Welcome to Gaia! ::

Faith and Trust

“This is going to be good,” Taran promised as he and Yoru peeked around a corner in the school, “Your brother’s so uptight that he could use this.”

“I’m impressed that you can even do this,” he smirked, “Here he comes, get ready.”

“Arashi’s going to be mad that she missed this,” he flexed his fingers, “Come on, just a few more feet…” invisible chakra threads left his fingers, floating through the hallway towards the other boy and slowly attaching themselves to him, “Got it!”

“And just in time, here she comes,” Yoru pointed, “Make him do it!”

Taran chewed his lip to keep from laughing as Kotori rounded the corner behind Sero, and the puppet nin moved his fingers a little bit, causing Sero to turn towards the girl, suddenly reaching for her and pulling her into his arms.

“Sero-kun…” Kotori was blushing, “What…”

Taran pushed his palm forward before he could say anything and their lips met, the chakra wires releasing him as he and Yoru collapsed into laughter as the Uchiha girl turned bright red and her knees buckled, causing both her and Sero to fall into a heap.

“He fell on top of her!” Yoru wheezed, holding both of his sides, “This turned out better than I thought!”

“So glad that the two of you are amused so easily,” the icy tone caused both to look up at Sero glaring at the two of them, “Another reason for you to just give me your eyes Brother.”

“Go bother someone who cares,” he crossed his arms, “Come on Taran, he doesn’t know what a favor we just did for him.”

“What’d he mean by that?” Taran blinked as Yoru grabbed his hand and led him away.

“You should pick your followers more carefully Brother, he’ll betray you,” Sero smirked as he watched the two walk away, “All it takes is just a little push to bring out what he’s really like.”

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“Mama!” Taran covered his head as Karin tried to comb out his hair, “I’m ten! I can do it myself!”

“Oh shush,” she said, “I’m going to be gone on that mission with your dad for a while, indulge me a bit okay?” she put the comb down and pulled at his cheeks, “You’re so cute when you’re trying to look grown-up in front of your friend.”

“He is, isn’t he,” Yoru grinned as he sat across from them, “You sure that it’s okay for me to spend the week?”

“Of course it is!” Karin smiled, “Uh, Mama’s got your meals, and if you two need anything, Yomi and Yoshi are in charge. We’ll be back soon,” she bent down to kiss his forehead, “You have a good time!” she turned and hugged Yoru tightly, “And you too!”

Taran was bright red as she skipped away from the room, “Every damn time,” he whimpered.

“I don’t know, I kinda like it,” Yoru said shrugging as the other boy messed his hair back up.

“At least I don’t have to put up with it for a week,” he sighed, “Ugh, I’ve got to clean up Dad’s workshop,” he waved, “Come on, I can probably get some parts for the masterpiece while I do it.”

“How come you got stuck with cleaning it?”

“Remember that test last week? I fell asleep?”

“Oh yeah,” he snickered, then slid off the counter, “I’ll help, I fell asleep too and it’s not fair that you’re getting all the punishment.”

“Really not fair.” Taran sighed, “I’ve got my parents and sisters, and then Uncle and Baa-chan, and Auntie… and if Chi’s in town, there’s even more trouble for me when I mess up. You’re lucky that your mom let’s you do whatever.”

“I don’t know,” he followed him down the hall to Kankuro’s workroom, “I think you’re much luckier.”

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“Did you two do your homework?” Kiyomi asked as she walked through the family room to see the two boys working on Taran’s puppet.

“We did that a while ago,” her brother said as he took a screwdriver, “And I thought I asked that you and Yoshi not come in here while I’m working on this.”

She crossed her arms, “I can’t help it if you two are just so adorable working together. Besides, Dad asked me to make sure that you did do any homework. I’m not the one who made a fif…” her voice trailed off.

“Yomi?” Taran looked up in worry, then went to her, “Hey, what’s wrong…” he touched her as she collapsed, then turned to Yoru, “She stopped.”

“Is it because your Dad’s away?” he asked quietly.

“It can’t be, he and Mama go on missions all the time, she and Yoshi…” his eyes widened, “Yoshi!” placing his sister gently down, he ran out of the room, Yoru following behind, to see Kiyoshi seemingly sleeping in the floor of the hall.

Taran bent down beside her, “She’s stopped too.”

“Look at her skin,” Yoru whispered, “I can tell that she’s a puppet now… I never could before.”

“Something’s wrong,” he chewed his lip, “I’m going to go get Uncle, he can contact Dad, can you get them to the couch and sit them up?” he stood.

“Sure,” he placed Kiyoshi’s arm over his shoulder, “Don’t worry, they’ll be fixed.”

He sighed as he saw that Taran was already gone, then frowned, “I have a feeling that this isn’t even the worst of it.”

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Yoru watched his friend go through the notes in Kankuro’s workshop, “Do you know what you’re looking for?”

“It would be marked with Sasori’s or Chiyo’s seal, I’m almost certain that’s what Dad used to base their design on,” Taran looked through the shelf in front of him, “If I can find that, then maybe I can fix them before he gets home.”

“A hawk was sent out right?” he looked back towards the family area at the sleeping sister puppets, “There’s a chance that he’ll be back…”

Both boys looked up at the knock on the door and Taran jumped down, running to answer it, “Baki?”

“I came to tell you first, before I report this to the Kage,” he said as he handed the boy a bundle of black cloth, “Your parents…”

Everything seemed to stop as he fell to his knees, vaguely aware of someone helping him up and half-carrying, half-dragging him to his room, of a snapped response to the man in the doorway that he barely recognized.

