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"I know you can come at me better than that!" I shouted playfully from across our little rocky training area, having just successfully dodged one of Katsu's attacks. I balanced my tanto by the blade on my pointer finger and faked a yawn, fawning at my mouth. "What a bore."
Katsu huffed, bending over with the red and gold handle of his katana clutched between his hands. Sweat dribbled down his forehead, black hair more matted than usual from the amount of sweat he was producing. He narrowed his dark eyes, sneering. "Shut up! You're so irritating."
I let out a low whistle. "Man, you're starting to sound like me! Now just throw in a little 'fuck' and then we'd practically be twins!"
Ryuu, who sat on a rather large boulder a little ways off to the side by the rushing river, chewed on the handle of his paint brush. He stared down at the blank seal tag sitting before him, ink dripping mindlessly from the wet tip and falling onto the rock.
"Don't patronize me!" Snapped Katsu, adjusting his grip on the handle of the katana.
"I wasn't!" I smirked. "Just waiting for you to make a move already. That is, if you ever do. At this rate I'm bound to be a century older by the time you even take a step forward."
Fed up with my patronizing, Katsu let out a battle cry and raced across the training grounds toward me. I grinned, flipping my tanto so I was actually holding it properly, and getting into a battle stance. I met Katsu's dark gaze and didn't even attempt to avert my eyes, actually enjoying the pure determination in his eyes. Honestly—it was kind of hot.
Katsu swung his blade at me when he got close enough, but I was faster, bending backwards into a low limbo. The blade was just a hair off from scuffing my nose, and if I had moved even a second slower, the tip of my nose would have been fucking shaved off. Good thing I wasn't a slow dumbass.
While Katsu recovered from his way too aggressive swing, I took the opportunity to do a back handspring, putting some distance between us. Katsu grit his teeth and made a move to come at me again, but I didn't wanna deal with that. So I did kind of what I always did—body flickered away.
I landed on a large boulder in the middle of the rushing river we'd been sparing by. Placing my hand on my hip, I allowed the other holding my tanto to flop down by my waist. I shot Katsu a smirk.
"You can't do that every time!" Shouted Katsu, looking nothing but infuriated.
Ryuu shrugged from his place on the boulder, paintbrush now in his hand as he made delicate strokes on the sealing paper. "She's just usin' her advantages. Don't get all mad because of that. If anything, think of it as a challenge!"
"Listen to your very wise friend, dumbass-san," I bent over in a mock bow, palms pressed together. "For he is your only hope."
A rock knocked me in the head. I cried out, standing up again and putting my hand on the spot that had been hit. I glared daggers are Katsu. "You dick!"
"Simply using my advantages." Katsu smirked, sheathing his Katana. "But as I can't reach you, I'd say we're done for today."
"Already?!" I whined, throwing my hands up. "You can't think of anything else you can do. Nothing at all?"
"I have other options." He said simply, turning around and beginning to walk over to Ryuu who was still scribbling away at the sealing paper. "But I don't care enough to try them."
I flipped off his retreating form, before sliding my tanto into its sheath on my back. I body flickered back to the land, and jogged my way over to Ryuu and Katsu, who had surprisingly made his way over there already. He took a swig from his water bottle, before pouring a large portion of it on his head. I rolled my eyes at the waste of water. If he was that hot he should just go dunk his head in the river. Maybe we'd get lucky and he'd get swept away.
I folded my arms and leaned on the boulder, raising a brow at Ryuu's ink chicken scratches on the paper. "What exactly are you attempting to do?"
"Hm..." he pursed his lips, leaning back from the page. He put the handle of the paint brush back into his mouth, chewing on the handle. "I'm not sure. Maybe a more powerful explosive tag? Who knows. Somethin' cool though."
"A more powerful explosive tag for your favorite teammate?" I asked with a teasing smirk, tilting my head. If there was one thing Ryuu was really good at, it was making an explosive tag. I needed some badly too.
