This cold. Susumu was one of the people on this planet that wasn’t used to the cold and would prefer to avoid it should he be able to. Even though he feels that way, he still wanders around Konohagakure to see if there are more things to entertain him. More people to meet or locations to visit, but so far he had no luck with either. Over his usual clothes, he had a thick cloak that warmed up his body enough for him to just barely feel the cold. He held his hands in his pockets, because the one thing that he hates the most in the cold is freezing his hands off. With every breath that he let out, it immediately froze upon leaving through his lips. If Susumu was more like a kid, he probably would’ve faked smoking by placing two of his fingers in front of his mouth, but he’s more mature than that. He buried half of his face deep beneath the winter cloak he was wearing, the scarf around his neck waving with every cold breeze that passed his figure. Looking back, you could see the footprints that Susumu left in the snow by the path that he took. For the first time in ages, he wore boots which was only natural for a weather like this. There’s no way that he goes around walking with his sandals in the snow as much as this. His black hair was partially covered in white due to the snowflakes landing on top of his head every now and then. More than paying attention to what’s in front of him, he just kept his head down and stared at the snow. He couldn’t even remember the last time he ‘played’ in the snow, coming to the realization that he actually never has. Susumu didn’t have the normal childhood that most kids are supposed to have, so he didn’t know any better.

Looking from left to right, you could see multiple kids playing with the Christmas gift from above, throwing balls of snow at each other or creating a snowman at the side of the street. They seemed to have fun, something that Susumu barely had knowledge of. Other than the kids playing in the street, he spotted just a few adults making their way through the snow, almost able to tell which one loves the snow and which don’t by the expression on their faces and their way of walking. Susumu was pretty sure people could tell the same of him, however. Although the sensation of the snow was nothing for him, the sight of snow however intrigued him. While still looking from left to right to see what the other people around him are up to in this ice age, he failed to see what was ahead of him; a green haired girl in a violet coat. Although he didn’t walk at a fast pace, but rather really slow, he bumped into her letting out a quiet ‘ow’ and closing his eyes upon impact. Although he might’ve had a big ego, he still realized that in a case like this, he was wrong. As he opened his blue eyes and fixated his vision on the girl in front of him, he nodded followed by a rather blunt apology. “Ah, I apologize.” That was all that escaped his lips, followed by him using his hand to rub the back of his head as if he was actually ashamed by what happened, but his expression was as blank as ever, doing his best to look as innocent and clueless as he could. From what he could tell from a first glance was that this girl didn’t harbor any ill feelings, different from most of the people he had encountered in the past. She was actually enjoying the snow, unlike Susumu, but he was actually here for a reason. Meeting up with Harue around here was what he had in mind, but as he scanned into the far distance, he still couldn’t spot her. Not having anything better to do and instead of just wandering around aimlessly looking for her, he decided to just stand here, next to the girl who he had previously bumped into. “You’re a Shinobi from this village?” Susumu was never really that good at small-talk, but it was better than to just stand here in silence without anything progressing. He figured he might as well get to know the person standing next to him just a little bit better before venturing onward.

Word count: 757

“Woof! Woof!”

The sound of ceaseless barking pierced the ears of a dozing Harue, whose right hand was already draped over her eyes in a poor attempt to block out the invasive sunlight penetrating through her sky blue curtains. She tossed and turned in her bed, burying her head underneath her blue pillow, trying however hard she could to get several more seconds of precious sleep before she eventually succumbed to her obstinate pet and Mother Nature herself. She failed miserably.

Frustrated, she threw her pillow at a spot beside her bed, where she knew Nikko was, both from past experiences and from the sound of his barks. The pillow smothered her dog completely and knocked him off his feet, earning her a whine, which she smirked at. Her dog was quick to shake the pillow off of him and sit on his heels, wagging his tail and looking expectantly at her, his tongue hanging lazily out of his mouth.

Harue peered one eye open, looking at Nikko, irritated at his persistence. She huffed in defeat as she threw the covers aside and got up, making sure that her blanket landed completely on her dog as she threw on a simple white shirt and a pair of shorts and walking to her bedroom door, before her eyes caught sight of something white drifting down outside her window. Curiosity taking over, she walked over, and her eyes visibly widened a fraction when she realised it was snowing.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, the low temperatures finally registered and she felt a shiver creep up her spine. She clutched her arms instinctively, pulling them to her body to ward off the now evident cold that permeated the air around her. Harue dove back into her wardrobe and fished out a thick, blue jacket, before discarding her shorts for a pair of faded blue jeans. Her getup would suit her for the day; she was fairly used to the cold and actually preferred it to the searing heat that normally lorded over the village of Konoha.

After washing up, she prepared the ordinary breakfast - ham and tuna sandwiches - though she substituted the usual refrigerated milk for some steaming hot chocolate, which did wonders in warming herself up. The notion that winter was coming early had settled, and Harue was faintly aware that winter was less merciful in its arrival than Harue had ever had the pleasure of experiencing. She took a magenta scarf and wrapped it around her exposed neck, letting the two ends rest behind her while ignoring how it stood out slightly from her otherwise blue outfit. She eyed the gray winter hat, ear flaps and all, that rested on the her television cupboard (how did that get there?) and decided that she wouldn’t need it for the day, given winter was just arriving and not yet in full swing. She did, however, acquiesce to the notion that she would need a pair of winter gloves, and nabbed a pair of brown, fingerless, cotton ones from her bedroom before she headed for the door.

