忍ぶ心 Shinobu Kokoro
Title: Part 2: Shinobu Kokoro
Rating: PG13 (for mild violence, sexuality?)
Pairing: Jun/Ohno, Sho/Nino
Genre: action, AU
Chapter: ten
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Ohno Satoshi is the student of a strong ninja lord who has lived his life following his teacher’s strict guidance. But what happens when he slowly learns he has to live for himself?
Part 1: Shinobu Ishi ( Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three, Chapter four, Chapter five, Chapter six, Chapter seven)
Part 2: Shinobu Kokoro Chapter eight, Chapter nine
"Is this boy worth it, Satoshi?"
Instead of dropping his head like usual, and as he should be doing right now (he should be begging Jyani to let Jun stay, vowing to do whatever it took to train him and make him just as irreplaceable as the rest of the group), he met his mentor's stare head on with defiance.
"Yes."
Jyani's expression was serious as he continued to question the group’s leader.
"You're taking the responsibility on yourself to train him?"
"Yes, sir. I will help him discover which weapon he is proficient with and aid him in his training to master it,” the younger ninja replied formally.
The older man was silent at the prompt response, rubbing his chin carefully.
"In all of these years, you've never taken on an apprentice, even after so many have come asking for you as a teacher. And yet... this boy, who you rescued only yesterday, has already made such an impression on you?"
"Yes, sir."
Jyani sighed and rubbed his head, as if not quite knowing what to do about the situation.
"You take full responsibility for him?" the master asked again in a half hearted tone, as if he was simply double checking or it was just a formality he had to get over with.
"Yes, sir," Ohno repeated automatically, still not drawing his intense gaze away from his master.
"Then I'll leave him to you, Satoshi."
It was obvious that a smile was trying to break out on Ohno's face at the concession, but the ninja held his neutral expression and headed to the door as Jyani nodded, giving him permission to leave.
Sho, Nino, and Aiba were all trying to comfort the younger boy, who was rubbing his face roughly and trying to hide his emotions at the seemingly disastrous meeting, patting him on the back and whispering that they would work something out, to not worry about it. Everything would be fine.
But they all promptly turned to Leader as he exited the mission room, as if they had all been watching the door intently despite their attention to Jun.
Ohno gave them a wide smile. Sho and Nino let relieved sighs out simultaneously while Aiba returned Leader’s grin, patting Jun on the back. Jun looked confused, but hopeful, so Ohno explained that Jyani had let him stay.
The rest of the afternoon was spent showing Jun around the village, their official work put off until later that night when the new boy would no doubt crash in their private room. They went for ramen, as was a tradition now, and Ohno didn't hesitate to fork over his own money to pay for his new friend, despite Aiba's offer of at least splitting the bill. They leisurely walked through the town, Aiba happily pointing out which store was what, with some occasional commentary from Sho and a few snarky remarks from Nino. But Nino's attitude had lightened a little and he even offered Jun a lopsided smile when the new addition inquired why the group could walk away from the general store with free dango (if Aiba's cheeky grin wasn't enough to persuade the woman, Nino had quite a bit of leverage with the shop owner).
When Jun's eyes began fluttering shut and he had gripped Ohno's hand to make sure he wasn't left behind, they made their way back to the Main Building, the cold chill of winter starting to set in for the evening.
Nino insisted that he wasn't sleeping in the same room as Jun if he didn't get clean right now, but Ohno suspected it was simply the ninja's way of offering the boy new clothing and a hot bath without seeming overly friendly.
The group split up once they were back at their private quarters, Nino making an excuse that he had some other business to attend to, pulling Sho along to force him to file their mission report. And Aiba had giggled that maybe Ohno should accompany Jun-kun to the bath so that he didn't fall asleep and drown.
So the pair made their way to the public bath on the other side of the Main Building, the one that was used by the entire household. But it was too early for most people to be using the facilities, which meant that the boys were alone in the private dressing room together.
Immediately, as he helped a dazed Jun whose eyes were only half open struggle out of the rags he'd been wearing, Ohno was reminded of what Aiba had told him years ago about being in love.
Love is the kind that makes you want to be with that person forever no matter what. It makes you want to give up your life for them, even if it’s not the logical thing to do. It makes you want to kiss them and take off their clothes and make babies.
Ohno looked down at Jun with a confused crinkled brow.
It makes you want to kiss them…
Jun was leaning heavily against Ohno, his breath leaving light puff of heat on the older boy’s neck as his head rested against Leader’s shoulder.
…and take off their clothes…
The last of the rags went into a basket at their side, even though they were probably not worth saving, and Ohno had to avert his eyes from Jun's pure white ass.
...and make babies.
Ohno didn't even know how to make babies, but right now he had a feeling he wanted to try.
"Leader?" Jun asked sleepily, his chest pressed heavily against Ohno’s, and the ninja was forced out of his awkward thought process.
He couldn't be in love.
No, he wasn't in love.
It would cause too many problems.
Ohno helped Jun to sit on the tatami mat underneath them, and he started pulling off his own black gear, leaving it in the same basket as the discarded rags, knowing that they would be clean and back in his room before tomorrow afternoon. Aiba had said he would get an extra set for Jun and bring them when they were almost done, as well as one of Ohno’s other pairs.
When he was naked himself, Leader helped Jun stand again and they wobbled to the cleaning area together.
Although Jun tried to help as Ohno lathered up a bar of soap and began rubbing it over the younger boy’s shoulders, all he could really do was run his hands lightly over his arms, spreading the bubbles, but not really contributing to the cleaning effort overall. His eyes were barely staying open, and it was quite distracting to Ohno to watch them flutter closed, then pop back open, trying to become alert, before failing and closing again.
“Sorry… Leader…” Jun mumbled as his body began to lean forward on the short stool he was seated on, his eyes not opening again.
Ohno led Jun to rest against his chest, and then began scrubbing hard at the dirt caked to the back of the other boy’s neck. It would probably hurt in the morning, but if it wasn’t bad enough to wake Jun up now, it would probably be okay. His arms and legs were also bad, and it took Ohno longer than it should have to clean him, especially with the way that Jun was trying to collapse on top of him, but finally Ohno started working at the filthy hair that he knew was hiding beauty.
