"Crossed Wires" [Aki & Rin]
[happening... like, last week in game time!]
There were times you had to wonder about Konoha, and times you didn't have to. The village was famous for the variety and strength of its ninjas, and for the spirit of sacrifice, loyalty and inheritance that surrounded every soul who called it home; but it was also famous for being a really weird place and utterly unapologetic about it.
Not that any of its born and bred daughters or sons realized that last bit, a fact made evident by the way Rin and Aki were nonchalantly scouring their pockets for change to feed into the fully-lit and cheerfully beeping vending machine that was inexplicably functioning in the middle of the forest that edged the north side of Training Area Four. Both men were covered in dirt, sweat and bruises (there had been worse, but that was the handy thing about training with a medic-nin) but were chattering away cheerfully to each other around their exhausted breaths.
Rin managed to find a couple of coins and flipped them to Aki, taking the chance to lean on the side of the vending machine and grin wearily. "So... now we're not trying to take each other to pieces... how's it going, Aki?"
It'd been months and months since they'd last seen each other for more than a few minutes - it'd been the Gala, in fact - and ironically enough the pair of them had probably been in more danger during this day-long training session than they had been during that event's insanity. Which, of course, was what friends were for in Konoha's ninja world.
Ah...choices, choices...Aki pressed some buttons as Rin spoke. Gray eyes fluttered towards Rin as the machine cranked lumberously and dropped a cold can. Aki fished it out.
"Its going." he said cheerily, opening his drink and taking a swig. Aki shrugged and smiled a bit. "Things aren't bad, actually." And it was nice. Aki seemed to be veering towards something resembling a normal existance, something he hadn't really even thought of considering just a few years ago. "And you? With the living with Kakami and all...that, ah...going well?" He eyed the other man just a bit.
Rin's brown eyes warmed a little at the way Aki was looking at him. Something was up. Of course, with Aki something was always up, but it wasn't usually anything that involved Rin. He reached a hand around the side of the machine to tap a few buttons (knowing where everything was by heart with how often he used this one) and the remaining funds within bought him a bottle of fruit juice.
"It's going extremely well," he assured Aki, wondering why he was asking and finding an odd answer the only feasible one. He raised an eyebrow as he pulled his own drink out the machine and fiddled with the lid. "Are you trying to tell me that I can't come crash at yours for a while if they aren't?" A small half-smile, he was teasing. "You getting new floors laid or something?"
Aki snorted a little. New floors, right.
"Nah." He paused, almost thoughtfully. "Have considered getting a new place." His was small and kinda...well, it worked for him since he didn't spend a lot of time at home. That could possibly change...depending on certain circumstances. "You know...depending on things...which is, well its all circumstantional and stuff."
He finished off the can quickly and then smooshed the aluminum. "So, how'd you get Kakami to move into your place?"
Rin was midway through his first sip from his bottle and thusly nearly sneezed juice all over the place. Damnit, Aki!
Coughing slightly, and stuffing his torn sleeve against his nose, Rin squinted down at Aki's guilless expression and shook his head at him. "Smooth, Aki. That was just the most not obvious segueway ever." He managed to clean a drip of red juice off his cheek and dropped down to sit on the grass, long legs splayed out carelessly and his back up against the humming plastic bulk of the vending machine. "And that's probably not a question you want to ask me," he added.
Aki shrugged. He wasn't exactly the most subtle person ever and he didn't really care for the most part. Except when it makes things difficult. He flopped to the ground next to Rin and sighed.
"No...sorta. Look, you're the only guy I know who's got a girl he's romantically interested in living with him, " Or at least Rin had better be or Suzumo might have at lot of explaining to do "...and I kinda just wanted to know how you got there."
It took a long moment for Rin to process what Aki was actually saying to him. Then he ran a mental tally in his head and realized that Aki was right, of their entire circle of commrades and friends and superiors only he and Kakami were living together as a couple.
