Summary: Kokoro trains with her new team. Squabbles lead to a new mission.
Training was difficult. Surprisingly enough, Junichiro was the medic of the team. He knew a lot about medicine and bandaging wounds. He also knew about pressure points and ways to decapitate others. Kokoro learned that the hard way when she let him grapple her into a hold. She thought it was a good idea to let him do it and tire himself out before she broke from his hold. Unfortunately, he latched onto her neck immediately and began digging his finger into her skin. Her body grew limp and she could only watch as he laughed at her for the astonished look on her face. That had been embarrassing as she had to wait for the feeling to return to her body. Afterwards, Masumi had made her watch Junichiro and Enkai fight. It had been frustrating, but she knew why she had to watch. She had to get used to them, not the other way around.
While Junichiro was strong, Enkai was speed and agility. He easily dodged Junichiro's attacks and hit Junichiro with his own attacks. Enkai's hits didn't pack a punch, but he could get in three hits before backing away, making them as impactful as one. When Junichiro grappled him, Enkai was quick to break out of the hold and create distance between them. That wasn't the only difference. Enkai loved using weapons and utilized kunai, shuriken, and his sword. It was surprising, at first, to see a weapon appear out of mid-air in Enkai's hands, but now Kokoro looked forward to seeing them fly. He was strapped from head to toe! Junichiro preferred his hands. Grabbing, punching, pinching, jabbing, anything he could do with his hands and get leverage against his opponent. The only similarity the two had was they knew each other's moves.
"Did you enjoy watching, Hatake?" Enkai teased.
"Did you enjoy getting your ass beat?" Kokoro asked, gesturing towards a smiling Junichiro. He bounded up to the pair and wrapped his arms around their shoulders. Enkai scowled and ducked out of the hold while Kokoro shook her head fondly and rubbed her knuckles on Junichiro's head. He winced and whined. He grabbed her hands and shook her back and forth.
"Why are you such a traitor, Roke?" Junichiro cried. "I thought we were gonna gang up on Enkai?"
"I can't ignore an opportunity to mess with you, Juro," Kokoro said. "That was very impressive."
"Thanks," Junichiro said. "I've been trying to get better since I lost before the third round of the Chunin Exams. My goal is to make it to the third round."
"Your goal," Enkai butted in, "should be to win."
"Listen," Junichiro started, "I'm being realistic. One step at a time."
"One step at a time isn't going to get you anywhere," Enkai said. "My goal is to win it all."
"What's your goal, Roke?"
"My goal is to pass and become a chunin again," Kokoro answered quickly. "I want to make it to the third round and I want to beat my first opponent, but if I don't win it all, then I'll be okay."
"If you don't try to improve and make it farther, then you aren't worth it," Enkai commented.
"Why am I not surprised you stuck your foot in your mouth yet again," Kokoro said. "Not everyone is out to be the best."
"Well, I am," Enkai said. "If you're not aiming to be the best, then why are you trying to be a shinobi? It's worthless, if you ask me."
"No one asked you," Kokoro said.
"Don't start," Junichiro pleaded. "I can't go through any more of Masumi-sensei's co-op training sessions."
"It's not like they help anyway," Kokoro said. "What Enkai needs is a lesson on speaking."
"And what Hatake needs is a lesson on tact," Enkai bit back.
"Me? Tact? Hah!" Kokoro laughed. "That's rich coming from you. Half the things you say are insensitive."
"I don't need this," Enkai grumbled as he began walking away.
All the while, Masumi watched as they exchanged words. It wasn't hard to understand why they were fighting so much, but Masumi wished Kokoro would get a grip and realize why. She needed those emotional intelligence classes immediately if she was to be a diplomat. She couldn't look past her insecurities enough to see the problem. Masumi sighed and slid a hand down their face. Kokoro was so smart, yet so dumb. Perhaps they'd push her in the right direction. They pushed off the tree they were leaning against and walked towards Kokoro and Junichiro. They gestured for Junichiro to go after Enkai while they had a talk with Kokoro.
"I'm sorry," Kokoro apologized automatically. "I just don't understand why he's like that!"
"I need you to think very hard about all the things Enkai has told you."
"What is that going to do? It's just going to make me mad all over again."
"Kokoro, not everyone lives the same life. You should know by now that life in Kiri is not perfect, and you should know by now that many struggle living here," Masumi reminded her.
"I know that," Kokoro said, frustrated.
"Do you?" Masumi asked as Junichiro came back with Enkai in tow. Kokoro and Masumi watched them trudge their way, Kokoro with a neutral look and Masumi with a thinking look.
Ekai glared at Kokoro when Junichiro nudged him. "I only came back because I don't want a harsher punishment from Masumi-sensei."
"Smart," Masumi said. "You will serve your punishment later. For now, I need the three of you to do something for me."
"You need all three of us to do it?" Kokoro clarified.
"Is there a problem with that?" Masumi asked.
"Not at all," Kokoro said, choosing to comply rather than argue and get punished the same as Enkai.
"I need you to track someone down for me."
"Who is it?" Junichiro asked.
"That is for you to figure out."
