Chapter 11

Jing. Dzin. The sound of the bell.

"Welcome to Yamanaka flower shop. How may I…" a beautiful woman in her mid-thirties stopped mid-sentence. "No one? I swear I could hear the door—" she muttered to herself.

Yuuki peeked from behind the counter. "Good mo-" His sudden appearance gave her a huge scare.

"AHHHH!" The woman flinched away from him and almost blasted his eardrums off with her high-pitched scream.

Yuuki closed his eyes and discreetly wiped away the spit from his face. The woman patted her chest to calm down before saying, "Haha. You scared me, chibi-chan."

"What can I do for you?" she asked with a gentle but slightly awkward smile on her face.

Yuuki fidgeted and shifted his weight from one leg to another like he didn't quite know what to do with himself. The small purse out of cloth in his hands was already crunched up and folded to unrecognisable state as the child kept nervously playing with it. "My… d-dad, emnnn, has a birthday soon. And I… wanted to make, a present for him." He opened his purse and took out one shiny ryō. Big watery eyes stared at the shopkeeper; his lower lip wobbled. "I don't think I have enough though," he said with his head lowered and shoulders drooping.

Putting the last petal that he got from the shop (Yuuki wasn't shameless enough to take the whole flower unpaid— the discarded petals that fell on the floor and usually went into trashcan were his goal to begin with) on the pages of Icha Icha Paradise, he was looking once again at the vulgar cover after closing the book.

Every fibre of his artistic soul shrivelled in pain.

The woman with large grin plastered on her face and her plentiful bosom out (and about) was running away from the man who already had one of his hands in his trousers—and no, unfortunately not in his pockets. Yuuki saw plenty of even more explicit stuff in real life and on the pages of the books—he wasn't fazed by something like that. But this illustration was just so— distasteful. He unconsciously put his hand on the abomination that was glaring at him, so he would not sully his eyes any longer.

Yuuki plopped on the ground in an ungraceful heap, after staring in a daze at the ink-stone and used pieces of paper that were scattered all over the floor —he let out a sigh, gathered his limbs together in semblance of grace and continued with his daily calligraphy practice.

While it was calming in its own way —it was also very tiring. Sitting with perfect posture for hours made his whole body sore. His back hurt. His wrists hurt. His right arm hurt. His shoulders and neck hurt. His brain hurt. Who would have thought that simply writing with a brush was such a demanding task— both physically and mentally.

Yuuki looked unsatisfied at the written words on the paper. He wished to convey his feelings through words, but words somehow escaped him. Was it because of the smouldering heat? 'How was it again… With a heart strong like… wild rose? White rose?' Yuuki massaged his temples as he tried to remember the poem from before. Good thing he still had plenty of time to finish it.

The midday sun blazed with unrelenting intensity casting its light onto a young boy through the window. Sweat was tricking down his back. The heat was unbearable at this point. Yuuki slowly stood up and slightly stumbled—his legs were weak from sitting in the same positions for too long.

It was a sunny autumn day where visibility was for ten thousand li, not even half a cloud, the skies a clear blue, unaffected by people's suffering or happiness. The weather was a bitch, Yuuki thought as his wet from the sweat hair and clothes were sticking to his body.

The young boy opened the window and he saw the trees gently swaying in the distance. Alright. Here comes the wind—

The wave of suffocating heat hit him across the face. Not a second later he closed the window.

With a loud snap Yuuki hurriedly closed the window. He wanted to ventilate the room, but thirty seconds were already enough to freeze the whole space.

Once his body temperature rose after jumping around the room like demented penguin —Yuuki laid his head on a chilly windowsill and then looked at the scenery behind the glass.

White clouds drifted by, and whenever the wind blew, snowflakes accumulated on the tree branches would gently fall down. Birds spread their wings and followed the wind. Yuuki wondered if he would ever meet them again.

The knock on his door brought him out of his musings. "Young master," one of the servants unceremoniously opened the door and emphasised the title with a mocking tone. She didn't even bother to hide her sneer.

