The sun hammered against the white plaster of the Mercantile North, turning the stone thoroughfares into a radiating kiln.
My black tank top clung to the damp mesh of my undershirt, and even through the dark tint of my polarized glasses, the glare off the teal-tiled rooftops sent a throb of pressure through my temples. Beside me, Anko moved with a terrifying lack of effort. She had ditched her trench coat, leaving the interlocking rings of her chainmail to glint against the sheer base layer beneath. Her bare arms looked lean and coiled, the skin of her biceps shifting over muscle every time she adjusted her stride.
I wiped a trail of sweat from my forehead, my dark pink running shorts sticking to my hamstrings. My hip pouch, weighted by my notepad and the curved steel of the Fuma Kunai, bumped rhythmically against my leg with a heavy, salt-damped thud.
Then, I saw it.
Tucked between a stall smelling of roasted tea and a shop lined with heavy iron tools sat a glass cabinet. Inside, a sea of lime-green plush toads stared back with googly eyes.
"Anko-sensei!" I lunged for her arm, my fingers slipping on the heat-slicked chainmail of her sleeve. I pointed at the glass. "I need ryo. Now."
Anko scratched her neck, her purple hair messy in the stagnant humidity. "Ask Naruto. Or check your own pockets."
"I don't have mission money," I pushed back, my voice rising with the heat. "I'm twelve. Why do I have to beg for every scrap? I've been sleeping on dirt and fighting for my life while we're supposedly working."
Anko snorted, her metallic shin protectors clanking as she shifted her weight. "Actually, the Konoha Council sets up savings accounts for every genin graduate. You think those D-ranks were community service? You've got a ledger back at the village with a decent pile of ryo sitting in it."
I froze, the air suddenly feeling even heavier. "Paid? I have a bank account? And you've let me live like a refugee for months? Who manages it? Why am I just finding out?"
"The higher-ups keep it quiet so you don't waste it on ramen and toys." She rolled her eyes, her gaze drifting toward the tools in the next shop window. "Oh, shut up. You know the Council. They don't trust kids with a heavy purse." She dug into the pocket of her burnt-orange skirt and dropped a jagged pile of coins into my palm. "Here. Consider it an advance on your own sweat."
I didn't wait to argue. I shoved the first coin into the slot. The metal edges cut into my thumb as I jammed it home.
The claw descended with a mechanical whine. It grazed a toad's head and closed on empty air. I felt the heat rise in my neck. I jammed another coin in, my grip on the joystick slipping as sweat pooled in my palm. The claw gripped a green leg, lifted it halfway, and then let go as if the pressure simply vanished.
Fail.
The googly eyes seemed to mock me. I double-inserted the next two coins, my thumb hitting the button in a twitch of frustration. The claw actually closed around the plush belly of a toad. It hoisted the green weight, shuddering as it reached the apex. I held my breath, watching the metal prongs bite into the fabric until the seams groaned. Then, the green material puckered and the stuffing collapsed; the toad squirted through the metal fingers like a wet seed. It hit the floor of the machine with a silent, mocking bounce.
"Still at it?" Anko's voice drifted over my shoulder.
"The grip is too loose," I hissed, my voice cracking. "There's no pressure in the claw. Naruto's old wallet... it ended up as a charred scrap after Kabuto nearly killed him. He keeps looking at the empty spot on his belt. I just wanted him to have one thing that wasn't broken."
Anko went still. Her jaw locked as she stared at a blue-and-white Wasabi clan banner snapping in the distance. "Ibiki's brother... the runner... seen enough things break lately." She turned her shoulder, her sandals scuffing toward the alley mouth. "It's a toy. Forget it. Let's go."
I didn't move. I kept my forehead pressed against the warm glass, watching the googly eyes. Anko stopped three paces away. She stayed there for a long beat, her back to me. "Stupid... stupid game," she muttered to the air, her voice low and jagged, before she pivoted back toward me.
"Look away," she commanded.
The skin along her forearm tightened, tendons standing out in sharp relief as she shifted her stance. A sudden displacement of air brushed my arm; the interlocking chainmail at her wrist shifted as a snake, scales cool and dry, flicked from her sleeve. I flinched, my shoulder hitting the glass as I instinctively recoiled. I didn't see the strike, only the zipper of a plush toad snagging on a fanged tooth before the snake retracted.
"Run," she clipped.
We bolted.
The escape was a smear of colors. My vision narrowed to the back of Anko's heels as we tore through the Mercantile North. My lungs began to burn, the air in the narrow alleys feeling like hot ash.
"Sensei—how—" I tried to gasp.
"Don't... stop..." Anko's voice arrived distorted.
I tried to reply, but the words died in a wheeze that tasted of salt. We crested the inner sea wall, the sea breeze hitting us with a sharp sting. I clutched the green toad against my mesh tank top, the plush absorbing my sweat. My legs felt like leaden weights by the time we reached the inn.
I leaned against the doorframe, my damp shirt cooling too fast against my skin. "Ga... Gama-ni," I repeated, my fingers digging into the plush fabric until the green material creased under my nails. My heart rate refused to settle. I fumbled with my journal, pulling the tiny frog charm Naruto had given me years ago off the metal binding and tying it to the zipper with shaking hands.
Naruto stood in the center of the room, his orange pants zipped off at the knees. He was a wall of heat and the smell of sun-baked salt.
"Where... been... all day..."
Naruto's voice arrived as a series of disconnected sounds. I blinked, my vision still swimming from the sprint. "Naruto?" I managed after a long, forced swallow. "I... what?"
"Where have you guys been?!" he yelled again, the sound hitting my ears like a mallet. "Kakashi-sensei hasn't moved an inch! He's been reading that book on the bench all day!"
He pointed through the door. I squinted. The silver hair on the bench stayed rigid. No breath fogged the air. The figure sat with an unyielding, flat weight, the olive-green vest sinking into the wood without a single micro-shift.
Naruto's finger dropped. "Wait... he doesn't have a scent."
"Anyway!" I stepped forward to block his view. As I crowded into his space, the smell of sun-baked salt and damp cotton intensified, his body radiating a secondary heat that made the air in the room feel even tighter. My pulse was still hammering in my neck. "I... I got you a present."
I tried to thrust the opaque bag toward him, but my fingers felt numb. The slick plastic slipped through my grip for a heartbeat, nearly hitting the floor before I snapped my hand shut to catch it.
Naruto's mood did a complete 180. "WHAT?! NO WAY!"
He tore the bag open.
"IT'S A NEW TOAD WALLET!"
He thrust it into the air. Then, he pulled the zipper. The tongue rolled out, and the tiny frog charm tumbled into his palm. Naruto's expression shifted to a mask of absolute horror.
"Where did Gama-ni get a baby?!" he whispered. "They're a boy!"
"Uh... Naruto..."
Naruto sank to his knees, cradling the wallet. "Oh no... Your mother... she saved us. She stayed behind to fight Kabuto so you could live. We will always remember her sacrifice, Gama-ni."
Anko leaned against the doorframe, her chainmail clinking with a dull rattle. "Naruto. It's a coin purse shaped like a frog."
Naruto looked up, his eyes brimming with tears. "AND SHE HAD A CHILD!"
From the rafters, a soft chuckle drifted down. Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves, his navy short-sleeved tee revealing the lean muscle of his bare forearms. He closed his orange book with a soft thud.
I couldn't help it.
I started laughing, the sound echoing through the room as a sudden, sharp draft from the window pulled the damp fabric of my shirt away from my skin.