Great Ninjas Don't Make Great Parents
Chapter 29: Curse of the Rumor
Kakashi passed by the dango shop in the late afternoon, while he was on the way home after being dismissed from his duties. The lie there would be that the dango shop was on his way home at all. He had made it a habit to go slightly out of his way each time, because three out of five times, Hinode would be dining at the establishment, at any given time of day. It made sense to casually run into her from time to time, that was much less suspicious than meeting with her in a seemingly secret place as he was helping her investigate Root operations.
It was a lot to spy on Root, especially when his main objective, Yakko, was basically second in command. His reputation was something that helped him. No one would suspect a shinobi who killed his own friend to be in the midst of other soulless shinobi. Nonetheless, what he was doing was a huge favor for Hinode, but he couldn't let her know that. She would drop her teaching job in a second.
This time, Hinode was not at the dango shop. She was starting to be there less and less on weeknights ever since she started teaching at the academy. If Kakashi remembered correctly, it had been slightly over a week since she started. Hinode ranted about teaching whenever they did run into each other, but he could tell that she liked the children, four of them in particular. It seemed to him that her new position was helping her become less reclusive. He thought that it was good for her.
"Hey, Kakashi!"
Kakashi heard Guy's voice call out to him from inside the dango shop. Guy was enjoying some snacks along with Genma, Asuma, and Kurenai. Not many remained from their first year together at the academy, and it was not because only the strongest survived the war. War was too unpredictable. And if history repeated itself as it often did, he knew that Hinode surely would not forgive herself if anything so tragic happened to any of her students.
That was the most worrisome trait of Uchiha Hinode. If she had the chance to stand between death and anyone she cared about, she would.
"Want to join us for some sweet dango?" Guy shouted from inside the shop.
Kakashi shrugged and sauntered into the shop; it was still early in the day. As soon as Kakashi sat down at the end of the table between Guy and Kurenai, he knew that he had made a mistake. He was front and center to everyone's gaze and for some reason, Kurenai was looking at him with a mysterious smirk.
"Let's see who can eat the most dango!" Guy said, oblivious to the atmospheric change since Kakashi sat down. "You better hurry, because I already ate three sticks!"
"I'd rather not take that challenge," Kakashi said without even considering it, and ordered just a cup of tea.
"Oh, come on, Kakashi!" Guy complained. "You're already ahead in our competition with the girlfriend thing, at least let me get even with this dango eating contest!"
"...What?" Kakashi turned his head toward Guy, and then he felt it. Kurenai's eyes on the back of his head were burning holes into his skull, and she was not even using Genjutsu. This could not be good.
"I don't have a girlfriend," Kakashi denied right away.
"Just because you're a genius, that doesn't mean we're dumb," Kurenai finally said; her tone sounded like she'd already won. "You and Hinode are always together, sitting side by side, whispering god-knows-what with your heads glued together. It's like you're trying so hard to be discreet, which makes it even more obvious that there's something going on between you two!"
Kakashi's eyes widened. He had no idea that there were rumours going around about him and Hinode. It was a ridiculous assumption; he had never thought of Hinode that way. They were just very good friends. Although, he felt strangely as if he was being caught red-handed. It was probably the fact that they really were doing something secretive together, and he was actually trying not to be discreet.
"Wait a minute, Hinode is the girl?!" Genma asked incredulously. "Damn it, Guy! She tricked us last time, acting all clueless about the rumor!"
"No way!" Guy grinned at Kakashi in excitement. "Two of my greatest friends together! That's what the springtime of youth is all about!"
"Do you guys listen?" Kakashi let out a big sigh. "I don't have a girlfriend."
"Not yet, you mean," Asuma teased. "Come on, Kakashi, Hinode's not a bad girl! I even heard that the third grade teacher at the academy has his eyes on her. But don't worry, you have a leg up on the competition since you already look like her childhood crush!"
Laughter filled the table and Kakashi wanted to roll his eyes, but the others were already laughing so hard that an eye roll wasn't going to be very effective. He considered retaliating with Asuma and Kurenai's obvious relationship, but he didn't want to seem petty.
Fortunately, the conversation didn't linger on the rumor between him and Hinode, and they started to discuss the third grade teacher instead. Genma criticized the third grade teacher's taste and Kurenai accused him of being jealous because Hinode stole his childhood crush. By then, Kakashi's mind had wandered off, and he barely remembered the name of that third grade teacher. And soon after, the group of Jonin dispersed with Guy telling Kakashi to be prepared for his next challenge.
