'Italic'=Memory
(Italic)=Thought
"Thank you very much Indo," A pink haired woman said with a kind smile on her lips. "Right now Setsuko is out with her father but when she returns I will give her the message."
Indo nodded. "Thank you Sakura, have a good rest of the evening." The girl hopped up on the roof tops and ran off into the night. "So, they actually did leave hmm. Instead of finishing their mission they abandoned it. Stubborn set of children." She sighed out of irritation and thought back to earlier. She slapped her face and shook her head. This had to be one of the most foolish decisions that the Hokage has ever made. It's a death mission before it already started. And he didn't even hesitate when he announced it.
'I assign your team to an "A" ranked mission!'
All he did was grin and smile. If she didn't know him well she would have thought he was joking around. Maybe there was something he seen in those three that she was missing. Whatever it was she wished he would have let her in on in. Cause all she sees are a few bratty children running around calling themselves ninja.
The girl leapt of the roof and made a smooth landing upon the ground, right in front of her house. She stared up at the windows and realized that all the lights were still out, a sign that no one was home. So he was still out there. If any of them, she knew he'd stay behind and get the mission done. Even if it took all night. She turned and leapt into the air where she landed upon the rooftops once more, she needed to find him and fill him in on the arrangements the Hokage has made.
It was becoming later into the evening and the air was beginning to grow cold. Hanzi and Eriya still continued to carry out their mission even though one of their teammates had bailed on them. The two were both exhausted and hungry. One by one Eriya's shadow replicas all disappeared and he collapsed against the ground because of how much chakra he had used up through the entire day.
Hanzi picked up the last piece of trash and fell back against the ground next to Eriya. It wasn't a comfortable surface but he wasn't complaining it was better than standing that's for sure. "Ugh, what a long day I'm soo tired and," His stomach growled loudly, almost matched the sound of a roaring bear. "I'm hungry too!"
"Heh, you said it.." Eriya agreed and stared up at the sky. It was a very clear night, and the moon illuminated the dark town with its effulgent glow. And the stars complimented it. Eriya smiled sadly. He remembered when his sister and that…other guy used to lay in the grass during the evening and just watch the stars all night. It was one of their favorite pass times when they weren't busy training themselves. But now, all that has changed. Once in a while he wished that there was a way he could rewind time. Or maybe if he could have been a little stronger then maybe, there could have been a chance of him stopping that…guy. He his sister and the rest of his family could still be together today. But no, it ended up like this, and he regrets it. "Hey you.."
"Me?" Hanzi asked dumbly as he sat up, blinking twice at the brunet boy.
"What do you think, you and I are the only two here so I can't possibly be talking to anyone else. He said smugly but Hanzi only smiled. "Why did you stay? You and Setsuko were the ones complaining the most about how much this really sucked. Why didn't you take off when she did?"
Hanzi smiled and rolled over on his stomach. "Well because we are a team. And a teammate never leaves another behind." He rolled over on his back and tucked his arms behind his head. "Yea I complained and I wish we can go on better and cooler missions than this but, no way am I just going to quit and leave you."
(So the ding-bat actually thinks after all.)
"Hey Eriya." Hanzi called grabbing the boy's attention by the seriousness in his voice. So far Hanzi has showed that he could be everything bust serious. "What is it?"
Hanzi was a little nervous at first after the last reaction he received when he questioned the boy earlier. "Well..Uhm..Uh…"
"Would you spit it out already?" He said growing irritated from the blonde's stammering.
"How come, how come you said what you said yesterday. You know about being alone and invisible to others."
He scoffed. "I don't feel like talking about-"
"It's because you're a Jinchurki, isn't it?" Hanzi cut in, earning a shocked and surprised expression from the brunet.
So he wasn't dumb after all. Eriya was starting to thing he was underestimating this guy. "If you knew then why were you acting as if you didn't know in class?"
"Because at that time, I didn't know." He explained. "It wasn't until last night that I found out. I over-heard my parents talking about you and my dad mentioned it."
"So now you know. Go on run away scared. I don't care." He said lowering his head. His voice sounded harsh but Hanzi knew that he was only doing it to shut others out since that's what he was used to.
"I know that's not what you want. So no I'm not going to run away scared because I'm not scared. You're just as normal as the rest of us in this town and if no one can see that, then they are just stupid." He brushed his nose with his index finger and smiled.
