Disclaimers: I Own NOTHING in the anime or Naruto verse. I DO however own my OC and that's fine and dandy with me.
Author's Note: It's been awhile but we're still going strong. Life has thrown us a lot of hits but we are thriving, so please keep strong and stick together. Next chapter will be up soon after this one so Enjoy!
(misspelling and mis-grammar… maybe)
Chapter: What once was will not be
OOOOO
It was a couple hours after Roxanne had descended down to whatever pit she decided would be her confinement. Milo took a turn around the little hobble she calls a hideout, the bathroom both work, shower had very interesting knobs and shower head, and the tub was huge. Milo went through the tunnel they came from and looked out through the invisible wall to see that the sun was going down.
'Almost show time' he thought and went back to the main room. Picking up one of the cots, Milo set up his sleeping area by the fire pit, not wanting to be close to the entrance incase his subconscious mind decides to run to Roxanne when she starts… well just starts as he slept. Going to the kitchen, Milo picked up a lantern, shook it to see that it was indeed full and lit it up. Once the hall brighten a bit from both the fire pit and lantern, Milo went through the rations to see what peaked his fancy. Picking one, Milo grabbed a small pot and filled it with water and bringing it to the pit where he hooked it on a metal arm and swung it over the roaring fire to boil. Sitting on his cot, Milo picked up his bag and dug through until he took out both a book and his sleeping bag. Unraveling the bag, taking off his jacket and sweater to use as a makeshift pillow, Milo laid back, propping himself up with one arm behind his head and began reading: It'll be a long night.
After eating and reading for who knows how long, Milo got up and stretched, feeling his arms and back pop in places that had him sighing. Heading out to the entrance again to look though the invisible wall, Milo could estimate by the moonlight that it's time. Heading back to his cot, Milo threw in a couple more logs for the fire and took a deep breath, waiting for the sounds, any sound to start. But after a while, nothing happen:
Nothing.
Just Silence.
Then.
Milo's ears twitched and he turned his head to the other tunnel, looking through the darkness in confusion.
Mewling, purring and quiet scratches against something. It was quiet but enough that Milo could hear it and once his attention was caught, he could hear purring.
Milo was very confused. Last time, Roxanne raged and roared as if she was in agony and in pain. This time however it's like she calmed down, he would have to ask when she got back up to the surface. For now, Milo laid on his cot, picked up his book and read while listening to the purring coming from the other tunnel.
Soon, he fell asleep to the sounds, his book lay forgotten on the floor.
OOOOO
One more day and they'll be able to ride in a boat the rest of the way to their client's village. After yesterday's eye opener Tazuna decided to stay sober, earning him funny looks from the Genins in which he dismissed with a wave of his hand. Kakashi was fine with their client finally being sober, the stench was starting to get to him and Sakura could actually breathe a sigh of relief, being this close to the booze house was starting to smell on her hair.
Naruto and Sasuke, taking the front, didn't comment at the sobriety of their client but are glad that the rest of the journey will be okay and they shared a smile, that didn't go unnoticed by their sensei.
OOOOO
Morning came and how did Milo know that? Well the opening high above let in the sunshine that so happens to be shining right in his face. Milo grumbled and turned, covering his face with the corner of his sleeping bag and trying to get what's left of sleep but he heard something and turned his head, looking towards the other tunnel with one eye.
Rubbing both his eyes to see a bit clearly and listening closely, Milo's eyes widen and his mouth dropped just a bit as he slowly sat up.
Humming. He could hear humming.
Lifting the bag and swinging his legs so his feet touch the ground, Milo hauled himself up and to the tunnel, stopping at the entrance and with a hand on the side, he listened.
A sweet melody was being hummed.
Once again Milo looked confused at this complete turnaround from last time. Milo was actually ready to go through what happened last time but he was not prepared for this, not at all. Listening for another minute then turned away and headed to the bathroom to do his business along with a shower.
Opening the door to the bathroom, the stream came rolling out as Milo stepped out with a towel wrapped around his waist, freshly washed and rubbing his head with another towel. Throwing that towel on the hamper, Milo went to his pack and took out some clothes, making a mental note to do laundry when they hit the next village. While getting dressed, Milo listen for the humming sound but instead get got more purring and light scratching on something.
'Ok, this is really weird, even for her' he thought as he sat down and pulled on his socks and shoes. Taking a deep breath and sighed loudly, Milo shook his head and stood back up, heading to the firepit to start the fire for his breakfast. As the fire started, Milo went to the entrance tunnel and looked out through the invisible wall.
