Feelings?
Shoto had slowly started to calm himself down to the point where all he could feel was the fear of potentially being alone. As stated before, with fear comes a sense of hunger and well he finished off the plate of sandwiches. The rice balls were untouched except the three that he had are beforehand. The blond male came into his mind as he chewed on the last bit of sandwich that was left. A kiss, not just any old kiss, a French kiss in the middle of the forest with a total stranger. The fact that he couldn't get it out of his head for no longer than two minutes was a great upset.
Could that be considered cheating? It wasn't like he initiated it or actually wanted it. Though there was enjoyment, but it was his first French kiss. That couldn't be helped, right? It was confusing and quite annoying. First relationship and he's already screwed it over.
He jumped up to a familiar Chakra signature coming close to him. The signature had been a part of his life for so many years that it felt like forever. Tears ran down his cheeks as he ran to the blond haired boy that appeared in front of him. Running into his arms, he allowed his emotions to take over, including small sobs. Matthew wrapped an arm around his shoulders as comfort. He smiled slightly hoping that it would perk the boy up quickly. When he saw that it didn't, he sat down on a nearby tree stump, bringing the boy down with him. Crying was something that Shoto never did in public.
"Isn't it your creed that a shinobi should not cry?" Matthew hugged him.
"I...I know…" Shoto muttered between sobs.
"So then why are you here crying and doing your mission?" Matthew tilted his head.
"Ka...Kaka-sensei and the others aren't back...back yet," Shoto stuttered.
"That wouldn't cause you to cry though. Did you fall and scrape your knee?"
The look that Shoto gave made Matthew think twice about saying such a thing again. However, he was glad that this meant that the silver haired boy had stopped crying. Though he had known the boy since their Kirigakure Academy days, it was still quite a weird thing to witness him crying in such a manner.
"Hey, Matti-kun?" Shoto softly asked.
"What's up?" Matthew tilted his head.
"Can you play your guitar for me?" Shoto looked into Matthew's amethyst eyes.
"Yeah I can, little prince,"
"You haven't called me that since we came to Konoha. It feels so weird."
"I know, but you still are the prince of the Emerald clan. Even though you may be a bit delusional with your abilities and you have a habit of hitting on me, you will always be my little prince."
"I am and I'm proud of it."
"You're going to have to move a little bit so I can get Selima off my back."
Shoto moved to the right a small bit, "Just please don't sing. I don't think I can handle that right now."
Matthew just gave him a blank stare as he grabbed the white and blue acoustic guitar from his back. He held it in position, tuning it so that he may play properly. The strings were plucked every few seconds to make sure it was tuned in the right way before he settled.
"I can't sing to the song I used to play for you all the time, you know," Matthew finally spoke.
"You still remember that? Jeez, I had almost forgotten about it," Shoto tilted his head.
"Yeah. It used to put you to sleep especially after a long day dealing with Konoha academy students."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Matthew smiled softly before starting the song (A/N: if it helps, look up Jiro's Guitar part 1 from Android Kikaider). It was gentle and slow song that he had remembered hearing his mother hum to him when he was young. It wasn't easy trying to find the easiest way to put her humming to the sound of his guitar. It took a few hits and misses but he had got it down. When it was completed, he had played it for his friend at once only to find the boy sleeping. So he dubbed it his mother's lullaby as it was the good parts of two of the most important people in his life.
He watched the yellow eyes of Shoto slowly close as he drifted off to sleep. Even when the boy was on a sugar rush mixed with caffeine it seemed that the song was calm enough to put him to sleep. He shook his head wondering if he should take the hitai-ate off his forehead. It might be a little uncomfortable to wear it on his forehead as he slept. He stopped the song to do such and watched the boy rub at his eyes.
"Just sleep, Shoto. You'll be fine," Matthew went back to playing the song.
"No. I'm on a mission and I need to stay awake so that I can meet back up with my teammates," Shoto whined sleepily.
