(Book the Third) Crimson Hatred in the Uchiha

I Believe in You

I'll be honest with you dear readers. I thought the majority of this chapter was so boring that I didn't even bother to write it for a long time. This is probably one of the most boring filler chapters I've ever written, ehehehe...so forgive me for any disappointment caused ^ ^

Please remember to leave me your thoughts, since I kind of enjoyed writing the last part ;)

Rin's POV

I kneeled down at a low table with a cup of tea in front of me. Across the table from me was an old man who I assumed, was Tazuna. The nice lady, Tsunami, who had invited me in was somewhere outside.

"Come again?" Asked Tazuna.

"I want to apply for a job on the bridge," I said firmly.

Tazuna looked at me, then took a swig out of his sake bottle. "And how old are you?"

"......ten."

"Ha," Tazuna wiped his mouth, "you think I'd believe such words coming from an eight year old?"

Eight year old? Eight year old? Eight year old?!?!

"You're too small for building a bridge," Tazuna said with a cough, ".... Runt."

"I'm stronger than you think!" I tried to say it as politely as I could, but with the insults that this man was giving me, my patience was running, very, low. If it was true that Sasuke was staying at this man's house, he could be back any minute. I didn't have much time. "Look," I said quickly, "I'm just asking for enough money to survive a little. I don't want much, just a little. I can do many jobs, just because I'm small-"

"-very small-"

"-Doesn't mean I'm useless!"

I stared at Tazuna hardly and so did he. Many times, his eyebrows went up and down. My hands curled into fists beneath the table. I think I'm going to-

"Alright fine," Tazuna drank the rest of his sake, "just don't come to me complaining how tired you are. This is a hard project, and I only accept the hard workers."

I brightened immediately. "Hai!"

"Bah," Tazuna snapped, "what will the villagers think? They'll accuse me of child labor-" Tazuna suddenly straightened, "Inari! You're back from your walk?"

Inari? I looked behind me to see a boy younger than me walk into the room. He's a cute kind of little boy... He was wearing a hat and he had very large eyes, as well as a small pout.

Inari crossed his arms, "Hmph," he scoffed, "they're all training in the forest, but I don't see the point. They'll never win against Gato and his men anyways."

They? Who's they? Does he mean...Sasuke and the rest of them? They're training, they plan to fight Gato? What?

Tazuna frowned, "Inari..."

They aren't....going to stand a chance. What are they thinking? They may be shinobi, but so are Zabuza and Haku. Then there's the vast number of bandits.

I curled my hands tighter under the table.

"Eh?" Inari snapped his gaze to me, "Who's this Nii-chan?"

"Ah," Tazuna waved his hand lazily, "just some girl I hired to work at the bridge."

I smiled, "Hehe, nice to meet you."

"Bah," Inari glared at Tazuna, "what, you're promoting child labor now?"

"This girl," Tazuna pointed at my face, "would not stop PESTERING me until I obliged."