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Note: Everything on there will be public eventually.

Chapter 2.9 [19]

Deep orange light beamed through the classroom's tall windows, bathing the room in the setting sun's brilliance as it dipped below the horizon. I carried a water-filled bucket with me up each row, silently dragging the mop across the classroom's hardwood floors, and used a blade scraper to dislodge hardened pieces of gum from under the long tables. I had no doubt my classmates would stick more gum underneath the table by next week, but I did it anyway.

Solitude at school wasn't something I expected to experience again. I took my lunches on the school roof and only appeared when I had to. However, the solitude gave me time to think past the guilt and disgust at myself and reflect on why I felt the way I did. Most likely, it was because I was a child—one with the experience of an adult—and from a child's perspective, my response to Shikamaru was fair.

He went for the jugular first because he couldn't stomach criticism, and I responded in kind. Shikamaru hadn't spoken to me at all since then—rather, I avoided speaking to him, or anyone for that matter. We'd argued about our differences in worldview before, but I always pulled away before things could really get ugly.

I wasn't a child. I should've been above targeting his insecurities, even if he was a little shit and wasn't above targeting mine. At the end of the day, he would grow and learn that it wasn't okay to do so. As for me, that was a lesson I'd known long before this life. There was no excuse for how I acted, so if it took me being alone to stop being a child, then so be it because the one time that I didn't, our entire friend group fractured.

"You're still here?"

I looked down from the top of the tiered classroom.

"Iruka-sensei?" Leaning the mop and the bucket against the back wall, I jumped from table to table and landed at the front of the class.

"You could have taken the stairs, you know?"

I nodded. "You're right."

"Where's Ren? Isn't she meant to be on cleaning duty with you?" He looked around the classroom. "Don't tell me she's ditched it?"

"Dunno." I shrugged. "But I'm kind of glad she isn't here. Doing this alone was pretty calming."

Iruka gave me an odd look and walked over to his desk, putting on his chunin vest and grabbing his backpack from under the table. "Even if that's true, you should probably head on home now. All the afterschool clubs are done and they'll be locking the front gate soon."

"I was already finished anyway," I replied. "I'll see you next week, sensei."

"Have a nice weekend."

I forced a smile on my face and nodded.

The best way to get back on track was to stick to a schedule, so the first thing I'd do after dropping my things home would be to go and train. Looking out at the fields behind the school, I saw the last football games wrapping up and a few of the other club members were trudging towards the gate.

I joined them at one of the ground floor's exits.

"Wait for us, Naruto!"

Haruto tore around the corner first, followed first by Nori and then Ko. They wore plain shirts and shorts, with socks hiked up just under their knees. Against my initial thought to leave, I stayed still and waited for them to reach me. Maybe it was how elated they looked as they ran up to me, but against my initial reaction to ignore them, I stood still.

They gathered in front of me, and I noticed that, despite how much they'd grown, I still stood taller than them

"Why are you still here?" asked Haruto.

"I had to clean my homeroom," I replied.

Ko winced in sympathy after tying her hair back to keep it out of her sweaty face. "We had to clean our homeroom yesterday. You managed to get out so early."

"Me and her were stuck in there until six," said Nori.

"I bet you guys were chatting the entire time," I replied, snorting softly when they couldn't form a reply. "If that's all, I'll be off. I need to go train for the exams. They're only a few months away. See you guys around."

"Wait!" Haruto grabbed my shoulder and then let go immediately when I looked at him, flushing slightly. "S-Sorry. I just meant…" He looked at Ko and Nori, who nodded in support. "Um… spar with us, please!"

I blinked. "...What?"

"We want you to spar with us," repeated Nori. "We know you're the best at taijutsu in the entire school, except for Neji Hyuuga in the year above yours. Please! It'll help us improve."

"Exactly," said Ko.

Haruto smirked and clenched his fist. "Besides, we'll get to show you how much we've learned."

Between the three of them, any resistance I had crumbled. I reached over to ruffle their hair and walked away to a series of surprised yelps and cries. I continued walking without looking back until I reached the school gates.

"What are you guys waiting for?" I asked. "You scared or something?"

Haruto was the first to look up, his grey eyes clearing up instantly. "You wish!"

Ko and Nori beamed and sprinted after him and I let their animated conversation wash over me. Instead of taking to the roofs as I usually did, I walked through the village—obviously avoiding the more populated bits—and absorbed the sights.

The people aside, the Hidden Leaf Village was a beautiful place, with a nice forest aesthetic that blended with the sprawling buildings. None were ever taller than four stories, with the Hokage's Red House being the only exception.

Twenty minutes later, we gathered in a field under the shadow of a great tree. Haruto, Ko, and Nori stood ahead of me with determined grins and I relaxed, shooting them an easygoing smile.

