The Butterfly Effect
"My pack? You make it sound like I'm some kind of leader. I am not a leader. I merely know what I value in this world, and to keep it safe I will weather any hurricane, hunt you down, and kill you. Questions?" Continuation of 'Butterflies'. Character death, Anbu operations, gratuitous violence and some adult situations. May change to M rating.
Chapter 6 – Status quo
8-8
"I always wondered why somebody doesn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody." – Lily Tomlin
8-8
Our days in Sand, just as our days in Mist, fly by. I get called into a few meetings here and there, but mostly I stay out of their hair so long as Gaara doesn't call on me. I spend most of the day training Team Aya –we don't have the space to properly train Team Wolf here– and I have Team Wolf help whenever they are willing and able. Especially Keito and Tsu.
Keito is helping Yuzuki with her twin tessen. Tsu is helping Hoshie with her twin kodachis. Sakiko is more in need of a sparring partner that will push her well beyond her limits, so mostly anyone from Team Wolf will do.
Not that I'm not helping them. Of course I am. I just know when to delegate something to someone who's the better teacher. Keito is a master tessen wielder. Tsu is a master twin blade wielder, if not exactly kodachis.
In the meantime, I take Tomi and Kin with me to do some shopping. Kankuro is with us, of course. So that means we are allowed to go pretty much anywhere. Including the blacksmith's. I just love shopping around, and it's kind of a middle ground to keep Tomi from complaining too much.
Looking around, I notice that even though their selection is just as varied as Kurata's, they carry very different weapons as well. I'm especially curious about their shuriken and kunai, for some reason. I mean, Konoha kunai are… so plain. They haven't changed at all from the farming tools they once were hundreds of years ago. But these? These are… different. Brighter. Not the dark and drab grey of Konoha's kunai.
I pick up one of the kunai, studying it. It's the same length as a Konoha kunai, about half as long as my forearm. The ring is also just as big. But it's made of lighter metal, and is almost perfectly straight. Well… no, not straight, but… less angular? If you turn a Konoha kunai on its edge, there's an angular 'bump' in the middle. Something that only has a use when gouging a hole in rock or earth – as kunai were originally designed to do. They are bulky because of it. That extra material serves no purpose, and it affects the aerodynamics of the weapon. It also gives it a telltale 'whirr' as it soars through the air. Part of the reason I've been buying so many needles – I don't want my target knowing I'm trying to kill them until it's too late.
But this kunai. It's flat. Sharp. Light. And the tip is more rounded, compared to the sharp point of Konoha's kunai. It fascinates me.
"Why the rounded tip?" I ask.
"Hnn? Oh this? It's an old sand digging trick. A pointy tip makes it harder to dig through sand and capture whatever you're digging after. It's not very useful otherwise." Kankuro explains. "If you're interested, you might consider this one instead."
He picks up a slightly different kunai. This one with a tanto styled edge. Well, if single-edged. It's interesting. Very interesting.
Looking at the price? It's five-hundred Ryou. A bit pricy for a kunai. Not sure how to feel about that. Why are our kunai so much cheaper? Nearly half the price. Is it because Konoha's kunai are made from cheaper material? Why?
Shaking myself out of my stupor, I pick up a box of ten kunais. Another major difference, in Konoha they get sold by the box of fifty. Maybe it's the price of metal here? I just don't know.
Anyway. With one item I'm interested in, I start comparing prices to weapons I recognize from Kurata's. All the prices here are inflated. Sometimes slightly, sometimes by a factor of four. Four times the price! Kodachis for example. I can get a decent pair in Kurata's for five-thousand Ryou. They're fifteen-thousand here. Ouch.
I feel bad for their shinobi, if they have to pay this much more for their weapons. I really do.
