Much like Masamune's metal works shop, the Munehisa weapons shop was stationed at the house the owner and his daughter inhabited. It was a simple two-story house that was located in marketplace district that shinobi usually traverse for weapons, armor, and all that good stuff. Masamune makes a living out of distributing his products to the shops in this district, of which includes the Munehisa weapons shop.
Munehisa Iwai, the current owner of the shop, was a Jounin with a rather standoffish-looking appearance to him. Stubble grew on his jawline and chin, and his right arm was in a sling. He was a head taller than Kakashi in height and wore mostly black clothes. He also had on a black newsboy cap and had an unlit cigarette in his mouth. What took away from Iwai's standoffish appearance was the tiny two-year-old girl who clung to his leg and the fact that the cigarette in his mouth was actually a lollipop.
When he heard that Team 7 had taken on the job of babysitting his daughter, Iwai was quick to say that the only request he had placed was for assistance in running the shop, of which Team Gai was specifically requested. Why, I have no idea, but I have a feeling that it involves Tenten. Anyways, Kakashi then explained that the request wasn't made by Iwai, but by Masamune.
"Why the hell did the old man do that?" Iwai scowled. "I can take care of Michiko just fine without any assistance."
"It says here that you collapsed the other day from overexerting yourself…" Kakashi said as he held up the mission scroll. "You should really stop pushing yourself, Iwai—especially with that arm in a sling."
"How did the old man even find out about that?" Iwai thought for a moment before turning to Tenten. "Tenten—what the hell?!"
"I'm not keeping secrets when it affects your health, Iwai!" Tenten snapped. "Especially not after you hid the fact that you had a fever yesterday and passed out because, instead of taking the time to recover, you put Michiko and the shop ahead of your health! You were only lucky that my team and I were here to assist you because you sprained your arm."
Holy shit, what is with these single-parent shinobi putting their children before their health?! More importantly, how come Tenten is talking to Iwai as if she knows him? Like, what's with the familiarity?
"Munehisa-san is Tenten's brother-in-law," Lee whispered to me. "Her older sister married into the Manabe family."
Going off from what I know, Iwai took on his wife's surname, so that means Tenten's older sister married Kazuichi's father. This pretty much contradicts with my assumption of Tenten being an orphan in canon, since Tenten here actually has a family. Technically, she is still an orphan, but she was anything but on her own, as I had assumed she was in canon. Just looking at her family here, Tenten's interests in bukijutsu suddenly make a whole lot of sense.
Bukijutsu are techniques that entail the use of any handheld weapons in combat. In canon, this was what Tenten was known for, aside from fūinjutsu, which are basically sealing techniques. That is about as much as I know of Tenten that doesn't involve her being the tsukkomi (AKA, the straight man, in comedic terms), which was certainly a prominent thing in the Naruto spin-off, where Rock Lee is the main character… God, I know waaay too much about the spin-off than I should in comparison to the main series.
Of course, that aside, I'm surprised with how vocal Tenten is here. One of the things I usually hear about Tenten is her lack of screen time. And yet, look at Tenten now…canon versus reality, in my case, is quite jarring.
"Ever since Ina died, you've been pushing yourself to run the shop and watch over Michiko without taking your health into consideration!" Tenten was honestly irritated with Iwai. "The only reason it hasn't been that much of a problem was because Ieyasu was here."
"Jii-chan gone…" Michiko suddenly spoke. "He never woke up."
…
Well, that was the most sobering comment I have ever heard a two-year-old say.
"That's right—he's gone now." Tenten frowned. "Now it's just you and Michiko. You might try to hide it, but I can tell you're not taking this well."
Iwai certainly seemed at a loss for words. Meanwhile with the rest of Team Gai, I'm honestly amazed that Gai has kept quiet. Of course, there was a time and a place to praise the beauty of youth and considering what Tenten said about yesterday's events, it was a serious subject that Tenten was tackling. It certainly explained Masamune's reasons to put in a request for assistance in childcare.
"Anyways, leave Michiko and the shop to us," Tenten continued. "We'll handle it—now go to your room! I can tell you're still sick!"
At this moment, Michiko turned to her father and scolded him lightly, "Told you!"
