Another Light: The Story of Ayae

by PureWaterLily

Bloodshed and tears, death and destruction, withered hopes and dreams. Some people will scream if they saw it all. Itachi endured it. And this girl? Well, she has never seen any of it and never will. He promises. ItaOC.

4. Ginjiro Arc: Divergence of Fate

'i hate u.'

'i hate u too.'

'i hate u more.'

'i hate u more than more than more.'

'i hate u even if u r the last one on this plant, thats how much i HATE u!'

I raised an eyebrow. It was hard reading his chicken scratch. Ginjiro, the brat who got me in detention, had worse handwriting than me. Still, I was a girl. Girls always had prettier handwriting than boys. Well, almost always. Itachi did not count. He never counted.

Another note hit in the back of my head. I tried to hit his head back but always missed. I was okay with missing though. Missing meant he had to crawl all over the room to find my note. The teacher would not know. After the first week, we could dance, and he would not know.

I got the note from inside my collar, where it was itching my back.

'OK, last one is a lie. u r maybe the 3rd person i hate most.'

I rolled my eyes. 'thanks,' I wrote. 'i am SO happy to know that i am not numbre 1.'

He sneered and wrote back. I dodged his note. It landed on the table across from me. I grabbed the note. Then I jumped back to my seat and covered up the noise I made with a cough.

'Ha. ur cousins come before you do, so dont think u are all that.'

I scribbled, 'wat u have agianst my cousins? R u talking bout Shesui and Itachi.'

'Hoo ells?' My eye twitched. The handwriting was getting worse.

'WHY? we havent done anyting to u!'

'Tel that to my brotter! All of shud just DIE!'

"You have a brother?" I mouthed to him. I did not want to do the note thing anymore. My homework looked like it got chewed up by a cat.

"HUH?" he mouthed.

"YOU. HAVE. A. BROTHER?" I moved my hands.

He nodded, frowning. "Yeah," he mouthed back. He said more things but his lips were moving too fast.

"WHAT? Speak slower!" I said. I kept my voice as low as I can.

He glanced at the teacher. Then, he got out of his seat and crawled into the seat next to mine.

He used his cap to shield his face. I scoffed. Like the teacher would not see his bright red baseball cap.

"I said you might have already met him. On the first day," Ginjiro whispered.

I racked my brain. On my first day of school, I had not met any person that might even look- like... him. I blinked. Then, I gasped. "THATJERK?" I hissed.

He grinned. "So you do know him."

"Is he the person that-"

"Made you climb to the third floor because he thought you might actually be that stupid? Yeah."

Now that was mean. "But why!"

"Wow. You are clueless, aren't you? It's called your NAME."

I was confused. "He doesn't like the name Ayae?" I thought my name was okay.

Ginjiro slapped his face. "No, stupid. Your LAST name. Uchiha. He hates Uchiha. Everybody hates Uchiha. Well, strangely, our class is okay with you. Only idiots can only like other idiots, I guess."

"Huh? But why would he hate the name Uchiha?" Uchiha did not sound any worse than Ayae. Writing it was annoying though.

He sighed. "You are dumb. Don't you know the fight that went on a year ago?"

I shook my head.

Ginjiro rolled his eyes. He decided to clue me in. "Okay, my brother was a senior last year. He was last in class, but he worked hard to make the genin cut. They put him with your cousin, Shisui, because they always put the best and worst together or something."

I was interested. "Uh-huh, yeah? How does that-?"

"My bro never got along with your cousin, okay? Shisui was that lazy guy who never did anything to get a perfect score. Your cousin never trained seriously. But, he was called the best, and all the teachers liked him just because of his last name.

"Then, during the graduation exam, my bro saw your cousin mess up. He also saw that your cousin used genjutsu to cover it up. When my bro pointed that out to the teachers, they told him that if he didn't stop lying, he'll get kicked out of school!

"My bro doesn't lie, okay? Our family just has no famous name, and there was no way a no-name like us could call out an Uchiha. So my brother put up with it. He thought he would get known by his own hard work. Then they'd have to believe him. But..."

"What? What happened?" I asked. He covered my mouth. I spoke too loudly. "What?" I whispered. "He didn't? Why is he still in this school?"

"He didn't graduate. He had the lowest score, and the school needed three on each team. So, they bumped him off for someone else."

"Who-" I stopped. My eyes went wide. "Itachi."

Ginjiro grimaced. "Yeah, that kid. He finished all the grades in a year. He took my brother's spot."

So that was why Itachi and Shisui were on the same team. I thought that had been weird.

"So, what happened to your brother?" I asked.

Ginjiro pulled his cap over his eyes. "As if taking his spot wasn't bad enough, your cousins mocked him. My bro picked a fight with Shisui, telling them to take back what they said. The teachers suspended him for that, and my bro got held back a year. He already gave up though. Said the system was rigged. So he began ditching. Even if he worked hard now, he'd have to take another year of school."

"If he really wants to be a ninja," I said, "then it's not too late-"

"Yes it is," Ginjiro snapped at me. "We aren't rich like you! Our parents can't pay for another year. He can only go to regular school, where he will be bullied for being a retard since he's older, or drop out. My brother's life is ruined. You see? That's why I hate you!"

"But, but I didn't do anything!"

Ginjiro laughed. "You were born spoiled and rich without doing anything except be lucky."

"It's not like I can help that! I'm not rich either! My dad works so hard every day!" I said. "Also, it's not Shisui's or Itachi's fault for doing well!"

