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!

Interlude 5 – Asami part 2

8-8

"Hinata." I call to the girl. Yoshino-san might have asked her to stay down here, but… that's a mistake. Naruto-kun is a stick of dynamite lit from both ends right now. Unless Aya comes out soon, he's going to do something stupid. "Naruto-kun is very upset right now. Rightfully so, but… the point is there are only two people I know can calm him down, Aya… and you."

Her eyes widen in shock, but she decides to focus on that later. Her eyes focus on me, hardening somewhat. She nods. "His eyes right now are a bit different. This has to do with the kitsune summoning contract." I lie easily. "What you need to remember is that so long as you do not make sudden movements, nothing bad will happen. He would never hurt you."

The girl nods seriously. "I've tried calming him down, but he barely reacts to me." Admitting that comes at a cost. Still, I wipe the tear away, praying I can make it up to him one day. I look at the brunette, smiling as brightly as I can manage. "I know you can do this." I encourage her.

8-8

Hinata and Sasuke come downstairs. Hinata's smiling, but Sasuke looks… troubled by something. I wonder why Chouji would still be upstairs? Then Naruto-kun comes down, alone.

"Naruto. You didn't leave those two alone did you?" I demand, hands on hips and really getting into his face about it.

"Yeah, of course! She wanted to talk to him alone!" He's looking at me like I'm some sort of idiot. And if she just didn't want any witnesses while she mauled the boy? "Sis isn't like that. She just needs to figure out something, and us bugging them while she's doing that ain't gonna be doing her no favours!"

"First of, horrid grammar! '… ain't gonna be doing…'? Second off, how do you even know what I'm thinking?"

"Uhh… it's kind of written all over your face?" He motions to my face. And that means…? "Yeah, just like that! You're trying to ask me just what that's s'posed to mean!"

Whatever. I roll my eyes at him, sitting down to the table. "If he comes down in pieces, it's on you." I mumble.

"He won't." He sounds sure. Whatever.

It's almost twenty minutes later when I hear two pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs. They enter the family sitting room, Aya leading and tugging Chouji along by the hand? I smile a little. Then something on Chouji draws my attention… his lips… they're slightly more pink than usual…

Mental note: don't underestimate Naruto-kun. And definitely congratulate Aya! I have no idea what this will mean for them, but… they're both smiling and blushing.

8-8

After dinner, Yoshino-san asks me to see to Naruto-kun and Aya's sealing training again. I nod, wondering about that. I mean, I'm grateful that I get to spend more time with the pair, but… at the same time, I can't help but wonder where I stand with them.

I follow them into the visitors' sitting room again, so that we'll still have a table to work on, and some peace and quiet as well. They both sit down opposite me, already getting down to their practice – even without me uttering a word.

"So, Aya. I noticed someone was wearing your lipstick earlier?" I don't know much about the girl, but I do know that she doesn't like talking to people unless she likes them. She blushes, but continues her writing exercise without comment. I sigh, well, that answers that.

"Still working on that specialized storage seal?" I ask Naruto. He nods, but doesn't comment. Okay…? Why are they acting like this with me? Did I do something wrong? I look down at his work, seeing that he's switching around the containment matrix and the activation matrix. It's not a world-ending mistake, but I'm curious. So I ask him about it.

"… oh! I didn't even notice!" He shouts, already scrapping the seal and starting again right under it. He focuses, trying to not mess up again. Why do I need to be here for this, exactly? What's with keeping me locked out in the cold? I know I messed up! But I was just following orders!

"He still hasn't asked me." Aya complains, blushing deeply.

"Chouji?" I ask, mostly to see if she's talking to Naruto or me.

"Nn." She nods. She's still writing, and judging from the careful, slow motions I can tell she's trying to keep her handwriting as neat as she can.

"That sounds frustrating." I say, sighing. I know she likes him, and I'm pretty sure he likes her too. So why doesn't he just ask her? I mean, it's mostly for the show at this point! … or is that the problem? "Maybe he thinks that that makes it obvious?" I offer. She blushes again, so she understands I mean the kiss.

"M-maybe." She's goes quiet again. I don't mind too much, I mean… she should be focusing on her work. But at the same time, I wonder. Maybe she likes to focus instead of talk? She seems capable of doing both at the same time – it must be a girl thing, because Naruto only seems able to do one thing at a time. And most non-jounin guys I know are the same!