Iwai sputtered a bit, but didn't protest. He probably knew that it was pointless to do so after everything Tenten had said. He tugged down on his cap and then ruffled his daughter's green hair before making his way to the stairs, which led to the second floor of the house where his room was, presumably.
The first floor of the Munehisa household was split off into two sections. The section that wasn't used for the shop, which was located at the front of the house, consisted of the actual house itself. The room we were currently occupying was the living room. The living room was directly connected to the shop, the entrance of which was blocked off by a curtain. The stairs Iwai was using was located to the far right of the living room. After Iwai was out of our sight, Tenten looked at all of us with a wide smile on her face.
"Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to business, shall we?" Tenten looked at us as if she hadn't just told her brother-in-law to go to his room after calling him out for neglecting his health. Tenten can be scary when she wants to be…
"Such touching concern!" Gai finally spoke, scaring the entire crap out of all of us with his volume and energy. "Truly Tenten is an inspiration to us all!"
"Indeed she is, Gai-sensei!" Lee agreed.
Tenten looked about done now that she heard her teammate and Jounin-sensei talk. If this is what she puts up on a daily basis when it comes to being on Team Gai, I honestly feel bad for Tenten. I'm not sure about Neji, though. He just seems so used to it that he doesn't even show much reaction.
"So…" I focused my attention back on the little girl who stood before us.
Michiko was a two-year-old girl with short, green hair and big, black eyes. She wore a white dress and had a lilac-colored ribbon on the left side of her hair. So far, she appeared innocent, but I wasn't taking my chances after what happened with the Takemi triplets and Kazuichi. And considering the current trend with most children of Kirigakure descent, Michiko most likely possessed the same shark-like teeth Kazuichi, Riku, and Kiku had. Not too sure about that, though.
"I'm Munehisa Michiko!" Okay, I thought I was hearing things, but it seems Michiko has a lisp when she talks. Also, the moment of truth came and…Michiko has the shark teeth. That probably explains the lisp…
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto was quick to introduce himself to Michiko. Sasuke soon followed after, and I did the same, with Kakashi staying quiet until Gai bugged him.
"So is there anything we need to know before you leave Michiko in our hands?" I looked questioningly at Tenten, hoping for a sign that Michiko was nothing like her half-siblings.
"Does she bite?" Sasuke was quite blunt when he asked.
Tenten stared at Sasuke for a moment. "Bite…? I hope not. She knows better…right, Michiko?"
Michiko just smiled at Tenten. "Right!"
Somehow, I still don't trust Michiko…
…
Two hours passed and surprisingly, Michiko was a complete sweetie. She behaved well and got along quite nicely with Naruto, which was definitely a first with him. Kakashi was currently busy dealing with Gai, who was quite happy to catch up with his eternal rival. I was enjoying every moment of Kakashi's suffering and Sasuke was just taking the moment to enjoy the fact that this was probably the first mission where we had little to no trouble.
Then Lee dropped by to hit on me and things got really awkward after that. This was, by far, the longest I've been around Lee and just…he's being really sweet about it, but I haven't a crap of an idea how to handle stuff like this.
"Can we just start out as friends?!" I suddenly blurted out.
Lee blinked a few times and grinned widely. "Certainly! Strong bonds are needed in ensuring a future relationship!"
Oh god, what have I done?!
"Ah, what youthfulness!" Gai, shut up, I don't need you making a huge deal out of things— "To be stricken with the spirit of love is such a wonderful thing!"
I sputtered, incapable of producing a coherent response to the crap Gai was spewing. I was pretty sure I was blushing—oh shut up, Kakashi! Damn bastard was laughing at me…what goes around, comes around, I guess…
Luckily, for me, Neji came around to drag Lee back into the shop, saying that Lee's break time was over. I took a moment after that to hide my face behind my scarf for a good minute or two until I was sure that my face had cooled down. It was around that time that Michiko tugged on my haori and said, "Hungry!"
I have a feeling Naruto sent Michiko over to me… "What do you want for lunch?"
