Chapter 16 Part 2
"Puu-haaa!.. Old man — another one!" Naruko slammed the empty bowl on the counter. Exhaling hotly, a jet of steam shot from her mouth.
"Ha-ha-ha — what's up, Naru-chan?! You been starving these last few days?" The "old man" — Teuchi, owner and head chef of "Ichiraku Ramen" — laughed.
"Mm-mm!" She shook her head. "It's just a really great day today!"
"Oh yeah?" Genuine interest as he slid a fresh bowl in front of her, whisking the empty one onto the stack of five.
"Something good happened, right, Naruko-chan?" Ayame — Teuchi's daughter — had that womanly intuition. Could usually guess what had their regular in such a good mood.
"Uh-huh! Big Sis Ayame's totally right!" Naruko didn't deny it. "Koru-chan praised me! For working hard!"
"Ohhh — THAT 'Koru-chan'... huh?" The older girl smiled, sly.
"Umg-umg... gulp Yeah! He said I'm progressing really well today!" She briefly surfaced from her food, slurping up a dangling noodle. "He even petted me!"
"Oh? How about that! I see, I see!" Teuchi gave her the all-knowing squint. "'Even petted,' huh?..."
"Hmm? Old man — what's with your face?" Naruko blinked at his tone.
"Hey-hey, Naruko-chan — do you really like it when he pets you?!" Ayame's eyes were sparkling — tray clutched to her chest. The waitress's gut was screaming: THIS TOPIC IS GOLD.
"Well... yeah?" The blonde answered, a little surprised. "Koru-chan's got... nice hands."
"Oh my — really?.." Ayame leaned in. "How so? Tell your big sister everything!"
"Weell... they're nice." Naruko fumbled for words. "He does it sometimes — when he's laughing at me, or joking... and he ALWAYS messes up my hair!.. But I don't not like it."
"Ara... How interesting!" Ayame's smile grew even wider.
"Interesting? Is it?" Naruko blinked at this incomprehensible statement.
"Very much so!" The waitress confirmed, heated. "But don't wander off topic, Naru-chan! Tell me, tell me!"
"About what?!"
"About 'Koru-chan,' of course! You've talked about him before — but never with details. And your big sister is CURIOUS!"
"Heh... Modern girls..." Teuchi muttered at the stove. His ears, however, kept drifting toward the girls' conversation.
"Well... He's good." Naruko was baffled by Ayame's intensity — but, after hesitating a little, started talking. "Koru-chan helps me a ton with training! Only — he's really strict when he teaches. And he's really smart! Explains hard stuff in a way I actually get. When he explains — I can even understand those super complicated things! And he knows SO many awesome thingies!!! Oh — and he cooks really well!"
"Ah, is that so?" Teuchi's daughter smiled — very, very knowingly. Naruko didn't notice.
"Yeah! He's even teaching me that! Though... I'm a little — just a teeny-tiny bit — not quite getting it yet." A shadow crossed the blonde's face — but couldn't hold. Not on someone that positive. "But that's just for now! Koru-chan says I'm getting it!"
"Oh?.."
"Mm!" Uzumaki nodded, firm. "He's awesome! Knows so much! Can do so much! And also..." Without her usual bounce — softer now — smiling a gentle, unfamiliar smile. "Koru-chan's really kind. Even when he scolds me — it doesn't hurt. And he forgives me fast. Even when I do something really stupid."
"You like him, don't you?" Ayame asked — the cunning question. "That boy."
"Huh? Of course!" Naruko beamed again. "Koru-chan's really, REALLY good! He's my best friend!!!"
"Aaand?" Ayame pressed, slightly demanding.
"'And'?.. He's a really good friend and he always helps me! Koru-chan's the best friend in the whole world!"
"Friend, huh?" The corners of the waitress's lips twitched.
"YEAH!!!" The blonde glowed, sitting before her latest empty bowl. When did she even—? "Best friend EVER!!!"
"Oh, Naruko..." Ayame sighed, defeated, looking at the confused girl with something like pity. "It's hopeless, isn't it? You're still such a silly little thing, imouto-chan."
"What-what?" Naruko asked — hadn't caught it.
"NO-o-thing!" Ayame replied, teasing.
"Ha-ha-ha! Well — all we can do is wish the poor guy luck. And patience, eh?!" Teuchi chuckled from the stove.
"Mmmmoouu! What are you two even talking about?!" Naruko puffed up. "Say it so I GET it!!!"
"Hee-hee! Nope!" Ayame stuck out her tongue and flicked the blonde's forehead. "You'll understand when you grow up a little!"
"Ghh! I'm already grown up! I'm a shinobi — see!" She rapped her knuckles on her Leaf hitai-ate.
