Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Naruto.

Teacher

In the weeks following Sasuke's departure, Naruto is sent on a slew of missions, none of which last longer than a week, most of them even less than that. Meanwhile, I'm confined to the village, stuck with having to do therapy and spending time with Shikamaru, who's been ordered to take a break from active duty.

So Naruto gets all the fun of catching criminals, free cities from missing-nin and eat the Curry Of Life – okay, I'm glad I wasn't there for that one – and exterminating ghosts.

Neji and Tenten must have had a field day on that last mission, since Naruto is terrified of ghosts.

At least, I was cleared for training the week after Sasuke left. Naturally, Mom made good on her promise of putting me through training hell. Which has the nice side effect of keeping me from feeling too lonely with half of my team, including my boyfriend, gone.

Boyfriend.

I still can't believe Sasuke and I are together. It makes me giddy one moment and frustrated the next when I remember that he'll be gone for at least two years.

Though now is so not the moment to think about that, considering…

"Too slow!" Mom yells.

…considering Mom has her water whip out.

I flip backwards and launch a Water Bomb at her, but Mom's whip cuts through it long before it even gets close to her. The whip hits a nearby tree and blasts a large chunk of wood out of it.

"I appreciate your idea of motivating me to be faster," I gasp out, gluing myself to the underside of a branch. "BUT ISN'T THIS A BIT EXTREME?"

A hiss of air is my only warning and I drop from my branch as a clone appears on it, swinging a whip that cuts through the entire branch, which falls down right after me. I twist around in mid-air so I can leap away right after landing, but then the ground below me suddenly transforms into ominous black mud.

Okay, this just got messy.

I toss three kunai with explosive tags into the mud and kawarimi away.

The result is beautiful. Fire, mud and wood spray everywhere with a resounding boom. When it's over, everything in the clearing we trained in is covered in a thick coat of black sludge; the ground, the trees, their leaves, everything except the large crater in the ground.

For a moment, everything is silent, then Mom steps out from behind a tree, apparently not having been able to entirely evade the explosion, seeing as her right body half is seriously muddy.

"Alright, that's enough for today," she calls out. "Come out!"

Yeah, hell no.

Like I didn't notice there's someone else around. That mud-technique was definitely not Mom's – her secondary chakra nature is thunder, not earth. My guess is that Mom terrorised some poor guy - my money is on Tenzo - into helping her terrorise me.

I'm so not going to walk down there when it's so obviously a trap.

Besides, the point of the exercise was to come up with an escape strategy against an opponent stronger than me. Seeing as that wonderful explosion covered my replacement technique wonderfully and destroyed any evidence of me using it, I think I did well. And now I'm nicely hidden between an assortment of rocks, chakra cloaked and pretty much undetectable – I'd be stupid to give up that advantage.

Then again, staying in the same place for too long isn't exactly smart, either.

Besides, I'm hungry.


About twenty minutes later, I find myself at Ichiraku Ramen. It wasn't all that easy to evade Mom and her mysterious helper while escaping the training ground, but I have the incredibly useful advantage of being extremely good at stealth. Also, I doubt they'd expect me to take off into the village to eat ramen.

"Hi, Teuchi-jiisan!" I greet as I enter. "Two bowls of Miso Ramen, please."

"Coming right up, Riko-chan!" the man in question calls back. "Fresh back from training?" he asks with an amused look at my slightly scuffed and muddy outfit.

"You wouldn't believe just how fresh." I grin at him. "Don't be surprised if my Mom shows up to beat me up – I mean, to give me training."

He laughs. "As always, working hard. Will Naruto also be coming?"

"You mean, should you get ten bowls ready for him?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. "No, he's on a mission. I'm sort of on vacation."

"Ahh, I see." Teuchi places my order in front of me. "Here you go. Enjoy your food."

I thank him with a smile, break my chopsticks, and start eating.

Ahh, ramen. Just what I need right after a training session with Mom.

"Well, someone looks happy," a familiar voice remarks behind me. I grin and turn around.

"Hello, Iruka-sensei." I tilt my head. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Lunch break." Iruka gives me a wry smile. "It's less noisy here."

