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 15 – Take care of me

8-8

Naruto-nii and I show up at like five-thirty at Sensei's home. We see ourselves in, seeing as no one else would even be awake at this hour. I still find myself apologizing for arriving at this early hour.

"Oh, are you here already?" Nara-sama drones. He's sitting at the low table, for some reason. And he's drinking sake. Alone. In the dark. Awww… he misses Yoshino-sensei.

"Nara-sama, I promised Yoshino-sensei I wouldn't let you drink too much, you know." I get on his case. "And of course we're here this early. We need to make breakfast, you know."

"Naruto-nii, give me a hand in the kitchen?" I ask, but I'm already walking that way.

"O-oi! Ay-"

"Fine, I can handle breakfast a-"

"Oi! It isn't that! You-"

"Nii-san, it's just Nara-sama. If we cannot trust Yoshino-sensei's husband, who can we trust?" Why are we even talking about this? It's too early to worry with silly things. And I'm sure Sensei would have discussed this with her husband! I mean, come on! It's not like we're in love or anything! And we both know Nara-sama doesn't treat you badly!

I huff, leaving Naruto-nii to figure that out for himself. In the mean time, I'm going over the options. Yoshino-sensei prefers something heavy for breakfast. Maybe fried chicken with… no I cooked chicken last night already. Let's see, what other meats are in the fridge? Beef is too 'lunchy', so Sensei would never cook that for breakfast. I don't know anything that goes well with salmon, so that's getting skipped. Shrimps are also really 'lunchy'. Nope, chicken it is! Alright, I did stir-fry last night, so I'll go breaded this time. I can use the extra egg batter to make egg rolls. And… I'll need to make rice to go with it. Maybe some carrots and… hmm… Sensei did say that radish goes well with breaded chicken. And she did show me that trick to bread the radish with the chicken. Let's go with that.

I take out the chicken, carrots and radish. As well as six eggs. I carefully set them on the counter. Hmm. Dice the chicken first and season it, so the seasons will have time to 'take' to the chicken. I look over my shoulder, noticing that Naruto-nii still isn't here to help me. Oh well. I can survive this part without him. He'd better be here to light that stupid burner though!

8-8

After breakfast, Naruto-nii and I wash up the dishes. Then we sit around the table again, waiting for Ecchi-san to do something, say something. He has ten minutes before I get annoyed and just drag Nii-san outside and show him a new Muay Thai move and ignore Ecchi-san's stupidness for the coming days. I'm sure either Yamanaka-sama or Akimichi-sama wouldn't mind being there while we do our missions.

Seriously though, being this close to both Ecchi-san and Uchiha-san irks me. Especially since I don't get to see Sensei smiling proudly to balance it.

I take out my flute, playing 'Sakura' from memory. I enjoy that Uchiha-san is uncomfortable, seeing as the only Sakura we know is one of his more… vocal admirers. Still, even though the song is supposed to be played by strings, finding the right notes on my flute wasn't too hard. And it's such a popular children's song that everyone would recognise it without too much trouble.

It's only like forty-five seconds long though, so I play it over and over again, until the ten minutes are up.

"Well, it's back to this I see. Uzumaki-san?" I put away my shinobue and drag Naruto-nii outside.

Or try to. "Aya-chan… please?" Naruto-nii begs me with his eyes. I huff, sitting back down.

"Ecchi-san. I don't have the patience for this. What are we doing?" I demand, glaring at him. Helping me stretch my hand a few times doesn't undo the damage of his stupid attitude he'd already taught me is his true self.

"I have options for you. How far are you three with tree climbing?"

"Sensei would have already told you that. We've all three mastered it." I really am not in the mood to play nice with him, so he'd be-

"Aya-chan, come on. He's trying." Naruto-nii looks annoyed with me. I huff, looking away to hide my embarrassed blush. I still cross my arms though! Hopefully he'll just think I'm annoyed with this whole stupid situation – which I am!

Ecchi-san clears his throat. I don't care why. "Well, the next step is water walking. If you three will follow me?"

