Chapter 2. 3
…..
Arriving at the Kitamura household, Kiba found himself completely soaked…. yea, from head to toe.
"Damn it, this piece of junk finally broke!" yelled a raspy, irritated child's voice.
Between the tone and the vibration in the air, it was more than enough for Kiba to immediately know who it was: Pakura Kitamura.
Six years old, big eyes, loud voice, endless energy, and a natural tendency toward chaos. Her chakra always felt like it was sparking… like a small, constant flame.
She was the Kitamuras' adopted daughter. Oh, and also the reason he was now dripping wet like a punctured cactus.
"Fantastic…" Kiba muttered, shaking the water from his soaked hair as droplets fell from the tip of his nose.
Pakura was still there, holding a makeshift hose with an expression that was somewhere between frustrated and completely indifferent to the fact that she had just soaked someone.
"Don't they sell something in your shop to fix this?" she asked without even bothering to greet him, let alone apologize.
Kiba raised an eyebrow… at least mentally… as he carefully set the boxes down on the ground, scanning his radar's range to make sure he didn't step in any more puddles.
"Unless you know exactly what's broken and how to fix it yourself… you're gonna have to buy a new one," he replied, crossing his arms. His tone was slightly more annoyed than usual. Not that Pakura would've noticed the difference. Or maybe she just didn't care.
"Also," he added with a sarcastic edge, "shouldn't you say hi first or, I don't know, apologize for soaking me, you rude little brat?"
Pakura scoffed.
"A new one? That'll be expensive… whatever, I'll talk to Dad about it later."
And just like that, she spun on her heels and went back to wrestling with the hose like nothing had happened.
Kiba sighed inwardly.
He was used to it.
He had stopped trying to socialize with most kids years ago. At first, he tried…. of course he did. Tried to play, talk, even adapt to their childish ways. But it all felt… flat.
Pointless.
His mind, full of memories from two lifetimes and years of forced maturity, just didn't fit.
Their games were too simple, their ideas too limited, their conversations… empty. Not their fault, obviously. It's just that he was nowhere near a normal child.
And they knew it.
The blind, weird kid who acted like an adult. The one who "saw" without eyes and talked like a grown-up… or even an old man, to them.
A walking oddity.
But like always, there are exceptions.
"Hey, Kiba! Thanks for coming all the way over so quickly," said Mr. Kitamura, stepping out from the doorway with a warm voice.
"Your grandfather told me he'd send a new shipment, but I didn't expect it today."
Kiba barely had time to respond.
"Kiba!" interrupted a sharper, more excited voice.
He recognized it instantly. The exception… Karura Kitamura, seven years old, Pakura's older sister, and Mr. Kitamura's biological daughter.
And his… what? Friend? Stalker? Personal leech?
Probably all of the above.
"We're going to see the academy graduation exams!" she said, her chakra bubbling with joy as she grabbed him by the arm.
"What?" Kiba asked, confused. He didn't remember making any plans for that.
"Come on, hurry or we'll be late!" Karura insisted, now pulling him with surprising strength for her size. "We have to get moving!"
Kiba turned slightly toward Mr. Kitamura, nodding the best he could while being dragged out of the house.
"Um… thanks for trusting me with the delivery!" he managed to say, more out of politeness than actual control of the situation.
And just like that, with two fewer boxes and one more child, his day changed course.
…
The road to the academy was lively. Kiba could feel it.
The vibrations of fast footsteps, elevated conversations, laughter, and nervous energy slid across the ground like echoes. Every little detail painted a mental map of his surroundings: kids running, adults chatting, dust kicked up by sandals… even the soft crunch of loose stones underfoot.
Karura walked… no, pulled him… forward with a mix of enthusiasm and urgency that Kiba found oddly comforting.
She never hesitated.
Never stopped to wonder if "the blind guy" could keep up. To her, he was simply Kiba.
And that was rare. Well, rare and nice. She had always been like that, although now that he thought about it, for any other blind person she'd probably be terrifying.
"By Kami… you know you could've just gone with your brother, right?" he said as they moved quickly toward the academy to watch the graduation matches.
"Yashamaru doesn't like watching fights like you do," she replied, and Kiba had to admit she was right.
Yashamaru Kitamura was Mr. Kitamura's second biological child, six years old…. the same age as Pakura… and he definitely wasn't cut out to be a ninja. Too kind and too soft for that kind of life. But it's not like he had a choice, since this year he'd definitely be starting at the academy, joining Karura and Kiba.
Unlike in Konoha's academy, in Suna, kids from ages six to nine all shared one classroom. So Yashamaru would be starting his first year while Karura and Kiba were already beginning their second.
"Then you could've asked Pakura. She's gonna be mad you came with me instead of her."
"She can't. She's grounded for skipping her chores, so she has to stay home."
Well, Kiba concluded, it seemed like he really was the only option this time. So for once, he didn't argue. Though Karura always seemed to find some excuse to drag him wherever she wanted.
"Kiba, Karura! Together again—out on a date, maybe?" joked Wakama, an older woman who ran one of the candy shops they often passed.
Kiba still couldn't understand how people could make that kind of joke when they were literally just seven years old.
But considering how quickly kids matured in this world, it wasn't that strange. Still, he had that little rational part of his first life that found it completely illogical and irrational. Even borderline criminal to joke about something so absurd.
Then again, he just ignored it. After all, people could joke all they wanted… it's not like Kiba was ever going to be interested in underage girls. No, he didn't… and doesn't… have that kind of fetish.
And no, he never will.
So before Karura could open her mouth, Kiba answered Mrs. Wakama.
"We're just going to the academy's graduation matches. Oh, and maybe swing by for some candy afterward."
Yeah, he'd long since resigned himself to letting people joke and playing along to avoid making things worse. Less hassle, better results.
"Ah, sounds perfect. When you come back, I'll give you the best treats at a good price."
"Of course! We'll be here!" This time Karura responded, smiling wide as she continued hurrying poor Kiba along toward the academy.
…
"How excited are you?" he asked as they neared their destination, feeling her quickened breath and the barely contained grin in her voice.
"Super excited!" she said without hesitation. "Yoshiro's going to compete, you know? They say he can already control three puppets at once!"
Kiba frowned.
Yoshiro Jiki.
The son of another important member of the Jiki clan. His… distant cousin? Something like that. Likely, after all, the Jiki clan were all slightly related.
However, unlike some clans in Konoha that kept relationships among themselves, the Jiki clan was quite the opposite, as from the very early days of the clan all the clan members sought a relationship with another strong or promising non-clan ninja to further expand the number of members and thus make the clan bigger. Something that was not only done by the Jiki clan, as the more prominent families of Suna had traditionally implemented the same methods, thus adding strong ninja to their families.
Anyway, Kiba already knew this Yoshiro kid was talented, but controlling three puppets at age ten was kinda next-level. Quite Impressive. Especially since Kiba himself had worked hard…mentally older and more mature than everyone else by far… and he still could only control two damn puppets.
Oh. And no, it wasn't easy like most people assumed; no, puppeteer techniques were far more complicated than one might think. They required a lot of time, patience, coordination, extreme multitasking, intelligence, tons of training…. but above all, talent.