I laugh. "I can believe that. Would you like to join me?"

"Of course."

Iruka places his order while I happily slurp my noodles. "How have you been? I heard about the… incident."

I shrug. "There are good and bad days. I'm getting better though, and my family's been great. Mom's training me, I spend a lot of time with Shika, play shogi with Dad… I just miss my team. Naruto's always gone on missions these days, and who knows where Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke are."

"Ahh, yes. They went on a training trip, no?" Iruka asks, distractedly thanking Teuchi as his order is placed in front of him.

"Yeah," I say. A twinge of sadness makes me drop my smile and I brush my hand over my sword, like I've done every time I've thought of Sasuke not being here. "It's weird, half of the team is gone, and Naruto isn't around all that often anymore, either."

I suppose I should try to get used to the feeling. Naruto will leave soon, too.

"Well, I actually wanted to ask you something," Iruka says. "The teacher for Encryption & Decryption passed away recently. You're a chunin now, and that was your best subject when you were still an Academy student, so I was wondering if you'd be willing to take over that class for a while. You seemed to enjoy teaching a few months ago, and since you're stuck at the village… you don't have to if you don't want to, but-"

"Seriously?" I ask. "When can I start?"

Iruka blinks. "You'd do it?"

I give him a smile. "Yes! I've been feeling so useless, stuck with doing nothing but training. You're my saviour!"

Iruka laughs. "Well, I'd have to take care of some paperwork and go over some guidelines with you, but the sooner you can start, the better. We're spread a bit thin at the Academy these days."

I grin. "I've got nothing but time."


I get home in the early afternoon, paperwork and curriculum in my hand. On the porch, someone left a small bowl with milk.

"You do realise that Tenzo isn't a kitten, right Mom?" I ask as I walk into our kitchen. "That's supposed to be a Lion mask."

"Really? I couldn't tell," Mom says, bewildered. "Oh well. Good job on hiding from us earlier. Where've you been?"

"…blending in with citizens," I fib. "Uhm…" I wave the papers in my hand. "Iruka asked me if I wanted to work at the Academy for a while. Encryption & Decryption."

Mom raises an eyebrow. "Do you think you should do it?"

I hesitate. "I think… it would be good for me."

"Well, if you think so…" Mom says. "Though you should clear it with Inoichi."

"He said a while ago that I should find something to do besides training. Teaching a bunch of brats counts, right?" I ask. Mom looks unimpressed. I sigh. "I'll ask him later, alright?"

Mom nods. "See that you do. And don't think your having job will make me let you slack off in training."

"Wouldn't dream of it," I mutter. "Troublesome."


And so, three days later finds me in a classroom with Iruka, a bunch of munchkins staring at me with big eyes. A lot of them I still recognise – there's Hanabi-chan, who gave me the cold shoulder at first after my return until I explained to her what had happened, after which she forgave me for not being around and told me she wouldn't be keeping me from training. Also in the class is Udon from the Konohamaru Corps, though the other two members aren't around – Encryption is one of the subjects that are taught in smaller groups and have people from various different classes attending.

Also in the class is my younger cousin, Nara Chie, easily recognisable by her pineapple ponytail and her sleepy expression. As far as I know, she lives with her grandfather, who is Dad's uncle/cousin/something. I've seen her at a few family gatherings, though I didn't talk to her much – she tends to sleep through those meetings.

"I'm sure some of you remember Nara Riko," Iruka's voice rips me out of my musings. "She will be your temporary teacher in this class. Please hello to Riko-sensei."

A chorus of "Hello Riko-sensei," rings through the class. A few of the kids are whispering to their neighbours, probably asking them about me – not everyone here knows me. But there's a girl in the back row that is staring at me with big, hazel eyes from under a mop of fluffy chocolate brown hair. I've never seen her before, but she seems so familiar…

I clear my throat to introduce myself. "So, yeah," I say awkwardly. "I'm Nara Riko. I like my precious people and ramen. I dislike bullies and rabbits. My dream is to become strong enough to protect everyone I love. Also, I dream of all of you doing your homework and not playing pranks on my person. If you do prank me, I will prank you back. You have been warned."

