Chapter 3 : Time before the Summoning

Tenshi fell from one surprise into another, she had never received so much appraise.
A-arigato...

Most of the townsfolk only noted her when they needed her... and after that they would ignore her.
One particular event came to mind.

The woman had tripped and she had tried to help her up. Instead of accepting her help, the woman had screamed that a monster like her had to stay away. There were more people like the woman and it was the reason she was alone most of the time.

Suddenly the bowl of ramen didn't seemed as delicious as before. Still, it would be rude not to eat...

Nomaru kinda knew how much the townspeople disliked Tenshi. That was one more reason to like the girl. The Koui family, at least Nomarus part of the family didn't really care about people's past or who they were supposed to be. As long as they were nice, loving people they were welcome in the house, there would be food on the table and they would laugh at the unimportant things in life together.
Nomaru knew Tenshi had problems talking to people and being social. She could be very distant and normally Nomaru would hate these kind of things, but for some reason with Tenshi it always had been different. Nomaru herself didn't even know why. Maybe she just needed a reasonable person close to her.
'Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's eat!!!!' Nomaru yelled with enthousiasm. She put her hands together, closed her eyes, saying: 'Itadakimasuuuuu!!!' and started putting all kinds of food on her plate.

To Nomaru this was a normal day. Her dad made weird, yet funny jokes during dinner and there was a lot of arguing going on between Nomaru and Hazure about basically everything ever. Mainly about how few table manners Nomaru had. Karin would just smile and occasionally say a few words to calm her husband and daughter. She would talk a little to Sarutobi and Haruno about light and relevant things, mainly because Hazure and Nomaru were to busy shouting at each other and fighting over small things like the last yakitori stick or about how she transformed into a naked version of her teacher.
'But dad, it was hilarious! You should have seen their faces!' Nomaru was still laughing at the face of the teacher she had transformed into.
'It's disrespectful and you know it, Nomaru! That's not how I raised you!!'
'Yes you did! If you had raised me well I wouldn't have done it!'
'Why you...!?' and they would just skip to another thing to argue about. This was how it was every single day.

The Sarutobi girl grinned at the reactions of Nomaru's father as he praised her, obviously, that was exactly what the girl was going for.
However as soon as the girl heard about the food and heard the Koui girl whisper into her ear about her mother's cooking skills the girl would dash and settle between one of the chairs within a matter of seconds.
One poof and the little 10 year old would be at the table with a big happy grin flashing her cute, innocent yet exited and hungry smile.
"Yaaaay!" She'd exclaim gleefully.

As she heard Nomaru exclaim that they should dig in, at almost exactly the same time as the Koui girl the Sarutobi would push her palms together closing her eyes momentarily with a light polite bow towards her plate and in unison with her former classmate would exclaim. "Itadakimasuuuuu!!!"

The Sarutobi girl seemed to be eating rather neatly, with seemingly expert use of her knife and fork, even for her age, and it would all seem rather formal be it not for the tremendous speed she was doing this at. It looked as if someone recorded her eating the food in a neat, orderly and formal fashion and then put the tape on fast-forward.

The girl would pause for a moment taking a little break when she heard Nomaru and her father argue she would smile and let out a soft chuckle.
"Your dad is very kind....And I think you are underestimating your achievement a little bit Nomaru-chan." She would say after swallowing her food.
"You see in the last 2 years there has been a limitation placed on the amount of graduates. In other words the fact that we graduated means we were the top 12 out of our class. And there were over 30 people there in total. That is still very impressive." The girl smiled and nodded to the Koui girl somewhat praising her.
It was clear in her expression that the Sarutobi girl had taken a liking to Nomaru, perhaps even admired her somewhat.
The young girl would then continue consuming her food in the fashion she did at before, when she would suddenly stop and glance to the Haruno girl.
"So you are from the Haruno Clan, right?" She would ask and nod.
"Your Clan is very nice, to bad there is only few of you folks around as of yet. But I remember a nice lady from your Clan that used to watch over me when I was smaller." She rubbed the back of her head blushing a bit as she chuckled grinning happily at Tenshi.
"Haruno Sakena, the daughter of your Clan Leader I believe. I caused her a bit of trouble but she was always really sweet and patient with me." The girl nodded confirming her own story and awaited what the Haruno's reaction would be.
It was clear that the girl didn't really understand much of the emotions of those around her unless they'd be very clear.

