6 A Challenge

"This way." Karasu-niisan escorted me towards the Intelligence Force building outside of the Nara compound—and thankfully, not to the T&I building because, who the hell knows what's in there?

Oh, and what am I doing here, you ask? Well, I was chosen as a witness, but I doubt that I'd just be a "witness"… why? It has something to do with the clan heads developing interests in me after the story reached their ears—which is, honestly, NOT creepy.

This is actually my first time outside of the compound so, I get stares from people every now and then. Aside from having my hand held by an ANBU, and being a bit too pale for a young boy, I wore a maroon long sleeves paired with shorts so, people were curious as of where the young black-masked man is taking the little "girl".

'The fvck? This is my worst nightmare coming to reality…' Then again, it's better than having those anime cliché harem happen, right?

I ran my fingers on my free hand through my four years' worth of thick, wavy, long silver hair, only to do it again because another gravity-defying lock fell on my face. I honestly want to cut this thing, but kaa-san said to keep it until I step in the academy… so, one more year and this'll be shortened.

"Hm…" I heard Karasu-niisan hum, making me look up at him and catch his glance. He didn't bother to look away, showing his smile through his eyes, "Don't worry, kiddo. We're almost there."

I fixed my gaze at his enticing onyx orbs for a while, wondering who could be behind that black mask.

"Ah! You must be Orion-kun." A voice snapped me out of my trance. "Good morning."

I looked up and saw a big man standing in front. Familiar purple squiggly clan markings rested on his cheeks, giving away that he's from the Akamichi's. Chōza, I think his name is—Chōji's father. He looks rather friendlier than portrayed in the show, and is quite buffed too.

Well, he might actually be just being friendly towards a "young child" so, there's that too.

Now that I've met all three of the 15th generation Ino–Shika–Chō, who's up next? The Hyūga's? Uchiha's? That'll be cool…

"Good… morning…" I let go of Karasu-niisan's hand and bowed towards the kind clan head as I spoke with my small voice.

"I'm Chōza Akamichi, young one." He smiled, crouching down, "I've heard about you and your bravery."

"Thank you…?" Seriously, is my voice even reaching him? I guess that I'm still not comfortable speaking with the others that my voice comes out broken, inaudible, or completely silent.

"A shy one, eh?" The clan head chuckled, standing up and leading both Karasu and I to the actual inside of the building—to tour me just in case I get… uh… lost?

To be honest, it was a bit of a surprise to see the inside of the building. It doesn't look much on the outside, but it's much bigger in the inside. All sorts of machines rests inside, and rows of bookshelves took my attention, making me halt on my step, falling behind the ANBU and the clan head.

In the past, the most interesting thing that took my interest, before Cherry came to my life, were books inside of my house's private library—where books from around the world were neatly organized on the shelves. I, myself, wasn't even able to finish all of the books in there, which is actually quite the bummer. I might've only finished sixty to seventy percent of all the books inside there.

It seems that I've also took my reading habits, if you didn't notice. I'd only read books that take my interest—it doesn't matter if they have or don't have any pictures, the information is the most important part. I don't care if I'm not supposed to read them yet—I just do it to pass time.

"… Orion-kun?" Chōza-sama seemed like he was talking to me, but I really didn't catch what he was saying.

I blinked as I looked at him, wondering what he was talking about while I was in a trance. The two of them are already a couple of steps ahead, and are waiting for me to respond.

"You seem to be interested with those books." He smiled, I nodded slowly, embarrassed about my trance. "You can borrow some later if you ask Inoichi… and I'm sure he'd let you." His smile grew wider when he noticed that he had grabbed my attention.

"Okay." I smiled, running after them and grabbing Karasu-niisan's already extended hand. I'm too happy about the books that I'm already asking them, "Chōza-sama, do you think Inoichi-san would let me borrow some?"

Both Karasu-niisan and Chōza-sama halted on their steps, slowly looking at me with a sort of shocked expression. 'Did I do something wrong?' I tilted my head. 'I only asked about the books… I've already finished kaa-san's books in her study, and have managed to borrow some from Shikaku-san… so, I'm pretty bored at the moment.'

Chōza-sama laughed, taking everyone's attention—even those who are currently running errands or just working near. Karasu-niisan and I then shifted our gaze to him, startled about his sudden action. Chōza-sama's truly found something funny.