8-8

We're taken to training ground seven again. Ecchi-san seems to have dug a ditch here, at some point. Let's all marvel at his ditch-digging skills, wow. He can dig ditches six metres wide, two metres long, two metres deep. Such skill is simply too amazing for words.

"Now." He turns his back to us, facing the ditch. His hands fly through handsigns faster than I can follow, and he pukes up enough water to fill the ditch. Then his hands go through another set of handsigns and flames meet water, long enough to see steam rising; but not boiling. "The water should be about forty degrees centigrade. That's uncomfortably hot, and for a reason. I want you three to try using the same technique as the tree-walking exercise to walk on water."

The point being, if you mess up, you get partly cooked. Whatever. Naruto-nii goes first, falling in almost immediately. He climbs out as quickly as he can, crying out how hot the water is. I shrug, focus chakra to the soles of my feet, and walk out o-

SPLASH!

Hmm, too little, I think. And the water's not that bad. I bathe with this same temperature. I kind of like it.

8-8

We kept at it for just under two hours. Then it was time for our first mission. And I made sure Ecchi-san was aware of the time too. If he makes me miss just ONE mission today, or any day he's 'in charge'…!

"Team Seven reporting in!" Naruto-nii hams it up, as usual. Still, this is for Hokage-dono. Naruto-nii and I stand at attention, even if Uchiha-san is 'too important' to bother with such things.

"Ah, right on time. It would seem Yoshino-chan is keeping someone on a short leash?" Hokage-dono teases Ecchi-san. I grin, knowing that it isn't just Yoshino-sensei keeping this slacker in line. "Hmm? Or is our little Aya-chan the reason you're not allowed to be late? Perhaps a little bit of both." Ecchi-san looks really uncomfortable with this topic. Good.

"Anyway, Hokage-sama. I believe this team is ready for their first C-rank mission." Buttering me up doesn't work. And even if Naruto-nii is jumping around like an idiot and celebrating that, I still see through you. Ecchi.

"I see. Well, I can't say I disagree. They've been taking more missions than the other teams combined. Let's see then. What would be a good mission for this team?" Hokage-dono and Umino-sensei go back and forth a bit, sorting through the missions available. "Ah! Here we are! A bridge builder needs to be escorted back to his home country and protected while he finishes a bridge he's been working on."

"No." I don't even think about it.

Ecchi-san looks annoyed again. "Aya-chan, isn't that-"

"I said, no." I don't even wonder what he thinks needs to be said. Yoshino-sensei asked that Naruto-nii and I keep an eye on her husband and son. I am not going to let her down.

"What seems to be the problem, Aya-chan?" Hokage-dono asks.

"Yoshino-sensei asked that I take care of her family while she's gone." I tell him honestly.

"Ah. Would it help if I said I'd just given Asuma's team a C-rank as well? They'll be gone for a week. And Shikaku-kun is currently en route to Sand for a diplomatic meeting. I assure you, this will not be a problem."

I sigh, crossing my arms and looking away. Fine. "Good. Then allow me to introduce your client. Send him in."

One look.

That's all it took for me to know I was going to hate this mission. The client stinks of cheap beer, even from all the way over there. He's obviously still at it too. And from a five litre jug to boot! He looks like he hasn't bathed in weeks. And he's as greasy as they come. But wait! That's not all! He also lacks respect in all forms of the word.

"I pay for ninja, and this is what I get? Two shrimps?" I feel Nii-san grabbing me by the collar of my jacket, knowing that I was about to introduce this drunkard to my kodachis. One intimate conversation I'm sure Uchiha-san would have been begging for, had I not ignored him so long. Still, even Ecchi-san didn't get under my skin this quickly.

"Team. We meet up at South Gate in one hour." If Ecchi-san dares even think to tell us not to be late… "Pack for a month long mission." Not an improvement. A month with you? Kami-sama, I've been a good girl! What's up with this!?

8-8

Once in my apartment, I grumble and curse like a drunken sailor. Why not, I'll be stuck with one for a month! Ecchi-san wasn't bad enough. Uchiha-san wasn't bad enough. No, Kami-sama decides I need to put up with a drunk vagabond too!

