You never walk alone Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The other side of the border.





Ayko’s POV.

The excitement level in Konoha had dropped to zero lately. Every person, be it civilian or shinobi, seemed to have fallen in a slumber of daily boredom. Ayko in particular hated everything about this. She for one needed everyday distraction or she would simply lose patience and go on rampage. No one attempted to get near her at these times, except for Doitei and Kyo. That’s why all three of them were strolling down Konoha streets; just to keep the Myoka Heiress preoccupied. Off course in only a matter of time did they pick up rumours of how Naruto’s team had failed at confiscating the Sanbi. As the story told Akatsuki got away with the bijuu and Orochimaru’s plans for creating another jinchuriki were stopped too. So the mission wasn’t an entire failure. Ayko started sulking; while the other teams were having fun going on missions, she and the boys were condemned to absolute boredom. She, so caught up in her thoughts, bumped into a passer-by. While she prepared to blame it on the other party, she realised who she had run into.

“Oh hey guys!” Kiba yelled enthusiastically from Akamaru’s back. Instead of being accompanied by Hinata and Shino as always, he had Lee and Naruto with him. The latter being the one Ayko clashed with just now. The horror spread to her face in a mere second, but before she could run in the other direction Naruto had already noticed her presence.

“Hey Ayko.” He greeted with a hint of surprise. Ever since his 2.5 years absence they hadn’t been able to properly talk. Ayko was either on missions or left right after seeing him. ‘Well, not this time!’ Naruto grinned inwardly. “Long time no see, huh?” Ayko shook her horrified look from her face and managed to smile awkwardly back at her rival.

“You don’t say...” she commented in a hushed voice as her pleading glances towards Kyo and Doitei went by unnoticed. “So how have you been, Fishcake?” Naruto turned red in embarrassment as the other guys around him laughed their asses off at the black-haired teen’s joke.

“Who would have thought you’d come up with a new nickname in 2.5 years!” Kiba remarked amused slapping Naruto’s back. Ayko had used quiet a lot of names for Konoha’s knucklehead. The variety being: Spikey, Blondie, Noodles and Whiskers. Fishcake just got ranked nr 1 in the popularity poll. “You should be glad being nicknamed by a girl.” Naruto though, didn’t see the humour in all of it.

“Well, it’s still better than what Sai calls him.” Lee replied defending Naruto. “Dickless is hardly a nickname anyone would want to carry around.” Another burst of laughter exploded from the group of boys. Ayko couldn’t help but laugh along with all of them; it felt like old times and she wouldn’t deny that she missed it. She elbowed a still embarrassed Naruto and grinned at him.

“No harsh feelings, right?” she stated as she offered her hand. “By the way; welcome back!” Naruto scratched the back of his head in doubt before he decided to shake her hand anyway. Somehow he found it hard to believe that Ayko Myoka had changed during the time he’d been away, although it seemed she had. Sure she still messed around with him, but somehow this time it felt more playful rather than hurting. Did she acknowledge him after all?

Ayko felt relieved on the other hand, she had been nervous to meet with her childhood rival after so long. And the thought that he might have grown stronger nagged at the back of her mind, but she tried not to put too much thought into it. It was then that she noticed the difference in height between both of them.

“Hey Spikey, have you grown or something?” she remarked as she measured the difference with her arms. “Have you finally started eating vegetables and proper meals?” Naruto replied proudly towards her by stretching himself even more. “So, you noticed, huh?” he boasted overenthusiastically, enjoying every minute of attention. “I can’t believe it!” Ayko growled, a little annoyed.

“You better-ttebayo!” he laughed in amusement. As the two of them continued their little show the other boys had started on the topic of their latest mission. “This happens, right? Not all missions are successfully finished and if we don’t make mistakes how are we ever going to learn from them.” Kyo spoke assuring to both Lee and Kiba who’d explained the situation earlier. “At least they didn’t make that innocent boy a jinchuriki.” Doitei nodded in agreement. “No matter what others might say; I think you guys did what was best. Akatsuki just took advantage of the situation to run off with the Sanbi, they never engaged into a real fight with you guys, so don’t blame it on yourself. These guys just like fighting dirty.” The white-haired teen smiled.

