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 12 – Teach me

8-8

As I sit down, I offer Hinata-san a look to say I'm sorry – that IS her teammate I just smacked around. She smiles a little, shaking her head from side to side; if I read her right, she's saying it's fine. I smile a little, grateful for that.

So I start playing my flute again. I'm sooo touched that she kept a scroll with simple melodies in her pouch, on the off chance she runs into me. I go through the song again, for the tenth time. Twinkle, twinkle, little star… how I wonder what you are…

I try playing it straight, but that ends up hurting my hand a little, so instead, I try to improvise. Or… that's what I keep telling myself. Any note that makes me move my 'trouble fingers' ends up hurting me, so I end up breathing funny, or my fingers end up twitching. Still, it makes for an interesting new version of the lullaby. So it's done on purpose!

"Oi. Kiba, you mind getting out of the ring? We've got other people who want to spar, you know?" Ecchi-san is… well he's still a jerk. But I don't mind him being a jerk to Inuzuka-san. "Come on, don't tell me Aya-chan just beat up you like that? Be a man, walk it off." Yup, even that doesn't bother me. Inuzuka-san deserves it.

I don't even pay much attention to what the boy does. "Alright, let's try this. Chouji versus Shika… never mind. Shikamaru forfeits. Sasuke versus Naruto then!"

"I foreit!" Naru… Uzumaki-san announces. He looks like he's doodling right now. I can understand his wanting to continue doing that instead.

"Well, Yoshino-san, this is turning into a-" I smirk. I shouldn't; that makes it hard to control my lips and play the notes properly. Yoshino-sensei glares at him. "Well, why don't you make a suggestion who'll willingly fight now."

"How about Aya versus Naruto? I'm sure Naruto-kun wouldn't mind sparring with her, right?" She asks sweetly. I roll my eyes. Whatever she's getting at, she won't stop until she gets it. I put my flute back into my sleeve, and start walking over to the ring.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming!" Uzumaki-san offers.

8-8

Meeting in the ring, I notice how all the guys are laughing. "It was nice knowing you, dead last." Inuzuka's still like that, huh? Maybe if I play nice I'll get a good match with him next? I'm sure Sensei wouldn't mind rewarding my good behaviour.

"Naruto versus Aya! Combatants ready!?" Ecchi-san announces. I nod, getting into my Muay Thai stance. Uzumaki gets into a sloppy Konoha-style stance. He still hasn't worked out the kinks. Well, he's been getting proper instruction for nearly a week. Not a lot of time to work out six years of bad instruction.

"Begin!"

Uzumaki rushes me, his stance already switching back to his usual brawler style. He throws a punch, I meet it with an elbow. He throws another punch. Another elbow meets it. His fists turn red from how hard I hit him, but he isn't backing down. He tries a kick, but I knee his shin. He backs off. This is supposed to be taijutsu only, and he knows my taijutsu is better than his.

"Nn!" I knock my knuckles together, shoving my fists high into the air again. He tilts his head to one side. I drop my fists, open them and show him my open palms. I then slowly ball my fists, keeping my thumbs firmly pressed against my middle fingers so they don't get broken during a punch.

He catches on, balling his fists like mine. I shove my fists in the air again, making sure my elbows are extended but not straight and my arms are slightly ahead of me. I make another noise, flexing my arms slightly to draw attention to them. Then I nod once and noise again.

He raises his arms to match mine, questions in his eyes. I nod. Then I stand on the balls of my feet. He just watches me. He doesn't get it.

I turn to show him my side. I stand straight, turn my head to look to him, shake my head to say no, then stand on the balls of my feet again, my knees slightly bent. He nods, getting it this time. He stands on the balls of his feet.

I do a straight forward right punch. He repeats. I do another punch, same one, followed by a left elbow. He repeats. I nod, stepping closer to him. I punch at him, slowly. He leans out of the way. I shake my head at that tactic. Muay Thai isn't a soft art, it's hard. You meet force with force. Unless they're stronger than you, then you kick out their legs on beat them into the dirt.

I punch again, then motion for him to come at me. He punches, slowly. I nod. I meet his right punch with a left elbow. Then I nod. I throw a slow right punch. He meets it with an elbow. I nod. I throw a somewhat quicker left punch. He meets it with a right elbow. I nod, motioning for him to come at me again. He throws a decent left punch. I meet him with a right elbow. Hard. His first turns red, he winces, but he doesn't complain.

