34 Uncomfortable Silences

Coming to Terms with the Recent Past

A week had passed since the hammer of invasion had fallen on the Hidden Leaf Village, its citizens doing their best to bring their wounded home back to life even as they struggled with the loss of their beloved leader as well as many others who had valiantly given their lives in defense of their home. Each survivor dealt with the aftermath in their own way, some opening up to the support of friends and colleagues while others soldiered on in silence, and Takeshi was no different than any other member of the latter group. Other than leaving for memorial services and occasional absences for private necessities, the jounin had become almost a permanent fixture in the Konoha hospital, lurking in vulturelike gloom as he kept vigil over the unresponsive Taiki and Kotori.

After offering initial condolences, the hospital staff had learned to leave the man alone in his thoughts, and it was on the seventh day of such behavior that a new voice dared breach his wall of pensive silence."Ah, Takeshi-san, there you are!" The calling voice pulled Takeshi out of his light doze and he looked around to see who hailed him. Recognizing one of the chuunin proctors from the Academy, he hauled himself upright in his seat and attempted to look at least half-lucid. "I should have figured you'd be here with your students. How are they doing?"

The jounin shrugged. "All right, I guess. One's asleep and refuses to wake up, and the other… we're still trying to figure out what's wrong with him." Takeshi knuckled sleep grit out of his eyes and gave his colleague a curious look. "So what brings you out here?"

"Oh, that." Pulling a scroll from within his vest, the proctor handed it over to Takeshi with a rueful smile. "This is an official decree from the village advisory council, and one of the few pieces of good news you may get in the near future. I was told to give it to you immediately, so here I am."

Takeshi accepted the scroll and held it unopened for a moment, unsure if he wanted to read its contents or not. "Thank you. Send my best wishes back to the folks at the Academy, and if there's anything they need help with, have them give me a whistle." The proctor nodded once and then vanished, leaving Takeshi alone with his thoughts and his two unconscious students. "An official decree from the advisory council, huh? Must be pretty important, considering they're probably in up to their ears now that the Third isn't with us anymore."

A brief cloud of gloom passed over his mind at that thought, and with this grim mindset he unsealed the scroll and opened it. Scanning over its contents once, he could only stare in amazement before re-reading them and pinching himself to make sure that he wasn't still asleep and dreaming. "Hah! I would have loved to see the look on Ibiki's face when he heard about this one! 'Official protests to this decision have gone on record,' indeed…" A second piece of paper fluttered loose, and Takeshi quickly grabbed for it before it could touch the floor. Reading it, he snorted derisively and replaced it within the scroll for safekeeping and would have fallen asleep again had a faint noise from one of the hospital beds not caught his attention.

Coughing weakly, Kotori attempted to sit up and failed, falling back on her pillow with a disgusted grumble. "What the hell is all of this, Uncle? I feel like I've been through a meat grinder."

"And you looked like it when you first came in here, once we finally pried you and Taiki apart," Takeshi answered, feeling a small pang of relief at this favorable turn of events. "That was one fight I was glad I wasn't a part of. Come to think of it, I've never seen you that far gone, and it was pretty frightening…" He shook his head, glanced down at the scroll, and then tossed it to Kotori. "Read this. It's the decision of the village council concerning our team's actions during the invasion."

Kotori gave her uncle a dubious look and then gave the scroll her full scrutiny. "Because of political considerations as well as demonstrated skill level, it is our choice that Yamada Taiki of Kumogakure be advanced to the rank of chuunin. Eyewitness reports and testimonies show that Yamataki Kotori of Konoha is worthy of promotion as well. Even though her complete abilities are as of yet unknown, her combat skills are noteworthy and have figured in our final judgment. Official protests to this decision have gone on record and were also factored in. This leaves us with the matter of Kurogata Naeko, and it is with regret that we cannot allow her to be advanced. Even though she has made remarkable progress, the time is not right for her to progress in rank. With increased power comes increased responsibility, and she has not demonstrated the requisite strength for such a privilege to be granted. Please understand that this choice was not easy to make; however, our best wishes are with her and the rest of your team in their continued endeavors. Congratulations are yours as well for your guidance of an exceptional group, and we look forward to utilizing your skills again in the future."

After she finished reading, Kotori set the scroll aside with a look of stunned wonderment. "We could have torn the village apart, and yet they chose to reward us with promotion?"

