Chapter 13

Shinji awoke to the sound of knocking on his door and a scaled paw pushing against his face. Moving the young cub to the side and getting off the couch, Shinji stretched and tied his hair back.

"Coming." Shinji said with a held back yawn, careful not to awake the three cubs still sleeping. Before opening the door, Shinji could hear a familiar pair of voices on the other side with another new one.

Sighing first, Shinji opened the door, revealing the light of day and a trio of genin on the other side. "May I help you?" Shinji questioned the one in front who was holding a small brown box.

"Good morning sir! Team three reporting for duty, we were hired by Stoneheart Armaments to deliver a package to you." The genin outstretched his arms revealing the box to shinji. It was a plain brown box, nothing special in appearance but Shinji knew exactly the contents of said box as he was the one to commission the piece.

"Thanks, saved me the extra trip." Shinji offered a small smile to the one in front. Looking at his two teammates, one was looking at him with contempt.

"Emi, Kaito. Been a while." Shinji said in a monotone cadence. In response, Kaito scoffed and walked away. Emi however, she had something to say it seemed.

The one in front moved out of the way as Emi replaced his position.

"H-How've you been?" Emi asked in a timid manner. She hadn't changed much other than the new Iwagakure issued headband and longer hair that was flat and pulled back in a loose ponytail.

'I can't believe I ever considered you to be anything more than a beast.' The last words he heard Emi speak were filled with such venom and vitriol that day.

He placed the box on the floor and gave her his full attention. Putting on his smirk, "I've been well. Made chunin and now I'm a part of ANBU black ops."

Emi couldn't believe what she heard, upon asking him to repeat himself she still couldn't believe how he not only became a chunin but ANBU as well.

"How the heck did you make chunin so fast?" she asked with her hands on her hips to which Shinji chuckled.

"It was a field promotion." Realizing he had only been talking about himself, Shinji decided to comment on her new black headband.

"I see you and Kaito made genin, congratulations. You both deserve it." He offered a genuine smile that Emi appreciated.

"Emi I hate to be that guy, but sensei Hyota wanted us back as soon as possible." The new guy informed his teammate. Emi sighed but agreed with her teammate.

"Look, im…sorry for how things ended with you me and kaito. You think we could grab something to eat soon and actually catch up?" Emi was hopeful her old crush would agree.

Shinji considered it, but since there was nothing to really consider, he agreed. "Sure, ever heard of Bao-dacious? It'll be on me, and Kaito can come if he wants. He'll probably try and kick my ass but eh, I can take him." Rolling her eyes with a smile at his response, Emi soon left with her team waving back to her old friend.

Closing the door, Shinji picked up the box and went to his dining room table. Grabbing a knife from the kitchen, he opened the box to reveal a medallion, one with a striking resemblance to a manticore. Gleaming in the morning light, Shinji could see the ruby eyes clear as day against the lion head.

He noted the soft steps of a tired cub approaching him and turned to see Fuko looking at him with a tired expression. "What was that all about?" he asked in reference to the early morning visitors.

Shinji placed the medallion back into the box and closed it as he addressed the eldest son of Honotora. "Just a genin team making their rounds for the day. Are you hungry?"

"I am!" the two 'sleeping' cubs shouted with glee. Fuko just sighed at the antics of his siblings but did not turn down food.

After a hearty breakfast of some fried rice coupled with some fresh fruit from Mr. Watanabe's stand, Shinji decided it was finally time to get some training in and his first idea was to include the three cubs. Moreover, he wanted to see how the three of them worked in tandem with each other versus him.

"I hope you three rested well." Shinji rolled his shoulder and cracked his neck in preparation. "While your father may want you to experience the human world, I will not have you merely explore the village." Now prepped for the upcoming battle, Shinji unsheathed his blade and tossed the scabbard to the side.

Shinji looked to the eldest cub, Fuko who had his fathers eyes and tail, but little else tying him to the king of Manticores. "You want us, the children of Honotora, to fight you all at the same time? Aren't you worried about dying?"

