desolate minds

ix. sounding heartbeats, intimidation

The next day, all of the students that came from Suna were given an official tour around Konoha. We didn't all leave as a collective group, and were instead just split up with random Konoha-nin and whomever we were currently rooming with. That would be Jin and Taikan, in my case.

I'm forced to revisit all of the places Obito had showed me the day before (and a few new ones too, like a flower shop and a tea house). Our tour ended at the Academy, which resides at the base of the Hokage Mountain.

After that we were released from the Konoha-nin's care and were allowed to go where we pleased. My first instinct was to try and find the training grounds, but when I felt Jin grab onto my hand, I knew that wasn't where I'd end up. Taikan left us to our own devices, probably having to meet up with the other Suna chūnin.

"I'm guessing you have something to show me?" I asked the orange-haired girl, exasperated.

"Correct," was all she replied with. Her turquoise eyes remained forward and focused on our destination. It seems she'd gotten used to Konoha's layout way faster than I did, because I had no idea where we currently were.

All I could tell you was that there were a lot of trees and just foliage in general. A few dirt paths veered off further into the woods, reminding me of hiking paths that I used to see at the local parks in my past life.

"A civilian park?" I took a shot in the dark, still taking in my surroundings.

"Yes, but that's not why we're here."

I raised an eyebrow in question, but continued to let her guide me through the area. We crossed the park and reached the border that bled into the forest. It looked tangled with bushes and briars, and, honestly, I didn't want to go through it.

"Um, we're not going through that," I said, more than asked.

"I cleared a path—" Before she could finish (or I could ask myself when she had time to clear a path) I had already shaken off her hold and lept towards the trees. "Show off..." I heard her mumble before following after me.

While I jumped through the trees like Spider-Man, Jin took the more practical approach and jumped from branch to branch. It didn't take us too long to get there, but we were far enough away from the park that we could no longer hear any civilians.

Jumping off the final tree in my reach, I found myself in a clearing. Looking around, there were a few training dummies that looked worse for wear, and a few logs that had been badly beaten out of shape.

"An abandoned training ground?" I asked, looking to my classmate. When she nodded, I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Since when did you find this? We've only been here a day."

"You're not the only one who left the hotel yesterday," was Jin's only reply.

'Fair enough.'

"So you just decided to randomly veer off from that park? Take a detour through the woods?" I followed her to the training dummies, watching as she began to stretch before taking a swing.

"Yes."

I sighed. Though I was used to talking to a brick wall, it didn't mean I enjoyed it. During times like these, I really missed the energetic bundle that was Murai. Don't tell him I said that though.

"Let's get to work the—!"

Swoosh!

Before I could even finish my sentence, I was interrupted by a giant fucking fireball of all things. It randomly came shooting through the trees, and if it weren't for my reflexes, Jin and I would— well, we would be dead, judging by the scorched trees and ground that the fireball left in its wake.