Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Leaf in the Desert ❯ Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 

Kohaku strode back and forth within the stone confines of their underground cell, his mind churning with endless possibilities and theories.  Aikou watched him from her seat on the floor against the wall opposite the iron cell door.

 

“You have been pacing for hours,” she pointed out abruptly, breaking the long silence.  “You said you had a plan.  When would you care to share this marvelous strategy with me?”

 

He paused in his walking and looked at her with serious eyes- the mischievous gleam was once again absent.  “It is rather simple, kanojo.  You are going to turn the rock to sand- and thus, we will use the sand to make our escape.”

 

Aikou stared at him blankly for a span of several heartbeats.  “Are you insane?  Do you not think that if I were able to make sand I would have done so by now?”

 

Kohaku smiled with the confidence of one who knows he's got an ace in his hand.  “What is sand anyway, besides ground-up rock?”

 

“The walls here are solid rock,” she retorted, as if he were not already aware.  “There is no possible way for me to turn SOLID ROCK into sand!”

 

“Precisely what I want these Iwa bastards to think.”  He lifted his hands and formed a chakra-focusing seal, his eyes closed as he concentrated. 

 

The Suna kunoichi put her hands on her hips and scowled at him.  “What are you doing?” she hissed.

 

“You're cuter when you lose your icy composure like this,” he murmured without moving a muscle.

 

She flushed bright red and looked away quickly.  “S-Stop saying such useless things.”

 

“I'm only being honest.  I love it when you're as crazy as I am.”

 

Aikou actually snorted.  “That is an impossible feat for anyone.”

 

“For me to love you or for you to be crazy?”

 

“Both.”

 

A moment of silence passed with Aikou trying to not look at her companion. “Are you planning on telling me what you are doing?” she finally said, her voice returned to its icy normalness.

 

“I'm building chakra.”

 

She nearly exploded on him- it was only his prior comment about how he liked it when she lost control of her emotions that stopped her. “I can see you are building chakra. Why?”

 

Instead of answering, he made a series of rapid-fire seals. “Saundo kahan no jutsu.”

 

An iridescent bubble formed around Kohaku's body, quickly expanding to envelop Aikou- and beyond the walls of the cell, passing through the stone uninhibited.

 

The red-headed girl stared at the closest wall. “What was that jutsu?”

 

“One I made up,” Kohaku clarified. At her bored-look-promising-death stare, he elucidated. “I've perfected the silent bubble technique to not only hide noises from within, but scent and sight as well. It's a form of genjutsu that makes anyone outside the bubble see only what they expect to see.”

 

Ice blue eyes blinked in comprehension. “Then any guards passing by to check on us…?”

 

“Will only see an illusion of us, properly miserable and defenseless.”

 

Aikou's gaze met his and her eyes narrowed. “So what? What will that do for us? We still cannot get out of here.”

 

Kohaku unzipped the top of his red sleeveless tunic- much to Aikou's embarrassment- and reached inside to pull out a pair of… black leather gloves.

 

The impatient Suna kunoichi was on the verge of growling. “Gloves?”

 

He winked at her as he pulled on the items. “Stand back, kanojo.”

 

Leisurely, he sauntered over to the wall opposite the iron cell door. Carefully he ran his gloved palms over the solid stone, almost as if he were caressing their enclosure. Then, without batting an eyelash, he pulled back and slammed his fist into the wall.

 

A huge crash sounded, echoing inside their cell as stones, rubble, and debris fell down around him, concealing him in a cloud of dust. Aikou held up her arms as if that alone would defend her from the shower of stone.

 

Slowly the dust cloud settled, revealing a slightly smudged Kohaku, who was gazing at her seriously. “Can you work with this sand? Or should I make some more?”

 

Aikou's jaw would've dropped if she would have let it. Instead she stared at him rather stupidly, given the circumstances and her years of dedicated training. “…What?”

 

Kohaku knelt amongst the rubble he had created and took a handful of crushed rock- now ground into gray sand- into his palm. “Is this enough sand for you to manipulate?” he repeated.

 

I think he's actually more intelligent than he lets on…

 

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

 

Haru paused with his hand on the handle of the door to his father's hospital room. He wanted to let his father know that there was a plan in motion to rescue Aikou and Uzumaki from Iwa before the deadline was up, but now that he thought about it…

 

What if it was a poor plan? What if something went wrong and Aikou ended up injured, or worse? His parents would never forgive him.

 

“I don't know how things work in Suna, but here we have to open doors to enter a room.”

 

He turned to see a pretty kunoichi, probably no more than a year younger than he, standing next to him with a bemused smile on her face and a blanket in her arms. His eyes widened slightly as he recognized his silver angel from the other day. Gin Hyuuga…

 

“Uh… Yes.” It wasn't the most intelligent thing to come out of his mouth, to say the least. “Am I… in your way?”

 

Again with the smile. “Kind of. I'm here to give the Kazekage a freshly warmed blanket.” Her smile brightened a little. “Soothes the pains away, you know.”

 

“I know,” came another less-than-intelligent reply. Why couldn't he talk to this girl normally? “I will… uh… here,” he finally offered as he slid the door open for her.

 

Gin gave him a sweet smile that caused his heartbeat to increase tenfold. “Thank you, Suna shinobi, sir. How very gentlemanly of you.”

 

“Uh… you… you are welcome,” he stammered, blushing furiously. He watched as the white-eyed girl placed the new blanket over the sleeping Kazekage and took the old one away. She folded it swiftly and walked silently out of the room, sliding the door shut behind her.

 

Haru watched her the entire time, his blood racing and his brain berating himself for not saying something more. Come on… you are the son of the Kazekage and you cannot even talk to ONE GIRL?

 

“Umm… I am…. my… my name is…”

 

Uh… no. Apparently not.

 

Gin turned to him as she released the door handle. “I'm Gin Hyuuga,” she offered, giving him another brilliant smile. Her pearly-white eyes seemed even larger now that he was so close to her. “My brother Haishen was one of the finalists in the Jounin exam.” She giggled and Haru longed for the sound to echo in his mind forever. “But you probably knew that, since you were in the exam too.” Gin winked. “Our eyes kinda give us away as related.”

 

Oh, deceased Kazekages… Do NOT let her look down right now…

 

“I didn't catch your name as the finals didn't progress…” Her face briefly grew sad, solemn. He found he missed her smile like his roses missed the rain. “Well, anyways…” she continued, her gaze not quite meeting his and a playful smile appearing on her lips, “might I have the name of my prince?”

 

Haru would've jumped in surprise if years of shinobi training hadn't forced such reactions out of his system. “P-P-Prince?”

 

Gin nodded and indicated the door. “You opened the door for me. Such gentlemen are few and far between, so you must have been raised with good manners in your household. Good manners and such are standard for a prince.”

 

Either she is crazy or incredibly perceptive.

 

Possibly both.

 

He smiled.

 

“I am Haru,” he said, giving her a rather gallant bow. He deliberately left off any further identification so as not to frighten the poor girl off. So many people around here started acting like they were walking on eggshells when they found out he was the Kazekage's eldest son- and possible heir to the title. Good politics, he supposed. “As you have guessed, I am a shinobi from Suna.”

 

Falling into his role rather smoothly despite his previous nervousness, Haru lifted one of Gin's hands and pressed an extremely light kiss to the back of it. She wants a prince? That I can easily do. “And I am forever at your service,” he purred, lifting his aquamarine eyes to lock with her white ones. Mother's demand that I read those silly fantasy books is coming in handy… Who would have thought?

 

Gin blushed furiously, which only added to her appeal, in Haru's opinion. “A-As lovely as that offer is, H-Haru,” she stammered, now being the one off guard, “I'm afraid we won't be able to see each other very much. You see, I'm leaving Konoha for a while, and you'll probably be back in Suna by the time I get back...”

 

He raised a reddish-brown eyebrow. “My angel is leaving me? Wherever for?”

 

“I… I have a mission…”

 

He smiled again and her blush deepened. “How lucky for us both that we will be on the same mission, yes?

 

She blinked. “We… we will?”

 

“Indeed. I am one of the members of your team. Did you not know?”

 

Gin shook her head. “My father only told my siblings and me about it about an hour ago. Members of the two teams weren't mentioned.” She frowned slightly. “I suppose that means one of us is going to be on the same team as the Kazekage's eldest son.”

 

Haru kept an extremely neutral face. “Would that be a bad thing?”

 

She made a face. “Kin says he's an emotionless shinobi, just like his sister. I can't say I'm too eager to work on a team with him. He probably has no concern about Kohaku's welfare, only his sister's.”

 

The male in question nearly choked. Emotionless, eh? With a father and a sister like that, I suppose that is a natural assumption. Instead he gave her a somewhat half-assed grin. “Well, I hear he is a pretty nice guy. Has this Kin person ever actually met the Kazekage's older son?”

 

Gin giggled. “Kin is my sister- and no, I don't think she has, but she's got so many secrets from me- she could be engaged and I wouldn't know.”

 

“One would think sisters would be closer than that.”

 

“Especially twins,” she agreed with a wry grin.

 

Haru stepped closer. “Does she know all your secrets?” he murmured, his aquamarine eyes sparkling.

 

“N-N-No,” she said, blushing again.

 

He smiled before he turned away to walk down the corridor. “Then I shall make it my personal priority to know more of your secrets than your beloved twin sister. Take care, Gin Hyuuga.”

 

Gin watched him walk away, her mouth slightly open and her eyes locked on his retreating form. Unconsciously she squeezed the blanket in her arms tighter.

 

Take care… my prince…

 

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

 

A/N: I'm baaaack! And thus, another chapter is born, thanks to inspiration and brainstorming with my dear friend CleanOshiwa. This chapter is dedicated to him.

 

And yes- Kohaku got those gloves and his rock-smashing ability from his mother. Is anyone else noticing that he's not the delinquent he makes himself out to be?

 

Saundo kahan no jutsu: Sound Seal Technique