"You're my teammate Eriya" Hanzi said "And most of all, my friend."
Eriya gasped. Did he just say...the brunet boy sat up and stared blankly at the boy, puzzled and confused.
No one had ever…
No one even attempted…
"It's mine give it back to me!" Eriya shouted as he jumped up and down to get his ball from the boy that was dangling it over his head.
The boy laughed and continued to raise the ball higher and higher every time Eriya got close to it. "You have to jump and get it if you want it." The boy teased.
Flash
"Hey hey Tsuna! You wanna play bad guys and ninjas with me!" Eriya said happily, holding out two headbands to his friend.
"I-I uhm, " The boy smiled weakly and slowly began to back away from the boy like he was diseased or something. "I'm sorry Eriya, my mom and dad said I can't play with you anymore.."
Flash
"Onee-san, why do you hate me, did I do something bad to make you despise me so much?" The boy asked tears pouring endlessly from his eyes."
The girl glared down at the boy and pushed pass him. "I'm not your sister, you're a monster, I have no relation to monsters.."
Flash
"How'd he get accepted…" one of the students murmured to another.
"I don't know, what was Konohamaru-sensei thinking when he allowed him to pass.."
"Just think of the danger that could come to the village knowing that he's a ninja now." Another student said bitterly.
"Yeah, it's already bad enough that the Hokage even allowed him in this village he needs to go back to where he came from so no one has to tip-toe around him anymore!"
Eriya clenched his hand into a fist as tears began to fall from his eyes against his will. All these years of pain and neglect he received from everyone he came in touch with. All the snares and hate filled looks, the whispers. And out of it all, comes this guy. "Your friend..?" He said, it was a little weird using that word since he never had any.
Hanzi nodded. "Yea, of course we may have got off on the wrong foot but I wasn't about to give up on you." He patted the boys back and smiled.
Eriya looked the boy in the eyes and saw nothing but truth there. No deception nothing. Only truth. "Thank you…" He whispered.
The blonde nodded firmly. "So now since we're great friends and all. I wanna show you something!" The boy stood to his feet and held the index and middle finger on his left hand vertically and the index and middle finger of his right hand against them horizontally. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Several copies of Hanzi appeared around them for a few seconds then they disappeared. "Heh, pretty cool huh!"
Eriya's eyebrow twitched several times before tightening his hand into a fist. "So you're telling me all this time you had that technique..?"
"Yea, my dad taught it to me!?" He said proudly.
Eriya raised his fist and connected it with the top of the boys head. "YOU DING-BAT, YOU SHOUL HAVE USED THE JUTSU EARLIER AND WE COULD HAVE BEEN THROUGH WITH OUR MISSON ALREADY!"
"Ouch is that any way to treat a friend!?" Hanzi shouted while rubbing his head.
"Yea a dumb ones!" Eriya retorted.
"Well I wasn't thinking that at the time…" Hanzi whined.
"Well maybe you need to start thinking more!"
Eriya looked up at the sky once more then stood to his feet. "You know we should start heading home. I'm tired and we need to rest up for whatever is in store tomorrow."
"Yea and I'm very hungry, we should find a ramen shop and get something to eat first." Hanzi said rubbing his rumbling stomach. "If I don't eat something soon I'm going to faint."
"Hanzi, I doubt there is any shops open at this hour. You're better off just going home and eating there." He said.
"Or we can all just go to my place and have some Ramen there."
A shadow stood up on the roof of the weapons shop and the boys quickly reached into their pouches and grabbed a few kunai.
"Woah woah woah..calm down it's only me." The figure jumped down from the roof tops and joined the two on the ground.
"Indo-sensei!" Hanzi said in much excitement. Eriya just huffed.
"Come on with me you two, we have some things to discuss."
:::
"Ah this is so delicious!" Hanzi shouted as he scarfed down several bowls of hot ramen. "Mmm sensei this is great!"
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Indo's face as she looked at the many bowls stacked up on the side of the table. Her and Eriya was still on their first but this kid was on his thirteenth. Where did he put it all?
"Alright you two.." Indo started, causing the two boys to look up in her direction. Eriya had placed his chopsticks down on the table to show she had his full attention, while Hanzi continued to pig out. "I spoke with the Hokage this evening and he wants to see the two of you and Setsuko in his office tomorrow morning."
