It took three nurses refusing to treat me for Minoru to snap. He yelled at all the nurses in the hall before dragging all of us out of the hospital and down one of the main streets of Konoha. The anger coursing through the chakra of my teammates was the only thing stopping me from laughing at the pout on Minoru's face as he stomped through the streets. All of my amusement leaves when we walk away from the main streets towards a compound I know very well.
"Minoru, where are you leading us?" Sensei finally asks.
"The Nara compound, they have the best medics and they're not a bunch of idiots like those nurses." Minoru says as he turns around the final corner. I feel a flare of amusement from a familiar chakra signature and sigh into sensei's shoulder.
"Kiku?" Sensei asks.
"Give my sword to Naruto if they kill me, sensei." I groan as he turns the corner.
"What-?" He begins as the familiar chakra signature shunshins in front of us.
"You already managed to get hurt, huh kid?" Ensui asks.
"But we got the bells, Ensui!" I say, finally looking up at him. He's wearing his signature green eyeliner with the standard Konoha jonin uniform. "And since when did you start doing gate duty?"
"I lost a bet to Shikaku," he shrugs.
"Wait!" Minoru says as he comes to stand beside us. "How do you two know each other?"
"Walk and talk Minoru-chibi~" Ensui teases before nodding back towards the compound. The other Naras at the gate, two chunin named Junpei and Kenzo, give kind waves as we walk through. I look over sensei's shoulder to see Kenzo slip Junpei some ryo.
"Oi! No more betting on if I'm going to get hurt, 'ttbane!" Both men turn around with the signature Nara smirk.
"We will discuss why there are people betting on your health later, Kiku-chan," Oda-sensei says. I pout at Ensui's snort. He walks beside sensei, his hands in his pockets like Shikamaru. Of course Shikamaru would pick up the way he walked from his dad (always slouching) and cousin. Although, Ensui and Shikaku are basically brothers.
"Why do I keep bothering being friends with so many Nara?" I grumble to myself.
"Because you're too lazy to make new ones," Ensui teases. "You've spent too much time with Shikamaru."
"Wait really?" Minoru says from our other side.
"Ensui is just jealous 'cause I've played shogi with Shikamaru more,'' I whisper to Minoru. He lets out a loud laugh at that, reminding me of Naruto. I feel a small pang of hurt as I lean my head back down on sensei's shoulder. I see Ensui's eyes cut over to me but I close my own. Stupid genius.
"Any idea on how Kiyoshi's team did?" Ensui asks, breaking the silence.
"Not yet, we went straight to the hospital after our test," Minoru answers.
"He's probably going to come back in worse shape than Kiku," Reiji says. "He will be too lazy to actually fight back." Ensui chuckles at Reiji's answer, Minoru soon joining him.
"Is he the poor Nara that got stuck on Shisui's team?" I ask.
"They put a Nara on Shisui's team?" Oda-sensei asks at the same time.
"Exactly." Ensui says, answering both of our questions.
"And I thought my team was going to be a bunch of monsters," Oda-sensei says under his breath. I feel my jaw drop as I look up at him. Am I just stuck in a weird crossover episode of the twilight zone? Ensui laughs as he leads us up the steps of the clinic.
"Yoshino is going to murder me," I groan as sensei walks through the door.
"Not if I do it first," comes the stern voice of Aki.
"It was an accident!" I say, looking over to the head medic of the Nara clinic. Her hands are on her hips as she stands beside the desk in the small lobby. I hear Minoru shuffle behind sensei a bit after he sees the look on her face.
"That's what you said last time, Uzumaki Kikuko."
"I literally tripped!"
"Off a roof!"
I hear a long sigh come from sensei and look up at him.
"Oops?"
"It looks like we'll focus on tree walking after we start our nutrition lessons."
"But I can already water walk 'ttbane!"
"But you can't tree walk, obviously," Ensui sighs before picking up the sign-in sheet.
"What happened?" Aki sighs as she walks over to us.
"Broken ribs, most likely. I did not know she was so underweight." Oda-sensei says easily.
"You're still underweight?" Aki says, turning her eyes from Oda-sensei to me. Did Aki, did Aki just check out sensei?
"That explains why you kept wearing the jacket during the summer," Ensui muses as he puts down the clipboard.
