DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters affiliated, bloodline limits, or a giant manga store. But that would be nice.
Class is over...and I managed to evade the rest of class during lunch...whew.
Deniizu carried the notebook and a spare sandwich and a flask of water in her bag.
Michiko is not going to be happy. Maybe this food with soften the blow, the girl thought.
Deniizu walked quietly down roads and alleyways that most people did not walk through, as she headed for the training field. She guessed that her friend was already there.
I feel kind of bad about earlier...I hope she's ok, Deniizu thought, arriving at the field.
"OW!"
Deniizu rubbed her arm, where Michiko had punched her.
"That hurt," mumbled Deniizu.
"Consider it payback. Oo, is that food?"
Michiko took the bag from Deniizu and pulled out the sandwich.
"Cheese and butter. That'll work," the girl said, before taking a bite out of it, "So, past differences aside, what did I miss in class?"
Deniizu grinned, and told Michiko a summary of what they had learned about missing-nins after she had left. Michiko nodded once she was done, finishing off her sandwich.
"That basically a review of what I got from the manga," she said, drinking the juice, and Deniizu nodded.
"What do you think we're training today?" the younger girl asked.
"We're practicing taijutsu today," Shino said, stepping into the field with Sasuke.
He hasn't changed at all...Michiko thought sadly, then mentally slapped herself, What do I care? He's a jerk, and that's the end of that.
"That's hand-to-hand..." Sasuke started explaining, bored, but Deniizu waved that off.
"Yeah, yeah, we know. The Tea Village isn't that isolated," she said, annoyed, and headed off to their side of the field.
"Bitch," Sasuke growled under his breath, and followed after her, sulkily.
The Japanese gangster walk? Michiko thought, watching him; he carried himself differently now, kind of like a lope.
He's getting into his fighting stance...I'm glad Deniizu's a fast learner, Shino thought, then turned to Michiko.
The girl was looking at her sandals, shuffling her feet in the dirt.
She's very timid, Shino thought, and winced, I'm sorry I have to act like this...but Iruka-sensei said it was the best way for you to learn. I know I'm hurting you...
Michiko felt his eyes on her and hesitantly met his gaze. She couldn't see most of his face, and took his look to be annoyed.
He really doesn't like me, she thought, shrinking a little inside.
The girl crossed her arms in front of her, and raised her eyebrows.
"Is that the best defence stance you have?" Shino asked.
Michiko blinked, then turned a little sideways, putting her feet parallel to her shoulders. She bent her knees a little, staying on the balls of her feet, and held her arms up, the left (closest to Shino) between her and Shino, the right across her front.
Good...Shino thought, then said, "Block with your forearms the punches I throw at you. Deflect them away; make sure you keep no openings."
Think sparring with Denise, Michiko thought, and nodded.
Shino came at her...
She had more talent with taijutsu, having wrestled with her friends. Shino noticed she had excellent peripheral vision, and her reflexes improved as they got further and furthing into the 'fight'. She managed to deflect all of Shino's punches, which he gave at an average speed.
Normally, a new fighter would need me to slow down, Shino thought, But she's actually pretty quick.
"All right, stop," Shino commanded, taking a step back from her.
Michiko thought about putting her arms down, but decided against it.
This is training; I can't let my guard down, she thought.
"Good; you are still aware. Now I want you to try to block or dodge punches and kicks. Punches are usually only blocked with your arms, and kicks can either be deflected by arms or legs. Be ready," Shino said, then came at her again.
She's good at blocking, Shino thought, and she was.
Michiko concentrated on nothing but blocking, and things were crystal clear for her. Anger would have been even better, and she knew that, but she was more nervous if anything.
If he's mad about the notebook, he may get vicious, she thought, Then he'll really try to hit me. I have to concentrate.
"Try attacking now," Shino said.
"What? Aren't there special techniques in taijutsu?" Michiko asked.
"What's the point if you can't even do the basic attacks, baka?" Shino shot back.
Ouch...Michiko thought, squirming inside,then began her own attacks.
The first punch went for his face, which Shino managed to block.
She's really fast, he thought, surprised, Were there street fights in the Tea Village or something?
Good, Michelle's doing well, Denise thought, then focused back to her own training.
Sasuke had been bearing down on her since they started, attacking faster than Shino was with Michiko, but of course that was to be expected. Fortunately, Deniizu had taken Aikido back in her own world, so she knew a thing or two about fighting.
