Tag: naruto

Counterpoise drabble (2015-07-30)

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This is our legacy, Zakuro thinks, as he watches Riichi-sensei’s indolent composure break to scream at his genin teammates. Anko-senpai and Satsuma-san do not hesitate to scream back.

“This is your fucking Exam, Anko, how do you not know when that bastard sneaks in as one of the contestants. He fucking spoke to you!”

“Don’t push this on me, Satsuma’s the one whose entire genin squad was a sleeper cell of his spies. They might as well have had Sound headbands on, you four-eyed idiot!”

“Riichi’s band of perfect little soldiers could hardly keep their covers through the preliminaries. Talk about not knowing your team–you didn’t even know what your student’s hair color is!”

“You have no right to talk about my team when they’re just cleaning up after the massive steaming pile of shit you call your squad!”

Back and forth the shouting goes, flinging insults and blame and accusations at each other. Yet no one actually says the name which started it all.

Orochimaru.

Konran, no longer quite as short as she used to be, yet still small enough to fit comfortably under Ringo’s chin–due to their own growth spurts–is huddled there. Her hood and bandana are in tatters, revealing the bright red mess that remains of a once neatly pinned up braid. Ringo, arms still shaking from nerve poison, tries to comfort her as best he can.

We don’t have to end up like them, Zakuro hopes, watching the adults tear open old wounds just to make each other hurt.

He joins his teammates, wrapping around them as best he can, as if so long as they were hidden they would be safe. He removes the shredded headband from Konran forehead, surprised it had stayed on even that long, and replaces it with his own, clumsily tying it in her preferred bandana style. For Ringo, he gently pulls his arms down, rubbing at biceps and forearms, in an attempt to massage away the pain.

It’s still obvious her hair is red, and Ringo’s the medic, not him, so he has no idea what he’s doing, but he tries. He wants to help.

They don’t say anything, both still in shock in their own ways, but Konran grabs the fabric of his shirt and pulls him even closer, and Ringo’s face presses into the curve of his neck and shoulder. Zakuro doesn’t ignore the spots of dampness, but he doesn’t say anything.

—

Every so often, Ringo gets gifts. It’s just… something that happens; has been happening since he was born and his parents decided to name him Ringo after his late aunt.

His father says they’re from Hatake Kakashi who, despite being an elite jounin, is kind of socially stupid. It’s survivor’s guilt, his father explains, because he was on a team with your aunt.

His mother contradicts: It’ll take a lot more than trinkets to make up for what he–

And that’s when father shushes her, at least when he can sense Ringo. Which, so far, has been every time.

But he can guess what mother was going to say. It’s… well… not public record, necessarily, but next of kin do get more details on cause of death, if not quite the full story. And, well, it’s hard to hide medical records from an entire clan of medic nin.

So, yeah, gifts. And despite what mother says they’re not really what he would call trinkets. Ringo gets a lot of really nice gear–top of the line mesh and weapons and the higher grade soldier pills. Not exactly out of his family’s pay range, but if he didn’t already get it for free, he’d probably end up buying the cheaper stuff for himself.

He also occasionally does get stuff that he would consider trinkets. Little pots of medicinal plants, books and scrolls, non-perishable food, and once, a particularly shiny and colorful rock. Small, inconsequential things, closer to annoying than useful, but he keeps everything regardless.

But… to be honest? He doesn’t think it’s just one gift giver. Ringo can tell which ones come from Hatake Kakashi–they usually follow after the occasions when he senses the familiar electric-bright shock of chakra on the roof opposite his bedroom. They tend to be… pointed, if not practical. If he tears one of his favorite shirts, a new, similar one will be given to him within the week. If he stares too long at the bookstore’s display for the next installment of Tokuina Bubun, then a brand new copy will end up on his windowsill.

