Friends and Enemies
"They're like the terrible two." Iruka sighed morosely, looking up at Hiruzen earnestly, "And the girl is worse than Naruto—Like a living conduit for discord. Wherever she goes, trouble follows in the form of that..."
He trailed off, sighing once more and shaking his head. Old memories that haunted his nightmares flashed behind his eyes. The old Hokage stared at him sympathetically, but he had his reasons for putting the younger man through this ordeal. Not only would it help him overcome his traumatized youth, It would also help the other two. Iruka could give them a second chance.
"Hokage-sama...I could understand one of them," Iruka looked up miserably, "but why did you put both those children in my class?"
Hiruzen took a long puff of his pipe and leaned back in his desk chair as he thought, mumbling, "Hmm...where should I begin?"
He looked at the stressed newbie instructor calculatingly and questioned, "Iruka...you know the history of this village well, do you not?"
He nodded and replied, "Of course. I've probably memorized the entire text book by now...But why—"
The old man nodded, "Yes, yes...but what about what is not included in the text book?"
Iruka stared at the other man strangely and apologized, "I'm sorry, but I don't follow..."
Hiruzen smiled, taking another drag on his pipe and replying enigmatically, "Iruka, we are shinobi. And that means the true compilation of Konoha's history would never be advertised in a book where just anyone could access it. The text book is simply the bare bones of this institution—and is only available to the public because that is all we want them to know."
Iruka stared at the old man, shocked, "But...the students—"
"—Will be made aware when they have shown they possess the responsibility required to hear the truth. The whole truth. And then it will be passed on gradually to the next generation...when they are ready." He nodded to the younger man, "Today...it is your turn, Iruka."
"But...Hokage-sama..." He looked at the old man in desperate confusion, "what does any of this have to do with those two?"
Hiruzen rose from his chair slowly and padded over to the sitting area of his office—which really wasn't much of a sitting area but a viewing area. Iruka moved to follow him. On the wall rested four picture frames containing some of the most important men in history. Hiruzen passed the frame containing his own much younger features and two others—one, of a man who had been taken before his time, and the other, a man who had given his life to protect his students, Hiruzen being one of them. He paused before the portrait of the far left featuring a man with an attractive crooked smile, long dark hair and eyes, and bangs that framed his tanned face in a carefully unkept yet meticulous style.
"The Shodaime was one of the most exceptional shinobi ever to walk the earth..." Hiruzen murmured, almost to himself, then turned to Iruka, "who—along with Uchiha Madara—possessed the equally exceptional ability of pacifying tailed beasts..."
Iruka's eyes widened and he voiced the revelation with honest surprise in his voice, "Then...those three...you...you specifically put them in the same class? ? My class?"
The third hokage turned to examine the overwhelmed instructor over his shoulder and smiled slyly, simply answering with, "I have high hopes for all of your students, Iruka...And I trust you'll teach each of them with a proper...discretion."
After a pause, in which Iruka was silently having an internal crisis, the old man turned fully and started, "Now, I suppose I should begin with explaining in depth—the complex nature of the rivalry between Uchiha...and Senju..."
"Teach me the clone jutsu." I demanded, my arms crossed over my chest, glaring at the object of my attention.
"...No." He answered stiffly, glaring back just as stubbornly.
"Teach me." I repeated more forcefully.
"Go ask sensei..." He sent me a look, "stop bothering me."
"Teach me, and I'll pay you." I tried again, keeping my expression stern. I knew how these kinds of guys worked. You had to be persistent, and always offer a better deal than the next guy.
He sent me another bizarre look and questioned skeptically, "...Pay me with what?"
I shrugged, "Cash, goods, services—You name it, I can get it. You got chores? I'll do 'em every day for a week. Easy."
For a second, he actually seemed to consider it before he turned on his heal and threw over his shoulder carelessly, "Find someone else. I've got real training to do with my Nii-san."
I clenched my small fists, shouting after him, and stomping my bare foot angrily, "Uchiha!!! You will teach me that jutsu!"
"Make me!" He called back tauntingly.
I clenched my teeth and sent an obscene gesture at him furiously, then stomped away in the opposite direction, fuming and muttering to myself savagely as the end of lunch bell rang. As luck would have it, though we took different routes, we both made it back to the classroom at the same time, facing each other on either side of the door, glaring daggers. It was then I made a sweeping gesture with my arm, bowing a little bit ironically, my voice dripping with sarcasm, "Ladies first, Princess Grumpy Pants." He said nothing but sent me a glare that could peel paint.
As usual we were locked in a tense stalemate...that was until Iruka-sensei snapped at us, "Oi! You two! Separate!"
We both sent the other a similar murderous look, then shouldered past each other roughly as we squeezed through the door at the same time, both of us equally unwilling to be the 'lady' in the 'ladies first' jibe I'd set into motion. Iruka-sensei sent us consecutive looks of heavy disapproval but just pointed to our desks and simply commanded, "Seats. Now."
I huffed and dropped into the seat beside Naruto temperamentally as the jerk did the same on the other side of the room and glared out the window. I then growled angrily to myself, "Stupid Uchiha..."
"Hey, hey," Naruto grumbled back, "I hated him first."
"What'da ya want?" I sent him an irritated look, "A freakin' medal or something?"