"Ah, no thanks, I don't really have a use for explosive tags," chimed in Katsu, screwing the lid back onto his water bottle.
I shot him a glare. "Okay, fuck you."
Katsu chuckled, coming over to lean on the boulder too. He leaned his back against it, placing his elbows on either side of the rock and tilting his head back. The breeze blew through his dark hair, drying some of the nasty ass sweat from it.
"So..." began Ryuu cheekily, pulling the brush out of his mouth. He set it in its case along with the chakra infused ink, seemingly done with that for now. He cast Katsu a teasing look. "Someone's turning 14 soon, huh?"
Katsu barely opened one of his eyes, peaking at Ryuu with distaste. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes tightly, letting out a low grumble. "So what if I am?"
"Nothin'..." chirped Ryuu, sliding off the boulder.
"You are not throwing me a party."
"Aw, but Katsu-kun," I said in a creepily cheery voice, trying to mimic the way girls often said his name when they were trying to get his attention. Placing my chin in my hand, I pushed my lower lip into a pout, giving him puppy dog eyes. "Don't you want us to throw you one? You always seem to love the attention from not only us, but the girls who enjoy cooing over everything you do."
"Shut up," snapped Katsu, glaring at me.
Ryuu fanned his face, making dramatic noises of awe as hearts radiated from him. "Oh Katsu-kun! You're so old and mature!"
Katsu sneered at Ryuu and chucked his empty water bottle at him. Ryuu effortlessly caught it and waved it teasingly in the air at our dark haired teammate, who looked more and more irritated as the teasing went on.
"I think you forget we're ninja with fast reflexes," I hummed, raising a brow at him. I gave a shrug, closing my eyes. "I mean, not that I really understand why you're making such a big fuss. You always try to get attention from girls, but when they express interest in you, lately you go all crazy and get super annoyed. Make up your fucking mind, would ya'?"
Katsu rolled his eyes. "I swear, you're so dumb sometimes."
I pointed to myself, mouth falling open. "Me?!"
"Yeah. You."
I waved him off, rolling my eyes. "Okay, we are not getting into another fight again."
"Kohana? Refusing to fight?" Katsu snorted, throwing his hands up. "Someone mark the history books! Never before seen! Akashi Kohana attempting to be the bigger person!"
Ryuu winced. "...jeez... what is the problem with you two...?"
I stared at Katsu with a level headed look, only to shake my head with a sigh at the lack of remorse in his eyes. "I'm not doing this."
I went home right after that. Mostly because I was hungry, in need of a shower after training, and fucking pissed.
The apartment was empty when I got home, my old man probably on a mission or something. I didn't really pay much attention to that. To be honest, I didn't give a flying shit about that at the moment either. All I wanted was a cool shower to hopefully calm myself down. Because right now, I wanted to punch a fucking hole through the wall and pretend it was Katsu's damn face.
I ripped a change of clothes out from my dresser, slamming the drawer shut before stomping into the bathroom. I slammed the bathroom door behind me too and locked it aggressively—that is... if you can even do that aggressively.
Who am I kidding? I can do literally anything aggressively.
After the coldest shower of my fucking life, I got dressed in a pair of black cargo pants and a cropped, tight long sleeve yellow shirt with a white line trialing from both my shoulders and down to my wrists. I wore a black belt with that too, a couple sealing scrolls with explosive tags clipped to the belt.
Running my fingers through my still damp hair, I walked out into my living room, not even flinching at the sight of Ryuu sliding in through the window.
At this point, he sorta just let himself in.
Ryuu walked over and dropped onto the couch. The cushions bounced underneath the impact of his body, the old frame groaning in protest. He let out a loud sigh and folded his hands behind his head, before kicking his feet up and resting them on the beat up coffee table.
I walked into the kitchen and began shuffling through the cabinets for something to eat, but I was finding next to nothing that actually interested me. I groaned at the lack of good stuff, before my eyes finally landed on something in the very back.
As soon as I turned around, I scowled at what I saw, practically stabbing Ryuu with my eyes. "Get your feet off my table."