"I'll wake you when your team arrives. I'll stay here with you for as long as you need me," Matthew smiled.
Shoto allowed himself to fall asleep with the words that he would always have someone by his side. The guitar was put down and Matthew moved the boy so that his head was on his lap. Normally he would be embarrassed to do something like this with the young prince especially when he makes it blatantly obvious that he has a small crush. Not this time, however. His protect his young prince behaviour was on autopilot and there was nothing to stop that.
Start of Matthew's Memory Sequence
It was the day that they had to leave the Emerald Compound in order to find new suitable places for the clan to move to. WIth the extension, or as Clan Head Daizaburou called it, the baby boom, they needed to spread out to other villages in order to have enough room for everyone as well as enough resources. As much as it pained the cyan haired man to send his only child out, there was more to be learned in Konohagakure than Kirigakure.
Shoto and Matthew stood before the Clan Head, both wearing their backpacks. Shoto, ever the small rebel, the eleven year old was glaring his father down. Matthew kneeled down trying his hardest to show the respect his best friend wouldn't show. Though it was such an important day for not only the clan but the two boys, they were acting as if it were a normal day.
"For once, my son, can you be serious?" Daizaburou sighed.
"When I kick your ass and become head of the clan, then I will become serious," Shoto grinned before setting his glare back in.
"This is what your mother meant when she said I would regret training you," Daizaburou smacked his forehead.
Shoto could only grin more and even gave a little chuckle. If he was already giving his father hell at the age of eleven, he couldn't wait until he got older. He would become the best at using the wind style jutsu that their clan was known for and take the title of Clan Head. Then the whole clan extension thing would be unnecessary. They could all live in the compound happily without having to spread out.
"Matthew, I do hope you're ready for the task of watching Shoto while he is in Konohagakure," Daizaburou looked over at the blond.
"Yes, sir. I will guard Shoto-kun with my very life," Matthew stood up and saluted.
"I don't need to be protected. I can defeat all those lowly ninja," Shoto looked between the two.
"You're not out of the Academy yet, Shoto-kun. How are you going to fight against Konoha ninja? You can barely conjure up wind chakra to use," Matthew looked skeptically at his best friend.
"No, but I can still use Taijutsu," Shoto stuck out his tongue.
"In which you are the worst in your class now," Matthew stared blankly.
"Shut up! Just because you graduated doesn't mean that I'm weak. It just means that I need to study a little bit harder so that I can pass the test," Shoto grew quite indignant.
"And you are sure you want to deal with this until we have found other lands to live on comfortably?" Daizuburou asked again.
"Yeah. Shoto-kun is easy to deal with. Besides this is nothing compared to being in the same class as him. It was much worse and I shudder at the thought of it," Matthew smiled at the man.
"You are such a good friend," Daizuburou smiled softly.
"I vow on my life as a ninja, Emerald Shoto will be protected even before any village mission. He will be the most important thing in my life. If I even feel like he is in danger, I will not eat, sleep, or even bathe until I make him safe," Matthew saluted again with his vow.
"I thank you personally. Please keep Shoto safe for he is quite naive."
Shoto gave a pout as he looked at them. Deep inside, he was proud that his best friend was willing to go to such lengths for him. The pout slowly gave way to a smirk. This blond male was going to be his advisor once he became clan head and there was nothing anyone could do about it. It wasn't something he ever thought that he would do. Hand his safety over to someone else, especially the boy that he beat in battle just two years ago.
Matthew stopped his salute and looked over at Shoto. His amethyst eyes shone with the promise to keep the boy protected for as long as he possibly could. The Prince of the Emerald Clan was needed alive, his body could turn to dust if it meant that he could do the clan some good. Slowly though his head tilted to the left as the smirk on the smaller boy's face grew. It made him wonder if he really did make the right choice in deciding to go with. Well it wasn't like he could take back everything he said. Only the life of living with his best friend.
