When Rain Falls: Chapter 12 – Storm Approaching
Disclaimer: Everything, other than my own characters, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
"Jin!" Kotone jolted awake as the sound of thunder rolled across the sky. Her shoulders shook from a dream she never thought she'd see again. She placed a hand over her heart, feeling the erratic rhythm while she tried to calm her thoughts.
"Kotone," a soothing voice called from her memory. Her eyes widened at how close it whispered in her ear. She knew the remnants of her dream were still lingering at the edge of her mind. She took a few deep breaths before getting up to retrieve a glass of water.
"Oh, Kotone?" Yuuto was surprised to see his daughter up so early in the morning. He stopped tinkering with a tool that had been commissioned by a jonin to focus on his daughter's muted behavior. Her eyes were clouded with something unfamiliar to him. She finally looked up and saw her father.
"Papa! Trying to finish a weapon? Are they expecting it today?" she asked with the usual energy he came to recognize.
"Yes, but this one part keeps sticking in the joints. I'm sure I'll figure it out before he comes to get it, though," Yuuto explained with his eyes trained on his daughter. Her actions were slower than normal, like she was shaken by something.
Kotone nodded absentmindedly and took a sip of her water. Her olive eyes closed as she tried to sort out her dream.
"Jin!" Kotone greeted happily. The sand-haired boy turned, his black hair-tie snug to his scalp while his long hair descended down his back freely. Soft indigo eyes met hers as she trotted closer.
"Kotone," his voice was deeper than it should've been for his age, but everything about him was more mature than most his age. "How are you today?"
"Kotone," Yuuto called out to his daughter. Her eyes snapped open as she returned to reality
"Ah, did I miss something? Sorry! I was just –"
"Thinking about Jin?"
Kotone's eyes widened at her father's guess. He sighed as she looked away, laying one arm across her torse, gripping the other in comfort.
"It's been two years hasn't it?" Yuuto tread softly around the topic. His daughter nodded, but it was a gesture he might've missed if not for his kekke genkai. "You had a dream about then?"
"Yeah. It's stupid to be having those dreams now, isn't it?"
"Mmm not really," Yuuto admitted while turning his attention back to the weapon he had designed, "Jin was a very kind boy and he was a good teammate to you and Takumi. Without him you and Takumi might still be gunning for each other's heads! To miss him, especially since you and Takumi were promoted, seems natural."
"Ah, is that it?" Kotone asked herself quietly. She was recalling the memories of Jin because she and Takumi had progressed as shinobi? A future that ultimately would've been impossible for their soft-eyed teammate.
"Is it regret that he didn't come this far? Or is it because you want to tell him about all your new friends?"
The question surprised Kotone, but she replied rather quickly, "Can it be both? I miss talking to him, like back at the academy. But I also wish he would've made it this far with us. I love Kaori and her progress is amazing, but Jin was the center of our team when we started. It feels wrong that we made it this far without him."
Yuuto nodded and let out another sigh. His daughter's life had been so simple and easy compared to Takumi or Kaori's, but she felt with so much more emotion than most people. Her friendship with Jin had been so precious to her, so for him to miss her and Takumi becoming chunin seemed unfair.
"I think you'll be okay in a little while. Besides, would you really want Jin here to laugh at the fact that you're barely a chunin? Or did you forget that you only got the position because of your observational skills and your ability to turn the tides in combat. If you weren't observant you probably would still be a genin with Takumi as your squad leader!"
Kotone hung her head in shame at the thought. Though the image of Jin's smiling face did cheer her up a little. She finished her water before returning to bed for a few more hours.
Yuuto remained focused until Hotaru joined him in the kitchen. As she prepared breakfast he decided to bring up the matter of their daughter's dreams with her.
"She dreamt of Jin," Yuuto said calmly causing his wife to freeze.
"Ah. It was two years ago wasn't it? With the exams and the move I completely forgot," the bright eyed woman admitted. "So she's dreaming about it again? Do you think it will go away on its own?"
"Mmm, perhaps. I think it's because she and Takumi were promoted and she agrees it could be that. Either way, you know Kotone will be okay! She's a strong girl."
"Yes, but Jin was practically her first love, Yuuto. She'll never forget him no matter how many years pass."
"F-first love?! I thought he was a brother figure!"
Hotaru laughed loudly at Yuuto's naive behavior. He had never imagined the boy as a potential love for their daughter, but Hotaru had silently hoped it would never happen. Unfortunately, fate intervened before anything could happen. Jin was a kind boy, but the very thing that prevented him from continuing on as a shinobi was also what broke Kotone's heart and plagued her to this day.