Shy, Tenshi would close her eyes, bow her head and say soft: Itadakimasu
slowly she would eat, but she wasn't hungry. She felt misplaced. everyone around her was happy, and she shared the feeling. But she didn't understood where the emotions came from or how to react to them.

When Kouhi asked her about her clan and told her about Sakena she would smile. It was the closest family she had.
Sakena has always been pleasant to everyone. She has her temper, but she also does what she thinks is best. I learned a lot from her. She was my guide for a while. Then I went my own way and am still trying to make the Haruno proud.

And it was true, from all the Haruno, Sakena had been the one who had put her trust in the Haruno girl and saw potential in her.

what did you do to cause her trouble?

Yamanaka Flower Shop

As Yorukasa and Shikataro would enter the flower shop they would see the shop being filled with customers, not a big surprise for such a warm and relaxed day. Yamanaka Clan members and non-clan helpers running around trying to keep up with the amount of clients.
As Yorukasa would ask for the Yamanaka Clan Leader the blonde woman would pop out of the crowd taking off her gloves and wiping her forehead a bit from the sweat.
"Pheeeeeeew.....What a day." She gasp and pull a worn out face at the two fresh Genin and would then smile.
"Shikataro-kun, Yorukasa-chan!" She exclaimed gleefully walking up to the two and hugging the both of them softly and only slightly not wanting to dirty them too much with her currently somewhat dirtied clothing.
"I see you both sporting your forehead protectors! Owwwwwwh! I'm so proud of the both of you." She grinned.
"In fact I am going to call your father right now to inform him. You two wait here a bit." She nodded and dashed off to the back-room of the store. "Ohw he's going to be thrilled!" the woman spoke while on her way clearly happy and exited for the two of them.

"And he's not the only one who's thrilled! Your uncle is too!" Suddenly Kankurou's voice would speak from behind the two Genin. The Black Clad puppet master standing there hands in his pockets and sporting a few scrolls on his back. He smirked making his surprise appearance but waited for their reaction before giving any explanation as to why he was there. But him being inside Konoha would mean that he was probably on a mission or here on an official and sanctioned leave as it usually was the case.

Kouhi grinned happily at Tenshi's reply.
Ohw really? She helped you out?! Cool! And yeah I heard due to the nature of their appearance the Haruno Clan still have some trouble feeling like a Clan. It's a bid sad. But I am sure you guys will get there like us, the Sarutobi.
She smiled and nodded placing a hand on Tenshi's palm and giving the Haruno one more nod and a warm smile.

Until then, and even after then...if you want. You can be my big sister. So we'll be like family too. The little girl giggled, but she obviously wasn't joking. Perhaps she was taking connections a bit lightly still, but she wasn't lying about her feelings that was for sure.

The Sarutobi girl would get a large sweatdrop at the side of her head as she was asked what trouble she caused as a little dark cloud seemed to form around her head and her eyes narrowed trying to hide their shame as she mumbled with a pout.
Well, I threw my dads cigarettes into the toilet bowl and flushed them, and I almost burned our house down once and and, one time some bad-guys tried to kidnap me and Sakena-san and Sora-san protected me. I uhm, I wasn't that much trouble. She said a bit shamed despite her final claim and would quickly add after a short break I hope.

Tesnhi could only stare at the girl for a moment, then she smiled brightly and gave the girl a pat on the head.

I never had any real family. It would be nice to have someone to care for.

Hearing the story, Tenshi burst out in laughter. Then she patted the girl on the head again.
It could happen to anyone. You are still young. I bet sometimes it wasn't even your fault!

Somehow the tree wasn’t as comfortable as before. After trying to sit on many different branches Kenshi decided to get out of the tree. He climbed down and started looking for another place where he could relax. After he looked around for a short while he noticed a field of grass. ‘That would be a nice place to rest.’ He thought as he started walking towards the field. While getting closer he noticed that someone was already laying in the grass.

When he got closer he could see that it was Hatake Houtarou. Kenshi would walk up to him and then he sat down next to him. As he looked at Houtarou he noticed the forehead protector. “Hey Houtarou-kun.” He said as he continued looking at Houtarou. His eyes were closed or almost closed so it was hard to tell if he was asleep or not. “Where you late again? I didn’t see you before the exams.” He said and he hoped to get a reaction. Just like before he was still happy so talking to other people was still difficult but he tried to anyway.

