Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.
A/N: Hm, sorry this chapter is a little boring I suppose, but it's somewhat of an insight to the characters. Hopefully the next chapter will be much better.
Chapter 52: The Game Master
Kita poked at the food in front of her- sushi... one of her most hated foods. She had to try her hardest to restrain herself from popping it all in her mouth at once though. She hung her head briefly before looking back up. The eatery they were at was relatively empty, but Kita couldn't help noticing the staff at the counter giving her funny looks. She attempted to slide herself lower down into the chair of the booth so that she was partially hidden by the backs of her new team's heads.
She gave them all a look over again. The trio were obviously weird. The first one she had met, Sencha Arata, who continued his strange hobby of staring straight ahead intently. He had not dared to touch his food yet. Kita wondered if he was just a boring person, the silent type, or some kind of highly trained robot. Her fingers tapped on the seat as she thought. He didn't seem to be the robot kind... he smiled a tad too much for it. He was rather like a butler of sorts. Kita suddenly made the connection to why Katsuro had called him 'Jeeves'.
Her gaze switched to her new sensei, Yuugino Katsuro- a rather young, yet weary looking man. He had gobbled his food as soon as it had landed on the table and started playing his video game again. Kita gave a brief look of worry. He seemed neither professional nor like any jounin she had ever really met before. She wondered just how the man worked on proper missions... it was rather worrying to think about someone like that leading a highly dangerous mission.
Lastly, she gave a glimpse over at the last member of her new team, Aitou Susumu. The older boy was eagerly shovelling food into his mouth like it was his last meal. Kita found herself frowning at him, not because of his eating habits, but because of his attitude. Within the first few seconds of having met each other, he had already badmouthed her gender and laughed in her face when she said she'd train and become as strong as she could. She felt some satisfaction at having punched him in the face after it, but she still felt infuriated by his mere presence.
"You know, he won't eat until you've started," spoke Susumu in between bites. His dark blue eyes flashed over towards Arata, still staring ahead... though Kita was sure she caught a glimpse of him eyeing his food from under his low hitae-ate.
Kita sighed and swallowed her pride. It tasted horrible to her... in the bizarre way that it was actually really good. As soon as she gulped down the first piece, Arata started to eat, a sense of relief about him.
Susumu gave a grunt. "Girls... always thinking the world will wait for them..."
Kita grumbled- getting into another argument would be a waste of time, and would gain people's attentions. A thought suddenly hit her. "What kind of ninja are you guys anyway?" she asked curiously. For some reason, she didn't exactly pick them as a normal ninja team. And Tsunade's comment before about 'having lots of time to train' still puzzled her.
"Finally figured it out, huh?" replied Susumu with a smirk. "We're an Internal Guard squad. Since we're not in a war at the moment, we just do border patrol and a few missions around town."
"Oh..." Kita frowned. It all made sense now why Tsunade had placed her with this team- it fitted her restricted status perfectly. "What do you do in war time then?"
Susumu didn't seem to have heard her. He stared down at his empty plate for a minute.
"We are left to protect the village with the other guard squads," Katsuro said for him, pressing a button every now and then.
"So it's still the same?" asked Kita, feeling a little put off still.
"Not exactly," replied the jounin. "In that case, missions must be constrained since all resources will be hoarded and put into the war effort. Build time for resources will go into overdrive, but the assemblage of new units and training will be put on hiatus. If an enemy siege on the village is feared, the village goes into lockdown and all civilians are evacuated from the area. If a siege on the village is the case, most of the remaining units will attempt to rush the enemy and try and overwhelm them or stall until back-up arrives."
Kita stared at the man with a look of pure confusion. "What...?"
Susumu sighed agitatedly, snapping out of whatever he was thinking about. "He's talking in video game terms again. I have no idea what he means exactly, but during war time, we act like a skeleton crew and try to keep the order within the village. Since it's only us and the newest batch of genin left, we can't keep up on missions. The genin will be able to do small stuff within and around the village without jounin supervision, but if something comes in that offers a lot of money, a guard squad may get sent to do it."
"And if the village is attacked?"
"We'll try and hold them off until help arrives from the field. Everyone usually gets a fair warning of what's happening though because of spies so there's enough time to organise." The white-haired boy shrugged.
Kita went back to poking at the last remaining morsels on her plate.
"Alright, back to work," announced Katsuro suddenly. He stood up and started to walk out. "Hey Jeeves, pay the bill, would ya?"
"Of course, Yuugino-san." Arata nodded and headed to the counter.
Kita fumbled to grab some spare cash from her pocket until Susumu grabbed her by the wrist.
"Don't bother, he won't let you." The boy let go and followed after Katsuro.
"How come?" Kita quickened her pace to match his. She couldn't help but feel it was wrong to let... no, order the other boy foot the bill for all of them.
Susumu didn't care to answer, earning himself a hard glare from the girl. He glared back and gave a 'hmph'. "Girls... always sticking their noses in where it doesn't belong."
