"Hey, you know how you can phase through stuff, right?" Ippan asked the masked man. He was one of the few Anbu that she occasionally saw and bothered.
"Yes, I'm aware of my abilities." He stated with sigh. From the conversation the man had with her he could only guess what this one was going to be about.
"So I was wondering if I held onto you would I phase through too?"
"No you wouldn't." He said.
"Well have you ever tried it before?" She asked with a tilt in her head.
"No," When she went to speak the older man cut her off. "and no Ippan I'm not going to test it out with you."
She puffed out her cheeks and lowered her brow in a pouting fashion. "This would be more fun if you told me your name. I can't call you Foxy forever."
"I'm willing to live with that." He said and she could feel the smile underneath his mask.
"Do you sleep with that mask on?" She suddenly questioned.
"Why would you ask me that?" His tone suggested that her question was a bit puzzling.
"Well Kakashi sensei, you know him." The Anbu nodded. "He never takes off his mask even when he's sleeping." There was an uncomfortable silence at least for the Anbu.
"Why do you know that?"
"Because." She said as if that was the correct response. Ippan took this chance to pick up the stack of files she had set down to speak to him and walked towards the door. "I'll talk to you later, Foxy."
The girl moved out into the hall and made her way towards the Hokage's office. Ever since Naruto had gotten back from his last mission he's been very determined. Of course he's always been serious about getting Sasuke back. However now word has gotten out that Sasuke is out. Apparently he killed Orochimaru and now he's out to find his brother Itachi.
Tsunade asked her to get all the information the archives had on the man and he was certainly an interesting person. When she walked into the office she plopped down all the files onto her desk. "This is everything."
"Are you positive?" The older woman said glancing over all the papers.
"I made Mitoku go through everything they had. I think I was annoying him." She said. "He said he'd ban me if I asked anymore questions."
"I see." The fifth said, though Ippan could tell that she wasn't really listening. Her eyes had already been glued to the documents in front of her. Ippan hadn't looked at any of these documents so she was curious about the Uchiha. She decided to lean over the desk and read the document Tsunade was holding.
Said woman looked at her with a deadpanned expression. "What is it Ippan?"
"I'm just wondering what the plan is?" She paused. "I heard that Sasuke killed Orochimaru."
Tsunade pursed her lips. "Yes well, now that Sasuke is on his own he's going to go after his brother, that's for certain. We're going to send two teams to detain him."
"I see." Ippan said. "If you have Itachi then Sasuke will surely follow."
"Partly, if we have Itachi then we can find the whereabouts of the three tails as well."
"Do you really think that he'll tell you that?" Ippan asked.
"Let us worry about that." Tsunade said with a tired sigh. "Have you already organizing the genin squad missions."
Ippan nodded. "Yeah, you just have to sign off for them."
"Good, then you're done for today."
"Okay." The girl saw that Tsunade had already gone back to reading the documents. Ippan decided to be on her way, but then a thought came to her. What was she going to do for the rest of the day? Her question was answered when a grumble was heard from her stomach.
Food always came first, obviously.
What was close? Ramen Ichiruka's was near by. When Ippan got inside the restaurant she went to greet Teuchi and Ayame, but was surprised to see Naruto with Jiraiya. The blond seemed to be as well when he blinked at her with bright eyes. "Ippan!" He said with a mouth full of food.
"Hey." She said with a smile, taking a seat next to him before Ayame. "I'll have shitake."
"On it." The older girl said kindly.
"So how have you been, Ippan?" Teuchi asked.
She had a lot on her mind, but there wasn't much to complain about. "I'm fine."
The older man smiled. "I haven't seen the two of you here together in quite a long time." Ippan glanced between Naruto and Ippan.
"Don't blame me. This kid is a big shot now so he doesn't have time for the common folk anymore." The girl said waiting for the blond to react as she began to smirk.
"What! Come on, we saw each other the moment I got back." The boy argued. The girl sat back against the counter trying her best to hid the grin forming on her face.
"Yeah, in the office. You know, Shikamaru is probably my new best friend. I even go over to his house now."
"I thought you broke in?" Ayame asked.
"That's not what's important." Ippan said as the brunette sweat-dropped with a smile.
"Fine, do you want to come over to my house today?" Naruto asked.
"No, no, if I'm forcing you to invite me I don't want to go." The boy's expression morphed into a deadpan and Ippan was doing everything in her power to keep from laughing. She almost forgot how much fun it was to tease Naruto. It was times like these that she missed having him around.
"Well if you don't come now then you won't see me for a while." The boy said. "We're heading out on another mission tomorrow."
"I know." She replied as Ayame handed her a bowl of ramen. It was steaming and she blew on it lightly. "You're going after Itachi right? I've given lady Tsunade all the information we have on him. You know, I have to say he's pretty attractive for an Akatsuki member."
"Ippan!" Naruto said in disbelief. "He killed his entire clan, dattebayo!"
"Yes I know and he's gone to such a waste." She said. "So let him know he's too cute to be a mass murderer and that he should stop."
"Yeah, that'll do the trick." Naruto said sarcastically, poking her between her eyes with the back end of his chopsticks. "Ippan, sometimes I wonder what's going on in that weird head of yours."
"I could say the same to you." She said slurping up her noodles. "Mr 'leave my best friend hanging all the time'. You're probably cheating on me with Sai, aren't you?"
The blond almost spit out his food at her statement and began to cough. "Ew! No I'm not!"
"So you two are dating?" Jiraiya finally asked. He'd been watching them go back and forth since she had sat down with amusement
"No." They said at the same time as if it was an insult.
"He's my husband." She answered. The older man blinked with a lost expression. He didn't understand what was going on.
"I didn't realize we'd already gotten married." Naruto said. "When was the ceremony?"
"While you were off on your mission, but don't be surprised when you come back and we're divorced."
"Oh come on, I said you could come over today. So quit being mad." The boy squinted his blue eyes at the unconcerned girl.
"I thought you were married to Gaara?" Ayame asked, finally entering the strange conversation. At least Jiraiya saw it that way.
"I am." Ippan stated simply. "He's my Suna husband and Naruto is my Konoha husband."
"Oh I see." She said nodding her head before returning back to work.
I don't, Jiraiya thought. Naruto had certainly found himself a strange friend.
"So do you want to come over today or not?" The younger boy asked. "I have to pack for my mission."
"Okay, okay, we could have a movie night." She said standing up from her seat.
"Let me guess, Koyuki Kazahana." Naruto said getting up right along with her.
"Hey, you love her movies too."
"Yeah, but I didn't send her a fan letter asking her to marry me."
"Hey, she didn't say no so I still have a chance."
Naruto shook his head before turning to Jiraiya. "I'm gonna go with Ippan now."
"Alright, kid." He said trying to understand the girls behavior. She stared right back at him with bright emerald eyes.
"See ya pervy sensei." She said with a wide grin as they left the restaurant together.
"No, it's pervy sage." Naruto corrected with a laugh. Ippan replied with "Oh" as their voices became further and further away. The toad sage looked like he wanted to reply, but the two were already gone.
"It's best if you just accept it." Ayame said to the white haired man. "Their conversations don't get anymore normal than that."
"I'm starting to see that." Jiraiya answered.