Let's spend some time relaxing in this chapter. No fighting, kind of. Sound good? Good!
Oh yeah, lemon in this chapter. Yep, first one so go easy on me. =P
Chapter 8
"What? How the hell does paper beat rock?"
Early in the mornings, when they had the time to, Kiba liked to take his son out to train before the day started. Over the years, he gradually took his son under his own set of training, for wanting him to be familiar with his own clan's abilities just as much as any other jutsu he learned.
"Hey, I didn't make the rules. It just does." Kiba replied to Kiyosato.
"So if I took some rock off the street and threw it at you, you could block it with a piece of paper?" his son asked.
"In the game I can."
"Well the game's stupid."
"Hey, do you want rock to have two wins? Paper wouldn't even be needed in the game, and since scissors loses to rock, it would just be people hitting rock until they got bored."
"..."
Kiyosato really couldn't believe he had a debate over a game of rock-paper-scissors, much more than the fact that his father used some kind of logic to prove how paper could beat rock.
"All right then. Since you lost, you come at me first."
"Right, Dad."
The two dogs slept peacefully knowing their masters were used to sparring one-on-one and requested no interference. Kiba always told Kiyosato that a day would come when he wouldn't be with his companion and he would have to fight without him. This way, the training would prove to have the nin-dog as a boost in strength and a companion, rather than a crutch needed for certain attacks.
Kiyosato quickly bent his knees and rushed towards his father. He dropped down and swung his legs, attempting to trip him, but Kiba was already in the air avoiding the attack.
"Too predictable! What are you doing, son? Assume your enemy knows everything about you, and do something out of character." Kiba said as he landed on a branch with his arms crossed.
His son growled, but he knew he was right. It was the only thing he hated about training with his father; he was an incredibly critical teacher.
He jumped up after him, but rather than swing at him, he slashed at the branch, cutting it off the tree completely. That took Kiba by surprise as he jumped away onto another tree branch. Barely able to catch his breath, he swung his left to block a punch from his son. Using his right, he quickly socked him in the stomach, jumping up and roundhouse kicking him in the head, sending him to the ground.
Kiyosato crashed into the ground, but quickly got back up and jumped away when he saw his father come down with a kick, landing the foot into the earth.
"Why are you watching me? Use your nose! If you can't see your enemies, you need to be able to smell them!" Kiba said as he went on the offensive, his son barely able to dodge any of his father's attacks as he could feel the air of the attacks strike his skin; feeling as if he was actually hit.
"What? Dad, hold on! You didn't say you wou-" he was cut off before finishing as his father delivered a strong punch to his face, knocking him on the ground.
"I didn't say I wouldn't jump in, I said it was your turn to attack."
"That's cheap, Dad." he growled back to him from the ground. "I thought we were going by-"
"For the LAST time, Kiyosato, your enemy isn't going to FOLLOW the rules. That's why you need to be ready for it. If you keep following rules of combat the way we were doing it, you're going to end up getting yourself killed on a mission one of these days. You've been lucky you haven't had any real problems so far."
Kiyosato stood up in frustration. He knew his dad was right, but it bothered him to be lectured like that.
"I don't play by the rules, because I know they won't." Kiba finished. "If you think like that, you have a way better chance of making it home." he gave a heavy sigh as he walked up to his son and pat his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up, you're a lot stronger than I was at your age."
His eyes opened up in surprise. "Really?"
"Yep. I took a couple of good thrashings and it took me training from Guy-sensei to get me on the right path. You, you just picked it up naturally. I think you get that from your mother."
"Yeah, she's pretty smart." he smirked.
Seconds later, the sliding door to the backyard opened and Sakura stepped outside, yawning as she stretched her arms.
"What are you two doi- WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS DONE TO THE YARD?"
Kiba and his near look-alike son turned around and see branches severed, lawn uprooted, and several areas of the backyard nearly destroyed beyond repair.
"...Did we overdo it again, Dad?"
"Yeah... yeah, we did."
"Is Mom mad?"
"Yep... yep, she's pretty mad."
X X X
It's too early... Aki pouted in her head as she walked down the street as the clock struck 10am. She yawned loudly as she ruffled her hair danging in front of her eyes to the sides of her head, looping over her ears.
"Okay, what's first on the list... let's see." she pulled a small piece of paper out. On it was a list of things she had written down. Last week, her, Shinta, and Natsuko had planned to surprise Kiyosato with a birthday party at his home. As the week drew closer, they each assigned themselves what to get. Natsuko jokingly volunteered her to take care of the cake, but she was more than happy to accept it.
They're my best friends. All of them, especially Kiyo; he's like my brother. she happily thought to herself as she made her way to the grocery store and stepped inside, surprised at the traffic already within.
Who shops this early by choice? Ugh, what a drag.
