1

Kyoko

I hate mornings. Today was no different.

I slammed the snooze button on my alarm clock and rolled over. Why did I even have an alarm clock, anyway? I should slap whoever invented it…

"Kyoko," Someone whispered, stirring me. "Wake up."

"Ugh," I groaned. "Go away."

"Kyoko!" Yuki exclaimed. "You're late!"

I sighed, wanting to snuggle into my pillow and sleep under the covers, but instead I tiredly sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"Breakfast is downstairs," Yuki said. "Hurry before it gets cold."

"Yeah, yeah," I rolled my eyes, stretching. I tied my black hair in a sloppy ponytail and dressed, donning the usual Jounin uniform.

"It's your turn to wake Aridoku up, Amaya," I said as I jogged downstairs, eager to eat.

"What? No way! I did it last time!"

"No, Curomi did," Kida said. "It's your turn."

"Fuck!"

"Don't be such a potty mouth!" Curomi yelled from her seat at the kitchen table. "Gosh!"

I opened the fridge, taking out a carton of the Cranberry juice and pouring it into a glass, then sitting down across from Curomi and digging into toaster-made cinnamon flavored waffles, some sticky rice, and miso.

"Aridoku, wake up!"

"MY EYES ARE CLOSED, AMAYA! THAT MEANS I'M STILL SLEEPING! Go away!"

"Freaking wake up, Aridoku!" Amaya yelled. "I'm hungry and my breakfast is getting cold and --"

"Breakfast? YUM!"

"Well, Aridoku's up now," Kida murmured, snickering.

"Yuki, want to train our teams together?" I asked. "They've been wanting to train with your students for a while."

"I guess," Yuki shrugged. "Just make sure that Izumo stays away from Ichigo. He hates it when she gets close to him."

"I can't guarantee anything." I snorted. "You know how she is."

"Good point." She admitted. "Kida, wanna tag along for lunch?"

"I'm eating with Kiba and Hinata." She shook her head. "Maybe next time."

Maybe never…Yuki thought sourly.

"I'm done!" Aridoku yelled, clambering downstairs in her ANBU uniform. "Where's my food?!"

"Table, where it always is," Amaya rolled her eyes.

"What about you, Amaya?" I asked. "Want to join us for lunch?"

"I've got to fill out a report to the Hokage," She said. "If you're around I won't be able to do anything."

"I'd go, but I'm eating with Naruto." Curomi shrugged.

"I'll go!" Aridoku offered. "Amaya can take care of the report by herself."

"Thanks a lot," She muttered.

"You're welcome!"

"I'll see you later," Kida said. "It's Curomi's turn to cook dinner!"

"I'll bring takeout," Kyoko offered. "I'm not risking another burnt down house -- again."

"You're so rude," Curomi glared, taking a bite of her waffle.

"Your glare would be much more effective if you weren't so cute," I poked her forehead. "How tall are you anyway? Five feet?"

"Five foot one, for your information!" She huffed, her freckled face turning slightly pink.

"I've got to go," Yuki glanced at her watch. "I'm already late. Aridoku, are the illusions set? I can't really afford going out looking like myself, as you know."

"Again," Amaya added quietly, snickering. Yuki shot her a glare. "That was one time!" she hissed.

"The tattoos I made you guys should hold up permanently." Aridoku said. "At the very least, though, you need to be careful with your chakra use."

I wrinkled my nose. I hated being at the mercy of disguises -- especially ones that used up chakra, no matter how slowly.

"Where did you get the time for this?" Amaya asked.

"I'm nocturnal," She grinned.

"Shit, I'm late too," I muttered, glancing at my watch. "Wait up, Yuki!"

-x-x-x-

The three of us sat in a large tree branch, eating lunch. Yuki and I had dismissed our students, telling them to come back later for more training.

"I don't get why you guys decided not to be ANBU this time," Aridoku said through a mouthful of sushi, "It never gets old."

"I like kids." I shrugged. "Granted, I didn't want to be a sensei of a bunch of twelve year olds. But Curomi had already taken the position I wanted in the Academy."

"I'll probably be ANBU when we move," Yuki added. "Jounins are incredibly inactive."

"If we move, you mean…" I trailed off.

"I want to live in the Snow Village," Aridoku said. "I hear it's very pretty in the autumn."

"Amaya's getting restless, too." Yuki added. "You know how she is when we stay somewhere too long."

"I'm getting paranoid," I sighed. "Don't the Mist and the Leaf have good political ties?"

"That's what Amaya told me," Yuki shrugged, chewing thoughtfully. "We really should get a move on. Shikamaru keeps looking at me weirdly…"

"Infatuation?"

"No," she shook her head. "Like, he's onto something, but he doesn't know what."

"With his IQ," I said, "He'll figure it out soon enough."

"That's what worries me." She admitted. "And what he'll do when he finds out."

"I'll ask Amaya to keep tabs on him with her shadows," Aridoku said.

I stared at Aridoku for a moment.

"What?"

"It amazes me how serious you can be at times."

Aridoku grinned.