A shinobi is a high school student like an other - 10

I'd like to know if there are boys-men reading this, one because the pseudonym usually doesn't help at all, and two because it seems that my french-readers are all girls. So, if there are males out there, um, make me know? Thanks.

This takes place in Konoha, english is not the main language ( and the bits in french are here just 'cause they're in english in the original story).

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The first part of our 'punishment' consisted in waiting. And we waited far too long, seated on those plastics chairs that should have been forbidden by the Geneva Convention on torture. And on top of the 'waiting uncomfortably in front of the doors of the local relevant authority known as headmaster', an unpleasant-looking supervisor was, well, supervising us, just to be sure we didn't begin another brawl here and now.

Okay, maybe this guy wasn't that unpleasant, but for the little I could see, he had a bulldog face - or maybe one worthy of a bouncer.

And I really could see not more than a little. 'Cause yeah, my cheek had decided to grow. This was the 'why' in 'why Iruka kept stealing worried glances in my way since I had declined his offer of hunting cold water to keep my face from swelling too much'.

We waited. We waited some more. The supervisor had stopped bothering with looking in our way. I stretched on those uncomfortable and unbearable things they dared to call 'chairs'.

"Nothing to do with the current situation..." I began, turning toward Iruka - erm, turning the side of my face which wasn't hidden by my hair, the same one which was swelling like the proverbial frog, toward Iruka. He turned suddenly to face me. I finished, " ... but your uncle's retaurant, how is it called? Must be at least a week I forgot to ask you."

He smiled.

"It's in the old european district, it's more a pub than a restaurant... the 'Ocean's shore'."

I narrowed my eye. Ha, I more or less gave the general idea of an eye-narrowing. Try it when your cheekbone is twice is usual size.

"You're kidding?"

I'd like to remind everyone that the family name of the guy in front of me is 'Umino', literaly 'of the sea'. It goes rather nicely with the 'ocean's shore'.

Iruka pouted at my reply... may someone makes him stop doing faces like that please... breathe Hatake, breathe.

"I'm deeply sorry to disappoint you, but if you think you're the first to come out with that, you're swimming in desillusion."

Finally the headmaster showed up, looked at us very seriously from behind his hands crossed over his desk - said desk was a lot more organized than my sensei's one I have to mention -, while 'us' were sitting on other unconventionals means of torture which had escaped the attention of the already seen higer Convention's signatories. I won't get through the bullshit he uttered. We didn't even try to defend our case, it would have been a waste of breath and saliva.

The sentence fell at least. Fight in the corridors, two days' expulsion. Our dear little selves weren't wanted here before the next Tuesday. And more, he was going to call our parents for them to get their deliquents away from the civilized world. Boo I'm scared.

I would have liked to know how he was explaining the fist mark on my face though. I had put myself one like a big guy?

So we were waiting again, silent, in the headmaster's office, for our 'parents' to pick us up and the headmaster to talk to them in the process.

I was wondering who would come for me... Sensei, I doubted it a lot, even if officially he was the one who had to come since he was my guardian.

I was hoping that it wouldn't be Ibiki... although Ibiki here and me with a camera, it could get pretty fun, especially for the faces pulled by the people who would happen to cross him.

A while after, a guy built like a rugby player, nearly as wide as Zabuza but in blond version, knocked to the door and entered in the office. Iruka stood up, facing the guy who had just came in.

No need to go the detail of what the headmaster said - it was just a bunc of bullshit. The interesting part, it's that as soon as Iruka and the guy put a foot outside the office, they began to chat in a very fast and nearly ununderstandable english.

This was a new mystery for Detective Kakashi. And how a scandinavian-looking blond guy could be of Iruka's family?

And I waited, and i waited some more.

I was really the last person I would have expected who came. Raidou - okay, I would have understood. Genma too, even if he was less convincing in the big brother part. Haku, I had thought about it, but what would he had been supposed to play the part of? My sister?

Said last person etc.. stepped into the office, nodded and made horrified faces at the right moment of the headmaster's monologue, pulled an act in the office, hands on the hips and all - and this in the perspective that the high school authorities would leave me the hell alone 'till kingdom come - and dragged me out of the office by the arm.

This person, as maybe you guessed, it was Rin.

Once we were away from any eavesdropper - meaning when we got out of the school, she took my chin in a hand and looked at my face from closer with a frown.

"What happened?"

I made it quick. "Stopped a guy from hitting another."

She made a disapproving pout."It doesn't look like you succeded."

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Rin's little remark followed me all day.

I got it from Tsunade, from Raidou, from Genma, from Zabuza when he got to the HQ after school...

But they all got the short version of what happened : a guy was ready to punch another and punched me instead. I didn't told anyone what really hahappened nor who were the guys exactly, but supposed Zabuza had an idea. He had some great clues anyway, with Iruka and me not in class and the rumor going like crazy.

Tsunade did little more than stopping the swelling of my face; the marvelous rainbow of colors which was slowly spreading over my cheekbone would be taken care by Mother Nature.

Finally, i spent the rest of the day and the day after in HQ, getting myself useful. Here, understood that I had took pity upon Sensei who was sinking in the moutains of papers piled up on his desk.

Some more important stuff happened too, like the finag lization of the meeting between us and the local new mafioso. It would take place the Saturday of next week, in one of the old shed once used for stocking in the former industrial area, now converted in a nightclub - it was supposed to be a neutral place.

I was a bit sketic about all this jazz.

