Welcome to our blog! This is a collaborative/joint blog made up of two fanfiction writers, @actuallysaiyan and @beneathstarryskies! We've been writing together for 10+ years, and been best friends for that amount of time too! We met on Quizilla way back in the day, and from there, we've just continued to support each other in our writings and co-author throughout the years. We decided to make this blog to post our Naruto fanfiction, but as time has gone on, we've decided to expand this blog a little bit more to a few other fandoms. Please refer to the navigation to find your way around our blog.
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Hello everyone! We hope you are enjoying Never Far Away. We've decided to go on a slight intermission/hiatus so we can write more chapters! Thank you for reading and we hope we can continue to keep you entertained.
In the meantime, we might be posting our other Naruto story, based in the Founders era. It would be a Hashirama x OC and Madara x OC story with lots of drama, death, sadness and the building of Konoha!
Here's a small preview of that story,
And that’s who she stands next to on the battlefield. Izuna Uchiha, the second eldest son of Tajima and only living brother of Madara. The rest had died in combat at a very young age, and while Kyoko could have been one of the ones to die as well, she made it out alive and stuck it through with Izuna.
Never Far Away; Chapter Twenty Nine: We Close Our Eyes
Word count: 3,083
Summary: Tamako and Kakashi go looking for Yumiko, which leads to some heartfelt admissions from Kakashi about Yumiko. In a flashback, a very important meeting.
Warnings: Slight swearing, mentions of hospitals, mature themes, mutilations, nightmares
Masterlist
Kakashi watches as Tamako comes to the realization that her sister has been kidnapped. They both can feel their hearts pounding in their chest. Kakashi looks over to his students and comes to the horrifying conclusion that he cannot just go running after his girlfriend right now. He’s got some other duties to tend to, and even if he did want to go after her right now, he doesn’t even know where to start looking for her.
“We have to go get her!” Tamako shouts as she begins pulling on Kakashi’s sleeve.
“We can’t, Tamako. I need to stay here and help defend Konoha, just like you do.” Kakashi tries to remain calm. “I don’t think Yumiko would want us to abandon the village for her.”
Tamako feels the static in the air growing and she does her best to try and not let anger get the best of her. She looks over at Kakashi who is explaining something to his team. She can barely focus on him right now as she knows she would be running off to save her sister.
“What are you talking about?! My sister was kidnapped! You know what Orochimaru wants to do with her once he gets his damn hands on her.” Tamako argues, pulling on his sleeve once more.
Kakashi sighs as he looks over his shoulder. Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura have already started to chase in the direction of Sasuke with Pakkun leading them. Kakashi knows he needs to stay and defend the village, but he’s afraid that Tamako will think he is betraying Yumiko.
“I can’t leave. I need you to wait for me,” Kakashi says as he finally turns to Tamako.
“She needs us now. I can’t wait. You’ll catch up,” Tamako explains, and Kakashi looks at her seriously, wondering if it’s the right decision to make. Then again, he has no other choice. He’ll have to catch up to her.
“Fine, I’ll catch up.”
Without another word, Tamako runs off towards the entrance of the arena. She’s not even sure where to start looking, but she knows that whoever took her wouldn’t stay in the village. Tamako doesn’t think that it was Orochimaru himself that took her, but instead maybe one of his subordinates.
She never thought she would be running off to save her sister, but she is not hesitating for another moment. Tamako thinks back to all the moments in her life when Yumiko was there for her. They haven’t always had the best relationship, but Tamako still loves her sister after all.
Tamako somehow manages to dodge a lot of the action that’s happening around the village. There’s a moment of guilt for her, but she shakes it off pretty quickly. It was terrifying to see Konoha have to be defended this much and from so many enemies, but Tamako knows she needs to find Yumiko. There isn’t a moment to spare.
It’s night time by the time she is resting. She doesn’t really know where to start with this search, but she will most likely find Yumiko eventually. Tamako devises a plan in her head as she lies on her bedroll. The events of the day wash all over her as tears prick her eyes.
“I should have been there with her!” Tamako cries as she hits the ground with her fists. “I could have saved her like she saved me.”
There’s a moment of silence as Tamako takes a deep breath. She sniffles slightly as she can feel her heart break. She hates not knowing if Yumiko is alive or not. She wishes Kakashi could be here with her right now and comfort her. He would know what to say to make her feel comforted.
Tamako stares up at the stars as she realizes that her sister could be dead this time. With this new terrifying power and the prospect of losing the only family left that matters to her, Tamako worries that she will truly be all alone. She will no longer have Yumi or Itachi. It’s a deep and terrifying thought and it makes Tamako sob even harder. She knows she should try to stay quiet, but her feelings are overwhelming her.
“I could have saved you…” Tamako whispers over and over again as she is slowly lulled into a heavy sleep.
There is a long hallway in front of Tamako. She’s not sure where it leads to, but she decides to go down anyway. Someone is calling out from somewhere deep in this place, but Tamako cannot find the source of it just yet. It sounds like a random cry in the distance, but there is distress in the voice.
Tamako starts running as she can hear it get closer and closer. It dawns on her that it is indeed her sister’s voice. Tamako can feel herself become unstable within her own emotions as her cloak grows.
“Yumi! Where are you Yumi?!” Tamako begins calling out. Yumiko doesn’t answer, instead she continues to call out for Tamako.
Before her are three doors, and Tamako has the feeling she’s seen this before. The first door shows nothing but a dark room and a small black snake that slithers out from the darkness. There is a chuckle coming from the room, but Tamako pays it no mind this time.
The second door contains the same filthy and bloody hospital room. There’s blood everywhere and it seems even more fresh this time around. Tamako slams the door shut as she is disgusted by the scene. Her heart pounds as she worries that the third door will reveal the same thing it did last time.
This time, it wasn’t stuck. It opened with ease and in the corner of the room was a figure lying on a bed. The voice from earlier that was calling out to Tamako belongs to the figure on the bed.
Tamako takes slow and small steps as she realizes it’s Yumiko on the bed. She’s afraid she’s going to find her sister hurt or even worse...dead. Her breath catches in her chest as she finally approaches the bed. It’s unnaturally cold in this room and Tamako can see her breath.
“Tamako,” The voice continues to call out, but this time it’s much weaker.
“What is it, Yumi?” Tamako asks as she slowly places her hand on Yumiko’s shoulder. Yumiko weakly turns around in the bed to look at her sister.
Tamako drops her hand and screams in horror. In front of her lies Yumiko with her hands cut off and her eyes gouged out. Yumiko continues to call out for Yumiko and even tries to reach out for her with her stubs. Tamako scrambles as she tries to back away and she falls on her ass.
“Please Tamako, I need your help. I think Orochimaru hurt me really badly, but I don’t know what happened. I can’t see anything.” Yumiko’s voice is pitiful and sad.
“I can’t! I got here too late!” Tamako yells in frustration and horror. To see her sister’s disfigurements before her like this makes her realize that she should have left a second sooner.
“I can’t see, Tamako. He took my eyes,”Yumiko whines. Tamako struggles to regain her footing as she tries to run for the door.
The only thing coursing through her veins other than pure adrenaline and fear was the want to get her vengeance. She needs to find Orochimaru and make him pay for what he’s done.
He’ll pay.
Tamako feels herself being shaken awake. It’s frightening to her as she slowly comes to the realization that it’s only Kakashi. She isn’t trying to kill Orochimaru for disfiguring her sister. She’s still in the forest and now Kakashi is with her. They’re about a day away from Konoha.
“What happened?” Tamako asks, and Kakashi just sighs.
“It was Orochimaru. The Third Hokage is dead. Orochimaru killed him.” Kakashi tells her. She nods her head as she takes in the terrible news.
“Is the village safe?”
“It is. I wouldn’t be here with you now if it wasn’t safe. Let’s go find Yumiko.”
Tamako is slow to get up on her feet, but she rolls up her bedroll in no time. Kakashi gives her a moment to snap out of her groggy state and they both begin walking in direction away from Konoha.
Kakashi is filled with anger and sadness. He wants to be able to protect his girlfriend, especially from Orochimaru. He hates the fact that she spent time with him as a child being his little experiment, but he knows that he will make Orochimaru pay for what he’s done to Yumiko.
Kakashi and Tamako don’t say anything for the first part of the trip. It’s not even a day later when they realize that they are trailing not far behind Kabuto and Yumiko. When Tamako senses Yumiko’s chakra being close by, she tells Kakashi about it.
“She’s close. I can feel it. I can sense her.” Tamako’s eyes glow gold as she scans the area.
“I can summon my dogs and search the area a little more broadly.” Kakashi suggests. Tamako nods her head.
Kakashi gives each dog a very specific task and Tamako follows along with that list of commands. She looks around a little more as the dogs run off. Kakashi hopes that they will be able to track Yumiko down quickly.
Something leads Tamako towards a clearing in the forest. She brings Kakashi over to a small village and they enter the village inn. The feeling of Yumiko’s chakra is so strong here. Kakashi just allows Tamako to take the lead in this. They rent a room, but it doesn’t take long before Tamako is leaving said room and going to discover where Yumiko has been taken to.
Alas, everytime Tamako thinks she’s getting closer to the feeling of Yumiko’s chakra, it begins to fade. Eventually, the sensation fades completely and Tamako feels disoriented and defeated. She realizes that someone has been messing with her and that Yumiko isn’t anywhere near here.
Tamako returns to the room and tells Kakashi the news. He is also defeated, but they decide to stay the night and allow Kakashi’s ninja dogs to return with any piece of information that they can get their noses on.
“Are you hungry? I can get some room service.” Kakashi finally says and Tamako snaps out of her daze.
“I think that would be a good idea. Thank you, Kakashi.”
The room falls silent before Kakashi gets up and makes his way over to the main hall of the inn. Tamako looks down at the small table in the middle of the room. She sits down on the ground and pulls out a book from the bag she barely managed to pack before she left Konoha.
Inside the book is the Shōrihibana family tree. Tamako places the book on the table and opens it up. Inside the margins of this worn and used book are notes from her father. Tamako had put this book in her bag to maybe get more incite on her own powers as she was on the road to rescue her sister.
Her fingers stop on the photo of her father, which had some funny notes in the margin as well.
‘Not my best picture, but it will do. Takani says it makes me look sophisticated to be included in the clan’s history book, but I feel like they’ve only done this to spite me. They all knew I didn’t want to be included in this silly book. The only thing that matters now is that the girls will always have a memory of me in this book, even when I’m long gone.’
Tamako feels tears prick her eyes as she rereads her father’s words. She felt like she could pretty much hear his voice saying this to her. Even though it’s been so long since her parents died, Tamako knows that she will always struggle with this burden. Her whole life, she will always long for a mother and father.
The door opens as Kakashi manages to carry a few boxes of piping hot food into the room. He sets them on the table in front of Tamako, who he realizes is trying to hide the fact that she was crying. He spies the title of the book on the spine and he instead decides not to ask any questions just yet.
“It’s not Ichiraku, but it was some older woman in the kitchen, so I feel like she has experience cooking something delicious.” Kakashi says as he opens up one of the little boxes. Inside is some rice, which is beginning to seem very inviting to both Tamako and Kakashi.
“We both need to eat and regain our strength. Don’t worry, Yumiko is strong. We know she can defend herself.” Kakashi tries to sound confident, but he knows that his own voice is shaking in his throat. He is completely worried about Yumiko and just the thought of not being able to truly tell her how he feels was eating him up inside.
Tamako sighs as she places the book back in her bag. She brings one of the boxes closer to her and she opens it up to find some steamed broccoli and onions. Her and Kakashi eat in silence for a while, both of them pent up with sadness and rage.
“It’s not fair!” Tamako says as she slams her fists on the table. “Yumiko doesn’t deserve this shit. She shouldn’t have to worry about Orochimaru her whole life!”
Kakashi wants to agree with Tamako, but he knows she needs to keep her emotions in control for now. He needs to make sure she stays calm before they find Yumi, or else things could end up very disastrous. He’s not even really sure what’s going on with the two sisters and what kind of powers their kekkei genkai really have.
“I know, Tamako. We will find her, I promise.” He places his hand on hers and gives it a little squeeze. Tamako looks up at Kakashi and realizes that he’s finally being genuine.
“You promise?” Her voice falters as she asks the question. She hates the idea of someone promising something.
“I do. I would do anything for Yumiko. I love her.” Kakashi feels so vulnerable baring his soul like this, but at the moment, it feels good to him.
Tamako can feel her heart pound in her chest. She has a million questions to ask. She knew that Kakashi and her sister had been intimate, but she didn’t actually realize how much Kakashi had feelings for her sister. She blinks a few times before finally clearing her throat.
“You love Yumi?” The question hangs heavy in the air as Kakashi tries to think of the right response.
“Yes.”
There’s another moment of silence before Tamako gets up from the table. There’s a bright smile on her face. She seems to be very pleased with Kakashi’s declaration.
“I’m so glad the two of you were able to get over your differences and petty disagreements.” Tamako finally says. She presses a sweet kiss to Kakashi’s cheek. “I give you my blessing.” It’s meant a bit as a joke, but she was also being sincere.
“Tamako,” Kakashi says, rubbing his cheek. She’s so much more different than she was as a child. He had seen her as a parasite back then, sucking off of Yumiko for talent and love. She was insufferable, just like Yumiko had been back then.
“I’m thankful.” Kakashi finally finishes his sentence. Tamako gives him a sweet smile.
“We need to sleep. Get cleaned up first and then I’ll shower after you.” Tamako tells him. Kakashi nods and gets up.
There’s a warmth that blooms inside of Tamako. She realizes that Kakashi is really family. Though he has always been in both her and Yumiko’s life, it’s only truly now with his declarations of love that Tamako has been able to see how he truly cares for her and her sister.
“We are all gathered here today to discuss one thing. Are we going to dissolve the clan and move apart or will we try to fix our problem?” Ryuzo asks the elders of the clan.
“There isn’t any way to fix this. We must dissolve the clan, relinquish our powers and move far away from one another.” Nagakasu speaks up. He is the father of Nakachi and the leader of the clan.
“We can fix this! I’ve found the way--” A voice is interrupted in the crowd.
“Nagakasu, please get your son to quit it with theories and crazy ideas to fix this problem. We’ve already decided that this power should be relinquished and downright abolished.” Another elder’s voice.
“Please! We can control this. Our ancestors were right! They knew how to use this power for good and not for killing or maiming. We need to return to the ancient ways!” Nakachi tries his best to get everyone’s attention, but he knows his attempts are futile.
“Shut up, Nakachi! We don’t care about this power anymore. It’s brought us nothing but terror and death. We need to relinquish it and return to a peaceful life. We may never be shinobi.” Hotoshi, another elder, booms. He is incredibly frustrated with Nakachi’s ideas that will bring damnation on the whole clan.
“But...I only want to help.” Nakachi can feel his voice growing quieter as the rest of the elders do not butt in. The rest of the clan vote to give up the power for good and to move away.
Nakachi watches in horror. He’s not sure how he’ll be able to fix this problem. He never planned for the clan to dissolve, but he did count on them to give up the kekkei genkai. He needs the strength in numbers if he’s going to try and recruit some people to stay and continue using the powers.
All he knows is that he will not be giving up the gift his ancestors gave him. The Shōrihibana kekkei genkai would live on through him and his daughters. If the rest of them want to give it up, so be it. Nakachi would not.
Summary: The Chunin exams take a dark turn during the final stage. Yumiko is helpless to fix her current situation. In a flashback, Yumiko is the last one standing following a battle during the Third Shinobi War.
Warnings: Kidnapping, canon typical violence, character death, angst
A/N: Sorry for the late post!
The knowledge of Orochimaru being in the village hangs heavily over Yumiko for the days leading up to the final rounds of the chunin exams. She walks toward the stadium beside Kakashi. His hand is wrapped around hers, his thumb soothing over her knuckles.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Yumiko,” he promises her as they pause outside the gates.
Her golden eyes search for him to show a hint of hesitation. The only thing staring back at her is his dedication. She wraps her arms around him, burying her face in his chest for a moment to breathe in his comforting scent. A disappointed sigh leaves her as she pulls away.
“Better get going,” she says quietly.
Anko walks by, grabbing Yumiko’s wrist as she does so, “Let’s get this thing started!”
Anko pulls Yumiko out of Kakashi’s grasp, a laugh leaving Yumiko as it happens.
“Bye, Kakashi,” Yumiko calls out as Anko pulls her towards the proctor meeting, “I love you!”
“I-” before Kakashi can finish his declaration Yumiko disappears into the meeting room. He groans at losing the chance to return her sentiments.
Anko tugs Yumiko towards the front of the room, and they sit down. Yumiko tries her best to cover the anxiety filling her. Genma takes a seat on the other side of her. His usually cheery demeanor has slipped upon being placed as the proctor of the finals. Hayate’s death sits heavily on everyone’s shoulders, but everyone knows it’s necessary for things to move forward as planned. Orochimaru had warned Anko of what would happen if the chunin exams didn’t continue, and nobody was ready to face that wrath.
“It’s gonna be okay,” Yumiko whispers to Genma with a small smile.
“Thanks,” he sighs.
As Hiruzen enters the room, Yumiko can’t help but notice how worn he looks. His usual words of comfort falter when he begins the meeting. There’s only so much to be said considering the circumstances. He keeps it short, once again emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace.
Yumiko sighs once they're dismissed and everyone shuffles out of the room. They file towards the auditorium where the exams are set to take place. While Genma goes to the fighting ring, Anko and Yumiko stand off to the side, watching the crowds fill the seats. Yumiko turns, catching Kakashi’s eye as he stands against the railing. He winks at her, earning himself a smile in return.
“Stop flirting,” Anko rolls her eyes.
“Sorry,” Yumiko’s cheeks flush.
“Gotta say, I never saw Kakashi as one for relationships.”
Yumiko looks down at her feet as she tries to fight the smile tugging at her lips.
“Hm, me neither.”
She turns to him again, watching as he opens his book to read while everyone else is still filling in around him. She smiles to herself before turning her attention to her duties.
Everything seems to be going smoothly at first. She doesn’t pay as much attention to the matches as she would’ve liked to. Instead focusing on using her sensory abilities.
She feels a strange tingling sensation on her neck that makes her hair stand on end. Anko’s crossed arms and stern expression indicate she feels it too.
With narrowed eyes Yumiko scans the crowd, and infuses enough chakra to sense others. Her kekkei genkai allows her to read people’s energy as well. She infuses a bit more chakra since there’s so many people in the building. When she does so, a searing pain shoots through her body. Her hand instinctively reaches for her neck where Orochimaru’s curse mark is placed. Her eyes fall on the fourth Kazekage, and as soon as they do the pain is so intense she falls to her knees. Her hands grasp for Anko’s coat to steady herself.
“Fuck,” Yumiko groans. “He’s here.”
Anko pulls Yumiko to her feet and leads her to the small corridor leading out of the arena. She sits her down on a nearby chair.
“Okay, listen, we gotta keep this quiet,” Anko explains. “We can’t stir up too much panic.”
“I’ll be fine,” Yumiko sighs. “Are you?”
Anko nods, “Yeah, let’s do this.”
The two women walk back to the arena, but it’s a short lived attempt at bravery. As Sasuke is running towards Gaara with Chidori lighting up his fists, Yumiko sees white feathers begin falling. As she watches them falling, she feels herself being pulled towards sleep. Her mind sends signals.
“Yumiko, it’s a genjutsu, close your eyes,” Anko tells her. “If you keep watching the feathers you’ll fall asleep.”
Yumiko watches as the crowd begins falling to sleep. She tries to cancel the genjutsu, but she already feels so weak she can’t bring her arms up to weave the signs. Through blurry vision she sees someone walking towards her. She thinks she recognizes them.
“Ah, there you are,” Kabuto says. She feels something pierce her neck before she has time to stop it.
Everything goes black, and before she manages to hit the ground Kabuto catches her. In all the chaos happening in the arena, he’s able to slip away with her. Yumiko dreams.
Yumiko hates it when her mother makes conversation at the market. Especially when it involves her having to interact with Kakashi. As Takani talks cheerfully with Sakumo, Yumiko is steadily tugging at her mother’s sleeve.
“I’m ready to go,” she whines.
“Don’t be rude, Yumi,” her mother scolds lightly.
“Yumi?” Kakashi questions in a mocking tone. He tilts his head to the side. Yumiko knows he’s smirking, and it’s infuriating.
“Shut it, Kakashi,” she warns while crossing her arms.
“Cute nickname,” he teases again.
“I’ll show you cute-”
“Yumiko, stop it.”
“Mom, he started it!”
Sakumo laughs, “She’s just like Nakachi at that age.”
Yumiko beams at the kind man. It always makes her feel so prideful when people compare her to her father. He’s such a powerful shinobi and he’s a good leader.
“Thank you very much,” she smiles.
Takani rolls her eyes, “It seems so.”
“Maybe this one will end up more like you,” Sakumo smiles and indicates Takani's swollen belly. Takani rubs her stomach affectionately.
“I just want her to be...Like her.”
Kakashi sighs, growing bored with the situation as well.
Sakumo smiles, “I suppose these two have socialized enough for one day.”
“It would seem that way,” Takani shoots a warning glare at Yumiko. “But perhaps you can come by for tea? Nakachi is going to be home tomorrow.”
“That’d be great,” Sakumo agrees. “And maybe these two can learn to get along a bit.”
Kakashi and Yumiko each narrow their eyes at the other. Still, Yumiko tries to hide the excitement over the planned play date. Kakashi teases her all the time, and she teases him back. Yet there’s nobody at the academy she has as much fun with.
“I think someone likes fighting,” Takani glances down at her daughter. Yumiko’s cheeks turn red and she looks away from the group.
“That sounds about right,” Sakumo rubs the top of Kakashi’s head. He ruffles his son’s already untamable hair.
The next day, Yumiko sits on the front porch with Kakashi beside her. Their parents are inside, talking about boring stuff. They were supposed to be playing, but with neither of them really having siblings they struggle to find something to do.
“So,” Kakashi sighs. “You’re gonna have a sister.”
“It looks that way.”
“You don’t seem excited,” Kakashi nudges her. “Aren’t you supposed to be excited?”
Yumiko shrugs, “I’m scared they’ll like the new baby more. I get in trouble a lot, but a baby can’t get into trouble.”
“Babies cry a lot. They won’t like that,” Kakashi assures her.
“Dad says I cried all the time, but he still likes me.”
“My dad said I never cried.”
Yumiko laughs, “I doubt that.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re annoying.”
“So are you,” Kakashi retorts.
Yumiko sighs, “Then why don’t you ever leave me alone?”
“Why don’t you ever leave me alone?”
She narrows her eyes at him, but before she can say anything else Kakashi is standing up. He wanders around the front yard before stopping in front of the small pond her father had built. He stares at the koi fish swimming around in the water.
“Sorry I said you were annoying,” she says finally.
Kakashi shrugs.
“You’re not sorry for saying it back?” shoves him lightly.
“You are annoying.”
Despite his words, when he looks up at her there’s a smile tugging at his eyes. Yumiko wonders what it looks like beneath the mask. She reasons that maybe he’s embarrassed because he’s lost all of his baby teeth.
Yumiko’s eyes open slowly. Through her blurred vision she can see smoke in the distance. She tries to move her hands to fight off Kabuto, but she can’t move. Her arms fall limply forward no matter how hard she wills them to move.
“What have you done to me?” she asks through her dry throat. Her voice comes out hoarse.
“Hm, not much. Just gave you a little something to make it easier to take you. Wouldn’t want you fighting back, after all.”
She tries to infuse enough chakra to set off her static cloak jutsu, but her chakra is nearly depleted. There’s just enough of a shock for Kabuto to realize what she’s trying to do. He just laughs.
“That’s not going to work. I’ve taken most of your chakra as well.”
Her head falls back down as she resigns herself to this fate for the time being. Possible tactics to get away swirl through her head as Kabuto moves through the forest. It starts to rain, and he ducks into a nearby cave. He drops her on the ground like she’s nothing before taking a seat across from her.
“I sure would like to see the destruction of Konoha,” Kabuto says to her. “Unfortunately, I was tasked with taking you instead.”
“Why?” she asks despite knowing the answer already.
