Ah man, it's been almost a month... -bows head- but I've been having this very frustrating, very annoying and very irritating block...
--' the plot bunnies have deserted me... please come back!
anyway, school started too, and i have to pay attention to maths 'cause i don't want to have to re-re-do it, so... and there's always homework-- gah
we all know school sucks, and would the plot bunnies please come back?? please?? i'll even give cookies and candy --'
back on track, I hope everyone enjoys, and, please, PLEASE, let me know what you think and also what you'd like see happening on further chapters, it's starting to be hard to write without my beloved bunnies.
well, enough rambles!
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I'd be in Japan mingling with the author's of the awesome manga Bakuman. I just own the plot of the story!
ALso, PLEASE REVIEW!! (I'm so sad, I did a 16 pages chapter for my other fic, and i still don't have reviews for it -sniff-)
SO, PLEASE REVIEW, reviews make me happy and they make me want to write and update faster!!
WANTED: a beta-reader and my plot-bunnies back!!
ENJOY!!
Chapter 22
When had life ever been easy? Never, that's what probably anyone would reply.
--
Fay looked over his living room and wondered how his house had become something like a meeting base for many of the members of Akatsuki. But that wasn't what made him wonder, it was when and why had his house become such a meeting place, and to top it all, it was becoming, well, not awkward, but… strange, at the lack of other words.
On one side of the room, in one of the individual couches, looking quite relaxed, legs crossed, was Suigetsu, someone he had not actually been introduced to. Now how cool was that, you had guests, but you didn't even knew them. He blamed this on his Teme for a best friend (Deidara obviously).
Then, on the other side, were Hikari, he doubted Sakura, since he had heard Deidara call her that (though he kept playing along… for now), sitting next to Deidara. Now, that wasn't strange, they were quite the good friends, but Sakura, or Hikari, whatever, was glaring murderously at Suigetsu, who seemed to be ignoring, and Deidara was as far from her as he possibly could on the couch, snickering quietly. His distance could possibly mean he knew he was probably gonna get hit sometime, so the space was to evade.
But, honestly, Fay had absolutely no idea of how, why and when it had come to this…
Ok, so maybe he knew when (a few weeks ago) and why (because Sakura and Deidara were plotting something with Kisame, Kaorin and now Suigetsu), but How??
He looked over everyone and wondered, since all the plotters were here, where were Kaorin and Kisame? And since they were in a mood to meet, where were Jin, Kai and Ryo? Hey, and since they were at it, why not just gather the whole gang on his house? Note the sarcasm here.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and narrowed his eyes at all of them, they were in his house (apartment, whatever), plotting under his roof, he was the host and, fuck it all to hell, he wanted in on their little conspiracy thing. (He blamed his longing and urge to participate on their conspiracy or whatever they were plotting, once again, on Deidara, who had always initiated the pranks when they were kids.)
So, with that in mind, he decided that he desperately hated to be in the dark when something (big or not) was going on under his roof. And so he acted.
"I'm getting sick of this." He announced, his frustration and irritation showing on his words. Good thing they actually heard him and turned to him.
"Whatcha talkin' 'bout Dobe?" he narrowed his eyes at his best friend.
"Is everything ok, Fay-san?" he frowned and then glared at Suigetsu, who shut his mouth before even saying anything (he was sure the guy was going to throw one of his unnecessary comments).
"This, whatever it is, that's going on in here." He glared at his best friend, who was about to question him. "You guys all stay quiet while I'm around, and when I'm gone you start talking to each other. When I come back, you instantly shut up. I may be blond, but I'm not dumb or stupid." Sakura, or Hikari or whatever, was about to talk, but he resumed.
"It's obvious you." He looked pointedly at the pink haired female. "Deidara, Kaorin, Kisame and now even this guy over there. " he pointed at Suigetsu. "By the way, thanks for introducing him." He added sarcastically and then resumed.
