When Their Definition of Fun Differs [ SAKANA ]

Her attire for the day was all casual. If some of the citizens weren’t well acquainted with her work at the hospital they would have pegged her as some commoner like them. Saya had her hair in its usual high ponytail style whilst she donned a plain black tee and loose khaki capris. She didn’t even wear her ninja sandals, which was something that was new for her. Instead, wooden sandals adorned her feet as she walked between a park and the general market area.

It was early in the afternoon but her surroundings were slowly being filled in by people who were coming out for a break and some lunch. Luckily for Saya, a kind soul had taken pity on her lack of funds and provided her some free ingredients for use. But with that problem somewhat solved, the girl found herself meandering around without a purpose for the day. Training, of course, had been done and over with earlier on in the morning.

The itch to go off and return to the training fields, however, was an ever present companion of hers. Most of the time Saya had to find some other kind of entertainment to curb her need to learn new jutsus and techniques. Ah, the life of a train-aholic. She paused mid-step to observe little kids running around a playground. They were all regular people. Not one of them were registered in the ninja academy.

Each child looked so small and frail, prone to cry at any small scrape or fall. She shuddered at their fragility. The itch was stronger now. Too much for her to ignore. Scratching the back of her neck, Saya spun on her heel and started to take the first few steps toward the training grounds.

But before she could go any further a familiar face swiveled into view. Isn’t that just perfect?

”Sakana!” Saya raised her arm and waved at the pale boy. And was it just her or did his skin get even more pasty than when she last saw him?

WORD COUNT: 344

Most of the snow from the storm had cleared at this point. There was still some on the ground but the conditions were much more hospitable then they were just a few days ago. It wouldn’t be long before Sakana’s postponed mission would soon be back on track. Today Sakana was just walking around town in a blue hoodie, and blue sweatpants, his usual attire. Since he wasn’t even supposed to be in the village at the moment he had no missions or duties to work on, instead he was simply told to be ready when he was called, like a good solider.
 
These past few days have been compiled of sleeping, eating, and admiring the scenery, the civilian life if you will.  It was nice, it really was. There was no people trying to kill you, no people scared of you, and most importantly the people close to you weren’t constantly in danger. Sakana was walking down the street when he heard someone calling his name. The voice was familiar. Really familiar, but that isn’t possible. That voice was gone, that girl was gone. It had been months since he had last heard from her. Still, he turned his head. Once he saw her his eyes lit up, it was her, it was Saya. He raced through the crowd bumping into a few people along the way, but once he got over to her (assuming he wasn’t stopped) he would wrap his arms around her giving her a hug. “Saya… Saya I thought you were gone. It’s been over three months.” He would put his head on her shoulder, squeezing her a little tighter. His face didn’t know what expression to make. “I’m so happy you’re okay.”
 

WC: 294

Of course Saya was quite content in seeing a friend. It was another thing when said friend wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close into a hug. She blinked in confusion before awkwardly raising a hand to pat him on his back. What did he mean by her being “okay”? Did he not think she was going to return to the village? Then again, it was a plausible conclusion. She was merely a genin without much offensive techniques. Still, Saya felt somewhat affronted that he thought she wasn’t fit to take care of herself or to come back alive.

”Of course I’m alright, Sakana.” She said, pulling away from his grasp and raising a brow at the blue boy. ”I’m a medical ninja.” And that was all she said to explain her own confidence in surviving a potentially bad situation. Saya mentally shook her head at all the news that she had managed to gain by working for inns and other shops during her trek back to Kumogakure.

”Anyways, what are you doing? Are you free for the day?” Saya asked in rapid succession. It was probably obvious to her friend as to what she would most likely ask of him in the next minute or so.

