Post by Rockinmuffin on Jul 8, 2007 12:42:07 GMT -5
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, then the manga wouldn’t be getting weekly updates. They’d be monthly. …Or annually.
Sorry for not updating sooner on this story. I tend to get lazier than usual over the summer. I used to write my stories during boring classes at school but now that I’m not in school I have nothing to ignore to motivate me faster. xD Lol. That and a lot of family problems have been piling up on my shoulders and it makes it hard to write sometimes. ^___^; So, to make up for the lack of updates, I finished writing this chapter during church and even included some fluff at the end. You’re lucky; that’s not how I originally planned for the chapter to end. There was gonna be more conflict but I decided against that. I can use that for a later chapter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kisame came to the conclusion that he greatly disliked rain as the drops of water poured over his head, causing thick blue locks of hair to stick to his scalp and fall in his face.
You, on the other hand, were thankful for the rain; it made it easier to hide your tears.
You stayed silent as the mizukage listed the names of all the young academy students that had fallen victim to Zabuza, the boy now known as the demon of the mist. You glanced to your side to check on Takei. The boy’s eyes were locked on the stone memorial erected in honor of those that were killed in action, his expression looking forlorn. You gripped the boy’s hand in yours, earning a small smile from Takei as he turned to you briefly before he brought his attention back to the memorial.
The rain began to pour harder (much to Kisame’s displeasure) as if the sky itself were mourning over the loss of the children.
You weren’t sure how much time had passed; three hours, thirty minutes; but soon enough everyone was gone except for you, Kisame, Takei, and a few other family members of the students that were lost. Takei’s gaze was still focused intently on the memorial, eyes sad, dull, and out of tears to shed. You and Kisame stood by him; you with a comforting hand on his shoulder and Kisame at Takei’s other side with his head bowed low in respect.
You shivered lightly, the cold rain chilling your bones. You wished that you had brought a jacket with you, but said nothing. You simply allowed your body to shiver and your teeth to chatter in silence. Your sneeze, however, was not able to go by unnoticed.
Kisame sighed. “You idiot. Let’s get you inside before you catch a cold.” It wasn’t that Kisame particularly cared about your well-being, he reminded himself, but if you weren’t in good health it would interfere with any missions your team was assigned. After all, the village didn’t stop functioning just because someone was sick; it didn’t even stop if someone died.
You blinked up at Kisame, still shivering, before turning back to Takei. You didn’t want to leave him all alone.
The boy must’ve known what was on your mind. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll meet up with you guys later. I just want to stay here a little while longer” he told you, his eyes still glued to the memorial.
You gave him a soft, comforting smile, though he wasn’t looking at you to see it, and you reluctantly turned around and left with Kisame, allowing him to hold onto your hand and lead you away. You turned your head to look behind you as you walked, making sure that Takei was okay, but soon you were too far away and he was out of your line of sight.
“I hope Takei will be okay all by himself” you thought aloud as you turned your head back in front of you, concentrating on keeping up with Kisame’s long strides.
Kisame grunted in response, wiping wet bangs out of his eyes. Honestly, he thought you were worrying over Takei too much. True, the boy had lost someone important to him, but if he couldn’t handle that then he didn’t have what it takes to be a ninja. In their line of work, death was a common occurrence. People die; strangers, acquaintances, family, and friends; everyone dies eventually, whether it be from sickness, old age, or a kunai in the heart. That was why the ideal ninja was an empty, emotionless shell; so they could handle all the death surrounding them.
It wasn’t as if Takei was the only one who had ever lost a loved one, Kisame reasoned to himself. Kisame’s own family had been targeted by the village itself many times. He had lost many aunts, uncles, and cousins to angry, ignorant villagers that felt threatened by the monstrous, shark-like traits of his family’s bloodline limit. Kisame held a bitter resentment towards the villagers, but he spent no time mourning over the loss of his family members.
No use crying over spilt blood.
Kisame was brought out of his musings at the sound of your loud sneeze. He picked up his pace, pulling you along with him; his house wasn’t very far away. You could crash at his place for a little while until you got a chance to warm yourself up.
Kisame was relieved to find his house empty when he opened the door. His father was away on a mission and his mother must’ve gone to the market to buy groceries. Kisame closed the door behind you, not needing to give you an invitation since you were already so used to just barging inside his house without his permission. His parents had made it clear that you were always more than welcome in their home anyway.
Sometimes Kisame wondered if his parents would’ve been happier had they had a daughter instead.
“You want anything to eat?” he asked casually as he made his way to the kitchen. Kisame interpreted the loud grumble of your stomach and the sneeze that followed as a yes. He opened the refrigerator and eyed the contents warily. He grunted when he saw the human heart and pushed it aside; when was his father going to get rid of that thing? Kisame settled on a large bowl of leftover soup from the previous night’s dinner. Or at least, he thought it was soup; it was an orange broth with purple and green chunks of God-knew-what in it. Oh well. The food might have not looked too appetizing but it tasted fine and that was all that really mattered.