"Aw, but Kohana-chan!" He whined, sticking his lip out.
I gave him a flat look, beginning to make my food in the microwave. He made a 'hmph' noise and pulled his feet off the table. Ryuu crossed his arms across his chest and pouted, but I wasn't falling for jack shit. I walked over from the kitchen, one of the few instant ramen cups naruto had given me in hand. I dropped onto the couch next to him and kicked my feet up on the coffee table.
Ryuu threw his hand up, gesturing to my feet. "Why do you get to put them there but I can't?!"
I shoveled some of the spicy ramen into my mouth and noisily slurped them up. "Because it's my table and my house. I can do whatever the hell I want."
He grumbled bitterly under his breath, glaring at the the kitchen cabinets. He was very obviously waiting for me to cave and let him put his nasty feet all over the table, but there was no way in hell that was happening. Ryuu was the type to have fucking toe jam. Or... foot fungus. No thank you. I'll take a hard pass on both those things.
After slurping up a bit more of my ramen, I eyed Ryuu, who had a look of concentration on his face. He wasn't really pouting anymore, more so just thinking. It made me a little worried. Not that I was worried Ryuu seemed to be having an intellectual thought, more so the fact he seemed troubled. He wasn't a worrier.
I raised a brow, swallowing my bite. "Is there something you've got on your mind?"
Ryuu glanced to me, before shrugging. He slid down farther into the couch, sluggishly sitting with his arms crossed and face hidden partially in his loose shirt. "I don't know. I guess... I was just thinkin' about how Katsus been acting kind of off lately. And um... I don't know what else. I just feel off."
Giving him a side eye full of concern, I leaned forward and placed the half eaten cup of ramen on the coffee table. I sat back, folding my legs criss cross on the cushion. "Is this about you changing your last name to Uzumaki?"
"I already did it."
My eyes widened.
"Woah... that didn't... take long at all..."
It had been a week... tops since Ryuu told us about his heritage and the clan his mother was part of. From the way his reaction was, I can also assume he hadn't told his aunt about the choice to change his little siblings last name, or his own. Frankly I wasn't sure his siblings were even aware of the switch of their last names. But as their technical legal guardian, being a shinobi and all, he had the right to the girls. He could change their name as he pleased.
"I did what I thought was right." He frowned. "It just... didn't feel right being called Iwasaki Ryuu."
I cracked a small smirk, trying to make light of the mood. "If anything, Uzumaki Ryuu sounds pretty sick. Not to mention, you're cousins with Naruto."
Ryuu blinked slowly. "...I didn't even... think about that..."
"Make sure to tell the blonde idiot the next time you see him," I said, stretching out my arms. "He'd go fuckin' nuts."
Ryuu snickered, shaking his head at the thought of Naruto going bonkers from the information of having a family member. His mood then went somber, smile sliding off his face almost as soon as it had arrived. "Kohana, I don't want to be the one to make the mood tension-y, but Katsu has been acting really odd lately."
I chewed my lower lip, thinking about his past behaviors. "Yeah. He has. But I wouldn't hold it against him. After all, wouldn't you be upset if Katsu and I got promoted, or had the opportunity to be promoted, while you didn't? I know I would be fucking livid."
Ryuu frowned. "I guess you're right. I just wish he... could be happy for us or something? I dunno... I didn't ask for him to not make it to the finals."
I frowned at the swarm of guilt in my stomach, thinking back to how I'd knocked him out before the preliminary exams. I'd done it for his own good though, right? He could have seriously injured himself. Like... seriously injured himself. I could only imagine how bad it could have been. Especially if he could barely walk on his ankle to get to the tower.
A tapping on the window caused us both to look over. A messenger hawk sat on the frame Ryuu had forgotten to close before slipping inside and making himself at home on my futon. Getting up, I walked over and took a note from the pocket of the hawk, the Kumo insignia stitched on the side.
Unfolding it, I raised a brow, reading the note.
