"Ugh it's so friggin' hot out here!" Risa complained as she fanned her face. "My skin's meltin' off my body with every second."
It had been four years since the two officially started working together as partners and they had risen in their ranks quite fast for anyone their age. This was a feat for a twelve and thirteen year old. If they continued their good work, they'd be promoted from chunin to jonin in no time.
"If you closed your mouth, it wouldn't be so hot." Kakuzu retorted as he focused his eyes on their target. If it hadn't been for their guarding task at hand, she probably would've hit him with the first thing she could get her hands on. For a second, compromising the mission didn't seem all that bad.
Usually when someone says something he doesn't agree with, she noticed Kakuzu may make a face but he won't say anything. Whenever she said the slightest thing though, he always had a comeback.
"No compassion whatsoever." She grumbled as she crossed her arms. When she was finally given the signal, Risa formed a hand sign and her vines extended through the ground, then broke through the surface, entrapping their subject in a matter of seconds. "Ya know, it wouldn't kill ya to be nicer to me. Hey! I'm talking to ya!"
Kakuzu quickly left her behind, approaching the man they'd been tailing for over an hour now. If he stayed, she'd have kept rambling and he didn't feel like listening to her.
"Who are you and what business do you have here?"
"Damn brats. It'd be in your best interest to let me go before things get crazy." The man sneered, most likely delirious. He would've continued his empty threats, but the vines around his body tightened, causing him to choke. If that wasn't enough to stunt his response, the young male appeared in front of him with a kunai pressed dangerously close to one of the carotid arteries in his neck.
"It'd be in your best interest not to come back."
Risa frowned and released her jutsu, causing the male to run while he had the opportunity. It didn't help that the man had rags for clothes and looked like he hadn't taken a bath in ages. Kakuzu would've gone after him, but his partner grabbed his wrist so he wouldn't run off too. After the male was out of sight, Kakuzu pulled his arm out of the girl's grasp and rolled his eyes.
"You're too soft."
"He wasn't even armed."
"You don't even know if he was alone or not."
"My intuition said that man was a straggler with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. Obviously he just happened to stumble over here. You could tell just by looking at him."
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. "Anyone who's not from the village is a threat. We treat them as such." Brushing past her, he walked back to their post. Soon, it would be time to switch so they could go home.
Risa rolled her eyes and followed him. It was her village too and she knew how to inspect possible enemies. The problem with the boy in front of her was that he was so quick to judge and let his temper take precedence. She was starting to get tired of his prideful attitude and wanted to take it down a few notches, which she knew was exactly why they were paired off together by the village head.
When they were relieved, the two went to the watering hole to cool off. Risa sat next to the stream and took off her shoes before sticking her feet in. Kakuzu took off his shirt and completely immersed himself in the water, but his partner refused to look at him, still pissed at his comments earlier.
"You were the main one complaining about the heat and now you aren't even cooling off." The male waded over towards her. Risa merely crossed her arms and turned her head away from him in response. "Are you on your cycle or something?"
"No!" She immediately kicked at him. "My problem is how assholey ya are."
"No one else has a problem with me but you. You just like fighting with me."
"Don't hold your breath."
Risa stood up and stripped out of her shinobi outfit so she could jump in the water for real. Turning back to Kakuzu, she placed her hands on her hips as he had his back turned to her.
"Oh, now you're quiet?"
When he didn't respond, she quietly slipped into the water and ducked under the surface to sneak up on him. Popping up behind him, she jumped on his back with a grin. The boy tried to shake her off of him, but she was persistent, thinking of it as a game more than anything. It wasn't until her foot brushed against something hard and she saw how red the tips of his ears were that she blinked in confusion.
"Are ya okay? Ya aren't getting heat stroke, are ya?" She climbed off of him and tried to feel his forehead.
"I'm fine." Kakuzu pulled away from her and immediately got out of the water. "Don't follow me."
