…
…
I was not looking forward to Chōza and Ageha's reactions when (or rather, if) they find out what happened today. I'm still trying my best to prepare myself when they learn of my ophidiophobia (phobia of snakes). Orochimaru is already on my father's kill-list (Fun Fact: Chōza now has a kill-list because of that snake bastard) and has earned the hatred of the Akimichi clan. The Akimichi clan is, by far, one of the nicest clans around in Konoha. They are also the most influential, in terms of connections. Pissing them off is a sign you fucked up majorly…because, aside from the Akimichi clan itself, you also had to deal with the Nara and the Yamanaka.
The Yamanaka clan isn't just known for being experts in intelligence gathering and espionage. They're quite the cultivators, too. They're well known amongst the agricultural community in Konoha for providing the seeds for many of the crops grown by farmers. Ino's maternal grandparents happened to farmers who have used Yamanaka-cultivated seeds. And the flower shop the Yamanaka clan runs isn't just for aesthetics. It's a resource for medicinal herbs and poison, of which are used by a number of consumers. It is also the only resource, in terms of convenience, for such.
The Nara clan is known for their intelligence and their skills in the area of medicine. The medical encyclopedia the clan possesses is no fucking joke. It's huge, it's detailed, and good god, was it heavy! I think it could give Colonel Sassacre's Daunting Text of Magical Frivolity and Practical Japery a run for its money—hell, it could probably kill a cat as well, with the weight it packed!
Gratuitous Homestuck references aside, that medical encyclopedia was crucial to the hospital. I believe Shikamaru mentioned that a number of his relatives held positions at the hospital as medic-nin.
The Akimichi clan's connections have grown only stronger with the inclusion of the Aburame, Hyuuga, and Uchiha clans. And even without the Uchiha clan, there's the Sarutobi clan, who has long been affiliated with the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans, as a result of a tradition involving the Ino-Shika-Chō trio. And, slowly, but surely, the Inuzuka clan is close to becoming yet another of my clan's connections, as a result of the friendship Kiba had with Chōji and I.
Loyalty in the Inuzuka clan works the same way it works for their canine companions: it is earned, not given. And once earned, they will never leave your side. It's honestly an endearing trait amongst the clan, but I digress.
Back to my main point, when Orochimaru decided to break my ankle and give me my first near-death experience, he fucked up. He fucked up so hard, he no longer has a place in Konohagakure—not that he had one in the first place, after what he had done. But still, disregarding his past actions, what he had done to me basically would have screwed him over had he been any other person.
For that exact same reason, I was extremely concerned about anyone learning about what had happened earlier. Even though it was an accident, misconceptions happen and lacking communication of the dangerous kind was still a thing. So I'd rather Gaara not get in any trouble, considering the fact that my father created a kill-list in reaction to learning about someone harming and nearly killing his only daughter (moi)…because it could create potential tension.
Think about it this way…the Kazekage's son harmed the daughter belonging to one of the Four Noble Clans of Konohagakure—specifically, the head of the Akimichi clan. And considering the aforementioned fact that the Akimichi clan has connections…yeah, it really doesn't look so good…
Also, Danzō…I'm honestly surprised I've forgotten about him, but eh, I haven't encountered him yet (THANK GOD) and I don't plan on doing so, unless he is either on his deathbed or something of the similar variety (I want that bastard dead!). So if I want to avoid having an early encounter with Danzō, as I have with everyone else, the incident of Gaara HAS to stay a secret. Because Danzō, while having good intentions (to the extreme, unfortunately), is highly likely to react negatively to the idea of someone putting his village's safety at risk…which is what Gaara could potentially do, being a rather unstable jinchuuriki.
So as I sit in a chair within a hospital room, with my friends waiting outside, as the medic-nin in front of me heals my wounds, I am quite relieved at the fact that my medic-nin is not a Nara. Because a Nara would have immediately contacted my parents, as they had done when I was brought in with the others after our encounter with Orochimaru and Sasori. The Nara clan, in regards to those working at the hospital, has been keeping a close eye on me over the years.
I have my fast metabolism to blame for that, because here's the thing about the Akimichi clan that I have only recently learned during my stay at the hospital while I was healing. And what I learned was quite intriguing because I was right when I said that my fast metabolism wouldn't have been much of a problem if I were born to anyone else outside of the Akimichi clan. The ability to convert calories into chakra isn't just something that could be taught and learned…it's also genetic.
Hiden techniques can be taught to anyone—that's what separates it from a kekkei genkai. However, hiden techniques have its limitations in that they can only be used to their full potential to those who carry a genetic predisposition that coincides with a specific hiden technique. In the Akimichi clan's case, members born into the clan carry a genetic predisposition to convert calories into chakra from the day they are born.
The conversion is moderate, so it isn't of much note on its own. When paired up with the hiden technique that gives the user the ability to manually convert calories into chakra (which still involves the manipulation of one energy into another), it makes a huge difference as it amplifies the amount of chakra produced in a sitting. Now when you introduce my fast metabolism into the mix, it creates an imbalance that basically results in why I have such a smaller build in comparison to Chōji.
This shit basically fucked up my body!
It took me like five years to finally learn the entire explanation of my fast metabolism…and it was because I was bored (I'm not joking, I asked Taeko, Shikamaru's paternal aunt, about my metabolism out of boredom). It definitely explained why Chōza was so adamant at making me swear to not use the hiden technique to convert calories into chakra unless it was an emergency, at which it was to be used as a last resort…kinda like the Three Colored Pills, except without the life-threatening risk of dying…I think? I don't know…all I know is that the Nara working at the hospital are still in the process of figuring out how my situation came to be. As a result, they have kept a close eye on me for various reasons—such as research and actual concern.
It really says a lot when I happen to be the first of my specific case to exist.
Since my medic-nin is not a Nara, thus easing some of my concerns, Gaara shifted back into my focus as my thoughts now centered on the current situation. Naruto is still looking for Gaara (most likely), Sasuke and Hound are still chasing after Naruto, and I'm over here, dealing with Fuki's father, Suzuki Fuyuki.
Suzuki Fuki…Suzuki Fuyuki…okay, there is definitely a theme going on with their names and surnames. What's Fuki's mother's name again…? Wasn't it Ruki…? Ehh, not the point—anyways, Fuyuki was quite the stern person when he wanted to be, scolding me for getting myself into trouble. He certainly means well, though I can see the issues that Fuki would have with it.
"Twice in a month is something that should happen when you are a full-fledged shinobi—not an Academy Student!" Did I mention that just about everyone working at the hospital knows me as the girl who nearly got killed by Orochimaru? Apparently, the fact that I punched Orochimaru in the crotch is going over their head, but I guess the paranoia over the fact that two S-ranked missing-nin infiltrated Konoha in broad daylight is hard to ignore. I mean, Hound almost died from Sasori's poison.
Again, it's a pretty traumatizing experience, and I guess Fuyuki sees his daughter in me. I'd be scared too if I was in Fuyuki's shoes. And he is right, I mean…stuff like that shouldn't happen until afterI become a Genin. Of course, then life decided to throw a curveball at me and remind me what it meant to be friends with the main protagonist—that being that any chance of a normal life was a mere illusion.
"You're not going to tell my parents about this, are you?" Can it at least wait until after they learn about the snake phobia?
Fuyuki stared at me for a moment and sighed in defeat. "Your wounds weren't that serious, anyway…but I swear, if I see you in here again before the month ends, I'm telling your parents about today's visit. Understand?"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" The month is just about over anyways, so I just have to make sure I don't end up getting hurt enough to warrant a hospital visit within the next few days… I still can't believe Fuyuki believed my lie about me falling from a tree…because like hell I was going to bring up Gaara! I even had everyone look me over for sand before I let myself be taken inside the hospital. I had to break free of Shikamaru's Kagemane for it, which is a lot harder than it looks.
Once Fuyuki finished healing me and gave me a look over, he allowed me to leave. Kiba immediately tackled me upon sight as soon as I left the room.
"Leader!" Kiba exclaimed before promptly realizing that I still smelled like blood and dropping me like a hot tamale afterward to rush off to the nearest trashcan or restroom.
