Sasori dealt with the death of his parents like most had expected he would. He grieved and mourned their loss, unaware of how he could move past it. There was no way he could turn to his grandmother for comfort; she had just lost a son and (though not by blood) a daughter. Chiyo was in mourning too; unable to focus fully on her grandchildren while she wallowed in her own grief.
Sasori had thought maybe he was doomed to spiral into depression. Perhaps he'd go mad, or maybe he'd grow cold instead. None of those conclusions seemed to be meant for him, however, as Sasori found hope in someone he hadn't initially considered before.
The redhead was saved by his very own baby brother. Kyojin held the sun in his hands and shoved it into Sasori's arms, pushing away the darkness that had originally been festering within him. If Sasori were to picture what his life would be like without Kyojin in it... No. Such a thing was impossible to imagine.
"Nii-sama, do you have an antidote to this poison? Komushi dropped the one I had."
Sasori looked up from the book he was (barely) paying attention to, his musings vanishing from the forefront of his mind. Kyojin stood in his doorway, sweating what looked like buckets. His clothes were drenched, his skin was awfully pale, and his pupils were dilated. If this were a new occurrence, Sasori's heart would stutter before being overwhelmed by a silent panic.
This was nothing new, however. Kyojin's interest in poisons had skyrocketed throughout the years, as had his proficiency with them. Skill was not the same as experience however, so the young brunet was still a bit more careless than Sasori would like.
With a sigh and a shake of his head, Sasori stood from his seat at his desk and moved to where he stored his antidotes. The redhead glanced back at Kyojin once more, scanning over his condition and the symptoms he was showing. Kyojin was trembling, looking like he'd fall over at any moment, and yet he stood tall; Sasori inwardly gleamed with pride. His little otōto was strong; a fighter.
"Have you thrown up yet?"
"No, but the nausea is there."
Nodding his head, Sasori pulled out a vial of the correct antidote. Kyojin held out his hand for it, but Sasori merely snatched it away before signaling his brother to take a seat on his bed. Kyojin obeyed, but not without a groan in complaint.
"Were you experimenting with the Yellow Jessamine?" Sasori helped Kyojin lay back before he opened the vial and presented it to him.
"Yeah," Kyojin replied after he tossed the antidote down his throat. He sighed heavily, relaxing further into his brother's bed. "I'm trying to blend it with the Candelabras Cactus... Maybe...make it more lethal...?"
A small smile made it's way onto Sasori's face as Kyojin began to doze off. Antidotes usually had that effect on the brunet; either making him drowsy, or completely sluggish. Sasori began to gently comb his hand through Kyojin's damp locks, moving them away from his face so that he could see his brother more properly.
Kyojin looked a lot like their mother; with gentle features and soft skin. His hair and eyes were the same dark brown their mother had as well. Some would say that Kyojin looked average (especially when next to Sasori), but the redhead had always found Kyojin to be beautiful.
After he had set aside the empty vial, Sasori settled in beside Kyojin and held him close to his chest. For a moment —just a moment— Sasori put his walls down and placed his mask aside. He relaxed fully, and hid his face in the crook of Kyojin's neck so that he could cry without worry.
He felt so blessed and lucky to have Kyojin in his life. His little brother was all he had left; of course there was Chiyo, Ebizō, and even Komushi but... None of them filled his heart like Kyojin did. None of them would ever be as important to him as Kyojin.
Sasori's hold tightened slightly on the sleeping brunet as the memory of their parents' death replayed through his mind. He had not been there, but it always felt like he had. Sasori knew who their killer was, and that was enough to paint a picture of what their final fight had been like.
His teeth gritted, and Sasori's sorrow quickly turned into anger.
'Sakumo Hatake. I hope you suffer. I hope you burn.'
Kyojin shifted in Sasori's arms, releasing him from those dangerous thoughts. Tears trickled down Kyojin's own cheeks, startling Sasori back into sanity. He wiped away the tears on his brother's cheeks, all the while ignoring the ones on his own.
Sasori wondered what Kyojin dreamt of.
× × ×
Within the Niijima clan compound, Murai was no longer the playful and sly young boy that others knew him as. He reverted within himself, becoming expressionless and silent. Instead of skipping along the dirt path with his head held high, Murai walked with his eyes on the ground. Stares of disgust and annoyance followed him; not too far behind were the whispers.
Murai increased his pace.
He wished he could quickly go home to his grandmother, but things were never that easy. At the end of the day, Murai was to report to the Niijima clan head without fail. No exceptions, and no excuses.
