A young woman strode through the desolate streets of a forsaken village in the northern reaches of the Land of Earth. She wore a raincoat and her eye-catching red high-heeled shoes turned heads as curious gazes followed her. With an open newspaper obscuring her face, she disappeared around a corner, leaving the villagers to speculate about the fashion choices of the woman they had glimpsed, instead of the true purpose behind her appearance.
Abruptly, she dropped to her knees and tapped the ground beneath her, her signal receiving a hollow metallic echo. Swiftly, the sewer cover was lifted by a figure hiding in the shadows of the inside. She jumped into the darkness below. Discarding her fancy coat and blonde wig into the murky waters, she navigated the labyrinthine pipes, a second pair of echoing steps behind her until the two shinobi reached a critical juncture.
She was 5'7, lean and fit, with tan skin and long black hair, braided with red thread almost reaching her knees. He was equally 5'7, dark blonde hair and wearing a green nagagi and a pendant hanging from his ear. Their plan had carried them this far, but now it was a game of chance.
She chose left, an instant, unspoken decision borne from the idea that villains could never be right. As they continued, they entered a vast chamber lined with tanks, each holding eerie secrets. With cautious steps, she avoided a wire trap, only to trigger a second one exactly where she had stepped.
"Katon: Silent Fire Flower no Jutsu!" She mouthed, the fiery projectiles coming from the woman collided with serpentine threats, reducing them to scorched remains. The acrid smell churned her stomach, before Tomoki could grasp it in its Air style and solidified it. Orochimaru would never leave a secret lair unprotected, it seemed.
Or any of his experiments, really. They were living proof of that.
The small pebble of odor fell rattling towards the floor. The sound of clapping cut through the silence. Standing up, she sighed, her frustration evident as she struck a pose, a vein pulsing on her forehead.
"At last, you arrive," The voice of their master came from a chair, where he sat with his feet up on the desk.
"Seriously, Tomoki?" By her side, her partner shrugged sheepishly with embarrassment, before she turned to the old man. "Try doing all that in heels while keeping silent, old man, and we'll see how it goes for you." She pointed playfully before discarding her uncomfortable shoes. She hoped the snake had no penchant for heels.
She shook her head one last time at the man, before walking towards Master Jiraiya to peek over his shoulder.
"Have you found anything?"
"Hn." She tilted her head, attempting to decipher the documents in his hands. Tomoki walked closer and leaned over her shoulder.
"It appears that our old friend Orochimaru has acquired allies within the Leaf."
"A spy." Tomoki frowned, taking note of the stolen official documents from Orochimaru's personal desk. While the man reached for them, Jiraiya handed the rest to her, her eyes quickly scanning its contents, before her jaw set hard.
"Did you know about this?"
"I'm afraid so."
"And when were you planning to inform me about the complete annihilation of a clan?" Her voice remained composed, but her gaze turned piercing as she raised an eyebrow, glancing at Jiraiya. "One of my friendswasan Uchiha, you know?"
Tomoki perked at this, moving his eyes from the written words and towards her face.
"You're missing the point here." Jiraiya muttered. "Why would Orochimaru be interested in the Uchiha Massacre?" Jiraiya challenged, his arms crossed. " Question for extra points."
"Oh! Oh!" Tomoki waved his open palm in the air.
"I- I don't know." She responded. "Given his nature, perhaps he intends to desecrate their graves and steal their Sharingan?"
"Good try! It's unsettling how quickly you concocted that idea. Never suggest it in his presence; he might take it as a challenge." Jiraiya chuckled before resuming his search. "Tomoki?" Her brow furrowed in contemplation looking up at the young man.
"Well, according to this report, there was a sole survivor: the clan's young heir." Nori's gaze was lost in the air, and noticing it, Tomoki hesitated: "Could he be linked to Orochimaru's interests?"
"I don't doubt it, I take it for granted. Itisusually the heirs." Jiraiya sighed with a pointed look, before leaving to search further into the abandoned laboratory's contents. " Isn't it, Nori?" He called without looking back.
Nori turned her attention to the photograph of a scared-looking boy named Sasuke Uchiha, studying his features.
"Does he look like your old friend?" Tomoki asked her dubiously. Staring at Sasuke's youthful visage, a surge of anger churned within her, accompanied by a cold sweat on her brow.
"No." She responded curtly. Tomoki tilted his head.
"He's... just a kid," she murmured, noting his very young age.
