Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Red Eyes under The Moonlight ❯ Chapter Five : Compensation ( Chapter 7 )

Red Eyes under the Moonlight

By:

Dea-Sama

 

Oh my god, sorry it took so long to update! I was on a writer's block … not to mention schoolwork and shit … this'll probably be the only chapter I'll write from here to July … I'll resume writing mid-July. Probably. Right … so, whatever I have nothing to say … Onto the chapter

 

ChapterFive: Compensation

 

The three days following Saruko's return went without any event worth mentioning. Of course, the only reason it was so quiet was because Ino was under house arrest. Ironic how Ino became the trouble-maker of Konoha, when it was Naruto had filled that spot so many years ago …

Natsuo and Saruko considered the silence to be a moment of peace. Seiji, on the other hand, didn't mind. He knew what was awaiting them at the end of the week. His two friends questioned him about it, but he would not answer. The only hint they had was Ino training day and night for the past three days.

 

When Natsuo and Saruko came to pick up their friend, they decided to question him again before going to meet Neji and Shikamaru at the bridge (both Jonins had called them out the day before).

 

“Seiji! Just spill!” Natsuo whined with Rei's approval.

 

“Ditto, If you don't spill …” Saruko made a gun with her hand and shot it at her friend. “… Heads will roll!”

 

Seiji gulped.

 

“As much as I don't want that happening … I still can't say it.”

 

Saruko frowned and turned around; she was walking in front of the two boys. She looked up at the sky; it was a gorgeous day but somehow, she couldn't help but feel like something was going to happen. Call it, instincts.

 

Behind her, the two rivals were having a silent fight. Seiji and Natsuo glared at each other.

 

“I'm going to win again today, my friend!”

 

“Don't get cocky just because you're in the lead!”

 

“Let's see what you can make up then, smart-ass!”

 

With that thought, Natsuo pushed Seiji ahead of him so that Natsuo was behind the two others. He grinned.

 

“Ne, Seiji, … do you believe in premonitions and such?” Saruko asked, not removing an eye from the sky.

 

“Nah, I always thought that what happens to us is simply …”

 

“… Fate?”

 

Seiji looked at Saruko and smiled. “Yeah.”

 

Behind them, Natsuo had started laughing.

 

“What?!” The two others snapped.

 

“Fate?” Natsuo spat. “Don't make me laugh you two! Believing in fate is nonsense, what happens to us is done by our choices and by our own hand alone. Not some higher power.”

 

Saruko and Seiji looked at their friend with an “O_o” look. Saruko then approached Natsuo and placed her hand on his forehead, and her other hand on her forehead.

“Hey, are you sick or something?”

 

She said.

 

“Eh? Did I do something?”

 

“Baka, what you just said was too … deep, to come out from your mouth!”

 

“Hm, really?”

 

“Really!”

 

Natsuo looked past Saruko to Seiji, he was fuming. Once again, the sly chuunin managed to bring the attention back to him. Seiji gave up the match and the trio continued their way to the bridge.

As they neared their meeting place, Seiji's father waved at them.

 

“What's up?” Saruko asked once they were in front of the two Jonins.

 

“Nothing. We just need you guys to pass this to everybody.” Shikamaru answered handing Saruko a pack of papers.

 

“Why just her?” Natsuo asked confused.

 

“Natsuo you'll be passing those with Saruko. Seiji you'll go with my daughter.” Neji announced, revealing Kurugumi who was behind him.

 

“Ano, Ohayo, Seiji-kun.” She greeted shyly.

 

With a sly grin, Natsuo nudge his rival, as if to say “Hum hum, so … who is she, huh?”

 

“Ohayo.” Seiji replied ignoring his friend.

 

“What exactly are we supposed to do?” Saruko asked Neji.

 

“Pass these to every one of the Rookie 9, Lee and the Suna.” Neji answered. “Oh yeah, and also their children.”

 

“What for?” Natsuo asked.

 

“You'll figure it out yourselves. Make sure to keep a paper for yourselves, okay?”

 

“Hai!” replied all four young shinobis.

 

The two teams then spread out, but Saruko stayed.

 

“What's wrong?” Neji asked the young girl.

 

“Seriously, what is this for?” She asked with a death-defying glare.

 

With a gulp, Shikamaru replied with a single word.

 

“Compensation.”

 

With that said, Saruko joined up with Natsuo, but she was still confused. Not only did they have Ino to worry about, they Shikamaru too? Seriously, what's wrong with the Nara family?

 

~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@

 

Seiji sighed again. Is life trying to tell he doesn't deserve to be with Saruko? No matter how much he tried, Natsuo always ended up ahead of him. Every time he'd try something, Natsuo would take advantage of it. It seems, even though Seiji is smarter, Natsuo always outwit him.

Maybe, it'd be better for him to give up…

 

The young man shook his head, he won't give just yet.

 

Kurugumi, who was walking at Seiji's side quietly, was wondering why the man looked so pensive. It bothered her.

