Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Shinobi and The Miko ❯ A Funeral, a Friend, and a Battlefield ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9: A Funeral, a Friend and a Battlefield

 

“This is a reconnaissance mission ONLY,” Tsunade reminded them. “I want as much information as you can get on the movements of the Akatsuki. You are not, under any circumstances, to engage them. Understood?”

 

“Yes, Lady Hokage,” said Kakashi. “Are we to leave immediately? Or should we stay for Jiraya-sama's memorial?'

 

Tsunade looked down at her hands, trying to steady her breathing. She had only just received news of his death, and she still couldn't seem to fully believe it.

 

“…Lady Tsunade? Perhaps it would be best if we delayed…”

 

“No,” she said firmly. “You have to go now. I want you to focus your search around the one called Kisame; he seems to be one of the most active. He may well lead you to the rest.”

 

“We are not to investigate Amegakure then?”

 

“No!” she yelled, slamming a fist on her desk. Catching herself and lowering her voice, she continued. “You are to find and track Kisame. Now, you must make

preparations and leave at once.”

 

Anko and Sasuke immediately complied. Kakashi lingered a moment longer, but seemed to decide that whatever he was going to say wasn't worthwhile, and followed them out.

 

***

 

Naruto stared at his teacher's grave. Things weren't supposed to work out like this. The pervy sage couldn't be… he just couldn't be dead. The villagers filed along, each leaving a flower at the site, but Naruto remained unmoved, still clutching his own white blossom, unable to accept the finality that placing it would have brought.

 

“You cared very much for him.” The voice was melodic and sad.

 

“Yeah…” For once, he wasn't inclined to speak.

 

“The high priest… he raised me like his daughter, you know. My parents were just poor farmers. They gave me to the temple so that I might have something better than that. The high priest gave his life so that we children might escape. I think… I think Jiraya-sama was a lot like that.”

 

Naruto was silent.

 

“You know… the people we love never truly leave us.”

 

“Oh yeah?” he said bitterly. “So where is he now?”

 

“In you. And Lady Tsunade. And everyone he taught or knew or laughed with. He is now what he left behind.”

 

“Is that what they taught at your temple?” He asked, curious.

 

She smiled sadly. “Not really. But after seeing people the way I do for so long… I can't help but believe it. All you have to do is believe me when I say it's true.”

 

Naruto thought for a while; then, without saying a word, he walked up to the grave and placed his flower on top of the others.

 

“All right, pervy sage,” he said, a trace of the usual Naruto back in his voice. “If I gotta carry on your teachings, I'm fine with that. But you better not make me into some kinda creepy pervert like you!” His voice full of his usual bluster by this point, Kaguya could nevertheless hear how he choked up toward the end. She bowed before the grave of someone she had never met, yet already respected, and then turned away, leaving Naruto to his grief.

 

***

 

The next few days passed in a haze for the village as a whole. On the fifth day after the funeral, all seemed to have returned to a normal, if still slightly tense, form.

 

Kaguya was awakened by a knock on her door.

 

“Umm…Kaguya…?” The voice was uncertain.

 

She rose from her bed, pushing a mass of hair back from her face.

 

“…Sakura-san? Just a moment, please…” she managed, yawning.

 

She opened the door, still in her sleeping robe, and gestured Sakura inside.

 

“Go ahead and have a seat. I'll make tea.”

 

“Oh…uh…okay. I didn't mean to wake you up.”

 

Kaguya ran her fingers along cupboard handles, counting until she reached the fourth. She opened it, and reached inside for the teapot, setting it on the counter while she turned on the stove and fetched the leaves.

 

“Oh, don't worry about it. I should be awake by now anyway. I don't get to bed at a decent hour these days, so I usually sleep far too late on my days off…” She filled the pot with water and stood by it as it began to heat. “But I'm sorry. I probably look like a mess right about now, don't I?”

 

Sakura considered her response. Kaguya did look quite disheveled: most of her pile of white hair had broken loose of the ponytail meant to constrain it, and her face and arms had markings from where the sheets had left imprints. It was sort of comical, really, to see someone usually so well put-together like this.

 

“Er… it's not all that bad…” said Sakura.

 

“Really?” said Kaguya incredulously. “All the temple priestesses used to tell me `I must battle demons in my sleep, because I look like Hell when I wake up.'”

 

The voice that she used was just too much for Sakura.

