"Hey, There's Nothing To Say,

Catastrophe By Design,

But Just For Today,"

-Harmonics, Kuraiinu

I stood on my tip-toes, reaching for my card on the wall. My fingers brushed the bottom, but I couldn't grasp it, no matter how hard I stretched.

"Almost," Naga said, patting my head. He flipped his own card to the red side. The two cards beside his were red, while the frog and slug cards on the other side were white. "Want me to lower it for you?"

"No." I hopped up, making the card rattle.

"Stubborn," Naga said with a shake of his head. He moved behind me.

"I got it," I insisted.

"I know you do," Naga said. He knelt, wrapped his arms around me, and with a grunt, lifted me so that I was at eye-level with the card.

"Naga," I complained even as I twisted the card to the red side.

"That wasn't for you," Naga said as he put me down. "I miss when you were a little baby sometimes. You loved it when I picked you up."

I took his hand. "I forgive you, but only this time," I said.

Naga smiled and pushed the door open.

"Passcode!" Yahiko called. He was laying on his back, holding one of Naga's textbooks above him.

Naga waited until he closed the door before he answered, "We don't have one."

"We should make a real passcode," Konan said. Half-finished origami littered the ground in front of her.

"That is a real passcode," Yahiko said. "No one will expect it."

"Where'd sensei go?" Naga asked.

"Tsunade-sensei went to look for a bar," Konan answered, tapping her chin. "Jiraya-sensei said he was going to do some 'research' for the book he's writing."

"How can you read this?" Yahiko asked.

"You're holding it upside down," Naga told him.

"It's the same either way," Yahiko said. "No matter which way I look at it, none of it makes sense."

I broke away from Naga and sat across from Konan, her paper creations between us.

"Any luck?" she asked.

"I'm not a sensor," I shrugged. "But Naga's getting better. He can tell people apart now, just by their chakra."

"Really? That's great," she said. "I've been practicing too. Wanna see?"

I nodded.

Konan took a deep breath and pressed her fingers into the bird seal. A moment later, one of the paper roses unfolded into individual slips and began to float. Her brows furrowed and the paper slips lifted higher into the air.

I leaned close, just as she exhaled, and paper rained down around us.

"I don't know what to call it yet," she confessed. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

I poked a piece on my knee, but it didn't move. "Where does the chakra go when you stop manipulating it?"

Konan blinked. "I don't really know, Oka. When Jiraya-sensei comes back you should ask him."

"No, that's okay," I said, standing. "It's harder to understand when he explains things."

Konan giggled. "He'd be so mad if he heard you say that."

"Don't work too hard," I instructed, hands on my hips. "Take a break."

Konan covered her mouth to smother her laugh. "You're mimicking Tsunade-sensei now, too?"

"I won't heal you if you go too far," I lowered my voice, turning my nose up at her.

I smiled as she dissolved into laughter.

"That's inside me?" Yahiko asked, finger stabbing a page of Naga's textbook. He was on his stomach, the book beneath him.

I peeked over his shoulder. On the right page was a drawing of something that was in the shape of a bloated crescent, with arrows pointing to different parts of it.

"I think so," Naga said, sitting in front of him.

Yahiko looked up.

"Some people are born without one," he quietly added.

"How can people be born without an organ?" Yahiko spluttered.

I knelt beside him, running a finger over the large, bold words at the top. "What does that say?"

"Spleen," Naga read. "It's here." He poked below my chest.

I squirmed away from him. "You could've shown me on Yahiko," I said.

Naga smiled and waggled his fingers at me.

"What does it do?" Yahiko asked.

Naga pointed to a paragraph on the left page.

Yahiko followed his finger. Three seconds passed before he nodded. "It's gibberish," he confirmed.

In response, Naga turned to a page at end of the book. "All the big words and what they mean are listed here," he said.

Yahiko stared at it, then at Naga. "What language is that?" he asked.

Naga shook his head but turned the book to face himself. "I'll read it to you," he obliged. "It'll be good practice for Oka, too."

我々

Jiraya ducked into the bar, holding the curtain aside as he took a quick look around. It was possibly the last remaining bar in Amegakure. The others he knew of had been destroyed, looted, or abandoned.

Though, it wasn't in the best shape. Water dripped from a hole in the roof, marks covered the floor where chairs used to be, and several parts of the wall looked like it had been hastily patched with wood of a different color.

He stepped up to the bar. Save for the bartender, the place was empty.

"Yo," he greeted, and the bartender looked up from the cup he'd been wiping. His bland, empty stare immediately sent a shiver down his spine.

