13 Chapter 13

||A/N: First of all, thank you guys for reading my fanfic! I never could've imagined that there would actually be people out there willing to read my stuff.

On another note, life's been one giant middle finger to me for the past weeks. First, I got Corona (despite being vaccinated, mind you) which landed me in hospital for almost two weeks, because we don't do stuff halfway - it's either go big or go home. And right on the day I finally got discharged, some a-hole decided to run a red light and t-boned me. My doc hadn't been very happy to see me coming back this soon. Luckily, nothing much happened, thank God. Just a cracked wrist and a few scrapes and scratches. But this also meant I couldn't use that hand since it happened to be my dominant one. And even now I still have a mountain of university assignments to catch up on. Like, Mount Everest would look tiny compared to it. It'll take a long, long while until I'm done with those. Sigh. Anywho, let's get on with it.||

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"Naruto didn't come back last night either?" I hear Tazuna ask the pink banshee as I make my way down for breakfast. I kinda overslept, to be honest. Kakashi must've woken up much earlier than me judging by the lack of warmth on his side of the bed. I don't know where he is. Could've at least left a note or something, that jerk. How am I supposed to change my bandages now? I mean, I guess the wounds have healed up pretty well considering how severe they had been, so it'll probably be fine.

"He's such an idiot. He's been out every night climbing trees." Sakura mumbles sleepily, then adds, "He might be dead out there somewhere from overusing his chakra."

"I wonder if Naruto-kun is alright. To think a child is out there in the middle of the night," Tsunami-san says with concern in her voice.

"Ma~ No need to worry. This is Naruto we're talking about. While it may not always look like it, he's still a full-fledged Genin," Kakashi assures her. My head immediately turns towards where I heard his voice come from. How come I didn't notice him? Or did he just shunshin there while I was still lost in my thoughts? He looks my way and gives me a wave with his hand, smiling as he does so. I walk over to him and mumble a quiet "'Morning" which he returns, followed by one of his annoying head rubs. Why do I even bother doing my hair these days? Sigh.

"I wonder. That Usuratonkatchi is probably completely pooped out right now," Sasuke says and gets up from his seat to leave.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura utters confused.

"I'm going for a walk," the Uchiha says before leaving the house. He may not show or say it openly, but Sasuke does actually tolerate, if not, even accept the annoying blonde to some extent. They are definitely rivals, that's for sure.

"But what about breakfast?" She mumbles, not understanding why the duckbutt would want to leave now, only to look at the boy's plate. It's empty. This is almost Kakashi-level eating-speed right there! And that means something considering that the silverette practically teleports his food into his stomach without anybody noticing when and how. It's like one of those magic tricks you see being performed on those shows in circuses or amusement parks, I tell you. One second his ramen bowl is full, you blink, and it's completely empty. He simply pulls a Houdini and makes it disappear. How he manages to inhale his food without burning himself, I'll never understand.

With a shrug, I go and sit down at the table with Kakashi following right beside me. As always, Tsunami has outdone herself with the breakfast. I love her grilled salmon. And no, this has nothing to do with me being part cat. I have always enjoyed eating fish, even back on Earth. Unfortunately, I haven't had much opportunity to get my hands on any form of seafood ever since I've come here. That shit is expensive I tell you, nothing that an orphan like myself could afford to buy. So with fish for breakfast, you bet your sweet ass Imma dig in and eat as much as I can! Well, maybe I should do so with a little less enthusiasm. The others are looking at me weirdly as I inhale my meal within less than five minutes. Kakashi seems to have noticed my love for the fish, so he sneakily put his own on my plate when he thought I wasn't paying attention. He's just adorable.

We quickly finish breakfast and then Kakashi, Sakura, and I leave to go look for the other two members of our team. In the forest. Because where else could they possibly learn to climb trees. Have I ever mentioned that I have a minor dislike for forests? Well, now I have. And it has nothing to do with any childhood trauma or whatever. I'm just really fucking bad with directions. Not yet quite Zoro levels of bad, but still worse than any normal human being. And so here we are walking through the forest minding our business when out of nowhere a shuriken lands in front of our feet. We all look up into the trees, only to find one smug-looking blonde lying on a branch.

