Chapter 6 is already half done so the next update will be way way wayyy sooner, been working on new stuff because the other half of No.12 is a literary genius with several great fic ideas. Unrelated, I watched Squid Game and it messed me up.
It was six in the morning.
Kagome's eyes snapped open, someone was at her door.
The knock came a moment after and Kagome languidly got up off the bedroom floor. Her pyjamas weren't something she considered presentable in appearance, teddy bears decorating the shirt and shorts, regardless she stepped out of her small room and into the open living room/kitchen/hallway leading to the apartment's only entrance.
Kagome stood on her tiptoes in order to look through the door's peephole, and standing perfectly at eye level, was the third Hokage.
"Oh no." Kagome muttered under her breath, before taking a sharp breath and composing herself. She undid the door's latch and lifted the lock.
Kagome slowly opened the door and looked up slightly to meet the old man's gaze.
"Good morning, Kagome-chan. Would you be so kind…" Hiruzen gestured with a robed arm, indicating he wanted to step inside. Kagome opened the door fully and let the leader of her village into her small, messy apartment. She closed the door and locked it before turning to face the man who used a walking cane to balance himself as he walked.
"Sorry for the mess." Kagome began to apologise.
"There's no need to worry, I've seen far worse. Many of my own children have homes in much more dire need of some spring cleaning." Hiruzen said with a chuckle, although for Kagome, that shared an awful lot of information. Asuma wasn't much older than twelve and he'd moved out?
Hiruzen found his way to the only sofa in the apartment and sat down, setting the cane in his spare hand down on the small coffee table in front of the sofa. The cane was placed between the several half-full mugs of coffee and hot chocolate.
"Do you think he knows about the Uchiha beatdown?" Kagomi asked. She walked into sight standing in the doorway of her bedroom. It was definitely a concern but seemed unlikely, information would have to travel fast that the teenagers had been attacked, and then the fact that it had definitely been her. It had only been three days after all.
"-Well, Kagome?" Hiruzen asked, apparently he'd been talking the whole time.
"Sorry, I missed that." Kagome admitted. "I only just woke up." She added lamely.
Hiruzen chuckled and took out his smoking pipe, apparently it was already filled with tobacco because he lit a small flame between his thumb and index finger to light it and smoke away.
"That's a neat trick, no hand seals." Kagomi muttered in an impressed tone. Kagome conceded that it was an incredible form of chakra manipulation. She hardly had one chakra nature affinity and even then her mastery over elemental ninjutsu was poor.
"I've spoken with one of my students recently, and they said that you weren't very happy with them, I said that you wouldn't hold it against them. I hoped that wasn't out of line, Kagome-chan." Hiruzen paraphrased.
"I mean, yes, that's definitely out of line. He must mean Orichimaru, right?"" Kagomi asked rhetorically to Kagome, she hadn't interacted with any of the legendary Sanin besides Orochimaru.
"That's fine, do you mean Orochimaru-sama?" She asked, mirroring her sister nevertheless.
Hiruzen nodded, puffing on his pipe.
"I know the sensitivity of the subject Orochimaru tried broaching with you, and we've had words since then, rest assured you won't be pestered about your sister's death anymore." Hiruzen promised.
Kagome stiffened slightly, subtly turning to look at Kagomi, who looked completely unphased by the statement, as if she hadn't even heard it.
"He asked about the mission she died on, which was classified information, even to someone of his standing." Kagome said mechanically. It certainly was a good reason to not divulge to him but, it wasn't the reason she'd been so against sharing the information.
Hiruzen chuckled at her statement, staring at her with a look that said it was obvious to him that it wasn't the entire truth, like they were sharing an inside joke. She didn't like it.
"Of course. Of course. I certainly wish the shinobi of this village had half the restraint you display." Hiruzen commented with a grin.
Kagome had no idea about Konoha's infrastructure but that certainly felt like a concern to be taken more seriously. Something she certainly would in that man's position.
"Thinking of becoming the Hokage? That's cute! I can see it now, you, standing on a balcony with your hair flowing in the wind, shouting about the Will of Fire to your subjects down below." Kagomi said dreamily, now seemingly enraptured in imagining her little sister as the leader of Konoha.