"I'm looking for a woman," he pushed on anyway. "Big, voluptuous breasts. And I mean big. Between you and me, I don't know how she carries around those things around—"

He heard a long, drawn out sigh behind him. "What do you want?"

Jiraya turned, and there was Tsunade. She'd come in from outside. He knew, because she was soaking wet. Damn this village and its rain. Looking past her, he saw what he hadn't before. A slight seam in the wall, hidden by the multicolored wood and poor lightning.

"Looking as good as ever, Tsuna," he greeted.

She held two letters in each hand. One for Dan, the other for Nawaki. "Cut the crap," she said. "Why follow me here?"

The bartender quietly disappeared into the back room.

"Follow you?" he asked. "Can't a man enjoy a drink and some, hopefully, well-endowed entertainment?"

Tsunade shook her head and turned away. She had a hand on the secret door when he spoke again.

"I'm glad you decided to stay," he admitted. "It would've been awfully lonely here without you."

She dropped her hand. "Dan didn't like it, you know," she said. "He worries. I would too, if our positions were reversed. I'm deep in enemy territory. I can't imagine what he'd think, if he knew we were only still alive because Hanzo thought we deserved to be."

Jiraya leaned against the bar. "At least we got cool titles out of it," he said.

Tsunade looked back at him over her shoulder, and he could see her smile. "I'm trying to have a serious moment here, idiot."

"Serious? Around me?" he asked. "I'm not Orochi, you know."

Tsunade shook her head. "That you aren't," she said dryly.

Jiraya shrugged. "If Dan knows you like I do, he'll understand."

"It's not about that," she said. "I wonder what's keeping me here sometimes. I wanted to be home before Nawaki's birthday, since the war kept me away last year. I chose to stay here instead. So many people are waiting for me back home and yet I didn't leave when I had the chance. Why am I betting it all on a group of orphans from a random war-torn village?"

"Because you think they can do it," Jiraya answered.

"They're kids," Tsunade protested.

"They're not. They haven't been kids for a very long time, and I think you know that."

Tsunade closed her eyes. "That orange-haired brat reminds me so much of Nawaki."

"Konan is—"

Tsunade shot him a warning look.

Jiraya reconsidered. "She's developing her own jutsu, you know."

Tsunade faced the wall, but not before he caught the glint of pride in her eyes. "Is she?"

She could try to hide it all she wanted, but Jiraya knew she'd grown fond of her so-called brats.

"I never thought I would get an apprentice this soon," she said quietly.

"You can't bear to see them die before they get the chance to shoot for their dream," Jiraya mused. "The only way to give them that chance is to teach them to survive. And no one around here will do it, so it falls to us. I feel the same way, princess."

He watched her shoulders rise, her fists clench. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her face, but he knew she was embarrassed by the use of her old nickname.

"And Oka—" he started.

"She's a prodigy," Tsunade agreed.

Except, that wasn't what he was going to say. She didn't see it then, that Oka wasn't a real prodigy. Jiraya's thoughts about Oka were nothing more than half-baked theories, but there were two things he was certain about.

Her spiritual knowledge put her ahead of even Yahiko, but she was held back by her physical limitations.

At the rate she was progressing, her chakra reserves would surpass his own one day. It must've run in the family, because he expected the same of Nagato.

And one thing he was less certain about.

She might be what he was searching for. The child the old toad talked about in his prophecy.

"Yeah," Jiraya grunted, pushing away from the counter. "A prodigy."

できる

"Ready?" Jiraya asked.

I nodded. In a blink, he flashed through two hand-seals. I missed the first, but the second was the rat seal.

"Demonic Illusion: Death Mirage Jutsu."

Jiraya disappeared.

"I only want to see if you can break out of it," he'd explained. "So, I'll make it obvious you're in one. But if this were a real battle, chances are you wouldn't even notice you were in a genjutsu until it was too late. We'll work on identifying the complex stuff later. For now, just show me you can do it."

I threw my hands up, focused my chakra, and opened my mouth—

"Oka," Naga croaked before I could speak. "Oka, I'm so scared."

He sounded hurt and broken and terrified. Like Papa, when he told Naga to run. I stumbled, like the thought was a physical blow.

"Please," he begged.

I turned around.

Naga laid on the grass behind me. His eyes were closed, and bloody lines ran from each eyelid down to his chin. The handle of a gunbai was impaled through his back, pinning him to the ground. He raised a shaking, bloody hand.

"Please," he gasped.

