The Strangest of Pairs ((Private Akina Ayama))

Ayama normally loved ramen, it was salty delicious and entirely unhealthy. She tried to regiment her diet, eating mostly protein and carb high foods while leaving out excess fats. Rarely did she indulge in food that most would eat, ramen and sweets chief among them. So with all the stress currently in her life she decided that now was as good of time as any to indulge. She had hoped that escaping from the house and relaxing with some comfort food would in turn relax her and help her figure out the tangled knot that was currently her life. She picked up a piece of shrimp floating around in her ramen and glared at it like her love life’s roller coaster like quality was its fault.

Granted she couldn’t really point fingers, it had been her choice to run off with a ninja with some obvious ongoing issues and more power than he knew what to do with. She loved Navi dearly but sometimes she entertained the peace she’d have if her heart had stayed firmly in her chest and she’d remained a ninja of the sand.

Sighing heavily she opened her mouth a munched on the shrimp, staring into the broth with tense contemplation. On top of her love life stress there was her social stress as well. Ayama was naturally paranoid and being close to Navi and knowing full well the danger her relationship could present had driven her away from people. But as she looked over her single friend Vretial who was twelve she realized she needed an older friend. One who understood some of her issues and someone she could talk to without fear of judgment.

She needed a girlfriend.

She would also never repeat that sentence out loud. Speaking of judgment her eyes flickered over the third ninja in the past hour to glance her way with interest. She was in her casual clothes, a simply blue outfit that only managed to keep her age up by showing off a lovely scar across her upper back. But if she were to guess it was the trace of genjutsu around her head that had them curious. Not wanting to draw attention she’d used a like illusion to round out her pointed ears, fill in her slitted pupils and flatten her mouth full of fangs. Any ninja worth their salt would be able to sense the illusion; she hadn’t tried very hard to hide it. She mostly wanted people to stop staring at her strangely as she walked through town. Taking another bite and continuing her pensive staring contest with her ramen she wondered if at any point her life would settle down into some state of normalcy. A stable house, friends to hang out with, maybe some kids when she was older? She paused for a moment before letting out a sharp bark of laughter.

Yeah, right, and Navi would wear a pink dress around town.

Akina sighed lightly. It was turning out to be one of those weeks. She felt like she had too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Her silver eyes had dark circles under them from a lack of sleep. The closer the date was coming, the more Akina had to do, and the less sleep she was able to acquire. The woman thought of going to see her aunt, but decided instead on going to Ichiraku's.

"Irrashai." The chef's voice floated over the other noises of people working. Anyone who stayed in Konoha long enough could come to the conclusion that the noise making the smells of great food waft through the air made the small ramen shop more welcoming. Akina smiled and bowed to the chef. "I'd like my usual, please." For a brief moment, Akina chuckled to herself, thinking that it was probably a sad fact that she had a usual. It was worse still that the chef simply nodded, as though Akina had been coming here every day since she learned how to walk.

Walking over to a stool, Akina sat down and looked around. Everyone seemed to be staring at this other woman. She did not seem to be out of the ordinary. Yes, she was strange, and something made Akina think the girl was possibly using a genjutsu, but she did not go much further into that speculation. Whatever the girl's reasoning, Akina did not sense a threat. Her bowl was placed in front of her, and she began eating. She kept an eye on the male customers, being careful to not attract their attention. If they were annoying the other girl, Akina would get involved.