44

In Konoha, inside the bicycle shop, a strange conversation takes place between two people.

"Suki-san, are you sure this is okay?" asks an embarrassed Sasuke.

"Of course, Sasuke-kun. The work on your bike will be done in less than half an hour. You don't have to come back here again, just wait here," replies Suki with a smile, handing the boy a cup of tea and a plate of cookies.

They're both sitting at a small table by the counter, where Suki usually spends her evenings when there are no customers. The young woman demonstrates a high level of functionality, moving around the room as if she truly has no vision problems. Lately, she's opted to wear a blindfold to keep her eyes closed, so anyone who sees her now immediately realizes she's blind.

"Suki-san, why did you decide to wear a blindfold?" Sasuke asks.

"Because Touki-san thinks I don't look good in sunglasses," Suki says, feigning disappointment, which confuses Sasuke. Sensing the boy's emotions, she lets out a laugh and continues, "It's because my gaze tends to confuse some people. Not everyone has met someone who was born blind, and my expressions unsettle some people, especially children."

"But your eyes are beautiful. Despite being a little whitish, they have a deep blue hue," the boy confesses.

"How adorable, little Sasuke is quite the heartthrob," Suki says, stroking Sasuke's head. "The girls at the academy must be crazy about you."

"The girls at the academy are a nuisance," the boy says, sounding annoyed. "All they do is interrupt my training or my meditation time. They're also very shallow, and I can see the compassion in their eyes since the massacre of my clan."

"But Sasuke-kun, you're someone who's matured a lot due to circumstances, and they really don't know how to deal with something like this. You can't blame them for feeling sad about your situation. You need to be a little more understanding."

"I don't have time for those things. I have to become strong to be able to help my brother... Girls should focus better on the boys who look for them. There are so many better examples than me who treat them much better, but they bother me, who doesn't want anything," Sasuke laments.

"That's one of the great enigmas of the heart. Often, you can't choose what you like; it just happens," Suki explains, eating a cookie with one hand and pouring a cup of tea with the other.

"By the way, Suki-san, how can you be so functional with your vision problem?" the boy asks, seeing how easily Suki handles things.

"Because when you lack one of your senses, the others develop much more than a normal person. If we add a couple of chakra techniques to that, let's say I can sense my surroundings in a different way."

"Really? You're a ninja?" the boy asks, surprised.

"Not at all. I just have a certain knack for manipulating chakra, and I've trained very hard to use certain techniques that allow me to sense my surroundings. Although I'll never be able to replace normal vision, such as being able to see great distances," Suki says, then points one of her fingers at Sasuke, "and I can do this."

A small stream of water emerges from Suki's finger, splashing the unsuspecting boy in the face. Sasuke jumps in surprise, while she laughs.

"Suki-san!" the boy protests, though he can't help but smile at seeing Suki laugh so honestly.

Suddenly, the sound of the shop doorbell rings, and Sasuke can see an unmistakable Naruto enter.

"Hooo Sasuke? What are you doing here?" Naruto asks when he sees Sasuke.

"Nothing that matters to you, what about you?" Sasuke says, then focuses on his tea.

"What a nice guy," Naruto comments sarcastically, then turns to Suki, "Suki-san, is Karin-chan here?"

"She's in her room. Do you need her for anything?" Suki replies.

"It turns out there's a new fair on the other side of the village," Naruto says excitedly. "There are tons of games and sweets. They say it's sponsored by a merchant guild, who brought sweets from all over the world… I want to see if Karin wants to go."

"Mmmmm, sweets?" Suki says with interest.

It's then that two people emerge from the second floor of the store, Touki and Karin, who approach the others. Karin looks suspiciously at the presence of the two children, while Touki heads toward Suki.

"Is something wrong?" Touki asks.

"Haaa? Oh sure," Suki gets out of her kind of trance, "Sasuke here is waiting for the technicians to fix his bike in the workshop next door, while Naruto has just arrived with news of a fair full of games and candy, Candy from all over the world!, and he wants to see if Karin wants to go"

Karin looks at Suki doubtfully, "Suki Onee-san, do you want to go too?"

"I'd love to go, but we have a lot of work to do with Touki-san," Suki says, lowering her head.

The three children look at Suki with a bit of pity, especially Sasuke, until Touki puts on a thoughtful face and then comments aloud, "This is a problem, Suki loves sweets, but unfortunately we have a lot of work. If only there were a group of ninjas willing to take the mission of collecting all kinds of sweets from the fair and give them to Suki."

The three children react differently: Karin smiles as she looks at Touki, Sasuke shows a look of realization as he looks at Suki, and Naruto doesn't understand at first, but soon realizes what it's about and puts on a serious face and a heroic stance.

"Don't worry, Touki-san, I'll take care of it. This is a mission for the best ninja in the academy," Naruto says, his fist on his chest.

"In your dreams you are the best ninja," Sasuke intercedes, and then addresses Touki, "Touki-san, give that mission to me, I will be able to do it in record time, I am much faster than Naruto."

"Hey, don't steal my line. I'm the fastest," Naruto protests.

The two boys are about to enter into an endless confrontation when Karin enters the scene and hits them both on the head.

"Sorry kids, but this is a team effort," says Touki, with a serious tone, "this isn't a race, because the mission is to first try each of the sweets, because Suki doesn't like sour sweets, nor those with nuts and she also hates grape jam, so you must make sure not to bring any of that, because sometimes the sellers lie or don't know what they're really selling, trying them is absolutely necessary."

Both Naruto and Sasuke put on serious faces upon hearing Touki, looking at each other, then both nodding their heads.

Touki takes a wad of bills from his clothes, separates them, and places them in the two boys' hands. "You have the rest of the day to complete the mission. If you can, invite more companions, the more opinions the better, especially the girls. If you complete the mission properly, I'll give each of you a portable radio, one of those designed for ninjas, and the chance to create your own personalized bike sticker."

This time, all three are surprised by the mission reward, with Karin being the most interested in the sticker. And after a moment of planning, the children disappear from the store, very excited about completing the mission.

"Master, you are a true manipulator, on every level," Suki comments with a smile, once the two are alone.

"Is that a compliment or a complaint?" Touki asks, then disappears into the house.

Suki simply maintains her smile, proceeds to close the store, and disappears in the same direction as Touki.

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