Hello again, my lovelies. It's been a while, yes? I can't remember, the holidays does that. I know that being on holiday would mean more time to type, but I can't type when there's no motivation. I didn't want to half-ass it. Probably did, anyways. Thank you all for the support.
Well, I hope you enjoy. I can't think of much else right now.
I sat on the edge of the balcony of the house Tazuna and his family lived. They had a nice view of the sea from here. I could hear Sasuke and Naruto bickering downstairs.
'Have you thought about it...?' His whispy voice asked me, his form leaning against the very thing I was sitting on. He himself had no shadow, but he was mine it appears. I glanced to him.
"I have. Why would knowing your name be of use to me?" I responded softly, knowing that Kakashi could very well be listening in. If he was, that meant that my mental state would be questioned, and who knows what could happen after that.
My unnamed shadow chuckled hauntedly. 'I'm here...solely for you, Kuroki...we will bond after you accept me...do you see...?'
"Like a familiar?"
'Like a guardian angel from the shadows...' It chuckled. 'I know of your past...'
I frowned, I was touchy about my former life. 'I know of your very being...'
"Kuroki-chan!" I looked up, to see Tsunami peeking through the sliding doors of the balcony. I tilted my head at her. The grinning figure immediately concealed itself from me.
"Dinner's ready." She informed me with a gentle tone, smiling motherly. She reminded me of Aonami.
"Thank you." I smiled softly, then pushed myself off the edge and let gravity pull me down to the ground. I landed silently, then turned and walked back into the house where everyone had gathered.
Tazuna was holding onto the tiny form of Inari, who clung to his grandfather. Sasuke and Naruto sat beside each other at the table and Kakashi at the end. I moved to sit across from Naruto.
"Ah, Kuroki-chan. Nice to know you're willing to join us." Kakashi greeted me, a kind expression on his only visible facial feature.
I scoffed. "It's food."
"Why don't you help Tsunami get the plates ready, Inari?" Tazuna asked his grandchild, who for a moment stayed silent before nodding and running to the kitchen.
I rested an elbow on the table to hold my head up. Sasuke and I exchanged grins whilst Tazuna seemed to begin the story of how Inari's father had died, and I blocked it out, staring absent-mindedly at the ceiling.
'Do you wonder about them...?' My haunting figure whispered to me. I closed my eyes, and all the sounds of the people around me...were gone. It was silent, it was dark. The only thing I saw was that grin, that monstrous, inhuman grin that I had grown used to. 'Do you wonder what would've happened if you never killed yourself...?'
'You could've let them die...could've saved yourself...'
"Kuroki-chan!" My eyes snapped open, to see concerned eyes on me. I blinked, then scratched my head a little.
"Uh, sorry. Got lost in my thoughts." I grinned sheepishly.
"Well, I was asking how you were able to hurt that metal ninja before without flinching, like a professional!" Tazuna seemed to repeat. I averted my eyes to the table, thinking for a proper excuse.
'Because you've always been a murderer...' It chuckled softly.
"I...don't know. I guess my father trained me to get rid of those unnecessary emotions during battle." I finally responded.
"But Kuroki-chan," Naruto interjected. "You were smiling." I felt my stomach drop.
"Ah, yeah...I guess I'm just a sadistic bastard." I laughed, grinning. I felt Kakashi and Sasuke's gaze burning into my being. Damn.
"Enough talk!" Tsunami announced, walking to the table with all the food. "Let's eat!" She placed the food on the table, and while I was happy, my thoughts lingered on his words.
"Hell yeah!" Naruto fist-pumped.
I sat out on the balcony's edge once again, the night sky and the moon above the ocean...it was beautiful really. I couldn't sleep.
"Can't sleep?" A familiar voice asked, and I turned to see Kakashi leaning against the door frame. He wasn't wearing his forehead protector, or anything protective. Basically in his pants and that tight, sleeveless shirt that is attached to his mask. I must say; Dayum! You could see his abs and everything.
"Nah." I replied, shifting over to lean on the wall the edge connected to. Kakashi pushed himself off the door frame and leant against the edge at my foot that wasn't dangling, his arms folded.
"Want to talk about anything?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that in my past life; I was a murderer?" I asked bluntly. His normal eyes widened, obviously not expecting such a question.
