Team Yumi re-entered the Hidden Leaf Village as the sun began to set over the Hokage Monument. They had just finished a mission, and were on their way to report their success to the Hokage. Despite the time of day, various villagers were running, talking, playing, and laughing through the streets. A few ninja discussed their most recent mission, while vendors tried to sell goods to annoyed customers.

 

"Heh... I really missed being in the village!" Koukon grinned, happy to be back home.

 

"Yeah. We can finally rest." Hikari wasn't as enthusiastic as her friend, but still smiled. "I can't wait to go eat some ramen." She rubbed her stomach, having missed her favorite food.

 

"Of course, that's the first thing you think of. It's always ramen with you." Koukon teased Hikari. "I guess that going to Ichiraku wouldn't hurt, though..." He looked over at his teacher. "Yumi sensei, is it fine if we head off?"

 

"Yeah, I'll go check in with Lord Hokage. You three can go off and get something to eat." The woman smiled back at her students.

 

"Alright!" Koukon shouted, and looked over to his teammates. "Let's go, Hikari! Are you going to come with, Kiniku?" He asked his best friend, hoping that the three of them could go together.

 

"It's been a while since the three of us got to go to Ichiraku together, hasn't it?" Hikari asked. "You should come with us, Kiniku."

Shogo

 

"Hmph. Fools. You are not worthy of knowing my personal business," Shogo said arrogantly.

Edited September 28, 201411 yr by Firaga Sensei

"You say we're not worthy of it, but you still take care of it right in front of us? Great logic there, idiot." Koukon growled. "Spit it out already, before we make you explain yourself."

Shogo / Kiniku

 

"Grr, Air Palm!" Shogo shouted, blasting Koukon and Akarui out of the room

 

"Hey hey hey!" Kiniku said, getting in front of the door with Daiki and Ryuichi by his side. "Calm down, Pale Eyes. We're not here to fight."

"If you do not leave this instant then it will turn into a fight," Shogo threatened.

Koukon and Akarui both hit the wall across from Shogo's room, and fell over. However, Koukon jumped back up instantly, and ran back in. "If it's a fight you want, I'll gladly give you one!" He boasted.

Kiniku / Ryuichi / Daiki / Shogo

 

"String Bean, please! We're trying to be civil here! Calm down!" Kiniku cried, putting Koukon in a headlock so he wouldn't be able to move.

 

Daiki and Ryuichi sweat dropped at Kiniku's behavior, and so did Shogo. Never the less, the situation went back to being serious.

 

"Just why did you try to hurt Hikari like that? Don't you have any honor towards your clan?" Daiki accused.

 

"Your ignorance is vast. You do not know the history between myself and her. Besides, it's not even her that I really have a problem with..." Shogo confessed.

 

"What?" the three boys asked out of surprise.

Koukon struggled to get out of Kiniku's headlock, but eventually gave up. "If you don't have a problem with Hikari, then why the heck did you just try to kill her? How does she fit into all of this?" He shouted.

 

Akarui, now back with the rest of the group, sighed. "I'm curious about that, too, Shogo..."

Shogo

 

"Because... she is merely an extension of my anger... a reminder of my most inner fury," Shogo said, angrily and somewhat creepily. "The person that I truly have a deep hatred for... is... " Shogo almost struggled to reveal the truth. He had never told anybody else this truth, and had kept to himself for a very long time. "That person is..."

Before Shogo could finish his statement, a woman ran into the room. "What's going on in here?" Hinata Hyuga, the matriarch of the Hyuga clan, asked worriedly. She heard shouting, and what sounded like an attack, and had thought that there might have been an intruder.

 

"Oh, uh... H-hey, Mrs. Hinata..." Koukon laughed nervously. Aw crap... We're screwed.

Kiniku / Daiki / Ryuichi / Shogo

 

"Uh oh," Kiniku said, letting go of Koukon and bowing. "Lady Hinata, sorry to bother you," he said, Daiki and Ryuichi. "We were just having a conversation with uh, Shogo over here..."

 

"Yes," Shogo confirmed, trying not to look at Hinata directly. "They were just leaving as well. Isn't that right, Kiniku?" Shogo asked, slight venom lacing his words.

 

Kiniku held back his own want to berate Shogo and simply turned back to Hinata. "Yeah. We're leaving now. It was nice to see you, Lady Hinata," Kiniku said relunctanly, Daiki and Ryuichi following his example in paying their respects to Hinata as well as following him out the door as they left Shogo's room.

 

Meanwhile, Shogo turned his back and sat down to begin meditating again. He was hoping Hinata would not say too much else before she left. The moment she even came into view, he felt his anger rise up a notch...

Edited November 29, 201410 yr by Firaga Sensei

"Uh, yeah... Bye, Lady Hinata. Say hi to Hikari for me." Koukon followed Kiniku out of the room, closely followed by Akarui.

 

Hinata looked at Shogo for a few seconds, then shut the door to his room, and left.

 

Once the group had left the Hyuga residence, Koukon sighed. "Ugh... I still want to use his face as a punching bag after what he just did... Too bad he was at his home." He complained.

 

"It's probably best to find a calmer way to settle things, Koukon..." Akarui muttered.

 

"What, just hit him once? That doesn't make up for him hurting Hikari like that." Koukon responded.

 

"That's... Not what I meant." Akarui sighed.

Shogo

 

The young Hyuga felt Hinata's precense leave him, and he relaxed himself a little so he could fall back into mediation, his thoughts of anger once again being suppressed for now...

