Butterflies

"Me? I'm nobody. I'm not skilled like Uchiha-san. I am not passionate like Haruno-san. I am not smart like Nara-san. I'm not as strong as Chouji-san. I'm not as collected as Aburame-san. Or as pretty as Yamanaka-san. I'm not as confident as Inuzuka-san. If anything, I'm like Hyuuga-san, socially awkward. Oh wait, no, she's just shy. The socially awkward one is me." OC! Team 7 remix!

Chapter 4 – Graduating

8-8

I sigh. Why do I feel everyone's eyes on me? What did I do this time? I mean, really... what did I do? "It's because you're currently top kunoichi." Yamanaka-san informs me. I groan. The written exam was laughably easy. I know Hyuuga-san, Yamanaka-san and Haruno-san raced it... aced it too! So that means it's the taijutsu and the kunai and shuriken throwing thing.

I don't get it. The test wasn't any different than the training we've been going through! I sigh again. "I blame you, you know that." I whisper. A week ago, people hadn't heard me purposely speak. Now, they're openly staring at me all the time. How bothersome.

"Akimichi Chouji." Chouji-san gets called into the next room for the final portion of the exams. The jutsu demonstration. I mean, come on. These are things everyone should pass with flying colours! Umino-sensei's been drilling them into us for months! At least!

Yamanaka-san and Nara-san wish him luck, telling him how he won't need it. When he smiles and gives a thumbs up, I blush and look away. I'm still blushing a minute later when the next student gets called in. They were called in alphabetically, so I don't doubt I'll be called soon... sooner than Yamanaka-san, at least.

"Inuzuka Kiba." I hear some barking, but not from him or his puppy. So I assume that's his friends' way of encouraging him. I don't care.

"He passed... right?" I hate how unsure I sound. I don't turn to Yamanaka-san, hoping to keep what I'm feeling hidden.

"Who, Chouji? For sure! Nothing to worry about." I hate how amused she sounds. I doubly hate that she isn't talking softly.

"You have a thing for him, huh." Uzumaki-san, when did you become insightful? Hyuuga-san's been plainly showing she has a crush on you for years. I glare at him, daring him to say one more word. He wisely shuts up.

"Does he know?" I slam my head in my desk. I guess he didn't shut up.

"We're not sure." Yamanaka-san answers. "And no, we're not going to tell him." Why do I need to listen to this?

"Namiki Aya." Thank you, Kami-sama! I follow the silver haired teacher... Kanatsu Mizuki. I never liked him. At all. He just... rubs me the wrong way. Umino-sensei is much better a person.

I'm lead into a large room with five teachers all seated behind a long desk. I stand where I'm instructed to. Umino-sensei greets me, so I make a noise and nod. "Aya-chan. Your task is to do the transformation jutsu." He tells me. "Please transform into one of the instructors you see here." I nod, looking at them for a moment. The only one I even know at all is Umino-sensei, but that makes little difference. I transform into the kind-looking, short haired brunette next to him.

"... very good." Why are they surprised? I mean, it's not a hard jutsu to cast. "A sealless transformation. Clearly worthy of a Genin, wouldn't you agree?" I wonder what to even make of that. I stop myself from sighing and rubbing my forehead in frustration. Really. I mean, no wonder Yamanaka-san thinks Chouji-san got his headband. This is just... sad.

"I second that." Umino-sensei looks proud. "Come claim your headband, Aya-chan." I shrug. Who am I to complain if this is easier than I feared? I walk up to him, accept my headband and walk out the room. I make sure to tie it snugly around my neck, with the metal part covering my throat.

8-8

Once in the... crap, I hate this... courtyard? Playground? Open space where everyone's waiting. Once outside, I notice how everyone that went into the room before me is all wearing a headband. Even that moron... Kanesaka-san is NOT shinobi material. Choosing to ignore something I can do nothing about, I walk... want to walk over to Chouji-san. I want to congratulate him. I want to... do so many things. Like... no! Aya, you are not doing this to yourself.

I take a step towards him. Then another. Why are my feet suddenly so heavy? Why do I feel like I can't breathe?

