Chapter 2

The room erupted in noise.

"Naruto!" Sakura and Ino yelled the loudest of the girls that surrounded Sasuke. Sasuke wiped his mouth as Naruto made gagging noise.

"I got pushed!" Naruto said to the enraged Sasuke-loving girls, "I didn't mean to kiss him!"

Several punches later, a much bruised Naruto sulked in his seat while Sasuke, his composure restored, ignored the drooling girls around him. The noise level in the room returned to normal when abruptly, the noise stopped near the doorway. This created a domino effect of people turning around to see what happened and then in turn, gaping at the sixteen year old girl that walked in. Finally, Naruto, Sasuke, and the rest of the girls crowding around Sasuke, turned and stared, wide eyed, at the dazzling girl that just floated in. She stopped and, after a moment, smirked. The smell of the sea and pine trees filled the room as she walked in. She drifted across the room, opened the window, and held her hand out the window. A hawk landed on her outstretched arm and screeched. Two wolves jumped in from the same open window and settled by her side. She smiled briefly, the sun lighting up her face and making the gold sparks in her eyes dance. After staring agape at the girl for a minute, the instructors called the first teams to go.

Finally, the only people that were left were Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and the girl. When everybody had left, the girl looked curiously at the people left in the room.

"Who's Naruto?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Me" Naruto replied, looking up from the eraser trap he was setting for the late sensei.

She looked at him as he scrambled down from the chair and sat down. Sasuke looked at the trap and grimaced.

Why would a ninja ever fall for that? Sasuke thought, disgusted.

Why is that new girl so pretty? Is she even a student? IS SHE GOING TO STEAL SASUKE FROM ME? Sakura's thoughts whirled around her head. But she doesn't even look interested in Sasuke… I wonder how old she is…

"Uhhh… new girl?" The girl turned, her eyes black with gold flecks.

"My name is Yani" she smiled.

"Oh, okay… Y-Yani." Sakura felt drawn in by that bewitching smile, "How old are you?"

"How old do I look?"

"Old" Naruto interrupted, peering closely at her.

"NARUTO, YOU IDIOT! YOU DON'T TALK WAY THAT TO A GIRL!"

"No, he's right." Yani stated and quickly hesitated, "I'm sixteen. How old are you guys?"

"Twelve," Naruto and Sakura replied at the same time. Sasuke did not bother to answer, avoiding all sort of interacting. Just then Kakashi walked into the room, triggering the eraser trap. The eraser hit him on the head with a light thud, scattering chalk dust everywhere. Sasuke flinched in disgust.

"My first impression of you guys," Kakashi said cheerfully, "you're a bunch of idiots.

"Naruto, why don't you start?" The students all looked at Kakashi with annoyed faces. They were introducing themselves but they were frustrated by the fact that Kakashi had barely said anything significant about himself. One by one the students went until it was Yani's turn.

"Yani?" Kakashi prompted, looking at her from the corner of his eye, "Why don't you introduce yourself."

She was standing on a rail, away from the rest on the roof. The wind gently ruffled her straight black hair and made the leaves dance across the azure sky. Her balance seemed perfect as she walked along the rail to beside Kakashi, where he was leaning. Crouching down on the rail, she faced the group.

"I have many names, but you can call me Yani." A bird perched on her shoulder as she continued to talk. "I was raised by wolves. I like hugs, and kisses, and boyfriends, and secrets. I like people who don't get jealous and who understand me. I love all my wolves. I dislike humans. I dislike metal. I dislike non-natural things. I dislike punishments. My hobbies include traveling, running, and visiting my brothers on Mount Ol—" Kakashi growled, quietly, low in his throat so that the students wouldn't hear. The bird on her shoulder sang a warning note.

"You humans and your lies" Yani laughed, amazed. "Fine, that's it."

Woah! She's pretty! Naruto drooled in his head.

I hope she doesn't try to steal Sasuke from me… Sakura worried in her head.

How shallow, Sasuke thought, radiating contempt.

"Well, come on guys," Kakashi said half-heartedly, "let's go eat." The five of them moved down the road to the village to a popular ramen stand.

"Hi!" Naruto to exclaimed to the owner. As each of them ducked under the low metal overhanging, they heard a resounding crash shake the small shop.

"Are you okay, Yani?" Kakashi had caught her just before she had hit the floor after bashing her head into the overhanging.

