I was out of Kakashi's house as soon as I woke up not wanting to stay there a moment longer. I made it back to the Uchiha compound, showered, got dressed and sat up in my room on my bed. My room looked exactly the same as it had in the old house but with tatami mats instead of hardwood and Shoji screen along one wall. I didn't know where Nori was but after the hot springs I could walk on my own without a great deal of support.
I was lying spread eagle on my bed staring at the lighting fixture that reminded me of some weird robotic arms as I heard the doorbell ring. Who rang the doorbell at our house? Everyone just waltzed in. I heard Iruka's voice as he and Naruto talked downstairs before Sakura's higher almost fluty sounding voice carried up to where I was lying. Of course Iruka was too polite to just walk into someone's house unannounced.
Someone knocked on my door. I assumed it was Sasuke as the others were downstairs.
'Yea' I said as Sasuke strode into the room and tossed a package of clothing at me. I gave him a questioning look as he raised an eyebrow.
'You're going to be late for work. Iruka-sensei is here to pick you up.' Sasuke said as left. I stared at the back of my now closed shoji screen door. I sat up and looked at the package in my lap. It was a standard jounin uniform as I sighed and pulled it on. It was a little bit big and the vest was rather tight hugging my curves a little awkwardly. I sighed and tied my hair back wrapping the ribbon around about six inches long down the ponytail. I put my forehead protector on as a headband and looked at myself in my mirror. I looked tired and like I was recovering after being very ill as I smiled. I still looked tired but at least I was friendly. Kakashi was planning something for valentines. I wasn't supposed to know this but the little tidbit was something for me to hold onto.
'YUKI-CHAN YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!!!' Sakura screamed as I jumped and walked as quickly as I could downstairs. Iruka and the trio were waiting for me by the door as I apologized for taking so long.
'It's alright. I wouldn't mind being late teaching those terrors.' Iruka laughed as the trio blushed. I guess they had also given their old teacher a hard time in the academy. What had I signed myself up for?
'Ready?' Iruka asked as I laughed and nodded following him out the door. We walked in silence as I noticed how early it was. I knew I got up in the dark and left Kakashi's house at a ridiculously early hour but I hadn't known how early as I just noticed people heading for work or opening stores.
'The uniform looks like it fits.' Iruka commented as I looked at myself. I thought I looked ridiculously huge wearing this uniform. It was not very flattering for females.
'Yea, not what I'm used to though. Especially this vest what are these silly little neck things for?' I asked as I rested my head against them. They seemed more of a hindrance than a help.
'They block wire from sinking into your neck and help block attacks to your neck. I know they look silly but they're actually quite a help' Iruka laughed as I smiled. I highly doubted these little puffs could save my neck from anything as I heard children laughing and screaming as the academy came into view. Mini ninjas were running around in the yard as normal school children stared on their way to learn math and science whereas these children were learning to be skilled assassins.
I thought about it. It was sickening in a way, we were taking young children and teaching them to kill and steal for the benefit of their country. Making them grow up before they were ready to. Iruka saw the look on my face and put a hand on my shoulder.
'It's alright to be nervous on your first day Yuki-san' Iruka said calmly as I nodded. I wasn't really nervous about the kids. I was more so worried about the sanity of the politics behind this. But then again I had turned out alright… sort of. We walked past the school yard to resounding Iruka-sensei's! and good mornings as Iruka smiled and waved. They definitely were a fan of him even if they were terrors as we went inside the main building.
The school was shockingly clean without even one mark of graffiti or dirt anywhere. Iruka led me down the hall as I saw a few other teachers in their rooms writing lessons for the day on the board or shuffling papers around.
'Morning Iruka-sensei' I saw Shikamaru wave as I looked over the chounin's shoulder at the young man. He seemed surprised as he gave me a lazy smile and a wave. 'You too Yuki-san, are you working here now?' he asked as I nodded.
'I'm Iruka-kun's teaching assistant until I get a hold of the ropes to have my own class.' I said as Shikamaru laughed.
'Good luck these kids are little terrors. Never turn your back and watch out for Nobu and Kagome.' He warned as I nodded. Iruka blushed a little as he showed me the teachers lounge. It was a rather large room with couches and a few tables that had stacks of papers and some teachers and their aides already working away.
'I'm sorry I don't have the time to give you a bio about every single one of the kids but I'll show you which ones to watch out for.' Iruka said as I felt three chakra flares from inside of the classroom we were about to enter. I saw the chalk brush wedged in the door as I snagged it as Iruka opened the door.
There was loud giggling from behind one of the desks as Iruka looked at me. I tossed the brush in my hand. It was an old trick putting a chalk brush in a door frame.
'Nice try' Iruka said as there was a groan and three kids looked over one of the banks of desks. There was a raven haired girl who reminded me of a panda from her chubby shape a reedy red haired boy with flinty grey eyes that seemed totally unimpressed with the world and a mousy brown haired boy whose hair didn't look like it could be tamed from its wild cowlick that made him resemble a lion. He looked at me with excitement in his almost topaz eyes as he bounced in his seat.
'Iruka-sensei who's the pretty girl?' he asked as the panda girl smacked him.
'Don't be such a loud mouth Nobu!' she snapped as the red head looked at me with something akin to amusement. I shook my head and went to place the chalk brush on the blackboard as I heard something whizzing toward the back of my head. I reached back and snatched the object out of the air from behind me. Turned out that it was an eraser as I analyzed the trajectory it had come from. Turned out the redhead had thrown it as I turned around and bounced the little pink object in my hand.
