Chaptah 2: I Can't Think of a Name for this Chapter, so Deal With It

My eyes opened to the sight of Lea's head still resting on my chest. It was the best feeling in the world. As much as I would like to stay, I will have to get ready for the trip.

I gently put Lea's head on a pillow and went downstairs. I got my sandals and walked home.

I checked my back pocket and found my pass and my keys. I unlocked the door. I went to my room and bathed as fast as I can. I put on my clothes and packed some food and weapons into a bag. As I was about to leave, I remembered the things I have not yet finished studying. So, I went back to my room and got the scrolls. I left the house and hid the key in the plant right beside my house. I jumped from roof to roof going back to Lea's house.

As I was getting closer, I started to worry. What if Lea found out about what really happened to her father? I might lose the only person I have left in this world. I can't let her find out. But I also can't hide this from her forever. If I never tell her, she would still eventually find out. Nothing can ever be avoided.

I arrived back at Lea's house. I entered through her window and found her still fast asleep. I looked at her clock and it showed 9:00. That would explain why the sun is at its highest. I wanted to wake her, but I was not sure if Kitashi would already be awake. I could go check, but it would be weird since I never talk to her.

"Good morning, Hiruka-kun"

I turned to Lea.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "It looks like you've managed to go home and pack before I woke up."

I sat down beside her. "It is what it looks like."

"What time is it?"

"9"

"Ah. That would explain the sun." She stood up. "I'm going to take a bath and we can go."

I went out of her window. "Take all the time you need. I'll just be waiting outside." I dropped to the ground and leaned on the wall.

She leaned out the window. "You do know that there is a door, right?"

I chuckled. "The window is faster."

She laughed and went back in.

I sat on the ground and leaned on the wall. I performed the hand seals for the blur technique. "Shadow Style; Blur" I whispered to myself.

People started walking by and I was unseen. I was a just a blurry picture in the shadows to them.

I took out a scroll from my bag and started studying. There were times when I had to move deeper into the shadow of the building to avoid being seen. I can not afford to be seen with this scroll, or any of the scrolls I have.

"Hiruka-kun?" A voice called from above.

I quickly kept my scroll and dispelled the jutsu. I stood up and looked up at Lea. "I'm over here." I called.

She looked my direction. "Get back up here."

I put my bag on and ran up the wall and into her window. I sat down on her bed.

"What are the things you packed?" She asked.

"Just food and weapons." I lied.

"That's it?"

I nodded.

"Oh. Then that means I'm done packing." She grabbed her bag. "Come on. Let's go eat."

We went downstairs and into her kitchen. I sat in front of the counter. "Can you cook?"

She bit her lip. "Whoops."

I laughed. "Let's just go eat outside."

"Alright"

We went outside and she left the keys with her neighbor. We started walking to Takeshi, a noodle shop.

"Wait"

I stopped walking. "What is it?"

"We should pick up Kitashi-san and invite her to eat with us."

"Do you know where she lives?"

"Of course I do. She's my best friend."

"Then lead the way." I extended my arm in front of her.

She laughed and grabbed my hand. "Come on." We both started walking.

"Hey, Hiruka-kun" She called.

"Yeah?"

"Don't be antisocial with her."

I laughed. "I'm not antisocial."

"Says you"

"Well, I do talk to you, right?"

"Yeah, but you don't talk to anybody else."

"Well" I thought for a moment. She was right. I was kind of antisocial. I had nothing else to say to that. "Why are you still holding my hand?" I changed the subject.

She pursed her lips and looked away. "Because I want to" She tightened her grip.

I smiled to myself.

We arrived at Kitashi's house. Lea knocked on the door.

A woman answered the door. "Ah, Lea-san! Are you here to pick up Kitashi-chan?"

"Good morning, Minara-san. Is Kitashi-san there?"

"Yes, she is." She noticed that Lea was holding my hand. "Is this your boyfriend?"

Lea let go, embarrassed. "No"

I laughed. "I'm Setzuka Hiruka." I bowed.

"Nice to meet you, Hiruka-san." She then faced both of us. "Come on in."

Lea and I went in. We sat on the couch as Mrs. Maynoro called Kitashi. Lea was still too embarrassed to even face me.

"Don't avoid the topic." I said.

"Shut up. We will never talk about that."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so"

"We're talking about it right now." I chuckled.

She obviously fought a smile.

"I just want to ask you something."

She faced me. "Fine. We talk about this now and we forget it forever."

"Deal"

"What do you want to ask me?"

I fought laughter and hardly kept a straight face. "So I'm not your boyfriend?"

She quickly looked away. "No"

"Oh" I pouted my lips. "Bummer"

She faced me smiling. "Did you think you were?"

"Well, you did hold my hand the whole time we were walking."

Her cheeks grew red. She looked away.

"Nothing to say, huh?"

She remained silent.

"Oh, now you're ignoring me. Isn't that great"

I saw her left cheek lift up. It looked as if she was smiling, but I can't really tell for sure.

"Hey, Lea-san!" A voice called.

