Chapter 8: Doesn't really matter
.
.
I don't track down where Lunch-face—er, Tanaka Michiko—lives as soon as I can. I don't want to be too hasty. First, I need to actually think about what I'm going to do (because seriously, what the fuck am I going to do?) and gather the supplies. And it would look really suspicious if I just skulked around her house. I'll have to sneak out at night, especially if I don't want Naruto to follow me.
Don't get me wrong. He's a great kid, but sometimes he's just too loud. This is a stealth operation. Maybe in a year or two he'll grow out of that phase all children seem to go through where they think they're being quiet, but actually they're being super loud. I'm still having trouble sneaking around.
So no revenge yet. Next week, though...
In the meantime, there's someone else I have to deal with.
Lefty. Aikawa Kyoko.
First of all, what the hell was she doing there? If she was there because of an extra class, what was she doing walking around outside? I'd timed things so that the classes would still be ongoing when I left, so it would have been in the middle of whatever class Lefty was attending.
Except she'd been alone.
Was she in the class Naruto disrupted? I hadn't thought about it, but the class was probably cancelled since the teacher would have been in no condition to continue teaching.
Whatever the case is, I need to question her today, since today's Friday. If I miss her, I won't have another chance until Monday, and who knows who she'll go blabbing to in the meanwhile.
If she hasn't already blabbed.
I don't bother tracking her down in the morning, since it'd be super weird if I suddenly knew what class she was in, and I can't "accidentally" run into her since our classes aren't even on the same floor. Instead, I take Naruto's usual seat by the window, ignoring his grumbling, and keep an eye on the entrance. I know it might be useless, since there's the possibility she arrived before us, but I do it anyway.
Naruto leans his back against me, using me as a prop as he throws his legs across the rest of the bench. Glancing at him, I watch as he pulls out a textbook (which baffles me for a moment) closely followed by a pencil and some paper. He inches his legs up, bending his knees, and places the textbook against his legs, then puts the paper on top. Then he starts doodling.
Ah.
Mystery solved, I turn my attention back outside. As time passes too slowly for me, our classroom starts to fill up. The seats around us stay empty as the pests jockey for the seats furthest from us. Naruto and I resolutely ignore them.
Eventually, my vigilance pays off. Lefty's figure comes skittering into the courtyard. Her little pigtails bounce with each step, her grip tight around the straps of her backpack, she rushes toward the Academy building. Wow, is she late. Class is about to start.
I turn my attention away from her, satisfied in the knowledge that she's here.
Satisfaction quickly turns to frustration when I can't find her in the first ten minutes of our lunch break. It was hard enough convincing Naruto to eat without me, and now I can't even find her? I even found Righty! Who'd already found a new group of hell spawns to run around with.
Which, actually. If Right and Lefty aren't friends anymore, does that mean Lefty doesn't have friends (and wow, okay, that makes me a little sympathetic. Just a little)? Maybe I've been looking in all the wrong places.
Where would someone without friends eat? She's not in the courtyard, and the older students tend to monopolize the roof... Maybe her classroom?
Are you even allowed to eat in the classrooms? With the way all the kids book it as soon as lunch starts, you'd think it's illegal to stay inside during lunch.
Well, it won't hurt to try. So I head toward her classroom, which for some reason is located on the first floor. I don't get how this system works. I don't get how this building works.
Case in point, I get lost on my way and I have to backtrack. By the time I get there, I'm seriously irritated. God, she better be there. If not, I've been wasting all this time for nothing!
Luckily (for both of us), when I look through the open doorway, she's sitting by her lonesome, staring down at her half-eaten lunch. As I make my way into the room, I get a whiff of her food. Man, that smells fucking good. And, ugh, I'm so fucking hungry.
My stomach grumbles its agreement.
Lefty jumps at the sound, whipping her head up to stare wide-eyed at me. My eyes immediately dart away as my face flushes (not in embarrassment, okay? I'm not embarrassed—I'm not).
"Oh! Re-Renge-san!" she stutters.
I grimace, forcing myself to look at her. Then pause. Oh crap, what's her name again?
"Aaaah—Aikawa!" I accidentally shout her name. But at least I remembered it?
Unfortunately, I startle Lefty—Aikawa—again, making her jump in her seat. Her chopsticks drop from her slackened grip, clattering onto the desk. She gives her lunch a forlorn look before looking back up at me, this time in confusion.
"Kyoko," she says.
"What?" I'm slightly taken aback.
She purses her lips and raises her eyes to meet mine (and I'm suddenly struck by the realization that she hasn't been looking into my eyes until now). "My name is Kyoko."
