By evening, as visibility started to fade and the trees grew sparser, we decided to set up camp.
I took my camping prep seriously, so I barely felt any discomfort - a small tent, a sleeping bag, even a little kettle with some treats stashed away. By the time I finished pitching the tent, Itachi came back with firewood. I was just about to dig through my backpack for a lighter, but she started forming hand seals.
"Katon: Fireball." A small ball of flame quickly set the thin, dry branches alight, and she began stacking thicker ones on top. "What?" she asked, noticing how intently I was watching her.
"Is it really necessary to say the name of the jutsu out loud? Wouldn't it be better in a fight to say nothing at all, or even call out the name of a completely different technique?" That question had always bugged me when I watched Naruto.
She shot me a cold look, formed hand seals again, and breathed out a slightly bigger fireball. [ image ]

"You're right," she said. "You don't have to say the name of the jutsu." With that, she started poking at the fire with a stick.
"So, why do it then…?"
"Habit," she answered right away, not even glancing at me.
"Got it… don't take it the wrong way, it just seems kind of silly to me."
"I know," she replied just as curtly, and silence fell again.
Well, if she knows, then that's that. Maybe saying the name actually makes the jutsu more effective?
I started practicing the hand seals for her technique. Memorizing the sequence wasn't that hard - back in school, my friend and I, who was also into Naruto, used to play ninja for fun, acting out jutsu. And since the fireball technique was the flashiest, I knew all the hand seals by heart - actually, it was more like muscle memory.
(P.S.: I used to spam the Thousand Years of Death technique.)
But unlike back then, when I was just playing around, now I was a different person in a different world. So I was honestly surprised when I felt warmth spreading from my stomach up to my throat.
If I could talk, I'd have said, "Holy shit," but the stream of fire coming out of my mouth made that impossible. I even had to tilt my head back so I wouldn't accidentally set Itachi on fire - she was watching me with her Sharingan, hands on her pouch.
"Ahem, ahem." I coughed, reached for my bottle, and took a few gulps of water. "Turns out, learning jutsu isn't that hard after all."
Itachi shot me a fierce look, then relaxed, taking her hand off her pouch.
"That was your first time using that jutsu?" she asked.
"Yeah, I just wanted to try the hand seals for fun. Didn't think it would actually work," I said, nodding seriously.
"That's odd… Without a Sharingan, it's almost impossible to copy someone else's jutsu, and it's not just about the hand seals." I just shrugged, so she went on, "Besides getting the sequence right, you have to change the flow of chakra in your body in a specific way. The hand seals just help with that, nudging the chakra to move differently. They only nudge it, so…"
"Still, the jutsu was pretty weak, and there wasn't even a real fireball. The strength barely reached D-rank. It'd only be good for giving someone a minor burn."
I couldn't argue with that. Honestly, I probably could've gotten the same amount of fire by filling my mouth with kerosene and spitting it out over a torch. So just knowing the hand seals isn't enough to perfectly copy a jutsu. The Sharingan's real advantage is seeing the flow of chakra and how it moves. You can't trick an Uchiha with a feint - they'll see right away if you're focusing chakra into an attack or not. And with the Sharingan, their reaction speed goes up too, so yeah, they're total damn cheaters. And that's just the basic Sharingan abilities - it also makes casting genjutsu easier.
"Damn, I think I burned my tongue a little." I took a few more sips of water.
"Yeah, that happens to everyone the first time." For the first time, I saw a faint smile on her face, tinged with nostalgia. "Next time you want to light a gas stove, focus a bit of chakra on the tip of your tongue. The chakra channels there are really tiny, so they're easily affected by jutsu that use the mouth."
Yeah, this jutsu isn't good for much else - maybe just lighting a campfire.
For the next half hour, we just sat across from each other on fallen logs, watching the fire crackle and pop. The kettle, its bottom already blackened, started to whistle, and a few minutes later, we were sitting with metal mugs full of green tea. Thick sausages were slowly roasting on skewers, propped up on a makeshift stand of rocks and a chunk of wood, filling the air with a mouthwatering aroma.
Itachi sat not far from me, eating her field rations without taking her eyes off the sausages.
"Are you all on the same diet? What about jerky?" I couldn't help but ask, my curiosity getting the better of me. By "you," I meant ANBU, but it could just as well apply to shinobi in general.