...

Is he walking over to me? Oh, Kami-sama! Now I REALLY can't breathe! "Hey, congrats, Aya-chan! To both of us, I guess." He smiles brightly, but he rubs the back of his head in embarrassment anyway.

"N-nn." I look down and away. Aya, breathe. Breathe! You'll pass out if you don't!

"You okay? You look..." Oh... Kami-sama... what do I do? I... I want to do so many, many things... none of them I want to do.

Okay, that makes no sense! How can I want to do things I don't... okay, no, it does make sense. I want to hug him, but I'd just embarrass myself. My lips are aching to kiss him, but I'm pretty sure I'd pass out if I do. My skin craves to touch him... but that's just weird... isn't it? Wanting to touch someone so bad that your skin is crying out for it? Is that weird? I don't know! Why don't I know!?

"Hey, Shikamaru! Congrats!" Now I just want to cry. I had his full attention. I want his full attention back! Crap... he's looking at me! Ummmm... Yamanaka-san! HELP!

"Not passing would be too troublesome." Nara-san says. Chouji-san turns his full attention back to his friend. I guess I'm just too weird to talk to right now... "Hey, Aya... congrats."

"N-nn." I feel really uncomfortable now. Even more than before. More than I've ever felt. I...

"I know it's troublesome, but you mind getting us some snacks? I'll wait here in case Ino gets out before you get back." I hate this. I hate this so bad. "He's gone, Aya. Relax." I don't turn to him. I don't know what to say, what to do. I... I... I hate myself right now.

Face Uchiha in combat, easy. Face his fanclub back to back afterwards, easy. Hold a conversation with Chouji-san...

I turn towards the gate. I can't... I can't be here right now. "If you leave, he'll think it's his fault." Aya, no! Don't cry. Don't you dare cry! Not here! Not Now! I hear him sigh, muttering about wishing Yamanaka-san would hurry up already.

"Hey, you guys passed too?" Haruno-san, too huh... Makes sense. 'H' comes before 'n'. But this only cements that I can't be here right now. I... no. "I wonder if everyone will pass. I hope so, I mean the test was really easy, don't you think?"

"Aya... here." I don't turn to him, I don't want to. I just feel stuck. If I stay, I'm just going to embarrass myself again. If I leave, I'll embarrass him. I can't win, can I. I feel something tap against my arm. I grab at it, wondering what it is. "It's white chocolate." It does feel like a little bar of chocolate.

I look at the thing now in my hand. White chocolate, with bits of cookie – cookies and cream, they called it. "You really need to carry it with you, seeing how much you seem to need the stuff." I don't even care that he sounds annoyed. I tear the wrapping open, taking a bite.

Hmm. Odd. I love it, just as I always do. But... whatever. "Th-thanks."

Chouji-san comes back not ten minutes later. I meet his gaze briefly, offer a little smile, but try to focus on my chocolate. I keep a subtle eye on him though, I see how he offers his best friend a bag of chips, and how he tears one open for himself. Then... "Hey, Aya-chan. They didn't have any of the fancy stuff, but I got you this." I look to what he's offering me.

A little tub of ice cream. The one that comes with the little wooden spoon. I stutter out a thank you, blushing as I take it from him.

As I take it though... my hands graze his. His skin feels so rough; his hands calloused from his training. Aya...! Don't! Whatever you're thinking, just don't! You thanked him for the treat, just open it, take the wooden spoon and enjoy it! Aya... it doesn't matter if you're blushing! Just don't-

"S-sorry..." Don't do stupid crap like that. Aya! SERIOUSLY!?

"Huh... for what? It's chocolate chip cookies, you like that flavour right?" He asks, confused. I figured he wouldn't make sense of it. Now if only my logical brain could connect to my mouth and tell him that it's a good choice, and say that I'm just sorry for being so weird right now. And for imagining what his hands would feel like... NO! NO! AYA! SERIOUSLY! No!

