It ended as fast as it had began, the grassy plain surrounding Yuma was lit a flame, sphere shaped holes littered the battlefield. He stared at the two who brought such devastation and hell to the plain. Yuma continued to stare as his ears were still ringing, Sasuke and Naruko stood in front of him, arguing over who had the flashiest kill. Kakashi appeared in front of the two, having suffered no injuries due to using a substitution jutsu, placating the both of them by saying they both did great.
Yuma looked around him in a daze, wide eyed, and at a loss for words. The ringing in his ears was subsiding, the bridge builder was on the ground behind him, having fell onto his ass due to the sheer force of Naruko's Rasengan's. Tazuna stood up walking past Yuma to congratulate the two prodigies who had effortlessly gotten rid of the would be assaulter's. Yuma followed him sulkily, only one thought pervading his astonished mind.
'Why did I get put onto a team of prodigies who I have no hope of outshining?'
Kakashi turned to Tazuna as he got closer, a serious glint in his eye.
"So...care to explain Tazuna?"
Tazuna immediately tensed up.
"W-what do you mean?" Tazuna asked in a unconvincing questioning manner.
"I mean it obviously seems like you were hiding information from us, so quit the bullshit, and give us the truth." Kakashi says angrily.
Yuma looks at Kakashi and for a split second he sees Kakashi's angry demeanor falter a bit.
'Odd...'
Tazuna's stance falters, his shoulders drooped in a defeated way, and proceeded to explain everything.
Tazuna starts talking about how he is being hunted by a rich man named Gato who runs a large scale company that has caused wave to become poverty stricken. Thus Tazuna came up with the idea to make a bridge, that way the the Land of the Wave could get a stream of revenue into the village and increase trade. Gato, wanting to keep sucking the Land of the Waves resources, has deemed Tazuna a threat, and began to send ninja on his payroll to stop him from finishing the bridge.
Throughout the entire explanation, Yuma stares at Kakashi with distrust, noting that he never once looks taken aback.
Almost like he already knew.
After Tazuna finished spilling the truth, Naruko looks at Kakashi with conviction.
Kakashi-sensei, we can't just abandon the mission, I say we press forward!"
"I agree with the idiot, besides, I'm a member of the Uchiha Clan, This should be a piece of cake"
Sasuke says in agreement, not wanting Naruko to show him up, before turning to Yuma giving him a worried gaze.
Even the mighty uchiha is giving you pity, how sad.
Yuma had to grit his teeth, inwardly wincing as the voice cuts through his thoughts.
"Pfft, whatever you say you cocky bastard, I know you're just afraid of me leaving you in the dust." Naruko says, clearly amused.
"Shut up idiot!" Sasuke says, blushing in embarrassment.
Kakashi smiles before turning to the bridge builder.
"We will continue with the mission, though next time, don't lie in your mission request."
"Yes! Thank you so much. I'm grateful from the bottom of my-"
As Tazuna showered Kakashi with gratitude and Naruko and Sasuke continued their bickering, Yuma looked at them with envy. He stared as Tazuna thanked Naruko and Sasuke for saving his life, showering them with praise. As Yuma stood, an ugly feeling began to well up in his gut, looking at the ground in dismay. They began to walk off ahead, Kakashi shouted at Yuma to hurry up, as he dejectedly followed after them.
They get to be the heroes and like always, everyone loves them.
I don't.
I hate them.
〰️➿〰️
They had been walking through foggy forest after foggy forest for almost an entire day and the long journey was beginning to tire Yuma out.
"Kakashi-sensei how much longer till we get there." Yuma asked, his stamina running very thin.
"Usually I would make fun of the dead last for being so weak, but even I am beginning to feel tired." Sasuke says as Naruko looks at the two of them with a grin.
"You guys are so pathetic, I don't feel tired at all."
Sasuke and Yuma scowl at Naruko as she continues to gloat.
"The only reason you're not as tired as the rest of us is because of that damn fox inside you."
"Whatever, excuses, excuses. You're just jealous because i'm better than you Bastard."
Sasuke Scowls and the two of them stop to look at each other, both sporting glares on their faces.
'Oh no, here we go again.' Yuma thinks as they begin screaming insults at each other.