Our eyes met for a second of tense silence, but then we both started snorting on laughter—struggling to hold it in actually. We didn't know who either of us was kidding. After all, we were the founding—and only—members of the unofficial 'We Hate Sasuke' club. We'd actually gotten Hinata to join for maybe a half an hour until she realized what the whole point of the club was—after which she went and gave him a full apology. I didn't blame her. That's just how Hinata was—she was too nice.
I'd felt so guilty after what Iruka-sensei liked to refer to as 'the incident.' He couldn't exactly pin its direct origin on me due to certain circumstances, even though we both knew good and well that it was all my fault. And though what Hinata had done was only to prevent anyone else from getting hurt, she got most of the blame for what happened...well, she and Choji—which I also felt guilty for because Choji was actually a really nice guy when you didn't make fun of his weight. But Hinata got the shortest end of the stick...
Sure, Choji and Kiba got suspended for a week, Naruto nearly broke three of his ribs, Shino was still rebuilding half of his destruction bug colony, and Ino nearly lost her voice from screaming so loud—though in my opinion it was a shame she didn't lose it all together—but Hinata...Hinata was from the Hyuga clan. She'd used her kekki genkai—the byakkugan—to incapacitate the panicking student body in order to protect them from themselves. But Hinata was also the heiress of her clan...and, apparently, incapacitating the student body was just not something that Hyuga clan heiresses do...
She'd been absent from class for about three days, and when she finally came back, she looked defeated and traumatized. I'd felt so terribly guilty I actually went to Yamanaka's flower store, bought a bunch of, huge, painfully obnoxious looking sunflowers that were taller than me, and delivered them straight to the Hyuga compound myself. I would've grown them myself too, but paying actual money for them seemed to make it more meaningful somehow. Especially for me. I loved money. When you were me, giving away money for free was practically a sacrilegious act...but I could make exceptions...sometimes.
I'd passed the compound on my rounds several times before, but it was a real prestigious place—invite only. It was surrounded by a relatively towering wall you could hardly see the tops of the houses over, and in the front was an intimidating gate, guarded by two stern individuals at all times. Talk about blue collar—this was the bluest of them all, and the guard was being testy...
"Listen, I don't care how, but you've got to get these to Hinata-chan!" I held up the sunflowers stubbornly, "I'll even pay you!"
The pale eyed guard looked at his similar companion and shared a laugh, "Heh, nice try, little girl. But I'm not getting chewed out by the head just to deliver some flowers. Besides, Hinata-sama is on lock down. No correspondence in, or out."
I scowled, "Fine! If you won't, then I'll do it myself!"
There was a strange silence that permeated the air, and hushed the curious pedestrians around us, and that was the first sign that pointed out to me something was very wrong. The two guards then bowed low and chanted in unison, "Welcome home...Hiashi-sama."
The very ground beneath my feet seemed to tremble with the power emanating from the looming presence behind me. The very ghost of the ridiculous thought that the guards could've been bowing to me was dismissed in less than a millisecond and I swallowed thickly, slowly turning to peek over my shoulder. Behind me, I laid eyes upon the imposing figure of a middle aged, frighteningly stern faced man with the trademark, hauntingly featureless pallid eyes I'd come to associate with the Hyuga. He stared down at me dispassionately.
"I am curious..." He crossed his arms, his hands disappearing within the sleeves of his traditional robes, "about just what it is you're planning to do..."
When I didn't answer, he asked authoritatively, "Aren't you that Senju Tonbo?"
"Umm," I think so, "...Yes? But it's just...um...Tonbo..."
His look cut me off as he gave me a grim once over as if every aspect about me offended him, especially when his all seeing eyes reached my wrapped feet. I still refused to wear shoes no matter how many times Iruka-sensei yelled at me. I just couldn't get used to it. So we'd made a compromise with wraps. As long as I could still feel the ground, it was fine with me. Though the look Hyuga Hiashi gave me made me want to reconsider just so he'd stop looking at me like that...
Eventually, he just sighed and shook his head, walking around me with even, measured footsteps, "Follow me."
I stared at his back, "...What?"
"Come." He ordered , pausing only slightly to look back at me over his shoulder, and I flinched, not because he yelled, or issued it in a harsh voice, but because it was deathly quiet and brusque as a September morning, and I was afraid of the consequences if I chose to disregard his command...The looks the guards were giving me didn't instill too much doubt in that assumption either...Hence the fact I wasted no time in shadowing the intimidating man, dreading and protesting internally against every step encroaching into what felt like enemy territory.
I had no doubt in my mind that this man was Hinata's father. Those we passed within the compound bowed respectfully, just as the guards had, and gave the strange, ginormous sunflower bearing, shoeless outsider bizarre stares with their countless, identical pairs of glaring, silver eyes. I'd never felt more awkward or out of place in my entire life. That Hinata could live and breathe here every day gave me the chills...though she had a place here. She was the heiress after all. She had a place she belonged...yet the look on her face at school had seemed so alone...
I stuck close to the heels of Hyuga Hiashi, trying to ignore the glares of the other residents, and contemplated my situation, my thoughts taking off to become more and more frantic as my inner urge to flee began to scream at me incessantly, louder and louder. But I pushed that down, dismissing it because fleeing was clearly impossible. I could tell that, even with only two miserable weeks of formal education in the ninja arts...I was going to have to ride this one out. After all, it wasn't as if the head of the Hyuga clan had a secret cellar full of chopped up dead bodies somewhere...