"N-nn." I nod, cradling the little tub. I try opening it... but I can't feel my stupid fingers. And the butterflies are simply going nuts right now! And... these things aren't usually so hard to open are they?

"Hold on... the lady did say these are a little tricky to open." Chouji-san carefully takes the tub back, popping it open and offering it back... it shouldn't be such a big deal. Really, it shouldn't. But... he touched me...! It felt like lightning just fried my every circuit.

I fight the blush, the unwanted heat in my face, neck, ears. I... He's staring at me. Why is he staring at me? I snatch the ice cream out of his hands, unwilling to find out the answer to that. I grab the little spoon and I di... there's another little cover to make sure the spoon isn't dipped in ice cream. And, of course, I just have to stab into it with said spoon. Well, that second cover just bent right down the middle, so I'll just play it off like I did that on purpose. Yes, that's what I'll do! I stick the spoon in my mouth and rip the... (grumble)... thing(!) out and... crap. Two hands. Mouth full. Want to lick the cover. It has chocolate!

HA! I stab the spoon into the ice cream, making sure to bite down on it so I don't stab myself or something. Then I li... Chouji-san's staring... he's staring... he's staring and I'm here, frozen mid lick, staring back at him.

Doesn't everyone usually lick the cover? Does it matter? Aya! Stop freezing up! You're just going to draw att... crap... Now Haruno-san is staring at me... only she's also staring at... no she's looking from Chouji-san to me, trying to... CRAP! She's piecing this together! She knows I like him, and she's going to... no she doesn't look like she's going to say anything, she just blushes a little and looks away to not draw attention to it. GREAT! That means I'm the only one drawing attention to this! AND YOU'RE STILL MID LICK, AYA!

Deep breaths. Dee~eeeeeep breaths. Just breathe. Just breathe...

I finish the lick, noticing that my nose is a bit cold. I rub the back of my hand against it, trying to wipe off the ice cream I just know is there. I then lick my hand to capture the ice cream. Then... then... then what!?

This is why, Aya. This is why you avoid people. You simply have no idea how to handle this! This is ice cream. You've eaten ice cream three times a week all your life. You can handle ice cream, Aya. Stop. Freezing. UP!

I lick the cover again, trying to focus on the taste of my beloved chocolate. Trying to study the textures against my tongue. How I feel the little chunks of chocolate cookie (or chocolate, or whatever) against my tongue. But all I really notice is how his eyes take me in.

I blush deeper, deciding not to do that anymore. I place the cover under the tub, and hold it there. I rip out the spoon, taking some ice cream with it. I then stick it in my mouth and... he's... he's still staring at me...

'I mean, watching you eat chocolate is like food porn, you know?' Yamanaka-san's words come back to haunt me. Food porn. Does that mean he's imagining what that would be like because of how I eat chocolate? Or is it that he really likes how I enjoy it...? I... hate not knowing what that means!

8-8

A VERY grumpy fifteen minutes later, Yamanaka-san shows... in? Arrives. Thank Kami-sama, I've finished my ice cream, so Chouji-san isn't staring at me anymore. But... I'm staring at Uzumaki-san.

He's the only one. The only one without a headband.

I might not like him, but... he'd make a far better shinobi than at least a third of the morons now bragging about being a ninja. I still don't know if I buy the whole I'm-the-next-Hokage-'ttebayo thing though.

I wish I could walk over to him. He looks like he needs a friend right now. Realistically though? Me? What good could I do? I'm so busy sucking down chocolate to not freak out around people I'm comfortable(ish) with... and I'm not comfortable around him.

"We should... probably get going." Yamanaka-san announces. It's hard to argue with her, their parents are here and I've already been invited to have lunch with them – a small celebration of sorts. Hmm... Maybe I can do that...?

I walk up to Uzumaki-san, keeping well in his field of vision to not startle him. He sees me coming; his eyes show just how deep this newest wound was cut. I offer the mostly uneaten chocolate bar Nara-san gave me earlier. He eyes it, then looks at me with unshed tears. "It helps me..." I say, mostly for the sake of reminding him... just in case.

