenly trotted up and sniffed imploringly at the ice. "Hey, Arrow," Sasuke patted the dog's head. "Hey, Kali, where did Arrow come from?" Kali thought for a second.
"He is the son of Wind Song, the wolf that escorted us out of the field. remember her?" She answered.
"Yeah, but why did you take him away from her?"
"She died after the birth of Rain, Arrow's sister," Kali said grimly.
"But where is Rain now?"
"She didn't last long either. There was a bad fight among the wolves and she was too weak to make it." Sasuke looked at Arrow.
"So he's an orphan…" Arrow rested his head on Sasuke's leg. The sun was covered by a small cloud and the temperature cooled slightly.
Oji finally looked up from his flute at Akkan. The large cat was stretched out next to Oji and was resting is eyes calmly. Oji smiled.
"Good, boy," Oji said as he patted the large muscular head of the feline. Oji sensed a presence behind him and looked back. Ino lay against a tree dozing off. He walked up to her and poked her on the shoulder. "Hey, wake up, sleepy head." He said kindly. Ino stirred and opened her eyes. seeing Oji right in front of her, she jumped.
"Oji!" She exclaimed. Oji smiled and helped her to stand.
"What are you doing way out here?" Oji asked.
"Oh, I was looking for you. You play the flute very well," Ino replied slightly blushing. Oji was uncomfortable knowing he was watched, but was glad he hadn't known before.
"Thank you," Oji replied. Akkan appeared beside his master and startled Ino.
"What the-?" Ino exclaimed.
"It's okay," Oji calmed quickly. "This is Akkan, my friend. Akkan, this is Ino." Akkan sniffed warily, yawned and stared at the new girl. "He likes you." Oji said.
"Okay," Ino was brave enough to pat the large cat on the head. They visited for a little while before heading back into town. Akkan remained at the secret place and curled up for another nap. "When did you learn to play the flute?"
"Oh, back when I was a child," Oji racked his brain to remember. "I loved how it sounded and taught myself in the spare time I had."
"Wow, cool," Ino stepped closer as they walked. She liked Oji. He was very charming. Oji peeked down at her (he was a little taller than her). She was doing that blushing thing again. They made it to the village and Oji saw Sakura wandering about, most likely searching for Sasuke. He walked up next to her and threw his arm around her to shock her.
"What's up, Little Lady?" He asked the surprised Sakura.
"Oh, hey, Oji," she replied. Ino stood wide-eyed. She couldn't believe Sakura had another cute guy-friend! "I was looking for Sasuke, have you seen him?"
"No, not really…" Oji scratched his head and looked back at Ino. "Hey, Pretty Lady, you seen Sasuke?" Ino shook her head.
"Sakura, can I talk to you," she growled through her teeth.
"Sure, Ino," Sakura replied as she stepped away from Oji. Ino made sure they were a good distance before saying anything.
"How could you do that!?" Ino said forcefully.
"Do what?" Sakura replied in surprise.
"First Sasuke is on your teem and now Oji is with you too!? Why do you always get the cute guys!?" Sakura gasped when she realized what Ino was implying.
"Oh, No! No! He's just a friend! I would never start liking him!" Ino was taken back.
"Really? Then why…?" She pointed back at the awaiting Oji.
"He's just oddly social, and refuses to use my name," there was a hint of spite at the last sentence.
"Oh, ok," Ino said softly, "Sorry, Sakura."
"Hey, Little Lady," Oji called. Sakura looked. "I think I know where Little Sasuke is." Ino flinched.
"He calls him 'Little'?" she whispered to herself. She wondered what kind of nickname he had given Naruto, and recalled he had called her Pretty Lady.
Kali was resting her head on Sasuke's shoulder. She peeked up and saw Sasuke's peaceful face. He was resting. She wondered if he was actually sleeping or just dozing. When she lifted her head he opened his eyes and looked at her. She had an idea.
"Hey, Sasuke, wanna do something fun?" She asked. Sasuke woke up more from his sleepy state.
"Like what?" He replied.
