Heeey! I'm back (again – you didn't even have time to miss me, did you:D)
I have some things you need to read though before you dive into the new chapter.
IMPORTANT:
1. I don't make a habit of scolding my readers, because I'm more than grateful that you read and even comment. Still, to all those who keep PMing me and commenting about Haruno Sayuri's name: please stop spamming me with personal messages about it!
Yes, I've called her by a different name once, because I changed it a few times and overlooked that one. But I can't believe you keep remembering that one slip up every time she appears again, while at the same time completely overlooking how I've been consistently calling her 'Sayuri' since then.
Stop PMing me about such nonsense! It obviously serves no purpose and I don't find it funny in the least.
I repeat: I fixed it.
2. People keep asking me about Itachi, so here I go: If you remember, Itachi turns up pretty late in the manga too. In this fic it's about 3 more years before his first cannon appearance. Neither Hisana nor Sasuke have currently any reason to go looking for him. I do have a plan – don't worry, I didn't forget about him:D
Despite the fact that Kohaku-sensei is pretty much the furthest thing from a Kakashi, 'teamwork' is a lesson he hammers into their skulls with the all the force of a demolition ball. After nearly four weeks she knows her teammates not only by their footsteps and their chakra signature, she can also distinguish them by their scents and breathing patterns.
Only then, at the end of their first months together, he announces their first mission.
"We will be away for a while," he warns them, "so remember to pack accordingly."
"How long exactly?" Sora enquires and is met with a calculating look.
"Two days at least."
The boys can barely contain their excitement.
"Our first mission!" Sora crows. "Can you believe it? Finally we're doing some real ninja work!"
"I can't believe Sensei thinks we're ready," Mitsuharu sighs happily, "I thought he'd get us killed before we make it anywhere near the mission desk."
"You do know," she cautions, "that we're getting D-rank missions first? They're nothing but glorified chores."
"I don't even care. At least we're doing something and we're getting payed ~"Sora cheers.
"Oh that's right," she remembers, "We're getting payed. This is my first paycheck all to myself – I don't even know what I'm going to do with it."
"Eh – don't you have spending money?" Mitsuharu aks. "I always thought as an Uchiha …"
He trails off uncomfortably.
"Well," she allows, "I do get a stipend. But it's all for groceries and ninja gear."
"I know that feeling," Sora commiserates, "I've got a big family and my old man's not making much. I'm probably going to fork over most of it, but hey – every ryo counts, right?"
They amble down the main road only half keeping an eye out for supply stores.
Hisana herself possesses only a set of blunted practice kunai and shuriken each. But no matter how inconsequential the mission, using them would be unprofessional. According to Ito-sensei you could never be careful enough; being caught unaware with no usable weapon could mean your death.
There are no ninja shops on the mainstreet, but on the side streets. There's supposedly a system to it, but Hisana hasn't quite managed to figure out what it is.
Mitsuharu seems to know where he's going though. He takes a sharp turn left and they simply follow him.
There's always an obvious difference between 'ninja streets' and 'civilian street'. Both are narrow and mostly dimly lit, but places ninjas frequent are often far cleaner and less ornate. Instead of the colorful round awnings and hand painted swinging signs, there are efficiently printed ones and only black-and-white posters of special bargains tacked to the doors.
"Alright, so what do we actually need?" Sora stops them. "I know I need some ninja wire, but what else?"
"Didn't you pay attention in class?" Hisana scolds. "Apart from weapons we need basic med equipment, food and flares. I don't think we'll be leaving Fire Country on the first mission, so cloaks and thick boots won't be necessary yet – a thick, waterproof blanket seems like a good idea though."
"I think we should split up," Mitsuharu suggests. "We'll get the food, you'll get the weapons and all that? I'll tell you my standard model, so that should be fine …"
She nods in agreement. They'd be saving time and she can be sure that everyone really does have everything they'd need. Mitsuharu scribbles down two serial numbers, while Sora just gives her a helpless look.
"I'll take the Konoha standard, I guess? Should be fine."
"You have a standard model?" she hears him ask Mitsuharu as they walk away.
"Well, yes," says the other boy, before launching into a detailed list of pro and cons on different shuriken designs.
She shakes her head in amusement.
Hisana's actually looking forward to the weapon shop the most, which is why she decides to leave it for last. Her mother used to complain that she wasn't fun to shop with, since she's the type to get bored as soon as she has what she really wants.
'You'll get yours last next time,' she'd say everytime. 'So I don't have to listen to your nagging.'