I nod to him. I throw a right punch, fast. He meets it with a left elbow. He winces again, but he doesn't back down.

I nod, take a step back and turn to my left. I show him the proper way to 'throw an elbow'. I use my whole body to build up momentum quickly. I hit my right elbow into my left palm, to show how hard I'm hitting it. But also, what part I hit with.

I then come back to him, nod, and throw a slow right punch. He meets my punch with a left elbow. His form is a bit better now. I nod. He doesn't wait this time, throwing a decent left punch. I meet it with a left elbow this time, throwing him off centre. He loses his balance, not having seen that coming, and way over-extends on his punch. He was really leaning into that. Good. Still, I throw my knee up and tap him in the gut, just hard enough to make sure he gets the point: don't lose focus.

"This ain't right, man… she whoops me, then teaches the dead last!" Inuzuka complains.

"Heh. I think Kiba wants your attention, Aya-chan. You can show me that again later, if you're willing?" I nod, shooing him with a motion of my hand. Then, with another motion of my hand, I dare Inuzuka-san to join me in the ring.

8-8

"Kiba versus Aya! Combatants ready?" Ecchi-san sounds amused. I shrug, not even getting into a stance this time. I don't care what Inuzuka-san thinks this will lead to. I just know I am not going to tolerate him talking down to Na… to Uzumaki-san. His standing in class had to do with teachers not properly teaching him, and by the time Umino-sensei even came around, he'd already lost all interest in trying to learn anything from anyone there.

So let's see what someone that WAS taught properly in the academy can do, shall we?

"Begin!" Kiba doesn't rush me this time. He's learned that rushing me is stupid. So I take a step towards him. He doesn't back down. I take another step towards him, almost getting into striking range. He still doesn't back down. I come at him with a Flying Knee –basically a forwards jumps with my knee leading the charge– aimed right for his chin. I'm close enough that I should knock him out should the attack land. He bends backwards to dodge, letting my fly over his head. I smirk.

As I land, I immediately switch things up, do a backwards flip and land on his back, knees first. The second my toes touch the ground –meaning, I forced him to duck low enough to kiss grass and dirt– I roll backwards again and off of him.

He tilts his head up to look at me. His forehead is green from the grass, his eyes angry from me embarrassing him –in his eyes at least– in front of… I don't know; his team? Our old classmates?

He comes at me on all fours this time. I do another Flying Knee right over him. Only this time I turn around to see what he's doing. He shakes his head, trying to understand my tactic a little. Good luck with that.

He also turns around, looking at me. "You know, I don't get you. Cute girls are supposed to end up with studs. With alpha males. With guys like me. You seem to attract nothing but losers to you."

Twitch.

"Hey, Chouji. Think Kiba'll walk away from this?" Uzumaki-san asks.

"Nope." Chouji-ku… Chouji-san sounds sure.

"Not a chance." Nara-san sounds amused.

"I wonder if Kiba'll ever learn." Ino mostly just sounds annoyed. Probably from his stupid mentality; 'cute girl' equals 'arm candy', nothing more. It's jerks like Inuzuka-san that makes being good looking a burden; one I often hate.

"A-aya-chan! P-please!" Hinata-san cries out from where she's sitting. She probably doesn't want me to kill, cripple or maim the idiot, for whatever reason. I sigh, turning to walk away. I wave Inuzuka-san off, walking out of the ring and disqualifying myself. I hear footsteps coming to me, so I turn to see what the moron is up to this time.

He's making a wild dash for me, obviously not agreeing this match is over. I'll give whoever a second to deal with this. If Inuzuka-san gets within striking range, I will break his jaw, at the very least.

I don't need to worry though. Ecchi-san grabs the boy by his collar, like the bad puppy he is. "Kiba. This match is over. Learn to control that temper, or next time I won't save you." Ecchi-san says. Hmm, he seems to read me well enough. Interesting. Not interesting enough to make him seem less of an uncaring jerk. But… I've got to say that is less of a jerk than he usually is.

8-8

After my 'match', it's Uzumaki-san versus Chouji-san again. They make a good show of it. Chouji-san realises that Uzumaki-san simply doesn't know the basics for Konoha-style, so they mostly just trade blows whenever they see an opening in the other's stance. Which means Uzumaki-san gets a lot of hits. Judging from the smile they share, and their bumping fists again, I can tell it's all good natured though. I smile at them both.

