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 43 – Aya-approved manipulations?

8-8

This. Annoys. Me… Inuzuka. Annoys. Me…

"Oi, there you are! I've been tracking you down for hours!"

Twitch.

"And that wasn't hint enough?" I grind out.

"Aya… it's alright. Really. You go on ahead. I'll talk to him." Chouji-kun offers, but it's not like it's going to make a difference.

"No, Chouji. Inuzuka-san needs to learn to back off, or next time I go berserk I'm going to have his head on a plague in my office."

"'Chouji'… since when is he 'Chouji' again?" Inuzuka-san sounds confused. Then he takes in a long, deep breath. Through the nose.

Oh, you're finally catching on, are you? How our scents are so mingled. But you know what. I don't even care about that. If the only thing you respect is another man's 'property', do me a favour. Come here. Show me what I'm missing.

I invite him, arms held wide but a glint in my eyes that promises death, and leaking killing intent while I'm at it.

"Sorry, Chouji… I didn't realise."

I growl. A proper growl. One that Inuzuka-san would recognize from his time with dogs as a wild animal that is pissed and isn't backing down. Every inch of me tenses. And my hands itch to grab my weapons, to unleash hell on this pissing-on-his-own-tail little puppy.

A warmth wraps itself around my middle, and suddenly Chouji smells much closer to me. "Aya… focus. You made it this far. Don't blow your chance at promotion for someone that isn't worth it." He whispers in my ear.

Inuzuka-san stares, shock plain in his eyes.

"Please. Let me deal with him."

"And your promotion?" I ask, letting my features return to normal. That shocks Inuzuka-san the most, I think.

"I don't have mouths to feed." He reminds me. "If I mess up, no harm done. I just try again next time."

Suddenly, I feel hyperaware of how protectively his arm is wrapped around me. "You're coming with me then." I demand. He chuckles.

"You're sure?"

"Come on. I smell food. Let's go find out what that's about."

8-8

"Oi! Aya-chan! What a coincidence finding you here!" Naru-nii, you are just too much sometimes. You know that? And of course, he just followed his stomach here and dragged poor Hina-nee along for the ride.

The source of the smell turns out to be two eateries for those that made it this far. Why they wait until the third day to have them set up, I'll never know. But at least there's food now. Sniff, sniff. No, no chocolate, but food. Instant ramen will never be a thing for me. I don't know how that boy can stand it.

"Hmm. I could eat. How about you?" Chouji-kun asks. I shrug. A warm meal couldn't hurt.

"Dog breath still bugging you?" Naru-nii asks. I snort, annoyed. "Thought so. If I didn't need this promotion…"

"Hnn." I huff, fully agreeing with him.

"Let's just hope we get out of this place soon. Being around him just annoys me right now."

"I wouldn't worry about him too much. It seems he smelled my scent on her, so he's backing off." Chouji-kun explains seriously. Having found what I want, I order a stir-fry shrimp – I find myself ordering that a lot these days, it's yummy.

"… I see." Hina-nee is the one the most upset about that. Not that I'm surprised really. You can't hang out with me and Yasu-nee and not pick up on some of our quirks – our hatred for women being seen as 'things', for one.

"I hope I get to fight him in the next round." Naru-nii says, his eyes hard as steel. "I'll be sure to… educate the pup."

8-8

Lee… I smell Lee. Crap. I really don't want to deal with this now, but he deserves to know. Giving him false hope isn't right… Crap. Now I feel guilty.

Yes, I'd warned him. Yes, I'd told him exactly what the situation is. But I never thought the 'what if' would ever happen. If I'd known, I'd never have accepted his invitation in the first place.

"You okay?" Naru-nii asks. Jeez, that boy must smell my moods or somethi… or he just smells Lee too.

"I don't know yet. I'll tell you after I talk to him."

"Hmm?" Chouji-kun looks at me, worried. "Lee?" He guesses. I nod. "Do you want me to come with you?" I shake my head. This is something I need to handle on my own. I do make sure to pop some chocolate in my mouth though. Kami knows I'll need it.

So I head out, following my nose, trusting that I'm doing the right thing. It takes me almost fifteen minutes to track him down – sitting at the eatery. "Lee." I say, sitting next to him.

"Aya-chan! It is good to know you are already here. Neji thought he sensed a few of your fights, but we just never found you again after that first afternoon."

"Nn. We made it here in six hours, more or less." I say, biting my lip nervously. "One of the advantages of Naru-nii declaring us the strongest – no one ever believes him."

"Chouji-san is here as well then." How did you know that? "Please do not worry, Aya-chan. I saw it in his eyes that night. I knew. I cannot promise I will take it easy on him should I face him though. I would offer him the same respect I offer any opponent."

