The Final Mission, beginning
Lee and Tenten had been talking at the training grounds.
s.h.i.+kamaru and Chouji had met up by chance.
Sakura and Ino had faced each other in their favourite store.
Sai had crumbled on the spot as he stared up at the sky.
Iruka had been humming as he hung his laundry to dry.
And Ichiraku’s had been busy with work as usual.
Not a single person had noticed the tiny insect flying near them.
It was only one insect. It was flying restlessly around the village of Konohagakure.
It was a very small insect, so small that n.o.body paid any attention to it. And even if anyone did become aware of it, they’d soon lose sight of it in the clear and bright, sunny weather. It was difficult to keep watching a tiny bug that was flying restlessly round and round.
However…
Suddenly, the insect stopped moving. Or rather, to be more accurate, it had taken a break to rest its wings.
When an insect stops its movement anywhere near you, it becomes much easier to see.
Aburame s.h.i.+no looked intently through his sungla.s.ses at the winged insect that had stopped atop his fingertip.
“…You’ve worked hard.” He said, thanking the bug in a quiet voice.
As he did so, the bug on his fingertip walked down into his palm, and then very calmly and naturally disappeared into s.h.i.+no’s sleeve.
A bug had just gone inside his clothes, but s.h.i.+no wasn’t fl.u.s.tered. Rather, he had a very calm look on his face.
That was only natural.
The reason was that s.h.i.+no was a s.h.i.+n.o.bi who had been born into the Aburame clan, which was a line of insect users. The people of his clan would allow insects called Kikaichuu to reside inside their bodies. Afterwards they would command those insects as they liked, and in return allowed the insects to feed on their bodies’ chakra. This is how their contract continued.
And the very bug that had gone into s.h.i.+no’s sleeve a moment ago, was simply another Kikaichuu that s.h.i.+no manipulated.
It was very natural that s.h.i.+no had remained calm, because all that had happened was that the insect had returned to its next.
In their contract, the insects were mainly used out in the field during missions, but they had a wide variety of uses. Besides attacking and defending, they helped seize the enemy they were hunting down, doing things such as chasing and or searching. They were used for pretty much every scenario. A large number of insects could even take on the shape of a human and use your own jutsu. In this way, the Aburame clan who lived side by side with a large number of insects since the day they were all born became familiar with the nature of those insects, and perfected the jutsus they used when they fought alongside them. they were a hiden clan.
And, this day s.h.i.+no had been using one of his clan’s hiden techniques to spy on the activities of his comrades. As for why he’d do such a thing, the reason lay in the man who was standing near s.h.i.+no.
“So, how’d it go?” Inuzuka Kiba asked as he played with the ninja dog, Akamaru.
“As expected, it looks like everyone’s working to obtain wedding gifts…” s.h.i.+no replied from where he stood, a high ground that allowed him an unbroken eyes view of the village.
“Just like I thought,” Kiba said. “So, has anyone already decided what they’re gonna get?”
“Most of them haven’t yet. It looks like they’re mostly meeting up to consult with each other.”
Kiba let out a whoop at s.h.i.+no’s reply. “Yahoo! Just like I wanted!”
As Kiba spoke, he brushed the goatee growing on his face. Lately, Kiba looked like he’d grown very fond of it, and touched it whenever he could. It looked like it was becoming a habit.
“It’s our chance to act while everyone’s worried. It’s finally my time to s.h.i.+ne.”
“More accurately, ‘our time’.” s.h.i.+no corrected.
Kiba let out a laugh, “I know thaat. Right, Akamaru?” Kiba said, patting the ninken whose length was longer than Kiba’s own height.
Kiba had been born into the Inuzuka clan who was a clan of ninja dog users, so for him, Akamaru was a partner he had been eating and sleeping alongside ever since his childhood. It was the same for Akamaru, and even now when he had past 10 years of age, Akamaru still continued to accompany Kiba on missions every day.
Akamaru immediately barked twice as a reply to Kiba’s question.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Kiba said. “We’re gonna find a present that n.o.body else has given, one that comes only from Team Eight.”
Team Eight huh…
s.h.i.+no thought as he watched Kiba and Akamaru play together.
His thoughts were going back to the first day he had been put on the same team as Kiba.