"Oh, you silly child." He wiped the tears at the corner of his eyes. "The only thing that could really get your attention are books, huh?" He patted my head, "Of course, he will. He's the one who'd been telling me about you—he's interested in you."

"Huh…?" I blinked.

"Now I'm starting to understand why Shikaku and Inoichi are talking about you—you really are interesting!" Chōza-sama chuckled, "And please, drop the formalities—Chōza-san's just fine."

"Okay… Chōza-san." I smiled at him.

"Much better." He nodded once before continuing the tour.

__________

Chōza-san is as kind as he was told. He introduced me to a few workers that weren't shown in the show—and let me tell you, they love children. They really do.

My cheeks are pulsing red because they kept squeezing them. My hair is a complete mess because of their "ruffling-spree", which makes me wonder if my hair is so attracting to touch—I mean, Kakashi's is. Oh, and I also became part of a short tug-o-war, thanks to them.

Thankfully though, Karasu-niisan saved me after a good snicker, and Chōza-san lightly scolded them for me, saying that I may look like a small doll, but I'm not a toy to be played with—after all, he also said that I might've been "traumatized" from the recent events, which immediately put them to a halt.

I wasn't really traumatized… I was just… confused. I mean, I was scared and all, but I'm glad I was able to face that fear and live another day—and I'm proud of that. I even managed to do some cool ninja fvckery, which I honestly don't know how I… did.

I just did it in a spur of the moment… and when I tried to do it again, I failed miserably—which is a week ago. Well, to be fair, I wasn't allowed to do any drastic activities to not push my chakra to its limits, but I did it anyways.

I sighed, loosening my grip on my shorts and leaning at the back of the comfy chair I'm on. Currently, I'm sitting on a green sofa inside of the room Chōza-san had lead both Karasu-niisan and I so, I'm really itching to do something to ease the boredom wallowing over me.

"So, what do you think of the Intel Unit?" Chōza-san suddenly asked, snapping me out of my trance.

"It's okay… I guess…" I smiled, he perked up. "There's… a lot of interesting things here…" I then met his eyes, wondering about some things.

Why are they so interested with me?

Why did they even call me here for?

Why are they calling me a "witness" when they're not even questioning me?

"Um… Chōza-san…?" I called his name, making him raise his brow for I was still staring into his closed eyes. "Why are you showing me around when I was just needed as a "witness"? Why was I invited here when I was just needed for information? One person could've been asked to question me even when I was still recovering… but it seems like you've been waiting for me to be well."

He seemed to be astonished from my barrage of questions.

"Is there a reason on why you need me here?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

A smile curved up at the corner of his lips, and his fingers twitched just the slightest bit. He was getting amused by some unknown reason, and it's really making me feel left out. A chuckle then escaped from his lips, and soon, ran his fingers through his red hair.

"You smart child." He smiled. "You're a Nara, after all." I batted an eyelid at his statement.

The door towards the right then creaked open, making me look at the general direction of the door, meeting a familiar gaze from Shikaku-san. Behind him walked Inoichi-san, followed by…

Uncle… Kakashi?

The said silver-haired teen suddenly disappeared from his location and appeared in front of me before scooping me up with his arms, hugging me like we haven't each other for years, which startled me, making me let go a small squeak… and that squeak was definitely heard by the clan heads just a few steps behind Kakashi.

""Should we tell him?"" My eyes narrowed when Inoichi-san started speaking in English—and he seems to be talking to the other clan heads.

They definitely don't want me to know about something yet. They're keeping something a secret from me.

""Let Kakashi-kun tell him himself."" Shikaku-san answered the Yamanaka's question.

""I agree."" Chōza-san nodded in agreement.

Kakashi, as if on cue, let me go and ruffled my already messy hair. "I have a great news for you," he started, "and knowing you, you'd want to hear this."

Curiosity started to kick in, "What is it?"

"I'm going to be the one assigned for your training, starting today." With those simple words, I froze.

That was it? All of this for my training? Don't get me wrong, it's awesome and stuff, but that was really anticlimactic. I thought I'd be involved in the case or something, but I was sure wrong.

"You see," Shikaku-san took the courtesy to speak when he noticed my deadpanned stare, "Karasu here had seen you manipulate your shadows in a spur of a moment when the white-masked man was chasing you." He pointed a smile at the said ANBU.

Wait, you mean…

"You mean he was watching me while I was being chased by someone behind a mask?" I didn't mean to raise my voice, but that's a real shitty move—I almost died, for Kami's sake! "You mean I became a bait?" I toned down my… tone a bit and pointed at myself, "You mean I almost died, not knowing that I could've been saved sooner?"