Then it's Uchiha-san versus Inuzuka-san. I smirk. Uchiha-san is a lot of things, but a pushover isn't one of them. Inuzuka-san is sporting some funny shaped bruises towards the end.

Then… Uchiha-san versus Chouji-san gets called. I worry for Chouji-san. He simply doesn't have the mentality to fight Uchiha-san. Chouji-kun is too soft-hearted, too kind, too willing to make a friend. Uchiha-san is mostly out to improve himself against strong opponents.

If Uchiha-san hurts Chouji-kun… I swear I'll break him!

The two face off in the ring. Ecchi-san glances at me for some reason, probably how focused I am on this fight.

"Begin!" Chouji-kun rushes Uchiha-san, throwing a decent punch at him. Uchiha-san dodges, of course, then counters with three punches to Chouji-kun's side, knocking the wind out of him.

Alright, fine. A bit over the top, but a good way to show Chouji-kun he overextended slightly, and he left a huge opening because of it.

Then, before Chouji-kun can catch his breath, Uchiha-san kicks him in the face, launching him back in the direction he came from.

Twitch. Twitch-twitch.

Chouji-kun gets back on his feet. The left side of his face red and already showing the beginnings of a bruise. Uchiha-san didn't need to kick him at all, let alone that hard. So, you want it rough, huh?

I stroll forward, motioning Chouji-kun out of the ring. You like strong opponents, don't you, idiot?

"Aya-chan, thi…" I glare at Ecchi-san. "Suit yourself. Combatants ready!? Begin!"

I dash for the idiot, but I don't go in with a Flying Knee again. No, I throw a knee first, he leans back, so I clip him with a kick. The arch of my foot catches him right in the cheek bone.

He looks slightly dazed, but shakes it off. I come at him again, throwing a flurry of punches. He dodges them all, but I want this. I want him to think he's following my moves.

I overextend on a punch, which he'll think is to his advantage, but I follow up with a close-range Flying Knee Uppercut. My knee catches him just under his chin, in the soft spot between the open-triangle-like mandible.

He flies back, but does a backwards somersault, landing on his feet. He rushes me, coming in with a roundhouse kick. I bend with his kick, plant my hand on the ground next to his foot and launch a knee right into his gut, then use the remaining momentum to snap my foot into his face. He might be taller than me, but standing on my hands means I can make him lick my toes if I want.

If that isn't enough, I punch his knee with my free hand and rap my foot in his face again, this time hitting his nose. I curl myself into a ball and roll under him before he falls on me. Kind of hard to keep standing after someone clips the knee supporting your weight.

Once I feel there's enough distance between us, I get on my feet again. I turn to see what the moron's doing, only to find he's nursing his knee and nose. There's a trickle of blood dripping from his nose, but I know I didn't break it.

He nods, standing up and shaking off the pain. I decide to switch things up, so I go with Capoeira. I start doing the basic rhythmic motions, going from left to right, right to left, waiting on the moron to come at me again. He can't seem to understand what I'm doing. That's his problem.

He comes at me when I'm just switching from left to right, probably thinking that's my weakness. It isn't. I clip the side of his head with a roundhouse kick then come around and do a straight kick into his chest, knocking him back, hard.

Using the momentum, he rolls back, lands on his feet and dashes for me again. I do a handstand, sideways, and use the momentum to launch a kick at his head. He blocks it, but that's just the opening gambit. I use gravity, pulling me back down, land with my other hand, shift my legs into a double legged sweep and catch him in the ankle and behind the knee. I keep going, forcing myself up onto my fists, then come down with both knees into the back of his lower right thigh and lower back as he's falling. His back snaps back from the recoil, so I stretch my leg, catching him under his chin again and shoving him forward – not quite a kick, but with enough force to send him away.

He stops rolling just outside of the ring. "Winner, Aya!" Ecchi-san calls it. Uchiha-san gets up, dusts himself off. I'm quick to do the same. He walks over to me. I tilt my head, daring him to try something.

He extends his fist, for a fist bump. Just like Chouji-kun and Naruto… Chouji-san and Uzumaki-san!

Uchiha-san smirks at me. Or is that his version of a little smile. "A good match, Namiki."

I don't say anything. I look to Chouji-san, to the angry red mark on his face, the bruise I know will be there by nightfall. Chouji-san smiles at me, nodding. I turn back to Uchiha-san, bumping my fist against his.

"If it matters. I think you should teach that style to Naruto. He could use the help." Uchiha-san offers, turning and walking away. I nod, knowing he won't see me. "And I'll try to remember not to overdo it against people you respect."

