Chapter 5

The seaweed gatherer's weary feet

keep coming back to my shore.

Doesn't he know

there's no harvest for him

in this uncaring bay?

Cee left the building with Darui, after brainstorming the semantics of the mission with Ae.

"Going on a mission with Inoichi's daughter tracking some terrorist. Doesn't sound so dull of a mission. I kind of missed working with other shinobi after the war." Darui said.

"Hm." Cee replied, not really agreeing.

"Something wrong? Sorry if it was me."

"Of course it wasn't." Cee sighed.

"You seem a bit hostile every time she's brought up and you didn't want to go on the mission. Sorry, but that's not like you."

"Do you recognize her?" Cee asked propping up against the mountain rock at his back that held the foundation of the raikage tower.

"Sure, I do. She was in the 4th Shinobi War. She's Inoichi Yamanaka's daughter and was close with Naruto Uzumaki, I think…"

"Oi! Cee-senpai! Darui-san!" Someone called out.

Cee and Darui looked up to see Amai, the brown headed ninja from before, making his way over.

"What's up?" Cee asked, assuming it was related to work.

"Uhm, I came by to see if Ino-san was done with her work." Amai rubbed the back of his head and smiled.

Cee stared daggers "And why would you ask me that?!"

"It's just, you escorted her here and seems like you two are working together since you both are sensors, good at genjutsu and healers."

Was she a healer, too? Cee realized they did have a lot in common. They seemed to have had almost identical ninja training sans her clan's kekkei genkai.

"And why are you asking that, Amai?" Darui rubbed his chin. Cee couldn't tell if he was teasing or earnest.

"I offered to show her around the village today." Amai kept his friendly smile towards the two. "She's a very talented kunoichi, I'd love to hear about her training under Tsunade-sama."

"She was an apprentice of Tsunade, eh?" Cee replied thoughtfully. Then that meant her medical ninjutsu must be excellent as well. But he had only heard of that Sakura Haruno being her disciple.

Amai was a fellow medical nin so it was no wonder he was eager to meet her as a senpai.

"Plus, she's incredibly beautiful, isn't she?" Amai snickered.

"How pathetic." Cee snapped and Darui only laughed nervously.

Speaking of the devil, Ino walked out of the building with Jinsui showing her the way.

"No, really, you're going to be busy, so stay right there, I'll be fine!" Ino assured Jinsui.

The two girls exchanged pleasantries and Jinsui went back into the building to tend the raikage.

"Ino-san!" Amai greeted when he saw her. Cee noticed a slight blush on his cheeks.

The poor bastard was smitten.

"Oh, hello." Ino greeted walking up to the three men, not that she paid any mind to Cee who was still leaned up against the wall.

"Captain Darui," Ino bowed and then realized her mistake. "Oh, I'm sorry, I meant..."

"It's okay," he smiled lazily. "The war is still fresh in the head."

"I'm Amai, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, I knew you were busy." He bowed deeply to Ino.

Ino exchanged the bow, "Nice to meet you."

"I was stopping by to see if you were free now, I'd be happy to show you around the village if you'd like." His smile was warm and eager.

Ino smiled politely but hesitated, she was unsure of accepting the invite but didn't want to seem rude. "Sure, I'm free for the rest of the day."

"Great. Oh and, would you two like to come?" Amai asked Cee and Darui. They noticed the expression on his face showed he absolutely did not want them along.

Cee didn't know if he should save him or let him suffer the same fate.

"Sorry, but walking around the village seems dull." Darui shrugged. Cee nodded in agreement, anxious to get rid of the two.

"Great, I mean, that's too bad." Amai said, already turning his attention to Ino.

She seemed a bit unsure but walked with him.

"Nice seeing you, Captain Darui." Ino called. "And C-san." She said so low they could barely hear it.

Cee pursed his lips out. He knew she had to do that out of politeness but he'd be content if she never addressed him again.

"Let's go out to eat and continue." Cee suggested.

"Hold up a second: you and her?" Darui almost gasped.

They were seated at their table in a familiar restaurant and Cee finally laid out the predicament to him.

"She was the girl that night, the one you were obsessed with ever since?" Darui rarely showed emotion but even he looked thrown a curve ball here.

"I wasn't obsessed." Cee corrected, feeling annoyed at the assertion.

"You most definitely were." Darui sighed, going back to his typical facade.

Cee sighed back. "Do you think I should tell raikage? Anything bad that happened, was surely my fault."

"That's what you're worried about?" If Darui were the type, he would have face palmed. "No, that was in the past. We have to let go of old grudges like that."

Cee took a sip of his tea, still not fully convinced but he respected Darui like the Raikage. He listened to his advice when asked.

"So you met the gorgeous girl you slept with and you… got angry?"

"You're missing some crucial details there." Cee gritted through his teeth.

"Yeah, but that's in the past now, so."

