Their Thoughts
Confusing Arrival
Kakashi struggled with the hand that was choking him. He did a quick maneuver that placed him behind his attacker. His attacker spun around with a kunai, but missed Kakashi as he jumped back.
The attacker was a fifteen or sixteen year old boy. (Anyone younger than eighteen was a boy in Kakashi's eyes.) Where the head band should have been was instead a red ribbon tied around his forehead. He was wearing an ANBU outfit, complete with the tattoos, gloves and animal mask. His brown hair was as spiky as Naruto's, but slightly shorter.
"I'll say again, who are you people?"
"This town of the Mist has sent us here for a mission to protect. Here is the mission scroll." Kakashi handed it over, careful not to touch the boy's fingers. He quickly glanced at his team, who were still shocked at this sudden encounter.
It took a minute, but the boy sighed and looked up.
"It seems valid… but how did you get here… in this place of all places? All of you are still… not ready yet…"
Naruto yelled, "What do you mean we're not ready yet?! We're full-fledged shinobi!"
"That's not what I- DAMN! KAITO, YOU ARE DEAD MEAT!"
The boy had screamed because a bulky bag had fallen off the roof of the place behind him and was now crushing him to death.
A second boy appeared over the roof. He was about fifteen years old. He had on a short-sleeved black shirt, dark blue pants with the shuriken holster and the regular ninja shoes. With the headband and sunglasses on, he seemed to be pretty normal.
He threw the bag off ANBU boy. "Sorry Taki-sempai…"
He suddenly seemed to notice the team. "Oh, hey Team 7! Sorry for our rudeness. Well, glad to see you all again. Follow me. We need the introductions."
As the boy grabbed his bag, Sakura motioned to Kakashi. "Sensei, should we go? This is too unnatural."
"This is the place Sakura… and we promised to stay for a week, so we should get used to it."
Meika whispered, "This is the first time we're meeting sunglasses boy and ANBU boy, right?"
Naruto spoke, "So what?"
"Why did that kid say '…glad to see you all again?'"
o0o0o0o0o0
The six of them ended up in a restaurant with their own private room. It was lit brightly. There were cushions to sit on and a place to put their shoes away.
Secretly, Meika was glad. Eating outside would probably end in disaster. Outside the private room, it was dimly lit, certain noises indicated that there had to be a dark room somewhere, and the people were staring at them as if they were delicacies that had to be eaten.
Creepy…
As the waitress came in, Meika distinctly rolled her eyes at the outfit. She had to be a prostitute, someone desperate for a boy (girl) friend, or that the restaurant owners were being pervy to young girls. The team looked slightly disturbed at the outfit too, except Kakashi was sneaking way too many looks at it.
Looking innocent, she stepped on top of his right foot and fluttered her eyes at him when he frowned. He gave a quick cough that sounded like a groan.
"So, what will you all have?"
"I'll try the catfish special." (Sakura)
"I'll have the beef ramen." (Kakashi)
"I'll have fish balls." (Meika)
"MISO RAMEN!" (Naruto...)
"We'll have the chef's specialty. Everyone needs the tea." (ANBU boy)
"Thank you. Your orders will be here in a minute."
When she left, ANBU boy said, "Um, can I say sorry about that thing before? I do have to watch out for strange ninjas since someone said nothing about you guys."
He gave sunglasses boy a harsh glare.
Then he took off his mask and looked at everyone with his grey eyes.
"You may all call me Taki. As you can guess, that is not my real name, only an alias. In fact, most of the people in this town will give you an assumed name. No, I can't really say why. It's a tradition to do so. However, with an assumed name, it shows that you're pretty much dead to the rest of the world."
Meika noticed the feeling of dread in her chest. How can someone be dead to the world? In fact, what did the people of this town do that would make them hide, use a fake name, conceal their abilities for any use? What crimes did they commit?
She studied the two boys in front of her. She planned to check the bingo book when she was in her room. Surly some S-ranked criminals had to be hiding here.
Sunglasses boy stirred from his seat and spoke, "I'm Kaito. Do you have questions?"
Naruto leaned forward. "Why weren't there people outside?"
"About half the population is pretty sensitive about the sun. The other half doesn't really care or they have protection. But don't worry, everyone always goes out at night for the festivities."
Before Naruto could say another word, Kaito added, "We're not like those creatures of the night legends that kids are often told about. We're normal people to an extent.
"However, let's get serious. I'm the person who sent you all here for a small annoyance that we've been having.
"As the mission scroll stated, wild animal-things have been in this area for many long years. They are called the Shadows. I believe that the nine demons had the misfortune of creating them from the darkness of endless wars and live animals. They look like black shadows, as suggested. They attack with no claws, teeth or weapons but are able to suffocate people and scratch them. Thankfully, that's the most they can do with their attacks.
