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The time that was set

Niwa was, by all accounts, a helper.

Which was why she had immediately climbed up one of the very large trees in Konoha, to fetch a ball that two children had thrown up there by accident. That would've have been the end of it too, if her yukata had not gotten caught to the rough tree bark.

Except for the fact that her yukata did get caught as she smiled down at the two children, wondering why they were the ones who were scared. They weren't the ones stuck in a tree, so why did they seem upset?

"What should we do? If she falls she could die!" One of them screamed at the other, and apparently screaming wasn't enough because he had also decided to jerk the other child back and forth by his shoulders.

Niwa didn't think she would die if she fell. At most, she would probably just break both ankles.

It could possibly be worse but she didn't think on it too long because it seemed as if one of the children had dragged a passerby into their problem. The two boys were waving their arms around animatedly. Niwa had the rising suspicion there might have been an elaborate explanation to accompany the story of how they got the ball stuck up in the tree in the first place, but she was too preoccupied by a sudden loss of balance to remember what they said.

When she finally got her bearings again, she looked down to see the stranger the two boys had pulled aside, crossing their arms. It only took a moment, but Niwa recognized their stance, she could see it from a mile away—

"Danzo, hello! Wonderful morning isn't it?" Niwa hollered down below. The immediate stiffness in his shoulders and neck when he heard her voice was also something that she had gotten used to. She smiled down at him from the tree and her grin only got wider at his grimace. He was happy to see her too, she knew it. His face was just one of those faces where the madder it looked, the happier he was inside. It was an unsaid fact.

Danzo sent Niwa one last look before he was gone—

She reeled back in shock because one moment he was on the ground, and the next moment he was right next to her—

"Why is it that you're always getting into trouble whenever I'm nearby," he scowled down at her.

Niwa's answer was forced, since she was still trying to wrap her mind around how he had gotten up there in the first place.

"Maybe its the Gods bringing us together," she teased halfheartedly. Danzo was close enough she could feel heat emitting from his body, just like the first time they had met a little over four months ago. He was pulling at the fabric of her yukata away from the branch.

"I don't believe in the Gods," he frowned and pulled at the fabric from a different direction. Niwa raised a brow.

"Fate?" she asked.

"No."

"...Destiny?" she tried again to no avail as Danzo shook his head firmly.

"Do any shinobi believe in the Gods?" Niwa asked and Danzo paused in what he was doing to stare at her. His eyes flickered to her lips and back up to her eyes, likely searching for something—for what, Niwa had no clue.

"...Some do." He said at last, and Niwa tilted her head to the side questioningly but he didn't say anymore more on the topic. Niwa wondered if it was a sensitive topic, or just because Danzo had nothing else to say on the matter. That was something Niwa had learned about Danzo in their time around each other. When he had nothing else to add to the conversation, he simply stopped talking. No use wasting your breath, he would say.

"Come here," Danzo said impatiently. Niwa blinked and looked down at where her yukata wasn't caught anymore before taking a hesitant step over to Danzo. He gave an unimpressed stare, then suddenly looped one arm around the back of her knees and the other around her shoulders. Her arms shot out and wrapped around his neck in a death grip and he scowled at her for it.

"Don't give me that look, you should've given me a warning before picking me up," Niwa said.

"I did, but you weren't listening. What could you have possibly been daydreaming about this time?" Her eyes twinkled with a retort, and Niwa opened her mouth to explain herself, but Danzo huffed and cut her off. "That wasn't an invitation for you to keep talking while I carry you down." He sniffed the air suddenly, and then scowled. "Your perfume is too strong. It reeks."

Niwa blinked, surprised at the sudden statement, but laughed all the same, "Does it now? I didn't think it was that bad.."

"The stench is nauseating," Danzo replied.

"Is that so," Niwa tilted her head up at him. "You can let me down now, at least," she said innocently. He blinked, realizing that he had carried her the entire way without noticing, before carefully setting her legs down. If Niwa's grip on his shoulders lingered longer than socially appropriate, nobody commented on it.

When he turned to leave, she felt the urge to say something to make him stay just a little longer.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Niwa asked quickly, surprising the both of them with her directness. "I mean… do you have any missions outside the village?" Niwa took a step away, since it felt like she was stepping on his personal space; Niwa felt like she had been doing that to Danzo an awful lot lately.

"Training," he said.

"Do you think you could take some time out of your weekend to help me find a new perfume then?" Niwa tilted her head, a polite smile on her face.

Danzo crossed his arms as he stared down at her, saying nothing.

"Lunch is on me...?" Niwa hedged, and they stood in awkward silence until Danzo nodded an affirmative.

"Water fountain. Saturday twelve o'clock. Don't be late," he said and Niwa smiled.

"Got it!" Her smile only got bigger as she watched as one moment he was there, and the next he was gone. One of the boys had dropped the ball in surprise at Danzo's sudden disappearance and Niwa picked it up to hand it to him.

"That was...awesome!" the boy said after a moment of stunned silence, and the corner of Niwa's lip curled up.

"He is pretty amazing, isn't he?" Niwa said, more to herself since the two boys had run off by then once the excitement was gone.

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AN: so it's been awhile… I went through a rough patch. I could bore you with the details of my life but I won't. Anyways, jiemae and L1mey have helped once again please give a round of applause for them. If anything feels off or maybe not well written, that's on me because I haven't written in forever so I'm rusty.

Questions:

Do you like the dialogue? Have anything you would like me to add?

What kind of romances do you guys like?

Do you have any fav shoujo manga to recc?