Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Ice Picks and Hand Grenades ❯ Water ( Chapter 19 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I got nothing.
A/N: Kankuro-ness herein for you know who you are! Oh yeah… but beware of Kankuro OOC-ness too. I don’t really know how to characterize him…
Chapter 19: Water
We move back toward the path a ways, following it from the brush until we find a suitable campsite. Fortunately, with so many bodies, making camp is a quick task, and for the most part, painless. We decide against a fire for the night, instead relying on our rations and the meager amount of bedding brought along. It won’t be so bad, except maybe for whoever is on watch duty, but the falling sun isn’t really that cold yet, and it will probably be a while before any of us are ready to sleep.
But the sun drops fast like it always does, letting in that strange night chill that isn’t quite freezing, but seems to creep into the places you don’t want cold air to go.
I dunno, I suppose if I’d been paying attention, I would have noticed that Gaara and Naruto took off like twenty minutes ago. But the rest of us guys were just sitting here on a log in front of where the fire would have been, anyway, saying almost nothing. Temari sits across from us on the ground, patching up a pretty good sized hole in her fan from the previous skirmish. She also says nothing.
"Well this is exciting." Kiba mumbles sarcastically, propping his cheek up on his palm and reaching down to pet the oversized ninken at his feet. Akamaru lets out a satisfied dog-sound and thumps his tail on the ground.
"You know what, guys?" Kankuro turns his head toward the oh-so-bored Kiba and smiles. Kiba’s eyes reflect interest, but he doesn’t move otherwise. "I think I recognize this area. Coming through here a few years ago I found a natural hot spring about… a kilometer and a half that way." He throws his thumb westward. "If you guys wanna take a hike."
"Shit yes!" Kiba exclaims, jumping to his feet.
"Sure, why the hell not?" I pause in the middle of standing up. Should I? Ah… damn. Couldn’t hurt, I guess. "Temari, you and Tenten coming, too?"
She scoffs, not lifting her head from her work. "Not if that means seeing my brother naked." She cuts a thread with her teeth. "You guys go do your male bonding or whatever, and maybe I’ll join you when Kankuro’s out of the picture."
Kankuro simply shakes his head. "C’mon guys, I still remember the way."
I straighten my back and obediently follow the swing of Kankuro’s arm. Kiba jumps in front of me, and Akamaru, as if attached by a string follows, nearly knocking me over by wind pressure alone.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o..o.o.
It’s not far to Kankuro’s secret spring, we soon realize, but I still find it odd that such a spring exists out here. Most nowadays are manmade or have been fashioned into resorts. Hell, we’re probably trespassing on someone’s private property or something. But you know what, I don’t care right now.
Akamaru is the first one in, leaping from a rock like a little puppy, soaking everything within range. It’s cute, I’ll admit, and I can’t be too upset about it. So, I’ll have to lay my clothes out to dry instead of folding them up.
"I wonder why nobody’s turned this place into a spa…" Kiba suddenly blurts, putting words to my thoughts… which he strangely seems to do a lot. No wonder he used to practically speak for Hinata back in our genin days. He must have some sort of sixth sense for it I guess.
"About that." Kankuro lets out an almost nervous laugh. "You know how I told you I found it last year? Well it sort of had a seal on it and I figured out how to temporarily deactivate it…"
I raise an eyebrow. "Then why didn’t anyone else try and deactivate it?"
"It’s a Suna seal. They probably couldn’t do it without a sand ninja, and remember we’re still in Fire Country…"
Kiba hums inquisitively as he slides into the water. "So it’s some kind of secret sand rest stop. Weird place to put it."
"It’s probably been here since the war ten years ago, maybe even longer."
I cross my arms. "A tough seal to last that long. Couldn’t be a chakra seal."
"That’s why I think it might have been here longer than ten years. The only person I know who could construct a permanent genjutsu seal was Suna’s Sandaime. I don’t know of anyone else that he taught it to before he died, either."
"Logically, wouldn’t he have taught one of you?"
