Chapter Twelve: "Lingering Kiss."
Mayumi
"Mother, is something wrong?" Midori finally broke the silence. It was as though she was tired of feeling the air surrounding them as it filled with too much tension. Her lips curled into a frown. "Instead of avoiding the problem, let's just deal with it."
"...I didn't want to bring this up, but its time I'm honest with you. I have been sick as of late, and while that has kept me from working most days... That's not the only reason." Mayumi frowned, a rare glimpse into her emotions visibly darkening. "We're slowly slipping through the cracks from the lack of clientele." She had not told Masami, or Tsuki. The two had been blissfully unaware as they ran the shop that things were not well for any of them.
Midori grew silent. The room was even more uncomfortable then it had been moments prior. "You're not going to say it, but I know you don't want to admit that it has to do with Naruto."
Mayumi grimaced.
"Mother, I don't want to be a shinobi." Midori was just approaching the age where the question would be proposed. After all, she wasn't a clan child and she didn't have to be pushed into becoming a shinobi unless she wanted it for herself. Even in times of war, there was a choice for a handful of children in Konohagakure to not follow the way of the ninja and help the village in other aspects.
Mayumi paused in what she was doing, setting the garment aside she turned her attention to her daughter. "You don't?"
"I am not interested in it, is all." Midori had said. There seemed to be more to it then that. Mayumi wanted to see underneath that. It felt as though she was saying she didn't want to go like her father had. "I want to be more like you. I want to be a seamstress." She pressed.
It was the first time that Midori had shown much interest in anything; For a long time, she had been a quiet and private child. She seemed to read and devour books on her own accord and didn't spend much time wanting to be out of the house playing with other children.
It didn't strike Mayumi as odd. Midori was much like herself, reserved and interested only in what worked for her. Though, there were times were it felt as though Midori was much more mature then she should have been. It reminded her of children who were rushed into the academy the moment they showed advanced prowess, there was a Hatake close to her age that had shown signs similar to her.
He was already on the battlefields, much like her husband Kaito had been. If Mayumi was honest, she didn't want that life for her child. The thought had been heavy on her mind for a long time, what if Midori chose that lifestyle? Of course she would have supported her child through it... but she wasn't sure if she lost her child, along with her husband, she would ever be able to recover.
Thoughts whirling in her mind, "If that's what you want to do," Mayumi finally said. "Then you can't joke around about that choice, you'll have to take everything I teach you with serious consideration."
"Of course." Midori confirmed. Her short raven hair bobbing with her head as she gave the confirmation.
"Mother, you know you never had to agree with my choices." Midori said. "I was fully prepared for you to turn me away when you returned." The way she held herself was strong, though her voice wavered slightly as she spoke saying otherwise, Mayumi noted.
Mayumi stood her ground as she listened to her daughter speak her mind fully before opening her mouth to respond.
"I knew when I made my mind up what that meant, and I wasn't scared of the repercussions for myself. I knew it was likely that meant you would push me away, while that would sting... I know I could've dealt with it. But the thing is, you didn't when you could have and I respect that." Midori turned around and met Mayumi's gaze. "The world is changing, it's coming fast and you have to be ready to accept what that entails. This place isn't going to hold up forever the way it is, Mother, and it's not only my son that makes people change their mind on coming here."
Midori paused as she set up a finished hooking a line of streamers against the flat wall. She looked to Mayumi, her lips set into a line and her eyes seemed to gleam with something that Mayumi couldn't read. "I know business has been slipping, but I think I have something that could change that." Midori spoke with a hint of confidence. "I've been working on something for a while, and I think it's finally time I show you what I got."
Iruka
"You can't keep doing things like this."
Iruka-sensei was off on another lecturing tirade and he wasn't about to stop chewing them out for causing a mess either. He swore, he was already graying and he was hardly into his second decade of life already. Particularly, Uzumaki Naruto was a bit of a show-out and it wasn't making it much easier for him to deal with everything that child stood for. On occasion, he was dealing with Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji as well but in a lesser regard. However, when this group was together it made kind of mess for him. It was one thing to deal with one misbehaving kid, it was another to have a whole posse for them together but that doubled the odds of something going wrong.