Kagome hadn't given the idea much thought, every genin and their cousin wanted to be the Hokage, but the path to doing so was so much more confusing than it first appeared. There was a lot of politics involved that she'd only begun to understand, specifically when she'd heard news of Minato's skyrocketing appeal across the village.
"Isn't that something you should be more concerned about, sir?" Kagome finally asked, the curiosity finally becoming too much for her as the Hokage sat on her couch without speaking.
"It is, certainly, but gossip will always exist. I'd be marked down as a real deity if I were able to eliminate people's propensity for exciting conversation." Hiruzen replied, referring to his 'God of Shinobi' moniker. He continued to smoke from his pipe, filling the room full of thin wispy smoke that annoyingly hovered at Kagome's eye level.
"Regardless of this more lighthearted discussion, I've come to let you know, if all goes well your mission will begin by next week, depending on the success of those currently deployed." Hiruzen grumbled, seemingly in concern. Kagome could understand that feeling of apprehension, even as young as she was she'd been through her fair share of vital missions.
"That's good to hear, Hokage-sama, I look forward to being of use." Kagome replied honestly.
Hiruzen stared at Kagome, looking for something, what exactly that was, she couldn't tell. The man looked so tired, weariness literally seeped through the lines of his face.
"Those are words I never wished to hear from any child, Kagome. You make it sound as if your own life has no other value." Hiruzen sighed.
Kagome frowned. "You must hear that from Genin every day, how could this be any different?" She asked, so confused that she had thrown away all platitudes.
Hiruzen winced slightly.
"Not in the way you say it, girl." He muttered under his breath, composing himself. Kagome didn't know whether she was supposed to have heard him, so she remained silent.
"You are vastly overestimating my own ability to stomach grim decisions." Hiruzen said finally.
Kagomi stared at the aged man pensively, Kagome copied her.
Kagome folded her arms. "I don't think this holiday was necessary. It's every shinobi's duty to accept and complete the mission they're given, that's one of the first rules in the Shinbi Handbook. There's no reason I couldn't have been working right now." She said, slowly riling herself up with anger.
Hiruzen shook his head, rising from the stiff sofa he had been trying to recline comfortably in, sadly it was a far cry from the chair in his office.
"The handbook dictates a lot of things, girl. The three taboos are a rule that comes to mind, and yet two of the three legendary Sanin have gone throughout their lives being hooked by one or more of them. The rules of shinobi life are not something one needs to follow to the letter." Hiruzen retorted.
Kagome froze.
Kagomi strolled between the two of them, stepping onto the coffee table and wobbled as she narrowly stepped between the many half full mugs and walking cane resting there.
"I wonder if he said the same to Kakashi's dad, huh?" Kagomi commented dryly with a look of disgust on her face, hopping off the other end of the table.
"That's not something I'm willing to believe, Hokage-sama." Kagome replied gently. "If I chose to do that now, I think I'd feel terrible." She said, solemnly.
Hiruzen's eyes turned sharp, a smile forming.
"Danzo can certainly make a monster if he wishes, hmm? How exactly would you explain those poor Uchiha boys then?" Hiruzen asked with a wry grin.
Kagome halted.
"Oooo, yikes." Kagomi sniped from somewhere behind her.
Hiruzen reached for his cane to stand up, and began to lean on it as he slowly approached the door of the dingy apartment.
"I think you care for certain people very deeply, Kagome-chan. You care for them more than any duty, and it shows. You've broken the shinobi code, the thing that you were so willing to use to justify what is right and wrong, at least once. That leads me to believe that you simply hold something else closer to your heart than your duty, and there's nothing wrong with that, dear girl." Hiruzen said, with his back turned to her.
"That's not true, I'd die to fulfill my duty, Lord Third." Kagome rasped softly.
"And yet… I'm certain you'd die for that Uchiha boy too, given the right Nohara girl too. Please don't think I say these things from a place of anger, I'm simply concerned you're being a little ignorant to your own self worth… And any continued harm to comrades won't be so easy to ignore." Hiruzen replied calmly, although the threat was clear.
Hiruzen unlocked the apartment door and opened it.