I dropped down beside him. "You're not real," I murmured, even as I took his hand.

He stared at me. "What? Why-Why would you say that?"

"Because Jiraya-sensei said you weren't," I pressed his palm against my cheek.

Naga sagged and red dribbled out from under him. "I'm dying," he wheezed. "Take it out, Oka. Please."

I looked at the gunbai but shook my head. I put his hand down. "I have to go," I told him.

"Wait," he gasped, grabbing my sleeve. "Oka, please, please don't. You came over here just to leave me?"

"No," I said. "I did it because I love you too much, Naga."

"Love," he repeated, cheek against the grass. His hand fell away. "How stupid."

He reached up, pinched his own chin between his fingers, and peeled the skin back.

I took a step back. "Naga?"

The more he peeled, the more he revealed a bright orange mask. He tossed his face aside, and a red glow emanated from a single eye-hole. "You stupid, stupid girl," he said.

I took another step back. I didn't know him, did I? Why then, were my hands shaking?

He rose, phasing through the gunbai like a ghost.

I shuddered and felt the sudden, urgent need to get away from him. I whirled, slipping a little on the blood—Naga's blood—and I ran.

"Ah, ah," he admonished. He sounded too close. "Too late."

I felt a pull, the sensation of being lifted off my feet, and then I was sucked into the dark.

I bolted upright, shaking so hard my teeth chattered.

"Oka, Oka," it was Naga, saying my name over and over.

I was cradled like a baby in his lap. I buried my face in his chest, clinging to him like he would disappear if I let go.

Naga sagged in relief.

"What happened?" Yahiko asked.

"I had a nightmare," I whispered, only loud enough for Naga to hear.

"I know," he said, fighting the tremor in his voice. "Don't think about it anymore."

"She had a bad reaction to the genjutsu I used," Jiraya explained somewhere behind me. "I thought you were ready, Oka, and you weren't. That's my fault."

"Oh, poor Oka," Konan murmured.

"I'm sleepy, Naga," I mumbled.

"Close your eyes," he said softly. "I'll protect you from the nightmares."

"Promise you'll be there when I wake up?"

"Always," he said firmly.

調和

Konan stood above me, adjusting a paper flower crown on my head.

"There we go!" she said, leaning back. "A worthy crown for the birthday girl."

I glanced up. "Konan?"

"Hm?"

"Why don't you have a birthday?"

Konan faltered. "I do," she said, forcing a happy note into her voice. "I just don't know when it is," she admitted. "I don't think Yahiko and Nagato do either. But since we know yours, that's what we're celebrating. Have a good birthday for all of us, okay?"

"Okay, but next time, it's your birthday," I declared.

"It is?" Konan asked, scratching her cheek.

"Then Naga, then Yahiko."

"Hmm," Konan said. "If we're all going to have birthdays then Yahiko should be first, since he's the oldest."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've been with him the longest, silly," Konan said, poking my cheek.

I swatted her, baring my teeth.

Konan smiled, but moved her fingers away from my mouth. "He's older than me. I know that," she said. "Nagato might be older than me, but I don't think so. So, his birthday would come last."

"And then mine after that?" I asked.

"No," Konan said. "We're not changing your birthday. We can't. It's a specific date."

"So, I'm the oldest?" I asked.

"Not if Yahiko picks his birthday before yours," Konan stuck her tongue out.

I stuck mine out back at her.

"Don't tease the birthday girl, Konan," Yahiko said. "It's rude."

"You're one to talk," Konan shot back.

Yahiko nodded, taking this in stride. "You've been very sassy lately," he noted. "I think it's time I talk to Nagato about staging an intervention."

Konan flushed. "I've always been like this."

"More than usual," Yahiko corrected.

"Why are you interrupting us?"

Yahiko squinted at her. Then, ignoring the question entirely, he pulled out a folded piece of paper and knelt in front of me. "For the princess," he said, bowing his head as he held it out.

"Princess?" I asked, looking to Konan.

"Just take the gift," Yahiko whispered.

I did, holding it up as I unfolded it. My eyes widened. It was a drawing of the sky, using colors I'd never seen before. The sun was bright yellow in the middle and the biggest. The clouds were milky white, the sky around them baby blue.

"This is what the sky looks like?" I asked him in awe.

"In places where there's no rain, yeah."

"Woah," Konan said. "What did you have trade for this?"

"Four big fish from the lake," Yahiko said, lacing his hands behind his head. "No one wants to leave their homes to fish. I just did it for them."

