[Akamine Yoko]

Yoko finished braiding her hair with a pout as she looked out the window. ‘‘I can’t believe I had to waste my day away in the training field. It’s the weekend, that means I get to relax!’’ Hopping out of bed the young genin looked at herself one last time in the mirror before grabbing her red cape.

‘‘I swear Wanimon-chan, if they work me any harder I’ll find a relaxing job that pays just as well.’’

After putting on her long red cape she turned to pick up the rattling wooden puppet which had been folded so that it looked like a neat little backpack with a caiman head. The puppet was the Wanimon she had just spoken to and someone Yoko considered a precious friend, even if they never said a word back to her.

‘‘Let’s go, we don’t wanna be late meeting Hana-chan.’’

With a last hop and a step she opened the door and turned nonchalantly back towards the living room to shout, ‘‘I’m going out!’’ not waiting around for a response, Yoko walked out into the cold evening breeze and immediately felt vindicated in bringing her red cape as she put her hoodie up.

They had agreed to meet on a nice little bridge that overlooked a nearby school. It wasn’t a special bridge or anything like that, in fact it was fairly basic and unless you just liked to wander around, or happened to attend the small school there was almost no reason to go down this road. Yoko liked it that way. It was a lot easier to meet up in a quieter place rather than go near the center of the city and having to shout over strangers trying to have their own conversations. Yoko was looking down, playing with her ninja headband idly in her hands as she waited for Kohana to show up.

kohana

[kohana]

Kohana pulled her hair into a ponytail, turning her head first to the left and then to the right before deciding it was indeed a proper ponytail. Stifling a yawn beneath her fingers, she shrugged her sleeveless blue vest on and took a moment to adjust the wraps around her arms. Giving herself a pat, mentally confirming she had everything in order, she grabbed the walking stick propped up against the wall.

"I bet Yo-chan is throwing a fit right now.”

Idly tapping her index finger against her lips, an amused look on her face, Kohana tucked the stick lightly in the crook of her elbow and tipped her head towards the rest of the house as she called out.

"I’ll be back later!”

Then she stepped out into a cold gust of wind, reacting only by bringing one hand up to rub lightly at the back of her neck and giving a slight "whew” under her breath. Arms and midriff bare in the chilly evening weather, Kohana made her way to the meeting place.

Spotting Yoko couldn’t be easier with the red cape, and she raised her walking stick hand up in a lazy wave as she stopped just shy of the bridge. With a puff of misty breath, a slight smile on her face at Yoko fussing with her headband, she raised her voice just enough to make sure she was heard.

"Did you run all the way here to get here first, Yo-chan?” She asked in a teasing tone, completely ignoring the fact that she had simply been slow to show up. Bringing her walking stick down in front of her and resting both palms on it, she added. "Where did you want to go eat?”

[Akamine Yoko]

Yoko waved back just as lazily before putting her headband away around her neck. Her hands found their way up to the collar of her cape and tucked it in tighter, as if the very sight of Kohana alone was enough to make her feel colder.

"Would’ve, but my legs hurt after training today.” She replied with a harumph as she glanced down at the ground for a moment. At Kohana’s follow-up question Yoko looked at her exposed midriff and then up at her.

"Somewhere warm or you’re gonna catch a cold.” She teased back as she turned and started to walk, "I know a noodle place.” Yoko was secretly impressed with Kohana, that she could be bothered to keep up such a physique. It looked nice, she absolutely didn’t mind, but Yoko herself could never put in that level of effort when it came to staying in shape. The Wanimon backpack rattled gently as they walked. Yoko didn’t bring him along to have a weapon so much as it was just a comfort thing. You’d sooner catch her dead than without Wanimon within arm’s reach.

"So, done any fun stuff lately?” Yoko looked up at her friend, silently appreciating the way she had done her hair.

kohana

[kohana]

Kohana flicked her eyes down to Yoko’s legs, but they looked fine as far as she could tell from a glance. Giving a small shake of her head and a light, short laugh at the reason for deciding on noodles she followed alongside Yoko. The truth was it was pretty cold, but dealing with temperatures like this without letting it impact her much was a form of simple training. It was better to get used to it in moments like this, than out in the field where being distracted by it would matter.

