Remram
AchronumNatsuko Rinha
Afternoon || Land of Fire: Konohagakure — Mumi Village
“Thanks, Haru-chan,” Natsuko said, hugging Koharu with a smile. Though she was a bit put out by the fact that she’d let her giddiness get the best of her, her teammate’s choice to blast Minoru away with ice wagered humor against her disappointment, and when Kazuhiko landed at her side, she was full-on grinning.
“Sorry about that, Kazu-kun. I’ll get ‘em next time,” she said.
Kazuhiko raised his brows slightly, then sighed, smiling. “Yeah, you better.”
“But hey, ‘leaps and bounds,’ huh? Let’s talk about who’s making ‘leaps and bounds’ in their relationship, yeah? Don’t think I—what—no wai—sto—”
Kazuhiko Taketori
Evening || Land of Fire: Konohagakure — Mumi Village
“Alright, dinner. Is. Served!”
Mika headed the small line of villagers bearing plates of food, walking over to the large, long table at the center of the mess hall and setting down the platters. Roast chicken, stir-fried vegetables, and other vividly-colored home-grown goods were on the menu, and Kazuhiko realized suddenly that he hadn’t had shared a home-cooked meal with anyone since Azumi last invited him over. While the cook his parents employed was good at their job, he still somehow, almost illogically, knew that this food would be better. Here, with his sensei, teammates, and a village of happy, appreciative farmers around him, he could barely resist salivating.
“Well? What are you waiting for? Dig in! You lot will need your energy to deal with Nusu,” Mika said, crossing her arms at the head of the table. “And be sure to leave some room for dessert! Our apple pies are the best, and we say that with confidence.”
“Ah, I wish I could stay here,” Natsuko said, sighing in contentment before forking another piece of food into her mouth. “Ith stho gwood!”
Kazuhiko smiled, tasting his first bite of food as well, and—yep—it was just as rich and savory as he’d imagined. Though he knew there was no way it could have been perfectly seasoned or cooked, mostly because nothing could be done ‘perfectly,’ he felt it came close enough today.
“You guys gotta try some of this vegetable and bread thing, it’s so good,” Natsuko said, pointing at the dish in question.
“I see you’re a woman of taste as well,” Mika said, grinning. “That’ s a recipe passed down from my grandmother. Best vegetable pudding you’ll ever find.”
With her spoon in her mouth, Natsuko gazed at Mika imploringly. “Can I ple-ase have the recipe? Tomorrow? If we get rid of Nusu?”
“We’ll see,” Mika said, laughing and raising her cup of cider. “Cheers, you four. Thanks for your help, and good luck!”
Night || Land of Fire: Konohagakure — Mumi Village
Under the cast of the moon, the forest became a flat tone of silver where the light fell through the leaves. In the air was the sound of crickets and the gentle rustling of the nightime breeze, and though fires burned on the torches by the village houses, the apple orchard saw no orange light. And, although the orchard was quiet under the metallic sheen, Team Six was on high alert in the trees around the orchard, dispersed but still connected via clones, each person maintaining one clone that stayed with another in order to connect them all via chain message, if need be.
While Kazuhiko had no trouble keeping his own clone up, he wondered how his teammates were faring. Minoru had suggested it as an exercise while they waited, but as a shinobi specializing in Taijutsu, Kazuhiko naturally tended towards clone utilization in battle. His teammates, on the other hand, specialized in ninjutsu and… nothing in particular. Given that cloning jutsu were a form of ninjutsu, he’d expected Koharu to be fairly proficient at them, and Natsuko wasn’t a lost cause either. However, this was a battle of endurance, not skill; maintaining a jutsu drew slowly but surely on the user’s chakra reserves, and after nearly an hour of so of waiting, Kazuhiko wondered how much longer he would last, and whether Nusu would show at all. Another hour would be easy, but two, three, or even four? He could only hope he had that much chakra in him.
That said, there was also the matter of boredom. Kazuhiko considered himself to have a high tolerance and patience for things, but he couldn’t say the same for his teammates, specifically one, noticeably droopy-looking girl across the clearing from him.
“Koharu,” he said, pointing out the half-sleeping figure of Natsuko, who was bobbing, her head propped up on an arm.
@Sunflower