The heart-to-heart at the Shiota residence led to the Academy becoming one of the favourite parts of Kasumi's life, along with the rest of the time she spent with her new, and only, friends Daiki, Katsu and Tatsuya. Kasumi had met Tatsuya's mother on that fateful day, Suzuka, and as the rest of the month dragged on she then met Daiki's family and Tatsuya's father. Hiroki Shiota was very kind just like his wife but the children tended to see less of him then Suzuka as he worked long hours at his small business.
Over the month after the sealing of their friendship it had become a habit to go to Tatsuya's after the end of the Academy day and spend the rest of the afternoon there. Suzuka would dote on them and ask them how their day was before bringing them treats. About once a week Hiroki would finish work early and on that day Daiki and Kasumi would always be invited to stay for dinner.
Meeting Daiki's family was a much more interesting experience. It was after this four weeks of normality that one day after the Academy Daiki asked if instead of going to Tatsuya's for the afternoon if they could go to the Inuzuka compound. Without missing a beat, although still being curious as to the reason, Kasumi and Tatsuya agreed and so after calling in briefly to tell Suzuka that they were going somewhere else for the afternoon, just so that she wouldn't start worrying as seemed to be a specialty of hers, they headed to Daiki's home.
"Mum! Yusei! Shin! Masato!"
It seemed that both Daiki and Tatsuya had similar ways of announcing their arrival at home but Daiki's yelling still left his two friends equally confused and curious.
"Since when do you have three brothers? You only ever talk about one,"
"So my little bro does mention me?"
Tatsuya hadn't expected the answer to his question to come from behind him and in his shock tripped over Katsu, leaving him sitting on the floor looking up at an older version of Daiki. Tatsuya sat silently with his mouth open as he remained the focus of the older Inuzuka's attention. He was like this for some time before Kasumi decided to save him as Daiki's snickering clearly indicated he had no intention of lending any help himself.
"You must be Shin then. It's very nice to meet you. I'm Kasumi Yamanaka and the one on the floor is Tatsuya Shiota. We're Daiki's classmates,"
Tatsuya went red in the face as Kasumi brought the attention back to him. She may have saved him in some respects but she needed to have a bit of fun as well. This didn't go unnoticed by anyone and may have contributed to Shin's following laughter.
"Yes and it's nice to meet you as well. Now the reply to your friend's question. Yusei is mum's ninken and Masato is mine. Simple,"
With that last word Shin shrugged his shoulders and continued down the hallway with a large brown dog trailing him, after seemingly coming out of nowhere.
"He seems nice,"
Kasumi succeeded in dispersing the slight awkwardness as the three children proceeded to laugh at their own antics. Once settled they were able to get Tatsuya back on his feet and continued through the house, down the hallway that Shin had disappeared a minute or two earlier. They took their time as they made their way to the back door with Daiki telling them more about his brother. Shin had apparently just returned from a very long mission and was scheduled to leave for another the next morning which was the very justified reason why Daiki wanted so desperately to go home straight after the Academy. It was obvious how much admiration Daiki had for his older brother. There was a good ten or so years between the two boys and with Daiki having little memory of his father Shin had become his role model. Not that that was a bad thing as Daiki went on about how his brother was quite an accomplished shinobi and known for being very strong. Early graduation from the Academy and earlier than usual rank promotions had seen Shin hit Jonin when he was 15, not the most impressive in history but still something Daiki understandably revered in his idol.
"…And you should see him fight alongside Masato. They fight so well together it's just the best. Oh, there was this one time when I saw them practising this new technique together and it went all wrong but they still managed to save it by changing it midway through, I don't even know how, and they still hit the target they just work that well together and for them to be doing that technique to begin with was amazing but to think that quickly and stop themselves from crashing was just-"
"Amazing,"
Kasumi and Tatsuya simultaneously stopped Daiki's proud rant once they had reached the back porch and, as with Shin, Daiki's mother overheard their conversation and scared them all with the unexpectedness of her presence when she spoke.