Iruka grins. I kept my involvement in Naruto's pranks secret throughout my Academy years, but I'm fairly sure that Iruka at least suspected me.

"You heard Riko-sensei. Be good, she isn't as nice as me," Iruka tells the children. "And I'll hear all about how you behaved, so don't you dare cause trouble." He turns to me. "I'll leave you to it now. I'll come by after the lesson is over. Thank you for doing this, Riko."

"…I can't get over being called Riko-sensei. It's weird," I mutter back. Iruka smiles at me.

"You'll do fine. See you later, if I take any longer, my class is going to blow the building up."

"Ahh," I say. "Konohamaru's experimenting with gunpowder now?"

"Got it in one," Iruka mutters back, then he turns and hurries out of the room, leaving me with a dozen nine-year olds.

"So…" I say. "You all know my name now. I figure you should all introduce yourselves, too. You," I point at a random boy sitting in the front row. "You can start."

One by one, the children introduce themselves. I listen attentively and mentally take notes.

The girl that stared at me earlier is the third to last to introduce herself.

"I'm Tachibana Aimi," she says with a soft, sweet voice. Then she suddenly smiles a wide, innocent smile, and says something about liking flowers and making her brother in heaven proud, but I don't really hear her over the thoughts screaming in my mind.

Tachibana. That's Fumio's surname. She is... she is...

I never knew Fumio had a little sister. And now that I know, it's so bloody obvious. The hair, the eyes, that smile… the way she stared at me. She looks so much like him, it hurts to look at her.

Kami, Fumio had a little sister, and he's dead because he tried to save me, but I'm alive and I'm here and I'm her teacher and I don't know what to do.

The remaining two kids introduce themselves, but all that I note are their names.

"Alright," I say mechanically. "Since I don't know your current level, I've prepared a little test for you so I can find out." A series of groans sounds through the room. "Don't worry, it won't be graded. And the one who does best," I give them a grin. "Gets an all-you-can-eat coupon from Ichiraku Ramen."

The groans are replaced by excited whispers and determined looks. With the exception of my cousin Chie, who just lets her forehead drop on the desk in front of her.

I hand out the tests. Most of the students start working immediately, determined to win the prize. Fumio's sister takes the test, still staring at me with those huge hazel eyes, looking like she wants to say something but can't get the words out. That's a problem Fumio never had. His mouth always ran away with him.

I give her a tight smile and move on to the next person.

When all the papers are handed out, I sit down on the desk and watch the kids work. Most of them are still reading the questions while chewing on their pens of biting their lips. Hanabi stares at the paper in front of her so determinedly I'm surprised it hasn't caught on fire. Fumio's sister has a pen in her hand, it moves over the paper swiftly. Chie's head still lies on her desk, I don't think she's even looked at the test.

I flick my fingers in her direction and a small water projectile hits her skin. Her head snaps up and her eyes focus on me in what will be an impressive glare when she's older but right now looks kind of adorable. I give her a pointed look and she rolls her eyes and pulls the testing paper toward her. A moment later, her eyes snap back to me with a sharp look. I wink at her, she suddenly smirks back and starts writing.

Apparently, she liked that I gave her a more… challenging test than everyone else.

But it doesn't help me decide what to do about Tachibana Aimi. And I have to do something, I owe that to Fumio. But what can I do? I don't really have the time to look after her, I hardly have time for even Hanabi.

My thoughts get interrupted by a very familiar squeaky voice that makes me want to slam my head into the nearest brick wall.

"Hi there!" the Flying Mint Bunny squeals as it flies into the classroom.

Oh God please no, I think.

"Riko-chan, let's play!" it exclaims, doing a pirouette in mid-air, followed by a barrel roll.

Let's not play.

"Hide-and-Seek is fun!" The stupid thing flies in a circle around my head. I do my best not to acknowledge it, lest I look like a lunatic for talking to things only I can see. "Or Fox-and-Rabbit!"

"Later," I hiss softly. "I'm busy!"

