～映画物語～

藤原のムラサキ

XxX

Jiraiya sat atop the roof overlooking the gaping hole where he and Murasaki's old apartment had been. The fire had raged throughout the day, finally going out only after it had hit a gas line and blown a gaping hole in the newer section of The Hidden Leaf Village. Luckily, no one save for Murasaki and himself had been injured in the blast.

Now, more than ever, Jiraiya had to think, and think hard about where he and Murasaki were headed in life. The Toad Sage was full of a menagerie of emotions; he was angry, frustrated, and relieved.

He was angry and frustrated mostly because his entire life's work of writing had gone up in flames, and perhaps a little angry at Murasaki for somehow incurring someone's wrath in such a poisonous way. But it wasn't really her fault, was it? And at the end of the day, now, as he watched the sun set over the tree tops, he was just relieved that his daughter was safe.

Murasaki had been so unexpected in his life, that thing that he never knew he'd wanted until he was stuck with her. Ten years before he would have scoffed at the thought of being a father, but in hindsight, he wished he'd have known about her then, because he'd missed out on so much and ultimately had failed to protect her.
Soft footsteps and the rattle of a Shakujo staff warned him of another person drawing towards him, and he looked back into Kakashi's tired, masked face. Somewhere off in the distance, a dog was barking.

"Seems like she can't go ten feet without dredging up angry demons and hungry ghosts." Kakashi muttered, sitting down beside the Sage and resting the staff on the tile behind him. "Such is the nature of a shamaness."

"You've been at the KIA monument, haven't you?"

Kakashi fell silent, picking a tamarack needle out of his hair. Jiraiya sighed, sitting back on his palms as a soft breeze carried the scent of charred wood in their direction. Kakashi stretched lazily, arching his back and yawning.

"It's been a long day."

Jiraiya grunted in agreement, watching two small songbirds disappear into the darkening forest.

"How long have you been back?"

"Just this morning." Kakashi said quickly. "I saw the smoke rising from the direction of your apartment and figured it had something to do with Murasaki."
Jiraiya a let out a low chuckle.

"She does seem to attract a lot of trouble, doesn't she?"

Kakashi snorted, shaking his head. "I suppose attracting trouble isn't half as bad as being trouble. She put up a good fight, and wasn't about to just let someone bowl her over, not even me." The jounin unhooked his canteen from his utility belt. "The little brat put some of her chakra in here so she could keep an eye on me last Spring. I let her do it, but still, it was pretty sneaky. I think she occasionally forgets about my Sharingan."

Jiraiya laughed finally, taking the canteen from the boy and inspecting it. "Well, she really doesn't know Sharingan Kakashi…"

A stricken look crossed Kakashi's face and he slumped his shoulders. "I don't suppose I have been a very good friend over the past few years…"

Jiraiya bit his tongue. Murasaki had stated her less than flattering opinion of Kakashi on several different occasions.

"Speaking of little brats and trouble…" Jiraiya said suddenly, breaking the silence and changing the subject.

"Such a heavy question. Can't a guy get some rest around here?" Kakashi muttered dryly, taking the canteen from Jiraiya and pulling his mask down to take a drink.

"No."

Kakashi sighed, finishing his swallow. There was a brief moment of utter silence, before he spoke again.

"Megumi is…difficult to deal with. I have never met someone as remarkably self-centered as she."

This comment earned a snort from Jiraiya, followed by a slight laugh.

"Like it or not, she's just like her father."

"Who isn't technically, well, naturally, her father. Jiraiya-sama…" Kakashi's tone darkened. "What do you know of this genetic engineering that Orochimaru is doing?"

A heavy blackness seemed to fall upon the two as the conversation took a sudden and dark turn in the dying sunlight.

"Orochimaru, is, and has always been, obsessed with immortality and power, living forever, and learning every jutsu known to the shinobi world. He's tried many times and failed to create a perfect human, and he's able to move his spirit from body to body somehow, but those bodies, no matter how perfect, never last him for more than a few months to a year or so."

