"Where's the show?!" Naruto inquired, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was wearing a simple white T-shirt with a cartoonish single flame on the chest area, and dull baggy pants. Despite their shopping trips together, this simple combo was his favourite, although he did have better pants this time.
"Konoha Stadium – on the other edge of Inari's Hemisphere." She leaned forward around the tall white walls of the Nara compound, catching glimpses of dark-haired men and women lazily walking around. They really did all have spiky ponytails, huh. "Is Shikamaru ready yet?"
"He'll be here in a moment," the Nara guard wearily replied, still leaning on the wall, inspecting his nails. Despite his uttermost focus, he'd caught them every time they attempted to cross into the grounds. Damn ninja. How dare they be so cool, so effortlessly. "I think he's waiting for the Akimichi boy. They're always together – he came over a few hours ago."
"Oh cool!" Naruto lit up. "One place already down!"
Oniyuri naturally replied to Naruto's excited grin with one of her own. She could feel the excitement rise, vibrating under her skin, alongside the old friend – stage fright. Tonight was The Night! The grand finale of the Suisei clan in Konoha, the night she was going to take Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba and Naruto to not only show them her clan's art, but also see her first performance.
She'd awoken the day burning with nerves, the day ticking by slowly as she tried to relax. At midday she trooped over to Naruto's just so she wasn't fidgeting next to Ajisai, and now, at four o'clock, the sun still mostly above the tree line, they were waiting for Shikamaru – also Chouji, apparently.
Naruto had taken to squatting near the entrance, absorbed in something on the ground. She'd joined him, and found he was watching a centipede brave the bare dirt. Maybe they could drop it on the guard's shoes. That was acceptable for a kid, right?
"So when is it?"
They whirled around. "Shikamaru!"
"Hi, guys!"
"Chouji!" the two of them added, Naruto adding a whoop. "Let's go let's go let's go! We gon' get FOOD!"
"It starts at seven, so seating at six!" she held up the respective numbers with her fingers as she said it. "We have time to get food too!"
"A whole hour?" Shikamaru curled his lip. Oniyuri laughed, a little nervousness tinging the tone.
"Weeeeell… turns out that Konoha is weird!"
Chouji turned his head to her. "Huh?"
"Every other village has the grandest night on the first night…"
"So?" Naruto demanded.
"Congrats, you've all got the best seats on the best night?" she awkwardly shrugged. Not her fault the Hokage was alright with the poorer population going first, and also funding the decorations so the grand displays were nearly the same every night, fooling her the one time she saw a show.
Naruto had absolutely no problem with that, and Chouji didn't care. Kiba, whom they picked up shortly not long after, though it was a riot. Shikamaru was the only one who gave it a thought.
"Ino will be there too, won't she?" He resignedly inquired no one out of the blue. Thanks to her super old brain, and her extremely high wisdom, she was able to jump through hoops and bend over backwards to realise he was talking about the show. Given that they were just talking about which Akimichi restaurant they each wanted to hit up, it was a bit of a leap.
"Uh yeah. Nobles and trusted ninja clans, all come on the kage's night. To be honest, if you three went with your family you would've gotten in just fine." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
Shikamaru shrugged. "At least with you, I won't have to sit next to Ino." She laughed lightly.
When asked of her favourite dish, Oniyuri replied with a place she hadn't been to since her rebirth: yakiniku. Chouji was the only person there who understood what she said and was equally devastated to realise that none of the other boys had recognised it. So he threw the towel and dragged them off to Akimichi's yakiniku.
Naruto was absolutely in love with yakiniku, which any best friend of hers should be, and Kiba loved it too but the smell was sometimes overwhelming. Shikamaru simply declared it 'good enough.' The staff seemed to be perfectly fine with serving four children, although they did station a staff member nearby. Given that Oniyuri had a hard time controlling Naruto, Kiba and – she both saw this coming and did not – Chouji were too much to handle.
Given that Chouji is the clan heir, every staff was incredibly familiar with him. They expressed their delight upon seeing him hang out with new friends, although there were some cold faces when Naruto was recognised.