Whoa. He hadn't really thought about it that way before. Rin blinked, and then tuned back into the matter at hand. Namely, Aki was trying to ask him for... what, reconnaisance info? Rin rubbed the side of his neck and hummed slightly as he tried to think of an answer. "Well... I say you don't want to ask me because the situation with me and Kakami was pretty extreme and unique and... stuff. But uhm... well, it's a big step--" for most people, who probably hadn't been living together as sort-of-friends for a decade beforehand "--and there's things to consider--" like if you could live without her even if you couldn't live with her sometimes "--and...." Rin trailed off, then a puzzled frown appeared on his face, and then he turned to Aki and gave him a surprised look. "Wait, who are you dating?!"
"Huh? Oh, Izume." Aki answered nonchantlantly, as if Rin should have known. "Its been a while now and I dunno....I've kinda been toying with the idea to get her to move in with me."
A pause. "And Kotetsu too." 'Cause he didn't want Kochan to get left out or feel lonely or like she was getting cut off from Izuchan. Plus the more the merrier and all that jazz. "Cause, y'know. Stuff. Just didn't know if there was a certain way to go about asking for it."
This time Rin did wind up sneezing juice everywhere. He'd thought it was safe to drink after hearing that it was Izume, figured he'd have a moment to hear the tale of their matching up (Izume and Aki? He wouldn't have made that pair but... then, it was him wasn't it? Captain Oblivious... like Obiko used to tell him) and that there'd be no more shocks to the system. Of course, it was Aki, so that had been a stupid thing to think.
"K-Kotetsu-san? 'Stuff'?" Rin shook his head and put the lid back on his juice before putting the bottle away from his reach until this conversation was over and it'd be safe to drink. "Aki... you're dating one of the Paper Dolls or both of them?"
Kinda needed some clarification here. Because while one answer would make sense, it'd spell insanity; and while the other would spell insanity, it would make sense.
"What?! NO! Just Izu!" Aki quickly explained. Dating Kotetsu was well...not scary but just wierd. Okay, there was a time when dating Izume would have been wierd too but that was different. Way different. "No, no, just we'd probably have to have Kotetsu move in too, at least for a while, y'know and that's all I meant. No threesomes going on!"
...Oh, the temptation to make a bad joke. It nearly hurt to hold back.
It took effort of will not to bury his face in his hand and simply will all of this to make sense. Rin managed it by reminding himself that Aki had taken him in when he was nonsensical with exhaustion and unhappiness over Kakami, and that he owed him very muchly for that whole situation and the happy ending that had come of it. He was going to help Aki make this work, he just was.
"Okay, well. We've established the basics then. No threesomes, you're dating Izume-san, and... since Izume-san and Kotetsu-san live together you don't want to split them up in order to live with your girlfriend. That's... very considerate of you, Aki." Rin looked out at the field, and the setting autumn sun, and tried to think of what else to say.
"I think your situation is different to mine in even more ways now... but if you're asking how Kakami and I moved in it was uhm... Kakami decided it. I would have been happy with anything, you know? But... she wanted to come home with me, and she told me, and we did it." Rin couldn't help smiling a little, with a touch of wonder, at the reality of all of that even now. "It's a big deal, and I think you'd have to get a new place... but maybe looking for one would give all of you time to get used to the idea."
There'd been no such complications or hesitations for Rin and Kakami on that score, but then... there had been so many of those just to get to that point it made sense they'd be absent over something as simple as calling one place their home.
"....That's not a bad idea." Aki said slowly. And looking for a new place would be kinda fun, and then looking for stuff to put in it would be cool too. Aki leaned back, hands behind his head and...
Realized what Rin had just said. "Wait, so Kakami decided it?" he looked at the other man, just a tad bewildered. Not that he knew Kakami all that incrediably well, he had just gotten the impression that Rin was the more....relationshipy-type person. And did this mean he should wait until Izume suggested it first? Because Aki wasn't sure she would. She seemed perfectly happy living with Ko in their attic apartment above the shop but still...Aki felt like he might be ready but if Izume wasn't ready, then maybe he should just hint at it first or something...
Rin realized what Aki was taking from that pretty swiftly, and shrugged a little as he turned and looked at the other jounin. "Yeah, she did. But... the thing is, I would've been happy with anything she wanted. If she wanted us to live separetely forever, I'd have been happy because it was her. But now that we do live together we're both happier than we thought it would make us. If one of us hadn't made a move, we'd never have known, ne?"