"Would it have killed Shisui to tell the truth? Would it have killed Itachi to wait another year?"

I quieted.

"See? No. They didn't even feel sorry for what they've done. You know what they told my brother? Give up. He was too weak to stand a chance anyway!" Ginjiro fumed.

Suddenly, my gut hurt. "Give up being a ninja. There's no hope for you," I whispered.

Ginjiro raised an eyebrow at me. "Yeah, that's what your cousin told my brother. Exactly."

A weird feeling hit my stomach. It did not feel good. Confused, I blinked back the water in my eyes. "That's... what Itachi told me."

I got quiet.

Ginjiro looked at me funnily. Then, he softened up and sent me pity. "Jeez. Sorry man, never thought they would be so rotten to turn on their own people too."

I swallowed and then laughed it off. "Nah, it's okay. Itachi is right. And I don't even want to be a ninja. I don't, so it's not like it matters..." I trailed off.

"Are you sure about that?"

I paused. Ginjiro patted me on the back.

"See? It's his words getting to you. I bet you do. You know, next year, we'll be entering the third grade. That's the year we choose our path at the Academy: regular or ninja."

"Which are you taking?"

"Ninja, of course! I'm going to do it for me and my brother. I will prove to everyone I don't need a fancy name or money to be the best."

I had nothing to say. In one talk, Ginjiro turned my world upside-down. I always saw him as a jerk, but now I felt sorry for him and his brother. I admired him too.

Also, I was not sure how I felt about Shisui and Itachi anymore. I thought they were my friends. But they only walked me to school because Aunt Mikoto asked them to. Not to mention all the times they teased me.

More than anything, I realized I was hurt by Itachi's words. Did he see me as a loser? I did not have perfect grades, but still. I was worth something, right?

The more I thought, the sadder I got. Then I got angry. Who was he to tell me I was hopeless? I snapped the pencil in my hand.

Ginjiro's eyes widened. "Whoa, chill there."

I glared at the broken pencil. It was not the red color pencil that I kept in my favorite pencil case, always in my backpack. It was not the one that Itachi gave me. No. This pencil was old and bitten away, with the eraser all rubbed off. I would not miss it.

The teacher heard the snap. How he had missed our chattering was beyond me.

The teacher saw us together and dully reminded us that this was detention. Ginjiro had to go back to his old seat. I did not want him to go yet. I had more things to say to him.

I ripped more of my homework and wrote. I fit as many words as I could. 'i choose ninja. im not rich but and i will to do this my way. and i am sorry for your bro, i hope he will be OK.'

Ginjiro caught the note with his cap. He grinned and threw one back at me. 'u know, u arent bad.'

I smiled back. Our bad start was coming to an end.

Time was up. But I did not run out of the classroom like usual. Instead, we walked out together.

"Heh, guess you aren't like the rest of them. You can say sorry. You're alright."

"Thanks." I was happy he was not mean to me anymore.

"But, if you are going to be a ninja, you better watch out."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because my bro got beaten by an Uchiha. No way that's happening with me! I'm going to leave you in the dust with my awesome mojo skills."

I laughed. "You wish!"

"Why? You think you got blood on your side? Because-"

I shook my head, "Nope because I'm going to begin this thing called training. And just so you know, I don't tire easily!"

"Neither will I. Boys can run faster than girls, you know."

"Liar!"

"It's true," he said smugly.

We stared at each other before...

"RACE!" we yelled. We pushed past the other and ran as fast as we could down the hall. Our backpacks shuffled behind us. We ran so fast that we could not brake.

We slammed into the door at the same time.

"I win!" we screamed.

"No it was me!" We huffed and pointed fingers at each other. Then we laughed, at the same time, and caught our breaths.

"Tie?" I said.

"For now. I'll beat you next time," he said.

We opened the door. A person sat on the steps. He was the older kid that I met on the first day, Ginjiro's older brother. Strangely, I was not mad at him.

"Gin!" He then noticed me. "What are you doing with her?"

Ginjiro rolled his eyes. "I was the one that got us both in detention, remember? As it turns out, Ayae's cool. She ain't with the Uchiha duo. Just about an outcast, in fact."

His brother was not sure. But he spat, "Not surprised, really. We'll talk about this later." The siblings left for the road. Ginjiro, for the first time, waved goodbye.

Then they were out of sight.

Shisui and Itachi were not here yet, so I waited on the steps.

The excitement from the run was gone. I ended up thinking about my cousins again. I thought everything over and over, but no matter how I thought, I could not believe them. You do not mock people when they fail. And you do not tell people that they are weak or hopeless. They did not even apologize. It was mean. It was bullying.

At the same time, I could not hate them either. It was not their fault Ginjiro's brother did not graduate.

Finally, I thought about what Itachi told me. My stomach knotted again. His words really got to me.

That was when I made a decision. I got to my feet and began walking home, alone. I was old enough. Besides, I knew the way now. I half trampled, half stomped the pavement beneath my feet.

See, I was strong!

I turned a corner.

I also got good grades and did super well when we learned long multiplication. On top of that, I could say the names of the Hokages and the Fire Daimyo! I memorized over half a dozen names. That was surely something.

And then there was ballet. Even Tamaki said I was great.

I turned the second corner and saw the Uchiha district in sight. See, I would make it home myself. Who needed them?

Who needed them! Who-

"Yo!"

I stopped in my tracks. Before me were the two people on my mind.

