Makoto no Monogatari Ch 3- Of D-ranks and Expanding Horizons, a naruto fanfic

It is because of you

That I walk the fields in spring,

Gathering green herbs,

While my hanging sleeves

Are speckled with falling snow.

I wake up in a different room than I'm used to. The ceiling… it's not that blueish-purple I'm used to. I sit up slowly, confused, looking around.

Perhaps most disorienting, my point of view is significantly higher than I'm used to.

I blink.

Ah. I'm currently in a raised bed, like the ones Before.

The weirdest part is that it's somehow both really similar and yet, really different. It's… probably most like… if you moved away from a place for three years, then came back… and realized that it's still the same… but not.

"Ohayō, Makoto-kun," a soft voice calls. I cover a yawn with my hand, turning to face the door.

"Ah… good morning… Uchiha-sa— Mikoto-sama," I correct.

Mikoto-sama sighs, and I remember. "Oh, sorry! Mikoto-obasam— Mikoto-obasan," I enunciate.

She smiles. "Breakfast is ready. Would you mind waking up Sasuke?"

I nod. "Hai, Mikoto-obasan!"

Several minutes later, after I've shaken the lump on the blankets next to me awake, I drag a half-asleep Sasuke along the open-air-hallway-thing to the kitchen. Itachi-san's house… or rather, I guess, Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-obasan's house, is a very traditional single-storied home with all of that architectural stuff that I don't know the name to.

Half-way through, as I'm debating where to turn right or left at the cabinet with the surprisingly ugly blue vase, Sasuke-kun wakes up enough to grumpily drag me over to the kitchen, before he drops onto a zabuton pillow and slumps forward onto the chabudai, the low table.

"Did you sleep well, Makoto-san?" Itachi-san asks.

"Didn't I tell you to just call me Makoto?" I frown. 'It's weird, especially since you're doing so much for me."

"You are the client. It would be disrespectful," Itachi responds, before frowning slightly. "And I had asked that you call me Itachi."

"According to the mission guidelines, I believe that you're essentially my caretaker. It's only polite to address you as Itachi-san," I shoot back, still half-asleep and grumpy.

"I am only a genin," Itachi reponds, probably feigning modesty.

I stare back, dead-pan. "That makes you an adult."

"I am but eight years old." And eight-year-olds shouldn't have to say that.

I shrug. "So?"

"As an eight-year-old at home, I insist you call me Itachi, Makoto-san," Itachi replies.

"Itachi-san, I am three years old," I sigh. "You don't call your otōto Sasuke-san."

"But you're a client," Itachi responds, unperturbed, sipping slowly on his tea.

I let my head rest on the table, wishing I were still asleep. A raised bed feels different from a fūton, and I wish I could have enjoyed it for longer. "I highly doubt you give other three-year-olds those suffixes."

"And you are a guest," Itachi replies, sipping at his tea and resembling nothing so much as a little old man.

I raise my head to stare bleary-eyed at Itachi. "Which is why I should give you respect. Besides, you're the heir to one of the five noble clans of Konohagakure."

"It is improper to stand on formality."

"It's respectful to use formality," I grumble.

"It is antiquated." Itachi's face softens in a barely-there smile that might be a trick of the light… or him tasting victory. "And as a friend would say, stuffy."

I grin. "Ooh, big words! See? You are basically an adult, and so I should treat you as one." I beam.

Itachi stares at me. "...you have a friend who is heir to the Aburame clan. You address him without any suffix." Okay, now Itachi's just being stubborn. Still…

"...Point to you." I scrunch my nose. "Very well, then." I sigh dramatically. "Itachi-san, I will call you Itachi… if you call me Makoto."

After a pause…

"...very well." Itachi pushes over a steaming teacup. "Makoto."

I graciously accept the gesture of goodwill for what it is. "Itachi."

"Are you done, now?" Mikoto-san asks, brow arched.

I nearly spit out my tea. Across from me, Itachi seems suspiciously stiff.

I turn my head to look at Mikoto-sama, an embarrassed smile on my face. "H-hai?"

Mikoto-sama addresses Itachi instead. "You will be late to meet your team if you keep arguing with Makoto-kun, Itachi." She turns to me. "Oh, and Makoto-kun? Please come by again for dinner, okay?"

I bite my lip.

Mikoto-sama smiles, and a chill runs down my spine. "Okay, Makoto-kun?"

I blanche, nodding hesitantly. "H-hai?"

Across the table, Fugaku-sama clears his throat, leaning forward as if to protest and I shrink, curling up a bit… and Mikoto-sama smiles. "You don't have any objections… right, anata?"

I blink at the use of the term of endearment… and in shock, as Fugaku-sama immediately sits back. "Of course not."

Trying to ignore the awkward silence and that terrifyingly nice smile, I quickly down the cooled-down miso soup, chomping down on the plate of onigiri, rice balls, and tamagoyaki, egg omelet, that Mikoto-sama had set in front of me at one point in the earlier… discussion. When those are cleared, I quickly dash back to the room to change into my clothes from yesterday, then grab Itachi on my way out.

"Thanks for everything, Mikoto-obasama, Fugaku-sama!" I call, slipping on my shoes. "See you again later, Sasuke-kun!"

The journey from the Uchiha compound to the shop is longer than I remembered, and it looks different in the sunlight. What had been dark and slightly ominous now looks… a bit drab, almost.

The road for most of the way is hard-packed dust and earth that disappears into weeds and underbrush on its sides. At first, it's narrow, but eventually widens out, and the trees to each side disappear. The cliff is to our right, and… the dense buildings that in the night had been brightly lit with pretty red lanterns now also looks a bit old and run-down. We're at the outskirts of Konoha, and I see buildings just up ahead… but to our right, between the road the mountain and spilling over from the busier parts of the village…

Itachi had told me not to go there yesterday when I asked. But now… "Are you sure it's dangerous there?" I ask. "It doesn't look that dangerous… and it not like there's bandits or rouge-nin here."

Itachi hesitates. "It's… not dangerous for those reasons. But regardless, it isn't a place young children should go… it's really only a place for adults."

I frown, but let the subject go. "So, what's your genin team like?"

"YOU'RE SO CUTE!"

Oh. I see now what Itachi meant. The squeal came from the girl, who's being restrained by the jōnin-sensei. She wears her hitai-ate like a bandanna and has brownish-greyish hair in two braided pigtails, which stick out, so she looks a little like Pippi Longstocking. She's Inari Shinko.

There's a boy, a little taller than her, with gray hair that's spiked to his right side and bangs, which frame his face, covering the sides of the hitai-ate on his forehead. That's Izumo Tenma.

The jōnin has spiky brown hair pulled into a short ponytail and a goatee. His uniform is plain, just a flak jacket over a blue turtleneck and pants, all Konohagakure regulation for shinobi. His name is Minazuki Yūki.

"Please, everyone, follow me." I open the door and move to one side, nervously shifting from foot to foot.

… I really hope nothing goes wrong.

The silence that ensues is extremely awkward.

After what seems like an eternity of small shifts and the too-loud crunch of senbei, I decide to break it.

"Good morning, shinobi-san. Thank you so much for coming, I hope you will look after me!" I smile. "My name is Kobayashi Makoto. Please, just call me Makoto."

The girl with the pigtails pipes up first, "Oh, you're adorable! I'm Inari Shinko!"

"It's nice to meet you, Inari-san. Would you prefer for me to call you Inari-san, or…" my voice trails off.

She beams. "Oh, just call me Shinko!"

She nudges the gray-haired one.

"Fine, Shinko!" He turns to me. "I'm Izumo Tenma. Don't call me Tenma" He looks around. "So… where's your parents, shortie?"

I grimace at the nickname… and at the thought of having to delve back into yesterday's mess.

Itachi-san saves me. "Makoto-san, do you have any questions regarding the mission?"

"Oh. Uh… yeah. What… exactly… are we supposed to do?" I ask awkwardly.

No one answers. An even more awkward silence ensues.

"Do… you want to go to the park or something?" Jōnin-san asks. "When do you normally… uh… nap?"

I stare at him blankly, then sigh. Looks like I'll have to do this myself. "First… I don't know how to cook. And… we're kinda out of groceries." I tug at my shirt anxiously. "I'll need help with that. We normally eat lunch at 12:00… and dinner at 7:00, but I don't know how long your mission is supposed to last. if possible, I would like to learn more about what shinobi do, what the Academy is like, and so on… and I would also like to…" I bite my lip. "Idon'tknowhowtoreadbutIwantto," I rush out, not looking at Itachi.

The gray haired kid bursts out laughing, and I duck my head, blinking furiously.

Shinko-san immediately tries to ambush me with a hug, cooing over how cute I am and how of course they can help such a cute wittle kid, and… I bite my cheek in an effort not to snap at the babish tones she uses and duck her attempts to squish my cheeks.

In my efforts, I overbalance, and my chair tips sideways… and a hand latches around my wrist, yanking.

I stumble on my feet, almost crashing into Itachi, as Shinko-san tumbles to the ground— thankfully without squashing me.

She immediately pops up, growling at the gray-hai— ah… at Izumo-san, who shouts right back. I flinch at the noise, and shuffle to inch behind Itachi as the jōnin tries to mediate their argument.

Itachi gently tugs me over to the stairs, grabbing my jacket from the hanger. "If you want, Makoto, I can go get groceries now. My teammates… will probably be… talking… for… a while," he ends. He grimaces. "I apologize for my teammates. Normally, Shinko-san works best with children on the babysitting D-ranks we take… however…"

"It's fine," I interrupt, grinning. "It's not really her fault… and honestly, it's kinda fun to watch from a distance. Besides, as long as they don't break anything— and I trust Jōnin-san to be capable enough of making sure of that— it's really fine. Just… let me grab some things."

I scramble around the argument, grabbing a tote bag from the cupboard and the grocery money from where Otou-san keeps it in the box in the drawer.

"Okay!" I smile. "I'm ready when you are!"

As we go outside, Itachi explains a bit about the layout of Konoha at my prodding, and adds in a bit of the history, too. The shop is located a street away from the Main Street, which stretches all the way from the main gates of Konohagakure to the Hokage Tower, from where it separates into two separate streets in what, to me, looks like a T-junction.

Konohagakure is located in a bit of a valley, with how it's surrounded by hills and cliffs. There's a river, the Naka river, that forks a ways behind the Hokage Monument into two separate streams that border Konohagakure. The older districts in Konoha are to the left of the Hokage faces, and they're mainly residential areas and training grounds for the smaller clans, and non-clan shinobi. The larger clans got more space along the river, because they served a bit as the first line of defense at first. Now, Konoha's expanded, so that's no longer the case, but even the grounds on the other side of the river are mostly empty training grounds.

On the other side of the Main Street, to the right of the Hokage faces… well, that's mainly for the Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka. It's also an area that's mostly full of civilian businesses, but also less dense. A lot of the clans along the border are those that need space— the Nara clan, for example, has a forest for their deer, the Inuzuka have a smaller tract of land, and so on. Farther away from Konohagakure, on both sides of the Main Street, there's also farmland on both sides, though people tend to stay close to the street.

However, Konoha imports most of its staples, though the food doesn't travel very far— maybe a day, a week at maximum, even for civilians. There are, apparently, quite a few D-ranks dedicated to just that— importing food.

Our shop, Kobayashi Tea, is apparently located in one of the higher-end districts, being relatively close to the Hokage faces and close to the center of the Akimichi area, but also not too close the cliffs and hills.

The branch of the Main Street that splits to the right heads all the way to the Uchiha district, and as Itachi already told me earlier, I'm not supposed to go into the area on the cliff side of the road, even if it seems interesting.

Apart from that… the shops that cater to shinobi tend to be close to the Hokage tower and a lot are to the left of the Main Street, with the weapons and armor and supply shops being the closest. The fabric and textiles, especially those for civilians, tend to be a bit further out, and more in the civilian districts, though there are a few to the left of the Main Street.

Though, apparently the Main Street is actually pretty interesting. Because of how wide it is, sometimes the smaller shops set up a stall along it on special events.

The interesting thing to note is that there aren't actually any grocery stores. Farmers come in to bring food during the day and there's a few streets deliberately for the stalls they set up. Most shops have an arrangement to import food with… people…

…

I mean, I guess it makes sense, since it's a military dictatorship, but… it's a bit weird for what I'm used to.

But the producer/consumer system isn't the only source of cultural shock. Oh, no. That came when counting groceries.

Because… for all the universality of math in our world, there's a very simple thing that very few people (or, at least, that I), had considered— we learn so much about how the Chinese and Japanese and blah blah blah had made such important advances in the field of mathematics/geometry/astrology… but everything we learn about math is with Arabic numerals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0. We count with Arabic numerals… we do everything with Arabic numerals (unless you count those who learn arithmetic with cookies and that weird dot/line/box system). Even in eastern countries… math is math. Everywhere.

Except for, apparently, a possibly-imaginary separate dimension where colorful ninja defy gravity using a magic-like thing called chakra.

A.k.a., the Elemental Nations.

Of which I can currently a resident of.

FML.

As Itachi stacks the cartons of eggs and milk, careful not to bruise the vegetables, even as he passes me the box of fish, I stay silent, lost in my thoughts.

Apart from learning an entirely new language and at least three different writing systems… I have to learn a new number system, too?

I metaphorically whack myself over the head. Repeatedly.

Duh! It's even in the name. It's the Arabic numeral system… even though I think it started in India or something? But looking back, it didn't start that way either, right? Of course it's not going to exist here.

It's just… mathematics used to be so… so universal that… I just… simply hadn't…

I groan. This is going to be a pain. New language? Check! New writing systems? Double, even triple check. New way of doing math? Ngh… do I have to?

A thought strikes me, and my eyes widen.

What if I… forget?

The word echoes in my brain. Forget. There's no internet here. Forget. That would be… permanent. There's nothing to remind me. If I forget how to spell a word, how to do anything… it's gone. Poof. Disappeared. I'm alone, here.

I'm alone.

It sinks in now, more than ever, that I am very far away from home, and… I don't want to lose who I was. I didn't really like that life, or who I was, but… it was me. I don't what to forget that, to lose that.