WORD COUNT: 211
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 344 + 211 = 555

Ok, maybe the hug was a bit much. Or maybe it wasn’t. What is the acceptable gesture for seeing a friend you thought was dead? Sakana sure didn’t know, so he was still going to stick with the hug. Saya would pull away from Sakana and acted like he should have known she was okay the whole time She would follow up immediately asking him what he was doing for the day, as if she was trying to dodge the first part of the conversation. He peered at her with eyes full of all different emotions.  “Sorry… I know, I’m sorry. It’s just been three months and I haven’t heard anything from you. You didn’t write or send any messages over the telepathy seal or anything. No one has heard from you since you left. What happened that night? After you left the party in such a rush.” He would stop to take a breath, “Me, I’m off duty for a while. But we are NOT training today,” he said anticipating what the intent behind her question was. “You just got back!  We are going out to have some fun today. My kind of fun,” he would clarify before she would have the chance to interject.

Thoughts intruded his mind of how much they needed to catch up on and what they could do with the day. There was the cliché of going to a restaurant, or just strolling around town looking at different shops. But he could also take her back to the lake so they could continue their short lived session at that crystal clear lake they had been at in Hoshi.  He would await for her input.
 
WC: 597

Sakana’s explanation had Saya reeling. Oh. Of course he would come to that conclusion. A pang of guilt jolted through her. Alas, another social cue that she had managed to fail at. And in all honesty, the blue genin - no, chunin, she corrected herself - was absolutely right. Saya felt a corner of her mouth pull down into a half-frown. He should not be apologizing for something she should have done as a courtesy for a friend.

It just didn’t occur to the girl that having people that cared about her also meant having to assuage their worries. Her own mother wasn’t much of a role model as she tended to neglect telling Saya on her whereabouts or her hospital hours. At most Saya’s mother would leave notes by her bedside table when she was leaving for a prolonged period of time, and Saya just accepted her absence.

She cleared her throat and made a “calming” gesture with her right hand. ”No. Don’t apologize, Sakana. I should have let you and Kumogakure know of my status and whereabouts. It was… thoughtless of me.” And it took the girl a bit more of her courage to say the next word - ”Sorry.”

With a slight tilt at her waist Saya gave him a shallow and quick bow before scrunching her facial expression. ”Telepathy seal? That’s only between me and my team, Sakana. I don’t think our groups are connected.” She told him. But with that shedding light on the situation, the girl wondered if they could possibly merge the two telepathy seals. It would certainly help out with communication, especially when it came to emergency situations.

And just as she had done moments before, Saya opted to ignore his question. It was a sore spot for the young girl. While she had initially hurried after Kira, it had been difficult to even keep up with the woman. From time to time, when the redhead disappeared from view, Saya had to rely on the Mark Seal to track her down. And even then, when she had pushed her body to the limit and ultimately had to rest at an inn, Kira had left her behind. Dead weight. No contribution whatsoever.

Sighing at Sakana’s determined direction for the day, Saya nodded albeit reluctantly to his plans. ”I did promise, I suppose.” Then she turned her head as if to glance at the children playing at the park and muttered and huffed under her breath, ”Training is fun.”

WORD COUNT: 418
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 555 + 418 = 973

Sakana immediately noticed the change in expression of his friend once he apologized. His knew his words hit her hard. He didn’t mean to make her feel bad, but he felt bad. And he wore his emotions on his sleeve so it seemed to have an effect on other people. The girl would pick up her hand and tell Sakana that it was her fault and that she was sorry. “It’s okay Saya, I was just worried. Just, think about it next time you go on some crazy adventure again okay, for me?” Things would seem to go awkward for a moment. Saya seemed to be confused on how the telepathy seal worked. “I don’t think that’s the case. Senshi told me that when she made all our seals she used the same hand signs, so we should all be linked. Here let’s try it, activate your telepathy seal.” The Meijin would activate his, “Can you hear me Saya?”
Then after that the purple haired girl ignored him. It must have been a sore spot for her to talk about. He didn’t want to push her, so he would just say “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it right now…, or ever. I’m always here if you need to talk though. And hey, remind me later that we need to stop by my house. I still have your shoes there!” He would add that line at the end to try and lighten the situation.  
 