"They've been traveling in groups recently, so they may be planning an attack. We're not that worried, but we still need you guys to stay here for a week. When the week is over, you can go."
Kakashi asked, "Anything special about them?"
"Nothing that's fancy. They do have the annoying ability to use blood."
"What, a kekkei genkai?"
"No, it's their little surprise technique. If they manage to get some of your blood, they will be able to take on your form in every way. Yes, they will look like you, know everything about you, what you can do; your fears… and they can perform your techniques. Thankfully, no one can truly be the same as the other person, but just don't let them have your blood and everyone will be safe.
"However, on kekkei genkai, they can't perform those. So, for example, if they take the blood of a Uchiha, they can perform the special fire techniques. However, they can't take on the appearance of the sharingan or perform those techniques unique to the sharingan. They'll either plaster on the appearance of the normal person's eyes or cover up the mistake in some way.
"As another person, you can't hide secrets from them. For some reason, with the blood, they're as smart as any of us. No, even smarter."
Meika leaned back. It was hard to absorb everything that had been told.
Creatures that manipulate blood?
She looked into Kakashi's eyes. He agreed with her.
This place defies all things logical.
o0o0o0o0o0
Mei-chan was on her hands and knees in shame or embarrassment. Her face couldn't be seen, but Kakashi had a feeling…
She sighed, "We have to spend a whole week in the same inn room?"
"Pretty much. But the room is bigger, there's a small balcony like all the other rooms, and the bathroom is much better."
"Kashi-koi, there's only one king-sized mattress."
"You have no right to add 'koi' to my name! Only my mother can do that. There's a lot of room on the mattress, so stop complaining."
"Whatever. It's your cutie nickname. I mean, you're so serious. Lighten up a little."
"I'm still the oldest one here."
"Sorry old fart, but I still think you need to lighten up. I'm taking the shower first."
yuyuyuyuyu
"Kakashi…"
"Yes, why aren't you sleeping?"
Meika moved until she was facing the darkened ceiling. "I kind of hoped you would have a girlfriend by the time I came back. However, I come back and what do I see? A pervert in a dank cave who reads perverted books to fuel his imagination."
"My, you chastised me so lightly. Are you becoming soft?"
She shook her head. "I don't get it. What happened?"
He moved around. "Rin-chan died. I lost my last teammate. I failed Obito. Minato-sensei died the year after her death. That's what happened."
She sucked in a deep breath and shook.
Losing your teammates and sensei gave a whirlwind of feelings to the lone survivor. Meika knew that whirlwind. She hadn't even been there when they died. She couldn't help but wish that the stupid nostalgia would leave her alone.
Kakashi must have the same wish as well.
He reached over and pulled her into a hug, allowing her to rest her head into his chest. His mind quickly picked out another lighter topic.
"Say, Mei-chan, remember that dumb game of "Spin the Bottle" during my twelfth birthday?"
"Oh yeah! Rin had to kiss Kenji, the geek. He was so timid he dropped his glasses and fainted."
"Poor Obito had a black eye where Yuki's nose hit him. God, she had such a sharp-looking nose."
"Three words- Enru and Hauruhi. They were a really great couple."
"One question- Do you remember our time in the closet?"
Meika blushed furiously in the darkness.
"No one knew about that little kiss on the cheek, right?"
"Kakashi, you licked my cheek before kissing! Was I a lollipop?"
He said nothing, but Meika felt his mouth nibbling her ear. She shook her head to get away, but he quickly moved her body to lie on top of his. Still blushing, she shivered as he gently pecked a kiss on her lips. The mask wasn't on.
"Well, a whole week in bed should be interesting, Mei-chan. I like it when you are blushing in the darkness."
o0o0o0o0o0
"Taki-sempai, I have to go to Konoha."
"What the hell? Why?"
"The death day is coming. It's tomorrow. I can't avoid it or I'll break tradition."
"Who's going to help me with the team, Kaito? I can't be left alone with them or I might turn into a monster."
"Sensei said he'll be keeping an eye on them until I get back."
"I thought he didn't want to be seen. I mean, one of his relatives is on that team."
"He'll be in disguise. I mean, why else do we have genjutsu?"
"Damn you, Kaito. As if you being the leader is bad enough…"
Disclaimer: Only Kishimoto can ever claim to be the creator.
This is a really long chapter, but I couldn't shorten it into two of them!
Oh yeah, I was listening to Boulevard of Broken Dreams sung by Utada Hikaru. It's not her song, but she does sing pretty well despite having to sing a boy's part.
If anyone bothers to read this, I'll be setting up a poll soon. (Yes, from Naruto.) If anyone's interested, help me choose who would win if...