DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters affiliated, genjutsu, plush frogs, a set of shougi and go, or any Pocky. I'd like some Pocky...Pocky is good...
Deniizu opened her eyes slowly, taking her time waking up. She could tell instinctively that it was not quite sunrise yet.
Am I still here? she thought, and looked around the small room, just moving her eyes, I am...good. I don't want to go back.
"'Morning," Michiko said, sitting crosslegged on the balcony behind their tiny apartment, facing away from her friend.
"Hey," Deniizu said sleepily, rubbing her face with her hands, "You're up early."
"I don't need that much sleep here," Michiko said, "I feel better than back at home. I got up early to look at the gifts they gave us."
Deniizu rolled off of her mat and faced her backpack. She had placed her presents beside it the night before. Picking up her own bundle, she crawled out the door to sit beside Michiko. Both were still in their pyjamas.
"You really like these, huh," Deniizu said, more than asked, as she placed her gifts the same way Michiko had them.
First the plush frogs that Naruto had bought them were placed farthest to the left. Then Sasuke's special kunai, and Sakura's brush and ink sets were placed beside that. Copying how Michiko had laid them out, Deniizu started a new row, with Chouji's set of eating utensils and placed special hair ribbons beside that, as well as a book, and then started a third row with Hinata's handcream.
"The ribbons are probably from Ino," Michiko grinned, holding up her green one.
"Of course," Deniizu muttered, wrinkling her nose at the red one she had, "The books are probably from Shikamaru. What's yours about? Mine's about strategies for that Japanese chess game."
"I got a notebook...a really thick one," Michiko commented, placing a book with clouds decorating its cover beside her hair ribbon, "I'll never finish writing in it...maybe you could help me. We can write about our lives here in Konoha. If we ever go back to...earth, or whatever, at least we have the notebook."
"Not much of a substitute, but ok," Deniizu nodded, placing her book by her own ribbon, "What are your last two gifts?" she asked, holding the black necklace and bracelet in one hand, and brass knuckles with wickedly sharp hooks where the knuckles should be, "I like whoever gave me these."
"They seemed to pick up on your personality right away," Michiko said wryly, holding her brush and comb in one hand, like Denise, and a scroll with 'good-luck' written all over it in different styles of writing in the other hand, "I don't think any of them think I'm much good at fighting," she added; instead of kunai, Sasuke had given her an ornate dagger.
"...hey, Michelle..." Denise nudged her with an elbow and the older girl nodded.
"We can read and speak Japanese. I know. It may have something to do with the whole parallel dimension thing," Michelle said, and put the scroll down by Hinata's handcream.
"Do you remember this, too?" Denise asked, rubbing one of her temples, then planting an image into Michelle's mind.
Michelle flinched, but she didn't cry out. Denise had put a mental 'video' of Michelle on fire, picking up a stray puppy without harming it, and walking out of a burning farm. Michelle didn't know how, but in some way she recognized it as one of Denise's memories.
"Bloodline limits," Michelle muttered.
The dark girl ran a hand through her long hair, deep in thought. Well, she tried to, but her hair was still tangled from sleep. Denise put the necklace and brass knuckles down, and tried fastening her bracelet onto her wrist, as Michelle absently brushed her hair with her gift.
"So...you can turn into elements, and I have telepathy and telekinesis," Denise said, fiddling with the bracelet's clasp, "We'll be chuunins in no time."
"Says you...I can't even use Substitution no jutsu properly," Michelle muttered, braiding her hair.
Denise decided to change the subject; she knew her friend was feeling badly.
"Who do you think gave us the different gifts?" Denise asked, finally getting the bracelet onto her wrist.
"Kiba gave me the scroll, and Shino have me the brush and comb," Michelle said.
"How do you know?" Denise asked, surprised, "That was fast."
"I had a lot of time to think about it," Michelle shrugged, "The scroll has dog teeth marks on it, and that leaves Shino for last."
"Oh, I think he likes you," Denise teased, nudging Michelle with her elbow again.
"Yeah, right," Michelle laughed, elbowing Denise back playfully before sobering up, "I wish...But you saw him yesterday. I haven't figured out who gave you the jewelry and knuckles, though. But I have an idea to find out."
"These spikes are honestly the coolest things," Denise said, admiring the sharp barbs, "But how do you intend to find out who gave these?" Denise asked, then automatically read Michelle's current thoughts, "Wear the bracelet to school, then check and see what Kiba and Shino think? That's like cheating."
