WotN: Friendly fashion advice

Pencil, Micron 03

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Naruto walked idly through the marketplace, a soft frown fixed across her whiskered face. After splitting up briefly to carry out individual tasks, she and her 'sensei' had agreed to meet up here before continuing onto the next stop the old Sannin had designated for their training trip. It wasn't an uncommon practice - Jiraiya often left her to train alone whilst he contacted different parts of his spy network - and most of the time Naruto enjoyed the repreive. Despite his lecherous pasttimes, the Frog Hermit was a strict taskmaster.

'Still...' the blonde paused, managing a half-hearted smile to the two small children that had stumbled across her path while roughhousing. Their mother gave her an apologetic wave before ushering them along. 'He promised he'd be back by today...'

Again, this normally wouldn't have bothered her. Jiraiya was a man, after all, and had a tendency to get distracted. However, today was different. Today was important.

Today was her birthday.

' Pah... ah well...' Deciding the old pervert would show himself when he was ready, Naruto decided she might as well make the most of her day. After all, they weren't in the Land of Fire anymore - there was no one who would recognize her, or blame her for what had happened on that day 14 years ago...

Immediately pushing that thought from her mind, she continued on her way, idly flitting from vendor to vendor, pausing briefly to browse through trinkets and knicknacks that happened to catch her attention. Before long she found herself before a small tent selling different items of clothing. After a few moments of half-hearted perusal, she turned to leave before something caught her eye.

Hanging on a small rack was a sleeveless bolero jacket, jet black with a solid block of orange running around the middle. A block of black color ran up along the zipper, all the way up to a stiff, high collar. Naruto ran a hand along the sturdy material, her eyes widening at the broad spiral pattern embroidered into the back.

It was so much like her old jacket, only that it wasn't it...

"It suits you."

The blonde froze, instantly on alert. Cursing herself for deciding to where civvies instead of her normal attire and gear, she wheeled around quickly, eyes zeroing on the prettiest woman she had ever seen.

She stood a head taller than Naruto, with shiny red hair pulled back in a low ponytail. Her outfit, despite its color - an orange, skin-tight top with shoulder-out loose sleeves, coupled with loose white pants cuffed at the ankles - screamed ninja, even if she possessed no visible weapons. Unperturbed by her tense reaction, the woman smiled, green eyes shining with mirth. "You should buy it."

Deciding the woman wasn't an immediate threat, Naruto loosened her posture, glancing back at the item once more. "You work here?"

"Me?" the woman chuckled softly. "I'm just passin' through."

"Same here,"

"I know." Naruto glanced back up her, blue eyes questioning. "I know another Konoha ninja when I see one."

There was no sign of a Leaf hitai ate anywhere, but a part of the blonde seemed to instinctively know the woman was telling the truth. After all, it wasn't uncommon to come across other Leaf ninja outside of Fire Country. The Hokage sent ninja on long-term missions all the time.

"How long?"

"How long...?" The red head paused, closing her eyes in a thoughtful expression. "Ohh... I'd say about 14 or 15 years, almost."

The blonde froze, a hand subconsciously going to her middle. "I see..."

If the older kunoichi noticed the sudden tension in her posture, she made no comment. "Hey, by any chance is Jiraiya still around?"

Greatful for the change in subject, Naruto smirked and made a great show of rolling her eyes. "That old goat? O'course he is!"

The red head chuckled. "Still getting his head bashed in peeking at girls, eh?"

"You bet he is!" she snorted. "I bet that's why he's taking so long now. You'd think he'd give it a rest considering it's my birthday--"

Green eyes blinked at her. "It's your birthday today?"

Naruto paused, suddenly uneasy once more. "Yeah..."

A strange expression flickered over the woman's face before she grinned widely again. "Well then you should definitely get that vest! A girl should always treat herself on her birthday!"

"You think so?" Naruto held the vest up for their inspection. "It's a little... I dunno... revealing, don'cha think?"

"'Course not," the woman giggled, stepping back to show off her own exposed midriff. "It pays to show off a little skin every once in a while. The boys in your life will definitely appreciate it."

Naruto blushed, ducking her head down. "I don't have anybody like that..." she admitted, embarrassed. "It's just me an' the old man right now."

"Well, that's all right," the woman grinned. "There will be. You're adorable, after all."

The blonde's cheeks shifted from dusty pink to bright red. Although it should have been strange to be engaged in such a conversation with a perfect stranger, somehow Naruto felt perfectly at ease.

'It's like... talking with someone you've known forever... like a big sister, or an aunt, or... or...' Naruto found her thoughts sudden derailed as a hand passed over her face.

"You okay there?" Green eyes peered down at her in concern. "You spaced out there for a second."

She blinked, flushing once more. "Sorry... you were saying something?"

The redhead shook her head. "Nope, but you might wanna hurry up and make your purchase. Don't wanna spend your whole birthday standing here, do ya?"

"Nah, I guess not." Naruto dug into her pocket, pulling out her Gama-chama - to which the redhead let out a loud squeal of 'Too cute!' - as she walked towards the counter. After making the purchase, she stepped out onto the street, admiring the black vest once more.

"Some more orange would really look nice with this," she murmured out loud, inwardly grinning at how Sakura would react to seeing her making her own attempts at fashion.

"I'd try the vendor a few shops down," the redhead offered. "I think a top like mine might go nicely with it."

"Oh, thanks." she paused, glancing up at her shyly. "Wanna come?"

Green eyes blinked, darkening briefly in sadness. "I'd like to," the redhead admitted. "But I hafta get back to work. Duty calls, y'know."

"Yeah..." Naruto stared down at her purchase before offering the older kunoichi a warm smile. "Thanks for the help... and the company... it meant a lot."

The redhead smiled, her own cheeks warming slightly. "It meant a lot to me, too."

A few seconds passed as the two young women stood in silence. Naruto was finally the one to break it as she turned to walk away. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Jouchan."

"Yes," came the soft response. "You, too, Naru-chan."

The blonde froze, whipping her head around to face the redhead only to find her nowhere in sight.

"Wha...?" Blue eyes blinked in confusion. She couldn't even pick up any traces of her scent - it was as if she just poofed out of existence. 'How's that possible... just who was she...?'

She stared down at the vest, clutching it tightly to her chest. 'And just how did she know my name....?'

--

Just something that popped into my head the other day.

Definitely longer than I'd originally intended...