Walking stick tapping lightly on the ground as she walked, and giving a side-eyed glance at the Wanimon backpack on her friend's back, she tipped her head back slightly and looked up at the sky as she thought the question over.

"My sensei punched me in the head about thirty times from a complete standstill.” She mused out loud, bringing her free hand up to lightly bop her cloth wrapped knuckles against the side of her head. "Every time I made a move, right upside the head too fast for me to do anything. Had a nasty headache for a bit, but nothing some chakra and a temple massage couldn’t fix.” She let her hand drop down to her side, glancing down at Yoko and teasing. "You’re lucky you opted out of extra taijutsu training, you’d retire to be a toymaker immediately.”

Taking a moment to appreciate Yoko’s braids, she glanced back up at the sky before asking.

"What about you and Wanimon-chan?”

[Akamine Yoko]

Yoko looked up to the side of her head as she drew attention to it and silently winced to herself. Not one day went by where she was jealous of Kohana’s training routine. "That’s insane.”

She smirked and let out a brief, "hah” at Kohana’s teasing, "not lucky just smart, I saw the writing on the wall even way back then. I couldn’t grow old with bruises all over my face.” She lifted an index finger to poke at her own cheek lightly, "I’ll leave that to a sculpted boulder like you.” Although it may seem harsh from the outside looking in, Yoko often made teasing comments about her friend’s clearly fit state of being and they weren’t meant to be mean. It was just another part of the language she used around people she liked.

"Combat exercise, I was told to conceal myself and fight with Wanimon-chan from far away. I was found pretty quickly and knocked on my ass. Repeatedly.” The fact that the extent of effort she had put into hiding was squatting in a random bush was a detail she deliberately left out.

"We kind of suck don’t we?” Yoko asked with a hint of irony.

kohana

[kohana]

Kohana just smiled and gave another light shake of her head. Free hand reaching over to lightly tap a finger at Yoko’s cheek - withdrawing if it was swatted away or ducked, but giving a light ‘hah’ of her own regardless - she replied. "We’re a puppeteer and a medic that keep getting into fist fights. If I didn’t have to I wouldn’t bother with taijutsu training either.” She spoke in a blunt and matter-of-fact way, raising a hand up to wave dismissively from side to side. "The problem is we don’t have a crowd control on our team.”

Dropping her hand down once more, she leaned forward slightly as she walked, tilting her head to glance at Yoko’s face with a smug look as she teased back.

"Besides, you won’t have to worry about any bruises on that baby-face of yours as long as I’m around.”

Then she straightened back up to continue their walk to the noodle place, conveniently looking up at the sky again to try and tauntingly prevent Yoko from getting a proper comeback comment in. It was true she was pretty fit, and the teasing about it was good natured, but turnabout was fair play too - being soft suited Yoko anyways in her book. Fit that feisty-but-lazy attitude her friend had perfectly.

[Akamine Yoko]

Yoko didn’t react in time to the poke, but still made sure to send a pouty glance of disapproval back up at Kohana as they kept walking.

"I like to think I don’t get into fist fights, it’s like the fist fights are aggressively running into me.” She commented, feeling like she was somehow a victim in all this ninja training as if it wasn’t the path she had chosen in life, which it very much was.

"Yeah that’s one of our problems.” She agreed a little more pessimistically, "maybe if you screamed really loud it would freak the enemy out and stun them in place.”

Yoko kept her eyes trained on the path ahead of them, but couldn’t help but look back when Kohana’s smug face came into view. Her eyebrows furrowed in response to the comment about her baby face and she quickly felt the blood rush into her cheeks. The redness on her face was further exacerbated by the fact that Kohana immediately turned away and didn’t let her get a word in. "Wh-!”

She grabbed the top of her hoodie and pulled it down further to hide her face as she cleared her throat. "Anyway! We’re here now, this is the place!” She hastily ran ahead so that she could get a nice spot for them at the corner of the long counter so they could talk in peace.

