Facedown with the L.A curbside endings
And my ones and Zeroes
Downtown was a perfect place to hide
The first star that I saw last night
Was a headlight, of a man-made sky
But-Man made never made our dreams come alive
Last week saw me living for nothing but deadlines
With my dead-beat sky
But-this town doesn't look the same tonight
These dreams started singing to me
Out of nowhere and in all my life I
Don't know that I've Ever felt so alive, alive.
Konoha was almost the exact opposite of dark and dreary Yorugakure. It was large, it was prosperous, and its people were happy. The three teens couldn't walk a block without seeing a handful of happy and cheery kids running about. The sights and the smells were enough to drive Sato mad-the ramen, the various shops, the vibrant colors. Things here seemed so much more peaceful, and Sato felt more at home than she did even in her own house.
As they headed into the busier part of town, Sato started to attract more and more stares from the people out enjoying the beautiful day. She didn't care-let them look. She was happy, and she was feeling free.
It was only when she started to skip that Shinri told her to put a lid on it.
"Oh, quit being such a sour puss, Snake-charmer!" The young Tasogare laughed. She paused, and realized how long it had been since she had laughed out of real and genuine mirth.
Makuro must have noticed it as well, because he swung around from his position in the front and stared curiously at her, "That's the first non-derisive laugh I've heard you emit since…well, before all this started."
"Someone call the news media." Shinri muttered.
Sato ignored the snake-ninja. She felt really and truly alive…
"I want ramen!" The girl said suddenly, swerving to the right towards a ramen shop.
"Sure, have all the ramen you want-AFTER we go to the Hokage's office and get our escorts!" Makuro lashed out with his linens, and they wrapped themselves around Sato's arm, yanking her back to the other side of the street.
Sato could only pout for about two minutes. She was then distracted by some high flying kites, a dog, and then an ice cream stand.
"It's like watching a two year old." Shinri shot Makuro a withering glare.
"At least she's happy." Makuro defended her, "After what happened in that forest…"
"Yeah, I suppose." Shinri jammed his hands in his pockets. They crossed the street to pull Sato away from the ice cream parlor, and continued on their way, "No one could have seen that coming."
"You did." Makuro said meaningfully.
"Sure, but not in time." Shinri bared his teeth, "As much as I dislike Satora, I wouldn't wish Itachi on her."
"Still, you seemed to be able to handle him fairly well."
"Depends on how you were watching that little confrontation." Shinri chuckled, "I knew I had to head them off and say something-Sato get out of there-or else they might have killed her. Or me."
"Itachi and Kisame are smarter than that. They know the leader wants Sato alive."
"Hush…" Shinri put a finger to his mouth, eyes darting back and forth, "Don't talk about that here."
The two boys finally roped Sato in, and they came to the ninja academy. Classes were out because of the chunin exam, but the Hokage's office and living quarters were adjacent to the school.
"Looks a lot better than what we went to, eh boys?" Sato said, craning her neck back to take the entire thing in.
Makuro chuckled softly, "We should have gone to school here, we didn't even have a building."
"You two would have gone here if it hadn't been for me, I'm willing to bet." Sato said rather grudgingly, "I heard that before Suna went all crazy with their new Kazekage, Konoha allowed a few kids from there to be exchange students. Of course I couldn't have come since I was still technically a secret."
"Those were the days." Shinri muttered under his breath.
"What was that, snake-charmer?" Sato asked sweetly. She was still sore from her sound thrashing earlier the same day.
"Hmm..." Kuro said, and the three of them went in.