Chapter 2
"Kakashi-sensei, why are you so slow? I'm starving here," Naruto complained once the jounin appeared. "We were waiting for a million hours!"
"More like fifteen minutes..." Sasuke muttered.
Kakashi raised a hand in apology. "The Hokage just wanted to talk to me about something before I left."
Naruto rolled his eyes as he dismissed it. "Yeah, yeah, okay. You just like seeing me suffer, don't you?" His eyebrows creased together as he gripped his grumbling stomach tightly. "Oh, I'm so hungry..." He leaned his head against the wooden table as he closed his eyes and pouted.
The way he sulked reminded Izumi of a toddler, and with this realization, her lips curved upwards as she laughed quietly. Naruto's ears picked up on this sound, and he picked up his head before swiveling around in his seat to face her. "Izumi, what type of ramen is your favorite?" he demanded.
"Naruto...you can't just assume that she likes ramen before asking that," Sakura sighed as she took her seat next to Sasuke.
"W-What?" he spluttered. "But...but this is ramen we're talking about, Sakura-chan! How could someone not like it?!" He seemed utterly appalled at the idea that someone would dislike his favorite meal.
"Eh..." Izumi interrupted. "I never really ate ramen before now that I think of it."
Naruto nearly fell off his chair in shock and Izumi placed a hand on his back to steady him. "How...why...but..." He seemed at a loss for words as he settled for staring at her with his jaw dropped.
"Close your mouth before flies enter, dobe," Sasuke warned as he rapped his chopsticks against Naruto's chin. "What are you staring at her like an idiot for? All she said was that she never ate ramen before."
"Ne," Naruto started off as he regained the ability to speak. Breathing seemed to be quite a task as he stopped before continuing. "Ne, Izumi…that's unbelievable. You have to like ramen. You have to! Once you eat it, you'll never be able to go back. There's no possible way that you're going to hate ramen. You have to eat it."
Sakura scowled. Naruto was unbelievable. Did he really think that everyone had to like ramen just because he did? "Hey baka, don't force her into liking it."
Her grumpy stare at Naruto made Izumi fidget nervously. She held up her hands as she gave a dismayed smile. "Ah, I don't want to start a fight here. It's okay really, Haruno-san. Uzumaki-san didn't mean any harm, I think."
Discomfort was plastered across Sakura's face. "Eh, Izumi, you don't have to be so formal, you know…" She stuck out her tongue. "After all, we're a team, right? How are we supposed to grow together if we don't view each other as equals?"
Sasuke frowned at her words, but remained silent. It was ironic that the weakest member of the team had voiced that opinion with such certainty. Sure, Naruto was unpredictable, stupid, and extremely inept at ninjutsu, but Sakura was on par with Naruto or, in his opinion, on a lower level. He conceded that she was extremely intelligent, but so far, from what he gathered through their training sessions, she only seemed book smart. "Until you get stronger and you shed that superficial, vain outlook of yours…you really shouldn't be going around saying those things, Sakura," Sasuke thought as he rested his chin against his knuckles. This was one of the things that irritated Sasuke about her; it was as if she was more interested in her looks, boys, and love than becoming a strong kunoichi.
Naruto, on the other hand, brightened up considerably and voiced his opinion out loud. "Ah, that's right, Sakura-chan!" He beamed his wide grin at Sakura and then Izumi. "We're your teammates, Izumi. You're part of Team 7 now. There's no need for formality between us!"
"Well, I guess those two have similar mindsets…but to be honest, Sakura and Naruto are both right. There's absolutely no use for formality. It doesn't accomplish anything," Sasuke thought.
"Ah…" Izumi stuttered as if caught off guard by the insistent request, but her dark eyes brightened. "Okay!" Oddly, it felt as if a heavy burden was lifted off the shoulders she had subconsciously hunched together. She sat with her back straight, her shoulders wide and her chest open. "Then Naruto-kun, what's the best ramen here?"
"Eh? All the ramen here's great, Izumi...It's Ichiraku after all."
The shopkeeper and his daughter beamed with pride. "Naruto here is one of our best and most frequent customers. He's just flattering us."
"No, it's true!" Naruto waved around his arms wildly as Izumi ducked to avoid getting hit. "I'm not just saying things! This is the best ramen place ever! Okay well, Izumi, if you want, you can eat the miso pork ramen. I think you'll like that. And I'll have the same too!"
The rest of the team gave their orders and soon, steaming bowls were placed before the group. "Itadakimasu," they all cheerfully said before digging in. Izumi noticed that everyone but Kakashi had food in front of them, but she shrugged and slipped several noodles into her mouth instead of worrying about this fact any further.
The taste of the noodles tantalized Izumi's taste buds and she closed her eyes to savor the taste. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that Naruto peering intensely at her. The ramen held in his chopsticks limply hovered near his open mouth. "I-It's good!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Told you," he said somewhat smugly, proud that he had converted her into a ramen lover. "There's no way that someone can hate ramen. Such people don't exist and if they do, they're ridiculous and there's something wrong with them. Anyway, how come you never ate ramen before? Do you not have ramen stands in the streets in your village?" He mulled over this possibility as he rubbed his jaw with his thumb and index finger. But there was still instant ramen…what kind of weird girl was Izumi?
"I'm not really sure," she answered hesitantly. She bit her lip in concentration. "Yeah, I'm really not sure."
Sakura sounded puzzled as she joined the conversation. "How are you not sure? I'm pretty sure that even if you haven't been to one, you would still see them out on the streets, right?"
"I'm not really allowed to eat at those stands…"
"Oh, your parents are that kind, huh." Sakura nodded her head.
"What do you mean, Ha-I mean…Sakura?" Izumi sipped the warm soup, tilting the bowl to her mouth. Her eyes did not blink as they remained transfixed on Sakura's face.
"Ah, you know," she shot breezily. "I've seen parents who don't let their kids eat at the stands out on the streets. Some of them don't think ramen's healthy, and others don't trust those kinds of places, you know."
"I guess you can call it that." Izumi shrugged. It wasn't really the case, but she wasn't going to argue.
"Anyway, what's your village like?" Sakura asked, curiosity coloring her tone. "I don't think I know much about it…it sounds vaguely familiar like I read about it somewhere, but I don't remember anything about it."
"It's not as well known or as big as other villages. It's just…it's just there, I guess," Izumi said modestly.
Sasuke glanced at Izumi from the corner of his eye. "What are the shinobi like there? I never heard of any from your village."
"Again, that's because it's small. Our shinobi are relatively unknown because they're small in number and they don't really go around causing a ruckus to get noticed. They just carry out their duties and that's it."
"So the emphasis isn't on the shinobi system?" Sasuke questioned.
"Well, they are an important part of the village, but there are other things we focus on too. I don't know everything in depth though. Sorry, Sasuke-kun."
"Sasuke," he replied simply before he shut his mouth.
Kakashi glanced up for a split second from the page he was on. "That's weird. Sakura can call him Sasuke-kun and he's okay with it, but Izumi can't? Well, seeing that Sakura was in the same class with him, it's more than likely that he grew accustomed to it…but he doesn't want to be called that by everyone he meets from now on, I guess. So Sakura adds –kun for Sasuke, but not for Naruto…and Izumi does the exact opposite. Interesting…I wonder if they've noticed."
"Ah yes, I apologize, Sasuke. Anyway, I know that at least here in Konoha, I know for a fact that I can hone my skills. I feel like I would have been limited if I stayed."
"Well…" Sakura tapped a finger against her lip. "It's great to be away from your parents for the first few couple of days or weeks…or even months, but if you're going to serve Konoha, doesn't that mean you have to stay here? Is your family moving here?"
"No," Izumi replied firmly. They would never think of such a thing. "Their place is with my village. My place is here."
"Then are you going back often or are they visiting often? Traveling so much might be inconvenient though," Sakura said.
"No. The only times they can really come is if they have any business to take care of in Konoha. For me, I will stay in Konoha for most of my time unless I have the time to go visit. It's too inconvenient otherwise."
"But won't you miss them?" Sakura wondered aloud. "Hey, what's your family like?" She did not notice Izumi's grip on her chopsticks tighten so much that her knuckles turned bone white.
"They're…I…I have a father, mother, and three brothers," she said tightly. "I'm the youngest."
"Wow, three older brothers?" Sakura perked up and smiled. "Well, what are they like? Are they nice? Are they annoying?"
Izumi's hands shook, and she leaned the chopsticks against the side of the bowl before clasping her hands together in her lap. She did not answer, but remained quiet and still. Several seconds passed before she spoke. "Well..." Her lips clamped together again, and Naruto noticed that she was clenching them so hard that they were turning white.
But Izumi was saved from responding when a huge yellow blur invaded her line of vision. The long object smacked her across the face before she could respond, and a floral scent struck her nose. "Sasuke-kun!" Izumi heard a feminine voice enthusiastically and affectionately shout.
There was a huge commotion as Sakura shot up from her seat and lunged towards the yellow thing which, by this time, Izumi recognized as a blond ponytail of a girl whose back was currently facing her. Izumi glanced upwards and shrank back in alarm as she saw murderous intent flash in the green eyes of her new teammate, the very ones that were filled with kindness and innocent curiosity a second ago. "Ino…pig…" Sakura started off ominously, her face dark and twisted into a mask of annoyance.
"Sasuke-kun, what a coincidence it is to meet you here!" Ino giggled, unwisely ignoring the greeting of what Izumi thought as the person who would be responsible for this blond girl's death.
"Huh? How is it a coincidence? You just asked about a million people on our way here if they saw Sasuke or any of the Team 7 members," a chubby boy asked, his eyes squinting in confusion. He stuffed several barbeque chips into his mouth while waiting for Ino to answer.
"S-Shut up, Choji! I did no such thing," she spluttered, her face turning a bright red. "As if I would be…"
"That desperate? Eh, Ino…you always do these kinds of things…it's so troublesome," a boy with spiky hair complained as he slipped his hands into his pockets and grimaced.
"Ino pig, is this true?" Sakura asked sweetly, her voice alarmingly contrasted with the terrifying look on her face.
"Both of you shut up!" Ino barked. "Ugh, why did I have to be stuck with the two of you? You guys never support me." She ran her hand through her hair in frustration.
"Eh…" Izumi noticed with trepidation that Sakura was getting frustrated with being ignored by this girl. If this continued, it was more than likely that something bad would happen. "Eh, excuse me…"
Both girls ignored her. She tried again. "Pardon…Ino-pig-san?"
Naruto snorted loudly as he guffawed. "Ah, that's rich!" He held his stomach as he threw his head back in laughter. "Ino-pig-san!"
Even Sasuke seemed amused by Izumi as the corner of his mouth turned upwards slightly.
Izumi grew red as the blond girl turned around. Ino seemed to be at a loss for words and she settled for staring dumbly at the strange dark-haired girl in front of her. "I'm sorry," was all Izumi had to offer as she realized she had made a mistake.
"Ino pig, it's getting really annoying. Stop coming here to woo Sasuke-kun. It's not like you'd win anyway. I'm starting to think that you're a stalker," Sakura said, a smirk dancing across her lips.
"I…am…not…a…stalker, billboard forehead," Ino shot back, regaining her ability to speak. "At least I don't make Sasuke-kun suffer every day. It must be terrible staring at something so huge and in-his-face as that forehead of yours. How unfortunate."
"Yeah? Why don't you ask Sasuke-kun if it bothers him? What do you know?" Sakura scoffed, crossing her arms and shifting her weight onto one leg. "What, don't tell me you're Sasuke-kun yourself and you know every one of his thoughts."
"I don't think Sakura's forehead is big," Izumi added in quietly. "And I don't think Sasuke really likes this sort of attention…" She had glanced at Sasuke who had his eyes closed in annoyance.
Ino's blue eyes traveled over to Izumi's face. Curiosity won over her desire to continue bantering with Sakura. Who exactly was this girl who called her Ino-pig-san? She had never seen Izumi before and thought it was peculiar that she seemed to be on friendly terms with Team 7. "Who are you?" she blurted out.
"She's Mikazuki Izumi, our new teammate. She's the same age as us and everything, but she's from another village." Sakura noticed Ino's eyebrows rising upwards the more she talked. "Basically, Izumi has dual citizenship because she was born in Konoha so she chose to come here to become a kunoichi because her village, the Village of the Dark Moon, is small and its ninja system isn't as developed as ours is so she thought she'd have more opportunities here."
Ino's eyes traveled from the top of Izumi's head down to her toes. "Huh," was all she said in reply.
"She's also the person you smacked across the face with your hair when you rushed over to Sasuke-kun," Sakura added, quirking up an eyebrow.
"Oh." Ino's expression completely changed and she bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Izumi, right? I'm Yamanaka Ino. Pleased to meet you."
Izumi took Ino's extended hand shyly. "Same here, Ino-san."
Sakura gave her a sidelong stare. "Ah! I…I meant Ino…it's okay to call you that, right?" she asked quickly. The pink-haired girl nodded in approval.
"Of course! Eh, you must have gotten such a bad impression of me. I'm really not like that," Ino sighed. Her teammates and Sakura merely rolled their eyes. "Ah, and this is Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru, the f…" Choji had stopped munching and seemed keenly interested in Ino's next words. "I mean, the kid eating the chips…and that's the lazy bum."
"I'm not a bum, Ino."
"I noticed that you're not refuting that you're lazy," Ino retorted.
"Whatever." There was a moment of silence broken only by Choji's loud crunching as he chewed.
"Well," Ino dragged out.
Shikamaru just gave her a lazy look in response, not bothering to answer.
"Hello?! Introduce yourselves! Goodness! Do I have to tell you guys everything?!" Ino cried, throwing her hands up in the air.
"Ah! So that's what you wanted? Yeah, I should do that, shouldn't I?" Choji's face brightened up and he aimed a kind smile at Izumi before extending his hand. "I'm Choji. Nice to meet you, Izumi."
Izumi couldn't help but return the smile. This boy seemed to be filled with nothing but kindness. "Nice to meet you too." He shook her hand warmly.
She turned to Shikamaru and extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Shikamaru-kun."
Ino coughed and spluttered as if she inhaled incorrectly. "You….did you just call him Shikamaru-kun?" she choked.
"Should I have called him Shikamaru-san instead? Or Nara-san?" Izumi asked, puzzled.
"Nonononono. That's way worse." Ino raised her hands. "Just. No."
Shikamaru let out a sigh. "Eh, it's fine."
"Then Shikamaru-kun is fine?"
"You can just call me Shikamaru…but whatever. Do whatever floats your boat," he drawled lazily.
Sakura pulled a face. Izumi was using her honorifics weirdly…she called some of the boys by their first names, and attached suffixes to the names of the others. It was inconsistent, but Sakura conceded that at least this was a step in the right direction away from adding –san to everyone's names. Maybe Izumi was accustomed to being polite.
"Mind if we sit down? I'm really hungry," Choji said as he threw his empty bag away.
"Choji, you just finished eating," Ino said pointedly as she stared at the bag.
"But that was a snack. I didn't have a real meal for the entire day." Choji frowned. "I need to eat, Ino."
"Fine, fine…but I'm not paying," Ino sighed as she gave up. She sat next to Choji. "And it's about lunchtime anyway. We'll try to make Asuma-sensei cough up some money. He owes us from the last time he lost to Shikamaru at shogi."
As they settled in, the large group heard a nearby bark. "Oh look, Shino! It looks like we're the only ones who weren't invited to this big party," a loud voice shouted.
"K-Kiba-kun…" a purple-haired girl tugged on the dog owner's sleeve. "P-Please don't make such a b-big scene…" She blushed as she realized everyone was staring at them and ducked her head to avoid their gazes.
"Who organized this? Was it you, Naruto?" Kiba complained, shoving Naruto who gripped the wooden table to keep himself from falling. "You could've at least invited us, you know." The puppy that tagged along wagged its tail and whined its agreement. "It's okay, Akamaru. Naruto just didn't think as usual."
"I didn't organize anything! Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru just came over by themselves," Naruto responded indignantly.
"Sheesh. Whatever. Anyway, our sensei's eating with some other people so Hinata, Shino, and I are inviting ourselves to this party. No objections." Kiba smiled wolfishly as he plopped down onto a seat.
Conversations began to flow as the newcomers joined the large group at Ichiraku. The exchange of words grew louder and was interspersed with barks of laughter. Izumi stayed quiet until she noticed Akamaru trotting over to her. He was curious about this stranger; he knew everyone's faces here but hers.
As she realized Akamaru was making his way to her, Izumi quickly slid out of her seat and sat down, her face glowing with happiness. He came over and sniffed at the hand she held out before licking it cautiously with his rough tongue. "That tickles," she laughed softly before she stroked his head. Akamaru closed his eyes in response as he came nearer. She held his soft body carefully in her two hands, bringing him to face level. "Hey, boy."
Akamaru barked joyfully in reply and wagged his tail furiously. Kiba broke off his comment as soon as he heard Akamaru's bark, and he watched this interaction between the girl and Akamaru silently. Akamaru craned his neck as if to come closer, and Izumi complied with his wish before letting out a small shout of surprise as he licked her face enthusiastically.
"H-Hey!" she laughed as she hugged him to her chest. Akamaru panted enthusiastically and it was almost as if he was giving her a cheeky grin. Kiba's eyebrows rose as he saw that Akamaru was not resisting this action. "I really like you. What's your name?" Akamaru merely snuggled against her chest, reveling in her warmth.
"His name's Akamaru." Izumi's head shot up in surprise. Kiba lifted himself off the seat and seated himself in front of her.
"It fits him," she said before timidly looking down at Akamaru's head as she realized how close Kiba was.
His lips curled into a smile and she noticed his pronounced canine teeth. "I've never seen you around before. You new?"
Izumi nodded her head shyly and Kiba's grin widened. "Looks like he's taken a liking to you."
Her eyes widened. "You really think so?" she asked him.
"Yeah." He pointed a finger at Akamaru. "Just look at him. He's already getting used to being around you."
Izumi's eyes lit up with happiness. "Ah, that makes me so happy. I love dogs." She hugged Akamaru closer to her chest. "Well, I think I've taken a liking to him too!" He barked enthusiastically at her response, attempting to lick her chin.
Kiba cocked his head as he stared at the scene. The girl in front of him looked almost deliriously happy at his comments. "Hm...well, if he likes someone, I like that person too." He continued to talk as he saw her eyebrows draw together slightly in confusion. "It's just the bond we have. Don't worry about it..." He trailed off, raising his eyebrows to indicate that he still didn't know her name.
"Mikazuki Izumi. Nice to meet you!" She extended out a hand.
He stayed motionless for a while before he leaned over. Izumi's eyes reflected her confusion as she watched him, and he smiled. He hesitated before he placed his hand on her head, ruffling her hair. "Inuzuka Kiba." He grinned as he watched her scrunch up her nose in response.
"Ne, what are you doing, Kiba?! She's not a dog," Naruto called out.
"Hey, I think I would know the difference between a dog and a girl," Kiba shot back.
"Yeah, right. You act the same way around a girl the way you do around that dog of yours," Ino muttered under her breath. Kiba's lips curled in displeasure, but he did not comment.
Akamaru poked his head up in the air, sensing Kiba's annoyance. He squirmed a bit before leaping out of Izumi's arms to trot over to Kiba. "E-Eh," Izumi responded, caught off guard. She had instinctively reached her arms out as if she were trying to retrieve him.
Kiba caught the slight pout on her face before it was erased quickly. "You like Akamaru that much, huh? If you want, you can always come over or something. You can hang out with my sister and see the dogs, you know."
"If that's not too problematic..." Izumi bit her lip.
He rolled his eyes. "You're acting just like Hinata." His purple-haired teammate's shoulders hunched over as she blushed profusely. "Sheesh, if I thought it was going to be troublesome, I wouldn't have asked. Just come over anytime."
"Really? Anytime?" she asked incredulously. "But it won't be inconvenient or anything?"
"No, how many times do I have to say it before you're convinced? What are you, dense or something?" Kiba responded in an exasperated tone. "You're acting as if this is the first time someone's told you to come over their house."
She reddened, mortification plastered across her face. It was, in fact, the first time she was invited to go over someone's house for fun. As she heard Kiba's words, she realized with embarrassment that it must have been very obvious to him. She averted her gaze to her lap as she clasped her hands together.
"No way," she heard him say in disbelief. "Don't tell me that it is...I mean, don't you hang out with your friends?"
By this time, quite a few ears picked up on their conversation. Some of the genin turned their heads to face the two while the only clue that the others heard was the way they were sitting so still like a row of statues, forgetting to take the next bite of their meal. The noodles slipped from Naruto's grasp and plopped back into the bowl, but he took no notice as he froze.
"I..." she replied in a small voice. It was difficult to hear Izumi over the din of the afternoon crowds strolling on the streets. "It's just...I..."
"Wait, if they're your friends, why don't you guys hang out?" Kiba asked, pressing the issue. It was as if he was oblivious to her discomfort. "I mean-"
Sakura noticed Izumi's discomfort at the same time Ino did. She subconsciously stood up from her seat, ready to intervene when Ino interrupted the conversation. "Shut up already," she snapped.
"What?" Kiba's jaw slightly dropped. "What the hell? Since when was I talking to you?"
Akamaru had walked over to Izumi again and she absentmindedly stroked him behind his ears, still staying silent.
"How stupid are you?" Ino looked on, disbelief scrawled across her face.
"What's your problem, Ino? First you interrupt and then you just randomly shout out that I'm stupid?" Kiba stood up this time, taking a step towards Ino, irritation flashing in his eyes. "Do you have a problem with me or something? What-"
"K-Kiba-kun…" Hinata muttered, tugging on Kiba's sleeve gently. "Please stop."
He tried to shake her off, but Hinata's grip was firm.
"Kiba-kun, p-please…" She did not continue speaking, but she nervously stole a glance at Izumi who was playing with Akamaru quietly on the floor. His eyes traveled to see what his teammate was gazing at, and he realized that Izumi did not look up once from the floor even after several painfully long seconds passed.
"Oh," he let out, elongating the word under his breath as he realized what was going on.
"You get it now?" Ino asked, pressing her lips tightly closed for a second. "God, you're so tactless…"
He curled his hands into fists as his face hardened defensively. "I didn't mean to do that, alright? How was I supposed to know that-"
And for the umpteenth time, Kiba was interrupted again, this time by Kakashi.
"Sorry, Kiba." Kiba thought that Kakashi did not look sorry or even remotely interested in what was going on at all, but it was always hard to tell since he always had that same look on his face. "I'm going to have to interrupt this wonderful conversation because my team is supposed to take on a mission after lunch…and I'm done eating as it is."
Sakura's emerald eyes grew larger with disbelief as she gaped at her teacher. "What? When did you…what…how? When?"
"Mm? I don't believe I understood you, Sakura," Kakashi replied complacently to her spluttering.
She was joined by Naruto. He jabbed an accusatory finger in Kakashi's direction. "I didn't even see you order! There's no way…you're just lying…" He stopped speaking as he settled on glaring suspiciously at his teacher.
"What dobe and Sakura mean is that we didn't see you even order anything to eat so they're just surprised that you were able to eat without us noticing. That's all. Nothing special." Sasuke set down his chopsticks as his empty bowl was taken away. "So what's the mission?" he inquired calmly.
"Psst, teme," Naruto whispered loudly. "Don't pretend you weren't curious to see Kakashi-sensei's face too. You're sorely disappointed that we missed seeing it for the millionth time again."
"Don't lump me in with you," Sasuke answered coolly.
"Oh, shut up and stop thinking you're so cool," Naruto shot back, annoyed. "Who's the one who accompanied us when-"
"I think Kakashi-sensei wants to tell us what the mission is," Sakura said loudly, seeing the tell-tale expression of annoyance cross Sasuke's face. She didn't want this to escalate into useless bickering…and she did not want Kakashi to know that they had tried to trick him into showing his face to them again last Tuesday.
"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Izumi, follow me. I paid for our meals for today to celebrate our meeting with the newest addition to our team so don't worry about anything." Kakashi started to walk, not bothering to glance behind him to see if they were following.
"Ah, this is awesome!" Naruto crowed, pumping a fist in the air. "Free ramen is always the best!" He ran after his teacher, excitement shining in his azure eyes.
Sasuke followed at a leisurely place and Sakura jogged to catch up. She swiveled around to see Izumi standing up. "Izumi, hurry!" she called out.
"Okay!" she answered back and she jogged to follow her group when she heard someone call her name.
"Izumi!" someone called out.
She turned her head back to face the person. Kiba scratched his head and gave her a sheepish grin. "The offer's still up. Come over any time, alright?" he said awkwardly.
She knew that this was his way of saying an apology and she smiled, her eyes curving slightly. "Okay, I will!" she laughed. She lifted her arm in the air to wave at him before running to catch up with the rest of her group.
It had only been an hour since they had eaten and Naruto was already complaining. Team 7 sat in a row along a rooftop. "What kind of mission is this? It's so boring…I didn't even get to finish my ramen. The only reason why I even bothered coming along was because Kakashi-sensei made it sound like it would be interesting."
"He only said that we had a mission to do, Naruto-kun…" Izumi pointed out as they swung their legs. She hit her heels against the edge of the building, tapping out a rhythm.
"Izumi's right. He never said anything about fun or interesting." Sakura leaned back on her arms, staring at the cloudless sky above her listlessly. "But I have to say that this is kind of boring…"
"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up and Izumi nervously noted how close he was to the edge of the building. "I'm glad that Sakura-chan sees it the same way as me!" His voice carried out and a few birds took off, chastising him with their startled cries.
"I didn't say that I was agreeing with you," Sakura muttered crossly.
"Ah well…" Naruto replied sheepishly. "How many of these missions do we have to go on until we have a real one? It's so boring. Anyone can fulfill these missions, even people who aren't even shinobi."
"Baka." Sakura sighed. "Every shinobi and kunoichi before us went through the same things as us…we're not skilled enough to take on any missions that are more difficult than this. Genin are supposed to focus more on training and fulfilling the mundane tasks that the Hokage gives to us. There are hundreds of mission requests given in every day; it's not like the chuunin and jounin-level shinobi are going to take on something so easy. They're busy."
Naruto opened his mouth to complain again, but Sasuke cut him off. "Think of it this way. It makes us get stronger because although it's menial work, sometimes it involves a lot of physical activity. Other times, it requires us to work on our patience…something you're clearly lacking." He smirked.
"If you say it like that…it makes sense, I guess," Naruto replied, disgruntled. He sat down again, sighing as he glumly propped his head up with his arms. "How long have we been watching this guy anyway?"
"Only an hour," Izumi replied. Sakura looked at her female teammate gratefully. At least unlike Naruto, Izumi seemed to be patient.
"Izumi, an hour is a long time," he grumbled.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. An hour wasn't exactly that long, but considering their mission was to watch this person to make sure he arrived at the designated location safely, Sasuke grew increasingly suspicious. Such a simple mission should not have taken so long; the man should have left the building thirty minutes ago and by this time, they should have seen him get to his destination. He blocked out the complaints that continued to issue from Naruto's mouth like a stream of unintelligible words to his ears and concentrated on the building.
"I'm just saying that it wouldn't kill Kakashi-sensei to give us better-" A movement caught Sasuke's eye. Their target was dashing away from the building, holding something bulky in his hands as he was chased by a morbidly obese woman. What was that man doing? Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stood up suddenly.
"Naruto. Sakura. Izumi."
Sakura stopped speaking as she craned her head to look up at him, shielding her eyes from the glaring sun. "Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?"
Sasuke was looking away from them, glaring at something at a distance. Izumi followed his stare and immediately noticed what he had seen. "Eh, that man…what's he doing?"
"He's a thief by the looks of it." He watched the man's movements, tracing his trail with his dark eyes. "And he doesn't seem like a petty thief…it looks like he has at least some experience. We have to catch him."
"So what's our plan?" Sakura piped up.
"Just split up. It'll be easier to catch him that way instead of us all going after him together at once. We can corner him." He tossed the walkie-talkies that they thought they would not use to them. "Use these to keep in contact."
"So how are we going to split up, Sasuke-kun? Should we come from all directions and trap him?" Sakura inquired as she caught the walkie-talkie.
The raven-haired boy stayed quiet, mulling over the strategies that they could use. "I think the quickest way to get this over with is to split into teams. It'll be easier to use your suggestion, Sakura, but since we don't know anything about this thief, it's better to use precautions. We should split into two teams," he said carefully after a few seconds of considering the options available.
He hesitated. How should he split this up? Last time, Naruto nearly sabotaged the mission with his impulsiveness and he wasn't sure if this was the right time to bet on whether Naruto would follow his directions or not. This was a mission requiring stealth and as Naruto was clumsy and loud, he would surely make a mistake. That left Sakura and Izumi…he knew Sakura was quick and would execute his directions without a mistake, but there was also the fact that she would probably drag him down with her lack of skills and she got easily overwhelmed in certain situations. The only person left then was Izumi.
Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. He knew absolutely nothing about Izumi; the only things he could deduce from the few hours that he knew her was that she was most likely not going to be loud and irrational. Stealthily creeping up to the target would not be a problem then if this were true, but it was difficult to say what level her skills were at. "Ugh, there's no time. I'll have to take my chances," he thought, annoyed.
"Okay, Naruto…Sakura, you guys can go together and I'll go with Izumi. Start off from the street diagonal to where he is and try to keep quiet. Get as close as you can and try to capture him. There's a chance that you might not be able to do that. In any case, chase him towards the direction that we're coming from. My strategy will be the same as yours. If we both fail to capture him which is unlikely, we'll trap him from both ends and deal with him then. You got it?"
Sasuke knew that the chances of Naruto and Sakura succeeding were abysmally small. Their weaknesses might feed off each other's which he hoped would not happen. However, the chance that his team would capture the man was higher and this was the best shot they had. He gave a nod to the other team before sparing a glance at Izumi. "Follow me," he commanded shortly.
Izumi quickly caught up with him, her light footsteps barely touching the dusty streets. "I'm hoping that you're not as loud as Naruto. Just keep up with me. We probably won't need to use that much energy to capture him. I have confidence in my abilities, but I don't know anything about you." Sasuke gave her a sidelong glance. "I hope you can make yourself useful. If you can't, I'll just rely on you to keep out of the way."
"Got it," Izumi replied firmly. They were only a few streets away from the thief now. "Do you have a more concrete plan?"
"We're probably going to get to him before Naruto and Sakura do. In that case, we can try to implement my plan on a smaller level. We'll split up and corner him, and if he's too much to handle, we'll withdraw and regroup." He pointed out a street branching off to the right. "I'm going here. If you need me, just use the walkie-talkie and I'll come." He nodded his head at her before he began to walk away.
Izumi's hand fumbled around before pulling out a kunai. She gripped it and walked briskly to the street branching to the left. It was an open, empty street, which was to her disadvantage; she surveyed her surroundings with a grimace as she discovered very few hiding spots. It would be difficult to get to the man before he even spotted her. She gripped her kunai even tighter. "But the entire team is counting on me; I can't let them down. I can't be the one who costs us the mission by making a mistake," she thought to herself, emboldened. "I can't let them down."
She hid behind a pole, sighing as she did so. "I'll have to make the best of my situation. This seems to be the only hiding spot that can possibly work." Izumi leaned against the pole, twirling the kunai in her hand as she waited for the thief to walk her way.
A few minutes later, she heard the telltale signs of another presence as she heard heavy footsteps lumbering towards her general direction. Her ears picked up the sound and she waited to see if he would walk down her street or Sasuke's. After a moment of deliberation, the thief continued to walk, his footsteps growing louder with each step.
"You can come out of there, kiddo," she heard a man's voice call out.
Izumi jumped and quickly scanned her hiding spot. There was no way she was visible from this angle and from what she had seen, he was not a shinobi. She ignored the drawling voice.
"I ain't a ninja, but I ain't stupid either," he laughed coarsely. "I know you're hiding behind that pole, little kid."
Izumi's eyebrows shot up with surprise. If he already knew she was here, she would have to think of an alternative plan quickly. She scanned the surroundings, but at first glance, saw nothing of use to her. Her eyes traveled downwards and she saw several pebbles at her feet. "This will have to do for now," she thought grimly as she picked a smooth one up.
She threw the pebble, aiming at his general direction before she shot off to another direction. With any luck, his attention would be momentarily distracted by the flying rock. She had to rely on her speed to get her to another place unnoticed.
"What a simple, cheap trick," the bearded man said lazily. "It's not that hard for me to sense your chakra, silly girl and I got a good nose on me. I can smell you quite easily from this distance."
Izumi struggled to ignore his words. "He's just trying to make me nervous," she thought as she scurried up several barrels onto a balcony. "Keep your nerves in check and focus, Izumi," she told herself.
Suddenly, she felt a presence looming over her from behind and her shoulders tensed with unease. The man looked like he would be slow, but she underestimated him. In a flash, he was behind her. "What an insolent brat. Didn't you hear me, little girlie? There's no way to hide from me."
She spun around to see a leering face only a few inches away from hers. "Ah, you're a young'un. What's that?" He pointed to her kunai and let out a bark of laughter. "Are you playing ninja? You think that's going to stop me?"
Izumi flung her kunai at him, but he caught it easily before grabbing her arm tightly. "Oh come on, I've dealt with urchins who are stronger than you." His grip made the skin around her wrist turn splotchy before fading into a ghastly white.
She winced and as she reached out for another kunai with her other hand, he dug his dirt-caked, yellow fingernails into her arm, making her bite her lower lip to keep from shouting. He walked towards her, making her stumble backwards as they moved together in a strange tango towards the same direction.
Her back slammed into a brick wall and Izumi looked up helplessly. "You're a pretty one, aren't you?" he leered, stroking a craggy finger against her smooth cheek.
He reeked of alcohol, sweat, and socks that have not been washed for months, and she wrinkled her nose as the stench hit her. "Please get your hands off me."
He smirked. "Or what? You'll throw a toy knife at me again?"
Izumi knew it was useless to try that method again and she stayed silent. As the thief held both of her wrists with one massive hand, he dug in his pocket with his other hand before withdrawing a dagger. She froze as it came nearer.
"Do something! Move, you idiot!" she told herself desperately. Fear paralyzed her muscles, preventing her from moving. She stood, rooted to the spot as her eyes quickly darted away. He lifted her chin up with the point of his dagger. She trembled as she wracked her brain furiously, trying to think of a strategy, but her mind drew a blank.
"You're too weak to get out of my grasp. I can do anything I want with you now," he said in a dangerously soft tone. "Like this." He applied pressure against her skin and a bead of blood spilled onto the point of the dagger. "Or, I can do this." His hand began to stroke her face before traveling down to her neck.
The last action caused Izumi's eyes to widen in panic. "Get out!" her mind screamed at her. Her heart beat a furious tattoo against her chest.
"Or, I can-"
"Get owned by Uzumaki Naruto," another voice offered boisterously. "Oy, Sasuke, I thought you'd get here by now. What's Izumi doing by herself?" His eyes narrowed as he read the situation. "You…get the hell away from her."
"I-Izumi!" Sakura called out, alarmed as she caught up with the two boys.
"You're cornered," Sasuke informed the thief calmly.
The man threw back his shaggy head in laughter. "Today's my lucky day, huh? A bunch of punks going after me. You guys playing superheroes or something? Find something better to do. You're no match for me and I'm not even a shinobi. Stop acting so high and mighty, you snotty kid."
He threw his dagger at Sasuke, who dodged it with ease. Sasuke flung a kunai at the man who stepped easily to the right. "Unbelievable. You're just like the girl I have here. You think something like that will get me?" he asked with an incredulous laugh.
"Yeah, pretty much." Someone had departed from the tree behind them and was now pressing the kunai Sasuke had thrown against the neck of the thief. "Told you that I would own you. Now get away from Izumi."
The last sentence was useless as the man had released Izumi in surprise. "You think something like that will stop me?" he scoffed, recovering from the shock. "Just because a trick throws me off by surprise doesn't mean anything." He stretched his arms backward, aiming to grab a hold of Naruto's jacket.
Naruto stayed still, allowing himself to be caught before catching Izumi's eye. He winked at her. "Now, Izumi."
She looked at him in surprise before understanding the situation. "Roger that," she said grimly. Before the man could even begin to analyze Naruto's cryptic suggestion, Izumi twirled and aimed a roundhouse kick that connected with his head. She heard a crack as his head turned to the right before he collapsed to the ground. The Naruto clone disappeared with a poof, and Sakura immediately rushed over with Naruto, a rope in her hands before she stopped.
"Hah," Sakura let out a breath of surprise. "I think you knocked him out cold. Good job, Izumi!"
Sasuke had walked towards them with his hands in his pockets. His face was unreadable. "I'd like to talk to Izumi for a second." The other two gave each other a look of surprise before moving away. He turned to Izumi, his eyes flashing dangerously. "What was that?"
Izumi stayed silent as she locked eyes with his.
"You couldn't even handle him by yourself by the look of things."
"I…"
He narrowed his eyes. "Never mind that. If you couldn't do that, then you should have called for help at least. If we didn't come in time, something could've happened. You understand that, don't you? Think about it before you rush into things." Without giving her time to respond, Sasuke walked away.
She stared at his retreating back before looking down at her hands. She could still see the marks on her left wrist where the thief's fingernails had dug into her flesh. Sasuke was right. It was stupid how she couldn't handle a thief by herself. No, it was stupid that she froze and was unable to act or think. On top of that, she managed to get herself caught and was too weak to do anything. The corners of her eyes burned with unshed tears of frustration and humiliation.
Izumi heard another poof, but did not raise her head. "Ah, so I see that you took care of things. Sorry, I had to run a few errands…I didn't think that he would end up being a thief," she heard Kakashi apologize.
"Ah, whatever! That's more action we got than all our missions put together," Naruto said cheerfully.
Izumi stayed silent as she ran her slender fingers over the indentations on her wrist. A shadow loomed over her and she looked up, meeting Kakashi's smiling, masked face. "I forgot to give this to you." He held out a forehead protector. The metal surface glinted in the sunlight.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I can take it, Kakashi-sensei," she mumbled. She did not deserve it after putting the mission into jeopardy.
"Hm?"
"Are we allowed to leave since we completed the mission?" she asked, avoiding the question.
"I guess so. I just need to go to the Hokage and give my report on the mission." He was still holding out the forehead protector to her.
Izumi gave him a faint smile before she bowed. "Please give that to me when you find me worthy of wearing one. Not now." She turned to see the others crowding around the unconscious thief and she waved to them. "I think I'll be taking my leave then. I'll see you tomorrow morning, everyone!" Without giving them a chance to reply, Izumi turned around and began walking down the road, her eyes downcast.
Night had fallen before Izumi knew it and she collapsed on the mattress in front of her. "Ugh," she mumbled into her blanket. After the mission, she went straight to her apartment and threw herself into unpacking, organizing, and cleaning, all of which she did not particularly like. She walked all over town to run errands and pick up furniture and other objects, and helped the workers who came to her house with the bigger pieces move them around in the apartment. Something that would take other people, especially those accustomed to housework, three hours to do took Izumi six as she procrastinated and spent half of her time taking a break, reading, daydreaming, and getting distracted by various activities.
She was mentally drained out. Her mind was numb from all the mundane work she had done during the day which was something she had hoped would happen. She reflected on the day's events and rubbed at her eyes tiredly as disappointment in herself wriggled into her heart again. "Onii-chan, I hate myself. Why am I so stupid?" She sighed before frowning as her brother's smiling face drifted into her mind.
Izumi felt a dull pang in her heart. As she imagined his smiling face, she realized how lonely she felt. There was no other living being in the dark apartment except her. She missed her oldest brother. Izumi gripped her blanket as she swallowed, trying to get rid of the pronounced lump that was growing larger in her throat. The silence enveloped her as she closed her eyes.
"Ah, what the heck, why is the landlord doing this?! I already paid him, sheesh," a loud, male voice shouted irritably as a door slammed outside. The force made her wall shake and Izumi sat up, frowning. She knew that this was the only apartment that she could get and she should make the best of the situation, but she had sincerely hoped that the neighbors would not be raucous disturbances.
She trudged over to the door to open it up and poked her head out to see which neighbor was causing such a ruckus. When she turned her head to the left, a familiar face met her.
"Eh?! Naruto-kun?" she exclaimed as she opened the door wider.
Naruto nearly dropped the envelope that was in his hand. "Izumi?! What are you doing here?" Nobody he knew lived this close to him.
"I live here. Your apartment's next to mine?"
"Yeah! Hey, why don't you come on over?" He grinned as he held open the door. "We can hang out often then! Nobody really comes over so this is cool…Did you eat dinner yet? I didn't."
"No, I just finished moving in," she responded with a tired smile. "What are you planning on eating?"
He pulled a face. "Haven't really thought about it…probably ramen again?"
She frowned. "Ramen again?"
"Yeah, I ate it for lunch remember? And I ate it yesterday….and the day before that…and the day before that too…" he trailed off as he tried to remember the meals he ate for the past week.
"Naruto-kun, that's not healthy! Hold on, I just went shopping at the market. I'll be there in a second!" She ran into her kitchen and flung open the refrigerator door. She scanned the contents and threw several vegetables and assorted items into a pot before she ran out of the apartment, almost slamming into Naruto.
"Sorry," she said breathlessly. "Here, I'll cook tonight and you should go to the market tomorrow. If you don't, then I'm making you go with me because it's not healthy for you to keep eating instant ramen."
"But it's so easy and fast to make." He pouted as he walked into his apartment, with Izumi following. "And I'm not really good at making other stuff. Sorry everything's so messy."
"Naruto-kun, clean your apartment soon…you're going to trip over something and break your neck."
"Want to come over and help me clean then?" Naruto asked cheekily. "It'll be like a personal mission." He noticed her reluctance and laughed loudly. "I'm just kidding!"
"Eh, sorry…I really hate cleaning and I'm not that good at it," Izumi admitted. "But don't you get scolded by your parents?" She set down the pot on the kitchen counter and drew out the ingredients before pausing to look up when she realized Naruto was quiet. "Naruto-kun?"
"I don't have any parents." He gave her a sad smile. "I never knew them and I don't really know what they look like either. I don't have a picture of them or I would show you." He shrugged apologetically. "Well, it's kind of hard taking care of myself at times so I'm kinda not good at housework things."
Izumi set down the last item onto the counter. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "If you ever need help, please don't hesitate to ask me…" She realized that it sounded as if she was doing it out of pity. "N-Not because I think you need it or anything!" she added quickly, flustered. "I just mean…since you're my…my friend…I'd like to help you even if it's something simple as coming over and eating dinner together once in a while or something. O-Or even cleaning! I don't think I'll be much help with that, but two people are faster than one, right?"
Naruto looked at her eager face and was reminded of a kid. "Thanks, Izumi-chan." He smiled gently.
She noticed the suffix he added to her name. "Izumi-chan?"
"Yeah," he laughed. "You should feel special! I only use that for Sakura-chan." He turned on the sink water and ran the vegetables under them.
His voice was softer when he said the pink-haired girl's name, and Izumi realized that there was a difference in the way he said her name and Sakura's. "It must be nice for you guys to be so close," she said quietly as she began to heat the leftover rice she found in Naruto's refrigerator.
"Nah, Sakura-chan dislikes me half the time and she has a crush on Sasuke-teme. Actually a lot of girls do." He frowned in puzzlement. "I don't get what they see in him though."
Izumi remembered the words Sasuke had directed to her earlier in the day and concentrated her efforts on boiling the water in the pot. A noticeable silence hung heavily in the air.
"No, don't tell me you like him too! Izumi-chan, you've only known him since morning," he complained. "Don't fall for him. He's just a bore who thinks he's cool."
"Don't worry. I don't like him that way." She took out a knife and began to slice the carrot Naruto handed her. She averted her gaze away from his.
"Then what's wrong?" Naruto asked softly. Izumi nearly cut her finger in half at his response.
"T-There's nothing wrong," she said faintly.
"It's a little obvious that there is something wrong. Izumi-chan, I'm your friend. You can tell me!" He gave her a cute pout as he poked her with the spatula he found somewhere.
"I…I think I made him mad, Naruto-kun."
"Sasuke-teme's always like that. Don't let it get to you," he responded reassuringly. He patted her lightly on the shoulder before he reached over to drop the carrot slices into the boiling water.
"No…I think he was really irritated with me although it's understandable."
"What are you talking about?" His expression instantly grew serious. "Did he say something to you?"
"Well, he knew that I couldn't handle the thief by myself. Naruto-kun, you don't know this, but I wasn't able to do anything and I froze when the thief approached me. I hesitated, but to be honest, I can't pretend that's an excuse. Even if I didn't, I don't think I would've been able to do anything," she ended bitterly. Her long, dark hair hid her face from Naruto's view.
"Eh, anyone would've have done that. It was your first mission and you just need to believe in yourself, Izumi-chan. Or if you can't believe in yourself, trust yourself and believe in the idea that you can get stronger. Without that happening, you can't get stronger, right? Your self-doubt will always hold you back."
Izumi looked up in surprise. Naruto was serious now, and this was not something she had expected from the loud, cheerful boy from earlier whom everyone seemed to think was somewhat of an idiot. "I…I guess so…"
"You have to try your best to do that, okay? Believe in yourself! I believe in you, you know."
"I'll try. But he got mad that I didn't call for help. He said that I should have if I needed to and because I didn't, something could've happened. But it's not that I don't trust him. I just didn't think of it at the time."
"Ne, I think Teme's mad because he wanted you to understand that you can rely on him. You know, Kakashi-sensei's motto is teamwork. We almost failed to become genin because we understand that. We had to pass a test, but we went our separate ways when we could've had a chance to pass if we stuck together. He gave us another chance though. Sakura-chan and Sasuke were forbidden from helping me, but they took that chance of getting caught to help me out and we passed because we finally understood what was important. It might not look like it, but even Teme understands teamwork."
When he saw her nod her head doubtfully, he continued. "It's not like you were incompetent compared to us either. We all worked together. Sakura-chan was the one who thought of making a clone, Sasuke and I collaborated, and you put the finishing touch! So we all contributed and in that way, we were able to complete our mission."
Izumi gave a tight smile. "But that's only because you let me."
"Hey, don't you get it by now? I did it because I believed in you, not because I felt pity. And we trust you just the way you should trust us."
"Why do you trust me?" There was no reason for them to especially when they had just met each other.
Naruto gave her a huge, fox-like smile. "Because Izumi-chan, we're a team, and teammates and friends trust each other. You're a part of Team Seven now!"