“Orochimaru wants it, of course,” Kabuto shrugs. “I’m not sure why. You don’t seem all that impressive to me.”
Yumiko laughs. It’s a rough, gravelly sound.
“If that’s true, why did you take the coward’s way instead of fighting me?”
Kabuto smirks, “Don’t test me, Yumiko.”
She feels alarmed at him already knowing her name. She goes silent again. Her heart thumps in her chest as she watches Kabuto sit across from her. There’s nothing she can do in this state, but she knows it won’t be long. Her fingers and toes are already tingling with the effects of his drugs wearing off. Kabuto eyes her curiously, but Yumiko doesn’t let on what’s happening. She lays just as still as one would expect.
They sit in silence as the rain falls outside of the cave. Once the rain has passed, Kabuto stands up.
“Time to get moving again. I’m sure by now your pesky little sister or Kakashi is looking for you.
“I hope so,” Yumiko says. “And you better hope Kakashi gets here before Tamako.”
Kabuto laughs before leaning down close to her face, “And why is that?”
“Kakashi will kill you,” she smirks. “But if Tamako gets here first, she will tear you apart first. You’ll be begging for death before she’s done with you.”
“Or, alternatively, you will lie here helpless and watch me kill the only two people who love you.”
Yumiko spits in his face. A satisfied laugh leaves her as she watches her saliva roll down his cheek. It’s almost worth the swift kick Kabuto gives her in the stomach. It doesn’t hurt much because of the drugs he’d given her, but it knocks the breath out of her. She’s struggling to catch her breath through the aching while Kabuto works to mask her scent in the cave.
She wiggles her fingers enough to know her arms can move again. Kabuto moves in front of her to try to pick her up. As soon as he has her sitting up again, she crashes her forehead against his. She sends him back a few feet, and he stumbles around disoriented from the blow.
In that split moment Yumiko begins trying to drag herself out of the cave. She can hardly feel the stone floor scraping against her, but every muscle in her body screams at the exertion she’s using. She’s almost at the entrance of the cave when Kabuto kicks her again. His hands wrap around her ankles and he begins dragging her out of the cave.
“I was being nice before,” he growls. “But you had to push me.”
“Fuck you,” she yells as her hands claw at the forest floor. “You’re nothing. You’re slime! I hope Kakashi and Tamako take turns torturing you! But trust me, whatever they have in store for you is nothing compared to what I will do!”
“Your threats are so empty, Yumiko. Five minutes ago, Tamako was going to tear me apart. Now you’re going to. Yet, who is being dragged across the ground with no signs of anyone coming to your rescue.”
“Fuck you!” she screams again. She continues screaming. Sometimes it’s a flurry of insults, and sometimes it’s just a primal cry for help.
He lets her go on for a few moments before stopping again. Kabuto pulls a needle out of his pack and approaches her with it. She tries to punch him as he rolls her onto her back, but he catches her fist easily.
“Looks like I have to shut you up now,” Kabuto sighs. “Such a shame, I do find your insults rather entertaining.”
He jabs the needle into her neck. Yumiko tries so hard to resist the effects of the drugs. As he drags her on, they take a little longer to take effect than the dose he gave her at the arena. Things go fuzzy before she blacks out.
Blood trickles down the side of Osari’s mouth as Yumiko clutches her sensei’s hand. Tears fall down her face as she tries helplessly to call for help. Nobody can hear her over all the noise.
“Please, Yumiko, you have to run,” Osari tells her.
“I can’t leave you,” Yumiko cries.
She looks at the limp bodies of her teammates. Crying even harder when she realizes that if she leaves this battlefield, she leaves alone.
“Listen to me, Yumiko,” Osari coughs up blood. Her hand instinctively reaches for the sword impaling her chest. “Take the scroll from my pack. That is the mission, that’s what’s important now. You have to get that scroll to the hokage.”
Yumiko shakes her head, “Please, Osari-sensei. I can’t-”
“What is wrong with you?” Osari shouts, using more energy than she truly has, “You’re a shinobi, Yumiko. A damn good one. Get yourself together, and complete your goddamn mission.”
Yumiko’s sobs shudder through her as she releases her sensei’s hand. She digs through Osari’s pack until she has the scroll. She places it neatly in her own pack before turning back to her sensei. Osari’s eyes are cold and lifeless staring back at her. Yumiko shudders again before pulling herself onto her feet.
She runs faster than she thought she could. As soon as she reaches the edge of the forest, she jumps into the trees. Her heart is pounding against her chest, but Yumiko won’t let Osari down. By the time she makes it to Konoha, her muscles feel like they're on fire.
She goes straight to the hokage’s office. She finds Hiruzen sitting behind his desk. He stands up when he sees the girl’s disheveled state, and she practically falls to her knees as she presents him with the scroll. He doesn’t unroll it immediately, instead his eyebrows furrow as he looks her over.
“Yumiko, what happened?”
She bursts into tears again. She shudders and shakes as she tells Hiruzen through sobs what happened to her team. How everyone fell, how Osari had died to protect her so she could come back to the village with the scroll.
“You know, I don’t think Osari did such a thing just for the village,” Hiruzen says quietly.
“What?”
He kneels down in front of the girl, “It is true that Osari possessed the Will of Fire, but she also cherished her students. And you, Yumiko, above all. She laid down her life, not only for this village. But so you could carry on her will.”
Yumiko sniffles at his words, but then finds herself crumbling to the floor. One of Hiruzen’s guards scoop her up in his arms, and carries her to the hospital.
When Yumiko wakes up again, her parents are sitting at her bedside in the hospital. All the dirt and blood had been washed off of her, and she was changed into a clean pair of pajamas. Tamako lays beside her, her small hand intertwined with Yumiko’s as she lays her head on her sister’s chest. Yumiko wraps her arms around her baby sister, holding her close.
“Oh, my poor baby,” Takani cries as she presses a kiss to Yumiko’s forehead.
Nakachi stares out the window as his mind turns over the right things to say to his daughter. Yumiko presses her head against her mother’s chest, letting her tears fall freely into Takani’s blouse.
“Learn from this, Yumiko,” Nakachi says finally as he turns to her slowly. “Take this pain, and learn from it.”
She’s not sure what she had expected from her father, but she couldn’t help feeling a pang in her chest. After everything she thought he would express concern or happiness to see her alive. Instead, he’s pushing her. As he always had.
“Nakachi,” Takani scolds.
“This is the life of a shinobi,” his voice is softer now. He sits beside Yumiko’s bed. “I know this is difficult, and the pain you’re feeling will weigh heavily on you for the rest of your life.”
“Dad, I just watched my friends die. My sensei-”
“Osari believed in you. Your friends believed in you. I believe in you.”
He reaches out to hold her hand, but Yumiko pulls it away.
“If this is the life of a shinobi, then perhaps I don’t want to be one.”
Never Far Away; Chapter Twenty Seven: Disintegration
Word count: 3,076
Summary: Tamako realizes that she may not survive, but Yumiko comes through with her father's sealing jutsu. A flashback reveals some truth about the Shōrihibana clan.
Warnings: Mentions of suicidal thoughts, canon type violence.
Masterlist
Tamako struggles to sleep in her hospital bed. Every time she thinks the cloak has dissipated, it comes on stronger than before. She curses herself for even thinking that she could be anything like Yumiko. Tears stream down her cheeks silently as she thinks about just ending her own life. It’s been something she’s contemplated before, but never has she really felt the need to act on it until now.
Her mind shifts to thoughts of Itachi and how he was able to give her something that nobody else could. Even if he didn’t love her, he was able to show her tenderness and love like nobody else could. That was enough for one lifetime, wasn’t it?
Tamako sobs quietly into her pillow as she questions her will to live. Nothing is worth it anymore. Everything has changed and now she was probably going to die from her own kekkei genkai. Pain wracks her body and makes her exhausted, and she wants to surrender to this and let herself go.
There’s a slight shuffle at the window that alerts Tamako. She doesn’t move from her spot on the bed, but when the shuffling doesn’t stop, she feels the need to go see what’s going on. She’s surprised to see her sister climbing up into the window.
“Let me in!” Yumiko calls as she struggles to hold herself up.
Tamako shakes out of her surprised trance and opens the window wider and helps her sister into the room. Yumiko has her own cloak activated and she’s holding a scroll. Kakashi watches from outside as he cannot come inside without letting his chakra be depleted by Tamako’s ongoing cloak.
“I can help you, Tamako.” Yumiko says as she stands up straight.
Tamako sniffles, “Nobody can help me. I’m going to die.”
Yumiko wraps her arms around Tamako and pulls her in tight for a hug. Tamako sobs while Yumiko rubs her back soothingly, allowing her sister to feel this sorrow for only a few short minutes.
“Listen,” Yumiko starts. “I found a way to fix this. You’ll never be able to use your cloak again, but I can save you.” Tamako stops crying to fully pay attention to Yumiko.
“My cloak…” Tamako states, but she decides it’s just not worth it to die over.
“Dad figured out how to seal away this power. It claimed so many of our ancestors and family members, but he found a way to keep it controlled. You need to trust me,” Yumiko explains as she helps Tamako back on the bed.
“I trust you, Yumi. Please help me,” Tamako pleads as she lies on the bed.
Yumiko opens the scroll and reads the sealing jutsu her father created for this. She makes a few hand signs and then presses on Tamako’s solar plexus. Tamako whines as it begins to drain her chakra for a quick moment, and then the static energy starts to drain from the air.
“Just one final thing,” Yumiko says as she looks over the scroll again. She makes a few more hand signs and then presses harder on Tamako.
“YUMI!” Tamako yells as her chakra depletes even further. For a moment, it seems like the cloak grows to epic proportions.
“No no no! This isn’t supposed to happen!” Yumiko says as she consults the scroll once more.
The cloak envelops the two of them and flashes blindingly. Yumiko continues to weave the hand signs and press on Tamako, but it doesn’t seem to be helping whatsoever. The cloak keeps building and building and soon it has garnered the attention of the hospital staff. They all watch from the window in the door, none of them daring to go inside.
“Yumi, I’m going to die. You need to let me go!” Tamako exclaims, but Yumiko isn’t going to give up just yet.
“Don’t talk like that. I can save you!” Yumiko struggles to tell her sister this, as she wonders if this sealing jutsu wouldn’t work on Tamako.
The cloak flashes again, this time even more blinding than the last time. Yumiko allows her own cloak to build as she presses more static energy into Tamako. Tamako cries out as the pain continues to ravage her body, leaving her almost completely depleted of chakra.
“It’s no use,” Tamako says weakly as Yumiko continues the jutsu. Yumiko is crying as she realizes that maybe her father had been wrong this whole time.
Both of the sisters hold each other for one more moment, and when their two cloaks meet together, the whole thing fizzles out to almost nothing. The static depletes in the air and everything starts returning to normal. Tamako feels her heart racing as she sucks in a large gulp of air.
“Yumi!” She cries out as she hugs her sister. Yumiko is crying, realizing that things could have ended so terribly.
“I’m here, Tamako. I’m here for you.”
Neither of them know what’s truly happened, but they consider for a moment that maybe the sealing jutsu has worked. What they don’t realize is that they’ve only just furthered the kekkei genkai to a higher power.
Tamako is only three years old when her kekkei genkai is starting to manifest within her. While Takani is slightly worried, Nakachi is very proud of his youngest daughter. He knew she showed more promise than any of them would. Yumiko was the perfect vessel to control the volatile kekkei genkai, but Tamako would be the one to wield the ancient power. In their clan, there would be one person every so many generations that held so much power within them. When Tamako was born, he sensed this within her.
“I’m not sure if we should allow Tamako to continue with this power. Maybe your parents were right,” Takani says one night as she lies in bed with her husband.
“That’s not true, Takani. Tamako is going to show great promise. With Yumiko as her sister, they will be so powerful. We can only hope for the best.” Nakachi explains to her, but Takani still has her worries.
“What if something bad happens to Tamako? How many of your clan have you lost to this power?” Takani asks, and Nakachi sighs.
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. I know how to seal the cloak and keep it under control until the both of them can fully control their powers. Even if Tamako can never use her cloak again, Yumiko can always protect the two of them with hers.” Nakachi presses a kiss to his wife’s temple. He rubs her back soothingly.
“If anything should happen to us…” Takani says quietly, but Nakachi kisses her softly.
“I will leave instructions for Yumiko. She will know what to do if the time comes. We need to make sure they are never separated. It’s been so long since two from the clan have emerged like this.” Nakachi is a little excited about the fact that his daughters hold such tremendous power.
Takani still worries about her daughters. It seems like too much to ask of them, but she understands there isn’t much she can do other than to let them lose their powers. Nakachi would never let it happen, and Takani doesn’t like the idea of the sisters never being able to grow to their full potential.
“And if something were to happen to either one? What happens to them then?” Takani asks, but Nakachi just chuckles.
“You are such a wonderful mother. You worry so much about those girls, but trust me, they are as strong as you are. They will grow up strong and will not let anything happen to one another. Yumiko is already showing such great promise,” Nakachi says and they both smile.
“Our girls are wonderful, Nakachi. I love them so much. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to them.” Takani replies.
“They truly are, sweetheart. Don’t worry. We will guide them to greatness.”
While Takani still worries, she continues to listen and trust her husband. When he starts to show Tamako how to control her kekkei genkai, she sees a fierceness within Tamako that is not unlike her own.
The glow in her golden eyes is so intense. Tamako smiles at her mother, but Takani can see that same determination she once held long ago. Takani knows that Nakachi can teach Tamako to control the kekkei genkai, but what would happen if she goes beyond even his own powers?
What happens if Yumiko is hurt...or worse?
When Tamako awakens, she finds herself feeling more rested than she’s felt in days. Her muscles don’t ache from holding back the cloak as much as possible. In fact, the cloak seems to be completely gone. She doesn’t know if Yumiko was successful in sealing her cloak, but right now she doesn’t even care.
“Yumi?” Tamako calls out, and she tries to sit up in bed.
Yumiko shoots up from her seat in the corner. Kakashi is also there, watching over both of them with concern written on his face. Yumiko rushes over to her sister and holds her close as she sits on the bed.
“I was so scared I was going to lose you,” Yumiko whispers as she presses a kiss to the top of Tamako’s head.
“I really thought I was going to die.” Tamako says, but she just laughs because she’s so damn relieved to be alive.
“I don’t know what happened. I don’t even know if dad’s sealing jutsu really worked.” Yumiko replies. They both chuckle as the events from last night were more than just ridiculous.
“I’m not sure either, Yumiko. It seems like something entirely different happened to the both of you,” Kakashi chimes in from the corner of the room.
He walks over to the sisters and wraps his arm around Yumiko. Yumiko blushes slightly, but Tamako just smiles at them. For a brief instant, it feels like they are a family. Tamako feels so at peace as her sister and Kakashi kiss softly. The feeling is overwhelming, and Tamako’s eyes glow brightly as the static in the air returns.
“Tamako!” Yumiko cries, but when she touches Tamako, everything stops.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Yumiko. I’m worried my emotions are what’s causing this.” Tamako says as she controls her breathing.
“You need to relax,” Kakashi suggests as he reaches over for the covers. In an attempt to be somewhat brotherly, he tucks in Tamako. Tamako sighs at the affection.
“We will figure this out. For now, you need to keep your emotions under control.” Yumiko tells Tamako as she smooths her hair back. Tamako relishes in the feeling of the two of them taking care of her.
“You promise?” Tamako asks as she can feel herself falling asleep again.
“I promise.”
The days pass by a little slowly, and Yumiko returns to proctoring the chunin exams. Kakashi and Yumiko take turns looking after Tamako after she returns home, but Tamako spends most of her time quietly reading in her room. She tries her best not to let her emotions get out of control.
With all the excitement going on, Tamako tries to keep to herself. She is more than intrigued by the would-be chunins this year, she does worry she may be too vulnerable to snapping and her cloak hurting everyone. She trusts that Yumiko is going to do a good job at proctoring and making sure the young blood doesn’t get too hurt.
It reminds her of the days of her own chunin exams. She thinks back on how she got into the big fight with Yumiko after making such a big show of power at the exams. It seems like so long ago now, and while Tamako knows that the genin of her village are decently skilled, she does wonder about the genin of the other villages. From what she remembers Yumiko telling her, it’s a pretty big pool of them this year. Tamako wishes she could talk to Sasuke and give him a few words of advice, but he still isn’t talking to her. She knows that he’s in a team with the infamous Naruto Uzumaki, but she doesn’t worry too much. She thinks that Sasuke and Naruto could most definitely even out each other.
As Tamako spends more time reading over every little piece of literature in her parent’s bedroom trying to find the answer to her powers, she realizes that she is slowly getting over the heartbreak of Itachi. She barely thinks of him as she ponders over her own future.
Whenever she thinks of him, she feels the sparks in the air become bigger and brighter. She takes a deep breath and suppresses the haunting memories. It’s just not worth hurting all over physically and emotionally. Tamako does her best to keep her mind occupied with finding the answer to all of this.
One night, when Yumiko returns from her shift at the chunin exams, Tamako overhears her sister talking to Kakashi. She can hardly make out the words as she tries to stay hidden and eavesdrops.
“It’s just that...Orochimaru is in Konoha. Well, I’m not sure of all the details, but it’s definitely him.” Yumiko explains to Kakashi.
Kakashi sighs, “I know, Yumiko. Orochimaru is after Sasuke.”
Tamako feels her heart skip a beat as she thinks of Sasuke. Static shifts in the air as she allows herself to feel concern for him. She would hate it if something were to happen to him, and she would absolutely lose her mind if Orochimaru took him away.
“Tamako,” Yumiko calls out as she senses the static.
Tamako takes a deep breath before she walks over to her sister and Kakashi. They both look at her with concern, but Kakashi decides to try and comfort Tamako. He places a hand on her shoulder when her cloak dissipates.
“I will look after Sasuke, Tamako. I promise that nothing will happen to him.” He says reassuringly. Tamako wants to believe him, but she knows how cunning and cruel Orochimaru can be.
“I don’t want him to hurt the people I love.” Tamako tells them. “I want to be able to protect Yumi and Sasuke.”
Yumiko frowns as she realizes that Tamako is worried about her. She knows that Orochimaru has done some horrific things to her in the past, but she is not about to let him continue hurting people.
“You just let the Hokage handle this, Tamako. He will know what to do when the time comes.” Kakashi explains, but Tamako doesn’t feel reassured.
In fact, as the days go by, she becomes less sure of everything. Her father’s notes prove to have no answers and Kakashi and Yumiko spend less time at home as the chunin exams continue. Tamako spends more time reclusively tucked away on her parents bed.
Finally, she finds one little bit of literature that could possibly have some answers. It doesn’t really make so much sense to her, but it does mention someone’s cloak going out of control.
In her father’s handwriting, it writes:
I think that Takatu and Seihi are on to something. As they are siblings, they seem to have a completely different bond. Everything came to a head when Takatu’s cloak exploded with the most force I’ve ever seen. She was weakening as the minutes passed and none of us knew what to do, but when Seihi touched her to comfort her, it almost seemed like the static was dissipating. Takatu won’t make it through the night, but maybe this might be an important part of our clan we don’t realize. We may lose many more family members, but until we truly understand what is going on here, it will be futile to try and help them. I may bring up my sealing jutsu idea at the next meeting, though I may be met with lots of opposition. It may be the only thing to save any of us.
Tamako reads the words over and over as she realizes what this means. It’s not very apparent to her, but she does sense that her bond with her sister might be even more important than she first realized.
She takes a deep breath and gets off the bed. She needs to see Yumiko right now. Tamako knows she’ll have to make her way to the final battles of the chunin exams to even get close to Yumiko. It’s going to be so crowded, but it is important.
Tamako gets dressed hastily as she makes her way over to the battle arena. The hustle and bustle of people seems a little silent as she gets closer, and when she finally arrives, something seems completely off. Everything is much too quiet for the chunin exams.
When Tamako gets closer to the doors of the arena, she doesn’t hear a single sound before a rumbling begins from behind her. Her eyes widen in fear as she watches a giant three headed snake make its way through the walls of Konoha. She looks up towards where the Hokage would have been sitting and sees a large containment jutsu.
“Yumi!” Tamako yells as she looks around for any sign of life. It would seem that everyone has passed out for one reason or another.
“Tamako?!” She hears Kakashi’s voice calling out to her. She rushes over to the sound of his voice. Her stomach drops as she doesn’t see Yumiko with him.
“What’s going on Kakashi?” Tamako asks as she finally reaches him.
His little kunoichi student is busy working on undoing a genjutsu, and Tamako isn’t sure how to respond to any of this. She feels like she’s missed something big.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Kakashi says as he approaches Tamako. “I have a hunch that it may have to do with Orochimaru.”
“No…” Tamako says as she begins to panic. Sakura and Kakashi watch in awe as her cloak begins to form around her.
“Tamako, please! You need to calm down,” Kakashi warns as he watches Tamako become less controlled.
Her breath comes out in short pants as the cloak starts to take over her, and she knows that something isn’t right. Yumiko isn’t here with them and Orochimaru has infiltrated the village. Tamako knows that Orochimaru plans on taking Yumiko forever. He’s always wanted to take their kekkei genkai for his own, but now she knows he’s got every opportunity to do so.
Summary: Yumiko rushes to the hospital when Iruka breaks the news about Tamako. She reluctantly visits her grandparents for help, but instead a voice from the past leads her towards the answers she needs.
Warnings: Hospitals, smut, angst
Yumiko is frantic as Iruka leads her to Tamako’s hospital room. Iruka stops abruptly in front of the door.
“Sorry, Yumiko. I can’t go in there again. She’s zapped a lot of my chakra,” Iruka explains.
Yumiko places a comforting hand on his shoulder, “It’s alright. You’ve done so much already.”
She opens the door and steps into the room only to be greeted by waves of static energy. Already she can feel herself weakening from the effects. She takes a careful step towards Tamako’s bed, where Tamako has been sedated. She seems to be sleeping somewhat peacefully despite the waves of energy coming from her.
“You’re her sister?” the doctor asks as he steps in.
“Yes,” Yumiko turns to him. “What is this?”
“I was hoping you could tell me,” the doctor chuckles. “I’ve never seen anything like this. In the past it’s been seen in the Shorihibana clan, but not in the years I’ve been practicing.”
Yumiko walks out of the room with a heavy heart. Her father warned her of the static cloak going out of control, but he died before being able to fully explain it. Yumiko has always had decent enough control of it, she’s never had the kekkei genkai become this out of control for her. Even when her emotions get the better of her, she has enough control over it for the risk to only be a mild shock to anyone who touches her.
“Is there anyone you could ask about this?” the doctor asks her once they’re back in the hallway.
“Perhaps,” she sighs. “If they’ll speak to me.”
“You need to get back to the chunin exams,” Iruka says sadly. “I’ll stay here in case she wakes up. Your duties are still important.”
Yumiko nods slowly, “Yes, I guess so.”
The walk back to the chunin exams feels as though it takes ages. Her heart is heavy as she thinks of Tamako’s predicament. She could go see their grandparents, although she’s sure it would be useless. They actively avoided their kekkei genkai until it naturally was suppressed. Her father’s decision to learn how to use it and then pass the skills down to her enraged them. She can’t even remember how old she was the last time she saw them, but she remembers the empty looks they gave her. Neither of them ever extended help to her when she was raising Tamako. They wouldn’t even know their granddaughter’s if they were standing right in front of them.
She walks into the small room where some of the jounin senseis and the proctors were gathered to discuss what has transpired in the Forest of Death so far. Anko was very excitedly explaining how nervous the students had been to get started. She was also explaining to some of the sensei what their students would be facing. Yumiko slips into the back of the room and stands with her back to the wall. She doesn’t notice she’s placed herself beside Genma until he leans over.
“Hey, I heard what happened with your sister,” he whispers to her. “I’m here for you if you need anything.”
“Um, thanks I guess,” she sighs.
“You know, comfort or anything. I’m pretty good at comforting girls in crisis,” he smirks.
“I’ll let you know,” she brushes him off although his flirtation had gone right over her head for the moment.
Everyone sinks into their own conversations as Anko finishes talking. Genma takes the chance to turn to her with his shoulder leaning against the wall. Yumiko had to admit that he does look good this way. His head is tilted slightly towards her with his senbon hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
“You know, I’d like to treat you to dinner or something,” Genma says.