Takeshi chuckled. "Face it, Kotori, you and Taiki have a lot of people scared. That's not something to sneeze at."

"But what about Naeko?" the girl protested, frowning. "I saw some of what she can do. She doesn't deserve to be held back."

"Read the note. I think it may have something to do with the 'official protests'."

Kotori did as was directed, frown deepening as she read aloud the words scratched out on the loose piece of paper. "Takeshi – Your lucky streak continues to amaze me, as you again have fallen into the proverbial shitpile and come out smelling like roses. Where to begin? Let's just say that your group of misfits has come out looking pretty good, in spite of my attempts to get the Council to think sensibly. The pretty boy has issues, and even I don't have words for that little fireball from Mist. I can only hope that this is a pathetic attempt by the Council to keep two loose cannons somewhat in line, because to say that I have my doubts would be understating the matter. As for the last one, she's flakier than a box of breakfast cereal. At least they took me seriously about her and decided to hold her back because she'd do as much damage as the other two at this point if only through sheer indecisiveness. Tell her to get her act together and she just might make it. Regards – Morino Ibiki."

Seeing Kotori's expression turn into something ugly, Takeshi held up a hand to forestall any outbursts. "I know, I know, not what you wanted to hear. Trust me, I wasn't entirely thrilled either, but he's never been known for tact and quite frankly I'd really rather not press the issue with him. Just let it slide, because that's what I'm doing." A low, dry laugh from the entry then snapped both Takeshi and Kotori away from their current debate, and they both stared openly at the man whose thick build combined with height seemed to take up almost the entire doorframe. Takeshi's demeanor slid from shock to confusion to hastily-applied respect as he sputtered, "Master Satoshi! What are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on you… punk." Satoshi gave the younger jounin a comradely punch on the upper arm, causing Takeshi to wince in muted pain. "Ah, grow up. Don't tell me that actually hurt, did it?"

"Somewhat," Takeshi muttered, rubbing the sore area and giving the other man a dark glare. "I got scratched up a little bit during the fight, Sensei, and you managed to hit me right in the same spot."

"So you're not only still a punk, but you're a wuss also. Why am I not surprised?" All outward appearances showed Satoshi to be serious, but a small mischievous glint in his eye betrayed other intentions to Kotori's curious gaze. "Anyway, how goes it?"

"Fine, I guess," Kotori muttered when her uncle gave no answer. "You were his teacher, Satoshi-san?"

"One of the only reasons this one turned out even halfway decent, instead of a good-for-nothing lowlife skirt-chaser," was the reply, calm in spite of the venomous look given by a still-sulking Takeshi. "In fact, I taught him and your dad everything they needed to know. I hate to say this, but I lost one of my best students when Katsuo died. As for this one…" Satoshi shot a skeptical glance back over his shoulder and shrugged. "The jury's still out. Now as for you, well…"

The retired jounin gave his former student a surreptitious kick in the shin, a none-too-subtle hint for him to move that Takeshi obeyed with a grumble. Satoshi then sat down in the vacated seat and gave Kotori a thoughtful lookover once more. "The last time I saw you, you weren't very big. In fact, you were two days old – freshly hatched, as it were – and you cried a lot. Nice to know you've ditched the habit." He snickered at his own wit, then continued in a more serious vein. "Katsuo had big plans for you, and although I'm sure none of this was a part of it - " Takeshi let loose a sharp bark of laughter at this comment but was silenced by a reproving gesture from his mentor. "Quiet, punk."

"Why do you insist on calling me that?" Takeshi grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Because you are one," the other two occupants of the room replied in unison, Satoshi shooting Kotori an approving grin. "I like you, Kotori," the older man said with a laugh. "Nice to see that he hasn't corrupted you overmuch. But like I was saying, Katsuo had big plans for you, and even though things haven't turned out exactly like he envisioned, I'm sure he'd be proud of you now. You've done good, kid, now keep it up."

Kotori could not help but smile at the antics between teacher and student, but her face fell when her mind returned to current events. "How's Naeko doing, Satoshi-san? Hopefully she's holding out after everything that's happened."

Satoshi likewise grew serious and shook his head ruefully. "She's fine physically, nothing worse than a few scratches here and there, and her hearing's a bit off from being too close to one of the traps when it went off. I really need to teach her a few things about those tags before she uses them again." At a prompting look from Kotori, he sighed and continued, "Mentally, she's worse off than before. She's never had to kill anyone before and it's really gone to her head… With the way she's acting now, I'm not surprised that she wasn't promoted. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thank you." Pausing to think for a moment, Kotori then added, "When I'm not feeling like yesterday's leftovers, I'll stop by and see how she's doing."