…
…
I ended up making a huge batch of onigiri with various fillings. Michiko just took one look at the platter and sniffed around before grabbing an onigiri and taking a huge bite out of it. A light blush tinged her cheeks as she chewed. When she swallowed, she laughed and loudly exclaimed, "Salmon!"
Holy hell, did Michiko just sniff out all that onigiri so that she'd specifically get salmon? Well, at least she eats the entire thing, unlike Kazuichi. I better bring lunch to everyone else and— "Stop eating all of the salmon ones, Michiko!"
"MINE!" Yeah, no, I'm not risking anything against Michiko. She could have all the salmon onigiri she wants, just keep those teeth away from me.
…
While we were all eating during our lunch break, in which Lee kept complimenting my cooking skills, I took the time to learn more about our client, Iwai. I was bored and after hearing so much about Iwai, I wanted to learn more about him and the shop he ran.
According to Tenten, Iwai had actually inherited the shop through his wife, Ina, who had inherited the shop through her adoptive father, Ieyasu. Before Michiko had been born, Iwai had planned to put his shinobi career aside to care for Michiko, while his wife ran the shop. Then Ina died giving birth, calling for an immediate change of plans, where Iwai now had to struggle between running the shop and caring for his daughter. Up until recently, Ieyasu had provided Iwai assistance in watching over Michiko. Though, as Tenten had stated earlier, Ieyasu passed away, leaving Iwai on his own.
Ieyasu had been the only civilian in his family of shinobi. Come the Second Shinobi World War, all that was left were a few of his siblings and cousins, who later died in the Third Shinobi World War. Ina was an orphan from the Second Shinobi World War, of whom Ieyasu had adopted out of sympathy and loneliness when he found her wandering around the marketplace district on her own. It was because of Ieyasu's losses that motivated Ina to stay a civilian and come the Third Shinobi World War, it was what kept Ina alive and with Ieyasu.
It was also because of Ieyasu's losses that Ina gave Iwai a condition that he was to follow if he wanted to marry her. And just what was that? It was to put his shinobi career aside, because Ina was paranoid of losing Iwai after a close call in the Third Shinobi World War. It's honestly tragic that Iwai, the only shinobi in the remaining Munehisa family, ended up losing Ina and Ieyasu, both of whom were civilians.
As for Michiko's fate, whether or not she was to end up at the Academy or a civilian school, it was still up to question, but Tenten mentioned that there was a high chance Michiko took after Iwai, in that respect.
"Let's just hope she doesn't start walking around on the ceiling…" I found myself saying as I watched Michiko continue to stuff herself with salmon-filled onigiri.
"What do you mean by that?" Tenten asked.
"Where do I even begin?" Holy crap, there was a lot to say about the Takemi triplets before they came around.
"What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of triplets?" Sasuke decided to help me out a bit.
Tenten blinked a few times. "Triplets…? Oh, are you talking about Takemi-san's children? Wait—who got bit by Riku?"
"Uh…" About that…
Naruto grinned widely. "No one did-ttebayo! Riku likes us—well, he likes Sasuke more, if you know what I mean, dattebayo!"
Sasuke scowled and stuffed an onigiri in Naruto's mouth. "Shut up!"
"The spirit of love is certainly lively this year!" Oooh, Gai caught on…yeesh, I feel bad for Sasuke, now.
"He's only four!" Sasuke snapped. "He'll get over it when he's older!"
"Didn't Itachi-san say something similarly when it came to your fan girls?" Neji looked questioningly at Sasuke.
If Lee hadn't gotten in the way, Sasuke would have punched Neji right in the face.
"Now, now—not in front of Michiko!" Kakashi said as Lee struggled to keep Sasuke away from Neji.
"Indeed!" Lee exclaimed. "As her caretakers, you three must set a good example for Munehisa-san's daughter!"
"But I wanna see 'em fight!" Michiko suddenly whined. "It's boring here!"
Michiko's little outburst caused everyone to go silent as all attention was on her. She looked at us with her innocent eyes, her cheeks puffed up in annoyance.
"Lee and Neji always fight…" Oh my god, what the hell has been happening before Team 7 got the babysitting request?
"Neji?" I turned my attention to the Hyuuga, ignoring the fact that I just omitted an honorific.
