Basil - Good Wishes

The best table of the little tea shop, the one by the large window where the thrifty market center street could easily be seen and the window boxes were filled with fragrant herbs and poppies, had been occupied by children. Though their hitai-ate marked all three as ninja and their ragged clothing indicated they had competed in the recently ended Chunin Exams, they couldn't be any older than twelve.

In the center sat a girl, her face smudged with dirt and a cut on her eyebrow only recently closed, a thin line of dried blood still visible down her cheek. Her auburn hair was threatening to fall loose from a lopsided ponytail, sliding a little farther down with every movement as she animatedly stuffed mochi into her mouth; as if the sweets would sate her grumpy mood. To her right was a small boy, no taller than she was. His dark brown hair was fluffy in an awkward sort of way, as if he had gotten wet and then dried off by an electric shock. His carefully applied face paint- two long and thin triangles on each cheek like cat whiskers- had smudged. He fiddled with his tea cup, turning it around in his hands before drinking. To the girl's left was a taller boy, his blonde hair sticking up in a way that made it impossible to tell if it was the result of a fight or a stylistic choice. He sat stiffly, a little more distance put between him and the other two, as he focused on bandaging his fingers.

The blonde boy glanced across the table, pale green eyes watching as the mochi quickly disappeared from the plate. "You're going to choke."

" 'M not," she replied with all the dignity one could muster with cheeks stuffed full. The girl stopped mid-chewing motion and swallowing. "Hey, you're that Suna kid!"

The taller boy frowned, expression dipping into annoyance as he pointed a thumb at the symbol on his hitai-ate. "I'm not 'that Suna kid'. I'm a Leaf ninja too."

"But you came from Sunagakure," she insisted, looking exaggeratedly around the table. "You even had a puppet during your fight. What happened to it?"

"Broke," he answered simply, watching as the brunette boy grew visibly uncomfortable behind his tea cup. "Look, the Hokage already cleared me of-"

"Oh, I know you're not a spy," the girl responded, finally taking a sip of her tea.

The blonde boy blinked, closing his mouth and lowering his shoulders as his pending argument died. "Huh?"

She met his gaze with eyes as clear and bright as the Konoha skies, then she grinned; nose scrunching as if she were laughing at him. "What kind of stupid ass spy walks right into the Hokage's office and announces himself?"

The taller boy hesitated, looking as if he couldn't decide on how much he wanted to argue. Eventually he shrugged, "Fair. But then what's wrong with that guy?"

The girl turned to look at the table's third occupant, who had yet to sat a single word. "Oh, Ko-chan? He gets nervous around new people."

"Ko-chan?" the blonde repeated, squinting at the shorter boy.

He straightened, sitting his cup down with an awkward sort of clunk before sticking his hand out across the table. "N-Nekoshi Kyoshiro." His words caught as he spoke, but his smile seemed sincere, even if his body seemed to be radiating nervous energy.

"Menoue Hakaze," the blonde introduced, taking ahold of the offered hand and trying not to wince at his sore fingers. "And you, grumpy mochi?"

"Serizawa Kotone," the girl answered, placing a hand on top of the boys' handshake and turning the whole thing into some unholy amalgamation of a three-way handshake and a group cheer. Thankfully for all involved it ended quickly.

"So," Hakaze began, flexing his fingers before propping up his chin in the palm on a hand. His smile was placating, friendly, but there was laughter in his eyes. "What did the mochi do to deserve such a quick death?"

"Ugh," Kotone's expression turned sour. "Takahiko."

The blonde's eyebrow ticked upward, pale green eyes sliding over to the other boy for clarification. "Takahiko as in Kira Takahiko? The one that always looks vaguely pissed off? Isn't he the third on your squad?"

Kyoshiro nodded his head, taking another quick sip of his tea before answering, "K-Kotone-chan is," he paused, dancing his fingers on his cup as he considered his words, "U-upset that Kira-san was promoted without us."

"He's going to be insufferable," the girl snatched up the last remaining sweet from her plate, stuffing into her mouth and chewing as if it had personally offended her. "Can't even be bothered to eat with us."

"He had pa-paperwork," Kyoshiro frowned, his comment muttered quietly enough to nearly be lost in the ambient noise of the tea house. Louder he added, "And we were supposed to be looking for a congratulatory gift."

Kotone flipped her hair over her shoulder, opening her mouth to respond, only for her eyes to widen and her attention to snap back to the blonde. "You! You didn't pass either!"

Hakaze leaned away from the finger pointed at his face, eyes narrowing. "And?"

"And," she continued, pressing her palms flat against the tabletop to lean dramatically over. "Three man teams are required for entry into the Chunin Exams. With Takahiko promoted we're down a man. You should come train with us for next time!"

"You don't even know me," Hakaze countered, looking unconvinced.

"And you don't know us! So you can't counter out moves and we don't know how to counter yours. Learning!" The auburn haired girl grinned, dropping back into her seat and rubbing her hands together. "I can't wait for Takahiko to find out I got the jump on him before he could even think of the idea."