"I know things I shouldn't. You all know this," I started, looking to the moon. "I just...I want to know why."
"Maybe you have a kekkai genkai that has clairvoyant abilities." Kakashi proposed after recovering.
"We both know that the Taidana clan has another kekkai genkai." I was apart of a clan, one that was deemed to have been killed off a long time ago. Nothing really special about us, according to Kuroi. We just had a unique kekkai genkai that was limited to our clan.
I saw the movement of a faint smile behind that mask of his. "Your father told me of it." I leaned forward, shuffling my ass along the edge I claimed a seat to shift closer to the teacher. It would've been hard for a normal person to have such balance on a platform like this and being in a half cross-legged position. Luckily, I was a ninja!
"I want to know about how you met dad." I leaned closer, so now that my face was about half-a-ruler away from his, a casual smile plastering onto my lips. Kakashi blinked at me, then chuckled softly, running a hand through his silver hair.
"We were both ANBU back then. In the same squad. He wore the mask of the cat." Kakashi began, I thoughtlessly grabbed his hair. He abruptly stopped and looked at me.
"Your hair is really soft." I stated in awe, then shuffled even closer to wrap my hands around his face so his hair was even closer to my reach.
"Ah, Kuroki-chan..." Kakashi began "Do you still want to know how I met your father?" He asked, appearing not too perturbed by my eccentric behaviour. I began to play with his hair.
"Yes. Please continue." I replied, running my hands through his hair like a curious child. He chuckled much like my father does when I played with his hair. It was a welcoming sound.
"Your father's codename was Mazushi." I snorted, it suited him. "I first met him when he was watching Aonami-chan from afar."
"My dad was a stalker?" I asked, mildly surprised by this. Kakashi chuckled again.
"He was ordered to watch over her, as she wasn't originally from Konoha. Her family is from the village hidden in the Mists, surprisingly." My eyes widened a little at that new information.
"She came to Konoha by herself?" I asked, the wind brushing gently against my skin.
"Mm...she didn't like living in the village of the bloody mist." Kakashi confirmed without moving his head too much out of my convenience. Yagura...he was controlled by Obito, I think.
"I can understand why, I guess."
I don't know how long we were talking, but it appeared that we were talking for a long time, and I had fallen asleep. As usual, my dreams were black, and I was sitting on the ground with the grinning figure standing in front of me. As usual, we conversed about things and all that, then I woke up to find myself in a futon inbetween Naruto and Sasuke. I yawned.
From what I could tell, it was probably around five or so in the morning, seeing as how the sun wasn't up yet. I sat up and crossed my legs, my eyes still feeling heavy from having just woken up. I glanced from the blonde to the raven. One was messed about and the other was looking lonely.
I dressed in casual clothes for today; a black turtle-neck shirt that had elongated sleeves created to be makeshift gloves and a pair of baggy black pants with the lower pant legs wrapped in bandages. I couldn't bother with shoes. I lazily brushed my hair, which, to my surprise was rarely knotty, then I grabbed my katana and made my way outside for morning exercises.
Possibly about an hour later, Tazuna made an appearance outside his house. I paused in my exercises to look at him.
"Kuroki? What are you doing up so early?" Tazuna asked, seemingly surprised to see me.
"I'm always awake around this time." I said honestly, shrugging. "Go to sleep late, wake up early. It's been my sleeping pattern for a few years now."
"Doesn't sound healthy." Tazuna commented. I nodded.
"Yeah, not really. Anyways. Going to finish up the bridge?" I inquired, sheathing my katana. The moment I mentioned the bridge, the old man seemed to brighten up a little.
"Yep! Got to get that bridge done!" He replied with an upbeat tone. I placed my katana on my back and approached the bridge builder.
"Alright, lead on. I'll be your guard for the time being."
I sat on one of the higher platforms on the bridge everyone was busy building, my eyes taking in the view whilst keeping an eye on Tazuna every once in a while.
'Enjoying the view, Kuroki...?' He asked, standing beside me with his usual pearl-white grin. I shrugged.
"If I had the choice, I would just sit here, watching the clouds for a long time rather than fight." I admitted, returning my gaze to the said clouds after looking to Tazuna for a bit. He chuckled, always sounding like a whisp.
