Kuro: Snakes and Crows

Chapter 12: Kuro Falls

Oro's Pov

The next day I woke late, just as I promised. The light coming through a window told me it was late morning and Itachi was still asleep. With a groan, I realized I wasn't going to go back to sleep anytime soon and rolled over to get out of bed. Too late, I realized that I needed my legs to get out of bed and I fell off onto the floor.

I lay on my face, a stack of blankets that I had dragged off the bed covering me. I slowly got up, assessing my slightly sore muscles. If this was how sore I was, I couldn't imagine how much pain Itachi was going to be in when he woke up.

I stood up, having to use the bed to push myself up. I hauled my blankets back onto my bed before shuffling to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror with a grimace. I brushed the shortened hair out of my eyes before I got on with brushing my teeth and getting ready for the day. It was nearing noon by the time I got around to waking Itachi up.

"Come on, Crow," I said, stretching my abused, slightly dead muscles out, "We've made good on our promises of sleep. It's about time we get training. The girls must be worried about us."

Unlike me, Itachi didn't fall out of his bed. I guess he was too graceful for that. Instead, he swung his legs off the bed and sat up. He winced the whole time and, when he tried to stand, he had to fall back to the bed.

"I might try to sit out on training today," Itachi groaned, stretching.

"Not sure how well that would go," I said, tying my short kimono on and grabbing my pants. "That leader girl, Noriko, looked pretty nasty."

Itachi sighed and tried to stand up again. He managed it this time, to my surprise. He got dressed and managed to get dressed even faster than I had. I was really surprised by this.

"I kinda figured that you'd be really sore this morning, Crow, but you're getting ready rather quickly for someone who was almost killed yesterday," I commented.

Itachi shrugged. "I've been working on getting my stamina back after being dead and all. I guess it's been working...it probably also helps that I'm kind of numb everywhere."

I laughed, making Itachi grin. It was good for him to be joking. I was always worried that he was being too serious. In my opinion, that wasn't safe for anyone.

"For your sake," I said, grabbing my satchel. "I hope your numbness stays. I get the feeling we're going to get quite the workout today."

Itachi groaned before grabbing his blue-black cloak and stringing his arms through the sleeves. "Let's get going, then, Snake."

I nodded and left the house. I was glad to see that Itachi seemed cheerful about all this. Me, on the other hand, I didn't trust any of it. I was worried about this new team and the brush we had with the ANBU last night. Just a little too much excitement for me, thank you very much.

"Are you sure about this group, Crow?" I asked, unable to hide my anxiety anymore. I cursed inwardly. Since I had been stripped of my powers through dead and rebirth, I felt so much weaker. I was always looking out and moving out of the way for people for fear that I would get squashed.

Itachi gave me a penetrating look. I could tell he could see what I was feeling.

"We'll just have to see," Itachi said with a sigh. "Calm down. It will be fine. If things go south we'll just get out of there."

I took a deep breath and nodded. He made it seem so simple but I couldn't help feeling nervous. Still, I realized that if I wanted to move on, I was going to have to find some new ninja skills, get new powers, so I wasn't always making promises I couldn't keep.