"What the hell do you mean, you've been sleeping outside?"
Mayuri glanced up from her food, expression vaguely amused. She cocked her head, took another bite of her rice, and smiled around her mouthful.
"I'm honestly kind of surprised it took you so long to notice."
"Yeah, well I'm surprised you didn't think to mention it before now."
She shrugged, silently conceding the point. It had been almost a month since she had started sneaking out at night in order to have her nightmares somewhere it wouldn't blow their cover or hurt anyone else. It wasn't hard to hide, considering how many children were at the orphanage. Mayuri had never caused any trouble so she was usually overlooked by the adults. She had a routine and so far it was working.
After school let out she would meet Hiroko on the academy grounds. They would spend the few hours before curfew together before she would walk Hiroko to the door of the Academy Orphanage, say goodbye, and head back to the civilian one. She would eat, bathe, and as soon as the lights went off and the other kids began to snore she would creep out to find a private area where she could have her nightmares in peace. The woman in charge of the orphanage had far too many children living under her care to notice if one was missing. Maybe some of her many roommates had noticed her sneaking out, but no one ever said anything.
She was a ghost among the rest, quiet and unassuming. She had no friends or connections with anyone there. It worked better for her if she was overlooked. It meant she could get away with more.
Hiroko's eyes were trained on the horizon as Mayuri shoveled the last bite of food into her mouth before turning her attention back to the coded letter she had been working on. It wasn't much, just a basic status update for whoever the person in charge of the spies was back in Otogakure. She wasn't sure who to address the letter to, so she usually just left it blank and trusted that the little snake that came to pick up the reports at the end of each month knew where to deliver it to.
"Anything you'd like to add?" she asked, trying to remember how she was supposed to disguise her observations about the patrol routes around the village.
"Tell the asshole that he can suck a dick or two," Hiroko said through the gritted teeth of a forced smile.
"He probably already does that, but I'll add it anyway."
That got a reluctant little giggle from Hiroko. She tried to hide it with a cough, but Mayuri could see her bad mood beginning to dissipate. With any luck, she wouldn't have to deal with another week of her sister scowling every time she saw her. That tended to get old very fast.
"Do you want me to get you some food? I could probably sneak another bowl from the kitchen."
"I'm fine. I actually already ate."
Mayuri wasn't sure if she believed that, but decided to let it go this time. Hiroko turned to her with a smile, brushing her long hair from her face as she did. Mayuri felt the tension drop from her shoulders at the gleam in her sister's mismatched eyes.
"Did I tell you that my roommate dropped out of the academy? It's been so great having the whole room to myself, but people are saying someone new might be coming in a couple days and they'll probably end up sharing my room."
And with that, the awkward distance between them finally began to close.
.
The civilian academy got out an hour before the shinobi one, so it had become normal for her to come and wait around for Hiroko. The students were outside, split into two practice groups. The first group was working on hand signs. Their movements were clumsy and uncertain. Her own fingers twitched in her lap, muscle memory making them dance with the desire to correct the mistakes she saw the students making.
The second group was practicing with kunai, their targets the wide trunks of the dead trees that lined the academy training grounds. Mayuri made sure to stay a safe distance away, wincing every time one of the blades went wide and disappeared into the treeline. Hiroko was standing towards the back of the crowd of eager children, apparently trying very hard not to rush forward and show them all how it was supposed to be done. Mayuri appreciated her restraint.
It was shocking to see children their age struggle so much with something that was so basic. Otogakure began teaching things like hand signs and basic kunai throwing techniques almost as soon as a child could walk. Granted, it was a much smaller village so it wasn't hard to give young children the one-on-one attention needed for such involved tasks. Still, it was strange to look at the children of Konoha and realize that they were all just babies.
She looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers. For the first time since she came to Konoha, she willed her chakra to rise to the surface. It was just enough to make her insides feel tingly, like stretching her legs after sitting still for too long. It was a nice feeling, refreshing and freeing. She had missed the feeling of her chakra coursing through her because she wanted it to, and not as a response to the terror of her nightmares.
