Miho tried to keep her mind focused, but voices were breaking through the calm. Voices, in the rush of wind. It reminded her too much of— A sharp slash to her right arm and Miho's eyes flew open. The swirling clouds continued to spin around her, but she could sense them dissipating as the wind eased and calmed. Her eyes focused on the gash, which bled freely into the sleeve of her tunic. The blood melted between the simple beaded patterns on the sleeve cuff.
Heart racing, her mind tried to make sense of the sensations.
Like déjà vu or a half-forgotten dream.
"Hold on!"
"I'm gonna try again." Her attention traveled over to Grandfather Ha and Master Torifu, both of whom had similar looks of frustration. Two different species had equally dull stares. She laughed at them then, waving them off with a blood-covered hand. They stared, not amused. "I'll be fine!"
It wasn't the car and the wreck. She fell into that scene so easily now that she was learning, slowly, how to break its hold. It didn't have the same power as it once did. She heard the screaming metal and the whirling screeching. She pushed past it. She had to. She had to overcome it. It was only one death among many. It couldn't hold so much power. Too much power.
There was something new. Something that felt…important. Right there.
The memory was right there.
"Everyone, it's okay! It's okay. We're okay. We're good. We're good."
"Mommy!"
"I'm right here, baby."
"Shh…Shh…"
"Stay calm. It's okay. We'll be okay, everyone. We'll be okay!"
The rush of wind was so deafening that Miho couldn't hear anything else. Just the wind and the screaming. The memory was one that echoed. It rattled around in her mind, underneath the rolling Jeep. Underneath the underneath. People screaming, people praying, people holding onto each other in the darkness. People shielding strangers. She was there among them, bracing herself over someone's body. She tried to yell over the wind. She tried to be heard over the collapsing building and the screeching metal.
A small room in a small store in a small town and a really big storm.
The tornado was ripping through. If the walls fell, they would die.
They would be torn apart.
"Hold on!"
The chakra was pulling her with it, drawing her further from the safety of the familiar. From the safety of the chakra in her meat, in her fat. The chakra she'd known her whole life. The safety of her familiar nature chakra that flowed in her veins.
Chakra was meant to flow as you commanded it, as you shaped it. Chakra use was all about control. Miho drew in a breath and let her chakra move with the chaos, drawn around the center. She tried to use the chakra to hold herself in place, pushing it to her limbs. She was strong. Stronger than this.
It was chakra tearing at that small room, tearing at the screaming bodies.
How could she hold on? She had to. If she let go, they'd die. It was pulling at them, trying to drag them out. Like it tried to drag her out out of that car.
Other faces flashed in her mind. As if they were in that dark place with her, as if the walls were crashing down onto them. Miho shouldered the wall up, keeping it from crashing down. Genma-sensei, Tetsuya, Shin, Lee, Ino, Shikamaru, Chōji, Naruto. Kankurō. Gaara.
If she let go, would they be safe?
Pain started to build as the wind lashed harder and the weight grew heavier. She couldn't shoulder the weight anymore. She couldn't shield them from the chaos or the winds. She weight fell as somewhere a support collapsed. There was screaming. As if they knew...
Pain...was coming.
"Let go, Miho."
"Let go, cub!"
Pein was coming.
Miho gasped, eyes snapping open. Her chest heaved. Her throat felt tight, as if her chest was too heavy for her to continue laying there. Miho pushed her arms down into the mattress, maneuvering herself upright as she looked around the room. Once upon a time, her body felt too heavy for her arms. Now, she could lift her own weight up with ease.
A hospital room, clearly. All hospital rooms looked the same, even across borders. This one was painted a muted beige with a watercolor savanna vista on the wall opposite the bed. Muted blues and whites and auburns. The white curtains were drawn back, revealing sunshine outside. Sandstone buildings and a bright blue sky. Her eyes trailed to a clock by the bed.
Zero seven hundred hours.
Over in the corner, there were two backpacks. Clearly both Shin and Tetsuya had been in the room. She could even smell Tetsuya's familiar muscle balm. Spearmint and eucalyptus. His shoulder was probably strained. He only ever used the balm when he overextended. The scent was comforting. Familiar. Safe. They must have stepped out for a minute.
She pressed both hands to her too-dry face, pulling in a breath between her palms.
There was a soft click from the door and Miho dropped her hands to her lap, leaning forward to get a glimpse at the visitor past the privacy curtain.
Lee paused, looking first at the backpacks before lifting his eyes to the bed. Miho smiled when she saw how his large eyes brightened. He hurried through the door, carefully shutting it like the respectful person he was, before bounding over to the bed.
"Miho! It—It is so good to see you awake, my friend! I was so worried when Shin found my team and told us of your predicament! By the time I arrived to your side, you had already fallen unconscious!"
Miho held open her arms and he didn't hesitate to throw himself into them. She didn't miss how fierce his embrace was or the sniffles that he was trying to hide in the mass of her hair. His hug was so all-encompassing that the tips of his fingers did meet at her spine. It was like he was trying to hold her together himself.
She wouldn't put it past him, even if she was falling apart.
Rock Lee would be the one to hold her together by sheer force of will.
"I'm good, Rock. I'm okay." He pulled away and sat in the nearest beside chair, hands pressed against his knees. His eyes were narrowed. "This is hardly the worst shape you've seen me in. I haven't even lost weight!" Miho patted her stomach, smiling.
"The beautiful flower, Sakura, said that you are only alive because the enemy intended to use you as bait and was not withdrawing as much chakra as he could."
Miho raised her brows and then nodded. "Okay. It doesn't change the fact that this is not the worst you've seen me."
There was a moment when his lips turned downward, and an angry glint flicked in his normally bright eyes. Miho instantly knew she'd mis-stepped. He almost never showed his frustration like that. "You cannot compare every injury to that. It does not matter how badly you are hurt, only that you are." His voice had a tone of light chastisement, even if his eyes seemed to be telling a different story. "Downplaying your injuries does not negate the injuries. You are still injured."
Pulling in a deep breath, Miho nodded. He was right, even if she knew anything short of the post-Danzō experience paled in comparison. Then again…Miho's mind flickered back to weeks and weeks spent at Rock's side in the hospital. "Why do I feel like someone told you that at some point?"
Rock Lee— Injury Downplayer Extraordinaire.
His expression turned a bit guilty and maybe a little proud. "Gai-sensei taught me the lesson that injuries and hurts are not meant to be compared. They are meant to be healed!" He raised a fist, looking off into the middle-distance over Miho's stomach toward the far wall. "While I know that many injuries that I face will not be as bad as some I have already faced, that does not mean that my pain does not matter! And it does not mean that I am weak for being injured! It merely means that I have an opportunity to grow through another circumstance!"
