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 32 – New look, old habits

8-8

This can't work, he said. I'm not good enough for you, he said. I'm not saying this to hurt you, he said.

Whatever. "Aya, you're not yourself." Captain says after a one-on-one training. I look at him, wondering what he means. "You've barely said a word all week. Even to Naruto. What's going on?"

I shrug. It's just stupid personal problems, nothing that would affect a mission should we take one.

"Aya, please answer me." I'm doing everything you say without complaint. What more do you want from me? "Verbally." No.

#Is this way easier?# He signs. I offer nothing more than a blank stare. He sighs. "Fine. You're dismissed. Remember what I said about that jutsu. We'll be taking a mission in a few days again. Be ready." I nod and body flicker out of the training ground he'd brought me to.

8-8

I make it back home quickly, unlock the gate and enter. I make it to the front door before I hear it. "Give me one good reason." Sasuke sounds pissed.

"Because hurting Chouji will hurt Aya too. Even though she's upset right now, she still cares for him." Naru-nii.

"Oh? So you're trying to tell me I don't have the right to break his legs for doing this to her?" Sasuke counters.

"I'm trying to tell you that doing that will only hurt her even more. Think, Sasuke!" I never thought I'd hear Naru-nii say something like that. "I'm just as pissed as you are! But that doesn't change what happened, and it certainly won't make anything better!"

"You do realise that she's standing just outside the door and can hear every word you're saying?" Yoshino-sensei points out. Well, there goes free information. I slide the door open, announce that I'm home, and start taking off my shinobi sandals and my rain coat. I hate that Captain decided for himself that we should train not only outdoors, but outdoors AND on the other side of the village. That man makes no sense.

"Welcome home, Aya. How was your training?" Sensei asks, sliding the inner door open to greet me. I shrug, but don't comment. "Kakashi said he was going to help you with a new sound release jutsu. How'd that go?"

I shrug again, noising and making a vague gesture with my free hand; it went okay, I guess.

"Just okay?" She smiles, teasing me. I smile a little too, rolling my eyes; okay, it was pretty good. "So you have the jutsu figured out?" I nod, smiling a little this time; it's not perfect, but it's not bad either.

"Yasu-san is in the kitchen making a snack, if you're interested?" Yoshino-sensei has been like this for days, trying to get me to open up like I was. I shrug, not really in the mood for food. I think I'll just grab some chocolate and settle in for a nice afternoon in my office, reading.

"By the way, the girls have been practicing with their instruments. I think they're getting good enough to start working on some simple jutsus, but Naruto is still helping Saki unlock her chakra. It's taking a while." I shrug. Yeah, I can help them with that a bit later. And we really do need to talk to Yasu-nee about signing Saki into the academy. Still, no rush, the new schoolyear doesn't start for months.

Someone rings on, repeatedly. What's the rush! I slip into my slippers and raincoat and go find out. Captain. "Wolf. Yuuhi Kurenai's team has been ambushed. They need backup. Get the others ready, we leave in thirty minutes."

I don't open the gate, and he disappears before I decide to. I rush into the house. "Fox, Hawk. A team's been ambushed. We're the back up. Thirty minutes. Move!"

8-8

It's not even fifteen minutes later and we're already out the door. We're at the gate in less than three minutes. And Captain is already there waiting for us. He nods to us, and we start moving immediately. No one talks the entire time we're moving.

It's almost sunset, but none of us even consider using that as an excuse. We take a break, to eat and drink and see to our needs, but we're already back at it in no time at all. It's times like these that I'm grateful for raincoats and the Namiki scroll on enhanced vision – it wasn't as complicated as I'd feared, thank Kami-sama.

#Stop!# Captain signs. He jumps down to the ground, so we follow him. #We stop for the night. Wolf, first shift. Fox, second shift. Hawk, third. We move out at dawn.#

#Question. What's the situation?#

#Team Eight didn't report in. Last communication stated the client lied.# People lying to ninjas. Does the world never learn?

#Wolf said 'ambushed'. What do we know?# Hawk asks, knowing that Fox will be too emotional now.

#Land of Tea. Gangster territory. They hire shinobi for underhanded missions. Team Eight's mission was to track down the kidnapped child of some important gangster. It's possible shinobi were encountered.# And no one took that into account from the start? I mean, gangsters lying to you? Not exactly something they'd lose sleep over.

#Understood.#

#Rest. You'll need it.#

8-8

We make it to the border of the Land of Tea by noon. Captain signs for a break, so we stop for a quick lunch and the usual bathroom breaks. It's not more than a half hour before we're on the road again.

