The First Drop of Rain
A/N: This chapter was initially supposed to include more but I think I rather like the idea of keeping chapters short (mostly because the first chapter was only just over 1,100 words) but it's been a trend that each update has been getting a bit longer so I'd like to keep it going and eventually we can get to longer chapters. I got a couple more submissions for characters, both of which I ended making into partners and get this, they are from the Land of Snow so that lets you know that you can get really creative with your characters. Now I think that's enough rambling from me so I'll leave you to read this chapter.
Disclaimer: The Naruto manga belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, the anime belongs to Viz Media, and the characters that appear in each media belong to their respective owners. The OCs featured in this story are mine except for those submitted by readers and credit will be provided to the creators in each chapter that their respective character premiers in.
Chapter 2: Things Get Heated
A small elderly woman stirred the spices in her oversized pot the same way she had done thousands of times throughout her life as a chef. Her aging body was showing small signs of fatigue but the raging fire inside of her would never let that outdo her. A trickle of sweat ran down her nose, making her round circular glasses slide down slightly so she stopped the stirring to wipe her face with a rag and adjust her lenses.
"You okay, ma?" asked a young brunet as he passed by holding several plates.
"Yes, it's just that this used to be so much less taxing."
"You ever think of retiring? Ow!" He had to rub his head where his mother smacked him with an unused ladle.
"Of course not, you fool! You've still got more to learn before I can pass this shop down to you. Say, where's Ranmaru?"
"He went into town to buy some bread. We're starting to run low. Ow!"
"You let him go all by himself?! You're a grown man and you send a boy to bring a sack of bread the same size as him?!"
"Relax, ma. He wanted to go and besides, you really think anyone would be able to harm him?"
"He's special but he shouldn't be going off on his own. I hope he's alright."
"He'll be fine." The brunet quickly ducked under his mother's swipe and laughed at her. "Missed me that time." Feeling accomplished, he let his guard down for her to hit him again. "Ow! Stop that!" Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the front door sliding open. To that, the young man said, "See, that's probably him."
When he stepped out of the kitchen, he found that he was wrong. Instead of the violet-haired boy, three strangers had stepped into the shop, all of which were Amegakure shinobi.
"Welcome!" he greeted. "Would you all like to have a seat?"
Takimaru nodded with a gracious smile on his face as he sat down at the table and Kimiko and Kenji quickly followed. Kenji slid his arm through his strap and placed his sheathed sword on the ground next to him so that he could eat.
"What would you three like to eat?"
"Just a simple bowl of curry," the girl said politely.
"Two," Kenji added.
"Make mine extra spicy, please."
"Coming right up!" The young man disappeared into the kitchen to tell his mother their orders.
The three Ame-nin were quiet until Kimiko asked her brunet teammate, "So all of that enthusiasm before was for a curry shop?"
"Not just any curry shop! This place is said to have the spiciest curry ever."
"Hopefully you'll burn your tongue off," she said. "We're pretty deep into the Land of Rivers, don't you think? We could've just gone directly into the Land of Wind from the village."
Kenji playfully remarked, "He wanted to take the scenic route."
"This is just like you, you know?" she began. "We're supposed to go straight to the target. We're probably a day behind schedule now."
Takimaru reasoned, "Hey we hardly ever get to leave the village so let's take advantage of it, alright?"
"He's right," said his ginger teammate. "Besides, the Land of Wind has a harsh climate so it makes sense to travel through the Land of Rivers since Suna is in the southeast."
With a sigh, Kimiko accepted defeat. "I guess." There was no way she could defeat the two of them together in an argument. She took to twirling her azure locks while waiting for the food to arrive, which did not take too long. When the food arrived, they noticed a distinct odor coming from Takimaru's plate as the curry bubbled like ooze.
Is that even food? Kimiko thought to herself.
Takimaru licked his lips and slowly lifted a spoonful of rice and curry to his mouth while his teammates watched, ready to pounce into action in case the black ooze decided to eat him instead. The brunet gleefully ate his food and with a chew and swallow, his face started to redden. Sweat trickled down, simulating the pouring raindrops from his home village. The intense heat gnawing at his taste buds caused him to open his mouth and yell.
"Wooh! This is unbelievable!"