The blonde boy turned, looking to Kyoshiro in silent question. Was she always like this? his eyes asked. The smaller boy gave a resigned nod, though the corners of his mouth were tugged into a fond smile.

"So you're coming with us, right?" Kotone asked, her earlier enthusiasm curbed in favor of returning to a normal conversation. "Get a gift with us and butter Takahiko up a bit."

Hakaze frowned, nose scrunching. "Do I need to butter him up? That sounds unpleasant."

"Oh, who knows what he's ever thinking," she shrugged, "But everyone likes gifts."

"Fine," the blonde relented, "Only because I have nothing better to do."

"Wh-What about your p-puppet?" Kyoshiro made a gesture, miming the approximate shape and size of the destroyed ninja tool. "Don't y-you want to fix it?"

"Konoha is many things, a lot less sandy for one, but it's not exactly conducive to puppetry." Hakaze grinned, reaching for his largely neglected tea cup. "Besides, I have something new in mind."

Kotone leaned closer, stealing a forgotten rice cracker from his place. "Tell me more."

"No," Hakaze answered, snatching his cracker back. "Don't you have things to do?"

"Yes," she agreed, "We do."

The three Genin filed out of the tea house directly into the market square. The lunch crowd was beginning to leave from various restaurants and food stalls, added to the young ninja released from the exams and the usual afternoon foot traffic the market was unusually full. The group wandered for a time, carefully weaving in and out of the crowds, before coming to a stop outside of Yamanaka Flowers.

Hakaze squinted suspiciously down at the flowers displayed at the front of the shop. "Kira doesn't much seem like the flower sort."

"He's n-not really," Kyoshiro agreed, politely waving to the blonde girl behind the counter. She smiled brightly and returned the gesture before returning her attention to the customer at the counter.

"He's so hard to shop for," Kotone groaned, dragging her hands down her face. "We've known him for years and it's still difficult to tell what he likes. Except for like that homemade jam old lady Haruka sells in the fall."

The blonde boy was silent for a moment, tapping his chin in consideration. "Then...why not get him the stuff to make his own jam? I see him in the market all the time, he likes to cook."

Kotone blinked once, twice, then grinned and smacked the taller boy on the back. Hakaze coughed and did his best not to stumble. "I knew consulting a spy would be helpful!"

"I'm not-" Any protest was cut short as the kunoichi's hand closed around his shirt and she turned, half-dragging Hakaze along with her down the street.

"Ko-chan! Say goodbye to Yamanaka-san, we have to go to the grocery!"

Kira Takahiko was exceptionally tall for his age; paired with his naturally stoic face, sharp eyes, and penchant for following uniform code he was often mistaken for being older. His dark red hair was styled short, just long enough to fall over his eyes, and styled neat with the exception of two particularly stubborn cowlicks at the back of his head. He had already acquired his Chunin vest and stood with his hands in his pockets, a folder of additional paperwork tucked safely under his arm.

The newly promoted shinobi tipped his head skyward, watching the sky for a moment as he tried to gauge the time. Takahiko frowned, "They're late."

In the instant the words passed his lips Takahiko's attention snapped to the right and his free hand rose to catch whatever had just come flying towards his head. His fingers closed around glass and the redhead blinked, turning his head to see the object fully. A glass jar, completely empty, with the lid secured tightly.

He frowned, eyes narrowing as he turned the jar around in his hand. It was a perfectly mundane canning jar of a brand he recognized from the local grocer. "What?"

"What would have happened," Hakaze asked from behind Kotone as the three of them stepped out from a nearby alleyway, Kyoshiro taking up the rear. "If he hadn't caught that?"

The girl snorted, "Of course he was going to catch it. I've been throwing things at his head since the Academy."

The blonde boy surveyed his fellow Genin with growing and visible concern. "I'm never telling you when my birthday is."

"Explain," Takahiko said simply, holding up the empty jar.

"Well," Kotone began, turning on her heel to face her taller teammate. "Because you're about as readable as a brick wall and the one thing we know for sure that you like it out of season, we got you this!"

The kunoichi stepped to the side with a needlessly dramatic reveal arm gesture to show Kyoshiro and the basket he was carrying. Inside was an assortment of seasonal berries, a bag of sugar of a questionable size, several more empty jars, and the little boxes of the gelling agent used to make jams and jellies instead of simply a mess.

"Congratulations on your promotion," Kotone and Kyoshiro said in unison, the boy's stutter only tripping him up a little. Hakaze, praying to whatever god or demon would listen that his didn't physically look as awkward as he felt, tossed the handful of confetti Kotone had forced on him.

Something that might have been a smile passed across Takahiko's face, so fleeting it could have been a trick of the light. He lifted the jar in his hand, bringing it down against the top of Kotone's head with a soft thunk . "I'm not sharing."