Chapter XIII

I winced in pain as Mikoto ba-sama tended to our injuries. The bandage on my stomach made it bearable to move, but it was still uncomfortable.

"Endure it a little longer," Mikoto said with a hint of mirth in her voice. "You're training to become ninjas, but you should have known there's no need to stab each other to death during a practice."

Itachi let out a sigh next to me. Compared to me, he got off far more lightly.

"Ow," I groaned.

"My apologies. I might have tied it too tightly," Mikoto chuckled.

"Please be more gentle next time, Mikoto ba-sama," I complained.

I looked over to my right and saw that Naruto had crawled over to me. He gave me a reassuring smile and patted my thigh, hoping for a speedy recovery. It seemed the spiritual brothers had split off somewhere, as Sasuke sat contentedly on Itachi's lap.

I understood what was happening and picked Naruto up, settling him on my own lap. He giggled and shot a smug look towards his supposed rival.

Our attention was drawn to a loud voice shouting in the distance, causing both of our ears to perk up. "Mikoto ba-sama!" The unmistakable feminine voice made us turn our heads towards the corner of the house.

"I heard Itachi has a guest, so Grandma sent me to deliver this to you." The clan compound acted as a mini-village inside the village, so news traveled quickly, I reasoned.

The girl greeted us as she approached. She handed Mikoto ba-sama a wrapped package, most likely containing food based on its shape. "Oh my, thank you so much, Haguro-chan," Mikoto ba-sama replied gratefully.

Suddenly, the girl's attention shifted towards us, and she tilted her head curiously. "Hm?"

"Ossu!" She raised her hand, grinning from ear to ear. I felt uneasy under her gaze, but Naruto attempted to mimic her gesture and raise his own hand, letting out an almost garbled "ttebayo" sound.

"Hey, aren't you Nobuyuki?" She leaned forward, squinting her eyes as she analyzed me. I was surprised that she recognized me.

I must have looked confused because she laughed and said, "Don't look so surprised. You're pretty famous in the academy, you know. They say that if you rub your hands together when Nobuyuki walks by, it'll keep Kato-sensei's E-mark and his wrath away from you."

I furrowed my brow. I vaguely remembered some rumors circulating about me, but I always assumed people were just making fun of me behind my back. "But why Kato-sensei?" I asked.

Haguro leaned in, eyes gleaming with mischief. "Well, there's a rumor that's been going around for a long time that Kato-sensei used to be in one of those infamous Torture and Execution squads. I'm just glad I don't have him as my homeroom teacher. Apparently, he gives out E-marks like candy if you rank a B minus or below."

I shook my head. "That's just superstition," I said. "I don't think there's any correlation between doing well in class and avoiding Kato-sensei's wrath."

Haguro chuckled and rubbed her hands together mockingly. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?"

Mikoto Ba-sama interjected, "Nobuyuki-kun is right, Haguro-chan. You often skip classes, don't you? Maybe you should focus on fixing that before worrying about poor Nobuyuki."

Haguro looked taken aback. "Hey, it's not like it really matters. I'll just inherit my mother's shop anyway," she muttered.

"Well, anyway," she changed the subject. "Since I'm here, we might as well go play, right, Itachi-kun?" She turned her head towards the quiet Uchiha, who simply nodded, probably aware that resisting was a futile effort.

"I brought my collectible card sets, so let's play this." It was a deck of cards, probably a trading card game like Pokemon or Magic: The Gathering. It made me nostalgic for some reason.

"Oh, don't worry, I brought several decks just in case since Itachi always forgets to buy one."

Haguro acted as if I had already agreed to it in the first place. Naruto, on the other hand, was bouncing up and down excitedly, with Sasuke apprehensive to the idea.

I watched as Haguro began to set up the game, laying out the cards and explaining the rules to us. Despite my initial reluctance, I found myself getting drawn into the game. It was surprisingly fun, and I could see why so many kids in the academy played it.

As we played, I couldn't help but notice how skilled Itachi was at the game. He seemed to have an innate understanding of the cards and the strategies needed to win. I had always known he was talented, but this was on another level. Perhaps I was just exaggerating since he seems to know the game to some degree.

Haguro was also a skilled player, but I found myself holding my own against Itachi. However, Haguro's deck was specialized compared to our starter decks, and she was a bit of a cheater with her expanded deck.

The cards didn't really appeal to me, as they depicted historical figures and famous ninjas from various eras, rather than the hot smoking babes I usually collected. Still, it was a nice change of pace.

As I played, an idea occurred to me. Maybe I could make some extra money by designing my own trading cards or other traditional games. It didn't seem like it would be too difficult, as long as I found the right person to distribute them. And with a little luck, my cards might even become popular enough to bring in some significant funding.

Itachi and I were tied in the end, but Haguro had a two-point lead over us. I groaned in defeat while she was smug with her cheating tactics.

The sun was setting, so we said our goodbyes to the Uchihas. It was a struggle to calm Naruto down, but he was bribed with some cookies and milk and eventually fell asleep. Once we arrived home, I resumed my studies as usual.