Shimmering Fireflies

Meeting

Mizuiro was finishing up work at her parent's boutique. They had been a family of tailors in the Konoha village for 20 years now. Today was also the young girl's 18th birthday, and little did she know she would meet someone as important as Hinata Hyuga. The servants of the Hyuga family came regularly to their shop as they often needed mending for their clothes, just like any other person in the village. Sure, there were other tailors in Konoha, but the reputation of the Hasu family was flourishing. The shop specialized in making ninja clothes as well as embroidery, which made for an interesting contrast and got them a various clientele. Mizuiro's parents were both very talented at these tasks and had taught their daughter everything they knew.

She didn't have much to do today until the renowned Hyuga stepped in. The young seamstress bowed to her as she always did for their customers even she felt a bit star struck. Although they were both around the same age, Mizuiro knew Hinata only by name. They were not in the same class at the ninja academy and had never officially met before. The Hyuga family was quite important and Mizuiro had no doubt the young girl in front of her was an amazing ninja. She heard that Hinata was quite the shy type, but also that she was determined and talented.

Apparently, Hinata's father had asked her to deliver something to get fix. Even if she was in the company of one of their servants, she had her hands full of clothes and took care not to drop them on her way in. The young woman timidly bowed back to her and put everything she carried on the counter.

"Uh, Hasu Mizuiro, is that it?"

"Yes, but you can call me Mizuiro. Pleased to meet you, Hyuga-San."

"Oh, we're the same age", she smiled. "You can call me Hinata."

The two of them surely didn't know how close they would become after this. From casual visits to hanging out after work or missions, they developed a caring and sincere friendship. Outside of her usual teammates, Emi and Kyousuke, Mizuiro didn't have many friends. Between ninja missions and working at her family's store, she never had much time to meet new people, and the ones from her class back at the academy weren't exactly the type of people she saw herself befriending.

Hinata on the other hand, looked like she knew at least half of her academy classmates. It was a bit surprising considering how shy she seemed, but she was so kind that Mizuiro could easily imagine her having lots of good friends. She actually knew many different kind of people. Hinata had introduced her new friend to her teammates first, then to other ninja from Konoha. Curiously enough, since Hinata's visit to their shop, some other renowned families saw how much work was put into their sewing and also started to visit them. Mizuiro's parents were glad to have more clients, thanks to their daughter's connections.