Disclaimer: All canon characters from the Naruto franchise belong to Masashi Kishimoto. All original characters belong to me. Thank you!
In The Shadows
Chapter 2: Recognition
Nadeshiko sat behind the front desk of Nayamashii Tea with the most unpleasant of expressions. Her lips were pressed so far into a line that they were barely visible, and her blue eyes – thought shaded by her long blonde bangs – were visibly dark with contempt as she peered around the busy dining room of the teahouse.
Anyone who happened to catch a glance of the troubled woman couldn't help but shiver and sweat-drop nervously.
It had been a week since she had returned to work and, thus, a week since her 'scene', as Miu liked to refer to it. The other waitresses had slowly begun to return to work, which was well-timed seeing as the teahouse had really started to kick off to its regular business level prior to the start of the war. Fortunately for her, that meant Nadeshiko no longer had to attend to the Rookie Nine's table. However, on the flipside, after the first day she hadn't actually been allowed to wait any tables.
Though she'd practically fixed her foot when she'd scurried off to the bathroom, Nadeshiko had made sure to bandage it up as a precaution. Last thing she needed was Miu wondering why her foot was miraculously healed. No one needed to know who she was in the past, and she was committed to keeping it that way. It's not like anyone would believe her anyway; most of the individuals who could vouch for her were either civilians themselves now, or dead.
But, as a result, that also meant Miu was at liberty to demote her to a desk worker since, in her mind, the blonde obviously wouldn't be able to walk well. And as much as she disliked not being able to talk to some of her customers, she admitted that she liked having the ability to people-watch and think.
Unfortunately for Miu, it seemed that no matter what mood she was in, Nadeshiko's new natural expression was that of irritation and displeasure.
From the booth at the front of Nayamashii Tea, Sakura stared intently at the bitter girl with her head slumped on her arm. Her eyes flickered to one of the males' diagonal to her – Sasuke Uchiha – and then returned to the kimono-clad blonde. Though the events of a week ago were a distant memory for most of the present Team 7, Sakura couldn't help but analyze what had happened. Why had she suddenly become so frightened of Sasuke? The pinkette thought curiously, staring back at Sasuke's deep black eyes. I mean, it's pretty understandable if she's heard anything about him that maybe she'd be afraid of him and what he did in the past. But her expression wasn't normal fear, it looked more like…
"…ura! Sakura! Hello!" Surprised, Sakura was cut off from her thought process. She sent an agitated glare toward Naruto.
"What is it, Naruto?" she hissed.
"You were totally spaced out!" Naruto laughed, pointing an accusatory finger at her. A blood vessel popped in the girl's forehead and she rubbed her temples in irritation.
As her hand slid down her face, Sakura caught the blonde woman's eyes. Immediately, as if uncomfortable with the fact that she was caught, Nadeshiko turned away from her. Sakura continued to stare at the woman in surprise, earning a curious expression from the blonde male in front of her.
"Whatcha looking at?" Naruto said too loudly, spinning around in the booth seat and peering around at all the tables around them. He lifted his arm and pointed toward someone at one of the tables across the dining room, saying, "Him? Was it him? What about her?"
Before Sakura could respond, Sasuke swatted the excitable ninja's arm away from his face. "Stop yelling, dope. You're attracting unnecessary attention."
"Oh, AM I now?" Naruto yelled back. Sakura groaned as her two comrades began sending heated glares at the each other. The pinkette redirected her eyes to the blonde, who was staring blankly at a painting hanging up on the wall in front of her.
Even with the one second's worth of a glimpse, when her emerald eyes met the blonde's blue orbs, Sakura had her answer.
It was more like resentment.
xXxXxXx
"No offense, Shi-chan…" Miu murmured as she wiped down the desk Nadeshiko had been perched at for the last six days. "But you really need to loosen up."
Nadeshiko, whose focus had been on an unusual plant in the corner of the teahouse, slowly turned to face Miu with her dull expression. Her boss visibly shivered and scratched the back of her head uncomfortably.
"No offense!" the young-looking boss squeaked, trying to smile through her discomfort. "There's just something really different about you, even from a week ago. But mostly since before the last time you worked here. You were so cute and full of life back then; you were a favorite of pretty much all of our customers! Now, I feel like every time I catch someone looking at you, they…"
Nadeshiko scoffed and turned away from the girl in front of her. Miu sighed, looking sadly at her friend and running a hand through her dark red hair.
Around them, the other waitresses were either cleaning up their tables or finishing off their last customers. Outside, the sun was beginning to dip behind the trees and the walls surrounding Konoha, and civilians and ninja alike were rushing to and fro to get home for dinner. Nadeshiko watched them intently, wondering where they were all going and who was waiting for them there. Her heart ached as she was deep in thought, ignoring all that Miu was now saying in front of her. As Nadeshiko's expression grew sadder and less agitated, Miu paused her lecture about happiness and its importance in business and her lips formed an O.