"Ohhh, what are you doing?" It stops flying around and instead settles on the teacher's desk, wings folded neatly on its back. "Can I help? Can I? Can I?"

I shake my head sharply. "Later," I whisper.

"Okay! Later!" The Flying Mint Bunny hops off the desk, flies around the room a few times, then it disappears in a golden cloud. I stare after it blankly. Thankfully, no one else noticed-

A soft giggle interrupts that thought.

Tachibana Aimi is giggling into her hands, wide eyes fixed on the spot where the Flying Mint Bunny just disappeared.

Well.

Shit.


The next day, I still have no idea what to do about Fumio's little sister, so I decide to just sort of wing it. Maybe I could ask Hanabi to keep an eye on her. Or Chie, though she might be a bit too lazy to actually do something.

"So," I clap my hands, the entire class' attention fixed on me. "The ramen coupons go to…"

Technically, they should go to Chie. But I doubt she wants the attention, if the threatening death glare she's levelling at me is any indication.

"Hyuuga Hanabi and Tachibana Aimi!" I announce. "You two have both reached the highest score, so you each get a coupon."

Hanabi shoots a sharp look at Aimi, who just blinks and gives her a sort of dazed smile back. Which seems to tick Hanabi off. The question, how did that weirdo get such a high score, is practically written on her forehead.

Well. It's better than outright disdain.

I clap my hands again to draw the class' attention back to me.

"Okay, let's get on with the lesson!"


"Riko-sensei?" Hanabi asks after class. "Can we go eat ramen together?"

I grin and ruffle her hair, making her jump back with a glare. Her hands run over her head to smooth the displaced strands, not that she needed to have bothered, her hair always looks perfect. "Don't do that!" she hisses.

"Sure, I'll go." I grin at her. "I haven't spent much time with you lately, have I, Hanabi-chan?"

"I don't mind," she mutters back, looking away with a light blush on her face. "It's not like I missed you or anything."

I sigh. Who does she think she's fooling?

After classes are over for the day, Hanabi and I make our way to Ichiraku's.

"So tell how you've been," I tell her after our food is placed in front of us. "I only know you've been doing well at school."

Hanabi shrugs. "Konohamaru is annoying. His," she sniffs disdainfully, "friends, even more so. They're loud and unmannerly."

I chuckle. "I can imagine. I've seen them in action. But, Hanabi-chan, friends are important, you know. And my best friend is a loud idiot who's obsessed with ramen."

"But Naruto-senpai is different!" Hanabi exclaims. "He's strong, Konohamaru is just loud and brags all the time! And transforms into," she scrunches her face up in disgust. "Naked girls."

I stare at her. "Naruto invented that move, you know. Oh kami, he taught that to Konohamaru?" I bury my face in my hands. "I swear, if he gives him an orange jumpsuit next, I'm going to do something drastic. I don't know what, but it'll be drastic, and I'll make my brother help me."

"Uh… Riko-sensei?" Hanabi asks hesitantly. "Are you alright?"

I look up. "Yes, yes. So, what else is new?"

"I tried talking to Nara Chie, since she is your cousin." Hanabi sniffs haughtily. "It was disappointing. She is lazy, unambitious, and rude. Nothing like you."

"…more like my brother," I mutter. "Hanabi-chan, don't be so quick to dismiss someone. Many people have hidden strengths."

Hanabi looks doubtful, but nods. "There is another girl named Tachibana Aimi. Her academic scores are close to mine, though her performance in practical classes is abysmal."

"Huh," I say. I didn't even have to ask Hanabi about Fumio's sister. "Have you tried making friends with her?" I ask.

Hanabi looks appalled. "No. She's weird."

"How so?" I ask curiously.

"She's…" Hanabi frowns. "Oblivious to everything around her. Always stares off into space, distracted by the smallest things. She doesn't even get it when someone insults her, just looks confused like an idiot! And she still gets good test results! It's vexing!" Hanabi rants.

…Doesn't sound like Fumio at all. Except for the 'oblivious idiot' part.

I should probably stop thinking of her as 'Fumio's sister'. Aimi is her own person.

