Naruto, Iruka adopts everyone part the third
Hey, everyone, remember this fic? ... no? I don't blame you. /o\ I have had a sudden burst of trying to work on my nine million Naruto WIPs, and this chapter has actually been done for a while, I just didn't want to post it without having gotten started on the fourth chapter. Which - now I've started on it and we'll see how fast writing it goes, so please enjoy this update!
Chapter 1, Chapter 2.
In this chapter: Lee is adorable, Kimimaro is weird, Zabuza is a jerk but gets over it (sort of), and family bathtime is the most fun thing to write in the world. (A little action occurs, too.)
3. Wave and River
"I think we ought to head for Suna," Iruka said.
The brats had all been put to sleep an hour ago, and their snoring was loud enough to prove it; the tiny cooking fire had burned down to embers. Zabuza had been treasuring the near-silence, something that had become a rare commodity of late, and he shot a glare at Iruka for disturbing it. "What for?"
"It probably wouldn't be the best place to stay," Iruka said, "but it would be good to settle down for a while and let the kids rest. And sleep in a real bed, for once - and have a real bath..."
Zabuza snorted. "So settle down here. They have baths in Wave, far as I know." The last week and a half of crawling along the south coast of the Land of Fire had brought them only as far as the borders of Wave Country; getting to Sunagakure, besides costing money for decent fake identification, would take another two weeks at that pace. Zabuza hated the sand and the heat anyway.
"I heard some disturbing rumors at the last town," Iruka said. "There are too many criminals trying to move in, and Leaf shinobi sometimes coming in to deal with them - I don't think it would be a good idea for either of us."
"Sounds perfect to me. Plenty of money in a situation like that for a man with the guts and the strength to make it." Zabuza grinned, but even in the dim light he could tell it wasn't as effective at intimidating at Iruka as it had been a week ago. It was hard to intimidate someone when they'd caught you carrying a kid on your back, even if it had only been to shut up Naruto's whining about his sore feet.
"It's no place for children." Iruka stirred up the fire's embers, sending a few sparks dancing into the air. "Suna isn't perfect, but at least it's at peace... We'd be safe there for a while."
Safe. Hell. What kind of shinobi, especially a missing-nin, cared about safety? A fucking former Leaf shinobi, that was who. Zabuza had figured out that much about Iruka the night they'd spent getting away from Kiri undiscovered; no village but Konoha turned out shinobi who were that soft and that stubborn at the same time. "You can take your brats wherever the hell you want," he said, "but Haku and I are done with this whole traveling orphanage thing." Criminal syndicates making a play for a country, even a poor backwater like Wave, meant gang rivalries, inconveniently located farmers, village-affiliated shinobi trying to interfere - all kinds of opportunities for a missing-nin who already had dirty hands and didn't care about getting them dirtier. Get Haku trained up as a proper tool without Iruka hanging over his shoulder talking about stupid Konoha philosophy, find the highest bidder, and get to work, that was what he needed to do. "I'm not going to Sand. Starting tomorrow you can -"
"I don't think splitting up would be a good idea, Zabuza-san."
Not for you, Zabuza thought. He could damn well take care of himself and Haku. "You don't give me orders, and if I want out, I'm getting out. You want to report me to the Leaf, that blood's gonna be on your hands as much as mine."
"Is that a threat?" Iruka said, an edge creeping into his voice.
"It's not a threat, it's a damn -"
"Iruka-sama? Is everything all right?"
Zabuza muttered a curse as Kimimaro appeared at the edge of the dying fire's light. If Kimimaro had been woken up, then Haku - sure enough, there was a gleam of orange reflected in Haku's open eyes. For all that the two of them barely spoke, they seemed to have reached some kind of weird understanding; Kimimaro had Iruka, Haku had Zabuza, and nothing that disturbed the (temporary, damn it) alliance was allowed. Zabuza wouldn't have cared, except Kimimaro had turned out to have a fucking creepy bloodline limit and a willingness to pull whole bones out of his arm whenever Zabuza got a little too loud or too close to Iruka.
"Yes, everything's fine," Iruka said, smiling, "Zabuza-san and I are just discussing something."
"Discussing. Yeah." Zabuza gritted his teeth and forced some kind of less-threatening expression onto his visible face. "Go back to sleep."
Kimimaro glanced at him before turning towards Iruka. "Are you sure, Iruka-sama?"
"I'm sure - and please, it's just Iruka." Iruka reached out and rubbed the top of Kimimaro's head, and a smile flashed across Kimimaro's usually impassive face. "Get some rest, okay?"
"Okay."
When Kimimaro had gone back and laid down with the other brats and Haku's eyes had closed again, Iruka said quietly, "If you want to stay here and make a living as a - a thug for hire, I can't stop you. But I'm not letting you drag a good kid like Haku into that kind of life."
Zabuza snarled. "Haku's mine!"
"If he's yours," Iruka said, "then you should be thinking about what's best for him, not just yourself."
Zabuza barely kept from gaping at him. The man had run off from the softest hidden village in the world to drag three kids around the wilderness in search of who knew what, and he had the nerve to lecture Zabuza about what was best for the children? Iruka must have thought something similar; his face flushed, and he hastily turned away and settled down to sleep. "It's your turn for first watch," he said. "Good night, Zabuza-san."
He had taken first watch the night before, but he was too pissed off to sleep anyway. He kicked dirt over the coals of the fire and let his eyes adjust to the lack of light, listening for the usual night sounds of the area and any changes that could signal trouble.
After several peaceful minutes, Iruka's voice rose out of the darkness again. "You're right about one thing, though."
"What."
"There are baths in Wave Country..."
If Zabuza cut the throats of all the useless ones while they slept, maybe he could tell Haku and Kimimaro bandits had done it and still keep them as tools.
---
The attendant looked at them strangely - as well she might, Iruka thought while he counted out the entrance fees; even leaving out Zabuza looming over everyone with a murderous expression, the rest of them definitely looked the worse for wear after weeks of travel, and they made for a pretty mixed bunch to begin with. She took Iruka's money and wished them a pleasant time with only a slight twitch in one eyelid as she handed out towels and soap, and the moment Iruka turned away to start herding kids toward the door to the locker room she was whispering to her fellow attendant.
"You're going to get us all caught and executed," Zabuza hissed in his ear while Iruka folded Kimimaro's shirt to put in a locker - the kids had been the first out of their clothes and had gone into the baths already to start cleaning up.
"I don't think it's very likely," Iruka said, wondering if he could find a coin laundry in town before they left. It seemed like a shame to get a proper bath and then have to put on clothes that hadn't had a good wash in weeks. "Classified bingo books aren't usually handed out to bathhouse attendants, and so far there's no sign of anyone after me and my kids." He was starting to worry about that; it was one thing for no one to miss him or Lee, but Naruto had been under watch for years, and Sasuke was the last heir of one of the village's oldest clans. He couldn't understand the lack of pursuit, though he was grateful for it.
"When some asshole breaks in here to arrest us," Zabuza said, "I'm leaving you all behind."
Sasuke stuck his head out of the other room and said, "Are you guys coming? Because Naruto is daring Kimimaro to make a shower cap out of his skull."
"Better hurry up and strip, Zabuza-san," Iruka said. "Including the wrappings on your face, please," and he ducked into the baths before Zabuza could protest.
Fortunately, since it was the middle of the day, there were only a couple of old men already soaking in the bath and chatting to each other, and Iruka was able to convince Kimimaro that a regular shower cap would work just fine before any of them noticed the ridge of bone Kimimaro had started pulling out of his head. Naruto's disappointment didn't last long; moments later he was trying to argue with Sasuke over who got to go first.
Iruka broke it up before Sasuke started arguing back - honestly, the place was practically empty, there was room enough for everyone - and said, "Okay, anyone want me to -"
Kimimaro's hand shot up, followed a beat later by Naruto and Lee's.
"- help wash their hair?" Iruka sighed. "At least let me finish the question - anyway, I only have two hands, so Kimimaro and - hm -"
"It's all right to choose Naruto, Iruka-san," Lee said, "Zabuza-san can help wash mine and Haku's!"
Zabuza walked in just in time to hear this and turned an accusing glare on Iruka.
"It wasn't my idea," Iruka said. "If you don't want to, of course, I'll -"
"It would be very kind of you, Zabuza-san," Haku said with a perfectly straight face. "And more efficient, too, I think."
Sasuke snorted. "What are you, babies? Wash your own hair," he said, and Iruka gave him a warning look. Most of the time he was grateful that Sasuke had begun saying more than "shut up," but he wasn't sure that constant scorn directed at everyone but Zabuza and Iruka was that much of an improvement.
"Whatever, you're just jealous no one wants to touch your goofy hair," Naruto said, sticking out his tongue, and Sasuke scowled back. Naruto ignored him. "Hey, Zabuza-san, you do know how to wash someone's hair, right? 'Cause yours is super short so maybe you don't have to -"
"Naruto!" Iruka grabbed him by the head and forced him down onto a stool; Kimimaro had already chosen one and was waiting patiently.
"Don't worry, it's very easy!" Lee said, holding a bottle of shampoo out to Zabuza. "Although if you insist I can -"
Zabuza yanked the bottle out of his hand. "Just shut up and sit down," he growled, and Naruto and Lee exchanged grins.
Iruka watched Zabuza out of the corner of his eye while he rubbed shampoo into Naruto and Kimimaro's hair. The lack of bandages over Zabuza's mouth made a strange difference in his appearance; he was less intimidating, somehow, even with the occasional flashes of pointed teeth. Not handsome, exactly, but certainly - interesting-looking. And surprisingly gentle as he washed Haku and Lee's hair, which was improving Iruka's opinion of him a little, and there was something oddly charming about the way his lower lip occasionally caught on a tooth as he concentrated...
"I-ru-ka! Hey, Iruka! Are you done yet?"
"Er - yes, sorry, just a minute." He hurriedly tore his eyes away from Zabuza and dipped a bucket in the trough of steaming water along the wall to empty over the kids' heads and rinse out the shampoo. Glancing over, he saw that Zabuza had finished with Lee and Haku, so he said, "All right, you can all get in the bath now - last one in is a Naruto and Lee don't you dare jump in!"
