Kichigai Shizuka had always been a smart girl, and she knew it. She wasn't immodest, but rather a factual kind of person. And facts seemed to state she was rather intelligent. But what she wondered was, if she was as smart a person as the fact told her, then why was she still stuck working for a dingy tea-shop whose policy was "We serve anyone"? Shizuka shook her head, brown hair shifting over her shoulders, and walked over to a dark-haired, grumpy looking boy. As she neared, she recognized him as the all-hailed Uchiha Sasuke, last of his clan.
As she thought about it, this was probably the third or fourth time he had eaten here in the last week. Strange. "Hello, Uchiha-san," Shizuka rested the pencil on her pad of paper, "Same as last time?" The stony-faced boy only nodded. "Strong green tea and cold, spicy soba." The fifteen-year-old walked away, flashing a smile at her worried coworker, Tsuyosa.
The petite blonde came up next to her, " I don't know how you can be so calm around him, Kichi-chan. That Uchiha guy is so… unnerving."
Shizuka shrugged, sliding the slip of paper to Obutsu, the owner and cook of the shop, "I don't see why you're so afraid of him, Tsuyosa-san. He's quiet and direct, but other than that, I don't see anything unusual about him."
The blonde frowned, biting her lip, "I guess so, but there's just something so weird about him. I honestly don't know why my little sister is so in love with him."
Evergreen and hawk eyes shrugged again, stating the obvious, "he's a pretty boy." Tsuyosa nodded in agreement before picking up a tray and heading over to an engaged couple. Shizuka paused, suddenly getting a bad feeling.
"I-I-uh…" Shizuka turned around to find Tsuyosa attempting to deal with three obviously drunk men.
Tsuyosa had never been very good under pressure. "Tsuyosa, go service table eight," the brunette placed a hand on the nervous blonde, who nodded and scampered away. "Right this way, gentlemen," Shizuka offered a pleasant smile, leading the group of rowdy men to the farthest, unoccupied corner of the small shop. The wary girl's smile didn't falter as the three men ordered more alcohol, laughing loudly. As she turned to leave, she felt a sudden blow to her buttock. Someone had just slapped her ass. She gritted her teeth, clenching her hand until she heard a sudden, small snapping down. Surprised, she glanced down to find her once whole pencil snapped cleanly in two. Shizuka shook it off quickly and went to seat an elderly man who had just walked in. The tired girl slipped two pieces of paper to Obutsu, grabbed the tray with cold soba, and headed towards Sasuke.
A surprised scream from Tsuyosa caused Shizuka to almost drop the hot tea, which would have definitely warmed up Sasuke's cold soba and lap. Just about everyone in the shop turned to find one of the drunk men holding onto the green-eyed girl's wrist, "hey! G-get off!" Shizuka glanced at a frozen Obutsu, his chef's knife still raised in the air. Obutsu really needed to reconsider his policy.
Sending a look to the small, old man, Shizuka strode over to the panicked girl and leveraged her wrist free from the surprised man in a single, fluid motion. "You're going to have to leave now, sirs," Shizuka stated, her arm still wound around the drunk man's, forcing him to keep his arm extended.
"Why you…" the angry drunk ripped his arm away from her and made a fist, clearly intent on hitting her as he sprung uncoordinatedly from his seat. The already unbalanced man hit the floor, blood leaking from his mouth and clearly in pain as Shizuka landed a solid uppercut on his jaw. She grimaced; it looked like he had bit his tongue quite badly.
"You may leave now, free of charge. Your friend here looks as though he needs a trip to the hospital, however," Shizuka bit the inside of her lip, seeing as the two remaining men recovered from their shock, neither of them looking very convinced. "I would not start a fight around shinobi," Shizuka kept a straight face, hoping that would scare them off. Luckily, it did.
The two men helped their friend up and exited quickly. Letting out a long breath, Shizuka smiled. She was, however, not expecting to be glommed on from behind by an amazingly strong blonde. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Shizuka!" Tsuyosa wrapped her arms around Shizuka's neck, unintentionally depriving her of much-needed oxygen.
The surprised teen opened her mouth silently, her hands desperately clawing at the blondes arms, "Tsuyosa-san…. Air." Tsuyosa immediately let go, apologizing profusely as Shizuka bent over and rested her palms on her knees, catching her breath quickly.
Waving her hand dismissively, Shizuka glanced up to find the entire of the teashop staring at her and Tsuyosa. She straightened up quickly and coughed. Tsuyosa turned a shade of bright red, clearing her throat, "Uhm, nothing to see here." The two sighed as everyone seemed to go back to their business. Running a hand through her hair, the relieved teen smiled at Tsuyosa before walking over to the Uchiha's table to collect her forgotten tray. Yeah, it had been a long night.
