"You! You're the two from Ichiraku!" Naruto very nearly yelled, pointing at Soba and Dai.
"From where?" Dai asked.
"Ichiraku ramen! The ramen shop where she obliterated that entire bowl!" Naruto was particularly proud of himself for figuring this out, it seemed.
"Oh. Yes, I was really hungry." Soba brushed him off casually.
"Where did you fit all of that food?!" Naruto stared at her small waist, trying to figure out if she had a hollow leg or not.
"In my stomach." Naruto looked put out by her unenthusiastic response.
"Well, we should meet tomorrow for lunch and talk strategy! I mean, I know nothing about you two and neither of you knows anything about Kiba or me!"
"Uzumaki Naruto, son of the fourth Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina. Nine tails jinchuuriki, wind-style user…would you like me to go into talking about sage mode and your jutsus, or?" Momentarily taken aback by her research, Naruto stops.
"Uh, well, what about Kiba, hmm?"
"Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru," Akamaru barked, "Taijutsu and ninjutsu, more specifically, Beast Human Clone, but in either case, you don't do anything without Akamaru, do you? I can go into your family, too, if you like." Kiba was one step short of smoking from the ears. Neither he nor Naruto enjoyed being embarrassed by these new faces. Before things got too heated, Dai cut in:
"Okay, Soba, we can stop now. Let's go rest and we can continue your data regurgitation another time. Good night!" Dai quickly steered Soba away from Kiba and Naruto, who, by this point, were fuming.
"Good night." Grumbled Kiba.
"Good night, I guess. We'll figure you out tomorrow! Believe it!" Naruto yelled to their retreating backs. His eyes lingered on Soba, thinking how she could maybe have been good looking if everything about her wasn't so prickly and sharp. He snapped out of his brief reverie and gestured to Kiba. "I'm going home. I think we're going to need the rest to deal with the two of them."
"I'm not worried about him; she seems like a nightmare, though…"
Dai laughed when the two rounded the corner to the quarters they were staying at.
"So Naruto intimidates you, huh?" He asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Dai, I have no clue what you're talking about." She lengthened her steps to add distance between them. "You always make up nonsense when you think you 'get' me." Dai laughed again.
"You are so completely predictable, imouto." He smiled to himself, shaking his head.
Dai woke to brilliant sunlight filtering through the bamboo shutters. As he expected, Soba was already up, doing her morning exercises. Her breakfast had probably consisted of ramen, a disturbing habit picked up from their late mother. She had obviously been to the market already as there was a basket of apples and some assorted other snacks on the kitchen table. Those would later be packed into her little satchel for the trip. Soba was as well prepared as a shinobi could be.
"Sleeping in again, I see, niisan!"
"The sun's just come up! How is that sleeping in?"
"Lazy. How could you possibly have been the first-born?" She laughed and sat down by the table. Dai was the only person Soba laughed with anymore. Laughing at other people, yes, laughing with them, not so much. The last few years had been particularly hard on her. Dai watched her unsheathe her first katana, grab her sharpening stone from the bowl of water next to her and take to honing the blade.
"At least she's at peace for right now," he thought, and started to get ready himself.
Noon found the four shinobi having lunch and discussing strategy quietly in the corner of a restaurant. Naruto and Soba were subconsciously competing over who could eat more, a challenge that was going to end without a winner between them. Kiba was oblivious to their silent war, and was trying really hard to get in Dai's good graces to make sure he ended up on his team when they split up; neither he nor Naruto was particularly keen to end up with Soba for days at a time.
"We'll travel together for the next two days, then split up once we reach the kingpin's main base. I'll take Naruto and Dai, you and Kiba can continue on to do some more reconnaissance on the secondary trafficking point. I think three days of recon should be enough and we can meet at the border to adjust the plan as necessary. If we're quiet and fast, this shouldn't be all that difficult. We'll capture the main criminals, scare a few of the lesser ones, and bring the captives into the right land for sentencing. Any questions?" Soba's tone suggested that questions were not welcome, but Naruto missed that.
"Why am I going with you?" Soba rounded on Naruto, her facial expression similar to that of a teacher dealing with her least intelligent pupil.
"Because," She began, slowly, her nostrils flared, "Our skill sets are best matched with this pairing. I want to make sure that, in the event of an attack, we form two well-rounded pairs." Her eyes dared him to ask another question. True to form, Naruto missed that cue too.
"How are we well-matched? You're really sour, and-"
"I am patient and collected, and while you obviously did pull it together when you needed to, I doubt you will for such a straightforward mission. I'll likely be babysitting you the entire time, you child. Accept your orders and move on." Dai and Kiba's conversation had died in favour of watching the two other shinobi go at it. It was like watching a catastrophic explosion in slow motion. Even Akamaru was silent, his head cocked to the side, observing the two.