She allowed herself a small smile, holding a hand up to block the sun and watching the rays as they played around her fingers. Another tiny flare of chakra, just enough to feel the warmth, and she could see her skin stretch and bulge as the bones beneath shifted. Her smile faltered, then disappeared. That was not what she had been aiming for. Somehow, seeing it in the daylight seemed more gruesome than in the shadows of a cavern or the darkness of night.
Her skin bulged again and she couldn't help but imagine bugs crawling beneath. Mayuri pushed down the urge to shudder. Spiders in her hair had been bad enough; she didn't want to imagine what might have happened if Kidomaru had come up with any other bright ideas for ways to torment her.
Now that she was thinking about it…wasn't there a clan in Konoha who had bugs living inside them?
Nope. No. She was absolutely not letting her thoughts go there.
As if in response to her resolution to not think about it, her spine gave a little twitch, the illusion of legs skittering up it.
Fuck no.
Mayuri looked around, desperate for a distraction before her emotions could get the better of her and her bones could find their way outside her body again. Her eyes darted to the sky, searching for clouds to find shapes in. Of course, it just had to be a beautiful, sunny, and cloudless day. She hummed, high pitched and strained, and scanned the trees around her for a sign of animals she could focus on. Anything besides bugs.
After a second of near panicked searching, her eyes found a pale face, half hidden by the shadow of a tree. While not usually one to seek out the company of strangers, well aware of the danger every person in this world could pose. But...well, desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Hey!" she called, waving. The stranger twitched a little and turned to look at her, face emotionless and eyes distant as she said, "Come and sit with me."
Mayuri watched as dark eyes narrowed, ever so slightly, and felt grateful for her new glasses. She pushed them up the bridge of her nose and smiled even as they began to slip down again. As the person took a step out of the shadow and into the light, she felt herself relax further.
It was a kid, probably not too much older than she was. If he wasn't in class at the academy, that meant he was a civilian which meant he probably wasn't a threat to her. She wasn't stupid enough to totally let her guard down, but she wasn't about to let her mind lead her down very unwanted paths just because her paranoia told her to. She needed a distraction and the awkwardness of trying to carry on a conversation with a stranger was just what the medic ordered.
"You were watching the academy students practice?" she asked, shifting to the side to give the boy more room.
He nodded stiffly, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She couldn't help but note how long his eyelashes were, and how his black hair had been pulled back into a long ponytail. Maybe she was wrong about their gender. It was so hard to tell with kids sometimes. She had been called a boy several times, since people tended to see her almost-shaved head and make assumptions.
"That's cool. I think it's fun watching them throw their pointy things at the trees."
"Those are kunai," the kid said. His voice was surprisingly deep for someone so young looking, so that answered that question. His knowledge did raise other questions though.
"It's cool that you know that," she said, smiling at him. "Are you an academy student, too?"
"No."
"Do you have a sibling who goes here?"
"No."
"Oh. Then...why are you here?"
He gave her another sidelong glance and said nothing. They sat in silence and Mayuri couldn't help but smile a little bit as she realized that, yes, an awkward first meeting was exactly what she had needed to keep her mind from straying to dangerous places. This kid was as socially awkward as her, and it was perfect.
"I go to school across town," she told him, leaning back a little and enjoying the feeling of grass beneath her hands. She absentmindedly plucked a couple of blades, twisting them between her fingers before letting them fall to the ground again.
"Then why are you here?" he asked, frowning as he watched her pick at the grass.
"I already told you that I like watching the sharp stuff get thrown. Oh, and I also come here to pick my sister up. She's a student."
Another long stretch of silence, and Mayuri turned her gaze back towards the training grounds. The class had gathered around one of the girls, and from here it looked like they were congratulating her for something.
"Aw man, I think I missed something cool," Mayuri mumbled.