"I'm sorry."

"Heartfelt passion is nothing to be sorry for, nor ashamed of." He says, smiling at me. That light glinting off his teeth glare, and a nice guy pose too. "Besides. I am certain that if he messes up again, your family will kill him. They are rather intense." I giggle. I can't help it!

"I'm sorry about them. Really." I say, trying to keep a straight face. But… picturing Chouji-kun sitting between Kakashi and Momochi-san. Naru-nii caught up in the mix this time as well. Ao-chan isn't likely to be much better either. And I think even Haruki would join them. It's not as if the whole pack doesn't know what happened between us by now. Well, what happened before this exam at least.

"Why would you be? It is a sign of love and respect for you, as part of the family. I expected no different, though being seated between two jounin isn't exactly something I'd prepared for." He tells me honestly. I smile. Yeah, and that's just the two that are more regularly around me. He wasn't introduced to Shikaku-san… Chouza-san… Inoichi-san… Hmm, I seem to be getting quite close to a lot of people these days. And I'm not even blaming Ino for it!

"If it makes you feel any better… you haven't even been introduced to the worst of them." He shivers.

"If nothing else, I think this was good training. Meeting another girl's family will never be as scary as meeting yours." I giggle again.

"Aww, Lee, you say the sweetest things."

"…" He just shakes his head, unsure what to say. Still. I'm glad there are no hard feelings.

8-8

Noon on the fifth day finally arrives. We're all lined up according to teams. Hokage-dono is explaining something. I don't know. I don't care. What I know…

Twitch.

Is that this better be over, like now. I need chocolate. I need it now.

There's coughing, and a new scent spreads through the room. "If I may continue, Hokage-sama." More coughing. "There are too many of you here. So we will be holding a preliminary round to thin the numbers somewhat. Do not worry though. As of now all matches are one-on-one. So should one of your teammates falter, you may still continue."

Of course. Why not. I didn't kill enough chuunin hopefuls, let's pit them against me when I'm this close to losing my mind for the second time in five days… Makes perfect sense.

"Each match will be randomly selected. When your match is announced, you have one minute to enter the ring. If you do not, you are automatically disqualified." Cough, cough, wheeze. Yes. That makes even more sense. Wonderful.

We all make our way up to the balcony. I find myself smirking when I see the amount of packmates glaring at Inuzuka when he gets a little too close to me. Kakashi seems to be one of them as well. That just makes me grin.

I wonder who's gonna be pit against him.

The first match is announced. Uchiha Sasuke versus Yamanaka Ino. Ouch. "You've got to be kidding me!" Ino doesn't like the match up either. The two of them make their way down. Sasuke-

Twitch, twitch.

Sasuke as cool as a cucumber, Ino sweating bullets. It would take an act of Kami-sama for her to win.

"Hey, hey, Sasuke-kun. Tell me. What would it take to get a date with you?" Ino just has to go there.

"Hnn?" He thinks about that – not that anyone but Naru-nii and I would even notice. "Oh, that's easy. If you can beat Aya in a spar, I'll happily go on a date with you."

"HEY! KEEP ME OUT OF YOUR LOVE LIFE!" I totally ignore the two snickering idiots beside me – a blonde on my right, a larger than life brunet on my left.

"… Anything less… suicidal?" She doesn't like that at all. I roll my eyes, grumbling about stupid Uchihas and their stupid stupidity.

"No. That's good." He smirks, pleased with himself. And I just know I'm going to be getting requests for spars by the barrel now.

"Oi! Sasuke! You do realize that sis isn't going to be too happy with you later, right?" Naru-nii points out, sounding REALLY amused.

Twitch. Twitch.

When can we leave? "I'm treating you guys to lunch. And yes, Aya… that means all the chocolate you can stomach."

"Aya likes! Ino! Hurry up and lose already!"

She looks at me, shrugging and sighing in sort-of defeat. "Well, there goes my cheering squad."

"You lost Aya's support the second you were pit against me." Sasuke. That's just wrong. Not factually incorrect, but oh so wrong.

"Yeah, yeah. But at least I get to sleep in her bed." Why. Why am I getting dragged into this? And why isn't the match starting? And… are those guys stifling a nosebleed?

"…" Poor Sasuke is just as lost as I am. "Somehow I think Haku has a better chance than you do."

"OI! I CAN HEAR YOU!" I grumble about stupid idiots and continuously dragging me into their stupidity. "PROCTOR! START THE FRICKING MATCH ALREADY!"