But… some of them are really random. He doesn’t use senbon, but occasionally he’ll receive some. He doesn’t use elemental ninjutsu either, but D through B rank water and fire jutsu scrolls fill up his bookshelves. He wonders why water and fire, specifically, but he wonders why ninjutsu scrolls in general so… Or even, occasionally, girl’s clothing. Which is weird and which is the only stuff he doesn’t keep–unless sharing snacks counts as giving away. He passes those onto Konran who takes it with both confusion and aplomb.

So, yeah, possibly two gift givers. He’s not going to say anything, because this has literally been going on his entire life and there’s no need to make it an issue now all of a sudden. But he is curious. And… okay, maybe a little concerned?

Because if one of the gift givers is Hatake Kakashi who does it out of survivor’s guilt (or atonement)… then who is the second and for what reason are they doing it?

~

A/N: Oh god, I’m so sorry. I said I wasn’t going to do this series, but apparently I’m just a big liar face. So here’s some more Counterpoise! Featuring Zakuro and Ringo this time because, you know what? This series is about more than just Naruto’s twin sister, it’s her story and that includes the people that are important to her.

Aaaand, yes, I am implying that Obito is being a little creepy and giving Ringo gifts he would give to Rin if she were alive. Hahahaha. Are they courting gifts? Are they apology gifts? Who knows?

Well, I suppose Kakashi is also being a little creepy too.

And I firmly believe that Ringo will never refer to Kakashi with anything other than his full name. Always.

Counterpoise drabble (2015-07-29)

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“Okay kids, we’ve got a dead courtier, a missing will, and a highly coveted treaure. Lay it on me,” Riichi-sensei says, head propped lazily in his hand. The four of them are seated in one of the booths of Aomori Teahouse, their usual mission planning spot, each with a cup of chrysanthemum tea steaming in front of them.

Ringo, having lost the daily tussle to avoid sitting next to sensei, goes first. “Incompetent rival,” he suggests with a half-hearted shrug, knowing that first suggestions hardly ever win. By dint of both having less time to think and not being able to compare to other plans.

Konran goes next, “Vengeful servant?” she says, eyes flicking carefully toward their waitress, then the tea pot. It’s a fair possibility, noblemen tend to be entitled assholes, and a servant would only be willing to put up with so much.

Zakuro grins, leaning forward eagerly, because he knows he’s got this one in the bag. “Lost heir,” he says triumphantly, preening as his teammates nod in support.

Riichi-sensei, taking it all in, throws back his tea as if it were sake, and slams the cup back onto the table with a loud thud. “It’s decided. We’ll do the lost heir.”

—

For reasons which Riichi-sensei refuses to share, Konran has to be the heir. Or, rather, heiress.

“And, anyway, these two can pass off as bodyguards. You, kid? Not so much,” Sensei says, patting the top of her head heavily as if to emphasize the nearly twenty centimeters of height difference between her and her teammates.

For now they’re keeping their identities a secret from everyone but their client, which means face make-up to cover Ringo’s tattoos, colored contacts to darken Zakuro’s irises, and–

“A wig,” Konran demands, quietly but firmly. Her hood is down, which is pretty rare, but even after four months of being a team, they have yet to see her without her bandana.

“It’s just a minor role for a B-rank, kid,” says Riichi-sensei, brow furrowed; he doesn’t understand the reticence.

“If she doesn’t want to, she shouldn’t have to,” Zakuro responds protectively, pulling up Konran’s hood for her. Entirely unnecessary, but kind.

“No one tells Hatake Kakashi to take off his mask,” Ringo adds, equally unnecessary, but just as good-hearted.

“Hatake Kakashi isn’t my subordinate,” Riichi-sensei says, voice gone flinty as it does during the rare serious moments. At his students’ reactions–minute flinch, tightening fists, upright posture–he regulates himself. His voice softens and he tries again, “Blonde hair isn’t that difficult to dye, and it’ll wash right out.”

At that, Konran finally meets his eyes. Bemusedly, she says, “I’m not blonde.”

