Аннотация: The first training session with a cat. Sauna and washing of clothes.
Naruto's soul was just singing! Rakurei-sensei praised, adjusted his stance, and said that he, Sen, and Kazuki would teach him the style of cat's paw - taijutsu with claws, which was the most suitable fighting style for them, and especially Naruto.
And yet the cat sensei treated him quite calmly, which earned him almost instant love and respect. And Naruto really liked the cat's tongue and it was very easy. He didn't even think about it when he asked something, he just spoke without straining, feeling the surprised stares of the other Uchiha on him.
The training took place in a large hall. After Itachi fought with their coach, Rakurei-san paired them all up, and Naruto got Kazuki, a friend and classmate of Yumiko, the sister of the oldest Uchiha Shisui. It was with Shisui, as Naruto later realized, that there was that conversation in the clan quarter about joining the refugees. He hadn't figured out who to call yet, because everyone else was related to each other anyway. But on the other hand, Naruto didn't feel superfluous, they were looking at him, of course, but these glances were more curious than the ones he noticed in Konoha - contemptuous and with hidden anger. And we haven't talked to him yet, more because we were shy than because we didn't want to. Kazuki ran out of steam pretty quickly, and after looking at them, the cat sensei switched pairs, putting Naruto against Sasuke, and Kazuki against Yumiko.
"I'm missing!" Naruto warned Sasuke, and he took a defensive stance. The rest of the children, tired of training, stood in a semicircle, watching their fight.
Shisui and Itachi also came closer. Naruto felt himself blushing from the attention, but he concentrated on his friend. He knew many of Sasuke's dodges and feints, so Naruto tried to do his best to show the small clan that he had been brought along for a reason and was worth something.
"That's enough!" ten minutes later, Ракурэй interrupted their fight. "Get some rest. I'll take care of the rest."
The older Uchiha whispered, and Sasuke's brother left somewhere. Naruto, having regained his breath, sat down next to his friend against the wall.
"You're doing great, setting a great example for the younger ones." Shisui joined them. "And you, Naruto, speak Feline so well, as if you've been here before. Is there something I don't know about you?"
"No-ny! Oh, I mean, no, I haven't been here." Naruto shook his head. "Somehow it just happened. It's very light."
"I don't know, I have to think about every word." Sasuke muttered. "We can also hear what our sensei is saying to us. Gradually. When the other cat came in, they got through so quickly that I didn't understand anything."
"Oh, so Rakurei-san asked that golden one to prepare baths for us later in the evening," Naruto recalled. "I was also surprised that cats have baths, they are afraid of water."
"Nyako-ninjas still wash themselves," Shisui remarked. "A sauna is good, otherwise I was already starting to think where I would take you. After training and with no spare clothes, we'd be like a homeless clan at this rate."
"We're already homeless," Sasuke sighed.
Naruto chuckled, his friend was definitely right. Who are they, if not homeless?
"Home is a place where they are waiting for you." Shisui looked at him strangely and said. "A place with people you care about. Where you want to go back. I believe that we will have such a place."
Naruto liked it. Indeed, he had his own apartment, but was it his home? There was no desire to return to it. Because no one was waiting for him there. Sometimes he would stay up late on the swings near the Academy or train himself to death in the woods, only to come back and fall into bed. Not to see bare walls. Not to feel this cold and loneliness of an empty, indifferent room that doesn't care when it returns.
Now, next to Sasuke, Shisui, Itachi and the rest of the children, Naruto felt surprisingly calm and happy. In his mind, he promised himself that he would definitely make friends with everyone else and help create the house that the current head of the Uchiha clan had mentioned.
" Home is a place where people are waiting for you," Naruto repeated aloud. "I'll remember that, oyabun.( From Japanese, "chief" or "boss" was the name given to the head of the Yakuza clan, but also a respectful address indicating recognition of seniority and unquestioning obedience.)"
Shisui almost choked on air from the treatment, and Sasuke snorted merrily, his eyes twinkling cunningly.
"The Oyabun?" The head of the Uchiha clan asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly.
"Yeah," Naruto nodded, deciding that such an address was most suitable for Shisui.
"And what will you call Itachi?" The "boss" tilted his head in interest, who seemed to be barely holding back a smile.
