Namikaze Minato saw a lot of things in his lifetime and it wasn't even that long compared to the Third Hokage. It wasn't even half, actually. Minato had seen a motivated Nara (one memory he would rather forget, to be honest) and met a focused Inuzuka (that person became a thorn on his side once and he would rather have not Inuzuka Emi hunting for his hide just because Kushina asked her for a favor) and he even experienced being peeped on by his own teacher... among other weird things.
That
Was
Something
He
Would
Rather
Die
Than
Tell
Anyone
But back to the point.
Namikaze Minato experienced a lot for someone his age but the fact that a tiny little girl who was barely old enough to know the meaning of adultery came up to him one day when he was on his way to meet Kushina at Ichiraku's— it was safe to say, that that was the most memorable thing he could have ever experienced. After all, what kind of little girl (who looked to be about two andwherethehellareherparents?!) just asks people to marry them?!
That day popped up in his mind with clarity. The sky was cloudless, the heat too overbearing for some reason in that particular day, and he'd been getting whispers and odd looks on his way to Ichiraku's. Minato thought that maybe he had something on his face or maybe something on his clothes that caught the people's attention.
After all, he just came back from a mission and for some reason, the gate guards told him to go straight to that favorite ramen stand of his favorite person and just whyweretheylookingathim?!
The stares started getting on his nerves but he was a patient man. A patient shinobi. And a patient shinobi just does not lose control all willy-nilly like he was just about to. Soon enough, he learned the why's he was asking himself.
It was the moment he walked by a clothes store and he, for no reason at all, glanced at the windows and almost nearly choked to death when he realized it was a women's undergarments store but he caught himself halfway.
The windows reflected his reflection (obviously, did he need to see a medic to check his head?) but it also reflected a child's reflection (obviously, again, what was up with him?).
And that child practically drilled holes into his head with that stare of hers.
"Um," he began; his voice quivering a bit in surprise and nervousness. Just how many person felt the intense stare of a child whose intentions remained unclear, and one they never even met or seen before? "Can I help you?"
He was still looking at the window, talking to the reflection and he looked like an idiot for that, he dully noted to himself. Seconds later, when he received no answer, he finally turned to look at the child and not at her reflection. Minato almost lost his breath.
The reflection did not do the child justice.
Her eyes resembled the color of snow with hints of turquoise in one eye and the other appeared to be plain black... like an actual black like the Uchiha's and not the dark, dark brown.
The shinobi noted how the child's tiny nose scrunched up (probably thinking for an answer to his question) and her black (blackblackblackblackblackblack) eyebrows furrowed; the child was deep in thought.
And Minato wondered where she got her colorings from. She could not be an Uchiha. The child lack the poise one an Uchiha naturally shows, the sharp eyes, the pale skin (she was lightly tanned but her colors still seemed outstanding) and... the height.
Definitely the height. Although, if she were two, he could cross that last one out of his list. "Find my mama." He watched her hand reached out to him, an embarrassed blush coating her chubby cheeks and he smiled as he held her hand. She probably got lost in this busy street, people were out and about buying groceries, after all
As Minato stood (though not in full height because she was just so short he had to bend down a bit), he walked along with a pace she could follow. "What's your mama's name?" The street became louder and the heat was just too much today. It was a wonder Minato stayed calm and bright when all he wanted to do was groan and be lazy in his apartment which has ventilation.
It took the child a few more seconds before she answered, as if processing Minato's words. "Shhi'towi Chipoome." The shinobi needed a handful of seconds before the name properly translated in his head.
Minato blinked... and blinked again before paling. "S-Shiratori Chifumi..?" His voice went down a few octaves at this realization and the way the child (she was Shiratori's kid!) nodded in joy. "En-And I Shhi'towi Chiha!" He would have cooed at her cuteness but he was busy having a literal storm in his head as he tried to think of a way to get out of this situation.
There was a fucking legitimate reason why he failed to sense Shiratori Chiha earlier when he wondered why he kept getting unnecessary stares and whispers.
It was because Chiha-chan was a Shiratori and he was gonna die—
"That you, Chibi Minato?"
Aaaaaaaaaaand his death was inevitable in the hands of his senpai. "Ah, Chi's with you!" A familiar woman scooped up the tiny little kid in her arms and began squishing their cheeks together.
Minato simply stood in silent awkwardness and even tried to retreat but (shit) Shiratori grabbed hold of his flack jacket way too fast. "I haven't seen you since that super pervert came back, blondie!" Chifumi-senpai hollered and slapped his back, earning herself a few coughs from him. Minato chuckled rather nervously.