"Hey! It's useful!" They both give me the tired, annoyed Nara look. I shake my sleeve down so they can see my bandages.
"What did you do to your arms?" Aki says, immediately grabbing the one I showed them.
"Nothing, be careful I have seals in them 'ttbane!"
"Seals?" Ensui perks up, no longer slouching by the desk.
"I hid them in between the layers, I was able to get sensei stuck in a barrier!" I smile widely as Ensui grabs my other arm to look at them.
"Well shit," Ensui whispers under his breath.
"This is fine and all, but I would like to get her back to a room before I have to re-break her ribs."
"Yeah, breaking once is fine by me," I say as we're led back down the hallway.
"How long ago did this happen?" Aki asks as we enter one of the small clinic rooms.
"About an hour ago now," Reiji says. Aki sighs and pinches her nose.
"It's not our fault!" Minoru says. "The nurses were being so stupid at the hospital! They wouldn't treat Kiku!"
"In the future it would be best for you to bring her to the clinic here first," Ensui cuts in as sensei lays me on the bed.
"And it would be best now for all of you boys to get out of this room," Aki says.
"But-" Minoru slaps a hand over Reiji's mouth. He doesn't know how scary Nara women can be.
"I'll be staying," Ensui says as he sits down on one of the chairs. I see a tic form on sensei's forehead and force myself not to laugh.
"It's fine, Oda-kun. Yoshino would murder all of us if Ensui doesn't stick around," Aki says. Sensei looks over to me for confirmation and I smile at him.
"It's okay, Oda-sensei. Ensui's stayed with me for appointments when Yoshino and Shikaku couldn't." Sensei raises a single eyebrow and I know that means we're talking about it later, but he gives a small nod anyways as he leaves the room to follow the rest of our team.
I can't help myself as soon as the door shuts.
"Oda-KUN?" I whisper yell to Aki. Her face turns bright red as she turns away from me. Ensui's shoulders shake in his leather chair. Instead of the uncomfortable chairs like the hospital, the Nara clinic only has comfortable leather ones. I don't know why I expected anything less.
"You better hope you got here before your chakra started healing those bones."
"Oh shit," I whisper.
"Oh shit indeed." Ensui says, nodding sagely from the corner. Thirty minutes later I'm out of the clinic and back outside with my team, ribs sore but not broken any longer.
"Remind me to never piss off Aki again," I tell Minoru as we walk through the Nara compound.
"What did you do?" Reiji asks as Ensui and sensei turn a corner. I hold both of the boys by their sleeves before we turn the corner and pull them closer to me.
"I pointed out the fact that Aki called Oda-sensei Oda-kun."
"What?" Minoru yells.
"I don't even want to know," a voice drawls from behind us. I turn around to see the Nara boy who sat next to Minoru when we were given team assignments.
"Kiyoshi!" Minoru beams, "did your team pass?"
"It was troublesome, but yes," he sighs as he walks up to us. "What are you doing here?"
"Kiku-chan got hurt during our test so we brought her to the clinic."
"Instead of the hospital?" The new Nara asks, his eyes searching for something as he looks at me. I feel my cheeks heat up as I look away.
"The nurses were so mean! They wouldn't treat her, but Aki-san fixed her ribs." I hear Kiyoshi hum in understanding before a hand lands on my shoulder.
"Aww, look Oda, our cute little genin are getting along!" I feel Shisui's chakra humming in amusement behind me.
"Oh no," I whine, dropping my head into my hands.
"What?" Reiji asks from beside me.
"Are you still hurt?" Minoru asks, worried.
"Shisui is such a little shit he's going to drive us into the ground in a joint training." I hear Kiyoshi groan as Shisui lets out a carefree laugh.
"This is going to be so much fun. Training together once a week, what do you think, Oda?"
"That sounds good to me," sensei says easily. "Especially since my team decided to not keep up with us."
"Hey! I was just sharing information with my team 'ttbane!" I put my hands on my hips as I turn to look at him. He raises his eyebrow as he opens his mouth- "And you already know it, sensei. I didn't have to tell you." Ensui looks at me for a moment before recognition flashes in his eyes and he bursts out laughing.
"I don't want to know," Oda-sensei says. "If you will excuse us, I need to start my first lesson with my team."
