Hello, readers. Thankyou for all your favourites and reviews.
000000000000
Chapter Fourteen:
Festival
The day before the Chunin Exam finals, Naruto awoke to the sound of someone knocking at his door. Disentangling himself from his bedsheets, he stomped down the hall to his front door, which he opened despite his pyjama-clad state.
Jiraiya was standing there.
"Pervy Sage?" asked Naruto, yawning as he scratched his head under his sleepy-hat. "How'd you find out where I live?"
"Asked," said Jiraiya.
He looked over Naruto's head to the room behind.
"It's kinda dirty," he said.
"Your house is kinda dirty!" Naruto shot back.
He then reflected on the accuracy of his accusation.
"'Cept you don't have one," Naruto said. "But if you had one, it'd be dirtier than mine!"
He's got me there, thought Jiraiya.
"Go shower, kid," he said. "I'll be waiting outside."
Ten minutes later, Naruto came out in his regular orange clothes, his blonde hair still a little damp. He began to walk down his apartment block's stairs, but Jiraiya instead chakra-leapt off into the village, and Naruto quickly followed him.
"Alright!" said Naruto, in mid-air. "I've only got one more day to cram in two weeks' more training, so let's..."
He swiftly stopped as he landed next to Jiraiya, baffled at the sight that greeted him.
The village had been filled with brightly coloured tents, each with a stall selling food, drink or games. Every way Naruto looked, their festive distractions cried out for his attention, the myriad stalls stretching off into the far distance. The world was filled with throngs of ninja and civilians, wandering and chatting, eating things on sticks, and laughing.
"What's goin' on?" asked Naruto. "How come there's a festival?"
"It's for you," said Jiraiya.
Noting Naruto's baffled expression, he added:
"Well, you and the other finalists. So I figured I'd give you the most important training of a man's life: not training sometimes, so you don't collapse from exhaustion when you actually fight."
Naruto folded his arms and looked at Jiraiya askance.
"You're just here to hit on women, aren't you?" he said, suspiciously.
"No," said Jiraiya, looking upward dramatically. "I'll also be drinking beer."
Naruto jumped as he heard the distant sound of somebody shouting 'Yohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!', and looked around for who it was. There was nobody there, which disturbed him.
"Now, go find your friends," said Jiraiya.
Naruto shook his head to forget the phantom yeller, and smiled as he thought of his classmates.
I bet Sakura's been yelling at kids this whole time, and Shikamaru won't have done anything which Ino'll get really mad about, and I said I'd give Kohaku a rematch...
He frowned a little.
I still can't talk with Hinata, he thought. Or Kiba and Shino. Or Akamaru. Except I can't talk with Akamaru anyway 'cos Akamaru can't talk. Can Shino's bugs talk? Are Shino's bugs everywhere in his body? Would he keep them in his butt?
It doesn't matter! It'll be worth not seeing Squad Eight, 'cos now Hinata gets to go in front of everybody and fight. She can show everyone how good she is.
Naruto's frown became a grin.
People were going to see that he and Hinata were more than what they seemed. And hopefully, Hinata would too, and maybe she'd smile more.
"...yeah," said Naruto. "Thanks, Pervy Sage. I couldn't've done all this stuff by myself."
He bowed to Jiraiya, who looked a little surprised.
"Uh...yeah, sure," said Jiraiya. "You're at least in my top three of students I've taught."
"Who's number one?" said Naruto. "What'd he do? Or she! Or both, whatever, just tell me!"
"Oh, you've probably seen him around," said Jiraiya airily, although he couldn't help but glance at the Hokage Monument as he said it.
He yawned and stretched.
"Now get outta here," he said. "It's your village today, kid."
"Drink water too, old man!" Naruto cautioned, and then turned and walked away.
As his student disappeared into the crowds of the festival, Jiraiya sighed, even as he was smiling.
"You did okay, Yuto," he said.
000000000000
Shino touched a hand to his now very full stomach as he stood outside of Kiba's front door, alongside the rest of his squad. The three of them had been fed copious amounts of breakfast by Hana in preperation for the festival, and Shino wondered if it was safe to move with the sheer mass of youtiao that he'd been forced (out of politeness) to eat.
"A-are you sure I shouldn't be training?" Hinata said, standing next to Shino.
"Yep," said Tsume. "You're as ready as you'll ever be; you'll just stress yourself out working up to the last second."
"I suspect you hold ulterior motives," commented Shino.
"Yeah," Tsume admitted, "your dad's actually coming over to help me drink some of the sake we found. If we leave it any longer, it'll go completely off."
"If you drink too much of it, you'll go off," warned Kiba.
"Don't talk back to your mother," scolded Tsume.
"Mom," Kiba said, with an ironically paternal sternness, "you know what happened when you went to look at the peach blossoms."
Noticing Shino and Hinata's baffled expressions, Kiba explained:
"She gets...musical after the fourth cup."
"Everyone likes the Tengu Song!" protested Tsume, pushing her son out of the doorway. "You'll get it when you're older. Now go on!"
Kiba rolled his eyes as he led Squad Eight away from the house and through the now low-cut fields. The sun was shining bright, making the fluffy clouds above seem like they were glowing. Shino was glad for his sunglasses, given the growing heat and glare.