Kakashi smiled and shook his head as he left the dango shop; life certainly seemed simpler when he was with that group. As he continued walking home, he realized that he hadn't eaten anything at the dango shop. Ramen Ichiraku was just up ahead; the warm lights from the restaurant were glowy invitingly in the evening twilight. It wasn't the healthiest choice for dinner, but he was a little tired from being bombarded by four gossip mongers earlier. He decided to treat himself for the day.
"Ah, welcome, Kakashi-san!"
Ayame greeted Kakashi with a bright smile as soon as he walked in. Her cheerfulness often reminded him of Nohara Rin, and he couldn't help but return with a soft smile.
"Good evening, Ayame-san," he said.
Ayame's face turned red like it did everytime he visited the ramen shop. Again, it reminded him of Rin. And everytime, it made him a little uncomfortable. No, he was not repulsed by the affection. He was afraid of it.
Thankfully, it was well-hidden behind his mask. "Shio ramen, please."
"O-of course," Ayame scurried into the kitchen. A few seconds later, Teuchi's loud voice sounded from outside the shop.
"Hinode? Why are you hiding there? We're not gonna serve you ramen outside!"
"Shh—Teuchi-san, your voice…"
"Come on in, Hinode! I just bought some fresh bean sprouts! You can't just eat sweets for dinner, you know?" Teuchi's voice became clearer as he entered his own shop, and he noticed Kakashi sitting at the bar. "Oh, Kakashi is here? Hinode, come in, your friend is here!"
Kakashi turned slightly just in time to see an embarrassed Hinode entering the restaurant. She was already looking at him when he turned, which could only mean one thing. She was spying on him. And for some reason, he could guess why.
Hinode bounced back from her embarrassment quickly and held her head high as she walked to the bar. She plopped into the seat next to Kakashi indignantly and immediately glared at him.
"Hello to you, too," Kakashi said amusedly.
"Kakashi," Hinode said in a lowered voice. "Are you hiding something from me?"
Kakashi looked up at the ceiling as if he was really thinking about it.
"No, I don't think so."
"Lies! I've already heard about it!" Hinode pointed her finger at him with conviction. "Come on, tell me who the girl is! We're friends, aren't we?"
So Hinode had already heard about the rumor. Kakashi could have easily denied the rumor, but he was feeling a rare mischievousness. After all, Hinode was at least half responsible for the rumor, and if she hadn't had a crush on his father, Asuma wouldn't have been able to make that joke about him. She needed to have a taste of the embarrassment that he had to endure.
"I always thought that we were more than that."
Kakashi smiled with his eyes and Hinode's eyes popped wide open. A pink hue emerged from her cheeks.
"Y-you…"
A shattering sound interrupted Hinode. Both Kakashi and Hinode turned toward the kitchen, where Ayame stood with her hands raised. If Kakashi had to guess, Ayame must have dropped the ceramic tea cups that she was supposed to serve him.
"The… the rumor is true…" Ayame murmured.
"Wait, Ayame-san, what did you just say?!" Hinode nearly stood up from her seat, but Ayame hurried back into the kitchen after apologizing and promising new cups of tea. Hinode looked back at Kakashi with a more flustered face than before. "Don't joke around, Kakashi!"
"I'm not," Kakashi repressed the urge to chuckle. "You're more like a confidant to me."
Hinode's eyes instantly narrowed at him, though her face was still red from embarrassment. "Having fun, Kakashi?"
Kakashi did not answer, but he was, indeed. The satisfaction from making the comeback queen of their generation flustered was comparable to completing an A rank mission. Hinode, as if knowing what he was thinking, let out a sigh and propped up her chin in her palm.
"Fine, I'll let you have this one," she said quietly. "Not often do I see you in such a good mood."
Kakashi studied the side of Hinode's face without saying a word. Asuma's words from earlier replayed in his head. Hinode was not a bad girl. Of course, she was far from bad. Sure, she was not the sweetest or friendliest of girls, but once you were her friend, she never stopped caring about you. Sure, she had a sharp tongue, but she had a soft heart. Sure, she might act tough and self-righteous, but only after she'd crawled back up from depths of darkness with a tear-stained face.