"Oh — and who's making all this racket? Could it be my most hopeless student?" A gentle voice from behind.
"Oh, welcome!" Father and daughter responded instantly.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruko bounced on her chair.
"Not 'sensei' anymore, Naruko. Or weren't you just shouting that you're a real kunoichi now?" The dark-skinned woman — chunin vest, distinctive scar across her nose — slid smoothly onto the stool beside the blonde and smiled warmly.
"Nuh-uh! I mean — I AM a shinobi now!" Naruko exclaimed. "But Iruka-sensei is Iruka-sensei!"
"Is that so?" Umino ruffled the blonde's hair lightly. "You're such a sweetheart."
"Aw, come ON! Why does everyone keep messing with my hair?!" Naruko fumed, fixing it.
"Heh-heh — sorry, sorry." The chunin laughed. "Teuchi-san — beef, please! Oh — Naruko, order whatever you want. It's on me!"
"Really?!" Uzumaki's eyes lit up. "Old man! Same as Iruka-sensei!"
"Coming right up!!!" The cook grinned.
Poor Iruka. She always forgot: every time she offers to pay for Uzumaki — she signs her wallet's death warrant...
"So — Naruko! Tell me how work's going. Everything good with the team?" Blissfully ignorant, Iruka started asking. "We haven't seen each other in so long!"
"Well... at first it was weird. Bakashi-sensei did that stupid bell test..."
***
Naruko got home late that night — happy. Days off ahead. Long talk with her favorite mentor.
Meanwhile — Umino Iruka sat in the corner of her home, shedding illusory tears beside her empty wallet.
***
Morning came with mixed feelings. I'd slept a little longer than usual — and while washing up, I noticed a certain... roughness. Felt my chin carefully. No choice but to sigh: The hair's getting coarser. And the razor — once so distant — is already on the horizon. Waving cheerfully.
Damn it! I've been taking SUCH good care of my face — trying to push back this horrible phase of every man's life. Gotta search the medical library — there's gotta be something to slow hair growth.
"Kami-sama — shaving's the worst!" I muttered, sadly plucking at one coarse little hair. The first scout of the bristle army on my face. "Ha... maybe?.. No-no-no! I'm WAY too bishounen to walk around with scraggly stubble and a mustache! Gotta figure something out. And I'll definitely ask my medic contacts."
Yeah — that's the plan. Also: shopping trip. Maaaany shops. Ingredients, food, supplies, consumables, tools! Ooh — getting an adzusa would be great. That bow's essential for certain rituals. My old hunting short bow's completely useless for it. Though — I really doubt I'll find a Shinto ritual shop in a shinobi village.
Also — need to check those Spirit Traps I set a month ago. YES. Almost forgot. Wonder if anything useful got caught?
Hah — think about it: not a day off at all. Just a workday. With overtime. So much to do!
Good thing where one Kaoru would burn out — three'll get it all done on time!
"Am I getting lazy?" I wondered, dispatching a couple clones: one to check traps, the other to hit the library and handle random chores. That left me with just the material shops.
As I suspected — finding a good ritual bow wasn't easy. But I worked it out with the Uncle-weaponsmith — Oji-san. I'd supply the material — he'd craft what I needed. Might even turn out better than buying ready-made! Gotta visit the little forest ones — ask them to grow me a tree for it. Yeah — that'll definitely be better.
"Oi — isn't that Kaoru-san?!" Someone hailed me from behind.
"Oh — Ino-kun!" I greeted the blonde. "What a coincidence! Day off?"
"Yeah — something like that." Yamanaka shrugged vaguely. "You? I heard your team got its first C-rank? Already back? But if so — I don't see Big Forehead around..."
"Well... the mission's still going, I think. A lot happened." My turn to make a vague gesture. "It's complicated."
"Hmmm..." The boy drew it out. "Kaoru-san — what do you think of that place on the corner?"
"Hm — I think it's pretty cozy?" Why not? Sit in the shade. Chat. If he's offering...
***
"...and that's how it all went down." I finished, wetting my lips with warm tea.
"Damn! Big Forehead's gonna be so smug now!" Ino sank his teeth viciously into the innocent sweet.
"Hm — interesting reaction." I shook my head.
"Kaoru-san — you don't get it! His group not only got a C-rank first — they clashed with a famous high-ranked nukenin! And you didn't retreat! Completed the mission! Fought off a serious enemy! DAMN — you could hang that bastard off the Hokage's tower at night and light up the streets!!!"
"Gm... well — if you put it that way." I had zero grasp of Ino-kun's logic. But the gist was clear: reputation. Plus the Rivalry — sometimes senseless, always merciless. In Ino's mind, Sakurai had "scored points." Now he had to at least match him.
