Chapter 27
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Say that again." Tsunade said as she tapped her fingers on her desk. Shikamaru and I just looked at each other as we both had the same thought. What a pain. We've told her three times already what the situation was. As co-joint captains of the group that set out to bring Sasuke back we had to report on the details of what happened. She seemed to accept everything we said until she heard my report on Orochimaru. I cleared my throat as I once again was about to go over the details of my encounter with Orochimaru. "Ahem. Orochimaru interfered in our mission. They did something to Sasuke which allowed him to assimilate the power of the Curse Mark. Sasuke ran off as Naruto chased him. I remained behind to stall Orochimaru. After he and I fought we felt a powerful discharge of chakra which was probably Sasuke and Naruto's doing. He left soon after and I went to the site of their battle. I recovered Naruto and we returned here to Konoha."
"Hm. Damn that Orochimaru." Tsunade cursed. She rubbed the temples of her forehead and said, "Alright. As you both were appointed captains for this mission you both are held responsible for what happens on the mission. While the mission failed I suppose it can't be helped this time. I didn't expect Orochimaru to return near the borders of Konoha so soon after what he pulled. No one was majorly hurt this time, remarkably. Only Naruto sustained some heavy injuries and is in recovery. I'm actually most impressed that you didn't sustain any injuries Izaya. You fought Orochimaru. I seriously wonder how you pulled that off, but good job. You are dismissed."
"Yes." Shikamaru and I bowed respectfully as we walked out the door.
"Man that was a pain." Shikamaru said.
"Well, it can't be helped. This did concern Orochimaru after all." I replied as we both left the Hokage's office. As we continued to walk down the same road Shikamaru turned to me and said, "You going to the same place I'm going?"
"I'm going to the hospital to visit Naruto. If that's where you're going then yes, I would be going to the same place you are." I replied.
"Hahaha, I guess so. Hey, I want to thank you for your support on the mission. If it was just me alone as the team lead things would have turned out a lot worse." Shikamaru said as we finally entered the hospital. I shook my head and said, "Truth is we're just lucky. If Orochimaru had decided to stick around and fight me for real I might have been incapacitated. That guy is truly hard to kill. You should also have a bit more faith in your own leadership skills."
We opened the door to Naruto's room to find that he was already awake albeit wrapped up like a mummy. "Yo, Naruto." Shikamaru said.
"Oh! Shikamaru. Izaya. What are you guys doing here?" Naruto replied.
"To visit you. How are you holding up?" Shikamaru asked.
"Mn. Better. I should be good to go in a week, maybe sooner-dattebayo." He replied.
"Mn. It does seem that way." I said. Sakura and Tsunade came to visit him soon after, but the situation turned a bit more depressing as the topic of Sasuke came up. Shikamaru and I decided it wasn't our place to bother with their team matters so we left. I went to visit Kimimaro since I was already here in the hospital.
"Izaya! What are you doing here so late?" Kimimaro asked.
"Just thought I'd drop by to see how you were. Is the treatment going well?" I asked. Before Kimimaro could answer we heard a voice from right by the door. "Of course it's going well! Who do you think is performing the treatment." Said a loud and unruly voice.
EH! I knew who it was immediately. "Ahem. I didn't mean any disrespect Lord Fifth."
"Hahahaha! Of course I know that. I was just teasing you. Anyways, I came here to start Kimimaro's evening treatment since Naruto seems to be doing just fine. Everything's been going well so he should be as good as new in a few months." She said.
"Heh, hear that Maro? Haku and I will be awaiting your return. As soon as you get back we'll work on our combo technique!"
"Mn. I've been studying hard under Hiruzen-sensei. I'll show you guys what I can do when I return." Kimimaro said.
"I look forward to it. I'll let you get treated now." I said as I left the hospital. As I walked outside I stared at the setting sun. From here on out, everyone is going to be training hard. Alright, I should work hard too.
