Chapter 9

Mizuko was used to being on her own. After all, she had been most of her life. But being alone in an unfamiliar place wasn't exactly a comforting fact for the blind woman as she explored Kakashi's home for lack of anything better to do. After an hour, however, Mizuko was bored. Twenty minutes later she found her way outside and slowly explored the streets.

Since it was still early morning no one was really awake, but Mizuko could tell that shops had been open for an hour or so, especially the one that smelt like a field of flowers. Breathing in the intoxicating scents of all the different flowers, she sighed. It smelt a lot like the distant gardens that she often played in when she was still a child.

"Can I help you?" asked a pleasant voice.

Mizuko turned in the direction the voice was speaking. "Actually, I-"

"Oh my god! Are you're the new ninja?" cried the voice.

Mizuko nodded slightly. "And you are?"

"Ino Yamanaka, age 16, single. So what's your name?" she said flirtatiously.

Mizuko scratched the back of her head. "Um…Aroshita…"

Ino seemed to enjoy seeing Mizuko slightly flustered. "So Aroshita-kun," she said as she attached herself to the blind woman's arm. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Yes, thank you." Mizuko suddenly felt very nervous. She pried her arm out of Ino's possession, but Ino latched right back on, dragging her out into the streets to a tea house.

"They have the best food here!" Ino jabbered on. "And this is the best seat in the house!" She pushed her captive into a booth and sat beside her. Then handing her a menu, she said, "Order anything you want! My treat!"

Mizuko took the menu and started running her hand over the plastic surface. A waitress came up and took Ino's order, then turned to Mizuko. "I'm really not that hungry," she started. Feeling their eyes on her, she added, "But I'll have a tea, please." Ino seeped pleased and Mizudo breathed a sigh of relief.

"So Aroshita-kun," Ino began. "Tell me about yourself."

Mizuko sighed. I guess I could tell her some stuff about me, for the tea anyways.

"Well, I-"

"Ino!" called a cheerful voice.

Ino waved. "Hey Billboard-brow! Guess who I'm with!" She clung to Mizuko's arm again.

Ino's friend looked over at the woman in her clutches and smiled. "Hi Mizuko-chan! Nice to see you our an about."

Mizuko nodded and grinned a little at Ino's surprise. "Sakura-san. Funny how I should see you twice in a day."

Ino refused to let her surprise show but both girls could feel it in her expression. "So your first name is Mizuko?" Ino recovered. "And then that would mean that you're…a girl?"

Mizuko nodded as Sakura stifled a laugh. Ino let go of her captive's arm and glared at the other two. "Why didn't you tell me? I honestly thought you were one of the hottest guys on the planet!" Taking a good look at her former captive, she noticed how her eyes were covered buy her forehead protector.

"Are you blind?" she asked.

Mizuko smiled. "Took you long enough to notice." Sensing Ino was ready to burst, she said, "Don't worry. Kakashi-san, Sakura-san, Naruto-san, and Hokage-sama had to be told. You figured it out on your own."

Ino calmed down with the complement, feeling she had one up on her female rival. Sakura slid into the booth and glanced at the menu. After ordering some dumplings, she turned to her new teammate. "Hey Mizuko-chan, where's Kakashi-sensei?"

Mizuko shrugged as she leaned back in her seat. "No idea. He left as soon as he was done and dressed."

Ino's eyes widened. "He did what?"

"Slept, exercised his lips and tongue, had his fill, dressed, and left." Mizuko answered calmly.

"He made out with you?!?" Ino screamed as a smile played along Mizuko's lips. Sakura started to laugh through the blush that tinted her cheeks.

Mizuko couldn't hold back the full-fledged grin. "No. Are you some sort of pervert?"

Sakura was on the floor by now. Ino reached out to wring Mizuko's neck. "Start talking like a normal person! God damnit!" Ino screamed as her hands enclosed around the grinning woman's neck.

"Here's your order. Sorry for the wait…um…" The waitress, holding a tray that carried their order, smiled uncertainty at the blonde, purple, and pink haired customers.

Ino removed her hands from Mizuko's neck and sat back in her seat. "Oh. Thank you." She said as they received their order. "So Aroshita-san, you still haven't told me about yourself."

"Yea! I haven't even heard much about you!" Sakura added as she climbed back into her seat and started to munch on her dumplings. Mizuko nodded. "I guess it's fair to tell you. Especially because I'm now on the same team as you Sakura-san." She took a few calming breaths and a sip of her tea. "To start with, I'm from the Village of the Rock. I left because, well, unfair treatment. As you know, I don't keep my blindness a secret." Her audience nodded. "I wasn't born blind, but I did lose my eyesight the day my parents died."

"You're parents are dead?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Unfortunately. They were every child's dream. Always smiling, kind words of encouragement, lots of hugs, and, even though they wear the best shinobi in the village, they seemed to be discriminated against. I was basically considered worthless when they died and I was blinded, but I refused to give up. I continued in my shinobi training, but was held back until I was fifteen. That's when they couldn't deny me the rank of genin. I guess that's because I kicked some star chuunin's ass. Same with becoming a chuunin. I was held back until I could kick some jounin's ass. Sure he was no elite, but really good nonetheless. So in truth, I'm a nineteen-year-old chuunin who's as strong as a jounin. Figure that one out." Mizuko stopped at the sound of a raising arm.

"Yo." Sakura and Ino jumped slightly at Kakashi's sudden entrance.

"Kakashi-sensei! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Sakura scolded.

"If you couldn't hear me, perhaps your skills are weakening." He countered.

"Well if you and Naruto would let me fight every so often, I'd be better!"

"Well, if you put it that way, I don't do much either. Naruto tends to go overboard."

"Then stop him!"

"Why don't you train more?" cut in Mizuko.

Sakura turned to her. "Train more? I already train a lot! Why would I need to train more?"

"Improve your awareness. That's what I had to do to even survive in the shinobi world."

Sakura stopped and stared at her teammate. "Improve awareness?"

"Yes. Sure you won't be able to hear someone walking down the street from here, but you should be able to hear them enter the shop. If you can't hear them, the sense chakra."

Sakura began to see the blind woman in a new light. Both Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei had told their students to always survey their surroundings. She guessed that was what the self-proclaimed jounin meant. Before she could comment though, Kakashi spoke.

"Mizuko-san. How's the paperwork?"

Mizuko furrowed her brow in confusion. "What paperwork? You know I can't do paperwork." Her eyebrows went up with realization. "The paperwork! I totally forgot!" She jumped up, spilling her tea. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go!" She ran out of the teashop.

Ino and Sakura began to clean up the mess as Mizuko walked back into the shop scratching her head. "Um…where am I?"

An animated sweat drop appeared on everyone's head. Kakashi sighed. "Follow me." With that, Kakashi and Mizuko left the shop and the still stunned pink and blonde haired girls.