| Run, Rabbit, Run | [Jun. 9th, 2013|08:59 pm] |
[Takes place Yondaime Year 5, April 16, the morning after Field of Daggers.]
Kakashi visited the Heroes’ Stone on the morning of the second trial.
It had stopped raining; the air was cold and clean, and Obito had zero useful advice to offer. Kakashi left a single flower at the foot of the stone, mostly to annoy him.
Dawn was still a distant possibility when he arrived at the hidden training field behind the Hokage’s monument. The commander wasn’t there yet. Kakashi slipped in behind the loose knot of sleepy-eyed candidates. Today, most of them had thought to bundle up in oiled rain-cloaks over their uniforms. All of them had visible weapons — slung swords, kunai, shuriken. One woman had a giant folded fan strapped to her back.
It took Ryouma less than four seconds to find him. “You’re late.”
“I was getting a haircut,” Kakashi said.
Dark eyes gave him a blatant once-over, stopping at the bedhead Kakashi hadn’t really attended to. “You need to fire your barber,” Ryouma said.
There was a dark shadow of stubble angling over the planes of Ryouma’s jaw and the length of his throat, barely lit by moonlight. Kakashi gave it a dry look.
Ryouma rubbed his palm over his chin. “I’m growing a beard,” he defended. “Last chance before the mask goes on.”
Kakashi was starting to suspect Ryouma was a morning person, or an extremely well-caffeinated night owl, and it was a horrible thought.
“Reconsidered showing me your jutsu?” he asked, just to needle.
Ryouma flipped him off, cheerfully. “You missed out yesterday, Hatake. There were two fights and an amateur drag show. And civilian ninja groupies, eventually.” He ruffled a hand through his hair and smirked. “Nobody went home alone.”
There was a sliver of white bandage showing at the neck of Ryouma’s jounin vest, and the shadows under his eyes weren’t dark. If he had taken someone home, he’d slept afterwards.
Only half-stupid, then.
“I’m glad you could feel validated,” Kakashi said, and lifted his head as chakra whispered around the edges of his senses. Ryouma tensed, sensitive enough to feel it too. Some of the candidates weren’t, but they followed the example of their temporary teammates, getting quiet and watchful.
The commander stepped out of the shadows.
“Welcome to the second stage,” she said. “I’m glad to see you can follow basic instructions.” |
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