"Like a training battle; Just to warm us up and to do something." She stood and pulled Sasuke by the hand. Sasuke blinked in surprise as he was pulled to his feet.
"But where?"
"Why, in the woods. You aren't scared I'll beat you, are you?" Sasuke flinched then recovered with a smile.
"Not a chance!" he said.
Kali stood across from Sasuke and they each were tense and prepared. Both also had a large grin of pleasure.
"Ready?" Kali started.
"Set?" Sasuke said.
"GO!" They both said and jumped up into the trees. They met half way and clanked kunai. Kali swung a kick and Sasuke put up his free hand to block. They thrust apart and Kali moved to the left. Sasuke tracked her and cut her off. Again the punches and kicks flew. Kali found herself on the upper hand and flung Sasuke to the ground. He hit on his back. Kali lunged down, but he rolled backwards and to his feet, dodging her attack.
She jumped at him and he swung her off balance and was about to attack when Kali pulled him along with her to the ground. They went tumbling, each trying to gain the advantage over the other. They finally rolled to a stop in a clearing. Sasuke held Kali's arms above her head pinning her down. They were both breathing heavily and smiling. Kali saw Sasuke had finally relaxed and was actually enjoying himself.
"Looks like you're a great ninja," Kali said between breaths.
"You're not too bad either," Sasuke replied. He held her for a second longer before rolling to the side and resting on the ground. Kali sighed and looked at him.
"Sasuke," she started, staring at the trees above. He looked at her. "I know this is different for you- having feelings like these. It's different for me too, but I want you to know there is no rush." Sasuke sat up and she looked at him with a smile. "I know you have a reputation of being strong alone. I've seen the looks girls give you. Just know I'm always on your side." For some reason the words lingered in Sasuke's mind. He smiled back at her.
"Thank you, Kali," he said. Her smile widened before she stretched and sat up. Sasuke stood and helped her to her feet.
"I bet Oji's having fun finding out where I am. I'm sure we've been gone for a while."
"And I bet Sakura is looking for me, too," Sasuke sighed, "She always is." Kali laughed as they headed back.
Oji walked ahead of the two girls with his hands on his head leisurely. The girls were chitchatting about some nonsense of their sensei and Oji wasn't really paying attention. He really had no idea why they were following him in the first place. His stomach growled and he stopped abruptly. Ino noticed he had stopped just before she would have hit him.
"What's up, Oji?" She asked. Sakura wondered, too. Oji was silent for a second.
"Hm….," He looked up at the sun to determine it was past lunch and he still had eaten nothing. "I need some lunch," he finally answered. Ino looked around for a restaurant.
"Are we going to eat out somewhere?" Ino asked. Oji pulled the insides of his pockets out- empty.
"Guess not, Pretty Lady, I'll just have to see if Kal has made any lunch. Do you want to come?" Ino shook her head.
"I shouldn't, I probably need to get back to the house," She said.
"Alright, see you later," Oji and Ino separated and Sakura followed Oji.
"Do you mind if I come with you to see if I can find Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Oji looked down at her.
"No, I don't. Why exactly are you looking for Little Sasuke?"
"Oh, no reason," Sakura blushed as she looked at the ground. Oji looked away. He wondered if Kali and Sasuke were going to make their relationship public, and how Sakura would react. He shrugged; it wasn't his problem.
Sasuke and Kali parted ways when they got to the door of Kali's house. Kali discovered she had gotten home before Oji and rummaged through the refrigerator for something to feed her soon-to-be unhappily hungry brother. She whipped up a little lunch and settled into her desk for the small amount of homework she had.
Oji arrived not long after and had the lunch devoured. He wrestled a bit with Sweet Grass before beginning to sharpen one of his blades. Kali set her pencil down and looked out the window. The life they had now was solid and beautiful. She had a schedule, friends, duties, and a goal in life- to become a brilliant Kunoichi. Oji had opened up to people and was doing very well in class. She smiled and thought of Sasuke. Not to mention the amazing guy she had met. Finally the terrible weight of darkness was gone and it was replaced with the innocent light of living. She sighed closed her eyes and let go of her dark past, leaving a blank slate for the new beginning.
Fin