~

A/N: Random mission for the Counterpoise team. Uh… spoilers? Yeah, they pass. Hahahahah… 😛

Externality drabble (2015-07-27)

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Komadori looks at her and thinks she has gone mad. But madness can easily be disguised as eccentricity, and anyway, all of the most powerful shinobi are a little crazy. So she smiles. As do some of her small army of bunshin. But not all of them.

Because not all of them are her. Actually, none of them are her anymore. And that’s what scares him.

“Komadori, you’ve met Ryohei before. These are our other friends,” she says, gesturing at her most frequently used identity, then at the fifteen other nonexistent people behind her.

He tries not to flinch away when she grips his elbow and guides him further into the crowd of phantoms. By the brief squeeze, he knows he failed, but at least she doesn’t hold it against him.

—

Hypothesis: Jiraiya is related to Hatake Sakumo and, therefore, also Hatake Kakashi.

Corollary 1: Jiraiya would have known Kakashi’s mother.

Corollary 2: Jiraiya would have seen that Tetsuki resembles Kakashi’s mother.

Conclusion A: Either Jiraiya had never seen Tetsuki before Tsunade revealed her heritage,

Conclusion B: Or he saw and told no one.

If B, did he tell no one because:

i) he does not care

OR

ii) it is a secret to be kept

If ii, who is he protecting?
AND, who/what is he protecting them from?

~

A/N: Yeah, I know, what is this bullshit am I right? 😛 I have forgotten how to write formal proofs so have this… nonsense instead. I suppose it works if Jiraiya was friends with Sakumo, not necessarily related to, but they look pretty damn similar that I’m just like… well… cousins, maybe?

Follow the Externality tag for other related stuff. I don’t know if it will help make any sense of things, but maybe it will.

Counterpoise drabble (2015-07-26)

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“So what exactly is our jounin-sensei’s test? Who is our jounin-sensei, anyway?” Konran asked, matching pace with their longer strides despite shorter legs as the three of them left the Academy building.

As far as Ringo was concerned, Konran was okay. A little weird, a little quiet, and just plain little, but okay. He and Zakuro could have been assigned worse, truth be told. Like that Hyuuga with a stick up his ass–well, all of the Hyuuga had sticks up their asses, but Hyuuga Shikai was an especially snobby piece of shit–or Yamanaka Shigo who lorded his second degree relation to the Yamanaka clan head as if it were a personal triumph.

Or even Inuzuka Mimi who once threatened to castrate Zakuro with a rusty senbon –though, he did kind of deserve it considering he did shave a stripe of fur off her dog partner, Dangan–and had held a grudge against the two of them (Ringo for not preventing it) ever since.

Well, actually, they ended up on the same team. Which wasn’t surprising, considering all three of them were from big name clans; Probably the shoo-in team for their year.

But he’d enjoy being Team Five with his best friend and Konran for however long it lasted.

“That’s the test,” he said, watching but not interfering as Zakuro circled back behind Konran, “We have to figure out who our jounin-sensei is, then we have to find him, then… well. There might be more after that.”

Without looking, Konran ducked Zakuro’s grab at the hood, but didn’t bother to dodge the friendly shoulder nudge that nearly sent the smaller ninja sprawling.

“Hence the walk to the Administrative Building,” he continued, then reached out and flicked Zakuro’s ear, “Hey asshole, quit antagonizing our teammate.”

“Fuck off, Ringo,” he responded amiably, stretching an arm companionably around said teammate’s shoulders, the height difference forcing him to slouch significantly to do so, “Konran knows I’m just playing.”

Ringo knew that, but they had only just met the kid–Konran might not know that.

Rather than shrugging off the arm, Konran jabbed an elbow into Zakuro’s ribs, taking advantage the height difference, then said, “As if this guy could get my hood off, anyway.”

Zakuro grunted at the pain, but was only mildly offended, “You little shit. Challenge accepted.”

As they neared the Admin Building, the air of playful roughhousing dissipated in the face of all the productivity. They had a mission to do, too, one which decided their future.

