Melody of the Fox
Disclaimer: Don't own Gohan.
Chapter 3
Gohan sparred for a few more hours, even going as far as to create ten shadow clones to fight against. Every few minutes, Tayuya would call out tips or admonishments; most of them starting with an insult, of course. As time went on, the insults gradually turned into compliments, and she even began to hold back on the name calling. Sometime during his training, he'd shed his jacket and thrown it towards the foul mouthed redhead, causing the name calling to resume full force.
After a while, she became silent. 'I must be doing pretty good!' Gohan thought as he crouched down onto the ground, breathing heavily and glancing up at the night sky. The stars and moon were glowing brilliantly, a sign that it was at least after eight. He didn't realize so much time had passed since they'd left the Academy.
"Oi, Tayuya, ready to go back?" He called over his temporary teammate. When she didn't answer, he reluctantly stood and walked over to where she was reclining against the large tree. "Tayuya?" Looking closer, he realized that her eyes were closed, and her head was tilted off to the side at an awkward angle. It didn't take a genius to see that she was asleep. His discarded jacket was spread out over her torso; probably to ward off the cold. It did tend to get pretty cool in Konoha, after all. The genin stared a moment longer before reaching over to pick the girl up. What he didn't count on was her fist shooting up and punching him square in the jaw, sending him sprawling five feet into an adjacent tree. The girl blinked sleepily and yawned, rubbing at her eyes with the offending hand.
'Huh, must've fallen asleep.'She thought to herself, noticing it wasn't light outside anymore. She glanced at the area where Gohan had been training, only to see a battered training log and a few ninja weapons spread out on the ground. However, there was no sign of her Saiyan escort. A small pang of anger washed over the girl. 'That bastard deserted me!' she shrieked in her mind, already thinking of ways to cause the genin pain. That is until she heard a strangled groan coming from her left. Tayuya snapped her head around to see Gohan lying sideways against a thick oak tree,tending to a large bruise on his cheek. She blinked in surprise.
"What the fuck happened to you?" Gohan glared at her and rolled himself onto his hands and knees.
"What happened?! You punched me!" He yelled, waving his arms in an exaggerated fashion. The girl blinked again.
"I did?" She glanced down at her fist in surprise. 'Huh, good to see my reflexes haven't dulled any.'
"Yeah! What, do you think I hit myself?"
"Damned if I know. You might be some kind of masochist."
"A maso...what?" Tayuya shook her head in exasperation.
"Holy shit, you're stupid. Just put me in my chair and get me back to the hellhole you fuckers call a hospital." Shooting her one last glare, the demi-saiyan stood up and walked over to the crippled genin. He pulled his jacket off of her first, attempting to put it on. The girl shivered and grabbed a hold of one of the sleeves. When he stared at her questioningly, she scowled and tugged on the sleeve a little harder. "It's cold as shit out here. Be a gentleman and let me use your jacket." She meant for it to be a suggestion, but it came out as more of a command.
"Will you be quiet and go back to the hospital peacefully if I do?" He asked, patting himself on the back for coming up with such a great idea. She nodded and pulled the jacket from his grip, immediately wrapping it around herself to ward off the persistent cold. After regaining a bit of her warmth from the heavy material of the bright orange Gi-shirt, Tayuya lifted an arm towards her escort.
"Hurry up, I'm freezing my ass off out here." Gohan scowled but bent down to pick her up bridal style. She wrapped her good arm around his neck and nodded after she established a firm enough grip. As he ascended to a standing position, both felt a small wave of killing intent from the forest around them.
"What the hell was that?" He asked, looking around for any sign of life. Tayuya was doing the same, immediately going into ninja mode despite her handicaps.
"I don't know, but we'd better get the fuck out of here before whatever it is decides to make itself known." Quickly setting her back into her wheelchair, Gohan formed some chakra in his feet and dashed off towards civilization while occasionally glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was following them. Even as they ran, they felt the strange presence following them, the foul aura getting stronger and stronger with each step. Before long, they reached the densely populated market district. Thankfully, the killing intent immediately disappeared, allowing the genin to slow his pace to a brisk walk.