"Report."
With a bowed head, Murai obeyed the command directed towards him. Not once did he look up and make eye contact with the owner of the voice. After he got smacked around a few times, even Murai learned to keep his head down. Jin-hime's father seemed to believe that violence was the perfect solution when it came to winning over submission.
"Jin-hime is progressing as normal. Ninjutsu remains to be where she is the strongest."
The gruff man before him nodded, his fingers tapped idly at the chair, as if it were a throne. "I see... Is she still set on marrying this boy— Kyojin was it?"
At the mention of his friend's name, Murai swallowed nervously. It was never his intention to get Kyojin involved with the clan, but Murai knew he couldn't lie. The clan head was smart and would catch on to it instantly. Even if he didn't, the information could be easily gathered from someone else within the clan.
So Murai nodded, biting the bullet and fessing up all that he knew. "Yes, but he does not appear to be interested in her. Jin-hime isn't deterred, however, and has said that she'll wait for him."
"As expected of my Jin-chan," The man snorted, but Murai was not surprised by the sudden change in attitude. He had always had a soft spot for his daughter after all. "Is this Kyojin a good character?"
There was no hesitation when Murai replied, a small, secret smile on his face.
"He is perfect, Niijima-sama."
× × ×
Jin began training as soon as she was able to walk. Of course, the training wasn't too difficult or obvious even. Her father disguised it in the form of games and simple chores.
"Let's see how fast you can clean up all your toys, Jin-chan." At first she wouldn't move a muscle, appearing disinterested in the challenge, but the longer her father stared at her with those hard and calculating eyes... she would soon relent and play along with his games.
Sometimes her training would frustrate and irritate her. She hated how she could never get a break on a day that wasn't important to the clan. There was only one part of her training that she didn't mind; dancing.
It had been decided for a while that Jin would train to specialize in the fighting style that her grandmother had preferred. In order to master that style, she'd have to learn how to dance first. Dancing would help increase her lithe and gracefulness. It would also help her become more flexible and balanced.
Jin had no problem with her fighting style being decided for her. In fact, if she had been given the opportunity to choose it herself, she'd have chosen the one her grandmother used as well.
Out of all the decisions that had been made for her in her life, there was really only one that she wasn't quite pleased with...
"We'll arrange a marriage for her when she comes of age." The deep voice came from her father; the tone he was using said that this decision was final. Jin remained rooted to where she stood outside her father's study.
There was a hum in reply; it sounded like her mother. "You've already found a suitor for her?"
"No, but by the time she is sixteen I believe we will have found one."
Jin's mother sighed, exasperated. "Don't go making such rash decisions when you're not even sure what the future will hold. Her marriage will be decided as soon as we find a proper suitor."
There was a moment of silence before her father finally grunted in acceptance to his wife's decision. "Very well..."
With her curiosity sated, Jin left with a scowl on her usually expressionless face. She had never once protested or disobeyed her parents' wishes. This however, she could not sit back and allow to happen. In Jin's mind, marriage was supposed to be between two people who love each other.
She had read various books about such romances; a prince and a princess; a knight and his charge; a witch and her childhood friend. Jin had read about so many different scenarios and —as cliche as it may have sounded— Jin had always wanted (the only thing that she had ever wanted) to be able to experience such an amazing thing as falling in love.
Jin would not sit back and allow her parents to match her up with just any person. Jin wanted to be in love with the person she married. Six years old or not, Jin was not called a genius and prodigy for nothing. The hunt was on; she was going to find her perfect match before her parents found a suitor.
× × ×
I wasn't sure when exactly this rule was established, but it exists. If a prospective student was unable to perform genjutsu or ninjutsu (basically if someone can't use their chakra to the fullest) then they could not enter the Sunagakure Ninja Academy. They couldn't become a ninja.
This rule was probably demolished when Gaara became the Kazekage (knowing his moral code), so I'm fairly certain it'll remain in effect until then. Luckily enough, I was born with a healthy chakra system so I (personally) don't have anything to worry about.
Switching the topic, if a student wanted to graduate from the Academy, they would be required to take a practical and written exam. Then, if they passed those, they'd have to demonstrate several basic jutsu. I knew everything that the Academy had to teach— thanks to the help of my past memories, Chiyo, and Sasori.
So, needless to say, I was ready to get the fuck out of there.
"Perform the Sand Clone jutsu again; your hand seals were full of flaws."
I groaned, cracking my aching knuckles. Ninjutsu was fun and all, but memorizing the hand seals was a pain. Literally, since my fingers always managed to cramp up when I was in the middle of trying to execute a jutsu. It was annoying.
