chapter 11

"How did you do it?" I groaned out loud as a scowl appeared in Naruto's and Chouji's faces. The rest of our little group didn't give outward reactions to one Kiba Inuzuka's question. I had hoped that me beating him without trouble would put the fear of Kami in him. Apparently, I was wrong.

"What the hell do you want, Kiba?" I said while mentally activating Bloodlust. I didn't actually want to beat the shit out of him… too much. But I hoped the skill would keep him away. I was severely disappointed as he gulped and stood his ground.

"I… I want to know how you did it." As I raised an annoyed eyebrow, he took a deep breath in and clarified. "How did you become so strong?" Suddenly, I was reminded of my little chat with Sasuke from some time ago.

"Go ahead, guys. I'll catch up to you later." I said, not moving my eyes from the annoying boy.

"You sure, Eiji?" Chouji asked somewhat protectively and I suppressed a smile.

"Yeah, we are out in the open. What can he do?" I asked with a smirk as I watched Kiba squirm under my stare, either because of Bloodlust, the situation or anything else, I didn't know.

"True. Let's go, guys." Shikamaru called and they went ahead. Damn, I wanted to go too. I took a deep breath as I deactivated Bloodlust.

It had been a week since the Attack and we were already facing a little problem. We had no idea how to actually find Kobu. Oh, we could guess he was in the Inuzuka compound. No mystery there. But we couldn't actually go around the compound and search for the guy or ask around. That would be a dead giveaway for whoever investigated once we got our revenge. So, right now we could only go around trying to get some kind of clue or, preferably, figuratively or literally bumping with the guy. We didn't have any kind of information to work with, after all.

Turning my attention back to the less annoying Inuzuka I had to deal with, I considered what to do. Advising Sasuke was one thing. For one, the Uchiha was an ass, but at least he didn't go out of his way to antagonize my friends and I like Kiba did. And for another, he had some heavy reasons for his attitude and I knew about them. Everyone did. If the boy in front of me had any reason to be the way he was I didn't know them. And so, my answer came easily enough.

"Why should I help you, Dog Breath?" My voice coming out with as much annoyance as I was feeling. I was pleased to see his eyebrow twitch.

"I… I am sorry. Ok?" He said, squirming even more under my surprised gaze. "I… For all the things I've said to you and the others…" The apology couldn't be more forced, but I was just surprised that he had even said the words.

"And you expect me to spill everything just with that lame ass apology?" His eyebrow twitched again and his expression turned to an angry one. "No. It doesn't work that way, Dog Breath. You've insulted my friends and me for the whole year so far. It'll take more than that. I want you to apologize to all of us, in front of the class and…" I activated Bloodlust once more for emphasis. "you'll do so on your knees to Naruto. He has put up with your crap for too long." This definitely didn't have anything to do with the blond calling me brother. Nothing at all.

"Are you out of your mind?" He growled and I simply smirked.

"You wanted something and I just stated a price. If you don't want the answers, just go on your merry way and stay the hell away from us. Or else I'll have to not only kick your ass but also do so embarrassingly." I said and then went after my friends. The conversation was done as far as I was aware. I heard Kiba start grumbling a 'conversation' with Akamaru as I walked away.

"Why did you answer my questions but not his?" My head all but snapped to see Sasuke leaning against a wall next to me with his eternal brooding scowl in place.

"Because you haven't insulted my friends. At least, not unprovoked." I thought to myself as I remembered the several fights that I had to stop when Naruto got annoyed at all the attention the Uchiha got. "And you have a good reason for your attitude. He doesn't, not that I'm aware of, at least." He seemed to mull over those words for a moment before shaking his head. Probably keeping thoughts about the massacre out of his head.

"Doesn't matter." He muttered before straightening up. "You said that my diet could influence my strength. What do I have to eat to get stronger?" He asked bluntly and I tilted my head. That definitely wasn't what I expected him to ask when he approached me. If he ever did, that is.

"I don't know as much as Chouji does, his clan is the one that deals with food more. I've been following his advice so far. I wouldn't know if you need something different from what I eat." I explained first. "But I can give you a list of what I eat and when. I don't think it can be bad for you to follow my diet." His frown deepened for a moment before nodding.

"I would… appreciate it." He said, almost as if he was being careful not to butcher foreign words. I couldn't help but smile in amusement at that thought. "I'll bring something in return." He said and then simply left. That last part left me standing there for a moment. What could he be thinking of repaying me with?

With a sigh, I started walking again.

