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"HEADS UP!"
The disembodied shout rang through the classroom walls just moments before a lit firework came hurtling through the open window, spinning wildly and spraying sparks in every direction. Mamoru covered his ears as the students around him shrieked and ran to the back of the room. Shino-sensei, however, remained as unfazed as usual. His insects swarmed the explosive, first in a loose configuration around it, containing the sparks, then slowly closing in until the fire was snuffed out.
"It's out. Everyone, quiet down and return to your seats," Shino announced as the other kids did as they were told, whispering amongst themselves about the source of the explosive.
"What was that? A firework?"
"Who would throw a lit firework into the school?"
"Was it a student?"
"I don't know but Shino-sensei looks pissed."
"Glad it wasn't me…"
"You don't think we're going to get extra homework because of this, do you?"
"We better not! It's the summer festival today!"
Among his classmate's whispers, Mamoru heard a small "Oops…" as he uncovered his ears. The source of the "oops" peered in through the same window the firework had barreled through just moments before: a small girl biting her lip and looking in sheepishly from outside.
"Aozora Tori." The girl outside instantly shrank at the sound of her name. She hid quickly under the windowsill but Shino had already seen her. A moment later, she jumped up and shrieked, shaking beetles out of her jacket.
"Oh, Shino-sensei! I…um…I was just um…eavesdropping! Mmhm! Just sneaking in some free ninja lessons again , haha! Did you see that firework fly by? That's crazy! It must have been a stray from the festival prep or something… Oh! Did you hear that? That's my mom calling me, haha! Class same time tomorrow?—"
"Not so fast," Shino grabbed her jacket hood through the window as the girl turned to leave. She pouted, but didn't try to wriggle free. He lifted her effortlessly through the window into the classroom and placed her feet back down on the floor. She slumped listlessly against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. She couldn't have been much younger than Mamoru, maybe 10 or 11 to Mamoru's 12, but the way she looked now, he could have guessed she was 7 or 8.
"Does your mother know you're here?" he asked sternly.
"No…" she grumbled, only barely audible.
Shino sighed and turned to address his students, "Class is dismissed early. Everyone go enjoy the festival." The other students didn't hesitate to stand up from their seats, excitedly gathering their things and meeting their friends at the door. Mamoru was slower than his peers, a little disappointed at the sudden change in schedule.
"Shino-sensei," he addressed his teacher on his way to the door, "I know you said class is dismissed but I was really hoping to get your help with my substitution jutsu. Could I stay a little late with you for it?"
"Sorry, Mamoru. Come in tomorrow morning, we can talk then. You can use the training grounds as long as you need to, though." Mamoru frowned but nodded. He stole one final glance at the fireworks girl on his way out, still sulking against the wall.
Many of his classmates still lingered in the hallways, whispering again about the day's events.
"Was that girl the one with the firework?"
"I don't know but I'd hate to be her."
"Yeah, she's about to get an earful."
"Is she an Academy student? Shino-sensei knew her but I don't think I've seen her around…"
"I haven't either, she's probably just some civilian kid."
"How does she even have a firework like that?"
"Beats me, probably stole it from the festival supplies."
"Are you going tonight, Junichi-kun? I was thinking we could watch the fireworks together…"
Mamoru did his best to tune out his classmate's chatter as his made his way out to the training grounds. A few other students seemed to linger there as well, so he picked his target and got to work.
Mamoru hadn't realized how late it'd gotten until the fireworks show began in the distance. The other students had long abandoned their targets in favor of the festivities, but his remaind littered with kunai. His aim was getting better, at least. He was determined to graduate this year, still feeling ashamed that he had failed his graduation exam last year. He'd already perfected his clone jutsu, he just needed to make it through the rest of the year, and he could surprise the proctors with the substitution jutsu he'd been working on, too. He paused for just a moment to watch a few more fireworks go up in smoke before returning his attention to his target.
"They're not as pretty from this far away…"
It was the girl from earlier, perched atop one of the target practice stumps with her chin propped up in her hands as she watched the fireworks. A rake sat discarded on the ground behind her. Shino-sensei must have given her some cleaning tasks as punishment, Mamoru figured.