"It's obvious you all are planning or plotting,or whatever, something." And his suspicions were confirmed when Deidara avoided his gaze, Suigetsu kept unusually quiet and the pink haired female looked down.
"I want in." 3 heads lifted abruptly at his statement. "Either that or I'll kick you all out." As he finished, Suigetsu glared at him, and Deidara and Sakura shared a look.
And since no one seemed to want to talk, Fay did.
"Let's start by clearing a few things up, Hikari isn't your real name, and I know I said I didn't care, but now I do, so, real name please." His cool demeanor was gone, and he, once again, blamed his jackass attitude on Deidara, because said blond was the one who had the jackass attitude most of the time.
The girl lifted her head, biting he lower lip, locked gazes with him, and then looked away, still biting her lower lip.
She sighed heavily and then leaned back on the couch.
"This sucks." She muttered, and Fay raised a brow when she turned her head to look at him once again.
"I'll answer your questions, just don't stand there like a broomstick." Now that was a very different way of talking than the way she usually did, but since she had created a different name, she had probably created a different personality.
Like she had asked, he sat down on the individual couch next to Suigetsu's, arms crossed, and the jackass attitude still present.
"My name's Haruno Sakura." She declared once he was sitting down. He nodded.
"The famous medic that disappeared 4 years ago." He stated, and Sakura huffed and crossed her arms.
"People don't even say everything." Was her mumble before she continued, now addressing him.
"I didn't disappear, I just, kinda quit as a kunoichi." He raised a brow and she explained. "To take care of my twins." Now, that was something that surprised him.
"Fair enough." He nodded and then frowned again. "Then why in hell are you here? And plotting with that teme over all." He pointed (rudely) at Deidara (who exclaimed an annoyed Hey!) and watched as she sighed before answering.
"Let's see…" she mumbled. "Let's keep this simple, since it's a long story." She faced him head on, making eye contact with him, and he saw a fierceness he didn't knew woman possessed. "Sasuke kidnapped my kids. I want them back." She paused to let the words settle.
"O-kay… keep going, I'm sure there's more to it." She nodded and rolled her eyes.
"He's an ass, that's that." She mumbled, and Suigetsu and Deidara both chuckled, covering it with coughs when she glared at them both.
"He doesn't know, since he did something only a complete dumbass would do, and didn't ask, but they're his, and I lied to everyone, convincing them they were someone else's." she looked guilty as she confessed that.
"And now I want to clear things up and let everyone know the truth." She lifted her hands.
"And that's it. Surprise!" her attempt at humor was ignored as he pondered on her words.
There was heavy silence for a few minutes, in which Sakura looked at him fearfully, Suigetsu stared at the ceiling and Deidara stared outside, trying not to think.
"And?" the 3 looked back at him, confusing written all over their faces.
"Then… um, what?" Sakura asked uncertainly. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes.
"And, what's the plan?" he asked, a grin settling on his face.
Suigetsu looked inquiringly at her, Deidara bit his lip, observing her as well, and Fay waited, a grin still on his face. As for Sakura she bit her lip, joined her hands, fidgeted with the hem of her top and looked down.
And silence settled once again…
Heavy silence…
A silence that made Fay's grin vanish into a worried frown.
There was no plan.
They didn't have a plan.
And, oh shit, that was bad.
A cool breeze entered the room through the open balcony window, making the beige curtains move in soft waves at it did.
"I have an idea!" everyone looked out to the balcony in shock, to see Ryo, wearing black pants and a baby blue t-shirt, sitting on the balcony rail, hands on either sides of him as he leaned back and looked at the sky.
He looked down, a relaxed grin on his features.
"Those kids are just too cute to not want them happy!!"
"You called Sasuke-sama?" there was the sound of papers being shifted, but aside from that, nothing.
The blond 22 year old stayed quiet, standing a few steps in front of the desk, and waited for his Leader to tell him why he had been summoned.
The sound of papers shifting and being put in a pile was heard, followed by the sound of papers being lifted from another pile.