"That, was scary." He breathed, attempting to regain his breath back after the sprint. Normally he wouldn't be so tired, but he'd just spent the better part of the afternoon training his taijutsu. The girl nodded in agreement, trying to catch her own breath despite not doing anything.
"Fuck yeah, that was like some Freddy Kreuger shit." Both genin paused for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Civilians and ninja alike wisely edged their way around the howling teens, unsure as to whether they were psychotic or not. It took well over a minute for them to calm down enough to keep moving, although they both sported equally wide grins; a fact which still managed to creep out most of the citizens they came across. As they walked deeper into the market district of Konoha, Tayuya soon became aware of the glares and frowns sent their way. A few of the people muttered words under their breath, none that she could hear over the increasingly loud chatter. She glanced up to see that her escort was still grinning, albeit it was slightly strained from her vantage point. "Oi, dobe. What's with these shitheads? I thought the bimbo didn't tell anyone where I was from." His smile slipped a bit before widening into a full foxy grin.
"Oh, they're just upset about some pranks I pulled awhile back." He lied, skillfully skipping around the truth. It wouldn't do any good for her to know about the Kyuubi. She eyed him for a few seconds before shrugging it off. It wasn't her job to cross examine the boy.
"You must've pulled some fucking good ones, 'cause they look angry enough to slit your throat in your sleep or something." Gohan made an abrupt stop, nearly throwing the girl from her wheelchair. Her statement brought back some painful memories from his childhood.
"I thought you were supposed to be quiet." He said, his voice deathly cold. Tayuya looked taken aback at his sudden change in emotion.
'What the shit? Is he bipolar?' she wondered, taking note of his dejected expression. Her face soon deepened into a scowl as she turned around and face forward again. What the hell did she care? It wasn't her fault the bastard had deep seeded problems. He soon began pushing her towards the hospital, though at a much quicker pace than they'd been traveling at before. Five minutes later, they arrived at the door to room 223. Even as he lifted her frail body onto the hospital bed, they didn't speak. He stared at her prone form for a few seconds, watching how the moonlight illuminated her features as she glared out of the window to her right. Gohan walked back to the doorway in silence, opening the door with a soft click.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, much to the girl's surprise. She snapped her head around to reply, but found that he'd already disappeared down the hallway. The smallest of smirks made its way onto her face.
"Idiot."
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!" A feminine voice yelled while tossing papers into the air. "Where is it?! WHERE?!"
The fifth hokage was currently tearing her office apart, looking for her last bottle of sake. She knew she had another bottle left; she'd just restocked her secret stash yesterday! A perverted chuckle resounded in the nearly empty room.
"Lose something, Tsunade?"
The woman in question clenched her fists a few times to get rid of the stress that was steadily building up in her system. Turning to the window, she forced an angry grin onto her face.
"You wouldn't happen to know where my last bottle of sake went, would you, Jiraiya?" Jiraiya chuckled and took a swig from the bottle resting in his hand. Giving her a cheeky grin, he shook his head.
"Nope, not a clue." That was it. With a bloodcurdling scream, the godaime launched herself at her former teammate, fully intending to rip his spine from his body. The sannin deftly dodged her advances with a leering grin. "My, my, Tsunade-hime. I knew you wanted me, but this is a bit desperate; even for you." She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.
"How the hell did you slip past all of the ANBU gaurds?" The toad hermit rolled his eyes.
"Those guys? Pfft. They don't call me a legendary sannin for nothing, you know." He said with a cocky wave of his hand. She sighed in exasperation.
"What do you want?" His expression immediately became serious, a sure sign that this was important. Dear Kami, she wished she had her sake.
"It's about Gohan." Tsunade groaned in response.