The two sat in silence for a moment, Tori watching the fireworks, Mamoru watching her, until Mamoru turned his focus back to training. The flashing lights of the explosives were making it difficult to aim, but he couldn't let himself get distracted now. Taking a deep breath, he reeled his arm back— FLASH— and hurled his kunai through the air. It lodged into the target with a thunk. Off-center again.
"Agh! That was so close!" Mamoru turned to face Tori again. This time she was looking straight at him, a wide grin on her face and the lingering sparks of the fireworks reflecting bright in her eye, "Could you teach me how to do that?"
Mamoru hestitated. He wasn't even sure why she was talking to him, let alone why she would want him to teach her. His aim has been off for the past several throws and he was beginning to feel frustrated. Was she making fun of him?
He glanced down at the rake on the ground, "Didn't Shino-sensei give you a task to do?"
Her gaze followed his, "Oh, that…I already cleaned all the floors inside, and there's nothing to rake out here anyway." Mamoru spotted a few spots that could use a rake, actually, but he didn't say anything.
"Come on! Please teach me!" She begged, hopping down from her perch. She was even shorter than Mamoru thought when he first saw her in the classroom, only barely reaching his shoulder as she approached, hands clasped at her chest. "I promise I'll listen so good and be the best student ever! Please, please, please!"
Mamoru felt his face get hot under his mask, her face mere inches from his as she pleaded with him and it felt like she was still somehow getting closer.
"I— You— Agh… I'll do it if you just… back up… a little bit…" he conceeded.
"Hm? Oh!" She hadn't realized how close she'd gotten, looking down at her feet as she gave Mamoru more space, "Sorry, Mom always tells me I'm bad about personal space…"
"I-It's okay…" He averted his gaze, staring down at his feet, "Pops says I'm bad about it, too, but…the other way around…I guess…" Why was he telling her this?
Tori nodded, shuffling her feet, "…Does that mean you'll teach me now…?" she looked back at him hopefully. The fireworks had stopped a little while ago but something still sparkled in her eye. Mamoru felt his face flush again. He bit his lip and nodded.
"Yes! Thank you, thank you, Thank you!" she jumped forward as if to hug him but stopped herself when she remembered their deal. She stepped back again sheepishly, but she couldn't hide the excitement on her face.
"Just…be careful," he dislodged a kunai from his target and handed it to her, doing his best to avoid eye-contact, "It is a real knife."
"I play with explosives for fun, I think I know how to hold a knife," she scoffed and took it from him.
Teaching how to aim was difficult in the dark, the only light source at this point being the dim streetlights around the Academy that flickered more often than Mamoru would have liked; but somehow, he prevailed. Luckily, Tori's aim was better than he had anticipated and she picked it up quickly; she even managed to nail a bullseye once.
He was surprised, also, at how easy she was to talk to. Mamoru always struggled to talk to his classmates, he honestly could only even remember one or two names and, even then, he wasn't certain. It helped, of course, that she carried the conversation, asking him questions and telling him about herself in return. She lived with her mom and "Asahi" ("I guess he's my uncle? I don't know, I call him Asahi.") and she wanted to be a kunoichi, but her mom wouldn't let her ("Asahi is a shinobi, though, so I don't know what the big deal is."). He told her about his dad and Pops (conveniently leaving out names) and how he wants to join Anbu someday, and she listened with just as much attention as he gave her. He hadn't even realized how much time had passed until he saw two figures approach in the lamplight.
"Tori," the woman called out to her, "It's time to come home. You were supposed to be home after the fireworks…" She was short like Tori, with dark skin and light hair like her's, too, although, she carried herself with significantly less energy.
Tori dropped the kunai in her hand as if it had bitten her, "Oh, sorry, Mom! I lost track of time!" The woman's mouth tightened into a straight line, as if she wanted to say something but she held her tongue.
"You too, Mamoru," this time it was his own father, Hatake Kakashi, that stepped into the light, "C'mon, Pops has dinner for you."
