The Tale Of Flowering Fortunes

“Hey kid, why the long face?” she head a booming voice echo as she walked in the house. Jiraiya was sitting on the couch, and Naruto was laying next to him, freshly diapered and squirming.

“Mmh, nothing…she said, taking her headband off and setting it on the kitchen counter. “I…I ran into Hebeko-san and Hatake-san on the way home from school…I think they’re going out or something…she didn’t come to school today.”

“Hebeko?” Jiraiya said, leaning back and scratching his chin. The room was silent for a little wile, save for Naruto’s small squeaks and squeals. Murasaki sighed, pulling on the hem of her skirt slightly.

“I’m going to my room..” She said irritably, turning to go.

“Now wait a second, young lady, don’t you have something you want to tell me?”

“Like what?” She said, her eyes falling on the headband. “I became a gennin today…” she said quietly.

“You’re supposed to be happy about it, Murasaki…”

“I know…” She said, taking the headband and disappearing into her room.



xxXxx



A few days later, Murasaki and Jiraiya left Naruto in the care of Sarutobi and set out on the road. Murasaki had been reluctant to leave the blond bundle of joy, but she forced Sarutobi to give her his word on Naruto’s safety. Jiraiya had told Murasaki he was going to train her so that she could enter the chunnin exams, but much to Murasaki’s dismay, he wound up taking her into a Geisha house, telling her it was important to learn to be a ‘traditional’ kunoichi.

Murasaki wasn’t even allowed to watch him leave.

Yuka, the house mother, was strict, but effective, and had Murasaki keeping late nights simply trying to muster the grace. She was clumsy at first, struggling to control the extent of her movements, from the way she poured tea to even the simplest of footsteps, everything she knew had to be re-learned.

And under the cover of night, Yuka taught her minor jutsu’s, being a kunoichi herself. Murasaki was worn out, the life of a geisha’s apprentice was not as glamorous as it had appeared to be.

Mistress Yuka was a difficult woman to work under, she was harsh and strict, but it was not all in vain.

Almost four long months later, Murasaki was coming back to Yuka’s house from an errand, and there was her father, talking to Yuka. The room was filled with pipesmoke as the two adults chatted, a radio playing softly in the background.

The Sannin smiled and nodded as Murasaki came in, bowing with her face and palms to the floor.

Jiraiya seemed pleased with Murasaki’s ‘training’, but Yuka seemed a little troubled. Eventually she consented, and signed a small form that Jiraiya gave her. He nodded, standing up and thanking her.

“Murasaki, go and pack your things, we’re going back to Konoha…” He said, clapping her on the shoulder. “I’m signing you in to compete in the chunnin exams…”

Murasaki nodded, bowing to Yuka and retrieving her things.

As they returned to Konoha, Murasaki admired the fact that Konoha had been rebuilt to the extent that it had been before, but what amazed Murasaki more, was how big Naruto had gotten.

He was chubby and cheerful, and very demanding of attention, still looking like a kitten with those whisker marks on his face. Murasaki smiled when she saw him, lifting him up and kissing him on the forehead. He had also gotten quiet heavy. She was disappointed, however, to find out that people were still afraid of him, often cutting wide circles around Naruto and her father when the were seen on the street.

She was also disappointed to find out that Kakashi was on an undisclosed, long-term mission. As much as it had hurt to see him with Hebeko, she had been looking forward to seeing him again.

She ran into Iruka, who had a scar across his nose, making him look awkward and cute. He introduced her to his team, consisting of him, Tsubaki, and Mizuki. Gai was also on a team, though not all of them were planning on taking the chunnin exams.

The chunnin exams were tough, and she almost backed out after the first test. She had been sitting between a downright obnoxious girl named Anko, and a large, short tempered boy named Ibiki.

The second half was the part she personally didn't do well in, being better at academics rather than fieldwork. She retrieved the scrolls with her small, impromptu team, consisting of Ibiki and Anko, with very little resistance due to their almost terrifyingly effecient tactics.

It wasn’t until the final round that things got truely hairy for Murasaki; Hebeko was her opponent.

