𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼 | 𝑲.𝑰𝑵𝒁𝑼𝑲𝑨

|I{•------» [17] «------•}I|

There was something about wandering the busy streets of Konoha that made Ruka Sarutobi feel right at home. Maybe it was because she had been away for so long and had truly missed her village. Perhaps it was because the villagers had always gone out of their way to greet and make her feel comfortable. Whatever the case, she doubted there were many places she would ever trade for her home.

That's what Konoha was and always would be—her home.

Things had more or less gone back to normal since Team 7's return from the Land of Waves a few days before. After that day, she couldn't help but be bothered by the words "The one's presence that changes everything..." She whispered, her eyebrows furrowing.

She had been wanting to ask her grandfather about the truth of her existence, which caused every rogue ninja to want to kidnap her. However, she felt like it would be a bad time to ask, so she kept it to herself.

"Well, if it isn't the girl from the loser team," a cocky voice drawled out, and she whirled around to find none other than Kiba Inuzuka with Akamaru on top of his head, lazing against a nearby food stand. His hands were stuffed into his pockets as he observed her.

Ruka's smile turned into a wide grin as she walked towards him. "Hey, watch it. One of us might be the future Hokage." Kiba let out a scoff. "You mean him? Please." The brunette beauty was at his side in a flash and even faster in his arms. It had been weeks since she had last seen her best friend, and even she couldn't believe just how much she had missed him and Akamaru.

"You've been so busy that I had to take it upon myself to sniff you down," the male commented in annoyance as she pulled away from their embrace. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Well, how about I make it up to you?" She stepped away from him before sticking out an eager hand for him to take.

"Just spend time with me, that's all I need," he said as he grabbed her hand, and they began to walk away from the busy street. "You know, Kurenai-sensei has been telling me how much Asuma-sensei was worried about you. I swear, he almost killed me."

Ruka chuckled at this. Asuma had said as much when he first cornered her upon her return to the Sarutobi compound the night before. Apparently, he had been so worried when their supposed mission turned into almost a full month.

"... But other than that, I'm glad that you're back. My life has been awful without you, especially Shino being annoying." He turned to find her staring at him as she smiled, causing his cheeks to gain a tinted scarlet. He awkwardly cleared his throat. "Not that I miss you or anything."

Ruka watched him shuffle from foot to foot, a bright smile gracing her features. "I missed you too, Kiba."

---

"I told you, big brother, I don't know where big sister is." Konohamaru sounded annoyed as he strolled through the village with the blonde at his side. "When she got back this morning, she said she had errands to run."

But all talks and thoughts of Ruka were put on hold when the duo caught sight of a flash of hot pink storming towards them or, rather, at the now cowering figure of Naruto.

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed as she skidded to a stop before the blond male. "Kakashi-sensei said to go home and

rest, not to corrupt Ruka's younger brother!"

Naruto waved her off. "Konohamaru is just helping me find my way to Ruka."

But he never finished his sentence, mostly because the pinkette suddenly chose to pummel him to the ground.

Konohamaru started forward with a shocked gasp. "Stop it, you ugly girl, or else I will tell big sister about you!" he yelled out, causing Sakura to slowly turn around to face him, a deathly aura engulfing her form as she cracked her knuckles in preparation for another beating. "What did you say?"

Konohamaru gulped before he began to run away from his sister's teammates. At this point, he really hoped that his sister's ability to appear would actually appear. He quickly sped up his running in desperation, but he didn't make it far when he abruptly halted by the strangely warm wall he had crashed straight into.

As he crashed onto the hard and cold floor of the streets, he let out a groan of pain. A single glance up showed that he hadn't so much crashed into a wall as into a person. A very scary person. The male he had bumped into was clad from head to toe in black. His face was decked out in rough tribal paint, every line painted in the darkest of purples. "That hurt, brat!" he hissed into the Sarutobi male's face, his eyes flashing in delight when the young male cowered away from him.