My stomach twists, and I almost want to throw up… or cry. Just curl up in a ball, right there on the street, and bawl my eyes out. I feel like there's something stuck in my throat, and my breath hitches. Suddenly, I feel cold, despite the sun on my back and head. I cling on tighter to my handful of cloth, even as my free hand digs crescents into my palm.

"Makoto?" Itachi asks, and I flinch slightly. "Are you… are you okay?"

As if rudely awoken from a daze, I suddenly register what I've been doing. I'm in the middle of busy street. I wasn't moving. My hand is still wrapped in the hem of Itachi's jacket. I'm on the verge of hyperventilating. My shoulders shake slightly.

"I… I'm fine," I manage to force out. "Just… can we get some notebooks? Please? And… and stuff to write with."

"Of course," Itachi reponds. "But… if I may ask… are you sure that you're… feeling okay?"

I nod shakily. "Y-yeah. Don't worry. I'm… I'll be fine."

I take a deep breath, relishing in the quiet of the Library's bathroom… and a small comfort of familiarity at the fact that at least public restrooms are the same… or really, to be honest, they're better. It's cleaner, better-ventilated, doesn't smell that bad… but then again, maybe shinobi just tend to be more polite than the people I remember from Before.

Yeah, they're a bit different, but… they're similar enough. And Konoha's even nice enough to have a smaller one for younger kids!

I rub at my face from where I'm perched on the toilet seat, and I stare at the cloth bag hanging from the hook.

I bought five notebooks, two of which are small enough to be tucked into my shirt, along with a few scrolls (and oh, wasn't that another headache-and-a-half, learning that loose-leaf paper isn't really a thing in this world), along with some pencils, erasers, pens, and a simply cloth pencil bag.

Is this what cultural shock feels like? So much is similar… and yet not. The pencils aren't the yellow #2 pencils with the pink eraser on the back that I expected. If anything, they're more like art pencils… except that they're not painted. The pens aren't what I'm used to, either— for whatever reason, it's ridiculously hard to find anything made of plastic. The only things I recognize are bottled drinks.

The pens are completely metal, from what I can tell. There are ballpoint pens… but it seems that softer, felt pens are more popular. There's even calligraphy dip pens and ink and… that stuff. Some things are so different that it's a bit… overwhelming. It's subtle, but when you look for them, the differences are clear.

I don't want to forget anything.

As a result, I'm planning on going against my better judgement and every instinct that screams not to do it… and write everything down.

The two smaller notebooks are going to be for that. One's for my old world, for recording memories. The other's for making sure I don't forget some things… skills, mainly.

I start planning.

I'll definitely need to dedicate some pages to math. Everything from PEMDAS to algebra to… oh, now I really wish I paid better attention to geometry… and trigonometry and what I remember about Calculus and limits and differentiation, integration, position/velocity/acceleration stuff… oh, and vectors. And that little bit of physics that Dad was trying to teach me… and vectors and maybe probability? But… I don't remember… and maybe chemistry? But… like… I don't really remember the periodic table… and it probably won't help me… but…

I grab the nicer one of the two smaller notebooks and a pencil and the new pencil sharpener… only to realize that my fingers are clumsy and my handwriting would probably be a mess.

I suck in a breath, holding it as I wait for the panic to subside.

Later, then. But… I replace the notebook and grab the other one. This one will be my diary. I'll improve my handwriting, at least to the point where I can read it comfortably. And then… and then I'll just have to pray that I don't forget anything.

I'll write what I can in English… and maybe the grammatical rules and some of the vocabulary for Spanish, too?

I chew at the inside of my cheek. I'll have trouble with it, that's for sure. And honestly, forgetting about it doesn't really bother me. I mean, it was just a subject in school. However… at the same time… if I don't have to forget something… well, why forget it? It would be a bit of a waste. I'll just put it at the back of the… the nicer notebook.

I bite down on my knuckle. Okay. I'm good now. I have a plan. I'll be fine. And… worst case scenario, I won't bemoan what I forget. Yes, it'll be a shame, but… I made my decision a long time ago, didn't I? I want this. I want this second chance, I want this new life.

And change… isn't bad. I'll learn, I promise myself. For everything I forget, I'll learn something else. I won't waste a second. I'll learn and learn and… and I'll take every opportunity I get. I won't repeat the mistakes I've made before.

I exhale sharply, bringing my hands to my cheeks with a slap that's more noise than pain, and helps clear what remains of my daze.

I'll go out, apologize to Itachi for making him wait this long and stop panicking. Stop sulking. Stop with the regrets. Stop worrying about what-ifs and maybes and stuff that I can't really change that much.

I hop off the porcelain seat, grab my bag, and go over to wash my hands… and hopefully my face, too.

Alright, Makoto. You can do this. I can do this.

… I can't do this.

I whimper at the unfamiliar surroundings, and the labyrinth of shelves. Luckily, there'd been a stool big enough to elevate me to the sink, but…

IthinkIcameoutthewrongdoorandItachi'snothereandI'MLOSTANDI'MPANICKINGANDI'M…

I gulp. I'm lost. I am very, very… veryveryveryveryvery lost.

Good news? I'm pretty sure I'm still in the Library. Bad news? I am most definitely lost.

Oh… why did Itachi have to leave? He said that he'd only be gone for a little while… and that he was getting something… but the important thing to ask is whether he's still getting something or not. I much prefer the latter, but…

If I were taller… or could actually read, I'd be less lost… but… well… I am short. I am three years old. I'm barely taller than the second shelf! And I honestly can't read. Not hiragana, not katakana, and… not kanji. Not enough to do me any good at least. To be fair, that's actually a bit weird for existing, since I know that kanji came from Chinese characters… which, you know, came from China… which probably doesn't exist in this world… but you know what? That's fine. For all I know, the Land of Fire developed in more-or-less the same way that China did… holy cow, that actually looks a lot like East Asia.

I managed to find a wall. Well, the wall. You know, the thing that buildings, and thus libraries, usually have? That.

And there's a very nice, colorful map of what I would assume are the Elemental Nations, considering that that's the character for fire… and that's water… and stone… and I think that's wind? Yeah. Land of Fire, Land of Water, Land of Stone… but doesn't that last one mean snow? Except… there's only five characters… and based on the process of elimination, I think that's supposed to be lightning. Huh.

I sigh. This doesn't really help me. To be fair, walking randomly has a pretty low success rate, but… well, time to actually make a plan. Okay, I know that all of the rules about children getting lost say that the kid should wait in one spot for their parent/guardian to find them, or go to the nearest authority figure. Unfortunately, I have no idea where Itachi is, and I can't find an authority figure, because of the very simple fact that I am lost and thus have no clue where I even am, much less them.

So I guess I'll stay here and start… working on my journals? I mean, if I can't find anyone, it's probably at least a relatively private and thus, safe, locati—

Wait a second, is that someone coughing?

I wince. Make that more like someone trying to hack their lungs out.

Still… a metaphorical light bulb turns on in my head. Coughing = person = someone who possibly knows what's going on because I sure do not.

I follow the sound.

"Umm… excuse me, but are you alright? That cough… do you need to see the doctor or something?" I ask, as I round a final bookshelf… and yeah, I think he needs a hospital or something. The first thing I notice is that the person I found isn't really an adult. He has pronounced lines under his eyes. His clothing looks like the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, with a flak jacket and everything, and he wears his forehead protector as a bandanna. The only thing that stands out? He also has something that looks a bit… like… a sword… attached to his back/

Wait a second, he kinda looks famili— My thoughts are promptly interrupted by another series of hacking coughs.

"...Are you sure you're alright?" I ask hesitantly.

"I'm fine," the person with the bandanna chokes out, leaning against the bookshelf. "Wait… what's a kid doing here?"

"Hey, you're still a kid, too!" I protest, crossing my arms with a huff.

"Sorry, but I'm a genin, so I'm technically an adult." Bandanna-san breaks into another coughing fit.

"Are you sure that you shouldn't go to the hospital or something?" I ask, concerned.

"Nah. I've had this cough for a long time. And see? It's already gone away." Bandanna-Person-san smiles. "And… uh… how old are you?"

"I'm three years old!" I hold up three fingers, just to make sure the bandanna-person-san would understand correctly.

"Uh… where are your parents? Or guardian, or caretaker? Unless… are you lost?" Bandanna-Person-san asks.

"...it's that obvious?" I groan. "Uh… yeah… I was with someone else… but they're not here right now… so could you please… help me a little?" I ask, together with my practiced puppy-dog eyes.

"Find the exit? Sure. It's just over there." Bandanna-san points, but I shake my head.

"Actually," I look down, shifting from side to side and nervously twisting the hem of my jacket, "I'm kind of here with someone, but I don't know where he is… and he'll probably come find me… eventually… so can I just… just follow you around for now?"

"Uh… you do realize that…"

"I know that you're probably busy, but I really don't want to get lost again."

"Well, I'm not actually that busy. My jōnin-sensei wanted my team to just look through the library to find some techniques we were interested in before the end of the week. I've already found everything I need, since I come to the library a lot, so I'll also be just waiting around for a little bit. It's just…" he hesitates.

"Just what?" I ask, tilting my head to one side.

"You are three, right?" He squints a bit, as if to see me better.

"Uh huh." I nod. "And?"

Bandanna-san chuckles nervously. "Uh… no reason."

"Yay!" I beam. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. Hey, what's your name, chibi-chan?"

I pout at the nickname, but I can't refute the very clear fact that, yes, I am very short. And small. But seriously, I'm three. "I'm Makoto! And, uh," I rub the back of my neck, "what's yours? I mean, I've been calling you Bandanna-san in my head… but I'm pretty sure that that's not your name."

"Well, you guessed correctly. I'm Gekkō Hayate."

Huh… I think I recognize that name… must just be a coincidence. I wave the thought aside. "Well, Gekkō-san, what's that sword on your back for?"

"So, should I call you Gekkō-sensei or something?" I ask from my perch on the desk, feet swinging. "I mean, you've been teaching me a lot about shinobi stuff and even how the Library's organized…"

"I really don't care."

"Alright!" I grin impishly. "You'll be Hayate-sempai, kay?"

His head whips around. "...sempai?"

"Well, you're not old enough to be a sensei, yet." I giggle.

"Thanks, chibi. You've asked me a lot of questions about shinobi. If I'm your sempai… I was wondering, are you planning on joining the Academy?"

"Yup!" I nod vigorously.

"Hmm… who are your parents, again?"

"Oh. No, they're not shinobi, if you're wondering that. We own the Kobayashi Tea Shop, just off the main street. It's pretty close to Yamanaka Flowers?"

Hayate-sempai's quiet for a moment. "Well, if you have any questions about shinobi that your parents can't answer, being civilians and all, you can always ask me. I'm usually in the Library on weekends, especially before lunch."

"Huh? But you're probably busy, Hayate-sempai."

He laughs. "It's not like I'm doing anything productive. You're interesting, chibi-chan. Besides, teaching you stuff is fun. And those in the Academy who don't belong to a clan usually have a harder time of it than clan children. Just please don't ask me questions about the kunoichi classes. I have next-to-no clue regarding flower arrangements, or things like that.

I tilt my head. "...kunoichi classes? Are those mandatory for girls?"

"Yup. Good luck in those, chibi-chan," he chuckles, breaking into a coughing fit.

I shrug. "Don't worry, I won't be attending."

Hayate-sempai looks up from bookshelf he's perusing. "Huh? You have to."

"Only if you're a girl."

Hayate-sempai looks me up and down. "... I don't think that dressing up like a boy would help. Besides, they do have Academy records and everything, you know?"

I sweatdrop. "Gekkō-san. You don't seriously think that I'm a girl, do you?"

He blinks. "Huh?"

"I'm a boy," I deadpan. Well, physically, at least, I amend in my head.

Hayate-sempai blinks again, regarding me as though I'm insane. "No, you're not."

I sigh. "Yes, I am."

"Uh… no."

"Yes."

"No.

"Yes."

"No."

"Okay, I've already accidentally got a shinobi in trouble for pedophilia, and that was due to an accident with a whistle. I am not pulling down my pants to prove it to you, and... that's mainly for your sake."

A voice coughs. "Makoto… I sincerely hope that what I just hear makes more sense once placed in context. While defending the client against perverts is not be part of the explicit mission parameters…"

"Itachi!" I grin. "Please tell Gekkō-san that I'm not a girl, and thus, am incapable of being a kunoichi or forced into kunoichi classes in the Academy?"

Itachi blinks, before looking at Gekkō-san. "Makoto-san is not a girl."

I facepalm, before I grab Itachi's hand. "Bye Hayate-sempai! Thanks for everything!"

Hayate-sempai blinks, before he waves a hand. "Bye chibi-chan, hope to see you again."

"See you again sometime!" I wave back, before promptly dragging Itachi out the store.

"I apologize for my… absence," Itachi replies in response to my unspoken question once we exit the library. "I had gone to run an errand, and it took me longer than I expected."

He swings his bag over his shoulder, and I realize that it looks smaller than before. "I went to drop off the groceries at Kobayashi Tea, and Minazuki-sensei would like me to tell you that Tenma-san and Shinko-san are very sorry for their behavior earlier. As an apology, he wished for me to ask you as to whether you would like yakiniku for lunch, his treat."

I blink. I… don't know that word. But… I've had yakitori, grilled children, and yakisoba, stir-fried noodles before, so… grilled meat? So… like a barbecue, then?

"So… your jōnin-sensei wants to apologize to me, so he's treating us to barbecue?"

"Hai," Itachi replies.

"...okay, then. I guess." I pause. "Have you been there before? Is it good?"

Itachi pauses. "...I don't particularly like having too much meat, but the food there is good. It's relatively close to your shop, as a matter of fact."

"If you don't want to go, we don't really have to."

"Don't worry." Itachi brushes my concern off. "But my errand took a longer time than expected mainly because I also went to find my Academy history textbook. Given that you wanted to learn to read, I thought it would be best to have something interesting at hand." He looks down. "I apologize again for being late."

"Don't worry, really!" I smile. "Thanks for doing this, you really didn't have to. I really appreciate that you did, though! And I got to meet Hayate-san, so it's all good!"

