Hello, this is my first fic so I hope all of you would help me with the fic. Especially since English isn't my daily language. I do not own Naruto or anything related to it. I only own my original characters and my story. Thanks.

Therefore I want to thank my sole reviewer Kohaku-san for the reviews. Thank you very much! It means a lot for me. I'm glad you like it. Pairings? Well I'm not thinking of any pairings…yet. Unless you can make me to make one;) Read and Review!

Ayame

Nakayama Shinji

Few blocks from the Hokage tower, there was a huge and old building. It was the biggest building in Konoha. It was Konoha Public Library, where people of Konoha could access any information they want. But there was a restricted section, only jounin and special jounin were allowed to access it freely by the Hokage's approval.

There was only one person that was present in the section. The person seemed to be occupied with the books and the scrolls that were arranged neatly in front of her, waiting for its turn to be read. She was a little girl with short black hair, her hair swung loosely as she made a note from the book and the scroll.

Someone just entered the library and asked to the librarian about something. He was a young man, probably in his twenties. He had dark green hair that matched his eyes and he had some beads hanging from his hair. (A/n: Imagine padawan's braid with beads, just much shorter) The librarian, a middle-aged woman smiled warmly and offered to show the place by herself. The man agreed and he was led to the place where the girl was. At first the girl didn't notice their presence until the librarian called her,

"Ayame-chan."

The girl named Ayame at last took her attention away from her note only to see someone she knew.

"Shuichi-san!" she seemed happy to see him.

Nakayama Shuichiro wasn't wearing his ANBU outfit. Instead he wore casual clothes that consisted of black shirt with high collar and long sleeves and dark blue pants. He looked like a civilian except he wore the Konoha forehead protector and still had his utility pouch on his belt. Shuichi smiled to the little girl,

"Hello there"

"I suppose I can leave you both now," the librarian saw there was no need for her to stay longer. Shuichi nodded in approval.

"Arigato, Nanami-san," Ayame told the librarian before she left. Then Shuichi sat on an empty chair beside her and took three of the books.

"Konoha:Complete History, A Beginner's Guide:How to Control Chakra Perfectly, List of Konoha's Best Shinobi," he raised his eyebrow to see the list of her reading.

"Don't you think it's too heavy for you?"

"Yes, in the beginning. But now I've started to enjoy it. It's become my hobby. I need to read a book at least everyday"

"Wow, I'm not that diligent," Shuichi commented. Ayame slightly chuckled, knowing that Shuichi seldom read or even touched books unless he truly needed to.

"So…what brings you here, Shuichi-san?"

"Well, today I'm off duty and since I wasn't able to celebrate your birthday, I'm going to treat you ice cream," he grinned to her. Ayame didn't expect Shuichi to remember her birthday. She had celebrated her birthday with Sarutobi-jisan and Hokage guards in Hokage office. It was simple, but she felt it was enough.

"So how is it?"

"Sure!" she gave him one of her best smiles.

-o-O-o-

Afterwards, the two of them could be seen at the Hokage Memorial, Ayame's favorite place.

"Here. Happy Birthday, Ayame," Shuichi said to her as he handed double ice cream on a cone.

"Arigato gozaimasu, Shuichi-san," she smiled full of gratitude.

"…It's been a year since you arrived in Konoha and you're about to face genin exam. I must say that's fast"

"I don't expect it, either. I'm surprised that I'm able to catch up with the others," Shuichi could see she was sincere about it.

"I suppose it's because of your daily visit to the library. By the way, since when you have access to the restricted section?"

"Well, Sarutobi-jiisan gives me the access so I can read everything in the restricted section. Well, not everything though. Nanami-san picked the books I should read"

"Of course," he smiled. The restricted section contained a lot of information about Konoha, even though the girl could be trusted but they couldn't afford to take any risk. Especially it was about the village's safety.

"Since when you like reading?" he asked without much thinking.

"…Since that day," she spoke sadly. Shuichi knew what she meant, she was reading to keep herself occupied. He looked at her sympathically, she hadn't fully gotten over it. It should be hard for her to lose her parents in such a young age.

"Ayame, do you know someone from your class named Nakayama Shinji?" he decided to change the topic.

"Well, know isn't the right word though. But I heard pretty much of him"

"Why? Isn't he your classmate?"

"He always sits in the back and seldom talks. Who is he?" she asked him with growing interest.

"My youngest brother," he answered. Shuichi was the oldest from three siblings. Shinji was his youngest brother and he was 18 years younger than Shuichi, which was a pretty huge gap. He was worried of his brother, knowing him well.

