THE LOST BOY
Chapter Three
WHEN SHION FIRST DECIDED TO BECOME A NINJA, SHE THOUGHT HER MISSIONS would be protecting the innocent or escorting royalty. Her overwhelming ambition for the subject had caused her to study every night under a small light with only her blanket to cover up her actions from the other girls. Lights out at seven they said.
"Point B secure, over," Shion said in the mic, feeling her hand scrape against the tree bark. This is not exactly what I pictured.
"You guys are taking this way too seriously, over," Misaki commented.
"I hate cats, why do I have to be point A, over?" Hikaru asked and Shion let out a large sigh before she caught sight of a small black cat's tail, peeking out over the bushes. She grinned, jumping to the ground in a roll.
"Nailed it," she commented as she grabbed the cat that hissed in her direction before snuggling into her arms. "I got the cat, over."
"Is it the right cat this time, over?" Misaki asked and Shion lifted the cat so it faced her.
"I don't know, yes? He has a ribbon, over," Shion said and she felt Hikaru jump down from a tree and walked up next to her, holding up the picture of Tora before letting out a large groan.
"It isn't her!" Hikaru complained, and Shion held the cat closer to her chest.
"Well I'm keeping him," she said.
"What's going on, over?" Misaki asked through the headset.
"Shion found the wrong cat," Hikaru said, watching Shion's eyes narrow, causing him to sigh. "Over."
"AGAIN," Misaki exclaimed.
"Well, it could be worse," Hikaru commented with a sigh. "At least the mangy rodent is far away from me-" In that moment, a cat with claws extended jumped on Hikaru's back, climbing up, raking her claws through his shirt and his skin. Hikaru let out a rather feminine sounding scream as he attempted to toss the cat off of him, but that only succeeded in making the animal's grip strengthen.
In the mean time, Shion grabbed the picture that he dropped off of the forest floor with a nonchalant whistle.
"Good job, Hikaru, you found Tora," Shion said as Hikaru started to cry and sneeze at the same time.
"Get her off! Shion I'm allergic to cats! Shion!" Hikaru shouted, slightly scaring the black cat that still rested in Shion's arms.
"Calm down, Hikaru, you're scaring Mochi," Shion cooed, petting the cat in her arms who had begun to purr.
The sound of Mochi's purring was blocked out by Hikaru's cries.
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"Mission success, good job, go team," Tsukasa's voice was unenthusiastic as she lounged against a tree, a book covering her face. Only her voice was the indication that she was even awake.
"Hey, Shion, don't tell anyone that I cried, okay," Hikaru whispered, wincing as he moved. In the meantime, Shion continued to plant kisses on the calm cats that remained in her arms.
"Hey, Shion, are you alright," Misaki asked, rushing out of the forest, nearly out of breath. "I heard some chick screaming."
"That was Hikaru," Shion said, planting another kiss on Mochi and Tora's head. Hikaru's lips opened wide, as if he was hurt or Shion had done something to surprise him.
Misaki's eyes glanced over to Hikaru, taking a note of his ripped shirt and jagged cuts all over his face. It was silent for a long moment before her lips parted in a violent outburst of laughter. She doubled over, holding her stomach as Hikaru still had the remains of moisture in his eyes.
Tsukasa slowly stood up with a wide yawn as she glanced at the two cats in Shion's arms and Hikaru's wounds before she let out a single chuckle. It was rare to see the woman laugh. In fact, Shion had never seen her show even the slightest action pertaining to happiness or mirth. Hikaru must have been thinking the same thing as his bottom lip trembled and he looked away.
"I hate you guys," he muttered.
Tsukasa glanced over to the cat, or Mochi as Shion called him, that sat content in the pink haired student's arms. "I'm not giving him up. I named him so he's mine," Shion said, and Tsukasa's brow raised into her orange bangs.
"Orphanages don't allow pets, Shion," Tsukasa said and Shion's frown deepened.
"They will! I will convince them," Shion said and the sensei shrugged, obviously losing interest. "Who can say no to this face?"