At sunset, we're well within the Lanf of Tea – I can tell mostly because the rain stopped. So we all seal out raincoats during the next break, revealing us in our trainee Anbu gear. I'm wearing a single tanto, full black. Fox is wearing dual wakizashis, also black. Hawk is wearing a simple straight sword, white. He just had to be different. Captain is wearing his Dog mask, but his is the only mask that's painted – a sign he's not only the captain, but he's the only full Anbu Operative on the team.

Our clothes are identical though. Sleeveless black shirts with high collars. Fingerless gloves up to our mid bicep. Metal armguards that reach from our elbows to our wrists and another guard on the backs of our hands. Black pants, not skin-tight, but not loose either. And standard black shinobi sandals, with metal shin guards. Oh, and let's not forget the pocketless white flak jackets. It took me almost a week to find a proper place to fit the scroll containing all my things!

After a quick dinner, we head out again.

Going on ten o'clock, Captain signs for us to stop. #Wolf, Fox, sniff. We need to locate the team quickly.# I don't know everyone's scent on their team, but I know Hina-nee's scent like the back of my hand.

#Two kilometres, that way.# I point. Fox agrees a moment later, pointing in the same direction. Thank Kami-sama we're down wind from them!

#Move out!#

It takes us less than five minutes to get to the house where I smell Hina-nee. This place is HUGE though! We don't knock on the front door, naturally, so we simply enter through an open window on the fourth floor.

We make our way silently, sticking to the shadows, never touching the ground for any reason. We don't know if our comrades are in friendly company or not.

#Shinobi presence other than Team Eight?# Captain asks.

#Negative.# Fox-nii and I sign at the same time. Captain nods, probably thinking the same thing and just wanting us to either confirm or show that we should be checking for that regardless.

#Captain. Team Eight are trackers. They would recognize us.# Hawk asks. Good point. They're job is identifying people and tracking them for miles!

#Moot point. Leader assigned this mission this way. Trust Leader's judgment.# Captain signs back. Yeah, there's no sign for Hokage, for some reason. I find that completely idiotic by the way! If someone recognizes the handsigns as Konoha Anbu signs, they automatically know we're from Konoha! Whatever.

We make it to their location, Captain signs that Fox should send in two shadow clones to be sure. A moment later, Fox-nii casually strolls into the next room. "Good evening. Lovely weather."

I'm quick to follow, trusting his judgment. I find Yuuhi-sensei unconscious in a futon, Inuzuka next to her, conscious but in bad shape. I don't even need the order to tend to them.

I start with Yuuhi-sensei, scanning her from head to toe. Chakra exhaustion, shallow cuts, traces of poison. Hmm, not a very dangerous one, but one that slows the body's natural healing. This is common for… Mist shinobi?

#Fox. Poison. Slows body's healing. Mist shinobi. Confirm?#

#Affirmative.# Both he and Captain sign back. I nod, knowing enough. I reach into my jacket, taking out my scroll and unseal my first aid kit. I take a syringe and fill its chamber with a broad spectrum antidote. I know for a fact it'll deal with this poison, but it'll leave her immune system somewhat weakened. A risk we'll just have to take for now.

"Captain. Her arms please." Captain takes her dominant arm, Hawk grabs her legs and Fox take her off hand. I jab the needle in her arm –after removing all air bubbles of course– and quickly empty its chamber into her. Even in her weakened state, she fights back with all she can, but Captain talks her down.

"Kurenai. It's alright. We're from Konoha." He says soothingly.

"An…bu… good. One… team… Mist…"

"Yuuhi-san. Do not speak. Your team can fill us in. Rest." I order. I still unseal a soldier pill and a bottle of water. She downs both, falling back to sleep almost instantly.

"Kurenai-sensei was saying that there's a team of Mist shinobi. Chuunins we think, protecting the kid we're supposed to save. They're client's holding the kid hostage. Ransoming him for more money than our client can pay." Inuzuka-san lays it all out. Idiot. I don't react. I just move to him, scanning his injuries. Hmm, Hina-nee must be low on chakra as well. His wounds are tended to and dressed, but not healed. I take my time healing them each in turn. I then make sure to scan Akamaru, just to be on the safe side. You just never know.

"Thanks, Aya."

SLAP!

"Oi! Isn't there some rule against hitting a patient!?"

SLAP!

