It wasn't going to be. Misa had already been in Konoha for nearly two months, looking through legal documents, registrations, and court decisions. She hadn't found a single case in which a citizen of Konoha was allowed to leave for honorable reasons. You were either exiled or dead. Those were the only ways you left.
And she wanted to leave badly. It wasn't just that Gaara was waiting for her; although that was eighty-five percent of the reason she wanted to leave. The other fifteen percent was the way she was treated. Konoha hadn't known anything about her before the battle, except for those who remembered her as a four-year-old girl. But they were few and far between, and were almost uncertain as the ones who knew even less than they did.
This uncertainty changed to fear, and she felt it in the eyes that bored into her back. No one reached out to her, greeted her, or even smiled. Transactions like shopping were strictly professional, and those were carried out as quickly as possible. She wasn't given any work, which was a bit of a blessing because it gave her more time to look. But it still hurt.
Although, looking at it from a Konoha resident's point of view, they did have reason to be scared. It wasn't just that the girl was orange like the fox. She'd carried the Ten Tails inside her body. What if there was still some of his hatred inside her? What if she couldn't control it? What if she didn't want to? They had kicked her out and separated her from Naruto. She had reason to hate them and want compensation.
But Naruto helped to balance that all out. She loved spending time with him, teaching and learning from him. Today they were going to practice Kunai throwing, something she'd been looking forward too.
When they reached the range, Misa had Naruto throw ten Kunai at a straw target. Five bounced off because they lacked force, and those that hit were in the two outer rings. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
Misa was doubled over with laugher. "You call that throwing?! I've seen squirrels with better aim!" She collapsed onto the ground in giggles.
He huffed and crossed his arms. "I dare you to do better!"
She stopped laughing immediately. "I need to practice over there." They walked over to the advanced range. This had ten different targets all at different ranges, directions, and angles. Only Jounin practiced in this area.
Misa took out ten Kunai knives. "You might want to stand back." Five seconds later, five of the targets were toppled over or ripped off of where they were pinned. The other ones had a hole in their bull's eye where the kunai had gone clean through. Misa frowned. "Aw man! I need to practice holding back."
Naruto stopped being wide-eyed and shouted "That was amazing! You've got to teach me to throw like that!"
"Okay, but why don't we start somewhere a little closer to your skill level?" They walked back to the simple target range. Once they got there, Misa asked Naruto to show her his throwing stance.
He planted his feet firmly, one foot in front of the other. His torso leaned back and his arm extended over his head. Then he catapulted forward, releasing the knife at the last possible moment. It stuck in the target the third ring from the center. It was the best throw he'd had since they started.
She clapped. "Good job. But how many times do you think you'll be able to take that exact stance in a battle before someone kills you while you're getting ready? You need to be able to throw from any position, any angle. For example," She crouched low to the ground, slipped her arm to her side, and whipped it forward, letting go of the knife when her hand was right in front of her face. It shot towards the target and buried itself in the bull's eye. "If you can throw like that, you don't have to give up your cover, and still have a good chance of hitting your target. Now you try."
It took another three hours of practice, during which she helped to position his arm and demonstrated the throw again several times. By the end, he was able to hit the outermost ring and make the knife stick into the straw. Choji and Neji came through halfway through the practice and stuck around to watch. Choji just laughed every time Naruto missed or almost hit his own face trying to get the kunai in front. He laughed a lot.
But Neji wasn't watching Naruto. He was watching Misa. The head of the clan had, of course, forbidden any unnecessary contact with the girl. "She is unknown to us, with much reason to strike back at us for what we put her through those seventeen years ago. Do not give her any reason to hate us further. Our clan will have nothing to do with her." From the dire warnings, he'd expected someone like Sasuke, before Naruto turned him around of course. But here she was, acting like, well, a big sister. There was nothing vengeful about her.
The only thing that was a little worrisome was just how good she was. She was amazing, and not just at the crouching and regular throws. She'd shown Naruto the throw from the side, downward, straight up, and even from behind the head. And each one slammed into the bull's eye. If she aimed for you, she'd hit, and you'd never see it coming. In fact, his thoughts were remarkably similar to Tsukishi's, the first time she'd seen the girl's skill.
Then Naruto saw them. "Hey guys! Come see what Misa's been teaching me!"
It can't hurt to find out a little more about her, Thought Neji. He slid down from his perch above the range and joined the practice session.