The pair skidded to a guilty halt on the tiled floor as Sasuke stalked past them with a superior look on his face; Haku had already slipped into the bath without Iruka noticing.
"Last one in is a what, Iruka-sama?" Kimimaro asked.
"Never mind," Iruka said, "it's not important - go ahead and get in, Zabuza-san and I will be there in just a couple of minutes." He kept his face carefully neutral as he said, "Zabuza-san, if you'd like any help, I'd be happy to -"
"Don't fucking push it."
Finally getting to settle into the blissfully hot water was exactly as wonderful as Iruka had dreamed it would be, although his fantasies had generally been a lot quieter and not involved Sasuke threatening to drown Naruto if he splashed Sasuke one more time. Or Zabuza's presence, although he did appreciate having a second pair of eyes on the door. More than that, though, he appreciated the bath and Haku's willingness to help keep an eye on the other kids. Such a sweet and responsible boy - what he was doing with a man like Zabuza Iruka just couldn't understand.
He watched the group of kids for a couple of minutes, just to make sure they weren't going to accidentally bother the old men at the other end of the bath, but they were behaving about as well as could be expected, so he leaned back and relaxed, letting vague plans drift across his mind. Coin laundry, right, he needed to look for one; his funds were getting a little low - no thanks to the exorbitant amount of food Zabuza ate, probably out of spite - but not so low that he had to touch Lee or Sasuke or Naruto's savings. Though maybe he'd let them run around and get some things for themselves, they deserved it for handling the trip so well so far... Oh, maybe clothes, too. Kimimaro needed more than the single outfit he'd had on him, and Sasuke could do with some new shirts; Iruka had managed to remove or cover over all the Uchiha symbols, but not very well, and the results stood out almost as badly as the fans would have. Definitely clothes. And ramen. But laundry first...
"Iruka, Zabuza-san! Hey, you awake?"
Naruto had waded over and was waving his hand in front of their faces. Zabuza grunted; Iruka said, "Yes, what is it?"
"Me and Lee were talking, right," Naruto said, "and you guys are basically like our dads now, yanno, so we were thinking, Zabuza can be Grumpy Dad and Iruka can be Nice Dad so we don't get confused. Sasuke doesn't care and Kimimaro wants to stick with 'Iruka-sama' 'cause he's weird like that and Haku says he's okay with -"
"Kid," Zabuza said, "if you don't go away right now I'm going to put you headfirst through a wall."
Naruto just laughed and splashed away to try dunking Sasuke, sparking a free-for-all water wrestling match; Zabuza stared after him, then said, "Has he always been that dumb, or did you drop him on his head before you got to Kiri?"
"Well..." Iruka sank a little deeper into the water, thinking it over. "He's not exactly top-of-the-class material, no. But he can be surprisingly perceptive, sometimes - maybe he sees something about you that you just aren't aware of yet."
"Maybe he's too stupid to live," Zabuza said and suddenly grinned, baring his teeth. "Maybe I ought to teach 'em all a few lessons about what it really means to be a ninja."
"I'd prefer it if you didn't, thank you." The last thing Iruka needed was Zabuza telling any of the kids stories about his past in Kirigakure, particularly Sasuke. Iruka didn't know the details of what had happened to the Uchiha clan, but the little he'd heard before they left Konoha had given him chills; he didn't want Zabuza to remind Sasuke of any bad memories, especially if they were all going to keep traveling together.
Zabuza muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Fucking Leaf," but let it drop. Iruka tried to relax back into the bath and failed miserably. Now that he was actually thinking about it and not just running on instinct - why the hell had he decided they ought to travel with Zabuza? Getting so hopelessly lost that they'd ended up near Kirigakure was not a good reason, however true it happened to be; neither was wanting someone to talk to who was older than ten, although in the privacy of his own mind he could admit that was also true. Even to himself he didn't want to admit that he might have been hoping he could talk Haku away from Zabuza, an idea that had lasted all of maybe two days' travel. Zabuza might have been the Demon of the Bloody Mist, but in Haku's eyes the man could do no wrong.
Iruka found his gaze drifting away from watching the entrance and over to Zabuza. Of course, Zabuza wasn't exactly what Iruka had been expecting from his reputation, either. Coarse and bloodthirsty, yes, but - he didn't think he had been too far off the mark when he'd said Naruto saw something in Zabuza that he didn't know about. Iruka wished that he could see it, too; it would take one set of worries off his mind, at least.
"Hey, Zabuza-san? Iruka?" Naruto had come back, and before Iruka could ask him what the matter was Zabuza said, "What the hell do you want?"
"Geez, you don't have to be so cranky," Naruto said, "I was just yanking your chain about calling you Grumpy Dad, yanno... Anyway, are we gonna stay here long? Like, maybe overnight? One of the old guys said they have a super nice inn here, so can we stay there instead of camping tonight? Can we?"
"Hm - well..." One night couldn't hurt, could it? And it would give him time to run all those errands he'd been thinking of, and if they shared rooms it shouldn't be too terribly expensive...
Just then a trio of men with tattoos twining around their arms came in from the locker room, laughing loudly over something. "- look on his face," the shortest of them said between laughs, "when that ninja just poofed outta there - who cares how long it takes to find that Leaf bastard again, totally worth it for the boss's expression!"
"Eh, you say that now..."
Iruka and Zabuza exchanged glances over Naruto's head; a subtle shift in Zabuza's expression was somehow adequate to convey the possibility of slitting the men's throats and making a quick getaway. Iruka shook his head slightly and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I'm afraid not," he said, with sincere regret in his voice - a real bed would have been nice. "Maybe next time."
"Aww..." The disappointment on Naruto's face stung badly. Iruka would have to find a way to explain later, make it up to them all somehow - damn it, if only those men hadn't walked in! No, they shouldn't have stayed anyway, but to find out just like that there were Konoha shinobi around... So much for the coin laundry, and the rest of Iruka's errands.
Haku appeared and rested a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Don't feel too bad, Naruto-kun," he said, "you can help me take care of Usa-chan when we get back to camp," which made Naruto grin and cheer - he loved that rabbit almost more than Haku did. Haku's eyes, however, were fixed on Zabuza's face with a certain wariness. "Are we leaving now?"
"Yeah, get the other brats together and get out of here," Zabuza said.
"If you'd be so kind," Iruka added. "Naruto, that includes you - go on ahead, we'll meet you outside."
"Man," Naruto said, "this has to be the longest camping trip ever. We should get, like, a world record prize or something." But he obediently waded off with Haku, and after a minute or so of spirited arguing, all the kids but Kimimaro had gotten out. Kimimaro simply moved to sit between Iruka and Zabuza, watching the tattooed men with a slight frown.
"Kimimaro, why don't you go with the others?" Iruka said. "And don't stare at people, it's rude." Not to mention likely to attract the trio's attention, which wouldn't make it any easier to get out of the bathhouse without looking suspicious.
"Because something is wrong, isn't it? About those men." Kimimaro's frown deepened. "I won't let anything happen to you, Iruka-sama."
"Nothing is -" No, better not to lie if he didn't have to. "I heard them mention a shinobi, and we don't want to run into any trouble with shinobi or anyone else, okay? That's all. So we need to leave without them taking any special notice of us."
"Oh." Kimimaro considered this for a moment. "All right."
"Will you two move your asses already?"
As they left, Iruka saw a swirl of dull red on the floor where the tattooed men had washed up, and his stomach twisted a little. He should stay. He should find the shinobi - it had to be someone from Konoha, who else would get hired for problems in Wave? - find them and offer to help, do whatever he could to assist them in their mission... And face execution as a missing-nin if he did. If he was lucky, and whether he was lucky or not, the kids - Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, Kimimaro - they would all have to live with the consequences of his decision to leave the village. The real weight of the duties and comrades he had abandoned hit him then for the first time, and he froze.
"Iruka." Zabuza's voice was as non-hostile as Iruka had ever heard it. "Move it now, regrets later."
Iruka blinked, swallowed past the knot in his throat, and took a step forward. Right. They had to keep moving. Kimimaro took his hand and suddenly it was easy to keep going, to join the others in the locker room and dry off and get their clothes out of the lockers and get dressed. Regrets later, if he was going to have them. And thinking about it, there should still be time for at least one of those errands he'd been considering...
As the group waited at a ramen stall for their orders to be filled, Iruka said, "You know, I think that was the first time you've actually called me by my name."
"I wouldn't get used to it if I were you," Zabuza said.
---
The tall girl introduced herself as Miyu, after a short, flat pause, and explained that she was looking for her eight-year-old cousin, who had run away from home with some friends and a strange man. The entire family was terribly worried, was there any chance that they had seen him? She could give a complete description of him, and of the other boys, too.
Momoko consulted with her coworker Nami in hurried whispers - don't look alike at all - well, the way she looks at you, though - didn't mention the other two, or that scary - seemed so nice, you wouldn't think he - never know, better to - before saying, "Well, we did have a group like that in a few days ago, but they didn't stay very long. And they must have met up with some friends, too, because there were five boys, not three, and another man -"
"A scary one," Nami said, with a delicate shudder. "He didn't even have eyebrows! I was surprised he didn't make any trouble, peeping or - or getting into a fight!"
"I see," Miyu said. "And Sasuke? Was he unharmed?"
Momoko blinked at hearing it put so clinically. "Um, he certainly looked like he needed a bath," she said. "But he didn't look hurt or anything, no - just dirty. And a bit grumpy, I guess. Even after bathing! Which I can assure you is not the case with our baths normally, we have the finest -"
"Meaningless hyperbole in the hopes of gaining more business. Did any of them happen to mention where they were going?"
"Uh - what?"
"No?" Nami said. "They weren't very chatty, really, not even the nice one, and they left right after those creeps of Gato's showed up, and who could blame them, those people are always causing trouble, I mean - well, you know the type!"
"Your information is a little useful, at least," said Miyu, and after another of those short pauses, she added a flat, "Thank you."