I sighed as I watched the Inuzuka run off, feeling a little awkward because my clothes were still stained with my blood. The same could be said about Neji, but he didn't seem to care. Though, considering that Kiba still had an aversion to the scent of blood and I wasn't exactly in the cleanest of states…I think it would be a good idea to clean up and change out of these clothes.
"You want me to sneak back home and grab you some clean clothes?" Chōji was quick to offer when I suggested making a trip to the bathhouse to clean up.
"Wh-What about Neji-nii-sama?" Hinata looked questioningly at her cousin.
"I believe he needs a bath as well," Shino suggested. "For Kiba-kun's sake, I mean."
"Even if it is just a little blood, Kiba still doesn't take too well to it." Shikamaru nodded. "How troublesome…"
"Well, what are you gonna do?" It's not Kiba's fault he has a sensitive nose. "Besides, I don't want anyone learning about what happened with Gaara. We need to get rid of all the evidence."
"Evidence?" Neji arched his brow at me.
"All of the evidence!" I reiterated. "All of it!"
"I feel as if there is a joke within your remark, but I can't seem to catch on," Shikamaru remarked.
Oh, if only you knew… "To the bathhouse!"
"We s-still have to wait for Kiba-kun!" Hinata exclaimed.
I stared at Hinata for a moment and felt my face heat up when I realized…she was right. "Almost left someone behind…"
Even though we were just talking about Kiba, I managed to forget about him. How embarrassing…
"There, there," Shino said as he patted me reassuringly on the back.
I couldn't help but find this situation ironic, because Shino, in canon, seemed to always be left out in some way. Now he's the one trying to make me feel better for almost leaving someone out (that wasn't him). Ugh, I need a moment…
…
…
So, the bathhouse…everything seemed fine and dandy at the time, and Hinata decided to join me, so I wasn't on my own (I really appreciate it). The guys did the same with Neji, who was already reluctant to take a bath in the first place, because every time he went into the male side of the bathhouse, he was mistaken for a little girl. Whether it was from bathing men, or even the attendant, who was a kind old lady named Izumi, who sat at the bandai, Neji couldn't go through one bathhouse visit without being mistaken—at least once—for a girl.
I'd feel bad for the guy, if I didn't find it hilarious because I keep thinking back to when I first told Neji he had pretty hair. It's just…it's literally his hair that is keeping the misconception up. Not saying there is anything wrong with his hair, it's very soft, pretty, and just pretty—Hinata and I combed Neji's hair quite a number of times and I may have given Neji a flower crown once…twice—okay, it was like five times.
But who's counting?
…Well, Ino is, I mean she's the one who likes to keep track of everything whenever she hangs out with us (which is rarely), especially when it involved flowers…I really need to get Ino out of that flower shop. I think it'd be nice to pick up some flowers while I'm at it, so I can give them to Gaara.
Kiba had mentioned that Gaara smelled faintly of blood. It was easy for the Inuzuka to ignore, but not completely. It was tolerable, that's for sure. Otherwise, Kiba would have been avoiding Gaara like the plague from the exact moment he had noticed the redhead smelled of blood.
I'm getting off topic, aren't I?
Back to my original train of thought, everything seemed fine at the time we entered the bathhouse, but as we were coming out of the building after we had finished bathing, I noticed something was off when I heard what sounded like, in what I can't really describe with better terms, perverted laughter.
I stopped walking almost immediately and looked around. When I didn't see anything within my line of sight, I ran ahead of my friends onto the bridge that was ahead of us and turned around so I was facing the bathhouse. I looked around once more and found myself staring at a man with long, white hair, peeking into the women's side of the bathhouse.
Is that who I think it is that is peeking into the women's side of the bathhouse?! Like, holy shit, this is so unreal. I had no idea how to react, but when my friends caught up with me and looked in the direction I was staring in, Hinata scared the absolute crap out of me by saying a word I never thought I'd ever hear her say.
"P-Pervert!" Hinata said in a loud and clear voice.
Neji nearly fainted. Shino was blushing. Kiba's eyes were practically bulging out of their eye sockets as he stared at Hinata. Chōji and Shikamaru were rendered speechless. And I had no idea how to react—whether to laugh at the fact that sweet, little Hinata just called Jiraiya a pervert (which is an understatement), or cry at the fact that Hinata said the word, "pervert."
So I did both…I laughed so hard that I was crying.
I'm pretty sure Jiraiya was surprised to see a group of children staring at him from a distance when he had turned to see who had called him a pervert. He was probably annoyed at the fact we had disturbed him, even more so since I wasn't exactly being inconspicuous. I really have no idea what was going on since I was too busy laughing so hard, that my stomach was hurting.
Of course, when Jiraiya suddenly appeared right in front of us, within the blink of an eye, I stopped laughing almost immediately and marveled in the fact that Jiraiya was towering over us. Holy crap, Jiraiya is tall and why am I thinking Disco Ninja Frog right now? God dammit, wrong series, brain!
I'm surprise I didn't start laughing at the Hiimdaisy reference my brain made, since I always found humor in it. Then again, I never expected that I would ever meet up with Jiraiya this early in my current life as Akimichi Chōko. It's like four years too early for this shit—though, after all that has happened, I should have probably expected this… I mean, Jiraiya is Naruto's godfather. And isn't he keeping tabs on the Akatsuki?
Oh my god—that's a thing, isn't it?!
It was only a matter of time that Jiraiya would have heard of Orochimaru and Sasori's visit to Konoha, in which Konoha had lost one of two of its remaining Uchiha that day. Seriously, what the hell is up with this fucking domino effect?!
I need another moment...
"Who's the little lady who called me a pervert?" My moment quickly came to an end when Jiraiya had asked us that question, to which I was quick to blurt out, "It wasn't me!"
First impressions are still not my forte…and it honestly could have been worse. The sad thing about that is that I actually know what I mean when I say it could have been worse. And, once again, it involves Orochimaru…because punching an S-ranked missing-nin in the crotch was as bad of a first impression that I could ever give. And it only got worse from there.
And so that is how our first encounter with the legendary Toad Sage, Jiraiya, commenced. What followed after it was Jiraiya introducing himself in quite the extravagant manner that included traditional kabuki poses. We were rendered speechless, unable to process what had just happened, except that the man before us was named Jiraiya.
I was counting down the seconds when one of us would recognize Jiraiya's name. About thirty had passed before Kiba blurted out that he heard the name before.
"Oh, so you've heard of me?" Jiraiya honestly seemed pleased to know that at least one of us recognized him.
"I-It's the book!" Kiba exclaimed. "The one Shisui read to us!"
"A-Ah, that's right!" Hinata was quick to catch on.
"But is he really the author of that book?" Chōji looked questioningly at Jiraiya.
"Doesn't look like one." Neji was quite blunt.
Jiraiya coughed as he brought our attention to a book he had just pulled out of his shirt. "I'll have you know that I am indeed a writer."
I don't know why, but just looking at the orange-colored book in Jiraiya's hand made me want to shriek at the Sannin to put it away. I mean, there are children here! Hell, I am one of those children! Fuck my chronological age of twenty-seven—it means nothing in this situation!
And, to be honest, it's just embarrassing for me to see Jiraiya hold up Icha Icha Paradise, without any shame or decency, considering the contents of said book. Of course, I shouldn't even have any idea of what the contents even were, because I was only eight-years-old (physically), so there went me saying anything…at all. And so are the conflicts of retaining memories of one's past life and experiencing second-hand embarrassment…
I wonder if this was how it felt to be Garry when he caught Ib trying to read a smutty novel…could that scenario even apply to this? Bluh…doubt it. We're not trapped in another world revolving around an art gallery. Eesh—that would be horrifying…I'd rather my life not be represented by a rose.
"How troublesome…" Shikamaru's trademark saying snapped me out of my current train of thought.
"Indeed." Shino adjusted his glasses.
"Okay, I'm lost…what's troublesome?" Thank you, Kiba, for asking the question I wanted to ask.
"How do you think Naruto would react to knowing that the writer of the book he loves is a pervert?" Shikamaru was straight to the point when he wanted to be.