"Like you never used it during Takona's lessons," Michelle laughed again, remembering the old man who had taught the girls their basic knowledge in the Tea Village.
Denise laughed too, but both still thought that having other memories was a little strange.
Deniizu's bloodline limit had first shown when she was six years old; she was already adopted by the village by then. She could only do small things at first, like lift a small cup, or talk to someone a few feet away. As she grew up, her ability also matured. Now, Deniizu could talk to people about one hundred paces away, as well as read their current thoughts, and lift the weight that oxen could pull. She was still learning more about her ability, and learning was slow as she had to teach herself. But as she used her mind abilities often, she was growing steadily.
Michiko had a more obscure ability. She could become fire, water, earth, ice, stone, and part of the air around her. She first discovered this when Deniizu had accidentally set her own clothes on fire during a festival in the Tea Village when they were about eight. Michiko had turned her hand into water and put out the fire, and since then she had been trying to discover more about her ability.Slowly, but steadily, she was learning.
"Sun's starting to come up," Michiko said, nodding to the sky.
Deniizu fastened the necklace around her neck, and stood up.
"I'm going to get ready for school," she said, and Michiko stood up as well.
"I'll make breakfast," she answered, and both entered their apartment.
About an hour later...
"Ohayo, Michi-chan! Nice necklace, Deni-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.
Deniizu jumped up and turned to face the open doorway wielding one of her training kunai. Michiko froze in the middle of drinking a glass of milk.
"You should knock on the door!" Denise yelled, "This isn't your house!"
"Well, you didn't lock it," Naruto defended in a grumpy voice.
He got her a nice necklace...no, I promised him I wouldn't tell, Naruto thought.
That didn't help, Deniizu thought, withdrawing from his thoughts.
"Hey, how come you guys never have any ramen?" Naruto asked, making himself right at home and looking through their cupboards.
"Oh...I keep meaning to buy some," said Michiko, looking at the almost empty cupboards, "But I never get around doing it. Both of us will need jobs soon," she added, looking at Deniizu.
"You both can go look around after your tutoring," said Naruto, waving his arms, "Let's go to school!"
"I didn't know you liked school so much," Michiko said dryly, finishing her milk and putting the glass in the sink.
"Ne...I just want both of you to catch up in class," Naruto said, looking at his sandals.
"Only if you do too," Deniizu said seriously, "You said yourself that you were at the bottom of the class."
"Whatever," Naruto said, putting his hands behind his head, "When I become Hokage, I'll change the rules around here so that you don't need to learn stuff like the stupid history of Konoha in school."
"Everyone needs to know a little bit of history," Michiko said, checking to make sure her thick braid was tied properly, "Otherwise we'd make the same mistakes other people did before."
"Can we just go to school?" Naruto asked, annoyed, and both girls followed him out of their apartment.
"What do you think we should do later today?" Michiko asked her two friends as they walked, "Other than job-hunting, I mean."
"Well, how about I go job-hunting, while you go to market and buy groceries," suggested Deniizu, "I'll end up buying manga instead of food while I'm there."
"Good idea," Michiko said, grinning.
"Do you want a guide around the village?" Naruto asked Deniizu, "I know a few places that are hiring right now."
"Like where?" asked Deniizu.
"Well, there's the manga store-"
"That's my first stop," the brown-haired girl grinned.
"Then there's the ramen stall, looking for a new waitress, and the hot springs people need a receptionist for some days, and there's always babysitting, housesitting, or taking care of pets," finished Naruto.
"Hm...pets, huh?" Michiko thought out loud, "We'd have to advertise that ourselves."
"Yeah, but there's almost always someone who's looking for help," said Naruto.
"Ok, thanks, we'll keep those in mind," said Deniizu, giving the boy a thumbs-up as they entered the school.
"Hey, we didn't see Kiba today," Michiko realized.
"There he is," Deniizu said, pointing at the boy who was already at his seat.
As the three walked into the classroom, they saw that Sasuke was early and already in his seat, as well as Kiba, Hinata, and Shino.
"Ohayo Hinata, Kiba, Shino," Naruto greeted, walking towards his desk.
Hinata blushed and mumbled an 'ohayo' in return.
I swear Hinata and Naruto would be the cutest couple, Michiko thought, grinning to herself as she walked behind Deniizu.
