Wind blew across the fresh-cut grass, blowing over the ground and the folds of the rolling wooded hills. The stone-black road wound through the forest. A dull golden light pierced through the trees, striking the edge of the wooded land and the bright trees.
The black-haired girl yawned as she walked through the forest. One hand fell to her side, touching a pouch by her side. Her deep black eyes, the color of shadows on the ground at noon, flickered to the side warily.
Leaves dropped from overhead. A beautiful day in the Hidden Leaf marked itself by its sunshine, shining upon the leaves like thousands of ryō in the star-marked sky. A leaf dropped on the black-haired girl's head.
Flicking the leaf out of her hair, the black-haired girl stated wearily, "Jeez, what a drag." She glanced around, rubbing her hair. "I wonder where my aunt lives again." She walked forward, her ankle twisting on a rock. "Oh, no!" She quickly knelt down toward the injury, reaching toward the pouch at her side for a set of linens.
The wind blew across the grass, sending a few bits of dirt up in the air and flying around the pair on the hill. The sun struck the edge of the grass, turning the hill golden with bright light.
A rather plumper girl on a hill adjusted her binoculars. Though a little sunlight glinted off the side of the glass, only an observant person would notice the alteration in the environment. The black surface remained hidden beneath the blind of leaves.
"Are you sure this is all right?" a blond-haired boy asked, his eyebrow furrowing. He reached sideways, his fingers preparing to lace together in the opening moves.
"Calm down." The plumper girl dug into a bowl of ice cream with a prepared spoon. "We'll get this taken care of." She swallowed the large spoonful of ice cream with a wide smile.
"Well. O—okay." The boy looked down, his expression sad. He stared at the ground once more.
"Sorry. I know you don't like that kind of thing. But working with Tayuya-onee-chan helped you a little, right?" The girl set the ice cream to one side. She looked firmly at the boy.
The boy pressed his fingers together briefly. "Yeah. She's a good story reader. But sometimes she's scary, too."
The girl adjusted her binoculars. A look of alertness appeared in her eyes. "Someone's moving."
The bushes rustled behind the black-haired girl. A twig snapped beneath the booted foot of the moving form.
The black-haired girl whistled. Seemingly completely ignorant of the danger, she continued down the path.
"Hand over your valuables!" a rough voice ordered. A bearded bandit emerged from the bushes, pushing aside the foliage to the left side of the path once more. He held a knife in hand and raised one pair of jade knuckles in the other.
The black-haired girl screamed in a high-pitched voice. Her eyes widened in terror once more. She turned around, covering her cheeks in shock.
The two shinobi started down the hill.
Water rushed over the path. The ground darkened with mud. A wavering passage of expelled water led backward along the path.
The bandit's eyes widened as he stared at a tall, dark figure.
A prison of pure water surrounded the man as the figure held out their hand.
The black-haired girl turned around. What? "Who're you?" she demanded of the tall kunoichi standing across from her.
"WHIRLWIND BULLET!" a loud voice shouted. A ball of wind energy plunged into the robber's chest, breaking the water enclosure.
The robber flew several feet. His eyes widened as he slammed against the tree. The robber fell to his knees at the impact. Eyes wide, he stared at the blond ninja in front of him. "Who are you?"
"Hey! Sasuke, you really got stronger!" Brushing back his hair, Naruto grinned. "You don't mind if I ask how you trained, right?"
"I did my thing. You did yours. You got." Sasuke looked up and down Naruto's body. Her eyes briefly lingered on Naruto's more muscular midsection. Her cheeks flushed. She ran her hand through her long, twisting hair. "Taller," she finished.
Clouds swept across the sky. Slowly, darkness crept across the ground, covering the once-sunny day. Rain pattered against the muddy ground.
"How soon did you get back?"
"Just now. Well, to be fair, I got back a few days ago. I just got back from practicing." Sasuke cleared her throat. "Um. The weather is nice."
"Sure is beautiful," Naruto agreed. He smiled, running his hand through his blond hair. "Rain isn't bad sometimes."
I hope he won't object. Sasuke cleared her throat. Her expression grew more serious. Her eyes glanced downward. "Do you mind coming to dinner tonight?"
"Of course not! Since we're celebrating Team Seven reuniting and all, I'll be happy to eat with everyone—"
Sasuke scowled. I was hoping for just the two of us. She glanced over her shoulder briefly.
"Did you just forget I was here?! Hey! Did you?!" the bandit growled, his face growing ugly with anger. He pressed a knife toward Sasuke's back.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Shut up." Her foot spun in a circle. Her sandal drove into the bandit's face.
The bandit flew backward through the air. He landed against a nearby tree. Gasping, he clutched his chest, his expression shocked.
The black-haired girl sighed. How troublesome. Well, it's done, anyway.
Naruto's eyes widened. "Is he okay?" he asked quickly.
"Fine." Sasuke paused. "I didn't even kick that hard, really."
Maybe that's some kind of secret taijutsu technique. Rrgh. Blast you, Sasuke! I'll catch up somehow or other! Naruto clenched his fist.