“Thanks,” Yumiko sighs. “I don’t think it’s a good idea though.”
“You got a boyfriend or something?”
Yumiko turns away from him and crosses her arms over her chest, “As a matter of fact-”
“She does,” Kakashi’s voice surprises her. His hand falling protectively on her hip surprised her even more, “And also her sister is in the hospital, so maybe not a good time to flirt with a girl regardless.”
“Oh, man,” Genma’s eyes widen. “Hey, I had no idea. I’m sorry, Kakashi. Honestly.”
Kakashi hums before leading Yumiko out of the room with his hand still on her hip. Yumiko feels flushed as he walks her towards the exit of the building. She tries to think of something to say, but her mind is blank. Kakashi stops once they’re outside.
“So, what’s going on with Tamako?” he asks finally, although Yumiko easily picks up the coldness in his voice.
“The static cloak won’t stop and I don’t know what to do about it,” Yumiko explains.
“I suppose letting Genma flirt with you during a meeting seemed like a good place to start,” he sighs as he realizes how jealous he sounds.
“I didn’t even realize-”
“Just forget it, what are you going to do for Tamako?”
“Kakashi, you can’t say something like that and expect me to just let it fly by,” Yumiko’s eyes narrow at him as she pulls away from his grip. “That wasn’t fair. I can’t control him liking me.”
“I know,” he closes his eyes to give himself a moment to clear his thoughts. “I just got jealous I guess. You were blushing and I-”
She shushes him with a soft kiss against his mask. Not caring about them standing on the street with people able to see them, she wraps her arms around his waist and buries her face against his chest.
“Please just hold me,” she whispers.
He wraps his arms around her, one his hands soothing over her purple hair. Yumiko relaxes against him. She looks up at him with sad eyes.
“I don’t know what to do,” Yumiko confesses. “The only members of my clan left in Konoha are my grandparents and they might not be helpful.”
Nakachi and Yumiko are on the wide open training field. Nakachi is carefully instructing Yumiko on how to form static orbs. She watches with wide eyes as he forms one as big as a melon. It’s glowing bright yellow and static energy emits small shocks from it. He throws the orb towards the wooden target, and Yumiko’s eyes widen when the target is disintegrated into shards. She follows his instructions, but only manages to form a small marble of energy in her palm. It begins expanding in her hand, and she looks up excitedly to show Nakachi.
Her father is staring off in the distance with a scowl on his face. Yumiko feels the energy in her palm dissipate as she follows his gaze. A pair of older people she’s never seen before approach them. She steps forward to greet them, but Nakachi’s hand falls in front of her protectively. Her eyebrows furrow as she looks up at her father.
“Who are these people?” she asks him softly.
“Your grandparents,” he answers without a shred of emotion.
“So it’s true then,” the older man who looks just like her father says. “You’re teaching her how to use that dreadful power.”
Nakachi steps forward, Yumiko stands behind him. Her arms curl around his leg as she peeks around him. Her grandfather’s eyes narrowed at her.
“The power of the Shōrihibana is not dreadful if you can control it,” Nakachi retorts. “Yumiko shows great promise.”
Her heart swells at her father’s praise. Her grandfather doesn’t seem convinced by her father’s words.
“One wrong move could tear this child apart,” he says. “How could you take your child’s life for granted?”
“Yumiko will be a shinobi, as I am. She is strong. She will have what I never did,” her father looks down at her. “She will have guidance.”
“And your youngest, Tamako, will she learn as well?”
Nakachi nods, “My daughters will prove the power of this clan. Together they will bring pride to our ancestors, and the two of you will be remembered as cowards.”
Kakashi walks with Yumiko to the hospital. His hand is intertwined with hers as they walk to Tamako’s room. Iruka is still standing in the hallway when they approach. He nods slowly to them both before Yumiko opens the door to Tamako’s room.
Tamako is awake when they step inside. Her eyes are sunken in with dark circles around them. Kakashi stands at the door to avoid her still raging static cloak. Yumiko activates her own to negate the impact as she stands next to Tamako’s bed.
She reaches out to take Tamako’s hand in hers, her thumb soothes along Tamako’s knuckles as she tries not to show sadness on her face. She’s so afraid for her baby sister, but she doesn’t want Tamako to feel more afraid.
“Yumi,” Tamako croaks. “I tried to do everything just like you taught me. I don’t know what happened.”
Yumiko shakes her head, “It’s okay, Tamako. It’s not your fault.”
“I don’t know what’s happening,” a tear rolls down Tamako’s cheek. “I’m scared, Yumi. I’m really scared.”
Yumiko struggles to keep her own tears at bay, “Listen to me, we’re going to find a way to fix this. Have I ever given up on you?”
Tamako sobs now, “Oh, Yumiko. I’m so sorry.”
Yumiko sits on the bed beside Tamako and pulls her into a tight embrace. Tamako sinks against her, sobbing into her shoulder. Yumiko tries to soothe her, but she’s not sure how. There’s nothing she can say because she’s just as lost.
“I love you so much,” Yumiko says. Tamako sniffles a nearly incomprehensible response.
The doctor comes into the room, he stands at the door beside Kakashi as the girl’s static cloaks grow stronger due to the emotions filling them both.
“We need to sedate the patient,” the doctor says to Kakashi. Kakashi takes this as a plea from the doctor for the situation to be brought to a more controlled environment.
Kakashi sighs, “Yumiko, we should go.”
Yumiko pulls away from Tamako hesitantly. She wipes her own tears away before stroking Tamako’s cheek, wiping away Tamako’s tears with the pad of her thumb.
“Listen, they’re going to sedate you again. Please just rest,” Yumiko says softly. “I’ll find a way to fix this, I swear.”
She steps away from the bed until she’s out of range of Tamako’s cloak before stopping on her own. The doctor is wearing rubber shoes and gloves as he walks into the room towards Tamako’s bed.
Kakashi places his hand on her shoulder as he leads her out of the room. In the hallway, Iruka pulls Yumiko into a tight embrace. She sobs into his chest as his hands soothe over her back.
“I’m sorry, Yumiko. I was supposed to be watching her, but I messed up.”
Yumiko looks up at him through teary eyes, “It’s not your fault, Iruka. Nobody could have predicted this.”
He nods slowly, “I guess you’re right.”
“Go home and get some rest,” she says to him with a sad smile. He pulls away from her and begins walking down the hallway with slumped shoulders.
Kakashi and Yumiko stand in silence for a moment before she takes his hand. They start walking towards the exit of the hospital together.
“Can we go to your apartment?” she asks. “I don’t want to go to my house.”
“Of course,” Kakashi says softly.
As soon as they’re in Kakashi’s apartment, Yumiko pulls off her flak jacket and hangs it on the hook. She crawls onto Kakashi’s bed and lays down. Her body sinks into the soft mattress. She pulls her knees up to her chest, and lets out a deep sigh. Kakashi lays beside her, his arms wrapping around her.
Her eyes feel heavy from crying. She closes them to soothe the feeling. Her body relaxes a bit. She doesn’t realize she’s fallen asleep until she wakes up, and the apartment is dark except for the lamp beside the bed. Kakashi lounges beside her in just his sweatpants. One hand is soothing over her back while the other arm is propping him up. He holds Icha Icha and his eye scans over the words. His sharingan is closed.
She rolls over and buries her face against his chest. Kakashi hums in surprise as she curls up next to him. Her arm stretched across his abdomen to pull him closer.
“Good nap?” he asks as he closes his book and sets it on the nightstand.
“I guess,” she sighs. He presses a soft kiss to her forehead.
“What can I do, baby?”
She tilts her head up to look at him. Her eyes trace over the soft edges of his face. Sometimes she’s still in awe of how they got here. The man he’s become is more than she could’ve imagined, and she just feels so lucky that he decided to open up to her.
“Kakashi,” she sighs. “I’m not going to ask more of you. I’m just so grateful you’ve been here through everything.”
He smiles softly, “What are friends for?”
She leans up to place a soft kiss on his lips. Her fingers tangle in his soft hair as he deepens the kiss. His tongue pressed into her mouth to eagerly taste her, tongue swirling against hers. Her hand soothes along his broad chest, feeling his lean muscles ripple against her palm as her hand lowers until her fingertips brush the waistband of his pants. Neediness fills her to the brim. For just a moment she wants to forget everything, and just lose herself with him.
Kakashi’s hips raised to meet her touch as she slid her hand into his pants. A deep groan escapes his throat as she strokes his length softly.
“Yumiko,” he lays back against the pillows. “We don’t have to do this. You’re going through so much and-”
She shushes him, “I don’t want to think right now.”
She presses hot, wet kisses against his neck. Her mouth leaves bites and kisses in her wake as she trails down to his chest. Kakashi lays his head back against the pillow as he loses himself in her touch. He whines when she pulls away suddenly, he looks up to see her tugging at her own clothes. With hungry eyes he watches her undress then she begins pulling at his pants. When they’re both naked, she lowers herself between his thighs. His eyes widen as her intentions settle over him.
“Oh fuck,” he groans as Yumiko slowly swirls her tongue around the head of his cock, collecting a bittersweet bead of precum on the tip of her tongue. She continues stroking him as her tongue works his cock.
He’s throbbing by the time she takes him into her mouth. His hips thrust against her involuntarily. She eases his length further into her mouth, hollowing out her cheeks as she does so. The desperate sounds coming from him send waves of arousal to her core. His hands tangle in her hair as she continues pleasuring him. She presses forward until he hits the back of her throat. Kakashi already feels like he could cum. The sight of her plump lips around his cock mixed with the tingling sensations is almost too much. He tugs on her hair so she’ll look up at him.
“I’m close baby,” he whines. “I want to fuck you so bad, please.”
She pulls off his cock with a pop. Kakashi starts to sit up, but with her hands on his chest she pushes him back down and she moves to straddle him. A satisfied sigh leaves her when she sinks onto his cock. She feels so full as she begins riding him slowly. His cock drags along the sweet spot inside of her. Kakashi watches her with eyes full of adoration. His hips raise to meet her thrusts, heightening the pleasure steadily building in her core.
“Kakashi,” she sighs. “Feels so good.”
His hands grip onto her hips, guiding her to thrust harder as he continues pumping himself in and out of her. Her nails dig into his chest when she cums hard around his cock. The contractions of her walls around him are too much for him and he sloppily continues fucking her until he’s coming undone beneath her. She leans forward until she’s pressed against his chest, leaving a sloppy kiss on his cheek as he continues thrusting until they both come down from their highs. She rests her head on the curve of his neck while fighting to catch her breath.
“Kashi, I have to tell you something,” she says quietly. “You don’t have to say anything, but I need you to know.”
“What is it, baby?”
“I love you,” she whispers against his skin. He feels tears hitting his skin.
The words are on the tip of his tongue. He wants to say it back, because it’s true. He loves her more than he could ever express, and suspects in his own way he always has. He just can’t bring himself to say it because he’s so scared once he puts his feelings out there she’ll be taken away. The cruel twists of fate which have tainted his entire life will show themselves again. His arms wrap around her, hands tangling in her soft hair.
“Yumiko, I’m never going anywhere,” he whispers. “I’m always going to be here for you.”
The next morning, Yumiko’s heart pounds as she knocks on her grandparent’s door. Her grandmother answers the door with a friendly smile that drops the instant she sees that Yumiko is the visitor.
“What do you want?” the old woman asks coldly.
“Tamako is in the hospital,” Yumiko explains. “Something has happened with our kekkei genkai and we’re trying to find a way to stop it.”
“I can’t help you.”
“Please, maybe if I can look around the old meeting place I can find something.”
“I said I can’t help you.”
“Please, we’re your granddaughters. I just need-”
The door closes in her face before she can finish her sentence. Anger bubbles in her stomach as she begins knocking on the door again. This time there’s no answer. Yumiko keeps pounding on the door for a few moments until she realizes there will truly be no help from these people. All her resentment for them bubbles to the surface.
“If she dies, it’s going to be your fault, you old hag,” she yells at the door. “You were never there for us, and I hope the guilt haunts you on your deathbed!”
She kicks a potted plant off the porch before going down the steps. Her eyes fall on the old, neglected clan meeting house. The clan symbol is tattered and nearly unrecognizable. Her fists clench as she walks away from the house.
She waits for a few moments before jumping over the fence behind the clan meeting house. Carefully she pulls one of the dusty windows open and crawls in through it. There’s a small podium standing at the front of the room with a banner behind it. Against one wall there’s a shelf filled with old scrolls and books. She peeks out of a window to make sure nobody was alerted of her break in before she begins going through something, anything which might help her.
One of the scrolls she unrolls is a list of those lost to the same affliction Tamako is suffering from currently. She feels her stomach drop as she reads over name after name of lost clan members. It’s difficult for her to set it aside and continue her search. It seems hopeless until she unrolls a scroll. Her heart jolts when she recognizes her father’s handwriting.
“The Shorihibana clan has lost many to an affliction I have taken to calling the chakra draining. So far there’s no cure, but I believe it can be fixed by sealing the static cloak. Many of the elders do not agree with my ideas, as sealing the static cloak means it could never again be activated. The static cloak is the main form of defense the Shorihibana possesses. I have devised a sealing ritual which I believe will work.”
A chill crawls up Yumiko’s spine as she reads her father’s handwriting, his voice seems to echo clearly in her head. As she continues reading the steps for the ritual, she almost feels as though he was right beside her. Did he begin thinking about this as a way to protect his children? At the bottom of the page she sees the date he wrote the scroll, and tears prick her eyes. It’s dated January 13. Yumiko was born a week later.
With the scroll still in her hand she crawls back out the window and over the fence. Tears roll down her cheeks as she begins walking down the street. Her only thought is getting this scroll to Tamako.
Never Far Away; Chapter Twenty Five: Static Electricity
Word count: 3,006
Summary: Tamako begins her new life in Konoha as she finally makes amends with her teammates. As she continues training to become a jounin, something goes terribly wrong.
Warnings: Canon type violence, mentions of hospitals
Masterlist
Tamako wakes up in her bed, and for once, she isn’t completely haunted by the thought of Itachi. She feels a little relieved to not have had nightmares about him last night. She wonders if confessing to Yumiko about what happened helped get it off her chest, or maybe she’s really trying to move past all of this.
She makes her way to the bathroom to have a shower and she hears voices from Yumiko’s room. Tamako smirks as she realizes that the other voice belongs to Kakashi. It was so sweet to know that he and her sister had finally come to terms with their feelings a little more than they ever had. Tamako knew things had been a little competitive and they had a rivalry as they were children and growing up wasn’t any easier, but now that they were both adults, maybe they could finally grow to love one another and trust each other.
Tamako turns on the water, allowing it to get to the right temperature. Today, she was planning to do more training and to definitely go see Akina and Ezume. She knows there’s almost no chance that Sasuke will talk to her, but maybe he’ll come along eventually. She misses his company a lot. He’s grown some since she’s been gone and she wants to comfort him like she used to. They were so close.
Tamako washes her hair and thinks about the excitement of the chunin exams in the village. She remembers when she took her chunin exams with Akina and Ezume. It feels like so long ago. Tamako realizes how much she’s changed since those days. She remembers how hurt she was feeling when she fought against her opponent. How she barely paid any attention to Akina and Ezume. She starts to feel really guilty about how she’s treated those two in the past.
I have to make it right with them. I want them to know how much they mean to me.
After her shower, Tamako gets dressed and heads to the kitchen to get started on tea and some breakfast. Kakashi and Yumiko are sitting at the kitchen table, and Tamako can see the blush on both of their faces. Tamako doesn’t ask any questions, instead she just starts on her own breakfast.
“So, Kakashi...do you think your team has what it takes to become chunin?” Tamako asks, trying to break the ice.
“I guess we’ll see. I think this is a good opportunity for all of them,” Kakashi answers and Yumiko raises an eyebrow at him.
“How is Sasuke? I wanted to talk to him again, but it seems like he’s written me off for good now.” Tamako questions as she sits down across from Yumiko.
“He’s doing well, Tamako. He will come around eventually,” Kakashi tells her, and Tamako feels her heart flutter slightly.
“Everyone’s been telling me that, but I’m worried I’ve completely ruined the bond and trust between us. Please just make sure he is okay. I would hate for anything bad to happen to him.” Tamako looks down at her tea and Yumiko pipes up.
“You should probably go talk to Ezume and Akina. They’ve been asking about you lately,” Yumiko tells her.
“I was planning on doing that today, Yumi. I need to make amends with them.” Tamako explains, and Yumiko smiles.
“You aren’t guilty of anything, Tamako. You are still a good person,” Yumiko comforts. Tamako offers a sweet smile, but yet she does know she needs to talk to her teammates.
And this is where she finds herself, at the training grounds working on some new techniques. Ezume and Akina walk over to Tamako, hand in hand. Tamako watches them carefully and her heart swells with happiness as she realizes that her teammates have finally found love within each other.
“Tamako!” Akina yells out, running over to her. The two women jump into each other’s arms, which causes them to fall to the ground. Akina is laughing while Tamako just chuckles.
“You two are completely hopeless,” Ezume scolds but he rushes over to them. He watches as Akina helps Tamako up and they all meet in a hug.
“I’ve missed you both so much. I’ve been such a jerk,” Tamako says as she allows tears to well up in her eyes.
“Don’t cry, Tamako. We don’t hate you.” Akina assures, but Tamako shakes her head.
“I’ve treated you both so poorly for so long, and I never realized how much you both truly mean to me. We are such a great team and I feel like I’ve always taken that for granted.” Tamako explains, and this time Ezume interjects.
“Tamako,” he says as he places his hand on her shoulder. “You are a good person. You don’t need to atone for anything. We love you,” He blushes as he confesses this and Akina leans up against him.
Tamako smiles, “So when did this happen? I always thought you two were perfect for each other.” She claps her hands together excitedly.
“I just asked him out one day while we were looking for you, and it just blossomed from there.” Akina says and Ezume groans as he realizes how awkward this is.
The trio decides to go over to the ramen shop to eat together and reminisce a little about the past. Tamako feels good about talking to her teammates. It was almost like they could all move past this little hump in the road and continue on. It was helping heal her heartbreak as well.
On their walk back to the hideout, Itachi remains silent while Kisame struggles to find the right words to comfort his teammate. He never really knew what he was getting himself into when Itachi decided to go after Tamako, but he decided that the less he knew the better it could go.
“Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” Kisame finally asks, but he’s immediately regretting it.
“Of course, Kisame. We need to focus on the task at hand. The Akatsuki is what’s important now.”
Silence befalls the two of them as they continue walking, not realizing that a pair of eyes watches them silently from the bushes. Itachi is hurting so badly inside, but he knows this was the best course of action for Tamako. He wanted her to return to the village so that she could live a normal life, and for her to be able to watch over Sasuke.
Itachi knew he’d never be able to give Tamako what she needs in life. She needs a stable life as a jounin with a reliable husband who can give her all the love. It’s just killing him inside to know he’s never going to be able to be that person for her. He’s had a taste of her now, and he just wants more. He’s become addicted to that smell. The lotus perfume. He hates how he can smell it everywhere now. It’s just been so ingrained in his mind that he could never forget such a wonderful smell.
“That girl...she’s the one you’re in love with, isn’t she?” Kisame asks again, and this time he’s going to pry a little. He needs to know how Itachi is feeling. Sure, they didn’t always get along but Kisame does like Itachi. He cares.
“It’s fine, Kisame. You don’t need to talk to me about this. We should just get back.” Itachi doesn’t want to keep talking about Tamako. He wants to get back to the hideout and drown his sorrows.
“I know it’s not fine, but…” Kisame decides to not press his luck. He knows that Itachi is hurting already, but he doesn’t want to make it worse.
At the hideout, Zetsu is already there with lots of information for Madara. Madara is delighted to hear about what happened in the forest. He doesn’t need Itachi to be distracted by more troubles in his life.
“I think she’s out of the picture now,” White Zetsu explains to Madara.
“She was only holding him back. He needs to break away from this,” The black part says.
“You’re correct. We have better things to think about now,” Madara says. Still, he wonders if recruiting that girl could be a good idea. It would keep Itachi distracted, but her kekkei genkai could be very useful.
“He’s very hurt,” White Zetsu says with concern in his voice.
“There’s no need for him to be. He did what was right for the group.”
Madara hums in response as he thinks about what should happen next. He decides that maybe everything should just stay the same. Itachi let go of his love, and soon he’ll be back with Kisame in tow. Neither of them have to talk about what’s happened, and Madara decides it’s probably best to just stay quiet about the situation.
“I’d like for you to go watch the girl a little more. I might have plans for her in the long run, but I need to know more about this volatile kekkei genkai before I make any more decisions.” Madara explains.
“Certainly,” Zetsu says, leaving the room.
Madara realizes that he could set this up to benefit himself in the end. If this volatile kekkei genkai is worth it, he could keep this girl as a ploy against Konoha and the rest of the ninja world. And, it could keep Itachi from misbehaving if that were to happen. It’s just all working out for him, and Madara couldn’t be any happier.
As the days go by, Tamako spends lots of time with Yumiko as the Chunin exams continue on. It’s exciting to both of them to see the other villages coming to take their exams here. Tamako has been mingling a little and socializing to help heal the wound of her broken heart. It’s odd to be home, but she finds something very comforting about it regardless.
She’s in the training grounds today, working on kekkei genkai. It’s always been volatile, and with her father deceased, she’ll never really know the true secrets of it. Tamako knows her grandparents still reside in Konoha, but neither of them would even dare to talk to her, much less so about the kekkei genkai they so hastily stopped using years ago.
Iruka is watching her from afar and he’s been helping her with a few things during her training. They both are evenly matched now, but Iruka still has some good advice. Tamako has been very grateful that he's been here for her.
“Wind style: Hurricane Jutsu!” Tamako shouts as she finishes weaving her signs. The wind picks up in front of her and cycles in the air, becoming heavy and humid.
Iruka watches in amazement as Tamako finally has the perfect hold on this jutsu. She directs the wind towards the trees and watches happily as it causes the trees to whip around. Tamako senses a power in her growing, but she chalks it up to the adrenaline and the kekkei genkai.
“Yeah! Tamako!” Iruka cheers as he runs over to her. He sees her turn around to face him, but her cloak has not dissipated.
“Iruka!” She yells excitedly and runs over to him, but he lowers his arms. He was going to give her a hug, but now he thinks something might be wrong.
“Tamako, are you okay?” Iruka asks as they are finally within feet of each other.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I be? I just mastered that jutsu!” Tamako pumps her fist in the air, but Iruka is now concerned.
“Your cloak is still surrounding you. You look different.” Iruka states as he watches Tamako. Her eyes are glowing as the cloak gets more powerful.
The air is thick with static and Iruka watches as his and Tamako’s hair starts to stand on end. There’s electricity flowing through her fingers as she’s watching what’s happening to her. Then, she’s suddenly collapsing on the ground and crying out.
“AGH!” Tamako whines as she holds her sides. She’s letting out little bits of electricity with every movement.
“Are you okay?!” Iruka asks, wanting to help her up but he knows it’s a bad idea.
Tamako looks up at him and he can no longer see her pupils. Her eyes are glowing gold, and her skin has a yellow tint to it. The cloak has completely overtaken her as she whines.
“I don’t know,” She says. “Something is wrong. I need you to get Yumi if you can,”
Iruka frowns as he realizes it won’t be easy to get her. He needs to get Tamako to a hospital, but he doesn’t want to get shocked. Yet, he’ll feel very guilty if he just leaves her here to get help.
“Come on, Tamako. I’m taking you to the hospital.” Iruka offers his hand to her, and she takes it. Immediately, he can feel the heavy electricity coming from her.
It hurts him where he’s holding her hand, but he helps her to her feet. Tamako sways as she stands up, but she’s steadied by Iruka. She continuously shocks him as she leans into him, but he doesn’t care right now.
“I’m gonna take you to the hospital, everything is going to be alright.” Iruka says as they begin walking towards that direction.
“We need Yumi! She’s the only one who knows how to control this!” Tamako argues, but Iruka doesn’t listen to her right now. Yumiko is too preoccupied with the Chunin exams to even be able to help right now.
