Mission 7 - "Smile for me?"
"Sugoi!" Ruka awed at the fairly large building that belonged to the Nara family.
Shikamaru sighed at how easy it was to please the boy before looking at the subject of Ruka's attention.
It wasn't fancy or any different from other houses. Not too pretty but not too ugly, just so-so. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then why is this kid acting as if it is the most amazing thing he's ever seen?
"Come on. Pops should be here." The shadow user walked up to building with Ruka still attached.
Shikamaru had a few difficulties taking off both his and Ruka's sandals once inside since the boy refused to let go of him. One, he had a hard time bending over with Ruka in the way but somehow managed. Second, he had to reach back to take the brunette's shoes off as well. Having a child cling to you like a baby monkey does to its mother isn't how its cut out to be.
'Ah, I sure hope he'll let go before I find Pops.'
"Hey! Pops! You here?" He called, walking past the kitchen and dining to another hallway.
Ruka lifted his head up from the older boy's chest to take in his new surroundings, awing at everything they passed by. "Kyaa! Kyaa! Kyaa!" He snuggled his face in Shikamaru's chest, which made him blush. "H-Hey! Stop that! Knock it off!" The twelve-year-old snapped.
It was then that his feet decided to trip over themselves. With a sharp yelp, he fell forward with a hard thwump on top of the poor child. Shikamaru groaned as he lifted himself up on his hands and knees, shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness until realization dawned on him. "Ruka! Are you okay? Hey! Say something!" He demanded, shaking the boy a little. But Ruka remained limp, swirls in his eyes with a goofy grin plastered on his lips.
"Eh heh heh heh heh!"
"...What a drag."
Just when he was about to get off the kid, his father, Shikaku, turned the corner from the kitchen and stopped in mid-step, eyes trained on his son, who trapped a small girl on the floor. Shikamaru stiffened, normally narrowed and lazy to wide and surprised eyes, watching what he might do or say for a few long moments. He didn't do anything but stare at them, observing them as if he's trying to figure out what was going on, though that still didn't ease his nerves. But he didn't expect what would come next.
"...Use the bedroom next time." Shikaku offered lazily, walking to the living room.
His son would've fell over at this but knowing Ruka was underneath, he couldn't. The adult paused in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, and make sure to lock the door. Your mother won't be pleased to hear you're doing a girl." He added.
Shikamaru frowned. "She's a boy, Pops."
Shikaku, or "Pops" as his son referred to him, blinked and tilted his neck to see the still dazed child on the floor. "A boy, huh? I thought you wanted to find a normal girl, who doesn't look too pretty but not too ugly?" He questioned. "No! I mean, yes! Ugh, troublesome!" Shikamaru turned his head to the left and rubbed his neck, a blush on his face. His father just smirked at his embarrassment before leaning over, nudging him a little. "Don't worry. No harm in liking boys. Just be careful from now on." With that, he turned back to the kitchen, muttering something about getting a glass to drink with.
Poor Shikamaru was left there, now standing, looking like he just missed something. How did things turn out this way?
"...I-Itai...!"
Blinking and looking down, he saw that Ruka was finally regaining conscious as he slowly sat up on his left elbow, using the other free hand to rub the tender spot of his head that hit the hard and cruel floor. "You all right?" Shikamaru asked. "Hu-Hurts!" Ruka whimpered, trying to hold in his tears. When that didn't work, his little fingers curls into fists and lifted up to rub the tears that escaped his tightly closed eyes. The older boy rolled his eyes. 'Great. He's crying. Teh, so troublesome!'
"Hey, hey! You're just fine. You don't gotta cry about it. If you were bleeding then you have something to cry about!" Shikamaru sighed.
The boy just sniffled lightly.
Shikaku came back with a half-empty glass of water in hand to see his son trying to calm his (in his mind) "boyfriend" by using verbal orders, which didn't help much at all. "Shikamaru!"
Said boy turned to see what his father wanted. "Yeah?"
"Come over here."
He sighed and walked over, trying to ignore the quiet sniffles made by Ruka on the floor. "What is it, Pops?" The genin asked lazily.
Shikamaru expected him to smack him over the head, receive a scolding, or even a disapproving glare but he didn't expect him to throw an arm around his neck and pull roughly so their backs were turned to the boy. "Ahh! H-Hey! Pops!" He yelped, trying to get him to release his neck. His father ignored his complaining before glancing over his shoulder to smile at the cute teary-eyed child, who lifted his head to see what the comotion was about. "Boy, I'm going to have a moment with him. Can you wait in his room?" Ruka wiped his tear-stained cheek then nodded.
"His room is down the end of the hallway to your left."
Sniffling, Ruka slowly pushed himself up on his feet and did what he just said before opening and entering said room. Once the door closed, he released his son, who rubbed his sore neck with a acussing glare.
"What did you do that for?"
Shikaku sighed heavily, crossing his arms and leaned against the wall. "To set you straight. The boy-"
"His name's Ruka, Pops, not boy." He corrected.
"That's his name? Strange. Oh well. Anyway, that's not how you comfort your partner. He isn't going to understand if you keep telling him to stop crying. He needs to know that you're just trying to help. If you don't, your relationship with him will surely not end too well." He advised wisely. '...He does know that he's not my boyfriend, right? I mean, he can't seriously think I like him, right? Man, what a drag!' The poor boy sighed heavily.
"Hey, Pops. I don't think you understand what happened but I-"
His father didn't listen when he saw a bird flying around outside the window before lifting a hand to silence him. "You're going to have to tell me later after I get back. I'll see you later, if I don't receive a mission." And with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving his son staring at the spot where he use to stand.
Despite trying to restrain himself, a very frustrated sigh escaped him before scratching his head.
