Tenten was conflicted. It had been surprising to be asked out by a girl she barely knew, but also a bit flattering. She wouldn't want to say that she was attracted to powerful people, but there was something very appealing about self-assured, talented shinobi that Tenten definitely liked. Uzumaki Aiko was only fourteen, and already doing very well as a kunoichi. Aiko was no Tsunade of the Sannin, of course, but she was already the kind of kunoichi that Tenten would have looked up to as a little girl. She knew perfectly well that the other girl had a reputation for being reclusive and sharp-tongued, but that couldn't scare a girl who worked with Hyuuga Neji. Even the iciest of personalities thawed for something.
She just had to find out what Aiko softened for, and if she liked what she found when the walls came down, this might go somewhere. But first…
"Is… Is that Yamanaka Ino and her team hiding behind the curtain?" Tenten questioned uncertainly. Granted, it was hard to tell with surety, but there was one large lump and two thin ones, one of which seemed to be attached to tiny feet with sparkly blue nail polish and a silver toe ring.
Aiko shrugged without looking up from her fancy menu. "Probably," she offered. "But paying attention to her only encourages her persistent weirdness."
'They're within hearing distance,' Aiko noted distantly when a shriek of outrage reached her ears, muffled by what was probably Shikamaru's hand. 'I wonder why she dragged the boys along for this?'
"Oh, I see," Tenten said, sounding as if she really did understand now. It figured. If anyone in the world had been forced to acclimate to others' oddities more than Tenten, she didn't know of them. "So, ah. You look nice tonight…" She gave a quick glance to her companion's purple dress. It definitely wasn't something she'd ever seen Aiko wear before.
"That's probably why Ino is lurking," she explained contemplatively, lowering her menu to peek at her date. "Apparently, I own nothing suitable for wearing in civilized company and I was going to die alone with my dogs if she didn't help me out."
"You have dogs?" Tenten inquired politely. 'Pets? She doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd keep pets.'
'Oh, she's good,' Aiko noted. 'That was very smooth. She didn't even seem to stumble over thinking about commenting on the apparent deficiencies I hinted towards.'
"Kakashi-shishou let me sign his contract," she explained, reflexively moving to tuck her hair behind her ear out of habit even though it was pulled up. As always, she couldn't help but smile when she thought about getting to sign her shishou's contract. "I'm working with his pack right now, but I've already met two other ninken who are willing to work with me. We need to train together before they're mission-ready, since they're puppies too."
The other girl blinked. "Too? There are other puppies?"
Aiko flushed. "Ah, no, I meant me," she explained sheepishly. 'I forget that others don't use that terminology.'
"That's adorable," Tenten said firmly. "I like it. I might end up with Gai-sensei's tortoise contract, since Lee can't use chakra and Neji is… Well, he's Neji." She shrugged helplessly, as if to say, 'what can you do?'
"Yes, he is," Aiko agreed dryly. At the sharp expression her tone brought, she raised an eyebrow. "I have fond memories of him pounding the absolute crap out of me in taijutsu spars in the Academy. He's just so cheerful and encouraging that I've never forgotten the experience."
"Oh, I'd forgotten all about that!" Tenten breathed with an air of revelation. She giggled openly, not even bothering to hide the fact that her shoulders were shaking with laughter. "Yeah, he stomped you good, didn't he?"
An amused snort brought their attention to the waitress who had been politely standing by the table. "I'm sorry to interrupt your romantic dinner conversation. What will you ladies have today?"
When they were alone again, Tenten folded her hands in her lap and looked critically at her date. Why had she actually come on this date? She still wasn't entirely sure what she wanted, but she did feel a little bit of interest beyond a free meal at a nice restaurant.
"Did you want to see a movie afterward?"
Tenten shrugged noncommittally, still caught up in her thoughts.
Aiko was pretty, after all. It was the kind of pretty that belied her status as a B-class kunoichi and reputation as a rather ruthlessly practical one at that. Maybe in a few years she'd be the same sort of polished sexy that infiltration kunoichi gave off, but right now even the fact that her curves were more dramatic than Tenten's (admittedly minimal) curves didn't make her look very old. She was very petite and had those same enormous, soulful eyes that her brother had. It made for a very innocent sort of effect.
'I could tap that,' she decided internally. So what if Aiko was a year younger? In the grand scale of things, that was nothing.