He poured the strange-looking broth into a large pot and placed it over the stovetop, heating the soup up for you and himself to eat. Once the soup came to a rolling boil he turned off the stove and carefully poured the steamy, thick liquid into two separate bowls.
“Oi, Kisa-kun!” you called from within the living room.
Kisame cursed silently to himself when your sudden shout caused him to spill a drop of the burning-hot liquid onto the back of his hand. He quickly ran his hand under some cold water in the sink before he picked up the two bowls of steaming-hot soup. “What is it?” he questioned as he started to walk towards the living room, bowls of soup in hand, only to nearly drop them on the carpet once he saw you. “What are you doing?!”
You grunted as you finished pulling off wet shirt and flung it to the floor next to your discarded pants, now standing in just your panties and some bandages that were wrapped around your chest. “Kisa-kun, do you have any clothes I could borrow?” you asked innocently, not even attempting to cover yourself up.
Kisame could feel his face heating up as he stared at you with widened eyes. He was stunned for a brief moment but quickly averted his eyes and turned his back to you the moment he felt a wet trail slowly drip out his left nostril. “Don’t you know better than to strip out of your clothes in someone else’s home?” he asked, discreetly trying to wipe away the blood trail above his upper lip.
You shrugged your shoulders. “You act as if you’ve never seen me without my clothes on before” you stated nonchalantly.
“…I thought I told you to never bring up the hot springs incident again.”
“It’s not like I have much to look at anyway” you continued, ignoring Kisame’s statement. “Just see for yourself.”
Kisame used every ounce of his will power to resist the urge to turn around and do just that. It was especially hard when he felt a coiled up roll of bandages land on top of his head.
You giggled lightly. “Oh Hoshigaki-san, you’re such a gentleman” you teased, resisting the urge to tackle him from behind just to annoy him. “Well, I’m gonna go in your room and grab a change of clothes. Then we can eat soup together.” And with that, you skipped off to get a set of warm, hopefully clean, clothes.
Kisame was suddenly very thankful for the bandage wrap you left behind; he needed something to stop the bleeding before he passed out from blood loss.
Several minutes later, you walked out of Kisame’s room wearing an oversized T-shirt and a pair of boxers with winking smiley faces on them with their tongues sticking out. You made a mental note to tease Kisame about his choice in undergarments. “Oi, Kisa-kun, where do you find all these cute undies?” you teased as you tugged lightly on the waistline of the boxers and let it go with a snap. You turned to Kisame with a little smirk then frowned at the sight of him. “Did you stick bandages up your nose?”
“…Shut up.” Kisame scowled at you and crossed his arms over his chest. “I… tripped.” He furrowed his brows as you tried to stifle your giggles behind your hands. He took a moment to glare at you when he finally noticed something that caused a faint purple stain to appear over his cheeks. “…Why are you wearing my boxers?”
“Because my pants are wet.” You resisted the urge to add a Duh.
Kisame let out an annoyed sigh. “No, I mean, why are you wearing my boxers instead of a pair of shorts or pants?”
“Because I wanted an excuse to raid your underwear drawer” you said with a leer as you fingered the waistband of the boxers. “Besides, I look cute in them” you told him with a playful wink.
He sighed again, though the corners of his lips quirked up in what could be considered a smile on Kisame’s face. “You’re a little… odd.” And he believed that statement more than anything else he had ever believed.
“I know” you replied with a wide grin. Your smile widened even more when you spied the two bowls of still-steaming soup. You snatched a bowl and eagerly slurped a mouthful down before quirking an eyebrow and pursing your lips in thought. “Hmm… Tastes kind of like fried shrimp and strawberry ice cream.” You quickly poured the rest of the soup down your throat and licked your lips. “Got any more?” you asked with a grin.
Kisame sighed as he handed over his own bowl of soup. He wasn’t really hungry anyway. “I take back what I said; you’re more than a little odd.”
You swiftly downed the rest of the soup, letting out a satisfied sigh before wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. “I know,” you answered, “But I think it’s a good thing. Don’t you?”
Well, Kisame thought to himself, if you weren’t so odd you probably wouldn’t have had to transfer to a different class for being a distraction. Then you would’ve never been put into his classroom and the two of you would have never met. And even if you two ever did meet one another, if you weren’t so odd then you never would’ve approached him in the first place.
If you weren’t so odd then he wouldn’t have to deal with your teasing, your shenanigans, or your constant companionship since you seemed to feel the need to include him in all of your plans. If you weren’t so odd then he could continue being quiet and antisocial and look out for no one but himself.
If you weren’t so odd, he could be alone.
