And this is what Ramen tastes like! {Saka, open.}

[ℐai-ℒin]

OUT FOR RAMEN!

With the mission successfully finished, Jai-Lin stretched her arms out wide, looking at her companion. She had made a promise. Jai-Lin was going to take Sakaki to her favorite ramen shop, for the Tuesday special. It was a shabby little place, with broken shudders and scratched up tables. But, it was apparent by the young girl’s expression that she did not care at all. She seemed as if she was so exited, she would implode on herself at any moment. It made Jai-Lin smile, and she almost forgot where they were going. As they receded down through the village, it started to change. The districts lost their fancy décor, and fresh paint. The nicest buildings were in the higher regions of the village. But, they grew very close to downtown.

Her eyes averted to her apartments, which they were passing at that very moment. The walls were chipping paint, and the sign was dirty. She looked to her place, with the flowers hanging in the window. Third shutter from the right. She saw a faint light form within… She had left the light on. With a frown, she kept walking.

“Here we are,” She grinned from ear to ear. She had fisrt come here when she was Saka's age. They came in on an old pub, that had been shut down a few years ago. Now it was her favorite ramen house. She pushed open the wooded, saloon style doors, and her feet creaked on the wooden floors. Before she even looked over, she heard a familiar voice call to her.

“Jai-Lin! How nice to see you!” A gruff mans voice called. She perked up, shooting a wave at the man working behind the bar counter. He was rather plump, but with strong arms, like many cooks. AS he waved in recognition, his knife glinted in his hand. “Anyways, I thought you weren‘t going to show up for the special, although, I would give it to you anyways!” She chuckled along, sliding up on one of the stools. His eyes went to Sakaki. “I see you brought a friend!” He smiled, disappearing behind some shelves.

“Your too nice, ” she laughed, “ Give me the special!” Her voice shouted over the counters. She turned to Saka. “I‘m uh, a regular here.” She scratched her head. Actually, she used to never eat here, before she hand helped them out on a mission. But this ended up being a second home to her. The man began to stir around in the kitchen. Tehre were not many people around, and those who were around… Were shady.

[sakaki]

Time stretched and stretched as they continued to walk, Sakaki so excited that she didn't pay any attention to the buildings there were passing. Not that it would have mattered to her any... After all, this was her way home, too. Each step was more of a bounce, and the little girl's form simply did not keep still! Her hair waved from side to side with every little movement, the excitement nearly enough to manifest itself as a glowing aura around the girl.

Of course, as all things were, when one moved enough, they got to the place they were seeking. It couldn't have come too soon for Sakaki, who was on the verge of becoming frustrated with all the waiting. Why did it always seem like she was waiting on something? Waiting was like the worst thing ever! It was so boring, and because you're waiting, you can't do anything in the mean time!

“Here we are,” Jai-Lin finally proclaimed, breaking Sakaki out of her chain of thoughts. The small girl squeaked in surprise, as well as relief. She gave one final excited hop, easily getting a few feet of air, and then seemed to settle down some. She examined the outside of the place for the few seconds it took for them to walk to the door. Fancy, was the word that Sakaki would have used, even though the place was clearly the opposite; shabby.

“Jai-Lin! How nice to see you! Anyways, I thought you weren‘t going to show up for the special, although, I would give it to you anyways!” Sakaki gave a nod, as if confirming something to... someone, other than herself. But, she was actually just confirming something to herself. Jai-Lin knew of this place, so her being known made a bit of sense. Especially since she was able to quote the special off the top of her head earlier. Clearly she came here all the time!

“I see you brought a friend!” Again, Sakaki would squeak, this time purely in embarrassed surprise. Like a child, she suddenly felt the urge to hide behind Jai-Lin, her small figure easily placed out of sight behind the larger girl. A small hand clasped at the back of Jai-Lin's shirt, and Sakaki would close her eyes.... only for a few moments. When she finally peeked around her companion, the man had moved on, his focus no longer on the long-haired, childish kunoichi.