"That would be a good idea - " Satoshi's reply was cut short by a sudden outburst from the fourth occupant of the room, who had only just now returned to consciousness and now glared at each of the others with murderous intent. His growled words were unintelligible to all but Kotori, the cat-demon once again providing translation of the demonic tongue which the girl chose not to repeat. "What the hell? Did he get knocked in the head or something?"

"I almost wish I could say so," Takeshi muttered, tensing for action in case his student tried anything strange, "but I wouldn't be telling the truth. It has to be one of the freakiest bloodlines I've ever seen. He's got this connection to the Death God, and it's got everyone baffled."

"And he almost splattered me across the landscape," Kotori added, shivering at the darkness that now ate away at a corner of her mind. "Trust me, not pretty."

"And you don't have him locked up, or at least tied down?" Satoshi frowned, reaching for his waist pouch and pulling out a spool of the dark, thick thread he'd used with such lethal effect earlier as well as a small pair of scissors. "This'll only take a minute, and it's for his own good." Before either of the others could protest, Satoshi had moved to Taiki's bedside and quickly tethered the youth to the bedframe with loops of the mysterious thread, one for each wrist and ankle as well as bands across chest and waist. He then spoke a word too low to hear and lightly tapped each bond with a hand, the thread glowing briefly before returning to its original color. "Now he won't budge until I let him." With an air of satisfaction, the older man then returned to his seat and waited to see what would happen next.

Taiki thrashed against his restraints, screaming dark words at the top of his lungs, but true to Satoshi's words the bonds held. "He says he'll kill you once he gets free," Kotori reported in a faint voice, blood draining from her face as the demon relayed the possessed youth's speech. "But first he'll cut you apart and… eat your liver… lightly cooked in a delicate sauce. Then he'll kill you… and harvest your soul."

This merited an alarmed glance from Takeshi. "And how do you know this?"

"The demon's translating." Kotori then clapped a hand to her mouth to restrain nausea, hissing through her teeth, "And he'll use your skull as a cooking pot, Uncle. Brain stew is apparently one of his favorites."

An unwholesome grin crossed the young man's face as he turned his head to consider his teammate, his words softer but no less frightening when he opened his mouth to speak again. And don't even think about the different ways I'd like to eat you, girl, the Nekomata supplied with the impression of a wince.

Kotori's expression needed no translation as she forced herself out of bed, embarrassed reds lighting her face as she lurched over to Taiki's bedside. Her fist may only have hit with a fraction of her normal strength, but all could hear something crack in Taiki's jaw under the impact of righteous anger. "Pervert!" the girl growled, raising her hand for another strike if needed.

Such action was forestalled by words from Satoshi, shaking his head with a small knowing grin. "Enough, kid. I think you broke his jaw, and now I'd suggest you return to bed before you fall over. Unless, of course, you'd rather share his?" The redhead let out an alarmed squeak at this perceptive comment and returned to her own place of rest, blushing furiously and glaring up at the ceiling with a silent prayer that her uncle would not choose to inquire. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much," the older man rumbled in amusement, rising from his seat and moving to Taiki's bedside again. "Nonetheless, I don't think he'll be much of a problem from now on." With a further chuckle he released the bonds of earlier, putting the severed threads back in with the spool they'd come from. "All right, lady and gents, it's time for me to get back home. Take care of yourselves…"

With a casual wave, Satoshi meandered back out of the room and left the three to their own devices. Takeshi wasted no time in shutting the door behind his former teacher and then turned a furious glare of inquisition upon Taiki and Kotori. "All right, you two, spill. What is going on with you?"

"Nothing, Uncle," Kotori replied, trading looks with Taiki who lay back massaging his face with a pained expression. "And I would suggest you refrain from accusation until you have evidence that something actually is happening."

"Heard and noted." Takeshi gave the two one last gimlet stare before likewise turning to leave. "But I'd hardly need to remind you of the consequences if I do… do I?"

"Hardly." Both Taiki and Kotori watched their teacher exit before letting out a unified, relieved sigh. And hopefully nothing like that will ever happen again, right? the girl muttered to her demon who in turn refused to reply.