"Y-Yeah, it's just been so busy lately, Chifumi-senpai." And this woman in front of him? She had stood in for Jiraiya-sensei for a few months when the Third Hokage gave the sannin a highly classified mission.
Team Seven was not about to be left alone with no sensei so the 'super pervert' as Chifumi-senpai calls Minato's sensei had gone out of his way to search for someone to look after his brats. And that someone was Shiratori Chifumi. Minato still remembered those days in such vividness and he would rather forget those memories, dammit!
Chifumi-senpai smiled; it was not the smile of someone looking to tease him. The shinobi swore it was a smile of nostalgia. "And probably because I retired." Minato blinked at this sudden information. Chifumi-senpai, by all accounts, was not that old.
She was still young, in her early or late thirties but that was still young to be retired from the ninja lifestyle. "Since when, senpai?" The woman grinned as bright as the sun and Minato resisted the urge to cover his eyes so he would not look stupid in front of her and her daughter.
"Since these little troublemakers came into my life." And at that moment, another black-colored and lightly tanned-skin child popped out behind Chifumi-senpai's back, his hands clinging onto her shoulders in an attempt to keep himself in place. "Chibi Minato, these are my children; brats, this is Namikaze Minato." Chiha-chan waved at him with a shy smile and then the other identical child to Chiha beamed at him.
"Shiratori Chigusa!" Chigusa-chan seemed a lot bolder than his sister who hid herself behind his senpai earlier. "They're adorable, Chifumi-senpai. How old are they? Your children... are a lot smaller than I thought."
Minato should have seen it coming. He should have seen it coming!
Before he knew it, the dirt ground was kissing him, his cheek burning bright red from the punch his senpai just delivered. Yeah, senpai retired way too soon. "Are you implying something here, chibi?!" The shinobi shook his head in frantic, not willing to be on her bad side at all.
"Because if you forgot, you're just as pint-sized as my brats before!" Chigusa-chan and Chiha-chan threw their mother a look; could children purposely give an affronted one? Minato wasn't sure but it seemed like it. "Kaa-chan! We're small cause we're just almost two!"
Chigusa-chan appeared to be a lot more articuoate than his sister who messed up a few syllables earlier. His senpai blinked, comically actually, and gave him a sheepish smile. "Oops?" Minato wanted to cry. He just wanted to meet up with Kushina at Ichiraku's and this is what he gets? Get beat up by his spartan senpai?!
If he was allowed, he would curl up in a fetus position by the wall, writing random things in the dirt and just sulk. Because this wasn't what he was expecting when he just got home from a tiring mission! "Mina'-nii-cha?" He glanced up with the slightest of pouts to look at Chiha-chan, her brother and mother arguing in the background.
"Yes, Chiha-chan?"
"... ah... mewwy me?"
Chiha-chan fiddled with her fingers, that same shade of red coating her cheeks in her embarrassment. It took Minato a couple of seconds to register what she said and he barely noticed how Chigusa-chan and Chifumi-senpai looked at them in horror. The shinobi froze, smiling sheepishly. "Um, Chiha-chan, I think—"
"Get away from my Chi-chan!"
"Sic him, Chigusa!"
You know what? Minato should have just shunshined to where Kushina was instead of walking through the village.
He didn't ask for this, dammit!
.
.
Kushina tried.
She really, really tried but she failed.
The Uzumaki exploded into laughter when Minato finished recounting his encounters with an old sensei and her kids. "Pfft— I can't— how did you even get away? Chifumi-san is a person who does not give up... At. All. I have a feeling her brats are pretty much the same." Kushina mused in amusement, noting how Minato turned a lot paler as her words sunk in.
Even Teuchi chuckled as he placed another bowl of ramen in front of the redhead. "Remember that time she had you guys search for her?" The blond groaned and hid his face inside the palm of his hands, making Kushina cackle.
The redhead could not help but tease him because it was Shiratori Chifumi; that one kunoichi who made Minato and his teammates scour the entire village to hunt her down. That woman was a force to be reckoned with.
Kushina still remembered how Minato and his teammates running around all over the village to search for a single woman who gave them the task of searching for her. Shiratori Chifumi, when she does not want to be found, cannot be found. That woman mastered the art of hiding; an infiltration specialist and one of the best.
