Last time: Sasuke accidentally makes Soba into a bar wench.
"And you cut me, so we're even. Plus, that getup should help you alleviate some of the tension we talked about earlier." Sasuke gestured surreptitiously at the confused Naruto next to him. Soba launched herself at the black-haired man, fist-first.
"Wait, what were you talking about earlier?! WHAT IS HAPPENING? SASUKE, WHY IS SHE PUNCHING YOU?" The blonde reached into the scrum of two bodies and pulled the Uchiha out, shaking him threateningly.
"Absolutely identical." Soba could have sworn she saw the amused twinkle flash in Sasuke's eyes for the briefest of moments. She stood, rooted the spot, panting from the exertion of trying to stop Sasuke's breathing. "You should ask her about it." He replied to Naruto's yelled question.
"Identical to what? Dobe, what the hell are you talking about?" The black-haired man pulled his collar from the blonde's grip and straightened out his long-sleeved shirt.
"Easy, usuratonkachi, I like this shirt."
"Could we maybe go someplace where I can get some more bandages?" Soba cut through the tense glances the two friends were exchanging. She gestured to the bandages on her chest that were already soaked through. "Hm?"
"I didn't do anything. Ask her about it." With a nod to Soba, Sasuke leapt off.
"He really knows how to make an overly dramatic exit, doesn't he?" The kunoichi mused out loud.
"He's a moron. Are you okay to walk? You're bleeding...a lot."
"Yeah, I'm fine." She turned her head to wince so he couldn't see it. "I also need a shirt pretty badly. At this rate, I'll graduate from bar wench to village wench." Naruto laughed, taking off his zip-up jacket for her. "I might stain it, though-"
"Don't worry about it." Flashing her a disarming smile that crinkled his eyes, he led the way back into town.
The medic-nin that ended up treating her was Naruto's old teammate and friend, Sakura. A pink-haired woman with a spitfire personality, Sakura was Soba's favourite type of person. As it turns out, the two kunoichi had a lot in common, so they chatted animatedly while Naruto oozed down the wall and flopped into a sitting position. He wasn't expecting a quick trip to the clinic to end up with him being witness to the world's fastest friendship formation. He also didn't like that someone was taking Soba's attention from him, as much as he hated to admit it to himself. Sakura had gotten Soba's bleeding under control in a flash, and giggled when the still-underdressed kunoichi explained how she ended up missing most of her shirt from a swordfight. The pink-haired jounin visibly flushed at the mention of Sasuke's name, but said nothing.
"Here, have a few spare bandages," Sakura smiled warmly at Soba, pressing a white roll into her palm, "You're probably going to need to replace those tomorrow."
"Thank you!" Soba instinctively threw Naruto's jacket over her scrap of a shirt, scooping up her katanas with her right hand. "Any idea where I can get a decent shirt in Konoha? This one was my favourite, but it's not really going to do me much good anymore. Plus, the colour of Naruto's jacket doesn't really help with the intimidation factor." The other kunoichi laughed and gave her directions to a store she was fond of, hinting that she may want to leave Naruto behind if she wanted to get some quality shopping in.
"Hey, I can go shopping! It's just a shirt, right?" After a moment of silence and a shared look of understanding, the two women guffawed raucously at Naruto's statement.
"Naruto-kun, do you want to step outside for a moment?" Sakura suggested.
"Why?"
"JUST GO OUTSIDE!" Switching gears from delicate to impatient rage-monster, the medic-nin firecracker exploded on the blonde. Naruto withdrew into his white t-shirt and sulked all the way out the door, hoping to elicit some pity from the brunette.
"I'm not going to have to strip or anything now, am I?" Soba chuckled at Sakura's frantic head-shaking.
"No, I just wanted to talk to you about Naruto."
"What about?"
"Well, rumor has it that the two of you have been spending an awful lot of time together-"
"Rumors already?!"