Today was the day she was supposed to show Susumu around Konoha. More accurately, though, it was the day she showed him the perfect vantage point on the Hokage monument, which she had proclaimed unofficially Harue’s Spot. It was somewhere in the middle of the Hokage monument, on the Seventh’s head to be exact, so the mountain seemed to stretch forever in either direction, while the massive village of Konoha could be seen in its entirety if one looked from the top of the Seventh Hokage’s head. Behind said Hokage’s head was also a flat piece of rock she had determined perfect for a picnic - small enough for some privacy, yet not so much that it began to feel more cramped than welcoming. Of course, she had secretly planned a picnic to go along with their small tour, but given that winter had made its presence known far earlier than anyone could have predicted, she concluded that having a picnic would not be the wisest of options.

As her naked hand reached for the doorknob, Nikko bit at the hem of her jeans, as if he was unwilling to let her go out into the cold. She smiled at his antiques and reached down to pat him.

“It’s okay, Nikko,” she said. “I’m just going to show a friend around. You know Susumu? Of course you remember him, don’t you?”

Nikko barked and pulled more strongly at the hem of her jeans once more, still stubbornly refusing to let her leave. Too bad he didn’t know she would be leaving either way, not just for today, but soon likely forever.

Harue scratched her head in defeat. “What will I ever do with you, Nikko?” she wondered.

She wouldn’t have minded Nikko tagging along; Amaterasu knows he loved the winter. He was a winter breed, after all. However, as much as a walk would do him good, and as much as she would love seeing her dog hound Susumu - forgive the pun - she knew that he would be safer back in the apartment. She planned to take Susumu up to the Hokage monument, and its steep and sloping steps alone worried her for her dog’s safety. The snow would only serve to make said steps more slippery, and considering how much Nikko loved to bound around uncontrolled, or how easy it was to get him worked up, extreme heights just didn’t fit into that equation. Needless to say, she would not be bringing Nikko along for the trip to the Hokage monument.

Or the trip away from Konoha.

Harue’s shoulders sagged as she frantically thought of ways to calm her energetic dog down. Nikko barked once more and then bounded to his blue dog bowl, before finishing whatever Harue had thrown into it, and then pouncing onto the large sack of dog food that Harue realised was empty once it immediately deflated without a sound under his weight. She grinned, abashed, as she walked over to the kitchen cupboards and dragged out a new sack of dog food, before emptying a respectable amount into Nikko’s dog bowl. She felt his eyes on her every move, unwilling to let her make even a single mistake before his dogbowl sported a heap of his favourite snack. Only then did he fixate his attention on his meal and devour it greedily.

Just to placate him further, though, Harue turned on the television, and she did an internal jump of joy when he spared the television a glance before returning to his meal. She placed the remote next to him and silently slipped out the door. She noted though, that NIkko did observe her from the edge of his vision as she closed the door, and she swore she saw his paw land on the remote, a small grin tugging at his canine lips as she left, smug at having gotten what he wanted, and more.

Sly little bastard.

Once outside, she fastened on her winter boots, drinking in the early signs of winter, like the small clumps of snow that had collected around the edge of the corridors, which were open to the elements bar a set of waist-high iron railings. She waved to a few of her neighbours (no clue who they were; she just smiled and waved) as she walked past them, and descended down six flights of stairs to get to the dirt streets of Konoha, which were now covered in a thick blanket of fresh white snow.

She looked up and relished the feel of the first winter season she was experiencing in Konoha. It would probably be the last, as well, for a very, very long time. She kept in mind that future winters could very well be spent hiding in small isolated caves, or less-than-reputable inns, not only on the run from their pursuers, but also on the run for their targets. It wasn’t a life she would have pictured to live, nor was it a life she was proud to have to live, but the idea of revenge - no, not just revenge, she kept telling herself, not just revenge - brought her a small feeling of satisfaction and euphoria.

Ignoring the increasingly strong sense of discord taking root in her heart, she set off for Matsushima Dumplings, the store where she had first met Susumu, and where they had decided to meet again. As she did so, she gave the sky one long look and felt the snow drifting onto her face. She licked her dry lips as she relished in the sensation, and felt some of the white substance catch onto her moist tongue. She shook off the chill they gave her and continued to the dumpling store, enjoying the cool temperatures that made her snug in her warm clothes, drinking in the views of the more laidback and carefree attitudes of the otherwise busy population of Konoha, and noting the chilly sensation of snowflakes melting on her tongue.

WC: 1525

The snow crunched underfoot as Yuuto made his way down the streets of Konoha. The normally bustling streets were all but empty, many of the people having fled into the warm of their homes. Yet Yuuto relished in the beauty of the quiet majesty that surrounded him. Soft clouds of white fell softly, and blanketed over the roads, roofs and the balconies that sprouted from the houses that lined the streets.
He had his thick gloves on today, else he'd lose working of his fingers before long in the chill winds. And yet, the day was surprisingly still. He rubbed his nose with a gloved hand. Part of why he hated the cold was that it blocked his nose up fairly consistently if he wasn't careful. Still, it was preferable to the dense heat that seemed to pervade Konoha normally. He stopped, looking up and down the street. None but himself walked that way, and he couldn't help wondering if there even was anyone out and about in this weather. A grumbling came from his coat, and Yuki's head poked its way out from his jacket's neck.

"No, we're not there yet. When you can't exactly run across the roofs its surprising how long it can take to get around... Though we're not really in a hurry either..." Another grumble, a huff, and Yuki retreated back into the coat. Yuuto sighed heavily. Yuki hated the cold. Absolutely hated it. They'd had long discussions about it, with each holding contrary feelings. And still, they couldn't agree on which was better. In the end, they'd simply dropped the subject. He carried on his way, turning this corner then that. Finally his destination reared up into his view through the thin mist of the snow. Matsushima Dumplings. Taking a moment at the door, he shuffled his feet on the mat to clear off the snow, and stepped through the doors.