 

“Ano, Seiji-kun?” said Kurugumi, after much thought.

 

“Hm?”

 

The young man was still thinking about how he was going to get Saruko's attention, but being a gentleman, he decided to listen to the kunoichi beside him. If doesn't work out with Saruko, there's always Kurugumi. He thought.

A second later, he started blushing at the young girl beside him. What on earth did he just think about?

 

“Well, you seem to be deep in thought, I was just …”

 

The young Hyuuga couldn't find her words.

 

“Don't worry. I'm okay.” Seiji replied with a convincing smile.

 

The girl blushed.

 

“A-ano, do you know what's up with these papers?”

 

Seiji looked at the pile in Kurugumi's hands and grinned. Since it was his father organizing this, he, of course, knew what it was; although, to the others, the papers will just look like normal blank papers with their names on it. The only people who knew what the papers were for are the Nara family and Neji. It was decided that no one else be told until Ino was no longer under house arrest.

 

“Sorry, but I can't reveal to you that information.”

 

Seiji replied with a smile.

 

Unable to find her words, Kurugumi stayed quiet. The young man's smile was gorgeous.

 

 

Somewhere else in the city, Saruko and Natsuo were almost done passing their papers. All was left was some guy named Sai and the Suna Siblings. The two friends decided to go see the Suna siblings first; the three of them were staying at the hotel Saruko was in three days before.

 

They knocked on the door.

 

“Yeah, who is i- Oh, Saruko, Natsuo!”

 

“Nice to see you too, Kankuro”

 

“Oh you two ~ What's up?”

 

Temari asked appearing beside her brother.

 

“We came to pass these. Shikamaru's idea.” Saruko announced give Temari and Kankuro a paper.

 

“Where's Gaara-Sama?” Natsuo asked trying to look pass the two siblings.

 

Suddenly, the two looked panicked. Saruko sensed that they hiding something, or better yet, someone …

 

“Who're hiding?” Saruko said to herself.

 

She pushed the two aside and entered the room. She eyes widened and she started laughing so much tears came out her eyes. Natsuo followed her in, his jaw dropped to the floor.

 

In front of the two was Gaara-Sama reading a book to a young girl who was slowly falling asleep on the bed.

 

“G-gaara-s-sama … you're a DAD?!”

 

Temari then re-appeared behind Natsuo and answered his question. 6 years ago, Gaara had met a young woman in his village, they fell in love and well … here's the result. The siblings had to decided to keep it a secret until the child, who's name was Rinko, was 8.

 

“I don't know why they want to keep her secret though.” Gaara said aloud looking down at his child.

 

Saruko had stopped laughing and approached the bed to take a closer look on Rinko. She was staring, wide-eyed at her. Rinko had bright blue eyes like her father but she sported straight long caramel-like hair.

 

“She's so cute …” Saruko whispered to herself.

 

“Tche! What's so interesting `bout kids?”

 

Natsuo shut himself up, he was lucky that Seiji wasn't there; his rival would've used this as an opportunity to get Saruko's attention.

 

The genin glared at Natsuo and got up.

 

“Well, we must go now.” Saruko said. “We still have one guy to go see.”

 

“Alright then ~ see you!” Temari replied leading them out the door.

 

“Stay safe.”

 

“Come back again!”

 

And the duo left.

 

The only person they had to go see was a shinobi named Sai. Neither of the two knew who he was, but Saruko had heard from her Dad that he was a replacement for Sasuke. Naruto obviously didn't like the guy much; but he still had a certain respect for him. Saruko's father had also warned her about a certain habit the man had … hm, what was it again?

 

Natsuo on the other hand, didn't know anything. He was fairly curious who the man was and moreover what his habit was. Then again, if it's someone Naruto-Sama didn't like; then Sai was either a show-off or extremely weird (on the bad side).

 

When the two arrived at the gate of Sai's small and humble home; they were greeted by a happy voice on the intercom. It had insisted them to come in. Was that person Sai?

 

Saruko and Natsuo entered the home. A man was on the patio.

 

“Ossu. What brings you here?” he asked.

 

“Eto … are you Sai, by any chance?”

 

The man pondered for second then answered. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

 

“Err, Shikamaru is organizing something and we're here to pass these out.”

 

Saruko approached Sai and gave him the paper. The man then stared at her in a very strange manner.

 

“What are you staring at?”

 

“Hmmm … you sure don't have a ***** hiding under there?”

 

The two friends gawked at him. Saruko wasn't very feminine looking, but she didn't think she looked that much of a guy. Saruko was getting angry. Her appearance is very Taboo to her.

 

“What did you just say?”

 

“You sure y-“

 

Before the man can continue, Natsuo kicked the man causing him to stop. The chuunin then whispered to Sai's ear.

 

“I'm guessing this is the habit I've been hearing about, but please don't mention this to Saruko. It's Taboo, and she's well capable of killing.”

