Me: Ah... well... Kasumi-chan?
Kasumi: Yes?
Me: *pleading look* Say it, please?
Kasumi: Hmm...
Me: Pretty please?
Kasumi: Hmm...
Me: Kasumi-chan!
Naruto: Hey! Stop bothering her!
Me: But, but, but...
Kasumi: *sigh* It's fine, Naruto-san. Author-san does not own Naruto, in any way, shape, or form.
Me: Yeah! What she said! Also... check out my blog? It's on my profile...
Kasumi: Happy New Year, everyone.
starrat: Goodie! Thanks for the review, sweetie!
MylaUchiha: You got it! Thanks for the review!
Almathia: Ah, she was a bit annoying in Part 1, wasn't she? Kasumi's bloodline...is a bit strange.
Guest: Oh, thank you! I'll do my best!
Hunter-Nin
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked when their sensei had woken up in Tazuna's house. His students were gathered around his bedside in a semi-circle while Tazuna sat nearby. A pretty woman stood near the doorway. 'Probably Tazuna's daughter,' Kakashi deduced.
Kakashi looked at his strangely subdued student, feeling his weary body protest the movement. He ignored it with the help of years of experience in war and battle. "Yes, Naruto?"
Naruto frowned, bright cerulean eyes cloudy with confusion. "That hunter-nin that came to take Zabuza away..."
Kakashi blinked, only barely hiding his surprise from his adorable little students. Out of all of them, he had never expected Naruto to bring up or even notice the hunter-nin issue. He himself had realized it only a few minutes ago.
He glanced at his other students to see how they were taking the news. Sasuke didn't seem bewildered or jealous at all, a far cry from the aggravation Kakashi expected to see.
Kasumi's face was perfectly blank as it had been since he had woken up. His female student sat closest to his make-shift bed, her legs bent and her arms wrapped around them. The position reminded Kakashi of how she had looked on the boat as they had traveled to Wave.
It had been then - with mist surrounding them and danger pulsing in the air - that Kakashi had fully realized just what the Land of Waves meant for her. He had cursed himself out, but hadn't been able to do anything about it; they had already arrived. Now, at the very least, she didn't seem shocked by Naruto's sudden jump in intellect.
In fact, it was almost as if his cute students had been expecting it.
Kakashi subtly narrowed his eyes. His students were turning out to be such a surprise today.
First, they had reacted and worked together so well against the Demon Brothers, something he would have thought impossible a few weeks ago; their dynamic had been incredibly skewered.
Then, Kasumi had gone ahead and killed one of them. Sasuke's reaction he expected, Naruto's reaction he understood. But, his female student... the way she reacted had been completely unexpected. The apathy and steel will he had seen had been more akin to that of a seasoned chunin than a fresh genin.
Next, Naruto and Sasuke had managed to force Zabuza, an Anbu ranked missing nin, to let go of the Water Prison with a plan that Naruto - the loudmouth, knucklehead prankster - had made up on the spot. Kasumi had destroyed a water clone of said missing nin by herself and had done so through pure taijutsu, an aspect that he knew was not her strongest point.
And now, Naruto was the first one that pointed out the subtle issue with their most recent fight and Sasuke and Kasumi weren't surprised. Sasuke hadn't tried belittle him and not only that, Naruto was right. The dead-last of the Academy was right in a textbook sort of problem. What the hell was going on here?
Careful not to let any of his thoughts show on his face, Kakashi probed. "What about it, Naruto?"
The normally hyperactive blonde glanced uncertainly at Sasuke. For reassurance. In response, Sasuke gave a barely noticeable nod and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "dumpster."
Kakashi's eyebrow twitched. Naruto was asking Sasuke for help. Sasuke was giving help without a hint of scorn. Had the apocalypse come when he wasn't paying attention?! Was he hallucinating?
Apparently satisfied, Naruto turned back to Kakashi and said, "Isn't it weird that the hunter-nin carried Zabuza away? Don't they normally kill missing nin on the spot and bring back the head as proof they did their job?"
Kakashi paused, momentarily confused by Naruto's wording. 'Proof they did their job...?' He repeated to himself, trying to make sense of the phrase. 'What is he comparing killing to..?'
Shaking it off, Kakashi nodded to his cute mysteries of students. "Yes. It is most likely that Zabuza is still alive and that hunter-nin is his accomplice."
Naruto looked absurdly pleased; though given his track record in the Academy, it probably wasn't too strange. Kakashi could see the exact moment it occurred to the blonde that that meant Zabuza was still a threat. His face went pale as a sheet and his eyes went wide, sweat rolling down his face. In any other situation, it would have been hilarious.