Once he had finished, Ohno coaxed Jun awake enough to sit by himself while he retrieved a bucket of warm water to rinse him off with. Jun floundered for a second when the water was dumped on his head, but wiped it away from his face and blinked sleepily at Ohno, who was grinning at him.
“I’ll just be a second, Jun, and then we can go soak in the hot bath.” He nodded at the explanation and moved his short stool over to lean against the wooden wall to his right, watching Ohno through sleepy eyes as he fell back awkwardly, still exhausted.
The older boy suddenly turned self-conscious when he continued to feel Jun’s eyes on him, even when he turned around to avoid the gaze. He cleaned his own body in just a few seconds, skipping using a stool to save another minute, and lathered up his own hair before retrieving another bucket of water and dumping it on top of himself.
He returned to Jun, now clean and suitable to enter the bath too, and found the boy’s eyes open in only slits, but still trained on him.
Ohno helped his new friend stumble towards the pool waiting for them on the other side of the room, and cautiously led him into the scalding water.
“Ah… feels good…” Jun took in a contented deep breath and closed his eyes, basking in the warmth surrounding him, and then Ohno pulled him back towards the edge of the bath, where a wooden bench was built around the side halfway below the water’s surface.
Jun immediately laid his head against Ohno again as they settled in, and Leader closed his own eyes in the sudden relaxation that was taking over his body. This was the thing he missed the most when Arashi was out on missions that lasted several days, this and being able to go fishing leisurely, even if only for a few hours.
Tightening his grip on Jun’s hip as the younger man immediately drifted back into his half-sleep daze, Ohno swallowed a few times, realizing again their close proximity and nakedness, and what a compromising position this could be.
The captain leaned his head back against the side of the bath, his mind already distracted by Jun once more.
He was, like, 3 years older than this boy.
This boy.
Although they were about the same height despite their age differences, the rest of their bodies were almost complete opposites.
Jun’s skin was fair and white and his hair, which had become curly in the water, shaggily framed his face. Ohno’s own skin was dark due to hard work in the sun and several finishing trips in which he had spent the entire day in the same spot, watching the same group of fish with his pole in hand, with no protection from the elements. In fact, out of all of Arashi, his skin was the darkest, something that made him stand out as soon as they were outside of the village and next to normal people. In addition to that, Leader’s hair was cropped short, although it needed a trim soon, and had a tendency to collect static electricity from his uniform’s head cover and would stand up most hours of the day.
Aiba had said it was cool, but even if it wasn’t, Ohno didn’t find it worth the effort to fix.
It was evident, now that they were naked, that Jun’s body was comprised mostly of fat, although he was wearing thin in dangerous places due to the treatment that he been given in the prison cell. But his thighs had been soft against Ohno’s rough hands earlier, and the full cheeks on his face gave away the fact that he was so young. Leader’s body, though, was comprised completely of muscle now that he had matured more, mostly due the nature of his job. It didn’t make him particularly bulky, but when he cautiously looked down at his own body through the ripples in the water, he didn’t think he could find any fat at all, even around his stomach.
Ohno wasn’t sure this was a good thing. Jun had been so soft and squishy, after all, and it made Ohno want to squeeze and caress him even more.
Jun’s skin was flawless, too. Despite how pale it was, there were only a few marks around his wrists and ankles from where he may have been immobilized at one time, and his face was only marred with a few faint moles around his mouth. Besides the dirt that Ohno couldn’t get off, this boy was the spitting image of the high ranking status that he was meant to be.
But Leader’s own body was covered in scars, especially his arms. He had a huge gash across his back from before he had been taken in by Jyani, and a few thick ones on his upper legs from injuries that had been bad enough that they needed to be sewn up.
And, Ohno thought as he turned back to Jun, who was breathing steadily against the older man’s neck, Jun’s lips were so full and pouty and flush with heat from the bath.
His own were just boring thin lines across his face.
This was getting dangerous.
Ohno swallowed and forced himself to turn away.
He wasn’t in a good position.
This wasn’t happening to him.
This wasn’t love, even though it fit every description that Aiba had given it.
But his body was reacting to the exposed boy at his side, and no matter what he told it, it wasn’t listening. It was another first for him, since at least when he was injured and couldn’t move he had an excuse for the lack of control.
Jun’s body slipped closer to him, the boy’s nose pressed flushedly against his neck now, and Ohno vaguely realized that one of Jun’s hands had haphazardly drifted to his thigh.
He swallowed again, and tried to push thoughts of making babies out of his head.
It wasn’t working.
“Oh-chan?”
Leader jumped and quickly reached out to catch Jun’s body as it was jostled and began to fall into the warm water.
He turned behind him, towards the entrance of the bath room.
“Aiba-chan,” Ohno replied breathily, silently thanking his friend for his good timing.
The herbalist grinned widely, his gaze drifting to the boy asleep against him. “I brought your clothes, and some for Jun-kun, too.”
Ohno nodded and offered a low thank you.
Aiba set the clothes on the floor, next to the basket that Ohno had discarded his own in, and straightened back up, hovering around the door like he wasn’t sure whether he should stay or not.
“Aiba-chan, can you help me with him?” Ohno asked immediately, shifting Jun once more, closer to the side of the bath.
“Sure!” the younger ninja padded across the room, pushing back the sleeves of his training gear, and gently pulled Jun out of the water as he began to return to his senses, blinking around although barely able to open his eyes. He stumbled when his feet hit the ground again, but Aiba held him up.
“C’mon, let’s get you dressed and into bed!” he said happily, helping Jun walk across the room with a hand securely on his waist.
“I’m just going to be one more second,” Ohno called out as Jun opened his mouth to question the movements.
He turned back to the wall across from him, averting his gaze from Jun’s naked body and closed his eyes, sinking deeper into the water, covering his entire face except the tip of his nose.
That had been close.