End of Sequence
Matthew was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw three black inky looking lions jump from the bushes. He moved the sleeping boy so that his head was on the stump and stood up. Guitar on his back, he gave a smirk. It had been a while since his last fight, he couldn't count how many missions had gone by without one. However, with Shoto sleeping and had just finished crying, well he needed to release some type of frustration. What was better than beating the crap out of these things and whoever was their owner?
Using a few hand seals, he stared ahead at his three opponents. He wondered if they were jutsu made or some new kind of creature that he had never seen before. Well it wasn't like he was well versed with animals besides to be able to tell what was mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian. It was still a weird thing whatever it was.
"Hyōken no Jutsu!" Matthew's smirk showed a sense of danger.
The moisture in the air suddenly began to swirl around the blond's hands, growing colder. He moved his hands like a person would when showing off the blade of their sword. Instantly, a blade of ice was created in his right hand. He swung it around a bit to get used to the weight. It wasn't often that he used the technique especially when he believed that it would be an easy battle. He just was not in the mood to deal with the fodder for too long.
He charged after the lion-like creatures when they made no move to come after him. It seemed his movement caused them to run at him as well. The middle lion jumped at him, claws outstretched. He wouldn't say that he was expecting it and was scratched on his right cheek. In retaliation, he swung his left fist getting a nice hit in where the ribs should be. It felt strange, almost slimy. There was no way these were real animals. They did attack like real animals, more like cats if he knew anything.
Jumping back, he gauged their positioning. They were in a triangle formation, so they were used to just rushing an opponent. If he could get all three of them together, he could most likely get rid of them with one good swing of the ice sword. However, it seemed they were much smarter than that. As he started thinking and gauging positionings, they scattered. He gave an audible tut sound hoping to get this over with quickly. His Ice Jutsu weren't the best when he was nowhere near water or snow so he had to do whatever it was that he could.
One of the lions came from the left, fangs baring. Though it was being quite sneaky, showing a style of stealth he had only scene from cats, he could hear the footsteps on the fallen leaves. He sidestepped and swung his sword catching the beast's neck. He hadn't expected to hit it and was rewarded by a pile of ink on his sandals. Well that was a bit irritating. They weren't exactly the easiest things to clean and he hated cleaning in general.
The ice sword was slowly melting, the ice water running down his arm. He still had two more ink monsters to defeat and he was not feeling up to it with his weapon melting the way that it was. He wasn't good with just using Ninjutsu either way as he had low Chakra reserves. His Taijutsu however, he felt wouldn't be enough to stop these things. Yet he had to. For all he knew they weren't even targeting him, but Shoto who was still sleeping away on the tree stump.
He looked back only for a slight moment to check on his friend, only for his arm to be bitten by another beast. He grimaced in the pain and punched it several times before it finally let go. Blood was dripping from his arm, mixing in with the water from his sword. He took a deep breath to focus the pain of his bleeding arm into a way to stay calm. Fighting while under rage would cause him to slip up and do something stupid. That was not his way of going about any battle.
The beast came at him again, this time aiming its claws at his face. He held his sword up to block the attack. Either the beast was really strong or his arm was weak from the attack but he was barely holding his own. He had to do something to keep the battle on his side. He sighed, not wanting to use the technique he knew he would have to.
"Hyōton: Saihyōzuchi!" He shouted his jutsu.
His fists were covered with ice and his teeth chattered with the cold surrounding his warm body. With the sword keeping the beast back, he used his left hand to deliver a mean hook to its side. The ink exploded onto the sword and part of his shirt. He sighed in relief as he now only had one more to defeat.
Speaking of that last one, he had no idea where it went to. He looked around the clearing before his eyes caught a hold of it near Shoto. Without hesitation, he started running back to his best friend to stop the beast from harming him. Though he stopped when he saw that it turned around and looked ready to pounce on him. That was strange. It looked almost like it was trying to protect the boy as well. Did the creator of this thing want to protect him too?