The silent s.h.i.+no, the action-loving Kiba and Akamaru, and the withdrawn and thoughtful Hinata.
Those three people and one animal had been the members of Team Eight.
They were comrades who had trained together, supported each other, and always been together.
However, while the mature Hinata had been one thing, Kiba had been boisterous, reckless and extremely p.r.o.ne to grabbing leaders.h.i.+p to himself. When s.h.i.+no had been put on the same team as Kiba, he’d found his different character and way of thinking to be extremely tedious, and had spent every day sighing to himself and lamenting the difficult future that was no doubt in store.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to get along with you well. The reason is that we–”
Even now, s.h.i.+no could clearly remember his past self who had said those words. On that note, his words were cut off because at that moment in the past Kiba had shouted: “What the h.e.l.l’s with you? You’re really gloomy!”
Kiba really had been cra.s.s ever since the old days, always speaking in a loud voice like an idiot.
“Kiba…do you remember what I said the first time we were put on the same team?”s.h.i.+no suddenly asked that question without any real reason. Impulsiveness was Kiba’s department.
But, Kiba most likely wouldn’t remember it.
“The first time…?” Kiba asked, “Oh yeah, that time when we were eating lunch at the training grounds.”
Kiba kept petting Akamaru as he thought, looking up at the sky. Then,
“Right, it was… ‘only my lunch box has bugs in it’ or something like that-”
“I never said such a thing.” s.h.i.+no said.
What in the world? Forget remembering it, Kiba had even fabricated a senseless fake memory in its place. s.h.i.+no fixed his stare on Kiba, feeling the anxious feeling he had back then still lingering in his insides.
“Wha-what? That wasn’t what you said?” Kiba looked fl.u.s.tered by s.h.i.+no’s stare for a moment before recovering, “Well, forget about the small details. The wedding gifts are more important. Right?”
Kiba grinned widely so his canines showed. s.h.i.+no thought that Kiba’s ability to quickly switch moods wasn’t a good, but a bad quality of his.
In that moment:
“You know, s.h.i.+no,” Kiba’s tone of voice had changed. A hard wind blew between the two of them. Kiba continued speaking with a serious look on his face. “I was happy that Kakas.h.i.+-sensei called this thing a mission. Even I can get that Kakas.h.i.+-sensei and everyone else are just calling a mission in name only. Since he’s someone who’s got eccentric judgement. But, for me, I really think of this as a mission. I’m thinking this is gonna be the last mission for us members of Team Eight…”
s.h.i.+no didn’t even let out a sound of agreement, calmly, silently listening.
“It’s like we’ve been given this last mission, this last mission.” Kiba continued. “Like maybe Kakas.h.i.+-sensei could have specially arranged this for that purpose? …Or I could just be overthinking things…”
Kiba stopped talking and looked away, laughing like he was embarra.s.sed.
“No, you’re not overthinking…” s.h.i.+no said.
s.h.i.+no understood Kiba’s feeling so much it hurt. It was because he’d been having the exact same feelings too.
Hinata was currently busy getting ready for the wedding. Kiba and s.h.i.+no both went out on missions a lot as chuunins leading their own teams. The four of them hadn’t been able to head out on any missions as Team Eight lately. And, most likely, after this they’d—
“Team Eight’s last mission for Hinata, huh…”
n.o.body else would be involved. This was something that only people who had been on their team every since they were young, who had been through all the happiness and sorrow with them would ever understand.
Kiba and s.h.i.+no, and Akamaru as well… It was definitely something n.o.body but Team Eight could do.
That was why s.h.i.+no had sent his Kikaichuu to fly and investigate the states of their other comrades. So s.h.i.+no and Kiba could give a more magnificent present than anyone else. so they could make Hinata happy.
“So, what are we going to do…?” s.h.i.+no asked.
Kiba fell silent. He was staring at nothing in particular without saying a single word.
Silence continued between the two. Akamaru restlessly moved around, uneasily letting out a whine as he looked up at Kiba.
s.h.i.+no couldn’t tolerate the unnatural silence coming from Kiba.
“Is it possible you haven’t thought of anything yet?”
Kiba silently nodded.
He’d said all that, but at the end he didn’t have anything but his enthusiasm to show for it. as expected, Kiba was always Kiba. This side of him hadn’t changed ever since the old days.