 

Sai didn't seem worried. He kept his mysterious (and scary) smile on his face. But it seemed he understood; Sai then waved the two off.

 

Sakura had been taking care of the outsider since he had arrived three days ago. The poor guy was obviously a shinobi, but he had no headband and he was under a short term memory loss. The pink-haired female had decided to calm him Kurosuke; because of his dark hair. The man had accepted the nickname with pleasure.

 

Although, the medic-nin couldn't help but feel a certain familiarity with the man; he looked a lot like Sasuke. But, there was no way he could act like this, not even with amnesia.

 

“Kurosuke! I'm back, are you okay?” Sakura greeted as she entered the room.

 

“Ah, Sakura! Thanks for always looking after me.”

 

“It's okay. Besides I have good news for you today!”

 

“Oh?”

 

Sakura grinned.

 

“We're going on a walk. Besides, you need the exercise!”

 

Kurosuke's face lightened up. It's been awhile since he went out.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yep, so get your ass of that bed. We're going!”

 

~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@

 

Seiji and Kurugumi had finished their job for a while now. The two of them were on Seiji's rooftop spot, staring at the clear sky. Kurugumi was curiously looking at the riddle on the paper the two of them were passing out.

 

At the gate of the Fire's center; you will be tested on sun's day's sunset up.

 

Somehow, the riddle was so simple that she couldn't figure it out. Of course, when things are simple, they are much harder to understand. The gate of fire's center, was easy to understand; Fire was the Fire country and Konoha was it's center. Meaning, at Konoha's gates you will be tested. Sadly, Kurugumi couldn't get any further. She sighed.

 

“Was it your Dad who made the riddle?” She asked her companion.

 

“Nah, if Dad did it. It'd be harder. Mom did.”

 

“Why didn't Shikamaru-san do it?”

 

“The answer's obvious isn't it?” Seiji replied sarcastically. “Well, if Dad did it, then, not even Hokage-sama would figure it out!”

 

The two of them laughed.

 

“Is it classified information to ask a hint?” Kurugumi asked, she was a more confident person after getting to know her.

 

“Considering that you're Neji-san's child, you'll figure it out.”

 

It was then quiet for a while, until Seiji heard a few people talking below. The boy then walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked down; Sakura was with some man. Thinking that the two were on a date, Seiji didn't bother them.

Although, it made him curious; who was that man? The chuunin was sure that he never seen him before. He walked back to Kurugumi. The girl had asked him what's wrong; he shrugged it off (he didn't know what was wrong either).

 

Seiji was then restless for a long while. He wanted to know who the man was. Kurugumi, seeing his frustration, decided to take action.

 

“Seiji-kun, why don't we go?”

 

“Hm? Oh, um, sure …” He replied.

 

 

Saruko and Natsuo were wandering aimlessly around the village. They had finished their job and decided to take a simple walk. The two old friends were having fun remembering the good times when they were younger. Although, Saruko still couldn't shake off her feeling of insecurity; Natsuo managed to make her forget it for a while.

 

The young man on the other hand was really enjoying himself. He had Saruko all to himself without having to deal with Seiji. He has smiling widely as he and his companion talked about the old times.

 

“ … that's when dad finally gave me Rei!”

 

“At least one of you two is smart enough for the both of you.” Saruko replied with an evil grin.

 

“Yeah, and … Wait a sec! Did you just call me stupid?”

 

“Hm? I never said I was talking about you …” Saruko grinned even wider, she had planned it already. “Or maybe you feel targeted?”

 

Natsuo backed off at Saruko's “Sadist's grin”. It was a very beautiful, yet, scary smile. At their first meeting, he and Seiji called it the “Angel's smile”, until, of course, they got used to what happened every time Saruko smiled that way.

 

Saruko laughed at her friend.

 

“Saruko! That's not fair!”

 

“Of course it is! For m-“

 

The young girl stopped. As she started her comeback, the genin felt a familiar presence behind her. She turned around; Sakura and a man were walking together, they were coming towards them. Natsuo stared at Saruko strangely, was she looking at that man?

 

“Ah! Saruko-chan, Natsuo-kun!” Sakura greeted. “This is …”

 

Sakura didn't have the time to reply. A certain Genin approached the man and looked up at him.

 

“Onii … chan?”

 

~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@

 

Cliffhanger! Yatta~ I finally finished this chapter! School's going well, so I decided to take a break and start writing again. Anyone notice something about Seiji?

 

Well, I meant for Seiji to be the perfect gentleman, but … it seems I failed. Seiji is the character is the only character I have no power over. He always seems to be doing things on his own! Damn, it's probably `cause I can't relate to him much. I'm going to have to, though … Because I have a feeling that If I let Seiji continue on like this … he'll become the main villain!

 

Oh right! This'll probably be the last chapter I'll write until mid-July. I'm also predicting this series to end in August or September since I think I'll write 15 chapters. I have most of the plot down, so all is left is to write.

 

Otanoshimini !!