| "And though she be but little, she is fierce." | William Shakespeare
.:Kakashi:.
Guy, Yamato, and I were on this mission together. We were particularly quiet on this mission, even Guy. Maybe it was because the Kyuubi attacked Konoha just last night. Today, the village will be having a funeral for the Fourth Hokage and his wife. It's sad that their son will never know how amazing his parents were.
Guy landed next to me and Yamato landed in another branch. "Is this our area?" Guy asked, looking down into the depths of the forest.
I nodded. "Yeah. We're here to accumulate the damage that the Kyuubi caused."
"It's just a forest, so why does it matter about the damage?" Yamato questioned.
"Really, we're here to find any fallen shinobi and dispose of the bodies, so that enemies don't get hold of them."
"So where do we start, Kakashi?" Guy asked.
It's such a wide area. I sighed, "Might as well start over there and then expand our search until we reach the waterfalls."
We began the search, and even though we ran into each other often, we didn't find anyone from our village. I heard the falls coming closer and I began to feel this was a waste of my time.
I paused when I sensed something ahead. A corpse wouldn't have a chakra presence, so is this an injured shinobi? I walked closer and parted the bushes. I looked down and was surprised by the sight in my eyes.
A young girl lied on the ground with a little wolf beside her. Guy and Yamato walked beside me to see what caught my attention.
"Is she from our village?" Yamato asked.
I walked forward. "I'm not sure." I bent down to one knee and reached my hand out to her. I jerked back when the wolf snapped at me. I looked at my hand and saw blood. "Aren't you a feisty one?" I picked him up swiftly by his fur. He yapped and snapped like crazy, but he didn't have the reach to bite me again.
I handed the little wolf to Guy. The wolf bit down into Guy's flesh, but Guy simply flicked him on the nose. The wolf took a step away from guy in his hand in confusion of what just happened to him. Then, Guy picked him up gently by the back of his fur.
I bent back down by the little girl's side and examined her face. "She could be from an enemy village." Yamato spoke.
"But what if she's not?" I countered as I looked up at him. We stared at each other for a few moments. I looked away first. "Look at her clothes. They have bloodstains all over her. From what I conclude, she's been living in the forest for a while."
"What if it was from the Kyuubi's attack?" Yamato persisted.
"The Kyuubi attacked last night. Her clothes look like they haven't been washed in at least one week." I raised her body off the ground slightly and nearly dropped her from what I saw.
"L-Look at those marks!" Guy gasped. Even Yamato flinched from the sight. It looked as if she had been beaten multiple times on her back. All the marks were closed, so I assumed none of them were from the Kyuubi's attack. I pulled her close to my body and fully lifted her up. I barely felt her heart beating.
The wolf began growling at me. Guy flicked its nose again. We jumped to the trees and began our way back to Konoha.
.:Kakashi:.
"Does she really need her hands to be bound?" I asked.
Inoichi glanced over his shoulder. "Since we don't know where she is from, then yes. Trust me, I don't like it either, but we have to take these precautions."
"Understood." I said as I looked at her. We were transporting her from the hospital to the Intel Department. Guy still held the wolf in his hands. The little ball of fur had begun to calm down since we arrived in Konoha.
She flinched in my arms as I sat her on the ground. I watched as her eyes began to open. Again, I was shocked. She had blue, blind eyes.
"Ah, she's awake." The Third said as he laid his hand on her shoulder. Fear spread all over her eyes from his action. Her body reacted in punching the Hokage in the jaw as she stumbled away to the other side of the hallway. Her breathing was heavy and fast as she took in the situation.
Her eyes narrowed in on me, even though she couldn't see me. I heard footsteps running toward us. The little girl glanced to them, and ran off in the other direction.
The Third , Guy, and I ran off after her. She navigated through the hospital and we followed her outside. For being so young, she had incredible speed. She stumbled out the doors.
"Kota!" She yelled out. We exited behind her as the wolf yelped his presence. She turned on a dime and darted toward Guy. She rammed her right shoulder into his gut as her hands picked up the wolf. She leapt over his body and began scaling the wall.
She's so young and she can already control her chakra so well.
"You alright, Guy?" I asked.
He regained himself and turned to watch her scale the wall. "I'm fine, but that sure did surprise me."
Shikaku stood beside us. "Capture her, but be gentle. By the looks of it, she's only acting this way because she's terrified."