He sighs and we both begin to follow our companions into the water. "You’d think so. I dunno, maybe he taught Gaara or Temari, but he sure as hell didn’t teach me."
"Well, either way someone will probably deconstruct it and learn it’s secrets someday, so it’s not a lost jutsu."
"You’re right," he settles down deeper into the water, "Sounds like a good way to spend my next vacation." He turns, pulling something out of his pack. "I shouldn’t let it end up in the wrong hands."
Kiba shifts. "Hey, Kankuro, what’s that?"
"Oh, this?" The puppeteer smirks, flashing a strip of cloth and an unmarked bottle. "Temari’s special cleanser. I do take my makeup off sometimes, you know."
Kiba smiles a little over eagerly. "Really? So you mean you don’t have clown tattoos, then?"
"Fuck off. I don’t believe in facial tattoos. They’re disgusting." Kankuro calmly starts to blot some clear liquid onto his strip of cloth.
"What’s that supposed to mean!" Kiba leans back, sprawling his arms across the rocks. Ugh. I could see this getting really ugly.
"I mean, how often do you have to get stuck in the face with needles to patch those things up? Seems like an unnecessary hassle, not to mention kind of unhygienic." Kankuro then starts to wipe away the almost impenetrable layer of makeup on his face.
"Well, for your information, I only get them touched up every five years, and since when is putting on makeup every day NOT a hassle? I bet your face looks like the Suna countryside under all that crap."
"You obviously don’t appreciate the artistic element of the puppeteer."
Kiba shrugs, pausing to splash water back at Akamaru as he paddles past. "So? I never really have been the artistic type. I can’t even draw a-" The sentence is choked off with a sputter. I glance over and see Kiba desperately trying not to break into a laughing fit, instead turning bright red and releasing controlled giggles between breaths.
"What the hell’s so funny?" Kankuro snaps, tossing his washcloth right at Kiba’s face, though it’s easily dodged.
"I-I’ve never seen you without makeup!" And of course that’s all the dog boy can spit out before breaking into laughter again. But this time the one turning red is Kankuro, who quickly puts the other man in a tight headlock.
"Oh yeah? Well people have to look at your ugly mug all the fucking time!" The two wrestle for a few moments, which probably looks far more intimate than it is due to lack of clothing. I close my eyes and pull my knees out of the way just in case they decide to get any more intimate.
"You’re asking for it!" Kiba shouts with a hard splash. I don’t pay attention to what happens next, but there’s more splashing, a little fussing, you know, same idea. The thing that changes the situation is when I feel a hand on my ponytail, which catches me enough by surprise to yank my head down. My eyes snap open and I find myself face to face with two catlike black pupils. "You’re leaving yourself open for attacks," Kiba says with a sly smile. "And your hair is such an easy target." I push him away roughly, right into Kankuro’s grasp. No fucking way I’m getting involved in this one. That would only mean getting my face stuffed in another guy’s sweaty armpit, and right now I’m not so game for that.
"Leggo of me, you ass!" Kiba shouts, kicking almost wildly.
"Then take back what you said about my sister!" Kankuro squeezes tighter, but Kiba doesn’t flinch. His grasp looks just as tight as his opponent’s.
"No way! Clown hair! Clown hair!"
The two tussle a little longer, their undeniably naked figures going back and forth in an almost sexual manner which is, yes, very hot, but I’d be best off not getting those kinds of images in my head. It’s just… not right. It’s the kind of thing, as hard as it is, I have to just shake off and ignore. Hell. I’ve done it a million times, and I’m sure there are a million more to come. I glance up at the sky. Almost midnight. I’m sure the others haven’t missed us yet, but if I stay in here much longer I’m destined to prune-dom. Time to call it a night. I let out a sigh of nothing in particular and start to make my way to the edge, where my clothes are laid out. For some reason noticing this, the other two stop wrestling.
"What’s up, Shika?" I hear Kiba say between pants.
"Just time for me to get out." I say, truthfully. "Don’t want to get all wrinkled."
"Ooh," Kankuro pipes. "The deer boy’s a narcissist, who’d of thunk it?"