Right...?
I found the lack of reassurance from the logical part of my brain, quite frankly, disturbing...
I was a bit too busy stewing in my own pot of nerves to notice much of the scenery, but from what I could tell, the inside of the compound contained nowhere near the amount of finery I had pictured. In fact, the buildings and people were quite plane, compared to the nobles I had seen strutting around the embassy district like puffed up peacocks. Then again, this was shinobi nobility...so I supposed it was a whole different flock of feathers than those other birds of paradise...
No, the Hyuga compound was made up of traditional, but simple dojo-like constructs, the grounds used for training in the courtyards hardened by countless Hyuga soles that had settled and passed over them for generations. It spoke of high class society in its name, yet simplicity in its nature, and a hardened way of doing things that thought very little of change...Another thing I noticed were that some residents bowed lower than the others when Hiashi passed, and most of those who did had a strange symbol tattooed across their foreheads...It was then that I came to a solid conclusion.
The Hyuga clan was weird...
And that's coming from the girl who decided it was a good idea to personally deliver flowers that are twice as tall as she is to the princess of said clan...whose father may or may not chop me into pieces and stuff me into a dirty old cellar afterwards. I believed it was safe to say that willingly doing something like that would also be considered "weird"...so maybe "weird" was irrelevant in the big scheme of things? Or maybe I was just confusing myself...
When we reached a small sun room my sunflowers were taken from me abruptly by a servant and immediately deposited in a tall vase which was then placed by the simple, yet elegant round shoji window (all in the course of ten seconds). The room was then vacated except for Hiashi and I, and he pointed across from himself and a small, simple tea table, instructing briefly, "Sit."
It felt as if I were a puppet and someone had just cut my strings when I dropped to my knees across from him and he raised his brows in what I assumed to be disapproval, the lines on his forehead crinkling, but he simply said, "It seems someone has at least taught you manners..."
I looked down at myself to my hands in my lap and the uncomfortable way of sitting in seiza style I'd assumed accidentally in my flustered state and I admitted quietly, "I watch a lot of samurai movies..."
He raised only one brow this time and replied with what sounded like total disinterest in his voice, "How...interesting."
There was a silence in which only the chirping of birds outside in the courtyard sounded from outside the rice paper shoji doors, and the sun filtered into the room past the vase of flowers. Hiashi stared at them for a moment and questioned me, "Why sunflowers?"
I shrugged uncomfortably and recited, "Lady Yamanaka told me...that in the language of the flowers, they mean respect for another. And I...really respect Hinata-chan...so..."
I looked down at my hands before bursting out in one breath, "Please, Mr. Hyuga, it wasn't Hinata's fault that day, it was mine! I knocked the stupid Uchiha out of the tree, and then he landed on Naruto-kun, and he called him fat, and then the Akimichi went nuts and started cannonballing everyone in between, and then the Inuzuka—"
"Enough." Hiashi closed his eyes, his brow furrowing with obvious irritation, and I fell silent as if someone had stolen my voice box, staring back down at my hands in a chastised manner.
There was silence in the room for a measure of time before Hiashi opened his eyes once again and studied me calculatingly. I felt like I was being x-rayed and gripped the fabric of my shorts anxiously in discomfort, unable to meet those disconcerting silver pools until he spoke once again, "It is...admirable that you have come to apologize for my daughter's thoughtless indiscretion, but that is not the reason why I have allowed you here...Senju Tonbo."
There was that strange name again. I frowned, running it through my head thoroughly before asking, "Who is...Senju?"
The man's face held a terrifying expression of immense irritation, but thankfully it was not aimed at me. He seemed to speak to himself when he spoke next, because none of it made sense, "That man...I can understand why some things are forbidden to speak of, but the things that are not forbidden need to be addressed as soon as possible...What is he thinking?"
I frowned and opened my mouth to speak and try to question him again, but those x-ray eyes caught the words in my throat before I could even divulge them, and my mouth snapped shut once again. He observed me closely again as if he were staring right through me and I fidgeted nervously before him. He sighed once more, shaking his head in what I could only assume to be pity, and when he spoke again it was as if several years had been added onto his shoulders, "Then I suppose the duty falls to me..."
Finally, he really looked at me, raising one brow and stated, "You seem terribly confused."
I nodded helplessly, opting not to speak—since it seemed to just make things worse—and to simply listen instead. Yes, it seemed to work better that way since Hyuga Hiashi went on pleasantly without once glaring at me with those daunting eyes, "That is understandable since you have gone your entire life without knowing that legacy which proceeds you."
"There are some things about the subject that even I am forbidden to speak of, for good reason, but you can blame the Sandaime Hokage for not properly informing you of your position." Irritation crept back into Hiashi's voice, "Illegitimate or not, you are the heiress to one of the honored founding clans—the Senju clan."
"And, since you are the not only the heiress, but one of two of the soul remaining members of the clan, as custom dictates, you will become its leader upon turning thirteen years old..." His eyes regarded me critically, as if I were a mildly offending ticking time bomb, "Do you believe you are ready for that sort of responsibility?"