As of late Yuuki gained a monicker 'Young master', the purpose of which was, of course, to ridicule and insult him. "Yagura-sama summoned you."

"Please, don't barge in like that the next time," said Yuuki gently with the voice as pleasant as ever-flowing stream. The servant— a girl no older than ten— scowled and waited expectingly for him to get going. "You may leave. I will come there shortly." She made face at him but still didn't have any intention to leave. "By myself," he added firmly with an air of finality. She huffed and closed the door with a bang.

With a bang Yagura closed his exquisite fan and whacked him on the head. "That was horrible. Again," he commanded strictly. Yuuki stared at the Shogi board and felt his brain melting through his ears. "Yagu-nii-" he whined and pleaded. But Yagura had been in one of his moods, it was better to shut up and do as he was told.

Two hours later.

"How is your practice with dizi coming about?" Yuuki stopped feeling like an embarrassed dead last who was being questioned in front of everyone. "I mastered 'Upwards to the Moon' this month," Yuuki said with excited smile on his face.

Yagura raised one of his eyebrows. "Master? You shouldn't use that word lightly."

"Allow me—" Yuuki put his hands on beautiful box and glanced at Yagura. "—to demonstrate?" After receiving a nod of confirmation, Yuuki raised beautifully carved dizi made from polished black wood to his lips, red tassel attached to it swinging in the air. It was a gift from Yagura that he cherished with all his heart.

Under his deft fingers, Yuuki formed a sweeping melody, the notes shimmering sweetly over the underlying chords. Eventually, the song ended, and Yagura let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. Yuuki looked up, and he smiled brightly before standing up from his seat and gracefully heading towards him. "How was it?"

Yagura's eyes soften, he tugged Yuuki to sit on his lap and kissed the top of his head. "It was a beautiful song. You indeed have mastered it… I should not have doubted you." Yuuki preened under the praise and affection.

No longer was Yagura as tense as he was before. He could pretend all he wanted that it didn't affect him, but Yuuki knew better. He crawled into Yagura's bed that day and heard how much he cried, witnessed how much his body trembled and felt how tight his hold was as he cradled Yuuki close to his chest.

That day after Shikaku had his last visit.

Nara Shikaku was an heir to a powerful and influential clan; he carried heavy responsibilities on his shoulders. Yagura was an intelligent man— he knew their relationship would end one day. It is just… with things like that, you never expect this 'one day' to come so soon.

This year Nara clan was officially looking for a bride candidate for their heir. Yagura took the news with pose and grace— on the outside, at least. After that day he was just a touch clingier to Yuuki than he used to be before.

It was difficult to determine the specifics of someone's relationship. Even parties themselves were oftentimes clueless where one line started, and another ended.

Feelings were always a rather confusing matter.

Though, if Yuuki was to take a guess— rather than losing a valuable client or a lover… Yagura was more saddened by the loss of a friend. And now even exchanging letters with Shikaku was…inappropriate. It was rather cruel—to live in the same Village, to be so close, but to be unable to meet each other, to part forever.

Okiya offered their clients genuine companionship. But something genuine can come out only when both parties felt… this connection. While Yagura was Shikaku's companion, Shikaku was his.

Shikaku-san was a nice man. He was never disrespectful or overbearing, sometimes he would even bring some unique stuff to Yuuki himself. From snippets from before it was difficult to determine anything about this world. It was such a jumbled mess of nonessential things. For a couple of months Yuuki tried to find golden haired and blue eyes boy with markings on his face in the Academy, but the only ones who somewhat fit the description were Yamanakas. And inside of him told him that he wouldn't be able to find him at all.

Anyway, from this mess he was able to clearly see one picture, that stayed for a while in his head. The picture of Shikaku-san dining together with his son and wife. And in this picture, they just seemed…so very happy.

Even if those visions were utter nonsense, that his mind cooked up, or an indication of his gradual spiralling into madness— he really hoped Shikaku in reality would be as happy as Shikaku from his dream.

Yuuki made a face when Yagura once again started talking about Shogi. His calm measured speech was lulling him to sleep.

