Chapter 6 - A Name...

Lee, Sakura, and Ekyt arrived at the Leaf Village in the early hours of the next morning. Lee and Sakura had slept well. Ekyt, who hadn’t slept at all, was just as refreshed at they were, for some reason.
“I’ll give the report to Lady Tsunade,” Ekyt offered. “I need to speak with her anyway.”
“Sounds good to me! I can’t wait to get home for a little while!” Sakura nudged Ekyt with her hip. “If you think I’m pretty NOW, wait until you see me all cleaned up!”
Sakura stuck her tongue out playfully. “See you later! Thanks again! Lee-San, say hi to Linda for me!” she jogged off.
“I must go as well, Guy-sensei wants a report, and I wish to speak with Naruto before we start training for the exams,” Lee added.
“I’ll catch up with you and Naruto later…I’ve to hustle up some medical skills,” Ekyt muttered, rolling his left shoulder. All of him ached, but he shrugged it off. He didn’t hurt any worse than any other day. Except for his hand. The one that had been almost complety pierced by a kunai.
“It is lucky that a certain pink-haired medic-nin has taken a personal interest in you,” Lee said mischievously.
“Lee…if I didn’t need you to be healthy for the chunin exams…I would hurt you,” Ekyt retorted with a smirk.



“Ekyt is here with his (koff) report.”
Lady Tsunade looked up from her desk. “Send him in Hayate, thank you.”
Tsunade broke into a smile as “jonin in genin’s clothing” walked into her room, still wearing his winter wear. True to form, duty before comfort. It was a little chilly, but that trench coat must have been murder.
“I thought you were all business Ekyt,” Tsunade began, getting up and staring at him from across the desk.
Ekyt blinked in shocked. “Have I done something wrong?”
Tsunade seemed to tower over him. “You completed your mission successfully, so no. I’m just surprised that someone as focused as you found a girlfriend. Much less Sakura. I swear, if I heard “Sasuke” one more time, I was going to lock her up! So, howdya do it?”
Tsunade leaned on the desk, apparently interested in the gossip.
“Damn that Umisu…that big-mouth dragon…” Ekyt snarled under his breath.
Tsunade laughed good-naturedly. “Kid, you are something else. If I had just landed the hottest guy (or the prettiest kunoichi, in your case), I would be flaunting it, not hiding it.”
“The village might not like that. Or me liking her, for that matter. That’s no so important, I guess…”
Tsunade nodded for Ekyt to stand at the window next to her. It was a beautiful day. A light breeze lifted Tsunade’s hair and Ekyt’s coat. The bright blue sky was dotted with puffy white clouds, and even some birds soaring majestically. The village itself seemed alive with movement; it seemed like all of the village was in a good mood. Businesses were prospering, and people were finally getting over the depression caused by the Sand Village and Sound Village attacks during the chunin exams four years ago.

“Just answer me this: Do you like her? Sakura, I mean?”
Ekyt nodded. “I do. I have for four years…”
Tsunade gave his hitai-ate head covering a ruffle. “Then who cares what anyone else thinks? It’s not hurting you, her, me, or the village, so nobody else should have a problem.”
Tsunade sat back down, while Ekyt walked back to the front of the desk. He began to give his report. Tsunade stopped him.
“Hayate, please see that we are not disturbed for any reason,” Tsunade told him.
“(Koff) Alright.” Hayate replied, exiting the room.
Tsunade looked at Ekyt again. “Hmm…you got a resemblance to Hayate. How long have you had bags under your eyes, kid?”
“Four years. Since my eye…” Ekyt’s voice trailed off. Ekyt’s gaze shifted to the ground momentarily.
“…Please continue. Ibikki mentioned that you fought a Kage?”
“That’s true,” Ekyt admitted. He explained in detail, and then explained about Koori, and the girl he had tortured, Kora.
Tsuande sat back in stunned silence. “My God…that’s sadistic…”
“Lady Tsunade, I DO have one theory that I thought might be relevant…”
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, the invited Ekyt to continue.


“It seems you hold ties to a clan that is no longer…with us.” Lady Tsuande rummaged in her desk drawer for a moment. She extracted a white envelope. Ekyt recognized the handwriting as his mother’s.
“Umisu delivered this. Don’t worry, your parents are well, they sent me a letter separately.
Ekyt looked absolutely shocked. He stared at the envelope stupidly, then opening it after some hesitation.


Son,

Your last letter worried us, although we knew you’d do fine on that mission. Your father and I are almost ready to move, it’s not safe to stay in one place too long. I won’t tell you where, your dragon knows our new address.
One name you mentioned stuck in my head, and I couldn’t figure out why. It hit me the other day. I’ve enclosed a picture of your “new” relative.
Keep in touch son. We love you.


The letter ended without a signature or a greeting. This was done to protect Ekyt and his parents, as they could easily be hunted down if their names were found out.
Ekyt reached into the envelope and pulled out a picture.
What? Is this real?

Ekyt, as a baby, at his cousin’s wedding. The ring bearer’s picture was the one his Mother had been referring to.
It was a picture, unmistakably, of a 3 year old Kimimaro Kaguya.