"What are you doing here, squirt? We got worried when we didn't see you at school."

I crossed my arms. "I waited, but you two didn't come. I can make it home myself, you know. You don't have to treat me like a baby."

They exchanged looks.

"Is something bothering you Ayae?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah. Your face!" I huffed and left for the road again. I passed the gate. The guards ignored me and let me in. My cousins followed behind. I could not outpace them.

"We thought that you wished for us to escort-" Itachi began.

"That was then, this is now," I said.

Shisui raised an eyebrow. "Squirt, that was like, what, a week ago?"

"Well it doesn't take more than a week to remember the way back!" I snapped.

Shisui took a step back. "Hey, hey, no need to yell." Then, he grinned. "And glad to know that you can make it back on your own now. So should we happen to mysteriously disappear one day..."

"Yeah, yeah. I don't need you two," I said, annoyed. A hand grabbed my shoulder. I tried to shrug it off. But Itachi had a firm grip. "What!"

"What is wrong, Ayae?" Itachi asked. "You aren't yourself."

He looked worried.

I swallowed. What was I doing? Shisui and Itachi were my friends. I should not be mad at them.

"That was my tough act," I joked. "You like?" I should not be mad.

Shisui choked. "Your what?"

I clapped my hands together. "Yeah! Because guess what? I've been thinking about it and, well..." I swayed a little. "I've decided! I want to be a ninja when I grow up! Like you guys! And ninjas are tough!" I finished.

"What? You? A ninja?" Shisui held back a snort. But he did not hold back the laugh that followed.

As I thought, Shisui did not take me seriously. Shisui was Shisui though.

I turned to Itachi. His eyes had changed.

"Ayae," he said slowly. "I thought you did not want to be a ninja..."

I frowned. Why could he not just be happy for me? Why not say something like, "That's great! Now you can train with us!"

I made myself grin. I tried to be cheerful. "I changed my mind! After all, I have to be good at something, and you always say that my dancing sucks..."

"I never said that," he said.

"Really? 'Ayae, your art form is rough.' 'You were off rhy-thm.' 'You are not ex-tending your arm enough, look at the teacher.' 'You need more practice.' 'Your HAIR is in the way,'" I snapped, holding strands of my hair. "And when you have nothing to say? You look at Yuuhi! Guess I'm too boring! Fine! You don't have to come anymore. I can tie my own hair! Stop treating me like a baby that cannot handle her own hair!" My face was practically in his.

"Ayae-"

"Now!" I said. "I'm going to become a ninja and give it a shot. Who knows? I might be better at it than my bad dancing!"

"Ayae!" Itachi raised his voice.

I gulped and listened to what he had to say. I was not happy with what he said though. "I never said you were bad at dancing. If you wish for me to no longer attend your dance recitals, then I will respect your wish. However, you are not thinking clearly. You do not wish to become a ninja."

"Yes, I do!"

"No, you do not."

"How can you know what I want, huh? It's my mind."

"Because it's obvious that something else is upsetting you, and leading to this irrational behavior. Tell me Ayae, what is wrong?" he asked again.

What was wrong? What was wrong? I snapped. "YOU! That's what's wrong! Get away from my sight! Don't talk to me anymore! You find me annoying? Well I find you annoying too, Uchiha Itachi! GO AWAY!"

I pulled away from him and stomped away.

He did not follow.

As soon as I took the first step, I knew I should not have said that. I did not know what made me say that. I certainly did not mean it to be hurtful. They just got me angry. I hated how they never took me seriously. I did not hate them though.

I felt really bad.

Then I heard Shisui whisper. "Hey, is this what they mean by girls being moody? What's it called? PMS?"

No, I did hate them. Very much.

.

My detention was ending. But my friendship with Ginjiro was beginning. The hate notes turned into normal notes. Which turned into funny notes. It was like this thing we had. Whenever a note hit my head, I would always know it was him.

Because he sat across the room during class, we would talk with notes too. My friends saw. They asked why I was being friendly with him. I told them that we did not hate each other anymore.

Tamaki was interested. "Hey, speaking of changes," she said, "is it just me or is Itachi no longer picking you up?"

My heart dropped.

In detention, I glanced out the window. As usual, Itachi was not there anymore. Only Shisui was outside, sleeping on a tree. I was thankful Shisui never got mad at me.

A note hit me. 'i relized today is our last day.'

'Last day of wat?' I wrote.

I thought back to Itachi again. For days, I felt so bad. I kept practicing an apology for him. But he did not pick me up the morning after I yelled at him. He did not pick me up after school either. He did not come to my ballet lessons. Itachi was not even home on Sundays. He was just gone.

Eventually, I realized it was driving me nuts. I decided to ask Shisui about Itachi. Shisui told me he went training. I asked Aunt Mikoto. Aunt Mikoto also told me he went training. All day.

No one "trains" that much. Who were they kidding? Itachi was mad at me. And now, he was avoiding me.

Another note. 'Detension! after today, we r FREE!'

'Ohh... i forgot...'

'how can u forget? its wat we been waiting for!'

'i dunno. i think i am geting used to this.'

'ahaha me too. but think about it. we can now use this time to do stuff.'

'trianing?'

'ya! how did u read my mind?'

'isnt that wat ninjas do?'

'wel, yea. but other stuff too.'

'like wat?'

'goofin, havin fun, showin our awesom powers and helpin people. O and eat.'

'eat?'

'u have to eat alootttttt of food, i think. because u need ennerje.'

