You are my Star

Chapter 21 - Deja Vu

The saddened group of shinobi trudged home, a botched mission weighing them down. When they walked through the front gates, everyone looked behind them to see if there was a tall, handsome boy behind them. There was not. The ninja watched as so many, too many familiar faces fell when they realized Sasuke wasn't with them. 

"You failed the mission." It was more of a statement than a question, but everyone nodded towards the hokage. 

"We did," said Naruto. "But we'll get him back someday. One day very soon, he'll come back."

"Lady Tsunade...if I may ask, what's wrong? You look terrible, ma'am. N-not that you don't look-"

"Everyone but Hoshiko and Naruto may leave," said Lady Tsunade in a flat, tired voice. Shikamaru eyed the three one more time before leaving with the others. 

"Now, you two are Jiraiya's students, so I thought you deserved to know first."

"Huh? What does that pervert want with us?"

Hoshiko, however, remained silent. There was definitely something wrong. Dark circles gave the hokage a haunted look, and she was terribly gaunt, as if she hadn't eaten in a while. And she noticed an old toad beside her, a sorrowful look on his face.

The toad spoke up. "Jiraiya-boy...has died on the battlefield."

                                                                            * * *

"W-what?" The pair staggered backwards, shocked, not believing what they heard.

They stood silently for a second, then Naruto laughed aloud, a cold sound. "Is this a joke? It's a bad one. Pervy sage, even though he's annoying, he can't die. He's too strong to. He's as strong as you, Grandma Tsunade, and you're still alive. There's no way-"

"Leave it, Naruto." Lady Tsunade glanced up with just a little bit of her former fire. "He's dead."

Naruto gave up trying to deny the inevitable. "But why," he whispered. "Why did he go on that mission, and who did it?"

"The six paths of Pain did it. For what reason he kept on fighting even though he knew he would fail, I don't know," said the old toad, shaking his head. 

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"Do you remember the last words he said to us, Naruto?" Hoshiko quietly asked Naruto as they slowly walked down the stairs of the hokage's tower. 

"Yeah." 

They had been about to leave for the Sasuke rescue mission. He had taken them aside for a strategy plan, but had ended up saying something completely different. 

"I'm so proud of you two," he said, smiling softly. "I always will be. Just- try your best out there, yeah? No regrets."

No regrets.  

"That's the way you live, right Naruto? No regrets?"

Naruto attempted to smile, but failed. "I guess." They stopped at the archway in front of the building. 

"I'm gonna grab some ramen," said Naruto, and forged straight ahead.

"I'm gonna go back to the house and do some paperwork, take my mind off things," Hoshiko said to no one in particular, and turned right. 

Shikamaru, who was standing on a rooftop, watched as Hoshiko walked and walked, walked past the house, walked and walked, faster and faster, then broke into a run, tears leaking from her amber eyes. 

She just had to go somewhere, had to-

The shinobi almost ran face first into a brick wall. It almost seemed as if the rough stone was telling her to stop, to calm down, to gather up her thoughts. Hoshiko just stared blankly it for a few minutes, the tears becoming more and more frequent, until finally, she made a choking sound and broke down into sobs, bracing her forearms on the solid brick. 

She slid downwards, her arms getting scratched up, but she didn't care. Sinking towards the ground, she collapsed into a pile and just cried.

But when she felt a presence next to her sit down, she looked up. "Shikamaru?"

He smiled at her. "Feel like telling me what's wrong?" 

Hoshiko looked away. "Jiraiya's dead."

Shikamaru froze. "...what?"

"He died to Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki. He was on a mission."

"Mm." Shikamaru looked up at the setting sun. "A death worthy of a shinobi."

She scrubbed at her eyes. "I'm sorry-"

"Hey," Shikamaru interrupted her. "As a wise person once told me, it's normal to cry when your teacher's gone."

Hoshiko stared at her feet. "Thanks."

"No problem. Hey, do you think you have enough energy to get us to that dumpling shop we went to on the botched Sasuke rescue mission?"

Hoshiko snorted softly. "I've always wanted to try this out, but, I didn't think it would be like this." She teepeed her fingers, then folded down her ring finger. "Katchogan!" Her eyes flashed purple. "You see, with this kekkei-genkai, I can open a portal where I want. It's like the byakugan, but I can only see places I've already been to. Ah-ha, found it!" She flicked her fingers beside her and a small portal opened. She extracted a dagger, and pressed a button on the hilt. 

A larger portal opened, large enough for the both of them. "Hop in."

They did, and landed on the ground beside the sweet dumpling shop. Hoshiko strode inside and promptly ordered three sticks of sweet dumplings. 

"Why three?"

"Well, Naruto hasn't tried these yet, and I wanted to get him an order of it."

Shikamaru smiled at his friend's back while she opened another portal. He walked into the hole and landed next to Naruto, who was watching the portal. They were standing beside Ichiraku Ramen, and Hoshiko had clearly known. She dropped out of the portal as well, and handed Naruto a stick of dumplings, then turned on her heel. "Let's go, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck. "You just give him a stick of dumplings out of the blue, then leave?"

Hoshiko turned, and once again, there were tears in her eyes. But this time, she was smiling. "Well, we all need to be alone sometimes, right?"

Naruto stared at the thing in his hand, then looked up. "Thanks, Hoshiko."

"No problem."

***Filler chapter hehe***