Hanzi had stopped eating right away and Eriya quirked his eyebrow slightly. The two averted their gazes from their sensei and looked at each other. Could they have been in trouble? It was probably because their sorry performance today with their mission and they were going to get scolded
Hanzi swallowed town the rest of the noodles in his mouth and pushed the bowl to the side. He had suddenly lost his appetite. "What's he want to see us for Indo-sensei?" Hanzi asked but the woman just shook her head. "I'm not at liberty to tell you that Hanzi, all I was told to do was to inform you to be at his office in the morning." The two boys wore faces of worry. Hanzi more than Eriya. "We're probably going to get stripped from our rank I bet." The boy held his head down and looked at his hands.
Indo placed a hand on the boy's head and scruffed up his hair a little bit. "Just know that it's nothing like what you're thinking of. I can at least tell you that."
The two boy's sighed with relief. That lifted their spirits much higher now. "Well that's good to know, at least I can relax now." The boy stretched and yawned as he laid his head on the table. "Sensei can I use your bath, so I can clean up?"
Indo nodded and pointed down the hallway. "Bath house is down that way and to the left. Everything you need is already in there." The boy tiredly staggered away and made his way to his destination.
Eriya stood from the table and walked to the woman's side, glaring dangerously at her. The woman giggled and turned her head as she continued to wash the dishes. "Must you stare at me like that?"
"You can cut the act now it's only us, now start answering questions. Why are you our sensei?" he said angrily.
"Because the Hokage asked me too." She stated simply and walked out the kitchen. Eriya followed behind her and into the living room area. "So why didn't you deny it?"
"I did." She plopped down on the couch and closed her eyes. "I was pulled from my original mission and made to instruct your group, by the orders of the Hokage." She explained. "Your original instructor was supposed to be Shikamaru Nara but he's in the infirmary. Satisfied you have your explanation.
"No!" He folded his arms and looked away, much like he had done earlier that day. "Another thing, why are you wearing those ridiculous bandages over your face!?"
"Because it's the code of the for my ninja rank Eriya. Only the Hokage are allowed to know our identities." She explained.
"Uh-huh, so tell me, what does the Hokage want to see us for? If we aren't in trouble, then what is it?"
"I told you already," She stood up and walked towards the window, pulling open the curtain to peek outside of them. "I can't give you that information. You'll find out tomorrow. But what you need to do is get some rest. You're going to need it."
"Grr…fine! I'm going to bed, since you wanna go all secretive on me." He stormed out of the living room and straight to his own room, slamming his door behind him.
Indo laid back on the couch and closed her eye. She would have told him but she's not too excited about the whole idea. Eriya would have been but she couldn't stand to look at him be over excited about it because all she envisioned was him and his other two team members laid out on the ground with blood everywhere. She could only hope that the Hokage would change his mind by the morning. But she knew the chances of that happening were slim to zero.
:::
The three stood lined up in front of the desk where the Hokage would be sitting and Indo stood beside them. Hanzi was sweating and nervously looking around even though their sensei told them the night before it wasn't anything about them being in trouble. But he didn't know what to believe.
Eriya was blowing smoke from the top of his head while sending dark glares at Indo trying to pull her attention. Indo felt a pair of eyes on her and looked the boy's way. She only smiled and waved, angering the boy even further. He huffed and turned his eyes to the Uchiha girl next to him. She calmly stood with her eyes closed and arms behind her back. Eriya scuffed, remembering him and the girl's almost fight until Indo ruined it. He wanted to go against her since no one else dared to. Just to see what the hype was all about.
"You have a staring problem?" Setsuko spoke up as she opened her eyes and glanced in Eriya's direction.
Eriya laughed lightly. "What makes you think I was staring at you? I could have been just observing Hanzi's nervousness. Shows how into yourself you are."
"What did you say!?" The girl growled, stepping out of line and walking towards the brunet.
"Setsuko, get back in your place, and Eriya keep your comments to yourself." Indo said sternly staring at the two bickering." this is the Hokage's office, have you two no respect?"
The two stepped back and just stared at one another. Eriya wanted so badly just to fight that arrogant girl and knock her off that high pedestal she puts herself on, but he just kept his cool for now, he knew he'd get the chance to soon.