"Man, what a drag. How did things turn out this way? Teh, so troublesome!" Shikamaru muttered under his breath. He glanced down the hallway to his door that led to his bedroom where the cute doe-eyed boy waited inside.
'...Crap. I can't go comfort him now. I have to leave in a little bit to see if we have any missions or training today since I'm pretty sure Asuma-sensei's not happy with me. And knowing him, I won't be back until dinner and I won't have time to ask around for his father...unless he's been abandoned or something. Ugh, I'm thinking too deeply into this! I feel a headache coming on.' He rubbed his forehead then walked to the dining room.
Once to his destination, he grabbed a napkin then quickly looked around until he saw a pen laying on the table. It was always there whenever they wanted to leave notes. Grabbing it, he quickly wrote down a message and placed it on the end of the table facing the doorway of the kitchen so his mother could see it before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walked down the hallway to his door. Instinctively, he knocked once then mentally slapped himself.
Why did he have to knock and ask for permission into his own room?!
Grunting in irritation, he opened the door to see everything was still in tacked while Ruka sat on the bed, arms hugging his knees to himself with only the top of his brown head showing. By the looks of his shoulders shaking, he was still upset and probably crying. Quietly, not to disturb or startle the boy, Shikamaru quickly slipped in, leaving the door open and crossed the distance between them so he stood in front of him.
The brown-haired boy tensed when he heard someone next to him but didn't move nor lift his head. He sighed again then sat down next to him. The awkward silence only lasted for a few moments.
"...Hey. I'm leaving in a little bit. I know its troublesome but I won't be back until dinner so you can stay here if you want. If Mom comes in and asks why you're here, just explain to her and wait in the house. I don't want any trouble by the time I get back, okay?" Shikamaru leaned over, trying to see his face.
But the brown head shifted in a small nod yet, never lifted.
He was quiet for a moment then sighed, getting off the bed to stand. "Well, if you're bored, you can look around the house a bit and when you're tired, you can use my bed. Is that fine with you?"
This time, however, Ruka lifted his head until you can see his teary eyes then nod with a sniffle.
The older boy couldn't help but stare at the student for a few moments longer before turning and walking to the door but stopped just between his room and the hallway. Glancing over his shoulder to see the brunette watching his every move, a small half-smirk graced itself on his face, causing Ruka to lift his head up completely with a gasp, cheeks flushed red, before leaving to wherever his teammates might be.
(NEXT SCENE)
"Now that you're officaly a genin, you'll need to be placed in a team." The Third placed the signed papers to the side and smiled at the person he was speaking with.
"Okay. But with who?"
The old man blew his pipe for a minute in deep thought before setting it down on his desk. "Hmmm...there is one team that currently has a vacant spot to become an offical three-man team. They just started not too long ago so you shouldn't have a hard time catching up. And also, the students aren't even genin yet so you should be a great addition to them."
Blink. "What? Not even genin? Then how come they're a team?!"
"Because they are in a difficult situation. They are the two indiviuals who are not of this world."
"You mean...they're the guys I've heard about?"
"Yes. They're names are Ruka and Sousuke and you do well to respect them. I don't want them to feel unwelcomed and out of placed than they already are. I hope you will become a good friend to them."
Nodding, the person bowed low. "I wish for the same. Thank you very much, Hokage-sama."
(NEXT SCENE)
Later, fifteen past ten o'clock...
'Dammit! Where the hell is he?! I've been looking for three hours already!' Kakashi panted as he stood on top of a building, looking exhausted from searching.
"Ruka, where are you?" He mumbled to himself.
He took off his headband, making sure the Sharingan was closed and wiped his forehead, not minding if bits of silver hair got in his eyes. Putting it back on, he sighed heavily and scanned the streets again with his eye, concern beginning to take place but he managed to shield it before it came out into the open. The jounin knew he shouldn't worry too much but Ruka, being who he is, was just too innocent and cute that anybody might want to take advantage of him.
He felt like he should protect him. You can ask anybody here and they'll tell you the same thing!
But...it isn't like Ruka to just suddenly disappear like that.
Sure, get lost and forget how to get back to the apartment but he always finds him at his usual spots like the Academy, the ramen shop, and a few other places.
But now, its like he never even existed!
'Dammit!' Again, for the millionth time, Kakashi leapt from roof to roof in hopes of finding his tiny roomate.
(NEXT SCENE)
"All right, you guys are done for the day. Go home." Asuma announced.
His genin team were too tired to glare or yell at him for the unfair punishment brought upon them by the lazy one of the group so all three laid on the ground, sweating and really hungry. "Awwww man! T-Tell me again...what d-did...you do to...make us...g-go through hell...?" Chouji whimpered, flat on his belly. It took a moment for him to catch his breath to answer.
"I told you, I was...late. I had...to take care of...some things." His friend panted, staring at the darkening sky like he always does.
'Man, the clouds are so lucky. They're free and can go wherever the wind takes them while, unlike me, I'm trapped here on the ground where nothing but troublesome things happen. What a drag.' The genin thought.
"This is your fault, you know." Ino grumbled as all three stood up.
"Yeah, yeah."
Once they were ready and regained their breath, Team Ten went their seperate ways with their own plans to get some rest as Shikamaru strode down the nearly empty streets of Konoha to his home. He felt so tired and dirty that he just wanted to take a quick bath, get a bite to eat, then go to bed. Just thinking about his warm, inviting bed made him long to just go to sleep. But, unfortunately, by the time the lazy boy returned home, it wasn't going to go as planned.
"I'm home." Shikamaru yawned tiredly, taking off his shoes and entering the house.
When he walked into the living room, he found his mother staring at him hard as if telling him he was in trouble or something. The shadow user blinked for a moment, not sure what she was upset about this time then it hit him.
