Chapter 14 – The Things we Leave Behind
"Who's the new kid?" Ichi, Hamitsu's friend and 3-man teammate, asked as she saw a tall figure clothed in a mahogany brown coat enter the clearing they were training in.
"Don't know," She replied.
"Look at how he's dressed…" The third girl, Ano, paused from her stretching and laughed sardonically.
"I've seen that before," The first girl replied, "My brother has been on a team with one of them, there're Aburame clan members, the ones with the dark glasses and collars."
"Well, if he's going to train on our practice field he should at least introduce himself," Ichi scoffed.
Hamistu looked over, checking out the stranger. She and her fellow kunochi were all one-year seasoned genin graduates and only 13 years old, but were pretty refined and confident for their age. They had been placed on an unusual all-girl team.
Hamistu studied the stranger. From his height he had to be around their age, or maybe even a little older. He had this feeling of…something about him; a mysterious air. It made Hamitsu pause for a moment to think. She'd never seen anyone quite like him before. He seemed, dark…and dangerous, "He doesn't look like the social type," She finally said, and raised her eyebrows, stopping her mind from wandering, "Let's break for lunch, I'm hungry."
"I'm not tired," Ano practically whined.
"GEEZE was that almost a whine? Come'on Ano, you're not a 5 year old, let's get lunch," Hamistu smiled.
The girls all together took a purposeful exit from the clearing so they passed nearby the stranger. He did not glance up but Hamitsu swore he was watching them.
…
TWO YEARS LATER
…
"A DANCE? You gotta be kidding me," Hamitsu laughed.
"Seriously, a dance for the genin grads this year, they may even make it a yearly thing,"
"Well, I LOVE dancing and music, but this is just cheesy," Hamitsu looked over the laughable flyer posted on an electric pole in the center of town.
"Who did the art for this thing?" Ichi almost choked on her drink.
"Let's go to it, we can spice it up," Hamitsu grinned.
"May even meet some cute younger guys," Ano nodded.
"Ug, no thanks, boys our age are immature as it is," Hamitsu rolled her eyes.
LATER THAT EVENING…
"Well, I'll say that it's not completely horrid," Hamitsu looked over the 'decorated' main academy training room, which was like a 'gym' of sorts. She, Ichi, and Ano were dressed in good clothing. Hamitsu was not one for skirts and dresses, so she had on a dark purple, fancily laced, long-tailed corset top and matching pants.
They danced for a while, the music was passable. Tired, Hamitsu walked off to grab a cup of punch, when something caught her eye. She saw a lone figure sitting on one of the chairs lined up against the side wall, all the way at the end, the only person in the entire row.
"Hey, that guy who occasionally uses our training grounds is here," Hamitu told her friends as she came back.
"Really?" Ichi blinked.
"Surprised me too."
"He's got to be a bored chunin like us come to crash the genin party."
"You should ask him to dance!" Ano laughed, completely meaning it as a joke.
"Haha, what?" Hamitsu laughed as well.
They all laughed then trailed off in an awkward 'uhhh' kind of silence.
"Seriously…yea," Hamitsu sipped her drink.
"I DARE you," Ichi grinned suddenly.
Hamitsu almost chocked, "It was a JOKE Ichi." She felt herself suddenly feeling warm.
"Come'on, then ask him as a joke, there's nothing else going on."
Ano nodded.
"…" She frowned, but then smiled, "Alright, here hold my drink," She handed it to Ichi, and turned.
…
…
Kuroji had instantly recognized her the second their group walked into the room half an hour ago. He was surprised they took so long to see his presence, they must be terrible ninja, not keeping track of their surroundings….not that he was hoping they would see him. He didn't even know them, they just occasionally shared a training ground, they had never even talked…
He stopped his thoughts as his kikaichu began to buzz with annoyance, and thought again about why he was at such a loud, crowded event. He had no desire to be squished up between dancing classmates. He was graduating, but only came to this silly social event because he lost a bet to Shibi…dang that little kid. Gen forced him to hold up the bargain. He tried to forget about the circumstances surrounding the ridiculous situation (Shibi had bet him he wasn't going to be top in his class, when by his grades Kuroji was sure he would be. He ended up second in the class by a very small margin and lost the bet.)
So then it was to Kuroji's surprise, and also un-admitted delight, when a smartly dressed young woman walked up to him.
"Hey," She smiled in a not-so-innocent way.
"…Hello." He replied, a little taken aback by her…tone. He smiled back slightly, which was hidden to her by his tall collar.
"I was wondering if you wanted to dance?" She turned her head and made a coy gesture.