"They seem to know you well Daiki,"
Said boy copied what happened to Tatsuya earlier and ended up on the floor facing his amused mother. Now while Shin looked exactly like Daiki neither brother took after their mother in appearance. This Inuzuka woman could be considered a near perfect example of her clan's stereotype with her dark brown hair and eyes, the prominent red markings and the ever present feral features no matter the expression. Either way Kasumi thought the woman before her was beautiful and from the few words the Inuzuka had spoken the young girl predicted she would get along quite well with this woman.
Once Daiki was back on his feet and mumbling complaints under his breath Kasumi and Tatsuya followed through with their introductions and formally met their friend's mother. Nami Inuzuka was indeed kind but had no objections to a bit of friendly mischief at her son's expense, either of them. Kasumi and Tatsuya were pleased to hear that Daiki spoke often about them to his family and it was a comfort to know that Nami knew about both of their current circumstances, so much so that Nami gave both of them an open invitation to come by the house freely if they ever needed somewhere to go. There were a few tense moments once the sensitive topic was brought up and Daiki panicked for a brief instance, knowing he hadn't gotten his friends' permission to share their stories. Nami's offer was what defused the situation before it escalated as her sympathetic offer of safety showed that Daiki had truly had Kasumi and Tatsuya's best interests at heart when he told his mother their painful secrets.
Within an hour of conversation with this woman it was learnt that she was the only reason that Daiki had been permitted to keep Katsu and her exceedingly generous offer meant that if Tatsuya's parents heckled him about his choice in the shinobi path or pressured him to change or if Kasumi needed to escape her family then they both could find sanctuary with this caring family of Inuzukas.
As the afternoon progressed further Shin and Masato came to join the group of six, including Katsu and Yusei, and the discussions continued with more energy and laughter than ever before. Nobody in that small gathering had ever laughed so hard or for so long in what felt like forever. It didn't stop until after sunset where Shin offered to quickly inform Hiroki and Suzuka that Tatsuya would be staying the night. Shin did offer the same for Kasumi's family but she quickly assured him and Nami that her family likely wouldn't even notice her absence and that if they did they certainly wouldn't care enough to become concerned. This information dampened the mood a little but after a great deal of reassurance from the young Yamanaka everyone soon fell back into the joyous mood from before. However it was inevitable that it be brought up again and as the scrumptious dinner came to an end it was indeed this sombre topic that became the focus.
"Kasumi,"
Nami broke into the topic and everyone in the room grew silent and looked at the young brunette for her response.
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"You know you're a lot like Tatsuya's mum,"
"Kasumi,"
"Yes, I'm alright,"
"Kasumi,"
With each saying of the young girl's name Nami's voice and tone became sterner and eventually left no room for argument or avoidance.
"It's been a lot better since I met Daiki and Tatsuya and the past month has been the best I can remember. I only really go home now to sleep which means I don't have to deal with my family as much so nothing bad has happened lately with them,"
"Will they get mad at you for not going home tonight?"
"Well-"
"The truth Kasumi,"
These last few words were a growl.
"…Maybe. If only to give themselves an excuse to be angry at me…"
"Kas-"
"But it's alright! I mean- sorry. I just-… It really is alright. They don't get as angry at me anymore since Elder Runa started being really nice to me. Which reminds me!"
At this she directed the conversation to her two friends.
"When was the last time we went to the flower shop? We haven't seen Elder Runa in a while,"
With the sincerity of the change in topic, as compared to last time, Nami didn't press to continue the previous line of discussion.
Sometimes on the way to Tatsuya's house after the Academy the trio would stop by the Yamanaka Flower Shop but only on the days that they knew Elder Runa was working there. They hadn't called by in the past couple of weeks because they had wanted to do extra study for the tests they had had at the end of the previous week.
"When is she working next?"
Daiki and Tatsuya knew how much it meant to Kasumi to keep in touch with Elder Runa so that she could at least feel as if she was sort of accepted by and a part of the Yamanaka clan and so Daiki and Tatsuya didn't hesitate in helping their friend.