"Uh. Okay?" I'm confused. Why is she correcting me? I know it's considered rude for someone to call you by your first name without permission, so why is she giving me permission? We're not friends, and I doubt we'll ever be, so what's she playing at? But I have more important things to focus on. "Did you tell anyone about yesterday? Kyoko. San." Belatedly, I add her name, then an honorific.
Aikawa looks confused again, her gaze drifting slowly away from mine.
"Yesterday?" she mumbles. Then her eyes widen and shoot back up to almost meet mine. "Oh! Um. N-no? Was I supposed to?"
"No!" I shout, startling her again. She lets out a little squeak. And geez does this girl startle way too easily. She's making me feel jumpy. I clear my throat and try again. "No. You better not tell anyone you saw me yesterday, or I'll make you regret it."
I lean forward and glare at her, trying my best to be intimidating. I'm not sure it's working. (And that threat. Seriously. Wow, much intimidate.) Aikawa doesn't look cowed in the slightest. She rears back with a startled expression that quickly morphs into... a pout?
Why is she pouting?
Just to be safe, I lean away from her.
"There's no one I can tell anyway," she mumbles. She tucks her chin and clasps her hands together tightly in front of her chest. "Kaoru-chan won't talk to me anymore and Michiko..."
Oh crap, no. What are you doing? Why are you doing this to me? Now I'm feeling... sympathetic.
I know what it's like, not having anyone you can talk to. It's painful. And so, so lonely. It's something I wouldn't wish on anyone, no matter how jealous I got of others (nobody to talk to nobody to lean on alone always alone cold the ringing silence).
Groaning in annoyance, I plop down on top of the desk in front of Aikawa, once again startling her. And seriously, how does she expect to become a shinobi if she startles so easily? Ignoring her for now, I swing my backpack off my back and place it next to my legs. Then I rummage through it and pull out my lunch. I'd made my own variation of onigiri (with salt, sesame oil, and sesame seeds mixed into the rice) paired with dongurangdeng (Korean vegetable and meat patties) and egg rolls. Naruto got more than me, with fillings in his onigiri that I opted out off. Frankly, most fillings are gross. Unless it's kimchi. I'd say yes to kimchi.
Once I set my lunch on my lap, I finally meet Aikawa's curious gaze. "No one should have to eat alone if they don't want to." Painfully, my mind strays to Naruto, who I left to eat on his lonesome. I shake the thought off and continue talking. "And you're better off without those two, anyway."
Done speaking, I focus on my food. I don't look up when Aikawa starts talking. Instead, I plop an egg roll into my mouth. Erk, too salty. I quickly take a bit of onigiri to drown out the saltiness.
"Oh, uh. Thank you?"
I don't respond right away, taking a moment to finish chewing and then swallow. "Damn straight. Now eat your food."
When I glance over at her, Aikawa is smiling broadly down at her food. Damn it. It's only this once, you hear? I'm not doing this for you again!
But hopefully this'll at least endear me to her enough that she really won't go blabbing.
So we sit there, awkwardly eating together. I take a peek at her lunch and have to bite back the urge to sigh dramatically. As good as her food smells, her main dish is pork. Pork! It's not as bad as fish, but still...
Aikawa catches me eyeing her lunch and tilts it toward me in invitation. I awkwardly decline. No thank you. Though the rolled eggs look good, I am not taking food from someone I barely know.
You know, maybe I should have left her to eat alone... This is just too awkward. I have nothing to say to her and I doubt she has anything to say to me. Mostly, I can't help but keep wondering how Naruto's doing.
I'm actually half afraid he's getting into some kind of trouble. Hopefully, he's not getting into any fights.
...I scarf my food down as quickly as I can, pack up my lunch box, grab my backpack, and start rushing out of the classroom.
"This was nice and all, but I gotta go!"
.
.
The weekend passes us by quicker than I thought it would. Naruto somehow convinced me (it was those eyes of his. He knows my weakness!) to let us try out the shuriken we'd scavenged previously. Needless to say, it ended horribly.
Both of our aim was abysmal but, sadly enough, Naruto was better than me. Only by a margin, though! Instead of completely missing the tree we were aiming at, like me, Naruto managed to nick it a few times.
We were probably doing the whole thing incorrectly. From our posture to our grip, we had absolutely no clue what we were doing. It's another thing to add to my growing list of things to ask Raidou to teach us. I think I might ask him for some training soon. All this horrible self-training is getting ridiculous.