'wont you get FAT?'

I heard him chuckling. 'u r being girly. no, u get buff!'

'ew! i dont want to look macho'

'err, well girls get tall then. and strong (not much as guys)!'

'better. you may be stonnger but i am gunna be look better' I doodled a smiley face.

'since its our last day, want to celebreat?'

'wat do you have in mind?'

'trianing... and food. but food is trianing.'

'i want food! but i have dinner.'

'oh.'

'no no its fine. ill tell my dad. dont tell him but his cooking is EW somtimes. but good too other times'

'same with my parents!'

'stinky food?'

'yea. u know a good place to eat?'

'hmm... assually, yea! the other day, Ayame invited me and som of my freinds to her familys noodle place.'

'is it good?'

'i dunno. i havnt achually ate there yet. but i think so.'

Time was up. And so was our two weeks of not-so-bad torture. We both liked the idea of eating someplace. Since I did not have ballet today, it would be perfect.

Ginjiro and I raced down the hallways. Tie, again.

Outside, I met up with Shisui. I asked Shisui if I could spend the rest of the day with Ginjiro. Shisui looked at Ginjiro. Ginjiro glared back. Ginjiro hated Shisui. Shisui thought that Ginjiro was a "bad influence" on me.

"I don't know," Shisui said, "I don't think you're old enough to be running around unsupervised, squirt."

I began to argue. "Itachi is my age, and he can go anywhere he wants to!"

"Err, he's a special case. Besides, do you even have money?"

I pouted. "No. I will soon get an allowance though! Can I borrow some? Until I can pay you back?"

"No way! My money!" Shisui backed away and hugged his backpack, as if I would steal it.

I stomped my foot. "Shisui!"

"And your dad? Wouldn't he be worried that you are wandering the streets alone?"

"But I'll be with Gin!"

"Your detention buddy. Yeah, don't think so, squirt."

I groaned. My dad would not mind! I would be with a good friend. Besides, it was none of Shisui's business what I could or could not do!

Ginjiro defended me.

"Come on, Ayae. I can pay for the two of us. I think I have enough. He gave Shisui a nasty look.

I blinked and thought over his offer. I smiled and nodded. "Tell my dad, okay, Shisui?"

I ran off with Ginjiro before Shisui could say no. After five blocks, I looked back. "You think we lost him?" I huffed.

"Yeah."

"Good!" I collapsed onto the grass beside the sidewalk. He fell next to me. We stared at the puffy clouds until we caught our breaths.

"You think you'll get in trouble?" he asked.

"Nah," I said. "My dad almost never grounds me. I didn't even get in trouble for the detention!"

"Really? Lucky! I got in trouble. But my brother treated me to barbecue."

I giggled. "Well, I didn't get in trouble because I told my dad it was your fault. He believed me."

"WHAT?"

"It IS."

He smirked and tugged his cap. "I guess it sorta was. It was your mouth that started it though."

I jumped at him. Together, we rolled on the grass, wrestling.

"You started it!"

"Nuh-huh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nope!" He pinned me down.

"Yeah. It. Is!" I kicked him off.

We struggled some more. In the end, we both got a big laugh. I had mud all over my face. His hair got ruffled after I snatched his cap. Both of us were covered in grass stains, especially our elbows and knees.

"Huh, you look nicer without the hat." I handed his cap back to him.

He fitted the cap snugly on his head. "Nah, this was my first-day-of-school present from my bro. You look awful though!"

My hand went to my face. I accidentally smeared more mud onto my cheeks. I laughed again.

Ginjiro held out a hand and helped me off the ground. "Let's get going, Ayae. I'm starving!"

I nodded. I did not regret my choice. I liked spending time with Ginjiro. Even the weather was nice, with summer starting and the sky bluer than ever.

I saw the orphanage. "That's it! It's only a block from here!" I told him. "Last one there is a rotten ninja!"

"No fair! Head's start!"

At the noodle shop, we were greeted by a jolly man. He wore a white cook uniform. He saw us and gave us towels to clean up.

Ayame was there too. She was doing her homework on the counter. She gave a shy wave.

Ginjiro and I both grabbed a stool. We ordered something to eat.

"I thought you said you would buy for me," I said. I heard Ginjiro order only one bowl of ramen, not two.

"Have you seen how big these bowls are? I think we'll have more than enough." He pointed on one of the bowls stacked up on the counter. My eyes went wide.

"Daddy believes in value. What you pay is what you get, and he doesn't cheap out," Ayame said. Amused, she asked us why we were here. We told her that it was our out-of-detention party.

When the big bowl of ramen came, Ginjiro and I dug in. We slurped noodles and spilled soup all over our faces. Many times, our chopsticks fought over the same piece of pork. But both of us steered clear of the veggies and pushed them to the other person's side of the bowl. Even with nasty vegetables, the ramen was the best I ever tasted!

The only thing that would have made everything better? If I had gotten my own bowl. Half the time we found ourselves slurping the opposite ends of the same noodles. Every time that happened, Ayame would snap the noodle in two with chopsticks.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say two are on a date," Ayame teased.

"EW!" Ginjiro and I said. Ayame giggled some more.

The last of the ramen was soon gone, so we took turns gulping down the soup. In the end, I was so full I could barely move.

I patted my belly. "You were right. One bowl was more than enough."

"Are you kids satisfied?" Ayame's father asked. "Because we have more, and in different flavors too. There's beef, pork, soy sauce, cold, you name it. We've even started a new seafood special ramen!" He handed us brochures of their different specialties.