"That does sound weird." I laugh. "Keep an eye on her, alright?"

Hanabi throws me a suspicious look. "Why?" she asks.

I shrug. "You never know who you might end up on a team with. And she does sound interesting," I fib.

Hanabi looks annoyed. "Fine. If you insist."

I reach out and ruffle her hair, feeling a little guilty for manipulating her. "Thanks. You're the best, Hanabi-chan!"

"Stop messing up my hair!"


Encryption & Decryption lessons only take place twice a week for each group. Which means I didn't expect to see Tachibana Aimi again for five days; but two days later, after classes are over for the day and I'm cleaning up the blackboard, the classroom door opens and she strolls in.

"Hi," she says. "I was wondering if we could talk about my dead brother. And the flying rabbit, but mostly about my brother. Though the flying rabbit is pretty interesting, too…" her voice trails off as she stares into space.

Oh God.

Now that was a conversation opener.

"Uhm," I say. "Well."

Her eyes focus back on me. "Hmm?" she asks.

"Uhhh…" I shift my eyes away from her face. Those sad eyes of hers are huge. They might just reach Naruto's puppy-eyes-level. "How about we discuss this over ramen?" I ask.

Aimi blinks in confusion. "Discuss what?" she asks.

I stare at her. She stares back. "…your dead brother?" I ask. "You came here to talk to me about him? And the Flying Mint Bunny?"

She blinks once. Slowly. "…yes. Ramen."

Oh wow. Now I know why Hanabi thinks she's weird.

BECAUSE SHE IS.

"Well!" I say with fake enthusiasm. "Let's go to Ichiraku's!"

"Uhm…" Aimi whispers shyly, shuffling her feet. "I forgot your name."

…Wow. Just wow. I suppose I should be impressed she actually made it to the classroom to talk to me, with that kind of attention span.

Somehow, the fact that she can see the Flying Mint Bunny doesn't strike me as shocking anymore.

"Just follow me," I sigh and turn to the door. "And I'm Nara Riko."

Her expression lights up. "Okay!" Then she pauses. "Where are we going again?"

I facepalm.


"So, about Fumio-nii?" Aimi asks after our meals are in front of us.

"What do you want to know?" I ask warily, absentmindedly stirring my noodles with my chopsticks.

Her eyes focus on me and suddenly seem all too knowing and far more intelligent than before. And I wonder how much of her previous demeanour was a façade.

"I want to know how he died," she says.

I sigh and place the chopsticks down. "Classified," I answer.

"But you know, don't you?" she asks. "It wasn't really an 'accident', like Mama and Papa were told, right? He went to that competition, and he died, and a month later we were invaded. There's a connection, isn't there."

I raise an eyebrow. So she isn't as oblivious as she acts. Good to know.

"Is that what they told you? That it was an accident?" I ask, trying to suppress a disgusted expression at the thought of Fumio's death being labelled an accident, when he should be remembered as a hero. Aimi only shrugs and looks away.

"Mama and Papa are civilians," she says softly. "Accidents are easier for them to accept than murder."

And then she starts serenely eating her Ichiraku's Special Surprise Ramen.

Kami, there is something wrong with this girl.

"Murder, huh?" I murmur. "I can't tell you what happened. But what I can tell you is that your brother died trying to save… someone. From a criminal a thousand times stronger than he was."

Aimi pauses in her eating and sighs softly. "Fumio-nii always was a little stupid," she answers quietly, weary in a way no seven-year old should be.

"Don't I know it," I mutter. "He was also… he was brave. A hero. I… wish I had known him better."

"He talked about you a lot," Aimi tells me. "Are you sorry that he died for you?"

I close my eyes. "More than you can ever imagine," I whisper. "How did you figure it out?"

She slides down from her stool and walks away. "Because he always said that he'd die for you," she throws at me over her shoulder. "See ya. I'll ask you about the flying rabbit some other time, Red-sensei."

...Great, she forgot my name again.


When I get home, Nara Chie is lying on the porch in all her nine-year old Nara-glory. She lazily cracks an eye open as I approach.

"So how did your talk with Crazy Aimi go, Neesan?" she asks.