"I see." Kakashi nodded, taking another swig from his precious canteen. "that explains a lot more now…Megumi is hesitant to enlighten me to her fathers doings, and sometimes I wonder if she even knows herself, but I catch glimpses and snippets here and there…"

"Like?"

"Mass factories full of fetus' in containment chambers, experiments on the human body to the point of no recognition…every step tediously recorded and catalogued, frozen genetics, engineering and injecting the fetus' with hormones and DNA…" Kakashi's skin felt cold and prickly as he shuddered slightly at the thought of all of the mizuko floating in that green slime, the scent of formaldehyde and cleaning solution. The worst part by far were the vivisections; humans, both adults and children cut open, dissected while still drawing breath. All while under minimal to no anesthesia. Those who did not die often passed out from the pain. As a shinobi, it was one thing to kill, it was quite another to dissect while still alive.

"I see…he's picked up his old experiments…"

"Hmm?" Kakashi muttered, not really listening, but trying to take his mind off of what he had seen. The quiet comfort of Konoha and the warmth of the summer air didn't seem to hold any sway over the darkness that he felt after bearing witness to such atrocities.

"Never you mind, boy…you're doing good work…" Jiraiya said, clapping Kakashi on the back hard enough that the teen had to grip the roof tiles slightly to keep from sliding into the debris.

"I don't know how I'm going to get out of this mission alive, though…" Kakashi said darkly. "I don't know what to think of her. She's clearly not stupid, and sometimes I think she's on to me."

"It wouldn't surprise me if she is. She got some of the top marks on her exams, it's just the fieldwork she didn't do well in. Never did like getting her hands dirty... If you think she sees through you, I'm certain she does." Jiraiya said, glancing over at the young man in concern. He was beginning to think that Kakashi had learned all he could from the young woman, and it was time to abort the mission, but there was a nagging feeling that there was something that was still hidden, not by Kakashi, but from him.

"I don't know…how to get you out of this, but I think you will have to leave soon. I have no doubt that if Megumi is on to you, that she will deliver you to her father presently"

"I think she might be after my genetics rather than my Sharingan…I don't know, though. She might just be…" Kakashi fell silent, looking down at the canteen in his hand.

"It's the Sharingan they're after, not your DNA." Jiraiya cautioned firmly. "At this point, it's a judgment call on your part. But the moment you get the feeling that something is amiss, you come running."

"I'm wondering if Megumi has abandoned her father's purpose to pursue her own interests." Kakashi said suddenly as a light, warm updraft picked up, the small, shrill chime of a cast iron furin bell rattling on the roof tiles below.

Jiraiya made an unreadable sound, instinctively reaching for his pocket and letting out a sigh upon realizing his pipe had been destroyed in the blast as well. At the very least he had been able to save the Toad Scroll…

"What are you going to do now?" Kakashi asked, gesturing to the scorched timbers, as if he had used his Sharingan to guess the Sannin's thoughts.

"I don't know. I'm thinking about going abroad again, pick up my writing…" Jiraiya said, gesturing vaguely with his hand.

Kakashi nodded solemnly, gripping the roof tiles beneath his fingertips until his knuckles were white. Jiraiya cast a sidelong glance at the teen, who's foot was twitching ever so slightly. He decided to wait it out, to see if the boy would voice his thoughts.

The purple skyline darkened to a dark shade of blue as the yellow streetlamps simmered into life around them and Kakashi took a deep breath.

"Jiraiya-sama, if you are to leave…what is going to happen to Murasaki?"

Jiraiya sighed, smiling inwardly. "I don't know. I may take her with me, I may leave her here. Why do you ask?"

"Just…" Kakashi knit his brows. "wondering."

XxX

Megumi stared stonily at Orochimaru, her amber eyes wide and her lips pursed together in annoyance. Orochimaru stared coolly back at her, struggling to contain the anger in his stare.