"P-Pervert…" Hinata repeated.
"Okay, where did you even learn that word?!" I need to know!
…
"Wait, never mind." I forget that the ladies in the women's half of the baths could be very vocal when they wanted to be when it pertained to Naruto. "Proceed."
"I doubt we should ever let Naruto know…" Chōji remarked.
"Assuming that this man is in fact the writer of that book…" I'm sorry, Shino, but Jiraiya is, in fact, the author of the Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.
Yeah, shocking, isn't it? Wait a second…my brain just thought up an idea.
"Hey, hey!" I focused all of my attention on Jiraiya. "Did you write Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi?"
My question definitely caught Jiraiya off-guard. "That book? Well, thinking about it now, it does make sense as to how all of you would know my name from a book…"
Because adult novels are not for children! Fricken' heck, Jiraiya!
"So you did write it!" C'mon, say yes!
"Yeah, I wrote it…" Geez, Jiraiya, you can at least try to show a little enthusiasm. "What of it?"
"Can we get an autograph?!" Naruto will be hella hyped if Jiraiya signed his book!
Jiraiya looked at me for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Sure…where's the book?"
"I…don't have it." Dammit, it's still at Naruto's house. "Uh…can you sign it later?"
"Make sure to give it to me before the month ends," Jiraiya said as he finally put away his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. "I'm leaving Konoha after that."
"So what brings you to Konoha?" Geez, Chōko, being a little nosy, aren't we—oh who am I kidding? I want to be nosy so I can confirm things.
"Just checking up on a few things." Even though Jiraiya's answer was ambiguous as hell, it still did confirm that he had business in Konoha. "Since I've already introduced myself, it's only fair if you guys do the same."
One brief introduction from the rest of us later, it came to my attention that we still needed to look for Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke. When I brought this up to everyone else, we were quick to say goodbye to Jiraiya and run off, looking for our friends…
…
The sun was beginning to set when we finally came across Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke (and Hound, who was in plain sight, surprisingly). They were back at the Academy courtyard. Gaara had returned to his spot at the swing, with Naruto and Sasuke close by, the three of them just talking to each other. Or rather, Naruto was talking, Sasuke was drawing something in the dirt, and Gaara just listened, saying something every few moments or so, in response to some of Naruto's comments.
Naruto was the first to notice us and called out to us right after that. Sasuke was happy to see us, but Gaara wasn't…at least, at first. Then Naruto managed to ease some of Gaara's worries as we walked over to them. I could tell Gaara was deliberately averting his gaze from me, but I decided to show him that I wasn't holding grudges.
"It's good to see that you're okay, Gaara!" I meant what I said.
And it hurt to see the shocked expression on Gaara's face when he looked at me, having heard what I said.
"Chōko-chan usually means what she says!" Naruto reassured.
If there's one thing I learned from my sociology class, it's that what Naruto just said might have hurt my credibility by just a smidge. Diction is extremely crucial in certain situations, such as this one, so Naruto needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut.
Just like you!
"What do you mean, usually?!" I know I'm not exactly the most honest person in the world, but seriously, usually? I feel offended.
Naruto laughed sheepishly. "I mean, sometimes you say things that you don't mean, like how you say you're fine, but you're not-ttebayo."
"I see…" So that's what he meant…I guess it's not so bad when you use that example specifically.
"It's honestly a troublesome habit," Shikamaru huffed.
"I didn't ask for your opinion." Or your use of your trademark phrase… "Anyways, I meant what I said, end of story!"
"So…you don't hate me?" I'm not gonna lie, but Gaara's question caught me completely by surprise. It's just…were this any other situation happening to someone else—such as, say, for example, a kid from his village—they would have every reason to cower in fear of Gaara, due to the way he is seen by everyone. But I'm not in that situation and I'm starting to realize how much relevance my actions could have, and it's rather frightening…
But I'm not letting fear get the better of me when my conscience is involved and, honestly, I don't hate Gaara. And I want to make that clear to him. "Nope…why should I?"
Once again, unlike Naruto, Gaara didn't cry. He just stared at me for a moment and nodded his head. It was almost as if he came to an understanding to not question his situation—to just accept it.
…
…
I'm honestly wondering how much trouble we are going to get for bringing Gaara back with us to Naruto's house. Why would we get in trouble? Well, for one thing, Gaara was never supposed to leave with us in the first place. So the fact that it's already late and Gaara is still with us and we all are following through on Naruto's offer to spend the night with him… Rasa isn't going to be happy. And the thing is, Gaara is an insomniac—he can't sleep and Shukaku is the cause of that and I'm guessing Hound is aware of that, from the way he seems annoyed at the fact that he is basically our babysitter for the night. His body language sure seemed to show that he was annoyed…I'm pretty sure I'd be annoyed if I had to stay up all night, watching over two jinchuuriki instead of the usual one.
By the by, Gaara spent the entire night eating all the snacks he had bought from the convenience store. How do I know? There were a lot of empty wrappers next to Gaara when I woke up the next morning. When Hound tried to reach for one of the few uneaten snacks, Gaara's sand smacked Hound's hand away.
"Mine…" Gaara said firmly.
It was certainly the most interesting thing I have ever seen Gaara do…and definitely the cutest. God dammit, I really wanted to hug him, but I didn't want to set him off like yesterday. I sighed as I put on my glasses before literally rolling out of bed and scaring the crap out of everyone when I landed on the floor with a loud, "Thud!"
"Ch-Chōko-chan!" Naruto was the first to react. He peered over the bed and asked, "Are you okay-ttebayo?"
"Is everyone awake?" I need to know.
"Yeah, thanks to you…" Shikamaru groused.
I grinned widely. "Then I'm fine! Hey, hey—we gotta get that book autographed!"
We had less than a week before the month ended—like hell I'm letting Jiraiya leave without autographing Shisui's book…and meeting his godson. Right, that should be a thing. Yup, I totally did not forget Jiraiya was Naruto's godfather for a second—nope. I am totally not in denial and I should just grab that book before I forget…
…
…
I was not one bit surprised to find Jiraiya peeking into the women's half of the baths again. In fact, it only proved my point when I suggested to everyone that we checked the bathhouse first. I grinned widely as I stared at Jiraiya. I was so going to regret this later on, buuuut…
"GEE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING PEEKING AT GIRLS, MISTER?!" I made sure to sound as annoying as I could, because my goal was to embarrass Jiraiya…
And I succeeded when he turned around and scowled upon seeing that it was the same group of kids bothering him again. Within less than a second, Jiraiya appeared in front of us.
"That time, it was definitely you." Yup, you're right, Jiraiya…but that's not important. "What do you want?"
"Autograph!" I grinned widely as I held out Shisui's book for Jiraiya to see. "Hey, hey, Naruto, this is the guy who wrote the book!"
"You mean this pervert wrote the book?!" Naruto exclaimed. "What the hell, dattebayo?!"
Jiraiya looked like he was about ready to lash out on Naruto, but he stopped once he got a good look at the blond. He stared at Naruto for nearly a minute before reaching into his shirt to pull out a pen and grabbing the book out of my hands.
"So who is it to?" Jiraiya asked, his gaze never once leaving Naruto. "I'm assuming it's you, so what's your name?"
It took Naruto a second to recover from his shock before he introduced himself as, "Uzumaki Naruto, the next Hokage!"
There was just something endearing about Jiraiya chuckling at Naruto's response that made my heart practically throb. The bittersweet feeling of realizing what Jiraiya's encounter with Naruto actually entailed that was basically a godfather seeing his godson in years.
I need a moment…
…
Our encounter with Jiraiya eventually led us to Ichiraku Ramen, where Jiraiya was treating us to ramen…and probably regretting it, considering how much Naruto, Gaara, my brother, and I were eating. If Hinata wasn't so concerned about other people finding out about her eating habits (she just recently grew comfortable about showing that side of hers around Neji), she would have eaten just as much, but alas, Jiraiya was around and Jiraiya was someone who was not to know (he is a stranger, technically), so Hinata restrained herself.
When Naruto noticed that Hinata was eyeing the extra-large bowl of ramen he was just recently given by Ayame, he looked at his bowl for a moment before pushing it toward Hinata. Hinata stared at Naruto as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.