"Eeehh?!" Tazuna scowled, taking a heavy swig of his sake. "Are you sure you aren't just overthinking this?"
In the doorway, the old man's daughter shifted uneasily.
Kakashi shook his head. "No, the weapon of attack was a simple needle and with sufficient knowledge of anatomy, it is easy to put someone in a state of suspended death."
Sasuke grunted. "Then it's most likely they'll come back." The Uchiha's fear was much more concealed than Naruto's was, but the jounin could see it in the tense lines of the teen's body.
"Yes." Kakashi shifted slightly, gritting his teeth at the sharp pain that spiked through his stomach. "We must prepare for the upcoming battle."
Inari
"You shouldn't bother." A new voice said, this one younger and higher. A young boy, not much older than 7 or 8 walked in the doorway.
Naruto frowned, pointing a finger at him. "Who the hell are you?!"
"Naruto-san." Kasumi spoke up at last, voice gently reprimanding if a little colder than usual. "Pointing is rude."
Naruto pouted, but dropped his arm compliantly.
"Ohh! Inari! Where were you?!" Tazuna cried, throwing his arms open.
Ah. Their client's grandson then.
"Welcome back, Grandpa." Inari said calmly, climbing on top of the stair.
"Inari, say hello to these people." The boy's mother said, hands on her hips, as Inari hugged Tazuna. "They are ninjas who protected Grandpa."
Naruto stared, Sasuke looked on disinterestedly, and Kasumi simply watched.
Inari all but glared at them, before suddenly turning to his mother. "Mom... they are going to die." He said bluntly, pointing a finger at them much like Naruto had done.
The blonde immediately freaked out, jumping to his feet in anger. "What did you say, you little brat?!" He screamed.
"There's no way you can win against Gatou." Inari said flatly.
Kakashi frowned thoughtfully from behind his mask. He had seen a depression like that on many a people. It was someone who had given up, given up so completely they refused to believe in anything else. They would rather give up than hope and have that hope crushed. 'This little boy,' he thought to himself. 'has lost someone very important to him to Gatou.'
Naruto looked like he was two seconds away from punching Inari. "Why you-!" He snarled, sliding into a combat stance.
In the corner of his eye, Kakashi saw Sasuke glance at Kasumi, an odd sort of expectation in his dark eyes. When she did nothing but continue to watch, Sasuke frowned, frustration flashing in his eyes for a moment. Turning back to Naruto, he uttered a sharp, "Dobe."
When Naruto paused to look back at his rival, the Uchiha shot him a cool, arrogant look. "Leave it. He's just a kid."
Naruto continued to frown, but dropped out of his combat stance to glare at Inari. Kakashi watched the interaction and wondered at it. From what he could understand, Sasuke had expected Kasumi to rein in Naruto. It was understandable considering she normally did, but why was the Avenger upset when she didn't? For that matter, why had Naruto listened to Sasuke? Since when had Naruto ever listened to Sasuke!?
"Hey, Inari! Listen!" Naruto shouted at the younger boy. "I am a super hero who will one day become an incredible ninja called Hokage! I don't know this Gatou guy, but he's nothing compared to me!"
"Pft." Inari laughed bitterly. "What are you, stupid? There's no such thing as a hero!"
"What!?" Naruto roared, face red and sliding once again into a combat stance.
"Naruto-san." Kasumi said. Nothing else, just a simple call of the boy's name in a tone that was highly reminiscent of a disappointed caretaker. Naruto grimaced and turned to shoot the girl a pleading glance.
She stared back without flinching and the blonde gritted his teeth, but plopped himself down on the floor again.
"What are you, a dog?" Inari taunted, eyes full of dark disdain. "She calls you and you obey?"
"You brat!" Naruto hollered, but before he could get on his feet once more, Sasuke halted him with a sharp look.
"Who do you think you are anyways?" The boy went on, this time directed at Kasumi. "His mother?!"
Kasumi gazed back at him levelly, face unchanging from its blank, serene mask. "I think," She said, her voice broken shards and razor blades in a way that her team had never heard before, "that you are a child who is afraid to grow up."
She didn't raise her voice, but Inari rocked back as if she had slapped him. His mother drew in a sharp breath and Tazuna's eyes widened. Kakashi noted their reactions, came to the conclusion that she had hit the bulls-eye with her simple statement.
