Chapter 3 - Mission

Another week went by and I found myself becoming more distant with my friends. I kept away most of the time and took very long walks to think to myself, which was where I was at now.

I looked around the streets of Konoha and sighed, such a beautiful place. It was definitely different from the environment that I was used to, and the weather wasn't something that could be just ignored. It seemed as if I would bake soon enough if I didn't cool down. I just couldn't help it. Since I was so used to the freezing environment of my home, the normal weather here for the people of Konoha was like an oven to me. I crossed my arms and sighed as I tried to sort through the many things inside my mind.

I looked up and noticed a ramen bar, Ichiraku… I thought as I walked over towards it. Maybe some food would help me calm my nerves. I pushed away the cloths that hung from the head border and instantly smelled the delicious smell of cooked noodles.

I stood by the entrance still for a moment before I heard someone say, "You gonna come and eat or what?"

I looked at the man, a middle aged man with an apron on and a pan in his hand. His eyes were squinted, but that probably was just from his age, and he had a white cap on his head. He must have been the main chef.

I nodded silently and walked over to a seat and turned until I was facing forward. I looked at him, he awaited my order.

"I'll just have a shrimp ramen," I say as I lean on my hand while my elbow rested on the table.

"Come on! You promised me!"

I looked over my shoulder as my ramen was set before me.

"Enjoy."

I nodded my head to him quickly before I saw a blonde male come running in with another man with glasses who frequently pushed up his glasses with his middle finger. The blonde one immediately took a seat next to me and looked at the middle aged man.

"Yo! One chicken ramen," he squinted his eyes and made a saluting hand gesture; the teacher I presumed took a seat next to him. He started explaining things to him that I couldn't catch onto, but I did notice the blonde's eating style. He kept shoving noodles into his mouth like he would die of starvation. I was utterly surprised that a human being could eat that much food and still stay so small. He was much shorter than I was, at least maybe an inch or two and had whisker lines on the side of his face.

He looked strange for a regular shinobi; I noticed the hitaiate on his forehead, and he didn't exactly fit in like a regular shinobi either. But this boy I could tell was someone different, someone good.

I stirred my food around in the bowl and ate here and there, eating didn't help at all. All I saw was my reflection in the broth, which made me think about my problems even more. What did my grandma say again...some type of wisdom that she explained to me...said it would help me sooner or later.

I wish that I'd pay attention to her a little more, but I couldn't help it if my but was worked off only seconds before she started telling me all of this wisdom. I think it was something about fate...destiny.

"Hey you."

I turned my head to the blonde that was sitting next to me; he squinted his eyes at me and leaned closer.

"Naruto that is no way to speak to a lady! Don't get in her face-

"Yeah, yeah," he interrupted.

He looked at me more until I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Either it was what I was thinking or it was the fact that I was falling out of my chair.

"Is there something that you need?" I asked, I didn't mean to be rude but I just couldn't have this kid looking at me all day long.

"Hmm..." he mumbled, he brought his finger tips to his head and scratched.

He snapped his fingers like he found the greatest solution to the hardest problem without any trouble at all, "You're not from here are you?"

That was it? Some genius I thought he was...

"No I'm not..."

He turned away from me for a second, "Hey chief! Another bowl!"

"Coming right up Naruto!"

Naruto, I thought of the name and inside I chuckled. It was the same name for the food on top of ramen, maybe that's why he liked it so much.

He turned back to me, "So uh, what'd 'er ya doing here?"

I blinked a few times, "Um…that's really none of your concern." I tried to answer politely.

He scoffed and started eating his ramen again, finishing it in seconds. "Well, I'm Uzumaki Naruto," He flashed a toothy smile at me, "The next Hokage!"

I looked at him and his stance—he actually stood up and put his fist in the air. He was definitely brave, I gave him that. And I couldn't get over the fact that this boy was making me feel a little bit happier. His energy sent off a powerful vibe, not just in personality, but something else too.

I looked at my bowl of ramen, already full even though I barely ate. I looked over at Naruto and slid my bowl over to him. "Megami Kori."

He smiled again and started digging while mumbling, "Cool!" and something else but I didn't know what he said. I'll just say that he said "Nice to meet you."

