Kotetsu would have been awake much earlier, if he hadn't been sparring with Ryuichi the night before. Most people would think him utterly crazy to acting as another man's punching bag voluntarily, but Ryuichi was a good friend, and didn't actually try to kill him for talking too much.

But it didn't matter anyway - his clock told him it was just about eight, a little late for an early morning training session or a run around the village, so he should just head for the showers, maybe. Ryuichi was probably still sleeping, Kotetsu thought as he yawned past his door.

Maybe it was the fact that he had been here... only what, two, three months? Still wasn't completely used to the layout of the place, and certainly not when his body told him he needed another four hours to sleep off the bruises he'd received from the wall, the floor, the training dummies, Ryuichi's katana hilt, the back of Ryuichi's hand... Anyway. He wasn't used to the place, so that was why he ended up blinking at a stairwell instead of the common showers.

For a moment, he stared blankly at the dim stairwell, then the rest of his senses woke up. Because there was the heavenly smell of fresh baked goods.

Forget a shower, if there was anything else that'd wake him up faster than a frigid dash of water in the middle of winter, it was food.

He tracked the smell all the way to an open door and a table piled high of food. Like mochi and dango and cookies.

Cookies.

The sign said it was a bake-sale and even if he didn't have cash right now he could give, like, spars and.

His attention was mostly on the cookies as he poked the girl napping at the table. "What else do you accept for the cookies?" he asked hopefully.

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She'd been dreaming pleasantly of a field full of punching bags when something poked her. Granted, if she weren't so tired Ayumi might have chewed herself out for letting her guard slip so badly.

Especially in HQ. She'd heard of - and participated in - far too many pranks to feel safe falling asleep outside of her room with a locked door.

Ayumi straightened up immediately, glancing around the room to make sure they weren't about to pull a prank on her. It was clear of people except Kotetsu and her ghostly companions hiding behind a chair.

"What else...?" She blinked a few times and then stared at Kotetsu. Huh. He must've been one of the newbies, since she certainly didn't recognize him.

"Spars, chores," she yawned and rolled her shoulders to wake herself up more. "Anything you want to offer, clean stuff only, of course." Having people whore themselves out to her hadn't been exactly what she had in mind and now that she was being asked about it, well, the idea had suddenly occurred to her.

And Ayumi didn't want people getting the wrong idea out of her little bake sale.

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"Don't like chores," Kotetsu confessed, "But I can totally do spars! Just.. not today." his bright grin turned into a slight wince for a moment as he shifted and his bruises clamoured for attention. "Ryuichi was hecka enthusiastic last night. But I always can do spars."

When the girl sat up, though, Kotetsu had to blink. Wait, not a girl - was a boy, kinda slight looking, with that hint of androgyny that must have made him think girl.

Besides, he couldn't think of a girl who'd have hair like that. They all were into keeping their hair neat and frilled up with ribbons. And long, actually, come to think of it. So. Not a girl. Woo!

"Can I still have cookies anyway?" he asked hopefully.

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"I'm totally game for spars!" she gave Kotetsu a mischievous grin. He had to be one of the newbies, since she certainly didn't know him. Nor had she heard of Ryuichi. Maybe Aoba had mentioned him, she had been a little buzzed then. "Though I guess I can wait one more day for it."

Ayumi picked up a cookie and waved it at him. "But I'll be expecting you to put your all into it. None of this wussing out and holdin' back 'cause you got a date or something stupid later that day. Understood?"

She raised an eyebrow and held out the cookie, knowing full well by the look of his bruises that he was either helpless in taijutsu or really did try his hardest. "And you can take four more for the one spar. Anything more than that will cost you another spar. Or something like it."

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"I don't wuss about spars," Kotetsu said indignantly. "And I don't have dates." For a moment he wondered if the other guy was hinting at something. Maybe he was?

That'd be so cool if he was.

He gladly fell onto the cookie he was given; cookies for breakfast made any bruises feel better.

"I spar lots with Ryuichi, but we're not mission partners or anything, so sometimes he's gone," Kotetsu said, almost thoughtfully, because most of his attention was on the rest of the cookies. "I have lots of spare time for spars. less you want traps? I could do up traps for you."

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She nodded at the reassurances that he wouldn't wuss and smiled. It was always good to find a good, solid sparring partner.

She picked out four more cookies and set them on the free bit of table space, brushing the crumbs off on the floor behind the table. "I usually go for straight spars, but dealing with some traps might be good for me. I don't specialize in 'em, so I could use the practice. I'm guessing you do specialize in 'em?"

Ayumi raised an eyebrow and grinned. It certainly was good to be home again.

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"My traps are one of the best," Kotetsu said, and then felt like clocking himself. Dammit, stop boasting, lots of ANBU had traps better and above his own. "Well, for my level at least."

The cookie was good. Chewy and moist in the centre and just a hint of oven-warm, with that unique taste of 'home-baked'.

And chocolate. Mmm. Chocolate. "Straight spars without weapons huh." He eyed the other guy for a moment. He looked lithe, like a wiry monkey. "I could do that. Need some practise at taijutsu anyway." Not, of course that he'd go down easy. He wasn't the best but he was good. It'd be a good work out.

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"I look forward to dodging the traps, then," she sat back down and stretched her arms over her head, the loose hoodie she was wearing doing nothing but hide her figure.

"But we can do a straight spar first, if you'd like. You could aim traps that are harder for me to work around, then, huh?"

He seemed to be enjoying the cookies, which was certainly a bonus. "Are they good? I didn't manage to eat any of those batch."

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"Totally good," he said, voice muffled for a moment, before swallowing and grinning. "You made these, right? I can't cook." his voice was mournful for a moment.

