Chapter twelve: Questions and unreasonable answers
Twenty minutes later, Shin was sitting on her butt, looking at two white lumps lying in front of her.
This can't really be necessary, she thought as she stared darkly at the round packages that used to be her feet, I look like an idiot.
"Hm. I guess we'll have to stay inside today. There's no chance you will be walking any time soon", Iruka said while picking up the first aid things that lay scattered across the floor. There was no gauze left since all of it had been used on Shin's feet and the feared antiseptic bottle was now more than half empty.
"I was going to bring you along to the Academy but I'll have to get someone to fill in for me", he stood up and marched of to the bathroom again. Shin kept on staring at the bandage-bundles. How had this happened? She couldn't remember damaging them that badly. What was going to happen now? She couldn't move around on her own (she had of course already tried to get up after Iruka had released her and she wasn't repeating that one) so going anywhere was out of the question.
She glanced at the teacher as he came back into the dining room and entered the kitchen area. On the other hand, there wasn't really any need to. Staying with Iruka wasn't that bad. In fact it was probably one of the best things that could have happened to her. Now she could keep an eye on Naruto in case any masked ninjas showed up and, she realised, maybe she would have some time to investigate Konoha for real. She hadn't seen much of it running from bloodthirsty guards the other day and she couldn't wait to get out there. growl She put a hand on her stomach and made a face. But the excitement could wait. She was practically famished.
Shin rolled over on her stomach and crawled on all four towards Iruka, being careful to keep her feet up. They were rather heavy and kept bumping in to each other making her hiss at the touch.
She rounded the corner and sat down on the floor of the relatively small kitchen area. At the far end was a door and where she was positioned there was a small table for two, situated under a window. Between the door and the window the walls were lined with the standard kitchen stuff. A fridge, a sink, some cupboards, you know, the usual things. It was kind of shabby-looking just like the office at the Hokage tower and looked very much lived in. It didn't really strike her as the home of a shinobi.
"Are you really a ninja?", her mouth had again blurted it out before she had even finished the thought.
Shin mentally kicked herself.
Did I leave a window open? Where has my self control gone?
Not that she was usually very polite, but today she seemed to uncontrollably utter every little thought.
Iruka looked up, or rather down, from what he was doing.
"Yes", was the calm answer and proceeded with whatever was up on the counter, "I am, as a matter-of-fact, but I'm not really an active ninja"
"You teach", Shin stated.
"I do", he confirmed, then he wrinkled his brow and glanced at her, "How did you know?"
Oops! Not supposed to say that. Warning lamps for the Impossible-knowledge-detector going off!
Shin decided to go with the idiot-proof-tactic and hope he would leave it.
"Because I'm smart", she declared bluntly and leaned back on her hands.
This kind of diversion usually worked back home. People would just role their eyes and forget about being suspicious.
Iruka raised an eyebrow and shot a fleeting look towards the bandage-balls before turning away again. But Shin had noticed and took it as a remark on her previous statement..
"Hey, it's not my fault they look like that. You're the one who wrapped 'em up"
"And you should be happy I did. They would only get worse and probably infected if you would have left them like they were. What did you do to them?"
Shin sighed and tried to wiggle her right foot. It stung.
"I guess I must have been too cold to notice"
Iruka was just setting down a plate on the table. His eyes grew big.
"Too cold to notice that?!", he sounded startled.
Shin figured the underside of her feet must have looked really bad,
"What were you doing? And where did you come from? Does your parents know you're here? Are you allowed to travel by yourself with that strange figure?"
Iruka was gesticulating wildly. He apparently didn't like the thought of a child out on the roads.
"Calm down. It's not that bad. I didn't get mugged or anything", this didn't calm the sensei down at all, he just dropped his hand and looked at her in disbelief, "Honestly! I have only been travelling for…um..", Shin counted quietly in her head, "a day and a night. That's it"
Iruka did calm down this time. He let out a sigh of relief.
"Did you run away from home? I suppose you live in that village where the robbery took place"
Shin shook her head.