8-8
"Aya." I turn to Gaara-nii, wondering what's going on. He called me into a meeting in his office. No one but him, his team and Taiju –his personal Anbu guard, and Yukata's father– are here. Not even my team. I have Tsu and Keito waiting outside, and the others at the apartment. Townhouse. There. "The Anbu exams have been pushed back."
"Oh?" I start having a sinking suspicion as to why.
"Because of the timing, Tsunade-sama, Mei-sama and I have agreed the last exam should take place three days before the Third Exam of the CSE. This way, all three of us will already be in Konoha to bear witness to both events." He explains.
"U~uuuuh huh." I intone. I don't buy it.
He smiles. "And this way you can also be present as a spectator during the Anbu Exams. It would seem that Lady Haruna of Vegetables and Lady Koyuki of Spring will also be there."
"That sounds more like Senju-san's planning, yes." I say, rolling my eyes and shaking my head. "Whatever. You do know I have a party to attend at the Fire daimyo's?"
"I'm aware. I've been invited as well." He says, his face completely neutral. Hnn, he's hiding something. Not that he's likely to ever tell me, unless he wants to.
"In other words, three Kages will be there, and likely their daimyos as well. Good to know." Informal my ass!
"Just Tsunade-sama, Mei-sama and myself. He wants it to be modest."
"U~uuuuh huh." Modest? Three Kages is modest? What's extravagant then?
8-8
"We've just received word." Kankuro tells me. We're in the backyard, running Team Aya through some basic manoeuvres to work on their teamwork. "The First Exam has concluded. Too many teams got through, so they're narrowing it down. The first thirty teams to arrive in the Demon Desert will be allowed to enter the Second Exam. That means that we can expect the jounin-senseis to start arriving tomorrow, the day after, latest."
"You're about to tell me some reason why this is important for me." I say, noticing something odd. "Hoshie. I know you're not trying to tell Yuzuki what her role is in this. If she does something wrong, it's my job to tell her so, not yours."
"But, O'nee-cha~aaaaaaan. You're talking to Rou-rou-san. How can you talk to him and-" Rou-rou-san?
"Shie~eeeee…!" I drawl in warning. She shuts up and they know they have to start the manoeuvres from scratch. Again. Once they're back in start position, "Begin!"
"Gaara wants you to meet them." I'm told.
"Why?"
"How should I know…? Because he doesn't feel like it?"
I roll my eyes. "No, Sakiko, you need to jump over, then Yuzuki needs to slide under. And Shie, I see you itching to tell her 'I told you so'. If you start with that, you'll be doing Flying Tiger Claw push ups until you can't feel your arms anymore. Are we clear?" Hoshie grumbles, but doesn't try to actually say anything. "Start positions. From the top. Begin!"
The first move, Yuzuki running straight while the other two slalom around her, gets messed up. Hoshie and Sakiko run right into each other. Both blame the other, but Yuzuki tries to play the peacekeeper, saying that it doesn't matter whose fault it is. I agree with her. I let then discuss it for another minute, but it looks like they're about to come to blows.
"So, you two want to fight?" I ask them, my tone harsh and cold. "Sisters, coming to blows over something as pointless as pride? Fine. All three of you. One-hundred Flying Tiger push ups. Now!"
"But Yuzuki-chan didn't even do anything wrong!" I don't care who says it.
"Two-hundred." I dare them to challenge me again. I can do this all day long. Sakiko and Hoshie give each other a look, daring the other to make this worse than it already is. "Three-hundred. And that number will only get higher until you zip it and get down to your punishment."
They grumble, but are already getting into a handstand on their fingertips. That's better. "Let me know when they arrive. I'll be there."
"Geez, it's no wonder your team is so good. Look how you're training green genins." Kankuro says, impressed.
"My sisters." I say, knowing that he'll understand just what that means. People will target them to get to me. I need to make sure they are as scarily strong as possible, to make sure they survive that. The last thing I ever want to experience is attending a sibling's funeral. "Sakiko. I heard that. It isn't 'fifteen, sixteen, twenty'! Start over!"