"Duck-Butt!"
"Blonde Bimbo!"
"Cocky Smart-Ass!"
"Dumb Idiot!"
"Hah! You said Dumb and Idiot, that's the same thing, I win Bastard!" Naruko says immaturely as Sasuke scowls.
"Shut up you idio-!"
"Both of you shut up!" Kakashi yells at them in an authoritative way, upset at their incessant squabbling.
"We are on a Mission! I expect more out of the both of you, now stop your bickering or else when we get back to Konoha, I will make sure we have only D ranks for a whole month, am I clear!"
Yuma stared, shocked by Kakashi suddenly yelling at the two of them, flabbergasted due to the fact that he had never seen Kakashi react so aggressively.
The two of them looked at the ground ashamed at their actions. Kakashi continues to glare harshly before Naruko and Sasuke quietly nod to him.
Kakashi turns to Tazuna bowing slightly.
"I apologize for my students' shameful behavior, please excuse them."
Tazuna scratches his cheek sheepishly before shaking his head.
"No,No, its alright, they're just tired, I'm beginning to feel weak in the knees myself!"
Kakashi sighs, before turning to Yuma and the others.
"Considering the fact that our client himself is tired it appears you and Sasuke will get your break, we'll be taking turns on watch duty in two hour shifts in case of an ambush. Naruko will be taking first watch, followed by Yuma, then Sasuke."
"What about yourself sensei?" Yuma asks as kakashi begins to set up camp.
"I will be busy sending an update of the missions status to the Hokage, need to inform of the new information." Kakashi says.
As Kakashi continues to set up camp, Yuma notices something.
'how would he send a message to the Hokage, if he hasn't even brought a scroll or carrier pigeon with him?'
Throughout the entirety of the mission Yuma has considered Kakashi's behavior to be odd. First he pretended to be angry when hearing Tazuna's explanation, he acted out of character when berating Naruko and Sasuke for their arguing when normally he would just smile contently, and now this? True he could just have made an excuse to not have to do watch, but his constant suspicious actions where beginning to tip Yuma off that something was wrong.
'What are you hiding Kakashi?"
With that final thought coursing through Yuma's brain, night descended upon the weary group.
〰️➿〰️
Two hours had passed Yuma by as he began his stroll to the lookout that Naruko had been at, ready to take his shift.
As he approached the lookout he stopped in his tracks. Right in front of his eyes was Naruko, eating ramen. But she wasnt eating it normally, no, she had three bowls lined up in front of her, which she probably brought with her in a sealing scroll. The first bowl literally disappeared so fast that it as almost as if it was never there as she swallowed. The second bowl, she somehow got all the noodles to interlock with one other before slurping the entire bowls worth of noodles without chewing. Lastly for the third and final bowl she brought the bowl to her mouth before comically and horrifically stretching her mouth to cover the entire outline of the bowl, pulling her lips off it to reveal its now empty decor.
Naruko froze as she sat on the small makeshift lookout chair made from bundled up wood and ninja wire before turning to Yuma, her cheeks outstreched like a chipmunk, before grotesquely swallowing the large wad of ramen in her mouth, a large round outline sliding down her throat as it traveled from her mouth to her stomach.
For a few brief moments, they just mutely stared at one another, Naruko looking at him worriedly and Yuma looking at her with wide horrified eyes. Naruko's eyes lighted up in realization before reaching behind herself, bringing out a scroll and producing another bowl of ramen.
"You want some too?"
To that question, Yuma answered by violently vomiting all over the ground as Naruko stood up and backed off, grossed out.
"Eww, whats wrong are you sick, stop that, it's gross!"
"I'm Gross?! Really now, coming from the one who just- oh- no, can't describe it, i'm gonna be sick!"
"Whats that supposed to mean?! I Offer you free ramen and your response to my kindness is to vomit?! Apologize, apologize to the Great Ramen Kami-sama!"
After yelling at one another for a couple minutes they finally calmed down enough for Yuma to state his business.
"Look, let's forget what just happened, i'm here to take over the watch, its been two hours."
Naruko turned her back to Yuma ignoring him while puffing out her chest indignantly.
