2. Interrogating Four-Year –Olds Suck
Yuri sat cross-legged in the shade, watching Naruto train.
Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi were in a secluded part of the much beloved Konoha Forest. They'd been training for about two hours and were now taking a long break. Yuri was with them.
The little girl had followed Naruto everywhere. Naruto didn't mind. She was cute, and didn't bother him. But it had gone to a point where she lived with him, and refused to go back to the hospital. Naruto privately loved it, but didn't say anything.
Yuri didn't talk much. She nodded or shook her head when she could've said yes or no. She did say a few things occasionally like, "Naruto ni-chan." or "Want candy." But she only spoke to Naruto, and was mostly scared of everyone else.
"That kid is like a magnet." Kakashi remarked, tearing his eyes away from his "captivating and educational" book. (Cough, pervert, cough.) The girl stared back.
"I think it's really good that Naruto is taking care of her!" huffed Sakura. "He learns responsibility, and the poor orphan gets a home!"
Yuri looked up at the sound of Sakura's voice. Naruto had given her his headband to play with, since Yuri loved tracing her finger over the symbol.
"But I am responsible!" Naruto insisted.
Yuri stood up and started walking over to Naruto. When she reached him, she carefully positioned herself behind him and peeked nervously at the others.
"Aw! She's scared of you, Kakahi-sensei!" Sakura said.
'Scared of me! Wrong person, Sakura.' Kakashi thought, but didn't dare say it out loud. He had already gotten "playfully punched" yesterday, as Sakura had put it.
"Yuri, say hi to Kakashi-sensei and Sakura." Naruto said.
"H-Hi." The girl whispered. She didn't look shy, just scared to talk. Actually, Yuri wasn't at all the shy type. It was just that she was traumatized by certain past events.
"Hi!" Sakura said brightly. "That's a nice teddy bear you got there. What's its name?"
"Bastard-chan." The girl smiled. Sakura's mouth fell open, and Inner Sakura said something like, "Naruto, I know this is you!"
"Bastard-chan?" Kakashi repeated, eyebrow slightly raised. "Why did you name him that?"
"Heard Naruto talking about something, and he called someone named Sai a bastard. It sounds pretty." Yuri replied in a slightly brighter voice.
"NARUTO! YOU CAN NEVER BE RESPONSIBLE!" Sakura yelled.
"Oops." Kakashi said. "Ah well. Yuri, you should cover your eyes."
Yuri didn't know why she had to, but she dutifully put her hands in front of her eyes. And there was the sound of punching.
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"Parents?" Yuri asked.
"Yes, parents." Kakashi repeated again gently as possible. "Who are they?"
Yuri shuffled her feet a little. "Mommy's dead. And I don't know about Father."
"Poor kid!" Naruto sniffed. His bruise was partially covered by a Band-Aid because Sakura refused to heal him. (She was nice enough to give him the Band-Aid, though.) He wasn't a "bad influence for little kids," was he?
"Do you know where your dad is?" Kakashi asked.
Yuri shrugged. "Nope. We all forgot where he was, I think."
"We? Who else was there?"
Yuri looked a little thoughtful. "My brothers and sister. I have three brothers, but only one sister."
"Where are they now?" Kakashi inwardly thought that interrogating a four-year-old was harder than that Mist nin who had tried to murder all the interrogators a few years back.
"Um, I don't know." Yuri turned toward Naruto. "Candy?"
"No. No candy. You need to eat lunch." Naruto sighed, patting her head.
"Candy?" Yuri pouted.
"No candy." Naruto hoped she wouldn't put on that you-can't-deny-me-anything-cuz-I'm-so-damn cute face again.
Yuri's bottom lip quivered. Her eyes turned larger than usual. "C-C-Candy?" she said in a tearful, hurt voice.
"Fine!" Naruto quickly turned away from that face and threw a piece of candy at Yuri's direction. He hated it when she threw that look at him. It was impossible to refuse her anything.
Kakashi wanted to ask Yuri a few questions about where she was from. Obviously, it wasn't working out that well. But one must never give up too early.
"Who are your parents?" Kakashi persisted.
Yuri was sucking on the piece of candy. (It was caramel flavored with a vanilla center, by the way. There are candies like that in my mom's lawyer's office.) She scrunched up her face a little. "Mommy and Daddy."
Kakashi sighed in frustration. "But what are their names?"
"Um, I…" Yuri paused, looked frightened, and shook her head. "No. Mommy said I must never tell that kind of stuff."
'Overprotective mom. But who could blame the woman for wanting to protect such a sweet child?' Sakura thought.
Kakashi scrutinized Yuri for a few more minutes, and then said something on the lines of, "Hmm. Ahhh. Could it be?"
"Could it be what?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi smiled. Well, it was hard to tell with his mask, but it looked as though he was smiling. "Oh, nothing at all. Yuri, why don't you take off that jacket? It's so hot."