"I'm…not hungry anymore-ttebayo…" Naruto was lying, all of us could tell, even Hinata, but she didn't say anything. She just smiled at him and said, "Thank you."
When I saw the small blush tinging Naruto's cheeks, I had to bite my lip to keep myself from squealing. I'm seriously a sucker for cute scenes like these and I'm just gonna eat my ramen before I make a scene…
Throughout our current time spent with Jiraiya, I noticed he was paying especially close attention to Gaara as he interacted with Naruto. Jiraiya even asked Gaara if he had been getting enough sleep, to which Gaara nervously replied that he hasn't slept at all. Like…is Jiraiya catching onto Gaara's jinchuuriki status? If he is, Jiraiya better be tactful about it. I don't need Gaara having another freak-out because of reasons involving Shukaku and struggling to keep it a secret.
Speaking of freak-outs, I nearly had one myself when a certain pair of siblings descending from Sunagakure decided to drop by and pay us a visit… And by visit, I mean they found Gaara and were pretty baffled to see him hanging around other kids who were not afraid of him and were actually being rather friendly with him. Temari and Kankurō had no idea how to react and just stared at the scene before them after they called out Gaara's name.
Aaaaand awkward silence ensued. I think that basically sums up our first meeting with Gaara's siblings. By the by, eleven-year-old Temari and ten-year-old Kankurō are adorable and—wow is it so weird to see Kankurō without his make-up.
"Do you need anything?" Jiraiya decided to make it easier on the rest of us by breaking the silence.
Almost instantly, Temari reacted by pushing Kankurō towards us. "You tell him."
Kankurō scowled at Temari before making his way over to us, muttering under his breath as he did. He stopped walking once he was near Gaara. Gaara stared at Kankurō, his expression completely neutral. Quite the stark contrast in comparison to Kankurō's irritated expression.
"What are you lookin' at?" Kankurō's tone was curt when he spoke to me.
"Oh, fuck you!" I don't tolerate being talked to in such a tone, ya jerk—did I just say that? Nah, crap, I just upped the ante on terrible first impressions…well, at least I didn't punch Kankurō in the crotch, ahahaha—I'm screwed.
"This is why I hate kids…" Well, aren't you a hypocrite, Kankurō—you aren't even a Genin to even pull that comment off!
"Looks who talking, little boy!" I snapped.
"Little?! You're shorter than me!" Kankurō literally got in my face when he said this…only for my hand to push his face away.
"P-Personal space!" Respect my boundaries before I have to slap a bitch! "Ow!"
Kankurō bit me!
"Don't touch me!" Kankurō said before spitting onto the ground. "Eeugh, you taste like ramen…"
Okay, context…wait a second—oh hell no… "What the hell are you doing, tasting me like that?!"
I'm pretty sure this was the point where Neji decided to stop watching the train wreck that was Kankurō and me getting along well like water and oil because the next thing I knew, I found myself staring at Kankurō, who was now on the ground after Neji struck him in the chest with a palm-strike. All hell was about to break loose when Temari had had enough of watching her little brother getting kicked around by children younger than he was and nearly punched Neji…nearly.
It turned out that Gaara wasn't keen on his older siblings attacking his friends, as noted by how his sand kept Temari away from Neji. Temari nearly freaked when the sand touched her and was quick to back up, her hands brushing off any grains of sand that had gotten on her clothes or arms. She kept doing this, even after it was evident that there was no trace of sand on her.
Whatever Gaara must've done to his older siblings, the trauma was definitely there. Gaara almost looked ashamed when he saw how badly Temari was reacting to his sand. I wasn't too sure. Gaara hid his face when he noticed I was looking at him.
I need to stop staring at people…
"What is going on?" Oh, hello new person I don't know—holy shit, you look like an older Kankurō with dull purple hair! Uh, uh, think quick brain! Genetics, traits, hereditary, mother and father—there we go! That's Rasa and wow, he does not look happy.
Kankurō didn't waste any time getting off the ground. He stood up and adjusted his clothes before exclaiming, "Otou-san! We found Gaara!"
Looks like it's time for round two of awkward silence! Let the staring commence!
"Hey, aren't you the Kazekage?" Never mind, Jiraiya put an end to the awkward silence before it can even begin.
Rasa's attention shifted to Jiraiya. "You are correct…"
Jiraiya nodded his head. "I hear you're in Konoha for certain reasons involving a peculiar incident."
"That is also correct." Rasa looked questioningly at Jiraiya. "Is there something wrong?"
"Well…would it trouble you if we could talk about it in private?" Jiraiya asked Rasa. "It involves your son's sleeping problems."
For one brief moment, Rasa's stern expression was replaced with one of shock before quickly reverting back to his previous one. He looked at Gaara, who was quick to avert his gaze.
"Well?" Jiraiya looked expectantly at Rasa for an answer.
A second passed and Rasa sighed before turning his attention to Temari and Kankurō. "I want you two to watch over Gaara while I go discuss private matters with this man."
Temari and Kankurō looked about ready to protest, but one look from Rasa was all it took to keep them quiet. Shortly after that, Jiraiya and Rasa went on their way to discuss matters regarding Gaara's sleeping problems that I highly suspect to be a euphemism for his jinchuuriki status. That left us alone with Temari and Kankurō, both of whom weren't exactly pleased to stick around Gaara.
Once Rasa and Jiraiya were completely out of sight, Kiba leaned in closer to us and whispered, "Who're they?"
"I-I think they're Gaara's older siblings." Hinata looked at Gaara for a confirmation.
Gaara nodded. "They are."
"You didn't say anything about them being here as well…" Naruto was perplexed.
"I never said they weren't here." Gaara had a point.
"Well, now we know," Neji simply said.
"What are their names?" Shino asked.
"Temari is my older sister and Kankurō is my older brother," Gaara replied.
"Why is Temari making a mean face?" Sasuke questioned.
"We're right here, you know!" Temari snapped, eyes narrowed in anger. "So stop talking as if we're not here!"
…
"Are they always this rude?" Shikamaru asked Gaara, looking less than impress as usual.
"You wanna say that to my face?!" Temari scowled at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru blinked a few times and sighed. "Troublesome…"
Chōji grinned. "You're just as bad as Chōko with first impressions."
"At least I don't punch people in the crotch," Shikamaru remarked as he reached over to give my nose a small flick. "Don't do that, okay?"
"Hey!" I resent that! "And don't do that!"
It's embarrassing!
"I'll stop when you stop being so troublesome." Which, in Shikamaru's terms, means never!
Dammit!
Terrible first impressions aside, I don't think Temari's warming up to us anytime soon. The same goes with Kankurō, who has already stated he hates children (even though he is still one himself…). Seeing as we're all done eating and Jiraiya already paid for our ramen, I decided to make a suggestion about paying Ino a visit, since we never had a chance to do so yesterday.
Gaara had no idea who Ino was, but was quite fine with the idea of paying her a visit, as was everyone else. Though, just as we were about to leave, Kankurō asked Gaara a question.
"Where are you goin'?" was what Kankurō asked.
Gaara looked blankly at Kankurō and replied, "With them."
"Otou-san said we had to watch over you!" Temari said. "That means you can't go off on your own like you did yesterday."
"But I don't want to stay here." Gaara's tone was firm. "I want to be with them."
"We're not gonna hurt him, if that's what you're worried about." Sheesh, give the kid a break—you two don't even want to be around him!
"I would be more worried about Kankurō-kun, since Neji-san hasn't forgiven him for biting Chōko-san's hand," Shino remarked.
Did I hear that right? "Really?"
Neji frowned. "Are you annoyed?"
"Why would I be? That just means you've got my back!" I still haven't forgiven Kankurō for being a rude little boy! "I got my eye on you, Kankurō!"
"Right back at you, glasses girl!" It has occurred to me that Kankurō and Temari have no idea who the hell we are…
I decided to fix that a bit by at least giving them my name. "My name's Chōko, not glasses girl!"
"Like I care!" Rude Kankurō is rude.
Though, to be fair, I think I'm being rude as well—but whatever. "C'mon, guys, Ino's probably bored out of her wits without us!"