Thank the chocolate gods I have enough chocolate bars to last me a month! I'm going to need them! Still… hold on. Priorities.

I take out the scroll Sensei gave me, unrolling it as far as it will go and lay it on my table. Lipstick, two types. Glossy pink number two, and passionate red number nine. I also have fingernail polish, three colours; red, black and teal. The red matches with my red lipstick. Eye shadow, three colours; teal, pink and chocolate. I like wearing the chocolate one as a secondary colour. Three hundred kunais, I'd have to sharpen them if I need them though… yes, I have my sharpening tools as well. A hundred shuriken – I use those stupid things far less, after all. A hundred metres of ninja wire – which I've never really ever used for anything other than strapping an explosive note to a kunai, but whatever.

I always have my kodachis on me, and my flute. Okay, that means I still have ten empty seals I can fill with stuff. And seeing as Sensei gave me seals that can store a bunch and be 'unsealed' one at a time, I can just stuff my whole stock in there and figure out the details later.

So let's see. Chocolate bars. I don't know if they'll be kept cool… so no mousse. Or pudding. Hmm… brownies would survive, but I don't know how long. And I only have like two left anyway! Alright! Fine! Only chocolate bars then! How many do I have? Twenty? Oh no! I'm going to get more! If I end up without chocolate for whatever reason I know the first casualty is going to end up being our client! Still, I'll need some reading material to keep me from maiming people.

I grab 'The sound of silence', 'Genjutsu made easy' and 'The magic of the elements'. Hmm. Just to be sure, I also grab 'Ronin', 'The tale of the utterly gutsy shinobi', 'Of setting suns' and 'See spot run'. I nod, liking my choices. Should I also take 'Unusual jutsu styles'? Nah, I've already read it like twenty times.

I set them all down on my table, sealing them each separately. That leaves me with three more seals. One for chocolate, but I'll only seal them once I pick up another twenty bars. I'll need rations bars as well. I don't keep those in stock, so I'll have to buy. And I'll need bottles of water.

Three things to pick up. Alright, Aya! You've got about another thirty minutes, make it count!

8-8

Once at the gate, I find myself annoyed. Already. I'm ten minutes early. And I've already demanded Naruto-nii send a clone to Yoshino-sensei's and leave a note telling her what's going on. Even if the house is locked, I told him to shove it under her door or something.

Did I already check the expiration dates of my food? Yes… only one tub of mousse wouldn't make it. It's currently 'taking one for the team'. The pudding got eaten at home.

"I can't believe you're eating chocolate already. He's not even here yet." Naruto-nii teases.

"If I left it behind, it would spoil before we got back. Leaving chocolate to spoil is a sin against Kami-sama!" I explain. "Did you get enough instant ramen?"

"I have a hundred cups. It should be enough." He says. I nod, but I'm not sure if I agree with him. That boy eats more ramen that I'll ever manage to eat chocolate.

I know he bought rations bars and bottles of water as well. And he says Sensei would approve of his packing. I don't press. I shift the stupid bag I'm carrying with my camping equipment. At least I don't have any books in there, those would make my bag heavy.

Five minutes before Ecchi-san is late.

Let's go over the list again. Toothbrush and toothpaste. Brush. Wooden comb. Five changes of clothes. Tent. Futon. Two pillows. Four pillowcases. Ten clean underwear – included five bras that Sensei demands I start wearing. I roll my eyes at that. It's not as if they'd even cover anything!

I want to have chocolate bars on me, but my body heat would melt them. And that'd just mess up my uniform. Not going down that road, thanks.

Four minutes until Ecchi-san is late.

I also have those two scrolls from my medical course. One for the diagnostic jutsu which I still haven't gotten even close to mastering. The other on making simple poisons. Apparently we're supposed to make the poisons before we learn to make the antidotes. Who knew?

Three minutes.

