Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Naruto stared at the bathroom door as he wondered why he had to be up this early in the morning while he was on a trip meant for relaxation. A school trip but a trip nonetheless. He wondered who was in the bathroom and why they were taking so long.
He heard something bang against the bathroom wall and he met with the eyes of Sasuke. Neither moved but for two completely different reasons. Sasuke was waiting for the blonde to move aside while Naruto was so tired he had not even finished processing that the Uchiha had opened the door.
"You look like shit," Sasuke said as Naruto blinked and rubbed his eyes. He yawned as he opened his mouth to answer.
"I feel like shit," he moved a bit and made space for the dark-haired boy. Sasuke was surprised he had relented so easily but took his chance anyway.
"Don't be long, Kakashi wants us there by seven," he said and he heard Naruto let out a barely audible hum as he walked off.
"Like he's one to talk. He was the one hogging the bathroom. Besides, Kakashi is never early,"
Naruto walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shit before slumping against it. He was too tired to take a shower and it was far too early to be up. Now he wished he had slept instead of researching on his teacher.
The blonde crawled over to the shower and tried to stand. It was a pitiful sight but he managed to make it. He turned it on and simply stood in place as the cold water cascaded all over his body. He felt some of the sleep leave him as the fog in his mind was cleared by the feeling of the water contrasting his natural temperature.
Today they would be visiting an actual snake exhibit and he could not say he was pleased with the sudden revelation. Kakashi said it was a great opportunity to learn about the reptiles and that Orochimaru was an expert on all cold-blooded animals, so he would be leading them through it.
"Figures," he thought to himself before he heard someone bang against the door.
"Naruto?! Are you done in there? Some of us still need to take a shower ya know," he heard Kiba's faint voice on the other side and figured he was right. Besides, if the dog lover had not shown up he was certain he would not have moved from his position. He sighed to himself as he looked at the mirror across the room.
"Today is gonna be a long day,"
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Itachi exhaled deeply as he tensed his muscles and steeled his eyes. He stepped forward as soon as the doors to the supermarket opened. He was quite pleased to see that he was indeed the first customer though that should have been a given considering how he had walked in the moment they opened the store.
The cashier and some of the cleaners looked at him absurdly. He did not care but he knew that this was new even for him. Still, his mother had given this task to him and he had no intention of failing. If anyone asked he would vehemently deny that this was his first time visiting a supermarket since he was in high school.
He was Itachi, everything came naturally to him.
He let his eyes scan the aisles of the store before finally setting his sights on the vegetable section. He moved forward and looked over all the goods. His hand moved to obtain the lettuce and tomatoes when he heard his name.
"Itachi?"
The Uchiha turned and saw that it was none other than Jiraiya. He did not bother to hide his surprise at seeing the older man.
"Sir Jiraiya, what is a man such as yourself doing her," he asked and Jiraiya made a face. He looked constipated by something the younger man had said.
"Don't call me sir, it makes me feel old," he laughed and Itachi furrowed his brows.
"But isn't he..."
"Anyway, Kushina sent me on an errand. She would have gotten Naruto or Mito to do it but they aren't available," he said.
"The school trip, I assume," the younger of the two said as he eyed the vegetables from the corner of his eye.
"Sasuke went as well I take it,"
"I would have preferred he stay but mother wanted him to get out of the house," he said. "I'll admit, he needs social skills,"
"Tell me, how is everything going on your side," Jiraiya asked as he also turned to the food on display, choosing what to take home.
"No progress though that's only because I don't have the freedom to move freely like you," he said without looking back.
"Would have been nice to be in the police force now, wouldn't it," Jiraiya laughed. " Though...I have the feeling that you like your new job,"
Itachi placed some tomatoes in his bag before doing the same to the onions. He closed his eyes and considered what he wanted to say.
"I can watch Sasuke from where I am so there are no qualms. You worry about these children too much. They can take care of themselves,"
"I'm not saying that they can't but you can never be too cautious. We're dealing with a dangerous man here,"
"And we've been standing in one spot for far too long. The guards are coming," the Uchiha turned on his heel and left Jiraiya to deal with the store enforcement. It was nice to have a fall guy.
Now alone, Itachi stopped and thought about the current situation. A one-week-long trip would not be enough time for anything to happen, at least not anything drastic. Seeds could be planted but that could easily be dealt with. He hoped that Sasuke and his friends were careful because he was tired of searching the elemental nations for missing kids and finding dead bodies. He would not have the will to look for his brother knowing what his most likely fate would be. Sometimes he wondered if going undercover was the right choice
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Mito watched as the boys began to arrive. They were late and had made the girls wait. In that time she had noticed some differences in things compared to yesterday. For one, Hinata was not alone and was seated with Sakura.