"Feel free to follow us, because I'm going with them," Gaara told his siblings.
Predictably, Temari and Kankurō did as Gaara had said. I mean, they had to, since Rasa gave them an order and Gaara already stated he was going anywhere we were going, no questions asked. I think Temari and Kankurō were too afraid to question Gaara any longer…
And Gaara doesn't want to deal with his siblings right now. It probably has to do with them potentially letting the proverbial cat out of the bag. I mean, they know about Gaara…and Gaara already has to deal with the fact that he's keeping information from us and Temari and Kankurō just being around…yeah, no pressure.
Ugh, I just wanna hug Gaara and tell him everything will be okay, but no—bad Chōko. Don't be a creeper! It'll just freak him out.
…
Ino was half-asleep when we entered Yamanaka Flowers. She was quite happy to see us and was quick to, for a lack of better terms, glomp Sasuke. Right after that, she noticed a few additions to our circle of friends, most notably, Gaara, and asked who he was.
"You're definitely not from around here," Ino said as she released Sasuke from her hold (much to his immense relief). "I'm Yamanaka Ino! And you are?"
"Suna no Gaara," Gaara replied. "It's nice to meet you…?"
Ino grinned widely at Gaara. "It's nice to meet you too! I'm guessing he's with us now?"
"Yeah, he's pretty much in." Circle of friends, circle of friends… "Not sure about those two, though."
Ino turned her attention away from Gaara and focused her gaze on his older siblings, who were trying to keep their distance. "And you guys are?"
"Temari and Kankurō—they're Gaara's older siblings," Chōji explained. "They're just following us."
"I think a better term would be babysitting," Shikamaru suggested. "Course, they're doing a pretty crappy job."
"No one asked for your opinion!" Temari snapped.
"And no one asked for your feedback!" Geez, aren't we sassy today, Shikamaru...
"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Oh god dammit, Kiba, don't encourage them—too late.
And if you look to your left, you can see a blonde-haired girl trying to fight a baby sloth. It's as one-sided as it can get, but at the same time, Shikamaru is making an effort. He's rather sluggish about it, but he's still trying. Not that it's really helping, since Temari is not only older than Shikamaru, but also taller and probably stronger.
"Hey, if you two are gonna fight, can you do it outside?" Ino was rather irritated with the scene before her. "Tou-san is not going to be happy about this! Chōko-chan, make them stop!"
Welp, that's my cue to take my leader status seriously and do something. I handed my glasses over to the closest person within my reach—Gaara—and leapt into the current scuffle between Temari and Shikamaru. It took me a couple of minutes, but I manage to pull Temari and Shikamaru apart.
"Knock it off, you two!" The last thing I want is Inoichi giving all of us a lecture—because Inoichi can be fucking scary. Do NOT underestimate the Yamanaka clan, because they are very good at reading people and know just the right words to say to get their point across.
Inoichi fucking read me like a book within a matter of seconds!
I ain't messing with that!
"He started it!" Temari was quick with her accusations, while Shikamaru just said nothing and sighed. He just looked so done.
"Look, I don't give a crap who started it." So don't even start. "If you two wanna fight, do it outside because I do not want Ino's father to lecture us. Have I made myself clear?"
"Y-Yeah…" Temari replied nervously.
Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head as he averted my gaze. "Whatever you say, Leader…"
"Good!" I smiled as I clapped my hands together. "Now let's get out of here before Ino's mother finds out we're trying to sneak her daughter out of the store."
"What?" Ino was confused.
I took back my glasses from Gaara and put them on before latching into Ino's arm and proceeding to drag her toward the door. "You heard me—now move!"
Quick, before Aoi decides to check up on her daughter!
…
"Safe!" Kiba exclaimed once we were far away from Yamanaka Flowers.
"Very," Shino added.
"Uh-huh." Hinata nodded her head.
Yeah, no thanks to Shikamaru and Temari nearly blowing our cover and almost earning us a scary lecture from Inoichi. "You two can fight now if you want."
"Nah, I don't wanna waste my time with this guy." Temari glared at Shikamaru. "The fight was a little too one-sided for my tastes…lazy ass."
"Meh…" Shikamaru didn't even bother giving Temari's jab at his laziness a proper response.
"That's the laziest response I've ever heard from you." I think that's a new record.
"Nah, I've heard lazier," Chōji remarked. "Though, that is pretty close."
"Seriously?" You mean there's more to Shikamaru's laziness?! "I don't know if I should be amazed or appalled at the fact that you can be that lazy."
Even I wasn't that lazy in my past life and I was quite the lazy person…or am I mixing laziness up with procrastinating?
Actually, I'm pretty sure that was actually depression and some form of executive dysfunction screwing up my productivity for the most part.
There's a lot of shit that I know now that explains a lot of my past behavior, thanks to Inoichi's scarily accurate diagnoses from the symptoms he caught from me (don't even get me start on how everyone else's diagnosis went, because that was pure witchcraft!). What's even scarier is the check-ups we have to do with the man at least once a week, because no matter how much shit we try to hide from him, he'll find out anyways—and that's without using his clan's techniques, which says a lot when he has yet to use it on any of us.
I can only wonder how Ino will turn out, if that's what her father can do...
"So what are we going to do now?" Ino asked. "Knowing you, we're probably going to go eat."
"Nah, we already ate—not sure about those two, though." Temari and Kankurō are a complete mystery to me.
"Hey, we know your names and everything…but you don't know ours," Sasuke decided to finally bring up. Yeah, I was waiting for someone to do that.
"What if we don't wanna know 'em?" Kankurō was being a jerk, as usual.
"Well then, too bad, you're gonna learn them!" If we are going to be insulting each other, I'd rather do it on terms where we know each other's' names. "Start us off, Kiba!"
…
It took me until after we were all done with our introductions to realize there are a lot of us in this circle of friends—like…damn. I feel like I've accomplished something huge in this life by having so many friends. It's not to say that I didn't have a lot of friends in my past life. It's more that I never was able to hang out with so many friends all at once, so consistently for over a long period of time. I'm honestly happy.
"So what's this about you bein' leader? You sure don't look like one." And then Kankurō pretty much killed my good mood.
"You're three years too late to be saying crap like that, so back off!" I said before promptly pushing Kankurō onto the ground like the eight-year-old brat I am. Hey, give me a chance to be a fricken' kid! God knows I'll regret it if I don't because that's how the shinobi life works. "So what do you guys wanna do?"
Leave it to me to ignore the fact that I pushed Kankurō onto the ground just seconds ago. That ended up biting me in the ass when Kankurō decided to pull on my braid with the force of a shampoo bottle that falls onto your foot in the shower. It is times like these I'm starting to regret ever letting my hair grow out because the pain fucking hurts.
"Aaaaahhh!" Oh god, it feels like my scalp is on fire!
"That was for pushing me!" Kankurō exclaimed before promptly getting tripped by Gaara's sand. "Ack!"
Thud!
"Ha, jokes on you!" I was grinning, even though the back of my head was still stinging from Kankurō's hair pulling.
"Did I do well?" Gaara looks at me with uncertainty, almost questioning if he should regret his actions.
Normally, I wouldn't approve of such actions, but fuck it—Kankurō deserved that! If he wanted to get back at me for pushing him, he shouldn't have resorted to such dirty actions. "You did well, Gaara."
Gaara blinked and nodded his head. "Okay."
"The heck just happened?" Temari stared wide-eyed at us. "I don't even…"
"You might want to get your eyesight checked," Shino remarked. "Because it seems as if your eyesight might just be worse than Chōko-san's."
Ooooh, buuurn. "Need some salve for that burn?"
"I think she needs a medic-nin!" Ino laughed. "Speaking of which, let's go to the hospital and see Sakura-chan!"
Why did I see that coming? Well, at least I'm not injured, so the visit won't incur Fuyuki's wrath. And so began our trek to the hospital, with Kankurō and Temari following us reluctantly. Surprisingly enough, we all managed to make it there in one piece (though Kankurō nearly got his nose broken by Neji, who didn't exactly appreciate Kankurō's hair pulling).