She stepped inside and made a left towards the aisles and started walking down. First aisle was cleaning materials, the second being toys, they dragged on until she finally reached the baking aisle.
Okay, that was easy enough. Now all I need to do is- OH CRAP I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF CAKE TO GET.
This should have been a no brainer to her. She had hung out with him enough to figure out what kind of cake he liked, right?
Then it hit her! She had only hung out with him on actual birthdays twice that she could remember, and they were kids. What if she picked the wrong cake? What if he didn't like it? What if he was allergic to a certain flavor?
"Hey Aki, what are you doing here?"
"EEE!" she squeaked as she turned around, clamping her mouth shut as the last person she was expecting to see was standing right in front of her.
"Um, you know, just looking for some soup!"
"... But this is the baking ais-"
"I KNOW THAT KIYOSATO!"
Kiyosato all of a sudden developed a wide grin on his face. The kind of grin she was familiar with.
"What? What's so funny?"
"You're gonna try and bake a cake... and not burn it! Right?"
"..."
"Right?"
"..."
"What, what's wrong?"
SLAP!
"Hey what the hell, man?" Kiyosato whined as he rubbed his now throbbing cheek. Takamaru whined at his master's injury, though he was used to it. They were pretty violent with each other, even when they were younger.
"I'm not a bad cook. That was just an accident. Actually, you were the one who caused it!"
"What? How the hell did I cause an oven fire for something you were cooking in your house?"
"BECAUSE YOU TURNED THE TEMPERATURE TO 550F WHEN IT WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE 350F!"
"What?" Kiyosato looked puzzled. He was sure she had told him 550. It was only a few months ago when it happened. "But you told me to set it to 550?"
"No, I didn't! I said 350F, instead, you set it to 550F and almost annihilated my kitchen!"
"Well then why'd you tell me to set it to 550?"
"... You know what, never mind." she huffed, walking away from him.
Wait a second. she thought, stopping in place, literally. "If he's here, maybe I can get the information out of him about the type of cake he likes. Okay, so not a total loss."
"What's not a total loss?"
"!" she clamped her mouth. I just said that out loud! What's the matter with me? Okay, calm down, I can still play this out. Remember what Dad always says, "Look both ways before you cross the road." No, not that. The other thing. "Aki, you're my daughter, and I love you, but you're being a real drag." UGH! Think! "Always another way out of something. If you don't see it, you haven't looked hard enough."
"Yeah, you know it's just uh. Well, there's this guy, right?-"
WHAT? Kiyosato thought angrily. A guy? Fuck! What about me?
"-and his birthday is coming up really soon. So I was going to bake him a cake for his birthday."
Wait, hold on a second. My birthday is coming up... 4... 3 days! She has to be talking about me, she's just gotta! Okay Kiyosato, play it cool. This is my big chance.
"That's pretty nice of you to do that. Whoever that guy is, he must be pretty special to you, right?" he asked calmly as they both examined the list of cake ingredients.
She smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah. He's a better friend to me than he thinks he is; a lot like a brother practically. I just want to show my appreciation."
Brother? Aww! Now I KNOW that's me she's talking about! he pouted to himself, trying his hardest to keep his face steady.
"Hey, Kiyosato?" she asked, looking to him.
The look on his face was a look of confusion and annoyance, but subtle. He had a good way of hiding how he felt, even though Inuzukas were known for expressing themselves very assertively.
Finally he snapped out of it and stared back at her. Something about her tomboyish appearance and attitude drove him wild on the inside. It always had, even when they were kids. Having a mate who was so much like him would feel like having a best friend at the same time. He wanted it like the way his mother and father had it. Despite his mother always getting mad at his father for rather simple things, he could tell they were deeply devoted to each other. He was always told by them when he asked the secret to their relationship that they had quite a bit of experiences when they were younger. He never got much else out of it, but he could recall his grandmother mentioning something like that to him and his sister a while ago. He wishes he could remember, but he was a kid, and in some ways, he still is.
Maybe that's why I'm just the brother. he thought. "Yeah?"
She held two packs of cake ingredients in front of his face. "Which one?"
In front of him was a simple yellow chocolate cake mix. Pretty basic, but the other one caught his attention. A red velvet cake mix. He remembered last year his aunt Hana baked him one just like that, and the stomachache he had from eating so much of it.
He tapped his finger to the red velvet mix. "That one." he finished with a smile.
She smiled back and put the other mix back on the rack. "Cool, got it." then she paused, remembering she didn't come in with him, and wondered why he was even here. "Hey, why are you here?"
"Huh? Oh, out of dog food." he replied, ruffling the top of his best friends head, to which he barked back happily.
Aki knelt down and pat the head of the nin-dog.
"Is he feeding you? Go ahead, you can tell me. I won't say anything."
"Arf!"
