Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Goodbye
Akio rolls out of the way of a recklessly aimed knee to gut strike before turning the table by lunging forward, keeping low to the ground. Planning on catching his opponent around the middle and throwing the opposing force off balance. Ultimately turning this sparring match into a wrestling match. Which is fine if his opponent was not beefier and a few inches taller than him. Our fellow classmate, a bot that is not really worth mentioning, shoves Akio away as if he were a tree branch that was blocking his path.
Akio dives away and rolls into a stance at the farthest distance away from his opponent as possible in the constraints of the sparring circle Iruka-sensei set up. Akio takes the time to resize his opponent.
Come on Akio. I think from the sidelines with my hands in my pockets. You are smarter than this. All of us were really happy this afternoon when Iruka-sensei came in for his shift and said we would be sparring for the rest of the day. A much appreciated break from the endless bookwork the last chunin sensei seems to favor. But what is odd is that only our original class was called out for sparring practice. All the other years remained in the classroom with a different sensei doing who knows what. I know something is underfoot, but with being outside, and watching something as entertaining as Akio fight I do not care to question it right now. In one of my pockets I finger the key that Naruto gave as I watch the match, anxious to see the outcome.
Akio's opponent decides to make the next move and charges forward with his fists raised. If this guy makes it into the shinobi forces he will be a powerhouse because he seems to solve everything with brute force. Akio seems to be thinking similarly as he bends backwards to avoid the flying fists with flexibility that his heavy set opponent will never be capable of. Turning defense into offense Akio flips his legs over. Catching the other boy in the chin. As Akio straightens out of his flip the other boy flails his arms as he stumbles backwards. Carelessly he trips over his own foot and falls down landing on his rear.
"Match goes to Akio Suzuki". Iruka-sensei declares. Akio steps forward and offers his hand to his fallen opponent. Which the boy takes without any outward signs of resentment. Akio waits until the proper after match etiquettes have been doled out before he leaves the sparring ring with a pleased grin, looking right at me. A challenge clear in his eyes. Try to do better than me. My lips twitch but do not quite make it to a smile. Game on Akio, game on.
And conveniently the next names Iruka-sensei calls out includes mine. "Next up is Manami". I smirk at Akio as I bump shoulders with him on my way to the center of the ring. "And Izumi Nanahara". Iruka-sensei finishes. My hands curl into fists as the thorn that has been a pain in my side since I started at the academy steps into the ring. Looking just as thrilled as I am feeling. It would be Izumi would it not. I think sardonically. Everyone else has gone except for us. Stupid, I should have realized it before.
We bow to each other as is customary in sparring but do not take our eyes off of each other. From the sidelines I can hear Akio cheering, "Come on Manami! Grind her face in the dirt!"
Followed by a sharp, "Akio" from Iruka-sensei.
Izumi and I fall into neutral stances, neither preparing to attack or defend as Izumi taunts. "You friend thinks too highly of you if he thinks you'll win. A no name like you doesn't stand a chance against me".
Simultaneously Akio and I snort; an inside joke, or rather a fact that only a few know. I can feel Iruka-sensei's eyes on my back; urging me not to say something reveling. After all, who I am is still a secret. So I reply by saying, "The last time we fought it started and ended with me slamming my fist in your nose". I said recalling the day when we were running laps. Izumi would not leave me alone so I punched her for it. "Though I would not call that much of a fight". I finished.
Izumi glares at me. "Of course that wasn't a fight! We were running laps. I wasn't ready. It wasn't a fair fight!" She exclaims as she readjusts to an offensive stance.
Man she is easy to rile up. I quickly change my stance to a defensive one before says in, "There is no such thing as a fair fight". I remember my father struck down, and my mother and brother murdered in cold blood. I remember the attack on the village and how the enemy had no problems going after civilians. I remember being kidnapped to be used as a human shield. "That is why if you were truly as good as you say you are you would have not let me hit you".
The sidelines are dead quiet; everyone waiting with bated breath to see what Izumi will do. She does not make them wait long. Her pride sends her charging forward; whether she is planning on kicking or punching I cannot tell. I wait until the last moment before dashing away to the center of the ring and turning just in time to see Izumi dangerously close to skidding out of the ring. By academy rules that would have been an automatic win for me. There is nothing stopping me from running forward and shoving her from the ring to obtain the win. But where is the fun in that?
Once she is safe from traveling out of the ring Izumi turns to face me and falls into another attack stance. If she is truly as smart as she thinks she is then she would calm down, swallow her pride and assess the situation. After all overconfidence is confidence and inaccuracy combined.
She does not wait long before charging forward again. This time I do not run and meet her right hook with a block before using my own right fist to jam into her gut. I barely make contact before she withdraws outside of range.