Mamoru bowed apologetically to both of them, "Sorry, I was showing Tori how to throw kunai. I wasn't paying attention to the time, either."
"You were what?" Tori's mother exclaimed, looking incredulously at her daughter. Kakashi stiffened and Mamoru immediately knew he had misspoke. He turned to face Tori, who frowned at him but, ultimately, said nothing.
"It's nothing, Mom… Sorry, I'm coming home," she apologized again, the energy Mamoru had come to know completely dissipated. She faced Mamoru once more, bowing her head and mouthing a quiet "sorry", before joining her mother's side.
"Hold on," Kakashi stepped in now, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder, which she looked at with some suspicion, but didn't brush off, "This little tutoring session didn't hurt anyone, Natsumo. Is it really such a problem?"
"Throwing knives don't hurt anyone, Kakashi-san?" Natsumo asked, bemused. Something about her use of an honorific felt pointed.
"That's not exactly what I meant," he laughed nervously, taking his hand from Natsumo's shoulder to rub the back of his neck. Natsumo's questioning gaze burned relentlessly into him as he thought of what to say next. "All I meant was: No one is hurt. And it couldn't hurt for Tori to know a little self defense, right? We may be in a time of peace, right now, but it's still a shinobi's world at the end of the day. You understand that."
Tori watched Kakashi with eyes wide. He was the previous Hokage, after all, and he spoke like it, too. Mamoru felt himself shrink into his father's shadow.
Natsumo pursed her lips, hesitant to agree. Her gaze lingered on her daughter, who sat more silently than Mamoru had seen her sit all day, avoiding eye-contact with her mother.
"Mamoru," Kakashi gestured for his son to join them. Mamoru nodded and did so, shyly hunching over himself when Kakashi claps a proud hand on his shoulder. "Now, look, Natsumo, at risk of sounding a little bit biased…Mamoru is the hardest working student I know. If anyone is going to teach Tori proper technique so that she won't hurt herself, I trust Mamoru to do that job right." He pats his son on the back again, his eyes scrunched into a smile above his mask.
Mamoru swallowed hard. Right, no pressure at all… "I-I promise I wouldn't let Tori hurt herself, ma'am," he bowed respectfully, again.
Natsumo bit the inside of her cheek as she deliberated, though her gaze softened on Mamoru.
"A-And look, Mom!" Tori chimed in, pointing at the bullseye she had hit not too long ago, "I even hit a bullseye…" She looked like she wanted to be proud, but wasn't sure what her mother's reception would be.
Natsumo sighed. She was outnumbered here. She turned to Kakashi, jabbing a finger into his chest, "I'm holding you responsible if anything happens." Kakashi held up his hands, surrendering. She frowned and leaned closer, whispering something in his ear that Mamoru couldn't quite catch.
"Cross my heart," Kakashi smiled again, making a gesture over his chest. Natsumo's expression relaxed as she pulled away, watching Kakashi with a bittersweet look.
She sighed once more before turning back to her daughter, "I did hear from Shino-sensei, though, and you're still in trouble for the firework." She mussed Tori's hair teasingly, despite her scolding words.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about…" Tori quickly hid her flushed face, though she couldn't help smiling. The bridge of her nose wrinkled when she smiled big like that. Keeping her face hidden from her mom, she mouthed a quick "thank you" to Mamoru. For once, he wished his mask wasn't hiding his own grin.
"Come on, Mamoru. Curry's getting cold," Kakashi patted his son's shoulder again. Mamoru nodded, bowing one last time to the Aozoras in farewell and following his dad down the road back home.
"Funny one you got mixed up with, huh?" Kakashi remarked once they were far enough away.
"Funny, how?" Mamoru was suddenly self-conscious again, adjusting his mask on his nose and biting his cheek to stop from grinning.
"Not in a bad way," Kakashi ruffled his son's hair, "Just good to see you making friends."
Friends. Mamoru hadn't considered it, but, yeah. He would like to be friends with Tori, he thought.