Hmm, maybe she just doesn't mind talking, but just doesn't want to talk about this? What would she like talking about that won't distract her too much? Hinata. "Hmm, I've been wondering. Didn't you mention wanting Hinata to start learning this too?"

"I did." She smiles. No, she's grinning! "I have Naruto teaching her the basics." I… see…

I bite my lip, trying not to draw too much attention to the obvious blush on Naruto's face. He likes Hinata. And not a little either! Not a bad plan, Aya. Not bad at all.

8-8

"But, auntie~eeeeeee! I wanna go play by boss's house! And Udon and Moegi are already on their way there!"

"Kono-chan, I heard you the first time. Stop being a brat about it." I say, my tone even. I just want to enjoy my book, you know! Enjoying a book usually means in peace! As in: silence! As in: SHUT UP ALREADY!

"So why can't I go!?" He demands, whining and complaining and… being his usual charming self, really.

"Because you have to train. You know that." I remind him, for the hundredth time.

"But Aya-nee trains me while I'm there! And it's just more fun there! And Saki-chan's going to be upset if I don't come! And Hanabi too! Come on, auntie~eeeee! You know I'm not going to shut up until I get to go! And you know you want to go to! You know I know you want to know! And you know that I know that you know that you want to go! So let's just go already! Come on, auntie~eeeeee!"

I groan. And I really like reading Ronin too. I don't know why this boy enjoys finding new ways to get under my skin.

"Fine."

8-8

"I was wondering what was keeping you!" Aya greets us at the gate, but I can tell she's talking about Kono-chan. "Let me guess, you're supposed to be training, but you annoyed your aunt until she let you come anyway."

"You know it!" Kono-chan sounds quite pleased with himself. I pet him on the head, mostly trying to not deck him.

"Well, I've got bad news for you. I have the others training as well. If you're just trying to run away from your training, you're not going to enjoy yourself very much." She's kind of chatty right now. I smile, knowing that she must like Kono-chan then. He's a good kid, mostly, he just likes to annoy his poor auntie way too much!

"Heh! I wanted to train with them! Not by myself! Just you wait, I'll show you just what I'm capable of!" I roll my eyes, smoothing his hair a little to tell him to calm down.

"Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you though." She opens the gate, inviting both of us in. She points to a group of six –Sakiko, Hanabi, Udon, Moegi and two Naruto-clones– and motions Kono-chan over to them. "You should go join them, but be quiet. I have them meditating so I can teach them one of my signature genjutsus. Think you can handle that?"

Kono-chan? Be quiet?

He pumps his fist into the air –his usual 'let me at 'em' response– and he quietly makes his way over to the group. He sits down between Udon and Moegi, and he starts to meditate as well. I blink. That's new.

"If you ever need to keep him busy, don't be shy to come over. He enjoys training with the others. And you can always just hang out here, if you want." Aya offers, her eyes trained on the group – and away from me.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." I smile, grateful.

"We're all in the backyard. You can join us if you want, but it's mostly boring stuff for now."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I'm supposed to be working on a new jutsu. Nii-san's working on something new as well, and Yoshino-sensei's trying to keep Uchiha from both of us."

"Oh?" That… makes no sense.

"She caught Uchiha-san and Nii-san trying to plot. Seeing as Uchiha-san found out that Haruno will be getting out later today…"

"Ah." Revenge plotting. I'm surprised Aya isn't trying to get in on it, to be honest. And… she's really chatty today. She isn't usually like this with me.

"Yeah. Nii-san already made me promise to stay out of it, but I think that's just because he really, REALLY wants to… be the one that…" She grins almost evilly. Then the grin grows softer, kinder, warmer. "He's been a bit… intense lately."

She motions for me to follow her, for some reason. I narrow my eyes, wondering what's going on. She leads me around the house and to the back yard, but stops at the corner of the house. I can feel it… the intensity of Naruto's focus . Even without seeing him, even without being a sensor, I can feel it. I peek around the corner, seeing Naruto… well, fifty Narutos actually, all focused on coating a kunai with wind chakra. So many feelings comes over me – pride in my little brother, hope for the future… and absolute faith that he's going to be amazing in a few years.

"So why are you trying to teach Naruto-kun genjutsu?" I murmur, trying to not break the blonde's concentration. "And why aren't you training?"