They slowly walk over to the hospital, and Iruka has to stop every so often to let go of Tamako. Her condition hasn’t changed at all, and lots of people are staring at them now. A few people offer to help, but Iruka says he’s fine. He won’t let others get shocked like he is.
Finally, they make it to the hospital and the staff rush into action. They notice how weak Iruka is and how Tamako is a danger to others right now.
“She needs help! Her chakra is slowly draining!” Iruka explains, but they don’t know how to proceed.
One of the doctors places Tamako on a stretcher and he tries to figure out how to get the cloak to dissipate. He’s wearing rubber gloves which prevents him from being shocked.
“Nobody knows how to calm this down,” the doctor admits. “We’ve seen this in many people from the Shōrihibana clan experience this before long ago, but nobody has been able to calm it.”
“What do you mean!? Is she just going to die?!” Iruka is beyond furious with the doctor right now.
The doctor frowns at Iruka, “Well, I don’t want to say anything too hastily...but,” He stops for a moment. “Not everyone has survived this. We’ve lost members of the clan to this.”
Iruka feels speechless. He’s unsure how to respond to that. He feels responsible for Tamako right now, and if she dies it’s going to be horrible. He doesn’t want her to die. He wants the doctor to do his job and help her.
“What the hell?! Can’t you do anything for her?!” Iruka asks, clearly angry.
The doctor sighs, “Look, the best we can do for her is allow her to rest. We’ll do all we can, but we can’t promise anything. I can try to keep her chakra flow down, but she may be overwhelmed right now. She needs to relax before I can even try to do anything.” The doctor turns towards the nurses and lets them bring Tamako to a room.
Iruka feels helpless as he watches them wheel her away. Tamako is groaning and whimpering in pain as the cloak doesn’t let up. He’s never seen either her or Yumiko in this state ever.
“She has a sister,” Iruka tells the doctor. “She might know how to help. She’s the only person who’s ever really been closer to mastering this kekkei genkai other than their father.”
“Nakachi’s daughters…” The doctor mutters to himself.
Just then someone else comes in and he springs into action. Iruka groans in frustration as he realizes there’s almost nothing he can do. He wants to get Yumiko, but he knows she’s busy. He decides to get her anyway. This could be very serious and maybe Yumi has a few answers that the doctors don’t.
He can feel his body aching from where Tamako was leaning up against him for support. There’s a few burn marks on his clothes and hands from the sheer amount of static shock she was letting out. He’s never seen anything so powerful like that before. Especially not from a single person. She was completely different. She looked different...she even felt different.
Iruka finds Yumiko walking back from the edge of the village where the Chunin exam was taking place. She’s talking with another proctor who is also taking a small break.
“Iruka!” She calls out to him, and he races towards her.
“There’s something serious that’s happened, Yumi.” Iruka is almost out of breath from everything that’s happened.
Yumiko’s smile falters. She worries about Tamako immediately, just thinking the worst. She wonders if Tamako has run off again and she hopes that it’s something else that’s happened.
“Tamako needs your help. She’s in the hospital. She was training, and then her cloak wouldn’t let up and…” Iruka is talking so fast, Yumiko can barely keep up with what he’s saying.
“What’s going on?” Yumiko is trying to make some sense out of it.
“Something serious happened with Tamako. She’s in the hospital, but the doctor doesn’t know how to help. It’s about the kekkei genkai,” Iruka explains a little slowly.
Yumiko can feel her blood run cold. She’s not sure what’s happened, but she just knows her baby sister is in the hospital and she needs to get there now. Yumiko takes off running without looking back. Her heart pounds as she feels tears well up in her eyes.
Please be okay, Tamako. I’m almost there. Just hang on a little longer.
Summary: Yumiko struggles with managing her personal relationships. A quiet moment with Kakashi leads her to finally being able to reconnect with Tamako.
Warnings: None
As Hiruzen goes through a brief checklist of everything that needs to be done, Yumiko’s mind is wandering through everything that’s happened in such a short time. All of the rookie Genin had arrived on time to register for the exam, and Yumiko had helped to proctor the written exam. The concern now was for the amount of Genin who had made it to the next round of the exams. Still, Yumiko’s mind feels stretched in a hundred different directions.
Tamako being home feels good, even though it’s been difficult to contend with her at times. She’s resistant to Yumiko’s attempt to help her move past everything that’s happened with Itachi, and she’s trying not to let on how much things have actually changed in her absence.
She wants to be the same dependable older sister she’s always been. She wants Tamako to know that she’s always going to be there for her, and even when she’s pushing her it’s for her own good. Still, things are different and they can both feel it in the air.
She wishes she could talk to Tamako about everything, but she almost feels guilty for being happy with her life while Tamako is so miserable. Tamako has always been the first person she talked to about everything. She wants to tell her about Kakashi. Yet she knows it would only be like rubbing salt in the wound considering Tamako has seemingly lost Itachi forever now. Even Ezume, who was smitten for so long moved on with his life.
She decides she’s going to try to do something nice with Tamako, maybe go out to dinner together. Maybe even go see a movie if she feels up to it.
She’s chewing on her lip as she thinks everything over, so lost in thought she hardly notices that everyone’s eyes have fallen on her. Iruka is standing beside her, and finally he elbows her to get her attention. She’s only just noticed her chakra has emitted a static current through the air. In the crowd of eyes staring at her expectantly, she spots Kakashi watching her with concern.
“Yumiko, the hokage is speaking to you,” Danzo scolds her. “You’d do better to pay attention during such important matters. The disrespect-”
She quickly stops infusing chakra so the static will dissipate.
“That’s quite enough Danzo,” Hiruzen holds his hand up. “Yumiko, as I was saying, I would like for you to help with security if you feel up to it.”
Yumiko nods, “Yes, sir.”
“Good, good. Your sensory skills should prove useful.”
He goes over a few more details before releasing everyone for the day. Yumiko lingers for a moment to allow the crowd to clear out.
“What’s gotten into you?” Iruka asks her as they stand against the wall.
She sighs, “I just have a lot on my mind is all.”
“You know, I’ve been meaning to talk to you because you seem a little distracted. I’m worried you're stretching yourself a bit thin lately.”
She sighs, a fresh wave of guilt washing over her. So many people in her life and she’s neglected them all. She can’t remember the last time she’s seen Akina and Ezume. Iruka hasn’t seen much of her since they were at the tea shop. Her and Kakashi have both been distracted by the chunin exams.
He was right. There’s just not quite enough of her to go around.
“I’m sorry, Iruka. I just have a lot on my plate.”
“What about lunch?” Iruka suggests. “My treat?”
As soon as she agrees, she realizes Kakashi was lingering around them a few feet away. When he hears they’ve made lunch plans, he just begins following the crowd out of the office. Yumiko wants to fall apart under the weight.
Iruka finally leads her out of the office, but she finds herself no longer wanting to follow him. She wants to just go home and fall into bed for the rest of the day. He notices her lack of enthusiasm as they begin walking down the street. She’s still looking out in the distance with a far away look in her eyes.
“Do you not want to go to lunch, Yumiko?” he asks finally. “It’s alright.”
“I’m not very hungry. I just want to-”
“Curl up in the bed and pout,” he smirks.
“Pretty much,” she sighs.
They stop to sit on a park bench. Iruka stretches his arms out across the back of the bench. His arm went behind her shoulders.
“So, what’s going on? You know I’ll keep asking until you tell me.”
“I don’t know, Iruka. I just feel all mixed up. Something has happened and I wanna talk about it to Tamako because she’s my sister and I tell her everything. But then I would feel guilty if I did. I want to spend time with Ezume and Akina, but then that’s time I could be spending with her,” she groans. “And then there’s-”
“Me?” he smirks. “You wanna spend time with good ol’ Iruka, but then that’s time you can’t spend flirting with Kakashi. But then time with Kakashi could also be spent somewhere else. It’s a cycle.”
“How did you-what?” Yumiko eyebrows knit together.
“Oh come on,” Iruka rolls his eyes. “We’ve been best friends since I was 12 and you were 14. You think I don’t recognize when you’re smitten?”
She groans, “You’re so annoying sometimes.”
“It doesn’t hurt that you’ve been smitten with him since, well, forever. The only argument we’ve ever had was over Kakashi! But something’s different now.”
“I don’t like you anymore. We’re not friends,” she leans her head back on his arm. “You know too much.”
“Did I lie? Come on, even when you claimed to hate him you were still smitten. He nearly left a hole in your chest, and yet you’ve always blushed if someone even mentioned him.”
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” she blushes. “That’s not even the point. You’re just fishing for gossip.”
“Then what is the point, Yumi? Why are we here? Why did you nearly give everyone a static shock? Why?”
“I’m just stressed,” she sighs. “It’s really that simple. I am stressed. I want to be a good sister and friend and sensei and jounin and girl-” she trails off as she is not even sure that’s her label.
“Good...Girl? You want to be a good girl?”
“You know, what? I gotta go,” she sighs.
She stands up from the bench, leaving Iruka with a quick wave goodbye. He watches her leave with a confused look on his face.
Iruka and Yumiko sit on the soft grass together while Tamako and Itachi are playing on the swings. Tamako is flying through the air on the swing while Itachi pushes her. She has a wide smile on her face and she laughs every time she goes higher. Yumiko watches carefully to make sure neither of them get hurt, and to remind Tamako every few minutes to let Itachi have a turn as well. Itachi always insists he doesn’t mind not getting one, but Yumiko wants Tamako to play fair.
The summer sun feels good on her bare legs as she stretches out in the grass. Iruka is babbling about a girl at the academy he has a crush on, and Yumiko keeps telling him to ask her out. He’s being a bit stubborn about it. Really he’s too shy to ask.
After a few moments, his attention is caught by Kakashi walking past the park. Some other people in the park watch him go past too. Iruka nudges her to get her attention.
“Did you hear what happened?”
“Everyone has heard, Iruka,” she rolls her eyes.
“How can we trust him? I mean after what happened with you they should’ve stopped him from using that jutsu, but now he’s-”
“Shut up, Iruka,” she sighs.
“Am I wrong? I mean you could’ve-”
“It was an accident, Iruka. Just like this.”
“There’s something wrong with that guy, okay? I just think he’s dangerous.”
“Kakashi is a very good shinobi and you need to shut your mouth,” Yumiko narrows her eyes.
“Hey, hey, you’re the one who always says he’s arrogant and mean and-”
“But he’s not a murderer,” she stands up.
Iruka stands up too, “How can you defend him? He doesn’t even care about you or anyone.”
“Because sometimes people need to be defended, Iruka,” she puts her hand on her hips. “You know sometimes you don’t think about the words that come out of your mouth, and you just-”
She’s stopped when she feels a tugging on her sleeve. She looks down into the wide gold eyes of Tamako. Itachi stands beside her looking away shyly.
“Yumi, we were wondering if you could take us to get some dango,” Tamako asks in the sweet voice she always used when asking for something.
Yumiko sighs, “Yeah, I was just getting ready to leave anyway.”
Iruka groans, “Come on, why would you be mad at me about this?”
“Because it’s wrong, Iruka. You’re wrong.”
Her heart is pounding as she slowly raises her hand to knock on Kakashi’s door. It takes a moment for her to get a response, and she thinks she should leave. Finally she hears his footsteps on the other side and the door opens.
“I thought you were going for lunch with Iruka,” he says as he moves to the side for her to come in.
“I decided to forgo lunch because I missed you,” she admits sheepishly. “I know it’s been a little while since we’ve seen each other but-”
“I understand Tamako coming home sort of threw you for a loop,” he says as he sits down on the sofa.
“Yeah it did,” she sighs. “I just, I don’t know. Anyway, I wanted to come see you.”
She sits down beside him, snuggling close to him. There’s a moment of hesitation before he wraps his arms around her, she presses a soft kiss to his cheek. Her hand raises up to twirl a strand of his hair. There’s something wrong with him, but he can’t help but lean into her touch.
“Yumi, why didn’t you talk to me? I’ve been worried. I know how heavily this has all weighed on you. I saw how upset you were when we couldn’t bring her home.”
She shrugs, “I haven’t talked about it to anyone really.”
“Yeah, but you at least talked to Iruka,” he closes his eyes when he realizes he sounded jealous.
“I didn’t think you would want to be bothered with the drama that is my life,” she laughs. “I mean you have a genin team to prepare for the chunin exams and you’re like the top jounin in the village. You have so much on your shoulders already. I didn’t want to add more.”
He turns on the couch so he’s facing her, “Being a part of your life isn’t a bother. I’ve been worried about you. I didn’t know if I did something wrong or if you didn’t trust me.”
She cups his cheek, her thumb soothing along the material of his mask.
“I’m so sorry, Kakashi,” she sighs.
He kisses her palm through his mask before leaning forward until he’s leaning against her with his head against her chest. Her arms wrap around his torso, hands soothing softly down his back.
“So, how is Tamako?” he asks as his hands grip her thighs to pull her closer. One of her legs gets draped over his lap.
“She’s not really talking to me much,” she sighs. “I guess I was a little rough on her at first.”
“You tend to do that,” he whispers.
“I’ve been told I do. I just want her to be happy,” she sighs.
Kakashi reaches up to pull his mask down so he can press a kiss against her collarbone. She tangles her hands in his hair as she continues thinking about Tamako’s predicament. She looks at Kakashi laying against her chest with his hands kneading against her softly.
If he went rogue like Itachi, she’s not sure she could just let him go either. She didn’t understand at first how Tamako felt so devoted to Itachi even after he slaughtered his clan, but she’s starting to see more clearly.
“If I went rogue, would you try to find me?” she asks suddenly.
Kakashi is confused about the question at first, but as he raises his head up to look at her, he understands why she’s asking.
“Of course. I’d do anything to try to save you.”
“And if I couldn’t be saved?”
Kakashi looks down for a moment as he thinks it over, “I wouldn’t be able to give up hope.”
She nods slowly, “I think I should try to talk to her about it again.”
Kakashi smiles, “It would help her to know you understand her feelings.”
She feels stupid for not coming to Kakashi earlier when he was able to help her put things in perspective so quickly. Days of troubled thoughts could’ve been avoided. She leans forward to kiss him softly.
“Thank you for helping,” she whispers against his mouth.
He pulls her closer to him until she’s in his lap, “Thank you for finally trusting me.”
“Oh come on, I’ve always trusted you,” she sighs. He leans his head back against the sofa to look up at her.
“Always?”
She shrugs, “Yeah, always. Literally always.”
Kakashi feels warmth bloom in his chest at her words. She presses her forehead against his, closing her eyes as she does so. She takes a deep breath, feeling her muscles relax as she does so. His hands soothe up and down her sides while he looks at her.
“Are you going to take a nap on me?” he asks with a chuckle.
“I’m thinking about it,” she sighs. “I need to go talk to Tamako.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
She pulls herself off his lap, missing his warmth as soon as she does so. He stands up to give her a quick kiss before she leaves.
When Yumiko gets home, she finds Tamako sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea while reading a book. She looks up to acknowledge Yumiko entering the room before returning to her reading. Yumiko makes herself a cup of tea before sitting down across from Tamako.
“So, I just want to tell you that I’m sorry for being hard on you,” Yumiko says quietly.
Tamako looks up in confusion, “You haven’t apologized to me for anything ever.”
“Well,” Yumiko groans. “I am doing it now, because it’s the right thing to do. I’ve never even tried to understand, but I do now.”
“I don’t really think you do,” Tamako closes her book. “As soon as Itachi left you gave up on him, and you were mad because I couldn’t do the same. How could you possibly come here now claiming to understand?”
“Because things have changed, Tamako. I do understand now why you couldn’t just give up on Itachi.”
Tamako leans back in her chair with her arms crossed as she takes in her sister. She’s not sure what to make of her sister’s sudden change of heart. Something has certainly changed, but she can’t put her finger on it. Yumiko sips her tea nonchalantly.
“I am very glad to hear you understand, but why did it take so long? I could’ve used this support years ago.”
“I know, Tamako. I just didn’t know how you felt then. Your feelings were different from anything I’d ever felt.”
“What’s changed?”
Yumiko sighs, she hadn’t anticipated talking about her life with Tamako. Considering how things have been going with Tamako, she didn’t know if she would.
“Well, I started seeing someone and I really like them. I just haven’t mentioned it because I didn’t want you to feel bad.”
Tamako sighs, “Kakashi Hatake and my sister. How serious? Like kissing or…?”
The blush on Yumiko’s cheeks tells Tamako how far things had gone with Kakashi. Her eyes go wide.
“You had sex with him?”
“So, anyway,” Yumiko blushes. “Is there anything you wanna talk about?”
“No, don’t change the subject,” Tamako smirks. “You had sex with Kakashi!”
Yumiko sighs, “It was a few weeks after we got home. I don’t know if something just changed and we got really comfortable around each other.”
“What does his face look like? I mean I’m assuming he took the mask off, right?”
Yumiko laughs, and after a few moments Tamako does too.
“Of course he took off the mask,” Yumiko answers. “He’s actually very handsome.”
Tamako sees the sweetness in her sister’s eyes as she talks about Kakashi. In the past there was always admiration fighting its way to the surface, but Yumiko always made a point to hide it. Now the admiration is unbridled.
“Anyway, do you wanna talk more about what happened?” she asks
Tamako looks down, “Despite how much I fought it, I do think you’ve been right all along. I didn’t want to believe it because it didn’t completely make sense. Itachi came to me and we spent the night together and he told me he loved me.”
Yumiko can’t help but feel protective about her younger sister having sex. She looks at her younger sister carefully, and realizes she’s truly a woman now. She’s not the little girl Yumiko grew so accustomed to protecting.
“I mean, that’s supposed to be what you wanted.”
Tamako shakes her head, “He came later and said he never loved me. I want to just forget about him and move on. I just can’t. He’s literally haunting my dreams.”
Yumiko reaches across the table to hold her hand. Her thumb soothes along Tamako’s knuckles. Tamako smiles weakly at her.
“What’s happened to him?” Yumiko asks softly.
“He’s sick, Yumiko. He’s going to die. I wanted to save him, that’s why I was training with Tsunade,” Tamako shakes her head as she thinks about it all over again. “I was so stupid.”
“It’s gonna be okay. We’ll get through this together,” Yumiko smiles.
The girls spend the rest of the day together, talking about what’s been going on in their lives since they were separated. Tamako makes Yumiko laugh with her stories of Tsunade’s wild antics. She does feel a little guilty when Tamako reveals that Shizune is still scared of her.
After dinner, Tamako goes to her room for the night to finish reading her book. Yumiko finishes cleaning up before going to her own room.
She jumps when she notices someone is on her bed. Only to smile when she realizes it’s Kakashi, he’s sitting cross legged while reading. The only hint of how he got in was the open window. He closes his book and places it on the nightstand.
She moves to sit across from him on the bed, and pulls down his mask so she can kiss him. He smiles as she leans back.
“It went good with Tamako, I hope,” he says softly.
“It went great,” she smiles. “We had fun actually.”
She stands up to peel off her clothes to change into a sleep shirt before laying back down on the bed with her head in Kakashi’s lap.
“So, you wanna read to me?” she asks with a smirk.
Kakashi’s cheeks turn pink at the suggestion. It shouldn’t be embarrassing to read a romantic scene out loud to her, but the thought makes him feel nervous. His hand tangles in her soft hair.
“I don’t think so,” he smirks.
“Are you embarrassed?” she reaches up to poke his blushing cheek playfully.
“Hmm, a little bit,” he admits.
She laughs, “Fine. Another time perhaps.”
“We’ll see,” Kakashi agrees.
She reaches over to get the book and opens it to the page he was on, “Or I could read it for myself.”
Kakashi sighs as he takes the book from her, “You can’t start on this volume. You have to start with the first one.”
Yumiko chuckles, “You take this very seriously.”
“Mhm,” he hums.
With his hand still soothing her hair, he continues his reading while she closes her eyes to enjoy the affection. It’s only a few moments later she’s sleeping soundly for the first time in days.
Never Far Away; Chapter Twenty Three: You're Lost Little Girl
Word count: 3,254
Summary: Tamako returns to Konoha and finds herself struggling with how to cope.
Warnings: Angst
Masterlist
It was early morning when Tamako arrived in Konoha. She felt so ashamed when she walked through the village gates. It felt like everyone was watching her with curiosity, as if she was some sort of rarity that has never been inside the village. The guards at the gate narrow their eyes at her, and her face is flush when she looks down. Tsunade and Shizune are walking away from her, after a very difficult goodbye. While Tsunade didn’t want to send Tamako home, she knew it would be best for the young woman to be with her sister and her team now.
The walk to the Hokage’s office felt so long, and Tamako just wanted to run away again. She feels like she’s not meant to be here. It’s almost like now people would hate her even more. She figures Sasuke will probably never talk to her again, and she figures he has every reason to feel that way.
Finally, she makes her way into the Hokage’s office and Danzo is the first person to greet her. He’s got a sour look on his face, and he seems like he just wants to spit in Tamako’s face. Tamako barely looks into his eye before he begins scolding her.
“You think chasing after an international terrorist is a good idea? You so desperately wanted to desert your village, and you were almost branded a rogue ninja. Do you have any idea how much embarrassment that is for Konoha?” He’s yelling right at her, but she can barely keep her feelings under control.
Tears are brimming her eyes as she just continues to look down. She doesn’t even know how to respond to him. Her heart is so broken right now, and just returning home is making everything worse.
“If it were up to me, I’d have you--” Danzo is interrupted by Lord Third.
“Thankfully, it is up to me. Danzo, you may take your leave now.” Hiruzen speaks up as he enters the office. Tamako looks up at him with tears in her eyes.
Danzo wants to continue yelling at her, but he knows better than to overstep his boundaries with Hiruzen. It could turn ugly very quickly if he were to get too rough with the young woman. With a final icy glance, Danzo leaves the office and shuts the door behind him.
“Tamako,” Hiruzen says as he sits down. He lights up his pipe and watches the young girl.
“Please forgive me, Lord Third. I was foolish and I wasn’t thinking and you have every right to punish me. I’ve brought so much shame to my clan and to Konoha,” Tamako can’t stop the word vomit that comes forth from her.
Hiruzen sighs as she continues to blabber on. He doesn’t want to make the same mistakes with her as he did with other citizens of Konoha. Sometimes, they tend to defect because they are lacking compassion or love. With Tamako, she just needed a little guidance. He thinks she could learn a lot from her own sister.
“I’d like to tell you a story, if I could.” Hiruzen finally speaks, and Tamako shuts up immediately. She nods and he continues to smoke his pipe.
“Once, long ago, there was a team of three students. They all had different abilities, and they all grew up together. From the outside, it would almost seem like they were the perfect team,” Tamako is very attentive now.
Hiruzen comes closer to her, “There was one of the students who felt like they were alone. They had lost their parents, and felt like they couldn’t handle death any longer. They wanted to make sure that their comrades would never die.”
“Orochimaru,” Tamako responds, and Hiruzen smiles sadly.
“He went too far with his research. He no longer wanted to save his loved ones, he now wanted to have immortality and to know everything.” Hiruzen continues. He places his hand on Tamako’s shoulder and gives a comforting squeeze.
“Orochimaru thought he was alone, even though he had his teammates and the rest of Konoha and even students of his own. He went off by himself because he thought he was above all of that,”
Tamako raises her eyebrow, wondering how this has anything to do with herself. She’s just worried she might be in so much trouble right now, and she’ll never be able to do anything without supervision.
“You and Orochimaru do share some similarities, yet I know that you were not trying to hurt anyone. I know that the loss of Itachi Uchiha has made you suffer, but you need to know that he isn’t the same person anymore.” Tamako lets those words weigh on her.
“Please, I’ll never do anything like that again. Itachi is different.” Tamako pleads, the tears returning.
“I know you won’t. I’d like for you to go home and get a good rest. Once you return to a routine, I’d like for you to start training to become a jounin. If you had a team of your own, I think this would help you.” Hiruzen mentions this, and Tamako can hardly believe what she’s hearing.
“Are you sure?” She asks.
“Yes. Now return home, and get rested up. You’ve got lots of training to catch up on.”
Tamako takes this as her cue to leave the office, and she bows to the Hokage before she exits the office. Her heart is heavy with emotions as she walks down towards her home. She’s not sure if she’d rather have Yumiko be home or not home. It’s just not something that she’s come to terms with yet.