'I think you lost this' I said handing the eraser back to the now stunned boy.
'how-how-' he stuttered as I smiled. Iruka laughed and clapped me on the shoulder.
'This is going to be a fun class Yuki-sensei' Iruka laughed as the bell went and children filed into the room. Each one had a gawk at me as they took their seats. The classroom was amazingly loud as each kid talked over one another to be heard.
'Class.' Iruka said as no one took notice. I raised an eyebrow as he waited tapping his foot. 'Class.' He said as again a few of the smarter ones caught on and stopped talking as a few continued to talk.
'Oi SHUT UP!' I snapped as everyone looked to the front of the room. Iruka looked a little startled as I smiled. All eyes were on me and Iruka as Iruka clapped his hands.
'Alright so we have a new teacher at the academy. She's going to be working in our class for the rest of the semester. So yuki-sensei I'll let you say a bit about yourself.' Iruka turned the spotlight on me as I smiled.
'Hello everyone my name is Yukiko Uchiha. You can call me Yuki. I'm not from Konoha I'm actually from Ice country which is west of Suna past the desert and plains into the mountains. Is there any questions?' I asked as almost every hand in the room shot into the air and a few even blurted out their questions. I blinked. 'Raise your hands' I stated as a few groaned and threw their hands up.
I looked around the room noticing a shy looking girl with peach coloured hair holding her hand up.
'You there with the peach coloured hair' I said as the girl blushed furiously.
'Is… your brother Sasuke-san?' she asked now almost as red as an apple. I smiled.
'Yes Sasuke-kun is my baby brother and Itachi-kun is also my younger brother and we have met.' I said as a few of the hands in the room fell. I noticed one boy was waving his hand erratically and nearly hit one of his neighboring class mates.
'Yes you with the brown hair and red glasses' I pointed to him as he grinned.
'Will you go out with me?' he demanded as the class burst into laughter. I giggled.
'No, I actually I'm seeing someone currently. Thanks for the thought though.' I said as the boy didn't seem put out in the least as he high fived a raven haired kid beside him. The room still had hands up as I looked and saw the flinty red head staring at me with a critical look. 'yes you with the red hair' I said as the entire class went silent. Obviously this kid was feared. Maybe he was a bully?
'What rank are you?' He asked as I smiled and looked at Iruka who covered his amusement with a cough. He waved at me to continue as I pulled my hair back behind my ears.
'Where I come from I am a Dragon level assassin. In terms for here I am on par with your Anbu team captains.' I said as chatter broke out amongst the children.
'So you're higher than a jounin?' Nobu gasped as I nodded. He seemed in awe of me as a kid who looked like a member of the Inuzuka clan piped up.
'If you're such an elite ninja why are you teaching us?' he piped up as I sighed. The class fell silent waiting for my answer.
'I was kidnapped from Konoha on a mission and tortured for information about Konoha that I did not know and have been assigned as your new student teacher until I recover' I said as the entire class was actually hanging off my every word.
'You're so much cooler than Iruka-sensei!' Nobu grinned as Iruka coughed. I rolled my eyes.
'Not really, Iruka-sensei has saved more than a few fellow ninja in his time. I just ravel around and help various villages' I stated as Iruka blushed slightly at the compliment.
'But you're an Uchiha!' someone shouted as I whipped around to look at the class.
'Yes so? I'm also half Hyuuga. Just because I have an interesting family lineage doesn't determine how proficient and skilled you are as a ninja. You have to want to be a ninja more than anything and take whatever training is thrown at you without complaint. So if I hear anyone whining about this being stupid or I've already done this at home. Do it anyway. Practice is everything. Practice today so you can survive tomorrow.' I smiled at them as Iruka clapped.
'Very good Yuki-sensei. You brought about our first lesson of today. Practice. Now did all of you have your parents sign your permission slips for the field trip to training ground two?' Iruka asked as there was a flurry of paper and short students streaming up to hand their teacher their permission slip.
'Who are we going to see fight today Iruka-sensei?' One girl with white hair in pigtails asked as Iruka looked at me with a bit of concern.
'Well first Kiko-chan its sparring and we were going to see Kakashi-senpai spar with Asuma-senpai.' Iruka said as I smiled and looked at Nobu who was desperately trying to get my attention. He gave me his permission slip and grinned like a mad fool as the panda girl gave me hers as did a few others. I gave them to Iruka as he gave me an apologetic look.
'Alright everyone let's go!' Iruka said as the group filed out. Iruka took the lead as I followed along behind. Nobu, the peach coloured haired girl who I learned was called Momo, Kiko, and a loud girl named Sara who seemed to want to compare every aspect about me to her.
'So do you curl your hair or let it dry naturally?' Sara asked as I looked at her.
'This is my natural hair I don't do anything to it' I said as Sara laughed.
'really? I straighten my hair every morning! Otherwise it gets a frizzy and I cant do anything with it.' She said as I looked at the girl she couldn't be more than 11 or 12. I noticed Momo hadn't said anything as I put my hand on her shoulder.
'Hey Momo-chan have you ever watched people spar? I asked as she shook her head.
'My mother doesn't think becoming a kunoichi is a fitting job for a lady.' She whispered as I gave her a reassuring pat on her shoulder.
'Maybe not but what do you believe? If you really think that being a kunoichi is the one thing you want most in the world then go for it.' I said as Momo looked at me with large sapphire eyes as she smiled.