I throw up my hands in exasperation. "Damn it! What is wrong with you?! You're kids! You should be playing or something, or sleeping! Not-" I flail my hands around, unable to come up with a way to describe what I mean. "-be like that!"

"Troublesome," Chie snorts. Then she yawns and closes the one eye she had open.

"What're you doing on my porch, anyway?" I ask.

A snore is my answer.

I facepalm.

"Kids these days," I mutter.


A week passes. I decide Hanabi-chan is the best kid ever, being (mostly) respectful and hardworking. Compared to Chie, who can best be described by the word 'uncute', and Tachibana Aimi who is just plain… weird, Hanabi is an angel. Always does her best in school, unlike those kids who only ever sleep (Chie) or stare into space vacantly (Aimi).

Naruto returns from his mission, and so do the rest of our former classmates. And they don't leave again, because apparently, there aren't any awesome C-rank missions available, so they have to do D-ranks or whatever administration comes up with to keep them busy. Which leads to the current situation.

All of us rookies with the exception of Shikamaru are assembled in Tsunade's office. Team Gai is there, too.

And Naruto is throwing a tantrum.

"No! No! No! No way in heck, dattebayo!" Naruto yells.

Can't even curse properly, so adorable.

"Why should I have to do some babysitting mission like that?!" Naruto shouts at Tsunade, who looks mildly annoyed.

Oh boy. He probably shouldn't piss her off when she's the one assigning the mission. It could turn out baaaaaadly.

The mission being to take a team of Academy brats and watch over them in a survival exercise for two days and one night.

"I don't care what you say! I refuse, Baachan!" Naruto growls.

"The team organisation has already been announced to the students," Tsunade says calmly and holds up official-looking sheets of paper.

"Don't care!" Naruto retorts brattily. "I want to train, get stronger and-"

"-I'll become Hokage someday, dattebayo?" Tsunade finishes sweetly. Naruto freezes. "A Hokage would never betray the expectations of his adorable juniors, would he? To become a squad leader, issue instructions, protect the life of your men and promptly carry out your mission… I thought this mission I'm giving you guys would be ideal practice for becoming Hokage."

"Hook, line, and sinker," I mumble. Tsunade shoots me a warning glare. "What? He isn't listening anyway." I nod at my best friend who is clenching his fists and staring at the ground.

"Ideal practice for becoming Hokage…" he mutters. "Ideal practice for becoming Hokage…"

I raise an eyebrow at Tsunade. "Told you so," I mouth.

She looks mildly disbelieving. "Well, Naruto, if you're going to be like that, then I guess it can't be helped, I'll have to find someone else, it's too bad-"

"NO!" Naruto screams, waving his arms frantically. "Kidding, kidding, kidding, just kidding!" He lunges forward and snatches the papers from Tsunade's grasp. She smirks victoriously. "Say so sooner, Baachan! Practice for becoming Hokage… yeah, yeah, that sounds nice, dattebayo…."

"He fell for it," Kiba mutters disbelievingly from next to me. "He actually fell for it." He snorts. "So naïve."

"Now then! My adorable team members are…" Naruto announces excitedly. Then his expression falls as he reads the names on the paper. "NOOOO!"

Yeah. Judging from his reaction and recalling how few Academy brats he knows… it's probably the Konohamaru Corps. AKA the most annoying group of kids in the whole of Konoha.

Tsunade smirks. "You meet your teams tomorrow at ten."

I raise my hand awkwardly. "Uh, Tsunade-sama, why am I here? I'm off duty."

"And I'm Hokage, and I feel sorry for you." Tsunade raises an eyebrow at me. "You get a team to lead, too."

"A mission? Really?" I grin. "Thank you! I was getting bored!"

"Yes. Hyuuga Hiashi would not allow his daughter to join in an overnight camping trip unless she was guarded by a chunin." Tsunade rolls her eyes. "Which you are. And I hear you get along with him fabulously. So you have the honour of leading her team."

"Wow. You're such a good person. I'm touched," I deadpan, but can't contain an excited grin. I get some exercise, an actual mission, and time with Hanabi, awesome.