He smiles, but there's no life in it and it doesn't reach his eyes. "Thanks, Aya-chan." He gets up off the swing he's been sitting on sideways, and he leaves. No more words, not that I'd be able to respond properly. My heart goes out to him. Being a ninja means more to him than anyone, me included.

8-8

"I still can't believe she said that to Sasuke." Chouji-san is still chuckling about that scene. Is it important that it's an I'm-so-relieved chuckle? I'm not sure.

"She's right though! Being a kunoichi is much harder!" Yamanaka-san backs me up. I'm too busy giggling about the look on Uchiha-san's face when I told him that.

"How so?" Nara-san drawls.

"Do you know how much more we need to know, need to study, need to perfect!?" Yamanaka-san announces her irritation with her friend.

"What'd she say, anyway?" Yamanaka-sama asks, curious. He must have not been paying attention, or he just wants to change the subject. I think it's 'change the subject', because Chouji-san and Nara-san are chuckling again, and Yamanaka-san is giggling right alongside me.

"You remember how Sasuke walked up to us and just stood there waiting to be congratulated?" Yeah, mostly by me. "Well, Aya-chan told him: maybe if you were top kunoichi!" I don't really find any humour in my words. I was being honest after all. No, it's the look on his face. The annoyance, the... 'how dare you' that was there for barely a second before his usual stoic mask was back up. I grin. I enjoyed that!

"So anyway, what are you planning until team placement next week?" Nara-san changes the subject. He's enjoying it, but lingering must be troublesome, or something. I shrug, taking another bite of the yummy shrimps Yamanaka-san suggested I order.

"Reading?" I say after swallowing. I still cover my mouth though. Why is everyone looking at me weird? "What?"

"Nothing." Yamanaka-san offers a bit too quickly. I glare at her dully, trying to tell her I don't buy it. "We were mostly planning on hanging out..." Ah. Back to this, are we? More 'so I won't be the only girl' excuses? I like my reading, thank you.

"Ino, you could try reminding her that you won't be interrogating her anymore, and that she can just as easily read while Shikamaru watches clouds." Chouji-san says. My heart skips a beat. I blush, looking down at my plate of stir-fry noodles – with plenty of veggies and shrimps. Not the most graceful meal, but yummy all the same.

"N-nn." I noise, hoping they understand I mean I wouldn't mind that at all. It's a bit of a stretch though.

"Is that 'I heard you' or 'that sounds lovely'?" Yamanaka-san wonders, playfully nudging my side with her elbow. I turn to her, smiling a bit. I nod, noising a bit more confidently this time. "Great! We usually meet up at Shikamaru's house around ten, where we went on Friday?" I nod again, turning back to my food. This place just makes the yummiest yums I've ever yummed!

8-8

The next day, showing up at Nara-san's house, I'm not sure what I was expecting. After knocking on the front door, I'm not sure what scene, what person, I expected to greet me. Chouji-san's mother with a welcoming smile isn't it though. Why is she answering the door in the Nara home?

"Hello there. Welcome, welcome. Yoshino-chan thought it might be you, won't you come in?" I hear her; the warmth in her voice, the amusement just barely noticeable. I see her motioning for me to enter, how her hair sways slightly as she moves just out of the way to make more room for me to enter. I see how her meaty arms wave me in one more time. How her Chinese shirt shows just how comfortable she is in her skin – it shows her curves quite nicely. But it's her smile –her warm, welcoming and completely disarming smile– that really captivated me. I make a noise, blush and enter as I'm asked.

"You remind me so much of your mother, Aya-chan." She says, trying to sound friendly I suppose. Not the best subject though. "I'm Akimichi Remi, by the way. Chouji's mother."

"N-nn." I knew that, of course. It wasn't hard to figure out, really. What's really taking my brains for a ride though: how much does she know?

"Chouji tells me you graduated top kunoichi! That's quite an honour!" She doesn't seem fazed by my quietness. There's simply no way I'm going to be sticking my foot in my mouth the first time I meet Chouji-san's mother for crying out loud! A mother's word is sacrosanct! If she finds me unfitting for her son, no one... and I mean NO ONE(!) can do anything about it.