8-8
Two days later, Kankuro informs me that all the jounin-senseis are gathered in the 'Jounin Lounge'. I nod, looking at Team Aya as they go through their weapon katas like I asked them. "Keito, Kin. I want you two here to keep an eye on them. Tsu, Tomi, you're with me." If we're going into a vipers' nest of jounins, I'm taking my heavy hitters with me. Accept no substitute.
As we enter the house, seeing no one else around, I make three shadow clones. I give Tomi and Tsu a meaningful look. They're quick to do the same. All nine shadow clones scatter throughout the house, front- and backyard, camouflaged. If anything happens, we'll know. And I mean, we'll know instantly.
8-8
The 'Jounin Lounge' is a bit of a let-down. It's almost exactly like Konoha's Jounin Lounge. Muted colours. A plant here and there. A bunch of sofas. Some tables. And two automats, one with drinks the other with food. That's it. I sigh. I had hoped Konoha was just stingy with ours.
Forty-two jounins are lounging about. Most sitting about, some standing. No one talking. No one. None. Not one. Everyone's too busy glaring. Or pointedly not glaring. But that's the same thing really.
Two Waterfall guys, they glare at me the second they see me. They look familiar.
Three Cloud shinobi. Each dark-skinned, none of them caring about too much of anything.
Ten Konoha shinobi, eight men, two women. They greet my team heartily, making sure to announce that 'Namiki has finally arrived'. I'm almost tempted to slap the guy that says it, because he's mostly trying to get under people's skin.
Eight Sand shinobi, all guys. I don't know any of them, but they seem to know me and bow reverently. I roll my eyes, telling them to stop doing that.
Five Mist shinobi, three women, two guys. I don't know them either, but they clearly know me. They nod, I nod right back.
Two from Star. Never met anyone from there.
Two from Spring, both women. They bow reverently to me. Again I say to stop doing that.
One from Vegetables – who, apparently, just founded their hidden village. Who knew. It just happens to be Kikunojou. He bounds for us, quietly announcing how grateful he is to see us, and asking for a spar. He's not jounin quality. Not by Konoha's standards. I'll have to talk to Haruna about that. Tokubetsu jounin, maybe. And when lacking a full jounin, sometimes you need to pick the next best thing. I think that's it.
Ooh! Three from Stone are here! I sniff, trying to see if I killed someone related to them. Nope. Not this time. I need to work on that. The sole Stone kunoichi notices me noticing her. She's been 'noticing' me since I walked in. She decides to test the waters. "Oi, Namiki, eh?"
"If you're looking for the person that killed someone you know. You got the wrong kunoichi." I drone. She blinks. She narrows her eyes. She's actually trying to figure that out. Poor thing. The Konoha shinobi are all laughing, as is Kikunojou. They know how I am.
"What are you doing here? I know you didn't enter a team." She halfway demands.
"The funny thing about friends in high places? They like throwing you into the vipers' nest." I drone again. The Sand, Mist, Leaf and Vegetables shinobi chuckle this time. They know exactly who I'm talking about.
"What, you trying to tell me the Kazakage asked you to be here?" She, again, halfway demands.
"If that's what you understand."
"You're being rude." She challenges.
"Says the one that strolls up to me, doesn't introduce herself, and then demands more information than she offers." I counter, batting my eyelashes coyly.
"Kurotsuchi." She offers, sizing me up.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kamizuru-san." I say, smirking.
She looks annoyed. "If you know who I am. Why ask."
"Common decency? That is still taught in Stone, isn't it? Especially to the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, I should hope." Everyone seems to be enjoying this a little too much. Gaara doesn't want me here to meet people. He wants me here for crowd control. Given that they all seem to think I'm entertaining, that's the best control there is.
"So I hear you're pretty good." She says, in a way that suggests it's all trumped up.
