Chapter 14: A son's love
A/N: This is a special chapter for Bakuto Masaki since it's his birthday this month! Thanks for helping me out with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7; I just own my oc's while Bakuto Masaki owns his.
Happy Birthday Bakuto!
Enjoy!
/
Mikomi could always tell when Bakuto was making something in the kitchen. Normally, the kitchen was off limits since everyone couldn't cook to save their own lives. But since Bakuto actually knew how to cook, that gave him rights to enter it.
She woke up to the smell of something cooking. It almost smelled sweet and made her mouth water a bit.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she slowly got out of bed and headed for downstairs. If Bakuto was making breakfast, then she wanted some. He may annoy the hell out of her, but she had to admit that he was a great cook.
She was hoping to see a lot of food on the table, but what she saw threw off.
Bakuto was busy making some type of pastry that had a jelly filling in them and placed them in a special bento box. He had a bit of powdered sugar on his face, but he didn't seem to care.
Mikomi watched as he added batter to this strange pan that had rings etched in it and put it in the oven.
It freaked her out when he saw how serious he looked as he was putting everything together.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked.
Bakuto jumped a little, but managed to give his rival a steady glare.
"You're up early" he said.
Mikomi shrugged and sat at the kitchen table.
"How can I sleep when someone is cooking" she said.
Bakuto didn't say anything and went back to making stuff.
"Well, none of this is for you, so don't try mooching off of me" he said.
"And make your own breakfast. I have to go somewhere"
Mikomi raised an eyebrow.
Where did he have to go at this early in the morning?
"And where do you have to go at this time?" she asked.
Bakuto gave her a stern glare.
"Mind your own business" he said.
Mikomi held her hands up in mock surrender.
"Fine, fine. Don't chew my head off" she said.
"I was just curious"
"Yeah, well your curiosity is going to get you in trouble one of these days" Bakuto retorted.
Mikomi didn't like that he was being snippy this morning, but she figured it was because it was so early in the day.
"Whatever, I'm going back to bed" she said.
She headed back to her room and plopped back on her bed.
She thought it was crazy to be up so early in the day anyway.
/
Bakuto was long gone after Mikomi woke up again. Wherever he had to go, he must have left right after she talked to him.
"He could have left a note saying when he would be back" she muttered.
Since he wasn't here to make breakfast, that meant she had to improvise and make cereal.
Grabbing a box of cocoa puffs, she sat at the kitchen table and poured herself a bowl.
"Nothing beats having a little chocolate in the morning"
Eating a spoonful of her cereal, she mulled over the chocolate taste that the boring breakfast provided.
No one was really around since everyone was busy on missions, so that meant she could enjoy a little peace and quiet. She didn't have any missions today, so she was going to enjoy the peace and quiet as long as she could.
However, that peace was shattered when she heard rapid footsteps coming down the stairs.
Yugito slid into the kitchen looking a little disheveled as if she just got out of bed. She searched the whole room before looking at Mikomi.
"Have you seen, Bakuto?" she asked frantically.
Mikomi shook her head as she let her spoon dangle from her mouth.
"Not since early this morning" she said.
"He was busy making something and saying he was going to be out for the day. He never said where it was or when he would be back. Why, do you need him?"
Yugito actually looked worried when she heard that.
"He left again then" she muttered.
Mikomi raised an eyebrow at that.
Again?
"What do you mean by 'again'?" she asked.
Yugito bit her lip nervously.
"Once a year, Bakuto suddenly just leaves and heads off to the outskirts of Kumogakure" she said.
"And every time he does, he always brings something that he makes with him and doesn't tell me where he's going. I always worry about him. He never tells me, even when I ask him and says that I shouldn't worry about it. I don't know why he acts so strange on this day, but I want to know so I can help him. I'm his girlfriend after all"
That surprised Mikomi greatly. She thought that Bakuto would tell Yugito everything since they were a couple. He never kept stuff from her. The fact that he would just go off without letting his girlfriend know made her curious.
"That doesn't sound right" she said.
"Let's go check this out"
Yugito looked surprised, but nervous at the same time.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea" she said.
"True, I am curious about where he's gone, but I want to respect his privacy"
Mikomi gave her a stern look.