[}-o-{]

Turns out that being somewhat friendly with Sasuke Uchiha has its benefits. Why, you may be asking yourself. Well, that can be answered easily enough. The very next day after our chat after school, I gave him a sheet with the diet I followed and he gave me a freaking fuuma shuriken. Yes! One of the foldable big ass shuriken that he and Naruto used against Zabuza. Just having it in my hand made me feel bad ass as hell. Naruto wholeheartedly agreed.

Best. Trade. Ever.

Some may think I'm exaggerating, but no. We wouldn't get to use fuuma shuriken until we became Genin after all. Granted, it was probable that taking the Bukijutsu elective would give us access beforehand but still. We couldn't even buy them and neither of our friends' parents would give us some to practice, not without supervision. Shikamaru's and Chouji's mothers pulled me apart when they found out and threatened me with bodily harm if I ever lent the thing to their sons before the next year, at the very least.

That was scary, I will admit.

But I couldn't care less as I saw my new Shurikenjutsu screen.

[Shurikenjutsu

Shuriken Throwing – Lvl 12

Increased accuracy against a stationary target with a shuriken by 100%.

Increased accuracy against a moving target with a shuriken by 20%.

Fuuma Shuriken Throwing – Lvl 3

Increased accuracy against a stationary target with a fuuma shuriken by 20%.

Kunai Throwing – Lvl 12

Increased accuracy against a stationary target with a kunai by 100%.

Increased accuracy against a moving target with a kunai by 20%.

Senbon Throwing – Lvl 7

Increased accuracy against a stationary target with a senbon by 70%.]

I'll be honest though. It leveled slowly. Which made sense. I couldn't quite apply my mastery over the other weapons like I had done with the senbon at the start. The bigger shuriken was used too differently for that to apply.

I also quickly learned the reason behind all the fuss over the thing. One slip or wrong throwing and I could easily cut something off or worse. While normal shuriken and kunai were little things the size of our fingers, the fuuma shuriken had blades the size of our forearms, for Kami's sake! I was really careful once I finally got around starting training, and had to keep the thing in my inventory. No way I was leaving that thing in Naruto's reach. No way in hell.

Another reason for my slow progress was that I spent almost all my time training Stealth.

[Stealth (Active) – Lvl 17

Hides your presence according to the level of the skill and the awareness level of others.

Consumption 6 Energy Points per second.]

And I must say that it looked pretty nice. I was catching up with Shino's apparent level.

"Eiji, eyes up ahead." Shikamaru's whisper broke me from my thoughts as my eyes turned sharply towards the front. There he was, I thought as I heard one of the people around him calling his name. Kobu Inuzuka.

He looked a little like old Kiba from the Boruto series but with black hair and the Shippuden outfit. Next to him stood what was apparently his ninken. A Husky, not that I thought that's what they called it in this world. For a second, I focused my gaze on the dog. There was something wrong with it but I couldn't for the life of me tell what it was. There seemed to be a difference with the other ninken that stood with the party, besides breed that is.

I shook my head and focused on saving everything I could see for future reference. 'We finally find you.' I thought exasperated. I was starting to think the clue was actually a ruse. Time to see if Danzo had given me the right information. I didn't have any delusions about who had given it to me after all. Anyone else would have acted or not said anything.

"So, we follow the plan?" I asked Shikamaru, he was our strategist. I wouldn't dream of taking his place. He gave my question a somewhat reluctant nod.

"Think you can do it, Shino?" He asked instead, both of us turning our eyes to the Aburame. It was fortunate that Naruto and Chouji were away with the Akimichi trying to convince the blond to go to one of his clan's restaurants instead of Ichiraku.

"I believe so." The reserved boy answered pushing his glasses up.

"Good luck." Shikamaru and I said as he moved away and we took the other two inside the restaurant.

The plan was simple enough, I thought as we sat at a table. Shino would follow the guy to his house and from there we would gather information as discreetly as possibly until we could prove he was guilty. Then came our revenge. I smirked as we ordered. It was just question of time anyway.

[}-o-{]

It was late that night. I was jumping through roofs as I had been doing for the last two weeks. It was training for both Stealth and Free Running and I had upped the effort that day. Shino had come back that night with the address of the Inuzuka and Shikamaru was probably happily planning with the extra information.

Keeping in mind the Nara's suggestion, I stayed as far away from the Inuzuka compound as I could. He already had some clever ideas in mind and I was putting them to use. But I still couldn't keep the smile off my face. We were one step closer to getting payback.

A shadow flew from the side and tackled me right in the gut. I fell in an alley, gasping desperately for air as I looked around for whoever attacked me. A second letter I felt a cold edge on my neck and I looked down to see a hand holding a kunai.