"Kyodai," Naruto replied without hesitation. He is also a kind of "elder brother", but he is not accepted into the clans of his relatives. It's the others who can call the older Uchiha "onii-san", or even more politely - "onii-sama", and Sasuke, Kazuki and Yumiko - just "nii-san", Naruto knew that, even though he himself had never had brothers and sisters. At the Academy, Iruka-sensei once ridiculed him for being impolite and for not being able to address people properly, such a clueless person. Naruto then firmly remembered that lesson and, nevertheless, having found the etiquette scrolls, decided to specifically name people incorrectly in order to see the reaction, and being harmful. However, I didn't want to be rude to Itachi and Shisui - Naruto wanted them to like him.
"He'll like it," Shisui chuckled, as if reading his mind, and touching Naruto's head, tousled his hair, which made him almost choke with delight. None of the adults had ever touched him, not even the Third Hokage.... Remembering the old man, whom for a long time he considered almost a personal god, Naruto frowned, still unable to believe that what happened to the Uchiha clan was an order from the Third. But Shisui told him to just think about it, and Naruto decided to put it off for a while.
After training, Naruto and Sasuke had to help the smallest ones, Yui and Renzo- get to their rooms. The boys, whom cat-sensei stretched in every possible way and gave several kata and various exercises to strengthen their muscles, tried so hard that they were practically exhausted.
With Mina, who had not received a proper education since childhood, Rakurei worked together on his own. Mina was clearly trying to be useful and noticeably did not want to become a burden to her older brothers and the rest of the future Shinobi, but in Naruto's opinion, her character was more calm than that of the same restless little Yumiko. The older girl was very economical, starting to do laundry after dinner and washing in the bathroom. Naruto, along with Sen and Taro, helped by kneading the communal laundry in a large tub (The old Japanese method of washing is when soaked laundry is beaten with sticks, or children jump.). Sasuke did not go to the sauna, staying with his brother to talk, and Naruto decided that joint work would help him make friends with other Uchiha faster.
Naruto-kun, what were you talking about with that neko-san who gave us this tub? Mina asked him first, pouring warm water. Sen and Taro also looked at him curiously, continuing to move their legs steadily, munching on the wet cloth. After a general wash, Mina collected everyone's clothes, but did not know where to wash them, and then Naruto came to the rescue, talking to a beautiful snow-white cat with blue eyes, who showed them everything in the bathhouse. Yukineko-san caught his attention at the very beginning, and Naruto asked the cat how to wash their clothes. The snow-white ninneko waved her paw and led her into some kind of utility room, which had everything she needed. The three of them and the younger guys rolled out an almost one-and-a-half-meter tub with low sides to do the laundry.
Shisui, who had left the bathhouse for some matters, returned and praised them for their quick thinking and resourcefulness.
"Yukineko-nyan said that nyako-ninjas don't like to do laundry, but they wear uniforms and some clothes," Naruto remembered. "That Nekomata-sama used to drink milk from this bowl, but then he was given a large, beautiful one decorated with stones and paintings, and this one was brought here."
"How big is this Nekomata-sama?" Seng whistled, looking around the container. "Probably just huge."
"Yes, I was surprised too and asked," Naruto nodded, "and Yukineko-nyan laughed and said that Nekomata-sama is the biggest and most beautiful cat in the whole wide world."
"I wish I could see him," Taro whispered dreamily and was embarrassed when everyone looked at him.
"Let's change the water," Mina ordered. They pulled out the laundry, poured out the cloudy liquid, rinsed the tub, poured new water and continued washing.
"And Yukineko-nyan also said," Naruto remembered, continuing to shuffle his feet. "Since nyako-ninjas do not like to wash, they fold or throw away many of their belongings and uniforms when buying new ones."
"That would be just great!" Mina beamed. "If we had at least a change of clothes, it would be easier. You can sleep in yukata, train and change clothes. Besides, winter is coming soon, and it's pretty cool here in the stone castle. Nyako the ninja has fluffy fur, but Natsumi can get sick... Oh," the girl was confused. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, onee-san,( One-san is the respectful title of "elder sister," while the familiar one is "ane-san.")" Sen smiled.
Mina blushed and tugged her ponytail, hiding her eyes behind her slanting bangs.
"Thank you, Naruto," and awkwardly touched his shoulder, smiling. "Home is a place where people dear to you live," he recalled Shisui's words and smiled back, also embarrassed.