Chapter sixteen: Meeting Suzu

This was the first time Shin had been let outside since she had come to stay with Iruka and as if to celebrate the occasion it the weather was terrific.

The few clouds that were, floated fluffily (is that even adjectiv?) across the clear sky. Shin spread out her arms and inhaled the fresh breeze.

"Shin-kun, stop moving around! I'm sore enough as it is after our little struggle yesterday"

Shin dropped her arms as well as her smile. Riding on the sensei's back somewhat put a wet blanket over the liberation she had felt a moment ago.

"We should have brushed your hair before going out. You look like you've been electrocuted", the chuunin sighed at the hopeless mess on top of her head, "Good thing I managed to find some clean clothes"

"They're too big…", Shin commented dryly and flapped the long black sleeves to prove her point.

"Well, at least they're better than the pair you've been wearing up until now"

Shin was quiet for a second reflecting on this.

"Where did you put my Garfields? I couldn't find them this morning", she crossed her arms and gave the back of Iruka's head a demanding stare.

"If you are talking about the shorts, I burned them"

"You, WHAT?!"

"I burned them", Iruka repeated, "You have been wearing them for a week without taking them of once. They smelled really bad. I doubt they were even washable"

Shin couldn't comprehend what he was telling her.

"You burned my Garfields?"

"Yes"

"You can't just burn peoples clothes like that!", Shin exclaimed and caught sight of Iruka's ponytail, "Especially not my shorts!", she couldn't resist the urge and grabbed it.

"Shin-kun, they were beyond rescuing. Ouch! You are pulling my hair!"

Shin was very angry and felt she was loosing control over her actions.

"You destroyed my Garfields", she said and pulled again, "Bad Iruka!", apparently she wasn't fully in charge of her mouth either.

"If you would have taken a bath earlier like I told you to, I wouldn't have had to get rid of them

…………………………….

Kotetsu and Izumo looked up from their posts, or rather their card game and spotted the arguing couple coming towards them.

Iruka was carrying an angry kid on his back who was furiously tugging at his hair with both hands. The sensei looked like he was about to snap any second. His face had turned tomato red with pent up annoyance and he appeared to be concentrating hard on counting his steps. He had almost reached ten when Kotetsu decided to get his attention before he walked into something.

"Yo!", the spiky-haired nin called out, "Iruka-sensei, is that the little brat we caught last week? Looks like he's been causing you some trouble, ne?"

The kid's eyes were instantly directed at Kotetsu and Iruka was just in time to catch her before the guard was attacked.

"Shin-kun is a girl", he explained while restraining said child from pummelling Kotetsu.

"Hm… He does look a bit too feminine for a boy, at least now he's clean"

Shin growled and kicked to free herself from Iruka's grip. She still hadn't cooled off from finding out about the loss of her Garfields.

"She. It's she,not he. And I was wondering if the two of you could watch her for a few minutes while I pay a visit to the Hokage tower"

The patrolmen hesitated for a moment and glanced at Shin who had exhausted herself trying to get loose.

"I don't knooow…", Izumo replied rubbing his chin, "Can she play cards?"

Iruka was about to protest that small children couldn't and shouldn't play cards, but was interrupted by Shin.

"Did you say cards", lighting up like a broke nicotine-addict spotting a cigarette on the sidewalk.

"You play?", Izumo bent forward eyeing her lazily with the eye not covered by his bangs.

"Of course she doesn't! She's only four years old!"

He just had to remind her at every chance. Shin gave Iruka a dark glare, but the effect was lost due to the fact that she was hanging under his arm.

"I have to go now", he said not seeing the imaginary knifes being thrown his way, "Whatever you do, don't let her walk about. Her feet are still healing. I'll be back in a little bit to pick her up. Oh, and no gambling in front of the child, got it?", he added before heading towards the Hokage's office.

"Don't be late, dear!", Kotetsu called after him in a high pitch voice, snickering as he saw the sensei's shoulders tense.