'Thanks Yuki-sensei' she grinned as Sara looked put out.
'My family has been shinobi for generations.' Sara boasted as Nobu looked at her.
'Oh put a sock in it. Yuki-sensei is from two of the greatest shinobi houses in Konoha and she already said family lines mean nothing!' Nobu stated as Sara looked thoroughly put out as Kiko grabbed my hand and held on. We passed over a little bridge and found ourselves outside of training ground two. Iruka led the class in past the large chain link fences as he ordered them to wait by the large tree as we both secured the fence.
'I'm sorry about this Yuki-san I had no idea until this morning that Tsunade had ordered the two of them to spar for our class.' He apologized as I shrugged and went to stand by the tree. Just for extra support I took another one of my anxiety pills as Kiko gave me a strange look.
'pain medication' I explained as she nodded.
'I read that people usually suffer from anxiety after torture. Have you had any panic attacks or unusual pain?' Kiko asked looking at me with eerie dark eyes. I raised an eyebrow.
'Yes I do have anxiety problems currently which is one reason why I'm teaching not out on missions. Are you studying to be a medical ninja Kiko-chan?' I asked as the girl nodded.
'I want to be like Tsunade-sama or Sakura-san. They're the best medical shinobi in the world!' she exclaimed as I smiled and ruffled her hair.
'That's a great aspiration. Would you like to meet Sakura-chan some day?' I asked a Kiko's eyes went wide.
'you know her?' she asked as I nodded.
'I live with her I could ask her to come and talk with you if you want' I said as Kiko looked like she was going to explode with excitement.
'Yes please Yuki-sensei!' she exclaimed as Iruka walked over.
'What's this?' he asked a Kiko turned to her teacher.
'Yuki-sensei is going to let me meet Sakura-san!' she exclaimed as Iruka grinned and looked at me with a smile.
'That's awesome Kiko-chan but you sparring partners are here and the match is about to begin so you better hurry for a good seat.' Iruka said as Kiko hurried off to sit beside Momo. Iruka turned back to look at me with a sad look. 'You don't have to watch if you don't want to.' Iruka said as I sighed and nodded.
'I'll probably stay but I'm going to watch from the tree' I said as Iruka nodded. Plus watching from the trees gave me a better view of the kids to make sure they were paying attention. I jumped into the tree and found a wide enough branch that I could sit and watch not only the fight but the children as well as I had a great deal of chestnuts to hit the kids with if they misbehaved.
I looked into the clearing as Asuma stood watching Kakashi approach reading his infamous orange book. My heart nearly stopped as he looked up to see me. He seemed a little startled before walking over to where Asuma stood. Iruka introduced the two jounin as Kakashi set his book away and pulled up his forehead protector so that the sharingan fixed on Asuma.
The match began.
I never noticed how lithe Kakashi was. He was like water flowing effortlessly from attack to dodge like water over stones. Asuma was more brash using his brute strength to attack where as Kakashi used his long athletic frame to move faster than Asuma. Kakashi managed to strike Asuma with a lightning fast strike to the chest.
I had to turn on my own sharingan to keep up with Kakashi as he moved faster and faster in an attempt to confuse Asuma. I was amazed at Kakashi's grace. For such a tall man I knew he was fast on his feet but I never noticed how he could twist, bend and fold his body with such lightning fast moves but at the same time be in complete control. It was amazing to watch as I hit Nobu with a chestnut to keep him focused and not pestering the panda girl.
Kakashi at one point kicked Asuma in the hip as the other jounin blocked. Sharingan locked with sharingan as a wave of extreme confusion, longing, love, and exhaustion hit me. I gasped as Kakashi's gaze broke with mine and he brought his other foot around to connect with Asuma's hand knocking his special blades from his hands and ending the match.
My anxiety pill kept me from having an attack right then and there as the entire class erupted into cheers. Kakashi took out his book and walked away, jumping over the fence and kept walking as Asuma got off of the ground and went over to answer any questions.
'Yuki-sensei!' Asuma waved as I smiled and jumped down landing amongst the students. A few of them jumped as I told them to stand and ask questions about what they saw.
Asuma seemed to like answering the kids questions. It was nice seeing him so comfortable with kids especially when he was about to have his own running around silly little ankle biters. I listened and waited as Iruka and the students asked Asuma about his blades, Kakashi's eye, and the different weapons that they had used such as Kunai, explosive tags, and shuriken.
Iruka thanked Asuma and asked him to pass it on to Kakashi as Asuma agreed and Iruka collected up his students. Asuma came over to talk with me as he leant against the tree lighting a cigarette.
'How are you holding up?' he asked as I shrugged fighting back the reaction to cough at the smoke blowing into my face.
'Better than I was two days ago. At least I can walk now. But Kakashi-kun's avoidance is making me a little on edge. So far I like teaching I haven't really done anything other than talk about myself though' I laughed as Asuma nodded taking a draw on his smoke.
'Well that's good. You were pretty messed up when you came back we weren't sure if you were going to live or even come out of the coma you were in. But, I know for a fact that Valentine's day is going to be a special day for you.' Asuma winked as I raised my eyebrow. I knew Kakashi was planning something but who had he told?
'how's Kurenai-chan?' I asked as Asuma laughed and showed me the rather large bruise on his forearm.