Just as Kimiko and Kenji were about to go to his side to save him, Takimaru began shoveling in his food with ignited vigor. They hadn't even eaten any of the spicy food but a single drop of sweat was already running down their faces from sheer surprise.
He's not human, Kenji commented to himself. Deciding not to let his food cool down anymore, he took a bite and found that it was pleasantly spiced. It most likely wasn't anywhere near as hot as Takimaru's but it was enough to make him clear his throat.
Kimiko was the only one not pleased with her food. Despite only being slightly spiced, the curry was enough to make her tongue sting in pain. She desperately drank the water that set beside her plate to quell the raging fire though it only helped slightly. With her tongue out, she groaned, "I hate spicy food."
"What did you think you were going to eat at a curry shop?" Takimaru stopped before continuing with his meal.
She flailed her arms and cried, "I'm hungry and the nearest restaurant is miles from here!"
"Then pipe down and eat."
The trio heard the door slide open so they looked in that direction to find two teenagers are their age – a boy and a girl. The boy was incredibly goofy-looking with his black hair styled into a bowl cut and ridiculously bushy eyes brows as well as his very distinguished round eyes. He wore a pale green flak jacket over his forest green jumpsuit. The girl had a foreign look to her with her round buns styled on the sides of her head though her clothing was indigenous which consisted of a long-sleeved white blouse and maroon hakama-styled pants. She carried a large green scroll attached to her lower back.
The Ame-nin's eyes were all drawn to the most defining garment that both strangers wore – the forehead protectors with a swirl leaf design carved right in the middle. These two were shinobi from Konohakagure no Sato.
The two entered and politely said hello to Takimaru and his teammates with large grins. That really ticked the brunet off. They're all so care free. So ignorant.
Moving past the Ame-nin, the green boy greeted the waiter "Hello Karashi!"
"Lee! Tenten! It's good to see you two," he greeted back.
The older woman in the back came out of the kitchen and asked, "Is that Rock Lee? It's been so long since you've been to see us."
Lee nodded, "I know. I am very sorry, Granny Sansho, but things have been rather busy in the village. We just recently rebuilt the village completely because of the war and that's actually why we came here."
"Oh?" Sansho asked.
"You see, Guy Sensei was left crippled after the war and lately his spirits have been down so I thought that giving him the Curry of Life would be a sure-fire way to reignite him."
"Well if that's the case you two grab a seat and we'll get started on that for you. You both must be very tired and hungry after coming all this way so we'll have some food out for you in just a sec. You'll be having a Curry of Life, right Lee?"
"Yes ma'am!"
Jeez he's obnoxious, Kimiko comments.
"And you as well, Tenten?" Karashi asked.
She laughed nervously and shook her head, "No thank you, a regular curry will do for me."
Karashi nodded, "They'll be right out."
As Lee and Tenten turned to take a seat, they noticed that the Amegakure shinobi were already gone. They had finished their food – one plate in particular was licked clean – and had left their money on the table.
"Hey Karashi," Tenten started. "I think your other customers left already."
He stormed in to see and asked, "Did they leave without paying?!"
"No, it is all there," Lee answered. "I suppose they were all in a hurry."
"Yeah, maybe. Anyways, you two get seated."
A/N: For those of you completely confused as to who Karashi, Sansho, and Ranmaru are, they are the anime-exclusive characters that appear in the filler arc called the Kurosuki Family Removal Mission. I won't be using too much of filler but I actually really liked this arc because it introduced Raiga, one of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Now when I first watched this arc, I didn't know what filler was and thought that everything between Naruto and Sasuke's fight and Naruto's departure from Konoha was actually part of the story but regardless, Raiga was a great psychopathic character, one I wish was actually canon. The main reason I included the Curry of Life Shop is that it works really well with the geography. If you look at a map Naruto's world, you'll see that West of Amegakure is the Land of Wind, South is the Land of Rivers, and southeast is the Land of Fire so like Kenji explains, it makes sense for them to travel through the Land of Rivers to avoid as much of the Land of Wind as possible. It also means that it's believable for the Ame-nin to run into Lee and Tenten. That's just a bit of education on Naruto geography but I think I've taken enough of your time with this long winded author's note so I'll see you all next time when we pick up right after Takimaru's team leaves the shop.