It was a real shame, Nami and Momoko agreed later. Such a pretty girl, and so naturally, you know, well-endowed - she could've had the whole town falling for her if she'd just put a little effort into acting like a person and not a puppet.
---
Other people might have thought him strange for it, but Rock Lee was having the time of his life. He had friends who mostly didn't judge him for being unable to use ninjutsu, he had Iruka teaching him personally - not just as part of a class - and helping him understand things, and he got to spend lots of time training while they walked and seeing new places, even if most of the new places were just different kinds of forests. It was completely unlike his life in Konoha, and he thought it was wonderful.
"- and the enemy is 30 meters away, how much will you have to compensate for the wind?"
Well, the math was not very wonderful. But otherwise, Lee was definitely enjoying himself, even while he tried to figure out the right answer. Kimimaro already had his hand up, of course; he was strangely ignorant in some areas, but very good at others, and always eager to impress Iruka.
"Thanks, Kimimaro," Iruka said, "but you answered the last five questions, so let's let someone else answer - Lee?" Kimimaro lowered his hand without apparent disappointment.
"Er - um -" How was he supposed to calculate that again? There was a formula or something, surely. "Um..."
"Are you training them to be shinobi or math teachers?" Zabuza said, without turning around from his place at the head of the group. He had been leading the way lately, since he claimed he didn't care about teaching them anything and knew his way around the Land of Rivers, but he always helped them train in the mornings now instead of just working with Haku, which Lee also considered quite wonderful; Zabuza was highly skilled in taijutsu, Lee's one strength.
"It's important to have a good understanding of the basics," said Iruka. "Lee, do you have an answer yet?"
"You'd just aim a couple of degrees to the left," Sasuke said before Lee could make a guess. "It's easy."
"Right, that!" Lee said. "Thank you for your assistance, Sasuke!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Next time, please let Lee answer," Iruka said. "Even if it takes him a while. Now, Naruto, this one is for you - if you can run at a constant speed of thirty kilometers an hour, and it takes you three hours and forty-five minutes to reach -"
"Could you give it a rest for two minutes?" It was the sort of thing Zabuza said frequently, but the emphasis on the number seemed peculiar, and Iruka did not argue with him as usual; instead he said, "You can have one minute."
"Just one?" Zabuza said. "I'm going to lose my edge..."
Lee started to ask them both how one minute of Iruka not teaching could affect Zabuza's "edge," but they vanished at the same moment and Kimimaro yanked him and Naruto back just as a length of thick, black chain shot through the air where Iruka had been.
"Holy crap!" Naruto was already digging through his pockets for his single non-blunted kunai. "C'mon, we gotta help fight!" Kimimaro nodded and began to pull a long, edged piece of bone out of his left arm; Lee didn't have any weapons, but he struck his best taijutsu stance and looked around for any sign of the enemy. On Naruto's other side, Sasuke had his hands filled with shuriken, and Haku had disappeared along with Zabuza.
Lee strained his ears, but he could only hear the breeze stirring the leaves around them, and there was no follow-up attack to the chain, which lay in a coiled heap on the ground. How strange; Zabuza always seemed to talk a lot when they were training, usually insults, so Lee thought that he ought to be able to hear Zabuza fighting, at least. But there was no sign of either Zabuza or Iruka.
Something clinked behind him, and he whirled around to find Haku with a small shield of ice covering himself and Kimimaro's back. A kunai had just bounced off the ice, and a moment later a tall man with swept-up dark hair and ragged black clothes appeared, looming over them. "Just kids," he said. "The hell are a bunch of brats doing out in the middle of nowhere?"
A wave of burning anger swept over Lee - just kids! He would show this stranger what the students of Konoha could do! - and he sprang at the man, only dimly aware that Naruto was doing the same. Before either of them could strike Haku had grabbed them by the backs of their shirts and pulled them behind the ice shield. "Please don't do anything foolish," he said, "Iruka-san wouldn't like that."
"But he said that we were just kids! I cannot let this insult stand!" Lee took up his stance again and glared fiercely at the stranger.
The stranger smirked and drew a length of heavy chain from somewhere on his back. "This is gonna be like taking candy from a -"
One of Sasuke's shuriken struck him in the forehead, but unfortunately didn't stick. He snarled, wiped away a streak of blood, and the edge of a tanned hand slammed into the side of his neck. He collapsed, only to reveal Iruka standing behind him looking winded, with another unconscious stranger draped across his back. "Thank you for looking after everyone, Haku," he said. "And good shot, Sasuke - although it's probably better if you aim at somewhere with more flesh for now, until you've built up some muscle." He looked around as he eased the second missing-nin off his back and to the ground. "Where's Zabuza-san? He should have -"
"Handling the third one," Zabuza growled as he appeared with yet another stranger slung over one shoulder and dripping blood. "There were three of the bastards. Some sensor you -"
"Oh, I understand now!" Lee said, overcome with excitement at his realization. "It was a code! 'Two minutes' means 'two enemies,' but it sounds like a normal part of your conversation, so anyone who listens would not suspect that you knew they were there!"
"Well-spotted, Lee," Iruka said, smiling, and Lee blushed with happiness. Hah! This would surely make up for his earlier inability to answer Iruka's question.
"Better hope there isn't a fourth one out there listening." Zabuza dumped the stranger on his shoulder over the other two's bodies. "Now what?"
"Hmm." Iruka scrutinized the three unconscious missing-nin and absent-mindedly pulled Naruto away before he could kick any of them. "This is a problem - we can't have them following us..."
"So slit their throats," Zabuza said.
"Er," Lee said, "that's a bit - it doesn't seem very nice..." Had Zabuza always looked quite so threatening? Perhaps it was just the streaks of blood on his shoulder and chest, which there was more of than Lee had realized at first, and come to think of it, was the missing-nin Zabuza had caught actually breathing?
"It's not supposed to be nice, brat," growled Zabuza, "it's supposed to be convenient, so we can get the hell out of here before more of them show up."
"But I mean - like, you guys beat them already," Naruto said, "so you can't just hurt them more, that's against the rules or something, right, Iruka?" But Iruka didn't answer right away, and Lee was very glad when Naruto edged closer to him, their shoulders bumping. "Iruka? You're not gonna do that, right?"
A long moment of hesitation, then Iruka said, "No - no, of course not. Hm - if we tie them up well enough, maybe -"
"Don't fucking play around!" Zabuza grabbed the front of Iruka's shirt, glaring into his eyes, and Lee and Naruto tensed up. "If you don't have the guts to do it I'll kill them myself, but you'd better not -" He stopped at the pressure of a bone blade against his side.
"Let Iruka-sama go," Kimimaro said from behind Zabuza, and Lee breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Of course Kimimaro would not let anything happen to Iruka! And surely Zabuza would come to his senses and stop saying such terrible things now that he realized he had frightened Kimimaro.
"Kimimaro, please don't do anything rash," Iruka said, his eyes still locked with Zabuza's. "We'll settle this ourselves. Zabuza-san, this is not the Bloody Mist, and I won't allow you to -"
"You won't allow - you lily-livered Leaf worm, I'm going to -"
"May I make a suggestion?" Haku said softly; he put one restraining hand over Kimimaro's. "If these are missing-nin, there could be a bounty on them - it might be worthwhile to take them to a town and find out."
Iruka's face lit up. "Great idea!" he said. "If I remember right, there should be a decent-sized town a couple hours north of here we can take them to - ah, but we can't all go, that'd stand out too much. Hmm..."
"Heh," Zabuza said, letting go of Iruka's shirt, and Lee could just see the shape of a grin under his facial bandages. "How about I take 'em? You lot can just wait here for me, long as you want."
Lee saw nothing wrong with that plan - Zabuza was bigger than Iruka, probably big enough to carry all three of the missing-nin by himself - but Iruka looked unhappy at the suggestion. "I'm not sure that's the best idea," he said. "It'd be better if we both go."
"Nah, you'd just slow me down." Zabuza was already picking up the missing-nin he'd caught and slinging them back over his shoulder, causing a groan which brought a great deal of relief to Lee's heart. He heaved one of the other two onto his other shoulder and said, "Haku, get the last one. We'll see you later - maybe."
"Please wait!" Lee said, searching through his pockets and ignoring the baffled looks from Naruto and Iruka. "Zabuza-san, since you're going into town, could you please - er - could you please get me some curry powder? We ran out..." He found his wallet and held a handful of ryo out towards Zabuza, who was staring at him with an unreadable expression. Lee swallowed - Zabuza really could be very intimidating - but didn't lower his hand. After that fight, he thought it would be good to show that there were no hard feelings. "Um - any brand is okay! Medium-hot, please."
"Lee," said Iruka, "I don't think -"
"Sure thing, brat," Zabuza said, and he reached out and took the ryo from Lee's hand. "I'll get you some curry powder."
"Thank you!" Lee smiled as widely as he could, hoping for a responding smile, but Zabuza just pocketed the money and turned away. Haku gave Lee an apologetic look as he picked up the third missing-nin with only a little effort, and then he and Zabuza disappeared into the forest.
Lee turned back to the others and saw that Iruka was giving him a strangely sad look. After a moment, he sighed and ruffled Lee's hair. "You're really a good kid, Lee," he said. "I just hope - never mind. We might as well get comfortable while we wait, I suppose... At least it's not a bad spot to camp out."
"I'm sure Zabuza-san will be back soon," Lee said, "even if it takes him a while to find curry!"
"Are you stupid?" Sasuke demanded, and Lee looked around, startled; it was the first time Sasuke had spoken since the attack. Lee saw that he still held a shuriken, clenched so tightly in his left hand that a thin trickle of blood was leaking through his fingers. "He's not coming back."
"Hey, don't talk like that!" Naruto bumped his shoulder against Lee's again, which Lee appreciated, and said, "Zabuza's gonna be back - I mean, yeah, he was kinda creepy just now, but he must be okay, really, or Haku wouldn't hang out with him, yanno? And Iruka wouldn't -"
"He's a murderer, you idiot!" Sasuke's face had gone even paler than usual, and there was a look in his dark eyes that Lee hadn't seen in weeks. "He's a killer, just like - you think he's been joking all those times he threatened you and he's not, he would do it and he wouldn't even care!"