"At that age you were fighting in the war." Tomoki observed aloud, but she was only half listening. Looking at Sasuke's photo, she couldn't shake off the unease that sensei's insight proved right; Orochimaru had a fascination with descendants.
A yellow paper on the floor diverted her attention. She walked to kneeling and picked it up: a flier.
"What is it?" Nori's gaze remained fixed on her discovery.
"I think I've found something... Tomoki, call sensei! I found something!" The young man returned with a hurried Jiraiya to his side, who knelt to examine the paper as well.
"Hmm... this isn't good." The old man mused.
"Sasuke Uchiha?" Nori suggested, holding up the flier.
"The contents of the file indicate he should be twelve by now." Tomoki said with realization.
"Likely participating." Nori narrowed her eyes.
"It tells us something, doesn't it? The Snake is returning to Konoha. After all these years." Jiraiya concluded..
Nori stood up, her gaze focused on him.
"But we've been tracking him for years. Does this mean-"
"Aye." Jiraiya stood, cracking his neck. "It's time." He looked down to the young woman. "Ready for the journey back, kid? We're heading home." With a reassuring pat on her shoulder, he walked away, leaving Nori lost in thought.
After a silent beat, Tokomi jumped on his place.
"We're going to Konoha?!"
Nori sent him a hard stare, before walking away.
She had grown so much in the past 12 years. Physically. Mentally. Her health was stable most of days. And yet... she looked down to her right hand fingers, where a paleness had started to steal the life and color off her skin.
Her worries hung in the air as she sprinted after Jiraiya, a cold sweat tracing her forehead. The past awaited, and with it, the resurgence of a life she thought she had left behind.
THE PAST
On a day like any other, Nori Yubokumin laid staring at the sky, immersed in thoughts on whether Mama looked down at her from above, searching for her face in the clouds and questioning the flying birds on why she had to pass away.
After a while, thegirl pulled out an old dusted scroll from the library and continued her reading when she heardthem:shinobi coming into the training fields. She groaned under her breath for the specific tree branch in which she laid was, after the village's neglected library, her favorite spot. That is, until genin walked by, when things became too noisy.
She turned upside down on her belly, her cheek squashed over the wood. She sighed defeatedly, a hanging spy hidden in the leaves. Her brows perked with interest at the sight of Rin Nohara. Her head tilted, pitch black hair cascading down the side of the branch, before she manually reached for it to keep herself hidden from the invaders.
"It seems Obito is running late again, sensei." Rin said from the ground and Nori had to blink twice. She could've bet the man wasn't standing with the two genin a moment ago.
"I wonder what stupid excuse he will come up with this time." Rin's companion replied coldly to her with his arms crossed. From up on the tree, Nori open and closed her palm mimicking his words with annoyance. She had just seen the silver haired boy and already disliked him.
"Did I forget to mention the hour we would be meeting today, guys?" The Yellow Flash sounded her chin now leaning on her extended arm, Nori wondered what type of legendary hero Rin Nohara must have been in a past life to be placed on agenin team with thebestsensei of Konoha.
"You didn't."
"It's just- Obito, he's always-" Rin hesitated.
"I'm here!" The new arrival caught Nori's interest.
This is Rin's team, huh? Those losers she never stops talking about... Nori was disappointed, none of them other than Minato Namikaze were worthy to stare at. The grumpy pants had half of his face covered and the only interesting thing about the other dork was the Uchiha emblem on his clothes and whatever mysteries laid inside the rucksack he carried.
Obito, eh?
"I'm sorry for... the tardiness!" Said dork gasped out of breath. "I am so-so sorry," He came to a stop right beneath Nori. "but while I was on my way here, I met this old lady who lost her left eye-" Nori perked up on her seat, eyes shining. " I got caught up helping her find-"
"Save your stories for later, Obito." The boy with silver hair snapped and Nori hissed quietly, stomping a hand over the tree bark. Now, she would never know whatever was of One-Eyed Lady. "Our training has been delayed as it is."
"Kakashi, it was only a few minutes..." Rin justified.
"In any case, Obito pleasedotry to be on time tomorrow. Kakashi, did you bring the materials I asked for?" The sensei got a simple nod as reply. "Rin?"
"Yes, Minato sensei." The girl raised a summoning scroll.
"Obito?"
"Er..." The boy with goggles made the silver haired one sigh heavily. "Oh, yes, yes, I did! I brought the bombs!"
