Ok, I know a lot of you weren't exactly on the edge of your seats after the last chapter, but I'm not the kind of person who just drops things cos they ain't working. In any case, the introduction of a certain person almost all of you know and love will come next chapter. That's right, it'll not be long until we finally see Hidan!
Disclaimer: By the way, before I forget. Check out nat19th on deviantArt, she took up my challenge to draw Naruto, Gaara and Eko. She did a pretty damn good job on Nar and Gaar, so props to ya nat!
Old faces, new people
Naruto maintained his smile as he looked at the girl, who merely stared back with a blank expression. Between them, the cat got to its feet and padded over to Naruto, climbing onto his stomach and laying down for what seemed like a nap. The girl glanced at the cat, and from that she seemed to relax a little. But then she returned her eyes to Naruto, her obscured face still managing to look sharp with her hair in its way, "Who are you?"
The voice was steady and unassuming, and to Naruto's disappointment it came without the slightest hint of recognition. Of course, the reaction was natural. It had been a long time since he and this girl last met, and from what he could see both of them had changed very much. From what he could see of her blue denim jacket and pale yellow t shirt, she had grown up quite well. Once more Naruto was reminded of his discomfort when it came to the opposite gender, and he fixed his eyes on her deep blue eyes, barely visible though they were, and smiled again.
"Yeah, I guess I can understand if you forgot." he sighed, slipping his hand back behind his head. He noted the frown that the girl gained; he was steadily becoming more certain about who this one was, "I just figured I'd keep that promise."
"Promise?" the girl repeated, pushing herself properly onto the rooftop. She then walked towards Naruto and scooped up the cat in her arms, before stepping back with a distrustful look, "What does that mean?"
"Come on, you still don't recognise me?" Naruto asked, rolling over and pushing himself to his feet. He looked straight at the girl, taking personal pleasure in the fact that he was quite taller than her, "You use to boss me around and order me to train you all the time."
That statement only seemed to confuse the girl further. She narrowed her eyes, leaning in to get a closer look. She raised a hand and brushed some of her hair out of the way, leaving the left side of her face exposed. After a few moments, she blinked in surprise before stepping back, "Naruto?!"
Naruto grinned broadly, giving an inward laugh as she finally remembered him. The girl looked him up and down again, her brow raised in shock as she studied the boy she barely recognised. But memory seemed to slowly come back to her; at least that's what the look from her slight gape told him, "Hey Rika-chan!"
"What- you're back?" she asked, still looking quite bewildered. Her grip on the cat loosened and the small animal dropped down to the ground, before proceeding to jump off the roof and to the balcony below. Rika followed the cat with her eyes, turning around, "Hey, Keiko!"
"That your cat?" Naruto asked, stepping over to the edge as Rika dropped back down. The cat headed back in through the open door, and Rika closed it before looking back up, "When did you get her?"
"Oh, she's Emiko's." Rika replied, leaning against the railing, "But anyway, what're you doing back here?"
"Training's over." Naruto replied, slipping down to a cross legged position. He studied Rika closely, noticing she wore a skirt that matched her jacket atop her fair, well toned- "So ah- what've you been up to?"
"Oh, lately nothing much." Rika replied, brushing the hair from the other side of her face, "Yuuka's been busy at the-"
She suddenly blinked in surprise as Naruto dropped down from the rooftop and was immediately in front of her. He was staring quite intensely, his brow creased as he studied her very closely. Feeling very wary, and a little embarrassed, she lent away from him with an alarmed expression, "What?!"
"What happened?" Naruto asked, slowly raising his hand towards her face. Rika saw his outstretched fingers and panicked, swiping his hand away with an angry look.
"Don't just touch me!" she exclaimed, pushing him back with an affronted look. Seconds later however, she came to realise the cause of his concern, and looked away with moodily, "Some guy just got in a lucky shot."
Naruto blinked in surprise as she self consciously raised her own hand to her face, touching the scar that ran from the bridge of her nose down to her jaw. He could see there was a slight reddening to her cheek, which made part of the scar turn purple. She seemed very discomfited about it all of a sudden, hiding it with her hand as she looked away from Naruto.
