4 Taiki's Obsession, Kotori's Crusade

One Girl's Stand Against Perversion

"Now that I've had all of you together for a week, it's come time for me to test you as a team to see if you are truly worthy of the title of genin, or if you need more instruction. You" – Takeshi pointed at Naeko - "may have passed this test already with your old cell, but you're under my leadership now. No complaints, got it?" A sulky nod from Naeko, and Takeshi moved on to Kotori. "And I know you think you're hot stuff and that you don't need this either, to which I will only tell you to shut it until I'm done with you. Clear?" Kotori shrugged, and with a sigh the jounin completed his lecture by facing the grinning Taiki. "And what the hell is so funny? You're no better than either one of them, I can tell you that right now." Waiting for a moment to let this sink in, Takeshi then nodded decisively. "Since I have no doubt of your skills, this will primarily be a test of observation."

"Observation?" Naeko laughed in astonishment. "That's a piece of cake! I thought you were going to have us do something hard, like steal a bell off of you or something - "

Her words were abruptly cut off by a slicing hand gesture. "No comments from you either. When I say observation, I mean that you three are going to be observed not only by myself but by others whom I've selected to assist. If you behave like you should, there will be no problem. However, if you behave like I think you will…"

"In other words, act like a shinobi if you expect to be treated like one," Kotori summarized, digging some dirt out from under one fingernail using another and not meeting her uncle's eye. "Act like a child, and be treated like one as well."

A flat stare from the jounin that normally would have made any other student flinch merely bounced off of the girl like a small, ineffectually thrown rock. Shaking his head and sighing, Takeshi muttered, "I can already tell how well this is going to go… Anyway, the test will last for the next twenty-four hours, starting now. I'm not even going to wish you good luck." In what had become his signature exit, Takeshi vanished, and Kotori noticed that this time even she could not sense his invisible movement.

"So what's on the slate?" Taiki wondered, looking at the two girls curiously.

"Well, I'd say we - " Kotori began, but was interrupted by the other female member of the cell.

"You're coming with me to get some lunch," Naeko announced, making a face at the glaring Kotori as she hooked Taiki by the arm and began to drag him off.

"Err, this is a team exercise," the boy stuttered, glancing back over his shoulder at Kotori, who was rolling her eyes at the duo. "So Kotori's coming with us too."

"I guess you're right." It was Naeko's turn to sigh. "Come on, Kotori."

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Kotori was all eyes and ears, the epitome of watchful alertness as the group made its way to the ramen shop. They could be anyone, anywhere, and those two are acting like they're on a picnic. As she continued walking, she suddenly heard silence from the pair behind her and she stopped to see what had happened. Turning around, she grimaced to see that Taiki had paused in front of a store window and was giving careful consideration not to the items within, but to his own reflection as Naeko gazed on adoringly. Her grimace deepened as Taiki reached into a pocket, pulled out a small comb, and began to run it through his long, dark locks. "Good lord, Naeko," Kotori muttered aloud. "Get a towel, you're drooling."

This comment had little to no effect on Naeko, who continued her rapt observation of Taiki and squealed, "Oh my god, Tai-kun, what do you use in your hair?"

Before Taiki could answer, Kotori hissed, "Bird droppings," getting the desired "Eeeew, gross!" from Naeko, but an entirely different reaction from Taiki.

The boy merely blinked at this and wondered, "However did you guess? Do you use them too?" to which Kotori merely shuddered and looked away. "Of course, I should have guessed. How else do you get your hair so glossy and… touchable?"

An icy stare from Kotori. "Wouldn't you like to know." Taiki merely shrugged, re-pocketed the comb, and flicked his mane back over his shoulder with an exaggerated gesture. Almost as if in response to this, a light breeze wafted past the trio and flirted with the edges of Taiki's hair, and for a brief moment Kotori wondered if she was hallucinating. Are those… cherry blossoms? Her absorption with this floral phenomenon was diverted, though, by the sight of Naeko clutching her nose and turning away, but not before both Kotori and Taiki saw the blood trickling over her fingers. "Do you need a medic, Naeko?" A muffled "Nuh-uh" answered this, and Kotori shrugged. "Fine. On to lunch, then? And promise me that you won't stop in front of every window, Taiki?"