Miho reached out her left hand, which twinged a bit with the needle shifting under her skin. She sat it on top of his head and patted down a stray black hair. He looked at her, thick brows pulled together. "You're right. You're always teaching me."
His mouth started to open but there was a knock at the door.
"This is such a drag. She's fine. Let's just—"
"One foot in front of the other, Nara." Ino's voice ground out. Miho met Rock's eyes and smiled. He turned in the chair to watch the show.
Miho grinned as Shikamaru slouched in, hands stuffed in his pockets. He huffed, sharp eyes doing a quick inventory of her visible injuries (which there were none) and the IV pole by her bed. A moment later, Miho met his eyes, raising her brows as she waited for his assessment. His mouth opened, but he was steamrolled by Ino who diverted around him— because he was taking too long— and struck his shoulder with such force that he yelped.
"Geez, woman!"
Cringing back into the pillows, Miho watched as Ino posted herself at the foot of the bed. Her blue eyes flashed in that dangerous way they did when she was angry.
"Hello, my dear best friend whom I adore."
Oh.
Oh no.
Miho lifted her IV-less hand and pressed it to her forehead.
"Nuh-uh, uh-uh. No. You don't get to look exasperated. You don't get that right. Do you wanna know why you don't get that right?" Ino paused, hands going to her hips. Miho meekly lowered her hand again, watching Ino to hear the answer…because there was no-way-in-hell Miho was going to say anything. Anything she said would be wrong. "Well? Do you know why you don't get to look exasperated with literally any of us?"
"Because she tried to martyr herself for the Kazekage?"
If Miho could've leapt from the hospital window, she would have. Surely Kankurō would help to hide her in his village, right? He would. She knew he would. They had that kind of friendship, right? The 'if you commit a crime, I'll help' friendship. Tetsuya's expression was smug when he strolled past Shikamaru, placing a sympathetic hand on the Nara's shoulder. If possible, Shikamaru deflated more as he leaned back against the wall.
Ino's eyes blazed as she pointed to Miho's teammate. "No, because she did it twice!" Ino threw up both hands before dragging them through her hair. "The first time, sure. She's fast. She could've attacked the enemy, but whatever— She decided to become a shield. Fine. Okay. The second time? Two times?"
Miho grimaced, studiously not looking at Shikamaru for help.
Because he definitely wouldn't get involved in this.
And she knew Tetsuya would be no help either.
"Three times, if we're being technical." Tetsuya supplied.
Ino gestured with a very emphatic 'you see?' wave of her arms. "Did you not think that maybe, just maybe, the Kazekage— Gaara of the Sand— was going to be okay in his own damn desert? Surrounded. by. sand." Ino huffed, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Look, I get that the Kazekage gets distracted. He defaults to protect first and strategy later—"
"Sounds familiar." Tetsuya nodded sagely.
Miho shot him a withering look. He held up both hands.
"— but that's no reason for you to go Noble Sacrifice Mode as Plan A. Save it for, like, Plan F."
That literally gets him killed, Ino. Miho reminded in her head. He dies protecting his village.
Ino's blue eyes narrowed dangerously as her arms crossed. He wasn't going to die in the exams and you damn well knew it. He would've been fine.
Because he dies at a later date? Miho held Ino's stare, not backing down. I didn't know what was going to happen! We don't know how far the cascade extends! Sure, it wasn't Deidara, but— Things could have changed.
Miho blinked, looking over to where Shikamaru had shifted off the wall. He looked bored and long-suffering, sighing as he eyed their silent exchange. "The two of you wanna share with the rest of the class?" When neither Miho nor Ino responded, Shikamaru shuffled forward, reaching down to set a hand on Miho's left shin. "'s good you're okay. We're glad you're okay." He turned to look up at Ino, who kept her expression flat before relenting.
"I'm glad you're okay." Ino murmured, her ire settling just a bit. "I just...Don't do that again."
"Besides, fussing at her doesn't work. Reasoning with her does."
"Don't talk like I'm a toddler, Shikamaru." Miho warned.
She wasn't in the mood to be treated less than. Especially for something she felt was the right decision.
He held her stare for a long moment before sighing. "Fine, fine."
Ino snorted, shaking her head. "At least— this time— you didn't argue that it wasn't a big deal."
Rock choked on nothing, coughing as he pounded his own chest, and Miho scrambled to pat him on the back. By the suspicious looks on Ino, Shikamaru, and Tetsuya's faces, they already knew. Miho just smiled, scratching the back of her head.
She was sure she was in for a lot more chastisement before the day was done.
"— practically forced her way into the Suna Barrier Sphere Room. It was a drag, but the expression on Kankurō's face was funny at least."
Miho barked a laugh, holding onto her stomach. Shikamaru looked awfully smug, leaning back in the chair nearest the window.
There were boxes and boxes of to-go food strewn all over the room. At least three empty boxes, which previously held piping-hot skewers from a nearby street vendor, were strategically stacked on the bedside table. Her brother was still eating a bowl of spiced rice cakes as he sat on the floor in the corner.
"Kankurō let her in?"
"Level Two clearance, but yeah. Ino's the best-of-the-best after her father. Suna knows how to use resources."
Still, she knew it bothered Ino that it was the Kazekage who found the shinobi who started the barrier before she could. To use her own words against her, Gaara and his desert. No way would Miho say that out loud to Ino. Shikamaru raised a brow at Miho's distraction and she waved him off. "Was it ever sorted what their aim was?"
"Suna's not spilling. At least, not at our level. When Asuma-sensei left earlier, he had a scroll."
A message for the Hokage, most likely detailing whatever had happened. It needed to be secure enough that it couldn't be carried via a regular hawk or standard low-level courier.
"Are they placing a guard on Fū?"
The silence that met her question was frightening. Miho shifted, glancing to Chōji before meeting Shikamaru's eyes again.
"Are they?"
He shrugged his shoulders, raising his arms over his head in a stretch. To top off the theatrics, he feigned a dramatic yawn. Miho stared at him, frowning. Avoidance? Really? His voice was lower when he responded, which meant that he was consciously sidestepping her question. "It's getting late. Our shift's gonna end soon. Genma-sensei said he'd be here in the morning with the two goofs, right?" He pushed himself up out of his chair.
"Shikamaru."
"Miho." Chōji spoke up, pushing himself up off the floor as well. He came to the end of her bed, where Ino had stood hours before. The contrast between the two was something else. Her brother was so much more subdued than Ino. Still his eyes held a certain amount of steel that she didn't remember from the Images. Shikamaru shuffled past him, toward the door. Path of least resistance and all that. He wanted to get out of Dodge before Miho asked any more questions. "Leave it for now. Okay?"