All the ice dispersed before it melted on him. Slowly he walked to the creature with his hands up to show he meant no harm. When the pouncing stance was gone, he reached out to scratch behind its ear with his good arm.
"So you wanna' protect him too? Are you a friend of his?" Matthew asked.
"Yes, I am his friend," a voice came from the bushes. "Now who are you?"
Matthew was quite unwilling to fight anything else that day. He got his frustrations out already and well he still needed to bandage up his arm. Either way someone said that they were a friend of the little prince. So he shouldn't have a need to fight anymore unless his own mission called for it.
"How about you come out here and we talk," Matthew grinned, taking his seat next to Shoto.
Out of the bushes and from behind a few trees, came a pale male with black hair. In his left hand was a tanto and his black eyes were fixed into a glare. Behind the male came Shikamaru and Kakashi, both of which looked shocked to see the blond sitting there. The black haired male however rushed forward with his tanto. It was blocked by a kunai though Matthew was having trouble keeping up.
"Sai, stop!" Kakashi yelled.
"Yes, senpai," Sai put his tanto back on his back.
"The hell was that?" Matthew went back into a sitting position.
"We'll explain later. Why are you here?" Shikamaru asked.
"Got a mission to Suna. I only stopped because Shoto was alone in the forest," Matthew shrugged his shoulders.
Kakashi looked away from the blond as he knew what the other was most likely thinking. It was obvious that the boy was always going to protect Shoto and was most likely thinking that they were the worst teammates for leaving him alone. However, taking the young Genin to fight Uchiha Itachi could have ended with something much worse. After all, a missing nin that was an Uchiha prodigy could not have been something good. No matter what Tsunade thought, the boy was not ready for a mission like that.
Sai went over to the sleeping boy and gently started to shake him. A look of confusion came to his face as the Genin only rolled over while mumbling about pancakes and ramen. So he tried shaking him a bit harder, only getting a frown from the boy. That became him shaking him and calling his name. When that proved not to work either he sighed and threw a rock at his head.
"Ow, Matthew, that hurt," Shoto woke up, rubbing his head.
"I am not Matthew. I'm Sai," the blackette gave his fake smile.
"Sai-bear!" the silver haired boy hugged him.
Sai slowly wrapped his arms around the Genin in an attempt at an apology. He tried to give his most sincere smile while holding him as tight as he could to comfort him. All that he wanted was to protect him and keep him safe from any other missing nin that could be hiding around. Though with that blond being there it seemed possible that something had happened and that was why his "boyfriend" had fallen asleep during the mission. There wasn't much that he could think that could have happened in the matter of two hours they were all away.
"Shoto-kun, what's wrong?" Sai asked.
"Nothings wrong. I was just tired," Shoto said.
"Yes there is. You were crying, there are still tear marks on your face," Sai moved one hand to his face.
"Shit...I mean no. Those are from me sleeping on this tree stump," Shoto nodded his head to his own lie.
"I am not going to believe you, however I will not pressure you into telling me anything," Sai smiled, sincerely this time.
"Sai-bear," Shoto grinned.
Shoto tilted his head to the right and leaned in to kiss him. Unfortunately, he was pulled back by Kakashi and Matthew. He mentally cursed as he looked into a black eye and two glowing purple eyes. He gave the best puppy eyes that he could to make them let him go. He knew that it wouldn't happen since they were looking at him pretty sternly. What could he possibly have done that made them stop his kiss with his boyfriend?
"What is it now?" Shoto whined.
"You ate all the sandwiches," Matthew pointed at the plate of missing lunch.
"I was alone. You know I eat more when I'm by myself, you asshole," Shoto glared at Matthew.
"Doesn't mean eat half the lunch from your teammates. I mean come on they most likely came back wanting some food," Matthew got in his face.
"Then you make something. No one told you to come here and act like you're super parent or anything," Shoto reared back a fist.
"Now, now boys, calm down. I can make more food for lunch," Kakashi put his hands up.