"Oh, definitely. If you're here for longer than 20 minutes, we'll take notice. Shinobi have paid particular attention to you because you were spotted wearing his shirt, and then walking back to his apartment often...let's just say that people's imaginations have been busy." Soba buried her face in her hands, groaning softly.
"That's really not what I wanted." The brunette looked imploringly into the pale green eyes looking at her.
"Ah, nobody wants rumors, but if you're going to get involved with that charming idiot, you should expect them. Everyone is going to want to know everything about you and they're going to want to make sure that you're good enough. Don't worry, though! Once you head back to your own village, it's Naruto that's going to get drowned in questions." Sakura grinned devilishly, then paused. "I wanted to give you a heads-up, woman to woman, you know?"
"I appreciate it, but I'm going to be paranoid from here on out." Mind reeling, Soba wondered whether she really was good enough for him. The silence drew out longer than she expected once her mind started spiraling in on itself.
"He seems to think you're good enough, if that's what you're wondering." The emerald eyes snapped out of their brief reverie. "If you're anything like me, that's what I would be thinking."
"I-"
"He never looked at me like he looks at you." The pink haired woman offered Soba a grin that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Naruto was talking to her as they left Sakura, but Soba didn't hear a word he said. She was trying to make sense of what had just happened.
"Can I ask you something?" The kunoichi said, turning towards Naruto, a little hesitant.
"Yeah! What?"
"Were you and Sakura ever together? I mean, if you don't want to answer, that's fine, I was just wondering because-" She broke off when she saw Naruto nodding in the affirmative.
"I had a crush on her for pretty much my whole childhood," Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning, "-and she finally agreed to date me, but we really didn't work well together. I think she thought it'd get her over Sasuke, but...well." The blonde shrugged, his cheeks still displaying that grin. Soba admired how he let anything just roll off of his back; she was the living, breathing embodiment of 'taking everything to heart.'
"Huh."
"Could you tell from us being together? I didn't think we ever got awkward, or anything..."
"Oh, no, no, it was just something she said-"
"After kicking me out of the room?"
"Yeah," Soba chuckled. "You made very convincing puppy dog eyes!" Soba could tell that Naruto really wanted to know what Sakura had said about him, but he wasn't sure if it he should ask. She could see the mental strain etched across his face. "It was nothing, really, just a passing comment that made me wonder! Don't think about it too hard!" It was obvious that the blonde's inquisitive side wasn't quite satisfied, but he did his best to look the part.
"Okay! So, um, should we get you some clothes before we run into Kakashi-sensei and he-" Naruto's jaw dropped abruptly after spotting a certain tell-tale mess of silver hair behind a building. He had been making a joke about running into him, but lo and behold... "Kakashi-sensei." The man strolled out from behind the building casually, as though he had just merely been inspecting the wall's brickwork.
"Oh, Naruto! I wasn't expecting to find you here!"
"I live here, sensei." The older man looked up at the building.
"Not here, you don't."
"I mean, in Konoha."
"Maa, I know that. I'm not senile, just-" An out-of-breath Iruka skidded up behind the Hokage, a murderous scowl consuming his normally relaxed features.
"-approaching middle age. Kakashi, do you know how hard you are to keep up with? You have a meeting in five minutes!" Naruto knew that tone of voice well, and when it was combined with the teacher stance, the brown-haired man was not to be messed with. Iruka put his hands, balled into fists, onto his hips and shifted his weight to one leg irritably. Naruto giggled in the manliest way he knew how. Kakashi slouched more deeply and winced, leaning away from his friend as though that would assuage his anger.
"Iruuuka, I was just taking a stroll to think." Iruka was having none of it.
"Hokage-sama-" Soba began.
"None of that. You can address me like Naruto does." Kakashi's eye curved as he smiled. Soba nodded.
"Kakashi-sensei, before you go, may I ask you a question?"
"If we're to be technical, you just did!" The hokage laughed at his own joke, earning a reproving glare from Iruka and an impressive eye roll from his former charge. "Okay, no, go ahead."
