Left to Fall (BoyxBoy) (REWRITE) (ON HOLD)

Chapter 8: Begin! The Battle on the Bridge

That evening, Sakura and I followed Tazuna to the market, and I felt my heart sink as I saw all the kids living on the street, wondering if they were orphans or if their parents were unable to support them because of Gatoh. We went into one of the stores, and I bit my lip when I saw how spare the wares were. "We really need to help them..." I murmured softly, and Sakura nodded ever so slightly before tensing. A second later, she was kicking a man in the face for touching a little too close to her backside as he tried to swipe her bag.

"Wow, you really surprised me back there." said Tazuna when we began walking back to his home, "Girls around here don't fight like that."

I hummed, smiling at Sakura, who was still simmering from the encounter. "Yeah, well, she is a ninja in training. One of the strongest out there, too."

My smile disappeared when a kid came up behind Sakura, looking disheveled and dirty. The kid tugged lightly at her shirt, making her turn around, and held out their hands hopefully, smiling up at her. Sakura's expression softened, and she reached into her bag, pulling out some candy to give them. When it was safely in their hands, the kid thanked her quickly and ran off. Sakura stood straight once more, wiping a few tears from her eyes.

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I sighed in annoyance as Sasuke and Naruto wolfed down as much food as they could. "Guys, you be sick as a dog if you keep eating like that. Or you'll choke." I said, expression turning into thinly veiled disgust as they proceeded to throw up a few seconds later. Sakura was just as disgusted and annoyed.

"Stop turning everything into a competition!" She snapped, and I pointed my chopsticks at her as I nodded, before giving Sasuke my best disappointed look.

"Really, Sasuke, you know better." I sighed, before shaking my head in disappointment as they continued to shovel food into their mouths. Kakashi added his own two cents to the conversation, and I silently offered my condolences to Tazuna and his family for the problems these two were causing.

When everyone had finished eating and had tea, I looked over to Inari's mother, smiling. "Thank you for such a wonderful meal, ma'am. It was great."

Inari's mother smiled happily, laughing a little. "It was my pleasure. It's been a long time since dinner has been this active."

I then stood up, walking over and helping her with the dishes since she had already been cleaning since she had finished her own food. I focused on the dishes while Tazuna explained what exactly had happened to Inari, although Malik decided he was going to listen to it intently. I calmly finished cleaning the dishes with Inari's mother, and after the story was finished, I left the room, going outside to breathe in the ocean air and relax.

I hummed slightly as I made my way to the back of the house, sitting down and letting my feet dangle off the edge of the walkway. The ocean was calm, the sounds of small waves lapping against the shore soothing, and the moon and stars reflecting off the clear surface. 'Pretty, isn't it?'

Malik made a small sound of agreement, and seemed like he was debating saying something. I hummed softly as I looked out over the ocean, enjoying the view and waiting for Malik to say something.

Did that kid with Zabuza seem familiar to you?

I blinked, stopping my humming, and tilted myself down a little so I could see into the water, brushing my bangs away from my eye so I could "look" at him. "What do you mean?" I asked softly, and watched as Malik's blurry form shrugged.

Just.... Something felt familiar. I didn't recognize him, I've never gone to Zabuza, but something felt like you may have known him.

"What? I don't remember anyone around my age working with Zabuza."