"How's your dad with drinking?" asked Kiba.
"It should be fine," Shino said. "Kikai are capable of filtering alcohol, so a trained Aburame can only get drunk if they are actively forcing their kikai to do nothing."
"Handy," said Kiba.
"Before ninja villages, it was a common Aburame tactic to persuade enemies or innocents to drink heavily, then perform the mission while they were incapacitated," said Shino.
"Like Susano'o," said Kiba.
"Hm?" asked Hinata, looking confused.
"Susano'o," said Kiba. "The...god of storms?"
Hinata poked her fingers together.
"M-my clan only really talks about Buddhas," she said.
"Oh," said Kiba. "Basically, he killed a big snake by getting it drunk so he could marry a comb princess."
Hinata considered this.
"Th-that's kind of cheating," she said.
"Some snakes're so big, you have to get 'em hammered," said Kiba.
They reached the Inuzuka compound's front gate, and Kiba stopped at the box full of wooden blocks.
He took one and sniffed it, then held it out to Hinata and Shino.
"Camphor," he said.
Shino held his breath, leaning away from it.
"What?" said Kiba.
"The kikai dislike its scent," he said.
"Sorry," said Kiba. "I'll keep it."
Pocketing the camphor, he opened the gate for his friends.
As the three children and Akamaru got closer to the centre of the village, Shino felt an odd sense of tension. Before he'd graduated the Academy, he'd always thought festivals were noisy distractions, leading genin astray from their studies. Now, he had grown curious, and he wanted to wander through the streets, amidst the crowds.
But he'd been alone - or at least, near-alone - for too long, and as the village centre loomed, he felt uneasy.
Fortunately, I am not by myself, Shino thought, smiling quietly with the knowledge that his friends were beside him.
His kikai rustled with mild indignation.
Yes, technically I am never by myself, he thought. But you are all arguably part of me.
They rustled further.
You do outnumber me, thought Shino testily, but I am not calling myself 'part of you'.
His kikai taunted him yet again, and Shino wondered if Akamaru was this intransigent with Kiba.
"Sh-shino," said Hinata, "are you okay?"
"Hm?" said Shino.
"Y-you're kind of frowning into space," said Hinata.
"Oh," said Shino. "I was arguing with my kikai."
He looked at Kiba and the dog on his shoulder.
"Is Akamaru difficult?"
"Depends," said Kiba casually.
Akamaru, indignant, poked his paw at Kiba's neck.
"Hey!" said Kiba. "None'a that, or I'll put you on a leash."
The little dog flopped down, mumbling angrily.
"Sh-shino," said Hinata, nudging him gently.
Shino stopped dead in his tracks.
Ino was up ahead, facing away from him, looking around. She seemed to be alone.
Shino looked back at Hinata and Kiba, both with thoughtful smiles on their faces.
"You-" Shino began.
"Y-you can do it," Hinata said, and she and Kiba rapidly climbed up into a tree on the side of the road, disappearing entirely in its tall, leafy branches.
Now alone, Shino turned back to Ino and began to walk towards her. Bright red leaves tumbled through the air, which Shino supposed would have to do for cherry blossoms.
Although, given her name, it would be more appropriate if I were attracted to Sakura and there were cherry blossoms, Shino thought.
But then again, if we are going by names, Hinata would see falling fish cakes every time she met Naruto, and I would currently be suffering under a rain of piglets.
Ino looked at him, and Shino quickly stopped thinking about a hailstorm of swine and attempted to normal. It apparently worked, because Ino began to approach him.
"Good morning," he said, only mildly distracted by the pleasant way half of her fringe curved around her eye, like a very pretty exercise in impaired depth perception.
"Hey," said Ino.
"Hello," said Shino. "Are you out with your squad?"
"I'm meeting them," said Ino. "Are you here with Hinata and Kiba?"
Shino looked back.
"They seem to have temporarily vanished," he said.
Ino shrugged a little, and Shino spoke again.
"I want to ask…when you possessed me, were you aware of the kikai? My insects."
Ino shook her head.
"That was new," she said. "I can't see everything in a soul when I possess someone. And you hide a lot of things."
"I do," Shino admitted.
"But Hinata and Kiba knew, right?" Ino asked.
"Yes," said Shino. "They were the first I told."
"Huh," said Ino.
She sounded apologetic, as if she hadn't really considered it up until now. Then again, Shino had only talked to her a few times - once in his own brain - and he had to build on their existing acquaintance.
But she did look concerned as well, and the sense of tension Shino felt was heightened.
"Ah-" he began, but he trailed off when he realised Ino wasn't looking at him.
"Oh my gods, those are so pretty!"
Shino turned around to find half a dozen brightly coloured moths flying around behind him.
Damn, he thought, narrowing his eyes at the interlopers.
"Are you bringing them here?" Ino asked, a faint hint of teasing in her expression.
Shino mentally cursed; she must have seen his annoyed expression. He opted for what was technically the truth.
"I can control any arthropod with my mind," said Shino. "However, sometimes I call them without meaning to."
"So, this just happens sometimes with you?"
Shino looked away from Ino.
"Sometimes," he said.
