Private Smells Like Home

[Mizushima Kita]

Haniki skipped her way down the road of Konoha's Red Oak District, arm linked with her good friend. She knew it beyond well and easily evaded all of the imperfections that littered the street and guided Yuki along. Unlike the vast majority of their fellow villagers, Haniki lived here as opposed to the white oak district. A second story addition was made to her father's restaurant that housed the small family of three. It was because of this placement that Haniki would often be found in the library to complete any work she needed to do. Her home was simply too busy and distracting during the day; but it sure smelled delicious at all times.

Arriving, Haniki guided them to the side door that led directly to the kitchen. She pulled back the curtain covering the door, a wave of heat and spices escaping. "Papa! Yuki's here!" She announced, her voice resounding through the room.

Her father's voice rang back in an excited tone, "Yuki? That's great! I'll send some snacks up in a bit!" He couldn't pop out of line to show his face at the moment as the dinner rush was starting, but Haniki understood.

"Thank you!" She shouted back before replacing the curtain and turning back to Yuki. "Come on! My room's upstairs," Haniki chimed and lead her up and into their small home. The interior was very minimalistic. A few pictures, her mother's old forehead protector, a vase of fresh flowers Haniki's father brought home as a surprise for her mother. Most of their decorations instead filled the restaurant beneath them.

"Do you think your family will let you stay the night?" She asked her friend beside her with hopeful eyes. Haniki had managed to steal Yuki away after their classes at the academy had concluded for the day, but overnight might be pushing their luck a little too far. Haniki opened the door to her room to reveal a moderately sized bed, definitely large enough for two ten-year-olds, a wide open floor and numerous pillow thrown into the open space. The far wall served as a large bookcase with shelving installed directly onto it. Books in a rainbow of colors covered the wall from top to bottom, a mixed of published literature and personal notebooks. She threw her bag to the foot of her bed, inviting Yuki to relax and make herself at home.

 

[Yotta Ryusui]

She was rambling on about some story, as per always. "And we were just sitting there, right? You won't believe what happened next, like it was bonkers! The teacher, the tall handsome guy I was telling you about, you know the cute one with the glasses and the goofy face. Yea, that one! Anyways, he just died! Thats right, full on impaled by kunai that blasted through the windows. Then that blonde kid you told me about, was like `I've got this, save yourself` I mean not really, but like still, you know what I mean. ANYWAYS..." She giggled slightly as she was walking with her friend.

As she followed her friend upstairs, she would yell down. "Make sure you bring plenty! Ninja Arts takes lot of energy!" She turned her head back to Haniki and waived her hand as if to say "don't even worry about it" as she chuckled slightly. "Not an issue at all! They'll just assume I am training more at the academy or something and i'll tell them tomorrow I was shadowing older shinobi to see how they casually buid up their chakra or something. definitely not an issue."

Running on jumping on the bed she took her hat off and flopped it on the floor. "OH! I forgot to mention, Shishiwakamaru was in class..." Her eyes wandered slightly before she took her finger to her chin. "I know I was totally uncool the last time we saw him, but like... If you don't think you'd be interested..." Her face started to become flush and her voice softened. It was very clear that despite teasing Haniki about the boy, it appeared that Yuki was developing a crush on him. Like most of the crushes she brought up to her friend, this one was probably only going to last a week, tops.

 

[Mizushima Kita]

Haniki's brows raised at Yuki's change in demeanor as she brought up their classmate Shishiwakamaru. She couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her as she noticed the pink tint grow across Yuki's cheeks. "Well, I'm glad everything turned out alright." She replied to the almost unbelievable story Yuki told. If their other classmate Rikku hadn't told her the same thing, she might have thought her friend was just making it up to mess with her. "Shishiwakamaru, hmm? Well, he's cute. Clumsy, but cute. Just like you." She added with a wide grin as she nestled into the mountain of pillows.

She sat and thought for a moment about Yuki's former fleeting crushes. Her interest in people seemed a bit foreign to Haniki, not holding any particular person in this "special" spot of interest. Maybe one day, but Haniki didn't see that happening anytime soon. "Are we on the down-low or should I be actively corralling him towards you?" She asked for clarification as to what "level" crush this was.

 

[Yotta Ryusui]

"Yea It was crazy." Her voice was soft, which was most definitely not her normal style of conversation. Yuki dropped her hat on the bed and flopped onto her back and looked at the ceiling. At the moment her friend called her clumsy as well she would blow raspberries at Haniki. "It's not that I am clumsy, it's that the earth just needs hugs okay? Hugs from me specifically!" She giggled.