Murasaki took a deep breath, tying her headband on tighter as she stepped out into the arena. All she had to do was defeat Hebeko, and she would be okay…

Hebeko was smirking, her long black hair blowing in the wind a she stepped out.

“I’m going to wipe the floor with you, toad-spawn…” She cooed softly. Murasaki simply blinked at her, a slow smile creeping across her face. She pulled a small fan out of her belt, snapping it open with a flick of her wrist.

She remembered a dance called the Kagura that she had leaned at the shrine, having to do with the Shinto creation legend. She had been working on turning it into a jutsu ever since she had come to the village.

“Wind style, Buto no Kagura jutsu!” She cried, focusing her chakra on the fan to create blades. The fight began slowly, as each step of the dance played out, Hebeko would match it, trying to throw it off with an earth-based technique. Murasaki pressed forward, sweeping the fan in highly controlled movements, throwing chakra blades into the air and sending them off in Hebeko’s direction.

Hebeko looked like she was starting to get irritated, but the crowd was drinking it up like a performance.

Murasaki swept her fan downwards, calling once again on her chakra. Hebeko was considerably more limber than she, being able to dodge the blades by back flipping and striking out with taijutsu. Murasaki took a deep breath, finishing the dance. She was going to have to use a genjutsu to finish the fight.

She summoned all her chakra, combining it with a different force, a power that seemed to be hidden deep inside her.

“Kaze wa Kiri no jutsu!” She called, just as Hebeko bit her thumb, summoning a giant black snake. The crowd seemed to all give a collective gasp, some even went so far as to flee.

Murasaki froze mid step as wind like a hurricane sweeping through the stadium carrying with it the sound of a thousand screams. She found herself frozen in fear, her blood running cold as she stared into the face of the great snake. The wind persisted, uprooting trees and ripping banners from their staffs. The snake was having trouble, seemingly in a great deal of pain as Hebeko struggled to keep her balance on it’s head. after a few momnet's of struggling, the black-haired teen passed out.

Suddenly, Muraskai saw her father leap down from the stands as several ANBU black-ops hurried her off the field. The examiner tried to stop them, insisting the match was still going, but stopped as a red-haired woman in an eagle mask glared at him.

Murasaki was taken from the field, shaking in fear. They left a young, relatively new black-op to stay with her. She could hear the sound of explosions outside as she sat on the floor. Gai sat down by her side, handing her a cup of water and saying comforting things.

The ANBU seemed to watch her closely behind his dog mask, but Murasaki didn’t dare look at him.

Moments later, Jiraiya came in, his thumb bleeding slightly.

“Murasaki, do you know what happened out there?” He asked, sitting on the bench in front of her. Murasaki looked up at him, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head.

“No…”

“That jutsu, where did you learn that? Did Yuka-san teach it to you?”

“N…no…I…I started making them up, based off of what I learned at the shrine…” She said softly. Jiraiya frowned slightly.

“You shouldn’t be making jutsu’s like that up. What happened out there was really dangerous, and someone important could have gotten killed… like you…”

Murasaki stared at him miserably. “I don’t know what happened, my chakra just got…out of control…it just, came from somewhere deep inside, like a dam broke…” she said quietly. Jiraiya nodded, analyzing her closely.

“How’s Hebeko-san?” Murasaki asked quietly.

“She depleted her chakra trying to summon that snake…but she’ll be okay, she’s pretty shaken from that jutsu you used…” He stroaked her hair.
" I love you, and I'm very proud of you...I always will be..." He said quietly, smiling down at her.



“That was some very impressive jutsu…” Came a mans voice from behind Jiraiya. It was Sarutobi.

“Sarutobi-sensei…” Jiraiya said, scooting over and nodding.

“Sandame!” Murasaki exclaimed, throwing herself on her face before the man. “Gomen nasai!”

Sarutobi chuckled slightly, before motioning for her to get up.

“Why don’t you come with me for a little while…” He said, motioning them all foreword. “You, too, Inu-san…” He said, indicating the dog-masked boy, who hesitated at first, but came anyway.