“You're too nice. Give me the special!” With Jai-Lin taking the initiative and ordering, Sakaki would move out from behind her, and slowly pull herself up onto one of the stools. It was actually a little difficult for her... her chin barely cleared the seat. Simply from being so small, it took her a moment to wiggle, find footing, and eventually clear the edge enough to plop her little bottom onto it. From there she could lean forward a bit, and barely see into the kitchen.

“I‘m uh, a regular here.” There, Jai-Lin would finally confess her knowledge of the place. Even though Sakaki had already figured it out, she gave a little smile, and an enthusiastic grin. Again she would suddenly get that little feeling of jealousy. Or maybe it wasn't quite envy... more of just wanting to be like Jai-Lin. Jai-Lin was strong, tall, and pretty, and she visited a place frequently enough to be known by name. Definitely a list of things adding up that Sakaki admired.

[ℐai-ℒin]

Jai-Lin watched Sakaki from her peripheral vision. She managed to crawl up on one of the stools, and her feet dangled over the side. She was completely different thank the shy little Sakaki she had met earlier today. Even though she was still the small little girl that seemed to be lost underneath her clothing, and didn’t seem to eat very much. However, right now it seemed she was overjoyed by the fact they were out for Ramen. This made Jai-Lin feel special; like she was appreciated. The girl gave Jai the feeling of Humbleness. She used to be that way, and she always tried to see the value in everything, but it seemed Sakaki really appreciated the little things. That was something that was hard to not admire.

The shop owner, Jirou, had brought them both water to drink. Jai-Lin was leaning into the counter, her elbows settled on it. With seemingly empty thoughts, she swished the glass, the ice-cubes rotating along willingly. However, her thoughts were far from vacant. In fact, she was pretty sure she had Sakaki figured out, now that she had actually thought about it. She was orphaned, without a home. Actually, the thought was not something she could relate directly to. Sure, Jai-Lin had been orphaned when she was young, but the village took care of her. That was actually her biggest burden to society; and the reason she became what she is now.

The thought of sharing her home with Sakaki was almost instant. Sure, she didn’t have some castle of a home, but it seemed like the girl would have appreciated it… Just like Jai did. However, it wasn’t her place to butt in on Sakaki’s life. It was possible she didn’t even want Jai to know.

Jirou stomped out from the kitchen, and Jai sat up with a grin. Her stomach was roaring at her by now, needing food. It was a necessity… And being a kunoichi, her calorie intake had to be far more than the average. Her hand reached for the chopsticks, and she adjusted them in her right hand, taking in the smell. The special was chicken today, Jai's favorite, and, coincidentally, the cheapest. the warmth of the piping hot noodles raised into her face, along with the heavenly scent. “Thanks, Jirou!” She smiled, digging into the food, and starting to eat. She gazed over at Sakaki.

[sakaki]

Sakaki had ducked her head down when the owner came out, unable to look him in the eyes. She felt a little silly, being so skittish, but she couldn't help it. There were just times when she felt uncontrollably embarrassed. When the man walked away, the girl would reach out, staring into the glass as she picked it up between both of her hands. The way the light reflected off the glass and water... it was pretty.

She was so distracted by the light display that she failed to notice the man returning from the kitchen. That is, until the clinking of the dishes he brought out sounded as he placed them on the counter in front of the two girls. Sakaki's head instantly snapped up, eyes seeing the man, and then it would drop back down. This time, however, she was greeted by the sight of a bowl of noodles... a bowl of steaming, amazing-looking, delicious-smelling noodles.

The small Kumo-nin gulped, staring at the noodles for several moments. She instantly began to drool again, staring absentmindedly at her food. What was this incredible dish that sat before her? Was it really real, or just all an illusion. For some reason her body wanted to just sit... and stare... but only for so long.

Without too much thought beyond that point, the girl would attempt to snap up a pair of chopsticks in order to dig in. But as it was, she turned out to be too short! Even when she stretched, she wasn't able to quite reach the eating utensils, else she risked falling off the seat. She strained, groaning quietly as she tried to reach the chopsticks... to no avail!