She stood back up with the small packet in her hand. "Well, this is all I came to get. Let's all hang out again soon, okay?" and with that, she turned and left the aisle, soon after, she paid for the item and left the store itself.
The whole time Kiyosato stood there in the aisle. "Yeah, that'd be cool." he glanced down at Takamaru. "So? What do you think? Am I stuck in the friend-zone?"
"Arf!"
"What? Get out of here, yes I can!"
Takamaru whined.
"Well, okay, I'll take it easy. I mean... this is pretty serious, right?"
"Sounds like it."
Kiyosato shot back around to see a young man about a year older than him standing a few feet away. His hair was a thick black, the length falling down to his collar bone, his eyes a soothing brown color. He wore a standard shinobi flak jacket, symbolizing his rank as a Chunin, his headband hugged loosely around his forehead. He wore a short-sleeved dark blue shirt underneath, and wore a particular sash on his waist. The kanji Hi, or, fire hung just below his belt.
"Mizukai?"
"Yep, it's me." he said in a bored expression. "I'm just here to pick up some stuff for dinner tonight. Mom's feeling under the weather."
As Kiyosato glanced at him, he noticed his eyes were slightly reddened. Possibly from crying, or allergies.
"Hey man, are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm good."
"Miz, I can smell it on you. What's eating you?"
He sighed. "It's today."
Kiba's son thought about it. Then it hit him. "You're talking about your dad's birthday, right?"
Mizukai scoffed. "Yeah, that's it. I spent most of the morning at the cemetery, actually ran into Shikamaru-sensei about an hour into being there. We talked. It's crazy, you know? Feels like I knew him my whole life, even though I never met him."
Kiyosato felt his stomach flip. Mizukai was an incredibly gifted ninja, even better than he was by far. But all the talent he had in the world never filled the whole in his heart about losing his father before he ever got the chance to know him.
Mizukai Sarutobi. Asuma's son grew up hurt, and wanting to know his father, but never could. He wanted to hate him, but he couldn't. He never could, because his mother, his friends, and her friends, had nothing but good things to say about him. Even in the pictures he did have of him, he knew he could never hate someone like that.
"You know my dad had the same thing?" Kiyosato replied.
"Yeah, I think I remember you telling me a while ago. Sorry. I don't mean to sound like such a depressing person, it's just this day hits me pretty hard, know what I mean?"
Kiyosato stood there for a second in silence. He wouldn't know what he would do if it was him in that situation. Mizukai kept to himself a lot. He wasn't anti-social, but he never went out of his way to start a conversation with you unless he really knew you. Living without his dad really tore him apart, but he himself never lived with it, fortunately for him.
He pat his arm in support. "I didn't know him either. But my dad did, and he said he was a really good person. He died serving the village, I mean, that's a pretty honorable thing, right?"
"Yeah, I guess so. I don't know, I always get mopy on this day. I'm actually about to head out, let's grab some ramen when we're both free."
"Yeah man, that sounds good." he smiled to him.
Mizukai gave a weak smile as he walked off with his hands in his vest pockets. As he exited the building, bag in hand, he reached into his pocket with his free hand and placed a cigarette in his mouth. A moment later, it was lit, and he was on his way home, bud in mouth.
Mizukai... you've got rough, man.
X X X
"I'm just saying." Kiba said, laying on his back on his bed while he tilted his head up to face his wife who stood at the foot of it. "I could smell it on him. He just needed to work it off, and he still probably does until he actually gets it off of his chest."
Sakura crossed her arms. She really had no idea about her son psychologically, nor her daughter, other than her own intuition. Kiba? He had that, plus his sense of smell could pick up so many things it made it almost unfair.
"Well, fine. Just don't tear up to the yard again, Kiba, okay?"
He smirked at her before rolling his eyes. "I'm sorrrrry."
She shook her head. "Kiyosato's been gone for a while." she said, looking at him.
"Yeah." he replied. "And Salayna's on a mission. Still, it's been a few hours, I didn't think he'd take so long to get a bag of dog food." his nose then went into action as he picked his son's scent up. "Nope, he's home, I take that back."
"Really?-"
"Mom, Dad, I'm home."
"Hey son!" Kiba called from upstairs. "We're upstairs."
"Okay, well I'm gonna go for a run. I just came back to drop the food off." he said as the noise of cabinets opening could be heard moments later. Another minute or two went by, and the door opened and closed again, locking seconds after.
"That was quick." Kiba stated.
"Well, looks like we've got the house to ourselves again." Sakura pointed out, glancing around the room.
A few moments later, Akamaru, who was sitting at the foot of the bed next to his master, perked his ears up as he glanced at Sakura. He stood, shook himself off, and walked out of the room.
"Where ya going, buddy?" Kiba asked.
"Don't worry about him." Sakura said, her voice much closer this time. Kiba looked over to the side to see his wife laying right next to him.