Cough, cough. "I was rather enjoying that. Combatants ready!? Begin!"

All that smack talking, and Ino gets blindsided the second the match begins? Sasuke body flickers behind her, sword against her throat. Boom. End of match. So why did I get so involved in a match that isn't even mine!?

8-8

Kankuro gets pitted against some Cloud guy. Kankuro beats him, purely because the cloud guy didn't know he was a puppeteer.

Temari gets pitted against Lee's teammate, Tenten. Poor Tenten never stood a chance.

Then I hear Hina-nee is pitted against her cousin… Hyuuga Neji… the prick that probably undermined her self worth for as long as she's been alive.

I find myself sneering and twitching at the boy, warning him not to hurt my sister in any way.

Their match starts. But not the way Hyuuga-san is expecting. At least, if his shocked, what-just-happened look means anything.

Well… that and finding out just how effective our snap-genjutsu is when combined with Hinata's Water Release: Water Bullet. That's sooooo leaving a nasty bruise on his cheek!

"So it would seem that the Hyuuga princess has resorted to cheap parlour tricks." Stick, meet Hyuuga-san's backside – you two were made for each other.

Hina-nee, of course, just laughs at the idiot. Laughs. In his face. Our pack laughs right along with her too – it's fricking hilarious! "Neji-nii-san. I am a kunoichi of Konoha. I will use whatever means is needed to ensure my mission is carried out successfully." Take that! And without a stutter too! Roar, Hina-nee, ROAR! "If that means 'cheap parlour tricks', then perhaps I should show you just what my time with the Namikis has taught me."

"Hnn. It will make little difference."

"We shall see. But you'll, of course, tell father and the elders for me, won't you? How I've bloomed away from your clutches?" Ouch, girl. Ouch.

"…" That hits him. And I like the wordplay here. Is she talking about This Hyuuga's clutches, or ALL the Hyuuga's?

"Oh. Right. We should be fighting. Aya-chan won't be pleased if she has to wait because of you."

I'm glad I'm out of her effective radius up here. Because the next thing I know, there's a staccato of snaps-genjutsus, punches, Hyuuga-styled pokes, kicks, and just for the show… a groin kick – that'd be the chocolaty dessert. Total elapsed time? Three seconds. I blink.

"THAT'S MY HINA-CHAN!" Naruto-nii is a cheerleading squad all on his own, but the rest of the pack still howls for her to show our support – it's a thing Naru-nii came up with.

Hyuuga Hinata howls right along with us.

"Holy crap… Aya's seriously teaching Hinata her signature moves!" Inuzuka-san seems shocked. I don't know why.

"Um, duh?" Naru-nii pokes fun at the clueless idiot. "But the true beauty is how Hina-chan makes it her own."

"You taught her that, didn't you." I don't ask. Adaptation is a defined Uzumaki trait, after all. Which is why I really respect all Uzumaki kunoichis; it's also a defined kunoichi trait. Other than Karin. That girl's just plain ol' crazy. If she's my kind of crazy remains to be seen.

"Duh?"

8-8

The next match is Naruto-nii versus Chouji. I love Chouji… I really do. But you might as well pit a fangirl against Sasuke. The results are nothing if not predictable. At least Chouji walks away with little more than a bruised ego.

Aburame-san gets pitted against another Cloud guy. Cloud didn't send a strong team this year.

Eventually I get bored and ask Hina-nee what she calls that attack of hers. "Lion's Heavenly Retribution." She tells me, smiling warmly. That last kick to the groin is definitely retribution. If it's heavenly is a whole other box of chocolates.

Nara-san gets pitted against that last Cloud girl – he of course loudly complains about facing a girl to begin with. The outcome, once again, is nothing if not predictable. The more names get called, the wider I grin. Because Inuzuka-san and my names haven't been called yet.

And as luck would have it! I don't get to go against Inuzuka. No, of course not. He gets pitted against Gaara. I groan. This means I'm going to end up having to save his sorry behind! Hana wouldn't like it if her little brother got killed – no matter how much she complains about the idiot.

Inuzuka-san starts off antagonizing a sociopath. Yes, yes. Off to a running start. And what does he do when said sociopath talks about feeding his and his partner's blood to 'mother'? Make a joke about it being the redhead's 'time of the month'. Uh huh. Your mouth will certainly never get you in trouble, Inuzuka.

"I give him ten seconds before he needs to get bailed out." Naru-nii drones.

"I hope not. I'd like to see what Gaara can do." I point out. Naru-nii and Sasuke just glare at me dully. "What? I didn't say he'd be able to. I'm saying I hope and what I'd like."