All four of us rushed after her. We raced after her on the rooftops. I watched, as her injuries were made known to her as her legs gave way under her. Her body fell from the roof and plummeted to the water by the building. The four of us landed and were about to jump in after here, but we stopped.
The water separated at the spot where the little girl was. Was she manipulating her chakra to wind?! The water crashed around her, the next second, it was separated again.
She fell to her knees exhausted as the water swallowed her up again. I saw terror all over her face. I dove in after her. I gripped her shirt and pulled her out of the water. She gasped for air as it entered into her lungs. I dragged her onto the bank. She regained herself to her knees and backed away with fear in her eyes. Was it of the water or me?
She was drenched head to toe as her back tapped the tree behind her. Her breathing became faster and heavier.
The wolf jumped into the girl's arms. "Nara, it's okay. These people are nice." Still, her eyes were fixated on the water. "Nara?" The little wolf asked in a concerned voice.
I stood from the ground soaked. "You caused quite a ruckus, Nara." I stated nonchalantly. Her eyes darted toward me, but she couldn't see me. "That is your name, right?" I asked as I cocked my head to one side.
The fear in her eyes began to fade away as she nodded her head once.
"You're in Konoha." The Third replied as he walked forward. Nara, in turn, took the same amount of steps away.
"Why am I here?" She questioned with a low voice.
Guy spoke. "We found you in the forest after the Kyuubi attacked. You were lying on the ground with blood-soaked clothes."
Her head lowered in the memory. "Kyuubi?"
Inoichi scratched his head. "Nara, we have a few questions for you. We need you to come back to the Department with us." She looked up slightly and I saw hesitation. A smile escaped my lips when I saw her blush from her stomach growling.
The Third laughed. "You can have plenty of food and drink."
Her head looked fully up and I saw a little smile. She actually has a nice smile. With the wolf in her arms, she took three steps forward to the Hokage. She bowed slightly at the waist. "I'm sorry for hitting you earlier." She rose up, faced Guy, and bowed again. "And I'm sorry for ramming into you as well."
I asked to examine the interrogation, and the Hokage said it was fine. Nara was allowed time to bathe and change clothes. I wonder how long it had been since she had a decent bath.
Shikaku brought in a tray with food on it. He placed it on the table, and Nara sat calmly as he poured her some water. She reached forward and felt around on the tray. She patted a specific fruit several times. "What is this?"
"A mango." Shikaku replied. She picked it up and took a very small bite. She chewed it thoroughly and swallowed. She waited for an entire minute. She smiled and ate another bite.
"You like it?" Shikaku asked with a smile. Nara nodded in return with a slightly bigger smile than she had before.
"Alright, Nara," Inoichi began, "I'm going to ask you some questions. I need you to be truthful with me about them."
Nara pulled her knees up to her chest in the chair and waited for the questions.
"What country are you from?"
"I don't remember." She replied.
Inoichi hesitated, but decided to continue. "Alright. How old are you?"
"Eight."
"What clan do you belong to?"
All expression faded. Her face was lowered to the floor. "I… I don't know."
She may have memory loss from the Kyuubi attack, or that would at least be my guess. Inoichi studied her while he asked several other questions. I watched him glance towards the Third as he rose from his chair. He opened and passed through the door. Shikaku walked in to keep her busy.
"Your thoughts?" The Third asked Inoichi.
He shrugged. "I would say that she has lost her memory… but I'm not sure if I buy that."
"Why do you think?"
"People who lose their memory normally forget their names as well."
"But the wolf spoke her name before she ever said anything." I countered.
"I didn't know that information. Anyway, I would still like to search inside her mind to see if she is hiding something."
"Do you think that she's from another country?" I asked. Maybe I should've listened to Yamato back in the forest. But was I just supposed to leave her there to die?
"It's a possibility, but I highly doubt she's a spy."
.:Kakashi:.
I stood beside the Hokage as Inoichi invaded the young woman's mind. She sat there unconscious, but I could clearly see images of the marks on her back appear in my mind. I wanted to know how she got those marks.
Inoichi backed away from the jutsu. He was sweating and panting from using his chakra. Normally he isn't this worn out. He rose from the ground and looked over to us.
"She, uh… well, she has a Bijuu in her." She was just like Kushina, and now Kushina's son.
"Which one?" The Third asked.