“For now, we have to think only of things that Hinata likes. It can’t be beyond the things she likes. The reason is that if we give her something that, for example, we didn’t know she disliked on her long-awaited wedding day, the atmosphere will turn bad.”
They gone through missions with Hinata for many years. It was enough to say they were comrades who’d eaten out of the same pot. There was no doubt they knew what Hinata liked better than anyone else.
“Stuff that Hinata likes is, well, there’s zenzai…” Kiba said.
s.h.i.+no thought over this. It was true that Hinata definitely loved that soup made of Azuki red beans. Whenever they were taking a break in training or on a mission and they’d stopped by a tea shop, Hinata’s eyes would s.h.i.+ne if she saw any zenzai.
“And then there’s…yeah, pressed flowers.” Kiba said, “She really likes making pressed flowers. Man, she has such simple hobbies.”
Zenzai and pressed flowers…neither of them would do for a wedding gift. Come to think of it, was there anyone in the world who’d give soup as a wedding present?
s.h.i.+no wracked his brains.
“Ah, wait that’s right. Naruto, he always loves eating ramen, right?” Kiba suddenly said.
“Yes,” s.h.i.+no said. “Ramen is something he eats often, isn’t it?”
“And, you know,” Kiba said, “This is something really surprising that not everybody knows, but, Naruto really likes os.h.i.+ruko.”
“Oh, is that how it was? Now that you mention it, I have seen him drinking that soup out of a can before.”
“Right? There’s something even more surprising than that. Naruto has a hobby of watering plants. And it’s not just watering them either.” Kiba had a gleeful look on his face as he lowered his voice to murmur. “Naruto, he likes talking to the plants while he waters them. Of course, just when he’s the only one in the room. Akamaru and me just happened to be walking by the front of his house when we heard him, talking to one while he watered it. He’s got an odd side, talking to plants. Right, Akamaru?”
Akamaru let out one vigorous bark in reply. s.h.i.+no didn’t understand most of what Akamaru said, but he knew that this reply meant ‘Exactly!’.
“That definitely is unusual.” s.h.i.+no said. “Talking to bugs is normal, but that isn’t so for plants. He might have just been feeling really bored, but there’s also the other possibility… Well, just to be sure it’d be best to go and see the situation ourselves…” He crossed his arms and nodded.
Naruto did have certain odd sides to him. Come to think of it, in the past Naruto had even played poker with his own kage buns.h.i.+n. Well that was what happened when you didn’t go to play with him, s.h.i.+no thought.
“But you know,” Kiba said, “When you rethink it all, it’s pretty amazing.”
“…What is?”
“Y’know, the stuff they like. Like, zenzai and os.h.i.+ruko**? And then pressing flowers to preserve them, and watering plants to take care of them, stuff like that. No matter how you look at it, the stuff they like and their hobbies are pretty similar, aren’t they?”
“I see, you’re right about that. But Kiba…”
“Mm? Wha?”
“The most important subject is the wedding present…”
“Ah, yeah. What should we do…?”
Silence covered them for the second time. Kiba sat down, absentmindedly stroking Akamaru. s.h.i.+no stood still as usual, staring down at the ground.
“Then let’s…ask somebody…”
This time it was Kiba who’d been unable to endure the silence.
“Everybody was asking everyone else too, right?” Kiba said, “Let’s do that too…yeah?”
Where did the Kiba who was so enthusiastically talking about Team Eight’s last mission go?
That’s what s.h.i.+no thought as he looked down at the line of ants marching past his feet.
He thought it, but he didn’t say it, because Kiba had now given him a much better idea.
“I suppose we also have no choice but to go and consult someone…”
“Alright! So, who’re we gonna ask? Your dad? I’m saying this just in case, but my mom and sis won’t do, yknow? They’re completely different types compared to Hinata.” Kiba said, getting to his feet.
Good grief, he was so impatient.
“There’s someone who’s very suitable for Team Eight’s last mission.” s.h.i.+no said. “If you ask who, then that person is–”
“I gotcha, that’s who you mean! Alright, let’s go Akamaru!”
Kiba had instantly understood what s.h.i.+no meant before he could even finish speaking. He rapidly started running off with Akamaru. Both their figures slowly started getting small with the distance.
