FM Chapter 3
I got to the street corner just as the light to cross started flashing in warning that it was about to change. My legs kept pumping under me, and I managed to get to the other side of the road safely. I quickly looked around as I caught my breath, swiveling my head around back and forth as I tried to spot the trio among the throng of people. Where did all these people come from?
I found them indirectly. I noticed a gap between people walking to my left, as if the pedestrians were walking around an object. A modest-sized object like, say, the size of a few small kids together, that were moving away. Bingo. I followed after them, or rather the gap they left in their wake, awkwardly pushing my way among the people with mumbled apologies. It could have easily been smoother, but I was determined to not look away from their spot for a moment.
In a matter of moments, I was close enough that I could make out their individual hair between the legs and coats of other pedestrians. I let out a relieved sigh I hadn't known I was holding. Just as I made my way towards them, they seemed to hesitate for a split second, and then, in a flash, they had made a run for it. Surprised, I started after them before I was fully aware of what I was doing. The brats weaved their way among the people like a little worm, still holding on to each other's hands. Due to the concentration of people on the sidewalk, it was harder for me to run after them without running anyone over. It seemed as if they themselves didn't have a problem with it, however. Their small size allowed them to squeeze into small spaces and maneuver themselves with great agility between pedestrians like experts.
I should have expected this, really. From what I've gathered, this is nothing but another day in the streets for them. Of course they'd have to know how to navigate mobs in order to make speedy getaways. The question now was, why are they running now? I'm more than certain they didn't see me. And as far as I can tell, there is no one who seems intent on chasing after them. Maybe they had somewhere to be? But if that was the case, then they'd have been running the entire time.
I growled in frustration as I finally decided to run after them on the edge of the sidewalk, where it was less crowded. I hated to break from my straight line in the middle of the path, but at this point it was more of a hindrance than helpful. As I jogged down the path, I recalled how they seemed to hesitate before making a run for it. Had something happened to make them run?
A few moments later, I had reached the end of the block and was faced with a small dilemma. I had lost sight of the kids and their slithery ways. Now I had two options: I could cross the street and follow a random path with the hope that the kids had gone that way, or hope the kids hadn't crossed any streets and stay on the block I was on and hope I'd run into them. Neither option was very good.
Frustrated, I ran a hand down my face. This was insane. In all of my career as a member of the police force, not one criminal had escaped me, no matter how fast or agile or how much of a head start they had on me. But for some reason, I was incapable of catching three kids. Three very fast, very agile kids, truthfully, but kids nonetheless; with short little legs and small lungs, and short enough that their heads could serve as an armrest.
Deciding that luck was just not on my side, I cast one last meaningful look at the street before turning back and making my way back to the office. I had barely taken one step when something bumped hard into my legs, letting out a surprised squeak/ yelp. I glanced down.
"Hey, mister! Whatcha doing spacing out like that? If you're going to cross the street, then cross it!"
"You made our sister cry. What are you going to do about it?"
Dumbfounded, I stared in shock at the three kids crouching on the ground. A pink-haired girl was sitting up, rubbing her head cutely as a dark-haired boy supported her back with a hand, glancing worriedly at her with a small frown. At to finish the puzzle, a blonde boy was loudly berating me about "spacing out" as he jumped to his feet from his place on the ground beside the girl.
"Yeah! Whatcha gonna do about it?" he echoed the dark-haired boy's calm words as he waved a tiny fist my way. People around us were whispering now, some shaking their heads at… me? "Those are new pants our mom bought for us! Now they're all dirty and ripped! Our mom's gonna be pissed!"
"Oh, really?" I finally said, bending down so I was at eye-level with the blonde, who had yet to look at my face – he was really into making a show.
"Yeah! They're brand-new, you hear me? Brand-new! First time we wear them and thanks to a spaz like you, they're ruined!"
"How distressing." How amusing. I idly wondered when they'd realize it was me they were talking to.
"You bet it is! And see, our poor little sister is crying now because she promised to take care of our new clothes – which is a moot point now thanks to you!"
