A/N: I told you I wouldn't make you wait, and I didn't (not that long, at least)! Hope you guys enjoy! I meant to post this sooner, but I wanted to finish the next chapter. Which, unfortunately, hasn't been finished yet. I've kind of struggling with the fight. But I'm working on it.
Disclaimer: All original characters belong to their respective creators, and Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter Twenty
Results
One Year Later
Darcy's POV
I woke up in the hotel next to Kisame Hoshigaki, having just had one of the best nights of sleep I had in the past year. Mostly because I actually slept longer than two hours, and I wasn't sleeping on roots and rocks. Kisame decided to spurge for a hotel, saying that I had earned it. But I was pretty sure he was tired of sleeping on the ground, too.
My training had been rigorous, but I was extremely pleased with the results. I pushed the covers off and stood up from my sleeping mat. All I had on were my underwear, and a bra. Of course, Kisame and I never did anything together, but we had grown accustomed to each other's company, and seeing one another in our underwear wasn't anything new.
I was quick to get dressed, pulling on a pair of black spandex shorts and a purple skirt over those. The sides of the skirt were cut almost all the way to the top for easy movement. Next, I began to wrap bandages over my bra. Normally I slept in them, but they needed to be changed. I pulled on a black crop top next, which is why I wore the bandages underneath, so people couldn't see anything under my shirt. The sleeves of the crop top rested on the edge of each shoulder.
As I was pulling on my black gladiator sandals, Kisame woke up.
"Oh, good, you're up. Hurry up and get ready, I can't wait to get home," I said. I didn't sit around and wait to see if he got up. Instead, I headed to the bathroom. I brushed my hair, which was now cut short, the front of it framing my face and ending at my chin while the back was cut short, like a boys cut. I positioned my headband on my forehead, and tied the now read cloth at the back of my head.
When I left the bathroom, Kisame was dressed in blue ninja pants, a dark blue, sleeveless shirt, and blue ninja sandals. As always, his blue hair, which was a darker blue than his skin, was styled like a shark fin.
"Ready, kid?" He asked, hoisting samehada onto his shoulder.
"When are you gonna stop calling me kid? I'm nineteen now!"
"You'll always be a kid to me. Let's get moving, we'll reach Konoha by noon, I'd say."
"Right." I led the way out of the window. We paid for the room the night before, so we didn't need to leave through the front, which meant we could be on our way that much quicker.
Kye's POV
I stood at the edge of the river looking at my reflection. Kakuzu's training for me had been so intense I had needed to get new clothes. Although, to be honest, I had needed a change in style anyways. I still wore black ninja sandals, but now I had fishnets to cover my shins, and blue Capris. I had on a simple black, tight-fitting, short sleeved shirt, with bandages on my arms, and a white scarf. My headband now had a long, green cloth, and was on my forehead, the tails of the cloth hanging by my shoulders. My brown hair was mostly held back by the headband, but a couple of strands hung lose, falling to my chin.
I stretched my arms and returned to the camp Kakuzu and I had set up (since apparently a hotel would be too much money) to see him pulling his long sleeved, black shirt over his stitch-covered chest and arms. He had on black pants, black ninja sandals, and his usual mask, though he no longer wore a hood, so his long, dark brown hair was showing.
"You finally up, old man?" I asked with a smirk.
"Watch it, brat," he grumbled, giving me a glare with his strange, pupil-less green and red eyes. "Are you ready to go?"
"I've been ready," I replied. "I was just waiting for your grumpy, old ass to get up. So let's move, we're almost back to Konoha."
Akito's POV
I stood above the sleeping, shirtless Jashinist, annoyed that I always had to wake him up. I brushed my now short, brown hair, falling between my shoulders and my chin, behind my ear, and put a hand on my hip.
I had on black ninja boots, baggy, tan cargo pants, a white muscle shirt with bandages underneath, and a black jacket.
"Oi, Hidan, wake up already!" I cried, nudging him with my boot. He stirred, and I thought he was finally waking up, but he ended up just rolling over, grumbling in his sleep. "I said, wake up!" I kicked him this time, and that got him up.
"What the fuck, bitch? I was fucking sleeping!" He exclaimed, giving me a creepy, pointed purple-eyed glare.
"I don't care! We need to get moving!" I exclaimed. "I want to beat Kye and Darcy back to the village."
"It's too fucking early for this," Hidan grumbled, but got up despite his complaints. He had slept in his ninja sandals, and his black ninja pants, and he never wore a shirt, so all he had to do was grab his scythe. As always, his silvery hair managed to stay slicked back, even though I knew he tossed and turned in his sleep.
We rolled up our sleeping mats, and were quick to hit the road. Well, the trees, that is.
It was almost noon when we reached the village entrance. I focused my chakra into my nose, sniffing the air.
"I think we beat them," I said. "I don't smell Darcy or Kye."
"They could have gotten here hours ago, though," Hidan pointed out. "Let's just hurry our asses to the Uchiha compound, I don't want to be stared at."
"Lead on," I said.
It didn't take long to get the Uchiha compound, but Hidan had been right about the staring.