~

A/N: I was going to continue but… meh? Maybe tomorrow.

Direct sequel to this Counterpoise drabble from yesterday.

Counterpoise drabble (2015-07-25)

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“You a guy or a girl?” asked the Nohara boy, eyes squinted in curiosity. Konran resisted the urge to check her braid, hairpins, bandana, and hood.

“What does it matter?” said the Yuuhi boy, cutting her off before she could answer, “It’s just a brat that they put on our team to fill the numbers. We’re gonna be automatically failed by the jounin-sensei. I’ll end up in the genjutsu squad, you’ll end up in the medic corps, and this one’ll go straight back to the Academy because there’s no way this kid actually passed.”

“Two years isn’t that much of an age difference,” was all she could think to say in response.

“Hey, fuck you, this is our first graduation year, we’re thirteen not fourteen,” retorted the Yuuhi boy.

“What this jackass means to say is that we’re both just kind of tall for our age. We just look old, we didn’t do a repeat year. And to be honest, it’s like he said, when our jounin-sensei rejects us, we’re not coming back to the Academy for a retry. It’s not your fault, though,” the Nohara boy tacked on the reassurance, though his face could only be called a grimace.

“Oh. Three years difference, then,” she corrected, unsure what to do with the rest.

“Fucking shit, you’re ten? Did they just pull a random brat from a classroom and give you a headband. You haven’t even been in the Academy for very long. Goddammit, I knew Tsuyoshi-sensei hated us, but I thought he’d at least be fucking subtle about this,” as the Yuuhi boy devolved into a cuss-filled rant against their Academy teacher, Konran turned questioningly to her other potential teammate.

“We’re both kind of assholes, really. Tsuyoshi-sensei not hating us would be more of a surprise. Though I don’t think the Academy would let them graduate a ten year old who wasn’t actually ready to graduate. Did you really pass the exam? I didn’t think students that young could take it.”

She shrugged.

“Fair enough, I guess. We’re not exactly making good first impressions. I’m Ringo, by the way. That bastard is Zakuro. You’re not named Ichigo or something like that are you? I’d hate to be known as Team Fruit,” Nohara Ringo introduced, idly waving at Yuuhi Zakuro who was now… looping multiple shuriken through a spool of ninja wire?

“Yeah. He does that. It relaxes him, apparently.”

“Okay… I’m Konran,” she returned, minimally, “And, yeah, I did actually pass the exam. I didn’t really want to take it, but my brother did. And… well… I suppose I passed and he didn’t. He’s… not very happy about it.”

“Older brother?” Ringo asked conversationally.

“No, not really. We’re twins. We were hoping to get on the same team if we both passed. I didn’t think one of us wouldn’t,” she tugged at the ends of her sleeves, she knew Naruto wouldn’t pass, so she had been careful to only answer half the questions correctly. She thought both of them would fail.

“That sucks balls,” Zakuro butted in, literally, the metal plate of his headband knocking into Ringo’s shoulder; Ringo ignored it with the air of long practice. Zakuro’s rage, apparently, burned up completely to leave behind coarse affability, “I mean, we’re all going to fail, obviously, but at least I know you got screwed over in this team arrangement as much as we did.”

She shrugged again, then shoved Zakuro’s face away when it began encroaching into her personal space. He laughed, apparently delighted.

Ringo, with a thoughtful expression, asked, “Why don’t we at least try?”

The other two looked at him curiously, silently asking for clarification.

“Well, I’ve gotten used to this jackass over the years, and you seem decent enough considering we’ve only known each other for less than ten minutes. We don’t have to just take their bullshit. If we’re going to fail, we might as well go down fighting, you know? No regrets,” he said firmly, elbow jostling his best friend beside him, eyes never leaving hers.

Zakuro laughed uproariously, simply adding, “Tsuyoshi-sensei can kiss my ass!”

They looked at her expectantly.