+++
Nino forced himself out of bed, even though it was far earlier in the morning than he needed to get up.
His eyes blinked open slowly, just as they usually did, and it took him a moment to focus on the rest of the dark room.
Sho’s chest was pressed up tightly against his back, the older boy’s arm securely around his waist, and the weapons master let out a sluggish smile at his usual waking position (when he got up before the archer did, anyway).
Aiba had slept on the other side of Jun last night (since the boy had only been awake enough to force his feet to move when someone else was steering him), and was still there now, his head rested lightly against Jun’s shoulder in the way that Aiba always slept.
Ohno was missing, though, which probably meant that something had happened yesterday to upset him and the captain had woken up early to go and think. But a lot of stuff had happened yesterday, so Nino wasn’t surprised.
Jun was sprawled out, half in what was left of Oh-chan’s bed, one of his arms stretched across the abandoned futon. It looked like he had been clinging to the older boy again, but hadn’t awoken when Leader pried himself free.
Although Nino was still feeling a competitive edge with Jun, he’d decided to at least let the boy learn a few skills before he firmly put him in his place.
Besides, it was about time someone younger than Nino came into the picture; someone he could pick on when he felt like it, since Aiba’s sad look alone was enough to tempt him in to apologizing. But with the boy still fawning all over Ohno like he was, it wouldn’t be hard to come with something to pick at him for.
Nino pried off the arms attached to his own waist and turned to give the unconscious archer an endearing look, automatically bringing his hands to the older boy’s forehead to brush his unkempt locks away from his face. Taking a moment to silently lean down and kiss the exposed skin, he then set to work getting situated for the day.
The door to their private rooms slid open without a sound, and Nino padded into the hallway, looking both ways to see if he was alone or not before starting towards Jyani’s private quarters.
As he passed an entrance into the inner garden, Nino couldn’t help but turn his eyes and search for his captain through the trees there. He walked a few more feet and could barely make out a black blur of clothing through the cover of twilight, which meant that he had been correct in his prediction.
The ninja made a mental note to be back by the time Jun woke up to see what the boy would do at the absence of his idol.
Nino tread past Ohno, though, trying harder than ever not to draw attention from the older man, and eventually found himself outside of Jyani’s private room.
He knocked on the wooden panel three times, then immediately bowed as the door was opened halfway.
“Kazunari. I was expecting you.”
Nino had spoken with one of Jyani’s assistants last night, requesting an early meeting with the ninja lord, before the rest of the household was up and moving. When they had asked what the reason was, he had vaguely said a private matter, and the man hadn’t argued with him. Nino was part of Arashi, after all.
Jyani moved back from the entranceway, allowing the ninja room to enter, and Nino did so promptly with his head down. He realized how much he was asking to meet with Jyani in his private quarters at such an hour, and was trying to show an equal amount of respect for the fulfillment of his request.
The older man casually plopped back down onto a pillow on the tatami floor and faced Nino, motioning for him to sit on the ground opposite him. The boy did so, paused for a second, then immediately splayed himself in a deep bow, his hands out in front of him and his forehead touching the ground.
Jyani didn’t say anything, but his lighthearted air had suddenly disappeared.
Nino stayed that way until Jyani addressed him. He wasn’t sure how the lord was going to react to his request, and he was willing to put his honor on the line to prove how serious he was about the matter.
“What can I do for you, Kazunari?” he was finally asked in a low voice.
Nino lifted his head a few inches in order for Jyani to completely hear his steady voice.
“Tell me about Ohno.”
Jyani’s face broke out in a smile, as if he was expecting something far worse than that as a request.
“Satoshi? What is it you want to know?”
Nino replied immediately. “Where he’s from. How you found him. What his life was like before this. Why you trained him.”
Nodding, as if he had expected this demand from the ninja much sooner than now, Jyani motioned for Nino to sit back up with a flick of his wrist, and then sighed as the boy did so.
“Satoshi… Yes. I remember that day quite vividly,” Jyani’s voice immediately fell into a narrative and his face turned somewhat pensive as he conjured up the details of a past that had changed his life as much as Ohno's. “I had been out on a difficult mission with some of my men, one that many of the ninja in this village had failed to complete.
“There had been a band of raiders pillaging small towns in the countryside and the task had fallen to me to stop them." He paused for just a moment, meeting Nino's attentive stare.
“At first, I sent twenty of my best men to take care of the job, but only three of them came back alive, and one of them had lost use of his right arm due to an injury.
“I dispatched another to scope out the situation, but even he came back with a crippled knee-it took all the energy he had remaining for him to get the report to me.
“By the time I stepped in, there were already acres and acres of burnt houses and fields in their wake. I followed their trail easily, knowing that I had no choice but to stop them and as fast as I could.
“The day that I almost came upon them was the day I met Satoshi.”
Jyani stopped briefly to let Nino digest the background of the story and try to connect the pieces himself.
“His village had been plundered in a similar way, only the day before I had arrived.
“I entered the wreckage out of breath, accompanied by my two closest friends and the strongest ninja I knew. We had all been hoping we could salvage the situation, but it was obvious we had arrived too late that day.
“But as we began to examine the aftermath and look for survivors, I immediately spotted Satoshi standing in the ashes of a burnt house, on his knees, filtering through the rubble as if he was looking for something.
“As I approached him, I noticed several bodies lying just a few feet away from the remains of the building, in the street, or at least where it would have been at one point in time. Upon closer examination I realized that there were four dead men, their bodies bloody messes, and that they were wearing heavy traveling gear. There were also trinkets, undoubtedly stolen, lying a little ways off.”
Jyani stopped again, nodding his head unconsciously, the wrinkled skin of his forehead pressing his eyes down in a melancholy expression.
“Those were some of the men we had been looking for.
“Before I investigated any further, though, I knew I needed to help this boy. I approached him, but he was in shock. His feet were burnt on the bottom, but he was shivering from the cold around us and I found out later that he had been in the elements all night, trying to uncover his family.
“When I asked him about the men in the street, he gave me a stern look and unwaveringly said I killed them.