But despite our horrible results, we had fun.
Come Monday morning, I feel like the weekend ended all too soon. Classes are as boring as usual. Still no sign of Lunch-face, whose name I've already forgotten. Luckily, I wrote down her name and address in the pocketbook I went out and bought with Naruto last week. (Over half the entries in it are written in English because of their sensitive nature.) Righty is with her new gaggle of friends, though I did see her throw a few glances at Aikawa. Who seems to have found herself a new friend.
I watch her with half an eye from my perch next to Naruto on a bigger and sturdier tree. It takes longer to get up and down the tree, but I'm getting better at it.
Aside from that, nothing noteworthy happens on Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday throws me for a loop.
Naruto "accidentally" kicks me awake, like usual (it has to be on purpose, with how often he does it). I stay in bed for a few minutes, blinking groggily as I listen to the loud sounds of Naruto brushing his teeth and washing his face. My eyes close and I almost drift back to sleep, only to be startled awake when something heavy lands on me.
"Off!" I shout, flailing uselessly.
"No!" Naruto shouts as he clings to me. He gives me a wide, cheeky grin. "Not until you wake up!"
Pushing his face away from me, I respond through gritted teeth. "I'm up, damn it!"
Naruto just keeps grinning at me. Fed up, I take a swing at him, only for him to jump away from me. He sticks his tongue out at me as I sit up and untangle myself from the blanket. I growl at him, picking up the pillow next to me and throwing it at him. Naruto yelps in surprise, but he's too late to dodge it. The pillow hits his stomach, making him stumble and hunch over.
Finally untangled from the blanket, I dodge Naruto's hunched form and rush into the bathroom. Five minutes later, as I make my way to the kitchen, I give the calendar a cursory glance—and pause.
"Naruto."
Naruto pops his head out from the living room area, giving me a cautious look. "Yeah?"
I point to the calendar, my hand shaking from how tightly I'm clenching my fist, at a date printed in red. Today's date. My expression must be especially fierce, because Naruto starts to cower back.
"Today's a holiday," I grit out through clenched teeth. Actually, today is the beginning of a three day (five if you count the weekend) holiday. Greenery Day, of all things, being today and Children's Day being on Friday, with another holiday in between for convenience or whatever. (1)
"Oh," he says. Then he looks at me sheepishly, widening his eyes to give me a pleading look paired with his stupidly cute nightcap, and damn him. Because it fucking works. "Oops?"
And then he ruins the effect of his eyes by opening his mouth. Ugh. Oscillating between forgiving him and thinking up a suitable punishment, I decide it's too much trouble and just focus on making breakfast. It's too early for this shit.
Probably sensing my mood, Naruto is thankfully silent through breakfast (after I make him ditch the nightcap). He still protests as usual when I give him the dishes to wash. I just roll my eyes at him and make my way over to the couch.
I'm contemplating taking a nap, when there's a knock on the door.
"I'll get it!" Naruto shouts in his attempt to not have to do the dishes.
"No you don't!" I point threateningly at Naruto as I haul myself off the couch with a groan. He grumbles but slinks back toward the sink, his gloved hands dripping water onto the floor.
There's only one person it can be, and quite frankly I don't get why he bothers knocking. I'm pretty certain Raidou has a copy of the key to our apartment. It's either that, or he really did break it last time. Which, seriously, fucking ninja and their stupid ninja skills.
In case it isn't Raidou, though, I really wish I was tall enough to look through the peephole. But since I'm not tall enough, I open the door without undoing the latch, though it won't do much against a shinobi.
Sure enough, Raidou peers down at me through the gap, his lips quirked upwards the slightest bit. I flash him a small smile before closing the door and unlatching it for him. Then I drag the chair to the side.
"It's unlocked!" I call out to him.
When Raidou closes the door behind him, he frowns at me. I frown back. What? What's wrong?
"What if someone was pretending to be me?" he asks, and oh, that's a fucking really good question.
Because I hadn't thought of that.
Why didn't I think of that? There's a really big possibility of it happening! Someone could henge into Raidou and I wouldn't be even know. Wouldn't even think to suspect.
What the hell? When did I start letting my guard down (again)? Why didn't I think of this sooner? All those years implicitly trusting that the person I was interacting was, in fact, the same person. That Yamori was always Yamori, and not someone else pretending to him.
God damn it. Way to feed my paranoia.
Raidou sighs deeply and reaches a hand out to pet my head. I have to forcibly stop myself from flinching away. The thundering sound of hurried footsteps approaches us.
