Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Imouto Trilogy :: Hatake :: Even After All These Years ❯ Chapter 11: The Merchant's Son ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

 

Claimer: I do own Kyomi and the story plot.

 

(1) - This little story thing is a Taoist story. I make no claim to it. --Oh, and as a side note, I had a very similar reaction to Naruto's when I first heard this story in my history class (grins)

 

Thanks to my beta reader, BattleStations!

 

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Even After All These Years

 

Chapter 11

The Merchant's Son

 

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The group rested for another ten to fifteen minutes, during which time Daichi finally woke up. He was told about what happened, and all of the shinobi there could see that the man was infinitely grateful that he'd been unconscious during the battle; doubtless he'd never seen much blood spilt before.

 

As they sat Sakura stared at Naruto out of the corner of her eye. No matter how much she tried to turn her thoughts to other things, the image of Naruto as he stood soaked in blood, standing over the body of the dead bandit kept on flashing through her mind. Even now, as he leaned against a nearby tree with his eyes closed, the new red hue of his hair jumped out at her, as did the hard lines on his face that made him seem years older than he had that morning.

 

Kyomi also noticed the change in Naruto. She frowned tightly, staring at him. Finally she came to a decision in her mind. Her eyes flickered over to her older brother's and she managed to catch his gaze. She nodded marginally to him and then placed her arms inside the long sleeves of her traditional kimono, hiding her hands from view as she made handseals.

 

Naruto, meanwhile, had been relaxing while his brain ran a mile a minute. Abruptly he felt a slight shift of air around him, causing his eyes to snap open. Naruto then gasped, seeing that they rest of the shinobi were gone. He quickly relaxed again, however, when he noticed Kyomi standing before him.

 

"Hige-kun..." she murmured, her ice blue eyes studying him intensely. Naruto simply turned his head away from her, not meeting her gaze. Though he didn't see it, Kyomi's eyes narrowed at this action.

 

The next thing that Naruto knew, a kunai had swept through the air and plunged into the trunk of the tree not inches from his head. The blonde immediately jumped away, instinctively pulling out a few kunai from his weapons pouch. He didn't have much time to figure out exactly what had happened however, as he was abruptly bombarded by Kyomi attacking him with her own kunai.

 

"What the hell?!" Naruto snarled as he defended himself. Kyomi didn't let up at all though.

 

"Push back harder!" Kyomi snapped.

 

Snarling, Naruto felt all of his frustration and fear from the last hour or so coming to the surface. Pushing that emotion into his movements, he quickly found himself striking out wildly.

 

The two of them, sensei and student, danced around each other for several minutes, lethal weapons flashing here and there, just missing their marks and leaving the occasional scratch behind. Naruto's movements, Kyomi noted, were fairly erratic and wild, though he managed to defend himself well enough. She let him attack, putting herself mostly on the defensive, allowing all of his repressed emotions to flow out. She knew that he needed this.

 

Finally, a couple minutes later, Naruto's movements abruptly faltered. Kyomi adjusted to the speed that he'd dropped down to, slowing down her movements.

 

"I..." Naruto faltered, halfheartedly slashing at Kyomi. "I killed someone...How could I have killed someone? Taken away another's life?!" Abruptly Naruto's movements sped up again, a snarl coming to his face. "I'm not that kind of person! I wouldn't just do that...!"

 

Kyomi could see the wild fear and confusion that was lighting up Naruto's eyes, and hear the desperate need for justification in his voice.

 

"No," Kyomi murmured. "But what you are is a shinobi."

 

Naruto faltered once more, startled by Kyomi's sudden answer to his rambling, which he'd really just been directing at himself. He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

 

"And shinobi," Kyomi continued obliviously, "Sometimes have to kill. It's what we do; it's our job. Someday, when you become a Chuunin or a Jounin, you're going to be sent on an assassination mission and you'll have to kill some random person whom you've never met before. They won't be like these thugs, and it won't be in protection of yourself. You'll have to kill them simply because you were ordered to."

 

Naruto stared at Kyomi with wide eyes. He knew that someday he'd have to, of course, but having it put out there in such blatant terms made him realize just how much reality there was in such a situation.

 

"But how will I be able to...?"

 

Kyomi shook her head sadly, understanding what the Genin was asking. "You won't," she replied simply. "And you definitely won't be able to do so in good conscious or anything like that." She paused and chuckled sadly. "You're actually kind of lucky; I remember the first time that I had to kill, and it wasn't in a self-defense situation like this. No, it was when I was a Chuunin and was sent on my first assassination mission. I don't think that I came out of my room until two days later, when Kakashi had to physically drag me out to force me to eat something. And I was only damn near half your age too, unfortunately."

 

Naruto continued to stare at Kyomi with wide eyes, surprised by the sudden insight to her life and younger years. Kyomi just smiled sadly at him, and then sighed.