She sighed and agreed with a wry smile, “The Academy can go fuck itself.”

~

A/N: Apparently Team Five is also the cussing team.

Yes, more Counterpoise… hooray. I’ve named them, too. So… in my head most people graduate age 12/13, depending on when their birthdays are. Zakuro and Ringo (pomegranate and apple) just happen to be on the older end of the spectrum whereas Konran is on the younger end. So Zakuro and Ringo are in the year above Team Gai’s.

Counterpoise drabble (2015-07-24) [2]

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Jounin led teams, those slated to actually pass, are designed with specific functions in mind. For example, the Aburame, Hyuuga, and Inuzuka team are for tracking, the Ino-Shika-Chou for, essentially, guerrilla fighting against samurai and bandits. Team Seven has always been for heavy hitters, while Team Nine are for escort missions. That is not to say that some teams cannot fulfill other roles. Ino-Shika-Chou make excellent bodyguards as well, and Team Seven has always been more than just brute strength. Not that their specialties matter for much during lowly D-rank missions, anyway.

Team One is rare, hardly ever created, because Team One is designated for medics. It had been considered, a few years ago, when Yakushi-sensei’s adopted son was on the edge of graduation. But none of his classmates matched his potential for healing, and so a Team Six, general support, was created instead.

A person would think that, with a genjutsu specialist, a medic, and a fuinjutsu user, their team would be made into a a Team Six as well. But the genjutsu specialist has a fondness for traps, the medic has a talent in taijutsu, and the fuinjutsu user has a chakra reserve four times the size a ninja twice her age.

Teams are designed with a specific purpose in mind, whether they fulfill that purpose or not depends on how well they can learn. Team Five, simply known as the retrieval team, requires a little more adaptability than most teams.

—

Team Four is a throw away designation, a filler team for graduates that aren’t primed to be trained by the elite. There has never been a Team Four that passed. Which, makes sense, considering the bad luck surrounding number four. Superstition might be silly, but no need to tempt fate any further. As it is, the reputation of Team Four being a career killer is enough to ward away any inquiries.

But perhaps it would be better to say that Team Four isn’t a filler so much as it is temporary. There are records, hidden away in the darkest corners of high clearance files, that show activity under Team Four’s name. A mission here and there, never with the same team, much of it still redacted. To those in the know, Team Four is the assassination team. Team Four is an audition for ANBU.

~

A/N: Uh… so technically Counterpoise is the title for my attempt at a Naruto’s twin!SIOC fic. I don’t really want to pursue it? Or at least, not as it is. I may adapt it into a different fandom or different story. Um.. if you’re curious, though, you can look at my brainstorming lj posts here.

And, also, I was trying to figure out how team numbers work and why Team Sevens always seem to be the huge legendary guys. So, probably, Team Seven is specifically slated for heavy hitters (or, potential heavy hitters).

edit: Tweaking my headcanon for team designations (though not very much, all things considered) given the fact that baby!Itachi was put on Team Two with a boy who basically called himself Tenma Lord of Speed and a girl who, given the awful awful sexism in this series, unsurprisingly got shunted into retiring to become a waitress even though she studied medicine in the Academy?! And while she doesn’t quite match up with the new designation either, it’s better than my original that Team Two was genjutsu. Perhaps she also happened to be the fastest kunoichi and having a healer on any team certainly isn’t a downside.

Team One – Medic
Team Two – Stealth/Speed (Vanguard)
Team Three – Genjutsu/Barrier (Defense?)
Team Four – (code for ANBU trainees/assassination)
Team Five – “Retrieval”
Team Six – General Support
Team Seven – Heavy Hitter
Team Eight – Tracking/Hunting
Team Nine – Bodyguard/Escort/Courier
Team Ten – Infiltration/Siege

So basically, the Academy does actually create genin teams that the students would be well suited for if the assigned jounin sensei commits to it/sees potential/etc. Like with the idea that Dreaming of Sunshine’s Team One would have passed if they had a combat medic for a jounin-sensei (leading to mine and @kuipernebula‘s Team Medic AU. The Academy teachers probably don’t have much say in the jounin assignments, but they can do their best to bundle the genin into appealing bunches (if… that makes any sense) and hope the Hokage wrangles the jounin into place (more often than not, that’s a no)

Into Thin Air x Naruto drabble (2015-07-14)

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Windy and Cloud Strife.

