I yawned and stretched my arms. With my eyes closed, I could hear my parents antics and sighed happily, there they go yet again…

Taking a deep breath, I paused. "Mmm…wait…why does my room smell like food…?"

Rubbing my eyes with my hands, I blearily opened them and gaped.

"No….NOOOOOOOOoooo….!" I cried out and fell to my knees in defeat.

Plates of leftover food from the previous day littered my room, as did my two friends, Rin and Obito…

Speaking of which, Rin ended up sleeping in our room with us… How cumbersome…this… will be a pain in the arse to talk about with my mom who I had promised to tell Rin to sleep in the guest room….

I thinned my lip into a straight line as I saw the futon the three of us had been in gossiping and soon after falling asleep in have one of them already be empty.

…did Obito already wake up? I never expected him to be the sort to wake up early…what with how often he comes late to class.

Following after the trail of drool – urgh – I found Obito.

He…he was curled up underneath my table…. I stared at his asleep facial expression and cooed. Awww…he looks adorable asleep. Almost all children do.

I looked over to where Rin was, asleep as well, but she did not turn much in her sleep it seems. What with how little wrinkles there are on her futon's blanket and how not a strand of hair was displaced from her head…She looks adorable asleep as well…!

Okay. I need to stop. I feel a bit creepy staring at children as they sleep and coo over them. Also…why do I feel like I've forgotten something rather important that I should have done the night before, but didn't…? Hmmm…Oh well! No time to dwell on it! I'm pretty sure if it was that important it would reappear in my mind later on!

"Rin-chan…" I softly whispered – and more importantly – how did my previous overdramatic wail of defeat not wake her and Obito up? "Wake up…You fell asleep between me and Obito when we were up all late night gossiping about the students in the academy…."

Apparently having mentioned Obito woke her up immediately and she begin dazedly looking left and right before stopping and looked straight ahead at me.

"…Kaoru? What are you doing in my room? Why are you in my room? And-"

"…Birthday party. Sleepover. Crazy parents. Gossiping. Fell asleep. Remember?" I cut her off. Rin paused and thinned her life into a line before mouthing an 'O' and sheepishly laughed.

"Ah, right…did you just wake up?" She asked me.

I nodded. She hummed and looked to where Obito was – he was a couple meters away from her, having rolled from his futon and somehow managed to roll himself to underneath my table – she let out a sigh of relief.

I grinned and raised an eyebrow at her. "…relieved he didn't slobber on you, Rin-chan?"

She sheepishly nodded at me. "…yes."

I laughed and shook my head. "Well…you can head downstairs first for breakfast and I'll wake Obito up."

Rin shook her head at me. "It's fine. I'll wait for you both too!"

I sent her a smile and walked towards where Obito was curled up at… underneath my table…and I don't know how in the world he went from his futon to there, but…it happened.

"…Obito-kun…Wake up…Rin's waiting for us…come on…" I shook him lightly. No response.

I shook him heavily. No response too.

I sighed and took a deep breathe in and screamed. "WAAKKEEE UPPPPPP!" In the corner of my eye, I saw Rin clamp down on her ears with her hands.

Well…this was frustrating.…he barely even twitched.

I frowned. Well… I didn't want to do this…but…

I leaned down to his ear and whispered. "Kakashi and Rin eloped to-"

"WHAAAT?!" Obito shrieked and our foreheads once again met one another.

"Ow…" I winced, holding my head in pain. "…did you have to scream that loud? It didn't happen, I just said it to wake you up…"

Rin blinked. "What did you say to Obito-kun, Kaoru-kun?" She asked me.

I sweated. "Erm, nothing too bad, Rin-chan." I chuckled.

"Yeah…Mind explaining what that whole ruckus was about?" I heard my mom's voice saunter into the door as did the sound of it opening.

"Ohayo kaa-san!" I cheerfully waved to her from my position under the table with Obito still nursing his head from having hit the roof of the table.

"Ohayo my little munchkin, mind explaining what the whole noise was about…?" My dad asked as he too entered.

"Ohayo tou-san!" I greeted him. "Nothing too bad. I was just waking Obito up and he overreacted."

"…I did not…!" Was the futile attempt to defend himself by Obito.

"You did, Obito-kun." Rin giggled. "All Kaoru-kun did was whisper something to you and you immediately woke up screaming!"

"…I…I did?" He blushed, looking away. "W-well…I guess I did…but it wasn't for an unreasonable reason!"

I smirked. Hoh. Did he want to say what I whispered to him? "Oh? Obito? You mind telling us the reason then?"

Obito flushed and shook his head. "N-No…!" He yelped.

I laughed. "Alright then! So…let's eat breakfast and hurry up because I think we might be late to the academy if we keep this up."