~OOC: Sorry for it being a tad short, had written a much longer one and lost it to a powercut >.<

Judging from the way the girl reacted, he could tell that she wasn’t a bad person at all. He learned from experience that by bumping into certain people it would cause them to get annoyed and start talking back, but this girl was one of the people that wasn’t one of those kind of individuals. In fact, she just simply shrugged it off telling him that it was not a big deal. The small talk that Susumu had attempted had indeed succeeded. He wasn’t really the person that’s good at making small talk and the question he put her up with seemed too random, but the girl just seemed to roll with it, even though he just stood next to her. Although the conversation kept going, Susumu didn’t look at the girl but rather just looked down the street. People passing by in a rush to get through the snow covering the roofs of the buildings and street lantern. Some of the people nearly fell because of the slippery surface they were almost ice-skating over. He shivered slightly, indicating that his body temperature was getting way too low for his tastings. Hearing her response it made it clear that she was indeed from Konoha. Yet someone who he hadn’t seen before in his life, means yet someone with unique information. As soon as she asked him if he was around here, he shook his head. “You can look at me as just another traveler. I’m just sightseeing.” He mentioned. What he told her wasn’t exactly a lie, but more specifically put he was just scouting. The girl introduced herself as ‘Tsuru’, but didn’t reveal her last name to him, which was unusual. This made him wonder if she had something to hide from him and should Susumu be careful with giving out his own last name, as well? For now, he decided to just play it safe and just reveal his first name as well. Who has which last name shouldn’t matter in a casual conversation between two strangers. “My name is Susumu. Nice to meet you, Tsuru.” The smile once again crossed his lips, afterwards burying his face deep into his cloak as to protect it from the cold wind brushing up against his skin.

He didn’t want to get himself a cold now, so his mind instantly thought of random places where he could get some warmth and maybe even something to eat. He shook his head once, his black hair swaying from side to side and slight amounts of snow flying left and right. His head which was once partially white was now completely black again. Not having the snow on top of his head was already a big improvement for Susumu. From what followed, it seemed that the girl had exactly the same thing in mind as Susumu, warmth and food. The moment she mentioned ‘Matsushima Dumplings’ he felt two things. The first thing was that his stomach started growling loud enough for the girl Tsuru next to him and a few passerby to hear it. He wasn’t ashamed of it, only a quiet “ah” left his mouth as he looked down with a blank yet calm expression. The second was a memory. It was the dumpling store where Harue and Susumu first met, wasn’t it? Averting his gaze from the ground, locking his blue eyes with Tsuru’s and nodded. “It seems we were thinking the same thing. If my memory’s not messing with me, it’s my destination anyway. I’ll accompany you.” He and Harue were supposed to meet up either way and that’s the perfect place to do so, not to mention that we’ve got an extra person to speak with. “I’m in need of a warm place as well as warm food to still this hunger of mine. Dumplings are a fine way of doing so.” With that, he took a few steps into the direction of Matsushima Dumplings, his footprints leading from the spot next to Tsuru over to where he is. He stopped in his tracks, casually turning sideway and eying into her direction. “By the way..” He paused for a bit. He didn’t know if this was the right thing to do or if it might start something, but curiosity is the strongest emotion that someone can have and Susumu was engulfed by it. “You haven’t mentioned your last name yet.” Without any hesitation, the next thing slipped through his lips. He wouldn’t care about the consequences, considering even Sousetsu knows that he’s wandering around here. “Uchiha.” Just with that, a smirk was found on his lips as he just stood there, waiting for the girl to catch up to him so they could accompany each other for the food they so much desire.

Word count: 793

Harue ambled nonchalantly down the streets of Konoha in the mildly cold winter weather, feeling her cheeks numb up slightly as the frigid winds licked her rosy-pale face. Her winter boots mercilessly crushed the occasional patch of snow that crossed her path, the rubber soles pressing unforgivingly against the small clumps of ice. Harue’s ungloved hands were buried in the relative warmth of her navy blue nylon winter jacket, with whitish peanut coloured fur lining its edges and those of its hood, of which was pulled loosely over the seventeen-year-old’s head, obscuring most of her shoulder-length white hair from view, though offering little protection from the chills caressing her lips, cheeks, nose, and eyes.

Several conscientious citizens were notably already out on the streets, dressed mostly in equally warm clothing of countless varieties, and clearing the growing layer of snow in front of their homes. Harue noted that it was now much less of a hassle to navigate through the winter-covered districts, and was visibly grateful for their hard work, as plodding her way through nearly a feet of snow had almost seemed as strenuous and vexing an ordeal as it normally was fighting one’s way through the otherwise fully crowded streets of this hidden village. It was probably worse in some ways, as her boots sometimes failed to maintain traction against the slippery material, leaving her a clumsy girl trying to regain her balance or one who just falls unceremoniously onto the ground, sprawled out for the ice to swallow. She could still feel the chill in her toes and the slight wetness that collected around at the top line of her boot where ice from her journey just several bends ago had collected and melted.

As she travelled, Harue drank in the foreign sights of the village she called home for the last three years. Everything around her seemed so… strangely different with a slight speck of snow decorating any one of its corners, or hugging the rooftops, or nestling on the doorframes. Wistful yearnings for this village began to stir up in her chest at the lovely sights, emboldened by the reality that she would presumably never get the opportunity to wallow leisurely and peacefully in the relative calm and culture that adorned every street, corner, and roof in this village.

Even the people seemed to glow brighter than they did, though she wondered if relative blank background of snow had anything to do with this accentuation, rather than her own torrent of conflicting and incongruous emotions. A young girl was wrapped up in a myriad of winter clothing, so much so that, coupled with her tiny frame, seemed to paint her as a talking ball of yarn than anything else. She was bouncing on the soles of her feet, miraculously catching the ground each time and not falling prey to the icy grounds beneath her feet, and calling out enthusiastically for her mother to hurry the… Wow, what colourful language for a girl half her size.