"Uh, okay." he raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"
Sakura smirked as she leaned in and kissed her husband gently, her hand moved down his shirt all the way down to his pants, stopping at where the button sat and gently rubbing her hand around it.
"Hey wait, right now?"
"Why not? Salayna's on a mission, Kiyosato just went out, even Akamaru took the hint and left the room."
"...Alright let's do it!" he said excitedly before rolling on top of her and wrapping himself around her. She giggled as his lips wet her neck and trailed around down to the top of her chest. She pushed him off of her as she grabbed her shirt and lifted it off of her, tossing it to the ground.
Not wanting to wait longer, Kiba quickly tossed his shirt off, sitting down on the bed as he slid his pants and boxers off all in one motion as they fell to the floor along side the bed. When he glanced back at his wife, he was happy to already see she had beaten him to it. She sat there, her bare skin was just as gorgeous as the first time they made love all those years ago when they were just kids.
So much had changed since then, but one thing never did, and that was this. She completed his life, even with her hilariously short temper, he couldn't imagine life without her.
He moved over to her, their lips brought together as he laid her down on her back. She smiled during their kiss as she wrapped her arms around his back, motioning him to start, which he quickly complied with, not wanting to wait any longer now that she had gotten him in the mood.
"Jesus, babe." Kiba huffed. "Your hands are freezing."
Sakura leaned her head up, deeply kissing him, tugging on his bottom lip as she slowly pulled away and let go. "You should do something about that."
He leaned his head down to gently kiss his wife as he lowered himself down and inserted himself inside her, causing her to catch her breath in his mouth. Their tongues battling, she moaned in his mouth as he began to slowly move himself inside her, steadily picking up speed as her hands gripped harder around his back.
Kiba growled as her nails dug into his skin. He could take pain fairly well, but when she grabbed him like that, it was always sensitive to his skin. He buried his head into her neck as he kissed her neck, never dropping his pace of pushing himself inside her. His wife's gentle breathing keeping the timing to it.
Her mind was in ecstasy, even though she was not unfamiliar with the way they had sex. It was always appealing. His more feral nature might have made his temper a bit short at times, but he was a great lover, as she always bragged to Ino whenever they would compare their husbands.
She took her legs and tightly crossed them around his lower back, trapping him into the rock solid motion he had been commencing, her legs touching the light coat of sweat already over his body.
His pace was constant and fast, rocking their bed as their hips ground together, mixing sweat and scent every moment they collided. Kiba already felt himself ready to bust, but he held himself back. He knew she was close, she always got quiet just before it happened.
"Oh shit I'm... Oh god!"
That was the sign. He grunted as he pushed himself harder, his pace at its absolute quickest as he heard her shout out in ecstasy as she came, himself letting go as they melted together within each other.
He sighed from exhaustion, toppling to the other side of her as they laid there, coated in a thin layer of sweat. They still had it, which helped him remember he wasn't that old yet.
"Hey." Sakura whispered, she turned to her side to face him as her hand danced across his bare chest.
"Huh?"
She said nothing as she quickly kissed his cheek, wrapping her arms around his neck as the light breeze of the fan above them filtered into the small holes of the blanket covering them. "I love you."
He smirked as he took his arms and folded them behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling fan, spinning quickly, but keeping his eye following one blade as it quickly made its circle again and again.
X X X
"I'm home!" called Aki as she entered her house. She walked into the kitchen and placed the cake mix she had bought on the counter and stepped out. She peeked into the living room to find her dad staring at a shogi board.
"Dad?"
"Hm?" he turned to see his daughter with a confused look on his face. "Oh, sorry. Guess I was just caught up."
"You're playing shogi against yourself?"
"Heh. I guess you can say that. No, I'm just remembering something." he picked his hand up as he still faced the game board and motioned for her to sit down. "Come here, I want to show you something."
She raised an eyebrow, but obliged her father as she sat down next to him on the couch.
"You remember this set up?"
"That's the climbing silver, right?"
Shikamaru nodded his head. "Right."
"So what did you want to show me?"
Shikamaru carried out the move, capturing one of his own front pieces with the piece on the other side of the board. "The last person who used this move against me died a few days later. He was a good friend of mine, and my teacher for years."
"Dad..."
"Before he died he told me something, and this risky climbing silver move made a lot more sense to me once he said it. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices, and that above all else you should protect the kings."
"Kings? Don't you just mean king, Dad?"
He shook his head. "No, because just before he died, he told me the kings were the new generation. That game held a lot of meaning, but I just didn't get it at the time. Now... yeah, it makes perfect sense to me." he took his arm and wrapped it around his daughter's shoulder. He looked over to her and smiled. "I hope someday you do the same thing, too."
She glanced at him and smiled. It was so rare to see her father like this, not that he was mean, but he was never too open much from the get go. Even her mother recalls only a few times where it really showed. He was a good father, just never one for emotions.