She was always an adjective–clever, skillful, ruthless, transient–and it was all fine. Fine, another adjective. It was good enough, she was good enough. Her brother, well, he may not have been as clever, as skillful, but he had big dreams and a heart of gold. He wasn’t an adjective, he was a noun. He could be a hero. She could be helpful, but fleeting.

That’s just the way it had always been.

—

Zie learns, much much later, after the significance of the name Namikaze, that sealing–fuinjutsu–is not a common skill. In fact, the talent to not only wield it effectively, but to understand it, is very rare.

The last person to gain the title of Fuinjutsu master was also the last person to use the name Namikaze.

It’s not something zie actively takes advantage of, but it certainly is a nice bonus.

The problem, or perhaps, the opportunity arises, because as far as Windy can tell, seals use the same writing system as normal text. Arranged in specific ways, yes, but still just normal text.

Code-breaking zie knows, taught by the Turks, coding as well. Sealing is simply both, zie concludes, where the symbols are adapted Wutaian.

But zie thinks it’s a common skill. Zie sees a lot of the shinobi using tags and scrolls with seals–to explode, to contain, to summon–even low ranking ones. So zie thinks it’s normal.

Windy masters fuinjutsu before zie becomes fluent in the spoken language.

~

A/N: Hahahaha… I have no idea. I guess it’s all my SI!OCs nostalgia feels coming up. So here’s some Windy Strife. Still don’t actually want to write a crossover with Naruto because of my consistent and persistent belief that the language barrier will remain. And that’s always so tricky and frustrating to read and write both. Buuuut I seem to be fond of it despite that? Who knows…

(In)Difference drabble (2015-07-12) [2]

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The Utsugi clan compound is hardly deserving of the name. There are maybe eight smaller families, siblings and cousins and aunts and uncles to each other, and really it’s more of a massive extended single house than a neighborhood.

She was born during a low birth peak meaning that, unlike her other cousins who have at least three age mates to grow up with, the nearest Utsugi relatives to her on either side have a gap of over eight years. She’s far from lonely though, a trail of children not yet old enough to be at the academy beseeching her to play ninja. Older cousins ruffling her hair in congratulations for passing, their own flak jackets as new as her headband. An uncle, who may or may not be ANBU, gives her a booklet of shock tags, a handsome graduation gift indeed.

Her parents, as enthusiastic over their only child’s achievements as ever, have begun planning a clan wide celebration. Though, to be fair, there was a celebration for cousin Tetsuo’s promotion to tokujou last month and anyway, her father is the clan head; a celebration was expected.

It should be a good day.

But as she watched her friends get placed on teams obviously slated to fail, and herself put on a team with two of the better male students in their class, she couldn’t help but feel the weight of her plan twelve years in the making crumble around her.

She could have been a Nae-chan, she thinks. She would have been free. Instead, Kunugi Mokume stares dispassionately at her while Dan Katou smiles, young and very much not dead.

Her eyes flick between him and the only other viable team–the one with the Rookie of the Year, the frustratingly skilled dead last, and the Senju Princess.

Likely sensing her gaze, Tsunade looks back and smiles hesitantly.

She could have been free.

~

A/N: Aaaaand some Kiyoshi Utsugi feels, also brought about by my seven hour bus ride to my sister’s.

Also, this derailed itself very quickly. I was going to have it be about how minor clans operate within Konoha–but then I apparently felt like having existential “oh god, I can’t escape canon” feels.

