Recently I had been having numerous nightmares as a result of my overactive Time-and-Relative-Space Sharingan, meaning that each night I was plagued with visions of the future, and all of them were dark and painful. Most of them centred around the two boys, Sasuke and Naruto Uzumaki, and I worried for them both. It had been some time since I had had any interaction with the Fourth Hokage's son, but out of habit I occasionally watched over him from afar. I pitied him for the loneliness he had sometimes felt, but I was glad that he had at least found friendship within his team and even his old classmates.
They were all growing up very well, I was pleased that our future generation of ninja were so promising and talented. Today I had happened to be shopping for food, carrying my groceries on my arm when I noticed Naruto ahead of me, arguing with one of the shopkeepers. "I didn't do anything, it wasn't me!" Curious as to what was happening, I went forwards before the crowds started to gather so that I could see from the front. The baker from the bakery was angrily brandishing a rolling pin at Naruto who was rubbing his rear from where he had been pushed onto the ground.
"Cut the crap, I know it was you! You're always causing trouble boy, now hand over what you stole!"
"I don't have anything because I didn't steal it ya know!" I see, so there appears to be a misunderstanding between Naruto and the baker. If something had gone missing, then it means someone must have taken it whilst the baker was distracted and Naruto had received the blame for it. They argued back and forth as the crowd continued to gather, murmuring against Naruto who was beginning to tremble with upset. Poor boy, this reminds me of several other incidents when he was younger and more troublesome with his pranks on the village.
Looking around I scanned the crowds to see if someone else seemed suspicious, however when I caught sight of movement down an alleyway, I knew I had found the real culprit. I disappeared in a puff and appeared behind a black cat which hissed when I startled it, but before it could take off with the steamed bun it had snatched, I picked it up in my hands to carry it out into the open. "Um…excuse me."
"What?!" The baker whirled around but froze when he saw me, immediately yelping as he hurriedly hid his rolling pin behind his back and started to sweat nervously. "Oh Miyuki-san, I apologise for this disturbance I am truly sorry, I'll be there to serve you in just a moment after I've dealt with this menace." Keeping a perfectly straight face I lifted the cat up into his face, holding it under its forelegs as it grasped the steam bun in its jaw. "Huh?"
"I found your thief." The cat hissed and took a swipe at the baker, scratching its nose before it wiggled out of my grasp and jumped to the ground, racing away with its food to eat in peace. Around us some of the spectators were laughing that a cat had been the real culprit, moving away when they realised that the spectacle was over.
"Oh dear, Miyuki-san I am terribly sorry for this misunderstanding, I am embarrassed." The baker apologised however my eyes flashed, making him squeak and flinch away from me.
"I am not the one who requires your apology." Making myself perfectly clear, I then looked towards Naruto who was staring at me in surprise, unaccustomed to someone coming to his rescue in such situations. Begrudgingly the baker apologised for blaming Naruto, which prompted the boy to gloat and suggest that he deserved free food in compensation because he was hungry but the baker merely smacked him on the head with his rolling pin and yelled for him to clear off. Although I disliked the show of violence, I drifted into the bakery whereby the baker zipped behind the counter in order to take my order, acting as if butter wouldn't melt.
Brushing my plain yukata to ensure it was smooth and neat, I bought several items for myself and Sasuke, then also purchased a few jelly doughnuts, cinnamon buns, a beef and onion pie and a meat filled steamed bun like the one the cat had managed to steal. "If you wish to protect your wares." I spoke after paying the money and lifting the bags off the counter, eyeing the baker warningly. "Be more vigilant."
"Yes Miyuki-san, you are absolutely correct. I hope you were not too inconvenienced today and come back again tomorrow, I'll bake an extra large treat just for you!" He promised so I nodded my head, signalling that my patronage had not been affected. This was my favourite bakery after all, I would not leave it for something so minor, though it had tested my temper. Leaving the shop, I was surprised to find Naruto leaning against the wall, kicking at a stone with his shoe.
"Hey lady!" When he noticed that I had passed him, Naruto dashed after me and cut me off, blocking my way with a skid. "How did you know that it wasn't me who took the bun, lady? Did you see that cat earlier or something?" He asked me, folding his arms as we stood in the middle of the street. My head tilted at him, wondering why he was curious about such a mundane thing.
"You are not a liar, Naruto Uzumaki." I explained simply before continuing on my way, thinking that that was enough for him to understand however Naruto chased after me again and fell into step beside me, folding his arms up behind his head in a casual manner in a partial stretch.
"How do you know me? Wait, you're that lady that kicked those rogue ninja's butts! Wow! You were so cool! What was that jutsu you used to make that giant human crow thing? Are you really Sasuke's sister? Because you don't look anything alike." Naruto bombarded me with questions until my head was spinning and I had no choice but to stop for a moment in order to settle myself. "And how come you kind of feel familiar, have we met before? And how come Old Man Hokage only sent you to rescue us? And…"
"Naruto-kun, I cannot answer all your questions at once." I informed him simply, exhaling as I attempted to figure out which he would want answering the most and how much I should actually tell him. "I was once assigned your guardian, a long time ago. It was my duty to protect you from danger."
"Danger? What kind of danger? I don't remember ever being in danger."
"Because you are dense."
"Hey! That's rude ya know! I'm not dense at all!" He paused, frowning with a scrunched up face. "Uh…what does dense mean?" If I could have slapped myself in the face, I would have, but I was carrying shopping so I did not. After explaining to him what it meant, Naruto protested once more. "I am not dense!"
"Hm." Unwilling to argue, I carried on walking and once again Naruto followed after me, walking quickly in order to keep up.
"Why did I need protection? Were you there all the time? What exactly did you do?"
"I watched over you and protected you from the shadows."
"Well, you didn't exactly do a great job, there were plenty of times I needed help! What about all the times I was getting beat up or the villagers were being mean to me, and what about…wait a minute. I recognise where I heard your voice before!" Naruto suddenly realised, pointing at me as he yelled. "You wore that cat mask didn't you?! I remember, you saved me from falling off the cliffs that one time! That was you?"
"Yes." How much longer is he going to follow me? I am already behind schedule.
"Ha no way! That is so cool. So, do I still have people guarding me because I'm so important?"
"No, it is no longer necessary."
"You don't talk very much do you? And here I thought Sasuke was bad, he must have learned all his bad habits from you. Anyway, you still haven't told me all about that jutsu I saw, and about everything else, what kind of-!" Deciding that I could not deal with his incessant chatter any longer, I stuffed a meat bun into his mouth and effectively quietened him down. He was surprised by the sudden blockage in his mouth but when he tasted the now cooled bun, he immediately started on it with rather abrupt manners, stuffing as much of it into his face as he possibly could. "That was great! Thanks lady."
Exhaling, I handed him the extra bag of food I had bought from the bakery and handed it to him, however his bright eyed expression became puzzled as to what I was doing. He looked inside to see all of the carefully wrapped treats and pies, staring at them and salivating at the mouth as his stomach rumbled noisily from hunger. "You said you were hungry." Naruto was so shocked at my gesture that he was rooted to the spot, so I took this as my opportunity to escape for now. He was a sweet boy, but far too energetic for me to handle. I was almost glad Sasuke was so mild mannered.
Just before I got too far away to hear him, the boy called out to me with a huge wave of his arm to signal me down. "Hey lady!" I stopped and looked back, seeing him grin from ear to ear. "Thanks!" His voice carried outwards and several people stopped to look at us, however I ignored them and instead looked only at Naruto. Dipping my head I gave a small smile before turning away and continuing about my daily routine, suddenly thinking that it was perhaps not so bad if I had fallen behind schedule.