She finds herself torn between relieved and sad when she finds the door locked. It doesn’t take her long to find the spare key under the mat, and she unlocks the door while continuously looking behind her. Tamako is feeling just a little paranoid.
A strong wave of emotions hit her all at once when she finally enters her room. It’s the same as it was the night she left. She lets her bag fall to the ground before collapsing on the bed. It too has not been touched since that night. Tears leak from her eyes as harsh sobs escape from her.
She’s breaking down and nobody is here for her. Nobody is here to console her when she needs it most. She’s blaming herself and thinking about how ridiculously stupid she was to leave the village for Itachi. He didn’t love her anymore, and he probably never even loved her anyways.
When Yumiko returns home with Iruka, she’s a little confused as to why her front door is unlocked. She feels a little apprehensive, until she hears crying coming from Tamako’s bedroom. Iruka gives her a confused look, and they both walk slowly towards the bedroom.
On the bed is Tamako, hitting her pillow and cursing. She’s crying and barely notices Iruka and Yumiko walking into the room. But when Yumiko gasps in surprise, Tamako stops everything and sees her sister for the first time in a long time. Her heart stops breaking for a moment.
“Yumi!” Tamako calls out, sobbing.
Yumiko has tears in her own eyes as she holds onto her baby sister. They both cry a little as Iruka gives them a moment to themselves. He’s happy to see Tamako has returned to the village.
“Yumi, I’m so stupid. I shouldn’t have left the village, can you ever forgive me?!”
Yumiko rubs Tamako’s back soothingly as she tries to shush her sister. It’s so heartbreaking to see Tamako this way. It’s been so long since she’s seen her cry like this.
“You are not stupid, Tamako. Of course I forgive you. You mean so much to me,” Yumiko whispers quietly as Tamako continues crying.
“He never loved me, Yumi. He never loved me. I was an idiot to believe that.” Tamako continues crying, and Yumiko just does everything she can to comfort her.
“Shhh...Tamako, please don’t cry. You don’t need to worry about that anymore,”
Tamako hiccups a few times while she tries to get her breathing under control. She’s sniffling and her eyes are puffy and red. Yumiko chuckles slightly at her pathetic state, and Tamako laughs as well.
“I’m sorry I put you through all of this. It was so stupid of me to assume that Itachi was going to be the same person,”
Yumiko frowns, “Tamako, don’t worry. It’s all over now.”
It was Tamako’s thirteenth birthday. While most of her friends were present, Itachi Uchiha was the only person missing. Yumiko had tried to get in contact with him to come to the party, but she couldn’t reach him no matter how hard she tried. She found it so increasingly annoying seeing as they lived in the same village.
Nevermind that, Yumiko thought. He knows what day it is, he’ll show up.
But as the day continued on, it became apparent that Itachi had just forgotten or was much too busy with the ANBU to even make an appearance. Tamako tried her best to keep up appearances and seem happy, but inside she was breaking down. Yumiko was getting very frustrated by this. She expected that Itachi, of all people, would understand how important it was for Tamako.
When all the guests left, Tamako walked over to the bathroom. She started up the shower, stripped herself of her clothing and got into the warm running water. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the running water kept her sobs quiet. It was hard for her to keep up her facade all day, but she knew she had to pretend to be strong.
Why Itachi never made it was beyond her comprehension. He had been busy with the ANBU and some rising tensions within the Uchiha clan, but she never suspected that he’d miss her birthday. Even Sasuke showed up, but he had no excuse for his older brother.
She sat in the shower, allowing the water to wash away all her pain. It was devastating enough that her best friend and crush didn’t even have any time for her anymore, but for him to completely miss her birthday was almost unforgivable. She wished that Itachi had never joined the ANBU. It seemed so pointless to Tamako.
When Yumiko knocked on the bathroom door, Tamako didn’t answer. She knew her sister would worry, but she also knew that her sister would understand why she wasn’t exactly in the most talkative mood. Yumiko did worry, but she tried to give Tamako all the space she needed.
It was so bittersweet to Yumiko. Her little sister was a teenager now, and she really was starting to grow into a young woman. It seemed like only yesterday she was a little baby in their mother’s arms. Yumiko remembers that day very fondly. But on the other hand, her heart hurts a little for Tamako. Being rejected by someone you love isn’t exactly the best birthday gift to receive.
Finally, Tamako gets the courage to turn off the shower. She slowly dries herself off and gets dressed in her comfiest pair of pajamas. She makes her way towards the living room, where Yumiko is just reading a book and sipping on some tea.
“Yumi,” Tamako says tentatively. Yumiko looks over at her sad little sister.
“Yes, Tamako?”
“Do you think Itachi hates me?”
Yumiko frowns when she hears this, but she opens up her arms to allow Tamako to come snuggle with her on the couch. Tamako lays her head on her sister’s lap while she struggles to not cry once more.
“You know that Itachi doesn’t hate you. He’s just been very busy lately, and I’m sure he’ll make it up to you.”
Tamako looks up at her, “Really?”
Yumiko smiles, “Of course.”
Tamako is feeling very similarly to the way she felt that day. It’s been hours since she’s been home, and Yumiko has been taking pretty good care of her since she got home. Things are a little awkward, but they manage to talk about what’s been going on since they last saw each other.
“I just don’t understand what’s happened with Itachi,” Tamako mutters to herself as they eat dinner that night.
“Tamako,” Yumiko says in a firm tone. Tamako looks at her plate. “I told you not to dwell on that any longer. It’s over now, you are home.”
“But I just---” Yumiko won’t even let her finish.
“I told you to stop it. It won’t bring Itachi back. He’s chosen his own path, it’s time that you move on and do the same!” Yumiko is already regretting raising her voice.
Tamako starts crying once more, “Maybe I should have just stayed gone. Nobody cares that I’m home anyway!”
She runs to her room, locking the door behind herself. As she tumbles onto the bed, she finds the stuffed animal that Itachi bought her years ago. It’s a little worn from the years of love, but she holds it to her chest as she cries herself to sleep.
It’s hours later, and she’s awoken from a terrible nightmare. She keeps dreaming of Itachi ever since he told her he never loved her. That scene keeps playing over and over in her mind. It hurts her so terribly.
She makes her way over to the window, looking up at the moon. It’s bright and beautiful. The perfect backdrop to this melancholic night. Tamako looks everywhere in the night sky for a sign of a crow. If only Itachi would give her a sign that he was lying to her to protect her.
And yet, the moon just stays the same. It’s like it's mocking her. She wants to run away again, but she knows it’s not the right answer. Tamako feels like she’s never going to know what the right answer is when it comes to Itachi.
Yumiko, in her own bed, is tossing and turning as she realizes how tough she had been with Tamako today. She just wants her baby sister to stop worrying about something that cannot be remedied. She wishes that Itachi had never broken her heart like he has. It would just be so much simpler if she had continued to hate him after he left. When Tamako hated Itachi, things were a little easier.
After the years went by, her heart melted and she found herself longing for her first love. It would be sleepless nights and lots of arguments while Yumiko tried to talk sense into Tamako. It wasn’t going to bring back Itachi then and it most definitely would not be bringing him back now.
Yumiko wonders what she could do for her sister to change her view on life, but she worries that there might not be anything she can do. Yumiko has her own life now, and Tamako is going to need to figure out her own as time goes on. Yumiko can no longer baby her. She’s a full grown woman now, and she’s going to have to accept the consequences of life.
The next day, Tamako makes her way into town. It’s awkward because everyone is watching her as if they know what’s happened to her. She tries to seek out Sasuke, but she’s immediately shut down when she finds him.
“How could you think it was a good idea to come talk to me after you left to find Itachi?” Sasuke asks her in a cold voice.
“I-I don’t know, Sasuke. I was a fool to believe he was the same person we knew before.” Tamako offers as an explanation, but he’s not impressed with her. Sasuke frowns.
“You are a fool! I trusted you, and all you do is go find the one person that I completely despise? As far as I’m concerned, you are dead to me now just like everyone else in my clan.”
And this is what fuels Tamako to make her way to the training grounds and begin her jounin training. She’s all by herself, and she’s working herself very hard. She keeps doing the same wind style jutsu over and over again, hoping it’ll make her feel better in the long run.
There’s only one person who’s noticing what’s going on with Tamako right now, and it’s Iruka. He just happened to walk by the training grounds and noticed her working at that same jutsu. He’s worried she’s going to hurt herself or someone else. He knows she’s been in a lot of pain since she’s come home.
When Tamako takes a break, she looks around at all the damage. That’s when she spots Iruka. He gives her a slight wave, and when she doesn’t attack him, he makes his way over to the woman.
“Tamako,” he says to her. She’s looking so angry at the moment, he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing that could set her off.
“Iruka,” she says in a similar tone. They are both at a standstill.
He starts rubbing his hands together nervously as she catches her breath. They are looking at each other for a few moments before Tamako starts to feel a tightening in her chest. The tears come next.
“Iruka, I am an idiot. Nobody cares that I’m home, Yumi hates me and so does Sasuke!” She cries. Iruka is a little flustered by this outburst, but he places his hand on her back. He rubs soothingly.
“Shhh, don’t you worry about those things right now. Nobody hates you,” he says in a calm tone.
“You don’t understand. Everyone hates me. I should have just stayed away from the village.” She continues to worry. He brings her into his arms, enveloping her in a warm and protective hug.
“You need to stop doubting and worrying, Tamako. Everything is going to be just fine,” he starts. She sobs as he tries to give her a pep talk.
“Yumiko does not hate you. She is your sister and she loves you dearly,” Iruka says as he holds Tamako at arm’s length. Tamako chuckles softly with tears still in her eyes.
“I just feel like an idiot around her now. She trusted me and believed in me, and I just threw everything away to be with someone who doesn’t love me.”
“And as for Sasuke, I know he’s hurting...but he will come around eventually. You two have been best friends since you were both children, and I think Sasuke can find it in his heart to forgive you.” Iruka explains. He’s not sure what to say about Itachi, but he wants to say something that will uplift Tamako even more.
“Are you sure? I think he really does hate me now.” Tamako asks, wiping her tears away.
“He’ll most definitely come around. Sasuke is just in a difficult period of his life, and when you ran away, it really affected him.” Iruka is a little glad that she didn’t continue to mention Itachi.
There’s a comfortable silence before Tamako says something else.
“Lord Third says I should train to become a jounin. Do you think I’ve got what it takes?” she asks him, smiling slightly.
Iruka brushes a hair from her face, “Of course you do. I believe in you, Tamako.”
He brings her in for another hug, holding her close as she continues to cry. He doesn’t know what to do that would make her happy, but he knows that he’s going to be here for her every step of the way. She needs guidance now more than ever.
Yumiko and Iruka sit together at the tea shop. It’s been a few days since they’ve spent time together, and even longer than that since they’d been able to hang out without Naruto tagging along. Although Iruka’s mind was set at ease about the rookies taking the exams, he’s still a little bitter about being told off by Kakashi at the meeting.
“That guy just has so much audacity,” Iruka complains. “Who does he think he is anyway?”
“I think you’re just a little sore about losing the argument,” Yumiko chuckles before taking a sip of her tea.
“It’s not that,” Iruka insists. “I just...he’s so arrogant.”
“You know he wouldn’t actually let them get hurt or killed.”
“I don’t know, Yumiko. You know what they used to call him-”
Yumiko kicks him underneath the table, “Don’t you dare.”
He furrows his brows, “Geez, what’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing, just forget it,” she rolls her eyes.
There’s some silence before Iruka decides to change the subject.
“Anyway, I hear someone got a little wild over the weekend,” Iruka teases her.
Yumiko’s cheeks turn bright red and her eyes widen, “What? I didn’t-”
He chuckles, “Hey, it’s good to hear you’re having fun.”
“The gossip in this place travels too fast,” she groans. “It was so embarrassing. I was a complete wreck and Kakashi had to see it and there’s no telling what I said.”
Iruka chokes on his tea,“K-Kakashi?”
Yumiko drops her face into her hands, shaking her head as she thinks everything over again. Things had become a bit more clear in the passing days, but not by much. She still hasn’t wrapped her head around Kakashi kissing her and what it means. His lack of communication since then only makes her wonder even more why he bothered in the first place. He could’ve just left her to Genma, who she trusted would’ve gotten her home safely.
“Yeah, I spent the night at his apartment. I think he slept on the couch and then-”
“Wait, wait, you think he slept on the couch? Yumiko, what?”
She groans, “Don’t interrupt, Iruka.”
“Okay, okay. Just start from the beginning.”
“Okay so I went out with Genma and Anko and Hayate. Genma was flirting with me, but whatever. He’s cute, right? And then I wanted to go home, I think. So he was walking me home and then I saw Kakashi, and then I remember him helping me.”
Iruka nods as he listens, “So, he was asleep on the couch when you woke up?”
“No, but there were blankets and stuff on the couch.”
“Mhm, so then what?”
She blushes again, looking down in her tea as she remembers Kakashi’s soft lips against hers. His hands on her waist drawing her in. The sweet smile on his face when they pulled away. He’d wanted to stay with her, but they both had obligations for the day.
“Yumiko, come back to me,” he waves his hand in front of her face. “What happened when you woke up?”
She shrugs, “We ate breakfast.”
“That’s it?”
“I mean, pretty much.”
“Did you see his face?” Iruka asks, curiosity shining in his eyes. Sometimes she can still see that mischievous kid in him, and it’s so endearing.
“Yeah, actually.”
“Is he ugly? He’s gotta be ugly, right?”
She smirks before opening her mouth to answer but instead she hears Naruto yelling for Iruka. She turns around to see Team 7 across the street, including Kakashi leaning against a post reading. Naruto is already sprinting across the road.
“Oh, tea sounds nice,” Sakura smiles. “You want to get some tea, Sasuke?”
Sasuke rolls his eyes but follows the other two anyway. Sakura tugs on Kakashi’s sleeve to get him to follow them. He lets Sakura lead him towards the group without ever looking up from his book. Sakura sits on one side of Yumiko while Sasuke sits across from her. Naruto slides into the seat on the other side of Iruka. Kakashi hesitates for a moment before sitting next to Yumiko.
“Oh, hi Kakashi,” Iruka says, that mischievous look in his eyes still as he looks between Kakashi and Yumiko.
“Do they serve ramen here?” Naruto asks, his stomach rumbling to emphasize his point.
“No, you moron,” Sakura groans.
Kakashi finally closes his book to watch the group with general disinterest.
“What did you do this weekend, Kakashi?” Iruka asks with a mischievous smirk.
Kakashi shrugs, “Not much.”
“Hm,” Iruka smiles. “Sounds relaxing.”
“Hey, Yumiko, you’re a chunin exam proctor right?” Naruto leans up on the table.
“Yeah.”
He leans forward so he’s staring her in the face, “You got any tips you can give us.”
Iruka grabs him by the back of the shirt and pulls Naruto to sit back down, “Yumiko isn’t going to help you cheat!”
“Yeah, Naruto! We have to be ready on our own,” Sakura scolds him.
Underneath the table, Yumiko feels soft fingertips soothing along her wrist. She looks down to see Kakashi pulling her hand towards him, then carefully he intertwines their fingers. His thumb rubs up and down her index finger softly. She soothes her thumb along his in response.
“I can’t help you, Naruto,” Yumiko says, finally realizing she needs to be present in the conversation.
“Yeah, she can’t even help her own sister,” Sasuke rolls his eyes.
Yumiko feels a pain in her chest in response to his words. She looks at him and sees nothing but anger when their eyes meet. Iruka opens his mouth to say something but then stops himself. The air in the tea shop grows tense as the two stare at each other. Kakashi squeezes her hand.
“You know, Sasuke, sometimes helping someone means letting them go even if you don’t want to. Even if it hurts.”
Something in his eyes changes as she speaks those words. Finally he looks away, still wearing a scowl.
“Okay, but you’re really not gonna tell me anything?” Naruto breaks the tension in a way only he can. Yumiko can’t help but chuckle at his insistence even despite the awkward interaction he’s just witnessed.
“Um, sure I can tell you something,” she smirks.
Naruto’s eyes light up, “Really?”
“Yumiko, you can’t-” Iruka begins, but is promptly cut off by Yumiko holding up her hand.
“I can tell you that the chunin exams are happening,” she smiles triumphantly as Naruto melts against his seat, a pout already forming on his face.
Sakura giggles beside her. Even Sasuke can’t help but smirk at Naruto breaking down on the other side of Iruka. Yumiko stands up, releasing Kakashi’s hand as she does so.
“I better get going,” she says.
“I should too, I’ve got a stack of papers to grade,” Iruka sighs.
“Hey, Sakura, wanna go get some ramen?” Naruto asks as Yumiko starts walking away.
She’s almost to her house when she feels someone brush against her arm causing her to jolt in response until she looks up to see Kakashi. He smiles at her, his eyes closing.
“Would you care to go for a walk?” he asks her.
“Hmm, where to?” She shoves her hands in her pocket as they walk down the street, the city gates coming into view.
He shrugs, “Just a little place I know that’s kind of quiet.”
“Are you flirting with me?” she smirks.
“Is it working?”
“Maybe.”
Once they’re out of the village both of them relax a bit. Yumiko let’s her hands fall freely at her side, and Kakashi eagerly takes one in his. She blushes despite still having questions about their relationship, if she dared to even classify it as such.
She knows without asking where he’s taking her. The same place they always seem to go. They’re sitting by the water before either of them bother to speak. When they do it’s at the same time, and the same question.
“Did I do something wrong?” they both ask, and then laugh.
“I suppose if we both have to ask we’ve both done something wrong,” she answers first.
“I know I should’ve talked to you sooner, but I wasn’t sure what to say,” Kakashi admits.
“I could’ve reached out too,” Yumiko admits sheepishly. She looks down at her hands folded in her lap, “I was just scared maybe you regretted kissing me.”
Kakashi’s eyes widened at her confession, “No, no. I just didn’t-” he trails off before picking back up again. “Yumi, I don’t know how these things work. I’ve never really had anything like this.”
“Like what, exactly?”
He sighs, “You know something intimate where I actually cared about the other person.”
She bites her lip as she lets his words sink in. He pulls his mask down so he can lean in and kiss her cheek. Her worried lips pull into a small smile as she leans into him. He cups her face in his hand to tilt her face towards him, a sweet smile on his lips when he leans in to kiss her. Yumiko sighs against him, her fingers tracing his jawline. He pulls away to look at her again.
“I’m sorry, Yumiko. I shouldn’t have let you feel like you’d done something wrong.”
She presses a kiss to the mole beneath his lip, then lets her lips continue trailing along his jaw. Kakashi’s hand rests on the back of her neck, closing his eyes so he can focus on the soft affection. One of Yumiko’s hands stretches out on his chest, and she can feel his heart pounding against her palm. She pulls away slowly, causing Kakashi to whine at the loss of contact.
“Are you okay?” she asks. “Your heart is pounding.”
“I’m good,” he leans forward to catch her lips in a kiss.
She hesitates for a moment before kissing him back. Her hands tangle in his soft hair, tugging lightly. Kakashi lets out a soft moan in response. His tongue presses into her mouth, eagerly tasting her and committing to memory the way she tastes like mint green tea. Strong hands on her hips draw her forward until she’s straddling his lap. She tugs gently on his hair again, causing his headband to fall down. Kakashi quickly takes it off to set to the side, then his hands set to work tugging her flak jacket off her shoulders, leaving her in her compression tank top. She nips at his bottom lip playfully before placing a gentle kiss on the same spot. She presses forward so their chests are against each other.
He can feel her taut muscle underneath his fingers as his hands lay on her waist, moving slowly down to her hips, then finally up her tank top. Only to groan when he feels mesh armor. The mesh sleeves are down her arm, so he knew it was there. His needy hands just wanted to feel her skin.
He presses a trail of kisses along her neck, tentatively kissing and nipping at the skin until he finds the place which makes a sweet moan escape her. Her hips roll against the growing bulge straining against his pants, warmth pooling in her core in response to the friction. She does it again, letting a satisfied smile tug at the corners of her mouth when Kakashi moans. She tugs on his hair so he’ll look up at her, and her eyes soak in the sight of his face.
His lips are plump and red from their kissing. Eyes glazed over with lust as he looked deeply into hers. Looking at her, Kakashi is greeted to a similar sight. Her parted lips are slick from his kiss and her cheeks flushed. However, deep in her eyes he sees uncertainty. Her thumb soothes along his cheekbone.
“Kakashi, I think I should tell you something in light of our current situation,” she says.
“You can tell me anything.”
She looks down, chewing on her already sensitive lips as she tries to formulate a sentence. It’s hard to think straight with his hands gripping her thighs and his cock straining against her warm core.
“Earlier you said you’d never been with anyone you cared about,” she begins cautiously watching his face to gauge his reaction. Kakashi simply nods in acknowledgement for her to continue. With a deep sigh she forces out the rest of the thought, “I’ve never been with anyone.”
Kakashi is quiet for a moment. Yumiko looks away from him afraid to see his reaction. His arms wrap around her waist to pull her into a warm embrace. Her head rests on top of his.
“Don’t worry about that Yumiko,” he says softly. “We can go at whatever pace you want.”
“You must really like me, huh?” she teases, she can feel the heat of his cheeks flushing against her chest. “When did you know you liked me?”
He sighs, “Stop being ridiculous.”
“Hm, was it when you saw me half naked at the inn? Or when I almost died by my own jutsu and you had to carry me home? Maybe when you found out I was a human experiment?”
Kakashi rolls them over so he’s on top of her, “Why do you ask such silly questions?”
She giggles, “Oh, I know, it was when Genma asked me out.”
His lips connect with her neck, gently nipping at the skin before sucking on the spot. His hand soothes up her abdomen.
“Did I guess right?” she smirks.
He lifts his head up with a sigh, “Did you ever stop to think I liked you during all those times, and possibly times before?”
“That’s the answer I wanted,” she smiles. Her hand tangles in his hair, pulling him close so she can kiss him.
“You know, you bragging about going out with Genma did bother me a little,” he says softly.
“I wasn’t bragging. I was just telling you.”
“It felt like bragging. And it made me kind of-”
“Jealous?”
“No, that came later,” Kakashi’s eyes show sadness she didn’t expect. “When I heard he was in the bar with you, and his hands were on you.”
“How did you-”
“Gossip travels fast around Konoha,” he sighs. “Too fast at times.”
“You’re still the one who took me home, and I’m here with you now,” she whispers as she guides one of his hands to her face. She places a soft kiss on his palm, “And your hands are on me.”
His thumb soothes across her bottom lip as he stares at her mouth. Kakashi is filled with a need he’s never felt before. Her eyes stare up at him filled to the brim with adoration. He tries to think of the last time someone looked at him that way, if they ever had. This is dangerous territory for him. His first impulse is to withdraw, yet he feels compelled to push forward.
His mouth crashes against hers, teeth scraping against her bottom lip as he does so. She whines and her hips raise against his. Kakashi pressed his own back down against her.
Her hands find the same dilemma as he found earlier when she pushes them underneath his shirt only to be met with a compression tank.
“Too many layers,” she whispers against his mouth.
He sits up on his knees to pull off his shirt followed by his compression tank. Her hands reach out to touch him as soon as the clothing is discarded, fingertips soothing along his abs and tracing the line of hair leading into his pants. Her palm ghosts along the crotch of his pants, feeling his cock against her hand. He shudders then smiles shyly. Carefully he circles his fingers around her wrist to pull her hand away.
“Not yet,” he whispers as his hands tug at her shirt.
She leans up so he can remove it, then her mesh armor. He tosses her clothes in the pile with his before letting his hands explore her. His fingers gently trace the lines of the scar on her chest, leading between her breasts where the center of the scar is. A reminder that no matter how much he cares about her, the recklessness of his past hurt her before.
Her hand soothes along his shoulder before cupping his cheek, pulling him into a soft kiss before he can let his thoughts get the better of him. Kakashi’s lips drag along her skin as he begins moving down her body. Yumiko gasps when he takes one of her nipples in his mouth. His tongue swirls around the pink bud as his hand teases the other.
“Kakashi,” she breathes, squeezing her thighs together as they become slick with arousal.
He switches to the other nipple, teasing it to hardness before his kisses trail lower. He sits up between her knees again, his fingers hooking in the hem of her pants.
