Reaching
LilacLilyFlower © 2009
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Unfortunately.
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My oneshot collection for this story, Strawberry Days, has been updated.
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Chapter 16
(Inoichi's POV)
Inoichi wasn't sure how to feel about the genin he was saddled with.
They were brilliant, to be sure. Takahiro reminded him of Chouza, their determination and perseverance alike with the Will of Fire (although Takahiro probably had no idea what that was). Eisuke, surprisingly, was similar to Shikaku somehow. He didn't know why. But there was something about his eyes, the underlying awareness and hint of intelligence that Shikaku tried so hard to disguise as nonchalance and Eisuke failed to realize.
That would liken Hikari to himself.
Inoichi grimaced.
They were nothing alike. At all. Perhaps their understanding of the importance of intelligence, the impact of information, was the same, but that was as far as it went. If anything, she reminded him of Hatake and his emotionally stunted growth.
Not that Hatake wasn't great. He was just a psychologist's nightmare. Namely, Inoichi's nightmare. Hatake had managed to elude him for their monthly meetings for years by now. And he was still somehow psychologically cleared for duty.
Amazing, the lengths that man would go to avoid his feelings.
But his team. His new team of rookie genin who had already been through so much. They were brilliant, still somewhat innocent, and adorable. And they were in a cold war of sorts.
It made sense, in a way. His daughter and her Academy friends reacted predictably. Their mental conditioning wasn't finished, as they hadn't graduated yet. And, if he remembered correctly, they hadn't gone on their weekend trip yet to trap and kill game and desensitize themselves to killing. And while Ino was the daughter of the old Head of T&I, she was also his daughter. They weren't in wartime. He wasn't going to push her to be desensitized any faster than she needs to be. Not the way he had been.
Eisuke reacted like a shinobi should. Inoichi had heard about what had happened on the disastrous mission that got Shoumaru killed, but it was expected that even after being conditioned, most shinobi would react negatively to their first kill, their first death. He pushed the blame onto Hikari. A simple defense mechanism.
Hikari did her duty as a shinobi. She kept the secret until she was allowed to tell it. Her response to the accusation was normal—confused, hurt, and perhaps slightly drastic, but normal. She understood what her role was, but didn't understand why Takahiro didn't.
Takahiro. It was Takahiro who concerned Inoichi. His reaction had been outside of the expected shinobi conduct. He'd protested the fact that Hikari hadn't told.
He would have to go through reconditioning.
Inoichi grimaced again. Shikaku and Chouza, who were beside him for their weekly barbeque night at an Akimichi restaurant, took no notice.
"How are the little horrors?" Shikaku droned.
Ah, Inoichi thought. Maybe they did notice.
"Troublesome," Inoichi replied, taking a sip of his sake. Shikaku eyed him for stealing the trademark Nara phrase.
"It's funny," Chouza said. "That out of all of us, you got stuck with a genin team. Especially since you didn't want one."
Inoichi scoffed. The Third had pulled him aside, requesting (ordering) him to take on the leaderless Team One. It was about time that he'd gotten one and spread his knowledge about T&I, he'd said. Besides, he was on leave from the T&I department.
On leave, his ass. Leading a genin squad did not count as on leave.
"I need to get going," he groaned, standing up. "One of my students is giving me trouble. Wait. All of my students are. This one is just giving me the most trouble."
"Minato's kid?"
The light, teasing mood vanished. "Shikaku," Inoichi hissed. "You can't just say things like that out loud. Do you know what would happen if that kind of information got out?"
"There are silencing seals," Shikaku pointed out. "Minato put them here himself."
Unsaid went the fact that the purpose of their team was reconnaissance.
Chouza took a gulp of his sake. "You're normally not this strung out," he commented. "Is it really that stressful, being saddled with a genin team?"
"Well, as you know, one is Minato's kid," Inoichi groused, sinking back into his seat and downing his sake. "I'm sure that Hokage-sama and Kakashi-kun, among others, would never forgive me if I let her die, or worse, somehow mess up her education and impede her path to becoming the next great fuinjutsu master."
"She's not her parents," Shikaku said mildly. His eyes, however, betrayed a sharp reprimand. "She might not choose to specialize in fuinjutsu in the future."