Nori groaned into her arms at the mention of the word.Bombs, explosive and noisybombs, just what she needed.
"Perfect! Then, we should get started. First of all, let us find somewhere else to do this. I wouldn't want to make anyone uncomfortable with our presence."
"Too late for that." Nori scoffed to herself.
"Is it truly? I'm deeply sorry."
Nori felt herself slip from the branch as she jerked around, barely managing to regain stability. As shinobi, this shouldn't have happened to her, but she had to give it to the man that he knew how to sneak up on you. For good reason, even she had heard of the legend in the flesh.
Nori frowned looking down at Rin, her team and professor on the ground and then up towards the same blonde man with blue eyes sitting on the same branch as her.
"Got you." He smiled with amusement. "Now, you have to come down, Nori. Mmh?"
She closed her mouth (that had opened at some point) wondering how come he knew her name and how long had he known about her presence up there.
In any case, he was right, she'd been caught and as the loser she'd obey her sensei captor. She grunted in affirmation, before following after the man off the branch just as Minato Namikaze from the ground, said:
"We have company."
Nori and the second sensei landed right next to the boy with googles who shrieked at the sight of them, jumping back in defensive position.
"How-?!" Before he could shriek the entire question the Minato that had been with them the entire time vanished with a poof. "Oh! That makes more sense..."
"And here I was certain mine was the clone." Nori puckered her lips, crossing her arms.
"Nori-chan!" Rin gasped delighted at seeing her. "What are you doing out here?!" Rin had a thought, before pushing her in the middle of the group. "Team, this is my sister, Nori-chan! The one I've told you about!"
"Sisters? But you look nothing al-oof!" The air left Obito's lungs as the other boy stabbed him in the gut with a sharp elbow.
"She'sadopted." Heglanced sideways at Obito, before his dark eyes went back to Nori with an irked brow. "Rin mentioned it." He justified himself.
"Oh," Obito hesitated before nodding. "right. They took you in..."
"Hn." Nori looked from boy to boy and then to Rin. "Nice of her to have mentioned that." Sensing the half-covered, stoic face meticulously scanning her as she'd seen many faces around the village do, Nori straight up grimaced in return, no filter, before looking away at the voice of Rin.
"What were you doing up there?"
Nori took her time to wonder herself, looking up to the branch, as if a reasonable answer was written in the bark.
"Hiding away from my team." She nodded.
"Is that a practice game?" Obito asked her, leaning down on his knees as if she were so much more shorter than him. She wasn't, therefore her irkness radiated for it.
"No." Her blank eyes never leaving Obito's made him grow uncomfortable and take a step back.
Considering the teacher's presence, she turned to him and fell to her knees, forehead touching the ground.
"I didn't meant to interrupt your training, I apologize..."
"Wahh, Nori, there's no need for that!" Minato Namikaze shook his hands quickly, with a sheepish face adorning his handsome girl looked up at him and then at Rin, already helping her up.
"But Rin saysthe way of the Leafis to show respect to our senseis."
"A simple bow will do." Rin told her blinked once and pulled away from her touch.
"Right." The girl paused, and sighed disappointed at herself for the mistake. "I should be going-"
"You could join us for the day if you want. You are always welcome in our practice, Nori." Minato said with a smile that made his eyes disappear. "That way we're getting even teams."
Nori stood still at the foreign warmness of the until-not-so-recently acquaintance.
That would make us five...She thought.
"Thanks for the invitation sensei, but I humbly have to refuse." She added a slight bow. She looked at each of his students with a neutral expression. "I don't believe I'd be able tokeep upwith your team'sevidentsuperior level."An almost imperceptible twitch in the uncovered eye of the silvered hair boy, provoked by the hint of irony in the air coming from someone younger, went unnoticed by everyone except, perhaps, Minato.
"Our Nori-chan is humble!" Rin stepped in, raising her hands to apologize for her, while Nori's brows shot to the sky at her description of her. "But shereallyisreally reallygood if only a bit-"
"Currently unavailable-"
"Unmotivated for now." Rin ignored Nori's interruption and grinned, making Nori pout again. "I am sure she could put up a good fight against Kakashi if she tried."