Sakura was on her break when we found her. She was quite happy to see us, though somewhat perplexed about Gaara, Kankurō, and Temari. One short introduction later and Sakura was getting along quite nicely with Gaara, who was slowly loosening up around us, no longer being quite as tense as he usually was.
Kankurō treated Sakura with great indifference, and Temari honestly seemed astonished. She stared at Sakura, not saying much until Sakura spoke to her, at which Temari just said, "Your hair is pink."
Sakura blinked a few times and grabbed a lock of her hair. "Yeah, I've noticed. Kaa-san says that it's the reason why I'm named Sakura."
"You're the girl who helped make that antidote!" Temari blurted out. "How the hell?!"
Sakura was blushing at this point. "Ehh, so Sunagakure knows about me?!"
"Nah, we just heard it from your Hokage," Kankurō said as he crossed his arms. "Though, when he said you were young, I didn't think he meant this young…"
"You're just jealous because Sakura is amazing!" I exclaimed as I hugged Sakura. "Right, Sakura?"
Sakura sputtered a bit before hiding her face behind her hands. "…"
"She's a shy, little flower!" Ino giggled.
"Speaking of flower…" Sasuke looked questioningly at Ino. "Are you ever going to tell me who keeps leaving me forsythias?"
That's still a thing, by the way. We still don't know who is doing it, but the flowers have certainly helped Sasuke cope a bit after we lost Itachi.
"I need to go now!" Sakura suddenly spoke up. "My break's almost over and Ruki-sensei's gonna get mad if I'm late!"
Sakura didn't even give me a warning when she suddenly pulled herself out of my embrace. She at least wasn't rough, just a bit sudden. She excused herself before running off to return to her post. I blinked a few times before adjusting my glasses and turning to Ino, who just shrugged at me.
"Anyways, as I was saying, are you going to tell me who keeps leaving those flowers?" Sasuke looked at Ino for an answer—only to get her playfully sticking her tongue out at him. "H-Hey!"
"If you want to know, then find out on your own!" Ino grinned mischievously at Sasuke.
"Since we can't exactly sneak Sakura out of here, what do we do now?" Kiba decided to change the subject.
"Hey, hey, Chōko-chan—do you have any ideas?" Naruto looked questioningly at me.
I sighed as I rubbed the back of my head. I really have no idea what to do. I am seriously out of ideas. "We could…visit Hanabi?"
"I don't think Hiashi-sama would approve of those two entering the Hyuuga compound." Neji wasn't even hiding the fact that he had been referring to Temari and Kankurō when he said "those two."
"What about me?" Gaara asked Neji.
Neji looked over Gaara. "You're absolutely fine."
"Ah." Gaara's eyes practically lit up upon hearing that. "I see…"
…
…
There is just something oddly mesmerizing about watching Gaara interact with little Hanabi. It's plain amusing to see Kankurō and Temari anticipating for things to go wrong. Honestly, I was afraid of this scenario taking a bad turn, but at the same time, it gives me a sense of hope, seeing Gaara being accepted by someone, such as Hanabi. She greeted him with open arms right from the start. Of course, Gaara still wasn't keen on physical contact, but allowed Hanabi to hold his hand, at least.
"Gaa!" Hanabi called out to Gaara, smiling when she saw his surprised expression.
"Gaara," Gaara tried to correct Hanabi.
Hanabi giggled and exclaimed, "Gaa!"
"You might as well get used to it," Neji remarked. "Once Hanabi-sama sets her mind on a name, it's difficult to convince her otherwise."
"At least she just calls you Nii!" Kiba huffed. "I get called Nana."
"Nana!" Hanabi called out to Kiba, as if to prove his point. "Where Chichi?"
Everyone seemed to freeze when Hanabi asked the dreaded question. Temari and Kankurō were confused, with Gaara having some knowledge on the subject, thanks to last night's sleepover (in which we did the sleeping and Gaara just spent the night awake, eating snacks and hanging out with Hound). Sasuke was quick to inform them that it was a forbidden subject to talk about and, surprisingly enough, Temari and Kankurō understood the situation without question.
When we tried to sneak Hanabi out of the Hyuuga compound, Hanabi's caretaker, Natsu, stopped us. Yeah, thing about Hanabi was, right after Itachi left the village, with no one else to really watch over us and considering the Orochimaru and Sasori incident, Hiashi decided that he wasn't going to risk Hanabi's wellbeing in the hands of a group of Academy students and got her a caretaker. Said caretaker happens to be a kunoichi who was also a Hyuuga, so good luck trying to sneak a two-year-old girl under the nose of someone who possessed the Byakugan.
Hanabi was pouting as we left the compound, even though we said we could come back and visit some other time. I'm guessing she had grown so accustomed to sneaking out that the first time such an attempt was foiled left a bit of a bitter taste in her mouth.
"R-Remind me to get her some bananas and milk," Hinata told me some time after we left the Hyuuga compound.
"I'll try." No promises, because chances are, I might forget. "So what are we going to do now? I'm all out of ideas."
Before any of us could say anything (Temari and Kankurō included), Hound suddenly appeared before us. He gestured at Gaara, explaining that Rasa wished for Gaara to come with him. Gaara wasn't exactly keen on leaving with Hound until he explained that it had to do with his sleeping problems.
Gaara swallowed hard before looking at us and saying he had to go. Naruto was quick to tell Gaara to wait for all of us tomorrow at the Academy swing so that we could regroup after classes. Gaara hesitated to say anything and just nodded his head in response.
Gaara, Temari, and Kankurō left with Hound not long after, leaving the rest of us on our own. What happened afterwards brought us back to the Hyuuga compound (after buying a small pint of milk and a bunch of bananas) and making a game out of trying to sneak Hanabi past Natsu. We failed…horribly.
"You might as well give up." Natsu smiled sweetly at us, even though she had just finished freeing us from the trap we activated…that she set up herself.
"Natsu mean~!" Hanabi whined.
Natsu is seriously good at her job…and is a cutie-patootie with nice hair— "Can I touch your hair?"
…
Natsu sighed. "Shisui-san was right…you never seem to change, do you, Akimichi-san?"
"Hey, how do you know Shisui-nii?" Naruto looked questioningly at Natsu.
Natsu blinked a few times. "Did Shisui-san ever tell you? I was on Team Hamaki with him and Itachi-san."
"Wait, how come we never heard about you?" The hell, man! "Okay, forget that—do you have any stories about the dork and Itachi-san back when you guys were Genin—you are a Chuunin, right?"
Natsu nodded her head and smiled. "I am, indeed…and the reason you haven't heard of me is because I became a Chuunin before Itachi-san and Shisui-san—and yes, they failed their first time."
Well, that's an eye-opener. "Tell us of their failures."
I want all the details.
…
So apart from obtaining blackmail material to use against Itachi, we found out a lot about Hyuuga Natsu, Hanabi's caretaker. Natsu is from the Branch family and is a Chuunin. She also has some minor medic-nin training from an apprenticeship she took up, shortly after becoming a Chuunin. That explained why it was just Shisui and Itachi—because Natsu was busy doing other things. And Mimura Hamaki was their Jounin.
The more you know…
…
…
The day went by as usual after that, with the exception of Hanabi trying to sneak out of the Hyuuga compound on her own, now that she could no longer depend on us, thanks to Natsu. And, once again, thanks to Natsu, Hanabi's attempts have been rendered futile.
When Chōji and I returned home that day, I ended up having to deal with Chōza and Ageha, since they wanted to talk to be about my recently discovered ophidiophobia. Surprisingly, it went better than I expected. I was expecting them to make a huge deal out of it, but Chōza and Ageha had been nothing, but supportive. And then Chōza edited his kill-list to make Orochimaru's death slow and painful.
Holy fuck, Dad!
I'm starting to wonder if this is the norm for shinobi parents. At the same time, I'm relieved because Fuyuki kept his word and stayed quiet about yesterday's incident. I might as well do the same thing and keep myself out of trouble…at least until the month ends.
Come the next day, I was fully expecting another typical school day…then Gaara entered the classroom during Iruka-sensei's lecture.