"No, no. I don't live anywhere near here, but I suppose you could say that I ran away. Not from home though and it wasn't really my intention to do it"
"Well, where do you live then? It can't be too far away if it only took you so little time to get here. And where are your parents? They must be worried", Iruka continued setting the table while beginning to look puzzled.
"I haven't had any parents for five years now. I can take care of myself just fine"
"But..", Iruka by now, was looking very confused, "Five years… That doesn't…", he pinched the bridge of his nose trying to focus,
"If you have only been travelling for a day and a night, you have to live somewhere close to here"
Crap! I should've just made something up. He's not going to buy the alternate universe story.
"No comment", Shin replied folding her arms and looking away promptly
"No comment...", Iruka repeated to himself.
He was surprised to say the least, over the child's extensive vocabulary and way of speaking. It did make a mature impression. However…
"You can't be more than three years old, four if you stretch it. That means you can't have been an orphan for five years. And I highly doubt a child your age is able to take care of themselves", the teacher had one hand on his hip and held a large spoon in the other. Dropping rice on the floor he waited for an explanation that actually made sense.
Either the kid was deliberately lying about almost everything or there was some kind of trauma involved just like Tsunade-sama had said.
"Hey! I told you, I'm seventeen. I'm perfectly capable and I don't have to explain anything to you", Shin retorted.
Iruka was just about to scold her for being rude, when Shin almost jumped up surprising him.
"Where's Hush? I left him with the guards! Did they throw him in jail?"
The chuunin lowered his raised finger and rubbed the back of his head, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Um... no. He is not in jail. In fact he's here"
"He is?", Shin looked relieved and surprised, "Where?"
"Ano… In the hallway closet"
The kid looked at him disbelievingly with half lidded eyes and raised eyebrows.
"The closet?", the tone was dead-pan.
"Well... Tsunade-sama said he didn't eat or sleep and that I should just put him in the closet. I tried offering him some breakfast yesterday, and a bed. But he didn't accept it"
"So you put him in the closet?", Shin still looked like he was talking nonsense.
Which he kind of was. Iruka felt his ears grow slightly warmer. It did sound pretty dumb.
"Not to begin with, but he kept on watching me and never moved. It was very unsettling so… yes, I did eventually put him in the closet", he admitted and smiled awkwardly.
Shin blinked once and then leaned backwards on her hands again with a neutral expression.
"Hm, then I think he should be okay", she said and looked over her shoulder towards the hall, "He hasn't eaten or slept, or talked for that matter, from the day I met him"
"When did you meet him?", Iruka asked, thinking that the strange figure must be a very old acquaintance.
"Two days ago", came the reply.
"WHAT?! You're travelling with a man you hardly know?! I thought you said you could take care of yourself. This certainly proves you wrong, doesn't it?"
"I do know him. He saved my life and he just follows me around. It's almost like he's attached…Hey! What are you doing?!"
Iruka picked up the protesting child, ignoring the defensive explanation.
"You can't get up on the chair by yourself, can you? Hm… Looks like we're going to need a few books", he headed towards his study shifting the kid over to his hip the way you normally carry a toddler.
Shin turned very red and leaned as far away from him as possible. Iruka found this behaviour very strange and noted the relief when he placed Shin on top of the books he had laid on the kitchen chair. Odd, to say the least.
"What's that?", Shin pointed towards the plate, eyeing it's contents suspiciously.
Iruka looked from the child to the plate and back again.
"You have never had onigiri before?", he asked in disbelief.
"Oh, onigiri! Eh...yeah, sure. I've had onigiri", Shin laughed nervously, obviously lying.
There was something very mysterious about this child. It wasn't just the Hokage's obvious interest the day before that made him suspect so. It was the kid's foreign, almost singing accent, and that strange background that didn't seem to add up anywhere at all.
That, and of course the fact that Shin had never seen an onigiri before.
After nibbling on the first rice-ball Shin inhaled the rest of them and promptly leaned back in her chair. She didn't really have time to taste the food because the hunger had overwhelmed her but it couldn't have been too bad since she didn't leave any for the teacher.