"That's enough," Iruka said. "I know we're all on edge right now, but you shouldn't yell at Lee and Naruto... Let me look at that hand, all right?"
Sasuke flinched back as Iruka reached for his bleeding hand. "Don't touch me! You're just as bad as he is, you were going to - you would have let him -"
Lee waited for Iruka to deny it, for Naruto or Kimimaro to jump in with a defense, for himself to speak up, but he remembered Iruka's earlier hesitation too well and the words of protest died in his throat. It wasn't that he really thought Iruka would have killed the missing-nin, but - what if Naruto hadn't spoken up? What if Haku hadn't suggested taking the missing-nin to town?
Just for a moment, Iruka looked as if he might cry; then his expression grew firmer and he said, "Zabuza was raised and trained in a very different village from Konoha, and Kirigakure - well, it wasn't known as the Bloody Mist for no reason... That doesn't mean I'll let him hurt any of you, or anyone else - no matter what we run into, and no matter what he says. You three got that? Now, Sasuke, give me that hand."
This time, Sasuke didn't pull away when Iruka took his hand, gently pried the shuriken out of it, and bandaged the thin cuts, but he kept a wary eye on Iruka the entire time, and after Iruka was done he retreated several paces away and turned his back to them all.
Although it was a pleasant, sunny afternoon, the wait for Zabuza and Haku's return stretched out in a cold and unhappy silence. Sasuke continued to avoid the entire group; Iruka, who under normal circumstances would have been taking advantage of the time to teach them, just sat on a fallen log and watched everyone else. Lee and Naruto tried to amuse themselves, but Naruto's heart wasn't in any of their usual games, and eventually Lee had to admit that he wasn't feeling very playful, either. They ended up sitting together between Sasuke and Iruka, drawing in the spongy dirt with sticks. Only Kimimaro was willing to go near Iruka; he sat beside Iruka on the log, being perfectly quiet and still, and Iruka would occasionally pat him on the head. (Naruto and Lee had long since come to the wordless agreement that Kimimaro was a little weird.)
Life wasn't seeming quite as wonderful anymore, Lee thought miserably as he scratched a Konoha symbol into the ground. He ought to be find something to say that would make everything better, so that Sasuke would talk to them again and Iruka would teach them and - well, things would be fixed. There had to be something he could do! It just wasn't coming to him.
As it began to grow dark, Lee's gloomy reverie was interrupted by Iruka saying, "If we're going to spend the night here, we should set up camp. Kimimaro, there was a stream a little ways back - could you go get some water for us? And Lee, Naruto, I'd appreciate it if you'd get some firewood - Sasuke, you can help me set up here."
Lee sprang to his feet, happy to have something concrete to do at last. As Kimimaro slipped away towards the stream, Lee started to look around for good firewood and felt a tap on his head; he jumped and spun around, raising the stick in his hand. If Naruto wanted a practice fight before getting the firewood, then a practice fight he'd -
"Got your damn curry powder, kid," Zabuza said, shoving a box into Lee's free hand, and Lee fumbled and nearly dropped it. "Didn't have a lot of selection, so no whining if you don't like it."
Lee turned the box over and saw a familiar penguin logo. His favorite brand! "Thank you so much, Zabuza-san!" He beamed up at the man. "This is perfect! I am very much in your debt!"
Zabuza just grunted and brushed past Lee and an open-mouthed Naruto; as Lee hugged the box of curry powder to his chest, Haku appeared and held out a few coins. "Your change," he said, smiling. "I'm sorry we took so long, it - the town was farther away than we thought."
"It's fine!" Lee said. Overwhelming relief had swept him away, well past caring how long they had waited. "I hope it was a successful trip!"
"You came back," Sasuke said, and Lee turned around to see Sasuke staring at Zabuza as if the man had grown another head in his absence. "I thought you weren't - but -"
"Get used to disappointment," Zabuza said, settling on a fallen log and ignoring Sasuke's stares.
"You really came back," said Iruka; Lee wondered why he sounded so surprised. Surely Iruka hadn't doubted that Zabuza would return?
"Yeah, well," Zabuza growled, "the streets in Suna better be paved with fucking gold."
Unexpectedly, Iruka laughed; there was something marvelously light and joyful in his laugh that took the last shreds of doubt and concern from Lee's heart. "You'll just have to stick with us and see," he said, "but I think - what is it, Lee?"
Lee had been waving his arms - and the box of curry powder - to try and get Iruka's attention. Now he said happily, "Iruka! Now that we have curry powder again, can we have curry tonight for dinner?"
"Aww, man," Naruto groaned, "I was gonna ask for ramen, yanno!"
"But, Naruto, curry is the best meal for bringing together -"
"Sure, we can have curry," Iruka said, with another easy laugh. "But first we're going to need firewood, so get cracking, you two! Sasuke, are you helping me set up or not? Haku, you can help too if you're not too tired, I'm sure it was a long trip..."
Lee tucked the box of curry powder carefully into his belt, then realized with a start that Naruto had already begun collecting sticks and had half an armful. That wouldn't do! He could hardly let Naruto outdo him in getting firewood - he would have to get just as much firewood as Naruto did! No, twice as much! And with the fires of resolve burning bright within him, he threw himself into gathering the firewood to help cook the curry that they would all eat together.
---
Her eyes, always the clear bright green of the sea in sunlight, now dimmed to a stormy grey with unshed tears. "My dearest friend," she cried, her ample bosom heaving with emotion, "how could you ever believe I would betray you over such an unworthy person?" She clasped Aoi's hand in her own and pressed it to her -
The sharp bang of the door slamming open startled Jin out of his deep reading trance; he shoved a battered receipt between the pages to mark his place and slid the book under the counter, then looked up to see who had entered the shop so rudely. It was a whole crowd of kids, Jin's least favorite sort of visitors, and he suppressed a wince as the last one in - a shrimpy little boy in orange - let the door bang shut behind him. He was already drawing up complaints in his head for their parents as they swarmed over the shelves of paper and racks of pens and brushes, and then the two men walked in. One was a little shorter than the other and they were both in civilian clothes, but the way their eyes flickered over the store to check for threats - oh no. Oh dear. He knew he should have quit taking shinobi business long ago, but he hadn't had any customers of their sort in over a year and he'd rather hoped that meant the demand for his services was being filled by someone else.
Tsubame was hovering by a rack of kitschy greeting cards while the shorter shinobi gathered up the children; Jin saw her open her mouth to greet the new customers and said, "Tsubame, why don't you take a break? I'll see to these fine gentlemen myself."
"Boss, I just had a break like -"
"Please, Tsubame?" Jin said, smiling widely. "It will be a paid break, of course. Go get some tea or something, you work so hard."
"Well, if you say so," Tsubame said, though she still looked doubtful as she pulled her own book out of its hiding place in the greeting cards and went out, most likely to the tea shop two doors down where she spent most of her time.
The taller shinobi, who had snorted at being called a "fine gentleman," leaned over the counter to give Jin an intimidating stare. Jin gave him full marks for terrifying aura and effective use of physical presence, but felt the intimidation was slightly ruined by one of the children popping up beside him and peeping over the counter with round eyes and an adorable attempt at a fierce expression. The boy's serious face had the opposite of its intended effect, giving Jin the confidence to say, "Er - may I help you?"
"I heard you're the person to go to for - paperwork," the man said.
"I think you may, ah, may have misheard," Jin said, hoping he might still be able to avoid getting involved. "I do sell paper, ink, brushes, other stationery products, but I'm not in - in any sort of shady business, as you seem to be -"
"No, I am quite certain this is the right shop," the boy piped up, "Furuda-san was very precise when he gave us directions and described it perfectly! This is definitely the same shop!"
The man's glare cracked slightly to reveal pure irritation, a feeling Jin could sympathize with, though for a different reason. Of course it had been Furuda; the man was such a gossip, honestly, it was a wonder Jin wasn't besieged with shinobi.
"Anyway, it is very important that we speak to you before we go to Suna," the boy said, still serious. "At least, that's what Zabuzmmf snnnf!"
The shinobi had muffled the boy with one hand; he growled, "Let me handle this, kid. So, you do paperwork or what? We lost ours. On the road." His glare dared Jin to question the flimsy excuse.
"I - yes," said Jin, defeated. "I can - er, draw up whatever you need. Will this be just for you two gentleman, or do your - I mean, did the children also lose their papers?"
"Mmf fffngh?"
The other shinobi appeared with the rest of the children and freed the boy from the first man's hand. This shinobi had a scar across his nose, but a softer look in general, and he smiled as he said, "I'm sorry, I hope these two haven't scared you off - yes, I'm afraid we're all going to need papers. Sooner would be better, but I understand if it might take a while..."
"Hey, mister!" The boy in orange had popped up, standing on tiptoe to see over the counter. "Do we keep our names or do we get to pick new ones? I want a really cool name, yanno! Like - uh - Arashi! Yeah, that's a cool name, I want that one! I can be Arashi, right? Right?"
"Ahh! But that was the name I was going to choose!" the round-eyed boy said.
"Heh, really? Wanna jan-ken-pon for it? Loser has to -"
"Will you lot be quiet?" The scar-faced shinobi grabbed the two boys and pulled them away from the counter, giving Jin another embarrassed smile. "Sorry again - ah, do you need the kids here? I can throw them out if they're just going to be a distraction - yes, I'm talking to you two, I haven't noticed Kimimaro or Sasuke getting into the ink bottles or knocking over the paper!"
"Oh yeah, well, perfect Kimimaro never gets in any trouble 'cause if you yelled at him he'd like, poof out of existence -"
"You promised not to tell Iruka-sama about that!"
"Why don't we go and discuss this in the back?" Jin suggested, nervously eying the door of the store lest anyone come through it. The last thing he needed was to give Furuda more suspicious activity to gossip about. "All of us. I'll just flip the sign and we can, er, get down to business for your trip to - Suna, did you say?"
As he escorted the group to the back room where he did his special work, Jin found himself wishing that the two shinobi would go back and eviscerate Furuda to cover their tracks, if it would just mean he'd never have to go through this sort of rigmarole again.
