Just a light and slightly short chapter. I don't understand why the font size is big like aroubnd 16 or something. In MS word, I set it to ten. Anyway enjoy and forgive the formatting. Grrr...
Chapter 73: Love confrontation (ai no chokumen
Even with his visible eye half open, Kakashi had no trouble maneuvering his way to the center of the village's graveyard for its shinobis which was always covered by thick mist at five o'clock in the morning. Nothing had changed. Even after many years, the pain of losing his mentor was still as fresh as before. He had lost a lot of loved ones but the sorrow he felt at Arashi's death was different and he couldn't explain why.
He froze few steps from Yondaime's tomb and his heart picked up speed when he saw his mentor kneeling in front of his tomb.
"Arashi-sensei?"
But to his disappointment, eyes that weren't narrow but round focused on him.
"Kakashi-sensei, good morning."
"Good morning too, Naruto," he greeted back as he walked to the blonde who was the bitter-sweet reminder of his dear mentor. "You're earlier than usual."
"Today's schedule is hectic so I've no time to come here later."
"Sasuke's not here."
"He was tired so I didn't bother waking him up."
Kakashi's eye wrinkled in mischief. "You wore him out, eh?"
"Mission and for the record he's the one who wears me out."
Kakashi grinned while Naruto blushed. The blonde looked away and stepped aside to let his former mentor pay his respect. When the older man was done, he looked to his side to find his former student staring at the distant, eyes narrowed in deep thought. With his eyes like that Kakashi couldn't help but think that Naruto was Yondaime's kage bunshin.
"Isn't it sad, Kakashi-sensei that only the two of us are the ones who remember his birthday while a lot of people remember the date he died?"
"Wouldn't it be sadder if none remembers it?" one of the best jounin replied.
They fell quiet for a moment savoring the scent of morning dew carried by the morning breeze.
"Despite that I don't have any memories of him and that he sealed Kyuubi in me, I'm glad he and ofukuro brought me to this world because I met a lot of people who loves me back."
Kakashi smiled. It was obvious that Naruto had finally come to terms that while some hated him for being a jinchuuriki, there were others who loved him for who and what he was. He patted the blonde's back while his other hand grabbed the bottle of wine he brought for his mentor.
"Let's drink to that together with Arashi-sensei," he suggested.
Naruto didn't mind drinking early in the morning what he minded was...
"But there's no glass. It would be like you indirectly kissing Sasuke and I Iruka."
The silver-haired jounin mentally shivered at thought of him kissing the Uchiha leader albeit indirectly.
"You have such weird thoughts."
"At least, they're not perverted," the blonde retorted.
The older man's eyes crinkled in a smile. "Why don't we do..."
-SasuNaru is love-
When Naruto returned and walked down the hallway, he noticed the door of the family shrine was ajar and scent of incense coming out. He walked in and found Sasuke staring at his father's picture.
"I'm ho-"
"Ne Naruto, if your father was alive and met me do you think he'd like me?" Sasuke asked without taking his eyes away from the framed picture.
"No, he won't because you're rude and arrogant but he'll approve of you because I love you."
Sasuke turned his head to Naruto's direction in time to receive a kiss from his wife.
"Good morning, bastard," Naruto whispered softly.
"You tasted wine," Sasuke murmured.
"Kakashi and I drank some after pouring sixty percent of it on oyaji's tomb." Of course, as Kakashi suggested they drank from the bottle without its mouth touching theirs. "Is it bad?"
Sasuke shook his head, his lips brushing against Naruto's. "No. It's almost the same when I kiss you and your mouth has still a taste of my semen."
"Sasuke, you-"
The rest of his words were swallowed by his spouse's hot mouth.
-SasuNaru is love-
Chie none-too-gently banged her head on the table wanting to stop herself from thinking about Akemi. Even though, he had told her that it was fine for her to stay beside him, she hadn't seen him or even his shadow after he had checked on her on her first eight days as a civilian of Konoha. She assumed that he was off to a mission until she heard some of her customers talking about him and from their conversations she deduced that Akemi was not assigned to a long term mission but was just avoiding her like a plague. That realization hurt more than her father disowning her.