"So!"

The guards turned around to see Shin standing at their make-shift 'upside down crate' –table, shuffling the deck like a professional Las Vegas Black Jack dealer.

"In what game do you prefer to get your asses kicked?", a superior smirk creeping up on her face.

………………………………………..

"Ha! Read 'em and weep! Hand over that shuriken, Izumo!", Shin stretched out her hand towards him.

She was wearing Kotetsu's vest and gloves and beside her recently thrown cards lay several things that had been used instead of money or markers. She was now the proud owner of a small weapons pouch, two kunais, a little book with indecent pictures, a whistle and Izumo's lunch.

Izumo grumbled and was about to hand over his shuriken to her but stopped mid motion. The threesome looked up from their game and was met by Iruka's deadly stare. The top of his face lay in deep shadow, allowing his eyes to give of an ominous shine. And on top of that the background had turned into dark storm clouds and he was sporting a very strained smile.

"Izumo-saan.. Put down that shuriken. Right. Now", he said weighing heavily on the last two syllables.

Without taking his eyes of Iruka, Izumo carefully placed his weapon on the table.

Shin gawked at the teacher, now she understood why everyone was so afraid of getting on his bad side.

"Goood", the storm clouded background melted away and the freaky shadow over his face was replaced by a pulsating vein on his forehead, "Now..", he continued with restrained anger in his voice, "Will somebody please explain…", the two gatekeepers huddled, anticipating what was to come, "..how this is NOT GAMBLING IN FRONT OF THE KID THAT SHOULD BE SITTING DOWN!", Iruka bellowed and pointed to Shin standing on the opposite side of the crate with Kotetsu's too large vest hanging off her shoulder.

The guards mumbled some half comprehendible explanations at their rolling thumbs. Shin's gawking turned to a quiet snicker. On the plus side of being a small, you seldom got the blame.

"And YOU!", Shin stopped her gloating and looked up at the accusing finger, "I distinctly remember telling you to stay of your feet! Sit down!"

Shin flopped down on the ground. Iruka sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly with one hand.

"How are those wounds ever going to heal if you keep standing on them?"

Poor Iruka was obviously stressed out worrying over the injuries and her recovery. Shin had a moment of guilt, but dropped the thought almost immediately, remembering she was only his assignment and he didn't care for her personally.

Why does he always have to spoil every bit of fun

"Ne, Iruka-san", Iruka turned to Kotetsu who had dared to open his mouth now that he seemed to have calmed down, "What did Hokage-sama say?"

The sensei hesitated for a second before answering.

"She laughed at me"

"Huh? Why'd she do that?"

"Hokage-sama said she had expected me much earlier and called me stupid for not realising Shin was a girl until now. Apparently she knew from the beginning but chose not to tell me"

Izumo and Kotetsu looked at each other and tried to muffle their chuckling.

"What?", Iruka inquired, eyebrows raised.

"You have to admit, Iruka-sensei, that you've gotta be pretty dense to live with someone for a week without knowing what gender they are", Kotetsu replied with a crooked grin.

Izumo laughed out loud, seemingly forgetting not to provoke the younger chuunin. The younger man blushed slightly from irritation and embarrassment.

"Hmph.. Like you didn't think she was a boy"

"We're not the one who slept in the same bed as her, you perv Iruka-sensei", Izumo teased, still stifling his laughter at the other's awkwardness.

At this Iruka's face turned a darker shade of the pink recently adorning his cheeks. Shin followed his example and felt her ears heat up.

Normally she would have reacted on this earlier. Instead she had been so occupied avoiding the bath that it hadn't occurred to her up until this point, that it was a bit awkward for them to sleep in the same bed.

It has to be this stupid body. Four year olds are so naive.

In an attempt to save his dignity, Iruka ignored the last remark.

"Tsunade-sama also sent me to inform you about the current situation"

"What situation?", Kotetsu lost whatever glee was left on his face.