On the right, the door was pushed open and in walked a male wearing a long white and red robe. The male walked behind his desk and took a seat. All three students along with Indo bowed in his presence. The Hokage nodded and the three raised their heads. None of them, besides Indo and Hanzi has seen the Hokage's face before so his true appearance were still shrouded in mystery to them. Indo gulped quietly and started fiddling with the zipper on the front of her jacket.
The Hokage cleared his throat and began to speak. "Good morning you three. It's nice to finally see the ones I have not seen since the first time you entered the academy." He said getting familiar with the faces in front of him. "So I bet you're wondering why I've summoned the three of you here today." His face grew serious and so did the three Genin. Indo was trying her best to keep her composure.
"Well it's been bought to my attention that the three of you seek something more intense and challenging for yourselves." His eyes looked down at the three Genin as their faces changed to perplexity. What was he up to? "I understand how the three of you feel since I was the absolute same when I was in your position. I wanted something that would challenge my abilities. Something that would make me want to look forward to becoming a better ninja. And doing the Genin level missions just weren't cutting it for me. So, since my Hokage gave me a chance, I'm going to do the same for you three." The Hokage took out a scroll and laid it across the table and motioned for the three to come closer. The Genin walked towards the desk and peered down at the scroll. Their eyes lit up with joy and excitement as they seen the large letter in the top right hand corner of the scroll along with the contents of what they would be doing. "Now now you three, this is a very serious mission. This mission requires you to return this little girl," he pointed to the girl's picture on the scroll. Back to Sunagakure in the land of wind."
The three looked at the girl's photo. She hand long auburn hair and bangs that hung over her right eye. Light green eyes and dark black rings around the outer eyes. She also had pale skin and wore a slight smile in the photo. The three nodded and looked up at the Hokage. The girl didn't look like trouble at all, the mission would be a piece of cake.
"She came from Suna to see her grandfather, he's very sick and since that village did not have good enough medics to treat the old man over there, he was bought here to receive treatment from ours." He explained. "But the reason that this mission is so important is because that little girl is the daughter of the Kazekage and right now, Suna are on not so friendly terms with Iwaga in the Land of Earth. By orders of the Tsuchikage, ninja were sent out to kidnap the girl. The ninja of this village are very skilled and fast. They also are very brutal, which is why this mission must have your full focus. The Kazekage is also a very close friend of mine."
The three nodded in unison showing that they were all ready to take on the mission and protect the girl by all means necessary."
"Very well, you all approximately have a week until the girl's departure. Plenty of time for you guys to be prepared and ready." The three nodded and the Hokage dismissed them. Indo looked over her shoulder and the Hokage just gave her a thumbs up. She sighed deeply and shook her head as she walked out the door. She was going to have to really train these three before they left on this mission. If she didn't, then this mission was going to be a complete failure.
"Alright our first real mission haha!" Hanzi celebrated along with Eriya. The two danced around with glee while Setuko just watched them like they were complete idiots.
"Aren't you excited Setsuko I'm sure were the first and only group of Genin to receive an "A" ranked mission! You have to be excited about that!" Hanzi exclaimed.
"Tsk.." The girl just rolled her eyes and walked ahead of the two babbling idiots, her teammates. It was exciting to know that they received such a high ranked mission but it wasn't that exciting to the point she wanted to dance around and do cart-wheels. This was serious like the Hokage had said and it required their full attention.
"Alright you three." Indo said grabbing the attention of all three of them. They turned around and faced the bandaged woman. "This mission is very serious. But I'm not sure you guys are aware of just how serious this is. So let me break it down to you like this; assassins, the use of genjutsu to fool you, ninja that are higher in rank than you are. Nothing Genin like you is prepared for." Indo explained to the three. "So I'll expose you to it all myself, which means instead of training you on a genin level I'll have to push the three of you to the level of Jonin. We have approximately one week until the mission. Meet me in three hours at the third training ground. Don't be late!" she ordered before disappearing into the air, leaving behind a whirlwind full of cherry blossom petals.
"Alright!" Hanzi shouted as he performed a back flip in the air. His two teammates blinked at him and tilted their heads. The boy could be a real pain in the ass at times. "Jonin leveled Genin! We're probably the only ones!" He said thrusting his fist through the air and performing a somersault.
