The village was as lively as ever, and it was only expected to become even more alive as the sun set a few hours later. As it was right now, it was just past midday and those who worked normally worked throughout the week hadn’t yet clocked out. That left only certain kinds of people to wander the streets. Some of these people were ninja who either hadn’t been on a mission for the day, or was in between them. Yukino was one of these people, though she wasn’t wandering around the village as of yet.

The young Sarutobi had spent her afternoon with the Hokage, the leader of the village hidden in the leaves. Her father had set up their meeting and had expected his daughter to learn as much as she could from the great leader. While she couldn’t be a proper judge of something like that herself, she could say with certainty that she had grown as a kunoichi. It was her job now to take the some of the skills that he imparted to her and perfect them in her own way.  

Yukino made her way out of the administration after her training session with the Lord Hokage Takao. While at first, she had been extremely nervous to not mess up, or make herself look like a fool, it became apparent to her that he wasn’t as scary as she initially thought. In fact, he almost seemed to be more human than some of the other higher ranked ninja she’s had to deal with in her short time as a ninja herself.

As she didn’t have any mission in particular that she had to accomplish, she decided that it would be a good opportunity to just walk about the village and enjoy her time off. While she hadn’t been a ninja for long, she found everything seem to be happening quickly. Her time in the academy didn’t seem like it was so long ago, and yet she had grown so much already. She had found herself changing and meeting new people more often now.

The blue eyed girl didn’t know if it was because her mother was more serious about making sure that Yukino didn’t do something to damage her career; or if it was because of herself just maturing with each event that come to pass. The look on her face was that of someone who appeared to be in deep thought. Yukino touched the forehead protector that she tied around her neck like a necklace.

“What am I going to do?” she said to herself aloud, though not loud enough to catch anyone’s attention. The question she posed to herself spoke more towards her questions about her own future. “What is my final destination?” she said to herself again, angling her head up towards the sky. “And why am I even thinking about this?” she said to herself once again in a more sarcastic tone. She must’ve looked crazy walking around and talking to herself like she was. She could only hope it didn’t look as bad as she thought.

WC: 530

Rays of light shined bright over the village hidden in the leaf and it drifted slowly away from the standing right on top of them. Fuyuko appeared to stroll through the streets without purpose, but she definitely had a goal in mind. She had heard the stories from Takao whenever he managed to get home of how he dreaded some of the tasks he had to do as head of the village. So she was looking for a small bouquet and a vase to put them in, so he could be reminded of her when he looked at them while he was working at the desk.

The sky quickly turned gray within a matter of seconds as clouds rolled in in a rapid fashion. Drops fell from above and made the people in the streets scatter for shelter. It made Fuyuko pick up the pace and run for the flower shop she had in mind. As she arrived she started to talk to the store owner, but her call wasn’t answered. Fuyuko was perplexed how they were unable to hear her while she was standing right behind him. She reached out to tap him on the shoulder. However, as her hand was about to touch his shoulder, nothing happened. No sensation was felt in her hand as she tried tapping it, she tried laying her hand completely on it and was met with no resistance yet again. In fact, her hand had phased through his shoulder. Fuyuko was taken aback and took a couple of steps backward. Her face was plastered with disbelief. She wasn’t capable of wrapping her head around what had just transpired. She looked down at both of her hands when…

Fuyuko shot up straight in her bed. Her left hand covering her aching left eye. Sweat was dripping down her head and back. It was the same as last time. A dream that was weird with hardly any context, followed by her waking up in a cold sweat and her eye aching. The first time she shrugged it off and didn’t think much of it, however, it happening twice, within a relatively short time frame was strange. Did it have any connections with the blood that was running through her veins? Takao knew a lot about it, or so he had said in the past. It was time to ask and find out if he knew more.

After wiping the sweat off of herself, Fuyuko put on a set of casual clothes and headed out towards the administration building. Unlike she had dreamed just minutes ago, it wasn’t to alleviate his stress and possible worries, it was to rid herself of her own. As she wandered down the streets, slowly making her way over to her destination, she wondered what these dreams could be about.

Her deep thought got broken as she heard the voice of someone else talking aloud. She had been taking routes that avoided seeing as many people as possible, so it was somewhat of a surprise to hear a voice from around the corner. The questions that were posed were those she expected from an older person, but as she got around the corner Fuyuko was met with a surprise. There stood a rather short and young kid in front of her. “Yo.” She said as a greeting. “Aren’t you a little bit young to be posing such questions?” she followed up with a small chuckle and smile. It was somewhat humorous to her to see someone so young ask questions someone going through a midlife crisis would ask. Her getting to Takao could wait a bit longer, maybe the kid was able to make her dreaded feeling disappear when they say more silly things.

wc 628

“What a lovely name you have Yukino. It’s actually somewhat similar to my own, as in, the meaning of the word. I’m Fuyuko Miki, a pleasure to meet you.” She replied with a smile and a slight tilt of her head. A gush of wind prevented her from continuing to talk as she was preoccupied with preventing her skirt from revealing things. Before she could continue with what she wanted to say the young girl would pick up the conversation again. It would appear that they weren’t very comfortable with the onlookers from the streets. While she didn’t mind it at all herself. People generally only looked over for a split second to see what was going on and the moment they determined it wasn’t that interesting they’d go back to minding their own business. That was just the way human nature was, however, if you hadn’t learned that, she could understand that it could feel intimidating. After all, she was once that age herself and felt the exact same way.

“We can go somewhere else if that would make you feel better and I could definitely use a bit of food in my stomach.” She said as her tummy audibly grumbled, which prompted her to laugh. Meeting Takao could wait for a bit, besides this would appear to be a decent diversion from her thoughts anyway. “However, at best, we split the bill 50/50. It feels really weird being treated by a stranger. It also doesn't help that you appear to be quite a bit younger than me.” She had made the mistake in the past of misjudging the age of someone shorter than herself. Not only that, but they also outranked her by a lot. However, the vibes that Nozomi gave off are completely different from the ones that are coming off of Yukino. They’re almost like day and night. Yukino was a flower still waiting to bloom, whereas Nozomi was already in full bloom.

“Let’s go.” Fuyuko said as the two of them made their way over to the place that Yukino had in mind. “So tell me Yukino, how old are you exactly? My guess, at oldest you’re 15. I’ve been terribly off before though.” She followed up laughing at herself. They lived in a world where loads of things were possible. Faking or misjudging once appearance was definitely on that list. She’d patiently listen for Yukino’s reply and see if her guess was somewhat close, or completely wrong once again. If Yukino would return the question Fuyuko would obviously reply. “I’m 20 myself, closing in on 21. Ah man… I’m growing old already, still so many things to do, so many places to go.”

By the time she finished answering the question about her own age, they had already reached the place that Yukino wanted to go to. Fuyuko entered and looked around the place, as expected, the place was pretty empty at this time of day. That wasn’t particularly a bad thing, it would mean that they wouldn’t have too much of an issue talking with each other. “Welcome! Table for two?” the owner asked. Fuyuko simply nodded and followed and sat down at the table the got appointed to. The table was next to the window so the two of them could enjoy the outside view as well. “Here you go, the menu’s, I’ll be back in a few to take your orders.” “Thank you.” She replied with a small bow from her head. Now that it was just the two of them again, it was time for some more question. “So Yukino Sarutobi. Tell me a bit more about yourself. If I remember correctly the Sarutobi family is pretty well known in these lands, seeing as one of the first Kage’s came from that clan if I recall correctly. Does that mean you’re also a ninja? Perhaps following in the footsteps of your great-great-, or however many great’s, grandfather?”

wc 682
twc 1310