Eight- We Strap Ourselves in for a Ride on the Emotional Roller Coaster
I awkwardly sat at Tazuna's dinner table, staring at Naruto, who was sitting across from me, and Sasuke, who was sitting to my left. I had been in the middle of raising my spoon to my mouth when I noticed the Uchiha and Uzumaki were eating as fast as they could with looks of determination marring their features. They were literally shoveling their meals into the mouth at a rapid pace.
"Geez, slow down you guys. I puked the last time I ate that fast." I said, recalling my 7th birthday with a shiver. The cake had been so good….. Of course, they completely ignored me. If anything, they began to eat faster. I sighed and continued to eat my food at a normal pace. Suddenly, at the same time, the two stood up and yelled for seconds. I looked at them in astonishment; I was only halfway done with my bowl. In sync, the two glared at each other and immediately turned and puked. A bowlful of half digested rice and vegetables was now on my pants, soaking into my clothes.
"What the f-hell?!" I said, remembering that Inari was at the table. I immediately jumped out of my chair. Everybody was staring at me now and the room was filled with an awkward silence. I felt hot with anger.
"I told you guys to slow down. But did you listen? No!" I yelled. I could feel a vein popping in my forehead.
"If you're going to eat to give yourself energy, don't freaking eat 'til you puke! That completely gets rid of the purpose! Sit your asses down, and eat like normal people. I'm going to clean myself up." I said with an angry growl, and made to leave the kitchen. I took a deep breath.
"Tsunami, I didn't bring a change of clothes. Could I borrow some of yours please?" I asked, attempting to calm down.
()()()()
I sighed as I pulled on one of Tsunami's dresses, noting how it was way too big on me. I may have been tall for a girl my age, but Tsunami was a fully grown woman, and her clothes were bound to be big. Tsunami had already deposited my clothes into her washing machine, so I would wear her dress until my outfit was clean. I looked down at the dress and then to my gear. Where the hell was I supposed to put my kunai now? I would just hold it, I guessed. It wouldn't take that long for my clothes to wash. I stepped out of the spare bedroom and walked back down into the kitchen where I could hear my teammates and hosts talking.
"This torn part looks like someone was ripped out..." I heard Sakura say as I entered the room. Tazuna and his family all stiffened.
"It's my husband." Said Tsunami. Oh.. it made more sense now. Did he leave her or something?
"He was known as the hero of this town." Tazuna said. Oh.. nevermind.
At this, Inari left the table. Then he left the house. Tsunami immediately left after him.
"Dad, I told you not to bring him up in front of Inari!" She said, leaving out the door. Tazuna answered our unspoken question.
"Inari had a father that he wasn't related to. But they were very close, like father and son." I looked at the picture and noticed that Inari, who was usually grumpy, had a huge smile on his face.
"Inari used to smile a lot back then." Said Tazuna as he gazed at the torn picture.
'"But… But…" Tazuna's voice started to shake. I turned my head to him and saw that he was crying.
"Inari changed after the incident that happened to his father." What incident? I wanted to ask, but I didn't want to interrupt.
"After that incident, the people of this island and Inari no longer believed in the word courage."
"What incident?" Sensei asked.
I took a breath and braced myself; this was going to be a long night.
The next morning we sat at the table, eyes half open, still half asleep. Sakura's head was tilting dangerously close to her breakfast and my fingers were slow and sluggish as they combed through my long hair. Sasuke, as usual, seemed unaffected. He casually ate his breakfast in science. I just yawned and brushed my hair out of my eyes. As I was about to dig in, I noticed that the room was quiet. Too quiet.
"Where's Naruto?" I asked
"The idiot's been tree-climbing every night, trying to catch up to Sasuke-kun." Answered Sakura. Tsunami's brow creased with worry.
"A child staying out all night?"
"No need to worry. He's a decent Shinobi, even though he doesn't look it." Replied Kakashi-sensei. I snorted.
"Ain't that the truth?" I said with a chuckle. Sakura laughed.
"Dobe barely knows which end to point the kunai." Sasuke said wryly. My eyes grew wide in shock. Did the statue just crack a joke?
At this point Sasuke noticed us staring at him and resumed eating in silence. I couldn't hold back my giggle. The expressionless Uchiha, of all people, joins in on my joke. Sasuke's dark eyes darted up to my face before going back to his food. Sakura burst out laughing.
"That was hilarious, Sasuke-kun!" She said with a wide grin, which faltered when her dear Uchiha didn't spare her a glance.
"He has a point, Kakashi-sensei. Maybe Naruto really is dead." Sakura said. After this, I guess Sasuke was done eating, because he stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets, and began to head for the door.
"Sasuke?" I asked
"I'm going for a walk." He said, and the door closed behind him. I returned to my food and took a few bites before I paused, frowning. What Sakura had said had bothered me. What if Naruto was lying dead somewhere? I stood up.