I looked at him as he ate the ramen that I had in seconds. I was utterly amazed, I thought that it was a lot but he ate it in a flash and just patted his stomach.

"Mmm, that was good..." He looks over at his teacher, "Alright pay up teach!"

"That's completely absurd-

"Harem jutsu..." Naruto mutters quietly to him.

The teacher looks down and looks into his wallet and then counted the number of bowls Naruto had eaten. He practically has a hard attack at the sight. Two columns of at least ten bowls each towered over and his wallet made a silent sob. The chief and the daughter who appeared next to him smiled devilishly. I took that as my chance to leave as I left the amount on the table. As I slipped out of the bar I noticed a Jonin coming over to me while reading a book, but he quickly put it away as he looked up and saw me. He casually put his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"You must be Megami Kori." He says as he points at me.

I stared, a man with half of his face covered by a mask and his hitaiate over his left eye. I didn't really get why he covered so much of his face and I didn't want to question it. I thought it would be rude. His hair silver hair defied gravity. I could tell that the color wasn't from age, it was something natural. His hair was beautiful.

"Yes," I answered after I was done analyzing him, "Why?"

"The Hokage would like to see you; she wants to ask you something."

Why would the Hokage want to ask me something? I think as he turns around and starts walking to the Hokage's office. I was guessing that he was going to be my guide, even though I didn't really want one. Although, I didn't want to be rude and say he should just go away. This man…he seems…familiar.

Kori…it's been a long time hasn't it? Too long… the man thinks as he looks at me from the corner of his eye. He turns back and looks forward. Too long…

When the man and I arrive, I turn to him and thank him. His eye closes; I could tell that he was smiling underneath the mask.

"Of course!" he replies.

I start walking forward and he follows, maybe he was supposed to talk with the Hokage as well. I hoped that, it didn't feel right when I felt his gaze on me. It was like he was burning a hole through my head.

As we walk into the building and walk to the Hokage's office I turn to him.

"May I ask what your name is?" I ask.

He smiles at me again and knocks on the door, hearing the word of approval he opens the door and looks inside. He puts his hand in front of him for me to go first and answers, "Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi…that name sounds familiar I think as I walk inside. I see my other teammates there already with Fubuki, they all had serious expressions on their faces. My defenses rise immediately and my hostile aura comes out.

"What's wrong?" I ask as I join the others in the line.

"We finally have your mission," Tsunade says as she crosses her arms across her chest.

"Great, what is it?" Fubuki asks.

"You're going to go back to the Snow with some of our ninja and show them how you train, act, sleep, drink, eat; anything to show us how you live. We need to see how strong you really are in your own area. I'm guessing that here it's very different for you and you're not used to being yourselves here. There, at the Snow, you will be able to show us how you fight, in your own terrain—your territory."

We all nod once.

"You will be taking teams of my choice with you. Most of these teams are Genin squads along with a teacher. Just like you are now, they will be the observers. This could help us in teaching the other ninja how to survive in different terrains and they might learn something new from your country. I've heard that it's different there than it is here, and not just the weather.

"I've already chosen the teams," Tsunade continues, "Team Kakashi, Team Asuma, and Team Guy. Each team has their strengths and weakness, but they will watch you and see how difficult it is to be somewhere their not used to. It gives them more of a challenge. I already know one of the students will be excited to go somewhere different and maybe learn a new jutsu or two."

She looks over at Kakashi, he smiles and nods.

"Anyways, you leave in about a month, it will give you enough time to get used to our terrain here and you will be able to report it to your Feudal Lord." She pauses, "All of you leave; Fubuki and Kakashi stay here. We need to talk about something important."

Shimo, Hyoga, and I were all a little confused but we obeyed. We bowed first before going out; it was a rule in the Snow. Fubuki looked at us and we knew where to go for us all to meet up.

I looked up at Kakashi before leaving; he looked at me before turning back to Tsunade. She was looking at us until we all left. She didn't start talking immediately because she knew that we were still there.

We all left and started running to our destination—the cliffs of Konoha, the top of the faces of the past Kage's.