Rin and Obito froze. "Ah…I didn't bring my school stuff at all before…" Obito sheepishly admitted.

"…neither did I." Rin confessed.

I smiled at them both. "You both can borrow mine for today, it was my fault for suddenly inviting you both for a sleep over anyways! …although I am glad you accepted the offer!"

"Oh? Seriously? Alright! Thanks Kaoru-kun! You're the best!" Obito whooped.

I grinned. "Well, it is technically my fault that you both didn't manage to bring any school supplies. So I'm just doing what my duty tells me."

Rin laughed. "You have a sense of duty as a seven year old?"

I puffed my chest. "Why yes! Yes, I do!"

She laughed. "Alright then."

"Hey, munchkin, Rin-chan, and Obito-kun. While I know you both are pretty happy and ecstatic…you might want to look at the time." My dad told us.

I blinked and looked. Gah! It's already seven!

"Guys! Seven! Speed eating! Let's go!" I yelped and ran down gulping down my food like a starved man before rushing back within five minutes and organizing my school stuff.

Opening my cabinet, I took out several two bags I keep as spares and threw them to Rin and Obito. "You guys can use this!"

"Wow…they're already filled with school supplies…?!" I grinned and nodded at Obito's reaction.

"Yeap! You better treat them well…as in don't get them dirty, don't get them torn, don't get them lost, don't…Gah! No time to dwell on it! We need to go, go, go!" I yelped as I stopped in the middle of my nagging as I noticed the time had striked 7:15!

"Bye kaa-san! Tou-san!" I yelled as I speed hugged and kissed them on their cheeks as farewell. "Come on, Rin-chan! Obito-kun! No time to waste!"

"Y-Yeah but…we can't keep up with you K-Kaoru." Rin said as she ran besides me.

"Don't kill me for this, but I don't want to be late." I quickly told Rin and Obito as I formed two shadow clones who immediately picked the both of them up and carried them on their backs.

"FULL SPEED AHEAD!" I yelled and somehow managed to skillfully avoid bumping into anyone.

"We made it in time!" I whooped in joy as two of my shadow clones poofed away and Rin and Obito landed in a pile of heaps on the floor.

"Let's sit together, come on!" I cheerfully dragged the both of them.

I heard a cough. "Ahem."

I blinked. "Yes?" I asked and turned around only to come face to face with an incredibly enraged Yuu-sensei.

"…Ohayo, Yuu-sensei…!" I nervously greeted Yuu-sensei.

"…Ohayo, Kaoru-kun, Obito-kun, Rin-chan….Mind telling me why you three came in almost late?" I gulped.

"Well…Yesterday was my birthday party…-" I started, but was immediately cut off.

"Oh? Happy Birthday Kaoru!" Yuu-sensei flipped a 180-degree and cheerfully congratulated me, the whole entire class following suit. "Happy Birthday, Kaoru!"

"You're what? Seven now? Happy Seventh Birthday!" I chuckled. "Thank you sensei and everyone else!"

"So, to continue, we had a sleep over, they forgot to bring their school stuff for today and…we kind of woke up late and had to sprint and…yeah." I ended up lamely.

Yuu-sensei hummed and nodded. "Fine then, the three of you are off the hook since yesterday was your birthday Kaoru."

I grinned at Yuu-sensei in gratitude. "Thanks Yuu-sensei!"

"Don't mention it, now get back to your seats! Class starts…" He paused. "Now!"

I sweat dropped at him. I can't believe Yuu-sensei waited for the bell… Wow.

Sitting back at my usual place, I grinned at Rin and Obito, and the random Yamanaka look alike kid. I blinked. Wow. So many bags under his eyes and around it…He looks like a panda. He looks a tad bit more tired than he usually is like for some unknown reason today.

"Pssst…Hey…" I whispered to the Yamanaka look alike. "You alright? You look a bit tired than you normally are."

The Yamanaka look alike looked around in confusion before pointing a finger to himself. "Me?"

I grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I'm talking to you."

He shook his head confusedly at me. "…erm, no. Not really…I don't think I am…I've just stayed up a bit later than usual. That's all." He worriedly whispered and took some quick glances at the teacher as he whispered.

I quietly hummed. "Hmmm, oh really? Okay then, you just looked a tad bit more tired than you normally are that's why I asked. If you're not good then!" I tried to cheerfully whisper.

He stiffly nodded before rigidly turning his head back and listen to the lecture being taught. I hummed again. He really looks like a Yamanaka…Maybe I should ask him? …or not…? Hmm…Tough decision.

After a few minutes just staring intently at nothing, I decided to ask him.

"What's your name?" I whispered asked him.