[ℐai-ℒin]

Ramen. The best food ever created. Although, the noodles themselves supply absolutely useless carbs. Amongst her feeding, she slowed down as a thought came into her head. It was silly, but made her smile. Her parents used to tell her silly stories about morals; but she never understood them too well. Unfortunately, she did not remember them all to well. She was far too young then to recall them word for word now.

But the one she remembered the best was a story about magical noodles. A woman opened a noodle shop, far out of the way from any nearby town. One day, two young men with expensive suits walked into the humble little place, and ordered the special. They ate their meals, and looked at each other with disgust for the low priced, average meal. They walked out unhappy. An old traveler stopped by the next day, and ordered the special. He sat and ate his meal, and when he was finished, told the woman she made delicious noodles. She grew very happy, and even though she had no business, was glad to see she had made someone’s day. He asked what her secret was. She leaned in, whispering it to him. She claimed their was no special ingredient; just the appreciation for a meal.

Before, she never really saw the point in it. But as she go older, she realized it was about appreciating what you can get a hold of, no matter how cheap, or plain it was. The noodles were really a personification for appreciation for the things you have.

Slurping up noodles, she stopped just so she could get a breath in. Jai-Lin’s eyebrows arched, and as she was hunched over her bowl, she realized Saka couldn’t reach her chopsticks. The girl was at the very edge of her seat, straining her arms to grab it. A bead of sweat sarcastically dropped from her forehead, and she smiled nonchalantly, pushing the utensils closer to Sakaki. She didn’t want to embarrass her about it, but she just wanted the girl to eat.

Avoiding eye contact, she looked around to see the people around. A man with shabby clothes, which seemed homeless, saw sitting in the far corner. She toyed with the end of her long braid, swiveling her head to the other side. There was three men on that side; they seemed to be like workers. Actually… They were familiar… That was the man that Natsume and Jai-Lin had to work under for Reconstructing the village.

All would have been fine and dandy if Jai-Lin and Nat hadn’t fed him a rotten sandwich… He hadn’t noticed her yet, so she turned her head away. But it was too late. She could feel his glare drilling though her back. “Hey, you,” She heard his familiar, gruff voice shout from the other end of the shop. She lifted her shoulders. Here we go… She thought to herself.

[sakaki]

There seemed to be no hope in sight. Sakaki continued to stretch, blindly fighting against the cosmos. Her eyes shut in effort as she tried to stretch jut that little it further... Then she felt the chopsticks brush against her palm. Instinctively, she clutched, and then opened her eyes, finding that the jar itself had moved, putting the utensils right into her hand! She hadn't noticed Jai-Lin move it... instantly she thought that she must have moved it with her mind!

Amazed at her newfound powers, she forgot about the ramen, and would stare at the bowl itself, instead. Willing it to move forward, her mouth opened into a little 'o' shape as she tried to mentally push the object. It wasn't going too well, though, and she quickly decided that she was too hungry to care about these things. She'd try to move stuff later!

The first bite was taken carefully, chopsticks clenching a small collection of noodles. She pulled them up, admiring them as they swung ever so delicately in the air. The small pieces of green attached to them, and even a small chunk of chicken latched onto those long, stretched out grains. She slowly placed it in her mouth, which immediately flooded with the wonderful taste of the dish.

Sakaki's cheeks flushed, and she found herself overwhelmed by the meal. Tears formed in her eyes, she was so overflowing with happiness. How could anyone not want to eat these noodles for every meal? How was it that she'd been living so long in ignorance? With reckless abandon, she began to shovel the noodles into her mouth, barely stopping to breath.

Each bite was more amazing than the last, and soon Sakaki was forced to stop, suffering from an overload of incredible taste. She leaned back, hands clasping at her cheeks as she sighed blissfully. Certainly she had died back there on their mission, and hadn't quite realized it. But for these amazing noddles, she didn't care. This was heaven, and it was wonderful!