"I still have no idea why Kakashi-sensei made you captain! We've had two total conversations and all you seem to do is talk down to everyone but your teammate, and treat us like we're genin!" Naruto's voice was getting progressively louder. "I think you're the one hiding your poor skills behind an awful attitude." Both Dai and Kiba's eyes widened. The two raging shinobi continued to exchange angry words, but Kiba leaned in towards Dai to whisper:
"She's your sister, right?"
"Not hard to tell, ne?" Dai responded, eyes not leaving the disaster before him. "We are twins, after all!"
"It wasn't that, actually; the two of you kinda smell similar. Definitely different, but same undertones, I guess!"
"Guess your nose is as good as they say!" Kiba puffed up a little after the comment.
"But, um, is she going to stab him after we split up?" The scruffy man was both fascinated and concerned. He couldn't seem to split the two emotions when Soba was involved. She left quite the impression, that one.
"She's not one to physically stab teammates, no, but she could eviscerate him with her words."
"Naruto doesn't really understand big words; he'll probably just get angry and confused."
"Then she's just going to think he's stupid."
"We're pretty screwed."
"We'll complete the mission if they don't argue themselves out of hiding. They have the skills, just not the team mentality. Kiba?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to break this up or should I?" Kiba shook his head 'no' violently and backed away.
"Your fireball of a sister, your intervention!"
"Aroo!" Agreed Akamaru, hiding behind Kiba's chair. Dai sighed. He stood up slowly, put a tan hand on Soba's shoulder and squeezed. The muscles beneath his palm were wound tighter than ever, but he felt them relaxing the longer he held his hand there. Soba stopped yelling almost immediately. Naruto fell silent, too. They both seemed to remember that they were grown adults, fighting in a restaurant.
"I think we should pay for lunch and get ready to head out. We'll work the kinks out as we go." Soba listened to her brother and got up from the table. Naruto crossed his arms and the suggestion of a pout settled on his face.
"Fine."
It was late afternoon, and the team was well into the forests surrounding Konoha. The day could not have been more beautiful for travel. The sun was shining brilliantly in an azure sky, and the air was crisp. They had taken off at a quick pace to gain some ground, but they had slowed noticeably after a few hours. Noticing that his team was slowing, Naruto suggested they stop for a break. Not a soul complained when they found a small clearing in the forest. Akamaru curled up at the foot of an old, gnarled tree, Kiba leaning into his soft fur. Dai sat close enough so that he could pet the giant dog, which had taken a shine to him. All three were relaxing in the tall grass within seconds. Naruto sat on the other side of Kiba, eyeing Soba, who was sitting a good five metres opposite of the three men. She slung both her katanas and her satchel off of her back, placing the katanas on her right side, unobstructed, and the satchel in her lap. Kiba and Dai had continued their previous animated conversation after sitting down, but Naruto decided not to join in. He instead chose to try to make angry eye contact with Soba while pulling blades of grass in what he meant to be a symbolic gesture. She didn't look up once; she was tense and alert, her eyes darting from place to place. The tall brunette broke her own concentration for a minute, reached into her satchel and pulled out four apples and a small round cookie. She tossed an apple at each of her three human companions and the cookie at Akamaru. Dai thanked her, while Kiba and Naruto stared at her before offering a confused 'thank you.'
"We're useless if we're hungry." She said quietly before taking a disproportionately large bite out of a red apple.
Soba's face never softened while they rested; she just looked angry as her attention slowly turned to the sky. Dai and Kiba were still chatting, and Naruto was lying on his back, watching the clouds roll by. His thoughts kept returning to Soba, no matter how hard he tried to focus on the mission. The man couldn't understand why she had so much pent-up anger and why she just wouldn't talk. He had never really met anyone he couldn't befriend before.
The sky had begun to turn gold when Soba stirred. Stretching her long, toned legs, she got up and put her satchel and katanas on her back. The rest of the party followed suit, climbing to their feet slowly. Naruto watched Soba for any sign of emotion but found nothing. The woman's lips were pressed together tightly, eyes focused, one hand fidgeting with a loose thread on her cloak.
"We'll travel until we get to a village, and we can stay there for the night. I have a place in mind where the presence of shinobi late at night won't be the least bit suspicious." Soba stated simply before darting off into the forest. The rest of the team followed, the blurred leaves whizzing by them as they kept up with the green cloak before them. Naruto caught up to her, without much effort, and tried engaging her in conversation.
"So, can you only say a certain number of words every day, or do you just not like talking unless you're yelling?" He began, "I mean, you haven't really even spoken to your teammate since we left!"