"Akatsuki?" She asked, hoping against hope that it was something smaller. Much to her chagrin, he nodded.
"Yeah. Judging from the information I received on my spy network, they're going to start moving in three years. As you know, Itachi and Kisame are quite powerful S-Ranked nukenin; I wouldn't stand a chance against both of them while trying to protect the kid at the same time." Tsunade sighed and buried her face into her hands.
"That's not it. I can tell." Even though he knew she couldn't see it, he shook his head and sighed.
"Not only are Akatsuki planning on kidnapping Gohan, but there is a rumor going around that Orochimaru's cooking up a war against Konoha right after he transfers to Sasuke's body. Iwa and Kumo are also rumored to be in on this war. They both have large grudges against Konoha, you know." Tsunade groaned loudly, desperately wishing she had even a sip of sake.
"So what is it that you want?" She asked, not moving from her position.
"I want to take Gohan on a training trip for three years. I'll teach him how to use the Kyuubi's chakra effectively, and also a few other things like tracking and battle strategy. This way, he'll be able to defend himself against Akatsuki's attacks and possibly be a defining factor in the war with Otogakure."
"No." Jiraiya nearly fell from his perch on the windowsill.
"No?! Why the hell not? Have you been listening to the things I've been telling you for the past five minutes?!" She lifted her head to glare pitifully at her teammate.
"I need him here to gather information on Orochimaru from a former sound nin." He frowned deeply in response.
"Just turn the bastard over to Ibiki! You know how good he is at interrogation! It is of the upmost importance that I teach Gohan everything he needs to know before the Akatsuki decide to move!"
"It's...it's complicated. I can't just turn her over to Ibiki, it wouldn't work." Jiraiya's eyes suddenly got a knowing twinkle.
"Her?" Realizing that she'd said too much, the godaime hung her head. He chuckled loudly and hopped down into the room.
"Dear Tsunade-hime, what have I told you about meddling?"
"Shut up."
"If it's that important to you, why don't I bring her along? You can assign a jounin to keep an eye on her while I train Gohan." She groaned for the second time that night.
"That won't work either. One, the girl can't walk. The bones in her legs are far too damaged for me to do anything about it, and nothing short of regeneration will fix them. Two, there isn't a jounin on the force who would take this job that I can afford to let go." Jiraiya frowned in thought.
"You know, now that I think about, this could really work out for the best. If Gohan is able to get the information from the girl before the three years are up, we could attack Orochimaru before he transfers to Sasuke and attacks us! By that time, Gohan will be plenty strong enough to take on Akatsuki and Sasuke. I'm a genius!" Tsunade blinked in frustration.
"Did you not just hear a word I said? The girl cannot walk. She will never walk." She said, speaking in a voice she'd use as if she were talking to a toddler. "And there isn't a jounin on the force who I can afford to let go. Must I repeat it again, baka?" The man chuckled and waved his hand.
"So her bones are practically dust. Big deal." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Tell me Tsunade, how does your Genesis Rebirth technique work?" Tsunade stared at him as if he'd grown a third head.
"You should remember, you helped me make it! By releasing the chakra stored up in my forehead seal, I can instantly heal all of my wounds and even regrow limbs and organs if I need..." At this point her eyes widened in realization. She jumped to her feet and began to pace around the office, arms flailing around in excitement. "That's it! If we can recreate the same technique on Tayuya, She'll easily be able to restore her bones to their previous state! Jiraiya, you're a genius!" He smiled and nodded in agreement.
"I know, I know, you don't have to tell me." After her initial excitement wore off, she immediately slouched back on to her desk.
"But how will it work? We don't have the time for her to build up the chakra on her own, and neither of us has enough chakra to force into the seal ourselves. Hell, we don't even know how to cancel the technique after the required healing is complete." Jiraiya grinned as if expecting this response.