All that, as Mitsuharu put it, leads her to the general equipment shop first. It's a big one, far bigger than it looks from the outside, and for a moment she thinks she might have accidently walked into the wrong store. At first glance it looks like a supermarket, with rows of low shelves, stacked with specialized equipment. There's winter and desert gear, boots that are supposed to be fireproof, gloves of different materials – even special bras for kunoichi, to store weapons and poisons. Above this particular shelf she spies a poster saying, 'For poisons and medical supplies, please enquire at the register'.
Fascinated she inspects a set of razor sharp faux fingernails, before remembering that she actually has a job to do. She grabs three of the level 2 blankets – for Konoha winters – as well as a package of standard emergency flares to share, before making her way over to the counter.
The man behind it is obviously a former shinobi. His left forearm is missing and there's an ugly scar running down his temple, before disappearing into his grizzled beard.
Hisana tries for a polite smile, which nearly slides off her face in amazement as his surly expression neatly turns into a beaming smile.
"Hello Ojou-san! How can I help you?"
Startled she presents the blankets and the flares to him.
"And … I need medical supplies, please. Also, do you have an introductory scroll for poisons?"
As it turns out, no he doesn't. Instead he writes down two titles to borrow from the library for her, before vanishing into a backroom. He returns with three differently colored small packs.
"The navy one is for medics, the black one the standard pack, and the gray one is the standard but for extended missions. Which one do you need?"
She leaves the store with three standard packs, a bag full of emergency supplies, and a certain piece of paper burning a hole in her back pocket. She really wants to go to the library now, but there's really no time before they're leaving tomorrow. Instead she tries to turn her attention to the next stop on her list.
The weapons shop seems quiet and abandoned compared of the bustle of the general equipment shop. There are still people milling about, but the storefront's size simply doesn't allow for many customers at once.
There's a young woman behind the counter, loudly chewing gum, who greets her with a wink even while another customer tries to haggle with her about a package of senbon.
"Cheepskate!" she hears the girl curse.
For a while Hisana aimlessly wanders through the store, looking at all the interesting things. The kunai she finds easily enough – even Mitsuharu's fancy ones – as they are simply dumped into neatly labeled boxes.
The shuriken aren't so easy to find. She finally has to ask one of the other shoppers, who giddily shows her a wall hidden behind a folding screen. There's holes drilled into it, labeled with serial numbers. The other shopper, an older boy, reaches into one of the holes and pulls out a wooden pole carrying the shuriken.
"Cool, right?" he says excitedly. "They had them installed after some civilian kid nearly cut his fingers off."
"No accidents yet with the kunai?" she asks, only half joking.
"Dunno; I figure the owner thinks if you manage to cut yourself on a kunai you deserve it or something – after all there's a handle and all."
She takes some of the Konoha standard again, and a few of Mitsuharu's specialized ones. They look nasty, with barbs at the tips and serrated edges. They're a little lighter than hers, Hisana realizes as she weighs them in her hand. Probably handle differently too.
The most interesting thing by far though are in a backroom that she can only enter after showing chewing-gum-girl her identification.
She's never been to a weapon shop. Her family was never a fan of them, so the closest she's ever gotten before landing in Konoha were the dulled decorative katana her sister's boyfriend brought from a business trip to Japan. She remembers being awed, sheathing and unsheathing them, just to hear the metallic sound it made.
She must have been around sixteen back then, right in the middle of her Naruto-phase.
So while the small weaponry is all very entertaining, she's far more interested in the big one.
In contrast to the storefront, there is no mass production here; every model is displayed by a single exemplar, the rest is neatly stored away.
There's an ornate Katana propped up on a rack. Something that looks like a cross between a battle axe and a pick axe is mounted on the wall; a poster above says, 'Foldable!'.
There's more: Bokken of different woods; several pairs of daggers, ranging from plain to intricately designed; something spear-like – she keeps forgetting the name – that boasts trenches to make blood cleanly run off.
"Aren't you a little young for this?" a girl by the katana snips.
"Aren't you a little old to be nasty to kids?" she deadpans.
The girl turns away in a huff.
Hisana watches two shinobi debating the pro and cons of two different tanto.
"It's just for one mission," one of them says, exasperated, as if he's repeated it several times already. "I think we can do with a maru for one, lousy c-rank mission."
"Yes, of course – until someone decides to take a swing at us and slices through this piece of scrap metal like butter," hisses his blonde friend.
The other man shushes him.