“At first I couldn’t believe it. Twenty of my strongest ninja had been bested by these men, and this boy had taken out four by himself?
“So, I asked him how he did it.
“I’ll spare you the gruesome details, Kazunari, but I’ll tell you that it was ruthless, the way he killed those men. He had somehow gotten a hold of a sword from one of them and ran him straight through the stomach, leaving him to die slowly on the ground as the other men jumped at him.
“Another lost his arm in that fight, but he was eventually killed, so I suppose it didn’t matter.”
Jyani took a breath, breaking his monologue, and dipped his head again as the memories resurfaced. He then sighed deeply, as if it pained him to think of the situation again or to even share the details with Nino.
“He butchered the men, cut into them, mutilated them as they took their last breaths. He didn’t stop until the cheap sword had broken in half and he realized that he had to save his family.”
Nino swallowed all of the emotions that rose up within him as he finally discovered exactly what he wanted to know about Ohno. Now he thought that he might have been better off in the dark, not knowing where the morbid and ruthless side of his friend had sprouted from. He himself had been sold off, yes, but that was certainly less scarring than watching your family die in front of you, then murdering the four men that did it.
“He wouldn’t come with me immediately. I had to wait until he had passed out from exhaustion, but he had nowhere to stay, no one to take care of him, and so I took the responsibility on myself.
“I pitied him, of course, but I also knew that he had skills that were dangerous, that needed to be controlled and channeled in the right direction. And I needed an heir, one that I could trust to follow me without question and that I could pass on all of my techniques to.”
Jyani gave him a wry smile as he admitted this, but his eyes said that he knew that Nino understood his motives and that the two of them, no doubt, thought the same way.
That unspoken assumption, that Nino would use people the same as Jyani did, made bile rise in the back of his throat.
“He asked for his family, of course, and wouldn’t speak for several days after that, but when I showed him that I could offer hot food and a warm bed and a new life, he eventually changed his opinion. I kept him close to my side, sheltering him from the rest of the household for a while until he could emotionally handle the barbs they threw at him, but it wasn’t long until he had turned into the stoic and upstanding boy that you first knew.”
Nino looked down at his hands, realizing why Ohno had immediately taken to Jun. They shared a similar situation, probably, and could relate to each other, while Nino had simply complained over his own petty state of affairs, not thinking that Leader could be worse off.
He had been so stupid.
Suddenly he was glad that they had all met Jun and that his presence had somehow made everything right.
The next idea that came to mind was the fact that Jyani probably wouldn’t like the changes the new boy would impress on the group, especially Ohno. But Nino was sure that the old man cared for Leader as much as he did, although more as a father figure, and wouldn’t reject Satoshi or his requests until he had to.
And this was obviously the reason that Jyani allowed Jun to stay despite not knowing anything of his past or the situation that had gotten him into that prison. If Jyani wanted to protect Ohno and Ohno was set on protecting Jun, then the ninja lord had no choice but to protect them both.
Ohno had probably realized that, too.
“And that's where Satoshi's story ends. Any more questions, Kazunari?”
Nino lifted his head up slightly to see Jyani’s amused expression.
“No, sir,” he replied formally, then thanked him for his time.
The ninja lord chuckled and nodded, allowing Nino to back out of his room carefully and return to the hallway.
Standing outside of Jyani’s door and staring at the floor for several minutes, trying to piece together the last of the threads of understanding, Nino’s feet eventually started leading him back to the garden.
The black figure was immediately visible against the soft glow of morning, and without thinking twice, Nino jumped down onto the ground and silently crossed the garden towards Ohno, who was in his usual meditative position.
The younger boy cocked his head and watched his captain, taking in his gentle features. Leader’s eyes were closed and he looked completely calm, even though the winter air was bitter against Nino’s face.
He butchered the men, cut into them, mutilated them as they took their last breaths.
Nino’s heart sped up as the description Jyani had given him came to mind.
He didn’t stop until the cheap sword had broken in half and he realized that he had to save his family.
That couldn’t be Ohno. Not his Oh-chan.
The older boy’s eyes suddenly fluttered open and he turned to Nino, offering him a soft smile.
“Kazu,” he whispered and Nino hesitated for only a second before returning the grin. He stepped closer to Ohno, still unsure what to think now that he’d learned what he’d wanted to.
Ohno watched him until the younger ninja was at his side, and continued to do so as Nino stood towering over his seated form.
Slowly lowering his body to sit next to his friend, Nino looked out across the water’s edge and took a deep breath of morning air, allowing his eyes to drift shut.
“Kazu,” Ohno started again in a light voice. “Y’know, I was thinking…”
Nino’s eyes popped back open and he turned to Leader, not expecting him to start up a conversation like this. He thought they would sit in peace for a few minutes until Aiba came to find them because Princess Jun was requesting Ohno’s presence.
Leader nodded once, almost to himself, then continued.
“I want you to train Jun.”
Nino’s eyes widened more and he sent Ohno a shocked stare.
“What?”
“I want you to train Jun,” the older boy repeated, taking a haphazard breath. “You’re better at using weapons than me, and I can already tell he won’t be good with a sword… Can you help him find out what to use? I don’t have any idea where to start…”
Ohno’s expression was pleading and Nino already knew he’d have to accept the request no matter what.
And immediately his head was filled with horrible images of having to explain how to use a certain weapon to the new boy over and over and over…
They wouldn’t be able to do group missions for weeks, maybe months, not to mention Nino’s lack of super secret kissing meetings with Sho-chan.
He sighed heavily and began rubbing his forehead.
“I guess so…”
+++
A/N: Sorry my updates are all over the place! =A=; I was so busy last weekend and I'm still exhausted~ But I finally got around to posting a new chapter, haha.
There was a lot of flashing back in this chapter I think. And the last post had a few mistakes that were pointed out, so feel free any time to tell me about a mistake! Whether it's spelling or html, or even criticism is always welcome. I was thinking about opening an anonymous enabled post for that, but I need to look into using live jounrnal better before I do. =__=;
Juntoshi sexual tension and inquisitive Nino.<3 How was it?