“Yeah…” he agreed, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “It’s a good thing.”
Sorry for not updating sooner on this story. I tend to get lazier than usual over the summer. I used to write my stories during boring classes at school but now that I’m not in school I have nothing to ignore to motivate me faster. xD Lol. That and a lot of family problems have been piling up on my shoulders and it makes it hard to write sometimes. ^___^; So, to make up for the lack of updates, I finished writing this chapter during church and even included some fluff at the end. You’re lucky; that’s not how I originally planned for the chapter to end. There was gonna be more conflict but I decided against that. I can use that for a later chapter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kisame came to the conclusion that he greatly disliked rain as the drops of water poured over his head, causing thick blue locks of hair to stick to his scalp and fall in his face.
You, on the other hand, were thankful for the rain; it made it easier to hide your tears.
You stayed silent as the mizukage listed the names of all the young academy students that had fallen victim to Zabuza, the boy now known as the demon of the mist. You glanced to your side to check on Takei. The boy’s eyes were locked on the stone memorial erected in honor of those that were killed in action, his expression looking forlorn. You gripped the boy’s hand in yours, earning a small smile from Takei as he turned to you briefly before he brought his attention back to the memorial.
The rain began to pour harder (much to Kisame’s displeasure) as if the sky itself were mourning over the loss of the children.
You weren’t sure how much time had passed; three hours, thirty minutes; but soon enough everyone was gone except for you, Kisame, Takei, and a few other family members of the students that were lost. Takei’s gaze was still focused intently on the memorial, eyes sad, dull, and out of tears to shed. You and Kisame stood by him; you with a comforting hand on his shoulder and Kisame at Takei’s other side with his head bowed low in respect.
You shivered lightly, the cold rain chilling your bones. You wished that you had brought a jacket with you, but said nothing. You simply allowed your body to shiver and your teeth to chatter in silence. Your sneeze, however, was not able to go by unnoticed.
Kisame sighed. “You idiot. Let’s get you inside before you catch a cold.” It wasn’t that Kisame particularly cared about your well-being, he reminded himself, but if you weren’t in good health it would interfere with any missions your team was assigned. After all, the village didn’t stop functioning just because someone was sick; it didn’t even stop if someone died.
You blinked up at Kisame, still shivering, before turning back to Takei. You didn’t want to leave him all alone.
The boy must’ve known what was on your mind. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll meet up with you guys later. I just want to stay here a little while longer” he told you, his eyes still glued to the memorial.
You gave him a soft, comforting smile, though he wasn’t looking at you to see it, and you reluctantly turned around and left with Kisame, allowing him to hold onto your hand and lead you away. You turned your head to look behind you as you walked, making sure that Takei was okay, but soon you were too far away and he was out of your line of sight.
“I hope Takei will be okay all by himself” you thought aloud as you turned your head back in front of you, concentrating on keeping up with Kisame’s long strides.
Kisame grunted in response, wiping wet bangs out of his eyes. Honestly, he thought you were worrying over Takei too much. True, the boy had lost someone important to him, but if he couldn’t handle that then he didn’t have what it takes to be a ninja. In their line of work, death was a common occurrence. People die; strangers, acquaintances, family, and friends; everyone dies eventually, whether it be from sickness, old age, or a kunai in the heart. That was why the ideal ninja was an empty, emotionless shell; so they could handle all the death surrounding them.
It wasn’t as if Takei was the only one who had ever lost a loved one, Kisame reasoned to himself. Kisame’s own family had been targeted by the village itself many times. He had lost many aunts, uncles, and cousins to angry, ignorant villagers that felt threatened by the monstrous, shark-like traits of his family’s bloodline limit. Kisame held a bitter resentment towards the villagers, but he spent no time mourning over the loss of his family members.
No use crying over spilt blood.
Kisame was brought out of his musings at the sound of your loud sneeze. He picked up his pace, pulling you along with him; his house wasn’t very far away. You could crash at his place for a little while until you got a chance to warm yourself up.
Kisame was relieved to find his house empty when he opened the door. His father was away on a mission and his mother must’ve gone to the market to buy groceries. Kisame closed the door behind you, not needing to give you an invitation since you were already so used to just barging inside his house without his permission. His parents had made it clear that you were always more than welcome in their home anyway.
Sometimes Kisame wondered if his parents would’ve been happier had they had a daughter instead.
“You want anything to eat?” he asked casually as he made his way to the kitchen. Kisame interpreted the loud grumble of your stomach and the sneeze that followed as a yes. He opened the refrigerator and eyed the contents warily. He grunted when he saw the human heart and pushed it aside; when was his father going to get rid of that thing? Kisame settled on a large bowl of leftover soup from the previous night’s dinner. Or at least, he thought it was soup; it was an orange broth with purple and green chunks of God-knew-what in it. Oh well. The food might have not looked too appetizing but it tasted fine and that was all that really mattered.