"Yugito" she said.
"A good boyfriend doesn't keep anything from his girlfriend. If he loves you like I know he does, then he shouldn't be keeping stuff from you. I find it odd that he was acting weird today, so I want to know what's going on"
She gripped the cat Jinchuriki's shoulder.
"Are you just going to stay here and do nothing while your boyfriend is out at who knows where?" she asked.
Yugito thought about it for a second before she had a determined look in her eyes.
"Let's go" she said.
Mikomi smirked and got ready.
/
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Yugito asked.
Mikomi raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
Yugito looked at the village gates that they just went through.
"I thought you weren't allowed to leave the village without permission" she said.
"If you leave without saying anything, they might think you're a missing-nin and treat you as an enemy"
Mikomi snorted.
"Don't worry, I got I covered" she said.
"I made a deal with Rufus saying if he told Tsunade that he sent me to Gaia for a mission, then I would babysit Emily this weekend while he went out to dinner with Shizune. He may not look like it, but he knows how to make a deal"
Yugito laughed nervously at her friend's sly move.
"Well, I hope you're ready for a long walk, because Kumogakure is a long ways away" she said.
Mikomi patted the backpack that she filled with food and other necessities.
"I got it all covered" she said.
She looked at Zack and Enkidu.
"Alright you two. Start searching for Bakuto's scent"
Zack put his ears back in a pouting matter.
"But I don't wanna" he said.
"I thought I would be able to sleep in real later after coming back from a hard mission yesterday"
"You're just lazy" Enkidu replied.
Zack growled at him and showed off his teeth.
"Come on, you two" Mikomi said.
"If you do this, I'll get you that chew toy you were both eyeing at the store the other day"
Both wolves perked up at this.
"The one with the squeaker in it?" Zack asked hopefully.
Mikomi nodded.
"That's the one"
Zack and Enkidu immediately stuck their noses to the ground and started tracking Bakuto's scent.
"It's sad to see how simple minded they are" Mikomi said.
Yugito nodded.
"But they got the job done" she admitted.
They followed their canine friends as they searched for Bakuto.
/
They walked quite a distance after they left the village. The scenery changed from lots of trees to lots of rocks. It made the area kind of gloomy, but hey, that was Kumogakure for you.
"Why would Bakuto be out here?" Yugito wondered.
"I'm not sure, but knowing him, I'm sure he had his reasons" Mikomi said.
Zack sniffed the ground and followed Bakuto's scent up to a rock wall.
"This is where the scent ends" he said.
"You're nose must be off" Enkidu said.
"There's no way this his scent would stop at a wall"
"But it's true!" Zack insisted.
While the two wolves bickered, Mikomi and Yugito looked at the wall. They studied it a bit, noticing that it was a bit to 'clean' and 'nice' to be made naturally.
"It must be a trap door or something" Yugito said.
Mikomi ran her hand across the wall to see if she could find a button that was hidden or a latch that she could pull.
When she didn't find anything, she charged up a chakra filled punch to it and watched as it broke away. The wall behind it revealed an opening that lead to the other side.
"Let's go" she said.
They walked through and headed over to the other side. What they saw simply blew their mind away.
A field of white flowers spread across the land as far as the eye could see. Not a single bit of ground was left untouched by the beautiful flowers. In the center of the field, there stood a large tree with four smaller ones evenly spaced out around it and took the form of the points on a compass. It was s truly beautiful sight, but what amazed them was what was hanging from the trees. There hanging from the trees weren't just regular apples, but white apples. It was so rare and uncommon to see such things.
The sight of the apples stabbed Zack in the heart. They looked so much like the Dumapples that grew at Angeal's home.
Just thinking about his late mentor and friend tore his heart and made him hang his head.
Enkidu smacked his lips at the sight of the apples. He really didn't get to eat before they left, so seeing them made him really hungry.
Yugito gasped at the sight of the place. She had never seen anything to beautiful. It was no wonder why Bakuto would come here.
Mikomi took a step forward and scanned the area for said ninja. She thought the place was beautiful, but she wanted to know why he would come here all by himself and not tell Yugito about it.