But she returns with a high kick. I catch her leg and start to push her backwards. Prepared to send her to the ground, but she has thought ahead and moves into a back flip. Copying Akio from his match and using her other leg; hitting me in the face. I am forced to let go of her other leg to save my balance as my teeth rattle together and I can feel the cartilage in my nose break as warm, sticky blood starts to leak out. Normally Iruka-sensei would end a match at the first sign of injury. But I do not give him the chance. With my eyes watering I run straight at Izumi. Spinning to the left at the last moment before sending a karate chop across her shoulders. She gasps in surprise as she moves away from me; either by her own choice or the momentum. I do not know which. But before she gets away I reach back and grab her right hand with my left. Now tasting the metallic taste of blood in my mouth I yank her back until she is facing me and slam my right fist into her face. Just like I did on that day we ran laps. I let go of her hand so she cannot use me to save herself and watch with grim satisfaction as she lands sideways on the ground with an identical bloody nose.
There is a long pause as I spit blood out of my mouth that leaked down my face to my lips; waiting for Iruka-sensei to call the winner. However, I guess that was a bit extreme for an academy match. "Right", Iruka-sensei exclaimed having found his way out of his stupor. "Match goes to Manami". He said stepping into the ring, no doubt to deal with our bloody noses.
I turn to Izumi and look down at her on the ground and say before he can help either of us. "I do not need a last name to be someone. Because I am already someone. I am Manami of Konoha, adopted sister of the village's hero, Naruto Uzumaki".
"I'm already am someone? How cheesy can you get", Akio mocks next to me. The whole class is sitting outside waiting for Iruka-sensei to say something as he has just been staring at us for the last couple of minutes.
"Shut up" I grumble at him, but the bandage Iruka-sensei had plastered on my face after he snapped my nose back into place makes me sound muffled and silly. After the match Iruka-sensei had scolded both Izumi and I for our dramatics but did not even comment on us fighting through the pain, at least in my case. As he had given us each something for clotting the blood before snapping the bones back into place and bandaging them. Apparently we are both lucky as he does not feel that our noses will heal to be crooked. And then he told us to take a seat.
"Wait until mom comes home tonight and sees your face", Akio snickers. I scowl at him and push him on the shoulder, but it only makes him laugh. True to his word, after Akio's father promised Naruto that he and his family would look out for me I had moved into the Suzuki home. Which both Akio and I enjoy because when his parents are working neither of us are alone, but it does mean we spend every minute of the day together. So once in a while we get annoyed with each other and it always results in a wrestling match on the floor. And it always ends with us laughing hysterically in a heap on the floor of his house with one of his parents standing over us shaking their heads in mirth and exasperation. But that is not really the point. The point is that his mother is ten times the mother hen that my mother was and is sure to fuss over my bandaged, bruised and unbelievably ugly face. But unknown by Akio I secretly like his mother's attention.
"Everyone", Iruka-sensei called us to attention, soundly a little emotional. "Thank you for all of the fun times we have had together as a class", he said bowing to us. I, with the rest of the class stare back to him opened mouth. What is this all about? "I have received my orders and will be leaving tomorrow to join the shinobi alliance in the war efforts". A good number of my classmates gasps. "So this will be our last class as a whole for a while. Before I go I would like to remind you of a few things", He said, having straightened out of his bow. "You are all members of the leaf village and in each and every one of you lies the will of fire and the kindling to carry it and pass it on for the rest of your life. Who can define the will of fire?"
Many hands shot up into the air, but none as fast as Akio. Iruka-sensei nods at him. In a serious voice, which is a big contrast to how he was talking moments ago, Akio answers "The will of fire is devotion the village and to the people of the village. It is the will to look out for each other and to keep fighting for our way of life no matter what".
Iruka-sensei nods his approval. "Times are becoming rough and will continue to get much worse before things get better. We all must do are part. Shinobi by fighting and protecting. And the families and civilians they leave behind by helping each other and rationing the resources they have available to them. So whether you are friends or not", he said with a pointed look to Izumi and me. "Remember you are all comrades and comrades support each other".
"That was…" Akio begins as we walk through the village, having just been released from class.
"Yeah", I finish for him. Iruka-sensei is leaving. Another person's departure that will upset our already foreign world.
We walk another couple of minutes in silence, trying to pretend the stress that permeates the air during wartime is not there. "Wanna go to the training grounds?" Akio abruptly asks. "We have some time before curfew."
I shrug. "I am not really in the mood to spar at the moment" I said honestly, wincing as I thought about my poor nose.
Akio smirks at me. "We don't need to spar or even train. I just want to go back to the training field. Like we used to." He said. It made sense; searching for some normalcy.
"Okay", I said fighting the urge to yawn as that would hurt my nose. I shove my hands in my pockets, searching for the comfort I get from the key Naruto left me and follow Akio as he changes directions to go to our favorite spot. "You better hope Neji-sensei is not there or he is going to scold us treating the training field like a park again".
Akio scoffs. "He won't be there. You know how busy every ninja is right now."
When we got to the training field Akio stared opened mouth at the Hyuuga jonin as I stand by his side, hunched over by laughter, despite it hurting my nose.
"What are you two doing here?" Neji asked as he momentarily stopped whatever he was doing when he heard me laughing and had come over to us.