'Until then, and even after then...if you want. You can be my big sister. So we'll be like family too.'
A moment later Nomaru gave her mother a surprised look, who had grabbed her napkin while tears ran over her face. 'That's such a wonderful thing to say. Sarutobi-chan,' she told the girl, putting the napkin against her cheek. Nomaru never told me she had such wonderful friends! You know Haruno-chan, we have have room for another family member as well. You and Sarutobi-chan are always welcome in the house of Koui. Even if Nomaru isn't at home, feel free to visit any time you like!
Nomaru was even more surprised when she heard her father say: 'You're absolutely right Karin-swan! There is always room for more family in this house, even if it's not blood-related!'
Nomaru raised an eyebrow. She never had seen this coming from her father. It probably had something to do with how motivated the girls were. 'Well, that means I have two little sisters now... Awesome.' There was a little hint of sarcasm in her voice, but in fact she didn't really mind. Tenshi had been her friend for quite some time now and Sarutobi would totally be the annoying youngest. 'So, Ten onee-chan and Sarutobi onee-chan it is then.'

Nomaru smiled at the ten year old. Deep down inside somewhere there was a good hearth and there was a rebel inside there somewhere as well. Nomaru wondered for a second if she could make Sarutobi rebel against her parents. 'You little rebel,' Nomaru said to Sarutobi. She smiled and lit a cigarette. Nomaru had the feeling she was pregnant from the amount of food she ate. 'Allright Sarutobi, since youre my onee-chan now, would you like to have a cigarette? I've seen how you have been looking at them!' She gave Sarutobi a warm, slightly manipulative smile.

Completely overwhelmed Tenshi rose from the table, her chop-sticks fell on the ground with a loud clatter. This was too much. She knew Nomaru longer than anyone else. But it hadn't occurred to her the girl had become a friend. This was something she couldn't process. Before anyone could react she bowed, begging for forgiveness and ran away. Nothing good could come from this if she stayed. Oh, she was happy. No questions about it. But she was used to live alone. Be shunned and be done with it. She could ignore that feeling and live through another day. This much friendship in one day was just too much!

She ran as hard as she could, tears still streaming across her face. She wanted to hide. Protect the girls from her. Memories rising and fading. She didn't know where she was running to. But she had to get away.
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!

Nomaru stood up as Tenshi ran away. In her mind an inner fight was going on about whether she should or should not follow Haruno Tenshi. After ten seconds she just said: 'I'll be right back, going for a walk.' taking her package of cigarettes and her lighter she just walked out of the house, pushing the dog aside at the front door and walked for a bit through town. She didn't care if Sarutobi would follow or not, she just went for a walk and if she would bump into Tenshi along the road, no harm done. She would apologize for how weird her parents are and things would be just fine.

Koui Nomaru daydreamed about her tattoo she would get, something badass and cool. Something big on her back with lightning and mountains and a sea. The townspeople didn't really seem to pay much attention to the weird Koui girl. Most people would just tell their kids to avoid the smoking troublemaker. She had stolen things from most of the shops, just small and innocent things like candy, she skipped classes and god knows what more. Nomaru wasn't a sweetheart.

Smoking some cigarettes Nomaru passed by the flowershop her mom bought her flowers and noticed some of her classmates. She threw her cigarette on the ground and walked straight to them.
'Sorry to interrupt, but did you guys see by -by any chance- a girl, the Haruno girl running around somewhere who seems quite upset and was probably crying?' She didn't make eyecontact with and just looked at some of the flowers. 'She still ows me a drink,' Nomaru explained after a while. She didn't even bother to congratulate them on passing the exam.

Shikataro turned to Nomaru and shrugged his shoulders. "If she did she ran way to fast for me to hear or see her. Did you try her usual hangouts?"

At Ino's words Shikataro rubbed his chin and grinned confidently trying his best to look cool. "Hehe, it was a synch. I impressed the Hokage himself with my killer combination of...
When he heard his uncle's voice his charade broke down immediatly and turned around with the speed of light, his eyes set to puppy dog level 11.
"UNCLE KANKUROU!! He shouted with his arms waving in the air. He started zipping around the puppet master and up and over his shoulders trying to examine his gear. "What ya here for? What's this huh huh huh? are there any new puppets created recently? PLEEEEAAAAAAAASE teach me to be a puppet user one day Kankurou sama!! Everyone knew shinobi puppets were the epitome of shinobi weaponry... atleast that was Shikataro's view on the matter.