"Anyway, if you insist, we can see the others." Sasuke scowled, rubbing her temples. She glanced toward the black-haired girl. "This was probably your job. Sorry about that." She bowed fluidly, her posture every bit that of a boy. "I'm Sasuke. My friend here is Naruto. It's rare seeing a bandit out here."
"The world is darker than it used to be." The black-haired girl grinned. "Well, I guess it was expected, huh? I'll let sensei know." She hurried up the hill toward the pair sitting there.
"Kids." Sasuke rubbed her head. Her expression grew sour. "No respect. Couldn't you at least introduce yourself?" She glanced toward Naruto. "Well, I guess we better get started with this again."
"Why do you sound so disappointed? I thought you'd be happy to meet with the others again," Naruto muttered. He scratched his head.
"Well, you seem to have grown up in a proper way. It's what might be called the way that shinobi should grow up. Granted, you're still you. Dead last and what not." Sasuke sighed. "But I definitely prefer that to the other one."
"The other one?" Naruto questioned, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Yahoi!" A white-haired woman waved, running forward. Her large breasts bounced as she charged the pair. "Naruto-kun, you really have gotten quite strong! Yeah!" She reached outward, her arms wrapping around Naruto's waist.
Naruto frowned. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember a ninja this pretty. Who are you?"
The woman's lip stuck out. "I'm Kōju, of course!" She tapped the enormous sword at her back. "I got my new sword and everything!"
"Uh-huh." Naruto nodded briefly. "So. Um, could you let go of me?" He briefly ran his fingers along his side.
"Maybe, in a bit." Kōju grinned broadly. "Not yet, though!"
"That's one of the problems that's arisen." Sasuke fell into an even pace. Her hands stuffed into her pockets.
"What's the other?"
"Nōtō-san settled down."
"You have got to be kidding me." Naruto scowled. "That old geezer? He's in the prime of life!"
Sasuke sighed. "I don't mean with a wife or something. He's just cooking fish and teaching in the academy."
"So basically he gave up on living, huh? Bastard. I oughta go beat him up," Naruto muttered under his breath.
"Yeah. Go get 'em. I'm sure that with all this new training any of us could take him." Sasuke rolled her eyes. She sighed. "Right now, everyone's advanced to the rank of chūnin except for us." Sasuke paused. "Of the people that participated in that exam."
"Huh?!" Naruto's eyes widened.
"Don't be an idiot. Rank isn't everything." Sasuke scowled. "For example, in comparison to everyone else in our class, I'm a lot stronger now. Even Shikamaru-san's not an equal for me."
Naruto's eyes narrowed. He frowned. "Look, I can't become Hokage unless I get the other thing first. But really it's not good enough. If I'm strong, even if I'm stronger than any Hokage, it's no good!"
"We're holding chūnin exams over in Hidden Cloud soon. Maybe we could go watch?"
Naruto's eyes widened. "That's it. Let's participate! Let's join in and run through the exam quickly!"
"Moron." Sasuke sighed. "The time for signing up is past." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Having said that was the case, I wouldn't object to sparring with either of you sometime soon."
Kōju threw her thumb up in the air. Well done, Sasuke-chan~! You're a lot closer to pinning him down now! She raised her hand. "I'd do it too!"
Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. "Not that I'm angry, or anything, but shouldn't we wait? Sparring should come after we get some food and everything. Plus we probably have missions to do."
Kōju's excitement faded rapidly. She cleared her throat, looking down. Her arm wrapped around her shoulder, massaging some of the tension.
When'd he grow a brain?! Sighing, Sasuke yawned. Whatever. I guess if the time isn't right I shouldn't push it. "Fine. Let's stop by one of the food places. There's a new one serving Hidden Rain cuisine near here."
Kōju blinked. "Eh?"
"Contrary to popular belief, yes, they do have cuisine—" Sasuke started.
"No, that's not it. After Hidden Rain got damaged by the civil war, wouldn't it be hard to export the cuisine here?"
"They left in the middle of that. That's why." Sasuke paused. "According to the owners, anyway."
"Oi! Don't tell me you forgot me that early!" a loud voice shouted. "I'm coming too to this big thing, you know!"
Sasuke sighed. "No. I didn't forget. I just didn't want you to join us." She turned rapidly. "Well, if you'd ditch the dominatrix gear, maybe you'd be all right."
Tayuya scowled. The black leather gear covered her skin, wrapping tightly around the base of her body. Scrolls wrapped around the back of the outfit. A black headband wrapped around her crimson hair. "What's wrong with it?"
Naruto stared flatly at the outfit. His eyebrow rose. He touched his forehead, sweat dripping down his forehead.
"Excuse me? Well, I mean, as a shinobi, why the hell would you build weaknesses like buckles into an outfit?" Sasuke demanded in a harsh tone.
Tayuya's eyebrows furrowed. "If I'm doing my job right, I'm not in hand-to-hand to begin with," she stated flatly.
"So! Dinner?" Kōju asked brightly, interjecting her presence in the ongoing argument and attempting to prevent it. "I've always felt that Hidden Rock is the best at making food."
"I'll grant you that chicken is preferable, or that kind of thing, but I don't like that spongy bread they use." Naruto frowned. "Well, we did eat there once or twice, so."
The quartet walked down the road, arguing in vivid life.