"Hnn? Is that important? What you hear?" I ask innocently. "I mean, I hear you're not bad. But judging from your ego? It could be you telling people that." Don't toy with me, Kamizuru. I've trampled bigger crowds than you.
"That sounds like a challenge to me."
"Oh? You would ignore International Chuunin Exam Treaties? Start a fight with a foreign kunoichi? All for the sake of your ego?" I almost sing as I lay it all out for her. "Oh, by the way. Not to mention the proctor for the third exam. Tell me, are you… fond of your genin?"
If we were entertaining before? We're now entering the 'popcorn or die' level, right under 'I can die happy now'. The only ones not entertained are the other two Stone jounins and Kamizuru.
She stands there, seething –which is obvious to me and every other jounin in the room– while still trying to appear cool as a cucumber. "Perhaps you haven't heard, Kamizuru. I don't play cat and mouse games. I play wolf and prey. I happen to know you're not a wolf." That's my way of saying: stand down, now.
"I've melted bigger pups than you, Namiki."
"Kamizuru. I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Stand down, or I will fail your genin and have you kicked out of Sand." I glare.
"I-"
Snap!
And so, we have our first on the ceiling. And her mouth is nicely covered as well. "Thank you for your cooperation, Kamizuru-san. Although standing down is usually a voluntary thing." I glare at the other two Stone jounins, daring them to try something. "Now, does anyone else wish to try their luck?"
I wait almost a minute. Everyone's just staring at me. "No one? Good. Hey, Kikunojou, where's your shadow?"
"Hnn? Well, someone has to guard Haruna-dono." He shrugs.
"Ah. Works for me. Hey, if any of your genin make it to the next exam, you know I can't be seen with you, right? It might imply favouritism."
"Aww, don't be like that! Everyone that knows you knows that you'll be harder on them because of me." True.
"They have chocolate milk. You two interested?"
8-8
"Aya!" Gaara bursts into the Jounin Lounge with Taiju at his side. "With me. Now!" He demands. I shrug, Tomi and Tsu already ready to follow me.
We body flicker to the gate, he waves off the guards and glares when they move to intercept me. He's in no mood to explain. Once out of the gate, we body flicker again. He sets a gruelling pace, to the point where I'm glad it's Tsu and Tomi with me. The others wouldn't be able to keep up. He still hasn't said a word.
It isn't until we make it to a large stone fence that he speaks up. "We've received intel that a single unidentified male has snuck into the exams. We are going to intercept and detain him. I will be on point, Taiju on my flank. You three will observe from the shadows, just in case he isn't working alone."
I nod. "Let's go."
We're over the fence almost instantly, and Gaara focuses. He's a damn good sensor, so I trust him. He points and we body flicker once again.
8-8
"You've come at last." I hear. Tomi, Tsu and I are lying in wait, studying everything around us, trying to understand the situation as quickly as possible. There's a single male. Bald. Horizontal scar from nose to ear. Carrying a… guitar? "You've been difficult to lure out of your village."
"Leaders always wish to be with their people." Gaara says, trying to egg him to reveal more of himself.
"Jinchuurikis are no leaders. They are loners. They are outcasts. I have seen it with my own eyes." The man claims.
"And yet I stand before you as the Fifth Kazekage. The leader of Hidden Sand." Good, Gaara. Keep him talking. Tomi's scanning for backup, she taps my shoulder twice; clear.
The man scoffs, either not believing, or not caring. "So you claim you've never been scorned for your burden?" Gaara doesn't answer. "I can free you from it. Free you from that pain."
"You mean 'kill me'."
"Death, for some, is that only freedom that can be offered." Grade-A psycho. He's so bad he makes Gaara and I from three years ago look sane.
"What you call a burden, I call a privilege." Gaara counters. "It is through my burden that I've come to meet the most precious people in my life. I wouldn't trade that for all the gold in the world."