"Thanks for the food, Tsunami. I'm going to go look for Naruto." I said and walked out the door.
()()()()
I walked through the woods, searching for the familiar blonde. So far, he wasn't by the training grounds, the shore, or anywhere remotely close to the house. So now I was walking through the woods looking for him. I passed the next couple of trees and a woman walked past me with a basket of herbs. As she continued on through the woods I stopped and turned my head to look at her. I looked her up and down. Something about her was familiar. I shook my head; I had probably seen her around town somewhere.
()()()()
Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and I stood in a clearing, searching for any sign of Naruto. I was starting to get worried. Suddenly, a kunai flew down and landed at our feet. I immediately went to grab my katana, but then I remembered that I was still in Tsunami's dress. I had no weapons.
Fortunately, it was just the person we were looking for.
"Naruto!" I said with a smile. He grinned down at us from an upper branch.
"Hey Akemi, Sakura-chan!" He yelled. The knot of worry in my stomach dissipated, and suddenly I was mad.
"Where the hell were you! I was worried!" I yelled.
"How do you like that! I can climb to the top of the tree now!" He said, completely ignoring me. I sighed. I could never stay mad at him.. Naruto stood up and waved. I waved back. Suddenly, he started to lose his balance. He started to fall and my heart plummeted into my stomach. This high up…
But instead of falling, he hung upside down from the tree branch and started laughing.
"You fell for it!"
"You scared me!" Yelled Sakura.
"Naruto…." I growled.
And then he really fell.
"Naruto!" I screamed. We all screamed. I began to run towards the tree in hopes of catching the blonde, but a blur of blue flew up the tree next to Naruto and caught him mid-air.
"Way to go Sasuke-kun! You amaze me!" Yelled Sakura. A relieved smile broke out on my face.
"Sasuke…. thank god." I said with a sigh.
()()()()
That night during dinner, we all sat at the table, excluding Sasuke and Naruto, who were presumably still outside training.
"They're late." Said Sakura anxiously.
"I can understand why Naruto's late, but Sasuke?" She continued. I gave an aggravated sigh.
"Y'know, Sakura, Sasuke isn't this perfect being. He has to practice to get better just like the rest of us. You would know that if you yourself actually trained once in a while." I said abrasively. While it was true that I went with her and Tazuna for most of the day, I trained before and after we left. She, however, didn't train at all. Before Sakura could bite back a reply, the door flew open and our two team members walked in the room, holding one another up.
"What's with you two? You look really dirty and tired." Said Tazuna. Naruto gave a weary smirk and chuckled.
"We both made it to the top."
"Great." Said Kakashi-sensei.
"Sasuke, Naruto, next time you can both guard Tazuna with the girls." He continued. I grinned; I really was proud of both of them.
"Yosh!" Yelled Naruto with a large grin, and in his excitement he made himself and Sasuke fall over. Sasuke scowled and touched his head.
"Idiot." I chuckled at this.
"Now, don't push yourselves too hard." Said Tazuna with a smile. Suddenly his face turned serious as he turned to Sensei.
"I've been meaning to ask…. Why are you still here when you know that I lied about the contract details?" He asked. Sensei paused for a moment.
"Not doing the right thing when you know it's the right thing is the way of a are no weak soldiers under a valiant commander." He said. I thought about this. He made a good point. I was mad that Tazuna had lied, but I understood why he did it. I had been thinking over the last few days. Of course, I didn't want to die, but when I thought about it, maybe it was worth it if I was saving someone I cared about. I don't think I would ever put myself in harm's way unless I thought I would be okay in the end, but after thinking about this, I was more comfortable with the thought of meeting my end.
And besides, I trusted my Sensei.
"They're the teachings of the previous Hokage." Kakashi-sensei finished.
It was at this part that I noticed Inari had begun to cry.
"Why…." He said in a shaky, timid voice.
"Huh?" Asked Naruto. Inari slammed his hands down on the table.
"Why are you trying so hard to end up like that?! You can't beat Gato's men, even if you train! No matter how much you say those tough words, weak people are going to lose to strong people!" The boy screamed. My eyes and mouth were wide open. The entire room was silent in shock. Naruto just turned and shrugged.
"Shut up. I'm nothing like you." The blonde said. I winced; Naruto had no tact…
"Shut up! It pisses me off when I watch you! You don't know anything about this country, and you're so nosy! I'm different from you, someone who knows no real pain and laughs all the time!" Inari screamed through his tears. I clenched my teeth. Little did he know, just about all of us had been through some shit. Naruto's face instantly grew dark.
"Is that why you're pretending to be the main character of a tragedy and just crying? An idiot like you can just keep crying. You crybaby." Naruto said in a flat voice. Sakura immediately turned to him.