Nomaru starred at the funny guy for a second. She rememberd his name was Nuro or something and saw him drool all over the Kankurou-guy. She lit a cigarette and wanted to walk away, until she realized she didn't even know the usual hangouts of Haruno Tenshi. She didn't know much about Haruno Tenshi at all. Usually when or if Nomaru would show up at school, they would sit together, eat together and occasionally Tenshi would read some of her books to Nomaru. They didn't talk much and just enjoyed being with each other. For Koui Nomaru the reason mainly was she needed one friend to survive the days at school.
'Ehr- I don't exactly know her usual hangouts,' Nomaru admitted. She wondered for a brief second if the people she was talking to even knew her name, but then again she didn't know theirs. It didn't matter that much anyway.

A sweat drop appeared on the side of his head. 'So he did fall asleep.' He thought as he continued listening to what he had to say. Kenshi nodded when Houtarou thanked him. "You're welcome." He said and smiled at Houtarou which would continue talking. It appeared that Houtarou had a combo prepared for the exam. Kenshi might have done the same but he didn't really had the skills for that. And in the end he didn't really need it.

"Well I didn't really do anything special. I showed three simple academy jutsu and that was enough. I know some other things but I couldn't show that there. But you talking about this combo of yours made me curious. How about showing them to me. Perhaps we can have a little sparring match. That way you can show them while in action. " Kenshi asked and he starting thinking about what his combo could be. He's been in the same class for years but he hasn't really seen any combos before. He knew he just lost a sparring match but that didn't really leave any strains on his body.

Houtarou had never spoken to Kenshi too much, but he seemed to be a nice guy. He wondered why he never had been so talkative.
But he wanted to do some sparring? Houtarou actually felt like doing so. They had over an hour left anyway!

Sparring huh?! Sounds interesting, I'm in! We might both learn something from each other! And we need experience as we're Genins now! let's make it a friendly fight though!

Houtarou stood up and reached out to Kenshi.

Alright Kenshi-san, let's go and do this!!

Houtarou accepted the his invitation for a sparring match. Kenshi was glad he did because now he might be able to see his combo. And like Houtarou said we might learn from each other. And even the Hokage told him that he had to learn more so this was a great opportunity.

Kenshi grabbed his hand and stood up with his help. "Alright then, i'm ready." He said as he took a few steps back creating a some distance between the two.

'Oh, too bad.' Nomaru pressed her lips together and didn't know what else to say. She could thank them, but for what? They weren't much help and she hated it when revered to as -chan. Besides: the people she was talking to were most definitely lame overachievers. The kind Nomaru hated. 'PLEEEEAAAAAAAASE teach me to be a puppet user one day Kankurou-saaamaaaa!!' she repeated after the boy in a nagging, slightly moaning voice as she walked away. Her voice was just loud enough for the people to hear it.
Back to trying to bump into Tenshi.

Tenshi didn't know how long she was running but eventually, she collapsed. Before her were 2 gravestones and she knew where here feet had taken her. This was the only place she felt safe cause people avoided it.
Mom, dad. I graduated today and made some friends too. But even with that I'm a total screw up... My friends must really think that I'm some weird maniac to run away like that... It is so hard to try and behave normal.

Kankuro shook his head and chuckled a bit at Nomaru when she made a parody of his nephew.
"Easy easy now! He laughed waving his hands at the Nara boy.
"I can't just give away my Clan secrets. You should know all about it too being from a Hiden Clan like me. " He ruffled the boys hair.
"But maybe one day still, you never know. But in the meantime, why don't you play with these?"
Kankuro would hand 2 small scrolls.
"There is an automated puppet in each of them. You can read the instructions for use on the side of the scrolls, they are one time use only so don't waste them. They are basic automated tiny puppets that travel in a straight line at their destination before going boom." The Nara boy's uncle smirked knowing his nephew would probably adore such a gift as he handed it to him. "Don't open them though, they are set for auto-summoning." The puppet-master would warn.
"Anyways, I gotta run , congratulations on graduating. I think I'll see you later as me and your mom are staying over tonight. Good luck at your summoning later Shikataro-kun." He smiled and nodded before starting to walk off.

Ino would walk back out and sigh tired.
"Your parents were happy to hear of your success Yoru-chan. But I'm sorry, it doesn't seem like I can spare much time at the moment, in fact I could even probably use a couple of hands to help, but you two got the summoning coming up and you don't wanna miss that."