Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Leaf in the Desert ❯ Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

Teiru glanced back at the chubby young man trailing behind them, trying his hardest to keep up with the much faster females in his team. “Akina,” she murmured as she ran in tandem with Shiromi, “perhaps we should pause and let Chouichi catch up.”

 

Akina scowled ever-so-slightly at her long-time friend but slowed her pace. “Maybe if he wasn't so--!”

 

“Don't say it!” Teiru exclaimed, which was simply a slightly louder tone than normal. “He's just as sensitive as his father about that!”

 

The brown-eyed woman snorted and turned her attention back to their route, now that they were in the Land of Wind. “If they didn't eat so much, they wouldn't have a reason to be so damn sensitive…”

 

“Halt!” cried a young voice. “Identify yourselves or you will die!”

 

Akina rolled her eyes but stopped, Teiru, Shiromi, and Chouichi stopping slightly behind her, deferring to her authority. “Knock off the crap, Zinan,” Akina admonished her young cousin. “We're here to escort Uncle Gaara's kids and your brother to Konoha for the Jounin exam final.”

 

A scruffy-haired lad, about eleven years of age, appeared in front of them. “How do I know you're really from Konoha?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

Moving quick as a flash, Akina had the youngster in a headlock and was forthwith giving him an old-fashioned noogie. “If I weren't, you'd be dead by now!” she pointed out as she ground her knuckles against his spikey brown hair. The boy growled and struggled in her grasp, fighting to get away.

 

Another voice chuckled off to the side. “She makes a good point, Zin,” a tall, rather good-looking young man said as he crossed his arms and leaned nonchalantly against a stone outcropping. “Although with Akina, you can never be too sure if she's friend or foe.”

 

“Good to see you too, Kisho,” his cousin snorted. “I wasn't sure if you'd recognize me, since the last time we saw each other you were a snot-nosed whelp just like your brother here.”

 

The seventeen-year-old Chuunin shrugged. “You look an awful lot like Aunt Temari,” he admitted. “I think Dad's gonna have a fit.”

 

“Whatever for?” Teiru blinked her large white eyes at the man.

 

Kisho chuckled. “I think he's still scared of her. Hell, I would be too. Aunt Temari can be a real bitch.”

 

Akina merely took all this in stride as she released her hold on her younger cousin. “Can we just get Haru and Aikou and be done with this? I have more important things to do.”

 

Kisho turned and led the way to the Kazekage's mansion, but he gave her a sideways glance. “You know it's going to be more than just the three of us,” he told her.

 

“Isn't that always the bloody way…?”

 

---------------------------------

 

Kohaku slurped the remaining broth from his ramen bowl with great gusto and then set it back on the counter, giving his most charming grin to Ayame. “As usual, Ayame, your ramen is simply divine,” he told her as she blushed furiously. “But not nearly as heavenly as your beauty…”

 

The older woman giggled, her cheeks bright red. “Oh, stop it, you flirt,” she admonished him, even though her protests were only half-hearted. “I'm old enough to be your mother.”

 

“But just as pretty,” he replied with a wink.

 

Ayame thwacked him on the arm with a wooden spoon. “Go on,” she scolded, but she was smiling. “You've got training to continue.” And an audience waiting for you, she mentally finished.

 

Kohaku stood up and brushed his long orange bangs out of his eyes before waving farewell to the ramen restaurant owner and stepping back out onto the streets of Konoha. Immediately he noticed he wasn't alone. He blinked cobalt eyes at the two lovely girls and a familiar yellow dog standing in front of him, looking rather wide-eyed. “Inoko? Mimi? What are you two doing here?”

Inoko gave him a bright smile and tilted her head to the side so that her twin ponytails slid to the side- and so did the strap of her tank top. She appeared oblivious to her suddenly bare shoulder. “Hi, Kohaku,” she said, fighting against the urge to stutter.

 

Mimi looked away from the young man, blushing. Her hands smoothed the front of her white short-sleeve jacket, which was unzipped low enough to show the mesh shirt underneath- and the abundant cleavage below that. She wasn't usually so forward, but with Inoko there, she felt like she had to do something to get Kohaku to notice her. Inoko had a way of… taking over a situation. She opened her mouth. “Ah… h-h-h…”

 

Kohaku leaned over and delicately used his index finger and thumb to rather nonchalantly slide Inoko's strap up over her shoulder and back in place, all the while smiling with an innocence that nearly screamed mischief. “You didn't answer my question, Inoko,” he said softly, that smile never faltering. He turned to Mimi, his azure eyes bright and direct. “Perhaps Mimi would be so kind to tell me why you two lovely ladies are lingering in this dirty street and not out enjoying this perfect weather?”

 

Mimi smothered a squeak. “W-we… we were… j-j-just…” she whispered, flushing and refusing to meet his amused gaze. “H-h-heading f-for the T-Training Grounds.”

 

Inoko shot the other girl a quick glare of irritation but immediately replaced it with a sweet smile at Kohaku. “We were going to work on our jutsus,” she added, playing along with Mimi's fabrication. “Would you… care to join us?”

 

Kohaku bestowed an alluring smile on them both before offering each female an arm as an escort. “I can think of nothing better!” he declared as Inoko and Mimi each took an arm and proceeded to let him lead them to their destination, the yellow ninken following sedately behind. “I would love to see what new jutsus you two have learned.”

 

As the orange-haired boy led the two girls (and dog) away, two figures watched, one in seething silence. Finally the furious one spoke. “I'm going to kill him.”

 

“You can't,” the other replied dryly. “He's Naruto's son. Baka though he is, that dobe might become annoyed if his only son were to be found twitching on the ground, surrounded by Chidori lightning.”

 

Shourai Uchiha huffed and crossed his arms across his chest before giving an exasperated look at his father. “But that cocky bastard always takes all the girls! He just flirts with them and teases them, then tosses them aside and they keep running back for more!” He closed his eyes and turned away with a grunt. After a second, he opened an eye and peered back at the older man. “You think I can't beat him because he's older than me.”

 

Sasuke shot a particularly strange look at the 16-year-old. “Don't you be a dobe too,” he replied, narrowing his black eyes at his son. “If I can beat Naruto, you can beat Kohaku. You're an Uchiha, after all.”

 

“Hardly,” Shourai snorted, scowling from underneath long sienna-colored bangs. “My Sharingan hasn't even fully awakened.”

 

Sasuke crossed his arms across his own chest in the same manner as his son. The two nearly-identical males stared down the street after the group that had just wandered out of sight. “Don't rush it,” he murmured to the teen. “Power… is not everything.”

 

Shourai's demeanor relaxed slightly. “I know,” he said honestly, his voice losing some of its edge. “I remember what you told me.”

 

“Good. Now, go find your mother and tell her we're going to be late for dinner.”

 

The teen blinked soft grey-brown eyes in confusion. “Where are we going?”

 

“Training.”

 

-----------------------

 

“How are things in the Fuuma clan, Sasame?” Sakura asked the orange-haired woman before taking a sip of her tea.

 

Sasame Uchiha smiled brightly before setting down her own cup on the table. “Going very well,” she said. “The last of Orochimaru's minions have been taken care of and we're rebuilding almost everything. People have hope again.” She rolled her eyes. “I can't believe it's taken us this long to flush those jerks out of hiding.”

 

Ino chuckled. “Should've used Chouji's Nikudan Sensha- that would've gotten everyone out of the way in no time!”

 

The three women laughed at the thought of Chouji rolled up in a ball and rolling furiously around the Land of Sound, scaring up rogue Sound ninjas like a dog startling grouse in a field.

 

A brief knock on the door announced the arrival of a startlingly familiar-looking teenager. “Mom?”

 

Sasame turned her attention to her son. “Shourai? What's wrong?”

 

“Dad said we're going to be late for dinner.”

 

A delicate orange eyebrow raised. “Oh? And why is that?”

 

“He's going to train me.”

 

Immediately her demeanor changed. “He better not use Chidori on you again,” she warned him, “or he'll have to deal with me.”

 

A delighted smirk appeared on the handsome young man's face. “I'll be sure to warn him.” With a wave at the other two women in the room, he turned and vanished down the street, closing the door behind him.”

 

“Wow,” Ino remarked. “He really does look like a brown-haired Sasuke.”

 

“At least he's got his mother's disposition,” Sakura added with a grin. “Two moping, serious-to-a-fault Uchihas in Konoha? I don't think I could handle it.”