"Y-Yes?" Neji seemed a bit nervous when he looked at me.
"I thought you knew better." There is a time and a place for sparring—on the job is not one of them, unless that is what the job requires!
"I…apologize…" Neji averted my gaze as a luminescent blush covered his face.
I blinked a few times, somewhat surprised with Neji's response. I was expecting him to defend himself, but nope. He just apologized and, well, I seriously wasn't expecting that. Well…shit. I don't know what to say…
"Th-That's okay…" was what I ended up saying to Neji. It was pretty awkward…
…
"So…no fighting?" And Michiko is still at it.
…
…
Sometime after lunch, I found myself sitting on the floor in front of the sofa. Michiko was right behind me, sitting on the sofa as she combed my hair. Neji, Lee, and Tenten had already returned to their positions in the shop, with Gai staying behind, as usual, to talk with Kakashi. Naruto and Sasuke were currently lounging about on the floor, very much bored out of their wits, as the only thing Michiko wanted to do was comb my hair…because it was long.
I was a little annoyed that I had to unbraid my hair, but if it kept Michiko occupied and not trying to get any of us to fight each other, then I'm good…because Michiko is that type of girl. She almost managed to instigate a fight between Kakashi and Gai, but Tenten managed to put an end to that before it even began.
As Michiko continued to comb my hair, I took a moment to look at the green ribbon in my hand. Naruto gave it to me on my fifth birthday. Nearly eight years have passed, and the ribbon still looks the same as ever. I'd normally question something like this, but I won't…not with this particular item. It's just nice having something stay so consistent after all these years, after all the change that has occurred.
"Hey…Naruto?" I turned my attention to the blond.
"Hmm…?" Naruto responded back in a sluggish tone.
"Thanks again for the ribbon." I really do like this ribbon…
"Oh, no problem-ttebayo!" Naruto grinned widely at me.
"You're still terrible at tying ribbons…" Sasuke, don't start.
"Hey, do you remember how I got mad at you for saying that Chōko-chan's ribbon was ugly?" Oh man, nostalgia wham.
"Yeah…" Sasuke was smiling. "I'm glad Chōko invited you…hey, Chōko?"
"Hmm?" I turned to Sasuke.
"Thank you," Sasuke said.
Two simple words…and it left me feeling rather warm inside. I felt my face heat up a bit as I said, "Y-You're welcome!"
…
…
Team 7, so far, had spent a total of eight and a half hours at the Munehisa household watching over Michiko. It was certainly longer than we had ever watched over a child, but Michiko wasn't as bad as her half-siblings or cousin, Kazuichi. Speaking of Kazuichi, I have a feeling Masamune is going to put in a babysitting request for Team 7 sometime this month.
For now, we were just killing time, playing hide-and-seek with Michiko. We had another half hour to go before our job was done and, for a two-year-old, Michiko was surprisingly good at hiding from three Genin. Sasuke, Naruto, and I had looked everywhere, but we just couldn't find her. As much as we didn't want to, we had to give up. She was just too good…
I was in the living room, looking everywhere for the green-haired little girl, while Sasuke was upstairs, and Naruto was in the backyard.
"Heeeyyyy!" I called out. "We give up! You can come out now! You won!"
"Heehee!" Okay, that was definitely Michiko. "I'm right here, silly!"
Right…here—oh fuck no. I slowly looked up, my eyes widening when I saw that Michiko was standing on the ceiling above me. For the love of—when the hell did she get up there?! Forget that, how long has she been up there?! A two year old should not be able to do that! That is seriously dangerous for her health!
"Michiko, don't you dare move!" Oh god, I need to get her down before she falls! Time to defy gravity and hope no one gets hurt! "Just stay there!"
…
Rollin' around at the speed of sound,
Got places to go, gotta catch Michiko!
You know…there's a reason why children shouldn't be allowed on the ceiling. The fact that I'm currently falling toward the floor with Michiko in my arms is just proof that. Michiko's chakra reserves were not at the capacity to support her gravity-defying antics. It's one of the main reasons why I had every reason to be concerned for Kiku, who liked to push her limits.