By the time they were seated the red had completely faded from her face. "What are you having?” She asked as she looked through her own menu.

kohana

[kohana]

Kohana let out a ‘snrk’ at the scream strategy, and as Yoko tugged her hood down and rushed off ahead she had a playful smirk on her face as she watched her go. Making absolutely no effort to pick up her own pace, she meandered over to take a seat next to the shorter girl at the counter. Propping her walking stick up against the counter between their seats, she took a moment to pull a small notepad and pen from a pocket in her vest. Flipping it open, she made a light humming noise to herself as she referenced the menu and her notes.

"After training… I’m behind nine-hundred and fifty-five calories." Kohana scribbled a new line on her notebook with a sigh - a bunch of shorthand and numbers - before flipping the notebook closed again and putting it back in her vest pocket. "So, large tonkatsu ramen with ALL the toppings for me.”

Bringing one arm up to prop her elbow on the table, Kohana brought the side of her head to rest on her knuckles as she glanced over at Yoko and quipped.

"Keeping this boulder sculpted is almost as hard as the training itself.” She quipped, taking a deep breath in preparation for a hearty meal. Tilting her head towards Yoko she asked. "What about you?”

[Akamine Yoko]

"Brave.” Yoko remarked at Kohana’s choice as she continued to look at her own menu. Upon seeing the notebook being taken out she let out an incredulous, "whaat you’re still keeping track of that?” In all honesty she had no clue what to order, but it was a guarantee she couldn’t eat a big bowl with ALL the toppings.

As they sat there she was starting to feel warmer and within a few minutes the hoodie came down to let the top of her head breathe. She smirked at Kohana’s mention of being a boulder. "Well I’m hungry, but I’m not big-bowl-of-everything hungry. I’ll take miso ramen.” She finally decided. When the guy behind the counter came over she ordered both a cold water and a warm cup of bitter tea. This would be a nice way to finish a hectic day. Mirroring the other girl she also put her elbows on the table. "This should heal us up just enough for today.”

It didn’t take long for their drinks to arrive and Yoko alternated sipping her water and her tea. "Think we’ll be going on a cool mission soon?” She looked up at Kohana as she finally settled on cupping both of her hands around her tea.

kohana

[kohana]

Kohana didn’t respond right away, waiting until she had her own tea and water to sip on - well, mostly the tea for now. Even if she was trying to train herself to deal with uncomfortable weather, she couldn’t justify not drinking a nice warm drink when it was sitting right in front of her. Letting out a light sigh as it took some of the chill out of her middle, she tipped her head back and pursed her lips in thought.

"Ideally.” She concluded, before holding up one finger and adding. "But instead we'll get some E-ranked chore that barely pays for the work we put into it.”

Granted, a cool mission in Kohana’s book was something short, easy and paid a lot. Unless you were a genius or had the perfect setup to solve a super specific problem, most missions didn’t fall under all three of those criteria. Taking another sip of hot tea and holding it between her hands for a moment, simply enjoying the warmth, she finally responded to the comment about her notebook.

"It helps to keep track. Seeing the numbers written down, what I need to do and have done listed out. Feels like progress.”

[Akamine Yoko]

"Laaaaaame.” Yoko sighed at the thought of having to do another mundane mission. It wasn’t that she was particularly looking for danger and wanted missions that put her life on the line, but there was such a thing as too safe a mission too. "Nothing Kumogakure’s number one losers can’t solve.” Yoko held an arm up in mock enthusiasm, mocking all those energetic let’s do it types.

"You’re always so organized with your notes. Don’t tell me you’re becoming a boring adult already, Hana-chan?” She teased, she secretly thought it was pretty impressive that she was so on top of keeping her notes all the time. Yoko only kept notes about her puppetry, but in her mind that was totally different. When their ramen arrived Yoko accepted her bowl with a small nod.