"Hn."

We arrive back at Kobayashi Tea shortly.

"Kobayashi-kun, we should be done cleaning up in about half an hour," Minazuki-san informs me. "We'll leave for lunch then?"

"Thank you so much," I smile. "I'll just be in my room, then."

I head up to my room to put away my new books… and maybe get started practicing my writing. It's a bit more complicated than just that, though. I'll need to find a good hiding spot for my books. I probably should ask Otou-san if I can get a bookshelf or something for my room… and probably a ladder or step-stool or something else like that.

But for now… I survey my room. I can't just tuck it in somewhere— the books might get damaged or be accidentally discovered when Okaa-san cleans up. So nothing that would need to get washed either… I frown.

My eyes light up as they land on an incongruous shape lying by the wall. My birthday present! The rough, multicolored, reddish pillow is perfect. No one washes things like that! They're usually for decoration, anyways.

I frown. The hard part is making a pocket out of that. I need to be able to sew. And get supplies. I can't do any of that right now. However… for now, I should be able to just carry the thinner one with me. The other I can probably stash away in the pantry or something… and it's not like it's that important… right? I mean, Okaa-san and Otou-san are usually pretty good about stuff like that. For now, if I just tuck it to the side of my closet… that works, I guess.

Now for the other one. What to write. Well… what about the basics? My name is Kobayashi Makoto. I am three years old. I live in Konoha. My parents were in an accident and...and as a result, they were severely injured. Konoha is green. It has many trees…

No, that's childish.

Konoha is a beautiful place situated in a lush valley, surrounded by primarily deciduous trees. It's a rather mild climate, but I can actually experience and see all four seasons— very different from southern California. I was reborn. I like it here, though, despite all the... complications.

…

...I give up. I can't. I just… can't. It's like trying to write with my left hand or something.

...though actually while I'm on that train of thought, I should learn to do that. I mean, it's probably not much harder than what I'm already trying to do, and it's not like I don't have time. But I digress.

This is infuriating. It's slow, messy, my words are poorly formed, my wrist is hard, my fingers are basically frozen, and it's like I'm writing from my shoulder. Even holding the pencil is hard. HOLDING THE PENCIL.

To my shame, I feel tears well up in my eyes, and I drop my pencil as I try and rub them away.

No, Makoto. Don't get frustrated. This is perfectly normal. You're physically a three-year-old. Of course you won't be the most dexterous. But it's normal. Be patient with yourself. Don't get frustrated. Just keep practicing. It's norm—

But even as part of me immediately categorizes the emotions and tries to diffuse everything, part of me just wants to bawl my eyes out.

Everything… lost.

My handwriting, which wasn't perfect but still nice… definitely my art skills, too. I can't draw a smooth line to save my life right now. Everything… everything I like about myself…

And you'll lose more if you don't calm down, stop being frustrated, and practice, part of me snarks.

I bite down on my knuckle, gnawing a little on my index finger. Calmdowncalmdowncalm down calm down… calm down… calm… down…

Okay. I'm fine. I'll be fine.

I slump over onto the reddish pillow, rubbing my cheek against the rough canvas-like texture.

This… is going to take a while.

Itachi finds me puffy-eyed and sprawled on a pillow, a page of random doodles open in front of me. Hey, it's less weird than the alphabet, and it's not like it doesn't help. I'm dejected, but also a bit happier— I can draw rough circles (though not yet with my fingers alone), some cross-hatches (so far only by moving my wrist, but that's a start!), and some very basic flowers.

It's considerably better than how I was when I first started… kinda. My hand gets tired very quickly, so I can write maybe a line before my handwriting gets sloppy again, and I need to take a break. Weirdly enough, I think it's easier to write with my left hand. Regardless, half-way through, after realizing the fact that I can't write for very long, I started trying to see if I could learn to write with both hands. Because… quite frankly, why not?

Still… it's discouraging.

Itachi accepts my mumble that I was a bit upset because my flowers didn't look nice, and just helps me wash my face. Then, after a change of clothes— because apparently the smoke smell tends to stay in clothes… and sometimes ruins nice ones— we go downstairs and get ready to go. Barbecue. Yay.

I groan as I stumble out of the yakiniku shop.

I feel bloated. My stomach is basically a small beach ball, and from the looks of it, I probably ate significantly more than what most little three-year-olds normally eat.

It was definitely worth it, though. That barbecue was good. I like the thin beef the best, the kind that cooks quickly. I forgot the name, but it was really good.

Now… I'm a bit tired, but I think that's from the food. Still, I don't really want to sleep yet. My stomach's too full for that to be remotely comfortable.

I tug on Itachi's sleeve.

He turns to face me."Yes, Makoto?"

"Are you and your team too full?" I ask.

"Well, we ate a portion that's proportionally smaller than yours, and… no, I am not too full. I… don't think Shinko-san or Izumo-san are, either." Itachi pauses. "Was there something you wanted?"

I chew on my cheek. "Do you… could I see what a typical training session is like for your team? Just so I have a better idea… of like… you know… shinobi stuff. I know you're super strong and everything, but…" I gesture futilely with my hands. I don't know the words, but… "I kinda want a more… a more…"

"A more concrete or solid image of what being a shinobi is like?" Itachi asks.

I mentally store the words away, before nodding. "Exactly!"

"Well, I'll have to ask sensei, but I don't see why not."

I sit on a tree root in the shade as I watch Team 2 running laps, before they start their stretches and exercises. It's pretty easy to tell that they've done this many, many times, but… it's kind of intimidating. A typical, light warm-up is 50 laps. And the training ground isn't that small. That's probably at least… I'm guessing ten miles, but that's probably a bit skewed based on my size in comparison to everything. Still, though… that number's probably not too far off. And even Shinko-san only really started showing a bit of physical exertion on her… I think 30-somethingth lap? Itachi barely broke a light sweat.

That was followed by stretches that made me wince (apparently splits are normal, and Shinko-san and Itachi are a bit into oversplits, though Izumo-san isn't quite there, and joint flexibility is also very important) and 50 push-ups (and not lame pushups like at the place I learned taekwondo, either), 100 sit-ups (that were intimidatingly fast), and then the kicks and punches and they practice on wooden poles wrapped in rope and ow that looks like it really hurts. Rope. Not soft leather-y punching bags. Nope. Rope.

And seriously, they're strong and have really good stamina… for what I'm used to, at least. The scariest part is that this probably isn't even mediocre amongst shinobi. They're genin. What about the chūnin, or the jōnin… or the true monsters, like the Akatsuki? Things that seem so straightforward in lines and blocks of color and voices and sound-effects and background music on a screen… that's not real. Until it is.

When they start on tree-walking and Itachi goes off to find a lake for water-walking, I silently shift to sit down there, but I don't really see it. Part of me is awestruck, especially when he pulls out shuriken and kunai and later trades that for hand-seals and fireballs that reflect off the ripples in the pond, but…

The other part of me is terrified. Especially when they join up again for sparring. Because I learned taekwondo Before. And yeah, I was a black belt, but… that honestly didn't really mean much. I was good. My forms were good, I was strong, but… for sparring? I was… good. Not great. Just… good. Kind of. And that was mostly at the end, before… This. Sparring for… even a minute-and-a-half, even when I finally became a semblance of "good," was… exhausting. And that was with a light warm-up that seems infantile compared to this. And that was with foam padding and a chest-guard and arm-guards and shin-guards and padded gloves and a helmet… and a designated target area… and even then there were opponents who's kicks really hurt.

There's no padding here. The floor is hard. And the point is to put down the other person, not score points. Attacks are meant to hurt. And later on? Probably to kill. If I want to be a shinobi, if I want to… to even survive… I'm going to have to be better than them. Better than this. And... that's a daunting idea.

But then Itachi sits down next to me when Izumo-san and Shinko-san are assigned to spar, and I turn my attention to him, asking questions one after the other.

And I think… this is worth it. Because I might actually have friends. Good friends. Friends that become like a family and that you don't have to hedge on niceties and etiquette and social standards around. And I can have everything that I wanted. And maybe I can actually eventually feel the emotions that I only really read about in books and manga and watched in movies and anime.

Maybe I can actually be something. Someone.

Maybe… just maybe… I can be someone special.

I wake slowly, to orangey-red light that shines through my eyelids and the sun… through… my window?

I sit up, rubbing my eyes, and find find Itachi with a book and a small stack of leaves. I'm… in my room. I yawn, rubbing my eyes.

"Itachi-san?" I mumble.

"Ah, you've woken up," Itachi comments. "You've been sleeping for a while, Makoto-san. It's been… about two-and-a-half koku since noon." Part of my mind settles on the unfamiliar term. I've know I've heard koku before… but… it's a measurement of time, but not like hours. I think. Meanwhile, Itachi continues. "I took the initiative to wash your clothes. And…" After a pause, he reaches around for a sheaf of papers. "I remembered what you said earlier, about wanting to learn to write. I understand that you are currently simply trying to become comfortable with a pencil by simply drawing, so this might be a bit too much for you right right now… but I took the time to make some worksheets for you to reference."

He hands over the bundle.

"As you can see, I wrote down the hiragana for various objects next to an… understandable drawing for each of them." He grimaces slightly. "I… am not quite the best at art, but… I managed to cover all of the hiragana, and I think you can understand what I mean with the pictures?"

I stare at the papers, bug-eyed. All that effort… for me?

My nose tingles and my eyes start to moisten and I sniff, smiling widely at Itachi through watery eyes. "Thank you so much Itachi. You must have put so much effort into this… thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you thank youthankyouthankyou…" I mumble, wiping at my eyes with my pillow and sniffling loudly. I won't cry. I absolutely won't cry, even though this is probably one of the nicest things someone has done for my and Itachi is too kind for humanity… because Itachi's already starting to look a bit uneasy with my display of emotions and I really don't want to make him feel awkward. Still…

I glance at the stack of papers. I am never throwing this away.

As the sun sets, Itachi leads me back to the Uchiha Compound, where he has somehow managed to coerce me into staying again.

The… hour-or-so before had been been occupied with Itachi helping me to memorize a rough map of Konoha, along with a set of common signs used around Konoha. I also learned how to write (really badly) "Kobayashi Makoto," "Uchiha Itachi," Okaa-san's name, and Otou-san's name in hiragana… and my last name in kanji. Which is kinda scary, because it's literally my previous last name, with a "小" in front of it. So, my last name is "small forest." There's two of the first kanji in "Konohagakure no Sato" when it's written in kanji: 木, which means "tree."

To be fair, that doesn't mean anything. My last name was one of the most common last names in east Asia. Still… it's kinda creepy. But here's the list:

Kobayashi (in kanji) — 小林

Kobayashi Makoto — こばやしまこと

Uchiha Itachi — うちはいたち

Kobayashi Kimiko — こばやしきみこ

Kobayashi Hiroya — こばやしひろや

Konohagakure no Sato (also in kanji) — 木ノ葉隠れの里

I'm actually kind of proud of myself.

Itachi also explained what on earth a koku was. Apparently, the day is divided into six koku (刻), and the night another six koku, for a total of 12 koku corresponding to each full day-night cycle.

So, they're each basically about two hours long… but here's the catch— they're not set. Like, they grow longer and shorter as the length of the day shifts with the seasons. So, in winter, when the days are shorter and nights are longer, the daytime koku (昼刻) are shorter, and the nighttime koku (夜刻) longer.

(I literally only know what those kanji look like because Itachi scribbled them down in the margins. Don't ask me them again, I probably won't know unless I find this page again. And I think they're in the right order, but don't quote me on that. But back to explaining time.)

In summer, the reverse is the case.

And apparently in some of the larger cities (like the capital), the koku are announced by a series of bell towers. For example (again in the capital, which is apparently actually named Keishi, or 京師, which is super lame since that literally means "capital" and I've been calling it that forever without actually knowing), the a bell is rung for each koku at this one place in the city (whose name I already forgot, which isn't good but, like… meh), and it's then re-announced by a series of eight bells located in other places around that city.

The bells would be rung nine times at midnight and noon, stepping down to eight bell strokes one koku later, then seven, then six bell strokes to announce dawn or dusk, followed by five, then four, and then all the way down until it jumps back up to nine at midnight or noon.

Apparently there's also other names for this stuff, so like the koku period of nine bells around midnight can be called the Hour of the Rat, and the period of six bells around dawn is the Hour of the Hare, but it's kinda confusing and apparently not really used, a bit like the case with the calendar.

So, basically, for that, there's a normal name and fancy name for each month. For example, what I'm pretty sure is August is either hachigatsu, literally "eighth month," or hazuki, which means "leaf month." Yeah. Creative, I get it, but it's better than September/kugatsu/nagatsuki/"long month."

But really, some can get pretty weird. Like December's "Priests Running."

It's pretty cool, but… really, there's a pretty good reason most people just go with _th month, or _zuki name.

So I guess it'd be six bell strokes now, since the sun's setting.

Itachi's being nice and carrying the bag. I would have insisted on being the one to carry the bag (it's polite, you know), except for the minor inconvenience that I'm not even tall enough to lift the strap of the duffel, which contains two sets of clothing (pajamas and stuff for tomorrow), toiletries, a towel, and my pillow.

No, really. I tried, but I had to lift my arms above my head to get the bag off the floor, and well…

So… yeah. That's why Itachi's carrying the bag.

But that's not the important thing— the important part of the story is the Itachi actually laughed. Well, not like, full-body-guffaw-laugh or rolling-on-the-floor-laughing, but… he smiled. A bit. It was faint, but there. And he snorted, a bit? Like that huff of air you sometimes make when you're amused?

It's a bit like finding you're the one who managed to find a bird hidden in a tree or the toy that your entire family was panicking over loosing or when you get a friend who doesn't like hugs to hug you back for a moment before threatening to judo-flip you… or even just getting a good grade. It's this weird sense of victory in something that's arguably not that important, so you shouldn't really feel that proud, but, like, you do. And it's awesome.

