Adorable ferocity. { Nalla | Private

Ai couldn't remember the last time they had ramen; but here they were, the androgynous individual tugging down on and adjusting their glasses as they politely munch on a bowl. Ai had heard rumors of ninja from other villages, particularly Kirigakure and Kumogakure, showing up in the area- it was the most interesting thing that had happened lately, but Ai likened that it was probably just a rumor. There would be no reason for such a scattered influx right now; it's not like anything major had happened.

Oh well, it was just scatterbrained musings. Ai didn't have much reason to care, considering Konoha was on rather good terms with both of those villages and there shouldn't be any lingering tensions, as far as the Genin knew.

That is, only if it were more than the nonsensical mutterings of a bored village. Ai shrugged, adjusting their suit and continuing with their meal. The only other people here were the staff, the owner and the cook, both who were behind the curtain and doing whatever it is a ramen business does. Ai enjoyed the silence, zoning out.

"Hmn..."

Grumble. Grumble.

Blinking Nalla looked down at her ‘talking’ stomach. Frowning lightly she poked at her flat belly. “Shh mister hunger monster, you’ll eat soon.”, she spoke softly. Nalla wasn’t one to do much talking, having often been called mute by the bullies back home, but she was making waves when it came to brief snatches of conversation – not everyone wanted to hear her telepathic voice in their heads after all.

Nalla, who was following her nose as she picked through the various scents that filled the area, was currently following the delicious smell of ramen. Ramen had been one of her favorite non-candy foods since she had first tried it, and she figured that was the greatest place to start spending her money. She was a nin from Kirigakure who was a guest of the Hokage while she underwent training with him – only, given that the man was rather busy that training hadn’t started yet which left her free to roam and perhaps even make a new friend or two.

Her choice of outfit caused her to stand out somewhat but she hardly cared. She smoothed the white top that had an underlying purple tint to it down so that it almost reached her knees, the top hanging off of her shoulders by everything except two black straps. Beneath this top she wore a black tank top, and black leggings that were tucked in at the bottom into her shinobi sandals, also black in color. Her Kirigakure headband was hanging loosely around her neck, and her long black hair was back in a ponytail, black bangs covering portions of her ocean blue colored eyes, and revealing pale colored flesh.

Nalla, having spotted the ramen stand in the distance, skipped the last several feet in that direction, coming to a stop before she ran into the place. She glanced over to the other customer and offered a smile and wave in greeting before she slipped herself onto a stool nearby. She ordered herself, politely, some beef ramen and then spun around once on her stool, waiting.

Grumble. Grumble.

Ai, obviously, wasn't as extravagantly dressed; but was still a sight to see. A nice, combat-suitable blue suit cascading down from their shoulders and fit their thin frame perfectly; brass buttons lining the breast and keeping the top together. Grey stitching wove through the seams on the clothing, sleeves flourishing down to just after the ninja's wrists, with cuffs buttoned just the same. Their pants followed suit, tight fitting dress jeans with the same coloring in all places. It wasn't odd, per se, but wouldn't be something you'd expect a mercenary ninja to wear- especially not when out and about. The glasses were a nice and stylish addition, however.

Their sabre hung loosely from their side, not strapped in a sheathe but sitting in a way through their belt loop that it wasn't really likely to cause any harm unexpectedly. At least, not until they started spinning at a furious rate; but that wasn't likely to happen. They really needed to get something to hold it better one day... regardless, opposite of that was attached their toolbelt, currently empty save the paper tags for emergency sealing.

At the entrance of another customer's presence alerting the genin they sat up straighter, tilting their head to the side and glancing briefly over Nalla and her clothing; obviously trying to absorb and archive what they were seeing. That... definitely wasn't a Konoha. Not one Ai had ever seen before, and Ai had been around and back this village plenty of times over. This thought was only pushed further as those stormy eyes flashed over the girl's headband around her neck; Kirigakure? So the rumors must have been true after all...

Ai had forgotten their manners, briefly, berating themselves as they were waved to and quickly returned it in the politest way possible. As a loyalist to the leaf village it was their duty to make sure outsiders were comfortable. Well, outsiders that weren't looking to kill anyone, and the girl definitely didn't look dangerous.

