A/N: Hey all! I thought I'd warn you that our lovely boy Shikamaru actually won't make his appearance until a few chapters later. Please be patient!
Shika to Kappa
Chapter 02
Human Children are Annoying
"WHO THE HELL DID THAT?!"
The few people walking on the street stopped and looked toward the lake when they heard the angry boy's voice. The young boy from the Uchiha Clan was drenched with lake water and a girl who they've never seen around the village stood before him. A few feet away, Guy started making his way toward the two children.
"Who the hell are you and why did you push me into the water?" Pissed-off Sasuke glared at the young girl dangerously. Sasuke never made an exception to be gentle with girls.
"I'm Saga Kawako," Kawako responded honestly. "Sorry, but when I see people next to water, I have this urge to push them down."
"Ha?!" Kawako's answer infuriated Sasuke more. "Are you stupid?"
"No," said Kawako, "It's kappas' way of playing pranks on humans, but it's an act of friendliness. Don't you learn that in school?"
"...You are stupid. I should've figured that out when I saw your stupid dish and shell," Sasuke looked at the girl in disgust. "I don't know what you learn in school, but they certainly didn't teach you any manners!"
"I know manners. I said sorry."
"That was not sincere, you moron!" Sasuke shouted, but regained his composure quickly. "Nevermind... Get out of my sight before I hurt you!"
"Now, that's what I'd call mannerless," said Kawako as she shook her head in disapproval while looking at Sasuke's appearance. "You can try to hurt me, but you can't, you skinny little brat."
"What?" Sasuke's eyes sharpened at Kawako's words, and he tightened his fists. His pride cannot be easily touched. "Would you like to try me?"
The corner of Kawako's lips curled up innocently. "You won't do well next to a lake..."
"Okay, okay, quarreling is a beautiful part of youth, but let's not do it today, Kawako-chan!" Guy put a hand Kawako's shoulder and pulled her away from Sasuke slightly. You couldn't underestimate Uchiha Sasuke. Besides, he's going to be Lee's rival one day. "How about you fight him after you get your ninja qualification? Then you guys can fight as equals."
Not even a genin? Sasuke was slightly surprised, because the girl looked about the same age as him. "You have some guts to challenge me when you're not even a genin yet."
"Whatever you are, you're still a skinny little brat," said Kawako as she stepped away. "I can eliminate you with my thumb."
"You...!" That was the last straw for Sasuke. "Come to this place tomorrow at noon! I'll make sure that you can't even go to ninja academy anymore!"
Kawako turned around and left with Guy. But before getting out of Sasuke's sight, the girl raised her arm and stuck out her middle finger. Uchiha Sasuke, from the time he joined team 7, has never met another person equally infuriating as Naruto.
Even if Kawako was sort of a troublemaker, Guy was exceptionally happy that the young girl was able to stand up to the Uchiha boy fearlessly. He had a feeling that she would get along well with the three kids in his team, who are all very head-strong people. As he had expected, Kawako instantly became friends with Lee when they met each other. Kawako said that she feels right at home when she is with them; Guy and Lee cried seaweed tears from her sweet words. After living with her for one day, Guy was pleased that Kawako could eat as much as Lee and could wash the dishes very well. She looked enviously at Lee when Guy was giving him special training, but Guy refused to teach her until she graduates from ninja academy. Kawako agreed to his terms without much protest. She was a very good girl.
However, the same could not be said about her when she attended ninja academy for the first time.
"SAGA KAWAKO!"
Kawako turned around and looked upwards when the light above her was covered by a man, who literally had to push her name out from his gritted teeth.
Umino Iruka was a kind man to say the least. Even with a scar across his nose, all the children in ninja academy still liked him because he treated them all very nicely. However, Iruka was also a firm believer in morals, and if there was one thing that he cannot allow to happen in school, it was bullying.
"Iruka-sensei? What are you doing here? You do know that it's the girl's restroom."
"I wouldn't be here if the other girls didn't tell me about what you did, and I'm glad they told me!" Iruka said, pointing at three little girls standing by the door. One of them had wet hair and her clothes were soaked from the top. "What made you think that it was okay to push Saya's head into the toilet?"
Iruka was usually a very soft-spoken individual, but he could be authoritative when he needed to be.
Kawako glanced at the girl named Saya briefly and looked at Iruka. "It was just a friendly joke."