 

“I forgot that you haven't seen him in a while,” Sasame apologized. “I keep telling Sasuke we can't spend so much time away from him and Konoha.”

 

“He's just worried about you. There's been a lot of attempted attacks on Konoha in the last few years. At this point, Ogata would probably be safer for you and Shourai than Konoha.”

 

“But I'm a kunoichi- I've been trained to fight!” Sasame protested before taking a sip of tea. “And Shourai- he's just as talented as his father. Granted, his Sharingan is only at the second level, but Sasuke doesn't want him to go through the same chaos he went through when his third level awakened.”

 

“No kidding,” Ino and Sakura said at the same time, sipping their tea calmly.

 

Sasame sighed. “Blasted Uchiha bloodline,” she grumped. “How dumb is that? In order to use it to the fullest extent, the user has to be miserable and alone. What better way to ensure that the bloodline doesn't get passed on to future generations? Keh!”

 

All three women burst into laughter once more- truly, some bloodline limits simply did not make sense.

 

--------------------------------

 

Nice, Kohaku thought dreamily as he watched Inoko and Mimi spar against each other. Nothing like watching two beautiful kunoichi in action…

 

“Kohaku? Are you even listening?”

 

The orange-haired teen blinked up at the pair. “Um… yes?”

 

Inoko crossed her arms and gave him a look that said she knew otherwise. Mimi merely blinked her lovely white eyes at him. “Liar,” Inoko informed him. “You look just like Shikazu when he's watching clouds with his father.”

 

He gave them both a beguiling smile. “I was merely admiring the view.”

 

The two girls giggled and blushed furiously. Kiiromi perked up her ears and whuffed at Mimi. She turned immediately. “Wha-?”

 

She was cut off as a kunai flew out of the trees and sliced through the front of her jacket, embedding itself in the dirt. The garment flew open, revealing only a mesh shirt underneath- and nothing else. Kohaku's eyes locked on the flesh revealed under the shirt for a brief moment before moving between where the kunai came from and the two girls.

 

“Stay back,” he commanded in a no-nonsense voice- one neither girl had heard him use before. He pulled a kunai out of his leg holster and took up a defensive position. Glancing around warily, he lifted the kunai. Inoko and Mimi followed suit.

 

A trio of ninjas appeared in front of the group, all ready for action. Kohaku narrowed his eyes and placed himself more firmly between the invaders and the girls. “Bastards… what do you want?” he demanded in that same serious voice.

 

A fourth ninja landed, a lethal-looking nunchaku draped over one shoulder. His forehead protector declared him and his team as Rock ninjas. “Your death, son of the Hokage,” he hissed, whipping the nunchaku around expertly.

 

Kohaku backed up, inching the girls away from the assassins and hopefully to safety. The Rock ninjas jumped and landed behind them, effectively surrounding them- and cutting off any escape.

 

The nunchaku ninja moved closer, spinning his weapon so fast it was almost impossible to see. He lifted it over his head and prepared to slam it down onto the ground. “Doton: Gan Tessai!”

 

“Sabaku Kyuu,” came a soft, deadly-sounding voice. All heads turned to two figures standing nonchalantly on a tree branch. The shorter figure had a hand extended and a stream of sand shot out and slithered around the nunchaku ninja. The three Konoha Chunnins watched in absolute shock as the ninja was lifted off his feet and held aloft, his body immobilized by sand. His three companions sought to escape as well, but the figure turned toward them. More sand engulfed them as well and soon all four were bound and helpless. Again the soft voice spoke, this time laced with a bit more venom.

 

“Now, you die…”

 

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

 

Nikudan Sensha: Human Bullet Tank (Meat Tank!)

 

Doton: Gan Tessai: Earth Element: Iron Rock Crusher (GO RONIN WARRIORS!)

 

Sabaku Kyuu: Desert Coffin

 

I hope this is a more interesting tidbit for y'all, as I didn't get that many reviews saying anyone liked this story. Again, please read and review- the more reviews I get, the faster I update! Thanks again for all your support!

 

(Okay… I don't think anyone was more surprised than me when Sasuke suddenly showed up here with a wife and son. Why do my characters keep doing things like this to me?)