Ruka was on her lap.
Asleep.
'Ugh, so troublesome.' Shikamaru sighed.
"You have some explaining to do." She stated, trying not to wake the slumbering child.
He nodded and walked over until he stood in front of her. "You did get the note I set on the table, right?" His mother nodded but the stern look did not leave her features. 'What's her problem? Is she upset that I left Ruka here all by himself or something?' He scratched the back of his head in thought.
Shikamaru yawned but said, "What is it? Is there something I'm not getting?"
"What I want to know is why I found a little girl in your room, crying!"
...Oh. That.
The genin sighed heavily then glanced to the side, a tiny blush barely noticeable on his cheeks but she didn't see it. "He was crying because he hurt his head on the floor when I tripped and fell on him. He was holding onto me at the time. I was going to ask Pops if he knew where Ruka's father lives but he left before I can explain anything." Her son explained.
She blinked, surprised (she didn't know Ruka is a boy) then nodded, accepting that for now. "All right. He may spend the night here since he can't find his way home but YOU..." a single finger came too close to his nose, which made him move back slightly, "...will be in charge of him until we can find his family."
"H-Hey! Hold on a second!"
"Now that we've cleared that up, I'll warm up some dinner and you will wake Ruka-chan up." His mother gently scooted the boy off her lap enough not to disturb him but also stand to go to the kitchen. The lazy boy stared after his mother with a hard expression as if he didn't know whether to show his displeasure or say nothing at all but, in the end, he settled for sighing and rubbed the back of his neck instead. 'Teh, troublesome. Why do I always get stuck with him?' He quickly dismissed his annoyance, placing a hand on the child's shoulder and shook lightly.
"Hey. Wake up, wake up. It's time to eat. Get up, kid."
It took a couple of minutes before his eyes fluttered open for a second then closed, the light becoming too bright but opened them again, eyes still glazed over with drowsiness. Yawning in a adorable fashion, Ruka slowly sat up then focused his eyes on Shikamaru, who stood in front of him with a bored look, then jumped with a small squawk.
"S-Shika-kun!"
Said owner of name sighed. "Let's go eat. Even if you're not hungry, I sure am. Come on."
Ruka quickly nodded with a blush, staring at the ground as he hopped off the couch and followed him to the dining room where his kind mother waited with dinner.
The food was pretty good and he couldn't help but wonder if it was even better when it was first cooked. The child shrugged and paused in his eating to take a rather large sip for a little guy from his glass of warm milk before resuming. Shikamaru glanced up from his rice bowl again to see his guest eating the yakisoba with less enthusiaism, sometimes picking at the vegetables with a somewhat straight face as if he was thinking before he caught him staring, squeaked, then shoved whatever food the chopsticks grabbed in his tiny mouth with a pink blush. He found it a little amusing when Ruka made a face when the thing he shoved in his mouth was a veggie but didn't have the energy to even chuckle and continued eating his dinner.
Once done, they took their dishes to the sink to wash and put away before walking to Shikamaru's bedroom. The silence between them was loud...maybe a little too loud that it was becoming quite awkward, even for the older boy. The brunette took a seat at the edge of the bed while Shikamaru went into his drawers to find some clothes to wear.
Ruka sighed sadly and stared at the floor with a depressed look. Then gasped quietly when he felt more tears trying to escape. 'Oh no! Not again! I must look like such a crybaby!' Little hands rubbed his eyes furiously in attempt to stop it but they were just replaced them with more tears. 'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry!'
He watched the boy from the corner of his eye for a few moments then sighed, rubbing his temple.
That kid is such a pain sometimes.
Ruka blinked when something was thrown over his head. Yanking it off, he noticed that it was just some clothes and lifted his eyes to see Shikamaru standing in front of him, his own clothing slung over his shoulder and his left hand on his hip with a bored look.
"You can wear those for now. Sorry they're a little big but those are the smallest I could find." He smirked slightly.
The boy was offended. "Not! THAT! Small!"
The twelve-year-old stuck a pinky in his ear.
"Teh, so loud this late of night." He grumbled and crossed his arms. "Hey, it was troublesome finding clothes your size so be glad I found those for you. Anyway, what do you want to do?"
"Eh?"
"I mean, do you want to take a bath first or I go first?"
Ruka blinked then, with a thoughtful expression on his face, crossed his arms and lifted a hand to tap his chin for a few long moments. But it didn't take long for him to make up his mind. "Nah. How about...in...together?" He asked innocently.
Blank stare. "...No."
"Aww! Why not?!"
"No way!"
"Doshite?!"
"I said no!"
Whimper. "Do...Doshite?"
'Aw crap!' The genin sweated under the student's puppy-dog eyes, trying to resist its unnatural submission. Furiously shaking his head, he tried to stare the boy down but failed rather miserably.
"When I say no, I MEAN no! There's no way you're going to change my mind!"
(NEXT SCENE)
"Teh, so troublesome."
Sighing heavily, Shikamaru tilted his head back to rest against the edge of the tub, which made the cloth on his head slip slightly then glanced over to the other side where the splashing was coming from. Ruka seemed to be enjoying himself as he played with the bubbles in the water, a cloth on his own head as well.
He couldn't help but set his gaze on the boy's hands, which made a oddly shaped circle with his fingers and blew soap bubbles before giggling and dipping his hand in and out of the water, repeating the process over again. 'I can't believe I let him bait me like that. What a drag!' The shadow user leaned forward and rested his head in his arms on the side of the tub. He closed his eyes and sat there in silence, dozing off a bit.
SPLASH!
Shikamaru snapped his eyes open and glared to the side as the brunette rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin.