"I don't know what's out in theaters right now," she managed to reply. "Is there anything you'd really like to see?"
She wasn't particularly fond of the way that Ino had apparently dressed Aiko up for this. It was pretty, but it didn't seem genuinely Aiko-ish. Tenten felt a bit underdressed in comparison, but it had seemed impractical to go home and change when she hadn't even been sweating in her pink top.
"Not really." Aiko made a face. "There's this romantic drama with that one Fujikaze woman that looks awful, though. You know the one I mean, right? On the billboard outside the theater?"
Looks aside, it was flattering to be singled out by someone so talented and reputedly intelligent. What had Aiko seen in her that made her decide to ask Tenten out, and not the hunk of Hyuuga that was standing beside her at the time, or even Ino? Aiko already knew Ino, after all. She didn't know Tenten.
"Everything she's in looks awful," Tenten replied with a huff of amusement. It was true. She didn't see why everyone went so nuts over those stupid princess movies. They were formulaic and dull. "Maybe we should forget the movie and go for a walk instead?"
Aiko nodded easily. "I think I'd like that. It's so beautiful out, especially after languishing in Wind Country for a million years." She made a face. "Maybe the west park?"
'And I don't really know her, either,' Tenten had to remind herself. It felt like she did, though. Gai-sensei brought up his Eternal Rival pretty frequently, and in the last year or so Lee had been getting compared to his Eternal Rival's apprentice. Apparently, Gai seemed to think they were natural foils and continuations of their respective sensei.
Tenten wasn't so certain about that. Hatake Kakashi seemed to have the same sort of analytical intelligence she was noting in her dining companion from what Gai-sensei had said, that was true. However, his social failings seemed to stem from avoidance and emotional trauma rather than genuinely not noticing cues. Uzumaki Aiko was a bit different. She faked social competency well until suddenly she missed a hint and either ended a conversation when someone else wanted to continue or failed to respond conventionally to someone having an emotional reaction. It wasn't uncommon for shinobi to have low emotional intelligence, however, so Tenten wasn't too bothered. Aiko seemed earnest enough, even if she didn't appear to have been adequately socialized when she was young to be able to relate openly to other people.
But if Gai-sensei was right about anything, this girl would be a force to be reckoned with, even if Lee was approximately one hundred thousand times better in taijutsu. That wasn't really a black mark against her, as Lee was a taijutsu monster, and had a good twenty pounds on the girl in question.
She leaned forward and cupped her chin in a hand, allowing herself to smile a little bit. "The park sounds great! So, Aiko. What do you do for fun?"
"This is boring," Chouji whined quietly, looking at a nearby table that had recently gotten their order with longing. Ino was just plain cruel, to bring him to a restaurant and not let him order anything. Ino made a rude grunt, but didn't do more than whap at his chest with a hand.
"Hush, I'm trying to listen!" she pouted a little. "They don't seem to be talking about anything interesting, though. Just work stuff." Honestly, who talked about training when asked what they did for fun? That girl needed help. Tenten seemed to be eating it up, though.
Shikamaru remained silent. He'd been deep in thought since Ino had told him he had to come with her to spy on Uzumaki Aiko going on a date with Tenten. Chouji thoroughly expected to hear a completely brilliant theory by the end of the night. Obviously, he was really working hard at whatever he was thinking about.
His eyes darted around the room for anything to look at other than the distracting food. If he didn't make himself think of something else, he was going to be miserable throughout this entire stupid stakeout. Of course, Ino would probably only accept conversation on one topic…
"They make a nice couple, but I never thought of the two of them together," he offered lazily.
Shikamaru smirked on his right side, leaning over to mutter into his ear, "I am." Chouji stiffened, blushing at his childhood friend. That… that was disrespectful! He didn't want anyone looking at his little sister that way. He imagined Uzumaki Naruto would feel similarly about his sister, if he knew someone was picturing her naked, to say nothing of what Aiko herself would think.
(In the Land of Vegetables, Naruto suddenly sneezed, losing his grip on the Sexy-No-Jutsu and reverting to his blonde and male form in front of a very disappointed and confused contact he'd been meant to distract while Jiraiya got the goods)
On his other side, Ino nodded furiously, missing the byplay. "I know, right? I thought for sure that Tenten was going to end up with that stick in the mud Hyuuga!" She paused, looking a bit confused. "I had no idea on Aiko," she added a bit grudgingly. "She never seemed interested in anyone, except maybe her weirdo teacher." Ino didn't care how well the man wore a Jounin uniform. He had habitually bad posture and funky hair—nothing on Asuma-sensei's scruffy bad-boy look. Ino suppressed a shiver.