"Wish I could go hunt for small game" he said to himself. Milo looked out for a few more minutes before coming back to the main room and filled a pot of water to boil over the fire.
As the day wore out, Milo did some reading, exercises, organizing the rations in alphabet order and kept the fire going. During his alone time, there was silence from the other tunnel and Milo wondered if she was sleeping, which gave him the idea of taking a nap too.
OOOOO
Milo didn't know how long he slept. Opening his eyes, it searched for the opening above and squinted at the light coming through.
"Is it still sunlight out" he asked himself. Rubbing his eyes and stretching, Milo looked again and noticed it wasn't sunlight but moonlight and it was way past its peak in the night sky.
'How in the hell did I sleep so long? I'll end up being up all night' Milo rubbed his face at the realization.
Suddenly his ears picked up splashing and he sat up quickly, looking towards one of the bathrooms, the one with the tub and could see lights coming from the ajar door. Milo stretched again and stood up from his cot. Walking to the slightly open door, Milo opened it and peaked his head through.
Roxanne sitting in the tub, bubbles as high as can be, the water levels reached just below her shoulders, but the edge of the tub covered up to her shoulders and a small face cloth on her head as she soaped up her tail with another wash cloth. She didn't turn her head but she did spoke:
"You just going to stand there or you going to have a seat?"
"No modesty either I see" Milo mumbled and Roxanne caught his meaning as she chuckled. Milo closed the door and took a seat on the toilet, with the lid down of course.
"Why should there be?"
"Adult" he pointed at himself "Minor" he pointed at Roxanne. She 'hmm'ed and resume washing her tail.
Milo sighed and leaned back against the toilet tank, looking to the ceiling, listening to Roxanne wash. Truthfully, he didn't feel uncomfortable at all and he should be but really, it just feels like he's keeping an eye on a little sister taking a bath and that she won't slip in and drown.
'Little sister, eh' one side of his mouth quirked upwards in a half smile at the thought.
"So how was your day?" Roxanne asked as she folded her arms over the tub's edge and laid her chin on her arms, looking to her Jonin.
"I'd like to ask you the same thing" He turned his head to the girl in the tub and received a confused look so he elaborated: "Why were you so quiet this time around?"
"I was?" she really looked confused and Milo nodded as he continued to explain:
"Yes. Last time you raged and screamed as if in anger and pain. This time you were purring and humming as if content, safe and like it's all right with the world" Milo looked to his hands as he put his elbows to his knees and leaned forward. "I was ready, you know? I was ready to deal with the yelling, the screaming and the thrashing" he clasped his hands together and looked to Roxanne "I wasn't ready for the calm and quiet this time"
Roxane didn't spoke at first, trying to put into words to what Milo said and Milo waited. Roxanne blinked then ducked her head under water for a moment then came back. Putting the wash cloth to the side, Roxanne grabbed the shampoo and began lathering up.
"I don't really remember my time in confinement, except for the first time it happen. Now a days, it's all a haze, a blur of blackness… and loneliness" Roxanne quietly scrubbed her hair "I know when I wake up, my chest hurts, the fingers on my hands sore from scratching or hitting whatever is within reach and my voice horse, probably from screaming. Rinsing" She announce to Milo, who nodded to her as she went back under to rinse out her hair. When she came back up, She squeezed the water from her hair and combed it back with her fingers.
"This time when I woke up, I didn't hurt, I wasn't sore and I wasn't scared"
"Do you usually wake up scared after your confinement?" Roxanne turned to her Jonin when he asked the question
"I've been doing this alone for a long time, Milo. I never had nobody to wake up to. Never knowing who'll be there to take advantage of a lonely girl in a cage while she goes through her heat, never knowing if I'll wake up to some stranger on top of me or grabbing me or hurting me, never feeling safe when the time comes" Roxanne played with the wash cloth as she spoke, squeezing the excess water from it and putting it back on her head, turning to her Jonin.
"This time though. I felt safe because I could smell your scent" Milo was taken aback of that comment
"You? Can smell me?" Roxanne nodded "How? You were a ways down in the pit, how can you smell my scent?"
"When I went down and got ready in my cage, I'm not sure how to explain it but when the time came, all I could smell was you before the darkness took me" Roxanne shrugged "I could still smell you when I woke up not long ago" Milo nodded.
"So my scent calmed you for the first time in forever?" Milo gave a smug smile to his Genin
"First time in forever" Roxanne repeated as she smiled back.