"How do you know about my brother?" Sasuke hissed, aiming a punch at her head.
"What's it to you, Sucks-uke?" Deniizu shot back, sneering at him as she aimed a kick at him.
"I'd like to know, kuso-head," Sasuke said, trying to elbow her stomach.
"I love him. You know that already," Deniizu said sweetly, grinding her heel on his toe, "Weren't you paying attention in class, bastard? You must have the intellect of your dead father."
"You bitch!" he yelled, and managed to backhand her.
Deniizu stumbled about three steps from the hit, but Sasuke wasn't done with her.
"Your mother was a whore, and your friend there is twice as bad!"
Several nerves popped on Deniizu's forehead, and she gave Sasuke her best death stare. Sasuke matched it with his, and both got into their fighting stances again.
"Trash talk my mother, for all I care; I hate her. But not my friends," Deniizu growled, "Never my friends."
Both launched themselves at each other, and set to fighting with a will. Michiko noticed in the corner of her eye that Deniizu was lifting a hefty log with her telekinesis.
"Stop! Stop!"
Michiko somehow managed, to push Shino's shoulders so that they both took a couple steps away from each other.
"What's the matter with you? Don't waste my time," Shino said, annoyed.
"We have to stop them from fighting," Michiko said, pointing to the other two students, "Deniizu's really, really mad."
"...Is that a floating log?" Shino asked, pointing.
"Yes it is!" Michiko half-yelled, half-sighed, "Can you stop it somehow before she squashes him with it?"
"...Deniizu is making that log float?" Shino asked, "What sort of jutsu is that?"
"It's not a jutsu, it's her bloodline limit...augh!" Michiko exclaimed, "That's not important! We have to keep her from hitting Sasuke with it."
"Will she really do that?" Shino asked casually, still not moving.
"Yes, she will!" Michiko yelled, now panicking, "Fine! I'll stop them myself!"
The girl ran towards the other two future ninjas, and Shino watched, shaken.
She's angry. I'm not sure if she really needs anger for taijutsu, but if she really needs it when under stress...better safe than sorry, Shino thought, trying with all his willpower to act calm and uncaring, Just keep her mad, and she'll learn better; that's what Iruka-sensei said. When she practices when angry, she may be able to recall things better when calm. I just hope she doesn't totally hate me after this. Well, she thinks I'm cute. ...what if she just meant larva-type cute? Shino shook his head, I'd better focus on breaking the other two up.
Michiko had reached the two fighters, who were circling each other at an extremely fast pace, throwing blows that were just as quick, if faster.
I'm not going to do much jumping in, the girl thought, I'd better try to talk them out of it.
"Deniizu, Sasuke, why're you doing this?" she said in a loud, clear voice, "This isn't training; this is nonsense!"
"Shut up, bitch," Sasuke yelled, punching Deniizu in the stomach.
"Don't distract me," Deniizu gasped, grabbing Sasuke's ankle and flipping him.
"Cut it out!" Michiko exclaimed, "What's this proving? You're both being fools!"
"He called you a whore, you know," Deniizu said, trying to stomp on Sasuke's chest, but he rolled out of the way, grabbed her ankle, and floored her.
Michiko's eye twitched, then she shook it off.
"That's no excuse. You should stop fighting my fights," Michiko said, noticing that the log was getting closer.
"Can't you do anything about that log?" Michiko whispered to Shino.
"I'm thinking," Shino said, acting as if he couldn't care less. Michiko glared at him.
"It's your fault if Sasuke dies," she growled, then turned back to the other two, who were now grappling on the ground, "You know that looks really wrong."
Sasuke froze for a split second, which was his mistake. Deniizu took the chance to bring the log right towards the base of Sasuke's neck.
"Don't!" Shino yelled, taking a step forward and making a few hand seals.
"I got it covered," Michiko called back to him, and gathered chakra in her feet, allowing her to leap forward.
Shino watched and saw Michiko gather chakra into her fist, carefully, and releasing it just as her fist came in contact with the log. The result was quite satisfying: a great explosion of wood.
"Nice..." Deniizu said, nodding to the sudden shower of splinters. That was her mistake.
Sasuke's fist came right in contact to Deniizu's nose. No chakra was needed there; a smack was heard, and Deniizu's nose fountained with blood.
"You broke my nose! Teme!"
The grappling began again, but now Michiko was really upset. She transformed into air in order to squeeze between the two other ninjas, and transformed back to herself, and pushed Sasuke up so that he stumbled backwards and stood,while Michikocontinued to sit on Deniizu.
