Chapter 9: Red-heads & Ramen

We make our way through the street over to the ramen stand. I prop the scroll against the counter and sit down. After hearing a grunting sound, I turn to Misou and she is standing on her tip-toes, trying to hoist herself onto the stool. I can't help but laugh at the sight. "Uhh... Niisan...can I get some help?" She asks, shyly.

"Sure thing, kiddo." I say, still grinning. I lift her by her underarms onto the tall chair. Teuchi, the old man who runs the ramen stand, smiles kindly at us. His wife Amaya is cooking behind him, while sporting a very large baby belly.

"Hey Minato-san! You want you usual?" Teuchi calls out.

"Yeah, best make it to-go this time. Kushina's out of town on mission right now. Everyone know's I'm a terrible cook." Slowly the empty booth fills with people.

"When is Kushina-san getting back? I miss my best customer!"

"Tonight at the earliest."

"And who is this?" Teuchi asks, as he looks at Aimisouma.

"This is Misou, my half-sister. Misou-chan, this is Teuchi-san." Interested ears start leaning closer to our conversation.

"Hi mister." Misou smiles at him. While her mouth is still covered, you can see the expression in her eyes.

"What can I get you?"

"Can I please have a miso pork ramen, sir?"

"Just like Minato-san then? Coming right up. Man, why are so many people buying ramen at ten in the morning?" I think they are here to meet her, not eat, but it'll be good for Teuchi's business.

"I don't know, but hospital food is yucky, and I wanted something yummy. I could smell your food across the market."

"You poor thing!" The woman who had sat next to Misou said. "Why were you in the hospital?"

Misou stares, wide eyed at the woman next to her. Everyone is the stand is now looking at her. Misou flushes pink at the attention, and looks like she wants to melt into the stool. She opens her mouth, but closes it again without saying a word.

"Misou just got here from Kusa. She had a rough time on the journey." I reply for my recently-turned shy sister.

"So are you the five year old scroll-sealer?" A man asks from behind me.

"Are you related to Minato?

"Don't be so shy!" Laughs the woman again.

"She looks just like Minato."

"She's gonna be a heart-breaker!"

Misou looks so uncomfortable, I want to Hiraishin us out of here. Everyone looks like they are about to interrogate her.

"Here is your food, Minato-san!" Never have I ever been so grateful for Teuchi's fast service. I happily had over the money, and help Misou down from her stool. I gather our stuff and turn to leave.

"Going so soon?" The man asks.

"Yeah, Misou's not supposed to be outside too much just yet."

"Aww." The woman pouts. I transfer the bag of food to the hand supporting the scroll and offer my hand to Misou. She gladly grabs ahold as we start walking to my apartment.


Namikaze Misou


"I'm so sorry about that." Minato apologizes to me. "With the war on, entertainment around here has been lacking. People jump for a chance to hear anything interesting. I didn't anticipate them crowding you like that."

"It's okay." I say, my voice timid. "There are so many people here."

"There are. Although Kusagakure is roughly the same size. Did you walk around the village a lot?"

"No. Mom and Dad had a house outside the village."

"Really? Why didn't they live inside the walls?" Minato asks.

"My mama had really strong hearing and her head would hurt if she spent too long in the village."

"Interesting... We are here." He directs me to go up a narrow flight of stairs. At the top, we enter a hallway with doors on both sides. We stop outside the first door on the right. Minato asks me to hold the food for a moment while he unlocks a door. As I hug the bag of food to my chest, I can feel its warmth radiating through my body.

The door slides open and we step into a small apartment. Against the far wall are three doors of the skinny rectangular area. A line of kitchen cabinets lines the left wall, a small dining room in the center, then a ling room on the right. I step into the room and set the bag of food on the table.

Minato shuts the door, and joins me by the table. "Ready to eat?" He asks softly.

"Yeah!" We sit at the table, and open our food. Steam rises from the ramen. We both say 'itadakimasu' before digging into our food.

When done, Minato clears the table.

"Let me show you around. The door in the center in the bathroom. The door on the right leads to Kushina and I's room. The door on the left will be yours. Usually, when my old sensei is in town he stays with us, but he hasn't been here in over a year. So, we will make it your room. Do you want to look around?"

"Mhm." I make my way over to my new room, and slide the door open. Inside is a bed, a small desk, and a dresser. A window is directly above the bed. The ledge has a small lamp sitting on it, as well as an alarm clock. It's much smaller than my old room, but I don't mind.

"What do you think?" Minato asks me. His voice sounds nervous, like he is afraid I'll hate the room.

"I like it. But what's with the frog toy in the window?"

Minato laughs, and tells me that his old sensei is a toad sage. I don't know what that means, but mama once got mad at big sister for calling someone a toad.

"Do you want to unpack?"

I nod, and before I can blink the scroll appears in his arms. I take the scroll from him, and roll it out on the bed. I read through the scroll until I find where I had stored my clothes.

I run my hands through the seals.

Open scroll - Inside - Outside - Release

I run my fingers across all of the clothes symbols, and they start to pop into existence on the bed. Minato helps me refold some of the clothes, and we place them in drawers.

"...How does the scroll work?" Minato asks me.

"Do you want me to show you?"

"Yes, please." Minato seems to be quite excited.

"Ok... Uh... Mama said that she had to do special stuff to the scroll to get it ready. I have a book stored in here about it." I inform him. "She told me it was just like getting something from a kitchen cabinet. First you have to open the door." I place my hands on top one another, palms upward. "Then if you want to take something that is inside the cabinet, you do the inside seal." I curl my bottom hand into a fist. "and you bring it outside." I flatten my lower hand and curl my upper hand. "And you separate it from the scroll." I place my hands into the 'Y' shape.

"Like this?" Minato's hands go slowly through the seals. On the third one, I move his thumb from his second to his first knuckle, but other than that, he has them correct. I nod. "And how do you put things into the scroll?"

"Well, its like storing them. You open the scroll, do outside, then inside, and merge them." I place my hands together, interlocking my fingers tightly.

"I recognize that seal. It's the serpent seal." He moves his hands, and they match mine perfectly.

"Yup. Just like that. When mama was teaching me, it was easier to put stuff in the scroll, instead of taking it out."

"Ok, I'm going to try it."

. . .

"I did it!" Minato cried out victoriously. He holds aloft the toad toy, freshly unsealed from the scroll. After several hours of trying, complaining, examples, and muttering that sounded suspiciously like swearing.

"Good job, Minato-niisan! I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

After seeing a man about a horse, I leave the small bathroom, and am back in the main room of the apartment. Face-to-face with a scarlet haired woman.