"Does anyone care about the pain I am in?" Hikaru asked, staring at his team with a scowl. Shion and Tsukasa had successfully ignored him while Misaki was still actively working to stop her laughter.
"Nah," Shion said, walking ahead of him, and sitting down. "Okay, Misaki, let's fill out that mission report."
Tsukasa yawned again, watching the three students sit over the mission scroll, filling out the details as Tsukasa gave them tips on proper mission etiquette for a successful report. Shion ignored this and drew, under the injury section, a rather descriptive artwork of Hikaru screaming.
Hikaru's face inflamed as he looked up from disinfecting his cat wounds and saw a drawing of him crying and sneezing with a cat on his back, clawing into his neck. "Erase it!" Hikaru ordered and Shion and Misaki shared mischievous smiles.
"No. Tsukasa-sensei said to be as descriptive as possible. What's more descriptive than a drawing?" Shion announced, trading the scroll for the cats that Misaki currently held. The two of them were still laughing at how they were so calm in their arms, and yet so destructive in Hikaru's arms.
"She's not wrong," Tsukasa agreed, silencing all of Hikaru's retorts as they began to walk towards the Hokage tower.
Once they got inside, they dropped off the mission scroll, catching sight of Itachi in the distance as he dropped off his own mission report. His eyes scanned the three with a narrowed gaze before they stopped on Tsukasa. He bowed to the Chuunin who collected the mission reports before walking over to their team.
Tsukasa slightly froze, and the scene was rather comical in its own way as she began to slightly nibble on her lip before she caught herself and her face turned to stone. "Itachi," she greeted with a nod.
His lips curled down into a frown, "I know it was you."
"If you are talking about certain items that were...procured-" she began, only to be interrupted.
"Stolen," Itachi corrected and Tsukasa's lips formed into a smirk.
"...procured," she continued, much to the amusement of her team, "...from your room, then I assure you that I had nothing to do with it."
"Hn," he said, crossing his arms.
"And my sources tell me that they were placed back in their original spot," she said and Itachi's scowl deepened. "But this is all hypothetical."
"Hypothetically speaking," it took Shion a moment to see that Itachi's eyes were rather playful when he spoke. "If it happens again, you'll find that certain items of yours will...disappear."
Tsukasa's smirk widened, "hypothetically speaking."
"Of course," he commented, bowing to both her and her team, not forgetting his manners as he walked away.
"Lets turn in the scroll and then see what mission we get next," Tsukasa announced.
"Is Itachi-san angry?" Misaki asked, sparing a scowl towards Shion, who continued to place kisses on the cat's head. "Maybe we should formally apologize."
"Nah. Itachi will be fine," Tsukasa commented in return. "I returned the items. What more can we do?"
"We could have not stolen it in the first place," Misaki said, scowling towards Shion once more.
"Whether we stole it or not, I highly doubt your crush on Itachi would go places anyway," Shion announced, causing Hikaru to laugh as Misaki's face inflamed red.
"You have a crush on Itachi? Hah!" Hikaru chuckled, as Tsukasa rubbed her temples as they waited in line.
"What! He's only a few years older," Misaki complained, hiding her face. "You don't think I have a chance?"
"Maybe in another life," Shion said with a grin.
Tsukasa snorted, opening a her book and in that moment, Shion noticed the drawing of a naked lady on the inside. "Are you reading hentai, sensei?" Hikaru asked, breaking apart the argument.
"Is that what this is?" the teacher said without missing a beat or even hesitating as she continued reading.
"Do you know Itachi-san really well, sensei," Misaki asked, not much caring about her sensei's book.
"Yep," the teacher said in the same tone as before.
"Do you know if he's..." Misaki's face inflamed once more, her fingers brushing together from in front of her.
"Not interested? Yep," Tsukasa said, turning a page in her book as Shion and Hikaru let out loud and obnoxious bits of laughter at Misaki's expense.
"I hate you all," she muttered, slapping her hand against Hikaru's neck, right where the most deep of the claw marks resided. Hikaru let out a soft sob.