On the other side of the street was a boy, similarly dressed in winter clothing like everyone else in this orderly village, He was running around in front of his house, the door open with a young woman, presumably his mother or sister, leaning against the doorway and sipping silently on a cup of coffee as she kept her watchful eyes on her son-slash-brother like a hawk eyeing its prey. The boy was diligently throwing patches of snow together, building up a pile in what Harue thought was his earnest attempt at a snowman, given the two twigs sticking out on opposite ends and the carrot pointing straight up to the clear blue sky.

Further down the street, Harue noted as she continued walking leisurely, was a small young girl, not unlike the one she just saw, dressed in bright pink with shades of gray and blue mixed in, busy chasing an even smaller figure around and leaving footsteps in the snow, wherever it hadn’t yet been cleared. The smaller figure gave a small bark as it rounded a corner, and Harue recognised it as a little brown corgi, dressed in an adorable gray winter outfit set consisting of a winter shirt and a matching gray cap. The girl tried to turn as sharply as her dog did, but only managed to fall face first into a pile of snow, not getting up. The corgi stopped in its tracks and turned to face the girl, barking accusingly and challenging her to get back up. When the girl remained stationary, the corgi slowly trotted up to its owner and nudged her foot, but was completely unprepared for the surprise tackle that the girl gave it, wrestling him to the ground and a pair of mittens onto his front paws. Harue could hear the resulting whine from the canine, laced with disappointment and resentment at being caught. The game then began anew, the pair racing in circles, as the girl attempted to same with a pair of matching mittens for the corgi’s hind legs.

At this point, however, Harue wasn’t so much smiling at the adorable sight in front of her, as much as she was a memory that dug itself up to the present. A fifteen-year-old girl, dressed in light clothing in the contrasting heat of summer, was busy chasing a small canine in a similar manner. Not a corgi though, this canine was taller and much larger than one, sporting a sleek white and black coat of fur with a piece of steak in his mouth. The fifteen-year-old was trying to retrieve, and very much failing considering how much the husky managed to outsmart her by jumping through cracks between walls and making sharp bends that often saw the girl charging undignified into a wall or a stack of wine barrels. She called for the dog, Nikko, to come back, and all she got as a reply was the dog stopping in its tracks, waving its tail mockingly at her, before continuing the game he knew he had no chance of losing.

Gone were those days of innocently playing around, and Nikko knew it as much as she did. It was why he didn’t cause as much of a mess as she knew he had the capacity to. Harue had had to grow up, and Nikko had been forced to mature with her against both of their wills, what with the passing of her foster father and moving several miles away from the comfort and familiarity of wooden houses and stone bridges to a hustling bustling city that only still retained the moniker of a village as a symbolic tribute to its humble beginnings. The only entertainment the two had silently agreed on was what filled their evenings, with Nikko often turning their otherwise normal dog walks into an adventure straight from that crafty canine mind of his. And what entertainment those used to provide would have to end, too, as Harue left the village, depriving her a loyal companion, a beautiful pet, and her best friend, and depriving Nikko of her companionship. if nothing else.

Her companionship…

He would want her company now, more so than ever, especially with the two of them just being small fish in big ponds, moving from the relative quiet of a settlement with no more than twenty buildings to metropolis where twenty buildings were laughably too low a number to even sustain the administrative staff of the village, much less house its tourism industry, its hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, and most importantly the vast ninja corps that zipped through the village day after day. He would want her company now, and forever, just like he always did and would, and Harue would be letting him down for the first time in many, many years. In fact, as she was willingly turning her back on the one person in her life who had stuck by her ever since they were together, not falling prey to anyone or anything and just being there for her and with her... She was cruel. She was selfish. She didn’t deserve someone like him. To throw responsibility of him onto someone she knew would care for him much better than she ever could… Heh, her mother’s killer and those Iwa slavers weren’t the moster.

She was.

She was a monster through and through, hidden under a layer of skin and a swirl of emotions, wearing the face of a petite young girl scarred by the world. Her mother’s killer had ended her suffering. Those Iwa slavers had forced slavery onto those children explicitly. Neither were saints by a long shot, but Harue was far worse. She was someone Nikko trusted, and she was going to do what they both did, and more. Everything the two of them had… everything the two of them could have… she was ending it all, killing it in cold blood with her own two hands. She was throwing Nikko aside, pushing him off onto a family she knew would love him as much as she did, without giving him a choice in the matter.

And Nikko would never be the wiser.

No, he was never going to understand that she did this because she wanted something else. He was never going to hear the sincere, genuine goodbye from her very lips, or taste the parting tears she would doubtlessly shed, because she chose something else over him. He would be forever left, wondering if she had left because of him. He would spend his mornings with the loving twins, disturbing the mother as she tried her best to serve the guests the yakitori the family was so famous for. He would spend his afternoons playing fetch with the father, or rolling in the dirt with the twins. He would spend his nights curled up in his own bed, which was more than Harue could provide, or cuddle with the two loveable children like he currently normally did with her.

But he would also spend his days wondering about her. They were the tag team duo! They were the troublemakers and the cleanup crew all in one! And he would never know why they weren’t one, anymore. He would be forever left to wonder if his owner had abandoned him because of his cheeks. He would be forever left to question if his owner would return. And he would never ever know if his owner was safe.

And why? All because of revenge.