"We could go tomorrow morning on our way to the Academy. We just have to leave a little earlier,"
Kasumi had to think for a little bit and, after asking what day of the week it was which caused laughter and earnt her a couple of affectionate head rubs from the older people at the table, she was able to determine that the Yamanaka Elder would indeed be working the following morning. With the conclusion of Daiki's question and Tatsuya's solution the evening was wrapped up in the Inuzuka household and with a couple of mattresses on the floor the trio and ninken settled in for the night.
The following morning revealed that the children had taken quite a while to 'settle in' as Nami walked into the kitchen looking extremely tired and very displeased with said people she saw mingling before her. Daiki, Kasumi and Tatsuya were especially lively that morning even if they themselves had had less sleep than usual that previous night.
They were all up as the sun began to rise in order to see Shin off on his next mission, forcing a promise that his next break would be much longer. While Nami had woken to see her eldest son off she had then attempted to get a few more hours sleep before her day had to officially begin. This plan had no chance of succeeding as the children had decided that they wanted to get everything ready for their own day. This involved showers, something that took a long time as each child spent an exceedingly extended time under the running water, as well as clattering in the kitchen as breakfasts and lunched were made, which is where Nami found them now.
If the Inuzuka woman had thought that she was about to get angry at the trio then she was once again wrong that early and eventful morning as one look at the Yamanaka erased all of the words she had ready for her rant. Shin had gotten Tatsuya a change of clothes from Suzuka when he went to tell her and her husband that Tatsuya would not be coming home that night but Kasumi didn't have that chance so Nami had found an old change of clothes from one of her cousin's daughters. Seeing Kasumi in something of the more feral Inuzuka style instead of the almost prim and proper Yamanaka style was enough to cause the change in Nami. With the brown coloured hair and eyes as well as the wide and mischievous grin and the Inuzuka clothing the young girl could have easily passed as a member of this ninken focused ninja clan.
Kasumi usually wore a simple blue kunoichi kimono, a dress with slits up both legs for movement, and some plain black leggings underneath and her hair in the standard ponytail. This morning she wore something not as elegant. She had on dark grey, cargo style, three-quarter length pants and a dull yellow-orange coloured shirt. Whether by design or chance Kasumi had her hair in a low and loose ponytail instead of her usual high and proud clan tradition hairstyle. All together a more relaxed look then what she usually had to wear and it would seem that the girl herself was also more relaxed.
The children had stopped what they were doing to look up at Nami when she entered the room and were still waiting for her to speak as she was assessing the scene before her. After still not uttering a word Nami walked out of the kitchen only to shortly return with a dark brown jacket that she then proceeded to drape over the young girl's shoulders.
"The mornings have been quite chilly recently,"
"…Thank you,"
Kasumi started tearing up at this caring gesture, never before remembering receiving such affection as her mother had long ago decided not to care if this particular daughter got sick.
To diffuse the potentially overly emotional situation the two boys proceeded to drag their friend outside for some training. Nami simply made herself breakfast and listened to the large amount of yelling and shouting which occurred every time someone hit a target in weapon practise or as a one-on-one fight had finished.
The morning continued in this fashion before the trio and ninken left to pay a visit to the Yamanaka Flower Shop on their way to the Academy. As was expected, Elder Runa was overjoyed to see the youngest of the Yamanaka clan head household but surprisingly she wasn't angry at the children for not seeing her sooner, as they had feared all during that morning. As a matter of fact she gave each of the trio a hug in turn and then, when they gave their explanation for the delayed visit, she simply asked how they had gone on the tests. Their answer was that they would be getting the results in class that morning and her only request was that they paid her a visit after the Academy to tell her how they went. After making the promise they stayed for about half an hour before leaving for the Academy and in that time talked to the elderly Yamanaka and helped her with the few customers that wandered in.