At some point morning came, and he opened his eyes to see Yoru curled next to him in his bed, the other boy’s arms wrapped protectively around him, something that normally made him turn bright crimson for fear that someone would see.

He sat up, hugging his knees, only then seeing the black bundle at the end of the bed, and chewing his lip, he lifted up the hood to see the scrolls wrapped up in the cloak, “They’re all here,” he whispered.

“Hnnn?” Yoru blinked sleepily to see Taran going through his father’s puppets.

“This makes no sense,” he said as he turned to his friend, “If it was a normal enemy nin that did it, they would have taken them, Dad had some very powerful…” he held up one, “This is Sasori! Dad said that there was a huge price on the black market. He had to actually fight against some that were trying to get him before,” he looked through them, “But they’re all here, why kill a puppet master and leave the puppets? Even if you can’t use them, you can easily sell them off to someone who can, and Suna’s got…”

“Maybe it was someone that didn’t know?” Yoru narrowed his eyes, “But they would have fought against him, and even if it was your mother that did the main fighting, they still would have been able to tell that he was a puppet master.”

“And then one last question,” a voice said and both boys looked to see Gaara standing there, “The people that were being escorted were not harmed, their goods not even touched. This was a hit.”

“But who would…” Taran clenched his fists, “Even with Dad’s bounty, they still needed the puppets to turn it in!”

“And Karin had no such thing,” the Kage said quietly, “She was rather infamous for being an useless nin, even getting discharged from her old village,” he shook his head, “Mira has something for you to eat, go downstairs for now.”

Taran slowly nodded, “Baa-chan probably made too much,” he whispered as he passed his uncle, Yoru following behind him.

“There is one other thing,” Gaara said, “The wounds left, they had traces of snake venom. I thought it strange because they were already deep enough to kill without it.”

Yoru paled as the words were said, a suspicion forming in his mind as he looked back at the Kage who was staring quietly back at him.

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“What are you doing?” he asked later that night as he watched Taran go around the kitchen.

“Would you believe that I miss her cooking?” the other boy said as he randomly poured different things into a bowl, “Stupid huh? There’s no telling how many people that it might have…” he stopped, “Maybe I should let it ferment,” he rubbed his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it right now,” Yoru said as he went to him, pulling him into his chest as the tears started, “Taran… if this happened because someone was trying to take you away from me…”

“Who would do something like that?” he muttered, “And if that were the case, then I’d just hang on to you even harder. I don’t abandon friends,” he sniffed, “Mama taught me better than that,” he blinked as something was slid into his hands, then looked to see the bone sword there and back up at Yoru, “Wha…”

“I haven’t been honest with you,” he whispered, “Because of that…” his fists clenched, “I serve Lord Orochimaru, every part of my being belongs to him. I was with you because at first, I thought that maybe you could somehow be made to serve him too.”

“You said at first, what changed?”

“I started to genuinely like you,” he smiled, “You’re addictive, your family was addictive. The times I spent here…”

“Why did you give me the sword? You can’t…” Taran hit his chest, “Snap out of it Yoru, why does all of that matter! You’re my friend, I’m not going to hold who your family is against you!” he took his arm, trying to shove the bone back inside the skin, “So you thought I was easy back in kindergarten, it’s true isn’t it!”

“Let me,” he sighed as he took the weapon back, “You can forgive a snake in your living room.”

“First off, we’re in the kitchen, secondly, I’m more mad that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me before,” he crossed his arms, “I’m not going to hate you no matter what happens.”

“I think this is the first time you stood up to me,” he smiled sadly, “Taran, I’m sorry…”

“Who would be trying to hurt you by doing something like this?” he asked, “Your master isn’t…”

“No, it’s not his style,” Yoru frowned, “Besides, there’s still a chance that you’ll swear allegiance to him, and he would have taken Sasori. So would Kabuto for that matter, there are some old wounds there. And Kimi-haha would have done it honorably, in an all-out fight.”

Taran nodded, then sat down, “That leaves…” he blinked, then looked back up, “Don’t tell me that this was because of a prank.”

Yoru shook his head, “There’s much more than just that. He means to break me so that he can win the honor of my eyes. If he waits until the actual fight scheduled after our sixteenth birthdays, then he knows that he will lose.”

“What fight?” Taran stared at him, “And eyes? What else haven’t you told me Yoru?”

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A week later Sero opened the door, staring quietly at the empty classroom, “Where are they?” he growled, “I was very clear…”

“Shame about your followers,” he whirled to see Yoru standing behind the door, “Seems like they all left you already.”

Chakra wires wrapped around the younger brother, knocking him to the floor, “You should pick them more carefully,” Taran said as he and Yoru bent over him, “You know how easy it was to find out when the meeting was?”

“Or to scare them all away?” the elder brother smirked, “Who killed Taran’s parents for you?”

“What does it matter?” Sero hissed, “I’ll kill him next, then you won’t have…” he winced as the wires were pulled tighter.

“I don’t know Yoru, you may not get a better chance,” Taran took out a kunai, “I say take his eyes now.”

“Too easy,” he said, “And no honor in it at all. Lord Orochimaru would not be happy with such a low body. Besides, it’s so much more fun to let him know that I’m better than he is. Train all you want Sero, but don’t forget that I’m training too. I won’t give Lord Orochimaru anything but the best vessel.”

Both boys left then, and slowly the wires loosened and the younger brother sat up, glaring at the closed door, “The hell did he mean by that?” he snapped, “We’re fighting for the right to be at his side when he takes over the world!”

The door opened again, and he clenched his fists, ready to summon a weapon as Kotori peeked in, “Did I miss the meeting?” she asked, then stared wide-eyed as he burst into laughter.