Shinji wiped the smirk off of his face and replaced it with a menacing stare, "I assure you, that won't happen." Gone was the joking manner and insulting nature of Shinji Sato, instead rose the cold and terrifying mask of Chimera that caused Raiko to hide behind Fuko. Shinji placed the mask on his face, and beckoned his summons forth.

Undeterred by the horrible visage, Izaku was the first to lunge with his venomous fangs outstretched, ready to puncture Shinji's skin. He did not hear Fukos warning as Shinji's body flickered away, and countered with a knee strike to the cub's stomach.

"Pathetic." was the only word heard by Izaku as he was flung to the side like a wet noodle, slamming his body into a nearby rockface.

"Izaku!" The siblings called out in concern, "Raiko, are you with me?" Fuko looked at his younger sister, ice blue eyes meeting cherry red. She was scared and they both knew it from the shaking that wouldn't stop in her paws. Izaku wasn't in true danger here, none of them were, but the presence of their summoner hovering over them made them fight like this was their last.

"Y-Yes. I'm with you brother." Raiko and Fuko Stood together on shaky legs, taking note of how they seemed to be planning amongst one another and allowed them to have that much. Looking to Izaku's unconscious form, he couldn't help the sigh of disappointment.

Shinji noticed how Fuko seemed far more serious than normal now as the two cubs looked at him. 'Good, he's not taking this lightly.' he thought with an unseen smirk under his mask.

Something interesting happened in the next moment, all of the muscles in Fukos body tensed and he seemed to be invigorated with power. 'What did he-' just as the thought was gaining traction, Shinji had to block an incoming Fuko with his claws drawn and teeth showing.

Eyes widening under the mask as the claws dug into his blade 'Holy- Hes so fast!' Shinji threw off the cub and called forth a clone to deal with him as his attention diverted to Raiko who stood there, staring. She had a pained expression on her face and was that smoke coming from her lips?

Realizing what she was doing, Shinji grabbed a scroll from his bag and threw it above the cub and remotely unsealing it, causing a large amount of water to douse Raiko, extinguishing the premature flame and sending her to the ground. The now sopping wet cub looked to her older brother who was now panting and seemed to have lost the same power that allowed him to gain a small advantage over Shinji, 'Big brother's technique ran out!' Looking at the unconscious form of Izaku, Raiko hated how small and full of fear she was, to her she was a shame to her fathers bloodline and regretted her inaction.

'Get up Raiko. I know you can.' Shinji thought to himself as he looked at the contemplative form of Raiko.

Finally she looked at Shinji, standing there with his sword drawn and such a horrible mask on his face it actually might give her nightmares. To her young mind, her summoner's form began to shift, morph into something terrible and monstrous in appearance.

However there was more than fear in the young cubs heart. One side of her wanted to lay down and die, but the other side wanted to save her siblings. That other side was winning and allowed her to rise on her shaking paws.

"Leave. My brothers…ALONE!" Raiko let out a roar that garnered the attention of both Fuko and the clone fighting him as well as the recovering form of Izaku. An explosion of raw fire chakra spread from Raiko as the epicenter. Shinji was forced to jump away and land further back. 'Such raw power.' the boy contemplated over the power his youngest summon exhibited.

Raiko was donned in a chakra cloak made of magenta flames and pure red eyes that stared angrily at Shinji. Bringing up his blade, the ANBU agent watched as Raikos speed and more importantly her power overshadowed her brothers by such a degree it was laughable.

Having to jump out of the way and stick to the rockface, the unstoppable meteor that was Raiko charged straight passed shinji and skidded to a halt. She looked for her prey, noting how it disappeared. Upon seeing it sticking to a wall, a predatory grin showed on her mouth.

'What is this power?' Shinji wondered at the sight of the angry cub. Unfortunately for him, Raiko was no longer in a hesitative state and the smoke that gathered in her mouth was not a good sign for him.

The same magenta flames that made up her cloak all at once flew toward Shinji at alarming speeds causing him to use the substitution jutsu to escape the heat. While Raiko was distracted, Shinji called forth a mud wave that stopped the cub in her tracks and seemed to douse the flames coating her body.

