Brr… It’s so chilly!

Tsu hugged herself and shivered in the cold, a light coating of snow was hitting the ground as the girl walked along her usual grocery route. Once again she was headed out to buy the simple necessities, eggs and milk, olive oil and yogurt, and whatever else that she could remember. The Konoha street was about as busy as usual on a cold winter afternoon. A few couples and passerby probably going for some holiday shopping. The weather, the kind that Tsu didn’t exactly enjoy, was cold and wet. She had on a violet coat, her Konoha forehead protector acting as a scarf, and her black boots squeaked on the ground as she shuffled along.

”The snowdrops better bloom good this year…” She said to herself with a sigh. As she breathed out a cloud of breath formed in front of her in the cold winter air. Shivering once again the young Senju quickened her pace, her now three, long green braids trailed behind her. Under the roof’s edge, short icicles had formed, with the light shower of snow now coming down in large, chunks of flakes. The girl looked up to the white clouded sky. She remembered that the last time she was here she had promised herself that she would make her father do the groceries the next time. Next time was this time, and the elder Senju still hadn’t returned home. How much time had passed since that last time? The girl couldn’t quite recall. The past summer, and fall, and now the winter had come by so quickly. So many things had happened, a birthday, the chunnin exams, the promotion, and now she had three long braids to trail behind her. Nothing truly felt as fast as time did, though at this moment, Tsu felt time was passing especially slow.

You’re gonna come home Dad… Sometime, I know it. Her father had a duty to serve the village, and one day Tsu would inherit that same duty. And at times, it meant staying away from family for an indefinitely long period. At other times, it would mean to lose a life. That reminder had taken shape in the Leaf pin the girl wore above her heart. It had once belonged to her mother, until she had died serving her duty to protect her daughter. She was proud of mother for what she had done. And though she was gone, the girl knew that her mother wouldn't want her to be so down. She smiled to no one in particular and made her way into the store to begin her shopping.

Waving at the cashier, Tsu walked through the aisles of the store. With a grocery basket in hand she scanned over the items, picking out what her family needed and what she enjoyed as well. She was about finished and almost at the check out, when the girl passed by a beautiful display of Christmas Candy.

”Peppermint Chocolate and Vanilla Candy Canes…!” She gasped in awe at the sweets and cookies and candies. ”And… It’s on sale!” Smiling brightly, Tsu scanned over the delicious items. The cookies were shaped like Christmas Trees and snowmen and stars and flowers, all of course with decorative red and green sprinkles. But there were also little chocolates in the shape of Santa faces and reindeer and even marshmallows that looks like snowmen. The range of choices was rather overwhelming, making Tsu blink in sudden confusion over the choice. ”Er… Which one?”

~593~

Well... Ruto really likes candy canes. But Grandpa really likes sugar cookies with sprinkles. And I really like peppermint chocolates…

Tsu’s brow slightly furrowed at the decision she was about to make. It truly wasn’t a matter of extreme importance however, Tsu was the type of girl to take her sweets very seriously, and so was her family. So the girl couldn’t very well make a choice that included the preference of one family member but left out the tastes of another.  How would her father go about such a predicament? Well, he would likely just buy all the kinds of sweets because he would probably have the money. Tsu had just enough for the grocery bill and little extra just in case a situation like this would come up, that little extra probably wouldn’t be enough to get all the kinds of candy.

"Hey Tsu-Chan! how are you? lets go get a hot lunch!"

”Eh..?!” As the girl was deliberating to herself over what to do, suddenly a voice pulled her out of her thoughts. It was rather familiar, yet for moment the girl couldn’t quite place it as she gasped out loud in surprise. Tsu blinked and turned her head to find a younger pink haired girl with a smile on her face. Tsu’s puzzlement turned into recognition.  The green haired Senju smiled to the kunoichi who had found her. ”Ah, Mi-chan! It’s so nice to see you. Haha, I’m doing good.”  

It was Misao Shogo, a younger kunoichi that Tsuru had first met on a grocery trip a few months earlier. It had been before the exams, which to Tsu had felt like a long time ago. It had been raining then and it was snowing now. Tsu had been a genin then and she was a chuunin now. Tsu didn’t feel old with age, but it did give her some feeling that quite some time had passed since she had seen the younger shinobi. However long it was, Tsu was glad to see her again. She could talk to her about the chuunin exams and the friends she had made, and she could ask about how she had been doing as of late. Perhaps she had reached Chuunin as well, or had been training hard as a medical shinobi. Tsu could remember that Misao was a medical nin, just like her. Perhaps one day, the two would be serving the medical corps together or healing other ninja side by side.

Whatever the future would hold, Tsu was excited to meet up with a familiar face with her return to Konoha. And Misao seemed excited as well, already speaking up an invitation to eat some lunch together on this cold snowy day. Tsu nodded to the pink haired girl with a smile, happy to accept the offer. ”I’d love to, Mi-chan! Here, let me just finish up with my grocery shopping.”

Tsu turned back the stand with the sweets, seeing the other kunoichi had reminded the girl that she was one as well. And being a shinobi did offer up a little salary, with her promotion to Chuunin Tsu remembered that she did have a little bit more personal spending money now. Tsu grabbed some candy canes and cookies, and some chocolates just for herself. After she checked out with the cashier, Tsu nodded back to Misao. ”We can share the chocolates if you want!” It was only kind of her to offer some sweets to a friend.