"Raidou-niisan!" Naruto the whirlwind shouts as he suddenly barrels into Raidou's side.
The man doesn't even budge, though he does let out a little grunt. Then he raises one eyebrow at me, mouthing the word "niisan." I just grin up at him.
Naruto has decided that Raidou will forevermore be referred to as "Raidou-niisan," even though Raidou's old enough to be considered an uncle or something. I don't know. Goes to show how much Naruto likes him, though.
Raidou shakes his head and pushes us away from him to give us a once over. "You two need to get changed. The Hokage wishes to see you."
What? Why would the Hokage—oh, right. We agreed to visit once a month, didn't we? Ugh, and there's probably no way to get out of it, especially since Raidou came to fetch us. Well played, old man.
"Right now?" Naruto asks.
When Raidou nods, he beams and rushes into our room to get changed. Why's he so excited? Oh. God damn it!
"Naruto, go finish the dishes first!" I give Raidou an irritated look before following after Naruto.
When I get to our room, he already has his shirt half pulled over his head. He says something, but his words are muffled by his shirt. Rolling my eyes, I tug the shirt off of him.
"No clue what you said, but seriously. Go finish the dishes," I say with a scowl.
Naruto scowls back at me. I pull a shirt out of the dresser and toss it at him before he can start complaining.
"Fine, fine," he grumbles.
He leaves after he changes his pants, too. I dither for a moment, wondering if I should dress up. Not that there's much variety in our clothes. Actually… God damn it, no wonder that stupid Uchiha called me a boy. Naruto and I share clothes, meaning all of it's boy clothing. I probably do look a bit boyish. I mean, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that. But I'm a girl. I have my own pride as a girl.
...Maybe next time I'll buy some girl clothes. Nothing in pink though. Definitely not.
Mind made up, I dress in some of our shabbier clothes and exit to find Raidou helping Naruto finish up the dishes. Well, whatever. As long as they get done. Naruto sees me looking over at them and sticks his tongue out at me. I just roll my eyes at him.
A minute later, Naruto hops down from his chair, thrusts his hands into the air, and shouts, "Finished!"
Raidou chuckles, reaching over to ruffle Naruto's hair, making the boy beam up at him. I can't help but smile at the sight, though at the same time, I have to fight back a frown. Naruto is really attached to Raidou, isn't he? And I hate that I can't deny that I am, too. He really is good to us.
Which makes my feelings about him even more conflicting. But it isn't something I should dwell on right now. It's something I'm really working on not to dwell on. And we've got a Hokage to visit.
"Ready?"
Raidou's voice snaps me out of my thoughts, bringing me back to the present. I look up to see Naruto impatiently holding his hand out for me to grip. I slip my hand into his and squeeze.
"Ready," I respond resolutely.
Unfortunately, I forgot about Raidou's preferred way of travelling. Jumping. I know it's something I'll have to get used to, but it doesn't mean it'll be an easy process. The whole journey to the Hokage's Office, I grip Raidou's shirt tightly and hide my face in his shoulder. I can hear Naruto whooping in excitement on Raidou's other side. It feels worse than last time.
We don't land soon enough.
"Hate. You," I groan as I kneel on the ground. The glorious, unmoving ground.
"That was so much fun!" Naruto shouts, and I've never hated him as much as I hate him right now.
How can he like that? It's... it's—ugh, I think I'm going to puke. I lean over and place a hand over my mouth, praying to whatever deity might exist that I don't spew. A large, warm hand starts rubbing circles on my back.
"I'm sorry," Raidou murmurs.
I groan back, halfheartedly waving his apology away. There's no way he would have known. Well. Maybe he could have, being a trained shinobi and all. But, blegh.
Suddenly, Naruto swoops in and grabs my hand, dragging me back up. "C'mon nee-san, let's go go go!"
Never mind, I hate him even more now. Glaring balefully at my twin, I consider flipping him off before deciding it's not worth it with Raidou here as a witness. Instead, I let him drag my deadweight forward into the building, Raidou following us with a chuckle.
The front desk reception glances up from her desk at us and blanches, but takes one look at Raidou behind us and looks back down. Curious, I glance back at Raidou to see what made her react that way, but Raidou looks normal to me.
Hmm.
I squint at him. Though he's not looking at me, he probably sees me out of the corner of his eye, because his lips twitch upward fractionally. I turn back to face forward and decide to give Naruto a break by walking on my own.
When we get to the top floor, the Hokage's receptionist waves us through without a word. Huh. Guess the Hokage isn't busy? Either that, or he set some time aside for us to make sure no one would interrupt us.