"Well, Kotone might've grown out of it as she got older. There are a lot of suitable boys in this village though, so don't go scaring them off!"
"Aren't you the more frightening one, my love?" Yuuto kissed his wife's hand with a sly grin. Hotaru raised an eyebrow at the comment, knowing well and good that the stronger of their relationship was him. He simply hid behind his pacifistic nature making him seem easily approachable, but he was terrifying in battle.
"Ehhh? I didn't think I'd interrupt something when I came to eat breakfast, but lo and behold!" Kotone chimed from the doorway.
"Kotone! Feeling better?" Yuuto turned back into the loving father-figure, a rapid change that always made Hotaru chuckle.
"Yup! Just like you said, it was probably because of the promotion Takumi and I got! I'm sure I'll be able to forget about the dream by tonight!"
"Good! The past is no place to dwell for long periods of time."
"You say that like it's nice for short visits," Hotaru set the food on the table.
"It is nice for short visits! Happy memories should be touched upon every once in a while, especially in darker times. But memories that cause regret or pain should be let go of."
"Oh! That's pretty deep Papa," Kotone said as she grabbed her plate and started to eat. Hotaru nodded next to her, a grin growing across her cheeks.
The breakfast was mostly silent until Kotone stood up to leave.
"Takumi and I have a mission to the Land of Tea today. We should be back in two days!"
"Just the two of you? Not Kaori?" Hotaru asked as she lifted up her plate to start cleaning.
Kotone shook her head with a sad sigh, "We're fetching a missive regarding recent activity on their borders. It's ranked for chunin or above, so Kaori can't go."
"Ah, I guess with the village still recovering they'd need her to either train or go on missions of her level. I shouldn't have to say this, but be careful!"
"Okay!" Kotone shouted from her doorway before she met up with Takumi. The mission shouldn't be too difficult.
Kotone flinched as Takumi tried to dab ointment over the cut on her side. They had been ambushed on their way back to Konoha, but the fighting didn't last long with Takumi's quick thinking and Kotone's reflexes. She did managed to get clipped by a kunai when it was thrown randomly through Takumi's smoke bomb. Takumi had cuts and scrapes as well, but Kotone's was deeper and merited more concern.
"Just hold still! I'm almost done," Takumi scolded as she flinched from his touch again.
Kotone hissed as he prodded her side just a little too rough, "Maybe if you'd stop stabbing at it, I could relax!"
The two glared at each other before Takumi aggressively wiped a streak of ointment across the injury and slapped the bandage over the wound. Kotone was left gasping in response, but faster was better than his previous approach.
"It should only be a little while before we're back and you can have Tsunade-sama look at it. To think they'd wait to attack us until we were so close to Konoha. Still, the person that hired them should get his money back."
"Mmm. I wonder if they took the job because they sided with his views or if they just needed the money?"
"Probably the money. I recognized one of them. He grew up near my house, if you could call it that," Takumi scoffed at the memory of his old house.
Kotone frowned and bopped him on the head lightly, "Hey! That place was your home because your mom was there! So what if it wasn't the best house in Ame. It was more homey than most. Your mother would've hit you a lot harder for insulting the home she pays for."
Takumi chuckled at the thought of his mother's cold glares and silent anger when he'd disobey her or talk about a better life. She had worked her entire life to earn money for that house after Takumi's father had abandoned her when he learned she was pregnant. She was an old fashioned woman, but she endured everything that came her way. Kotone respected his mother despite the way she was treated in that house.
"Well, looks like the bandages are holding well. We should start to head back," Takumi said while standing.
Kotone nodded and stood up, wincing at the pain from her side though Takumi's ointment worked fast on pain. "Takumi, have you had any dreams...?"
"Dreams?"
"I had a dream about Jin the other night," Kotone confessed. She knew Takumi would understand on a more personal level than her parent's did.
"Well the anniversary passed while we were taking the Exams so it's not like we had time to really think about it. And we were promoted to Chunin so it could be stress drawing out the dreams," Takumi responded rationally, but Kotone noticed he hadn't answered her question.
"You've had one too?"
Takumi stared ahead blankly before he nodded. "I had one when we moved to Konoha and one after we were promoted. We've come a long ways, but there are still some things we can't leave behind so easily."
"I'm just glad I'm not the only one. I wonder what he'd say about our promotions?"
"Before or after he finished laughing at the fact we'd have to run missions together as leaders? He'd probably pity our squads because we bicker."