 

Kiniku / Daiki / Ryuichi

 

"Red's right," Kiniku said, responding to Akarui. "As much as I'd rather just beat the tar out of that guy, he's not gonna tell us anything if we do. It's best to go at this rationally."

 

"Kiniku is right. Whatever problem Shogo has can be fixed as long as we let him know that we are his friends and we are willing to help him. Akarui and I, as his teammates, especially will do this. Right Akarui?" Ryuichi asked his teammate.

 

"Hmph. It'll take more than words for me to forgive him..." Daiki said, mostly to himself.

"Yeah... We'll be able to come to a solution." Akarui nodded. "It would probably be best if it was just us two, anyway..."

 

"I won't ever forgive him." Koukon muttered angrily. "Anyone who does that to their own cousin doesn't deserve to be forgiven."

Kiniku / Ryuichi / Daiki

 

"He's our comrade, Koukon. We can at least get him to open up more before we start labeling him a lost cause," Kiniku said.

 

"Why should we anyway? We can't just forgive him even if he begs for it," Daiki ruthlessly proclaimed.

 

"I said don't jump on that wagon just yet, Red Eye," Kiniku said, a bit more firmly than his prior statements.

 

"Do you honestly believe he deserves anything after what he did?" Daiki growled.

 

"I don't know. Does your father deserve to still be in our village even after he betrayed it?" Kiniku countered, causing Daiki to go silent and turned away, angered but still accepting of the truth.

 

This is not very youthful at all... Ryuichi thought, referencing the conversation.

Edited October 19, 201411 yr by Firaga Sensei

Koukon tried to counter Kiniku's statement, but couldn't come up with an answer. He thought for a while, and eventually began speaking again. "Well... I'm still pissed off at him. I won't let anyone hurt my friends." He muttered angrily. "I don't care what his reason is... It wasn't right."

Kiniku / Ryuichi

 

"That, my friend, is a valid statement. Still, we need to keep it under control. No ands, ifs or buts," Kinku clarifed. "Now then, its been a long day. I got some training to do before I head to bed, and we're still ninja. We might have a mission tomorrow. For now, lets just keep our heads on. Ryuichi, you and Akarui are closest to Shogo. See if you can work on him," he asked his teammates.

 

"Right. I understand, Kiniku," Ryuichi said, saluting to his teammate.

 

"And Daiki: keep your head on straight. You've got other things to worry about," Kiniku said to Daiki, who reluctanly nodded.

 

And with that, the three ninja went their own ways.

Edited October 19, 201411 yr by Firaga Sensei

Akarui nodded. "Yes, Kiniku. We'll do our best to calm him down." She followed after Ryuichi.

 

"I guess I'll go check in on Hikari and Shinachiku..." Koukon walked towards the Hokage's mansion, hoping that his friend was safe now.

 

 

 

The next day, Koukon and Hikari were once again waiting outside the Hokage's mansion for their teammate. They'd been summoned for a mission once again, and waited for Kiniku and Yumi to arrive before they could head out.

Kiniku

 

"Yo!" Kiniku said, appearing in front of them with a Teleportation Jutsu. "Another day, another mission, huh?" Kiniku said, cracking his neck; he had just finished a set of squats and push ups in the forest using the trunks of trees that he had cut down. "Whatever it may be though, I'm especially ready for it today!" Kiniku added.

"Yeah..." Koukon muttered, clearly not very happy at the moment.

 

"Let's go..." Hikari shared Koukon's lack of enthusiasm.

Kiniku

 

"Hey hey hey, what's up with you two? You both seem down." a puzzled but also concerned Kiniku asked.

"Oh... Nothing worth talking about." Koukon answered, and Hikari nodded in agreement. As he said that, Yumi arrived.

 

"You're all here already, huh? You three are always really eager to get going with missions, aren't you?" She smiled. "Alright, let's go get our mission!"

Kiniku

 

Kiniku decided to believe his team mates for now.

 

"Okay, sensei!" Kiniku responded to Yumi, following her into the office.

When Team Yumi entered the office, they found four other shinobi waiting for a mission. One of the four, a kunoichi, looked excited to see who had entered the room. "Hi, Kiniku!" Kiyoshi grinned. "Oh, and hello again, Koukon and Hikari."

 

"Hey..." Koukon and Hikari both waved to Kiyoshi.

 

The other two Chunin who made up Team Fujiri, Nibai Yaiba and Juukou Inuzuka, both stood beside Kiyoshi. "Hey, Team Yumi." Juukou waved. "You've got a mission, too?"

Kiniku

 

"Oh, hey Kiyo! Fancy meeting you here," Kiniku replied to Kiyoshi.

 

"You bet, Dog Breath. I guess that means that we're gonna be working together today," Kiniku then replied to Juukou.

"Heh, it seems that way." Juukou agreed, ignoring Kiniku's nickname for him. Shiro barked happily as Juukou patted his head.

 

Nibai nodded. "I hope you three can keep up."

 

Koukon sighed. "Let's just get moving." Hikari nodded in agreement.

 

The Hokage gave his daughter a worried look, but quickly moved on. "Yep, you've all got a mission together today!" He grinned. "You'll all be-"

 

"Cut the happy act already." Koukon turned, surprised by Hikari's sudden outburst.

 

"... Uh... Hikari...?" He asked, but was ignored.

 

"We're not little kids anymore. You don't have to shelter us all the time. It's insulting that you have to treat me like an innocent child who doesn't know any better!" Hikari began to shout.

Kiniku

 

"Hey, ease up, Hikari. You're talking to the Hokage, you know," Kiniku said to his miffed friend.