“Is this okay?” he asks.
She nods while eagerly raising her hips to help him pull her pants off, followed quickly by her panties. She lays before him wearing nothing except the wrapping on her ankles. Her light skin is illuminated by the warm, golden sunlight. As she looks at him, her yellow eyes seem even more brilliant.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers as he lowers himself between her thighs.
He presses soft kisses along her inner thighs. She lets a soft moan fall from her lips, her eyes closing as lets herself sink into his touch. Kakashi’s thumb pressing against her chin catches her attention.
“Look at me, baby,” he whispers. “If you want me to stop, just tell me. Whatever I’m doing, I’ll stop.”
She nods, barely squeaking out, “Okay” before his tongue is licking a thick stripe up her slick. She gasps again and her hips buck at the touch.
“Sorry,” she whispers.
“Don’t be,” he smiles before sinking between her thighs again.
His tongue dips between her folds, collecting her sweet arousal on his tongue. Kakashi’s eyes flutter closed as he begins lapping at her entrance. The soft, desperate sounds she makes beneath him send his mind into pure bliss. He twirls his tongue around her clit, she shudders beneath him and tugs on his hair. He continues the motion and sinks a finger into her slick entrance.
Yumiko arches her back, feeling completely lost in the pleasure steadily building inside her. She’s never felt anything like this. It’s intoxicating.
Kakashi sinks a second finger into her, curling them to hit just the right spot against her walls. He fucks her on his fingers as his tongue continues working her clit eagerly. She wiggles slightly beneath him causing Kakashi to open his original eye to make sure she’s okay. He’s greeted to the sight of her chest rising and falling rapidly, and her face twisted in pleasure. He quickly opens his sharingan eye to commit this moment to memory.
Her abdomen and thighs tighten as she quickly approaches her peak. She shakes and breathes out his name over and over as he guides her through wave after wave of pleasure. He laps at her pussy, taking her juices until she’s tugging gently on his hair, feeling overstimulated from her first orgasm.
He moves back up her body, kissing her hungrily. Yumiko moans as she tastes herself on his lips, a fresh wave of arousal washing through her core. Her hands reach down to palm him through his pants, Kakashi’s hips thrusting into the touch desperately.
“Fuck, Yumi,” he groans. “I want you so bad.”
“Please,” she whines.
“Are you sure, baby?”
She breathes in deeply, “Yes, yes. Please.”
He makes quick work of discarding his pants before returning to her. She bites her lip when she gets her first look at his cock. Her mouth salivates as she watches a bead of precum form at the head. She’s filled with wanting.
Kakashi slides the head of his cock between her folds, easing it up and down her slit to coat himself in her arousal. He sinks into her gently, pressing a kiss on her lips to catch the soft whine coming from her. Already he feels dizzy from how wet and tight she is around him. He wants to sink into her fully, but he keeps in mind this is her first time.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yes,” she breathes. “Don’t stop.”
He pushes the rest of his length inside of her. Despite wanting to thrust so badly, Kakashi keeps still to allow her to get used to being stretched out around him. Her walls pulse and flutter against his cock.
He waits a moment before pulling out and then slowly pushing himself into her again. She’s clinging onto him with her arms around his back, her face pressed into his shoulder. He does it again, this time her hips raise to meet him. Her legs hook around his waist, giving him the angle to push even deeper into her.
“Does it feel good, sweetheart?” he asks softly.
She nods, her face still hidden against him. He gently moves her to look at him, becoming alarmed to see tears stinging her eyes.
“Yumi, what is it? Should I stop?” his eyebrows knit together as he prepares to pull out of her. Her hands catch his hips to stop him, guiding his hips forward again.
“Please don’t stop,” she whines. “Please, it feels good.”
He peppers soft kisses on her face and wipes away the tears before he starts thrusting slowly. He picks up his pace a bit before letting his hand fall between them to rub her clit. Her hips begin moving along with his, meeting his thrusts perfectly. She’s tight and warm around him, and her soft moans only edge him closer.
“You feel so good,” he mutters. “I’m not gonna last long.”
“It’s okay,” she whispers.
The intoxicating heat builds in her core as he continues fucking her and rubbing her clit. His head moves to her breasts, pressing kisses on the soft swell before taking one of her nipples in his mouth again. Her thighs tighten around him, and her walls begin pulsing around him. He knows she is close again even before she tells him. He begins thrusting into her faster, making sure to do so at an angle to hit her g-spot.
Her fingers dig into the muscle of his back as she spills over the edge again. Wave after wave of pleasure washing over her as he continues thrusting, his movements becoming more erratic and sloppy as he nears his own climax. He wants to last longer, but the pulsing of her walls around him has his mind in a daze. Before he even has time to think about it he’s at the point of no return.
“Fuck, Yumiko,” he grunts as he paints her walls white with his warm cum. He shudders as he continues thrusting until every drop is spilled into her.
Kakashi presses his forehead to hers as he tries to catch his breath. Her hand soothes down his back as she slowly comes back down to earth. Kakashi finally pulls out of her, he sits up between her legs. His eyes study her face for any sign of regret, only to be greeted by a soft smile on her flushed face, and those golden eyes blown wide with love. He smiles too. His eyes trail down her body until he stops at her pussy leaking with his cum. Something in him stirs to attention, but considering it’s already dark out he knows they need to head back to the village.
He reaches for their clothes. She sits up slowly, an aching presenting itself in her core. She stands up to pull her clothes back on as Kakashi does the same. He secures his mask before they head back towards the village.
Yumiko’s cheeks are flushed as they walk. She feels like every person they pass knows what they just did. When Kakashi’s hand takes hers, she doesn’t care anymore.
Once at her house, neither of them know what to do. Kakashi shifts awkwardly, but Yumiko looks up at him in a pleading way.
“Will you stay with me tonight?” she asks.
“Of course,” he answers softly.
He takes off his sandals at the door before following her inside. With their hands still intertwined she leads him back to her bedroom. She removes her kunai pouch from her thigh, setting it on her desk before turning to him.
“I’m gonna go take a shower, and get cleaned up,” she blushes. “You can join me, if you want?”
Kakashi nods as he removes his own kunai pouch and sets it aside. He follows her to the bathroom. She starts the shower before they both begin pulling off their clothes. She props her leg up on the sink to remove the wrappings around her ankles and knees.
Underneath the warm water they study each other fully in a way they hadn’t gotten to before. Yumiko’s eyes trail up and down him taking in the battle scars on his skin, the ANBU tattoo on his shoulder, and his long lean muscles. After a few moments she just presses herself against him, her arms wrapping around his waist as she leans her forehead against his chest.
He chuckles, “Are you okay?”
“Mhm,” she hums. “I just really think you’re perfect.”
Kakashi melts at her words, he presses a kiss on top of her wet forehead. After a few moments they pull away to help each other scrub down, then they step out of the shower together. Yumiko dries off and slips on her robe. Kakashi ties a towel around his waist.
As soon as they get in the bedroom she pulls on an oversized shirt and slips into bed. Her muscles ache. Kakashi slips in beside her, pulling her warm body against him. Yumiko can’t help but giggle as he keeps moving closer and closer until her leg is hooked around his, and every inch possible is pressed against each other. Kakashi feels like he can’t keep her close enough. His arms engulf her frame as he presses kisses along the top of her forehead, then brings her hand to his mouth to kiss each fingertip before kissing the palm of her hand. Then pressing another kiss to the bottom of her wrist against her pulse.
He looks into her eyes, heart swelling with affection. Sweet declarations sit on the tip of his tongue, but he can’t quite bring himself to say it yet. He opts to communicate his feelings in the only way Kakashi really knows how.
“I swear, I will never let anything happen to you. I won’t let you get hurt.”
Summary: Itachi and Kisame trail behind Tamako for a while, and when they finally meet in the forest, Itachi reveals a shocking truth.
Warnings: Canon typical violence, angst
Masterlist
The days go by slowly as Itachi and Kisame cover lots of ground. It doesn’t take long for either of them to get some information on Tamako’s location. Though Itachi is prepared to lie to keep her away, his heart breaks. He hates the fact that he lives this life. It’s tearing him apart as he decides that he can’t bring himself to recruit her. It would be putting her in harm’s way, and that’s not at all what Itachi wants for Tamako. He’s starting to wish he hadn’t visited her the other night.
“So, remind me what we’re doing again?” Kisame asks after a prolonged silence.
Itachi looks over to him, “We’re making sure that we don’t have any unnecessary trouble with a shinobi from Konoha. We can’t take any chances, and Madara suspects her to be a spy.”
Kisame is a little confused. After all, didn’t Itachi say this was his lover? How could he talk about her in such a way that makes her seem like she’s nothing to him? Also, doesn’t that mean that Madara has been spying on the girl as well? Kisame sighs as he continues walking. He can feel the pain and suffering radiating from Itachi, but he decides it’s probably best if he doesn’t ask any more questions.
They arrive at a small village not far from their hideout, and Itachi tells Kisame to get ready to stay for the night. Kisame agrees, and so they make their way into the village. It’s difficult to hide from the public, considering they are from the Akatsuki, but they need a place to stay for the night. Most of the locals are hiding from them, but a few people don’t seem to care too much about the pair strolling into the village.
At the inn, Itachi does all the talking to the receptionist. Kisame is always in awe at how Itachi can just talk his way through almost anything, and a lot of the time he doesn’t need to use his genjutsu. Kisame would not be able to do anything like that, considering his own appearance. He’s a monster to so many people.
In their room, Itachi sits down in front of the table and pulls out a map. Kisame figures it must have the location of this girl marked down in it, but he doesn’t say anything for a moment.
“Itachi,” he starts. “Are you sure this is something you want to do?”
“It’s not like we have any choice. I can’t allow someone like that to spy on us. She could be a great risk to us.” Itachi says in a voice void of emotion.
“As true as this might be, I know that you’ve got your own plans. You aren’t like some of these other guys, Itachi.” Kisame is trying his best to comfort Itachi, but he’s worried it might push him away.
“Please, Kisame. I need you to support me on this mission. If our leader needs us to get rid of someone, then we must use whatever means possible.” Itachi can feel his stomach drop as he explains this.
Kisame stares at him for a moment, “You don’t mean to kill her, do you?”
“Any means necessary. I’ll do whatever I can to keep her away.”
Itachi spends another night in the ANBU control room, watching the members of his family in the Uchiha compound. While it’s not exactly his preferred thing to do, he understands how important it is to keep an eye on them.
He thinks of how riled up his father is, but he can also see the pain and hurt in his eyes. Fugaku hasn’t been himself in the last few weeks, and this definitely has to do with the fact that Itachi has been acting strangely as well. Both men are at odds with each other, and it has been worrying his mother and his little brother, Sasuke.
Itachi takes a short break from watching the cameras, and he gets up from the chair. He thinks about how Kakashi had been so willing to take over this shift, but Itachi denied it. It wasn’t worth having Kakashi senpai worry about him, and of course, Itachi needs to keep an eye on his father and some of the other Uchiha men.
Sighing, he walks over to the screen and watches how a few people walk towards their homes. It’s tough sometimes to think how the Uchiha feel so betrayed and unloved. It wasn’t their fault that they were so passionate. They had so many feelings for their loved ones. Having the whole village tucking you away because they don’t trust you, it’s just something that hurts you deeply.
Itachi thinks about how Tamako and Yumiko have to endure similar treatment. Not only does the village not trust them, but their own clan disowns them for using the kekkei genkai that was granted to their clan. Itachi worries about Tamako a lot lately. He’s been absent from her life recently when he’s always been there with her. They grew up together, and Itachi worries that whatever is going to happen next within the Uchiha clan, might bring them further apart.
“I’ll have to try and explain everything to her. I don’t want her to get hurt, but I don’t want her to get involved with this.” Itachi thinks to himself.
He sits on the chair once again, looking at the different screens. It feels a little invasive to watch his family, but he knows that it won’t take much to get all of them on board with the coup d’etat. It hurts him to think that they would be so willing to choose violence so quickly.
He lets his mind wander back to Tamako as a way of distracting himself from the clan’s drama. Itachi is starting to think that he’s completely smitten by her. When they were children, he spent so much time comforting her and trying to make her into a stronger kunoichi. She was such a sad girl, but he never judged her for it. All he could do was be patient and make her know how he’s always going to be there for her.
And yet, now he might not have that choice. His heart is torn in two as his thoughts revert back to the coup d’etat. He’s not even really sure who he can trust any longer. He just wishes that things could go back to normal so that he can grow up comfortably in Konoha.
The night passes slowly, and Itachi grows more and more tired as the hours tick by. Though he does not fall asleep on the job. There’s nothing worse than failing to complete a mission, even one as tedious as this. He continues to watch the screens, even though most of the Uchiha are all tucked in their beds fast asleep. He wonders if Tamako is sleeping right now, or is she awake worrying about him.
He figures he’ll have to visit her very soon before she comes looking for him. It wouldn’t be very good if she found out some of the things he has to do for the ANBU, and if she wanted to join, it would be disastrous. It’s not like Hiruzen or Danzo would allow her to join, as she is much too weak and kindhearted to even be considered, but her kekkei genkai might make Danzo a little too interested in her.
Itachi isn’t very sure if he can trust Lord Third’s assistant, but he knows he can’t make too much of a fuss. He needs to keep Konoha peaceful, and try to devise a plan to make sure that the Uchiha don’t revolt. Tensions are high, but if Itachi can do anything to make everyone get along, he’ll do it.
Besides, he has Sasuke to think about. He can’t bring himself to harm his little brother, or to even get him into any kind of danger. Things are risky as it is, but Sasuke is his number one priority.
As the days go by, Itachi and Kisame reach closer and closer to Tamako’s location. Itachi has been tracking her for a little while now, and he’s planning to attack her when she’s alone preferably. Kisame hasn’t really got any idea how to help, but he knows when the time comes, he’ll be right next to Itachi and he’ll support him as best as he can.
It’s nighttime and they both have decided to camp out in the forest near the town where Tamako is. There’s also the threat of Tsunade and Shizune, but Itachi won’t hurt them. He’s going to have to place them under genjutsu to be able to really get Tamako alone.
“You never really explained your relationship with this girl,” Kisame pipes up.
Itachi sighs, “Do I really have to? I don’t want to relive happy moments only to have to repress them once more.”
Kisame shrugs, “I’m only curious. Have you two...y’know?”
Itachi blushes. He crosses his arm as he figures it’s probably not best to talk to Kisame about his sex life. It was just the one time, and it was only because he was feeling very vulnerable that night. He needed to have that experience with her. Itachi knew it was only a matter of time before he had to really keep her away.
“Oh! So you have! How was it? Was it your first time? When was this?” Kisame spits out all these questions while Itachi groans slightly.
“Just drop the matter, Kisame. It’s not really important right now.” Kisame takes the hint, but he’s very curious regardless. He knows he’ll ask later on, but he also knows this might infuriate Itachi.
Just as the sun is about to set, Itachi leads Kisame towards the town. He spots Tamako, Tsunade and Shizune a little ways away, and it seems like the trio is headed off to the next town. Itachi gives Kisame the signal, which makes the larger of the two men rush out towards the forest. Itachi trails behind the women slowly, making sure they fall right into his trap.
They all make their way into the forest, and with the women oblivious to what’s going on, Itachi is sure that his plan will work. There are no more risks once they get out of the town limits. Itachi just hopes that Kisame will be in place perfectly for it to all work out.
As soon as Tsunade takes one step onto one of the tree branches, Kisame pops out and stops her. Tsunade groans as she notices the large man in front of her, while Shizune and Tamako stop in their tracks. Shizune looks at Kisame with a little apprehension, but she tries to make herself seem unafraid. Tamako, on the other hand, is a little more nervous than the other two.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Kisame jokes slightly, but he doesn’t move from his spot.
“C’mon, we’re just trying to get on our way.” Tsunade says, her body language not changing whatsoever. Her stance says “let me through or I’ll make you move”.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Kisame threatens, and this makes Tamako a little more worried. She notices the red clouds on his robe, and she’s sure she’s seen it before. It’s the Akatsuki logo.
“Listen, we’re going to get through here and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Tsunade says in an intimidating tone. Kisame is unphased and doesn’t move. Tsunade moves one more step to be almost chest to chest with Kisame when Itachi comes out from his hiding place.
“Tsunade, stop.” Shizune says as Itachi shows up. Tamako’s heart starts pounding in her chest. She’s so confused as to what’s going on, and she’s a little afraid that it’s not going to end well.
Tsunade backs off a little, and Kisame smiles at them all with his sharp teeth. Tamako is worried now. This isn’t supposed to happen. None of this is supposed to happen at all. Itachi wouldn’t hurt her, would he?
“Tamako Shōrihibana,” Itachi says in a voice that is unlike his own. It’s a little more threatening.
Tamako steps forward, not really sure how to react to any of this. Itachi looks like he’s ready to attack her, but she knows he’d never hurt her. He loves her and cares about her so much. So why does she feel so threatened all of a sudden?
“This is the truth. I have never loved you, and I will never love you.” Itachi says, his own heart beating fiercely in his chest as he lies to Tamako. “You will no longer be following me, and if you continue to persist, I will have to take other measures to get rid of you.”
Tamako’s heart stops in her chest. Her ears are ringing as she listens to what Itachi is saying. Kisame keeps smiling with his pointy teeth, and Tsunade and Shizune seem like they are completely frozen and won’t react to any of this. Tamako realizes that they both have been put under Itachi’s genjutsu.
“Itachi, what are you saying?” Tamako pleads as she walks up to him, but he pushes her roughly. Tamako falls down, and she looks up at Itachi with tears in her eyes.
“I told you, you won’t be following me any longer. You’ve done enough harm, and you must return to Konoha. You are not wanted by me.” Itachi is struggling to tell her, but he doesn’t falter.
Kisame walks over to the young woman and he unsheaths his large sword. It seems to be alive and reacting, but also made of some sort of shark skin. If Tamako weren’t in this risky situation, she would laugh at how suited this sword is for him.
“Don’t you come followin’ us, darling. It’s just not worth the risk, ya know?” Kisame says, his tone a little mocking but Tamako can hear the intimidation in there as well.
“Itachi, please...you don’t mean any of this.” Tamako is crying now, pleading with her lover. Itachi wants to comfort her, but he can’t keep leading her on like this.
Kisame points the large sword towards her, “You heard him. Now leave and return to Konoha before either one of us does something worse to you than placing your company under genjutsu.”
Tamako shakes her head as she begins sobbing. Itachi walks over to her, and for the first time in her life, Tamako is frightened by Itachi’s presence. She’s so scared that he’s going to hurt her or do something even worse. This might be the final moments of her life, and Itachi might end it.
But rather, he places her under a genjutsu as well. Itachi can’t bear to see her so frightened like this. He wants to comfort her and kiss her, but he needs to cut ties with her. Tamako needs to live a normal life without him, and there was no other way to keep her from Madara’s interest than to threaten her.
Tamako falls back on the ground, deep within the genjutsu...
It’s the night of the Uchiha massacre, yet Danzo and the rest of his Foundation team are wreaking havoc in the streets of the Uchiha compound. Tamako is with Itachi, gripping his hand as he finds a careful place for them to hide. He’s worried that Danzo won’t care that Tamako isn’t an Uchiha and he’ll murder her along with the rest of his clan.
“Be quiet, my love. I need you to stay strong,” Itachi places a kiss on her temple as he whispers this to her.
Tamako is struggling to keep her sobs under control, and she’s frightened that this might be the last night of her life. She’ll die here with Itachi, at only thirteen years old. There was supposed to be so much more to their life than this. If only Konoha hadn’t antagonized the Uchiha, maybe everything would be normal and everyone could live together.
“Tamako, please be quiet. We can’t have them find us.” Itachi whispers, holding onto Tamako. She’s shaking like a leaf.
“Itachi I love you, I don’t want to die…” Tamako confesses to him, and he just kisses her softly.
“I love you too, sweetheart. We won’t die. We’ll be okay.”
Just then, one of Danzo’s men comes rushing towards their hideout. Tamako lets out a scared squeal, which alerts the man to their location. Itachi gets up and places Tamako behind him to defend and protect her.
“This is the end, Uchiha. You are no longer wanted here.”
Itachi steps forward, and he starts to weave signs for his fire jutsu. Tamako trembles and clenches her eyes shut, worried she’ll see something horrifying. When she doesn’t feel the heat from the fire jutsu, she opens her eyes and sees that the man has stabbed Itachi.
“Itachi!” She struggles to hold onto him as the man places his sword to her neck.
“You’re not wanted either, Shōrihibana. Prepare to die!”
When Tamako comes to, she feels like she can’t breathe properly. She’s slung over Tsunade’s shoulder as they walk towards the next village. Shizune notices that Tamako is awake.
“Lady Tsunade, Tamako is awake now.” Shizune mentions this, and Tsunade slows down to a stop.
Tsunade lets Tamako back down on her feet gently, and she hugs the young woman to her chest. Tamako breaks down in harsh sobs as she realizes what’s just happened.
“It’s okay, Tamako. Everything will be okay…” Tsunade says to comfort her, but she knows it won’t be okay.
Nothing will be okay for some time. Things are different now. Tamako was no longer safe with them on the road, and Tsunade knew that the young woman should head back to Konoha to be with her sister.
“Tamako, you need to return to Konoha. You’ll be safer there, and Yumiko can watch over you properly.” Tsunade says finally. Tamako doesn’t reply, instead she just holds onto Tsunade like her life depends on it.
Never Far Away; Chapter 20: Please Let Me Get What I Want
Word Count: 4,102
Summary: Yumiko reluctantly becomes a chunin exam proctor, but finds herself easily making friends. When a night out goes a bit sideways, Kakashi comes to the rescue.
Warnings: drinking, angst
Yumiko is still a little unsure about her new role as a chunin exam proctor as she makes her way to the office. When she took the chunin exams, she was 11 years old. It was just held within the village between other students. Although the villages have participated in sharing hosting responsibilities for the chunin exams, Yumiko has always felt weary of the practice. Some villages might find the opportunity to snoop around too irresistible. She doesn’t share Hiruzen’s penchant for optimism when it comes to peace.
Other jounin are gathered in the meeting room, sitting cross legged as they wait for Hiruzen to begin the meeting. She realizes the ones sitting in front of the hokage’s desk are the ones who have teams that could participate. She spots spiky Kakashi’s silver hair in the front. She takes a seat towards the back, content to watch the scene unfold. She’s spent quite a bit of time watching the teams train and she knows some of them are perfectly ready. Others not so much.
“Hey, you’re a proctor too?” someone beside her says. It takes a moment for her to register that the question was meant for her. She feels someone’s eyes on her, and she turns to see Genma.
“Oh, yeah,” she says quietly.
“I’m surprised you don’t have a team,” he comments.
She shrugs, “Not this year.”
She decides that taking on another genin team next year might be worth it just to get people off her back about her lack of team.
“You know sometimes proctoring this thing can be a real drag, but we try to make the best of it.”
She smiles, “I suppose that’s all you can do.”
He leans over to say something else, but Hiruzen starts speaking before he can. Hiruzen begins laying out the plans for the exams. He introduces the team leaders to the proctors of the exam, Yumiko wants to die when he says her name and the whole room turns to look at her as he introduces her.
“Kakashi, let’s start with you,” Hiruzen says. “Is your team ready to take the Chunin exams?”
“I lead squad 7” Kakashi begins. “Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno. I, Kakashi Hatake, recommend all three of these Genin for the Chunin selection exams.”
Yumiko sees Iruka gasp at Kakashi volunteering his team for the exams. She hopes he won’t do anything rash. He loves Naruto, but it’s more than that. As their former teacher he feels protective over all the students. Still she’s equally surprised to hear Kakashi volunteer his squad for participation. From what she could tell the only one who had much of a chance at this point was Sasuke. She was certain Sakura had strength inside of her, but she’d yet to unleash it. Naruto too held potential, but she can’t say it’s been harnessed yet.
“Isn’t that Naruto kid on his team?” Genma whispers to her. “No way that kid is ready for the chunin exams, he barely made it out of the academy.”
