Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Colorful Darkness ❯ An Interesting Reunion ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Once Again, I don't own Naruto. Only Daisuke.

 

 

Colorful Darkness

Fuuma

 

Chapter 2

An Interesting Reunion

 

Daisuke looked at himself in the mirror, his empty blue gaze reflected back at him. He was fine featured, though a little drawn from years of being constantly under pressure for missions. His face reflected no emotion, and even when he tried to smile it looked out of place. He shook his head ruefully, his shock pink hair dropping into his eyes.

 

He was the exception to the rule, more often than not. As a male Haruno, he should have been born with a normal hair color, probably blond. Never, in the entire history of their family, had anyone who wasn't female been born with hair the color of sakura blossoms. He had been the first, and it had caused trouble for him since he was little. Around the age of 6, his parents had allowed him to start wearing a bandana wherever he went, only making him take it off at home.

 

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft tapping on the door of his room. He had checked into a hotel set up specifically for visiting Jounin and those returning from mission who didn't want to barge in on their families in the middle of the night. It was affordable, clean, quiet, and he really had nowhere better to stay. All reasons for him to take advantage of the arrangement until he could find something more permanent.

 

The young Jounin walked out of the bathroom, not even bothering to throw the black sleeveless t-shirt he had been wearing to sleep back on. He never slept in anything less than a pair of loose fitting pants and a t-shirt, simply in case he had to be ready quickly, or he was attacked suddenly. It was a policy he kept religiously, ever since he was a child.

 

Another tap on the door came, this one slightly louder, giving hint of growing impatience in the person outside of the door. Just before he opened the door, he snagged a single shuriken from the bedside table, cradling it in his palm, the tip of his index finger laced through the hole in the center of it. If it was somehow an enemy outside his door, though it was extremely unlikely, he could slit their throat faster than the blink of an eye. Old habits die a very hard death.

 

His empty hand flickered in front of the door, disarming several wire traps attached to explosive seals that would blow outward if anyone tried to force their way in. Placing his hand on the doorknob, he listened carefully, and then pulled the door open quickly. He had timed it just right, by listening to the shifting sound of the persons clothing, to open it just before their hand hit the door to knock for a third time, leaving the black robed, monkey masked ANBU standing in front of him looking like an idiot with her hand raised.

 

Daisuke knew she was, in fact, a woman. The way the robe fell, the slight frame, and, one thing overriding everything else, the faintest hint of perfume he caught as he drew a deep breath through his nose. “Yes?” he asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper. What most people would call a bedroom voice, except for the absolute emptiness of his tone. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the doorframe as he waited for the kunoichi in front of him to recover from his little trick.

 

The ANBU was silent for quite a while. First, she was embarrassed, and put into an awkward position, then she was confronted with the sight of an extremely fit, half naked shinobi standing in front of her with bed hair. Not to mention that his hair was such an unusual color. For what seemed like an eternity, at least to her, she couldn't say anything, she just stared, her eyes roving over his chest and arms. She was finally able to tear her gaze away and compose herself when she looked at his abdomen. The otherwise pale perfection of his skin was marred by the sight of a long jagged scar that ran from his left side almost to his belly button, and by a random series of scars, easily identified as stab wounds caused by kunai and other bladed weapons, on his lower chest and upper stomach.

 

Daisuke watched as she composed herself, half annoyed and half amused at her reaction to his hair and the scars. He gave her a bored look when her eyes finally came up to meet his. There was an almost visible squaring of shoulders as she faced him, as if she was reminding herself, *I'm an ANBU, an elite.* “Jounin Haruno Daisuke?” came the question.

 

“That would be me.”

 

“The Hokage requests,” she said the word requests in such a way that he was certain that refusal wasn't an option, “your presence at 1100 hours today for a debriefing on your completed assigned mission.”

 

He looked back over his shoulder, towards the clock on the wall. it was already 9:30 am, or 0930, so he had an hour and a half to get ready and make it to the Hokage tower. He nodded, more to himself than to the monkey face woman, “Message received. I will be at the Hokage's office at 1100 hours. Thanks,” he turned, hand on the door, then looked back over his shoulder, “It's not polite to stare.” He closed the door to the sound of a spluttering ANBU.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

(For the sake of the story, I am gonna jump ahead a bit. The next few paragraphs are filler, in order to get to the point where he meets with Naruto and the others. I just don't like leaving gaps)

 

The debriefing and conversation that followed hadn't lasted long. In fact, for some reason, the Godaime, Tsunade, had left in quite a hurry after one of her aids came in with a message scroll. Before leaving, as if sensing his curiousity, she had turned back to him, gifting him with one of her rare, genuine smiles. “Gomen,” she said, subdued amusement tingeing her voice, “I am needed elsewhere at the moment. Two important baka have returned to the Leaf. It seems today is a day of momentous returns. I'll read your report in more detail, and we can meet again later in case of questions. You are officially on leave. Get some rest, refamiliarize yourself with Konoha.” With that, she disappeared down the hall. He blinked, then looked at Shizune, who simply smiled and shook her head.