"The Roujo-nins and the Akatsuki"

Shin's ears perked up in interest.

"I've been asked to fill you in on some classified details"

"Has it anything to do with the sightings yesterday?" the spiky haired ninja asked, "I heard an Akatsuki member had been spotted near the east side of the village"

By now Shin was listening intently. Anything about Itachi and Kisame's doings were interesting news and after being cooped up in Iruka's apartment she was desperately craving some excitement.

"But..", Izumo spoke up, "We're only chuunins. Why are we included? This is ANBU business, isn't it?"

"I'm not entirely sure why", Iruka looked serious, "It seems like the Hokage is purposefully keeping it a secret for some reason, but my guess is it has something to do with a certain…", he turned and noticed the keen attention their conversation was receiving from his young charge, "I think there is a pair of ears to many around here", he said and reached over the crate-table to pick her up.

So Shin found herself sitting in the middle of a rather large patch of grass behind the guard booth with nothing but a tree for company, close enough for Iruka to keep an eye on her, but too far away to hear what they were saying.

How am I supposed to find out anything like this?, Shin asked herself.

She badly wanted to know anything concerning the Akatsuki and those scrolls they were stealing. Maybe she would be able to figure out a way to protect the demon vessel if she knew what all this was about.

Yeah, right… Like I could do a better job than the ANBU.

She sighed at the thought and folded her arms.

But she had been seen and almost killed by the enemy. She had a right to know! Shin strained her ears to catch anything of what was being discussed, but the noise from the enormous busy village filled her head, blocking out anything useful.

She crossed her legs. Now would be a good time to have Hush's good hearing.

Her mind wandered back to that incident in the forest, when she had thought they were being followed. Most of it was a blur. Her memories from the first days where kind of fuzzy from lack of sleep and food, but she could recall thinking that Hush had terrific hearing.

He had heard the breathing of whoever had been stalking them.

How was that even possible? You can't here somebody's breathing unless you're pressing your ear against their chest. It must have been something else that alerted him of the unwanted presence.

Shin looked over to the men and again tried to focus her hearing on their conversation, attempting to press the sounds of the village away.

Hush couldn't have heard breathing. That was ridiculous, not even an animal was that good.

She continued tuning out the surroundings, careful to not push too hard. Gradually the world began to fall silent and she closed her eyes in concentration, trying to keep focus off the sounds she didn't want.

Maybe it was just my imagination playing tricks on me. Lack of sleep does that to people. He was probably looking around for dangerous animals.

It felt like she had stuck her head in a bucket of water. All noises where muffled. All apart from one pulsating beat.

How did I even get the idea that breathing was what he had heard?

The pumping sound increased. The heavy bu-bump bu-bump, filled her head and coursed through her body.

It wasn't coming from inside herself. She could feel the source near npw. Everything but the steady beat fell away. And then there was complete silence.

The sensation cleared her memory.

But I heard it too!

Shin's eyes snapped open.

Spinning around as fast as she could sitting down, she found nothing but the empty grass behind her. The beating sound had vanished but she could feel it was still there even though she couldn't find it.

"Good ears"

Shin jerked her head upwards so quickly she thought she'd gotten a whiplash injury. On a low branch in the tree, barely concealed by the leaves, sat a figure dressed in red.

Shin noted that it was a young girl and breathed a sigh of relief. The freaky sound had gotten her all wound up for nothing.

The girl on the branch tilted her head slightly to the side with an evaluating look. Shin didn't like it.

"What do you want?", she asked crossing her arms and legs again.

"You have very good hearing", the stranger commented, not answering Shin's question, "You heard me even though I held my breath"

Shin eyed the girl carefully. She looked to be about eleven years of age, so Shin guessed she really was around eight. For some reason everyone looked a lot older to her nowadays.

The girls eyes were as black as her own and her hair that was the same colour as the eyes, fell long over the deep red garment she wore.