The days slowly passed by and weeks rolled around the corner. Those weeks turned into a few months. Kimimaro's treatment has been going well. It appears it'll only be about another month before he is fully cured and is able to join Haku and I again. Haku and I have also completed our Anbu training already. Yamato-sensei was the one to complete our induction as official Anbu under Lord Third. Every three days Haku and I would train with Lord Third switching off sparring with him. We've also been on various Anbu missions along with Yamato-sensei. Today was a day we had off so I was at the training ground wanting to perfect some of my techniques.
First, I'll try piecing together the original technique I thought of when I watched Naruto and Sasuke battle it out on the roof of the hospital. It happened after Sasuke used his Fire Style Jutsu and Naruto used his Rasengan's powerful spinning motion to keep the flames from reaching him. Then I thought about how Sasuke used the Chidori which was essentially lightning nature infused on his palms to increase his piercing and cutting power. When the light of the sun hit me I was instantly inspired. I wanted to add all of that together so I understood that this was a huge project, but one that I was determined to succeed in and I already had a mental image of what I imagined the technique to turn out as. A special technique that belonged to me. If I incorporate both the principles of the Rasengan and Chidori then I could come up with something extraordinary. I wanted to combine the power of Rasengan with my different elemental natures. Something even more powerful than Naruto's Rasenshuriken. I'll call it, Taiyougan! Meaning Sun Sphere.
I placed my hand out in front of me as I prepared to test out my new technique. First, bring chakra into my hand. Release the chakra in my hand at a steady stream. Contain the chakra. Spin the chakra. Alright, first part is over. Next, infuse wind nature into my hand. Shape it into a sphere as it spins. Good. Now, release fire nature into the center of my palm. Reduce its size and have it spin at a constant velocity. Perfect. Beads of sweat began rolling down the side of my forehead at this moment as I took a few heavy breaths trying to concentrate. The wind sphere is steady. The flame is getting out of control by the wind. Before I could continue the flame and the wind started to get chaotic in my hand so I instantly cancelled the technique. I attempted this for a few more hours.
Phew. No good huh? Hm...Maybe I should infuse water first. Right, if I infuse water first, the wind won't agitate the flame. What I need is to ensure I increase the temperature of the fire. If I spin the flame at high velocities with my chakra it'll heat up the water creating the desired effect I want. That sounds good. Just as I started up my technique again a voice spoke out behind me. "What are you doing?"
"AH!" I shouted as I was startled. The sphere of wind containing a dense volume of chakra, water, and fire flew out of my hand at that moment. "SHIT!" I yelled. I quickly turned behind me and without looking at who snuck up on me, I jumped at the person and grabbed them before immediately activating the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. We instantly disappeared from the training ground I was at and reappeared just outside the entrance to the training grounds. A couple seconds later a loud BOOM! Was heard as a plume of dust and smoke rose into the air.
Pheeeew. I breathed out a sigh of relief. That was super dangerous losing control of the technique like that.
"Um...Can you get off me now." The voice said.
"Uh?" I looked down. "Hanabi?" I said as I got off of her. I extended my hand to help her off the ground.
"Why'd you attack me like that? And how'd we get over here?" She asked.
"I think I should be the one asking what you were doing sneaking up behind me." I said. "But to answer your question anyways, I was training. I was attempting a new Jutsu of mine when you startled me and I lost control. It was an extremely powerful and dangerous technique so without thinking I grabbed you and got us out of the explosion range before we could get hurt."
"Oh...Er...Sorry. Haha, I guess I owe you a thanks then." She said. I just stood there as I stared at her. She just stared back. We stared at each other for a few more moments before I thought to myself, is she going to answer my question or not? "Ahem. So why were you sneaking up behind me?" I asked with a nice curious tone in hopes she wouldn't just walk away without answering.
"I came to train but I felt a strong flow of chakra coming from somewhere so I went to go see what it was. When I got to the source I saw you so I thought I'd ask if you felt it too." She said with a straight face.
Wow. She's got a good poker face. She could probably convince almost everyone else but me. Heh, she was obviously looking for me, but the question is why? "Training? I thought the Hyuga Clan had their own private training grounds?" I said teasingly.