"Wordplay defence?" Sasuke's eyebrow rises about a half a millimetre; really?

"What? I'm being complete honest!" He fixes me with a dull glare. "I am!"

And of course, Naruto-nii just has to be right. Gaara pops the cork on his gourd and sand explodes from it, swallowing Inuzuka-san whole. "You get the idiot, I get Akamaru?" I offer Naru-nii. He nods.

Snap!

I make a Step Three hand (needs a better name) and substitute it with Akamaru. The little pup looks at me, worried. A second later, Naru-nii's shadow clone substitutes with Inuzuka. Akamaru jumps from my –perfectly safe and one-hundred percent sane(ish)– hug and jumps over to lick a mangy mongrel. Loyalty can be a curse too.

And of course, winner by interference, Gaara the sociopath!

"At least we know he uses sand?" I offer. No one's impressed. Don't say I don't do nice things for him!

8-8

Last match. Me and Lee. I don't plan on losing. Neither does he. I could technically guilt him into letting me win. But that's just not my style. He's only seen me use taijutsu, and even then never my weapons. Anyway you look at it, I need to win. I need to be promoted. I didn't spend the last five days not castrated that stray to end up not getting promoted!

"Sorry, Lee. I can't stop here." I say, honestly feeling sorry for what I need to do.

"Then we are in full agreement that this should be our first true match." Lee smiles, like he tends to when he sees a challenge he wants to overcome.

"No. This won't be, Lee." I warn him, taking my stance. Right hand on my tanto's grip, left arm bent in front of my at a ninety degree angle. Left leg slightly out ahead, bent at the knee and me leaning forward with most of my weight on it. Right leg behind me and positioned like I'm going to make a mad dash.

"Oh?"

"That's why I'm apologizing."

"Combatants ready!? Begin!"

Snap!

His eyes gloss over and I body flicker to him, kneeing him in the gut, hard. He flies back and into the wall.

Snap!

I body flicker to him once again, placing my tanto against his windpipe, while 'kneeling' on the wall area around his midsection. "Forfeit, Lee, and I'll tell you the secret of how to overcome this weakness you have."

"… So you have been holding back. Truly a shame. Very well. I shall forfeit this match!" He doesn't even sound winded. This boy's probably used to taking a sound thrashing during a real fight.

I resheathe my tanto, leaning in to whisper into his ear. "Ask your sensei about a training regimen to react to outside stimuli while under the influence of a genjutsu. It's nearly impossible to master, but if anyone can, it's you, Lee. Take away my genjutsu advantage, and you'll have me at a disadvantage once again."

"I did not know such a thing was possible." He murmurs, shocked.

"Anything is possible. You just need the drive to make it real." I remind him. "I need a strong sparring partner to test myself against. I need someone that can overcome any advantage I cook up. Don't let me down, Lee." With that I flip back, wondering why I haven't gone completely bananas yet. Hmm, maybe the guys are right? I might just be an adrenaline junkie after all. After all, the longer I watched the fighting, the calmer I seemed to become. So we'd better hurry the hell up out of here before I kill someone! The fighting's done!

8-8

Of course. The fighting's done, so now we need to talk. We're explained that we have one month to prepare for the third exam, to be held somewhere on the planet. We're asked to pick a number 'randomly' pitting us against our opponent for the first round. I don't believe anyone that says something is 'completely random', that's a blatant lie. Ninja never allow for a 'random factor' they cannot predict.

Sasuke's pitted against Naruto in the first match. I'm against Hinata. Nara's against Temari – he might be complaining about the matchup, but I don't care enough to notice. Kankuro's against Aburame. Gaara's not in the first round. I shrug, not caring. I just want my chocolate.

Can we leave now?

No, of course not. Everyone's dismissed, but we –Team Seven– are asked to stay. Once the Anbu guards confirm we're alone, Hokage casts a jutsu; I'm guessing a privacy one. Whatever.

"This is troubling." Hokage begins. I agree, I still don't have my chocolate. "I'd expected Orochimaru to make very different moves during this exam."

I shrug, not caring. Of course, that just means Kakashi needs to add his two cents to show me what I'm 'missing'. "He allowed for three of his agents to be caught. They know little about the invasion. Not even a date. However they've been given orders to avoid any Sand shinobi, so it's safe to say they're involved."

"Yes, I'd suspected as much when I'd heard of Gaara." Hokage comments, almost offhandedly. "You said those Sound teams were after Sasuke specifically?"

"They said as much." Sasuke says.