"Where could that damn dragon be?" she asked herself.
A kunai came hurtling towards her from an unknown direction. Mikomi ducked and pulled out her sword in case an enemy came out.
"Show yourself!" she called.
She was greeted to an irritated Bakuto. The dragon host looked anything but pleased when he saw his rival.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
Mikomi scoffed and put her sword away.
"I could be asking you the same question" she said.
"Yugito was worried about you when you didn't tell her where you went, so we followed you. I thought a good boyfriend wouldn't keep any secrets from his girlfriend?"
Bakuto just gave her a stern look then looked at Yugito.
"Why did you follow me?"
Yugito bit her lip, but looked serious.
"Because I was worried about you!" she insisted.
"Every year, you just suddenly vanish for one day and you never tell me. What would have happened if you got hurt or if the Akatsuki got you? We wouldn't know where to find you. I know you want your privacy, and I respect that, but you could have told me where you were going so I would know where to find you if anything happened. We've been a couple for so long and you still don't even trust me"
"That's just lost you a point from the awesome boyfriend chart right there" Zack said.
"You're on thin ice now" Enkidu added.
"Oh, shut up" Bakuto said to them.
"Don't get snippy with us" Mikomi said.
"You could have told us where you were going and then none of this would have happened. We were just curious why you would suddenly vanish like that when you know it's dangerous with the Akatsuki running around"
Bakuto wore a stern looked on his face, but didn't look at them.
"I..had something that I needed to do" he said.
"That doesn't explain anything!" Mikomi insisted.
"Everyone has something to do, but what exactly did you have to do that you had to sneak out of Konoha and come out to this barren wasteland?"
Bakuto didn't say anything to that.
Instead, he simply walked off without even saying anything to them and headed towards the tree that was in the center of the field.
Mikomi was about to protest, but when she saw him nudge his head to follow them, she shut her mouth.
They slowly followed him to the tree until they reached it. There they saw a small grave standing near the foot of the tree reading Megumi Masaki on it.
"This is my mother's grave" Bakuto said slowly.
"This is the anniversary of when she passed away. I come here every year to visit her and pay my respects"
Everyone looked stunned and horrified at the same time. They never realized that he would sneak out of the village just so he could see his mother. It was very sweet of him.
Yugito slowly went up to him.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" she asked.
Bakuto looked away with a slight blush on his face.
"I didn't think you would want to hear my sappy story about wanting to go see my mom" he said.
"Plus it's…personal"
Yugito gave him a sympathetic look and pecked him on the cheek.
"Bakuto" she said.
"You could have told me. You should know by now that I support your devotion to your mother. It's really sweet of you. But you could have told me"
"Yeah, I'm sure your mother would love to have met your girlfriend" Mikomi pointed out.
Bakuto didn't say anything, but his blush deepened a little in embarrassment for not thinking that.
Zack smacked his lips when he saw the pastries that Bakuto made earlier on the grave. They smelled so good that it made his empty stomach rumble.
He leaned over to take a bite, but Mikomi bopped him on the nose.
"Don't eat a grave offering!" she snapped.
"If you do, you'll be punished by the gods!"
"But I'm hungry" Zack whined.
Just then everyone else's stomachs rumbled.
"I guess we worked up an appetite" Yugito said.
Mikomi sighed and sat on the ground to go through her backpack.
"Good think I brought us some food" she said.
A tick mark appeared on Bakuto's forehead.
"Don't eat at my mom's grave!" he snapped.
Yugito gave him an apologetic look.
"But we're really hungry" she said.
"We promise we won't make a mess"
Mikomi pulled out a few canned teas and tossed one to Bakuto.
"Besides, I'm sure your mother would love to meet your girlfriend and friends" she said.
Bakuto didn't say anything as he watched his rival pull out a container full of rice balls. And another one full of random food.
He sighed and sat on the small picnic blanket that covered the ground and opened his tea.
"You get any food on this place and I'll bury you in the desert" he warned.
Mikomi gave him a mock salute and handed him a rice ball.
"As if I would defile a grave" she said.
Bakuto just grunted and munched on his food.
Zack scarfed down at least three rice balls before he looked at the offerings that were on the grave. He had never seen anything like it before, so he was curious.
