Chapter 35

I woke up several hours later, it must have been about lunch time. How did I know? I was starving. No one was in the room, I had those horrible hospital clothes on, and I was not liking it.

I look around for my clothes, there they were, folded up neatly on the bedside table. I get out of the bed, my wound only hurt the tiniest bit. Thus, I was perfectly fine and saw no reason to stay in the hospital any longer.
I get up and change back into my normal clothing, or should I say, my pyjamas because I never got dressed before we left the house earlier.

The bandages around my stomach felt firm too, that's what I hate about having nurses bandage me, they do it so tightly you could swear that it will eventually cut off your circulation.

After I got changed I open the door to become face to face with a nurse that was about to walk in. I frown.
"Ayama! What are you doing out of bed?" She asks.
"I'm headed out." I reply in a simple tone.
"Oh no you're not. Get back in that bed." She says. I shake my head. I've been tended to by this nurse before, and she wasn't the nicest one. "Now."
"No." I object. "Get out of my way, I wanna go on a mission." I plead in my drawling tone.
"GET BACK IN THAT BED NOW!" She demands.
"Never!" I reply, then somehow using my agility, I slide around her then take off down the corridor, half sniggering to myself.
"AYAMA!" She shouts.
"I'M PERFECTLY FINE!" I shout back then run straight out the exit.

I run straight back to Baki's house, get changed into my ninja attire then head out to the training grounds. I felt utterly full of energy.
"Kiyoshi!"I call, seeing him there. He turns around.
"Oh, Ayama-chan! Wanna train with me?" He asks. I nod.
"Yes! I would love to!" I exclaim. I look around. "Where's Ren? He's usually with you."
"I dunno, haven't seen him today." Kiyoshi says.
"Really? Odd."
"Yeah, probably has a mission or something." He says. I pout.
"I wish I had a mission." I grumble.
"Haha, don't we all? Anyway, let our training begi-"
"KIYOSHI!" Shouts someone. We both see Kiyoshi's mom standing there with her hands on her hips and tapping her foot.
"Oh no.." Kiyoshi murmurs. I look at his sudden pale face. His mom storms up to him and holds him up by the collar of his shirt.
"YOU ATE THAT LAST PIECE OF THE CAKE ON THE BENCH, DIDN'T YOU?" She questions. Kiyoshi raises his hands defensively.
"N-no mom! It wasn't me, I swear!" He implies. I smirk, knowing Kiyoshi as well as I do, there is no doubt he ate it.
"THEN WHAT'S THIS?" She questions, pointing to crumbs on his mouth. I could see the look on his face – 'shit'.
"I uhh-"
"HOME TO BED!" She roars, dragging him along the ground. I stood there watching, just watching. After they went out of sight, I stood there clueless. 'What do I do now?' I look around and see Chiyo walking by. I smile and run over to her.
"Chiyo-baasama*!" I chirp, walking beside her. She jumps a little.
"Oh, don't do that Ayama-chan. You scared me." She says, then cackles.
"Oh, my apologies." I reply.
"So what are you doing on this fine day?" She asks, looking up at the clear blue sky.
"Well that's just the thing.. I'm absolutely clueless." I answer. She looks at me and smiles.
"Then why don't you come over for a while? I can teach you some new puppet techniques." She says. My eyes light up and I smile big.
"Yes! That sounds great!" I imply. She smiles.
"Very well then, come on." She says.