He stare down at us with his arms cross looking unimpressed. "We wanted to come to the training ground", Akio answered, having recovered first, sounding a bit embarrassed. It took me a bit longer to stop laughing.
When I finally do I stand up straight only to meet Neji's eyes. His eyebrow raises. "What happened to your nose Manami? Did that happen last week?" He asked hinting about my kidnapping.
I shake my head. "No this did not happen because of psychopath Danzo or my rogue relative", I said ignoring the disapproving glare Neji gives me for mentioning Sasuke when our relation is supposed to be kept under wraps. "This happened in a sparring match during class". I explained. There is a moment of long silence were all he does it stare at the two of us as if he does not know what to do with us. So I break the silence. "I won", I said referring to my match.
Akio snickers and Neji sighs, sounding slightly defeated. "You two shouldn't be here". He said sternly.
"It's not curfew yet", Akio pipes up.
"Go home", Neji orders without giving us a reason and stares at us firmly until we obey. Akio mumbles something about war ruining everything but listens as I wave a little sadly at Neji. It was nice to see him again even though he just told us to get lost. We make it three steps before he calls us back. "Wait you two". We turn around, imagining the worst. I half expect him to assign us pushups. "I'm sure you realize that everything is changing". We nod our heads. "It is important to be diligent and alert. Stick together. That is all", he said clearly dismissing us.
But Akio has to speak his mind first. "Are you leaving to fight in the war Neji-sensei?" He asked sounding glum.
Neji nods. "I have received my assignment".
Suddenly Akio springs forward and wraps his arms around Neji's middle. Causing Neji to go stiff with an uncomfortable expression on his face. "Just come back okay!" Akio yelled before he released Neji from his hug and turned to sprint away, heading for the direction of his apartment.
Hastily I bowed to Neji, who was still frozen stiff from the sudden exposure to human contact, before I turned to chase after Akio. "Akio, I think you broke Neji-sensei!" I yelled at him, trying to get him to slow down.
I do not catch up with Akio until he is standing in front of his front door, struggling to unlock it. "Akio", I said softly right as he gets the door open and throws it open. He makes to stomp inside, even forgetting to take of his sandals, but a sharp voice stops him.
"Young man where are your manners!" His mother scolds from somewhere in the house. Akio freezes in the door wat and I squeeze past him trying to see why. Sitting at the table are his mother a father. Normally this would not be a reason to take notice but for the past week no one has been home when we get back from the academy, and the two of them have never been home at the same time. At the sight of me his dad winces, no doubt in sympathy for my now multi colored face, and his mother stands up. "Manami what happened to your face?" She demanded to know as she marches over to us.
"Sparring-" I start to say but Akio cuts me off.
"What are you doing here?" Akio asked his parents rudely.
"Akio", his father warns from his spot at the table.
Akio does not head him. "Ya guys are never home at the same time, or at this time of day. So this is it huh! Ya guys are leaving me! You're going to the front lines!" He yelled, sounding choked up.
"Honey", his mother starts, trying to comfort him, but her use of a pet name only confirms his assumptions.
"I" He started, already crying. "I hate you guys!" He yelled before dashing to the room we have been sharing, and slamming the door shut behind him, with his shoes still on his feet.
The three of us stare at the bedroom doom in silence. Before his father sighs and gets to his feet. I slip my hand into the pocket where I am keeping Naruto's key and wrap my hand around it. "I am going to spend the night at Naruto nii-san's apartment", I said, deciding that the family of three needed this time to spend together without an extra person intruding.
"But Manami-" Akio's mother starts at the same time as his father.
"That's a good idea", He said to me before saying to his wife. "We could use this time as a family and it's only for one night." And then back to me. "Once you get to that apartment stay there until we collect you in the morning. I already know where it is so you don't need to leave an address. You should also pack your things if you can find anything at your brother's place since you've just been wearing Akio's clothes". He said gently, but clearly his mind is on other things.
Catching on to the plan Akio's mother steps forward. "Let me at least make you a bento for dinner", she said.
I shake my head. "It is okay. I am sure there is ramen somewhere in the apartment".
"Are you sure?" She asked sounding apologetic. I nod feeling very anxious to get out of here. "Alright then. Be safe", she said as I walked out of the door. "And if you can put some ice on that nose!" She calls after me.
It is not a long walk to Naruto's and my apartment building but when I finally see it I cannot help but feel a giant wave of relief crashing over me as if the journey here had been long a difficult. I climb the stairs to the second floor, noting how new they are. On the landing I stare at the door that leads to what is supposed to be my apartment, the one that I am locked out of and is probably completely empty. And once I open the door to Naruto's apartment I am amazed at how clean it is. Until I remember that he has not lived here very long. I close the door and lock the down behind me before sliding door with my back pressing against it. I hug my knees to my chest as I look at everything in the apartment. Which is not much. Slowly I burry my head behind my knees. Everything is changing again, and everything is so uncertain.
And for the record, Naruto does not own any plants.