'You know of what will transpire soon...do you really want to be relaxing...?' My gaze hardened at what he was implying towards.
"If I think too hard about it, it'll just cause more problems. Either way, I'm not letting that mutated fucker get to him. If all else fails, I got you, don't I?" I grinned slightly, glancing to my possible insanity.
'Yes...I will always be here for you...I will never leave you...' He declared softly, bowing and soon fading from my sight. I wonder when I began to refer to the figure as him. I either called him it or him.
"Kuroki!"
I looked down to see Tazuna waving up at me. I pushed myself off and let gravity pull me to the ground. Despite the high fall, I landed gracefully by channeling my chakra into my feet. Tazuna appeared slightly shocked, and gaped for a few seconds, but finally recovered after a bit.
"We have to go into the village." He informed me. I nodded, shoving my hands in my pockets and trudging forward.
"Lead the way."
It was easy to say that the place could've been better. People with signs saying they'll take any job, thieves and all.
"I'm supposed to bring home food for lunch."
We turned into a run down-looking shop, and stepped inside.
"Welcome!" The clerk or whatever greeted us. The food was scarce, but Tazuna began to grab what he needed.
Luckily, I didn't bring a bag with me so I was able to dodge the unintentional groping that Sakura had to suffer. I grabbed a banana and gave it to Tazuna, who bought it with all the other things. We then began our journey back.
Someone tugged on my shirt, and I turned to see a little kid with his hands held out. Whoa, expecting a hand out? From me? Expecting too much, man.
"You want something?" I asked him.
He nodded furiously, then opened his mouth as if telling me he wanted food. I grabbed the banana and gave it to him. He all too happily ran away with a banana.
"It's been like this since Gatou came." Tazuna explained. I returned to trudging with my hands in my pockets.
"Well, he's going to die soon or is dead already, so once you get that bridge done, everything will be dandy, yeah?"
Tazuna laughed heartily. "Yes. We will finally be able to return to that time where everything was alright."
"Even if you're a drunk, I respect that you're building a bridge for your people."
"Well, you unnerved me for quite a while, you know?" Tazuna admitted. The piqued my interest. "You're just a kid, yet you act the complete opposite of one when faced with enemies and such."
" Still hung up about the mist ninja with the metal gauntlets? Cutting the mist-dude's arm off scare you?" I teased, and the bridge builder literally paled.
"I've never seen something like that happen so quickly."
I felt my mood darken, and perhaps Tazuna noticed. "I've experienced things like that before, worse things. They're old memories, but they'll forever be burned into my brain."
"Food!"
The three of us began to scarf down our food, apparently turning this into a food-eating contest, although I was just hungry.
"More!" The two rivals demanded in sync, but they were suddenly pale and vomited on the ground. My eye twitched.
"Useless!" I back-handed both of their heads. "Don't waste such good food like that!"
"We didn't mean to!" Naruto protested. "We just have to get stronger!"
"Yeah..." Sasuke agreed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He better be washing that out if he's planning on kissing me.
"Shut it, I'll take no determined goals as excuses for vomiting amazing food. If I weren't eating, I'd force you both to eat what you just puked out."
"You're evil, Kuroki-chan!"
"Silence, monkey! As punishment," I took their food. "Your food is mine, bitches!"
"No!" Naruto dramatically yelled, a hand reaching out in an attempt to take back his lost food.
"Mwahahaha!" I cackled demonically, holding the food away from both their reaches as I ate them. Naruto paled at the sight of his food being eaten by another.
"My, I have such lively genins." Kakashi smiled with Tsunami, who seemed to be enjoying our company. Inari was quiet, as usual.
We finished dinner an hour later, Tsunami and Inari doing the dishes whilst the rest of us chilled about.
Naruto stared at the photo on the wall, and I knew that the whole story of Inari's father would be arriving shortly, so I made my way to the stairs.
"I'll be having an early night, night." I called, and everyone returned the gesture. Save for Sasuke, who seemed to be following me.
"You're not going to sleep." Sasuke deduced. I gave him sly smirk, walking towards the door to the balcony and sliding it open.
"Figured me out, have you?" I asked as I jumped onto the railing. Sasuke leaned against it beside me, both of us staring out into the ocean. Or, what appeared to be like an ocean.