Kushina was pretty sure that Chifumi-san must be cackling right now wherever she is (the redhead was sure that that woman was just around them, in hearing distance). "I didn't know she retired though. Much less have brats." Because no man had shown even a fraction of interest in Chifumi-san as far as Kushina remembered.
That woman was like a cloud; going wherever the wind takes her. No one could keep up with her antics. To know she has a child, much less two of those little devils; it kind of surprised the redhead.
"Me and you both," Minato muttered in exasperation. "I wasn't even expecting to see her since, well, I haven't seen her in years!" Kushina blinked and planned on stopping Minato from ranting but he wasn't done. "And I thought I was gonna die when I met her! She just punched me, Kushina! She punched me!" He whined and pointed at his swollen cheek, the redness hadn't faded away at all.
The Uzumaki gulped and slapped Minato's hand. "Behind you, you idiot!" The blond blinked and mirrored Kushina's expression of horror when he noticed the meaning of her words. Minato didn't even need to turn around.
"I can have a coffin ready for you. Or have you cremated, chibi."
"... I'm sorry, Chifumi-senpai."
"Heh."
"Stay away from my Chi-chan, got that?" Kushina almost lost it when the black-haired holyshittheyareadorableimgonnadie boy hugged the identical girl beside him. "You're not allowed to marry her, pretty boy!" Beside them, Chifumi cackled as she ruffled her son's hair.
"Ya got that right, Chigusa! Show chibi who's the man!" Chigusa fist-pumped the air while grinning. "Yeah! I'm the man!" The pair began firing each other up with more nonsensical words that Kushina finally noticed the little girl looking at her (Minato took this chance to shunshin away from all the madness).
"Yo, little one, the name's Uzumaki Kushina! The greatest kunoichi there is in the Hidden Leaf!"
"... pwitty-nee-cha!"
.
DON'T KIDNAP THE LITTLE FLUFF BALL OF CUTENESS, KUSHINA! MUST. RESIST.
"Hehe, thanks. What's your name, chibi-chan?"
"Chiha!"
Must
Resist
Temptation!
Kushina sweat dropped as she realized that Chiha-chan's family was still busy pumping each other up with the... motivational speeches. "Ne, Chiha-chan, how has Chifumi-san been?" Because the redhead, like Minato, hadn't seen the Shiratori woman in years.
The little fluff ball of cuteness climbed onto the stool beside her, turning to face her family with a smile. "Kaa-cha good! Chi-ku good too!" The redhead inwardly squealed and felt like she was literally melting from the overload of cuteness. Sue her for having such weakness!
"What about Chiha-chan? And tou-chan?"
"... no tou-cha. Just Kaa-cha and Chi-ku!"
Kushina went wide eyed for a bit before mirroring the toothy grin Chiha-chan was giving her. The redhead was only glad that her question didn't make the fluff ball cry.
That begs the question though... Chifumi-san never did changed surnames, didn't she? I wonder who the fluff ball's father is. Kushina reached out and messed her wavy-black hair. "I guess you don't need him then! You have your dependable Kaa-san, after all!"
"Mhm!"
"O-Oh, right, where the heck did chibi go?!"
And Kushina found herself invited over for dinner in the Shiratori household.
.
.
The first time I became aware of pretty much everything, well, I thought I was dreaming. Or maybe a coma? I wasn't sure. All I knew is the fact that I was in the Naruto Universe.
... maybe reading too many fanfics in my earlier childhood caused this...
"Chi-chan, Kaa-chan said it's time for dinner!" Chigusa, well, my brother was loud and I used to be a person who hated loud people. But he was my brother, my twin brother, in fact and I found his loudness quite endearing, so to speak.
I had been reading a... story book about some great ninja saving the princess, the cliche stuff. Picking myself up from the ground, Chigusa grabbed my hand and proceeded to drag me to the dining room where Kaa-chan just finished setting the table.
As Chigusa ranted on and on about this cool thing he found, I thought about that day I met Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina... and how Kaa-chan just talked to them with practiced ease. As if she had know that couple when they were kids and I wasn't wrong in my assumption.
Kaa-chan did know them and even taught the Namikaze Minato for a few months when he had still been Genin. She didn't give me the specifications of the why's and how's but that simple fact solidified my hero-worship for Kaa-chan.
Shiratori Chifumi was the best.
Enough about that, I didn't have enough words to describe how awesome she is but let's get to the fact that I'm living in the era of the Third Shinobi World War. My first thought when I realized was that I'm gonna die.