"That, my fault." The black-masked man bowed, "I apologise for my actions. I was simply curious when you did something I haven't seen before."

I let out a sigh, his words not getting through me. I slumped forwards and placed my left palm on my forehead, "I risked my life and became a lure…"

"But," Inoichi-san sure is optimistic about this, "because of that, you're going to be training under your uncle's watch—and don't worry, Karasu will be there too just in case something goes wrong."

'Just in case, huh?' I repeated in my mind before looking at him. "So, when something goes wrong, he'd just watch until the last second?"

Shikaku-san chuckled inwardly, shaking his head, "No, no… he won't do that, right…?"

With his words, I stared at the ANBU—who's waving at me like he didn't hear anything Shikaku-san have said. I could just about tell that he's smiling behind the black mask, really entertained by this. 'That bastard—'

I sighed again, standing straight and letting out a small smile, turning my head towards Kakashi. "May I ask why you're the one training me?" My small voice stretched to him.

"I just want to help my cute, little nephew to get stronger." He smiled, opening the palm of his right hand, "So, would you let your Uncle Kashi to help you train?"

I don't really have a choice now, do I? They've been planning this since the crow-guy told them about what I did just to outrun the white-masked dude… and the news sure did get far from home, huh? Everything happened just a week ago, and now, I've been giving a choice to be a part of their scheme.

Well, if this is going to help the mystery, somehow—like what they've planned, I suppose, I'd love to.

"I will…" I nodded and reached for his hand, "Kashi-sensei."

His single eye widened a bit before giving me an "eye-smile". "That's pleasant to hear." He chuckled.

__________

Well to be perfectly honest, in my humble opinion, of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view, but also by looking into this matter in a different perspective and without being condemning of one's view's and by trying to make it objectified, and by considering each and every one's valid opinion, I honestly believe that I completely forgot about something important.

No, seriously.

I have forgotten about Kakashi's position when he was still an ANBU. He was a captain of some team, and had lead successful hunt for the snake's hideouts before going back to standard forces as a reward from the Hokage after revealing his kind heart.

Don't mind my geeky mind.

Come to think of it, I've always seen him wearing a simple grey flak jacket over a dark blue overall, with his black sandals and fingerless gloves when visiting kaa-san and I.

Am I that ignorant about the subtlest things? That's going to be my downfall, isn't it? Overlooking subtle details, I mean. I also tend to dwell too deep about something so, I will more likely forget to check for the smallest things than the plan ahead…

Anyways, starting right now, I'm going to be training under an ANBU captain… and I still do not know who on earth the crow guy is. Additionally, I still don't know the real reason I was brought in to train.

Maybe uncle's gonna tell me…

But, I don't really know what to do. I was told to just stand in the middle of a clearing in an empty training ground away from the Nara compound… and then, both Kakashi and Karasu-niisan disappeared not even a second after that.

Am I expecting a surprise attack?

I sure am.

I heard a rustling sound coming from behind the bushes off to my right, making me almost instantly block out of instinct—and I'm really glad I did. Kakashi was the first one to initiate a swift attack, dumbing down his ability to just be hard enough for me, knocking me back through, I repeat, THROUGH a tree.

Well, he didn't exactly tone everything down, did he?

"Itai…" I groaned, standing up from the powdered tree and scattered splinters. 'That's too harsh for a four year old, Bakashi!' I screamed in my mind, dusting my once black, now white (from the powdered wood) shorts.

"I have a little challenge for you!" I heard him shout from the other side of the bush I just went through before I hit the tree, "Snatch away Karasu's mask for me!"

I heard a very shocked "What?!" coming from a nearby tree.

"Maybe then, I'll start training you seriously!" My bastard uncle's chuckles echoed, resonating over and over again in my mind.

My eyes twitched, as I walked back into the clearing, grabbing a small stone as I go. I glared at the silver-haired ANBU captain a few feet away, flicking my wrist as fast as I could, throwing the rock in his direction. Of course, being a trained ninja abled him to just tilt his head to dodge.

His closed eyes then opened after his laughter stopped. His piercing glare sent a wave of coldness over my body, telling me that I did something I shouldn't have done. "Is that a challenge now, Orion…?" His merciless smile can be literally seen through his mask.

'Well, shit.'