I wave him off. "Think what you want. I don’t care." I hear the water swishing behind me. Gods, not now. "Guys, I-"
"You’re not going anywhere!" Kiba’s arms are suddenly around my waist and as much as I hate to admit it, the sound that escapes my lungs then is less than dignified. He pulls back enough that I lose grip on the rock edge, but I gain bearing enough to almost jerk free. I lose one of his arms, but his fingers alone are strong enough that I can’t pull away, even in the moment of surprise. He releases an amused hiss, lurches forward and gets enough grip on me to pull me back against him with an impressive amount of strength. But I’m thinking the action was a bit excessive on his part. When my shoulder blades and his chest meet with a wet, sharp thwack, it hurts as much as it sounds like it does. But he still doesn’t relent after that. "You helping me or what?" Kiba turns his head toward Kankuro.
"Looks like you’ve got it under control, but what the heck." Fuck. Two on one? How not fair is this? I snap my eyes shut and wait for the impending impact. It comes in the form of something akin to a clothesline, knocking the three of us back into the water very suddenly. Kiba lets go of me, probably not by choice, and for a moment I’m actually free! I take the opportunity to touch some solid ground on the base of the spring, making it easier to duck when Kankuro comes at me again. He instead knocks into Kiba who starts laughing hysterically. Much to my surprise, his arm has enough time to reach out and snatch my wrist. Next thing I know the three of us are piled up in a very unsettling heap. Kankuro has Kiba’s shoulders in his face and here I am on top nearly straddling Kiba’s chest. Kinda looks like a threesome gone terrible wrong. So of course I do the sensible thing and quickly get up and out of the water. This time I don’t meet any resistance.
Well, something about that seemed very, very wrong. Oh, I’m sure it was innocent enough, but damn. That means it was me that was wrong in this equation. Why do I have to go there? So much for bonding with any of the guys… EVER.
When I pull myself out of the water the other guys finally decide to follow me, because even though they would claim otherwise, neither of them wants to be seen all prunish either. Gods know Temari and Naruto wouldn’t leave it alone. I pull on my clothes with little enthusiasm, like I do every day, and just as I’m gearing to leave I hear a half gasp from the other direction. I turn to see what the problem is and you can imagine my surprise when I see Kankuro with a hand on his eyes and a horror struck Kiba… a very naked horror struck Kiba, that is.
Before I can punch out a smart assed comment, however, Kiba starts fuming, and just as he makes a break for the forest, me and Kankuro jump to the rescue, each grabbing an arm before the red faced Inuzuka can actually dash off like…this. "Bastard raccoon!" He shouts, trying vainly to pull away from our collective grasp. Somehow this is eerily similar to the Akamaru and the annoying squirrel incident. "You stole my fucking pack!"
Okay, this is a better reason than Akamaru had to chase down that squirrel, but… "Fuck, Kiba! You can’t chase him like this!"
"Like I fuckin’ care!"
"It’s not your dignity we care about!" Kankuro grates through narrowly closed teeth, yanking the man back hard enough that he stumbles back into us. "We’re not alone in this forest and you know that!" Kankuro releases the man into my care and goes to rummage through his things. I hold both arms by the biceps and pull him toward me, in which case he stops resisting. He smells like hot springs and mud. Not exactly a good smell, but not really nasty either.
"What the hell was in that pack?" I ask quietly. He turns his head to the side, trying to hide the faint blush on his cheeks.
"I don’t think you wanna know." He trails off a little. That embarrassing? On a mission? I really don’t know if I want to know… he lets out a heavy sigh. "Temari made me take it." Oh gods, that’s a bad sign. And now that I put two and two together, I’m starting to get a picture, here. "I told her no, it’s a mission and you don’t do that kind of stuff on missions, but she must get her way a lot or something… cause in the end I just couldn’t say no anymore."
"Kiba…"
"It must have opened up in my pack, okay?"
I let out a heavy sigh. "Damn."
