Chương 6: Longing

"Don't forget to finish the homework."

"Yes, Sensei."

"All right. Have a good weekend, everyone."

"Thank you, Sensei! Goodbye, Sensei!" Iruka walked out to a send-off of synchronized voices and upturned faces. The moment the door shut behind him, the classroom erupted.

"Hey, Irie—come find me later."

"Aida, you too!"

"Ino, where are you going tomorrow?"

"No idea."

"Come on, come on, let's go!" Kiba was shoving things into his bag like the building was on fire.

"What's the rush?" Shin stood beside him, in no hurry at all.

"Hana's coming home today. Let's move."

"Today?" Shin blinked.

"Already been a month, huh."

"She said she'd bring me something." Kiba scooped Akamaru up under one arm, grabbed Shin's sleeve with the other, and dragged them both toward the door.

"Kiba, slow down." Shin let himself be towed.

"The gift isn't going anywhere." Kiba didn't slow down.

"Shin, want to come over tomorrow?"

"Sorry, I'm busy. Maybe another time."

"Shin, wanna hang out?"

"I'll take a rain check." He answered the stream of classmates calling after him as Kiba hauled him out through the Academy gates.

"Hey." Once they were clear, Shin peeled Kiba's fingers off his sleeve.

"Dragging me isn't going to make her get home faster."

"Woof." Akamaru seemed to agree. Kiba pressed his lips together and grudgingly eased up, falling into step beside Shin. The Konoha market district was lively in the late afternoon—shopkeepers out front, foot traffic thick, the smell of food drifting from open stalls. Among the crowd, shinobi in flak jackets moved alongside merchants in foreign-style clothing, probably traders from other countries passing through. They walked without hurrying. And without talking.

"Hey," Shin said after a while.

"Do you know where the Land of Rivers is?"

"I looked it up after Hana left." Kiba thought about it.

"Southwest of the Land of Fire. They share a border."

"So not that far."

"Guess not." Shin nodded and let his mind drift. Kiba was quiet beside him—somewhere else entirely, staring at nothing.

"Hey." Shin broke the silence again.

"How's your shuriken practice coming?"

"Huh? Oh." A beat.

"Shuriken's fine. Kunai too. Perfect scores on both." He said it like he was reciting from a list. Flat. None of his usual crowing. On any other day that question would've bought Shin a five-minute speech about how he was definitely ahead of everyone in the class.

"You got perfect scores a while ago too," Kiba added, vaguely. Silence stretched out again.

"She's been gone a whole month." Quieter this time. Shin waited.

"Do you think she… misses home?" The words came slowly, like he was pulling them from somewhere he didn't usually reach.

"If it were me, I'd… be pretty miserable."

"Woof…"

"Yeah, you get it, right, Akamaru."

"She's not that much older than me, so…" Shin glanced at him, then looked away.

"She didn't go alone," he said.

"She has teammates. And a jonin leading the mission." He kept his voice easy.

"What are you so worried about?" Kiba's mouth opened. Closed. He couldn't find the words. Shin's expression shifted—just barely.

"Wait. Don't tell me—""What?!" Red rushed up Kiba's neck.

"I didn't even finish."

"I'm not—I wasn't— ugh, shut up!"

"Woof!"

"You too, Akamaru!" They bickered the rest of the way, Kiba getting louder while Shin stayed mild and unhelpful. Then Shin spotted them. Three figures up ahead. One of the silhouettes was unmistakable.

"Kiba." He stopped.

"What?" Still irritable.

"Look." He nodded down the street. Kiba turned. For a moment he just stared.

"Sis—" He was already running. Shin followed....... Hana Inuzuka was walking with her teammates, mission report freshly submitted, thinking about a bath and dinner, when a familiar voice cut through the street noise. She turned just in time to catch the blur of her brother slamming into her.

"Hana? You okay?" One of her teammates stepped closer. Hana looked down at the arms wrapped tight around her waist, the face buried against her shoulder.

"Kiba." Soft. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"Sis…" His voice came out muffled, pressed into her jacket. She laughed—quiet, warm—and reached up to ruffle his hair.

"Hana." Shin had caught up. He gave her a small bow.

"It's been a while."

"It has." She smiled at him.

"Good to see you, Shin." She looked back down at the person still holding on.

"Okay. You're making a scene." Kiba finally let go, stepping back, head down, expression hidden. Hana crouched to his level and smoothed his hair back with her hand.

"I missed you too," she said, just quiet enough for him.

"I really did."

"…Yeah." Barely audible. Shin watched from a step back, the corner of his mouth pulling up just slightly. Claimed he wanted a gift. Sure he did.