"Fine, fine. Here's your schedule, Kiyoshi." Shisui hands him a piece of paper before he shunshins away. All the other genin stare openly at the spot he was just in.
I roll my eyes at the situation before hopping on Ensui's back. He lets out a loud sigh, but he grabs my legs to help support me anyways. I grin at the back of his head as we start walking towards the front gates.
"See you, Kiyoshi!" Minoru says suddenly. I turn to see the boy in question walking towards a small house near the front of the district. He gives a lazy wave back, his eyes landing on me for a second too long.
"Kami help me," I sigh, dropping my head on Ensui's shoulder.
"What?" He asks, continuing to walk forwards.
"I think he's trying to figure me out," I whisper in Ensui's ear. He pauses in his steps for a second before continuing to walk.
"And why is that a bad thing?"
"The last time a Nara tried to figure me out I ended up eating dinner at their house once a week."
"It'd be best to go by tonight, too. Yoshino will drag you by your ear if you don't."
"You're going to tell her about this, aren't you?"
"I don't have a death wish."
"What a drag."
"I'm going to kill them," Minoru says.
"I will assist in hiding the bodies," Reiji adds.
"That has to break at least a dozen laws," I tell them both.
"Technically only three," sensei supplies. The evil glint in his eye shows how close he is to helping them.
"They're so-so-so-" Minoru stutters as his hands flutter around in front of him.
"Brazen in their hatred?" Reiji says, shifting his backpack.
"Yes! Honestly, does no one in this village know the concept of a sealing scroll?"
"With the lack of fuinjutsu training in the village, I would say that not many outside of the rank of jonin do," sensei says as we pass another vendor.
Sensei and my team are not taking shopping with me well. Despite my teammates being from three of the noble clans in Konoha, the vendors are still raising prices as soon as we walk up to them.
"Most of the Akimichi places sell in bulk, but maybe we could all buy bulk rice once a month and then we can bulk buy different meats and vegetables each week and split it between us?" Minoru asks. Sensei hums as he thinks it over.
"I think that might be a good idea, Minoru."
"You guys really don't have to-"
"Stop it, Uzumaki Kikuko." Minoru says as he stands in front of me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "We are team twenty. We're family. You're not alone." The tears start immediately. Minoru's eyes widen in panic, but I can't help it. I throw myself into his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist. I feel his arms wrap around my shoulders to pull me closer. I feel another tentative hand on my back, Reiji's kikai immediately begin to crawl around as well.
"Thank you," I sniffle as I pull away from Minoru. I quickly wipe at my eyes as he moves his hands back to his shoulders. Reiji still hasn't moved his hand either.
"You do not have to thank us," Reiji says quietly. "Because we are family. Family takes care of eachother."
"It's rare for a team to come together so quickly," sensei says from my other side. I look over to see him shift my backpack slightly, all of them refused to let me carry it after getting hurt earlier. "I'm proud of you all." I feel both Reiji and Minoru's chakras burn bright at the praise. I hear a stomach grumble and see bright red begin to form on Minoru's cheeks. I let out a small laugh as he pulls his hands away from me.
"Maybe we can get food in the Akimichi district before we go grocery shopping?" I ask, looking between sensei and Reiji.
"I owe you three lunch anyways," sensei shrugs, his lips tilted upwards slightly in a smile.
"Well, since we decided on our lunch yesterday, what do you want, Kiku?" Minoru asks, walking backwards.
"Maybe we should let sensei pick for us since he's paying?"
"You were going to say barbecue," Reiji teases. I turn to him in shock before feeling heat bloom across my cheeks. I see Minoru grin in front of me.
"Barbecue is my favorite as well," sensei smiles down at me. "Do you have a favorite place in the Akimichi district?" He asks Minoru.
"Yeah! We went to my cousin's place yesterday!"
"It was so good!" I tell sensei. "And it's so much cheaper than The Yakiniku Q, plus they have sausages already cut so when you put them on the grill they look like an octopus-" I stop after I realize how much I was saying. I'm about to apologize when Minoru cuts in.
"We can ask for some sesame seeds to make them have eyes too!"
"Really?" I ask quietly.
"Duh! We do it all the time for my sister."
"Last one there has to grill my food?"
"Grill your food?" Sensei asks.
"She managed to catch two different sets of chopsticks on fire sensei~" Minoru teases as he starts running.