So Kakashi started working on lunch again, to make up for what the Genin had eaten in his time alone. More sandwiches and a few more onigiri as he really didn't want to use up too many resources. Shikamaru sat next to Matthew and the two talked about the missions that they were on. Shoto and Sai sat in a tree together, holding onto the other.
It was during lunch that Shoto thought about that guy again. He smelled like clay and had come when the others were busy trying to go after Itachi. Made him wonder if he, too, was a missing nin and worked with the Akatsuki. Maybe Kakashi would know something about it. While talking to the older silver haired male, he could probably sneak a few sandwiches from the pile as well. Killing two birds with one stone.
"Kaka-sensei!" Shoto called.
"Yes, Shoto-kun?" Kakashi looked up from making another onigiri.
"I got a serious question and I really need it answered," Shoto sounded much like a child at that moment.
"I may have an answer. So please ask away," Kakashi started counting how much food he made.
"Alright. So after you guys left, there was this blond guy that showed up. I can fully describe him if need be, but that's not important right now. What is important is that he smelled like clay, you know what we were smelling earlier. Do you think he's also part of the Akatsuki?" Shoto asked seriously.
"What headband was he wearing?" Shikamaru questioned the boy.
"Iwagakure headband, though it was scratched out," Shoto answered.
"Akatsuki," Kakashi and Shikamaru said together.
"An Akatsuki member? Are you hurt? You didn't get poisoned did you?" Matthew took out his first aid kit.
A commotion was made as it became evident that Shoto went up against an Akatsuki member by himself. Kakashi mentally cursed himself. He should have known better than to think that Itachi would have come by himself. However, what was the purpose of sending the other after Shoto? Was it an initiation type thing? How dare they consider Shoto weak enough to prey on by himself. No wonder Matthew was there. He probably sensed that his friend was in trouble as they ran after Itachi.
"I made him run away, no need to be overly worried about me," Shoto jumped out of the tree.
Sai looked at the smaller boy and felt something in his chest. It was a flurry of something and he wasn't sure why he felt it. Though it only happened when it was made quite clear that his boyfriend had fought against an Akatsuki member. This couldn't have been a normal feeling to be having. It didn't help that he didn't know too much about emotions in the first place. Though he knew there was something inside him that said that he needed to always be there with the boy.
Shikamaru sighed. He really hoped that the boy wasn't exaggerating with his claims of making the man run away. Itachi was troublesome enough he didn't want to deal with two Akatsuki members in one day. It was a smart strategy that they used though. It felt like they knew Shoto was still considered the weakest of their group and baited the others away to get to him. That was no good. He couldn't believe that he fell for such an easy trap. He felt completely off his game that day.
"I'm serious guys, I'm fine," Shoto took a sandwich off the plate.
Sai took that as an opportunity to jump down and hug his boyfriend. His eyes felt like they were swelling up with water and he was not sure as to why something like that would be happening. He just knew that this was something that he wanted. He had never wanted anything as much as he wanted to hug this boy at the moment.
"Sai-bear, I'm just fine," Shoto looked at Sai.
"I promise I will never leave your side again," Sai declared.
"Sai? No, you don't have to do something like that. I already said that I'm just fine so there's no need to be worried about anything," Shoto blushed slightly.
"No, I will be here for you always," Sai ran his hand through the silky silver tresses.
"Heh, someone trying to take my job it seems," Matthew smiled.
"What? No! You promised father!" Shoto yelled.
"I dunno, you got a pretty good boyfriend to do that," Matthew laughed.
The pout on Shoto's face could almost be described as childish. He loved Sai, or at least he believed that he loved the older teen. Yet it wouldn't be the same as Matthew protecting him. Sai would agree with him as most lovers did, Matthew always had an argument with him over stupid things.
Though he had to admit he was quite fond of the idea of Sai protecting him too. It would bring them much closer and well that was all that he wanted. To be as close to Sai as possible. Nothing bad could happen from wanting something like that. At least he believed so.