Shikamaru shrugged lazily, letting a hint of wicked amusement seep into his tone. "Maybe it's Karin's influence," he suggested.
Then he had to flinch, unable to dodge the blow Ino awkwardly aimed at him, leaning across Chouji to do it. She scowled at him. "Don't be dumb. We don't actually know that Karin and Hinata are together. They could just be friends."
"Yeah, friends who are almost constantly together, physically affectionate, and who live together in the same house," he mused sarcastically. "That story holds together." Shikamaru gave an amused huff. "I'd like to see what goes on in that house," he said not-quite-quietly enough to Chouji.
Ino lunged, fingers curled into hooked claws.
'Time to get out of here,' the Akimichi wisely decided, desperately latching onto a chair with the kawarimi and switching places with it. It made a loud scrape sound when it reappeared too close to the wall and the back legs skidded down to thump on the floor, but Shikamaru was too busy cringing from the fire in Ino's eyes to comment on his sloppy technique.
"Idiot pervert!" she roared, shaking his shoulders with enough force to send his head flopping back and forth. "The whole point of that is that you aren't invited! Why are you so damn excited, huh?"
"What?" Tenten's eyes went wide, and she craned her neck to see what was going on behind the luxurious yellow curtain that appeared to be hiding a murder (and a chair). She wasn't alone. Most of the restaurant was straining to find the source of the sudden shouting. Except for Chouji, who appeared to be hiding his face with a menu and trying to blend in with a confused-looking family (which included a girl sitting on the floor for some reason. She sensed a connection).
Aiko, on the other hand, sighed tiredly and cradled her head in her hands. Through her eyelashes, she eyed her plate. She was over halfway done, and so was Tenten. Maybe…
"Why don't we head out early?" she suggested.
Tenten pushed her chair back with a relieved look. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." As if she had suddenly remembered Aiko's warning not to pay Ino any attention, she carefully averted her eyes from the building drama of the manager storming out to yell at team ten. They waved down the waitress for the check and fled as soon as she'd brought them change and mints. Aiko popped her into her mouth right away, sucking on it as they walked out the door, but Tenten absentmindedly tucked hers into a pocket and held the door open for a couple entering the restaurant.
Aiko stole a glance at the other girl as they meandered to the outskirts of the district they were in towards the park they'd decided on, trying her best to rev up her hormones. That was the point of this exercise, after all. It was getting just a little dark—the sky was streaked with shadows where the fading sunlight couldn't paint, but it wasn't unpleasant. For once, she took time to appreciate that Konoha was the city of eternal summer. Entering the park was like taking a breath of fresh forest air out in the wilds. Birdsong and those damn cicadas rang in her ears with the same sincere persistence she'd expect a hundred miles out of the city limits.
Even though she knew the perception was deceptive and they were in the middle of Konoha, she couldn't help but think that her companion belonged in the wilds. Tenten's crisp, clean (obviously artificially dyed) clothing and hair only served to tie together the idea of something intense and natural hidden in the mundane. The effect was striking. Tenten wasn't as curvy as she might have found ideal, but there was something sleekly beautiful about the way that she moved. The girl just looked dangerous, even in that ridiculously unflattering, boxy pink cheongsam top.
That was a little sexy, to be honest. She wasn't one to care much that Tenten wasn't a good dresser. According to everyone who'd ever commented to her, Aiko was godawful at it herself. The starkly practical outlook that would lead a teenage girl to pick out those doubtlessly-comfortable and undoubtedly hideous pants she was currently swimming in would make her a damn fine kunoichi someday.
It had been less good planning and more coincidence that had led them to make it to the restaurant so late, but their timing had been excellent if what they wanted was alone time and a scenic view. The park was one of the largest in Konoha, and if there was anyone else inside, they weren't anywhere nearby. Just walking into the shadows of the park felt like a sigh of relief, and the little bit of tension Aiko had been carrying seeped out of her shoulders. They stuck to the runner's path, a thin trail that led by some of the prettiest sights inside, including a large pond with a tiny waterfall and a few shrines surrounded by natural gardens.