I hugged him tight. "Thank you."

"As long I get the title of best gift giver, I'm happy."

"This is the best gift I've gotten ever," I told him.

Yahiko beamed.

"What about my flower crown?" Konan asked.

"Now, now," Yahiko chided. "She already decided. Don't be a sore loser."

Konan crouched beside me. "A crown made of flowers is way better than some dingy painting, right?"

Pain-ting. Another word I'd never heard before.

"It's of the sky," I emphasized, clinging to Yahiko.

"You heard her," Yahiko said, raising his arms helplessly. "Sky beats flower crown."

I pulled back, lifting the painting above my head. It was so, so close to the real thing. I paused. "What do I do with it?"

Yahiko blinked down at me.

"I can't take it outside," I thought aloud. "And I don't wanna leave it on the floor."

"Ah, I see," Yahiko said. "We can hang it up, if you want."

"Hang it up?" I repeated.

"Yeah, I'll show you."

I followed Yahiko across the room. He stopped in front of the back wall. "We can put it right here." He tapped the wall with his knuckle.

"Okay," I nodded.

"I'm on it," Yahiko said. He held his hand out and I surrendered the painting. "Give me five minutes."

"Okay," I said, watching him move around the hideout. He was looking for something, but I didn't know what.

While he did that, I wandered down the small hallway behind the kitchen. There was only one door in the middle, leading to the bathroom. I rapped my knuckles against it.

"Naga?" I asked. He'd been in there for a long time.

I heard something crash inside, and then Naga threw the door open. Something was on the floor behind him, but he moved in the way when I tried to look around him. He hadn't patted down his hair, so it stuck up everywhere.

"Oka," he said, alarmed. "You can't look. It's not done yet."

"O-kay," I said, but didn't move.

Naga sighed. He placed his hands on my shoulders, turned me around, and gave me a light push in the opposite direction. He closed the door before I could turn back around.

"You know," Yahiko began as I walked back to the living area. "He's lucky Konan hasn't had to use the bathroom."

"Why me?"

"I could just go outside," Yahiko pointed out, and Konan turned bright red.

The painting was on the wall, held in place by a slip of paper over each corner.

"It's so pretty," I said.

"You're welcome," Yahiko said.

I sat, leaning back so I could admire it. I was still looking at it when the door opened.

"Passcode?" Yahiko asked.

"Brat, do we really have to—"

"Passcode," Yahiko interrupted her, voice harder.

"Don't have one," Jiraya answered for them both. "Sorry we're late, but you wouldn't believe the pretty ladies they have standing guard at the border today. If I were a weaker man, I might've let them see us, just so I could get a good look at those huge—"

"This," Tsunade interrupted loudly, shooting him a glare. "Is for you." She dropped a wrapped package on the table.

I crawled closer, turning it over in my hands.

"Well?" Tsunade asked, crossing her arms.

Yahiko leaned down. "That's not it. You're supposed to open it, Oka," he whispered.

I pulled at the bag until it tore and, with an encouraging nod from Yahiko, tore the rest off until a pair of black sandals fell into my lap. Smooth black fabric was attached to each of them.

"Sandals?" Konan asked, kneeling beside me.

"Shinobi sandals," Tsunade corrected. "Made specifically for the little brat."

Yahiko gazed down, looking longingly at his own dirty feet.

"Can I get shinobi sandals for my birthday too, Tsunade-sensei?" Konan asked.

"Which is when, exactly?"

Konan went quiet.

I sat and tugged them on my feet. The sandals fit, but the fabric hung off the back, and I stared, not knowing what do with it.

Tsunade sighed and knelt in front of me. "Stay still," she ordered and pulled them off. She grabbed my leg with one hand, shoving the fabric up around my ankle with the other. She adjusted the sandal, then let go. "That's how you put them on."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sensei," I said.

"No problem."

Jiraya unveiled a scroll from his coat pocket as she stood and twirled it in his hand. "You've been asking, no begging, for something chocolatey, so Jiraya the Sanin has finally granted your precious wish." He pressed his thumb in the middle, and a round object popped out.

"This," he began, putting the brown thing down in front of me. "Is a chocolate cupcake."

Konan shifted closer, looking at it with wide eyes.

"Huh. If I knew you wanted one so much, I would've gotten it for you instead," Yahiko said.

"I don't," I said, leaning in to sniff the cupcake.

It smelled like cinnamon.

Yahiko paused, turning on his heel to look at Jiraya.

"Idiot," Tsunade said with a shake of her head.