"Ahem. We can decide to train outside our private training grounds sometimes as well. My cousin Neji does all the time. And so does my sister Hinata." She argued back. I put my hands up by my chest in a defensive manner and said, "I didn't mean to imply anything. Nothing wrong with you training here. I was just a bit surprised. Well, I should probably take a break from training anyways." I looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was starting to set. "Looks like it's about dinner time. I think I'll go for some ramen tonight. I'll leave you to your training then." I said as I prepared to head out.
"Wait!" She said quickly.
"Mn?" I paused. "Did you need something else?" I asked.
"I was also done training. That's why I went to go check out that source of energy I felt. I'm hungry now too. As it so happens, I also feel like eating ramen. Since we're both headed to eat ramen anyways we should just go together. Besides, two's a company." She said with a proud look on her face. I took a good look and didn't notice any evidence of her having done any sort of training yet. I inwardly shook my head and was about to answer her when we both heard someone shout, "Big brother!"
"Eh? Haku?" I turned around to look at the sound of the voice. Haku arrived a moment later and said, "Big brother, I heard a loud explosion and thought that it was probably due to your dangerous technique you've been trying out. I came over to see if you were o...kay?" He shifted his head to the side as he noticed Hanabi standing behind me. "Eh? Isn't this the person who bumped into you that one day?" Haku said.
"Hmpf. Three's a crowd." Hanabi pouted and mumbled to herself. Haku just shrugged his shoulders and said, "You haven't eaten yet right? If you're done training then shall we go grab some food!" I nodded my head and said, "Okay, I was thinking about some ramen. Want to join us?" I said.
"Eh? What do you mean by us big brother?" Haku asked. I shifted my stance so Hanabi wasn't behind me anymore and said, "Well, I was going to get some ramen and coincidentally Hanabi said she wanted some too. We were about to go together."
"Ahem. It's okay. You don't have to join us. I'm sure you probably didn't feel like eating ramen anyways right?" Hanabi said with an innocent expression. I just sighed inwardly. Surly Haku won't fall for her ploy right? I thought to myself. Haku pouted and said, "Of course I like ramen. In fact, I was going to suggest eating ramen with my big brother. You don't have to come with us. It was nice meeting you."
"Hey? When did I say I wasn't going?" Hanabi retorted.
"And when did I say that I didn't feel like eating ramen?" Haku replied. I just stood to the side as I was completely forgotten at this moment. "Maybe I'll just eat at home." I whispered to myself.
"What?!" Hanabi and Haku said at the same time as they turned to look at me.
"Ahem! I was just wondering if you both are ready? If so, shall we all go get some ramen? My treat. Promise." I said helplessly. I sighed to myself as I pondered how I got stuck in this situation. We ordered our ramen from Ichiraku's as Haku sat to my left and Hanabi to my right.
"So big brother, how about we go shop for some ninja tools after. Oh, Hanabi probably wouldn't want to go with us after right? Sorry about that." Haku said with an undertone.
"Hmpf. I know the shop owner. With me around you can get the best deals. I am after all the next in line as head of the Hyuga Clan. Oh, but after weapon shopping we should go get some flowers. I hear that your teammate Kimimaro is in the hospital right Izaya? Well, Haku probably doesn't know much about flowers so it's okay if you don't join us." Hanabi replied proudly with hidden meaning.
"Ha! I'm an expert when it comes to medicinal plants. Naturally, I also have extensive knowledge on flowers. Big brother and I can pick flowers ourselves. No need for you to go through the trouble. Maro is our teammate after all." Haku retorted not giving up.
Before anyone could say anything else our ramen was placed in front of us. "Finally!" I said. Both Haku and Hanabi just stared daggers at me. "Ahem Ahem. I mean, finally our bowl of ramen is served. Cause...you know, I was hungry and all." I said helplessly.
"Then, would you like some of mine? This is a lot so I don't mind sharing some with you Izaya-kun." Hanabi said amiably.
"I think big brother would rather have mine. We are sworn brothers after all. No need for the next head of the Hyuga Clan to go out of her way for something like this." Haku said innocently.