"So what exactly did you make?" he asked.
"They smell really good, but I don't know what they are"
Bakuto looked at his mother's grave for a moment, then closed his eyes.
"They're jelly filled doughnuts" he said.
"They were my mom's favorite. She would always make them with white apple jelly. Nobody could make them as good as she did. White apples are so hard to find that you're lucky if you only found one"
Everyone marveled at the sight of the white apple trees.
"They really are beautiful" Mikomi admitted.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything like them"
"I have" Zack admitted sadly.
"Back in Gaia. My old mentor, Angeal lived in a place where white apples would grow. He called them Dumapples because they grew at random times in the season. They were really good, but you can't find them anymore thanks to the mako energy that covers the planet"
His ears went back sadly.
"I really miss him" he said.
Everyone gave the wolf a sad stare. They knew how much he missed his mentor and friend.
Bakuto pulled out a small container containing extra jelly filled doughnuts and handed one to him.
"Here" he said.
"See how this worlds version of white apples taste in comparison to yours"
Zack's face lit up at that and he happily took the doughnut from him.
His tail waged as he tasted the sweet sensation of white apples.
"Now that it what I call good" he said.
Bakuto smirked.
"I'm glad you're enjoying it" he said.
He looked at the rest of the doughnuts in the container, then handed them out to the others.
"Might as well let you guys eat them since you're here" he said.
"Don't want to let it go to waste"
Everyone accepted the doughnuts and took a bite. The taste the they experienced when it hit their tongues sent them into heaven. They had never tasted anything so good or sweet in their life. Even chocolate couldn't compete with the taste of white apple jelly.
"God damn! This is some good shit!" Enkidu said as he swallowed his doughnut.
Yugito nodded as she finished off her doughnut.
"These are amazing, Bakuto" she said.
Mikomi nodded in agreement.
"I can see where you got your sense of taste now" she said.
Bakuto didn't say anything, but nodded, showing he accepted the compliments.
He looked at his mother's gave with a sad look in his eyes.
"I just wish she was here to have them" he said.
"She never got to taste mine before she died"
Mikomi gave him a sympathetic look and patted him on the shoulder.
"Maybe she doesn't have to" she said.
"After seeing all of her son's friends enjoying the special treat he made for her, I'm sure she can just sense how good they are. You don't need to see something to experience it"
Bakuto blinked for a moment before closing his eyes and smirking a little.
"I guess you're right for once" he said.
A tick mark appeared on Mikomi's forehead when she heard that, but she didn't say anything.
For the rest of the day, the five of them talked and ate their little meal together while they paid their respects to Bakuto's mother.
By the time that it was sunset, they started heading back to the village.
"I actually had fun" Mikomi said.
"Who knew that paying your respects to the fallen would be so calming"
Yugito nodded and looked at Bakuto.
"I hope you're not mad at us" she said.
"We were just worried about you"
Bakuto shook his head as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"It's fine" he said.
"I'm sure my mom was glad that she finally got to meet you guys. Thanks"
Everyone blinked at that.
"Did you just thank us?" Mikomi asked.
"Either you're tired or you must be in a good mood because you would never thank us for following you like that"
"Yeah, you'd try to kill us normally" Zack pointed out.
A tick mark appeared on Bakuto's forehead.
"Then consider that as the first and last time that I thank you guys" he snapped.
"Aww, we're just messing with you" Enkidu said.
Bakuto just growled at that.
Mikomi snickered at the scene.
"We need to do this more often" she said.
"Hell no" Bakuto said.
"Once was enough"
Everyone just laughed as they continued to walk.
Even though Bakuto wouldn't admit it, he was glad that his friends paid their respect to his mother. It was as if it helped mend the broken shards of his shattered heart. They would never be the same as it once was, but it would still be whole one day.
However, after this day's experience, he was never going to let them come with him.
Once was enough for him if it dealt with his rival.
Once was enough.
/
A/N: I hope you guys liked this. I thought it was sweet that they paid their respects the Bakuto's mother.
Happy Birthday Bakuto-san! I hoped this was to your liking!
Please review and tell me what you think!
Ja ne!