Mito idly wondered if she should be the one to apologize or if she should wait for the pink-haired girl to do it. No, waiting was not an option but she had no intention of apologizing first. Hell would freeze over.
Ino and Tenten were at her sides. Ino was checking something on her phone while Tenten scanned each boy that entered. Mito also saw how Kakashi himself was early, but his students were not. That was strange.
"Now that everyone is here, we can get on with the problem. We can't leave this place without doing what we came to do. So for today, you have free range while in the snake exhibit while I stay here and take care of your stuff. Mr. Orochimaru," the man smiled at the sound of his name. "Will be your guide,"
"What makes you think someone would steal our stuff?" Ino asked as she looked at him quizzically. Kakashi did not look like he knew how to answer that one.
"Because of..." he tried to come up with something and was failing miserably. "...recent sightings around the area," he said unsurely and Naruto perked up.
"Are you saying that we might have a murderer somewhere in the area?" he said as his eyes darted around the large facility. Sasuke had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.
"Eh...thief actually but some do kill people so sure?" Kakashi answered. "Nothing to worry about though, security is pretty good," he tried to reassure them and back up his lie at the same time.
"Then how did he get in?" now it was Shikamaru who asked and the older man could not believe he had to put this much effort into lying to his students. Why were they so nosy?
"Well I'm sure psychopaths don't go publicizing the fact that they are well... psychopaths," he argued.
"On the contrary, study shows that they often want attention. It's why they kill people," Mito explained and Kakashi felt it would have been much easier to just go along.
"Now now children, Kakashi is simply doing this for you. He just wants to make sure you do not have to worry about your things going missing," Orochimaru stepped in, wanting it done already. They were starting to waste his time.
"We wouldn't have had to worry about it if he hadn't told us," Mito said offhandedly as she looked to the side.
"Ignorance is bliss, but only up till a certain point. Come students, we don't have all day," he walked ahead of them and they all looked at each other. They shrugged and decided that they might as well follow him.
Kakashi sighed and opened up his icha icha book. Now he could relax in peace for the next few hours. They were kind of Orochimaru's problem now. He frowned but he knew paranoia would do him no good.
Naruto found himself walking with Sasuke and Sakura like he was used to but he realized Mito was not with them. He ignored it at first but Sasuke noticed how his eyes kept searching for something or someone.
"What's wrong with you?" the dark-haired teen voiced as Sakura was also drawn to the conversation.
"Where's Mito?" he asked as he looked at them and Sakura shrugged.
"She's a big girl, she can take care of herself,"
Naruto looked at Sasuke and gestured for him to ask Sakura. The blonde knew Sasuke had a much better chance of getting anything out of her.
"Sakura...what's going on?" he asked as he glared at Naruto.
"N-Nothing...we just had a small fight, nothing serious," she said meekly.
Both boys raised an eyebrow at that piece of information. Naruto nodded and Sasuke pressed the matter of his own volition.
"About what?" he didn't see what Mito and Sakura could possibly go at each other about. When Sakura didn't answer, they knew that she didn't want to give them anything and they sighed.
Sasuke looked at one of the snakes through the window and he would admit that it was rather nice to look at them. But he knew better than to touch them, you could not know which where poisonous.
From the corner of his eye he saw Naruto pacing around and the blonde looked antsy. Frankly, it was annoying.
"You can go," he said and Naruto looked at him.
"What?"
"You can go, I'm not saying it a third time,"
Naruto grinned at him and basically walked off whistling. Sakura was left confused. Had Naruto completely disregarded how she felt about the situation and gone straight for Mito. It was strange to realize that the blonde could prioritize someone on top of her.
"Family first huh?"
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There was no sugar coating it. Mito was basically avoiding Sakura. She was not willing to apologize for speaking her mind. She felt the pink haired girl was wrong anyway. Naruto didn't deserve that.
She turned her eyes to the snakes in front of her. There were two in total and they were held back by the thin glass sheet between them. She didn't know if it was safe.
She placed her hand on the glass and one snake shot out at her but bounced off the wall. The redhead did not shy away, her curiosity being greater than her current fear.
She looked them both over again and took in their details. Like how both were vibrant in colour but different shades, the disparity in their lengths and their contrasting eyes. She looked at the brown one, rattle snake she assumed, and she wondered what it looked like on the inside. Dissecting snakes was certainly going on her to do list after this.
"Lovely creatures, aren't they," she heard a voice say next to her and she commended herself for being able to hold back a shriek. She swiveled her head to the side to view the new comer.