There was a pause as Aki stared blankly at Rin for a while. Inwardly his brain was working hard...
"I'm so confused." the purple haired man finally huffed, then wrinkled his nose with a sigh. "I guess it depends on the person or something similiar like that then." Well, no wonder relationships were hard. it was difficult when you didn't have any rules.
Aki didn't think Izume would mind moving in with him. He hoped she wouldn't anyway - and he hoped Kotetsu wouldn't mind either.
A small laugh and a pat on the shoulder was what Aki got for that. "Yeah, it's confusing. Sorry I can't help you much with that either, Aki." After all, Rin had been living in a perpetual state of confusion about what to do about his feelings for Kakami for nearly his entire life - it was only now that things were becoming clear to him. He really hoped Aki wouldn't have to go through anything like what he had in order to get that same clarity. Rin sighed, leaned his head back against warm black plastic, and looked over the treetops and up to the sky. He'd been watching it change colours all day (when he hadn't been fighting tooth and nail with Aki as they both practiced their ninjutsu and taijustu at levels which had, quite frankly, proved that they were both among Konoha's elite for a reason) and now the vivid blues were diving into dusk. Purple was edging the horizon, glowing dark orange at the edges of clouds. It hadn't even been light yet when they'd met, how long had they....
An electric shock seemed to snap through Rin, making him yelp and scramble up to his feet. They'd been at this over twelve hours! He was supposed to be home an age ago! The medic looked down at Aki, one hand running back through his dishevelled brown spikes of hair, and managed to find some words in that over-working brain of his.
"Ah! Sorry, Aki! I just realized how late it is! I've gotta go, promised Kakami and it's really important. You're okay, right?"
Aki grinned and got to his feet a great deal more lazily. "Yeah, I'm fine mate. Probably should get back myself and see if anything's happening tonight." Like if Izu wanted to go out for fun or letting out steam or if she'd rather he just stopped by with some food. Otherwise, he'd probably just go home and shower before going over to potentially bother Kureno - because that was always a great deal of fun.
He gave Rin a manly little punch in the shoulder (his sometimes substitute for a hug) and waved him off. "Go on; hope you guys weren't planning anything though. I'd hate for you to get into trouble." It was said lightly, Aki only being half serious.
Rin grinned and turned to wave, a little sad to be saying 'bye' to Aki since it didn't seem like they'd been in each other's company for that long, despite the fact they very much had been. He supposed time flew when you were having fun, no wonder Aki usually seemed to be taking life on in such a flighty and bright way. He waved, stepping backwards, getting ready to bolt for home and already imagining seeing Kakami's face.
"Oh no, nothing like that, it's just uh-- promised Kakami I'd be home to help. She's got this bun in the oven and all and it's sort of my doing what with getting her interested in the whole thing and... well, you know how it is! See you, Aki! Say hi to the girls for me!"
And with that, he was gone fast enough to make even Namikaze Minako blink in surprise. Had to get home before the food got burnt, after all!
The speed with which Rin had left could have been a little startling - Aki had never seen the medic move like that but then again who'd want to keep their girl waiting especially with that...bun...thing....
He stood there for a long while, unnaturally still (at least for Aki), gray eyes blinking a little as he went over Rin's statement in his head again. 'Bun in the oven...?' And it was Rin's 'fault'? That sounded a lot like....
"HOLY CRAP!!!" Aki's exclamation echoed just a bit, startling some birds that had been cautiously hopping close by and making them flutter away. What. the. Hell?! Had Rin just said....
Well he must have been saying that. That was the common sort of clever way of saying it right? Just say 'There's a bun in the oven' instead of 'there's a little person gestating in there waiting to rip itself out' or however pregnancy really went. The idea...just the very idea made him choke a little because really who the hell wanted Kakami running around with those extra horomone-thingys that....and sheesh, were they really that private because no one else seemed to know unless it had just happened recently...
Aki felt like he needed a drink. And badly. He wasn't going to run off and blab this off to the first person he saw. Nope. Just was going to go grab Kureno and go to the bar and...not freak out anymore. Right.
If Rin could have made the Yondaime blink in surprise, Aki could have given them both a run for their money as he headed straight for Kureno's.
There were times you had to wonder about Konoha, and times you didn't have to. The village was famous for the variety and strength of its ninjas, and for the spirit of sacrifice, loyalty and inheritance that surrounded every soul who called it home; but it was also famous for being a really weird place and utterly unapologetic about it.
Not that any of its born and bred daughters or sons realized that last bit, a fact made evident by the way Rin and Aki were nonchalantly scouring their pockets for change to feed into the fully-lit and cheerfully beeping vending machine that was inexplicably functioning in the middle of the forest that edged the north side of Training Area Four. Both men were covered in dirt, sweat and bruises (there had been worse, but that was the handy thing about training with a medic-nin) but were chattering away cheerfully to each other around their exhausted breaths.
Rin managed to find a couple of coins and flipped them to Aki, taking the chance to lean on the side of the vending machine and grin wearily. "So... now we're not trying to take each other to pieces... how's it going, Aki?"
It'd been months and months since they'd last seen each other for more than a few minutes - it'd been the Gala, in fact - and ironically enough the pair of them had probably been in more danger during this day-long training session than they had been during that event's insanity. Which, of course, was what friends were for in Konoha's ninja world.
Ah...choices, choices...Aki pressed some buttons as Rin spoke. Gray eyes fluttered towards Rin as the machine cranked lumberously and dropped a cold can. Aki fished it out.
"Its going." he said cheerily, opening his drink and taking a swig. Aki shrugged and smiled a bit. "Things aren't bad, actually." And it was nice. Aki seemed to be veering towards something resembling a normal existance, something he hadn't really even thought of considering just a few years ago. "And you? With the living with Kakami and all...that, ah...going well?" He eyed the other man just a bit.
Rin's brown eyes warmed a little at the way Aki was looking at him. Something was up. Of course, with Aki something was always up, but it wasn't usually anything that involved Rin. He reached a hand around the side of the machine to tap a few buttons (knowing where everything was by heart with how often he used this one) and the remaining funds within bought him a bottle of fruit juice.
"It's going extremely well," he assured Aki, wondering why he was asking and finding an odd answer the only feasible one. He raised an eyebrow as he pulled his own drink out the machine and fiddled with the lid. "Are you trying to tell me that I can't come crash at yours for a while if they aren't?" A small half-smile, he was teasing. "You getting new floors laid or something?"
Aki snorted a little. New floors, right.
"Nah." He paused, almost thoughtfully. "Have considered getting a new place." His was small and kinda...well, it worked for him since he didn't spend a lot of time at home. That could possibly change...depending on certain circumstances. "You know...depending on things...which is, well its all circumstantional and stuff."
He finished off the can quickly and then smooshed the aluminum. "So, how'd you get Kakami to move into your place?"
Rin was midway through his first sip from his bottle and thusly nearly sneezed juice all over the place. Damnit, Aki!
Coughing slightly, and stuffing his torn sleeve against his nose, Rin squinted down at Aki's guilless expression and shook his head at him. "Smooth, Aki. That was just the most not obvious segueway ever." He managed to clean a drip of red juice off his cheek and dropped down to sit on the grass, long legs splayed out carelessly and his back up against the humming plastic bulk of the vending machine. "And that's probably not a question you want to ask me," he added.
Aki shrugged. He wasn't exactly the most subtle person ever and he didn't really care for the most part. Except when it makes things difficult. He flopped to the ground next to Rin and sighed.
"No...sorta. Look, you're the only guy I know who's got a girl he's romantically interested in living with him, " Or at least Rin had better be or Suzumo might have at lot of explaining to do "...and I kinda just wanted to know how you got there."
It took a long moment for Rin to process what Aki was actually saying to him. Then he ran a mental tally in his head and realized that Aki was right, of their entire circle of commrades and friends and superiors only he and Kakami were living together as a couple.
Whoa. He hadn't really thought about it that way before. Rin blinked, and then tuned back into the matter at hand. Namely, Aki was trying to ask him for... what, reconnaisance info? Rin rubbed the side of his neck and hummed slightly as he tried to think of an answer. "Well... I say you don't want to ask me because the situation with me and Kakami was pretty extreme and unique and... stuff. But uhm... well, it's a big step--" for most people, who probably hadn't been living together as sort-of-friends for a decade beforehand "--and there's things to consider--" like if you could live without her even if you couldn't live with her sometimes "--and...." Rin trailed off, then a puzzled frown appeared on his face, and then he turned to Aki and gave him a surprised look. "Wait, who are you dating?!"
"Huh? Oh, Izume." Aki answered nonchantlantly, as if Rin should have known. "Its been a while now and I dunno....I've kinda been toying with the idea to get her to move in with me."
A pause. "And Kotetsu too." 'Cause he didn't want Kochan to get left out or feel lonely or like she was getting cut off from Izuchan. Plus the more the merrier and all that jazz. "Cause, y'know. Stuff. Just didn't know if there was a certain way to go about asking for it."
This time Rin did wind up sneezing juice everywhere. He'd thought it was safe to drink after hearing that it was Izume, figured he'd have a moment to hear the tale of their matching up (Izume and Aki? He wouldn't have made that pair but... then, it was him wasn't it? Captain Oblivious... like Obiko used to tell him) and that there'd be no more shocks to the system. Of course, it was Aki, so that had been a stupid thing to think.
"K-Kotetsu-san? 'Stuff'?" Rin shook his head and put the lid back on his juice before putting the bottle away from his reach until this conversation was over and it'd be safe to drink. "Aki... you're dating one of the Paper Dolls or both of them?"
Kinda needed some clarification here. Because while one answer would make sense, it'd spell insanity; and while the other would spell insanity, it would make sense.
"What?! NO! Just Izu!" Aki quickly explained. Dating Kotetsu was well...not scary but just wierd. Okay, there was a time when dating Izume would have been wierd too but that was different. Way different. "No, no, just we'd probably have to have Kotetsu move in too, at least for a while, y'know and that's all I meant. No threesomes going on!"
...Oh, the temptation to make a bad joke. It nearly hurt to hold back.
It took effort of will not to bury his face in his hand and simply will all of this to make sense. Rin managed it by reminding himself that Aki had taken him in when he was nonsensical with exhaustion and unhappiness over Kakami, and that he owed him very muchly for that whole situation and the happy ending that had come of it. He was going to help Aki make this work, he just was.
"Okay, well. We've established the basics then. No threesomes, you're dating Izume-san, and... since Izume-san and Kotetsu-san live together you don't want to split them up in order to live with your girlfriend. That's... very considerate of you, Aki." Rin looked out at the field, and the setting autumn sun, and tried to think of what else to say.
"I think your situation is different to mine in even more ways now... but if you're asking how Kakami and I moved in it was uhm... Kakami decided it. I would have been happy with anything, you know? But... she wanted to come home with me, and she told me, and we did it." Rin couldn't help smiling a little, with a touch of wonder, at the reality of all of that even now. "It's a big deal, and I think you'd have to get a new place... but maybe looking for one would give all of you time to get used to the idea."
There'd been no such complications or hesitations for Rin and Kakami on that score, but then... there had been so many of those just to get to that point it made sense they'd be absent over something as simple as calling one place their home.
"....That's not a bad idea." Aki said slowly. And looking for a new place would be kinda fun, and then looking for stuff to put in it would be cool too. Aki leaned back, hands behind his head and...
Realized what Rin had just said. "Wait, so Kakami decided it?" he looked at the other man, just a tad bewildered. Not that he knew Kakami all that incrediably well, he had just gotten the impression that Rin was the more....relationshipy-type person. And did this mean he should wait until Izume suggested it first? Because Aki wasn't sure she would. She seemed perfectly happy living with Ko in their attic apartment above the shop but still...Aki felt like he might be ready but if Izume wasn't ready, then maybe he should just hint at it first or something...
Rin realized what Aki was taking from that pretty swiftly, and shrugged a little as he turned and looked at the other jounin. "Yeah, she did. But... the thing is, I would've been happy with anything she wanted. If she wanted us to live separetely forever, I'd have been happy because it was her. But now that we do live together we're both happier than we thought it would make us. If one of us hadn't made a move, we'd never have known, ne?"
There was a pause as Aki stared blankly at Rin for a while. Inwardly his brain was working hard...
"I'm so confused." the purple haired man finally huffed, then wrinkled his nose with a sigh. "I guess it depends on the person or something similiar like that then." Well, no wonder relationships were hard. it was difficult when you didn't have any rules.
Aki didn't think Izume would mind moving in with him. He hoped she wouldn't anyway - and he hoped Kotetsu wouldn't mind either.
A small laugh and a pat on the shoulder was what Aki got for that. "Yeah, it's confusing. Sorry I can't help you much with that either, Aki." After all, Rin had been living in a perpetual state of confusion about what to do about his feelings for Kakami for nearly his entire life - it was only now that things were becoming clear to him. He really hoped Aki wouldn't have to go through anything like what he had in order to get that same clarity. Rin sighed, leaned his head back against warm black plastic, and looked over the treetops and up to the sky. He'd been watching it change colours all day (when he hadn't been fighting tooth and nail with Aki as they both practiced their ninjutsu and taijustu at levels which had, quite frankly, proved that they were both among Konoha's elite for a reason) and now the vivid blues were diving into dusk. Purple was edging the horizon, glowing dark orange at the edges of clouds. It hadn't even been light yet when they'd met, how long had they....
An electric shock seemed to snap through Rin, making him yelp and scramble up to his feet. They'd been at this over twelve hours! He was supposed to be home an age ago! The medic looked down at Aki, one hand running back through his dishevelled brown spikes of hair, and managed to find some words in that over-working brain of his.
"Ah! Sorry, Aki! I just realized how late it is! I've gotta go, promised Kakami and it's really important. You're okay, right?"
Aki grinned and got to his feet a great deal more lazily. "Yeah, I'm fine mate. Probably should get back myself and see if anything's happening tonight." Like if Izu wanted to go out for fun or letting out steam or if she'd rather he just stopped by with some food. Otherwise, he'd probably just go home and shower before going over to potentially bother Kureno - because that was always a great deal of fun.
He gave Rin a manly little punch in the shoulder (his sometimes substitute for a hug) and waved him off. "Go on; hope you guys weren't planning anything though. I'd hate for you to get into trouble." It was said lightly, Aki only being half serious.
Rin grinned and turned to wave, a little sad to be saying 'bye' to Aki since it didn't seem like they'd been in each other's company for that long, despite the fact they very much had been. He supposed time flew when you were having fun, no wonder Aki usually seemed to be taking life on in such a flighty and bright way. He waved, stepping backwards, getting ready to bolt for home and already imagining seeing Kakami's face.
"Oh no, nothing like that, it's just uh-- promised Kakami I'd be home to help. She's got this bun in the oven and all and it's sort of my doing what with getting her interested in the whole thing and... well, you know how it is! See you, Aki! Say hi to the girls for me!"
And with that, he was gone fast enough to make even Namikaze Minako blink in surprise. Had to get home before the food got burnt, after all!
The speed with which Rin had left could have been a little startling - Aki had never seen the medic move like that but then again who'd want to keep their girl waiting especially with that...bun...thing....
He stood there for a long while, unnaturally still (at least for Aki), gray eyes blinking a little as he went over Rin's statement in his head again. 'Bun in the oven...?' And it was Rin's 'fault'? That sounded a lot like....
"HOLY CRAP!!!" Aki's exclamation echoed just a bit, startling some birds that had been cautiously hopping close by and making them flutter away. What. the. Hell?! Had Rin just said....
Well he must have been saying that. That was the common sort of clever way of saying it right? Just say 'There's a bun in the oven' instead of 'there's a little person gestating in there waiting to rip itself out' or however pregnancy really went. The idea...just the very idea made him choke a little because really who the hell wanted Kakami running around with those extra horomone-thingys that....and sheesh, were they really that private because no one else seemed to know unless it had just happened recently...
Aki felt like he needed a drink. And badly. He wasn't going to run off and blab this off to the first person he saw. Nope. Just was going to go grab Kureno and go to the bar and...not freak out anymore. Right.
If Rin could have made the Yondaime blink in surprise, Aki could have given them both a run for their money as he headed straight for Kureno's.