Gastrodia was sharp-tongued and tsundere, while Itachi was cool and distant. Naturally, the two found it hard to get along. Perhaps it was because like attracts like—or maybe because both were prodigies in their own right.
When Kokoro brought the black cat back and removed the enchanted cat ears, she heard it let out a distinct meow. Curious, she put the ears back on, only for the cat to fall silent. She tried again—ears off, the cat cried; ears on, it clammed up.
After repeating the experiment twice, she realized the black cat was teasing her.
"You damn cat! You dare play tricks on me? Hmph—no food for you! And if I catch you at it again, I'll skin you bald and make you run around naked!" Kokoro muttered darkly, glaring at it as her resentment simmered.
"Woman."
A dull, steady voice suddenly sounded through the room.
Startled, Kokoro, who had been tidying the table, froze and glanced around before her gaze landed on the black cat. "…Was that you?"
"Yes, woman. Don't doubt it. It was me," the cat replied calmly, this time carrying itself like a seasoned elder. "My name is Qingfeng. My previous master was Kazama Yexue. I believe you know why I've come to you."
Kokoro blinked. What? Teacher Yexue's pet? No—her ninja cat?
But when had Aunt Yexue ever kept a cat? Kokoro had never seen it!
She stared suspiciously at Qingfeng, trying to determine if it was lying.
"What do you mean? I don't understand." Even if it truly was Aunt Yexue's ninja cat, why seek her out?
"Now that she's gone, someone has to look after the one she cherished," Qingfeng answered simply, silencing all of Kokoro's doubts in one line.
Her throat tightened. Aunt Yexue… she really had cared deeply for her.
After a long pause, Kokoro asked in a hoarse whisper, "Aunt Yexue… is she still alive?"
During the Nine-Tails' attack, the Fourth Hokage died, Uzumaki Kushina perished, and Teacher Yexue vanished without a trace. Few even knew she had existed. When asked, people dismissed her—if she wasn't alive, then she must have died. Only Itachi's mother and the Third Hokage had ever acknowledged her at all.
Kokoro had never wanted to believe it. How could Aunt Yexue—someone who knew the future—die so easily?
"Who knows?" Qingfeng replied airily, leaping onto the bed and curling up as if disinterested.
"…Don't you know?" Kokoro frowned. There was no contract? A bonded summoning beast should be able to sense if its master still lived.
But Qingfeng rarely explained anything. He always called her "woman, woman" without pause. Kokoro would huff that she was only eight years old—hardly old enough to be called a woman.
Qingfeng would then squint at her chest with disdain, nod solemnly, and mutter, "Kid."
Several times, Kokoro clenched her fists and barely restrained herself from throttling the arrogant cat.
With another mouth to feed, her meager funds drained quickly. Though Qingfeng looked small, his appetite was monstrous. He turned his nose up at vegetables, demanding meat at every meal. Kokoro spent nearly all her savings buying cuts of meat, leaving nothing for new clothes.
Each time she appeared before Sasuke in the same outfit twice, the boy would ask curiously if she owned nothing else.
Mortified, Kokoro covered with an excuse: You wear the same clothes too, don't you?
Of course, Sasuke's and Itachi's clothes bore the Uchiha crest, uniform and mass-produced—though, as the clan head's family, theirs were of higher quality.
Since they were all Uchiha, they often used the same nearby training grounds. Kokoro found herself encountering Itachi more and more.
At last, she understood what it meant to be the Uchiha clan's genius. No matter whether she arrived at six or even earlier at five, Itachi was already there. His training regimen was always twice as intense as hers.
Gradually, Kokoro noticed herself caring more and more about him.
"You're too precocious," Qingfeng drawled one day. "You see how rapidly Itachi grows stronger, yet you don't push yourself harder? At Yexue's age, she was already Chunin."
Precocious? What did her concern for Itachi have to do with being precocious? Kokoro didn't understand.
She continued her daily training regardless, occasionally bringing Itachi's favorite dango skewers. To keep Sasuke from interrupting them, she also carried tomatoes, which she'd pass to Itachi to distract his younger brother.
"Qingfeng, was Teacher Yexue really that incredible?" she asked one evening, packing her gear as the cat lay curled in a chair.
This time the mission was another escort, ranked C. Their destination was the Land of Grass—a longer journey requiring extra supplies.
"Of course," Qingfeng said, eyes glinting with nostalgia. "She was the same age as the Fourth Hokage and had her own master. She became Jonin at sixteen, fought on the battlefield, and performed admirably during the Third Great War."
Everyone who remembered Yexue seemed to miss her dearly. Yet her life had ultimately been destroyed because of the Fourth Hokage.
"Well, I'm off. This one will take a while. Want to stay home, or come with me?" Kokoro asked, adjusting the backpack slung over her shoulders. She wore a slit cheongsam-style outfit, with kunai pouches strapped to her waist and thigh.
Qingfeng thought for a moment. Since it would be a long mission, it was safer to accompany her. He sprang onto her shoulders. The weight made her stagger, already burdened as she was.
"Qingfeng! Have you been overeating lately? You're heavy!"
"Nonsense," Qingfeng huffed, unwilling to admit it. But even he wondered if his strength had dulled after growing so comfortable.
"Seriously—you're impossible to carry. This isn't the Inuzuka clan. Why do I have to lug around a fat cat everywhere? And Aunt Yexue—why would she keep a spoiled, lazy cat like you?"
"Hmph! This cat was once mighty—stronger than that dumb tiger!"
"A tiger? Please. No way a cat's stronger than a tiger."
"You're ignorant!"
"You're spouting nonsense!"
"You're unreasonable!"
"No, you're unreasonable!"
They bickered back and forth until Qingfeng abruptly dropped his voice.
"You like Itachi, don't you?"
"You like Itachi!" Kokoro shot back.
"Oh, yes. I do like him."
"Liar—it's me who likes Ita—wait, what?!" Kokoro froze. Damn it—she'd been tricked! This wily old cat had lived too long; his cunning was unmatched.
Behind them, Itachi had appeared silently. His cheeks flushed faintly as he opened his mouth to speak—then thought better of it.
"I know you like him," Qingfeng continued smugly. "But Yexue said that boy's destined to die young. Are you sure you want to risk liking him?"
Kokoro stiffened. "Didn't Aunt Yexue say fate can be changed? Besides—when did I ever say I liked him?"
"You just did."
"You tricked me into it!"
"You admitted it yourself. If you don't believe me, ask him."
"Ask… who?"
"Itachi."
Kokoro's heart stopped. "Why would he know?"
"Didn't I tell you he was following us?"
"What?!"
She whipped around—and there stood Itachi, face tinged red, silent witness to everything.
Kokoro's scream echoed across the path. Oh no—he heard it all!