It really was hot, the sun was blazing. All of them were sweating like crazy, and Naruto mumbled, "Yeah, hot as hell." (Sakura punched him "lightly" shortly after and said, "You shouldn't say hell in front of a little kid!")
Yuri shook her head. "No. I look ugly there." She rubbed the place where (beneath the jacket) her arms were covered with bandages.
"Just don't, Kakashi-sensei. Just don't." Naruto piped up.
"Don't!" Yuri said in a bright, cheery voice, nodding her head vigorously. "It looks really bad there!"
"I don't mind." Kakashi said in a way kinder voice. "I'd like to see."
" 'Kay." Yuri said. She unbuttoned her thick jacket and threw it on the ground. Then she unwound the bandages and shoved her arms in front of Kakashi's face.
"Oh my. Oh my." Kakashi said.
"That looks bad." Sakura interjected.
Yuri's thin, little arms were badly, horribly, grotesquely scarred. Line upon line upon line of gashes. The kind that never fades away. And if you were a ninja, you could tell those had been done by a kunai. Purposely by a skilled ninja.
"Can I go now? Hungry." Yuri said. She stood up and tugged on Naruto's arm.
"Yes, you can. Go home and eat something." Naruto replied. He patted the girl on the head. (Now that was becoming a habit.)
A nod from Yuri. She left, but not the walking way little girls did, a speedy, big jump the way Naruto and Co. did. It was remarkable for someone so young to actually be able to use chakra properly.
"So she's got scars?" Sakura asked, although she meant to make it a statement.
"Yup. I didn't want you guys to see it. And someone obviously slashed her arms open at one point." Naruto answered grimly. "She doesn't say much about her past except for a few references about her mom. You know, 'Mommy made good cookies' or 'Mommy said never to play with matches.' That kinda stuff."
"I have my suspicions on who her father is." Kakashi said out of nowhere. "I must confirm it."
"Who?" Naruto and Sakura asked at the same time.
Kakashi shook his head. He held out his hand. "Here is a single hair from Yuri. I'll use it to prove that I am correct or incorrect."
Sakura stared at the single black hair while Naruto was staring at Kakashi in a fishy way and saying, "Wait? How did you get it?"
"See you tommorow!" Kakashi said. He had a single hand motion and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
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"Nani! I'll name her Nani-chan!" Yuri said in a boucy voice and buried her face in her newly christened teddy bear, "Nani-chan."
Naruto had begged her to change Bastard-chan's name. She did, of course. And smiled while she hugged the thing to death. (If teddies were alive that is.)
Yuri had been a lot more cheerful and noisier usually. It was a good thing, because the girl was starting be more open and could possibly become an extremely talented ninja. Although she had a hot temper and stubbornness to deal with.
"Nani was Mommy's name." Yuri bragged, stroking the teddy bear's fuzzy ears. "She had the most prettiest name in the entire village. She wanted to name me Nani after her, but Daddy said no."
Naruto listened with interest to the pert voice. This was the first time Yuri had said anything about her past.
"Daddy named me Yuri. I don't know why. He liked it, I think. Daddy had an ugly name. I hate Daddy!" Yuri suddenly blurted out suddenly.
Naruto was startled by this turn of events, but decided not to say anything.
"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to rip off his arms! I'm going to torture him to death! I'm going to-"
"Yuri!" Naruto said sharply. "Stop!"
Naruto's thoughts were something like this, 'That's sick! What kind of bastard was her father! And she shouldn't be so fixated on revenge! That reminds me of……
Naruto looked closer at little Yuri, who was gazing at him curiously.
'Sasuke!'
Why hadn't he ever noticed the resemblance before? The same brooding dark eyes and hair, pale skin, and semi-obsession on revenge. (Well, full obsession with Sasuke maybe.)
Yuri was oblivious to Naruto's thoughts and kept stroking Nani's little ars.
"Hey, Yuri. Do you know who Sasuke is?" Naruto asked. Of course, it could all be coincidence.
"No. Hey, can I have that?" she pointed to Naruto's bowl of ramen. He slid it over.
They were both blissfully eating lunch. Naruto had eaten two bowls already, but Yuri had eaten four. And now she was on her fifth. The girl sure ate a lot.
It was all just a coincidence. Right? Right?
No, it wasn't.
But anyways, in the shadows, a figure watched. The shadow of a person thinking of some very evil things to do. He would wreak revenge on-
"Heya, Konohamaru? Watcha doing?"
Konohamaru fell out of his hiding place. So much for stealth. "I'm spying on you and that girl, of course."
Twelve-year-old Konohamaru was annoyed by how much attention Naruto paid to that little brat. It annoyed him. Now they didn't hang out anymore at all. It was all "Yuri this" or "Yuri that." He was sick of it!
"You never pay attention to me! Only Yuri!" Konohamaru whined.
