Curious
As much as Naruto wants to sulk, the want to have something to take his mind off things is overwhelming.
He figures he should find Sasuke and his brother again, to return to their attempt at home education. But he’s so embarrassed about what happened that the humiliation keeps him away.
He finds his way outside, where the sun casts a merry warmth over everything, and an assortment of flowers pops up all around them. He wanders around, hoping to maybe find a cool bug or a lizard or something to mess around with for a distraction.
His mind wanders off as he walks, until he’s jarred back into reality by being yelled at.
“Hey, be careful!”
The white-haired boy from earlier shoves him out of the way, red in the face in indignance.
“You’re gonna crush them! Watch where you’re going!”
“Eh? What’re you talking about?”
The other boy glares at him, shielding a cluster of little white flowers with his arms.
“You just about stepped right on them! Watch where you’re going!”
Naruto squints.
“Huh? They’re just lil flowers, they don’t really matter do they?”
“They matter to me!”
“Okay okay, yeesh. Sorry.”
The white-haired boy inspects his flowers carefully for any damage, in between casting a dirty look at Naruto.
“You’re pretty weird, aren’t ya?” Naruto asks him.
The other boy gives him a funny look at that.
“...is that a bad thing?” he asks, with a raised eyebrow.
“I dunno,” Naruto answers. “People call me weird all the time, and they seem to think it’s a bad thing. But I don’t see what’s so bad about it.”
There’s an uncomfortable moment of silence, where the other boy’s posture gradually becomes less defensive.
“What’s your name, anyway?” he asks, finally.
“‘M Naruto. What about you?”
“Kimimaro.”
Naruto musters up a smile, the prospect of making a friend outweighing his nervousness around this odd boy.
“Well whaddaya like to do around here anyway? It seems kinda boring.”
“Huh? Well, um-”
Kimimaro scratches his head.
“Mostly I’ve been learning how to read n’ stuff, since apparently I’m already supposed to know how but I never got to learn. But when I’m not studying, I guess I like being outside.”
Those words cause a twinge of sadness inside Naruto, all too familiar with that feeling.
What do you mean you didn’t do the homework? Are you stupid? Don’t you know how to do anything right?
He shakes that thought off as soon as it comes, not wanting to dwell on that feeling. He decides to steer the conversation far away from that topic, so he does.
“Doin’ what outside though?” he says.
“Dunno. Looking at flowers I guess. I try to catch rabbits sometimes, but I’m not really sneaky enough for that yet.”
Naruto lights up, vibrating from excitement.
“I can catch rabbits!” he declares, drawing himself to his full (unimpressive) height. “Show me where they are and I’ll grab one!”
“Huh?”
Kimimaro looks around puzzled for a bit, before pointing off to a little cluster of trees a few meters off, and leads him over.
“There’s a den over this way, I usually see them around here.”
They sneak around behind the biggest tree, crouching down to watch the little hole.
“You really think you can catch one?” Kimimaro whispers, as Naruto focuses intently.
“I do it all the time,” Naruto assures him. “Just watch.”
After a minute or two, a rabbit pokes its head out of the burrow, then hops out and starts to sniff around looking for food.
Naruto drops down to all fours, eyes intent on the little creature.
When it turns so its fluffy little tail is facing them, Naruto drops to all fours, blue eyes locked on it and a grin crossing his face.
Then, with a preparatory wiggle of his rear end, he pounces.
He doesn’t stick the landing, faceplanting into the grass with a grunt, but when the rabbit gets startled and leaps to safety, Naruto snags it by the leg, holding fast and keeping it from escaping.
“I got it, see?!” he declares, puffed up with pride even as he spits bits of grass out of his mouth. Kimimaro runs over and scoops the rabbit up, eyes wide with wonder.
“How’d you do that?!” he demands.
“I dunno, just always been good at it,” Naruto responds, with a shrug.
The rabbit watches both of them, frozen in fear and shock. Kimimaro pets its head, practically sparkling with joy.
“I’m so glad to finally have one! They’re just as soft as I thought they would be…”
Happy tears gather up in his green eyes, as he cuddles the increasingly confused rabbit, burying his face in its fluff and stroking its velvety ears.
“Do you think I could keep it?” he asks, as if he doesn’t dare to hope.
“I dunno. I don’t see why you can’t but I guess I’m not the boss around here.”
The rabbit has finally stopped struggling, perhaps realizing it isn’t going to be hurt. It sniffs at Kimimaro’s hand, flicking its tail and twitching its ears trying to figure him out.
“Hey, it’s pretty small isn’t it?” Naruto remarks, as though he’s just realizing it. “It’s probably still a baby.”