Knock, knock. Both turned to the door opening and Roxanne's clone popped in with a mug.
"Food should be done soon but don't rush" She said as she handed the mug to Roxanne
"What's that?" Milo could smell something metallic coming from the mug and he swears it's not what he thinks it is.
"Animal blood" said the clone as she left, closing the door behind her. Milo furrowed his brow at the door then turned to Roxanne whom is sipping and sighing into the mug. Turning her head after another sip of the mug, Roxanne saw the look she was getting and smiled.
"It settles my stomach, I haven't ate since we got here"
"Why animal blood?" Milo asked as he leaned back against the toilet
"It has the nutrient and protein I need before I can have solid food"
"But you didn't have that last time"
"You were asleep last time and by the time you got up, the food was ready and the blood finished" Roxanne continued to drink her mug, Milo watched. Fascinated but also a little stuck.
"So animal blood? Any kind of animal blood or..?"
"Rabbits or bunnies usually" Roxanne continues to sip her mug until she finishes it. Waving the empty mug at Milo, he stood and took it from his Genins hand.
"You coming out?" Roxanne nodded. Milo turned towards the door and not before checking to make sure her pack was somewhere in the bathroom. Opening and closing the door, Milo took the mug to the kitchen to rinse it out and his nose lifted to the nice aroma of rabbit being roasted and something being boiled. Milo then sat on his cot and saw that another cot was close by that he didn't notice when he got up, with a sleeping bag already rolled on it and Roxanne's clone testing the boiling water.
"Where'd you come from?" Milo asked the clone when she turned her head to face him,
"I went out when Roxanne came back up. Had to make sure she had something to eat before she got out" Milo 'hmm'ed.
Said clone added something to the pot, braised the roasted rabbit and looked to the bathroom door when it opened up. Roxanne emerged from said bathroom, her pack in one hand and a towel in the other. Sitting on her side of the cot, Roxanne smiled to Milo and turned to her clone just as her tail went to the towel in her lap, ready to be wrapped.
"Smell delicious. Did you check inventory while waiting?" Said clone nodded as she grabbed 2 plates and took the rabbit off the spit, cutting it down the middle on a nearby cutting board.
"Our Jonin here didn't waste anything so it should be fine till next time" Using a strainer spoon, the clone slowly took out boiled potatoes onto the paper towel to the sides, throwing a teasing grin to the Jonin. Roxanne slowly dried her tail with a hidden smirk and Milo waved his hand dismissively in the clones direction and laid down to relax.
"Where did you get the potatoes from anyways, I thought everything in the kitchen was non-perishables and rations?" Folding his arms behind his head
"We have a greenhouse hidden near the bottom of this mountain" said so casual that Milo almost missed it and snapped his head to the clone then looked upwards to see an upside down Roxanne grinning at him.
"Hmm, of course you do" he sniffed "No wondered you didn't want me to leave here, probably wanted it to be kept a secret"
"Please! You know how many people are within these parts?" The clone said with a raised eyebrow at their Jonin while pointing a spoon in his direction. Milo only blinked
"People?"
Roxanne snorted and the clone chuckled and sighed to the ceiling. "Typical" they said in unison "We're in Rock country, dude, I thought you knew that If peoples aren't living in villages then they are living under a rock" Milo blinked, the two Roxanne looked at each other then back to the Jonin.
"You know people live under rocks here in Rock Country, right?" Milo blinked for a moment then slowly shook his head.
"Milo, dude, how many times have you visited Rock Country?"
"Less than a handful of times and usually straight through to the villages we needed to get to for whatever mission"
The clone put down her spoon and went to sit next to Milo on the edge of his cot, patting his chest as Roxanne crawled over her cot and laid on her stomach, chin on her hand and the other hand poking the Jonin's forehead.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry to be the one in inform you but a lot of Rock people live underground. The traditional ones if you want to call them or old families that have survived many generations on these rough lands. The new age generations or young people live and thrive in villages because they choose to"
Milo looked to see an upside down Roxanne looking back at him.
"How do you know this? I don't know this, I doubt anyone else knows this"
"Some people do happen to know, if they are looking close enough. I know because I can sense their chakra signatures"
"You can sense them? I remember you mentioning that before but really? At this age?" Milo didn't mean to make it sounded like she was too young, which she was, and tried again.
"What I mean is that I only started sensing chakra from a distance was when I was 14 and you're barely 13"
"And you forget I've been training since I was a lot younger, hunting for food by sensing them and the only difference is the game is bigger and smarter now"
"You make it sound like hunting a human is a sport" Milo snorted at the thought but caught the look between the two.