"I see, no wonder both of you share so many similarities"

"So, how is he?"

"The truth?" she asked playfully. Shuichi didn't like how it sounded.

"The truth"

"He's the last in class and seems to be blacklisted by the teachers"

"WHAT!" Shuichi could barely contain himself. Ayame had kept a pretty good distance from him, knowing well his reaction would be.

"WHAT IS THAT BAKA OTOUTO DOING?" (A/n: hope I write it right. I mean Stupid Brother)

"Well, he often skips classes and sleeps in class. Even when he is awake, he seems not to pay attention," Ayame explained calmly. Shuichi gritted his teeth and his eyebrows twitched in annoyance. His grip on the cone tightened until it cracked. Ayame who saw everything, tried so hard not to laugh. Shuichi's expression was priceless.

"Ano, Shuichi-san…you're going to drop your ice cream," Ayame pointed to his ice cream which cone wasn't able to hold the ice cream longer since it was crushed into pieces.

Shuichi quickly threw his ice cream to nearby trash can. Ayame silently giggled when he wasn't looking.

"Calm down, Shuichi-san. I told you it seems like that," Ayame emphasized.

"What do you mean?" he started to gain his composure back.

"I don't think he truly sleeps. Or skips classed in purpose. Or doesn't pay attention at all"

"Huh?"

"He seems to be sleeping because he usually closes his eyes and has his feet crossed on the table. Even though he doesn't appear at class, I've found him watching us silently twice. I've seen his face serious when the teacher explained pretty often"

"Why does he do that?"

"Don't ask me, you're his brother"

Shuichi sighed in exasperation. His hand traveled to his hair, scratching his head in frustration.

"He truly never changes," Ayame looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You know Nakayama clan is one of the strongest clan in Konoha," he saw Ayame nodded,

"Well, being a Nakayama especially Nakayama clan leader's family makes a lot of people to expect us highly. So far we're able to answer their expectation but Shinji doesn't really content about it. He hates to live up people expectations. When he is given an order, he usually disobeys it or does the opposite"

"So you say, he's rebellious?"

"You pick the right word. I know him better than anyone else and I know how strong and brilliant he is. He would make the clan proud if he is a little serious. But I can't do much since the gap of age we have and I'm busy as an ANBU"

"So what do you want me to do?" Ayame asked

"It's nice for you to ask but Shinji is stubborn you can't do anything about it. I just want you to keep an eye on him. Well, you've finished your ice cream, I suppose you want to return to the library." Without verbal agreement they returned to the library.

"I'll go training and meet some friends. See you tomorrow," he patted the Ayame as they arrived in front of the library. He was about to leave when he heard Ayame.

"Shuichi-san, I think you don't need to worry about your brother. I believe he will become a shinobi…in his own way," she added with an assuring smile. Ayame didn't really know why she said that for he didn't know much about Shinji. But from her observation and judgement, she was sure about it. She could see Shuichi smiled to her words and nodded his head before he left.

-o-O-o-

Ayame sorted out from the Library at 5 p.m. for she had promised Sarutobi-jisan she would make dinner. She didn't need to buy groceries because there were enough groceries left in the fridge. She decided to take a shortcut by passing the training grounds.

It was quiet, as she expected. It seemed everybody had returned to their safe haven, their homes. Ayame enjoyed the silence as she walked down a small path. Then she heard something, or at least she thought she heard something. She sharpened her hearing and was assured she was right. It was distant, indeed, but it was real. She wondered why there would be someone in the training ground that late. So she decided to check the source of the noise. She jumped from trees to trees since it was the fastest way to reach her destination. When she thought she was getting closer, she slowed down and approached stealthily. She hid herself in the shadows and took a better look on the person who was making the noises.

Below her (A/n: Ayame was hiding on a tree), she could see a boy training himself. It seemed he was practicing some jutsus. The boy wore loose beige shirt with long sleeves that was rolled to his elbows and brown pants. She thought she had seen the outfit before somehow. Then she tried to get a clearer view of the person, dark green hair… dark green eyes… the beads that hanging from his hair… and the striking resemblance of Shuichiro… Ayame was sure, it was Nakayama Shinji, Shuichiro's youngest brother. That's why she thought she had seen the outfit before, it was Nakayama traditional clothes. Nakayama traditional clothes were embroidered with their traditional motifs. Nakayama clan could be recognized with their traditional clothes, like Uchiha clan that was recognized by their clan symbol.