Chapter eleven
Rating: PG13 (for mild violence, sexuality?)
Pairing: Jun/Ohno, Sho/Nino
Genre: action, AU
Chapter: ten
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Ohno Satoshi is the student of a strong ninja lord who has lived his life following his teacher’s strict guidance. But what happens when he slowly learns he has to live for himself?
Part 1: Shinobu Ishi ( Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three, Chapter four, Chapter five, Chapter six, Chapter seven)
Part 2: Shinobu Kokoro Chapter eight, Chapter nine
"Is this boy worth it, Satoshi?"
Instead of dropping his head like usual, and as he should be doing right now (he should be begging Jyani to let Jun stay, vowing to do whatever it took to train him and make him just as irreplaceable as the rest of the group), he met his mentor's stare head on with defiance.
"Yes."
Jyani's expression was serious as he continued to question the group’s leader.
"You're taking the responsibility on yourself to train him?"
"Yes, sir. I will help him discover which weapon he is proficient with and aid him in his training to master it,” the younger ninja replied formally.
The older man was silent at the prompt response, rubbing his chin carefully.
"In all of these years, you've never taken on an apprentice, even after so many have come asking for you as a teacher. And yet... this boy, who you rescued only yesterday, has already made such an impression on you?"
"Yes, sir."
Jyani sighed and rubbed his head, as if not quite knowing what to do about the situation.
"You take full responsibility for him?" the master asked again in a half hearted tone, as if he was simply double checking or it was just a formality he had to get over with.
"Yes, sir," Ohno repeated automatically, still not drawing his intense gaze away from his master.
"Then I'll leave him to you, Satoshi."
It was obvious that a smile was trying to break out on Ohno's face at the concession, but the ninja held his neutral expression and headed to the door as Jyani nodded, giving him permission to leave.
Sho, Nino, and Aiba were all trying to comfort the younger boy, who was rubbing his face roughly and trying to hide his emotions at the seemingly disastrous meeting, patting him on the back and whispering that they would work something out, to not worry about it. Everything would be fine.
But they all promptly turned to Leader as he exited the mission room, as if they had all been watching the door intently despite their attention to Jun.
Ohno gave them a wide smile. Sho and Nino let relieved sighs out simultaneously while Aiba returned Leader’s grin, patting Jun on the back. Jun looked confused, but hopeful, so Ohno explained that Jyani had let him stay.
The rest of the afternoon was spent showing Jun around the village, their official work put off until later that night when the new boy would no doubt crash in their private room. They went for ramen, as was a tradition now, and Ohno didn't hesitate to fork over his own money to pay for his new friend, despite Aiba's offer of at least splitting the bill. They leisurely walked through the town, Aiba happily pointing out which store was what, with some occasional commentary from Sho and a few snarky remarks from Nino. But Nino's attitude had lightened a little and he even offered Jun a lopsided smile when the new addition inquired why the group could walk away from the general store with free dango (if Aiba's cheeky grin wasn't enough to persuade the woman, Nino had quite a bit of leverage with the shop owner).
When Jun's eyes began fluttering shut and he had gripped Ohno's hand to make sure he wasn't left behind, they made their way back to the Main Building, the cold chill of winter starting to set in for the evening.
Nino insisted that he wasn't sleeping in the same room as Jun if he didn't get clean right now, but Ohno suspected it was simply the ninja's way of offering the boy new clothing and a hot bath without seeming overly friendly.
The group split up once they were back at their private quarters, Nino making an excuse that he had some other business to attend to, pulling Sho along to force him to file their mission report. And Aiba had giggled that maybe Ohno should accompany Jun-kun to the bath so that he didn't fall asleep and drown.
So the pair made their way to the public bath on the other side of the Main Building, the one that was used by the entire household. But it was too early for most people to be using the facilities, which meant that the boys were alone in the private dressing room together.
Immediately, as he helped a dazed Jun whose eyes were only half open struggle out of the rags he'd been wearing, Ohno was reminded of what Aiba had told him years ago about being in love.
Love is the kind that makes you want to be with that person forever no matter what. It makes you want to give up your life for them, even if it’s not the logical thing to do. It makes you want to kiss them and take off their clothes and make babies.
Ohno looked down at Jun with a confused crinkled brow.
It makes you want to kiss them…
Jun was leaning heavily against Ohno, his breath leaving light puff of heat on the older boy’s neck as his head rested against Leader’s shoulder.
…and take off their clothes…
The last of the rags went into a basket at their side, even though they were probably not worth saving, and Ohno had to avert his eyes from Jun's pure white ass.
...and make babies.
Ohno didn't even know how to make babies, but right now he had a feeling he wanted to try.
"Leader?" Jun asked sleepily, his chest pressed heavily against Ohno’s, and the ninja was forced out of his awkward thought process.
He couldn't be in love.
No, he wasn't in love.
It would cause too many problems.
Ohno helped Jun to sit on the tatami mat underneath them, and he started pulling off his own black gear, leaving it in the same basket as the discarded rags, knowing that they would be clean and back in his room before tomorrow afternoon. Aiba had said he would get an extra set for Jun and bring them when they were almost done, as well as one of Ohno’s other pairs.
When he was naked himself, Leader helped Jun stand again and they wobbled to the cleaning area together.
Although Jun tried to help as Ohno lathered up a bar of soap and began rubbing it over the younger boy’s shoulders, all he could really do was run his hands lightly over his arms, spreading the bubbles, but not really contributing to the cleaning effort overall. His eyes were barely staying open, and it was quite distracting to Ohno to watch them flutter closed, then pop back open, trying to become alert, before failing and closing again.
“Sorry… Leader…” Jun mumbled as his body began to lean forward on the short stool he was seated on, his eyes not opening again.
Ohno led Jun to rest against his chest, and then began scrubbing hard at the dirt caked to the back of the other boy’s neck. It would probably hurt in the morning, but if it wasn’t bad enough to wake Jun up now, it would probably be okay. His arms and legs were also bad, and it took Ohno longer than it should have to clean him, especially with the way that Jun was trying to collapse on top of him, but finally Ohno started working at the filthy hair that he knew was hiding beauty.