"Aww, why not? Gotta make sure I look good."

"Not every five seconds, you don't." Kotori sighed and grumbled, "Not only is he an idiot, but he's vain too…"

"Hey, better to be vain than a human icicle," Taiki retorted with his earlier grin making a fresh appearance.

"It's not just that," stage-whispered Naeko, who had since recovered. "The Ice Princess here lusts after older men."

"Is that so?" Taiki asked, intrigued. "Tell me more."

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Upon reaching the restaurant, Naeko corralled Taiki on the far-right seat at the counter, sandwiching him in between her and the wall and effectively preventing escape. As she sat, she grinned triumphantly at Kotori, who gave her a blank look and muttered "Pathetic" before ordering her usual from the waitress. Glancing back over at Naeko, Kotori pointed at part of the other girl's face and added, "Missed a spot." It was her turn to grin as Naeko frantically scrubbed at a nonexistent spot of blood, shaking her head as she watched. "Yep, pathetic." She then turned a deaf ear to the others' conversation and waited for her food to arrive, wondering what could possibly happen next that could be worse than anything previously occurring.

Soon after, her food arrived and Kotori began to eat, forgetting for a moment the stresses of the day as she enjoyed the flavors of the tempura soba. The enjoyment was disrupted by a growing itch in her sinus cavity, which then erupted in a mammoth sneeze that caused her to drop her chopsticks into her noodle bowl suddenly as she checked to see if her face was still attached. This drew an alarmed look of concern from Taiki, and the resurrection of the evil smirk on Naeko's face as she looked to the occupant of the seat next to Kotori. "Well, aren't you going to say something to him?" Naeko whispered in Kotori's ear, and would have said something else had she not received a sharp jab in the leg with the recovered chopsticks. With an injured pout, she turned her attention back to Taiki, but still could not repress a snicker as Kotori sneezed again.

Eyes watering, Kotori glanced over to see who was sitting next to her, and sneezed yet a third time when she realized that it was Kakashi leafing through one of his pink-covered novels. Feeling a fourth sneeze welling in her sinuses, Kotori slapped a hand across her face and hoped this would stop it, then noticed that the jounin had looked up from his reading and held out a handkerchief. "Thank you, Pervert-san," she muttered, taking the kerchief and blowing her nose.

Silence reigned for a moment more as the three genin continued their meal, Naeko intently watching Taiki eat, and the boy in turn shooting glances at Kotori, who remained in stony solitude. The only sound beyond this was the sudden snap of Kakashi closing the book, having come to the end of it with a thoughtful frown. He murmured a word to the waitress and got up from his seat, leaving the book in its place at the counter. Sensing a weakness in Naeko's concentration, Taiki bounced up from his seat and seized the book, furtively paging through it with a single-mindedness to rival that of the book's owner. What on earth does he find so fascinating about this… good god…

A few moments passed before Taiki realized that he was being stared with three different shades of emotion: puzzlement from Naeko, disdain from Kotori, and a light aura of impatience from the returned Kakashi. A few more moments passed before Taiki noticed the last of the three clearing their throat at him. He looked up curiously at the jounin and asked, "Is something the matter?"

"No, not really. I was just wondering when I could get my book back."

Taiki looked back down at the book for a moment, then back up at Kakashi. "Actually… I was wondering if I could… borrow it?" he ventured hopefully, painfully aware of the gimlet stare being given to him by Kotori. "Just because, you know, I've never seen anything like it before, and it's kinda… interesting, and I just want to see if I actually want to buy the rest of them… and, uh…"

"No." This one word came in two voices, one young and female and the other older and male, but both audibly irritated. "Now give it back," Kakashi added. "I'm already late."

