She's hanging out with Rin and Obito at an empty lot near Uchiha-ku. Obito practices his throwing technique while she walks Rin through more qigong exercises.
"I'm glad you're still coming to see us, Honōka-chan." Rin tells her. "We never see Kakashi anymore."
"Ah. I saw him the other day."
"What?!" Obito yells. A shuriken thunks into the ground near her foot. "You saw the bastard? Where?!"
"The Third Training Ground. We sparred. His sensei knows Orochimaru-sama."
"That bastard's sensei must be some big shot too!"
"He called Orochimaru-sama 'san'. His name is Namikaze Minato."
Rin and Obito turn to her, shocked.
"Konoha's Yellow Flash?!"
"Ah—his hair was pretty yellow."
"Damn! That's so not fair!" Obito rants.
Rin resumes the exercise, shell-shocked.
"That explains why we never see Kakashi anymore. His sensei is heavily involved in the war effort… I hope Kakashi is alright."
Obito flops onto the ground, too worked up to keep practicing.
"What about your sensei, Honōka? Any important missions in your future?"
"Not yet. Orochimaru-sama is still busy with something at the lab, I think. He said he'd take me to get outfitted today, but he hasn't been around."
Rin and Obito share a skeptical look.
"Honōka-chan… you weren't supposed to meet your sensei anywhere at a specific time, were you?"
"Hnm. I don't think so?"
Obito facepalms.
"I know I'm the last person who should be saying this… but you're seriously worse than me, Honōka! How you never missed a single day of class, or were late even once, is a mystery."
The boiler room beneath her bedroom is an excellent alarm clock.
"Are you sure your sensei isn't waiting for you anywhere?" Rin stresses.
She thinks. He might have mentioned something, but she went by earlier and he was still busy. She shrugs. It's probably not important.
"Yes… are you sure about that, Honōka-kun?"
Rin startles and Obito squeaks, rolling to his feet and pinwheeling his arms as he nearly falls over again.
She glances at her teacher, sitting on a convenient stool shaped stump, one leg crossed over the other—looking for all the world like he's been there all along.
"No?"
He narrows his eyes at her and gestures broadly.
"Please, continue."
She never paused in her qigong routine to begin with, so she assumes he's talking to Rin. Rin picks up where she left off and Obito sits down again. He finds qigong 'embarrassing'.
"Some form of calisthenics?" Orochimaru asks, utterly unimpressed.
"It's called qigong."
"Chikō?"
"Yes." Or close enough.
"And are you the creator of this unusual exercise?"
Hm. She considers. She makes the so-so gesture that Orochimaru is coming to hate with a passion.
"Explain."
"The monks at the local temple do something similar."
"How would you say your method differs?"
"…"
"Well?"
Rin is sweating bullets next to her, anxiety curling in her gut. Ah.
"They're going through the motions but missing the point."
"And the point is?"
She moves into a flowing tai chi sequence. She's not showing off, or anything. Not really.
"The point is to realign the chi circulating throughout the body, to cultivate and balance it—and to flush away any stagnating energies. Yin and yang are in constant motion inside the body and at the core there should be stillness."
He's resting his chin on his knuckles now, considering.
"Are you familiar with the Hyūga Clan's ways?"
She shakes her head. "There are no Hyūga in our year."
"This, chikō… You are teaching it to your friends here? Would you say they are grasping the 'point'?"
"Rin is getting there. Obito won't even try."
Obito flashes her a look that screams, 'don't drag me into your weirdness!'
"And what is this chikō supposed to be teaching you?"
"I thought it might be the reason my chakra ratio is one-to-one. But since Rin started practicing her chakra ratio has moved closer to a stable one-to-two ratio of one part yin chakra to two parts yang chakra."
"As opposed to?"
"When she began her chakra was closer to a one-to-one ratio, with a considerable deviation."
"So your chikō proved detrimental to her."
"Ah. I think it's more like… it reset her chakra ratio to its natural rhythm?"
"Do you agree?" he asks Rin.
Rin chews the inside of her lip. She did worry that she was undoing her hard earned progress, but…
"It's become easier to mold chakra since I began learning qigong from Honōka-chan."
"Is that so."
"Yes…"
He seems to have exhausted his interest in the subject—for now.
"Come, Honōka-kun. You are late for your armor fitting appointment." A fact that is no doubt triggering her teacher's fastidious nature. "You are, of course, welcome to continue playing with your little friends. It is no concern of mine if you would prefer to go without."
Ack. Obito scrubs his face, muttering, "I knew it…"
"See you guys later—Rin, I'll teach you tai chi next time. Keep practicing every morning. You're getting it."
Rin and Obito awkwardly wave her along. Their body language practically screams 'get going, stupid!'.
Honōka and Orochimaru arrive at a hole in the wall armor shop. It's small, but it's the best in Konoha—she reasons it wouldn't be her sensei's first choice if it weren't.
There's a thick and cloying cloud of tobacco smoke lingering inside the shop. She gags and Orochimaru smacks her upside the head.
The elderly woman at the counter laughs—her voice unexpectedly light, both for her age and the amount of smoke she must put through her lungs.
"Tracked down the wayward pupil, eh, Orochi?"
"Indeed. I must apologize for our lateness, Mitsuha-sama."
"Don't worry about it. These old bones don't mind taking a break."
Her teacher bows anyhow, and Honōka follows his lead. Mitsuha chuckles at the pair of them.
"I must say—I never expected to live long enough to outfit any student you saw fit to take, Orochi."
"I regret to inform you I was coerced."
His dry humor startles an absolutely musical peel of laughter from the elderly woman. She wipes tears from her eyes as she recovers. She shows her amusement easily, and genuinely.
"Alright, alright. Honōka-chan, is it? Come on back. I'll take your measurements for a proper fit and see if I don't have anything on hand that'll pass muster in the meantime."
Her feet move, unbidden, and she puzzles out the niggling sense of familiarity she feels from the old woman. Mitsuha guides her to the room behind the counter with a light hand steering her and smiles—smiles; planted, firm.
She slides the shōji door shut behind them and points for Honōka to stand on a wooden platform in the center of the room.
"Is it expensive to outfit a growing shinobi?" She asks as the elderly woman collects her tools. "I might outgrow whatever you make for me in a couple months."
"Better to pay for good armor than to not," she answers. "You needn't worry about it. Your sensei is quite wealthy."
"…"
She instructs Honōka to strip off her outer clothes and takes her measurements. She clucks her tongue at a particularly bad bruise.
"How old are you, Honōka-chan?"
"Six. My birthday is on June eighteenth."
"Oh, lucky me—I know when to have your order ready." Level, steady, and just a little teasing.
She thinks it's ironic. Her first birthday present in this world will be armor that she might die in.
"Thank you, Obā-chan."
That startles a choked breath from the elderly woman. It's a little happy, a little sad. Bitter sweet. She finishes taking her measurements and Honōka dresses.
"Now, let's see what I've got lying around for you."
She ends up leaving Granny Mitsuha's workshop with a full suit of wire-mesh armor and compound arm and shin guards. Which Mitsuha refuses to be paid for.
Orochimaru gives her a shrewd (but faintly impressed) once over.
"How did you charm Mitsuha-sama in so short a time?"
She raises an eyebrow at her teacher.
"I called her Obā-chan."
"…" he snorts. "You sly little devil."