All because she wanted to stick a kunai into the throats of those bastards’ necks before dangling them upside down to choke on their own blood, she had abandoned the one friend in this would who would’ve made sure they bled out before trotting behind her. All because she had met Susumu, she would be willingly throwing away the last thing she had of her old life, the last thing she had of her life, and the last thing that would always be there for the rest of it.

And suddenly the hunger for revenge wasn’t as tempting as it once looked.

No, her appetite craved for something else, and it wasn’t whatever was served in Matsushima Dumplings, standing right down the street, either.

WC: 1899 + 1525 = 3424

Stepping into Matsushima Dumplings was like walking into an oven compared to the bitter-sweet cold of the outside. Yuuto exhaled heavily as he entered, feeling the wall of heat strike him. He guessed it wasn't actually that warm in here, but when compared to the chill of the Snow Covered Konoha streets, anything else would feel much more cosy.

Yuki quickly poked his head out of the neck of Yuuto's jacket, apparently coming up for air in the now more humid environment. The smell of dumplings and other assorted goodies hung heavy in the air, making Yuuto's mouth water. He rubbed his hands together excitedly, and Yuki let out a yap.
"So Yuki, what should we start with today?" He quickly started toward one of the tables, setting himself down. Soon enough, the two had a large collection of platters, plates and a mountain of food in front of them. Yuuto was far from a large boy, and Yuki was still a puppy, yet they both set upon their food with gusto. Yuuto paid little heed to the goings on around him, the rumblings of the other customers, the steady clatter of the pots and pans, and detritus cooking instruments.

204 Words
328+204= 532

For now, the girl introducing herself as ‘Tsuru’ and Susumu himself seemed to be on the same wavelength regarding food. They were both craving for dumplings and figured it’d be good to fill up the stomach in these cold, winter times. A cup of warm tea would be nice to go with it, warming up the insides of the body is everything that Susumu had on his mind right now, several shivers being sent down his spine as the cold wind brushed up against his skin, covered in goose bumps. Susumu watched as the girl laughed at the little rhyme she made, while Susumu himself was completely unaware of it until she made it apparent she made a rhyme, chuckling himself just a little bit. It was like showing a different side to the usual personality he has, shining brightly with innocence. “You’re right. Dumplings aside, I don’t mind a good bowl of Ramen, either.” He went along with the casual conversation that seemed to be happening to him occasionally nowadays. He had never expected himself to be this friendly with the people under the rule of Senju Sousetsu. Could he consider this development, or a hindrance? There was one thing that he knew for certain, having a conversation like this might help him ease his mind off the usual planning and calm him down some more. Days off like this have proven not to be that bad. Besides, giving your body a day of rest is never a bad idea either. She seemed like a cheerful person. Judging from what little time they had spent together having a small talk, but also because of the humming during the walk to their destination. The humming ceased, however, when Susumu mentioned he wanted to ask a question just to clear some things up for him.

The girl introduced herself by her full name this time and like she had mentioned, it was indeed a mouth full. The long part of her name was something that went into his left ear and had gotten out through his right, but the surname that stuck to him the most was ‘Senju’. A blood-relative of Sousetsu? Are they distant-related or close? He didn’t hold a grudge against the Senju in particular, but his body stiffened just a little bit each time he heard someone utter that name, let alone meeting another one wasn’t exactly what he was expecting. You could see him shake his head just a little, literally shaking off the thought that he directly linked this girl and Sousetsu together. Both of them were a unique individual on their own, each with their own actions. Just because they are born within the same clan, doesn’t mean they must share the same fate. He didn’t want to drag a girl like this into the battle that Susumu was throwing himself into, so he wouldn’t make that comparison in the near-future ever again. Unless this girl proves otherwise, Susumu definitely has no problem with her, just because she doesn’t seem to have any ill will towards anyone, but then again they just met. Together with her surname, she mentioned the rank she had achieved within the walls of Konohagakure, being kind of surprised. She gave off a nod that served as a bow, causing Susumu to automatically do so, as well, just to show that even he can give a proper greeting. As soon as the girl started walking, Susumu picked up his pace as well and remained walking next to her, to keep the conversation going. He was actually interested. This girl was a very open person that didn’t mind revealing that kind of information to someone that doesn’t even belong in the village. I guess it just means that the girl really is pure of heart, something that Susumu can’t say about himself. “It’s indeed a mouth full, that’s why from now on I’m just calling you Tsuru. Though I’m surprised to hear that you’re from that Senju clan.” What most people would normally say about the Uchiha Clan, he did so about the Senju clan. He definitely didn’t hear a lot about them, nowadays, at least. Though there are multiple history books that include information about the clan as well as their feats.

It didn’t take long before they made a trail in the snow towards Matsushima Dumplings, stopping right in front of the entrance. Tsuru took a few steps forward in advance, pushing and holding the door open for Susumu to pass through first. Traveler’s first, she mentioned. With a smile forming across his lips, he nodded. “Don’t mind if I do.” Were the simple words spoken by the ‘innocent’ young Uchiha before passing through the door opening. However, looking back, he noticed that the girl didn’t close to the door, but rather held it open. Was there someone else coming? Waiting for a while, no one passed through and decided to take a peek back into the outside world. Through the shower of snow falling from the sky, he could spot someone making their way to the dumpling store and while focusing his eyes just a little bit, could figure out who the person in the distance was. It was someone that he had spoken not too long ago and actually wanted to meet here in the first place; Harue. It indeed seemed she didn’t forget the appointment she had with Susumu. Retreating his hand out of his pocket, he slightly held it up in front of him while extending one finger and a slight smile shown on his face. It was a greeting; a simple one but it was just to let Harue know that Susumu had already made it to the inside. “Ah, that was the person I was going to meet here, Tsuru.” He mentioned, his blue eyes averting from Harue for a moment and looking into the dumpling store to check beforehand if there are any empty seats around for them to take place on. In the meantime, it was just waiting for Harue to enter.