"Hana, Jin, Kaorin and Kai are gone to get our future guests." The blond nodded, waiting for the information that would concern him.
"Deidara and Suigetsu are gone, probably in town." There was a pause in which papers were shifted. "Jugo is probably in town too." The blond standing shifted his weight to his right foot.
"Tobi and Kisame went to get a few things to the River country." The blond felt the point of this conversation was coming, so he just put his hands in his pockets.
"As for Ryo, he went to get the groceries and will probably go meet with Deidara and Suigetsu." The blond nodded, knowing next Leader would probably tell him his task.
"Yukizora is taking care of some paper work and I have to do that as well." There was a pause and papers being laid in the wooden desk.
The sound of a drawer opening followed by a hand taking a pen out of it, the drawer closing. A slight pause, followed by the sound of Leader signing the papers.
"You're taking care of the twins until further notice." A pause to put the papers in the 'done' pile of papers (quite smaller than the 'to do' pile of paperwork).
"Keep them entertained." He blond tilted his head slightly but nodded nonetheless.
"You're dismissed Ruki."
"Hai Sasuke-sama." With that the blond turned around and walked out the office.
The sound of the door quietly opening was heard, followed by the sound of the door closing with a soft click.
After a couple of seconds, the Leader behind the desk huffed, taking a new stack of papers to go through and sign for approval or not.
"Fuckin' godforsaken paperwork."
The thing about hiding yourself behind a jackass attitude is that, after you do, you can't just go back to your true self because too many people hate you and respect you for who they think you are.
--
Two sets of eyes blinked.
Once…
Twice…
Three times.
Two small kids, sitting on the bed near the pillows, stared at the door, heads tilted, one to the left, the other to the right.
They looked at each other, blinked and then stared back at the door again.
There was no cheer or nice words as they spoke for the first time.
"Where's Dei-nii-chan?" the blond at the door remained quiet, waiting and observing the small twins, trying to calculate his next actions.
"Why're you here?" they spoke at the same time, once again, and their tone was, at the lack of better word, cold.
So they didn't like him, huh?
Ruki took a few steps into the room, still having no idea of how to approach them, much less of how to entertain them, and looked around, looking for important details.
The room was simple, much like the others rooms of the base, and there weren't any personal things, only some clothes in the closet.
Golden eyes settled on the kids again, who were looking at him with a look that could seem made of ice taken from the deepest depths, and he mentally sighed, what was he going to do?
On further observation, he noticed the plushie the small girl seemed to never let go… he still wondered why leader had such a thing (clearly not made by himself), but didn't question it, everyone had their secrets and reminders of the past, something that connected them to something or someone special.
"We want Dei-nii-chan, so go away." They spoke together once again, and he found himself thinking they made a pretty tuned chorus.
He stayed standing by the foot of the bed, watching the small kids and wondering how he was going to do this.
So he decided on the first reasonably good idea that came to mind.
"Everyone else is busy." He paused slightly. "I'm the only one that can take care of you." The twins shared a look and then glared at him.
"Go away, we'll be fine alone." They were awfully coherent for 4 year olds.
"You two don't like me." He stated, and the twins frowned. "You probably have your reasons, but it's Leader's orders." The small twins narrowed their eyes at him.
"You're mean and boring and mean and we don't want you here." The twins whined. "Go away!!" and with that loud exclamation they turned their backs to him, arms crossed, as they faced their pillows.
Now this was going well. Joy! (note the sarcasm)
What did Deidara do?
Well, he fed them, played with them (which, Ruki noticed, allowed the other blond to goof around and be an idiot without anyone complaining because he was with the twins). Deidara also dressed them and… well, played with them.
Ruki sighed, what a nice job his was. (again, the sarcasm people)
Maybe food would work… hmmm, what did Deidara give them more often? Well… hm…
That's right, the blond morron gave them ramen, and they were always happy with it.
Maybe that would work… he honestly hoped so.