I've been going over the poisons thing with Naruto-nii. He seems to understand them really quickly for some reason. It doesn't really bug me; his kodachis are made for using poisons anyway. He likes two poisons especially – one a neurotoxin he keeps in his right kodachi, the other a hallucinogen he keeps in his left kodachi. I don't know why he likes those two, I don't care why. His thing.

I also have that new scroll with songs that Hinata-san gave me last night. These are supposedly 'harder'. Whatever. I'll see when the time comes.

Two minutes.

Hmm, that's everything I have on me. Other than three-thousand Ryou – pocket change. So now all I can do is annoy myself. I start playing with my zipper.

One minute.

My slippers are starting to wear down. Maybe I should get a new pair? Hmm. A month long C-rank mission should help me out quite a bit. We'll see what comes up.

Thirty seconds. No sign of him. Or Uchiha-san. I sigh. "We're by South Gate, right?" I ask, just to be sure.

"Of course?" He sounds confused. "You keeping track of the time again?"

"Always. I suck at directions, but I can tell you he's now officially ten seconds late."

"And no sign of him either. I guess we should have gone to Ichiraku's before coming here."

"I told you." I remind him, my tone sour.

"Hey, you can't blame me for giving him a chance."

"Sure I can. It's easy, watch. Naruto-nii, this is entirely your fault. See, easy." He gazes at me, unimpressed.

"The bastard's coming." Uchiha-san? Well, he's usually pretty on time. Not surprising. "You've got my back, right, sis?"

"Always."

8-8

Once Ecchi-san FINALLY shows up, only a half hour late –which he blames on the client, of course– we hit the road. Naruto-nii acts like a complete idiot, running out of the gate ahead of us, looking around excitedly. He claims it's because he's never been out of the village. Neither have I; you don't see me acting like that.

Whatever, he's excited. Let him have his fun. Uchiha-san is still being a jerk, but at least he's eyeing me less. Good. Otherwise I'd set him up on a blind date with Haruno-san – and I've already told him about that too. He knows I'm manipulative enough to pull it off.

Since we're moving at a snail's pace, I decide to kill the time by playing my flute. It'll keep me on my best behaviour without burning through my chocolate before we even get there.

So I start playing the songs I know from memory. Not a lot, I'm afraid. Not even a half hour later, I've burned through my options. I sigh.

"Heh, not bad. A shame that won't stop someone from killing me." The client is lucky he's paying for more than a year's worth of chocolate. It's keeping his arms attached to his body.

"Umm, hey Tazuna-san… I wouldn't do that if I were you. She already doesn't like you." Naruto-nii warns him.

"Huh? What's a l-"

"Tazuna-san, you really don't want to go there." Ecchi-san warns. I snort. So he is smart enough to learn from his mistakes. "Hey, Naruto, she did pack enough chocolate, right?"

"Yup."

"Good."

We continue is silence. The client is still drinking, even though it's the middle of the day. Uchiha-san is still up ahead, our 'fearless leader'. Naruto-nii is to the client's right, I'm to the client's left.

"So what happens if the girl decides I'm too much trouble?"

"Well, that's easy, she already has." Ecchi-san answers. "Your only hope is the blonde. If he gives up on you…"

"So what about the serious-looking one and you?"

"I really don't care what I think of you. Our mission is to protect you from bandits, not to like you." Uchiha-san says. Hmm? He's really chatty today. Maybe I should ask Ino to spend more time with him then?

"Sasuke-kun has a point. We're here to do a mission. Aya-chan will honour that." I nod, agreeing with Ecchi-san's words. I will honour our mission; it'll pay the bills.

"Aya, huh. A pretty name." The client isn't slurring drunk yet, but if he tries to grope me no amount of money will save him.

"Tazuna-san, really. She isn't the talkative type." Ecchi-san warns. That's a lot of warnings. And I haven't issued one yet.

"You aren't, huh? You remind me of my daughter, Tsunami. She's really nice, but she can be a bit strict too." He tells me. "She turned twenty-nine a few months ago. I think you'll get along when you meet her."