There didn't seem to be a need for words, so they just didn't speak. Tenten wordlessly snagged Aiko's wrist and pulled her off the path slightly to settle against a grassy overhang that happened to provide a view of the sunset through a break in the trees. She didn't drop Aiko's wrist when she folded her knees and sat, so Aiko allowed herself to be dragged down to settle against her warm side.
It was… nice. It was nice to just sit with someone who didn't feel the need to go do something as if to avoid the intensity of just being in another human being's presence. Aiko had never needed words and distractions like Ino, for example. A date with her would have ended like any other outing with Ino except with an additional interrogation. She already knew she had little patience for the constant whirlwind of conversation about stupid things that neither one of them really cared about, as if collecting tidbits about someone's preferences would help her construct something with real meaning or fill the space between them.
'What's that saying? Something about there being two types of people? One type communicates with words, the other communicates with action?' She sighed, leaning back and folding her arms to serve as a pillow. After a moment, Tenten followed suit, and their arms brushed when she'd settled. Some of Aiko's hair had escaped its confines and was tangling in the wind to settle on Tenten's arms, but she didn't seem to care. 'That's probably not exactly right, but it's close enough.'
Words were probably easier, but Aiko was prejudiced towards actions herself enough to think that words were also cheaper. She told people she loved them by doing things for them, not with formulaic expressions of emotion requiring formulaic response. Cooking for Karin and Hinata or helping Naruto with his taijutsu had never inspired passionate gratitude, but it was how she worked.
She felt relatively hopeful that Tenten was something of the same—not one to mince words. If she'd been wrong and Tenten was just chock full of feelings, Aiko would probably run for the hills. 'Then again,' she thought a little guiltily, 'it would probably be fair to her to express that I'm not really looking for a regular relationship. It would be super shitty if I didn't say anything and she thought we were on track to a 'forever' relationship when I was looking for something more casual.'
"You know, I had a good time," Tenten mused. Well, that was as good an opening as any she was likely to get. Aiko let her eyes close. It didn't matter, since she was looking straight up and not at the other girl anyway.
"Yeah, I did too," she murmured. "I'd like to spend more time together, but I should probably make clear ahead of time that I don't really want a serious relationship right now." She was a little uncertain as to how that would go over—Tenten could be offended or think there wasn't any point investing in a relationship that wasn't intended to be long term. That would be disappointing, but understandable.
Aiko relaxed the tenseness that had built up on her shoulders when the other girl gave a surprised little laugh. "Wow, you're so serious." Tenten rolled onto her side, giving Aiko a contemplative look. "You know, it's not like I was expecting a proposal or anything. We're too young to consciously try to make a lifelong relationship thing happen." She made a slight face. "I mean, maybe we'll be that compatible, but if we aren't, I'm not going to be offended or anything."
"Oh good." She let herself give a sly smile. "Because if you were, the ring probably would have had to come from Ino, and that would be a little tacky for a declaration of my eternal love."
Tenten snorted. "Maybe we shouldn't do the whole fancy dinner thing again," she suggested idly. "I mean, I know that's what dates supposedly are, but it's not my kind of thing. Personally, I'm happiest training or staying in." With a skeptical expression, she added, "That doesn't really seem like your optimal environment, either."
"So, what, would you want to have training dates or something?" Aiko prodded, liking the idea. It would mean no more dressing up in things she didn't find appealing and sitting in a crowded place, expected to make conversation.
"Sure," Tenten shrugged, pushing herself up slightly and looking down at Aiko, who was still prone on the grass. For a strange moment, Aiko thought the other girl's gaze was on her lips and not her eyes, but the impression passed and Tenten glanced down to rustle around inside a pocket.
"I like the idea," Aiko said firmly. Tenten ripped open her dinner mint with a crinkle and popped it in her mouth before giving a friendly smile and tucking the wrapper back in her pocket.
"Perfect. How about next week, in the morning or something? I don't have a Wednesday morning workout partner, actually." There was a tiny click that was probably Tenten flicking the hard candy against her teeth. She crunched down, apparently shattering the candy, maintaining eye contact.
"I'll meet you then." Aiko had to smile. This whole human interaction thing wasn't as complicated as she had been led to believe. She could do this, easy.
Something threatened to twitch in her eye. God, how oblivious was this girl? 'Oh, wait," Tenten remembered. "I forgot about the whole 'socially inept' thing. She hides that much better than the boys do. I can't count on her to pick up on subtle cues." Her resolve firmed. 'I should be direct.'