It was a woman, one with purple hair tied up in a spiky pony tail and a large trench coat to conceal what the rest of her clothing -or lack thereof- did not. She was assertive it appeared and had a snake wrapped around her neck, venomous or not, she was unsure.
"Yeah," she finally found her voice.
"Oh, like what you see?" she said and Mito was unsure whether the woman meant herself or the snakes on display. Mito went with the latter just to be safe.
"Well, I am curious as to their habits. You know, feeding, mating, and the like. I'd also like to know about a few other things ,"
"You say it like you're purchasing one," the woman laughed at her and Mito generally looked perplexed.
"I didn't know you could get one?" she said.
"It's a pretty lengthy and tedious process just so you know but what the heck," the snake around the woman's neck slithered down to her waist and simply hung from there as it looked at her. It was eye level now.
It was not that Mito was shorter than this woman but she was in a crouched position. She looked at the snake and noted its colour. It was a shiny black and its tongue darted out at her but that was all it did.
"I'll think about it," she said but in the back of her mind, she just knew that Kurama would kill it or him? Maybe her? She could see the dog doing something like that. Whether out of jealousy or instinct...she would never know.
"Wait...I never got your name," the redhead admitted and the woman looked at her as she straightened her back to stand.
"Anko Mitarashi at your service. I work here as the assistant manager," she grinned ferally as Mito nodded at the revelation.
"Mito!" she heard the call of her name and turned her head to see Naruto steadily approaching in the distance. He looked slightly winded but otherwise fine.
"Oh, your boyfriend must be calling you," Anko said as she turned on her heel and walked in the other direction.
Mito watched her leave before realizing what the older woman said. She furrowed her brows slightly, cheeks negligibly rosy.
"He's not my boyfriend. He's my cousin," she whispered softly and it was more to herself than to Anko but the woman heard her.
"Same difference,"
Naruto came to a halt in front of her and he took a moment to catch his breath.
Mito turned her attention to him and watched as he regained the air in his lungs.
"Why were you looking for me?" she finally asked as he looked up seriously.
"Is it true that you fought with Sakura?" he ignored her question in favour of his own.
Mito felt her eyes widen and wondered if she should lie to him. No, if he heard about it, it would likely be from one of the girls. She would have to tell him the truth.
"Yes,"
"Why?" he asked and she sighed.
"Let's take a walk," she said instead and she turned. He tilted his head in confusion but complied with her wishes. Hopefully he would get his answers.
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The sun was overhead now and was blazing down on them. Luckily for them Mito was prepared. She let Naruto hold the umbrella over them and wondered what she should say. Naruto was silent and simply walking by her side and that somewhat bothered her. He was never this quiet.
"Who told you?" she asked.
"Sakura," he replied and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"Of course. Then I guess she already told you and you just wanna hear my side of the story,"
"Actually...she didn't wanna tell us, so I figured you would tell me,"
"But you know information doesn't come free," she joked and Naruto laughed.
"Well that is why I'm holding this umbrella over your head," he reasoned and his cousin playfully frowned.
"Oh, and here I thought you were just being a gentleman for me,"
"Aren't I always?" he flashed a smile and she shook her head with a smile. A nice lapse of silence fell over them and she figured she best tell him.
"It was about you," she said softly and he raised an eyebrow.
"Huh," came the intelligent reply.
"The fight. It was about you and Hinata. All of us girls were involved. Sakura said something bad about you and I went off," she started.
"Mito,"
"I'm not apologizing for it,"
"I'm not asking you to,"
He chuckled at what she had said. He was expecting that to be honest. He slowed his pace and she did the same.
"What did Sakura say?" he asked and Mito tried to concentrate. He though her face looked absolutely ridiculous but it was fuuny to see.
"I can't...I can't remember," she admitted sheepishly and he sighed as he looked at her.
"I'm the one that should be angry. After all, its my name that got slandered last night. You should relax, okay," he told her and she begrudgingly agreed.
"Tell me, how's Hinata?" he asked.
"Hinata, she's fine. I mean she's doing better than she was yesterday so that's a thing," she shrugged. "I don't really care much. Is that a bad thing?" she asked and his first thought was yes.
"Kind of? I mean, apathy looks good on you," he said and she raised an eyebrow.
"Flattery gets you nowhere pal, now come on, I'm in the mood for ice cream," she dragged him off to who knows where as Naruto sighed and went along with it.
She was single handedly making him broke. He could see why Jiraiya seemed to avoid this, but it had its perks. She was smiling, and that's all that mattered.