Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Ninja Love Story ❯ Chapter 1

The team returned from their mission in the middle of the day, the worst time to be traveling in the deserts surrounding their home village of Sunagakure. They stretched out their stooped shoulders as they reached the welcoming shade of the village interior, complaining good naturedly and comparing plans of good meals, cool showers and long sleeps. They talked as they walked, all glad to have a chance to relax after their long mission. All but one of them, at least, who was wandering distractedly a few paces behind the group, her feet scraping the ground with every step to kick up small amounts of sand and she silently considered the ground in front of her.

 

“Oi, Micchan!” One of the young men on the team stopped, turning to grin at the one lagging behind. “You alright? You're not usu'lly this quiet.”

 

“Are?” Mitara, or `Micchan' to anyone she could convince to call her thus, snapped her head up, almost literally jumping out of her thoughts to grin up at her much taller teammate. “Oh, `Noru-chan…” she cocked her head at him, her grin widening. “It's sooo hot out here! It just saps all my energy away.” She finished with a rather energetic laugh.

 

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Minoru chuckled, agreeing with her, but something was up. Mitara had been calling him `Nori-chan' for years now, much to his chagrin. She must have been pretty distracted to use Noru, in his opinion. Still, it wasn't his place to challenge what she said, and so he left it alone. “At least you get to go now. I hafta get my tail to the Records Office and take care of the paperwork.” He rolled his eyes, trying his best to look put upon, but he couldn't hide his grin.

 

“Oh, that.” Mitara frowned cutely, making Minoru decide once again that she must do everything cutely. “I'll take care of that.” She shrugged.

 

That snapped him quickly out of his thoughts. “You sure?” he asked a few seconds later, the initial shock finally wearing off. The first thing you learned on a team with Micchan was that she would do anything to get out of doing paperwork.

 

“Mmyea. See ya!” Mitara waved and took off in the direction of the office before her stunned teammate could stutter out any more arguments at her.

 

~*~

 

I was getting ready for lunch when she walked in, gaze falling immediately on my desk. He turned abruptly and made a beeline towards me, arms full of papers, attracting every male eye in the room.

 

She was, I suppose, what could be called `cute', being rather short- possibly a foot shorter than me- with dark brown hair that she had taken out of the thick braid that she kept it in for missions. Her animated face and easy smile seemed to attract people, and her short skirt didn't exactly turn away any eyes.

 

What most of the lookers didn't know was that this young woman was a Jounin, the commanding class of elite ninja. She was in her late teens, a good few years older than she looked, but had still been one of the youngest in the village when she made her rank at 16. To look at it another way, she had only been a year older as I, a Genin, was. For all her flowery and cute appearance, she was an excellent strategist. I had only met her once before, when she came to turn in paperwork for a solo mission. Then I treated her like any other ninja, accepting her papers to look over later, but I wouldn't be so naïve this time.

 

“Yuutaki-san.” I inclined my head, greeting her formally as she thunked her pile of papers down on the table.

 

“Micchan.” She corrected automatically, shooting me a bright smile. “Everyone calls me Micchan.” I wanted to argue that no, everyone didn't call her that, or that it would be improper because of age, rank, position, and general society to call her that, or that that simply wasn't the way people did things, but I knew how stubborn she was from past experience, when she talked the Chunin I was speaking with into waiting in line for another desk clerk so that she could turn her papers in to me. She wouldn't relent until the other person gave up at least some ground, and so I gave in with a sigh.

 

“…Mitara-san.” I gathered up the papers, setting my reading glasses on the bridge of my nose. “Let's have a look at these….” I inspected the top page before looking up at the expectant girl in front of me. “Did you fill all of the sections out?” She thought a moment before answering in the affirmative. “And did you sign everything?” Another affirmative and I returned my eyes to the papers, scanning a few of them and looking back up at her.

 

“You're……” I glanced once more at the papers in front of me and back to her, looking for the best way to say this and finally decided to take a hint from the two Genin on my team and state it as bluntly as possible. “…really bad at paperwork.”

 

This earned me a pouty glare from her, arms crossed for extra emphasis. “You don't need to be mean, Hi-chi.”

 

I winced at the sudden familiarity, as well as the sheer cuteness of the nickname. “Shiitama Hitan.” I stated my name in almost a growl. “I would that you refer to me a little more politely.” I finally looked back up at her, completely unprepared for the look of hurt that passed over her face before she managed to hide it badly behind a fake smile. Unbidden, memories surfaced of coworkers, talking about a small, dark haired girl who hung around, staring at my desk when I was off work, Speeding up when I was speaking to someone, staring at me when she could get a good shot, asking about me when she could corner someone alone. I had never thought about it before, thinking it was jut another of their stories, trying to find a crack into my personal life. But now, with this girl in front of me, I couldn't help but think about it.

 

Picking the papers up and tapping them into a pile, I sighed slightly, trying to compose myself. “Well, these need a lot of work, and it's a bit past time for my lunch break.” I set the papers down, fussing with one of the corners until things were aligned perfectly before finally looking at her. “I'm sure Himawari-san would be more than happy to help you,” I paused, scanning her face momentarily and taking a breath. “Or you could come with me.”

 

There was an instant reaction, her bright smile returning in the blink of an eye. “Al-right Hi-tan!” she chirped rhythmically before giggling, covering her mouth with her hands as her hair fell in front of her face. Just like that, her mood had bounced back up.