"You're such an idiot! Can you be serious for a minute, instead of celebrating you should be eager to train yourself or gain information. You heard what the Hokage said!" Setsuko yelled out of irritation.
"I am eager!" He smiled "well I'll see you guys later on tonight. Bye!" He sprinted off into town leaving his two teammates in the dust.
:::
"She's late again!" Setsuko said, impatiently as she looked around the training ground. There was no one in sight just her and her two teammates.
"Just be patient Setsuko, she'll be here she's preparing something big!" Hanzi said as he looked over at Eriya who seemed to be disturbed by something in the air. "Hey, you alright over there?"
Eriya stood very still as his eyes moved from left to right. Something was definitely afoot. His eyes averted from the skies and over towards Setsuko who appeared to be picking up the same vibe. "Are you sensing it too?"
Setsuko nodded and pointed up at the sky. "Yeah.." Eriya and Hanzi both gazed up at the sky as the clouds above them started greying over until the eventually turned black. The wind started picking up and it soon started to rain. Soon a loud scream from the forest sounded, frightening all three Genin "What was.."
The three swiftly turned around when the trees began stirring. The three stood in a line holding either a shiruken or a kunai knife at ready for whoever it was to pop out from the woods. The bushes swished several times again before a figured leapt into the air at the speed of light.
"Setsuko above you!" Eriya shouted out but the girl was already on it. She tossed two shiruken up at the figure but it missed.
The figure came back down with a loud crash, making a large mushroom cloud of smoke around the three Genin. When the smoke and dust cleared up all that was present was a deep creator in the ground.
"Where, where'd they go?"
The three looked around cautiously for their opponent but there was no sign of him. The air was once again quiet but there was still a disturbance there that they were not too comfortable about. The ground shook violently beneath their feet. They tried to keep their balance but with the tremors so terrible, doing so was nearly impossible.
Soon the surface began to crumble and crack away. The Genin stood in a battle ready stance prepared for whatever it was that they would have to fight, though what they saw wasn't what they had expected. Emerging from the ground was an entire army of the unknown ninja, and they were coming at the three ninja at a fast pace.
They threw a combination of shiruken and kunai at the oncoming army which made Hanzi realize that the unknown ninja was using the Shadow Clone technique. But unlike his, when the clones were hit they turned into dirt but reformed themselves and came back as two. "Guys this isn't looking good at all they multiply…" Hanzi stated.
"Hmm.." Eriya narrowed his eyes as he began studying his surroundings. An army of shadow clones that multiply after they were destroyed. There was no doubt that the real guy was amongst the clones somewhere but they had to get rid of the clones first. There had to be a way to do that only question was how. He placed his thumb under his chin and stared down at the ground. He could always use his shadow technique but all the cloud cover made it impossible. The longest it would last is thirty seconds. He looked over at a frantic Hanzi then at Setsuko who also appeared to be in deep thought as well, if only he knew what she was thinking about.
"You come up with anything yet?" She said dryly as she turned her head in the boy's direction. "Look, we have different views of each other but right now I could care less about that, we have to put our heads together if we want to get rid of this guy."
Eriya nodded his head in agreement. "Sure, alright I was thinking I could use my shadow bind technique to hold these guys in place but it'll only last for thirty seconds due to all the cloud cover. While I'm doing that, Hanzi can use his shadow clone technique to throw shiruken at the clones. They'll disintegrate for a few seconds then come back but it'll give us time to find the real one!"
The Uchiha nodded and took in everything the boy was saying. "Thirty seconds is all you'll need. I'll take care of the real one after you and Hanzi take out the clones."
"What are you going to do?"
"You'll see, just tell Hanzi."
"Prepare to clone yourself Hanzi." Eriya said as he walked towards the other and stepped behind him. He quickly explained the plan to the blond who took a few seconds to process it before shouting "okay" out loud. Eriya closed his eyes and held up his index and middle finger on his left and right hand and crossed them over one another. When the flow of chakra was even throughout his body, Eriya opened his eyes and performed a combination of hand seals, the last one being Ne. "Ninja Art: Shadow Bind Jutsu." The boy said aloud. His shadow, though not very visible stretched across the crumbled ground and laced around the extremities of the ninja's clone army. "Alright Hanzi."