"How about ramen for lunch?" the twins glanced at him over their shoulders and then shared a look.
"Ramen?" they asked in chorus. Ruki nodded lightly. "But Sasu-nii-chan said we can't have ramen anymore."
Now that was good news for him, and it made a sly smile settle on his face.
"Sasuke-sama doesn't have to know, now does he?" he tilted his head as the twins stared at him, the ice cold stare gone.
"Really?" they chorused. He nodded again.
"Yatta!!" they cheered. "Ramen!! Ramen!! Ramen!!" they kept on cheering in a sing-song voice, jumping up and down on the bed.
"Round one – over.
Score - +1"
Now that was good.
"This is boring." Whine.
"Shut up Naruto." Ignored.
"Let's do something fun you guys."
"Just up you idiot." Seething.
"Aww, man." Whine. "Anything would do." Huff.
"Shut the fuck up already." Through gritted teeth.
"You guys are no fun." Turns around and pouts.
Unlike the expected childish attitude (that had been going on since early morning) there was—
Silence…
More silence…
Some more silence…
It was around 3 p.m. and the Hokage had suddenly gone quiet, suspiciously quiet.
"What's wrong Naruto-baka?" her call was ignored as the Hokage suddenly spoke, finger pointing rudely.
"Oh my fuckin' Kami!!" that made the other 5 of the group curious, and they turned around to face what, or who, Naruto was facing.
Silence…
More silence…
Some more silence…
"Oh shit." The other 5 spoke at the same time.
"Oh fuck! The Teme's blond!" the blond Hokage pronounced in his usual loud voice, still pointing rudely at the blond standing on the other side of the clearing. Needless to say, said blond was containing himself from aggressing a certain obnoxious blond.
Laughter was heard (loud laughter at that), coming closer as an orange haired male came out from the shadows of the trees, laughing hard, holding his sides with one arm and pointing at the blond new comer rudely.
"Oh shit man!" Kai couldn't even speak properly as he kept laughing.
"Got mistaken with Sasuke-sama did ya?" came a sly feminine voice as a light brown haired girl erupted behind the orange haired (still laughing) male. The girl was followed by another girl, this one being quiet and looking away from the blond (that looked a lot like Sasuke by the way).
"He got… and… Sasuke… Hana he got…" Kai couldn't even speak as he kept laughing, bits and parts of unfinished sentences making his speech irregular and incomprehensible.
"Who the hell are you guys??" Naruto (after a while of spacing out, much like everyone else) demanded in his obnoxious way.
Kai tried to speak, but ended up laughing harder and bending over even more, holding his sides, now with both arms.
As for Hana, she had joined Kai in the laughing, and since Jin was busy glaring at those two, Kaorin decided to actually do what they were supposed to do. She walked closer to them and bowed politely.
"I apologize for my team mates." She spoke calmly. "We will be your escorts back to Amegakure." She smiled nicely. "We hope everything will go well!"
Before the other party could say anything, a loud crash was heard.
All heads faced near the trees again, to see the other female laughing her ass off, Kai landing on his feet as the blond male held out his hand slightly forward, lightning still making his hand and lower arm glow blue with small rays.
The raven haired girl sighed and seemingly shrunk.
"Oy Teme, what was that for?" Kai yelled, pissed off. The blond smirked darkly.
"Come and see for yourself." He hissed, and Kai glared.
"Fuck off Jin." Kai proclaimed and lifted both his hands, showing only his middle fingers in Jin's direction, who clenched his free hand (which, by the way, was starting to glow blue with electricity as well).
The younger girl of the group lowered her head, covering her face in shame.
"I'm so sorry." She mumbled under her breath over and over again.
As for Hana, she was still laughing.
"Oh shit, is he a clone or something?" Naruto asked, looking back at his friends in inquiry. None could answer.
"Please excuse their behavior, Hokage-sama, Kazekage-sama." Kaorin apologized lowly, head still bent, hands still covering her face.
