Chapter 5

The birds were chirping and the sun was out. It was a good day. "RIN!" someone shouted, "Get down here!"

"Coming!" I shouted. 

Last night I had gone straight to bed. First, I would find some good clothes. I shifted through Rin's closet, my closet. Her style was simple and perfect for me. Usually, she wore a long sleeve shirt and a white skirt and lots of pouches. Also her headband. 

I put it on and ran down the stairs. "Morning," called a male voice. 

"Morning, tou-san."

Kaa-chan looked at me, then handed me a book labeled Genjutsu 101 for Dummies by Shinku Yuhi. "Read." 

I nodded, moms can be scary. 

…

An hour later, I was heading third training ground. Kakashi was on a mission so he wouldn't be there today. It was a good chance to practice the Flying Thunder God technique. I grabbed a ninja tool pouch and one of the special kunai Minato-sensei had given me. 

"I'm going out to train!"

"Okay, have fun!"

Konoha was just as the anime portrayed it. It was lively and full of people. The faces in the stone were only at three so far, so Minato wasn't Yondaime just yet. I ran as fast as I could to the third training ground. It took me less than five minutes to run from one side to the other. Pretty fast. 

It made sense since the only people who could use the Flying Thunder God Technique were already fast to begin with. I panted. I winced, maybe over-exerting myself wasn't the best idea. Oh well, too bad. 

My fuinjutsu skills weren't bad, nor was my kanji. I pulled out a brush and ink and started writing on a block of wood. My strokes were a bit wobbly, but better than I thought it would me. I drew my own imprint and pushed my chakra into it, the way the scroll described. 

I gasped surprised, I could feel it. That was fast. According to Minato-sensei, it could take months before someone perfected their seal. 'Weird.'

"Genius," said Isobu. 

I ignored him and threw the seal as far away as I could. My eyes closed in concentration and I made a hand sign. I sensed around. I didn't feel anything. "Let me try," said Isobu and I felt an odd bit of chakra flow through my body. 

"Quit it!" I muttered. 

"Fine, fine," said Isobu, "I'm just saying I could help."

"Sorry," I replied, "I just want to try it on my own first."

"Alright," he said, "If you do need help though, just ask."

I closed my eyes again and concentrated. Then…there! The seal was exactly twenty-two feet away from me. 

How did I know that? I have no idea. "Try to teleport," suggested Isobu. 

I nodded and closed my eyes again, trying to imagine myself there by the seal and doing everything the book said to do. "Well?" asked Isobu.

"Shhh…" I muttered, "I'm trying to focus!" 

"Who are you talking to?" said a voice behind me. 

I whirled around and saw a familiar sight of eyebrows and green spandex. "Hi, Guy… I was just talking to myself… Are you looking for Kakashi? 

"Yes!" shouted Guy, "How YOUTHFUL of you to offer your help!"

I smiled awkwardly, "Kakashi's out on a mission right now." 

"Oh really? How YOUTHFUL of him!" he shouted, "Yosh, I must use this time to do more training to surpass him! Join me Miss Rin and let us be YOUTHFUL together! Yosh! Let's do five hundred push-ups then five hundred curl-ups! If I don't get it in thirty minutes, let's double it!" 

He started doing pushups. "It's alright Guy, the doctor said I shouldn't over-exert myself."

"I see, injured on a mission? What happened?" he asked. 

"Oh, I got stabbed by Kakashi's Chidori and almost died..."

"What!" Guy's pushups fell out of its rhythm. 

"I'm fine," I smiled. 

"Yosh!" he shouted, "I admit! Rin-sama, you are much more YOUTHFUL than I am! Training so soon after an injury! Yosh! I will do three thousand of each in your honor! With my feet in the air! One! Two! Three!"

I stood there awkwardly as he exercised, slowly moving back towards the village, walking on his hands "What a weird person…" muttered Isobu, "Back to practice!"