Naruto, characters, etc. © Kishimoto who just - needs to stop. Please. I don't want to talk about it.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth - read the original post here: http://brief-transit.dreamwidth.org/184836.html .
Chapter 1, Chapter 2.
In this chapter: Lee is adorable, Kimimaro is weird, Zabuza is a jerk but gets over it (sort of), and family bathtime is the most fun thing to write in the world. (A little action occurs, too.)
3. Wave and River
"I think we ought to head for Suna," Iruka said.
The brats had all been put to sleep an hour ago, and their snoring was loud enough to prove it; the tiny cooking fire had burned down to embers. Zabuza had been treasuring the near-silence, something that had become a rare commodity of late, and he shot a glare at Iruka for disturbing it. "What for?"
"It probably wouldn't be the best place to stay," Iruka said, "but it would be good to settle down for a while and let the kids rest. And sleep in a real bed, for once - and have a real bath..."
Zabuza snorted. "So settle down here. They have baths in Wave, far as I know." The last week and a half of crawling along the south coast of the Land of Fire had brought them only as far as the borders of Wave Country; getting to Sunagakure, besides costing money for decent fake identification, would take another two weeks at that pace. Zabuza hated the sand and the heat anyway.
"I heard some disturbing rumors at the last town," Iruka said. "There are too many criminals trying to move in, and Leaf shinobi sometimes coming in to deal with them - I don't think it would be a good idea for either of us."
"Sounds perfect to me. Plenty of money in a situation like that for a man with the guts and the strength to make it." Zabuza grinned, but even in the dim light he could tell it wasn't as effective at intimidating at Iruka as it had been a week ago. It was hard to intimidate someone when they'd caught you carrying a kid on your back, even if it had only been to shut up Naruto's whining about his sore feet.
"It's no place for children." Iruka stirred up the fire's embers, sending a few sparks dancing into the air. "Suna isn't perfect, but at least it's at peace... We'd be safe there for a while."
Safe. Hell. What kind of shinobi, especially a missing-nin, cared about safety? A fucking former Leaf shinobi, that was who. Zabuza had figured out that much about Iruka the night they'd spent getting away from Kiri undiscovered; no village but Konoha turned out shinobi who were that soft and that stubborn at the same time. "You can take your brats wherever the hell you want," he said, "but Haku and I are done with this whole traveling orphanage thing." Criminal syndicates making a play for a country, even a poor backwater like Wave, meant gang rivalries, inconveniently located farmers, village-affiliated shinobi trying to interfere - all kinds of opportunities for a missing-nin who already had dirty hands and didn't care about getting them dirtier. Get Haku trained up as a proper tool without Iruka hanging over his shoulder talking about stupid Konoha philosophy, find the highest bidder, and get to work, that was what he needed to do. "I'm not going to Sand. Starting tomorrow you can -"
"I don't think splitting up would be a good idea, Zabuza-san."
Not for you, Zabuza thought. He could damn well take care of himself and Haku. "You don't give me orders, and if I want out, I'm getting out. You want to report me to the Leaf, that blood's gonna be on your hands as much as mine."
"Is that a threat?" Iruka said, an edge creeping into his voice.
"It's not a threat, it's a damn -"
"Iruka-sama? Is everything all right?"
Zabuza muttered a curse as Kimimaro appeared at the edge of the dying fire's light. If Kimimaro had been woken up, then Haku - sure enough, there was a gleam of orange reflected in Haku's open eyes. For all that the two of them barely spoke, they seemed to have reached some kind of weird understanding; Kimimaro had Iruka, Haku had Zabuza, and nothing that disturbed the (temporary, damn it) alliance was allowed. Zabuza wouldn't have cared, except Kimimaro had turned out to have a fucking creepy bloodline limit and a willingness to pull whole bones out of his arm whenever Zabuza got a little too loud or too close to Iruka.
"Yes, everything's fine," Iruka said, smiling, "Zabuza-san and I are just discussing something."
"Discussing. Yeah." Zabuza gritted his teeth and forced some kind of less-threatening expression onto his visible face. "Go back to sleep."
Kimimaro glanced at him before turning towards Iruka. "Are you sure, Iruka-sama?"
"I'm sure - and please, it's just Iruka." Iruka reached out and rubbed the top of Kimimaro's head, and a smile flashed across Kimimaro's usually impassive face. "Get some rest, okay?"
"Okay."
When Kimimaro had gone back and laid down with the other brats and Haku's eyes had closed again, Iruka said quietly, "If you want to stay here and make a living as a - a thug for hire, I can't stop you. But I'm not letting you drag a good kid like Haku into that kind of life."
Zabuza snarled. "Haku's mine!"
"If he's yours," Iruka said, "then you should be thinking about what's best for him, not just yourself."
Zabuza barely kept from gaping at him. The man had run off from the softest hidden village in the world to drag three kids around the wilderness in search of who knew what, and he had the nerve to lecture Zabuza about what was best for the children? Iruka must have thought something similar; his face flushed, and he hastily turned away and settled down to sleep. "It's your turn for first watch," he said. "Good night, Zabuza-san."
He had taken first watch the night before, but he was too pissed off to sleep anyway. He kicked dirt over the coals of the fire and let his eyes adjust to the lack of light, listening for the usual night sounds of the area and any changes that could signal trouble.
After several peaceful minutes, Iruka's voice rose out of the darkness again. "You're right about one thing, though."
"What."
"There are baths in Wave Country..."
If Zabuza cut the throats of all the useless ones while they slept, maybe he could tell Haku and Kimimaro bandits had done it and still keep them as tools.
---
The attendant looked at them strangely - as well she might, Iruka thought while he counted out the entrance fees; even leaving out Zabuza looming over everyone with a murderous expression, the rest of them definitely looked the worse for wear after weeks of travel, and they made for a pretty mixed bunch to begin with. She took Iruka's money and wished them a pleasant time with only a slight twitch in one eyelid as she handed out towels and soap, and the moment Iruka turned away to start herding kids toward the door to the locker room she was whispering to her fellow attendant.
"You're going to get us all caught and executed," Zabuza hissed in his ear while Iruka folded Kimimaro's shirt to put in a locker - the kids had been the first out of their clothes and had gone into the baths already to start cleaning up.
"I don't think it's very likely," Iruka said, wondering if he could find a coin laundry in town before they left. It seemed like a shame to get a proper bath and then have to put on clothes that hadn't had a good wash in weeks. "Classified bingo books aren't usually handed out to bathhouse attendants, and so far there's no sign of anyone after me and my kids." He was starting to worry about that; it was one thing for no one to miss him or Lee, but Naruto had been under watch for years, and Sasuke was the last heir of one of the village's oldest clans. He couldn't understand the lack of pursuit, though he was grateful for it.
"When some asshole breaks in here to arrest us," Zabuza said, "I'm leaving you all behind."
Sasuke stuck his head out of the other room and said, "Are you guys coming? Because Naruto is daring Kimimaro to make a shower cap out of his skull."
"Better hurry up and strip, Zabuza-san," Iruka said. "Including the wrappings on your face, please," and he ducked into the baths before Zabuza could protest.
Fortunately, since it was the middle of the day, there were only a couple of old men already soaking in the bath and chatting to each other, and Iruka was able to convince Kimimaro that a regular shower cap would work just fine before any of them noticed the ridge of bone Kimimaro had started pulling out of his head. Naruto's disappointment didn't last long; moments later he was trying to argue with Sasuke over who got to go first.
Iruka broke it up before Sasuke started arguing back - honestly, the place was practically empty, there was room enough for everyone - and said, "Okay, anyone want me to -"
Kimimaro's hand shot up, followed a beat later by Naruto and Lee's.
"- help wash their hair?" Iruka sighed. "At least let me finish the question - anyway, I only have two hands, so Kimimaro and - hm -"
"It's all right to choose Naruto, Iruka-san," Lee said, "Zabuza-san can help wash mine and Haku's!"
Zabuza walked in just in time to hear this and turned an accusing glare on Iruka.
"It wasn't my idea," Iruka said. "If you don't want to, of course, I'll -"
"It would be very kind of you, Zabuza-san," Haku said with a perfectly straight face. "And more efficient, too, I think."
Sasuke snorted. "What are you, babies? Wash your own hair," he said, and Iruka gave him a warning look. Most of the time he was grateful that Sasuke had begun saying more than "shut up," but he wasn't sure that constant scorn directed at everyone but Zabuza and Iruka was that much of an improvement.
"Whatever, you're just jealous no one wants to touch your goofy hair," Naruto said, sticking out his tongue, and Sasuke scowled back. Naruto ignored him. "Hey, Zabuza-san, you do know how to wash someone's hair, right? 'Cause yours is super short so maybe you don't have to -"
"Naruto!" Iruka grabbed him by the head and forced him down onto a stool; Kimimaro had already chosen one and was waiting patiently.
"Don't worry, it's very easy!" Lee said, holding a bottle of shampoo out to Zabuza. "Although if you insist I can -"
Zabuza yanked the bottle out of his hand. "Just shut up and sit down," he growled, and Naruto and Lee exchanged grins.
Iruka watched Zabuza out of the corner of his eye while he rubbed shampoo into Naruto and Kimimaro's hair. The lack of bandages over Zabuza's mouth made a strange difference in his appearance; he was less intimidating, somehow, even with the occasional flashes of pointed teeth. Not handsome, exactly, but certainly - interesting-looking. And surprisingly gentle as he washed Haku and Lee's hair, which was improving Iruka's opinion of him a little, and there was something oddly charming about the way his lower lip occasionally caught on a tooth as he concentrated...
"I-ru-ka! Hey, Iruka! Are you done yet?"
"Er - yes, sorry, just a minute." He hurriedly tore his eyes away from Zabuza and dipped a bucket in the trough of steaming water along the wall to empty over the kids' heads and rinse out the shampoo. Glancing over, he saw that Zabuza had finished with Lee and Haku, so he said, "All right, you can all get in the bath now - last one in is a Naruto and Lee don't you dare jump in!"
The pair skidded to a guilty halt on the tiled floor as Sasuke stalked past them with a superior look on his face; Haku had already slipped into the bath without Iruka noticing.