Into Thin Air x Naruto drabble, part two (2015-06-15)

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The same week that Windy meets hir erstwhile… nephew… they are situated in a new two bedroom apartment situated on all sides by ninja, three of whom are pretending to be civilians. Zie doesn’t mind it too terribly, and it’s not the worst situation zie will find hirself in in this strange future world.

(Approximately four years later, Windy is screaming, to the utter surprise of not only Konoha and their allies, but also their enemies because, “FUCKING JENOVA? AGAIN?! FUCK THIS SHIT!”)

Sharing domestic space with what amounts to a total stranger isn’t new. At the very least it’s a stationary home base with a non-hostile person, which is more than could be said for hir previous attempts at co-habitation, and, while still a teenage boy in all that entails, Naruto is decent at keeping things tidy even if they’re not necessarily clean. Also, it’s not a barracks full of nine teenage boys. After that? One is a cake walk.

The language barrier, however, continues to be an issue. It doesn’t help that Naruto, apparently, isn’t a very concise speaker and his hand writing is awful. But facial expressions and body language and tone of voice are effective enough communicators, and zie was a Turk so… Windy makes do.

Windy spends most of hir time shadowing hir nephew, trying not to cringe every time the slouching not-Sephiroth looks in hir direction, inwardly laughing at how fluffy and disgruntled the tiny Valentine look-alike is, and pondering which of hir past acquaintances would best fit the pink-haired girl. Zie regrets it when zie considers it might be Lockheart, because Lockheart has always hated hir. A mutual hatred, of course, but it sucks that the memory taints hir perception of someone who is clearly an important person in hir nephew’s life.

When not doing that, or when zie finally gets bored of that, Windy tries to figure out how this strange future world works. All of the ninja seem to have the physical prowess somewhere between a normal human and a SOLDIER, even the younger ones would be a match for a Turk at peak health. Physically, that is.

But hir nephew’s martial arts style, if it can even be called such a thing, is shoddy at best. Such a thing could get him killed, so zie does hir best to correct it… by occasionally pummeling him into the ground. It reminds Windy of hir brother, really.

On top of superior strength and speed, the ninja can use magic without materia. But it varies, not only between ranks, but between individuals of the same rank. Not everyone has the same magical skills, but theoretically everyone could use the same jutsu.

Zie’s lucky the old man didn’t see fit to take hir materia, shiny and obvious as they are. It gives hir a semblance of a fighting chance. And zie means that literally.

~

A/N: Ugh, I know I said I wasn’t going to continue this… but it just popped into my head and I thought I might as well. Tbh, I mostly just wanted Windy to freak out about the Jenova – Kaguya similarities but didn’t want to actually write that far, hence the flash forward.

Externality drabble (2015-06-06)

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“It’s fine,” she says, eyes steadily looking everywhere but at him. “Whatever,” she adds, nails edging into the meat of her palm. “You can go now,” she concludes, mouth flattening into an irritated line.

She has always looked monochrome before, but in the hospital room it takes a turn towards sharp. Black, gray, white. No space for colors, no time for regrets.

He doesn’t know how to apologize. She doesn’t expect him to.

He leaves.

…

“I took the liberty of filling out the rest of her file while the rest of you flocked around her cousin like sheep,” Tsunade says snidely from her seat beside the bed. For some reason, after treating her patient, she refused to leave. Going so far as to send Shizune out to speak on her behalf with Jiraiya.

In comparison to Kakashi-sensei’s room, it really is rather empty, even with the potential future Godaime Hokage inside.

“What?” Komadori asks blankly.

“What kind of piss poor shinobi doesn’t know their teammate’s next of kin? Or even their last name, for god’s sake?” Tsunade adds scathingly. “I suppose I can understand not knowing that brat Kakashi is her next of kin–he’s got the Hatake look to him more than anything–but leaving her surname blank? That’s just appalling.”

“What?” Komadori repeats, before reminding himself that he’s making himself look like a total moron in front of the future Hokage, “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about. Tetsuki’s an orphan.” Nameless, therefore, clanless.