The village head, Tatsuo, came by the watering hole and approached the two teenagers fondly. Upon his initial cheerful greeting from Risa in the water, he was met with a muffled, indirect one from Kakuzu. The leader was already aware of Kakuzu's difficult personality so he didn't pay any mind to it, however he did notice the male was making an intentional habit of covering the front of his pants. Oh, the qualms of youth...
"Risa, I need to borrow your partner for a moment." Tatsuo smiled.
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"And then he just disappeared on me for the rest of the day." Risa crossed her arms as she sat at the kitchen table. Currently, her mother, Bashira, was listening to her twelve-year-old rant while she was making dinner. Her father, Goro, was seated in a chair in the next room, sharpening some tools.
"Maybe he's just being shy." Bashira smiled as she stirred the contents in her pot. Just from the story alone, she was fully aware of the real reason.
Goro huffed. "It sounds like he doesn't have much regard for my daughter." Unlike his wife, he obviously didn't understand.
"That's not true, Daddy. Kakuzu and I work quite well together. Even the village head agrees." Risa stood up for her partner. "His communication's just a bit off."
"Well, it doesn't help that the poor thing lost his parents in the war." Bashira sighed. "Hopefully he keeps devoting himself to the village. Maybe you two will have a bright future and-"
"Don't encourage such foolishness, Bashira." Goro stood up with the assistance of his wooden crutch. During the war, he was gravely injured after his leg was cut off, so now he couldn't go anywhere without help. "I would never approve."
Bashira groaned. "Oh, just let me dream a little, Goro. My only child has sworn to protect the village so now I don't know if I'm going to get grandchildren or not."
Risa rubbed her temples as her parents started their usual bickering. They didn't argue as much when she was younger, but now that her father was in the house more, her mother probably just felt like her space was being invaded. "Knock it off, will ya?"
"There you go with that bumpkin twang." Goro rolled his eyes. "I don't know where you got that lazy accent of yours..."
"I got it from ya during the war."
"Don't ya, er you, lie to my face, child." Hearing it slip out, her father quickly cleared his throat to regain his composure.
"See what I mean." Risa pointed out as her mother laughed.
Bashira finished cooking and packed two helpings of stewed chicken and rice to hand to her daughter. "Boys think differently than girls, Risa. Whatever he had to leave for, I'm sure it wasn't because of anything you did. They don't pay that much attention to detail."
"What are you packing food for? You're not eating with us again, Risa?" Goro raised an eyebrow.
"I'll bring Kakuzu with me next time. I can't let him eat by himself. I'll be back later!"
The Okamoto child ran out before she could be interrogated further. Her parents seemed so lively tonight as they were having a grand time talking about her so their words could keep them company. It didn't take long for her to get to Kakuzu's home; it was towards the edge of the village. After knocking twice on his door, she barged in.
"I brought dinner- Wow! This place is a lot cleaner than I thought it'd be. Last time must have been a fluke."
"No one told you to come over last time. You caught me at a bad time." Kakuzu replied, unimpressed with the fact that she didn't wait until he let her in.
"Well, you are a 'growing boy', as my mom says." Risa shrugged. "Speaking of, she made stewed chicken and rice tonight. These servings are a bit hefty so I guess she was feeling pretty generous."
The two sat together at the kitchen table and ate dinner, enjoying Bashira's cooking. Risa watched him eat and tilted her head, lost in thought. It wasn't until her next comment that he almost spit his food out.
"Are you going through puberty?"
"What?"
"I mean, it's not a secret or anything. Everyone's body goes through changes."
"...Please stop."
Risa burst out in laughter at the sight of Kakuzu's uncomfortableness. This was a new emotion she hadn't seen from him. She was going to tease him forever about it now.
"We don't have our shift until the afternoon tomorrow so I'm staying over."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Too late. Also, wanna catch frogs before it gets too dark?"
"...Sure."
A/N: Hi again~ I hope you're having a blessed day and eat something good!
What's a FallenAmor original without a character picture?? xD Here's what I imagine Risa to look like!
Sweet dreams!
- Mira