Hidden In the Stars

Naruko's finger traced the fading scar on Signum's cheek. She knew it wouldn't be long before it faded entirely. All wounds that scarred on her knights would eventually disappear, as they'd regenerate back to the way they'd been since she'd first met them. Still, she frowned. "You've been careless, Signum," Naruko said. "I thought we agreed… you wouldn't be."

Her voice was cold and distant, almost as if she wasn't really there, as if it was someone else speaking. "My apologies, mistress…"

"No, don't apologize. I'm not going to blame you, but…" Naruko's eyes are centered on Signum's. "The next time you meet the man who hurt you… Call for backup immediately."

"But, mistress… My pride demands that I—" Signum tried to protest, knowing that her inconclusive battle was a stain on her honor as a knight.

"There is no honor in pointless death, Signum, don't be proud that you threw your life away just because he pissed you off," Naruko countered, coldly. "I will not… I can't let you do this alone. I… I can't help you myself. I'm weak and powerless but… don't do this alone. Don't put yourself in danger… Please…"

Naruko's voice cracked.

"I… mistress, I—"

Signum was once more countered when Naruko flung herself at the pink haired knight. "You dummy! You got hurt! You said you'd be fine and that they wouldn't even touch you! Don't let them touch you ever again! Only I can touch you, okay!? Nobody else! You're mine and mine alone!"

Signum blinked, feeling her master's tears staining the fabric of her clothes… it was just a tiny scratch, so why…

Oh. Right.

"I understand, mistress. I won't make this mistake again," Signum said, soothingly rubbing circles on her mistress' back, trying to comfort her. "You need not fear for me. Remember… even if I fall, my loyalty to you transcends death, and it takes but your call to have me once more at your side."

It'd spend a great deal of the book's power, but… It wasn't urgent to fill it up anyway. They'd been doing so on and off, if only due to their mistress's wish to be a ninja. They had quite a few pages already, and it wouldn't take long to complete it.

"I don't care! I don't want to see you… any of you… hurt… Not ever!" Naruko said, bringing her hands to Signum's cheeks, softly caressing both the unblemished skin and the small scar at once.

"Mistress, I… Thank you," Signum said, pressing her mistress's body harder against hers. Truly, Signum thought, this warmth… was more precious than anything else in the world. Her master's fragile body… she was so strong, such an unbending, unyielding pillar that held them together and kept them going… and yet, she herself was so fragile.

Someone so strong, whom Signum could break so easily… she was like a very precious jewel, like a crystal. Beautiful beyond measure, but just as brittle. It was up to her, and her fellow knights, to protect their most valuable treasure. Now and forever.

"Remember… you're mine, so you have to obey me! So stop being silly and call for help when you're facing someone who's very strong!"

***

"The Linker Cores in this world are all really, really weak. They're plentiful, but…" Vita said, running her fingers through her wet hair. "At this rate, Naruko will be too old to be a ninja by the time we've completed the book."

"We could start moving off-world to do it," Zafira noted. "I can slip by unnoticed. Few remember to check if the housepet is gone. Even the ANBU will eventually lose track of me if I remain in animal form for a while."

Signum nodded. "Then we will begin searching for more fruitful cores off world. There's no urgency, however, so do be careful."

Zafira nodded.

Shamal walked into the room, along with Naruko, meaning the conversation was effectively over.

***

"The chunin exams are a right down mess," Sarutobi stated, as he watched Naruko and Vita playing some sort of ball game that involved attempting to hit Zafira while he skillfully dodged out of the way. They SAID it was dodgeball, but given that he was standing behind a red line and not allowed to fire back…

Probably some sort of hidden exercise. That, or Naruko was just sadistic. It could be. Naruko could be surprisingly sadistic whenever any of her caretakers did anything to infuriate her. It happened fairly often, given their overall attitude led to them being selfless with regards to her, which she disliked quite a bit. But he shook his head as Signum and Shamal sat beside him.

"That man… was incredibly strong and resourceful," Signum said. "And I doubt he'll go away so easily."

"You'd be right. His… pretty much his sole objective in life has, for a long time, been taking revenge against me," Sarutobi said, frowning.

"Any particular reason?" Shamal asked, somewhat deadpan.

"I passed him over to be my successor," Sarutobi said. "Instead I chose a younger, stronger and more beloved ninja than him. It is true that Orochimaru had more experience at the time… but I stand by my decision, and he confirmed it immediately afterwards by throwing the tantrum he threw. The fact that I discovered his horrific experiments shortly before he could flee…"

Shamal nodded. "Human experimentation?" she asked.