"Wolf." Captain warns, but hearing Fox-nii snickering doesn't help his case any. I growl briefly, but stand down anyway.

"So you guys are up in Anbu training. Can't say I'm surprise." Inuzuka-san continues as if nothing happened. Even though his forehead is bright red in two places. "So. You're Wolf. You're… Fox. And that leaves Hawk over there brooding. I should have known about Dog though. Common sense."

"Inuzuka. You know what I'm about to tell you." Captain says. Revealing the identity of Anbu Operatives, even those in training, is punishable by death; common knowledge in a hidden village.

"Yeah, yeah. Dunno why you guys'd come like that knowing we'd identify you in a heartbeat." Inuzuka's a complete moron. There's no cure for that level of idiocy.

"What do you know about the kidnappers." Captain changes the subject.

"Four ninja. Three guys and a girl. Water release users, but not too skilled. They mostly rely on stealth and guerrilla tactics to pick us off one by one."

"That is wholly incorrect. Why you ask? Because you simply rushed ahead and got injured." Aburame counters. I laugh at the boy, not in the least surprised. Even Fox-nii and Hawk get a good chuckle out of that.

"Are we in any risk of a counter attack?" Captain asks.

"Negative. They seem content to wait us out. Why you ask? Because time is on their side. If the money is not delivered in two days time, the child is executed." Aburame-san explains. I like it when he talks. He makes sense.

"A-ano. I think we should… try again tomorrow. To s-save Yoshirou-san, I mean." Hina-nee manages. She's trying her best to stay calm here, but she's exhausted and she's not exactly happy with the situation.

"Negative." I say plainly. "You're in no state."

"Wolf is right. We'll take it from here." Captain announces, thinking about the best way to go about this. "Hyuuga-san. Do you have anything with the child's scent? And perhaps a picture?"

"O-of course." She looks curious, but she leaves to go get something down the hall. "No, H-hamacho-sama… A-another t-team has arrived." I hear as she makes her way back. A tall woman, in her mid thirties, with long flowing hair and an obviously expensive kimono walks in with Hina-nee. She takes one look at us, plainly shocked.

"Are you here to help?" She asks, her accent refined and elegant. She's obviously been educated in the fine arts and the like. Captain nods. "Good. Good. This is good." She's in tears. "Please, save my baby." She begs, kneeling and bowing to us, her hands clapped together over her head in a sign of begging – almost grovelling at this point. Her pride be damned, she wants her child back.

"That's the plan." Captain takes the item of clothing – a blanket. He sniffs it a few times, to make sure he has the scent. He then tosses it to Fox, who does the same. Then it's tossed to me. The picture is handed to Hawk though – he didn't care for a jutsu to 'smell things better'.

Even through my mask, the scent is easy to pick up in the blanket. The child uses it regularly.

"Subject is eighteen months, correct?" Hawk asks. Ever the charmer.

"My SON is seventeen months." The woman corrects.

"We'll find him." I assure her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She's in tears, thanking me over and over again.

"Aburame. You're in the best shape here. You'll show us where we need to be." Captain is all business once again. "Hyuuga. You will stay here and tend to these two." She nods, feeling downright miserable.

#Fox, leave ten clones here. Stealth. Wolf, give her three soldier pills. They attacked the enemy today, that means they're on high alert. We need to take them out immediately. No jutsu. Target might see. Move out!#

8-8

We're lead to a two storey home on the edge of the village. It looks like a gambling den almost, and a bit run down. Not the kind of place I'd like to be.

"I've tagged the shinobi with my bugs. I should come with you." Aburame-san offers.

"I know you did. But you've done your part." Captain placates. #Fox, shadow clone. Lead him back to safe house.#

Fox-nii makes a single clone this time. "Come on, Shino. You can tell me all about what you know of their skills. I'll make sure the boss has that information as soon as they need it." The two are already running back to the safe house. Whatever.

#You know formation. Wolf, genjutsus allowed. No other jutsu. Last Resort is still last resort.# Siren's Call. Yeah, yeah. Let's just see if we can get the kid to safety, alright!

We make our way in, sticking to the shadows again and making almost no sound. #Target upstairs.# I sign. Fox confirms it a moment later. It's a good thing we have three noses on the team, it helps to confirm things sometimes.

#Secure downstairs first. No surprises.# Hawk signs to us. Captain likes to 'be the hero' and only step in when it's needed. So Hawk is usually in charge on missions.

We go through every room, finding nothing downstairs. It's not a total loss though; we come across their weapons cache and food storage. Fox seals it all without being asked to.

