Chapter 1-42
Groceries in hand, and thoughts in an unexpectedly content place, I continued to munch on my dango-stick.
It had been surprisingly easy to shelve this morning's 'events' in the back of my mind. A large factor, no doubt the generous filling of ramen that still filled me to the brim. Comfort food indeed.
Speaking of quality of life, my Kakashi-style facemask was already gone again.
The sheer impracticality just wasn't worth the imagined anonymity.
My general appearance was as nondescript as it could be, anyway. So after the initial shock of my bounty had faded, I had gone back to a more sensible look rather quickly. Namely, the forehead-protector turned bandana-style a couple of people were rocking.
Trains of thought going nowhere, and no plan or appointment in sight, my feet somehow carried me to an intersection with a rather tempting offer next to it.
A tasteful wooden customer stopper, which obviously was doing its job, caught my attention and pointed down a narrow cobblestone path.
Trees and the sound of a little stream gave the impression of something tranquil.
According to the sign, one of the hot springs had just finished an extensive refurbishment and was now offering some sort of loyalty slash bonus ploy.
"She had said I had to unwind," I muttered under my breath.
Maybe they had mixed zones, or perhaps even a private area. My mind involuntarily took a detour in a less innocent direction before it quickly course corrected as a familiar presence made its way toward me.
And…
…there she was.
"It would do you good," she commented instead of saying a proper hello. Her smile, however, more than made up for it.
"I thought so, too," I nodded in agreement, a genuine smile firmly in place.
"Do you have time for a walk?" Kurenai asked and despite her calm manner, I had a feeling or two about what this was going to be about.
A shadow-clone with my groceries later and I gave her an easy nod.
"Now I do," I answered, and motioned for her to lead the way.
The walk toward one of the nearby outskirts, that had a handful of smaller training-grounds, had been surprisingly quiet safe for the occasional bout of small-talk.
She had commented that I had grown taller; I had said thank God for that.
She had mentioned that it had been relatively quiet here in Konoha; I had responded rather drily that Kiri hadn't been.
So on and so forth until she had finally started with one of the many topics that was burning inside of her.
Kakashi.
By now, we reached the edge of a little clearing where I could see her little team have a go at each other. Practice, obviously, as I couldn't detect even the faintest whiff of urgency or tension.
Kiba versus the Aburame boy and the Hyuuga girl. He wasn't even pushed in the slightest.
I refrained from commenting, observed, and thought about her question instead. A simple question, really.
Would I visit him?
There had been no judgement in her tone. It sounded more like she was curious if there was going to be some further dialog, perhaps to clear the air or some such.
I knew she was probing, trying to get the conversation into an easy flow while looking for hints regarding my feelings, intentions, and my underlying reasoning.
The funny thing was that there simply was nothing to probe. I had been pissed, went along with what felt 'right', and when the match had been called, the whole thing had been already brushed to the side.
Back to the question, my eyes still on the Genin, fully aware that Kiba might be listening in with his Inuzuka hearing.
"Would you believe me, if I told you it was a legitimate course of action against a supposedly top shelve Jonin?" Here I paused and readied my fingers for air-quotes. "With allegedly over a thousand jutsus and the Sharingan."
"I mean," I continued, and shrugged. "I prevented any chance of him doing any form of nin-jutsu and tai-jutsu."
"I forcefully averted his gaze and broke his concentration to prevent gen-jutsu," I went on with my brief list of 'achievements.'
The further I went and the lighter my tone got, the more did I feel her gaze on me. And sure enough, there it was, raised eyebrow included.
Smiling, as I was enjoying myself a bit, I put a little cherry on top.
"And since it was an evaluation of my skills, I had put in a small psychological element as well. Quite successfully, I might add."
"Care to explain?" She asked, and I was immensely pleased that I heard her sigh in exasperation.
"Absolutely." My hands fell in my pockets, followed by a relaxed shrug. "I provoked a third party into revealing himself."
"I was unpredictable enough that Might Guy felt the need to step in."
"An unplanned and uncoordinated action that could prove costly in an ambush, a trap, or something along those lines," I reasoned and was proud to say it wasn't all bullshit I was sprouting right now.
"It worked on Unmo Samidare," I revealed that tidbit while I calmly met her gaze. Something that earned me another resigned sigh and marked the end of her attempt to understand me.
"So," I began and nudged my head toward her team, intent on changing the topic. "What about them? Any plans regarding the exam?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," she followed my gaze and nodded once. "We intend to have the Konoha teams of the recent graduation class work together."
I swallowed a grimace. "Safety in numbers, I guess," I muttered instead.
Despite my best effort to drop the subject, I simply couldn't help it.
"I'm no teacher, and don't want to presume," I began hesitantly and tried to bury my bitter disappointment as I continued to watch them. "Are they really ready? I mean," I chanced a glance at my former teacher as if to say 'look at them!'.
The more I watched Kiba hold back, the heavier the sinking feeling in my stomach got. The sour taste of genuine frustration welling up in my throat was quickly becoming a killer for my mood, too.
"When was the last time they had the ever-loving shit beaten out of them?" I asked loudly and noticed the subtle tensing of the Aburame and the Hyuuga.
Yet again, I swallowed my grimace, but this time I stood straight and took a mental step back. I had to get away before I flew off the handle.
Only for a hand on my shoulder to stop me in my tracks, physically and mentally.
"It's a month until the exam starts," Kurenai revealed, her hand still firmly in place. "And I think you are right."
"Your evaluation, as you might have realised given the audience, hadn't been simply a test to gauge your talents, but also a message by Hokage-sama."
"Too many of us have been stuck in a comfortable routine, myself included," she admitted. I couldn't help but look up and caught a subtle shake of her head.
"I want you to help me prepare them," she revealed and met my gaze.
Wait, what?
"I believe there is a fantastic teacher hiding inside of you. You just need a bit of practice with your empathy."
"Excuse me, but have we met?" I asked in disbelief. She wanted me to mellow out? Using her team?
"Blades need a hammer, too, don't they?" She simply responded, and I was left staring.