He slid the door of the main building open when we reached it, and we slipped our shoes off and entered.
"Oh, you guys are back." We looked up to see Deidara turning the corner. He wore black ninja pants, a black crop top, and a fishnet shirt underneath that.
"We just got back," I replied. "Have the others returned?"
"No, not yet," he replied. "At least, I haven't seen Kisame or Kakuzu yet."
"Sweet! We beat them!"
We entered the kitchen, where Itachi was pouring tea. He had on black ninja pants, and a black short sleeved shirt, and a fishnet shirt underneath that, with sleeves that went to his elbow. As always, he had on his necklace with little metal rings connected by a thin wire. "Oh, you two are back? I'll get you cups." The only thing that could have possibly made this moment better would be if Itachi had been wearing an apron.
I sat down at the table just as Deidara entered the kitchen. He, Itachi, and Hidan began talking about stuff, but I wasn't listening. I had worked on partial wolf transformations while with Hidan, so I focused my chakra into my ears, feeling them go from rounded to pointed, and I waited to hear Kye and Darcy's entrance. It felt like an eternity, but I finally heard footsteps, shortly followed by Darcy and Kisame talking, though they were too far away for me to make out any words, even with my wolf hearing.
I stood excitedly, startling everyone around me.
"Where are you going, un?" I heard Deidara ask, but I didn't answer him. I was rushing out the door just as Darcy and Kisame turned the corner.
"Darcy!" I cried.
"Akito!" She rushed forward to meet me, and we hugged. "I've missed you so much!"
"I've missed you, too!" I pulled back to examine my friend closer. "You look a lot stronger. How'd your training go?"
"It's tough, but the results were great," she replied. "How about you?"
"I was able to improve so much," I replied. I pushed my hair behind my ears, which were still in wolf form. "I'm able to do partial transformations, now. That's how I heard you coming."
"That's great!" Darcy replied. "Your hair's brown now, is that your natural color?"
"Yeah. I kinda missed it, actually," I replied, releasing the chakra from my ears, so they returned to normal, just as Kye was coming around the corner with Kakuzu.
"Kye!" I exclaimed.
"Akito! Darcy!" She exclaimed, running to meet us, embracing us both in a hug. "I've missed you two!"
"I missed you, too," I replied.
"Same," Darcy said. "I can't wait to train with you guys to see what you've learned."
"Yeah, we should go do that now," I said, pulling away from my friends.
"Actually, I think we should wait," Darcy replied. "Not only have we spent the day traveling, but you guys haven't even seen your boyfriends yet. Plus, Lady Tsunade will want to know we're back."
"That's true," Kye said. "I really missed Neji."
"And I missed Shino," I added.
"So it's decided," I said. "You two go see your boyfriends, and I'll go see Lady Tsunade."
"But you'll be all alone," I said. "I mean, without Gaara here and all."
"Hey, it's cool," she replied. "You two both left your boyfriends with your first kiss with them, they'll be super anxious to see you. Gaara and I are engaged, we've been together for a while. Besides, you don't start dating the Kazekage expecting constant attention, right? You two should go." She gave us a reassuring smile.
"She's right," I said.
"Yeah," Kye agreed.
"We'll meet up with you later, then, okay?" I said.
"Sounds good," Darcy replied.
Kye and I said our goodbyes and hurried off to see our boyfriends.
Darcy's POV
I watched as my nineteen-year-old cousin and seventeen year-old friend ran off to their significant others before hurrying after Kisame and Kakuzu.
"Aren't you going to go see Tsunade?" Kisame asked.
"Later," I replied. "There's really no need to right now since I won't even have my team with me."
I slipped my shoes off, and followed Kisame and Kakuzu into the kitchen, where, low and behold, Itachi Uchiha was serving tea.
"Welcome back," he said when the three of us entered. "Darcy, you can have Akito's cup of tea, since she didn't touch it at all. It's still warm, don't worry."
"Oh, thank you," I said. "Have you heard anything from Konan?" To be honest, I was more curious about Gaara, but I figured Itachi and Deidara would know more about what Konan was doing, so I could guess as to what Gaara was doing.
"I've heard some things here and there," Itachi replied. "Suna seems to be accepting her, and, by extension, the rest of us."
"That's good, that's really good," I said with a smile. "What about here?"
"It's not going as well here." His back was to me, so I couldn't see if a reaction showed on his face, and there were no other noticeable signs of hurt or disappointment, although I thought I might have saw his shoulders slump, if only a little.. "But that is to be expect."
"I'm sure it'll get better," I said, taking a sip of my tea, grasping for another topic, anything really, but I came up with nothing.
"How was your training?" He inquired, turning to come sit at the table, his faced schooled in that classic Uchiha way.
"How do you think it went? I was training her after all," Kisame said, showing his teammate a toothy grin.
"I'm so sorry Darcy. If you want, I can work on your jutsu with you," Itachi offered, the hint of a smirk visible.
"Asshole," Kisame grumbled. He was still grinning, but it had shrunk from his former gloating smile to a more playful grin.
"Hn." Was all Itachi said.