Her eyes would navigate down the wall and towards the books, "I would say an E-Rank Emergency, I don't know. We will see how the boy proves himself. For all I know he's like those green things that are always put on my plate for dinner. Just to look at but that's it." She giggled at comparing the boy to the vegetables that she has refused to eat multiple times. She turned her gaze to Haniki. "You know the rules, If my grandma finds out i'm coming for you!" She bared her teeth are shifted her hands to mimic claws.

If her grandmother did find out Yuki was interested in the boys at the academy she would probably be pulled from the school and forced to take on a private tutor. She was probably going to get into a lot of trouble just for spending time with Haniki, but she honestly didn't care at the moment. She was tired living her life for someone else.

 

[Mizushima Kita]

"Hugs, of course! I didn't even think of that!" Haniki playfully exaggerated as though it were a completely viable excuse. "E-rank sounds manageable, but we have completely different views on our vegetables." She laughed. "I promise, you just haven't had them cooked right." The young girl was the daughter of a chef after all. One thing she had noticed if they ever ate over at someone else's house was that not everyone could cook. She was very fortunate to be blessed day in and day out with her father's delicious meals, and she was excited to share that with Yuki today.

Haniki pinched her fingers at the corner of her mouth, dragging across her lips as she swore herself to secrecy. She knew that Yuki's familial situation was, strained, to say the least. She didn't mind being an avenue for Yuki to feel some degree of freedom from her future responsibilities that were apparently already set in stone. She didn't understand the entirety of their family dynamic, but she understood enough. "Just hope she doesn't come rummaging through my notebooks." Haniki teased as she reached over to pull her most recent one from the wall. Notes on taijutsu, ninjutsu, general first aid, her day with the hokage, and million other topics were scattered throughout the pages. Organized chaos at it's finest. She pulled out a pencil and started writing on the next empty page. "Yuki, thinks, Shishiwakamaru, has, a, nice, as-- face." She narrated, however those were most definitely not the words she was actually writing.

 

[Yotta Ryusui]

"We also have different views on this ninja stuff too." She said looking at the other girls massive wall of information. She was truly envious, this was clearly something she wanted to do with her life. This was a passion of hers. Yuki has ye to make a single decision for herself. "You can keep saying that, but like I've never had a good reaction from putting something the same color as grass in my mouth." She giggled. Haniki's family owned a restaurant so she wasn't raised on the bland rice and boiled vegetables like Yuki was at the temple. Sensory pleasure was a sin and apparently seasonings applied.

"No, no, no, no... It's that derpy look on his face when he messes up." She proceeded to pull her face deep into her hat and squeal. She rolled on her sides for a few moments before finally stopping and dropping her hands to her sides.

"So, since they will be your peers growing up and probably your teammates at some point, how do you feel about the other students?"

 

[Mizushima Kita]

Haniki turned her gaze up to the ceiling, nails tapping the open cover of her book. Her lips formed into a pout as she thought. “I’m not really sure about most of them. I think it would be pretty cool to be put on a team with Shishiwakamaru. There’s that kid Shusuke, but from what I’ve heard from him in class he’s kind of full of himself. Rikku is nice, we actually started sparring together a little bit. He’s fun to hit.” Haniki laughed a bit. Rikku was like a human training dummy. You could hit him a thousand times and he never seems to go down. Or maybe she just wasn’t as strong as she thought she was. “However we get divied out, I think our teams she turn out fine after we graduate. Can you imagine if they put us together?”

The girls could hear the sound of the front door open and a young man’s voice, “Uh, Haniki? Mr. Nikku sent me up to give this to you.”

“Food!” She popped up to accept it and bring it to their dining table. She thanked him and with a smile he returned to the restaurant. “Are you hungry now, Yuki? Or eat later?” Haniki called back to her.

 

[Yotta Ryusui]

Her mouth was already watering. She loved coming over here when there was food. She lived on rice, tofu, and fish at home... and those nasty green things. But here there was flavour. There was love in the food and it was meant to be enjoyed and not just consumed for survival's sake. A sin in the eyes of her grandmother. Indulging on food and and drink is what she would claim this activity was, but it was far from it. "I am always ready to eat! She would follow Haniki to he table to sit down and enjoy her meal with her friend.

Just imagine. This could be her life. If she was allowed to be a Shinobi and not just a temple priestess, she would cherish every moment of things like this.

[Topic Ended for now? We can pick back up here in a little while for the next hang out session?]