A Conversation

When Chōza and the others called out to him, Yemo walked over and sat down right between the three of them. Before he had even settled down, they all spoke at once.

"Yemo, why are you here?"

"Yemo, how did you get here?"

"Yemo, how did you become a Genin?"

Their questions came at him like a barrage, and Yemo hurriedly raised both hands in surrender. "Hang on, you three! Even if you have questions, you have to ask them one at a time. If all three of you ask at once, which one am I supposed to answer first?"

"Answer mine first!"

Before Yemo had even finished speaking, Shikaku raised a hand and shouted. Seeing that Shikaku had beaten them to it, Inoichi and Chōza had to swallow the words on the tips of their tongues.

Shikaku asked impatiently, "How did you get here, Yemo?"

"I came with Teacher Orochimaru," Yemo answered honestly.

"Teacher Orochimaru!" After a brief moment of shock, the three of them couldn't help crying out.

Their voices were so loud that their cries echoed throughout the square. Everyone there, whatever they had been doing, was startled by the outburst, but no one cared about being startled. Their gazes converged on Yemo and the other three, their eyes filled with shock, curiosity, and confusion. Everyone had heard the words "Teacher Orochimaru" loud and clear.

Even Kakashi looked up from his book and gave Yemo a long, penetrating look before returning his gaze to the pages. How much attention he was still paying to the book, however, was anyone's guess.

The deafening shout left Yemo's ears ringing as though a thousand bees were buzzing inside them. It took a full half-minute before he could finally hear anything around him again.

Digging his fingers into his ears, Yemo looked helplessly at the three of them. "Hey, did you have to be that surprised? You nearly deafened me."

"How could we not be surprised? That's Lord Orochimaru we're talking about, and he actually took you as his disciple!" The shock still hadn't faded from Chōza's face.

Clearly, Chōza and the others also knew that Lord Orochimaru had never taken a disciple before. Now that he had taken Yemo as his disciple, the three of them were too shocked for words.

"Of course. Just look who I am. I'm incredibly talented," Yemo said with a smug grin. They all knew each other so well that he didn't bother being modest.

Seeing how full of himself Yemo was, the three of them all raised their middle fingers and said scornfully in unison, "Tch! Show-off."

The four exchanged glances, then shook their heads and chuckled together. Everything went without saying.

"Oh, right. How did you become a Genin?" Inoichi asked, pointing at the Forehead Protector on Yemo's head. When they had left Konoha, Yemo had still been preparing to attend the Ninja Academy. It hadn't been long, yet he was already a Genin.

Yemo looked up at his Forehead Protector and explained, "Teacher Orochimaru asked the Third Hokage for it on my behalf. He said I was already strong enough to be a Genin, so the Third Hokage gave me the Forehead Protector himself."

Chōza and the others couldn't help looking envious. Shikaku shook his head and grumbled, "Comparing yourself to others will drive you mad. Having a good teacher really makes a difference. We spent years at the Ninja Academy before we finally managed to become Genin, but you skipped all those years with a single recommendation and became one straight away."

"Don't be jealous. That's just the difference between people!" Yemo said smugly, slinging an arm around Shikaku's shoulders.

Shikaku couldn't resist pushing Yemo away. "Get lost, get lost. You're the great one! You think puffing yourself up actually makes you big?"

Even Yemo couldn't help laughing at that. Shikaku's comparison was damn good.

"All right, all right, enough joking around." Yemo waved a hand and returned to the subject. "How have you been doing here these past few days? Have you joined any battles?"

"All right? It's been terrible," Chōza complained with a disgruntled look. "We've been here for about seven or eight days, and the only time we went out was when a few Jonin took us out right after we arrived. They called it a chance to experience the cruelty of the battlefield, but they actually had us clean it up."

Chōza looked disgusted as he continued, "You have no idea. There were corpses everywhere on that battlefield. Some were in pieces, and others had been burned to charcoal. They were such a gruesome sight that every one of us threw up. I couldn't bring myself to eat grilled meat for days afterward. Every time I saw it, I remembered that scene and felt like throwing up."

Yemo nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with Chōza. "I saw a scene like that on my way here too. I threw up on the spot and nearly brought up the bile in my stomach."