"You got that on a mission?" Naruto repeated, with a bewildered look. Rika glanced at him and gave a brief nod, but her expression remained the same, "What happened?"
"A delivery mission got out of hand and someone snuck up on me." Rika muttered, with a look of shame on her face, "I'm not proud of it, so can you just forget it?"
Naruto faltered for a moment, looking like he was about to say something. But the look on her face made him decide against it, he closed his mouth and lowered his gaze. He took a few moments again before raising his head once more, "So where's Yuuka-chan?"
"She's down at the doctor's clinic." Rika replied, glad of the change of subject. She finally felt able to lower her hand, and slipped herself up to a seated position atop the iron railing, "She's been doing some part time work as a nurse in between missions."
Naruto raised his brow in surprise; he hadn't expected the answer to be something like that. Doing a part time job between missions sounded tough, he certainly wouldn't be keen for it. Then again, that was more because of the fact that a part time job seemed boring to him.
"So how did your training go?" Rika asked, lightly swinging her legs between the bars of the railing.
"Pretty good I guess." Naruto replied, before he suddenly got a bad feeling, "You're not gonna ask for a demonstration are you? Cos I just dropped my sword off at the cleaners."
"No thanks tough guy." Rika answered, slipping off the railing and passing Naruto by. She slid open the door and head inside, without looking back, "Today's my day off, so I'm gonna take a bath. Why don't you drop in and see Yuuka? I think she was a little upset when you left without saying goodbye."
Before Naruto could reply she had disappeared into another room. He was left there with the cat looking up at him, mewing contentedly as the blond wore a dazed look. But then after a moment he shook his head, before turning around and vaulting over the balcony, "I got time… now where's the clinic?"
* * * * *
Back in the tower, Yagura sat on the sill of Utakata's window, looking out to the village below while his friend blew bubbles on his bed. The room was sparsely decorated, yet by chance it seemed to suit Utakata's tastes well. Pale blue walls and a platinum coloured carpet, simple and peaceful. It wasn't like the room would get used often, and so it was fine as it was.
"What's up?" Utakata asked, looking over from his seated position to the straw haired boy at his window. He could tell Yagura was deep in thought, though that would have been easy even for a stranger to realise.
"You saw that guy's eyes didn't you?" Yagura asked, as he looked down to the distant streets. He recalled those grey almonds, with no iris and only ripples surrounding the pupils, "I don't know why, but they gave me a bad feeling."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Utakata agreed, resting his head on the wall behind him. He watched one of the bubbles floating nearby, seeing his own contorted reflection in it, "I remember reading up on something once, about a guy who also had eyes like that. He was a sage or something, I dunno. But apparently he was strong, and it had something to do with those eyes."
Yagura glanced over as he heard this; it wasn't something he himself was aware of. In fact, the mere point that Utakata had read up on stuff like that came as a surprise to him. It was a little disappointing, that Utakata seemed to have such an easy read on him while he didn't even know something as basic as that.
"What about it?" he asked, slipping down so that both his legs hung down the wall. He batted away a bubble that was moving close to his face, the thin sphere failed to burst and simply drifted off through the air.
"I wasn't really paying attention, so I don't remember much." Utakata replied, slipping his bubble blower back into his sash. He then raised his hands and placed them atop his head, his eyes going out of focus as he tried to recall, "I know that his eyes were unique though, and that none of his descendents ever possessed them again."
Yagura's brow creased into a frown, he hopped off of the sill and stepped over to the centre of the room. Raising his eyes to an area of the ceiling, he looked to where he imagined the room he met Pein to be. He stood still for a few moments, considering something to himself.
"So then this is the first person in generations to gain that dojutsu?" he speculated, looking over to Utakata. The other boy shrugged, he had already revealed all that he could remember on the subject. Yagura sighed, rubbing his eye as he looked down, "What a pain."
* * * * *
It had taken quite a bit of bothersome searching to find the place Rika had spoken of. Naruto had needed to ask quite a few people for directions, he had never visited a clinic in Ame before he left with Kisame, and so knew nothing of it.
