I had woken up from another night's horrible rest as I heard the birds begin to chip. It was morning. With a short yawn, I sat up and looked around. Ah, I had taken my slumber on a tree branch again... A bird fluttered down from a higher branch than mine to rest on a woman's shoulder- no, it was just "Uso" again. He unrooted a tall plant and placed it into a finely-woven basket before looking at the bird. He smiled at it softly, and then it abruptly flew off of him and onto-
Naruto.
He was passed out, with a number of scrapes and bruises on him. Not from a fight, but from falling off of trees. This must have been another night that he spent entirely practicing his chakra control.
Uso's eyes suddenly narrowed, and I noticed why. Naruto's head moved just enough to show his forehead protector from beneath his blonde hair.
He had a similar reaction when he saw my own collar.
The boy took a step forward, then another until he finally reached Naruto. He knelt down with a determined expression, and his hand reached down to grasp Naruto's neck.
Uso.
I knew he was bad news.
Plucking them out of my pouch, I threw a whole barrage of senbon at him while jumping out of the tree. I landed with a front flip, which gave me easier access to getting a whole new handful of needles. Uso quickly turned around, eyes widening, before he pulled out two senbon. Holding one in each hand, he blocked every needle I threw at him before jumping back.
A glare of two, finely-trained killers was shared between us.
"Umeko."
"Uso."
We both narrowed our eyes.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"What are you doing to my partner?" I shot back, ice in my voice. The boy looked over to Naruto, glare suddenly softening. He no longer seemed like a threat... for some reason.
Numbers; it's been a while, hasn't it?
He hasn't thrown his weapons yet; 30% of being a threat. He attempted to kill Naruto; 56%. He didn't kill Naruto, and instead hesitated. 42%.
I took a deep breath, eyes narrowing further, but not with spite.
Concentration.
He still hasn't made a move for attack. 36%. There's no way that Naruto would sleep through a big fight, even if he is completely air-headed, and he would take my side. Uso probably wouldn't engage in a fight if we BOTH are involved. 28%.
...28% is my final offer in the span of three seconds, but so far it's only a spiral of numbers that are decreasing. And if I killed someone who I didn't deem a threat, would Sakura be happy?
No.
I let my arms drop to my side before pocketing my weapons. "It doesn't matter... never mind."
"Umeko?" Uso asked as I walked over to him and knelt down to Naruto without so much as scratching the other boy. He knelt down too. "Why aren't you attacking me?"
"..." I had more to waste my breath with, and had to keep up my energy for the unexpected. Right now, everything Uso could possibly do was expected, so I have no reason to attack unprovoked.
Honestly, he's a liar but not currently a threat. This was proven by when he put his senbon back up his kimono sleeves.
"Your weapons... they're senbon, right?" He's a boy not too much older than me, he's a trained ninja, he's knowledgeable as to who is on the team of Konoha Genin, and he has senbon. Calculations starting...