"Right, right," I said, snapping my head back. I closed my eyes again. I focused on the Flying Thunder God seal 20 feet away for a good three minutes. 

My hands went into the hand signs the book had. Minato didn't need them, but as a beginner, I did. "Flying Thunder God…"

Swoosh! An unnatural feeling went through my body and I almost gagged at the dizzying feeling. "Did it work?" asked Isobu.

I cracked open my eyes. The seal was on the floor next to me. I looked back to where I was standing before, exactly 22 feet away. "Yes!" I cheered, "It worked!"

"Genius," said Isobu, "First try!"

Suddenly a rush of tiredness passed over me. "Too much chakra…" I muttered and sat on the floor. The technique didn't take much chakra but I probably used too much. 

"Yep," said Isobu, "Without me, your regular chakra levels were much lower." 

I nodded and my stomach grumbled. "Lunch?"

"Lunch," replied Isobu.

…

I followed the paths of Rin's memories to a busy street. The smells were amazing and delicious. "Seafood," ordered Isobu. 

"But…" I protested, "I wanna try to the dorakayi!"

If I could see him, he was probably glaring at me. "Takoyaki," he said, "Dorayaki s a dessert."

"Takoyaki is a snack, it's not that big of a difference. They both are yaki things…"

"Seafood first," he argued and I gave in. What was the point of arguing with a turtle?

"There!" said Isobu. 

"Where?" I asked, "You're not pointing to anything."

"Left, human," he said, annoyed. 

"Okay…" I walked to a stall. 

An old man was standing at the frog. "What can I get you?" he asked. 

"Hi boss," I said, "could I get one takoyaki to go?"

He nodded, "Coming right up." 

I waited, taking in the sights. Then… something caught my eye, then disappeared. I briefly caught sight of it. Root? ANBU? "It seems they're keeping an eye on us," I muttered to Isobu who snorted. 

"Miss," said the stallkeeper, getting my attention, "Your takoyaki is ready, that'll be 150 ryo."

I smiled and pulled out my wallet which was… empty. "Ah!" I said, apologizing to the shopkeeper, "I don't have any money… sorry for bothering you."

"Baka…" muttered Isobu. 

I ignored him and bowed to the stallkeeper, apologizing. "It's okay," he smiled, "Feel free to come back next time!" 

Before I turned to leave, a hand was placed on my shoulder. I flinched and spun around, hand poised to take a kunai out of my pouch. "So jumpy," laughed a voice. 

"Don't scare her, Asuma," said the girl, "she's still recovering."

I recognized them immediately. The girl with wavy long hair and red eyes was Kurenai and the darker-skinned male was Asuma Sarutobi, son of the 3rd Hokage. I smiled, "Hey Kurenai, Asuma, out on a date?"

They both turned red and blushed, not meeting my gaze. I snorted, "Hi how are you?" 

"We're not on a date…" blushed Kurenai. 

"Yeah yeah," said Asuma, "Just taking in the sights… what are you doing? Shouldn't you be resting? Recovering?"

"I got discharged yesterday…" I said, "I was going to buy some Takoyaki but…" I flipped over my wallet, "I'm broke."

"You and me both…" sighed Asuma, "Can you believe how much she eats?" he asked, pointing to Kurenai, "So expensive…"

Kurenai whacked him on the back of the head as she laughed, "I don't eat that much, I'll pay for your Takoyaki!"

I shook my head, "It's fine, I'm not that hungry…" 

My stomach growled. 'Traitor.'

Kurenai laughed and pulled out her wallet. "Two takoyaki please boss!" she called, walking closer to the stall counter.

"Two?" asked Asuma, "What about me?"

Kurenai smiled, "We can share!"

"You mean you can eat all of it and I can get one small bite…" he muttered. 

"I eat a lot!" she gave him an evil smile and Asuma pouted. 

"Are those two dating?" asked Isobu in my head. 

I laughed, getting a look from Asuma. "What is so funny?"

"You two…" 

"We're not dating!" 

"Yeah right!"