My eyes widened dramatically and I floundered pathetically, stuttering for words, "I...I didn't...um...that is...I can't..."
"No. You are not." Hiashi summed up for me, eyeing me with more of that mildly condescending pity, "It is as I thought, and it is no fault of yours. Normally, leaders are chosen from a very young age, even birth—as it was in mine, and Hinata's case. But your situation is different. The other member of your clan is much more qualified to take up the position, but she has cut all ties and refuses to return to Konoha for her own reasons, therefore it narrows down the choices quite significantly...the council has no choice."
"Then..." I finally got up the gumption to speak, albeit in the smallest voice I could muster, "how can I be the leader of anything if I'm the only one left?"
"Being a leader is more than having a clan to lead..." The man shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose, "If you had been raised properly, you would have learned this long ago..."
"Which is why someone has to teach you. But if the Third persists on this bizarre notion of giving you a proper 'childhood', no one will...and we'll end up having a proper child on the council." By the amount of frown lines that entrenched the man's face, I would assume that 'frustration' would count as an understatement...
I had plenty of colorful responses to his statement, but something about Hyuga Hiashi kept my trap shut tight. Maybe it was a phantom sense of self preservation? Common sense? I wasn't sure of the exact cause, but what I was sure of was that I did not want to piss him off, and that banished any thought of personal indignation from my mind. I didn't care how many insults he directed towards me—indirectly or not—just as long as his anger was not directed towards me. So I did the only thing I could do and remained silent and unobtrusive as the man spoke to himself with mounting frustration.
I tensed when he finally paused though, and captured me in that icy Hyuga glare once again as he seemed to be sizing me up, and when he spoke, this time he was speaking to me directly, "...There is one lesson that you should learn here and now, Senju Tonbo. Keep in mind that there are two primary choices in life—to accept conditions as they exist, or take up responsibility for changing them. Because no one will do it for you."
I stared back at him, my own brow furrowing in confusion, but I nodded slowly and replied obediently, "...Yes, Sir."
"Good." His face smoothed, though it held no joy. In fact, Lord Hiashi's face looked as if he'd never once cracked a smile in his life, and his voice carried a strictly business only tone, "Now, you are to report here every day after school with Hinata, and I will send someone to fetch you on your days off. You will tell no one where you are going or what transpires. Is that understood?"
"You mean...it's a secret?" I questioned hesitantly, feeling a creeping sensation within me that would later be identified as dread. I honestly hated keeping secrets. Keeping just one was hard enough. It was like walking around with a weighted ten ton disk in my pocket. I didn't want to imagine what it would be like walking around with two of them. I'd be a hunchback before I reached double digits...
"Yes..." Hiashi replied decisively, "You are not to speak of this arrangement to a single soul outside of this compound. I assume you are familiar with such things already, are you not?"
"I...am." I stared down at my lap uncomfortably, frowning to myself and thinking over it carefully before admitting my realization, "...But I don't like secrets. They make my skin...itch."
"Hm," The corner of the seasoned shinobi's lip turned up into what just may have been the ghost of a smirk, and he replied forebodingly, "we'll just have to fix that particular problem, won't we?"
I looked up from my lap to eye him carefully and replied reluctantly, "Yes...Sir."
I never did get to see Hinata that day, because I was then promptly escorted from the compound, and dumped into the street. Though I assume she got the flowers because she would smile at me and look away shyly when our eyes met in class the next day, and at lunch break we bonded over our mutual terror of her father—well, I couldn't really complain. At least I didn't have to live with him twenty-four hours, seven days a week.
Hinata became my second friend, alongside Naruto. She was much less annoying, and easy to talk to, since she mostly just listened, and when she did speak her mind, it was very pleasant to listen to. She actually admired Naruto, and the two of them were very much alike in some ways. She seemed to see something in him that no one else did. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it was...But that was just Hinata. She saw the good in everyone and everything. Even stupid Sasuke.
Though I had to admit...she was right about one thing. Sasuke was strong, and even smart to some extent. Notice, I say, 'to some extent,' because he was still stupid. He didn't like to share and he didn't play well with others, even though he apparently got top marks in everything—even teamwork. It made him isolated from the rest of us, since it kind of put him up on a pedestal. I don't even think he had any real friends, besides Ino's silly group of girls, and they just liked to follow him around like some sort of paparazzi. It isolated him even more. He trained alone, he ate alone, he worked alone—end of story.
It drew my attention.
I didn't hate him. Not really. I actually felt kind of bad because I had friends. Granted, very few, but those I did have, I'd begun to cherish. I remembered when I had no one. I'd had the village, and my neighbors, but no one my age to relate to. Then I had Naruto, who was annoying, and even kind of gross sometimes, but...sweet in his own little messed up way. And then there was Hinata, who was always nice and supportive of almost anything besides the 'We Hate Sasuke' club idea. I even had Ino, with her stupid obsessive crush on a boy who didn't even acknowledge her existence. Sasuke didn't have anyone...
Now, despite my more than healthy fear of Hyuga Hiashi, he really did give good advice. He was chalk full of it actually, during every trip I was required to make to the compound after school. Apparently they were 'lessons in leadership', using proper judgment, picking battles, implementing proper etiquette, tact in speech, strategy in debate and what not. It was actually extremely interesting, not to mention useful—not like the stupid stuff Iruka-sensei would go on and on about.
