Jizouko woke up to the feeling of a soft breeze caressing her skin, causing her short hair to tickle at her nose. She snorted lightly and blinked open her tired eyes to look up at the clear blue sky.
"How long have I been out?" She wondered aloud as she sat up holding her pounding head.
Couldn't have been that long, the sun's still up, she decided as she looked around.
The clearing around her had been stripped of grass, leaving packed brown earth in its place. The trees around the border had small scratches decorating their bark.
Weird… She thought as she got to her feet, her muscles aching.
"I should probably get back before the others start worrying about me…"
"Oh, hey guys," Jizouko said as she walked into a clearing not far from the one she had been in. "What're you doing here?"
"Jizouko-chan! You're alive!" Naruto exclaimed overdramatically as he threw his arms around her.
"I wasn't gone for that long, was I?" She asked as she gently pushed Naruto's face away from hers, leaning back slightly.
"Almost a day, where did you walk to?" Sasuke asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Oh, you know," she started with a wave of her hand, "around. I might've fallen asleep at some point, also…"
"It's not safe to wander around alone," Kakashi reprimanded from his perch in a tree.
"Any special reason? Or is it just the usual 'you could fall down a hole and get stuck and no one would know' speech?" She asked, trying to loosen Naruto's grip on her.
"Zabuza's still alive!" Sakura informed with a worried look on her face.
"Oh, cool," Jizouko said uninterestedly, doing her best to ignore the blonde boy who had yet to let her go. "Is there any particular reason why he's acting like this?"
"The dobe thought you were dead when you didn't come back last night," Sasuke said in his usual monotone.
"Ha! Who can blame him? I'd probably be like this too if I thought I was stuck with you for company!" She said as she stuck her tongue out at the spiky haired boy, earning an annoyed grunt form him.
"Ha ha! You have no idea!" Naruto giggled as he finally released his grip.
"So what're you guys doing out here?" Jizouko asked, looking up at Kakashi, "Not looking for me, I hope."
"No, I figured you would come back when you got hungry," Kakashi dismissed, Jizouko's stomach growled loudly as if on cue. "Besides, if the rumors are true then you should've been able to take care of yourself if you got into any trouble," he finished, fixing her with a knowing look.
"We're do you people keep hearing these things about me?" She sighed softly to herself, not caring if anyone heard.
"Where doing a training exercise," Sakura said as she looked at the dark skinned girl with a curious look.
"Neat, which one?" Jizouko asked as she stretched her arms above her head.
"We're learning to climb trees with chakra!" Naruto said excitedly, "Look how far I've gone!" He pointed at a tree trunk with closely grouped slashes going up maybe three meters.
"That's… Good?" She tried to complement, but in reality she was belittling him in her mind. You, my dear, have horrible chakra control!
"I'm assuming that you've already mastered this technique, Jizouko-chan," Kakashi started boredly as he opened his book. "You can go back and keep an eye on Tazuna-san for the time being."
Jizouko nodded before turning in the direction that she believed the bridge builder's house was and started walking.
"Other way," Kakashi coughed, trying not to laugh.
"I knew that!" She snapped, a light blush appearing on her tan cheeks. "I was just testing you!"
"Ah, there you are," Tazuna grunted as Jizouko walked through his front door. "We were beginning to think that Zabuza got to ya'."
"Ha ha, no," Jizouko waved the comment off, "I just got a little lost."
"Well, wash up and eat some breakfast," he ordered, "We'll go check on the bridge after that."
"There aren't a lot of people working on this," Jizouko commented with a frown. "Isn't this bridge supposed to boost the economy or something? Wouldn't that make everyone in town want to help out?"
"You'd think that," Tazuna said with a heavy sigh, "buy Gatou has all but crushed the spirits of the people living here."
Well, that's… Distressing, Jizouko thought as her frown deepened.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked suddenly, surprising the old man. "I mean, I feel pretty useless just sitting around doing nothing…"
Tazuna stared at her for a long moment before grinning widely, "Well, I'm not one to turn down an offer like that, go grab a hard hat and we'll get to work!"
"Man, I am so sore!" Jizouko groaned as she sprawled out on the living room floor.
"Ha ha, aren't you supposed to be some kind of ninja? Shouldn't you be used to strenuous work by now?" Tazuna teased lightly.
"Tch, aren't you supposed to be some kind of grandpa? Shouldn't you be complaining about your hip or something?" She shot back tiredly before bursting out in a fit of laughter with the old man.
"I take it that everything went well at the bridge today?" Kakashi's voice questioned from the doorway.
"No," Jizouko groaned again, "I died!"
"She's exaggerating," Tazuna rolled his eyes at the young girl. "How was training?"
"Good, Sakura-chan will be with you tomorrow, she and Jizouko-chan will be switching out for the rest of the week," Kakashi said as he sat down heavily next to Tazuna.
Jizouko groaned loudly at this, Just what I need, more training…