The eighteen-year-old stretched her hands above her head, delighting in the feel of her muscles moving for once. Raising tan eyes to the gently glowing oak branch above her, she sighed and asked it, "When is Nana coming down, Plantae? I'm bored."

The leaves rustled and replied, "She's coming down now, Hana."

Hana smiled and brushed back a few strands of emerald green hair that had come loose from her braid. From the sky descended a great white cloud, pulsing with light blue light. As it approached the grassy knoll, its light grew brighter and it changed, turning into a woman with short-cut sky blue hair and eyes of pure white. Gently patting her stomach, Sora smiled and said a small thanks before looking to Hana.

"Come on, Hana," she said, a worried tone hidden in her smooth voice. "There's a village a few miles from here. If we get going now, we should reach the gates before nightfall."

"All right!" Hana leapt to her feet and knocked on the trunk of the tree. "You hear that, Plantae? We're gonna have a bed tonight!"

The oak tree glowed and shifted, revealing its true form to be a small, green fox with soft brown markings and tan paws. Four tails waggled eagerly as the fox sighed, saying dreamily, "I'll finally be able to sleep on a nice, comfy pillow in a nice, warm room… It'll be so wonderful…"

Hana sighed but grinned, muttering, "You're so damn lazy, Plantae."

"Only one of many services I offer," he said, padding up to Hana and leaping into her stomach, the seal over her navel glowing and twisting as the kitsune returned to his resting place.

Recovering quickly from the slight feeling of vertigo from another soul forcing itself into her body, Hana turned to Sora and cried happily, "I'll race you, Nana! Last one to the gates has to pay for the room!"

---

The closer the gates approached, the more nervous Sora felt. It was as though a weight was slowly tugging at her heart, making it sink further and further to her feet. Inside, she could feel her own kitsune prowling, eager to get out and defend her host against this invisible threat.

"Easy, Nemodysk," Sora murmured, gently rubbing her stomach where the seal pulsed irritably. She couldn't remember any other time the mere sight of village gates had caused such unease within her, and she had traveled all over the continent with Hana and their foxes ever since…

"Hana!" Sora suddenly screamed, desperate to get her charge back in her sight and to get as far from the village as possible. "Hana! Get back here! We're not going there!"

They haven't already… Nemodysk asked worriedly, soft voice echoing in the back of Sora's mind.

"No, they couldn't have gotten there already…" Sora mumbled, the words sounding false even to her own ears. She sighed and wrapped her arms about herself, trying to calm her strung nerves.

She would have to face Konoha once more.

---

Hana grinned as she walked down the streets that made something in the back of her mind tingle in almost-recognition. She couldn't accurately remember this village, so she assumed Nana and her must have visited it when she was a small child and was just getting used to moving from town to town constantly.

Can you smell that? Plantae inquired happily. It's a bakery! Oo! Maybe they have lemon rice balls!

The teen snorted and thought back, not feeling like talking out loud, 'Why can't you get this excited over anything else, lazy brute?'

Plantae merely stuck out his tongue and lolled onto his back behind the large gates, noticing that some of the roses that twined about the bars were wilting slightly. He hadn't spent much time in his seal, so it was understandable that his magikal plants were starting to fade.

He would fix them later, he ultimately decided, snuggling deeper into the soft, deep green grass he had long ago conjured. There were only a few, after all, and it wasn't urgent enough to cause major worry and nap-loss.

Hana felt the kitsune begin to drift off into sleep inside of her and she rolled her eyes. 'Really,' she thought, 'the only things he cares about are food and sleep. It's a wonder how he became an heir to his own clan.'

Finally, though, she discovered the bakery they had both smelled and ducked in, the soft bell chiming overhead as the door swung shut behind her. The woman at the counter smiled and Hana waved cheerily, stepping up and inhaling the sweet scents. Carefully, she looked over the choices, before buying three chocolate cookies and, if only to keep Plantae from bitching when he woke up, one lemon rice ball.

"Thank you," she told the woman with a smile, accepting her cookies gleefully. Pulling one of the chocolaty goods out, she bit into it, savoring the rare taste. She was about to leave when the door jingled again and a short blonde dressed all in bright orange nervously entered, eyeing the woman behind the counter warily. Hana paused, feeling Plantae stir at the sudden change in pace, glancing to the woman and blinking when she saw her face twist suddenly into an ugly grimace.

The blonde, not noticing Hana or not caring about her presence, slowly sidled up to the woman, dumping a handful of change and bills on the counter, and mumbling nervously, "Lemon rice ball."

The woman made a sound not unlike an angry wolf and looked like she would rather set fire to her own person rather and touch the boy's money. Instead, after a long moment, she snatched up the money (which, Hana noticed, seemed to be twice the amount she had paid for her own items) and dumped it in the register, giving in exchange the smallest, most pathetic onigiri Hana had ever seen. Nearly throwing it at the boy, she told him in almost a snarl, "Now get out. You're making me lose customers, boy."

'What a bitch,' Hana grumbled, stuffing the rest of her cookie in her mouth to keep from saying anything she would regret.

Behind her eyes, she could feel Plantae watching, suddenly directing her attention to the small table at the front of the shop, taking up the small space in front of the window.

That's made of wood, he told her and she could feel him grin.

'No shit, Sherlock,' she muttered, pouting when her cookie vanished down her throat. 'I was gonna save that…'

She glanced at the woman as she began to leave the store, noting with a hint of disgust that she was now scouring the counter with bleach and a steel wool pad. Gently, she ran her fingertips over the small, wooden table, streams of deep emerald chakra delving deep into the table, and Hana smirked as Plantae began to work, gleefully for once.

---

Naruto stuffed the rice ball in his mouth, and then cursed at whatever force it was inside him that kept giving him those stupid cravings! Growling at the thought of the woman in the bakery, he was about to head back to his apartment when the door jingled and the girl that had been in there (much to his embarrassment) bounced out, grinning.

"What are you so happy about?" he growled moodily, irked at having been seen at such a low.

She continued to grin as a scream rose from the bakery and a giant, glowing maple tree shot up, tearing through the roof.

"That," she said happily, taking another cookie and biting into it.

"Holy crap!" Naruto cried, eye wide and ignoring the tingle he felt in his stomach at the sight. "What the hell was that!"

"A table," she said innocently, rocking on her heels.

Naruto gaped for a moment, but was nearly pushed out of the way as an older woman, about thirty years of age, rushed up to the green-haired girl, enveloping her in a great hug.

"Oh thank the gods I found you, Hana. Come on – we have to leave. Now."

"No way, Nana," the girl cried, struggling. "I'm having fun here. And you said we could sleep in a bed tonight."

"Hana—"

"You promised!" It was amazing how easily an eighteen-year-old could look five when she pouted.

"I know I promised, but –"

Suddenly, Hana's eyes weren't focusing on the elder woman or Naruto anymore, but on someone just past them both.

"Auntie Tsunade!"

---

Take that! I'm uploading something! -munches on evil Cheetos- Lessee… I don't own Naruto, but I should own the two (four?) OCs. So, till next time!