Lord Hiashi was practical, driven, and, apparently, hellbent on turning me into a political ally in the council. He never said so out loud, but after a few 'sessions' it honestly wasn't that hard to figure out. I'd have to be stupid not to, actually. It wasn't like he was trying to hide anything from me. Quite the opposite actually, and I soon came to the conclusion that having allies in politics was not a bad thing. Especially the Hyuga.
Hiashi had made it clear, albeit indirectly, that it works both ways—being allies. He would support me, if I supported him and vice versa, and the Hyuga were one of the most powerful clans in Konoha, beside the Uchiha. In terms of allies, I could have done much worse. There was also the fact that, conveniently, Hiashi and I seemed to come to a consensus on many of the hypothetical issues he'd proposed to me. We both supported change and reform, and the idea that while the old can be good as well, things can always be...well...better.
He was also surprisingly more democratic than how I'd pegged him in the beginning, "The village is like a machine with several different working parts. If a decision is made and it is not unanimous, then not all the parts will work, and precious resources will be wasted on a hopeless endeavor. You need charisma, not force, if you wish to convince others to follow you willingly. Only then will the machine work successfully."
According to Hiashi, my charisma needed a lot of work...I didn't like to admit it, but my communication skills were awful. I was a polite, pleasant type of person when things were going the way I wanted them to, but when they didn't...well, I wasn't exactly the nicest person when I didn't get my way. Not that I was spoiled or anything...I just wasn't a people person. Hiashi wasn't very happy with me when I'd given him that response though...
I'd walked home with a coin sized lump on my head.
In any case, my interactions with Sasuke had proven to me that it was true I had zero charisma...If I wanted him to do what I wanted, I was going to have to hone my speaking skills to perfection. Hiashi supported the idea, and proposed that I use him as a guinea pig, or a personal challenge of sorts, "If you can successfully turn your enemy into your friend, then there will be nothing more for me to teach you in this subject."
I needed to learn the clone jutsu. I also needed to prove myself capable to Hiashi, but more than that...I wanted to prove something to Sasuke. I wasn't exactly sure of what I wanted to prove, but something about him pissed me off, so of course I had to express that in some way that would hold his attention and not piss him off at the same time...
Being charismatic is really, really hard...especially since there was a shallow, petty side of me that actually wanted to make him mad...This was my challenge: Overcome the compulsive desire to kick the other kid's ass, and turn him into an ally. Like I said, it wasn't going to be easy...maybe it wasn't even possible in the first place, but I still had to try. Otherwise I would be good for nothing, and Hiashi would stop training me and never talk to me again. I'd probably never get to hang out with Hinata again either, and both of these things just gave me that much more motivation to succeed. I couldn't fail. Failure was not an option...
But as anyone could see by my first attempt—my persuasive skills needed a little bit of an adjustment...I sighed, and laid my head down on my desk in a bout of bitter pessimism. Naruto shifted beside me and elbowed me in the ribs, causing me to glare at him momentarily but my face smoothed when he whispered to me quietly, careful not to be heard by Iruka-sensei who was acting especially finicky lately, "Oi, what's up? Did you eat something funny? You look sick, Bo-chan."
"Gee, thanks..." I replied sarcastically, which went completely over his head, so I might not have even bothered. I then sighed and admitted grumpily, crossing my arms and slouching forward on them to glare at the chalk board over Shikamaru's stupid pointy ponytail, "That bastard still won't teach me the clone jutsu..."
"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto questioned, confused.
"No." I sent him a look as if it should be obvious, "Uchiha!"
"Ehh?" Naruto gave me a look, "Why do you want him to teach you! I could teach you ten times better than that guy!"
"Heeh? You're ten times worse than me!" I pointed out mercilessly, and he flinched as if an imaginary comical arrow had just gone through him, and then another one as I finished him off with, " It's pathetic!"
"Tonbo-chaaan..." He whined at me, "You should be nicer...you don't act like a girl at—Oof!"
He was cut off by my arm as I calmly delivered a swift bar strike to his breadbasket, causing him to clutch his stomach painfully and jolt forward, consequentially hitting his forehead on the desk with a loud 'bang.' I crossed my arms once again and gave him the dispassionate stare I'd been trying to adopt from Hiashi, "I'm sorry. Are you under the impression that all girls have to act like touchy feely wimps to be cute? 'Cause if that's true, Naruto-kun, I think you're the cutest one of all..."
"I'm not cute!" He protested while holding his forehead with one hand and clutching his stomach with the other, "Tonbo-chan, you're mean..."
I gave him a cynical look, "I'm not mean, you're just a big sissy."
"Am not!" He cried.
"Are too!" I insisted.
"No!" He replied just a stubbornly and I returned, "Yuh-huh! Yes, you are! Sissy, sissy, sissy!"
"Jerk!" He tossed back.
"Girly girl!" I was really getting into it, "Sparkley, froo froo wimmmmmmmmp!"
"You're a big, hairy man!" He pointed in my face and it was so close I could see the swirl of his finger print if I crossed my eyes, "With lumpy frog worts! And huge, ugly man feet! Like Sasquach!"