Word count: 1010

Harue kept walking forward, the dumpling shop in view growing bigger and bigger as she approached. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, trying to distract herself from thoughts of Nikko, which seemed increasingly depressing as of late if he wasn’t around. If it wasn’t for her sake, then at least it was for the sake of the seven-year-old she was meeting up at the dumpling shop.

She stopped herself and then took a deep breath, feeling the icy air fill her lungs before exhaling. A few snowflakes dropped onto her face, numbing them even more, though it wouldn’t surprise her if the wetness she would find on her cheeks weren’t tears of Mother Nature, but her own. She almost reached up to check, raising one gloved finger to feel if the water was warm or cold, only to catch herself from doing so when her eyes caught something in the distance.

It was two people approaching Matsushima Dumplings, though what stood out was that she recognised one of them. As small as he was, it was almost certainly Susumu, with his black spiky hair, small stature, and oddly purposeful strides that were visible even underneath that thick brown coat he wore. The other individual accompanying him was a stranger to Harue’s eyes, however. She had never met the odd girl before, but she too was similarly dressed for the weather, wearing a violet coat and black boots that plowed through the snow. No, no, none of that was odd. Even brightly-coloured wear was common between ninja because of their profession, needing to sneak around people rather than blend in with the trees or mountains (Harue always hated whenever someone commented on her substantial lack of green clothing for the evergreen surroundings).

What was odd about her was her hair colour. A small part of Harue screamed that she was one to talk, sporting hair almost as white as the snow blanketing it and everything else. Still, green hair was notably rarer, at least for Harue, and the style her hair was put into didn’t help normalise it, having been fashioned into triple braids that fell all the way to her waist, one from the back of her head and the other two framing the sides of her face.

She saw the girl step up to open the door to Matsushima Dumplings. Even from her point she saw some snow that had gathered at the corners of the doorframe drop onto the mahogany floor, while the faint ring of the bell signalled the arrival of new customers. As always, however, the door stopped short of actually ringing audibly from years of neglect. Already seeing the stark warm colours of Matsushima Dumpling’s interior - the browns of the walls and floors, along with light from candles hanging by the walls - seemed to send a shiver of excitement up Harue’s spine as her body longed for the comfort that it brought, making the cold she was in even more extreme than it actually was, not that she minded.

Susumu was the first to step in, a faint trail of snow invasively following him into the store but quickly melting, leaving a slippery death trap for anyone foolish enough not to be careful. The green-haired girl then spotted her, however, and kept the door open for her. Susumu, noticing this, turned around and similarly caught sight of her, before giving her a nonchalant, casual wave as if they had known each other forever, a stark contrast to their plan to leave Konoha almost permanently. The two of them seemed to exchange words, but Harue was already jogging up to the spot, not wanting to keep the girl waiting.

“Hi, thanks for holding it open,” she said as she approached the door. “Hey Susumu. Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s all go in and find a seat.”

As she stepped inside the store, she drank in the new look that Matsushima’s family must’ve put on for the holiday season. Matsushima itself was a relatively small place compared to the larger, more successful, more corporate establishments in Konoha, though it was also much cheaper and as such much more affordable. This was especially so considering Harue’s low pay grade and Susumu’s likely similarly limited finances.

The store itself was roughly square in shape, thirty feet by thirty feet, though there was far less space for anyone to move around in. If anyone were to view the layout from the top, they would see a diamond shape of thirty feet by thirty feet, with the door that the three of them were crowded near being at the southern tip of this diamond layout.

At the top tip of this diamond was the kitchen. It took up a quarter of a circle, with the top being the center of the circle, and the radius of this circle being a rough ten feet. The kitchen was concealed behind a layer of wood, covering the perimeter of the circle, though there was a small opening in place of a door at the leftmost portion of the wall to let the chefs in and out, while a small sliding window was in place to allow them to pass the food onto the waiters with ease. Various ornaments also decorated the walls, from candles specifically put up for the occasion, menus on whiteboards rewritten to accommodate holiday-only meals, and the occasional wreathe.

Extending five feet beyond that wall was a section designated for the waiters to retrieve food from the kitchen via aforementioned sliding window, while also doubling as the cashier’s spot. It was marked with a waist-high bench functioning also as a table for guests in these busy days. It also sported an opening in the leftmost area allowing for waiters to walk in and out as they busied themselves serving patrons who had filled up the entire shop, basking either in its delicacies or its warmth. There were ten tables to the right of the room, and ten tables to the left, allowing roughly two metres of walking space between the two clumps of tables straight to the cashier. Most of the tables, however, were full and taken, with only a spot here and there; definitely not enough for all of them.

However, Harue did eye three seats at the benches that could fit her, Susumu, and his new friend. Of the four seats available to the right of the cashier from her vantage point, only one (the one closest to the cashier) was taken, occupied by a boy in a long green trench coat. She walked up to him, dusting off the remnants of snow on her scarf, shoulders, and hair on her way there, before tapping his right shoulder. From her new position, she could see there was a large plate of mouthwatering, steaming dumplings, and he seemed to be eager to dig in. The puppy that popped out of his coat also bore a comically identical look.

“I’m sorry, but are these three seats taken?” she asked.

WC: 1192 + 3424 = 4616

As this newcomer addressed Yuuto, the boy reacted bizarrely. Leaping from a sitting position to his feet, standing upon his seat, he pivoted to face Harue, sending his bowl flying across the restaurant. There was a shriek, and an elderly man and his wife dove for cover as the still steaming bowl rocketed over their heads.