Itachi's what… eight? Seriously… like, it's cool, but… he doesn't smile nearly as much as an eight-year-old should. Or can. I should know. I knew a lot of five- , six- , seven- , eight- , nine- , ten- , eleven- , twelve-year-olds. Itachi's somewhere in that age range. And even my mostly-emotionless friend (the one who threatened to judo-flip me) smiled and laughed.

I sigh, slumping slightly.

We once again pass the place with the glowing red lanterns. It's so pretty in the sunset, but… it's dangerous and I promised Itachi so… I'll just be happy looking at it from a distance right now and seriously wishing I could paint it.

Dinner is a bit of a train wreck. And it's entirely Sasuke's fault.

On the list of interesting and/or important stuff that's happened today… I can actually blush now. That's one very interesting side-effect of having really, really pale skin.

…and that discover was also entirely Sasuke's fault.

Long story short, dinner started out really nicely. Mikoto-obasama's an amazing cook, and the sukiyaki was delicious, as were the miso soup and rice. I mean, the last two aren't that special, but… they were still good.

I love sukiyaki. It's one of the best parts of winter. It's consist of meat, usually thinly sliced beef, which is slowly cooked or simmered alongside vegetables and other ingredients in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, mirin, which is kinda like a sweet cooking sake, and dashi, a type of stock. This mixture… I think Okaa-san called it warishita. There's also usually tofu, negi (green onions), some leafy greens, mushrooms (I like shiitake mushrooms best), and noodles. The ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs after being cooked in the pot— we normally just use the yolk— and then eaten.

Mikoto-obasama's sukiyaki was really good.

But then Sasuke did that little-kid thing where they try to whisper but fail… and whisper-asked loudly whether the "pretty onee-san [who] has hair like… like snow! Or gohan! And onigiri!" is going to come over more often.

Even my hands turned red.

So, after that awkward moment, the conversation had shifted to talking about me visiting my parents in the Hospital. Embarrassingly (and shamefully) enough, I hadn't actually thought about that.

But apparently I actually can visit them (and arguably should), and after a few minutes "we've" decided that tomorrow, Itachi will bring me to visit my parents in the Hospital.

Though, honestly, there wasn't really a "we." It was more like… Mikoto-obasama requested and we obeyed. She's the benevolent, all-mighty ruler of this household and I bow in terror and awe at her power.

Later on, after I've offered to help with the dishes (and been rebuffed with a bit of laughing… which is fair), I brush my teeth, take a well-need bath, and… I discover that Sasuke's a typical kid in that he can't actually fall asleep easily. And that he's very easily woken up. And that he's probably a bit in love with my hair.

Half-way through trying to endure a whispered conversation, I just get up and get out, using the excuse that I was just going to get some water because I was thirsty… which then changed to using the restroom after Sasuke went with me and I had to suffer nearly ten minutes of awkwardness.

I drag my pillow a door or so down to Itachi's bedroom because I'd honestly rather not sleep on the floor and Itachi probably knows if they have any extra fūton or something.

I knock once, gently, then creak open the door. There's a light on, and I see Itachi kneeling at the low table in the room.

"...Itachi? I'm sorry for bothering you, but…" I grimace. "Sasuke's… a bit excited to have… someone over, and… he keeps playing my hair and that's fine but then he actually falls asleep and I try to move and it's uncomfortable and he wakes up."

"Do you not like it when people touch your hair?" Itachi asks. "I can ask him to stop if it's bothering you.

I shake my head. "That's fine… but my hair's scratchy against my face and neck, and it's a bit uncomfortable when my head's tilted in a weird way and I can't move. And he also moves a lot, which is a bit weird. And… and he keeps whispering, but he can't actually whisper, so it's really loud."

Itachi hums, still scanning the page, evidently thinking. I'm about to ask if there's an extra fūton that I can use or something when he sets the book down and turns. "Stay here."

I blink. That's really not what I was expecting, but… "...is that okay? You don't mind? Because… I'm perfectly fine with an extra fūton or something."

"Not at all," Itachi responds. "I'm used to it. Sasuke sometimes comes over during storms, or when he just feels scared in his room." He pauses. "Provided you don't mind the light, or course. I still have a few things I've been meaning to do."

I wince. "Oh. Sorry if everything during the day kept you from it…"

Itachi waves my concerns off. "Oh, not at all. I usually set aside some personal projects for this time. I rarely sleep before two and a half." Koku, my mind supplies. So… before nine.

"Okay then, if you don't mind." I agree.

Itachi smiles faintly, and it might be a trick of the light again, but... "And quite frankly, it's easier than finding and setting up a fūton."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense," I grin. "So I'll just…" I point to the bed. "So… is there a side you prefer I don't take, or…"

"I don't mind. Pick whatever side you want," Itachi replies.

"Okay," I yawn, rubbing at my eyes, shuffling over to the raised bed. I toss my pillow up, then clamber up with the help of the sheets and tucking myself in. Ah, it's a duvet. That's nice. I burrow into the blankets. "O… Oyasuminasai," I murmur. Goodnight.

"Oyasumi, Makoto."

On the second day of the baby-sitting D-ranks, I wake to a hand shaking my shoulder and a stack of clothes, along with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a towel, set beside me.

Breakfast is nice, with miso soup, rice, nattō (a strong side dish with fermented soybeans, which Sasuke turns up his nose at, but I kinda like) with karashi (a bit like mustard) and chopped spring onions, and tamagoyaki (rolled up egg omelet). Afterwards, I quickly go change into my new clothes, folding the others up somewhat-nicely, and toss my toiletries into.

Sasuke-san again refers to me as "pretty onee-san" when asking me to pass the bowl of chopped-up spring onions. Apparently, no one felt brave enough to correct his assumption that I was an older girl the day before.

...No one honestly feels brave enough to break the awkwardness by correcting him today, either, and we just ignore the elephant in the room. I feel more flattered than embarrassed though, now.

After breakfast, Itachi and I leave to meet up with the rest of Team 2 at the tea shop, and, in short order, we make plans to go to the hospital.

It's a pretty building, with a turquoise-y roof with pipes over it and soft white walls. There are shiny wooden slats across the bottoms of the windows, which have greenish shutters over them. It's three stories high, but that's not counting the part covered by the roof, and I'm guessing there's more underground, because it doesn't seem that big. It covers a lot of ground, though, and there's even something like backyard in the back.

The entrance is kind of intimidating, though. There's something a bit like an awning in the front, made of what seems to be the same stuff as the roof, and just above it is a green sign, lined in yellow, surrounding a massive character in a red circle that's also lined in yellow.

(医)

That thing's almost on the third story, and the character's probably bigger than I am.

When I ask, Itachi explains that it's the kanji for ishi (医), which means "medicine" or "healing"

There's also a sign underneath the awning that's less flashy, reading 木ノ葉病院, which is… "Konoha Byōin," which literally translates to "Tree Leaf Hospital." Guess they really weren't in the mood for something original. Still… it's straightforward and makes sense, so… maybe they were on to something.

Through the doors, we immediately head to the check-in area. Minazuki-san and Shinko-san offer to go with me, but…

I'd feel kinda awkward with them there, too.

"Is it okay if I just go with Itachi? He's met Okaa-san and Otou-san before, and…" And it would be less awkward, my mind fills in.

Luckily, they seem to be okay with it, and simply go to sit in the waiting area. Itachi brings me over to the desk, and helps me ask the nice receptionist which room Kobayashi Hiroya and Kobayashi Kimiko are in. It turns out they're on the second floor, so Itachi and I head over to the stairs. They're nicer than the fire-escape-esque stairs I'd found in most places Before, probably because everyone uses them— there aren't any elevators here. I stick to the wall as medic-nin and people scramble through.

My legs hurt. It's one thing climbing stairs when you're 5'6". It's another thing entirely when the stair steps are higher than your knee. My face is red— partially with exertion, partially with embarrassment that Itachi needs to stop and wait for me every few seconds.

When I reach the top, I pointedly refuse to look Itachi in the eye. I had resorted to crawling the last quarter of the way.

Itachi tactfully doesn't comment, though a ghost of a smile seems to flit over his face. No. It was a trick of the light. Itwasatrickofthelightitwasatrickofthelightitwas…

"Is… is there somewhere I can wash my hands?" I choke out, face burning.

A nice passerby… I think probably a nurse… helpfully points us to the bathroom, and I hurry over.

I quickly wash my hands, also splashing some water on my face. When I step out, I'm almost bowled over by a cart. Luckily, a hand helpfully pulls me out of the way. I luckily, I trip, and only barely manage not to face plant.

"Thanks, Itachi," I squeak, wide eyes following the cart that nearly… ran me over. "They seem… in a bit of a rush. Do you know which room Okaa-san and Otou-san are in?"

"Yes. If you are ready?"

I nod.

"Ah… sorry about that, Itachi," I murmur when we walk out the room about half-an-hour later. "I think Otou-san might just have been tired… or maybe he's in pain or something. Okaa-san likes you, though, I think."

"They seem to be recovering well." Itachi smiles. " I think your Okaa-san and Otou-san will be released by the end of the week."

I chew at my cheek. "If a shinobi got injured the same, how long would it take for them?"

"Well, with a capable medic-nin… perhaps a matter of hours," Itachi replies.

"Is that because shinobi are stronger than civilians? Or because they have chakra?" I ask.

"Shinobi are more used to channeling chakra," Itachi explains. "It would be dangerous to use medical ninjutsu on a civilian because they're simply not used to channeling chakra."

"Mm," I hum. "I guess that makes sense."

I think back to what Okaa-san and Otou-san had looked like. They'd both had lots of bandages and a cast on a limb or three, but Otou-san had been more severely injured than Okaa-san. They'd seemed in good spirits, but… they'd also seemed a bit bored. And…

"Ne, Itachi?" I ask. "What's the food like in the hospital?

"...from what I have heard, it's… rather bland," Itachi admits. "Why?"

"Can we visit tomorrow? And bring… maybe some books or something?" I ask. "It seems… a bit boring in the hospital. I'm not sure if we're allowed to bring food in there, though."

"That's a very good idea, Makoto," Itachi replies. "I'm sure they would appreciate that. Do you know if they have books they prefer? And I think they would also like a get-well card from you."

I laugh. "As long as you teach me how." I bite my lip. "I've looked a bit at what you made yesterday, but… is there a bigger list of all the hiragana or something? And isn't there also… what was it called… oh! Yeah, there's also katakana, right? And kanji?"

Itachi smiles, and it's faint, but it's definitely not a trick of the light. "Of course."

I beam.

A few steps later, he continues. "Why don't we first get out of the hospital?"

I cover my face with a hand. "Yeah. That's… probably important. Probably a good first step."

I am so embarrassed.

…

…Oh, no. I have to go down the stairs now.

I groan softly.

I flop backwards on my rug, groaning.

My head hurts.

So, the fifty basic hiragana are apparently usually arranged in something like a table. I think it'll be easier once I can make one for reference with, like, what they sound like or something in English (because I'm pretty sure I saw something like that at one point when I was Googling some things), but… that'll have to come later, like at some time when I can actually write legibly. For now… my head just kind of hurts from trying to imagine everything mentally.

So, first, for hiragana, the curlier kind, there are the "basic" vowel sounds: a, i, u, e, o.

They're represented by あ, い, う, え, お.

Then there are what are basically the basic vowel sounds, but with what sounds like a constant in front:

ka (か), ki (き), ku (く), ke (け), ko (こ)

sa (さ), si (し), su (す), se (せ), so (そ)

ta (た), ti (ち), tu (つ), te (て), to (と)

na (な), ni (に), nu (ぬ), ne (ね), no (の)

ha (は), hi (ひ), hu (ふ), he (へ), ho (ほ)

ma (ま), mi (み), mu (む), me (め), mo (も)

ra (ら), ri (り), ru (る), re (れ), ro (ろ)

There are also some weird ones, which doesn't use all the vowel sounds.

ya (や), yu (ゆ), yo (よ)

wa (わ), wo (を)

And there's also n (ん) that's sometimes put at the end of words.

It's almost the same, pronunciation-wise at least, for katakana.

There are the "basic" vowel sounds: a, i, u, e, o.

They're represented by ア, イ, ウ, エ, オ.

Then there's everything else:

ka (カ), ki (キ), ku (ク), ke (ケ), ko (コ)

sa (サ), si (シ), su (ス), se (セ), so (ソ)

ta (タ), ti (チ), tu (ツ), te (テ), to (ト)

na (ナ), ni (ヌ), nu (ヌ), ne (ネ), no (ノ)

ha (ハ), hi (ヒ), hu (フ), he (ヘ), ho (ホ)

ma (マ), mi (ミ), mu (ム), me (メ), mo (モ)

ra (ラ), ri (リ), ru (ル), re (レ), ro (ロ)

ya (ヤ), yu (ユ), yo (ヨ)

wa (ワ), wo (ヲ)

And "n" (ン)

Some, like the hiragana "he" (へ) and the katakana "he" (ヘ) look really similar, which makes me thankful that they can be used almost interchangeably.

That's the basics.

There's also some other things that are important, like… the fact that there is exactly one correct way to write each kana, or character. To be fair, that's the case for most characters, especially kanji… or at least, if they're anything like Chinese characters… which I'm pretty sure they are.

I can write all of them… mostly. I know how to write each of them, provided I have a reference, but… memorizing all of them is going to be a pain. And there's still more to go!

A handkerchief-wrapped box appears in my sights and I grab it eagerly, rolling back upright.

"Thanks Itachi!" I beam. "Wait… this was what Mikoto-sama gave you in the morning before we left, right? Because I know you're super-human, but I'm pretty sure you didn't leave for long enough to make a bento."

Itachi smiles softly, unwrapping an identical bento. "Yes. She also hopes you will come over for dinner again. Apparently, she does not have the greatest faith in the child-rearing capabilities of a genin team."

I nod, shoving away the memory of her smile after a shudder, too focused on unwrapping the bento to answer verbally. I take of the lid, and…

"Awww… this is so cool! Are those… the octopus-shaped things are sausages, right? The onigiri are so cute! Mikoto-sama made them look like a cat!" I take a bite, and beam. "Mmmm! It's okaka, right?"

Okaka are bonito flakes (dried flakes of a type of fish), moistened with soy sauce.