"Last one in is a what, Iruka-sama?" Kimimaro asked.
"Never mind," Iruka said, "it's not important - go ahead and get in, Zabuza-san and I will be there in just a couple of minutes." He kept his face carefully neutral as he said, "Zabuza-san, if you'd like any help, I'd be happy to -"
"Don't fucking push it."
Finally getting to settle into the blissfully hot water was exactly as wonderful as Iruka had dreamed it would be, although his fantasies had generally been a lot quieter and not involved Sasuke threatening to drown Naruto if he splashed Sasuke one more time. Or Zabuza's presence, although he did appreciate having a second pair of eyes on the door. More than that, though, he appreciated the bath and Haku's willingness to help keep an eye on the other kids. Such a sweet and responsible boy - what he was doing with a man like Zabuza Iruka just couldn't understand.
He watched the group of kids for a couple of minutes, just to make sure they weren't going to accidentally bother the old men at the other end of the bath, but they were behaving about as well as could be expected, so he leaned back and relaxed, letting vague plans drift across his mind. Coin laundry, right, he needed to look for one; his funds were getting a little low - no thanks to the exorbitant amount of food Zabuza ate, probably out of spite - but not so low that he had to touch Lee or Sasuke or Naruto's savings. Though maybe he'd let them run around and get some things for themselves, they deserved it for handling the trip so well so far... Oh, maybe clothes, too. Kimimaro needed more than the single outfit he'd had on him, and Sasuke could do with some new shirts; Iruka had managed to remove or cover over all the Uchiha symbols, but not very well, and the results stood out almost as badly as the fans would have. Definitely clothes. And ramen. But laundry first...
"Iruka, Zabuza-san! Hey, you awake?"
Naruto had waded over and was waving his hand in front of their faces. Zabuza grunted; Iruka said, "Yes, what is it?"
"Me and Lee were talking, right," Naruto said, "and you guys are basically like our dads now, yanno, so we were thinking, Zabuza can be Grumpy Dad and Iruka can be Nice Dad so we don't get confused. Sasuke doesn't care and Kimimaro wants to stick with 'Iruka-sama' 'cause he's weird like that and Haku says he's okay with -"
"Kid," Zabuza said, "if you don't go away right now I'm going to put you headfirst through a wall."
Naruto just laughed and splashed away to try dunking Sasuke, sparking a free-for-all water wrestling match; Zabuza stared after him, then said, "Has he always been that dumb, or did you drop him on his head before you got to Kiri?"
"Well..." Iruka sank a little deeper into the water, thinking it over. "He's not exactly top-of-the-class material, no. But he can be surprisingly perceptive, sometimes - maybe he sees something about you that you just aren't aware of yet."
"Maybe he's too stupid to live," Zabuza said and suddenly grinned, baring his teeth. "Maybe I ought to teach 'em all a few lessons about what it really means to be a ninja."
"I'd prefer it if you didn't, thank you." The last thing Iruka needed was Zabuza telling any of the kids stories about his past in Kirigakure, particularly Sasuke. Iruka didn't know the details of what had happened to the Uchiha clan, but the little he'd heard before they left Konoha had given him chills; he didn't want Zabuza to remind Sasuke of any bad memories, especially if they were all going to keep traveling together.
Zabuza muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Fucking Leaf," but let it drop. Iruka tried to relax back into the bath and failed miserably. Now that he was actually thinking about it and not just running on instinct - why the hell had he decided they ought to travel with Zabuza? Getting so hopelessly lost that they'd ended up near Kirigakure was not a good reason, however true it happened to be; neither was wanting someone to talk to who was older than ten, although in the privacy of his own mind he could admit that was also true. Even to himself he didn't want to admit that he might have been hoping he could talk Haku away from Zabuza, an idea that had lasted all of maybe two days' travel. Zabuza might have been the Demon of the Bloody Mist, but in Haku's eyes the man could do no wrong.
Iruka found his gaze drifting away from watching the entrance and over to Zabuza. Of course, Zabuza wasn't exactly what Iruka had been expecting from his reputation, either. Coarse and bloodthirsty, yes, but - he didn't think he had been too far off the mark when he'd said Naruto saw something in Zabuza that he didn't know about. Iruka wished that he could see it, too; it would take one set of worries off his mind, at least.
"Hey, Zabuza-san? Iruka?" Naruto had come back, and before Iruka could ask him what the matter was Zabuza said, "What the hell do you want?"
"Geez, you don't have to be so cranky," Naruto said, "I was just yanking your chain about calling you Grumpy Dad, yanno... Anyway, are we gonna stay here long? Like, maybe overnight? One of the old guys said they have a super nice inn here, so can we stay there instead of camping tonight? Can we?"
"Hm - well..." One night couldn't hurt, could it? And it would give him time to run all those errands he'd been thinking of, and if they shared rooms it shouldn't be too terribly expensive...
Just then a trio of men with tattoos twining around their arms came in from the locker room, laughing loudly over something. "- look on his face," the shortest of them said between laughs, "when that ninja just poofed outta there - who cares how long it takes to find that Leaf bastard again, totally worth it for the boss's expression!"
"Eh, you say that now..."
Iruka and Zabuza exchanged glances over Naruto's head; a subtle shift in Zabuza's expression was somehow adequate to convey the possibility of slitting the men's throats and making a quick getaway. Iruka shook his head slightly and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I'm afraid not," he said, with sincere regret in his voice - a real bed would have been nice. "Maybe next time."
"Aww..." The disappointment on Naruto's face stung badly. Iruka would have to find a way to explain later, make it up to them all somehow - damn it, if only those men hadn't walked in! No, they shouldn't have stayed anyway, but to find out just like that there were Konoha shinobi around... So much for the coin laundry, and the rest of Iruka's errands.
Haku appeared and rested a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Don't feel too bad, Naruto-kun," he said, "you can help me take care of Usa-chan when we get back to camp," which made Naruto grin and cheer - he loved that rabbit almost more than Haku did. Haku's eyes, however, were fixed on Zabuza's face with a certain wariness. "Are we leaving now?"
"Yeah, get the other brats together and get out of here," Zabuza said.
"If you'd be so kind," Iruka added. "Naruto, that includes you - go on ahead, we'll meet you outside."
"Man," Naruto said, "this has to be the longest camping trip ever. We should get, like, a world record prize or something." But he obediently waded off with Haku, and after a minute or so of spirited arguing, all the kids but Kimimaro had gotten out. Kimimaro simply moved to sit between Iruka and Zabuza, watching the tattooed men with a slight frown.
"Kimimaro, why don't you go with the others?" Iruka said. "And don't stare at people, it's rude." Not to mention likely to attract the trio's attention, which wouldn't make it any easier to get out of the bathhouse without looking suspicious.
"Because something is wrong, isn't it? About those men." Kimimaro's frown deepened. "I won't let anything happen to you, Iruka-sama."
"Nothing is -" No, better not to lie if he didn't have to. "I heard them mention a shinobi, and we don't want to run into any trouble with shinobi or anyone else, okay? That's all. So we need to leave without them taking any special notice of us."
"Oh." Kimimaro considered this for a moment. "All right."
"Will you two move your asses already?"
As they left, Iruka saw a swirl of dull red on the floor where the tattooed men had washed up, and his stomach twisted a little. He should stay. He should find the shinobi - it had to be someone from Konoha, who else would get hired for problems in Wave? - find them and offer to help, do whatever he could to assist them in their mission... And face execution as a missing-nin if he did. If he was lucky, and whether he was lucky or not, the kids - Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, Kimimaro - they would all have to live with the consequences of his decision to leave the village. The real weight of the duties and comrades he had abandoned hit him then for the first time, and he froze.
"Iruka." Zabuza's voice was as non-hostile as Iruka had ever heard it. "Move it now, regrets later."
Iruka blinked, swallowed past the knot in his throat, and took a step forward. Right. They had to keep moving. Kimimaro took his hand and suddenly it was easy to keep going, to join the others in the locker room and dry off and get their clothes out of the lockers and get dressed. Regrets later, if he was going to have them. And thinking about it, there should still be time for at least one of those errands he'd been considering...
As the group waited at a ramen stall for their orders to be filled, Iruka said, "You know, I think that was the first time you've actually called me by my name."
"I wouldn't get used to it if I were you," Zabuza said.
---
The tall girl introduced herself as Miyu, after a short, flat pause, and explained that she was looking for her eight-year-old cousin, who had run away from home with some friends and a strange man. The entire family was terribly worried, was there any chance that they had seen him? She could give a complete description of him, and of the other boys, too.
Momoko consulted with her coworker Nami in hurried whispers - don't look alike at all - well, the way she looks at you, though - didn't mention the other two, or that scary - seemed so nice, you wouldn't think he - never know, better to - before saying, "Well, we did have a group like that in a few days ago, but they didn't stay very long. And they must have met up with some friends, too, because there were five boys, not three, and another man -"
"A scary one," Nami said, with a delicate shudder. "He didn't even have eyebrows! I was surprised he didn't make any trouble, peeping or - or getting into a fight!"
"I see," Miyu said. "And Sasuke? Was he unharmed?"
Momoko blinked at hearing it put so clinically. "Um, he certainly looked like he needed a bath," she said. "But he didn't look hurt or anything, no - just dirty. And a bit grumpy, I guess. Even after bathing! Which I can assure you is not the case with our baths normally, we have the finest -"
"Meaningless hyperbole in the hopes of gaining more business. Did any of them happen to mention where they were going?"
"Uh - what?"
"No?" Nami said. "They weren't very chatty, really, not even the nice one, and they left right after those creeps of Gato's showed up, and who could blame them, those people are always causing trouble, I mean - well, you know the type!"
"Your information is a little useful, at least," said Miyu, and after another of those short pauses, she added a flat, "Thank you."
It was a real shame, Nami and Momoko agreed later. Such a pretty girl, and so naturally, you know, well-endowed - she could've had the whole town falling for her if she'd just put a little effort into acting like a person and not a puppet.