"Ohayo Hinata, Kiba," Deniizu greeted, purposely ignoring Shino as she sat at her place beside Naruto.
Michiko kept smiling as she waved to Shino, but the boy seemed to refuse looking at her. Her smile faded and she mumbled a 'morning' Hinata and Kiba before sliding into her seat beside Kiba.
Shino, why are you like this? Hinata thought, sadly.
She's wearing the necklace and bracelet I bought her! Kiba was thinking happily.
It was you! Deniizu thought.
"Thanks for the jewelry, Kiba!" Deniizu exclaimed, reaching over her desk and giving Kiba a hug.
"Ow," said Kiba, as the necklace poked him, "Um, you're welcome. How did you know...?"
If Naruto told them, I'll kill him with my bare hands, Kiba thought.
"Oh, um...lucky guess. And I can't imagine Shino giving away jewelry," said Deniizu, sitting normally again.
I wonder if she used that brush and comb that I gave her, Denise suddenly heard Shino thinking, Her hair looks nice in a braid...
What the...? Denise looked at the back of Shino's head.
The boy was still facing the chalkboard, as if he had thought nothing of the sort, but Deniizu was sure that she had just picked up Shino's thoughts.
Does he really...? Denise thought, then shook her head, No way. Not after how he acted yesterday.
Michiko doodled and wrote in the notebook Shikamaru had given her quietly, and Deniizu planned the rest of her day with Naruto and Kiba while the rest of their class came into the room. As Iruka walked into the classroom and began the lesson, Michiko slipped the notebook to Deniizu, who sat behind her, and pulled out a few sheets of paper to make notes in. The two girls had made a deal: every other day, one of them would take notes, while the other could just listen, or do whatever they wanted. They would then share the notes and study together afterwards.
"Today we will be learning about the nukenin," Iruka said, and turned to the chalkboard to write key terms and bits of information that they had to remember.
Missing nins...boring, Deniizu thought, and turned to a fresh page in the notebook to doodle, That reminds me of my love, Itachi.
Michiko rubbed Akamaru behind his ears with the back of her pencil between writing things down.
"You're lucky you don't have to take these dumb notes," she whispered to the dog, who whined softly in sympathy.
As Deniizu was sketching a sharingan eye in the notebook, a folded piece of paper landed on Michiko's desk. Opening it discreetly, she read the note:
'Are you going grocery shopping in the market later? I can help you, if you want.' -Hinata.
Michiko quickly scribbled an answer, refolded the paper, and carefully tossed the note when she was sure Iruka wasn't looking.
'That'd be nice. Can I meet you near the ramen stall after my extra lessons?' -Michiko.
Hinata glanced at the other girl in the corner of her eye, and gave her a quick smile.
I will take that as an 'ok', Michiko thought, and turned back to her notes.
"ITACHI!" Deniizu suddenly yelled.
The rest of the class looked at the girl strangely (including Akamaru), and Michiko looked at the board, then sweat-dropped.
"Yes, Deniizu, Uchiha Itachi is the example that I'm using," Iruka-sensei said patiently, "Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem," Deniizu said, "It's just that I love Itachi so much!"
A nerve popped on Michiko's forehead, and another sweatdrop appeared by the first one. Burying her head in her arms to hide a steadily blushing face, she felt everyone's eyes on her and her friend.
What's with the weird new kids? the whole class was thinking.
I wanted Shino to look at me, but not like this, Deniizu heard her think, I'll get you for this, Denise.
You...love my brother, do you? Sasuke was thinking.
Shino's face was painted with disapproval, and he was thinking, Deniizu, you know that you are embarrassing Michiko, right?
She...loves...Itachi? The family killer! Kiba thought wildly, That's what she wants!
Deniizu heard all these thoughts, and decided that she should be quiet.
"Um...yeah. That's all I wanted to say," Deniizu said lamely.
"Deniizu, do you know who Uchiha Itachi is," Iruka asked, surprised, "He murdered-"
"His entire family, except Sasuke, I know!" Deniizu exclaimed, excited again, "And he's really good at genjutsu, and learned even faster than his brother does now! And Itachi is so cool because he kills things so easily, because he's just that good!"
Deniizu gushed on and on about her undying love for the missing nin, gesturing with the notebook still in her hand. Michiko prayed that she would stop soon. The older girl saw the looks on Hinata and Sasuke's faces.
