Casualties ; Life

peaceful

Hifumi sighed as he walked past the group of ninjas trying to get past the two-leaf ninjas, they were spouting nonsense but some of the words they spoke were something that the darker male agreed on with. He glanced over to the familiar group but decided to ignore them once he saw his brother's squad walk up. He noticed the look in Sasuke's eyes and rolled his own before walking away to head to the room.

His eyes quickly shifted over to the group as he heard Lee's proposal... Then Neji's small conversation... He felt grossed out hearing Tenten's giggle. "Joke." He muttered before heading off finally. He hated it, but his demeanor often changed regarding things like the Exams. Something that he couldn't and shouldn't change, it was life and death. "The others should stop living in a fantasy. I hope they end up fine." He muttered under his breath before giving his slip to the guard.

"Your squad?" He asked Hifumi before flipping over the slip to see the special seal from the village elders and the Hokage. "Hifumi?" Tenten jogged over to him with a smile. "Are you delivering some weapons? Can you make me a rush order?" She spoke eagerly but paused seeing the slip being handed back to him.

"Nope. I'm actually being forced," he was cut off by the guard who gave him a look before changing his tune. "I decided to stop being a coward and live the life I should live and defend the Leaf Village," he spoke; somehow even more robotic than his face. "Yay." He muttered defeated as Neji raised his brow before crossing his arms.

A sudden shine in Hifumi's eyes formed as he pulled out a scroll. "But, I have some extra weapons made by yours truly and I'm ready to make extra money." He held out his hand to the sky as he could almost hear the money rack in.

His mentor found out about his plan and helped out with his weapon making only to ask for him to spread the word about their shop. They both wiggled as they laughed at the smart idea. He went and pulled out a scroll, it listed off all the weapons that he got and services; sharpening and fixing damaged goods. 

"Ahaha... Hifumi, you're really money-hungry aren't you?" She chuckled nervously as he gave the nod. "My dream is to reproduce but for that to happen, I need enough money to raise them without the fear of not providing them a proper meal." The three stared in shock at the oddly worded sentence before realizing what he meant. "Awe, you want kids, Hifumi?" He gave a determined nod.

The three stared blankly at the male as he walked into the room. The air was tense but Hifumi went ahead and began his money-making. Some people tried to make advances on Hifumi as he wasn't wearing his ninja attire but rather a pink and strawberry print and a light grey sleeveless turtleneck.

"Sorry, I'm a guy."

He repeated repeatedly, but it didn't stop his sales as his weapons were the best in the leaf village, even sharpening and fixing. He got quite the moneybag. "Thank you for your patronage! Sorry, I can't fix my face so if that disturbs you, please mind my outfit and don't hesitate to come to me for anything with your weapons." He raised his scroll showing off his prices.

"Hifumi!" He turned his attention to Shikamaru who walked over after hearing his raised voice, he hit the back of his head before dragging him away from the group. "You're an idiot, are you trying to get yourselves killed?" Hifumi sighed as he gave a small wave to the other ninjas who looked happy with their purchases. It seemed like he was dragged into something important as he watched the grey-haired older teen talk about the cards in his hands before talking about statistics...

'I'm not good at math.' He thought bitterly as he crossed his arms boredly before hearing about the talk of 'Balance of Power.' 'Oh, I know this.' He nodded his head along with the words before glancing at Naruto who also looked confused with everything.

"I have information on just about everyone, including you guys, of course." Hifumi stiffened as he heard the information about everyone. "So who is it? Tell me everything you know about them. A description. Where they're from, whatever. Anything at all."

Sasuke gave a slight glare as he heard that sentence. "He's Gaara of the desert. And there's Rock Lee of the Leaf Village while you're at it." The male chuckled before shaking his head a bit. "Man, that's no fun. You even know their names. That makes it easier." He seemed bummed out but his voice was playful. "You're odd," Hifumi spoke out loud making the group look at him. Sasuke glanced at Hifumi before turning to the male. "Add Hifumi Sarutobi."

Everyone turned to Hifumi who sighed. 'This fucker is nothing like Itachi! Why is he out for me?! I love Shisui! Only Shisui!' He cursed in his head as he gave a stare at Sasuke who ignored him as the cards showed off the two other cards... Everyone became quiet as they watched Hifumi's cards slowly change. "Hup!" Hifumi lunged forward before snatching away his card. "I didn't consent to this, Sasuke." He looked over the card and paled at the information. "Akamaru!" He shouted as the puppy snatched the card and handed it back to the male.

"Let's see what he's hiding, shall we?" He spoke as he gave a smile to the annoyed-sounding male.

Hifumi Natsukashii-Sarutobi?" Everyone looked confused at the official name before letting Naruto give them a thumbs up. "Mission experience..." Everyone held their breaths as Kabuto's smile dropped. "50 A ranks, 120 B ranks, 87 C ranks, and 3 D ranks?" They all turned to Hifumi who looked paled at the information being told. Kabuto turned his card around as new information was added. "Ex-ANBU?" They all gasped before tugging at the card trying to see the information. "200 unknown missions?!" Ino shouted as Sakura got ahold of the card. "Once in a relationship with... Shisui Uchiha?"

Hifumi stiffened as Sasuke stared in shock. "Enough..." He muttered feeling exposed... Too exposed. Naruto grabbed the card and ripped it up making the others angry before Naruto glared at them. "I'll kill you." Hifumi's voice dripped with venom as he loomed over the squatting Kabuto who shook fearing the bloodlust that was leaking from Hifumi. It filled the room.

It shook every one of the nine rookies even some of the other ninjas who took out their weapons feeling the threat. "The Leaf might be overpopulated... One dead useless mutt that failed seven times shouldn't matter." He raised his kunai to strike down Kabuto but lowered it seeing Naruto's fearful expression.

That hurt.

He dropped his kunai before walking awake once he calmed down. Neji stopped before him, pulling him to the side with his squad as Tenten looked worried. "It's okay, Hifu-chan! You're still cute in my eyes!" Lee spoke as he squished his face. Hifumi looked at the group before nodding. "Yeah, thanks." He muttered as he put his head on Neji's shoulder who let him as Lee cooed at Hifumi and petted his head. "I don't wanna be here. I don't wanna be a ninja." He whispered before digging his face into Neji's shoulder trying to avoid reality.

It was too much. He needed to escape, but he couldn't. The Hokage always watches. And so does Danzo.