Shisui POV
Noa had been mostly locked in his room for nearly a full week now. He ate, drank, exercised lightly, and even went on daily walks with either Sena or me, so I was not worried about his mental health. Even so, he was constantly occupied, his mind rarely fully focused on what his body was doing at the moment.
I was unfortunately familiar with seal masters being like that. ANBU had a few of them over the years, and they all acted the same way. However, Noa was unique. He was not only like that, but also a powerful chunin in everything but rank. His potential was honestly incredible given what I knew about his true strength, and that brought a smile to my face. Konoha had yet another powerful shinobi developing, just like Itachi and Kakashi.
My thoughts were interrupted by a weak knock at the door. I narrowed my eyes as Kaen exploded out of his room and asked, "Is Sena coming?" I rolled my eyes, wishing him the best of luck with that impossible endeavor, though I had seen people succeed with worse odds, so who knew.
I approached the door slowly, Kaen almost vibrating behind me, and opened it. "Hi se…" I stopped, momentarily confused when I found nothing at Sena's height. Another thing she had Kaen beat at, before I realized the one knocking was much shorter.
A small boy stood there, barely reaching my waist, his posture stiff and unnatural for someone so young. His red hair was a tangled mess, dusty and uneven, framing a pale face marked by dark circles that no child should have. His eyes were filled with sadness and lined with exhaustion.
However, there was something else wrong about that kid, enough to make my instincts kick in immediately. My legs tensed, ready to move in a fraction of a second, and my Sharingan almost burst into life right then and there. The unsettling part was his chakra. It pressed outward from him, filled with hatred and anger that a child of that age should never have carried, to the point that I questioned my own instincts and wondered if he was even the true source of that hatred and rage. Was it someone, or something else?
He looked hesitant and a little scared as he asked, "Is Noa here?" He fidgeted while waiting for my answer, snapping me out of my thoughts as I nodded and said, "Let me… let me go call him." I was not sure what was going on, but that kid was not normal. Only then did my mind finally catch up, thinking, "Isn't that kid Gaara, the Kazekage's son?"
I opened Noa's door and found him sitting on the ground, grinning like a madman while staring at the wall. Multiple scrolls were unrolled in front of him in a chaotic yet unnaturally organized mess.
I looked at the wall he was focused on and froze. I was no seal master, but as ANBU we had a decent knowledge of fuinjutsu. We had to, since we relied on it heavily during missions. What I was seeing on that wall, however, was something else entirely. That seal was more advanced and more powerful than anything I had ever seen. I could not even comprehend what it was for, given how complicated and layered it was.
I shook my head and said, "Noa, you have a visitor." I waited a couple of seconds, but he was still grinning like an idiot and not reacting at all. I sighed, stepped forward, and shook him while shouting, "NOA!"
He screamed in a very unmanly way and jumped back, eyes wide as he looked around like a frightened animal. When he saw me, he immediately fixed his posture, coughed once, and stood tall, bravery radiating from him as if nothing had happened.
I shook my head and said, "You have a visitor. Come meet them." He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who might it be?" I turned away and replied, "Stop wasting time and come see for yourself."
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Noa POV
After my manly scream, I was surprised to learn that I actually had a visitor, which did not make any sense. I had no friends in the Hidden Sand. Most people here were scared of me and thought of me as some ancient, remorseless demon. I shrugged and walked after Shisui to find out who it was.
At the door was Gaara. The Gaara. The jinchuriki of the One-Tail. Not to mention the Kazekage's son. Oh, and look at that, he had brought his dead mother with him too. How nice.
Gaara was moving nervously, shifting his balance between his legs, before he finally noticed me and smiled. That almost melted my heart. He still looked tired and sad, but for a moment it was like he forgot those problems, before his eyes grew heavy once more.
I sighed and approached him with a smile, which he returned. He waved at me and said, "Noa, I wanted to come after your first fight, but they did not let me. I wanted to see if you were okay."
I went down to his level and winked. "Don't worry. I won't go down that easily. Matter of fact, you can be sure I will win this thing." I gave him a thumbs up with a huge grin. He found it interesting and tried to imitate me, giving the same thumbs up. He also tried to grin, but it looked terrifying, so I ignored that part.
