Hi, friends! You'll notice this is the same story as my previous fic, but honestly done much better. I've spent a couple days going over the previous story, borrowing already made paragraphs and moving them to this one. I hope you'll enjoy this and I hope its more up to my standards than the last one was. Enjoy!
As a normal civilian from the Hidden Leaf Village, I live in as much peace as there is possible. I live outside of the village's walls and keep to myself, only going into town to sell the fruits and vegetables I grow on my plantation. I never became a ninja, but I can use the very basic techniques like the clone jutsu. After all, I own a very large plantation and it would be hard to maintain it by myself. I'm not much of a fan about fighting, since I live outside the village I don't see much action. On the occasion some ninjas will be on a trip to or from the village and I'll give them some food for the journey.
I don't live inside the village, but whenever I go into town to sell my goods I do tend to catch some of the gossip. I've learned it's better to keep what knowledge I do know to myself, so as to not attract any attention. And I find it better to not ask names of travelers who I do give food or help to.
The intense sun of the summer day beat down from overhead, sweat shining on my skin, as I continued to water the patch of diakon crops I was currently in. I had been humming a jaunty tune to myself, to keep my mind off the intense heat of the day, when I heard voices off a ways towards the village. Glancing up, I saw a couple of specks on people in the distance. Nothing unusual about that. I lived off of one of the paths to the village, so it was quite common for travelers to pass by my little farm.
I continued watering my crops until they got closer into view. I made my way out of the diakon crops and into my home. My home could probably be compared to a shack compared to the houses on the inside of the wall. But I found my little shack comfortable. I didn't have any electricity out in my little shack, which meant no microwave, stove, television, whatever else the common folk used inside the walls. I enjoyed being completely sustained on my hard work. A large pot hung over my fireplace where I did most of my cooking. A smaller fireplace in the middle of the room kept the shack lit and provided more warmth than was probably needed from two fires. A door leading to my small bedroom was attached to my small living space. This little shack wasn't much, but it was my home.
A wooden fence has been placed around all of my land on the outside, then there is an additional fence surrounding just my home. Not that I like protection, because I am pretty sure no one cares much about my fields of growing vegetables, I just like the look of the double fences.
I grabbed some freshly made bread and some miscellaneous dried meats from my pantry and wrapped them into a handkerchief securely. When I returned my outer fence I flagged down the group of people who were just about to the edge of my property.
"Here, take some extra food" I said politely to the group of four.
"Thank you so much, Sayuri!" said the pink haired girl.
"Who's this" I heard the blonde kunoichi with baby blue pupil less eyes in the party ask the pink kunoichi.
"Just a friendly village farmer" I happily responded to her.
"Lady Tsunade comes out to visit every once in a while." The pink girl said.
"Why would Lady Tsunade come all the way out here?"
"An escape probably." I piped. "She can escape her Hokage duties and drink some sake."
"We should get going, thanks again!"
"No problem, tell Lady Tsunade not to be a stranger when you get back!" I said with a smile, waving goodbye.
I went around the back of my cottage and emptied the tarp into a large fire pit. At the end of the harvesting season, I burn all of the weeds, so I don't accidentally burn my crops. Coming back to the front of the cottage, I dropped the watering can off at the picnic table by the front door.
"All right, time to finish watering the daikons." I told myself, feeling slightly re-energized.
I grabbed the watering can off of the picnic table and went back to work.
"After a long day of weeding another part of the plantation, nothing is better than a relaxing bath and homemade truffles." I said as I soaked in a bubble bath, popping a chocolate truffle in my mouth. "That reminds me, I need to go into the village and get more chocolate soon… Man, it's too bad I can't grow it!" I said pouting on the side of the tub grabbing another truffle. "Maybe I'll go into the village tomorrow for some more supplies"
I got out of the tub and dried off. I wrapped the towel around my body and I walked out to the kitchen/dining area and got my pot off of the hearth. I set the pot on a smaller towel on the table, picked up a spoon, and started eating my dinner. The sun was starting to get low in the sky, so it was almost time for bed. A farmer's life is never over.
With a full belly, I grabbed a candle and a book and headed for my bed.
"Sayuri, you're going to start school at the academy soon." A woman with short red hair said to her daughter.
"But mom, I don't want to be a ninja. I don't want to take part in the fighting." A small Sayuri told her mother. "I don't want to cut my hair short and come home all beaten up every day."
"Oh Sayuri, being a ninja is much more than that. You get to defend the very village that helped your father and I raise you."
"I don't want to be a ninja." I told her a little more firmly.
"Sayuri. You're going to the ninja academy and that is that. Your father and I will not pay to send you to civilian school for the rest of your life."
"But.."
"No buts. I am not raising a civilian, I will raise a ninja."
"Another dream like that, huh" I murmured to myself. I looked at the clock and realized I should be getting up just about now to work in the garden, since it was five-thirty. So I got up and found a decent set of clothes to work in. I went into the bathroom and splashed water on my face to wash the sleep out of my eyes. "All right. Another long day of making my plants happy." I said looking into the mirror and smiling.