"No, not until you except my kind offer and eat the ramen I have graciously gifted you!" Naruko remained stubborn, causing Yuma to release an exasperated sigh.
"Fine! If that is what it takes for you to let me do my job!" Yuma says in a huff.
Naruko turns to Yuma with a large dazzling white smile on her face momentarily stunning Yuma as she handed him the bowl, his heart beating weirdly for a second before he quickly schooled his features.
'No, don't fall for it Yuma, she's just trying to get onto your good side.'
He sat down next to her and began to eat as she smiled. For a few minutes, all was good, until...
"So...I was wondering, why is it that you always act distant towards me."
Yuma froze, his hand holding his chopsticks hovering mere inches from his face as the atmosphere began to shift.
He continued to sit there silently as he held the chopsticks, putting his head down as Naruko continued talking.
"It's just, every time I try to talk to you, you always act weirdly, like you don't wanna be near me."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Yuma said bluntly, starting to tap his feet anxiously.
"That's a lie and you know it, you're always acting like this. Every time me or Sasuke tries to get to know you more, you either shrug us off, or you pretend like nothings wrong." Naruko states, as Yuma's foot tapping grows quicker.
"I mean can't you please open up to us, we're supposed to be a team, right?" Naruko says pleadingly.
"...Le...me...lone." Yuma mutters quietly, his tapping stopped.
"What?" Naruko asks, not being able to hear Yuma.
"I said le...alone."
"Yuma? Are you okay?" Naruko asks now worried, before Yuma suddenly bolts up, dropping the ramen onto the ground before yelling at the top of his lungs.
"I said leave me alone! Why do you even care! Stop acting like your some sort of friend and leave me alone!" Yuma snaps rudely.
'Why can't she just bug off, I don't care about her, why cant she get it? I want nothing to do with them. They always get to be the heroes, they always get the praise, THEY ALWAYS GET THE LOVE AND ATTENTION!'
...
For awhile Naruko just sat their quietly, eyes wide in shock at Yuma's outburst that came from seemingly no where. After awhile she stood up and turned her back to him.
"...I see."
Naruko began to walk off before putting one last word in.
"I don't know what it is that's hurting you enough to act this closed off, but no matter what is going on with you, that doesn't give you the right to act like a bastard. Talk to me when you take that stick out of your ass."
And with that she was gone.
And all Yuma could do to relieve the anger that was festering up inside him...
...was scream.
〰️➿〰️
After his outburst, Yuma had began his watch, staring numbly out into the starless night sky and skipping rocks for awhile as an hour had already passed him by. Still stewing over his over-reaction.
'Good work Yuma, you've officially pissed off the daughter of the most influential man in Konoha, way to hold your cool, idiot.' Yuma thought to himself in a self-deprecating manner.
'No! This isn't my fault. I'm not the one who thinks its okay to be nosy, I can't fall for her tricks, she may have the rest of the village fooled, but not me!'
He stood up, looked down and saw a rock, then threw it out into the lake. He stared out at the ripple in the water caused by his rock, huffing in frustration.
'That's right, i'm not in the wrong, i'm not over-reacting, I can't afford to get all chummy with them. I swore to myself that no matter the trials that await me I would become Konoha's richest man!'
An image of his apartment littered with cup noodles and a pile of cockroaches briefly flashed through his mind before a wrathful look took over his features.
'I will, no matter what...'
His wrathful gaze morphed into one of determination as he picked up one more rock, and chucked it as far as he could, it landing next to a shallow part of the lake a couple feet away.
'I feel like its been more than an hour at this point, I should go tell Sasuke its his turn.'
He turned around prepared to go see if Sasuke was ready to take over watch, when out of no where he heard a strange noise coming from the lake, causing him to turn around.
As he looked out into the water, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, that is until a strange object caught his gaze.
It was his rock that he had threw just a few moments ago...
frozen in ice.
His eyes widened as he remembered a lesson from back when he was in the academy.
"Alright class, today we shall be learning about Elemental Jutsu, does anyone in the class know something about Elemental Jutsu?"
Naruko raised her hand with a bright smile on her face.
"Oh me, pick me Sensei!"