 

“Well… er…” she tried, but to no avail. The laughter that had been threatening for the past few minutes spilled out of her. To her surprise, Kaguya laughed too.

 

“You think that one's funny,” she said, pouring out the tea and handing Sakura a cup, “You should hear my Kakashi-sensei.” She cleared her throat. “Naruto,” she said calmly, a dead-ringer for the jounin, “I think perhaps it would be best if you didn't attempt to light a paper bomb under the Hokage's desk.”

 

Sakura lost it. She'd needed a reason to laugh, and this was certainly enough. “That's great! It's not even just his voice, it's the way he says things. Okay, okay, let me try. Guess who I am! Eh-hem. Okay! Here goes! How troublesome. Why can't they just leave me alone for awhile?”

 

Kaguya had to admit, it was pretty close. “Shikamaru-san.”

 

“Yep!”

 

There was a pause as they sipped their tea, then she spoke.

 

“Sakura? Er… that is… is there a reason you came to see me?”

 

“Actually, I'd heard it was your day off. It's mine too, so I thought maybe we could do something together.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Well, I haven't been shopping in a while. Would you like to come?”

 

“Sure. I'd like that very much. I've never been.”

 

“'Never been'? Seriously?”

 

“A miko doesn't really need to,” she smiled at the disbelief in Sakura's voice. “We aren't really the `worldly goods' sort of people, you know. Working here is the first time I've ever even had my own money.”

 

Sakura grinned. “Well then. I guess we're going to have some fun, aren't we?”

 

***

 

Kaguya groaned and collapsed onto her chair. Shopping with Sakura was more exhausting than she would have believed possible. Then they'd dragged Ino and Hinata in on it, and it seemed like it had just gotten worse. Still, it was a lot of fun, somehow. She'd finally managed to find some clothes to call her own, and some new kunai besides. She still kept the battered one Anko had given her, as her teacher seemed reluctant to take it back, but it would be nice to have a few more.

 

As she prepared for bed, she couldn't help but laugh at the numerous events of the day. To say that the four of them were an odd group was to underestimate the pandemonium they could cause for shopkeepers everywhere. She crawled into bed, and was asleep almost as soon as her head had touched the pillow.

 

***

 

She awoke to the sound of an alarm. Sitting bolt upright in bed, she listened more closely, trying to understand the chaotic din of noises just outside her window. There appeared to be mass panic; people were screaming, the village warning signal was tolling, and there were the sounds of feet on her roof as ninja passed by. She was bombarded by feelings of panic, fear, and more occasionally, a bitter, grim resolve.

 

She hurriedly rolled out of bed, swiping a brush through her hair a few times before abandoning the effort and just pulling it out of her face. She practically tripped herself a few times in her haste to get dressed, and almost bolted out the door without any shoes on. She made a conscious effort to calm herself, trying not to let the villagers' emotions get the better of her.

 

After what seemed like hours, (though it was less than five minutes) she was finally out the door. After one last check that all her equipment was in place, she dashed through the hall and down the stairs.

 

Outside, it was even worse. It seemed that a few people had already been severely injured, and she stopped beside one of them. Before she could begin the healing process, a small animal with a consciousness that was very human spoke.

 

“My mistress Lady Tsunade needs you,” it said gently. “I will take care of this one.”

 

Deciding to trust the small creature rather than ask questions, Kaguya nodded and stood up again, headed toward the Hokage's building. She was barely through the door when she met Sakura, who ran with her upstairs to the office.

 

Through the walls, they could hear Tsunade barking orders. “I don't care! We need him now, so get Naruto back here!”

 

Whoever it was that she was speaking to mumbled something in response, and then its energy disappeared. Sakura opened the door without knocking, and the two hurried in.

 

“Good, you're here,” Tsunade said quickly. “We've been invaded by an Akatsuki calling himself Pain. We've got everyone out there trying to fight him, but…”

 

“Where are Naruto and Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei?” Asked Sakura.

 

“Naruto's off training. I'm trying to get him back. According to their last mission report, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Anko are all too far away to make it back within the next few days. But that's not important right now. I need you two to help me. I've decided my energy would be best spent keeping everyone else alive. Sakura,” she turned to her student, who nodded. “I need you, Shizune, and any other medic-nin you can find to get the injured out of harm's way and fix those who can still fight. Kaguya. I need you to stay with me. I've sent my summon to everyone I can, and it's up to me to heal the seriously injured. I need you to provide the chakra.”