"Don't talk like that about Madoka-chan's work; she'll kick us out and then we have to go shop at Genta-jiji's. That old man's a genius, but his work's really gone to the dogs with the arthritis."
"Hey," she says; the men stiffen and throw her shifty looks. "Who do I need to talk to about katana?"
Blondie relaxes.
"That would be Madoka-chan at the counter. You're a beginner, right? Might have to make an appointment."
Behind him his friend is sneakily shuffling the swords around, letting the more expensive one disappear back into a closet and taking a cheaper one.
Hisana thanks him and makes her way out of the room.
"Hey," it echoes behind her, "you think you can sneak me a toy sword and I won't notice?"
She grins. Ninjas are a weird bunch. Now that she has the opportunity to watch them in their private moments, they've lost a lot of their intimidation factor.
They're people – killers on the job, but not monsters. It's a little closer to what she thought of them before her death, but this time backed by real life experience. She's more than eager to experience the rest of ninja real life now.
Swords are supposed to become Sasuke's deal, so she feels a little bad for considering stealing his thunder. But she really wants to at least try and learn the basics. Most ninjas know the basics, she tells herself. Just to see what it's like. She throws a longing look at sleek looking oodachi and goes to search 'Madoka-chan'.
'Madoka-chan' introduces herself as Goya Madoka. Despite her young age she appears to be a popular weaponsmith.
"I'm the weaponsmith," she grins, "though that's prob'ly nothin' much ta boast about; my only competition's an old dude with the arthritis and the cheapskate two streets ova – only uses third rate material, if ya can believe it."
When Hisana tentatively asks for an appointment, the girl only laughs at her.
"Sweetie," she says, "ya know how many beginners I get ev'ry month? One. Mabbe two or three after graduation week. Kenjutsu's a dyin' art; senbon an' daggers are where it's at. I'm not sendin' away any hopefuls, or all my best payin' customers will'a died off in a few years."
Hisana's not sure what to make of this information. On one hand it eases her mind a little, because she'd be keeping something important alive, something Goya seems pretty enthusiastic about; on the other hand it would most definitely be weird if Sasuke and she decided to specialize in sword art. Or at least noteworthy. Would that be a bad thing?
"Have a sensei yet?" Goya asks. "'Cause this is definit'ly somethin' ya gonna need a sensei for."
"For the basics, I think so, yes."
The girl looks her up and down with a frown.
"Gimme ya arm," she says, pulling a measuring tape out of her back pocket. "How old're ya? Which side ya gonna favor?"
There's a barrage of questions she has to answer before Goya is satisfied.
"Ya tall for ya age,"she says, "that can go one a' two ways: either ya gonna keep shootin' up like a weed, so you're gonna have ta keep buyin' new stuff; or ya gonna get stuck at this size. Wouln't risk it; keep stickin' with the cheaper stuff 'till ya sure ya not gonna grow anymore."
She pulls out a bokken from one of the stands and experimentally holds it to Hisana's shoulder.
"This one," she finally says, "not gonna want ta use a sword in battle right away. Lots a' practice first."
It's a nice bokken; relatively plain, but of dark wood and a smooth hilt that lies nicely in her hand. '3.600 ryo' says the price tag, which is far more than she can spare.
"Don't worry," Goya says, patting her head, "like I said, it's not like someone's gonna come an' snatch this one up. Ya come back when ya got paid."
Yes, she'd do that. Hisana throws a last longing look at the bokken, before she hands Goya the kunai and shuriken.
"I'll just take these ones then. And some ninja wire, please."
When she meets up with the boys they wear the same wistful look she must be sporting.
"This is great," Mitsuharu sighs, "there's so much stuff to see. There was this girl peeling oranges with neko-te. Or this huge guy carring an ono around."
Sora snickers.
"I had to take him by the arm at one point, because he kept wandering off."
They shuffle their purchases around; Sora shoves a bag of packaged food into her hands. They awkwardly bid their good-byes for the day. Tomorrow is going to start especially early, and there's still Sasuke whom she needs to catch before he goes to sleep.
Info
'Maru' is a sword forged from a single slab of hard metal – it's the cheap sort.
3.600 ryo are about 36.000 yen (that's around 300 USD or 250 €).
'Neko-te' are metal claws that can be attached to the fingers.
An 'ono' is a battle axe.
Because I've been asked Shizuha's and Shiki's names: -rin/rin und –chi/chi are variations of –chan (see "euphonic suffixes"). They can be either added with a hyphen or integrated into the name (Shizu-rin = Shizurin); I've actually used one before (Hisana-chi = Hisachi)