 

That was yesterday. He had spent the rest of the day taking care of some business. First, he stopped at the weapons smith to order some specific weapons that he used, then headed to the bank to check what kind of money he had accumulated during his time away. After that and a meal, he had returned to his room and slept for the rest of the day and the night, letting his body simply shut down, since he had nothing else to do.

 

He had awoken this morning feeling better than he had in years, completely refreshed. His sleep had been thankfully dreamless, a rare occurrence, and a blessed one. He opened his door to find the clothing he sent out to be washed folded neatly inside of a box. He showered, did a morning routine of exercises designed to loosen him up an keep him strong, even when he wasn't on missions. After that he dressed, donned his jounin flak jacket and the gear that he personally carried, namely his metal backed gloves, forearm protectors, weapon, and most specifically the special boken that he carried everywhere. Finally, he tied his bandana on, covering all of his hair, then his forehead protector. After that, he left to do exactly what the Hokage had suggested.

 

He went sightseeing.

 

There was no better way to put it. He had been gone for four years, four momentous years in the history of Konoha. He had missed a war, the near destruction of this place he called home. Everywhere he looked, despite the villagers best intentions, he could see the after effects. A patched wall here, new coats of paint there. A new building where an old one used to be. Still, most of what he remembered was still in evidence. The easy mixture of shinobi and normal villagers, something he hadn't seen in any of the other Hidden Villages he had visited. The Jounin Bar, the Tea House, and, of course, the Ichiraku Ramen stand. The friendly greetings called across the streets between friends. Happily, no one recognized him.

 

He stopped at a vendors stand in the market and purchased three bottles of water, sliding two into his cargo pocket for later and opening up the third. He sipped the water as he walked, not paying attention to where he was going really, letting his senses protect him from collision and his feet take him where they will. He wasn't even sure where he was at first, when his attention was drawn by a name he knew said in a stage whisper, meant to be overheard.

 

“Right, it'll be Kakashi-sensei's treat,”

 

“ALRIGHT! SENSEI!!”

 

Daisuke looked down the street, and spotted the copy ninja about half a block away. He completely missed what was said next, however, when he spotted Kakashi's companions. The blonde boy was nothing special, until you looked more closely. He was pretty tall for his age, taller than the girl, though still a little shorter than Kakashi. His clothing wasn't exactly colors that would normally blend in with the surroundings, but at least it was slightly subdued blue and orange. What one would notice most though was the bright blonde hair, flashy blue eyes, and whisker marks on his cheeks. *Wait a minute, whisker marks?* he wondered, looking again, and sure enough, there they were, *Uzumaki Naruto, huh?* He easily identified him now.

 

Everything was forgotten for a moment as he looked at the blonde boy's female companion. Only one person he knew of, at least at that age, had that hair color. It was exactly the same as his own. *Sakura,* came the amused thought, as he studied her for an instant. She had changed a lot in 4 years, he was pleased to note. She looked stronger, and more self confidant, and she cut her hair, thank kami. As soon as she had developed a crush on some kid from her Academy class she had grown it out to please him, and then had spent way too much time trying to make herself pretty. It created a small rift between them, because he didn't like how it was effecting her, and he didn't hesitate to tell her so. It took away from her studies as a kunoichi, mainly her taijutsu, which she had practiced with him.

 

“Hehe..So, the two of us are on our own now, is it a da-,“ Naruto started

 

“OK, but it's your treat,” was the quick reply.

 

“Actually,” said Daisuke, appearing behind Sakura suddenly, his hand reaching up behind his head to undo the knot on his bandana, pulling it off, letting his own spiky pink hair become visible, “it's my treat.”

 

Sakura spun, and Daisuke could sense the chakra charged into her right fist as she cocked it at her side, ready for an attack, before she stopped and stared at him in shock, taking in first his face, then his hair, almost the exact same color as her own. He wasn't even looking at Naruto, but he still noticed the sudden feral, protective expression that crossed his face.

 

“D-Daisuke-nii-san?”

 

Daisuke nodded, a grin splitting his face, before he winced at the loud and more than a little irritating sound of Naruto's voice at max volume.

 

“Dude, what the fuck is up with your hair?”

 

(Yes, I realize some of the lines come right out of the Manga. They will probably be the only ones that do. I like having a little continuity between my story and the canon story, a point where my character meshes in, then everything changes. Don't worry, action is coming.)

 

Afternote: Read and Review please. If you see something I did wrong, please tell me. If you flame me, that's all good, I'm wearing fire proof underwear, so the important stuff is safe.