So with a simple reaching of their hand for a shake, they spoke. "Ai Nekonote, miss. If I'm not incorrect in assuming, you are... not from around here. Welcome to our village; I trust everyone is being sufficiently hospitable?"

With the cook getting to work on her order, the smells of which only caused her stomach to grumble and growl louder than before, Nalla returned her attention towards Ai as he held out his hand and introduced himself. She likewise held out her hand, contacting his gently for a shake as she took in his well-dressed appearance and thinking to herself that the suit looked rather nice on him. She gave a respectful nod of her head in greeting and smiled: causing her ocean blue eyes to twinkle and light up with an over-whelming flow of happiness – it was something that always seemed to radiate from the young girl in waves.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Ai. I’m Nalla Iki-Dovahkiin. You’re correct in your assumption: I was sent here from Kirigakure, by my brother, Lord Mizukage, for training.”, she explained, figuring the information couldn’t hurt since it would better explain why it was that she was here. “Everyone has been very nice to me since I arrived yesterday.” She smiled and glanced around, sighing contently. “You’re village is very beautiful; different by far than my own home, but that seems to increase its beauty.”

“My training doesn’t start for a while, so I figured I’d get something to eat. I heard this place served the best ramen around.”, she added on as a means of keeping the conversation going. At those words her bowl of ramen was brought over to her and placed in front of her along with a tall glass of ice water. Nalla reached reached into the pouch at her hip and pulled out the needed Ryo plus a tip, passing it over with a "Thank you!".

Ai was shocked by the young girl's words; not only that she was a special enough ninja to be sent here to train, maybe incredibly stronger than she looks, and not even just that she was also the Mizukage's sister- she spoke intelligently and clearly. She couldn't have been more than, what, ten years old? The shock didn't show, of course, Ai's face as impassive and expressionless as always save for the flash of understanding in their eyes. Their hand dropped politely from the shake after returning it in kind, though...

Their hands moved in a blink a moment later, neatly replacing the ryo Nalla was handing the owner while taking special care not to touch nor disturb her; though leaving the tip, as they figured that was fair enough. "It's on me, Nalla-san. I'm terribly sorry, I wasn't aware of whose presence I was actually in." The end of the sentence was followed by a bow, though Ai remained seated; they'd stand if ordered to, of course, but figured it wasn't too rude to remain as they were for the moment.

"Thank you for your kind words. Words cannot describe my happiness of your comfort. We of Konoha work very diligently to make sure it's a hospitable place for all, and to keep it in top condition for every sort of occasion. I hope lord Mizukage and the village of Kiri all fare well? And, yes, Ichiraku does hold the best ramen we have in the village. I always enjoy myself when I come here, though I don't get to come very often..."

Ai shook their head, posture rigid without being tense; just formal, trying their best to do everything not to offend the precarious though important newcomer.

Nalla blinked: she had more than enough Ryo to spare to be capable of paying for her own food, but then again she knew it to be the polite thing to do and so she gave a nod and a smile. “Thank you, very much, I appreciate it.”, she said in response to Ai paying for her food. She turned her attention to the food in front of her for a moment, blowing gently on it as steam rose up and off of it due to how hot it was. Her stomach started to make noises again and she giggled softly.

“Well, you all do a wonderful job. Your village is very lovely.”

Grumble. Grumble. Roooooar.

More giggling at the ‘monster’ in her stomach before she turned her head and looked towards Ai once more. “Why don’t you get to come here very often?”, she asked curiously as her head tilted slightly to the right – food all but forgotten for the moment even though the delicious smell continued to assault her nose. She couldn’t imagine not being able to come to such a lovely place like this daily, but perhaps he was just too busy? Or was there another reason entirely?

"If I lived here I would eat ramen every day.", she added on with another bright smile.

Ai flashed a quick smile at Nalla's thanks, the glance of white disappearing a moment afterwards; unprofessional. "Of course, Nalla-san."

Ai's own ramen had been forgotten, staring back at it awkwardly as it was rather cold now- oh well, they didn't feel very hungry anymore, and now they had company regardless. So instead they busied themselves with carefully noting all of Nalla's actions and mannerisms, chuckling a bit under their breath at her childish excitement. "I do appreciate that you think so. I am very proud of Konohagakure and all that it stands for."