“Yeah, and?”
Naruto fidgets, like he doesn’t want to say it but he knows he has to.
“So its mom is probably really close, right? I wonder if maybe she’d miss it if we took it away.”
Kimimaro bristles, annoyed at the suggestion.
“But it’s just a dumb rabbit- how can a rabbit miss anything?”
“Just cause it’s a rabbit doesn’t mean it isn’t smart too ttebayo.”
“Rabbits aren’t people though. They don’t have feelings like people.”
“But how do you know they don’t have feelings like people? It’s not like you can ask ‘em dattebayo. I think they’re a lot smarter than you give ‘em credit for.”
Kimimaro huffs indignantly.
“How are you so sure?”
“Cause people think I’m a lot stupider than I really am all the time. And I can even talk. People just don’t like to listen.”
The older boy scowls at Naruto, but he doesn’t try to argue more, as at that moment, what must be the mother rabbit appears, standing on its hind legs for a moment like it’s looking for something.
Annoyed, but curious, Kimimaro sets the baby rabbit down. Immediately, the little creature hops over to its mother, hiding behind her and taking quick, panicked breaths. The mother rabbit nuzzles it with what seems like relief, all the while keeping one eye on the two children as if they’re going to hurt them. She looks from them to her baby, alternating between nudging the baby toward the den and staring them down in concern. Then, they vanish into the den and out of sight.
Kimimaro stands there in silence, fixated on the rabbits’ den, brow knitted together.
“Hey, you okay ttebayo?”
The older boy doesn’t answer, but Naruto can practically hear the gears whirring in his head.
“...If I can’t keep one of them,” he finally says, after what feels like an eon, “do you think we could at least help feed them?”
Naruto lights up, starting to vibrate from excitement.
“I saw a buncha dandelions around here!” he says. “I think they eat the leaves n’ stuff.”
Kimimaro offers up a smile at the prospect.
It’s a nice smile, that lights up his whole face and makes him look so much less grim.
“I suppose it would be a nice apology for scaring them, huh?”
“Yeah!”
They wander around for a half hour, picking out all the greenest, freshest leaves off all the dandelion plants until their arms are full of it.
Full of pride and excitement, they lay out their offerings in front of the den. After a few seconds, one of the other babies pokes its head out, sniffing at the leaves and taking a few cautious nibbles. Then, it grabs one of the leaves and drags it into the den.
Then another baby pokes its head out and grabs another leaf.
And another.
And another.
And three more after that.
“There’s so many!” Kimimaro marvels.
“They’re all so cute ttebayo!”
Naruto claps his hands and hops from one foot to the other, overflowing with glee while the little rabbits chew away at their feast.
“There you are!”
Itachi looks like he’s ready to faint- he’s obviously been looking for Naruto for a while now.
“You can’t go running off without telling anyone where you’re going!”
“Eh? I didn’t go far, I was just out here the whole time.”
Naruto squints like he’s confused.
Itachi peers into the rabbits’ den, and is greeted by the adorable sight of seven rabbits chewing away at dandelion greens.
The oldest boy pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.
“Nevermind. Come on, I still wanna do that lesson with you and Sasuke now that he’s gotten cleaned up.”
“Can Kimimaro come too?” Naruto asks. “He’s learning how to read too!”
“Huh? I mean, I suppose so,” Itachi says with a shrug.
“Awesome! C’mon, let’s go!”
Naruto practically drags the older boy along before he has a chance to protest.
“Where’s Mom?”
“Who’s mom?” Kimimaro asks.
“He’s gone off to talk with Jiraiya-sama somewhere,” Itachi replies, answering the question without answering it. “Well, argue would probably be a better word for it.”
“About what?”
“Not sure.”
Kimimaro and Naruto glance at each other, then shrug it off as weird adult stuff, and obediently follow the other boy back inside.
Itachi gets everyone back into the library, where Sasuke is waiting with a wad of cotton up his nose and a bruise blossoming on his left cheek. Despite this though, Sasuke seems to be in good spirits, and accepts the impromptu addition to their lesson with a wave and a smile.
“Kimimaro, this is Sasuke,” Naruto says. “He’s my best friend!”
Kimimaro waves back shyly and joins them around the low table in the middle of the library, suddenly bashful with the larger audience.
“So, you said you were still learning how to read too?” Itachi asks.
“I uh, I can read hiragana okay, but I don’t know a lot of kanji yet,” Kimimaro answers, turning red in the face.
(Despite his very limited social experience, Kimimaro is still aware that this is something he’s already supposed to know how to do at ten years old, and can’t help but be embarrassed about it.)