Panting slightly, Shinji looked down at the three exhausted cubs. "Not bad Raiko, you managed to hold on longer than your brothers."Adding a chuckle to his praise, the cub in question, finally collapsed due to her exhaustion.

'What was that power of hers?' Shinji thought as he gathered the remaining two cubs. 'It was unlike anything I've ever seen.' Picking up the mysterious young cub and placing her with her brothers, Shinji decided they would take a break.

Raiko awoke to the feeling of soreness all around her body and what felt like burning in her throat.

"Fuko! Sssisters awake!" She heard Izaku call out from somewhere before finding herself face to face with her scorpion tailed brother who had small tears in his viper eyes. She didn't question why her brother was smothering her, but why her head was so foggy was a different question.

"What happened?" her sleepy voice met her eldest brother as he approached. He looked down at her with a wolf-like smile, "Good afternoon little sister, did you sleep well?"

"Fuko? Wh-where's shinji?" As if scripted, the door to his house opened and his form showed him and a clone carrying a few large bowls of water, wood and a large boar that seemed to be recently butchered.

His smirk intact and mask gone, he approached the little fireball. "Afternoon my little meteor, how do you feel?" She noticed how there was a nearby fire pit that was prepped for a spit.

"Are we having pork?" She asked tiredly, which caused Shinji to burst out laughing. He put the boar on the spit and sat down next to the youngest cub, scratching behind her ears as he did so.

Putting her head on Shinji's lap, he explained everything that happened during their training session. Tired she may be, but hearing how she turned into a ball of fire was alarming and a little frightening.

Fuko interjected, "Izaku was so worried about you, he stayed right next to you the entire time you were out." The snake headed cub looked away out of embarrassment and even though his scales couldn't show him blushing, Shinji could absolutely tell he was.

After resting for a couple hours, the boar was finished cooking and the four of them enjoyed a large meal. They sat together and Shinji listened to the praises Raikos brothers were showering her with until something pricked the edges of his senses, the familiar feeling of being watched.

He looked toward his house and saw Oni standing there on the roof observing them. With a body flicker, Shinji appeared right next to his mentor.

"Sorry runt, your vacation's over." Oni offered an apologetic tone

"New mission?" Shinji asked in a neutral way with crossed arms, continuing to look at his summons.

"Yes, we're to meet with the Tsuchikage." Nodding in understanding, Shinji got ready for this new mission and sent the trio of cubs back to their realm.

Shinji sped his way through the landscape, completely overtaking Oni. 'I have to make it.'

Oni was having trouble keeping pace with his charge, "Chimera slow down!" He ordered his comrade who ignored the order. 'Please don't let me be too late.' Shinji pleaded to himself.

Shinji and Oni arrived in Onoki's office who had a worried look on his aged face. "Glad to see you two were quick about this, genin team three, under Jonin Hyota, hasn't returned from their mission yet." Hearing the name, team three, sent chills down his spine.

"What was their mission?" Oni questioned his village leader.

"They were to escort a noble from our village to the nearby Land of Bears, that was eight hours ago and they should have returned by now." Onoki stroked his beard with a disturbed look on his face.

"Search and rescue?" Oni asked to which Onoki nodded. The two soon left after being given more information.

Since then, Shinji has been on a warpath upon hearing it was team three in trouble. He had been going full speed ever since leaving the village and that was two hours ago. Oni and Shinji arrived in the searching area and obvious signs of battle were everywhere. The ground had tens of kunai sticking out of the surface, and it was obvious that explosive tags were used here.

Boulders crushed together and a trail of footsteps led Shinji and oni down into the path, where they encountered their first body, that of the third member of team three. His body was mangled and his neck twisted at an odd angle, Oni grimaced at the sight.

Continuing further down this offshoot of the main road, Shinji took note of the fact there were three more bodies, that of Takigakure shinobi. Why Taki shinobi were here was a mystery in itself, let alone this close to the village. He remained on task however and continued looking for his two friends.