Like last time, Raidou knocks, then immediately opens the door. The Hokage's Office looks different from last time. Where once it was bare of any excess furniture, there are now two couches perpendicular to the Hokage's desk with a table in between.
The Hokage glances up from whatever he was looking at, grinning around an unlit pipe.
"Oh, Naruto, Renge. Welcome."
"Jiiji!" Naruto shouts, bounding over to make himself comfortable on one of the couches.
I bite my lip to resist the urge to laugh. I don't know if I'll ever get used to Naruto calling the Hokage "jiiji." But why is Naruto so excited? I know our last meeting with the Hokage ended on a slightly positive note, but that's thanks to Naruto, not because of anything the Hokage did.
Taking a seat next to Naruto, I decide what the hell, and greet the Hokage. "Yo, jiiji."
If Naruto's going to be disrespectful to the Hokage, hell yeah I'm going to take advantage of it. Raidou makes that dying noise from his position next to the door. I can't help but frown at him. Why's he all the way over there, still?
"Hokage-sama," Raidou says respectfully, giving his leader a bow.
The Hokage nods toward Raidou. "Raidou-kun. You're dismissed."
What?
No! He can't leave us here alone with—with the Hokage! No! Don't leave us! (Don't leave me don't always alone no one here—no No Naruto there's Naruto and Kurama I'm not alone I'm not!)
But I don't say anything. I don't show my trepidation; I swallow my unease as Raidou gives us one last smile before leaving. Naruto pouts at his retreating figure, but quickly recovers and turns back toward the Hokage. But he grips my hand tightly. I squeeze back.
The Hokage puts down his pipe and rises from his seat to slowly make his way to the couch across from us. He lets out a groan as he sits down, eliciting a giggle from Naruto.
"I'm getting old," the Hokage says with a sardonic smile. "How have the two of you been since we last talked?"
"Good!" Naruto replies. "Oh, but the Academy's suuuper boring!"
The Hokage raises his eyebrows in the perfect picture of surprise, except it's a little exaggerated, a smile on his lips. "Is that so?"
"Yeah! Raidou and nee-san taught me most of the stuff we're supposed to be learning! And the teacher's so mean! He's always calling on me and nee-san, and sometimes he gets angry when we get the answer right. I don't like him."
"Hmm," the Hokage makes an encouraging noise, but the look in his eyes isn't as friendly as it was before Naruto mentioned our teacher. Then he suddenly switches his attention from Naruto to me. "And you, Renge?"
"Er," I shrugged. "Same as Naruto. And, well..."
I trail off, letting my gaze slip to the side. Staring into the Hokage's eyes is more intimidating than I thought it would be. Sure, he looks like a grandfatherly old man, but he's the freaking Hokage. The Professor, or the God of Shinobi, or whatever they call him. I can't tell if he's analyzing us or if he has his guard down because we're just kids. I don't know if I should be conscious of my every action and reaction or not.
It's nerve-wracking.
The Hokage crinkles his eyes as he smiles encouragingly. "What is it? You can tell me."
No, I really can't. I can't tell you anything important. But I can try and use you. Use your "weak spot" for us, for the children of Minato and Kushina.
I bite my lip and fidget with the frayed bottom of my shirt, glancing at him from the corner of my eyes.
"Um. It's just... We're running out of money."
"It's not our fault!" Naruto suddenly chimes in, and thank god, because it draws the Hokage's attention away from me.
I don't relax, though, because I'm still in his periphery vision. Instead, I whip my head around to stare and Naruto in faux shock.
"Naruto!" I hiss.
"It's not!" he insists. "Everyone's so mean to us! It's unfair! Why do we have to be charged more than everyone else! And all the foods bad, too!"
I whip my head back toward the Hokage, adopting a pleading look. "It's not that bad. It's just… with rent and everything..." My voice tapers at the look in the Hokage's eyes.
His eyes look dead, cold. (Cold so cold chilling everything snow even during spring blankets during summer freezing hands freezing fingers.) Deadly. I flinch away, huddling closer to Naruto.
"Rent?" he asks, and even his voice is cold.
"Yeah!" Naruto responds, nodding vigorously, and how is he not affected by the Hokage? How can he act so normally? Doesn't he realize how dangerous the Hokage is? How dangerous a game we're playing with him? Except Naruto doesn't know, because I didn't tell him. And this isn't a game. "We got a note about when rent is due. Right, nee-san?"
Somehow, I manage to stutter out a response. "R-right."
I don't get it. Why's he reacting like this?