Kasumi, Daiki, Katsu and Tatsuya arrived at the Academy on time and surprisingly so did everyone else in the class. This particular set of tests was going to determine the ranking within the class and everyone was equally excited and scared of the results.
"Guys my stomach hurts,"
"Daiki you're just overreacting,"
"Mine hurts as well. Why aren't you nervous Kasumi?"
"I don't really care I guess. I mean I do but I don't. How do I put it? ... You want to do well to show your parents that you should become a shinobi and Daiki wants to do well to be like Shin but I don't really have anything to prove and my family won't care either way so, yeah. I sort of don't care,"
"You always have something to say Kasumi,"
"Why are you always so depressing?"
The reactions of both Tatsuya and Daiki, respectively, were true on many ways but merely caused a staring contest to start between the two boys with Kasumi, and Katsu in her lap, sitting helplessly and exasperated in the middle.
A little while later Itona Sensei entered and the whole room went quiet. This man knew how much power he now held over his students and was going to use this situation as another test of sorts for his class.
"Hello class. It would appear as if everyone is here. Good. Now. I know you all want to know what your score and ranking are but this is how we are going to do it. I will out a piece of paper in front of each of you that will have on it both your score and rank as well as any feedback I feel is necessary. Now you will not be allowed to turn over the paper until I have handed all of them out AND said you can. Is that clear?"
"Yes Sensei!"
The response was almost instantaneous but Itona wondered how many of them would actually be able to follow his instructions. The children needed to learn patience and how to follow orders. There weren't going to be any severe consequences today but one day that may not be the case and it wouldn't hurt to try to teach them a bit now.
The shinobi made his way slowly around the room distributing the papers in a 'random' order, or that is what he told them he was actually giving the papers in order from most likely to break the rules to least likely. As he had expected, many of the children started turning over their papers before he said to and so before he had even finished handing them all out most were reading them as soon as they got them. Either forgetting the rules or thinking that because the others were doing it it was then ok for them to do it as well. By the end there were only four that had listened. Kausmi had reminded the boys when they had gone to look at their results and so had stopped them. The other student that had followed orders was Neji Hyuga. Kasumi and Neji were the two studens that he knew would listen and he was surprised that Daiki and Tatsuya had listened to their friend enough to stop themselves from giving in to curiousity. Either way it was these four students that had passed and therefore would be the only ones to not have to suffer the consequence. Even if that consequence was only an after school detention. Itona looked at Neji and the trio, gave them a nod of his head and with the signal they eagerly flipped over the papers to finally discover the answers to the questions gnawing at their minds since class started.
With that Itona left the children the rest of the time until the first break to read over their results and share them with each other. There was already a lot of talk about who had gotten the top 3 positions or even the top 5. Some were trying to show off their marks and others just wanted to hide them. Either way Itona was having fun analysing their reactions and interactions to this information.
"Kasumi, Tatsuya! What did you get?!"
"I got 5th!"
"I got 4th!"
"Good job guys,"
"What did you get Kasumi?!"
"Yeah!"
"No it's okay. We should just be happy at what you guys got,"
The two boys were quiet at this and both were trying to figure out the underlying meaning to their friend's words.
"Come on Kasumi! We know you did well!"
"Yeah! You had to have done better than us!"
"So what did you get?!"
"Was it 3? 2? Ohhhhhh, you got #1 didn't you?!"
"That's great Kasumi!"
"Hang on a minute I never said anything like that!"
"We know you Kasumi. You had to do well,"
"Why didn't you want to tell us?"
"Because you guys would overreact and I don't want everyone else in the class to know I came first, otherwise they will start trying to compete with me and I don't want that to start happening,"
"Okay,"
"Fair enough,"
While this discussion/interrogation went on Neji had walked over to the trio and surprised all of them when he finally spoke up after hearing most of their conversation.
"So Yamanaka, you got first,"
It wasn't a question, more of an accusation and neither Daiki nor Tatsuya were going to tolerate that tone being directed at their friend.
"Why? Got a problem with that?"