I don't answer him. I just keep a casual eye on our surroundings. "She has a son too. My only grandson, Inari. A good boy." He takes another pull from his jug. "He's eight."

Hmm, Moegi's age, more or less. Is that… a puddle? How stupid do you have to be to believe people are going to not notice it hasn't rained in weeks? Time of year is unimportant; the rainy season doesn't start until next month!

We pass the puddle, the client still talking about this or that. Whatever he finds interesting. Sometimes Naruto-nii would comment, but his are the only words I pay attention to. He's sneaky enough to hide clues in his words.

"You live near the water, huh?" Yup he noticed the puddle too. "Must be cosy there." Sit tight, I've got this.

Fine, I'll watch the client! But you soooooooo owe me for this!

When the trap is sprung –not a very good trap– Ecchi-san is the first to go down. Typical, but not a bad plan. Take out the obvious strongest first if you can. The trouble is, you don't usually know who's the strongest. Well, this time they got it right. He's the strongest. Oh what am I to do.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto-nii could be an actor. He sounds shocked, angry, worried. He even called the man 'sensei'. Probably playing into the 'we're just your average genin team, and you kill our sensei' expectations. To be sure, we're genin, but you don't train with Yoshino-sensei and consider yourself 'average'. Average, in her book, means dead.

I unsheathe my kodachis, already shoving the client a bit ahead to give Nii-san space to work. Two shinobi. Mist headband. One has one horn, the other has two. They're trying to look like 'oni'… ogres. Mindless killing machines. Hmm… weapons… gauntlets. Each wears one, a chain connects them. A chain that looks like shuriken. So that's how they got Ecchi-san. Meh. If he's pathetic enough to fall for that sad trap, he deserves to die.

Then again, I see the wood from the log he substituted with. I roll my eyes. He's going to just hang back, is he? Lazy jerk!

They make it to Naruto-nii, trying to take him out quickly as well. Morons. Don't underestimate him. Nii-san does a Flying Knee, right over their punches. Then the most beautiful thing happened.

He unsheathed both his kodachi at once – right hand on his left kodachi, left hand on his right kodachi. In one clean swing, he takes their heads. It's poetry in motion. Sadly, that's a move I'll never pull off. My kodachis are reverse-edged. I'd break their noses, maybe knock them out, but beheading? Nope. Not on the menu.

Naruto-nii's brain catches up with him. He runs over to the bushes and throws up. I'll give him a minute.

I sheathe my kodachis, turning to our client. "Explain. Now."

He sweats, stutters and claims he doesn't know what I'm talking about. I kick the backs of both his knees, dropping him to my height. I grab him by his shirt, pulling him dangerously close to me. "I. Said. Now."

"Aya-chan. I can deal with him. You go check on Naruto." Ecchi-san reappears. Oh look, they didn't get him. I offer one last, long moment of my attention to our client. He looks about ready to wet himself.

I let go of him. I don't even try kicking him or anything. I didn't bathe him in killing intent. Nothing! Just a look. Wimp. He wouldn't last five minutes around Sensei.

"Uzumaki-san?" He makes a motion for me to go away. Sorry, Naruto-nii, not happening. "Nii-san?" I take another step towards him. Then another. He's breathing mostly normal, and he's not throwing up anymore. He's messed up beyond belief though.

I reach into one of my pants pockets, taking out a bottle of water. I tap it on his shoulder. "To wash out your mouth." He takes the bottle from me and does just that. He won't look at me though. He's refusing to. That's fine for now. He needs time.

"Do you want time or a hug?" I ask. I don't mind giving him either. Even though I know he'll be covered in blood. Heck, I can see blood spatters all over his back and sides.

"… how… how can you…?"

"What? Stand to be near a killer?" He nods. "I was raised by an Anbu operative, Naruto-nii. She came home covered in blood more often than not. Now do you want that hug?" He turns to me, tears in his eyes.

He doesn't say anything, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his face in my tummy. He's crying; shoulders quaking, snot dripping (eww!), ugly as Uchiha-san, crying. I hold onto him, letting him take all the time he needs.