We make our way upstairs, sticking to the walls to not make a sound. #Target down the hall. Four others in room with target.# I sign. Fox-nii confirms it as well.

#Captain. Best stealth option is Last Resort. They could kill target the second we open the door.# Hawk signs to Captain.

#Permission granted.# I nod, soundlessly unsheathing my tanto. I skulk up to the door, try to listen in for who is where, but they're not making any sounds.

#Three are sleeping, one on watch.# I sign, but I can only identify where the light snores are coming from.

The door swings open – inwards, so it doesn't hit me, thank Kami-sama. I don't panic, I just look up and find the woman staring at me, disbelief in her eyes. I start singing immediately. Her eyes gloss over, but she's fighting to break the genjutsu. I end her quickly, moving into the room and end the others just as quickly. Checking around the room, I notice no signs of enemies still breathing. So I stop singing.

Captain comes in and grabs the sleeping child – for the best, I'm covered in blood again. #Fox. Scout the house, scalp everything we value. Hawk, check identities. Behead anyone with a bounty. Burn evidence when Fox is done. Meet back at safehouse in one hour.#

#Affirmative.#

#Wolf. You will stay with them.#

Like I'd have it any other way? #Affirmative.#

8-8

We're back at the safehouse in record time. They didn't have anything we'd want, but all four of them had some hefty bounties on them. Technically they're all my kills, but I don't mind sharing with my team. I'll treat them to a nice dinner when we get back home – I'm kind, not stupid.

"Fire! There's a fire! In the old gambler's den at the edge of town!" I hear someone shouting out in the street. We're busy avoiding the crowd, so please don't ask us to help out a fire we started! It's counterproductive. And silly.

We make our way back up to the room where Team Eight is resting. The lady from earlier is missing, but Captain signs that she's tending to her son.

"Mission accomplished. Good job, team." Captain says. It could technically count as praise, but Captain never praises. He speaks his mind. "Wolf. When you've cleared Kurenai and Kiba, we'll head home. Until then, we're on standby."

8-8

The next morning, after breakfast and a wash-down –Anbu don't 'bathe' on missions, we cleanse and remove all scents, not the same thing– I go and check on my patients. Yuuhi-sensei is awake and doing much better, which her scans confirm. Inuzuka-san is much the same.

#Physically healed. Recommend another day, maybe two.#

#Reason.#

#Rainy season.# I remind him. The last thing these two need is an infection when they're just recovering from their injuries.

"We leave at dawn." Captain announces. No one argues with him, so Captain leaves the room.

"You know what I don't get?" Inuzuka-san starts the second the door slides shut.

#I could write a book on things he doesn't get.# I sign to Fox-nii. He covers his laughter with a few coughs, but Inuzuka-san doesn't seem to notice.

"How come you three are suddenly so all powerful?"

I blink. Not that he'd see that through my mask.

"Your logic is flawed. Why? Because no one suddenly becomes powerful. Either they already were and you never noticed, or they've trained hard since the last time to earn their power."

"I-I agree with Shino-k-kun." Hina-nee says, not telling the whole story. She knows just how hard we train, she also knows how hard we study. She's with us for most of it – and frankly, she's probably FAR more skilled that Inuzuka-san. I can't say for sure about Aburame-san though. He's a sneaky one.

"Aww. That's sweet." Fox-nii says, wrapping an arm around Hina-nee's shoulder. She blushes, 'eeps', and faints. Luckily he catches her. I just shake my head. That she's still like that, and he's still just as clueless about her being like that… What's he trying to do? Desensitize her?

Hmm, that's not a bad idea, actually. Still, I'll ask him later. He's too busy asking me to see if she's alright. He's lucky I can't slap him with his mask on.

"So, Wolf-chan. What are you doing when we get back?" I know this pup isn't hitting on me while I'm on duty! Who cares if we're on standby! I'm in my fricking Anbu uniform! I feel a tingling sensation, to show he's almost trying to touch me. I turn, looking to him, but his eyes are glossed over. He's body is held in such a way that I can tell he just tried putting an arm around me. I look to Hawk, seeing Sharingan eyes swirling angrily.

#Thanks. Saved me the trouble.#

He nods.

"You'd think he'd learn, after all these months." Yuuhi-sensei sounds annoyed, and exasperated. "Just to be safe. You're…?"

"Wolf."

"Fox."

"Hawk."

Yuuhi-sensei nods to each of us as we introduce our alter egos. "Good. Thank you, for not only saving my team but for saving the boy as well."