She plastered a big smile on her face when the chime hanging at the door made a sound, signaling the arrival of a customer.
"Hello," she greeted warmly as she recognized one of her frequent customer. "How are your plants?"
The chestnut-brown-haired and freckled girl smiled shyly. "They're coming along fine. The fertilizer you recommended helped a lot."
She nodded. "What can I do for you?"
"I need five pots because some of them need to be transferred and two packs of the same soil you handed to me a week ago."
And while Chie started getting the things she wanted, she spotted something on a table- an abstract sketch. "Are you planning to join the Konoha arts contest next month?" she asked.
"I'm not so sure but I wanted to try," the aristocrat-turned-florist answered.
"I'm certain people would like your drawing."
Chie let out a soft chuckle and they became quiet. The girl paid for her things and before she left, she thrust a hand out towards the other girl. "Here," she said, extending a vial to Chie. "I asked a friend to make this for the wound on your left arm."
Chie immediately cradled the wound she got when she had fallen from the ladder back at the storeroom two days ago.
"Try not to get careless again," the slightly blushing girl said.
"Thank you..." Chie trailed off because the girl refused to give her name even though she asked for it a lot of times. The girl just nodded before she left quickly.
The girl slowed down into hurried steps and slightly bowed her head to avoid Maki's sharp gaze.
"Oi, young lady, let's go and have some coffee," the Suna shinobi said. She ignored him. As much as she wanted to escape like disappearing in a poof, she was just a civilian. "Shit!" she murmured as she felt an arm casually draped over her shoulders.
"You shouldn't ignore me, babe," Maki whispered huskily. And the next thing he knew, he was slammed against the wall of a dark alley while sharingan-activated eyes were trained on him.
Maki looked smug as the freckled girl changed into Akemi. "Y'know Akemi, I like you better when you're in your original form."
"Shut up!" Akemi growled. If there was something he hated about Maki, it was his perceptiveness. His friend managed to identify him despite his henge of a very ordinary-looking girl.
"And why of all, it has to be of a girl?"
"I have my reason."
"You don't want your girl to fall in love with your male henge," Maki stated.
"Stop making assumptions," Akemi ordered instead of giving his friend the satisfaction that he was right.
"Y'know it's not an assumption," the Suna shinobi said. "Direct contact with her as you is better. What are you afraid of?"
Changes.
Because his moments with her were always unpredictable not to mention that her presence alone made his chest tighten with feelings he never felt before. And those feelings intensified when she would look at him affectionately. Being with her changed everything and he hated changes when he didn't know how and its outcome.
"Akemi-kun?" Ayame's voice echoed in the alley. "What are you doing here?"
"Nothing," Akemi said. "Maki and I are just talking."
"In a poorly lit area?"
"Got a problem with that?" her object of affection asked as he, followed by Maki, moved towards her. She immediately blushed at such question and decided to change the topic.
"What's that in your hands?"
"Miki asked me to buy these for her." Looking at Ayame, Akemi wished it was her he fell in love with. With her, everything was calm and predictable and his heart was not in the danger of bursting. But when he thought of that, he felt something inside of him wilting.
With optimism shining in her eyes, Akemi knew she would ask him on a date. Of course, he would turn it down and she would tell him before leaving that she'd try again next week. Yes, things were simple with her but it's not her that had gotten under his skin.
"Direct contact," Maki said when the girl was already out of sight. "Besides, I don't think Miki would like to take care of all the plants you bought."
-SasuNaru is love-
"Have fun," Miki and Yukina called out while waving their hands to Yuuzuki, Kisho, Yuuhi, Haruo and Akemi who were going on an outing. It would have been all Uchiha males but Sasuke was off to a mission while Naruto's schedule was hectic.
"Fish! Fish! Fish!" Yuuhi murmured as he moved around in his otousan's strong arms.
Haruo who was holding his uncles' hands as he walked and once in a while swing between them, asked, "Are we going to eat Mr. fish?"
Kisho nodded. "They'll be delicious."
"But I don't want to fish. I want to play ninja."