He blinked at me. "…Tadashi. Yamanaka Tadashi."

I hummed and smiled. So I was right…! ….pale blonde hair and pale blue eyes does equal into a Yamanaka clan member… I feel somewhat racist and stereotypical now…

Errrr. I mean nothing!

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kaoru! Uzumaki Kaoru!" I grinned.

He sent me a small smile. "…It's nice to meet you too, Kaoru-san."

"…Now, Kaoru-kun, I know yesterday was your birthday and all…but don't think you can immediately take advantage of that and start ignoring my lectures and to actually chat during class time…!" Yuu-sensei said as he bopped my head with the black board's dust eraser.

I twitched. My…My hair…! Looking at the puff of white dust on my shoulder and on my once previously ruby colored hair was covered with white ghastly flour like dust.

"…sensei…!" I growled. "…why did you have to do that…?!"

"Because you weren't paying attention and…" He made a couple of hand signs, and I blinked. I recognized them…Genjutsu? "…here! That should cover up the dust until you go home and get yourself cleaned."

I hummed and lifted a strand of my hair. Where it was once previously covered in dust, it looked clean but I could still feel the dust resting on top of it. So I was right. It was a genjutsu.

"Stop mumbling and pay attention!" I heard Yuu-sensei snap at me again. Urgh.

"Sorry!" I yelped as my head was bopped yet again by another dusty eraser…! How many did he have anyways?!

Kaoru-san…I think it might be best for you to stop chatting during class and pay attention before Yuu-sensei throws another eraser at you again…

I blinked. …Did I just…hear someone talk in my mind…?

I paused. The only person I know that might be able to do such a thing was… I craned my neck a bit to the right and saw Tadashi send a small smile and wave to me.

I grimaced and eyed Yuu-sensei before deeming it to be safe to communicate with Tadasi, tried to whisper to the Yamanaka sitting besides me again. "…Tadashi…did you just talk to me in my mind?"

He looked at me, paused, and shook his head. "No…" He quietly whispered back. "I don't think I did…"

I blinked. "Huh. Oh, okay then…never mind!"

The class went by pretty quickly soon after, with my mind musing over what in the world or who in the world was talking in my head.

"Kaoru-kun!" I heard Rin say. "What were you talking about with Tadashi-kun?"

I shrugged. "Well…I asked him if he was alright since he looked a tad bit more tired than usual and well, asked his name among other things."

Obito laughed. "Man, it was hilarious when Yuu-sensei caught you and Tadashi-kun chat…! He was so pissed and just immediately threw an eraser at you! Hahaha!"

I twitched. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up! Although…you guys…"

I paused. They paused and curiously looked at me. "Yeah?" Rin asked.

"…are most of the Yamanakas born with only pale blond hair and pale blue eyes?" I asked them as we walked to our next class, Taijutsu class. Seems like today was sparring if not for the crowd awaiting us was any sort of indication. I swear, every time we do a spar, a bunch of older kids from other classes who has break right now watches us.

Rin sputtered at that. "W-What, no! Kaoru-kun! Of course not! We also have Nana! She's a Yamanaka but has auburn hair and deep brown eyes! Not everyone of the same clan would have the same hair colour and eyes…! If they do…that would either be considered as inbreeding or coincidence that the clan members managed to marry others who have similar physical features as them!"

Obito nervously laughed at that. "Y-Yeah! Didn't you know that Kaoru-kun?"

I raised an eyebrow at Obito. "…don't most of your clan's members look alike though…?"

He froze at that and waved at me dubiously. "Sssh!" He hissed as he raised a finger to his lips and stared at me with an unusual grim expression. "…we don't talk about such things here…!"

I blinked. Huh. So it was a sensitive subject? I paused. Pfft, how could it not be? "Ah, sorry! But then why does most of the Yamanakas I know have pale blonde hair and pale blue eyes though then?" I asked.

Rin shrugged. "…coincidence?"

"Yeah, probably coincidence." Obito agreed with her.

"Well, then how do y-" My sentence was cut off by a rather loud voice.

"OKAY! SETTLE DOWN EVERYONE!" Yuu-sensei yelled at us.

We three stopped talking and immediately everyone around us also started to quiet down and listen to Yuu-sensei talk.

"Now, as you can probably already see, some of your seniors are here to observe the new crops of ninja to spar today! Isn't that right class 3A-B?" Yuu-sensei asked the seniors sitting on the benches set behind us. ll

"Yeah!" They all cheered. …This somewhat feels like an underground illegal gladiator match filled with underage children instead of captured and enslaved men.

"…first match is…!" Yuu-sensei dramatically called and paused. "Fujioka Himawari….!"

I cheered. "Yeah! Kick ass Himawari!"

