O The Genius and the Kind O

part two

Obito was released the next day, just a few minutes after lunch. I had been there, (and Kazu too) to help him fill out on his file and i don't know, just be there as physical support? It was very anticlimactic. He got a light duty clearance, and he wasn't allowed any mission higher than C-rank. Wondering why he's still allowed to do C's? Apparently 'light duty' means 'no missions that require going over two borders'. I know, ninjas, amirite? After that we went to head straight to the compound, since Ma wanted to talk to Obito. He was pretty fidgety and so nervous and I could tell Kazu was starting to get annoyed.

"A-are you sure I don't have to dress formally? I mean, I don't have really expensive clothes but I could buy one—I'd have to dip into my savin—" Kazu put his left hand on Obito's right shoulder, (I was hogging his right arm's attention) and pat it firmly twice. "When I say 'You don't have to', I mean 'You don't have to.'" He explained, not one bit bothered when I started to try and scale his arm. Obito shut up (finally) after that and quietly walked beside Kazu, palms rubbing against the side of his body. I eyed Obito long and hard enough for him to notice and when his eyes snapped to my direction, I held eye contact and quietly gave him a serious thumbs up from where I was dangling on Kazu's arm. He snorted and gave me a thumbs up in return, temporarily relaxing.

It took us a few minutes of walking from the Hospital to the more ninja part of the village, (the Hospital was a few blocks deep in the civilian districts) and Kazu carried me piggy back style, pulling on Obito's sleeve, before he set into a nice running pace. It was a nice, very-Konoha-ish day; sunny-but-not-like-Suna sunny, cloudy-enough-for-Shikamaru-to-laze-around cloudy, and very bright and happy. I pull on his shirt and tell him to slow down. Ninja (retired, those just wandering around, those with missions and those just playing as one) littered the district, a few distinct people with clan insignia on their clothes. Kazu slowed down until he was just walking, Obito right behind us. I spot one Uchiha, female and in gear, talking to a weapon store clerk, features eerily similar to Tenten; what with the brown eyes and buns and all. I spotted an Inuzuka petting a small kitten in the arms of a kid, and I saw (was that Asuma? and is that Biwako?!) a group with a few Ushijima's conversing when one of our messengers for Ushijima clan business stuff started waving at us. I waved back and he grinned, before excusing himself (so it was them) and walking towards us. His eyes flashed in recognition before a happy eye smile appeared.

"Ken-sama! And Obito-san!" He said, petting my head and turning to Obito, shaking his hand. Kazu cleared his throat and tried to get the guy's attention, failing to do so when his attention was focused solely on Obito.

"Thank you for protecting Ken-sama! You deserve being recognised by Kaya-sama!" He gushed, sliding into step beside Obito. Kazu shook his head and kept quiet, giving up on trying to get attention. I snicker and pet his nose, almost getting bit by doing so.

"Uh, you're welcome?" Obito half-said, half-questioned as he looked at me for help. Nah, go get the attention. I smiled at him and made a shoo-ing motion with my hand. The guy took that as a sign for him to continue conversing with Obito and they just talked while I continued to sightsee from Kazu's back, which was very nice because I was almost a head taller than everyone from here. There was a breeze here and there, and it helped cool me down a little bit. Back in my old life, it always rained from where I'm from. I was still adjusting to a very sunny place.

I scanned the shops lined in the streets and those inside buildings. There were weapon shops (duh) and blacksmiths sharpening and making stuff. There were nicely decorated shops that screamed 'well-taken care of' and there were a few kids around Obito's age clearing stuff and cleaning the front. Genin.

I caught the eye of another person, belatedly realizing who it was. Eyes met eyes and I assessed the man I was looking at. He was fair-skinned, not as pale as Sai, nope. He had spirals on his cheek and he was big-boned—I steeled through and maintained eye contact, although it was very hard not to scream and fanboy, because there, in all his awesomeness and glory, holy fuck, is Akimichi fucking Chouza!

