It was wet, damp, his toes were itchy, and above all it was cold. Not the usual kind of cold that happens in late October, but colder and more humid. His quiet splashes could be heard from deep inside the marsh, it was unavoidable.
Kiyoshi passed through the deep patches of water and soft hills of grass that contracted when he stepped on them. The nasty sound and various unpleasant feelings passed from his feet up through his mind, and the sounds could be heard by anyone within earshot, which was at this moment fifty meters. He halted when he saw a shadow rush past the reeds and fog in front of him; he then sharply turned his head to the left and managed to catch a glance of the shadow before it made another round.
Unsatisfied, he groaned and resumed his search. He clicked his headpiece and small static nearly blew out his eardrum. He flinched, waited for his hearing to come back to normal, and spoke, "Sector clear, report in team."
There was a lot of fuzz coming through his little gadget, but the words "Negative" and "Nothing here" managed to squeeze through the static.
One of the voices made him flinch, a female voice that he wasn't necessarily fond of, for the owner of the voice had kidnapped him a few days earlier. Ino spoke again, "I heard movement in the marsh. Are you alright?"
Kiyoshi mumbled something back; something that nobody who was listening could make out, but resembled something soothing like a sound that a drier makes when it doesn't clang with forgotten pocket-change.
"What was that?" asked the other teammate lazily, "I couldn't make that out..."
"I'm fine!" barked Kiyoshi so that his words would get through all the distortion. "Let's check the forest."
Naruto was sitting in the Hokage office and spending some well-deserved time on reading a history book. He had managed to somehow, against all logic and possibility, finish his fresh load of paperwork. Triumphantly, he smiled. He didn't activate any clones, and he didn't even wear his disguise of Tsunade. The history book was no longer something that represented hard work that should take a fair amount of seriousness, concentration, and effort, but it was something that resembled paradise to him.
Kiyoshi, covered in sludge, marsh, and dripping wet, casually strolled into the Hokage's office with a puppy in his hands.
"Oh Tsunade-sama..." he said in sing-song, "Look at what a good boy I've got here..." said Kiyoshi in a slightly annoying voice and started cuddling the happy little puppy.
Transforming into Tsunade was now a natural reaction to Naruto, much like breathing, or throwing something heavy at Sakura whenever she was in his sight. He glanced up from his book at Kiyoshi, then down at the puppy in the guy's hands. He then looked down at the wet carpet under Kiyoshi and sighed, "Who let you in here?"
Ino and Shikamaru walked in with towels over their shoulders, also dripping wet, but trying to dry themselves off. "Mission complete!" exclaimed Ino, making Kiyoshi flinch and drop the puppy.
The puppy fell to the ground, but landed on its feet. It then looked around the office and fixed its curious stare on Naruto. There was a scary snarl, not the kind that one would expect from a puppy that's barely two feet long, ears the size of wind country, and fur that could easily earn him the right to be named 'spot'.
"Not again..." though Naruto. He looked up at the two teens with towels, "You're dismissed."
"Hai," they said simultaneously, turned around, and walked out the door without a glance back at the puppy. They thought it was pretty natural for animals to dislike Tsunade's scary nature.
Naruto looked back down at the puppy. The rage in its eyes was unnatural. "Kiyoshi, this is a personal mission that I'm going to ask of you as a friend, and therefore I can not offer you any pay."
"But I can refuse?"
"Absolutely," agreed Naruto, "But I don't think you have anything better to do, and I would greatly appreciate if you'd help me out."
Kiyoshi gave off a short, light chuckle to indicate the fact that Naruto had a point. "I could go home and take a nice, warm bath... but what the hey, what do you need?"
"Thanks," smiled Naruto, "Can you figure out why all dogs hate me these days?"
Kiyoshi shrugged, "Canine competition?"
"I remember days when I could pet a small puppy without losing a limb."
Kiyoshi started laughing at the fact that the puppy was now trying to eat Naruto's foot. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks," said Naruto. He then gave Kiyoshi a small piece of paper with an address on it, "This is where the owner of this puppy lives. Give the address to Ino and tell her to inform the owner that we found their dog."
Kiyoshi started uneasily shifting from foot to foot, and looking in every direction but Naruto's. "Hokage..."
Naruto stopped his friend before he could complain, "Please, talk to her. She's my friend too, and I don't want any friction between you two."
"Naruto," said Kiyoshi, which was the first time he called Naruto by his true name while he was in Tsunade's form, "She kidnapped me and drugged me."