"Considering that I've known you for about eight years helps." He retorted with a smirk.
"Yeah? People change in eight years, you know?" I smiled, beautiful views were always an adoration of mine.
"It feels like you hardly change at all." Sasuke whispered. My eyes averted to the ground.
"You wouldn't believe how much I've changed, Sasuke."
"You make it sound like you murdered someone."
I glanced to him, but simply gave him a small smile. The Uchiha frowned in suspicion.
"I'm going to sleep, for real." I stated, jumping off the railing and trudging to my futon. I assumed Sasuke followed to land in his own.
"Sleep with me?" He asked, a playful smirk on his lips. I snorted, but shifted closer, my eyelids were heavier than a few minutes ago.
"I hope you washed out your mouth." I gave him a weak glare, leaning away from his face. He frowned.
"I did." He replied, which was enough for me, since I couldn't smell any vomit. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face into his neck. He wrapped his own arms around me.
"Night."
"Night..." I found myself being able to sleep much easier when he was in my arms. I was left alone in my dreams that night too.
"You were training them?" I asked. Kakashi nodded.
"It seems they've already learned how to tree walk from Kuroi, but they can't water walk, so I'm teaching them now." He explained, I nodded.
"Makes sense. Anyways. I'm going to for walk. Or a run. Tree run?" I frowned in thought as to what to call it.
The copy ninja chuckled. "Alright. See you later, Kuroki-chan."
I took a glance at the two who were on the water, attempting to water walk. Naruto lost concentration and fell in, grabbing the nearest thing; Sasuke. A large splash was heard and I laughed at them, but quickly made my way to the forest before either would be able to pull me in as well.
I placed my gloved hands in my pockets after a few minutes of trudging through the forest, but I slowed to a stop when I felt two chakra signatures nearby.
"Hello." The pleasant voice of Haku greeted me. I turned to the left to see him with Zabuza. He was smiling serenely whilst Zabuza was being Zabuza; awesome.
"Oh, hey. You're still alive. How's Gatou?" I greeted in return, casually (Well, to me) bringing Gatou up. I heard the swordsman snort.
"In hell." He replied with a sadistic twinkle in his eye. "So are the men he brought with him."
"No one figure out it was you?" I inquired. Haku shook his head.
"I found a way to get past them." The pretty boy informed. I smirked-grinned.
"So, what's on your agenda now? Roam? Chill with us?" I casually but swiftly made my way towards them, mischief taking my thoughts.
"We got nothing better to do." Zabuza shrugged. "I wouldn't mind fighting the famous copy ninja, though."
"Alright! House's down that way, I'll be continuing onto my walk. I shall speak with you later." And with a wave, I was up in the trees to go for my 'walk'.
I found a secluded area that was surrounded by trees, and only inhabited with grass. A perfect place to chill, except I found a large ass tree with branches that looked comfortable as fuck! And so, I sat in one of the high branches, my legs crossed and my back against the trunk. The leaves were blocking bits of sunlight from me, which was nice.
I blinked and he was there, in front of me.
'Are you ready for our...talk?' He asked so softly, but as always, the wind carried it to my ears.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am." I responded, looking above to ponder if I was. He chuckled.
'Alright...when we...bond, you may say...you will feel changes...I...will make you stronger...your fear...it will be mine...' I blinked at him, what the hell did that mean? He chuckled, apparently understanding my confusion.
'You will unable to feel fear...I will consume it...it will be replaced by my lust for blood...do you understand?' He elaborated further. I glanced to the side. I was already sadistic in a sense, but with something like him influencing my want to kill would be demonic.
I sighed. "I have a question."
He tilted his head, and I took that as listening. "What if I'm not feeling fear? Will I not have that feeling of blood lust?"
'You will feel normal...the moment you feel fear...is the moment you will begin to feel the thirst for blood...' He explained, and I nodded, understanding.
"So, if someone were to use Killing Intent on me, and I felt fear, I would begin to feel that fear replaced with blood lust?" I used as an example. He nodded.
'Yes...it is a small price to pay for one part of my satisfaction...' He chuckled.
I sighed, leaning back. "If I felt fear from the thought of dropping my food, I'd feel blood lust?"
'No...when you feel true fear...fearing for your life...fearing for another soul...' I breathed deeply, closing my eyes.
