Yōsei Tanuki is the daughter of Ninfu Tanuki, the Dōkutsukage of the Village Hidden in the Caves. When her cousin Moya Tanuki comes to visit, Yōsei decides to travel with her cousin to the Village Hidden in the Leaves to further her skills and stud...
Moya and I have finally arrived at the Hidden Leaf. It's still extremely cold and Moya and I make our way to her apartment. When we get there, we enter and find it to be much warmer than it is outside. I take off my cloak, take off my headband, and go into the spare room she has set up for guests. It's a simple room, which is good because that means I get to decorate it however I want.
"I'll be back shortly," Moya informs me. "I'm going to go get some food from the market and then meet up with some friends."
"Can I come with you to meet your friends?" I inquire.
"Yeah!" Moya nods her head. "I'll be back shortly with groceries. You shower up and get changed." I nod my head and Moya leaves my room. I set my bag onto the bed and pull out some winter clothes Moya had me pick up while we were resting at a small village. I head across the hall to the bathroom and take a quick shower. After my shoulder, I go back into my room and change into my outfit.
I slip on a thick, warm navy blue long-sleeve sweater. The sweater is thick enough it'll keep the cold from getting through to my skin but thin enough I can wear something over it. I pull up a pair of matching thick, warm navy blue pants and slip on a pair of thick, comfy white socks. I set aside a pair of knee-high Shinobi boots to put on when Moya and I leave to meet her friends. I unzip a pastel purple dress with a high-collar that reaches my mid-thighs. The dress has a lilac purple ribbon around the bottom and the symbol for my clan on the back. I slip on a pair of fingerless purple, almost black, gloves for the winter. To top everything off, I strap a lilac purple obi around my waist and secure both of my war fans --- which were given to me by my grandma after she found out Mom named me Yōsei --- on either side of my waist. My fan with a dark fading to lighter magenta vine design goes into the pouch on the right side of my waist. Meanwhile, the vibrant purple fan with a kaleidoscope design goes into the pouch on the left side of my waist.
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As soon as I leave my room, I hear a knock on the door. I go over to open it, brushing out my hair as I go. Once I open the door, I'm greeted by a couple of guys about a year older than me. "May I help you?" I inquire, yanking a knot out of my hair.
"Is Moya Tanuki here?" the tallest of the guys inquires. He has narrow brown eyes and an expression suggesting he's bored or irritated. He has black hair pulled back into a spiky ponytail, making it look like a pineapple. He has on a long-sleeved grey jacket with green-edged sleeves and a clan symbol on the back. His jacket is zipped up seeing as it's extremely cold outside. To go along with his jacket, he has on a pair of brown paints and a set of silver hoop earrings. For some reason, he seems very familiar, but I just can't place why.
"Not right now," I answer, holding the door open so they can come in. "Moya is out getting some groceries and food."
"Okay," one of the other boys nods his head, eating some potato chips. He has a rotund build and markings on his cheeks in the form of swirls. He has spiky hair brown-red that sticks up. He has on a long-sleeved haori with a long, white scarf over a white shirt with the kanji for "food" on it. He has on a pair of black pants and silver hoop earrings like the pineapple dude.
"Do you know when she'll be home?" the pineapple dude inquires.
"Yeah," I nod my head, yanking on another knot. "She should be home in a few minutes. Make yourselves comfortable." I use my foot to close the door and continue yanking on my hair with my hairbrush. I finish brushing out my hair in the bathroom and set the brush down just as I hear the door opening.
"Yōsei! I'm back!" Moya calls from the front.
"Moya!" I respond, sliding across the wooden floor to the kitchen to help her with groceries. "By the way, there are a couple of dudes here to see you. I think they're in the family room."
"Alright," Moya nods her head. "Can you put the groceries away then?"
"Yeah!" I nod my head. I begin putting up the groceries, borrowing one of the chairs at the table to reach the top shelves since I'm so short. After I finish putting all the groceries away, I put Moya's chair back at the table and head into the family room. When I get there, Moya is talking with the two boys about her trip home.
"Sounds like you had an interesting trip," the dude eating potato chips nods his head, eating more potato chips.
"Yeah," Moya nods her head, smiling and waving me over to her. "Guys, this is my cousin Yōsei. Her mom thought it'd be helpful if she started attending the Academy with me. Yōsei, these are a couple of my friends --- Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi." Moya points to each one as she tells me their names.
"It's very nice to meet you," I wave softly.
"You too," Shikamaru nods. Chōji waves between bites of his food.
Why does he look so familiar? I ponder, sitting next to my cousin. He's a Nara, so maybe that's why? I mean, Mom did warn me to stay away from his clan. Maybe I've seen a picture of his dad in Mom's room? It would make sense.
"Well, Yōsei and I have to get going to meet Hinata and Sakura at Ichi Raku Ramen," Moya informs the boys.
"Yeah, it was nice catching up," Shikamaru informs Moya, "and meeting your cousin." Shikamaru and Chōji get up from their seats and I head into my room to grab my boots. Once Chōji and Shikamaru leave, I meet Moya at the front door and slip on my boots. I put on a pastel purple headband and pull it down over my ears to keep them warm.
"Moya," I address my cousin, "you know Mom told me to stay away from the Nara Clan. How am I supposed to do that when your friends with one? Or how am I supposed to stay away from him if we're going to be in the same class together?"
"Don't worry!" Moya informs me, smiling brightly. "You're named after the strongest Dōkutsukage and Head of Tanuki Clan! Not to mention, didn't you hear what Aunt Ninfu said happened four generations ago?"
"You mean the only other Yōsei Tanuki besides me and the first Dōkutsukage?"
"Of course! She made a pledge on her death bed, remember. She pledged that in her next life she wouldn't let the Nara she meets slip through her fingers. Yōsei, you have to be living her next life! Why else would Grandma give you those fans?"
"Maybe you're right. What about Mom's warning, though?"
"Just ignore it. All you have to do is make sure that Aunt Ninfu never finds out you've disobeyed her orders."
"You make it sound easy." Moya laughs and the two of us leave the apartment to meet up with some of her friends.