"This is the part where you st-!" Michiko began, but Sasuke didn't let her finish.
Sasuke's fist came in contact with thefront of Michiko's face, and she went reeling backwards. Deniizu jumped up, nose still bleeding, but face livid, and was about to jump at the boy, but Shino stepped between both of them.
"That is enough," he said coldly, "Any child can lose their temper and get into a scrap. A ninja harnesses their anger and uses it for something useful. You, Deniizu, I can accept; you're new here. Sasuke," Shino looked at the boy in question angrily, "For you, this is the most pathetic thing I have ever seen."
Sasuke glared at Shino for a moment, before turning away.
"Training is over," Sasuke said over his shoulder, and he left the clearing.
Michiko got up slowly, and held out a hand to Deniizu. Her friend took it, and the older girl helped her up.
"Um...thanks, Shino," Michiko said, quietly, but the boy walked back to their side of the field.
"Sasuke may want to end training 45 minutes early, but I don't," said Shino.
Michiko sighed, and Deniizu patted her shoulder.
"You really should stop liking him," Deniizu advised, carefully fingering her nose.
"His attitude...it doesn't seem natural to me," Michiko said softly, but she rubbed one of her upper arms, "It stills hurts, though. Oh! Your nose."
"No, it's ok," Deniizu said, but Michiko had her hands on it already, "What're you doing?"
"Takona used to give me lessons for this, privately," she answered, and used chakra to set and heal Deniizu's nose, "He taught me small things; anyone in big accidents that happened in our village were sent to Konoha, remember?"
"Yeah...I never really gave it that much thought, though," Deniizu said, wiping away her blood with a tissue Michiko produced from her pouch, "Do you want me to stay with you while you train?"
Michiko checked tosee if her eyewas bruised from Sasuke's punch. It was.
"It's your choice," Michiko shrugged, healing her eye, "You'll be bored just watching; and you should be job hunting anyway."
Deniizu nodded.
"Ok, I'll meet you with Ino and Sakura in a bit," she said, and walked out of the clearing.
It's just me and you, Shino, Michiko thought, walking towards the boy, A lovely time for you to be mean to me, and I'll just stand there and take it. Life's not fair...
"Ok," Michiko said, putting herself into her fighting stance, "Let's go."
Several bruises and rejected job applications later...
"So that's what bloodline limits are, in a nutshell," Sakura finished.
She and Ino were sitting in front of Michiko and Deniizu, by the front of the ninja school. Both were looking expectantly at their pupils now, and the other two girls glanced at each other.
"You want to know about what happened in class today," Michiko sighed, and Deniizu crossed her arms.
"Yes!" Ino exclaimed, and jumped to Michiko's side, putting an arm around her, "So why did you melt like that in class? Is it a bloodline limit? And does Deniizu have one too?"
"Why did I 'melt' in class. Hm," Michiko rolled her eyes, "Yes, it's my bloodline limit. I can turn into elements. And their related to my emotions, so if I get really strong ones, then I transform."
"So, because you were really embarrassed, you became water," Sakura said.
No shit, Sherlock, Denise thought, as Michiko nodded.
"Do you have a special ability?" Sakura asked Deniizu.
Telepathy and telekinesis, Deniizu said into the other three girls' heads, and of course that caused a sensation.
"Can you read minds?" Ino asked, excitedly.
Deniizu shrugged, "I don't know anything about my ability. I can't read your memories and things, but I can 'hear' your current thoughts. For now. I might still be developing."
"Oh," the blonde and pink-haired girls said.
"That's neat," said Ino, nodding, "The others in our class want to know what happened too."
"We figured," Deniizu said dryly.
"We'll tell them when they ask," Michiko added.
"Or you could always tell them for us," said Deniizu, "But stick to the facts, would you?"
"We will," Sakura nodded.
"I won't embellish anything," Ino agreed.
"Ok, well I have to go job hunting," Deniizu said, getting up.
"I have some errands to run," Michiko said, rising.
"I'm expected at home," Sakura said.
"I have to help out at our flower shop," Ino said, as she and Sakura got up at the same time.
"We'll see you tomorrow," Michiko said, waving, and she and Deniizu walked off.
"Where are you going first?" she asked Deniizu.
"I was thinking the manga store," Deniizu grinned, and Michiko rolled her eyes.
"Anything for your Yaoi manga," the older girl groaned, and Deniizu laughed.