“Thank you, Kyo and Doitei! You two are such wonderful friends!” Lee yelled with tears running down his face of pure happiness. “Speaking of which, when is our team finally going to get a piece of action around here? I’ve been waiting so long already and nothing ever happens.” Ayko shared her annoyance. “If I have to go to one more social event or formal party I’m going to bomb the Myoka Elders!”

“That bad, huh?” Kiba sympathized with her. “I can’t wait to hear what my mom’s got in store for me when I get back... I guess I better get a move on before she decides to make the list any longer. You guys, I’ll be seeing ya later!” Kiba rode off on Akamaru’s back towards his home waving back at everyone.

“YOSH! Gai-sensei is awaiting me for training, so I’ll also be taking my leave. Until next time, my friends!” Lee bowed as he dashed of in the direction of the training fields. The remaining four shinobi stood there in silence debating what to do next.

“Hey, I better go too. Team 7 is meeting up for Ramen so I absolutely can’t miss out on it! So let’s get together sometime and hang out, okay?” Naruto realised as he said goodbye in a rush.” And Ayko; just you watch and I’ll beat you someday!” He grinned back at her as he broke into a spurt. “As if I’ll let you!” she smirked. Kyo exchanged a snicker with Doitei before glancing Ayko knowingly. The Myoka Heiress caught on quickly though, and struck both boys with a death glare.

Team 6 eventually decided to have some Yankiniku at the local BBQ-shop and Ayko had invited Hinata over to join them. She had been on the same mission with the guys and Ayko wanted to catch up on things with her best friend. They hadn’t seen each other in a long time. After waiting for 10 minutes Hinata came up to them breathing heavily.

“Hi minna-san!” she greeted before sitting next to Ayko. “Must’ve been one hell of training.” Kyo wondered. “It’s not as bad as you would think, though.” The Hyuuga Heiress smiled politely. “Neji-niisan is taking good care of me, so I’m very grateful.” “No breaks? Tough cousin you have there, girl!” Ayko grinned as she bumped shoulders with Hinata lightly. “How have you been? I heard about your recent mission from Kiba so I’m a bit curious.” Hinata updated them about everything that went down and eventually hung her head because she felt a little useless thinking back at how Guren had neatly captured her within that special Chrystal.

“Sounds like everyone put in their weights for this one; pretty clever of you to figure out her Chrystal trick by encasing yourself with chakra. I for one wouldn’t have been able to come up with that on the spot.” Kyo credited Hinata.

“He’s right, Hina-chan! You have superb chakra control that not even I can compete with. Be proud of yourself a little.” Ayko pepped her up as she engulfed Hinata in a hug. “Thank you, Ay-chan, but still... It’s not like Naruto-kun is going to notice me if I keep messing up. I need to get much stronger if I ever want to protect him.” She whispered shyly. “I know you will, just you go out there and show him what you’ve got. Or maybe let’s do it right now, I happen to know that team 7 is having dinner at Ichiraku’s. Let’s go, Hina!” “Ay-chan! No, please don’t! What if he’ll look at me weird after this. I don’t think I’m ready to confront him!” poor Hinata panicked as she tried to stop her friend from storming to her doom.

“You guys, would you quit it for a sec; people are staring at us.” Doitei confronted both girls about their antics. Kyo just shook his head in irritation. “It’s always something with you two.” Kyo muttered annoyed. “Just mention Naruto and suddenly you both get on edge. And what for really; he’s a big airheaded moron!” “He is kinda funny though.” Doitei added in amusement. “Let me remind you that Hinata needs to man up and tell him how she feels since said Moron refuses to notice what everyone else already knows. It’s not my fault that he’s thick-headed.” Ayko argued back defensively. “Says his thick-headed rival.” Kyo smirked clearly enjoying this.

“Why you little-!” The Myoka Heiress growled, but before she could finish her sentence she got cut off by someone unexpected. She got hit with a paper fan on the back of her head when she turned to face her attacker. “Kami-baka! What the hell was that for?” Ayko cursed her older brother as he greeted the others. “Just a little gift to calm your enthusiasm. Besides I’m here for business so listen up! You and Hinata were just summoned to meet with Hokage-sama. She told me not to tell you too much, but I think you’ll be glad, Imotou-chan.” The blond Jounin stated as he ruffled through his sister’s hair. Ayko’s face immediately lid up.