"How are we supposed to find someone we don't know the name of?" Enkai asked.
"He has a point," Kokoro agreed. "We can't gather intel about this person if we don't know their name."
"If you can't find them for me by the end of the day, then all of you are going to be running around this village until your legs give out. That means no breaks for food, no breaks for water, no breaks for the bathroom, no breaks for sleep. I suggest you do your best rather than mope that you don't know their name," Masumi suggested.
"We can find them!" Junichiro declared quickly. "We'll be nibble!"
"Nimble," Kokoro and Enkai corrected at the same time. They side-eyed each other before focusing on Masumi once more.
"Good. The person you need to find is a friend of mine that owes me a favor and I'm ready to cash in that favor."
"Can you tell us anything about their appearance?" Enkai asked.
"They have bottomless eyes and are painted with purple."
The three genin waited for more information, but they quickly realized they weren't getting any more than that. Junichiro couldn't help but panic about the idea of running until he could no longer run. He couldn't help but doubt they were going to find this person. How could they find them when they had so little to work off of? Enkai didn't show it but he was worried, too. Masumi's punishments were always so brutal. He would do and he could do it, and that was what worried him. He would give it his all, even if he didn't want to run. He would continue even after his legs wobbled and folded on him. And Kokoro, well she had an idea of who it could be, yet she couldn't remember their name. She couldn't remember if they were a man or a woman either. It had been so long since she'd seen the person. Either way, she was not going to do Masumi's punishment. She was tired of punishments. She'd never gotten so many in such a short period of time. If only she could use her ninken.
"I got it!" Kokoro shouted abruptly. "Masumi-sensei, do you have something with their scent on it?"
"No, and I don't want you to use your ninken," Masumi said.
Kokoro pouted and said, "But it would be the perfect way to train with them about tracking! And since I'm part of this team, they will be, too, and they haven't met anyone yet besides you, sensei."
"That's not the point, Kokoro. You can bring out your ninken tomorrow. Today's mission is for the three of you only."
"Okay," Kokoro said.
"I'm serious, Kokoro," Masumi said. "If I find out you've used your ninken to find them, I will suspend you from our missions. They might only be D-ranked right now, but if you don't do a certain number of successful missions, you won't get to take the Chunin exams."
"But if I don't take the Chunin exams, how will Juro and Enkai take them?" Kokoro asked.
"Exactly. Don't jeopardize their chances, too."
Kokoro looked at her teammates and knew she couldn't do that to them. As much as she wanted to use her ninken to get the mission over with, she needed to become a chunin again. She couldn't do that alone. If only her nose was stronger and could distinguish between so many scents in the air.
"Okay, Masumi-sensei. I won't use my ninken to find them," Kokoro promised.
"I believe you," Masumi said. "I'll be on my way, now. Good luck, and don't disappoint me." They disappeared in a rush of water, leaving the three genin to figure out how they were going to find the mystery person.
"I know who it is," Kokoro stated.
"That's great!" Junichiro said as Enkai questioned, "You do?"
"Yeah, I think."
"Either you know or you don't," Enkai said.
"Either way," Kokoro said, "it's a better lead than you have."
"Says you!" Enkai shouted. "We could run around the entire village trying to find this person you think it could be and waste our time!"
"And what could we possibly be doing if we don't even know -!"
"Enough!" Junichiro yelled. Kokoro stopped talking and stared at Junichiro in shock. Enkai crossed his arms over his chest as if in indifference, but his widened eyes and stiff posture showed the truth. "I am sick of the two of you fighting! I can't take it anymore! All I want to do is have as much fun as I can while learning to fight for my life and all the two of you want to do is be so malevolent towards each other! Get it together because I refuse to be on a team that doesn't know how to be amicable!"
Kokoro and Enkai were quietly shocked. They stared at each other, a truce creating between the two of them. Junichiro had never used words like amicable and malevolent correctly before. He was mad, and Kokoro didn't feel comfortable with him being mad. Enkai felt the same.
"Okay," Enkai said. "I'll stop fighting with Hatake."
"And I'll stop fighting with Enkai," Kokoro said.
"Good," Junichiro huffed. "Now, I think we should follow Kokoro's lead. Even if she's not one hundred percent sure, it's something."
"Okay," Enaki agreed. "Tell us what they look like, Hatake."
"I think they're a woman. Either way, they have dark hair that I think is black, and their eyes were black. They had like dots or lines or something in place of their eyebrows and there was something on their mouth," Kokoro described.
"Something on their mouth?" Junichiro inquired.
"Kind of like their mouth was stitched together or something," Kokoro said. "I don't remember all the specifics, but I do know they looked like a bruised eye, all purple and black."
"Do you remember their name?" Enkai asked.
"I don't," she said.
"Think harder," Enkai said.
"Seriously?" Kokoro asked with a glare.
"I'm not trying to start a fight," he told them. "I just want you to concentrate. A name is important."
"Yeah, yeah," Kokoro said before she closed her eyes and thought hard. "It was Aka something. Something to do with red."
"That's it?" Enkai asked flatly.
"It's a start," Junichiro said.