They watched the end of the exams, which were rather dull after the adrenaline rush of the snake incident. Murasaki watched quietly from behind the hokage’s chair, and Inu-san stood behind her.

Shortly after, all the contestants were instructed to stand in a row in the main arena for the final ceremony.

Inu-san escorted her down stairs and she stood at attention on the opposite end of Hebeko, who wore a knowing smirk. Murasaki frowned, but waited as the chunnin all surrounded them. There was a moment of silence, before the hokage came slowly into the circle and stood smiling at each of them.

“You did your very best today, and I am very proud of you all…” He said, his voice echoing around the stadium.

“I would like to call forward and recognize one person, who’s achievements have stood out above the rest, someone who is truly worthy of the rank ’chunnin’.”

Everyone waited with baited breath, Hebeko’s smirk growing, before a name was called out above the crowd.

“Maito Gai.”

Murasaki wasn’t surprised, Gai had used some impressive taijutsu against some kid from sand named Baki, smashing the side of the sand-nin‘s face pretty badly. Murasaki beamed as her friend stepped forward to take on the middle rank. At the other end of the line, Hebeko was glaring. The entire crowd erupted in cheers and shouts as Gai donned the olive vest over the top of his green spandex suit.

She had to admit, she was really jealous of him, but happy for him at the same time. He turned around and gave them all a thumbs up, flashing a very shiny, toothy smile.
That night, there was a huge celebration in the village. Sarutobi had called Jiraiya up to the hokage’s office to talk about something, leaving Murasaki with Gai and her new stalker friend Anko, and Anko‘s new stalker, Ibiki. Everyone was crowding around Gai, slowly pushing Murasaki and her new friends away from the shiny haired teen.

Eventually they just gave up hanging out with him and went their own separate ways. Murasaki took Naruto and headed out to the cemetery to visit his parents, buying rice for an offering at a nearby stand.

“I should get you home pretty soon, ototou…” She said, shifting Naruto’s weight in her arms as she set the rice down and lit the incense. The boy squealed, bouncing up and down slightly, and grabbed her headband pulling it off and throwing it on the ground. Murasaki bent to retrieve it, getting slightly frustrated with the baby.

“No, little brother!” She said, grabbing the headband and looking up at the memorial stone that was at the edge of a nearby field. The dog-masked ANBU was kneeling by it, running his finger over some of the names on the stone. Murasaki blinked, balancing Naruto as she tied the headband on. She recognise the area with the names. They were the same one's she hearself visited.

“Hatake-san…why?” She whispered.

Why would he want to become someone who had no name, no family, just a human weapon? She closed her eyes, remembering what Minato had said about Kakashi’s father. She stared at the ground. He shouldn’t have been alone, he didn’t have to be…

Murasaki lifted Naruto to her shoulder, bowing to Minato and Kushina, going back to her father’s apartment.

She was just turning the corner when she stopped, catching sight of Hebeko talking to a stoic looking, red-haired teenager in a black cloak with red clouds on it.

“No, Hebeko-san, your father doesn’t want you to come with.” He said rather un-emotionally. Hebeko was close to tears.

“Please, Sasori-san!”

“You’re in the way.” The boy said, pushing past the girl. “You’re an annoying brat.”

“But I don’t understand why! Daddy loves me!” Hebeko wailed.

“That’s just it, brat, he doesn’t even care. You didn’t even pass the simple chunnin exams…”

“But I tried!”

Another door opened, and and extremely feminine voice spoke up.

“Say goodbye to Sasori-san, my darling, we must be off…” the feminine voice said quietly. Murasaki peered around the corner and saw a pale skinned man with the same long black hair as Hebeko resting his hand on the girls shoulders.

“But Daddy!” Hebeko wailed. “You said this time I could come with!” Murasaki saw plainly the tears pouring down the girls face.

Poor Hebeko… Murasaki thought, watching as the two men left Hebeko to cry outside the girls apartment. Murasaki backed away. She doubted Hebeko would want to talk right now…