He doesn’t have even the slightest sliver of calm in him…
s.h.i.+no thought, and began walking after Kiba.
By the time s.h.i.+no finally arrived at their intended location, Kiba and Akamaru had already made themselves right at home.
Akamaru was lying down on the carpet, and Kiba had sunken comfortably into a chair.
s.h.i.+no calmly entered.
“Oh hey, you’re late.” Kiba said, a teacup in his hand.
Kiba sat far too comfortably, like he was sitting in his own house. Really, the word ‘restraint’ was probably completely foreign to Kiba’s brain.
“You’re too relaxed, Kiba.” s.h.i.+no said, silently sitting down as well.
As he did, an infant came running from another room, throwing herself on top of Akamaru.
“Akakiba! Akakiba!” She said, pulling at Akamaru’s ears.
Akamaru lifted his neck, looking a little annoyed, but then lay down again and let the child continue with what they were doing.
“I keep tell you, I’m Kiba, and he’s Akamaru.” Kiba said with a very put-upon tone. It sounded like they’d kept repeating this conversation many times.
The child let out squeal of delight, enjoying herself and laughing. “Akakiba and Kibamaru!”
“You’re mixing them up now, mixing them together huh…Please spare me, Mirai…”
The child’s name was Sarutobi Mirai. She was the daughter of the deceased Sarutobi Asuma.
“Why’re you like this…? Is it because Akamaru’s fur is white,** so you’re confused…?” Kiba murmured, throwing a seriously thoughtful look towards Mirai, who had smushed her face affectionately against Akamaru’s.
It was true that Akamaru was completely unlike his name, white-furred as he was. Kiba had given him the name ‘Akamaru’ because after eating the special soldier pill that Kiba concocted, Akamaru would become covered in others blood in battle.
But, s.h.i.+no thought it was unlikely that the colour of Akamaru’s fur had any connection to this.
The reason he thought so was that Kiba and Akamaru frequently came to play with Mirai during their walks.
If she hadn’t seen them often, then it would be normal for Mirai to not remember their names, but that didn’t apply to Kiba and Akamaru. And yet, Mirai mixed up their names.
It was most likely because Kiba and Akamaru were so close and so often together that she did that. Actually, s.h.i.+no sincerely hoped that was the case.
“Looks like she still doesn’t remember the difference even though you come to play with her a lot.” s.h.i.+no hadn’t really meant for the words to come out, but they had.
Kiba dejectedly hung his head. “It doesn’t bother me.” He muttered. “Little kids do that a lot.”
“It’s uncle buggy!” Mirai suddenly said, pointing at s.h.i.+no.
s.h.i.+no felt a painful feeling come over him, and Kiba who had been dejectedly hanging his head until just a second ago, suddenly let out a loud, booming shriek of laughter.
“I…I am big brother buggy…” s.h.i.+no said, unable to hide his shaking. “The reason is that I am still too youn–”
“I heard what was happening from Kiba,” A voice behind him said.
s.h.i.+no turned his head to see a woman with l.u.s.trous black hair. Mirai’s mother, Sarutobi Kurenai had come in with tea and some food.
She had been through pregnancy and childbirth, and was now going through housework and child care, but for Kiba and s.h.i.+no and Hinata, she was always their teacher who had been in charge of their Team Eight.
s.h.i.+no and Kiba had both thought that if they wanted to ask anyone for advice about Team Eight’s last mission, then it would be her. That was why they’d come here. But…
“A present for Hinata, huh…” Kurenai said, leaving the plate –it was mostly full of snacks– on the table and sitting down. “But rather than me, don’t you think it would’ve been better to ask Hanabi?”
“No, well, I mean yeah but…” Kiba mumbled, his hand stopping mid-action as he’d reached out for his favourite snack, beef jerky.
Hanabi was Hinata’s little sister. Compared to the plain and not very fas.h.i.+onable Hinata, Hanabi was a far more fas.h.i.+onable young woman and extravagant in her tastes.
“We thought that it might be best…not to involve her family members…” Kiba awkwardly tried to speak in a polite way he was unaccustomed to.
Lately, Kiba had been trying to speak politely to Kurenai. It was most likely the fact that he’d realised you couldn"t’t speak to your old teacher like you were best friends after a certain age was past.