"That is not considered friendly! You hurt Saya's feelings!" said Iruka. "It's your first day and you've already bullied a bunch of kids. Now, when we get back to class, I want you to apologize to all of them. Okay?"
"Don't talk to me like I'm one of them five-year-olds."
You sure act like one, Iruka thought. "You're right, Kawako-chan, you are much older than them, so instead of bullying them, shouldn't you be protecting them? You are all children of Konoha, so let's be friends and not enemies!"
Kawako puffed up her cheeks. "If I apologize, can I graduate early?"
"No... you can't..."
"Tch..."
As the school bell rang, Iruka finally convinced Kawako to apologize to her classmates. Iruka made Kawako stand in front of everyone, and had all the kids that she had bullied come forward. Iruka could tell from the two big puff of air in Kawako's cheeks that she did not want to apologize.
"I'm sorry."
Surprised but pleased by Kawako's direct apology, Iruka nodded with a smile. "All right! See? That wasn't hard! Now, let's all be friends!"
The five kids that stood before Kawako looked back and forth at each other, and then they looked back at Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, we don't want to be friends with her."
"Eh?" Iruka's mind blanked out at his students blunt response.
"We can't forgive her for picking on us."
"She's twelve and we're only five! That's unforgivable."
"Our moms wouldn't be happy about our ruined clothes."
"And she smells like fish..."
Iruka looked at the kids speechlessly. "You guys..."
Kawako lowered her head to look at the little kids who rejected her apology. Narrowing her eyes, Kawako walked past the kids and went back to her seat without another word. Iruka looked at the girl with worry.
"Kawako-chan..."
"It's okay, Iruka-sensei," said Kawako, "they're all just jealous of us water species."
"Oooooiii! Kawako-chan, over here!"
School was over and all the kids were running out of the school and toward their parents who picked them up. Kawako was walking out casually, looking around at all the parents, until a loud voice called for her from the school gate. She looked toward the gate and her mood was lifted the moment she saw Guy and Lee with two youngsters standing there. Lee waved at Kawako energetically while Guy gave Kawako a thumbs up for getting through her first day of school. The other kids from school looked over curiously at the group of people greeting Kawako.
"Guy-sensei, next time can you please not abuse training time and make us do meaningless things like this?" A boy that Kawako had not met before said to Guy with mild annoyance in his voice.
"Come on, Neji, we train plenty!" said Guy. "What is youth without the warm love of family?"
"Please don't count me in this family of yours..."
"You're right, Lee, she is like a kappa," said the girl next to Lee, who had two buns of hair on each side of her head.
"Right? She really has water in that dish too! She showed me last night!" Lee said with some unknown pride. "Kawako-chan, this is Ten Ten and that one over there is Neji. Together, we make Team Guy!"
Kawako bowed to each one of them, but after bowing to Neji, she continued to stared at him.
"Are you blind?"
"..." The expression on Neji's face did not change, but his teammates could tell that that was not a good question to ask. "No. It's Byakugan..."
"Oh! Bloodline Limit of Hyuuga Clan! Dangame told me about it!" Kawako clapped her hands together in realization. "Phew! Good thing! I thought maybe you had an eye disease and it might be contagious if I looked at them for too long!"
"Pffu!" Ten Ten had to hold in a giggle.
"Guy-sensei, if we're not going to train anymore today, I'd like to leave..." said Neji, his stiff face even stiffer than usual.
"Don't be like that~ It was just a friendly joke!"
"I don't like jokes," said Neji as he turned around and began to walk away.
Kawako turned back to the remaining three and pointed at Neji's leaving back. "Does he always have a stick up his ass?"
"It's okay, Kawako-chan, Neji's just a serious person," Ten Ten said, patting the side of Kawako's head since the dish was still on top of her head. "You're very funny, but you're gonna have to be much more polite to be friends with him!"
Kawako made a 'tsk tsk' sound as she shook her head. "Human children are so annoying..."
Aren't you human too? Ten Ten decided not to say anything to respond to Kawako.
"All right, Kawako-chan! Let's have a big dinner tonight to celebrate your first day at school! What do you want to eat? It will be my treat! Hahahaha!" Guy gathered his students and laughed with his chest pumped.
"Really?" Ten Ten widened her eyes in surprise. "Guy-sensei, you rarely treat us out before."