"I-it's nothing." I blush, looking away. Shouldn't I try to play that up? Show that I'm a good match? Okay... Aya... stop thinking, because now you're blushing so deep that your heels are probably pink!

"And so humble! You have your father's way with words." She seems amused for some reason. Part of me suspects she can read my mind or something. Another part is ready to pass out because of it. Not a good 'two camps' situation to be in; freak out, or pass out. "But enough of that... they're out back waiting on you. Please tell them lunch should be ready in about two hours for me, will you."

"N-nn." I clutch my book a little closer, half afraid I'll end up dropping it from how numb my fingers feel. I make it to the back porch, slide the door closed behind me... and curse that I don't have any pockets to stash some chocolates in! I could really use one right about now!

I find the trio under a tree, so I make my way to them. Still blushing.

"You met her, then." Yamanaka-san is amused. I'm not. I nod anyway, knowing who she means. Both boys seem curious, but don't press. I stutter out the woman's message, but none of them seem surprised by the news. So I just sit down near Yamanaka-san and open my book.

Stupid blush isn't going anywhere either.

8-8

That's pretty much how the entire week went. Show up, Akimichi-sama welcomes me, I blush for an hour, I read my book, Yamanaka-san chats away, and join them for lunch. Somehow, I always get seated beside Akimichi-sama... always. On the third day I decided that sitting and reading wasn't comfortable anymore, so I lay my head in Yamanaka's lap. She seemed surprised at first, but not upset – she kept chatting away anyway.

On the fourth day I remembered that I still hadn't gone to the blacksmith's, but I don't say anything about it. Mentioning 'shopping' around Yamanaka-san is just asking for trouble, and I don't doubt she'd 'just happen to mention it' around Chouji-san's mother for good measure too.

Now? Now there's only team placement. So I'm walking to school, wondering who I'm getting teamed up with. I idly notice the shops opening up for the day – the slackers. The market was open at seven! And their prices are better!

I think back on Uzumaki-san. How he didn't graduate. The look on his face, the shattered fragments of his heart in pain.

And yet, when I make it to class, he's already there. With a headband? I groan. Of course he is. Why wouldn't he be. Silly things like rules and failed exams won't hold him down. Stubborn. He tries to be subtle, but I feel his eyes on me. I raise an eyebrow: what are you doing here?

"Heh. I passed, of course." He smirks. Of course he did. Did he pretend to fail just to see how we'd react? I wouldn't put it pa... yes, put it passed him. I roll my eyes, taking my usual seat. Still, I wonder why he's behind me all of a sudden, but seeing as we're technically no longer students of this class the previous seating arrangement is... pointless? Is that a thing? Sitting wherever you like? How would anyone know who to sit next to? "Thanks, by the way."

I turn around, questions in my eyes. He doesn't meet my gaze though. He must mean the chocolate thing. I shrug. I'd want someone to comfort me too, if I'd been in his shoes. That's a normal thing to do, right? Comfort someone? I wouldn't know. As good as I am at reading social cues, I usually have no clue how to handle things like that; anything social, really. Mostly I just imagine what someone else might do and go with that... but that isn't always the best idea either.

I mean, trying to imagine a scene in which I ask 'what would Uzumaki-san do'? That's trouble waiting to happen! Pure and simple.

It takes a little more than twenty minutes, but the entire class is gathered. There's some gossip flying about –Uzumaki's being here, of course– and some more gossip about who's teaming up with whom. I ignore all of it. It's pretty much pointless. No, it's flatly pointless. We'll be assigned to the teams Hokage-dono believes are best. All else is static, and pointless.

Eventually Umino-sensei enters, and everyone settles down. I sigh, wondering why they feel the need to be so loud to begin with. I mean, even Haruno-san and Yamanaka-san aren't fighting – for once. I blink. That's actually... kind of odd, now that I think about it. I mean... when did that happen? Those two are like fire and oil... or is that water and oil? Either way, their either won't mix, or just simply shouldn't be given the chance to!