'Volatile, the baby is due in about a month and her hormones are off the rocker. I hope Ino-chan and Sakura-chan are having fun looking after her. I gave up after I had a potted plant thrown at my head.' Asuma laughed as I shook my head. Kurenai had a temper and with her hormones ricocheting around her body it made her more irritable. 'Thanks for taking her to the hot spring though she really enjoyed that.' he said a little embarrassed as I smiled and punched him playfully in the arm.
'No problem. It was for me too I needed to stretch my muscles and get them accustomed to movement so I could walk. I'm glad she enjoyed it.' I said as I noticed Iruka's class was gone. I said good bye to Asuma and took off jumping from tree to tree at a slower pace than normal to catch up with Iruka's class.
They were just crossing the little bridge as I landed behind a group of the students. They jumped when I landed gasping in surprise at my sudden appearance.
'Where did you come from yuki-sensei?!' I assumed Kiba's cousin asked as I grinned.
'That is a ninja secret' I said as he looked put out as Kiko giggled. I looked up to see Iruka looking at me as if he wanted to talk to me. 'I have to talk with Iruka-sensei just a second' I said as they nodded and I trotted to the front of the group.
'Yes Iruka-sensei?' I asked as he slowed the pace of the group a little.
'I just wanted to tell you about today's lessons. I'm going to discuss the fundamentals of different jutsus and then were going out to practice those and throwing some shuriken at some targets at the back of the school.' I nodded as Iruka smiled.
'It really isn't hard you just have to know how to duck, dive and dodge.' He laughed as I grinned. Kiko ran over and grabbed my hand as did Momo. Nobu, Kiba's cousin who turned out to be Kouga when I asked him and the panda girl who was Kagome all hung off of me or around me as we walked back to the academy.
'Do you have any really cool scars like Iruka-sensei?' Kouga asked as I laughed.
'I do but most of mine are hidden under my clothes.' I smiled as Kiko looked at me.
'Why do you wear a mask?' Nobu asked as I smiled.
'First its part of my culture from Ice country that everyone who becomes a genin must wear a face mask when on missions. Most people just wear them no matter what. Plus I wear mine because I find it fun to wear.' I said as Nobu looked confused.
'Doesn't it get really annoying or itchy?' he asked as I thought about it.
'To tell you the truth no. I've never really noticed' I said as Nobu shrugged and ran off to talk with the flinty eyed red head whom I learnt was named Katsu. We got back into class and everyone settled as Iruka dumped a tsunami of tests and assignments that needed to be marked on me. I sighed and took a seat at one of the empty desks at the back of the room and got to work correcting papers.
Iruka went about his lesson and had the class show him their clone jutsus. I looked up to see Nobu struggling as I looked at his chakra flow. He seemed to be struggling to harness the feel of his chakra flow so when he made his jutsu his clone looked transparent and had no face.
'Nobu if you cant get this right then you're never going to be a genin. So far you have failed all of your attempts at any jutsu. Do you even spend time practicing?' Iruka was clearly frustrated as Nobu grinned.
'I know one!' he chirped as I rested my head in my hand. This would be good. This kid reminded me of Naruto so there had to be some outrageous jutsu he had created. 'Ready Iruka-sensei?' he asked as Iruka sighed and rubbed the scar on his nose.
'Just show me anything Nobu' he said clearly irritated as there was a plume of smoke and instead of Nobu standing there was giving Iruka the middle finger.
'NOBU!' Iruka lost it as he sent him out of the room laughing. Iruka sighed as the rest of the class stared at their teacher with slight fear. 'Let's continue' he said as I went back to marking. I had finished marking all of the assignments as I noticed that Katsu was the last to go. He executed three clones easily as I stood and went about putting every ones assignments on their desk based upon the seating plan. I noticed Nobu sadly only got a 64% on the test as I handed it back to him he cheered about not failing as I handed Kiko hers. 100% she had even given excess information as I gave her back her test she grinned and stuffed it in her bag.
'Now class we're going outside to practice throwing shuriken and Jutsu that require space to execute' he said as the class all but ran out of the room. I guessed that this was their favorite part of the morning.
We went out to the back of the school where a bank or archery targets were set up. They looked rather old and beaten but if the worked that was all that mattered.
'Ok first we're going to work on our jutsu. Now most of you have already mastered the basic clone jutsu but I'm giving you two minutes and you have to use you hiding jutsu. Yuki-sensei and I are going to come find you. Now GO!' All the students took off as I raised an eyebrow at Iruka. He had a timer going as I looked at him.
'What are you going to do about Nobu-kun he doesn't seem like he understands how to channel his chakra properly' I said as Iruka nodded.
'I've tried teaching him but he's like Naruto and can only learn by doing. Plus he doesn't practice and he's headstrong. I'm going to make him write lines this evening after class. Do you have any ideas on how I can teach him?' he asked as I shook my head until the familiar face of Kakashi swam into my minds eye.
'Ask Kakashi-kun, he's had to deal with Naruto for the last…5 years or so. He might know a way to teach Nobu-kun' I said as Iruka looked like I had just told him that his desk was made of gold.
'That's a great idea!' he said as the timer went off and we went to find the students. Most of them were easy to find seeing as they hid themselves in shrubs and bushes and still didn't have the finesse to completely hide their chakra. I doubled back to count and see who we were missing. Katsu, Kagome, Kiko and Momo had not been found yet as I walked up the side of the school. Most of the students though it was so cool as I noticed a flicker and a slight chakra flare from beside me as I grabbed whoever was hiding on a window ledge using a transparency jutsu as I grabbed them. Kiko screamed and flailed as I had to grab her to keep her from falling.