"But Haruo, we played that game over and over again. Let's try something new," Akemi said gently.
"What if I don't like it?"
"Then we'll play ninja."
The child smiled at his favorite uncle before looking at his blond uncle. "Uncle Kisho, you'll be the uke-nin."
Kisho laughed before patting his head softly. "Actually, I prefer to be se-" he faltered as he found himself at the receiving end of two cold death glares. He chuckled meekly before agreeing, "Sure. I'll be the nuke-nin."
"Haruo, we won't play the game until you get the word right," Akemi told him in a strict voice. "It's nukenin not uke-nin."
Haruo nodded and all the way to the store where they would buy bait, the boy repeated the correct word over and over again.
-SasuNaru is love-
"I don't like fishing," Haruo declared before pouting. He had grown tired of sitting and waiting for mister fish to fall to their trap although it had just been more or less five minutes when they started.
"Very well, let's go swimming!" Kisho suggested as he took the boy's swimming trunks from his bag.
A second later, there was a very big splash as Akemi, Kisho and Haruo jumped into the river together.
Yuuzuki sighed. With the din the three were making, it was impossible to catch any fish. "C'mon Yuuhi. Let's join them."
And the swimming which includes dunking and splashing each other had been fun until Haruo complained about being hungry. With no food with them, they decided to go grab food after they put on their dry clothes.
Few minutes later, they walked into a family restaurant, starving.
Some time while waiting for their orders to be served, Haruo hid his face behind Kisho.
"What's wrong?" Akemi asked.
"The woman is looking at me," came the muffled reply.
Without confirming, the blonde replied flippantly, "She wants to eat you." And knowing that identical glares were trained on him once more, he continued, "Because she's a monster." He then started biting his nephew playfully and harmlessly. And while Haruo was busy squirming and laughing, Kisho looked up to smirk at his two brothers at the same time give them a who's-the-pervert-now look.
It wasn't long that they were at the receiving ends of longing looks and furtive glances- something which Haruo and Yuuhi would understand when they hit teens.
After making transactions, Chie bowed and left the Fertilizer-producing company. She hadn't taken ten steps when the son of the owner of the company approached her.
"I'm going to the central district so I was wondering if we could grab some coffee on the way, yeah?"
Knowing that her shift was over, she nodded. She smiled when the lad offered his arm. In camaraderie, she linked their arms.
That was how Akemi saw them as they crossed the street. And once again, he found himself reeling with the nasty feeling that surged in him.
Yuuhi burst out laughing as the ice cream cone on Akemi's hand was crushed. Haruo followed suit causing Yuuzuki to frown.
"Haruo..." he said.
"But uncle is doing it," the boy reasoned out, snapping Akemi from his morbid thoughts of what was the most satisfying manner of killing
"Sorry," he muttered. "Haruo, let's order another serving, shall we?"
After making their order, Akemi excused himself to the toilet to wash his face.
He was about to take his handkerchief from his pocket when somebody offered one to him. He looked up to find his younger brother.
"Are you here to check on me?" he asked. "I won't sneak out."
"Yeah. To make sure you will," the younger boy said. "I'm sure niisan would understand and we can explain to Haruo and Yuuhi."
"What makes you think I want you to do that?"
"What makes you think you don't? Despite what people think, you're easy to read."
Akemi sighed. "I'm beginning to hate perceptive people."
"And here I thought you already hate yourself for being silly," Kisho quipped before exiting the room leaving Akemi to question the purpose of the existence of annoying brothers.
When the five returned home, an exhausted Haruo and Yuuhi were asleep in the arms of Yuuzuki and Akemi respectively while Kisho carried theirs bags.
Seeing this, Yukina laughed as she took Yuuhi from her brother-in-law.
"Had fun?" she asked.
"Better than we thought," Kisho said.
"Good. I hope you didn't spoil them."
The three males automatically shook their heads.
"I'm leaving now," Kisho announced. "I'm off to meet my friends for a light spar. If I get lucky, I'd be able to see an eye candy between Kazushi and Shigure."
"Kisho, you get-"
But the boy was gone leaving a blushing Yukina and two very displeased sibling.