"Should we do this together or split up?" Kokoro asked. "We could cover more ground if we split up, but it would be easier to catch them if we do it together."
"Split up," Enkai said. "Like you said, we'll cover more ground. When one of us gets a lead, we can give a signal or something."
"What kind of signal?" Junichiro asked.
"Like a special sound or something," Enkai said.
"I don't know if we can do that though," Junichiro said uncertainly. "Remember the last time the special forces heard a signal sound? They went nuts!"
"I remember," Enkai sighed.
"I have an idea," Kokoro said, "and I don't want you to be mad at me for it."
"What's your idea?" Junichiro asked.
"I could use my ninken to help us find each other," she suggested.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Enkai shouted. "You'll jeopardize our chances to take the Chunin Exams!"
"Just listen for a second!" Kokoro yelled. "I know what Masumi-sensei said. They said I couldn't use my ninken to find the person. They never said I couldn't use the ninken to find you."
"Is there a difference?" Enkai asked loudly.
"You tell me," Kokoro said. "You've known them longer. Would they be okay with the loophole, or would they punish us?"
"I'm telling you, it's not a good idea," Enkai said.
"Just think about it first. Please." Enkai stared at her, debating what to do. "I want us to succeed. I don't want to run around the entire village just because we couldn't find one person. I'm tired of getting so many punishments and feeling like I'm failing. So, please, just think. What would Masumi-sensei do if I used my ninken to communicate with both of you?"
"They would," Enkai started. He paused and thought about it some more. "They would - they would probably be okay with it."
"You think?" Kokoro asked as she brightened.
"Masumi-sensei never specifically told you not to use your ninken to help us communicate. And technically you only promised not to use the ninken to find the person,' Enkai explained. "I think they would be proud of us for finding the loophole and using it to your advantage. They always tell us to use everything to gain the upper hand, even if other people think we're fighting dirty."
"Are your ninken nice?" Junichiro asked hesitatingly. "I don't want your dog barking at me the whole time."
"They're not trusting of other people, but they trust me," Kokoro told them. "Besides, we only need three of them, and the ones I'm thinking of are great at focusing on the task at hand."
"Alright," Enkai said. "Let's get this going then."
"Okay," Kokoro said quietly before she summoned her ninken. Unfortunately, all of them showed up as she wasn't used to summoning just a few of them. Mimi and Nanako bounded up to her, as usual, with wagging tails, while Fuwafuwa, Shishio, and Totoro hung back, eyeing Enkai and Junichiro. "Mimi, Nanako, down," Kokoro ordered. They whimpered quietly and did as they were told. "I missed seeing you, too, but I only need Fuwafuwa, Shishio, and Totoro right now."
"But Kokoro," Mimi whined.
"I haven't learned how to summon just one of you yet," Kokoro explained gently. "I promise I will summon you to the apartment later. Right now, I have an important mission I need to complete with my team."
"Okay!" Mimi shouted before she poofed away with Nanako.
"So, this is your new team," Totoro said.
"Yes," Kokoro said. "This is Enkai and Junichiro."
"And what of this mission?" Shishio asked.
"We have to find someone. However, I can't use the three of you to find them," Kokoro answered.
"Then what do you want us to do?" Fuwafuwa asked.
"We need you to help us find each other and communicate with each other during our mission," Enkai said.
"You can use your sense of smell to find us, but that's it," Kokoro explained. "I was thinking you," she gestured towards Totoro, "can go with Enkai. He can hold his own the best and you'll be able to run the fastest to round the rest of us up."
"Which one is Enkai?" Totoro asked. Kokoro pointed him out and Totoro walked towards him to sit by his side.
"Shishio," she continued. "You can go with Junichiro, and Fuwafuwa, you're with me." Then, she addressed her teammates. "Before we split up, Totoro, Shishio, and Fuwafuwa need to sniff you to get your scents. It will help them find you when we need to meet up again."
Enkai and Junichrio stood still as the ninken sniffed them thoroughly. After each dog took their turn, they sneezed in satisfaction and voiced their completion. The three genin met each other's eyes and nodded their heads. Enkai went east, Junichiro went south, and Kokoro went west. They agreed that they would meet up in the northern part of the village if they hadn't found who they were looking for.
Kokoro watched her teammates run off into the misty afternoon. Fuwafuwa nudged her with his snout. She looked down at him and patted him on the head. "Let's get going."
Quick update: I promise I will finish this fic and the entire series! I'm just having a lot of writer's block. I have this story planned out (what events are going to be covered, character development, relationship development, etc.) but it's super hard to get it all out and jotted down. Updates will be slow and inconsistent. I totally understand if you want to check back in later :)
I'm hoping I can finish this by next summer. In the mean time, if you see any new stories I publish, it's because I have other ideas for other stories. Plus (!!) writing for other stories usually helps me write for this one. I have quite a few story drafts, and I want to try to add some side stories from An Unexpected Friend.
In addition, I am no longer updating on Fanfiction.net. I don't generate much traffic there, and it is hard posting on 4 sites. If I'm being honest, I would rather focus on Quotev and AO3. However, I still get feedback and support here, so I'm not going to abandon this profile.