I had to give him points for creativity, but nothing could beat my trump card, "Oh yeah?! Well, you still wet the bed!"
"You're a liar!" He jabbed his finger at me again like it was a sword.
I batted it out of the way and leaned in close to his face, shouting, "Bed-wetter!"
"Thumb-sucker!" he retorted even louder, leaning in even closer until our foreheads were grinding together painfully.
"Butt-sniffer!"
"Frog-kisser!"
"Toilette-licker!"
"Barf-face!"
"Crap-eater!
"Dog-breath!"
"Moran!"
"ENOUGH! ! ! !" Iruka-sensei's voice thundered as he slammed his book down on the podium.
"Quick!" I warned Naruto—our dispute forgotten—and I pushed his head down as we sunk below the surface of our row of desk, "Duck and cover!"
Iruka-sensei was liable to throw things when he got mad—sharp, pointy things. We knew from experience, and it was not a pleasant one. But lately Iruka-sensei was acting even weirder than usual and it was really starting to creep me out...he was acting...nice? The outburst just now was like a breath of fresh air actually, and Naruto and I peeked over the desk slowly, testing the waters.
Iruka-sensei didn't look happy by a long shot but he wasn't reaching for chalk projectiles either. Instead he just gave us both a long look and asked us, "If you two were facing an enemy right now, do you have any idea how outmatched you would be? You'd get your entire team killed! Not to mention, if by some snowball's chance you made it back alive, you'd be nothing but embarrassments to the entire village!"
Comprehending it, my face went a little pale and when Naruto and I looked at each other, I saw his expression was practically identical to mine. Iruka-sensei sighed in frustration, and apparently he seemed to think his point hadn't been drilled in hard enough because he soon announced, "Alright, everyone! Thanks to your classmates, we're going to be doing some special survival training for today's afternoon lesson. Who wants a real challenge?"
Several people groaned at the prospect of strenuous training, but some, like Kiba, and even Sasuke perked up at the mention of it. Kiba especially. He was a real wild child, with a similar disposition to Naruto actually. He was from the Inuzuka clan, so he always had this little puppy with him. It was cute now, but I knew how Inuzuka dogs were. They could grow to be taller than a full grown man. I remember the first job I took from them...and I really wish I could forget. The only reason I ever walked those dogs was when I was in serious need of cash. Desperation at its finest moment.
I looked away and sighed as I got up to follow the rest of the grumbling class out to the training grounds and mentioned to Naruto with a pout in my voice, "Why does he always have to use us as the bad example? There's plenty of other people who are way worse!"
"Yeah!" Naruto agreed wholeheartedly, "Like that bastard Sasuke!"
I made a face, eyeing the back of the spiky haired kid's head as he walked ahead and shrugged, "He technically doesn't do anything he shouldn't...he's just got a lousy attitude."
"Oh, so you're standing up for him now?" Naruto rounded on me accusingly, "Is that why you want him to train you instead of me?"
"No!" I defended with a scowl, "I'm just saying it's not technically against the rules to be a stingy bastard!"
I glared at the back of his head again, "But it sure is a giant pain in the ass..."
He then looked back over his shoulder as if he could sense the glare and returned it with those dark eyes. It was funny, because even though I thoroughly hated his guts, I could tell, just by looking at his face, he wasn't one for picking stupid fights like this. He wasn't one for stupid kid stuff either, because he'd just laughed and smiled at her when Hinata had attempted to apologize for us and the 'We Hate Sasuke' club. He was genuinely kind to her...
So maybe if I acted nice like Hinata...he'd be nice back? Working and plotting it out in my head actually waned a little of the disgust of simply having to do it. It still wasn't a pleasant prospect though. I chewed on my lip impulsively as I thought, scowling as did so as they moved onto very pessimistic outcomes. I really wished I had a better option than what I had in mind...
Naruto stared at me as we gathered around Iruka-sensei at the training grounds and remarked with a slightly concerned expression in his eyes, "...You've got a really weird look on your face, Bo-chan. It's scary."
I sighed and answered him absentmindedly, "That's because I'm about to do something I really don't want to do..."
He tilted his spiky blond head in confusion, "Then why are you going to do it?"
"Because sometimes, in order to get what you want, you have to do a lot of things you don't necessarily like..." I sent him a look as if it should be obvious, "In order to gain something, you have to lose something, whether it be money, beauty, fame...or a sense of self dignity...It's just how things work."
"Uhh..." He scratched his chin and admired the branches of the tree above us in order to disguise the fact that he didn't understand a single thing I was talking about, "Yeah! Sure. I guess that makes sense."
"Yeah." I agreed, returning to my pessimistic attitude and glaring at the back of Sasuke's head again, "Sure."
"Okay, everyone!" Iruka-sensei addressed all of us when we'd all made it to the semi circle, "Today I'm going to be splitting you all up into teams of three, and we're going to be practicing how to collaborate as a team...But these aren't going to be just any teamwork exercises..."
"Ehhh?" Some of the class echoed in confusion.
"Now that we've been together for a couple of weeks, I've noticed a lot of things about how everyone gets along with each other in class..." He crossed his arms and sent a deliberate look at Naruto and I, "and I have to say, I'm not liking what I see."