He looked back to find Ino smiling at him, which really did not help matters, and he began to breathe very slowly, hoping to let the moths go. But she seemed so radiant that Shino still couldn't concentrate, and one of the moths ended up flying around Ino specifically, taunting Shino every time it completed an irregular loop around the blonde girl.
"Are you doing this?" asked Ino, watching the bug as it flew around her.
"I'm not controlling it directly," said Shino. "You're wearing brighter colours than I am, so it's attracted to y-"
He quickly caught himself, and finished:
"...to...those colours."
Ino slowly reached towards it, but the moth knew to fly away, and it darted just out of her reach.
"Don't grab at it," said Shino. "Hold out your hand."
Ino did so, and Shino reached out towards the moth's mind. It accepted his request and lazily floated over to Ino's palm, then landed on it.
She watched it carefully.
"They don't live long, right?" she said.
"No," said Shino.
She looked back up at him, and Shino commanded the moth to leave. Luckily, the others followed suit as Shino kept very still.
"How's Hinata?" asked Ino.
"As normal," said Shino. "Why do you ask?"
"She's fighting Naruto," said Ino. "That can't be easy."
Shino inclined his head knowingly.
"She has trained very hard, and Naruto will be no different," said Shino. "Besides, regardless of the challenges, a contest of skills is considerable grounds for friendship."
"I think Hinata wants more than friendship," said Ino.
"Friendship is necessary before further developments," said Shino.
Ino raised her eyebrows a little, and Shino was thankful for his sunglasses, not to mention long years of Aburame training.
"When we were done fighting..." she said. "How come you took that bug back?"
"It wasn't dead," he said. "So I couldn't let it stay alone."
"Do you still have it?"
Shino nodded.
Finding the kikai, he began to order it out, but then realised that Ino might dislike seeing it leave his body directly. Compromising, he flicked his hand just as it left his body, obscuring its exit.
Letting the injured kikai rest on his palm, Shino calmly held it up towards Ino, who looked at it carefully.
"Looks like a ground beetle," said Ino. "Or a kabuto. Does everyone in your clan have these, or..."
"Everyone," said Shino.
"Where'd you get them?" she asked.
"They are bred in my clan's compound," said Shino. "To my knowledge, wild kikai don't exist anymore."
"Can it spray?" asked Ino.
"Caustic secretions?" asked Shino. "No."
He tilted his head a little, surprised that she knew this much about bugs.
"I've seen bugs," said Ino.
She added, quietly:
"Flower shop girl."
"You're not a flower shop girl," said Shino. "You're a girl who works in a flower shop."
"How do you know that?" said Ino, with a slightly demanding air.
Shino looked down. That had been presumptuous, and he wasn't surprised she'd objected to it.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I can't say I know exactly who you are."
"A lot of us don't know you either, Shino," said Ino, her voice chastising.
Shino looked down at the kikai.
"I was concerned about people's reactions," he said quietly.
"They don't matter," said Ino.
"Not everyone has your confidence," said Shino.
"You're doing okay now," Ino noted.
"You aren't threatening," said Shino.
Thinking further about her, he added:
"Unless of course, you wish to be."
Ino broke into a confident smirk.
"Hells yeah," she said.
Shino remained very still as he reflected on what he'd just seen and heard, and resisted the urge to hum in an unmanfully dreamy fashion at that exceptionally Ino-like moment.
"Does it hurt, when you send one out?" she asked.
He considered this, and the hint of a smile began to form on his lips.
"...yes," he said, devil-may-care, and he pulled the kikai back inside, flicking his hand neatly.
Ino laughed, and Shino let his arms fall to his pockets. Off in the distance, he could see Shikamaru and Choji approaching.
"Your squad," Shino said.
"Yours too," said Ino, gesturing behind him.
Shino looked back at Hinata and Kiba as they walked down the path towards him.
"Hey, you guys!" called Ino, waving.
Kiba and Hinata both looked up, and Hinata waved to Ino.
"Good news, Shino!" shouted Kiba. "We found the thing!"
"...excellent!" Shino called back.
"The thing?" asked Ino.
"I can't remember," Shino responded, looking back at her. "Anyway...I should go."
"Sure," said Ino. "See you round."
Shino nodded, and began to turn and leave.
"Wait," said Ino.
He looked back at her, but she shook her head and moved her hands.
"No, turn your head like before," she requested.
Shino very slowly complied.
"Yep...yep...there, stop there!" said Ino.
Why does Ino need to see my face in profile? Shino wondered.
"Huh," she said.
"What?" asked Shino.
"Your eyes are brown," she said.
She turned her head and left, and Shino quickly rejoined Kiba and Hinata, concentrating very hard on not calling any more wild insects, spiders, or crustaceans (although spiders were difficult to control even on purpose, and aquatic arthropods were uncommon in Konoha).
Once Squad Ten was a safe distance away, Hinata put both hands to her chin, and made a high-pitched noise.
"Nnnnnnnnnh!"
"Yeah," said Kiba, smiling. "Nnnnh. But really, though, you literally had butterflies when you talked to her?"
"They were moths," Shino said. "Although the taxonomic difference is vague."
"W-well, that's alright," said Hinata. "Y-you could have accidentally controlled hornets."
Shino nodded sideways to concede the point.