"Yeah. Jealous Hyuga?"
Said boy simply turned to the other two males who had now gotten to their feet and came up with his own retort which just made tempers flare even more.
"I only want to talk to the one who beat me, not some second rate losers,"
"Second rate?!"
"We both got in the top 5!"
"Not even top 3 then,"
"What!"
"Frankly I'm surprised a civilian kid could even get in the top 5,"
"You-!"
"All of you stop,"
Three pairs of eyes landed on the girl who had finally spoken, all equally surprised at her calmness. Kasumi slowly stood up moved to stand between Neji and Daiki, so that her two friends stood behind her and out of reach of strangling Neji.
"If I was the same as you then I wouldn't be able to talk to anyone in this class. Being the best and all. But I'm not like you. I will talk to someone based on who they are as a person not who they are on paper. So firstly, don't talk to my friends like that and secondly because of how you talked to my friends I don't want to talk to you. I'm sorry but that's just how it is,"
With that she sat down, in what was Daiki's seat, and Katsu crawled back onto her lap. This forced Daiki and Tatsuya to sit away from the aisle and stuck between Kasumi and the wall, just in case they wanted to go after Neji and strangle him for earlier. Needless to say Neji did not appreciate this rejection and went off in a huff with as much dignity as he could try to muster at that point. The wordless retreat indicated he obviously didn't expect a response of that sort. Neither did Daiki or Tatsuya as they both sat down in stunned silence. When next Kasumi spoke they both jumped and crowded against the wall, Kasumi just laughed.
"How long until the break?"
All three started laughing and attracting the attention of others but they honestly couldn't care less.
The break did finally come and the trio spent the time by themselves and ignored anyone who tried to ask them about their score. After what happened with Neji they followed Kasumi's example of not sharing or bragging about it, the only ones that needed to know are their families. There was more class, another break, more lessons and then finally the Academy day came to an end with Itona Sensei announcing that everyone except for Kasumi, Daiki, Tatsuya and Neji would be staying behind for after school detention because of their inability to follow orders. A couple of high fives later and the trio were making their way towards the Yamanaka Flower Shop to fulfil their promise to Elder Runa before they went to the Shiota residence. As could be expected Elder Runa was proud of all three of the young children for working hard and doing well. A few hugs afterwards saw Kasumi, Daiki and Tatsuya back on the streets walking towards their final destination, feeling proud of themselves whenever they noticed a popular child hangout was empty because of the detention.
"Mum! We're home!"
"Hello Mrs Shiota!"
After saying the ritualistic greetings and getting the screamed reply of "Hello children!" the usual routine changed. Suzuka usually asked how their day had been after this first yell but today was different.
"Kasumi! Daiki! Would you two like to stay the night?!"
It turns out that Suzuka can be a bit of a competitive mother and because she knew the children had stayed at the Inuzuka's, because Shin had come and asked if Tatsuya was allowed to stay, she now wanted them to spend the night here, making it more or less even. She had everything planned. So when they started asking questions about it she had all of the answers ready.
"Daiki, I've already talked to your mother and Nami said it was fine, oh and Kasumi, she left another change of clothes for you as well. She also said something about not worrying about informing your family so basically if you two want you're free to stay,"
It was obvious how much she wanted them to stay and neither of them was prepared to face her wrath so they wore smiles and nodded with a chorus from the three of "Thank you" and "Yes please".
First they told Suzuka all about their scores at the Academy and then asked if they could go see Nami and tell her as well. So after a heap of congratulations and a bit of a walk they went back to Tatsuya's, waited for Hiroki to get home, had dinner and then settled in for the night.
So, for the second night in a row, Kasumi didn't return home and doubted that anyone cared because if they did it wouldn't be too hard from them to come and find her and they had yet to do that. Kasumi wished this would go on forever but she knew that sooner or later she would have to go home and see her family again but the past couple of days had gotten her thinking, when she became a kunoichi she wouldn't have to go back ever. She could do what she wanted. That was her goal now.