“A-and then, of course, well…we are not that…intimately acquainted…with her.” Kiba stuttered.
While they had gone to the Hyuuga house a few times to meet up with Hinata and such, neither Kiba nor s.h.i.+no had met up with Hanabi outside of that. It’d feel awkward to suddenly go and ask her to consult with them about wedding gifts. Plus, like Kiba said, if they involved her family members, then there was the chance that the talk of wedding presents would reach Hinata’s ears.
“Hmm, you’re right…” Kurenai crossed her arms and thought.
In the meantime, Kiba finally laid his hands on the beef jerky, chewing on it furiously while muttering “The feeling when you chew it is really important…the feeling…” like it was a magic spell.
There was another reason for Kiba to get so upset when the subject of Hanabi was mentioned. s.h.i.+no knew a little bit about it. The incident had happened on the day when they’d been told that unbelievable news about the moon possibly falling.
The memories of those days when meteorites were raining down on the Earth and it really felt like the last days of their existence were still fresh in s.h.i.+no’s mind. Most of the village had been repaired by now, but if you took one step outside the village, you’d see the leftover scars from that time still remaining. No matter how many months or years pa.s.sed, you still wouldn’t be able to perfectly restore all the trees that had been moved down by the meteors, or the meteor craters left behind.
s.h.i.+n.o.bi had gathered to protect the village from the meteors raining down on them, and in the midst of this a team had been a.s.sembled to rescue Hanabi, who had been kidnapped by the mastermind behind the occurrence.
It was a team a.s.sembled to find the hideout of the mastermind as well as rescue Hanabi.
A mission like that was Kiba’s specialty, since he was a ninja dog user with his own keen sense of smell. He’d been br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence, saying how likely it was that he’d be picked due to his connection to Hinata via Team Eight.
But, Kiba’s name hadn’t been on the list of those selected for the mission.
Kiba had become incredibly depressed about that matter.
“What aren’t I on it…? If it was me, I could find where Hanabi was straight away…I could definitely help out…I really wanted to find the creep’s hideout and whoop his a.s.s with my new jutsu…I wanted to help stop the moon from falling…”
Even now, s.h.i.+no could clearly remember Kiba’s endless grumbling about the subject.
“It’s over, it’s over…” Kiba had murmured in despair, and s.h.i.+no remembered telling him, “Well, the whole world may be over soon…”
Why did he remember that? Probably because Kiba had ignored it.
But, s.h.i.+no thought that Kakas.h.i.+-sensei had chosen the right teams for the right occasions.
Kakas.h.i.+-sensei was the Rokudaime Hokage, and he had to make his decision while thinking of saving everyone’s lives, so instead of putting Kiba on the team that was sent to rescue Hanabi, he put him on the life-saving team in the village. Kiba’s mission had been to quickly find and save the people who were buried under the rubble of buildings that had collapsed after the meteors. .h.i.t.
It was an important mission that was only possible precisely because of Kiba and Akamaru’s keen senses of smell.
And s.h.i.+no had also been sent out as part of the life-saving team along with Kiba. It was because his bugs were able to slip into small cracks in the rubble that people and dogs couldn’t go through. As s.h.i.+no and Kiba hurried around the village while riding on Akamaru’s back, they had managed to save many people who hadn’t managed to escape before the meteors crashed.
And furthermore Kiba hadn’t taken refuge in the shelters, instead staying outside to help the people who still believed that tomorrow was going to come, the village s.h.i.+n.o.bi as well as ramen Ichiraku’s owner Teuchi who was preparing ingredients for tomorrow’s ramen. H even boasted about how it any meteorite came falling towards the store, he’d destroy it with his new jutsu. He’d put a stunning amount of effort into his activities.
Kiba’s stroke of bad luck was that the only one to see his efforts had been s.h.i.+no who was constantly beside him. And s.h.i.+no hadn’t ever told anyone about what happened that day. s.h.i.+no thought that good deeds like that weren’t the kind that should be displayed to the world.
s.h.i.+no was intently watching Kiba jerkily tearing into his beef jerky.
s.h.i.+no thought it was likely that Kiba’s bitter memory of not being picked for the Hanabi Rescue Team had resurfaced when he heard her name.