But something must have gone wrong when I transitioned from my old world to here because my next thought was Oh, well, I just gotta survive through it, I guess. I was supposed to freak the fuck out because it is highly likely I'm gonna die before I even turn fifteen.
But no. I was kind of... indifferent about the whole dying thing at an early age. I mean who wouldn't, right? Guess it was just me. There was a reason why I was in that line of thought. Shiratori Chifumi did not exist in canon. Therefore, she must have died before it, right?
Shiratori Chigusa and Chiha did not exist. They might have been collateral damage in the war. However, it was also plausible that we were new entities and this world would not follow as what I know it would be.
My family and I were extra variables in this game and the future will be unpredictable... but would it? Fate , destiny or whatever is such a thing. The Shiratori Family may survive this war but it is also possible that we would die in the years after the war and before canon... or we were not important enough to be mentioned at all.
I hope that was the case.
Because Chigusa and Kaa-chan meant everything to me.
"Yah, Chi-chan, you weren't listening to my awesomeness!" My brother explained and roared and pout. I didn't know how he managed that look but he did. "'Owwy, Chi-ku." So my tongue refused to cooperate with me and my brother's cooperated effortlessly... I call foul play, dammit.
He used the table as support as he reached over and patted my head with that insufferable grin. "Good! Just make sure to listen next time!"
But he was cute.
...
I might develop a brother-complex at this point.
Dinner was uneventful as usual except for some moments when Chigusa would give me his greens and Kaa-chan would scold him for that. He gets scolded ten times a day... on average. A few weeks later, Chigusa dragged me to the biggest park on Konoha, near the Academy where he would spy on them sometimes when he had enough of plying ninja.
It was kinda sad how he only plays with me and I refused to talk with other kids without him with me.
The both of us were a sad pair of twins.
"Yah, Chi-chan, they're doing that thing again!" I peered up at him from my book, both his legs dangling from the branch he was on so he could see the Academy brats from here. "Thing?"
So I kinda envied Chigusa with the whole being able to speak properly so may or may not have been practicing during the night and making Kaa-chan think that someone's been lingering around the house...
Chigusa pointed at the Academy and looked down at me. "The thing they do with the leaves! It's stuck on their forehead!" Inwardly, I cooed at how adorable my twin brother was before giving him an annoyed look.
I should have expected this but how could he forget Kaa-chan's lesson just yesterday? "Chi-kun can do that, too, 'member? He blinked and sheepishly smiled.
"Oh, right. Yah, Kaa-chan's gonna kill me if she knew that." Chigusa laughed a little and climbed down, dusting himself off the stray leaves that got stuck on his clothes. While he was doing that, I wondered if we should go and visit Kashi.
Yes, we were friends with the Hatake Kakashi because apparently, Kaa-chan had been on the same Genin Team with the Hatake Sakumo and they were, and I quote, the best of friends.
I didn't believe her, not until Hatake Sakumo dropped by and asked Kaa-chan if she could look after Kashi.
For reasons unknown, Chigusa disliked Kashi at first sight. And yes, that's a thing.
"Chi-kun, I wanna visit Kashi."
"No."
But he had no choice when I started walking away once he began saying the reasons why he disliked Kashi. "Yah, Chi-chan, wait for me!" He caught up to me with no problem, grumbling incoherent things under his breath.
Kashi lived far from the Academy, and consequently, far from where we were so it took a while before we reched his place. "Yahhh, do we have to go and visit him? Kaa-chan might already be looking for us." I rolled my eyes as he tried to sway me from visiting but we were already here.
Chigusa grumbled yet again.
"Why do you even want to visit him?"
"Cause he's our friend."
"Your friend, not mine."
.
"You don't have to visit in the first place anyway."
Surprised, we turned around to see Kashi and Sakumo-sama, both holding a bag of grocery. While I beamed in delight, Chigusa groaned and waved, somewhat reluctantly. "Kashi!" As any fangirls would have done, I glomped Kashi... who proceeded to push me away by pushing me by the fucking face. "Yah! Don't touch Chi-chan like that!"
"Get her off me then, idiot!"
Chigusa joined in the effort of getting me away from Kashi. I was pretty sure Sakumo-sama looked at us in amusement. Seconds later, I was off Kashi with Chigusa clinging on to me and glaring at our— excuse me, my friend. "What brings you two here? Does Fumi knows?" I forgot to mention; Sakumo-sama and Kaa-chan calls each other with nicknames... NICKNAMES I TELL YOU!