But eventually he succeeded in finding the place, to his annoyance he had actually passed it on his way to Rika's home. It was a small, unassuming building in a busy street, so he could be forgiven for not recognising it to an extent. Looking in through the broad window, it didn't look like they were very busy at all. Only a few people sat inside, one of those being the receptionist.
"Guess I'll take a look." he thought, before stepping inside. Immediately he was met with glances as people gave surprised looks to the outlandish boy suddenly in their midst. He didn't pay them any attention though as he stepped past the chairs and towards the receptionist, a man with clipped dark hair, a white coat and square rimmed glasses. He watched as Naruto drew nearer to him, his expression neither impressed nor even interested.
"Got an appointment, or making one?" he asked, his jaw barely moving from its place in his hand. Naruto faltered for a moment, realising he didn't really know what to do now. But he decided to just give it a shot, couldn't hurt right?
"Uh… I'm looking for Sakai Yuuka." he said, somewhat hesitantly. The receptionist cocked his brow at the unexpected request, but didn't make much more of a reaction. He raised his free hand and jerked his thumb to the staircase off to the right.
"Top floor, in the greenhouse." he said, before returning his eyes to the newspaper before him. Naruto gave a quick word of thanks before turning to the stairs and heading up them. He was surprised it had been so simple, but then again with things so quiet he wouldn't be surprised if the staff were a little complacent. He made the ascension through several floors, until eventually he reached what looked like the door to the rooftop.
"Here goes." he thought, as he reached up and pulled the door open. Almost immediately past that door was another, glass one that clearly belonged to the greenhouse mentioned by the guy down below. He could see the plants on the other side, laid out on a long wooden table. And off to the corner, with her back to him, there was a girl who oddly resembled Rika working at a counter. The only difference being that this girl's hair was tied back with a black ribbon, and she was wearing a simple blue sweater and jeans with a white apron tied around her.
Naruto couldn't help but grin to himself as he pushed the glass door open and stepped inside. The girl didn't react to his entry though, and continued whatever work she was doing regardless of his presence. However, when Naruto closed the door behind him, she spoke up, "Ayane, can you pass the poppy seeds?"
Smiling to himself, Naruto found a packet of what the girl was asking for lined up on a shelf to his left. He picked it up and walked over to her, but as his footsteps were heavier than what Ayane's probably were, the girl soon took notice. She turned around and looked at Naruto with a frown, with the same lack of recognition that Rika had, "Who are you?"
"Heh, looks like I was right." Naruto replied, grinning as he passed the seeds to the girl, "You didn't recognise me after all, did you Yuuka-chan?"
Yuuka frowned up at Naruto, but unlike her sister she was quicker on the ball. She gasped, her hands flying to her face from shock and nearly resulting in many scattered poppy seeds. Naruto chuckled to himself, now there was a reaction he was glad to have seen.
"N-Naruto-kun?!" she exclaimed, her hands dropping down as she looked Naruto up and down. She found herself studying his chest for a moment too long, and hastily turned around as her cheeks turned a shade of pink, "What are you doing here?"
"Hey hey, even Rika-chan was nicer than that." Naruto replied, pretending to take offence, "I guess I'll go then."
"Oh no!" Yuuka cried, suddenly turning around. She bowed down quickly, her ponytail falling down to her side, "I'm sorry about that, please forgive my rudeness!"
Once more Naruto found himself laughing, though this time it was much more noticeable. Yuuka looked up nervously, before realising he wasn't as cross with her as she thought he was. Straightening up, she wore the look of someone who knew they were being teased, yet did nothing to stop it. Fortunately Naruto noticed this and came to a steady stop, rubbing the back of his head as he grinned.
"Well… um… it's great to see you." Yuuka said, with an uncomfortable look. But then she seemed to get an idea, and her face lit up quite surprisingly, "Er… I'm almost done here, so if you could wait a little we could go for a walk and catch up?"
This time it was Naruto's turn to look surprised at what Yuuka said. However innocent the suggestion may have been, his absence from society and Kisame's strange snippets of innuendo had caused him to read more into it than he perhaps should. Hiding his own embarrassment behind a broad grin, he gave a nod to Yuuka that made her beam, "Sure, I'll wait."