On the search, they found two more shinobi and the body of jonin Hyota, ran through with a two bladed sword. Oni sealed the weapons away while Shinji dealt with the bodies and inspected them. They were sloppy kills with one of them being the result of a very large explosion. There was a trail of blood that led further into a nearby forest.

"We're treading on dangerous ground here Chimera. We have no backup and are close to the border of the land of Tea." Oni informed him. Shinji however did not care about borders or what, he needed to find out if there were any survivors.

"This is where the trail leads, we're going." Shinji began marching forward but stopped when his arm was grabbed.

"You have to prepare for the worst here Shinji, none of this looks good." Oni said in a quiet tone.

Shinji looked at the hand gripped around his arm and said simply "I've been prepared." He looked into the eye holes of Onis mask, "But I need to find out what happened. Backup or not. Your help, or not." and snatched his arm away and leaped into the forest, following the trail of blood.

Shinji continued jumping on the branches of the trees, following the trail of blood and noticed Oni arrived at his side. "Won't leave you solo for this one Chimera, you're still my junior here."

The pair in tandem followed the trail that led them to a large tree, one that was surrounded with four Taki shinobi. The two remained shadowed by the trees and listened intently to the shinobi.

"The trail went cold here, means those kids are close." One said to another.

The response made Shinji's ears perk up and his anger narrowed on him, "Maybe that girls still around, could have a fun time with her." came a disgusting laugh from the man. Shinji went to draw his sword, but Oni put his hand up, ordering him to keep his blade sheathed.

Listening to his commander, he sheathed his blade, but his furious gaze never left the man's form. Oni was inspecting the tree, wondering why the trail went cold, before finding a clue. To the untrained eye, it looked like the slash marks from an animal, but to him it was a beacon.

"Look, there." Oni pointed to what he saw and Shinji saw the same. The survivors were in the tree.

"Good." was all Shinji said before he disappeared from Onis sight. He looked toward the taki shinobi, still skulking around the tree, before the same one who made the comment about the girl disappeared in a cloud of red mist. His companion looked around for him, and found himself face to face with a monster. Almost in slow motion, the taki shinobi saw a blade skewer him from the back with the tip exiting through his chest.

Not hearing his other two squad mates, a third shinobi came around the tree to see the sight of an ANBU agent ripping his sword out of his friends back, he went to go warn the others, but never made it as a square tipped tanto went through the side of his neck, permanently silencing him. Oni watched the body fall and wondered where the fourth one went.

The last taki shinobi was blissfully unaware of the surroundings and that allowed shinji to dispatch him efficiently and without a big mess. Wiping the blood off his blade, he sheathed it and went to his commander who was doing the same. "How do we get in?" Shinji asked.

"Not sure, maybe the hiding like a mole technique?" Oni offered as he looked at his blood covered partner. Shinji probed his memories of Kaito and Emi and recalled neither of them knew any elemental jutsu save for the body flicker he taught them so long ago.

"No, they don't know any elemental jutsu from what I remember. There has to be an entrance somewhere." Shinji looked up and down the tree and found no entrance. Oni did the same but for the surrounding area and found something curious. There was a strange looking root stretching from the tree. It would look like a normal root, except for the fact that it was fuzzy.

"Ever hear of fuzzy branches?" Oni asked as he reached for the root as Shinji looked on. Oni's hand phased right through the root, exposing it as a genjutsu. As the root faded away, it revealed a small tunnel that led under the tree it seemed.

Oni inspected the tunnel and reasonably ascertained the fact he could not fit. "You go in and be careful, if they were smart they would've prepared a few traps." He ordered Shinji who listened and followed said orders.

He took off his mask and put it on his waist and entered the tunnel. There were minor explosive tag traps that he was able to discharge with a little water. After a few minutes of crawling, Shinji slipped on something wet and tumbled the rest of the way down.

Rubbing his head which had jostled around the tunnel the whole way down, he had to rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing this right. Under that large tree, was an oasis one surrounded with all kinds of flowers and crystal clear water that seemed to sparkle with all of the fireflies around.