"I don't even know your name." He replied.
She faltered, Shit, I gotta stay in control of this situation, don't let him lead you like this, "Heh, how rude of me. I'm Usuki Hamitsu."
"Aburame Kuroji." He tilted his head down for a moment before he looked up to make the reply. She got a minor glimpse of his face behind the collar, as he was sitting and she was higher up standing over him.
Were those tattoosKinky, and amusing. Maybe I'm just seeing things, he doesn't seem like the type for that. She put out her hand, "Well then Kuroji-kun, do you or do you not?"
He paused for a second, studying her, then stood up, not taking her hand, but instead offered her his arm.
Tch, polite smartass, she thought. But her coy façade didn't falter and she smiled, taking his arm, letting him lead her out to a clear portion of the dance floor.
Slowly at first, then a little more fervent, they danced together. Hamitsu was shocked by how…well he danced. He didn't seem like someone who even WOULD ever do such a thing by the looks of him. She had heard of his clan before – The Aburames. An eccentric bunch. She didn't know much about them except they all were pretty quiet, dressed similar with high-collared coats of sorts, liked bugs, and never took off their sunglasses. Hamitsu wondered how he could see anything in the dimly lit room with the shades on. Either he was some kind of blind savant or had way better eyes than she figured. She soon forgot all about the 'dare' and just was …well, dancing. And rather enjoying herself.
She kept starring at those weird sunglasses. They had a slight blue tint to their mirrored lenses, which were almond-shaped and went with the gentle curve of his face so even from the side you could not see his eyes. She could see herself in them. The more she tried to stare into them, to get any kind of information about his expression or face, the more she found herself just looking back at her own likeness. It was like her reflection was all that existed of her, or all that was left, and that he had captured her in that image, imprisoned her, and somehow had control over it.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines hiding in the crowd Ichi and Ano giggled and laughed.
"Wow, she's really leading him on."
"Yea."
"Should we go rescue her?"
"I dunno, she looks like she's having fun."
"I doubt it, come'on, let's get a closer look."
Kuroji was only snapped away from the intense look of the girl's lavender eyes when he heard an array of muffled giggles, and glanced up for a moment. He saw two girls laughing and pointing at them, then dart to hide in the crowd.
He recognized them; they were Hamitsu's teammates from the training grounds.
He stopped abruptly.
"Am I some kind of joke to you?" He said in a flat, low tone, looking right at her. She froze like a prey caught in a predator's gaze.
"Joke?" She said like she had no idea what he was talking about.
Heh, how could I be so stupid, of course she didn't want to dance with you, her friends put her up to this for amusement, "Don't lie to me. You did this on some kind of childish dare didn't you?"
She fumbled for a moment, then sincerely blurted out, "Well, it was at first…but-"
"Next time you want to ask me something…don't." His words fell on her like weighted lead, "…that is until you grow up."
He then gave her a head nod, and curtly said, "Good evening," before he put his hands in his pockets, and walked off.
She watched him go. Ichi and Ano ran over, "Oooh…harsh."
"Heh heh, that was pretty cool tho, when you two were dancing, for a second I thought you really were enjoying it."
"Shut up," Hamitsu said flatly.
They both paused a bit; shocked.
"Are you, okay?" Ano asked carefully.
Hamitsu sighed, "I don't know. Let's get out of here, this music is horrible,"
"…Alright,"
"Okay…."
Hamitsu walked past them and out the door swiftly.
…
"He's only TWELVE?!" Their jaws dropped.
They all were checking the genin grad roster posted at the academy the next morning to see who had become a Konoha ninja that year, and were shocked to find Kuroji's name on it.
"Wow, he's tall for his age."
"He's taller than Ano!" Ichi blinked. Hamitsu was slightly short at about 5' 3", Ano was the tallest of the group at 5' 6"…and the man Hamitsu danced with last night towered over Ano by a good 5 inches.
"Damn, just think when he's like 18 or something," Hamitsu tilted her head disbelievingly.
"He should play basketball." Ichi stated.
"Ug, basketball."
"Stop it guys," Hamitsu bit her finger.
They paused.
She was still thinking about his words to her,
"Next time you want to ask me something…don't…that is until you grow up."
He talked to her like she was a little girl, when he was really two years youngerthan her.
With how I acted, I was the little girl, she thought, he had every right to say what he did.
I'm such a jerk.
"It says here he was with an advanced group; that he could have graduated with OUR class two years before, but chose not to!" Ichi said with shock.
"He must be very mature for his age," Hamitsu said weightily.
Ichi and Ano starred silently at her.
