Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Shikotsumyaku ❯ Repatriation ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters therein. They are all owned by Kishimoto Masashi.

 

 

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Silence dominated the Hokage's office. It was good at it, and had lots of experience with all kinds of things. Awkward silences, tense silences, awed silences- you name it, this Silence had done it. And, as a seasoned veteran, it was prepared to stay around indefinitely. Had the anthropomorphic silence seen the expressions on the faces of Tsunade, Kimimaro and several masked ANBU guards, it would have known it would see frequent work ahead, and maybe gotten a less-experienced silence to step in for it, as all easy-going veterans do.

Kimimaro was carefully turning a few things around in his head. These included, but were not limited to; Orochimaru, Tsunade, Konohagakure, Sakura, the dead Oto shinobi, ANBU, Sakura, his chances of survival resulting from teling the truth against lying, Icha Icha Paradise. He wasn't too sure about why the book kept popping into his mind- possibly to keep separate trains of thought away from eachother.

Tsunade did not look happy. She was pleasantly surprised that, after escaping, Kimimaro had killed a few Otogakure shinobi, and allowed himself to be manhandled back to the village by ANBU without any notable resistance. This was a good sign that, maybe, he had changed enough that he would stay in Konoha after all. But, as usual, that was a fleeting, at-first-glance kind of “maybe” that was immediately obscured by all kinds of conspiratorial reasons he might have done it. After all, it wouldn't be the first time Orochimaru used his own followers as pawns or sacrifices. Hell- Kimimaro had been one of them.

All three Oto shinobi had died from multiple stab wounds to the abdomen, and probably only a few seconds apart. This was fairly consistent with what Lee had told her about Kimimaro's fighting style. ANBU had grudgingly admitted that it had seemed like nothing more suspicious than Kimimaro finding, and eliminating a fleeing enemy, although they had pointed out that it was strange how he knew they were there.

All of this information sloshed around Tsunade's head as she tried to draw a likely conclusion about the unknown factors. And, increasingly, it seemed like Kimimaro had come good on his implied agreement to join the village. Still, it couldn't hurt to be careful.

`So…' she started carefully, dislodging the silence that had just been getting into its stride and everything. `Let me see if I have all this. You were walking with Sakura?'

Nod.

`And you heard a bell?'

Nod.

`But you didn't realise it was a bell until you were fairly close to it?'

Pause…Nod.

`Right, but when you heard the bell, you knew there were Otogakure shinobi nearby?'

Nod.

`So then you rushed out of the village to kill them?'

Shake.

`No?'

Nod.

Tsunade had wanted him to elaborate a little, but she was forgetting that it wasn't in his nature to do so. `Then why did you go towards them?'

`I…' Kimimaro glanced at Tsunade, and decided to just tell the unadulterated truth. `I had a lingering desire to return to Orochimaru-' he was careful to omit “sama” from the sentence `-I didn't even realise I still wanted to go back. Loyalty to Orochimaru is not easily…forgotten, it seems.'

Slightly surprised at hearing him speak about himself and/or Orochimaru at length, Tsunade didn't speak for some time after this. The story certainly had an air of authenticity to it. Yes…this was definitely not like any plan of Orochimaru's Tsunade had heard of before. It relied hugely on random chances, and had a low likelihood of success in any case, assuming the plan was to undermine Konoha in some way. That, and it was a little too elaborate.

`May I ask why you decided to stay here?'

`You may.'

Tsunade was ready for that one. `Assume I just have.'

`Orochimaru…discarded me when I became terminally ill… When I was brought here, I started thinking that trying to go back to him might just cause him trouble. But, more recently…well…' he trailed off, and Tsunade was shocked by what she was seeing now. Kimimaro's pale face was tinged with red. And she had a sneaking suspicion where he was going with this conversation.

Sakura, huh?

That girl was turning out to be something of a miracle-worker. In a sense.

 

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`Yah-!'

Kimimaro turned on his heel and failed to see anyone quickly darting behind a handy wall or shrubbery. Someone had definitely just seen him and panicked. How many people were there who were likely to do that? Hinata? No, the voice had been different. That only really left one person.

He made sure his footsteps were at least a little audible, and continued on his way. Cleverly concealed between a shrubbery and a tree, Ino breathed a sigh of relief. It was still too embarrassing to try and talk to him after than night after all. She quickly scolded herself for her cowardice and flushed face, stepped out of her hiding place, brushed herself off, turned around, and nearly passed out when she came face-to-face with Kimimaro. Her eyes widened, eyebrows rose, and a corner of her mouth twitched out of shock and nerves.

`Kh-kh-khh-ki-kh-k-Kimimaro-kun!' was all she could manage to say.

`Ino-san,' Kimimaro nodded politely, social deficiencies sparing her some agonizing questions along the lines of “hiding” and “about that thing the other day…” Instead, he had a simple query for her. `Have you seen Sakura?'

`Eh? Sakura?' seizing on the opportunity to calm down a little, she looked away and pretended to think. Calm down, damn it! `Uhh, no, I don't think so. Ahahahahaha…' Why am I laughing? God, I feel like an idiot!

`I see.' With his usual implied “in that case, I'll excuse myself” tone of voice he used when he wanted to leave he turned and took a few steps. But stopped. `Oh, about the other day…'

Ino's jaw dropped. You're going to ask at this point?

`…I'm sorry that I didn't understand your intentions…and that…I can't return your feelings.'