'STOP!' I snapped as she went still. I sighed and walked back down the wall and set her on the ground. That's when I saw a flash of cream in the tree above me. I jumped and grabbed Momo as she screamed and I landed placing her beside Kiko. The two girls giggled and ran to join their classmates as I shook my head as I saw Iruka bring Kagome down from the cliff face as I heightened my senses looking for Katsu. I felt a slight chakra flare from my right as I heard something whistle toward me. I jumped landing on the wall and ran at the place where the shuriken had come from. I heard Iruka yelling as I jumped sideways pushing off from the wall. I grabbed Katsu and felt him make a substitution as I used a nearby tree to rebound pushing off and grabbing the kid and landing in front of Iruka. Katsu looked pissed that I had managed to catch him as I sighed and sat down on the grass. I hurt everywhere from that little stunt as I lay down and groaned.
'Oh man that was so AWESOME!' there were cheers and shouts as I lay on the ground wondering why I had done that as every fiber of my being screamed at me.
'Are you alright?' Iruka asked as I lay on the ground.
'Just give me a minute' I said as he nodded helping me to my feet. I laughed as Iruka steadied me and took most of my weight on himself.
'Don't push yourself too much Yuki-san' Iruka whispered as I felt a rather large chakra flare from behind me as I turned to see a flash of silver, orange, green, and black disappear up the side of the school. So Kakashi was spying on me. How cute. I recovered enough to walk on my own as Iruka congratulated the girls on being the best at hiding and scolded Katsu for throwing a shuriken at me when I was still recovering from severe internal wounds. Most of the students were amazed that I could do anything like what I had without dying after Iruka explained that I was teaching because I wasn't well enough to do missions.
We moved onto shuriken throwing which was more of a training session in ducking, diving, dodging and throwing students out of the way as the deadly little metal stars flew through the air.
'Iruka-sensei!' one girl screamed as I caught the shuriken Nobu had thrown that had taken a sharp right turn at the last second. I sighed as I felt one slice my arm. I sighed and pulled the sharp little instrument out and applied pressure to the wound. Kagome had her hands over her mouth and looked near tears.
'I'm so sorry Yuki-sensei!' she gushed as I healed the little cut. She didn't have much power yet so it wasn't deep.
'It's alright Kagome-chan remember practice makes perfect' I said as Kouga was showing off and threw the shuriken backwards I dove into the dirt grabbing Kagome and Kiko with me as Iruka threw two of the other students out of the way and jumped backward as the shuriken landed with a thud in a nearby tree.
'KOUGA!' I snapped lying in the dirt as kagome and Kiko looked like they might cry.
'um..oops?' he grinned as I glared at him.
'Do you want me to bring Kiba-kun here and make you throw shuriken at him?' I demanded as he suddenly went extremely pale.
'What about my Yuki-chan?' Kiba called jumping the gate as he noticed my lying in the dirt. 'what happened?' he looked around then at the scared looking Kouga.
'Kouga-kun here thought it would be fun to throw a shuriken backwards' I said as Kiba gave his cousin a feral look. Kouga looked like he was going to pee himself as Kiba gave him a very unimpressed look. Kouga's puppy that I noticed looked like a little wolf cringed under the older Inuzuka's look.
'Kouga, listen to Iruka-sensei and Yuki-chan. I will have to tell aunt Kikyo about this.' He said as Kouga looked near tears.
'I'm sorry!' he apologized as I put a hand on his shoulder.
'It's alright. Just never do that again. Never make a move that can cause more damage to your comrades then the enemy. Ever.' I said as Kouga nodded through his tears.
'baby' I heard Katsu whisper as I rounded on him.
'I dare you to say that again Katsu' I said as the red head looked at me.
'I said 'baby'' he stated as I glared at the young man.
'What family are you from?' I asked as he glared up at me.
'Nara' he said as I nodded. He was probably Shikamaru's cousin as Kiba snorted.
'He's a great deal more snippy than Nara is. Doesn't seem nearly as lazy either' Kiba laughed as Katsu rounded on him with icy eyes.
'You're on thin ice there Kiba-kun' I said as he waved me off.
'oh well I'll drop by and talk to Nara too. Seems like you have your hands full this year Iruka-sensei. Well I'll see you later oh and Yuki-chan Sasuke and Chouji said to meet them at Ichiraku after work.' He said giving me a hug and disappearing with Akamaru on his heels.
'Well that was random. But at least you don't have to call their parents now' Iruka said as we packed up and headed inside for lunch. I nodded. Kiba was a good guy, coarse and rude but still I liked him as a person.
Iruka and I headed to the teachers lounge for Lunch as we met up with Shikamaru, Genma, and surprisingly most of the other jounin teachers minus Kakashi.
'Yuki-san, you beautiful blossom of youth. You are alright and teaching what a noble cause for your talents while you are recovering from your horrendous affair!' Gai exclaimed as he flashed a smile and I swear I went blind. As a teacher's aid screamed and ran into the wall. I grabbed a pair of sunglasses off of the table and put them on.
'Nice to see you too Gai-san' I said as he grinned and struck the most awkward pose I had ever seen in my life. I sat down on the couch beside Shikamaru and sighed. It was so nice to sit down and relax as Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the cut in my uniform.
'Kagome flicked her wrist throwing shuriken and made it turn right at the last second and I had to block another student' I said as he nodded.
'I heard my cousin Katsu is giving you some problems.' He commented as I sighed.
'He's like how Sasuke was in your class Shikamaru-kun' Iruka said as the teen sighed and looked back at the papers he was grading.
'Troublesome. Did Kiba go and talk to the families?' he asked as I nodded and he sighed. 'Katsu is going to be in a world of trouble from his mother' he commented as Iruka laughed.
'Your family always seems to pick the most volatile women' Genma laughed as Shikamaru shook his head.
'I call it a family curse.' He said as I laughed realizing he was dating Temari and she was not a mild tempered woman in any sense.
'Aw, Temari-chan isn't bad. She can be really sweet. Give her some Cacti blooms for valentines day she'll love you forever. Yellow is her favorite colour as a heads up' I said as Shikamaru looked at me.
'Temari-chan has never been very loving more so violent. Are you sure cacti blooms will work?' he said as I nodded.
'Ask Ino-chan the flower shop just got a massive supply of flowers in and she especially ordered yellow cacti blooms. Tell Ino-chan I sent you and she might even give you a discount because it's Temari-chan' I winked as Shikamaru blushed slightly. I looked up to notice every man in the room was looking at me. 'What?' I asked as Asuma laughed. I hadn't noticed he came in as Iruka cracked a grin, Gai gave me a thumbs up, Genma grinned and even a few teachers I didn't know were smiling at me.
'Hey since you're giving out valentines day advice what do you think I should get Kurenai?' Asuma asked as I grinned wickedly.
'Well you gave her poppies didn't you? Well I'd say daffodil's for Kurenai-chan' I said as Asuma nodded. I looked at Genma.
'I'm not telling you anything man whore' I stated as everyone burst out laughing. Even Genma seemed amused as he shrugged.
'Red roses always work for me for both sexes' he said and winked as I rolled my eyes. I liked rare flowers but I guess he really wasn't looking for a complex woman or man just someone to sleep with him. Gai and Iruka kept silent as I assumed they didn't have anyone for valentine's day. It was sad really as I thought that I'd drop by the flower shop tonight and send them both yellow roses for friendship and get Ino to drop them off for me.
'What about you Yuki-san, what are your favorite flowers?' Iruka asked as I sat back and thought for a minute. Flowers. Wow I really never thought about it.
'Hm… I would have to say orchids, snowdrops, and Lilac' I said thinking of all of the flowers I had seen in my travels. 'I don't know if you can get any of those flowers here' I said as Iruka shrugged but wrote them down. Oh what was the little teacher up to now? I opened my lunch and munched away laughing at the various tales the teachers told about their students and the random moments they'd had.
The rest of the day passed in a flurry of paper work history lessons and tactical lessons as I helped Iruka pack up all of his stuff and my stuff that I would have to mark tonight.
'Thanks for splitting the work Yuki-san its really nice to have you here' he said as I smiled.
'I'm enjoying this even with some of your more mouthy students' I laughed as Iruka laughed too. We split ways as I headed for Ichiraku. I lifted my bag with all of my paperwork as Kiko and Momo ran past me.
'Sorry Yuki-sensei!' they yelled giggling as I turned to see Nobu looking rather confused and Katsu just plain annoyed as a group of girls tagged along behind him. I smiled and turned the corner to see Sasuke, Kiba, and Chouji stood outside Ichiraku. Sasuke was silent as the other two teens chatted as Sasuke waved when he saw me. I smiled and met up with them.
'Hey what did you guys want to meet me about?' I asked as all three of them grinned rather evilly. 'Uh guys?' I asked as Kiba grabbed my arm and dragged me into a weapons shop.
'Now pick out anything!' Chouji said as I noticed Naruto, Shino, Kankuro, Gaara, Neji and Lee were all standing in the store.
'why are you guys doing this?' I asked as most of the boys had the grace to blush.
'No reason. We just thought it would be a nice gift to give you for valentine's day from all of us.' Naruto said as I smiled.
'Awww thanks guys!' I said looking around the shop as I noticed a Tanto high up on the wall. It was the same red colour as Akane with blossoms carved into the sheath and in the hilt as I wondered what had happened to my beloved sword after I had been kidnapped. It was probably broken or lost. Sasuke caught sight of me staring at the Tanto as he grabbed it from its place on the wall. I held it and noticed it was perfectly balanced and it was a chakra blade. It was an expensive piece of weaponry as I put it back. There was no way that even if they all pooled their money together that they could afford the blade.
I looked around the room as I noticed Sasuke, Naruto and Neji conversing in a corner as Chouji and Lee were talking to me about a pair of senbon needle hair sticks. I decided to buy them as Lee grabbed them and ran to the counter as Shikamaru waltzed in apologizing for being late as Neji waved him over. I wondered what they were up to as Lee returned with the hair sticks. I thanked all of them and put my hair up with them. They all seemed to like my choice as I grinned.
'Yuki-chan!' I heard Ino come into the store as I blinked as did the boys. Ino grinned at all of them. 'Sorry boys but I have to steal Yuki-chan!' she gushed as I blinked and was dragged out of the weapons shop.
'Where are we going?' I asked as Ino grinned and dragged me into the flower shop. It was really busy as Ino dragged me past the flower coolers and into the back room that was filled with boxes of flowers and was air conditioned. Ino closed the door behind her and grinned.
'Oh my goodness you'll never guess who came into the store about an hour ago!' she gushed as I guessed.
'uh….Itachi?' I asked as Ino gave me a dark look.
