The nightmares had woken her up again. It was the first time since her mission from the Land of Waves that she'd had nightmares, and the first time in a long time that she'd had this specific nightmare. The bodies of her parents sprawled out on the ground like limp ragdolls were haunting Akira once more. She woke up in a cold sweat and sat upright. Her eyes were with panic, her chest was heaving, and her hands were shaking. She had trouble wiping the sweat from her face. It took Akira a while to calm down. Her body was shaking, not just her hands, and her mind was racing with the horrible images of her murdered clan, but eventually, her breathing returned to normal and she got out of bed despite the early hour.
The air was cool outside, as she soon realised after exiting onto the balcony. The light breeze blew through Akira's fine hair, whisking it off her shoulders and into its grasp. Her eyes scanned the horizon; the buildings were not yet awake under the dark blues and pale lavenders of the sleeping sky. Everything was muted; the sounds, the colours—it was peaceful. From here, she could see training ground three, the rooftop when she and the rest of team seven introduced themselves to their sensei, Kakashi. Akira smiled, recalling how she'd introduced herself.
"My name is Akira Uchiha. Sounds stupid, but I like learning... reading. One of my favourite things though are my friends. Um... I don't particularly dislike anything except for seafood. As a hobby I sing a little - hum mostly 'cause I hate the sound of my voice. And dream for the future? That's an easy one," Akira had said with a smile. "I want to become the best ninja I can be and follow in my father's footsteps - one day, I'm going to be the head of Konoha Military Police and protect my city with all I've got!"
Akira chuckled and shook her head. Kai used to ask her to sing all the time when they were children, but since the Uchiha tragedy, Akira hadn't sung in front of anyone. It was as if Itachi had robbed her of the will to sing for others, just as he'd robbed her of her family and her clan. She still hummed melodies from time to time, melodies passed down from generations, melodies she remembered so vividly it was as if her mother was right there singing them to her. Akira hesitated for a moment and sighed, but she began humming into the early morning, leaning against the railing of her balcony. It was soft and airy, a little child-like, just like the songs Mikoto used to sing. And after a little while, when the dawn had grown accustomed to her humming, Akira began to sing her song to the empty streets of Konoha.
Somewhere, a voice calls, in the depths of my heart
May I always be dreaming, the dreams that move my heart
So many tears of sadness, uncountable through and through
I know on the other side of them I'll find you
Everytime we fall down to the ground we look up to the blue sky above
We wake to it's blueness, as for the first time
Though the road is long and lonely and the end far away, out of sight
I can with these two arms embrace the light
As I bid farewell my heart stops, in tenderness I feel
My silent empty body begins to listen to what is real
The wonder of living, the wonder of dying
The wind, town, and flowers, we all dance one unity
Somewhere a voice calls in the depths of my heart
keep dreaming your dreams, don't ever let them part
Why speak of all your sadness or of life's painfull woes
Instead let the same lips sing a gentle song for you
The whispering voice, we never want to forget,
in each passing memory always there to guide you
When a mirror has been broken, shattered pieces scattered on the ground
Glimpses of new life, reflected all around
Window of beginning, stillness, new light of the dawn
Let my silent, empty body be filled and reborn
No need to search outside, nor sail across the sea
Cause here shining inside me, it's right here inside me
I've found a brightness, it's always with me
Akira sighed. She closed her eyes and walked back inside to make herself a cup of tea, then started to make breakfast. It was a little early to be making it, but Akira didn't expect to go back to sleep. And usually, it was Sasuke who made it, so it was only fair that she did for once. While calmly sipping her tea, Akira made some rice and grilled some fresh tuna, as well as a few different kinds of veggies. By the time she was done, Sasuke came out of his room fully dressed and, without a word, he set the table. Seeing what she'd made, he prepared a small pot of green tea and placed it on the table. Akira plated the rice, fish and vegetables into bowls and set them in their respective places on the table, and Sasuke poured the tea over it. The siblings enjoyed their Ochazuke in silence and cleared the table as usual. However, when Akira came back from her room after getting dressed, Sasuke hadn't left and was waiting by the door for his sister. Akira sighed.
"You're only being nice to me because I had a nightmare."
"Just accept it, you idiot."
"Yeah, yeah."