"The girl they're gathered around hit the target," the boy supplied, his voice as low and uncaring as it had been since the start of their conversation. Mayuri hummed and shifted to get a better look at the crowd, just to make sure it wasn't Hiroko in the center of the excited students. She smiled when she caught sight of her sister hanging somewhere in the back, obviously not the one being showered with praise. She was proud of her for keeping her head down.
"I'm so jealous," she sighed, leaning back again and turning her gaze briefly towards the sky. She admired the clear blue and pretended like she wasn't watching her companion out of the corner of her eye. "I wish I could throw things that good. I can't even manage to get a piece of paper in the trash bin most of the time."
The boy made a soft sound, almost like a scoff, and Mayuri turned to look at him. He looked back, meeting her eyes steadily, and she was struck again by how weirdly pretty he was. She thought about her scarred chest and messily shaved head and found herself a little jealous again.
"It's not that hard," he said.
"It is for me!" she insisted, turning towards him fully and crossing her legs.
"You just have to have a steady hand and good focus."
"I'm sure having good eyesight helps too," Mayuri muttered, pulling her glasses off to clean the lenses on the hem of her shirt. "You see how thick mine are? I can't see a foot in front of me without them."
"That doesn't matter," he insisted, and his voice had the first hint of emotion she'd heard from him. "I've known people who were blind and still able to hit all their targets."
"Can you hit all the targets?"
He nodded with no hesitation.
Well, that meant he was probably from a shinobi family after all and likely had some training. She wondered idly if maybe he was there to watch her, but shelved the idea. If someone had suspicions about her she doubted that they would emerge from the trees to sit with her and watch the academy students practice. There had to be some other reason he was here.
"Did you learn by watching these guys practice?"
"No."
"Then why are you here, again?"
He huffed, frowning, but finally said, "My brother is going to attend the academy next year. I suppose I'm just...curious."
"Aw, that's cute! You must be a good big brother."
He looked away, and Mayuri beamed at the hint of a blush that dusted the boy's cheeks. She stood, standing on her toes and stretching her hands towards the sky to loosen her muscles and realign the bones that had moved when her chakra had surged earlier. The boy made a face at the dozen or so pops that sounded as she stretched.
"Well, it was nice hanging out with you, but it looks like class is over with. I need to go meet up with my sister now, but if you see me again please feel free to come say hi."
She turned to go, leaving the boy sitting in the grass behind her. Then, she paused.
"Oh, hey. I just realized I never introduced myself! I'm Yuri." She waited for him to respond, but the silence stretched on. She wasn't sure if his expression said thoughtful or constipated, lips pulled down and brow furrowed just slightly. She shrugged and continued on her way. Hiroko spotted her, and began to race to meet her. She waved over her shoulder at the boy, who had stood. "Okay, well, bye now!"
"Goodbye," he said, and turned to leave as well. For the first time, she spotted the insignia on his back. Mayuri blinked at the sight.
He disappeared back into the shadow of the trees, and Hiroko almost bowled her over as she raced to meet her. She was breathing hard and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, like she had actually been putting in some sort of effort in class.
"You're never going to believe this," she said, mismatched eyes shining a little too bright. "I just found out who my new room mate is."
"Oh yeah? Who is it?" Mayuri asked, not really too interested in the answer.
"Tenten."
Well, that got her attention. All thoughts of the boy were quickly pushed aside. After all, Konoha was full of clans, and the Uchiha clan was one of the bigger ones. Just because she met some random kid with a fan on his shirt didn't mean that it was anyone she was supposed to recognize.
Besides, it wasn't like the two of them meeting was going to become a habit or anything.
I am honestly embarrassed at how long it took me to get this dumb chapter out. Thank you so much to my readers who have stuck with me through this long hiatus! I'm sorry to report that this is not the end and chapters will continue to be sporadic. This was unbeta'd as I was too embarrassed to ask my beta to read through something after having no contact for so long. So...if you're still out there...and want to look at a chapter once in a while...let me know.
As always, I hope to hear your thoughts on the chapter! I hope you can forgive me for making you wait so long!