With dinner over and the money half paid by Chouji's family member discount and Shikamaru and Kiba's combined clan accounts, they set out once more. It was just hitting six o'clock, so she pushed them to travel from Akimichi's Delights – a small district right next to the clan area and the general ninja accommodation suburb – to the other side of Inari's Hemisphere.
They'd made it with time to spare, but not as early as she would have liked – six-thirty. The boys didn't seem to understand the little panic she was currently having, but it passed now they were at the destination.
The destination, was, of course, Konoha's stadium. A giant raised bowl surrounded on all sides with seats. It was in a vaguely oval shape, which wasn't the weirdest stage the Suisei clan have performed on before. It was also the site of Konoha's third stage Chounin exams.
Maybe in a few years, she'd be in that oval, not to dance, but to fight.
They were stuck outside for a little bit, waiting their turn to be permitted inside. While down there, she felt like there was something missing. While the boys continued to chatter, she constantly looked around. It looked normal. But there was something about it. Crowds. Lights. Chattering. Lines.
"AH!" her mind automatically filtered out the shout as background noise, but was startled to hear Naruto's answering "YOU!"
She turned and saw another boy. It took her a few seconds to place him as Sasuke, another member of famous Team 7, partly because he wasn't in anime style and he was six-years-old. The two of them exchanged some words, not as heated as she expected.
Then Sasuke's family walked up behind him and she realised why. A slightly older boy, stoic and definitely chick, stuck close to two adults. Itachi, and Sasuke's older parents.
Hmm. Wouldn't this be the right place to have a meltdown on how she can't save Sasuke's parents, and oh, how horrible she is, even though she's literally three.
"Hi!" she greeted brightly instead. "I'm Oniyuri! Who are you?" It takes a while for Itachi to realise she spoke to him.
"Hello, I am Itachi, Sasuke's older brother." He failed to include any new information to keep the conversation going. The longer she will speak with him, she realised, the more he'll take leaps and bounds from the stoic label to the eboy label.
Except with less posturing. A RealTM eboy.
"She hangs out with those three a lot." Sasuke suddenly informed everyone, gesturing kind of dismissively toward the three boys. "She's only three." He said the word 'three' with all the smugness of a six-year-old could possibly have.
"If that's what you believe, alright then." she chirped in reply. "I invited my friends to my clan's show!"
"She's even going to perform!" Naruto helpfully added. Itachi's eyes sweep over to her. She spun around to show the Suisei's clan symbol printed clearly on her haori.
The Suisei clan symbol was always printed in white. The biggest shape was the outer circle, just a general border. Kaguya's moon – just another circle - took up half of the circle, covering the entire top half of the outer circle and the curve dipping down to the other half. In the area not taken up by the moon, the Western-style pattern for waves, a line of curved spikes, marched across in uniform rows. All in all, it was a simplistic but epic design.
And easily recognisable.
When she turned around, Naruto was pointing excitedly at the flags adoring the outside of the stadium, also printed with the exact same symbol.
"And Sasuke says you're three?" A rather feminine but refined voice spoke. It was Sasuke's mother – her name was Mitsuki, maybe? No, it wasn't. She could remember the father's name, though – Fugaku. Well, they'd be dead next time she'd be in town. Not that the massacre would be any less bloody than the careless approach she'd taken with it.
"Officially." She nodded once, for extra effect. When Sasuke's parents paused, obviously not expecting that response, she just smiled prettily. "Thanks for watching the Suisei performance! Have you seen it before?"
Sasuke's mum – Mikoto! That was her name – nodded once. It was so elegant and controlled she couldn't help but feel like a scarecrow stuck on a stick, awkwardly hopping around and bumping into everyone. Wow – now that was power. "Yes, I've attended every time I could. It is always a magnificent festival, without fail."