Bumping her fist into her other palm, Miu's face lit up excitedly. Her sudden expression change brought Nadeshiko from her thoughts, and the blonde stared at the grinning girl in confusion. Without giving her a chance to question her, Miu spun around and began shouting at the other girls.
"Lia-chan! Megu-chan! Ren-chan!" Miu cheered. The three girls simultaneously spun around from their cleaning to look at their boss in expectance. From behind, Nadeshiko furrowed her brow. If she's getting them involved now, this cannot be good.
"Yes, Miu?" Lia, a small dark haired girl, asked while picking up her cleaning utensils to return to the backroom. The other two looked questioningly at Nadeshiko, who merely shrugged her shoulders as if to show her own confusion, and made herself a small cup of tea.
"Girls, strip out of your kimonos!" Miu squealed, causing the three waitresses to drop their cleaning materials and Nadeshiko to spit out the tea she'd just begun drinking and flush bright red.
"What?!" the four girls screamed in unision, mortified by their boss's statement.
"We're going out drinking!" Miu squealed, punching the air excitedly.
The other four girls sweat-dropped and Nadeshiko covered her deep frown with her right hand as redness continued to spread across her face. Laughing awkwardly, Ren commented, "You could have mentioned that part first, Miu. I think I speak for everyone in saying you made me a little nervous about where you were going with your previous statement."
Miu giggled, sending her a devious smile. "Gotta keep you on your toes!"
As her blush began to fade away, Nadeshiko turned her attention to Miu with a devious smile of her own, "Are you even old enough to drink sake, Miu? Maybe we should go somewhere a bit more kid friendly…"
While Lia, Megu, Ren, and Nadeshiko burst out laughing, Miu puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms over her chest. "Be nice to your elders!" she pouted, sticking her tongue out at her laughing employees and glaring in faux anger at Nadeshiko, who merely grinned back at the childish red-head in front of her. Despite her countenance, Miu fought back the urge to smile at her blonde friend and the glimmer of her old, happier personality.
When everyone had begun to calm down, Miu questioned aloud, "So…? The bar at 20:00? Sound like a plan?"
"Only to see the bartender's expression when you try to order a drink," Nadeshiko winked at her, and the waitresses burst into laughter again as Miu's face turned as red as her hair. Sliding of her perch, Nadeshiko sauntered off to the backroom to collect her things with Lia, Megu, and Ren following suit, all giggling as Miu fumed in the dining area.
"HEY! BE NICE TO YOUR ELDERS!"
xXxXxXx
Nadeshiko left her apartment just before eight and walked out into the dark streets. The bustling crowds of people had calmed since she had returned home from Nayamashii Tea. In the time she'd been home, Nadeshiko had changed into comfy black pants, a light blue three-quarter sleeve shirt that dipped off her shoulders slightly, a light navy jacket that was a few sizes too big for her, and black sandals. Her hair had been released from the messy bun and hung in tired, straight pieces from her crown, and a clump of her bangs swooped down between her eyes in line with her nose.
Stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jacket, Nadeshiko strolled in the direction of the Konoha bars. Though the streets were mostly empty, a few unfamiliar individuals walked past her on her journey.
"I wonder," she thought aloud absentmindedly. "What it must be like to have people you don't know recognize you?" Instantly, Nadeshiko paused her walk and snorted, grinning to herself. She added, "What a silly thought."
Suddenly, the blonde became hyperaware of a presence near her and she froze. It was different from the civilians now passing around her; it was familiar. Narrowing her eyes, Nadeshiko peered around carefully, looking for anything out of place or unusual. However, when nothing immediately stuck out to her, she started to walk again, albeit more quickly and eyeing things much more carefully then she had before.
Am I being followed? She thought cautiously, keeping her eyes narrowed as the feeling of an unusual presence failed to leave her no matter how fast she sped-walked away from where she originally felt it. She continued to move quickly and cautiously until she heard someone yell out to her, breaking her concentration.
"Nadeshiko-chan!" Miu yelled, waving at her flustered friend from the entrance of a bar. The red-head was clad in a white dress and, behind her, Lia, Megu, and Ren wore dresses of their own. Noticing the feeling of being followed had disappeared, Nadeshiko peered again over her shoulder before slowly approaching the group. When she reached them, Miu looked at her disapprovingly, "What are you wearing?"
Nadeshiko arched her brow. "Don't you start with me, baby-face." Miu pouted and stabbed a finger in her employee's side.
"You be nice!" Miu fumed, but immediately returned to her excited countenance. "Come on guys, everyone's here! Let's go in!"