"You know, looking innocent isn't always going to save you." He said but Ruka just grinned.
"Heh heh! Sorry!" He giggled then busied himself by looking for the washcloth under the soapy water.
With a soft chuckle and shake of the head, Shikamaru reached in the water and grabbed said cloth while Ruka gave a frustrated noise and throw his arms up in the air when he couldn't find the washcloth. "Looking for this?" The boy spun around, oblivious to the water spilling on the floor to see his host holding the item of his "quest" down under. "Gimme! Gimme! Please!" Ruka struggled to take the cloth but the genin held it just out of his reach. He simply shook his head with a lazy smirk. "Nope."
The youngest of the two boys pouted for a minute then turned his back to him, miffed at not getting back the object he needed to finish his bath. Shikamaru knew he probably upsetted him but settled to sighing and shrugging it off like nothing before dropping cloth to start scrubbing the dirt out of his hair.
He only began to wash before jumping when he felt smaller hands on his scalp and spun around, only to see Ruka grinning with a small blush. "Need? Hand?" The eleven-year-old suggested helpfully. He stared at him for a few long moments as if trying to decide whether to decline or accept the offer then facing forward again and shrugged, trying to hide the coloring of his cheeks.
"Do what you want. It gives me one less troublesome thing to do." He muttered.
Ruka couldn't help but grin.
It was a good thing they put their clothes on the counter instead of the floor because the minute they set their feet down, they slipped and slide across the tiles with minor difficulties. But, never less, they managed to dry and dress themselves before heading to the bedroom to sleep.
Ruka took one more glance at his night clothes, finding some of his old clothes he had on were the same ones that Shikamaru wore when he was still in the Ninja Academy. He smiled for a second then it disappeared when he remembered what happened earlier today. Maybe he was still mad about his little crying session earlier, he wasn't sure but all he knew that the comfortable atmosphere vanished.
While he pondered this, Shikamaru didn't bother to put up his hair in a ponytail as he grabbed an extra pillow from the closet for his guest to sleep on the bed before noticing his sadden expression. Sighing, he tossed the pillow on the bed and sat next to the boy then leaned back a little with his hands supporting behind him, lazy narrowed eyes watching the smaller and younger boy for any signs if he noticed. It only took a few seconds for Ruka to sense him before turning around to come nearly face-to-face with the genin.
With a sharp squeak, he stared back for a few moments before shifting his eyes downwards to the side as his face burned an angry red, biting his bottom lip nervously. A curious brow raised up as he briefly wondered what the matter was. 'Is he okay? He looks like he has a fever. But he looked just fine a minute ago! ...Teh, so troublesome.' He rubbed the back of his neck with a annoyed grumble.
Shikamaru wasn't the only one in his thoughts.
'He...He's so close! Why is he staring at me like that?! This is so embarrassing!' Ruka glanced up then quickly looked down before shifting to lay on his side on his half of the bed, still blushing. The shadow user watched him for a moment then leaned over on his arm and reached out to shake his shoulder a bit.
"Hey. What's wrong? You feel sick?"
Ruka shook his head, refusing to look at him.
"Then why won't you look at me?"
Mumble. "Hm? Speak up."
"...You...still. Mad?"
Blinking away his surprise, Shikamaru reeled his head back a bit to give him a odd look as if he wasn't sure he understood. "Why would I be mad?" He asked, brow raised. He blinked again when Ruka sat up enough to pull and bury himself under the warm blankets. A whimper emerged from blankets. "Crying." The lazy boy stared for a moment then made a sound like he now understood. "Ah, I see. No, I'm not mad. I wasn't mad, more like...annoyed." Another whimper. "Hey, hey! I'm not mad! Geez! And come out from under there already!" He grabbed the blanket and pulled but Ruka held fast and pulled, too.
"Let...go...! You need...to come...out...of there...NOOOOOW!!
"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!"
After a six-minute session of a tug of war, Ruka pouted unhappily on his side on the bed upon losing, back turned to his host, who sighed and tried to get his attention but he just continued pouting. Shikamaru yawned, vaguely realizing that it was very late and they needed to go to bed if they wanted to wake up early to find his dad. 'This is getting us nowhere.' He tried to think of anything that could help him get Ruka to cooperate and behave so they could go to sleep as he tucked himself in after smoothing it out over the bed.
He isn't going to understand if you keep telling him to stop crying. He needs to know that you're just trying to help. If you don't, your relationship with him will surely not end too well.
The shadow user made a face upon remembrance of his father's words. '...I can't believe its come to this but...what else can I do? Well, here goes nothing. Teh, troublesome.'
The brunette puffed his cheeks and glared cutely at the wall before he felt a hand on his side. He knew it was Shikamaru but he wasn't shaking him like always and if he was, it wouldn't be on his waist, just letting it sit there until curiosity got the best of him as he turned his body enough to look at him. He gasped when he saw the older boy laying on his side next to him, propping his right elbow under his head with a lazy smile, though it wasn't much of a smile, more like a half smile but it was still a smile none the less. Blushing, Ruka fixed his body so he was facing him on his opposite side and pushed the upper half of his body up on his hands, still feeling his hand on his side, which made him blush even more when he thought about it.
The hand lifted up from his waist and gently touched the strands of damp hair that cascaded down his face, making the small boy flinch and the blush grew darker, nervously biting his bottom lip. Shikamaru chuckled lightly then lifted his head up to stare back into those cute, wide brown eyes of his, seeing his own reflection in those brown pools.
"Smile."
"Ehh??"
Ruka stared him down with a confused expression, forgetting that Shikamaru was touching his hair but he didn't mind.
He nodded once. "Yeah. Smile."
