Orochimaru's joint tribunal

Wedged into the crowd, all Gua could see were butts.

Men's butts and women's butts.

There was no helping it. He was only six. Stuck among all these adults, he couldn't see anything at all, only hear the noisy clamor around him.

His mother, Nai, offered to lift him up so he could see.

But Gua refused.

Honestly, he was pretty thick-skinned, but sitting on his own mom's shoulders to watch the drama was still a little embarrassing.

His mom didn't insist. She stood on tiptoe to watch by herself.

Her female instinct for gossip had clearly been activated.

Gua shook his head and stood quietly in the crowd.

He started idling.

"Gua!"

Someone seemed to be calling him.

But it was too noisy around him. Gua figured he might have misheard.

He kept idling.

"Gua!"

This time, he was sure someone was calling him.

Gua closed his panel and turned to look.

In the crowd, Izumi was struggling to push past one pair of calves after another, squeezing her way toward him.

Her face was radiant with a happy smile.

Gua didn't get it. How could watching a bit of drama make her this excited?

"Gua, I knew you'd come!"

Izumi reached Gua's side, her forehead already damp with sweat, a few strands of hair plastered against it.

But she was smiling happily.

"Yeah."

Gua nodded.

He acknowledged what Izumi had said.

He had indeed come.

Though not of his own free will.

"Gua, want to squeeze up to the front together? We'll be able to see better there."

Izumi pointed toward the very front of the crowd.

Gua said, "No need."

Izumi said, "Come on. Come on! The view's better over there. We can't see anything here."

Gua: ...

Gua didn't want to go.

He thought idling here was perfectly fine. Once the trial started, he would still be able to hear it.

"Come on~"

Izumi reached out to take Gua's hand.

Gua pulled back.

He stared at Izumi in shock.

Why do I get the feeling she's trying to take advantage of me?

At that moment, unbeknownst to either of them, Uchiha Nai had turned around and was watching them.

"Whose child are you? Are you one of us Uchiha too? How come I've never seen you?"

Uchiha Nai looked Izumi up and down.

Izumi planted her hands on her hips and declared indignantly, "I've never seen you either! What's it to you whether I'm an Uchiha?"

Uchiha Nai: ...

She silently glanced at her son.

Gua met his mother's eyes.

The atmosphere grew a little awkward.

Izumi immediately grabbed Gua and pulled him behind her. Acting like a gang leader, she challenged Nai,

"Gua's my friend. What do you want?"

Gua: ...

Holy shit!

That's my mom!

Who do you think you're talking to?

Gua looked up and met his mother's gaze again.

His mother wore a meaningful smile.

The smile at the corners of her mouth made her message clear: What are you going to do? Pick one-your mom or your friend.

Gua felt a headache coming on.

Noticing something off about Uchiha Nai's gaze as she kept staring at Gua, Izumi angrily rose onto her toes to block him. "What are you looking at?"

"Gua, whose child is this? Why is she so fierce?"

Uchiha Nai tilted her head to address Gua, who was hidden behind Izumi, her tone rather strange.

Gua: ...

I haven't said a single word this whole time!

Mom, please stop messing around!

Izumi was particularly fierce today, too. She could tell at a glance that this woman was trouble. Trying to bully Gua?

Then she would have to get past Izumi first!

"What's it to you? Whose grown-up are you, anyway?!"

Izumi held her head high and puffed out her chest, refusing to back down.

Uchiha Nai watched Izumi with a smile.

It made Izumi deeply uncomfortable.

Feeling someone tug at her from behind, Izumi turned to find Gua standing there with a perfectly serious expression. He cleared his throat twice.

"Ahem. That's my mom."

Izumi: ...

Izumi turned back in a daze. Uchiha Nai was smiling at her.

Izumi: ...

"Haha, haha, ha..."

Izumi forced a smile, wishing she could dig out a three-bedroom apartment with her toes and crawl inside.

"Hello, Auntie. I-I-I'm Gua's friend. My name is Uchiha Izumi."

Izumi's voice grew quieter and quieter, until it was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

"Oh~ So you're Izumi. I know your mother-Uchiha Mizukagami, right? We used to be good friends, but then she married and moved out of the clan compound. So you're her daughter. You really are pretty.

Come over for dinner sometime when you're free. I'll make you something delicious. I actually learned to cook from your mother."

As she spoke, Nai gently pinched Izumi's little cheek, seemingly on purpose.

Izumi felt her face flush. The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she became.

Seeing that the mood was a little off, Gua decided he should step in and salvage the situation.

Otherwise, either his mom would be unhappy when he got home, or Izumi would be unhappy when he went to school.

Ugh!

What a pain!

Gua put on a standard, mechanical smile. "Mom, you can watch from here. Izumi and I will go watch from the front. The view's better there."

His mother, Nai, gave Gua a sidelong look.

Gua: ...

I give up.

Seeing her son's conflicted expression, Nai burst out laughing.

"Hahaha. Go on, go, go! Stop getting in my way. Didn't I tell you to get out more, Gua?"

"Yeah, you're right."

Gua grabbed Izumi and hurried away.

The two squeezed their way forward through the crowd.

Curses kept coming from all around them.

The manners of Konoha's villagers were easy enough to imagine.

Still, since the two were children, no one seriously held it against them.

Children bullying children was one thing, but adults bullying children? They weren't shameless enough for that.

Taking advantage of their young age, Gua and Izumi successfully squeezed their way to the very front.

Looking up, he could see the man standing in the center of the square, his neck and hands secured in wooden stocks used to restrain prisoners.

Gua found it hard to imagine that this was Orochimaru, one of the Sannin.

He had actually submitted to arrest without a fight.

The villagers' comments filled the air around them.

"Damn you, Orochimaru!"

"Go die, and take your science with you!"

"You harmed our own villagers!"

"Your crimes are unforgivable!"

"..."

Most of what they said was nasty.

There were a few positive remarks, too, but they were all drowned out by the negative ones.

If not for the persona he had to maintain, Gua would have liked to hurl a couple of insults himself.

But he held back.

Behind him, Izumi was unusually quiet this time, her head lowered without a word.

Her mind frantically replayed what had just happened.

How could I have gotten into an argument with Gua's mother?

I was so fierce just now.

Gua's mother even knows my mother, and she invited me over for dinner.

How could I possibly dare to go?

The more Izumi thought about it, the redder her face grew, until she stamped her feet in distress.

Gua: ?

Hearing the noise, Gua glanced back.

Izumi looked like a boiling kettle...

Gua: ...

Silently, Gua turned back around and stopped looking at Izumi.

At a time like this, it was better not to say anything.

He should just quietly watch the trial.

Bang!

The gavel struck the bench, and Orochimaru's joint tribunal began!