Today in particular... one of these boys had set off a clever trap in the classroom which required class to be sent out early that day. There was paint and glue and things he couldn't quite identify in the travesty. His first assumption had been Naruto, so immediate blame went his way but when some other boys began to snicker it seemed as though there was more in cahoots then his first thought.
"You can't keep boring us, sensei!" Chirped Naruto in response.
"To be fair, you should have seen that coming already being a ninja and all!" Kiba was in agreement with Naruto for once. "You should have expected the unexpected."
Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes. "You boys are going to spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning up this mess, and nobody leaves until this classroom is spotless." He said. "Is that what unexpected situation you wanted? Well, it's what you got!"
There was a chorus of groans and grunts in response.
Perhaps, it was a good idea that he was going to meet with Sato Midori in a few days time; He had never met the woman bold enough to take him in, but he had seen her maybe one or twice before in his life as she was only a few years his senior.
...
Naruto
"This is all your fault Naruto."
"You went along with it, so it's your fault too." Naruto shrugged his shoulders. He didn't like that he was scrubbing seats and walls on his birthday but he wasn't really expecting anything. Midori had made him a pretty good breakfast that morning and wished him a good day, but nothing really out of the ordinary had happened so he didn't think much of what would be waiting for him at all. If it was just another day, Midori would be sitting on the couch waiting for him as she wrote in one of her books at the table. Instead of that, he was just here listening to the over exaggerated groans of Kiba and occasionally the small grumble from Choji because he had run out of chips to consume while they cleaned.
This went on for quite some time until the group of boys had finished the room and it was back to relative normalcy.
It was strange because when he exited the Academy somebody was waiting for him. It was Masami! "Oi, Masami-chan!" He jogged up to her at break-neck's speed with a grin. "What are you doin' here, ttebayo?"
"Midori wanted me to make sure that you came back to the shop today instead of your apartment. She was in the middle of something really important with Mayumi-sensei so I decided to come get you myself! That's alright, right?" Masami said. The pair made their way down the street towards the Sato Dress Shop, while the mood relatively joyous. Naruto hadn't seen Masami in couple of days and it was always good to see her or Tsuki whenever he had the chance.
"Have they decided what stuff your Mom gets to make at the shop yet?" Naruto asked. "I really liked everything I tried with Tsuki-chan the other day, so I hope all of it works!"
"Ah, they are close to making the final decision but I have no idea what will win." Masami said. Truthfully, she was very proud that her Mother was getting to do what she enjoyed now and seemed to be doing a lot better since what happened to Shinobu. She ran a hand through her dirty blonde hair, and tugged it free of the ponytail it had been tucked into all morning. "I should have known that you would have ended up trying everything, I bet Midori-san doesn't know about that though."
"Don't tell her, dattebayo!" Naruto protested with a pout on his face.
Masami couldn't help but to laugh at the look on his face. Like, a puppy that had been caught eating your food when he shouldn't have been. "I won't tell, don't worry about it. Oh! There's the shop! We should probably hurry up before the sun sets, huh?"
The young boy suddenly began to run past her towards the building just up ahead. "I'll race you there!"
"Oi, wait up Naruto-kun!"
Tsuki
"Oh, I didn't realize you would be with Itachi-san, Shisui-kun!"
It had been quite some time since she had seen Uchiha Itachi, however, he was a good friend of Shisui so it wasn't very surprising that the two of them were together. For some reason something about it just felt a bit weird to her. Like the former, Itachi was very much a prodigy of his clan and it always felt a bit awing to be in his presence. For a kid his age, he was well beyond his years. Shisui had however, promised that they would spend the day together for the first time in forever so it definitely was a surprise to meet the gaze of Itachi instead. "I can come back later if you're in the middle of something," Tsuki trailed. She held her basket of treats at her side unsure of the plan.
"Oh, it's alright, we were just finishing up here, Tsuki. Why don't you head on to the park and I'll meet you there in a few minutes?" Shisui offered cooly.