"This'll be strictly taijutsu, alright? You guys haven't got to use actual weapons in taijutsu yet so it's only fair. Ready?" They nodded and I shifted my weight. "Alright, come at me."

Since it was three against one, I sought to break their advantage by running straight at them. Not having expected the move, all three hopped back. I suppressed the instinct to mould my chakra and threw myself into the thick of it. Nori looked the most hesitant so I went for him first. Using the momentum from my run, I slammed a front kick into his hastily prepared guard, sending him sprawling.

Seeing him roll across the grass got Haruto and Ko to spark to life. The redhead engaged with a determined yell. I blocked her first punch and dodged the next. She pressed her advantage and pushed me back, giving Nori time to recover and Haruto an opening to exploit. He came around me and tried to snake his hands around my neck so I dropped low, flooring a surprised Ko and using the momentum to do the same to him.

I rose just as Nori barrelled into me. We slammed into the tree and I leaned forward, slowly pushing him back. "...I didn't know you were this strong," I chuckled.

He bared his teeth in a grin that looked more like a grimace as he struggled to stop me from overpowering him. "I've been helping my pa around the smithy."

"The Academy has a free gym on the ground floor, you know? It might help you get stronger in a more focused way."

"I m-might have to start doing that with ho-how this is going…"

I nodded in acceptance and pushed Nori far enough to give me some space to manoeuvre before suddenly letting him go. I pivoted and he went flying, arms outstretched to cling onto me, and collided head first against the tree.

"M-My nose!" he yelled.

Haruto and Ko stood on either side of me, and based on the gradual lack of cursing from behind me, it was safe to assume Nori was ready to pull something too. I smiled when they started to circle me.

These three had a bad habit of assuming I'd wait for them to set up whatever it was they wanted to try.

Smirking, I feinted a kick in Nori's direction, causing the black-haired boy to flinch sharply. Ko and Haruto, assuming I was about to go for him, broke the circle. The redhead went high, while Haruto went low, swinging his heel around the back of my foot. I braced down, negating his sweep.

"Damn," he cursed and rolled out of the way of my stomp.

Ko stepped in. "Eyes on me, twinkletoes!"

Grinning at the nickname, I countered her incoming right hand with a sharp left hook, knocking her off balance. She hissed and shook it off, engaging with a fast one-two combination. I blocked her lead hand and caught her other arm, swinging around to face Nori.

He was too committed to a sidekick to stop and sunk his heel into her gut, pressing all the air out of her, and effectively knocking her out of the fight. He was perfectly off balance from his kick, so all it took was a jab to send him on his behind for the second time this fight.

I rushed after him and slammed my fist down just next to his head, also knocking him out of the fight.

I stood up and put my hands on my hips. "Well, that's it for you guys, the—!"

Something collided against me, and I tripped forward, bracing myself against the tree trunk in front of me.

"I'm not done yet," said Haruto, taking up a basic ready stance. "It's you and me now. Don't hold back."

Fixing my shirt, I looked at him appraisingly. "If you're so sure."

For the first time in our free-for-all match, I moulded my chakra. The gap between us closed in less than a second and I grabbed hold of his lead hand, solidifying our connection with chakra. Yanking him in, I pulled on his neck and slammed a knee into his face. He reeled back, dazed and I shoved him forwards. Haruto regained his balance and stepped forward to meet me, throwing a combination of blows.

Surprised by how fast they'd come, I stopped advancing and blocked them, letting him set the pace. He fell into a familiar combination of palm strikes and slapped my hits aside. After the fourth exchange, I signalled a time-out and stared at him inquisitively.

"Haruto? When did you learn the Gentle Fist?"

"The Gentle Fist?" He frowned. "I've just been studying Asami's fighting style since her taijutsu's better than mine."

"She's a Hyuuga," I replied. "So she uses the Gentle Fist. Perhaps the second most important thing to their clan after the Byakugan?"

All the blood drained from his face.

Nori laughed nervously. "...You've done it now, man."

"I-I'm not going to go to prison, am I?" asked Haruto. "I've only been working on it for a few weeks. I was going to use it in my next spar against her… but now, I'm not sure."

"Wait," Ko spoke up. "If that's the case, Naruto's using the Gentle Fist too. He does a lot of palm strikes and his stance is similar to Haruto's. He doesn't slap hits away, though."

Haruto blinked. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I tend to deflect them with my forearms or trap them instead"

"Can you teach me?" He asked, looking at me like a man on death row. "I don't want to go to prison, Naruto—I'm an only child!"

"First, slow down." I held back my laugh. "You're not stealing secret jutsu and don't have the Byakugan, so you can't even use it in the first place. The Gentle Fist is more than just palm strikes; anyone could do what you've just done. Secondly, sure, I'll teach you. Not now, though." I wiped the sweat off my forehead. "We've gone at it enough."

