𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼 | 𝑲.𝑰𝑵𝒁𝑼𝑲𝑨

|I{•------» [15] «------•}I|

After a full day of training, resting, and even protecting, Team 7 found themselves at the crowded dinner table in Tazuna's home. The table was stacked with various assortments of food and beverages, and two certain males couldn't wait to gulp them down.

Ruka Sarutobi grimaced as she watched the two males shovel down their countless plates of food. "Keep this up, and you two will be barfing," she sarcastically remarked.

Sasuke resisted the urge to gag as he wiped his mouth, removing any remaining evidence of the food he had devoured. He glanced at the female beside him and explained, "I need to eat so that I can train to the best of my ability."

The blond Uzumaki nodded in agreement, prompting Ruka to sigh. "At least you two can agree on something."

Ruka's blue eyes fell on a silver picture frame at the back of the table, which held a photograph of what many would call a perfect family. However, a figure had been torn off the picture.

"Uh," Ruka hesitated, glancing back at Tsunami, who was watching her with a knowing look. "Why is there a tear in this picture?"

"It's my husband," Tsunami replied with a sad smile, causing Inari to abruptly leave the room with a growl.

Tazuna let out a sad sigh of his own. "Inari's father was the hero of our village, and Inari was always by his side. They shared a close bond. He made Inari laugh and smile unlike anyone else. But that was before the incident, before Gatou had him killed."

Ruka cleared her throat uncomfortably. Tazuna talking about Inari's dad reminded her of Asuma. She had always had a stronger bond with her uncle than with her own father. Asuma would make her smile whenever her parents bailed on her. To her, Asuma had always been like a father. The thought of losing him was unbearable.

---

When Sasuke and Naruto stumbled through the doorway, surprisingly leaning on each other's arms like makeshift crutches, Inari lifted his eyes and glared at the blond. "Why do you even try so hard? You're no match for Gatou's men, even with all that training. When you're facing the strong, the weak like you will always get killed," he stated, annoyance lacing his voice.

As the rest of the room, excluding Kakashi and Ruka, gaped at the young boy's outburst, Naruto barely spared him a glance, waving him off. "I'm not like you."

Inari's eyes narrowed as he directed an icy glare at Naruto. "What do you know about me? I am different from you! You have no idea what I've been through. You're always clowning around and laughing! You know nothing of the hardships of life!"

This caused Naruto to rise to his feet, and in a flash, he had crossed the room to glare down at Inari with his own irritated gaze. "So it's okay for you to cry all day and star in your own tragic soap opera? Then you might as well cry forever, you weakling!"

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded as she slammed her hand down on the back of his head, earning herself a fiery scowl from him. "Don't do that!"

While Naruto and Sakura fell into a round of bickering, Kakashi's eye lingered on Ruka, who chose to venture out of the room and straight toward the place she had realized Inari frequented—the roof. She found him gazing out at the restless waves of the ocean.

To say Inari was

surprised when the princess gracefully took a seat beside him would be an understatement. This was the girl his grandfather never seemed to cease praising. Now she was seated beside him, and he almost couldn't believe it, especially considering how unwelcoming he had been toward them.

"You shouldn't take what Naruto said to heart," her soft voice drifted through the air and seemed to wash across the ocean. She turned toward him with the softest of smiles. "He really didn't mean any harm with what he said. I guess you could say that the words you chose triggered something in him."

Inari frowned at the mention of the blond downstairs and swiftly turned his head away to gaze down at the ocean. But Ruka didn't seem to mind his attitude; in fact, it reminded her of her little brother.

"Naruto never knew his parents," her words took on a softer tone as she shared the young male's past with Inari. "He didn't have friends growing up either. He had a rough past, one far rougher than your own, if I'm being honest."

"But I've never heard him cry or complain, not once," Ruka released a small chuckle. "His past makes him eager to have people acknowledge him. That's why he's always so willing to risk his life and body for his dream. He knows what it's like to be strong."

"You say all that like he's perfect or something," the young boy commented dryly, tugging on his striped hat to shield himself from her searching blue eyes.

"Nobody's perfect, Inari."

This caught Inari's attention, and his head snapped up to gape at the brunette beside him. His mouth fell open in surprise. "You're saying that? You're Ruka Sarutobi, part of the Senju too!"

Ruka let out a sigh as she reached out to clasp a hand on his shoulder. "I was the first child to be born of a bloodline of three Hokages. It didn't help my case when I excelled in training and learning new jutsus. That's why people expect me to be perfect, and I go along with it for the most part."

"But I'm really not."

From behind the door, opposite them, Kakashi's eye softened as he listened to the girl's somber voice. He had known Ruka since she was a baby, and he always knew that she looked up to him and tried to reach his standards. But he didn't know that she had always felt this way.