---
Other people might have thought him strange for it, but Rock Lee was having the time of his life. He had friends who mostly didn't judge him for being unable to use ninjutsu, he had Iruka teaching him personally - not just as part of a class - and helping him understand things, and he got to spend lots of time training while they walked and seeing new places, even if most of the new places were just different kinds of forests. It was completely unlike his life in Konoha, and he thought it was wonderful.
"- and the enemy is 30 meters away, how much will you have to compensate for the wind?"
Well, the math was not very wonderful. But otherwise, Lee was definitely enjoying himself, even while he tried to figure out the right answer. Kimimaro already had his hand up, of course; he was strangely ignorant in some areas, but very good at others, and always eager to impress Iruka.
"Thanks, Kimimaro," Iruka said, "but you answered the last five questions, so let's let someone else answer - Lee?" Kimimaro lowered his hand without apparent disappointment.
"Er - um -" How was he supposed to calculate that again? There was a formula or something, surely. "Um..."
"Are you training them to be shinobi or math teachers?" Zabuza said, without turning around from his place at the head of the group. He had been leading the way lately, since he claimed he didn't care about teaching them anything and knew his way around the Land of Rivers, but he always helped them train in the mornings now instead of just working with Haku, which Lee also considered quite wonderful; Zabuza was highly skilled in taijutsu, Lee's one strength.
"It's important to have a good understanding of the basics," said Iruka. "Lee, do you have an answer yet?"
"You'd just aim a couple of degrees to the left," Sasuke said before Lee could make a guess. "It's easy."
"Right, that!" Lee said. "Thank you for your assistance, Sasuke!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Next time, please let Lee answer," Iruka said. "Even if it takes him a while. Now, Naruto, this one is for you - if you can run at a constant speed of thirty kilometers an hour, and it takes you three hours and forty-five minutes to reach -"
"Could you give it a rest for two minutes?" It was the sort of thing Zabuza said frequently, but the emphasis on the number seemed peculiar, and Iruka did not argue with him as usual; instead he said, "You can have one minute."
"Just one?" Zabuza said. "I'm going to lose my edge..."
Lee started to ask them both how one minute of Iruka not teaching could affect Zabuza's "edge," but they vanished at the same moment and Kimimaro yanked him and Naruto back just as a length of thick, black chain shot through the air where Iruka had been.
"Holy crap!" Naruto was already digging through his pockets for his single non-blunted kunai. "C'mon, we gotta help fight!" Kimimaro nodded and began to pull a long, edged piece of bone out of his left arm; Lee didn't have any weapons, but he struck his best taijutsu stance and looked around for any sign of the enemy. On Naruto's other side, Sasuke had his hands filled with shuriken, and Haku had disappeared along with Zabuza.
Lee strained his ears, but he could only hear the breeze stirring the leaves around them, and there was no follow-up attack to the chain, which lay in a coiled heap on the ground. How strange; Zabuza always seemed to talk a lot when they were training, usually insults, so Lee thought that he ought to be able to hear Zabuza fighting, at least. But there was no sign of either Zabuza or Iruka.
Something clinked behind him, and he whirled around to find Haku with a small shield of ice covering himself and Kimimaro's back. A kunai had just bounced off the ice, and a moment later a tall man with swept-up dark hair and ragged black clothes appeared, looming over them. "Just kids," he said. "The hell are a bunch of brats doing out in the middle of nowhere?"
A wave of burning anger swept over Lee - just kids! He would show this stranger what the students of Konoha could do! - and he sprang at the man, only dimly aware that Naruto was doing the same. Before either of them could strike Haku had grabbed them by the backs of their shirts and pulled them behind the ice shield. "Please don't do anything foolish," he said, "Iruka-san wouldn't like that."
"But he said that we were just kids! I cannot let this insult stand!" Lee took up his stance again and glared fiercely at the stranger.
The stranger smirked and drew a length of heavy chain from somewhere on his back. "This is gonna be like taking candy from a -"
One of Sasuke's shuriken struck him in the forehead, but unfortunately didn't stick. He snarled, wiped away a streak of blood, and the edge of a tanned hand slammed into the side of his neck. He collapsed, only to reveal Iruka standing behind him looking winded, with another unconscious stranger draped across his back. "Thank you for looking after everyone, Haku," he said. "And good shot, Sasuke - although it's probably better if you aim at somewhere with more flesh for now, until you've built up some muscle." He looked around as he eased the second missing-nin off his back and to the ground. "Where's Zabuza-san? He should have -"
"Handling the third one," Zabuza growled as he appeared with yet another stranger slung over one shoulder and dripping blood. "There were three of the bastards. Some sensor you -"
"Oh, I understand now!" Lee said, overcome with excitement at his realization. "It was a code! 'Two minutes' means 'two enemies,' but it sounds like a normal part of your conversation, so anyone who listens would not suspect that you knew they were there!"
"Well-spotted, Lee," Iruka said, smiling, and Lee blushed with happiness. Hah! This would surely make up for his earlier inability to answer Iruka's question.
"Better hope there isn't a fourth one out there listening." Zabuza dumped the stranger on his shoulder over the other two's bodies. "Now what?"
"Hmm." Iruka scrutinized the three unconscious missing-nin and absent-mindedly pulled Naruto away before he could kick any of them. "This is a problem - we can't have them following us..."
"So slit their throats," Zabuza said.
"Er," Lee said, "that's a bit - it doesn't seem very nice..." Had Zabuza always looked quite so threatening? Perhaps it was just the streaks of blood on his shoulder and chest, which there was more of than Lee had realized at first, and come to think of it, was the missing-nin Zabuza had caught actually breathing?
"It's not supposed to be nice, brat," growled Zabuza, "it's supposed to be convenient, so we can get the hell out of here before more of them show up."
"But I mean - like, you guys beat them already," Naruto said, "so you can't just hurt them more, that's against the rules or something, right, Iruka?" But Iruka didn't answer right away, and Lee was very glad when Naruto edged closer to him, their shoulders bumping. "Iruka? You're not gonna do that, right?"
A long moment of hesitation, then Iruka said, "No - no, of course not. Hm - if we tie them up well enough, maybe -"
"Don't fucking play around!" Zabuza grabbed the front of Iruka's shirt, glaring into his eyes, and Lee and Naruto tensed up. "If you don't have the guts to do it I'll kill them myself, but you'd better not -" He stopped at the pressure of a bone blade against his side.
"Let Iruka-sama go," Kimimaro said from behind Zabuza, and Lee breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Of course Kimimaro would not let anything happen to Iruka! And surely Zabuza would come to his senses and stop saying such terrible things now that he realized he had frightened Kimimaro.
"Kimimaro, please don't do anything rash," Iruka said, his eyes still locked with Zabuza's. "We'll settle this ourselves. Zabuza-san, this is not the Bloody Mist, and I won't allow you to -"
"You won't allow - you lily-livered Leaf worm, I'm going to -"
"May I make a suggestion?" Haku said softly; he put one restraining hand over Kimimaro's. "If these are missing-nin, there could be a bounty on them - it might be worthwhile to take them to a town and find out."
Iruka's face lit up. "Great idea!" he said. "If I remember right, there should be a decent-sized town a couple hours north of here we can take them to - ah, but we can't all go, that'd stand out too much. Hmm..."
"Heh," Zabuza said, letting go of Iruka's shirt, and Lee could just see the shape of a grin under his facial bandages. "How about I take 'em? You lot can just wait here for me, long as you want."
Lee saw nothing wrong with that plan - Zabuza was bigger than Iruka, probably big enough to carry all three of the missing-nin by himself - but Iruka looked unhappy at the suggestion. "I'm not sure that's the best idea," he said. "It'd be better if we both go."
"Nah, you'd just slow me down." Zabuza was already picking up the missing-nin he'd caught and slinging them back over his shoulder, causing a groan which brought a great deal of relief to Lee's heart. He heaved one of the other two onto his other shoulder and said, "Haku, get the last one. We'll see you later - maybe."
"Please wait!" Lee said, searching through his pockets and ignoring the baffled looks from Naruto and Iruka. "Zabuza-san, since you're going into town, could you please - er - could you please get me some curry powder? We ran out..." He found his wallet and held a handful of ryo out towards Zabuza, who was staring at him with an unreadable expression. Lee swallowed - Zabuza really could be very intimidating - but didn't lower his hand. After that fight, he thought it would be good to show that there were no hard feelings. "Um - any brand is okay! Medium-hot, please."
"Lee," said Iruka, "I don't think -"
"Sure thing, brat," Zabuza said, and he reached out and took the ryo from Lee's hand. "I'll get you some curry powder."
"Thank you!" Lee smiled as widely as he could, hoping for a responding smile, but Zabuza just pocketed the money and turned away. Haku gave Lee an apologetic look as he picked up the third missing-nin with only a little effort, and then he and Zabuza disappeared into the forest.
Lee turned back to the others and saw that Iruka was giving him a strangely sad look. After a moment, he sighed and ruffled Lee's hair. "You're really a good kid, Lee," he said. "I just hope - never mind. We might as well get comfortable while we wait, I suppose... At least it's not a bad spot to camp out."
"I'm sure Zabuza-san will be back soon," Lee said, "even if it takes him a while to find curry!"
"Are you stupid?" Sasuke demanded, and Lee looked around, startled; it was the first time Sasuke had spoken since the attack. Lee saw that he still held a shuriken, clenched so tightly in his left hand that a thin trickle of blood was leaking through his fingers. "He's not coming back."
"Hey, don't talk like that!" Naruto bumped his shoulder against Lee's again, which Lee appreciated, and said, "Zabuza's gonna be back - I mean, yeah, he was kinda creepy just now, but he must be okay, really, or Haku wouldn't hang out with him, yanno? And Iruka wouldn't -"
"He's a murderer, you idiot!" Sasuke's face had gone even paler than usual, and there was a look in his dark eyes that Lee hadn't seen in weeks. "He's a killer, just like - you think he's been joking all those times he threatened you and he's not, he would do it and he wouldn't even care!"
"That's enough," Iruka said. "I know we're all on edge right now, but you shouldn't yell at Lee and Naruto... Let me look at that hand, all right?"