Akaashi Kohana, Uzumaki Ryuu
Your presence is requested by the Raikage ASAP
I wrinkled my nose.
How unprofessional is that?
"What is it?" Asked Ryuu, not having gotten up from the couch.
"The Raikage requested our presence."
The bird let out an obnoxious caw, causing Ryuu to jump. It flapped it's wings and blinked at us expectantly, pretty much telling us to get a move on. I rolled my eyes at the impatient bird and swatted at it, note still clutched in my hand. "Get out of here! Shoo!"
The bird made a move to nip at my hand, but I swatted at it just in time for it to get the message and leave my living room window sill. It flew off toward the Raikages building, where it probably came from originally. I rolled my eyes, bitterly shutting and locking the window.
"They always have to send a fucking bird." I grumbled, crumpling up the note and shoving it into my pocket. I grabbed ahold of my tanto hanging on a hook beside the front door and slid it onto my back, pulling at the leather strap to tighten it. Ryuu didn't make a move from the couch, so I glanced at him over my shoulder with a raised brow while putting on my sandals. "You gonna come or not?"
"Oh!" Ryuu jumped up and came over, bending down beside me to put his sandals on too. "I didn't know we were actually going."
I made a face, opening the door. "Why wouldn't we go see our Kage when he requests our presence, dipshit? That's literally asking for an ass whooping."
Ryuu shrugged, getting to his feet and walking out the door. "I dunno. You never seemed to care for authority really. Thought this was gonna be one of those times where you throw the note into the trash and say you never got it when a ninja shows up to escort you."
I snorted, closing and locking the door behind me. "I never did that."
"Umm... yeah you did," Ryuu cringed. "Sorry to break it to you. But respect was not your strong suit."
Curling my lip, I made a high pitched voice, mimicking him under my breath. "Respect was not your strong suit."
We left my apartment building, making our way there by sprinting along the dirt paths and bridges leading to the Raikages building. Little stringy green plants were placed outside the doorway in pots, but other than that there really wasn't much decoration. A napping chunin leaned against the wall right beside the door, headprotector pulled down over their eyes. They snored quietly, arms crossed and single foot propped against the building.
I rolled my eyes.
Looks like someone was really on top of their duties.
We walked inside, coming into a rounded hallway due to it being built into the mountain, large, clean glass windows lining the outer wall. I pursed my lips, looking out the windows as I made my way down the hall, spotting the occasional group of chatting shinobi standing around on every other floor as I went up a couple more flights of stairs.
Once we reached the top floor, there weren't any other random shinobi standing around, as it was technically the Raikages floor. The glass windows overlooked the village, wispy clouds visible to the naked eye. All the people looked like little ants in between the large points of the mountain tops. The view was kind of cool though, I had to say.
"Raikage-sama," Ryuu called, tapping his knuckles on the large wooden double doors to his office.
A gruff 'come in' was heard from inside, giving us the cue to step in. Ryuu walked in first and I shut it behind me, before we turned to face the burly man, who was standing by a set of large glass windows that seemed to be a common theme through the building.
He turned to face us, large, dark arms crossed over his exposed chest, eyes narrowed. I didn't think we were in trouble... but the way he was looking at us made me feel like a piece of meat. Or like I was about to get thrown out those pretty glass windows and descend to my death.
Mabui, Raikage-samas assistant, walked out from behind his desk, clipboard pressed against her front. She smiled at us, the bangs left out from the knot of white hair on her head falling into her green eyes. "I'm glad you two could make it here so quickly on such short notice."
"What's this about?" I asked, raising a brow at the woman. She tended to be way more approachable than the gruff man who wouldn't hesitate to chuck his desk across the room if I dropped a fuck.
"Have some patience." Said A, pushing his shoulders back. He stared at us intently, before coming forward and sitting at his desk, two files underneath his folded hands.
I raised a brow, glancing at Ryuu out of the corner of my eye. He looked as confused as I did, so I knew there was no help coming from him. Then again, he tended to be pretty dense in situations like these.