At this point in time, two trains of thought ran parallel in Taiki's mind. One directed him to surrender the book gracefully with an appropriate apology, effectively ending the tense scenario at hand. However, this was drowned out by a louder voice – the voice of teenage male pride – commanding him to protect this new-found asset at all costs, even to the embarrassment of his teammates, whom he could feel blushing behind him even though his back was turned. Not surprisingly, he found himself agreeing more and more with the louder, more insistent train of thought, and it was in accordance with this that he found himself clutching the book to his chest and glaring defiantly up at the jounin. "I just want to borrow it," Taiki growled. "I'm not going to keep it."

Kakashi's one visible eye could be seen rolling in disgust. "That's what they all say," he grumbled. "Now give it."

"Don't be an idiot, idiot," Kotori hissed in Taiki's ear, making him flinch briefly but still failing to convince him. "Give it back to him."

"No," he repeated, glaring back over his shoulder at her. "I just want to borrow it. It's not that big of a deal."

Naeko had been silent up until now, but decided to voice her opinion in support of her male teammate. "He's right, Tori-chan, it's not that big of a deal." She looked up at Kakashi and added, "Besides, weren't you done with it in the first place?"

Giving the girl a withering look, Kakashi replied, "That's not the point. I'm not a lending library, especially not for these books. And now I'm going to be late because of it." During this exchange, Taiki had begun to edge towards the door and would have made it outside had an expertly-thrown kunai not pinned his jacket to the door frame. "I'll make you a deal. If you and your teammates can stop me from taking it back from you, then you can keep it. And who knows, if you work well, I might put in a good word for you with your teacher…" his voice dropped into a mutter as he added, "because heavens know you are going to need it."

"One request for you," interjected a new voice, that of the restaurant owner. "If you do insist on fighting, please take it outside…"

Nodding decisively, Taiki took this as his cue to slip out of his jacket and dash out of the establishment, a visibly fuming Kotori and dreamily sighing Naeko hot on his heels, the first yelling as she ran, "Look at what you've gotten us into, you idiot!" while the latter cheered, "I know you can do it, Tai-kun! Give it your best!"

The three continued on down the street in an unheeding headlong run, stopping to catch their breath in an alleyway in between two rows of stores. All was quiet for a few seconds until a voice behind Taiki said, "Bad idea."

Taiki's eyes widened briefly in shock as he realized what had happened. He was following us all along! In a sudden flash of inspiration, he – or something that appeared to be him – tossed the book to Kotori, whose face twitched in an almost-sneeze as she hastily passed the offensive material over to Naeko. Naeko clutched the book to her chest and announced, dashing off with Kotori in tow, "I'll protect this with my love, Tai-kun!"

This sentimental pronouncement made the gorge rise in Kotori's throat as they sprinted, and she gulped the bile back with a sour expression, yelling at her teammate, "We're actually on a job here, Naeko, not just playing around!"

"Well, Tori-chan, who says that work can't be fun?" was Naeko's ready response, making a face at Kotori who simply scowled in return.

The two only slowed down long enough to check on what was going on behind them, and skidded to a halt when they saw that Kakashi had snared Taiki and now held one of his kunai to the genin's throat. "You're out of the fight," the jounin remarked in a surprisingly calm tone. "Now give it back, you've lost."

"You know what?" said Taiki with his trademark grin, "It's too bad you should say that. It was just getting interesting." There was then a brilliant flash of light, accompanied by a loud zot and Kakashi's muffled oath as what was actually a skillfully crafted clone of the genin vanished in a flash of lightning. Kotori could not help but giggle a little bit at the slightly singed image the jounin presented, but wondered at the same time where the real Taiki had snuck off to. "Good," the boy's disembodied voice commented, "that buys us a few seconds of a lead. Let's not waste it." With another, less intense flash, the book in Naeko's grasp reformed itself into the much more recognizable form of Taiki, holding the real item in a death grip. Naeko squealed in delight at this and tried to hug him close again, but Taiki had already dashed off and left her snatching at empty air.

"That was a good tactic," Kotori muttered, smacking Naeko on the back of the cranium as she jogged off in pursuit of her teammate. "Don't go ruining it."

