Fire Locks

Chapter 8

Elizabeth's pov

I sluggishly made my way towards the training grounds where I was scheduled to meet my team a literal hour ago. Listen. I wasn't made to get up early. Mark says it's bullshit, but there is no way my brain turning on is dictated by when the sun comes up. If I need to take an L in the moment and let my organs kick into gear, then god dammit I will. Is it somehow my fault that our sensei decided to summon us at ass-o'clock in the morning? Because somehow, I really don't think it is. Maybe I'm being anal. Who knows. Being a ninja definitely seemed cool, but if they want to fire me on my first day for inability to show up on time... well, I'll just sue them, actually. Or claim up and down that I heard it wrong. Whichever makes things more complicated for them. Maybe even both, if I'm feeling frisky.

I perked up a little as I drew closer to the training grounds. Naruto was slouched down and absolutely dead to the world, which is how I'd like to be right now. Sakura was slouching like she was being dragged down by some unimaginable weight. Probably her daily make-up routine. I have nothing against make-up, but if you don't know how to do it, you just don't know how to do it. The only one who looked normal was Sasuke, who once again looked like someone had taken a fat shit right in his pasta dinner. Could I honestly complain at this point? The point was that our sensei was nowhere in sight. He clearly hadn't taken the chance to drop by and start our test yet. A win for me, I'll say.

If sensei isn't here yet, I'm not late. That is the new mantra I shall be adopting if this proves to be a common occurrence. I mentally fist pumped, calmly making my way onto the grounds whilst standing as far away from Sasuke as possible. He shot me a small glare as though I had somehow managed to offend him. I probably did at some point, but that's a personal issue he can sort through himself, because I'm not saying sorry for whatever it was I did. 

"What ninja wears plaid?" I heard him scoff, which is not only extremely disrespectful, but also wrong. I looked down at my outfit to try and figure out what was wrong with it before turning and raising a brow at him.

"This one, evidently." I made sure to say it in a slow and gesture to myself into the most exaggerated manner as though he were a dumb child. Well, I guess he actually is one, so that works out. I watched the tips of his ears turn red with both frustration and embarrassment, which made me preen like a proud cat. Offending people continues to prove itself to be my greatest talent. Sasuke has been very helpful in me discovering this skill, and hone it. I hope he will continue to be provide me adequate practice. 

"Hn." He grunted, glaring at me with venom. "Well it looks stupid."

"Well your hair looks dumb as hell, but you never hear me saying shit about that, do you?" I shrugged in a nonchalant manner. Sasuke paused at my vulgar wording. He gave me a flat look. I scoffed. As if he hasn't heard worse in his lifetime. Like, come on. Uptight clan? That got murdered? He better have a few curse words in his arsenal or there's an issue. I'll teach him plenty in our time together, whether it be brief or long. Again, I may get booted off the island. Who knows. The world works in mysterious ways, as does my mood. It depends on the day. 

Sasuke definitely looked taken aback now. He's not as good at hiding his emotions as he thinks he is, which proves to be more and more entertaining with each passing day. His hand flew up to finger the longer strands of his hair in front, his eyes narrowing contemplatively like he was actually going to take my opinion to heart. If he does, he does. But if gets a buzz cut or something, I can promise you that I am one-hundred and ten percent going to leave and never come back. We may be child soldiers, but there are certain lows I'm not stooping to. 

"Ugh. I can't believe sensei is late again!" Sakura inserted herself into the conversation begrudgingly, eyeing me as though I knew something she didn't. I weighed my options here. Kakashi was... how late showing up to meet our team? More than just an hour, I know that much. If I'm an hour late, and he was two hours late, this dictates that I can easily go do something else and get away with it. What that something is remains to be seen. The option of going to visit Hinata stands. As a fellow 'quiet' kid-- quiet being used loosely, especially in my case-- I can happily say we bonded in our time at the academy. It's a real shame they didn't tack me onto the end of her team instead of this one. Would've been very convenient. 

"Perfect time for a nap." I decided that going of to harass Hinata was probably not the best idea. They were probably having their exam sometime around now, and what kind of dick would drop in on something like that? My standards for myself are steadily going up. That's vaguely terrifying. I pursed my lips, plopping down next to Naruto contemplatively. Sakura gave me a weird look. At first I didn't realize why, but then it hit me that it was because I was sitting so close to Naruto. 

I'm really not supposed to know about the whole fox thing. And look, I'm never going to shame someone for being who they are. Is Naruto a full-fledged furry? No. But he has a fox inside of him, and that does sound a little gay when you think about it. Not Naruto's fault, however. How could you possibly blame him for literally anything? He was so bright and innocent, and nice. Anyone who'd spent two seconds around the guy knows that. He's loud and can be brash at times, but even I know he means well, and I've learned to hunt down the negative in people and then dwell on it for unhealthy amounts of time.

But back to the fox thing, furry innuendos aside. The witchiness in me makes it horribly easy for me to pick up on the unnatural, and let me just say that I've known something was off with the blonde since the beginning. All it took was asking when his birthday was to slot all the pieces of the puzzle into place. If you're good enough at chakra sensing, you can also pick up on the disturbance lying beneath as well. It's really not all that complicated. The whisker markings don't help his case, and I mean, come on. The village shits on the guy like he's a piece of garbage. It's pretty awful.

I narrowed my eyes at Sakura, scooting closer to Naruto and nudging him with my elbow. He stirred only slightly, squinting at me through his sleepy haze with a vague question in his eyes. 

"Can I lay on you?" I asked in all sincerity. He mumbled something like a confirmation, his head tilting back against the wood post he was propped up on. I shrugged, shoving myself into his side and pillowing my head into his shoulder. Sakura's eyes popped open wide as though we were doing something scandalous, and Sasuke clicked his tongue in disdain. I vaguely gestured at Sakura to join me-- to join us. She actually looked nearly tempted by the offer, biting the inside of her cheek and glancing at Sasuke. I didn't bother trying to persuade her further. In typical me-fashion, I was out like a light in seconds.