"Are you forgetting who I am? Besides the number one super pervert of Konoha, I am also a master of seals. I'm much more experienced than I was when we created your technique, Tsunade-hime. Give me a week and I'll cook something up. As for the required chakra...I happen to know a certain genin who has more chakra than an entire ANBU squad." She smirked.
"You really are a genius, you know that?" The hermit flashed her one of the true smiles he reserved for those closest to him.
"I know, dear, I know. Now, you'll have to find a jounin on your own Tsunade-hime, but you can leave the seals to me." Noticing that she was lost in her own thoughts, he snuck up behind the slug sannin and quickly groped her breasts. 'Ah, still as lovely as I remember!' he sighed before slipping out of the window. It wasn't until five minutes later that the hokage realized what he had done.
"JIRAIYA!"
'10:59. Where the fuck is he?!'
Tayuya glanced at the clock again, sighing wearily to herself. Here she was, dressed and ready to go, and he was nearly half an hour late. Not that she was in any hurry to go on a cross village journey to the Academy with the idiot. No, she simply wanted to get out of this cold, impersonal room and out into the warm air of Konoha. Her eyes darkened slightly as she remembered the small spat they'd had last night. She was starting to believe that he wasn't even going to show, something that strangely upset her. 'I don't even know what the hell he was so angry about' she thought, remembering the extremely cold voice he had regarded her with. The genin sighed again and flopped back onto the bed, resigning herself to a day of lounging. Suddenly, she noticed a piece of bright orange cloth resting on the ground beside her. She stretched out to pick it up and recognized it as the same jacket Gohan had loaned to her the night before. 'Tch, the idiot forgot to take his shitty shirt with him.' She fingered the thick material of the coat. Glancing at the door one more time to make sure no one was coming in; Tayuya lifted the jacket to her nose and took a slight whiff. 'It smells like...ramen?' A sudden opening of the door surprised her out of her thoughts, and she quickly threw the garment back onto the floor. Tsunade's apprentice stepped through the door and blinked in surprise.
"Sorry, I thought you'd be gone by now." The woman glanced at the clock resting on the table to Tayuya's left. "Where's Gohan-kun? Aren't you two supposed to go to the Academy today?" Instead of answering, the girl snorted and looked away, occupying herself with watching a few bluebirds hop aroundand titter on the windowsill. Shizune smiled and moved to check the genin's medical chart. "I know you're waiting for him. You can't fool me." Again, she didn't reply. "He's strong, you know. He took on Orochimaru twice." The medic nin muttered, attempting to bait the girl into a conversation. She still had her suspicions about the former sound nin after all.
"Tch, yeah right." The older woman smirked behind the chart. Hook, line, and sinker.
"Oh, it's true. Once during the Chuunin exams, and once when he accompanied Jiraiya-sama to find the hokage." By this time, she had the genin's full attention. "Yep, he even learned one of the Fourth's legendary techniques in only a week." Okay, so she was stretching it a bit. He'd actually only learned the last step in a week, and required the use of a clone to execute it. But she didn't need to know that. Tayuya on the other hand was floored. She wasn't from Konoha, but she'd definitely heard of the Fourth Hokage. It was hard not to hear about a man who killed over a thousand Iwakagure ninja in under ten minutes. Not to mention that every now and then Orochimaru would mutter things about the Yellow Flash stealing his rightful position as the Hokage.
"You're shittin' me." Shizune shook her head.
"Nope. I also heard that he defeated Sabaku no Gaara, the demon vessel of the Shukaku." Tayuya's jaw was practically on the floor by now.
"...Are we talking about the same Gohan? Black hair, stupid face, gay ass blue shirt and orange pajamas?" Tsunade's apprentice nodded and set the chart back in its resting spot near the end of the bed. "Huh. Maybe he's not as stupid as he looks. He's still one lucky fucker to face Orochimaru twice and live."
"I assure you, luck had nothing to do with it." Before the genin could say anything else, Gohan burst through the door, breathing heavily as he tried to form a coherent sentence.