I looked to the direction the voice came from. It was Kitashi. She had her bag with her already.

Lea stood up and hugged her. "Are you ready to go?"

"I've got my things, but I haven't eaten yet."

"Well, that's the reason we came to you."

"We?" She looked over Lea's shoulder.

I stood up and smiled at her.

She whispered something to Lea. They talked to each other softly. They both shared some laughs.

"Hi, Hiruka-kun." Kitashi greeted.

I nodded. "Hi, Kitashi-san."

"Are you ready to go?" Lea asked Kitahsi.

"Yeah, but you guys go ahead. I'll meet you outside."

"Alright." Lea grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her, so I followed.

We stopped in front of the house.

"What did you talk about?" I asked.

"You"

"What about me?"

"Nothing you need to know."

"Come on! Tell me."

"I'll tell you if-" She thought for a moment. "-you kiss me."

"That's it?"

"If you think it's that simple, then do it right now."

"Okay then." I attempted to make a move, but I had no idea what to do. "Can you change the condition?"

"No"

I sighed. "Fine. I don't want to know, anyways."

She laughed. "Right"

"So, you guys ready to go?"

We turned around and Kitashi was there.

She put her arms around mine and Lea's shoulders and pulled us closer to each other. "I'm kinda jealous of you two."

I ducked and moved away from Kitashi. "Right. Can we go now? I'm hungry."

Lea sighed. "Don't you remember what we just talked about?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. I stood beside Kitashi and put her arm around my shoulder. "Oh. Hahaha." I laughed sarcastically and turned to Lea. "Happy?"

They both laughed.

"Come on." Kitashi said. She pushed us gently and we started walking with her arms still around us.

"Must we really stay in this position?" I asked.

"Yes, so that I can hear you whispering to each other."

Lea laughed.

"So, how did you ask her?" Kitashi asked.

I ignored her, because I didn't think she was talking to me. I didn't know what she was talking about.

She shook me.

"What?" I asked.

"How did you ask her?"

"Who?"

"Lea"

"Ask her what?"

She sighed. "Don't play dumb."

"Huh?"

"Kitashi-san, we're not together." Lea interrupted.

Ah. So that is what she meant.

"Aw." Kitashi turned to me. "Ask her right now."

"No"

"Kitashi-san, stop it." Lea ordered.

Kitashi sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry. It's just that I've been waiting forever for you two to get together."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Well, anyone would expect you two to be together. Hiruka-kun, Lea-san is your only friend. You two are really close. And besides, you look really good together."

Lea laughed.

I ignored her for a short while, just until we got to Takeshi.

We went in and sat at one of the cubicles. We all ordered noodles.

"Whoah"

I turned to Kitashi. "What is it?"

She pointed to something behind me.

I looked over my shoulder. It seemed that she was pointing to Naytishi. "What about her?" I asked.

"I think Naytishi-sensei is on a date." Kitashi answered.

"Why would you think that?" Lea asked.

"Yeah. She's just here for breakfast, I'm sure of it." I added.

"Then who is that handsome man coming to sit beside her?"

Lea and I looked back at Naytishi. There was a guy sitting with her now. They were talking really close to each other.

"Wow. I never knew Naytishi-sensei had a boyfriend." Kitashi said.

"How are you so sure that's her boyfriend?" I asked.

Lea and Kitashi squinted at me at the exact same time with the exact same face.

I chuckled. "Lucky guy, then"

"Why is that?" Lea asked.

"Well, I've always kind of liked Naytishi-sensei."

"You have a crush on Naytishi-sensei?"

"I'm not surprised, actually." Lea said. "Naytishi-sensei is really pretty."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Kitashi agreed.

Our noodles arrived and we started eating. Kitashi told stories and sometimes talked about me and Lea.

"Hiruka-kun?"

I turned around to see whose voice called me. It was Naytishi.

"It's nice to see you actually with people." She said.

"But I'm always with—person."

"Then, it's nice to see you actually with somebody besides Lea-san."

I laughed.

"Hey, Naytishi-sensei! What's the name of your boyfriend?" Kitashi asked.

Naytishi was embarrassed. "Don't be too loud."

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" A voice said from behind Naytishi. A tall, handsome man approached us.

Kitashi's and Naytishi's cheeks grew red. He seemed like the kind of guy who was smooth with the girls.

"Listen, it's a good thing I bumped into you kids."

"We're 14!" Lea protested.

"Sure. Anyways, I forgot to give you your exam passes." She gave each one of us a pass. "This is to verify that I have agreed to send you to the Chunin exams. The exams are on the 1st of July. You kids better get there on time."

Lea sighed. "14" She whispered to herself.

"So, I'll be leaving now. You kids better move now." She turned her back on us. "Oh, and good luck." She and her boyfriend walked away.

Lea put her head on the table. "14 is not considered as the age of a kid."

I laughed to myself. "He didn't even tell us his name."

Lea laughed and lifted her head off the table. "I've never seen him before. I wonder if he's from the village."

I turned to Kitashi and she was still staring at the man. I picked up my chopsticks and continued eating, and so did Lea.

