Chapter 38: Birthday Break-In

Ten years...has it really been that long? Natarii sluggishly made her way up the basement stairs. She opened the door that led to the main floor and walked into the kitchen.

"There she is!" Makina exclaimed from the stove. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She held a plate with steaming omelets. "Happy sweet sixteen!"

Natarii narrowed her eyes. "Mom," she began with a yawn. "I told you to not celebrate my birthday."

"But it's your sixteenth birthday! Come on, we have to be happy today, regardless of the other circumstances." Natarii could tell her mom was trying her best to stay happy. There were dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks were tear-stained.

Natarii figured she should try her best too. "Okay. Thank you."

Makina held out the plate of omelets. "Keizu would want you to be happy too, you know."

Natarii took the plate and nodded. "I know." She made her way to the counter and sat down on a wooden stool. Her mom handed her a pair of metal chopsticks. Natarii took hold of them and grabbed an omelet. "Where's Dad?" she asked.

Makina held a dish towel and started washing some of the dishes that were already in the sink. "He had to leave early this morning for work. He told me to wish you a happy birthday as well."

Natarii smiled and lifted the omelet with her chopsticks. She opened her mouth to eat it.

"MORNING!" Naruto came storming in obnoxiously through the front door.

Natarii jumped. She dropped her chopsticks and her omelet onto the floor. Quickly, she turned to Naruto, who slammed the door behind him. "Don't just barge into someone's house!" She yelled. "There's a thing called knocking for a reason!"

"Hello, Naruto," Makina greeted with a calm smile. "Lower your voice, Natarii. There's no reason to yell."

"Hi, Natarii's mom!" Naruto walked into the room.

"What're you doing here?" Natarii asked, putting an omelet in her mouth. "I didn't expect to see you this early."

"Don't be so rude, Natarii. Give the boy a second to make himself at home."

"It's Naruto, Mom. I don't think there's a such thing as rude when he's around."

"I see how it is," Naruto muttered, sitting down on a stool next to Natarii. He took a carton of milk that was on the counter. Due to habit, he was about to drink from the carton itself. But he stopped himself. "Do you have a cup?"

"Of course." Makina reached into one of the cupboards and picked a glass. She placed it on the counter in front of Naruto.

"Thank you!" Naruto poured milk from the carton into the glass and took a drink.

"It's not expired, is it?" Natarii teased.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. "Shut up." He took another drink.

Natarii laughed and took a bite out of another omelet.

"So, Naruto, what brings you here today?" Makina asked with a smile. "Come to think of it, you haven't been here in quite some time."

It was then Naruto remembered Natarii's mom didn't know he had been walking Natarii to and from school every day. "You're right, I haven't," he replied, not wanting to reveal the truth. "I just came to pick Natarii up."

"Oh?" Makina put her towel down and leaned against the counter in front of the two teens. "Are you two going out or something?" She asked suspiciously.

Natarii's face turned bright red. "Mom! That's weird! Of course we're not!"

"Yeah, don't get the wrong idea!" Naruto was pretty red as well.

Makina leaned back and picked up her towel again. She started wiping off the stove. "I guess you're not since you're both denying it."

Natarii shoved her last omelet into her mouth. "We're not. End of story. Why'd you have to bring something awkward like that up?"

"It's a mother's job. You'll understand one day."

"Yeah right." Natarii stood up from her seat and took her plate to the sink. "Do you have an extra dish towel?"

"Just put it in the sink. I'll wash it today."

Natarii set the small plate gently in the metal sink. "Thank you." She turned to Naruto. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Then we can go. You don't mind if I'm out all day, right, Mom?"

Makina shook her head. "Just be back by a reasonable time. I don't want you out too late with everything that's happened. Although if you're going to be with Naruto the whole time..." Makina thought about a way to put her words. "Just don't stay out too late."

Natarii nodded and went back down the basement stairs.

Makina set the towel down on the counter next to the stove. "It was you, wasn't it?" she asked Naruto, her back turned to him.

"Huh?" Naruto held the glass of milk.

"The first time. Natarii never told me about it. But it was you. The one who saved her. Am I right?"

Slowly, Naruto lowered the milk back to the counter. "Yeah," he replied quietly. "What about it?"

It was a moment before Makina replied. She pulled her ponytail over her right shoulder and ran her fingers through it. "I never got the chance to properly thank you. A simple one doesn't seem like nearly enough."

"It's really no big deal."

"It is to me," Makina said, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears. "If she had died back then...I don't know what I..." her voice trailed off.

Naruto remained silent, thinking about what he should say, or if he should say anything at all.

"I'm sorry," Makina spoke before he could say anything. "I had to get that off my chest. Please think nothing of it."

Naruto nodded, feeling slightly awkward. Luckily, at that time, Natarii came up from the basement. "Okay. I'm ready." She had on her usual jeans, t-shirt, and jacket, but this time, she had a backpack - a rather small one compared to the gigantic one she took to the hot spring.