Itachi nods. "Your onigiri are filled with either okaka or kombu. Okaka is Sasuke's favorite, though he likes when it's mixed with tomatoes, and I personally prefer kombu. Haha-ue wasn't sure which you prefered."

I hum. "I like both of those, I think. If Mikoto-sama really wants to know, though… the only thing I don't really like is umeboshi." I scrunch my nose. Blergh. Umeboshi, pickled plum, is really sour, and I really don't like it. I've tried to like it, but… it's right up there with brussel sprouts on the list of things I don't like, but kinda wish I did.

"I'll let her know," Itachi nods again, smiling faintly.

The next few minutes are simply dedicated to enjoying the bento, but soon a question crosses my mind.

"Your team's… took a break for lunch, right?"

Itachi nods.

"I was wondering…" I start slowly, "The shop's almost back to new. I don't want what happened before to happen again, but… how hard do you think it would be to open the shop?"

Itachi chews slowly, before he sets down his chopsticks. "It… would depend on what exactly is needed to do to run the shop. For example, I would assume that my team has the capabilities to run, for example, a weapons shop, if given an idea of the pricing and with at least one supervisor. On the other hand, I would not assume that my team has to capabilities to run… let us assume… a restaurant."

I frown. "Well… we sell tea. We don't just sell the dried tea, in bags, though. Sometimes, people want to stay and drink tea, so we also serve cups and pots of tea. In addition to tea, we also serve senbei, dango, higashi, and wagashi. I know that higashi and wagashi usually served in tea ceremonies, but we offer them in a casual setting. And we also have the tea ceremony rooms. The walls are a bit thicker than normal rice paper, and I think there's stuff there for privacy, but I'm not exactly sure what. There are lots of differently-sized rooms. Some people also use them for their own stuff, and we get money for letting them use the room and for the supplies."

Itachi nods slowly. "May I ask which people?"

"I think… maiko and geiko, uh… geisha." I frown. "The pretty onee-san with the painted faces and fancy kimono? They serve tea, and sometimes hold small parties… and I think it depends on the party, but we usually prepare the food. I think. In front of them? Okaa-san said something like 'shinobi wa higaimōzō desu.'" I scrunch my nose. "I don't know what that means, though."

Itachi covers his mouth with a hand, and I stare grumpily at him. He's laughing at me. I'm sure of it. Or… to be technical, smiling at me. But… still, laughing. Just… not?

"Your Okaa-san means that shinobi tend to… not trust strangers with their food. Or with their back, for that matter. It makes shinobi feel better if they can make sure that no one, for example, poisons their food during preparation."

"Ah," I nod. So, basically, shinobi are paranoid. "But…" I tilt my head. "They sometimes trust people… right? Because sometimes Okaa-san and Otou-san bring in food that's already prepared, and the plates come out empty."

Itachi's eyebrows lift, ever-so-slightly. "Then those shinobi trust your parents. That is… quite impressive."

I duck into my shoulders. "But… maybe it's probably best not to do that this week. I don't think they'll mind too much, but… I don't want anything bad to happen. Plus, a lot of the people like their privacy." I wince. "No offense to Shinko-chan or Tenma-san, but…"

Itachi shakes his head. "No, I understand."

I chew my cheek. "If Shinko-san and Izumo-san can help wash up and clean and Minazuki-san can work at the register… we can sell tea. We might need to take dango off the menu, though…"

"I can make dango," Itachi nods, "so there shouldn't be a problem there. Though… if I may ask, where do you get your senbei?"

"Our… senbei?" I flush, rubbing at my neck. "We normally ship senbei in, in bulk, about once every month. They aren't bad, but… as a result, the senbei usually aren't that fresh." I grimace. "I mean, we try to keep them dry and crunchy and… you know, yummy, and they're pretty good… but…" I sigh. "I actually asked Okaa-san and Otou-san about that. The problem with making our own is that we don't have an charcoal grill, and we definitely don't have the space required for one that's large enough to make the amount of senbei we need, much less all of the materials." I flop backwards. "Also, we definitely don't have the time to make that many senbei."

"I think… should your parents agree, then, I may have a solution," Itachi offers.

I sit up. "Wait, what? You do?'

"In the Uchiha district, there is a senbei store, owned by this old couple. If we visit your parents again tomorrow, I can ask, and… perhaps they can reach an agreement." Itachi smiles.

"That could be really nice!" I beam. "Then, let's get started! If we hurry… I think we might be able to open tomorrow!"

What seems like an eternity later, I've once again flopped face-first into my wonderful birthday pillow.

Even just katakana and hiragana are so complicated.

Apart from the basics, there's also these… kinda like slide-y sounds.

Like a sound like "kya" would be きゃ, which is basically the kana for "ki" and "ya" smushed together, and with the latter one shrunken slightly.

So, like you might have guessed, there's a new list of… stuff. A lot of it's self-explanatory, but...

kya (きゃ), kyu (きゅ), kyo (きょ)

sha (しゃ), shu (しゅ), sho (しょ)

cha (ちゃ), chu (ちゅ), cho (ちょ)

nya (にゃ), nyu (にゅ), nyo (にょ)

hya (ひゃ), hyu (ひゅ), hyo (ひょ)

mya (みゃ), myu (みゅ), myo (みょ)

rya (りゃ), ryu (りゅ), ryo (りょ)

And there's also a set for katakana.

kya (キャ), kyu (キュ), kyo (キョ)

sha (シャ), shu (シュ), sho (ショ)

cha (チャ), chu (チュ), cho (チョ)

nya (ニャ), nyu (ニュ), nyo (ニョ)

hya (ヒャ), hyu (ヒュ), hyo (ヒョ)

mya (ミャ), myu (ミョ), myo (ミョ)

rya (リャ), ryu (リュ), ryo (リョ)

But there's also other stuff, and that's what's giving me a headache.

Like, for katakana, there's っ, ゝ, and ゞ, which all have to do with pronunciation and how stuff sounds. There's even more for katakana, though. ー is the weird one. Without that, there's just ッ, ヽ, and ヾ.

However, there's still more kana, which are kinda similar to some of the basic kana, but… not.

For hiragana, there's

ga (が), gi (ぎ), gu (ぐ), ge (げ), go (ご), and the weirder gya (ぎゃ), gyu (ぎゅ), gyo (ぎょ)

za (ざ), zi… though it's more like "ji" (じ), zu (ず), ze (ぜ), zo (ぞ), with ja (じゃ), ju (じゅ), jo (じょ)

da (だ), di (ぢ), du/dzu/zu (づ), de (で), do (ど), dya (ぢゃ), dyu (ぢゅ), dyo (ぢょ)

ba (ば), bi (び), bu (ぶ), be (べ), bo (ぼ), bya (びゃ), byu (びゅ), byo (びょ)

pa (ぱ), pi (ぴ), pu (ぷ), pe (ぺ), po (ぽ), pya (ぴゃ), pyu (ぴゅ), pyo (ぴょ)

For katakana...

ga (ガ), gi (ギ), gu (グ), ge (ゲ), go (ゴ), and the weirder gya (ギャ), gyu (ギュ), gyo (ギョ)

za (ザ), zi… though it's more like "ji" (ジ), zu (ズ), ze (ゼ), zo (ゾ), with ja (ジャ), ju (ジュ), jo (ジョ)

da (ダ), something like "ji," "dji," or "jyi" (ヂ), zu (ヅ), de (デ), do (ド), ja (ヂャ), ju (ヂュ), jo (ヂョ)

ba (バ), bi (ビ), bu (ブ), be (ベ), bo (ボ), bya (ビャ), byu (ビュ), byo (ビョ)

pa (パ), pi (ピ), pu (プ), pe (ペ), po (ポ), pya (ピャ), pyu (ピュ), pyo (ピョ),

Seriously, the last two rows are basically identical. Only, instead of the thing-y like the closing quotations ("), there's the degree sign (°).

And my hands hurt. Both of them.

And my writing looks like scribbles at this point.

…

My back's kinda stiff, too. I didn't actually know that three-year olds could feel stiff.

Even my eyes hurt.

…

And I currently sound a bit like a dying elephant.

…

I roll back into a sitting position, sighing.

At least, by this point, I get to take a break… and try to explain things to Shinko-san, who keeps going on and on about how "cute" I am, Tenma-san, who clearly doesn't want to be here, and Minazuki-san… who's clearly just humoring the little "client."

… I want to just flop back again and take a nap.

There's a reason Itachi's my favorite. And it's not that he's the youngest and shortest, and thus, the least intimidating and most approachable.

I slump behind Itachi, feet dragging on the ground, as we head to the Uchiha compound.

I'm so tired at this point that I don't even care about being polite— Itachi's carrying all the groceries we'd gotten the day before. Hey, if I'm going to be taking advantage of Mikoto-sama's hospitality, I might as well pay her back a bit. Plus, there's no point in letting the groceries go to waste.

I yawn, quickly covering my mouth with a hand.

I didn't take a nap. It's still about a koku until sunset… so about four in the afternoon?

I scramble to catch up with Itachi. I feel bad that I'm making him carry everything, but…

Like I've said, I am tired.

That night, Mikoto-obasama makes nikujaga, dish of meat, potatoes and onion stewed in sweetened soy sauce, sometimes other vegetables. It's a bit like beef stew. It's mostly potatoes, and it's usually boiled until most of the liquid has been reduced. The meat's usually either thinly sliced beef, minced/ground beef, or pork.

Mikoto-sama uses thinly-sliced beef, and also adds hakusai, something a bit like Chinese cabbage Before, and carrots.

It's delicious, and I actually stay mostly awake throughout the entirety of dinner.

There's even some apples and strawberries for dessert!

They're what help me get through the headache of Itachi explaining units of measurement.

The standard basics are shaku (尺) for length, tsubo (坪) for area, shō (升) for volume, and kan (貫) for what I think is mass. A shaku's about a foot and a shō is about half a gallon.

But for length, there's also sun (寸), which are about one-tenth of a shaku, ken (間), which are about six shaku, ri (里), which are 12,960 shaku, and more.

Luckily, there are a lot of measurements that are logical… like, metric-system logical.

Like, for area, a shaku (勺), which is different from the length shaku (尺), is 1/100 of a tsubo. There's also the go (合) for volume, which is the usual way of measuring sake and is 1/10 of a shō, and the koku (石), which is pretty important because it's considered to be approximately the amount of rice necessary to feed a civilian for an entire year, which is useful when calculating food rations in wartime. And there's yet another shaku for volume, which is 1/100 of a shō, but uses the same kanji as the shaku for area, which is pretty confusing.

It's also my official introduction to kanji, since Itachi moves on from that to creating a worksheet of basic kanji… with pronunciations and spelling in hiragana, which is arguably a good way to familiarize me with those kana, but also serves to make everything blur in front of my eyes. It's arguably worse than learning physics.

Because some things are relatively easy. I knew the numbers for one through ten from Before, as well as some of the other really basic kanji that have the same structure and meaning as they do in Chinese, and just have a different pronunciation… but…

甘 means "sweet." 廿 means the number 20. It's the single-character equivalent of writing 二十. The primary meaning of 井 is "well," as in, a hole for drawing water from deep in the ground. 丼 means "donburi," that bowl of rice with various toppings. And some things aren't the same, which is really annoying! I knew the simplified Chinese characters… but… evidently, some things haven't been simplified yet.

Like "bird." I learned it as 鸟, but in Japanese it's 鳥. Worse, 烏 designates a crow or a raven, and they look almost identical. And there's also 馬, which means horse of all things. That used to be 马!

The next morning, I wake up to a pudgy finger poking my cheek and a three-year-old's face that's way too close to me. Yeah, Sasuke's cute as a toddler, but… personal space, please?

And once again, I blush bright red. Because I was so tired that I'd slept through half of breakfast and I drooled. On the table. I quickly wipe it off with a napkin, but… I really wish I knew how to sink into the ground right now and disappear.

Still, the okayu— which is a bit like… congee, or the rice porridge I was used to and loved Before, but less broken-down— is really good with the green onions and grilled hamachi, also known as buri, which Itachi shows me is written as 鰤.

And I have discovered that Itachi is a very dedicated teacher who has decided to carry around a small notebook and pens with him so that he can show me the kanji for everything throughout the day. Me? I'm very intimidated. And there's something kinda scary about that tiny smile he has on right now.

I'm even more intimidated. Because in the time I was sleeping, Itachi had managed to obtain a list of prices of the couple who run Uchiha Senbei, and we're going to visit my parents as soon as I have time to make a get-well card.

And… that smile. I internally whimper when the realization finally strikes me— that's the same smile Mikoto-sama used. The same smile she had worn when… inviting me to dinner, and that she had used when Fugaku-sama had tried to protest.

I simply paste on a smile (hopefully hiding how terrified I am) and nod rapidly, accepting the card and envelope that Itachi pulls out of seemingly nowhere and scrambling back to the room to grab a pen and some of the colorful crayons that Itachi keeps in his room so Sasuke doesn't lose them.

What seems like an hour later, my head is spinning, and I think Otou-san actually likes Itachi now.

And, at this point, Itachi deserves at least double the pay of the rest of his genin team.

Long story short, Kobayashi Teas will have a new contract with Uchiha Senbei as soon as it's officialized. And everyone's really happy. My parents are happy to get fresh senbei at a lower price than slightly stale senbei. Uchiha Senbei also really happy to expand their business, because it location inside the Uchiha compound heavily restricts their customer base. The agreement's a win-win scenario.

A little while later, I'm pouring over one of my larger notebooks at one of the tables downstairs. I've got the worksheets scattered around me, and I'm trying to write down everything that happened that day. Then, I'll move on to… write about something, anything else. Maybe name different animals, or types of weather, or even write more about what I remember.

It's slow going, and each hand can only really write a few lines before tiring, but I just try for another word, another line, just a little bit more before switching hands.

It's also almost embarrassingly messy. There's smeared pencil over the paper and my hands… and even my forearms, and I've accidentally creased the paper several times, but… I'm improving.