Training with Sasuke is not going to be fun, later, Michiko thought, Deniizu, you can probably hear this, so please stop talking about that guy! You're scaring Hinata.
Iruka listened for about two minutes of constant praise for Itachi, then suddenly walked to Deniizu's desk and snagged the notebook out of her hand.
"What's this?"
Deniizu immediately snatched for the cloud-decorated book, but Iruka kept it out of her reach as he flipped through it. He stopped at the page Deniizu had just been doodling on, and held it up for the class to see.
In the book, Deniizu had sketched a picture of Itachi in a big heart, with various phrases like 'I love Itachi' and 'We will kill the world together' written in fancy letters.
Deniizu blushed a little, but she crossed her arms in front of her and leaned back in her chair.
"Yeah, so I love Itachi. You all knew that already," she said calmly.
And I thought I had great love for Sasuke, Sakura thought, an eyebrow twitching.
That girl is almost as scary as my mom, Shikamaru thought.
Mm, chips, Chouji thought, crunching away.
Time to play the evil teacher card, Iruka thought tiredly, and he flipped through the notebook to a page he had noticed, If I can't get to her, I'll get to someone else who will get her to behave.
"Ah, what have we here?" Iruka read from the notebook, " 'Deniizu sometimes tries too hard while cooking; I'd better buy ramen soon so that we won't have boiled cabbage anymore.' "
Michiko's head shot up; that was what she had written earlier that day.
I meant that in the nicest way possible, Denii-chan, she thought.
" '...ok, that was kind of a mean comment. But I meant that in the nicest way possible, so if Deniizu reads this, she'll understand,' " Iruka continued.
See? thought Michiko, putting here head back down.
Meh. I know I can't cook, Deniizu thought back.
" 'Speaking of mean, why isn't Shino being at least polite with me? He's so cute, he should have manners to match, at least,' " Iruka read out loud.
All of the class's ears twitched.
Oh...thought Sakura, sweatdropping.
...my...thought Hinata, eyes going wide.
...gawd...thought Ino, breaking her pencil.
Did...thought Shikamaru, actually sitting up straight.
...she...thought Chouji, a chip falling out of his mouth.
...just...thoughtKiba, exchanging a shocked look with Akamaru.
...call...thought Sasuke, looking very confused.
...me...thought Shino, turning in his seat to face Michiko.
"CUTE!" exclaimed Naruto.
He jumped up from his seat beside a shocked Deniizu and pointed at a highly embarrassed Michiko. Everyone else in the class turned to the two newest members of their class.
"HOW CAN YOU THINK THAT CREEPY GUY IS CUTE?!" yelled Naruto.
Michiko looked around at all the faces that were turned to her, then did an amazing thing. She turned into water and became a puddle on the floor.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO!" Naruto yelled again, staring at the puddle that seemed to be flowing towards the door.
"Shut up, teme!" Deniizu exclaimed, jumping up.
She hit Naruto at the front of the face so he fell into his chair, and turned to the teacher, deftly snatching back the notebook and sitting down. She threw the notebook into her bag, and pulled out a pencil and sheet of paper.
"There, I'm taking notes, ok? I'm being good; you should start teaching while it lasts," Deniizu said.
"...is your friend there going to be joining us any time soon?" Iruka asked, raising an eyebrow and gesturing towards the slowly flowing puddle.
"I'll try to talk her into staying," Deniizu said, nodding, and slid out of her chair while Iruka went to the front of the classroom and continued writing notes on the board.
"Michiko..."
Deniizu squatted by the puddle, which stopped when she heard her name.
"Michiko, I'm sorry I embarrassed you," Deniizu whispered.
You should, Michiko was thinking, Look at what happened!
"I'm looking. Hey, we can't miss any class. And this is definitely true, since I'm saying it; I'm the kid that skips class, remember?"
I'll come back tomorrow; you just finish my notes for me, Michiko thought, If I stay here, no-one will be able to concentrate.
"Fine. But at least be there for training," Deniizu said.
As she walked away, she heard the puddle thinking as it flowed underneath the doorway, Huh. Training. Right, I can totally show my face at training. Shino...this isn't going to be comfortable. And Sasuke's probably really mad at you for loving his brother. His brother! What were you thinking?
With that last thought, Deniizu shook her head, and sat in Michiko's seat. She focused on writing notes for the next couple hours, trying not to feel the rest of the students' stares.