Iruka-sensei was puzzled to see Gaara and asked him what he was doing. Gaara looked around the room and, upon spotting us, directed Iruka-sensei toward us. Iruka-sensei stared at us for a few seconds before sighing and telling Gaara to introduce himself.
"Suna no Gaara," Gaara said before scampering over to sit with the rest of us.
Iruka-sensei shook his head, muttering a few words under his breath, before continuing his lecture. All was good after that…then Temari and Kankurō barged into the room and, having had enough of class disruptions, Iruka-sensei didn't even bother asking them for their names and just told them to sit down with us after making them introduce themselves to the class. Like, Iruka-sensei didn't even have to be told that they were with us—he just knew.
…
I'm starting to worry about our future associates if this is what will happen, even though we technically weren't friends with Temari and Kankurō. We're more like acquaintances of the vitriolic sort. I'm hoping it'll get better, or else I'm not gonna have a good time, four years from now, during the Chuunin exams…assuming I make Genin, get assigned to a team with a Jounin, and actually make it to the Chuunin exams.
Ahahaha, I'm funny to even think that I wouldn't even make it that far, considering the fact that I am the daughter of the current head of the Akimichi clan. I was screwed the day I was born. And if not that, then my internal fear of academic failure certainly motivated my need for success that earned me enough high grades that I have this extremely sinking feeling I might get Kunoichi of the Year when I graduate (please let me jinx myself for saying that!).
I had the chance to become a civilian. Honestly, I did…but I stayed silent because I had no idea whether or not I wanted to become a shinobi. When Chōza started training Chōji and I, I just went along with it without complaint because I had nothing better to do. During any given moment that I spent running laps, I could've stopped, walked over to father, and admitted disinterest in the shinobi life.
I didn't…and just kept running, even though I didn't want to. Maybe it was the fact that no one was telling me I couldn't become this or I had to become that—there was really no pressure for me to make a decision. I never even contemplated the civilian life, so was there even a decision to make in the first place?
I have no idea and I wonder if I should be concerned. I'm over eight-years-old, and not once, have I ever given myself a moment to think about the civilian life. It's a bit too late for that now, but it still bothers me that I left something so dire out of my own thoughts until now. Is this how I'm going to make my decisions in the future?
Time flies by so easily the more I think about the question I've asked myself. Soon, it is lunchtime and I'm still thinking about the question, even as I eat. I have yet to come across an answer, though I still search for one.
It's only until I feel a weight on my shoulder that I finally snapped out of my thoughts and returned to the reality before me. I'm somewhat disoriented, maybe even a little disconcerted, but the feeling quickly passes. My ears eventually pick up on the conversation going on between my friends and Gaara's siblings. Temari has mellowed out quite a bit, most likely the result of her having had the chance to actually talk with us.
Temari took a moment to reprimand Kankurō for not joining in the conversation and compared him to Shikamaru, who was doing the same thing. Kankurō scowled whilst Shikamaru just brushed off Temari's comment and continued eating his food. The lack of snarky comebacks from Shikamaru concerns me for a moment until I remember that silence was his tactic in avoiding conflict. This was how Shikamaru acted around his mother, Yoshino, whenever she was yelling at him.
Shikaku does the same thing sometimes and—oh, wow. Well, ahaha…like father, like son, I guess.
…
I should probably focus on something else entirely because I'm not even sure if I need a moment for that. Be still, my beating heart—it's too soon for that… Okay, who the hell is leaning on me?
I couldn't even begin to fathom who would have the gall to lean on me like a wall. So when I turned my head to see whom it was, my heart nearly stopped. Because the last person I ever expected to lean on me was Gaara, who happens to be asleep right now.
What…the absolute fuck…am I seeing? Why is everyone—I mean, Temari and Kankurō…why are they calm? Why am I calm? Wait—no, I'm not calm…I'm like seconds away from freaking out.
In…out…in…out…calm, calm, calm, calm, calm—it's fine! Nothing bad is happening—don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Everyone sleeps…even though Gaara shouldn't be sleeping, because of how Shukaku works—oh…right.
I almost forgot…ha…
If I recalled correctly, sleeping problems was the term used as a euphemism for Gaara's jinchuuriki status—quite a fitting one, when you think about it. Based on yesterday's events, I can only assume that Jiraiya was involved and the outcome was Gaara finally being able to sleep.
I wonder if he's having any good dreams…if he is, then I'm glad. I hope you like sleep, Gaara…because it seems you're going to be doing a lot of that from here on out.
I later found out that whatever fixed Gaara's "sleeping problems" was temporary and due to the experimental nature of it, Gaara was to stay in Konohagakure for further observation. Naruto was absolutely happy to hear that because that meant Gaara got to stick around with us a little longer. The same could be said about Jiraiya who, despite originally saying that he would leave Konoha when the month ended, stayed long past his original departure date.
One week passed, during which Gaara tried cake for the first time in his life…and loved it. The thing about living in Sand Country is that it is rare to have a steady supply of ingredients, given how most of the land is desert, which is why Gaara never had a chance to try cake back in Sunagakure. Meanwhile with Temari and Kankurō, for them, it was the first time in years since they ate cake. They would have had more, but Gaara ended up eating most of it.
Jiraiya was slowly growing used to our surprise ambushes at the bathhouse. Sometimes, we would come across him in town, in the midst of flirting with women, to which Naruto was quick to put an end to it because he wanted to spend more time with the person who signed the book Shisui gave him. Jiraiya was visibly annoyed each time, but sighed in defeat and ruffled Naruto's hair before asking us where we wanted to go.
Hanabi stopped asking where "Chichi" was, now that Gaara was visiting. Temari quickly became Mari and Kankurō became Kuro. I found myself snickering a bit when I realized that Kankurō's nickname could very well translate to the color black, which is the color of the outfit he will eventually wear in the future. Foreshadowing can be funny when it's done in such subtle ways and I need to stop being a nerd…
Apart from that, it was a rather calm week with nothing too drastic occurring. Though, come week two, things stirred up a bit at the Academy. With students learning that Gaara, Kankurō, and Temari were from Sunagakure and were also the children of the Kazekage, it wasn't that much of a surprise to see them getting swarmed during lunchtime. Gaara didn't take too well to the attention, preferring to stay with us rather than socialize with others. Kankurō was visibly irritated, what with his hatred toward children (never mind that he is still a child himself). And Temari was trying her best to hold her tongue, because she didn't want to get in trouble for speaking her mind—no matter how much she wanted.
Then Hibachi entered the picture and things nearly took a turn for the worst when he tried to pull Gaara away from Naruto. Considering the derogatory manner in which Hibachi referred to Naruto as, all whilst giving the blond dirty looks, Gaara was not pleased…and I was almost worried that Hibachi was going to get his ass killed.
Then Temari intervened by kicking Hibachi away from Gaara, yelling, "Don't touch him!"
This caught Gaara completely by surprise. He had no idea what to say and just stared at Temari, who was telling everyone to get the hell away from her little brother. At eleven years, Temari was not only the oldest amongst us, but also the tallest. No one dared to question Temari and ran off, for fear of provoking her wrath.
Once everyone had left us alone, Kankurō turned to Temari and said, "You called him your little brother…"
"Ah…I guess I did." Temari was a little surprised, but was quick to divert her attention to something else. "What's for lunch today?"
Gaara said nothing for the rest of the day, speaking only when Sasuke asked if something was wrong. Gaara just shook his head and said he was thinking. About what, Gaara didn't say, but I had an idea of what it was, come the next day, when Gaara nearly gave Kankurō heart attack for referring to him as, "Nii-san."
Gaara had been contemplating his relationship with his siblings. Knowing how much of a mess his relationship with them was, I'm guessing he wanted to change that. It was probably going to be a slow (and painful) process mending such a relationship, but hey, it was a start. I'm rooting for you, Gaara. You deserve your chance at happiness.
Throughout the rest of the week, Jiraiya tried his hardest to avoid us, but we kept finding him. Even though he verbally stated his annoyance with us, it was easy to tell that he didn't actually mind our presence—Naruto, especially. Life was good…
Of course, all good things must eventually come to an end, much like the observational period over Gaara and the temporary fix to his "sleeping problems", which he had none whatsoever, as he slept peacefully during these two weeks (and enjoyed it). When Temari broke the news to us that they would be leaving for Sunagakure the next day, we were honestly saddened. In the past two weeks we got to spend with Gaara and his siblings, we really grew attached to their presence.
