In Their Shadow

Chapter 4

After Yuma was released from the hospitable for his head injury and several D ranks later, Kakashi decided to take team seven out for barbecue at "The Yakiniku Q", as a sort of anniversary gift, it having been a whole month since they have become Team seven, after all. He still had bad dreams of that one D rank mission were they had to capture that detestable cat, which belonged to the Daimiyo's wife. As they walked together down the streets of Konoha, many people waved and shouted words of praise to Naruko and Sasuke. Yuma just stared, jealousy filling his eyes as he became green with envy, while Naruko would wave to every other person who called her name, and Sasuke would remain stoic, ignoring the attention.

'Must be nice' Yuma thought filled with envy, eyeing his two teammates with jealousy.

Naruko turned to Yuma, taking notice of his staring, before smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry about this Yuma, me and Sasuke always seem to catch everyone's attention no matter were we go, it can get annoying sometimes, Ya know!"

Naruko says jokingly, attempting to lighten Yuma's mood. He just continues to look ahead, clearly annoyed at all the attention they were getting.

"Its fine, what else could I expect being in a team with the Hokage's own daughter, and the head of the Uchiha clans prodigal son?" Yuma states, his tone deeply sarcastic.

Sasuke turns his head, smiling haughtily.

"Awww, is the dead last jealous?" Sasuke asks sarcastically, lifting his eyebrows in a cocky manner. Yuma quickly gets tired of his arrogance.

"Just shut up!" Yuma yelled.

Kakashi eye smiled at the both of them, lazily chiding them while reading from his orange book, not even bothering to lift his head.

"Now you guys, don't start arguing, we have almost gotten to The Yakiniku Q, and i'd hate to have to change my mind because you three couldn't behave."

"Yes Sensei!" The three of them exclaim, Sasuke still smirking, Yuma frowning in distaste, and Naruko eyeing them worriedly, clearly uncomfortable with the thought of the two of them fighting.

After a short walk and countless bickering between Sasuke and Yuma, while Naruko acted as a mediator between the three of them, they had finally arrived at the restaurant of interest.

"Mmmm, you smell that guys? That's the smell of my wallet being drained for all its worth!" Kakashi jokingly states, gaining a smile from the three.

"Well you're right about that sensei! By the way Yuma, whats your favorite type of barbecue meat, I personally prefer the Pork!"

Naruko asks Yuma brightly, trying to be freindly.

Yuma flinches a tad, clearly still uncomfortable with being around Naruko. He doesn't hate her as much as before, having been around her more. He still doesn't enjoy being near her, but his extreme distaste for her existence has diminished just a bit. Being in a team with her has made him realize she's not the snobby rich girl he thought she was, but he still didn't like her overly cheerful personality, often finding it annoying and kinda draining to be around someone who's so optimistic.

"Actually Naruko, I've never had barbecue..."

Yuma states, looking incredibly embarrassed as he ashamedly looks down toward the ground. Naruko gives him a confused look before responding.

"Why not?"

That simple question was the root of why Yuma still had a problem with Naruko. No longer was it the fact that she housed the demon that took his parents life within her, he had come to accept that it wasn't her fault that it was sealed within her, and would often hate himself when he would accidentally refer to her as a monster in his head. No, what he hated about her was her being blind to the fact that compared to others, she had a rose tinted life. She didn't have to look on the streets for change whenever she mysteriously lost the Hokage's allowance, Scrub dishes in a red light district bar for a free meal, or beg for spare change. No, she led a life of endless praise from the villagers and lavished with gifts. He didn't hate her anymore, but he didn't like her either.