* * * * *
Gaara sat in the place he now once more called his room, surrounded by jars that had collected years of dust. He had already abandoned thoughts of his own idiocy in the effort he had taken to gain these jars, and instead meditated as his only form of rest. His crossed legs and closed eyes showed complete solitude as his chest rose and fell with each passing breath. The open window allowed a cool breeze to pass through the air, and the afternoon sunlight gave the room a red haze to it as it cast across the brown and red urns all around.
"I'm hungry…" came the voice that often passed through his head, the one that held no distinction to it at all. A bland, genderless voice that Gaara couldn't ever forget, that would never allow to be forgotten.
"Like I care." he thought in reply, only his voice cast in his mind serving as a reaction. The other voice growled to itself, before disappearing again. After all these years, it had learned that there was a time to make suggestions to Gaara. It would wait until then to sate its desire, and then it would go as far as it could.
His thoughts now disturbed, Gaara abandoned his practice and opened his eyes. Once the Shukaku decided to make itself known, further focus was near impossible. And so Gaara got to his feet, gazing out of the window with a faraway look in his eyes. He felt the string of the pendant on the back of his neck and lowered his look to the medallion resting on his chest. He picked it up and raised it to the light, casting it in shadows as it formed a silhouette looking almost just like an eclipse. He lightly turned the metal disk in his fingers, wondering once more if possession of this would be problematic.
But then there was a knock on his door, and he quickly lost interest in the medallion. Dropping it back onto his chest, he turned around and headed to the door. Pulling it open, he raised a brow at the person he saw standing before him. Without a word, he stepped aside, allowing the person to enter. He glanced over the flowing black cloak adorned with the red clouds all he members of Akatsuki wore. He raised his eyes to the long, almost raven hair tied of the man standing in his midst. Tied back with a few strands hanging down either side of his face, the man known as Itachi turned to face him. Gaara briefly glanced over the tired creases on the older man's face, and the dark eyes that seemed even more studious than his own, before he closed the door.
"I am to assist you on your mission then?" Gaara asked, pressing his hand firmly upon the wooden frame. Itachi gave a small nod; he was as much a man of words as Gaara.
"Yes." he replied, in the exact same tone as the red haired Shinobi in front of him, "We are to meet with our client in Katoshi."
"Katoshi?" Gaara repeated, leaning against the wall behind him and crossing his arms. He wore a frown across his face, it was clear to see what he was thinking, "I'm not familiar with that place."
"It's west of Tsuchi no Kuni." Itachi explained, simply and steadily, "An economic city, not like Ame."
Gaara slowly nodded, showing his understanding. But he knew of course there was more to come; this information could have been passed at any time. And so he waited patiently, knowing Itachi wouldn't put off whatever he was going to say for too long.
"It appears you were right after all." the dark haired man admitted, breaking eye contact as soon as the words passed his lips. Gaara nodded again; naturally he was already aware of that.
"So what then?" he asked, as Itachi stepped towards the open window. He looked out to the peach coloured sky, his eyes deep in thought as he weighed his words carefully.
"Do as you will." he said, quietly. Gaara's eyes narrowed at the answer, he was discomforted by that response, "It doesn't change my own goals."
Gaara straightened up, taking a few steps toward the centre of the room. Itachi failed to respond however, his eyes remained upon the clouds outside, "So you will do nothing?"
"Nothing I hadn't already intended to." Itachi replied, wistfully. He finally bowed his head, letting out a sigh, before looking back, "And you?"
"My goals are the same too."
Itachi nodded understandingly, turning completely around. He and Gaara stared at each other for several long moments, before the former took slow steps to leave the room, "We're leaving soon, are you prepared?"
"Yes." Gaara replied, turning and following Itachi as they left the room.
* * * * *
Yuuka watched with a stunned look as Naruto left the weapon specialist shop with Eko now returned to him. She was unable to take her eyes off the giant blade perched on his back, completely dumbfounded that someone could carry such and immense weapon. Her attention was so distracted, it took a wave from Naruto to bring her back to her senses.
"How can you carry that thing?!" she asked, as Naruto began walking. She followed after him, noticing the crowd splitting apart to avoid getting glanced by the great sword. Naruto just looked blankly at her, shrugging.