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I left the HQ Friday at the time I left school usually, and once I was certain Sensei wasn't going to call me back in a panic - or at least, that his call would wait till the next day. This weekend added with the Monday, would be the first one I would spend in 'full service' for three years, it was kinda weird.

For now, I was walking in the streets of Konoha, the 'Ocean's shore' adress found in the phone book in my pocket and my hands over it. It was cold, but not cold enough to force me to wear an anorak over my sweater; even if the cold air whizzing between the buildings were dropping the temperatures a bit lower, and lower.

The european district, as its name indicated, had been built by the european merchants and diplomates who had settled first in Konoha, when the situation between the ninja villages had been cleared after all the hidden wars. The settling of the europeans fitted in with the period where the ninja villages began to be ninja only in name. The ninja clans and bloodlines had survived only thanks to secret and/or underground organizations such as ours.

The streets were wide, the buildings high, with windows everywhere and ornaments on the façades. Here and there, some buildings had been 'rehabilitated'... meaning that they now looked like the buildings that could be spotted anywhere in Konoha: high, with flat roofs, shed-like façade. In one word, they were ugly.

The 'Ocean's shore' adress squared with a street filled with buildings of this kind. The pub himself could hardely be missed - the sign of a deep green was taking all the width of the building, and under the sign, the windows were made of many little squares.

I pushed the door open - some handbells tinkled.

Indoors, it wasn't dark, nor smoky, nor crowded, like we can picture a pub. No, it was full of space, the walls were covered by wood, there were tables put far enough from one another, there were patchworks, old british posters and reproductions of paintings sticked up here and there, a large bar at the far end and stools standing at attention in front of it.

There were some people, and they were all gathered on the tables the closer from the bar. As a musical background, a guy was singing to his girlfriend that she shouldn't forget who was taking her back home, and to save the last dance for him.

This place was comfortable, I was feeling like I was someplace I knew was safe.

Iruka was behind the bar, busy polishing glass. I stepped closer from the bar, and he smiled when he spotted me. It made me smile back.

I appripriated myself a stool, and crossed my arms on the wooden bar, just in front of him.

"Hi! You finally found it, my 'uncle's restaurant'..."

"Yo... once I had the adress, it wasn't that hard..." I made a lopsided smile. A normal smile forced me to move my all face, and even if it wasn't swollen anymore, it hurt like hell. The mark was at the 'brand new bruise' stade, of a beautiful purple-blue against my very pale skin.

Iruka moved nearer from me to look at my competition's bruise.

"He really didn't pull his punches."

I chuckled.

"You can said that again!"

A guy got out from the nearest door, the one which looked like it opened on the kitchen - that is to say, a door that looked like every restaurant's kitchen door: without doorknob, with a sort of portehole in the middle. I had a feeling like I had already seen the guy; with hair that going in spikes, he was difficult to miss. He came to where we were.

"I've ended the dishwashing from lunch! Can I drink now? Oh," he made, when he saw the color of my face, "nice black eye."

"Thanks."

Iruka elbowed the guy.

"Tsch, keep it still for once. Kakashi, that's Kotetsu, the only guy I know to have a direct brain-mouth connexion..."

"Hey! You're mean 'Ruka!"

We shaked hands over the bar.

"Hey, I knew I've had already saw you; you're in Kurenai's classes, no?"

"Yep, and you, you're the Kakashi who saved 'Ruka from getting Benji on his case... either you're suicidal, or you got some fucked guts man. You both got lucky Itachi get himself over there before Benji had seriously begun."

I frowned. He had said 'Itachi' without the hate or the awe usually glued to his name in a student mouth.

"You sound like you know Itachi pretty well..."

Iruka shrugged from a shoulder, picking up his polishing where he had left it. The guy singing after his girl had left for some Bowie from the great period. Kotetsu answered.

"Rather well, yeah, we were a bloody lot with all the nutcase from around..."

"I think I still got a picture of everyone somewhere," said Iruka.

"...Itachi was one of our best bud, a great guy," continued Kotetsu."But since we all got to high school, he changed... a lot."

"We still don't know why. He created another circle and left his separated way."

"But luckily for you, that don't refrain him from saving your sorry ass!" ended Kotetsu while elbowing Iruka for good mesure.

A man as blond as the guy who had came to pick Iruka up, but older, stood up from one of the table and talked loudly enough for Iruka to hear.

"Iruka ! Go fetch your cousin before he freezes his asses off on the roof ! And you and Ko' are free to go for now!"

Iruka put down rag and glass and walked around the bar, followed by Kotetsu. I played the one who hadn't understood a single thing, but I stood up from my stool anyway. When Kotetsu came to my level, he grabbed my arm and looked my in the eyes.

"I hope for you you're serious with Iruka - he've seen enough shit," he hissed just loud enough for me to hear.

I found myself in the very uncomfortable situation of the guy who missed an episode. But the threat was clear enough in his voice.

Iruka called from the other side of the room, opening a door I hadn't seen labeled 'private'.

"Kakashi? You comin'?"

Kotetsu tightened his hold before letting go of my arm, and he left the pub without a glance back. I watched him go from the corner of my eye while walking to the door - it was opening on a stair in which Iruka had already vanished.

In the background, Bowie had make way for a girl who was calling off the search.

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Kotetsu seen as "the only guy I know to have a direct brain-mouth connexion" comes from Scribbles-in-the-margins. If you haven't read 'Water runs red' yet, what are you still doing here?