Chapter 84 - The Smile

Azami smirked. “Not in the flesh. This is just a host body to speak for me, I’m afraid. I’m surprised to see you’re alive. In a way, I mean. I guess I had hoped that you’d live.”

Ekyt was beyond shock. So he ran on instinct. “Azami, please- just tell me the truth- why did you do what you did? Who is it that’s blackmailing you?”

Ekyt noticed a slight change in Azami’s face.

“…I’m working for two people. One of them I genuinely work for, and another who is a dupe. One of whom wants you alive, the other wants you dead.”

“I know better than to ask you for names. But can you tell me one more thing?”

“What’s that?” Azami answered.

“Tell me what YOU want.”

Azami (Or, at least, her host body) blushed a little. “I want…you. I want you to live, and I want to be with you. But I…I’m promised to another. And I love him as well.”

Ekyt didn’t seem shaken outwardly, though the entire group knew that hit him hard.

“I see,” he responded thoughtfully. “Well then, please do me a favor. Tell the boss that wants me alive ‘thank you’. And tell the other one who wants me dead…”

Ekyt’s face turned the meanest anyone had ever seen.

“You tell that son of a dog that, for enslaving you and trying to kill me, I’m going to destroy him. And Azami- you need to practice more. You’re a horrible liar. I know someone put you up to this. I WILL find out who, and I WILL find out what he had on you that made you do this. And then, I’ll free you. And once your free, you can choose who you love. And if it isn’t me, I’ll support you with all I’ve got, no matter who it is you really love. Unless it’s Hidan…”

“THAT dipshoot? Forget it. I was just trying to piss you off when I said that,” Azami answered, her tone dismissive. “I’m looking forward to killing him myself, to be honest.”

“Not if I do it first,” Ekyt shot back. “But you can have his body. Since I’ll have ruined his head…”

The two seemed as though they were a couple again. But Azami’s admittance of there being another made that impossible. But they could still share a laugh as friends, right?
Well, no. Ekyt couldn’t. ‘Friends’ wasn’t something he understood when it came to villains. She couldn’t be anything more than an old acquaintance while she stood among the Akatsuki. That’s not to say his feelings didn’t run deep for her.

“Tell me…the new person you love…is he strong?”

It was clear that this killed Ekyt inside, though he put on a stoic front.

“Yeah. Really strong. You’ve met him a few times. I wish I could tell you who it is, but I’m afraid you’ll try to hurt him. Just because I can’t be with you doesn’t mean I want to see you get killed…”

“So he’s stronger than I am, then?” Ekyt questioned with a smile. “Must not have been difficult. One last question, of course. Is he among the Akatsuki’s ranks?”

“…Yes. I’m having the worst time trying to decide between the two of you!” Azami finally blurted out. “You were the first boy I loved, but he’s what I always imagined…I’m just so confused!”

“Let me make your decision easier, then. Pick the stronger one, Azami. The one who has the strength to protect you. The one who can succeed where I failed. And no hard feelings, okay?”

Azami’s ‘avatar’, for want of a better word, registered her shock. “You never give up on things that are important to you. Why would you so readily give up on me?”
Does this mean that I don’t really matter to him?

Ekyt had said what he did for a calculated reason. Azami can read me like a book. She knows how I’ll react to everything. Throw a wrench in her plans, and I might get a glimpse at the real her, and what she’s really thinking/saying.

“Well, you made your choice pretty clear. (ha ha) Between the two stabbings and that last fight, I couldn’t hope to stand up to you. I still care for you, and like any gracious loser, I’ll cheer you on from the sidelines. That’s the duty of a friend.”

An affable smile spread across Ekyt’s face. To the untrained eye, it was a good thing. To those who had spent the past few years with Ekyt, however, it held the same meaning as a coming comet.

-

“Look at that! Sakura, you remember that look on his face?!”

Naruto’s outstretched hand pointed at Ekyt. He was wearing an affable smile, eyes closed, even with small laughs after his speech.