"Well… it's not one of the Tailed-Beasts, but it a beast with a huge amount of chakra."
"What form does it take?"
"A dragon."
"So it's the one that was close the Father of Ninja," the Hokage mumbled. "What else did you find?" the Hokage persisted.
"She's not from the Fire Country, but it's unsure what country she came from."
Shikaku sighed. "With a creature sealed inside of her, we can assume that she was rejected by her clan and village."
There was a moment of silence. My eyes locked with the Hokage's. "What will you do with her, sir?" I asked.
"We will allow her to stay in Konoha, but I want an ANBU watching her at all times."
"And then what do we do with her when she isn't suspicious? Do we enroll her into the Academy or what?" Inoichi asked.
"She already understands chakra control," Shikaku spoke. "That's incredibly rare for someone to be able to do that at her age. Even Kakashi was still learning chakra control at that age."
I shrugged. It was true. Controlling chakra is a difficult task to start out. At least I had my father around to teach me that before he died. Looking at her, I wondered who taught her.
.:Kakashi:.
The Third Hokage and I walked across the yard. About an hour ago, he sent a message for me to meet him in this spot.
"Kakashi, how have you been doing?"
"Fine, sir."
"That's great." He said as he stared in the distance.
"Is there something you wish to talk about, sir?"
He looked at me like I had him all figured out. "Actually I do. I know this may sound bizarre, but you remember that young girl your team saved?"
I thought back to that night. My team found her bloodied and broken on the ground. "Yeah. I remember." Even though I wished I didn't. That night replayed in my head often. It scares me to think what she went through to end up that way.
"Well, she was placed into the Academy."
"Really? They accepted her even in her condition?"
"Just because she's blind doesn't mean she's worthless."
"I didn't mean it like that… it's just… how will she commit to the tests and understand what the teacher teaches? On top of that, we know nothing about her or her previous village."
"Well, we enrolled her last year, and just like you, she graduated quickly."
"Are you serious? She was merely in the school for a year?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I still find it hard to believe, but I was there on the day she took the graduation test. Her teacher signed her for it, and everyone thought he was insane for letting her take it this early."
"But he wasn't insane?"
"Of course not." He chuckled. "He is incredibly wise. Anyway, I observed her as she took the test. Unlike everyone else, she took the test separately in another room."
"Was it an oral examination?"
"It was both."
"Both? But how did she read the test?"
He laughed from the thought. "Well, you see, she would infuse her chakra into the paper, and the chakra took the shapes and lines of what was on the paper. Since she wasn't always blind, she understood the words."
"Smart."
"Very. Also, the teacher requested she be put into a high level genin squad."
"And?"
"I considered it."
"Then why won't you?"
"She's still young. She has no family, and no one will really talk to her. I don't want her to get powerful and want to attack someone out of anger."
"From what I can tell, she's going to become strong no matter what. She's a good thinker."
"Yeah." He sounded distant in his words.
"What about the Chuunin exams?"
"The group I have assigned her in will be taking the next exams, unless she says no."
"By next, you mean in a year?"
"Yeah. The upcoming one is too close for her to be entered in it."
"Sir?"
"Yeah."
"If you don't mind me asking, why have you told me all this? She's just another child."
"You were part of the team that brought her here. I thought you might want to know about how she is doing."
"What about the rest in the group?"
"You can tell them if you like." He smiled to me and left.
.:Nara:.
I walked down the street towards the school. Last week after I took the graduation test, the Third Hokage said that I would meet up with my sensei in front of the school building. The more steps I took, the more I thought about what my sensei would be like.
I stopped in front of the schoolhouse. I heard the swing swaying with the wind. The birds chirped happily on their branches. I could sense a man walk towards me. I turned to him and raised my head in respect.
"Are you Nara?" He asked with a deep voice.
"I am."
He paused for a moment. I assumed he was observing me. "What clan are you from?"
"I have no clan, sir." I replied.
He sighed. "My name is Hanaru Oda. I am your sensei. I am strict and expect a lot from you since you were assigned to my team, got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Just because you're blind, don't expect special treatment." He said with a harsh voice.
"I prefer it that way, sensei."
"Good. Now, follow me." He turned around and jumped to the trees. I heard where he landed and judged the distance from where I was. Once I assumed I calculated correctly, I followed after him. I made my calculations in three seconds, and I landed on the branch easily.
He continued jumping from branch to branch. I listened for the contact of his feet and the limbs, and I judged where I should land. After traveling for about two kilometers, he bypassed the upcoming branches and landed on the ground. I sensed two other presences near him. I landed lightly on the ground.
"Who is she, sensei?" Asked one of them.
"She's part of our team now. Kuro, Haru, this is Nara."
One of them took a step towards me. "But, Oda-sensei… she's blind."
"That is a fact, Haru."
"You mean we get stuck with the weakest person who graduated this year?! She's not even our age, so she's already weaker than us. On top of that, she's a girl. And the worst part, she's blind." Kuro said in a hateful tone.
I merely stood there while they picked me a part verbally. What was I to say? I am younger than them. I am blind. I am a girl.
"She's the youngest to graduate the academy since Kakashi-san. Hold your tongues."
"So she's smart. Big deal." Haru stated. "Being a ninja means having power."
"I disagree with your statement." I interjected. They all stared at me for a few seconds.
"Disagree with what?" Kuro asked.
"That being a ninja means having power. I disagree."
"How am I wrong?! That's just what you weak links say to make you feel better."
"I didn't say you were wrong, I merely said that I disagreed." I said in a calm voice.
"Then what does being a shinobi mean to you, Nara?" Oda asked.
"To me, it means protecting people, whether they deserve it or not. Laying down your self in order to save another. But it's not just protecting. It's the desire to protect is what makes a shinobi strong. That is what I think, sir."
"But without power," Haru persisted, "a shinobi would die quickly."
"It's the desire to help someone that keeps the shinobi alive enough protect."
"Then let's see you withstand my attack!" Yelled out Kuro. I felt him run towards me. His hand was balled into a fist. He's serious.
As he crept close enough to attack, he swung his fist. I sidestepped to my right as I heard Oda catch Kuro's fist. Kuro gasped as he stared at sensei.
"Good dodge, Nara." Oda said to me. "Kuro, learn to control your self. She is your teammate now."
Kuro grunted, but he seemed to calm down. Oda let go of his fist and took a step back. "Let's start today's training." He said.
.:Nara:.
An hour prior to the meeting, I crawled into the vents above the room and waited for the meeting to begin. Kota sat in my lap as people began to enter through the door. I recognized Oda's chakra along with the Hokage's, but I didn't know the others very well. I knew they were all jounins.
"Let's begin since everyone is here." The Hokage spoke. "We are going to discuss whether Nara is allowed to stay part of Konoha."
My heart dropped. Whether I can stay or not? I thought this was merely an update of me being in a team…
Oda stepped forward. "I personally don't like her being here, Third." My heart dropped deeper. I thought Oda was rough on me to help improve me, but I guess not.
"Explain." The Hokage said.
"She isn't part of Konoha. She's from another village, clan, and country. Doesn't that scare any of you?" He questioned to the room. "She can easily sense where I am even when I suppress my chakra as much as I can. Also, there are times that I can't even sense her chakra when she's standing right in front of me!"
A few of the jounins murmured to one another. This wasn't looking good.
"She is blind." A jounin near the back spoke up. I remember him chasing me the day they brought me here. I believe they called him Shikaku.
"And your point?" Odar challenged.
"When one sense is crippled, the others magnify. It just makes sense."
"I want her to stay." The Hokage spoke.
"Well, I don't want her on my team." Oda replied hatefully. "I've trained talented shinobi my whole time of being a jounin, she is a blind girl that has no talent to be a great shinobi."
I held my breath. The words of my father echoed in my head. Talented? She's a monster! Just leave this worthless child alone.
"No talent?" My old teacher spoke up. "She was top of her class in a year."
"She's smart, but she isn't to my standards."
"Aren't you being a little too hard on her?" A man I didn't know spoke.
"I'm a hard teacher. I won't go easy on her simply for what she's been through. You don't know her story! Maybe she her village loved her, but she was just too full of herself to want to stay there. She came here seeking sympathy and that's what you guys give her."
My stomach plummeted to the ground. I felt sick. Kota growled lightly in my lap. I pulled my hand over his mouth. Being caught now would not be a good thing.
Inoichi entered the conversation. "I believe you are being inconsiderate, Oda. If she wanted our pity, wouldn't she talk about how bad her life was?"
"There you go showing sympathy over that girl." Oda spat.
"I'm giving her a chance." Inoichi countered with an icy tone. "Something that you haven't given her."
