No One Stands Alone

Chapter 13

Chapter 13:
  "What's going on between you and Hotaru?" Daichi asked, relaxing his stance. Tsukki followed suit, but backed up to create some space between them. He wanted to keep a wary eye on the boy and his movements.

  "Do you have to ask that when we're in the middle of sparring?"

  "Well, I won't be able to corner you later," Daichi answered with a light chuckle. "You always run away once training is done. Hotaru and I stay to practice more."

  A small frown tugged at the corners of his lips, but the blond knew the boy wasn't trying to imply anything. Nonetheless, he decided to ignore him and focus on the sparring match Junko instructed they have while she went off... somewhere.

  The blond darted forward and feinted to the right. He was able to catch Daichi off guard, but the boy recovered almost immediately and blocked his attack. The blond leaped over Daichi's sweeping kick and was forced to retreat a safe distance away once again.

  "Well?" Daichi persisted. Tsukki's gaze flickered over to Hotaru and his practice with senbon in the other part of the training grounds. His back was to them, and his focus was only on the deadly weapons in his hand.

  "Nothing happened," the blond answered curtly, bringing his gaze back to meet the boy's brown eyes. "I don't know why you're asking."

  Daichi rolled his eyes and surged forward. The blond was expecting that, and the two were soon locked into an exchange of even blows.

  "You and Hotaru seemed very distant this morning," Daichi explained between his attacks. "Now it's after lunch, and I have yet to see you two say more than a few words at a time to each other."

  Tsukki opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came to mind. Silence passed between the two as neither one gained the upper hand in the sparring match and the blond struggled to find something to say. Luckily, he was saved from answering Daichi's questioning gaze.

  "Enough," Junko commanded as she returned. Her voice echoed across the training grounds, demanding nothing short of obedience.

  The two genin halted their match and followed their clan's procedure of ending a friendly spar. Hotaru was called away from his practice, and the three gathered before Junko. The green haired boy placed himself on the opposite side of Daichi, which Tsukki noticed was the farthest away the boy could get from him.

  "As you know," the jonin began talking, "genin are allowed to go on D- and C-ranked missions. A few years ago, the Hokage made a suggestion that newly made genin must complete a certain number of D-ranks before the end of their first month.

  "I find D-ranked missions pointless, so you three have been focusing on training instead. However, the Hokage decided to step in. By the end of the week, I must have Team Nine complete at least two D-ranked missions. After that, you three may attempt a C-ranked one."

  Tsukki wanted to ask her how D-ranked missions were useless if the Hokage required them, but the jonin immediately turned and exited the training grounds. As usual, she expected them to follow, so his question died on his lips. Daichi was the first to leave, and Hotaru was close behind him. It was as if the green haired boy was seeking shelter in the boy's presence.

  As they traveled to the other side of the village, Tsukki kept a subtle eye on his roommate. He knew that Hotaru would still be angry on Ai's behalf, and he even understood why. After living with the boy for years, he also knew it would fade with time. All he had to do was wait.

  Yet, he couldn't figure why he saw a certain glint in the boy's eyes. He wanted to deny it. He wanted to believe that it wasn't even possible. But it was. A look of fear persisted to shine in the boy's silver irises.

  Tsukki barely managed to not bump into Daichi as Junko suddenly stopped them. His thoughts weren't important enough to dwell on at the moment, so he shoved them aside for later.

  "Welcome to your first mission," Junko announced in a muted manner. She gestured to a small house before them with an overgrown garden and chipping paint. Questions bubbled up, but none of the genin voiced them. They knew better than to interrupt her when she turned serious. The kunoichi walked up to the front door and knocked.

  Silence. Then an old woman opened the door and peeked through the crack. "Oh, my request was accepted. Thank the heavens! And right on time too."

  She hobbled back inside, and they followed her in after she waved them forward. Tsukki wrinkled his nose at the stench, but after catching Junko's eye, he hurriedly wiped the expression off his face. He replaced it with a neutral mask that gave nothing away.

  He passed by a disheveled dining room and a living room that was full of junk until they finally ended up in a half functioning kitchen. The woman stopped in the middle of the half empty room and then turned around to face them.

  "I need help carrying all my stuff outside. Furniture, appliances, everything. You can dismantle anything to make the process easier," the old woman instructed. "I won't be needing anything from here anymore. My son wants to demolish the house, but he claims it needs to be cleared of everything before he can start."

  She shuffled around the kitchen and handed each boy a pair of heavy duty gloves. "You young boys should have no trouble with physical labor. If you need any tools to use, just come and ask. Now go."

  No one moved, and Tsukki instinctively looked towards Junko for instructions. The kunoichi inaudibly sighed. "This is your first D-ranked mission, so do as she says. Don't mess it up."

  Without any more prompting, Tsukki made his way to the dining room as Daichi ventured into the living room. Stealing a glance behind him, the blond watched Hotaru start his work in the kitchen and Junko help the old woman out the back door to sit outside.

  He heard the kunoichi start up a conversation with the woman, but he couldn't make out the words. Junko's voice sounded different, though. It was soft, and almost caring or gentle.

  Shaking his head to get rid of the irrelevant thoughts, Tsukki turned his focus to the dining room as he stood in the doorway. He swept an eye over the broken chairs, the uneven table and stained carpet. He decided to removed the table first since he couldn't reach the pile of stacked chairs in the corner. He took apart the wooden construction, carefully setting the dismantled parts aside to keep organized in the already messy room. With the gloves on, he lifted the separated legs and on his way outside, the blond almost collided with Hotaru who was dragging out bags of trash.

  They stared at each other for a second before the Hotaru's gaze slid past him as if he wasn't there. The green haired boy continued on his way out of the house to place the bag in the slowly growing pile of garbage.

  Tsukki didn't miss that spark of fear that lit up when the boy looked at him.

  Shaking his head, the blond passed the unusually silent boy and dumped the wood in his arms into the pile. Feeling a pair of eyes watching him, the blond glanced up. Daichi was standing in the doorway, his own garbage in hand. Tsukki averted his eyes and walked back into the house. As he passed the boy, Daichi reached out and placed his hand in the blond's shoulder. "If you want to talk—"

  "I'm fine." Brushing off his hand, Tsukki returned to the dining room and went back to work.

  He missed the look Daichi had. It was full of worry and sympathy, but it was also hard with determination.

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This has been edited on 12/6/17