However, s.h.i.+no knew.
He knew that when push came to shove, Kiba was a reliable man. He knew that Kiba had gone running around the village with Akamaru and saved many people"s’ lives. He knew Kiba had even protected Ichiraku Ramen while he was at it.
Only s.h.i.+no knew those things.
Wasn’t that just fine? Although s.h.i.+no hadn’t really been able to hear the name of Kiba’s new jutsu when he used it since the sound of the meteorite being destroyed had been too loud, but still, it was just fine to leave things that way, wasn’t it?
“Ahh, instead of tea, I’d have liked to be able to drink shouchuu…” Kurenai murmured, bringing some snacks to her mouth.
Kurenai had been famous for loving alcohol ever since the old days. On top of that, she loved the strong stuff, and drank a lot of it. She was a heavyweight drinker.
It was impossible for s.h.i.+no to imagine drinking as a hobby since he didn’t touch a drop of alcohol himself.
Alcohol was not good. It got his bugs intoxicated. s.h.i.+no avoided anything that so much as had a strong smell. Be it something you ate or something you drank, or even medicine, if the smell was strong or the ingredients were fiercely affective, they’d influence the bugs inside him. For insect users, that was a life-or-death situation. At that was why s.h.i.+no liked to eat things that were soft on both humans and insects, like salads.
“Ah, actually, speaking of alcohol, do you two know about this story?” Kurenai said, taking her eyes of Mirai and Akamaru to look at s.h.i.+no and Kiba, “In the old days, the forest’s Senjuu Clan used to give honey wine as a wedding gift.”
“Senjuu? I think I heard of that name in history cla.s.s…” Kiba tilted his head in puzzlement, tugging at his goatee.
s.h.i.+no shook his head in exasperation.
“The First and Second Hokage.” s.h.i.+no said.
“Ah, yeah! No, of course I knew that yknow?” Kiba said.
Kurenai smiled as she watched them.
“Watching you two talk like that reminds me of old times,” She said.
Seeing Kurenai’s smiling face made s.h.i.+no think of old times too.
Honestly, Kurenai had been a really relentless teacher.
Strong-minded…was a rude word to use, but she was an extremely sensitive genjutsu user.
She’d been especially fond of frequently using dizzying genjutsu during their training, and even remembering it now made s.h.i.+no recall the nausea along with it, that’s how severe she had been. Of course, it had been Kurenai’s way of showing her love, and it had definitely toughened up the members of Team Eight, but still, one couldn’t help but think about how incredulous it would be for someone like that to simple mellow out after becoming a mother.
“Look at you shamelessly brooding with a goatee. Back in the old days your face used to be slippery smooth.” Kurenai said, grinning as she pinched Kiba’s cheeks with both hands.
“Owwww, pwease stowp thwat Kuwenai-senswee…!”
Kurenai looked like she was having a lot of fun.
Maybe she hadn’t really mellowed out.
“So, sensei, the story about the honey wine of the Senjuu clan?”
Helping a friend in need…wasn’t s.h.i.+no’s motivation. He just wanted to hear the rest of the story.
“Ah, yeah. The forest’s Senjuu clan, just like their name implies, lives in the forest,” Kurenai said, letting go of Kiba’s cheeks. “There are bears in forests, right? And you know how bears will knock down beehives to try and get to the honey inside, right? People say that the origins of honey wine were in those knocked down beehives that happened to have rainwater mixed in with the honey. It was found in ancient times by the Senjuu clan who lived in the forest. It was a wondrous drink for them, something that had the nutrition of honey and made them energetic. So naturally, after that, the making of honey wine slowly became part of their culture.”
“Why did they give it as a wedding present?”
“Well first off, it was because at the time the recipe for honey wine wasn’t perfect, so it was rare. But most importantly, it was because of the high nutritional value. The theory was that the honey was abundant, so drinkers of it would share its fertility. Either way, it all comes down to the fact that alcohol’s always been used to celebrate happy occasions since old times.”
“But, that Naruto doesn’t drink alcohol, yknow?”
“Naruto prefers to drink ramen soup and os.h.i.+ruko.”