Two bowls of ramen were set down in front of them. Hinode's bowl was piled with bean sprouts and bamboo shoots, even though she never even ordered. Teuchi looked at Hinode's pouty expression and laughed.
"Eat your vegetables, Hinode!" Teuchi said, then went back into the kitchen.
"I don't even like ramen..." Hinode mumbled.
Hinode was not a bad girl. And sometimes, she could even be kind of cute.
Children's friendships evolved overnight. That was something that Hinode quickly learned over the first week of her teaching career. Over the course of the first week, Haruno Sakura had become friends with Yamanaka Ino.
On the following Monday, Sakura came to school with a brand new look with her bangs trimmed and parted, and neatly pulled back with a red ribbon tied on top of her head. The new hairstyle revealed Sakura's biggest insecurity, her forehead, but also her beautiful green eyes. Sakura's nickname of 'Forehead' was rarely heard again and she had instantly risen in rank to "one of the cute girls." Naruto certainly thought so when he saw her walk into class on Monday. However, when he and Hinata went to find their usual lunch buddy, she was eating with a different group instead.
For the next three days, Hinode had one less duckling following her to the teacher's lounge. Naruto and Hinata were a bit sad about the absence of Sakura in their lunch party, but Hinode assured them that they would eventually find their new groups of friends too. And they needed to do that soon, because she really wasn't supposed to bring students into the teacher's lounge so often. It could be taken as favoritism and she did not need another lecture from Hiruzen after the one he gave her after Nurse Tanemura tattled on her about Sasuke's ankle.
"But who would you eat lunch with if we leave?" Hinata asked Hinode during lunch on Thursday, after Hinode told them, once again, that they should eat their lunch in the classroom.
"Probably people my own age," Hinode answered with a shrug.
"But the other teachers don't like you," Naruto pointed out casually.
Hinode narrowed her eyes at the young boy. "Who told you that?"
"I overheard the nurse lady and some other teachers when I had that stomachache yesterday."
"I think the third graders' teacher likes Hinode-sensei," Hinata corrected Naruto.
Naruto thought for a second. "You mean Poop-sensei?"
"Ahem, he's Ungo-sensei, not unko," Hinode nearly choked on her tea when Naruto botched her colleague's name. "You guys just worry about yourselves, all right? Your teacher has plenty of friends."
Naruto and Hinata looked at Hinode and then looked at each other. They clearly did not believe her, but Hinode decided that she wasn't going to prove herself to a couple of kids. Instead, she reminded them that there was only ten minutes left of lunch and they needed to finish up.
The plan for the afternoon lesson was the same as the past week—meditation. The entire class groaned when Hinode brought them to the outdoor training ground and announced.
"Again?" Naruto wailed from the back of the class. "We've been doing this for a week! We know how to meditate!"
"Our deal was that we can move on from this lesson if the whole class can meditate through two hours. You guys have not succeeded, so we're doing this again," Hinode said firmly.
Even Hinode was not a fan of meditating when she was young nor now that she was older, but in theory it was an important practice for a shinobi. The goal of meditating for two hours was taken from Ono Masano's handbook. And just like she remembered from her school days, at least one kid would always ruin it for the rest of the class. In her current class, it was either Naruto who would break the silence or Shikamaru would fall asleep halfway through the meditation. Mostly, it was Naruto.
"When I talk about 'Silence' as a Shinobi Principle, it's not just about shutting your mouth," Hinode lectured. "It's also about silencing your mind. Purge your mind of distractions, so that you can listen, learn, and see more clearly."
Naruto grumbled something quietly, but did not fight it any further. With Hinode's instruction, the class sat down on the ground each in their most comfortable position. Hinode sat down across from them as well, like all the previous times, to go through the meditation practice with them. Seeing that every student had closed their eyes, she closed hers as well.
Practicing what you teach was not as easy as one might think. Being quiet on the outside was easy for Hinode, but on the inside, she was mostly restless, especially after that joke that Kakashi pulled on her last night.
Hinode was curious about the girl that Kakashi was dating, and frankly she was a little insulted that, as a friend, Kakashi didn't tell her something so important. So she tried to spy on Kakashi after school and if it weren't for Teuchi blowing her cover, she wouldn't have had to suffer the embarrassment that transpired afterwards. And what made everything was that, according to Ayame, the girl in the rumor was none other than herself!
She was going to find out which insufferable villager was spreading the false rumors and that person was going to wish they were a mute.
Growl!