 

"Look, Hige-kun, what I'm trying to say is that in the shinobi profession you have to kill. It's unavoidable. For example, say you become the Hokage and then another shinobi village attacks Konoha. What are you going to do? Do you just let them overrun Konoha? Or just try to knock them all out? Both of those options will only lead to the death of Konoha citizens. However, if you strike back, thus killing many of the attackers, Konoha will be saved. Do you understand?"

 

Hesitantly, Naruto nodded. "Yes," he murmured quietly, his eyes drifting to the ground. "Though I don't like it."

 

Kyomi let out a bark of a laugh. "Well of course not," she replied with a slight grin. "No one really enjoys it. But it's still necessary." Kyomi paused thinking. "...I'm going to tell you a story."

 

Abruptly, she dropped down to sit on the ground. Naruto hesitated, surprised, but then sat down as well, sitting before the silver haired ANBU.

 

"The ruler of the South Sea," Kyomi began, "Was called Light; the ruler of the North Sea, Darkness; and the ruler of the middle kingdom, Primal Chaos. From time to time, Light and Darkness met one another in the kingdom of Primal Chaos, who made them welcome. Light and Darkness wanted to repay his kindness and said, 'All men have seven openings with which they see, hear, eat and breathe, but Primal Chaos has none. Let us try to give him some.' So every day they bored one hole, and on the seventh day, Primal Chaos died."(1)

 

Naruto stared blankly at Kyomi. "...The fuck?"

 

Kyomi simply laughed in reply, which surprised Naruto; he wasn't sure that he'd ever heard her laugh before. Chuckle, yes, but never laugh. Oblivious to Naruto's surprise--or just ignoring it--Kyomi continued on with her explanation.

 

"Think of shinobi as being primal chaos," she said. "It's just what we are. We are not light or darkness--we do both kind and compassionate acts and cruel, ruthless acts. The story itself is more so saying that if you try to make things in your own image, you'll kill something else, but, in that same sense, you can also look at it as saying that you cannot try to change the innate essence of things. Yes, you can follow your own path and conduct, but things exist they way that they do for a reason.

 

"For example, do you honestly think that people are shinobi because they want to kill? No, except for a few exceptions they're shinobi because they just want to be. Killing is just a part of it. It's unavoidable because if you want to protect the things that are dear to you, you're going to have to kill at sometime or another."

 

"I..." Naruto hesitated. "...Thank you, Kyomi-sensei."

 

Kyomi smiled lightly and leaned forward and ruffled Naruto's hair, much to the boy's annoyance. He only halfheartedly batted her away though, somewhat enjoying the affectionate gesture, though he'd certainly never tell Kyomi that.

 

"Come on," Kyomi said after a moment while getting to her feet. "We'd better get back; we still have a little ways to go to get to Hajime."

 

Naruto nodded and followed his sensei. He knew that it'd still take him a little while longer to fully understand the fact that he'd taken people's lives. But already he could feel that he was well on his way getting over it, or at least accepting it.

 

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Kyomi sighed and resisted the urge to run a hand through her hair. Today had not been a good day. And it wasn't just the bandit attack either, but rather the emotional baggage that came with it.

 

Kyomi had honestly expected that they wouldn't be attacked; the Hokage had made it sound as if it was a very minute possibility. Even when the bandits had attacked though it hadn't been too much of a problem--the Genin had fairly easily taken them down--but it was the anguish that had been on their faces from the knowledge of their first kills that had really dug at her. The anguish that had been on Naruto's face...

 

As her mind drifted to the blonde boy, Kyomi glance over at him. Naruto seemed to be feeling a bit better, she noticed. But of course, he could just be hiding it.

 

With a second sigh, Kyomi turned her attention back on the road before them. They were nearly at Hajime now. In fact, if Kyomi was right, then it should be coming into view any moment now. And then, just inside the gates, the Jounin and their Genin teams would head back to Konohagakure not Sato while she and Daichi would continue onward.

 

Kyomi was actually kind of hesitant to leave the Genin teams. Naruto would be alone for several days after this, which would give him time to stew. Kyomi wasn't sure that she wanted that for him. But Naruto probably would be fine; he'd been through worse things than this in his life. Besides, Kakashi was there for him if he really needed.

 

The Genin to were hesitant to leave; they sensed that something was off about the whole situation. They had fought the bandits themselves and so knew better than anyone else that the men hadn't been average. They had instantly become suspicious about what was going on, and requested their sensei to allow them to escort Daichi further, just to be safe. The Jounin had firmly said no however, and so, after a couple of protests, the Genin agreed. They seemed to sense that there was more than met the eye to the situation, even if they didn't know exactly what it was.

 

It only took a couple more minutes to reach the gates of Hajime. The entire group couldn't tell whether they were relieved to finally be there or apprehensive to continue forward.

 

The gates were guarded by a pair of civilian soldiers. They checked the group's IDs--including Kyomi's fake one--and then allowed them to pass.

 

Hajime, it appeared, was indeed a very large village. Not quite the size of Konohagakure, granted, but nearly. The streets were crowed with innumerous people milling about, making it almost twice as crowded as Konoha.