“No worries!” Sasuke declares, slapping his hands down on the table. “Niisan taught me how to read, so we can teach you guys too!”
Itachi has to smile at that.
“Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
He flips open one of the books to the section that he wants.
“Anything that you guys can’t read, just let me know and we can stop and explain for you, okay?”
The two boys nod. Sasuke bounces up and down in his seat in excitement. Kimimaro glances around, nervous but hopeful.
“Alright then. Let’s get started.”
“I need you to be honest with me.”
Orochimaru raises an eyebrow, not saying anything.
They’ve been at this going on an hour and a half now, arguing about everything and nothing at all. Venting frustration that’s been festering for years now. Orochimaru is exhausted by it, but his former teammate has no inclination of stopping anytime soon.
Jiraiya folds his arms, taking a deep breath before continuing.
“Which one’s the spare parts? The kid or his brother?”
“Hm?”
Jiraiya ignites in anger, slamming his fist against the wall and making the entire room shake.
“Don’t play stupid with me. I know what you’ve been doing this whole time, so tell me which of the kids’ bodies you’re planning on swiping.”
Orochimaru glares at Jiraiya, thoroughly annoyed.
“What’s it matter to you?”
“Because they’re fucking kids, Maru.”
Orochimaru folds his arms as well, and they stare each other down.
“The little one is safe, don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”
“And the not so little one?”
A bit of silence.
“Not sure yet.”
“What do you mean you aren’t sure?!”
“I’ve got a long time before I need to consider such a thing. No sense fretting about something that’s so far out, don’t you think?”
Obviously, Jiraiya is not satisfied with this answer.
“I don’t expect you to accept what I’ve done,” Orochimaru tells him, with an annoyed expression. “No answer I will give you will make you happy, so maybe you shouldn’t be asking the question.”
Jiraiya drums his fingers against his upper arm, looking over Orochimaru’s shoulder to the wall behind him because he doesn’t want to look him in the eye.
“Why do you even need other people’s bodies, anyway?”
“That answer won’t make you happy, either.”
“Well you’re gonna fuckin’ answer something I’m trying to fucking ask you.”
“Because otherwise I’m going to fucking die and I would rather not do that shit alright?!”
Jiraiya blinks, caught off guard by the sudden, blunt declaration.
Orochimaru stands there in a moment of silence as well, like he’s surprised himself with his outburst.
“...what do you mean?”
Ah well. Cat’s outta the bag now. No going back.
“You’re not stupid, Jiraiya. You know full well what I mean.”
“I really don’t!” Jiraiya snaps back, annoyance mingling with actual worry in his voice.
(Just as annoyance mingles with Orochimaru feeling rather guilty for making him worry in the first place.)
Orochimaru shakes his head, unfolding his arms and leaning against the room’s lone table.
“My original body was defective. I’d already been breaking down for a while before I even decided I had to leave Konoha-”
-He raises a hand, cutting off the question he knows Jiraiya is about to interrupt with.
“I tried to find another way. Believe me, I don’t enjoy what I’m doing here. But unless I can find a more permanent home for myself, I’m making do with what I have.”
A clock somewhere outside the room ticks away the seconds. Jiraiya stands rigidly still, seeming quite small though he towers over Orochimaru, as he’s always done since they turned thirteen.
“You never said-”
“-It wasn’t your business.”
“Of course it was my fucking business!”
Finally, Jiraiya is looking at him again.
“If something was that wrong, you shoulda said something! I could’ve helped-”
“-Nobody could’ve helped me! You think if it could have been helped I would’ve resorted to this?!”
…Well. Jiraiya really can’t muster up an argument for that one.
“It’s pointless to have this discussion. What’s done is done, and I can’t go back and undo it. If you decide to take the boy and leave because of that, then so be it. I’m going out and doing the work I need doing. You make up your mind.”
He pushes his way past Jiraiya and out into the vast, labyrinthian hallway, his skin overheated from anger and humiliation.
Turning the first corner, he nearly leaps out of his skin from shock to see Itachi leaned against the wall, like he’s been waiting there for awhile.
“-I thought you were teaching the little ones?” he asks, once he gets over being startled.
“They got bored and went outside to watch rabbits,” Itachi answers.
“Why didn’t you go with them?”
Itachi just shrugs in response. He’s got a serious look on his face, and is already fed up with pretense.
“Do you think you can fix whatever’s wrong with me?”
Well, that question seems totally out of the blue. But the boy asks it in an insistent way that leaves no room for waffling around.
“Possibly.”
“Alright then-”
Itachi straightens himself up, drawing up to his full (unimpressive) height.
“If you can fix up this broken body of mine, I’ll let you have it.”