It had been a few months since team seven had returned from their B-rank mission in the Land of Waves and, as Akira and Sasuke walked to the designated spot to meet Kakashi-sensei, Akira couldn't help but think of how much stronger she'd gotten since then. She'd begun to manipulate water, as crazy as it sounded, and she'd started to hone her lightning jutsu and basic taijutsu. She was nowhere near her goals, but progress was good, and it helped that she no longer had incessant nightmares about unwashable blood. Although, last night's nightmare wasn't a good sign that this good progress was going to continue.
Eventually, Akira and Sasuke made it to the bridge where they were supposed to wait for Kakashi-sensei. Akira sighed and leaned back, knowing full well that he'd be late. Was there even any point in arriving early or on time herself? It wasn't long before Sakura joined them and, as per her usual self, gushed over Sasuke again. Akira rolled her eyes. Sakura may have been growing on her, but no matter how much respect Akira gained for her, Sakura was still annoying. About a half-hour later was when Naruto arrived, and with him came Akira and Sakura's dread. Ever since they'd come back from their mission to the Land of Waves, Naruto and Sasuke had been worse than usual. Both absolutely proud and stubborn, neither of them wanted to admit to saving each other, nearly dying for each other, or even remotely caring about each other. It didn't matter how much Akira talked to Sasuke, that boy was as thick as a brick wall.
"Hey, good morning Sakura! What's up?" Naruto said with a smile.
However, he didn't even let Sakura respond before he proceeded to glare fiercely at Sasuke. Sasuke glared back, of course, and Akira jabbed her elbow into his sides to get him to stop. When Sasuke looked away, Naruto huffed and subsequently turned his back to him. Akira put her head in her hands and quietly prayed that Kakashi would arrive to diffuse this ungodly amount of tension. But that wouldn't happen for hours. When Kakashi did appear, he popped up in a flash of smoke on top of one of the bridge's archways. Enraged, his students turned to look at him with daggers in their eyes.
"Hey, guys. Good morning," he said pleasantly as if there was nothing wrong. "Sorry, I'm late. I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."
"AH! YOU'RE NOT FOOLING ANYONE KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto, Akira and Sakura shouted in unison, while Sasuke contented himself with a glare.
Kakashi jumped down and landed silently.
"I'm ready for the next ninja mission, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. "And hey, now. No more of this dumb beginner stuff, okay? I want a chance to prove myself. I'm talking about a real mission, where I can show off what I'm made of! Ah! I gotta break out and burn it up! See!?"
If this was a shoujo manga, Naruto would literally be on fire. Kakashi held up his hands in surrender a little awkwardly and taken aback by Naruto's intensity.
"Uh, right. I get it. That's great, Naruto," he said. "Now... take it easy would you?"
Akira chuckled quietly as Naruto glared at their sensei. But Naruto heard her and turned around to her, which made him see Sasuke, which in turn made him glare at him again. He snarled at Sasuke, taking an offensive stance, but didn't move for several minutes, as if he was daydreaming about something. Akira raised an eyebrow and waved a hand in front of his face. It didn't get a response. Sasuke had his classic indifferent expression plastered on his face throughout the entire altercation, but Sakura looked like she wanted to punch Naruto.
"Believe it!" Naruto shouted all of a sudden, making Akira jump.
"Let us know when you're done fantasizing, Naruto," Kakashi said, almost sighing, "so we can start the mission, all right?"
"Right!"
"Could you not be so annoying, Naruto, just for once?" Sakura asked, irritated.
Once again the mission was uneventful and excessively boring, being that the mission was to simply pull some woman's weeds. However, Naruto, trying to beat Akira and Sasuke at everything for some reason, ended up pulling out an entire batch of weeds and flowers, much to the client's discontent.
A few more weeks went on like this. When they were cleaning up garbage in a river, with Kakashi-sensei reading peacefully under a tree, Naruto managed to slip while chasing after the last piece of garbage. Akira and Sasuke had to team up and save him before he fell down a waterfall. Naruto still hadn't learned his lesson when they went dog walking, taking the largest canine there, who ended up dragging the weaker boy into a minefield. This one meant that Sakura and Sasuke had to carry Naruto back, while Kakashi-sensei and Akira walked behind them.
"You really are just one big problem, aren't you?" Sasuke said.
"Sasuke, give it a rest," Akira said, trying to defend Naruto a little.
But Akira didn't get the desired effect. Instead of Naruto at least getting mad at Sasuke alone, he got angry at both of them, surely condemning her for protecting him too much again. The girl sighed, defeated, and slowed down her match her pace with Kakashi. She had no clue why Naruto was acting this way, but it was getting really discouraging.
"Guess we're not making any progress on this teamwork thing, huh?" Kakashi sighed, looking up from his book.
"That's right! Our teamwork is all messed up and it's because of you two!" Naruto yelled at Akira and Sasuke. "You think you're so much better than everyone else?"
"Not everyone. Just you," Sasuke said. "Face it. I'm better and stronger than you are. It's a fact. Unless you got what it takes to prove me wrong?"
"Shut it," Akira shouted, stepping between the boys. She smacked them both upside the head and glared at them. "Enough! We're shinobi, guys. We don't have time for petty schoolyard squabbles like this! All of us need to get stronger, and we need to do that through teamwork, not by arguing all the time. Sakura and I are getting over our differences so that we can work in symbiosis with each other. A shinobi's priority is to the mission. Feelings have to be put aside and that includes your guys' hostility!"
It was like neither of them had heard her. Sasuke and Naruto were still glaring at each other, standing off.
"All right, guys," Kakashi sighed, turning to walk away. "Let's call it a day. You can beat each other to pulp some other time. Anyway, I need to file a report on this mission."
Seconds later he was gone.
"Whatever. I'm outta here," Sasuke said, turning away. "Akira."
"Hm?" Akira hummed, looking up towards her brother's retreating figure.
"Come on."
"No, I'm going to practise with Sakura and improve our teamwork," Akira said, a little defiantly. She looked between Naruto and Sasuke. "You're both welcome to join. Come on, Sakura."
Akira turned towards her and grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her away. She was fuming. Nothing she could ever say to them was going to work. Sakura felt bad for her. She was always trying to make them get along, but nothing was working.
The girls went along one of the footpaths to Training Ground Three and talked about everything and nothing, not taking notice of their surroundings. That was until they came across a box with a rock-like texture. It had appeared at their feet and both girls shared a look before frowning down at it. Suddenly, Naruto came out from some bushes and sighed. He went to stand in front of Akira.
"That's the worst disguise of all time! There's no such thing as square rocks!" he shouted. "It's completely obvious!"
"You saw through my camouflage again!" a small voice said from the box. "You're slick, boss."
"Boss?" Akira mumbled.
"Just what I'd expect from my greatest rival!"
Suddenly, the box exploded with three different colours of powder: one blue, one yellow and one pink. When the smoke cleared, Akira spotted three kids on the ground, coughing through the gunpowder.
"I think we used a little too much gunpowder, guys," one of the kids said.
They looked up and blinked a few times before standing up and introducing themselves rather dramatically in what seemed like a Naruto-style choreography.
"I'm Moegi, the sassiest kunoichi in preschool! Check me out!" a little girl with orange hair said.
"I love algebra! Call me Udon!" the boy with short brown hair and large round glasses said next.
"And I'm the number one ninja in the village!" said the last boy. He was giving off the same vibes as Naruto. "And when we're all together—we're the Konohamoru ninja squad!"
Akira was about to tug Sakura and herself away from the commotion when Naruto spoke.
"Yeah, I knew it was you, Konohamoru," Naruto lazily.
"Oh, so that's the famous Konohamoru," Akira said with a smile. She stepped out from behind Naruto and crouched down to the boy's level. "Naruto talks about you a lot."
All of a sudden a blush spread on Konohamoru's face.
"W-Who are you?"
"Akira. I'm Naruto's teammate."
"WHAT!?" all three kids yelled.
"Boss, you never said Akira was that pretty!" Konohamoru shouted, pointing accusingly at Naruto.
Akira blinked a few times and stood up, looking over to Sakura for clarification. She just shrugged and held out her hand to drag Akira and herself away this time. However, the bizarre conversation that was going on between them was compelling the girls to stay.
"So... did you want something?" Naruto said coolly.
"He's just trying to be cool," Konohamoru whispered to Udon.