"Kaa-chan doesn't."
"Chi-chan just decided to visit her precious Kashi out of the blue."
I nudged him on the ribs and he stuck his tongue out at me. Sakumo-sama laughed and ruffled my hair. I sighed. I would have married the guy if it was possible. There was a reason why I attached the honorific -sama to his name.
"Come on in, then. I heard from Fumi last time that she planned on teaching you guys some chakra control excercises." With no more bitterness on Chigusa's expression, we went inside the Hatake House with Kashi grumbling behind us.
Hatake Kakashi wasn't... what I was expecting. From what I remember (due to the numerous fanfics I read, not from the show itself), he was that one Jounin who's always late and comes up with the most ridiculous excuses.
Then again, I don't really remember much of... anything, to be honest. This was my life and back then, it wasn't. I didn't care what happened in this world, didn't bother learning more because it was that. This hadn't been my world.
Now that it is? I would very much want to stay alive till I die of old age, thank you very much. Back to the point though, Kashi wasn't that Jounin who I knew through ink and paper or through the television and phone screen. Kashi was Kashi and he was a lot different from that Canon Hatake.
This one was irritable; easily annoyed by mundane things that children do because it was natural for them but not him.
It took me a while to wrap my mind around the fact that children grew differently here. Oh sure, the post-birth facts about newborns are true but what does that say about toddlers from my old world to toddlers of this one? I mean, look at me, Chigusa and Kashi. We weren't exactly normal toddlers but still!
"Yah! Kaa-chan taught us that trick with the leaf thing!"
"Oh, that exercise? I've already done that. It was easy." Kashi butted in and said that with a smug look on his face. This only prompted Chigusa to frown (and probably dislike him further) and puff his cheeks out. "No one asked you, Bakashi." Both of them glared at each other with Sakumo-sama shaking his head, albeit entertained with their antics.
I had sat down on the couch as Sakumo-sama prepared us snacks while my brother and Kashi argued at the dining table.
"So, Chiha-chan," I glaned up from my book when Sakumo-sama called me. "What have you been reading?" I had discarded the story books a few days ago and asked Kaa-chan if she knew fūinjutsu and, in fact, she had books about it.
I'll say it again and again and again; that woman is awesome. "Introduction to the Fundamentals of Fūinjutsu: Barrier Edition!" I may or may not be too excited about the prospect of making barriers.
I have a thing for it, okay?!
I just know Sakumo-sama was looking at me with a stranged look. "Fūinjutsu? That's an interesting read. Are you sure you understand any of it?" I know for a fact that he just teased me but that brought fire in my eyes. He just implied that I'm too young for this! (Though I am too young for this.)
"Fūinjutsu is the art of seals! SEALS! AND THERE'S BARRIERS!" So that didn't answer his question but I did, kinda, gave him the impression that I knew what I was doing. Sakumo-sama simply gave me a defeated look and resumed making our snacks.
It was delicious.
.
.
Shiratori Chigusa loved his sister.
He loved his Kaa-chan.
But most of all, he loved his sister and their Kaa-chan knew that.
So when Hatake Bakashi came into their life, he instantly disliked that pipsqueak. Why? Because his sister seemed so fascinated with that guy and he hated it.
"Chi-chaaaaaaaaaaaan, let's go to the park!"
He loved his sister more than he disliked Bakashi anyway so he tolerated that guy for the sake of his sister.
.
.
"I get to learn under pretty-nee-chan?!"
Kushina laughed with a side of obnoxiousness within but the Uzumaki nodded with a bright beam on her face. It took one conversation with Chifumi-san and the little brat would learn under her wing.
Because where would she even find a kid who would be interested in barrier seals of all things? Maybe never! But she did! And she would be making it worth while.
Besides, she kind of liked this fulff ball of cuteness.
In addition, barrier seals; how in the world did Chiha-chan managed to find interest in that branch of fūinjutsu anyway? How did she even find out about it? Of course, she asked Chifumi-san and that woman only said, "Had a few books lying around. I think one of them was What and Why: The Inner Workings of Fūinjutsu."
No normal child should have been able to understand that. Then again, Chiha-chan didn't exactly know how fūinjutsu works.
The brat knew the principles, the hows, the whys, and the whats. Kushina gave her extra points for that. There was a reason few knows fūinjutsu and fewer who uses it in battle.