"I'm sorry to hear that. How about I make it up to you kids?" The blonde, who was fussing over his sister along with the other brother, shared a lightning-fast smug look with his siblings before turning back to me and grinned.
"Now you're talking!"
Amused, I reached for the girl, who was still pitifully sitting on the ground, and heaved her up, quickly dusting off the dirt from her knees and back. Her pants were obviously not new, and had definitely seen better days. This time, the kids looked a little more cleaned up than when I first met them. "Well, the good news is that those new pants are not ripped and dirty with nothing a little water won't take off," I said. "So your mother won't get angry."
"You said you'd –" the dark-haired boy began to say, then abruptly cut himself off as he finally looked at me in the face. His eyes widened in recognition.
The girl, noticing the boy's reaction, lifted her head to peek at me and also froze, her doe-like green eyes looking frightened. Wait, why frightened?
The blonde, meanwhile, had yet to notice the others' reactions and had also failed to look at me properly, and so continued ranting. "Yeah, you said you'd make it up to us!"
Before I could ask them what they would like, a middle-aged, sourly-looking man in a sharp suit (was that Prada?) came stomping towards us and snorted loudly in sarcasm.
"Don't listen to those brats!" he spat at me. I raised my eyebrows, shifting closer to the kids. I did not like this man. "Those miserable rats pulled the same stunt on me awhile ago," he continued, pointing an accusing finger at the three huddled together by my side, identical looks of alarm on their faces. "They pretend to be all nice and proper and innocent and shit, purposely crash into you, then play the wee little victims – and then bam! Next thing you know, you're paying for their food and new clothes before you realize what you're doing!"
The attention this man was bringing us was terrible. Sure, the little show the brats put up got the attention of a few passerby who stole a glance or two, but otherwise moved on. This time, though, people had stopped what they were doing and were instead watching the little showdown with obvious interest. Hushed voices murmured and whispered back and forth, wondering what was going on, should they call the cops, and oh, those horrible kids, the little swindlers, or my, what a nasty man!
It sickened me.
I glanced at the trio behind me, and it was beyond obvious this was beyond their capabilities. Alarm had now turned into fear, the two boys trying to hide it as the girl began to quiver behind them. They all desperately looked for a way out, but any move they made was immediately followed by half a dozen pair of eyes. They were trapped; surrounded by a wall of adults and their judging gazes. It was no wonder they were scared.
I would know.
"My good man," I said casually, slumping my shoulders and relaxing my posture as I walked towards the angry man. "This is a misunderstanding. I'm afraid that this little incident was my fault. I was about to cross the street but then remembered I forgot something back in my office and accidentally walked into these kids when I turned around." Not a complete lie. "So you see, there's nothing to get worked up over."
People were whispering again, a little more lenient. Oh, so that's what happened, all that ruckus for such a trifle, what a waste of time, it was an honest mistake, oh goodness, those kids couldn't be capable of doing that. I tuned them out.
"Maybe so," the man huffed, "maybe so. This time. But it doesn't change the fact that they completely conned me. Step aside; I'll take them to the police station myself. Now that I've got them cornered, they're not getting away!" The kids winced and took a collective step back from the man. The girl's shaking was stronger now, and if my ears didn't suddenly decide to start playing tricks on me, then her breathing was harsher as well. The two boys tried to soothe her, but it was evident they were at a loss.
I shifted so now I was between them and the man. Talk about déjà vu. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," I said nonchalantly. The man turned his beady eyes on me and frowned.
"What do you mean?" Well, it seems people have been asking me that question quite often today.
"I'm quite familiar with the law. And there is nothing that gives you a case against these kids, if what you say is true."
The man sputtered indignantly, turning an unattractive red in the face. "They are miniature conmen! Of course I have a case against those little snots!" He made a move towards the kids, but I stepped in his way, giving him a cool look.