"Mmm...I-I dunno. You. Mad when...I cry. Not. Mad. When...smile?" Ruka hesitated, forcing himself to look away. He couldn't handle watching him staring at him like that as if he was transfixed, it was just too nerve-racking and embarrassing. He gasped when the same hand gently grasped his chin and turn back to face him instead of avoiding him. The lazy boy shook his head. "No. I won't be mad. Just smile, okay?" He asked softly.
"Err..." Ruka still wasn't convinced.
He thought for a minute before smiling again. "Smile...for me?"
The student blinked then, after a slight bit of hesitance, offered a small timid smile that was just too cute to belong to someone like him. Before he could stop himself, Shikamaru pulled himself up enough to press his forehead against the other's, half smiling as Ruka blushed even more, smile gone and hair tickling their cheeks. "See? You look cuter smiling like that." He said.
His face went completely red, practically puffing out steam from his ears while Shikamaru was not far behind, looking like he just realized what he just said.
'D-Did I just...say that? Crap.' Shikamaru turned away a little in attempt to hide the faint tint on his cheeks.
But Ruka, who recovered from the shock, smiled more gently at the embarrassed genin before digging himself under the blankets like his host, who turned back to stare at him like he was some new kind of life form or something. Once comfortable, he poked his head out enough for the blanket to go down his shoulder a little. Smiling sleepily, he tucked his head under the lazy boy's chin and closed his eyes with a content sigh. But Shikamaru jumped and started sputtering with a dark blush. "H-Hey! What are you-"
"Mmm...Oyasuminasai, Shika-kun." He breathed out as he fell into a deep sleep.
He froze for a second, just staring at the small child in his arms with an almost dumbfounded expression on his face before shaking his head and smiled lightly. Relaxing himself on his pillow while making sure not to disturb the boy, he watched the slumbering child through half-lidded eyes before yawning and slowly closed his eyes for a sleep that would soon come. But before he did, he whispered into the darkness.
"Oyasuminasai."
(NEXT SCENE)
The very next day...
With a jaw-cracking yawn, Shikamaru stared lazily at Ruka's back before complaining. "Hey, you sure you don't remember your way back home?" He asked.
The brunette nodded, looking distressed as they've been walking and searching for his way home since this morning, which was three hours or so ago. "Y-Yeah! But...some reason, forget. Where. He always...find me. When. Forget." He mumbled out loud, looking around nervously.
He was getting worried if they would ever find Kakashi. Maybe he would know if he just told him the name of his guardian. After all, he is a jounin like Asuma so it shouldn't be that hard.
"...Um, Shika-kun...?"
Said genin turned around to look at him from his cloud watching. "Yeah?" Ruka appeared unsure and timid for a moment before speaking up. "U-Um...know...? Kakashi-sensei...?" He asked. The shadow user blinked, not sure what this had anything to do with the search. He sighed and looked to the side as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. He's Team Seven's jounin sensei but I don't really know him that well. Why are you asking me this?" Shikamaru glanced over to see Ruka figgeting from one foot to the other.
'...Hm?'
"...Do Asuma-sensei. Know. Where. Kakashi-sensei lives?" He asked.
"Uh, I guess but I don't know for sure. And don't ignore my question. What does this have to do with him?"
The brown-haired student smiled sheepishly and threw an arm behind, rubbing the back of his head.
"Eh heh heh, forgot. Mention. Kakashi-sensei. My mentor." Ruka grinned.
...What
...The
...Hell?
"Wait a minute. You mean to say your mentor is Kakashi-sensei?" Shikamaru glowered.
Nod, nod, nod.
"THE Kakashi-sensei, who is famous for his reputation of a thousand jutsus?"
Nod, nod, nod.
"The very same one who trains Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura?"
Nod, nod, nod.
"And yet, you somehow forgot to mention this to me?"
No...blink. Sheepish shrug.
He groaned loudly in exasperation, wondering how could he forget something like this. If he had just told him sooner, he could've gone home yesterday instead of spending the night over at his house while he thought up ways to track down his father. "Teh, so troublesome. Why didn't you mention this yesterday? We could've found your father much faster that way if Kakashi-sensei knows where you live." Shikamaru scolded.
Ruka drooped his head, which made him look even younger than his age, making him feel like he shouldn't have done that but he knew better than to give in. He needed to know where he was wrong and stomp that mistake flat and dead so it will never be repeated again. "C-Cause...Kakashi-sensei is. Private." He protested quietly, glancing up to see if he was still mad.
He blinked then looked up, thoughtful. 'He does have a point. I don't think I ever heard Asuma-sensei talk about him much besides Kurenai-sensei.'
The shadow user sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck, muttering, "Troublesome," under his breath before returning his attention back on the student. "All right, I agree with you about the jounin being a private person but you could've still told me. Who knows, we might get lucky if we ask anyone who knows him!" He smiled in encouragement. The brunette, despite the tears getting ready to fall, smiled up at him and nodded enthusiastically.
"Good. Come on. He might be with Naruto and the others already. If not, we'll try the mission office, okay?"
"Uh-huh!" Ruka chirped.
Shikamaru smirked a little and shook his head at how easy it was to please someone like him. If he wasn't as intelligent as he was, he would've mistaken him as a picture of innocence. Something about the boy just made anyone he met want to protect him from the world but he knew one way or another that his innocence will be gone once he becomes a genin.
He frowned and glared at the ground under his feet as if it was its fault.
No matter how much he tried to convince himself, he didn't want his innocence to be stripped from him like that. But he can't do anything about that, it was his choice to become a ninja.
"Shika-kun? Daijobu ka?"
He blinked and looked to the side to see wide concern eyes staring back at him. He realized they had been walking for a while because if he looked around, he see that they were in the forest. "Huh? Uh, yeah, sure. Come on. We're almost there." He walked on with a nervous student following after. When they crossed the bridge and entered the training area where Team Seven's meeting point is, no one was even there so they ended up standing in the middle, scanning around for any presense of the man they were searching for. Ruka stared hard at the pebble at his feet then kicked it into the stream, only to yelp when he kicked too hard and fell on his butt.
"Ouchie! Stupid pebble! Making me fall on my butt! I'm pretty sure if it had a mouth, it'll be laughing its ass off then curse me 'cause it remember how I kicked it but then forget about it 'cause it got its revenge when I fell and then it'll-" Ruka grumbled as he got back on his feet, dusting himself off with an disgruntled look.
Shikamaru found it too cute but was too lazy to say it out loud where the brunette could hear him. He cleared his throat, which gained his attention.
"Guess they're not here. What a drag. Come on, let's check out the mission office." Shikamaru turned and walked away.
The small child quickly followed and walked in pace with him but his heart felt uneasy and nervous upon finding nothing at the meeting point. It scared him to think he couldn't find his mentor. It scared him greatly. He knew the genin was glancing over to him when he latched onto his right arm, nervousness in his eyes and body before he turned to staring straight ahead once more. He knew he shouldn't be nervous but he couldn't help it.
'What if something happened? Are they away on a mission? But Kakashi-sensei wouldn't leave me out here with no way to get back home...would he?'
The more he thought about it, the more Ruka felt sick to the stomach.
Soon they saw the Hokage Tower and entered through the doors, going straight for the mission office, which wasn't very far. Within a couple of minutes, they pushed through another pair of doors to see several people in the mission office, either talking, working, returning a mission report, or taking on another mission. There weren't many so Ruka was able to easily spot his idol chatting with Izumo about something, probably village gossip or something. He then rushed over in a instant before Shikamaru could have time to stop him, not caring if he ended up tackling Iruka over the table and onto the floor, taking the chair down with them.
"AH! Ruka-kun!"
"IRUKA-SENSEI!!" Ruka wailed loudly.
The chuunin quickly sat up, stunned to see his tiny student began blubbering in a language he or, for that matter, anyone couldn't decipher but became alert when he spotted tears rolling down his cheeks. "Ru-Ruka-kun! What happened? What's wrong?!" He demanded, sitting up while taking the sobbing child with him in his arms. The preoccupied adult looked up when Shikamaru made his presense known with a slightly exasperate expression on his face. "Ah, Ruka! You're not supposed to do that! Teh, troublesome." He bowed to the chuunin.
"Sorry about this, Iruka-sensei."
"No, this is fine! But what happened? Is he okay?" He asked worriedly.
"Um, yes and no. I found...I mean, HE found ME because he mistakened me for you and he's been with me since yesterday. Apparently, he doesn't know how to get back home so we're looking for Kakashi-sensei." The shadow user explained as simple as possible.
"WAAAAAAAAAHH!!"
"WHAT?!"
He stuck a pinky in his ear. "Man, what a drag."
"Did you try asking around?"
Bemused, Shikamaru said, "What did you think we were doing?"
Choosing to ignore that smart remark instead of scowling him, Iruka slowly stood up with the small child still in his arms and walked away with the genin following at his heels, waving and apologizing to the people in the room for the sudden disruption until they were outside the Tower. By the time they were outside, Ruka had managed to calm down but he was still sniffling and choking back sobs, hiccuping every now and then. The chuunin gently set him on the ground on his feet and kneeled down so he was eye-leveled with him.
"Okay now. What happened?" Iruka asked softly.
"...C-C-(hic)-Can't...f-find...! Ba-Back (hic)...home! Or! K-K-Kakashi-sensei!!" He wailed.
"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down! Shhh, don't cry, Ruka-kun." He cupped the boy's face with his hands and gently wiped away the forming tears from his doe-like eyes with his thumbs. Ruka sniffed a little and grabbed the hands on his face then nodded, trying to breath without shaking. The lazy genin sighed and kneaded his left shoulder with his right hand, trying to ease the stiffness he felt. "Anyway, we were hoping that he might have been at the mission office. That's why we came but I guess he's not there either." He muttered. "Well, he was here earlier. He asked me if I saw Ruka, I'd let him know." Iruka informed.
This caught the small boy's attention right away. Next thing he knew, Ruka was in his face.
"Where? Where Kakashi-sensei?! Tell me! Please!" The brown-haired boy demanded, looking desperate.
"H-Hey! Slow down! He just went on a few missions with his team!" The chuunin tried to calm him down but he just kept asking. "Where? Please, tell me! Where?!" He continued, oblivious to the weird stares they were receiving for his obnoxious yelling.
"Uuh, if I recall, they were first sent to pull out weeds from Ms. Saito's yard because she threw out her back and is unable to do it herself. Then they're cleaning out the-"
The boy didn't hear the rest as he took off down the street in search of his mentor to wherever this Ms. Saito's home is. "Ah! Ruka-kun! Get back here!" Iruka shouted over but he was too far away to hear. The genin sighed and rubbed the back on his head. "Teh, so troublesome." He mumbled.
Then he turned to his former sensei. "Hey."
"Hm?"
"Can you tell me where I might find Kakashi-sensei?"
"Oh, um, sure!"
(NEXT SCENE)
'Okay! I just gotta find Ms. Saito's house and I'll find Kakashi-sensei! Oooh man! He must be really mad at me for not coming home yesterday! I just hope he's not too mad!' Ruka panicked at the thought of an angry jounin, which was a very scary image.
A thought hit him, which stopped him dead in his tracks, making skid marks in the dirt.
"Ahh CRAP! I forgot that I had school today! Iruka-sensei's gonna be so-ACK! Wait a minute! The Academy should be already done for today! And I just met him, too! Ahhh man! This is so not cool!"