Sasori didn't seem to care about my problem, however, as he continued to work me into the dust every day without any problem. When I had brought up graduating early at the age of nine, Sasori said he wouldn't allow it unless he could decide for himself that I was ready for the shinobi lifestyle.
As if he hadn't graduated early without any sort of fuss, tch.
"Saso-nii, come on! How many times are you going to make me repeat this jutsu?!"
"Until you can execute the hand seals perfectly and within a decent amount of time."
"Who cares about all of that? My clones always come out perfectly so that crap shouldn't matter!"
"It matters if it takes you several minutes to completely execute the jutsu, Kyojin. By then the enemy will know what you're up to and can effectively counter it."
"Or better yet? Kill you." Komushi suddenly appeared in a whisk of sand. Recently he learned how to use the Sand Shunshin and had been using it ever since.
I rolled my eyes and huffed, "I'm gonna do it so just stand back and watch."
Sasori and Komushi exchanged amused looks, but listened to me nevertheless. Scowling at them, I took a deep breathe before rapidly performing the correct hand seals for the Sand Clone jutsu. My fingers only cramped once, and not a second later, a clone made out of nothing but sand stood next to me.
It matched my height and silhouette perfectly. Though it lacked the detail of a normal clone, it was much more durable and, thus, better suited for combat— unlike a regular clone. The latter were only good for distraction or confusing your opponent.
Sasori examined the clone from where he stood, whereas Komushi decided to get in it's face. The brunet poked and prodded the mold of sand, somewhat testing it's quality. "Looks pretty good, Kyo-chan!" He complimented at last. "What other jutsus have you gone over?"
"Besides this one... The regular clone technique, substitution, and the transformation one."
"Aw, I missed all of that!?" He pouted.
"We asked if you wanted to help, but you said you were too busy."
"Oi! Unlike you two, I have a team that I train and hang out with!"
My eyebrows furrowed, a look of offense on my face. "Saso-nii has a team."
Komushi snorted, "He had one. If it's just him and his sensei then it doesn't count! It's more like an apprenticeship than a team!"
"Anyways," Sasori finally interrupted. "I can now honestly say that I think you're ready to graduate, Kyo." My brother stepped forward to place a hand on my shoulder while Komushi ruffled my hair fondly.
"Keep working on those hand seals, though."
"Shut up, Komushi!"
× × ×
Murai raised a curious eyebrow at me, "You're going to graduate early?"
"I mean, maybe. I haven't asked Sensei if I can take the exam yet. What about you?" I shrugged, my eyes glued to the bento in my lap. I should probably start making my own lunches; Chiyo's were beginning to get repetitive.
"Me?" The pinkette seemed surprised that I asked, both of his eyebrows raising this time. "I can't graduate early unless Jin-hime also chooses to do so~" He said it in such a chipper voice, though it was anything but genuine.
"Huh."
"If you want to graduate early, you should hurry up and do so." Jin Niijima revealed herself, which made me flinch while Murai remained unmoved. He only smiled sweetly at my reaction; my eyes narrowed.
'Asshole probably knew she was here the whole time.'
Sighing, I looked to the young girl. "What do you mean? Is something happening?"
She nodded, "Since the war ended and we became allies to Konoha, both of the villages have begun working on ways to strengthen our peace treaty."
"You're pretty well informed for a nine-year-old..." I muttered skeptically.
"My grandfather is on the Sunagakure Council. He told this information to my father, who in turn told me. Your uncle is on the Council, too, so I'm surprised he didn't tell you."
"I don't think the Council is supposed to blab about what happens at their meetings, Jin-hime~" Murai butted in, wagging his finger in his cousin's face.
Jin's eyes studiously watched said appendage for a second before swiping it away. "Anyways, Suna and Konoha will be holding their first joint-training session soon. A select few students from the Academy will travel to Konoha to experience what their Ninja Academy is like."
"Wow~! That sounds super fun! I bet Konoha is gonna do the same, right? Will they be sending over a few of their students, too?"
Jin nodded, "Of course it won't just be Academy students. They're sending some of their chūnin instructors over to observe as well."
"Well," I leaned back on my hands to stare at the clear sky above us. "This could either be extremely bothersome or—"
"—Extremely fun~!" Murai threw a hand around my shoulder, a sparkle in his eyes as if he knew exactly what the future had in store for the three of us. I merely dipped my head back and groaned.
'I better talk to Sensei before it's too late.'
