Naruto: Akira’s Story

Well... I definitely didn't see that coming, but as they say, what goes around comes around. If my proposal gets approved, life will get a little easier for former clanless shinobi, and as for me, being completely exempt from taxes means I'll be making more profit from the restaurant. Not bad at all.

My good karma had me so uplifted, I was practically floating as I made my way home. I wanted to help everyone, hand out smiles to every passerby - I swear, give it a little more time and I'd have a halo over my head. I decided to take the route through the northwest district, since there were more parks there. Ten minutes into my lofty thoughts, I was snapped back to reality by a strange sound.

It wasn't people shouting - it was cats. Or something like that, anyway. The point is, I heard a loud, pitiful cat wail, turning into a drawn-out meow.

Trying to find the source, I came across a little girl standing at the base of a pretty tall tree, staring up. [ image ]

"So that's where the noise is coming from."

Getting closer, I craned my neck and looked up at a small, fluffy, white, lop-eared cat - a Scottish Fold. How do I know? I used to have almost the exact same cat when I was a kid. Sadly, mine didn't even make it to seven months before she died of some illness. I didn't know that at the time - my parents lied and told me she'd left home to find her family, and I believed it, even though I was sad. It wasn't until I was thirteen, when I randomly brought her up, that my mom let it slip how sorry she was the cat died so young.

"How'd you even manage to get up there?" I asked out loud, and the cute, dark-haired girl glanced at me, though after a moment she went back to watching the cat, occasionally sneaking glances my way.

"So, how are we going to get her down?" I wondered. Looking the girl over, I noticed scrapes on her knuckles and bruises on her legs. She caught me looking and frowned. "You go to the ninja academy, right?"

She narrowed her eyes and nodded.

"Can you use chakra?" She gave me a puzzled look and answered, "Yeah." Oh, so you do talk.

"Ever seen shinobi run up walls? Think you could do that?" I asked, pointing at the cat.

"They haven't taught us that," she shook her head.

"That's a problem..." The girl smirked, hearing her classmate's favorite word. "Have you ever tried sticking to vertical surfaces yourself?"

She thought for a second, then nodded. "Yeah, a year ago, but I couldn't do it at all."

"Well... that was a year ago. Maybe you'll manage now." She raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "And what exactly do you want me to do?" "Uh... try running at the tree and climbing up."

She shrugged, took a few steps back for a running start, and launched herself at the trunk. She managed to push off twice, getting about twelve meters up - which, for her size, was impressive, but with a forty-meter pine and the cat stuck near the top, it wasn't nearly enough.

I scratched my head.

"So when are they going to teach you that?" She thought about it.

"I don't think they teach that at the academy."

"What? So all they teach you is how to throw punches and kunai?" The girl didn't like my tone and shot back, "They teach us jutsu too."

"Oh, now we're talking. Which ones? Wait, let me guess: Transformation Technique? Clone Technique, and...?"

"And the Substitution Technique," she replied, eyebrows furrowed, liking me even less now.

"Great, four years and they could've taught you something more useful... like tree-walking," I pointed up.

"Well, they did teach us how to hold a leaf on our forehead with chakra." She didn't want to admit that in two years, they'd barely taught them anything. She hadn't really thought about it before, but now, trying to defend her academy's honor, she realized how silly that sounded, and blushed a little.

"Oh, really? That must look funny... Wait, if you can hold a leaf on your forehead with chakra, can't you do the same with your feet on a tree?"

She looked at me like I was an idiot. Holding a leaf on your forehead and holding your whole body on a tree - those are two totally different... Wait, what if it actually works that way?

She walked up to the tree and pressed one foot against the bark, then tried to stick it there with chakra, just like with the leaf.

"It actually works," she thought, after a few failed attempts to pull her foot off. She quickly put her other foot up, and now she was standing parallel to the ground. Slowly, she lifted one foot higher, then the other, then the first again... oops.

The girl started falling backwards, but Akira, who'd been standing nearby just in case, managed to catch her.

Before she could even squeak, he set her back on her feet.

"Hmm, you almost had it. Did you get the idea?"

The annoyed girl calmed down and looked at the bark, which had cracked.

"If you use too much chakra, the bark breaks. Too little, and your foot won't stick... I get it. I can do this!"

With a determined look, she started climbing again - and fell. This time, she was ready, flipping in the air and landing softly. She immediately tried again, but still couldn't get the control right. It was like she'd entered a meditative state, trying over and over, each time getting a little higher.

"I did it!" Holding the cat in her arms, the girl couldn't hide her joy at conquering herself.

"Yeah? Good job. Now come down - just be careful."

Only now did she notice the sun was already starting to set. Had she really been here for three hours?

Coming down, she found that strange guy - good-looking, too - sitting on a blanket in the grass. Next to him was a basket and a thermos, from which he was taking slow sips.

"Here, you must be hungry," he said, offering her a sausage.

"No, thank you."

He gave her a funny look, then at the sausage, which he offered to the cat, who immediately started pawing at it. Suddenly, she felt a little awkward - and even more embarrassed when her stomach growled at that exact moment.

The cat, twisting nimbly, jumped out of her arms and settled on the guy's lap, happily munching on the sausage pieces he fed her. [ Image ]



"Aww, what a cutie... You were scared, huh? There, there, eat up, don't be shy. Luckily, this nice girl helped you out. Oh, right! Sit down and grab a bite — can't believe I forgot my manners? You've earned it."

She wanted to leave, to get away from here, but her stomach rumbled again, and the smell was just too good to resist.

"Here, I made this for lunch today - it's called pizza. Take it as a thank you for saving this little troublemaker."

She was about to refuse, but when she saw the rings of sliced tomato on the "pizza," she couldn't help herself.

"Okay… just a little bite, then." Sitting down on her knees, she took a slice from the plastic container and carefully bit into the crust.

"Mmm, this is delicious!"

As she ate, she listened to the guy talk about the cat he'd had as a kid, and after a few minutes, she realized her hand, reaching for the container, couldn't find anything.

"Kami! Did I eat it all? Ugh, how awkward…"

Lost in her thoughts about how she'd just embarrassed herself and her whole clan, she didn't even notice someone calling her.

"Sasuke-chan, you're late today. What's that?"

"Huh?" She looked at the cat in her arms and the half-empty juice bottle, then up at her mother.

Thinking back, she remembered how she'd just nodded when someone handed her the juice and told her to take care of the cat.

"Ah, crap, I got so lost in thought I even forgot to say thank you for the food."

"Meow?" The cat licked her cheek, where a bit of tomato sauce from the pizza still lingered.

"SO EMBARRASSING!" Sasuke blushed, not even knowing how to explain all this to her mom - or whether her dad would even let her keep the cat.

Meanwhile, back at home, Akira - still feeling inspired - was painting a portrait of a very cute girl with an adorable cat in her arms, multiplying the cuteness factor by ten.

After that, he went to bed, exhausted.

🔥~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~🔥

Thank you so much for the power stones! I really appreciate the support!