"You know what we want!" Moegi said. "Are you busy now?"
"Hm... I have to train. Believe it!"
"What? But you promised you'd play ninja with us today!" Konohamoru complained.
"A ninja playing ninja?" Sakura and Akira muttered, confused.
"Oh, Sakura, you're still here," Naruto said, stuttering a bit. An evident blush was on his face.
"You're a smooth operator, boss," Konohamoru said. Akira rose an eyebrow. "Come on, I know that she's your... girlfriend."
"Huh!?" Sakura growled.
"Uh oh..." Akira whispered. She released her grip from Sakura's hand and backed away a little.
"Well, you could tell she's really crazy about me, huh?" Naruto bragged, blushing.
All of a sudden, Sakura lunged forward and punched Naruto square in the face, sending him flying back. Akira rose her hand up in defeat and went to stand beneath a nearby tree. She'd intervene if things got out of hand, but until then she was just going to enjoy the show.
"Hey, what kind of a girlfriend are you!?" Konohamoru shouted.
Moegi and Udon rushed to Naruto, saying that Sakura had cracked him. Konohamoru made the mistake of bringing up Sakura's forehead and Akira winced every time Sakura would get close enough to land a punch on them. Akira heard a branch break and she looked up to inspect. It was only Sasuke, looking just as fascinated, disgusted and confused by what the hell was going on. Akira sighed and went to leave, not believing she was going to get any training done with anyone at this point, but the commotion suddenly stopped. Akira looked over and saw that Konohamoru, while running away from Sakura, had bumped into someone. Someone Akira didn't recognise.
He wore a black full-body suit with a hood that covered his entire head. His ninja insignia, which was normally worn on a bandana, was integrated into the hood, and on his face were several purple markings. Akira narrowed her eyes at him, spying the large bandaged-wrapped... something on his back. Standing beside him was a young woman with sandy blonde hair, who looked to be at least a little older than herself. She wore a light purple off-the-shoulders garment with a scarlet red sash across her waist. Unlike the boy beside her, the insignia of her village was on a bandana loosely tied around her neck. She too carried something large on her back, but after seeing Kai train with one, she knew it was a giant fan.
"Do you need something?" the boy said, his black eyes looking down at Konohamoru. When he didn't answer, the stranger grabbed him by the collar and raised him to his level. "So, does that hurt you little punk?"
"Kankuro put him down," the girl said. "Or you know you'll pay for it later."
Kankuro glanced at the kid and then at the others. Neither of them looked to their side where Akira was not so subtly hiding. Akira wondered if they had seen her and were ignoring her, or if they'd made the mistake of not noticing her and Sasuke up in the tree. In either case, this Kankuro boy was nearing the line of acceptable behaviour and he'd find out Akira was there sooner or later.
"Hey, I'm sorry," Sakura apologized. She looked around for Akira. "The whole thing was my fault."
"You better take your hands off him, right now!" Naruto yelled.
"We got a few minutes before he gets here," Kankuro said. "Let's mess with these punks, huh?"
"Let go of me, you jerk!" Konohamoru said, kicking Kankuro in the stomach.
"You're feisty, but not for long."
Naruto dashed at Kankuro, yelling angrily. Akira's eyebrows furrowed. It was subtle, but she'd noticed the boy's fingers move as if he were pulling something. An instant later, Naruto was on the ground before even having reached him. Akira smirked. The boy was arrogant and it was clouding his judgement. If he was here for the Chūnin Exams, it wasn't wise to reveal his tricks so easily. Just by that subtle movement of Kankuro's fingers, Akira guessed that the thing on his back was a puppet and that he was its master.
"You're a Leaf Genin, too?" Kankuro asked. "Looks like your village is full of wimps."
"That's it! Drop him now or I take you apart!" Naruto shouted. "You got that, fool?"
"You're the fool," Sakura said, covering his mouth. "Making threats isn't going to help, Naruto."
"You're all so annoying," Kankuro said. "I don't like runts or scrawny weaklings. So when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth... I just want to break him in half."
"Ugh, fine," the girl beside Kakuro sighed. "But I'm not involved in this."
"First, I'll take care of this little squirt," Kankuro said, squeezing Konohamoru's collar tighter. "Then I'll waste the other one."