"Soooo," Tenten dragged out the word for a full two seconds. Something was clearly on her mind. This time, Aiko was positive that she caught Tenten looking at her mouth. "Are we going to make out or what?"
Her eyebrows shot up. 'That was blunt,' Aiko thought. 'But definitely not unwelcome'. She had to give a surprised little laugh, but she responded quickly. "I like the idea." She moved to sit up, unfolding her arms from behind her head and moving to prop herself up. She'd barely managed to sit upwards before Tenten placed one hand above her right shoulder on the grass and used the other to gently but firmly push Aiko's torso back down, before slipping it to brace against the grass by Aiko's other shoulder.
Tenten wasn't a big girl by any means, but suddenly she was a looming presence blocking out most of the dying sunlight. Aiko sucked in a surprised breath, blinking up at the sideways smile and indulgently amused glitter in dark brown eyes. That wasn't what she'd expected to happen.
"Good."
Then she leaned down and all Aiko could register was just how soft and warm the other girl's lips were. Involuntarily she licked at her own, getting a taste of the mint still clinging to Tenten's warm breath where her mouth was slightly parted.
"Mmm," Tenten hummed, turning her head slightly to change the angle of the kiss, pulling back just a little and ducking back in again to tug lightly on Aiko's lower lip. She shivered, a little shell-shocked by the new sensation, and let her right hand lift up to slip under Tenten's shirt and slid her fingertips across smooth skin.
'Oh my god, what have I been missing out on?' she managed to think blearily.
Tenten must have been thinking something similarly positive, because she adjusted her position by moving her right knee over to straddle Aiko. The extra contact- had Tenten always been that warm, because she was really noticing it now- was nice, but Aiko liked it quite a bit more when it became clear that the movement freed up Tenten's right hand to go exploring down her front, lightly trailing short nails and surprisingly soft fingertips down her neck, between her breasts, and then back up to cup at one of them.
In any other situation, Aiko wouldn't have even considered letting the weak, pleading whine that swelled up from the back of her throat to be heard. She didn't know what the hell she was begging for, but she needed it badly.
Tenten pulled her face back with a self-satisfied smile, holding eye contact for a long moment before she brushed a kiss along her jaw line, tugged playfully at Aiko's ear- and whoa, that was interesting- and then gave a short lick to the column of her neck below.
'I wish I wasn't wearing this stupid dress,' she suddenly realized with undue vehemence. If she'd been wearing a shirt, Tenten would have better access. At least it had a wide, low collar that left her collarbones exposed, because the shiver that rocked her body when the older girl gently exhaled at the base of her neck was delicious.
Of course, Tenten wasn't wearing an irritatingly inhibitive dress… Her right hand had clenched lightly against Tenten's back at some point, so she opened it and began running her fingers up and down Tenten's spine. Her left hand lifted up and breached the so-far unexplored territory of Tenten's front.
The older girl gave a surprised squeak at the first brush over her ribs. Aiko could feel a giddy smile pulling at her face and she gave just a little huff of amusement before tilting her head to make eye contact to be sure this escalation was okay. Tenten looked a little shell-shocked, but when she managed to close the surprised 'Oh' face her mouth had fallen into, her nod gave Aiko the go-ahead. She'd thought that would be the answer by the light huffs Tenten was giving that washed across Aiko's chest with increasing speed and the clear eagerness written in her features, but had been kept from going any further up by the lack of outright permission.
Tenten's nose dropped back down onto her neck and she nuzzled for a moment before working at the sensitive skin with her teeth. Aiko didn't wait a second longer, stilling her right hand in between delicately shaking shoulderblades and letting her left brush slowwwly up over what had to be Tenten's bra.
'Huh. Surprisingly nice-feeling fabric. I guess I thought she seemed like a sports-bra kinda girl,' she noted absently, entranced by just how soft the material was. When she finally reached the skin at the top of the cup, Tenten made a soft 'Uh!' sound and pressed herself slightly against Aiko's palm, apparently forgetting that she'd been working on giving Aiko a hickey, just panting against her collarbones now.