"Unmotivated, me..." Nori bickered, looking away and gasped. "Would you look at that?!" It being the first time the quiet girl raised her voice and pointed at the distance, it startled everyone's attention in that direction. She looked back at them to hurry her last words: "It was a pleasure to meet you, Rin's team member, Obito, Minato sensei," Nori bowed at the adult and straightened up. By the look of his face, the first person didn't like being reduced to team member #1. "but I think I just caught sight of my path of life, so I better run before it disappears again. "Bye!"
The girl ran away faster than any of the boys would have expected her to be capable of, long black hair flowing in the wind after her, leaving behind an almost imperceptible scent of prairie herbs in the air that Kakashi was able to notice, his nose twitching beneath the mask.
"I see no path of life..." Obito grunted still searching for a visible trail, maybe a golden path illuminated by the sun, before pulling off his goggles to put on a couple of eye drops in his eyes.
"I guess she was in a hurry." Minato sensei sweat-dropped.
"Nori-chan is always in a hurry to get somewhere else, but I'm so happy you got to meet her. She is a special girl, you see?" Rin's face mimicked her sensei's.
"Whatever." Kakashi turned around and began to walk away. "Can we start now?"
THE PRESENT
"And, well?" Jiraiya nervously tapped his fingers together, his eyes fixated on his editor Nori, as he awaited their verdict on the initial draft of his next book. He turned to Tomoki, hoping he could read the woman better than himself, but the young man shrugged as lost as he was.
Unfortunately,The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninjahadn't received the acclaim that both he and Nori had hoped for. This disappointment prompted him to take a new direction, andIcha Icha Paradisehad turned out to be an unexpected triumph, making the creation of a sequel inevitable.
"Please, try not to make too many faces while you read," Jiraiya implored.
"I can't help it. Even when reading a good book, my expressions tend to get the best of me-" Nori responded.
"So, you're implying it's bad?" Tomoki chimed in. Nori rolled her eyes.
"I'm implying that it's..." She began to sweat, searching for the right words. "Oh, dear." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "When did I go from being a children's books editor to editing these- these- these tasteless, explicit adult romances?"
"Hopefully, after the time you became adult?" Tomoki sweat-dropped.
"And, well?" Jiraiya winced under the glare Nori shot his way.
Nori rubbed her temple as her eyes caught sight of the border with the Land of Fire. She returned his draft, though a bit more roughly than intended. Clutching the straps of her travel backpack, she muttered to herself:
"And now, we make our escape."
"NORI, WAIT!"
"Ah, curse it all..." Jiriya bickered before following the two young people.
He raced after them, leaping from branch to branch through the woods on their journey. She showed no mercy for either Tomoki or him, pushing forward for hours on end. The two men even contemplated shooting an ninjutsu attack to slow her down, but hours later even he left the slower boy behind. Eventually, she paused, citing the need for a bathroom break.
"Nori..." Jiriya sang out teasingly, swaying from side to side.
"What?" her voice snapped from out of sight.
"Well, well, someone's feeling bold. I remember when you used to address me asYes, Jiraiya-sama,No, Jiraiya-sama-"
"I used to call youold manas well."
"I see that part hasn't changed," Tomoki said arriving to the clearing, slightly out of breath. "What did I miss?"
Jiraiya grumbled, a vein throbbing on his forehead, just as Nori came out, and he shot a glare at Tomoki.
"We're just discussing the literary world's great mysteries."
"Do you want constructive criticism?" Nori quipped with faked kindness. "It's tacky, Jiraiya! T-A-C-K-Y-"
"Ouch." Tomoki muttered.
"Tacky, got it?" She continued, "I'll do my best, but it's challenging to work with such a male-perspective view in a book intended for middle-aged women. Honestly, I still can't fathom howIcha Icha Trashwas better received thanThe Gutsy Ninja..."
Tomoki chuckled covering his mouth.
"Icha Icha Trash-" He stopped when noticing the deadly stare from sensei. He cleared his throat. "Well,Icha Icha Paradisedoes have a certain allure, I suppose." He winced at the second glare he now received from the woman. "Not that I ever read it! I-poof- I don't read stuff like that." He said quickly.
"Will you make my vision come true?" Jiraiya's eyes welled with mock tears as he pouted and rubbed his face, his shoulders slumping.
"I'll give it my all, but I'm no miracle worker, my friend." Nori rubbed her temples before beginning to walk.
"You seemed pretty adept at working one with your appearance back there," Jiraiya said with a a sly, fox-like look.