Now standing at the door, Tsu turned to Misao so the younger could lead the way to some warm food. Indeed the snow covered the buildings and the street in a light coating of white. And while Tsu enjoyed the white stuff, she wasn’t particularly fond of the temperatures required for it to be there. For some reason, she felt as if Misao felt the same way. ”So, where would you like to eat?”

~669/1262~

When Tsu asked the question of where they should go, she was surprised to find that she was answered with a sneeze. "Ah, Bless you Mi-chan!" Tsu instinctively said, it was the common response after someone had sneezed. For a moment she wondered if the pink haired kunoichi was feeling a bit under the weather. Considering the weather wasn't all that great, Tsu also hoped that the younger girl wasn't getting sick. Misao politely excused herself after the sneeze and pointed to a place down the street.

"How about the Ramen shop over there where its warm?" Tsu looked over, indeed the glowing lights from the door looked genuinely inviting and most importantly, as Misao had stated, it would be warm. Hot Ramen on a wintery day would surely warm both girls up and sitting in a shop would be much more comfortable for talking and catching up with each other. Of course, Tsu hadn't seen the younger girl in quite a while and she wanted to see what she had been up to and as well inform her of all the events that had occurred recently to her. Like the Chuunin Exams, her promotion and her Time in Kumo. Tsu nodded with a smile to the pink haired kunoichi, already making her way to the shop and letting Misao quickly fall in step with her. "Alright, Mi-chan! It'd be a  perfect place so we talk too!"

Regarding the chocolates that Tsu had offered, Misao had politely declined. Tsu shook her head, realizing the chocolates weren't as important as getting the girl to a warm place with some actual food of sustenance. "Haha, I'll be sure to save you some for later though." It would only take a few moments to reach the shop, but Tsu noticed that Misao was a little distant in thought. Recalling the girl's sneeze just a few moments ago, it confirmed Tsu's suspicions that the pink haired was indeed getting something of a cold or perhaps a flu. Regardless of whether she was feeling that way, Misao still was enthusiastic about getting the Ramen. "Let's Eat!"

Tsu only smiled again, a caring look on her face. "Come on, let's get you someplace warm."

The girls would reach the Ramen Shop a few moments later. Sitting at a pair of empty seats, Tsu waved down the cook and quickly ordered up a bowl of vegetable Ramen for herself, allowing Misao to also order up whatever kind of Ramen she desired. Once the chef had both orders, he nodded and quickly got down to making the dishes. Tsu playfully swung her legs back and forth, as her feet didn't reach the floor, enjoying the warmth that came from the stove on the other side of the counter. Figuring that as they waited would be a good time as any to start up some converstion, Tsu turned her Emerald eyes to Misao. "So, how've you been, Mi-chan?"

~504/1766~

"I'm doing ok Tsu-chan, just disappointed I didn't get to be a chuunin yet..."

Misao had taken a drink from her Ramen bowl, then answering Tsu's question with a tone of disappointment. In turn, Tsu felt a little sad. She realized that Misao too only wished to become strong and that she had missed out on an opportunity to rank up. Tsu wouldn't know how she would have felt if she had missed the Chuunin Exams, but she was sure she would have felt something similar to how Misao was feeling. A sort of mix of regret and sadness, but one couldn't mope around forever. Opportunities came and went, but the important part was that they continued to come around. Misao too seemed to realize that in the same moment as well, exclaiming that she would simply be part of the next Chuunin Exams. "I'll be sure to come and watch you, Mi-chan!" Tsu smiled and took a big slurp of her Ramen,  nodding in confirmation that the next time the Chuunin Exams came round, she would cheer her friend on from the stands.

Misao then sneezed, covering her mouth with a napkin. "Ah, bless you again Mi-chan!" Tsu instinctively exclaimed, blinking in surprise from the sudden sneeze. The link haired girl once again politely apologized, blaming the cold weather for her condition.

"So.. how was the exams? anything I need to know?"  Misao asked afterwards, a good question and Tsu was ready to answer. "Well, I got past the first round pretty easily but I had to fight with a giant koala on top of an even bigger tutrtle, it was the size of island it was so big! I heard other genin had to fight giant cranes and hippos. The exams were in Kumo you know, it's really different from Konoha. Anyway, in the second round it was the fighting tournament. There were lots of other ninja there, but I heard that I was the only other Konoha nin besides another girl. I went up against Kiri kunoichi, but she was really good and I got beat pretty bad. A friend of mine told me it's 'cause there's lotsa strong shinobi in Mizu no Kuni. I can't remember who won, it was either a Suna shinobi or a Kumo nin."  Tsu gave a summary of the exams from her point of view. It was slightly embarrassing to reveal that she had lost in the first fight of the second round, but she wouldn't want to hide anything and she still had a fee things left to say. "After the exams though, I was still promoted to Chuunin! I guess that means I am kinda stronger now. I've been back in Konoha for a while now, just relaxing and taking a little break from ninja duties, and now I'm just talking with you." She concluded her response to a summary to the certain point which she was at currently, speaking with friend. She smiled and tilted her head, still in some concern over Misao's health. Since the Pink haired kunoichi didn't bring it up, Tsu didn't either.

Eventually though, Tsu's concern did overcome her silence. "Eh, Mi-chan, I know you're feeling a bit under the weather and the weather isn't very good, perhaps it's best if you go ahead and get some rest? I can walk home with you if you want!" Tsu offered with a kind smile, now showing genuine concern over her friend's well-being.

~602/2368~