Suna no Hoshi [Naruto Fanfic]

The Pitfalls of Teamwork

She was fascinating.

He had never met anyone like her. She was bright and lovely, and she was like a personified sun. They talked of nonsensical things, and it boggled his mind because he can’t remember the last time he’d had a conversation for the sake of conversation. She spouted information about herself without care that as a shinobi, she shouldn’t be so free with information about herself (especially with a person she’d just met, like she just had with Rasa).

He wriggled droplets of information that he could get about her, small little tidbits he wanted so he could continue to form a larger picture of her and who she was in his head. She was a ramen lover, with an addiction to miso. Orange “rocked” because everything about the color associated with her. It was her favorite color, however the truth was that dark shades of red were actually her favorite because she’d heard the Kazekage’s hair was some shade of red that was dark (and that baffled him because he had no idea what he had to do with anything with that, especially given that she didn’t even know he was the Kazekage).

She liked to snack on oranges and cooked with a lot of rosemary, hence why her smell was a mix of the two. She rapidly spoke about her favorites to him, any and all, without any caution, and interrogated him about his in return (and it really did feel like an interrogation).

He had been a bit shell shocked from the experience at first.

And then she’d changed suddenly, acting demure as she smiled softly and looked at him from under her eyelashes, one of her hands elegantly placed across her chest as she bowed slightly. She thanked him formally and then she was gone.

Then he realized she’d also left him to pay for her food.

He had been left flabbergasted, caught off guard, and yet also very amused and entertained about the whole thing. She was much more than he’d expected, or really she was absolutely nothing at all from what he’d expected. In fact, she’d been far beyond anything he’d been able to come up with in his mind, even with Baki’s meager offerings.

The next day, he resolved to make a better impression and hold out, and wasn’t about to let her get yet another upper hand on him. After all, he was absolutely fascinated with the person Naruto had become, and admitted he was looking forward to seeing how she’d grow, along with her team.

So, knowing her love for ramen, he took a chance on visiting the noodle bar she’d been eating before, when it was time for breakfast. He had managed to leave a note at his secretary’s desk that he was going to be late getting to work, and had headed straight to here afterward. His patience paid off as he saw her almost pouting as she slunk towards the restaurant, and he wondered what had happened to make her feel upset, frowning as he pondered that.

“Hey there,” he called out, and gave a slight wave of his fingers.

She saw him and perked up slightly, smiling a little as she took a seat next to him. She made her order and then turned to him, smile widening just a little more.

“Hey you, that wasn’t nice last time,” he scoffed, though he was still smiling and showing he wasn’t too bothered.

“I’m quite sorry,” she said quietly, reaching out and gently tilting his chin up with the tips of her fingers. “At least I’d managed to thank you prior, and it was meant also for your lovely company.”

He blinked.

Cockily, he swiped her hand away from him and in a single move had turned it into a firm grip that he had no intention of letting go, as he pulled away from her and outstretched to their side. He smirked and lifted an eyebrow.