'No! not your brother, Kakashi-sensei! He placed a huge order too! Ooh… I'm so excited but mother wouldn't let me see what he wrote in the card.' She giggled as there was a knock on the door and Sakura stuck her head in.
'hey your mother wants more red roses up front and I came as soon as Temari-chan told me' she giggled as I helped Ino carry three armfuls of roses out to the front coolers of the store.
'Everyone seems to be giving me stuff lately its rather scary.' I said as Sakura shook her head.
'No not really. You've really changed a lot of people for the better here. Iruka-sensei is more open and I even saw him on a date the other day with Kairi from the Anbu division last week. All of the boys are amazed at how nice you are to Sasuke and Naruto and actually give the younger generation the time of day. Plus you have the one man that everyone thought would die alone trailing after you and have changed him so much its frightening.' Sakura smiled as Temari nodded.
'Which is why all of the girls pooled our money together and went out today and bought you a few gifts.' Ino giggled as I was worried. What did they get me? Judging by Ino's sluttish look and Sakura's giggles it was something inappropriate. I sighed as I told the girls about Shikamaru probably coming in to order flowers for Temari either today or tomorrow so to save any yellow cactus flowers they may have. Ino gushed again over how she loved valentines day as I saw Kiba come into the store with Naruto who looked more than a little nervous.
I walked out and greeted them as Kiba blushed and Naruto stammered a hello.
'Here to get flowers for Hinata?' I asked as Naruto nodded and Kiba grinned. 'Who are you here for?' I asked Kiba as he grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.
'well, uh, you see… um… I'mheretogetflowersforIno-chan' Kiba breathed as a wicked grin slid onto my face. I hugged him as he went bright red.
'Just give me a second!' I said disappearing into the back room where Ino and Hinata were waiting shifting through boxes of flowers. 'Hey Ino-chan what are you favorite flowers?' I asked as Ino looked around the room.
'I'd have to say Orange blossoms and purple heather' She smiled as I nodded. I did like orange blossoms and heather just was annoying.
'What about you Sakura, and Hinata and TenTen?' I asked as Sakura bounced forward.
'I know Hinata loves Queen Anne's lace and sunflowers. I love cherry blossoms and forget-me-nots and I know TenTen has always loved tiger lilies and daisies.' Sakura smiled as I nodded and remembered I wanted to place orders with Ino.
'Oh Ino-chan that reminds me I wanted to place two orders of yellow roses and elderberry blossoms for both Gai-san and Iruka-kun' I said as Ino giggled and ran out of the room to place the order. I followed at a more sedate pace as I noticed Naruto and Kiba were now talking to Sasuke and Neji. I grinned and made my way over.
'I think I can help you boys.' I said keeping tabs on Ino and Sakura as I told them what each of their girlfriends or prospective girlfriends wanted in the way of flowers.
'hey boys!' Ino smiled as they all smiled at her. She giggled and teased them about never seeing them in the flower shop before.
'Some of us never had a reason' Kiba said with underlying warmth that made Ino blush. I grinned as I saw Asuma walk in. I excused myself and walked over to the broad shouldered jounin.
'Hey Asuma-kun!' I called as he looked over at me. I was about the same height as Anko as I came to stand roughly just under his nose as I sighed. I hated being so short. Even Sakura and Hinata were the same height as me and I had 8 years on them! Totally unfair.
'Hey! I didn't know you'd be here.' He smiled as I nodded toward the cluster of boys laughing at something Ino or Sakura had said. I smiled as Asuma placed his order with Ino's mother.
'So how are the little terrors?' Asuma asked as I shook my head.
'I never want to do shuriken training with them ever again. It was bloody brutal' I sighed as Asuma shook his head.
'That was why I took on a genin team. Before that they're so difficult to deal with. You have to have an ocean of patience like Iruka-san.' He said as I nodded. Iruka was such a calm man it was amazing. I had never seen anyone who could keep their cool for so long.
'Well tell Kurenai-chan hello for me. I'm going to head home and do some paperwork' I stated as Asuma nodded and I left the little flower shop. My hair was falling down as I danced a little in the street. I had no idea why I was in such a good mood but why let it go to waste. I danced down the street as I knocked into a rather solid figure. I apologized only to noticed it was Kankuro as he looked down at me with a huge grin.
'Hey Sensei!' he laughed as I grinned.
'hey yourself what's up?' I asked as he shrugged and showed me the little trinket he had picked up for one of the Konoha girls he had a crush on. I giggled and gave him a hug as he blushed slightly under his war paint. I said good bye to him as I told him to say Hi to Gaara for me and that if he wanted to talk to me I was now at the Uchiha residence.
We split up as I headed home and locked myself in my room for the next four hours of marking that I shifted through between painting my nails, putting away my new spare uniforms and Ino and Sakura's present which happened to be a lovely violet dress and some rather interesting under garments that I actually tried on. I hated thongs, stupid butt floss as it took me 20 minutes to figure out how the hell to put on the lingerie and another 20 to get the black and purple corset baby doll laced up and the stupid little hooks slipped onto the garters. I looked like a stripper as I burst out laughing. I totally did not have the figure to be a lingerie model as I looked at all of the scars covering my body. Why anyone would want to wear this much lace was beyond me as I took off my mask tank and looked at myself. I really did look like Sasuke's sister with my mask off. Except for the rings of scars along my neck and the one that was parallel with my nose I looked damn hot I had to admit. I noticed I even had a nice little set of ruffles that fell off my butt like some weird waterfall and purple bows on my hips.