"And before anyone starts pointing fingers," He cautioned everyone with a look, "it's not just any one person's fault. It's everyone's fault."
"That stupid fight with those two earlier wasn't the only one," I tensed when he pointed Naruto and I out.
"Kiba, Shino," He pointed at them next, and though I could never tell with Shino, Kiba tensed up just as much as me and Naruto, "don't think I haven't noticed."
"Ino, Tonbo." He sent us both a look, and then we glared at each other.
Then she turned back to protest, "But Sensei! It's not my fault! Nobody likes Tonbo!"
Everyone laughed then except for Hinata who tried to speak up, but her soft spoken voice didn't stand a chance in hell. Naruto was pretty loud though, but that just made it more embarrassing. There was one other person who didn't laugh—and this was the most surprising part—it was Sasuke...We just stared at each other for a long moment, and it seemed to me as if the laughter around me faded for just a moment as I focused, then I scowled.
"You know what!? Iruka-sensei is right!" I shouted, clenching my fists, "I don't care if I'm hated! I'm not here to be your friend, I'm here to become the best shinobi I can be! If there's anyone here who doesn't understand that, you should just quit, and go home like sissy girls!"
"That's enough Tonbo." He chided me and I fell silent, scowling at everyone disdainfully.
"But you were half right." He allowed, giving me a strange look then addressed the class once more, "In this world, there are always going to be people you don't like, but as Shinobi who may be teamed up with those people, you're just going to have to deal with it. You don't have to like them, you just have to cooperate with them so that the mission can be completed without complications. If you can't do that, then you're not going to make it very far..."
"So that's why," He spoke up in a much cheerier voice, with a somewhat malevolent smile, "today I'm going to be splitting you into groups specifically chosen because you don't get along!"
Everyone in the class groaned then, even me, because even though I'd meant every word I'd said, it still didn't mean I had to like it. I'd had a sinking feeling Iruka-sensei would do something like this. He was just that sadistic. I also had a sinking feeling of just who he would team me up with...
Naruto wasn't bad. Not really. He had a good heart at least. But he was absolutely useless when it came to doing anything other than pranking people. He was also loud, obnoxious, and would pick fights with anyone who looked at him the wrong way. Which happened a lot actually...
When we'd met up at the park on the second day of our acquaintance to try to collaborate and pick up some school materials on my rounds, I'd lost half my customers! Notwithstanding I didn't get the materials either of us needed, but they'd shouted and even thrown things at Naruto. I suspected maybe there was something in the air—was there such thing as crazy gas?—that made everyone act so insane, but it turned out that Naruto was like the village pariah.
I'd thought it strange that I had absolutely no clue of this fact, or that I'd never even seen him once before the day of the opening ceremony at school. After all, I knew every inch of the village like the back of my hand, it was almost ridiculous that I'd never...Either way, it was bizarre. Naruto wasn't so annoying that he could cause people to act like...that. That was one thing I could say for sure.
But Naruto screwed up on the smallest of tasks. Even when we went to Ichiraku and found the one of the few people in Konoha who didn't reach for their pitch fork when they saw Naruto, he ended up dropping all of the ramen on our delivery! The worst part about it was when I went to apologize and pay for the lost product out of my own pocket, Teuchi had acted like he'd already known it was going to happen! I'd then come to the steady conclusion that Naruto was good for nothing but pranks, and making fun of Sasuke. I stayed around because it was funny, but that was about it...Needless to say, I'd never taken him with me on my rounds again.
We butted heads often. It was bound to happen due to our similar personalities, but we didn't hate each other. We had our differences, but neither of us cared too much for very long. Sasuke's weirdness aside, Naruto and I were the odd ones out in class, so it was sort of an unwritten agreement to stick together. We partnered on most things pertaining to group activities, so event though I didn't particularly like it, I was used to working with him and was unsurprised when Iruka-sensei assigned Naruto as my teammate. What I wasn't expecting, however, was Sasuke...
Actually, who am I kidding? Of course it was going to be Sasuke. It was never going to be anyone but Sasuke. Naruto quarreled with him even worse than I did, so of course iruka-sensei was going to assign him to our group. Naruto and I could work just fine on our own, but Sasuke caused just the right amount of tension to have us all fighting amongst ourselves...I glowered at the instructor's knowing smirk.
"Alright!" Iruka-sensei announced, "You've got half an hour to work out a strategy with your new teammates. Remember, this is a competition! Whoever can get to the prize at the top of the hill in Naka forest first gets to keep it, and as for the last three to arrive...cleaning duties for three weeks!"
There was a collective uproar of protest at that verdict, but Iruka-sensei shot down every one of them, and it turned out that asking questions just served to waste more of our strategy time. Though there was one good inquiry, surprisingly posed by Kiba, that caught my attention.
"Oi, Sensei!" He grinned ferally before questioning, "...Are we allowed to attack enemy teams?"
My sharp eyes narrowed at him slightly before they darted to the instructor when he answered calculatingly, "The goal is to beat your opponents to the finish line...but I suppose if the aim is to sabotage them, that may just earn you some bonus points if you do it right. Keep in mind that you want to slow them down, not yourselves. If that includes directly engaging the other teams, then by all means...though, however hard it might be for some of you, in order to pass this test you're going to have to use your brains, not your brawn. Remember: traps are encouraged, weapons are not allowed. Now, get together in your groups and form some sort of plan before time is up."