She'd been wrong to call the bra soft—Tenten's skin was much silkier. It wasn't a shock, precisely. Her own breasts probably felt similar, but someone else's were just so much more interesting to knead. At that point, Tenten finally made a sound that was about as embarrassing as the one Aiko had made earlier. Something strange surged in her abdomen at the needy vocal demand, hot and heavy. She swallowed, hard, suddenly wondering how far they should really be going in a park at night after their first date, and pulled back regretfully. For the first time, Aiko noticed that she was panting too, and her heartrate was far higher than it normally was even after a warmup.
"Wh-whoa," Tenten panted, straightening her right arm and lifting her head to make eye contact. Apparently she'd collapsed to her elbow at some point. She looked just as giddy as Aiko felt. "This is more fun than I expected."
"Go away," Tsunade downright growled at the knock on her door. "Office hours are over!" That should have been obvious, really. Keiko had gone home, and the janitor was vacuuming the entry way.
Despite the fact that she had most definitely not said a cheerful 'come in,' the door swung open and Aiko flounced up with a downright creepy smile, perched on her desk for a moment, and then leaned in for a hug. The cold little arms flung around her neck slipped slightly down sideways across part of her suddenly-stiff shoulders, and Aiko pressed a closed kiss against her Kage's cheek with a happy nuzzle.
Tsunade sputtered, taken aback. She'd just about managed to re-calibrate for the bizarre situation (it was a large leap from taxes) when Aiko chirped, "Thank you for your advice, Tsunade-hime!" and then practically skipped back out.
She stared at the door that hung slightly open. "What the hell just happened?" she wondered aloud.
ANBU Cat shrugged in answer, despite the fact that he wasn't visible at the moment. That had been weird. Was Aiko ill or something?
"What the hell happened?" Kakashi muttered in frustration, fisting a handful of hair and tugging lightly. Scanning the documents for any relevant terms like 'Uzumaki,' 'Aiko,' 'Naruto,' 'Twins' or 'Minato' had taken a stupidly long time, even with the aid of the Sharingan's skill in detecting patterns.
The story that the brief mentions and glaring exclusions told was a strange one. He'd think he would have remembered the incident mentioned of the Kyuubi managing to force some active chakra out of Naruto's seal—he must have been out of the village. Kakashi would never forget the taste of that chakra. Even with that explanation, it seemed odd that the off-hand and mildly depressed mentions of incidents of unfriendly behavior directed at the twins over the years had escaped his notice. It wasn't like he had followed them around or anything, but a child who didn't understand why strangers were hostile would have had a hard time avoiding drawing attention. Naruto, in particular, didn't seem like the type to suffer discrimination in silence.
Bizarrely enough, it seemed that the twins had been declared competent to live alone at a frighteningly young age, with the minimal assistance of someone the Sandaime had hired to help them adjust to living on their own.
At first he was baffled- the orphan in shinobi training fund was nowhere near enough for the comfortable apartment he remembered them having when he'd first begun training Aiko, and he didn't know anything about the state of Minato or Kushina's finances. Eventually he pieced together that the Sandaime had actually been supplementing the twins' stipend out of his own accounts, which made a bit more sense.
It was probably part of his way of dealing with his guilt for being unable to care for them himself—all of the reports seemed to have been conveyed via ANBU and not his own observations. Kakashi could hardly blame the man for that. He'd done the same thing for years—avoiding the reminders of his sensei to avoid the worst of the pain.
The Sandaime noted personality quirks developing in the twins that Kakashi had noted himself, which was mildly amusing. Naruto had already been so naughty and playfully loud at age five? The confirmation that Aiko had taken on the responsibility of keeping him in line and the apartment managed at about the same time ached a little, but backed up Aiko's claim that she'd practically raised her brother.
That she had even managed such a feat was astonishing. Kakashi had technically been on his own at a similar age, but he had the structure Minato provided, along with care from some of his father's friends who had not been willing to leave his child alone even when he wanted to be. And Kakashi hadn't been responsible for the care of another human being, either. A child of that age simply shouldn't be equipped to be the caretaker for another child. Kakashi wasn't entirely sure he'd trust himself with such a task now, and he was a grown man.
And that was strange, wasn't it? That one twin was so much more advanced than the other? He'd thought her maturity had been a much later development, but from the sounds of the brief notations of ANBU reports that Hiruzen had apparently found too painful to make for himself, her basic temperament had been established at a frightfully young age.
There seemed to be a bit of a turning point in the notes where the twins were mentioned at about age six, when the Sandaime met them for the first time. Kakashi had to wince at just how tired and depressed Hiruzen had sounded when he wrote about the encounter. Apparently, Naruto had been scarily vulnerable to emotional manipulation from even the most cursory of kindness, a state that had undoubtedly come about because even casual kindness was rare for him.