"Hanabi-sama, guarded by her?" Hyuuga Neji speaks up and glares at me. "I would sooner leave her with Naruto!"

"Oi! Don't talk like that to Ri-chan – Hey! What's that supposed to mean!" Naruto – predictably - shouts.

"It means," I say nonchalantly. "That Neji-san is a bit of a sore loser, since his team lost the bet and we proved ourselves to be stronger than them, when we kicked their asses during the chunin exams."

I get the Death Glare from two thirds of Team Gai. Lee on the other hand frowns at Neji. "Neji-san! A man must accept his losses. It is most unyouthful to say such things!"

Neji's glare at me intensifies. "I merely doubt her ability," he says in a measured tone.

"Right," I deadpan and point dramatically at him. "Because Your Eyes Cannot Be Fooled!"

Naruto and I high five and break into juvenile laughter. Neji's cheeks darken and he abruptly turns and marches out of the office with a "By your leave, Hokage-sama," thrown over his shoulder.

"What the hell," Kiba mutters. Naruto and I just laugh harder.

Ahh, good times.


A/N: Woohoo! I'm back to writing.

So I know I said there was only one chapter left, but that one chapter kept getting longer, and longer, and longer. So now you get this chapter, which is sort of fillerish, and next chapter, which has a bunch of action in it, and an epilogue.

Aaaand, since nothing much happened in this chapter, you get a bonus. Multiple people have asked for chapter 48 from Itachi's POV, so here it is! The answers to the questions you asked me will be published with the next chapter.


Itachi

It doesn't take long for the rumours of the Sound going after two genin of Konoha to reach Uchiha Itachi.

It's so very obvious who those genin must be. Nara Riko, who carries the Cursed Seal and whom he failed to kill – though he didn't put as much effort into trying as he could have – and Sasuke, his younger brother.

He needs to find out what happened and where Sasuke is now. Orochimaru cannot get his hands on his brother.


He tracks them to Rice Country. They weren't easy to find, but he used to be an ANBU captain and as skilled as the two of them are, they aren't at that level. Yet, anyways.

It's deep night when he finds their hiding place, an underground cave. This close, he can sense their chakras – Sasuke's barely there, Nara Riko's weakened as well. He contemplates sneaking in when, with some mild surprise, he registers a tiny spike in the girl's chakra, and soon after that, she starts to move.

Did she somehow sense his chakra? Impossible. Even Kisame can't find Itachi when he doesn't wish to be found. And yet, when the girl silently climbs out from the base of a tree, it's obvious she is ready for a fight. Though, judging from the weariness of her movements and the dark shadows under her eyes, she wouldn't win, and she knows it.

Still, in her state, how did she even detect his presence?

"Come out," she orders, a kunai in hand. With his slowly deteriorating eyesight, she is hard to see in the darkness, but he can see the tension in her frame, the glint of her eyes. After a moment, she closes them and breathes out, likely questioning her own instincts in consideration of her exhaustion. A part of him wishes he could leave her alone. But there is a question he hasn't been able to find the answer to, and he is sure that Nara Riko has it.

When she opens her eyes, he stands before her and pulls her into the world of Tsukuyomi. He chooses the same setting that he did to interrogate her teacher, but where Kakashi stayed silent, a girl her age probably won't. Not for long, at least.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I really don't want to deal with you right now," she says, and the lack of fear in her voice, her eyes, her entire demeanour while tied to a cross in the hell he has created startles him. She isn't faking it either.

He lifts his sword. "Nara Riko," he intones emotionlessly.

"That's me. You know, if you're going to scare me, don't use a sword, use a whip," she answers. "Though, you're plenty scary on your own. So, what gives? Are you here to kill me?"

She glares at him. He stares back, completely at a loss.

Nara Riko isn't scared of him.

What is he supposed to do now?

In the end, he just asks her his questions and receives an answer with no resistance at all from her, and he is certain that had she not wanted him to know, he could have tortured her all he wanted, she wouldn't have said one word.

It's… impressive. He may have underestimated his brother's teammate.

