“So, Nanami-san-” Ayumi was cut off by the older girl.

“Just call me Marise okay?” Marise spoke, smiling.

Ayumi returned the smile and nodded, “Hai, Marise-san. I was just wondering… What is it like in Nadeshiko Village?”

Marise looked up as she thought over her answer before turning to Ayumi as they walked, “I suppose it’s actually very similar to Konohagakure. The only difference is that the population is mainly females.”

“Eh? How come?” Sayomi questioned, listening in on the conversation along with Miyu and Kana.

“In Nadeshiko Village, women are in charge. When a girl comes of age, she must find a man just like in almost any village. However, with Nadeshiko, women must find a man worthy of fighting. Once she does, they must fight and if the man defeats her then they return to Nadeshiko Village and get married.” Marise explained with a sweatdrop as the genin stared at her like she had grown a third head.

“That’s so crazy! It’s really cool though… Hm, maybe I could do that some day.” Sayomi mumbled as she began to get lost in her thoughts.

Ayumi scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Right. A bit too early to think about that, don’t you think?”

Sayomi stuck her tongue out but before she could say anything, a loud yell and bark cut through the air. Before anyone knew what was happening, Ayumi was on the ground with a brown haired boy on her.

The boy, whom Sayomi recognized as Kiba Inuzuka from their first day at the academy, was the boy laying on her sister.

“Oi! Ayumi-chan! Weren’t you the one saying it’s too soon to be thinking about dating??” Sayomi questioned in a teasing manner, smirk and all.

Ayumi growled as a blush of embarrassment and anger dusted across her cheeks as she shoved Kiba off her, “You know that’s not what happend!”‘

Ayumi quickly turned to the boy who was still trying to get his bearings as he finally stood up, “And you! What’s wrong with you?!”

“Hey! It wasn’t my fault! It was Shino’s fault!” Kiba barked back, almost literally in fact.

“Ah, Kana-san. Did we interrupt your mission?” A woman with long black hair and red eyes asked as she came out of the brush of the forest with two others.

Kana sighed and chuckled in exasperation, “To be one-hundred percent honest? Yeah, you’re student did...”

“Gomen, Kana-san. We didn’t mean to.” The woman apologized and bowed slightly.

Kana simply waved her hand in a dismissive manner, “No worries. We’ll be heading out now. Ja ne Kurenai-san.”

Ayumi and Sayomi stared at her in disbelief. No fighting? No yelling? They thought Kana-sensei was over-reactive with all the other sensei. That’s when Ayumi and Sayomi glanced at each other with a smirk and turned to Miyu.

“Miyu-chan,” Ayumi started.

“Do you know what this means?” Sayomi finished.

Miyu simply shook her head in obliviousness, “Gomen… I don’t know.”

The two girls giggled and glanced at their sensei who was still slowly walking with Marise before turning back, “She only seems to act obnoxious around Kakashi-sensei. She definitely likes him.”

Miyu’s eyes lit up in realization. It was surprising to her that she didn’t notice it first since she considered herself as the type of ninja whom was better at observation than most and simply average at ninjutsu and taijutsu.

“Oi! Your sensei is leaving without you!” Kiba yelled at the odd group of giggling girls as he turned to follow his own squad to continue their training.

“CRAP!” Sayomi yelled as she took off running to catch up while Ayumi and Miyu gave a quick thanks and jogged to catch up rather than sprinting like their teammate.

Kiba shook his head as the full female team drifted from his mind. That is until he thought about Ayumi. Her appearance was very similar to Kurenai’s. He couldn’t help but wonder if they were related. He hm’ed to himself as he shook his head once again. It was kind of dumb for him to assume just because their hair and eyes were similar.

“Ne, Kiba-kun...” Kiba turned to the look at the timid girl who spoke up.

“Did you think Ayumi-san and Kurenai-sensei… Look alike?” Hinata questioned as they continued their trek to their original training spot.

Kiba nodded, “Hai. They look really similar… Should we ask her?”