“Hey, you.” The small Kumo-nin's fantasy, illusion, or whatever you want to call it would shatter as a man made himself known. His loud voice brought Sakaki back to reality, and made her spin around. She hadn't quite forgotten her amazing noodles, but this new distraction needed to be addressed. She found herself bristling with a small bit of anger... how could this person dare interrupt her noodle time?!

She turned, staring daggers at the man as he approached her and Jai-Lin. It definitely didn't look like he was going to leave them to their meal in peace...

[ℐai-ℒin]

Jai-Lin didn’t want to seem worrisome. With a glimmer of confidence in her eyes, she spun her bar stool from the bar, and turned to see him. She leaned on the counter with laze. She noticed Sakaki as well was addressing him, but more like she was trying to stab him. With her eyes. Jai would have laughed if she weren’t smart enough to hold it in.

They had been assigned underneath his power for a mission; but he was a real Jerk. So, Nat came up with the idea to give him a rotten sandwich. Which; he ended up off of work for a week because of it. But, now that he was back to life, things weren’t quite so funny. Now they were in her favorite eatery, and he was addressing the situation. Which, actually, it wasn’t even Jai’s idea. She would have to tell Natsume about this re-encounter later.

“You girl…” he dragged. “ You and that shark boy owe me,” She said. Had he been drinking? His breath said yes. She could feel a brawl coming on. And, actually, she hadn’t minded it. Today Jai-Lin stayed level headed, and really did not feel like lashing out. But this man was provoking her… Stoking the fire. Her memory kicked in… Now he addressed her when they reported for duty… The list he gave them to finish… She began to get a bad taste in her mouth. And it definitely was not the Ramen.

“Excuse me sir, but I‘m pretty sure you owe me,” She smiled nonchalantly, as if she wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about.

“Yeah, right,” He laughed from his belly, “I did nothing wrong. The village assigned you to your duties, and as ninja, you are dogs to us people. You do what we tell you,” he remarked. Her eyebrows lowed, and the corners of her mouth dropped. He was serious. The bar owner was in the back, clashing dishes loudly as he washed them; having no knowledge of what was brewing in the next room. And, Jai-Lin was pretty sure Sakaki was not too happy about this either. What a waste it would be to ruin this establishment…

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite get that,” She said nicely. He could insult her all he wanted, but to disgrace the name of the ninja? That was not okay with her. He had switched the flip to her breaker. She stood up, and grabbed him by the collar. Her strength must have thrown him off, because his eyes flickered, and he sort of stepped back, but she held tight. “You don‘t insult Ninja like that.” She said with a serious, deep tone. “We do missions and have seen things that would leave you crying in the night,” She commented smoothly, changing her tone to a more casual one, “And, for you to spit on our name like that, shows your true self. Which I saw before, and called you on.”

[sakaki]

Whatever was going on between Jai-Lin and the shady guy was obviously personal. However, he'd still crossed over one of Sakaki's lines, and she wasn't too happy about it. Quickly rising into an angered state, she nearly lost her abilities of comprehension, actually about to become so enraged that she may have gone on a rampage. This was cut short, however, by Jai-Lin suddenly grabbing the guy and lifting him up.

The hostile action brought Sakaki back to her senses, which was shown in the form of a simple blink. Her face shifted from angry to passive, and she surveyed the scene. Jai-Lin was holding the guy up by his collar, and his two buddies seemed frozen. A fight seemed almost imminent. Sakaki really just wanted to go back to her noodles...

Just thinking about them nearly made her start drooling all over again. That small spark of annoyance became apparent in her again as she frowned. Perhaps she was just a spazzy individual, but her emotions seemed to be on a roller coaster that day. She began to shake a bit, and then finally puffed up her cheeks in a pout. If these guys weren't going to leave the two girls alone, then Sakaki was going to have to beat them up!

She didn't want to, really. But it appeared to be the only way to go back to her noodles. Aside from letting Jai-Lin fight alone, of course, which, if she had thought about it, likely wouldn't have been that bad of an idea. But right then she saw it as three versus one, which just wasn't fair! These guys were big, fat meanie-heads!