"Alright, but you better be right behind me," Tsuki scolded him as she narrowed her eyes in his direction. "Last time you said something like that you didn't show up for two days and I'm not in the mood to chew you out." Beaming, she gave a small wave to the two as she headed beyond their spot. "It was nice seeing you, Itachi-san."
...
Shisui materialized much sooner then she had expected of him, what a relief! She thought. "That was fast," Tsuki couldn't help but to say. "I hope I didn't cut your meeting a little too short." She wasn't all that sure that he got much time to himself anymore, much less time to chat off-duty with his friends anymore. It was difficult to imagine having not lived that lifestyle herself.
"Don't worry about that, Tsuki, it was nothing." Shisui waved his hand to signify the worth of that conversation. "I noticed your Aunt gave you the works to bring along with you. Is that what I think it is in there?"
"Your favorite? Of course. My Aunt doesn't play around when it comes to what she gives me for my dates, of course you should really stop by soon and get a taste of the stuff Akagi-san has been making for us... it's almost just as good." Tsuki let out a small laugh. "I have to say almost otherwise we might hear her protest all the way on this side of Konohagakure."
He sat down on the ground next to her and dug his hand into the basket. "Things have been going well then, I'm glad."
Tsuki nodded her head and her short locks bobbed along with it. Things had been smooth for her and her friends for the most part and that was a relief... it had been riled about a bit when Naruto arrived but it seemed to dying back down into a sense of normalcy. She felt a bit content for the most part but she still yearned for something more that she couldn't quite understand just yet.
"It's been alright. There might not be a lot of exciting things going on or anything like that, but I can breathe easy and not worry about anything for once." Tsuki said.
"Isn't that what you wanted though?" Shisui asked as he took a bite of the small pastry. "No worries about anything just knowing everything is going to be okay?"
Tsuki paused. For a long time that had been what she wanted... When she was young she wanted to live like she had no problems, and where that had ended up left a bit out of touch. She found her own way after a while of confusion, and it was comfort to know that life could be quiet and without being fraught with trouble. There was that piece again the back of her mind crawling to be in the middle of something that wasn't so routine. It could have been the rebellious teenager inside of her itching to get out but Tsuki couldn't be entirely sure.
"It was and still is what I want. Though, there's a part of me that wants to act out at least once... you know?"
"You, cause some mayhem?" Shisui couldn't help but to laugh at the thought. "Wouldn't that be you putting off a stitch by a fraction of an inch to live on the wild side?"
Tsuki felt her cheeks flare up. "I knew I shouldn't have told you about that, don't tease me!"
The two broke out in a small chorus of laughter and that was how the rest of their afternoon went... A small moment of something that was not more or less what they had had before.
"I'll drop by your house later, okay?" Shisui promised.
He leaned in and stole a small kiss.
"O-oh. Okay." Tsuki strained to find the right words to say but that was all she could come up with. "I'll see you then."
Something about the way his eyes looked made her feel a bit unsure. Tsuki raised a hand to her lips as she felt the lingering tingles against her lip; Her heart was beating faster then usual but she didn't seem to care. She would never admit that she liked him much more then she let on... their relationship was always just, left in the air. They might not ever be as close as she hoped they might be, but there would always be these small moments that reminded her of what could have been.
As the sun began to set in the distance she suddenly remembered that she had somewhere to be.
"Oh no, I almost forgot about Naruto's party!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE.
So, we're starting to branch out more from Midori as things start to heat up around the village. Something is coming, and unfortunately we all know the outcome to be.
I want my readers to know that if you struggle with chronic illness, mental illness, or any other struggles medically that there's always people out there who know how you feel. While my conditions hinder me and i've had to make changes to my life that I never thought I could, it all turned out okay because I've got some support system. I won't ever be cured of my ailments and I'm okay with that. I do appreciate the sentiments you all send though, good days are slim and far between but I'm hopeful for some better days. This chapter might've been out sooner had I not been distracted by the new Fall Out Boy album.