"So I'll meet you at home in a couple hours for dinner?" Deniizu asked.
"Yeah. Oh, and buy us some plates and things, would you?" Michiko asked, "We don't even have anything for ourselves. The money our village gave us should be enough."
"Ok," Deniizu said, and with a slight wave to the other, they parted.
Michiko walked down the road to the marketplace, trying to walk as silently as possible, and going through a mental list of grocery items.
May as well practice stealth walking while I'm here, she thought, We need instant noodles, milk, bread, maybe a few eggs, vegetables, soup stock...what else?
The girl felt a presence behind her, and saw Shino.
Great...he's going to pick on me, she thought sarcastically, Why me?
"Hi," Shino said, falling into step beside her.
What?
Michiko looked at the boy beside her, confused.
"Um...um, hi," she said, with a weak smile.
"You aren't bruised," Shino said, "You got hit by Sasuke, and you don't have a mark."
Oh...that's what he wanted to talk about, Michiko thought.
"Um...I turned my face into stone, so his fist probably hurts more," she lied.
"Stone?" Shino raised an eyebrow.
"Oh...um...my bloodline limit. I can turn into elements and things. You saw how I turned into water in class, and air when Sasuke and Deniizu were fighting," Michiko mumbled.
"I see...So you're all right, then?" he asked.
Michiko almost stopped walking. That tone of voice was so...kind.
What's going on? Michiko thought.
Please don't be upset with me, Shino thought.
"Um...yeah. I'm ok," Michiko nodded, giving him a smile.
"Good," he said, still with that gentle tone.
Michiko looked at her companion again. He didn't turn to look back at her; rather, he seemed to be avoiding looking at her. The question 'why' was at the tip of her tongue, but she didn't ask it; something told her that he would be cold to her again.
"...You don't have any plans?" Michiko asked him.
"Not really," he answered smoothly, "My father wants me to focus on becoming a ninja right now; that's fine by me. Usually I'd be training, but..."
The boy fell silent, and Michiko didn't press for him to continue.
Whatever. Your life, she thought, ...what about your mother? She's never mentioned in the manga.
"What are you doing now?" Shino asked casually.
"I need to do some grocery shopping," Michiko answered, "Hinata said she'd meet me at market."
The girl half expected Shino to walk away at that, but he stayed with her.
"You don't mind me accompanying you?" Shino asked.
"Not at all," Michiko answered, and realized that she meant it.
They arrived at the marketplace, which was still buzzing with energy. Other villagers were doing their grocery shopping too. Michiko stood by the ramen stall and shaded her eyes with one hand, searching for Hinata. Shino seemed to merely stand beside her, but he was searching as well. After a moment, he pointed to the girl with white eyes, who was approaching.
"There she is," Shino said, and Michiko walked forward to greet her friend.
"Hi, Hinata," Michiko smiled as Shino nodded.
"Hi, Michi-chan, Shino-kun," Hinata greeted, with a shy smile and small bow, "I'm sorry I'm late; I was helping my sister with homework."
"That's ok; there's no rush," Michiko said graciously, "What do you need to get? We'll finish your list, and then I'll get anything that wasn't also there."
"O-ok," Hinata nodded, beaming as she pulled out a short list from a pocket, "Um...I need vegetables..."
Shino-kun...you've stepped forward, Hinata thought, as they began their errand, I hope you will explain soon.
All three began walking towards the vegetable stall, then Hinata looked up from her list and stopped dead in her tracks.
"What is it?" Michiko asked, and she and Shino stopped as well.
"I-it's...i-i-it's Neji," she stuttered, shaking where she was.
Michiko's ears perked up, then remembered that this was before Neji had become friendly(ish) in the manga.
"Neji who?" she asked casually, looking around the square.
"Hyuuga Neji," Shino answered, stepping in front of Hinata.
Shino nodded towards the fruit stall, and Michiko followed his gaze. There was the Hyuuga prodigy, the genius of one of the most deadly clans, examining an orange.
Huh. I'd say that that looks really surreal, but I won't, Michiko thought, It's strange though...I've read about him defeating a creepy spider-kind of guy, barely escaping with his life, and reforming from complete jerk to a...moderately nice jounin, and here I see him picking out lunch.
"You're related?" Michiko asked, thinking, Yeah, like I don't know.
"My c-cousin," Hinata nodded, still shaking.
"There's a sort of family feud in their clan," Shino said, "I'll explain in more detail later, but basically Neji hates Hinata."
"He can't do anything here, though, can he?" Michiko asked, this time not knowing the answer.
"...n-not physically," Hinata whispered, and crouched behind Shino.
But Neji had noticed his cousin.
"It's you," the older boy hissed, loping towards the cowering Hinata.
"Um, yes, sir, have we met?" Michiko asked cheerily, stepping beside Shino to get between the two relatives. She was rewarded with an icy stare, and felt her insides shinking.
I wish I had a stare like that, Michiko thought, But it's also really, really scary.
"Step aside, newcomer, flea-user," Neji growled.
They're beetles, Shino thought, then said, "Anything you needed, Neji-senpai?"
"I'd like to have a talk with my cousin," Neji answered, and put a hand out to shove Michiko to the side.
The hand went through the girl. Neji stared at his hand, which seemed to be inside where Michiko's heart should have been.
What the...? both boys and Hinata thought.
Michiko smiled at Neji charmingly.
"Oh dear, my molecules seem to be floating loosely today. I'd better not move; I might disperse into a cloud. And we can't have that, now can we?"
Neji's lip curled as he removed his hand, and Michiko's smile vanished.
"If you won't move, I'll just go through-ugh!"
Neji had tried to step through Michiko, but now her body was hard. Hard as stone.
"Oh, would you look at that. My molecules are really close together now," Michiko observed, looking down at herself. She raised her head to smile at Neji again, "Isn't that interes-mmph!"
Neji had had enough talk; he punched Michiko's face which he guessed to be back to it's normal density. It was. Michiko didn't let herself stumble; she let herself fall backwards into a 'bridge', landing on her hands so that her body arched over Hinata. She shifted her weight to her left hand and checked her mouth with her right.
My lips are puffing up...can't have that, she thought, and used a little bit of healing chakra on herself which no-one saw.
"That was mean," Michiko scolded, using one of Shino's arms togetback up from her 'bridge'.
"More main branch privileges," Neji growled.
"This is a marketplace, not an arena. Please go away without fighting us," Michiko said, making a dismissing wave with one hand.
Neji looked from Shino to Michiko, and then at Hinata, who had just gotten up. All three looked determined to at least defend themselves, now.
"What's your name, newcomer?" Neji asked her.
"Tell me his and I'll tell you mine," Michiko said, jerking a thumb at Shino.
Neji honestly couldn't remember, and, biting his tongue he stalked away, he looked as if he'd tasted something bitter.
"...Vegetables, right?" Michiko asked, and without really waiting for an answer, she continued her walk to the stall.
Hinata and Shino shared a look, then followed.
"Michi-chan, how did you do that?"
And then there was some grocery shopping, and you probably don't want to read about that. So I'll skip ahead...
"How long have you two known each other?" Michiko asked, browsing through the junk food section, with two bags of groceries in each hand.
Which one might Denise want? she thought.
"I grew up with Shino-kun," Hinata answered, checking her list again to make sure she hadn't missed anything, "We live right by each other."
"Oh," Michiko said, trying to decide between chocolate bars and taffy.
"How long have you and Deniizu known each other?" Shino asked, examining a few mints.
Michiko thought for a moment; her first thought had been one year, in their own world.
"About...six years," she answered, "I've always been our village's orphan; Deniizu's mother took her to the village when she was about six."
"You've always been the village orphan?" Hinata asked, shocked, putting away her list.
"...During the war with a demon that attacked this village," Michiko explained, still looking at the sweets, "My father came here to help fight while my mother was pregnant with me. He had the same bloodline limit as me, but he died here...and my mother died in childbirth about a month after. My village elder said that she wasn't very strong after my father's death...anyway, I became the village's orphan. It wasn't so bad; it was like having a lot of aunts and uncles," she ended, smiling a little.
Shino and Hinata just stared at her, and Michiko sighed.
"That sounds terrible," Hinata said, eyes wide.
"It was lonely at first, I'll admit; I was the only kid in the village. But when Denii-chan came, that helped. I don't remember my parents, but the village took good care of me, so it was ok. At least it was a small village, so I didn't feel too alone, and they all accepted me."
"...I just seems so sad," Hinata said softly, "I lost my mother when I was young, and everything was so different afterwards...like something was missing."
"...but I didn't lose anyone. That's the difference," Michiko said quietly.
Shino didn't say anything, but he selected a few mints as Michiko took a few chocolate bars to the cashier. They both paid, and Michiko added a fifth bag to her load. Hinata shook her head, and gave Michiko a small grin.