Yuuto seemed momentarily confused to see Harue there, a face he hadn't seen before. It didn't last long. His eyes widened, and in a crash of dishes, wood and skin, he fell backward off his chair, dragging most of the food, and ALL of the chairs over with him. The little dog managed to jump clear in time, landing at Harue's feet. It sniffed her for a moment, before appearing to lose interest and trotting over to check on the pile of wood, crockery and limbs that was Yuuto Inuzuka. The entire restaurant was staring now, and the owners looked particularly livid. The little dog huffed, before jumping up to perch on part of one of the fallen chairs, looking down at the boy on the floor. He barked, and the boy grumbled something. Again, the dog barked, when Yuuto leaped up to his feet again. "Dammit Yuki! I said I'm not in the mood! Oh yeah, laugh it up, just you wait!" The dog barked back in response, and it seemed like Yuuto was slowly turning red. In fact, he was beginning to match the colour of the shopkeeper's face, who had gone a peculiar color of "beet-red".

Finally, after some minutes, it seemed to occur to Yuuto that there was, in fact, someone standing in front of him. Several people in fact. Not just that, but not a single person was focused on their meal anymore, instead staring at the wild looking boy and his dog. Looking toward the three newcomers, Yuuto scratched his head, grinning slightly. "Heh, sorry about that... I... Did you want me for something?" When Harue re-asked the question, now gesturing to the fallen seats, Yuuto blinked. "Ummm... No? At least, I don't think they are..." He made to pick up one, and watched in a comical way, as the leg fell off as he hoisted the chair up. He stared blankly at the chair, before trying to nonchalantly toss it over his shoulder. Again, a shriek, and a crash. "I'll stand..." he said with a sheepish smile.

409+532
Total WC 941

Furniture Making no Jutsu is totally C-Rank

It seemed that finally Harue had arrived as well. As she stepped through the door opening, she greeted Susumu, though apparently had no idea who the girl with him was – Susumu even met her not too long ago, so he didn’t know much about the person either, except for her full name. Susumu put his hand up, followed by a nod. “Yo there, Harue.” She was one of the few people that Susumu talked to as if they’d known each other for quite a while now. Looking back his younger days, he was very rebellious even as a small kid, but perhaps that was being brought to change now. The path he’ll probably take in this village will be the path that determines everything that’s going to happen from now on. But putting business aside in his head, his stomach overpowered his thinking and growled through the store. He was indeed hungry and the aroma of the food floating through the air didn’t help with that at all. As soon as Harue stepped inside, she got right to the point and mentioned it’d be best to go in and search for three seats. It seemed a little bit crowded inside, nor that much movement space. Watching as Harue made her way over to the young boy sitting at the table that had exactly three extra seats to it. Perfect for the three of them that just walked in. He followed Harue in her footsteps up to the table with the unknown individual. Before Harue even asked if the seats were taken, the unknown male fell backwards on the chair, apparently taken by surprise from the random people standing by his side out of nowhere. The food on the table were caught up on the incident and with a thud, he hit the ground and the crashing sound of the plates hitting the ground was heard through the shop. Seeing this, Susumu couldn’t help but let out a chuckle from behind Harue, before just popping her head out from behind her to focus his gaze on the clumsy boy.  

He seemed embarrassed with the entire situation, which was understandable. But again, Susumu couldn’t help but find the comedy in it. With the chairs broken it didn’t seem like they had a place to sit anymore. And with that food wasted, it seems that the boy wasted his money as well. With all of the seats in here taken, as hard as he tried looking for a spot it was futile in the end. Right up to the moment where the girl he recently met, the Senju, who specializes in wood. He had already forgotten about it, until the moment that he saw it. Mentioning that she could fix it and seeming confident in her abilities, Susumu was intrigued. It didn’t take long or four wooden chairs popped up from the floor. To Susumu’s eyes, they seemed identical to the ones in this place. This was the first time he saw someone utilize a Wood technique, even it is just something basic like this. It seemed like an interesting ability that one could have much inspiration for. To Tsu, however, her abilities were as normal as ever. Susumu thought it was rare to see someone with a Wood technique, but she just shrugged it off and started playing with the dog, completely ignoring it. “Well, that sure seems like a convenient ability. With this, we could’ve pretty much sat anywhere we wanted.” He didn't have questions for her about the release, but his hunger prevailed, deciding that he would keep the questions for later. It was true, though. They didn’t have to go through the trouble of searching for a place to sit, but actually create their own space. Susumu’s eyes went back to the boy with the dog. “We’ll be joining you. I can’t keep in the hunger any longer, plus she went through the trouble of fixing up those chairs; the ones that you broke.” He paused for a bit, sitting down in the chair and shoving it closer to the table. “Where’s that waiter..” He said, blinking once and looking around innocently with his stomach growling, yet not paying any attention to that. It seemed that he had completely forgotten that the boy was originally sitting at this table and hadn’t even asked him for his approval just yet. If anything, he could be blamed for his behavior.

Word count: 739

Harue winced.

Ouch, that must’ve hurt. The boy had been surprised by her presence, and he had leapt out of his seat, turning to face her. As he did so, his bowl of food had been sent flying across the room behind him, where it nearly hit an old married couple. Fortunately, though, they had managed to duck for cover, retracting their heads beneath their tables as the bowl of food crashed into their table, breaking into a few pieces while it splattered food all over their table, ruining their meal as well.

Well, if their meal hadn’t already been ruined by the small mishap that was the flying bowl.

Unfortunately, the klutz of a boy had yet to be completed with his unintentional clowning around. His eyes widened when they saw her (though why, Harue didn’t understand, and she probably never would understand), before he fell backwards. One hand, which had still been on the counter, had taken his other bowl of food down with him, and somehow, through some mysterious force that was probably laughing at them from above even as she watched, he had taken all four chairs down with him, and once again, somehow broken all four of them.