"You haven't trained with her." Oda quickly added.
My blood ran cold as I heard the vent shriek lightly. Everyone below me fell quiet. The vent door dropped from under me, and my body tumbled toward the ground. No sound of surprise escaped my throat.
I landed on my feet, but the impact filled a jarring into my legs. Kota sat in my arms and jumped to the ground to stand between Oda and I. I had been found out sadly. I breathed heavily from being the center of attention.
I felt a jounin's chakra react to the surprise. He slipped out a kunai and attempted to grab my arm and pull me into a hostage situation. I lunged forward from his grasp and turned in mid-air to face him. He didn't seem unsettled by the turn of events.
I landed lightly and he sliced his weapon at me.
"Step back everyone!" He called out.
He attacked again with his kunai. "Wait! I'm sorry!" I yelled out as I dodged. "I don't want to fight a comrade like this!"
He sheathed his kunai, but his chakra flowed to his right hand. He changed it to lightning. The sound made me cringe from how intensifying it was, but everyone else seemed unfazed by the noise.
He lodged himself toward me. The best nature against lightning is wind. I focused the chakra into my hand and changed it to wind nature. I focused it into my left hand to neutralize his lightning. I stood my ground as he brought his hand closer to me. I lifted my hand to greet his. There was a loud clash of the elements and the lightning sound stopped. He stood in front of me and didn't make another attempt to move.
I backed away a few steps away from him. His attention averted to Oda. "No talent, huh?" All eyes switched from me to Oda. I automatically took another step back. Kota growled at my teacher.
I could feel Oda's hard eyes piercing through me. "She's practically worthless on missions." He added. "She afraid of water." Without warning, his chakra flowed through him. Fear engulfed my very being as water surrounded me.
"Sensie, please!" I yelled through the water. I was trapped in this vortex unable to move or breathe. Just like that night. Rope tied all around me while I was thrown into a river to die.
I attempted to move against my boundaries, but it was to no avail. I was terrified. I struggled against his jutsu. Why was Oda doing this to me?
I felt Kota's presence in Oda's hand. "Stop it!" Kota barked at my sensei. "You're making her remember!"
"Remember what?" Oda asked with a laugh. "I thought she lost her memory?"
Kota's anger rose in his small voice. "They threw her in the water to drown! She was tied up and almost died!"
"Oda, that's enough!" The Hokage called out from his seat. I couldn't breathe. Everything around me was closing in. Words echoed in my head… you're worthless. You could never be a shinobi. Leave her. Knock her out and we'll drop her in the river. It was cold in the water, much like it is now.
Wind chakra flowed through my whole body and exerted itself without signs. It broke Oda's jutsu as my body fell to the ground. I was hyperventilating. My teacher watched me with surprise in his eyes. Kota jumped to my side.
"Nara! Are you okay?"
Worthless. Leave her be. Let her drown. Beat her. Worthless. A monster.
"How did you break from my jutsu?!" Oda asked harshly. "Answer me!" I didn't answer. My breathing began to calm. Everyone was watching me…
Oda reached down and gripped me forcefully off the floor. "Answer me, Nara!" He held me off the ground. It was painful. My blind eyes stared right into his. He was just like my father. Nothing was different.
I looked away. "Why do you care? You're just like him in every other aspect. Just tell me I'm worthless and be on your merry way." The words left my mouth without my consent. I was bitter about this matter, and I wished I had a calmer mind before I said those words.
"Him?" He questioned. He tossed me to the ground. I found my footing to stop me from falling all the way down. Kota rushed to my side and growled at him.
"No one of significance." I replied. That was the same sentence my father used when we had guests over.
.:Nara:.
The next day, I walked into the open area and found Kuro and Haru already practicing. Oda stood by the side of the forest and watched as I entered the area. "You're late." He stated.
"Apologies, sensei." I replied without looking to him. Kota walked beside me with his head downcast as well. I knew that if he raised his head, he would let his anger loose, and we didn't need that.
"A shinobi should always be on time." Kuro spewed out as he hit the post. Haru said nothing.
Kuro continued in his rage. "A shinobi isn't a blind little girl. A shinobi is someone who is actually useful on missions. I don't know how you made it this far, Nara, but you're a joke." He kept punching the post.
I heard Kota growl deeply beside me. "What are you trying to say, Kuro?"