Gaara didn't really speak to us that day, though he did keep trying to tell me something before backing out at the last second. I didn't find out what it was that he wanted to tell me until the next day, when all of us (that being the Rookie 9, Neji, Hanabi—and Natsu, by that extension—and me) were saying our goodbyes to Gaara, Kankurō, and Temari as they were ready to leave Konohagakure through one of the four entrance gates. Gaara had just walked up to me and said something to me. I didn't catch what he said at first, because he had said it so quietly, so I asked if he could repeat what he had said.
"Can I have a hug?" was what Gaara asked me before suddenly wrapping his arms around me in an embrace.
I was honestly shocked. This was the last thing I had ever expected to happen. It took me a moment to recover before I returned Gaara's embrace. It was…weird, if only because this was the first time Gaara's sand wasn't in the way. He was warm and his heart—it was beating rather rapidly. He was probably nervous…I wouldn't blame him.
"We're gonna miss you, ya know…" But I know we'll meet again.
Gaara said nothing and just tightened his embrace. It was at that moment that Hanabi decided to join in on the hugging and latched onto Gaara's waist.
"Miss you…" Hanabi said, somehow managing to hug Gaara without his sand getting in the way.
I don't know if it was from the physical contact or the fact that he could have been holding it in for this long, but Gaara started crying right after hearing Hanabi say that to him. Not long after that, Hanabi and I were no longer the only ones hugging Gaara, as everyone else joined in for a group hug that gave me a sense of déjà vu.
I could only imagine the looks on everyone else's faces as they witnessed the group hug happening before them. Temari and Kankurō were most likely freaking out over the fact that Gaara was crying, Rasa and the others (bodyguards, most likely) were probably just stunned over the fact that Gaara, despite crying, was still managing to keep it together…at least, I can only assume. That aside, it took Gaara a bit of coaxing before he was willing to let any of us go.
Gaara had calmed down by then, but he was still teary-eyed and sniffing as he walked over to join Kankurō and Temari at their side. He seemed so sad…
It took me a couple of seconds to realize that, once Gaara returned to Sunagakure, he would be alone again. I bit my lip and looked at Naruto, who seemed to be onto something the more he looked at Gaara. A minute passed before Naruto's eyes lit up.
"Heeey!" he exclaimed. "Why don't we stay in touch, dattebayo?"
Gaara blinked. "Hmm?"
"We could send each other letters, can we-ttebayo?" Naruto looked questioningly at Rasa, who seemed mildly surprised. "Can we?"
"Whatever you two do is none of my business," Rasa remarked. "Feel free to do as you wish."
Naruto grinned widely. "You heard him, dattebayo! We can send each other letters, so please don't cry Gaara! Remember, you're not alone."
Gaara nodded his head. "Right…thank you, Naruto."
And for the first time since we first met him, Gaara smiled. It was rather unfortunate that we didn't have Shisui's camera on us, because that was certainly a memory worth preserving. Of course, I doubt we would ever forget that smile. It was one of genuine happiness. It was going to be a hard four years for Gaara, but the fact that he isn't alone might help him immensely.
…
…
Right after Gaara had left, Jiraiya soon followed after, but not before leaving Naruto a gift in the form of a toad-shaped wallet that soon earned the name, "Gama-chan." I definitely needed a moment after that…
How is this all happening so soon?
A few days later, we discovered that a certain dog-masked ANBU was no longer following us. During that same day, a silver-haired young man arrived at Naruto's doorstep and introduced himself as Hatake Kakashi, a Jounin assigned by the Sandaime to move in with Naruto and Sasuke. It took me nearly half an hour to put two and two together to realize that watching over Gaara must have been Kakashi's last mission as an ANBU before getting reassigned by Sarutobi. Though, I haven't the faintest idea as to why Kakashi was to be living with Naruto and Sasuke from here on out…then again, this would make it easier for Kakashi to watch over Naruto and Sasuke.
I didn't really think too much about it after that, since I didn't want to give myself a headache. Besides, getting to know Kakashi was muuuch more interesting. It might be four years too early for any of us to meet Kakashi, but after all that has happened…I really don't mind. Because at least Kakashi won't kill us, and I really appreciate that.
Life resumed to its usual routine once we adjusted to Kakashi's presence in our lives. Hinata soon turned eight and the year came to an end shortly after. It's honestly shocking how much happened in the past year—both good and bad. And yet, there are still enough good memories within the year to balance out the misfortune...or at least ease some of the pain. There is still a lot we have to cope with, but for now, everything is good.
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A/N Holy shit, it's been a while…and holy crap, look at this loooong chapter! Yeah, thought that'd make up for the late update. Anyways, I've been busy with life (and college bitch slapping the hell out of me). Just finished going to an anime convention that kept me and my friends busy—we met Kyle Herbert, voice of Kiba (and Kazuichi from Danganronpa 2), Cristina Vee, and Christine Cabanos and got all of their autographs. I am happy…sooo happy.
Sooo…stuff happened in this chapter. Jiraiya made an early appearance, as did Temari, Kankuro, and Rasa, Gaara got to get some sleep, and Kakashi is now living with Sasuke and Naruto. Make what you will of that. Chōko's fast metabolism finally got explained and I thank reviewer Wyrvel for that. I especially thank them for me going into depth about hiden techniques in this story, because somehow, SCIENCE made its way into this story YET AGAIN. Kinda funny now that I'm planning on double majoring in science, ahaha…
There was also some shipping in this chapter that you have to look for. As I mentioned before, it's still too early to make pairings, but I'm not against building up chemistry. Also, Hyuuga Natsu…I ended up including her, due to her status as Hanabi's caretaker. She was originally just meant to be there, but then I got too into her character and gave her a background and whoops. Ahaha, yeah, the things I do out of nowhere, sometimes. So Team Hamaki is a thing and that is all you need to know.
And in this chapter, you find out just how dangerous having connections can be, so the fact that Naruto is included into them really makes it a bad idea to mess with him. But yeah, moving on, I gotta make a point about hiden techniques…it isn't a typo, that is how it is spelled. Hiden or 秘伝, literally means "secret tradition"…thought I'd put that up in case anyone is confused. By the by, I need to correct an earlier A/N in terms of me mixing up the whole reincarnation thing between Sasuke and Naruto. I meant to say they are Kaguya's grandsons, not sons…I will admit to my mistake and keep it at that. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewer who told me that for being kind about it.
That aside, let me talk about the name of this chapter, Chrysalis. Chrysalis is used to refer to butterfly pupa, of which is the stage between the larva and adult stages. Keep in mind that Chōko's name means "Butterfly Child". So what I'm trying to say is that there will be a time skip in the next chapter. So prepare yourselves, everyone! It's time for Chōko to become a chrysalis!
Anyways, I would like to give a shout-out to my good friend, ChibiFoxAI, for helping me out in certain points of this chapter. Gaara eating cake, the explanation about the lack of consistent ingredients in Sand Country, Chōko embarrassing Jiraiya, and then some…are all thanks to her!
Okay, shout-out goes to anonymous reviewer Midoriya for being reviewer #140. Shout out for try10, for being reviewer #150, and for Ebony sword for being reviewer #160. SansaFort, for being reviewer #170, and for NinjaDemonAngel, for being reviewer #180—wow, that many reviews already? Thank you so much everyone! And an honorable mention goes to minhthu12-Present, for pointing out that Chōko's name sounds similar to Choco, a part of the word chocolate, which is rather interesting because Chōko loves to eat. Ahaha, I never really thought of that until now! XD
And if anyone is wondering about my Naruto OTPs, just look at the last Naruto chapter for a reference. You'll find them there and yes, I am shipping trash. Let me be.
I think that's about it for this chapter. I hope you readers enjoyed it! Over 12000 words this time around! I am quite happy! I seriously hope I didn't botch anything up in this chapter, so until next time everyone! KD out! XD