In any case, at least Michiko won't get hurt from the fall and I'm quite confident in my landing abilities. We weren't that high up to begin with, so I can definitely handle this! Of course, I was not expecting Neji to catch me in his arms, so that definitely threw me off.
"Nice catch!" Gai flashed a dazzling smile at Neji, a thumbs-up accompanying said smile.
Neji made a face at his sensei before turning his attention to Michiko and me. "Are you okay?"
"Well, I'm not hurt…" And my glasses are still in place. "So yeah, I'm fine…you can put me down now."
It's not that I'm ungrateful or anything, I just want to stand now that I'm off the ceiling.
…
You know, when Neji caught me, I was hoping that Kakashi and Gai were the only people, aside from Michiko, to see. That was not the case as Lee decided to check up on his teammate, while Tenten stayed behind to pack up, as it was closing time. After Neji had put me down, Lee walked over to us and pulled Neji aside.
Lee stared at Neji for a good minute before nodding his head and saying, "I have underestimated you!"
Neji made a face. "What are you…?"
"And for that, I apologize!" Lee bowed apologetically to Neji. "But know that I will not give up! For our rivalry is not only limited to our abilities, but also includes our ambitions in—"
Lee stopped talking almost as once as he barely managed to catch a punch that Neji had been aiming at his face. Lee blinked a few times and jumped back, successfully evading a palm-strike from Neji. What followed after was the scene of Lee playing it defensively as he avoided any attack in his direction from Neji, who kept trying to land a hit.
I nearly dropped Michiko when she suddenly yelled, "Kick his ass!"
I was not expecting Michiko to say that. Of course, I wasn't expecting to see Neji, of all people, start a fight like that with Lee. When Naruto and Sasuke returned to the living room a couple minutes later, I had no explanation for them when they came across the scene of Neji and Lee fighting with each other. It was a pretty one-sided fight in the sense that only Neji was attacking, as Lee kept blocking and dodging.
Michiko was quite into it, much to the horror of Tenten, who walked into the living room seconds after saying she was done closing up the shop.
"Not again!" Tenten exclaimed. "Gai-sensei—do something!"
Gai just smiled his usual smile at Tenten and said, "No can do!"
Tenten stared agape at Gai. "Sensei!"
"I apologize, but this is one fight that I cannot interfere!" Gai explained. "It is a fight between rivals."
"Seems pretty one-sided to me," Kakashi remarked, only to yelp a second later when Gai gave him a hearty slap on the back.
"While I have faith in Lee's abilities, he still has much more to learn before he can surpass a genius like Neji," Gai explained. "The only reason the fight has not yet ended is because Neji wishes for it to continue! Such is the power of youth that flows within him!"
…
Yeah, I'm gonna put a stop to this fight. I sighed loudly in exasperation and handed Michiko over to Naruto, who seemed a bit confused at first until I handed my glasses over to Sasuke.
"Don't get hurt-ttebayo!" was all Naruto said before I dashed toward Lee and Neji.
To get in between them was something that I do not ever wish to do again, as Lee's reflexes scared the absolute crap out of me when I tried to push him and Neji apart. I managed to push Neji a few steps back, but Lee grabbed my left arm with both of his hands and was about ready to throw me onto the floor. Then I panicked and ended up aiming a roundhouse kick to Lee's head. Lee was quick to catch my right foot in his left hand, having removed one of his hands off my arm.
While I might have not been thrown onto the floor, which would have been painful, coming from a taijutsu specialist such as Rock Lee, it was still rather awkward to be in this position. I mean, I'm kind of stuck, what with Lee still holding my right foot, which is so close to his face. If I wasn't aware of how short I already was before, then I sure as hell was now! Like, holy crap—I am short!
Or maybe it's because Lee is tall? Damn thirteen-year-olds and their growth spurts… Still, what the hell was I thinking, trying to kick Lee in the head?! I mean, it's not as if I can't kick high, because I can. It's just that it's waaay too soon for me to try and land a hit so easily on this guy! Also, I think I might have gone higher than usual when I tried kicking Lee, because oww…
"Please let go of my foot…" Oh god, it's like trying to do the splits in my past life…
…
After Lee released my foot and, while he was at it, my arm, I spent the next few minutes just trying to ignore the pain in my thigh while Lee frantically apologized to me. So much for not getting hurt, I think I'm gonna be feeling this tomorrow! At least Lee and Neji stopped fighting with each other, much to Michiko's annoyance.
