Nobara's Spiel

Nobara was occasionally seen at the hospital with her mother. Nana told her how valuable her help was and Nobara liked to keep herself occupied even under the judgemental looks and unpleasant comments of the other staffs and patients. Nobody has ever forgotten what she failed to do, pointing out the unforgivable mistake she made, they've never failed to remind her either. But there was one thing she learned from them; nobody will ever be pleased, no matter the effort she put in. It was vain to try to convince them that she wasn't what they thought she was, and over the years, she learned to pay them no mind. She just did as she wanted without giving it a second thought about anybody else's opinions or complaints. All the insults made her skin thick and her mind stubborn.

Her unyielding nature became something that drove everybody away when she would enter a room. Nana was at first relieved seeing this kind of reaction, but now that her daughter didn't care anymore for people around her, she felt a little disappointed by the way she carried herself like an untouchable being. What bothered her most was not knowing if she could still smile the same again after all those hardships she'd gone through. But it wasn't her daughter's fault. The things that happened to her were nothing but unfair. The bullying at the academy, losing a friend, the mistreatment by the village folks, her friends' deaths—these were enough reasons for her to remain indifferent toward the world. And Nana understood; Nobara suffered too much.

After losing everything she had once held dear in life, Nobara grew stronger, colder, and stopped feeling anything towards others; and the only one she seemed to care about was her mother. Very little mattered anymore to her. This attitude saved her from further pain and heartbreaks and allowed her to carry on living despite all the sorrows she suffered in her life so far. Her world narrowed down to only herself and the fact that there was always somebody better than her; at times, she wondered why anyone should bother caring about her, except maybe her mother. That alone kept her from completely closing up within herself. But Nobara was naturally of an outgoing nature, she still felt the need to socialise, and she would do so in the most unconventional way; anyone engaging in insults she would outwit. She would turn the tables on her opponent and make them lose face by making them look like a fool. She was a natural genius.

As Nana prepared breakfast for Nobara before leaving her home to go to work, Nobara asked her something while helping out with some household chores: "Nana...you think the old man would ever reinstate me?" It was a question she wished she could ask the Hokage himself, but he was always too busy. It had been nearly six months since the Konoha Council discussed her case which ended inconclusively once again. It was always the same concerns too. What if she was another case like Uchiha Itachi? The members of the council, Homura and Koharu, were the most wary of her, going against her reinstatement and both suggested and supported they wait until she reached the age of twelve to get reinstated back as a genin. However, the third Hokage and Shimura Danzo were for her immediate reinstatement, until Danzo suggested he took her under his wings if no sensei could take her - to which Hiruzen didn't seem too pleased with and refused to listen to Danzo's attempts of convincing him. After this meeting, there have been no further developments in her case. Once again, they ended up at a dead end.

"I hope so, dear." Her mother reassured her, rubbing her back as she did so. "If not, you wouldn't be sitting here eating my food," she added jokingly, causing Nobara to chuckle lightly along with her mother's words. She then looked away from the window she was standing at and turned toward Nana.

"Hiruzen didn't seem happy when Danzo suggested he personally oversees my training." She said it like a statement of fact, not even bothering to explain why her mind went to that subject first after hearing about it. But her tone seemed quite serious.

"Oh, you don't want to get mixed into Danzo's shady affairs." Nana replied, as she put her sandals on. "The things he's done in the past were nothing but borderline treacherous." Her eyes grew distant as if she remembered something Nobara couldn't access.

"So... what did he do?" Her curiosity piqued, wanting to know what the head of the ANBU did.

"Well, let's just say that people suffered because of the things he's done..." She sighed before answering, shaking her head and walking out of the house. "Now, I'm running late for work. Make sure to lock the door when you leave, alright?"

And as much as Nobara wanted to ask more questions, she decided to drop it. "Alright, mother." She dryly replied, her mother raised her eyebrows at her before shaking her head and chuckling. With a light wave goodbye, Nobara watched Nana walk off down the road; the same feeling of hope and despair coercing together as the question still played in her mind: will I ever be reinstated?

In her impatience, she headed out. Out to the Town Hall, to the Hokage's office. Nobara had waited for far too long and she was going to give that old man a piece of her mind. For a little more than a year she had waited to get a concrete answer from the council, but to no avail. She was tired of being overlooked. So many people would look down on her now, they treated her like a failure. It made no sense why all these people were against her since it was nobody's business to begin with. What happened when her comrades fell regarded only her. Which was why Nobara refused to keep quiet anymore; she couldn't allow anyone else's opinions to determine who she was.