Naruto leaned over to him, "And since when do you, oh mighty Kiyoshi, have become afraid of humiliation?"
"Good point..."
Naruto turned back to his book, "I know it is. You're free to go, and thanks for helping me out."
Kiyoshi looked down at the small parchment of paper with scribbles on it, he couldn't believe he would have to talk to Ino again after such a short time after the unpleasant incident. Although he was used to torture, he didn't find talking to the torturers quite appealing. It was like trying to have a civil conversation with a man that had raped you moments ago. "See you later."
Kiyoshi walked down the steps, no longer thinking about confronting Ino, but confronting somebody else. He would have to get Kakashi's help if he was going to find the reason behind the dogs' behavior.
He stepped out of the building. Shikamaru, not too surprisingly, was nowhere in sight; he went home to relax. Kiyoshi saw the blonde girl leaning against a lamppost and looking at him with a not-so-cheery expression. He shuddered.
"Kiyoshi..."
He halted her speech by turning his head down and signaling 'stop' with his open palm. He then took out the piece of parchment with his free hand, handed it over to Ino, and started walking away.
"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Ino, running after Kiyoshi, "I don't know what came over me. You don't know me, but that was definitely something that I wouldn't do!"
Kiyoshi didn't stop, "Then you can't possibly make any less of an impression on me anymore. Leave me alone for now though, I have work to do."
Ino stopped chasing him and watched him walk away, "Fine! But be careful, something's going on in Konoha, something is out of place!"
Kiyoshi froze; he didn't notice it before. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Ino was right; something was definitely out of place. People weren't acting the way that they should have been. Even though change occurred, this was definitely out of the pattern. Change always happens in random segments that make things either better or worse, but lately everything had been going against people's trust. Hiashi kept attacking Hinata's friends, Naruto had stolen Kiyoshi's weights, and Ino had kidnapped him.
He sharply turned his head at Ino, as if he had realized something. "You're right."
Ino lifted an eyebrow in confusion, "About what?"
Kiyoshi shook his head, "I'll tell you later. That's the address to the puppy's owner, go there and tell them that we found the puppy."
Ino was confused, "Osu!"
Kiyoshi turned around and rushed off to Kakashi's den. "This might have something to do with the dogs..."
Kakashi was killing time. Strangely enough, he didn't kill it by reading, but decided to take a nap. His life had lost almost all meaning since no missions were issued in the past months, and the occasional lost pet didn't catch his attention, he simply left it as exercise for the other less experienced ninjas of Konoha.
The blond boy knocked on his door. There was no response. He knocked once again, Kakashi stirred a little bit. Kiyoshi decided to walk in without invitation. He opened the door, walked up to Kakashi and poked him. The next few moments took part in the world of instinct; Kakashi pulled a kunai out from under his pillow and attempted a slash at Kiyoshi's throat.
Kiyoshi turned his body to the right, but kept sight of Kakashi. He moved his trench coat off the left Kodachi with his left hand, and pulled the weapon with his right hand. The Kodachi slithered halfway out of its sheath, and the blunt part got in the way of Kakashi's attack.
The instantaneous motions snapped Kakashi out of sleep. He sharply looked up at the point of conflict between the two blades, then up at Kiyoshi. "What are you doing here?"
"There are dogs after Naruto."
"Again?"
"All the time."
Kakashi sat up and rubbed his eye. A few seconds passed before he realized something, "You're talking to me again?"
Kiyoshi sat down beside him, "I want to apologize."
"Did you have an intervention or something?"
Kiyoshi hid his eyes and smiled, "Yeah, the fault was my own," he started, almost as if he was planning out a speech to give to Kakashi. Then he opened his eyes and the smile faded, "I'm sorry I doubted your judgment, I had no right to question you."
"Even though my logic contradicted your feelings?" quizzed Kakashi
Kiyoshi sighed, "Yeah. It sucks that things ended as they did. But for once, I don't regret it."
Kakashi raised his eyebrows, "Why not?"
"Everything turned out for the better," replied Kiyoshi, "Things may not seem like it, but somehow I feel better."
"Hikari died, Kiyoshi," Kakashi reminded him, "She died!"
Kiyoshi looked up and realized that Kakashi didn't know about Hikari. "Well... yeah she did," Kiyoshi replied as if he's stating the obvious and irrelevant. "That's just another step in life, death."