"Here ya go!" Kankuro shouts, spinning around with a huge grin on his face. In his hands are, and I say this with utmost irritation, a kunai and a pair of checkered boxer shorts. Bright red ones. Why he’d have those-no. none of my business. When no one moves to intercept the articles, Kankuro huffs once and tosses them at the still very naked Kiba. I let go of his arms just in time to save Kiba a knife in the face and take two steps back.
"You’ve got to be fucking kidding!" Kiba snarls, cutting the air with his arms. Akamaru starts circling happily, which only serves to piss off his master even more. "What the hell are you doing here? Go after that stupid raccoon!" He whips his finger toward the forest. The dog only stops, sits and tilts its head as if in confusion. He then lets out a half barking sound, which if you ask me sounds like a complaining child. "Whaddya mean you can’t follow it? It’s got-" Kiba groans, smacking his palm hard against his head.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Back at the campsite, the sight of Kiba’s near nudity elicits a whistle from the pair of kunoichi. Kiba doesn’t outwardly seem to even notice the cat call, but the nervous feeling that lingers around him seems to thicken. I think the pack incident is just weighing heavier on his mind. Normally he would have turned bright pink at such a thing.
Hey, I told him that once the animal realizes there’s nothing of interest to a rodent that it’ll ditch the pack, but it didn’t really seem to lighten his mood any. Maybe he’s worried that some important items got damaged or lost? Nah, not Kiba the survivalist. I’m betting it’s mostly a matter of pride. Losing to a raccoon, I guess that could be pretty rough, and let’s just say he’s not one to blow things like that off. Why Akamaru wouldn’t chase the thing though, that baffles me a little. Maybe the mutt has a sense of humor. I wouldn’t put it past him. Animals do, after all, resemble the personalities of their owners. The irony isn’t lost to me. But I deter. Maybe what we should really do is loan Kiba some of our gear and help him find his things. That is, if his pride will allow us to help.
We scrounge up a pair of pants, amazingly enough, from Kankuro’s pack. I suppose it would be normal that he’s the only one with any extra carrying space, though. What with having seven puppets now and all, he’s just bound to use up less of the space in his pack. But Kiba still has a little vanity in him, and when offered a shirt bearing the Sand Country’s emblem, he declines without hesitation, instead opting to borrow something with a little more Konoha pride to it. I let him borrow my vest, but the shirt stays, for obvious reasons. And with that Kiba is revved up and ready to go.
"Want some help?" Temari offers out of the blue with a sly smile slowly creeping to the corners of her mouth. What an evil woman. I don’t even want to know what’s up her sleeve this time. Probably trying to lure Kiba into something weird and sexual. You know, the usual.
Kiba hesitates for a moment, a thoughtful look crossing his face as he sizes up her intentions with the full force of his ability. His conclusion comes with a sigh and he turns away. "All right. Let’s go." The two almost instantly disappear into the dense forestry. Akamaru, who seemingly wasn’t quite ready, gets up in a hurry and follows his master almost clumsily.
I drop my shoulders listlessly and seat myself on a fallen log. "She’s been awful chummy, lately." Kankuro says, a spike lingering in his voice as he sits beside me with an equal amount of lacked enthusiasm, propping limp hands over his knees.
"She’s a viper in disguise." I say through a sigh.
"I dunno about that. She might be sneaky at times, but not with malicious intent. She looks out for you, Shikamaru."
"Yeah? By trying to get me involved in threesomes and hitting on everybody?" I curl my lip at the thought.
"Well if you weren’t such a bitter little ass, lately, she wouldn’t have to be trying to get you to loosen up."
Damn. "I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, that’s all." I rub the back of my neck. Hell. I didn’t realize I was projecting my frustration that much. From the corner of my eye I notice Tenten slip away into the brush, but I keep it to myself.
"Temari kind of forced me to bring Kiba along, you know." Well, isn’t that out of nowhere. "It took me a while to tie it all together, but that, the hot springs, her taking off with him… I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think they’re in cahoots. And I mean, I’m just going with my gut, but I think the dog boy has it in for you and Temari’s trying to help him snag you."