They had to put a guard on Fū. She hadn't left Suna yet. Surely, they knew that as soon as she left the village, she was going to be killed. Her tailed beast would be taken. Miho went to open her mouth, but her brother shook his head. He glanced to the window and then back to her again. Miho followed his eyes and then looked to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru just raised his brows before shrugging in a kind of 'what can you do?' way.
They couldn't establish a privacy seal here. It'd be too suspicious, especially with the ANBU guards.
Damn it.
"Okay."
Shikamaru folded both arms behind his head. "Just focus on resting for now, okay? Leave the rest to us."
It didn't matter who they were being watched by. Any further discussion would give away a level of knowledge that simply wasn't possible. Like knowing there was an impending threat to Fū, the jinchūriki of another village. It wouldn't bode well if that threat came to fruition and Konohagakure did nothing to prevent it. Yet, Miho knew, the Hokage had been trying for nearly a year to get the other villages to acknowledge an ongoing threat to the jinchūriki.
No one but Gaara gave the Hokage the time of day.
Miho met Shikamaru's eyes.
If anyone could figure things out, he could. Miho let out a breath and nodded.
Chōji smiled, reaching down to pinch at her foot. "We'll see you tomorrow afternoon for the Kazekage's address. Get some rest."
Sunagakure's hospital was particular about visitors, not allowing them past a certain time in the evening when the scorpions and scarabs were out and about in the night. Kankurō had written one of his letters from the burn unit three floors down about six months into her training at Center Mountain. He'd described the general rules of the village about curfews and how often he tried to break those rules to general calamity.
Looking toward the window, Miho just couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She thought the feeling would fade after Shikamaru and Chōji left. There was no potential for conversation and no way that an audience could learn anything.
The more she sat with the feeling, the more she recognized it. Before, it was a sense of dread, how prey might've felt with a predator lingering out of sight. A sort of pressure on the base of her neck that stretched over her shoulders. Now, it was…different. The pressure was the same, but it was merely observational. There was no threat in it.
Miho swallowed and looked around the room, focusing on the top left corner, above the door. It was in the shadows there. A floating sand orb that appeared to be a blue eye. The sight of it was discomfiting. Something she'd only see in the Images. It was a breach of privacy, certainly, but she was a shinobi and she'd long since abandoned her thoughts on privacy. Particularly in another ninja village.
Unlike before, in Konoha— surrounded by Naruto and civilians, this Gaara was not a predator or a disaster waiting to mount casualties.
This time, she felt comfortable confronting Gaara.
"I appreciate that you're checking on me. At least, that's what I hope this is, Lord Kazekage." Miho dipped her head toward the orb.
For a moment, it stayed eerily still. Miho questioned herself for a moment on whether or not she made the right decision in calling it out. More than that, whether or not she was just imagining it. Perhaps her chakra exhaustion conjured it from a half-remembered memory.
Then, it floated downward and over until it hovered just at the edge of the bed.
The pupil of the eye was the same color of his eyes. Miho was reminded of blue lingcod her father brought back from the capital after the sanctions "ended." They'd grilled it. Bright blue-green, like the turquoise beads she'd sewn into her yukata sleeves.
She looked at it.
"I hope your students are alright."
Once upon a time, she had students too.
It was one of her most desperate hopes that they were safe, prospering, happy...
The eye didn't move. Its stare was a bit unnerving. Miho looked away, toward the window where she was sure additional ears were listening into the one-sided conversation. Perhaps they were Suna ANBU? Or worse… Sasori was the spymaster, wasn't he? How often did he return to Suna? There was a shifting sound and she looked over to find the eye pointed down. To her wringing hands. She immediately stopped the motion and rolled her shoulders back.
"Force of habit. Tetsuya—my teammate, the one with the sword?— he hates when I do that."
It was silent for a moment, but the eye didn't leave.
Which meant he wanted something.
Probably an explanation of some kind? After all, a stranger—one that he had threatened in the past— had saved him. Or at least significantly interfered in a threat upon his life. Miho felt her instincts taking over. When her instincts took over, they always seemed to focus on one of two things. Or both things in this case.
"You know…Naruto is obsessed with ramen? People like to give him a hard time about it. He stockpiles ramen packages. To anyone who doesn't know him, they would think it's comical. Sometimes, it is. When he gets really excited about ramen after a mission or whatever, he gets this thrilled smile on his face. He just gets so happy about ramen. See, for someone like me…Food has more meaning. Food can tell us a lot about a person. Who they are. What they value. It's not that Naruto is obsessed with ramen."
She looked up to the floating eye. Even without a physical body present, she knew Gaara was listening. Intently. He was listening because Naruto was a beacon to him at the moment. Naruto, to him, was a lighthouse in a sea of self-doubt. Naruto was that for so many people.
"See, ramen is cheap in the Land of Fire. It's the cheapest meal you can get. For a long while in Naruto's childhood, ramen was all he could afford. No one showed him how to cook either, so…water plus microwave was easy for an abandoned six-year-old to understand." The anger she felt saying that out loud was something she had to swallow down. "Some of the only kindness he was shown was from the ramen stall owner, who gave him free ramen whenever he could."
There was no way Gaara could see where she was going with this, Miho knew. Still, she'd already started the story. She might as well finish it.
"Ramen, to Naruto, is home. It fills him up in ways takoyaki and skewers can't. It's the best comfort food he has. Because ramen is what got him through until…Well, until he had a better diet. Comfort food is...something that makes you feel...connected. To yourself or to others or a place. It makes you feel good. Mine is cookies. Ramen is Naruto's comfort food." Smiling a bit, she turned to the eye. "Do you know what Naruto asked me once? He was telling me about your fight, how you were friends now. How you shared the same pain… What you went through...This was after you helped my brother when you all rescued Sasuke... Naruto asked me if I thought you'd ever had ramen before."
Miho laughed a bit, shaking her head at the memory. Her eyes went a bit unfocused.
Naruto had sat on the edge of her bed while Tetsuya was off at physical therapy, lamenting the fact that he doubted if Gaara had ever had ramen. It wasn't a thing in Suna. To Naruto though, the weight of that question was so, so much more.
Miho knew that. Naruto knew that.
Pressing her lips together, she looked at the floating eye. "I stepped in front of that chain because…Well, because you're Naruto's friend. One of his dearest friends. Because you helped protect my brother when you didn't have to. Because you went to help your students and might've gotten hurt in the process. I…I respect all of that. I respect you, even after our not-so-great first meetings."
She smiled, lips still sealed together. All of that was true. What good did it do to not say these things out loud? She was sure he was trying to rationalize it out. With how confused and shocked he was on the battlefield, Miho was sure he would try to figure it out.
After all, he was still working to understand others one step at a time.