He flicked through the file on top, and from where I was standing, I could make out a photo... paper clipped to some other papers underneath, but I couldn't see much. We were too far away. Too bad my fancy eyes couldn't help me zoom in on em' like a sweet pair of binoculars.
"Uzumaki Ryuu," he began, eyes not straying from what was in front of him. Ryuu straightened at the sound of his name. "In the finals of the chunin exams, you ended the match quickly, and with plenty of energy to spare. You thought out many different ways to defeat your opponent if one way wasn't successful. You also demonstrated exceptional use of your specialty, fuinjutsu, along with ninjutsu."
Ryuu seemed to be glowing in pride at the compliments from our Kage. Honestly, I was surprised he hadn't combusted right then and there from how happy he was.
"Thank you, Raikage-sama." He bent over into a perfect 90 degree bow, eyes squeezed shut tight.
A only gave him a nod. Ryuu stood back up, still smiling.
"Akaashi Kohana," My eyes flickered from my grinning teammate to the Raikage as he spoke. "Over your time in the Hidden Leaf, it came to my attention that your value of teamwork and balance has improved. In your final match, you also demonstrated skills of resourcefulness, and well thought out strategies, despite your usual track record of doing everything on the fly. Your actions of defending your teammates, forming plans, and the Hidden Leaf ninja during the Konoha Crush is also something that cannot be over looked."
He closed the file and pushed it to the end of his desk. He leaned back into his chair, folding his hands on his desk again. "For this reason, myself, Darui, and C have come to the decision to promote you both to Chunin."
A gestured for Mabui to come forward, and it was then I noticed the two white flack jackets in her hand. My lips parted, and I couldn't help my heart picking up pace in my chest as I took it from her hands.
"Oh... oh Kami...." murmured Ryuu, taking his as well.
"You've earned it." Smiled Mabui. "Congratulations."
"As your first mission." Said the Raikage, pulling a scroll from his drawer. "You'll he delivering this to the Hidden leaf to discuss our trade routes and what goods will be exchanged. You'll reside there for about a week and a half before making your journey back with their response. You leave in the morning."
Since Ryuu was too shocked to even move, I took a step forward for him and grabbed ahold of the scroll. My mouth was totally dry as I pocketed it in my kunai pouch, and I swore I was gonna barf everywhere from the flip flops my stomach was doing added with the pounding of my heart.
"You're dismissed," A cracked a small smile, the very corners of his lips tilting upward. Really, you wouldn't have been able to see it if you hadn't been paying close attention. Lucky for him, I was, 'cause I was hyper focused on not puking. "Don't screw this up and make me demote you."
Ryuu and I walked out of his office and down the multiple flights of stairs, both our flack jackets clutched in our hands. We hadn't spoken a word to one another or made a move to put it on, and I wasn't sure if he or I was gonna be the one to break the frozen, shocked silence.
We came to a stop outside the Kages building in dead silence. Neither of us knew what to say. Honestly, I think we were in a shock. Hell, as least I knew I was.
"Ryuu..." I began slowly, staring off ahead in a daze still. "Did we get... did we just get fuckin' promoted?"
"I think...." He swallowed hard, before looking down at the white flack jacket in his hands. He suddenly let out a loud shriek, jumping up into the air like a kangaroo on crack. "WE JUST GOT PROMOTED!!!!"
He threw his arms around me and laughed hysterically, shaking my body around like a rag doll. I cringed at the over the top physical contact, but I couldn't help but crack a small grin, just as excited as he was. Not that I was gonna jump around like that though. I had some sort of dignity. Even if it was just a little bit.
authors note:
y'all probably saw her promotion coming but
i do not care i knew this was gonna happen
from the beginning y'all. and yeah, kohana
was gone from the leaf village for like
2 chapters but guess what?? she's goin
back 😎
what do y'all think is gonna happen
while she's in the village again?? what
do u hope is gonna happen?? maybe
if i like an idea I'll try to fit it in... if u
catch my drift 😳
love u all sm
-kat