The next morning, Sakura was told to guard Tazuna while he was working in case something happened at the bridge. As for me, I was given such a big job - invigilate Naruto and Sasuke and make sure they don't break each other's neck while they continue attempting to complete the tree climbing exercise. Real important. Thanks Kakashi sensei, I'm feeling real useful right now. No, really.
By now, the sun was already starting to set and the boys had scratches and bruises on their bodies - not to mention they looked completely worn out. I sighed. I was bored of not doing anything at all so I decided to take a kunai out here with me and practice the throwing of a Kunai at a tree, each time the mark going higher and higher.
I turned my head to look at the two boys, only to find them glaring at each other.
'Ah, those two ...' I sighed exasperatedly. At least Naruto's improving little by little.
'Damn it!' Naruto cursed, as he fell on his butt once again.
'Naruto, don't forget the tips I told you.' I reminded.
He nodded, smiling slightly. He did the hand sign and closed his eyes, focusing on his Chakra. 'Concentrate ... concentrate ...' he muttered, furrowing his eyebrows.
I smiled, nodding to myself before turning my back to him and getting ready to throw my kunai.
'Oi, Makoto.' Sasuke hissed, suddenly appearing next to me and making me jump slightly.
'God, you scared me!' I breathed, putting a hand over my chest. 'What is it?'
'Shh ... not so loud,' he hissed once again. 'I don't want Naruto to know anything -'
I gave him a strange look. 'Are you selling drugs or something?'
'No!'
'Then what's up?' I asked, leaning my back against a tree.
'Um, well ...' he looked away, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. What's up with this guy?
'Yes?' I said, motioning him to continue.
He turned to look at me, an eye twitching and his blushing becoming more visible. 'You - gave Naruto some tips, right?' he mumbled, before turning the other way, looking more awkward than ever. 'What did you tell him?'
'Huh?' my eyes widened in surprise before I broke into a mischievous grin. I wanted very much to give him a snide remark but the poor boy already looked too embarrassed I was actually starting to feel second-hand embarrassment. 'Sure, why not.'
He shoulders slumped in relief and I was just about to tell him the tips when Naruto's head snapped towards us.
'What are you two talking about?' he asked, eyeing us suspiciously before his eyes widened and a look of betrayal flashes across his eyes. 'M-Makoto! You're giving him tips as well, aren't you?'
'Calm down, Naruto.' I said, glancing at Sasuke who looked ready to bury himself deep into the ground. 'I'm just -'
'NO!' Naruto protested, walking over and grabbing me by the arm.
'What the - oh okay ...' I sighed, getting dragged away from Sasuke.
'I'm trying to beat Sasuke, Makoto!' Naruto whined. 'How could you betray me like that?'
I sighed, patting his head. 'Alright, alright ... I'm sorry.'
*
'This is really fun!' Tazuna said heartily during dinner. 'It's been a while since I ate with this many people!'
I glanced over at Naruto and Sasuke and rolled my eyes when I saw them stuffing their faces with food, trying to eat more than the other.
'Seconds, please!' they demanded, holding out their empty bowls before exchanging glares. But then, their faces turned slightly green and then, they puked.
'If you're going to barf, don't eat!' Sakura said angrily.
Sasuke wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 'No, I'll eat.'
'I have to eat even if I force myself,' Naruto declared. 'I have to become stronger ...'
I grimaced, scooting away from Naruto and closer to Kakashi sensei. 'You guys disgust me ...'
'What exactly happened just now?' Kakashi sensei whispered to me.
'They exchanged glares, Sasuke asked me for tips and Naruto dragged me away. Done.' I whispered back.
Kakashi sensei nodded, as though he had expected nothing else.
*
Once we were done with dinner, we remained at the table, sipping our tea, except for Sakura.
'Um, why are you hanging a torn picture?' Sakura asked out loud as she stared at the picture that hung on the cream coloured wall. 'Inari-kun was watching this during dinner the entire time. This torn part looks like someone had intentionally tore away the person who was there.'
At that moment, Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami all stiffened. There was a pregnant pause until Tsunami finally spoke.
'It's my husband,'
Tazuna looked down sadly. 'He was known as the hero of this town.'
Inari got off his seat and walked off.
'Inari,where are you going?' Tsunami called, worriedly as he shut the door behind him. She put the dishes aside before walking towards the door and swinging it open. 'Father, I told you not to talk about him in front of Inari!' she huffed angrily as she too left shut the door behind her.
All of us remained silent as Tazuna started shaking slightly.
'What's wrong with Inari-kun?' Sakura asked cautiously.
'It seems there's a reason behind this,' Kakashi sensei said, as we all turned to look at Tazuna.
Without meeting our eyes, Tazuna spoke. 'Inari had a father who wasn't related to him. They were very close, like father and son. Inari used to laugh a lot back then, but -' he choked before tears started to fall, making us all look at him in surprise. '-Inari changed. After the incident that happened to his father ...'
He launched into the story about Inari's father, Kaiza and how he had first saved Inari. The story was all happy and adorable in the beginning until he reached about the part of Gatoh and how he killed Kaiza.
'Inari changed ever since that time.' Tazuna said grimly. I clenched the hem of my hoodie, feeling close to crying when Naruto got up from his seat but fell forward at once.
'What are you doing, Naruto?' said Sakura.
'If you're trying to train, don't.' Kakashi sensei told him. 'You've molded too much Chakra.'
'I'm going to prove to him,' Naruto said, pushing himself halfway off the floor. 'That there are heroes in this world.' He steadily got on his feet, his legs shaking and with a determined look on his face. 'I'm going to prove it to him!'
I smiled, resting my chin on my palm. Leave it to Naruto to always look on the bright side ...
'Why are you smiling to yourself? Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
I felt my face heat up from getting caught smiling to myself. 'Nothing,' I mumbled, avoiding his gaze.
That night, while everyone was already asleep, Sakura and I weren't. Why? Because Sakura kept tossing and turning in her futon, causing noise and disrupting my sleep. At times like this, I really wished I was a guy. Then I could be sharing a room with Naruto and Sasuke instead of Sakura. Besides, Naruto and Sasuke's room was right next to ours and no noise was being heard from them. Probably too tired to even argue about anything. I glanced at the clock on the table - it was one in the morning! My eye twitched in annoyance and not being able to bear it anymore, I sat up and turned to Sakura.
'Mind telling me why you're making so much noise in the middle of the night?' I asked, not bothering to hide my scowl.
She looked slightly embarrassed but then sat up right and looked at me accusingly. 'You like Sasuke-kun, don't you?'
I blinked at her before looking at her through half-lidded eyes. 'Really? Is that what's been bothering you? Gosh, Sakura -'
'Answer my question!'
'Calm down, I don't like him.' I rolled my eyes.
'How can you not like Sasuke-kun? He's perfect!' she squealed.
I sighed, 'What do you think? He's cold-hearted, arrogant and mean. What's the point of even liking him? He's not going to return anyone's feelings anyways.'
'I'm happy you don't like him, but Sasuke-kun's not like that!' she defended. 'He probably just has trouble expressing his feelings ...'
'Sure, whatever you say, Sakura.' I said, laying down and pulling the blanket over my shoulders and facing away from her. 'Whatever you say ...'