"How long ago…were you given this message?" The Sannin asked, surveying his only living genetic clone with a slight amount of disgust. Megumi's lips formed a tiny purplish ring as her cheeks hollowed.

"A couple months ago." She said haughtily, tossing her ebony locks. "It really doesn't matter anyway, because you're not going to do it."

Orochimaru gripped the arm of the chair he was lounging in, fighting the impulse to backhand the girl. A sudden smile crossed his face, exposing every possible tooth. This perhaps, out of all the things he could have done, visibly disturbed Megumi the most.

"And why do you believe I won't do it?" He asked, leaning back in his chair, his smile widening. "in fact, it might be quite amusing…"

Megumi stared at him, her face a flicker of perfect horror and disgust.

"Don't pretend to be above this. You're as much a hand in this as I am, if not more." He cooed softly, stretching out a hand and winding it in her soft, black hair. "And you're going to be the one who tells Danzou that I've agreed…and deliver Sharingan Kakashi to me."

Megumi's eyes flashed, but she remained silent, rooted defiantly to the spot.

"What are you waiting for, you miserable little sow!" Orochimaru snapped suddenly, as Megumi winced, her hair still entwined in his hand. "make yourself useful and get going!"

XxX

Murasaki glared sullenly at Iruka from behind a butterfly bandage as he plied her with innumerable questions around a mouthful of ramen.

"Man, you must have smoked him! And I thought that bastard was dead…" Iruka spattered, slurping his noodles. Murasaki picked at the hem of her sleeve, chewing her lips slightly as she thought about the fight earlier that day.

"Iruka-kun, I really…I just don't feel comfortable talking about him like this. It's too soon. He was a friend of mine…"

Iruka scoffed, his brown eyes wide over his scarred nose. "Come on. Seriously,. You are the most annoying person. He tried to kill you! Aren't you angry?"

"Of course I am." Murasaki spat bitterly, her eyes narrowed to a pair of sea-grey slits. "But that doesn't change the fact that there was a bond between us. I loved him."

"You loved him?" Iruka said cynically, looking up from his noodle soup.

"Stop it Iruka…I just don't want to talk about it right now." Murasaki snapped, turning back to her soup. Iruka fell oddly silent, turning back to his noodles in one of those rare moments Iruka had when he was annoyingly, unexpectedly mature.

"Sorry…it's just…your life is exciting compared to mine. Your father is so high profile you'll make jounin just because you have to defend yourself all the time. For you it'll be natural, a matter of survival, where as someone like me…"

"You'll be fine." Murasaki said, nudging him in the arm and pasting on a smile. "You're chakra isn't very big, but you know way more stuff about application than I do…"

Iruka maintained silence, a soft breeze rattling a furin bell not far in the distance as people moved up and down the street, they feat adding a rumbling energy to the ramen stand.

"Where are you staying tonight?"

"I don't know. Dad and I haven't discussed it. He's going to meet me later, but he said he had some business to take care of first."

Iruka watched as a noodle slipped from his chopsticks to his bowl, then at Murasaki's crushed right hand, now bound in pristine white bandages.

"So…If you and your dad have no where else to go…I mean, my house is small and not as nice as what you're used to, but it's pretty much empty except for me…"

"We couldn't possibly intrude…" Murasaki replied in perfect politeness, worrying inwardly for Iruka's safety. She was just seconds away from dying today, she couldn't bring that kind of luck on Iruka.

"No, it's all right. It would be nice!"

Murasaki smiled. "We'd love to stay with you Iruka, but…."

Gentle brown eyes widened in hope, a spark of delight shining beneath thick, brown lashes. Murasaki fell silent, turning back to her noodles. There was going to be at least one ANBU outside wherever she went. No doubt they would keep Iruka safe, and she would give her life if it came down to that. He wasn't about to die for his kindness.

There was a soft, musical ringing sound as the noren curtain parted, Iruka and Murasaki both turning to see a tall, slender young man. A chill ran down Murasaki's spine as Kakashi stared back at her, his Konoha forehead protector now covering his Sharingan. In his hand, he held the Shakujo staff that Murasaki had obtained earlier that day, the bitter memories of the fight flooding back.