"No," Inoichi agreed. "But the higher ups won't see that. They'll see what they want, and it's another Yellow Flash. Her brother, on the other hand, is essentially a replacement for Kushina. A powerhouse. A scapegoat."
"It's strange," Chouza began. "How the new generation is expected to be a copy of ours, when we were the ones in a war. Maybe what we need is something new to preserve the peace."
"Either way, Hikari isn't going to be allowed to not pursue fuinjutsu to the fullest. But she's not the biggest issue. It's Takahiro, the civilian kid."
Shikaku frowned. Civilians, while innovative and staunch, were softer and had a set of values that didn't mesh with the shinobi lifestyle, even after going through conditioning in the Academy. The influence of the home, in comparison to the orphanage or a shinobi family, was difficult to get rid of. "Is he…"
"Yes. He needs reconditioning."
Shikaku winced in sympathy. Reconditioning was never fun. "Civilian level? What tactics?"
Inoichi shook his head. "Genin level, no torture. Just interrogation."
There were five levels of torture and interrogation. At least, five official levels. As in every Hidden Village, Konoha had higher, unofficial levels.
First was civilian. Basic food, water, and sleep deprivation. Possibly some pain for the more stubborn ones, but no blood.
Second was Academy student. An increase of deprivation and pain, with minimal Killing Intent allowed.
Third was genin. Food, water, and sleep deprivation for up to periods of time between forty-eight to one hundred and twenty hours, depending on what was being withheld. Blood was allowed to be spilled. As much Killing Intent necessary as well.
Chunin and jounin were fourth and fifth. The levels progressed on to things such as ANBU and Kage, which were only authorized for Inoichi and Morino Ibiki, since they themselves were the only ones fully conditioned for the torture and interrogation tactics involved.
Reconditioning followed a similar scale, depending on how far astray the shinobi was. For Takahiro, Inoichi wouldn't employ torture tactics. He didn't want to scare the kid away. But it would still be Genin level.
Chouza frowned. "Are you sure that's a good decision? Shouldn't you work your way up? He's only a year older than Chouji."
"There's no time," Inoichi explained. "Hokage-sama wants them to be chunin by the end of the year. They have to take the exam in six months." Three months was too early. Nine months was the fallback.
"If I were you," Shikaku began slowly, "I would make Eisuke the leader." Inoichi sat up straighter, because any advice from Shikaku was more valuable than oxygen to breathe.
(Except when it came to their wives.)
"He's the oldest, least prone to rash judgments, and has already made his first kill. The other two will look to him, even unconsciously, because he has more experience. Plus, as a medic-nin, the choice of placing him at the top will make little sense to other teams. The general, in a sense. They have a moniker, so use it. Oshiro Eisuke. General of Konoha's Three-Man Army."
Shikaku always was a bit of a secret drama queen.
"Takahiro will be the colonel." Inoichi opened his mouth to protest, but Shikaku held up his hand to stop him. "Just listen. While his conditioning isn't complete, you'll take care of that soon. He's the second oldest and a close-range fighter, and has the tactical intelligence necessary to direct the others in the field. In comparison, Eisuke is more of a strategist than a tactician."
"That's good and all, but I don't see why Hikari isn't above both of them. She's a legacy," Inoichi interrupted. Chouza coughed and hid a smile behind his saucer of sake.
"I was getting there," Shikaku remarked drily. "Hikari is good. Almost too good. Reminds me a little of Orochimaru, if I'm telling the truth, but without the inclination to science and revenge. She's clearly smart and has the best genetics—Minato and Kushina. She's incredibly fast, is something of a sensor and fuinjutsu practitioner, and wants to be the best suiton user in the history of shinobi. But she lets her emotions get in the way. She took command after the mission, but only later and out of necessity. When things went wrong, she couldn't think rationally."
He cleared his throat, took a sip of sake, and continued. "That's why she's the private. She'll follow orders, and utilize her diverse skill set to play any role necessary. The dirty work, in other words. As the youngest and the only female, the other villages would automatically place her as the weakest, which would allow her to use that as an element of surprise. Because in the bingo books, in comparison to Eisuke, who has a jounin and chunin listed under his kills, she's less."