The chase continued in much the same vein as the trio darted through the village, avoiding several close encounters not only with their pursuer but also with dumbfounded innocent – or not-so-innocent – bystanders, and it was after about half-an-hour of intense activity that all three realized that they could not sustain this much longer. Coming up with an idea, Taiki gestured to another alley and shouted, "Get in there, Naeko. Kotori, I need you to slow him down for a few seconds while I get this ready. Don't ask any questions, just move!"

Naeko complied, vanishing into the dim recesses of the alley, and when Taiki looked up at Kotori again, he shivered slightly at the thin smile that stretched across her face: one that reminded him not of happiness but instead of a predator on the hunt. "Don't worry, Taiki," Kotori murmured, reaching a hand into a pocket and withdrawing a tightly-rolled scroll. "I think I can handle this." As Taiki passed, she noted in brief wonderment that a pair of phantom hands had appeared behind the boy and now performed a series of hand seals, but she shrugged it off as she unrolled the scroll and began mouthing words under her breath.

Almost as if on cue, Kakashi appeared and strolled towards them, eyeing Kotori with a faint cast of amusement. "I'm sure you've got some little trap laid here, but you've backed yourself into a corner that you can't get out of this time." Replying only with her cold smile, Kotori then withdrew her giant blade from the confines of the scroll. "Fine, we'll play this your way then."

The kunai flashed out again in a sure shot at the girl, but Kotori darted out of their path and swung the zanbatou, noticing suddenly the observing eyes on her as she moved. "Pervert," she hissed as she landed a few feet away, plotting her next move. Before either could prepare, though, the same pair of hands that Kotori had noted earlier now lifted her up and lightly tossed her out of the way, causing her to land with a disgusted noise in a malodorous pile of trash. Now that she was out of the way, the hands began to weave through the air around the jounin in an increasingly rapid pace, the temperature noticeably dropping and a cloud bank beginning to form. Slashing out at the hands, Kakashi failed to deflect them as he'd wished, only inflicting minor injuries, and blinked when he heard an eerily familiar chirping noise in the air around him.

The noise began to intensify, and Kotori and Naeko traded puzzled looks as they wondered what was going on. Through the fog, the girls heard Taiki saying, "Hey, you two, look at this!" They gasped as the hands began to heal themselves, and followed the voice upwards to where Taiki hovered in the air above the alley, hands outstretched. The chirping noise became almost unbearable, but still two words could be heard above the sound: "Shadow Lightning!"

"What the…" Kakashi muttered, also staring up at the boy. "I thought I was the only one…" He only had a split-second to dodge, though, as two brilliant points of light lanced down from the boy's hands, grazing the side of his face and scoring the headband and mask that he wore. Thrown by the force of his own attack, Taiki skidded along the alley, narrowly missing Kotori in the garbage pile and forcefully impacting with the side of one of the stores, resulting the wall crumbling and drowning the boy in a cascade of pink-covered novels. Kotori responded by virulently sneezing and giving her teammate a stare as foul as the stench that now emanated from her clothing.

Sighing, Kakashi moved to help the boy up from his awkward landing, but was blocked by a disheveled Naeko, brandishing her own kunai threateningly. "I'll protect my Tai-kun with my life!"

"That's nauseating, Naeko," Kotori grumbled, picking bits of refuse out of her hair and clothing.

"Not as bad as you, garbage-girl," Naeko crisply replied.

At this point, Kakashi noticed his mask and headband beginning to slip from where the lightning had grazed them, and he slapped a hand up to catch them from falling. "Regardless," he interjected, "this little game is over. You can keep the book, but you can also rest assured that Takeshi and myself will be having a long chat in the very near future. In the meantime, however, I think at least two people here need to be taking a bath." He waved his other hand in front of his face to clear the air a little bit. "By themselves. Is that clear?" This was met by silent nods from all three, and Kakashi concluded, "Also, Taiki, you and I will be having a discussion soon enough as well."