Rin continued to eat his ramen, seemingly ignoring everyone around him. His face was a perfect mask of indifference, neither appearing happy or uncomfortable with those around him. Although he never looked up from his ramen, seeming to be more interested in the noodles than the others around him, he didn't miss a single thing that happened. The girl flirting with... well... pretty much everyone. The quiet blind kid who seemed to know the girl and seemed quite nervous around her. The ROOT member who hadn't seemed interested in eating and yet decided to order something anyways, eating the ramen unfazed while the girl literally hung all over him. And the pink haired man who apparently decided for everyone that it was time for them to go. Such a strange mixture of personalities. This would be a strange mission indeed.<br/><br/>While Rin inconspicuously observed the various scenes around him while enjoying his ramen, Hotaru made no real effort to hide that she was watching them, or to hide her reactions to those things that happened. She sighed and dropped her head when the girl, who had spoken to Rin rather flirtatiously switched to hanging all over Genji, flirting rather shamelessly before switching once more, this time to Shin, once she had noticed him. Honestly. Did she have no shame? Sheesh. She really hoped this wouldn't be a constant thing. She didn't know how much of it she could handle.<br/><br/>While, of her old squad members, Hotaru was the most likely to be interested in a romantic relationship, and was probably the most idealistic when it came to the idea of love, she had no intention of falling all over any guy. Ever. Nor did she understand why other girls chose to. She had better things to do and more important things to worry about than cute guys. She wasn't blind and she, of course, liked cute guys, but she had never been one to fall all over them or flirt with them just because. Regardless, as long as it didn't get in the way and it wasn't something that happened constantly, she supposed it didn't matter, and she had no intention of judging the girl for it.<br/><br/>Despite Sakumo informing them that they should leave, and most everyone following suit, Rin made no move to follow, nor did Hotaru. Instead, Rin continued to eat his ramen as they left, one by one, until he was finished with his food. They hadn't been here long and they weren't in any real rush, so he intended to enjoy the last real meal he'd have for a while. Hotaru, likewise, decided to finish her food before leaving. She looked up and back at Shin when he spoke before leaving. She smiled, "Nice to meet you, Shin." she replied with a friendly, chipper voice. "Well, we're glad to have you along." she added to his latter comment before he left.<br/><br/>Rin finished his food about the time the last of the others, excluding Hotaru, left the stall. He then paid for his food and stood. "I'll see you at the gates." he told Hotaru, who nodded. He then disappeared, appearing outside the gates, where he leaned wordlessly against a nearby tree, facing the gate, waiting for the others. Hotaru stood and placed her payment next to her empty bowl, giving the owners a wave and a smile before she left. Rather than using Body Flicker, she walked out of the stall, having noticed that Shin hadn't disappeared like the others. She wondered... could he even use Body Flicker? She guessed it would make sense if he couldn't, all things considered. She didn't want him to have to walk all alone, nor was she anxious to spend any more time with the others than was strictly necessary. Rin would be fine without her. He'd probably just keep a little distance from the others and stand there in silence, so she didn't think he'd mind.<br/><br/>She ran after Shin until she caught up to him. "Hey! Do you mind if I walk with you?" She asked, giving him a friendly smile as she walked next to him, slowing her pace to match his. She wondered if he was okay with talking or if he'd prefer she stay quiet. She wanted to ask questions because her curious nature and her general lack of a filter made her want to ask things that he probably wouldn't want to answer, considering that he didn't even know her yet. Surprisingly, she managed to keep herself from actually asking any of these questions. Instead, she opted for something a bit more neutral. "This is going to be an interesting mission." She observed, glancing his way.<br/><br/>Rin looked towards the gates where the others should be. This was going to be interesting. They had an odd mix of personalities already and, evidently, they hadn't even met their squad leader yet. He found it quite odd that they had such a large group, not to mention an odd number of shinobi, for a mission like this. It was just an escort mission. VIP or not, did it really take seven people to accomplish? And why seven? Why not add another shinobi and round it out to two squads? It made no sense to him. Were they going to have another unexpected addition? Or did they just have an odd number? When it was only six of them he could sort of see it. A squad of four with two shadows. But this was just weird, at least to him. Whatever, it wasn't his call, he supposed. Apparently it had made sense to someone, so he'd go along with it.<br/><br/>Hotaru felt the same way Rin did about this whole thing. It was rather curious. She wondered if anyone else thought it was odd or if they simply accepted it. She supposed that most probably didn't bother to wonder. From what she had seen, most other squads and subsequently their individual members, didn't spend much time questioning orders. They did as they were told. That was something her squad had never been very good at. Asami had taught them to think for themselves, to question everything. And Hikari had added to that, always looking at things critically and logically, rather than simply accepting things as they were. Of course, unlike Asami and Hikari, who would occasionally actually question orders, she and Rin often kept their concerns to themselves rather than voicing them. "I wonder..." She mumbled to herself rather than to Shin a she thought, her words trailing off. She supposed that the reason would become clear later on. Or it wouldn't and they'd never know. Either way, she supposed that she would listen to what Hikari had always told her. Baseless speculation was pointless. Worrying about something wouldn't reveal the answers. All she could do was keep an eye out and wait for the answer to be revealed. Meanwhile, they should focus on the task at hand.