"Dad... you're so weird." she smiled as she kissed his cheek. "That's why I'm glad you're my dad. I don't think anyone would really understand you."
"Maybe you're right. Anyway, it's his birthday today, that's why I brought it out to the living room. I guess you can call it just thinking about old times."
"Do you still miss him?"
The words rang through his head. Memories flashed back from the day they were assigned to him, years and years ago. 19 years ago was when it all happened, and he remembered it all like it just happened.
"Yeah."
"What are you two doing?" asked another feminine voice as the lights turned on in the living room.
"Hey, Mom." said their daughter as she turned to face her.
Temari walked up behind the couch and glanced over at the shogi board Shikamaru had been sitting in front of. "This again, huh?"
Shikamaru smirked as he turned and faced her. "Hey, cut me some slack."
"Well, I'll get started on dinner. Aki, did you buy some cake mix?"
"Oh, yeah I did. Sorry, I'll go move it-"
"Who's it for?" she asked.
"Umm, well-"
"You're baking a cake?" Shikamaru asked. "You remember what happened last time?-"
"THAT WASN'T MY FAULT DAD! I TOLD YOU!"
"Hey sure, of course it wasn't. So who's it for?"
Aki's face immediately went into several shades of red at the question just asked. Why am I so embarrassed? Kiyosato's just my friend, but I know they're gonna say something, I just know they will.
"Well Kiyosato's birthday is pretty soon, and Shinta and Natsuko and I split jobs on what to do... we wanted to surprise him."
Temari smirked as she placed a hand on her hip. "Really. And you just happen to be the one to bake the cake for him, right?"
"I got volunteered for it, but I wasn't about to say no. I mean it's-"
"No, no, I get it." her mother interrupted. "I think that's sweet of you. If there's one thing I've learned is that men always love a woman who can co-"
"I'M NOT GONNA GO OUT WITH HIM, MOM!"
Nights like this were always loud for Shikamaru's family. His head never stopped throbbing sometimes, and he was sure any other man would have succumbed to the constant exposure to these two pushy women.
But as he watched his wife roll her eyes at their daughter, who was highly defensive in a deep shade of red covering her face, he knew he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
X X X
"Andddd one for you, andddd one for you, too!"
This might have been the weirdest thing Trunks, or several of the Akatsuki members had ever seen Hidan do. He was not only in an exceptionally cheerful mood, but he was hanging out gifts to each member.
"Uh, hey, Hidan?"
"What's up, Trunks?"
"I don't get it. Is it some kind of holiday or something?"
"HAHA! Hey, Kakuzu! He wants to know if it's some kind of holiday!"
"..." Kakuzu stared blankly.
"No shit it's a holiday! It's Jashineka!"
"Jashine... what?" Trunks asked confused.
Hidan gave a heavy sigh. "It's like Christmas, only better! Cause Jashin is real, and Jesus is not!"
"Well I really think that's a matter of personal belief if-"
"ANYWAY!" Hidan said, cutting off the Saiyan. "In honor of Jashineka, all followers of Lord Jashin express peace to everyone they know by offering gifts to as many people as they can."
"That sounds kind of counter-productive for a cult that does nothing but kill people." Deidara pointed out.
"IT'S NOT A CULT YOU FUCKING FRUITCUP!" he shouted. "Okay, go ahead and open your presents, guys."
Each member of the Akatsuki glanced at each other awkwardly. Trunks and Deidara exchanged hesitant looks before nodding and opening their presents at the same time.
Awkward looks were exchanged between each member. What Hidan had done was taken a tree ornament and crafted them each into an event where a member of the Akatsuki had killed someone. Hidan carried a wide grin on his face as each member looked at it.
Dediara looked at his present. It was a tree ornament of him flying above Suna and blowing up his spiders in the faces of several shinobi who were keeping watch over the village. It was incredibly graphic, something Hidan most likely intended.
Sasori's ornament was a bit more disturbing. It was an image of him stabbing the Third Kazekage with the knife of a puppet which had attacked him. A graphic and more likely overdone scene showed Sasori's poison spreading across the chest of the dead Kazekage. The puppet master was beyond confused, since his poison really didn't work like that, at all.
"I'm surprised you knew about that, since I had been in the Akatsuki so much longer than you have. I'm more surprised you know than disturbed." Sasori said out loud.
Itachi held up his ornament. A graphic image of him slaughtering several Uchiha on the night he went on a rampage was shown as Itachi carried a happy and cheerful look while a wailing Sasuke stood behind him next to their dead parents.
"I had the most fun with yours, Itachi!" Hidan cheerfully said.
"Gee... you shouldn't have." he replied.
"Okay, Kakuzu, show everyone yours!"
"Hidan, I will end you."