"I am training." She answers, amused. I turn to her, wondering what that means. Then she fades from existence. A genjutsu? No, I didn't feel any tingling in the base of my skull at all, so no genjutsu was cast on me, but…

I look into the backyard, a little closer at everyone. Hmm, there, on the pond, is Aya. Meditating. And from the look of concentration on her face, I'd easily say she hasn't moved in a while. I wonder about that. How did she open the gate for us then?

Aya's eyes open, looking right at me. She smiles and waves, then closes her eyes and focuses again. I blink. I don't understand at all.

Then she makes a Rat handseal, two… black things pop into existence on her shoulders. Crows? Those look like shadow crows! She smiles, and the two crows take flight, over the house and into the front yard. I wonder…

I make my way back to the front yard, finding two clones of Aya there. I walk up to one, and touch her on the shoulder… but my hand goes right through her! A transformation!

"So, you've figured it out." The Aya clone I just tried touching –and my hand's still technically lodged in her chest– says with a proud smile. "I don't have the chakra for a shadow clone, but Captain suggested that this clone would work just as well for me. I'm currently working on a new way to form the shadow crows… maybe turn them into rats? We'll see."

I blink. She's tinkering with jutsus, is she? Interesting.

8-8

I spend the rest of the morning in Aya's office. It's the only place with a couch, and I really like laying on a couch while reading. She doesn't mind either – my wanting to read, or my being in her office unattended. Hmm, I might not be as much an outsider as I feared.

Or is it that I told her that I'm reading Ronin? I wonder. It is a popular book, even though I prefer the book over the movie – they just didn't capture the struggle, the emotions, the… reality of Tagarashi and how much he wants something he doesn't feel he deserves.

Hmm, worth asking her later. Not now though. This is the part where Tagarashi walking in on Asuka with his brother. I mean, how could you not see it coming! Besides the fact she's been flirting with him for months, there's the name she's given! 'Asu', means 'tomorrow' and 'ka' (in this case) means 'to fly' – tomorrow flies! More or less. It's a play on impermanence, and that's exactly what she is to Tagarashi, impermanent!

Still, I love hating her for betraying him.

8-8

"You're still here?" Sasuke asks after lunch. I turn to him, wondering what his issue is.

"Yeah?"

"Good."

"…?" Okay, that makes no sense. Whatever. I go back to Ronin – these people make sense! I've long given up on offering Yasu-san a hand in the kitchen. Between her, Aya and Naruto-kun, there's just no need.

Naruto-kun has three clones studying some books in the corner, while –I assume– the original is showing Kono-chan and crew a new move in the front yard.

"Uchiha-san. Captain's waiting for you in the back yard." Aya comes in from the kitchen. Sasuke nods, heading off without a word. Aya rolls her eyes at him, obviously annoyed – and I'd have to agree. He could at least thank her, or something.

"Hey, Aya. I was wondering. That jutsu from earlier. The shadow crows. Why'd you want to learn it?" I ask, putting Ronin aside for the time being.

"Well." She thinks about that, still wearing an apron that's obviously too big for her. "I really want to be able to study and read and train at the same time. And I'd probably just die if I tried using the shadow clone jutsu." True. Only jounins are allowed to learn it, because it's so taxing on your chakra reserves.

"So Captain offered to teach me the shadow crow. It's only a C-rank, and even though it can't really do much, it's perfect for what I want." She explains, smiling a little. "It transfers its memories back to the user, it can cast simple jutsus so long as I give it enough chakra, and I can use sound release to speak through them."

Hmm. It sounds handy to have. "Thanks, by the way." I say, blushing with a small smile.

"For?"

"Letting me read in peace. I think Kono-chan would have just bugged me for the rest of the day otherwise." I explain, but… that isn't the whole story. "And for trusting me a little." I look away from her.

"… you're welcome." She says, leaving without another word. Namiki Aya. She's… interesting. I wonder what the future holds for her.

I pick up my book, opening it to the marked page and start to read again. I'll just have to keep an eye on her to find out.

8-8

End Interlude 5

8-8

A/N: I wonder. Aya's being somewhat nice to Asami. And Sasuke's being as hard to read as ever. I wonder what all this will mean. Anyhoo! I've got something special up my sleeve for the next few chapters! After all, Team Seven has been training REALLY hard. Maybe it's time for another mission? Or is Yoshino really just trying to keep Sakura safe for a little while longer? Time will tell!