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Several copies of Hanzi appeared from puffs of smoke and all at once threw a barrage of shiruken at the army, causing them all to disintegrate into mud, leaving the real one standing.
Just as the clones were about to reform, Setsuko performed the hand seal of Uma, Mi, Tora, Saru then took in a deep breath as she launched herself into the air. "Fire Style: Fireball Justsu." She placed her index finger and thumb to her lips and blew which released a orb of flames that collided with the unknown ninja's body.
Setsuko landed back to the ground and ran to her teammate's side. "We did it!" She shouted as Eriya slapped the Uchiha girl a high five. "Yes!"
"Uhm guys…" Hanzi said awkwardly. "I don't think we should celebrate just yet.."
Eriya and Setsuko turned around to see the unknown ninja standing a few meters away from them. He was unscathed, not a cut or bruise on him. The man smirked and slowly closed his eyes as he mumbled something to himself before eyeing the three Genin. "Earth Style," He started
(This makes no sense…) Eriya began to think as he looked from side to side at both his comrades in hopes that they had something to counter what this man was about to do. (How is he still alive? Setsuko's fire technique should have killed him for sure. Yet he appears unharmed.)
"You'd think that someone from the village would have shown up by now." Hanzi stated as he prepared another set of Shadow Clones for the battle. Setsuko reached into the pouch on her left leg for a kunai knife.
Eriya pulled his sword from over his shoulder and held it out in front of him with both hands on the hilt. (That is true, shouldn't someone have noticed by now?) This was going to be a long hard battle, so instead of wasting all of his chakra early on, he'd use his own physical strength. He positioned his feet then quickly dashed at the unknown ninja while swinging his blade at him but the weapon did no damage. Instead it went right through the ninja. (No way!)
The ninja grabbed the boy's leg and tossed the boy across the field. (So that's it. All of this is nothing but an illusion!) Eriya flew back but he quickly caught himself in the air and made a soft landing upon the surface.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Another set of Hanzi's Clones appeared and raced towards the ninja while Setsuko attempted to attack the ninja as well.
(Someone's using Genjutsu on us. But who..?) He looked around. (Right not like I'm going to find them, I can't even sense their- Ah!) He quickly rushed over into the woodsy area and climbed up into the tallest tree where he found the one responsible. (Got you! Ninja Art: Shadow Bind Jutsu) His shadow quickly wrapped around the attackers body, catching them off guard.
"What the!?"
"Got you now, Sensei!" He said with a smug grin on his face.
"Release!" Upon him saying this, the ninja as well as the dark eerie surrounding started disappearing from around them and before they knew it, everything was back to normal. All three of them stood in the middle of the training ground. Worn out and tired.
Eriya released his jutsu from around Indo then plopped down on the ground. "Clever…one..there Indo-sensei.."
She chuckled to herself. "Took you long enough to figure it out.
Setsuko was shocked and somewhat jealous that she didn't figure it out first. She huffed and turned away from her comrades, ashamed. Hanzi was just glad the ordeal was over.
"When my sword went right through him it all became clear."
She stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "Well that was part one of you guys training. You all did an okay job but not good enough. When on a mission, you have to be able to recognize when Genjutsu is being used right away. If not, well you'll be stuck in a battle like you were before and that can jeopardize your mission. There are three ways to combat Genjutsu one is for the ninja to stop the flow of chakra in their body, and then apply an even stronger power to interrupt the flow of the user's chakra. The second option is to get a ninja not under the influence of the Genjutsu make body contact, and use their chakra to interrupt the users chakra flow. Lastly is to simply release the Genjutsu like Eriya did. But not all Genjutsu can be released which means you would have to find the Genjutsu user and cut off his chakra flow to stop it."
"So how will we know when we're under the influence of Genjutsu Indo-sensei?" Hanzi asked.
"Only you will know that Hanzi. If you're able to identify reality from illusion then it'll be no issue for you. And that's another thing. This type of Jutsu can screw with your mind and drive you close or into insanity depending on what type of illusion the caster decides to use. So be weary…" She said to the three Genin in a serious tone. "But there is much more to all of your training than this which is why I stress so badly for you all to take this seriously. You all have had enough for one day. Go home and get so rest and meet me back here tomorrow afternoon."