"What would you do if this whole ninja thing doesn’t end up working?” Yoko had fished up a little chunk of noodles and was watching them cool in the evening air before taking a bite. You’d have to have an iron will to do ninja work, only doing it semi-decently and not think of backup plans or feel a little insecure. "I think I’d retire.” Yoko said with a straight face, knowing full well she had many good years left in her before she’d even be allowed to retire.

kohana

[kohana]

Kohana rubbed at the back of her neck sheepishly at the tease, but her embarrassment was quickly forgotten when a heavy bowl of ramen was handed to her. Taking her chopsticks in hand and taking another deep breath, she started to eat at a slow and steady pace. Thoughtfully slurping up a long strand of noodle, she gave Yoko's question some serious thought. Making sure to swallow and not speak with her mouth full, she replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Become a fitness instructor for rich people.” She paused to take another bite, this time of a nice big slice of meat, before continuing. "If I had to do all that studying and training, I might as well use it, right? And rich people will pay whatever price they can afford if you have a good sales pitch.”

Then, pointing her chopsticks at Yoko, she added with a small smirk on her face.

"You’d probably make a pretty good housewife for someone rich, that’d suit you better than retiring.”

And then she went right back to tackling her ramen, glancing at Yoko out of the corner of her eye to see if the tease got a rise out of her.

[Akamine Yoko]

"What the hell, that’s like, super well thought out.” Yoko said casually. That was actually a brilliant idea and it got her thinking. If she had to do something else and she didn’t want her training and studying to go to waste, then what could she do?

Her mind wandered as the smooth and savory noodles made their way into her mouth. "You put more thought into it than I ever would.” She mumbled through the noodles as she finished chewing and immediately picked up another batch. Just in time Kohana to throw the housewife comment her way, causing her to choke on her noodles. After a few seconds of coughing she looked back up at Kohana, her face red and water having formed in her eyes from the sudden blockage.

"H-Housewife?! I don’t wanna become some rich person’s trophy!” She took a sip of her water to cool her head and finished in a lower tone of voice. "I’d rather just cut them down and take the money then.”

"Maybe that’s more your speed. The rich people would be all over you. All forming a line to meet Hana-chan and take her hand in marriage.” As Yoko finally began composing herself again she went back to eating her noodles.

kohana

[kohana]

Kohana smiled around another piece of meat between her teeth, pleased by Yoko's approval of her alternative life plan. When she started choking though, the medic swallowed and sat up a little straighter, keeping a cautious but not alarmed eye on her. When Yoko managed to sort herself out just fine, Kohana’s chopsticks retrieved more noodles to carry to her mouth as her friend voiced her objections.

Almost choking herself when the taunt got turned back on her, a blush on her dark cheeks. Unsure what to do with the bundle of noodles in her chopsticks and halfway in her mouth, she hastily slurped them up. Letting out a gasp for breath after, face still a bit red, she replied.

"My speed? I don’t…” She trailed off lamely, poking at her ramen for a moment. Clearing her throat, moving on to pieces of mushroom, she changed the subject. "So, you’d become a con artist then? Trick rich dudes into signing their fortunes away to you and then off them?”

There wasn’t any judgement in her tone, and she was weighing that idea in her head as she continued eating. It wasn’t a bad plan either, honestly.

[Akamine Yoko]

Yoko had never taken Kohana for a simpleton, but perhaps she had underestimated how much she planned ahead or just in general thought about things. At least if the organised notes and back-up plan was any indication. She smirked devilishly behind her noodles as she continued to eat and watched her friend get embarrassed. Two could play that game, they had known each other for years and knew exactly how to push each other’s buttons.

She raised her eyebrows slightly at Kohana’s change of subject and fully chewed and swallowed her food before replying. ‘‘You know what, that sounds like something I’d do.’’ She confirmed with a wise nod, ‘‘Your fortune is terrible, look out for hawks they will hunt you down.’’ She was talking to herself and put a hand out as if she was accepting money from a paying customer, ‘‘That’ll be all your savings please and thank youuuu.’’ She dragged out the youuu before taking a sip from her tea cup.

‘‘Do you believe in that kinda stuff, that people can tell what will happen in your future?’’ She gave the girl a few moments to reply as she chewed on a hardboiled egg which had gotten softer in the broth. Yoko had probably already made her opinion of fortune telling clear. Even in a world of chakra where you had to expect the unexpected she just couldn’t imagine that anything was powerful enough to tell the future.

kohana