"I did it because that question is still in my head, too— the one Naruto asked me. Whether or not you've had ramen. Or maybe whether or not you've found your own ramen." Miho shook her head and smiled, laughing a bit at the ridiculousness of her words. To a floating eye avatar of the Kakzekage. "I don't even know if I'm making sense anymore. All I know is that…" Miho looked at the eye again. "Naruto counts you as a friend and I hope that we can be friends one day, too."
After a long moment, the eye began to dissolve. She watched as the grains trailed away. Miho settled back into the pillows, watching as the sand wafted toward the window. She was sure the grains could fit through the seal. They sparkled a bit in the moonlight.
When Tetsuya and Shin mother-henned, they did so with a certain kind of dramatic flair that even Genma had to respect the effort. Shin fell so easily into mother-henning because his brother was a mess. An absolute mess. Miho often used a phrase from her previous life to describe Sai— "hot mess." Genma liked the phrase. It applied to a lot of people he knew. Shin had a steady hand. Tetsuya had years of practice and had even turned his henning efforts toward finally getting Hayate to do Yugao's nesting activities. Painting the nursery, putting together the diaper table... It was hardly-moving, but his busy-body student was difficult to completely ignore.
In short, Tetsuya and Shin were practically jōnin-ranked Mother Hens and Genma thought it was spectacular.
Miho sat up in the bed, looking so positively done with everything that her eyes were half-closed. He wondered exactly when her two teammates had arrived that morning. Six or seven-hundred at least. Genma hadn't arrived until closer to nine, coffee in hand. Tetsuya was smug, smirking from where he sat in the window. Shin also looked decidedly pleased with himself, smiling down at his book.
Genma looked between the three, raising his brows and sipping his coffee.
"So…Was there an agreement to disagree or…?"
"Yes."
"No."
"Nope."
Miho sighed. Maybe she'd been hanging around the Nara for too long. That put-upon sigh looked too familiar. "I made the best decision I could. I'm sorry that ended up with me in this situation, but—"
"Do you or do you not have a weapon?"
Miho's mouth opened then snapped shut. She considered for a moment, then "Listen—"
Tetsuya shrugged. "You made a decision, not the best decision. A decision. That's not what we're bothered about."
"I was already chewed out by Ino, or have you already forgotten that? I don't need to be chastised by everyone. I'm the same rank as you. Same age as you. I'm not a child and I don't like being treated as one. So if you're both gonna keep treating me like I'm not capable of thought, I'm gonna ask you both to leave."
Genma raised his brows at the tone. When she was younger, there was sometimes a hard edge to her voice. It had always reminded him of Chōza, that hard Akimichi timbre. His teacher used it often during the war and when he was serious. Now, as her voice matured, it lowered. When she began to lose her patience, it canted to an even lower register. That, was an Okuda Keisuke trait through and through. It was a good mix of Chōza and Keisuke.
Genma wondered if Chōza had noticed.
Considering how rarely she used that tone, probably not.
Considering Chōza and Miho didn't encounter each other very often, probably not.
"Who else has offered their opinions?" Shin wondered aloud with a tilt of his head. Patient or patronizing, Genma wasn't quite sure. Neither seemed particularly wise, but Genma was interested to see how it played out. "I doubt that Hinata or Sakura would…"
Miho's eyes narrowed. Uh oh. Genma quickly looked up to the ceiling, propping his arms behind his head. He knew that look, too. Really, Tetsuya knew that look. Which either meant that he wasn't paying attention to the exchange, or he was priming for an argument. Out of the corner of his eye, Genma tried to gauge Tetsuya's intentions.
The brat was staring out at the Suna skyline.
Stupid.
Tetsuya should be more perceptive. Situational awareness was one of his fortes.
"Well, everyone's been very helpful in providing their opinions. It's been very enlightening. That being said, very few have wondered about my motivations for my decisions— however poorly they played out."
That brought Tetsuya's head back around.
"While we're on the topic, since you two are keen to keep discussing it, I wonder how much better it would've been if the Kazekage's beast was removed. Or better yet, how distinctly great it would have been if both Tailed Beasts were removed so close to a densely populated village. An ally village at that."
She nodded, calm and collected. Her voice was steady, and her chin raised. Genma might've snorted in amusement, but he was going to let them resolve this on their own. It wasn't the first major disagreement of the new team, but they needed to figure out how to navigate these things as adults. Genma closed his eyes and settled back, propping his feet on the bed. This signaled to them that he was going to stay out of it.
"Please trust me to make the best decision I can in any given circumstance, okay? Disagreeing is fine. Personally, I would've preferred not to, you know, be impaled by chakra chains." He could hear Shin scoff from the corner. "We wouldn't be a team if we didn't disagree sometimes, but…Chastising me like I'm a child isn't going to help me grow. It's treating me like I'm not capable. I am. I knew that you two would be there to do whatever needed to be done." She let out a breath. "You know I'm capable, so this whole thing feels..."
Tetsuya's voice was unsteady, but he was trying to hide it. His student was trying so hard to hide it. "If we lost you…If I-I lost you..."
Genma was reminded once more of how close Team Five got to being killed off. How close both Tetsuya and Miho had gotten to death. That still weighed heavily, even two years later. Tetsuya bore the scars, both on his face and in his mind. Genma wouldn't be surprised if those scars cut down to his students' very souls. They'd always be 'the team that lost a member.'
"You didn't lose me. You're not going to for a long, long time." Miho's voice was sure, sturdy. Absolutely confident. It was almost reassuring. She was never that confident regarding anything in the future tense. "After all, I've gotta see you master the Crescent Style and ask that guy at the bookshop on a date."
At this, Genma pulled his feet from the edge of the bed, sitting up. His eyes focused on Miho, who demurely popped a protein ball into her mouth. She smiled around it as she chewed. That smile was just a little too self-satisfied. An expert change-in-subject. Truly befitting a friend of Yamanaka Ino. Genma would commend it later, but he was more focused on something else.
"What was that? Gotta what now?" Genma looked between Miho and Tetsuya.
"There's five levels to Moon Style, right?" Miho questioned, looking to Tetsuya for confirmation.
"No. Not that. The other part. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Something about asking out a guy at the bookshop? What guy? What bookshop? Our bookshop?" Genma turned to Tetsuya, senbon clicking against his teeth as he moved it to the other side of his mouth. "What guy at the bookshop?"
Ever the politician's grandson, Tetsuya's expression was blank. Emphatically blank. "No idea what she's raving about, boss. I think she might've hit her head when she passed out on the battlefield."
"Did I?" Miho questioned, lifting her brows. "Hmm."
Tetsuya glared at her before looking down to Shin, who had steadfastly refocused on his book. Despite Shin's obvious attempt to stay out of this little debate, his shoulders were shaking as he hid behind the book. "You know what, Chuckles? I think you're—"
A knock on the door drew his attention away from Shin's laughter and Tetsuya's primed position on the window seal ready to lay into his teammates. Miho called for the visitor to enter, laughing a bit at Tetsuya's sour look.