Kita ignored him and slowed down, allowing herself to drop back to where Arata was walking.
"Mitsukai-san," said the boy suddenly, "if you are wondering about paying your share of the bill, please do not worry. It was the proper thing to do since you are our guest at the moment."
The cat-eared girl looked up at him. "But what about the others?"
Arata gave a slight smile and nod. "It was also the proper thing to do."
Kita raised an eyebrow at him, but chose to remain silent. No, you just let yourself be ordered around. Your sensei just told you to pay the bill and walked out. He didn't even try to make any kind of lame excuse for not being able to pay. Rosuto-sensei would have even done that at the very least and politely asked.
The team continued to walk until they reached the part of the wall they had met at earlier. Instead of stopping though, Katsuro continued to walk up the side, still staring at his game. Kita followed until they reached the top.
"You guys know the drill. Cat-Ears-chan, walk with me." Katsuro motioned with his head as Arata and Susumu started to walk off in the other direction.
Kita tagged along behind him. "What are we doing?"
"Border patrol," replied Katsuro simply. A small beeping sound came from his game. "Damn, where'd that lava pool come from?"
"Uh, Katsuro-sensei, if this is border patrol, shouldn't you be keeping an eye on the surroundings?" asked Kita doubtfully.
"I can multi-task. Damn it, not again. It's gotta be some kind of glitch!" His game gave another sad beep. The man switched it off angrily and swapped games. "So what kind of mad skillz do you bring to the party, Cat-Ears-chan?"
"'Skillz'?" repeated Kita. She looked around awkwardly, not sure if he was talking in video game terms again.
"Splash damage, area effect, crowd control... you know." The jounin shrugged casually.
Apparently so, was the answer to her question, making Kita feel even more awkward.
"Can you tank?" asked Katsuro. Kita raised an eyebrow. Then man continued despite her confusion. "We used to have a tank. The formation of our team used to be very effective with one, since Jeeves and Checkers don't have the stats for defence. We had a good tank-healer-damager trinity going for a while..."
"Katsuro-sensei, I don't exactly understand..." She knew he was talking about abilities, but just which ones? It seemed impossible.
The man paused and glanced back at her for a second before walking again. "You need to start playing video games then. I'll try my best for layman's terms though since you're a newbie. I noticed your taijutsu during your fight with Checkers- you're pretty versatile in your fighting styles, but very sloppy in execution. You need more training to be more effective."
Kita frowned, knowing he was right. The only taijutsu knowledge she had wasn't exactly the best.
"I take it you would probably depend more on your special abilities," Katsuro pondered out loud. "What abilities did you get from the Nibi?"
The cat-eared girl stopped in her tracks. The question had caught her off-guard, to say the least. He had probably been the first one to ask so forwardly as well.
"I know that the Kazekage has some rather unique skills from the Ichibi. He'd make an awesome tank-damager hybrid probably, and he could possibly just nuke all his enemies at once." The man glanced up as a flock of birds flew close overhead. "So, how about you?"
Kita scratched her elbow warily. "I don't really like to use those abilities... I've never really been on good terms with dealing with..."
"I didn't say you had to use them," replied Katsuro abruptly. He gave an 'erk' of surprise as something happened in his game. He took a second to continue. "Just tell me a little."
"Alright," sighed Kita, feeling that the man wouldn't give up without some sort of information. "I can do some of that stuff, um, necromancy- interaction with spirits and corpses. I don't really like to do anything with corpses though."
"That's interesting, especially about the spirits. Manipulating corpses has always been somewhat more common over anything regarding the spiritual world- and most of those types of techniques would be forbidden."
"Which is why I don't like to abuse using them," Kita replied quickly. "It doesn't feel right. And it takes a lot of chakra for me to do at the moment."
Katsuro gave a vague shrug. "If that's how you feel then- though it seems to me that you're just missing up on an important opportunity many would give a leg for. If you got it, flaunt it. Or at least that's what they say."
Kita sighed. I don't know what to think... This guy doesn't understand what I've been through or the circumstances. But... somehow he's right too. I could be a stronger person if I wasn't so afraid... it's just not right still.
She looked around, finally taking in the view from atop the wall. On one side were vast forests of green, interrupted occasionally by large fields used for training. Kita spotted a few contained forests inside the fields, darker green than the usual trees outside them. There was almost a menacing feeling radiating from them, wild and dangerous. On the other side was the village, still mingling with patches of forest inside, but tamer and peaceful-feeling, like small well-kempt parks. Her ears were able to pick up the sounds of people from the nearby streets below, and more than occasionally she was able to catch glimpses of fellow ninja leaping across the rooftops.
She looked up, placing the village against the backdrop of the cliff-face behind it, where the faces of four men stared out across the land. They felt like guardians, keeping watch over the village so that no harm would come. Another face was being carved into the cliff-face as well, Tsunade, the Godaime. It was still rather featureless though, but would be completed one day so that she too would join watching out over the people.