Hinode slowly opened her eyes to the sound of a growling stomach. Akimichi Choji's face was reddening, but he strained to keep his eyes and mouth closed. On the other side of the classroom, Naruto's shoulders were trembling and he was biting his lips; he was trying not to laugh. Beside Naruto, Hinata's brows furrowed, and a few seats away, Sakura peeked one eye open to look at Naruto.
She should have called the exercise off by then, but even she didn't want to go through another day of meditation. And in that moment of hesitation, Choji's stomach growled again even louder.
"Bahahaha!" Naruto broke out in laughter, while the rest of the class groaned collectively.
"Naruto, you idiot! You ruined it for all of us!" Sakura jumped to her feet and shouted at Naruto in frustration. Naruto's laughter ceased immediately when he saw her angry face. Sakura seemed to have realized that she'd overreacted, but at the same time, several students also stood up behind her.
"Sakura-chan is right! It's always Naruto who messes up!" a girl said angrily.
"Naruto ruins everything!" a boy shouted. "As if he hasn't ruined enough!"
Naruto bristled. "W-what is that supposed to mean?"
"Naruto probably did that on purpose!"
"Hey, I really tried not to laugh!" Naruto retorted, but his voice was becoming weak.
"You just can't help it, can you?" another student mocked. "And you never feel bad for dragging down the rest of us! Don't you agree, Sakura-chan?"
"I…" Panic flashed through Sakura's eyes when all eyes, including Naruto's, turned to her. "Y-yeah, Naruto! Don't you feel bad about yourself?"
Hinode watched as her entire class went into chaos, more and more of them standing up, surrounding Naruto. All except for Sasuke, who still kept meditating with his eyes closed. But Hinode could tell that he was getting impatient with his eyebrow twitching with every shout from the students. It didn't take much longer for him to break as well.
"Shut up, all of you!" Sasuke said just loud enough for all his classmates, causing them to turn their attention away from Naruto. "You're all the same, getting distracted by one growl and getting distracted by one laugh!"
"Oh, you think you are so great, Uchiha?" one of the boys retaliated.
"That's enough!" Hinode stood up and bellowed. The entire class quieted down at the volume of her voice. "Sasuke-kun is right. None of you have the right to blame another. And to turn to anger so quickly tells me that you haven't learned anything from meditation at all!"
The students either looked down on the ground or away from Hinode, all besides Naruto and Sasuke. Hinode sighed deeply; she really didn't want to meditate again tomorrow. "Head back to the classroom. We'll move on to the next lesson and come back to this next week. By then, I want you all to have thought about what you did wrong today."
The students grumbled and dispersed from the training ground with heavy steps, many of them glared at Naruto as they passed him. However, Naruto didn't budge from his spot, and lowered his gaze to his feet. His hands were shaking in tight fists, and he bit down on his bottom lip so hard that it was turning white.
"Naruto-kun."
Naruto looked up at the sound of Hinode's voice close to him. She was kneeling down in front of him, and caught his eyes as he looked up. She seemed almost displeased with her unsmiling face, but the corners of her eyes had softened down.
"There is another aspect of 'Silence' that is truly the hardest aspect. Even I have a hard time following this principle," Hinode said carefully. "That is to silence the words of others. Words are sometimes more painful than physical wounds. Words are so powerful that they can change you. And I don't want you to change because of what everyone says about you. I want you to decide for yourself, okay?"
Naruto responded to Hinode with just a few blinks. Hinode wondered if that was too confusing for a five-year-old, but at least, his fists had loosened their grip.
"Uh… Sensei," a lazy voice broke the silence between them.
Hinode looked behind her when she felt a tap on the back of her shoulder. Shikamaru was the one who tapped her, and Choji was standing slightly behind him. Choji's face was still slightly red from earlier when his stomach growled.
"Choji has something to say," said Shikamaru.
"Hinode-sensei… and Naruto…" Choji began slowly, and Naruto stiffened at his name being mentioned. "I'm sorry for growling so loudly. I got you in trouble, Naruto."
Hinode watched as Naruto's eyes widened at Choji's apology, and the corners of his lips gradually curved. Besides Choji, Shikamaru also began to smile, and he patted his friend on the back. The kids' smiles were infectious even for Hinode.
"It's all right, Choji-kun," Hinode ruffled Choji's hair. "Next time, make sure to eat enough during lunch, okay?"