This ornament Kakuzu showed was during his defection from his village while he killed the elders and devoured their hearts. Kakuzu was shown standing on top of five dead elderly men, all of which were randomly stripped of all clothing, with a happy Kakuzu standing with five hearts being juggled in the air.
"Aw, come on, I know you like it!"
"I didn't strip the elders naked when I killed them. Nor did I perform foolish circus acts with their hear-"
"JUST ENJOY IT, OKAY? I MADE ALL OF THIS MYSELF YOU BAG OF DICKS!"
"Hey... Hidan?"
"WHAT, TRUNKS?"
Trunks had the most puzzled look on his face. He had to assume Hidan had prior knowledge of the other Akatsuki members, but he knew Hidan didn't know anything serious about him.
"How did you...?" Trunks stared at his ornament in complete shock.
"What? What is it?" Deidara leaned over to peek at the ornament. The background was a clear blue sky, and Trunks had a very different appearance about him. His hair was shorter, but spiky, and gold. To the left of the image was a man... robot... thing, being cut right in two by Trunks' sword.
"Who's the guy you cut up?"
"Agh! Hidan!" Trunks shot up, anxious to find out who tipped him off. Not that he was upset, but it was still absolutely shocking that anyone outside of the past he saved knew about that in such detail. "How did you find out about me killing Frieza?"
"You killed our Freezer?"
"No! This guy I'm cutting in half! How did you find out about me killing him?"
"Oh, that guy. I don't know, I just whipped it up."
That wasn't a very exceptional answer to him. As Hidan carried on his bizarre holiday, Trunks sat baffled, wondering if the Illusive Man slipped Hidan the information just to mess with Trunks, or if Hidan was just a really, really lucky guesser.
X X X
Several hours later, Trunks stepped outside into the hidden backyard area of the hideout. It was remarkably well landscaped, the lawn was a perfect shade of green signifying its health, a rocking bench sat near the door hung by two long chains attached to the ceiling. On that rocking bench sat Deidara, tossing small pieces of clay into the sky before blowing them up into small little pops.
"Not much for holidays, huh?" Trunks sarcastically asked.
"Tch, you kidding me, man? Hidan's a real nutcase, always has been, yeah." he kept his eyes to the sky as he kept lobbing small pieces of clay to their explosive demise.
Kakashi's words ran through Trunks' head once again. And then Shikamaru's. If the Akatsuki was such a bad organization, then what was he? Was everyone in this place really as evil as they said they were? There were people he wouldn't exactly call friendly, but neither was his father. Heck, from what his mother told him, his father was originally going to blow up the planet when he first arrived, and Piccolo wasn't known for being an outstanding citizen in his past.
He figured he would ask the closest person he had to a friend. He walked up to the rocker bench and sat next to him, catching the artist's attention as he glanced over at him. His bored look still remained as his long strand of hair laid flat over his respective side of the face.
"Deidara, I want to ask you something."
What the hell? Dediara thought. This is out there, yeah "O-Okay... what's up?"
Trunks sighed as he glanced ahead into the sky. Cloudy, but still a gorgeous shade of blue was visible, and the lack of the sun beaming down on them made the view that much more tolerable.
"Are we doing the right thing by hunting the jinchuriki?"
Deidara sighed, not holding back his hesitation to speak. He always doubted the Akatsuki, even after Itachi beat him and forced him entry to the organization. He was loyal, for fear of his life. But it never meant he believed in their ambition.
He returned his attention to the sky as he started lobbing more chunks of clay into the sky and popping them mid-air. "Probably not."
Trunks shot up, getting to his feet quickly. "What? Are you serious?"
"I don't know, but my gut tells me no, yeah." he bluntly replied.
"So it's true then? Sealing the tailed-beasts really does kill the host?"
"Yeah, it does. I captured the one-tail and the three-tail."
"You what?" Trunks asked, his frustration now beaming in the open. "You killed those people?"
"Calm down. The three-tail didn't have a host, and the one-tail host ended up not staying dead for long. Some crazy old bat revived him; she was Sasori's grandmother, yeah."
Slowly Trunks loosened his hands up, his arm slowly creeping to his sword before being cut off by Deidara.
"I don't like it either."
Trunks stopped. "What?"
"What?" Deidara looked at him, stopping his clay popping. "You think we all just signed up for this? I fucking hate this place. I never even wanted to join, I was forced."
"What... happened?"
"It was a while ago, yeah. Kisame, Sasori, and Itachi found me. Back then I was just a wild gun who loved blowing stuff up. My affinity for art really drove me when I was younger, I kind of miss that. Anyway, Itachi made some deal with me if he beat me, yada yada, I would have to join. He beat me, only because of that damn Sharingan."
"Is he really that strong?" Trunks asked, missing the point.