"Nn." I noise, walking over to Chouji-san. He smiles at me.

"It doesn't even hurt." He says, knowing what I'm worried about. I gently capture his chin with my left index finger, and nudge so that he'll know I want to see the left side of his face. I'm not happy with the size, the shape or the colour I see staring back at me.

"Aya, I have a balm that will help." Yoshino-sensei offers. I feel something nudge my right shoulder, so I turn and see a small tub with goo in it. I take it with my left hand, motioning for Chouji to come with me.

8-8

Even though it's a missions day, we don't end up taking any missions at all. Yoshino-sensei says she'll make up for it another time, but for now she's happy with whatever she wished to see. When dinnertime comes, she asks who's staying to eat. Some say they need to head home, but as usual, Team Seven and Team Ten decide to stay.

Team Eight needs to head home though. I turn to Uzumaki-san, our eyes meet, and I nod in Hinata-san's direction; walk her home. He nods, understanding what I mean.

"Hey, Hinata-chan. Did you want me to walk you home?" He offers, running over to her. She was discussing something with her team.

"A-a-an-n-no, y-you r-r-r-reall-lly d-d-d-on't h-h-have t-to." She's blushing up a storm. I smile at her.

"I know I don't have to. I'm asking if you want me to. It's no trouble at all. Aya-chan usually helps Yoshino-sensei cook dinner, so I have at least forty-five minutes. You won't even have to worry about me missing anything. Really!" He offers, rubbing the back of his head. I smile a little brighter at him. Good boy.

She stutters out an 'if it's really no trouble', and he again says it isn't. She nods, blushing even deeper. I look to Chouji-san, asking him to go with them with my eyes. I know Uzumaki wants this to be a private moment, but I worry about what people will try. Seeing the village's princess Hyuuga with the village pariah… not a good combination just yet. Uzumaki-san needs to earn a lot of respect for that to not be a problem. But if happens to be with Chouji-san walking her home, then he's just 'tagging along'.

"It's alright, Namiki-san. We will walk with them. I assure you, nothing will happen to your teammate while he is in my company." Aburame-san offers. I nod to him, smiling a little.

"Thank you." I say, bowing politely.

"There is no need for that. I understand what you're doing, and I approve. Your approach is not only logical, but tactically sound. I assure you, you have my support, should you ever need it." He bows to me, turns and leaves without another word. I find myself smiling at him.

"Well, we need to head out too!" The younger Sarutobi announces. She walks over to me though. "Namiki Aya, right?" I nod, wondering about the redhead. I've never met a redhead Sarutobi before, but there's always a first.

"I like your style. It isn't often you see a kunoichi beating the stuffing out of someone that smacks their boyfriends around." She says, amused. My eyes widen, my cheeks flame up. I look away, refusing to comment on any of that! Even if I was in a chatty mood, I wouldn't ever comment on that. "Anyway, I've kind of taken a liking to teaching that blond of yours. I'll see if I can squeeze in some more training time with him. No promises though. I'll send some scrolls I want him to study through Yoshino-san. Think you can make sure he studies them?"

"Nn." I nod. That's something I don't mind promising.

"Good. Thanks. It's good to know there are some capable kunoichi our age around. You know?" I smirk at that. Yeah, most of our class was a bunch of raving fangirls. They make horrid kunoichi. "Well, see you around."

The redhead drags her obviously unwilling brother along – he seems to have wanted to either stay for dinner, or leave with Team Eight… for some reason. Maybe it has something to do with Yuuhi-sensei? Can't say for sure; too little intel.

Either way, I'd better start heading inside. Yoshino-sensei will be upset if I take too long.

8-8

Dinner is pretty uneventful. Uzumaki-san is wearing a pretty red blush, but I can guess what that's about. I don't draw attention to it, at any rate. Chouji, however, is sporting a bruise that is causing my blood to boil. I knew it would bruise, but seeing it… just upsets me.

I find myself frowning throughout dinner. "Auntie, Aya-chan, dinner is delicious." Chouji-san offers. I smile at him, as thanks mostly. The frown is quick to return once I look at him though. "Really, it doesn't hurt." He notices my frown. That just makes me blush and look away. I huff, annoyed with myself. I already smacked Uchiha-san around for his stupid attitude. He already figured out why, and he already said he won't do it again – sort of.

But seeing Chouji-kun bruised like that… hurts.