"Guy-sensei! You are too cool!" Lee's eyes sparkled with stars.
"Bahahaha!"
"Dinner can wait. I still have to meet that stuck-up little boy from yesterday by the river." said Kawako, and after a short pause, she pulled on the corner of Guy's vest. "And before anything else, I would like to take a bath."
The sun was setting slowly and its rays gave the river a reddish glow. Sasuke stood by the river with his hands in his pockets, one foot tapping the ground. Sasuke wasn't the kind person who would get scared of a fight. In fact, he was eager. Even when his team first met Kakashi, he was the one who attacked with every concentration. However, this time Sasuke was getting impatient. One being that Kawako was currently thirty minutes late. Second being that his two idiotic teammates were hiding in the bushes behind him very obviously.
"Hey, Sakuraaaa-... let's just go on a date!"
"Shh! Shut up, Naruto, and lower your voice! I wanna know what Sasuke's doing!"
"Why? He's so boring! Look, he's just standing there!"
"I said SHUT UP!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes in his mind; it was just his luck to be put in a team with the class's dead-last and the stupid pink-haired clutz. It doesn't help that the person he's waiting for might be equally stupid as those two. Just as he thought about leaving for the sake of his sanity, Saga Kawako appeared from the distance.
"Yo!" She greeted as the ran toward him. Her skin seemed a lot cleaner and her rags had gone through laundry. Although she still had the dish and shell equipped, at least she didn't look like a mudball anymore.
"Don't 'yo' me." Kawako's decent appearance did not impress Sasuke. "You're late. That's the same as disrespect for your opponent."
"If it's respect, then I definitely have none for you."
"...I'm going to kill you..."
"A GIRL?!"
"A KAPPA?!"
Kawako looked past Sasuke at the two teens that jumped out of the bush. Both had an unbelieving expression on their faces, but the girl more angry and the boy more excited. Sasuke sighed; too bad the forehead protector didn't help against headaches.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SASUKE-KUN?" the girl darted toward Kawako with godspeed and grabbed her by the collars.
"Who's Sasuke?" Kawako blinked innocently.
"DON'T ACT DUMB!" the pink-haired girl yelled.
"She is dumb..." Sasuke murmured.
"Hey, hey! Are you a kappa? Can I open the lid to your dish?" Naruto also ran up to Kawako and bombarded her with questions.
Kawako, still held by the collar, turned to Naruto, "I was born a human and now I'm a kappa. You can only touch my dish if you promise not to spill it."
"I won't spill it! I just wanna see if you really have water in it!" Naruto urged with excitement.
"SHUT UP, NARUTO! AND YOU, DON'T IGNORE ME!"
Kawako sighed. "Human children are so noisy..."
Kawako grabbed Sakura's hands and yanked it away from her rags, and then pushed her toward where Naruto stood. "One at a time, okay? I have to settle my business with Mr. Scrawny here first..."
Sasuke stepped forward. "Uchiha Sasuke. Remember that."
"I don't care what your name is," said Kawako as she got into fighting stance. "and I'm going to give you mine either!"
"You told me your name yesterday..."
"..."
Suddenly, Kawako jumped toward Sasuke. It took him a little bit by surprise, but he saw her fist coming toward his cheek, and did a flip to dodge it. Kawako landed on all fours, and jumped at Sasuke again. This time, instead of dodging, Sasuke blocked the attack and threw her far away.
"What? They're fighting?" Sakura was shocked when Kawako suddenly attacked Sasuke.
"What's going on?!" Naruto exclaimed.
Kawako tumbled once on the floor and with the flow she went toward Sasuke again, this time throwing some shuriken. Sasuke dodged to the side and darted toward Kawako. Going in for a kick, Sasuke was surprised that Kawako didn't attempt to dodge. In a split second, Kawako received Sasuke's kick in the stomach, but also threw out a punch at his face.
"You fight like a ruffian!" Sasuke barked, but his cheek stung from the punch.
Kawako coughed while holding her stomach. "Wow, you can kick hard even though you're so skinny..." she stood up straight slowly. "Okay, you want me to fight like a ninja? I'll fight like a ninja..."
With that, Kawako ran and jumped into the river. Sasuke waited for Kawako's attack, but after five then ten then fifteen minutes, Kawako still hasn't surfaced.