Inoichi sighed. "I always end up doing what you say."
"Naturally," Shikaku replied. "But I wasn't done. While Hikari is suited to be a frontline battler, provided her speed, seals, and jutsu repertoire, placing her as a close to mid-distance fighter, I personally think that she's more suited for information gathering. T&I, if you will. Maybe ANBU, which is what Shoumaru was training them for anyways. She found information on the Caged Bird Seal, didn't she? And her intuition, her ability to make connections and jumps in logic, fill in the gap between pieces of information, is uncanny. Something that would benefit the Intelligence Division more that fieldwork."
"She is very strong for a nine-year old, but keep in mind that she's still a child," Chouza chided. "It was common for Kakashi's generation to graduate early, with similar stats, but it was also wartime."
"Shikamaru could have graduated and outstripped Team One by age six," Shikaku muttered.
"Yes, but you can't compare anyone to Shikamaru. It's unfair. Plus, he doesn't want to try," Inoichi deadpanned. "If you think about it, Takahiro and Hikari's information absorption rate may be alarming, but they're still a far cry from what Kakashi or Gai were at their age." Unsaid went the name Uchiha Itachi.
"Takahiro could be a trap master. He likes weapons too," he continued, musing. "A swordsman? He specializes in taijutsu, his katon is fine. Maybe a jounin instructor. He'll probably reach jounin first."
"Eisuke should be an iryo-nin."
"Naturally."
"He should return to the hospital for more training. Imagine him as Head Medic."
"Funny how we're planning out their possible futures."
"Well, our kids already have their paths set for them. Another us, essentially."
They all stared at each other, then took a sip of sake.
-O-O-O-O-
(Hikari's POV)
"I scoped out for some apartments, and I narrowed it down to three," Hikari told Naruto. "They're all triple bedroom, one and a half baths, a living space, and a kitchen. In a shinobi district, of course."
Naruto ducked his head. "We could just move into your apartment right now," he suggested. "Instead of getting a new one."
"There's not enough space, Naru."
"I know, I just," he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "Don't like the landladies. They're really mean to me. And they charge me too much rent."
She fumed internally, but she knew that things like this were going to happen in the future. Luckily, in terms of what Naruto has learned, Sasuke had been correcting the misinformation from the teachers, and Umino Iruka was also coming around, according to him.
"It's okay," she reassured. "They won't this time."
And they didn't. Because when they went to the three potential apartments, two of them took one look at Naruto and tried to slam the door in his face. The only reason why they'd stopped was because she'd flashed her hitai-ate at them.
"Stupid," Hikari muttered. "They're stupid, Naru. Don't listen to them."
"I don't get why they all hate me," he huffed. "Are my pranks that bad?"
Her heart fell. It's the Kyuubi, she wanted to say. They're projecting their hatred onto you, when you were the one who saved them. "Maybe they just have no sense of humor," she suggested.
They arrived at the third apartment. This time, Hikari stood in front of Naruto.
When the landlady opened the door, Hikari smiled sweetly at her, making sure that light was glinting off of her hitai-ate. "Hello, obaa-san," she chirped. "Can I see the apartment on the third floor?" She moved aside to show Naruto.
The landlady, who had been smiling, was taken aback. "Oh." She studied Naruto, who cringed and shuffled back a little.
But.
"I don't see a problem," the landlady said slowly. "But the other tenants might," she added pointedly.
Hikari's heart soared.
"That's okay," she said quickly before the landlady could rescind her offer. "We'll take it."
The landlady blinked. "You don't need to see it first?"
Naruto perked up. "No," Hikari said, squeezing Naruto's hand. "It's good enough for us."
The landlady's name was Miyakazu Aoi. They agreed on moving in by the end of the week, and Hikari and Naruto left a few papers heavier.
"We did it!" Naruto cheered, hugging her and lifting her up. Hikari hung limply, causing him to yelp and nearly topple over. "Kari!"
"Sorry, Naru," she snickered. "Do you want me to come over sometime and seal everything up? It's easier to move things that way."
"Yeah," he said, grinning. Her heart melted. She offered him a fist.
"Uzumaki sibling dynasty?"
He stared for a moment, then placed his fist on top of hers.
"Uzumaki sibling dynasty!"