"No way, Naruto can climb that high now? Wow!" Sakura exclaims in disbelieve.

"How 'bout that! How 'bout that! See how high I can climb now!" Naruto yells at us and jumps to his feet, only to lose his balance and seemingly fall off the branch. Sakura screams, and even Kakashi has a concerned look on his face. Would it hurt if he fell from that height? Probably, but it would not be too bad. Besides, we got a silver-haired cyclops on our side who can easily catch him, so everything is fine.

Then suddenly, instead of falling, the blonde just hangs himself upside down the branch and grins at us. Really? It was nothing but an act? He even dares to shout "Gotcha! You fell for it!" with a shit-eating grin on his face. Should have known with him being Konoha's biggest prankster and all that.

"Don't scare us like that!" Sakura complains. It is then that his feet suddenly detach from the branch, and he does actually fall. Ha! Instant karma, baby!

"You idiot! Of course you had to go overboard!" The pinkette now yells at him at the top of her lungs. Meanwhile, Kakashi readies himself to catch the falling blonde but relaxes as soon as he sees the Uchiha pushing himself off a close-by tree, catching the knucklehead by his ankle, and leaving him dangling upside down.

"You idiot," Sasuke mumbles.

"Sasuke?" Says the blonde. I can hear Naruto's heart racing from way down here. He must've been in a panic for a second there.

"Nice one, Sasuke-kun! You're awesome!" Sakura cheers.

After Naruto's little stunt, he, Sasuke, and Sakura remained while Kakashi and I returned to our duty of protecting Tazuna. As always, nothing happened, and we accompanied the old bridgebuilder home as soon as the sun began to set.

Later that evening, Sasuke comes back with a weakened Naruto slung over his shoulders. They both definitely have overdone it with their training judging by all the mud and scrapes covering them.

"What were you guys doing?" Tazuna asks them.

"We both… climbed to the very top!" Naruto states proudly. Is that really something amazing? Sakura and I were able to do that since day one. Well, I guess accomplishing something you weren't able to do before is a reason to feel proud of yourself. Congrats to you guys, then.

"Well done, you two." Kakashi praises them and then adds, "Sasuke and Naruto, you will join us in guarding Tazuna tomorrow."

Naruto immediately cheers loudly and jumps in joy, but then trips and falls, taking Sasuke down with him, both landing on their butts. I wanna laugh. I wanna laugh so bad. And take a photo. Damn it, why don't I have a camera when I need it!

"You Usuratonkatchi!" Sasuke complains in annoyance while everybody, safe Inari, myself, and Kakashi breaks out in laughter. In the end, I couldn't hold it back any longer and join them, though it's more of a snicker than a laugh in my case. After that, both the duckbutt and the knucklehead join the table and we finally get to eat dinner. It is as tasty as always. Tsunami truly knows her way around the kitchen. I will miss this. The fish especially. Sigh. Maybe I can get Kakashi to cook for me.

"Just a little bit and the bridge will be complete. It's thanks to you guys." Tazuna says while Tsunami busies herself with clearing the table.

"Even so, don't let your guards down." She reminds us. Look here, lady, we are Shinobi, Don't-let-your-guard-down Shinobi. It's in our name. And our nature. With a few exceptions that I'm unwilling to name, because duh, they're pretty obvious.

"I've really wanted to ask you for a long time now, but why are you still here even though I lied to you about the mission?" Tazuna suddenly asks. Because Naruto is an emotional idiot who has this complex that makes him want to make other people's business his own business – just feed him some sob story and he will fold like origami and do anything to help you. Also, he has this need that makes him want to prove himself to everybody else to gain their recognition. Also also, because plot. Because those two rivals over there need to grow stronger and so fate willed this to happen. Or rather the author of the manga did. Tomato, tomato - same thing.

"To see what is right without doing it bespeaks the absence of courage. Like master, like man." Kakashi suddenly says, sounding like an old man full of wisdom. His silver hair surely fits the bill. But after a short pause, he adds, "Those are the teachings of the late Hokage." Go figure, as if he'd be capable of such sagely words. However, I believe I should still praise him for reading literature other than those porn books. Ma~ Well done, Bakashi. Thumbs up.

