I’m….the one? What the hell are those people talking about? What am I some gifted teenager meant to save the ninja world or something?
I let out a sigh. Shikamaru didn’t really explain to me what being “the one” means. He took off after our brief conversation at the roof top. A huge bird, probably a hawk, came and flew in circles at our line of sight. It let out two long callsbefore leaving. After that Shikamaru took off. He said something about a mission. Apparently, that bird was a ninja bird bred to deliver messages. I watched the clouds for awhile after he left. When I got bored of it, I decided to come down of the abandoned building and walked around, thinking I might as well get myself familiar with the village. It seems like I’m going to be here for awhile anyway.
I was just walking with no particular direction in mind. I just want to get to know the place. I don’t even know how to get back to my apartment. Actually I don’t even know where I am!
This is going to be another interesting day.
As I walk around the village I somehow made my way to the heart of the it where the shops and small eateries are. There are different kinds of foods that are meant to be eaten on the go. They all look and smell appetizing. My stomach grumbled. I realized that I haven’t even anything yet. I was so anxious earlier that I couldn’t get myself to eat breakfast. It must be noon now.
I looked at the foods and picked a small food stand by the edge of the street to buy myself something to eat. I reached in my pocket and realized that I forgot to bring money. I let out a sigh. Now I really have to find my way back to my apartment so I can eat. And I gotta find it soon. I didn’t realize it until now but I’m really hungry. I don’t want to pass out while searching for it.
I walked to an older lady to ask for directions.
“Excuse me. Can you please tell me how to get to….ahm…”. Gosh I don’t even know the name of my apartment! “…the old apartment building.”
The lady looked at me with a confused expression on her face.
“The old blue apartment building. With cracks on its walls.”
The lady stared at me with a blank expression. She probably thinks I’m weird.
“Never mind”, I said, gave her an embarrassed smile then walked away. Geez, what kind of a description was that? An old building? An old BLUE building? With cracks on its walls? There’s probably one that looks like that all over Konoha.
I tried asking another person and then another and another. I also TRIED to give better description of my apartment. But nobody understood me. They all just gave me a strange look after.
I sighed.
God I’m really hungry.
As I turned to look for another person to ask direction, I felt my head becoming heavy and my surrounding started spinning. I lowered my head by instinct and brought my hand on my forehead. I let the dizziness pass before I slowly look up and begun walking. But my hunger made my knees weak and I almost fell on the paved street if I didn’t bump into someone.
The stranger quickly grabbed me on both arms.
“Are you okay, miss?”
“Y-yes”, I answered before I slowly looked up to see his face. The stranger has black spiky hair. He’s wearing dark glasses and the same head protector that Naruto, Shika and Sasuke were all wearing. He’s without a doubt a Konoha ninja. This one’s strange though because his collar goes up so high that it covers half of his face. And it’s probably about 90 degrees right now!
“You don’t look so good.”
“I’m oka…aahhh”, I screamed when I saw some bugs suddenly came up from inside his shirt and ears and crawled on his face.
“It’s okay. They’re harmless.” “Hide”, he ordered the bugs which all crawled back to where they came from. “See.”
“What are you doing?”
The stranger and I both looked at the person who spoke. It’s Sasuke. He’s looking at us, well mostly me, with that familiar angry expression on his face, his hands on his pockets.
“She fell on me”, the stranger answered.
Sasuke looked at him for a second then back at me, the anger never leaving his face.
“You really have a habit of falling into mens’ arms, don’t you?”
My mouth fell open. I am flabbergasted. What the hell is he trying to imply?
“Sasuke! It was an accident, you know”, the stranger explained. But Sasuke ignored him.
“Well, are you just going to let him have his hands all over you the whole day or are you going to stand on your own”, he said with an irritated tone. That’s when both I and the stranger realized that he’s still holding me and I’m still holding on to him for support. We automatically let go of each other and looked down at our feet, blushing.
“Geez lady. You’re annoying”, Sasuke said then walked away. I was speechless.