Once he had finished, Ohno coaxed Jun awake enough to sit by himself while he retrieved a bucket of warm water to rinse him off with. Jun floundered for a second when the water was dumped on his head, but wiped it away from his face and blinked sleepily at Ohno, who was grinning at him.
“I’ll just be a second, Jun, and then we can go soak in the hot bath.” He nodded at the explanation and moved his short stool over to lean against the wooden wall to his right, watching Ohno through sleepy eyes as he fell back awkwardly, still exhausted.
The older boy suddenly turned self-conscious when he continued to feel Jun’s eyes on him, even when he turned around to avoid the gaze. He cleaned his own body in just a few seconds, skipping using a stool to save another minute, and lathered up his own hair before retrieving another bucket of water and dumping it on top of himself.
He returned to Jun, now clean and suitable to enter the bath too, and found the boy’s eyes open in only slits, but still trained on him.
Ohno helped his new friend stumble towards the pool waiting for them on the other side of the room, and cautiously led him into the scalding water.
“Ah… feels good…” Jun took in a contented deep breath and closed his eyes, basking in the warmth surrounding him, and then Ohno pulled him back towards the edge of the bath, where a wooden bench was built around the side halfway below the water’s surface.
Jun immediately laid his head against Ohno again as they settled in, and Leader closed his own eyes in the sudden relaxation that was taking over his body. This was the thing he missed the most when Arashi was out on missions that lasted several days, this and being able to go fishing leisurely, even if only for a few hours.
Tightening his grip on Jun’s hip as the younger man immediately drifted back into his half-sleep daze, Ohno swallowed a few times, realizing again their close proximity and nakedness, and what a compromising position this could be.
The captain leaned his head back against the side of the bath, his mind already distracted by Jun once more.
He was, like, 3 years older than this boy.
This boy.
Although they were about the same height despite their age differences, the rest of their bodies were almost complete opposites.
Jun’s skin was fair and white and his hair, which had become curly in the water, shaggily framed his face. Ohno’s own skin was dark due to hard work in the sun and several finishing trips in which he had spent the entire day in the same spot, watching the same group of fish with his pole in hand, with no protection from the elements. In fact, out of all of Arashi, his skin was the darkest, something that made him stand out as soon as they were outside of the village and next to normal people. In addition to that, Leader’s hair was cropped short, although it needed a trim soon, and had a tendency to collect static electricity from his uniform’s head cover and would stand up most hours of the day.
Aiba had said it was cool, but even if it wasn’t, Ohno didn’t find it worth the effort to fix.
It was evident, now that they were naked, that Jun’s body was comprised mostly of fat, although he was wearing thin in dangerous places due to the treatment that he been given in the prison cell. But his thighs had been soft against Ohno’s rough hands earlier, and the full cheeks on his face gave away the fact that he was so young. Leader’s body, though, was comprised completely of muscle now that he had matured more, mostly due the nature of his job. It didn’t make him particularly bulky, but when he cautiously looked down at his own body through the ripples in the water, he didn’t think he could find any fat at all, even around his stomach.
Ohno wasn’t sure this was a good thing. Jun had been so soft and squishy, after all, and it made Ohno want to squeeze and caress him even more.
Jun’s skin was flawless, too. Despite how pale it was, there were only a few marks around his wrists and ankles from where he may have been immobilized at one time, and his face was only marred with a few faint moles around his mouth. Besides the dirt that Ohno couldn’t get off, this boy was the spitting image of the high ranking status that he was meant to be.
But Leader’s own body was covered in scars, especially his arms. He had a huge gash across his back from before he had been taken in by Jyani, and a few thick ones on his upper legs from injuries that had been bad enough that they needed to be sewn up.
And, Ohno thought as he turned back to Jun, who was breathing steadily against the older man’s neck, Jun’s lips were so full and pouty and flush with heat from the bath.
His own were just boring thin lines across his face.
This was getting dangerous.
Ohno swallowed and forced himself to turn away.
He wasn’t in a good position.
This wasn’t happening to him.
This wasn’t love, even though it fit every description that Aiba had given it.
But his body was reacting to the exposed boy at his side, and no matter what he told it, it wasn’t listening. It was another first for him, since at least when he was injured and couldn’t move he had an excuse for the lack of control.
Jun’s body slipped closer to him, the boy’s nose pressed flushedly against his neck now, and Ohno vaguely realized that one of Jun’s hands had haphazardly drifted to his thigh.
He swallowed again, and tried to push thoughts of making babies out of his head.
It wasn’t working.
“Oh-chan?”
Leader jumped and quickly reached out to catch Jun’s body as it was jostled and began to fall into the warm water.
He turned behind him, towards the entrance of the bath room.
“Aiba-chan,” Ohno replied breathily, silently thanking his friend for his good timing.
The herbalist grinned widely, his gaze drifting to the boy asleep against him. “I brought your clothes, and some for Jun-kun, too.”
Ohno nodded and offered a low thank you.
Aiba set the clothes on the floor, next to the basket that Ohno had discarded his own in, and straightened back up, hovering around the door like he wasn’t sure whether he should stay or not.
“Aiba-chan, can you help me with him?” Ohno asked immediately, shifting Jun once more, closer to the side of the bath.
“Sure!” the younger ninja padded across the room, pushing back the sleeves of his training gear, and gently pulled Jun out of the water as he began to return to his senses, blinking around although barely able to open his eyes. He stumbled when his feet hit the ground again, but Aiba held him up.
“C’mon, let’s get you dressed and into bed!” he said happily, helping Jun walk across the room with a hand securely on his waist.
“I’m just going to be one more second,” Ohno called out as Jun opened his mouth to question the movements.
He turned back to the wall across from him, averting his gaze from Jun’s naked body and closed his eyes, sinking deeper into the water, covering his entire face except the tip of his nose.
That had been close.
+++
Nino forced himself out of bed, even though it was far earlier in the morning than he needed to get up.