"Hmm." Hokage looks troubled. I know the feeling. Life without chocolate is troubling. Can we go now? "Kakashi. Sasuke may well be at risk. You are to stick close to him at all times. Naruto, I have someone that wants to meet you. Come to my office tomorrow at ten AM. Aya, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you and your home to go into lockdown for the next month. Something is going on, and I don't know what. Zabuza and Haku will have to move in temporarily. And I'll be placing Anko there as well."

I glare at the idiot that thinks he can tell me what to do in my own home.

"Aya, there is more going on than you know." He says, not backing down.

Still glaring. And now that twitch is coming back full force as well.

"If it helps, I'll be asking Yoshino to stay with you as well." He tries. That is less of a problem, but Mitarashi? Why? Why would I let that woman anywhere near my pack? "Aya." His tone is softer, more understanding. And I'm still glaring at him. "If someone like Orochimaru tries to get in, you're going to need every resource available to protect not just your family, but my grandson as well. Do you understand?"

I wince, looking away.

"Good. Now that that's settled. Kakashi. Figure something out to hide Sasuke away. No one is to know, not even me. Team Rho is at your disposal for the time being." Other than Mitarashi, who's obviously MY PROBLEM! I groan, already hating what's coming.

"I understand." Kakashi does… something. I don't know or care. Let's just go! I don't need more reasons to get annoyed, and I certainly don't need another reason to go berserk!

8-8

Twitch. Huff. Glare. Growl. Snarl. Nothing seems to work make the situation better.

Inuzuka is right there waiting, with Hinata. And Chouji, Ino and Nara. Aburame is probably wondering about the logic of waiting on us. Yuuhi and Sarutobi are there as well. I don't get it. I don't want to get it. And seeing as none of these people have chocolate, I'm not going to be persuaded to care.

"Kiba, seriously. I'm not going to save you if you do something stupid." Naruto warns.

"No one will." Sasuke adds. Hinata and Ino flank me, trying to offer some comfort. Comfort, nice; chocolate, better.

"Oi, I'm just trying to apologize!" Inuzuka, you're being loud. I glare at him, warning him for the last time! One more word and I'm going full-on berserk mode on his ass!

"Maybe, but you're just making things worse. Do yourself a favour, can it." Ino offers, links arms with me. Whether that's a sign of restraint or friendship is up for grabs. Hinata does the same. I'm going with restraint.

"Chou-"

The next thing I know, I'm standing over Inuzuka, he's out cold, his partner is barking angrily at me, and I'm feeling much better. Inuzuka looks like he got into a fight. My fists are somewhat sore; especially my knuckles. He isn't bleeding though, so I don't think I killed him. Not brutally at least.

"Aya." I turn, finding Naruto is the one approaching me. "You alright?" I blink. Should I not be alright? "Want me to carry you? I promise, we're going straight for your chocolate." I blink, slowly this time.

"Piggyback?" I find myself asking.

"If that's what you want." He says. He turns around, offering his back to me. I blink a few times, wondering about that. Well, there's no real reason not to, I guess. So I climb onto his back. We start walking again. I think Sarutobi's the one that grabs Inuzuka. Not sure I care. Nope, don't care.

8-8

"Chocolate-danna, you really shouldn't leave me alone for so long. Why do you like doing that to me these days?" I ask, happily munching, smiling. Six bars of chocolate are on the table in front of me. Two chocolate muffins. Three chocolate brownies. And this little yummy thing they call an éclair? I don't care. Chocolate. Yummy chocolate as far as my eyes care to see!

"Hnn. You sane again?" I blink, looking up and finding Sasuke sitting across from me. Well, Naru-nii's across from me and Sasuke's next to him. I blink again. Where are we?

"Um? I guess?" I offer, narrowing my eyes for a second. I wonder what he even means. "Shouldn't we still be in that tower though?"

"Brain's still rebooting. Have another." Sasuke motions to the chocolate in front of me. Well, if you insist. I grab an éclair and nibble away, happy to be alive.

That feeling lasts a whole five seconds. Then, "Crap. Mitarashi-san…"

"Hey, welcome back, sis. Missed teasing you." Naru-nii, really? I take in the crowd I find myself in. I'm sitting between Hina-nee and Ino. Chouji-kun's on the other side of Ino. Nara-san's on the other side of him. Inuzuka's not here, thank Kami-sama, and Aburame-san… he had to leave like a half hour ago? Wow, I was REALLY out of it!

Kakashi is here though. I'm not really sure I'll ever understand that man.

8-8

End Chapter 43

8-8

A/N: Don't worry, I'm not going to go cheap on the matches during the third exam, but with Aya having an episode there isn't a whole lot that could be done about it :P

We have a whole 'month' between this last scene and the final exams. Let's see what craziness turns up, shall we?