Teams start getting called. I really don't care. I'm listening for names I'm interested in – mine, mostly. But... I won't complain if I know where the Ino-Shika-Chou trio are going to be placed – likely together, but... meh. You never know.

Team Six has Haruno-san. Team Seven has Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san –disaster waiting to happen– and...

"Namiki Aya. Under Hatake Kakashi." I groan. I seriously just groan. Of all the people to put me with. Those two? Don't get me wrong, Uzumaki is tolerable so long as he's controllable – which is really hard to do. It's that other one. Mr I'm-too-important-to-follow-rules. Not that Uzumaki-san follows the rules much either, but his motifs are totally different! And he is therefore far easier to manipulate to get what I might need out of him. The other one... I groan again. Dealing with him is always migraine-worthy.

Team Eight has Hyuuga-san, Inuzuka-san and Aburame-san. Obviously a tracking team. Team Nine is 'still in rotation'... whatever. "Team Ten: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji under Sarutobi Asuma." Together, as I figured. Well, at least I have an easy in to hang out with them. There will come a day when I don't need an 'in'... but not today.

Umino-sensei continues on with a clearly rehearsed speech about how proud he is, and about how the work is only now beginning... Yeah, he's being wordy again. I don't groan this time though – I don't need to. Or... I see no point to. This isn't something I didn't see coming.

"Mom wanted me to remind you about that thing tomorrow, by the way." Yamanaka-san whispers to me. I nod. Another 'thing' I was invited to without me actually having a choice in the matter. Why they'd want to plan a thing the day after team placement, though... I don't try to understand. At all.

The other eight senseis swoop in quickly to claim their teams. I only bother to notice the tall woman that is Hyuuga-san's sensei, and the obviously Sarutobi that's Chouji-san's sensei. I don't know why I bother to notice that. All I know, is that they're all gone now. It's just the emo, the blonde and me. Even Umino-sensei is off to deal with something else. I sigh. How long could this possibly take a jounin to come and collect their team?

8-8

Two hours, thirty-two minutes, fifty-three seconds. You wanted to know, right Aya? Now you know. In that time, Uzumaki-san got into two one-sided arguments with Uchiha-san, set up two pranks, wrote foul words on the blackboard, unscrewed the screws keeping Umino-sensei's chair together (but leaving it just enough in so it won't fall apart under its own weight)... would that count as three pranks?

Uchiha pretty much just glared out the window, ignoring us. I like it better that way; we've never really gotten on... gotten along? Umm... why do they both kind of sound correct? I sigh.

Now that Hatake-sensei is here, and I get a good look at him... I'm not impressed. Besides being late. Besides falling for the more than obvious prank that landed a blackboard eraser on his head turning him white as a ghost. Besides the dull look in his gaze. Besides the obviously lazy and laconic way he carries himself and offers his words.

There's the simple fact that he's reading smut. Smut. Icha Icha. Literary trash. No plot, no character depth, no character development. Nothing other than shameless 'oh, Hero-sama, take me!' And usually said by airheads with at least H-cup breasts and IQs in the low twenties. How they even coordinate an outfit astounds me, let alone tying their obi without six other airheads there to combine their IQ with. That probably explains why only three of the female (supposedly leading) roles wore a kimono at all. The others were 'more city girls' – lacking in etiquette in other words, let alone morals... or standards for that matter. I mean... if he treats you like crap, but is cute... he's STILL WORTHLESS!

"My first impression of you... I hate you already." I offer a dull glare. The feeling's mutual, Smut-lover.

"On the roof, five minutes. Be there." And he's gone. Could be make himself any less likeable? I mean, not showing more than a fourth of his face, the I'm-so-hip hairstyle, the lazy drawl he speaks with... the SMUT!

Icha Icha Dynamic. The worst of the bunch to boot! Guy tries to balance having three relationships at once, and gets caught. Do you think the women being cheated on mind? No, of course not! They just ask for a foursome! They don't chop off his manhood, they don't bathe him in acid, they don't stab him until he's little more than minced meat. They want an open and loving relationship with him and his other lovers. Uh huh. That happens in reality. Sure it does, right next to flying pigs, swimming pigeons and shrimp that just want some fresh air.