Luckily enough for me, I didn't have much weeding to do. After I watered all of my precious green plants, I went inside to do inventory of my pantry. I wrote everything I needed to buy on a piece of paper and I went to change my clothes and wash my face to rid myself of the dirt and sweat. I chose my clothes a little differently, since I was going into the village and not into the fields this morning. I didn't wear my usual brown yucky clothes, instead I slipped on a tight blue v-neck tank top with black legging capris. I tied my bright red hair into a braid that wrapped over my left shoulder and ended just under my larger than normal breasts. My caramel eyes stared at my reflection in the mirror and I figured I was satisfied. I shoved my list and wallet into my pocket, grabbed a bad of recently harvested medicinal herbs, and walked out my front door.
Latching the gate behind me, I followed the path to the towering village gates. Kotetsu was on guard at the gate and waved at me once I got closer.
"Hey, Kotetsu where's your partner?"
"How's it going? He's on a short errand for Lady Tsunade."
"Oh, maybe I'll run into him on my way to the tower." I smiled, holding my bag of herbs up for Lady Tsunade"
"Tell him to hurry and get his ass back here, if ya see him"
"I will" I said, waving goodbye.
Children laughed as they ran through the streets, playing ninja and other little kid games. The smells of the food wafted into the streets, reminding me I hadn't even eaten lunch yet. I walked deeper and deeper into the village, towards the Hokages tower.
Tsunade knew my mother since long before I was born. I'm pretty sure they went to the academy together and graduated together. When I was born, Tsunade was there to deliver me and she was there for just about every birthday after. Until I turned eight, and she informed my mother she was leaving for a while. I had already had the fight with my mother that I wasn't going to be a ninja shortly before then. So when I heard that Lady Tsunade was returning as the Hokage, I was shocked to say the least. By then I was at least thirteen. Now she's been in power for five years. When Tsunade heard that I was farming on the outskirts of the village, she commissioned me to plant a medicinal area and harvest it for the hospital.
As I walked deeper and deeper into the village, the buildings got closer together and a slightly taller. This was the business district of the village, afterall. The Hokage Tower seemed to match the height of the Stone Faces behind it. Pushing open the door, I came face to face with a group of eager young genin. They seemed to buzz with excitement as they left the building. I followed the halls and stairs to the Hokages Office. As I rounded the corner from the stairs, I ran into Izumo.
"Oh, hey there Sayuri. I didn't know you were coming into town today."
"Yeah, it wasn't really a planned trip into town. I won't be in town too long though."
"That's a shame. If you were in town longer, I would ask you ouit to dinner."
"And I might have to decline." I said with a giggle.
"We'll see about that." He said with a wink, passing me.
"Oh, Kotetsu said to tell you to get your butt back to work." I shouted after him.
"I'm on my way back, don't you worry. Mission received."
I turned around and knocked on the Lady Tsunade's office door.
"Enter" I heard from the other side of the door.
"Good afternoon, Lady Tsunade. I have a delivery."
"Ah, yes Sayuri. Go ahead and put it on the desk." She said with a hands massaging her temples behind her large stacks of papers. "Did you manage to get that Scutellaria trimming to root?"
"I did. I'm to continue to let its roots grow before I plant it, it should be in the ground by next season."
"I knew I could count on you, good work." she said as she handed over a coin purse.
"Thank you for your continued business. I'll see you soon." and I made my exit, trying my best to not distract her from her current focus, her paperwork.
I started my walk on the main road to get to all the shops I went to the noodle shop first and with the intention to get spaghetti noodles, I also came out with potato gnocchis also with an idea of what I was going to make for dinner. Although it just added to the stuff I needed to get while I was in the village. Next I made a stop at the nearest supermarket for milk, flour, eggs, and the sweet delicacy, chocolate. After that, I headed towards the butchers so I could get my meat, but I stopped and saw a sign at the Yamanaka Flower Shop where they were selling fruit seeds. Of course I couldn't resist looking checking out.
"Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop! Hey, you're the one who stopped Forehead, Tenten, and I on our last mission! That bread was fantastic!" said the familiar blonde girl.
"Oh hello. Nice to see you again! I'm glad you liked it!" I smiled.
"What can I help you with?"
"I'm just checking out the fruit seeds you have to add to my daily work."
"They're over on the wall by the window. If you need any help, let me know."
"Will do."
Hmmm, I don't have very many fruits in my garden. Maybe some blackberries, some strawberries, maybe some juniper berries. I've heard they have some insane health benefits, I thought as I flipped through their seed inventory book. Unfortunately, they seemed to be out of juniper starters. So, I grabbed the other berry root bags and made my way back up to the counter.
"You seem to be out of juniper roots?"
"Yeah, those are a little harder to get our hands on, so they're special order. If you'd like, you can pay for it now and I can add you to our order list. We'll send you a message or send a messenger out to let you know when your order arrives." The blonde said.
"Let's do that, then." I said, handing over the money.
"Thanks for your business. Come again!" she said with a bow.