"Still... that masked guy was really strong, wasn't he?.. Good thing Sasuko-chan's okay." Calmed down — the boy switched topics.
"Indeed." I nodded. Mmm — this tea's actually really good. Where can I get some? "Sasuko took a few senbon hits — but none of those wounds were even hypothetically life-threatening. Painful, yeah. Relatively safe."
"That BASTARD!" Yamanaka slammed the table. "He DARED to hurt Sasuko-chan! If I ever get my hands on that masked freak—! I'll END him!"
"Now, now — everything's fine. Calm down, Ino-kun."
"Yeah — sorry, Kaoru-san." He sighed. "It just pisses me off so much!"
"You're not the only one. Thing is — what got hurt worst was her pride. Sasuko's really proud of her strength. That loss shook her up."
"Yeah... she's strong." Yamanaka said it almost sullenly.
"Hmm? That bother you, Ino-kun? Am I imagining it — or is there some sadness there? Something wrong with being a strong kunoichi?"
"Huh? No, no! Of course not!" He shook his head. "It's just... Kaoru-san — you're not from around here, right?"
"Um... yeah. I only got to Konoha a couple years ago." Slightly surprised by the question.
"Then you don't get it." Ino smiled — sour. "See, Kaoru-san — the problem's our society."
"M??"
"First Hokage. Second. Third. Fourth... What do they all have in common?" He asked — and answered: "They're all strong. Famous. Exceptional... women. You get it, Kaoru-san? Nothing wrong with being strong. It's just... it's way too depressing. Most of Konoha's famous shinobi are women. Same as the Village leaders. Maybe you haven't noticed — but people always expect more from girls than boys. I've heard: in peasant families, aristocratic families — the heir's the firstborn son. Good thing shinobi have at least some equality — so inheritance doesn't depend on gender. It's about ability. If it were the other way? If you had to be born a girl to inherit? I'm pretty sure my mom would already be throwing photos of 'nice girls from good families' at me. Not that she ISN'T doing that now — but at least it's not as aggressive as it could be, ha-ha-ha... And my opinion does count for something."
"I think I get it." I nodded slowly, the picture coming together.
Yeah — most famous shinobi really ARE women. Plus — I've heard that for the last thirty years, about one-and-a-half to two times more girls are born than boys. With how short shinobi lives are... the situation's getting... complicated. Fewer boys. More girls. And society's starting to think "girls are better" — or something like that. More girls. Girls seem more capable — based on visible examples. So... female domination? Or at least strong matriarchal vibes. With regular people it's barely noticeable — but among shinobi, with their rough gender equality... yeah.
A semi-isolated military caste society. Matriarchal structure.
"Put that way — it's actually kind of terrifying!" A shiver ran through me. Honestly — it's amazing the local "weaker sex" hasn't grabbed all the men and — in classic Amazon style — used them purely for "snu-snu" and grunt work. And nobody's out there loudly preaching female superiority and total domination.
"So... it's gotten a little tough now, hasn't it?" Yamanaka smirked — somehow catching my train of thought.
"Mmaa... that's definitely true." I agreed, awkwardly sipping tea. Ooh... damn — it went cold. Shame. "So — the war's in full swing?"
"Well... it's not THAT terrible!" Ino chuckled. "But yeah — it's not easy. Lots of girls. Every one of them wants to pick the best available."
"And boys are limited editions," I snorted, catching the thread. "The 'outstanding' ones are practically in short supply, right? Everyone's gotta earn points. Plus that little 'bias' making life just a bit 'more interesting,' yeah? So to catch a girl's attention — a guy's gotta put in serious effort, neh?"
"That's it." The blonde sighed, gloomy. "Take Sasuko-chan... I don't think she'd want anyone weaker or less capable than her. Measuring up's hard. And now that bastard's got better odds than me! I can't let that stand!!! I'll NEVER lose to Big Forehead!"
"Mmaa... I don't think it works exactly like that." I tried to object. Got ignored. Sad. Though — maybe I'M the one not getting it?
But come to think of it... with Sasuko — it's exactly like that. She judges people by ability first. Not likely to be interested in a weaker guy. Yeah... in this case — all you can do is feel sorry for both Ino and Sakurai. Neither of them's exactly a combat monster. Maybe — if canon holds — Haruno can become a solid combat medic. But Ino? His specialty isn't combat at all.
Hm. From this angle — their rivalry looks totally different. Actually — the whole Konoha situation does. Not that it changes much for me.
Still — I should probably be a little more careful. Just in case.
***
"Here's the last report, Danza-sama."
"Good. Continue observation."
"Hai."