And then the Hokage's gaze turns faraway, like he's lost in thought. I give a little exhale, relieved to once again have his attention off of me. He gives a little hum and his hand reaches up—only to grip nothing. His mouth forms a little "o" before his lips press together tightly and he lowers his hand.
He makes eye contact with both of us, gaze steady. "Don't worry about it. In fact, I have next month's allowance right here."
The Hokage reaches into his robes and extracts a money envelope. He places it on the table and pushes it toward us, giving us a small smile. I nudge Naruto, signaling him to take the envelope. He does, tearing into it enthusiastically before I can stop him. He looks at the bills in his hand, giving out a little "ooh," before pulling out his frog coin purse to stuff them inside.
Naruto's actions manage to elicit a chuckle from the Hokage. I look at Naruto and he looks at me, sharing eye contact, before he both turn toward the Hokage and grin.
"Thank you!" we chorus.
"You're very welcome," he responds with an amused glint in his eyes. "Now, tell me more about how you've been."
I let Naruto carry the rest of the conversation, too emotionally drained to do more than chime in every now and then. Besides, I don't trust myself enough to be able to continue to successfully trick the Hokage. The more I talk around him, the more I'll end up revealing.
And I don't want him to figure out just how much I dislike him.
We spend roughly an hour taking to the Hokage (or, more precisely, an hour of Naruto talking at the Hokage) before Raidou returns to take us back. I'm so relieved to see him that I follow Naruto as he runs over to Raidou and latches onto his leg.
"Raidou-nii!" Naruto shouts.
Oh thank god he came back! I don't know if I could have survived much more of this. And we'll have to do this once a month? I sincerely hope all our other meetings go differently.
Raidou pats our heads with a small smile before exchanging glances with the Hokage. No clue what that's about. I turn back toward the Hokage to say bye, but he starts talking before I can.
"One last thing," he says, then pauses dramatically to stare into my eyes. I have to resist the urge to jerk back and hide. "Renge, why haven't you been attending the kunoichi classes?"
Uh, what?
"What? What kunoichi classes?"
I mean, I think I remember hearing about them from the manga... But they're seriously a thing? That I have to attend? I'm (physically) four, for crying out loud!
Naruto looks just as confused as I sound, as he glances from me to the Hokage, desperately wanting to know what we're talking about, but not yet willing to interrupt us. The Hokage stares into my eyes for a moment longer before finally breaking eye contact to sigh.
"I see," he murmurs, but I don't see, so what the hell? "Raidou, please deal with this."
Deal with what? Is it really such a big deal that I—oh, son of a bitch! Our stupid fucking asshole teacher was supposed to tell me about the kunoichi classes, wasn't he? What the fucking hell! Is he trying to screw me over? He is, isn't he? Oh, I am going to—what? What can I do?
Well, I can always sic Naruto on him.
Hm.
As I contemplate this, Raidou nods to the Hokage and Naruto shouts his goodbye. I mimic him absentmindedly, latching onto his hands. Once we're in the hallway, I look up to Raidou.
"What kunoichi classes?"
Because, yeah, attending will probably be hell, but there's no way I'm going to let that fucker win. I am going to fucking—well, not ace, but—pass those stupid classes!
.
.
In a vengeful mood, I decide that tonight is the night I'll get revenge on Lunch-face. Naruto still has a stash of itching powder (which, I still have no fucking clue where or when he got it) that I easily filch. Sorry bro, but it's going to good use.
Then, I have to wait for Naruto to fall asleep. Like usual, he protests going to sleep, but as soon as he lays down, gripping me tightly, he's out for the count. It takes a while for me to weasel out of his grip, but once I do, I sneak slowly out of the room. I have to be careful where I step because parts of the floor creaks and I can never remember where the creaky parts are, so I more shuffle forward than walk.
I made sure to spill some juice on me earlier so that I could change into some darker clothes. Hopefully I'll blend in with the darkness. I'm almost at the door when a sudden noise from behind startles me.
"Nee-san?"
Shit.
When I look behind me, Naruto is standing at our room door, rubbing one of his eyes. He lets out a yawn and blinks tiredly at me.
"Naruto, go back to bed," I try to say calmly, but something in my voice must give me away, because Naruto starts frowning.
"Where are you going?" he asks. He starts walking toward me.
Damn it.
I bite my lip and turn around to fully face him. "Outside. For some air."
Naruto looks confused for a moment, then he starts squinting at me suspiciously.
"No you're not," he says confidently, and what the hell. Why can he read me so easily? "Where are you going? Take me with you!"