Her knees hit the ground as he releases her from Tsukuyomi. It appears Riko has reached her limit.

"Not going to kill me?" she asks with a surprised frown.

He really should, he thinks as he looks down at her. And yet…

"Look," she snaps. "I haven't slept in three days. I'm hungry. It's raining. I'm in no mood to figure out your very own special brand of Uchiha-speak. What do you want from me?"

He marvels at the fact that she's still not showing any fear of him.

It would be such a waste to kill her.

And she might be useful. It's not like Sasuke would ever accept his help, even in these dire circumstances. Hers on the other hand… though, not in her current state. If she doesn't rest, she won't be able to protect Sasuke.

He hasn't really registered that he had turned to leave when her voice sounded from behind him. "I get it. You need me to protect Sasuke. You have some sort of evil masterplan for him and that's why you aren't killing m-"

Her motionless form slumps to the ground, fast asleep, and his heart is beating a little too hard.

He really should kill her. That guess… hit a little too close to the truth.

The kunai is in his hand, but his hand refuses to move. Indecision mars his features. Finally, with a sigh, he lets the blade sink.

He'll postpone the decision for now.


Itachi watches Riko the next morning. She's… interesting. After the initial shock of finding his message, she ruthlessly loots the corpses he left for her to find, and soon after, she and Sasuke are on the move. He can't deny that he feels a tiny sliver of satisfaction when she moves in the direction he suggested. He can't think of any other Konoha ninja who would have done that. Even more surprising, she made the decision to follow his advice not based on fear of him but of her own free will.

He watches her and Sasuke the whole day – when he isn't taking care of enemy patrols - and feels his respect grow. The girl carries his brother for almost the whole day, hardly taking any breaks even though she's injured herself. It doesn't look like she's even considered leaving him behind, which most people would have done, even if they didn't act on it.

She's devoted to Sasuke.

When night falls, Itachi sees the girl settling them down in a small cave, and he leaves them so he can patrol. But the moment he feels Riko flare her chakra, he heads back.

She stands there, waiting for him. She is armed, and she looks straight into his eyes as she tells him that she intends to find medicine for his sick brother. Then she leaves without waiting for a reply.

Itachi is stunned. She looked into his eyes.

The last person to ever do so willingly without a hint of fear had been Shisui. Even his own father had feared Itachi's eyes.

By the time he's shaken off his stupor, Nara Riko is long gone and he can't tell her that he was going to take care of getting medicine. And then he feels Sasuke's weakened chakra fluctuate and realises why she went herself.

It's so that he can protect Sasuke. Because there's no way that she could win an all-out battle. And if she doesn't come back, then unlike her, he'd still be able to take Sasuke to safety. She was taking measures for the event of her death.

Itachi decides not to kill her.


Riko is gone the whole night and only arrives at sunrise. Itachi is relieved to see her alive. He'd half expected her not to come back, but here she is. Drenched in blood, eyes glazed with exhaustion, on her face the look of a ninja coming back from a mission that was Too Much; but she is still in one piece and only has minor injuries.

He wonders how strong she really is.

Riko stumbles past him. Even in her state, the first thing she does is check on Sasuke's health and give him the medicine she successfully retrieved. Only after that does she take care of her own state. Moments later, she's dead to the world, apparently trusting him to watch over them while she sleeps.

What a curious creature she is.


He seeks her out days later, under the guise of giving her orders for their escape from Rice Country. The truth is that he knows she doesn't actually need his input, she and Sasuke already have everything planned out.

No, he wanted to see if she'd look into his eyes without fear again.

"I was wondering where you went," she says, giving him an annoyed look.

Annoyance. She is annoyed at him. He, an S-ranked missing-nin and mass murderer, appears before her and she is annoyed. It's surreal.

"Do not fail, Nara Riko," he warns her.

"Does that mean you'll be gone once we cross the border?" she asks. And he thinks he must be imagining it, but there is a hint of sadness in her voice. But that's impossible.

Itachi feels a tiny pang of regret, too. Nara Riko is a puzzle, and he doesn't like leaving it unsolved.

And he'd have liked to talk to her more.