000000000000
In the noble tradition of a thousand, thousand festivals, Kiba, Hinata and Shino had all bought food on sticks. There was a long skewer of takoyaki in Shino's hands, which he took gentle, thoughtful bites of, and Hinata held a yakitori stick in each hand. Kiba had opted for a cheese-filled taiyaki, and his squadmates laughed as he frantically bit at the fish-shaped cake to stop the hot cheese from dripping down onto his hands.
"Quit laughing!" Kiba said, finally safe upon finishing his food. "I swear, I-...hey, karaage!"
He stepped towards the fried chicken stall, but then stopped in his tracks as he realised who the women in a purple yukata smiling at him was.
"Kurenai-sensei!" Kiba said.
Kurenai walked over to her squad, her hair done up elegantly.
"Hello," she said. "Are you alright, Kiba?"
"My hand is safe and I'm now full of cheese," said Kiba confidently.
"What about you two?" asked Kurenai. "Three, sorry, Akamaru."
Akamaru, who was sprawled across Kiba's left shoulder and sulking a little because Kiba wouldn't give him any of his food, make a small mumbling noise in response.
"Akamaru, you speak up when Kurenai-sensei asks you a question," said Kiba.
Akamaru did not move.
"Sorry," said Kiba. "He doesn't always fall in line."
"He seems to when it's important," said Kurenai, looking directly at Kiba.
Kiba nodded slightly, and Kurenai smiled at him.
She turned to Hinata.
"I hear you've been fighting everyone else all at once, Hinata?"
"Mm," Hinata nodded.
"Good job," said Kurenai. "I think taijutsu was something the three of you all needed to improve on, and from what Kohaku and Hikui said, you've all gotten much better. So once the finals are over, now you don't need to focus on taijutsu anymore..."
"Y-you'll teach us genjutsu?" said Hinata, excitedly.
"That's the plan," said Kurenai. "Unless you're a chunin, Hinata."
"I-I'll see what happens," Hinata said.
"Whatever the outcome of your fight, I'm proud of all of you," Kurenai said. "You've come a long way since a few months ago."
"A few months," said Kiba. "It feels like years!"
He sniffed the air a little, and smiled.
"Anyway, we'll let you go, sensei," Kiba said.
Kurenai frowned a little.
"Why?" she said.
"Uh..." said Kiba, rubbing Akamaru's head as he tried to think of the right way to explain it.
Kurenai looked over her shoulder to see Asuma in the distance, holding drinks.
"Thankyou, Kiba," said Kurenai. "I'll look out for the four of you tomorrow. Make sure you sleep well tonight, Hinata."
"Y-yes, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata said.
Squad Eight and Kurenai went their separate ways, the genin and Akamaru wandering through the festival. There were games of shuriken-tossing, which Shino did well at but Hinata abjectly failed. There were spider-fights and goldfish-scooping, and jugglers who swallowed scorpions that were on fire. At last they came to a long, narrow space, where a crowd was gathering to watch a lion dance. Squad Eight watched as the team of dancers checked over their costume, making sure it was ready to be hoisted to the sounds of drums and shouting.
"What are they doing here?" asked Shino.
"I-it's a lion dance," Hinata explained, happy to help Shino discover something new. "We do them when it's new year. M-my clan does, I mean."
She frowned, puzzled.
"B-but I don't know how you could see where you're going under the lion costume if you don't have the Byakugan..."
"You guys stay here," said Kiba, grinning. "I'll get us drinks."
Hinata and Shino told him their orders, and Kiba left them standing there, heading for a stall filled with different kinds of teas.
"Hello!" said the elderly merchant, a thin elderly woman wearing a sizeable cone-hat. "What would you like, dear?"
"Can I get green tea, soba tea, and, uh..."
Kiba looked around the stall.
"...do you have pan-fried tea?" he asked.
"We have all of those," said the woman. "Hot or cold?"
"Cold please," said Kiba.
"Sure thing," said the woman. "Does your dog want anything?"
"I think he's convinced me to feed him enough," said Kiba.
Akamaru gave a grumbling whine as he wriggled around on Kiba's shoulder.
As she busied herself making the tea, Kiba looked out on the festival, and smiled at the small crowd of children that had gathered around two familiar ninja.
Naruto and Kohaku were both hopping around on one leg, each trying to knock the other over. The crowd gasped as Kohaku nearly fell, but he steadied himself and charged Naruto again, who toppled and landed in the dust.
Kiba chuckled as the children all cheered, and Kohaku helped Naruto up. Both were caught up in helpless laughter, which was made worse when the children knocked them both over again in their joy.
"Are they your friends?" the merchant asked, as she finished pouring the water in the drinks.
"Yeah," said Kiba.
"The blonde one looks familiar," said the merchant. "There was a boy in this village, about...twenty years ago, now. His name was Minato?"
Kiba thought, then laughed a little.
"I don't think they're related," Kiba said. "Minato Namikaze was the Fourth Hokage. Naruto's dad was called Yuto Rokkaku."
"Of course," said the merchant. "It's been a long time. That's fifty ryou, sweetie."
Kiba paid her the money and gathered up the drinks, which were kept in a small box. He held the box steady as he walked through the festival, heading for the Lion Dance again. He was listening to the sound of the drums beating when he felt a strange shiver down the base of his neck. Kiba stopped, wondering how that would happen on such a warm night, when he realised Reido was standing close by.
