善狐・ZENKO

８章・Chapter 8

"... I think that she's actually some kind of bake-gitsune who took on the appearance of a girl." Leisurely walking through the bustling streets of Konohagakure's marketplace, Sakura explained her conspiracy theory to her two enthralled teammates. "You know how some ninja have animal companions? I think it's like that! But for some reason, Inarinomiya-senpai has decided to transform into a human."

"Wow, can they even do that?" Naruto marvelled, tucking his chin between his thumb and index finger in a thinking gesture.

"I've seen Akamaru do it! I don't know how, but I saw him transform into Kiba!" Sakura asserted, to which Naruto made an awed sound.

"Anyway, that's my theory on why animals keep going berserk around her." The kunoichi crossed her arms and nodded firmly to conclude her argument.

"Hm... Yep, makes sense!" Naruto nodded jauntily in support.

Satisfied with his response, Sakura turned to Sasuke who appeared to be deep in thought. "How about you, Sasuke-kun? What do you think?"

On any other day, the black-haired boy wouldn't have dared entertain their notions in the slightest, however...

"The other day I saw her catch a rat with her bare hands." He began solemnly, eyes glazed over as if recalling a traumatic memory. Naruto and Sakura shivered at the visual. "She was on all-fours and just grabbed it like it was nothing. And the way she looked at it... For a second I thought she was going to... eat it..."

Sakura squealed in horror, "Nooo!! That's too much!!"

"Augh... For real..." Naruto held his stomach with a pained expression, as if imagining himself as the one to ingest the rodent.

"But you know what?" Sakura linked her hands behind her back, strolling tranquilly, "Inarinomiya-senpai's actually not too bad! We've had some pretty fun conversations, and she gives some pretty solid advice! I've really gotten used to having her around."

"Yeah, I agree! She's actually kinda cool," Naruto recalled the night of the team outing, how he'd been neatly tucked into bed, with his new goldfish roommate swimming contently in its plastic carton. "And I think it's actually kind of nice now, the five of us and all." He rubbed his nose with a cheeky grin.

"Could be worse." Sasuke supplied his agreement. Although his words appeared cold, his tone was light.

"Bleh, what a very 'Sasuke' response." Naruto stuck his tongue out, prompting Sakura to smack him on the head.

"Don't disrespect Sasuke-kun!"

"Ow, Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke turned away from his bickering teammates, half-lidded eyes scanning the marketplace as he waited for their exchange to conclude. A distant commotion had quickly caught his attention, however.

"Hey," he began, attracting the attention of his two peers. "What's going on over there?"

"Hm?" Naruto and Sakura flanked his sides, peering over at the crowd of people in the distance. Straining their ears, they picked up the faint sounds of yelling and jeering. Upon closer inspection, there looked to be someone within the centre of the crowd. Someone who looked a lot like...

"Inarinomiya-senpai?" Sakura blinked twice, making sure she wasn't just imagining it. Sure enough, in the centre of the commotion, distinct makeup and a tamagushi-disguised tantō could be seen providing unmistakable evidence to your identity.

"Yeah, it's 'Nari-nee alright!" Naruto confirmed, squinting at the scene, "But, uh... All those people over there... Why are they yelling at her...?"

"How dare you strut around here like it's no big deal!" The man before you spat, roughly shoving you backwards. "You... You monsters! Terrorists! How do you still have the audacity to continue living here after all you've done?!"