"It's not in my best interest to lose a valuable asset such as yourself, so please. Don't be so ready to give up your life on this mission, or for your loved ones, as long as another option is available to you, of course. There's more of life to experience, you know, and I'm personally invested in ensuring you discover that for yourself." Hiruzen said, as he left the apartment and hobbled down the hallway.
"Is he a Yamanaka or some shit!? Where the hell does he get off doing some crazy stupid analysis out of nowhere." Kagomi said, standing behind her, she couldn't tell if she imagined the arms resting on her shoulders or if it was really happening.
Kagome stayed quiet for a long while, closing and locking the door to her apartment and she gathered the several mugs that littered her coffee table, emptying them before washing them and placing them in one of the two cupboards in her semi-kitchen.
"He cheated, he read the report. He must've." Kagome muttered.
As Kagome surveyed her apartment, she thought about how the Third Hokage had spoken about not only the shinobi's handbook being unimportant, but also the way he'd so casually disregarded an obvious breach in her own conduct. It helped her come to a very important conclusion that Kagomi seemed to echo.
"Maybe you wouldn't make the best Hokage…" Kagomi said with a hum.
Kagome entered her bedroom and weighed up the benefit of sleeping in, a glance at the clock told her that only ten minutes had passed since her conversation with the Hokage. Old habits were hard to shake though, even with the knowledge that team Minato were out on a mission by now, Kagome decided to get changed out of her pyjamas and go down to their usual training field.
"You always know how to start the day, huh? There's no off switch with you." Kagomi moaned.
Shikaku Nara hated mornings, he hated waking up early and above all else, he hated leaving Yoshino. As he got his flak jacket on, he watched his beautiful wife hug a pillow, instantly replacing him, he scowled at the pillow. That pillow was his greatest enemy, and he swore vengeance.
He brushed the nick on his throat with his thumb, it had healed over days ago but he could still feel the difference between the newer skin on his neck and the older. Out of all the scars he'd expected to receive during the war, he hadn't expected the most life threatening one to be such a small, insignificant blemish.
Staring into the bedroom mirror, Shikaku admired his unmarked, fresh face.
Unlike his father, Shikaku had survived his entire career without attaining a litany of facial scars, he smirked. He'd make sure to get his old man some good sake the next time he saw the man, but at six in the morning, Shikaku knew his father would be busy arranging meetings and getting ready to visit the grieving families of those who had recently lost someone during missions within the Nara clan district. That was a responsibility that Shikaku truly didn't envy, especially for the last few months.
Throwing on his favourite mesh jacket over the flak jacket, Shikaku winked at his reflection as he left the bedroom and into the study to collect the day's necessary paperwork. As Jounin Commander, he was responsible for providing the overall statistics and reporting to the head of Shinobi Analysis Division. It would have normally been a very formal and high stress situation were it not for a complete coincidence.
Shikaku made a quick piece of toast and left his unnecessarily large stately home, making his way out of the Nara district, he waved at the four shinobi stationed at the district gates and they all greeted him as cheerily as they could muster at such an early time in the morning. Whether it was genetic or taught behaviour, he had never once witnessed an early bird Nara, an honest to goodness lover of the early mornings. Of course, it was a stupid stereotype, the majourity of Nara were hardworking and earnest but when a member of the Nara clan was considered a genius or lazy, not a single person raised their eyebrows. It was still a very common occurrence.
For as long as the clans had been founded, there had been an understanding; The Akimichis, The Yamanakas and The Naras were to be allies, and with each main branch heir, they would form the Ino-Shika-Cho team, the heirs names matching each clan's main branch naming scheme (Inoichi, Shikaku, Chouza etc.). As well as this team being formed throughout the generations, a decision had been made at the time of the village's creation, which was that the districts for the Akimichi, Yamanaka and Nara clans, would be placed as close as humanly possible to one another. In practice this had made for a very tightly wound middle section of the village that was composed solely of clan compounds, surrounded by a ring of civilian housing districts. A counterintuitive structure if one looked at it from a strategic perspective.