Miu skipped ahead inside, with the other four girls following in tow. They made a beeline to one of the only booths left. Ren, Lia, and Miu sat on one side of the booth and Nadeshiko and Megu sat on the other side. As expected, when a waiter arrived at their table, he was skeptical of Miu's age and refused to serve her unless she showed him some form of identification, causing the four girls to burst into laughter again and Miu to cross her arms over her chest and fume. Eventually, once he was shown proof of Miu's age, the five girls were all given each a shot of sake.
Picking hers up immediately, Miu tossed it in the air and yelled, "To the best group of girls ever! Cheers!" The other four girls followed suit before tossing the straight alcohol back and down their throats. All of their faces contorted in disgust, but bit back the urge to cough.
"Nasty," Nadeshiko commented, wrinkling her nose. The other girls nodded in agreement.
However, that didn't stop Miu from ordering them another round. And another. And another. By the time Miu was finally cut off from the bar, she was practically flopping over onto Ren and Lia. Nadeshiko rested her burning face against her arm and watched her belligerently drunk boss giggle at nothing, much to the other girls' amusement.
Sitting up and leaning forward toward Nadeshiko, Miu slurred, "Besssst ideeea eveeeer, riiight?"
Miu hiccupped and Nadeshiko laughed at her. The blonde responded, "Miu, I think you need to go home. You're way too small to handle the amount of alcohol you consumed tonight."
The little red head puffed her cheeks out and mocked, "'You're too small to handle it' blah, blah, blah…" Miu continued to stare away from her and Nadeshiko rolled her eyes. It was definitely time to take that girl home. However, just as she was preparing to signal at the other girls to grab their spunky red-headed friend, Miu's face turned a deeper red and added, "Ooh, he's cute!"
Nadeshiko rolled her eyes and waved a hand in Miu's face. "Snap out of it, Miu. Not to mention, it's rude to stare. I think it's time to–"
She paused, as she felt the same feeling from earlier creep up on her. Gulping, Nadeshiko narrowed her eyes and peered over Miu's head at the booths behind her, trying to locate who was causing this feeling. All the while Miu continued to mumble about a cute guy that was supposedly sitting somewhere behind Nadeshiko. As the feeling began to feel closer and more suffocating, something Miu was saying caught her attention.
"He's cooooming!" she squealed, falling back against Megu. "He's coming, he's coming!"
It's him!
However, as she realized it, the man Miu was gushing over was right above her. Nadeshiko was frozen in her spot; however, she could vaguely see the attire the man next to her wore. Black pants, black gloves, tan jacket, white shirt, signature cross necklace… Nadeshiko hands balled into fists in her lap and her jaw clenched as realization hit her. This man wasn't just familiar.
"Not even gunna greet me back?" His voice was just as cool, big-headed, and self-righteous as she remembered it and it made her nose wrinkle more than the alcohol had. "That's no way to treat a teammate. We know that better than anyone. Right, Nadeshiko?"
Miu, Lia, Megu, and Ren were all staring at Nadeshiko in confusion, and she knew she couldn't keep ignoring him forever. Taking a deep breath, the blonde girl raised her head and sent the man an icy glare. He stood with his hand cocked on his hip, medium length straight blonde hair framing his face and partially covering his blue eyes, a smirk decorating his lips, and a black Konoha hitai-ate adorning his forehead. To people who didn't know better, they looked like they may have been twins.
He wasn't just some familiar face or an oblivious civilian. No, he knew more about her than anyone else alive. And at that moment, she would have done anything to not be recognized.
"Hello, Shinjiro."
Hello everyone! Sorry for the (in my opinion) late update. I'd wanted to get one out last week, but a lot went down between myself and my college roommate involving a threat to my safety so… I've been a bit preoccupied.
Anyway! Here's Shin! I think you guys will really like him. His appearance is actually based off Snow from Final Fantasy 13, if you want a better visualization. I'm so excited to write about him. Also, Lia, Megu, and Ren aren't important characters at all so feel free to just disregard them ^^
For the rest of the story, this will kinda be like… two stories in one. This is obvious a Post-Shippuuden story. However, there will be some chapters dedicated to flashbacks from when the Misfit 18 and Rookie 9 were younger (the original Naruto through Shippuuden). I'm telling you this because next chapter will most likely be a flashback. And (obviously) I will let you know in the chapter when it jumps back to five years ago. I just think it's important, to really understand all the characters – canon and my original characters – and the interactions between them, as well as why they are the way they are now.
Finally, THANK YOU to all who have favorited, followed, and commented on this story! I really super appreciate it. I'm so excited for this story, because I feel like it's a take no one has really ever done. So yes! Thank you so incredibly much, your feedback means the world to me.
Author note done! Sayonara!