The smirk on Kiba's face afterwards just didn't sit well with me, and I eyed him suspiciously as I padded over to Naruto and Sasuke who were already glaring daggers at each other. Only when we were all facing each other in a triangle formation did I tear my leery gaze from the Inuzuka boy and focus on the other two. They instantly reminded me of two ally cats I'd seen once, just before they pounced and started ripping each other apart. I'd foolishly tried to separate them and ended up being carted off to the hospital by Old Lady Tatsu for stitches and rabies shots. Not a pleasant experience.
So it was with this lesson branded painfully into my memory that I proceeded with caution, drawing closer with measured footsteps as to appear nonthreatening, and not tempt their glares upon me. It was then that Naruto exploded at Sasuke, "What's so good about you anyway? You're not better than me, so stop acting so high and mighty!"
I gave him a skeptical look that nearly mirrored Sasuke's, but I switched my attention to the later when he gave the retort, "Che...loser. Stop picking fights you can't win."
"Here's an idea:" I interjected with a carefully forced grin before either of them could speak, "How about not picking fights at all? Crazy, I know, but it might just be crazy enough to work! Wha'da'ya think?"
They both stared at me blankly, and I think I might've heard a cricket chirp somewhere before they both rounded on me like the cats in the ally.
"So now you're trying to make peace?" Sasuke glared at me accusingly, "You're worse than a loser, you're a hypocrite."
"Why would you ask that bastard for help anyway?" Naruto spoke up loudly, "We can beat all the rest of these guys easy, all by ourselves!"
"First of all," I glared back at Sasuke then Naruto and threw caution to the wind within seconds, "I don't give one shit about being a loser or a hypocrite, and second of all, would the two of you stop being idiots and take a look around!?"
The other teams weren't fairing hardly any better, fighting amongst themselves just as we were. I turned back to them and explained what I found evident from the very beginning, "In order to pass, we have to work together. If we can do that, then, and only then," —I glared pointedly at Naruto— "will this test be made easy."
"Sasuke," I said his name quickly, and realized with a bit of surprise that it was the first time I'd said his given name out loud. It made me feel slightly disgusting, especially because of the part that came next, "you're strong, and girls like you for some reason so you'd do pretty well on your own, but do you even know your way around any part of Naka forest that's not around your house?"
He glared at me, but we both knew it was true. Clan kids hardly ever left their little corners of the village except maybe to train or go places with their caretakers. Sasuke probably knew how to get to the training grounds, school, designated clan locations, back to home, and that was just about it. Otherwise he couldn't find his way out of a paper bag...
"And Naruto," I turned to him next, "You know every inch of this forest like the back of your hand and you can set up some pretty elaborate prank traps when you put your mind to it, but you can't even do the clone jutsu right..."
"Neither can you!" He argued defensively.
I regarded him with a 'touché' expression and nodded, "True. Very true. I guess you don't need me then..."
"Still..." I continued, addressing them both with a mysterious smirk, "how much do either of you really know about me?"
I put both my hands out to the side in a half hearted shrug, then met both their uncertain faces with a bit of a glint in my eyes, "Who knows...I might surprise you. It all depends on whether or not you want to take a gamble, or stay safe."
They exchanged a look as I went on, clasping my hands behind my back and ambling aimlessly until I was facing away from them, admiring the clouds, "I don't know about you guys...but as for me...I'm not interested in things like safety, or cleaning a stupid classroom for three weeks..."
I then turned on my heal and declared with a wicked grin, "I want to win."
Sasuke gave me a look, arching one dark brow cynically, "So you want the prize? That's some wild ambition you've got there...considering you've got nothing to back it up."
"So far as you know..." I sent him a challenging smirk, "And with all three of us working together, we might just manage to pull it off."
"Ehhhh..." Naruto crossed his arms bratishly and remarked, "Sorry, Bo-chan. I ain't buyin' it. I still don't see what good could come from working with this bastard."
The glared at each other once more and looked like they were about to start up again before I spoke up for one last try, "Fine. You don't believe me? If we don't get the prize, I'll buy you ramen for three weeks, and Sasuke? I'll do your chores for free. Three weeks. No strings attached. This way, everybody wins, even if we loose."
"Ramen?" Naruto's eyes looked like they were about to bug out of his sockets, "Free? For three weeks? HELL YES!"
"That was easy..." I rolled my eyes as he spazzed out, then turned my gaze upon my hardest customer, making a point of speaking to him in the polite tone he seemed to respond better to, "Sasuke? Your answer?"
I was met with a stern, stony glare, and I mentally sighed. The glare was mixed with the same indecision I'd seen on his face this morning and I realized I'd have to push him just a liiiiittle bit further, "It's a win win. If we don't get the prize, I'll stop bugging you about the clone jutsu and do all your chores...then you can spend even more time with your stupid Onii-chan..."
"He's not—" He broke off clenching his fists. I could practically hear him grinding his teeth angrily, and his face went dark. I even wondered for a second if I'd pushed him too far, but then he sighed, unclenched his fists, and settled for just glaring at me, snapping, "Fine. Let's just get this over with..."