Mikoto's words sparked that last little of brain power. This was a festival! Just like how Western countries have the circus, Japan has festivals. And in festivals, you always had stalls, full of sweet and savoury foods, small games and sometimes even a haunted house! Where was the yakitori? The takoyaki? The watagashi/fairy floss? The basketball hoops? The shooting games? The goldfish/balloon fishing? They'd stood in line for almost five minutes, at most, and Naruto was about to vibrate out of his skin. There was also a chance for small trinkets or omiyage to sell – something that gave the town a little token of 'I saw the Suisei in Konoha, year xxxx!'
Shikamaru nudged her. "What's with the star-struck look?"
"You'll find out next time the clan comes to Konoha!" she immediately answered, then gave it a thought. There'd need to be a lot of pushing and planning… "Hopefully," she tacked on. No doubt she would be the one who would have to drag it kicking and screaming into reality.
The people in front of them shuffled forward and the group of them did so too. They didn't seem to be stopping, so whatever had halted the line had moved on. Probably an annoying customer.
"What are you going to perform?" Mikoto politely inquired. Fugaku turned his cool gaze over to her, leaving Itachi to deal with the fight about to break out between Sasuke, Kiba and Naruto.
"With a group. I've only joined for a few months now! You won't recognise me, though, I'll be completely covered. It's about the story of the Inari yokai!"
"They always introduce the newest member at the end of that, don't they?" Fugaku murmured.
Oniyuri stopped and whipped her head around to Sasuke's father. "Whaaat?!"
To her surprise, the skin beside Fugaku's eyes crinkled, the laughter lines suddenly jumping out. Even Mikoto cracked a small mischievous (but still elegant) smile. She gave a light chuckle. Shikamaru too joined in the laugh, and let out a huff of air, mouth curling slightly, which was his version of 'hahaha. This is funny' (almost deadpan tone included).
She crossed her arms, picture of childish frustration. "Whatever! It isn't like I'm not the shortest person there!"
Naruto chose that moment to throw hands, catching Sasuke's shirt with his fist and dragging the other boy's face closer to him. Chouji did the same to Naruto's at the same time Itachi caught Sasuke's arm.
"Now, now," Mikoto said placidly, patting Sasuke on his head. "Fists are for proper ninja duties."
Sasuke, with all the anger in his tiny body, stammered out "Well - well - his face is proper ninja duties!" Naruto immediately took offence, yelling a short "Hey!" and tugging harder on Chouji's fist. Oniyuri had no idea what Sasuke was trying to say with "his face is proper ninja duties," but it did rile Naruto up.
She made an exaggerated gasp. "Wow! Looks like we're about to go in!" She gestured wildly to the stadium. And, to her luck, the ticket checkers appeared before them, tiredly asking for slips of paper.
They waved Oniyuri's group through and quickly they bounced up the stairs with youthful energy.
The show was about to start!
It wasn't long before Oniyuri slipped away to join the rest of her clan backstage. Everyone hurried around quietly, highly organised chaos occurring at almost whisper-level silence.
Her outfit was easy to find. She quickly slipped into the black leggings and black long-sleeved shirt. Her shoes required her to sit down to wrap the ends of the leggings down with the strips of fabric from the two-toed traditional Japanese shoes. Her fellow dancers then helped her wrap a very long roll of black fabric around her head to hide everything but her eyes.
The only dash of colour her costume had was a smaller roll of red fabric that wrapped around her shoulders, arms, and upper torso, the end sitting prettily on her back as a big bow.
Yeah, her costume was a stereotypical ninja. Well, not of this world - of another world entirely. In particular, Western stereotypes.
She joined the rest of her crew members and pondered on asking them about the "reveal" thing Fugaku mentioned. But wouldn't it be cooler if she wasn't surprised and owned the entire show with slick words? Hell yeah.
"You ready, Oniyuri?" Magu slapped her back, a grin full of anticipation bearing down at her. It matched maginificantly with his beard and short stature. He looked like a mighty dwalf.
"Hell yeah," she echoed her thoughts and began to join her group in stretching, drawing a globe of water the size of an adult's head from the water reserve to run through some exercises as well.
Performing is a lot of waiting and while your heart pounds in your chest. You both simultaneously want to watch the prior act and get to your place. On a normal stage she could've seen the audience but the special stadium the Suisei clan couldn't allow that, so all she had to go on was the applause.