Meanwhile, Itachi's preparing dango and the rest of his team gets to work sorting out the shelves and familiarizing themselves with everything. Whenever my hands need a longer break, or I've gotten a bit too frustrated with my inability to remember specific kana, I head over to make sure they're working smoothly.

I'm pretty nervous, but… it should be fine. With any luck, we'll open about half a koku after lunch, and close about half a koku before sunset. Less than four hours. We'll be fine.

For lunch, Team 2 leaves again to… go eat, I'd assume, and Itachi once again brings out a bento, this time full of just onigiri, and he takes some of he restocked the kitchen earlier, when he'd gone to buy ingredients for dango, to make miso soup and fried lotus root, which is nice and crunchy. And dango. Lots of dango.

We normally serve a wide variety of dango, but it wasn't until I saw how confused the rest of Team 2 was that I realized that maybe not everyone's used to more than just botchan and maybe mitarashi or anko dango.

Dango is generically just a sweet made from mochiko, rice flour, that's a bit similar to mochi.

The many different varieties of dango are usually named after the various seasonings served on or with it. Anko dango is commonly served with anko, sweetened red bean (azuki) paste. Chadango is green-tea flavored dango. Botchan dango, also known as hanami dango or sanshoku dango has three colors, but is only served in the springtime. Kuri dango is dango coated in chestnut paste. Goma dango is served with a salty-sweet sauce made from sugar and ground black sesame seeds. Kibi dango is made with millet flour. Kinako dango is made with kinako, toasted soy flour, or just covered in kinako. Mitarashi dango is lightly-grilled dango covered with a sweet soy sauce glaze. Kurumi dango is dango covered in a sweet walnut paste. Yomogi dango is dango made with yomogi, a type of herb. Zunda dango is dango covered in zunda, sweet ground green soybean (edamame).

Today, we've got the normal dango with the difference sauces/toppings.

I think I've eaten too much dango, though— my jaw's tired from chewing and I'm a bit too full. Still… fresh dango is just so good, and Itachi makes them different from Okaa-san and Otou-san!

Still, I can't wait till the shop opens!

At almost two and a half koku after noon, probably about a bit before five in the afternoon, I am ready to keel over and start crying.

I'd completely forgotten that doing this would mean forgoing my nap.

At first, things went perfectly fine. Shinko-san and Izumo-san washed dishes and served tea and cleaned tables and kept everything tidy. Minazuki-san manned the register. And Itachi and I took orders, prepared tea, prepared the plates of dango or senbei or whatever else was ordered, and served the customers.

That was fine.

We survived the well-meaning grandmothers and grandfathers and frequent customers, and even Yamanaka-sama, who'd popped in to say hello, and the very stern, very intimidating gazes of Hyūga… I-forgot-or-never-knew-the-person's-name-and-was-too-scared-of-him-to-find-out. There was a bit of an awkward moment when Itachi had been the one to greet him, but we survived. Luckily, Hyūga Hizashi-san was nicer, even though apologies are always awkward, and the very nice person known as Hyūga Hitomi, who I'm certain I've seen before but don't remember well, also came to… check in on me. I think. I also think she'd visited my parents yesterday, but I was so taken aback by a smiling, cheerful Hyūga that I'm afraid I kinda blanked out on a lot of the conversation.

We survived all of that. And then, around one-and-a-half koku past noon… I meet the species of human being known as fangirls for the first time.

Or at least, for the first time in this world, and for the first time while in the presence of the target of their fangirling.

And they are terrifying and slightly disturbing and I am amazed that Itachi did not take me up on my offer to let him hide in my room upstairs. Itachi deserves a very big tip for this mission. The shop was crowded to the point of bursting.

Normally, it's roomy, peaceful, but with a decent flow of customers and a nice atmosphere.

Now? It feels a bit like how I imagine a Black Friday sale in person would feel like.

I don't know how his fans found him. I don't want to know how much free time his fans have or that they have decided to spend on gawking at Itachi. But the fact is, they have someone flocked here.

And I… kinda capitalized on that fact.

It wasn't like I could shoo them away, after all… and all it took were some comments over how rude it was to hang around inside a store without buying anything, as well as an aside to a nice grandmother who wanted to know why the dango and senbei tasted a bit different that Itachi was making the dango... and the tables, as well as the area outside, were packed.

Still… when that bustle hadn't faded after what seemed like an hour, I was more than ready to push them out the door and shut them out. When it turns out that we ran out of ingredients for the dango, I practically jumped for joy.

Only, I didn't, because I was too tired, but my mood definitely did.

And now, we're finally done.

I smile and wave at the remaining patrons who leave the shop.

When the last person walks out the door, I grab a stool, flip the sign on the back of the front door to "CLOSED," and heave a sigh of relief.

We're done. We've survived.

That night, Mikoto-obasama makes oden, a one-pot dish of various savory goodies simmered in a soy sauce and dashi kelp broth. Common ingredients include boiled eggs, chikuwa fish cake, squid balls, thick cuts of daikon radish, octopus, and konnyaku yam.

I'd actually needed to be shaken awake where I'd nodded off on the table, but it was worth it for the oden.

That didn't stop me from immediately going back to sleep after dinner, though.

The next morning, Sasuke accidentally smashes one of Mikoto-sama's flower vases. His socks had slipped on the polished wooden floor when he'd sprinted full speed around a corner.

Breakfast is grilled hamachi, along with rice and miso soup and nattō, but no one actually speaks over the elephant in the room of Mikoto-obasama's broken vase.

Itachi and I quickly leave the house, but Itachi hesitates on the way to the hospital.

"Makoto?" he asks. "Do you mind if I go to replace the vase Sasuke broke?"

I shake my head. It's not like Okaa-san and Otou-san won't be at the hospital if we take a detour.

Itachi turns to head a bit further from the center of Konoha, to the more civilian districts. He stops at a small shop. There's some really pretty ceramic pieces in the window, with a tea set and even some vases, displayed with branches of flowering plum blossoms.

Next door, there's a place with glass… and there's also a woodworking shop nearby. And a store with what seem like either decorative wall-scrolls and panels or calligraphy supplies… or possibly both, which we passed on the way here. And a store with what seem like second-hand kimono.

I push my way through the still-open door to the pottery shop. Too self-conscious to approach the front, I decide to look around instead. It's interesting in here. Contrary to what the window shows, there's more than just pottery. There's also metalworks. Part of me registers Itachi talking to a… Nonomura-san, but I'm more interested in a table with brightly colored… hair pins? Kanzashi.

They're stacked in an open box. Most of them look similar. There are a lot of designs that I'm pretty sure are for winter and spring, based on what I've seen the maiko wearing. There's greens and a lot of soft pinks and purples, all rendered in folded silk triangles.

Wait, no. Not all of them. The light gleams off something metallic, closer to the bottom of the box, and… oh, wow.

It's a hair-pin, but… it's metal. And not like of those fans or the ones meant to make noise. No, it's like the ones with silk flowers… just not made of silk. There's a bundle of… what seem to be white chrysanthemums and red maple, the ones with seven-pointed leaves, and there are small, yellow leaves interspersed to provide accents of color to the red and white that also trail down in lightly clanking chains, though there's also two trails of the maple leaves.

It's beautiful.

I've never seen anything like it, but… wow.

"Makoto?" I turn, clutching at the kanzashi. "Do you want the hairpin?"

I bite my lip, looking again at the hairpin, but I shake my head. It's pretty, but… "It's… it's fine. I didn't bring any money."

"Are you sure?" Itachi asks. "I can get it for you. You can just pay me back later.

I pause for a minute too long.

"I'll go ask," Itachi calls over his shoulder as he walks to the front.

I stay behind, examining the pin. Yes, it's pretty, but… it probably wouldn't look good on me. Plus, I've already got issues with being mistaken for a girl. While that's not a problem in its own right… it's the small things that bug me.

Like being shooed away from the fallen tree trunks with the bugs. Or the disapproving looks when I'd just throw on a shirt and shorts and end up with grass stains and on my knees, or laugh too loud, or shout in exhilaration. Or the horrified looks when I'd hold a butterfly or a bee in my hand and rush to show it to my parents. Or having a random parent tsk about my parents and their poor child-rearing skills just within earshot. Or when I'd annoy Shino and he'd push me down a hill, which he's done more than once and ends with me returning the favor as soon as I've clambered back up… but the "well-meaning" person immediately shoots him a dirty look and rushes to help me up. Or when someone would accidentally shove me aside and then their parent would make them apologize to me because it's not nice to hit a girl or… or something.

It's not even that big of a deal, it's just… annoying, especially when I want to try and be more social.

It seems like everyone just cares too much when they think I'm a girl. I'm not made of glass, I'd prefer if they didn't treat me that way. I'm pretty sure they don't mean anything by it, but… still. And people tend to be more… unknowingly condescending in an effort to be "nice."

Sure, it'll probably be useful if I want to… infiltrate something when I'm a shinobi, but… it's kinda suffocating. Add that to how the fangirls has acted yesterday, and… I don't really want to be thought of that way. I don't want to be associated with… them. Not now.

I'm still staring at the pin when Itachi returns. "A significant portion of the hairpin is made of gold, and it's actually the first piece made by the Nonomura-san's daughter. He doesn't have a price set on it, yet, so he has to ask her, but—"

I sigh. "It's probably too expensive." And I'm already thankful for everything Otou-san and Okaa-san do for me, and it wouldn't be nice… especially since… you know…

I shake my head, trying to clear it. "Besides… it's a bit too…" I pause. "I'm not a girl. And my hair's not long enough for it, even if…" I slump. "...I shouldn't waste money on a trinket. I'd just… break it, or lose it in a couple of months, anyways." And it wouldn't be nice to Okaa-san or Otou-san.

That's true. I've got this second chance, I shouldn't waste it on frivolities. Not yet. There'll be time for that later, but… not yet.

I set the kanzashi down in the box again, carefully concealing it under the other hairpins, and try to smile. "It's not really… practical, you know? It's pretty, but that's… that's not enough."

"Makoto?" Itachi asks.

"Let's just go, 'kay?" I grin weakly. "Besides, I'm sure Okaa-san has pretty things, too, that she'll probably let me look at. C'mon! I want to tell Okaa-san and Otou-san about what happened yesterday."

Probably an hour later, we exit the hospital, laughing. Or at least, I do. Itachi's got two points of bright red on his face.

He's also smiling, though, so it can't have been that bad. Yeah, Okaa-san can get embarrassing with the praise, but Itachi definitely deserves every single word she said.

...though maybe the comment about him leaving the shinobi corps to work for Kobayashi Teas full-time was a bit too much, considering how… canon, and how he'd sort of frozen up.

Still, I don't think it's healthy to keep all of that bottled up. I doubt Itachi has anyone he can just vent on. And I'm probably not good enough to be that person, but…

I bump Itachi lightly with my head.

"Makoto? Did you need something?"

"Itachi? Do… do you not want to be a shinobi?"

Itachi pauses. "...being a shinobi is expected of the Uchiha heir."

I blink. I mean… "Oh… wait… oh, yeah… you're the heir." I twitch. I'd… somehow forgotten that. I then blanche, clapping a hand over my mouth as I almost double over.

"Makoto? Are you alright?" Itachi asks.

"...I just imagined you as Fugaku-sama. As in, his face, but on top of your body… and with your hairstyle…" I shudder. "No. That just looked so wrong." I blanche again. "Not that there's anything wrong with Fugaku-sama or anything, it's just that… you're my friend. He's not. He's… nice… sometimes… but… nooffensebutyourfather'sabitscary," I blurt out, immediately clapping a hand over my mouth.

Itachi coughs.

I move on from that. "But I asked about you," I murmur. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it now, but…" I bite my cheek. "I want to know," I mumble. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but…"

Itachi sighs imperceptibly. "We're almost at the shop. Do you have a table in your room? I can show you some more kanji that might be helpful"

I blink at the change in topic, then grin, nodding. "Un!"

Itachi explains as he writes a new list of characters in the notebook.

"If you do not mind, I would prefer if you did not tell Otou-sama or Haha-ue." He pauses. "In fact, I would prefer if… if you did not tell anyone."

I look up, nodding slowly. "It's a big deal, huh? Okay. No one. I promise." I grin. "And that includes Okaa-san and Otou-san, too, if you're wondering."

Itachi smiles, before sobering up. "I was born right before the Third Shinobi War." He sighs. "When I was your age… I witnessed first-hand many of the war's casualties."

He sets down the pencil. "There was one day I remember the best. There was a battle, during the nighttime. I had watched from a cliff, out of sight. It was… horrific. In the morning, I went down to try… to try and see if anyone lived. There was one shinobi, who called for water." He closes his eyes. "I gave him water. But… he was an Iwa-nin."

"Oh," I murmur.

"He saw my weapons pack, I would assume." Itachi shrugs, opening his eyes, but not looking beyond his hands, fisted in his lap. He takes a deep breath. "Then, he tried to kill me."

I blink. Oh.

"And then Otou-sama killed him," Itachi concludes, shifting his weight until he's sitting criss-crossed as opposed to sitting in seiza, on his legs. He sighs again. "I don't want war. I would prefer to avoid violence. I would prefer not to have to ever kill anyone. My favorite word is heiwa, 平和, peace." He writes it down on the notebook, before fisting his hand around the pencil. "But… I cannot do that. My clan, my village… they expect me to serve as a shinobi." He puts the pencil back down. "And so, I dream of the next best thing. I train in the hopes of becoming a shinobi so strong that… perhaps, one day, I can bring an end to war and conflict."

Itachi sighs. "I am strong. I graduated after barely a year in the Academy, and at the top of the graduating class. None of the missions we receive challenge me. If given the opportunity, I believe I would qualify for chūnin." He pauses. "Sensei won't recommend me for the Chūnin Exams. Father… Otou-sama is… a bit upset with that. But…" He shrugs again.

I sigh, puffing out my cheeks, then stand up… only to glomp onto Itachi. I rest my chin on his shoulder, giving him what I consider to be a long-needed hug. "Fugaku-sama's silly. And so's the village and your clan if that's what they actually think." I stand up, going to flop onto my pillow, still looking at Itachi. "I'll be a shinobi, too. And I'll help you." I grin. "I personally think that when getting along with people, it's best to speak softly and carry a big stick! Not literally, but… be nice, and be really to protect yourself, but… be nice first."