"He's stronger than I am, but so are you, I won't lie. I don't know, but after that I was pretty much bound by fear that if I left, Itachi would just kill me." he paused for a moment. "Anyway, not the point. Ever since I was brought back things have gotten weirder by the day-"
"Wait, brought back? What do you mean?" the Saiyan replied, his hair climbing over the collar of his Akatsuki robe as the breeze set in.
"What, you didn't know? I died. All of us: Me, Sasori, Itachi, Kakuzu, Hidan, I'm pretty sure even Tobi bought the farm after the stunt I pulled. Kisame and Zetsu were the only ones for a while."
"What stunt are you talking about? And how did you guys even come back?"
"I killed myself. Blew myself up actually." Deidara said, unbuttoning his robe. Once past his stomach, he lifted the mesh shirt up, revealing a mouth on his chest with stitches keeping it shut. "I just put a good chunk of clay in, and bam, it's ready, yeah."
The artist put everything back to what it was and re-buttoned his robe. "Anyway, I wasn't really sure how we got back. I just remember waking up, the sky was dark, lightning was coming in and out of the sky, and for a few minutes I saw some big dragon in the distance. After that, he disappeared and I didn't see it again."
I knew it! Zetsu, the Illusive Man, one of them had to have used the Dragon Balls!
Deidara took note of Trunks shocked and quickly growing anger in his face as he raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you alright?"
Could he handle the Illusive Man and Zetsu right now? When he thought about it, it was most likely the Illusive Man was behind it. Good intentions behind it or not- if they were in fact good intentions- he had no permission to use them.
Okay... gotta calm down. I can't make a scene. Not right now.
"Helloooooo? Anyone home?"
Trunks quickly snapped out of his trance, his anger and slight shade of crimson- a trait he most likely inherited from his father- quickly disappeared as he returned to normal.
"Sorry, I was just thinking."
"That's a hell of a way to think, yeah."
"... Yeah, well. I got a lot on my mind."
Deidara didn't say anything as he watched Trunks descend to the ground, keeping his left leg crossed and his right leg up.
"I'm not from here."
"Yeah, I know."
"No, Deidara. I mean... I'm not from this time. I'm from the future."
"... Okay, I didn't know that."
"You wanna know why I'm so strong?" Trunks asked, staring at the artist. "There's a race called the Saiyans... they're almost human in every single way... but much stronger. My father was the prince of that race."
He sighed, surprised Deidara was somewhat interested in what he had to say. "Years ago, in my time, there were these things called Dragon Balls. There were seven in all, and if you got all of them together, you could make a wish and it would come true."
That made sense to him, but the blonde was still wondering where he was going with this. "So... you wished us back?"
Trunks shook his head. "I had no idea you even died. Or anyone else for that matter. When that wish was made, I was unconscious. In my time, my world was devastated by two people. They were androids, ruthless in every way shape and form. They destroyed cities, nations, even, and everyone and anyone who tried to stop them. Then they finally got their sick thrills on a high, when they slaughtered my father."
Talking about your problems could usually be a solution to pain, but for Trunks, it was a bucket of salt over a fresh cut. All those people, all his friends, his father, Gohan, everyone. He could never just give you a short version. How could you? A short version to your entire life, when all you knew was hiding, fighting, and crying.
"My mother... she was able to build a time machine. She told me if I went back, maybe I could save the past, and maybe I could learn the secrets of stopping the androids there. I ended up doing that, and I came back to my time and finally beat them. But then another idea was brought to my attention."
Trunks stood up, ruffling his pants as he crossed his arms. His Akatsuki sleeves hung over each other as the wind slapped them across the open air.
"There's a man named Piccolo. When he was alive, the Dragon Balls worked and could be functioned as long as they had time to recharge and were collected. But when the androids killed him in my time... they also killed the guardian of Earth; the man he was linked with."
Finally Dediara decided to speak up. "Wait, wait, wait, so even if that's all true, how come Mr. Sunflower was able to bring us all back if this Piccolo guy was dead?"
"When I traveled back in time, Piccolo was alive, but there was a new guardian of Earth. He made new Dragon Balls, and as long as he was alive, they would still be able to work, no matter where I went in time. As long as the guardian of that time was alive, it would be okay."
"... Oookay... So now where does all this tie into us?"
"The point is that someone had to have had prior knowledge of me, or the Dragon Balls. My trajectory in the time machine was right on spot. But something made me go back in time, rather than forward."
"You think Zetsu was the one who messed with your machine?"
"No. I know he didn't. I know exactly who it was now."
"Hm." Deidara stood up from the rocking bench and approached the half Saiyan, stopping just before him. "Look, man, if there's one thing I've learned... it's that charging in never works. How do you think I died in the first place? I got too hot-headed and before you know it, boom, literally, yeah."
"I know." Trunks replied. He looked around, trying to feel any energy on the outside aside from him and Deidara. When he felt nothing, he pressed on. "Zetsu's not the real leader of the Akatsuki."