"But definitely. Hm. You do lethal? Ryuichialways spars with live steel. Makes him a whole lot happier."

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"Yup," she nodded and kept smiling. It was good to know she hadn't lost her touch with sweets. It was an odd trait for an ANBU, perhaps, but it didn't hurt when she had a friend's birthday come up without warning. Or any other reason for celebration and sweets.

This guy seemed pretty nice, though his next comments got her to raise an eyebrow. No wonder he was so beat up.

"Lethal?" Ayumi tucked away the name 'Ryuichi' with every intention of looking into this further. "I've never killed anybody in a spar, if that's what you mean. But I've only been here a year and it's pretty obvious that you're supposed to keep your teammates and fellow ANBU alive, not the other way around."

She picked up a mochi and frowned at Kotetsu. "Ryuichi-san is new, isn't he?"

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"Well, lethal like full out, but not with the intent to kill..." Yeah, bad choice of words there. "I wouldn't use bombs with my traps," he said to clarify, gesturing with a half-eaten cookie. "But they'd work just like they would in the field, you know? And with live-steel. But not gonna cut anything off or anything. I'm not that eager. I think the medics are used to Ryuichi, but not anyone else. Yet."

He grinned guilelessly at the other guy and finished the cookie. "So. What's your name?"

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She nodded as he explained what he meant by lethal and felt much more satisfied. At least she wouldn't have to worry about losing a limb or two. She would definitely have to ask around and possibly meet this Ryuichi fellow. It sounded like he'd be most exciting to spar with.

"My name?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked, stretching her arms and resting them behind her head. "You can call me 'Oyate'. Or 'Oyate-sempai', that sounds nice, too. Though I'll probably only reply to 'Oyate'." Her grin widened. "And your name?"

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"Sempai?" Why sempai? He didn't look much older than Kotetsu himself... Unless he had like, a year's experience. That made a sort of sense - just that Kotetsu was a little off-balance by someone who was a veteran who was friendly and apparently not in Intel. And apparently quirky too, 'cause he'd rather Kotetsu call him by his family name too. That sort of formality was rather rare in Konoha, but not unheard of.

"Hagane Kotetsu," Kotetsu said, polishing off the rest of the cookies, and wondered if using puppy-eyes on Oyate would work. "You can call m' Kotetsu."

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Itachi's day was not off to the best of starts. Meaning he had encountered his father not long after he woke up, and Fugaku was prone to rubbing Itachi the wrong way no matter what. The inquiry had been a general one concerning Itachi's schedule, to which Itachi had responded that it was full. Now he was tromping into HQ to make sure it was, in fact, too busy for whatever crap Fugaku had in mind before Fugaku started digging to validate Itachi's statement for himself.

He came in through the main entrance and was about to veer towards the Intel offices when a delectable, wonderful smell drifted past his nose.

Dango.

And more than that - fresh. dango.

This required investigation.

He followed the scent and the faint voices to the common area, one eyebrow lifting at the bake sale sign's small writing before he concentrated on the wares displayed.

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Ayumi just grinned at Kotetsu and dipped her head in a mockery of a bow. "It's nice to meet you, Kotetsu." He sure was acting a little strange, but who didn't in ANBU? She might have to ask Aoba about this guy. She never could tell when they were acting strange for reasons like...attraction. Or something equally as strange. "I'm looking forward to our spar."

And then a Konoha legend was by her table. Ayumi perked up and diverted her eyes from Kotetsu, grinning still, and leaned a little towards the unmistakable Uchiha. "Good morning, Uchiha-san. See anything you like?"

Wow. She'd never gotten to speak to him before, so this was a real treat. Man, a chance at sparring with the Uchiha Itachi would be just...wow. Amazingly amazing.

Though she'd probably get pounded into the ground. But still. It would be a spar to remember.

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Itachi's dark glance moved from Oyate to Hagane to Oyate again. He knew both of them by reputation only. Which meant to say he, as a member of Intel, had read their files. Both were Hunters, Hagane a rookie while Oyate had just passed the one-year mark that declared her a veteran.

"Oyate-san, good morning," Itachi replied. "I am wondering how much you are asking for the dango."

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Oh good, the other guy wasn't here for the cookies. Kotetsu could stop hogging them like they were going to flee.

Anytime now.

But once he caught up with the conversation - Uchiha Itachi. Uchiha Itachi.

Right. No acting the idiot. He brushed off the crumbs from his shirt and tried to look professional.

Uchiha Itachi. Damn.

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He was...wow. He wanted to eat her dango. Ayumi blinked - only once! - to snap herself out of the daze. She could definitely charge money, but... there was a chance here. A chance to spar with Uchiha Itachi.

And she was going to take it, thank you very much.

She straightened her posture, smiled broadly and dared to look at the eyes that could very well kill her at another time. "Well, I think a spar would get you three sticks of dango. Does that sound fair to you?"

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Itachi's expression as he looked back at her wasn't exactly blank, but the adjective was close enough to suffice.

"Six sounds more fair," he replied. After all, spars took more effort than simple cooking. But if she wished to spar instead of accepting regular currency, that was fine with him. It would allow him the opportunity to learn more about her.

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Oho, he wanted six dango now did he...

She narrowed her eyes and frowned in reply, imitating the shrewd street merchants that Ayumi loved to barter with. "Six you say?" All things considered, it was more reasonable than three.

...then again, she wasn't bartering with a sixty-year old civilian woman. She was bartering with Uchiha Itachi. That took away most of the fun and replaced it with danger.

"I suppose six is reasonable." Ayumi leaned back in her seat and gestured to the dango. "You can take any of the varieties you like, Uchiha-san. And I'll be expecting a spar within a fortnight." That way there would be plenty of flexibility for missions and possible injuries.

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