The walk to the Yamanaka compound still took about twenty minutes total, despite this aforementioned closeness. The two guards at the Yamanaka compound gate made a show of checking his ID card despite the fact that they saw him on an almost daily basis.
To reiterate, Shikaku knew he would've hated this necessity, even knowing it was his duty as Jonin Commander. He couldn't imagine going down to the intelligence building everyday, going through security protocols day in and day out, just to meet with someone he didn't know well and share his statistical successes and failures as a leader.
Shikaku knocked on the door of what looked like an unassuming Yamanaka Flower shop. Clan's taking up commercial trades weren't uncommon, not everyone was cut out for the Shinobi lifestyle and that wasn't anything to be ashamed of.
When there was no response, Shikaku opened the door and took a moment to examine the floral arrangements that had been painstakingly set the night before, not for a moment did he pretend he understood any hidden meanings or symbolisms behind the flowers. Shikaku pressed on and walked behind the counter, opening a door that led to a staircase.
Heading up the stairs, Shikaku could already hear melodic laughter and the sound of food frying on a pan.
"Hey, I'm here for the reports." Shikaku called out, and there was a brief lull in conversation emanating from the upstairs kitchen.
"You're late." The head of the Analysis Team in the Intelligence Division, called out as Shikaku drew closer. The building was deceptively big, or at least the living quarters were, the hall was tightly packed but the kitchen itself was the same size as his own kitchen back home.
Shikaku stepped into the kitchen and smiled at the pair standing in the kitchen, both already dressed and ready for the day.
"You know how it is…" Shikaku trailed off, staring at the contents of the frying pan while scratching the back of his head. "... I got caught up at the gates." Shikaku excused lamely, taking in a whiff of the rich, sweet aroma.
Shikaku knew he would've despised this part of his job; the reviews, the reports and the stats, but for one beautiful coincidence. Inoichi Yamanka, his best friend, was the other third in the current generation's Ino-Shika-Cho team, and had very conveniently been promoted to the head of the analysis division following a successful infiltration plan in Kusa that he had orchestrated. This led to Shikaku yearning for the early morning report exchange.
What was once a chore had become a nice reprieve from the nightmarish missions. What had once been a duty, filled with apprehension and a deep sense of competitiveness, was now a source of comfort and joy, a chance to reminisce with his old friend. Not that he considered himself old, but they were certainly decades past their time in the academy.
Turning to look Inoichi in the eye, Shikaku instantly recognised the look of a man that didn't believe him. That was fair.
"Shiruko? For breakfast?" Shikaku asked, more to change the subject than because he was actually shocked.
Inoichi chuckled at the transparency of his teammate.
"I felt like indulging my sweet tooth." Inoichi said offhandedly.
"And I'm a shameless enabler. Apparently." Mitsuki added, turning her head over her shoulder to be heard better, she shook the pan gently even as she averted her gaze from it, her piercing eyes were perceivably icy.
Inoichi grumbled in objection, but Mitsuki laughed gently, the thin veneer of anger dropping in an instant.
Shikaku raised an eyebrow.
"I threw a fit when he called me that, totally unreasonable of me, of course." Mitsuki explained, emptying the contents of the pan into three bowls that had been prepared beforehand. Inoichi sheepishly accepted the bowl while Shikaku had no such feeling of guilt as he graciously accepted the dessert from the soon-to-be Yamanaka Matriarch, the only thing he knew for certain was that she definitely fit in with the clan she'd chosen to marry into.
Inoichi gestured to the reports in Shikaku's other hand and then looked meaningfully to Mitsuki, she simply nodded in response and took a seat at the small kitchen table, digging into the bean paste with incredible grace, holding the spoon like a Daimyo might. The amount of unspoken communication that Inoichi and Mitsuki were able to convey was astounding to Shikaku, sometimes he misunderstood the simplest verbal commands that Yoshino barked at him.
His heart soared, just at the thought of Yoshino's unyielding patience.
"To the study!" Inoichi declared, pointing his spoon to the sky, as he left the kitchen. Shikaku followed suit.
The room had at some point been a baby room, from the previous owners of the building, and despite the obvious pressure for all the clan heirs to have successors of their own, Inoichi hadn't hesitated to clear out the room and completely redecorate with Chouza's help, Shikaku had conveniently been too busy to help at the time.