Kurenai sighed deeply when Kiba and s.h.i.+no said those things. “That kid’s eating habits are so biased.”
s.h.i.+no and Kiba simultaneously shuddered as they remembered going to Naruto’s house in the past and finding the kitchen empty of anything but ramen. Lately Naruto had been boasting that he’d started eating vegetables too, but even that was just to the degree of him occasionally buying a few cherry tomatoes.
“Shouldn’t he be dead by now?” Kiba said, which was a fine comment considering Kiba himself ate nothing but meat. You couldn’t help but think that Hinata would have to do something.
“But well, at any rate, honey wine can be used as a medicine, and used in cooking too. If it’s Hinata, then I’m sure she’d be able to find a good use for it. Plus, she probably wouldn’t use it straight away. Isn’t it a wonderful and romantic idea for her to open a jar of honey wine one day and think back to her wedding day?”
“I see, thinking of it like that, a wedding present that’s mentioned in history and legends is a really good idea.” Kiba said, “And on top of that, it’s something used by the clan of Konoha’s founder. It’s definitely a fitting gift for me to give, as the future Hokage.”
Kiba was nodding with his eyes closed now. He was probably imagining his future Hokage self.
s.h.i.+no, on the other hand, was quietly thinking. Something was bothering him a little.
Honey wine was an idea they’d gotten from the alcohol-lover Kurenai-sensei. s.h.i.+no and Kiba hadn’t thought it up themselves. But, no matter how disinterested s.h.i.+no was in alcohol, he did have a basic understanding of the variety of alcohol sold in the stores and bars of Konoha.
“Hey s.h.i.+no, let’s hurry up and go out to buy it!”
Kiba was in high spirits, but s.h.i.+no never remembered seeing honey wine around the village.
“Is such a thing sold?” s.h.i.+no murmured, “I’m hearing about it for the first time in my life…”
Kurenai easily answered, “It isn’t sold.”
“Huh?” Kiba let out an idiotic sounding voice at Kurenai’s comment.
“If it was being sold, I’d have bought it already. That stuff is really rare to find in our village.”
“Uhm…the-tehn what do we do?!”
“That legendary honey wine is something that I only got to taste once, many years ago. That’s all that I can say.”
“Oh no…”
Kiba’s face looked like the end of the world was coming. In fact, s.h.i.+no thought he looked worse than he had when the moon had been falling. Kiba really had an endless range of facial expressions, s.h.i.+no thought as he stoically watched.
“The honey wine that I drank was given to me by a travelling merchant. It really delicious, so I asked him where it came from. I was thinking of going and buying it too. And, what do you think he said as a reply?” Kurenai paused, her face turning grim. “He said he bought it in the Soraku.”
“You mean those black market guys…?!”
Soraku…a group of renegades unreachable by any country or village. People said the village itself looked like a perfectly normal place n.o.body would glance at, but in fact was the hometown of a clan of black marketers. It was a place n.o.body heard good rumours about, the kind that got their hands on hard-to-find weapons that had been banned everywhere else.
“To be more accurate, the merchant said that he’d gotten the honey wine from a beekeeper who lived in Soraku.”
“So they even have beekepers?”
“Well the black marketers who settled there aren’t just gonna live off of weapons and money, you know, so there must be an original community there who supplies life necessities.”
Since the merchant who had sold the honey wine had gotten it from Soraku and then visited Konoha, that meant that there had to be some way of communicating with the community inside Soraku.
“I wasn’t able to find them, but you guys are Team Eight, specialised in hunting people down, aren’t you?” Kurenai said with a mischievous smile on her face. She looked pretty serious about it.
“Just leave it to us,” Kiba said, “As long as me and s.h.i.+no and Akamaru are there, it’ll be a piece of cake!”
Kiba stood up at the end of his declaration, and Akamaru who had been letting Mirai do as she willed now stood up as well without any prompting to go next to Kiba.
Mirai watched Akamaru leave her, and said in a voice that showed how reluctant she was to say goodbye:
“s.h.i.+nomaru’s going?”
“I always tell you, he’s Akamaru! And come to think of it, you’ve really mushed all our names together this time, haven’t you?!”
s.h.i.+no had been watching the usual exchange, when Kurenai prompted him to turn towards her.