Kotone laughed and nodded in agreement. There was a fondness in Takumi's eyes she hadn't seen in a long time. "He'd be proud of you, Takumi. You've really progressed, you know?"
"Oh? Just me?"
"Well, Jin was always happy with me so long as I was safe."
Takumi shook his head in disagreement, "You never noticed, but Jin hated how much you held back. All because the others at the academy didn't like that you had natural talent. Even now you hold back! You could've won our match in a second if you really used your full arsenal."
"Ah. I don't think I have the best of control over my 'full potential' as you claim. I only just got a good grasp over lightning. You want me to throw other releases into the mix? We'd all be in trouble then!"
Takumi chuckled. "I'm just saying that Jin knew how much you held back after the academy and that you were training with Toko-sensei when the rest of us were asleep. Even I'll admit that, while I think your brain could use a little more training, you're by all accounts a genius when it comes to jutsu. You just never allow yourself to be as good as you could be."
"Well don't worry! Next time we spar I'll be sure to unleash my full fury at you. I'm sure it'll be good practice to have a moving target!"
Takumi flinched knowing full well what Kotone was capable of. Her jokes aside she didn't get the practice she needed to fully master her talents, but if Toko-sensei were to focus train her again she could be a strong asset to Konoha. Jin had always been ahead of the both of them, but he was a pacifist. He didn't like fighting in general, but he had an unnatural gift for chakra control and ninjutsu. Kotone was never far behind him, her talent having been harnessed by her parents at a young age.
The brown haired boy smiled softly as he realized he was finally able to recognize Kotone's strength without feeling inferior.
His smile faltered when a searing pain started to spread from one of his cuts. He bit down the gasp of pain as Kotone remained unaware at his side. His brow furrowed as the pain spread well beyond the boundary of the cut. "We should..." Takumi took a breath to steady himself, "hurry to Konoha. Lady Tsunade will be wanting..."
"Takumi?" Kotone turned at the struggle her teammate was clearly having. Her eyes widened when she saw the sweat beading on his forehead as he strained to move forward. "What happened?!"
Takumi stopped forcing himself to walk when Kotone's hands braced against his shoulders. He collapsed forward against his teammate who held his weight with little struggle.
"It would appear that I've been poisoned. What luck that I would be hit with the poisoned kunai!"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Kotone took his continued humor as a good sign. If he could joke, he could survive.
"If you were poisoned, I could try to treat it on the way. You, however, aren't exactly capable of treating me. Unless you're training to be a medic in secret?"
Kotone shook her head and looked back toward Konoha. They still had a few hours, maybe 2 if she sprinted, but Takumi was struggling.
"Kotone. Listen to me. If we get back to Lady Tsunade fast enough, she can treat me. This poison is slow acting and it's not spreading very fast now. If we hurry, we'll make it," Takumi tried to push away from Kotone to move, but he cried out in pain at the first step.
"You can't move on your own, Takumi," the white haired girl realized what she'd have to do.
"You can't carry me with that wound on your side. You'll reopen it and I can't put more ointment on it like this."
"That's the type of talk I expect from you, Captain. Always refusing to give your subordinate credit!" Kotone teased as she carefully spun around to lift Takumi onto her back. The boy couldn't refuse his teammate's efforts, but he tried to hold his weight up while her clung to her shoulders. If he fully collapsed onto her back it'd be too heavy for her to move fast enough.
Kotone felt her wound sting at the shifting pressure, but she could bear it. She took a deep breath before darting forward. They had to make it back in time. "I won't lose Takumi too!" Kotone's mind declared as she pushed forward.
Takumi let out a weak chuckle at Kotone's terrifying speed. "So this is what it's like?"
Kotone raised an eyebrow at his question, "What?"
"Moving this fast. I've never been about speed as much as you have, but this is nice. The breeze feels good."
"Just let me know if you're going to be sick! I don't want vomit in my hair," Kotone grinned, though she felt fear creeping up through her stomach. The sickly appearance that had claimed her teammate was all too familiar to her.
"I should be fine for a while, Kotone. It's just making moving harder for me. Tsunade-sama can deal with this easily."
"It's a comfort having her in the village," the young girl admitted.
Takumi nodded against her shoulder before he realized something, "Ah. Kotone, you're birthday is coming up isn't it?"
"Don't tell me you forgot!" Kotone replied with mock hurt in her voice. Anything to keep him awake.
The brunette boy chuckled and sighed dramatically. "How could I forget such a momentous occasion as the birth of Ueno Kotone! Sorry, was that too big a word for you? Momentous?"