Genma wasn't entirely surprised when the Kazekage's brother stepped through the door. The kid quickly did a once-over of the room before nodding to Tetsuya and Shin in greeting. His attention also seemed to linger a bit longer on the top right of the window, where the ANBU guard was stationed.
Miho beamed at the sight of him. The kind of true smile that made her eyes turn to half-circles above her cheeks.
With a confident swagger the kid didn't have two years before, the Suna jōnin smirked and moved toward the bed. He clearly did a once-over, checking her for any visible injuries. Seeing none, his eyes flickered to her teammates.
"Tetsuya. Shin."
"Sup, Kankurō?" Tetsuya greeted with a grin.
"Shiranui."
Genma raised his brows, moving the senbon from one side of his mouth to the other again. "Hey."
The kid shrugged, looking at Miho. "Hey, trouble." The uncertainty of two years ago was definitely long gone. Then, Genma saw it. A small green bag with a freakin' pink bow held in his right hand. Apparently, Tetsuya saw it as well.
"Don't throw those at her." Tetsuya warned. "With the mood Chubs's in, she might just chuck them back."
Miho scoffed, finally taking her eyes off the puppeteer. Her smile disappeared. "Excuse me? When have I ever thrown food? When have I ever chucked food? It goes against the Akimichi Ways. It's literally in my blood to not throw food. Also, I'm not 'in a mood' just because I disagree with you. How about the next time you disagree with me I say the same thing about you, huh?" Tetsuya looked properly scolded. She turned to Kankurō and grinned again. "I assume those are my cookies."
Kankurō scoffed, holding the bag up. "These? Nah, this is my lunch. Why in the world would I bring you cookies? Ridiculous." He grabbed the chair on the other side of the bed and spun it around, settling a leg on either side as he straddled it. Miho just lifted a brow, looking unimpressed at the smooth action.
Genma vaguely wondered if it would cause an international incident if he used a senbon to knock one of the legs off the chair. He could do it from this angle. No one would be the wiser. No one would know. Aoba wasn't here to stop him.
"Yeah, funny story actually: I come down from my room this morning, about to go on my guard shift, and I happen to find twelve cooling Suna scotches sitting on the counter in our kitchen. I sure as hell didn't bake 'em." Kankurō tone was baiting, teasing.
"You said Temari's a terrible baker."
Just how much did they write in their letters?
He knew they'd been writing each other since she'd left for training.
Two years of letters and—
"Yeah, nah. She's a shit baker, okay? It's bad. The only reason I've got any meat on my bones is because I'm a good cook." Miho laughed, shaking her head. Genma couldn't articulate how bad of a feeling he got hearing that bit of trivia about the Sand Prince. "Process of elimination. Who else in my house could've baked these cookies? Definitely a mystery." Apparently, not that big of a mystery. Miho's eyes widened in recognition. Kankurō sat the bag of cookies on the edge of her bed before resting both arms on the back of the chair. He looked up at her from under his dark eyelashes. "Anyway, I figure Gaara baked these for you. He sure didn't bake 'em for me and Temari doesn't like this recipe. He knew I was plannin' to bring you cookies."
"Those are some logical leaps," Shin observed.
Kankurō shrugged. "I know my brother."
Genma couldn't quite tell who was more flabbergasted: Miho or the remaining members of Team Five, himself included.
"The Kazekage…baked me cookies?"
Shin was the first to recover. He laughed like it was the best thing he'd heard all year, and Genma promptly glared. That was the kind of reaction Aoba would have to such news. And Genma didn't need Aoba's influence here. Not one bit. Aoba was a hopeless and hapless romantic. He didn't need his help at all. "Well, you know, there's a sequence of words you don't hear every day."
Tetsuya vaguely kicked his leg into Shin's shoulder.
Miho smiled, wider and brighter than before. Her eyes were completely closed with the force of it. Was she blushing? It was hard to tell sometimes because of her clan markings. Damn it. She took up the bag and eyed it thoughtfully, picking at the pink ribbon. Just where did the kid get pink ribbon anyway?
"The packaging is all you though, obviously. You've got an aesthetic." Kankurō scoffed. "Thank you. Please tell you brother I said 'thank you' as well."
They talked about nothing after that. Nothing. Nothing of any real consequence. Training. Her time at Center Mountain. His promotion. How Shin joined the Team Five a year ago, when she returned from training. What was good for snacks around the hospital. Hell, they talked about the weather. The damn weather. And Tetsuya was participating! Shin was laughing merrily, earning a particularly smug look from Kankurō.
Probably because he'd somehow won three out of four of Team Five over.
"Actually, come to think of it. Tetsuya did try to give you a nickname."
Genma sat up, cuing back into the conversation. His attention swung back around to Tetsuya, who grinned like the cat that ate the canary. So self-satisfied. That look was Utatane to the very core.
"Yeah? What'd you come up with?"
"'String Cheese' was one of them." Miho giggled before throwing her head back and laughing. It was so full body that the bed creaked with the force of it. Genma almost smiled but instead just twirled the senbon as he watched. Because he was a damn assassin and this kid was ticking him off.
The Painted Kid looked completely dumbfounded if somewhat endeared by Miho's laughter. No, no. The Kazekage's brother couldn't look endeared under all that paint. No. "String…Cheese?"
Shin was doubled-over in the corner, slapping his own knee. At least the damn peanut gallery was amused. Genma knew where the nicknames came from though. And he knew what the other ones were.
"So, what, Tetsuya? You think I'm cheesy?"
"You bring or send Miho cookies every time you know she's in the hospital. Hell yeah, I think you're cheesy." Tetsuya shot back. "With a pink bow, no less."
Despite Genma hoping otherwise, the guy didn't look a bit bothered. He just nodded. Maybe wearing face paint daily had affected his senses? Maybe it required a certain amount of self-confidence to wear that get-up into battle? Is that where the swagger came from? Genma was so ready for the Kazekage's brother to leave. Then, his kids could just go back to bickering.
"I also threw in 'Knot a Chance' and 'No Strings Attached.'" There was a double-meaning in both. Genma knew the young man would catch them. Tetsuya's smirk was a bit challenging as he perched forward a bit more in the window. "Got any other suggestions?"
"'fraid knot." Kankurō shrugged. Genma choked on nothing, almost checking to see if he had swallowed his senbon. Miho's face lit up at the pun before she pealed into giggle and laughed into her hands. Genma watched as the Painted Kid turned to her and smiled at her laughter, eyes too soft for a shinobi from another village. No. Nope. "I don't think I wanna earn either of 'em, honestly. 'Knot a Chance' and 'No Strings Attached' don't sound like my style. I'll stick to String Cheese."