After the Meijin would talk about having fun the girl tried to convince him that training was fun. And for some people it probably was. But Sakana was more of the relax more, train less type. Probably wasn’t great seeing as he was supposed to be a weapon of the village and all but hey, you only live once, right? “Hey you have your whole life to train! Have you ever been to my lake? Let’s go to my lake.” If she let him Sakana was grab her hand and start leading her to the lake.
 
WC: 922

Saya almost gave an exasperated huff at his request, but controlled her compulsion and gave a noncommittal shrug. She would try, but sometimes things slipped her mind. Particularly when it came to human relationships and interactions. By nature, Saya was quite the loner and had never had to deal with such responsibilities. ”I shall try,” she said to him before raising a brow at their next topic of conversation.

He attempted to speak through their connection, but alas that was not how the jutsu had worked and Saya remained oblivious to his mental question. Saya simply stood in place, wondering if the technique was working. But after a few seconds of silence and nothing resonated in her thoughts, she catalogued it as a failure. It was something she suppose she should try and work on at a later time.

”If you were trying to talk to me, then I didn’t hear anything.” She stated before sending the Meijin a confused stare. Her shoes? ”My… What?” A mere millisecond afterwards her memory came flashing in. ”Oh! Sure, I guess. I have no use for them anymore so you can just throw them in the trash or donate them.” Saya replied, shrugging her shoulders.

The girl did not expect to be attending anymore social events, especially ones that required her to play dress up and torture her limbs with wobbly and unstable footwear. Either way, Saya would brush it off and frown at his sentence. Of course she (and the entirety of Kumo ninjas) had her entire life to train. It was mandatory to train and become stronger if they didn’t want to die, but she supposed she was most likely misunderstanding the chunin or simply have a difference of opinion.

”Your lake? The one where we first met?” Saya replied, head tilted to the side as Sakana began to try and lead her in its direction. ”And I can walk on my own, Sakana.” She tugged her hand from his grip and increased her pace just a tad bit so that they would be walking beside each other. ”I’m not a child to guide. I am a genin after all.”

At this she gave him a pointed look. While Saya appreciated Sakana’s concerns and efforts, she was not keen on how he tended to hover over her.

WORD COUNT: 393
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 973 + 393 = 1366

Sakana was hurt by his friends shrug when he asked her for a heads up next time she wanted to leave. Was it that hard for your friends to… well act like friends? He understood that Saya wasn’t your typical friend but still he was upset. He was going to keep it to himself, but his concerns were diminished by her saying she would try. “Thanks Saya”
 
The Meijin would then try and use the mental link that had been set up for them. But for some reason it didn’t seem like it was working. That was pretty odd considering Senshi had told him back in hoshi that they were all linked together. Maybe it was broken somehow? He wasn’t really sure.  “Hmmm maybe Senshi lied to me. If we aren’t on the same channel there really should be a way to connect them ya know?”
 
Saya would look confused now as the Meijin mentioned her shoes. Had she forgotten about that night already? He knew that she didn’t want to talk about that night but it seemed as she had repressed everything about it all together. But then the girl’s eyes lit up an she said she didn’t need her shoes anymore. Now the chuunin was having a lot of trouble figuring her out, most people would be appreciative or happy at the fact, but not Ms. Kirihara. She was as nonchalant as ever. Sakana let out a small laugh at her. You know… You could say thank you. I did bring them halfway across the world for you. And you really should take them back, you only got to wear them for a little bit and you never know when you’ll need them.”
 
People started to shuffle in around them as the streets were becoming more and more crowded. The pale boy knew they wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation in the middle of the busy town center much longer. So that was when Sakana got the idea to go to the lake. It was always nice and peaceful there. “Yes! That lake. I haven’t been able to really spend much time there since I got back from Hoshi since I’ve been sick recently but it’s going to be great.” The boy was excited, and he didn’t get excited very often.
 
