Island of Storms [Sakura]

Chapter 29 | Drinks

Tenten and Kankuro reentered the cafe, the woman explaining something to him. Shikamaru almost choked on his water after Ino had told him about Kakashi not wearing his mask.

"You're joking, right?" he asked, setting his glass down. "Not once have I ever seen him without that mask. Why'd he stop wearing it?"

Ino shrugged.

"He said something about not caring anymore. My guess is he's just too lazy to get a new one," she grinned as Tenten sat next to her.

"Sorry about that..." the brunette said.

"It's no problem," Temari assured as Kirai approached the table. The girl handed Ino what looked like a salad with light yellow chunks of sweet-smelling fruit in it. Ino then placed it in front of Temari, a plate with rice and fish in front of Kankuro, and a bowl of orange soup in front of Shikamaru. In front of her was a plate of yellow rice with vegetables and meat, and in front of Tenten was what looked to be skewered fruit that had been grilled.

"And for you..." She took a small bowl of soup off of the tray she had been using and placed it in front of Gaara. "Some miso."

He looked at her with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"I said I wasn't hungry..." he murmured. She giggled.

"Your face said differently." The two older siblings were impressed that she was able to tell something like that on their first encounter. Temari was amused by the slight shock that appeared on her youngest brother's face as the girl returned to the end of the table. "If you need anything else, just ask the woman at the counter. My shift has ended and I need to run some errands before I take the ferry home. It was nice meeting you all, my name is Kirai."

The four newcomers reacted to the name as everyone else had. "If you ever want to find me just ask around. This village is small so we need to stick together like puzzle pieces."

Temari saw something in her break, but she didn't falter. "Have a good meal."

With that, she turned and left.

"Hatred...?" Temari murmured as she watched the girl enter the kitchen. "What kind of parent names their child something like that?"

"I can't believe she still says that out of habit," Tenten frowned.

"Says what?" Shikamaru asked.

"To stick together like puzzle pieces... That's something her friend used to say before she died..."

After they had finished eating, Ino and Tenten led them out of the cafe, though the two had convinced them to wait to visit the Bird Gardens as it was rather late. The group made their way toward the heart of the village, passing by the tower and under some kind of framework for a tunnel before taking a right.

"This is the inn," Ino said as she gestured to the large building to their right. They stopped outside the doors. "We probably have an hour before we have to catch the ferry for the night. You guys can go ahead and check in if you want."

After deciding that they would drop off their things in their rooms, the four entered and returned a few minutes later before they continued down the street and made a left turn before heading into a small drinking house. Tenten greeted the woman at the door and they were led to an outdoor table out the back.

"Sorry we couldn't show you around much today," the blonde frowned. "I'd be happy to show you around tomorrow if you like, but you'll all be coming over in the morning."

"Actually, I think I saw a map in here," Shikamaru muttered as he pulled the envelope Oginku had given him from his pocket. He pulled out the papers that were inside and flipped through them before pulling out a page and laying it on the table. "Here it is."

"Oh!" Tenten smiled. "They finished printing it?"

She leaned in to get a better look. Everyone leaned in to see the pamphlet that was printed in black ink.

"Well, this makes things a lot easier," Ino started. "Right now we're here."

She pointed at the small building that was second to the left from the ferry dock. The two then began telling them about each of the shops that had come in and where the government buildings were based, showing them the locations of the Arashichi Clinic, the Mailing Office, and the Case Office.

"So the Case Office is that building then?" Kankuro asked, pointing at the outer wall of the building that they were sitting next to.

"Yeah, that's where people apply for missions to be reviewed," Ino confirmed. "Or, say you were a shinobi and lived in Arashichi, you could take lower ranking missions there instead of having to go all the way to Arashijima."

"You could come and report the completion quicker too," Tenten added, sipping on some sake that they had ordered to be able to sit where they were. Kankuro tapped his finger on a large area showing trees that was inside the village walls.

"This is the Memorial place, right?"

"Yes," Ino nodded. "Here in the far end is a memorial stone for those who died in the attack that happened the day after Tenten and I arrived.... It's not finished yet from what I've heard, but the area is nice. Right now it's just called the Memorial Grounds, it will probably get a better name later on."

"Ah, alright..." Shikamaru murmured, having been looking at the other papers that had been in the envelope. "So this is a schedule of the ferries at the moment I guess."

He placed a small paper on the table.

It was handwritten, so he gathered that it could be subject to change in the near future. "This is a letter from someone allowing us a meeting with Sakura."

He set the letter on the table as he questioned who the letter was written by. "And these..."

He placed down four slips of blue paper. "I'm not sure what these are."

"Oh, those are property request slips, or whatever Lady Iro decided to call them," Ino started, pointing at them. "So tomorrow, you should each take one of those and when you find where you want to live, you write down the address and hand it into the front desk of the Kage Tower."

"You guys might have to end up paying for a house since you got here after the one week deadline..." Tenten mumbled, cup to her lips. A few of them wondered if she was drinking too much.

"There was a deadline?" Garra asked. "A deadline for what?"

"Well, most of the people who live here right now had their homes destroyed in the attack that I mentioned earlier. So for the first week, people were able to choose where they wanted to live for no price," Ino explained. "Sai and I got our place for nothing, which was pretty nice."

"Oh?" Temari grinned. "You're living together are you?"

"Yeah, and what about you?" Ino teased. "Are you going to-"

She was cut off by a whistle that came from the direction of the docks.

"Oh, shit!" Tenten exclaimed, picking up the bottle of sake and downing what was left before grabbing Ino's wrist and dragging her to her feet. "We gotta' go!"

"Did you just drink the rest of that!?" Temari laughed.

"I paid for it, I drink it!" the brunette called as she pulled Ino with her as she jumped to the roof of the Case Office before they disappeared. Temari rested her face in her hands as she laughed.

"That was probably a last call," Shikamaru grinned. "We should head back, it's late."