Well, mostly. "That's a really cool move, by the way. I can't believe you're already doing stuff like that." He snorts. "I'm serious! I mean, jeez! You're going to start making me look bad! Teaching you for a month and you're already making me look like an amateur. Give a girl a break will you?"

"Sis, you have a twisted sense of humour." He laughs a little, but I can tell it's still lifeless.

"Look who's talking, blondie. Have you seen the pranks you pulled on Umino-sensei?" I say whatever I need to say to keep him talking. I don't want him to let this turn in.

It takes about a half hour before I have Nii-san mostly back to his sunshiny self. Once I do, I ask him the most crucial question I'd rather not ask him. "Do you want to scalp them, or should I?"

He takes one look at the already cooling bodies. "They could have dead man switches… or whatever." He says, making four clones. I nod, hugging him again. He doesn't fight me.

"You saved your little sister's life today. I'm proud of you." I tell him honestly. Sure, I still think he's a pigheaded idiot, especially for telling me to guard the client. But… I understand why he did it; he wouldn't want to risk my life.

"Come on, hero-san… let's go see what Tall, Moody and Ugly are up to."

8-8

Moody –the client– is being politely interrogated for EVERY detail. Tall –Ecchi-san– is the interrogator. And Ugly –Uchiha-san– is just looking annoyed. I can imagine why. A fight to prove his strength, and Naruto-nii 'hogs the limelight'. I can see the 'Uzumaki, fight me' coming already. He'd better know that if Nii-san fights, I fight.

"So, basically, you lied to a bunch of ninja, and expect us to protect you anyway." Ecchi-san sums it up. No, really? Did he lie? "They're first move was two chuunin. That means we're talking about at least one jounin next. This is out of our league." Wow, he thought about this. Did think he had it in him.

"Please! You have to understand that Gatou has crippled our economy! We don't have the money to pay more! We could barely afford this!" I glare at the bridge builder – breach of contract, no longer a client. "What am I supposed to do? If I go back alone, I'll be dead for sure! But do you think they'll stop there? They'll never stop, not until every last citizen of Wave is dead or a slave!"

"… that's horrible." Naruto-nii is soooooooooooooooooo not falling for this. "Kakashi-sensei, we should keep going!"

SLAP!

"Say that again." I dare him.

"Well, he needs help!"

SLAP!

"Come on! You know we can't just lea-"

SLAP! SLAP!

"This is out of our league. A proper team would need to be at least two jounin, and likely two chuunin to back them up. And that's if it isn't Anbu level. We're talking about a group powerful enough to have a COUNTRY in a choke hold!" I shout that last piece in his ear, ignoring that his forehead and both cheeks are red from my slaps. "Now stop being so pigheaded and listen to reason!"

"Sis… I understand. But how would they pay for it?"

SLAP!

"Lay away? A contract to pay the total over time with interest? I don't care. Think! This isn't just your life versus theirs. This is my life too! Even if you're willing to give your life for them, would you risk mine?" That shuts him up. "Naruto-nii… don't you dare. Don't you dare make me lose someone precious to me!"

"And Naruto's the most unpredictable shinobi of Konoha?" Ecchi-san butts in. I glare at him, warning him he's already on thin ice. And having an argument with Naruto-nii isn't doing my state of mind any favours. "Either way, this isn't either of yours decision to make. It's mine." I unsheathe my kodachis, daring him to order us forward on a suicide mission.

"Aya-chan, hear me out. I could probably handle this mission solo."

"Good. See you." I turn and start shoving Naruto-nii back to Konoha. Kodachis still in hand, mind you.

"Aya… hear me out until the very end." He sighs, annoyed. "I said I could. But you are in fact right. This calls for a specialized team, not a genin cell." I turn and glare at him, my face telling him loud and clear: No, really?

"I'll send word to Hokage-sama. We'll stay here until another team comes to relieve us."

"That's a genius idea. Let's stay here, when there's at least one jounin out to kill the man that lied to us and will happily go through us to get that done. Brilliant." I drone. "Especially seeing as Konoha is less than a half a day's walk from here."