"ENOUGH!" I stood up from my spot and walked over to a table that was set up outside the stands. "You two. Come here and bring your bowls with." I commanded. They silently and obediently walked over. "Sit." I said. They both sat and placed their bowls down. "You two are going to eat right here. Now think about what you did wrong." I said as I went back to the stand and sat in the booth eating my ramen in peace and quiet. Haku and Hanabi just sat in silence for a good minute before they looked at each other. "I think big brother is mad. He's never yelled at me like that before." Haku said dejectedly. Hanabi silently nodded and whispered, "He's kind of scary when he's angry. Did we make him mad?"
"Mn. I think so." Haku replied.
"Did we do something wrong?" Hanabi asked.
"I'm not sure." Haku responded.
"Eh? But aren't you guys sworn brothers? You should know this stuff." Hanabi said.
"Hmpf. Why were you with big brother anyways? You've only met once."
"Not true! Today makes it twice!" She replied.
"How does that make any difference?" Haku said.
"Heh, once is chance, twice is fate." She said with a smirk.
"You still haven't answered my previous question." Haku replied as he finally started eating his bowl of ramen.
"Hm...Well, to be honest I was just curious. Your big brother is one of the only people who my cousin Neji has ever openly acknowledged as being stronger than himself. He has a look of respect whenever I ask him about Izaya. I just wanted to know what kind of person he was." Hanabi replied before she too started to eat her bowl of ramen. Haku looked up and said, "Everyone should respect my big brother! He's the best person in the entire world. The only reason you looked for big brother was to find out what kind of person he was though?"
"Mn. I wanted to know how he lived life. You see, originally my elder sister Hinata was supposed to be the head of the Hyuga Clan. And Neji...Well our Clan has strict rules and it seems like everyone in the Clan has their own role to play, but my sister Hinata and Neji have decided to forge their own fate. Neji's view on life seemed to change after fighting against Naruto and other than him, Izaya is the only other person he spoke so highly of. That's why I wanted to know what kind of person Izaya is. I too wish to take fate into my own hands." Hanabi replied. Haku stared her in the eyes for a good second confirming that it was the truth before he smiled and said, "Mn, I believe you. Then, would you like me to tell you how great my big brother is?"
"Ah? I mean, yes! Please do." Hanbi said.
After spending a good amount of time eating my dinner I finally finished and turned to look over to where Haku and Hanabi were sitting with a stunned expression. "What the hell? Why do they look like such good friends all of a sudden?" I whispered to myself as I watched them talking and laughing with smiles. I shook my head and walked over to them. "Well...I'm glad you two are getting along now. It's pretty late already so I think I'll just go home today." I said as I studied their faces trying to glean some sort of hint as to how they reconciled.
"Mn. That's probably a good idea." Hanabi said and Haku nodded in agreement.
"Then, allow us to walk you back to the Hyuga residence." I said.
"Mn." Hanabi nodded in consent. After dropping Hanabi off I turned to Haku and said, "What were you two talking about that made you both laugh and smile so much?"
"Haha, it was nothing big brother!" Haku replied sheepishly. "Let's go home."
I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Whatever you say." I turned around and began the trek back home.
"Eh? You really aren't going to keep asking me about it?" Haku said as he followed me back.
"Why? Do you want me to ask?" I replied.
"Yes." Haku said.
"Then are you going to tell me about what you both talked about?"
"No."
I facepalmed, "Then why should I ask?"
"Because when I want to know what you're thinking and ask about it you never give me a serious answer." Haku said matter of factly.
"So this is revenge of sorts?" I replied.
"Maybe." He said.
"Hahaha! I can't win against you Haku." Our banter continued all the way back home.
Just as I entered my room there was a knock on my window. As I opened it there was a bird with a letter attached. "Hiruzen-sensei?" I said as I recognized it as his messenger bird. After reading the letter I furrowed my brow for a moment before laying down on my bed and destroying it. A three year Anbu mission huh? Seems Lord Third also wants Kimimaro to serve as an Anbu for a time. After Kimimaro recovers in a month and completes his Anbu training, Kimimaro, Haku, and I will leave. I closed my eyes and soon, sleep overtook me.