"I've transcended above such menial things. As such, I wouldn't offer you gold." He didn't mean that literally, you idiot! It's an expression! Meaning he values his precious people above all else!
"Why don't we start with what you hope to achieve?" Gaara presses.
"To save the world."
"By killing me?" Gaara isn't buying it. Neither am I.
"By keeping the beast within you away from those who seek it." And now you have my undivided attention. "Surely you know of them?"
"Them?" Gaara plays possum.
"The Akatsuki. I've seen what they wish to achieve. By keeping so much as one beast from them, their plans have been thwarted."
"And what are these plans?"
"They wish to destroy the world, plunge us all into unending illusion. One which even this life pales in comparison to." He claims. That's a tall order, plunging the world into a genjutsu. "With your death, you would save every life. Do you understand?"
"And you believe you can keep this beast away from the Akatsuki?" I can't tell if Gaara cares about what the man's saying or not. I only know that Gaara is trying to milk all the information he can while he can. We still don't know how strong this man is.
"I have achieved perfect dharma. Once I absorb the beast, I will ascend with it, taking it with me in nirvana." Okay… I don't speak crazy as fluently as I used to. But let's see if I understand this. He's saying that he lives a spiritual life of nonviolence and peace (dharma), is here to kill Gaara, and take a beast that is pretty much the definition of hate, anger and insanity (adharma) into a state where the cycle of reincarnation is no longer needed (nirvana)? Thereby taking him to… I don't know, whatever he believes is out there?
Let's see. If he fights Gaara, he's no longer living a nonviolent life. Thereby negating everything else.
If Gaara doesn't fight him and simply lays down his life, then it doesn't pose a problem. But that still leaves the ball of… everything opposing what his life means. Doesn't that, at the least, cancel out his 'good life'?
He hasn't thought this through.
When holy men are showing signs of insanity, and two certified psychos think he's nuts… that's when you know the world's in for some serious shit.
"I see you won't come peacefully. A shame." Oh, I'm sorry. If I ask you to roll over and die, would you?
The man starts playing his guitar. Black wisps –a sealing array?– jump out, trying to ensnare Gaara. Taiju is in front of him instantly, but the wisps only seem to want something specific. Hmm.
Gaara puts up a wall of sand, but the wisps simply slither through that too. Interesting.
Again, Taiju places himself in front of Gaara, the wisps slither through him as well. Taiju tries snapping the wisp, but he can't seem to touch it at all. Okay, the wisp wants one thing and only one thing. I can guess that is a tailed beast. But… there is always a weakness. What is that weakness? The caster?
Taiju seems to think so as well, but the song changes on the guitar and Taiju is trapped in a barrier even as he's poised to strike. He cannot move at all. Hmm, dharma. Nonviolence. His fighting style is incapacitation. Avoiding the conflict by not giving you the chance to start a violent encounter with him.
I tap Tomi's shoulder, and she murmurs into my ear. "Chakra based. It's Sealing jutsu, just like Asami uses, but a different frequency. This is the exact frequency of a tailed beast. He isn't controlling the jutsu at all, only powering it." That's all kinds of stupid. "Chakra suppression would likely send the jutsu into a frenzy and kill the caster, seeing as he's the only one it can react to other the Gaara."
"Suppression of Gaara or the man?"
"Gaara." That sucks.
"Do it." In the blink of an eye, Tomi is on Gaara. Byakugan blazing and fingers flying through strikes faster than I can follow visually. Gaara doesn't fight her, he doesn't move. He knows us. If we do anything, it's for a reason.
As Tomi suspected, the wisps can no longer find what they seek. The go absolutely berserk! And they attack the only other thing available for them: the caster. Insanity at its best. Tomi studies the man, what's happening to him. And she looks a little green around the gills. I don't want to know what's happening. At all.