A desk had loose papers piled high and there was a suspicious lack of decoration besides the bookshelves that were stuffed with large tomes and manilla folders.
There was a chair on the inside of the desk and another facing the desk from the other side, like a poor man's Hokage office. Shikaku took a seat on the outside of the desk and laid out the reports he had held in his spare hand, finally able to properly eat the bowl of bean paste. It was a far cry from an actual breakfast, but was far more than he expected to eat that morning. If anything the dessert was a bit too rich for his liking, but he wouldn't dare say that aloud.
Inoichi flicked through the reports, his eyes roamed the inked characters with a practised speed that spoke of his years experience in the analysis team. It took a little less than six minutes for Inoichi to read through an impressive eighty-six pages of reports. Speed reading was not one of the many traits a Yamanaka was trained in by their clan, that was unique to Inoichi.
"Seems standard for a week's worth of missions, a lot fewer casualties than last week's reports anyway." Inoichi commented, fishing out a particular report somewhere in the middle of the pile.
"This was the mission everyone and their mother knows about, right?" Inoichi asked flashing the report to Shikaku briefly, Shikaku chuckled knowingly, not at all shocked by his team mate's observation.
"I didn't realise news had spread that far so soon." Shikaku mentioned, slightly taken aback.
"It's not every day a clan heir is almost killed. Our classmates sent me some letters to check on your status, I almost had to wrestle Tsume out of the shop only two days ago." Inoichi said, the latter part in exasperation.
Shikaku nodded and sighed, sinking into the wooden chair he sat in.
"So…" Shikaku said awkwardly.
"So?" Inoichi asked.
Shikaku's eyes wondered, roaming the study's ceiling.
"What do you think?" Shikaku asked, his tone was vulnerable, sincere.
Inoichi exhaled slowly.
"You fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book, Shikaku. A puddle? Really?" Inoichi griped.
"I know..."
"I'm sure you do."
"You're angry with me, aren't you?"
"I'm not angry."
"You are."
"You're being overly sensitive, Shikaku. You're projecting."
"I'm embarrassed, that's what I am."
"You should be."
"I am."
"Outmaneuvered by a puddle."
"Shut up."
"What're you gonna do, strangle me like you did last year?"
"I'll do it, you know I will."
The childish back and forth came to a halt when Mitsuki's knuckles rapped on the closed study door. Inoichi and Shikaku both sat up properly as she entered to collect the empty bowls of Shiruko, her very presence demanded proper etiquette.
"I hope you boys enjoyed it, it's been a while since I've made Shiruko." Mitsuki said with a tinge of humility, completely unneeded of course, Inoichi and Shikaku both considered her to be a culinary genius.
Inoichi grinned and thanked her, as did Shikaku. Her timing had been perfect, as it always was, having separated what might have turned into a verbal fistfight. As she left the room, Inoichi and Shikaku sank back into their chairs.
"Honestly, you were lucky, and I'm glad you only came back with a scratch to show for it, but the Zabuza kid, He had the chance to kill you right there and then… From the enemy's perspective I see no reason why he didn't do it." Inoichi muttered.
Shikaku nodded along glumly, it made no sense.
"I'm a man of my word, kid."
The horror of seeing that silhouette pointing a katana at the small girl, sunk deep in his chest.
"He had... Some strange principles." Shikaku replied, it was the only explanation he could muster.
The pair sat in silence for a while, when finally Inoichi reached for a quill and shook the ink off of it until it wasn't dripping. He circled a portion of it and pushed the paper towards Shikaku.
"This was the only casualty on that mission, from an originally estimated ten. Does that name mean anything to you?" Inoichi asked.
Shikaku read the name aloud. "Caribou Gaisen… Yeah, the Anbu kid told me that one of our prisoners had escaped and gone straight for the poor guy's throat." Shikaku answered slowly, making sure he recalled the events properly himself.
Inoichi shook his head.
"The Intelligence Division sent a prompt to Root, indicating that he was likely an informant to Iwa. His mission reports kept availing to nothing and intel relating to areas he visited kept being leaked." Inoichi explained. The implication wasn't lost on Shikaku.