"Yeah, well, what do you know?!" The boy shrieked at her, his deadpan expression shattering like so much glass. Tears gathering in his eyes, he spun around, slamming open the doors. He yelled over his shoulder, "If you don't want to die, leave!" and ran out.
"Inari!" The boy's mother cried out, running after her son.
Silence reigned in the room. Tazuna stared after his family sadly. Sasuke and Naruto, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less about Inari at that moment. They were both staring at Kasumi, stunned by the absolute brutality of her words. To them, she had never been anything but kind, patient, and understanding. To see her cut down a child as surely as if she had done so with a blade with nothing but thirteen words and a merciless voice... was a shock.
Throughout the commotion, Kasumi's face didn't waver from its impassive, unreadable mask. Kakashi was starting to worry about his female student. Bottling everything up, well, he knew from personal experience tended to backfire. He was also a jounin - had been an Anbu - and he couldn't read Kasumi at all except for the fact that she was upset. It didn't bode well.
"Sorry about that." Tazuna said finally. He got to his feet with a groan and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him as he did.
Another few moments of silence passed, before Kasumi pushed herself smoothly to her feet. "You need to rest, Kakashi-sensei." She said simply, voice carefully neutral. Gliding across the wooden floor, she reached out to open the doors.
"Yeah..." Kakashi grimaced as another skewer of pain shot through his back. "But before that..."
Kasumi paused and glanced over her shoulder.
Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his white hair. He didn't want to ask this, much less so soon after Zabuza and the Demon Brothers, but he needed to know. If he was to teach Kasumi, he needed to know.
"Kasumi..." He looked straight into her temperate brown eyes. "Have you killed before this mission?"
Naruto gasped, eyes snapping wide open. He whirled around to stare first at Kakashi, how could you ask Kasumi-chan something like that?, and then at Kasumi, tell him he's wrong!.
Sasuke stilled, focusing intently on Kasumi. He had wondered about that too, but hadn't wanted to ask her the question. He may have been rude and abrasive and condescending, but he knew what limits he should push and what limits he shouldn't. That had most certainty been one he wouldn't have touched with a ten-foot pole.
Purely because he was watching her so closely, Kakashi caught the whiplash of darkness that entered her eyes. A mere second later, Kasumi smiled, bright and happy and sweet, her eyes fluttering closed. She looked the picture of an innocent young girl, untouched by blood and death.
"Of course I have, Kakashi-sensei. Why did you ever think otherwise?" She said in a voice so light and airy you would have thought she was having fun at a carnival.
As Naruto's face filled with horror and sadness and Sasuke's nails dug into his palms, Kakashi doubted for the first time, filled with a numb sort of horror, just how much he saw was the true Kasumi and how much was the mask of happiness and contentment that she wore like a second skin.
And then he wondered if anyone truly knew the tragedy that was his female student and not merely the outer layers of the mist she wove around her like her namesake.
It was a depressing sort of thought... depressing and quite sad.
Past
Sasuke... didn't know what to think.
He had always, in some part of his mind, small and barely acknowledged, known that Kasumi had already seen death and blood previous to the Academy. Her eyes were too much like his own, too dark and clear. She had seen the horrors of the world, looked at it with no rose-colored glasses. There had been no way she had been as naive as their other classmates.
On the other hand, she was his teammate, his sparring partner. It made him strangely uncomfortable to know she had been forced to take a life in the past, for he understood her well enough to know that Kasumi did not hurt unnecessarily, much less kill. He hadn't even killed anyone yet, though not for lack of desire, and Sasuke...
Sasuke was meant to be the dark one in their team, the one who had endured pain and torture, so long as Naruto and Kasumi remained light. It was his job to protect them and he hadn't been able to, for Kasumi had danced with the abyss long before they had ever become a team.
"...Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto piped up, voice unusually soft.
Sasuke glanced over at the dobe and found him staring after Kasumi, face serious and eyes sad.
"What is it, Naruto?" Kakashi replied.
"What..." Naruto hesitated. "What did Kasumi-chan mean by that?"
Kakashi stared thoughtfully at the closed door. "It's not my place to say, but..."
He sighed and ran a hand through his silver hair. "Even among this team," He revealed. "Kasumi-chan's past is considered tragic."
Startled, Sasuke and Naruto traded looks. He had gone through the Uchiha Massacre and he knew the blonde had gone through his childhood lonely and neglected.
What had happened in Kasumi's past that had been worse?
Next time:
She looked like someone lost in the darkness, with no one to cling on to, and without anyone to light her way.
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Oh, and Happy New Years!
Question: What's your favorite Naruto OST?