Nobara's train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by a ruckus from another nearby room. "NO, THANK YOU! I want to do a more, you know, more awesome mission from now on! So find us a BETTER MISSION!"

"BAKA! Need I remind YOU that you're only a ROOKIE?!" Another voice then beamed after the first guy. She thought she recognized that voice. "Everyone starts off with simple D-rank missions and work their way up!"

"But we keep getting the crappiest missions!"

What a rambunctious guy, Nobara thought and shook her head.

Another man chimed in, "be quiet, you." And sounded like he hit the lousy one.

Nobara didn't understand their need to be heard from a mile away. She was about to walk pass the door when she heard the familiar voice of an old man. "Naruto! It seems I have to explain to you why these missions are ranked by letters..."

Nobara peaked through the creek of the door. In she could see a squad standing in the middle of the room and sitting behind a long ranged desk were Hiruzen and eight other employees assigned with different tasks.

"Everyday the village receives numerous requests, from babysitting to assassination. Each request is written down on these lists and divided into an 'ABCD' ranking based on difficulty. And as may already know, the shinobi in the village are also divided based on skill. Starting up with me, the Hokage, down to jonin, chunin and then genin. The missions are then handed out by us, at the top, to ninjas based on their abilities. And if the duty is completed, we receive payment from the client."

Fresh meat, Nobara guessed still peaking from the door.

"Nobody E'er tell ya’ it's rude to eavesdrop?" An older and mumbling voice was heard, calling out Nobara for listening in. She didn’t notice him at first, but the man was sat a couple of chairs away from the door before he got on his feet.

"... Nobody ever tell you to shower? You reek of alcohol." Nobara replied, unapologetically.

"Yeah, yeah... now move. I think they called me in." The drunkard told her, before shoving her out of his way. She glared up at him before sitting down on the bench beside the gliding door, scowling. She decided to wait until the Hokage was done with this shenanigan.

"What's this?" The gray man asked, before leaning against the door. "They're all a bunch o' brats. Especially the short guy with the stupid-lookin' face over there." Nobara almost forgot she was mad at the drunkard when she heard the other kid's reaction to his insult. It was loud and angry, yet the drunk man seemed to be unfazed by it as he continued, "Anyhow... my name is Tazuna, I am an expert bridge builder from Nami no Kuni. And I expect you to provide me with your protection until I get back into my country and complete the bridge."

Something then clicked. Nobara's stomach churned once she heard of this bridge builder's home country, she knew it was perhaps a preconceived feeling, but she felt that something bad was brewing. She quickly grew wary of this bridge builder. The merchant her former squad were escorting also came from Nami no Kuni before they were brutally slaughtered. Nobara remembered vividly how the merchant was the first one to get executed and she always knew, in the back of her mind, that it was no accidental encounter with the missing-nins. One look at this bridge builder's attire was an indicator that, just like the merchant, he was also poor. Something did not sit right about this whole situation; but for some reason, Nobara didn't want to speak out. The last time she spoke up about her concerns, she was told she was paranoid because of the shock and trauma. But now with the bridge builder there, she could get confirmation and proof for her suspicions.

"We're leaving in an hour, so get ready." The drunkard, Tazuna, told the bunch inside the room.

And with that Nobara left, her mind filled with what she hoped would only be speculations.

What pushed her to follow this foreigner? She had her own reasons to suspect a foul play somewhere. She wanted to collect more information off this bridge builder. She was convinced that he and the merchant came from the same country was no coincidence. And something about this Tazuna that didn't sit right with Nobara at all, like he was hiding something. What was his reason to drink so heavily? A guilty conscience, perhaps. Or maybe she was reading too much into him. But even so, her assumptions endured. An hour later, just as the man appointed, she waited for them just outside the gate, hidden in the shadows of the forest, and observed them from a bird’s eye view.

"LET'S GO!" The lousiest and shortest of the bunch shouted, marching up to the front with an enthused expression.

"Do you have to be so loud?" The pink-haired girl asked, annoyed.

"Well, I've never left the village before."

"Hey!" The old man called out the masked team leader. "Am I really going to be safe with this brat?!"

To which the team leader replied in sheepish manner, "haha, well, I am a jonin so you don't have to worry."

And so, behind the thickness of the surrounding tree line she remained unseen by the team and the man they were assigned to escort to Nami no Kuni.