Intel had shared the identity of their mole, and Root had sent an assassin in the form of Rat.
"That Anbu was maybe thirteen years old, at most…" Shikaku murmured in disbelief.
Inoichi's lips tugged into a thin line.
"The information on Codename Rat, is patchy to say the least, but I've gathered they've been active for a total of two years." Inoichi stated neutrally.
Shikaku grimaced. "She's a kid, socially inept from the way she carried herself, at least by your standards, but she wiped out half the attacking force from Iwa without so much as breaking a sweat, they ranged from Chunin to Jonin." Shikaku recited everything he knew for sure.
Inoichi nodded scribbling words down on a scrap of paper.
"Hair style, height, vocal tone?" Inoichi, rattled off his checklist. Shikaku had learned from experience that this was the Yamanaka's go-to when it came to identification.
Shikaku chuckled at how seamlessly his teammate was able to transition from dispassionate business to doing a favour for a friend, with the fervour and focus of a man possessed.
"Brunette hair, worn up in a spiky bun, snrk- looked like a lil' pineapple." Shikaku smirked. This earned an amused upwards glance from Inoichi. "You, of all people, have no right to laugh at someone else's spiky hair. Now, her height." Inoichi demanded the latter.
"Five two, maybe a little under." Shikaku said.
"And her voice."
Shikaku closed his eyes, his hands forming the position that his father had taught him to when he needed to focus, Inoichi recognised it.
"She… Mumbled a lot, whispered, but the mask made it reverberate and echo." Shikaku said, hands clasped.
"But when Momochi had his sword to my throat… She spoke clearly, she panicked. Her voice was scratchy like she'd been screaming for hours and just stopped." Shikaku finished his recollection.
Inoichi nodded, his hand finished writing with a flourish of his quill.
"So it's unlikely that the soft tone was to hide her identity, but rather due to vocal cord damage, perhaps it's an unseen wound to the throat, there may be permanent scar but of course, she also might still be recovering." Inoichi explained, Shikaku had come to much the same deduction.
Inoichi folded his arms. "There's also the chance that it's exactly as you say, she might have screamed herself hoarse, there's no end to creativity when it comes to genjutsu, she might've been caught in a nasty one." He suggested.
Shikaku nodded again.
"I'll pass the description around and we'll have a list of names by tomorrow. Our elderly are bored out of their mind around here. Too much time on their hands." Inoichi explained.
"It's been a while since I've owed you a favour, but I think I'd like as much of your support as I can get, kids that young and that talented… They don't tend to live long lives, I wanna find her as soon as possible." Shikaku asked.
Inoichi nodded. "I'd be angry at you if you didn't. This is the first time I've been informed of Rat's age, and even then the Analysis team doesn't get their hands on Anbu reports unless they're working alongside other shinobi. The only other report I can remember off the top of my head regarding Rat, was a report from last year. Only one casualty on that mission too." Inoichi muttered.
Shikaku slapped his knee to get Inoichi's attention back on track, the blond man's half lidded eyes snapped open.
"A favour for a favour." Shikaku proposed. Inoichi raised his brow in curiosity.
Shikaku rubbed his hands together and reached into his trouser back pocket.
"Akimichi bar and grill, an all you can eat buffet." Shikaku declared as he slammed down the pamphlet on Inoichi's desk.
Inoichi whistled.
"You wouldn't happen to be offering this because Yoshino and Mitsuki are both going out drinking tonight, are you?" Inoichi asked. Shikaku kept his face completely neutral.
"No." Shikaku replied.
"You're lucky, I have another reason to go down to the Akimichi district." Inoichi said.
Shikaku grinned.
"Is it Genba by any chance?" Shikaku asked.
Inoichi's eyes narrowed, but almost instantly broke into a grin.
"And how did you know that?" Inoichi asked.
"Like you said, word travels fast, and your dad hasn't done anything but complain about it to anyone who'd listen, including my old man." Shikaku answered with a smirk, the pamphlet had new meaning now.
"I suppose a visit from two clan heirs might knock some sense into him." Inoichi reasoned.