Naruto suddenly blinked, looked around, and then at the girl in front of him. He tilted his head and then looked at the scene with the 2 males.
"Oy, you 2 stop it." He yelled, and, surprisingly, the other 3 looked at him, Jin's lightning gone, Kai's hands back at his sides with no rude gestures, and Hana's laughter gone.
Naruto walked to the shrinking and embarrassed girl and put a hand over her head in a comforting gesture.
"Seriously, I don't care if you 2 fight or bicker or whatever, I've been there, but there's something you never do." The other 5 behind him were no longer staring, now observing their serious Hokage, his tone of voice wasn't obnoxious and he had that serious look on his eyes, telling everyone he was serious and not to mess around with.
"And what's that?" the blond was still pissed off and didn't care about manners, or at least that's what Ino thought.
Naruto shook his head.
"You don't embarrass your team mates if you can help it." He turned Kaorin so she faced him and took her hands away from her face.
"Now, what's your name? So I know what to call you." He grinned warmly at her, kindness emanating from him.
"I-I'm Kaorin." She spoke lowly, a pink blush starting to tint her cheeks. Naruto nodded and let go of her hands.
"I'm Naruto!!" he grinned and crossed his arms behind his head. "Now, can you tell me who your baka team mates are?" Kaorin nodded and joined her hands in front of her, fidgeting with the hem of her sky blue top.
"Um… She's Hana-san." She pointed lightly to the other girl, who was looking down in shame. "And, hm, he's Kai." Kai was also looking down in shame. Naruto nodded, looking at each individual as the girl spoke.
"And, um, he's Jin." She finished, and Jin was the only one that was standing with an arrogant attitude.
"Ok." Naruto looked at the 3 in front of him again and then raised a brow when his gaze stopped at Jin.
"Seriously, even the jackass attitude." He muttered under his breath. Ignoring the cold stare the blond was giving him (being in the same genin team as Sasuke did that to you), he turned to the other 2.
"Since Jin over there doesn't seem to give a shit about anything, and you do, go for a walk, and when you've cleared your head, come back and apologize to Kaorin-chan." Kai and Hana nodded and turned around, obeying. Naruto looked back at Jin.
"Even if you don't give a shit, the walk applies to you too, so go." Jin raised an eyebrow.
"Tch, as if I'd take orders from a moron." Naruto twitched, and Ino, Shikamaru and Tenten gulped.
"Naruto, keep it cool." The red haired Kazekage advised.
"Look here you punk." Naruto started, fingers twitching to form his trademark kage bushin, to be able to make his rasengan and shove it on Jin. "Either you go for a walk-" Jin scoffed and Naruto cut his speech short.
Kaorin seemed to be shrinking again.
"WHATCH IT YOU PUNK, I'M THE BLOODY HOKAGE SO YOU BETTER GO OR I'LL SHOVE A RASENGAN UP YOUR ASS." Naruto was seething, yelling. In short, he was pissed off, a lot.
Jin shrugged and turned around, walking away and disappearing in the shadows of the trees.
Once Naruto calmed down and turned around, he noticed the raven haired girl, and laughed nervously.
"Sorry 'bout that." He apologized, though Kaorin though he had nothing to apologize for, Jin did.
"Hey, how 'bout I introduce you to everyone!!" he cheered and took her wrist, dragging her to where his friends were.
As he did so, Kaorin found herself warmed by his kindness, a light pink blush covering her cheeks.
So?? how was it??
please let me know, your opinions matter a lot and help me improve!!
many of you probably noticed the improvement from the 1st chapter to now... and about 1st chapters, i think that, since my plot bunnies are being mean and deserted me, i'll just revise the first chapters (seriously, my grammar and writting style suck-- at least that's what i think now when i read it)
anyway, please review!! REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!
I could keep rambling, but my AN are always ust so, well, big... --'
Love you all my beloved readers!!
Kimi-chan!