"The relief team will be bringing our next mission anyway. This will save us travel time."

"Or you're just scared I'll get inside the village and refuse to look at you ever again." He winces. That hit a nerve. So… he's trying to win me over after all, huh? That means Yoshino-sensei knows. She'd never miss something like this. Still, she allowed it, so I'll play along. That doesn't mean I won't get to the bottom of this. "So what's the deal, huh? Yoshino-sensei offered you a shot at becoming our sensei again?"

He doesn't look away, but he doesn't answer me either. "That's a yes. But Yoshino-sensei isn't stupid. She'd set up very clear guidelines, goals for you to achieve and a deadline. Seeing as you're not being a complete jerk, that means I'm one of those goals. Is that it? Am I just a means to train your precious student?"

"One of the goals is to earn the respect of all three of you, if that's what you mean." He answers, but I can't say if he's lying or not. Between that stupid face mask and his training to lie with a straight face –he's a jounin for crying out loud– there's no way I'd be able to tell fact from fiction with him.

"When's the deadline?"

"Four days from now."

"Ah. Then you're the one that arranged her to take a mission. So that she'd consider your offer to take us on our first C-rank. And arranged for Nara-san's team to take one as well. You knew Nara-sama would be out of the village as well. Diplomatic missions don't just pop up last minute. Am I right? This is your last chance. And seeing as you know-"

"Sis… come on." Naruto-nii interrupts me.

"No, Nii-san. You only like him because he's the Fourth's student."

"And he's been helping me with my sealing jutsus. And he's been helping you with what little you'd let him. I mean, come on! You said yourself you want to join Anbu, right? He was an Anbu Captain! Who could better show you the ropes?"

"I don't care."

"Sis, all I'm asking is for you to have my back."

I sigh. Low blow! "I'm not going to fight him for this mission, Nii-san. But not even you will get more out of me than that."

"Would you let him train you?" He asks.

"No."

"What if he know's sound release?"

"Then he'll have competition."

"What if he teaches you Anbu… stuff?"

"I'll learn it anyway… once I join." If I join.

"You hesitated."

"Not important."

"You're doubting the whole Anbu thing?"

"Not. Important."

"Sis?"

"…"

"What if Yoshino-sensei asked him to teach us?"

"She didn't. She would have told me."

"What if she did?"

"Well, actually-"

"Shut it!" Naruto-nii and I shout at Ecchi-san at the same time. We're both glaring at him as well.

When he backs off, I continue. "If she asked me to, I'd do it…"

"What if I asked you to?"

"I'm already playing nice, Nii-san."

"What if I asked you to?"

I huff. I look away from him, cross my arms, sigh and just pout. I liked him better as an idiot.

"I'm asking you, sis. Let him train us. Just until this mission's over. After that, you can tell Yoshino-sensei every detail and let her deal with him."

I grumble and curse silently. Stupid blondes. "I'm not calling him sensei!"

8-8

End Chapter 15

8-8

A/N: Jeez, this story seems to be writing itself almost! I'm just along for the ride ^_^

I've been doing my best to offer a subtle story within this story. Subtle changes as best I can. Some are a bit stiff (like anything about Kakashi, I just can't capture him properly), others are so subtle I wonder if anyone picks up on them at all without my pointing at it and saying: this just happened. Like this argument between Aya and Naruto (and it IS an argument), they're both so emotional (Naruto from his first kill, Aya from seeing him go through that) that it doesn't even cross their minds that they're talking to each other like this in front of Sasuke and Kakashi until it's brought to their attention, which is then almost immediately forgotten again.

There are so many strings being pulled behind the scenes, so many subtle manipulations going on. But that's why I like 1st person PoV, I can't show any of it until it's noticed by Aya. I am planning each of those strings though. And... for the record, Yoshino's instructions were for Kakashi to let Team Seven take only D-ranked missions. She trusts her team, but she doesn't think them ready for life and death situations. Now, who'd like to guess what Yoshino's going to do once she finds out just what Kakashi's been up to? ^_^