Fūinjutsu is difficult; even for veteran ninjas who have years of experience in comparison to this two (almost three) years old brat. The only downside of teaching Chiha-chan?
Chigusa seemed to hate her with a passion.
Apparently, the other brat was way too protective over his sister.
Kushina, kind of, maybe antagonized the little brat by being affectionate with his sister. What could she say? The twins are adorable little pipsqueaks.
Back to the matter at hand, Kushina had been teaching Chiha-chan for over three months now and her writing... sucks. The Uzumaki believed that penmanship can be... cultivated? Enhanced?... improved through repetition.
As the redhead looked down the numerous papers littered across the floor of her apartment, her belief cracked just a bit as she noted the lines of the kanji for fire. Chiha-chan's penmanship... refused to improve. Rather, it failed with such persistence.
Maybe she was just young; her age a factor for the whys. Kushina barely restrained herself from pulling on her hair when instead of improving, Chiha-chan's penmanship kept getting worse and worse and worse. The number of times she had made Chiha-chan write that same kanji should have, at least, shown a little progress of getting better.
It was like the world was against her or something.
"Um, Chiha-chan?" The Uzumaki asked carefully, taking slow but easy steps towards her student who finally showed her own frustration. "I think we should take a break." She froze, setting the calligraphy brush down. "H-Hey, you're still young, Chiha-chan, so you have plenty of time to practice this."
"But... But they keep looking like chicken scratch!"
That was the day Kushina and Chiha found out that Chiha would be unable to write legibly.
.
.
That didn't stop Chifumi from teaching her daughter how to write though. At least until Chiha's handwriting could be understood.
.
.
"It's not funny."
Kashi had been making fun of me ever since I told him of my... predicament. Chigusa stayed at home today since he was sick (surprisingly) and I decided to go and bother Kashi while his dad was away on a B-Rank mission (which wouldn't take Sakumo-sama long and might be back just in time for dinner).
I found myself in rock bottom when Kaa-chan told me that if my writing doesn't improve at all from the barely legible to perfect strokes; fūinjutsu would be way out of my reach... forever. And I was sooooo excited to learn them from the UZUMAKI KUSHINA! "Just give up on fūinjutsu, stupid. It's probably way too much for you to handle anyway."
Just give up? Fūinjutsu is like... like a life hack! It's probably the best there is! Kashi found himself hunching over when I elbowed him in the ribs but that's what he gets for suggesting something stupid like that. "You just don't understand how awesome it is! One day, you're gonna ask me for help in fūinjutsu! I just know it."
"If you even manage to learn it."
"When I learn it!"
"If."
"When!"
"If."
"When!"
"If. Now stop getting me into childish arguments."
I gave him a triumphant grin. He rolled his eyes. Bleh, he's just angry I managed to get him into, and his words, a childish argument. Sucks to be him, then! "C'mon, Kashi!"
"I liked you better when you couldn't speak properly. At least, that way, you aren't as loud as you are now." This time, it was me who rolled my eyes at his words. Again, suck to be him. "At least I knew you liked me enough." Kashi smacked me on the face and pushed me away. "I'm getting something to eat."
I knew there was an unsaid, you coming?
I followed after him with a smile. "Are we getting dango? Or ramen? Ooooh, or maybe takoyakis?"
"If you shut up, we might get dangos."
"Yes!"
"If you shut up."
"... shutting up now."
Kashi 'hn'ed at me as he lead the way to that one dango stall we frequented by with his and my family when Kaa-chan and Sakumo-sama decided to meet and catch up.
As we walk to our destination, I couldn't help but note how Konoha didn't change much from what I remember from Before. The buildings remained the same. The pathways. The atmosphere. It felt the same even though the war hadn't happened yet. Even when Mina-nii-chan hadn't become Hokage yet. Even when the Kyuubi... hadn't run rampant in the village yet.
Kaa-chan and Chigusa... I keep worrying about what might happen to them because... because ya know...
Nevermind...
Kashi had been giving me odd looks. It's probably weird that I stayed quiet when, in fact, I usually disregard my defeat against him and kept on droning on and on and on about random things. Mostly what I see when we go through the village.
"Uh, hey," I perked up a little at his unsure tone. "I, uh, I'll pay for both of us." By that time, he looked away from me but free dangos?! Heck, yeah! Without wasting time, I grabbed his wrist and dragged him the rest of the way as I sang (it was probably off key the entire time) my madeup song for my lovely dangos.
I can have my fun.
After all, I still have time before things go downhill, right?