"Is that your little brother, Hana?" Her teammates had been patient long enough.

"Right, sorry." She stood and turned.

"Let me introduce everyone." She gestured to Kiba first.

"My brother, Kiba Inuzuka." Kiba sniffed once and dragged the back of his hand across his face before bowing. It was only then Shin noticed his eyes were red. Hana quietly reached over and wiped one last streak from his cheek.

"And this is Shin Takami." She indicated Shin.

"Also my little brother."

"Nice to meet you." Shin bowed. Her teammates' eyes lingered on him a beat longer than usual—a flicker of confusion at the different surname—but neither said anything. Hana didn't explain.

"This is Zeri Kano." She gestured to the quieter of the two—lean, steady on his feet, a standard-issue tantō worn clean across his back.

"And Ryoto Ninomiya."

"Nice to meet you both!" Ryoto grinned at Shin and Kiba. Shin's gaze had already settled on the tantō. Most shinobi who carried blades went short; a full katana was samurai territory. A tantō specialist was a different matter.

"Zeri's one of the best with a blade you'll find," Hana said, noticing where Shin's eyes had gone.

"I wouldn't say that." Zeri gave a small shake of his head.

"What about me, Hana?" Ryoto was already angling for a compliment, eyes wide.

"We'll part ways here." Hana turned to them both as if she hadn't heard.

"I'm heading home."

"Go ahead." Zeri nodded. Hana took Kiba's hand and started walking. Shin fell in behind them.

"Wait—we're already saying goodbye?" Ryoto stared at their retreating backs.

"I was thinking we could grab dinner."

"You," Zeri said, pressing two fingers to his temple, "have no sense of timing whatsoever." He raised a hand and walked away. Ryoto stood alone in the middle of the street.

"…What just happened?" Kiba had completely forgotten he was supposed to be sulking. Two blocks out, he was gripping Hana's hand and talking at full speed—a month's worth of stored-up words, finally loose.

"I've been doing great in class. Iruka-sensei said I've improved a ton."

"My shuriken scores are perfect now."

"Shin's keeping up too. Barely."

"There's this Sasuke Uchiha—really annoying, walks around with this permanent scowl—but all the girls are obsessed with him and I have no idea why."

"And there's this idiot Naruto who follows Shin around every single day."

"And this guy Choji who does nothing but eat. I call him 'fatso' and he gets mad, but he never actually does anything about it."

"Then there's Shikamaru, who sleeps through everything but sticks his nose in other people's business—he always gives me grief when I call Choji that. So annoying."

"And Shino is—" He went on like that, barely pausing, like he was trying to pour the entire last month into the next five minutes. Hana walked beside him without a word, expression soft, just listening. Shin walked behind them, hands laced behind his head, watching the sunset turn the rooftops orange.

"Oh—and there are so many cute girls in class."

"Ino Yamanaka, for one."

"And Hinata Hyuga. She's really sweet, just doesn't say much."

"I bet a ton of girls have a crush on me, honestly. Heh…" He glanced up at her.

"Don't you think, Hana?"

"Wow, Ino, you're so good at this." The room was unmistakably a girl's bedroom—soft and bright and faintly floral, four of them arranged around a low circular table set with vases and loose flowers.

"Well, we do run a flower shop." Ino accepted the compliment without modesty.

"No wonder you always get perfect scores in the flower-arranging unit."

"I can teach you, Chizumi." Ino smiled at the girl across the table.

"Really? Thank you!" Chizumi lit up.

"I want to learn too—Aoi definitely does, right?" The girl beside her jumped in. The one called Aoi nodded.

"Sure, I'll show all of you." Ino waved a hand like it was nothing.

"You're the best, Ino." She reached into the basket by the table and took out two each of roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, and anthuriums. Working without much thought, she built them up in layers inside the vase—anthurium and roses in full bloom at the base, each tier stepping upward, carnations still barely open at the top.

"There." She set it in the center of the table.

"It's beautiful."

"How do you make it look so easy?"

"It's the layering." Ino tapped the rim of the vase.

"Full blooms at the bottom, unopened ones at the top. Simple once you know it. Try it yourselves." They bent over their own vases, a little clumsily.

"I bet a lot of boys like you, Ino," Chizumi said while she worked.

"You're so talented, and you're pretty."

"I've heard so many guys talking about you," Aoi agreed. Ino propped her elbow on the table, rested her cheek in her hand, and turned one of the carnations slowly between her fingers. She didn't answer.