I promised that I would spread a good word of their restaurant. Ayame waved goodbye.

"I should get home now," I sighed.

Ginjiro shoved both hands down his pockets. "You want me to walk you there?"

"Sure!"

He followed me until the Uchiha district was in sight. There, he stopped. "Ayae, I don't think I should go in there. Can you make it there by yourself?"

I nodded.

He grinned and waved. "See ya!"

"Bye!"

I faced the district again and stopped. There was someone passing through the gate. Itachi.

I rubbed my eyes to make sure.

Now was my chance! I ran to the gate. "Wait! Ita... chi?" He was nowhere in sight.

I blinked. Could my mind be playing tricks on me? Or did he hear me and leave?

"Did Itachi just pass through here a minute ago?" I asked one of the guards.

The guard gave me a weird look. I looked down and saw myself covered in mud. Straws of grass were sticking from my hair.

"No," he said.

"Are you sure?" It was getting dark. But there was still enough light to see.

"Little girl, Itachi hadn't passed by here since morning."

"When was that?"

"I don't keep track of time. Maybe two hours before you left?"

I thanked him.

At home, I found my dad asleep by his half-eaten dinner. Next to him was note.

'Ayae, sweetie, when you get home, you are SO grounded. - Still love you, Dad.'

I gulped and tiptoed to my room. I did not want to catch my dad in a bad mood. On my bed was another note. 'Stop acting so foolishly. You had your father worried sick.'

My heart skipped a beat. I knew that handwriting.

Then I blinked. The second note vanished.

.

I hated being little. I wanted to wake up early. But my body refused! I could not believe Itachi could wake up so early.

Still, I kept trying. I would set my alarm clock on the highest volume every night. And every morning, I would sleep right through the alarm. The few times the noise did wake me up. But I would pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep. Other times, the alarm woke up my dad. He would shut my alarm and moan for coffee.

Speaking of my dad, he grounded me for a whole week. A whole week without television, sleepovers, or life! I was so bored that I finished all my homework, practiced for my dance, and had time leftover to lie in bed.

Grounding was worse than detention because I was by myself with nothing to do. I complained about this to my dad. He just gave me a book. A book. What was I supposed to do with a book? There were no pictures in it.

There was not even a picture on the cover! I read the title. The Little Ninja. The story sounded interesting until I flipped to the first page. There was a million little texts. I slammed the book shut, horrified. No pictures, no reading!

One morning, my dad knocked on my door. "Sweetie, wake up. I made pancakes!"

The smell was tempting. I was too tired to get out of bed, though. I also suffered from I-hate-being-grounded syndrome.

"It's Saturday!" I complained.

"And a fine day. Outta the bed, now! You'll miss it!"

I pulled the covers over my head and made myself comfortable in the blankets. I did not want to get up.

Unfortunately, my dad opened up the curtains wide open. Then he tickled my feet. I squirmed. He pulled the blankets away from me too. Soon, I could not stop laughing. So between breaths, I yelled stop. "Jeez! I'm up! I'm up!"

Pleased, my dad pulled me up. "You know, if stayed in there any longer, I would have gotten the bucket."

My eyes widened at him. "You wouldn't!" I hated the bucket. Back in the capital, I refused to get up for my first day of preschool. So my mom suggested the bucket. I got drenched head to toe in ice water, shivering and screaming at them. They laughed. Looking back, that day was not bad. I made lots of friends in preschool.

"What kind of pancakes?" I asked my dad.

"I made your mom's recipe. Very Berry Strawberry-"

I scrambled down the steps before he even finished. Very Berry Strawberry pancakes were the greatest food ever. I grabbed a plate and stacked seven on it. I was chewing down my third one when my dad came in. He searched through the cabinets.

"Where's the syrup?" I asked. I munched on another strawberry.

"Looking for it..." he hummed. He grabbed the syrup bottle along with a mug. My dad tossed me the bottle. Then he filled his mug with coffee.

"Why do you drink that?" I asked while pouring a hearty amount of syrup on my pancakes.

My dad yawned. "Need it. I haven't gotten much sleep lately. We are so close to a breakthrough at work."

Curious, I asked if I could drink some coffee.

I grimaced and spat the bitter taste out of my mouth. "Ew! It tastes horrible!"

He shrugged. "It gets better when you get older. Hey, hey! Are you going to share those pancakes?" He quickly put a few on his own plate before I took the rest of them.

"First come, first serve!" I laughed. I stabbed the blueberry on his plate with my chopstick.

He sighed. "Glad you always have an appetite for this. I can't make it as well as your mom though."

"They are fine!" I said. I licked the syrup off my plate. "As long as you don't mess it up by putting junk on it. Like with the spaghetti last time."

"Yeah, honey don't go well with tomatoes, do they?" He laughed and scratched his neck. "So how is your grounding?" he asked.

"BORING! Daddy, when am I ungrounded? I already promised that I will never, never, never, never do that again."

"Three more days, sweetie, three more days," he said. "Have you finished that book?"

"No."

"Read it. Many parents from this district told me it is an enriching book for kids your age."

"But it has no pictures in it! And the words are so long and plain boring."

"Books don't always have pictures, honey."

My dad got up to clean the dishes. "Hey, why don't you get ready? I've got a meeting today, so you're going to Aunt Mikoto's, okay?"