"I have more things to buy, but you have twice as many bags," Hinata said, "How did that happen?"
"Oh...I eat a lot," Michiko grinned, and Hinata laughed.
"Well, I have to take these home," Hinata said, and nodded to them before she went her way, "And thank you for earlier, Michi-chan."
The other two waved to Hinata as she left (or in Shino's case, nodded), then Michiko looked around the market to get her bearings, and heading off in the direction of her house. She was surprised to see Shino still walking with her.
"You have absolutely nothing to do?" she asked him.
"Everyone needs a break every now and again," he answered, popping a mint into his mouth.
There was a bit of a silence as they walked along the road together. Finally, Shino spoke up.
"Here, I'll help you with those."
Shino took two of the heavier bags and carried them for Michiko.
"Oh...thank you," Michiko said, smiling, "That's kind of you."
Why are you so different now? she thought.
"My mother used to tell me to always be a gentleman," Shino said, and Michiko could hear a smile in his voice, "Not like my father."
Michiko grinned, then she remembered a thought she had had earlier.
What happened to her...?
There was a long silence, the two of them walking slowly. The sun was going down; long shadows were forming on the ground, they both noticed. Michiko felt something inside her, trying to claw its way out. She fought with herself, trying to keep it down, but she had to know.
"Why?" Michiko finally asked.
Her voice had come out hoarse, and she cleared her throat. Both stopped walking.
"Why have you been so mean to me? You've been nothing but cold to me since I came here. Why are you so kind now?"
Michiko winced.
"Maybe that wasn't the most delicate way to put things," she said gently, then glared at the boy, "But nonetheless it's true. You're doing nothing but hurting me-"
Shino flinched, but Michiko didn't notice.
"-with you ignoring me, and now you're suddenly nice...what's with this? Answer me!"
Shino still wasn't answering. Michiko half sighed, half groaned, and turned to walk away, but Shino grabbed her arm before she could.
"Would you believe me if I told you?" Shino asked in a low voice.
"Depends," Michiko answered, trying to shake his hand off, but it acted as if it were glued there.
"Could you let go?"
"Only if you promise to stay in one place so I can explain."
Michiko hesitated, then put her bags down, faced Shino, and nodded sulkily. Shino let his hand drop and put his bags down.
"Iruka told me to," he blurted.
"...that's your big explanation."
Michiko stared at the boy in front of her.
"You look serious...but I can't really tell. Most of your face is blocked."
Shino rolled his eyes (not that Michiko could see) and unzipped the top part of his coat so that his face was fully visible.
"Happy now?" Shino raised an eyebrow.
"There's still the sunglasses, and you haven't fully explained, so no," Michiko answered, crossing her arms.
"You'll just have to accept the sunglasses," Shino said firmly.
"Your explanation, then?" Michiko raised one of her own eyebrows.
"Iruka-sensei came to my house to tell me that I would be your tutor," Shino sighed, "When he did, he said that the best way to get results from you is to get you angry or stressed."
"So, he told you to make my life hell so that I'd fight properly! What happens when I'm happy again? Will I suck royally?" Michiko growled.
"No, no," Shino waved his hands in front of him, "When you do something over and over in any state of mind, once the time comes when you have to do it in a different state of mind, if you practiced it enough, the technique will come to you naturally, without thinking. But first you have to actually do the technique."
"So, you decided that the best way for me to learn was to get me mad straight off, instead of checking to see if I'd do really well on my own?"
"Iruka-sensei said that he wanted you to develop as quickly as possible before the month is up. If you didn't get everything down before then, you'd have to spend a whole year with people younger than you that you didn't know."
"That still isn't fair though," Michiko scowled, crossing her arms.
"Would you rather I used it as a second resort, then?" Shino asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms, "Iruka-sensei's right in the respect that if you don't learn the techniques fast, you aren't going to pass."
"I can do it without being angry," Michiko said firmly, Though I'll have to try really, really hard.
"Fine. I'll only try to get you angry if you don't get things the first time."
"Deal," Michiko said, and both shook hands.
I guess you aren't so bad, Michiko thought, as they went back to walking to her apartment, Life suddenly seems so much easier.
A/N: Hey you. Yeah, you. Have you reviewed? Hm? Huh? Hm? If your answer is no, then click on that thing in the bottomleft-hand corner in the window, and write a review. If your answer is yes, then thank you very much! Have a good day, and eat Pocky.