I rest my chin on my hands. "I think you could make a very nice Hokage, Itachi."

Itachi blinks, opening his mouth, but I cut him off. "If you want to make the entire Elemental Nations listen to you, you need to make them see you first. You need enough power to make them take you seriously." I stare at him. "So, try for Hokage. Keep doing what you're doing, but also make friends. Make friends with other people, other shinobi." I laugh. "Maybe if you have time, you should come play with me and Shino! Maybe even bring Sasuke-chan."

I stare at Itachi. "But I think it's important that you get to know people. And… make an actual plan to bring about peace and end wars. I don't know enough, but… that's a big dream."

I roll off the pillow until I'm lying on my back and Itachi seems to be upside down. I smile. "If you'll teach me, then I'll try to help you." My smile widens into a grin. "I like your dream, Itachi."

Itachi stares, and my grin shrinks slightly. Did I do something weird?

"You… you really think that?" he murmurs. "You don't believe it to be weird or odd?"

I roll back to my front, propping myself up on my elbows. I glare. "Your dream is perfectly fine, and not weird at all." I scrunch my nose, glaring at the wall. "I'll get Shino to put the itchy bugs into the beds of anyone who says that."

Itachi smiles, an actual smile, and my glare softens.

"Thank you, Makoto."

...I should not have said that. It seems my encouragement has also served to encourage Itachi's… efforts towards tutoring me. That's honestly the only explanation I can think of for why, about a koku later, as Team 2 opens the shop, I'm perched on a chair at the kitchen table upstairs, reading Itachi's history textbook, while Itachi prepares plates of dango and sauces and toppings next to me that he'll carry downstairs soon.

I don't know when he had time to make a glossary of all the kanji in the first few chapters of the book, and I'm not sure I want to know, but there in my notebook are the words and their pronunciation in hiragana. If I don't know what some mean, I just ask Itachi. He somehow manages to make time for me in the middle of a whirlwind of pots, plates, and bowls.

I'm still in charge of making the tea, but Itachi's very good at guilt-tripping me into studying.

There's also a suspicious pile of books next to me that look disturbingly like more history textbooks… or just history books… and I think they're from the library. I like history, and history is useful… but while learning to read?

Well… oh, no.

I accidentally flipped to the back of the notebooks… those look like exercise notes. That looks like a exercise log. I sneak a glance at Itachi, even as I surreptitiously flip back to the page of kanji and kanji pronunciations. Maybe if I pretend it's not there…

Motivated geniuses are terrifying.

And no, pretending it wasn't there didn't help. As soon as we closed the shop, Itachi made me run all the way to the Uchiha compound… and then back to the shop because he'd "accidentally" forgotten to bring my notebook and pajamas.

I'd packed them in the bag myself. The only way he could have "forgotten" to bring them is if he "accidentally" took them out.

And the distance doesn't sound like much, but usually takes a bit under half a koku to walk. Even then, it doesn't seem very long… until you have a very motivated "friend"... who you essentially promised to become a superb shinobi… and is very willing to hold you to that promise decide you need to sprint it.

I'm three. My legs are short and stubby, and I am not used to this much exercise.

...at this point, I'm going to have to crawl up all the hospital stairs tomorrow. Or get someone to carry me. That would also work.

Except that no, that wasn't it, and now I'm "learning" about splits and other basic stretches.

I hate that stretch where you have your legs extended straight in front of you and you have to grab your feet? That one always caused pains in my back and the sides of my legs that most certainly weren't my hamstrings… and not the good pain either.

Butterfly position is still a bit painful… and my splits really suck. My arms aren't strong enough to hold a backbend, and this body isn't used to being turned upside down and so my face turns bright red after barely ten seconds.

Possibly the worst stretch is the one for my shoulders. You know how some people can grab their hands behind their back and bring them over their head without bending their elbows and their shoulder do that weird thing? Apparently, it can be taught, though it's best to do it when young. So, now my shoulders are also in pain from a bunch of stretching, though it's not nearly as bad as my legs.

Still, my three-year-old body, complete with all the natural softness of childhood and the inherent flexibility, definitely influences a lot. The run earlier also helped. Without it… well… let's just say ouch.

My older mentality probably also does quite a bit towards letting me endure the pain… without screaming, at least.

First the issues I had with writing, now this? What next?

...no. Not puberty. Nope. May my unpleasantly sharp mind suffer the fury of… a thousand kanji-induced headaches…

...I'll just focus on stretching for now.

I practically collapse at the table, jelly-limbed, when Mikoto-obasama calls us over. Today's meal is interesting— monkfish nabe (hotpot). Also known as anko nabe. There's also a very interesting dish known as ankimo, or monkfish liver. Mikoto-obasama steamed it, i think, and it looks really good with the chopped scallions, grated daikon, and ponzu, a kinda citrusy sauce.

Other than that, a lot of the ingredients are similar to the oden from the night before. And it's probably just as good. I liked the ankimo best, though. It's really rich and creamy, but also light and delicate. Given how it's also the liver, I guess I'd compare it to foie gras… or probably uni, sea urchin. They're the most buttery-but-not things I can think of off the top of my head, but they're all unique.

The next day, after a light breakfast… Itachi makes me run. Again. My legs are pretty sore from yesterday, but… does that matter? Nope! Of course, they're not unbearably sore… they just hurt.

But the most annoying part are the incentives. First, it's Itachi "forgetting" something at home… and then it's that he "left" something with Shinko-chan (who was shopping in the marketplace and took forever to find), and then he "needs" me to deliver a message to Mikoto-obasama. I'm pretty sure the "message" was just a blank piece of paper.

But then he realizes that he needed an answer (okay, so maybe it wasn't blank), and sends me for it. Another piece of paper. I'm starting to think the first one was just a message to give me a piece of paper.

And then… I get to stretch. Again. Yay. For practically half a koku. Double yay.

At this point, I'm almost sitting in perfect side split, and it's only the pain that's making me hold myself up at all. There's no dry pain, or the the ouch of tearing anything. Nope. My muscles are complete jelly. Painful jelly, but… jelly.

My middle split still sucks, though. There's really no fixing that.

Oh. The messages were actually messages.

We opened up the shop early… well, they opened up the shop early. I was still playing a waiting game of seeing which would surrender first, my legs or my arms. So after about a koku of that, it was time for lunch.

Except, Itachi had a surprise for me. And the surprise was just like all of Itachi's surprised these past few days— sweet, but also really, really… not.

Recipes. Nice, right? And some empty bento boxes and handkerchiefs that are Mikoto-obasama's.

But there's the catch— the recipes are in kanji and hiragana, with some katakana to boot.

And Itachi's not letting me do anything until I read everything out loud.

About a quarter-koku later, we're done, finally done, and I'm sneaking two handkerchief-wrapped bento into the hospital. Whenever anyone passes by, I hide behind Itachi's legs.

A few minutes later, I'm ducking through the door. Mission: Yummy Lunch, part 2, is a success!

We made the food, we delivered it, and now… we need to get Okaa-san and Otou-san to eat it, and hopefully like it.

"It's not really morning, but… ohayō!" I grin. "Ne, ne, Kaa-chan, Tou-chan, Itachi helped me make an obento for you!"

Okaa-san smiles. "That's very nice of you Makoto, Itachi-kun."

I pass her a box, then hand the other to Otou-san. "Try it, try it!" I grin, bouncing slightly on my toes.

"Hai, hai," Otou-san sighs, before smiling and ruffling my hair. "Thank you, Makoto. And Itachi-kun," he adds, looking over.

Itachi bobs his head in a semi-bow. "Hai."

"Oh, that's so cute, Makoto!" Okaa-san gasps from her bed, lid in her hands. I beam. Itachi had to help me, but I added little smiley faces in sesame seeds on the onigiri and used some of the pretty toothpicks Okaa-san likes on the fruit.

"Ah, I think I need help with the lid," Otou-san sighs, and I bounce over to help. His right arm's in a brace, so… yeah. Still…

"That's why I had Itachi help wrap the onigiri in nori," I grin, remembering the trouble we'd gone to in an effort to get the seaweed to stick. "Hopefully it's still a bit crunchy. But this way, it's less messy and it's easy to eat with your left hand!" I laugh. "And sorry the tamagoyaki's a bit dry and… burnt." I lean in closer. "Itachi helped with the tako-shaped sausage. We found a big sausage, so it actually has eight legs! And a head! Just like an actual octopus!" I exaggerate my sigh. "We couldn't actually find a real octopus, or even the squid you like, so…" I shrug. "The sausage-tako will have to do."

I turn on my heel, flouncing away, before turning back to face them, clasping my hands. "Ne, ne… do you like it?"

Okaa-san laughs. "It's very good, Makoto. Thank you so much, Itachi-kun. The mikan and ringo and ichigo are very good!"

I grin. The small citrus fruits had been my job to peel! I'd accidentally pressed too hard on some, but… I like to think I did a good job. Though… "Itachi's really good at peeling apples! I convinced him to save part of it for the ringo no usagi, though! I always liked it when you cut my apple pieces like bunnies, so… I thought…" I shuffle my feet. "But Itachi's so cool. He peels the apple in that spiral like you try to do, Otou-san!" Though really, the strawberries were so good. I'd snuck away more than a few.

Itachi coughs. "The fruits were in season." He murmurs. "And… I practiced. Kitchen knives are… easier to use than kunai."

Otou-san laughs, a full chuckle that's surprisingly big and deep for his frame, and I hide a grin. He's been practicing that since forever, and he fails more often than he succeeds. "If I'd tried doing that with one of those, I'd probably have cut my finger off by now."

I almost snort. "That'd… that'd be bad," I force out, trying not to let my laughter show.

...it shows. My face is probably all weird, and I'm pretty sure I'm shaking ever-so-slightly.

Otou-san laughs again, and Okaa-san joins him, a light peal of laughter that still somehow sounds polite, and I finally join in, with my laughter consisting mostly of high-pitched squeaks of gasped breath and coughs between soundless shaking. It's embarrassing, but… I look at Itachi's barely-there smile, and it makes me feel happy.

...and then there's the sound of someone clearing his throat, and I jump.

Standing in the open doorway… is a very intimidating medic-nin with a clipboard. He's got this grey-and-white hair… and these really thick, arched brows that should make him look silly or permanently surprised, but together with his deadpan expression… and the half-moon glasses that do not make him look like Albus Dumbledore at all… just make him look… a bit… okay, a lot… angry.

He pushes up his square glasses, clearing his throat again… and looks at the open bento very pointedly. I almost jump. "Uhm," I squeak, wide-eyed. "I'm… sorry?"

Moments later, Itachi and I are kindly escorted out the front door, bento re-wrapped and in our arms, and are told, in no uncertain terms, that bringing food into the Hospital is, while rarely prevented, especially by… silly, sentimental nurses?... is strongly discouraged.

I'm too intimidated to do more than gulp and nod frantically, body still frozen and eyes still wide in terror. Itachi seems normal, but he's just suspiciously stiff next to me.

"I… should probably apologize," Itachi murmurs when we finally start to de-solidify. "I had not expected… well, Hakusai Fukuto-sama isn't normally… he is the Head Iryō-nin of the Konohagakure Central Hospital."

Oh. Those seem like some pretty weightly titles. I nod, soundlessly, before looking down at the bento.

"Well, I think Okaa-san and Otou-san liked the bento?" My voice goes up suspiciously, even though that was not intended to be a question. I take a deep breathe, and then… "I think we might be a bit late."

Itachi looks at the sun, and his eyes widen ever-so-slightly. "Ah. You might be right."

We look at each other.

"I think we should hurry?" I squeak out again.

Itachi nods slowly. "That would… probably be best."

As we run back to Kobayashi Tea, I try my best not to laugh at the sheer absurdity of what just happened, I'd swear that Itachi smiled.

That night, as I'm about to go to sleep, I remember something.

I turn over, looking at where Itachi's sitting at a table, looking over something.

"Ne… Itachi?"

He turns around. "Makoto? Did you need something?"

I shake my head. "No, it's just…" I hesitate. "Your… your mission's almost over… right?"

Itachi thinks for a moment, then nods slowly. "...hai. It has been… today is the sixth day, I believe. Your parents should be released from the hospital tomorrow, even if they won't be fully healed for a while."

I curl a bit further into the pillow. "...Itachi?"

"Hai?"

"Are… are we friends?"

Itachi doesn't respond immediately, and I wince at my question. That might have been… a bit too forward.

"It's… it's okay… if that's a bit… too…" I trail off. "It's okay if you don't want to be… but… well…"

"Yes." Itachi's reply is quiet, but firm. "I believe… I would like for us to be friends."

My face widens into a smile, and I bury my face in the pillow to try and hide the ear-to-ear grin.

After a few moments, I feel like I need to answer Itachi's unasked question. "You're my second friend." I pause, thinking. "Well actually, if we go by when we first met… I think you're my first friend." I blink. Wait… really? I think back again. "Yeah… I think that's right."

I let out a huff of almost-laughter. "That's so weird." I look over at Itachi. "Just a week ago, Shino… ah, Aburame Shino invited me over for his birthday, and I thought that was such a big deal. Just three weeks before that, I'd panicked over inviting him over for my birthday…" I bury my head back into the pillow to muffle my squeal of laughter. "Ah, that seems so long ago!"

I roll onto my back. "And then my parents… got into the accident… and now…" I look back over. "In almost a week, I've been in the Police Building for nearly getting someone arrested… accidentally… and then stayed over with the Uchiha Clan head… and his family… in the Uchiha Compound…" I stare sightlessly at the ceiling, not really seeing it, but… lost in my memories. Lost in amazement. I didn't realize it… but yeah. "I've eaten at the same table as the Uchiha clan head. I've learned to read. I've learned hiragana and katakana and kanji and almost have some of my splits down, and… and… and I've made a new friend."

I roll onto my stomach, looking at Itachi. "And… thank you, Itachi. If it had just been the other people in Team 2… or really anyone else… I'm pretty certain that this…" I flap my hand at the room. "...would never have happened."