"Alright, it's strange but I'll think about it. Continue on."
The figure bowed. 'As you wish...'
"That's some intense shit." I breathed, running a hand through my hair. We'd been talking for a while, I lost track, but from the way the sun shone, it was around noon.
'Indeed...' He agreed.
"I'd better get back..." I commented, standing up and brushing off nonexistent dirt off.
'The choice...is yours...' He whispered, brushing a clawed hand against my cheek. Shivers ran down my spine, like all the other times he touched me.
"What's your purpose for being with me?" I asked softly, staring into the blackness of his chest. Very humanoid, but no solid appearance like myself.
He stayed silent for a few moments, but his hand lingered around my cheek. I took the time to look up to his grin, he was much taller than I. A full two feet taller. I was surprised to notice that his once bald outline of a head was now replaced with messy spiked outlines. Hair?
It was strange. He didn't have a fully solid body. It was shadow-like...and yet, he was corporeal. It was confusing, if I were to touch him, my hand would go straight through. Like a ghost, maybe.
While I spent those moments contemplating his form, he chose to speak softly. 'You are...intriguing...' I blinked at him as he grabbed a lock of my hair.
'A damaged soul...not from this world...Your world and this one are very different...yet, they both still contain the taint of bloodshed and corruption...' I looked down with a light frown, the lock of hair in his strange hands fell from them.
'My purpose for being with you...that's a secret.' He chuckled again and then he was gone.
I sighed and leaned against the tree. What the hell? I sighed again, then pushed off the tree and began to make my way back to the others.
When I got back, I was pleasantly surprised to see Zabuza and Kakashi on the water's surface, both doing a large amount of hand signs in sync. Naruto and Sasuke were with Haku, sitting on the edge of the bridge thing fisherman and the like use. I trudged towards them, but kept my gaze onto the two jounin.
Haku turned to look at me when I was close enough, that same gentle smile on his rather feminine lips. "Hello again, Kuroki-chan." He greeted pleasantly. The other two turned their heads to look at me in mild surprise.
I smiled back, kneeling down behind Sasuke and wrapping my arms around his neck. I leaned forward, putting my body weight against him. He grunted, but seemed to be able to hold us there as I placed my chin on his head to watch the fight. "Hello, my lovelies. I didn't miss too much?"
"Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza have been fighting for a while now!" Naruto chimed excitedly. "They're really cool!"
"The jutsu they're doing now have a lot of hand signs." Sasuke stated in a slight monotone.
"They're doing the Water Dragon Bullet technique thing. Lots of handsigns." I explained casually, all our eyes returning to the fight just as they finished doing all the hand signs.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" Zabuza and Kakashi both yelled in sync. The water gathered up to create water dragons around both opponents. Frankly, they are massive.
I released Sasuke, who glanced back at me with a slight longing look, but I grinned at him. I grabbed his hand and stood up, then lead him back to the land and safely away from the water. Haku understood what my intentions were and followed me, but Naruto appeared to be confused, looking back at us from his spot.
"What are you guys doing?" He yelled out to us. The two water dragon collided together, the gathered water now falling back to the ocean-looking lake or whatever. The force created a massive wave and it shadowed Naruto from the sun, which caused the blonde to look back. Before he was able to react, the water crashed down on him.
I busted out in laughter from the spot Haku, Sasuke and I stood at, dry and amused. A few moments later, Naruto washed up on the land, spluttering out water.
Haku, being the kind soul he was, walked up to the poor blonde and asked if he was okay. Sasuke and I were too busy drowning in our laughter.
It had been a pleasant afternoon. Zabuza and Kakashi were both resting after their fight. Sasuke and Naruto attempted to water walk again with Haku and I watching.
Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari had been surprised when the two missing-nins showed up, but when the swordsman told them that Gatou was dead, they appeared to be celebrating.
A lot of things were going to change...but right now, everything seemed to be pretty nice.
Wow. I really could've done better. Dammit. Welp. No point in restarting the chapter now. I don't want to make you guys wait any more. There's some daaark stuff going on around here. I do hope you enjoyed, and as always, review. Because, well. I like your opinions. I always have a bunch of things to say when I'm typing the chapter, but as soon as I get to these end notes, I'm as blank as a log.
Damn.