His eyes blinked open slowly, just as they usually did, and it took him a moment to focus on the rest of the dark room.
Sho’s chest was pressed up tightly against his back, the older boy’s arm securely around his waist, and the weapons master let out a sluggish smile at his usual waking position (when he got up before the archer did, anyway).
Aiba had slept on the other side of Jun last night (since the boy had only been awake enough to force his feet to move when someone else was steering him), and was still there now, his head rested lightly against Jun’s shoulder in the way that Aiba always slept.
Ohno was missing, though, which probably meant that something had happened yesterday to upset him and the captain had woken up early to go and think. But a lot of stuff had happened yesterday, so Nino wasn’t surprised.
Jun was sprawled out, half in what was left of Oh-chan’s bed, one of his arms stretched across the abandoned futon. It looked like he had been clinging to the older boy again, but hadn’t awoken when Leader pried himself free.
Although Nino was still feeling a competitive edge with Jun, he’d decided to at least let the boy learn a few skills before he firmly put him in his place.
Besides, it was about time someone younger than Nino came into the picture; someone he could pick on when he felt like it, since Aiba’s sad look alone was enough to tempt him in to apologizing. But with the boy still fawning all over Ohno like he was, it wouldn’t be hard to come with something to pick at him for.
Nino pried off the arms attached to his own waist and turned to give the unconscious archer an endearing look, automatically bringing his hands to the older boy’s forehead to brush his unkempt locks away from his face. Taking a moment to silently lean down and kiss the exposed skin, he then set to work getting situated for the day.
The door to their private rooms slid open without a sound, and Nino padded into the hallway, looking both ways to see if he was alone or not before starting towards Jyani’s private quarters.
As he passed an entrance into the inner garden, Nino couldn’t help but turn his eyes and search for his captain through the trees there. He walked a few more feet and could barely make out a black blur of clothing through the cover of twilight, which meant that he had been correct in his prediction.
The ninja made a mental note to be back by the time Jun woke up to see what the boy would do at the absence of his idol.
Nino tread past Ohno, though, trying harder than ever not to draw attention from the older man, and eventually found himself outside of Jyani’s private room.
He knocked on the wooden panel three times, then immediately bowed as the door was opened halfway.
“Kazunari. I was expecting you.”
Nino had spoken with one of Jyani’s assistants last night, requesting an early meeting with the ninja lord, before the rest of the household was up and moving. When they had asked what the reason was, he had vaguely said a private matter, and the man hadn’t argued with him. Nino was part of Arashi, after all.
Jyani moved back from the entranceway, allowing the ninja room to enter, and Nino did so promptly with his head down. He realized how much he was asking to meet with Jyani in his private quarters at such an hour, and was trying to show an equal amount of respect for the fulfillment of his request.
The older man casually plopped back down onto a pillow on the tatami floor and faced Nino, motioning for him to sit on the ground opposite him. The boy did so, paused for a second, then immediately splayed himself in a deep bow, his hands out in front of him and his forehead touching the ground.
Jyani didn’t say anything, but his lighthearted air had suddenly disappeared.
Nino stayed that way until Jyani addressed him. He wasn’t sure how the lord was going to react to his request, and he was willing to put his honor on the line to prove how serious he was about the matter.
“What can I do for you, Kazunari?” he was finally asked in a low voice.
Nino lifted his head a few inches in order for Jyani to completely hear his steady voice.
“Tell me about Ohno.”
Jyani’s face broke out in a smile, as if he was expecting something far worse than that as a request.
“Satoshi? What is it you want to know?”
Nino replied immediately. “Where he’s from. How you found him. What his life was like before this. Why you trained him.”
Nodding, as if he had expected this demand from the ninja much sooner than now, Jyani motioned for Nino to sit back up with a flick of his wrist, and then sighed as the boy did so.
“Satoshi… Yes. I remember that day quite vividly,” Jyani’s voice immediately fell into a narrative and his face turned somewhat pensive as he conjured up the details of a past that had changed his life as much as Ohno's. “I had been out on a difficult mission with some of my men, one that many of the ninja in this village had failed to complete.
“There had been a band of raiders pillaging small towns in the countryside and the task had fallen to me to stop them." He paused for just a moment, meeting Nino's attentive stare.
“At first, I sent twenty of my best men to take care of the job, but only three of them came back alive, and one of them had lost use of his right arm due to an injury.
“I dispatched another to scope out the situation, but even he came back with a crippled knee-it took all the energy he had remaining for him to get the report to me.
“By the time I stepped in, there were already acres and acres of burnt houses and fields in their wake. I followed their trail easily, knowing that I had no choice but to stop them and as fast as I could.
“The day that I almost came upon them was the day I met Satoshi.”
Jyani stopped briefly to let Nino digest the background of the story and try to connect the pieces himself.
“His village had been plundered in a similar way, only the day before I had arrived.
“I entered the wreckage out of breath, accompanied by my two closest friends and the strongest ninja I knew. We had all been hoping we could salvage the situation, but it was obvious we had arrived too late that day.
“But as we began to examine the aftermath and look for survivors, I immediately spotted Satoshi standing in the ashes of a burnt house, on his knees, filtering through the rubble as if he was looking for something.
“As I approached him, I noticed several bodies lying just a few feet away from the remains of the building, in the street, or at least where it would have been at one point in time. Upon closer examination I realized that there were four dead men, their bodies bloody messes, and that they were wearing heavy traveling gear. There were also trinkets, undoubtedly stolen, lying a little ways off.”
Jyani stopped again, nodding his head unconsciously, the wrinkled skin of his forehead pressing his eyes down in a melancholy expression.
“Those were some of the men we had been looking for.
“Before I investigated any further, though, I knew I needed to help this boy. I approached him, but he was in shock. His feet were burnt on the bottom, but he was shivering from the cold around us and I found out later that he had been in the elements all night, trying to uncover his family.
“When I asked him about the men in the street, he gave me a stern look and unwaveringly said I killed them.
“At first I couldn’t believe it. Twenty of my strongest ninja had been bested by these men, and this boy had taken out four by himself?
