Naruto: Kage of Kages

“Damn you, you white haired brat!” A loud voice suddenly dragged Shiki out of his thoughts.

It was a very angry Uchiha Mei who likely had been calling out to him for a while.

The few remaining students were almost all starting to stare so Shiki spoke to diffuse the situation rather than tease the bespectacled girl further.

“Sorry Mei-san. It’s just you get prettier and prettier the more I look at you. Sorry for trying to ignore you.” Shiki spoke sweet words with cute big upturned eyes and an adorable expression.

Mei nearly instantly stopped with her entire face turning red.

‘Heh! Even Tsunade-sama, that stingy, foul tempered, violent drunkard of a woman can’t do anything before this cuteness, this adorableness!’ The white haired boy internally bragged.

*Cough, cough*

The black haired girl swiftly tried to regain her composure and, with only a slight tint of red still gracing her cheeks she tried speaking again.

“So who do you think our jonin teacher will be?” She asked.

‘She wasn’t told? Did her parents keep it from her or are the higher ups stiffing the Uchiha that much?’ Shiki wondered.

It was standard protocol for the parents of clan kids, at least important ones, to be informed of such detail as the identity of their child’s jonin teacher.

According to the rules, said child is supposed to remain unaware however. This time, Shiki’s suspicions were unfounded and the Uchiha were informed, choosing not to inform Mei out of respect for the rules.

“No idea.” Shiki lied as easily as he breathed.

“Maybe we should talk to our teammate though, we might get stuck together for years so getting along is for everyone’s benefit.” He declared and got up to approach Aburame Shinka who had remained still in her spot so far.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Mei clamored from behind.

‘He is such a “my pace” kind of guy-brat!’ She internally complained but followed the white haired boy anyway.

“Hello! Aburame Shinka-san, right? My name is Shiki, though you probably know that already.” Shiki casually introduced himself.

The human shaped clothes bundle turned to Shiki and Mei and thick, overly long grey sleeves that were extended far beyond the girl’s hands were adjusted back to reveal dainty hands . . . In black gloves with the thick long sleeve of her black hoodie preventing any exposure of skin.

And then silence.

‘Extreme shyness or are there other reasons?’ The white haired boy wondered.

With her two hoods, two high collars, black facemask and large black goggles, reading Shinka seemed like an impossible task.

Before the awkward silence extended further, the over clothed girl made a sign with one of her hands.

‘Shinobi Sign Language.’ Shiki thought, musing about possible reasons.

{Hello} He translated.

Nodding in acknowledgement, Shiki responded.

“Nice to meet you. Let’s get along from now on.”

{Nice to meet. Likewise} Shinka signed her reply.

“I have not uhh . . . communicated before but let’s get along as well Shinka-san.” Mei said from the back, clearly, she could understand shinobi sign language as well.

Her introduction was somewhat awkward though. The fact that she shared a class with the aburame girl for several years without a single memorable interaction did not help her case either.

{Likewise} Shinka signed again and with no further communication needed, Shiki and Mei joined her, who was sitting alone, all three patiently waiting for their jonin sensei to show.

In the end however, the trio became the last team in the classroom, alone, looking forgotten.

‘Is our sensei pulling a Kakashi?’ Shiki amusedly thought.

‘No, she is older so Kakashi is pulling an . . . I don’t actually know the name of the sensei yet, just her surname, Yamanaka.’ He continued to internally argue with himself.

A few more minutes passed.

Mei had pulled out a small book to read and Shinka . . . Just seemed like a still pile of clothes, in other words, her usual self.

Arguing with himself in his head was getting boring and probably not very good for his mental health so Shiki decided to change his approach towards his sensei’s tardiness.

‘Could it be that she is not a lazy bum and is in fact watching us from somewhere while hidden?’

A certain Yamanaka felt a sneeze coming up but suppressed it.

‘Ryumon Shiki, I can tell from your face you are insulting me in your mind.’ Inori thought with venomous intent, hidden in a nearby tree outside the classroom, looking into it.

Truly frightening perception to the point of mind reading without using mind reading jutsu. Is what Shiki would think if he knew her thoughts.

Said white haired boy checked his theory by using his chakra sensing to scan his surroundings.

‘Nothing.’ He thought with a ponderous look.

‘You’re a hundred years too early if you think your meager sensory skills can detect me.’ Inori internally smirked.

‘Then again, our sensei is supposed to be one of the best sensors in the world so she might just be hiding more expertly than my meager sensory skills can detect.’ Shiki mused.

‘I could use Enlightened Mind’s Eye, she can’t hide from that but entering that state takes minutes as does leaving, if sensei comes in that interval I’ll be left in a very compromising position so it’s hardly worth it.’

Concluding his analysis on the situation, under Inori’s watchful gaze, Shiki moved to find something else to spend his time on.

Perhaps because of his previous life’s situation, the boy had a difficult time not doing anything, staying still and neither meditating for a purpose nor resting for an approximate amount of time counted in his mind as doing nothing so he never encountered this restlessness issue so far.

He could not meditate for any meaningful reason since he could not enter a true, deep state of meditation while waiting for someone, he was neither tired nor hungry so he could not be said to be resting either . . .

Turning to his left, Shiki saw Mei very focused on and entertained by her book.

‘Maybe I should find a hobby. A simple one for these ephemeral instances.’

Suspiciously, the book cover was itself covered so no one could tell the book she was reading.

‘Hmm . . . Best not to start prying right away when I barely know her.’ Though curious, the white haired boy thought, electing not to interrupt the reading.

And, he turned towards his right where Aburame Shinka had been sitting perfectly still the entire time since they had spoken an hour ago. It was honestly impressive.

“Shinka-san.” Shiki softly called out to her.

Nothing.

“Shinka-san.” He repeated, a little louder this time.

Still nothing.

‘Wait a minute . . .’ The boy’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

‘Could it be?’ He internally questioned and lightly touched Shinka’s shoulder.

She should have barely felt anything because of her excessive amount of clothing but the ensuing reaction showed otherwise.

*Hiii*

With a weird sound being produced from her poorly functioning vocal cords, Shinka almost jumped up in the air as she stood up and instantly back stepped out of Shiki’s vicinity.

“So you were indeed sleeping.” Shiki pointed out with not a shred of delicacy.

The privilege of being a literal child he had once declared to Tsunade.

Mei was startled out of her reading session and looked to her side.

Meanwhile, Inori who was still in hiding cheered.

‘Finally something! Come little kids, show me the innards of who you are.’

Clearly, she was also a person with her own pile of issues.

+++++

Hey, Author here!

Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.

I’m trying to become a full time Author now and I’m not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.

Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -