Chapter 54
"They should be just outside. Come in please" called out the elder Kimura.
The heavy door began to swing open, and a single figure stood, dressed in dull but strong armour, surprisingly tall, quite a bit over six foot. Tomo gulped as he looked at them with annoyed eyes, before then realizing he was a guard. From behind him appeared a girl who slowly walked forwards, thanking the man for opening the door for her.
Tomo grumbled to herself as she noticed the girl seemed to be quite attractive. That was all she needed, another person to draw the attention away from her. She also noticed the thick eyebrows that the girl possessed. Despite being larger then Tomo's they weren't horrible- again annoying Tomo that actually suited her. Her hair was nearly the same colour as Tomo's and it was slightly shorter. Tomo wasn't aware of the fact she was comparing the newcomer to herself.
"Hello" said Sakaki, suddenly realizing how little she had said. She quickly glanced across at Kimura senior, waiting to be told her name.
"Hi" said a grumpy Tomo. Sakaki noticed, but didn't ask why her friend's mood had suddenly changed dramatically.
"Hello to both of you" said the girl before bowing slightly.
"Ah welcome, I hope you have enjoyed your first two weeks in our village" said Kimura senior.
"I have Lord Hokage" said the girl politely.
"Excellent. It's always nice to have another nubile attractive lady, I mean student arrive in our village. These two girls in front of you will be your team mates during your various missions. The one with the long red hair is Sakaki, and next to her is Tomo" said the man.
"I'm looking forward to working with you" said the girl.
"And Tomo, Sakaki, this is Fuka Ayase. She moved to this village two weeks ago. She was a student at her old village, but it was only a small village. I hear she is talented but untested."
"Thank you" said Fuka, fidgeting uncomfortably as the Hokage praised her.
"So you're new here huh?" asked Tomo.
"Yes" said Fuka. "My family moved here recently, so I came with them too."
"Family huh?" asked Tomo, probing the girl for no apparent reason.
Fuka nodded. "My Mother and father, and two sisters as well. One of them is older then me, but she didn't train like I did. She wasn't interested in becoming a ninja. What about your family?" she asked, directing the question at both Sakaki and Tomo. Only Tomo answered.
"Oh I don't have a family" said Tomo.
Fuka immediately looked shaken, as though she had just made a joke about a disease someone Tomo knew suffered from. She ducked her head slightly apologetically.
"I'm sorry, I didn't…" she started.
"Of course you didn't know, we've only just met silly" replied Tomo. "I'm an orphan. I never actually knew my father or mother." Tomo didn't sound sad at all, merely speaking matter of factly.
"You never knew them?" asked the newcomer, now looking slightly more relaxed.
"Nope, they were dead before…something. Obviously they were alive long enough for me to born, but I don't remember them" said Tomo. "But!" she said pointing at Fuka, "The important question is do you know about me?"
Had Yomi or Yukari been present groans would have been emitted, but instead Sakaki said nothing, and Kimura senior paid no attention, instead studying Fuka's tight trousers.
"I've heard some things from the villagers about you" replied Fuka, Tomo smiling widely. "But they didn't sound nice at all."
"Oh" said Tomo the smile vanishing. "But I did help protect the village!" she said boastfully.
"Really?"
"I did too" said Sakaki softly as Tomo nodded her head rapidly.
"What happened? How did you?" asked Fuka.
"Well I…" started Tomo. She paused as memories began to return. Blood oozing down a blade onto her hands, a fierce animalistic mood, the craving to tear apart and destroy. Though the others didn't say anything, Sakaki noticed the sudden pause in Tomo's bravado.
"I helped beat some invaders!" said Tomo at last. She took in a deep breath. That thing was still inside of her. It had wanted to rip Osaka apart. No, not it. She had wanted to tear Osaka apart- kill her own friend.
"Oh I've read about that" said Fuka. "Quite a few people died didn't they? Even the former leader of the village. Did anyone you know…"
"Only the former Hokage" said Tomo. "All of my friends made it through, but I bet none of them did as well as I did!"
"So are you a hero or something?" asked Fuka.
"I guess you could say that" said Tomo boastfully.
"Oh. It's just what some people said about you, it didn't sound like they saw you as a hero. But maybe I was just talking to the wrong people" suggested the girl.
"Perhaps. If you talked to people from the East side of the village…well they haven't really liked me for a while."
"The East side? As in one quarter of the village?" asked the shocked Fuka.
"Yeah" said Tomo rubbing the back of her head in an embarrassed manner. "I was younger and stuff happened…"
"But people like her more now" said Sakaki in a defensive manner without even realizing. "Some people are really thankful for what she did" she added before falling silent again.
"A hero?" said Fuka, a question not directed at Tomo. "Do you have adventures…and things like that? All I've ever done is train…but you?"
"I've done quite a few things" said Tomo. "And Sakaki was usually with me too!"
Behind the trio of girls Kimura coughed and made an imitation of looking at the time. Sakaki and Fuka nodded, but Tomo stood wondering if the elder Kimura was going senile. More so.
"Yes?" she asked.
"You aren't the only people I have to meet today Miss Takino" replied the man. "Very shortly some old and grumpy men from a neighbouring village should arrive. It would be best for me to meet them on time. Why don't you show Fuka around the village?" suggested the man.
"Ok" said Tomo. "You're coming with us Fuka!"
"I was planning on it" replied the girl.
"So I'm a replacement?" asked Fuka as they walked along the streets of the village. Many of the buildings have been fixed, the area regenerated. Even with this, there were still small pockets of land that only had rubble and tinder wood still standing on it. Some buildings had not yet been fixed as the owners had not survived the invasion.
"Yeah I guess you could say that" said Tomo, hungrily eyeing one of the food stalls. "You're replacing one of our friends."
"But we aren't annoyed by it or anything like that" said Sakaki quickly and quietly. "I was just saying" she continued as both Tomo and Fuka gave her a similar slightly odd look.
"So your friend…she didn't…she didn't die or something?" asked Fuka apprehensively.
"Yeah" said Tomo. Fuka's face turned to a grave expression.
"Oh I'm sorry- I didn't mean to-"
"Ha! Got you! No she's just injured at the moment and can't really take part in any ninja stuff at all. So she's in bed and you get to join Tomo's team! And Sakaki's too."
"And Kimura's team" said a voice from behind, Tomo jumping slightly before turning around. Kimura stood behind them, clean shaven as always, his tinted glasses in place. The mask he sometimes wore around the bottom half of his face rested around his neck. "Hi" he said waving with one hand.
"Stop sneaking up on me like that!" said Tomo.
"Ah hello, you must be the new person?" asked Kimura, ignoring the irate Tomo.
"Yes sir" said Fuka nodding while stepping away from Tomo slightly.
"Ah it's so nice to see that my new team member is a girl. And such a beautiful one at that" he stated, his voice turning dreamy like Osaka.
"I think we're losing him to fantasy" said Tomo.
"What do we do?" asked a slightly perturbed Fuka.
"We could always try THIS!" said Tomo stomping down on one of Kimura's feet. The man instantly snapped out of short skirted fantasy and back to the real world with a faint yelp.
"What did you do that for?" he asked.
"Bringing you back to the real world Kimura" replied Tomo. "Just glad to help."
"But I was so much happier there."
"This is normal right?" whispered Fuka to Sakaki. The tall girl merely nodded.
"I tell you what, as a bonding experience we should got and get something to eat together" said Kimura. "However the place I want to go has this rule about having to wear short skirts and-"
Tomo shook her head, Sakaki lowered hers and Fuka looked confused.
"Fine we'll go to the "normal" one" said the now grumpy teacher. Without another word he turned and chose to walk down another side alley. Tomo followed him, Sakaki and Fuka pausing before quickly realising that they were meant to be on the move.
They continued on in silence, Fuka walking alongside Sakaki. Both found themselves wanting to break the silence, but Fuka couldn't think of anything to say while Sakaki found she was unable to say anything. Once or twice they looked at each other, one smiling and the other doing so before looking away awkwardly. A few times the passing villagers seemed to recognize some of the group, waving at Kimura and Tomo. A smaller number did so to Sakaki, while none recognized Fuka, the newcomer.
"Are we there yet?" asked Tomo.
"Yeah we are actually" said Kimura pushing open a door. He waited for the three girls to enter before finally stepping inside himself.
Some time later...
Tomo leant back, groaning slightly as she held her stomach. Fuka glanced across at the empty bowls and then back to Tomo.
"Oh why am I feeling like this?" groaned Tomo.
"That's probably your problem" said Fuka pointing to the pile of bowls.
The door opening caught their attention, with the exception of Tomo who was focusing her energy and concentration on keeping her food down. A diminutive man marched across to Kimura and whispered something to him. He then bowed slightly and turned to leave.
"What was that?" asked Sakaki.
"It seems we have a new mission" said Kimura. "Looks like we'll be seeing how you perform out in the field Fuka."