"Hamitsu," Ano began, "What we did that night…it was kind of childish, I know…but…we didn't mean any disrespect or anything."
"He just can't take a joke," Ichi said.
"Yea, and you have to admit that dance was really cheesy. It deserved crashing."
"I should apologize," Hamitsu finally replied.
"If you ever see him again, I doubt he'll come back to the training grounds now."
"True," Hamitsu nodded.
They all walked off in a somber mood to their morning training exercises.
…
Meanwhile…
…
"How was the 'social event' Kuroji-neesan?" A little 7-year old clan heir came up to the tall Aburame and sat down with him. Kuroji was leaned over a bench and table in the clan courtyard starring at his Konoha headband he had earned.
"Awful. And it's your fault I had to go. I think I'll hate you for a week." He said without inflection.
"Ehhh!? Ku-ro-gee…!" The young Aburame pouted and gripped onto his sleeve.
"I hate you right now, remember?" he said flatly, in the way one talks to a little brother when he's playing with him. Kuroji pushed away the younger boy with a single finger to his forehead.
"Mmmm," Shibi groaned.
"What's going on out here?" An adult figure walked up behind them.
"Kuroji's being mean!" Shibi said to his dad.
"Is he?" Gen replied.
"…" Kuroji groaned softly.
"Is this about that 'dance'? I shouldn't have made you go, but it's not good to go back on your word…but I bet all the people and noise was rather unpleasant."
"My kikaichu didn't like it but it was tolerable." Kuroji replied.
"Kuroji said it was 'awful'," Shibi said.
"Something happen?"
"Nothing happened," Kuroji said quickly.
"…" Gen raised an eyebrow…but then smiled, "If it's nothing then get up and get to your training, you're a ninja now, you better act like it."
Kuroji sighed. He didn't feel like doing anything at that moment.
"Come'on Shibi, it's time for your training. Care to join us Kuroji?" Gen knew he wasn't in the mood but maybe the training would take his mind off the girl he was angsting over. Gen didn't need to ask to tell, he could see it in his face and posture.
Kuroji finally got up and joined them.
…
He was never seen at the training grounds again.
…
As time passed and Hamitsu and Kuroji went on to become Jounins…
…and the dance did NOT become a yearly event, much to everyone's expectations.
…
…The two would not cross paths again until…
…
4 YEARS LATER
…
"Wear this one," Shibi put out his hand up and was just able to reach the hanger of a long, intricately embroidered, dark red and black coat.
"Why?" Kuroji asked.
"You never seem to wear it. It's a nice-looking jacket."
"I…" He stopped.
There was a pause.
"I don't want it to get hurt." He finally said.
"I am sure your mother meant for it to be worn."
"…"
"...wear it for me…Kuroji nee-san?"
He grabbed it from the 11-year old clan heir, perhaps a bit abruptly. Shibi looked down for a moment, and Kuroji glared at him. But after a moment he softened his expression, raising his eyebrows. He adjusted his mandarin collared undershirt and took the coat off its hanger. Shibi's lips twisted up slightly into a soft smile.
"Am I not already doing you a favor by going to this natsu matsuri (summer festival)?" Kuroji said as he began buttoning the many loop and clasp buttons up the front.
"Ah, it's my birthday present."
"Well, then since you're getting two presents this year I'm not getting you anything next year." He said with distain.
Shibi sat on Kuroji's bed, and adjusted his glasses with a small smirk. He knew when he was kidding.
He finished the last button clasp, "I still don't understand why you want to go to this festival. Who has a summer festival in September?"
Shibi shrugged, "It is 70 degrees outside. Konohaisin the fire country. It doesn't even get that cold here in the winter."
"Humph," Kuroji sighed. All the insects already can feel winter coming, these hot days are a swan song of the season, he thought, you have 'summer festivals' to celebrate the start of the season of vitality, not it's death.
"You two better get going, it's getting dark," they heard Gen call from downstairs.
A few minutes later the came down the stairs.
"Ahh, you two look nice," Gen smiled.
"Ari…gatou," Kuroji said dimly.
"Arigatou otousan," Shibi replied.
He nodded back, "Are you sure you're okay for going out?" Gen asked.
"I feel fine," Shibi replied.
"Thank you for accompanying him Kuroji-san. He's old enough to be on his own, but with getting such a large kikaichu gourd recently, he could get faint spells."
"I am fine," Shibi emphasized, "Kuroji nee-san did a good job on it…" The perfectly spherical gourd strapped to his back seemed to slightly dwarf the 11-year old.
Kuroji coughed, hiding his pleased look in his collar. Gen did not miss it though.