"Yoshino-sensei, it's my turn to help with the dishes right?" Naruto asks. Sensei nods, motioning for him to give her a hand. They gather the dishes, already moving towards the kitchen with them.

That leaves my with Chouji-kun, Nara-san, Nara-sama and Uchiha-san; Ino said her mother was expecting her. "You're sporting quite the bruise there, Chouji-kun. Did Aya-chan hit you too hard during a spar?"

"No, sir. Sasuke did. Aya-chan's still a bit upset about that." Chouji-kun says.

"Ah. From the looks of it, you gave as good as you got." I smirk. I don't mind Chouji-kun taking the credit for that.

"No, sir. That would be Aya-chan's handiwork."

"… I see. Before or after?"

"After, sir." Chouji-kun is really polite. I can tell he was raised learning proper respect for his elders. I like that.

Nara-sama seems really amused. I don't know why, and I'm not trying to find out. "You know, Shikamaru, you could learn a lot from this. No matter how strong-minded a woman is, she will always show kindness to the man she loves." I blush, looking away. "Hey, Aya-chan, sorry to bother you, but…" He shakes his empty bottle of sake. I nod, heading into the kitchen to warm another one for him.

"Sasuke. I won't ask what happened. Bruises happen during a spar. But understand that Aya-chan isn't the only one watching Chouji's back. Do not overdo it again. Do you understand?"

"I do."

"Good. I've heard quite enough troubling things about you, boy. So don't make me get involved. And if I ever hear anything about you showing any kind of questionable intent towards Aya-chan, or any female… I assure you, I will show you why you should never motivate a Nara."

"Nn."

"Troublesome. Sasuke, he wants you to answer him with full sentences. This is his way of teaching you to respect people. Stop being you and answer him please. He'll just be unbearable and get mom involved. And that's going to end up making the whole night troublesome."

"…" I can hear Uchiha-san muttering to himself. Then he sighs. "Nara-san, I assure you Aya's already made your point crystal clear."

"No. Aya-chan's made her point clear." Nara-sama counters. I smile. Yeah, I kinda did.

I can tell Nara-sama wants to explain something, in great detail. But, "Troublesome." He figures Uchiha-san won't listen to him anyway, I guess. I take my final steps into the kitchen, warm up another bottle of sake, and bring it back to Nara-sama.

"Thank you, Aya-chan." He smiles at me, pouring the sake into his saucer and drinking it without a care. He trusts me, apparently. He didn't even seem to check for poisons or anything. I'm not sure why I think that's important, but… it does say something about what he thinks of me.

"Hey, Shikamaru. I know it's troublesome, but you mind treating your friends to something for me?" A small stack of bills is placed on the table. "Loyalty and honour should always be encouraged and rewarded if possible. And I believe Aya-chan and Naruto-kun have shown quite a bit of both."

"Alright." Nara-san nods, taking the bills. "Don't tell mom?"

"That's the deal." I wonder about that. I heard nothing Yoshino-sensei would get upset about. Obviously he said something else when I was out of hearing distance. Judging from the blush on Chouji-kun, the blank look on Uchiha-san, and Nara-san's satisfied lack of complaint… I can guess it was something unpleasant. Well, I can't confirm or deny anything, so I'll just ignore it. It isn't my problem.

8-8

The next morning, bright and early, I'm back at the Nara home. Naruto and I are immediately welcomed and asked in. Naruto is asked to help with breakfast, I'm asked to wake Nara-san.

After breakfast, Sensei places the same little tub with goo from yesterday. She then asks Naruto to help her with the dishes. I don't need to wonder what she's doing; she's making it easy for me to apply the balm on Chouji-kun's cheek again.

When I hear the knock, I get up before Nara-san has half a chance to. I run to the door, opening it and welcome Chouji-kun and Ino into the house. A brief glance tells me that Chouji-kun already applied something to the bruise though. Ino takes one look at my what I'm holding, smiles and goes off in search of Nara-san.

"Yeah, my mom kind of already tended to it." Chouji-san blushes. I blush a little too. Of course she did. What kind of mother wouldn't tend to her child? Then a thought hits me.

In shinobi circles, a bruise, a scar, a broken bone, these things are worn as badges of honour. A sign that the bearer survived whatever caused it. What if…?

Deciding there's no reason not to. I take the scroll Sensei gave me and unroll a section of it. I keep my glossy pink number two in the first seal, which I carefully marked as well, just in case.