[ℐai-ℒin]

It seemed Sakaki was not quite to thrilled about this encounter either. She seemed to start to fume, standing at her side. The men looked at her companion with a sideways glance, as if she was just a mere child. And, well, she was. But she was a deadly little child. Not that that was the intent currently. Or, maybe it was? Accessing the situation, she realized the other two men didn’t really want to fight. Her grip on his shirt lessened, and she left small wrinkles on his collar.

“Whatever,” He said. He must have either been totally dumb, or feeling lucky. Her fist met the bone of his cheek, and she felt his head turn along with force. She heard a crack in his spine… And the man collapsed.

She stood, silent. The two men looked at her as if she was crazy. Had she broken his… Spine? With a punch to the face? Everyone else seemed to fade, and her heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t meant to hurt him.. Not like that. She was a controlled fighter! Right? Her mind raced, along with her heart. She dropped to the floor, alongside his body. He was unconscious, and her hand slid to his jugular, trying to find a heart beat. She was stricken with horror. Had she just killed a man? And if she hadn’t… Was he paralyzed?

The men lurched to help him, but she shot her hand up to stop. They both lurched away from her direction, as if she was a monster. “He‘s breathing,” she said with relief. ”I just Knocked him out for now. And, his spine is fine. He just popped his back, like when you wake up,” She said, standing up slowly. “I suggest you two take him away from here, unless you want all hell to break loose.” She said to the men, stormy grey eyes cutting through them. They seemed to stand taller as if they were trying ot size up to her.

After the men managed to drag their boss out, Jai turned to Sakaki. “I‘m sorry, Saka-chan!” she said, clasping her hands together sadly. “I didn‘t know that was going to happen. ” She said unhappily. And it had been the girl’s first ramen? What an awful experience. Jai-Lin ahd felt like she ruined it for her. However, the Homless man had seemed to move to the bar… Closer to them.

It was suspicous. She studied him out of the corner of her eye as she turned back to her meal. He wore what seemed to be an old, worn out gi... A deep green color, silamar to the girren of sakaki's hair. although, she was no belt color... just a large, folding gi. Sticken with holes and dirt.

[sakaki]

And POW!!

Just like that, everything flipped around. Jai-Lin set the man on the ground. Sakaki was sure she had a clear shot, if she had needed to attack, but... With a single, powerful hit, the man went down for the count. Sakaki could only blink as she took a moment to process what had just happened.

However, when she finally registered that the man had been hit, and had gone down, she stopped worrying so much. The fact that the other two hadn't jumped into a frenzy was signal enough for her. Perhaps she also realized that she wasn't giving Jai-Lin enough credit, or hadn't been thinking of giving credit at all. What had been three on one was now two on one... and Jai-Lin had two arms. It was even enough for the small Kumo-nin.

Without a second thought she'd spin around on her barstool. She actually found it invigorating, and let it spin around a full couple of times. When she felt the dizziness kicking in, she'd reach out to the bar and stop herself. Then it was back to digging in to those delicious noodles! The overwhelming flavor... the sensational embrace of the warmth! Sakaki had gone back to cloud seven, her eyes closing in delight.

“I‘m sorry, Saka-chan! I didn‘t know that was going to happen.” Sakaki's head would turn from her meal, a single noodle still hanging from her lip. It dangled there awkwardly as she stared at Jai-Lin, who had clapped her hands together. She looked like she had done something wrong! Sakaki merely blinked, and then, trying to cheer her up, would lift up her hand, giving Jai-Lin a thumbs up.

"Good punch," was all she said, the smallest of smiles creeping upon her face. Which... still looked rather comical, considering the noodle there. Sakaki noticed a moment later, and would flush, quickly slurping the noodle into her mouth and out of sight.

[ℐai-ℒin]

(( sorry saka, have to exit. You know, I’m moving so… I don’t want to have to leave you hanging with only one other thread you can reply to.))