But it was Aiko who had just about broken Hiruzen's heart with her obvious hostility and attempts to protect Naruto from him. That had to have hurt. Apparently, he'd accepted it as due punishment for failing the twins and their parents (and doubtlessly any number of accumulated guilts) and just did his best to not react to it.
It was rather tragic that Aiko had apparently distrusted a man her parents had trusted implicitly, someone who really did care about the twins even though he was overwhelmed by work and grief. But the Sandaime had seemed to find the silver lining that Aiko was fiercely loyal to and protective of her baby brother.
As the notes went on from book to book, it became clear that Hiruzen had grown to be very fond of Naruto, but it was Aiko who concerned him most at times. The longest excerpt solely about the twins finally gave the last clue—Hiruzen was trying to help her avoid the rapid acceleration and burnout that prodigies often underwent.
'I'm afraid that allowing Aiko early entry into the Academy was a mistake. Luckily, I trust Umino to keep what he has told me in confidence, but the girl doesn't seem to be aware of how unusual her intelligence is. I fear that she could become a poster child against my policy against early graduation if her advanced state becomes clear, but she is simply too young to enter the active forces. I cannot allow it in good conscience, not in a time of peace. Umino has kindly found ways to keep Aiko occupied without entering her into the taijutsu classes, which will hopefully help her avoid excess politicking and notice, using the pretext that she and Naruto are too young to be trained and then unsupervised. No one could seriously argue for the instatement of a genin with no formal taijutsu training. Unfortunately that means poor Naruto must wait another year as well, but I have every confidence that he will succeed nonetheless…'
He didn't allow himself to be bitter that no one had been able to save him from taking on dangerous missions early, or surprised that Aiko had come to him with so little time to learn the actual combat skills. 'Although that does explain why they were lackluster,' he noted dully. She'd improved rapidly with only minimal direction, so it hadn't been lack of talent or work ethic.
'Well, she wasn't exaggerating. I suppose that means I definitely owe her an apology.' Kakashi sighed, neatly closing the book on the table and slumping over. It was positively bizarre to realize that someone he'd thought of as a child until very recently had actually been so mature from an unbelievably young age.
'There's no point in procrastinating any longer.' Kakashi slipped the last books back into the boxes they'd come in and tugged on his sandals, not bothering to lock his door behind him. He had finished Aiko's jutsu the day they had gotten back, aided by proper facilities and the fact that he wasn't hiding jutsu development from understandably paranoid Sand nin. That had been the day before yesterday, but he'd spent almost two full days piecing through those notes for relevant information.
He hadn't been to her home since she had moved, but Kakashi kept track of his students enough that he readily knew where Aiko's home could be found. It wasn't a bad little place, even if it seemed a bit big for a few teenagers. The judgement may not have been a fair one. After all, his family home was three times that size (and hideously expensive to keep in good repair), but he lived in the same tiny apartment he'd gotten at age six or so when it became clear he couldn't stand to live where his father had died. Most people probably used more space than he did, that was all. Privately, he thought that if he lived with two teenage girls, he'd need a house ten times that size.
Aiko was in a strangely good mood when she answered the door, a fact that set a good tone for the upcoming conversation. Perhaps having a chance to spend some time apart had helped defuse the lingering anger she'd apparently had during their deployment. He eye-smiled, tucking a hand into his pocket. "Hello, Aiko-chan. I was hoping to have a talk with you tonight."
'Ah, there's the hesitation I expected,' he thought a bit glumly when she bit at her lower lip and carefully maintained much more distance between them than she used to. Nonetheless she agreed, even if she did try to invite him in. He held up his hands, radiating positivity to outweigh the potential slight. "I'd rather meet you at training ground seven. I'll see you there!" With that, he fled.
Alright, so the plan had been to walk with her so that she knew he wouldn't be late and he could just get this over with, but he'd scuppered that idea when it became clear that she seemed uncomfortable in his presence. It would be counter-productive to exacerbate the situation by putting her on edge before he even had a chance to show her what he'd made for her.
'Sen tsurara', one thousand icicles, didn't have quite the same feel to it as his chidori did or even work in the way he'd originally intended, but he was still pleased with it nonetheless.