He must have been a little too excited and pulled her a little too hard because she ripped her hand away and exclaimed that she could do it all on her own. “ Sorry. I’m sorry. I never thought you were a child. I just got a little bit excited and wanted you to go to the lake with me. We’re friends. This is stuff that friends do together Saya.”
 
Sakana would think a lot as they walked together toward the lake. Back at Hoshi it had seemed that they were getting along so well. They were swimming and playing together in the lake before Saya needed to take a break. But now she seemed to close herself off when he grabbed her hand to lead her to the lake. Girls are weird.
 
WC: 1,445

The girl frowned that Sakana’s statement. ”Senshi wouldn’t lie,” she replied in a stubborn fashion. In her mind her sensei had no reason to lie. Doing so would just be detrimental to Kumo’s forces. ”Maybe it’s just something else and we all missed it.” There might have been a percent chance that something went wrong with the technique or something that they couldn’t grasp at the moment. However, the girl nodded at his idea. She had been thinking the same thing just half a minute earlier. ”Yeah. I’ll probably look into it later on.”

Then came the subject of her shoes. Saya rubbed the back of her neck. She really didn’t want to keep her shoes, but Sakana was right. Even if she thought she wouldn’t attending anything formal for a long while, the lessons she learned in the kunoichi arts returned to her. Being a girl was so troublesome. Perhaps in her next life she would rather be a boy in the battlefield. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about dressing up and looking nice, and just focus on training.

But again, Saya nodded her head towards her friend. ”Alright. I suppose I’ll go pick them up at some point.” Key words - at some point. Sakana will probably have to wait months or maybe a year for her to even attempt to go pick up her shoes. They weren’t a big deal to the training obsessed genin.

Either she gave him a side glance as they navigated their way through the crowds of Kumo and towards the quiet lake they had met before. She supposed she could take his explanation at face value. Friendship, the girl found, was a very odd thing. ”I see. I will take note of that in the future then.” Perhaps she could peruse the civilian library and read up on how friendship was usually depicted. Saya figured, at least then, that she would not be caught off guard and mistake her friend’s excitement or actions as something else entirely.

”So, what are we supposed to do by the lake? It must be frozen over, right?”

WORD COUNT: 357
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 1366 + 357 = 1723

The Meijin would watch as the girl’s face sank, It seemed as if she thought Senshi was infallible or maybe she just didn’t want to believe that her teacher would lie to her. Sakana wasn’t going to sit there and explain to her why Senshi might have been wrong or lied but he wanted to have fun today, not argue. Instead he just looked at her and said, “You’re probably right, you can ask him later I guess. But yeah let me know after you look into it.”
 
After Sakana explained to Saya that she should get the shoes, the girl would rub the back of her next. Was she uninterested or just uncomfortable? Maybe a bit of both? The chuunin couldn’t really tell. In that moment he wished he could tell what she was thinking, just to get them both on the same page. His mind settled a little when she said she’d go get them at some point. It wasn’t a thank you, but it was a step in the right direction. “Sounds good, but if you forget I guess I’ll just have to march them over to your house myself.” He would grin as he let out a small laugh, trying to inject some humor into the situation.
 
Then once the boy talked to his friend about how he didn’t think she was a child, she told him she would take of note of that. Another oddish response but he was coming to expect those from the girl at this point. It was clear to Sakana that this girl didn’t care much for the formalities of a friendship. As they walked he thought deeper, wondering how she saw their friendship.
 
After walking a little more Saya would question what they were going to do at the lake. Since it did just snow and all that was a valid question. The Meijin didn’t really think that far ahead so he would try and think of a response on the spot. “Oh yeah, I didn’t really think about that. I’m sure some of it has melted by now, but it’s way too cold for us to go swimming.  I kind of forgot that I’m the only one who isn’t bothered by freezing water.” They would take another step or two before his sent his eyes to meet hers, “Have you ever played in the snow?”
 
WC: 1849