"For a short mission, you can get by without meat. But it looks like you packed for a picnic," she said, glancing at the dishes laid out on the blanket three steps from us.
"You've got to make the best of any situation. Done a lot of missions like this?"
"Escort and protection? Around a hundred, give or take," she replied, taking a sip of tea.
"Oh, so you're a seasoned kunoichi. You don't look it - you seem way too young."
"I'm fourteen, but age doesn't determine a shinobi's strength," she answered calmly.
"Fourteen?! Wow." I couldn't hide my surprise. "Man, at your age I was mostly just hanging out with friends. Tell me, does your clan have a girl in ANBU?"
"Hmm?" She raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You're from the Uchiha clan, right? You don't have to answer - I saw your red eyes. Anyway, I wanted to meet a girl from your clan. All I know is she's in ANBU and definitely has a Sharingan… I don't remember everything, but she was about your height, maybe a bit taller. And you guys all have pretty much the same hairstyle."
"I see. And why do you want to meet her?" she asked, leaning forward a little.
"Oh, Itachi, you're still young - you wouldn't understand. The day she saved me, I was just blown away. The way she moved, the epic pose she struck… man, it's a shame her mask kept me from hearing her voice. And her legs…"
"Ahem—" she choked on her tea, but quickly recovered. "Uh… what about her legs?" she asked, glancing away for a second.
"I've never seen such beautiful, slender legs. You can tell she trains them with a special routine. Trust me, if I'd been in better shape that day, I would've run after her right away. So, do you know her?"
"There are a few girls in ANBU from our clan, but let's say I have a pretty good idea who you mean. Even if I told her you wanted to meet, she'd probably say no." She looked more embarrassed than she had in the woods when she caught me watering a tree. [ image ]
"Does she have a boyfriend?" I asked, disappointed.
"Not exactly. She's just focused on other things right now - not much time for fun or relaxation. Plus, our clan's rules forbid relationships with men outside the clan."
"Oh, that's a shame. But I really liked her - I'd at least like to thank her and chat a bit… So, tell me about her. What does she like? What's her favorite food?"
Yeah, just as I thought. Funny how she tries not to talk about herself, but when it comes to this "other" girl from her clan, she's happy to chat. Does she even realize that, as just an "acquaintance," she shouldn't know this much about her?
"I think I get how you know so much about her…" I said thoughtfully, and she quickly straightened up, wiping away her faint smile. "She's your best friend, right?" I pretended to have a sudden realization.
"Mm, you could say that," she answered, a little embarrassed.
"And you didn't want to talk to me the whole way here, but the moment I brought up your friend, you started talking like a waterfall… Oh, now I get why you said she wouldn't be interested in me. It all makes sense. And you two know each other so well… there's no way I'm wrong."
Itachi looked at me, eyebrow raised - obviously, she had no idea where I was going with this.
"Don't get me wrong, Itachi, I totally get it. Some girls have feelings for other girls. There's nothing to be ashamed of - I'm not going to laugh at you or judge you. As far as I'm concerned, love between two girls is just as pure as love between a man and a woman. Now, two guys - that's a bit much."
"What are you—" she started, mouth open in surprise, then blushed and dropped her head. "You've got it all wrong, I'm not like that."
"Yap-yap—" I heard a strange sound from the woods and immediately tensed up. The embarrassed Itachi was gone in an instant - she was already in a fighting stance, kunai in hand, standing protectively in front of me. I hadn't even noticed her move.
"Yap-tyat—" I heard again, and when I saw Itachi raise her hand to throw, I shouted,
"Wait!" She stopped mid-swing - honestly, I was surprised she even listened to me.
The rustling got louder, and thanks to the firelight, we finally saw a little red face peeking out from the bushes.
"Hm, just a fox," Itachi said, sitting back down on her log.
The little face didn't hurry off, just kept watching us.
"Guess the smell got her attention." Grabbing a skewer with some finished sausages, I took one and tossed it toward the bush. There was a flurry of movement as the fox ran off, but twenty seconds later, her face peeked out again. She eyed the sausage on the ground, then slowly crept out.
"Still just a baby." At my voice, she froze for a second, then started inching toward the sausage, glancing at me the whole time.
