In Their Shadow

Chapter 10

"Nice to meet ya too!" Inari said with a wide smile.

The girl in the group finally smiled at Inari; causing him to blush slightly.

"I'm Naruko, glad to meet ya!" Naruko said, her cerulean eyes sparkling in a way that made Inari's heart skip a beat.

"N-Nice to meet you too, you have nice hair!" Inari blurted out, before realizing what he said, his blush gaining a deeper shade of red.

Naruko chuckled.

"Thanks!" she said.

His heart skipped a beat once more.

Suddenly Inari heard a cough directly behind Naruko as she turned around and smiled at the boy Inari hadn't noticed before.

"I exist you know..." The boy said, a look of annoyance on his face.

Inari looked at the boy and noticed how different he was when compared to the group he was with. While the first three had an air of happiness and looked interesting, causing them to stick out, the boy was bland in comparison. His long bangs that went past his hair and his tied back ponytail were the only thing of note on his pale skin. Also, unlike the others who had an air of kindness to them, this boy was a completely different in Inari's eyes. It was if there was something off in the look in the bland boys' eyes.

And that 'something' unnerved Inari.

"H-Hey, who're you?" Inari asked a strained smile on his face.

Much to the bland boys and Inari's surprise, Naruko smiled brightly and responding for Yuma while pulling him forward by grabbing his hand.

"This socially stunted guy is Yuma, he's sorry, so please excuse him. Aren't you Yuma?" Asked Naruko with a sly humorous expression on her face.

Yuma grumbled, annoyed at her antics before saying anything.

"Yeah, sure." Yuma said.

Inari's smile twitched, annoyed at the boys attitude.

"See what I mean? Anyways, he's nice once you get used to him!" Naruko said.

"Could you let go of my hand please?" Yuma said rudely to Naruko as she happily complied with his request.

Inari felt as if he couldn't stand Yuma; feeling slightly jealous whenever Naruko held his hand.

"Yeah, i'm sure he is..." Inari said halfheartedly.

"Anyways, as I have already said, I'd be happy to give you guys a tour of the village, would that be alright?" Inari asked, hoping to talk more to the cute blonde in the group.

Kakashi smiled in the boys direction before shaking his head.

"Sorry, but we kinda are in a hurry, it was nice to meet you though, we hope to meet you again soon. Thanks for the offer." Kakashi said, walking forward, t rest of his group following after him.

Inari gained a disheartened look on his face, and began to continue his walk to his destination. Suddenly he stopped,having heard someone yell his name. The blonde girl in the group, Naruko was waving her hands at him from far away, a cheerful smile on her face.

"It was nice to meet you Inari, hope we meet again!" After yelling that, Naruko ran off to catch up with the rest of her group, leaving Inari with a blush on his face.

"You too..." Inari said to himself in a low voice, a blush still ever present on his face.

He stood there dumbly gazing at the place she had been standing at before leaving. Suddenly, a hard force slammed into his back; Shocking him out of his love struck stupor. He stumbled forward for a moment before gaining control of himself, and turned around angrily.