-SasuNaru is love-
Chie almost tripped when she saw Akemi leaning against a wall of one building obviously patiently waiting for someone. Was it her? No way. Probably just a coincidence. She froze when blue eyes focused on her.
"I'll walk you home," the lad said with finality making the girl frowned but agreed anyway.
On their way, a lad approached Chie who recognized the guy as her frequent customer.
"I know this is sudden but would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow?"
Before Chie could say anything, a scowling Akemi answered for her. "No, she won't."
The girl raised an eyebrow while the other lad frowned. "I'm not asking you, Uchiha. And you have no right to answer for her."
Akemi took one step when Chie placed a hand on his arm. "Kiri-kun, I'll be glad to. Will you pick me up thirty minutes past eleven?"
The lad beamed and nodded before he excused himself.
Chie looked at the furious Akemi. "That was uncalled for."
"I think your agreeing is," the lad snapped. Why couldn't Chie understand?
An elegant eyebrow went up in reaction to his statement. Chie had been taught to remain calm and to control her temper but Akemi just really seriously make her mad beyond control.
"What right do you have to say that? When you had avoided me for one month then just show up to decide things for me!" Unshed tears made her golden hazel eyes glistened. "I had enough of people deciding for me!"
Why? Akemi wanted to know. Why did his heart break just to see her tearful?
He wanted to tell her that he had been visiting her without her knowledge but he couldn't bring himself. He didn't want to hurt her anymore. He was certain that if she knows about it, she would feel betrayed.
"I like you," Akemi retorted angrily and not the least bit romantic.
"I like you too but we can't continue like this. I want to know what we are."
Fear spurted within him. Their feelings were mutual so surely they were more than friends but... He was scared to admit that loud. He was scared of the power she had over him. She could make him do anything she wanted.
"I...I-"
Chie didn't miss the hesitation in his eyes and voice and tears gently flowed on her cheeks.
"I'm not pressuring you, Akemi-kun. I like you. I seriously do but I'm not going wait for you forever."
Akemi bent his neck forward when Chie stood on her toes to press her lips against his forehead in a sisterly kiss. Was she saying goodbye?
"Chie, I-"
"Take care. I'll see you soon if you feel like seeing me."
Akemi wiped her tears gently. "Chie, I'm leaving for a mission tomorrow."
The girl nodded. "Take care then and don't overexert yourself." And with that she left running, never looking back.
-SasuNaru is love-
Chie leaned back instinctively as manicured hands slammed on the cashier desk. She looked up to find an angry girl.
"May I help you, ma'am?" she asked with a very professional voice.
"You! Prove your worth."
"Who are you to demand?"
"Five months ago, Akemi-kun said that he needs someone that doesn't need his protection. Prove that to us!"
Ah jealousy.
"Us?"
"All his fangirls," she snapped. She couldn't let an outsider take Akemi from them. Never. Even if the outsider was a blue-blood. "Tomorrow at two o'clock at the East training area, let us have a duel. Bring any weapon you like, hime-sama."
"I'm not-"
"Scared are you?"
Chie frowned at the insult. She made it sound as if she couldn't do anything on her on. She hated it when people make such assumption about her. What did they know about her anyway? "Fine. If you want a duel then you got it."
And the girl smiled.
I'll show you, Akemi, she thought. And hopefully, during the duel, the royal bitch would die somehow.
That late afternoon, the royal marched to a weapon store and carefully chose a naginata.
"Why would a gentle civilian want to buy this?" the old smith asked.
Chie smiled. "It's a secret, sir."
-SasuNaru is love-
And then the time for duel came. Despite the nervousness she felt, Chie walked to the agreed place gracefully, calmly and with chin held up.
When she got there, she found that there was a lot of audience made up of most of girls who the former royal assumed to be Akemi's admirers, villagers who had nothing better to do and gossip-mongers. She knew without a doubt that her defeat means humiliation and chances were it would reach her former country. Defeat was not an option. She tightened her hold on the pole then relaxed it. She took a deep breath calming her frayed nerves and did some mental conditioning.
