Later the Same Evening...
The whole Ikeda/Denki family sat around a large stone table. Although, said table didn’t really stand out, seeing as the chairs they were in were also stone. But this fact went for all the chairs, tables, footrests, shelves, and essentially all furnishing items inside the Denki household.
This house was, in fact, a carved out cave, created with the soul purpose of hiding and protecting Kido and Rittsu Denki.
But as of these last few weeks, this bunker had felt much less like a hiding place and far more like a home, with a complete, somewhat dysfunctional family residing inside.
These facts only made Katsuo all the more regretful of what he was about to say.
“So...” he said quietly, interrupting a conversation between Rittsu and his mother, “I’ve got something I gotta tell you guys.” He added in the same somber tone, staring down at his bowl of soup. It was a thick brown broth based soup with tough meat simmered in it for hour to create a tender and fresh tasting meal, Katsuo preferred his with lots of white pepper....but tonight just wasn’t the night for it.
“What’s wrong Katsu?” The energetic mother of said Chunin questioned with a look of deep curiosity, not used to seeing an expression such as this worn by her son.
“While we were on the mission, attempting to learn the Jinchuriki’s whereabouts, something unexpected happened....” His voice trailed off once again, he sat there, idly stirring his soup with a large spoon, unsure of how his parents would react to what he had to say.
“Well speak up Katsu-kun. Matatabi got your tongue?” Rittsu added, now also curious about where this prolonged conversation had been going.
“While we were searching for the Jinchuriki, we had an encounter with a powerful genjutsu user. A man named Absurd.” Katsuo paused for a moment, looking around to see if the name rung any bells. Unfortunately...or maybe fortunately, it appeared it hadn’t.
“Lots of people were hunting down the Jinchuriki Katsuo. What’s your point?” Kido’s voice echoed down the table, quiet and analytical, yet still curious.
“No....sorry, but this was different. Absurd wasn’t hunting any Jinchuriki...he was hunting me.” As the multi-headbanded ninja spoke these words, his mother dropped her spoon, her somewhat carefree attitude replaced with by one that couldn’t be described as a mountain of questions bombarded her head. The most prominent one simply being, ‘why’.
“This man, Absurd. He took my team on in a battle. Even with the help of Lady Guren, we struggled against his tactics. And by the end of it....by the end of it, he revealed he was a scout for Orochimaru.” At the utter mention of the snakes name, Kido launched to his feet, his eyes wide with bewilderment.
“Kido.” Ichiko spoke her husbands name whilst locking eyes with him, almost as if that one word was an entire conversation between the two Jonin.
“I know.....come on everyone, begin packing your things. We’re leaving.” Kido spoke sternly while half walking half jogging into his room, retrieving a suitcase from his closet shelf before unloading clothes into its empty compartment with great haste.
“Katsuo, Rittsu, get to it, now!” Ichiko spoke with the same severity as her husband, unloading cabinet drawers in the living room at a much faster rate than Kido.
“What? Why? Where are we going?” Katsuo asked in a somewhat panicked tone, this weighing feeling of dread being a new sensation to him.
Kido had stepped back in the room just as he asked this, the bandit ninjas expression now rock solid.
“To the leaf. It looks like Christmas is coming early this year.”
~~~~~~~~
“Kido....are you here? It’s me!” A much younger looking Ichiko whisper-screamed, stepping out into a clearing in the dead of night, her current whereabouts lying far away from any known household.
“Yep!” A far more enthusiastic Kido spoke up flatly, dropping from a tree right behind the unsuspecting Kunoichi.
“Ahh!” Ichiko screamed, turning on her heel to deliver a palm strike to the potential attacker. Her blow arced through the air, stopping mere centimeters away from the now rather regretful looking Kido’s face.
“Don’t do that!” The Ikeda girl groaned, giving Kido a two handed shove, partially out of annoyance, and partially out of embarrassment.
“Hehe, I’m sorry, ya know I was just playing...so...how are you?” Kido’s voice gently transition from sorrow to warmth, his gaze now meeting the beautiful burgundy haired girls.
“I’m fine...I’ve missed you. It’s been nearly a month.” She replied quietly, leaning forward against Kido’s chest, who quickly pulled her into a tight embrace.
“I know...but we’ve gotta be certain. If the clan heads found out, we’d be banned...or probably far worse.” He answered her hopeless question in a somewhat grim tone, his mind wandering to images of his savage clan, how they’d react to treason of this level....and what would happen to Ichiko and he. That couldn’t happen, he wouldn’t let it. But he needed to see her. He loved this energetic, incredibly powerful girl more than thought he could ever love anyone. Tonight would be the night, he had to be with her for more than a hour as per usual.
“Ichiko....would you come with me? I’ve got a place where we could spend the night together without the risk of being discovered.” Ichiko brightened up at these words, only for her expression to shift into a complex mesh of thoughts.
“I don’t know...that’s a lot of risk...” She trailed off, weighing her options. On one hand, she was supposed to be back no earlier than sunrise, but on the other hand.....her vision trailed up to Kido, his confident little grin catching her eyes as always.
“Okay Kido...let’s do it!”