The group had long fallen into the entrance sequence; three neat rows, ready to travel down the little entrance and out onto the water. Many members were quietly chatting, but it cut when the audience exploded into noise. The previous act was over.
It might not be her time to shine, but it was her group's time to shine.
Her heartbeat was going wild as she quietly stepped out onto the water, adjusting the control of her mental energy. Other member's energies vibrated through the water as well - it took some practice on how to keep so many people on the same volume of water.
The group fanned out, around the squished oval. There were about twenty of them, all split into smaller groups of twos or threes. Oniyuri had two much taller members with her, and they slipped into the first stage: village.
The lights blew up, lighting the sparkling water under them and their black clothes. Immediately, the small village sprang into action. Oniyuri was the child, not only because she was the shortest but she could also throw small globs of water as kunai.
Her mother made a fake hand sign and an area not far from her sprouted a water target. Her other mother knelt down beside her and showed her how to form her water into kunai and mimicked throwing it. Oniyuri took a critical eye to the target and threw her kunai. It lost its form as soon as the water stopped touching her skin, but it was quick enough to land on another group not far from them - two people arguing with a shop owner, a small stall included.
Her parents mimicked apologising. There was no use including sound because the orchestra was loud enough. Their voices wouldn't be heard clearly to justify.
The shoppers waved them off and so Oniyuri returned to kunai practice. Other things were going on around them - scenes of everyday peaceful village life. There were some scenes to inform the audience it was just any village, but a ninja village. Two extremely acrobatic members started the show with some magnificent, in-sync handstands and cartwheels. Even Magu got to show off a little of his Georgian dancing.
Finally, right as Oniyuri allowed her kunai to land on the target (it really wasn't that far away), every water constructed item wavered and collapsed at once. This was the beginning of the second part: attack.
It was signalled with the introduction of new mental energy: just enough to notify everyone to break their water constructs. The orchestra changed their tune considerably. Where before it was light-hearted, now it was slowly ticking towards mysterious.
The centre of the arena - empty to ensure the acrobatics had enough space - exploded. Out rose a figure dressed in a white kimono laced with red thread and fabric. In her hand was an orange fire.
It burned brightly against the slightly dimmed stage lighting. It threw shadows around the circle, and most of all highlighted every exaggerated feature of the new comer.
Her nails were long enough that even the audience could tell they were sharp. The top of her kimono sagged around her shoulders, teasing just a little of her breasts. Her hair, ragged yet fine, was tied just after her shoulders into four tails. And finally, it brilliantly lit the fox mask hiding her face.
She hunched forward and spread her legs out, preparing to jump. Just as she brought her other hand to the fire to light her other hand, she jumped high in the air, the music reflecting her actions. Oniyuri knew she was assisted because she could see the water under the four tailed fox demon rising slightly into the air.
When the yokai landed, all hell broke loose. The village was being attacked.
What followed wasn't ninja warfare, but stylised ninja attacks in the form of dancing. They didn't act individually - they banded together immediately and used 'techniques' (dancing) to fight against the mystical fire of the fox yokai.
The fire was an interesting element to add. Not only because it was really, really, really hard to control, but it required special gel slathered on the exposed skin. Even then, all the yokai could do was keep the flame alive, not even controlling its form. There were some impressive ideas to get around this; several members 'sacrificed' themselves, getting close to the yokai and feeding the fire some of their own mental chakra. It created the illusion that the yokai was sending streams of fire towards attackers. Several people lit themselves on fire as well.
They didn't go through the performance without mistakes though: halfway through the performance, the yokai stopped using her right hand, which meant the gel had been washed off. And she also accidentally used the last of her flame when someone attacked her. They had to skip a scene and get straight to the spontaneous combustion.
Finally, when the village was worn down to ten people, they quickly gathered again. Oniyuri was shoved forward to face the leader of the village (who wasn't Magu) and in a quick dance sequence, they discussed plans and Oniyuri was given the lead role with the final attack. This was the scene she liked best. There was a lot of water streams shooting into the air, like ribbons.