"Sorry...Late...Overslept..." He breathed between gasps. Shizune smiled fondly at her surrogate little brother. He glanced up and grinned widely at the woman. "Hey, Shizune-nee-chan!" She nodded in response and slipped out of the door to hide her growing grin. She could always come back later and find out what she needed to know about the girl.
"You'd better hurry up and get to the Academy, Gohan-kun! Your friend looks a little antsy." The medic called from over her shoulder. The demi-saiyan stared at Tayuya and lifted an inquiring eyebrow.
"Uh...ready to go?" He asked, scratching nervously at the back of his head. Tayuya scowled at him, but nodded. He quickly grabbed the wheelchair resting by the doorway and wheeled it over to his teammate's bedside. "Do you think the kids will be mad that we're late?" The boy inquired, setting her down in the chair. She shrugged slightly and picked up the orange shirt she'd discarded earlier, draping it haphazardly over her lap.
"Who gives a shit. It's not like they can do anything about it."
"Well, since you don't care, I'll make sure I tell them it's your fault."
"W-what? Oh, hell no. You're taking the fall for this one."
"I thought you didn't care?"
"I don't. I just don't like being blamed for shit I didn't do."
"Sounds like fear to me." With a well place elbow to his side, Tayuya quickly ended the argument. She frowned and pointed towards the door.
"Push."
"Yes, Tayuya-hime" he drawled sarcastically, dodging another elbow.
To say that the kindergarteners were upset would be an understatement. Every single one of the children were glaring maliciously at the teens, even causing Gohan to take an unconcious step back. The chuunin instructor shot them a look of pity before quickly performing a Shunshin out of the room.
"Bastard..." Tayuya mumbled, glaring at the spot where the chuunin had previously been standing. She was broken from her thoughts when a large book was shoved into her hand, and the same little girl from the day before hopped into her lap without a word. Not wanting to provoke the children into doing something rash (Because they were, in fact, demons in disguise) the genin immediately popped open the book and turned to where they left off. Gohan had already settled himself among the kids, although he glanced nervously at them every few seconds. Yep, the little bastards were definitely demons.
"Tayuya...uh...can you start reading?" Her escort asked, motioning towards the impatient (and murderous) looking students. She nodded and cleared her throat harshly before beginning.
"Everyone knows where we left off, right?" After receiving a stiff nod of consent from the kids, she continued. "Just as he was about to enter his home, a golden fox appeared and snarled angrily at the snake.'Let her go!'the fox boomed, taking a large step forward. The giant white snake smiled and looked down at the fox. 'Little fox, do you think that you can defeat me in battle? Run along before I eat you too!'" She made sure to change her voice to fit the characters, actually somewhat enjoying herself. It sure beat sitting an hospital bed all day.
The children gasped and murmered amongst themselves. If the snake ate the fox, what would happen to the princess? She took a quick surveying look around the room before continuing. "The fox was afraid, but he stood his ground. He launched himself at the snake, only to be knocked into a tree by the snake's giant head. The princess gasped in horror. 'No! Not my friend the fox!' She screamed, struggling against the snake's tight hold. 'Don't worry about me, save yourself!' But the fox only shook his head and smiled. 'As long as I have an ounce of breath left in my body, I will always protect you.'Frowning, the snake launched himself at the wounded fox. 'I told you to not to meddle, and now you shall die!'" Tayuya glanced up at the clock and grinned evily to herself. She snapped the book shut and set it down in her lap. "Sorry kids, it's snack time!"
Every jaw in the room dropped, including Gohan's.
"Not again!"
"Tell us what happens to fox!"
"Please?"
The red haired genin only shook her head and smiled. "Blame Gohan for getting us here late." The children's eyes drifted over to the genin sitting nervously in the middle of the classroom.
"Ah...I overslept?" He whimpered, not liking the glares he was getting.
"GET HIM!"