"Heh, you should come to the teacher's lounge sometime!" Naruto grinned at Choji. "Hinode-sensei always has extra snacks, you know!"
Hinode sighed, but she couldn't hide her smile.
"That's actually my lunch, Naruto-kun."
Hinode had the students read on their own for the last hour of the class. The students were obviously still simmering down, and there was no way that they would pay attention to her lecture. A few of the students passed around notes, but Hinode didn't bother calling them out.
The hour went by quickly and school was over. Everyone was eager to leave the day behind, but Hinode had a different plan.
"Sakura-chan, please stay for a few minutes."
Sakura flinched in her seat when her name was called while the rest of the class murmured as they made their way out of the classroom. Yamanaka Ino lingered next to Sakura for a while, but left reluctantly after Hinode gave her a look.
Once only Hinode and Sakura remained in the classroom, Hinode walked over to Sakura's desk. Ever since returning from the training ground, Sakura kept a frown on her face. Especially when she noticed that Naruto peeked at her from time to time. She fiddled with the ribbon in her hair as if she wanted to cover her eyes with her bangs again.
The young girl looked even worse when Hinode sat in the chair in front of her, and crossed her arms over the back of the chair. It was almost like the first day of school again.
"Sakura-chan…"
"I wasn't the only one who said those things!" Sakura blurted suddenly.
"I know," Hinode said. "I just wonder if you agreed with the other kids because you don't want to be the one being bullied anymore.."
Sakura widened her eyes at Hinode; the tears that had been pooling up under her eyelids rolled out from the motion.
"Sakura-chan, you must know how Naruto feels when he hears those things, right?" Hinode softened her voice. "I'm not telling you who to be friends with; I'm glad that you're making new friends. I just hope that you don't forget the bond between you and Naruto."
"Bond…?" Sakura whimpered.
"My mother once said that bonds are created when we meet someone who shares pain with us, and those bonds make us stronger," Hinode said, remembering what her mother said to her and Obito when they were just as young as Sakura and Naruto. "Do you want to be a strong ninja or a pretty one?"
Sakura sniffed and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. "A… a strong one…"
"Good," Hinode smiled. "And if you ask me, I think you're already pretty."
Sakura blushed at that statement, but couldn't hide the giddiness behind her eyes. Then, as she realized something important, she quickly grabbed her school bag.
"I have to catch up to Naruto."
Hinode waved to Sakura, then the latter sprinted out of the classroom. Hinode let out another big sigh. It certainly had been an eventful day even though all she had on the agenda was to read and meditate. Hinode stood up and stretched. She stepped up to the window to see if most students had left. She usually waited until most kids were gone before she left, since Sasuke told her over and over that he didn't want people finding out that they were related in any way.
Surprisingly, Sasuke was still in the schoolyard, facing a couple of students from class. There was one taller boy whom Hinode didn't recognize. He must have been an older student.
Hinode could tell from their faces that they weren't exactly being friendly to Sasuke. Upon closer look, one of the younger boys was the one who mouthed off to Sasuke during the afternoon. Sasuke definitely did not look pleased, but he kept his hands inside the pockets of his shorts.
The more Sasuke ignored the boys, the more irritated the boys became. It didn't take long for the boys to give up and walk away. As all of this went down, Naruto and Sakura were watching from behind a tree with eyes wide with wonder.
Naruto and Sakura's faces drew a short chuckle out from Hinode's lips. However, her smile dropped almost immediately after, as she watched Sasuke leave the school by himself. She thought about Kakashi, who also used to leave school alone. And she thought about Shisui and Itachi, who couldn't find a friend in school.
Although those three turned out okay, Hinode couldn't help but feel sad for Sasuke. This was supposed to be a time of peace, and yet there was so much conflict stored inside the villagers' hearts, so much hatred buried in a shallow place in the grounds of Konoha.
Hinode thought that, at the very least, that place should not be the academy.
To be continued.
Author's Note: First update of 2021! I hope guys liked this chapter. I had the Kakashi moment in the first part of the chapter in my mind for a while! I also hope that you guys like reading about the school days. I know there's not a lot of action right now but y'all know there are some big things coming in this school year!
I'm also thinking that a couple of kids will turn out a bit different in the future. Most obvious ones right now are Sakura and Hinata. So if they are kinda OOC... sorry! They are staying that way lol
Anyway, thank you for reading as always! See you at the next one!