"Now, now. What do we have here?" A voice whispered next to my ear. "I think you are smart enough not to shout, Satou-kun." 'Who the hell-?' "You thought you could just up and follow a Chuunin like that? An Inuzuka at that?" My blood froze as I realized. 'Kobu.'

His dog walked up to us from in front of me. It's white patches of fur doing nothing to conceal its presence even if the black parts blended perfectly in the shadows. And even without the white, those blue eyes seemed to shine in the darkness as they stared at me and its partner.

"I kind of understand it." The guy kept talking and I kept listening, keenly aware of the steel against my throat. "I attacked your… friend." He spat the last word so much venom that I almost flinched. "That thing shouldn't have remained inside this village. So many deaths, so many families destroyed just like mine. I even lost my partner that night. And what do they do? They left it roaming here, around our people."

"I would leave it as it is, brat." He told me. "I almost pity the obnoxious blonde. Almost. I was just venting a little anger, you see. I can't do anything about it, after all. Kami, I can't stand the sight of it." He muttered bitterly. "But alas, it'll live. So, leave me alone and nobody has to suffer. Let's go." The last part was said to the dog, who nodded weakly and both disappeared.

My back straightened, finally free of the edged threat, as I took a deep breath in. My mind worked as fast as it could, processing his words. He knew Naruto wasn't the Kyubi. He knew, but he didn't care anyway. The thought of what the blond contained alone had driven the broken man to the edge and he took it out as best he could.

If Danzo was the only one that knew it was him then… he probably left it to me because nobody had been actually hurt. A test of sorts. I already knew that part, I even had an idea as to why nothing had been done. My theory was that Danzo was keeping an eye on Naruto with Root. As such, he probably was the only one that knew what had happened. And considering everything. Doing something probably wasn't a good decision for him if he wanted his group to stay under the radar. Not to mention that the Warhawk probably didn't care enough. It probably wasn't something to make a big deal off in his books.

Flashes of Naruto came to my mind. How he had been after the attack. How affected he had been.

"You're the best, Eiji-nii."

It didn't matter. It didn't matter if this was a test from Danzo. It didn't matter if Kobu had reasons.

He had hurt my friend. That was everything I cared about. If anything, it was made worse because the Inuzuka knew that he wasn't the Kyubi. Nothing was his fault. But he had to deal with it anyway.

I cracked my neck and started training again. I would need a damn high level of Stealth to get our revenge. But it would happen. He would suffer. I would make sure of it.

[}-o-{]

"He came for me." I said the next day as I sat beside Shikamaru and Shino. Both of them tensed up at my words.

"He saw me following?" Shino asked and I nodded. "I apolo-"

"Don't worry." I waved of his apology. "We should have known better. We are doing a lot better against the teachers but they still aren't active Chuunin." I reassured keeping my voice calm.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked with his eyes narrowed.

"He said to leave him alone." I relayed. "And he also confirmed that it was him." I informed and both of my friends seemed to go over the information.

"We are not leaving him alone, are we?" Shikamaru continued and I turned to him and stared. "Right. We'll have to be more careful."

"Indeed." I said simply. Iruka-sensei kept going on about the exams that would take place in two weeks. "For now, we train. He won't be going anywhere. We can play the long game." Both of them nodded turning to the front. "Oh, and Shika." He turned towards me with a frown that disappeared as soon as he saw me. "We are making it much more painful for him. Just to let you know." He nodded once more and turned.

[Bloodlust has gone up a level.]

[}-o-{]

Ino PoV

I shuddered as I looked at Eiji's spar with Chouji. I had thought his mood would improve with time, but apparently, I was wrong. Ever since that night three weeks ago, the Satou had been downright cruel in his spars. Kiba, being the stupid mutt he was, had gotten the worst of it after insulting Naruto.

Nobody had insulted Naruto since that day. Not out loud at least.

He didn't even spare his friends apparently. Although he was much more… good intentioned about it. More than once I had heard him giving them advice after a spar. None of them seemed to take offence either, which was baffling if someone asked me.

I had even asked Shika why they kept hanging with him. Why he put up with him. It didn't make sense in my head. Eiji was pushing them to do better and Shikamaru should have to try his best to get away from someone like that. At least that's what I thought.

"We train because we want to." He had said in response. "We asked him not to go easy on us." I could only stare at him with a gobsmacked expression.

"But you never want to train." I had pointed out shocked and he simply shrugged with that exasperating bored expression of his.

"He convinced me." And he left it at that as if that should explain everything.