Apparently my jaw dropped when I realized I was looking at him, in the flesh, and only understood he had been pointing and tapping his own mouth in an attempt to make me close mine. I snapped it close and turned my face away, cheeks burning. I heard Kazu snicker beneath me as I turned back around to peek if they stopped looking in our direction. They haven't. And they were signing something to Kazu. Fuck. Why are they walkin towards us? No, no no no.

"Hello, Kazuhiko-san." I wanted to cry and pretend I was a real kid and I had not been caught jaws dropped, straight out staring at Chouza. I wanted the earth to open itself and swallow me whole and never spit me out to ever feel the rays of sunlight again. Kill me now, fuck. Damn the plotline, they survived without me anyways.

"Hello, Ino-Shika-Cho-san." Kazu said and pat my knee to make me greet them too.I peek from behind Kazu's head where I hid my face. Inoichi winked. I wanted to die. I ducked and buried my face into Kazu's nape and stayed there, unmoving.

"Aw, look Chouza! He's shy!" Way to go, asshole! I hope Ino's favourite parent is your wife!

Shikaku mumbled something a bit like 'troublesome' and Chouza laughed, Kazu politely apologising for how I was acting. No no no, let's go, don't talk to them! I turned to where Obito was supposed to be, only to find him being half-dragged, half-choked to go inside a clothing shop with the guy from earlier. Shit. I have no escape route now. Resigned to my fate, I waved my hand timidly at them, barely doing one wave and more like offering a high five before wanting to die again. Chouza high fived me. He literally just made his palm connect with mine and it made a sound and we high fived. I was trying to— I was waving at them. At this point my lower limbs that were wrapped around Kazu's waist were desperately squeezing with all the strength my toddler-body could muster in an attempt to just go and escape the embarrassment. Shit, I'm never going to wash this sacred hand. A god has touched me, fuck Pein and Kaguya. The real one's right here.

Chouza laughed heartily, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shikaku's mouth lift up in one corner. It was enough for me to go back to hiding. "You like Chouza, kid?" My eyes snapped to look at Shikaku (he's still smooth and unscarred in the face, whoa) who was walking (more like dragging himself) with us, Inoichi beside him and Chouza at our left side. They were kind of flanking Kazu.

"He's my Hokage." I say and all of their eyes sharpened. I held my ground and stared at Shikaku. "You know, that's basically insolence against the highest ranking official in this village. But since you're cute, we'll let it slide." He grumbled and they settled into a quiet stroll. Like you can't hear their footsteps, can't hear the soles of their shoes crush the soil beneath them. I 'hmmped' and Kazu snickered. "You're just like your mother." Inoichi chided, making Kazu laugh quietly. What's so funny about being like Ma?

"You seriously don't know your mother's past?" I must have been looking very confused when Inoichi began to tell me about my mother's teenage escapades.

"There's this one time she hit Danzō-san right in the gut when he demanded Kazu be graduated early. Kaya-san was banned temporarily from the Academy." Chouza butted in while Inoichi was right in the middle of his own story. But really? Danzō?

And why do they sound like they know each other so well?

"We were classmates in the Academy. They're practically your uncles." Kazu explained and tried let me down to walk. Key word, tried.

"Tell me more please?" Apparently Inoichi liked fucking with my brain because everytime he told me a believable story he'd then say it was a joke while there's this evil glint in his eyes and tell really unbelievable stories and then say it was true.

"Did your parents play with you like this?" I grumbled, making both Kazu and Chouza laugh. What's so funny?

"To be honest? Yeah, and it's fun!"