“No way, finally! Yes yes yes! Arigato Kami-nii! C’mon Hina, let’s go!” She ushered her friend to follow. “Uhm Kami-san, what about me and Kyo?” Doitei informed curiously.
“Well, Hokage-sama only ordered me to fetch the girls, so I’m not really sure.” The carefree jounin rubbed his nose absently. “That’s okay, it’s not like I wanted to go on a mission right now. I’ve still got a ways of training ahead and so do you, Doitei.” Kyo shot the white-haired boy a stern look. “You girls go and steal the spotlight in our stead.”

“You got it!” Ayko confidently raised a thumb on her way out. Kami left together with the two girls and just whistled a jolly tune as he seemed caught in a little daydream. Hinata slowed down to match his pace and looked right up to his face; he was rather tall after all. “H-hey, what’s up?” Kami nearly stammered as a blush adorned his cheeks. “Nothing really; I just wondered how you were doing?” Hinata smiled innocently at him.

‘How am I supposed to ignore her when’s she’s so cute like that?’ Kami’s inner self proclaimed with tears of defeat. “I’m fine, don’t worry. Same old same old, you know. I’ll be home for a while, just got back from a long-term mission so it should be for a longer period. So I’m really looking forward to spending some me-time.” Kami calmly explained as he avoided looking her straight in the eyes. “By that you mean sleeping under the old apple-tree again?” Ayko joked after she had caught wind of what was going on behind her. Kami smacked his sister over the head with his fan again. “Ouch! Hey, can’t you take a joke or what? Annoying Kami-baka!” “At least I’m using my spare time wisely, unlike others who need to bother their friends for entertainment.” The blond stated sharply. Hinata just quietly drifted to the side-line as the brother-sister war continued. “But hey, you don’t hear me throw accusations!”

“Shouldn’t you be somewhere?” Ayko sneered back at him, irritation coating her words. “Now that you mention it... I had to be somewhere, but I completely forgot really.” Kami muttered to himself staring blankly ahead. “Kami-san?” Hinata asked worriedly. “Oh for crying out loud! Just let the bastard be. We need to get going, Hina!” The Myoka Heiress growled, fed up with her brother’s antics. They continued on a steady pace as they weren’t that far from the Hokage’s office. Hinata had a hard time keeping up with Ayko who was striding toward the building like her life depended on it. It still took a moment before either of them reached the hallway in which the office was located.

When they got to the door Ayko knocked it carefully; on the other side a firm ‘Come on in’ sounded. When both girls walked in they were looking right at Sakura, Tsunade and Shizune. “Ayko and Hinata, thank you for coming on such short notice. Please have some tea, it’s Jasmine.” Tsunade offered kindly. Both girls got themselves a cup and nodded thankfully. We’re still waiting for the others to arrive, but I’m sure they’ll be here shortly.” “Sakura-san.” Hinata greeted kindly. “Shizune-san.” Ayko wasn’t in a polite mood as Hinata; in fact she could barely hold her bearings. She prayed the others would join them real quickly and lucky for her the next knock on the door saved her the trouble of waiting.

“Come in.” Tsunade replied. The door opened revealing none other than Kiba and a girl with green locks and beautiful grey eyes. Ayko’s eyes grew wide in surprise; she was the girl from shop. But she felt the same familiar feeling of knowing her as when she bumped into her in that store. And then it hit her; this very same girl was her opponent in the Chuunin Finals.

“And with Ayane and Kiba that makes us complete. Please have yourselves some tea. I believe you’ve all been informed on what happened on the last mission concerning Orochimaru. What I want from you all is to track down Akatsuki. We presumed they had run off to their hide-out, but apparently they stayed in the vicinity for some reason. The Sanbi was of course not spotted along with them. A very reliable source shared us the knowledge that they had been moving along the Water country’s border that borders our Fire country. I know we’re not on friendly terms with the Water country, but I see no reason not to let you travel along our side of the border. Of course you will have to cross if you want to gather more intel, so be careful and maintain some sort of disguise. Once you’re found out... let’s just say I’d rather not like to think about that. Since Ayko here is the only Jounin on the team I’m appointing her as team captain. That means everyone needs to obey her command. Does anyone have any further que-?” Tsunade abruptly stopped talking and stood up from her desk to head straight to the door. Everyone else just observed her behaviour.