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She had been wrong. So, so wrong, about a lot of things.
First: her spiral seals only worked for simple things. They couldn't, for instance, convert chakra into a different chakra nature (which had been a disastrous experiment culminating in flames exploding from the paper and belching noxious gas).
Second: moving in wasn't simple. She and Naruto had very different ideas on suitable furniture, wallpaper, etc. He wanted a kunai print. She wanted a neutral color. He wanted an elaborate lamp that had overly elegant curlicues. She wanted ceiling lights installed. But they did make it work somewhat. Their apartment was an eclectic clash of personalities and preferences.
Finally: her team wasn't functioning as smoothly as anticipated.
It was to be expected, after their falling out. But she hadn't thought that it would be this bad.
"Pass the salt, please," Takahiro grunted. Hikari's heart fell. Usually, he'd just reach over her.
She passed him the salt.
Inoichi had insisted that the three of them—Eisuke, Takahiro, and Hikari—eat lunch together. His treat, he'd said. He'd claimed that it would help mend their rifts.
Their table was cloaked in a stifling atmosphere. Hikari cast an eye around, observing her teammates in a way she hadn't since they'd first formed Team One. Takahiro was eating his rice silently, dark circles under his eyes and face paler than usual. Eisuke was pushing his portion of fish around on his plate, brow furrowed. She decided to break the silence.
"So, Takahiro, why did Inoichi-sensei take you away for a few hours earlier?" she asked.
He barely looked up. "Training."
Eisuke frowned even more. "There's almost nothing in his skill sets that translate directly to your specialization," he said. "Why would he spend several more hours training you instead of finding a tutor for you?"
Takahiro scowled and speared his fish with his chopsticks. "Fine. It was reconditioning." When they didn't respond, he laughed derisively at himself. "You guys probably think I'm a waste of time."
"No."
Eisuke and Takahiro looked up at her. She stared back at them, settling her eyes on Takahiro. "No. You're not a waste of time." She turned back to her rice.
Slowly, the other two resumed eating.
The heavy atmosphere disappeared.
-O-O-O-O-
"Sasuke, are you going to go?" Hikari asked during a lunch gathering.
Sasuke looked up from his lunch. "Huh? To what?"
"Shoumaru-sensei's funeral."
The mood instantly plummeted. Naruto dropped his chopsticks, and Sasuke stopped chewing. "Hikari," he said. "Why did you ask that during lunch? And I didn't know him."
She fiddled with the ribbon on her wrist. "I don't really see you any other time," she explained. "Only lunch breaks at the Academy. And I asked you because, well, because Shoumaru-sensei was family. And you're family."
"I'm not his family though," he pointed out.
"Doesn't matter," Naruto interjected. "Kari said that Shoumaru-sensei would want her family there. So you're going. And I'm going." He turned to her. "What about that other sensei of yours? The one with silver hair?"
Hikari stilled, remembering the pictures of Kakashi and Shoumaru. "I'll have to ask," she said. "He doesn't like funerals."
He doesn't like death.
The lunch period ended, forcing her to say goodbye to Naruto and Sasuke. She hugged them. "I'll see you for dinner," she told Naruto. She didn't miss the loneliness on Sasuke's face.
An idea took root in her mind.
But first.
The funeral.
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His body had been cleaned up well.
Hikari noted how his hair had been maneuvered to hide where the kunai had been plunged in. The makeup that tastefully masked the scar on his throat. Shoumaru looked, for lack of a better word, asleep.
But she knew better. He wasn't asleep. She felt the absence of his chakra, a gaping void in the place of steady thrumming.
No words were needed during the funeral. Everyone who showed up understood the significance of Shoumaru's life. His accomplishments, his failings, his person.
Kakashi didn't show up.
As Yukiko took up the torch and set the funeral pyre ablaze, Hikari reached for her teammates' hands. "I don't want to see anyone I love die again," she whispered, watching the flames. They climbed the wood, licking closer and closer at Shoumaru's body.
Takahiro squeezed her hand. She looked up, surprised. "You won't," he said.
"That's a lie, and you know it," she replied. It was said quietly, without conflict. It was a fact.
They were shinobi. Shinobi died.