"Hitomi. He has information we need." Gaara says, nodding to the man. Tomi thinks about it and shrugs. She blocks the man's chakra pathways just as she had with Gaara, and the jutsu fizzles. With the worst of it out of the way, she unblocks Gaara's and I stab one of my Namiki shurikens into the strange man. Once his blood touches the seals, they activate. Wisps of red and blue sealing arrays pour out, wrapping the man's body, as if in chains, then they solidify and turn black. He can no longer do anything but talk and breathe.
"I'm not carrying him back." Tomi says, finality in her voice even as she smiles.
8-8
After making it back to Sand, and explaining the guards that Gaara really is in charge of the village so he can let in and out any he pleases without their say-so – I love being here with Gaara. After that… it's back to the Jounin Lounge.
"Oh, are you still up there?" I say, mildly surprised. I've never left the room with that jutsu still active. I'm surprised it didn't deactivate with me gone. Kamizuru-san looks… annoyed. "Would you like to come down?" She gives me a look; what do you think? "Will you behave?" She tries to nod, but it doesn't quite work.
I ease her back down, setting her on her feet. After she's stable, the jutsu fizzles. "Thank you, Namiki-san." D'aww, she can be nice.
"You're quite welcome." I say with a smile. "Guys, I feel like some-"
"Chocolate milk." Tsu and Tomi finish for me. "We know."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." I tease, smiling at them. "You guys want some?" They shrug, not caring either way. They love chocolate, but I'm the addict.
"So, Aya-chan. What did Kazekage-sama need with you?" One of the Konoha kunoichi asks.
"Hnn? Oh, just some advice on a musical number." I tell her with a straight face. "Hey, did you know that tap dancing on sand is almost pointless?" Don't ask me things like that. I don't answer seriously.
8-8
It's another three days before the second exam comes to a close. We end up having to go all the way back out to the Demon Desert, again. This time, I travel with my full team. And we make sure the townhouse is in full on lockdown – and that the water tank is full to the brim to the plants won't die before we come back again.
In the middle of the Demon Desert there's a tower. It's nice enough, as far as towers go, but the point is that we're here to see if I'm needed or not. Which is… kind of weird really. I travelled all the way out here just to see if they need me. There's a rule, more than twelve candidates for the third round? Preliminary round to reduce the numbers.
And how many made it through? Eighteen. Great. Just great. Why me?
Kamizuru's team, of course, made it. Kikunojou's team made it. One Konoha team. One Sand team. One Cloud team. And the last is a Mist team. Wow. Vegetables is a new village, but they made it. Good on them.
"Alright, alright, settle down!" I grab everyone's attention. All the jounins recognise me, of course, but a lot of the genins do as well. I feel popular. Popularity in the shinobi world isn't a good thing. At all. "There are too many of you. So we're holding one on one matches to knock you pups down a peg. As far as these exams are concerned, all teams are dissolved. All matches will be random… and yada yada yada. If I need to explain that you need to come down here when your face is on the big ass screen, then please go home at your earliest convenience."
"You win by one of two methods. One is you knock out or kill your opponent. The other is that I call the match. Be warned though, if I step in… you won't like me very much. Now, let's get the show on the road. I've got places to be and people to annoy." I'm not spending too much time with Mitarashi, right?
8-8
Nine matches. I sigh. The first up is pointlessly one-sided. The Cloud kunoichi versus the Vegetables kunoichi. I almost feel like slapping Kikunojou for training the girl so poorly.
The second match is… Konoha's lava boy? I look over at his sensei, and… what do you know! It's Tayuya! Hnn, didn't see that coming. Why didn't she try talking to me during the last three days? Why didn't I notice her? Oh, right… I only notice threats, and she knows better than to appear threatening to me when I'm in a room filled with threats. As Kamizuru helped me demonstrate.