"It was all fake, isn't that obvious?" He wouldn't admit it but it was his pride and emotions hurt more than anything. The typical guy would think "Okay but I still had sex. Would you like to have sex again?" and considered that fine, but he operated on a different plane. He took everything to heart, especially his feelings.

"So now you're not interested and you're going to let it go. So no drama?"

Cee thought about it for a moment. "I guess so."

"Good, then." Darui concluded that conversation. Cee rarely had drama and this was more exhausting than he thought.

"Hey, what are you guys up to?" A voice caught their attention.

Cee and Darui saw Karai at the edge of their table. His brown skin contrasted with his light blonde hair and single orange streak. He was loud in appearance but a very dedicated shinobi to Kumo.

"Drinks, care to join us?" Darui asked to be polite.

Karai sat down beside Cee, scooching him over. "I heard a Konoha kunoichi came here today and she's way gorgeous!"

Cee slapped his palm to his face.

"Uh, yeah." Darui tried to stifle his amusement. "Missions and stuff, here for dull business."

"I heard you were with her today, where is she now?" Karai looked around as if she were hiding somewhere.

"With Amai, it seems." Cee replied coolly.

"That bastard, I knew it!" Karai stood up with his fist held. "I'll go find that pretty boy!"

Karai and Amai were teammates, so Cee couldn't tell if this was a typical friendly rivalry or what.

Just as quick as he appeared, he was gone in a flash.

Darui and Cee sat there in silence for a long moment, neither knowing what to say.

Darui watched Cee and his face looked pained.

"You're not over it… are you?"

"No, not really."

Ino was hesitant at first to walk around the village with Amai but it didn't take long for her to warm up to him and remind herself she was allowed to have fun in her downtime here. It really helped that Amai had the face of a pop idol and the manners of a gentleman.

"What's that stage for?" Ino asked, playing the role of tourist and getting the full city tour.

"Oh, that was originally built by Killer B-san. He loves to do his performances there, but other things are held there, too. There's actually going to be a concert tonight. Would you like to go?"

"Ah, maybe. Sounds interesting." Ino replied.

"And in a few days there will be a festival! I hope you're still here." Amai imagined how cute she would look in a yukata and him being her date.

"I will be, my mission is still ongoing."

"That's great. How is it going so far?"

"Still developing," Ino responded without giving too much info. "I'll be leaving tomorrow to continue our research and come back."

"How much different is it here compared to Konoha?" Amai changed the subject, the two of them strolling. She noticed Amai kept a polite distance but still walked closer to her than most acquaintances would.

"Very different," she chuckled. "I was really surprised to see how high up it is here. There's literally clouds within reach!"

Amai nodded, "I'm glad you like it, I'd love to journey to Konoha myself. I'm an admirer of Lady Tsunade."

"I studied under her for my medical training."

"I know." Amai blushed a little. "I follow Lady Tsunade's work, and so I know of you and Haruno Sakura."

"I'm the better student." Ino huffed.

"Definitely! You're a healer, a sensor, interrogator. As the daughter of Inoichi, you have many talents."

Ino rubbed the back of her head, not really meaning what she said but was feeling love bombed by this cute Kumo nin regardless. She thought she could get used to it here with the way everybody was treating her.

"You should visit Konoha, it stays warm most of the year, there's so many forests to explore, historical landmarks, and of course people to visit, like Lady Tsunade."

"Since you invited me, I can't say no." He sighed wistfully and smiled.

Ino could feel some heat to her face at this encounter. Maybe the gods heard her and gave her boyfriend and successful mission in one! A two-for-one special! She just imagined how jealous others would be if a gorgeous Kumo nin came running to Konoha, with words of adoration for her.

A ninja appeared in a flash in front of the two, prompting their surprise. It was Karai.

"There you are, Amai. I heard from Cee and Darui that you kidnapped the Konoha Princess and kept her all to herself."

Ino's face became flustered. All her fantasies were coming true of beautiful men fighting for her. The guy that addressed Amai was not a pretty boy like Amai, but a more rugged handsome. She tried to contain her swooning.

"S-something like that." Amai looked flustered himself and laughed nervously. "I was simply showing Ino-san around Kumogakure, being a good host."

Karai walked to Ino's other side and hooked his elbow around hers. "Then you won't mind me joining along."

She felt wobbly at the knees. It was all too much for her hopeless romantic ways to take. The gentle idol face boy versus the rugged, assertive hunk? Dreams were coming true in Kumo for her, she never wanted to leave.

"K-karai, that's really rude!" Amai exclaimed to his teammate for touching her.

Karai held his grip and marched on, "Have you seen the markets yet? They have all the food, clothes and souvenirs you could want."

"I haven't," Ino admitted. "Taking a souvenir back would be nice."

"I don't want to think of you leaving so soon." Karai replied, with Amai chasing behind to catch up.

Tomorrow there was a serious mission that depended on the stability of Kumogakure. But tonight, she would venture a new place with cute guys leading the way.

A/N: Amai and Karai are filler characters from the anime, who are teammates. One of the only filler episodes I liked, so I used them!

Canon:
Karai