Kakashi was starting to lose respect for the youth in front of him, "Of all people, Kiyoshi, you should be the most heartbroken."
Kiyoshi activated his blood-limit and looked around the room, "Hikari, I need you to show yourself once again."
There was an air of disappointment that filled the room. Kakashi was surprised to feel it, but he did never the less. He stared at Kiyoshi, as the blond unraveled the ribbons on his wrists and held them out at arm's length.
Kiyoshi then, with the ribbons in his hands, started forming a combination of seals that was unfamiliar to Kakashi; even some of the seals themselves were unfamiliar. A strong gust of wind appeared; not coming from any windows or doors, as they were all closed. But the air in the room started spiraling all by itself; snatching the ribbons from Kiyoshi's hands, and making them dance in the eye of the small tornado.
Kakashi wasn't sure whether he should stop Kiyoshi before his room became a total mess, or to let the teen explain himself. He chose the latter. He looked at the two jet-black ribbons as they started circulating something that resembled an invisible human form.
"Kiyoshi... is that..?"
"Hikari," nodded Kiyoshi, "If you want to talk to her, I'm afraid you'll have to do it through me."
"It's fine," came a soft whisper, blowing the door in with the wind it traveled on. "Today's nice and windy, I can spare a little strength."
Kakashi stared at the two ribbons in total awe, "Wh..."
The sweet whisper started up again, making the draft pick up several light items, "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Kiyoshi looked away from the ribbons back at Kakashi, and found the man's pale face quite amusing. "Are you alright?"
Kakashi was in a state of helplessness; he wasn't able to say a single word, he wasn't able to move, and he wasn't able to look away from the two dancing ribbons.
"Let me start you off," said Kiyoshi, "I... see..."
The wind lightened with joy, and soothed into a calm air movement. "I'm dead," said the voice again.
Kakashi's voice started up again, weakly working the sentence with one word at a time, "How... can... it... be..?"
Kiyoshi started to explain everything from beginning to end; making a good note of the unpleasant restrictions his relationship with Hikari had, along with the connections between them. He told of the several adventures he had with Hikari while they were away from Konoha. He told of the good people that died, the good people that lived, and the near-death experiences Kiyoshi himself had.
Kakashi sat and listened to the unbelievable stories, unable to grasp any of what was said to him; he felt like somebody with a camera would jump out of his closet and tell him that he'd fallen victim to a prank. A good three hours had passed, but Kakashi only got a vague picture of Kiyoshi and Hikari's situation.
Kakashi looked down at the floor; he didn't know the hardships he caused to Kiyoshi due to his mistrust of Hikari. "I'm sorry."
"About what?" asked Kiyoshi, not looking at the copy ninja, but up at his invisible girlfriend.
Kakashi got up and walked up to Hikari, "I'm sorry I didn't trust you. I made your lives this... this..." he couldn't find the word that would define their lives. Every word, 'unlivable, horrible, severed' would be absolutely untrue, yet at the same time he couldn't think of anything positive to say. 'Limited' was the only word that he could think of, but he knew very well just as they did, that their relationship was very limited from the very beginning.
"Our lives ended up as they did, and nothing could change that. We cannot forgive you," said Kiyoshi, "because there is nothing to forgive."
The wind started up again, playing with the curves of the room to create a musical representation of Hikari's voice, "You did what you had to do," she whispered, "But it's as Kiyoshi said, 'everything turned out for the better.'"
Kakashi didn't want to drop the conversation, but he didn't know what else to say. He saw Kiyoshi as heartbroken, and not even a reincarnated Hikari could wipe away his assumption.
The wind calmed down and the two ribbons settled in Kiyoshi's palm, "Let's get to business."
Kakashi looked at the boy for a moment, face frozen with an emotionless, blank look. The moment passed and he sighed, "Oi... you need to get your priorities straight."
"Later," replied Kiyoshi, "Right now we have to find out why the dogs are acting so violent around Naruto."
"Canine competition?" suggested Kakashi.
A/N: wow... it's been a while. To quote a friend of mine, "my homework load is the size of China, perhaps with Saudi Arabia added on to it," says it all.
I'm afraid I this post wasn't a turnaround in the progression of my fanfiction, I don't know when the next post will be; could be in three days, could be in three months, who knows. in the meanwhile, check out my music, I made a few new songs: "www . purevolume . c o m /aasilencer299" without the spaces or quotations.
I hope I get a good combination of free time and motive sometime soon.