Oh, right. They're the mind-fucking family. I should've have known. They settled down in a quiet but comfortable silence. For me, anyways. Secretly, I was trying to see what their bodies do, those of which were first nature and those of which are second. It was hard because I was basically looking into a blurry telescope (I can see things up close but what I was looking at was blurry) and everything I want to look at close up were either just a relaxed body state or was intentional. Inoichi leaned and relied heavily in his hands it seemed, because his hands were never relaxed the whole time, ready to curl and throw a punch or deflect and defend himself. Shikaku leaned more on the right side of his body while slouching, though I guess that's because he's just dragging himself just to walk. Chouza's left foot's length of stride was shorter than his right, and that might mean thousands of things. I suspected all of these disappeared once they were in battle. I hope.

Kid. It's time.

I jerked and almost fell off of Kazu's back when Megami suddenly whispered.

'For what, exactly?'

Connections. If you want to live longer, make connections. I know useful people when I see them.

'O-kay?' I reluctantly replied as she quietly dissolved into the back of my mind. Alright then. Time to make a ripple in this goddamned fictional world.

Now, how to make use of my [Silver Tongue, lvl. 9]?

(=)人(=)

Kazuhiko's POV

My former classmates signed to me and approached us, obviously distressed and tensed.

Breached border. Guards; dead. Last location. Aburame-Ushijima district. 9 chūnin; dead. 4 chūnin; critical. 2 genin; alive. High danger. Pass message.

Affirmative. Jōnin on site?

On the way. Spread only to jōnin.

Orders?

Stand by. Watch. Need alive.

Shit.

They flanked me and signed to every able bodied in the jōnin handsign. Inside my head, all I could think of was fuckfuckfuck. The clan's smack in the middle of the fighting. Gently, I try to put Ken down so I can free up my hands in case of a confrontation. An alarm hawk soared high above the buildings and circled three times.

All jōnin to respond.

Fuck. I can't leave Ken alone. Right now, even chūnins are a dangerous bet. I said my goodbyes to the three of them and sprinted off into the clan compound. The guard gates were bloodied and I couldn't help but curse out loud. There were a lot of residual chakra in the air and it reeked of burnt flesh, a few splotches and puddles of blood almost completely dry on the ground. Obito was the least of my concerns now. The Uchiha should protect their own. I'm moving to protect mine. Inside the main house where we resided, the hidden rooms were on lockdown, and only jōnin were outside. I pull Ken off of my back and open the room under the hidden room under the rag in the middle of the living room. Inside were mothers and their children, genin and a few elderly. The men gave way as I opened the secret door. Carefully, I slip Ken and one of the genin held him, eyes shaking and visibly tensed. I eyed his form and figured he was one of the genins who survived. He was bloodied and his body looked awful. I gave him a reassuring (or what I had hope was) pat on the back and placed an alarm on the ground, so I'd know if there were any intruders. I close the door and make sure it was sufficiently hidden. I stood up and scanned the people inside the fake hidden room. The men were all scared but stood up for themselves at the very least, what with holding their own weapons and a few chūnins mixing in. I also put an alarm on the floor and close the door, locking it with an alarm ninjutsu, so they would know that someone is trying to open the room and it is not me.

I nod to the jōnins, Miyaka Ushijima and her two older siblings, Miyeru and Miyara Ushijima. All freshly promoted jōnin. Two other joined the little group and introduced thenselves as help from the Abūrame, seeing that they were concerned about the lack of people to help protect the compound. I nod and pat their backs, secretly putting a self-destruct seal if they ever try to attack an Ushijima.

A messenger hawk squawked and landed on my arm, and I quickly unravel the letter on it's talons.

Take down all enemy. Body needed intact.

Mission level/type: Extreme Danger/ Solo

Signed by: Sarutobi Hiruzen

p.s try to keep the collateral destruction under ten million ryo.

I snicker and stretch and warm my body up. ANBU protocol still must be followed and I have to dress the part. Ugh.

I sigh and pull the black mask sealed into my temple on and make sure it sticks to my face like glue.

Time to work.

Part three is on the waaaaay~ Senior high is a pain in the ass. Why do I even need to know calculus anyways?! Anyways, sorry for being so late in updating, and this chapter is really short. I'm working on the next part okay? Please continue to read this!