I rest my chin on my hands. "So thank you. For everything. For treating me seriously and not… just like a three-year old. For taking extra time to humor me and teach me. For making the worksheets. For talking to me. For being so nice."

I look down. "You didn't have to do any of what you did. For that matter… your family didn't have to be so nice either." I frown. "I'll have to thank them, somehow…" I look at Itachi. "What tea do you like? What tea does Fugaku-sama like? What does Mikoto-sa… -obasama like?" I bury my head in the blanket. "And I've had the Uchiha clan matriarch tell me to call her Mikoto-obasan!"

I groan into the blanket, once again making a sound reminiscent of what I'd imagine a dying elephant's final trumpets to sound like. I'm in so much pain right now. Oh… gods…

I'm torn from my mental anguish by a… a bark? No… a snort? A baby elephant sneezing? No… that's…

I look over at the only other person in the ro…

…

...Itachi's… laughing.

…

Itachi's laughing. He's genuinely laughing now, chuckles of hold-yourself-up-so-you-don't-fall laughter, and…

My face splits in a grin.

Before I can help it, I'm joining in with my squeaky, hiccup-y, fragmented laughter until my sides hurt and I'm probably crying and I'm just trying to breathe, by the sounds just make me laugh more and I try to look over at Itachi but the sight of him half-collapsed with silent laughter is so funny that I just start laughing again, and…

Maybe half an hour, a quarter koku later, our giggles finally subside.

I groan theatrically, between fading hiccups of laughter. "Ow. My sides hurt. They hurt so… so much."

Itachi, who's focused on breathing from where he's rolled into his back on the floor, nods.

"I… believe… I may have… bruised my elbow," he gasps, and it's almost enough to make me start laughing again. But then he manages to pull himself together long enough to extinguish the light and collapse onto the other side of the bed and winces and I murmur a soft apology because my feet can get cold and he's warm, so…

And then he decides that it's the perfect time to ask, "I personally believe the important matter here is that… it was your birthday… about two weeks ago?"

Itachi practically needs to suffocate me with his pillow before I stop laughing and answer the question.

The next day, I wake up before Itachi, which… is surprising for me because I thought I'd sleep in more, but… also not really. Because we'd spent a lot of time talking about… random things. Like birthdays (Itachi's is on rokugatsu no kokonoka, or… 6/9, so… June 9), favorite foods (cabbage with onigiri with kombu, which I'd known), least favorite foods (steak, which I had not known), favorite colors (green, like the color of new grass and leaves in springtime), and so on.

And… it's immediately awkward because I'd gone to sleep wrapped around a pillow (the easiest substitute for the large teddy bear I'd had Before that I'd slept with every night and was arguably my most important non-essential item) but… well…

Let's just say the pillow has been replaced.

Though, Itachi's all bones and muscle, which is really uncomfortable, but…

Ah. The windows open. And it's January.

And Itachi's warm.

I wriggle until my arms aren't trapped and turn, grabbing a pillow. A little more wriggling, pulling up the duvet cover up a bit so that it's evenly distributed, and… I curl up again, nuzzled against the source of the warmth.

It's cold and I'm still a bit fuzzy from sleep and really just want to go back to sleep and Itachi's warm and I've done this before with Okaa-san and it's nice having a larger heater under the blanket next to you, especially when it gets cold. It gets uncomfortable in August, but like… everything's uncomfortable in August when it's hot and humid and sticky, and it's not August right now, so… I move my slightly-cold nose so that it's out of the cold and pull the blanket up just a little bit more, so it covers most of my head but there's enough of a gap for air, and… I promptly go back to sleep.

Or at least, I would have, except my cold nose, along with my earlier wiggling, was apparently the incentive for Itachi to wake up. "O-ohayō, Sasuke," he yawns, shifting… and pulling the blankets with him as he rolls over, which is NOT okay.

I promptly tug at the blankets, only for Itachi to turn over, and… "and I'm not Sasuke, but it's cold and you're taking all the blankets!"

Itachi huffs in amusement, before yawning again. "Ah… I think we stayed up too late, Makoto," he murmurs, rubbing at his face, before standing up and heading over to close the window. "I apologize for forgetting to close the window."

He turns around… and smiles. I stare at him grumpily from where I promptly took to opportunity the vacate the now-empty warm spot, and cocooned myself in the blankets. "No," I grumble, hissing and recoiling when he comes back over and tries to pull me out.

Itachi chuckles, before… oh, wheredidhegetthatspraybottlegetitAWAY!

…

...and now, I am cold, grumpy, still sleepy, but unfortunately awake. And Itachi knows it, still brandishing that spray bottle which I know recognize as the one he keeps for the little bonsai pine on the corner of his desk.

"I really don't like you right now," I mutter.

Itachi shrugs, a ghost of a smile still on his face.

"It's morning. Time to get up. We should clean up your house before your parents return. I doubt you've aired out their room even once."

I groan. Yeah, that's a good point, but…

"And I have for you another three pages of kanji, along with their pronunciations." He holds up my notebook and the history text.

I stare at them grumpily.

…

"Breakfast is ready!" Mikoto-obasama calls from down the hall.

...I get of out of the blanket-and-pillow-cocoon.

When we reach Kobayashi Tea, Itachi helps strip my parents' bed for all the sheets, covers, and cases, which he then pushes into the laundry machine, and carries the rugs downstairs, where Shinko-san and Tenma-San are assigned to beat them of any dust. They're also in charge of sweeping, mopping, and polishing the floor… washing the windows… and cleaning basically everything else. They've already swept. All of the inventory, from the tea to the cups, is currently on the floor as the team tackles the shelves. Next, they'll replace the tea, wash down all of the teapots and cups and plates and bowls, polish the silverware, and the. wash/wipe down down the tables and chairs. Finally, they'll mop and polish the floor.

Meanwhile, Itachi opens the windows and wipes down the tops of the cabinets and all the curtains for dust, and sweeps any debris off the floor, tossing the contents of the dustpan into the garbage, before helping me move everything off of the shelves.

He quickly but meticulously cleans each shelf and flat surface, before metaphorically attacking the contents of the shelves as the next victims of his cleaning furor.

Seriously. There is cleaning… and then there is cleaning. I don't think I've ever seen anyone clean as meticulously as Itachi… and the rest of Team 2, after a bit of convincing from him. Like, this is above and beyond, and I am impressed. And a bit intimidated but hey, what else is new?

I'm not exempt, either— I'm tasked with returning the now-clean objects to where they came from. And that in itself is exhausting. Seriously, I don't know how Itachi and the rest of his team do it.

I get a small break after Itachi dumps the wet sheets into the dryer, while he goes to refill the shelves with groceries, a half-koku of time that I spend half-asleep lying on my now-dust-free rug.

When he returns, it's putting away the groceries and wiping down the now-empty surfaces and polishing the sink and sweeping the floor again and taking all of the sheets out of the dryer and putting them back over the mattress and pillow-cases and everything.

Afterwards, I collapse on Okaa-san and Otou-san's newly-made bed.

I just want to sleep.

I hear Itachi walk over to the kitchen, and then return, but I'm too tired to look. I just hope it's not more cleaning we need to do…

"Makoto?" Itachi asks, nudging my shoulder.

"Hai?" I mumble, pushing myself into a sitting position.

Itachi smiles, takes a step back, brings his hands from behind his back, and opens his hands… to reveal a small wooden box. "Happy belated birthday, Makoto."

Blinking, I look down. With a nod from Itachi, I take off the lid. My eyes widen.

"I-Itachi!" I squeak. "You… you…" I pause. "How much did it cost?" I demand, looking over, before curling up a bit and looking down. "Ah, I should… pay you back."

Itachi takes the lid, puts it back on the box, and presses it gently into my hands. "We are friends. It would be very impolite of me to miss such an important event in my friend's life. And it is a gift. It would be rude to ask for money in return." He smiles. "And it would be even more rude to refuse a gift."

I stare, deadpanned, remembering a conversation earlier in the week. Itachi had been just as insistent about attaching to a suffix to my name.

Still... "You really didn't have to. You know that, right?" I look at him. "I'm currently worried that I guilt-tripped you into this or something…" He raises an eyebrow, and I duck my head. "But… thanks. Really," I mutter, before leaning into him in a kinda-hug. "Thank you, Itachi. I… it means a lot."

Itachi hugs me back for a moment, then gently pushes me back to gesture to the box. "If it helps, the daughter of the shop-owner gave me a message, to pass on to the future owner of this hairpin."

I frown. "A message?"

"She told me to tell you, 'Wear the hairpin, and don't lose it. I would rather see it scratched from wear than collecting dust in a drawer. If it will make your friend feel better, I'll even make a permanent offer— if you break it, you can bring it back in for me to fix, for just the price of the materials. Okay?'"

My eyes widen, and Itachi smiles.

"Apparently, it's a rather unconventional design for kanzashi. Most people prefer those made of silk. Apart from that, it was her first creation, so it's rather clumsily-made in certain areas." He pauses. "No one had actually asked about purchasing it, not since it was put in the box almost eight years ago."

I almost choke on air. "What? But… it's so pretty! No one? In eight years?"

Itachi shakes his head, before he reaches for something else. "Oh, and I almost forgot. I asked Haha-ue for some advice, since you mentioned that your hair isn't quite long enough yet."

From his pocket, he takes out… a folded ribbon? But… it's weird, and it's more like lace than anything.

"I also bought a ribbon you can hook the kanzashi onto. If you would like me to…" Itachi gestures, and I nod hesitantly, turning.

He carefully ties it like a headband, adding a bow, and spins me back around, carefully securing the kanzashi on the other side, then taking half a step back, and…

"I look ridiculous, don't I?" I deadpan. That carefully-straight face that isn't quite emotionless can only mean one thing.

"That looks very nice, Makoto," Itachi coughs.

I look at him for a little while longer, before shrugging. "Looking like a fool because of a friend is an age-old, time-honored tradition." I grin. "Besides, it's a gift! And a symbol of our new friendship! So that means that I'll treasure it, even if I can't actually wear it properly for a while." My grin widens into something sinister. "And it means that I'll have to do something even more awesome for your birthday!"

Itachi presses his eyes closed. "Based upon my experiences with that tone… I feel as if I should I should exercise caution once rokugatsu arrives." The sixth month. June. His birthday. I laugh, a malicious chuckle that doesn't come out quite as maliciously as I'd hoped it would. "Bwahaha!" I giggle through a toothy grin. "Beware!"

A little while later, Team 2 and I are in the waiting room of the Hospital, waiting as Okaa-san and Otou-san are discharged. Otou-san's in a wheelchair, and his arm's still in a cast, but Okaa-san just has crutches and what seems like a brace around her wrist.

Shinko-san helps wheel Otou-san, even as Izumo-san falls behind, while Minazuki-san talks with Okaa-san and I bounce happily alongside Itachi.

I don't have a hairband on, or a hairpin, but there's a ribbon tied in a bow around my wrist, and I'm carrying a small backpack, with only a notebook, some pencils… and a small wooden box.

It is for your sake

That I walk the fields in spring,

Gathering green herbs,

While my garment's hanging sleeves

Are speckled with falling snow.

— Emperor Koko

君がため

春の野に出でて

若菜つむ

わが衣手に

雪はふりつつ

— 光孝天皇

Kimi ga tame

Haru no no ni idete

Wakana tsumu

Waga koromode ni

Yuki wa furi tsutsu

— Koko Tenno

Author's Note: So, uh… I'm sorry?

*bows almost 90, extending chapter as payment.*

I'm really sorry for my month-and-a-half-long hiatus. So, here's about 20,000 words as an apology. 20,000 brand new words, a new plot, and a lot of character development.

I hope you like it!

...Expect the next chapter to be probably after Thanksgiving, as well as a lot shorter.

I hope Itachi's mostly in-character. I wanted to reflect that he's troubled, but he's still young, so it makes very little sense for him to be silent and just 'hn.' That'll come later. He's calm and composed, but he doesn't have an iron mask just yet. Plus, Makoto's a client, and a kid, and a cute kid, and an intelligent cute kid who's about Sasuke's age who currently has both parents stuck in the hospital after a pretty serious accident, and Itachi's excited to have a friend.

About the poem— Makoto didn't quite "gather green herbs," but he definitely had to be outside, and got a bit messy, and it was definitely, entirely because of/for Itachi.

But yeah… a lot better than what I had before. Completely different, and better. I hope, at least.

And, as a side note— if there is anyone who knows Japanese and is willing to help me, please just PM me or email me at ShadowAccio6181 gmail . com. I'm currently relying a lot on Google, and… while I try to cross-reference, they're not perfect.

Note to readers: This world has a lot of worldbuilding. We've just started, so hopefully you like that!

On a separate note, I'm actually trying to learn to write with my non-dominant hand (in my case, my left hand)! ...It's… a process. It's been nearly a week, and my handwriting… has improved. It's shaky and hideous, but it's not that bad on a vertical whiteboard, and I'm optimistic. (^_^)

I might have mentioned this before, but if you have any ideas for OCs, this universe needs people! (Name, physical description, occupation... hobbies, friends, etc. I'm putting a template below. I might change them before I insert them into the story, but I'll credit my inspiration.

Name: (MUST BE JAPANESE)

Physical description: (Nothing too extreme, please, or I'll have to change it)

Occupation: Civilian/Chūnin

Loyalty: Konohagakure/Land of Fire/Land of Water/Kirigakure/Kumogakure (hinthintwinkwink)

Other information:

And reviews are greatly appreciated! Even if it's just "hi!" (Note: If I don't update, comments actually sometimes help. At least, it's an effective way to guilt-trip me into trying to find more time to write. *hinthint*)

-ShadowAccio6181

Question time: How much do you like the worldbuilding? Like, on a scale from 0 being "I absolutely hate it, it's a waste of time, and you're stupid" to a 10 of "That's so cool! I never thought of that! I'd definitely like more world-building!"

Oh, and if you see something seriously wrong with my characterization, PLEASE let me know! I'm starting to introduce more canon characters, and I'd prefer to fix problems now, rather than… come back to it ten chapters later and realize I need to rewrite eleven chapters worth of bad characterization.