The villager nearby side-stepped away when the brunette started shouting nonsense while flailing his fists in the air. Another thought hit him...again.
"Oh my god! I also have training today! Oooo, Hayate-sensei's gonna be SO mad when I show up! Grrr! And that pervert's gonna tease me for being really late! Grrr, and if he dares even call me Ru-Ru, I'm gonna sock him a good one and make sure I kick him in the nuts so he'll be talking in a squeaky voice for a few days and then I'll-"
All the while he was mumbling and cackling to himself about his future plans for Sousuke, a girl with blue hair and eyes noticed "her" standing in the middle of the street, obviously mad about something. She was just walking around, trying to find the team she was going to join soon to get to know what they're like but seeing a cute little brunette like her there, she couldn't help but wonder if she was lost. Materinal instinct took over as she walked towards the boy, who didn't notice her in the least, too busy planning and panicking at the same time.
"Hey there, little girl. Are you lost?" She asked, bending over so her hands were on her knees.
"...his eyes out so he can't see when I run off before he can kill me and then I'll-huh?" He blinked, looking up.
The blue-haired genin repeated herself. "Are you lost?"
"Uh...um, yeah?"
She pulled herself back in a up-right position and smiled down on him, which, for reason unknown to her, made the boy become very alert and wary of her. 'What's the matter with her? Hmph. Probably shy.'
"Come on. Let's find your mom and dad, okay?" She smiled, trying to reassure the "girl".
He shook his head and she blinked. "No. Looking for...Ms. Saito. You. Know. Where?"
Now she was confused. 'What's with her? A speech problem?'
"Uh, sure? Is she your grandmother?" She drawled slowly, not sure what to make of this kid. Ruka just shook his head, blinking innocently but she wasn't easily swayed...okay, maybe a little. 'Wait a minute. Ms. Saito doesn't have any grandchildren...all least, not that I know of.' Narrowing her icy blue eyes, she stared the brunette down but before she could voice her suspicions, he spoke up.
"Mission duty." He explained without explaining.
"Ah." She nodded, understanding.
Silence...
...Well, the silence was eventually shattered when our favorite and number one lazy coward, who strolled down the street, waving a piece of paper in his hand a little with a hard edge to his face.
"You're such a pain. If you waited just a few more minutes, Iruka-sensei would've given you the instructions of where the missions are being taken place. Teh, you're so troublesome." Shikamaru tsked and Ruka gave a sheepish grin.
"Eh heh heh heh...sorry, Shika-kun."
"Uh, hello? I'm still here, you know!"
At the same time, the boys spun their heads around to the unamused blue-eyed girl as if they just noticed her.
The genin blinked. "Huh? Who's this troublesome girl?"
"Um...someone...thinks I a girl."
Raising a brow, the older male turned to face the stranger with a calculating look as if he was trying decide whether she's friendly or not before sighing and rubbing the back of his neck. "All right, let's get something straight here. She..." He yanked the bewildered brunette's wrist so he stood beside him, blinking every two to five seconds while Shikamaru held his captured limp up in the air. "...is a boy."
...It took three seconds for it to click.
"O-Oh! I'm sorry! I-I thought sh-I mean, he was a girl because he just looked so innocent and cute and, um...!" She stopped ranting, face red with embarrassment.
She wasn't the only one red.
Though he didn't understand with her talking so fast, Ruka got the "innocent" and "cute" part, which made him tense with a furious red blush. He didn't want another fan girl to be born and chase him like all the other girls as if he was some sort of fishing bait that all the fish find so tasty. It was enough of a hassle already!
"Now that we've gotten that troublesome problem straightened out, could you tell us what you're name is?" He demanded lazily.
The girl nodded before throwing her hair back. "I'm Nanami Yamada. I just gradutated from the Academy two days ago. You?"
"Shikamaru Nara."
The small boy opened his mouth to introduce himself but he cut him off.
"And this troublesome little guy is Ruka. But don't pay too much attention to him, he's a sucker for it."
An elbow drove into his side quite unexpectedly. "OW! What the hell! What did you do that for?!" Shikamaru complained.
He huffed, looking adorable while he's at it. "Meanie! No Help! Stupid Shika-kun!"
The blue-haired girl, known as Nanami, just stared dumbfounded while the two bickered...well, more like scolding and yelling. 'What are these guys? They look like more of a couple of idiots with the way they keep bickering. And why did he call him Shika-kun?' As she thought this, a smile appeared on her lips before crossing her arms and put most of her weight on her right leg, leaning a bit.
"Well, I guess you're the little guy Hokage-sama was talking about!"
This got their attention, both giving her weird looks that didn't quite understand what she was saying. Then Ruka spoke up. "Um...what you mean?" Nanami blinked, understand what he was saying but how he said it while Shikamaru groaned at his mispronoucation again. "You really need to learn how to speak proper Japanese. Teh, so troublesome."
Despite another hit to his side, he turned to the stranger once more.
"All right, explain what you're here for. Its obvious it has something to do with this runt here."
"HEY!"
Nanami nodded and smiled more widely. "Yeah, as I said before, I've just recently became a genin so the Third Hokage had to choose a fitting team for me to join. Unfortunately, there weren't many teams that have a vacant spot and no more genins to form another team so..."
She grinned widely before grabbing and pulled, again, an even more bewildered Ruka to her and hugged the life out of him.
"...I've been choosen to be part of Team Hayate! Isn't that great?"
His normally narrowed eyes widen while Ruka just stiffened in her hold, his hair sticking up like a cat again with a dark blush rising to his cheeks. 'Ca...Ca-Can't...breathe! No...more...hugging!' His face turned red then blue.