"She did ask for chocolate before," Jiraya protested.

"You've got to tell me what it tastes like, Oka," Konan begged.

"Here," I pushed it towards her with my fingertips.

Konan backed off, shaking her head. "No, no. It's your present. You should have the first bite."

I picked it up and cradled it in my hands. It was hard, but squishy. Not liquid chocolate, like I'd asked about, but another form of it. I leaned forward.

Yahiko grabbed my wrist before I could take a bite. Without a word, he peeled off the wrapping and bunched it up in his fist. "It may not look like it, but it's paper, Oka. You can't eat that."

I turned the cupcake in my hands, ensuring it was free of paper before I took a bite. It was softer on the inside, almost gooey. A different kind of sweet, but bitter at the same time. I made a face and leaned close to Konan, lowering my voice. "I don't like it," I admitted.

Konan's eyes widened. She scooted closer. "You sure? They're supposed to be really good."

I tried to push the cupcake into her hands, but she resisted. "We have to be more discreet," she said quietly, bending her head close to mine. "You're not supposed to give away a gift like that. It's rude."

"But I don't want it."

"Shhhh," she said, casting a look over her shoulder.

Casually, Konan laid her hand flat on the table, palm-up. "Start by giving me a small piece," she instructed. "So they don't notice."

"Why?"

"It's good manners, Oka," she said.

I didn't understand, but I scratched a piece off the top. Then I deposited the contents that were under my fingernail into her palm.

Konan's face twisted in disgust.

On my other side, Yahiko plucked the cupcake from my grasp. He broke it in half, swept the crumbs out of Konan's palm, and placed half there. "You know what's bad manners?" he asked, taking a bite. "Pretending to like something when you don't."

"I wasn't making her pretend," Konan protested. "I just didn't want to be rude!"

Yahiko looked her up and down. "Ah. I understand."

"What?"

"You're going through puberty," Yahiko revealed. "That's why you're so worried about manners all of a sudden."

I heard Jiraya choke. When I looked back, he was coughing hard into his palm.

"I bet you don't even know what puberty is," Konan sputtered.

"I do," Yahiko said airily. "The knowledge of it comes with a certain level of maturity, you see. You're not there yet."

"I'm mature,"

"It all makes sense now," Yahiko said to himself.

"Yahiko!"

"Hey, Yahiko?" I asked. "What's puberty?"

Konan made a distressed noise, her mouth full of cupcake. Yahiko looked at me, then he put the cupcake down. He turned fully to face me. "Are you sure you want to know, Oka? It's forbidden, dangerous knowledge."

"I'm not little anymore," I argued. "If you know, I want to know too."

Yahiko nodded. "In that case, we should start with—"

Hands covered my ears. I looked up at Konan, who glared at Yahiko. She said something and he tumbled over, laughing hard.

I pushed her hands aside.

"Who told you that?" Yahiko gasped.

I looked to Konan for an answer, but she looked away, her face a fierce red. "You don't want to know, Oka. Trust me."

I frowned. "I'm old enough," I insisted.

Konan shook her head and tried to smile. "You're not. Just wait a little while longer, okay?"

Yahiko was still laughing.

I didn't want to be left out, but Konan wouldn't meet my eyes. I frowned. "I'm going to check on Naga," I said, but didn't wait for an answer. If the others wouldn't tell me, I would ask him.

It took him almost a minute to answer. The question on the tip of my tongue dissolved at the unhappy look on his face.

"What's wrong, Naga?" I asked.

"I don't think I'll make it," he said. "I'm really, really trying, but stitching is harder than I thought it would be."

"That's okay," I said. "Give it to me tomorrow."

He looked surprised. He shook his head and plopped down. "Remember what Konan told me to stop doing?" he asked.

I knelt in front of him. "Yeah. She was kind of scary."

"Scary good or scary bad?"

I thought about it, then shrugged. "Just scary. Like Tsunade-sensei."

Naga smiled. "I know what you mean. You can look if you want."

I shook my head. "Not if you don't want me to."

"I want you to," he said. When I hesitated, he leaned forward. "I really, really want you to."

I peeked around him. There was an explosion of red thread and needles on the floor. Most were tangled together, with lines spanning all over the bathroom. There was a semi-clear spot in the middle, where part of a scarf was.

"You thought I wouldn't like it?" I asked.

Naga shook his head. "What I thought was really stupid and not true, but I never thought you wouldn't like it."

I leaned against him. "Good, because I already love it."

A/N: 我々 - We, できる - Can, 調和 - Harmonize