"Hey! We didn't say go!" I yell, as Reiji starts running to catch up with him.
I look up to sensei who rolls his eyes at the scene. He moves my backpack to his front before crouching down in front of me.
"Hop on," he winks at me over his shoulder. I grin and hop on his back for my second piggyback ride of the day. But instead of running like I think he will, he walks instead.
"Uh, sensei?" I ask as I lean my head on top of his.
"Yes Kiku?"
"Why aren't we running?"
"I don't mind cooking for two." He says simply. I feel myself start to smile as I drop my head to hide my burning cheeks in his neck.
"I'm really not that bad."
"Mmhmm, tell that to the families of the two sets of chopsticks you murdered." I can't stop my giggles this time. I got so lucky with my team.
After lunch we managed to talk to some of Minoru's cousins who happily sold to us. We split the bills evenly, with me paying extra since I needed more food for Naruto. Every Akimichi we approached with the idea immediately agreed and even offered us a discount.
It was so different from what I'm normally used to. And I may have cried a few times. I blamed it on the smoke from the grills each time. None of my team believed me, but a nice older lady did and we all got a free taiyaki for it.
I also got to see where Minoru and Reiji live. We dropped Minoru off at his apartment first since he lived in the district, obviously. His and Reiji's little sister were both too busy reading the newest Kunoichi Moon to come greet us. It turns out the two of them were close friends in their classes at the academy.
Minoru's mom was still out at work, as was Reiji's when me and sensei dropped him off. His dad was out of the village on a mission as well, so I would have to wait to meet their parents. And honestly, I was a little relieved. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep, but Oda-sensei reminded me that I was supposed to go to dinner with the Naras tonight.
He fell for my pout and took me to his apartment to drop off his own food before giving me another piggyback ride to the Nara compound. Junpei and Kenzo give amused smirks as we enter, a muttered "can't she walk?" comes from one of them, but I'm too tired to pick out which one it was.
Shikaku is the one to open the door when Oda-sensei knocks.
"You might want to run before she realizes you're here," he tells Oda-sensei.
"I'll take that advice," Oda-sensei says, bending down to let me off his back. I pout as I slide off his back. He was warm and I was almost asleep before we got here.
"Come on, Kiku-chan," Shikaku laughs as he drops a hand on my shoulder. "Yoshino made curry."
"Spicy?"
"Yes, spicy."
"'Kay, see you tomorrow sensei?" I ask, looking up at him.
"Of course, Kiku-chan." I move forwards and wrap my arms around his waist for a moment before pulling away to stand back beside Shikaku.
"Thanks for everything today sensei."
"Even the broken ribs?" He raises his eyebrow, his voice is teasing but I can feel he's still worried.
"Even the ribs," I smile up at him. He gives a small smile back before nodding at Shikaku and leaving the Nara compound. At least, I think he is until I turn back around before Shikaku closes the door to see him turn towards the clinic. Shikaku turns me back towards the dining room. We walk in silence down the hall, my eyes growing heavier like they always do when I'm here.
I freeze when we enter the room. Naruto is talking to Ensui about something that happened in school as Shikamaru sits on his other side, resting his head on his arms on the table. I feel Shikaku push me forwards gently and I go to my regular spot on the other side of Shikamaru.
As soon as I sit down, I mimic his posture. I close my eyes as soon as my head hits my arms, but then the bang of a wooden spoon hitting the table jolts me back up into a sitting position. Yoshino stands beside the table, one hand on her hip as the other waves the wooden spoon in the air.
"And just what do you think you were doing today? Breaking three ribs during your genin test?"
"What?" Naruto yells from Shikamaru's side.
"What would you say if it was an elaborate plot to get Aki-san and Oda-sensei together?" The wooden spoon stops waving as she looks at me closely.
"They've been dodging each other for years, Kiku. I doubt today would just-"
"Then why would Oda-sensei be going to the clinic in the dark when she's about to get off?" I cut her off.
"In more ways than one," Ensui whispers under his breath.
"Ew!" I scream covering my ears. "That's my sensei you're talking about 'ttbane!" No one moves for a few seconds, but then Ensui and Shikaku are both bent over laughing while Naruto and Shikamaru try to ignore both of them with bright red cheeks.
"What a drag," Shikamaru mutters beside me.