There was a knock on my door.
'Just a second!' I called throwing the dress over the lingerie, amazingly the dress hid the lingerie just as I noticed that the purple dress was rather slinky too cutting across one shoulder and ending in a long cut that swept opposite of the shoulder cut exposing the fishnet stockings I had on. I threw on my face mask too tucking it over my front. 'come in' I sighed as I noticed it was just Sakura as she squealed and jumped up and down gushing over how amazing I looked as Naruto dared to look around the corner. As soon as he saw me he spurted blood from his nose and fell to the ground twitching. I took that as A good sign as Sasuke came to investigate the noise.
When Sasuke saw me he went bright red and turned and left the room immediately. I burst out laughing as Sasuke dragged a muttering Naruto behind him away from my bedroom.
'I want to see the lingerie!' Sakura said closing my door and locking it as I stripped the dress off. Sakura sat on my bed as she gave me an annoyed sigh. 'Take off the mask!' she demanded as I shook my head.
'Why not?' Sakura asked as I sighed. I decided that Sakura was my closest friend here as I went over and closed the blinds on both of my windows.
'I'll show you but you must never tell anyone what you see alright?' I stated as Sakura nodded. I turned away from her and pulled off the mask. It was weird, it felt like I was naked as I turned around to face Sakura. She gasped as I wanted to throw my hands over my neck and face.
'Oh my god Yuki-chan you're so beautiful! Why do you wear that mask? You look exactly like Sasuke's mother she was so stunning.' Sakura was in awe as I looked at my face in the mirror all I could see were the scars that marred my neck and face that made me remember my fallen teammates.
'Cant you see these scars Sakura?' I whispered not looking at her as I traced the largest one.
'Yes, but every kunoichi has scars, that's no reason to hide your face' Sakura said as I sighed and looked away from the mirror.
'That's true but at least your scars don't remind you of how you were powerless to stop your entire team from being murdered because you were too slow and weak' I felt tears coming on as I choked them back. Damn I was still weak if I cried over someone seeing my scars. I felt Sakura hug me as I returned it.
'Yuki-chan believe me, I have more than my fair share of those scars on my body. From not being fast enough or strong enough to protect Sasuke-kun or Naruto-kun when they really needed it but I've grown and become stronger so that I can help them.' She said as I sighed. I knew she was trying to make me feel better but there was a key difference between Sakura and I.
'I appreciate your concern Sakura-chan but the difference is that Sasuke-kun who is more precious to you than anything else is still alive. That was taken from me because I couldn't defend myself or him and he sacrificed himself to save me. Naruto, your best friend, is still alive to laugh and go to the movies and train with You. My best friend was taken from me because I couldn't dodge fast enough and he took the attack to save me from harm. Sakura-chan I know that you understand loss. Your parents are gone, Sasuke disappeared once and you feared he was dead but you always had people supporting you. I never did. That's why I hide my face. I cant stand remembering that every single time I look in the mirror.' I said quietly as Sakura had tears streaming down her face.
She slapped me as I blinked and held my hand to my cheek. That was one good slap I could feel the bruise forming as Sakura gave me and angry look.
'You're exactly the same as Kakashi-sensei. You cant look past your friends and loved one's deaths to move on to be happy. You're going to kill yourself if you don't let this go!' she snapped as I sighed. I knew Sakura was right and I was much better at trying to live happily than I had been after they had died. I knew all everyone wanted was my happiness.
'I know Sakura-chan but I'm still going to wear my mask but if you want I'll take it off when I'm home with just you, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto-kun and maybe Kakashi-kun if he ever feels like talking to me again' I said as Sakura seemed to brighten at the thought.
'you're still amazingly hot' she laughed as I smiled and twirled around.
'I feel like a stripper' I teased pulling my leg up by my head as Sakura burst into giggles as I did a crazy little dance and attempted to salsa in the frilly lingerie. It was really funny
and embarrassing but I didn't care I was having fun.
I changed back into a baggy sweater and some Pj's pants putting my mask in my sweater's pocket and headed downstairs to finish my marking. I passed Naruto and Sasuke as I sat at the kitchen table and munched on an orange as I graded more history papers. Naruto wandered into the kitchen as he screamed when he saw me without my face mask. Sasuke jumped up to check out what was going on as he froze in his tracks. I smiled at them before going back to marking.
'Mask, face, Sasuke, mother' Naruto couldn't make a comprehensive sentence as I laughed and sat the two confused boys down. I tried to make Sasuke move as he suddenly grabbed me in a bone crushing hug. That's when I noticed he was shaking. I felt water soak through my shirt as I heard a muffled sob. Sasuke was crying as Naruto still seemed dazed.
'Sh, it's alright Nii-chan' I ran my hand over his back and through his hair. I knew it would be a shock for Sasuke to see my face especially since everyone kept saying I looked so much like our mother. I didn't know where Sakura was as Sasuke held onto me like I was a phantom about to vanish.
'Sasuke-kun?' I asked as he pulled away long enough to look at me critically. I gave a small smile as he actually gave a smile.
'You look so much like her it's frightening' he muttered as I hugged him and he hugged me back. I knew this is where I belonged as I sighed and Sasuke laughed. Actually laughed! When we let go I went back to marking as Sasuke sat beside me and asked various questions about the tests I was grading. Personally I didn't know much about the history of Konoha or about ninja's in general I was just going off of Iruka's answer sheet.