The walk to the shop had been a quiet one. Naruto was deep in thought while both Kimika and Kuruka were still shocked and ashamed of how their plan had failed so dangerously. When stepping into the shop a voice called out to them.
"Welcome! Oh Naruto! Back to ask for another spar?"
"Not today Tenten-chan. Kimika-chan here is looking for a suitable weapon. Do you mind if she has a look around while I make a new order?"
"Sounds good to me" the girl said as she poked her head around the shelves. She had brown hair in buns on the sides of her head and a white and red ninja outfit.
"Just have a look around, pick things up and get a feel for them. See if anything takes you." He said with a wink then walked over to the counter with Tenten. Kimika looked up at the closest weapon. A mace. Definitely not her style…
A sickle on a chain? A staff? Nah…
There were shelves of different kinds of shuriken including a giant windmill shaped one.
How do they not hurt themselves with those? There are some of those kunai things… Swords. Now those are cool but I don't really know what to do with one apart from swing it around like an idiot. A spear? No… A fan? What could you do with that? It's huge!
Kimika was feeling like she wouldn't find a weapon which suited her until she found the back corner opposite the till. On the wall was a rather unimpressive looking bow. She stopped. Then picked it up. The weight in her hand felt wrong but the grip was right. She stepped back and brought it up level and pulled the string back and automatically anchored it on her face. She took a deep breath and was awash with a feeling of de-ja-vu.
"Oh! An archer! You don't get many of those anymore. I have some more bows out the back if you'd like a look. That one is just for display to show that we have them. They don't sell very well." A cheerful female voice rang through the shop as she relaxed the bow string and turned. Naruto was looking pleasantly surprised. He motioned for her to follow Tenten out to the storeroom where she pulled out three bows from dusty boxes.
"Have a look at these while I find out where I put all the quivers." And she bounced off. The first was a robust angular bow which looked like it needed a lot of strength to pull. The second was a very plain dark wood, and made for a left handed person. The third however was a light wood with a few carvings of leaves etched into the frame. She picked it up and immediately the weight felt better. The pull of the string was tough but steady. She let the string go with a satisfying 'thunk' and smiled at Naruto.
"Hey it actually worked. This was a total long shot but turns out you did archery as a hobby too? If you didn't need it to fight." She nodded running her finger along the carvings just as Tenten arrived around the corner.
"Right I only have this one leather quiver that I can find. It has 20 arrows all together. I'll give you a discount because it has all been sitting there so long."
"Thank you." Kimika handed over the money for the set, which was reasonably priced from what she could gather, and slung it on her shoulders with a grin.
"Could you add another 20 arrows to my order for next week?" Naruto added and Tenten was happy to oblige.
"So are you the new ninja? Would you like to spar sometime?" Tenten asked cheerfully.
"Uh… not yet. I'm not very good." Kimika said her face falling.
"She's new at this. I only started teaching her this morning." Naruto chipped in and ruffled her hair. Kimika and Tenten shared a surprised look at his action. "You don't know any other archers do you Tenten-chan?"
"No, sorry. Like I said you're the first archer I've seen in a while."
"Damn… Okay let's head back to the training ground and see what level you are." Naruto grinned . Tenten's eyebrows raised slightly.
"Don't you know what level you are?" Naruto's head snapped to hers then back at Tenten.
"I… Lost my memory, so I don't know." Kimika said quietly.
"Ah that sucks." Tenten replied instantly with a sympathetic smile. "So Naruto's looking after you?" Her smile widened as Naruto looked flustered. "Are you two going to the festival later?"
"Yup! We're meeting Hinata too. I can't wait. Are you going too? We could go together." Kimika beamed and Tenten's smile widened.
"Sure." She grinned and Kimika told her the time and place. "Do you mind if I bring my teammates along? They don't get out much." She replied with a giggle.
"Sounds great, I'll see you later then." They waved Tenten goodbye and made a beeline back to their usual training spot.
When they arrived Naruto moved to secure the targets to the trees while Kimika tended to her new bow. It was still in pretty good condition even after being in that box for so long. The grey tabby cat put a paw on her hand making her pause.
