Hinata was eight years old. Hanabi was six years old.
Ko didn't know about Toltiir, nor that Hinata's wish had reversed the birth order of Hizashi and Hiashi - putting both herself and Hanabi in the branch house while elevating Neji to the main branch of the family.
Ko DID know that some of the branch family members had a sense of humor and liked the two little orphaned girls. It was probably due more to the former than the latter that they were both now attired in little maid costumes.
So he merely watched things going on nearby from concealment and took notes that he could present to Lord Hizashi later.
"Uhm," said Naruto, having opened the door and facing two girls wearing little black uniforms with white aprons and ribbons.
"Good morning, goshujin-sama," said Hinata, bowing.
"Goshujin-sama," echoed Hanabi, likewise bowing.
"Uhm," repeated Naruto.
"Are you going to open the freaking door or not?!" asked Hanabi after an awkward moment.
"AH! Sorry!" said Naruto, scrambling backwards. "I just wasn't expecting you this early."
"Sage of Stars you weren't kidding, big sister," said Hanabi as they entered. "Was there a burglary? A tornado? Inter-clan warfare? Running ninja battle?"
"Uhm, no?" asked Naruto.
"Hanabi, I fear our work is cut out for us this day!" declared Hinata, pulling out a feather duster from one pocket.
"Oh neat! They gave us those pockets that are bigger on the inside," declared Hanabi, checking her own apron pocket.
Hinata nodded, her face serious.
"Big sister, we must do battle this day and our opponent looks to be formidable," declared Hanabi with all the seriousness she could muster. Which was actually pretty serious for a six year old.
"We must prevail," agreed Hinata.
"Uhm," repeated Naruto.
"Death to the dust bunnies!"
Ko could see what was going on, and he could read lips.
Right now, he was thinking that perhaps Hanabi needed to spend less time reading all that manga.
Oh. Wait. THAT was actually kind of concerning.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
"AHHHH! SPIDER! SCARY! SCARY SPIDER!"
"THAT WAS IN MY CLOSET?!"
"IT'S GOT A FREAKING HEALTH BAR?!"
"THROW EVERYTHING YOU GOT AT IT!"
"IT'S ESCAPING!"
"Uhm. Let it."
"Oh. Good idea."
Ko watched the spider escape Naruto's apartment, flipping up to the roof and then moving in the direction of the Forest Of Death. Which must have been its home, after all.
He returned his attention to the apartment, watching as the exhausted (and traumatized) children became VERY cautious as they explored the rest of the apartment.
Not that he could blame them. They were kids after all.
"There!" declared Hinata, dusting her hands off.
"Unn!" agreed Hanabi, twirling a broom like a bo staff until it left her hands and bonked Naruto on the head.
"HEY!"
"Your fault for leaving cup ramen cups on the floor!" chided Hanabi. "That's probably what drew the bugs that drew the spider!"
"Let's not mention that thing, I don't want it coming back," said Naruto, nervously checking the windows.
"It was kind of concerning how it knew how to open your window and escape," noted Hinata nervously.
Sakura Haruno looked up as two students entered together.
One was that quiet girl, Hinata, who always kept her forehead covered.
The other was that loud-mouthed class clown. Except that he looked pretty exhausted.
"Staying up late playing around?" asked Sakura. "It sure wasn't studying!"
There was some chuckles from the other students, at least some of them. Everyone knew how bad Naruto's scores were. His tests were so bad that they were held up as an example to the rest of the class.
"Just didn't want that spider coming back," grumbled Naruto.
"Afraid of a spider?!" asked Sakura, who then giggled. "What kind of ninja is afraid of a little spider? You're pathetic."
"Can you describe the spider?" asked Shino, curious.
Surprisingly, it was Hinata who answered. "Black, shiny carapace. Front four legs disproportionately long compared to the shorter back four. Red striations along the abdomen. Rear was teardrop-shaped, coming to a sharp point. Size with legs splayed out was sixty centimeters (24 inches)."
Absolute silence in the classroom.
"Ah," said Shino after a moment. "That would be the Giant Birdcatcher Spider. Despite its name, it is primarily an insectivore that dwells in caves. Curious."
"You mean," said Sakura very slowly. "There really IS a spider that big?"
"Oh yes," said Shino. "Depending on its diet it can get even larger. Fascinating. I don't suppose you brought it with you?"
Naruto turned tired eyes towards Shino. "You gotta be kidding me."
"That the abdomen was teardrop-shaped might indicate a female," said Shino. "Though the presence is curious. I wasn't aware there were any natural caves in the area."
Outside of time and space, a cat watched a monitor.
"Did I put a cave system in? I don't think I added one of those. Hmmm. Ah. Leaking sewage pipe wore a channel into the cave system. Well crap. Don't want to just delete it all now that the spider made its way out."
The cat considered briefly before shaking its head. "No. Just go ahead and leave it in. Might work out somehow."
"The spider went into the forest," reported one ANBU to two others.
"Good," said Owl.
"What is one of those doing in Konoha anyway?" asked Bear.
"No idea," said Tiger. "I know it went into the Forest though. Judging from the sounds, it fed on something right afterwards."
"Well, if there's any place for a Giant Birdcatcher Spider, the Forest Of Death would be it," said Owl.
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(Posted Sat, 21 Dec 2013 16:04)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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