Said teacher didn't seem to mind this and spent the following hour making more while discretely trying to pull information about her past out of her. Shin answered every question as vaguely and ambiguously as possible trying to keep Iruka from thinking she was loony, although she had already accomplished the opposite by trying to climb the twenty story wall.
Other than that, the remainder of the day crept its way forward very slowly, leaving boredom and passiveness in its wake. The onigiri however, left a really bad stomach ache and Shin had to go to bed early, which she, despite the pain, was thankful for the next day.
Chapter thirteen: Iruka makes the first of two significant discoveries
(I'm very fond of the scene in this next chapter. They're so cute and confused... )
There was one thing Shin had come to fear in Iruka's household, and that was the bathroom. Since she had spent her first 24 hours sleeping and the second day writhing in pain after devouring too many rice balls too quickly, he hadn't bothered about her cleanliness. But on their third evening together he had informed her that the bath was running and as soon as it was done she was going to have a good scrub down. At this Shin felt her muscles stiffen.
A bath? As in bathing? Without clothes? That would mean he'd see her naked! Physically she had the attributes of a toddler which equalled to nothing at all, but her teenage mind screamed that the age difference was way too small for him to see her without clothes on. He was only 23 and that did not feel okay.
So that was how they ended up with a something of a routine, consisting of Iruka drawing a bath every night, Shin running away to hide as soon as she heard the tub fill and when she heard water draining she would sneak into the bedroom and curl up under the comforter pretending to be asleep.
None of the two really understood how a crippled little girl managed to outsmart a shinobi in his own home. A home that wasn't very large and didn't have that many hiding places to offer. But she did. For three nights in a row Shin avoided the frustrated young teacher who desperately wanted to clean her off since she, or so he insisted, was beginning to reek.
Shin didn't believe his proclaims about her smell, but after seeing the marks she had made on the bed she new she was filthy. The sheets had been changed every morning. It had been done especially fast the morning they had discovered Shin's badly injured feet, because just like the tatami would never look itself again, neither would the bedding. Iruka had snatched everything of the mattress in an attempt to save it from any irremovable stains.
Each morning, before the teacher got up, Shin would crawl to the bathroom and hoist herself up on the toilet seat, leaning over to the washbowl to splash her face and arms, thus getting the worst of the dirt off. Or at least she thought so, but since she couldn't reach the mirror there was no way to tell for sure. Unless she took Iruka's word for it, then she had failed miserably.
On their fourth evening of following this sneaking and searching schedule, Shin was perched on top of the bookcase in Iruka's study. He had already been in there several times looking for her but it was like his gaze just rolled off her when he looked up towards the small space beneath the ceiling. If she stayed absolutely still it didn't matter how many times he checked, he still wouldn't see anything, but as soon as she moved it caught his attention and he would look again.
When she heard the water running out through the pipes she carefully climbed down the shelves, just managing to catch herself before slipping on the last one, and peaked out into the hall.
Shin had barely stuck her head through the doorway before a hand seized the back of her shirt and lifted her of the floor.
"I'll be damned if you go another night without washing! Enough is enough!", Iruka stated and attempted to carry Shin into the bathroom.
Shin spread out her arms and legs and clung onto the doorframe for dear life.
"Shin-kun, stop being so stubborn!", Iruka told her and took a hold of her waist, "It's only a bath"
"I don't want to!", she wailed and buried her nails in the wood when Iruka pulled to get her inside.
"I don't care if you want to…", he tugged at her waist, supporting his feet against the doorframe, "..or not. You are…", he pulled again leaning backwards to gain more leverage, "..going to have a bath tonight!"
"NO!", Shin gritted her teeth as she held on for all she was worth.
But neither of them were counting on Hush appearing in the doorway at that moment, scaring the crap out of Shin just as Iruka made a final jerk laying his entire body weight in the attempt. The result was the surprised sensei meeting no resistance at all, pulled Shin towards him and they both flew backwards tripping over the bathroom rug straight into the full bathtub.
For a second they both sat silently in the water but when Shin spotted the look on Iruka's face she couldn't help it. A small giggle escaped her and the next thing she knew she was hanging over the side of the tub laughing her head off. Iruka blinked once, trying to grasp what had just happened but soon he too was laughing at the hilarious situation.