Kankurō took his leave nearly an hour later, winking as he shut the door with a promise that he'd see Team Five the next day at the Kazekage's address. The whole visit was surreal. By the end of it, Genma wondered if he'd wake up in some back alley in Suna blitzed out of his mind or wake up at Aoba's place again with no recollection of the night before.
Toward the end of the conversation, which Genma tuned out of to focus on very serious matters, Miho opened the green bag and pulled out a cookie. Genma thanked his lucky stars that the cookie was a standard, round, unremarkable little cookie. It wasn't some bear-shaped monstrosity. He didn't say anything until the Kazekage's brother was well-out of earshot. Miho smiled around the cookie.
"Miho— my bright student, one of the apples of my eye…" Genma trailed off as she turned to face him, still munching on the cookie she'd fished from the bag. "What exactly did I say about accepting cookies from foreign shinobi?"
Miho smiled.
Once upon a time, that smile had been so innocent.
What happened to his sweet, little students?
"Genma-sensei, you didn't even try to stop him."
Genma's jaw dropped.
Just how the hell could he stop the Kazekage's brother from giving her cookies the Kazekage himself baked?
Instead of responding, Genma just covered his face with his hands. He sent a rather rude— not quite as teacherly as he should have been— gesture toward Shin and Tetsuya, who were snickering in the corner.
Once they reached jōnin, Shiranui Genma decided then and there, he was going to retire.
It was early afternoon when she was released with the stern reminder that she was not to use her chakra for at least three more days. The hospital encouraged a fifteen-thousand calorie diet, but Miho had been trending closer to twenty-thousand over the past three months, so she stuck to that instead. There were no Akimichi dietitians on-staff at Suna Hospital, which meant that their caloric and body-mass feedback skewed lower than was healthy for an Akimichi.
Thankfully though, no one had suggested she lose weight.
She'd heard from other clan members that it was a common occurrence at hospitals outside of Konoha.
"HEY, FRIEND!"
Miho barely had time to react before arms were thrown around her shoulders.
"I sure am glad you got out of the hospital before the Kazekage's announcement! I kept telling Kegon and Yōrō to just wait so that I could make sure my new friend was safe and healthy! I wanted to walk there with you!" Miho let Fū shuffle her around in a circle, resting her full weight on her heels so that she could turn better. "We can walk and talk! We can talk and walk! Spend time together before we're separated!"
The spinning stopped and Fū stepped back, grabbing Miho's hands.
"How do you feel? Are you alright? Did you hear that they cancelled the third exam?"
Smiling, Miho nodded and reached down to pat her own stomach. "I'm good and, yeah, I heard the rumor. My teammates dropped by to tell me this morning."
Fū's shoulders sagged. "It's too bad! I was looking forward to making some more friends in the third round!"
Nodding along, Miho gestured to the left. "I was gonna go grab some food on the market street before the announcement in a couple hours. Do you want to come along?" Miho glanced around Fū, who looked about ready to cry, to her guards. "You're both invited, too. My team's wrapping up their sparring and I was going to meet them at the training grounds for the Kazekage's formal address."
The short-haired guard, Yōrō, sighed and then nodded. "There'll be no stopping her anyway and we haven't eaten yet." He looked to his partner. "Whaddya think, Kegon?"
Miho laughed when Fū threw an arm around her shoulders, ignoring whatever the long-haired shinobi had to say on the matter. Miho looked back to see a long-suffering look on his face as they followed behind. It was an expression she often saw on Gluten-Free's face.
"Look! Look! There's so, so much food here! I heard that Akimichi can eat up to thirty or forty thousand calories a day! That's so awesome!" Fū released Miho's shoulders to run to a vendor selling what looked to be several different kinds of meat skewers. There were at least fifteen different meats and flavor combinations. Miho felt herself salivating at the sight of it. "What're you going to get, Miho?"
With a grin, Miho looked her friend square in the eye. "One of everything, of course!"
Fū cheered.
Suna's street vendor district was so different from Konoha's.
Vaguely, Miho wondered if that might have something to do with her family's influence on food culture in the village. Most of the restaurants were Akimichi-run or Akimichi-affiliated or with Akimichi-sourced products. Some of that was due to the intense vetting processes vendors had to undergo before they could sell their wares. Being Akimichi-affiliated allowed vendors to be protected under the enterprise of the Akimichi.
Even with the sanctions, there'd been no change to the village's eateries or sourcing. Just higher taxing on Akimichi imports, paid by her own clan, which affected the clan.
It made her family take on more missions.
It wasn't like Konoha could allow the citizens to be any the wiser about how close the Akimichi came to blackmailing the village. All of the punishments had to be inward-facing rather than outward-facing.
Suna didn't have a food-oriented clan as far as Miho was aware and much of their vegetables and fruits had to be outsourced. That meant that street vendors must've brought found their own thoroughfares for supplies, which then in-turn, gave Suna a thriving street vendor economy.
Miho would bet a B-rank mission salary that Suna charged the vendors for shipment protection, which acted as a tax for the street food scene.
Such an arrangement would make sense given the difference in variety between Suna and Konoha.
Sometimes, Miho wondered if her family stagnated the Konoha culinary culture.
That was certainly not something she would ever mention to anyone.
"Oh! We have something like this in Taki!" Fū gestured to the vendor of what looked to be mochi-like sweets. The vendor gathered together a set of six of the pink-pillows. "We call them 'sugar snails.'" She held one out to Miho and beamed. In rapid succession, she downed the rest of the treats.
Miho smiled, taking the offering. "Now, I think you should visit Konoha. We have something like this too! We call them 'sweet leaves.' Very on-brand, huh? It's the greatest when it's spring and it's just starting to get warmer outside."
Fū nodded enthusiastically.
After a while, the two guards had settled themselves at an outdoor table near a vendor who was selling tea. Miho knew they were watching, but, to her surprise, they were giving just enough space to let Fū feel like she was independent. The gesture was definitely not lost on Fū, who began to settle down about two-thirds of the way through the street.
Miho found a table, still in the sight of the guards, and sat down. She feigned a bit of exhaustion, fanning her face like the desert heat had gotten to her. Fū bounded off to get some bottled water, settling down at the other chair as she handed one of the bottles over.
"You know… The leader of my village, Shibuki, he encouraged me to make friends here. And I thought I would. I like making friends. I just…I didn't expect to make as many friends as I did." She took a sip of the water. The almost perpetual smile on her face was more muted now, as if the mask she wore was slipping a bit. Miho watched, knowing what it looked like. Naruto did that often, too, in the past. "What you did for the Kazekage? It was really brave."
Miho started to shake her head. It wasn't about bravery.