He poured the strange-looking broth into a large pot and placed it over the stovetop, heating the soup up for you and himself to eat. Once the soup came to a rolling boil he turned off the stove and carefully poured the steamy, thick liquid into two separate bowls.
“Oi, Kisa-kun!” you called from within the living room.
Kisame cursed silently to himself when your sudden shout caused him to spill a drop of the burning-hot liquid onto the back of his hand. He quickly ran his hand under some cold water in the sink before he picked up the two bowls of steaming-hot soup. “What is it?” he questioned as he started to walk towards the living room, bowls of soup in hand, only to nearly drop them on the carpet once he saw you. “What are you doing?!”
You grunted as you finished pulling off wet shirt and flung it to the floor next to your discarded pants, now standing in just your panties and some bandages that were wrapped around your chest. “Kisa-kun, do you have any clothes I could borrow?” you asked innocently, not even attempting to cover yourself up.
Kisame could feel his face heating up as he stared at you with widened eyes. He was stunned for a brief moment but quickly averted his eyes and turned his back to you the moment he felt a wet trail slowly drip out his left nostril. “Don’t you know better than to strip out of your clothes in someone else’s home?” he asked, discreetly trying to wipe away the blood trail above his upper lip.
You shrugged your shoulders. “You act as if you’ve never seen me without my clothes on before” you stated nonchalantly.
“…I thought I told you to never bring up the hot springs incident again.”
“It’s not like I have much to look at anyway” you continued, ignoring Kisame’s statement. “Just see for yourself.”
Kisame used every ounce of his will power to resist the urge to turn around and do just that. It was especially hard when he felt a coiled up roll of bandages land on top of his head.
You giggled lightly. “Oh Hoshigaki-san, you’re such a gentleman” you teased, resisting the urge to tackle him from behind just to annoy him. “Well, I’m gonna go in your room and grab a change of clothes. Then we can eat soup together.” And with that, you skipped off to get a set of warm, hopefully clean, clothes.
Kisame was suddenly very thankful for the bandage wrap you left behind; he needed something to stop the bleeding before he passed out from blood loss.
Several minutes later, you walked out of Kisame’s room wearing an oversized T-shirt and a pair of boxers with winking smiley faces on them with their tongues sticking out. You made a mental note to tease Kisame about his choice in undergarments. “Oi, Kisa-kun, where do you find all these cute undies?” you teased as you tugged lightly on the waistline of the boxers and let it go with a snap. You turned to Kisame with a little smirk then frowned at the sight of him. “Did you stick bandages up your nose?”
“…Shut up.” Kisame scowled at you and crossed his arms over his chest. “I… tripped.” He furrowed his brows as you tried to stifle your giggles behind your hands. He took a moment to glare at you when he finally noticed something that caused a faint purple stain to appear over his cheeks. “…Why are you wearing my boxers?”
“Because my pants are wet.” You resisted the urge to add a Duh.
Kisame let out an annoyed sigh. “No, I mean, why are you wearing my boxers instead of a pair of shorts or pants?”
“Because I wanted an excuse to raid your underwear drawer” you said with a leer as you fingered the waistband of the boxers. “Besides, I look cute in them” you told him with a playful wink.
He sighed again, though the corners of his lips quirked up in what could be considered a smile on Kisame’s face. “You’re a little… odd.” And he believed that statement more than anything else he had ever believed.
“I know” you replied with a wide grin. Your smile widened even more when you spied the two bowls of still-steaming soup. You snatched a bowl and eagerly slurped a mouthful down before quirking an eyebrow and pursing your lips in thought. “Hmm… Tastes kind of like fried shrimp and strawberry ice cream.” You quickly poured the rest of the soup down your throat and licked your lips. “Got any more?” you asked with a grin.
Kisame sighed as he handed over his own bowl of soup. He wasn’t really hungry anyway. “I take back what I said; you’re more than a little odd.”
You swiftly downed the rest of the soup, letting out a satisfied sigh before wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. “I know,” you answered, “But I think it’s a good thing. Don’t you?”
Well, Kisame thought to himself, if you weren’t so odd you probably wouldn’t have had to transfer to a different class for being a distraction. Then you would’ve never been put into his classroom and the two of you would have never met. And even if you two ever did meet one another, if you weren’t so odd then you never would’ve approached him in the first place.
If you weren’t so odd then he wouldn’t have to deal with your teasing, your shenanigans, or your constant companionship since you seemed to feel the need to include him in all of your plans. If you weren’t so odd then he could continue being quiet and antisocial and look out for no one but himself.
If you weren’t so odd, he could be alone.
“Yeah…” he agreed, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “It’s a good thing.”
Ever notice how the word "therapist" is just "the" and "rapist" put together? Think about it. 