Maeda snorted as she saw her opponent carrying a naginata. She thought that the weapon of her choice showed the other girl's lack of judgment. Kunais and shurikens were better than any long and heavy weapons. She shrugged her shoulders. It was Chie's mistake anyway and not her business.
Both ladies stood a meter or two from each other, Maeda with a grace associated with fashion-conscious kunoichi while Chie with the grace born and bred among royals. At the flutter of wings of a bird perched on one of the too many branches, the two moved.
From her weaponry pouch, Maeda pulled and threw kunais and shurikens in practiced ease and pinpoint accuracy.
Chie halted and with the same practiced ease she swung her weapon deflecting the sharp objects. But that or the obvious familiarity her opponent showed in wielding such weapon didn't faze the kunoichi.
She hid her sly smile because Chie only deflected her kunais. She manipulated the shurikens to attack from behind her. She was sure girls like Chie raised in spoiled riches would faint at the mere sight of blood, especially if it was theirs.
Without breaking their eye contact, Chie flipped her weapon and with a flick of her wrist, upsetting the weapons' course.
Maeda's lips thinned displeased that Chie was contradicting all her knowledge about royals. With a yell, she lurched forward then flipped to the sky as the former royal's blade came too close for her comfort.
Chie looked around noticing that her opponent was gone.
The kunoichi who had lightly perched on the tip of the naginata blade smiled. Now was her chance! She threw another kunai but the dark-haired girl immediately leaned to the side. Unbeknownst to Maeda, Chie's ears were sensitive to the distortion of the space and the buzzing noise caused by any weapons as they sailed through the air. She hadn't learned archery for nothing!
The royal-turned-florist turned her head just as the light-haired kunoichi flipped away from her position and while on air threw another kunai.
When would the girl learn that throwing kunai was futile? Chie wondered as her naginata slashed the air. Her eyes widened as she realized belatedly that she slashed the tag that was attached to the weapon. Oops...
She knew what it was because Akemi had used it once when he was escorting her. The paper was no ordinary explosive tag. It would still explode even when cut or damage because it thrived on chakra.
Chie put all her weight on her feet then leapt back just as the tag exploded. The force of the explosion blew her away and she would have continued sailing through if she didn't firmly plant her feet and plunged her weapon into the ground. After gathering her composure, she whirled her naginata above her head before she inclined it downward, the blade tilted upward and glinting dangerously under the sun.
"I'm not gonna let you take Akemi-kun from us!" she snapped as she lunged forward to give a direct attack.
"I'm not taking anyone from anybody," she replied matter-of-factly. It was an honest answer. Even when Akemi had confessed his feelings which were sincerely reciprocated, it didn't mean anything. Akemi had no plans beyond confessing. If he had, he'd have done it a long time because Akemi wasn't someone who dilly-dallies.
Chie fluidly brought her foot forward and swung her weapon quick and close enough to slash her opponent's bangs.
Maeda gasped at the audacity of such action. How dare her cutting her beautiful hair? This meant war! She distanced herself from her opponent, made three hand seals before cupping her hands and breathed into it. When she opened them, an iced dragon came out.
Ninjutsu, Chie's brain stated. From Ino, she had gathered that ninjutsu became physical through chakra manipulation so she wasn't really scared. Anything that had physical shape could be destroyed, this was her belief. As long Maeda won't use genjutsu, her defeat was not certain.
She ran forward, planning to meet the attack head-on.
"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu"
And then a large fireball coming from the side defeated the dragon.
Both duelists turned to the side where the interruption came from. Like everyone else, they were surprised to find a very murderous-looking Akemi.
Akemi mentally sighed in relief that he had arrived on time. He wouldn't have known about the fight if he didn't pass by an alley on his way to the hokage tower and overhead two housewives talking.
Chie shrank backward as she found herself under a cold glare. In a futile effort to pacify the shinobi, Chie brought her naginata behind her back in a foolish and futile attempt to hide it and grinned.
"Akemi-kun, good afternoon."
That pissed Akemi more and in his anger, he gripped her shoulders and none-too-gently shook her.
