𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨 ✓

Special: A Grain Of Salt

Aya was 6 years old when she had discovered this new...habit of hers. It was quite a coincidence to be frank, yet even so it left an impression on the people close to her who, unfortunately, loved making her life miserable.

Aya Inoue's darkest secret was not just staying out in the dark―even though she keeps denying it 25/7. Oh no, that was merely a minor fear compared to the true horrors of her heart.

For the truth was, Aya Inoue was terrified of spilled salt.

No, she wasn't afraid of salt itself. She quite liked salt, and liked stealing some to eat when no one was looking. If she could, Aya would buy herself an entire salt factory and live off of that rather than be a shinobi. The only thing hindering this plan was the fact that salt was from the sea, and she wasn't very fond of the sea.

But spilled salt? Well, that was another issue, for if even the tiniest grain of salt was spilled, she was frozen stiff and unable to move. It wasn't a phobia of course―Aya didn't have phobias. Those were for weaklings and she was not weak―but rather something like instinct.

Whatever the case, if salt was spilled in her path, she couldn't move until it was gone or someone specifically told her that she could.

She was around five and six when the discovery was made by Shizune, who upon trying to hide the bottles of booze that Tsunade had bought in a drunken outburst, had knocked over the salt packet and made a long, messy line on the floor. The poor woman, too busy fretting about the Sannin getting drunk and wasting what little money she had, hadn't bothered to clean it up.

Aya happened on it some time later, her child-like mind yearning for some entertainment. She hadn't seen the spilled salt line, but she knew something was off the minute she entered the kitchen.

She stepped on it, looked down slowly at the scrunch, and for some impassable reason, screamed.

Now, this was during the time when our Aya was still, unfortunately, within her emo phase, where the world meant nothing and she didn't understand human emotions as well as normal people would. So of course when she screamed, a loud high-pitched scream that somehow shook even the Dragon King Zhu from his slumber, it had stirred her female guardians to drop whatever they were doing and make a run for the sound―in their cases, Shizune was desperately trying to hide TonTon before the female Sannin ate her in a drunken stupor, and in Tsunade's case she was drunk to the point of exhaustion.

When they barged into the room, they expected, well, something dangerous for sure. Definitely not a little girl standing on a messy trail of salt with a confused but panicked expression.

Tsunade had laughed at first, then hoisted the smaller girl over her shoulder and placed her down for an explanation.

Looking back on it now, Aya wasn't the least bit surprised when the women's expressions were ones of disbelief and amusement, and most importantly, confusion. They put it off as the girl's childish imagination finally returned―which seemed like such a silly excuse at the time―until it happened again.

Little Miss Aya Inoue was walking through the little cottage-like house Shizune had managed to rent with what little gambling money Tsunade hadn't spent on booze.

It was an accident, just like the first.

A thin, sliver of salt trailing in a messy little line had been spilled in the doorway that led into the living room from the kitchen―Shizune, being a slightly superstitious person, had left such a trail in case any evil spirits tried to steal or gain access to the rest of the house via the kitchen, which by the way, was also the exit and entrance to the house itself.

She stiffened as she reached mid-way through the dimly-lit room, her heart thumping slowly in her chest and a vague sense of fear worming its way into her heart.

She looked at the ground, and surprise surprise, there was nothing. With her brows furrowed, Aya licked her lips and tried to cross the path again, only to be stopped by her own sixth sense, her foot wavering in the air.

How strange, she had thought, eying the salt line wearily. It's just salt. What's the matter with you?

So she tried again.

And again.

And again.

Until finally, Tsunade had found her like that, her foot mid-air and desperately trying to cross the unknown barrier.

It was decided after that incident that the women would refrain from spilling salt with the tiny girl around.

The second time it happened, she had recently moved into the Leaf village, and had befriended the notorious Naruto Uzumaki. Of course, the boy was a massive pain, and as she found out, a mess of a human being. His apartment was filthy―a light sheen of dust covering everything, garbage thrown all over the place, dirty clothing mixing with his clean one, spoiled milk cartons and ramen packs. It was a wonder the boy had managed to live for so long.

She had been over for a visit―she was still in her observing phase, but slowly her emo shell had been breaking. She'd watched with wonder as the boy zoomed around the room like maelstrom, hurriedly trying to shove his mess into a corner to make his guest-slash-soon-to-be-best-friend as comfortable as possible.

In his hurry, he had knocked over his personal bowl of salt―even though there could've been other means to store the damn thing―creating a mess in the process. Neither child had noticed it as one was still zooming around, and the other decided to help before she lost herself in the madness.

Naruto took care of his bedroom and the living room, so Aya had taken fort in the kitchen. By the time she was finished, the entire sink and dishwasher looked better than it had in its prime. All that was left to do was sweep the floors.

Except Aya couldn't find a way to pass because the idiotic Uzumaki had made a mess, and even though there was a wider area where she could've passed, Aya Inoue lacked common sense. She was more smart in a book sense, that one.

Naruto found her standing just like that, lips pursed and eyes narrowed, and had burst out laughing as if it was the funniest thing he had seen all day. With a teasing grin he had picked up a handful and gently flicked a few grains at the girl.

The result was for the Inoue to jolt away hissing like a cat.

Naruto Uzumaki had discovered the dragon's one weakness, and he exploited it as much as he could. Whenever he thought she was stepping out of line, our Naruto would fill a spray bottle with salt water and squirt the stuff on the feral child. It worked, mostly, and Aya had begged (read: threatened) the blond not to tell a soul about her weakness.

He didn't of course, because he always kept his secrets, but it was no surprise that he continued to exploit it to his advantage to this day.

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15/10/2022