They closed in as one and took the final steps. The yokai, previously occupied with torturing the last attacker, turned to face the villagers. Her Inari fox mask was still in place. But not for long.
Oniyuri split from the group and changed her style to a more solid type - combining wide stances and firm punches from martial arts with Avatar, the Last Airbenders' earthbending. The water below them vibrated, and her villagers quickly joined her.
Below the yokai, the water trembled, and then great jaws shaped like shark's teeth slammed together.
The yokai was trapped. But not dead yet. She struggled in the bubble, and her mask coincidently was knocked loose.
To her shock, she realised that it was Hanabi. Hanabi, as in her caretaker. Hanabi, as in the woman who was frequently gone every early morning. How sneaky.
Her bubble wavered, just enough to be noticeable.
Oniyuri saw the chance and took it. Her bubble began to vibrate, losing the solid look. Then it collapsed. This was extremely off-script.
Hopefully, Kigiku could pick up her thoughts and appoint the orchestra to the next appropriate piece.
The yokai - Hanabi - laid melodramatically on the water floor, kimono soaked. Her mask sunk. Oniyuri approached the demon that had terrorised her village and held out her hand.
Hanabi flung out her hand - but either she had run out of flame packets or she'd picked up on what Oniyuri was doing. And it seemed like Kigiku had too - the orchestra had dropped to soft levels for the struggle, so it had no problem switching over to a more "hopeful" tune, creeping over everyone as it got louder and louder.
Hanabi took Oniyuri's hand, and wow her acting was pretty good. She had this wonderous, curious look like she wasn't sure what was going to happen next. Or that might be Hanabi herself, confused over what the hell Oniyuri was doing.
She gathered some water and presented it to Hanabi as a flower. It, of course, took shape as a lily. To the audience, it would be a symbol of peace. To the clan, and her friends, they'd pick up the reference to her name.
Hanabi took the flower, holding its shape. She smiled warmly, no longer using that cold smirk her mask was adorned with. Together they walked back to her group of villages.
The lights dimmed, and the music swelled into the original music: triumphant joy of defending their village.
Twenty villagers and one yokai gathered together in a group, ready for the lights to go up again for the quick bow. Well, that was what she was told would happen in practice. Instead, hands gripped under her armpits and she was hoisted into the air. Her headwrap was being undone, her hair springing free.
She was thankful she had known about this before, because above everyone else she wouldn't have access to the water below. As is, she only had a few seconds to think of something to do with the water she took with her before the stage was lit again.
The audience rioted as they applauded the villagers and yokai. Oniyuri was standing on the tallest member's shoulders, seemingly throwing water into the air like confetti. In reality, she just had a stream of water lining her arms, realising a little bit of it every time she flung her hands into the air.
The Master of Ceremonies' voice - Kiku herself, speaking through some complex fuinjutsu seal - echoed through the stadium. "Let us introduce our newest member to join the dance crew - Oniyuri!"
The stadium's applause returned full force. She bowed several times and then when the lights dimmed once more to move onto the next act, she was helped down by Hanabi herself.
"I was not informed of this change," she cooly said, poking Oniyuri in the stomach and they moved silently to the exit.
"I wasn't informed that you're a dancer!" She snarked in reply, but couldn't cover the giggle caused by tickling hands.
"The original yokai broke her ankle. Somehow I'm brought on as back up, and because of my job I couldn't come to afternoon practices." The backstage was pitch black, a stark contrast to the lit stage. But despite how much they stumbled around in the dark, the group continued on to their designated area. "what's your excuse?"
Oniyuri paused in taking off her shirt and gave it a thought. Changing the ending was a pretty dick move, even though it was easy for everyone to pick up on. Most she just wanted to - "-my friends are in the audience. I just didn't want to show them the sad ending for the yokai." In particular, Naruto. He might not yet know about the demon sealed in his body, but she knew, and that was enough for her.
Still, she turned to the rest of the group and bowed. "Everyone? I'm very sorry for suddenly changing the ending."