Yuuki was trying not to fall asleep as he listened to their sensei's speech about Shinobi rules for the tenth time —when Kakashi, who was sitting next to him, suddenly leaned back for no apparent reason.

Spit coated paper ball flew straight at Yuuki's face.

Obito stopped his evil giggles and stared in shock at Yuuki, who wasn't his intended target.

Kakashi without even raising his eyes from the book pointed in Obito's direction, who was turning shade paler with every passing second. Yuuki's sweet smile sent chills down Obito's spine.

"Obito-kun, why are you running?" Yuuki asked in gentle voice. The snow crunched beneath their feet as they kept sprinting.

"Huff… why, are…huff, you chasing me?" Obito ran like his life depended on it.

Right. There was no need for that. Yuuki was a smart boy who didn't like wasting time. He stopped and after making a snowball— he placed it next to his feet.

Ram. Boar. Ox. Dog. Snake. Kawarimi no Jutsu. The next second the snowball disappear and, in its place, the pair of green briefs with a frog print appeared. Yuuki stared at them for a second and then turned on his heels and left.

Somewhere in the distance Obito screamed. "Ahhhh! C-cold!"

"Finally! Let's eat!" Obito shouted with excitement and ran out of the door forgetting others.

The others weren't actually planning to eat outside and just watched idly as the boy was leaving, but under Rin's disapproving gaze of 'You can be better than this' they caved in and followed the boy.

They were sitting at the stairs and pecking at their food. As the cold wind blew in everyone's faces while, they sent not so subtle glares to the oblivious boy, who didn't notice anyone's displeasure.

"Do you think… our sensei has a girlfriend or something?" asked Kurenai.

"No way." "With that face…" "Shouldn't you first mention his horrible personality?" "How do you know that he doesn't?" "Maybe he is married." "There is no ring on his finger-" "Are you stupid?" "Is it necessary to have a ring—" As usual they started squabbling with each other.

Yuuki pondered for a second before asking, "Why would you think that, Kurenai-chan?"

"Well, emnn, he always leaves as soon as possible after classes… like he is in a hurry to go somewhere or to someone?"

Obito snickered, "Maybe he wants to go to the toilet." Rin interjected, "Don't say that, Obito."

Yuuki rolled his eyes, "Most likely just wants to get rid of us as soon as possib—"

"Oh…" exclaimed Rin as the sauce from her Yakitori that she was eating dripped down her hand. Kurenai wanted to help out, but Obito beat her to the punch. "Here—" with blushing face he held out the napkins.

Kakashi, who was previously eating quietly, suddenly coughed loudly and stretched out his hand that was also in sauce before Obito. Uchiha unwillingly turned his head into Kakashi's direction and asked with none-caring attitude, "What?"

The silver haired boy coughed once again and looked meaningfully at his hand. Obito sighed and turned his back to him pointing at his backpack. "Just take it yourself." Disinterestedly he turned back to Rin.

Yuuki watched in slow motion as Kakashi wiped his hand on Obito's backpack. His shoulders shook with silent laughter. That was mean, but also so funny. Well, as long as you weren't the one on the other end of his jokes.

A minute later the usual everyday fight between the two boys started once again. They were really like water and oil— at each other's throats every day. Yuuki thought so, as he idly watched their fight.

The boys from their class were finished with the sparing matches and now were sitting near the wire fence— idly watching girls casually trying to murder each other. It was regular Tuesday.

Yuuki felt his butt hurt. He was pushed out of the ring after thirty seconds. He was smaller than most peers his age. He tried to find an excuse, but then looked at Kakashi, who was even smaller than him and still beat the crap out of everyone, and Yuuki didn't try to lie to himself anymore. He just needed more training and more practice.

The girl and the boy were having an intimate conversation on the other side of the wire fence, whom children could perfectly see and hear from their end.

The couple was sticking close to each other on the bench, where parents usually waited for their children from Academy. "I was so nervous before the exam that I couldn't sleep at all…" said the girl with a sigh. "Do I look okay? Are my eye-bags too big?" The girl with face full of makeup pretentiously blinked her long lashes and inched her face closer to the boy.