Sasuke flinched back as Iruka reached for his bleeding hand. "Don't touch me! You're just as bad as he is, you were going to - you would have let him -"
Lee waited for Iruka to deny it, for Naruto or Kimimaro to jump in with a defense, for himself to speak up, but he remembered Iruka's earlier hesitation too well and the words of protest died in his throat. It wasn't that he really thought Iruka would have killed the missing-nin, but - what if Naruto hadn't spoken up? What if Haku hadn't suggested taking the missing-nin to town?
Just for a moment, Iruka looked as if he might cry; then his expression grew firmer and he said, "Zabuza was raised and trained in a very different village from Konoha, and Kirigakure - well, it wasn't known as the Bloody Mist for no reason... That doesn't mean I'll let him hurt any of you, or anyone else - no matter what we run into, and no matter what he says. You three got that? Now, Sasuke, give me that hand."
This time, Sasuke didn't pull away when Iruka took his hand, gently pried the shuriken out of it, and bandaged the thin cuts, but he kept a wary eye on Iruka the entire time, and after Iruka was done he retreated several paces away and turned his back to them all.
Although it was a pleasant, sunny afternoon, the wait for Zabuza and Haku's return stretched out in a cold and unhappy silence. Sasuke continued to avoid the entire group; Iruka, who under normal circumstances would have been taking advantage of the time to teach them, just sat on a fallen log and watched everyone else. Lee and Naruto tried to amuse themselves, but Naruto's heart wasn't in any of their usual games, and eventually Lee had to admit that he wasn't feeling very playful, either. They ended up sitting together between Sasuke and Iruka, drawing in the spongy dirt with sticks. Only Kimimaro was willing to go near Iruka; he sat beside Iruka on the log, being perfectly quiet and still, and Iruka would occasionally pat him on the head. (Naruto and Lee had long since come to the wordless agreement that Kimimaro was a little weird.)
Life wasn't seeming quite as wonderful anymore, Lee thought miserably as he scratched a Konoha symbol into the ground. He ought to be find something to say that would make everything better, so that Sasuke would talk to them again and Iruka would teach them and - well, things would be fixed. There had to be something he could do! It just wasn't coming to him.
As it began to grow dark, Lee's gloomy reverie was interrupted by Iruka saying, "If we're going to spend the night here, we should set up camp. Kimimaro, there was a stream a little ways back - could you go get some water for us? And Lee, Naruto, I'd appreciate it if you'd get some firewood - Sasuke, you can help me set up here."
Lee sprang to his feet, happy to have something concrete to do at last. As Kimimaro slipped away towards the stream, Lee started to look around for good firewood and felt a tap on his head; he jumped and spun around, raising the stick in his hand. If Naruto wanted a practice fight before getting the firewood, then a practice fight he'd -
"Got your damn curry powder, kid," Zabuza said, shoving a box into Lee's free hand, and Lee fumbled and nearly dropped it. "Didn't have a lot of selection, so no whining if you don't like it."
Lee turned the box over and saw a familiar penguin logo. His favorite brand! "Thank you so much, Zabuza-san!" He beamed up at the man. "This is perfect! I am very much in your debt!"
Zabuza just grunted and brushed past Lee and an open-mouthed Naruto; as Lee hugged the box of curry powder to his chest, Haku appeared and held out a few coins. "Your change," he said, smiling. "I'm sorry we took so long, it - the town was farther away than we thought."
"It's fine!" Lee said. Overwhelming relief had swept him away, well past caring how long they had waited. "I hope it was a successful trip!"
"You came back," Sasuke said, and Lee turned around to see Sasuke staring at Zabuza as if the man had grown another head in his absence. "I thought you weren't - but -"
"Get used to disappointment," Zabuza said, settling on a fallen log and ignoring Sasuke's stares.
"You really came back," said Iruka; Lee wondered why he sounded so surprised. Surely Iruka hadn't doubted that Zabuza would return?
"Yeah, well," Zabuza growled, "the streets in Suna better be paved with fucking gold."
Unexpectedly, Iruka laughed; there was something marvelously light and joyful in his laugh that took the last shreds of doubt and concern from Lee's heart. "You'll just have to stick with us and see," he said, "but I think - what is it, Lee?"
Lee had been waving his arms - and the box of curry powder - to try and get Iruka's attention. Now he said happily, "Iruka! Now that we have curry powder again, can we have curry tonight for dinner?"
"Aww, man," Naruto groaned, "I was gonna ask for ramen, yanno!"
"But, Naruto, curry is the best meal for bringing together -"
"Sure, we can have curry," Iruka said, with another easy laugh. "But first we're going to need firewood, so get cracking, you two! Sasuke, are you helping me set up or not? Haku, you can help too if you're not too tired, I'm sure it was a long trip..."
Lee tucked the box of curry powder carefully into his belt, then realized with a start that Naruto had already begun collecting sticks and had half an armful. That wouldn't do! He could hardly let Naruto outdo him in getting firewood - he would have to get just as much firewood as Naruto did! No, twice as much! And with the fires of resolve burning bright within him, he threw himself into gathering the firewood to help cook the curry that they would all eat together.
---
Her eyes, always the clear bright green of the sea in sunlight, now dimmed to a stormy grey with unshed tears. "My dearest friend," she cried, her ample bosom heaving with emotion, "how could you ever believe I would betray you over such an unworthy person?" She clasped Aoi's hand in her own and pressed it to her -
The sharp bang of the door slamming open startled Jin out of his deep reading trance; he shoved a battered receipt between the pages to mark his place and slid the book under the counter, then looked up to see who had entered the shop so rudely. It was a whole crowd of kids, Jin's least favorite sort of visitors, and he suppressed a wince as the last one in - a shrimpy little boy in orange - let the door bang shut behind him. He was already drawing up complaints in his head for their parents as they swarmed over the shelves of paper and racks of pens and brushes, and then the two men walked in. One was a little shorter than the other and they were both in civilian clothes, but the way their eyes flickered over the store to check for threats - oh no. Oh dear. He knew he should have quit taking shinobi business long ago, but he hadn't had any customers of their sort in over a year and he'd rather hoped that meant the demand for his services was being filled by someone else.
Tsubame was hovering by a rack of kitschy greeting cards while the shorter shinobi gathered up the children; Jin saw her open her mouth to greet the new customers and said, "Tsubame, why don't you take a break? I'll see to these fine gentlemen myself."
"Boss, I just had a break like -"
"Please, Tsubame?" Jin said, smiling widely. "It will be a paid break, of course. Go get some tea or something, you work so hard."
"Well, if you say so," Tsubame said, though she still looked doubtful as she pulled her own book out of its hiding place in the greeting cards and went out, most likely to the tea shop two doors down where she spent most of her time.
The taller shinobi, who had snorted at being called a "fine gentleman," leaned over the counter to give Jin an intimidating stare. Jin gave him full marks for terrifying aura and effective use of physical presence, but felt the intimidation was slightly ruined by one of the children popping up beside him and peeping over the counter with round eyes and an adorable attempt at a fierce expression. The boy's serious face had the opposite of its intended effect, giving Jin the confidence to say, "Er - may I help you?"
"I heard you're the person to go to for - paperwork," the man said.
"I think you may, ah, may have misheard," Jin said, hoping he might still be able to avoid getting involved. "I do sell paper, ink, brushes, other stationery products, but I'm not in - in any sort of shady business, as you seem to be -"
"No, I am quite certain this is the right shop," the boy piped up, "Furuda-san was very precise when he gave us directions and described it perfectly! This is definitely the same shop!"
The man's glare cracked slightly to reveal pure irritation, a feeling Jin could sympathize with, though for a different reason. Of course it had been Furuda; the man was such a gossip, honestly, it was a wonder Jin wasn't besieged with shinobi.
"Anyway, it is very important that we speak to you before we go to Suna," the boy said, still serious. "At least, that's what Zabuzmmf snnnf!"
The shinobi had muffled the boy with one hand; he growled, "Let me handle this, kid. So, you do paperwork or what? We lost ours. On the road." His glare dared Jin to question the flimsy excuse.
"I - yes," said Jin, defeated. "I can - er, draw up whatever you need. Will this be just for you two gentleman, or do your - I mean, did the children also lose their papers?"
"Mmf fffngh?"
The other shinobi appeared with the rest of the children and freed the boy from the first man's hand. This shinobi had a scar across his nose, but a softer look in general, and he smiled as he said, "I'm sorry, I hope these two haven't scared you off - yes, I'm afraid we're all going to need papers. Sooner would be better, but I understand if it might take a while..."
"Hey, mister!" The boy in orange had popped up, standing on tiptoe to see over the counter. "Do we keep our names or do we get to pick new ones? I want a really cool name, yanno! Like - uh - Arashi! Yeah, that's a cool name, I want that one! I can be Arashi, right? Right?"
"Ahh! But that was the name I was going to choose!" the round-eyed boy said.
"Heh, really? Wanna jan-ken-pon for it? Loser has to -"
"Will you lot be quiet?" The scar-faced shinobi grabbed the two boys and pulled them away from the counter, giving Jin another embarrassed smile. "Sorry again - ah, do you need the kids here? I can throw them out if they're just going to be a distraction - yes, I'm talking to you two, I haven't noticed Kimimaro or Sasuke getting into the ink bottles or knocking over the paper!"
"Oh yeah, well, perfect Kimimaro never gets in any trouble 'cause if you yelled at him he'd like, poof out of existence -"
"You promised not to tell Iruka-sama about that!"
"Why don't we go and discuss this in the back?" Jin suggested, nervously eying the door of the store lest anyone come through it. The last thing he needed was to give Furuda more suspicious activity to gossip about. "All of us. I'll just flip the sign and we can, er, get down to business for your trip to - Suna, did you say?"
As he escorted the group to the back room where he did his special work, Jin found himself wishing that the two shinobi would go back and eviscerate Furuda to cover their tracks, if it would just mean he'd never have to go through this sort of rigmarole again.
Naruto, characters, etc. © Kishimoto who just - needs to stop. Please. I don't want to talk about it.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth - read the original post here: http://brief-transit.dreamwidth.org/184836.html .