Natarii turned to her mom. "Don't be too down on yourself today."

Makina nodded. "Be careful and have fun."

Natarii made her way to the front door. "We will." She grabbed a pair of gray sneakers and slipped them on her feet without untying the laces.

Naruto stood up from his seat and walked to Natarii, who was opening the front door. "See ya later, Natarii's mom," he called out before leaving the house.

Makina waved good-bye with a kind smile. She went back to washing dishes.

"I wonder if I should stay home with her," Natarii thought aloud. She and Naruto started walking down the road, the way they usually left for her school in the mornings.

"Didn't you say it was usually awkward if you stayed home?" Naruto asked.

"Well, yeah," Natarii began. "She usually doesn't have so much ease keeping herself together. And I feel bad. But I feel bad leaving her alone too." She sighed and put her hands in her jacket pockets. "There's no winning in this situation. But I'm not going back now. There's too much to do before tonight."

"I'm still surprised you actually agreed with me," Naruto remarked.

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it, you were right. I need to get my mind off everything."

Naruto leaned closer to Natarii, cupping his hand by his ear. "Could you repeat that? I didn't hear you."

Natarii playfully shoved him away. "No way! I'm not saying it again!" She ran a little further ahead, then stopped to wait for him to catch up. Once he caught up, the two continued walking.

"This is the place?" Natarii whispered so quietly her voice was almost inaudible. She looked down from a tree branch at the wood building in the small clearing of the woods. It was about the size of a small house. It looked untouched for the most part, but one would expect that considering it was heavily guarded. But no one stood around it.

"Yeah, this is it," Naruto replied. He was also trying to be as quiet as possible.

"I thought it was supposed to be heavily guarded," Natarii pointed out. "Where is everyone?"

"They probably put Chunin on security. They're scattered around us." Naruto looked around, then pointed to something in the distance.

Natarii squinted her eyes to get a closer look, and, sure enough, there was a Chunin there. Suddenly, knots tied up in her stomach and she became nervous. "Why are we here if they're around?!" She snapped quietly.

"'Cause this is one of their only blind spots. They can't see us."

Natarii relaxed a bit. "You've thought this through more than I expected."

"I told you. I used to get into a lot of trouble stealing these things."

"Right, right." Natarii looked closer at the building. She pointed to a small speck of metal that hung from one of the corners of the building. "Is that a camera?"

Naruto looked closer at the metal speck. "Crap," he remarked. "Looks like they've upped the security since I last came here." He turned to Natarii. "You can hack into the system, can't you?"

"Probably. Depends on how hard the code is."

"You just have to turn them off."

"No way. That's the worst thing you can do!"

"What? Why?"

"If you turn the cameras off, it'll be suspicious because you don't just forget to turn the security system on. It'd be obvious someone's trying to break in," Natarii explained. "You put the camera visuals on a still image. A frozen screen."

Naruto stared at Natarii, confused.

"In other words, the camera is still on, but they don't see us."

"Oooh...that makes sense."

"Of course it does," Natarii said, looking back down at the building. "What time do we come back tonight?"

"No specific time. If word leaks out, they'll be ready for us." Naruto dropped down from the tree, not making a sound. Natarii followed, landing with a small thump. But no one seemed to notice.

Naruto looked around the area, ensuring they wouldn't be seen. Everything was clear. He motioned for Natarii to follow him, then started running through the woods. Again, Natarii followed. The two dashed as fast as they could. At first, they ran in a straight line that would get them out of the secured area. Then, they started weaving in and out of trees in order to get to the village quicker.

"Why do we just run like this?" Natarii asked with a normal tone, knowing they weren't in the secured area any more. "Wouldn't it be safer to be stealthy?"

"I guess so," Naruto replied. "But if we're coming out here in broad daylight, they might think we've been sent out here by Tsunade Oba-chan or something."

"Then why were we hiding?"

"Uh...good question! Because it's...stealthy?"

Natarii rolled her eyes. "I take back what I said earlier about you having this together."

Naruto didn't seem to hear her. Right when she said it, he broke out of the woods. Natarii came out right after him.

"Now what?" Natarii asked.

"We can stall I guess. Waste time."

"I'm not wasting time!" Natarii exclaimed. "If anything, I'm gonna plan how we're supposed to get into a heavily guarded building."

"That works too."

Natarii walked out a bit further into the grass and sat down. She looked up at Naruto. "How do you usually get in?"

Naruto thought as he sat down. "On a whim I guess," he answered. "I usually just wing it."

"You must have really good instincts," Natarii concluded, putting a finger on her chin.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Natarii shrugged. "It can go either way. I'd take it in the compliment direction if I were you."

Naruto scratched at the back of his head. "Guess I will then." He smiled.

"Okay," Natarii began. "This is what I have in mind..."

That's it for this week's chapter!

Next is: "Chapter 39: Operation Break-In!" The break-in process has begun! Will they succeed in getting to the secret scrolls? Or will they get caught?

'Till next time!

- ChibiNinja45