He takes a few steps closer and grabs my hand in a firm grip before I can even think of how to react. Damn damn damn damn. God damn it, Naruto! Why are you doing this to me?
There's no way I'll be able to shake him off. So I give in. "Alright, but you have to be quiet, okay?"
"Okay!" he nods vigorously, flashing me a bright smile. "So, where are we going?"
I hold up the container of itching powder. "We're going to Lunch-face's house."
The smile that lights up his face is pure evil. I can't help but grin back, because actually, this is kinda exciting. My partner-in-crime. Though...
"First, you should get changed."
I look pointedly at his pajamas and the frog cap on his head. Naruto yelps and rushes off to get changed.
Now's my chance to go off on my own, but I won't. I can't. If I do something like that to Naruto… will he ever trust me again? I know I would be really fucking pissed off if someone did that to me (it's happened before they left me alone always alone stop leaving me please I don't want to be alone). So I wait not-so-patiently for Naruto to return.
Once he does, practically vibrating in excitement, we leave.
"You have to be quiet, okay?" I warn him.
"Okay!" he shouts in responds. I quickly shush him. He shushes me back, grinning widely.
...Maybe this really is a bad idea. Taking Naruto, I mean. But he's just so excited... Ugh, we're going to have to work on his sneaking skills.
At the entrance of the apartment complex, I motion Naruto to stay back so that I can take a look. I don't see anyone around. With the coast clear, I take a hold of Naruto's hand and start leading the way. Naruto looks around in obvious excitement. I don't blame him. We've never been outside this late. And now we are, without adult supervision.
It's quiet.
Eerily quiet. Shouldn't there be noises? I mean, as much as this place is called a village, this is a city! Where's the night crowd? Where are the drunks, stumbling around? Or the people with night jobs? Or—
Suddenly, someone's standing in front of us. I jump back, startled, pulling Naruto with me. My heart beating furiously, I warily eye the person. Anbu uniform and mask.
Anbu? Fucking Anbu? What the fuck!
...Or, what if he isn't an Anbu? What if he's Root? Or an imposter or—
"You two need to go back," the Anbu says, and whoa that's a woman, not a man. Whoops.
"Aww, but why?" Naruto whines, giving the masked woman his best pout.
The Anbu doesn't budge from her position blocking us. "It's late. You shouldn't be out."
Naruto grumbles some more at her, but I'm too busy thinking to pay attention. So, she's really an Anbu member? Our guard? Now that Raidou's no longer guarding us (or is he?) But she still might be a Root member, sent to keep an eye on us. I mean, Danzou's liable to be interested in the jinchuuriki. And isn't he known for kidnapping children?
Whatever or whoever she is, we'll have to abort. No way I'm I going to mess with her. She's an unknown. Maybe if it was Raidou—oh, who am I kidding? Raidou would have personally carried us back, not using the stairs.
I tug on Naruto's hand. "C'mon, let's go back."
"Whaaat? But what about—"
"Later," I cut him off.
I don't give him more time to complain, dragging him back to the apartment, though that doesn't stop him. At least he realizes he shouldn't mention what we were going to do. As we leave, I keep a wary eye on the Anbu lady, though it makes for some really awkward walking. She follows us until we enter the complex.
Shit.
This really changes things. I'll have to find a better way to do things. Or I'll have to learn to sense people. I mean, I can sense Naruto (Kurama), so that's a start, right? Shouldn't be too hard to learn... Except if that were true, more people would be sensors, wouldn't they?
...Maybe we'll eventually lose our guard. Shouldn't they have more important things to do than guard us? (Because guarding the jinchuuriki isn't important? Real smart, Su—Renge.)
.
.
I think I should have paid more attention in math, or maybe we haven't gone over this yet, because I just realized they use the metric system here.
God damn it.
I was not ready for this realization when I suggested we keep track of our height (because I need to make sure I grow taller than five feet—or whatever the hell that converts to—this time, damn it). You know, as a way to distract myself after my halfheartedly concocted plans went down the drain.
Naruto rushed off to grab the ruler while I chose a spot on the wall to mark on. I decided on the small stretch of wall between the kitchen/living room (there has to be a shorter name for it) and the bathroom, near the calendar. But when Naruto handed me the ruler and I got a good look at it, I started having a mini freak-out.
I don't know the metric system at all! It's probably not even called the metric system here. Now how am I supposed to know when I hit five feet?
"Nee-san, what's wrong?"
I glance at Naruto to see he's peering at me worriedly, and god does that make me feel worse, knowing that I keep worrying him. So I paste on a smile and respond.