"Why only me?" he complained
Shion placed her ear near the cat's mouth, as if the animal was telling her a secret. She nodded her head, turning towards Hikaru. "Tora says that she thinks you're a little bitch."
"Say that to my face you ugly cat," Hikaru hissed towards the cat who replied with a hiss of her own, causing Hikaru to back off.
As soon as they got to the front of the line, Tora's owner, madam Shijimi, engulfed Tora and Mochi into a hug. The fire Daimyo's wife was a heavy set woman with a lot of purple eyeshadow covering her lids. It also seemed she put all her weight into hugging both cats, who stared at Shion as if she just gave them up to the devil.
"Oh you found Tora and Tora the second," madam Shijimi cooed, pressing her face into Tora's and Mochi's (also known as Tora the second) tiny bodies. "I would never forget about you Tora! You ran away for so long. I can't thank you three enough. Tora the second ran away years ago. I never thought I would see him again," the woman turned her coos back to her cat. "Things haven't been the same without you, love."
"Mochi..." Shion stared at her new best friend, the cat she was already planning on getting a bed for, with a look of longing.
"Hah! Serves you right," Hikaru commented.
"Does she name all her cats Tora?" Misaki asked, watching her teacher turn another page in her book.
"Yep," Tsukasa answered with a bored expression.
"Come on Tora and Tora 2, Tora 18 has missed you two so much."
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"Can you quit sulking? It's very distracting," Hikaru's voice chimed through Shion's bout of self pity as she tore out another weed.
"What's there to be focused on? We are pulling weeds," Shion muttered, kicking a tomato plant. "I can sulk as much as I want."
"If you're so mad, then why don't you do something about it?" Misaki suggested as she glanced around for any sign of Tsukasa, only to find the woman was nowhere to be seen. She smiled and pulled out a compact mirror, apply some lip balm onto her now chapped lips.
Shion perked up, "you mean like steal Mochi back from that muffin top?"
"No! I meant like get an other cat!" Misaki exclaimed with her bright blue eyes widened in horror.
Hikaru was focused on another issue, "did you just call the fire Daimyo's wife a muffin top?"
"I miss Mochi..." Shion whined while both Hikaru and Misaki found themselves surprised that when she acted like this, pouty and childlike. They weren't certain which was more annoying, whining Shion or arrogant Shion.
"I'm sure Mochi is happy where he is," Misaki tried to be comforting, but it only made Shion angry.
"You don't actually believe that," Shion whined, causing Misaki's hands to raise as the girl rolled her eyes.
"I don't actually care."
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At the end of the day, Shion's hands were sore and more than anything she just wanted to go home. Her teammates seemed to agree with this idea, but sadly, Tsukasa had other plans.
"Give me twenty laps around the village. When you're done, meet me back here and then you can go home," Tsukasa ordered.
"What?" Hikaru asked and the one eyed sensei frowned.
"Did I stutter?" she said, tilting her head.
"No but we just got finished with our missions," Misaki agreed with Hikaru, but Shion was already preparing her stretches, getting ready for the run. "Shouldn't we begin training when we are ready for it?"
Tsukasa's face turned impassive, "do you think your enemies would wait until you're well rested to strike? Do you think they would tell you when you are about to be attacked?"
"What enemies? We're in a time of peace," Hikaru muttered in return, not expecting the teacher to hear him.
"That's what everyone says right before a time of war, so get running. If danger ever strikes, you need to know how to run away, no matter how tired you are. Build up that weak stamina or you can spend the rest of your days resting in the academy," Tsukasa replied, leaning her hip to the side before her lips spread into a cruel and tiny smile. "20 laps. I don't care how long it takes, but if you want to get home, then I'd suggest hurrying this along."
Shion did her last stretch before she took off running, very aware of Hikaru and Misaki's scowls on her back.
But of course, the stretches were not nearly enough as she was gasping for air by the fourth lap. She clutched her stomach as she staggered past Tsukasa who was currently walking up and down a tree, reading her book. The woman glanced over to the pink haired student with a slight frown.
"Maybe I assigned too many laps," Tsukasa mused, her voice coming out disappointed and Shion stood up straight.
