Chapter 1-37
"Long time no see, brat," Tsume greeted me at the door with her usual laid-back style, which instantly did wonders for my mood.
I reckoned she smelled me from miles away, so my visit wasn't a surprise to her. Unlike my appearance, it seemed, given the quirked eyebrow.
"Didn't expect you to be a Kakashi fan though."
"More like a Sakumo fan," I began and had to refrain from pulling down my facemask and forehead protector, which I now wore as a bandana. The faster I got used to them, the better.
"Messed up big time and shouldn't parade my face around," I continued as the Inuzuka matriarch wordlessly bid me to follow her inside, which I did after dutifully discarding my sandals at the entrance.
"Sounds like quite the story," she chuckled over her shoulder as I followed her to the kitchen, "and here I thought you were playing mysterious for Hana."
"She's at the vet now, but given that you are here, I expect her to be here for supper," she paused and sighed wearily, "just like those two maniacs."
The words had barely left her mouth when I heard the front door slam open.
"See! I told you he was going to be here," Kiba's voice sounded from the entrance, obviously seeing my shoes.
Even without sensing, I didn't have to guess who he had in tow.
I smiled as unbidden, faint memories crept up and gave me an idea.
My concentration was up along with the tiger hand-seal, my focus on the doorframe for barely a second before I sat back as if nothing ever happened.
'Temple of Nirvana Technique'
Hurried footsteps and a few heartbeats later, two teens barrelled into the dining area. Barely through the door, I watched beyond satisfied as wide excited eyes slowly but surely lost focus, imaginary feathers luring them to sleep.
That is...until.
Naruto began to struggle.
Will he?
I couldn't help but nod faintly impressed as his hands came jerkily together.
"K..KAI!" The lake that was Naruto's chakra flexed and literally washed away my Gen-Jutsu. I smiled innocently as a now wide-awake Naruto narrowed his eyes at me.
"You!" I saw him build up to a tirade, before he suddenly paused, noticing his still-swaying buddy next to him. "Oi!" and then he unceremoniously bitch-slapped Kiba across the face.
Who, to his credit, and my immense amusement remained standing and instantly rounded on the offender. I couldn't help but snort quietly at the whole comedic routine. Which, apparently, was enough to dispel it and recapture their attention.
"Aha!" Although it was close, Naruto didn't quite shout triumphantly, "I recognized the effects of your paltry Gen-Jutsu," he continued before raising his brows in an obviously, hopefully, fake-haughty manner, "Kiba, it seems our rival has become rusty."
"Do you think the students became the masters already, Naruto?" Kiba seamlessly cut in with mock derision.
"Bah," I turned away from them, completely disregarding them, and took a sip from the tea Tsume had placed in front of me in the meantime during the whole spectacle, "I'm just glad you have seemed to have learned at least something while I was gone."
"You'll see what we learned when we are going to kick your ass!"
"He will see tomorrow, Kiba," Tsume cut in from the kitchen, "now shut up and sit down!"
"Yes, mom."
"So," I began as the two boys sat down across from me, my mood still uncharacteristically cheerful, "what did you learn so far?" I asked and started to listen.
And the more I listened, the quicker my mood began to drift into more familiar territory. Something that thankfully remained hidden from the two narrators but not from the senior kunoichi at the table, apparently, as again, one of her eyebrows minutely quirked up in question.
During Kiba's retelling of a rather mundane mission, I finally had enough and concentrated for a heartbeat.
"Are you two aware of your chakra natures?" I asked into the blue as my gaze slowly shifted from one, "wind," to the other, "earth."
"Yeah," "No," they answered at the same time.
"The Old Man gave me that funky paper as a present and told me what the split meant," Naruto elaborated, "Kakashi-sensei is kinda helping me with the exercises," he finished with a shrug.
I reached into my Chunin west for a scroll while a Shadow Clone popped into existence behind me. Wordlessly handing him the scroll over my shoulder, I watched as he gave the other occupants of the room a friendly goodbye wave before going on his way to the motel I was residing for the night.
A simple mission on its mind.
Brainstorm.
This...this didn't feel bad at all.
Quite the opposite in fact.
The occasional bump of the hips, her arm and head on my shoulders, almost similar to our academy days, with the pleasant difference, that she was now just half a head taller than me.
I didn't even feel awkward with my hand on her hip as we slowly made our way through Konoha. Our destination not set in stone yet.
My shadow clone was busy at the motel writing down everything that came to its mind that might be useful for Naruto and Kiba. Training for elemental control, techniques and jutsu, ideas, and even other shinobi who might be willing to help them.
A month until the exam was scheduled to start and I was going to make sure...
A soft shake ripped me out of my one-track mind.
"What's up?" Hana asked softly, still partially draped over my right side. Perhaps sensing my minute mood shift.
"Just thinking about preparing Naruto and Kiba for the exam, I worry," I admitted with a soft grimace, which got me a soft kiss on the cheek.
"You don't think they are ready?" She asked faintly surprised, head raised off my shoulder to get a better look at my face.
"They are...," I hesitated and searched for the right word, my eyes on the street ahead.
"Pampered, I guess," I glanced at Hana to see her reaction, and furrowed eyebrows asked me to elaborate, which I did.
"I know my experiences are not exactly common, but I feel like they have been shielded from gritty stuff a bit too much," I couldn't help but grimace again, knowing I didn't make the most sense.
"They are decently strong for their age, but I worry they might stumble when confronted with," I wanted to say 'someone like me', "a harsh situation."
"And a single stumble can be more than enough for...you know," I continued to ramble and was thankful that Hana let me.
"I know you have to make these experiences yourself and deal with them accordingly. I just want them to be as strong as possible so that the margin of error is big enough for them to survive said experience in the first place," I finished my little rant with a little shrug of the shoulder opposite Hana. I knew I worried too much, but I couldn't help it, being a pessimist and all.
A big sigh made me turn toward my female companion.
"You really need a hobby to unwind, don't you?" She commented as she put her head back on my shoulder, and I felt myself steered toward the direction of my former apartment, her apartment now.
"Plus, shouldn't you worry about your own evaluation tomorrow?"
