Naruto wasn't sure of what she was supposed to think about Konoha. Their arrival had been rocky, and checking in to Konoha's main office had not been simple. On their very first day, they had already met the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato himself. The first day had been filled with surprises and a lot of paperwork that led to a sleepless night in unfamiliar territory. She had been on edge all night with her teammates huddled by her, the four falling asleep planning during the night for their next couple of days until the Chunin Exams started.
"Naruto?" Yarui questioned from beside her, noticing how she spaced out as they milled around the village. They had gone early in the morning to use the training grounds that the Hokage had given them before they all entered the shopping district to seek out somewhere to eat around lunch. They had no idea what they were going to do now that they had so much free time, and they didn't want to train all the time because they knew that they only had so much privacy. As it stood, they only went to do their morning exercises and go for a run around the village. They would have worked on their pillar training, but Naruto and Darui had both felt someone nearby.
The four shinobi were on edge, though they tried not to show it as they looked around. Naruto especially wanted to hide her discomfort in the village of their sworn enemies as she avoided the odd looks multiple villagers sent them. It had been years since Iwa had even been on speaking terms with Konoha, and only Naruto nearly killing one of their own Nin before deciding she was worth keeping alive had changed that.
"Naruto," Shisui spoke from beside her, and Naruto paused to glance at her friend. She cast him a bright smile as she pointed ahead. "Let's go eat over there!" She said rather loudly, drawing several looks before they were dismissed by the growing crowds. The morning had broken into the afternoon as people searched out places to dine and enjoy their meals either alone or with company. Naruto, in particular, had finally found somewhere small they could all go, and it happened to be a food stand she had been looking for since she entered Fire Country.
"Ramen, Hosha-Chan?" Darui asked her with a smile. He flanked them, the three boys holding a loose formation around her that warned any who wished harm on them to back off. They had maintained their protective outlook since they left Iwagakure, and Naruto wasn't sure they would stop even after she was entered into the Exams under a different team.
"Yup!" Naruto called out and started walking briskly toward the newly spotted stand with red and white banners. She slipped inside without a word, her friends following behind. The inside of the stand was mostly empty, with only one person inside. The patron was a beautiful redhead who was talking animatedly with the shop owner about something, more than likely Shinobi related going by her attire. She was wearing the same green flack jacket as all the other Chunin and higher Nin in Konoha, and her hair was done up into a long pony-tail using her headband. Naruto took note of the katana resting on the woman's back before she chose a seat a few own from the woman.
"Ah, hello there. Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, what can I get you?" The chef spoke up as he turned toward the group, addressing Naruto when he took note of her position ahead of the others.
"Hmm, how about your house special?" Naruto nodded to the man and asked as she sat down. Shisui sat to her right, separating her and the Kunoichi, while the other two boys sat to her left.
"I'll have your Soba with Miso and Eggplant," Shisui spoke next, inclining his head respectfully to the chef.
Darui replied after, smiling shyly and quietly asking for some Miso Ramen. Yarui followed after, loudly proclaiming he wanted the Beef Ramen with extra toppings.
"Alright, that'll be right up." The Chef said and turned to fill out the order. The Kunoichi sitting beside them glanced over, her eyes peering at all of them quizzically.
"I take it none of you are from around here?" The woman asked, her violet eyes flickering in amusement as she watched Shisui shift closer to Naruto and the others sharpen their gazes on her.
Naruto rolled her eyes at the boys and smiled at the woman, using the charm she developed over the years as an heiress to respectfully greet the Kunoichi who was pretending to not notice their headbands. "Yes, we are Genin from Iwa here for the Chunin Exams," Naruto said and scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
"I have a bit of an obsession with ramen and my teammates were willing to indulge me after training." Naruto haphazardly explained to the woman, leaning forward on the counter as she held head chin in her hands.
"Well, you have good taste! Ichiraku Ramen is the best place to eat in Konoha, and Teuchi makes the best Miso Ramen I've ever had! If you are going to eat anywhere in Konoha, you definitely have to try here." The Kunoichi told them happily and rather energetically. In fact, Naruto's teammates were rather surprised that the woman seemed to have as much, if not more, energy than their blond friend.
"So, what are your names? Mine is Kushina." The Kunoichi spoke, revealing herself partially to the others. Naruto grinned at her and extended a hand to shake the one Kushina held out a moment later.
"I'm Hosha." She said, followed by Shisui.
"Shisui." He said simply as he inclined his head to her, watching the woman carefully.
"I'm Darui," Darui spoke up and waved at the woman, earning a nod and a wave back. Yarui piped up from behind the other three, grinning ear-to-ear.
"Yarui! It's nice to meet you Kushina-San." He says.
Kushina laughed at him and waves him off. "Good to meet you all. I'm a little surprised to see Iwa Genin here." She said and leaned on the counter.
Naruto hummed in agreement, glancing around the room with a small smile. "Yup, we were surprised as well," Naruto said, not wanting to give the woman any information. She knew that the Hokage knew it was there the first time, but she would rather not expose such a weakness so early on.
"Well, good luck because you'll need it," Kushina said, placing some money on the counter as she stood. She swiftly turned and hollered over her shoulder.
"See you Teuchi! Thank's for the food. And you kids, watch out for my son. He'll kick all of you back home." Kushina said with a wink before vanishing out of the stand. She left the team of Iwagakure Shinobi to look at each other in confused silence.
Naruto turned to her teammates and raised a brow at them as she wondered what to think about the strange kunoichi that they had just met. "Did she just…?"
Shisui placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and shook his head, reaching out for the bowl of ramen that had been placed down by Taichi. "Don't bother with it Hosha." He told her and offered the bowl to her with a soft smirk playing on his lips.
"She's wrong anyway." He told her, the other two behind her sharing odd looks with one another. Shisui wasn't one to express himself or be cocky by any means, in fact, the two couldn't recall their friend ever showing a playful interest in their career at all. This was new to them, and the two wondered if it was a good or bad change.
Naruto paused and slowly a grin spread over her lips as well. She was in a foreign village, surrounded by the murderers of her people and her family, but she wasn't alone. She had her teammates and they were going to take the exams by storm. No one would stand a chance against them.
"Of course, I know she is." Naruto reaffirmed her teammate's statement, grinning back at him.
I~~~~I
The day was odd enough already. Sashiko couldn't remember the last time she had a day like this. Her mother hadn't been home when she woke, the twins had been called to a meeting, and Kushina had left shortly after she woke. Sashiko had not been in an empty house since before her brother had left and it unsettled her.
Rather than staying in her house and possibly losing herself to the voices in her head and her growing annoyance, Sashi chose to head out into the world and see what it had to offer. Almost immediately she noticed a shift in the village.
Civilians were traveling together in larger groups and keeping their kids close, more shinobi than normal were running along the rooftops and wandering around. The village was in a state of unease, as though a force was pressing down against its people. It didn't take long for Sashi to find out why.
Straying about the village streets were strange shinobi that Sashiko didn't recognize at first until her eyes drifted to the headbands that they wore. Foreign shinobi from the Land of Wind, more than likely Genin going by stature and the way they held themselves, which meant that the event Sashiko had been waiting for had finally happened. The Chunin Exams was back, and as such, foreign shinobi were everywhere.
Closing her eyes, the Oreshizoku took a moment to calm herself before she started walking again.
She wished that the day hadn't come so soon, it was a horrible reminder after all.
What was it now? One, two? She didn't want to think about it, but the truth of the matter was she knew just how long it had been since he had left her.
Sashiko bit down on her lip and pushed back on the turmoil growing within her chest, picking up her pace as she weaved through the civilians going about their daily business. Her eyes felt heavy and she could swear they were tearing up, but she didn't want to acknowledge the fact she even cared anymore. The thoughts of him were always passing by, brushing past her thoughts and pressing constantly, but she hardly ever allowed them to linger. She couldn't, lest she lose herself to the grief that he had caused her.
She needed a distraction, something else that she could lose herself in before she was drowned in the roaring of her own anger and hate-
"Ah, that was some good ramen! I haven't had stuff like that…well ever!"
A voice, like that of a deadly angle, sounded from ahead of her.
Sashiko's blood went cold and she looked up just as someone stepped out from a stand in front of her. Golden hair fell across the soft features that Sashiko knew could turn feral in an instant. Blue eyes, the same color as the ocean sailors drowned in, turned in her direction. Soon, Sashiko wasn't the only one frozen in place. Staring at her from a mere few feet away was the girl who had nearly taken her life, the very same girl that had made friends with Sasuke and made their Sensei question if-
This was the girl that had held Sashiko's life in her hands and decided to let her live.
This, this was Iwatoshi Hosha.
"Oh, well this is a surprise. Did you heal up from the poison already?" The girl questioned innocently, and Sashiko felt everything click into place. Her eyes narrowed, and she raised a brow at the girl.
"Yeah, it was rather nasty. You ought to keep it to yourself while you're a guest here." Sashiko spoke, her limbs shaking with each word. She tried to control the tremors and a smirk drifted as she pushed back on her emotions for the time being. She did just as Itachi had taught her and filed away the thoughts and the feelings for later when she could afford to go over them. She discarded her humanity for that instance and instead she took the position that was needed in the face of her would-be murderer.
Hosha only smirked back at her and held out a hand.
"Yeah, I'll make sure to do that. And hey, maybe we can start over." She said as her teammates exited the booth behind her.
Sashiko gave the three a cursory nod and took Hosha's hand, gripping it as she smiled with teeth. "Sure, I'm alright with that. I'm Oreshizoku Sashiko, you?"
Hosha hummed, seemingly accepting her actions as she gripped back.
"Iwatoshi Hosha. It's nice to finally put a name to the face." The girl said, and a shiver went down Sashiko's back.
The girl relished the feeling at that moment, her blood pumping and her heart pounding. She could feel her pulse in her throat and she could hear the blood rushing through her ears even as she pulled away from her former enemy.
This was what she needed. A distraction, a challenge. She needed something to focus on, and fate had provided it. She had wondered when she would see the girl again, and when she did…She wanted to know why exactly Hosha had let her live.
I~~~~I
Tadah! This is a short chapter, but I updated considerably sooner than with my other ones, so I would call that an improvement to last time. Thanks for your continued support, you guys are awesome! I'm not tallying the results for the pairings right now, and I am not sure when I will start that up again so sorry about that. I don't have a lot of time and as of now, I am writing this right before I have to go to bed. Thanks for the support again, and I hope you enjoyed this little tidbit!