As Kankuro's fist rose into the air, Akira came out of her hiding spot at rapid speed. She grabbed Kankuro's hand and pinched the nerves in his wrist, forcing him to release Konohamoru. As Akira grabbed Konohamoru and pulled him out of the way, a rock from the tree Sasuke was hiding in came flying at Kankuro's hand, smacking it away so that he couldn't hit Akira. When the girl looked back up after setting Konohamoru down, Kankuro was standing further away, clutching his hand.
"You're a long way from home," Akira said.
"And way out of your league," Sasuke finished.
"Sasuke, Akira!" Sakura cheered.
Naruto groaned at both of them, despite them saving Konohamoru. Kankuro glared at them as well.
"Oh great, more wimps to tick me off," Kankuro said, annoyed.
"Get lost," Sasuke and Akira said together, looking unimpressed.
"Ah, so cool!" Udon, Moegi and Sakura cheered, leaving Naruto to sulk.
"How come you're not cool like them!" Konohamoru complained.
"Ah! What do you mean, I could have taken that guy in two seconds flat!" Naruto said.
Konohamoru looked away in a huff and Naruto growled, glaring at Akira and Sasuke.
"Hey, punk, get down here and tell this little girl to keep her hands off me," Kankuro said. "You guys are the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most. All attitude and nothing to back it up."
"I'm not the one who's picking fights with kids half my size," Akira said. "Tell me, are you picking a fight with us because you're superior or because you feel threatened by these little snots?"
Kankuro let out an irritated growl and he pulled off the puppet (or what Akira suspected to be a puppet) off his back, slamming it in front of him.
"Kankuro, back off," a quiet, threatening voice said.
Akira glanced to her left, towards Sasuke and the tree he was sitting in. Her eyes narrowed. There was a boy in the same tree as Sasuke, feet stuck to the branch above him so that he was upside down. By the look on his face, Akira didn't think Sasuke had felt his presence at all. Neither did Akira, which made her all the more curious about this peculiar looking boy. He had bright red hair and pale sea-green eyes that seemed to have not had sleep in a long time. On his forehead was the kanji for love, which was the oddest thing about him. Much like the other two, he as well had something on his back. I was a large gourd, tied on with a thick leather strap.
"You're an embarrassment to our village," the red-haired boy said to Kankuro.
"Oh, uh... Hey, Gaara," Kankuro stuttered.
Kankuro seemed very much afraid of this Gaara and, deciding that she may want to be afraid of him at least a little, Akira looked properly at Gaara and took a few respectful steps back. He looked at Akira for a short while, his gaze nearly piercing her down to her soul, then back at Kankuro.
"Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?" Gaara asked.
"I know. I mean, they challenged us!" Akira looked over at Kankuro and raised an eyebrow. " Hey don't look at me like that, you know it's true! You and that punk up there stared the whole thing! Look, what happened was—"
"Shut up. Or I'll kill you."
Akira's gaze once again shifted to Gaara. Now that she really looked at him, she found that not only was his gaze intense, but it was also threatening, almost evil. There was something about the boy that just didn't sit right and she wondered what Sasuke sensed being so close to him. Akira shook it off, however. She could have been wrong. Judging someone by their appearance could be a mistake.
"Ah, right. I was totally out of line," Kankuro stuttered. "I'm - I'm sorry, Gaara."
"I'm sorry for any trouble he's caused," Gaara said, looking at Akira.
"Don't worry about it. Nothing I can't handle," she said.
As soon as she'd finished her sentence, Gaara disappeared in a whisp of sand and reappeared in front of Kankuro. Akira frowned. Was there sand in that gourd on his back? Just as the thought came to her, the three ninjas turned to leave and Sakura ran forward.
"Hold on! Hey!"
"What?" Gaara said, stopping to listen.
"I can tell from your insignia that you're from the Village Hidden in the Sand. Of course, the Lands of Fire and Wind are on good terms, but I was wondering what you're here for," Sakura said. "We haven't been told whether there's an event going on, but the festival yesterday couldn't have been for no reason."
"We don't have to answer," the sandy blonde said.
"Hey, she's just curious," Akira said sharply. "Don't be an ass about it."
"Fine. Yeah, we're here for the Chūnin Exams. Happy?"