But from the hints the Sannin is throwing around, that may not be true. Tetsuki related to Kakashi-sensei?

“You didn’t know,” Tsunade concludes, less caustic more concerned, “She doesn’t know.”

Komadori shakes his head–in confusion, in agreement.

…

“… and I’ve definitely been training a lot, believe it! I just kind of miss you, you know? Kakashi-sensei pretty much woke up immediately and baa-chan said that she fixed you, so I don’t know why you’re still asleep, okay…” Naruto rambles, feet kicking lightly at the bed, a steady one two one two. He’s a little dusty, a little scratched up, but he didn’t think Tetsuki would mind a little dirt when he visited. Even if she were awake, she was never one to care about that stuff.

“… you missed baa-chan’s ceremony by the way. She’s a great Hokage. Not as great as I’m going to be, but she can have the hat for now until I get stronger…” And he does, need to get stronger, that is. Tetsuki was the first one to believe in him, in a way was his first teacher. Even when her skills led her to a promotion first, she never held that against him, had always tried to keep pushing him forward.

“… Sasuke-teme’s been acting weird–ever since that rotten brother of his showed up–which means Komadori’s been pretty annoyed. He keeps making that face, you know, the one like he made during that one mission with the fruit merchants…” Kakashi-sensei had been acting pretty weird, too, ever since baa-chan spoke to him. Something about inheritance and guardians.

“… that creepy scar guy and Kiba’s sensei and Ino’s dad have been by a few times. And your creepy senpai. They think you’re not waking up because it’s something like what you did during the Chuunin Exams. They said you might have hypnotized yourself, to protect your mind from teme’s brother’s jutsu…” They weren’t sure, though, because Tetsuki hadn’t conveniently left behind a clone who knew how to reverse it. Draining her of chakra might break her self-hypnosis… or it might kill her.

“… I just wish you’d wake up already…”

…

She wakes up.

She doesn’t know what to make of the new name. Doesn’t know what to make of the new Hokage who looks at her with nostalgic fondness. Of the suspicious and even fearful gazes from her superior officers.

At the very least, she’s comforted in the knowledge that her relationship with Kakashi-sensei has always been total and utter bullshit, regardless of if it’s teacher-student or only surviving blood relative.

She had always thought genin teams were supposed to be like family. It was one of those romanticized ideals whispered around the orphanage late at night. Like getting adopted.

She had been proven wrong, time and time again. She should have known better. She should know better.

So what if her jounin sensei was literally her only family. If it didn’t matter then–if she didn’t matter then; running after Kakashi-sensei’s heels, coming up with new techniques, always pushing herself to get his attention–it shouldn’t matter now.

His offer to teach her Chidori–now, after having already gift-wrapped it for his prized Uchiha student–tastes like ashes in her mouth.

As if she hasn’t already moved on from his table scraps.

“It’s fine,” she says, not looking at him in hopes to quell the surge of indignation.

“Whatever,” she adds, curling her hands into fists to ward off her rage.

“You can go now,” she concludes, pressing her lips together so she can’t spit out all the things she wants to scream at him.

Kakashi doesn’t hesitate to leave.

~

A/N: So… I’m toying with the idea of Tetsuki being related to Kakashi via his mother. Which makes his lack of engagement with his first genin team all the more galling when they later realize that Tetsuki is actually his cousin and technically his heir/next-of-kin. Especially since he up and gave his signature jutsu to Sasuke after denying the actually-lightning-natured Tetsuki.

Sooort of ties in with my other SI!OC!Naruto idea, (In)Difference, in which Kiyoshi Utsugi, Kakashi’s mother, is best friends with Tsunade.

Anyway. Yeah. Just wanted to get that out of my system.

Just follow the Externality tag for Tetsuki–orphan of Konoha and reborn SI!OC!KHR character from Trailblazers (sorry, I know it’s convoluted).