When Tsunade opened the door without warning an orange blur fell into the office growling in pain. “Glad you could join us, Naruto, but unfortunately you can’t listen in on other people’s missions. So forget what you’ve heard here and go home.” Tsunade sternly glared at the blonds’ face of pleading.
“But Baachan! It’s Akatsuki we’re talking about, why am I not on this mission? Is this because of the last one?” Naruto begged with all his might. Sakura was clearly not able to hold in her own irritation anymore and stormed over to where Naruto was. “Naruto-baka! What part of waiting outside didn’t you get?!” she smacked him on the head with her fist leaving Naruto with a lump on his head. “I’m so sorry, Tsunade-Shisho. Naruto, apologize!” Sakura bowed to her teacher and forced Naruto to bow his head too. Tsunade sighed in absolute defeat.

“Shizune! Bring me a bottle of sake. No wait, make that two and pronto!” The Hokage ordered her assistant to leave as she held her head for support. Then she focused on Naruto and spoke in a low voice. “I suppose you wouldn’t leave even if I forced you, right?” The blond just nodded in silence and did his best effort of producing his cutest puppy-eyes look. “All right then, everyone! Naruto will be a part of your team as of now. You will leave in the morning. Oh and one thing; I’d like you to keep me updated on the situation, so please report in regularly if possible. That’s all, Team Ayko. May everything go smoothly.”

Ayane’s POV.

“There you go.” Ayane said, while looking at the giant panda’s chewing on a piece of bamboo soaked in honey. They always looked happy and cute because of the black pattern on their faces, but Ayane knew they enjoyed their meal very much. The panda’s had always been part of their family and lived in the garden surrounding the compound, so Ayane just knew when they were happy. She felt it.
It all started when her parents found 3 baby panda’s on a business trip and raised them at home. The baby panda’s grew up and before they knew it, more baby panda’s became part of the family. The bond between the Morinaka’s and their panda’s was so strong and unique that their clan became known for keeping panda’s. Her father’s ANBU mask even looked like one.

A day with the panda’s consisted of: feeding them, looking after the little ones, checking if the old ones are still okay, playing with them and cleaning up their mess. Day in, day out. But Ayane and the boys didn’t matter. Even if they had to do it all in their free time.

And free time was all Ayane had on her hands today. No mission, no training, nothing. So spending time with the panda’s was the only thing on her ‘to-do-list’. As they kept on chewing on the honey bamboo, Ayane checked all the ponds to see if the fish were still in there and also checked the amount of bamboo in the garden.

Being the main resource of nutrients for a panda, bamboo has to be present in the gardens at any time. And it has to be present in a huge amount, since the panda’s eat 10 kilos of it a day. At least 10 kilos. Luckily, bamboo grows fast. Very fast. So their only concern is to check if the plants are still in a healthy condition to grow. Checking them, Ayane found a few plants being in a poor shape, so next on her ‘to-do-list’ was fertilizing the plants.

As she walked to the storage at the back of the garden, she heard someone calling out her name. Turning around, she saw Ino and Tenten standing at the fence and waving at her. “I’ll be right there!” she yelled while waving back at them. Walking into the storage she looked for a bag of fertilizer, but she couldn’t find any. “Guess I’ll have to go buy some in the village first.” she said with a sigh.

“Hi girls, back from your mission? How did it go?” Ayane asked as she walked up to Ino and Tenten. “Ehm, not good actually. Akatsuki got away with the Sanbi, but we were able to save a little boy who was supposed to become its jinchuriki.” Tenten said with a grim face. “I completely ruined everything by losing my focus while maintaining the sealing barrier.” Ino said sadly. “I’m sure you tried your hardest. And don’t forget that it’s the Akatsuki you were up to.” Ayane replied. “We tried, but failed.” Ino answered and shook her head.

