善狐・ZENKO

９章・Chapter 9

"Hey, hey, what's this? Can I pull on it?" Naruto toyed with a large red and white rope hanging from the eaves of a battered shrine, the large suzu attached to them chiming loudly.

"Naruto, stop that! You're making a racket!" Never one to miss an opportunity, Sakura scolded her peer with a swift smack to the head.

"Please don't commit acts of violence on holy grounds," Your voice protested in a weak croak, vocal chords worn from your extended shouting-turned-crying session.

From your seated position on the steps leading to the main temple, you exhaustedly watched your blonde and pink-haired junior bicker, alongside the third genin under your care standing to your right. In an attempt to alleviate the tension from your face, you rubbed at your cheek, grimacing as you felt the clumped residue of beni stick to your hand. Your tears had no doubt smudged your makeup beyond belief—you'd probably looked like some sort of hideous vengeful onryō.

"By the way," You cleared your throat, attracting the attention of your team, "Apart from Uzumaki-san, you all obviously knew about my heritage... But you still want to be friends with me? And what you did back at the marketplace, too..."

"Well, I'll be honest," Sakura hummed in thought, contemplative finger tapping on her chin, "I was really scared of you at first. The only things I knew about you were stuff we'd been taught in history lessons back at the academy and naturally most of the stories were... not very nice.

"But we've known each other for a while now! We've talked a lot, and you're actually... pretty normal! You know, when you don't act like a wild animal..." She whispered that last part under her breath, "It's really fun being with you, that sometimes I'd actually forget that you're an Inarinomiya. Which, you know, would be a problem if you were anyone else. But you're not!" Sakura concluded with her hands on her hips, nodding resolutely.

"I appreciate the sentiment," you rested your cheek on your hand, eyes half-lidded in fatigue and choosing to ignore her whispered jab at you, "But you really ought to be more cautious."

"What other reason do you need than that we trust you because you're our friend?" Naruto frowned.

"I apologise for expressing such doubt," you drawled, "But I find it incredibly hard to believe you've formed such strong feelings of friendship in only four weeks."

"Yeah, well, we've been through a lot together!" Naruto insisted, "Those were four long and hard weeks of suffering through all those stupid D-Ranked missions! Right, Sasuke?"

He looked to his raven-haired peer standing languidly beside your seated form. With both hands in his pockets, the Uchiha shrugged his shoulders slightly, simply offering, "You can't help the circumstances of your birth. You only did what you were brought up to believe was right."

"Well said, Sasuke-kun! Too cool, kyaaaaa—!!"

"Ack—! Who does this guy think he is, using big words and trying to act all wise...!"

None of those were especially big words...

"Hm," you watched the three of them devolve into their usual antics with dead eyes, "Must be nice, being so naive and carefree."

"Geez, what's up with you? You're as gloomy as Sasuke right now." Naruto half-questioned half-teased, barely dodging another offending blow from Sakura. "You'll be fine! If someone gives you a hard time, just call one of us over and we'll tell them how you're a good person, just... confused? And when I become Hokage, I'll make a new law: no one is allowed to bully 'Nari-nee-chan or they'll be kicked out!"

"So simple-minded." Sasuke scoffed a laugh, sending Naruto into a fit of anger.

You exhaled, the beginnings of a small smile forming on your lips.