Yumiko shrugs but her eyes stay locked to the front as she listens to the rest of the Jounin leaders speak. Genma lets out a frustrated groan. ‘Kurenai and Asuma volunteer their teams as well. She’s not sure about Kurenai’s team. The Hyuga girl had potential, but her uncertainty seemed to hold her back in training. Asuma on the other hand had a very interesting team.
She groans when Iruka steps forward, interrupting the meeting to voice his concerns. The present proctors groan at the whole thing now taking longer than it would have without Iruka’s interruption. She wants to step forward and pull him away from the conversation and remind him of his place. Her protectiveness towards her best friend coming to the surface. Still, she stays locked in place, not wanting to cause a more dramatic scene.
“I was six years younger than Naruto when I was promoted to chunin,” Kakashi reminds Iruka.
“Naruto is nothing like you,” Iruka declares.
There’s a hush over the room. Yumiko rubs the bridge of her nose as she thinks about the implications of Iruka’s words. His insinuations are lost on nobody, but Kakashi seems unphased.
“They’re always complaining about not being challenged enough. Perhaps wiping out in the exams will teach them a lesson. A little pain is good,” he explains. She’s not surprised by his nonchalant attitude about the whole ordeal, but Iruka is only angered further.
Kurenai attempts to step in, for which Yumiko is thankful. It doesn’t stop Kakashi. He has a point he wants to make, although she knows it’s falling somewhat on deaf ears with Iruka.
Hiruzen watches the scene unfold with a stoic gaze. Finally he silences Iruka and announces he’s made a decision. He announces the preliminary exams.
When all was settled, Hiruzen dismisses the jounin leaders and asks for the proctors to stay. Ibiki, Anko, and Hayate move to the front so they can lay out their plans for the three stages of the chunin exams.
Ibiki plans to proctor a written exam. It will be designed to encourage the students to cheat. It’s a clever way to weed out those who can’t hold together under pressure, and those who could successfully use undetected means to gather information.
Anko would proctor a stage in the Forest of Death which would have the students collecting scrolls while trying to maneuver the forest. They’d have to make it to the building in the middle of the forest in time with their proper scrolls.
Then finally, Hayate would proctor one-on-one combat matches. The finals would be the main attraction of the chunin exams. The kage of other villages as well as villagers would be encouraged to attend. It gives everyone a chance to see what the other villages are capable of.
Yumiko would help proctor and referee each of these stages, along with others. It feels like a lot of work. In order to do the job properly she anticipates needing to know each stage like the back of her hand.
Once they’re all dismissed, everyone files out of the room. Genma is close behind her as she walks out of the hokage tower and onto the street.
“Hey, wait up,” he jogs to catch up to her. She slows her gait enough for him to catch up.
“What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you might want to come get some drinks tonight? Me and a couple other proctors are gonna go out.”
She sighs as she thinks a bit more about it. Going out might be nice for a change.
“Um, maybe. That sounds nice,” she smiles.
“Oh come on, don’t think too much,” he smirks. “It’ll be fun.”
She laughs, “Okay fine. Fine. I’ll go.”
He beams, “Excellent! Do you want to meet us there?”
She nods, “That’d be good.”
He tells her where to meet them and approximately what time everyone else would arrive. He’s still smiling brightly when he turns on his heels to walk away. Meanwhile, Yumiko heads towards the market to get some groceries. It's been a while since she actually bought anything. Most nights she goes out to dinner with Iruka and Naruto, or she just fixes something quick. She decides it might be nice to have things laying around to actually cook.
She struggles with the bags as she makes her way towards her house. Somehow her relatively short list grew exponentially as she’d walked through the market. Now she finds herself struggling to balance all three bags. One of them begins slipping out of her grip. She tries to catch it only to find another one begins slipping as well.
She feels helpless as she resigns herself to watching the groceries tumble out of her grip. Suddenly Kakashi appears in a flash, catching the bag before it falls to the ground. He collects the few spilled groceries off the ground to place them back in the bag.
“Need some help?” he asks with a small chuckle.
Yumiko sighs, “Maybe a little.”
Holding the bag with one arm, he stands up. He shoves his free hand into his pocket as they walk down the street together.
“So, chunin exam proctor,” he says as they. “How’d you get roped into that?”
“I mean, it’s not like I had much of a choice,” she says with a smirk.
They arrive at her house a few minutes later. Kakashi takes one of the bags from her so she can open the door. She slips her sandals off before stepping inside.
“You can just set the groceries on the table,” she says absentmindedly.
Kakashi takes his sandals off to come inside, and sets the groceries down. He watches her as she begins moving around the kitchen to put things up. Yumiko doesn’t even stop to think about this being the first time Kakashi has ever been in her house, and that it might be awkward for him. Her whole life people have moved through the house freely. Akina, Ezume, Itachi, Sasuke, and Iruka all were in and out of the house as if it were their own.
“Sorry, do you want some tea or something?” she asks him, pausing to look at him.
Kakashi shrugs, “No thank you. Can I help you put things away?”
“Hm, no. I’ve got it. But you’re welcome to stay if you want. I’ve got to go somewhere later but-”
“Oh, hot date?” he pries, cringing internally as he realizes how obvious it was.
“Nope,” she shrugs. “Just some of the proctors are getting together for drinks and stuff.”
Kakashi cocks an eyebrow as he leans against the counter, “Does the person who invited you know it’s not a date?”
She laughs, “Nosy much?”
“Just naturally curious.”
“You sound jealous,” she teases.
Kakashi blushes but doesn’t say anything. After a few moments of watching her continue putting things away, he stands up straight.
“I should get going,” he says. “Gotta go talk to the kids about the exams.”
“Have fun with that,” she smirks thinking about how vastly different each one’s reactions will be. Iruka’s words still play in her head, “You know, maybe Iruka had a point. They’re still inexperienced.”
“We’ll see,” he says before going out the door.
Yumiko isn’t one for drinking. The interest has always been there, but she always found herself too busy to partake in more than just a cup of sake or the occasional glass of wine. Yet she finds herself giggling as she takes drink after drink from Genma.
She sits between him and Anko. Her and Anko occasionally share stories of their time on missions. She finds herself telling stories with ease, and she beams as she manages to elicit some laughs from the others. Every so often she feels Genma’s hand on her lower back. At first she shakes him off, but as her body begins feeling warmer from the alcohol she finds herself also warming up to the touch. She’s not used to getting much attention from guys, and she can’t help but eat it up a bit. She finds herself leaning a bit closer to him.
He leaves to get another round of drinks, leaving her at the table with Anko and Hayate. She looks around the bar for more familiar faces.
Asuma and Kurenai sit together at the bar. He has a cigarette lit even though the bartender has asked him more than once not to smoke inside. Kurenai’s hand rests on his thigh. The way they walk to each other and touch each other so soft. They seem so comfortable. Yumiko feels a longing in her chest for that level of intimacy.
Genma returns with another round of drinks, setting hers in front of her before passing everyone else their drinks. When he sits down beside her, he wraps his arm around her shoulders. Yumiko feels empty. The attention which had earlier felt so nice, doesn’t seem to mean anything now that the longing has settled in. Genma doesn’t know her.
He feels emboldened by her not shrugging off his previous attempts. This also heightens the sting when she makes it a point to turn towards Anko, causing his arm to slide down her back. He’s confused by the sudden cold shoulder, but keeps a smile on his face anyway.
“So, is the Forest of Death really as dangerous as it sounds?” she asks Anko in an attempt to distract herself.
“Hm, it will be when I’m done with it,” Anko laughs.
Everyone else at the table laughs too. Yumiko leans back in her seat, taking a sip from her drink. The air in the bar feels a bit colder to her. Goosebumps rise on her arms. She finishes her drink in hopes it will warm her up. Her vision starts going a little blurry. She wants to go home and curl up in her bed. Yet she also doesn’t want to be the death of the party as everyone else is still laughing it up.
Her eyes catch Kurenai and Asuma again. When Kurenai is sure nobody is looking, she leans over to give him a quick kiss.
Yumiko feels her heart pounding in her chest. She turns to Genma. All fear of being the death of the party quickly leaves her. This is not a good time anymore. Her mind is just reeling with thoughts so quickly she can’t comprehend them all.
“I think I want to go home now,” she says quietly.
“Okay, I’ll walk you,” he smiles.
She nods slowly. It’s not until she stands up that she realizes how much the alcohol affected her. Everything gets a little more fuzzy, and when she tries to take a step she feels dizzy. She grabs onto Genma’s arm as he leads her out of the bar.
The cool night air is a relief to her. She takes a deep breath to try to steady herself, and she does find that being outside in the fresh air feels better. Her thoughts slow down a bit as he begins leading her down the street. She’s more or less leaning on him as they walk.
“You know, you’re still cute even looking all messy like this,” he smirks.
“What? I don’t look messy,” she rolls her eyes. “And I’m not cute.”
He smirks, “Hm, you look a little messy.”
She leans her head on his shoulder as they continue walking, “Don’t flirt with me.”
“You’re the one who asked me to walk you home,” he teases.
“Nope, you offered.”
“Oh,” he sighs. “You’re right.”
They continue walking together, Yumiko’s steps growing slower and less controlled. She feels like her body is getting heavier the more she tries to walk. Something in her brightens when she sees the street lights illuminate Kakashi walking on the other side of the street ahead of them.
“Kakashi!” she calls out excitedly. She sways a bit when she leans off of Genma, who lets out an annoyed groan. “Kakashi! My friend!”
She starts stumbling across the street without bothering to look first. Genma tries to stop her, but Kakashi gets to her first. He catches her just as she trips, barely stopping her before she hits the ground.
“Hey you caught me like my groceries!” she beams. “You’re so strong.”
He helps her back onto her feet, “Yumiko, are you...Drunk?”
“Huh? No!” she giggles. “Maybe a little.”
She leans into him, her head resting on his chest just under his collarbone. One of Kakashi’s hands braces against her back while the other rests on her shoulder.
“It’s alright,” Kakashi sighs. “She needs to get home.”
“Take me home,” Yumiko looks up into Kakashi’s eyes. Her eyes are blown wide as she looks at him, a quiet desperation painted in her golden eyes. Kakashi can’t find the will to say no even if he would have wanted to.
“I suppose I’ll take over from here,” Kakashi says to Genma.
“I mean, I got it. I can take her,” Genma insists.
Kakashi sighs, “It’s fine. I got her.”
Genma leaves, feeling a bit defeated. Kakashi tries to help her walk down the street, but within just a few steps Yumiko is whining about being sleepy.
“I don’t wanna walk anymore,” she whines.
“Your house is still a bit away, we gotta make it.”
“No,” she whines, slowly sinking on her knees towards the ground. Kakashi lifts her up, hooking his arm under her knees so he’s carrying her.
“I’m sleepy,” she whines. “I don’t wanna be alone.”
Kakashi sighs, “Where do you wanna go?”
“To sleep.”
He’s hesitant about everything happening. He knows she shouldn’t be alone in her condition, and having to carry her all the way back to her house would be a lot of effort. So, he settles on carrying her to his apartment. The whole time she’s mumbling to herself, but Kakashi can’t quite decipher what she’s trying to say.
He struggles getting her up the stairs before setting her down long enough to open his front door before helping to lead her inside. The apartment is tidy, but sparsely decorated except for a few pictures. Her curiosity is piqued by them, but Kakashi leads her past them to set her on the bed. As soon as he sets her down, she falls back against the covers.
“Your bed smells nice,” she says.
Kakashi laughs, “Thanks, I guess.”
He pulls her shoes off and sets them to the side. He moves her legs to be on the bed as well. She rolls on her side, burying her face into the pillow.
“You must think I’m so dumb.”
Kakashi chuckles, “Nope.”
She tilts her head up to look at him, “Really?”
“Really,” he smiles.
She watches him as he goes to the sink to get her a glass of water. He sets it on the nightstand. Her hand reaches out to grab his arm, but instead she just grasps to the sleeve of his shirt.
“You’re cute,” she says quietly.
“And how would you know?”
“I just know,” she smiles. “Girls know.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” he turns the lamp beside the bed off. “Do you need anything else?”
“Nope,” she sighs. She buries her head against the pillow but quickly turns to look at him again. “I used to have a crush on you.”
“Used to?” Kakashi tilts his head to the side.
She sighs, “Grown ups don’t have crushes, Kakashi. Crushes are for babies.”
“What do adults have?”
“I don’t know. I’ll tell you tomorrow,” she giggles before closing her eyes.
Kakashi wants to ask more questions, but she’s fallen asleep before anything comes to mind. He looks her over all curled up on his bed, sleeping peacefully. The buns on the back of her head have loosened and become messy. He gently loosens them so her purple hair falls freely around her face.
He shakes his head, “What have I done?”
He moves across the room to lay down on the sofa. In the dim lighting from the small lap on the table, he reads until he falls asleep too.
The next morning, Yumiko wakes up with a start. She sits up on the bed, rubbing her head as she does so. Through blurred vision she tries to take in the room around her. She blinks a few times to clear her eyes. Kakashi comes out of the bathroom freshly showered. He’s dressed already, wearing his sweatshirt and pants. His mask already pulled up over his face, but his hair is still damp.
“Good morning,” she mumbles.
“Good morning to you,” he greets her. “Are you feeling okay?”
She nods slowly, “Except my head hurts.”
“I’m gonna make breakfast, do you want something?”
“Yeah, that’d be good.”
She throws her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet hitting the cold floor. He begins taking things out to start preparing breakfast.
“So, um, how did I end up here?”
“I brought you here because you were being kind of whiny,” he teases her.
“I would never,” she chuckles.
“Oh you did,” he smirks under his mask. “I had to carry you all the way up the stairs.”
“I’m sorry,” she blushes. “That’s embarrassing.”
“Not the most embarrassing,” he assures her.
“What’s the most embarrassing?”
He grows quiet as he begins cooking eggs in a pan. She bites her lip as she struggles to remember exactly what happened last night. Kakashi hums to himself as he cooks.
“Can I help with anything?” she asks as she leans against the counter.
“Make coffee if you want,” he tells her. Then directs her on where to find everything she needs.
The coffee is finished at the same time Kakashi finishes cooking breakfast. They sit down together at the small table. Yumiko sighs as she looks at the food in front of her. Nothing seems appetizing to her sour feeling stomach. It would seem she wasn’t missing much by avoiding drinking.
“Everything okay?” Kakashi asks her.
When she looks up she has to stop herself from gasping at the absence of his mask, and how he didn’t seem all that concerned about her seeing him. He takes a sip of his coffee as though nothing was different at all. She tries not to stare, knowing it would be extremely impolite.
She just can’t help but try to memorize his face, knowing she may never get the chance again. She’s surprised by how sweet his face looks. A small mole is under his lip that she would’ve never imagined. She quickly looks away, her heart pounding.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Just feeling a little weird,” she says.
Of course he’s cute, she thinks as she starts eating her breakfast.
“You know, if you would’ve told me you were going out for drinks I might have gone with you,” he says.
Yumiko shakes her head, “You wouldn’t.”
“I might,” he laughs. “So, if grown ups don’t have crushes, what do they have?”
“What?” Yumiko laughs.
“Last night you said adults don’t have crushes,” he explains. “And then you said you’d tell me tomorrow. It’s tomorrow.”
She sighs, “I don’t know what that meant.”
He shrugs, “I guess it will stay a mystery forever then.”
When they finish eating breakfast, Yumiko helps him clean up. She’s surprised that throughout the whole process he doesn’t stop to pull his mask up. He just seems to be so comfortable with her. Yumiko doesn’t quite understand it, but it makes warmth blossom in her chest.
They wash up the dishes together, standing side by side at the sink. Once the last dish is put up she turns to lean against the counter, Kakashi standing in front of her just off to the side. She takes in the angles of his face again, still surprised by how delicate his features are.
“Thank you for everything,” she says with a small smile. She looks down as she tries to imagine what embarrassing things must have come out of her mouth, “I know it probably wasn’t fun.”
“Hm, what are friends for?” Kakashi chuckles. He leans in a little closer to her with a small smile.
Yumiko looks up towards him, realizing how close he’s come to her for the first time. They stand in the same space, breathing in the same air. Her heart pounds so hard she knows Kakashi must hear it too. He lowers his face towards her, his lips catching hers in a soft kiss.
Yumiko gasps softly against his mouth. Warmth floods through her despite all the questions in her mind. She pushes them aside, allowing whatever is happening to take over. Her hand moves to tangle in his hair as she kisses him back carefully. His arms wrap around her waist to pull her closer. She feels his tongue glide along her bottom lip, and she parts her lip eager to taste him. A strong wave of warmth hits her core as their tongues slide against each other.
He pulls away slowly, a sweet smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Kakashi,” she breathes. She presses a soft kiss to the mole on his chin. He cups her face in his hands, his thumb soothing along her cheek.
“I wish we had more time,” he sighs. “But I’m already running late.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” she laughs.
“See you later, maybe?” Kakashi asks.
“It can be arranged,” she smiles.
He presses one more quick kiss to her lips before they both put on their shoes to leave the apartment together.
Summary: Tamako spends more time training as Tsunade notices a change within her. Madara plans to get rid of his problem, and Itachi decides to help him with it.
Warnings: Canon typical violence, slight angst
Masterlist
In the following days, Tamako feels a little more confident with herself. She holds her head up high and walks more steadily. Even her training with Tsunade seems to be going more exceptionally well than usual. While Tsunade usually wouldn’t care, she’s a little curious. It would seem that Tamako went from depressed to shining star pupil within a matter of days.
“So, kiddo. Are you ready to train today?” Tsunade asks Tamako one day when they are in the lobby of the inn. Tamako is stretching, smiling and just full of pep.
“Of course! I can’t wait to get started.” Tamako expresses, while Tsunade gives Shizune a look.
Tsunade and Shizune head out the door a few steps behind Tamako, and they are both eager to discuss what might have changed Tamako’s behaviour. Just the other night, she was gloomy and down in the dumps. Now, only two days later, she’s bouncing on her toes and excited to train and smiling all the time.
“I think she saw him again,” Shizune mentions in a hushed tone.
“You’re not the only one who thinks that,” Tsunade says. She doesn’t want to stop Tamako from seeing the person she loves, but Itachi is a dangerous individual. He belongs to a terrorist organization.
They all arrive at the small clearing in the forest where they’ve been training the last few days. Tamako is already starting to use her kekkei genkai a little, just allowing the static to cloak her body. Tsunade watches the young woman and she notices something is different about her stance and posture. She’s holding herself differently, and Tsunade suspects something sexual might have happened during Tamako’s supposed latest encounter with Itachi.
Tamako’s chest sticks out more, and her legs are a little more apart. There’s something about it that seems a little more feminine and more womanly, and Tsunade thinks it means that Tamako had some sort of sexual encounter. Tsunade decides to keep this information to herself, as she doesn’t want to embarrass the young woman. She decides to inquire about it later when Shizune isn’t present.
Hours pass by, and it’s mid afternoon. Tsunade tells them both to pack up their stuff, and they were headed towards the next town over. It had a better bar, Tsunade claims. Shizune and Tamako groan softly, but they are both a little excited to hit the road. Besides, they’d be in the next town by sundown anyways.
Tamako found herself becoming even more excited. She knew it would be a new set of citizens to ask about the Akatsuki. She’s been keeping tabs on them since the night Itachi came to visit her. She knows she probably shouldn’t, but she can’t help herself. Her heart races every time she thinks of Itachi. Things are different now. He had shown her how much he loves her, and she couldn’t quit on him now. She had to pursue him and heal him. Tamako is willing to do just about anything to be with Itachi now. And now, she knows that he feels just about the same.
When the new town comes into view, Tamako finds herself eyeing the locals. She wants to get to know what kind of people they are by first glance. This town seems like a party town, so Tamako feels a little more confident about asking people for information on the Akatsuki.
“How’s this for a town, kiddo? This town has one of the best bars in all of the Land of Fire!” Tsunade exclaims, causing a few people to look their way.
What they don’t see is a pair of eyes blinking at them from the shadows. Tamako and Tsunade begin taking off down the road towards the bar, with Shizune in tow with Tonton. Shizune is cursing and sighing, but she knows it’ll all be worth it once she gets everyone checked in at the inn.
It doesn’t take long for both Tsunade and Tamako to be pulled back towards the inn when Shizune mentions the onsen. Tsunade makes a little joke about how the booze can wait, and Tamako watches the locals once more. She’s a little anxious about asking for intel behind Tsunade’s back, but she knows it’s worth it.
The room they rent is moderate in size, and the beds seem pretty comfortable. The three women decide to head over to the onsen before getting a drink at the bar. Tsunade notices that Tamako is acting a little more strange, but she decides that it must just be the fact that Tamako is a whole new town. Tsunade thinks that Tamako probably hasn’t traveled too much.
In the onsen, Tsunade and Tamako sit in one corner, with Shizune and Tonton facing the pair. It feels really good on the muscles, and there’s silence between all of them for a few moments. That’s before Tsunade pipes up.
“So, kiddo. What’s the deal with you these last few days?” Shizune gives Tsunade a deathglare, but Tamako doesn’t catch on.
“What do you mean, Tsuna?” Tamako asks, her heart pounding faster.
“You just seem so much cheerier. That’s all,” Tsunade looks deeply into Tamako’s eyes, hoping to find some sort of cue there.
Tamako smiles, “I just want this training to go well. I want to become someone people can be proud of,” Tamako lies expertly, but she’s still worried Tsunade could see right through her bluff.
Tsunade considers this answer for a moment, and she knows that Tamako is hiding something else, but she decides to not press too hard right now. Something like that could keep Tamako away, and it could literally shove her right into the arms of Itachi and into the clutches of the Akatsuki.
So, Tsunade lets it go. There’s no point in pressing Tamako for more information, though she figures it won’t take too much booze for Tamako to spill the beans. Tamako can be like that when she is drunk.
“I’m heading inside for the night. I’m super tired,” Shizune says, breaking the awkward silence.
Then, more awkward silence. Tamako smiles at Tsunade, and Tsunade feels a little unnerved by it all. When she’s sure that Shizune has left, she moves in closer to Tamako.
“Are you sure it’s nothing but pride?” Tsunade asks, placing her arm on Tamako’s shoulder. “You can tell me if something happened,”
Tamako panics, and she really hopes it doesn’t show on her face. While she wants to tell Tsunade, she doesn’t want to implicate Itachi or have him in even more trouble. Tamako just shrugs, smiling wider.
“Hey, I promise you, there’s nothing else. I’m just really happy to have you as my sensei, alright?” Tamako figures her lie is solid by this point, and Tsunade just accepts it.
“Well, you’re doing really well, Tamako.” Tsunade says with a gentle sigh. She squeezes Tamako’s shoulder and laughs.
“Ready to get out of here and head towards the booze? If we stay in here any longer, we’ll turn into prunes.” Tsunade goads, and Tamako agrees.
Tamako has been feeling a little off lately. Things at home are a little stressful with Yumiko being her sensei. She’s been pushing Tamako to train hard, and so they’ve decided to spar. It’s a good way to get their feelings and stress off their chests, but also it keeps them fit and in shape.
Tamako allows her body to be slightly consumed by the static cloak, and she approaches Yumiko in a fighting stance that leaves very little for the opponent to exploit. Yumiko knows this stance, and yet she cannot find any weakness in it. She’s very proud of Tamako for having found the perfect fighting stance for her body.
There are very few spectators at the training grounds today, but Yumiko does spot Itachi. She knows that Tamako is showing off a little, but she’s also trying her best so that she won’t seem weak in front of Itachi.
There’s a flash of light when the two sisters clash, and Yumiko has her fists up to deflect whatever attack Tamako had planned. Tamako curses under her breath and goes for a low kick to the shins, while Yumiko is already weaving the signs she needs for the following jutsu.
“Wind style: Sudden Hurricane!” Yumiko yells, aiming directly at Tamako.
The air changes, and it becomes humid and violent, the winds whipping and forming a giant ball. It hits Tamako directly, but Tamako doesn’t falter too badly. She allows herself a moment of regaining her composure before jumping back to her feet.
Itachi watches with bated breath. He knows that Yumiko would never purposefully hurt Tamako, but he is worried that Tamako might get hurt somehow. He knows she’s a powerful kunoichi, but it’s just too worrisome to watch,
Yumiko stops all movement and walks over to Tamako. She extends her hand down to her sister, and Tamako grumbles before accepting the help. She’s all red-faced from having been beaten, but Itachi doesn’t care about that. He’s just glad to see that Tamako isn’t severely hurt from that jutsu.