I brightened at that idea and went to my room. I picked out a pretty summer dress to wear. I wondered what to bring with me. I grabbed Utako. I grabbed the book too, since my dad insisted.

Aunt Mikoto was not expecting me but happy anyway.

I glanced around the living room. Sasuke was playing with a ball. My spirits deflated. Itachi was not there.

"Ayae, would you like anything?" Aunt Mikoto asked.

I shook my head. "No thanks Auntie, I just ate a big breakfast. Where's Itachi?" I asked.

Aunt Mikoto did not avoid my eyes this time. She smiled. "He's in his room, I think. Would you like to come with me upstairs and see if he wants to play?"

I beamed and nodded. I had so many things to say to him. An apology is on the top of the list.

Aunt Mikoto led me upstairs to a door, closed and bare. She knocked. "Itachi? Ayae's here."

We waited.

Aunt Mikoto knocked a little louder. "Itachi?" She slid his door open. The bedroom was empty. Aunt Mikoto got worried. She told me to stay put while she checked the other rooms. She left in a rush.

I peeked into Itachi's room. Curious, I entered. The bed looked like it was never slept in, the bedding folded. The floors were visible, unlike mine. There was a desk, with books stacked on top. I flipped though one book.

I saw pictures. To my annoyance, the pictures were diagrams with a bunch of numbers. The font was microscopic and looked a million times nastier than the books my dad had in his library.

Just as I was about to put Itachi's book back, I saw the cover underneath. To my surprise, it was a battered textbook. Was he not done with school? I set the first book down and opened the second. It was a math textbook, I think. Well, there was no numbers, just shapes and symbols. Moaning, I closed that one as well. There was nothing that I could read.

I tried a drawer. Locked. I pulled on the drawer beneath it. Locked too. Surprisingly, the last drawer did slide open. There was a kunai, some shuriken, scrolls, and brushes.

Moving onto the dresser, I found clothes. Everything was folded. Blue and black and white, white and black and blue. Would it kill him to add some color? Besides the Uchiha crest, that is. I had not realized earlier, but every Uchiha in the district wore that crest. Only my dad and I did not. We were the only ones to be brave enough to go outside blue-black too.

I went on to the closet. I found some winter items. There was a yukata in the back, so back that I almost missed it. The yukata did not look like it was worn though.

Finally, there was a nightstand and a lamp. No alarm clock.

At the end of my investigation, I knew one thing: This. Was. The. Lamest. Bedroom. That. I. Had. Ever. Been. In.

There were no toys, no television. The only interesting things were the mysterious, locked drawers. I tried picking at the keyhole with my fingernails.

Aunt Mikoto came in.

"Ayae, he's not here. He must have left already," she said.

I jumped away from the desk and gave a nervous laugh.

Aunt Mikoto saw the open books.

"Are you interested in some of his reading materials?"

"No, I can't understand them," I admitted.

She gave a sad smile. "I would be surprised you can. These were from his father's library."

"They look boring," I said.

At this, she laughed. "His father pushes him quite hard. Boring or not, Itachi needs to read them. After all, he has to improve." Her voice became quiet. Then, she bounced back and added, "Let's go dear. And try not to come in here anymore, okay? Itachi would not be happy if he knew someone invaded his privacy." She stacked the books back in order. We shut the door behind us.

Downstairs, Sasuke reached for his mom. The smile on Aunt Mikoto's face was back.

I patted Sasuke on the head.

"Sasuke, how have you been?" I asked.

"OK, you?"

"Bored," I sighed. "I got grounded."

He tilted his head. "Grounded?"

"Yeah, I've been bad," I said.

"Oh. Ayae's been bad. Brother Itachi is never bad."

I ruffled his hair. "Hey!"

The toddler gave a lopsided grin. Aunt Mikoto saw my book. She asked if I would like for her to read it to me. Sasuke cried that he wanted to hear the story too. It was settled.

I hugged my doll. Sasuke hugged me. Together, we listened as Auntie read The Little Ninja.

"The Little Ninja," she said. "Once upon a time..."

There was a little boy who was on a journey. He had nothing except the clothes on his back and a sack. The sack was empty of all items except a dozen of apples. And despite how hungry he became, his mother warned him to never eat those apples. When the boy asked why, the mother told him nothing more and bid him farewell.

The boy wandered the land for three days and three nights, clueless of where to go or what to do, but he could no longer linger in his mother's home. And so, for those three days and three nights, he would walk through the countryside and through the rivers and valleys, surviving off berries and the fish that he caught.

On the fourth day, a fisherman, who was rowing in his boat, noticed how skillful the boy was at capturing the catfish. The fisherman asked the boy where he was going. I could take you to your destination, here on his boat, in exchange for those fish, said the fisherman.

But the boy did not know where he was heading. Curious, he asked the fisherman what laid on the other side of the river.

The fisherman told him magnificent stories of the other side. He told the boy that it was a place of ninjas. Of people would compete for riches and glory, of people who would defend their homeland, and of people who knew the light and was aware of the cause. Most of all, these ninjas fought for the ultimate prize: a princess who needed the strongest and bravest ninja to rescue her.

That is stupid, said the boy, why are they fighting? Who needs riches when all you ever need can be attained with your own hands? What does glory do for you? What are they defending their home from? What is the cause? And why are they doing it for all for a princess?

There were many questions, and he was confused and intrigued at the same time. The man shook his head, muttering that the boy would never understand. Then make me understand, said the boy, I want to know. He gave the fisherman three catfish and an apple in exchange for a ride to the other side.