Kotone resisted the urge to smack him. She was glad he was relaxed enough to joke around despite the situation. Their talking died down until Kotone stopped at the sight of the village. Takumi chuckled and pat his teammate's shoulder in appreciation, "Well, it looks like your speed has its uses."
"Weren't you the one who calculated we'd make it in time if I ran fast?"
"Yeah, but with me on your back I expected you trip or do something else stupid."
Kotone shifted Takumi to alleviate some pressure on her side while she scoffed. "I could still fall between here and the gate. Don't doubt my poor luck."
Takumi laughed lightly as Kotone resumed her running, though at a slower pace. The white haired girl knew her teammate would be fine now, but her shoulders remained tense from her previous fears. Takumi had looked so pale and sick, but if he had held out this long he could make it. Tsunade would save him easily.
When they reached the gate one of the guards offered to take Takumi to the hospital. Given that Kotone was exhausted from their nonstop traveling and had carried her taller teammate a long distance, she accepted the offer and made her way to the hospital at a slower pace.
"Kotone?!" Ino's voice called out from behind. Kotone turned to look at the blonde girl who was accompanied by Sakura. Despite their fighting and rivalry, it was clear the two were still close friends.
"Kotone, you're injured?" Sakura asked as she spotted the bandage under the rip in Kotone's black dress. The white fabric of the bandage had a small red blot on it, though Kotone still felt no pain thanks to Takumi's ointment.
Kotone nodded and lightly pat the wound, "I got hit by a kunai on my last mission. Takumi treated it and put this bandage on it, but he was poisoned. I'm going to the hospital to get stitched up and see how he's doing."
"Takumi was poisoned? You seem rather calm about it," Ino raised a brow at the behavior of the older girl.
"Well, I can't do anything when it comes to medical ninjutsu. I carried him back here as fast as I could, but that's the limit of my ability. He was also joking like his regular self before a guard took him to the hospital. It's wrong to say I'm not worried. I'm just not showing it right now. Wait until we enter the building, then I'll start to panic."
Ino and Sakura nodded with limited understanding. With the distance and the last reassuring thought, Kotone was okay with Takumi's condition. The second she entered the medical building, however, his injury would become very real again. It was a strange way of coping, but the young girls had their own fears that seemed to increase as they closed in on the hospital.
"Ah. Why are you two headed to the hospital anyways?" Kotone finally broke the heavy silence that had enveloped them during the walk.
Sakura glanced to Ino, avoiding Kotone's curious stare. The blonde sighed before explaining, "Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto, Kiba, and Neji all got hurt on a mission. Choji was in really bad shape when they brought him back so I'm going to visit him. Naruto is probably hurt to knowing how reckless he is."
The light prodding at Naruto's character seemed to go ignored by Sakura, a detail that didn't skip Kotone's keen eyes. Something was going on.
"That's quite the team arrangement. And for all of them to get injured, some seriously. I have to wonder what the mission was," Kotone resisted asking any further as she gauged Sakura's growing discomfort with the subject. "Well, let's hope they all recover quickly!"
The two girls nodded in agreement and smiled at Kotone weakly. When they entered the hospital, Kotone left the pair to get treated first. It was then that she was met with Shizune who was placing a patient's file at the counter.
"Kotone! Lady Tsunade just started to treat Takumi, but he mentioned you were injured. I was going to find you if you didn't show up soon," Shizune explained as she eyed the young woman for injuries. She found her target and peeled away some of the bandage to see the cut. "Well it looks like you're in a better spot than Takumi. Come on, we'll go to a room so you can undress."
Kotone followed, eased that Tsunade herself was actually taking care of her teammate. He'd be just fine in her hands.
Shizune waited patiently as Kotone removed her jacked and dress, leaving her in the mock-neck cropped fishnet top that she wore under her dress with the matching shorts. There was a solid black band across her breasts, as well a boy-short style black band on the shorts. That way if she ever had to strip down she was still mostly decent. She stepped out and sat on the exam table as Shizune charged her hand with healing chakra before placing it against the wound that remained clean thanks to Takumi's ointment.
"This should heal easily," Shizune nearly sighed in relief. Kotone smiled at her before realizing that the Hokage's attendant had probably healed the team Ino had talked about.
"I ran into Ino and Sakura on my way here," Kotone gently touch the topic, though even the grazing appeared to startle Shizune. Olive eyes watched the woman as she sucked in breath before explaining.