He flung his foot up and unearthed the post. He turned to face me. "You're not one of us!" He yelled out. "You're not part of this village or this team. No one wants you here. You're a nuisance and a laughing stock in the village. They look at you and find you so pathetic. You don't even remember your true village. But hey, it's good because they wouldn't even want you!"
A tear fell down my cheek without my consent. How could I let his words affect my aching heart like this? Even though his words hurt, they were the undeniable truth.
I heard even more disgust in his voice than before. "And a shinobi doesn't show emotion like that."
"You're wrong." I stated as I raised my head up to his eyes. "Your village simply assumed that I don't recall anything about where I'm from, but it's merely because I wouldn't allow them into my past." I turned around to go back the way I came. I looked over my shoulder so that he could hear me. "I remember everything."
"Nara." Oda said as he placed his hand on my shoulder. "You shouldn't have held back this information from the Intel Department."
Is that all he cared about? He didn't care how I felt right now? I slipped away from his grasp and melted into the shadows. Kota followed behind me.
"Nara." Oda materialized in front of me. "Where will you go?"
"What do you mean?"
"I cannot permit you to leave the village."
He's just following orders. He never cared for me. How was I so easily deceived? I brushed past him. He gripped my arm tightly. "This is for the best, you know."
"You also believe what Kuro said?"
"I wouldn't say you're worthless, but you are quite the laughing stock of the village." He replied with a smile.
"I see."
"So now Team Four will be down a person." He laughed again and stood up straighter. "It's not like we'll be affected anyway."
I jerked my arm from his hold. He was cocky just like the men from my old village. "I graduated before they did. It seems you have forgotten that, Oda."
"It's Oda-sensei."
"No. It's not." I remarked and flashed into the trees. Kota lied in my hair and held on while I jumped from tree to tree.
.:Nara:.
I looked to my right, but of course I couldn't see anything. I did sense something, though. Kota walked up beside me. "Someone's there." He stated.
"Who's there?" I called out towards the forest's edge.
"I'm the Hokage." Came the voice. The Hokage? Why is he here?
I lowered my head. "Sorry for my rudeness. I didn't recognize your chakra."
"I took a chakra suppression pill to hide my chakra when I came here."
"Pardon me, Hokage-sama, but may I ask why you are here?"
"I have a few things to ask you about, Nara. Go ahead and sit down and we'll talk through this." I sat down with my legs crossed. Kota sat in my lap. The Hokage did the same beside me.
"Oda explained to me that you remembered your village, but didn't inform the Intel Department. Is this true?"
I gripped my hands. I could lie and fool them, hopefully, but what good will that do? If I say that I do remember, then he'll hand me over to them and they'll examine my memories again.
"Yes, sir. I remember."
"When did you get your memory back?" He questioned.
I pulled my knees to my chest. "I never forgot."
"I see…"
"Am I going to be asked to leave Konoha?" I asked with sadness. They took me in without knowing who I truly was. Even if I don't have a place to live, this place is my home.
I felt his eyes examine me for a moment. "Now why would I make you do that?"
Is this a trick question? Should I answer?
"The Chuunin Exams are coming up. Oda's team is being entered. For anyone to pass, the whole team has to be present for the first two parts of the exam. Understood?"
"Why should I enter? I'm too young, and everyone will see me as an easy target." I leaned backed and recrossed my legs. "Why should I do what's best for Kuro and Haru after what all has happened? Seems kind of one-sided to me."
The Hokage chuckled. "It's who you are, Nara. You're a person who will do what's best for the majority. Whether you think they deserve it or not, that's who you are."
I pulled my hood over my head to hide myself. "Doesn't seem like it's doing much good for me, Hokage."
"Well, let's see… you've passed the academy within a year. You're entered for the Chuunin exams at the age of ten. That's not something to take lightly."
"But I'm blind. People look at me and figure that I'm worthless and laughable. All Kuro and Haru will get from the exams is being the team with the blind girl."
"I see it as you being the reason that they'll make it to the final part of the exams."
"But they see me as nothing. We're supposed to be a team, but that doesn't work for us."
"Then prove to all of Konoha what you can do." He stated with distance in his voice.
"All of konoha?" I asked. "I doubt that'll happen, sir."
"I believe people will come to respect you, Nara."
I looked towards his presence with a sad face. "How can you be so sure?"
"There's just something about you." He stated plainly and rose from the ground.