"Maybe you should stretch out a bit more," Sasuke suggested as he handed me back my glasses.
You had no idea how much I wanted to smack Sasuke in the face for saying that to me. I've done enough stretching in this life to do things I couldn't do in my past life…like the splits. I'm pretty proud that I'm able to do that, by the way.
"Seriously, though…Neji, I thought you knew better." I looked sternly at Neji, who just seemed rather embarrassed.
"Again, I apologize…" Neji averted my gaze after that.
I let out a puff of air and turned to Tenten, who seemed rather relieved. "Are they always like this?"
A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Tenten's face. "Not always, but… yes."
Wow… "And you've been with them how long already?"
"Almost a year…" Tenten sighed. "Honestly, I've gotten used to them…I just wish Lee and Gai-sensei were more mature, like Neji…"
"And yet he's the one to start the fights…" That doesn't sound mature to me…
Tenten laughed awkwardly. "Excluding that, I mean."
"So…" I adjusted my glasses. "What are your thoughts on shurikenjutsu?"
"I prefer bukijutsu and fūinjutsu." Whoop, there it is. "Since you asked that, I assume you're into shurikenjutsu?"
I nodded my head. "Yes!"
"How does that work?" Tenten looked questioningly at me. "The glasses, I mean…"
"I have hyperopia, so I'm good at seeing things that are far away," I replied. "Up close—not so much…"
"I see…" Tenten nodded her head. "Do you have a preference in weapons?"
One question led to another, and Tenten and I ended up having a rather animated discussion about weapons. We talked about their pros and cons, in which I learned a lot from Tenten about some of the weapons she used. Overall, I had a good time talking to Tenten.
Meanwhile with the others, Kakashi took to ignoring Gai via Icha Icha Paradise, Neji and Sasuke were catching up, with Lee attempting to join in the conversation, and Naruto was running around the living room, giving Michiko a piggyback ride. There wasn't much to do at this point, as we were now just waiting for Iwai to wake up, which he did after thirty minutes.
"I see the entire place is still in one piece…" Iwai said as he walked down the stairs.
"Fortunately!" Tenten was quick to say, laughing nervously afterwards. "So…how are you feeling?"
"Better," Iwai simply said. "How's Michiko?"
"I walked on the ceiling!" Michiko exclaimed.
…
Iwai face palmed. "Michiko, didn't I tell you to stop doing that?"
Are you telling me that this wasn't the first time she's done that?!
"But no one got hurt this time!" Michiko protested. "And I…I just want you to stop pushing yourself…"
Iwai arched his brow. "What do you mean…?"
"It's my fault you hurt your arm…" Michiko frowned. "You're always doing things for me, so…I want to do something for you. Tou-chan…can I be a kunoichi like Tenten-nee-chan?"
…
"I s-s-swear I didn't say anything to her!" Tenten sputtered.
Iwai shook his head and sighed. "I know that…the most you've done is answer her questions, but this—this is all her. And just…if they were still alive, I don't think Ina and Ieyasu would be happy to hear that Michiko would want to take up a career path such as that. And yet, if it's what Michiko wants…who am I to stop her?"
Michiko's eyes widened. "So I can?!"
"When you're old enough, but yeah…" Iwai sighed as he tugged down on his cap.
"Yaaay!" Michiko grinned widely, her shark-like teeth gleaming in the light.
"Man, you definitely take after me…heh." Iwai smiled, revealing a set of shark-like teeth that were similar to his daughter's teeth.
The more I look at those teeth, the more jealous I get of them. In any case, at least things turned out well in the end.
…
We left the Munehisa weapons shop afterwards, with Team Gai following us all the way back to the Mission Assignment Desk at the Academy. We were all just about ready to go our separate ways after we had received our pay when Gai decided to invite us out to dinner.
"Chōko?" Kakashi looked at me. "A little help?"