Too mortified to even check if anyone else had heard that, Ino stared at his retreating back, and tried in vain to stop another tide of red passing over her face. “Can't return your feelings,” huh…? I guess I lost to you this time, Sakura… But only this time…

 

As he walked, Kimimaro surreptitiously returned Icha Icha Paradise to its hiding place behind his forehead protector/sash. The book had turned out to be helpful after all. He had needed to improvise a little, but the result should be the same. Hopefully.

 

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`Hinata-san.'

`Haa!' Hinata made a small, quiet noise of the “how long has this guy been standing behind me for?” variety and instinctively leapt behind the nearest piece of cover. Kimimaro, being somewhat used to this, acted as though nothing had happened.

`Have you seen Sakura today?' He had been asking around for a while now, and by a huge coincidence, it seemed like nobody had seen her.

Some silent mouth work and vague shaking of the head indicated that Hinata hadn't either. She managed a “no” afterwards, just to make sure she got the message across.

`I see.' With his usual aloofness, he turned to go and Hinata let out a small sigh of relief.

This probably wasn't a good idea -since it hadn't been proven to be effective yet- but it couldn't hurt to try and tie up another loose end. He carefully took out Icha Icha Paradise and read from the page he had marked.

`…I'm sorry that I didn't notice earlier…and that…I can't return your feelings.' He read awkwardly. It was closer to the original line than what he had said to Ino, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong about saying almost the same thing to two different people.

Despite the ill at ease way he said it, it seemed to have some effect on Hinata- though a little different to Ino's reaction. She looked surprised. Her pale skin certainly was turning a much darker shade of red, but she was also waving her arms in a desperately dismissive gesture and enthusiastically moving her mouth, although no sound was coming out.

Kimimaro took this as his que to leave, and did so at a carefully measured pace.

Hinata let her hands fall slowly. She could feel she had acquired a sad face without being aware of it. And she had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't because she had failed to “correct” Kimimaro.

 

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Eventually, he found Sakura at Ichiraku Ramen. He shouldn't have found her there, since he had checked twice already. But it did make sense if you factored in the idea that Sakura could also walk around the village while looking for someone. A slight oversight, perhaps.

She was poring over her bowl, and it looked as though she had something on her mind. Either that or she had a deep-seeded grudge against her food.

Kimimaro quietly sat in the unoccupied seat beside her. She must have noticed him, because she didn't look up, instead staring into the ramen even more intently than before.

He resisted the impulse to say “hello,” since that was a horrible conversation trap. Sure, it was a good way to start, but if you didn't have something else to say immediately afterwards you were suddenly alone in a sea of awkward silence, with no paddle and a leaky boat. Besides, he had managed to think up what he thought was a much more powerful way of explaining things.

He unfastened his forehead protector/sash and delicately placed it on the bench between himself and Sakura. By his reckoning, the worst that could happen was that Sakura would think he was handing in a symbolic resignation. But she should be able to recognise the deeper meaning.

If human ears had been able to hear such a thing, Kimimaro might have heard Sakura's eyes focus on the little pile of metal and cloth, and maybe even some of the muscles around her eyes trying to fight back a malignant tear which had no right to be there, in her opinion.

Her quavering composure slipping away, she cupped her hands over her eyes and leaned on the counter with her elbows and sighed. `You didn't leave?' she asked, keeping her voice remarkably steady.

`I didn't.' Kimimaro was getting that feeling that ice skaters get when skating on a frozen pond, and realise too late that they should have checked the ice before jumping on.

`So you're sticking by the Leaf then?'

`I am.' And now he could hear the ice creaking.

`Why did you have to run off like that? We thought that…' she trailed off. “You'd gone back to Orochimaru,” was it? He might have been offended that she could have thought such a thing, if he hadn't been so ashamed that he had thought so as well, at the time.

`I'm sorry.'

`Don't apologise! Don't run off again if you're sorry.'

`…I'm sorry…'

`Idiot…'

Silence threatened to descend upon the scene. This was it! Just when the conversation was supposed to die! He had to do it now! And no amount of nervous shaking his body could dish out was going to stop him! Without giving her a chance to react, Kimimaro turned Sakura, still seated, towards him and puller her into an embrace at the same time.

Surprise was not an adequate describing word. Shock was closer, but horror would have been closer, if it wasn't largely incorrect. Overall, a good choice would have to have been “overwhelmed.”

She had been crying into her hands slightly less than a minute previously, so the sudden realisation of what had happened, the shock of sunlight, and the sight of Kimimaro's silvery-grey hair next to her face was more than adequate reason to pause. She stared, wide-eyed at the wall of the tiny ramen stand and tried to stop her mind from being so blank all of a sudden.

`I am sorry,' he breathed into her ear. She stopped breathing, transfixed by those words, and numbly anticipating what he might say next. `And…thank you. For worrying about me.'

A little, self-contained, objective part of her, way at the back of her mind picked up on something that the rest of her was too stunned to. Kimimaro was crying as well. His voice, nor facial expression would ever give this away, but the slight trembling of his body, and slow dripping on her back were pretty good clues.

Sakura's arms, which had been limp at her sides since he hugged her, twitched themselves into motion. They hesitantly followed an arc upwards until they came in contact with his back. And then…she held him. It was probably one of those most simple acts of mutual comfort that Kimimaro had never known before.

 

The owner of the Ramen stand nodded approvingly, completely unnoticed by everyone else. It was good that those two had finally figured each-other out. Ahh, to be young again…

 

 

 

 

THE END

 

Author Ramblings!: Heee-haaaw! And so the story ends. Come to that, this is the first story I've actually FINISHED. But… What am I gone write now? O.o Will listen to suggestions-es…

Still, it's been fun. And educational! And…thingy! I look forward to writing more soon!