I follow her back to her house. "Now Ayama, I'm going to show you something you may find interesting."
"Yeah? What is it?" I ask.
"It's called the Puppet Performance: Skilful Achievement with a Human Body." She says.
"Wow that does sound coo- uh, Ch-Chiyo I can't move." I exclaim, trying to move my arms. Then my left arm just moves on it's own, my index finger sticking up then points behind me. I was officially freaked out by this. Chiyo just cackles.
"It's because I have control over you." She says, my finger points again, so I turn around to see what it is pointing at. It was Chiyo, somehow she got behind me without me realizing. She had chakra strings attached to me. "This is the jutsu."
"Woah, so like, it's controlling an actual person!" I exclaim. Chiyo nods.
"Yes. But this technique requires a lot of dedication and a lot of hard work. It may seem easy, but truly it is not. It took me about 10 years to get it right." She explains. My jaw drops.
"10 Years?" I question.
"Yes, but that's just me. Remember I was around in the time of the Second Great Shinobi War, that took up a lot of my time. Thus, I would have learned this manoeuvre a lot more quickly if the war didn't exist. Also keep in mind that everyone varies." She explains. "And I also want to teach you a little about poisons."
"Poisons? Wow, my brain is gonna hurt Chiyo-san." I say, then she laughs.
"Yes, it probably will. But look on the bright side, at least once you have learned everything, you might even be eligible to become Kazekage one day!" She exclaims.
"K-Kazekage? N-no I don't think so. I don't think I'll ever be that good Chiyo.. uhh no offense of course." I say. She nods in understanding.
"You just don't think that path is for you." She says. I nod. "But there are also many other things you could become. Perhaps maybe even ANBU captain."
"Woah, really?"
"Yes!" She says, like she was trying to convince me. Just then Ebizo enters the room.
"Or like us and be one of the village's counsellors." He says.
"Oh don't be silly, she wouldn't be interested in that kind of thing. Ayama is a young girl, full of spirit." Chiyo says. Then I got an idea.
"Chiyo-san, do you think I could become like Yashamaru-sama? Like as a right arm for the Kazekage? I mean, his job seems pretty full on, and I like having action." I inquire. She smiles.
"But of course dear child!" She says. I smile.

One Year Later

(Someone has asked about the ages of everyone so at this particular point after the year later; Ayama = 15, Ren = 15, Kiyoshi = 15, Baki = 17, Sasori = 19, Temari = 2, Kankuro = 1, Yashamaru = 21. I hope that clears some things up for ya)

I am super excited. I had just mastered the Puppet Performance: Skilful Achievement with a Human Body technique Chiyo taught me. I felt ready for anything now, and as for the tutoring in poisons, lets just say I'm not the best studier in the world, but I have fairly good understanding about the most common poisons. Chiyo says it's important I know about this because she came across someone in Konoha once, and she refers to that girl as 'the slug girl'. Apparently the slug girl is a very advanced medical nin, and has come up for an antidote for all of Chiyo's poisons.

So there I was, walking home after a long day of learning. I felt quite strong now, like nothing could beat me. I smile to myself, yeah I was invincible. Just then a kunai struck the ground just a few inches in front of me, making me jump. The handle was pointing to the right, so I look in that direction. Seeing no one, I look up at the nearest building seeing someone on the roof waving at me. I tilt my head. "You need to learn to keep your guard up." The person says. I turn to him, watching him closely. I did not recognize him, not in this dim lighting of the sunset. The person jumps down and walks over to me.
"Yashamaru-sama?" I inquire. He laughs.
"What? Expecting someone else?" He asks, leaning down to grab his kunai.
"No, I just.. was't expecting that." I reply. He pockets the kunai then smiles at me.
"Well, come on." He says.
"What?"
"Kazekage-sama wants to see you." He says.
"Oh, at this hour?" I ask, looking at the orange sky. He nods.
"Yes, come on." He says, walking forward and beckoning me. I jog a few steps to walk beside him.

At the Kazekage's office, he seemed pretty busy. "Kazekage-sama, I brought her." Yashamaru says. The Kazekage looks up from his never-ending paperwork.
"Ah, Hatano." He says. My eye twitches slightly but I ignore it.
"Yes sir?" I ask. Yashamaru stands beside me.
"I have a mission for both you and Yashamaru." The Kazekage says. "You are to go to Konoha, and meet someone there. This person will give you a file with top secret information. However, he will not give it to just anyone. He will ask you a question, 'The moon shines bright?' and you are to not say anything else but 'The sun shines brighter' got it?" We nod.
"Yeah." I reply.
"Then after that you may engage in a small conversation, but try not to linger too long." He says.
"How urgently is this information needed sir?" Yashamaru asks. The Kazekage gives out a sigh of thought through his nose.
"I'll give you 9 days." He says. "No more than that."
"And what of Temari-sama and Kankuro-sama?" Yashamaru asks.
"I'm sure Karura is capable of taking care of them." The Kazekage answers. Yashamaru nods.
"When do we leave?" Yashamaru asks.
"Now."