"Indeed," Sarutobi said. "But this is too grim a topic for this visit. I didn't come here to speak about business. Have you reconsidered building a pool here?" Sarutobi asked.

"The mistress rejected the idea," Signum said, shrugging. She herself wasn't opposed, or at least didn't seem to be, but Naruko seemed to be totally opposed to the idea, and hadn't ever given a real reason. Considering she liked to swim, it never made any sense. Not to them, anyway.

The Hokage had been willing to pay for it. Everyone knew he just wanted an excuse to see them in swimsuits when he came by.

Shamal smiled, and grabbed a cookie from the nearby platter. "You should try some," she said, biting into her own and savoring it. "To think that something this simple could be so delicious…"

"Naruko's always been adept at working with little," Sarutobi said, grabbing one of them for himself and taking it into his mouth whole. He didn't take long in swallowing it, before he grabbed the teacup Shamal had brought him and took a sip. "But they're a bit harsh on my throat."

"Well, they are rather heavy," Shamal agreed. "We ran out of milk and didn't quite reach the indicated amount…"

Signum sighed. "We drank all the milk beforehand… my apologies," she said.

"Hm? There's a story behind this…"

"Zafira tracked a mark all the way to the Land of Frost, and then we got involved in a civil war there… Our actions were covert, but there were too many available cores not to take advantage. We cannot be traced back here," Signum explained, shaking her head.

All of a sudden, Signum's arm blurred into motion and she blocked a red ball that would've struck her in the face. "Please, be a little more careful," Signum said, before returning the ball.

Zafira looked sheepish.

Some old habits die hard, Sarutobi supposed, and one who has been trained to return an attack when it was a possibility would sometimes do so automatically, without any conscious thought.

Regardless, he took another sip of his tea. "Milk tea?" he asked, wondering.

"We bought milk since we made the cookies," Shamal stated. "We made the mix this morning," she added.

Sarutobi nodded, then focused his eyes on the game in front of him. Now it seemed like Zafira had taken offense at something Vita had done, as he was looking slightly upset. For someone who was usually the most stoic person this side of an Aburame, it was quite clear for the Hokage that something had ticked off the large man, something fierce.

"But it's an easy target," Vita countered, and Sarutobi began picking up the rest of the conversation.

"It doesn't matter, it's not okay to hit me there!" Zafira said, waving his hands frantically.

"Fine. It's not like you use them, or anything, you always keep rejecting everyone who asks," Vita said, shrugging.

It was little things like that which reminded Sarutobi that despite looking all of six, maybe seven, Vita was actually older than he was, probably by a great deal.

"That doesn't matter either! It's the only part of my body I can't train," he said, shaking his head.

"Geez, stop being mean, Zafira! It was an accident, okay? I mean, I know it's really, really mean to hit boys there, but you have to take some of the blame, too! I mean, you left it wide open!" Naruko interjected. "So, stop fighting! Or I will put you both in time out! Again!"

The two knights seemed to be chastised properly, but the game seemed to have come to an end.

"I'm bored anyway. I can't hit Zafira," Naruko said, frowning as she looked at her hands. "I'm too weak and slow…"

"Mistress, I—"

"No," Naruko shouted, cutting off Zafira before he could comment. "It would make me feel even worse if you let me hit you. I just thought that maybe… but it doesn't matter, anyway."

"Anyway, you could totally have dodged or blocked that," Vita said, "but you got distracted!"

"I've arranged things as you asked," Sarutobi said, once Naruko, Vita and Zafira seemed to be engaged in a discussion based on what they'd done right and wrong, namely, Naruko scolding them for treating her like a fragile doll, Vita complaining about Zafira getting distracted at a bad time and Zafira himself just enduring it. The old Hokage couldn't blame them, since… well, she really was fragile, and to be handled with care.

"Excellent," Signum said. "That man… his prowess with the sword was tremendous… I have to step up my abilities, myself."

Shamal blinked. "What are those arrangements?" she asked.

"I've decided that as we are right now, we aren't powerful enough to defend our mistress from everything that might mean her harm, even on this planet… so I asked Hokage-dono to set up a training session with some Shinobi who specialize in the sword arts. Depending on how well this experiment goes, I might ask that you, Zafira and Vita undergo a similar training."

Shamal frowned. "I've heard of a discipline that comes somewhat close to what fighting I can perform with my own device, but…"

"Wire techniques are more common than you'd think. While we can hardly do the same things you can with your rings, we can do some pretty interesting and nifty things," Sarutobi explained. "I know an expert with wires, who can give you quite a bit more training than you would think."