I take my cup of tea and take a sip. Tea, especially green tea, is something I have come to enjoy during our stay here. The only beverage that I can drink without half a pound of sugar. Gotta buy some of that once we return to Konoha.

Suddenly, I can hear Inari's breathing become irregular and look at him, only to see tears starting to gather in his eyes, and before long they roll down his cheeks and drip onto the table. What is wrong with him? Did he bite his tongue or something?

"Why?" He mutters, gaining the others' attention. Can please be a bit more precise? I need context.

"What is it?" Naruto asks. Inari then gets up, slamming his hands on the table. Is he angry or sad? Can't really tell, so maybe both?

"Why do you work so hard until you end up in this state?! It doesn't matter how much you train, you'll never be a match for Gatō and his men! It doesn't matter how strong you think you are or how much effort you put in, the weak will always lose against the strong!" He yells.

"Shut it, would ya, I ain't like you," Naruto complains.

"You shut up! Just looking at you makes me sick! You keep sticking your nose into our business even though you know nothing about our land! I'm not like you who's constantly smiling and laughing. You know nothing about pain!" Inari screams at the blonde. Well, that escalated quickly. Are all children like this? This is the reason why I don't like children. They don't think and make crazy assumptions and don't have a filter. Also, one moment they're quiet and chill, and the next they decide to flip the lid. What is going on in that kid's head? Doesn't he notice just how much of a hypocrite he is being? How would he know whether Naruto knows something or not?

I can't deal with this shit, so I just get up to leave, but Sakura holds me back.

"Where are you going?"

"Someplace other than here. I can't deal with ignorant children, so before I say something that I may come to regret, I better leave," I huff, but before I manage another step, it's Inari himself who yells at me.

"How dare you?!"

"I'm just stating facts here, kid. You are a hypocrite. You accuse us of getting in your business and not knowing anything about pain, yet you do the very same thing. Your grandfather came to our village and paid for our services, as such, to honor the contract, we do exactly what is demanded of us. We keep your grandfather safe until he finishes the bridge, nothing more, nothing less. Our training strengthens us and, by extension, benefits our client. You, with your ceaseless drama, are constantly interfering with our job. And you say we know nothing of pain?" I say as I open my jacket and pull up my shirt giving everybody a clear view of my stomach and chest areas that are covered with scars of all shapes and sizes. Eyes widen in shock as everyone except Kakashi gasps in shock.

"My entire body looks like that, courtesy of people who think they do whatever the hell they want to a helpless child," I continue while covering myself again. "And this is not just me. Naruto, for some unknown reason, is being mistreated by our entire village. He never knew his parents, never had anybody to protect him from the wrath of those around him. He knows what it feels like to go hungry for days on end. He knows pain. Sasuke, too, has suffered gravely, as did Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura probably as well. We know. So don't go assuming things. Just because you yourself are in a bad position doesn't mean that you have the right to drag others down with you. Instead, you should be focusing on the things that are within your reach. Yes, you lost somebody close to you. Yes, it hurts. And yes, you are allowed to grieve. But do you not still have Tsunami-san and Tazuna-san by your side? And don't you have all those happy memories of Kaiza? Somebody once told me that a person only truly dies when everybody forgets about them. Think about that," I finish my little rant and, using the stunned state of my listeners, make myself scarce. I'm really not in the mood for stupid questions.

I probably shouldn't have gotten so riled up, I'm an adult after all, but his naivety really rubbed me the wrong way. Still, life doesn't care about your age or situation. If it decides to kick you in your guts, then you are either strong enough to take it or you will crumble. And if it is the latter, you better give it your all to get back up again. There is no in-between. It'll be good if he learned this fact early on while he still has people there to help him.

When I reach my room, I quickly go to the bathroom to clean myself before I make my way over to my bed and lie down. All this talking has been exhausting. Nothing that a good night's rest wouldn't fix. I only hope that Kakashi would be there when I wake up tomorrow. I've gotten quite used to his presence. It makes me feel less lonely.