She was looking at him as well, which was weird in of itself. She didn't seem to have any particular interest in him. Still, judging by what Hikui said, Reido needed all the practice she could get in social situations, and Kiba was more than willing to step up to the plate with that.
Guess I can use what I learned with Shino, Kiba thought, walking over to her.
"Hey, Reido," he said.
Reido did not respond, instead looking down at the drinks Kiba was holding.
"Are you thirsty?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Kiba.
Realising what she meant, he added:
"Uh, these aren't all for me, though."
He shuffled the box so he could carry it with one arm, careful to avoid upsetting Akamaru on his shoulder.
"Are you with anyone?"
"Why would I be?" asked Reido.
Kiba detected a hint of resentment.
"Well...you're kind of a loner, Reido," he said.
"That hasn't deterred you," Reido said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I'm hard to deter," Kiba admitted.
He thought about how Reido, and then an unfortunate possibility struck him.
"Unless...you wanna deter me," he said.
"No," said Reido, calm as ever.
Kiba felt relieved, and sniffed deeply, looking out at the festival.
"It's nice out here," he said. "You are doing stuff and not just standing, right?"
Reido looked at him sideways.
"What?" he said.
"You're unlike my expectation," she said.
"You had an expectation about me?" asked Kiba.
"Yes," said Reido.
Somehow I don't think it was that positive, thought Kiba.
"But now, having seen more of you, it was incorrect," she said. "Now, I don't understand you."
"Why?" asked Kiba.
"It's a matter of how you function," Reido said. "Both of us lost our matches in the tower. But I saw-...heard of how you reacted. You were more concerned about temporary harm to Akamaru than losing to Sasuke Uchiha. Even now, it doesn't bother you that you won't become a chunin."
"I've only been a genin for a few months," said Kiba. "Besides, Akamaru's half the reason I win at anything. Worrying about him isn't just me loving him, it's tactics."
He grabbed Akamaru with his free hand and held him out to Reido. Akamaru sniffed at her, and to Kiba's surprise Reido smiled a little.
"You wanna pet him?" asked Kiba. "He doesn't bite. Unless I tell him to."
Actually, sometimes not even then, he thought.
Reido's smile slowly faded, and she looked uncertain.
"I shouldn't," she said.
"Oh," said Kiba, pulling Akamaru back a little as he realised. "Are you allergic?"
Reido thought this over.
"...yes," she said.
"I'm sorry," said Kiba.
"I wish I wasn't," said Reido quietly, looking at Akamaru.
"Well...it's not just animals that works with," said Kiba. "Look, you're obviously really smart, and maybe Yoru pushed you to work hard, but-"
"She was a bitch," Reido said immediately.
"...okay," said Kiba, surprised. "Having Kurenai-sensei be there, to tell me when I do good or if I screw up, is a big part of why I'm like...me. And some of it's just who I am. My clan's not exactly rigid."
"You are a small family," said Reido.
This surprised Kiba more. It was still disguised by her trademark calm, but Reido sounded envious of how close his family was.
The Hokage did say Reido lives alone...
"Wait, how do you know that?" asked Kiba.
"I have seen them in the village," said Reido.
"Right," said Kiba. "Last is my friends. Hinata, Shino. Naruto. Squad Ten, Sakura, my other classmates. And kinda Neji and Tenten now. Them being around makes it feel like things are gonna get easier. I can work stuff out, knowing they're there. So I feel like I have this."
Reido frowned.
"What?" she said.
"...this?" said Kiba, shrugging.
She stared at him, thinking.
"I know Hikui and Kohaku are really close," said Kiba. "You don't have to be best friends with them. But you don't have to be alone all the time either."
Reido blinked, taking this in. She looked down as she thought more, and Kiba wondered if she really was allergic.
Slowly, and then with growing confidence, Reido reached out and patted Akamaru, who rubbed at her hand affectionately.
This done, she let it fall to her side.
"I should wash that immediately," she said.
She turned to leave quickly, and the strap of her shoulder-bag broke, letting its contents fall out. They spilled onto the ground - pens, gauze and blank paper.
Reido crouched to pick them up, but froze as her bag's last item was freed. Tipped by gravity, the worn book that she always carried fell forward and towards the ground. With lightning speed, Kiba crouched and held his hands out under the book before it landed in the well-trodden dust at his feet, giving a victorious grin as he caught it just in time.
It fell open as it landed in his hands, and Kiba looked up triumphantly at Reido.
She looked terrified.
Baffled, Kiba began to look down at the book, but then stopped himself and looked back up at Reido. The fear in her eyes had grown worse, and she was deathly pale.
Kiba stood up, his eyes still on Reido, and held the book out to her.
With shaking hands, Reido took it from him and shut it quickly. She held it close to her chest and shut her eyes.
"Thankyou for explaining," she said. "You are much clearer now."
I thought that about you, thought Kiba, then this happens.
"That's okay," said Kiba.
He stood up, still clutching the box of drinks under one arm.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" he said.
"Briefly," Reido said.
She turned and left without looking back, and Kiba was left wondering.