Magu suddenly appeared beside her, as if summoned by her words. "It wasn't too bad." He grumbled. "Could've done with a little more at the end, but we can fix that later."
"Oh,"
"Get changed and go to your friends." Instead of giving her back a meaty slap, he gently ruffled her hair.
"Ok!"
Oniyuri could feel the warmth of the sunlight filling the room, slowly heating up to uncomfortable heights. But her lionfish plushie was so soft and her bed was so amazing…
She sat up, looking around the room. The last thing she remembered was watching the show, Naruto on one side, Kiba on the other… Oniyuri groaned in realisation and flopped back to her bed. Now that some of her covers had gotten disturbed and no longer covering most of her body, the room wasn't so hot anymore. She must've fallen asleep at the stadium. And judging by how she has no memory of returning to the hotel, she was probably carried back.
Leaving Lionfish tucked neatly under her covers, she checked the kitchen for Hanabi. It wasn't until she walked into the other bedroom did she find her caretaker. But she was passed out, and Oniyuri didn't have the heart to wake her.
So she set out.
Despite her child body being why she fell asleep at the show, it was also why she was awake at an early hour. Oh, there were plenty of other people out and about on the street streets, but she had confidence they were either people who did not attend last night's show or they were a ninja.
Naruto's apartment was quiet, and she didn't want to wake him either. There was, however, the garden entrance. To her surprise, when she rounded the house, Naruto was sitting on the window ledge.
"Oniyuri!" he gasped, waving his hand. "Quick, come inside!" she raised her eyebrow in reply but complied, climbing up the rocks as Naruto evacuated the still. "I've got a camp soon," he began to open the fridge perhaps for breakfast, but paused when clean and empty racks greeted him. "With the school! We're gonna learn cool ninja tricks and other cool ninja moves." He grinned, but it felt nervous.
"How long is it?" what kind of things are you learning? she wanted to ask, for her own ninja education, but that would just be answered with 'cool ninja moves!' or a sheepish shrug.
Naruto paused in his whirlwind of activity. "Three days."
"And when do you leave?"
"In half an hour…"
"Shouldn't you be on your way?" It took Naruto about twenty minutes to sprint from his home to the academy. As of twenty minutes ago, it was too late for him to walk.
"I'm stuck!" he groaned, dragging a hand down his face. It stretched the skin below his eye and his bottom lip comically. She couldn't help but giggle. "Some of the things here don't make sense!" he waved a piece of paper.
"So sitting on the window still was your answer?" Naruto laughed awkwardly. "Whatever. Let me see the paper."
It was an items checklist. Oniyuri could see Naruto's confused notes, from circled kanji to terms in hiragana he just didn't know. Despite her literacy lessons, Naruto was still a little behind his peers.
She grabbed what she could from his home that he missed and tried to pack it neatly. Then they were out the door, Naruto locking it and placing the key under his mat. When told to change his hiding spot, he took it back to the garden. Judging by the dirty on his fingers, he had buried it.
"Ok, we can buy some on the way." She told as she set up a light jog.
"But my money is back at home!"
She waved her hand. "Don't worry about that."
Some of the things they needed were more camping items and professional equipment. Using her previous life's knowledge she knew exactly where to be tight with money and where to go for the slightly exy but high-quality goods.
"Alright, done," she checked the closest clock – just the one hanging from the back of Fire Tree Bookstore. They only had a minute to book it to the academy. Yikes.
"Wait! We haven't gotten a skinning knife!"
Oniyuri frowned and gave it a thought. "I don't think you'll need it."
"Huh?"
"Why would a ninja have a skinning knife? Just use your kunai." She thought about the few of Naruto's she had seen. A little too rusty. "So let's get new ones." They would definitely be late, but good quality kunai was much better than some teacher's goodwill.
Twenty minutes, one henge, a pack of 24 and a whole explanation on how to take care of kunai later, they stumbled onto the academy's grounds. Oniyuri's chest was heaving; Naruto was a little bit better.