Iruka smiled at her before telling her she should let someone else in the class answer the question since it was expected she already knew due to her being the Hokage's daughter.
"No volunteers other than Naruko? Fine, i'll pick someone myself! Yuma Ito, care to share if you know anything on the subject of Elemental Jutsu?"
Yuma shrunk into his seat, not used to being called upon by the teacher. Other students noticed this and began laughing at him behind his back.
"Y-Yes sensei! I know a little bit. Um, I think that there's Water Jutsu, Fire Jutsu, Wind Jutsu, Earth Jutsu, and Lightning Jutsu!"
Iruka gave him a kind smile and Proceeded to continue the lecture.
"Yes! You're right Yuma, very good. But that isn't all there is. You see students, some people are born with an ability that is passed through their bloodlines called Kekkai Genkai, as i'm sure some of you know due to having been born with it yourselves, this ability can be many things, but most are only the mixture of two different elements that create a new one, like how water and air ninjutsu can be combined to create ice."
Kiba showed his teeth in a cocky manner.
"Yeah, and then there are those born with the super powerful Kekkai Genkai of being born a loser, like Yuma!"
Everyone began to laugh as Yuma shrunk further into his seat. The only ones who didn't laugh were Hinata, Ino, Choji, and of course Naruko and Sasuke, who both remained silent.
"Kiba Stop picking on Yuma and everyone stop laughing or you're all getting an F!"...
After his memories subsided, Yuma began to put two and two together.
'Someone with a Kekkei Genkai is attacking! I need to go tell Kakashi!'
Yuma began dashing to Kakashi's tent, but when he got there, Kakashi had vanished.
He briefly contemplated waking up Sasuke and Naruko for help before shaking his head.
'You don't need them.'
After that thought, he searched around till he noticed that some of the bushes leading to the swampy forest were pushed apart as if someone had gone through.
He walked into the bushes and began searching for any sign of Kakashi. As he waked further in, he started to hear the faint sound of people talking and began to move closer.
He stepped behind a small tree and stole a glance.
And what he saw shocked him.
Kakashi was having a conversation with a short person who was wearing a anbu-like mask. The person had their hair pinned up with bangs framing their sides.
'Whats going on, is this the person who had infiltrated the camp? If so, why is Kakashi speaking to them?'
"Did anyone see you come?" Kakashi asked the stranger.
"I believe not, although one of your students was on watch when I had to get in to the camp, and the directions you gave me were so confusing that I decided the traverse the lake with my Kekkai Genkai, he might have noticed something."
Kakashi laughed lightly before speaking.
"I wouldn't worry, if it were Sasuke or Naruko then there would be a cause for concern, but it's just Yuma. He was the Dead-Last, don't worry."
Yuma scowled.
'Funny that sensei, it's the Dead-Last that found out where you were hiding.'
"I see, well, how are things coming along on your end?
"They're going well, I have gotten the bridge builder to continue to work on his bridge, as well as secure ourselves a position within his home to stay at for the duration of the mission, so I believe things are proceeding nicely."
"I see, Lord Zabuza shall be most pleased, we must thank Konoha in its assistance with making Gato's ambitions a soon to be reality."
Yuma froze in surprise and fear
'G-Gato! I thought we were on a mission to aid Tazuna with the construction of the bridge, whats going on!'
"Now that I have obtained proof that things are going well on your end I shall be taking my leave."
"Of course, give our client our regards." Kakashi said as the Masked person nodded to him.
"I shall be meeting with you once more whenever you make it into bridge builders place of residence. Please, do not fail Gato, for a failure to him is a failure to Master Zabuza, and I will not tolerate any failures that shall befall my master."
After having said their piece the masked person shunshined away, leaving behind smoke and leaves.
"Now that takes care of that, I should go check on Yuma to see if he has switched out with Sasuke."
Yuma was about to walk away, that is until he turned around, and stood frozen as if he were a tree.
"Or at least that is what I would do, if Yuma were not spying nosily on me this entire time right?"
The Kakashi that had previously been standing in the clearing while conversing with the masked person had transformed into a log, as the real Kakashi glared down at Yuma harshly.
"Lets go have a chat, alright Yuma?"