I let out a heavy sigh and drop my head to rest on the heel of my hand. "I’ve already been through this, and that’s not quite the case. Close, I guess. The thing is, he’s not into guys, but for some reason he just likes to mess around. I dunno, I guess I look like a chick in low light or something."
Kankuro hums for a moment. "I guess that halfway makes sense. You could pass for a girl if you had your hair down, I suppose, with your thin figure and all. But hey, I’m not into guys and it doesn’t matter how desperate I got, I still wouldn’t do you."
"That’s nice to know." I say, tilting my head. "’Cause even though you wear makeup, you’re not my type either."
He crosses his hands behind his head. "But if I did go for guys, eh, I guess Kiba wouldn’t be that bad. I mean, he’s got a good body, doesn’t take shit too seriously-"
"And you’re trying to tell me you’re not gay?" I drop my hand from my chin. "I think you’ve got some serious closet issues, man."
He laughs the accusation off, pausing to slap me on the back. "Ya know, sometimes things like relationships and sexuality are rough on guys like us. We’re not supposed to fall in love, ask for help… we just bottle shit in and lie to ourselves that nothing’s there at all. Part of it’s training too, probably." He pauses. "And it’s like, even if you cross one of those hurdles, the other ones are still fucking hard. Maybe Kiba has it a little easier than we do. Even if he can’t put it in words, actually listening to your instincts instead of your brain is a gift guys like me and you just didn’t get. It’s hard, ya know, to just stop, look around, and accept things. We’re prone to just shrug things off and listen to logic. We treat everything like a battle situation, when really it’s not."
"I don’t think what you’re talking about is even comparable." I roll my head wearily. "And if it’s our nature, then you just can’t change like it’s nothing. It’s not that easy."
He stands up, rubbing his neck. "Yeah, you’re right. But still. Just saying it would be a shame to let stupid things like that get in the way of our lives, right?"
"I get it. Doesn’t mean we’re on the same page or anything, but I get it. I’ll keep it in mind."
Kankuro’s head falls back and his eyes divert to the stars. "It took me three years to ask my girlfriend out for the first time, and now that I look back at it, it was kind of like you guys. Friends since childhood, lots of pent up emotions on both sides, man I was an idiot. But I got lucky. Not everyone will wait around that long. And even if they will, why cause both of you so much pain?" His head drops. "I’m gonna go take a nap or something. We’ve got a long way to travel tomorrow."
"That’s fine." I sigh almost sarcastically. "I’ll wait for everyone to get back, but someone else’s taking first watch."
oo.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
Three hours pass before Kiba and Temari reappear, and while I wonder how it took two jounin three hours to locate a freaking raccoon and a fruity smelling pack, I know it’s none of my business. I greet them only with a glance. Temari responds with a giggle, sitting two feet down from me on the same log with more enthusiasm than I’m comfortable with. And she still says nothing.
Kiba, now fully dressed, and looking somewhat relieved, parks on a rock and tosses my vest back to me. "Where’s makeup boy?" This he says playfully, a grin forming on his face.
"Sleeping." I reply, dryly. "I see you found your coon."
"And he’s nailed to a tree for his efforts." Kiba’s smile turns to a sneer and then just as quickly reverts back. "What’ve you been up to?"
"Nothing. Haven’t seen a thing of Gaara or Naruto either. Tenten, she went off to who knows where."
The two of them suddenly stand in unison "Well, it’s about that time." The voice however, is Kiba’s alone.
"Hell no! Someone else needs to take over watch!" I snap accidentally. The effect is still lost.
"I’ll take it." Temari offers in an unusually sweet tone. There’s this certain glow about her like… ah… for some reason that just doesn’t work for me. I stand stiffly and go off to set up my bedroll, ignoring the soft footsteps that follow behind.
Sxkxsxkxsxkxsxkxsxkxsxkxsxkxsxkxsxk
NEXT TIME:
The mind is a maker of illusions. Like a genjutsu that can never be dispelled. It poisons our hearts, manipulates our actions and destroys every piece of us in ways innumerable. But to turn off our minds… then would we lose our humanity as well?
And then we realize, as much as it hurts us, this… is not a gamble worth our souls to take