"You don't have to thank us. We're just glad we got here in time." Fox-nii says as he rubs the back of his head, obviously embarrassed. I can tell, even without seeing his face, he's grinning like an idiot.

"Wolf." I turn to the woman, wondering what she wants with me. "I'll need your help with Kiba. We'd have accomplished this mission if he hadn't tried to rush ahead. Even against a team of chuunins." She explains seriously.

I snort, but don't comment. "Rest, Yuuhi-san."

8-8

The trek back to Konoha is mostly uneventful. Mostly, because Inuzuka-san is mostly doing anything he can to get on my nerves. I get it, don't get me wrong. Strong female, affinity with canines just like his clan, and a healer like his big sister. I get it. That doesn't mean I'm not going to break his arm if he touches me.

Luckily both our teams know to keep him away from me. But that doesn't stop him from trying. And it's even worse seeing as I tend to want to scan him at every break to make sure his wounds stay closed and aren't getting infected or anything.

"You know, Wolf-chan. It's alright to fall in love with an alpha male." He tries, during our lunch break.

"When you find an alpha male, let him know for me." I counter, scanning him anyway.

"Ouch." Fox-nii rubs it in.

"Kiba. If you keep troubling my subordinate, I'm going to step in." Captain warns in a tone that lets him know that he most DEFINITELY doesn't want Captain to step in.

"Hey, Wolf. Don't you have a meeting with Hana coming up?" Fox-nii asks. I nod wordlessly, trying to close one of the wounds that had reopened because Inuzuka-san is pushing hard than he should. "Well, make sure to bring up with unprofessional attitude. I'm sure his clansmen would want to know."

Inuzuka-san blanches, not liking that idea at all. "Captain, we have to slow the pace." I say, changing the subject.

"His wounds reopened?" Captain asks. I nod. "Kiba, you will stop pushing yourself to impress Wolf. If she has to close one more wound of yours, I will allow her suggestion to put you in a coma and drag you back to Konoha that way. Understood?"

I didn't suggest that. Not because I didn't think of it, but because I don't plan on carrying him. Still, whatever cooks the rice.

8-8

Once back in Konoha, we check in –it's much easier for us than them, because we go into a separate line and only Captain's identity needs to be checked at all– and we head to the Tower.

Yuuhi-sensei and Captain give their initial verbal reports, Hokage-dono asks us a few questions. Nothing special. "Very well. Team Eight, you are dismissed."

The door closes behind them and a full minute passes before Hokage-dono continues. "Dog, how would you say your team handled themselves in this mission?"

"Admirably, Hokage-dono. Hawk took charge when the situation called for it, made a solid plan, and they all performed well under pressure." Captain explains, his tone professional.

"And the Mist chuunins?"

"Wolf took them out. They each have a bounty, so I'll take her to collect that."

"Do not become too dependant on that jutsu, Wolf." Hokage-dono warns carefully.

"It was by Hawk's suggestion, sir. Due to the target being in the same room with the Mist team and no way to assess if they'd try to kill him as we entered." I explain seriously. He nods, but I can tell that isn't his point. "I will take your warning to heart, sir."

"You do that." He smiles warmly. "Dismissed."

8-8

Soaking. In the hot water. In the middle of the day. I'd just gotten home from another debriefing, mission's payout and collecting the bounties. As usual, it all gets transferred to my bank account, but I write down the total so I have a number to work with.

As a sit here, I think… I wonder. The missions are getting steadily more complicated, sometimes more desperate. The trainings are becoming more and more ruthless. The tasks are getting less and less likeable. The jutsu I'm expected to master quickly are becoming more complicated, more chakra intensive.

I've passed out from chakra deprivation so often by now, it's become almost normal.

Winter's begun. Every tree is without a leaf, replaced by inches of snow. Luckily, the weather's normalized somewhat, so it stopped snowing last week some time. But the sky is still grey and the world seems so lifeless. I think it'll end up snowing again tonight. Not that we need more snow, but…

"Aya! Are you still in there? Everyone's already here for that tournament thing!" Yasu-nee calls out. I'm soooooo not looking forward to this.

8-8

End Chapter 32

8-8

A/N: The is the relapse that has been coming since the chapter named 'Relapse'. Aya had Chouji and Naruto to pull her out then, but only Naruto and missions now. Date wise, we're almost to Christmas in this story. There will be a 'Christmas special', of course, but that's going to be an interlude, and that's going to be released a bit closer to Christmas.