Black Aria

IX

Haruko hopped on her left foot as she tied her sandal in place, excited to be the first one down by the gate that morning. The idea of going on a mission – a real mission with her sensei and friends! – hadn’t let her even begin to feel sad that her mother hadn’t kissed her good-bye this morning. She hadn’t dyed her hair to a different colour that morning, allowing the grey-blonde to show through. And besides, her mother had most certainly heard of her friendship with her teammates.

“Hey! Haruko!”

The kunoichi looked up from her sandal to see Ryouji, grinning away like an idiot as he ran toward her, Akito following at a more respectable pace.

Haruko liked Ryouji because he was always happy, even if he was a bit of an idiot. Akito she could get along with, but every time she tried to make a conversation with him, he clammed up. She wondered if Akito was gay. Or maybe just allergic to talking.

Ryouji dropped his pack beside Haruko’s and stretched, shoving his goggles into their customary perch a moment later. He grinned at Akito when the Hyuuga boy set his satchel down and Haruko fancied she saw Akito blush. He hid it behind the curtain of his dark hair, so she really wasn’t positive. Still, it made a very nice mental image.

“Is Naruto-sensei late again” Ryouji whined. “I wanna go already!”

Akito snorted. “He has to get clearance form the Hokage and the gate ninja.”

“So he’s late,” Haruko said, earning a slight glare from the Hyuuga. She shrugged. “Any way you wanna justify it, he’s still late.”

“Now, now.” Naruto said once he’d materialized, smiling at his genin. “You can’t be late if there’s no designated time to be late for.”

The three genin tried - and failed – not to jump in surprise. Naruto sighed.

“Maybe we should stay here,” he said, mocking sadness.

Three voices shouted a vehement “NO!”

Naruto held up his hands in surrender and smiled at the three before him. But then his face subtlety shifted, his smile a bit more dangerous. And because they’d been trained to sense the change, the genin stood at attention, eyes focused on their sensei.

Naruto simply clasped his hands behind his back and began to speak. “I expect you to behave properly. Most importantly, respect yourselves, each other, and those you’re going to be working for. Do not talk back or fight back unless your lives absolutely depend on it. Once you walk out those doors, you cease to be individual genin and become a team. You’re representing Konoha out there, and things you might get away with in here won’t be tolerated out there. Am I clear?”

Three small heads bobbed in unison. Naruto smiled that friendly smile again, signaling he was done being serious. Chattering amongst themselves – mostly with Akito keeping his tongue behind his teeth until someone made a stupid comment – the genin hauled up their packs and dutifully followed their sensei from the village and out into the real world.


Madara grit his teeth and tried not to let his agitation show through his body language. He hadn’t been left alone for a moment, always required to be by Sasuke’s side even though the boy had nothing for him do to. It was simply because Sasuke didn’t want Madara to do anything ‘foolish’ he knew. But the brat couldn’t stop him all the time; despite the risk, Madara would continue to work on his jutsu, trying to pretend to be doing something different. He wasn’t pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes though, deny and pretend all he liked, the message was clear: If you go against Sasuke, you’re going to die.

Madara was fine with that.

But he swore he’d live long enough to see the little bastard get what he deserved.

The only reason he hadn’t been offed before now was that he had simply waited for the proper time. And so, tonight, Madara made his first and final move, a gambit that was sure to fail, but he’d try anyway because he was Uchiha fucking Madara. He could do anything he damn well wanted to.

Madara slipped from the compound Sasuke’s army had chosen to inhabit and quickly made his way to his own secret base, hoping to at least set the spell in motion before he found a kunai in his spine. He settled himself before the stones that held the biju he’d managed to capture thus far and began the ritual for unsealing them. Without help from the Akatsuki – most of whom were dead and/or missing – it was slow going. Still, he’d managed to unseal one before one before Kusunagi decided she liked his chest for a new sheath.

Sasuke twisted the blade within Madara and tore it out his side, ripping muscle, snapping bone, and making a bloody mess of the man and the stone he was kneeling on. The pain was unimaginable, especially when the person stabbing you decided it would be a good idea to give you a matching injury on the other side. Madara, for his part, finished unsealing the first biju before he collapsed, staring up at Sasuke.

There was insanity in those Sharingan eyes. It only sharpened when he flicked the blood off Kusunagis’s blade and crouched beside the older Uchiha.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull Madara,” Sasuke said easily., “but I won’t allow it.”

“You’re a little too late,” Madara replied with a laugh. “You’ve got your head so far up your ass, I’m surprised you aren’t eating the bullshit coming out of your mouth.”

Sasuke blinked then snarled, bringing Kusunagi down on Madara’s skull. The blade sunk deep into the stone, the kawarimi no jutsu pulled off in the nick of time. Still snarling, Sasuke swept out of the chamber, barking orders to have Madara found and killed. As an afterthought, he’d ordered the chamber closed and sealed, but it was already too late.


Gaara eased himself onto this bed, trying to ignore how his body ached. He’d let Temari and Kankurou talk him into going to bed early and let them handle the rest of his Kazekage duties for the evening. Considering the only thing he had left to do was sign off on the day’s mission, bed had sounded like a great idea. So he’d showered and pulled on a pair of sweatpants that had decidedly belonged to his brother at one point in their existence and had crawled into bed, trying to ignore how shitty he felt.

It wasn’t that he felt sick – he did – he just ached, too, like all of his muscles had decided rigor mortis was a good idea and Gaara was being an asshole, demanding them to work.

It started going wrong the moment his head touched his pillow. Right away, the nausea hit and the cold sweat stained his skin, feverish and far too cold at the same time He rolled, stumbling somehow to the bathroom before he pulled up what little Temari had shoved down his throat.

When he emerged, exhausted and grouchy as he was, he at least had the proper state of mind to at least pretend to be surprised at the presence of a slate-grey and blonde haired man reclining so comfortably on his bed.

Shukaku only grinned and gave the redhead an impudent little wave.