He shook his head. "I promised Hatake-san that I would protect you. You won't see anyone you love die ever again."
From her other side, Eisuke tightened his grasp. "Teammates stick together," he said. "Shoumaru-sensei taught us that. If you lose someone, we lose someone." The flames completely covered Shoumaru. Eisuke's voice cracked. "We all lost someone today."
She squeezed back.
-O-O-O-O-
She shared her idea with Naruto.
"I mean, we have a third bedroom, and it would save money. He's family, and he lives all alone—"
Naruto held up his hands, waving wildly. "Kari, slow down. I'm okay with it."
Hikari stared, then grinned. "Really?"
He grinned back. "Yeah! It's gonna be so fun living with Sasuke! I mean, he's a jerk sometimes, but he's still, you know, Sasuke."
They asked him the next day.
"Sasuke," Hikari said, tentatively poking with her chakra to see how calm his chakra was. "Do you want to, um, live with us-ttebana?"
For the second day in a row, Sasuke stopped chewing his lunch. He stared at her, shocked.
"It'll be great, teme," Naruto said, punching his shoulder. "We'll split the chores and everything."
He kept staring. Hikari, concerned, waved a hand in front of him. "Sasuke?"
He stood up, spilling his lunch everywhere, and ran into the Academy building. Hikari and Naruto watched him go, confused and slightly upset.
"I guess that's a no," Naruto said, puffing his cheeks up. Hikari pinched a cheek absentmindedly, smiling when he flailed.
"Maybe," she conceded. "But let's wait and see."
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"We have approximately five months left until the Chunin Exams," Inoichi said. He was pacing in front of them, arms crossed and ponytail flaring out behind him. "Preparations must begin."
He halted his march in front of Eisuke. "By preparations, I mean personas and identities. These personas will be your faces for the rest of your life whenever you deal with intervillage contact, so choose the personalities that you're going to apply to your roles wisely. It'll start when we leave to travel to Kirigakure, where the exam is to take place." He placed a hand on Eisuke's shoulder.
"You, Eisuke, will be the leader. The General of Konoha's Three-Man Army. It's unorthodox to have a healer as the squad leader, but it'll work in this case. Don't doubt me," Inoichi said as Eisuke opened his mouth to protest. "Everyone except for yourself has faith in you."
He strode to Takahiro. "You'll be the Colonel, the tactician to Eisuke's strategist. You're a close range fighter, and you're the second oldest. Second in command. The one who will direct everyone mid-battle."
Then, he walked to Hikari. "And you. You're the Private. The one who will do the grunt work and follow orders." He saw the frown on her face. "It'll give you the element of surprise. You'll be underestimated."
He stepped back and clapped his hands. "Team One will be the only team that Konoha is sending. It is a symbol, a declaration of our strength. The Chunin Exams are a show. Let's give them a show that they won't forget."
The next hour was filled with fleshing out every facet of their constructed personalities. They ran through scenarios and dialogues, deciding how their personalities would react and behave. Inoichi guided them much like the director of a play, relishing in his role. Hikari could see how Ino was related to him.
"Eisuke, be wryer. More exasperation, more of a cool and mysterious vibe," Inoichi prattled. "You're unruffled. You're the one that reigns your troops in when they get out of hand. Exude confidence, do something about your hair to make yourself look more rugged and rogue."
Eisuke hesitantly reached up to his hair and ruffled it sideways. "Yes! Like that!" Inoichi cheered.
Takahiro scoffed. "Sensei, you're being too cheerful. It's creepy," he complained. Inoichi whirled on him.
"None of that, Takahiro-kun! This is my persona. I see you haven't gotten into yours yet." He raised his hand to his chin. "Try charismatic, a devilish charm. You're the social one of the team from now on."
"I'm ten," Takahiro deadpanned. "How can I have devilish charm?"
"You won't know until you try," Inoichi replied. "Come on, then. Try it."
Takahiro sighed, but his entire posture changed. He crossed his arms, leaning his weight to one side, and tilted his chin. "Sensei, please," he said in a cocky inflection. "I don't need to try to attain it."
Inoichi smiled widely. "Perfect! Now, Hikari!" He spun on the ball of his foot and pointed at her.
She stared.
He stared back.
She blinked.