"Ah, he did." Gen was going to give his compliments to Kuroji for his mother's handiwork on his own, a larger sized kikaichu gourd similar to the shape of a martin bird house…but he didn't want to touch on the subject. His mother, his last surviving parent, had died in Konoha hospital just a few months ago after her injuries from a dangerous mission could not be healed.
Gen got his gourd a similar age to Shibi. Aburame's who take on kikaichu gourds have larger amounts of chakra and better chakra control, and will take on a gourd of the size and shape they expect to have throughout life, gradually over a few years filling it with kikaichu to capacity. They prefer this over graduating from smaller sized gourds to larger as they breed more kikaichu because it's best to begin training one's back to a certain shape and size gourd than to keep changing, and having to get used to it all over again. The gourd itself does not weigh much. That, and the process of making one is long and time consuming, the less to be made the better.
"Alright, get going."
They closed the big bamboo doors behind them, and walked hands in pockets for the center of the village, the festival easily discernable by the far off noise and strung up lights.
After a bit,
"That gourd really does look big on you," he said silently, but also smirking his mouth.
Shibi pouted at his teasing.
Kuroji sighed, and then said,
"You'll grow into it soon enough."
He perked up, then said a bit sadly, "It's so empty right now…only a few hundred kikaichu." Shibi put a hand back and felt the uncracked surface, knowing it would look like his dad's someday; weathered from training and battles.
"You'll grow into that too."
He nodded, looking down.
"…"
"Why don't you carry a gourd nee-san?"
He grunted audibly, "Not for me. I have no desire for techniques to require so many." He heard his kikaichu screee slightly.
Shibi looked up. "…Oh…"
The streets were overhung with twinkling tea lantern lights of all colors. Villagers were dressed in the best kimono's and yukata's, or whatever best clothing they had and would wear to a festival. Children ran through the adults legs carrying water yo-yos and fans. Some fireflies lingering from August were floating around like small pixies. They began to gather a bit near Shibi, which caught the attention of passerby children. Shibi nodded to them, "Konbanwa (good evening)" he said respectfully.
"Hey," A dark-haired young boy, maybe about 13, pointed at the fireflies with interest.
His brother next to him, not seeming in a good mood, scoffed at the sight of two Aburames "Don't point Hizashi, it's impolite."
They walked off, the other craning his neck back for a moment to catch another look at the glowing creatures. Shibi followed them with his gaze for a moment.
"Hyugas," Kuroji muttered to himself.
They walked into the heart of the festival. Some small game booths with shooting galleries and fishing for water yo-yos were set up. The food booths smelled enticing. Kuroji and Shibi felt their kikaichu rustling at all the noise and people.
Shibi was doing a better job at the moment of quieting them. However, a very young child, no older than 2 and obviously new to her walking freedom, broke away from her parents and, not looking where she were going, bumped into him. His new, young kikaichu from his gourd buzzed feeling threatened (as they already were riled) and a few of them flew out, swarming around his sleeves in a defensive posture. Kuroji waited to see what would happen, as it happened very quickly, and it was obviously an accident. The child backed off, a bit scared. Shibi quickly ordered them back, telling them there was no threat. They grabbed the gourd's large cork by its tassel and went back where they came from, replacing it snugly.
"Su….suumiiimachen…," She said blinking, attempting to say 'excuse me'.
"Excuse me," He replied back the same.
"Come'on Kurenai-chan," The toddler's parents came and picked her up, walking off quickly.
"Your kikaichu getting out of control from the threat of a one year old?" Kuroji jeered to him silently as the walked.
"It's crowded and loud here…" he said as if explaining as a reason why.
"Think of it as training then, you knew it would be like this."
"I thought it would be similar to the Spring Festival."
"An Aburame festival like a village festival?"
"Well, and I thought I would be okay with it."
"You just have excitable kikaichu, or your chakra is more strongly flavored. It's just something you'll have to learn to deal with." He tilted his head away, just as a loud array of cheers came from a game booth in front of them, attracting his gaze. He stopped walking for a moment.
Shibi nodded, and turned to look up at him, but Kuroji seemed to be distracted by something.
"What's the matter Hamitsu?" Ichi asked, still laughing and smiling from their cheering at her excellent marksmanship. She and Ano turned to see what she was looking at.
….
….
….
Yes I am alive! I've just been working on these chapters for EVER. XD Sorry for the cliffhanger ;) Next chapter will conclude the flashback of Kuroji and Hamitsu, then we'll get back to the matter of Shino turning 4 in a few short months… :D Ooooh!