:::
"Man I'm hungry!"
"Hanzi you're always hungry, name one time since we've teamed up that you haven't' thought about your stomach."
"Hey I'm a growing boy what do you expect? Besides that long training session worked up an appetite. Hey a ramen shop!" He ran and sat up on one of the stools."
Eriya sighed. (Doesn't this guy eat anything else besides Ramen?) "And exactly how are you going to pay for it Hanzi?"
"No worries!" He reached down in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "I got some ryo right- WHAAA!" He looked through every pouch and found nothing but dust. "B-b-b-but I just had some in here earlier today!"
"Might I remind you that before we went training, you spent all your ryo on seven bowls of beef ramen and ten bowls of shrimp ramen." Eriya stated as he joined the boy at the counter. "One bowl of chicken vegetable ramen please!"
"Because they were having a special! All ramen was 100 ryo!"
The cook placed Eriya's bowl down in front of him.
"Thankyou." He said and began to eat right away. "So you decided to splurge?"
Hanzi's stomach growled. "I know I shouldn't have but I couldn't help myself! Oh please Eriya can you just buy me one bowl? I'll pay you back I promise!"
"Hmm.." He picked up some of the noodles with the chopsticks and bought it to his mouth. It was the least he could do after the boy accepted him for what he was. And for that He'd always be grateful to him, even if he was a ding-bat at times. "One bowl Hanzi, that's it."
"Ah thank you so much Eriya, you're the best!"
"Yea, yea."
The blonde put his ramen order in then looked over at his other comrade, Setsuko. He smiled and slid off the stool and walked toward the Uchiha girl who was leaning against a piece of cinderblock across from the ramen shop. Maybe he and her could go for a little walk through the village and talk. Try to get to know one another better. He swallowed hard. The very thought of being alone with the Uchiha girl just made him blush. "H-hey there Setsuko.." He said nervously "I was wondering since we have nothing to do for the rest of the day that maybe you and I could-"
Everything the blonde boy was saying didn't even reach the girl. She didn't seem to acknowledge his presence. Her mind was elsewhere. (Why didn't I realize it the minute the whole occurrence started? The whole thing was blatantly obvious yet I failed to see through the deception.) She looked over at the shop where Eriya was sitting, enjoying his ramen. (But he did. I can't believe I allowed myself to be outdone by him! Well I won't allow it to happen again, never!)
"Only if you want to alright, those were just a few ideas." He scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly. "But you don't have to if you don't want to."
"Huh…?" She said finally recognizing that the boy was standing there to begin with. "Oh Hanzi, what do you want?"
"Ah!" He frowned and slumped over. "Did you-did you hear anything I said to you?" He asked sadly.
"No, I didn't know you were standing there until now.." She said non-chalantly crushing the boy's heart as she walked passed him.
"Oh..right. Heh thanks for sparing my feelings." He mumbled to himself. "Where are you going!?"
"None of your business!" She said then ran off somewhere in the leaf village.
"Heh.." He pulled himself up in the stool next to Eriya and began eating his ramen. "girls.."
"Which is why I don't involve myself with them. Don't have time for that type of thing right now. It's a waste of time."
"So you don't like girls Eriya!"
"I never said that. I just don't want to get caught up in that type of thing right now, it's too early for all of that. I have other things to worry about besides love." He explained to the boy.
"But love is what pushes people. Without what little love we have today, the world would be chaotic. Love, or just caring for someone or something pushes you and make you want to get better. So you can protect that someone or something, y'know. Everyone has someone or something they want to protect. Even if it's not now they will eventually."
What the blonde was saying made a lot of sense to him in a way. But it wasn't the love of someone that was pushing him to want to become a stronger ninja, for him it was hatred, hatred towards a certain someone. He did have one person he wanted to protect but that person was fully capable of protecting themselves even in the toughest situations. So love had nothing to do with what he was striding for. "You make a brilliant explanation Hanzi but it's not always love that pushes people to do certain things. There are three things in this world that can push someone and they are love, hatred, and revenge." He said as he slid off the stool.
"Then out of those three which one pushes you?"
Eriya chuckled softly. "I'll see you tomorrow Hanzi." He said as he walked of leaving the blonde boy with that thought.