Kita breathed in as a breeze drifted past. She suddenly felt more homesick than she'd ever felt before. Where was she, in this strange place surrounded by unknown forests and fresh faces? It certainly wasn't Iwagakure, or anything like Sunagakure... it was daunting.
There's still so far to go, Kita thought, and I've got to make the best of it.
"Maybe you could be the tank," said Katsuro wonderingly. "I've heard interesting things about your bloodline. Is it more of an offensive or defensive bloodline?"
Kita snapped out from her thoughts. "It was created to be used defensively, since the basic Shouheki is mostly meant as a shield."
"I suppose that could do," replied Katsuro with a nod. "But I did notice you don't carry any kunai or shuriken."
The girl glanced down at the man's leg pouch. "As long as I can use my bloodline, I could use that as a tool."
"What limitations do you have?" he asked.
Kita took a second to think. "My bloodline manifests itself in the shape of a halo. I can't do anything to change that," she informed him, wondering what was with all the questions. "It can be a little difficult sometimes since I don't have many jutsu for it."
"You're probably not as limited as you think." The man halted and spun around, a grin on his face. Kita stepped back a little. Katsuro put his game away and pulled out a pad of paper and pencil. "This will be interesting... very interesting. If you're willing to work hard, perhaps I could help you. I'd like to see just how far I can push your bloodline."
Kita raised an eyebrow at his remark. "Are you sure about that?"
Her new sensei's grin only widened as he started scribbling furiously on the paper. "Of course- after all, I'm the Game Master in this plot."
Kita didn't feel too confident as they continued to walk.
Later that afternoon...
Geez, I haven't been shopping in so long now... Kita picked up a green top and looked it at doubtfully. Temari is better at picking clothes than I am.
After walking around the wall of the village, Katsuro had said that they could have the rest of the day off whilst he went to work out "things". Susumu had just shrugged and walked off, grumbling about girls and his teacher's obsession for new toys, or something like that. Arata had bowed to Kita and politely offered his pleasure at meeting her once more before he too left. She had given a twisted smile at him as he left. He still seemed like a strange enigma she wanted to know more about.
Curiosity killed the cat, Kita thought to herself grumpily, but I at least wish someone in this team would call me by my name... 'Girly' and 'Cat-Ears-chan' aren't exactly flattering. And it feels awkward with Arata calling me 'Mitsukai-san', but he seems to be overly formal with everyone, even his own team. I wonder if he's always that way around people?
"Excuse me, do you need any help?"
Kita turned to the shop assistant, an older girl with bright orange wavy hair and dark brown eyes. "I'm not exactly sure," Kita said. "It's been a very long time since I've had to do this, but I don't have any clothes except what I'm wearing."
The other girl looked at her strangely before giving a slight shrug. "Well, you're never too old to learn what good taste is. I know green and purple is supposed to be a good combination, but probably not on you."
The girl picked up a pale yellow halter-neck with detached sleeves and made Kita hold it up against her. "Hm, that's a nice one." She continued to the next rack and sorted through it. She glanced over as Kita followed. "I really like that cat ears headband you're wearing. They really suit you. Where'd you get them? Do they come in different colours?"
"Um, they're... sort of a one-off design," Kita lied, pretending to be interested in a pair of pants on the rack.
"Oh, well that's a shame," replied the girl with a tone full of disappointment. "They're really cute. Let's keep going though! We've got lots of clothes to get through and not much time!"
Before too long, Kita's arms were full with a stack of clothing- from leggings to skirts, to jackets and shirts.
"Well, that should do." The orange-haired girl dusted her hands and nodded admiringly at the clothes. She led Kita to the front counter where another girl took the pile (with some difficulty) and began to add up the amount. Kita's ears twitched at the amount and she turned to the girl that had helped her.
"Um, I don't actually have that much money at the moment..." she confessed guiltily. "I don't get my full pay-check for a few days, and I still have to buy food."
"Oh," replied the girl, scratching her neck. She suddenly pulled out a wallet and handed a wad of cash to the girl at the counter. "Let me pay for them then. Food is more important than fashion when it comes down to it. Though, it'd be a shame after all that work I did."
Kita mouth gaped. "But... but..."
The girl smiled. "No worries- just enjoy." She waved and walked towards the exit of the shop.
"Wait, you don't work here?" Kita called after her.
"Nope," replied the girl, turning back for a second. She grinned. "I just like to help the fashionably-impaired. See ya!"
Kita stood in a kind of shock for a second. Some stranger had just payed a lot of money for a pile of clothes... for her.
"That sure was nice," said the real shop assistant.
"Yeah..." nodded Kita. She looked down at the register. I didn't get to thank her though...
The girl at the counter pushed across some bags with the new purchases in them. "Here you go."
Kita thanked her and picked the bags up. As she walked out the door, she looked up at the Hokage Tower down the street. I think I should go talk to Tsunade about my new team... Something's just not right.
A/N: Not much to say here! (Though I'm still waiting on my new computer, so I'm feeling sad... it was supposed to be here by now)
Until the next chapter!