"No, you don't. A conman is defined as someone who makes promises that require the victim's investment in order for said promises to come to fruition. Then the conman runs off with the money as the deal and its promises were void to begin with, leaving the victim without money. You, my friend, made no such deal with these kids; you gave away your money out of your own volition."
"They still swindled me!"
"How so?" I asked, taking a step towards the man. He took a step back. "As far as everyone is concerned, deals without a contract, never mind deals with children, are something that does not require the law to oversee them. And as far as I know, these kids never made a deal with you to begin with. As previously said, you gave your money out of your own volition. The amount you spent and what you spent it on was also up to your own discretion. And quite honestly, I don't think the amount you spent even qualifies for a formal investigation. Conmen swindle victims out of thousands of dollars, sometimes reaching the tens or hundreds of. With all due respect" – which is to say, none – "I highly doubt you spent more than a hundred bucks on all three kids. Even so, you look like you can afford that much."
The man was furious by now, giving me a hateful look as steam came out of his ears. Seeing how he was determined to pursue his claim, I decided to stop playing Mr. Nice Guy and leaned closer to the man, who was shorter than me. Putting on an innocent look, I said, not quietly at all, "But if you keep claiming that they are little conmen, meaning they made a deal with you, then please indulge me: what kind of deal, exactly, did you make with underage kids which required you to lavish them with money? Hm? What were you, ahem, expecting in return?"
The man's eyes bulged at my insinuation, and he wasn't the only one to catch on to it. Thanks to my not-so-subtle "whispering," the people who had gathered around us gasped loudly, their own whispering escalating in volume, scandalized.
"N-no!" the man spluttered, once again, only this time in his own defense. "Good God, no! I did nothing of the sort!" But it was too late. The people around us were now shooting him hard, judging glares; their mouths twisted in disbelieving disgust. The man looked around him, frantic, not quite knowing what to do or say to prove his innocence. He briefly sent an accusing glare my way, which I ignored in favor of sitting back on my heels and fighting off a smirk, before he went back to damage control. Which he was failing at miserably.
I decided to let him suffer for a bit. Really, he brought this on himself. I looked back at the trio behind me, making sure they hadn't pulled a Houdini again. They hadn't. Instead, they looked to be enjoying this as much as I was. Gone were the frantic panicked looks they wore; now, they were sporting goofy grins with the tiniest hint of smugness in their eyes. The girl was breathing more easily now, and her shaking had subsided. She had her hands clapped over her mouth, undoubtedly trying to hide the smile behind them. We locked eyes for a moment, and in her green eyes I saw open mirth. I gave her a conspirational wink, and grinned.
Turning back to the spectacle, I figured the man had learned his lesson and stepped in. Placing a hand on the back of my head, I laughed loudly in a good-natured way. People, the man included, turned to look at me in confusion. "Well! Of course you wouldn't, my good man. I mean, really! Such a fine mine like yourself wouldn't get into such unsavory deeds. The money you spent on them was probably to help them out, right? Kids these days, they run around unsupervised and get into all sorts of trouble. Am I right?" I asked the crowd. Some of them nodded, murmuring agreements. Some who were holding on to children glanced at each other in sympathy. "You, sir, are a great man for digging into your own pocket to help out a trio of perfectly strange kids so they wouldn't get in trouble. What a man!" I walked up to the man and clapped him loudly in the back, causing him to choke. The people around us didn't look convinced, but they seemed to no longer think he was doing what I had insinuated earlier.
"I understand your anger, my friend," I kept going, shaking my head in sympathy as I gripped his shoulder, hard. "After going out of your way to help them out, the idea of them being so careless with their new stuff must be aggravating. But," I leaned closer so my mouth was by his ear, "you must let it go." Standing back up, abashed grin back in place, I shrugged as I said, "Kids will be kids!" The crowd chuckled at my words and started to disperse; the interest in such nonsense quickly fading.