"Is there… anyone you like?" the third girl asked, careful about it. Like. Ino stared at the vase. At the two carnations standing at the top, framed by everything else, faces tipped toward each other. Then she smiled.

"Yeah," she said.

"Really?"

"Who is it, who is it?"

"Tell us!" She glanced at each of them, unhurried.

"There are two boys in our class," she said.

"Both my type." The room went quiet. Chizumi seemed to put something together. She opened her mouth, hesitated.

"You mean… Shin and Sasuke?" Ino looked at her. Said nothing. Meant yes. None of them spoke. The three girls sat very still with their half-finished vases in front of them. Ino watched them and understood, more or less. She kept turning the carnation over. After a long moment, Chizumi stood up.

"I'm so sorry, Ino—I just remembered something I need to take care of at home. Thank you so much for having us." A bow, quick and clean, and she was out the door.

"I should get going too."

"Same, sorry." The other two followed, one after the other, each one bowing before they left.

"Hey…" Ino straightened and watched them go. Just like that. The room was empty now. Just her and the table and the vases and the flowers that still needed arranging. Something in her chest had gone still and heavy.

"Ino!" Her mom's voice from the hallway—then the door opened.

"Ino, where did all your friends go?" Silence.

"Ino?" Her mom crossed the room, took one look at her, and startled.

"Why are you crying?" Ino blinked. She hadn't noticed. She pressed her fingers to her face, felt the damp, and scrubbed it away.

"I'm not." Her mom crouched down and wiped what remained, voice gentle.

"Did something happen with your friends?"

"It's nothing, Mom. Don't ask." Ino turned her face away.

"All right. I won't." A soft pause.

"But if there is something—try talking to them. Clear the air. It helps more than you'd think." Ino didn't respond. Her mom stood.

"There's someone here for you, by the way. It's Sakura."

"Sakura?" Ino looked up. She dried her face with the back of her hand, pushed to her feet, and went to the door before her mom could say another word. This child, her mom thought, watching her go....... Sakura was sitting alone in the living room, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve.

"Sakura." She looked up. Her face relaxed into a smile. Something in Ino unclenched.

"I was just… bored at home," Sakura said, standing.

"So I came over. I saw Chizumi and the others leaving—were they visiting?"

"Something like that." Smooth. Easy.

"They had things to do." Sakura accepted that without pushing.

"Come on." Ino took her hand and pulled her toward the door.

"Let's go outside. Our usual spot."

"Okay." Autumn had arrived quietly. The afternoon air had a chill to it now, and both of them wore their light jackets.

"Ino?" Ino was lying in the grass with her hands behind her head, eyes closed, face tipped up at the sky.

"Mm." Sakura sat beside her, pulling idly at grass, watching her friend's still expression.

"Ino, do you… like anyone?" Ino's eyes opened. She sat up and stared at Sakura.

"What?" Sakura blinked.

"Did I say something weird?"

"…No." Long pause.

"No, I don't."

"Oh." Sakura laughed softly, a little embarrassed.

"Well. I do."

"Is that right." There was nothing in Ino's voice. She made her face go calm. Sakura pulled her knees up, her smile going shy.

"It's… Sasuke."

"…Sasuke."

"I know." She laughed at herself.

"He never smiles, barely talks to anyone—I don't even know why I—but every time I see him I just feel…" She pressed her palms to her cheeks like she could push the warmth back down.

"I heard," she went on, voice brightening, "that Sasuke likes girls with long hair." She reached up and touched her own short pink hair.

"So I've decided. I'm going to grow mine out." She turned to Ino, hopeful. Shy.

"What do you think? Would long hair suit me?"

"Ino?"

"…"

"Ino." More carefully now. Ino had her head bent, hair falling forward over her face.

"Sakura," she said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you… really like him? Sasuke?"

"I think so." A soft exhale.

"Just seeing him—it makes me happy. Is that what liking someone feels like?"

"I see." A beat.

"You know," Ino said, "if it's Sasuke, you're going to have a lot of competition." Sakura winced.

"I know, I know. But—" Her voice firmed.

"I'm not scared of anyone." She paused, then added—simple, without a second thought—"As long as it's not you, Ino." Ino's head came up. Sakura was smiling at her. Open. Trusting. She doesn't know. Sakura, you—"Ino? You okay? You keep making strange faces."

"…I'm fine." Ino got to her feet and brushed at the back of her jacket.

"It's getting late. I should go home."

"Already? We just got here." Sakura looked at the sky.

"It's still the middle of the afternoon."

"I know." Ino turned away, hands in her pockets.

"Sorry. My mom needed help with something. I forgot."

"I'll see you." She started walking.

"…Ino."