"Nothing," I say. Then I push him lightly toward the wall. "C'mon, stand up straight so that I can mark your height."
Naruto beams at me, straightening his back. "I bet I'm super tall!"
He starts to puff up his chest, and he rises on his toes a bit. I tap his leg with the ruler and give him a stern look, making him flatten his feet with a pout.
"Nah, you're just a munchkin," I taunt him with a grin. It's the truth, what with us being little kids, but it's still annoying being short.
Naruto sticks his tongue out at me. I resist the urge to grab it, instead placing the ruler over his head. He immediately straightens up again. I carefully mark his height on the wall.
As soon as I step away from him, he opens his mouth and delivers his retort. "Well, even if I'm a munchkin, I bet I'm still taller than you!"
He snatches the ruler and pencil out of my hands as I gape at him. Why that little…! We're both munchkins; it shouldn't matter. Still doesn't stop me from getting riled up. I fucking hate being short.
I kick his shin in retaliation (the short person's retaliation to everything), before standing against the wall. This time I stick my tongue out at him as he yelps.
"Wanna bet?" I ask. He glares at me, rubbing at his shin. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Geez, dramatic much? I didn't kick him that hard. "The shorter person has to make dinner."
He rolls his eyes at me. "You're just saying that because you don't want to cook! But it means you'll still be making dinner tonight."
I growl at him, but he just sticks his tongue out at me, then places the ruler on top of my head. I straighten up as much as I can and keep still. Once he marks the wall, we both step away to get a good look at it.
What the hell.
No, that can't be right. His mark is higher than mine. Not even a centimeter higher, but higher still! Why? Why must I always be the shortest person! This, this can't be right!
"You cheated!" I blurt out in frustration.
Naruto looks at me in shock, then shakes his head furiously. "Nuh uh!"
I just stomp my foot like the little kid I look like, my cheeks puffing up in indignation.
"There's no way you're taller than me! What the hell!"
When I look at Naruto again, he's grinning cheekily at me. Then he sticks his tongue out and taunts me. "Bleeeeh—" I quickly reach out and grab his tongue. "—Aow! Leth gwo!"
I wait a few seconds before letting go. Naruto makes a sour face at me, which I can't help but stick my tongue out at. He starts grinning and takes a swipe at me tongue, but I quickly dart away. Yeah, like I didn't see that coming.
"Haha! You can't get—ow!"
...In my backward run, I didn't see the couch. From my spot draped over the arm of the couch, I can hear Naruto laughing.
.
.
A/N:
1 I'm basing this off of Golden Week, shortening it to three days off (five including the weekend) and moving Greenery Day to replace the Constitution Memorial Day. For some reason, I keep imagining the first generation Yamanakas, Naras, and Akimichis banded together to pitch Greenery Day to the Shodaime, who was all for it.
Sorry the chapter's shorter than usual. I had to cut out part of the chapter or it would have gotten too long (and also take longer to write).
Before I forget again, I'm posting interludes set in different peoples POVs in a separate story titled Whispers in the Wind. It's not mandatory, but go ahead and read it if you want to. It's a bit like supplemental reading? Related to this story, but all mostly things Renge doesn't know about. So far, I have three chapters posted. Feel free to leave suggestions, because all the interlude ideas I have right now are all super spoiler-ish. If it's usable and I like it enough, I'll go ahead and write it.
Also! Fair warning, I'm going to push back my posting schedule to one chapter every two weeks. I can no longer keep up with my one chapter a week posting schedule now that I've used up all my prewritten material (which wasn't much, but did make a difference). Sorry!
Thank you to those who reviewed/favorited/followed:
kani-leek-lover, llat-2, a Wiccan, HjLostDreams, Zaralann, plums, GaaraRules29, YoruichiYukiko, skidney, Radiant Celestial Aura, Rigoudon3, code93, CardinalRain, CourtneyJo, Shae Vizla, mashiro. chi1 (w/o space), Full of Empty, BubblegumPancakes, Shannyrox101, clmineith, Whitetorch, Wizard Alchemist, Laughing Cat, kaylabear1, AnimePrincessRach, BasicallyComplicated, BehindThisFacade15, tenshi0, Indigo Mist, Everlocke, justme2134, pregar, KiraKiraAkira, Chuckles360, DaHibariKyoya, Hannah5trange, utubeforway, ShadowWolfAlchemist, Bravo13, GLaDOS-01, Futago no Akuma Shimai, Cardex-san, NightShadowJ, Venas