When they both had calmed down somewhat, Iruka climbed out of the tub and told Shin that he was going to get some dry towels and clothes for them. Before disappearing out the door he made a stern face and threatened to shove several onigiri down her throat if she didn't stay put.
Shin watched him leave and as soon as he disappeared she heaved herself out of the water, wincing when her wet bandaged feet touched the floor. Needless to say, her clothes were soaked and plastered to her body. They were practically drenching the rug she stood on.
I didn't know a pair of shorts and a t-shirt could hold that much water, Shin thought, feeling the fabric of her Garfield boxers.
Then she realised she was wasting time. Deciding that she couldn't very well sneak around the house in wet clothes she settled for making a quick escape to the tub where she could make lots of bubbles to hide behind. Shin rolled the shirt off her upper body and dropped it inside-out on the floor. Balancing on one sore foot trying to pull of the shorts over the other one she heard a gasp from the doorway. Startled by the sound she looked up at the face of a shocked Iruka. She made to take a step backwards but tripped over the half-way-off shorts, sending her flying backwards for a second time.
"You…you…", the teachers eyes were wide and he seemed to be having trouble getting whatever he was planning to say, out.
Shin who was sprawled over the bathtub with the shorts around her ankles, collected herself hurriedly and pulled up her knees to her chin, trying to block Iruka's view of anything she didn't want him to see.
There was a short moment of silence then the bewildered Iruka exclaimed:
"You're a girl!!"
Shin was stunned to silence.
"…Eh?", was her response to the sensei's accusation.
"But your name is Shin. Isn't it?!", Iruka was still staring at her, not noticing that he was dipping the towels in a puddle.
"Um…yes?", Shin looked up at him wonderingly.
"Shin is a boy's name!", Iruka had a face of absolute devastation.
"It is?"
Shin was surprised, this was news, to her at least.
"Of course it is! This is very inappropriate! It's not right!"
Shin felt her face grow red even though she was pretty sure she hadn't done anything she needed to be ashamed over.
I guess I'm not the only one who thinks it's wrong for him to see me naked. Even if I do look like a four year old.
"First thing tomorrow I'm getting you a bed of your own!", he proclaimed heatedly, "And tonight I'm sleeping on the floor!", Iruka turned around and placed the dry stuff he was carrying outside in the hallway.
Then he closed the door. From inside the bathroom.
Rolling up his sleeves he walked over to the tub and squatted, efficiently confusing Shin.
Hang on! Didn't he just say this was inappropriate?
"Th..the floor?", she stuttered in lack of better ways to express her confusion.
"Of course!", he answered firmly, "And I promise you'll get a room to yourself in the morning. Now give me those. They're getting the water dirty", he reached into the tub and pulled the shorts over Shin's feat before throwing them on the floor on top of her shirt.
Shin was too stunned to be embarrassed and just stared at Iruka, trying to figure out how the man's mind worked, while he unwound the bandages.
He thinks it's wrong to sleep in the same room as me…, she concluded, …but doesn't mind seeing me naked? Not to mention undressing me personally?!
Shin's thoughts were interrupted by Iruka trying to tell her something.
"Er.. say what..?"
Iruka sighed rolling his eyes.
"I told you to turn around", he repeated and placed his hand on top of her head, spinning her around himself.
Facing the wall, Shin felt something cold running down her scalp.
"Ah! He..hey! What are you doing?!", she made to turn around but firm hands on either side of her head turned it back again.
"I'm washing the mould out of your hair. Sit still!"
What kind of strange moral values do they have in this place? Or maybe it's just Iruka? I'd think it'd be worse to wash somebody than to share the same bed as them.
But I guess I can see how it would be kind of inappropriate if you're not related to the other person. Still, if the other person looks like a kid. A really small kid. It should be alright.
Bathing the kid, on the other hand, should not be alright... I think…Or should it? Ugh, it's so hard to concentrate. Can't he stop rubbing my head for a minute so I can think? …although it feels kinda' nice. Wonder why I avoided this for so long?