It looked like a dress-version of that t-shirt Sasuke wore in the anime. Her legs were bare and she wore those old fashioned sandals of wood that Shin always had believed to be very uncomfortable.

"What about it?", Shin wanted to know.

"You're living with Iruka-san, aren't you?", asked the girl in a deadpan voice.

Shin was getting annoyed that her questions went unanswered.

"Who are you? One of his students?"

Neither the girl's voice nor face showed any trace of emotion when she finally gave an answer.

"No. He is not my sensei"

"Then who are you, and what do you want?"

The girl watched her for a second before replying.

"Call me Suzu. I wanted to make your acquaintance", she gave a slight nod in greeting and a soft jingle was heard when a small bell, pinned in her hair, fell forward.

Shin calmed down. She knew first impressions could be misleading and decided to give the girl a chance despite her attitude problem.

"I'm Shin", she replied, "My acquaintance, huh? That's a pretty big word for an eight year old"

"It's a pretty big word for a four year old", Suzu retorted with a straight face.

Shin checked the girl for any sign of mockery but the statement was made free from humour. She smiled.

"I guess appearance can be deceiving, then"

"I suppose it can", Suzu agreed.

There was a pause during which the neither let there gaze drop from the other's.

"It wasn't only hearing"

"What?", Shin asked in surprise.

"You felt me. What was it that alerted you to my presence? I wasn't moving and it couldn't have been my breathing. Perhaps…my pulse?"

Shin's eyes widened in surprise.

"How did y…? Wha…?"

"Shin-kun!", Shin almost jumped at the sound of Iruka's voice.

"Eh?!", she peaked over her shoulder, and saw the Academy instructor walking towards her, "Looks like I have to go, but maybe I'll see you…", Shin turned her head only to find the branch empty, "…around?"

She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up into Iruka's smiling face.

"We need to get going if we want to find you a bed today, or else I'll be spending another night on the floor", he rubbed his stiff neck, "My tatami isn't the cosiest"

"Can't we both sleep in your bed?"

Iruka's cheeks turned pink again.

"And you're supposed to be seventeen", he muttered, hoisting her up on his back.

Shin mentally kicked herself. Wasn't this word vomiting ever going to stop?

Kotetsu and Izumo snickered at Iruka's embarrassment as they left.

Shin glanced back at the tree. Nothing there, but a very faint jingling of small bells.


Wah! I'm sorry there's no Hush in this chapter. I'm actually surprised that so many took a liking to him. He sure is a mysterious figure. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I created him. Well, there is an explanation but you'll all just have to grin and bear it while this fantastic plot unfolds. (I'm being sarcastic here... At least I'm trying to but your encouragements has made my head swell...) XD

Thanks for all your wonderful reviews. They give me inspiration :)

Ghost Girl Sora: Shin is going to meet Naruto in a not-too-far of future. Judging by their personalities how do you think they're going to get along? Oh, I'm not going to spoil it. You'll have to be curious until our loud-mouth of a ninja enters the stage.

Deserter: Hm.. Shin re-aging? That's a good question, but I'm not going to answer it. But if she does re-age, she wouldn't look as cute together with Iruka, ne? Ah, and about Hush. The revealing of his true nature is drawing closer. The Hokage knows something she's not telling. You'll see soon enough. I love reading your reviewes. They're so enthusiastic. :D

Wandering Hitokiri: I really liked your story too :) That's why I faved it. Thanks for the compliment on my grammar. English isn't my first language so I get really confused sometimes.

Loveless Minji-chan: I'll see what I can do about Hush. He is growing to be one of the more important characters in this fic, even if he did't start out that way. I hope you continue enjoying this story.

Mixy Lang: I don't know what to say! That is the absolutely most wonderful praise I've gotten. Thank you so much for those words. They made me smile :)

Until next time: Matta Neh!

(I might have some trouble accesing a computer in the near by future but keep up the good spirit! I'm still writing!)