I squeezed the man's shoulder tightly, making him gasp under his breath, before I let go and walked back to the trio, who were looking at me with unabashed wonder. I allowed myself to soak up the attention, feeling a little bit of pride. I puffed out my chest inwardly. When I reached them, I ruffled the two boys' hair, at which they scowled, before patting the girl's head. She smiled at me. I could feel myself giving her a small smile back.
"Come on, kids," I said, offering the little girl and the sulking brunette a hand. They hesitated for a second, before the girl timidly took hold of three of my fingers. The boy turned up his nose at my hand, but opted to stick close to me. The blonde boy shot me a look I couldn't make out before he stepped up to my other side. "We have some errands to finish before the day's done. We have to move it."
"Yes, sir!" the blonde, playing along, said enthusiastically, a straight hand by his temple in a military salute. I couldn't tell if he was mocking me or just being his exuberant self. The girl squeaked a similar response, while the other boy just nodded once. With a lazy wave towards the now quietly fuming, but silent, man, the four of us started walking in a random direction, easily becoming part of the bustling crowd.
After a few minutes of walking, we turned a corner and found ourselves on a little playground. The blonde boy, who seemed to have been holding back from speaking out, finally exploded into guffaws, holding on to the chained fence circling the playground for support.
"I can't believe you did that!" he wheezed out. I smirked. "T-that was genius! Ahahahaha! Didya see his face? Ohohohoh!"
"Hn," the silent brunette hummed, but he couldn't hide the amused, self-satisfied smirk stretched across his face. The little girl, still holding on to my fingers, giggled. "I'm surprised no one said anything when we walked off together," the brunette said.
"You'll be surprised how long short-term memory in people really is," I answered him as I sat on a bench. He and the girl joined me; blondie was still too busy being consumed by hysterics. "Distract them for long enough, and they'll forget what happened at the beginning. Unless they have exceptional observational skills."
The boy looked pensive at my words, as if he was breaking apart every word and finding new meaning in each. He was thinker, that one, and a smart one.
Now that I wasn't too busy trying to track them down or keep up with them, I took the opportunity to study them better. Starting with the dark-haired boy, it was obvious he came from a well-off family, with his aristocratic features evident even at his young age. His pale skin and black hair with equally ebony-dark eyes reminded me of someone from long ago. There was only one family whom I've ever met who could claim such features. But they were long gone, along with one of my precious people.
A pang of pain hit my heart. Not the time, I pleaded. Move on.
Yes, this kid looked a lot like him. But that didn't mean anything, except that he faintly reminded me of past ghosts. He seemed like a good kid, with a good head on his shoulders. A little moody and sulky, but nothing to worry about.
Next was the girl. Her pink locks and amazing green eyes were unlike anything I'd ever come across. She was pretty, I saw, now that some of the grime that had covered her on our first encounter was mostly gone. Huh. They probably found someplace to wash up a bit. She was going to grow up into a spectacular heartthrob, I could tell. Especially with those dimples. However, first she needed to get a little healthier. She looked quite frail, more so than her two "brothers," and much paler than moody over there – something I noticed right away when I first came across them. But at least today she seemed okay enough. I'd have to ask about that later.
Maybe. Anyway, she seemed sweet enough, if a little timid. And smart. Her eyes, pretty as they were, held a sort of intelligent glint behind them, something I'd overlooked previously. But now I noticed it. I had no doubt that little escaped her notice, if she so chose.
Last but not least was the little loudmouth extraordinaire. Blonde hair as deep as gold but brighter, slightly tan complexion, and a pair of deep sapphire eyes that expressed his every sentiment. Oddly enough, the whisker-like marks I noticed before were still there – so I was right, they were part of him. Unlike the other two, he seemed to have no qualms about voicing his thoughts. Well, relatively, I thought, as I remembered the first time we met. He was still loud for sure, and talked the most out of the three, but their wariness still made him more quiet than other kids their age. Or so I think; I really can't say as I haven't really spent much time around kids.
Yet another reason to add to my list of why do I care about these three. Moving on.