"Kitashi-san, your food is getting cold." I pointed out.

She sighed. "I'm done eating." She said without looking away from Sensei's boyfriend.

I looked at her bowl and she really was done. "Wow. You sure can put it away."

Lea chuckled. "Sensei's right. We should get moving."

"How far is Konoha, anyways?" I asked.

"I don't know how far, but it would probably take us 2 days tops to get there."

I put my head on the table and groaned. "I hate traveling."

"Well, that's one thing we disagree on."

I sat up straight and finished my bowl. "Let's go, then."

Lea cleaned up her bowl and called a waitress.

We all paid for the food. We left, dragging Kitashi away from Naytishi's boyfriend.

We walked out the gate and stopped to take one final look at our village.

"Well, here it is; the last look at our beloved village." Lea said.

"I'm going to miss this place." Kitashi said.

I sighed. "We won't be gone long."

They both looked at me. "I guess you're right." The two said at the same time.

We started walking forward, away from the village. We talked about things. Jumped from one topic to another.

I groaned. "Man, I hate traveling." I complained.

"You already said that." Kitashi said.

"Well, I'm saying it again for emphasis. I HATE travelling."

"Stop complaining. It's not so bad. At least we're spending time as a team." Lea said.

Kitashi and I squinted at her.

"How could you be so perky when the sun is up?" Kitashi asked.

"Yeah. The sun sucks. It's so hot." I added.

She held the straps of her knapsack. "I'm always perky, just perkier when the sun is up. It's so bright."

"You weren't perky in the restaurant." I said.

"There's no sun in there."

"But you said you were always-"

"There's-no-sun-in-there." She interrupted.

I sighed.

Kitashi laughed.

"Why do you hate the sun, anyways? You have a lot of jutsus that involve shadow manipulation. You need the sun."

"No, I do not. I just need light."

"So, how do you practice those jutsus, anyways?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know." I said sarcastically. "Maybe because there are lights in my house and pretty much everywhere in the village."

"But wouldn't you agree that it would be easier to train those jutsus under the sun?"

"Yeah, but-"

"You've already agreed. End of conversation."

I sighed.

"Hey Hiruka-kun, can't you summon a giant crow?" Kitashi asked.

"Yes, I can."

"Then why don't you do that?"

Damn. "It's a waste of chakra." I lied.

"You don't fool me. You always have chakra. Just summon that huge bird and we can ride it going to Konoha."

"It won't last the whole trip." I lied—again.

"Then we'll just ride it whenever we can."

I sighed. I didn't know Kitashi very well, but I knew that there is no winning when arguing with her. I had to admit that I even I wanted to ride Kurohane, but the power might get them suspicious.

"Hey! Hiruka!"

I shook my head. My mind must have drifted off.

"So, you're not going to summon your crow?" She asked. She must've taken my action the wrong way.

I thought about it. They already think that I am only very talented. I'm sure they wouldn't expect the style. "I will"

Kitashi laughed and patted my back several times. "That's my man! Now, go call him or something."

I nodded. I walked a great distance from them and told them not to follow. I bit my lip until it bled and wiped it off with my thumb. I performed the hand seals and slammed my right hand to the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Lea and Kitashi were coughing and swatting away the smoke.

"Well?"

The smoke cleared and they saw me standing on Kurohane.

"That's amazing, Hiruka-kun." Lea exclaimed.

The two of them jumped on Kurohane.

"Where did you learn to summon?" Lea asked.

"Eh, picked up a scroll somewhere." It was kind of true. "You girls better hold on, because we're about to take off."

Kitashi sat down.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Lea asked.

"Suit yourself." I knelt down and whispered to Kurohane that we take off.

Kurohane spread its wings and took off.

Lea was caught off balance and landed on me, but I was able to catch her.

"What'd I tell you?"

She smiled her apologetic smile. "Sorry"

I put her back on her feet and let go of her. "Kurohane is really fast, so I'm sure we'll get there tomorrow."

"You said it wasn't going to last the whole trip." Kitashi stated.

"Oh, um, I put a lot of chakra into the summoning, so it might." I lied.

She nodded. "Ah"

She's very easy to lie to. Though, I'm a little worried about Lea. She probably knows that I've been lying a lot.

Lea sat down. "I'm quite tired. I didn't get a lot of sleep."

"Sorry if I woke you." I apologized.

"You didn't. It was the brightness of the sun."

"Oh, then I should have closed that window."

She laughed. "Stop blaming yourself."

"Wait a minute!" Kitashi interrupted. "You slept together?"

I laughed and looked at Lea. I wasn't going to tell this story.

Lea turned to Kitashi, embarrassed. "Well, my parents were gone for the night and I just happened to be with Hiruka-kun. I really do not like being alone, so I asked him to spend the night with me."

Kitashi slowly formed a wide smile. She raised her eyebrows twice.

"Nothing happened!" Lea defended.

I laughed.

Kitashi isn't so bad after all. I wonder why I ever avoided her. —oh yeah, I just remembered..