Neji walked with an aura of confidence through the street to his new job. He ignored any and all odd looks he got from the scarce people in the streets, his face and body letting all know 'I belong here, it's you that's intruding'.
But it was all ninja tricks.
Neji wanted to leave. As much as he'd hated his life in the Hyuuga home, he was somewhat sheltered and hadn't even realized that there was a…..slums…. In Konoha. All the building had broken windows, graffiti covered most every surface, and none of the people seemed to be bathing regularly.
His mind traveled back to when he had asked Shikamaru for directions. Apparently the area had been just below middle class 15 years ago. Nothing different than any other area, really. But the way the lazy shinobi had heard it told, was some monster had moved into the area, and the whole place went downhill.
When Neji had inquired about the 'monster', Shikamaru had shrugged, saying he hadn't been able to find out anything about that, but guessed it to be a criminal of some sort, a murderer most likely.
A man in an alley started making rude catcalls to Neji, and he quickly sped up. Once he found out where the kid he was tutoring lived, he planned to jump rooftops to get there from then on. He wasn't scared of this place, obviously, but his being there would attract attention.
Yes, that was it.
He reached a building that seemed to be in the worst condition of the whole place, and without any (noticeable) hesitation, walked in. The inside was better than the outside, but not by much. He walked up the stairs, listening to shouts of all varieties from the closed doors, dodging a lamp on it's way down the stairwell, and skirting questionable substances on the steps.
Maybe he didn't need electricity after all. He could always fill up a trunk with ice and keep the food in there.
But then he'd need money to buy the trunk, let alone food and ice to put in it. Damn.
He reached the highest floor, and by far the worst one. There was hardly an inch of the place without paint, huge holes in the walls and even a couple in the floor, and he swore he saw a rat ducking into one of the three open-doored, empty apartments.
He reached the one at the far end of the hall. There were several cracks in it, and the doorknob had seen better days. Worse, there was actual blood (dried from age) splashed all over it, with words such as 'monster' and 'go back to hell' written in it.
Come to think of it, food was overrated. No one stopped to appreciate the texture of roots and the easy way leaves went down anymore.
Shaking off the odd imagination he had started developing, Neji searched for a free spot on the door to knock. Because Neji was the luckiest 15 year old in existence, the door actually seemed to have been painted in some areas, so there wasn't any space at all.
The thought of eating something other than okonomi-yaki and yakitori at the forefront of his mind, Neji lifted up his booted foot, tapping the toe hesitantly against the door.
There was a muffled squeak, and a brief scuffle, before he heard steps come towards the door. "Yes?" came a voice so feminine and sweet that Neji's teeth started to hurt.
"I'm Neji Hyuuga. You wanted a tutor?" said Neji, keeping the strain out of his voice. He was starting to wonder how a girl living in this area could possibly afford the money she was offering.
"Y-you!?" squeaked the voice in disbelief. Neji blinked. Did he sound stupid? Or did his reputation as a genius proceed him, even in a place like this? "Uh, um, okay! Just give me a second!"
Neji listened as what sounded like a dozens locks were undone, before he heard quick steps going away from the door. He waited, confused, before he heard her call him in from farther into the house.
Neji slowly opened the door, looking in. It wasn't so bad, though very very tiny. It was dark, but not horribly so. There was a table set up against the far wall , with a worn chair. The floors were scuffed but there wasn't any graffiti or dirt to be seen anywhere. Or anything else. That was the whole room's decoration.
Come to think of it, there wasn't any girl to be seen either.
Neji blinked, looking around again. No girl. No doors. No kitchen. No closet. No anything. Just the table and chair.
He felt a chill run up his spine. It was like a room he'd seen in the home of a murderer in a movie he'd watched with Lee. This couldn't actually be the home of the 'Monster' could it?!
He whipped his head to the side as he heard the sound of small feet walking. It sounded like it was behind the wall. Something was picked up, there was a click, and suddenly the wall turned almost orange, the shadow of a pig-tailed girl appearing on it.
It was a rice-paper wall!?
Why would anyone put up a false wall in their home?
Actually, considering the state of the door, hiding the majority of her home sounded like a decent plan.
"Um, before you ask, it's for my own well-being." said the girl through the wall. Apparently there was some holes in it somewhere, as Neji could hear her fine. "So, um, You're Hyuuga-san, right? The genius shinobi?"
Neji nodded, nearly smacking himself afterward. Damn. He would need to vocalize himself constantly in this job. "Yes. And you are?"
"Kyu." said the girl. "I'm sorry to tell you this, though, but if you were looking for some sort of mental challenge in this job, you wont be getting it."
Neji blinked. "If you say so." he walked foreword, sitting down at the desk. The girl sat down to, directly beside him. Apparently there was a desk on that side too. "So, Kyu-san, what is it you wanted to learn?"
There was a silence on the other side. "…You promise not to laugh?"
Neji smirked slightly. "I can assure you, I wont."
Kyu took a breath, and from tugged at her pigtails. "I don't really know how to read."
Neji blinked in disbelief. She couldn't read? He didn't realize there actually were illiterate people in this day and age. "How did you write the poster?"
"I asked people I knew to spell words for me, acting like I was writing a diary. It took a long time, since I had to trick them into writing the words for me."
"Why don't you ask them to teach you? You wouldn't have to pay them, I'm sure you could use the money."
There was another silence, this one dark and heavy. "I can't let them know I can't read. They already think so low about me, I don't want to lose all their respect entirely."
Neji nodded, oddly enough understanding how she felt. "Alright. I have to ask though; how do you expect me to teach you to read when we have a wall in between us?"
The air got lighter, and he could feel her smile. "I thought of that! I have three books under your desk, and exact copies over here! That way it'll work, right?"
Neji took out the books. There was a manga, a little kid's story book, and a beaten up textbook from the ninja academy. Not the books he would have chosen, but they certainly fit the atmosphere.
He set them down, opening the little kid book. "You know the alphabet, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then we'll start with The Loneliest Fox. Try your best to start reading it, so I can tell where you are."
Okay." he heard the book being opened, and Kyu's fingers run across the page. "T..Te…Th…The…..l-lie…li…lit-leh…"
Neji took a silent breath. This would be a very long hour.
X
An hour later, Neji stood, thankful for his flawless internal clock, setting the book back down. In an hour, he had walked Kyu through a whole four sentences. They weren't even run-on sentences, or long sentences. They were incredibly simple, seven word sentences.
If it weren't for the 5000 yen he had made from making odd noises in the bad side of town, he would definitely be out looking for a new job tomorrow.
"I'll see you tomorrow, then." he said, opening the door. "Same time?"
"Fine by me. Bye Hyuuga-san."
"Yes. Farewell." he said carelessly, walking out.
Kyu waited, listening to the Hyuuga's steps fade out of the hall and down the steps. Once certain he was gone, she pressed her hands together, and a cloud surrounded her body. After a moment it dissipated, only Kyu had disappeared, leaving a short blonde boy in her place.
He sat back, letting out a sigh of relief. He rubbed a scarred cheek, eyes focusing dully on the page of the book in front of him . "Shit." he muttered, looking at his clock. "I need to get to the bridg or Kakashi-sensei's gonna kill me."
He removed the tight black clothes he had put on, on the off chance his new tutor forced him to remove the wall. He donned a bright orange jumpsuit, opening the window on his side of the living room, disappearing in the direction of the bridge.
X