Ayame noticed Shinji was pretty much a mess, she could see he was sweating, his clothes dirty. She also noticed battered training logs, it seemed he was training for a long time. Shinji was making hand seals, which Ayame recognized it was hand seals for Bushin no Jutsu. Ayame watched silently as he tried to create two prefect bushins. In some attempts he made too much bushins, in other attempts he made imperfect bushins. He did it over and over again until Ayame wondered if he was drained of chakra yet. At last she saw Shinji kicked a log in frustration for his inability to create to perfect bushins.

"Why won't this jutsu work!"

"You're not concentrating enough of your chakra"

Oops, Ayame realized her mistake, words slipped out from her mouth unconsciously.

"Who's there!" Shinji demanded, he was in defensive stance. His eyes swept his surroundings warily and ended right on the tree where Ayame was hiding.

Ayame let out a sigh, it was truly hard to avoid a Nakayama with their sharp senses. There was no point in hiding anymore. She landed lightly on the ground and walked out from the shadows to reveal herself to Shinji.

Shinji eyed the stranger who seemed to be watching him along. He was still in his defensive stance. He was indeed occupied with his training but he still could sense someone else's presence. The person who was standing in front of him was a little girl, no taller than him, she was probably 2 or 3 years younger. He thought he had seen her before.

"I'm Hikari Ayame, we're in the same class in the Academy," the girl spoke as if she was able to read his thoughts. He raised his eyebrow, he remembered her.

"You are the 3-year-old girl," Shinji returned to his ordinary self.

"Were, I'm 4 now," she was known as the 3-year-old girl indeed. After all, not everyday people could find a 3-year-old girl who was able to follow regular class. She was pretty famous because of it.

"So you were watching me before?" it was rather a statement.

"It's not my intention to, but I'm curious that is someone who's still training this late"

"But it doesn't mean you can watch me training"

"Well, I'm sorry to disturb you. Dewa… I'll return home so you can train alone," Ayame was about to leave.

"Matte!" suddenly Shinji stopped her.

"Hai?" Ayame looked at him questioningly.

Shinji seemed uncertain for a moment,

"What do you mean I'm not concentrating enough?"

"Oh," Ayame thought he would scold her,

"Well, in order to perform jutsu we'll need a certain amount of chakra besides the right hand seals. The chakra amount must be precise or the jutsu will fail. In bushin no jutsu, the case would be too much bushin or imperfect bushin or wasting your own chakra. You've done the right seals, the problem lies in your chakra control"

"So…what should I do?" Shinji was amazed that she could figure his problem easily.

"Well, concentration," Ayame gave him a simple answer,

"You know how many chakra it's needed to make a perfect bushin, aren't you? Or at least through trials and errors"

"Hn," Shinji nodded.

"Well to create more bushin, for example two. You don't need to double the chakra but you only add half of the ordinary. So first, you used too much chakra. Second, you aren't concentrating enough so only the amount of chakra needed is released. You should be very focus on releasing your chakra. Why don't you try? It isn't that hard"

Shinji looked at her skeptically.

But it worth a shot, he thought. So once again he formed the hand seals that were needed (A/n: Does bushin no jutsu need a lot hand seals?). This time, he concentrated more on the amount of chakra needed. When he thought it was enough, he released his chakra,

"Bushin no jutsu!"

Then in front of him, appeared two perfect bushins he wanted.

"Easy ne?" Ayame smiled to him,

"If you practice more, eventually you won't need to concentrate too hard. Your body will release the amount of chakra you need just by doing the hand seals," then she remembered her forgotten duty, dinner!

"Well then, I'm not needed anymore. I must go home now. Ja!" she waved her slightly and without waiting for his reply she quickly jumped to a tree. Using ground path only made her slower to arrive home.

Shinji watched her until the small figure lost in the shadows. His look showed amusement,

"What a way to say good bye. Well, it's time to go home," he dusted off the dirt from his clothes and unrolled his sleeves. He glanced again to the direction where Ayame went.

"Hikari Ayame ne? No wonder she can stay in regular class."

It was Ayame first but not last meeting with Nakayama Shinji.

Author's Note: I'm sorry if it's rather slow. Don't worry though, the next chapter will be about the genin exam! BTW, I don't really understand how they divide class in the Academy, I just make it up. If anyone know please tell me. I think there's a preparation class (like kindergarten or somewhat) and regular class. Honestly…I don't know . Before I end this useless note, if anyone has seen the news, must've known about the disaster that happened in South-East Asia. Being a South-East Asian, I want to give my deepest sympathy for the victims. I've tried my best to help. I pray there would be no more victims (it's already reached 70,000), aid would come soon and may their souls rest in peace for those who had passed away…