He wiped the dirt off of his black outfit and looked around, seeing blood staining some of the flowers and not too far away from the blood stained flowers were a trio of kids, two of which he recognized instantly.

Upon hearing footsteps, the injured Kaito stood up and looked toward the source of the footsteps. Vision blurry and head swimming, he brought up a kunai in defense of the noble he and his squad were supposed to escort. The form before him was fuzzy and not knowing whether friend or foe, launched forward in an attempt to stop whoever was approaching. Kaito was not expecting to be disarmed and brought to the ground in a way that didn't hurt him.

That moment gave Kaito some clarity as his vision cleared and he saw the same person he said he hated the most, "S-Shinji?" He questioned. The boy in turn, gave him a smirk.

"Relax Kaito, it's all over." Upon hearing those words, Shinji could feel Kaitos body go limp as the exhaustion finally took hold. Noting he had a stab wound to his gut that looked relatively okay, he placed his friend down and looked to the other two, Emi and the young noble child who was shaking in fright and holding onto her with dear life.

Shinji knelt down to the young boy and calmed him first by putting on a kind smile and reassuring him it was all over. Emi wasted no time in latching onto shinji once the noble child was done crying. He hugged her back, "It's okay, you're okay now." He told her over and over but the tears kept wetting the neck of his uniform. 'I made it. God, I made it.' The young ANBU thought to himself, relief washing over the boy.

Not thirty minutes later, Shinji came out of the tunnel with all three survivors and informed Oni that their mission was a partial success. Kaito was unconscious so Oni decided to be the one to carry him to the mission destination. Emi was relatively unharmed save for a few scrapes and bruises so she decided to walk alongside Shinji and the noble child.

"Where was your guys' destination anyway?" Shinji asked Emi who didn't respond right away and instead stared off into the distance.

"Oh uh, the Village Hidden Among the Stars." Emi answered after a few minutes and awkward silence soon filled the air around them.

After a while of travel, the group reached the village hidden among the stars. It was smaller than iwa with houses made out of wood but was a village equipped with shinobi. Shinji appreciated the architecture of the village, but was ordered to find shelter for the group while Oni dealt with team three's original mission. After securing a couple rooms in the local inn, Shinji went outside and meandered about.

Hoshigakure as it was named had a strong connection to not only the stars, but to each other. The few civilians out at this time of day were untrusting of him and Shinji respected that, if roles were reversed he would be the same way. Jumping along the roofs of the buildings, Shinji heard what sounded like a battle happening.

Remaining quiet, Shinji followed the sounds that led him to what looked like a wartorn field with the sounds of battle still going on. Hidden in the trees, he spotted two young shinobi training with each other. One was female with a deep purple head of hair while the other was a male with brown hair.

He stayed watching, witnessing how they conducted battle with each other and almost fell out of the tree when he saw a strange purple chakra spread out from the both of them. He wasn't expecting to be spotted as a kunai lodged itself in the branch he was standing on.

"I know you're there, show yourself now." the male called out. Smirking and putting his hands in his pockets, he jumped from the tree and landed a few feet away. The two shinobi who didn't look much older than him were wary and remained on guard.

"My bad, heard the sounds of battle, thought someone was in trouble." Shinji walked up to the male shinobi and extended his hand, "Names Shinji Sato." Seeing the iwa headband, the two were cautious but the male still outstretched his own hand.

"Hotarubi." As the two exchanged introductions, Shinji looked toward the purple haired girl and once again extended his hand to which she took. "Natsuhi." She introduced herself.

Shinji gave them an inquisitive look, "Don't mean to intrude, but what was the purple chakra you guys were using? It looked fascinating." He complimented them which lowered their guard slightly. Natsuhi and Hotarubi looked at each other, having a silent conversation on whether or not they should tell this Iwa shinobi anything about them.

He was kind enough so far and didn't kill them so Natsuhi spoke first, "It's called the mysterious peacock method." Grimacing at the stupid name of the technique, he wanted to inquire further. "Why do you ask?" Natsuhi continued.