****

"It's a shame that we have to go back home," Shimo says as she throws a rock down the faces. It rolls down until we can't see it anymore. "I was just beginning to get used to the weather here!" she makes a face. "It's not fair!"

"Life's not fair, but we all get over it sooner or later." Hyoga says monotonously, he twirls a kunai on his finger, occasionally grabbing it and then twirling it again, "Besides, I'm sick of this place, its way too hot."

"What?!" she exclaims as she stands up and points a finger at him, "You're just a wimp! It's a great place to tan anyways!"

Hyoga and I both look at her strangely, then we look at our skin—it was rather paper white, especially Hyoga's.

"And?" Hyoga and I both say.

She growls and puts her hands on her head, "You guys are so frustrating! Can't you just get used to it here! Besides, I get sea sick!"

"So that's the problem? You don't want to go back on a ship just because you're afraid?" Hyoga taunts, he didn't show it, but he was having fun.

"I am not afraid of going on a ship! It's just that the motions of the waves make me feel all dizzy and I end up—

"Enough, we got our orders and we have to abide by them." I interrupted, "It's not like we can just change them just because of our fears. We have to move forward." I sighed and put my head on my knees.

They were both silent, I felt both of their gazes on my back as I stared forward into the huge village of Konoha. Maybe going home was best; it would get my mind off of Neji anyways. I would forget about him sooner or later.

Was I kidding myself? Of course I was; I knew that I couldn't rid my thoughts about him. Ninety percent of the time I was thinking about him and the other ten percent I was debating on how to come up with a new topic to think about him again. In the long span of my fourteen years of life, I have never felt this way with anyone. I've never felt so strongly about anyone and I don't think that I would feel this way about anyone ever again. I said like ten words to the guy he did the same with me, and I was already in love with him. But...

The way he spoke, so smooth and mysterious, the way his aura was around him, it was holding him back, he was so much like me. I wanted to help him, I wanted to cry to him about all the feelings that I've been hiding within myself for too long. I felt like I could tell him everything I knew and I know that he would keep it secret. He could tell me all of his, and I would never speak a word.

I could already tell that he hid something within himself that he told nobody. Not his parents, his siblings, I wasn't even sure if would even tell his loved one. He hid it with everything he had and he wouldn't give up on the wall that held everything back.

The ways his eyes looked, it was a like a door to another world. His emotions were set in stone in his eyes and it was always the look of being caged. He was trapped within something that he thought that he could never get out of.

Every little secret...I wanted to know about it. I wanted him to speak everything to me, hold me and whisper the things that he wishes to do; his dreams, his past, his present, his future. I wanted him to be able to express himself in any way possible and be perfectly comfortable about it.

I sighed; there I go again, thinking about Neji. Why couldn't I get him out of my mind!? It was so unbelievably frustrating! It was absurd to think of such things! He didn't feel the same way about me as I did him. Why go on dreaming about it, let alone think about it...

"Kori."

I turned to the person who called my name, Hyoga.

"They're here," he says as he puts out his hand for me.

I grab it and mutter a thank you and look at the teams that would be joining us on our mission to the Snow. I looked around and I nodded my approval at the sight of them. They didn't look like weaklings. My eyes were directed directly to the color orange, Naruto. He was coming too. I wished to smile, but I didn't. I didn't want my mixed feelings for any of these people to show through. Kakashi was there, talking to Naruto about staying calm. But he was too jumpy and he was talking to a female with pink hair and emerald green eyes. She didn't look like she really cared about him, but I could definitely tell that she was excited to go. I guessed that that was Team Kakashi.

I looked at another team, the teacher smoked. That was the first thing I noticed. A girl with short blonde hair was elatedly speaking with her teammates. Instead of her not caring, it was one of the boys who weren't caring. He was looking upward towards the sky and I noticed that he said a quick prayer of safety. A rather large boy who had chips in his hand kept munching and commented on the girls comments. She kept talking, and I felt like we weren't going to get along already.

I looked over at the last group. My eyes stopped and stared, I didn't even bother looking at the rest of the teammates. The one person who I was hoping not to come was coming. But at the same time, I knew that in my heart that I was absolutely ecstatic about him coming. Neji was coming with us...with me.