On the other side of the river, the boy noticed the change in scenery. Instead of peaceful meadows, farms, and rivers, he saw thick forests and wild animals. Regretting his decision, he went to ask the fisherman to take him back. But it was too late because the fisherman had already rowed away. So, that only left the option of moving forward.

He traveled through the dense trees, many times facing off dangerous creatures. After barely escaping with his life in one incident with a wild hog, he laid on the forest floor, exhausted. I do not want this, he sighed to himself, I was better off on the other side of the river.

Why? And live a boring life? Look at all this excitement around you!

The boy jumped up and searched for the source of the voice. He discovered that it came from a crow perched upon a tree. What are you talking about? asked the boy. I was nearly mulled over by a giant pig!

And wasn't it exciting? asked the crow.

No, said the boy. I miss sleeping in the haystacks. I miss watching fish and their gleaming scales jump out of rivers. I miss the peaceful life on the other side, where there are no worries.

The crow circled the boy and laughed at the boy's desires. Peace is little price compared to adventure, said the crow. Listen, there is no point in looking back. Live here! I will show you the correct path to being a ninja!

The boy agreed and made the crow his new companion.

First, you will need a weapon, said the crow, you will need to arm and defend yourself. So, the two went to a cabin of a blacksmith and requested the finest sword and stars. The blacksmith eyed the boy and asked what he was doing on the other side.

He is going to be a ninja of course! answered the crow, batting its wings excitedly. Seeing the boy was young, the blacksmith dubbed him The Little Ninja, and it became a name that stuck with the boy throughout his adventure. The blacksmith forged the boy a magnificent sword and his best quality throwing stars. He gave these to him, wishing the boy the best of luck along his journey. The boy, having nothing else to repay his kindness, gave him an apple.

With that, the crow and the boy left, new weapons in hand. What do I do next? asked the boy.

Now you need a master to train you, said the crow.

The Little Ninja and his bird friend set off on a walk, and the two arrived at their destination in the mountains. There, in one of the caves in the mountains, was an old man. He is going to be my master? asked the boy. He looks like he can hardly stand up.

Trust me, cooed the crow, he is the best.

The old man saw the boy and looked at him in the eyes. And what do you need?

A master, said the crow, he is going to become a ninja!

Why? asked the old man.

The boy was not expecting that question and could not think of a good reason. Finally, he told the old man he wished to save the princess. The elder cast the boy a bored look, saying he will not succeed where so many have failed. But the crow insisted that the boy was the one.

To stop the crow's bickering and flapping, the old man agreed and decided to teach the boy. To his surprise, the boy learned faster than he expected, and the master finally saw his pupil's true potential. He taught him ninjutsu techniques, such as creating fireballs. And disappearing from sight with invisibility. Or the ability to walk on water and jump higher than trees. Finally there came the day when the boy learned everything he could, and with the crow, set off on his journey again. In payment for all the old man's help, he gave him an apple.

Where to next? the boy questioned his close companion. He had just hunted and finished feasting on a rabbit, gaining confidence in his abilities. Before the crow could respond, a kunai flashed by. The boy dodged and spun around to find the thrower.

Within seconds, katana clashed katana. It was another boy about his age, also a ninja.

Friend or foe? the other boy asked, with a murder intent.

"And? They become friends right?"

Aunt Mikoto stopped reading and looked up from the book, smiling. "I've read this story before," she told me, "And I remember it quite well."

I asked if she said the book when she was little.

"No, but I was told to read this to Itachi when he was younger," she said. "Oh my, Sasuke's fallen asleep."

She picked up the toddler cradled on my lap. "Let me tuck him away. Don't touch the book, Ayae dear. I'll finish it later with you."

I waited. I wanted to pick up the book and read the rest myself. But Aunt Mikoto specifically told me to not touch it. I sighed, thinking of the life of an ninja. Adventure! Romance! It made me restless to think I could do all those cool things. So that was why my cousins went training all day. And why Ginjiro and his brother wanted to be one so badly.

When Aunt Mikoto came back, she went back to reading. From beginning to end, I listened to every word.

.

The Little Ninja trained, he became strong, he made friends, he saved and married the princess and everyone lived happily ever after. I found it a great book. Shisui thought differently.

"You've read it too?" I asked him on our walk to school.

"Of course. My dad made me read it, and it was the worst book ever." He grimaced.

"What are you talking about? It was great! They made apple pie in the end!"

Shisui blinked at me. "Pie?"

"Yeah!" I said. "And the Little Ninja was so brave! The princess is so lucky! She got saved by the Little Ninja and they kissed and everything! It was so sweet and the festival and the moonlight carriages and their wedding!"

"Are you sure that you're-"

"And I love the crow! I want to keep a pet crow too! Do they really talk? I've never heard a crow talk. They do make that annoying caw noise though. I always thought they were ugly. But now I want one!"

"Err, yes, there are crows that can talk. They are summoning animals, but are you positive that-"

"Really? There are animals that can talk?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"I made up my mind. I'm definitely going to be a ninja. And get talking animals as pets, and fight monsters, and when I'm captured, I'll be saved by I-" I stopped myself. I hoped Shisui did not catch me. "The Little Ninja! MY little ninja. Not the one in the story, of course. He belongs to the princess."

Shisui rolled his eyes. I went on to tell him the story. My mouth made words on its own. I tried to cover up my mistake by talking faster.

