Something to Fight For (Naruto)

Shopping

Twenty minutes later, Haruka, a giant bear pelt slung over her shoulders and trailing the ground, walked along the main street of Konoha. Rei followed a foot or so behind her, doing her best to look like she was not in any way associated with the psycho blonde.

"If you are going to be my student, then you need to be properly clothed and armed." Haruka informed the amber eyed girl, feeling the urge to start skipping. She really liked the pelt.

"Fine, fine. But I'm broke." Rei grumbled, moving her lips as little as possible.

"It is okay, I have m-" Haruka froze in shock. She was about to say that she could pay, but her dinner with Nii-san had completely cleaned her out. Still, she couldn't let her new student go on with out the proper equipment. There had to be some way to get a lot of money, quickly...

There was only one way she could think of. Gritting her teeth on a senbon, Haruka began heading towards the local tailor.

"Oi! Where're you goin'?!" Rei shouted after her, starting to get worried. Maybe she had made a mistake choosing such a weirdo as a sensei...

Ignoring the younger girl, Haruka trudged on, dreading what she had to do. She had no choice, though; Ninja tools always came first, money wise.

Sadly, the tailor was a lot closer than she had guessed. The building turned out to be just around the corner from where they were. It looked fairly well-off, which meant they could definitely afford to buy expensive materials. Which was good, seeing as Haruka planned to go no lower than five thousand yen.

Since her hands were full, she used her head to gesture to Rei to open the door, but the kid wasn't paying attention at all, focusing instead on an Anbu walking by with a large sword strapped to his back. Sighing, Haruka kicked it open instead, barely keeping her balance because of her heavy load.

The inside was neat, yet cluttered. Lining the walls were manikin after manikin, each with a different set of clothes on and a tag that had at least five zeros. In front of them, there was dozens of small cabinets and such with fabrics, scissors and other tailoring materials. There was a small stage in the center with a naked manikin upon it and a tall, gangly man, who appeared to be making some kind of dress. Once he heard the door squeak open, he spun around to face the newcomers.

"Wel... Come... " The manager murmured, eyes locked onto the bear pelt. His tiny green eyes shown with greed.

"I am here to s-sell." Haruka informed him, almost snapping the senbon in her mouth.

"Of course, of course." He responded demurely, walking over to them daintily. Without another word, he began inspecting the giant bear skin draping the Uzumaki.

After a minute of this, Haruka spoke up. "Well? How much will you pay?"

"One thousand." He stuck his nose in the air and walked back to the stage as if he was above bargaining. This was meant to make Haruka think that he wouldn't offer any more, but she knew better from her experience with merchants in the past.

"No." She refused his offer, waiting for him to go higher.

"Two?"

"No." Rei tugged on her sensei's fishnet, thinking she was insane for not accepting the two thousand, but she just ignored her, focusing on the task at hand.

"Four...?"

"No." If he wanted to get her pelt from her, than he would have to at least pay her a decently.

"Fine. Six is my highest. Take it or leave, please." He turned back around, crossing his arms and looking her in the eyes for the first time since she and Rei arrived.