000000000000
Naruto walked down one of the festival's alleys. He had finished his epic bout against Kohaku, and now he was enjoying his well-earned feast.
"Squid!" he said, and he took a bite from his squid on a stick.
"Karaage!" he said, and he bit from his chicken.
"Squid!"
Om.
"Karaage!"
Nom.
"Squid!"
Om.
"Karaage!"
Nom.
"Bubble tea!" he declared, and he slurped greedily from his drink.
"Naruto?"
Pulling the straw from his mouth, he leapt at the sound of his former teacher.
"Iruka-sensei!"
Iruka was wearing a green yukata, and he had a small fan in his hand. He patted Naruto on the head, ruffling his hair.
"I'm really excited to see how you and Hinata fight tomorrow, Naruto," Iruka said. "And everyone else, of course."
"Do you think Shikamaru's gonna be okay, sensei?" asked Naruto. "He didn't do that much fighting back in the Academy."
"Fighting isn't the only way you win a fight," said Iruka.
Naruto stared at him.
"...have you been drinking, Iruka-sensei?"
"No!" said Iruka defensively. "Well, a little. But I'm over twenty-one, so it's fine, Naru-"
He noticed the wide grin on Naruto's face, and shook his head.
"You clearly haven't changed that much," said Iruka.
Naruto smugly took a bite of his squid.
"What I mean is, it's not just about jutsu," said Iruka. "You have to think your way out of things sometimes. And nobody I know is better at thinking than Shikamaru."
Naruto nodded, and chewed his mouthful of squid, considering something else.
"Iruka-sensei," he said, "you know how Sakura's been teaching at the Academy?"
"Yes," said Iruka, smiling. "It's a shame she'll have to go back to working with you and Sasuke, she's very good."
Naruto looked down a little. He hadn't thought about having to work in a squad with Sasuke again - although if all went well, they would both be chunin by tomorrow, and it wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Then again, chunin led squads of ninja. What if Sasuke made chunin and he didn't, and Sasuke ended up as his commander on a mission? Would he call every genin under him 'useful'?
"...yeah," Naruto said, uncertain of the future.
Noticing Iruka's sudden concerned look, Naruto quickly added:
"Anyway, I kinda accidentally took an eraser from a classroom..."
"Were you gonna drop it on someone?"
"No!" said Naruto.
"That's okay, then," said Iruka. "You can give it back to me tomorrow."
"But I have it right here in my jacket!" Naruto protested.
"It's alright," said Iruka. "I'll make sure you don't develop a reputation for being an eraser-thief."
"Thanks, sensei," said Naruto.
Iruka stepped forward and hugged him, and Naruto hugged back.
"I have one question for you, though," Iruka said, after breaking it off.
"What?" asked Naruto, confused.
"How come you're not eating ramen?" Iruka asked.
"I always eat ramen," said Naruto.
"...you're saying that you have a choice of eating ramen or literally anything else, but you're not choosing ramen?"
Iruka began to poke at Naruto, who he knew from experience was ticklish.
"What have you done with Naruto Uzumaki, imposter?"
Naruto frantically dodged Iruka's incessant poking and tried not to laugh helplessly.
"Iruka-sensei! Quit it!"
"See you tomorrow," Iruka said, chuckling.
Angrily taking a large bite from his karaage, Naruto stalked off down a side-street outside of the festival. It led past a few rice paddies, dimly lit by the glow of the festival a few metres away.
He walked along, finishing the last of the chicken, when he realised he was being watched.
There was a floating eyeball following him.
Naruto thought fast - too fast. He knew to subdue the eyeball as soon as possible from a distance, but he had forgotten that he was carrying a skewer with half a fried squid on it. His squid flew from his hand and hit the eyeball square in the centre, dropping it and the skewer to the ground.
The eyeball dissolved into sand and blew away.
Ah! thought Naruto. Now I'm outta chicken and squid!
Then, Gaara appeared.
He had stepped out of the shadows from the corner of Naruto's eye, moving in utter silence, and only now could Naruto properly see the Suna ninja. Naruto moved back, uneasy. Gaara's sand jutsu were so powerful, he wasn't sure if Gaara was even human, and the way that he'd fought Lee had brought chills down Naruto's spine.
He didn't think Gaara was there to fight, though. He was looking at Naruto with curiosity, and he wasn't standing in his normal pose of bored invincibility. He looked almost...vulnerable.
"Gaara," said Naruto. "What're...what're you doing here?"
"You're like me," Gaara said, in a hoarse voice barely above a whisper.
Naruto found his hand creeping towards his kunai's holster.
"What're you talking about?" he asked.
"There's something inside of you," said Gaara. "That's why you heal so fast. It's what makes you strong."
Naruto thought about the eyeball made of sand. If Gaara had been following him tonight...
"...you cut me!" he said, his hand shooting up to point at Gaara. "When I was out in the village, with your sand!"
"It was the only way to be certain," said Gaara.
"You coulda asked!"
Naruto watched as Gaara seemed to barely register this, but he could see the boy's hairless brow furrowed a little as he silently mouthed 'What?' to himself before shaking his head.
"I thought I was the only human to act as a monster's cage," Gaara said. "You're proof I am not alone."
