The night had finally come.
Naruto was at the gate of the Hyuga compound, waiting for Hinata. The girl came with Neji accompanying her to the gate. Neji raised an eyebrow at Naruto's formal wear, but when he matched it with Hinata's, he understood.
The two walked towards the training ground.
Sasuke found Ino already ready outside the flower shop. Sasuke and Ino talked about random gossip all the way to the training ground.
Raito had the most work. He was setting up the training ground. He'd gotten food, he'd brought the table and chairs. He'd even purchased all the blankets as Naruto was broke and Sasuke didn't really know what was happening. He saw the sun setting and realized he needed to pick up Mitsuro soon.
He finished setting up the wall of canvas, hanging it up on the training posts. Then he disappeared in a white flash towards Mitsuro's house. He stopped halfway there remembering that she'd wanted new gloves for weapon forging. Raito appeared near a shop and then rushed inside to find the best one that would fit her.
He purchased it forgetting to look at the price tag. Then he turned and jumped onto the roofs toward Mitsuros. When he arrived the girl was standing shyly by the entrance to the shop wearing a kimono. Her kimono was white and gold, this time she had a golden flower on dark branches across the kimono. She also wore an obi with gold on it.
Raito appeared in front of her, shocking the girl and her father who'd been watching her to make sure Raito arrived. Civilians nearby also jumped at the sudden appearance. Raito wore a white kimono, and a golden haori with the kanji for creation on the back. The Arashi clan symbol, a black dragon in the form of infinity, stood dark underneath the kanji.
His knee almost touching the ground, Raito stood back up and smiled at Mitsuro.
"Are you ready, Mitsuro-chan?"
Mitsuro nodded, and Raito offered his arm for her to hold. Raito tossed a kunai at the door of the shop. He'd written a letter guaranteeing Mitsuro's father that she would be safe. Raito was an official jonin of Dato. In a couple of years, they'd make him take up a team.
For now, though, he walked with Mitsuro towards the training ground. The speed at which they were moving along, though, annoyed him so he spoke.
"Would you like to get there quicker?"
Mitsuro nodded. So Raito picked her up princess style and jumped onto the nearest rooftop. He moved swiftly, and Mitsuro closed her eyes to avoid her untrained eyes from getting hurt by the wind. They arrived at the training ground around the same time the others did.
Ino was hugging Sasuke's arm as they strode into the clearing. Raito waited as Naruto appeared behind him, with Hinata standing awkwardly next to him. Mitsuro looked at Raito, observing the two.
"Are they your friends?"
Raito replied, "Yeah. I'm trying to figure out something, though."
Raito appeared in front of the two other couples. Mitsuro was still in his grasp, and so he set her down when they appeared. Raito grinned.
"Well, it looks like you managed to make it on time despite your sensei's best effort."
Naruto groaned, thinking about Kakashi's constant punctuality problem. Sasuke smirked and did not say anything. Naruto sniffed the air; something good was near. He followed the scent to the table, which was covered with a cloth. Ripping the cloth off, Naruto's gluttony almost took over.
"Look! So much food!"
Indeed, there was a lot of food. Many pounds of food sat on the table. Ramen of all kinds sat in large bowls, and sushi. There was dango for dessert and chocolate-covered nuts. Raito smirked as the three couples sat around the circular table to eat.
As they settled into eating, Ino got to gossiping.
She turned to Mitsuro, who was extremely close to Raito, and asked, "So, what's your name?"
"M-Mitsuro Hosono, ninja-san. What's yours?"
"Ino Yamanaka! She's Hinata Hyuga!"
Raito didn't care to engage in the conversation. Instead, he was waging a silent war against the other two boys. Stuffing food into their mouth and seeing who could stomach the most. Raito was winning in the present moment. However, Sasuke was catching up to him; he could feel it.
Hinata said, "What do you do Mitsuro-san?"
"I'm a blacksmith. Well, my dad is, and I help run the shop since he's bad with numbers. Ino-san, your family owns the famous flower shop?"
"Yep! Come by any time, I'd be glad to give you a lesson in botany. It's quite fun."
Mitsuro nodded and asked Hinata, "I know the Hyuga are really good fighters. Are you a good Hinata-san?"
