Today was… eventful. Want to know what happened? Sure you do, journal. You nosy set of papers, you.
It's been a while since I was on a mission with Narucha Uzumaki, my eternal rival. That changed today, because we both were summoned to the Hokage's office around noon. Our mission was a request at the behest of Sakura Haruno. The mission was to go a few miles south of the village and collect some herbs that the nurses use in the majority of their potions. So today was basically spent doing so.
HOWEVER! That wasn't all that really happened. We met at the village gates, and well. I looked at her for the first time. Like actually looked at her. First of all, adolescence was doing her a TON of favors body wise. Her chest was expanding nicely. Her smoldering grey eyes no longer were hostile, they were… cute. She wasn't that girl with two pig tails on the side of her head anymore. She had her hair down to her back, and she had a braid going around the crown of her long blonde hair.
(A/N: Look at the character "Asuna" from Sword Art Online. That is the hairstyle I'm "attempting" to describe.)
Since this mission didn't require us to do much fighting, she was wearing a different set of clothes than she normally would. She was wearing a blue mini skirt with a white blouse. She had the red Uzumaki symbol on her back. My attire was different from usual as well. I was wearing brown cargo pants and a blue shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back of it.
But I mean… Narucha has come a long way from the annoying girl that used to beat me up.
She looks at me with two large baskets in her arms. "Come on, Inosaichi! I'm not getting any younger over here. Get a move on!"
… but she still had a hell of a long way left to go.
So we leave the village, and we talk about our lives and catch up for lost time. As you can imagine, we spent a lot less time together as we both became Genin. She tells me about her teammates.
Kagoritsubasa is a purple haired girl. She is a master with a blade, and she has a custom sword. It's AWESOME. Her other teammate is a guy named Hideki. Hediki is a sensory-type, and is a long-range fighter. However he isn't the normal long range fighter that we've seen. He based all of his techniques off of trying to become an assassin for the ANBU. Narucha was the physical and emotional leader for her team, with her Byakugan, she was fearless!
I tell her about my teammates as well. Matsu Sarutobi is a brawler, preferring to use Taijutsu and then his fire style Ninjutsu. While hot headed, he feeds off of emotion and becomes stronger. I imagine he is synonymous to Konohamaru when he was younger before he… died. There is Ayemuri. To be honest, there isn't really anything she does well. If I'm honest, she is average at Taijutsu, and average at Ninjutsu. She can only cast the "stop" Genjutsu on a low level opponent. I mean, she can hold her own, assuming Matsu or I are with her. Then there's me with my fireball jutsu and my awesome Sharingan and Genjutsu. And my cool sword, the same one father had when he was a child, since he got a new one forged since then. So realistically, the team lives and dies with Matsu and me. Which is why we were hellbent on becoming the greatest tag team the Leaf has ever seen!
Behind Sasuke and Hokage Naruto of course.
Anyways, the walk progresses in the fashion. We talk about other ninja and strategies and how she hasn't had an off day in a few weeks. However Naruto gives her small missions like collecting berries, so those count as days off.
In an hour, we arrive at the forest clearing specified on our maps and we pick herbs for a few hours. This is the first time we spent extended amounts of time together. Since we became Genin, all we've been able to do is entertain small talk. This is the first time in years that I've been able to really see her.
"Saichi…" she says, her back is turned to me while I pick herbs.
"Yeah?"
"What do you want to do when you get older?" she asks.
I'm confused, so I stop to look at her. "What do you mean?"
She hasn't looked at me yet. "Do you want to become Hokage? Do you want to be a part of the ANBU? Do you want to be a Jonin?"
That was a great question. I never thought about it. Without question, I'd get stronger and live and die for this village, like all Shinobi do. However, I never thought about my role in the village as my age and power increased.
"I dunno." I reply. "What about you? What do you want?"
She stops picking. "I wanted to be the first Hyuga clan member to join the ANBU. Grandfather Hiashi refused."
What the heck was Narucha hiding from me!? She was talented sure, but did she have the darkness necessary to join the team? I doubt it. Then again, maybe she did. You never know what others are going through. But ANBU?
I respond. "So… now what do you want? To do, I mean."
She resumes picking. "To be honest, it depends on what you want to do."
I look at her crazy. Since when does anything she does depend on me? I ask why. Her answer does not disappoint.
"Well, because I see how well our dads work together. You remind me of Naruto, the type of personality to eventually become Hokage. If you become Hokage, someone has to handle the village's darkness. That someone would be me. We'd be a perfect team."
My jaw could have caused a crater in the ground. What happened to the loud mouthed girl a few years back? She was a lot more calm. More tame, but her eyes. While cute, there was pain behind it. There was something about the dots not aligning up for me.
"Well, I mean… that sounds like a good idea."
"The path to becoming a Hokage is not for the faint of heart, Inosaichi. You know that right? It's not something do just because it feels like a good idea."
I could have told her that!
"It's getting late." She continues. "We need these there soon. We don't want to be late."
That was all that happened today, and it plagued me for a while. Nobody changes that drastically without something actually happening to them. Narucha had darkness in her heart. I wondered from what.
I didn't sleep much that night.