Monster, thought Naruto. So there's more than one. It's not just the Nine-Tailed Fox.
...are there just two, and they're both trapped inside people? Or are there even more out in the world?
"So...what do you want?" asked Naruto. "You're already stronger than I am."
"I know," said Gaara. "I guess...I need to ask you...why aren't you more like I am?"
"...like you?" asked Naruto, half as a genuine question and half in insulted disbelief.
"A shinobi exists to be controlled by others," said Gaara. "A weapon they hold, to be used against whatever target they choose. But you stopped your fight. You let your target get away."
Naruto clenched a fist.
"Is that why you hurt Lee?" he asked the Sand ninja. "He was your target?"
"The monster I contain is called Shukaku," said Gaara, not looking at Naruto. "He thirsts for blood. I give him prey, and he gives me power. It's what makes me the perfect ninja."
"Lee is my friend," said Naruto. "Kohaku's my friend. And Hinata's my friend. Most people I fight are my friends!"
Thinking of Kiba, he added:
"Or at least, they end up that way!"
"A ninja has no friends," said Gaara. "Only people he can use."
Naruto scowled at Gaara, who stared blankly back in response.
"You can't believe that," Naruto said.
Gaara shrugged.
"It's what I'm for," he said.
Naruto shut his eyes, furious.
How could anyone believe that? How could anyone tell somebody that, either!
He thought of how the villagers treated him. Had the monster inside Gaara attacked Suna? Was that why Gaara was so horribly wrong about what being a ninja meant?
Naruto opened his eyes, looked at Gaara, and screwed up his courage. It wouldn't fail him, and he wouldn't fail to tell Gaara the truth, even if it hurt him badly.
"First of all, there's no such thing as weapons or targets when you're a ninja," said Naruto. "There's just you, and your enemy. And the person you're fighting isn't your enemy. Your enemy's everything that wants to stop you from getting better. Outside..."
He pointed to Gaara's head.
"...and in there!"
Gaara glared at Naruto, his eyes widening as his breath grew ragged.
"You don't make sense," said Gaara.
The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck stood up as sand began pouring from the gourd on Gaara's back. It snaked towards Naruto in rivulets, and he began to back away from Gaara, but the Sand ninja stepped closer and closer.
"You don't make sense," Gaara said, his voice deepening. "You don't belong in my world."
Naruto stepped back again as Gaara drew his hands together in a hand sign, and the sand rose.
There was a sudden movement from behind Naruto, and he raised his hands to his face and jumped back as a brilliant flash of light and sound rang out, the explosion blocking Gaara from view.
A few seconds later, the dust cleared, and pieces of foggy glass fell in front of Gaara, the sand crystallized by the explosion. His face remained set in a tone of resentful anger, but he seemed to have more control now.
How much of that expression was Gaara, and how much was the monster he carried, Naruto didn't know.
Naruto began to cast a nervous glance back, but the truth was quickly revealed as Anko Mitarashi came to his side, then stepped in front of him. She folded her arms and started Gaara down, not flinching.
Despite his strength, Gaara couldn't meet Anko's gaze like he could with Naruto.
"She carries his mark," he said quietly, and then he vanished into the night, leaving only the fallen glass behind.
Anko turned back to face Naruto, and she was smiling.
"You okay?" she asked.
"...yeah," said Naruto.
He looked down at the chunk of glass on the ground.
"How'd you make the glass?" he asked.
"Explosion," she said.
Naruto stared at her blankly.
"...glass is just melted sand," Anko explained.
"What?" said Naruto.
"Really," Anko said.
Naruto stared off into space as he considered this epiphany of science.
"Woah," he said.
This done, he regarded Anko carefully, unsure of how much he could trust her. Then again, she didn't seem scared or hateful of him, or bothered by the presence of the Fox. He put his hands in his pockets, watching her cautiously.
"How come he said you 'carry his mark'?" Naruto said.
His eyes flicked down to the curse mark on Anko's neck, coloured black and with three comma-like symbols, and he added, quietly:
"It's the same as Sasuke's, isn't it?"
Anko seemed less upbeat upon hearing this, and she looked away from Naruto, out into the crowded village ahead. Her arms at her side subtly pressed into her jacket, as if she was cold, despite the warmth of the night.
"...it fades if you don't use it," she finally said.
Naruto looked down, disappointed.
Sasuke'll use his, he thought.
Which is stupid, because you're already way stronger than anybody else I know anyway, dumbass! I mean, I don't use the Fox!
Then again...I guess maybe I do. There's no way I could make all my Shadow Clones without it.
...except I've always had it. Ever since I was a baby, the Fox's been part of me, and I wasn't good at any jutsu until I found the scroll and Iruka-sensei was in trouble.
"Hey," Naruto said, looking up at Anko. "Chakra's physical and spiritual energy, right? That's what we train for?"
"We train for physical," said Anko. "Spiritual is everything else."
The blond boy looked out into the darkness, where Gaara had disappeared off to.
"Shadow clones're a good example," said Anko.
"How come?" asked Naruto.
"A long time ago, before Konoha, there were different courts in different lands," said Anko, raising one of her hands to reveal a stick with a dango on it. "Buncha fancy people wearing robes all the time and writing poetry about how sad flowers are."