“So, I asked him how he did it.
“I’ll spare you the gruesome details, Kazunari, but I’ll tell you that it was ruthless, the way he killed those men. He had somehow gotten a hold of a sword from one of them and ran him straight through the stomach, leaving him to die slowly on the ground as the other men jumped at him.
“Another lost his arm in that fight, but he was eventually killed, so I suppose it didn’t matter.”
Jyani took a breath, breaking his monologue, and dipped his head again as the memories resurfaced. He then sighed deeply, as if it pained him to think of the situation again or to even share the details with Nino.
“He butchered the men, cut into them, mutilated them as they took their last breaths. He didn’t stop until the cheap sword had broken in half and he realized that he had to save his family.”
Nino swallowed all of the emotions that rose up within him as he finally discovered exactly what he wanted to know about Ohno. Now he thought that he might have been better off in the dark, not knowing where the morbid and ruthless side of his friend had sprouted from. He himself had been sold off, yes, but that was certainly less scarring than watching your family die in front of you, then murdering the four men that did it.
“He wouldn’t come with me immediately. I had to wait until he had passed out from exhaustion, but he had nowhere to stay, no one to take care of him, and so I took the responsibility on myself.
“I pitied him, of course, but I also knew that he had skills that were dangerous, that needed to be controlled and channeled in the right direction. And I needed an heir, one that I could trust to follow me without question and that I could pass on all of my techniques to.”
Jyani gave him a wry smile as he admitted this, but his eyes said that he knew that Nino understood his motives and that the two of them, no doubt, thought the same way.
That unspoken assumption, that Nino would use people the same as Jyani did, made bile rise in the back of his throat.
“He asked for his family, of course, and wouldn’t speak for several days after that, but when I showed him that I could offer hot food and a warm bed and a new life, he eventually changed his opinion. I kept him close to my side, sheltering him from the rest of the household for a while until he could emotionally handle the barbs they threw at him, but it wasn’t long until he had turned into the stoic and upstanding boy that you first knew.”
Nino looked down at his hands, realizing why Ohno had immediately taken to Jun. They shared a similar situation, probably, and could relate to each other, while Nino had simply complained over his own petty state of affairs, not thinking that Leader could be worse off.
He had been so stupid.
Suddenly he was glad that they had all met Jun and that his presence had somehow made everything right.
The next idea that came to mind was the fact that Jyani probably wouldn’t like the changes the new boy would impress on the group, especially Ohno. But Nino was sure that the old man cared for Leader as much as he did, although more as a father figure, and wouldn’t reject Satoshi or his requests until he had to.
And this was obviously the reason that Jyani allowed Jun to stay despite not knowing anything of his past or the situation that had gotten him into that prison. If Jyani wanted to protect Ohno and Ohno was set on protecting Jun, then the ninja lord had no choice but to protect them both.
Ohno had probably realized that, too.
“And that's where Satoshi's story ends. Any more questions, Kazunari?”
Nino lifted his head up slightly to see Jyani’s amused expression.
“No, sir,” he replied formally, then thanked him for his time.
The ninja lord chuckled and nodded, allowing Nino to back out of his room carefully and return to the hallway.
Standing outside of Jyani’s door and staring at the floor for several minutes, trying to piece together the last of the threads of understanding, Nino’s feet eventually started leading him back to the garden.
The black figure was immediately visible against the soft glow of morning, and without thinking twice, Nino jumped down onto the ground and silently crossed the garden towards Ohno, who was in his usual meditative position.
The younger boy cocked his head and watched his captain, taking in his gentle features. Leader’s eyes were closed and he looked completely calm, even though the winter air was bitter against Nino’s face.
He butchered the men, cut into them, mutilated them as they took their last breaths.
Nino’s heart sped up as the description Jyani had given him came to mind.
He didn’t stop until the cheap sword had broken in half and he realized that he had to save his family.
That couldn’t be Ohno. Not his Oh-chan.
The older boy’s eyes suddenly fluttered open and he turned to Nino, offering him a soft smile.
“Kazu,” he whispered and Nino hesitated for only a second before returning the grin. He stepped closer to Ohno, still unsure what to think now that he’d learned what he’d wanted to.
Ohno watched him until the younger ninja was at his side, and continued to do so as Nino stood towering over his seated form.
Slowly lowering his body to sit next to his friend, Nino looked out across the water’s edge and took a deep breath of morning air, allowing his eyes to drift shut.
“Kazu,” Ohno started again in a light voice. “Y’know, I was thinking…”
Nino’s eyes popped back open and he turned to Leader, not expecting him to start up a conversation like this. He thought they would sit in peace for a few minutes until Aiba came to find them because Princess Jun was requesting Ohno’s presence.
Leader nodded once, almost to himself, then continued.
“I want you to train Jun.”
Nino’s eyes widened more and he sent Ohno a shocked stare.
“What?”
“I want you to train Jun,” the older boy repeated, taking a haphazard breath. “You’re better at using weapons than me, and I can already tell he won’t be good with a sword… Can you help him find out what to use? I don’t have any idea where to start…”
Ohno’s expression was pleading and Nino already knew he’d have to accept the request no matter what.
And immediately his head was filled with horrible images of having to explain how to use a certain weapon to the new boy over and over and over…
They wouldn’t be able to do group missions for weeks, maybe months, not to mention Nino’s lack of super secret kissing meetings with Sho-chan.
He sighed heavily and began rubbing his forehead.
“I guess so…”
+++
A/N: Sorry my updates are all over the place! =A=; I was so busy last weekend and I'm still exhausted~ But I finally got around to posting a new chapter, haha.
There was a lot of flashing back in this chapter I think. And the last post had a few mistakes that were pointed out, so feel free any time to tell me about a mistake! Whether it's spelling or html, or even criticism is always welcome. I was thinking about opening an anonymous enabled post for that, but I need to look into using live jounrnal better before I do. =__=;
Juntoshi sexual tension and inquisitive Nino.<3 How was it?
Chapter eleven