“You seem to have a nice quiet day though.” Tenten said, trying to cheer things up a bit. “Yeah, I’m taking care of the panda’s and the bamboo plants, but it seems I have to go get some fertilizer.” Ayane replied, looking at the panda’s. “Some plants aren’t doing well, so I have to get them healthy again or the panda’s won’t have any food left.” she continued. “You want to join me in a trip back to the village?”

As the girls arrived in the village, Ayane entered her mom’s grocery store and walked up to the counter. “Hi mom, I’m here to get some fertilizer. Some of the bamboo plants need a little boost.” she called out to the back room and waited for a response. No response was given, but instead a green flash rushed out of the back room and walked straight past her. Ayane watched her mom walking through the store with a container filled with red newts.

“Mom? Can I help you with something?” Ayane asked her. “One moment, I just have to put these newts in the aquarium and then I’ll get you some bags.” Hikari replied to her daughter while picking up some newts from the container. “I could get them myself too, no need to rush things.” Ayane said, walking into the back room and into the storage room. “I’m taking 2 bags with me, which should be enough.”

While dragging them into the store, she checked out the new addition to her mom’s store. “An aquarium. Nice.” she said, being impressed by how many newts it had room for. “Yeah, it came in this morning. Because of that I didn’t put any water in the newt’s container, which wasn’t such a good idea.” her mom replied shaking her head a little. “That’s why you came rushing by without answering.” Ayane said while picking up the bags again. “I’ll be heading back home now, good luck with the new goods.”

“I’ll be leaving you if you don’t mind. Fertilizing plants isn’t interesting at all, so I don’t want to fill your free time with boring activities.” she said, looking at Ino and Tenten. “No problem, we’ll see you around! Have fun with the panda’s!” Ino replied before waving at Ayane and continuing her little chat with Tenten as they walked into the village.

Arriving at the compound, Ayane immediately started fertilizing the plants and had her hands full for a few hours. While taking a little break, she paddled in the pond to cool off a bit and watched the panda’s nibbling on some bamboo. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Ayane stood up and walked towards the front door. Opening it, she saw Shikamaru standing in front of it. “Hi Shikamaru, didn’t expect to see you here. Can I help you?” she asked him, not expecting anyone to show up except for her mom or dad. “Yeah, you’re being summoned to the Hokage’s office.” he replied, obviously annoyed. “Okay, but I’ll have to pick up the boys from the Academy first, if that’s okay.” she said, looking at the clock. “No problem.” Shikamaru answered and looked towards the forest beside the compound. “I’ll be going then, need to check on the deer. So troublesome.” he sighed, before continuing his way.

Ayane finished her tasks and after checking on the panda’s one last time, she returned to the village to pick up the boys from the Academy. Usually her mom picked them up after she closed the store, but since she had day off, she said she would pick them up instead. As she got to the Academy, she saw her brothers standing by the swing, waiting for her. It seemed they had a great day, judging from their grins. “Looks like you had a great day. Tell me.” Ayane asked her little brothers.

“Yeah, we learned about the Hokage’s!” Wakaba answered. “I’m going to be the next! I’ll do anything I can to get my face carved into the Hokage Monument!” Wakaki shouted. “Anything?” Ayane replied, looking at him. “Of course! Anything!” he said and looked up to the Monument. “Good, because I have a little task for the two of you: cleaning up the panda’s mess. I need to go to the Hokage’s office, so I won’t have time to do it today.” she said with a straight face. “No problem, Wakaki and Wakaba Morinaka at your service, madam!” her brothers replied in sync as they started to head home.

Home again, she made sure the boys had something to eat and got dressed to head to the Hokage’s office. As she got there, she saw Kiba walking towards it too. “Kiba! Hi. You got summoned too?” she yelled, waving at him. “Oi, Ayane. You too? I wonder what it’ll be about.” he answered with a grin on his face. As they arrived at the office, Kiba knocked on the door. “Come in.” was the expected reply and Kiba opened the door. Ayane walked in and noticed they weren’t the only ones being summoned. Hinata was present, and so was the girl from the Chuunin Exams, Ayko Myoka. And of course, Sakura and Shizune.