 

Kyomi and the Jounin all understood the reason for this quite well. The village's location was a spot quite easily accessed by almost all of the countries because it was somewhat close to Hi no Kuni's northwestern border. This was good because it meant that the village received a massive amount of people passing through, making it a larger trade center. Its marketplaces were amongst the largest in the world. It was bad, however, because this also meant that foreign shinobi could quite easily slip into the village under the guise of a trader.

 

Swiftly, the group moved into a little niche away from the crowds and gather around.

 

"Well," Kakashi said cheerily. "This is where we leave you, Kurosaki-san, Haruka-san. I apologize for the bit of trouble that we had along the way."

 

"Yes, yes," Daichi murmured distractedly. His eyes were darting all around. After a moment, he turned his attention to Kyomi.

 

"Come, Haruka-san," he said as he attempted a feeble smile. "It is my duty as a man to make sure that you get home safely."

 

Kyomi felt her eye twitching, but quickly hid it. After all, the man was just attempting to come up with some sort of an excuse for her to accompany him. That was actually a good thing; she'd been afraid that she'd have to come up with on herself. So, knowing that she had to play along, Kyomi blushed and smiled shyly at Daichi.

 

"Thanks you, Kurosaki-san."

 

As Kyomi and Daichi began to leave, Kyomi turned to look at her brother. He, she found, seemed to be begging her with his eyes to be careful. She gave him a nearly imperceptible nod and then vanished into the crowds.

 

"Ahh," Sakura suddenly cooed, catching everyone's attention. "Those two would be so cute together! It'd be just like one of those 'prince and the peasant' stories!" she finished with a squeal.

 

Almost instantly, Naruto began gagging, though none of the Genin could figure our why. Mistaking his disgust for laughter, Sakura immediately lashed out.

 

"Naruto!" she snarled angrily. "Just because you can't appreciate such romance doesn't mean that you should laugh. They would make a good couple!"

 

Kakashi--whose single visible eye had also gone wide upon hearing Sakura's original statement--suddenly chuckled. "Somehow," he murmured amusedly, "I have to doubt that."

 

Sakura stared at her sensei questioningly, but he ignored her in favor of staring at the spot where Kyomi had been. A tight frown took over his face as he internally tried to reassure himself that everything was going to turn out fine.

 

Then why did he have such a bad feeling coiling in the bottom of his stomach?

 

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Kyomi sighed as she walked side by side with Daichi. The man, who knew the village quite well, had been carefully leading them through the streets. The entire time his eyes had been flickering around nervously and his breath had been coming in short, terrified gasps. It wasn't that, exactly, that bothered her--a little paranoia was good for anyone--but rather the fact that they'd been traveling though less and less populated streets.

 

Suddenly then, just as Kyomi was warily eyeing the few people that were around, Daichi spilled into a small back alleyway, motioning for Kyomi to follow him. With narrowed eyes she did so.

 

Kyomi waited until both she and Daichi were out of sight before abruptly grasping the merchant's son's shoulder, halting him.

 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she hissed out.

 

"It's a shortcut to the complex," Daichi replied, his eyes still flitting around. "I want to get home as soon as possible!"

 

Kyomi hesitated, then nodded. She really wasn't comfortable with going down an empty alley where they could easily be ambushed, but she had to agree that it'd be best to get to Daichi's father's complex as soon as possible. It was the lesser of two evils, really. With a sigh, Kyomi let her hand fall from Daichi's shoulder and the two continued onward.

 

As they walked, Kyomi studied the alley around them. It actually wasn't too small--five or six people could walk abreast down it--but the buildings of either side towered down over it, causing even a shinobi to feel as though they were about to be crushed by the ruble. Kyomi found herself practically stalking down the alley, every muscle in her body tense and her nerves quivering with anticipation.

 

Unfortunately for her, Kyomi's actions only made Daichi even more nervous, which thus annoyed her even further. Before long Kyomi was fuming and killing random weeds and plants with her glares. Meanwhile Daichi had become incredibly jumping, flinching at every sound, including his own footsteps.

 

It was because of this that both Daichi and Kyomi--despite the fact that she was an ANBU--nearly had heart attacks upon abruptly hearing a voice echoing around them. And to Kyomi's further shock, it was a very familiar voice.

 

"Well, well, well, if this isn't a surprise."

 

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Preview of Chapter 12: TheKunoichi

 

Behind Kyomi, Daichi was whimpering. Sparing a quick glance back at him, Kyomi found him huddled up again the wall, looking like he was about to wet his pants--or maybe already had. He was in a patch of bright sunlight due to the angle of the sun and Kyomi was tempted to tell him to move into the shadows, but at the last moment decided against it. It would be easier for her to protect him if she could easily see him.

 

Kyomi turned her attention back onto the other, shadowed, side of the alleyway just in time to see something shift. Quickly, she pulled out a pair of kunai that were hidden in the folds of her kimono and moved down in a half-crouch so that she was resting on the balls of her feet. In this position, she could easily move in any direction when the shinobi--for that's whom she was pretty sure that it was--appeared.