𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 [HEAVY EDITING]

𝟏𝟗 | 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

Another newish scene? Hm...

"Hello, mister!"

Walking into the store and closing the door behind me, I suppress a large yawn, and make my way to the weapons' rack. Grabbing four packages of kunai, I'm about to checkout, when something across the room in the accessories area catches my eye. Sets of gloves and armguards are hung up or sitting on an assortment of shelves, all of them in all sorts of colours – I spot a pair of armguards that match the same colour of my current outfit; they're most definitely from the same collection.

It's not that I'm worried or self-conscious about my new scars on my arms; I'd made the decision not to get them further checked out by a doctor from the hospital, to leave them as a reminder for where I'd been when I look back on things. Approaching them, I find that they're adjustable for size and length, meaning I'd still be able to wear them when I grow more, so it makes the decision to buy them, too, is easy.

Today, I'm supposed to be meeting Kakashi-sensei and the others. After what went down in the Land of Waves, I'd lost most of my kunai and my outfit had been torn by Haku's senbon, so a bit of early morning shopping before we were all set to meet was necessary. I'd go home and have breakfast, too, and then, by the time the meeting was set to start, we'd all be waiting for Kakashi-sensei to be late and give us his usual "Sorry, I got lost on the path of life" spiel for the seventh day in a row.

Sighing internally, I finally return to the man at his desk, both of us smiling in greeting to each other. He totals the prices in silence before giving it to me.

"Say, mister," I start, after I'd taken money from Makara-sensei's pouch, "how come... you don't speak?" He places my bought items in a paper bag, before raising a poised hand in front of his face – a hand sign. "A Jutsu?" I guess. He shrugs his boney shoulders. "Wow... What Jutsu was it?" He shakes his head. "You're... not going to tell me?" He shakes his head again. I frown. "Oh... o-okay." So I relent, and go to hand him some money, but he shakes his head again. "B-But I have to pay you—!" And a fourth.