Nori's trait activated. Her hair spiking up like a porcupine served as his signal to flee. He crackled with a booming belly-laugh as he ran for dear life.
"Er-" She raised a hand to stop Tomoki.
"Save it." She grunted, before stomping her feet away.
THE PAST
She sat still, hiding the underbags after a difficult night, and specifically herself, from the muttering passerbys, behind a scroll. While seating on a bench she kept waiting for Rin who'd left to buy scones of ice cream for them. She knew how a little of sweetness was enough to turn some of Nori's worst days into the best.
"Hey, parasite!"
Nori looked up and over her shoulder to see the two girls walking towards her. She looked around herself, searching for the poor sod being called names and curious on whether they deserved to. Fortunately for her, Mama had been beautiful and, she supposed, her father must have been as well. She shouldn't have to worry about issues like being called things, but as she had come to learn, at Konoha her own perspective andtheirstended to differ.
There was no one else around. She snapped the scroll shut, but other than that kept a stoic face. She stood up slowly, just as they stopped in their tracks, giggling. She took her time to walk to them, chin up.
"What did you call me,ill-favored?" Nori replied.
"I called youparasite." The black haired girl gritted her buck recognized her as one of Rin's classmates back at the Academy, one of her friends, in fact. What was her name again?"That's what you are. Anunwelcomeparasite. A burden."
Nori's hand twitched to her sides. What was that that Rin told her about patience? But Rin wasn't here right now.
"The Noharas probably never wanted to adopt you, you must have forced them into it." The rude kid continued.
"Hikari-" The second girl who'd sensed the dark thick aura coming off the foreigner, tried to pull her by the arm, her eyes growing troubled watching the blank staring Nori. Her hazel eyes caught sight of Ayaka, who winced and looked back to her friend. "Hikari-"
"Who would ever want to adoptyou? I've seenyou, you useless, boring orphan. Moody, always sick, with nothing to offer. Mama said your kind take advantage of good people, such as the Noharas. Your mother must have been so embarrassed of coming begging for help tousthat the best solution she could think of doing was die-"
"Hikari, you're going a bit too-"
"You monopolize Rin as if she's yours and I cannot understand why she would like to spend time with someone likeyou! " The kid yelled with raised tightened fists. "You are not even pretty-!"
That did it.
In the blink of an eye, Nori joined her hands together and then threw a punch, jumpin on top of screamed and yelled for help at the top of her lungs while Nori reached for Hikari's hair. The underdog genin had no chance to fight back as long strands of hair kept her hostage and Nori kept on shaking the girl's head by pulling as if she wanted to rip it out. Hikari howled.
Nori did not stop, until she was forced to. She got pulled away and noticing it was Rin she deactivated hertraitnot to hurt her, while Hikari crawled away before running followed by Ayaka.A crowd had gathered to see the event unfold, but no one ever came close enough to Nori.
"I will tell on you! I will tell my Mama!" Hikari cried over her shoulder. "You hairy monster!"
"Go ahead and I'll come after you." Nori said calmly, dusting her robes off. "As shinobi, the way of the Leaf is to fight your own battles, coward. That's what Rin says-"
"Nori-chan!" Rin kept on pulling her back.
"If you tell your mother I will hide beneath your bed and pull your feet at night." Nori continued raising an accusing finger to the other whimpering genin.
"Nori-chan!"
"I swear on my Mother's grave-" She snarled.
"NORI NOHARA!"Nori snapped out of her trance of rage and turned to Rin, scared with the tone her sister used on her and suddenly growing embarrassed. The kids were gone, but people still stood nearby looking their way.
"What happened? Why would you do that?!"
"She called me ugly."
"Eeeeh?" Rin sweatdropped, unconvinced she had gone to such extents for something so petty. "I don't believe that. What really happened?" Rin held her by the arms and searched for her eyes, while Nori balanced from side to side, looking away, cheeks burning redder beneath the red stripes in her cheeks.
"She... called meparasite." Nori paused in thought, "and that I was taking advantage of your family... She said Mama died of embarrassment for coming to Konoha."Rin's face now burned bright red as well and looked away. Nori irked a brow, tilting her head, noticing her roles had changed.
"Rin?"
Rin began to hyperventilate.
"Rin?"
She covered her face.
"It is my fault!" Rin fell down on her knees in a bow. "I'm sorry, Nori-chan!I'm sorry!"
Was Rin... crying?
