It's been far to long...

[zero]

Zero walks through the gate, a broad grin on his face. He wearing a hood to cover his head and face. He flashes the ninja on guard duty one of his one in a million smiles. The guards let him through, saying nothing. Zero walks to his old house sits by the door, and whispers to himself, "I'm finally back home. It's been too long." He falls asleep talking to himself, reminescing.

[TAKARA]

Takara yawned as she hung up her apron; she had just finished her shift at Ichiraku's and was ready to crash. She had stayed out late training the night before and only received an unrestful four hours of sleep and was now paying for the lack of sleep.

She closed her locker and slowly dragged her feet out of the ramen bar. The night air was crisp and sent an involuntary shiver through Takara's body. "Well this is just great," she sarcastically said to herself, picking up her pace. Her apartment wasn't too far away, so if she hurried she could be in her soft, warm bed soon.

While her mind was occupied by the thought of a comfortable sleep, she failed to notice the boy slumped against a door and tripped over him. The sudden loss of her footing took her by surprise, causing her to fall flat on face, half on top of the sleeping boy. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized loudly. "I should have been paying attention! Sorry, sorry!"

[zero]

Zero shakily got up and helpd the girl onto her feet. "It's no problem, dont worry about it." His hood fell off uncovering the diagonal scar across his face. "You look familiar somehow. But I haven't been to Konoha in the last 3 years so I might have forgoten you. If I have I'm sorry." Zero explained. "By the way my name is Zero, what's yours?" He had his famous million dollar smile on his face.

[TAKARA]

Takara muttered a 'thank you' as he helped her up. She brushed the dirt off of her baggy gray tank top and spandex shorts and shook her head side-to-side to get the dust out of her hair. She ran her fingers through her violet locks in an attempt to tame her thick tresses. "Thanks," she repeated with a sheepish grin, looking up at Zero's face.

"Woahh, you're really tall!" the girl exclaimed. Takara was very small compared to most seventeen-year-olds, standing a little over five feet tall and weighing barely 100 pounds. She hardly reached the boy's chest.

"I'm Takara," she finally answered his question with another goofy grin on her face. "Sorry for squashing you. I was kinda sorta day dreaming."

[zero]

Zero kept his smile on his face. "Like I said, it was no problem. I can tell that you've had a rough day. Would you like me to escort you home, it would be no problem for me." Zero said thoughtfully. "Just let me get my stuff and put it in my old house." Zero opened the door to his house and a plume of dust came flying out. This didnt seem to effect him much. He moved his hand once and a tidal wave of dust and dirt went right past them, empting itself out on the streets.

[TAKARA]

"No, that's okay, you don't have to!" the petite girl tried to protest, but Zero had already walked into his home, leaving Takara behind and coughing from the dust that had poured out the door. She swung her hands in the in an attempt to clear away the dust. When it finally settled she shook her head back and forth to get the dirt out of her violet locks and brushed it off of her body. "A shower would be amazing right now..." she muttered to herself.

[zero]

"Sorry about that, Takara. Just had to clean aout my place right quick." Miles sat his bags on his bed. "It's no problem with me to escort you home. I have nothing else to do tonight and it would be nice to do something nice in the leaf village for the first time in a couple of years."

[TAKARA]

"I guess you weren't kidding when you said you haven't been here in a while," Takara said as she ran her fingers through her hair. "So why were you gone for so long, if you don't mind me asking?"

[zero]

"I had to...take care of something that has been bugging me for a while." Zero said. "Also I wanted to have some time to myself for intensive training." He didnt want to tell her anything in case she might get scared. He was worried. He felt that he should tell somebody and he wanted to but he didnt want to be anymore of an outcast than he already was.

[TAKARA]

"Well, I live in this direction," Takara pointed down the street toward the Hokage Monuments. "It won't take long to get there."

The petite kunoichi began walking down the road assuming that Zero would follow close behind. There had been something that he had avoided telling her when he had answered her question, but she wouldn't press on the subject since he must not have wanted to talk about it.

Takara stretched her arms to the sky then folded them behind her head. She looked up at the cosmos, admiring their beauty. Night time in Konoha was, for the most part, peaceful. There weren't any screaming children or people bustling around; everyone was shut in their homes and asleep, leaving the city streets silent. It was one of Takara's favorite times.

"So, Zero," Takara said, glancing over at the giant of a boy. "What's your ninja rank?" She was curious about the intense training he had mentioned before. Perhaps they could spar together sometime; she sure as hell wasn't afraid of a challenge.