Nothing about Eiji Satou made sense, I thought as he took out Chouji and they left the circle. The red-eyed boy whispering things to the Akimichi, probably advice or something of the sort. I could only shake my head at that. Things had been so much easier before the boy appeared.

I shook my head as the cold red eyes from that night flashed through my mind.

Not too long after that, I had made my way back home and started helping my mother with the shop. I was drawing things in a notebook as I waited for time to just pass at the counter. I would never understand how my mother could enjoy doing this every day. The disbelief increased as I heard her hum contently to herself going through the plants on the greenhouse behind the shop.

I was broken from my thoughts as I heard the bells and instantly my mouth opened to welcome whoever had walked in. However, my teeth clicked shut seeing who it as. Red eyes found me and he smiled. What would have usually a warm smile before now wasn't nearly as reassuring as it would have been. I had seen what laid behind that expression.

"Hello, Ino." He greeted with a wave of his hand.

"Good afternoon, Eiji, welcome to our shop." I said, my voice coming out almost warm mostly because of all the times I had greeted customers. "What can I do for you?" I asked.

"I'm actually here to speak to your parents. Are they here?" He asked looking around before we once more my mother hummed a tone at the back.

"That's my mother. I'll call her for you." I made conscious effort not to run to the back. The boy just made me feel uneasy, and I really didn't like that feeling. At least he was acting somewhat normal, if he looked like he did that night… I shuddered at the thought.

"What can I do for you, Eiji-kun?" My mother asked with a big smile once we both made our way to the counter. I really didn't like how everyone acted so familiar with him. Although, I couldn't for the life of me think why.

"Well, it's more a question of what I can do for you, Yamanaka-sama." He still acted respectful. That was something.

"I've told you to call me Noriko, Eiji-kun." My eyebrow twitched. It was a good thing my mother wasn't looking at me. She really didn't like when I antagonized Eiji. Even though it didn't make sense for us to act close.

"That would be disrespectful, Yamanaka-sama." He said with a wry smile. Maybe he also thought it was weird. It would be nice to have someone understand the craziness of his existence, even if it was himself.

"So, what were you here for?" My mother asked.

"Well… I was here to ask for a job." He said, scratching the back of his head. A habit that he probably picked up from Naruto if I had to guess. Fortunately, that seemed to be about the only thing he did get from the obnoxious boy.

"Oh? I would have thought you would ask the Akimichi first." My mother voiced and I couldn't help but be curious myself. Chouji had spent more than one conversation talking about how great Eiji's cooking was. And he was much closer to them than to us as mother said.

"That was one of my first options, together with other restaurants." He replied with a polite smile. "But I thought I would try and pick up some new skills before graduation." I narrowed my eyes trying to detect a lie as my father had taught me. He wasn't lying, at least from what I could see and as a Yamanaka I could see a lot.

"Hmmm." My mother hummed tapping her chin with a finger in thought. "I'm guessing you don't know much?" He shook his head keeping his smile. "That could be a problem. There are some plants here that could be easily damaged or, on the contrary, some of them are dangerous to handle."

Meanwhile, I didn't know if I should be happy or angry. On one hand, if he started working at the shop, I would have more free time. On the other, if he did, he would be around a lot more.

"I understand that." He conceded easily. "I'm willing to spend some time working without pay as I learn what I need to. For as long as you think it's necessary." Working without pay? I wouldn't do that in a million years. Well… I wouldn't if my parents didn't force me to, that is.

"I'll have to talk about it with my husband. But I think we can agree to that. We can take care of the shop well enough by ourselves but sometimes Ino is too busy to help here." I looked away at the disappointed in her voice as she said the last part. What? I had better things to do than sit at the counter all day or tend to the plants. I quite liked gardening but everything had limits.

"Just say the word and I'll start right away. Anytime is fine as long as it isn't during Academy hours that is." He said with an excited grin. No one should be that happy to work, I thought resisting the urge to groan. "Also, thanks for your time. Have a nice day, Yamanaka-sama, Ino."

"Have a nice day yourself, Eiji-kun." My mother waved happily as the boy left.

"See you." I said unenthusiastically.

"Well, it'll be nice to have more help around the shop." My mother turned to me and I really didn't like the glint in her eyes. I forced a smile on my face as I spoke.

"Yes, it'll be nice to have a bit more free-time." Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say as the glint intensified.

"Yeah, about that, sweetie." I gulped. This couldn't be good. "Once your father gives the okay, you will be in charge of teaching him what he needs to know."

I groaned and mentally cursed the existence of Eiji Satou once more.