"Damn the stupid metal," she murmured as Kakashi helped her up. Kakashi smiled and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, "is… is… Yani your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, sensei!" Sakura followed, indignantly curious, "I don't think it's a good thing if you have a deep relationship going on in your team and try to teach us at the same time! Showing emotion is against the ninja code!" Kakashi looked at Yani and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's none of your business," he replied serenely. "Besides, she will prove to be a valuable asset in our missions."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NONE OF OUR BUSINESS?" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke watched Yani as Naruto's and Kakashi's voices arguing about the relationship drifted through the clearing. He was just watching the facial expressions racing across her face when he noticed something strange. The way she held her body and the fact that she never looked at the ground was odd. He noted how her eyes flickered from color to color, depending on… what? But just before he realized exactly what all these things led to, Kakashi called them to go. Sasuke almost growled in frustration. He had lost it, that small burst of idea.

Whatever, he thought, it'll come back later.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei! That was good!" Naruto said contentedly, burping.

"Ewwww, Naruto! That's gross," Sakura squealed, punching Naruto across the face. When Naruto emerged from the bushes, nursing his sore cheek, Sakura turned to Sasuke.

"So… Sasuke… ummm… would you like t-to come over and h-hang out?" Her voice wavered.

"No," Sasuke replied curtly and kept walking down the road.

"Oh, o-okay! Yeah! I'm busy, too!" Sakura blushed heavily as a sad look came over her face.

"Hey, Sakura! I would love to hang out!" Naruto said, excited. Three seconds later, his other cheek was bruised. When the road came to an intersection, Naruto and Sakura said goodbye and both turned left. When Yani noticed that only Sasuke was walking straight ahead, she stopped. Tapping on Kakashi's shoulder, she pointed to the retreating form of Sasuke. He nodded and kissed her quietly on the cheek.

"Go get some rest soon," he said and teleported away with a puff of smoke.

Sasuke heard trotting feet and turned around to see who it was.

"You live down here, too?" he asked Yani, who had caught up to him.

"No, but I don't want you to walk alone," Yani said, adjusting her belt. The black shorts and black shirt she was wearing shimmered in the fading sunlight and accented her lean frame.

"I could take care of any muggers," Sasuke shot back and turned around again.

"Muggers aren't the only dangerous things in the dark, Sasuke." For some reason, the statement gave him an uneasy feeling and he hastened his steps, though Yani easily kept up. They walked in silence for a while, the sun finally setting and revealing the vast expanse of stars in the sky.

"Can I ask you something?" Sasuke said some time later. He looked up to see Yani's face, which was a good head above him.

"Go ahead. I'll answer if I can."

Sasuke hesitated, and then started to speak.

"I was watching you today and I noticed something about you. Like how you hold your body and never look at the ground. And also how your eyes changed from color to color… Are you… blind?" Yani's eyes widened and in the dim light, Sasuke could see they changed to a hazel color.

"See?" Sasuke said and stopped walking, "So are you?" Sasuke stared at the ground, waiting for Yani to speak. After Yani recovered from her surprise, she turned to him.

"You… are the second human to ever notice… Is that it?" Sasuke shook his head.

"I still don't know a lot of things, although I don't like to admit it. I want to know how you walk without seeing. Or why you don't help when we fight robber and pick-pockets. And how do you—" Sasuke froze when Yani patted his head, absent-mindedly.

"Don't worry about it. Come on, let's go." She held out her hand and tentatively, Sasuke put his hand into hers. Hand in hand, the walked the rest of the way in silence, arriving at Sasuke's home just before nine.

"Can… I call you Onee-san?" Sasuke asked quietly at the door, before he went in.

"Call me whatever you want," Yani responded, and then smiled.

"Then, goodnight… Onee-san. Thanks for walking me home." He was just about to close the door when Yani took a step forward.

"Wait." Before Sasuke could react, she took another step forward and kissed his cheek.

"What are you- ?" Suddenly, he felt a heavy burden lift from his shoulders and mind, a burden he was so used to, that he didn't even know he carried it. He took a sharp breath and everything became clearer, brighter.

"There, is that better?" she asked quietly, looking at him with a sad expression in her eyes. He was still too shocked to answer. "I'm sorry, but the burden will come back sooner or later." She hesitated to say something but then continued. "Your brother… he… he really loves-"

"If you're going to say he loves me, you're wrong. He hates me and I hate him. He lied to me his whole life about his loving me. He killed my entire family! I loved him and then he… he…" Sasuke tried to get his breathing back to normal but it seemed like he couldn't get enough of the light, burden-free air. His thoughts swirled in his head, adding to the confusion he felt inside himself. He blinked rapidly, trying to hold back tears. Yani looked at him, then reached out, gently smearing a tear that escaped down his cheek, and pushed the bangs out of his eyes.

"Why don't you go to sleep? I don't think you had good dreams in a while." Sasuke nodded and retreated into his house and into his bedroom, lying down on his bed to face the vast expanse of star strewn sky out his window.

Just like her eyes,he thought before he shut down. Black with gold.