As if her young friend could not get any cuter, she smiled and commented on Jai-Lin’s punching skills. Jai-Lin seemed to give her a silly smile, and continued on eating her ramen. She liked this girl. She was cute, and kick ass. She appreciated what she was given. Really the idealistic person. She had already achieved what Jai strived to be; and she was so young.

However, the thought saddened Jai-Lin’s eyes slightly. Sakaki’s age. Sure, it meant she had a long time to become a skilled ninja; which was what every shinobi wanted to have; more experience. But she was missing years of childhood. A childhood was the foundation of a person. It created their opinions and their thoughts. Jai-Lin’s had taught her it was a hard world, but she wanted to give back to it. However, her little friend seemed to be growing up to be a pretty awesome person.

With that, she slurped at her ramen, and it seemed to disappear from her bowl. She looked around at ramen juice, which seemed to be in spots all around her bowl, but that couldn’t be helped. She took a napkin and swiped it l up nicely. Eating her chicken and her vegetables, she rubbed her tummy. Her eyes pointed toward Saka’s bowl, which was at the same state as her’s; completely barren.

“How about round two? Its free~” She chimed with a smile. Jirou had seemed to disappear for a while now. He was probably preparing to close up. But he would keep up for Jai. Leaning forward on her seat, and pushing her bowl forward, she hollered to the back, cupping one hand to stop the direction of sound towards the stranger a few seats down from them. He seemed to jest eat his ramen slowly. “JIROU! How‘s about you give me the rest of the course?” She shouted with a sense of humor. Jai-Lin was still hungry after all.

She heard a muffled, gruff voice in the back, which was probably some witty remark. She appreciated the thought. She aprricated it even more when she would later learn thier six bowls were on the house. They would go home satisfied.

"Hey kiddo," She smiled as she stood up, stretching ehr obi as if it were too tight. "If you want to crash at my place, I would be fine with that."

That was the beginning of Sakaki and Jai-Lin’s friendship.

[sakaki]

Jai-Lin smiled at Sakaki's comment, which made the girl sure that she wasn't too upset. Turning, the small Kumo-nin would return to her meal, quickly finishing it off. She sat there, in a sort of afterglow, eyes half lidded as she enjoyed the aftertaste of the ramen. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to recover from this one. She wanted more ramen, even though she was starting to get full... would that feeling last even when she was stuffed?

“How about round two? Its free~” Jai-Lin's voice called to her, but Sakaki felt like the world had slowed. Was she growing... tired? Still, she was excited, and wound up bouncing happily in her seat, just once or twice. The older Kumo-nin would call to the man in the back, who replied, but not coherently to those at the counter.

Despite everything moving so slowly to Sakaki, it felt like no time at all before the man had returned, and another steam-spewing bowl of ramen was placed before her. She smiled, entranced by the food, and would not hesitate to dig in. Before long it would be apparent that the second bowl was going to beat the little girl. She was practically nodding off by the time that half the bowl was gone.

Her consciousness had not quite left her when Jai-Lin would finally stand, though. Like a trigger, the weariness sort of just lifted from Sakaki, and she found herself alert once more. A bit confused, actually, by the quick mental transition, she took a quick glance around the room before her vision settled on her elder.

"Hey kiddo, If you want to crash at my place, I would be fine with that." It was hard to believe... so hard, in fact, for the little girl, that she did a double-take. Did she... was she just hearing things? She stared at Jai-Lin for several moments, as if waiting for her to start laughing, confirming a joke, or the like. But it never happened, and finally Sakaki would simply believe that she'd heard what she thought she'd heard.

"Really?" she questioned, even though she'd already seemed to accept the fact. There was no real reason for her to deny the offer. Whatever might have waited for her was better than sleeping on a rock. Seriously, she hated using a rock as a pillow. It was just... downright unpleasant.

Once again feeling the strain of her fullness, Sakaki found darkness creeping up on her. She would blindly follow along Jai-Lin as the elder girl led her to her house. Sakaki wouldn't remember much of anything during their trip from the ramen house after she awoke...

[/Exit]

[Estilo]

Sakaki: +56!!
A: +60!!