He rushes over to the sisters, and Yumiko smiles at the young man. He’s been busy lately with joining the ANBU, and Yumiko knows that Tamako has been a little antsy about seeing him. Though they are young, Yumiko knows that they have a very strong bond. She figures as they grow up, they will probably fall in love with each other rather than this cute puppy dog love.
“Tamako, are you okay?” Itachi asks, looking at Tamako.
Tamako smirks as she rubs the back of her head nervously. Yumiko pretends that she’s not watching or listening, but she can’t help herself. She thinks that the pair is so cute like this.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Tamako replies. Itachi brushes a stray hair from her face, and Tamako blushes. Yumiko is barely containing her excitement at these cute preteens.
Itachi leans towards Tamako, placing a gentle kiss to her cheek. Tamako is as red as a tomato at this point, and Yumiko is about to yell. It’s so darn cute to watch these kids.
“Hey, let’s go have some ramen. It’s on me!” Yumiko suggests allowing the awkwardness and cuteness to dissipate.
Tamako frowns at the idea of her sister joining them, but she figures it’s a good reason to be around Itachi anyway. They haven’t had much time to be around each other in so long, considering Itachi has joined the ANBU. Tamako wishes she could be just as strong as Itachi, but she isn’t quite there yet.
When they get to Ichiraku Ramen, Itachi sits next to Tamako and he’s got his arm wrapped around her waist. He just enjoys her company so much. He doesn’t want to have to be away from her so much, but he knows it’s important for him to be in the ANBU. He just wishes she could also be in the ANBU along with him, but he also knows it would be too much for her.
“So, you’re pretty young to be in the ANBU,” Yumiko starts, and Tamako gives her a dirty look.
“Actually, I’m not really supposed to be. I’ve been accepted because of my skills and abilities, though they wanted to lie about my age.” Itachi mentions, unsure of how to reply.
“Well, I hope you’re taking care of yourself. Tamako has been missing you a lot lately.” Yumiko says, chuckling slightly. At that, both Itachi and Tamako blush.
Yumiko cuts the tension by ordering everyone some ramen and then the conversation dies for a little while. There’s a gentle hum of the village in the air, and Itachi and Tamako stare deeply into each other’s eyes for a little while before Itachi snaps out of the lovesick trance.
“Having Kakashi senpai as my captain helps a lot. He’s very helpful and has made me feel welcome,” Itachi continues to explain. This time, Yumiko blushes at the mention of Kakashi. Tamako notices immediately.
“Yumiko, why are you blushing?” Tamako says teasingly, while Itachi picks up on the cue.
“Does my mention of Kakashi senpai worry you Yumiko?” Itachi asks, his tone slightly mocking. Yumiko frowns slightly, but she’s still blushing.
“It’s just a little hot out, okay?” Yumiko lies, but both preteens know better. They smirk at each other before continuing to tease Yumiko.
That was one of the last times that all three of them were together like that…
Madara paces slightly in the Akatsuki hideout. He tasked Zetsu with gaining more intel on Tamako. He was very intrigued, and especially since Itachi has been absent a little bit more than he usually would be, he’s worried that this girl may be a problem. If he’s going to recruit her, he’ll have to use Itachi to brainwash her. Though, he does know that Itachi isn’t going to be so willing to go that route.
Once Zetsu slithers into the hideout, Madara is waiting for him impatiently. It would seem that it took Zetsu a lot longer this time to return, but Madara figures he must have a good reason for being a little late. Madara watches Zetsu expectantly, and Zetsu blinks at him slowly.
“The girl is watching us. She’s been keeping tabs on us,” The white part states.
“She’s a spy, I’m telling you. This isn’t good. She needs to be taken care of right away.” Black Zetsu replies.
“A spy?” Madara asks, wondering of the consequences that could happen if he allows a spy to continue watching them.
“I suppose you are correct. We must deal with this as quickly as possible,”
Itachi listens to the conversation from the cover of darkness. He’s unable to react at the moment, as he doesn’t want to let on that he is there. He wonders what his next move should be. He wants to keep Tamako safe, but he knows that now he won’t be able to talk her out of following him.
All it was, was a moment of weakness. He was selfish, imprudent and not thinking clearly. He had been so damn weak. Tamako smelled so good, she was so warm and he wanted to hold her. Her eyes leaked a thousand tears, it had seemed. And yet, he loves her so much. He doesn't want to let her go, but he doesn’t want her to get hurt...or worse.
Itachi makes his presence known to both Zetsu and Madara. He needs to figure out a better way for them to deal with this slight oversight. Itachi will take care of the rest. He’s going to have to lie to Tamako, but it is to protect her. He can’t have Zetsu and Madara do anything to her.
“Let me handle it, Madara.” Itachi mentions it, and Madara looks over to him.
“Are you capable of dealing with this problem or should I have someone do it instead?” Madara asks, and Itachi doesn’t react.
“I will take care of it.”
“Very well. I trust you can do something about this.”
Itachi nods, and he walks out of the room. He’s not sure how to properly fix this, but he knows it won’t take him long to figure something out. He’s intelligent and resourceful. The only thing that’s hindering him at the moment is the fact that he truly is in love with Tamako.
Her smile, her smell, the way she always wants the best for him...and now he’s taken her virginity. It’s almost like it was meant to be for them, but luck would have it that they’d be star crossed lovers. It was almost impossible to keep up a relationship like this, and especially with Madara and Zetsu feeling antsy about the whole situation.
Itachi longs for better days. He knows he doesn’t have much longer, especially with this illness ravaging his body. The medicine will only work for a little while before he needs to find stronger stuff. Then one day, he will absolutely lose control of his body and with his usage of the Sharingan, he’ll be blind as well. He’s even noticed that lately things have been a little fuzzy around the edges in his vision.
He hates the life that’s ahead of him. He wants to end all this facade and find Tamako. She’s the only person who could ever bring a smile to his face. He’s not even sure if he can lie to her this time. Not after making love to her. It’s just tough to have somebody like this when you’re a rogue ninja.
Itachi ponders the pros and cons of running away with her. He’d be putting her in peril, but he wants to be with her so badly. He wants a quiet life where she is his doting wife, but that he showers her with affection and love daily. It could be so damn good.
“Hey, Itachi!” Kisame calls out to him. Itachi shakes out of his thoughts and walks over to the shinobi.
“I heard you're taking on a new mission, mind if I join you?” Kisame asks, and Itachi wonders if it’s a good idea. Then again, Kisame might help him be able to lie to Tamako.
“That’s fine with me, Kisame. It’s a bit of a personal matter,” Itachi says.
Kisame smiles, “Oh, the little brother, huh?” Itachi shakes his head.
“It’s a different kind of personal, Kisame. It’s someone who I hold dear to me in a different way,” Itachi isn’t sure if he’s going to want to tell everything to Kisame, but he figures he should let on a little bit about Tamako.
“Oh! A lover huh?! This should be most interesting, then,” Kisame says as he follows Itachi out of the hideout.
“It’s going to be difficult. I’m going to have to be tough this time,”
Kisame laughs, “When aren’t you tough? You are as cool as a cucumber, my friend.” Itachi chuckles slightly.
“Right you are, Kisame.”
They both take off in the direction of Tamako, and Itachi can feel his heartbreak with every step they take. It’s just becoming too much for him, but he knows he has to go through with it.
Summary: Yumiko tries to navigate life in Konoha without Tamako. Along the way she meets Team 7, which leads to embarrassing questions from Sakura. In an odd twist of fate, Might Guy helps Yumiko reconnect with her youth.
Warnings: None.
The months pass slowly for Yumiko as she tries to come to terms with the way things have gone. Iruka and Naruto invited her out for ramen frequently, and she would watch in wonder at the amount of ramen Naruto managed to eat in one sitting.
Although she settled on not taking a new team this year, Hiruzen insisted she needed to keep busy. He was right, of course. She would’ve driven herself insane in that empty house. He sent her out frequently on missions with Ezume and Akina, mostly small things. She was slowly guiding them toward becoming jounin. Although, it was getting to the point where being around them made her feel lonely.
In the months since Tamako left home, the two of them have become closer than ever. Almost every waking moment they’re together. On more than one occasion she’s caught them kissing. Their blossoming love makes her feel nauseous.
“I’m not bitter,” she tells Iruka over ramen. “I’m happy for them. I just wish they’d take their makeout sessions off of my lawn.”
“They stay around you because they love you, and they’re worried about you. You have become somewhat of a hermit,” he shrugs.
“All that kissing is kind of gross though. I saw them kissing at the training field the other day,” Naruto adds through a mouth full of ramen.
“See, the kid gets it,” Yumiko shrugs.
“He’s twelve,” Iruka raises an eyebrow at her. “Is that really who you want to be on the same side as?”
“Y’know, sometimes I don’t like you.”
Iruka shrugs, “It’s called tough love.”
“You’re bad at it. Stop,” she narrows her eyes.
Iruka sighs, realizing he’s fighting a losing battle. She continues eating in silence, feeling victorious that she’d be allowed to continue her hermit ways.
“Hey,” Iruka’s eyes wide. “What about Kakashi? You could hang out with him instead of grumpily watching your students make out all the time.”
“Or I could stay home,” she shrugs.
“That’s a great idea,” Naruto interjects. “You could help him with Sakura. Kakashi-sensei doesn’t understand girls at all.”
Yumiko sighs, “Why can’t I just grow old in peace?”
“You’re only 25,” Iruka sighs.
“Tamako was the one who came up with all the ideas,” Yumiko sighs. “I don’t know what to do with myself if I’m not keeping her busy or training students.”
“Then go to the Hokage and tell him you want students.”
“I don’t want students.”
Iruka groans, “What are we going to do with you?”
“Just love me,” she shrugs.
“You’re making it hard,” he sighs.
“I still think Sakura needs a girl sensei,” Naruto interjects again.
“Sakura has a sensei,” Yumiko reminds him.
“He is very bad with girls,” Naruto emphasizes. “Very, very bad.”
She finishes her bowl of ramen and thanks Teuchi for a lovely meal before leaving Iruka with the tab. She shoves her hands in her pockets as she starts walking to her house. All she wants to do is curl up in her bed and sleep.
The next day, Yumiko makes her way to the training field. She finds Akina practicing with a fan Ezume had gotten her. She’s getting pretty good with it too. She does a move with it which sends Ezume flying through the air. Yumiko smirks when he lands on the ground with a thud, rubbing his head when he sits back up.
Yumiko is heading towards them when she hears Naruto calling after her. She turns around in time to see him running towards her. Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke are trying to get Naruto’s attention back to them.
Naruto grabs her hand to start pulling her towards his group, “Look, look! Kakashi-sensei is helping me get better with shuriken jutsu! Come watch!”
With a sigh she allows Naruto to pull her towards them. When she’s over there, he excitedly shows her all the targets he’s hit this time. None of them are exactly on center, but considering all the times Iruka had to get stitches because of Naruto missing the targets entirely she considers it a great improvement.
“Can I show her?” Naruto asks Kakashi.
Kakashi shrugs, “Why not?”
Yumiko moves to stand next to Kakashi and Sakura as they watch Naruto practice his shuriken jutsu again. She notices Sakura’s green eyes studying her closely. When she looks down at the girl, Sakura smiles.
“You’re pretty,” Sakura says to her.
“Thank you,” Yumiko smiles. “You’re pretty too.”
“See, Sasuke! I am pretty,” Sakura says excitedly before looking back up at Yumiko, “Kakashi-sensei, don’t you think she’s pretty?”
Kakashi blushes and looks away from the pair to watch Naruto. Sakura narrows her eyes at him. He calls for Naruto to be careful.
Sakura groans, “Kakashi-sensei, I asked you a question!”
Yumiko smirks, “Yeah, Kakashi, your student asked you a question.”
“Hm,” Kakashi hums.
“That means yes,” Sakura winks at Yumiko.
“Hey, Yumiko-sensei,” Naruto says as he walks up to them. “Maybe you can tell us something!”
“What do you wanna know?”
“Have you ever seen Kakashi-sensei’s face?” Naruto asks.
“Can we drop this please?” Sasuke rolls his eyes.
“Listen, someone has seen it, and I’m gonna find out!” Naruto declares.
Yumiko takes a moment to think about it. She’s seen quick glimpses when they were out looking for Tamako, but not enough to really say she’s seen it completely. She probably wouldn’t recognize him without it except for his hair.
Yumiko shrugs, “Nope.”
Sakura smirks, “Do you want to?”
Yumiko’s cheeks burn. She bites her lip as she thinks of an excuse to leave the conversation.
“That means yes,” Sakura declares.
Kakashi and Yumiko struggle to come up with a way to thwart Sakura’s questions. She makes eye contact with him but quickly looks away. Naruto is obviously confused by what’s unfolding in front of him. He looks between the two jounin with suspicious eyes.
A young shinobi finally approaches them, breaking the awkward tension when he addresses Yumiko to let her know the hokage wants to see her.
“Oh thank goodness,” she breaths as she follows him away from the group.
She’s surprised when he doesn’t lead her to the hokage’s office, but instead to the balcony overlooking the village. Hiruzen is waiting for her. He dismisses the other shinobi before addressing her. She bows to him, and kneels as is tradition. Hiruzen indicates for her to stand.
“How are you doing, Yumiko?” he asks, she moves to stand beside him.
“I’m doing well,” she answers.
“I’m glad to hear it,” he smiles. “I have an assignment for you, Yumiko. I think it will be a good fit for you.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be ready to go as soon as possible.”
“No, you won’t be going anywhere. I would like for you to be a proctor for the upcoming chunin exams.”
“Oh? I would be honored, of course.”
Hiruzen nods, “Very good.”
“Is that all, Lord Hokage?”
Hiruzen turns to her, “I believe so. Is there anything you want to say?”
She shakes her head, “No sir.”
“That’ll be all then.”
She starts to leave, but then stops, “There is one thing.”
“Hm?” Hiruzen turns to her.
“Have you heard about Tamako? Is she okay?”
Hiruzen smiles, “She’s doing very well, Tsunade says. She is advancing far in her training.”
“That’s good,” Yumiko smiles sadly.
He dismisses her, and she makes her way back down to the street. She turns her new assignment over in her mind as she begins walking down the street. For a moment she considers going back to the training grounds, but just keeps walking.
Without thinking about it, she begins walking towards that little pond Kakashi had taken her to the day she got out of the hospital. She sits down by the water. Away from the village and the prying eyes of everyone she knows, she feels free to let herself ruminate on the passing time.
The genin are excited to start training. Truthfully, Yumiko was just as excited to be a sensei. For the first couple years she was a jounin, she’d been away on missions a lot. She enjoyed it for the most part. Still, when Hiruzen summoned her to his office to talk to her about becoming a jounin leader, she was even more excited.
She puts the finishing touches on the obstacle course she’d set up for them, and she makes it to the training field at the same time Akina, Ezume, and Tamako arrive.
“Before we get started, let’s all get to know each other a bit. I want you to tell me your name and one fun fact about yourself.” she explains. “I’ll start. I’m Yumiko Shōrihibana, I will be your sensei. Hm, one fun fact about me...My favorite color is blue.”
Yumiko tilts her head towards Akina, indicating for her to keep it going. The young girl wipes her palms on her pants nervously before clearing her throat.
“My name is Akina Hyakuyume, and my fun fact is that I want to be the best ever with weapons!”
Yumiko smiles, “Very good!”
Tamako narrows her eyes at Akina before raising her hand. Yumiko nods to her.
“My name is Tamako Shōrihibana and I really like dango and I have the coolest sister.”
Yumiko laughs, “Good, Tamako.”
They all turn to Ezume, who blushes when his eyes meet Tamako’s.
“My name is Ezume Tsukihi and I, um, I really like dogs.”
Yumiko nods, “Wonderful! I’m happy to meet everyone. So, to start off today we have a little training exercise. Follow me.”
She leads them to the edge of the woods where the obstacle course starts. They all look into the woods with wonder.
“I have set up an obstacle course in the woods. At the end there’s a scroll I want brought back to me. You have one hour to finish the course and bring the scroll back to me.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Akina shrugs.
“If the scroll isn’t in my hand in an hour then you will all be returning to the academy.”
Their eyes widen, and they open their mouths to argue. Before they can she sends a flash of static electricity through the air and tells them to get started. They all take off running through the woods. She gives them a little head start before she jumps through the trees to follow along with their progress.
A few yards in, they spring a trap which sends a kunei flying towards them. Tamako manages to use a wind style jutsu to block them from her path. Akina jumps out of the way, grabbing Ezume by the collar of his shirt to pull him out of the way as well.
They all take a moment to regroup before continuing on their way. She realizes as she follows along, that they’re competing with one another rather than working together.
Tamako especially is staying ahead of the others, jumping over hurdles and dodging the traps without stopping to make sure her teammates make it through as well. Yumiko is worried about this as she continues watching.
Up ahead of them, a fake scroll hangs from a rope tied to a nearby tree. Tamako hastily takes it without hesitation.
“I got it!” she declares triumphantly.
She breaks the seal to open it, but when she does it turns into a snake. With a squeal she drops it. She jumps around as the snake slithers around her feet, then disappears into a nearby bush.
“We need to be more careful,” Akina says.
Ezume nods, “Yumiko-sensei seems tough. She did this to us on the first day!”
“Come on, don’t whine,” Tamako groans. “Let’s go.”
They continue through the woods. Yumiko knows the real test is coming up soon. She watches with bated breath to see who would fall into the trap, and wonders how the rest of the team will handle it.
Tamako seems to sense something coming up, she jumps into a tree to dodge it. The wooden cage falls over Akina, instantly sealing shut. Ezume tries to get the door, but is shocked as soon as he touches it. For a moment he’s paralyzed, but snaps out of it quickly.
“We have to keep going,” Tamako says.
“No, wait,” Akina calls. “What if she sends me back to the academy?”
Tamako shrugs, and turns to leave her behind. Ezume hesitates, but starts to follow Tamako.
“Wait, please!” Akina calls out.
Tamako stops, then turns around.
“She’s right,” Ezume says finally. “We shouldn’t leave her behind.”
Tamako sighs, “Okay, any suggestions.”
Ezume stops for a second to think about it. Finally his face lights up.
“Maybe if we all infuse our chakra and try to force the door open it will work!”
“You were paralyzed when you tried to open the door,” Akina reminds him.
“Yeah, but maybe all of us together,” he offers.
Tamako hums as she thinks about it. If she knows her sister at all, she knows that loyalty is very important to her. Yumiko would want to test their loyalty to their team, and she wouldn’t pass anyone she thought would leave a comrade behind.
“I think he’s right,” Tamako says finally.
“But-” Akina starts to argue.
“We shouldn’t leave a comrade behind,” Tamako says.
With deep sighs, they all begin infusing their chakras into their fists. With Akina pushing and the other two pulling they begin working on the door. All of them together are able to combat the shock and the door eventually comes open. Ezume helps Akina climb out of the cage, and within a few yards the scroll sits on top of a small stone pedestal.
Ezume picks it up this time and opens it carefully. When it doesn’t prove to be a substitution of any kind, he unrolls it. The words scribbled on the scroll tell them to meet Yumiko at the tea shop.
She runs ahead of them so she’ll already be there when they arrive. They make it to the tea shop in record time. When they get there, she already has a spread of tea, dango, and dumplings ordered. Ezume hands her the scroll.
“Congratulations,” Yumiko smiles. “You all pass.”
For so long Tamako’s well-being was all that Yumiko’s life revolved around. She was thrust into the role of caretaker when she was still too young to know what she wanted for herself. By now she figured they’d be fighting side by side as equals, not miles away and not even on speaking terms.
She doesn’t know who she is anymore. Even Akina and Ezume have outgrown her a bit. Hiruzen never gives assignments like this without a reason. She knows this is his way of pushing her into getting involved with students again.
She picks at the grass, so lost in thought she doesn’t notice when the sun goes down and she’s just sitting in the dark. At the same time she starts digging around in her pouch for the small flashlight she carries, she hears someone running towards her. Her heart pounds as she begins worrying that someone is ambushing her. She’s almost on her feet when someone runs over her, tripping over her to land on the ground in a tangle of flailing legs and arms.
“Oh shit,” she groans as she struggles to get free. She finally finds her footing and turns on the flashlight right in the face of...Guy.
He holds his hands over his face, “Do you have to flash it right in my eyes?”
“What the hell, Guy?” she groans. “I thought you were attacking me! What are you doing?”
“Kakashi dared me to run 500 laps around the village in the dark!”
Yumiko sighs, “I see.”
She holds her hand out to help him up. As she pulls him up, he does a little jump to his feet.
“What are you doing out here?” he asks as he brushes off his jumpsuit.
“I thought I was getting some peace and quiet.”
Guy laughs, “Yumiko! We are in the prime of our youth! Peace and quiet is for old ladies.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve been hearing those sentiments a lot lately.”
“Come on, run with me! You’ll feel better,” he insists.
“No thanks.”
“Come on! Oh, I know! We’ll see if I can finish my laps while carrying you!”
“That’s really not-”
Before she can finish her sentence Guy is turning around and bending his knees, “Come on! Jump up here. You can use your flashlight to light the way for me.”
She knows he won’t stop pushing the point until she does it. So, she jumps on his back. Guy hooks his arms under her knees. She holds the flashlight by his shoulder as he begins running.
“What lap are you on?” she asks as he runs.
“490!” he yells triumphantly.
She couldn’t deny she was impressed with his energy. These days it took everything she had to get out of bed. He runs through the woods, a few times nearly knocking her out with tree branches. Still, she stays on his back for the remainder of his laps as promised. She has to close her eyes for the last couple laps to keep herself from throwing up.
When she opens her eyes after counting the five hundredth lap, Guy is running through the village. He stops in front of a stone bench where Kakashi is sitting, reading his book under the glow of the street lights. Guy is laughing when he sets Yumiko down on the ground.
“I did it! With Yumiko on my back for the last ten laps!” Guy cheers.
Yumiko can’t help but laugh as she watches Guy strut around in front of her and Kakashi.
“Um, very good?” Kakashi offers awkwardly.
“I could do it again!” Guy declares. He steps towards Yumiko, “Come on, Yumi! Let’s see if I can do 500 laps with you on my back.”
“Maybe next time,” she says as she sits down beside Kakashi.
Kakashi closes his book and tilts his head towards Yumiko.
“Hm,” Guy watches them for a moment with narrowed eyes before shrugging. “I’ll just run by myself.”
He’s gone in an instant. Yumiko picks at her fingers as silence settles between her and Kakashi.
“So, I’m sorry about my students,” he says finally.
She laughs, “They’re fine. Just being kids. These are the things kids do when they’re not growing up during a war like we were.”
“So, Iruka says you’ve become a bit of a hermit,” Kakashi says finally.
“Iruka says a lot of things,” she sighs.
Kakashi shrugs, “I suppose he’s just worried about you.”
Yumiko narrows her eyes as she turns to look at Kakashi, “Wait a minute, you and Iruka talked about me?”
Kakashi blushes while rubbing the back of his head to try to keep his cool exterior, “As I said, he’s worried about you.”
“I think I’m okay, honestly. It’s just been an adjustment,” Yumiko says quietly.
“Yeah, I understand that. Being a sensei is harder than I thought it would be,” Kakashi sighs. “These kids are exhausting.”
Yumiko laughs, “I could’ve told you that. And it turns to more than just teaching them about being a shinobi. You end up guiding them through everything. And I mean everything.”
“I see why you didn’t want to take more students.”
“You get attached, you know. It’s hard to imagine yourself getting so close to another set.”
“Maybe you’re just protecting yourself,” he suggests. “You know, from the attachment.”
Yumiko grows quiet. She hadn’t actually considered the reason she felt so hesitant to take on another genin team. Something inside her resisted the idea, and she weakly defended the decision enough for Hiruzen to allow her the year to just focus on missions.
Tamako pursuing her own path was painful enough. Akina and Ezume have grown into their own shinobi. She’s proud of them all, but it was hard to watch them all grow up. Being their sensei had been her life for so long.
Kakashi seeing right through and being able to pinpoint the exact reasoning she’d been avoiding coming to terms with made her feel exposed.