"Sasuke Uchiha has left the village. We sent a team lead by Shikamaru to retrieve him, hoping that Naruto could talk him down or force him if need be. But they met resistance from some Otogakure shinobi. Neji and Choji were critically wounded, but I just finished the treatment on Neji before I bumped into you. Lady Tsunade finished treating Choji shortly before that. Kiba and Naruto have serious injuries as well, but they will be just fine. Shikamaru only suffered a broken finger."
Kotone remained silent for a minute as she considered the skill level of the enemies they had to have fought. "So they didn't get Sasuke back?"
Shizune shook her head. "Naruto was found unconscious. Sasuke let him live, but he still left the village."
"I see. And here Takumi and I thought we had it rough getting ambushed on a relatively easy mission. That explains the heavy atmosphere that was around Sakura."
Shizune nodded and moved her hand to examine the now sealed wound. Despite that fact it was deeper than any of Takumi's injuries, Kotone's wound wouldn't need any further treatment. Shizune narrowed her eyes at the injury in surprise.
"Do you always heal quickly, Kotone?"
"Only when Takumi applies ones of his many medical treatments. Along with his thorough knowledge of poisons and traps, Takumi is also well versed in medical theory. He tests out his ointments on Kaori and I when we get injured on missions. Usually they work just fine, but he's messed up a few mixes as well. I had a rash on my back for a week because of his testing." Kotone chuckled as she reminisced.
"Really? Your wound was deep enough to merit stitches. If Takumi is making ointments that can help heal someone quickly then –"
"Ah! Don't misunderstand; Takumi's ointments don't increase the body's natural ability to heal. They numb the pain and will stop the bleeding, sure, but they won't close the wound. It's when healing chakra is applied or something... I'll be honest, I zoned out after that when my mom was explaining it."
Shizune smiled at Kotone's explanation, though she wasn't surprised that Kotone understood the theory behind Takumi's invention. It was clear in the report about the Chunin Exams that Kotone understood Takumi's inventions well and was able to adapt to them if need be. The two were close friends and had endured a lot together.
"Alright. I don't know if Lady Tsunade is done healing him, but I can take you to his room. You're worried about him, right?" Shizune asked in response to Kotone's curious stare.
Kotone's snowy hair shifted as she nodded. Her braid had come loose due to how she carried Takumi. As they walked down the halls Kotone picked her hair-tie from the collapsing braid. She recieved some looks considering her state of undress, but her dress had dried blood and a large gash in it. She had at least put her jacket back on to help cover her chest more.
"I'll go in to check on him, if you'll wait out here," Shizune pointed to the seats across from the door before entering the room with a light above the door.
Kotone sighed when she was left alone. She brought her knees up to her chin as she pictured Takumi's paling face. Her sage eyes squeezed shut as she tried to ignore the mental images and the memories they stirred.
"There you are!" Hotaru's voice reached Kotone's ears. The young girl was surprised at her mother's sudden presence.
"Mom? What are you doing here?"
The dark haired woman sighed and ran a hand through her bangs. "I was running errands when one of the guards stopped me to explain how he had carried a very sick Takumi to the hospital. He also said you appeared injured and tired, but it wasn't serious. A nurse told me where Takumi was being treated, but they didn't have any room number for you."
"Shizune healed me up quickly so I didn't really need one," Kotone gestured to the still pink mark on her side. It wouldn't scar, but for a few days the mark would faintly remain.
Hotaru examined it and smiled knowing Takumi had to have applied the medical cream to it for it to heal so quickly with medical treatment. "How is he doing?"
"I don't know yet. Shizune only just went in before you showed up. Did you tell dad?"
Hotaru took in a sharp breath and glanced away from her daughter, her amber eyes darkening. "You're father is... preoccupied. A very unexpected guest showed up and they started to argue so I left them to it."
"A guest?"
"I'll explain on the way home. For now, let's focus on Takumi, ne?"
Kotone nodded and sighed wistfully as her mother gently combed out the tangles in her hair. She was grateful for the distraction.
AN: Here it is. So I'm planning on getting an actual schedule for my chapter releases soon, but with the holidays coming up and I'm moving soon, it's a little busy. I'm so sorry it's been such a long time since I updated, I just lose track of time so easily between work and apartment hunting and job hunting. I'm moving to different state in the next month or two so it's been a little chaotic trying to find stuff without being there, but now I've got some stuff set so it should ease up! Hope you all enjoyed!
Reviews are appreciated! It's been a while so if anything seems odd or disjointed, let me know! I want to fix it!