Naruto heard this but decided to let Hinata say it herself. He didn't want to seem too overprotective of a girl he hadn't even finished his first date with.
Hinata replied, "I… I try to be, but my father is harsh."
Ino added, "She's a great fighter; Hinata is just too humble."
It was then that three girls noticed half the food was gone from the table. Raito grinned maniacally as he began to shout.
"That's six plates! I won!"
Naruto groaned, "How'd you put so many down? You're actually worse than me."
Sasuke swallowed his final bite and made a harrowed face, "You two need to be restricted from buffets. Too much food."
The girls laughed and continued to talk for a while until they were done eating. By then the boys had properly recovered from their food comas and ready to go their separate ways. Sasuke, Naruto and Raito had agreed to the dinner but had different ideas on what to do afterwards. So the couples went their separate ways, except for Raito.
Raito and Mitsuro stayed there. The two laid on the blankets, gazing at the sky for a while before Raito decided it was time to figure out the mystery that was his date. He'd trained with the girl the night before, but that hadn't left much time for anything but fight analyzation. In that time though, he'd felt warm in her presence.
Raito asked, "So Mitsuro, what do you do when you aren't dealing with the business?"
Mitsuro turned on the blanket to look at Raito and said, "Nothing. I rarely have time to do anything. In between doing work for my father and taking care of my little sister there is very little time. I had to beg my father to let tonight happen."
Raito blinked, "Oh… I see. Where's your family from?"
Mitsuro replied, "Lightning Country originally, but we had to leave because Kumogakure wanted bloodline users. So they were removing all lower class weapons makers. My mom lost her life on the way here, right after giving birth to my sister…"
Mitsuro's face contorted, and Raito could tell she was recalling a memory. Raito sat up and grabbed Mitsuro in a hug. This was the most could do, there was very little emotion in his own household. His father was always tired and his mother never had any love for anything but the numbers of her village. So he had no comforting words, as he could not relate, he could barely empathize.
He'd dealt with Naruto out of necessity. Naruto was his only hope, there was no other light for him to believe in. So calling up memories he'd rather not, he'd tried his best in that moment, but here and now, he was struggling. There was nothing he could do. So he sat there letting her sob into his kimono. Their embrace was warm and brought up a feeling Raito couldn't place, but for the first time in what he knew had been years he felt it.
Raito continued to hug her until she pulled away.
She said, "I'm sorry. I'm not usually such a crybaby."
Raito nodded and replied, "I'm sorry. I can't… I can't understand."
Mitsuro sensed there was something behind those words. Something more, but she wondered if she should ask about it.
She said, "What do you mean, what can't you understand?"
Raito replied, "I'm a shinobi. I am supposed to not let feelings interfere in my work. But I've been doing this since longer than most kids are in the academy for…"
Raito looked away from the girl. He didn't want to see her face when he said what he'd never said to anyone else.
"I killed my first person when I was four. It was not an accident, it had been deliberate. I've tried to deny it to myself, sometimes justify it…" Raito completely turned, looking at the tree line. The wind began to pick up, brushing his hair lightly back.
"...That person was my little brother, Hizu. I killed him out of what I assume was rage, in a moment of complete and utter despair, I killed my little brother. It was over something minor, I'm sure of it. But I can only remember the death and the blood on my hands…" Raito remembered why he was telling her this and decided to get on with it; she didn't need his sob story. "Anyways, I've got very little care for anything. I don't really believe in anybody, and yet I have to continue. I have to grow strong enough to take the mantle from my father, but only until there's a shinobi strong enough for the village."
Mitsuro felt saddened by the story. However, as Raito stood up, confusion overtook her, and for a moment, she wondered if he would kill her. She smacked herself on the head for the thought.
"I've said a lot. I ought to go now. Thank you, Mitsuro, and if you need a break, you can find my aunt at the Embassy. She'll take good care of Aku."
Mitsuro yelled, "Where are you going?!"
Raito turned, "This reminded me that I'm not here indefinitely. I've got a duty to fulfill."
Raito leapt into the distance, leaving Mitsuro at the training ground. She'd not expected everything to take such a sharp turn. But she too left the training ground, heading home, in a slight daze.