Shino interjected this time, “No, I think she would have mentioned if she were. Kiba, couldn’t you smell whether they were or not? If they are they’d have a similar scent, correct?”

“They would but… Ano… My sense of smell isn’t that strong yet. If my mom or sister were here, they’d be able to tell.” Kiba answered, staring ahead. He didn’t want to admit it but he didn’t feel like an argument. He was still slightly out of it from that crash landing on Ayumi.

“Okay, back to training minna!” Kurenai-sensei explained.

With that, team eight went back to their three-way training.

“Ne, Marise-san?” Miyu spoke up in an almost timid manner, similar to the Hyuga girl on Kurenai’s team, which was something she was trying to stop.

“Hai, Miyu-chan?“

“Are you really considering these ninjas that are waiting for your return?” Miyu asked the question that was on everybody’s mind. They were already half way to Nadeshiko village and it’s only taken them a day rather than two like they thought.

Marise nodded, “Hai. They at least deserve my consideration since they’re willing to wait for me to return.”

For the rest of their day, everything was peaceful. To say the least, Ayumi was surprise at the laid-back nature of her recent missions. She was almost wishing something would happen. Rarely does she get in a fighting mood but lately, she’s been wanting to fight.

Just what Ayumi was afraid of, her weird fighting mood got them into trouble. Out of no where, when everyone was getting settled for the night, some rogue ninja came to kidnap Marise.

“Don’t worry Marise-chan! We’ll keep you safe!” Sayomi exclaims with with a smile.

Marise smiles back and nods as she still gets into a defensive position, “Thank you Sayomi-chan, minna.”

One of the rogue ninja’s narrowed his eyes at Sayomi, studying her for a few moments before he recognizes her. Scanning the areas around him, he spotted their real target.

“Grab the red eyed girl!” He shouted to his teammates. What luck, they wouldn’t have to make a ridiculous and complicated plan of kidnapping the girl from Nadeshiko Village with their real target right in front of them.

This confused everyone to no end. Why would they be after Ayumi?? Marise should have been the target!

“Ayumi!” Sayomi as one of the rogues appeared from beneath the ground and pulled Ayumi down with him.

“Sayomiiiii!” Ayumi called out for her sister with tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She should have known she couldn’t be a ninja. She wasn’t like her parents, her brother, or Sayomi; a fighter. Training and fighting teammates, simple missions are fine for her. With her getting caught off guard so quickly and easily, made her realize something. She was no ninja.

It may be ridiculous for her to jump to so many conclusions but, when someone is faced with the possibility of never seeing their best friend, their sister, ever again… Giving up and regretting are the two biggest things that occur.

“Don’t worry about me! Just finish the mission! Get Marise-san home safely!” Ayumi shouted to her team before they covered her mouth and jumped away.

Kana bit her lip in worry. She had failed the mission. She failed the team. She failed Marise. Everyone. She didn’t even fight. It was like it happened in a flash, like she was frozen and by the time she could move, it was too late. Glancing at her team and Marise, she saw that Sayomi was still in shock while Miyu looked at the place Ayumi was at in horror. Marise… For Kana, she knew Marise’s look too well.

A look of desperation. A look of guilt. Kana knew Marise felt it was her fault. If she hadn’t left to go to Konoha in the first place, for such a selfish need, then their team would have never been chosen to take her home.

Kana placed her hand on Marise’s shoulder and shook her head, signaling it wasn’t her fault. She had a feeling those ninja’s would have found another way to get Ayumi.

Marise nodded and Kana went to Sayomi and Miyu, hugging them.

“We’ll finish this mission for Ayumi then we’ll ask Lord Hokage for help… Okay?” Kana whispered as she continued hugging the two, fighting tears of her own.

“We need to go after her though!” Sayomi exclaimed, pulling away from her sensei.

Kana nodded, “I know, but we need to take Marise home first. She’s our first priority.”

Sayomi opened her mouth to reply but she decided against it, staring at the ground and nodding.

Kana sighed and they took off again, to Nadeshiko Village.