“Lady Tsunade…there’s one surviving member of this clan. Kimimaro Kaguya. Rock Lee fought him. One of the Kaguya clan must have married my cousin…we knew he was killed…that explains why I never knew of the family name…”

NOTE: In this fic, Kimimaro is still alive, but is suffering from the same illness as in the canon works. Hayate Gekko is also still living, so there’s no confusion.

-NG




Lady Tsunade looked down.
“We’d like you to take the name…”
“What?” Ekyt couldn’t help it; the Kaguya clan had met a gruesome end, to the point where the name was taboo.
Lady Tsunade put a hand on his arm.
“Relax. Just for the chunin exams. Partly to pacify Ebisu…” Tsunade’s glare told Ekyt two things:

1. She wasn’t happy with Ebisu
2. He had better do what she said

“I’ll do it.”




Naruto and Lee sparred.
“Hey, where’s the pervy samurai?” Naruto wondered.
Lee gave a heavy sigh. “He is learning medical jutsu from Sakura-san.”
Naruto put his arms behind his head, knocking his already-messy blonde hair around. “Whatever. I bet she’s teaching him the female anatomy…”
Lee glared at Naruto. “I hope you are not implying that Sakura-san is…easy.”
“Relax bushy-brow! It was a joke! I doubt Ekyt would have any clue what to do anyway…”
“And you know?” Lee scoffed. THAT was a mistake.
“Sure I do! Watch! Ninja Harem Jutsu!”
A hundred naked girl Naruto’s all clung to Lee.
“Leeeee-saaaannnnnn!” They cooed in unison.
Lee never stood a chance. The giant nosebleed that followed sent him flying high into the air. He then crashed hard, still not entirely recovered.
Naruto cracked up! “You shoulda seen your face! It’s like you’ve never seen a girl before! I got you GOOD, believe it!”


Sakura hummed merrily as she tied her hair back with her headband.
Things have changed so much…from being Sasuke’s fangirl, all the way to having a boyfriend. And I’ve grown, too…I led my first mission, saved a patient who was nearly terminal…kissed my first boy…Things are looking up! CHA!
Sakura tossed her hair one more time, making sure it was just so. She was expecting Ekyt any time now.
Knock Knock.
Sakura smiled slightly. Right on time…THAT hasn’t changed.
When she opened the door, she found Ekyt. But he was looking at a picture, his brow furrowed in concentration, maybe even frustration.
“Ekyt-kun, is everything alright?” Sakura asked, genuinely worried. Without his mask, his expressions are so defined…No wonder he wore it. It might be cute to me, but to an enemy, it’s a dead giveaway…
“Sakura-chan…I just found out I have a cousin…and…this is strange. Why don’t you take a look, I’m kind of at a loss for words…” Ekyt held up the picture, offering it to Sakura.
Sakura took it, wondering what could be so surprising.
“Kimimaro? Does this mean that you…you’re a Kaguya?”
Ekyt shook his head. “No. It’s not a blood relation thing. I think we’d be third cousins or something. Lady Tsunade wants me to take the surname, but only for the chunin exams. Something Ebisu complained about.”
Sakura shrugged. “Well, come in. We can talk more about this inside.”

Ekyt stepped inside. It hit him that this was the first time he had ever been invited into a girl’s room. The first time he had broken in, and that was Sakura’s room too. Although he had broken in for a good reason, and that was to help her, so there was never any hard feelings. But being invited in…much like a lot of things in this new relationship, it scared the hell out of him. He took a cautious step inside.
Sakura’s apartment was incredibly tidy. Her bed was tucked in one corner. The sun’s rays shined down on the red comforter. From there, the sun shined on her dresser, where there was picture of Team 7, probably near the last time they were all together.
“Well, let’s put that aside for now. There’s really only two jutsus you need to learn. The “Chakra Scalpel” and “Poison Removal”. They aren’t too difficult, as long as you can control your chakra.


An hour later, Ekyt was saying goodbye to Sakura.
“You did really good today, Ekyt-kun! You just need a little more work on the poison removal.”
Ekyt scratched at an angry red blotch on his arm. That poison was a pain to get rid of.
Sakura shook her head. “We’ll poison Naruto next time.”
“How about Ebisu?” Ekyt suggested.
Sakura rolled her eyes, smiling tolerantly. “Whatever you say sport. What are you going to do now?”
“I’m supposed to meet Naruto and Lee for some training. But…um, well…if you like…(damnit, how does anyone do this?)we could…do…something…whenever your free…”
Real smooth Ekyt! Now she probably thinks you’re retarded! Well, she wouldn’t be the first…but you actually CARE what she thinks.
“Really? I’d love to!” Sakura exclaimed, apparently not sharing Ekyt’s thought process.
“I think you’d better name the place…because I am completely clueless…” Ekyt admitted.
“Good idea, I’m afraid you’d pass out if I made you choose! How about Ichiraku, tomorrow night?”
“Sure, it’s a…” damn it…THAT word. I can’t say it! It’s too…scary? Yeah, the big brave samurai/Shinobi warrior can’t say the word d…
“Date?” Sakura finished. “You mean “It’s a date.”
Ekyt nodded, suddenly feeling like he couldn’t say a word.
I REALLY hope I’m not tongue-tied for tomorrow night…

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