"Don't knock it until you try it, sweetie" the clone said as she patted his chest and got up to finish mashing the potatoes. Milo's eyes followed the clone and then landed on the original smiling at him.
"Nope, no, nah uh. Not touching that with a ten foot pole" Milo shook his hands at them and sat up. Roxanne continued smiling as she also sat up and held out her hands. A plate in her hands while Milo's plate was on his cot.
"Eat up, before it get cold" and with that the clone puffed away.
"Then what?" Milo asked his Genin.
"Then we go to sleep so we have an early start tomorrow"
"But I already slept. I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep now" Taking a bite of his meat, Milo hummed in approval, missing the glint in Roxanne's eyes.
"Don't worry about it" Taking her own bite of her meat and hid her smile.
Milo shrugged and they continued eating, watching the fire crackle and dance.
OOOOO
It was barely sunrise when the squad and their client woke up in their camp near the shoreline. They got there last night before it got dark and set up camp. As they sat around the camp fire, they discussed their game plan on how they'll arrive on the shore of their clients village. They know that it'll take a few hours to get there and then another few hours to make it to the village, and from the other day, what else will be lurking?
Sakura suggested they ditched their headbands and go as inconspicuous as possible, maybe even change their hair and eye color just to blend in. She turned to Naruto and asked if he can cover up his whisker marks in which Naruto nodded but Sasuke pouted. He like Naruto's whiskers but kept that little tidbit of information to himself. They all agreed and each got ready to change their appearance.
Sakura braided her hair and twisted in a bun on her head, covering the bun with a red cloth. Making the signs for the transformation jutsu, Sakura is now brown eyed and brown hair girl. Looking through her pack, Sakura went behind a large tree to change into something not pink and come back out in black slacks and grey hooded pullover sweater.
Kakashi turned around to remove his headband from covering his eye but left the mask on. Taking out an eyepatch, Kakashi tied his hair on top of his head before adding the eyepatch. His hands made the sighs and now he is a darker shade of grey instead, he changed from his Jonin vest to a simple brown coat, black shirt but kept the color of his pants.
That left the two boys. Sasuke switched his shirt for a regular long sleeved one and Naruto put on one of his lighter cloak over his t-shirt. Stashing their headbands, they turned to each other, eyeing each other's feature and hair color. Kakashi and Sakura watched, fascinated at what the boys will do.
They both nodded to each other and did the signs. Poof!
What came out is 2 black spiked haired boys, both had teal eyes and both had a lone streak of color in their hair: Red on the right of Naruto and Blue on the left of Sasuke. Their skin tone was almost exactly the same, save for one being one percent lighter and the other had no whisker marks.
"Twin!" Sakura squealed, Kakashi laughed whole heartily and their client looked impressed. Naruto and Sasuke laughed as they hugged each other, knowing they both thought the same without actually speaking out.
"Well done boys, if it wasn't for the streak of color, I wouldn't know who is who" The boys let go of each other and each grasped the other hand as they smiled at their squad.
"What can we say, great minds think alike" Sasuke said with a smirk, Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.
"Definitely can tell now" Sakura commented as she gestured to each of their quirks which got her one confused look and other widen smirk.
Kakashi got their attention before anyone could try to explain to the former blonde that their client is ready and willing to navigate their little boat. Everyone packed up, put out their camp fire and carefully stepped in the boat. Naruto and Sasuke got in first and sat at the head of the boat, Sakura stepped in next and sat on the middle bench, Kakashi was next and he outright laid on the floor of the boat, stretching his long frame across with his feet propped on the edge of the boat. Their client watched them all get comfy before pushing off the shore and started the little kicker.
Naruto and Sasuke sat at the front, leaning against each other as they watched the morning mist and fog roll over the waters. They can hear Kakashi quietly snoring behind them and once in a while, they can hear Sakura sigh or yawn. Other than these sounds, the kicker was the most constant as they weaved through the waters and mist. This being the Genins first time in Land of Wave and not at all familiar with the water, they trusted their client to navigate.
Sasuke had Naruto's hand intertwine with his and caressing with the other. Naruto blushed when Sasuke first started and that redness didn't seem to lessen with time. Sasuke knew what he was doing to his blonde and enjoyed it greatly.
Sakura would quietly giggle behind her hand whenever she looked to the two and see the tips of Naruto's ears a bright red. Kakashi stayed asleep.
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