"I've just never seen anything like it, I was curious as to how it works is all." Shinji chuckled a bit, opening himself up to these two.

"Anyway, i've taken too much of your time as is, i'll see you guys later." Shinji said after realizing how high the moon had gotten.

After Shinji disappeared in a body flicker, Hotarubi and Natsuhi were left confused, "What a strange guy." Natsuhi commented as Hotarubi continued looking at the spot where Shinji just left.

Looking back at his friend with a smile, "So, you were showing me how to make wings?"

Shinji sat atop the roof of the inn he secured so squad three could rest after their stressful mission. He stayed looking at the moon, resting gently within the sky..

"I never noticed how much larger it is here than back home." he muttered to no one in particular. He sat alone, continuing to observe the phenomena that is the moon and its rotation until he heard the door to the roof opening.

Not looking back at whoever was there, he wasn't surprised when Emi soon sat next to him, joining him in moon gazing. The silence was broken by Shinji, who expressed a sardonic smile and looked at Emi.

"How're you feeling?" he asked as he saw that in the moonlight, her hair did not look black, it was almost a deep shade of green.

It took her a while to answer, "Remember what you asked us about why we chose to be shinobi?" Shinji nodded in return and emi took a deep breath.

"I don't think I want to be a shinobi." she said in a solemn tone. He wanted to argue with her, to tell her to not be so hasty, but the better half of him knew this life wasn't for some, most people. Most just wanted to live a nice life, except the shinobi world was cruel like that.

Shinji looked back up to the sky, "I was scared too you know. First time ever in battle, damn near pissed myself."

"What was it like?" Emi asked, the subtle lull of her voice made something stir within shinji.

He sighed at the question. "Terrifying, exhilarating, but strangely enough the one thing I felt the most…was freedom." Emi looked at Shinji with a cocked brow but he remained in his gaze at the moon with his smirk.

"Something about putting everything on the line, in that one moment, life or death. All of your problems melt away in that instant, it stops being about village versus village, but who has the grit to be the last one standing." Emi found herself smiling at shinji and the way he enjoyed battle it seemed. The smile on her face faded when Shinji's smirk fell.

"When I heard you and Kaito were in trouble…I almost went AWOL just to get you guys back." He looked back down to her with a soft gaze, "So even if you don't want to be a shinobi anymore, I want you to keep getting stronger, to keep having fun, to keep living, Emi. I want you to keep living." Her black eyes seemed to twinkle with small unshed tears, yet the smile she had said otherwise.

Looking back up to the moon, Shinji seemed to find his resolve. "I guess it's why I do this, so the few I care about can just keep living." They remained in a pleasant silence for a time, Shinji looking at the moon and Emi looking at Shinji.

Shinji noticed Emi moved but remained still, in the next instance there was a small peck to his cheek and the feeling of warmth all throughout his face. "W-What the hell was that?" He asked with a tremble in his voice.

He looked at the girl in shock who was now sitting back with a playful smile. "You should see your face." She said with a pleasant chuckle. Standing from her position and walking to the door, she looked back once more. "Thank you Shinji."

Shinji watched the door shut and just stared..

'What the hell just happened?' he thought, idly putting his hand up to the spot that was kissed. The sound of a body flicker just behind him made Shinji avert his gaze to the newcomer. Unsurprisingly it was Oni, but what was rare was the sight of him without his mask on.

Oni's mask was special in the fact that when he put it on, it changed his normal vibrant red hair to a pitch black color instead, Shinji almost forgot about the fact he was an Uzumaki. "Guessing everything went okay with the noble kid." the boy stated toward his mentor.

The expression he received was one that reflected annoyance. "It did." was his curt reply as he sat down next to shinji. 'Why is his attitude so weird right now…' Shinji wondered.

"Everything okay?" Shinji asked awkwardly and Oni merely looked at his student with an angry stare.

"What you did out there borders on insubordination. You disobeyed a direct order." Oni was not his mentor at the moment and was now the commanding officer of the entire ANBU black ops of Iwagakure.