"I trained for it." he replied in the simplest terms. Yuuka felt a little bothered by the lack of detail, but that was overshadowed as she realised the strength he had to possess. Naruto glanced at her, and suddenly caught a faint blush appear on her again, what was she thinking?
"So what've you been doing then?" he asked, deciding he'd said enough about himself. Yuuka gave a thoughtful look as she tried to come up with something worth mentioning, and Naruto couldn't help but smile.
"Well… Rika and I passed the academy graduation exam, and we were put into a team with Haru-kun, you remember him?" she said, looking at Naruto with a raised brow. He gave her a nod, he vaguely recalled the other people Yuuka had introduced him to before, but none of them had fit into his memory quite right, "Well, I've been a Genin ever since, but Rika and Haru-kun both advanced to Chunin at different times. So I guess I'm the weakest one, huh?"
"I wouldn't worry about that." Naruto replied, slipping his hands behind his head. He gave Yuuka a comforting grin, one that left her looking surprised at him, "If we're counting ranks, I'm a dropout from the academy who failed the graduation exam three times!"
Amidst his own laughter, Naruto definitely heard Yuuka's, even if only faintly. He flashed her a grin that was returned with a smile, certain he had safely avoided a melancholy mood.
All around them shops were beginning to close, storekeepers dimming their lights and some sweeping their floors half heartedly. Naruto glanced around at the paper angles, all of which were slaying lightly in the cool breeze. He then realised that Yuuka was walking along silently, her eyes fixed on the ground.
"Man, she's gotta be feeling pretty awkward or something." he thought, before deciding to ease things up, "So what changed when I left?"
"Huh?!" Yuuka exclaimed, giving him a startled look. Naruto nodded to the angels, and she came to realise what he meant, "Oh… well… they're an offering to angel-sama, praying for good fortune."
Naruto cocked a brow, he had worked out the connection between the angels and Konan, but he had never imagined Pein had that much of a metaphysical presence. It seemed to him that he had underestimated the mysterious man; he was even more efficient that Naruto thought.
"Hey, Naruto-kun?" Yuuka said, looking up at Naruto with a slightly worried expression, "You know right? If Pein-sama is real?"
Naruto cocked a brow at Yuuka, resisting the urge to come to a stop altogether. Her sharpness was impressive, even if she was a little careless with her method of information gathering. Still, he had no problem with answering.
"Nah." he said, looking down the street. He could feel Yuuka studying his expression, and actually had to hand it to her. She was more perceptive than he remembered, "Pein's just an ideal. Whoever's running the show, he isn't a god."
Yuuka watched him for just a moment more, before dropping her gaze. She seemed to accept what he said, though that wasn't such a big deal since he hadn't said anything that wasn't the truth.
They came to a junction, one that led off in four ways. One of those led to Yuuka's home, and the other to the tower that Naruto resided within. Both of them stopped here, knowing they were about to part ways.
"I got a mission to go on, so I'll be leaving again tomorrow." Naruto said, his hands falling to his sides.
"Yeah, me too." Yuuka quietly replied, shuffling uncomfortably. Naruto looked her up and down, he had a strange feeling there was something more on her mind. But he wasn't going to press her, and he decided not to keep her any longer either.
"Well, guess I'll see ya later." he said, taking the first few steps back.
"Yes, I look forward to it." Yuuka replied, with a weak smile. Naruto gave her a wave, before he turned around and started walking. He felt a little fidgety, he was sure Yuuka's eyes were still on him. But he didn't glance back, and just kept on walking.
"Man… you know I'm gonna kick your ass if you get all depressed again right?"
Naruto chuckled to himself. Even though the threat held no weight, he made sure he'd follow it anyway. And so just to prove it, he turned around walked backwards, giving Yuuka a big wave, "HEY YUUKA-CHAN! GREAT SEEING YOU AGAIN!"
He laughed again as even from this distance he caught the reddening of Yuuka's cheeks. She gave her own wave too, calling something similar back to him. Then she turned to her right and disappeared down another street, vanishing from view altogether. Naruto grinned to himself, before turning back to the direction he was walking.
"Very smooth… very smooth."