"You mentioned something called Icha Icha a few days ago, and Naruto won't tell me what it is. What is it?" The silver-haired man became what one could only describe as enraptured. Naruto looked like he was about to vomit, and Iruka's eyes widened noticeably, as though he was extraordinarily curious about what was going to follow.
"Oh, Soba-chan." His lanky arm wrapped around her narrow shoulders and pulled her to his side. "I must educate you in the ways of Icha Icha!" Iruka and Naruto looked scandalized. "No, not like that, you two. Please. Anyway, Soba-chan, you have missed out on such an influential piece of literature! Ah, what do they teach in the schools these days?!"
"Not porn, that's what." Trust the former Academy sensei to interject dryly.
"Shush, Iruka, we have work to do."
"You do, Hokage-sama, you do. MEETINGS. REMEMBER?"
"I do vaguely recall something about a meeting. Hm!" Several hand seals later, and both Kakashi and Soba were gone in a poof of smoke. Naruto had whipped his head from left to right so quickly that he had jangled his brain, and Iruka just looked unimpressed.
"I feel like I live my life in hurricane Kakashi's wake," The brunette muttered. "Bye, Naruto!" Iruka was off, leaving the blonde alone in the middle of the road.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MY LIFE?!" He yelled, taking off towards the Hokage tower.
"Hok-"
"Try again!"
"Kakashi-sensei, I am really inappropriately dressed to be anywhere near visiting dignitaries." Soba's arms were crossed over her chest, the orange jumpsuit sagging and wrinkled on her lean frame.
"Come to think of it, why are you wearing Naruto's sweater? Did you forget to bring clothes?"
"No, but I had a...mishap in training with Sasuke and haven't had the time to go change just yet, or buy a new shirt for exercising in."
"Ah. I thought you had perhaps slept over at Naruto's again." The kunoichi went sheet-white. "Ha! I'm just kidding. Or am I..." The last sentence was muttered conspiratorially under his breath. Soba looked out the window of the Hokage tower at the village below to hide the burning in her cheeks.
"I don't really mean to bother you, but why exactly am I here?" The brunette fidgeted, feeling unprepared for whatever it was that was coming. She had her katanas, yes, but she also looked like a sweaty street urchin with a bloodied bandage beneath her chin.
"I guess I forgot that part!" Kakashi did an awful lot of smiling, it seemed. "I was going to go to this likely-useless meeting, and then tell you all about Icha Icha."
"Could I not have just come see you after your meeting?"
"Maaa, yes, I suppose." The man put one long finger to where Soba presumed his mouth was, and tapped it gently against the fabric of the mask. "You do have a point. Come, let's begin your education while Naruto and Iruka catch up." Kakashi whipped a small orange book out of his pocket and placed it on the desk in front of him.
"Is this it?"
"It is. Prepare yourself for a revelatory experience! This is the first issue, but I have all of them. Multiple copies, of course." Soba picked up the volume and brushed her hand over the cover before opening to the first page.
"Thank you!" She bowed quickly. "I'll go sit outside and read. I'd rather not be in the way of your important conversations."
"They're not important; it's politics." The man chuckled, sitting down behind his desk. "Enjoy!" Soba waved and hopped out to the rooftop. At that moment, two high-velocity shinobi flew in through the opposite window. "Weren't you the one that told me that respectable shinobi enter through doors when they're not on missions, Iruka?" The look he got in response was enough. Naruto looked around the office.
"Where did Soba go?"
"To read outside." Kakashi waved his hand in the general direction of the window while focusing most of his attention on the open scroll before him.
"Oh, you're going to pervert her..." The blonde whined, jumping out to look for the kunoichi.
"Pervert? Kids these days have no appreciation for literature."
"I have no idea why I put up with you." Iruka re-tied his ponytail to look presentable and stalked out to get the waiting dignitary.
Thanks for reading! Comments are always welcome and appreciated :)