Chapter 31: Chapter 30
The raven haired girl coughed drinking greedily to wet her dry-as-sandpaper throat. "Three years now. My teammates managed to pass our second try for the chuunin exams. I was...injured and couldn't keep going halfway through the test." Clearly it hurt her pride to admit as much.
"When are the next exams?" Naruto cut in, his voice eager, a strange glint in his eye.
A serpentine gaze took note of that detail.
"In about five more months if I'm not mistaken." She answered with a shrug. "I've been on the reserves list for about a year so I haven't been following."
"Ten minutes." Oro called out warning them of the impending end of the break and the fact that they would soon have to get ready to continue their exercises.
As tasteless as the damn tings were, Naruto and Ryoko had learned quick enough to scarf them down before time was up. Luckily Kyofu followed their example.
-0-
It was approaching sunset when Orochimaru let them go, the evening sky lit up with a flares of orange and purples as the sun dipped below the horizon.
"That was pretty intense." Their latest addition groused wincing a bit with each step.
"We get to do it again tomorrow." Ryoko hissed; rubbing her stomach where her abs were currently making their displeasure known. Getting the concept of tree walking down had largely lost its lustre when the sannin demanded they each do a set of thirty crunches while hanging upside down from the tree. Their feet to the branches and heads to the ground. The pain had largely fractured her delicate knowledge of chakra control. Naruto and Kyofu had managed to hold themselves up though, much to her irritation.
Naruto nodded. With five months left before the next exams it was likely that they would get to ninjutsu by then which was a serious supplement he needed to his punching power no matter what Taijutsu style Orochimaru was trying to drill into-
He paused, his heightened senses of the diluted nature chakra rushing through his coils, going off like a flare in his thoughts.
There was a very familiar presence just a little ways off to the side.
He grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"I'll see you guys in a bit." He said quickly before swiftly swiveling around on his heel to head down a different road.
"What was that about?" Kyofu questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Ryoko shrugged. "How should I know?"
Naruto meanwhile, very nearly seemed to slither between the people of the late evening. Coiling through them like a bloodhound on a mission as he honed in on the presence that had caught his attention.
He walked up to a raven haired woman wearing a red and black hakama and haori, examining a piece of fruit on the market stand.
He smiled as he walked up behind her.
"An-chan!" He cried exuberantly, as loud and high pitched as his six year old voice allowed.
The woman seemed to straighten before slowly turning around, one eyebrow hooked high on her forehead.
"Naruto-kun." She said, onyx black eyes showing little surprise outside of the initial stiffening of her shoulders.
Naruto grinned in response, quickly coming to three conclusions.
One, she was young.
Well younger than he thought she'd be. Infact he'd say she may just be at Kyofu's age. Though she was an inch or two taller, which with the mask and voice muffling had probably attributed for her to seem like she was already in her twenties or so.
Two-
"You're pretty!" He exclaimed, as blunt and truthful now as he'd always been.
The eyebrow arched up just a little further and a seldom seen smirk graced her features. "Thank you." She said with just the slightest inflection in her tone to note her approval of the complement. "Perhaps some day I'll say the same to you."
Naruto smiled, happy at that he'd gotten her to joke, even if it was a little at his expense. An-chan was just so serious all the time...
And three, she was definitely familiar. He had seen her before...
But for the life of him he just couldn't recall where!
It was infuriating, like something just on the tip of your tongue or the edge of thought.
She hadn't been an enemy he knew that much. He could remember all the enemies. Especially those he'd had to put down more than once.
So who in the hell was sh-
"Nee-san!" Another voice cried out and Naruto turned to look only to freeze in place.
Running towards them, was a mini-Sasuke Uchiha!
Naruto's eyes darted from his one time friend and rival onto 'An-chan' and back his mind quickly forming conclusions that just as rapidly felt as though they were crashing into sudden brick walls, grinding every thought to a blindingly fast halt.
No...way...
"Otouto." She said, kneeling down to be at eye level with her, now confirmed younger brother as he came in close.
He could almost hear the crashing sound every upper cognitive function made when Sasuke stood infront of her, holding out a kunai pouch.
"Itachi-nee can we get these?" the little Sasuke asked smiling as Itachi took the pouch in her hand.
"We can." She assured before handing it to him. "But first you have to give it back. Technically, you just stole old man Ichisu's merchandise Otouto." She chided jerking her head to indicate a somewhat irritated looking stall clerk.
Sasuke blushed, nodding.
Before he left though he looked behind her. "Who's he?"
Itachi turned as she spoke. "This is-"
She paused at the sight of him.
Naruto was an expressive child. But, as expressive as he was, one of the things she'd yet to see on his face was terror.
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