Behind the Mask

Chapter 2

Kuroko was thrilled. He couldn't contain his excitement while he was at work, so he was running around doing deliveries with a skip in his step and humming. The reason he was so excited was because Shikamaru invited him over to his house for dinner! It was the first time he would meet Shika's family and he was nervous that they would not accept him as Shika's friend. He had to finish work first though, so he was all jittery, both nervous and excited as he quickly ran around Konoha for training purposes.

"Thank you for your hard work today Kuro-kun, you were extra quick," his boss Touji handed him his weekly pay. He noticed a package in his hand, "You haven't delivered that one yet?" He was also wondering why he was so out of breath.

Kuroko shook his head, "S-sorry... I-I was invited over to their household so I'll bring it there at the same time."

"Hmm, I see, I see. Good thinking. Now go have fun at your friends!" Touji smiled at him and patted his shoulder, not noticing Kuroko flinching at the contact. Kuroko left with a wave.

"Man, how does that kid run deliveries so quickly? He's a mystery I tell ya," Touji's wife called from behind a counter. She was busy making food for her regular customers.

"Haha," Touji laughed heartily, "A cute mystery." He was glad that they hired him—Kuroko was their best delivery boy.

"Hey, the foods not going to cook itself, Touji! You can't let your wife do everything for ya!"

"Don't get cocky Shinji!" Touji hit him lightly on the head. "I'm cutting you off, you've had too many drinks."

"Awww, come on!"

• • • • • •

Kuroko smiled and ran off into the ally, he overheard the whole thing and thought it was funny. He transformed into a cat and made his way to the Nara compound at the other end of Konoha. On the way there he stopped by his house and made sure that his mother wasn't home. If she wasn't home around this time it meant that she was out for the night. He opened the door a crack and checked. No. She wasn't home. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Quickly, he made way to the upstairs bathroom and had a shower. He had gotten dirty while doing the deliveries and didn't want to look like a homeless kid when he went over. Using lukewarm water, he bathed himself. When he looked down, he saw the water turning a faint pink.

"Did I reopen it when I fell earlier?" He mumbled to himself and cleaned the gash on his side.

Usually, he would just clean it with soap and water, but that wasn't going to cut it today. Since he was going to Shikamaru's house he couldn't risk his wounds opening and bleeding out. That would put him at serious risk to show them his body and cause unneeded worry. So Kuroko rummaged through the medicine cabinet and took the rubbing alcohol and dabbed it onto some gauze to clean his deeper cuts and wounds. He bared his teeth in a silent hiss at the stinging pain of the alcohol, the bleeding stopped though—it was the only good result from the pain that he has experienced lately. He bandaged his wounds more securely than he usually would and he made sure to be as clean as he could.

Kuroko had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to use a shower for a while afterwards.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he noticed that his mask was dirty. A long streak of smudged dirt was across it from when he faceplanted after he tripped over a box, he took it off to clean in the sink and when he looked up had the first real look at himself in a while.

He never really knew how he got his vivid cyan eyes because both his father and mother had green eyes, so he wondered why he had the odd eye colour. His black hair could be from either parent, but his curls, medium-light skin tone, and face were all his father.