All four chairs. Gone. Ignoring the financial ramifications that this could lead to - her dear, dear wallet - Harue wondered where they could eat now.

The small dog walked up to her, sniffing her feet for awhile before huffing away in disgust and trotting back to his owner, who was struggling to get up from the pile of dishes and broken wood amidst some groans and moans of pain. There was a small commotion (okay, not really a small one) where his dog barked at him and he responded harshly, though amicably, but by now Harue’s focus was more on fixing the problem that they had. The owners were surely not going to be happy about them having broken four of their chairs, especially during such a busy period, but she was aware enough to repeat her question to him when he asked, though she barely saw the point, especially when the boy picked up one stool and she saw one of its legs fall off.

Of course, then Susumu’s new friend had come to the rescue.

She had used a wooden technique of hers to create four new chairs sprouting straight from the ground, positioned where the four of them were to sit, before squatting and playing with the boy’s animal. Harue watched in amazement even in the aftermath of her technique. Such an ability was awesome, not to mention it would have saved her so much money for some of the furniture that she had bought for her house.

Even so, the owners didn’t look too happy, and Harue could see why. Even if they had fixed the four chairs, seating was the least of their problems with two angry customers demanding an explanation for why their meal had been so rudely interrupted, nearly half the restaurant looking at them strangely and some even with irritated looks that the ninja population had once again managed to make lives hard on the civilians where there was no need to, and there was also the entire issue of needing to clean up the mess that was on the floor.

Her comrades, however, didn’t seem to notice this, and she didn’t feel like ruining their day together by pointing out this out to them.

“You guys sit first,” she said, eyeing the three stools that were left after Susumu had taken the initiative and arrested one for himself. Her eyes then wandered across the room, where the owners were trying to placate the old couple, who were now in a heated discussion about the entire occurrence. Bracing herself, she walked towards them, and the old man seemed particularly displeased at the sight of one of the ‘ruffians’, as she had heard him whisper during her approach, moving in their direction. “Hello, sorry for the mess they made.”

“Sorry? Well, that’s just great. You have your apology, and we have no meal,” he snapped silently, ignoring the placating gestures of who Harue thought was definitely his wife.

“Young woman, we would suggest you stay out of this. You’ve caused enough trouble as it is, and this is going to pop a hole in our pockets,” one of the owners, the male and probable the husband of the duo, said.

“Um, how much money are we talking about here?” Harue asked nervously. Money had never been her strong point, and in the few times she had been here, she already knew that what she saw the couples eating was definitely not cheap, not to mention whatever had broken was probably going to be on her tab as well, if she offered.

“Well, you broke four stools,” the male owner, who she recognised as Naoaki Matsushima, began, ignoring his wife, Sakura Matsushima, who was trying to talk him out of charging the girl. “There’s also the entire task of cleaning up the mess your friend spilt, but we’ll have that cleaned up ourselves, don’t you worry about that. Then there’s this lovely couple’s meal you ruined, so all in all I’ll say you owe us two thousand four hundred and sixty ryo.”

Two… two thousand four hundred and sixty ryo? Hell that was roughly a third’s of her monthly pay if she took missions religiously! What the hell had the couple ordered?!

Nevertheless, Harue understood that, indirectly and to an extent, she was at fault, and so she unsteadily fished out her wallet.

“Oh please, dear, you don’t have to pay,” Sakura said.

“Of course she does!” Naoaki interrupted.

“Fine, you pay half of that, since you’re a friend of the Arakaki’s,” Sakura mentioned strictly, and Naoaki begrudgingly nodded his head in acceptance.

Harue sighed in relief as she took out just under a thousand five hundred ryo and handed it to Naoaki, who took it with a firm hand and went off to the kitchen. Relief built up in Harue that she had managed to skip out on half of that hefty payment, even if the old couple were now eyeing her with disinterest and slight malice. The Arakaki family was a well-known family in Konohagakure, or, at least to the civilian population they were. However, Harue herself made a lot of civilian friends, being someone whose money often led her, rather than the other way round, and the Arakaki were the family that ran her favourite yakitori store, the Arakaki Yakitori. It was a small time business, but you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who visited the store at least three times claiming that it was nothing, since the third visits and beyond were often when you got access to the special sauce.

Yes, they were denying new customers such benefits. That was how much business they got.

Putting away her purse, Harue walked back to the counter, where she would take a seat and look at the menu, while her new friends interacted. If asked for her name, she would provide it as ‘Harue Nakazawa’ as her eyes scanned the menu.

WC: 1216 + 4616 = 5832

It seemed, before Yuuto's eyes that the ground was suddenly reaching up and shaping itself. Soon, a new set of chairs stood before him, almost identical to the ones he had just destroyed.

Looking at the girl holding the handseal, he sniffed thoughtfully. He couldn't make out her clan scent, but with the whole channeling wood thing... There was a good bet she was Senju. He then looked to the other newcomer, a boy. He had an interesting air about him, but again had no clan scent. In fact, come to think of it, none of the newcomers did...

Yuuto looked down at Yuki, who returned the look. An unspoken moment passed between the two, before the Senju girl stooped to pet Yuki. He sniffed her carefully before allowing her to touch him, but after that sat quite contently while Tsu petted him.

Yuuto climbed gingerly into a seat, apparently still slightly embarrassed about the whole situation. Yuki eventually came to join Yuuto, leaping first onto the table, then onto Yuuto's head, perching on top like a sentinel standing watch. Yuuto barely blinked as the little dog came to rest on his head, instead waving in the direction of the owners. "Same again!" he yelled, apparently having forgotten already how much trouble he'd just caused.

219+914=1133WC