Fū's expression became harder, more determined. Quicker than Miho had ever seen her move, Fū's hand was on her right forearm. "The Kazekage mentioned a friend that made a big difference in his life. I want to have that same kind of friend. And I want to be that kind of friend for others. Do you know what I mean, Miho?"
Miho nodded. "I understand."
She understood more than most.
"Well, I think you're gonna be that friend for me! Let's stay in touch! Some day, I want to visit Konoha! And you can visit Taki! We can eat all the things!"
That brought Miho up short. It hadn't been what she'd expected— that Fū needed to keep looking to find that kind of friend, that she knew she would eventually. Despite the hesitance, and very real fear, that Miho felt surge through her gut, the Akimichi still nodded and settled a hand on top of the one gripping her forearm.
"Sure!"
Miho felt bile rising up in her throat.
If nothing changed, Fū was going to die in just a few days.
Her friend was going to die.
"Miho! Fū!"
Pulling in a deep breath, Miho tried to steady herself as Lee ran over, bounding through the crowd. As soon as Fū saw him, her face brightened again and the mask went on once more. She threw herself out of her chair and— to Miho's utter amazement— threw herself into Lee's arms. Lee spun her around, earning disgruntled shouts from the street vendor crowds.
"GOOD AFTERNOON, MY FRIEND OF SUNSHINE AND MIRTH!"
"HEY THERE, MY FRIEND OF YOUTH AND GREEN SPANDEX!"
"Seriously. They're something else."
TenTen meandered up, hands propping on her hips. Sakura walked up a moment later, eyes wide as she took in the sights, sounds, and smells of the market. When her eyes found Miho, she hurried forward.
"I heard you were released today. How are you feeling?"
"Just fine." Miho waved her off, still focused on the theatrical production that Lee and Fū were putting on for the locals. "Anyone want to bet me a month's supply of takoyaki that they get together at some point?"
TenTen let out an unholy screech. "Say what?"
Sakura scoffed. "You forget who my master is and that's a fool's bet." Her hand waved the bet off as if it were nothing.
Miho grinned, appreciating the fact that Sakura didn't shut it down. Lee was a good catch— sweet, loyal, caring, heartfelt in everything he did. Fū let out a loud laugh when he began waxing poetic about the virtues of international friendships.
"We didn't get the scrolls we needed. Lee was going to fight the guy at the table."
"Way to go on holding him back. It's been bothering him that Neji made jōnin on that mission, so I'm sure he got riled." Miho knee that Rock was happy for his teammate, but... There were moments when he was envious. Neji was just so good.
TenTen just sighed, palming her forehead.
It was an hour later that saw Miho standing with her teammates and the others from Konoha on the marching grounds, which spread out below the tower where the exam was centralized on the outskirts of Suna. The marching grounds, or formation grounds, where a large flat space for troops to line up before deployment and for formations. The hundred or so exam participants were gathered, preparing to hear the formalized announcement of the third exam's cancellation. The rumor was spreading fast, as rumors always did.
Fū stood with Lee nearby as they continued to talk and laugh together. Every so often, both of them would stop, notice her attention, and send her a thumbs-up. She returned it, trying not to laugh at the two of them. Miho shared a look with Fū's guards who looked stuck between breaking up the budding romance and helping Lee to figure out that there was some significant flirting happening.
Which, Lee didn't seem to notice.
"Who knew Lee would be the one to land himself a girlfriend on this trip?" Kiba was barely restrained from catcalling by a swift punch from Sakura. "Ow! What the shit!"
"Knock it off and leave them alone." Sakura crossed her arms and turned her back on him, obviously sure Kiba would follow directions. "It's disappointing enough that they're cancelling the rest of the exams. We don't need you ruining a good show!"
"S-Sakura….Maybe don't call it a show?" Hinata spoke up from beside Shino. "Miss Fū seems really… like she really likes Lee."
There was a round of laughter so loud that each member of the group turned to see Lee flailing his arms while Fū held her stomach and doubled-over.
"Oh brother." Tetsuya drawled, flipping his ponytail over his shoulder. Miho watched his eyes roll. "Someone tell Lee that he's being flirted with, please. For the sake of all our sanity. He has no idea."
"Not you, Kiba." Sakura commanded, voice harsh as she jerked the Inuzuka back to the group by his collar.
"Look, we put all this effort in for nothing! At least let me get some entertainment out of it!" Kiba gestured vaguely in the direction of Lee and Fū's voices. "It's all been a waste otherwise!"
Miho rolled her eyes skyward, looking at how blue the sky was below the low-hanging white clouds. Holding the cancellation announcement in the early evening meant that everyone was able to get refreshed and enjoy the more pleasant temperatures without shade. Suna's weather was actually beautiful at this time of day.
"We continued to the very end and didn't give up, so we should be okay. Those who dropped out midway are the ones who should be worried." Shino's voice was even and steady, seeming not at all bothered by the cancellation.
Hinata frowned. "I almost feel sorry for them."
"At least we've gained some self-confidence. Look at what we accomplished." Sakura tried to put a positive spin on it.
When Miho lowered her eyes from staring at the sky, she smiled at Sakura and Hinata. "You accomplished a lot from where I'm standing." After all, it had been Sakura who kept her stable and Hinata who used her clan's techniques to release the hold of the chakra chains on her tenketsu.
The sound of blocks cracking together drew the eyes of the participants to the raised balcony overlooking the marching grounds. Miho watched as Gaara stepped up to the edge.
Images flashed in her mind. Gaara, standing on the precipice before a much larger formation field, as he called for shinobi to set aside their differences and help him protect a friend. Protect Naruto. It was one of the clearest Images in her mind. It always had been ever since she was little. Then, an explosion and the mountain he stood on disappeared. Miho flinched, playing off the reaction as a chill.
We won't let it come to that, Ino's voice spoke in her head. Miho looked down from the Kazekage and over to where Team Ten stood under the dais. Miho noticed that Ino was looking right back at her. It won't come to that. He'll never have to give that speech.
There was no way Ino could guarantee that though, and that's what sent another stronger chill down Miho's back.
"Exam participants, I praise your efforts. With the passage of time, our shinobi world needs a new system with new laws. Until today, we shinobi were required to sacrifice even the lives of our comrades for the sake of our laws and rules."
His voice was so sincere when he spoke. It carried such weight that Miho could see how the armies of the original story followed him into battle. He was born to be such a leader. He earned every moment of it, every heartbreaking moment. She looked around to see that others held their heads tall as he spoke.
The Suna participants looked the proudest of all, chins raised high.
"But I have realized that we have something even more precious than rules and regulations. That is friendship with our fellow villagers and our fellow shinobi and the bond we share with others who understand the same pain…" Naruto was that person for him, Miho knew. She watched as the Kazekage scanned the crowd. "I believe that each of you who stands here now knows exactly what I mean."