The older boy then tried to rescue him. "Uuh...you do know you're choking him half to death, right?"
"Oh...opps?"
Once she released her tight hold on him, Ruka immediately seeked salvation, which was to latch onto Shikamaru like yesterday. "Oof!" He stumbled back a bit then quickly regained his balance, giving an annoyed look down at the hundled form clinging to him. "Ugh! Troublesome!" The lazy genin grumbled, scratching the back of his head. "Um, is he going to be okay? I didn't hurt him, did I?" Nanami asked, a bit hurt. He shook his head and pocketed his hands.
"Nah. He's just scared."
"No wanna! Fan girl! Shika-kun!" Ruka wailed loudly.
"Hey, hey, hey! Stop crying! We still need to find Kakashi-sensei, remember?"
He blinked as if he just remembered that little fact. "Oh...oh yeah!" The boy grinned.
He rolled his eyes at the student and turned away from the blue-haired girl. "All right then, see you later." The shadow user simply waved as he began to walk away but she jogged after them. "Wait! I'll come with you!"
(NEXT SCENE)
"All right, guys. We better go home. We're done for today." Kakashi eye smiled at his tired team, who gave him glares as if this was his fault.
Well, you'd be glaring, too, if you had to hunt down the same escaped cat who constantly run aways, pull weeds and thorns from a jungle of a backyard, clean the trash up from the stream without falling and going down a waterfall, clean both the messager birds and their nests without getting pecked, clawed, or lose a finger, and give three rather large dogs a walk (or more like run away while they try to bite you with their sensei up in a tree, either reading or giggling at the hilarity of it all)...not in that order.
"We better!" Naruto grumbled. Sakura fussed over her now messy hair and if looks could kill, that's what Sasuke would be doing right now.
"Oh yeah! Kakashi-sensei!" He looked over his shoulder before he could left to see his female student staring back.
"Have you seen Ruka-kun? He said he'll teach me to sing some of the nursery songs like the one he taught me back in the Wave Country." She asked.
Even though they found him to be a hard person to read, they could tell there was something wrong when he had this little sad tint in his eye. "Well...I don't really know where he is. I've been looking for him since yesterday last night." He mumbled to himself but they overheard.
"WHAT?!"
"Ehh? What, what? What did he say?" The blonde demanded.
"Ruka-kun's missing!"
He blinked. "Eh? That's it? Can't he just find his way back?"
"If you were paying attention, you would have noticed I said he's been missing since yesterday." The jounin pointed out.
"Hn, its his own fault for not finding his way back. Idiot." Sasuke scoffed.
His teammate bristled. "Hey! Stop calling him an idiot! You're the idiot!"
"Hn, you're an even bigger idiot than him."
"What Did You Say, Basterd?!"
Kakashi then decided it was best to settle them down before things got out of hand. "Hey, hey! Calm down, its nothing to worry about! I'm sure Ruka's just running away from his fan girls. I wouldn't be surprised if he's with Iruka-sensei!" He tried to assure them, which worked. "Oh." Sakura blushed and rubbed the back of her head, feeling embarrassed for causing such a fuss. 'Phew! At least Sakura isn't crying or freaking out about it. But dammit! Where the hell is he?!' He sighed.
"Then can we help you look for him?" She asked.
"Um, no. I can handle it. I asked Iruka-sensei if he ever saw-"
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"-Kakashi-sensei and keep him there until I get back to the mission office. ...Wait a minute."
He turned around and almost gasped when he saw Ruka running over with Shikamaru and a blue-haired girl jogging behind. "KAKASHI-SENSEI!!" The brunette tackled his legs with the strength a child could possess, crying and babbling god knows what for which he couldn't understand. Right now, he wasn't paying attention to that, he was paying more attention to where he dug his face on. His face, or what's visible of it, turned bright red then greyish-blue as he watched the small boy cry against him while Nanami looked horrified and Shikamaru groaned before slapping his forehead. He was very glad his team couldn't see for they were behind him but he knew they could see his trembling form.
"Uuuh...there you are, um...Ruka!" He mumbled, inwardly groaning.
After a minute or two, Ruka pulled away to wipe his teary eyes with the back of his hands before looking up.
"Ka...Kakashi...-sensei...?"
The jounin sighed tiredly, almost painfully. "Wh-What?"
"Kunai...p-poking. My face. Feel. Weird." He mumbled, sniffling a little.
Next thing he knew, he ended up falling back on the ground, kicking his feet up while he's at it as the student shrieked in surprise. His team weren't far behind as two out of three ran over to see if he was okay while the other looked on, mildly curious while Ruka tried to shake some sense into the man. All the while, Nanami and Shikamaru stood away from the group in silence before the girl spoke up.
"...Ouch. That gotta hurt."
"Yeah. Teh, so troublesome."
--(END SCENE)--
Yakisoba (Yakisoba are fried or deep fried Chinese style noodles served with vegetables, meat, and ginger)
Itai (ow; ouch)
Doshite (why; how)
Oyasuminasai (Good night!)
Daijobu ka (are you okay/all right?)
Sugoi (1. amazing; wonderful 2. awful; terrifying)
Nanami (means seven seas (name form)
CF: Phew! Sorry it took so long! I had trouble around the ending part.
Ruka: (teary-eyed) D-Done? Already?
CF: Huh? (blink) No! I meant the 7th chappy is done, not the story!
Ruka: - YAY!
Kakashi: (still on ground, in pain) Oowwww...
Iruka: What happened to him?
CF: (shrug) Hn, Ruka-kun hit him in the nuts with that big head of his.
Iruka: Ouch!
Ruka: PLEASE REVIEW!! LOVE YOU!! (smile that melts the hearts of cold-blooded killers)