Anyway. Lava boy is up against Cloud's strongest genin – based purely on scent, not skill. They start off with pointless acrobatics. Some decent taijutsu. And Cloud's genin is a water release user. Hnn? That's interesting. I thought they were lightning release by definition. So lava boy decides to show off his mother's hard work, and starts firing off lava bullets. Coincidentally the same jutsu in the scroll Mei gave me. Anyway. Cloud boy uses a stream of water to try to cool it off, but almost gets a steaming hot rock in his face for it. Not enough water pressure. This is bo~ooooooooooring! Lava boy keeps firing off lava bullets. Cloud boy keeps avoiding them. Yes, your tactic isn't working. Try something else.
They keep going back and forth like that. Wow. Tactical geniuses. Eventually, Cloud boy scores a decent hit on lava boy, a water bullet to the face. Lava boy looks at me? Why am I impo… no. No. Just no. He's trying to show off to impress me?
A too long a string of handsigns later, and all the lava bullets collect into a lava boulder. Hot, smouldering. And it starts rolling towards Cloud boy, who's about ready to wet his pants. I sigh. It's a rock. Just avoid it. I swear, I've gotten so spoiled after sparring with people like Zabuza and Kakashi and Mitarashi and Tenzo and Yuugao. I've gotten spoiled. Watching these guys is like watching my brothers and sisters spar, only without the emotional attachment.
The boulder is almost on top of Cloud boy, and he's too freaked out to do anything. More handsigns from lava boy. The boulder distorts, opening up like it wants to swallow Cloud boy whole and melt him. That's a win in my book.
Snap!
Cloud boy is next to me, looking on in horror as the spot he just occupied is cooked in lava. "Yeah, yeah, lava boy. You cooked that air real good. You win, now clean up your mess."
"So, Aya-chan." Instead of doing as I say, he starts making his way over to me. Confidence in his eyes, purpose in his stride. Boy, I know you don't want to try your luck.
Tayuya, luckily, notices my tense posture and my itchy snap fingers. She body flickers to him, knocks him on the skull, hard, and orders him to clean up his mess like I asked. He gives her a betrayed look, but she just hits him again. I nod to Tayuya, grateful. And once the molten rock is cleared away, we move one to the next pointless match.
I sigh, looking at Gaara. He shrugs almost imperceptibly; you agreed to this.
8-8
After all the matches are done, we go through the usual 'random' number picking. Matches are set up. Everyone is told –by Gaara, seeing as he knows I'm going to half-ass it– that the Third Round is in one month's time in Konoha's Stadium.
My time off. This is supposed to be my time off. My time to relax, unwind. Remind myself that I'm human and should enjoy stupid, frivolous things. Like scentless flowers. I hate the pollen in fragrant ones, they make me sneeze. I only really like lightly scented, at best. Which are the ones I keep around me.
The only thing I care about right now? I have three weeks with nothing to do. And I plan on doing just that: nothing. We're heading back to Konoha. I'm going to talk to Inoichi-san about him sending eight Yamanakas to Ainokura to start setting things up. I'm going to arrange someone to keep Team Aya's training on schedule. And I'm going to sunbathe. I'm going to go on a date with Chouji. I'm going to shop, and giggle, and do a bunch of things sixteen year olds are supposed to be doing with their time. No training, no fighting, no meetings, no killing, no executions, no invasions, no countries to overthrow. Nothing.
"Aya, I'll need to-"
"Sorry, Gaara. You're on my time now. I'll see you in three weeks." He pouts. "Nope. I'm on vacation. I've done my bit and more. I leave the rest of it up to you. Ta ta." I body flicker to my team, and we start heading home.
Finally!
"Tsu. I need some serious shopping therapy." Team Aya is already grinning. Tomi's sweating nervously.
"That sounds like a lovely idea, Aya. Don't you think so, Mi-cha~aaaan?" Kin sings sweetly. Tomi gives me a look; save me!
I grin. Yes, this is exactly what I need. And I deserve it!
8-8
End Chapter 6
8-8
A/N: Well, that was fun. Let's see if Aya can finally get the down time she deserves, shall we?