Then Yemo changed the subject. "But that means you've only gone out for one day since you got here, and you've been stuck here the rest of the time?"

"Pretty much. Now that you're here, you'll have to do the same as us," Shikaku said gleefully. That's what you get for showing off in front of us. You'll have to do the same as us now anyway.

At the thought of staying here every day, Yemo shuddered involuntarily. He didn't want to live like that. It was too awful.

Yemo waved a hand and grinned smugly. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, Shikaku. I'm different from you. I can go to the battlefield and join the war tomorrow."

"What?" Shikaku looked incredulous. "How is that possible? You're only a Genin. According to the rules, you can't join the fighting on the battlefield, can you?"

"Teacher Orochimaru said I'm going to the battlefield with him tomorrow morning." Yemo shrugged. He knew nothing about that rule.

"Get lost, get lost! Get away from me!" Shikaku really didn't want to keep talking to him. Comparing himself to others was infuriating. He felt that if they kept talking, Yemo would surely drive him mad.

"All right, all right, let's get down to business," Yemo said with a smile, bracing his hands on the ground. His expression turned serious. "So, not all of you have been stuck here?"

"Not exactly," Inoichi explained. "After we'd been here for two days, we were all bored, and a lot of us wanted to go out and fight. But Lord Jiraiya set a rule for us: as long as we could defeat a Chunin, we could go out, and the higher-ups would let us join the fighting."

Looking at the bored people around them, Yemo said, "But it looks like none of you succeeded."

"Most of us didn't, but there's one guy who did," Chōza said.

"Oh? Who?" Yemo was very curious.

Shikaku clasped his hands behind his neck and looked toward Kakashi. "Yeah, it's that guy, Kakashi Hatake, the son of Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake. He's the only one among us who defeated a Chunin. Of course, he was already a Chunin himself, but he was too young, so they put him with us. After he defeated a Chunin, though, he went out and took part in a few battles. When he doesn't have a mission, he usually stays here too."

"Interesting?"

Looking at Konoha, Yemo showed a meaningful smile.

After that, Yemo finally experienced the boring life Shikaku had described. He played cards all afternoon and finally made it to evening. After dinner, there was still nothing to do, so he had no choice but to play a few more rounds with Shikaku and the others.

After a few rounds, though, Yemo stopped playing and went to bed. He might be taking part in a battle tomorrow. Shikaku and the others had nothing to do, so they played until midnight before going to sleep.

Early the next morning, while everyone else was still fast asleep, Yemo carefully got up and pushed open the door. The fresh morning air filled his nostrils.

Yemo stretched a little, then suddenly saw Kakashi carrying a basin with a towel draped over his shoulders. He had clearly just finished washing up. Yemo wasn't the first one awake after all; Kakashi was.

As Kakashi approached, Yemo held out a hand and introduced himself with a broad smile. "Hello, I'm Yemo Uzumaki!"

Yemo's sudden greeting startled Kakashi. After a moment's thought, he reached out and shook his hand. "Hello, I'm Kakashi Hatake!"

Their hands parted as soon as they touched. With that good start, Yemo smiled and asked, "Kakashi, I've heard of you. You graduated from the Ninja Academy at six and became a Chunin at seven. They call you a genius."

"I haven't heard your name," Kakashi replied coolly.

Yemo's mouth twitched. That was awkward. Even if Kakashi didn't know him, couldn't he have politely said he'd heard a lot about him? Did he really have to be so blunt?

Cold, sharp-tongued, and stern: that was Yemo's first impression of Kakashi. No wonder he was the only one by himself in the crowd. Someone with that personality really was hard to get along with. But based on what Yemo remembered of Kakashi's future, his personality should undergo a drastic change later on.

"Kakashi, why are you up so early? They're all still asleep," Yemo asked curiously.

Kakashi showed no reaction to Yemo's familiarity. "I'm different from them," he said coldly. "I have a combat mission today."

"What a coincidence. I have a combat mission today too. We might even go together!"

Faced with Yemo's smile, Kakashi merely grunted in acknowledgment. Then, without another word, he carried his basin into the room, leaving Yemo standing there alone.

Watching Kakashi's retreating figure, Yemo muttered to himself, "He really is cold. Kakashi was even harder to get along with as a kid than I imagined."