× × ×
Naturally, when it came to my luck, it was too late.
After lunch ended I did my best to try speak to Sensei as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the moment I opened my mouth to ask, the instructor announced the joint-training program that Konoha and Suna were going to hold.
I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back an annoyed outburst; Murai was snickering into his hand from beside me.
Then came the announcement of who was eligible to attend this program. Only the best two students from each year (excluding the children that were younger than seven) were allowed to go; Suna had appearances to keep after all.
I shrunk down into my seat when Sensei began to call out the two names.
"The two students representing our class will be... Jin Niijima,"
'Should have seen that coming. If that's the case then these selections are probably rigged by the Council. Jin can't go far unless Murai is at her side, so it's obvious that he's the second person that'll be—'
"...and Kyojin."
"What!?"
× × ×
Jin and I had to stay after school to get a briefing from our instructor. He went on to tell the both of us that it was an honor that we had been selected to represent our class and village, but also that this experience was optional and that we could decline it (even though such a decision would earn an immense amount of disapproval from the Council most likely).
So really, it wasn't optional at all, but they just said that to make it feel like we had a choice.
The joint-training program was to begin at the end of the month. We'd leave a week before then, so we had plenty of time to let our families know and get our shit together.
"I'm definitely not at the top of the class, so why was I chosen to go with you?" I questioned Jin after we met back up with Murai. The cousins looked at each other, exchanging a knowing look. Apparently they suspected the reason, but weren't going to tell me.
"Perhaps you're underestimating your abilities, Kyo-kun." Jin replied.
"Stop with the sweet talk. This has something to do with your arranged marriage, doesn't it?"
Murai finally spoke up, lacking his usual cheerful and teasing tone. "We're not positive, but Niijima-sama did tell Jin-hime an awful lot about the joint-training program. Then you were selected to go even though you're not at the top of the class..."
I sighed, rubbing my temples. I should have seen this coming the moment Jin started taking an interest me; of course her father would look into me. Especially if he was planning to marry her off at some point.
'Hopefully he'll dismiss it eventually. I doubt he wants Jin to marry a clanless kid.'
"Don't worry too much, Kyo~chan!" Murai tried to lessen my worries, returning to his usual persona. "I'm sure Niijima-sama will get disappointed once he looks into your family background."
"Your tact amazes me."
× × ×
Sasori was the one to see me off when it was time for me to leave. Chiyo had seen me the night before, knowing that she'd probably be too busy at the hospital to officially say goodbye today. I didn't mind; I was never one for sappy farewells anyway. Neither was Sasori apparently.
My brother was all business as he handed me my bag. I had packed it the night before, but of course, Sasori took it upon himself to repack it the 'right' way. Since I was probably going to be in Konoha for more than a few weeks, I was sure to pack plenty of clothes and other essentials. I didn't want to have to lug around a ton of bags, however, so I had made some storage scrolls to put most of my things in (it was great practice for my fūinjutsu).
All of the Academy students that had been selected to participate in the joint-training were to meet with the chūnin instructors at Sunagakure's front gates. There we'd all meet with a team of Konoha-nin, who were to escort us to their village.
It was unnecessary, but a polite gesture nonetheless.
"Kyojin, I need you to remember this," Sasori spoke sternly. "We may be at peace for now, but it was a Konoha-nin that killed our parents. Be careful and be wary."
"Don't worry, nii-sama, I'll be fine!" I reassured with a sigh; I knew from my memories that nothing was going to happen to weaken our alliance with Konoha until much later into the future. There was nothing to worry about.
Sasori ruffled my hair, an exasperated expression on his face. "Yes, I know— I know. I'll miss you, otōto."
"I'll miss you too, Saso-nii." I reached up to grasp the hand on my head, pulling it down to my face so that I could nuzzle against it. The thirteen-year-old smiled down at me, brushing his thumb against my cheek. I grinned back, releasing him to readjust the bag on my shoulders. "Be sure to tell Komushi I said 'bye'!"
"I will."
With one last meaningful smile, I quickly wrapped my arms around Sasori in a hug before pulling away just as fast. "Alright then, I'll see ya!"
I turned on my heel and rushed towards the front gates.
× × ×
(author's note) so, you may have noticed the nice little interludes included at the beginning of the chapter... i wanted to provide some insight on what the other characters have been thinking and etc, since the story has been written in first person for the most part. if you would like to see some more interludes, please let me know and feel free to mention who you'd like to see the interlude focus on!
this chapter was beta'd by the wonderful vandenberg and fortheloveofb !