I unseal it, reapply my lipstick –since I'd just eaten– and reseal it. I carefully put my scroll back into my pants' right top pocket, so I'll know where to find it again later if I need it. Then I step up, gently take his chin with my left right index finger. I ignore the slight pain from handling him with that finger; as much as I'll be embarrassed from this, it'll be worth it.

I kiss Chouji-kun on his right cheek. "For balance." I leave him standing there, heading back to the table. I pass Ino and Nara-san. And I very much ignore whatever they say to Chouji-san.

8-8

Seeing as Chouji-kun won't be helping me with my st… Wow. Ecchi-san really is making a habit of being here these days. "Yes?"

"I was just wondering if you needed a hand with that stretch again." I sigh. Came all the way out here, for the sake of helping me with my stretches? Yeah right. That stalker hasn't left.

I stick out my hand though. I can't do it alone, and Naruto won't help me. It goes quicker with him than it would with Chouji-kun. So after only a minute, I can do my breathing thing to try shut out the pain. I don't thank him though. He's still a jerk. He just happens to be a useful jerk from time to time.

"I was quite impressed with you yesterday." Well, I'm still not very impressed with you. "I didn't think you'd try teaching him Muay Thai though." It isn't exactly a secret style or anything. It's just a style mama used a lot. It's useful. And seeing as Naruto's a brawler anyway, Muay Thai is mostly a brawling style, just one with rules.

"That exam's tomorrow isn't it? The medical entrance exam?" I nod, wondering why he feels so chatty suddenly. "Think you're ready for it?" I shrug. I won't know until I take the exam.

"My, my, no confidence? Well, I think you can handle it." Whoa there, tiger. Slow down. Ease up on buttering me up.

"What do you want, Ecchi-san?"

"To let you know I'll be teaching Naruto a taijutsu style while you're busy studying today. So you won't have to worry about him."

That's what you're doing, not what you want. I motion for him to get on with it. "That's it. That's all I want." No it isn't. "Look, a teammate of mine took those exams. They're tough. So if you have one less thing to worry about, the less trouble you'll have concentrating, right?"

I snort. Ecchi-san isn't the type to care. He's the type to order, demand and just be a jerk. I don't buy into this new attitude at all. "Don't believe me then." He shrugs, pretending not to care. He gets up, starts walking over to Naruto, who's reading a scroll Sensei gave him again.

"Say, you know you could just use shadow clones to study? I mean, they transfer memories back to you when they disperse." Ecchi-san says to him. Naruto mumbles something about 'buzzing off'. He really doesn't like to study for some reason. I'd better ask him what that's about. Eventually. I really want to practice with my flute, and Sensei did say that today I'll be spending most of the day studying for that exam tomorrow.

8-8

After lunch, I decide there will be no better time. "Uzumaki-san?" Naruto looks to me. "Is there a reason you don't like to study?" He… looks embarrassed. Really, really embarrassed.

That gets Sensei's attention immediately. "We could talk privately, if you want?" He eyes Uchiha-san, nods, and the two of them head into the kitchen to wash the dishes. I feel kind of bad. I mean, I was just curious, I didn't want to embarrass him!

Still, my curiosity got Sensei involved. And that's always a good thing. Sensei will know what to do. Guaranteed. If only I knew what to do with Uchiha-san though. I mean, he doesn't really fit in our team. He isn't being taught to cook, he isn't being asked to help wash up. And he certainly isn't getting anything from me but bruises and black eyes. I don't like him, I don't trust him. And I certainly don't plan on doing anything about that.

Still, whatever. I'm supposed to be studying. Now, let's see. The skull. Made up of multiple bones fused together in the first few months after birth. Names of each bone… yeah, uh huh. Names of the cavities. Anatomy of the brain.

I mostly skim over each piece. If I can remember every name, I skip it. I have too much to cover today to study something I remember. It's a good thing Sensei has our days set up the way she does. We've already done our two missions.

I feel really happy with what my days are becoming. I… like my life. It's hard, challenging and still really unpredictable, but it's mine. I'm slowly becoming comfortable studying, training, teaching Naruto Muay Thai – he's a really fast learner if he trusts the person trying to teach him.

Kami-sama, I wish every day could be like this.

8-8

End Chapter 12

8-8

A/N: I really like that quote from Shikaku to Shikamaru about strong-minded women showing kindness to the man they love. It's so true.

Anyway, there's going to be some... changes soon. For the better, for the worse, it's all relative. Let's see what changes, and let's see how Aya copes with them, shall we?