He wilted. "Hikari, I expected more out of you," he confessed.
She blinked again. "Apologies, Inoichi-sensei," she said softly. "However, this is my persona."
Realization dawned in his eyes. "I see. The cold, yet socially awkward stoic." He pondered further, rubbing his jaw. "I think you need more arrogance. At least some superiority to anyone that isn't on your team."
Hikari sighed. She didn't know how to do that.
But then.
She realized she did.
Neji. I'll channel my inner Neji.
"So, the perfect soldier, willing to do anything for her team," she mused. "How verbal am I allowed to get?"
"As much as you deem necessary," Inoichi said. "Think like the Private. Talk like the Private. Be the Private."
She gave him a flat stare.
He coughed. "Okay, you guys can break character."
Eisuke ambled over. "I don't think this is going to work," he mumbled. Hikari took pity on him and fixed his hair.
Takahiro bounced in place. "We'll be fine! We have five months."
"You basically get to act the way you secretly always wanted to," Hikari shot back. "I have to be like Hyuuga Neji. Kind of."
Takahiro waved her concerns off. "You'll be great. All of our senseis always said you were good at slipping into another personality."
"Yeah, when I'm not in combat," she muttered. "And that's all the exams will be."
"Don't worry," Inoichi said. "We'll tweak your personalities until they're perfect. Soon, it'll be easy to act them out. Make sure they don't bleed into your actual personality." Then, he looked at Takahiro. "Unless, of course, you want them to." He sat down on a large rock. "Take a break. These kinds of things are mentally tiring."
Hikari looked at Takahiro, who looked at Eisuke, who looked at her. They stared until a corner of her lip twitched, and they burst into laughter.
"It's fun, I guess," Eisuke admitted. Hikari nodded in agreement.
"Should we…adjust our fighting styles to our characters? Like Takahiro being flashier, or Eisuke more ruthless," she suggested. "I don't really have to change anything, though."
Takahiro shrugged. "As long as we don't change everything completely, I think we should. But not so much that it hinders us."
"Sensei," she called. Inoichi looked up from making yet another flower crown. "We're not supposed to show off everything, right?"
"No, you're not. Always have a trump card after a trump card."
She deliberated her next course of action, but it wasn't difficult to choose. She strapped off the tanto, presenting it to Takahiro. He grabbed it immediately, but glanced back up at her. "Are you sure?"
Hikari smiled. "I'm not meant for kenjutsu," she said. "And it's fine, I have these." From her pouch, she took out two, very familiar daggers. There was a sharp intake of breath from Eisuke, but she ignored it. "The jounin from Cloud had these. I'm assuming I'm not wrong in that our village has released the information about which exam we're participating it," she said, looking at Inoichi.
He nodded, looking pleased.
"Kumogakure will send the genin we met on that mission," she stated, testing out the feel of the daggers in her hand. "It's not an inference. They're going to do it to rattle us and to make a statement. And when we meet them, I'll have these." She twirled a dagger.
"Do you know how to use them?" Eisuke asked, dubious. It was a fair question. Kunai were constructed so most of their weight fell in the blade, which made it better for throwing. Daggers' weights were in the hilts, the handles.
She smiled, baring her teeth.
"I have five months to learn."
-O-O-O-O-
Hikari collapsed on the sofa, closing her eyes.
"Kari, you need to shower first," Naruto reminded. He was stretching, the Uchiha way.
"I will," she promised. Then, she sat up rapidly, a tickle of chakra pervading her senses. "Naru."
He stopped stretching.
"The door."
They rushed to the door, throwing it open. In front of them, Sasuke jolted, nearly dropping a scroll. A storage scroll.
He hesitated. Opened his mouth. "Tadaima."
Hikari and Naruto glanced at each other, wide grins stretching across their faces.
"Okaeri."
-O-O-O-O-
A/N: For those of you who don't know, "Tadaima" means "I'm home", and "Okaeri" means "Welcome back/home". So. Fluff. Good feelings. Fuzzies inside.
Next up will be the Chunin Exam arc! I'm so excited to write this, like, you guys have no idea. Will they become chunin? Will they discover something about themselves? Who knows?
Oh my gosh I'm hyping myself up, AHHHH.
See you next time!