Chapter 114: Plan; Advice

When I exited Mount Hane, I drew in a deep breath as I glanced up at the afternoon sun.

Time passed differently inside the Summoning World, so sometimes I felt like I was gone for hours, other times minutes, and the outside world wouldn't reflect that.

I had entered early this morning and spent a good chunk of the day inside the Summoning World, and yet only a few hours had passed...

Sighing, I got to my feet and stretched, looking around the Compounds yard.

Currently, Kurenai and Anko were on a short mission, our raven haired wife wanting to 'stretch her legs' again on our off day, so...

Looking to my left, I saw Cameia leaning against a tree as she watched Karin throw a kunai at the tree.

"Less power, more control. Again."

The young Uzumaki nodded, her face serious as she jogged to the tree and dislodged the kunai from the trunk, before jogging back to stand beside Cameia.

Almost completely one movement, the young girl threw the kunai again, the sharp blade whistling through the air and thunking into the tree.

Karin instantly glanced at Cameia, who nodded to her.

Those golden eyes were set into her eternally stoic face, and they moved my way when I stepped forwards.

Noticing that Cameia wasn't staring at her anymore, Karin tilted her head before turning around.

Seeing me, she grinned and launched herself into my arms, her crimson eyes wide as she asked "When did you get back Aunty?"

Ruffling her dyed hair, I said "Just now. How's the training going Karin?"

Pulling away, she beamed as she proudly chirped "Aunty Cameia's teaching me how to better throw kunai, and I've managed to hit the mark each time today!"

Glancing at the tall woman leaning against the tree, I saw her shallow nod, her golden eyes alternating between Karin and I.

"Good job~! Hey, since you've done so well, how about we go out and get some ramen tonight, hmm~? Maybe a certain blonde haired boy will join us~?"

I gave her a knowing smile as she blushed, her face turning shy as she started wringing her hands.

"W-Well... Ichiraku does sound good..."

Her low mutter made me chuckle, and I pat her shoulder and said "Hit the next ten in a row and we'll go~!"

Seeing her eyes widen at that, I chuckled again as she rushed to get her kunai, her every move excited.

Leaning against Cameia's side, I glanced up at her and muttered "She's been fine, yeah?"

Giving me another shallow nod, she responded to me in a low tone as well, saying "Karin always is. Eager to learn, easy to teach. Skilled. Talented."

Snaking her arm around my waist, she held me closer to her as we watched Karin sling her kunai towards the tree, the blade sinking into the wood with ease.

Giggling to herself as she hit the target again, she peeked back at me, her face lighting up as I nodded to her.

"Hey, so Kurenai and I..."

Looking down at me, Cameia listened as I explained what Kurenai and I had planned, and her steady features made my heart pound in my chest as she remained silent.

"I-Is that fine? It's j-just, w-we knew and p-promised-"

"It's fine, Kokoro. I came afterwards..."

Her voice was as steady as always, but her golden eyes had a flicker of disappointment in them, which was washed away quickly as the woman watched Karin again.

"Obviously... I would prefer it now, but I can wait. Though, that means... Anko and I need to step up again... this Village is... expensive."

I nodded at that, before sighing as I leaned against her chest; since she was a head taller then me, I always had to look up at her.

With all my previous partners, Anko and Kurenai included, they had always been around my height; some a little taller, but none as tall as Cameia.

It was... refreshing, having someone larger than me holding me.

I felt more secure than I did with the others; nothing about her strenght, just... the feeling when I was in her arms.

"Well, we should be paying off the debt for the repairs soon; I think we still have around 2,000,000 Ryo to pay, then we'll be done with the debt. Besides, Kurenai and I get paid in a few days, and the pay should cover at least a quarter of it... I hope."

Cameia nodded, before she glanced at the worn down houses and the shattered greenhouse, her golden eyes narrowing slightly.

"Those... will be for the future..."

My heart ached slightly at the abysmal sight of our compound, but it was a gradual process...

Sighing, I leaned further into her and watched as Karin finished her last throw, the girl dancing around as she made it for the tenth time.

Grinning at her excitement, I stepped away from Cameia and approached the girl, patting her hair as she giggled.

I was slightly worried since I thought I heard her mutter "He's just MINE tonight~", but I don't know exactly what I heard...

If it was that, then I could only pray for Naruto...

~~~

When the break was over again, Kurenai and I were both richer than before, as our banknotes had been sent to the compound; Kurenai made 650,000 Ryo, and I made 575,000 Ryo; we put half into the house and kept the other half for ourselves, and then we set about our day, feeling giddy.

It wasn't a large amount of money, but we weren't doing a job that had us risking our lives anymore, so the pay was lower than normal.

Still, half a million Ryo was enough to live with each month, and apparently the pay only got better the longer you stayed; I was only close to Kurenai due to me teaching a Major Class and all of the girls; my two classes were as important as the two that Kurenai taught, so I got almost the same amount of pay.

The girls filtered out of the Academy building and stood around me, each nodding or bowing to me as they reached me.

Giving each a nod back, I waited for everyone to appear before starting, placing the bag of weights down and handing them out.

When most of the girls had grabbed theirs, I was about to sit down beside Midori when Sakura approached me, the pinknette fiddling with her hands as she asked "Kokoro-Sensei, can I... ask you something? Alone?"

Nodding to her, I passed Midori the book on herbology that she requested, the green haired girl brightening up as she took it from my hands, her smile reaching from ear to ear.

Walking a few feet away, I glanced down at Sakura and waited, watching as she shuffled from foot to foot in front of me.

"K-Kokoro-Sensei, I had a question..."

Glancing up at me, she blushed slightly as she coughed, the girl peeking over her shoulder towards Ino, who was practicing her Taijutsu with the weights.

"So... last class, I uh... I said something mean to Ino."

Nodding, I internally sighed as I continued to listen to her, the girl muttering on.

"I called her 'Ino-Pig' because... because she said she had a crush on the... on the same boy I do. B-but I didn't mean it!"

Seeing her turn her jade eyes towards me, I nodded again.

"W-What I said was mean, s-so..."

Her voice trailed off, and I crouched down, looking her in the eye.

"Then, if you feel bad, apologize. You and her have been good friends for a long time now, right? She'll understand that you didn't mean it."

She pursed her lips, glancing back at the girl in question before shaking her head.

"B-But what if she doesn't? B-Besides, she hasn't spoken to me since! Not even when I went to her mothers store!"

Sighing, I gestured towards her and said "She was likely waiting for you to speak first; you were the one who insulted her, so you need to be the one to rectify it. If you want to start speaking with her again, then you need to apologize."

Sakura nodded, her features turning shy as she turned around.

"T-Thank you, Kokoro-Sensei..."

I smiled as she walked towards Ino, and I watched as the blonde nodded, following Sakura away.

Continuing to watch them, I took a seat beside Midori and relaxed, enjoying this easy life.