I'm glad you're starting to make some friends. Maybe things will be a little easier for you. The little cat grinned showing her canines.
I hope so… She thought then straightened up as Naruto reached her.
"Right. We'll start simple then work our way up to see what level you are, see if you can hit the closest target." He pointed at the one 10 meters away.
A derisive snort escaped from her, then she looked at him with wide eyes shocked by her own reaction. He stared at back at her in surprise.
"Uh… Sorry I don't know where that came from…" She hung her head slightly in embarrassment.
"Um…okay… whenever you're ready." He replied awkwardly taking a step back to give her space. She modified her stance and pulled the string to her face a few times to get used to its pull. After the fifth test she pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back with ease and positioned it on the string. She let out a deep breath then pulled up her bow and anchored on the intake. She held for a moment, completely motionless then loosed her arrow. She watched in amazement as it sunk itself deep into the exact centre of the target.
Nicely done!
She turned to see Naruto staring at the target with his mouth hanging open. He turned to stare at her with the same expression and she just shrugged.
"That…Was…AWESOME!" a huge grin split his face and he bounded over and shook her slightly. Kimika felt herself blush with a pleased smile at his excitement. "How about the other target the 20 meters one?" He was positively bouncing. Kimika shifted to the side to get a better view of the next target and pulled an arrow. She took a deep breath, stilled her body, aimed and loosed the arrow.
Again she watched in astonishment as the second target was pierced dead centre. She grinned widely as Naruto began to whoop and punched the air.
"You rock at this! This was definitely one of my better ideas! How about the last one? I did only put it up out of habit though…"
"Hmm… I can try I suppose." She said doubtfully squinting at the far target and getting into position again. Somehow this time she knew she was pushing it. 30 meters!?
She anchored her arrow, adjusted for wind interference… higher trajectory for distance… and she released. This time they both watched the arrow fly through the air and thunk into the left hand side of the target.
"Woah… you actually hit it! Tenten-chan is going to love you when she hears this." Then without warning he ran off to retrieve her arrows.
Now you can fight Kuruka said proudly sauntering over to her. You have the raw talent now you need to be battle ready. You need to work on speed, moving targets and under pressure… eventually even while riding my wolf form.
Kimika felt the confidence drain from her. That sounded difficult, impossible even.
Your very existence in this world could be called impossible… All you need is a little talent and a lot of hard work.
Naruto ran back over and handed her back her arrows. "How about we see how fast you can go?"…
Kimika's arms ached, her back ached and her legs were starting to feel the morning's workout. Naruto passed her a bottle of water as they walked back into town. He was positively beaming at his new discovery. They stopped at Ichiraku ramen for some late lunch and quite a few people stared at her new bow. Kuruka, back in little black and white dog form as her favourite perch was now occupied, sat on her lap and yipped happily at the kindly ramen stall owner. After both inhaling their food they began to wind their way back to their apartment but ran into Sakura holding a bag of groceries.
"Hi Naruto, Kimika-san. Those clothes look really good on you, did you like what I picked?" she asked with a smile.
"I love them thanks! Are you going to the festival later? There is a few of us going together if you want to join." Kimika beamed at her.
"I don't think Nami would forgive me if I didn't go… or if I didn't let her go with 'Uncle Na'" Sakura rolled her eyes and Naruto grinned. "It's a pain to get all dressed up in a kimono though, the bow drives me nuts. Ino is good at them though if you need help."
"Kimono…?" Kimika asked curiously as Naruto face palmed.
"I knew I forgot something…" He muttered under his breath. Sakura rolled her eyes again.
"Well luckily for you I made an order for her the other day when I was buying those clothes." Sakura said with a smile. "It should be ready for you to pick up anytime." She leaned closer and whispered "I was going to bring you along myself if this idiot didn't step up."
"Sakura-chan you are a life saver!" Naruto shouted happily and Sakura made another face.
"Well I am a medic-nin…" she breathed just loudly for Kimika to hear her. She giggled, making Naruto look at them both, confused. "How about you get ready, pick up your kimono and meet me at Ino's to get ready about 5.30?"
Kimika nodded with an awkward smile and a raised eyebrow. What kind of clothes took an hour and a half to get into?