Iruka saw Shin's shoulders sink down from her ears as she relaxed. Steadily rubbing in the shampoo with his fingertips he calmed himself down. He was still a bit shaken from finding out that Shin, whom he had thought to be a boy, in fact was a girl. A girl with a fairly pretty hair colour he realised when the dirt finally came off.
Making the child sit up straight he began scrubbing her back and arms, making sure to get everything off. It was true that she had begun to smell and he was relieved to, at last, get to do something about it.
With every stroke of the bath sponge the small body became limper and gave in to the movement, offering no resistance. Deciding he was finished, Iruka grabbed her shoulders and made her face him, discovering her eyelids had dropped and she was practically sleeping.
"Sorry Shin-chan", he told her softly and proceeded to scrub her face, supporting it with his other hand from the opposite side and being careful around the cuts and bruises that were still healing , "I don't know what you've been up to, but whatever it was, you must have done it in a pile of dirt"
The girl sent him a sleepy glare for disturbing her comfortable state.
"There", Iruka said when he was finished, "I'll just get a towel", he got up and fetched one of the towels from the hallway.
When he turned back, his little ward was drooling serenely on the side of the tub. He smiled and shook his head, wondering why she had tried so hard to keep away when she obviously had enjoyed a warm bath.
Once he had dressed her in one of his t-shirts and put her to bed, Iruka took a look at the wounds. Thankfully they hadn't opened up again but it was still a pretty nasty sight and she wasn't walking yet for a while. After wrapping them up again he straightened his back and gazed down at the sleeping form.
The short hair had turned out to be a pale blond and stood out like the halo of an angel, or in this case it held more similarities to the wild mane of a lion. A small and right now, very sweet-looking lion. Her skin had also changed and proved to be paler than it had been before and contrasting to her large black eyes it gave a misleading look of frailty.
Iruka furrowed his brow and rubbed his eyes remembering the past couple of days that had been a constant game of hide-and-seek-tag, with him being the involuntarily 'it'. If he hadn't been searching for the little brat in order to make her bathe, he'd been trying to prevent her from crawling out a window in search of entertainment. Luckily Shin didn't understand how the locks worked and was therefore forced to accept that she wasn't going anywhere.
This was something that got Iruka to wonder who she really was. She seemed unfamiliar with common things like riceballs or simple traditions like thanking before and after a meal. And sometimes he would here her mutter strange things like; Ipod, internet and 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. This usually happened when she was bored so he guessed these things were games or toys of some sort.
Iruka lied down on the futon he had rolled out for himself on the floor and crossed his arms behind his head.
There had also been one time when he told her they were having ramen. He had been prepared to explain what this was to her, since she hadn't know what miso soup or nikujaga was and Shin surprised him by loudly exclaiming: 'Ichiraku!', and immediately clasping both hands over her mouth afterwards.
He had asked her if she'd been there before and the girl had gotten a very concentrated expression on her face as if thinking really hard. After a little while she told him yes, and then refused to answer who she had been there with and when she was in Konoha last, telling Iruka that he didn't have to know those things.
The bossy behaviour had annoyed him. If she had been in Konoha before and even at the common ramen bar he so often went to, her family couldn't be too far away. When the daughter of Ichiraku's owner, Ayame, had showed up with their food Shin surprised him again by poking around in the bowl and asking if it really was ramen.
Surely she should know what ramen looked like if she had been to Ichiraku?, he pondered.
His general idea about her past was that she must have gotten separated from her family some time ago and by chance stumbled over the piece of information that brought her to Konoha. That would explain why she had looked like a wild animal and was a stranger to etiquette and customs.
He sighed tiredly and glanced up at the foot of the bed where her dark companion had curled up like a cat.
But it doesn't explain that strange creature or how she knows about Ichiraku, he thought, Or why she insisted on ordering miso ramen without knowing what it was.
His eyes drifted over to the bright tuft of hair occupying his pillow. That reminded him of a certain loudmouthed ninja that ought to be back from his mission any day now.
"I wonder what Naruto will make of this?", he mumbled before falling asleep to the rhythmic breathing of one of his roommates.
Thank you!
