34 New Friend

"What are you?" Kabuto asked.

We were currently sitting at the corner of the front porch as per Nonō-san's order. Kabuto, who sat besides me, was brooding beneath his low-grade notice-me-not genjutsu whilst I fiddled with Nonō-san broken glasses, silently contemplating on how to return it to her without raising any question. The fracture on the frame itself was quite clean, thus it did not take me long to polymerize the macromolecules and attached the pieces together. The crack on the lenses had also disappeared, though I might have accidentally altered the prescription while I was at it.

"Hooman, obviously."

Kabuto sent me a deadpan look. "How did you know who I am? Or about Danzō-sama for that matter."

"I'm a fan," I said, to which Kabuto responded with a snort. "Also, speaking of bandage-san, I'm pretty sure he wants you and Nonō-san to kill each other, so you should probably run and start anew somewhere else since the village is now busy with my clan."

Kabuto cocked his head, his onyx eyes narrowing. "I don't understand… I am trained to recognize lies and deceptions – every twitch of muscles, every breath and inflection. I know a liar when I see one. But you... You're not lying. You really mean everything you said."

"Duh."

Kabuto twitched. "You're annoying."

"It's called a personality."

Kabuto rolled his eyes.

"Here." I handed him the now intact glasses. "You should give it to Nonō-san. Maybe then she will dislike you less."

Kabuto looked annoyed, but the hands that gently cradled the frame in his palms said otherwise. "What a lazy child."

"I'm in a time out, Kabuto-san. I'm not allowed to go anywhere except to pee or poo, which is a moot point since I'm wearing a diaper."

The teen let out a disgruntled noise. "How did you do that? I saw your hands moving earlier, but I don't really comprehend what I'm seeing. It's not something that I have ever seen before, certainly not something that I expected from a child your age – and trust me, I have seen plenty of strange things. This result is…" he peered through the lenses, "…quite magnificent."

"Well thank you. I might just tell you my secret if you teach me that green-blue-thingy."

"Excuse you, that green-blue-thingy is an A-level technique which requires fine chakra control and copious amount of time and focus to master–"

"Which I shall have."

"It's not a child's play, Hideyo-bō," Kabuto drawled sarcastically, "you could seriously injure yourself or someone else with it."

"I know."

"And yet you don't care, you spoiled child."

"You don't care either!" I argued, "Stop pretending like you do. It's a waste of time and very unbecoming of you. I assure you, I will never hurt anyone unless provoked, especially not residents of this place, who already have unfortunate lives, mind you." I had a feeling that bringing up the orphans would help to sway Kabuto away.

The teen looked unconvinced.

"Come on… I know you're curious," I waggled my finger, where faint colors danced over my knuckles as light passed through the condensed energy on my forefinger, "we're not going to live forever, so share your knowledge with the next generation."

Kabuto sighed in resignation and peeled off his left glove. "Just so that you know, I don't like you and I pity your parents for being stuck with you."

My sharingan bleed into existence and I watched with rapt attention as the teen's other hand glowed green before condensing into deep blue, forming a beautiful chakra scalpel. I almost vibrated from sheer excitement alone.

"No problem. Mummy said I will grow on people like fungus."

"Whatever you say, kid," Kabuto dismissed. "Now, pay attention. This is chakra scalpel. It can be used for highly accurate incisions necessary for surgeries and anatomical dissections. Unlike regular scalpels, chakra scalpel can make cuts inside the body without actually creating an open wound, which can limit the risks of infection."

"Awesome," I breathed out.

Kabuto smirked. Nonō-san had taught him well and he knew it. "Just wait until you see the other iryō ninjutsu. This is simply the tip of the iceberg."

"Come on, Kabuto-san, make the incision already!"

"A spoiled and impatient brat that has no respect for his elders. What a wonderful combination."

I stuck out my tongue.