He slumped in disappointment. "Damn."

"Chin up, dude. That wasn't a no," I laughed, looking at the other two lying in the grass. "But here's a more important question. Ramen, anyone?"

Their answers were unanimous, so I took them to Ichiraku Ramen to refuel.

"Go on," I said, nudging the three children forward. "It's on me today. Eat till you burst. I'll only charge you if you throw it up."

They shuffled nervously in front of the restaurant, peeping through the blinds at the three customers occupying the seats on the right side of the shop. Luckily for them, the left three seats were completely free, and I heard them whisper fiercely about who should sit next to the scary tattooed man.

I formed three hand seals and focused on getting rid of my whiskers and turning my hair a dirty blonde. It was small enough of a change that Haruto and the others wouldn't think it too strange if I called it training. I pushed open the back door and locked it behind me, hanging my coat on the rack immediately to my left.

"I'm back. Mr Teuchi? Ayame?"

"Kid?" Teuchi was the first to hear me arrive, looking up from three miso ramen bowls. "You don't have a shift today. What do you want?"

I sighed. "Can't I come here for the good company?"

"These days, you only stop by for food and work," he replied with an amused glare. "Out with it. What do you need?"

"I can't believe you, but fine. I've got three kids—my underclassmen—who I thought I'd treat. I don't mind working extra hours to make up for the loss."

"Course I'll feed 'em." He frowned intensely at me. "And work for it? You already work here, don't you? Call it an employee benefit. Now, you'd better sit your butt down on the other side of the counter. I'll get your favourite whipped in a moment."

"Thank you," I began, folding my arms, "but no. Like I said, I brought 'em here. Helping out is the least I can do."

"Well, hold on now—"

"Besides," I continued with a challenging glare. "I'd like to feed my own customers, thank you very much."

Teuchi deflated at my final comment and gave me a resigned, grudging nod, popping his head through the open shutter and passing the three men their bowls.

"That was impressive."

I finished typing my apron just in time to watch Ayame trail down the stairs, clad in a loose black t-shirt and baggy trousers. "What?"

"I didn't manage to get Dad to give me my own space until I was fourteen," she said. "Look at you doing it at ten."

"Cut him some slack, Ayame. You're his only child. It's not like he had any previous experience to go off before you, right?"

She gave a half-nod in agreement and raised an eyebrow. "What have you done to yourself?"

"Oh, this? Watch." I cut off the chakra flow to my face and grinned. "Transformation Jutsu. It lets me turn into basically anything I can imagine—sort of. Pretty neat, right?"

"No kidding. The things I could do with that…" She had a faraway look on her face for a few moments before snapping back to attention. "What were you doing using it here in the first place?"

I shrugged noncommittally. "Training."

She gave me a dubious look but didn't push any further.

"Do you want to help out with this?" I asked while forming the hand seals for the Transformation Jutsu. "You might as well if you've got nothing to do."

"What, me?" she scoffed. "Hah, no way! It's my off day and you're asking me to do more work?"

"Sure. Not like you were going to do anything with your day besides reading Icha Icha, right?"

My words had the desired effect and then some.

Ayame flushed a deep scarlet, her brown eyes darting about wildly in case her father had overheard me, and then she pounced. Her hands tangled around me and squeezed tightly and her voice came out in a strangled hiss.

"How did you find out? Were you in my room, you little shit?" She stopped and detached from me. "...Hold on. How do you know about Icha Icha in the first place?"

I stared at her blankly. "From your books. They were very… informative."

"So you admit," she said with a deep frown. "I'd punish you, but since both know Dad can't ever find out about this, how about a deal."

I subdued my rising grin into a smirk. "...I'm listening."

"I need a way to buy your silence, so how about some pocket money every week?"

"Hmm… tempting, but I'll have to pass. Mr Teuchi pays me well and I've got a lot of cash saved up."

And probably some kind of inheritance from my parents.

…Maybe.

"So money's out. Damn." She chewed her lip. "What can I give you that you don't already have?"

"Easy. Just do whatever I say for the rest of the month." I chuckled a little at her horrified expression. "Relax, I'm not evil. You'll probably end up being my helper during my shifts or something. Think of it this way; Mr Teuchi complains that you're lazy, right? Maybe it's because you go off to read your dirty literature, but regardless, this is a way to get him on your side."

Ayame stroked her chin pensively. "...You might be onto something."

"So, do we have a deal?" I smirked, offering my hand.

She took it and pumped it once. "We do, you little creep—'cause you'd have to be one to even know what Icha Icha is—but we have a deal, indeed."

She jogged up the stairs with a pep in her step, completely unaware that she'd signed away four weeks of her life to me. I snickered to myself at the thought of all the things I could have her do. Like my laundry, my shopping, and all the other irritating tasks I couldn't be bothered to do myself.

