. ^ .

. ^ .

(Insert disclaimer here)

. ^ .

AN: This almost turned out like my last entry, a flashback. Fortunately I caught myself and fixed it. A couple Easter eggs in here. I won't tell you what they are, but I don't own them. 'Partners' refers to working partners, not sexual ones. Even though some would be cute together.

. ^ . ^ . ^ .

Years later we crept through the bushes. Silence, natural and aided, traveled around us. Our target was a group of Sound ninja. They had been spotted along our supply lines. We were to disable them and bring them in for questioning. My partner tapped my shoulder. I turned to look at him. He flashed his hands through several signs.

Target location and count confirmed. Seven. Take them out my way or yours?

I frowned and signed back. You're a trog. Your way.

He gave me a shit eating grin and turned in the direction of the enemy. His lips moved silently. The wind began to move. Slowly it blew past us. An old trick of my partner. Encourage the wind to move away from the target forcing said to pass out. We enter, tie them up, and head home. Ten minutes later he nodded.

Seven Sound ninja lay in various poses under the tree. One had clearly fallen out of the tree and bore a broken arm. I bandaged and tied him while my partner made five shadow clones. Two minutes later the clearing contained no sign of us having been there.

Our way to camp was fairly quiet. Native bird calls sounded. The leaves rustled. Two clones complained about the weight of their 'luggage'. All until a kunai entered my thigh.

. ^ .

The 'battle' was ridiculously short. A nin with a broken arm thinking he could take the two of us. I did not have time to use my Sharingan. I did not even have time to drop the man. A simple slide brought my partner behind me. A simple fist to the head knocked the enemy back out. The blonde I was with smiled,

"Hey, look! I did it both ways."

I glared as I dropped my captive to the ground and sat. The kunai was buried deep; I could feel it anchored in the bone. I pulled out a pressure bandage. "Help."

He pulled the weapon from my thigh as I slapped the bandage down. We made quick work wrapping my wound. He made two more clones and helped me to my feet. I grabbed the kunai and shoved it in my pouch.

The world swirled as we stood. Cold flash, hot flash, nausea, burning at the entry site. "Poison."

"Poison? Shit. Hey, guys. Grab your man and run for camp."

That was why the Sound nin thought he could take us. Another clone appeared under my other arm.

"Focus on holding on to us," he said. "We'll get you back to Sakura-chan. Don't die."

. ^ .

The trip back was blurred. All I remember was focusing chakra though my hands to stick to the clone and my partner and the numbness. I could feel the numbness spreading up my leg. I began to mourn the loss of certain favorite things. My lungs were beginning to numb when Sakura's distinct hair shoved itself in my face.

"What do you hear? Tell me what you hear."

"Chiming."

. ^ .

I woke when the chiming changed to what sounded like someone purposefully shaking it. A quick glance showed no medic nin in the area. Perfect. What they do not know now will cause them to kill me later. My exit was not as smooth as it should have been.

"I'm getting old," I groaned as I sat on a log bench near the wind chime.

"You sure are. You gave the medic nins five hours for a stab wound. I think that's a record."

"I decided to be magnanimous today." Opting to change the subject, I asked, "Who are you adding?"

Blue eyes glanced over their shoulder at me. "Tateoka Mika, red haired Ryuusuke, Watanuki Kushi, Watanuki Susano, and Ohfuji Koji."

"We lost the Watanuki's? What a shame. Kushi was worth twice her weight in salt. I'll miss her 8 Purification Sake."

"We all will," Naruto said as he finished attaching the newest piece. He moved to sit next to me. A hand flicked and the wind began to play with the chime.

Or chimes I should say. The oldest was just over a year old. Four tubes with a shuriken knocker and a kunai weight. I've lost count on that amount of times we've almost lost that chime; until Jiraiya made a storage seal for the memorial. There were other standard style wind chimes, various bell type, and one special made wind twister. Their length and size varied depending on how many we'd lost at the time of their creation. Naruto had added a chime to the vertical bell set.

"Anko will be glad to have another note. Do you think she'll play for us?"

"Ask her when she wakes up," he said pointing across the clearing. I saw Anko using her partner Neji's leg as a pillow as he read some scroll. A look around us saw twenty-three ninja relaxing. Most were with their partners. Like those two.

"Aren't they cute?" I said motioning to Sasuke and Hinata. They had started sleeping leaning against a tree but had fallen over to sleep against each other.

"Don't let Hinata hear you say that."

Shikamaru and Shino were cloud gazing and occasionally pointing towards some formation. Konohamaru was blessed with an orange book to read. Tenten and Iruka were showing a group how to stitch metal plates on to gloves. Kiba, Akamaru, and Kurenai where playing with her and Asuma's child.

"Have we decided what to do with the Watanuki's little boy?"

"Kimihiro? Yeah, Domeki Temple is two days away. We're going to ask the monk-priests to escort him to some lady named Yuko. She was named guardian in their will. Kurenai's thinking about asking the temple to take care of her kid too. Just until we can take out the A..." Abruptly Naruto stood and walked back to the stand holding the wind chimes.

I could see two things about the small bell chime he pulled down. One, the paper wind catcher was torn. Two, it was Asuma's.

"It wouldn't tear," I murmured as he sat, "if you didn't use cigarette paper."

"I know."

"Asuma wouldn't be insulted if you used something else."

"I know that too," he murmured back as he gently traced the swirled leaf. I did not know how my partner managed to reform the forehead protectors into bells and tubes. It did give us all a nice relaxing memorial to gather around. The gentle ringing soothed away many nightmares.

"It's just that there's not much else that sums up Asuma-sensei. Besides shogi, which I just don't get."

"Here." I opened a pouch on my vest and handed him a miniature version of Asuma's trench knives.

Blue eyes opened wide. "You picked these up."

"You spent four days working on them. I couldn't let that go to waste. Like all the hours Asuma spent trying to teach you shogi." I watched Naruto study the shogi pieces I carved on the side, fingers lingering on the king, before attaching the new weight. Green movement caught my eye.

It was Guy walking towards me. His smile not quite as big as it should be. A signal he was hiding something. There behind his left shoulder was a tuft of pink hair. She caught me, again.

"Go spend some time with your godchild. Save Akamaru." The large nin dog was currently having his fur pulled by eager little hands. Naruto smiled and stood. Guy and Sakura were upon me as I called one last time, "Hey, Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"When we get back to Konoha, will you make me another henohenomoheji wind chime?"

"Sure, Kakashi-sensei. Any material preference?"