“Hey,s.h.i.+no…” Kurenai said in a very quiet voice so no one else would hear. “Kiba doesn’t have very good judgement. You understand what I mean, right?”
s.h.i.+no silently nodded, meeting Kurenai’s eyes.
While you’re at it, buy some for me as well…!
That was the message Kurenai wanted to impart.
“There won’t be any problems.” s.h.i.+no said, leaving as well.
From branch to branch. They were flying through the thick greenery of trees.
s.h.i.+no and Kiba, and Akamaru, were heading out of the village as one team to retrieve Hinata’s wedding gift. Soon enough, they’d already put the distance of one mountain between them and Konoha.
Kiba was wearing a jacket over the slightly improved Konoha vest. It was a crudely designed jacket, with fur on the inside. s.h.i.+no wore his favourite long coat over his own vest, and had raised the hood attached to it over his head.
This was their usual attire for missions.
In other words, they were clothes that perfectly suited Team Eight’s Last Mission.
The improved Konoha vests no longer had the double pouches for scrolls that used to be on both sides of the chest, favouring ease of movement over anything else.
What was surprising was that they were lighter than the old vests, but more durable. Such a thing would’ve been unthinkable during the old days. It was an amazing sign of progress in technology. It really made you feel aware that time was pa.s.sing. The village and people and things as well, they were all changing one by one.
Thinking that he’d reached an age where he could feel that times were changing made s.h.i.+no feel a little sad. And then he thought about the next generation of Konoha, which made him think of Mirai. Which made him think of what Mirai said.
“Do I…really look that old…?” s.h.i.+no spoke without thinking.
Kiba looked over his shoulder at him in mid-air. Akamaru had gone ahead of them, so it was only them two leaping across the trees. In a way, they almost looked like they were flying in mid-air. They chose this method of transport over running on the ground because it was faster. With every leap, their surroundings blurred and were quickly left behind. For a while, they’d moved in silence, until Kiba noticed what s.h.i.+no had said.
“Oi, oi, don’t be bothered by stuff like that.” He gave a wide grin. “Uncle buggy.”
“I am not bothered. Shut up, Idiotmaru.”
“It’s Kibamaru! No, it’s not Kibamaru either!”
That was the topic of their conversation as they flew over trees. The smell of earth and greenery was strong, and bugs were moving everywhere. It was a nice day with clear weather. It was surprising and incredible, far better than he’d expected going on the strong winds from last night. Beautiful b.u.t.terflies were dancing around in the peace of the morning.
After a while of silence, s.h.i.+no opened his mouth again.
“I’m not old enough to be called an uncle yet, but if I am called one, then you should be called one too, Kiba, because we’re cla.s.smates of the same age…”
“You really are bothered by it!”
“Yes, it bothers me. Kiba…do I really look that old?”
Kiba grinned at s.h.i.+no openly speaking about his feelings.
“Well, well, look at that. Compared to when we were kids, you’ve gotten a lot more honest.”
Kiba’s all-knowing grin grated on s.h.i.+no’s nerves.
s.h.i.+no deliberately looked the other way when he said, “I’m asking you because we’ve known each other for a long time. So, do I really look that ol–”
“You’re really serious about this! Asking twice! Alright, I get it already. You’re fine! You look just right for your age!” Kiba ran a hand through his hair, his voice strengthening. “You’re taller than me, and you’re always quiet and wear those sungla.s.ses all the time, so of course you look mature! Come to think of it, for a tiny kid like that, we all look old!”
“Really? So, I’m really okay…?”
“You’re so persistent… Look, you don’t even have to wear sungla.s.ses anymore. You’ve gotten pretty good looking. Not even a little bit, definitely more good looking than Naruto’s stupid face, so don’t worry!” Kiba bluntly said, then confidently pointed a thumb at himself, “Well, of course when it comes to good looks, you come in second after me and Akamaru.”
After Akamaru…I don’t really understand that, it’s strange…
s.h.i.+no stared fixatedly at Akamaru’s tail some distance in front of him.
* Zenzai and os.h.i.+ruko are both dishes made of the red beans called Azuki, with the only real difference being the consistency, where os.h.i.+ruko is more of a soup and zenzai is more like jam. They’re both called soups though.
** Akamaru’s name means red circle, and akamaru’s white, so Kiba thinks that’s why Mirai is confused.