"Well, that was fucking weird," Aiko mumbled, blinking at the empty place where her shishou had been until a moment ago. She hadn't expected him to seek her out, but it was probably for the best. Now that she'd calmed down and had her catharthic talk with Tsunade-sama, she had decided it would probably be for the best to be the bigger person and apologize for losing her temper with Kakashi. It wasn't really that his suggestion of the Rasengan had been a terrible idea. If he brought it up again, she would take the instruction gladly.
She took her time getting ready to go. He probably wouldn't be there for hours anyway, even though it was unusual that he'd go to her home to get her and then not bother to accompany her.
'Maybe something's gone wrong,' she realized suddenly, deciding that she could put away what she had been doing later after all.
The hostility was overwhelming as soon as he entered the meeting room, and Itachi involuntarily wondered if this would be the time that Madara finally ended their cat-and-mouse game by killing him. He didn't allow himself to pause in the door or react openly, instead taking his usual seat. After a moment, it became clear that Madara's bad mood wasn't directed at him. He couldn't quite bring himself to be relieved. Today was the day he had to explain why he'd let Sasuke's inappropriate career choice slide for so long—almost two months.
His answer would probably satisfy Madara, but Itachi wasn't pleased himself. He had discarded idea after idea as to how he could force Sasuke to change his mind for his own good, hardening his heart to his own pride and desire to just let the boy be. Sasuke still had a role to play, no matter how odious the necessity was.
That theory didn't satisfy Itachi himself, largely because he suspected that Sasuke could gain the power he needed even by going down such an untraditional path. Itachi had known from a young age that Sasuke possessed the ability to surpass him, even if his genius was less flashy than Itachi's own.
His own reluctance was probably why it had been so difficult to settle on an appropriate course of action—applying the absolute minimum amount of force and trauma to set Sasuke on the right path whilst simultaneously being cruel enough to satisfy Madara's sadism and convince the man that Itachi held no attachment to his otouto.
"I have come to a decision on how best to cope with Sasuke's disobedience."
Obito felt his lips twist into an animalistic sneer against the cool, hard surface of his mask, for once feeling irritated instead of amused by Itachi-kun. Usually it was enjoyable to see the boy attempt to outsmart him while pretending to bow his head in obedience and respect. He'd certainly never thought that a child who represented the best the Uchiha had to offer, the eldest son of that goddamn prick Fugaku no less (the moron who had banished him from the compound before his eyes manifested), would kowtow to him. The irony was delicious.
But not today.
He had been having such fun with his new toys. Sound had needed to be punished—everyone would eventually be punished, but Sound wasn't important enough that they needed to live to witness his glorious revolution. The fact that Hatake-damned-Kakashi had been the one to end his game early by taking out his puppet was infuriating.
Seeing the monster who had murdered Rin (even indirectly through the eyes of that stupid Yakushi boy) had dredged up anger that Obito had barely buried in a shallow grave. What was worse was that the asshole was as smug as he had ever been. Did he even care about what he'd done?
Uninterested in pretending he didn't know that Itachi wished for his death and pined pathetically for his useless little brother's love, Obito turned his face away. "I don't care what you do with the whelp," he growled.
No, Hatake obviously didn't care. He'd even replaced his old team. If Obito could go back and direct Yakushi through the encounter again now that he knew Yakushi was too useless to finish off Hatake even with his guidance, he would have gone for the snot-nosed little brat who had simpered for 'Kakashi-shishou'. The very thought of someone looking up to Hatake filled him with unspeakable rage. How dare that fucking idiot try to keep Hatake from the messy end he deserved? Didn't she know what he'd done to his first team, his real team? Didn't Konoha know what Hatake had done?
'That's why it needs to be changed,' the remnant of Madara's influence in his mind whispered raspily. Obito shook his head to dislodge the thought, uncaring that Itachi's eyes narrowed at the strange movement. He knew that already, he didn't need to be told. 'Konoha is weak and corrupt.' Yes, of course it was.
"Get out!" he bellowed, suddenly sick of Itachi's face. He was sick of all of them, sick of keeping one of Konoha's vipers to his chest no matter how ineffective the boy was.
'Calm yourself,' Madara's voice whispered. 'He still has a part to play. Isn't it better to get all the use you can out of Konoha's tool?'
Obito had to smile at that thought, not minding the by-now familiar sensation of ruined skin pulling stiffly at the expression. Yes, that was better.