Miho felt a thrill of shock strike her like lightning when Gaara's eyes met hers. For a moment, she didn't quite know what to do. The difference between his stare years ago and the calm, kind eyes that looked down at her at that moment was…surreal.
A long time ago, she thought of Gaara as a natural disaster. Then, he had been. And she'd been unable to look away just like the storms She used to chase.
But storms always passed.
Miho realized now though that Gaara wasn't the disaster any more…He was the first break of dawn after a disaster— when the wreckage begins to clear, the hurt begins to heal, and the hope and strength of the people affected comes to light. Gaara had been a disaster and became something else entirely.
That's who Gaara really was.
A small smile came to her lips and she gave him a single nod.
"Therefore, I deem the Third Exam unnecessary…Furthermore, I am rescinding part of the requirements for the Second Exam."
"What does that mean?" Someone nearby asked.
Tetsuya shifted, crossing his arms. "Seems pretty obvious, doesn't it?"
"For each of you standing here right now, a detailed report of your performance will be sent to your respective villages. Your Kage will make the final decision on your promotion."
"That means we have to wait longer?" Kiba complained, earning a stern look from Sakura, who pinned him down with a stare so emphatic that he immediately raised his hands in difference. Miho was reminded of a dog turning on its stomach, showing submission. Sakura demanded that out of Kiba and it was quite something to see how quickly he gave in to her looks.
"But that also means we still have a chance, correct?" Lee asked happily, raising a fist. Miho turned to see a determined glint in his eyes.
Fū cheered, drawing Kegon into a headlock. "That means Shibuki might give me a promotion!"
Miho saw Kegon mutter something about their promotion as well, but thought it was a poor attempt to keep up the charade. Both men were definitely jōnin. They carried themselves the same way most jōnin did, with certain eccentric attention to surroundings. It was obvious that it was almost funny to think of how they tried to pass themselves off as genin.
The Kazekage raised a hand to regain the attention of the crowd.
"You are welcome to remain in Sunagakure for the evening before departing tomorrow morning. Otherwise, we wish you well in your travels as you return to your communities. I now declare the conclusion of the Chūnin Exams." The Kazekage gave the assembled crowd a final once-over before disappearing from the balcony.
The crowd erupted into conversation.
Miho was struck with an idea. She was pretty sure it was because of her upbringing. With a grin, she turned to the assembled group. Her hand reached out to grab Fū's arm, pulling her off of her 'teammate.' Fū laughed happily, joining the Konoha group. "Guys! Let's celebrate the end of the exams! We should grab as much take out as we can and find a place to hang out. Does Suna have a park or something? We can have an evening picnic! A party!"
Miho tried to ignore that part of her motivation for this was to give Fū something to hold onto if the worst should happen. Something she could remember as a beautiful, important memory.
"A picnic party? In another village? Are you serious, Chubs?" Kiba questioned, scratching at his ear. Ankamaru barked. Miho's eyes narrowed at him, previous excitement momentarily disappearing. Kiba noticed, raising his brows at the stare. "What?"
"Call me that again, Kiba, and I'll end you. There will be pain. Lots and lots of pain. I don't want that name out of your mouth ever again." Miho smiled sweetly, knowing that her cheeks made the smile seem even sweeter. She refocused, looking over her friends' shoulders. Tetsuya and Shin were cackling, holding onto each other as Kiba's mouth opened and closed. She refocused, sure that Kiba would never try that one again. "What's the name of that Suna shinobi? Hey, Rock, you were talking to him earlier?"
Miho looked to Rock for confirmation. A pleased smile broke on his face as he jumped into action.
"OH! You mean my friend Shira, whose prowess in battle is indeed something to behold! I shall find him! After all, I have a gift for him!" He jumped up, spinning around to find the ninja in the crowd. When he did, Miho nearly started laughing as he took off running. "SHIRA!"
"What's all this ruckus? Shouldn't you all be packing up? Don't be troublesome by loitering about." Shikamaru had his pinky in his ear, as he normally did when he was being dramatic or purposefully obtuse.
Miho grinned, knowing that her plans would move forward now that there were multiple points for traction in Suna itself. Shikamaru had connections with Temari.
"You're seriously gonna come at us for 'loitering'?"
"We're having a picnic to celebrate the end of the exams. Ask Temari where we can do that." Sakura's voice brooked no argument.
"Please." Hinata inserted politely.
"Yeah, please." TenTen agreed.
Shikamaru scoffed, shaking his head as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Why do I gotta ask? Get Miho to ask Kankurō. They're buddies." Buddies. Miho nearly choked on the chips she was eating.
"My brother in hand-to-hand combat and his glorious team has agreed to join us!" Rock Lee jumped into the circle of Konoha shinobi, giving a thumbs-up and a wink. "His teammate, the lovely Sen, has agreed to help us procure the most delicious local fare!" Miho followed the path Rock had taken over and found three Suna shinobi approaching.
They smiled as they joined the little gathering.
"Our party is getting bigger and bigger!" Fū celebrated, pumping her fist. The joy in her voice was brilliant. It reminded Miho of the excitement in Naruto's voice when he talked about getting ramen at Ramen Ichiraku. "I wonder how many friends we can collect before we start partying!"
"As many as we can." Miho grinned at her enthusiasm, knowing with the big smile on her friend's face that she'd made the right decision. Spinning, Miho pushed a fist into her open palm. Tetsuya and Shin were amused, smiling from where they stood on the other side of the group. "We'll all go find as much take-out as we can find and meet—"
"At the Barrel Garden."
The collected group turned to the new voice. Temari smiled as she approached, shrugging her shoulders at the surprised expressions she encountered. Miho's attention flickered over to where Kankurō came to stand at his sister's shoulder. He met her eyes and just raised his brows, not betraying the amusement she saw hiding under his war paint. To everyone else, he likely looked aloof or even offended.
"The Barrel Garden's in the northeastern district, about two blocks from the central building. There's a bunch of picnic tables there. Sen? Do you think you can guide everyone?"
"Yes, Lady Temari."
"Good." Temari nodded. She surveyed the group. "Okay, so whose fault is it we're having an impromptu party?"
Miho didn't hesitate to raise her hand as several of the assembled ninja pointed at her.
"Right. Akimichi. Okay. Let's see what we can do about food."
A/N:
Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews! They have made my week brighter. Thank you as well for the favorites and follows as well!
This was such a fun chapter to write! I went through several drafts of it and had to cut it down significantly because I wrote WAY TO MUCH. It still ended up being one of the longest chapters of the story. I wanted to have a fun chapter.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read. Stay safe and healthy. Please leave me your thoughts!