I did not want to think about Itachi. If he did not want to see me, fine. I had other friends.

My grounding ended, so I played with Ginjiro. We hung out a lot on the school practice grounds. We did not have shuriken to throw, though. So we played tag instead. I tripped and scrapped my knee once. Ginjiro freaked out at that. He asked if I was okay. I was. I was not even bleeding.

I liked Ginjiro. In fact, he was becoming a closer friend than Tamaki.

Of course, Tamaki was still my best friend. She was the first person nice to me on my first day of school. Because of her, I got invited to a million sleepovers and shopping dates. Tamaki also defended me when I got bullied. She was even fine with my friendship with Ginjiro, unlike Dai, who did not want a boy to join our circle.

In dance, we started spins. I accidentally fell on another girl. We were not hurt and laughed it off. Most of us were pretty clumsy, except Ms. Yuuhi. She never fell, not once. I wished to be just like her when I grew up.

"Careful there." Ms. Hyuuga helped both me and the other girl up.

At the locker room, I saw why I fell. The ribbon had become undone. I needed a haircut too. I shuddered at the thought. I hated haircuts.

In the end, I had to ask Shisui for help on my hair. Only, Shisui did not know how to braid for his life! He would say things like "I'm not a girl! Guys don't need to learn how to braid! See this? Yeah, it's called short hair!" So Shisui would just tie my hair into pigtails. But pigtails got loose after spinning around.

"Can't you at least learn how to braid hair?" I pleaded.

"Can't you cut your hair, squirt?"

"NO!"

"What am I going to do? Ask my mom, "Hey! I need you to teach me how to braid hair. Why? Because this squirt here will eat me alive if I don't!""

"Do that," I said, serious.

"I am not going to learn a girly skill such as braiding hair. I am a ninja, and I am a guy, and I am proud. I can tie your hair into military knots, though. I just learned the advanced triple monkey hoop helix knot the other day."

I backed away. "You and your monkeys stay away from my hair!"

"And you and your girly braiding stay away from me! I'll be the laughing stock of my squad if they learned I asked my mom for braiding lessons."

We were at a standstill. I could not take it anymore. I banged my head on the wall. "This sucks. There. I said it. Ground me, but this SUCKS." My bangs slid down. It covered my eyes.

Shisui laughed when I blew the bang away. "Jeez, just get one of the other girls to help you."

"No, I'm not talking about that anymore. I'm talking about Itachi!" I said.

"How is Itachi related to any of this?"

"Because he can fix my hair problem! It has been three weeks. Why is he still avoiding me, Shisui? No one can be mad that long."

He opened his mouth and then closed it. "Err, well, I told you, he has-"

"Enough with the training excuse! I am not stupid. I yelled at him, and next day he disappears? I have not seen him once."

"Listen…"

"Not once!"

Shisui rubbed his neck. "Okay, okay, you're right. You caught me. He is avoiding... but-"

"Does he hate me?" I asked.

"What? No!"

"Then why is he not here? I know that I was mean, but I've been trying to say sorry! If he's mad-"

"No, no, you've got this wrong, squirt. He's not-"

"If he's not mad, then why is he not picking me up? Why is he not at my dance? Why is he not walking me home? I miss him, Shisui. I miss him so bad. I thought he was my friend, so why would he do something like this? Why!"

I kicked the bench. Ow. Now my foot hurt.

"What are you saying?" Shisui asked. "I thought you said you wanted him gone from your life."

"Are you kidding? Of course I don't want him gone! I'm going crazy without him!" I yelled. Three weeks of bottled frustration and disappointment exploded.

"Is my absence so intolerable?"

"See? Crazy! Now I'm hearing him. As if seeing him was not enough!"

"Uhh, squirt-"

"I am talking here! At least let me finish!"

"Ayae…"

I turned around. "Didn't you just hear me? I am-"

I blinked.

Twice.

I poked the boy on the cheek. I patted his face.

"Ayae, will you refrain from touching my face?" he asked.

Sure that this was indeed Itachi and not my imagination, I jumped back. "How long- when- did you just hear-"

Shisui coughed. "Um, how should I say this? Err, Itachi never... left."

"You told me he was training," I said.

"I was," Itachi said. He was taking off a bracelet from his wrist. When did he have that?

"So. You never left? You were here? The whole time?"

Shisui shrugged. "So, Itachi, guess I am safe to say I told you so?"

"Cousin, you told me nothing."

"What?" I felt confused and left out.

"Okay, squirt, I should have said something. Itachi had been walking on the rooftops above us. And he watched and criticized your dancing too. To me that is, which, by the way, was annoying to listen to, so I'm siding with you on this one. He's always been there. You just never saw him."

I opened my mouth. Then, I closed it. I turned to Itachi, who was glaring at Shisui to shut up.

"So, you heard me? Just now?" I asked.

"Yes," Itachi said.

"Why?"

"You told me to get out of your sight, to not speak to you, and to go away. I complied with your demands."

"You… you…"

"Hey, I tried to him that you were kidding, but does he listen? Noo! It's always squirt said this, squirt said that, she does not want me to come. Do you have any idea how…-"

I ran and hugged Itachi tightly. "Itachi, promise me you won't ever, ever, ever, ever do that again. And if you do, I'll kill you, then bring you back to life, and kill you again. And I'm very sorry about what I said."

He was surprised by the hug and dropped the bracelet. It landed on the floor with a loud thud. After a minute, I felt a hand against my back. He hugged back.