I didn't even hesitate to take out a smoke bomb from my pocket and detonate it. Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and I immediately dispersed after that, leaving Team Gai behind, most likely in confusion. Had we not been stuck with Team Gai all day, I'm sure we would have accepted Gai's offer.
For now, we just wanted to get the fuck away from Konoha's Green Beast. Nine hours with the guy can do that to a person.
…
…
Come the next day, in which I did end up feeling the pain from yesterday's higher than usual kick that Lee caught in his hand (OW), the Sandaime gave us another goddamned babysitting mission. The only thing keeping me from breaking the door, aside from Kakashi, was the fact that the request was from Masamune again. He needed help with Kazuichi, which shouldn't be too bad.
Except when we got to the Manabe household, we found out that Kazuichi wasn't alone. Michiko was there and the reason for that was because Iwai decided to take up his father's offer and leave Michiko with him. It gave Kazuichi the opportunity to interact with his cousin and gave Iwai one less thing to do while his arm was still healing from its sprain. Team Gai was still helping him with weapon shop assistance, by the way.
Kakashi was quite thankful for that because I honestly don't think he would have been able to last another nine hours with Gai in that shop. I mean, there really isn't much to do there. It's one of the reasons that made babysitting Michiko a boring job. I can see why she likes it when Lee and Neji fight…
Honestly, giving Michiko to Masamune was by far the best idea Iwai could have made, as Kazuichi was having the time of his life connecting with his cousin—especially since they shared the same teeth. It definitely gave him a boost in his self-esteem. Michiko also had a new area to explore, so she wasn't trying to make anyone fight nor was she trying to walk up the ceiling again.
While I still don't appreciate the fact the Sandaime keeps putting us on babysitting duty, I'm at least glad that Naruto hasn't been receiving any of the usual cold stares that come from adults and their children. If anything, these missions have been making it easier for Naruto to make a good impression on everyone.
I wonder if this was Sarutobi's intent…
…
…
…
A/N So yeah, got a little OC-centric in this chapter, but hey, that's what happens when OCs that were just meant to be references get fleshed out. I mean, I never intended for those OCs to be connected in such a manner, especially when it came to Tenten having family. Speaking of Tenten, I just wanted to give her a chance to stand out for once.
By the by, after the last chapter, someone did a thing and I feel the need to bring it up again! Vampirelover12100 drew a really cute picture of Chōko! You can find the link to it on my profile and just…thank you so much! I really appreciate stuff like this. Just…I'm touched.
That aside, I hope I didn't botch up anyone's character in this chapter, because let me just say that I have a long ways to go when it comes to Gai and Lee. I BLAME THE SPIN-OFF FOR THAT! DX Seriously, after watching so many episodes of Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth, it just makes it difficult to remember Lee and Gai's original characterizations.
Also, to bring up a point in the case of that roundhouse kick, when you're trying to do one to the head, height becomes really obvious. It's hard to ignore, especially if your kicks are still limited because you can't kick that high yet (it takes time, but it does improve). Another thing I'd like to bring up was, back when I was going to Taekwondo practice, some of the stretches we were doing for warm-ups involved doing the splits. It was painful…and the intent for the splits was for it to eventually help in improving how high you can kick. Little by little, as your flexibility improves, so do your kicks. Of course, don't take my word for it too much, as I am but a blue belt who still has a lot to learn.
Anyways, since I fleshed out these OCs, expect them to make reoccurring appearances. Iwai, being the owner of a weapon shop, is a given. By the way, has anyone been getting the references from these OCs yet? Because, apart from Miku, Kiku, Riku, and Michiko, everyone has been a reference to something…really, it's there.
Now that this chapter is done, I can very much guarantee the end of these misadventures in babysitting as the next chapter will definitely bring us back to the actual plot. I'm sure everyone's been waiting for it. I know I have.
So let's get these shout outs out of the way! Shout out to duchessliz for being reviewer #280 and mingkurosakikagegami for being reviewer #290! I wonder who's gonna be lucky reviewer number 300 and holy crap, 300? Can I just say thank you to every reader who's taken the time to review? I really appreciate it! ^^
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I will try to get the next one up soon, so until next time everyone! KD out! XD