“I know…” Sakura murmured quietly. “The last time he was like that was when the Third Hokage died. So that must mean Azami is dead to him, or…”

“Or he’s figured something out,” Naruto finished for her, nodding.

It dawned on Naruto that there was someone who should be made aware of this development.

“Hey, Asuma-sensei! You see the look on Ryouko’s face?”

Asuma could, obviously, and told Naruto as much. “What about it?”

“The last time he had that expression, he got the twenty five million ryo bounty on his head in the Mist Village,” Naruto informed him.

“He last wore that expression when the Third Hokage died,” Sakura added. “I think it means that he’s figured out something important, or he’s about to become very dangerous.”

-

Something is very wrong. Ekyt isn’t taking any of my bait. And he’s too…mellow…

Azami bit her lip. What she had said was partly true. She DID have a crush on someone else. But Ekyt was her first love, and she wanted him back. The thought of him holding another woman irked Azami to no end. And that damn smirk on his face now…

No, he’s trying to get a reaction out of me. If he wants to play THAT game…

Azami gritted her teeth, trying to stop herself from retaliating like a child.

-

“So I guess I didn’t mean all that much to you?” Azami asked, rage in her voice.

“Why would you say that? It’s pretty obvious I DO care for you if I’ve promised to free you from whoever’s blackmailing you. (heh)”

“I never said anything about blackmail!” Azami shouted, wanting to strangle him.

“But you didn’t deny it, either. And since there’s no way I snuck that past you without you noticing… It seems you take me for a fool…”

“Not at all! I was the fool, really. This conversation is pointless. It’s only making things harder for both of us, isn’t it?”
The anger was gone from her voice, replaced with genuine sadness.

“Not at all. It was good to talk to you again. And someday, we’ll be talking in person again. But if there really IS a guy that you’ve met…well, save me a dance at the wedding, okay? So, until we meet again…Goodbye.”

Ekyt walked past the avatar, leaving the stunned group of Shinobi behind him to catch up to his pace. Azami’s ‘avatar’ woke up as she removed her chakra. It was clear he wouldn’t know anything, and that he hadn’t done anything wrong except be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Next meal is on me,” Ekyt called back, still with the affable smile on his face.

-

Kakashi, Yamato, and Asuma gathered in the back room of the bar they had wound up at. Most of the kids were drunk. Great adult supervision. But it was important to have a few moments to talk, jonin to jonin.

“The kids didn’t like having to hold back…Naruto especially,” Yamato informed Kakashi and Asuma. “They can’t understand why they had to come along on this trip if it was only about Ekyt. They were glad to help, but they aren’t sure what they did to help.”

“I expected as much. I didn’t expect Naruto to be able to keep himself in check. But he did, for Ekyt’s sake.”

“It’s a shame he didn’t get the job…” Asuma muttered. “He would be a great guardian.”

“Failure was just as important. Ekyt gauged his strength against an enemy in a controlled environment. We need to make sure he uses that information to his advantage.”

“Yeah, I was curious about that, Kakashi. Why the special focus on Ekyt all this time?” Asuma lit a new cigarette, checking on his squad with a glance. “Is there some special reason?”

“Yes. He doesn’t have a sensei, so he advocates for himself most of the time,” Kakashi explained, choosing his words carefully. “He handles himself well, and he’s come a long way in a short time, in terms of strength. Because he doesn’t have a team, he can take on select missions. Such as Lady Hokage’s new plans to counter the Akatsuki.”

Yamato hadn’t heard of this yet. “New plans?”

“Troops,” Asuma interjected bluntly. “Lots of them. Special jonin and advanced jonin only. Kind of like a second ANBU that mobilizes against the Akatsuki’s interest.”

“That’s right,” Kakashi agreed, nodding. “And Ekyt is to be part of this. As a leader, in fact. He’s tangled with the Akatsuki as much as anyone, so Lady Tsunade wants him to become…how to put it…She wants his head on straight. She wants his problems solved so that he can lead without the excess baggage he’s carrying.”