~~ Some Time Later… ~~
Shizuka fished in her pocket and pulled out her house keys, opening her front door and throwing her coat onto the couch to her left. Walking to her kitchen, she turned on the sink and washed off, feeling in need of a shower. With a grimace, she realized she was probably too late to fit that in with her training that she had yet to start, much less finish. She'd just take one in the morning.
Drying her hand off on the kitchen towel, Shizuka walked down the stairs of her odd, underground-style house, and into the only occupied bedroom of the house. Stripping quickly, she grabbed a pair of loose, knee-length shorts and a shirt before heading out. While she wasn't an actual shinobi, she saw no reason why she shouldn't hone some of the skills they had. Weather it be with a weapon or just simply training a muscle.
Stepping outside with her keys and pouch of miscellaneous sharp objects in hand, Shizuka headed into the forest clearing she trained at every other night. It seemed like a push-up kind of night. Reaching the clearing, Shizuka set down her weapons pouch and began her push-up regimen. All two hundred of them…
"Eighty-seven, eighty-eight, eighty-nine, ninety…" Shizuka could feel the sweat roll to the center of her forehead. Ten more, and she'd switch to something else before continuing with another set of push-ups. The sound of a dead leaf being crushed underfoot near her caught Shizuka's attention. Pausing, she pulled a kunai from her weapons pouch with one hand, her other supporting her upper body weight. She twisted to face the intruder, only to find Sasuke Uchiha. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and let her supporting arm relax, raising an eyebrow.
Sasuke stared silently at her resting form for a second before stating this thoughts aloud, "You don't wear a shinobi headband, and you didn't referred to yourself as a shinobi earlier tonight, but you seem to know some form of Taijutsu, and you train…" The curious boy locked onyx orbs with her eagle eyes, " Just who are you?"
Shizuka studied the younger boy carefully. Clearly, he was interested in her. As what exactly, she had yet to determine. But, that wasn't her dilemma. She could tell him the truth. Her name was Kichigai Shizuka; her mother had been a medical nin right up until the day she had died when she was three or so. Her father had been a high ranked Anbu captain that had only kept her out of the ninja academy by her mothers will, but saw no fault in teaching her some taijutsu himself, and had later died on a secret mission when she was eleven. Or, she could tell him nothing, and be completely vague and mysterious for no reason other than to intrigue the prideful Uchiha. Studying the boy a moment longer, she decided on her plan of action.
"Who am I? I'd suppose I'm me in that strange sort of way. I tend to like most things, but here and there I won't like some things. I've got quite a past, none of which is your business, and I'd guess I've got a goal or two in my life," Shizuka shrugged nonchalantly, meeting Sasuke's eyes with a smirk. Sasuke looked a taken back slightly, before looking annoyed, crossing his arms in a childish manner.
"You've said some pretty words, but you didn't even give me your name," Sasuke turned his head away slightly with a snort.
Shizuka smirked, "well, why didn't you say so? Kichigai Shizuka."
The surprised Uchiha blinked. She was possibly the weirdest girl he had ever met. And for some reason, he felt like he just had to figure her out. She was like some addicting puzzle that you can't put down until you solve it. She was just so… interesting. "I… Uchiha Sasuke," the prideful boy turned toward Shizuka again.
"I know," Shizuka said, fingering her kunai playfully. She watched as he watched her, clearly seeing the gears turning round and round behind his onyx pools as he tried to think of something to say. He really wasn't that great at small talk, was he? "But what brings you out here at this time of night, Uchiha-san?"
"Training," he said without a pause. She raised an eyebrow; someone was a bit too dedicated to his shinobi life. "What?" Sasuke re-crossed his arms defensively.
"Oh, nothing, Uchiha-san. You just seem to be a bit… eccentric with your training." Quietly, she watched his reaction. She could see something behind his eyes. Some lost memories, or perhaps a hidden determination. He did strike her as the stubborn type. "But I see you have reason in your eyes," Shizuka smiled mysteriously, feeling playful.
Sasuke leaned against the tree, staring her down, "If you want, I could help you train." He really needed to work on transitioning his conversations.
Shizuka met his eyes coolly, well aware of the unnerving effect her two-toned eyes had on people, " can you keep up?"
The younger boy straightened up, a competitive flare in his eyes, "can you?"
~~~ End ~~~
Man, it's so strange writing Sasuke as not Mr. Kool-Shorts. But really, all he ever does is eat, sleep, and train. I can't imagine he'd be that great at his social skills when you get down to it, even if he is a total drama queen. But, take solace that Itachi will probably be even worse at it than Sasuke. I mean, at least Sasuke tries… Anyway, read, review, and do any other shenanigans you feel like.