The ramen shop fell into an awkward silence as the three stared at each other, the oldest teenager casting them all a patronizing look before sitting down beside Murasaki. Out of the corner of her eye, Murasaki could see Iruka's gentle, tanned face had changed slightly into an expression she didn't fully recognize.
The jounin leaned the staff beside Murasaki's crutches, sitting down and ordering a bowl of ramen.

Murasaki and Iruka exchanged glances before Murasaki made a grab for her crutches. Kakashi grabbed her wrist without even glancing over.

"Umino-san, leave us." Kakashi said sternly. Iruka sat unmoving, his eyes fixed on Kakashi, anger burning behind his soft chocolate irises.

"It's okay, Iruka…" Murasaki said softly, her own cheeks aflame with annoyance.

"I will wait for you outside." The boy spat, rising from his chair and leaving in a huff.

The ramen stand fell silent, only the sound of Ichiraku-san frying noodles cutting through the silence. In spite of the silent, warm summer air, there was a heavy, unreadable electric tension between them.

"Couldn't face me yourself so you sent a shadow clone?" Murasaki asked, picking up her chopsticks defensively. "Dad sent you, didn't he?"

"No, I came on my own. Jiraiya-sama has little to do with this. I just came to make sure you're okay, and to discuss some things with you. After something like this, you don't always realize…"

"I know. Shock." Murasaki interrupted, as Kakashi let go of her hand. "I went through it after the…"

Kakashi's eyebrows knit together in a warning look, his visible eye narrowing slightly and looking around. Murasaki nodded, bowing her head and folding her hands in her lap.

"You may want to see someone about it. It village has resources for that…or maybe…" Kakashi seemed to be thinking, the cogs in his head nearly visible to the young girl. "you may want to go back to the Shrine for a while, just to clear your head until you can function within the village…"

Murasaki wanted to yell at him that he should shut up, that she'd done without him quite nicely, to tell him that he was being egotistical; that he didn't hold so much sway in her life. But the last part would have been a lie.

"Listen, Hatake-san, I understand your concern." She said with a patience that surprised even herself. "And it's not something that I haven't thought of already. However, I have made my decision to become a kunoichi. I've gone too far down this path, and as you know, I cannot turn back…especially not to the Shrine."

"I guess…sometimes I forget that you're not a little kid anymore." Kakashi said suddenly, clearly caught off-guard by her patient words as he scratched the back of his head. "You're not the little shrine maiden that you used to be."

"But you're still the same pretentious little brat." Murasaki said honestly, her voice coming out teasing, though she was quite serious. Kakashi's face dropped slightly, though he deflected it with a laugh.

"Jiraiya-sama says the same thing. Like father like daughter." He said with a sigh, leaning on his elbow as Ichiraku set the ramen bowl before him. Without either party noticing, the angry, tense atmosphere seemed to have vanished into a sad one, which made Kakashi sigh heavily.

"I should go." Murasaki said suddenly, unable to bear it any longer. "Iruka is waiting for me."

"Yeah…I know…but there's something else."

Murasaki paused, her good hand clenched firmly around the padded crossbeam of her crutch.

"What is it?"

There was a prolonged silence, Kakashi visibly hesitating, thinking hard about what he wanted to say.

"I'm not a shadow clone." He said finally, turning back to his ramen.

Murasaki tried not to let her surprise show, simply nodding out of embarrassment and walking out. Once outside, Iruka took the Shakujo staff from her.

"Man, that self-righteous asshole really makes me angry." Iruka seethed through clenched teeth, glancing back at the ramen stand. Murasaki smiled slightly, limping along on her crutches.

"Nah, he's not so bad. At least he tries."

.oOo.

A/N: How are you guys? Enjoying the summer? Enjoying the winter?

Review! I beg of you! I need love right now, 'cause God knows I'm not getting any on facebook.