“If that’s her goal, why not make him a regular squad leader for a while? Isn’t that the best way to give him experience?” Yamato didn’t understand why they were taking this dangerous stance on Ekyt’s training.

“It’s time. The Akatsuki are a black organization that probably has followers everywhere. We need to discourage those followers now, before they become full-fledged members. No matter how could they are, the Akatsuki can still be overwhelmed using superior numbers. But we have to strike quickly while working on little information. So some shinobi- such as Ekyt- are being rushed to a greater potential as fast as possible.”

Asuma was involved in this task force. He and Shikamaru were part of a squad (along with Izumo and Kotetsu) that were to be ready at any time to move out.

“Is that why Lady Tsunade was letting him have this tryout? I’m supposed to tutor him or something?”

Kakashi shook his head at Asuma’s question. “No. The idea was to give Ekyt a commanding officer and comrades. His weakness now is his lack of experience operating with others. His attacks, as you have seen, can be devastating. But he can’t quite make his fighting style mesh with anyone else’s. But before we could correct that problem, we needed to work on his confidence.”

“And that didn’t go well…” Asuma glanced at the group again. Naruto and Sakura had passed out. Choji was stuffing his face, and Ino was talking to Sasuke. Shikamaru and Ekyt were having a discussion, likely of tactics, using a ‘Go’ board as a reference.

“It didn’t? But he seemed so confident. And he DID earn the approval of the Fire Daimyo,” Yamato said in a low whisper.

“Yeah, but Naruto and Sakura told me that the last time Ekyt had that kind of expression on his face, he got the bounty on his head. It was the same thing when my dad died, too. So he’s either figured something out, or he’s horribly devastated. With Ekyt, which do you think is more likely?”

Kakashi shook his head. “He’s a closed book, even to me. His moods are impossibly to read. He has potential- less potential than my group, but he has the makings of a sturdy jonin. But his emotions- or lack thereof, at times- deter that. And despite all this, there’s yet another, darker reason as to why Ekyt’s getting this attention. Yamato, you’ve been involved with Naruto’s training. You know that I’m pushing him hard, as well.”

Yamato nodded. “That’s right.”

“And Sakura has Lady Tsunade. Sasuke is naturally talented, and since he can copy jutsus, he more or less studies on his own. But of them, Naruto is the special case. Becomes he carries the Nine-Tailed fox. Yamato, you can suppress the demon’s power, and my team can protect Naruto.”

“I see! Ekyt is close to your team, and he’s in on this whole ‘Akatsuki’ thing, so he’s another counter-measure!”

Kakashi nodded darkly. “That’s right. Ekyt was the Third’s student- he knows a jutsu that can, when the time is right, counter almost anything the Akatsuki has. The plan was to develop his strength and harvest that jutsu- the Reaper Death Seal.”

“So he was a pawn?!”

“Yes and no. He’s no pawn- he’s very aware of what he’s doing, without us ever telling him. He protects Naruto and Sakura of his own volition. It’s more like we’re choosing to harvest his unique ability. Ekyt is very protective of anyone in the Leaf Village, and that’s what makes him perfect for this sort of thing.”

“And he’s aware of this?” Asuma interrupted. He wasn’t sure he liked where this was going.

“In a way. He agreed to this sort of thing with Jiraiya and I. (See previous chapters) But, this is a last-resort thing. The Akatsuki rarely moves in the open, so we have the advantage of time on our hands. In addition, we know their target. So everyone involved can lead normal lives- until the Akatsuki strike.”

“We’d better get back to our teams,” Asuma said quietly. “Kakashi, one question- They didn’t make Ekyt a jonin just for this, did they? To rush him into combat?”

Kakashi shook his head, a smile in his eyes. “No. He earned that vest. Ekyt’s getting this attention because he deserves it. He wants to help, and that passion isn’t something everyone gives. So he’s got guts and drive, and that more than makes up for his lack of natural talent.”

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