"Oh good, you're here. Now we're waiting for Akamichi and Nara." Said an adults voice. Naruto groaned.
"We ran all the way here for nothing?"
Oniyuri felt like complaining too. Of course, there would be some kids, who, at the ripe old age of six, wouldn't be able to get up on time. Chouji would patiently wait for Shikamaru and Shikamaru had probably avoided telling his parents the correct time in order to get a little more sleep.
Now with a little more time on their hands, Oniyuri sat down with Naruto under the shade of the swing ree and went through his items and explained their use. After that she helped him pack his bag so it wouldn't strain his back too much.
Another twenty minutes later, Chouji and Shikamaru had yet to appear. They only reason why they hadn't already left was because they were clan heirs and Chouji was the heir to one of Konoha's Noble Clans. That didn't stop the teachers placing and checking their watches agitated.
She couldn't think of anything else to do, except wait. But, she realised, checking her bag. There was.
"So, I guess this is it," she said awkwardly, sounding too much like an adult. Naruto a few seconds to compute. Understanding really does dawn in the eyes.
"Oh right. This is the last time I'll see you. By the time I come back you'll-" his words cut off, but all Naruto do was blink rapidly.
"I was going to give this last night," she dug into her bag. Thank gods she never went out with it. "But I – fell asleep."
Naruto laughed. "Yeah you did! Didn't wake up even when the yokai lady came to pick you up.
"Hanabi?"
"That was Hanabi!" she must have been in full makeup mode, wow. What a way to scare her friends. She shook her head, smiling, and drew out two small items.
"First, a bracelet. It's just one from the markets, here in Konoha. But when I return, I'll give you my own version, not sold anywhere in the Elemental Countries!" she promised as she wrapped the braided blue and brown bracelet around his skinny wrist. It was a simple three-stranded plait, nothing like the complex weaving that kids across the world learnt in her past life.
Next, she told Naruto to spin around and lean backwards. When he did, she slowly ran her fingers through his hair, selecting a small section just above his ear.
"I want you to keep a promise to me," she began "that you will eat healthy, study hard and keep your hygiene up!" she twisted the hairs into a braid and at the very end, clasped a small white tube to keep the air in place. Parts of the metal was cut out in vines for decoration. Just one single hair bead.
"I don't care how long you keep this in, or if you get something better, or whatever you desire." She tapped Naruto's shoulder to let him sit up. When he did, the braid fell to just next to his eyes. He caught it and went cross-eyed trying to look at it.
Oniyuri laughed and tucked the strand behind his ear. It didn't look cool or neat, it fact it looked pretty out of place. But Naruto's eyes sparkled.
"When you return," he declared and pointed to her chest. I'll give you a new dice!"
She brought out the necklace she'd already gotten. It was rough and kind of uncomfortable against her skin, but she wore it every day.
"It'll be better," Naruto nodded determinedly "not so rough. The symbols will be neater too! And I'll make it more… rounder."
"Sandpaper the edges?" she clarified.
"Yes?" he said questioningly, like someone who didn't know what sandpaper is. Oniyuri smiled. He was still a child. A very heart-warming child that was her best friend, but a young kid nevertheless.
"Hey, Oniyuri!" Kiba yelled, despite how close he was approaching "You joining us?"
She shook her head. "No, saying my goodbyes. I leave tomorrow."
Kiba was puzzled. "Where are you going?"
"Everywhere? I'll be back in about three years."
Kiba was even more confused. "What?"
"She's a part of a travelling show." A new, exhausted voice explained. It was Shikamaru! His bag was at his feet, almost spilling the contents. Chouji was elsewhere – a quick check put him with the teachers. They seemed a little impatient but not all that angry. Did Shikamaru come up with a good excuse, or something? "So yes it's goodbye?"
"Is it alright if I hug you guys?"
She hugged them one by one, Naruto just a touch longer than the rest. But the teachers were finally getting their little camping trip moving, and she was left alone, right outside the school academy, waving at tiny children until she couldn't see them anymore. She huffed to recentre herself and began the trip back to her hotel.
It was time for the next part of her life to begin.