Getting a little defensive, Shinji went to rationalize his actions, "You have to understand, those were my friends out there, I couldn't just let them die when I could've stopped it."

"This isn't the first time, runt. I've let you get away with it more than I should have, but today you willingly put us in harm's way for what ultimately would have been trivial." Shinji stood to his feet in an instant and with restrained anger, ground out.

"You're calling the lives of my friends trivial?" Shinji asked, looking down at Oni, who stood up and towered over the boy.

"We crossed over into enemy land, Shinji, if we stayed there any longer, who knows what would've happened? Even if we could've taken them on, were you really prepared to start another frontline battle over a couple of individuals?" Oni retorted, putting more authority in his voice.

"You're damn right I was!" Shinji shouted at his mentor, "If it meant they were safe, absolutely." Oni was now furious himself but controlled his anger as he learned to do so long ago.

"I'm warning you Shinji, if you disobey any more orders, I will have you benched. Do you understand me?" His words were final and Shinji had to bite back his tongue lest that threat arrive sooner than expected.

He took a breath, and agreed "It won't happen again, sir."

Oni's face relaxed some, "See that it doesn't. Go rest for the night, I'll take watch." Shinji nodded and walked back inside, down into the shared bedroom with Kaito.

Taking off his gear, Shinji took a long shower and soon found himself lying in the inn bed and staring at the ceiling. He wanted to sleep and knew he should, but just couldn't get the thought of Emi kissing him out of his mind.

"Hey." He heard the pained voice of Kaito from the other bed across the room. Shinji sat up and saw his friend was awake and sitting up.

"You were stabbed Kaito, you shouldnt be sitting up." Shinji retorted. Kaito looked at his bandages and simply shrugged.

"This is what I signed up for." Kaito chuckled but was met with pain and ceased his laughter. Shinji sat up as well and rested his back on the headboard of his bed. 'Seems he grew up a little.'

The boy still had his large nose that was reminiscent of Onoki, but his hair was long and spikey now. He was as large as he ever was but where he lacked the muscle before, the fourteen year old looked like a power house now, there was even a hint of facial hair on his chin.

"You walked away before I could say it, but congrats on making genin." Shinji's smirk fell a little bit, "And…I'm sorry things ended like they did." Instead of speaking, Kaito remained still and thought about the words spoken to him.

He finally sighed after moments of contemplation, "Yea im sorry too. Emi told me what you guys talked about." Shinji waited for Kaito to continue, and he soon did after another sigh and this time putting on a reminiscent smile.

"I hated you after that, it wasn't because you hit me or anything, it's just that you wouldn't open up you know? I thought that maybe, maybe you'd let us in and try and help." Kaito's smile faded some but still remained intact, "you helped me when my dad died, i just wanted to return the favor."

Shinji facepalmed and apologized for his actions, but Kaito just laughed like it was a good joke, managing to push through the pain in his gut. Shinji was confused and faded after he started to chuckle. The two began reciting random moments from their childhood that only added to the laughter. "What about when you called Genjiro a fatass on your first day?!" Followed by more hysterical laughter from Kaito and controlled guffaws from Shinji.

"What ever happened to that guy?" Shinji asked, their laughter dying down.

Kaito took a second to recall any information he had heard over the years and face shot up upon remembering something, "Once you left the academy, he became the class's protector. Swear to God he said one day 'Now that Shinji's gone, someone has to protect the little guys.' This was followed after he defended that kid with the glasses, Sekiro, from another group of kids."

Shinji's face was etched with bewilderment because he knew of the boy's change of heart when he stood up to him, but it seemed his leaving inspired him to truly step up. Shaking his head with a small chuckle, Shinji spoke his thoughts on Genjiro, "I'll thank him next time I see him for stepping up in my stead." While it sounded like a joke and was treated as such, Shinji was not lying or joking about it. His respect for Genjiro was instantly healed after hearing that little tidbit of information.

'Strange, it feels like nothing ever happened on that day, like we never stopped being friends.' Shinji thought to himself, grateful for the feeling. After the conversation died down some more, the two decided it would be better if they actually rested for the journey back the following day.