I’m…..annoying!?
“Oh and by the way, Shino, stay away from her. She’s bad news”, he added before continuing his walk. This time I lost it. Again. I’m just so angry at that arrogant, judgmental, annoying, disgusting, sorry excuse of a man right now. I took off one of my shoes and threw it at him. I missed, which made me angrier. So I took off the other one and threw it at him. I tried to get a better aim at him so this time, looking at where my shoe is heading, I know for sure that it’s going to hit him on his head. And I couldn’t wait for it to happen. But Sasuke quickly turned and caught my shoe with his hand.
Damn!
I almost had my victory. My shoe was so close to hitting his head. It was just about a foot away from him. Gaaahhhh….him and his ninja abilities.
Sasuke threw my shoe back at me to my surprise. If Shino didn’t catch it, it would have hit me on my face!
“Don’t try that on me again. It will never work”, he said then left.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh”, I screamed. Shino quickly tried to make me stop and I immediately realized why. The whole commotion at the market stopped and everyone is staring at me! God, I’m so angry that I forgot where we are. It’s all Sasuke’s fault! Why do I always lose my patience when it comes to him? Is that his special ability or something?
Shino grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side and in to a tiny space in between two shops.
“Here”, he said handing me my shoes. I took them both from him and put them on.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
Silence.
“So, you know Sasuke huh?”
I nodded.
“Unfortunately.”
“You’re not from here. Who are you and how did you get here?”
“My name is Mika. I’m a tourist from America. My cruise ship sank. I floated in the sea for I don’t know how long. When I woke up I was already floating not far from this island. I swam to the beach, almost got killed by some strange men. But Sasuke saved me and he and his friends brought me here. Shikamaru said I’m Konaha’s guest.”
“Hmmm….so you’re that girl.”
I looked at him, a question written on my face.
“The word got around among the village ninjas fast. I’m sure by now every ninja currently in the village already knows about you.”
Great!
“I’m Shino Aburame, by the way.”
Oh Shino. I knew he looked familiar. Now it makes sense that he has bugs crawling on his face.
I accepted his hand.
“Shino, I’m trying to get back to my apartment. But I don’t know how to get back there. Can you please help me?”
“Sure. I know the whole village like the back of my hand. But before I walk you home, let me buy you something to eat. You look so pale. You look like you are about to pass out.”
At the thought of food my stomach grawled. I blushed.
“Sorry.”
Shino laughed, which is rare, I know. Shino almost never laugh nor smile. He’s always so serious. But at least he’s not always angry at the world like someone I know.
“It’s alright. Come on, let’s get you something good to eat.”
I smiled and followed Shino. It seems like I’ll make good friends in this village which gives me hope. Maybe, just maybe, if I make enough ninja friends they could help me go home. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with Sasuke Uchiha anymore.
My smile quickly faded at the thought. I don’t know why but the idea of leaving Konoha made me….i don’t know…sad? I really don’t understand how I feel about leaving. Or if leaving is really what’s making me feel this way or….
My heart beats faster when my eyes caught that familiar figure from afar. He has his hands in his pockets like usual. His back is facing me but I don’t need to see his face to know who he is. Every teenage girl around him is staring at him with admiration but he doesn’t seem to notice. A skinny girl with pink hair about the same age as him is walking with him. She keeps glancing at him with those big beautiful eyes. She adores him, I could tell. Although he never gives her a single look, he lets her walk with him. She’s probably one of the handfuls of people who he tolerates. At one point she slipped, or rather a girl purposely tripped her, and she almost fell on the hard paved market street. But he acted quickly. He caught her and helped her until she regained her balance. My heart skipped a beat upon seeing that scene between them. She was looking at him, her cheeks red the whole time. All the girls around them are looking at her with envy. But he never seems to notice any of it. He continued to walk leisurely like nothing happened. The girls don’t know what to do to get his attention and all they could do is stare at the handsome, arrogant young man.
“Sasuke”, I whispered his name without me realizing it.