Ai would move their hands to their lap, intertwining their fingers and taking a moment to quickly survey the area as is habit; especially when speaking to such an important person. Well, rather, Ai was pretty sure the sister of the Mizukage was important; why didn't she have any guards with her?

Mmn?- oh, she spoke again, Ai attentively leaning to the side and thinking their response through.

"Well, I suppose you could say I'm busy a lot. I work as- I work for the village, as you can see, and the majority of my activities take up my free time." This was ended with a wave of dismissiveness from the teenage genin, adjusting their glasses once again and peering curiously at Nalla. "If I may, miss, why exactly are you training in Konogakure over your own village? Not that it's not a pleasure to have your company, of course, simply wondering."

.oO( I apologize for the shortness, trying to get all my posts caught up and ensure no one's waiting too long for me to post <3 )

Nalla picked up her eating utensils and got to work on the ramen, bite after bite. It was exceptionally delicious and the first few bites did wonders to stop her stomach from grumbling and growling and just making such an uproar of noise. She listened to Ai speak while she ate, keeping the majority of her focus on him and just enough focus on herself so that she didn't get ramen all over the place, or all over them. When Ai asked her a question, however, she paused in her eating and after swallowing the bite she had been working on she took a sip of water.

After placing the glass back down on the counter she grinned again. "I wish to learn medical ninjutsu so that I may better help my village, the Lord Hokage happens to be the best medic in the world. I'm honored that he's willing to teach me, and I plan on becoming the best medic I can under his instruction."

She then took another sip of her water before continuing on. "He's a busy man though, of course, and so I figured I would explore a while until he was ready to start teaching me. That's why my nose led me here." She then picked back up her eating utensils and got back to work on her ramen.

{ You're silly for worrying about it. My posts aren't exactly dictionary-esque length. < 3

The genderless individual couldn't stop watching the younger woman's movements, a slight smile on their face; she was amusing, but not in the condescending way most people would think. It was a lot more relaxing to be in her presence for the moment, disregarding how rigid Ai was sitting and how formally polite their words were. The ninjas from the other village weren't so bad after all; not this one, at least. With a few swift, careful movements, Ai picked up their own water and sipped it down, finishing before Nalla finished talking so as to not interrupt any rhythms.

Training with the Hokage? She was a lot more of an esteemed guest than just a few seconds ago, Ai's facial structure being just a tad bit gentler in thought. "Oh dear; again, I wasn't quite aware of your status. I apologize for the familiarity. I am glad you're enjoying yourself, though, and I hope you continue to do so. I can't say I know any medical ninja nor Hokage-sama well, but I know they're all incredibly dedicated to their work and I'm sure you'll fit right in." Despite the fact that she's eight. Oh well, Ai adored children.

"Thank your nose for me, than, Nalla-san. It's been a joy talking with you. If you need anything, just give me a call. I'm not hard to get in touch with." Their sentence was ended with a friendly half-smile, a certain light of interest in their gray eyes highlighting their honesty.

.oO(Apparently my post got eaten, so I'll post again. -Kicks the post.-)

A soft and gentle giggle of a sound escaped Nalla and she simply shrugged her shoulders as she picked up her water and took another sip of it while Ai spoke. Nalla didn't think of herself as anything special, she simply thought of herself as lucky that such opportunities had presented themselves for her to take advantage of. "It's okay, Ai. I don't really think of myself as anyone special. I just think of myself as lucky: I was given an opportunity that perhaps not a lot of other people get, and it makes me grateful.", she explained softly.

And then a nod of her head had her memorizing Ai's last words to memory: if she needed someone or something she would indeed call on Ai. She was glad that she had found someone she could consider a friend of sorts so early into her adventure, and it took some of her home-sickness away that she had previously been feeling. It was funny how something as simple as having someone to talk to could take sadness and depression of being in an unfamiliar place without a familiar face away. "Thank you, Ai. I appreciate that. I was feeling a bit home-sick before I met you: this is my first time outside of my village for an extended period of time without my brother or someone else I know... so everything's a bit... new... to experience.", said softly before looking back towards her now cool ramen and taking another bite of the delicious meal.