I had — somehow — acquired a stalker. He'd been following me day after day ever since the dinner at the Uchiha's, but I was messing up the order of things. Before talking about the stalker, I had to talk about the dinner.
That night, dinner at the Uchiha's was torture, not because of anything they did, but because of how I felt. Mikoto and Itachi set the table, leaving an open spot where Sasuke had sat last time. If that wasn't bad enough to trip my guilt, they had more guests. Shisui was there too, accompanied by Shizune.
Huh, weird. Were they dating?
From what I knew, Shizune was a few years older than the Hokage, but good on him. Shizune was pretty as heck.
To my surprise, no one even commented on Ino and me dating, besides wishing us happiness. I guess it proved that no one cared. My bias and being spooked by Ino's mom might have colored my perception of things and made me paranoid.
After realizing that, dinner became bearable. Still embarrassing though.
Thankfully, no one pressed me for anything. There was no talk of war, or Sasuke, or marriage. Just everyday ninja talk.
The only notable tidbit in all that was Tsunade not caring about anything. She still visited gambling dens, drank like a sailor, and almost always looking like a cute teenage girl. There had been a lot of trouble until people learned to leave the "crazy brat" alone.
That was also when the stalker showed up. He walked in as if he owned the place, strutting and posing. For all that I knew, he might actually own it.
The tubby cat, Mister Tama, made rounds around the room, demanding treats and scritches, and then behaving as if we should be honored to pet him. Typical cat behavior.
After that dinner, I caught glimpses of the tubby tabby in the corner of my vision all the time. Visiting the tower? Cat. Going on dates with Best Girl Ino? Cat. Paying tribute to the GGC? Cat. Shopping spree with Kumoko? Cat.
When it became clear he wasn't leaving, I started leaving small offerings in his path. I never saw Mister Tama eating, but whenever I checked later, the offerings had vanished. It was fine as long as the cat didn't claw me or something.
Days passed in languished peace. I visited the tower — no Secretary-chan again — got the deeds to the property, and together with Ino, started working on clearing the plot of land.
At some point, I tried to gather the ninjas from my academy year for a get-together, but that didn't pan out like I wanted. Most of my classmates were out of the village on missions or helping in operations regarding the conflict in the minor lands surrounding Fire.
I didn't let that spoil my mood too much. It was strange, thinking about it. When I was busy with missions and conspiracies, I barely had time to miss the academy days and my interaction with Konoha 9. Now that I had nothing to do, aside from taking care of myself, I wanted to see them real bad.
Construction moved fast. A shinobi I didn't know came one day and helped demolish all the previous buildings. The day after, a crew of other ninja swept the place clean, using a combination of earth and water jutsu. Not four days after I got the deeds for the land, I had an empty plot, ready for me. It wasn't the biggest property around, but it was mine.
Before I started working on the house, I asked the workers to create a wall around the property.
Finally, I worked — with Ino and Karin's input — on a blueprint for the shop and house.
The main shop was a circular building, its front opening onto a wide veranda where customers could relax and eat their pastries. [1]On the opposite side, set into the curved wall, a glass display case would showcase rows of sweet temptations.
Inside, most of the space was for the dining area, tables scattered across the floor, with private booths tucked along the back wall for those who wanted a little more privacy. Attached to the shop was the bakery where I would work: a well-equipped kitchen with plenty of room, much like the one in my flat, only bigger.
The house above had no direct connection to the shop; instead, a stairway at the back of the property led to its door. It wasn't large — three bedrooms, a living room, two bathrooms, and a kitchen — but I liked the layout. Ino did too. Karin was just happy to be part of it all.
On the day I had planned to create the building, a crowd had gathered to watch. I blame that on the neighbors around here. Everyone knew by now I was a kunoichi, given the number of shinobi helping clear the place.
With the number of people around, I thought it was a good idea to advertise my shop opening, even if it was a few weeks away. With what, you ask? Pastries, of course.
I unsealed a fabric, and with a quick mokuton application, created a sort of table-counter-thingy. The fabric went on top of that, and then I arranged pastries all around.
"In a few weeks, the best sweets of Konoha! Come and check it out!"
Cringe as heck. Gosh dammit. I couldn't believe I had just shouted that. It worked, though. Kids, grandmas, even the working shinobi stopped to eat. Then I got yet another problem: too many people now wanted sweets.
I solved that by delegating. I handed over the seals to Ino, left her to handle the people, while I walked inside the now clean area.
With the building blueprints in mind, I concentrated. Mokuton was a strange ability. It didn't feel as natural as other jutsu. Not like earth or water, even if I couldn't really explain the sensation.
It was, however, nice to use mokuton without risking chakra exhaustion. My efficacy still wasn't the best, especially when compared to my other jutsu, but now it wasn't prohibitive, just something that took more chakra than standard techniques.
But enough procrastinating. My hands flashed with seals. I pushed my chakra.
In a rumble of earth, roots clawed free from the ground, forming in the shape of my store. Unlike when creating a temporary house on missions, this time, I made only the building essentials: the walls, the ceiling, and the floor.
The ever-helpful workers sent by Shisui would install windows, doors, and other decorations later.
There was a chorus of cheers when the wood started growing, then a smattering of applause when I was done. Best of all, I wasn't even winded. I could do a few more houses like this one, no problem.
Hmm, should I join the housing scene? I'd make a killing selling prefab houses. Maybe something to consider later.
To top it off, I used mokuton to create the shop sign. The wood traced the words in relief, then I used fuinjutsu to paint them black. Proud of what I had done, I presented the crowd with the shop's name: 爆裂スイーツ.
Bakuretsu Suiītsu, or, as I would say in the before, Explosive Sweets.
The kids cheered again; a few adults just gave me knowing looks. Ino rolled her eyes. She thought the name was silly. I mean, I knew it was, but I loved it. That was fine too; there wasn't any need to take things too seriously.
I handed over the shop sign to the workers. They'd place it for me when they were done. House foundation created and pastries distributed, I fled the scene with Ino. There were a few more things to do that day.
First, I needed to talk with the Yamanaka Mother about me dating Ino. It just felt like the right thing to do, even if my rebellious side wanted nothing to do with that. Then, tomorrow I was going on another date with Ino! This time, I had something prepared. Something I think she will like.
Giggling escaped me just by thinking about it.
Last, I also needed to plan how to confront the Hyuga clan. Again.
No one could tell what had happened to Mom. I was worried, and not against picking a fight with the entire clan to learn what had happened to her, if it came to that.
[1] Check comments for an image.