"What-"
"Hikari and Ayaka are my friends-weremy friends." She corrected. "I-I-I told them once about your Mother. It was a comment on her passing... I-I-I didn't know they... I-I didn't think they could ever be likethis-"
Like the rest of the village.
Nori pursed her lips staring at her. Rin. Too open, too trustful, almost to a fault. Nori was not... but Rin kept sniffing on her helped her up.
"I don't mind you telling them as much as she calling me ugly."
That girl... Even the purcopine purse Rin's dad bought me is prettier.
"Stop crying, Rin." Nori squirmed uncomfortable and Rin tried to contain her breath and face. They stared at one another for a moment before Rin started to cry again. "Now, what?"
"It hurts to see you lashing like that."Nori raised her chin.
"Some people have it coming. I won't letanyonebring me down." She stomped to make a point. "Besides... it's lots of fun see them scream, you don't need to freak out."
"It's no fun if you're hurting. I can tell you are-"
"I am a foreigner, Rin." She shrugged as if that explained it, before turning towards where the two girls had left towards, concerned those two would rat her out with threw her arms over her shoulders, robbing her attention again. Nori flinched at the contact, keeping her hands in fists to the sides.
"Please... don't ever get into a fight like that on your own." Rin sniffed on her ear and then stepped away. " Hn? Next time, I'll second you. Hn?" Rin asked her, raising a fist in between them.
"You'll help me beat down my enemies?" Nori irked an amazed brow, just as two large shadows appeared, towering over the two children. Rin nodded eagerly, her face still red and tear stained.
"That's what sisters are for."
"Nori Yubokumin." They turned around to see the men in animal masks looking down at her. Nori pouted. She was in trouble.
Again.
THE PRESENT
Kotetsu let out an audible sigh and completed peeling the orange he had been working on for the past 5 minutes before tossing it in Izumo's direction.
"Thanks, man," his partner said with a smile.
"No problem. So, this lady you've been talking about...?" Kotetsu prompted.
"Yeah, she works at the dango shop." Izumo gazed up at the sky and sighed in defeat. "She's too cute, though."
"Izumo, you're not exactly lacking in the looks department, pal." Kotetsu cleared his throat.
"Aw, I appreciate that," Izumo nodded. "I was even thinking of asking Genma for some advice-"
"Trust me, that's not a road you want to go down. Genma's not the best role model for relationships."
"Mm?"
"He's more of the bad-boy type. Only dumb girls dig that these days."
"I see what you mean..."
"On a different note, did you hear about the preliminaries? Hayate told me Guy's kid got seriously injured. He's in pretty bad shape."
"Who, Lee?"
"No, Guy is... but of course, Lee as well."
Izumo groaned.
"Dang..." he dragged out the word. "I had placed a bet on him-"Kotetsu coughed, glancing around to ensure no one had overheard.
"Same here..." He said. "And you won't believe what else happened. Naruto actually won his match."
"Ugh, Naruto..." Both of them groaned simultaneously.
"I guess all of Kakashi's made it to the next round." Izumo stated more than asked.
"Not the girl, no. What was her name again?"
"Sakura Haruno."
"Right, the same."
"Mmm..."
The two guards fell into a brief silence, each lost in thought. Izumo continued munching on his fruit while Kotetsu absentmindedly whistled an old tune he remembered from his grandmother's radio. He was eagerly awaiting the final rounds of this year's Chunin exams. He had enjoyed messing with the participants before the written exam and was eager to do so again.
Abruptly, Izumo grabbed his binoculars.
"Someone's approaching."
"Mm?" Kotetsu gave him a puzzled look.
"Is that..." Izumo shook his head while keeping his gaze fixed on the binoculars."Nah, no way..."
"Who?"
"Could it be...?"
"Izumo?"
"Oh my! It is..." Izumo burst into a fit of mad laughter before dropping the binoculars and vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"Who was it?" Kotetsu shouted, reaching for the binoculars before they hit the ground."Idiot..." he muttered as he dusted them off and brought them up to his eyes.
Through the lenses, he spotted a trio of figures emerging from the forest and heading their way. One was unmistakably Jiraiya-sama, if his memory served him right from his chunin years, although the Sannin looked a bit beaten-up. The other was a complete stranger and the third a woman, with lustrous, lengthy hair that even appeared to shine from a distance as she walked a few steps ahead.
"Well, well... This should lift Guy and Kakashi's spirits. Nori Nohara is back."