"Did...did she die?" asked Naruto.
"That'd be dumb..." Sasuke said, but fifteen minute is way too long. Out of instinct, he walked closer to the river.
"Suiton-Mizudeppou no Jutsu! (Water Release-Water gun Technique)" Kawako splashed out from the river suddenly, and her hands were making a seal. Her cheeks puffed up, and then she spat out a string of water.
"Ugh! What the..." Sasuke was taken by surprise, but he did not feel attack even though he was hit. The only thing he felt was wetness on his...
"BAHAHAHA! Sasuke! You have those days too!" Naruto laughed holding his stomach.
"That...that girl! How dare she humiliate Sasuke-kun like that?" Sakura's face was red with anger.
Kawako grinned at her work. The middle of Sasuke's pants were wet from her justu. It's just a big enough splash to make it look like he pissed his pants.
"You... are you trying to make fun of me?" Sasuke said with a shaky voice. He was about to lose it.
"Well yes," she said, floating in the river, "I like pranks. All of us kappas love pranks. And nothing can stop us once we're in water!"
"You little..."
"You lose! Hahaha!" Kawako laughed as she came out of the water. "You're the little one!"
"...It's not over..."
"Eh?" Kawako widened her eyes. Sasuke was not in front of her anymore, but his voice was heard from behind her. She could barely turn around to see his completely serious face before stumbling forward. But before she could get far, Sasuke had gotten down and swiped his foot and tripped Kawako.
Kawako hissed at the pain from falling on her face and tried to ignore the wet feeling coming out of her nostil. When she tried to get back up, a force on her back kept her down. Sasuke had his foot on her turtle-like shell, and in his hand was a kunai. He held the kunai next to her face.
"Who's the loser now?"
"Still you!" Kawako exclaimed. "I got out of the water because I thought game's over! Or else you could never get me!"
"I never said that game's over! And it's not a game!"
"You should be thankful that I'm playing with you, you stuck-up little kid!"
"I said it's not a game!"
On the sidelines, Sakura and Naruto looked at each other.
"Sasuke is not very calm today..." Naruto commented.
"You're right... but I do get this unexplainable annoyance every time I look at that girl's shell and the dish on her head..." Sakura nodded. "Oh, and her nose-bleeding face is annoying too..."
"Yeah, I kinda have the urge to to stump on her shell too..." Naruto added.
"By the way, did you notice this fish smell ever since she got here?"
Meanwhile, hidden within the leaves on a tree not far away, two jounins watched the fight between Sasuke and Kawako from beginning to end.
"Are you going to go help your student? They're stepping on her like those bullies in Urashima Tarou..." Kakashi said.
"No! Being able to take a good beating is also a good practice!" Guy said smiling.
A sweatdrop on Kakashi's forehead. "I don't know if you are a good teacher or bad teacher..."
"Besides, isn't she great? To have such a good manipulation of her chakra at that age, without any help from ninja schooling, is excellent!"
"I'll agree with you on that," said Kakashi as he looked back toward the young girl being stepped on. "No matter what happens, the dish on her head does not fall down. She's using her chakra to make it stay put. That's a good way to practice with chakra... I'm beginning to think that sage kappas are geniuses..."
"Alas, a child's chakra cannot compare with an adults," said Guy, seeing that the dish on Kawako's head suddenly fell on the ground. The lid parted from the dish and the water inside flowed out. With that, Kawako stopped moving completely. The kids stopped stepping on her at that.
"Eh? What happened to her?" Sakura asked.
"They say that kappas becomes unable to move when the water in their dish spills out completely," said Naruto nervously.
"Idiot, she's a human..." said Sasuke.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT?"
"Anyhow, let's flip her over!" Sakura grabbed onto the girl's shoulders and flipped her over. Kawako's pupils were rolled upwards and the blood from her nose dripped all the way down to her chin. Her face was almost too horrible to look at.
"YAAAHHHH!" Sakura screamed. "IS SHE DEAD?!"
"Idiot! How can she die from that?" Sasuke covered his ears from Sakura's loud voice.
"I'm telling you! That dish is her life!" Naruto exclaimed.
"HELP!" Sakura continued screaming. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"
"Kakashi, your students need help."
Kakashi sighed. Just a day ago, meeting Kawako made him feel pretty good about the kids in his own team. But now, he began to question that as well.
TBC