"I suppose so, Inoichi. I suppose so." Shikaku agreed.
An entire hour of full sprinting later and Kagome's breath had become far more raspy, although she was nowhere near exhausted yet. Left alone with her thoughts, Kagome found a new appreciation for people who simply sat down and read books, turning the page of the dog-eared book, Kagome felt compelled to do literally anything else.
"Whatchu reading?" A smooth male voice asked her.
The training field wasn't empty, far from it, several Genin were doing various different drills and exercises. Apart from the one disturbingly stood behind her.
"Ultimate Guts: A Ninja Story." Kagome recited the title.
"I've heard of that one! What's it like?" The adolescent voice asked, as it's owner proceeded to walk forward and sit on the grass just ahead of her. Kagome's eyes zoned in on the Uchiha fan on the back of his grey shirt.
"It's… More suited for civilians, anyone who doesn't know much about Shinobi life." Kagome said.
"Oh… So it's not too accurate?" The older teen asked.
Kagome kept her eyes fixed on the pages of her book. "It's very accurate, in everything it mentions, but the protagonist… Too optimistic, naive. I don't read much but I don't think this is the kind of story I enjoy." She replied.
"Huh… That's a shame." The older teen said with a small sigh. His hair perfectly matched the regular Uchiha style, it was pointed up in a windswept look, and it was certainly a shade of black. His face was sharp but his smile was weirdly soft, like he scowled more often than he smiled.
"Would you mind if I gave it a read then?" The Uchiha asked.
Kagome pulled the book close to her chest, meeting his eyes.
"I don't know you very well." Kagome said carefully.
The older teen didn't seem very offended by the statement, in fact he raised his hands in the air with a begrudged acceptance.
"That's fair. You don't even know my name." He stated.
He stopped smiling.
"But I know your name, Kagome." The Uchiha addressed her by name.
It took Kagome a millisecond to realise she hadn't brought any kunai knives with her from her apartment. Her hand brushed against her lower back looking for anything to prepare to at least threaten the likely grudge holding Uchiha in front of her.
"Woah woah now, I don't mean any harm, just wanted to send a message really, get my own gauge on what kind of person you are. From what I can tell, you don't seem like the type for… Well, nevermind." He cut off his own ramblings.
"I'm not particularly important, I'm humble enough to admit it, hehe. But Fugaku-sama, he's a big deal, it doesn't matter who you ask, Fugaku-sama is a really important guy." The teenager said in a lighthearted tone.
Kagome gulped silently, trying to relax a little. She had to remind herself she really had no right to act as antagonistic as she did towards the Uchiha.
"I'm listening." Kagome didn't mean to rasp but her voice took on a scratchy tone. The teenager seemed a bit more sympathetic for whatever reason.
"Fugaku-sama has requested that you no longer enter the Uchiha District unless you're supervised by an Uchiha, whether that's upon entering with your friend Obito, or for any other reason. If only to avoid any further incidents." The teenager stated casually.
Kagome's throat went coarse, it wasn't the end of the world but she hated the idea that someone's eye was on her, especially the head of a clan.
"If it helps, I've volunteered myself up for the task, but y'know, missions seem to take up both our time." He said with a wink, rising to his feet and dusting the back of his long grey shorts.
Kagome stared at him for a long time, the older teen matched her gaze.
"What's your name, Uchiha-san?" Kagome asked, after what felt like an eternity.
The teenager chuckled and flicked his thumb across the tip of his nose.
"Me, I'm nobody special." He replied vaguely, turning away from her, the Uchiha fan on his back seemed to draw her attention. He formed the hand seal for a jutsu very familiar to her.
"But I do get to talk to Itachi sometimes, and that kid's pestering anyone he can into training him so he can stop bad guys like you, he won't stop talking about how unforgivable your actions were." The teen rambled.
Kagome was dumbstruck, perplexed.
"I think he's obsessed, if you ask me, so I think it might be best if you avoid any more encounters with him." The teenager continued.
With a gust of wind and scattered leaves, the Uchiha disappeared.
Kagomi whistled behind her. "I think he's pretty full of himself." She stated dryly.
"Unlike you?"
"Unlike me."
"Sure."