He stayed silent, unsure what to say next, so I asked, "Where is the person who follows you?" He tangled his hands and looked down before saying, "I lost him. It is too hot outside, and sometimes he does other things when it is hot." That kid had no breaks in life. Even the one whose duty was to watch him ignored and forgot about him to go do who knows what.
He looked like he wanted to ask something else but was too nervous, so I did it for him. "Want to come in? I am about to cook some lunch." His eyes lit up with excitement, probably the first time someone had invited him inside to eat. That broke my heart as he nodded enthusiastically and walked in.
Shisui stayed away from him, keeping a safe distance, clearly following his instincts. As for Kaen, once he knew it was not Sena, he lost interest and sat on a chair, digging for petroleum inside his nose. Gaara found that funny and chuckled.
Kaen looked irritated after losing some cool points in front of a kid and tried to recover quickly. "You know, I am a semifinalist in the chunin exams." Gaara nodded excitedly and said, "I know. I watched your match. It was amazing." Kaen's ego expanded three times in size as he nodded. "You have good eyes, kid. I like you." Gaara's face lit up even more as Kaen added, "Want to see something cool?"
Gaara nodded eagerly as Kaen pulled out a wooden kunai and started doing intricate tricks with it, using Uchiha wire work. Gaara's eyes were fixed on the skill being displayed, which boosted Kaen's morale even further and made him increase the complexity.
All that while, Shisui was standing so stiff he looked like he was next to a nuke that might explode at any moment. To be fair, that was true, but Gaara felt more stable than expected. At that moment, he looked happier than I had ever seen him, welcomed into someone else's home and entertained with admittedly cool skills that I would never tell Kaen I approved of.
I walked into the kitchen and started cooking. I pulled a fish from a storage seal and decided to use it, mostly because I doubted fish was easy to come by here. I cleaned it, salted it, and set it over the flame. The skin crackled as it cooked, the smell spreading through the flat while rice simmered beside it. I flipped the fish once, took it off when the flesh was done and the skin had crisped properly, then seasoned it lightly with a bit of black pepper, garlic, lemon zest, and herbs.
I walked back out with the prepared food to find Kaen already setting the table as they waited. Gaara looked very happy, all smiles, as he eyed the dishes with interest. When I placed the plates down, Gaara hesitated for a moment, and my thoughts went dark as I wondered if he was afraid it might be poisonous. Before I could do anything, Kaen stole a huge piece and gulped it down in one go, which Gaara found very funny as he laughed before digging in as well.
His eyes widened and watered a little from how tasty the food was, which I took as a sign worthy of pride. Deep inside me, I felt my shadow clones send a middle finger from the beyond. Gaara kept eating more and more, extremely interested in the taste and different spices used.
By the end, all the plates were empty. Shisui had not eaten anything, so Kaen generously sacrificed himself and annihilated Shisui's share as well, even going as far as giving Gaara a small piece, which was unheard of for Kaen. Shisui's guard was raised to the highest level, chakra clearly concentrated in his hands and legs. Even so, I appreciated that he did not refuse the kid or shut the whole thing down.
I took out my notebook while Gaara and Kaen enjoyed cold drinks and more tricks. By the time I was done, the sun was almost setting.
Gaara's eyes sank as sadness returned, the realization settling in that he had to leave before he caused panic and fear. He stood, looked at me, and said, "Please take care, and win the matches." I nodded, smiling. "I will. And oh, take this with you." I tore the sketch from my notebook and handed it to him.
He looked down at the paper slowly, his hands pausing as his eyes focused on it. The drawing was simple, almost childish on purpose. It showed him in a small chibi form, round and soft, sitting on the ground while hugging his gourd tightly with both arms. The gourd looked almost bigger than he was, and above them floated a small heart, like a sun.
Gaara stared at it in silence for a long time before suddenly running toward me and hugging me hard, almost squeezing the life out of my legs. I laughed and carefully went down, patting him slowly.
He finally let go, holding the sketch carefully, smiling wide as he looked at it and said, "Thank you." I nodded back and said, "See you later." He shook his head cutely before leaving the flat, never taking his eyes off the drawing.