"One, I have nothing mission-related to say, and two, he and I talk enough in our lives." Naruto stared at the side of her face; his unruly blonde hair tossed into his eyes with the wind. Her clear green eyes met with his. He looked frustrated while her expression remained blank. "What do you want from me?"`
"You just seem kinda mad or something. I don't know. I guess I'd just like us to be teammates." Naruto offered a sheepish grin, one hand behind his head. Soba's exasperated sigh in response to that was louder than she was intending it to be, but she didn't really need to be apologizing. He was invading her privacy with all these weird psychological analyses.
"I am not mad. I'm focused on the task at hand and have no need for idle chatter. Plus, we're already teammates. We don't really need to be friends to be good at our jobs."
"Wouldn't it be easier if we were, though?"
"Haven't we talked enough already?" Soba's pointed look was enough to get Naruto to give up for the time being. He had already decided that they would be friends, but she was putting up a lot of resistance. Soon, he thought, she'll give in.
Another couple of hours had passed, and the day was long behind them. The midnight sky was inky black and filled with twinkling white stars, but none of the shinobi were keen on staring up and admiring them. They were all tired as they approached the small village where they could stay for the night. The four and Akamaru approached what appeared to be a guesthouse and inquired about rooms; luckily, the place was nearly empty, and the owner happily led them inside despite the late hour. The house was small, and five beds were laid out on the pale wooden floor in a back room, the covers a soft pink. The house smelled warm and homey, which explained why Kiba and Akamaru were asleep moments after they lay themselves down. The remaining members began their nighttime rituals, moving slowly, but deliberately. Dai took off his cloak and vest, crossed the room and hung it up by the entrance. Soba did the same with her cloak and utility belt, taking the opportunity to pull her hair out of a bun. Naruto unzipped his orange and black jacket, tossing it in the direction of the others' outerwear. The jacket fell just short, but he couldn't be bothered to pick it up. Soba stared at the crumpled fabric on the floor, looked at Naruto, looked pointedly back at the fabric and then hung it up. The blonde gave her another sheepish grin as he wriggled under his covers. Soba just scowled. Dai wanted to laugh at their every interaction; Soba was making an extra effort to be stubborn and Naruto, after their earlier confrontation, just wanted to be friends. The older twin slipped under the covers, pulling off his forehead protector before his head hit the pillow. Sometimes, it really felt like he was way more than two minutes older.
"Good night, Naruto. Night, imouto." He mumbled before dozing off.
"Good night, niisan!" After making sure her brother was asleep, Soba took out a brush from her pack and began working the knots out of her hair. She had thought everyone had gone to bed, so Naruto's voice startled her.
"Wait. He's your brother?!"
"You just realized that?" Soba forgot the brush still stuck in her hair and turned to face Naruto. The moonlight cast shadows across his face that exaggerated his features and made his eyes glow a pale blue. The man shrugged. Soba got up, walked over to Dai and gestured to his face, then to hers, and then back to his. "We have the same face, but his is more masculine, obviously. Our eyes and hair are also nearly the same colour-"
"He's just so nice, though! Plus, you look-" Naruto paused to think of an appropriate word, "-pointier."
"…pointier."
"Yeah, I guess!" That hand behind the head gesture, again. The hem of his shirt rode up, and Soba's eyes flicked to the curve of his hip. He had matured a lot since the war. As a shinobi, she thought quickly. As a shinobi. He just happened to be taller and more muscular, which allowed him to do his job better, she told herself.
"I am not pointy! My features are just more angled and - why am I even arguing this with you? Dai is my twin brother and that is that."
"How come he calls you his little sister, then?"
"When we were little, we decided that he was a few minutes older." Soba resumed brushing her hair and turned her attention to the velvety darkness outside.
"Didn't your mom remember which one was born first?" Naruto's questions were innocent, but he was encroaching on territory Soba wasn't keen on exploring with anyone.
"I'm sure she did." With a tone as cold as ice, she ended their conversation. Naruto mumbled a disappointed good night and was soon snoring softly. Soba stood by the window, brushing her hair absentmindedly. It was more of a habit than a necessity by that point, but she held onto her little rituals tightly; whatever control she could maintain in the chaos of this world was precious to her. Putting her brush down, Soba grabbed a rice ball from her satchel and shoved it in her mouth.
Hours later, she decided she could sleep. Though this village was safe, she never knew what was around the corner, and it was better to ensure her team's well being than to get rest. She padded over to her mattress and was asleep in minutes, despite the fact that Kiba and Akamaru were snoring loudly enough to wake the dead.
Note: Comments and constructive criticism are welcome! Thanks for reading :)