"Please, I got this. Watch me breeze through this," Shion said, just as Hikaru finished his second lap.
"I think...I'm going to...throw up...my takoyaki," Hikaru said, in between gasps.
"Gross," Shion whispered, running backwards so he could see her disgusted expression.
"Go...to hell...Shion," Hikaru gasped out, running after her.
"At this rate, you're going to be here all night," Tsukasa called after the two, hiding her smile behind her book.
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"Sadist...monster...am I having a heart attack?" Shion whispered to herself as she limped through the gates of the orphanage, broken from her sense of self-pity with the commotion coming from the garden. At first, she was going to ignore it and throw up in the bathroom, take a shower to rid herself of the thick layer of sweat that covered her, and go to sleep.
However, if there was something Shion couldn't stand, it was assholes. She paused, wondering if maybe she was an asshole as well, but put that thought on hold.
"No one wants you here. Parents never adopt us because everyone hates to see you," came the voice of one of the kids, causing Shion to move closer to the garden, walking around the giant house of the orphanage to see three kids bullying Naruto.
"Seriously," Shion muttered.
Sure, the kid is super annoying, but that doesn't mean that every problem is his problem, Shion thought with a frown.
"Actually," Shion began, her lips forming into a large grin. "No one adopts you because you're incredibly ugly."
The three kids turned towards her with forming frown, and they actually looked hurt by her comment. Shion decided she created an insecurity in them, but in her defense, they were ugly. "What do you know? Your mother couldn't wait to give you up!" one of the boys shouted, but Shion's eyes were on Naruto who was looking at her as if she were some kind of hero.
"They bothering you, Naruto?" Shion asked, ignoring the three as she pushed past them. Her arms were heavy, and she was very close to having her knees buckle out of pure exhaustion. With all these issues, she knew that her only option was to fake it out and make them believe she could kick their ass (as on most given days, she could).
"No! I don't need your help, dattebayo," Naruto said, his own pride slipping through his voice. Shion did find that a rather admirable quality, especially considering he was two years younger than her. "I'm going to be Hokage one day, and when I am, I am kicking you three out of the village!"
"No one would vote for you Naruto. Loser orphans don't become Hokage," one of the kids shouted, and his words made a nerve shatter in Shion's heart.
"This village was built on the backs of orphans. Parents die everyday," Shion said, using the last of her strength to push one of the boys to the ground. The other two raised their fists. "Come on, you wanna go. Fight me. Give me a reason to blacken your ugly eyes."
"I don't need to," the third kid said, lowering his fists. "My parents may have died...but at least I can say with confidence that if they were alive, they would at least want me."
"Lets go, Takero," said the first boy, getting up off the ground. Shion could only guess that he could tell she was about to beat them to the ground on pure adrenaline. She might have done so if Naruto hadn't yelled to her defense.
"Shion doesn't need those parents because she will be a ninja and make a new family, dattebayo," Naruto exclaimed as the three boys scoffed and ran off.
Shion lost the will to scream, which wasn't something that happened often. "You okay, Naruto?"
"Yep," Naruto grinned, scratching underneath his nose. "I didn't need your help."
"I wasn't doing that to help you," Shion said with a huff, slightly annoyed with his response. "I just genuinely think those three are ugly idiots."
"Why are you all wet, dattebayo?" Naruto asked, and Shion wrinkled her nose.
"My new sensei is a nightmare," Shion replied.
Author's Note
I just realized that all my OCs are older than their male counterpart. Happy accident. Shion is 9 years old in this scene, and Naruto is 7 years old.
It occurs to me, for people who haven't read House of Cards (Tsukasa's story) probably didn't get the small references that I put in the story for it. That's okay. Like I said, you can understand this story just fine without Chasing Smoke and House of Cards. You'll just understand certain events more with those two stories under your belt. Tsukasa, which will probably never be revealed in this story, has a very confusing background, but it is easily understood in the very first chapter of House of Cards.
Shion is adorable in like an annoy way. Not sure who will exactly like her, since she does a lot of growing throughout the course of the story.
Thank you very much you guys~! ^_^