As I studied the blonde, who had recovered his wits and walking over to us on the bench, something in the back of my mind floated to attention. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I was sure it was someone's face. Huh. What are the chances that blondie reminded me of someone just like moody did? Deciding to not push my luck, I leaned back on the bench and looked up at the sky. It was still a nice day.
After a moment of comfortable silence, with the occasional giggle from the blonde, I lifted my head to look at the trio, only to start in surprise at seeing them all looking intently at me. It only just occurred to me that I wasn't the only one studying others. I raised one eyebrow questioningly at them. I nearly jumped in surprise at hearing the girl speak.
"Why did you help us?"
I stared at her dumbfounded. I know she's capable of speech, but I've never actually heard her talk. "Pardon?"
"Why did you help us?" the brunette repeated for her. I turned my eyes on him.
"Because I could…?" I said with a shrug.
My answer was met was disbelieving stares. "That doesn't make sense," blondie said, his nose scrunched up in confusion. I sighed.
"Honestly, I don't know why," I said, being truthful. I swear that I honestly had no idea why I cared about these brats so much. Probably just another psychological mess of mine. "I just felt like helping. Besides, nobody likes a self-righteous prick like that guy, who blows things way out of proportion. He was getting on my nerves." That earned me a smile.
"But we were going to trick you," moody said in a flat voice. "Not like that…prick" – his lips curled around the word, and the girl gasped. I'm pretty sure that's not the sort of vocabulary a boy his age should use. My mistake – "made it sound. But we did run into you purposely in hopes to get something from you." I stared at him in surprise. He fidgeted uncomfortably, scowling at me before snapping, "What?"
"That's the most I believe I've ever heard you say," I said. Blondie burst out laughing, again.
"That's what I was thinking!" he laughed. I smiled when the brunette scowled at the blonde and crossed his arms. Was that pout I see?
Before anything else could be said, though, three stomachs growled loudly in unison, interrupting the conversation. Mine was not one of them. As I watched in fascination, all three kids turned red in embarrassment, hanging their heads in shame. I clicked my tongue. This would not do.
"Come on, kidos," I said, standing up from the bench. "I think its time to put some grub in those bellies. Don't you agree?" I turned to look at them, and this time, they were the ones with looks of surprise on their faces. However, moody quickly shot me a suspicious look.
"W-we're not supposed to be going with strangers," the little girl mumbled nervously.
"Well, you know who I am. I introduced myself last time," I said. "But in case you don't remember, my name is Kakashi Hatake. Now the question is, who are you three?"
The three shared a look, as if debating on whether or not to divulge such information. Moody looked against it, the girl at a loss, and blondie seemed to have reached a conclusion. He looked intently at me, as if gauging whether or not I'm worthy to know such information. He seemed satisfied enough with what he saw, because in a moment he's on his feet and pointing at himself.
"My name is Naruto. This is my brother Sasuke, and my sister Sakura," he said, gesturing to the other two. Moody – or should I now say, Sasuke – inclined his head in my direction slightly, while the girl, Sakura, waved her hand.
It didn't escape my notice he didn't share their last names.
"Well then," I said, "Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. I did promise to make it up to you earlier, didn't I? So how about a late lunch? My treat, of course." Their stomachs growled again in response, and I saw them bite their lips, looking unsurely at each other. It wasn't a question of whether they were hungry or not. The answer to that was obvious. No, it was a question of whether they trusted me or not.
As I watched the gears in their little heads turning, they seemed to have come to a conclusion simultaneously. Sakura looked up at me and jumped off the bench, followed by Sasuke to stand by Naruto. She reached for my hand, wrapping her tiny one around my fingers like she'd done earlier.
"Thank you, Mr. Hatake," she said. I smiled softly at her and the boys.
"Please," I said, "call me Kakashi. Now, how does some Vietnamese sound?"
Whoo! I seriously did not realize it had been so long since I updated this story. Over a year! My apologies to the readers who favoured and followed this story. You guys are the best.
Hope you enjoyed! Please review :)
~AnimaAmore