"Naruto. That was too much." She said. I kind of agreed with the both of them. It may have been too much, but I felt that it needed to be said. Instead of replying, Naruto just stood up and walked away. Inari stood at the end of the table, sobbing. I clenched my teeth. I wondered if I should say something. I wanted to say something. But looking at Inari's tear streaked face, and the tense expressions of the people around me, I kept my mouth shut. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. I just stood up and left.
()()()()
That night, none of us were quite up to talking. I sat on my futon, sharpening and polishing my kunai. Anything to distract me from the ghosts that had been brought up today. I loved my Aunt Kaori. She was the only mother figure I had ever had. She had always been very fragile; you would never guess that she was a kunoichi. She had barely made it into chuunin, but her genjutsu was what had made her valuable. Aunt Kaori was very skilled in genjutsu, and it was the only reason she was still a kunoichi. What she lacked in physical strength she more than made up for in illusionary prowess. After giving birth to Suzu she had been very sick, but was adamant about continuing her shinobi duties, at least for a little while.
I remembered the day she left for only her third mission after Suzu had been born. She had kissed us goodbye and ruffled my hair, and then she left, not knowing that was the last time we would ever see her alive.
The door opened and I suddenly remembered that I was not alone. Sasuke walked into the room, the last of my team to leave the kitchen table. he sat down on his futon on the other side of the room, laid down, and closed his eyes. Naruto, for once, had nothing to say. I recalled what it was like when we were younger. When we were little, and had not a care in the world, Naruto was suffering more than ever. I knew that he had no friends, but I still didn't talk to him. Why, oh why, didn't I talk to him? Maybe just one friend would've spared him the pain. I heard a sharp clang and looked to see that in my thought I had sharpened my kunai too harshly and had broken my whetstone.
I gave a harsh, angry sigh and threw my kunai into the wood panelled floor. After wiping my clammy hands on my pants I pulled my dove grey hair back into a loose ponytail and laid down on my futon, shoving my face into the rough fabric. I wrapped myself up in my blanket and pretended that I wasn't being eaten alive with guilt and the echoes of memories.
*nervously sweats* Is it okay? Too much? Too little? Personally, I kind of like it, but I aim to please, so give me some input! I can't give you guys what you want unless you tell me what you want, so review, review, review!
Is it growing boring? Emotional talks not your thing? I gotchu. If everything works out nicely, next chapter should be chock-full of blood, gore, and emotional trauma *cough* battle scenes. I mean battle scenes.
And now, I present to you, a shitty Valentine's day Omake to make myself feel less guilty! Yay!
Fireworks lit up the night sky as Konoha celebrated the last day of their Summer Solstice festival. Akemi sat on the roof of a dango shop, dressed in a red kimono with a dark navy obi. As she stared up at the night bright sky, which was lit with numerous bursts of colorful light, she felt a presence behind her. The kunoichi didn't turn around, and showed no sign of surprise. A gentle smile graced her face.
"I was wondering when you would show up." She said gently. The boy moved to sit behind her and wrapped his arms, which were clad in dark blue kimono sleeves, around her. Akemi sighed and snuggled closer to her visitor.
"Isn't it beautiful?" She said, light blue eyes turned upward at the sky. The arms wrapped tighter around her and she felt his head nestle into the crook between her shoulder and neck. His warm breath fanned out against her skin as a sigh of agreement. Akemi turned to him, her face warm and flushed from his closeness.
"I'm so glad I convinced you to come this year," she sighed happily. "Sasuke..." Akemi turned to face her dark-haired teammate. Their lips were just centimeters away from one another...
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
Akemi Hato woke with a loud gasp, her face and hands cold and clammy. What the hell was that? The Summer Solstice wasn't for months, and Sasuke? Sasuke of all people? Akemi shook her head. What the hell was wrong with her subconscious? Her and Sasuke? A shudder wracked up her spine. It was then that the kunoichi noticed her radio alarm was still on.
"-and it looks like a lovely Valentine's day morning for Konoha, with sunny skies and a high of 78 and a low of 66, I'm sure that our couples will have an exc-" SLAM
Akemi's hand landed on top of the alarm clock with a thud and forced it into silence. She sighed and rubbed her hands with her face. Maybe she was just lonely. She looked outside to the sunny skies and heard the sound of children playing and birds chirping. Akemi shook her head with a laugh. She was getting all worked up for nothing. Her and Sasuke? As if.
And that's that for the shitty Omake that I literally just spouted out. Now here we are with your translations and definitions!
Dobe- Our lovely little Avenger's less than polite term for Naruto. It means dead last.
Yosh- Alright! Usually used as part of an exclamation of excitement. i.e. 'Yosh! I just got promoted to chuunin!' 'All right! I just got promoted to chuunin!'
Until next time, Morria :)