"Tyav—" Grabbing the sausage, the little fox darted back into the bushes, making me laugh.
"Oh, that was quick," I said, surprised when she came back a minute later. I tore off another sausage and started wiggling it to get her attention.
Foxes are probably the most cautious animals in the forest, mostly thanks to their pretty sharp animal instincts. I'd even heard they can cover their tracks with their tails.
The little fox hesitated for less than two minutes - maybe she realized I wasn't a threat - but she still gave Itachi a wide berth, keeping at least five meters away from her.
Taking the sausage from my hand, she turned and ran off again.
"Well, she'll be full now for sure." Noticing Itachi eyeing the last sausage on the skewer, I couldn't help but smile and handed it to her.
"No need, I've got my own food," she said, quickly raising her hands in refusal.
"It's fine, I brought five kilos of sausages - I won't starve. And as my bodyguard, you definitely need the protein." In the end, I convinced her, and as I reached for the second skewer, there was more rustling from the bushes.
"Again? What a little mooch." This time, the fox was bolder, coming right out of the bushes and stopping ten meters from the fire, as if asking for permission to come closer.
"Alright, alright, don't give me those puppy eyes." I pulled off another sausage, and as soon as I did, she let out a happy squeak.
"Tyav-tyav—" I glanced over at the bushes, where a curious white head was peeking out.
An arctic fox? Here? What the hell? Oh, maybe it's an albino - you don't see those very often.
The red fox, about to come over, immediately turned and started yapping at the albino, who disappeared into the leaves. But just a few seconds later, the white face peeked out again and started sneaking closer.
When the red fox grabbed the sausage from my hand, she nearly jumped in surprise when she saw her white friend behind her.
"Tyavk-tyavk," the red one said, then took off running, but the albino stayed put, curiously glancing from me to the skewer.
"Well, aren't you brave, little guy?" Smiling at the white fox, I took another sausage and held it out.
"Tyavk?" The white fox was bolder, grabbing the sausage and calmly eating it right next to me. Meanwhile, the red one stood by the bushes, watching me warily, ready to bolt or rescue her friend at any moment.
"Tyavk-tyavk, tyavk tyavk." The white one started making noise, staring at the last sausage. [ image ]

"Hmmm, alright, but only if you let me pet you." Like with a cat, I held my hand out at head level and waited. The little fox cautiously approached and licked my finger, which still had a bit of sausage grease on it.
"Tyavk." He started licking off all the grease, then looked up at me with curiosity.
"Alright, that'll do." Getting his sausage, he turned and ran off with the red one. [ image ]

****
"What do you live for?" Itachi decided to break the peaceful silence that had settled after our little guests left.
"What do I live for?" I repeated her question out loud, poking at the coals with a stick. "Do you really need a reason to live?" I looked up at her - she seemed to be listening closely.
"A life without a goal… it's meaningless," she answered after a few seconds. "You must have some reason you get out of bed every day and go somewhere."
"A life without a goal isn't meaningless, it's just boring. I just live and try to spice up the boredom a little. If you mean something bigger, like the meaning of life, it's simple - there is no answer. Some people invent a goal and make it their life's meaning, others think searching for the meaning of life is the meaning itself. I just want to sleep, eat, laugh, cry, love and hate, run around or do nothing at all. I don't want less, and I don't need more. You live just to live."
After a short silence, while she thought over my words, she said,
"Someone once told me… if life isn't eternal, then it has no meaning."
"Eternal life, huh? Whoever said that must be miserable, probably spends all day thinking about how not to die. You have a family, right?" Itachi looked up and nodded.
"Do you love your family?" I turned my gaze back to the fire.
"Yes," she answered energetically.
"Then protect them with everything you've got - there's your meaning of life." I smiled out of the corner of my mouth.
"Akira… san, do you have a family?" My smile slowly faded, and for some reason, I suddenly wanted to look up at the sky.
"The stars shine so bright here… No, Itachi, I don't have a family. I don't have close friends, not even a cat, heh. But there are people I enjoy spending time with. I can't really say who they are to me, but if they disappeared from my life, I'd be sad.
Anyway, we've finished our tea, I've played the wise philosopher, and it's time to hit the hay. If it gets cold tonight, come into my tent - I promise I won't let my hands get too adventurous." Laughing at my own joke, I crawled into my little tent.
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