This was awkward. Naruto stuttered a little, but Yuri pushed him out of the way, and yelled to Konohamaru, "You're a jealous spoilsport!"
Konohamaru's face turned into a tomato red color. Wow, he sure does have a bad temper. "Am not!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
You can probably guess how their conversation went for the next hour and seven minutes. Naruto snuck away an entire hour before they realized it, though.
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Three figures were in the outskirts of the place called the Leaf Village. Two of them were moderately tall, about the height of an ordinary man. The other was puny, a small child.
"Konoha hasn't changed very much, eh?" Kisame asked.
No answer from Itachi. Needless to say, Kisame got annoyed.
"Jeez, would it kill you to answer a question? And what are you doing here?"
Itachi turned his head around very slowly. "I am here on a matter of family business.
Kisame was a little surprised. Was Itachi losing his mind as well as his eyesight as Kisame had suspected? (This is just Kisame's thoughts on Itachi. I don't really think of him that way.) "Your little brother is NOT in Konoha, he ran off and became missing-nin years ago? Or have you forgotten?"
"It is not my younger brother I am here to find." Itachi murmured.
The smallest figure made a small pathetic, whimpering noise. In a small, girlish voice, she started talking. "Please, are you here to find the others? I don't think they're here! Not even Yuri!"
"Quiet, Jooyeon." Itachi snapped. He administered a sharp poke to the forehead, something he used to do with Sasuke. Then he gave her a hard slap, something he had picked on the path of fatherhood.
"That little brat is annoying." The blue shark-man complained. "Why do you drag her along with you everywhere? Couldn't you just leave her at base?"
"No. Without my supervision, she will attempt to escape, and I can't afford that again. You know what happened last time."
Although they did not know it, in another place called Konoha Forest, a leaf broke off and gently drifted on Yuri's head.
"Hey, that's weird." Yuri said as she took the leaf off. "The last time that happened was when I was with Father."
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Yuri and Nani were with Mr. Kakashi. Privately, Yuri was scared of Kakashi. What if he had the Boogeyman under his mask? But she didn't say anything because she knew she could beat the Boogeyman into a bloody pulp.
"So, what are we doing here? Nani is scared." Yuri said.
They were both in a very, very isolated part of the forest, almost out of the village's borders. Kakashi had asked Naruto to lend her because he had to talk with her. Naruto had agreed, but very reluctantly.
"We're here to talk about you father. And we're in a place where nobody else can overhear." Kakashi explained patiently.
"Father?" Yuri wrinkled her nose. "Do I have to?"
"Yuri, I got some very interesting results using the DNA test." Kakashi said. After a blank stare from Yuri (jeez, Kakashi, you can't expect a four-year-old to know all that), Kakashi continue on with, "I know who your father is."
"Okay." Yuri smiled. She hugged Nani even tighter. "Can I go now? Nani's hungry. Naruto is going to make ramen!"
"No, Yuri. Do you know who your father is?" Kakashi asked.
Yuri nodded furiously. "But Mommy said never to tell anyone who."
"You escaped custody of your father? I mean, you ran away from your daddy?"
Yuri looked up again. "Um, yeah. All the others and I had to meet up in Konoha again, but nobody else is here!"
"Your siblings? I mean, brothers and sisters?" Kakashi inwardly thought he had to shrink his vocabulary a little when talking to her.
"Yup! Yuki and Jooyeon and Christo and Jongo! We all have the same daddy but different mommies. And we all come from different places. So we decided to meet here! The symbol on Daddy's headband was the same swirly thing everyone has here!"
"Your father is Itachi Uchiha?" Kakashi said, and braced himself for the answer.
"Yup! How did you know!"
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That night, Naruto and Yuri were both sitting on the roof of the apartment, looking at the bright, shiny stars. They were sparkly dots across a midnight black background. (This is what Naruto thought, he could be very poetic if he wanted to.)
"You can wish on a star." Yuri told Naruto matter-of-factly.
Naruto nodded and pointed to one of the bigger stars. "My wish is that we can get Sasuke back. And that Akatsuki would stop existing."
Yuri stared at Naruto. "But that's two wishes! And who's Sasuke? He sounds, um, familiar."
Naruto smiled at that girl. "He was a friend of mine, but he…disappeared. By the way, what did you and Kakashi-sensei talk about today?"
Yuri was trying to connect the stars with her finger when Naruto asked that. She stopped and looked at him. "Stuff. About Daddy. And also, he's gonna try to find my brothers and sister!"
Naruto ruffled her black hair. "That's great, Yuri!"
"Yeah, by the way Daddy's name is-" suddenly Yuri broke off and pointed at the sky. "Look! A shooting star! You can make double wishes on those! Now both your wishes will come true!"
The shooting star was seen almost everywhere. And in other places, four other children lifted their faces towards the star. They all had the same eyes as Yuri, Itachi, and Sasuke.