My usual morning run is something of a habit. It is normal and relaxing in its consistency even as I up the speed and distance at which I run and now add in occasional climbs to get used to those sorts of maneuvers. I enjoy it… however, every time I go into the Akimichi compound, a compound I previously felt was safe for me, I think that I don't like it. I feel betrayed. I don't think Yataka knows about this whole thing with Choza and me. I really don't. Still, I can't help but feel far less trusting of EVERYONE.
The fact that a person I had naively thought above using a child as a spy was not, that I now have an apparent bloodline that I've never heard of. There is still occasionally a highly suppressed signature that flickers outside the apartment is not at all helping with my slowly (not really slowly) developing trust issues. I can recognize the signature now as Raido, but he is an ANBU, so what is he doing spying? Or rather the real question, why spying on the apartment I live in?
As I make my way through the streets, I spy… a rather odd colour. Bright orange. Not exactly a standard colour in Konoha. There are plenty of buildings in shades of red and even some that have purple tiling… but ORANGE? That… well, that's a first.
"What the!" The store clerk yells, coming out to set up, realizing that all his windows have been painted orange. Just the windows are painted, but they are painted with such thick paint that no one can't even see into the said store. "Who did this!" The man exclaims, and I don't need to look very hard before feeling the bright blinding signature of my (former) friend. He sits on the edge of the roof of the building across from the store, a Cheshire grin on his face, his feet kicking back and forth, whistling a tune… the tune was one that Yota would whistle and always made Naruto smile softly. Why? They never said, but I got the feeling it meant something important. If… if Naruto remembers the whistle, maybe… well we maybe the memories aren't entirely gone? Or maybe it was Naruto who taught YOTA the tune. I can't help but think pessimistically.
"That's right. You just got pranked by the next Hokage Naruto Uzumaki, ya know!" Naruto exclaims, getting up. He is wearing a white t-shirt stained with some orange paint and has orange pain in his hand. I wince a little. Even without his CONFESSION, he is very clearly guilty… doesn't he usually know with pranks (particularly ones that would constitute vandalism), you don't want to get caught? "That'll teach you for not letting me even touch your windows!" Naruto laughs, but there is some melancholy in it, and his chakra though bright and cheerful, hiccups down just for a second. So this is about revenge?
"What, that little de-, " the store owner says but then coughs, cutting himself off, and I turn to the side, seeing a face I take a second to recognize. It's younger, and well, it can be hard telling real-life people are their anime selves. Still, I am pretty sure by the cigarette in his mouth,the long, sleeked back black hair, with just a bit of stumble, that the man leaning casually on the side of a nearby stall, his eyes a sharp warning to the store owner against continuing his sentence is Asuma Sarutobi. But there is something more… something even more intimately familiar about him that I can't quite place.
A face I've seen but haven't quite forgotten.
"That kid… terrorizing us…." I hear someone whisper, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. Sure it wasn't a NICE thing to do, but 'terrorizing' is going a bit far.
"Why do they let him stay in the village?" Other whispers and I feel a snarl nearly escape my throat.
"Hey, you stop!" A ninja calls pointing at Naruto, who begins running away with the ninja on his tail. I start to move slowly through the now-gathering crowd when another voice stops me dead in my tracks.
"I hope they kill him." Someone says, and my self-control snaps.
Energy Flaring level has risen X2
You have release Killing Intent
"You must feel real brave saying that about a little kid!" I snap towards the person, who looks me over and the chattering stops. "What type of adult wants a child dead?" I snarl at the man but calm myself quickly.
"Sweetie, has no one warned you about that boy yet?" A woman asks, sounding more concerned for me than acknowledging what I just said. I push past them all and run toward the Akimichi compound. I can feel the tears in my own eye, but I wipe them away. I should have chased after Naruto. But I know I can't. I know what I just said was stupid enough as it is. Yataka looks at my concern.
He seems to awkwardly try and comfort me without outright asking me what's wrong. In a rather obvious attempt to cheer me up, he slips me an extra apple and runs a large fingers through my hair tenderly. I don't respond, but I appreciate the gesture. This world… it's just so…
"Thanks, Yataka-san," I murmur before leaving, so tempted to tattle on Choza to him but resist. What good would it do to reveal the scheme? To reveal I am playing Koharu and break my agreement to keep this secret with Choza? I think about going to the library, but I can't face Hazuki today. So I head home instead.
I read through the books I've recently checked out, my face completely and totally blank, and a hollow feeling in my gut. Ami comes home, and somehow… somehow, she just knows and wraps her arms around me, a display of affection that my young body feels desperately starved for. "This world is so messed up," I murmur.
"Ya, Googly-eyes, it is," Ami murmurs back. I ideally note the strange book on her lap. I can't say I've seen that one before. Right now, though, I just let myself collapse under the world's weight. I can be strong later. Right now, right now I can just be vulnerable.