Remember Kitsune

Part One: Kukiko

                       "Why didn't you tell me this sooner, eh?! I could've asked Kohana to teach me something as cool as detecting vibrations!" Kukiko kept tugging at Eiji collar, shaking him back and forth in anger.

Maru and Hyousuke sweat dropped as they could practically see Eiji soul leave his body. After a few more minutes of the same thing going on and on, Maru growled and pulled at the back of Kukiko collar, making sure to hold her tight because the younger girl kept flailing her arms to get to Eiji. "Alright give it up, it doesn't matter anymore."

Eiji collected himself and sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Can we just all," he cleared his throat. "Call it a day, yeah?"

Hyousuke squinted his eyes and shrugged, "Alright."

"We have our first mission tomorrow morning so make sure you all report here at nine." Eiji nodded at the three before frowning at Kukiko, then he smirked before picking up the small girl and throwing her over his shoulder. "Well I'll see you guys later." He waved at the cousins, ignoring the punches being thrown at his back.

"Put me down!" Kukiko wailed, "Hyousuke, help me!"

The blonde shivered when Eiji turned to look at them one last time and he quickly shook his head. "I uh, hear my mom calling!"

The boy took off, dragging Maru along with him. "HYOUSUKE YOU COWARD!!!"

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    The very next day Aiya woke up early to make Kukiko and Eiji lunch for their first mission. Kohana was watching the elder lady quickly go at work and then she sighed, gaining Aiya attention. "Is something wrong
Kohana-chan?"

She shook her head, "Its just so unreal, how quickly Kukiko is growing up..."

Aiya paused, "Yeah, just a few more years..."

A door was shut and squeals were heard. Isao was entering the room with Kukiko on his shoulder as he tickled her sides. "Look at you! Your going on your very first mission today, aren't you excited?"

Kukiko snow white hair was French braided to the side and she was wearing a very familiar outfit. Aiya smiled, "Isn't that my old outfit?"

The young girl jumped in excitement. "Yeah! It's the same outfit you wore on your first mission. I really wanted to make you guys proud, you know, me being me."

"You always make us proud Snow, no matter what you do." Aiya said softly as she wrapped the bento boxes with some cloth and placed them in a portable bag. "Now here's your lunches. Kukiko, I made you some curry Korokke*, even enough so you could share with the rest of the team. I know how much Hyousuke likes them as well."

Kukiko nodded before giving her mother and father a quick kiss, a crushing hug for Kohana and she was out the door. It didn't take long for her to reach the main building where the head leader stayed.

It was almost a everyday routine for when she goes to Imayoshi-oji place for training. She started out pretty young and has advanced in her skills. Once she reached the building, she didn't bother greeting the guard for he was always slacking off and sleeping in the front office. She turned a corner before walking up a flight of stairs and coming across Imayoshi main office. She knocked three times before shoving the door open, "Oji-san!" She sang and gave a smile.

Her happy attitude was thrown off as Eiji hit her on the head, "Not so loud!"

"Itai!" Kukiko growled, "Oi, what's with you hitting me lately huh?!"

"Stop being so loud! There's other people here ya know!"

"So what, eh? You want to go Eiji?!"

Hyousuke and Maru sweat dropped, "Ne, should we stop them?" Hyousuke asked out loud to no one particularly.

"Alright you two settle down," Imayoshi, the head leader, spoken up from his desk. His hair was slightly greying because of his age but he was still as lively as Kukiko. "Team Eiji hm? First mission.. what to give." He fiddled with a few folders before humming in content. "Lets go with a easy one alright? Babysitting a few kids... Pulling weeds from the farmlands... Cleaning the river-"

Kukiko groaned and shook her head, "No way old man! Cmon please, you know me. We are all pretty experienced even though we are rookies. Can we get something more exciting than babysitting and cleaning rivers? Plus the farmlands are a day travel away*!"

Eiji was about to protest but Imayoshi raised his hand to quiet him. "Nothing to your likings huh Kukiko?"

Kukiko eyes widen a bit but she smiled either way. "I'm growing up aren't I?"

Imayoshi gave a slight nod and chuckled, "Alright here we go," He pulled out a file from the bottom of his stack and opened it. "We don't get a lot of travelers here so this is a special mission. It's only a C-rank, but you should be able to handle it right?" Eiji was handed the file and he scanned the summary of the file. "You'll be escorting a traveler across Hana Bridge who's making special arrangements with a village. Get him there safely and you'll be rewarded once you return."

Kukiko smiled in victory in the mission upgrade and stuck her tongue out at Eiji, "Looks like Oji-San likes me more, ne Eiji?"

Eiji tched, "Why you little-"

Maru and Hyousuke sweat dropped once again and watched as the two continued to argue. "Should we stop them?"

"No just let them fight it out."

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The team was waiting at the front of the village entrance for the one they were escorting. It's been ten minutes already and Kukiko was getting slightly impatient. She scowled and huffed out in annoyance, "Where the hell is our traveler?!" She cursed before getting bonked on the head by Eiji, hissing in pain.

"Watch your language, anyways, he should be here any second now." Eiji concluded as he nodded his head towards a figure walking to them.

Maru and Hyousuke stood up from their sitting position and took place next to Kukiko. Kukiko rocked back and forth on her heels, eager to leave the village for the first time. "Ne, Eiji, isn't Hana bridge pretty close from here?" She questioned.

Eiji shook his head, "Well yes and no, people who aren't ninjas usually take them time traveling from one place to another, resulting in it taking about half a day to get to Hana bridge, or in reality, a full day to get to the bridge and to the next village. For us ninjas it really only takes a few hours, depending on speed."

Hyousuke pouted, "So this mission is gonna take all day? Man I wanted to be home by dinner, mom is making dumplings," He whined slightly.

Maru rolled her eyes. "Calm down Hyousuke, we have two hours before it's noon. If we leave now we should get to Hana bridge by three and be back by late afternoon."

As soon as Maru ended her sentence, the one they were to escort finally reached them and gave a sheepish bow. Kukiko took in his appearance; obviously he was older than her but he didn't look any older than Eiji-kun. His hair was a weird green color along with foggy grey eyes. He was pretty short though too, Kukiko noticed. "Ah gomen, Imayoshi didn't exactly tell me where to meet you guys. My name is Tamoya Ibushi."

The children and sensei nodded in acknowledgment. "Nice to meet you
Ibushi-san, I'm Eiji Minami, the sensei for Cell Eleven. This here is Maru Akiyama, Hyousuke Akiyama and-"

Kukiko jumped up and pointed at herself with her thumb, abruptly interrupting Eiji. "I'm Kukiko Akarui."

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*Korokke (Japanese: コロッケ) is the Japanese name for a deep-fried dish related to a French dish, the croquette. It's usually made by mixing cooked chopped meat, seafood, or vegetables with mashed potato or white sauce, usually shaped like a flat patty, rolling it in wheat flour, eggs, and Japanese style breadcrumbs, then deep frying this until brown on the outside.
-There's different varieties and Kukiko favorite is the curry flavored ones.

*The farmlands are a days worth or so of travel. Crops can't really grow in snow, so they share fields with their neighboring country that can grow crops.