“And with Ayane and Kiba that makes us complete.” Tsunade said. “Please have yourselves some tea. I believe you’ve all been informed on what happened on the last mission concerning Orochimaru. What I want from you all is to track down Akatsuki. We presumed they had run off to their hide-out, but apparently they stayed in the vicinity for some reason. The Sanbi was of course not spotted along with them. A very reliable source shared us the knowledge that they had been moving along the Water country’s border that borders our Fire country. I know we’re not on friendly terms with the Water country, but I see no reason not to let you travel along our side of the border. Of course you will have to cross if you want to gather more intel, so be careful and maintain some sort of disguise. Once you’re found out... let’s just say I’d rather not like to think about that. Since Ayko here is the only Jounin on the team I’m appointing her as team captain. That means everyone needs to obey her command. Does anyone have any further que-?” Tsunade abruptly stopped talking and stood up from her desk to head straight to the door. Everyone else just observed her behaviour.

When Tsunade opened the door without warning an orange blur fell into the office growling in pain. “Glad you could join us, Naruto, but unfortunately you can’t listen in on other people’s missions. So forget what you’ve heard here and go home.” Tsunade sternly glared at the blonds’ face of pleading. “But Baachan! It’s Akatsuki we’re talking about, why am I not on this mission? Is this because of the last one?” Naruto begged with all his might. Sakura was clearly not able to hold in her own irritation anymore and stormed over to where Naruto was. “Naruto-baka! What part of waiting outside didn’t you get?!” she smacked him on the head with her fist leaving Naruto with a lump on his head. “I’m so sorry, Tsunade-Shisho. Naruto, apologize!” Sakura bowed to her teacher and forced Naruto to bow his head too. Tsunade sighed in absolute defeat.

“Shizune! Bring me a bottle of sake. No wait, make that two and pronto!” The Hokage ordered her assistant to leave as she held her head for support. Then she focused on Naruto and spoke in a low voice. “I suppose you wouldn’t leave even if I forced you, right?” The blond just nodded in silence and did his best effort of producing his cutest puppy-eyes look. “All right then, everyone! Naruto will be a part of your team as of now. You will leave in the morning. Oh and one thing; I’d like you to keep me updated on the situation, so please report in regularly if possible. That’s all, Team Ayko. May everything go smoothly.”

As Team Ayko left the Hokage’s office, Ayko immediately took on her task as captain. “You heard it loud and clear. My will is law. Understood?” she said, waiting to see everyone one nod their heads. “Okay, I’ll see you all in the morning. Don’t be late or I’m leaving without you. Understood?”. Like everyone else, Ayane nodded again and waited for another command. “You’re all dismissed.” her captain concluded before they all returned homewards.

“Nice captain eh?” Kiba said with a grim face as he and Ayane walked home together. “Wonder how things will go when she keeps barking commands like that.” “She’s a jounin and in charge of our team. We have to do as she tells us to do. Not that I like the way she talks, but she’s a very skilled kunoichi and I’m sure we’ll succeed when we just obey her orders.” Ayane replied, remembering her Chuunin Exam final match. “She’s not that bad. Once she knows your abilities, she’ll loosen up.” “I hope so.” Kiba replied. “So we’ll be up against the Akatsuki again... Hopefully we’ll succeed this time.” “We only have to spy on them, so if we do it the right way there won’t be any confrontation.” Ayane explained. “But it’s going to be a challenge anyway.”

-----

As they all grouped together at the front gate next morning, Ayko checked to see if the whole team was present. “Hinata, Kiba, Ayane, N-“. In just a second, their captain’s face turned from content to angry. “And of course that baka is late as always. If he’s not here in 10 seconds I’m leaving without him. Stupid baka.” Ayko growled, gritting her teeth. She hoped he would’ve learned to arrive on time after his trip with one of the Legendary Sanin, but apparently he didn’t. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, -“ Ayko counted down the seconds as suddenly Naruto walked past them and went ahead of them. “Oi, I’m here now. Let’s move everyone!” he called out to his team mates, not noticing Ayko’s mood turning from angry to furious...