She bit off her last dango and chewed it.
"It got pretty heated in a court," said Anko. "If you did one wrong thing, you'd be an outsider for a long time. You had to work really hard to stay with everyone else."
Naruto felt unhappily reminded of his time at the Academy, and rubbed the back of his neck.
"'Cept then, copies of people started appearing," said Anko. "Out of nowhere, they'd show up and then vanish. It only ever happened if the original person was sleeping, or if they were in bed with a fever. They used to call them 'living ghosts'."
Noticing Naruto's frown, she explained:
"Accidental Shadow Clones."
Anko threw the dango stick away.
"Living ghosts were around for centuries," she said. "Everybody knew about 'em. Everyone was scared of them too, 'cos a clone does whatever its creator really wants. Shows your true colours without meaning it."
"But then, the Second Hokage invented the Shadow Clone jutsu," said Naruto quickly, beaming. "I remember this, my dad told me about it when I was a kid! He gathered shadows from all around him, and he turned them into a perfect copy! Even blood and everything!"
He frowned.
"Wait...how'd he do that? On purpose, I mean?"
Anko looked up.
"He didn't let what people said about him control what he did," she said. "He was just...there. I'm gonna guess he still had secrets, but he didn't hold back on who he was just 'cos some people were assholes."
She looked down to Naruto, smiling.
"Not a bad idea, for a Hokage."
Naruto grinned.
The Fox wanted to hurt Konoha. That's not what I want. Even when it got really bad...I never wanted that.
I belong here. Being Hokage...that's how I'll prove it.
"Thanks, lady," he said. "You're pretty cool when you're not throwin' knives at me."
"I'm not on duty," said Anko, shrugging.
Naruto began to walk back towards the festival, but then returned to Anko.
"What?" asked Anko.
"I was gonna pick that glass up," said Naruto. "There's a lotta kids around here. Somebody might step in it."
Despite herself, Anko smiled.
"It's okay, I'll get rid of it," she said.
"Cool," said Naruto, and he leapt away.
Once Naruto had left, the branches of a tall tree above shook, and there was a rush of air as a new ninja entered the scene, dropping down beside Anko.
"Thanks, Anko," said Kakashi Hatake.
"He is like one particular Hokage," said Anko, looking at him.
Kakashi shrugged.
"Well, Sarutobi is a mentor to us all."
Noticing Anko's raised eyebrow, Kakashi added:
"Naruto's still in the area, and you're kind of loud, Anko."
"Right," said Anko, sounding uncertain. "Sorry."
Her eyes thinning, she scratched her head.
"They'd better be right about watching the village borders," she said, touching her Curse Mark absent-mindedly.
"Tsume Inuzuka has it under control," said Kakashi.
Anko nodded shortly.
They stared off into the distant lights of the festival for a while, the wind gently rustling Kakashi's bouffant hair.
"I didn't know that was where the Second Hokage got Shadow Clones from," Kakashi eventually said, in his calm, regular tone.
"Sarutobi told me," Anko said. "When I was a kid. Never forgot it."
"I get that from you," said Kakashi. "But I'm the one who makes a lot of shadow clones. Do you think I'm always defying what people think?"
"You're not great with being on time," said Anko.
Kakashi shrugged.
"Plus, the bell test's not on the curriculum," she said. "And I hear your missions go weird sometimes."
"Are you reading my reports now, Anko?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm not reading reports even for you," Anko said.
"Even for me?"
Anko tsked and looked out at the village.
"The point is, you kind of go above and beyond, Copy-Cat."
Kakashi frowned.
"...what?" he said.
"You're the Copy Ninja," said Anko. "And your ANBU mask is a cat, right?"
"Thanks for saying that in the middle of the village when we're full of outsiders, Anko."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, now people will know that the ANBU with your exact height, build and hair style is you. Besides, the masks are more for show, right?"
"They're a village tradition," said Kakashi.
"Which we stole from the Land of Whirlpools."
"Lady Kushina didn't mind," said Kakashi.
The pair of them fell silent, remembering the Fourth Hokage's brash wife.
"You're right about Naruto being like Minato-sensei," Kakashi said. "If that boy inherits a fraction of his reading interest, he might look into the Fourth Hokage a little closer. Or maybe somebody lets it slip."
"How was he with Yuto?" asked Anko.
"Sarutobi said they were close," said Kakashi. "One of the closest families he'd seen. I don't think Naruto's ever suspected he isn't Yuto's biological son. But now he knows about the Fox, he'll get curious."
"Are you gonna tell him?" Anko asked.
"Like how you are with Hinata?"
She nodded.
"That's different," said Kakashi. "I'm his teacher. I like my genin, but I have to stay professional. Minato-sensei did that for me."
Anko looked at him carefully, until eventually Kakashi spoke again.
"It's not safe to tell him everything," Kakashi said. "But I'll talk with Sarutobi after the Finals. Jiraiya should get help as well."
"Heard Jiraiya was here," said Anko, smiling.
"I don't know how much, but we can tell Naruto something," Kakashi said.
Anko grinned.
"Good plan, Copy-Cat," she said, and she gave Kakashi a wink before leaping off.
Behind his mask, Kakashi smiled.
000000000000
It's pretty late again, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight!