Hello again. Because of my recently hectic life I have decided to try and update once a week. Now which day, I have no idea, but most likely over the week end. Ok well enjoy this next chapter, it doesn't help move the story along it just lets you get to know the Nunizaki girls. And Neko you'll be happy to know there's dialogue now. Also I'm sorry but my vocabulary is horrible, I'll make stupid mistake all the time, and if it wasn't for spell check I'd be dead.
Maru and Kuniko
Narichi was calmly sitting on her bed sewing her dress back together. Kakashi's vest was already finished, but she still had the big tear in hers, and Narichi was currently wearing Kuniko's pajamas. Maru walked into the room trying to sneak up behind Narichi. When Narichi said, "Please don't jump on the bed I might prick my finger with this needle."
Maru was surprised for she thought she had done everything right, to successfully surprise Narichi. "Wow, you're very good Narichi-san," Maru said normally walking towards Narichi.
"Thank you, but I still need lots of training," Narichi smiled.
"Really what kind of training?" asked Maru.
Narichi's head dropped in shame, she sighed, "Anger management!"
Maru was confused but decided to ignore it, "What made you want to become a shinobi?" Narichi tried hard as she began to think back.
"Well I guess it was my patents. They were the best people in the world. Aside from Kakashi-kun and Yondaime-sama. Those were the only people in the world I would without any hesitation trust with my life," she smiled thinking back.
"Wow, they must be all really strong!" Maru was really excited.
"No, my parents weren't shinobi. They only made weapons. I really don't know exactly why I decided to become a shinobi. I guess I just felt it in my heart," Narichi placed her free hand over her chest.
Kuniko was outside of the room listening to there conversation. She looked quite concerned about any subject concerning Kakashi. Narichi noticed Maru was smiling a lot more, than she (Narichi) thought she would. (Earlier she was a little upset.) "Oh, are you feeling better, I'm sorry if I offended you earlier," Narichi wanted to make sure everything was alright.
Maru remember and said, "Yeah, every things fine. I just, I'm afraid. No, like, umm…how, no well." Maru was trying to make sense but she couldn't find the words.
Narichi patted her on the head smiling, "Your Oneesan told me you really want to be a shinobi, but you were also afraid of becoming one, why don't we start there."
Maru looked up at Narichi, then at the floor and started, "Ever since we moved here I've had to do lots of work. I see kids playing and having fun all the time, and I want to be one of those kids. But the kids who look really happy are the ones who go to the shinobi academy. Oneesan says she needs me here, so I help her with the gardening and cleaning. Ocaasan is sick and I help Oneesan take care of her. The real reason I don't join the academy is because I'm afraid. Some of the kids look mean and scary. They always have cuts and scrapes. I don't want to feel that pain."
Narichi patted her on the head again, "It's ok to be afraid, sometimes we need to fear things, but also sometimes we need to feel pain."
Maru looked at her she was crying a little, "Why? Why do we need to feel pain?" Narichi pushed her clothes away and needles to make room for Maru.
She hopped up on the bed and cried in her shoulder. Narichi comforted her, "Because it helps us return to reality, feeling pain is proof that you are alive, and being alive means you have meaning. There are two types of pain that constantly harm people. That might be why shinobi can take pain a little better than normal people. Not because we train hard, because pain hurts everyone the same. Shinobi use pain as a way to escape from their lives but at the same time stay close to the world they escape from. Sometimes life hurts, and pain inflicted by a knife is welcomed than the pain felt from being hurt by others or hurting others. That's probably why shinobi live so recklessly and yet so cautiously. Our lives tend to be short but the meaning is that much greater. We fill our lives with goals and ambitions that it's hard not to feel both kinds of pain. So it's ok to be afraid of something that you know will hurt you. For us shinobi normal lives are harder to live, because there is no excuse to feel pain."
Kuniko was now thinking hard about what Narichi had said. "Would you like to join us?" asked Narichi looking at the door. Kuniko was frozen from shock.
She poked her head into the open door way. "Umm, may I?" Kuniko asked.
"Yes, please come in, and could you please close that door," Narichi smiled.
"Sure," Kuniko said closing the door behind her.
Maru was feeling better about choosing whether to become a shinobi or not. "Narichi-san thank you so much," she smiled and wiped away the last of her tears.
"No problem," Narichi patted her on the head.
Kuniko watched as Maru skipped out of the room, and Narichi picked up her dress and needles. "Do you need help with that?" Kuniko asked.
"No, I'm almost finished. But thank you for offering," Narichi looked at Kuniko wondering what reasons she might have to eavesdrop on her.
"Well if you are feeling alright later on I can show you around the inn," Kuniko was moving towards the door.
"Oh that would be nice. Uh, why don't you stay for a while longer?" Narichi was still carefully watching Kuniko.
"Sorry, I have to prepare lunch and do some cleaning," she smiled. She opened the door and remember what Kakashi asked of her, "Oh, Kakashi-kun came by this morning. He said he would be here around 7:30 tomorrow, but you have to do your chores first, we can't have you avoiding your work." She was smiling with evil thoughts.
Narichi was surprised at first. Then she started to count with her fingers. She smiled and looked up at Kuniko who was now confused. "Ok, if I get up at 7, I should be able to finish all of the chores on time," Narichi returned to her sewing.
Kuniko was shocked, "How, how is that even possible? There's no way you can finish all of your chores on time! I've planned, I mean you have so many, I've planned out a schedule for you! 30 minutes is not enough!" Kuniko grew nervous, because she almost blew her cover.
Narichi stared at her, "Well you see when Kakashi-kun says he'll be here at a certain time, Kakashi-kun is really going to come hours later. So when he told you 7:30 he really meant he'd be here around 10:00."
Kuniko was still lost in irritation. "I'll make sure that she doesn't finish in time," she thought. Kuniko put her hand on her head, "Well I still don't see how you plan to finish all of you chores in only three hours."
Narichi smiled, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm pretty good at rushing through things. Besides I'm a shinobi, I'm use to hard work."
"We'll see how well you do with all of mine and Maru-chan's chores," she thought evilly. She left the room wondering what to cook for lunch, "Oh before I go, what might you want for lunch?"
Narichi smiled, "Oh any things fine in fact if you would allow me to use your kitchen I could make my own."
"Oh you can cook? I thought most shinobi were too busy to learn," Kuniko asked with a little interested in Narichi for once.
"Well after a few years you learn how to make things, especially when living on your own," she returned to her sewing.
"Oh, well I guess you can. Ok then I'll see you later!" Kuniko said finally leaving the room.
Within a few hours Narichi was finished completely with her dress and cooked herself lunch. Calmly she took her dishes to the kitchen and washed them. Maru came in a little confused, "Oh, Narichi-san your washing dishes, why did Oneesan give you work?"
"No Maru-chan, I made myself lunch and I'm washing my own dishes," she dried them off and placed them in a cabinet.
"You mean she didn't make lunch for you! That was very rude of her!" Maru stomped towards the door to complain to her Oneesan.
Narichi caught her and said, "No I offered to make my own so I wouldn't trouble her. Kuniko-san is too nice of a person to do something like that."
"Oh, I see." Maru smiled hitting her head softly. Like in a 'No Duh' way.
"You shouldn't ever take action not knowing all of the information. It's best to be sure instead of making devastating mistakes," Narichi pointed out being able to relate.
"Ok," Maru smiled and ran out of the kitchen remembering chores. Narichi walked out of the kitchen looking for Kuniko. She wandered around a bit when she saw her coming out of one of the rooms.
"Kuniko-san, is this a bad time for a quick tour?" Narichi walked up to her.
Kuniko had a pale of dirty water and a mop in her hands, "No I just finished, I'll put these away and we can start."
"Ok then," Narichi smiled and followed Kuniko to a storage closet where she put away the mop. She hurried the pale of water out to the back and threw it in some bushes. Narichi noticed Maru picking weeds out of a small vegetable garden. "So Maru does all of the outside work and you do the indoor stuff?" Narichi asked following her back in.
Kuniko washed her hands in the sink, "Yeah Imouto likes it out there, so it works for the both of us. She doesn't even mind doing small repairs like fixing leaks and such. If I did any repairs it'd be worse off than before." She laughed thinking about it.
"Well I guess that's nice," thought Narichi.
"Ok, then lets start that tour. I'll even introduce you to some of the other guest." Kuniko showed Narichi all around the inn; they went from top to bottom, now there was no possible way Narichi would ever get lost. Kuniko ended the tour at her and her Imouto's room. "Ok that's it," she looked outside to see it had gotten quite dark.
"Wow! I never realized how big this place was. I swear you converted a small castle into an inn, didn't you?" she looked around again, "Does Maru-chan also take care of the inner garden too? No wonder it takes you all day to clean this place, but I'm guessing your other guest help out a little too," Narichi began to mutter things aimlessly making little sense.
Kuniko just nodded her on, "Well I'll come by at 7 o'clock to wake you."
Narichi was surprised, "Am I going too have to clean this entire estate?"
"Yup, and you'll have to water all the plants as well as our other chores," Kuniko smiled.
"Like what other chores?" Narichi felt overwhelmed with the busy morning ahead of her.
"Well you have to cook breakfast for the entire inn, including Maru-chan and I that's almost 100 people. Then you have to mop all the halls, dust the china, wash the dishes, water and weed the gardens, turn the soil in the new patch, plant some seeds and spread the fertilizer, pick the ripe vegetables and sweep the porch. You'll be happy to know this is a hard day, see it's rare to have all of these chores fall into one day like this."
She smiled and opened her door about to enter when Narichi said, "Ok that's good cause if there were a few more things I wouldn't make it on time."
Kuniko was shocked, she screamed, "How are you planning to even finish tomorrow, that's almost a day worth of chores for two people! It's impossible, there's no way you'll finish!" she became intensely frustrated clutching her fist tightly.
Narichi was startled by her outburst, "I'm sorry…I just know I can." Narichi noticed a door right across the hall, "Hey what's this door it wasn't part of the tour." She began to walk towards it.
Kuniko ran in front of it, "This is my Ocaasan's room you can't go in there," she then lead Narichi down the hall when the door opened.
"Kuniko what's all the noise, I thought I told you, you should never yell at people, and here you are yelling right outside my room." A woman was standing in the door way leaning against the wall. She had long black hair that was covering her face. She wore an old kimono that had lots of wrinkles in it, probably for lots of sleeping.
"I'm sorry Ocaasan, but you should be in bed, here let me help you." Kuniko raced over to help her mother.
The woman smacked her over the head, "I'm not a child, and I can take care of myself! Besides you haven't even introduced me to our new guest," she made a motion towards Narichi.
Kuniko said rubbing her head, "I'm sorry, Ocaasan this is Kazekami, Narichi-san. Narichi this is my Ocaasan Mikasa. Now will you please go to bed?"
"No!" Mikasa turned towards Narichi, "Please forgive my daughter she's very rude. Let's go to the dinning room it's a much better place to chat." She smiled and took Narichi's arm and pulled her down the hall.
Narichi confused said, "Umm ok." She thought, "Wow for an ill person she sure has tons of energy."
Kuniko followed, "Ocaasan your condition requires you to take care of yourself, which means you should get some rest now! If you've noticed it's quite dark now."
"Child the only reason it's dark is because you make me sleep all day, this is the only time I have to do anything. Now be a dear and make us some tea." Mikasa sent Kuniko to the kitchen, Kuniko looked concerned about something.
"So Narichi-san right, tell me something about yourself." They sat down at a table.
"Well, I'm a shinobi, and I've recently become a Jonin." Narichi was waiting for a reply.
Mikasa was staring deep into Narichi's eyes, Narichi noticed Mikasa looked a little dazed when all of a sudden Mikasa started to lower her head until it rested on the table. Her arms dropped and Narichi stared with confusing building inside her.
Narichi jumped out of the chair and lifted Mikasa's head to see her condition. Mikasa was pale and her eyes were rolled up. Narichi screamed not knowing what to do. Kuniko ran in asking, "What's wrong?"
Narichi was standing a few feet from Mikasa's body which was now lying on the floor. Narichi pointed to the body. Kuniko checked her pulse and sighed, "Oh you scared me I thought something happened."
Narichi looked shocked, "What! This Isn't Something! Your Ocaasan looks dead, I think that's something!"
Mikasa sat up from the ground, "Why is every body yelling all of a sudden, don't you know what time it is, I'm going too bed, Good Night Kuniko-chan."
Narichi was up against the wall in shock, "Wha, what the hell was that?"
"My Ocaasan, who else," Kuniko stood up and walked over to the confused Narichi. Narichi looked like she was under lots of stress. "Are you going to be ok?" Kuniko asked.
Narichi sighed, "I really don't know. I think I'm going to go to bed, and save some of my sanity for tomorrow."
Narichi walked towards the stairs, Kuniko followed, "My Ocaasan's illness makes her fall asleep during random moments throughout the day."
Narichi slowly turned around wondering if her next question might be a mistake, "So why does she look dead when she sleeps?"
It was, "Oh that's just how she sleeps now, ever since she contracted the illness she's sleep like that," Kuniko smiled.
Narichi stared, "Ok, I'm going to go to bed now! Good Night Kuniko-san!" Narichi sprinted up the stair and slammed her door thinking out loud, "Oh please some one tell me that this night is over."
"It is once you fall asleep," smiled Maru, "How'd I do in sneaking in your room?"
"Oh Maru-chan, you startled me. Hmm…well I guess you did pretty good," she said thinking, "After this day anyone could come up behind me and pull a knife out." Narichi walked over to her bed and sat down, "So do you need anything, Maru-chan?"
She smiled, "Well see I was wondering, do you think you might try and convince my Ocaasan to let me join the shinobi academy?" She put on her best puppy-dog face and looked at Narichi.
Narichi thought about the woman she just met and said, "I guess, I don't see the harm in it."
Maru's face lit up with hope, "Thank you so much!" She jumped on Narichi squeezing her stomach so she couldn't breathe anymore.
Narichi plied her off her and picked her up so they were eye to eye, "Don't worry about it, you just be a really good girl till you get in. Ok?"
"Ok!" agreed Maru. She left Narichi's room skipping.
Narichi fell back in her bed. She sighed, "I hope nothing else happens till tomorrow," then she got ready for bed and turned out the lights.
Kuniko was busy planning out her plan for the next day while Maru was thinking of what she should do to help persuade her mother. And Mikasa was sound asleep, in the centered in her room on the floor. Poor Narichi was so disturbed that she stared at the ceiling for 2 hours before falling asleep that night.
Translations;
1. Oneesan- older sister
2. Ocaasan- mother
3. Imouto- little sister