The stone face of Lord Second was judgmentally looking down on them. "Of course not! In my eyes you are always the prettiest, my sweetheaaaaart. Chuuu." The blushing boy cooed and loudly kissed her on the cheek.

The girl— no… rather a young teen — pouted her lips and complained in sickly sweet voice. "Only in your eyes, hmm?" The couple continued to be lovey-dovey/gross in public.

The five boys who overheard their conversation had constipated expressions on their faces. As any other boys their age they found any romantic relationships the most revolting thing on the planet. Genma dramatically sighed and plopped on Asuma's shoulder. "Do I look okay?" He said in sickening tone pretending to be that girl.

Asuma theatrically held Genma's chin and turned the boy's head, so their faces were really close to each other —they were practically bumping their noses together. Maintaining intense eye contact Asuma said, "Of course, you are the prettiest, my DARLING."

Obito plopped in front of duo. "Asuma, how could you?! Yesterday you said I was the prettiest—" Everyone sniggered and continued to joke around.

Yuuki, who was sitting at the pile of autumn leaves, jokingly elbowed Kakashi and asked while chuckling, "Do I look okay?" A second later he regretted saying anything as the silver haired boy continued to quietly scrutinize his face. The sweat was tricking down his spine, the smile on his face became awkward.

Kakashi looked at Yuuki's glossy black hair that reminded him of Bull's fur, at the slight darkness underneath his eyes— the same as that Pakkun had when he didn't get enough sleep.

"You look like a dog."

Yuuki's smile froze, and his brow twitched in annoyance. "You look like you want to be punched in the face."

Kakashi looking woefully unconcerned replied, "You can try." Yuuki's expression became ugly, vein popped on his forehead. Want to hit but unable to.

Damn strong jerk.

"I, Obito Uchiha, hereby declare war on you all. The Third Great Ninja War begins now. There is no hope of winning for you, the foolish—"

Uchihas. Always so dramatic.

Their classes were finished, and everyone just wanted to return home as the winter chill was bitting at their cheeks with its harsh wind. Taking advantage of Obito's defenselessness— he was too immersed into his own melodramatic play, Kakashi-the jerk suddenly turned around and threw a snowball right in the center of the boy's forehead.

Obito paused his dramatics, his face turning red in anger. "Bakashi!" He threw a snowball at Kakashi which the boy easily evaded. Instead, it landed on the innocent person who was passing by—Rin.

With a snap the snow slid down from her face and hair onto her notes that she was carrying in her hands. Rin's heart became cold, and, in her heart, Obito had also became cold dead body.

Rin was very ruthless— she turned around, and smashed a snowball into Obito body with all strength that she could master, but instead of hitting the raven-haired boy, she received another snowball from him, who reacted instinctively in self-defense.

The two of them threw snowballs back and forth only for a bit before hitting other passer-by's, who weren't shy to join in the battle.

The next day half of their class caught a cold.

Yuuki was peacefully crossing the road when he saw a fantastic scene. Kakashi sporting shining hitai-ate on his forehead was tugging at the collar of Guy's one-piece suit and looking downwards. "Hmm, -it is the size of an acorn." What the fuck.

Yuuki was about to leave the scene when Guy and Kakashi raised their heads.

Their gazes met. Shit.

Yuuki sprinted into another direction, but before he could successfully escape, he was caught by them. Holding his arms from both sides they dragged him behind the tree.

Five minutes later.

"Hmm? I have never seen one that small…" Yuuki blurted out after seeing Guy's instrument.

"Not you too, Yuuki…" Guy cried and wailed.

The next second Yuuki felt hands stretching towards his body. "Wait..- h-hold… W-Where are you touching?! Ha-hAtake... huff— can you fuckin-g wait.. a sec, I swear…"

"Mine's bigger." Yuuki stopped struggling and whipped his head into Kakashi's direction.

"…Show me."

Guy was laying on the ground pretending to be dead— the pair had forgotten about him altogether.

Their faces stuck close as they looked down together. "Hmmm… Didn't think you would have a mole down there..."

"It is only because you are taller right now… Just wait-"