I downed the rest of my tea, and said, "Well, I think I'll head out and go see Lady Tsunade."
"See you around, kid," Kisame called after me.
"Still nineteen!" I called back as I pulled my sandals on.
I slid the door open and stepped out, taking a leisurely pace to the Hokage's building.
I was half hoping I would run into someone that I knew, but I wasn't sure who, especially since the one person I really wanted to see was Gaara.
I got all the way to the Hokage's building without running into anyone, so I figured they were on missions, or otherwise preoccupied.
I knocked on Lady Tsunade's door when I reached it, and pushed it open when I heard her call for me to enter.
"Lady Tsunade," I said with a bow when I entered, noticing Shizune in her usual position flanking her.
"Darcy, welcome back. When did you arrive?" She asked.
"Only just now," I replied.
"Have Kye and Akito returned, too?" Shizune asked.
"Yeah, they went to see Neji and Shino," I said.
"I see, well, I'd like to see them soon," Lady Tsunade said. "I want to test you three, and I have quite the test in mind." A grin spread across her face. A grin I didn't like very much.
"D-don't grin like that, Lady Tsunade, you're making me nervous," I said, taking a small step back.
Just then, the door opened behind me.
"Lady Tsunade, I've—" I turned to see Sakura coming through the door. "Darcy! Welcome back!" She was so quick to embrace me in a bear hug that I didn't get a good look at who was behind her. In fact, she nearly knocked me over.
"Ah! Sakura!" I coughed a little. "S-sakura, I c-can't breathe!"
"Oh, right, sorry." She stepped back with a grin, rubbing the back of her head.
I looked past her to see Konan standing in the doorway, wearing dark purple ninja pants. Her shirt was a deep blue color that complemented her hair and skin, and was wrapped around her like a kimono, and held in place by a black obi. The sleeves were mid arm length, and bell-shaped. She also had on blue ninja sandals. Of all the former Akatsuki members, she was the only one to add style to her outfit.
I could tell there was someone just past her. I craned my neck to see who it was, but couldn't quite see past her. She gave a small smile and humor danced in her amber eyes, possibly laughing at me, and she stepped aside to reveal Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. Although, my eyes were only on Gaara.
"Gaara!" I hurried over to my fiancé, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him.
"I've missed you," he said as I pulled away.
"I've missed you, too," I said.
"Ahem." The cough came from behind us, and I looked over at Lady Tsunade. "So, your test."
"Right, the test," I said. I had turned to face her, but my arm remained around him, just as his arm remained around me.
"Go get Kye and Akito," she said, standing. "Meet us at the training fields as soon as you can."
"Yes ma'am!" I turned to Gaara. "I'll meet you at the training fields, too?"
"Definitely." He leaned down to give me one more kiss, and he, Temari, Kankuro, and Konan followed Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura.
I jumped out of the window, heading first to the Aburame household, since that was closer.
I found Shino and Akito on the front steps, talking.
"Hey, Akito! Shino!" I called, waving in greeting.
"Welcome back, Darcy," Shino said.
"What's up?" Akito asked.
"Lady Tsunade wants to test us," I said. "Head over to the training fields, I'll meet you there once I get Kye."
"Okay," Akito stood. "Are you coming, Shino?"
"Sure." He stood, and he and Akito walked off, hand-in-hand.
I hurried across the village to the Hyuga compound, where, thankfully, I found Neji and Kye.
"Hey, Kye! Neji!" I called. "We need to hurry to the training fields, Lady Tsunade wants to test our progress."
"Okay, come on, Neji, let's go," Kye said, standing excitedly. "Whose ass will I be kicking?"
"I have no idea," I replied, as we made the trek from the Hyuga compound to the training fields. "She didn't tell me how the test would play out, just that she was testing us."
"I wonder if she'll be testing us as a team or individually," Kye speculated.
"Probably as a team," I replied. "It'll take less time that way."
"Yeah, you're probably right," she said.
We had just arrived at the training field where the rest of Konan's group had joined up with everyone.
"Good, you're all here," Tsunade said. "Now, your opponents will be Itachi, Deidara, and Konan." They each stepped forward as their name was said. "This is a three on three fight, anything goes. Think of this like the Chunin exams, only a lot more intense. Go at them with the intent to kill, because that is exactly what they have been instructed to do. I need to learn how much stronger you all have gotten, and if you aren't prepared to give it your all, well, then maybe the ninja life wasn't for you. Prepare yourselves.
I stood with Kye on my right and Akito on my left. I faced off against Konan, Kye faced off against Itachi, and Akito faced off against Deidara.
I had complete confidence in myself and my team. I knew we were all ready.
A/N: Kisame and Darcy are totally besties. Obviously. And Kakuzu pretends to not like Kye, but he does. They're totes besties. Hidan, I feel like, is in complete denial, but I think Akito is growing on him. Hope you guys enjoyed!
Again, as I said, I'm struggling with chapter 21. Also, be warned, emotions are coming up. There will be many feels, and some of you (*coughcough* Anna *coughcough*) might hate me. Possibly forever. But I can live with this. The only hint I'll give you as to what could possibly happen is, keep in mind, we're at war.