"Huh?" he quirked an eyebrow.
"There's another man, from the future, too. He doesn't have a name... just calls himself The Illusive Man. He's been pulling the strings from the get-go, having Zetsu play leader to be the eyes and ears for him."
Deidara wasn't sure why this didn't occur to him. He saw Trunks walk into Zetsu's office more than a few times, once when Zetsu wasn't even in his office.
"Okay, so we've got another higher-up, and he used these Dragon Balls without your say-so. Anything else?"
"He's also creating a serum to bring people back to life."
Trunks and Deidara shot their heads in the direction of the sound to find a calm Itachi standing before them, Kisame to his right.
"You." the artist coldly spat.
Itachi heard, but ignored. Instead, he kept his distance from them. "The Illusive Man. He's been using Sasori to conduct experiments on revival, with no jutsu involvement whatsoever."
"Bring people back?" Trunks asked. It made sense, they did not see the red-head very often. "Is it done? Where's the lab?"
Itachi shook his head. "The lab is hidden, and even if it were to be discovered, we would not interfere."
"What? You mean you'd just let him finish whatever experiments he was conducting knowing it could affect the fate of the entire planet?"
"You're not looking at it from the big picture, kid." Kisame finally spoke up. "Why is it so quiet here lately? How come spirits have been as high as they are?" When he waited for an answer from either of them, he spoke up again. "As long as Sasori is working, the Illusive Man's attention is completely focused on that. It keeps the peace, for now."
"So you two know, then." Trunks said back. "Then do you know about-"
"The Dragon Balls, yes." Itachi interrupted. Reaching into his cloak, he pulled out one of the balls, holding it face-forward to reveal the four-star ball in his hand. "One wish was used. I believe there is still one left. With that in mind, it would be safe to keep just one away from them until we can figure out how to appropriately deal with the situation."
"There is no appropriate way to deal with the situation! We can't plan this kind of stuff out, like a couple of secret agents trying to take down the government! If he finishes that serum, with him at the head there's no telling what he could do, and I can't let the past be affected to this extent."
"I have a plan." said Itachi. "But I will need both of your help."
Trunks immediately nodded his head. He glanced over at Deidara, who was giving Itachi a hard stare the entire time he was with them. Finally he gave a stiff nod. "Yeah. Sure."
"Good. The first thing you need to do is stop acting like you know something." Itachi pointed out. "It makes you stand out far too easily. The other thing you need to do is completely follow his commands... even if you do not agree with them. It is not a good plan, but it is the only logical decision to be made until we find out more about him." he sighed. "I have... experience, in this type of field."
"Speaking of that... Zetsu mentioned we should come get you, Trunks. He has a mission for you." Kisame said.
"Right."
As Trunks walked past them and into the estate, he climbed the stairs, thinking of only one thing. Not of the Illusive Man, not about the Dragon Balls, and not about the Akatsuki. Something under his skin that would always remain until something was done soon.
X X X
Another pair of clothes hit the ground. An Amegakure headband clanks quietly to the wet collection of grass, pebbles, and mud as a gurgling scream for help was silenced just seconds before.
"I see." Cell said. "It seems I was heading in the right direction, after all." he chuckled as he sloshed through the wet grass, behind him, a large and horrifying picture of dozens upon dozens of assorted articles of clothing laid in the wet ground. A sick smile spread across his face as his red eyes glimmered in the darkness of the clouds upon the sky.
X X X
Cell...
"Perhaps there is something else on your mind?" The Illusive Man asked as a zoned out Trunks finally snapped back to reality.
"Sorry... I'm just-"
"Thinking about Cell. Yes, I understand why it can be such an interference. Nevertheless, I need you here. I have already made plans to deal with Cell, rest assured."
The Illusive Man stood up, tapping the left arm of his chair as a projection loaded up on screen. "This is your next target."
Trunks examined the man in the image carefully.
"I'll get on it."
"One more thing, Trunks." the Illusive Man interrupted, quickly dragging on his cigarette before exhaling and continuing. "All the other teams are currently being assigned different tasks. For this mission, you will be accompanying Hidan and Kakuzu."
"Right. No problem."
"Don't take this man lightly. He's made quite a name over the years, even a Saiyan such as yourself could find yourself at a disadvantage."
The Illusive Man sat back down in his chair, picking up his chilled cup, the condensation layering the glass as he took a small sip of brandy.
"After all, this is the host of the Eight-Tails."
END!
So yeah, I know, it's been a while since I update... and I'm VERY sorry for doing that! I got pretty pounded with shows and stuff, but I should have more free time right now, as I'm already working on the next chapter! Yay me!
I'm probably going to try and make my updating much more frequent. I don't like waiting either, so please accept my apology for all those who have added me to their alerts. =] I'll have the next one up soon. Please review, and I'll see you next time!