Unapologetic smut. I swear, I wonder each and every time why I read that stupid series. It's not in any way interesting! Informative, yeah sort of. It shows you a lot about how 'men' think. But I'm pretty sure most guys don't have nine inch 'junk'. The average size in the Elemental Nations is barely a third of that – I read the research papers on it to be sure! But hey, it's probably proportional to the breast sizes in those 'stories'. Hopefully, that doesn't include the IQs of the women though... if their already dismal intelligence needs to be divided for it to be realistic...

8-8

Up on the roof, I take a seat next to Uzumaki-san. He's unlucky enough to be between Uchiha-san and myself. Not my problem though. I've been getting a weird vibe off him ever since I saw him enter the classroom this morning! I wouldn't sit beside him if I was poisoned and he breathes out the antidote.

We're asked to introduce ourselves. Uzumaki-san asks Hatake-sensei to go first, but he only really reveals his name. So many words, no point to them.

Not that Uchiha-san is a better example. He sounds dark, dangerous and obsessed with 'a certain man'. I didn't know he swings that way. Well, to each their own.

Uzumaki-san is far more predictable, and bubbly. He talks about his love of ramen, and how much he hates the time it takes the water to boil – or something stupid like that. At least he has energy and life in his voice. I wouldn't want to engage him in a conversation, but listening to him babble on wouldn't be too horrid.

Then it's my turn. "Namiki Aya. Introvert." Hatake-sensei waits for more, but he's not getting more. He read my file. What else will he need?

"So, she does speak." Hatake-sensei teases, his eye crinkling up in amusement. I glare at him.

"When needed, Ecchi-sensei." He doesn't look impressed. Especially when Uzumaki-san starts cackling at his new nickname.

"Anyway, you're not genin yet." He goes on to explain there's a secondary exam, thank Kami-sama. I hate to think what would happen if some people become actual ninjas. "Meet me tomorrow in training ground seven at six. And don't eat, or you'll throw up." My eyes go wide with... well shock, to be sure. But, it's more worry than shock! Is he CRAZY!?

Me? Skip chocolate for breakfast!?

8-8

End Chapter 4

8-8

A/N: 'Ecchi' is something girls would typically call a pervert. Yes, 'hentai' is more fitting, but we're talking about a group that won't even say 'pee' when they need to go to the bathroom and refer to their genitals as 'there', virtually regardless of topic. Google it if you don't believe :P

As well, the whole Icha Icha rant is kind of a tip of the hat to a review written by scarletstrong, who obviously shares my dislike for certain styles of writing and choices made by authors. Not bashing or flaming anyone with that though! I love me some shameless smut if it's well written, but sometimes a (realistic and sometimes uncomfortable) fluffy romance is nice too, you know? Some of you may notice that I, unlike many authors here, do not respond to reviews in-chapter. If I can, I'll send you a PM, if I can't, I'll assume you don't want me to. Sorry, but what's said to my reviewers is typically for their eyes only. *shrugs* It's only fair that I take the time to thank them, since they take the time to tell me what they think. Isn't it?

Before the questions come. No, there will not be Kakashi or Sasuke bashing. Yes, there will be sparring and sometimes fairly senseless violence, but I'll keep it realistic. So that means: a concussion will lead to a least a week of no training, other than for Naruto simply because of how fast he heals. However, I will not portray Aya as anything other than herself. She'll have an opinion on people, and she'll have reasons for her opinions. Some will be explained in depth, some will not. These opinions may or may not lead to friction (even if that opinion is baseless) just as it would in reality. I'm trying to bring a person to life, not a caricature.

Oh, while we're at it! I really do need to focus on that other chapter, for Broken, and therefore not for Butterflies. But really, I've been giggling to myself for days about the scenes in this, and the scenes yet to come. I blame Aya for that one! Keeping me up after binge-watching Angel Beats with silly things like chocolate withdrawal and a natural dislike for perverts ;)