It went beyond pettiness. Every second taken away from the regular day-to-day obligations was one I could spend on things I cared more about.

Alone in the kitchen once again, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work, preparing three miso bowls with every topping available. I even made sure to give the kids half a hard-boiled and soft-boiled egg so they got a taste of everything. Given how active they'd been today with school, football, and their spar with me, seconds would be a certainty.

After a glance at a clean ladle to make sure the transformation was still active, I walked out the back door, carefully balancing the piping hot bowls on a tray. While it wasn't something I'd usually do, I felt the need to go above and beyond for those three's first Ichiraku experience because it could be one of the things they remembered most fondly about their childhood.

I rounded the corner and popped my head through the blinds.

"Yo!"

Nori was the closest to me—sitting at the very end—and so reacted first, yelping loudly and setting off Ko. She turned with a string of curses aimed mostly at Nori, but also at whoever had set him off: me. Haruto was wedged between her and the "scary tattooed man" so he was limited in how he could react but he twisted his neck in my direction.

"Watch your profanity, Ko," I said. "You're in a revered establishment, after all."

"Maybe don't scare your customers to death and they won't curse in your revered establishment, yeah?" She glared at me, an amused light in her eyes. "Are you going to argue with me? Isn't the customer always right?"

"Me? Why, I would never and to prove it, here are your meals, gentlemen." I gasped and let them grab their respective bowls, snickering at Ko's mock outrage but I eventually gave her the final bowl.

"Woah," said Nori through a mouthful of noodles. "These are good. Like really good! Did you make them yourself?"

"The broth, yes. The noodles, no. Mr Teuchi made those."

Ko and Haruto slurped noisily beside him, the latter conquering his fear enough to ask, "Is Mr Teuchi the old man with the wrinkly eyes."

"Don't let him hear you say that," I said. "He might charge you for this meal."

"What?" Ko frowned. "Shut your hole, Haruto. I don't have any money and the ramen is too good to give up. If you say something stupid, I'll bite you."

"Relax, will you?" the grey-eyed boy frowned back. "I was just asking."

"Well don't," she replied, bringing their conversation to an end.

I returned to the kitchen, hearing them scarf the food down to the back entrance. Fastening my apron, I got started on the next set of orders as a new batch of customers replaced the gang of tattooed men. I could hear their animated conversation through the shutter and it was loud enough to overpower whatever my three underclassmen were arguing about.

"...I swear, man, Old Banri was spooked. Refused to take me into the Land of Rice Fields."

I couldn't hear part of it because the men started to talk over each other, so I focused on garnishing one's order and taking the opportunity to get a closer listen.

"Really?" Another was saying. "That's not how I heard it. Apparently, the Daimyo there let it happen."

A pair of weathered hands plucked the bowl and, after a moment of scuffling, passed it down the long table.

"That's just a rumour—I've heard it all at this point. From a vicious coup, an assassination, you name it," the first man replied. ". And it's not called the Land of Rice Fields anymore. One of my links in the place told me it's called the Land of Sound. Ominous, huh? I wonder what happened up there."

I took a half step back from the shutter. "...The Land of Sound?"

"Aye." Teuchi's taller, broader body stopped me from retreating further. He looked down with a kind smile. "It's certainly something. Countries don't change titles often unless there's been a conflict of some kind. I've heard rumours that someone supplanted the Daimyo, but that's all they are—rumours. We're protected here in the Land of Fire. The peace will last a few years longer at the very least so there's nothing to worry about."

He patted my shoulder firmly before leaning over the counter with a booming laugh.

The world beneath me lurched. I felt my heart beat violently in the back of my throat, hitching my breath with every pulse and tremor. Teuchi was right on one thing: the peace would last for a few years longer, but everything would go to absolute fucking hell after that.

I swallowed hard, finding my throat painfully dry. How had I missed something so important?

I'd spent the last decade burning in hatred against a foe that wasn't assured, living almost carelessly with children while something far worse than Obito bided its time next door. For all the twisted things he'd done, Obito could at least be called human. I could understand his motivations, even if I hated the bastard.

Orochimaru—the body-snatching, soul-plundering, abomination that he was—was worse. He was a much more immediate threat to my existence—one I'd practically forgotten until it was shoved right under my nose. As shameful as it was to admit it, I forgot all about Haruto, Ko, and Nori beyond the wall in front of me.

I forgot about my shift at Ichiraku's.

I forgot about my spat with Shikamaru and the fracture in my friend group.

When my blood had stopped running cold, the first thing I did was bolt out of the back door, taking off and sprinting to the only place I could: my usual training spot.

"What have I been doing all this time?" I hissed.

No matter how many forms I went through, or how many times I slammed my bare knuckles into the tree's thick bark, no answer came to mind.