"What the hell were you doing? Were you trying to commit suicide?"
"Of course not!" she replied as the lad let her extract herself from his grip. "I was fighting before you interrupted the battle."
"The battle you're sure to lose," Akemi snapped, unwisely insulting the annoyed florist.
"How would you know? You interrupted it, you arrogant man!"
The audience was amused at their verbal battle. Until now, they hadn't seen a girl who was arguing Akemi despite her obvious feelings for him. If it was anyone but her, she would have melted at the thought that Akemi had saved her.
Chie shifted her gaze to her opponent. "Come on!" she told Maeda. "Let's continue this duel so this man would see that I can fight and win without his help." She was about to sidestep when he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"As if I'm going to let you do it," Akemi said between clenched teeth. He spared Maeda a glare and coldly warned, "Hurt her and I won't hesitate to attack you with all I have."
His words stopped her cold and left her and the rest of his fangirls confused.
I want to protect you with these hands… with this life and with every breath I take. I want to protect you.
"What are you doing?" Chie demanded frantically. "'I need someone who doesn't need my protection; someone who I can fight with and not for.' That's what you said and I-"
I want to believe but you always leave me confused and hurt.
"Now is different! Because I-"
People became more attentive and held their breaths waiting for Akemi to finish his statement but the Uchiha lad had other plans. He tightened his hold on her and together they disappeared.
The silence of one particular area was broken by a dull poof as Akemi and Chie appeared. The lady was grasping Akemi's flak jacket as she took big gulps of air to stop her world from spinning caused by Akemi's speed.
Akemi lay flat on the ground his arms and legs spread wide. The exhilaration of sparing against his otousan was receding and giving way to exhaustion. Beside him sat the Uchiha leader, resting at the same time staring at the starless sky.
"Akemi," Sasuke started. "Don't make her wait because waiting is slow torture."
The boy looked anywhere but at his father's direction.
"Always make things clear because if you won't both of you would end up hurt."
"But I'm..." he trailed off and instead of finishing his statement, brought an arm over his eyes out of embarrassment.
"Scared?" Sasuke stated more than asked. "Scared of the changes and the fleetingness of the moment? Fear is intense when good things are within our reach. It is fear that deprives us from our happiness. Stop living in fear, Akemi. Stop testing the water. It's now time to jump and whether you sink or float depends on you."
Sasuke looked at his son who was contemplating.
"Whatever you decide, say it clearly."
"Chie," Akemi started softly but with determination. "I know you're strong and you don't need me but I want to protect you especially during your weak moments." Protecting you is protecting my heart. "I want to be the sword that will defend you and the shield that will protect you."
"Akemi-kun, I-"
You've been reaching out for a limp hand for long but it's not limp anymore. Won't you take it? Had you grown weary?
"Let's go out on a date. I'll pick you up right after your shift tomorrow."
"Eh?" A surprised Chie could only gape at him for few seconds before she scolded teasingly, "You can't decide such important things on your own."
"I assume that's a yes because I don't take no for an answer."
"You're the most annoying guy I met but I like you," Chie said between chuckles.
"I like you too dirty and all," Akemi replied as he started wiping her dirt-stained face with a clean hand towel. He chuckled as her face became flushed in embarrassment.
To be confessing their feelings when one of them was dirty... how unromantic but it was still a beautiful memory.
Ah sweet young love.
-SasuNaru is love-
Sasuke opened the scroll left in their mailbox. It was a mail formalizing the punishment given to Kisho after the investigation and hearing. He opened it and let his eyes scanned the message. He sighed in relief when he realized that the punishment wasn't too heavy. For deviating from his mission orders and causing unrest within the civilians, Kisho was to serve guard duties and perform D-class and within-the-village-only missions for three and five months, respectively. He rolled the scroll back and stared at the blue sky, a hand shielding his eyes from direct sunlight. His hair flutter around as a breeze blew by. Through the wind, he sent his thanks to all his ancestors watching over his children especially Kisho during his investigation.That's a close of Akemi's struggle and Kisho's investigation. I don't understand why the font size is big. I don't like it. Is there anyway to adjust this?