"Use the thing you showed us last time!" Someone else in the crowd shouted.

"Yeah!" A bunch of people cheered, including Obito and myself. Rin's just giggling. Pffft, she needs to cheer too! I know she agrees with the crowd!

"…and Uzumaki Kaoru!"

I blinked. "Wait, with who say now?!"

"Hahaha! Good luck Kaoru-kun!" Rin cheered for me as Obito pushed me to the centre cackling madly as he did so.

Before I even knew it, I was facing face to face with Himawari.

"Errr…" I tried to protest, but was given a rather quick reaction timing by Yuu-sensei's reprimanding glare. "…never mind."

He smiled. "Okay, form the seal of confrontation before you both start the fight…! Remember, there are no rules other than strictly only using Taijutsu techniques!" I heard Yuu-sensei tell us.

I nodded and smiled at Himawari. "May the best fighter win."

She placidly smiled back at me. "Yes, may the best fighter win."

We both formed the seal of confrontation and waited for Yuu-sensei's signal.

"Okay. On 3…" I held my feet down to prepare myself for a burst in speed. "2…"

I narrowed my eyes into slits and grinned at Himawari who still held her placid expression. "1…! Start!"

I pushed my feet hard against the ground and rebounded to Himawari. She immediately dodged my attack and aimed a punch to my face. I fortunately let my body go limp halfway to avoid the punch and caught myself before hitting the ground and swiped a kick to her chest.

The kick made contact to her chest and she coughed before immediately back flipping away from my dash towards her.

The crowd started to cheer and jeer.

"Ooooh! Go get her Kaoru!" I twitched. That was most definitely Obito… What was he doing cheering for me…?! It's not honorable at all! Keep silent!

Aiming another punch to her chest, she swiftly dodged it and managed to kick me in the shin. I winced.

"Yeah! Himawari! Show him who's the boss!" …That sounded like Tadashi… So he knows Himawari? Well…everyone knows Himawari ever since she shown off the weapon that shoots volleys of kunai from the Snow country. But…he sounds rather close to her…

Taking Himawari's moment of distraction when she strayed her eyes to the crowd, I swept my feet down and it made contact to her legs in an attempt to make her fall, but she managed to regain her momentum before she actually did fall and kicked me in the face on my cheek.

Cough up some saliva and blood, I grimaced as my teeth felt the brunt force of her strike to my cheek and felt them rattle in pain.

Himawari didn't waste a moment and continued to mercilessly pound me with her kicks.

After enduring several more of her kicks, I managed to regain my momentum and ignore the pain I'm feeling. Focusing, I saw the direction of where her leg was going to and managed to stop it in time by catching her knee and from that I gripped my hold on her knee and turned.

I let go of my grip on Himawari and let her bounce off to the ground. She ended up flying a couple meters away from me.

"Holy crap, this kid's amazing!" …I have no idea who that is, but they sound like a senior and holy shit I should not be distracted by the crowd!

I somehow managed to catch her feet in time when she had lunged at me from her position on the ground a couple meters away from me and with a heave managed to throw her yet again several meters away from me.

"Kaoru-kun! Goooo!" I blinked. Rin? That sounded like Rin, but she usually doesn't cheer… Craning my head a bit to the right so I could still keep an eye on Himawari and manage to catch a glance of the people behind me. I saw that, why yes, Rin was indeed cheering for me and so was Obito with how he sent me a cheesy thumbs up.

I shook my head amused. Well, seems like I've gained several sup-

"Don't look away when you're sparring me." Himawari coldly told me as she managed to punch me several meters away from her and myself closer to the crowd. I shivered. Talk about cold.

I took a stance and cockily grinned. "Sorry, I thought it would have took you longer to have stood up from that."

"…then you must be highly underestimating me." She coldly remarked to me.

I laughed. "…probably." With that, I immediately lunged at her with a kick to her ribs, only to have missed.

We both paused and assessed one another and I smirked. "Nice reflexes, but think you can dodge these?" I asked her.

She blinked at me and narrowed her eyes once she saw me circle around her to create an illusion of multiples of myself .

"You're…here!" She stated as she aimed a punch to where I was. Nice!

I caught her punch and grinned. "…gotcha!" I cheerfully yelled as I used her momentum to flip her back to the ground and elbowed her gut.

I saw her about to elbow me back and managed to twist my body around to dodge the attack and flip her to the ground, this time her face to the ground instead of her back to the ground.

"I win, right?" I asked Yuu-sensei as I held Himawari down with my body as I sat on her.

Yuu-sensei sent me a look before shaking his head and nodded. "…Uzumaki Kaoru is the winner…!"

The crowd cheered and I saw Rin clap happily and Obito whooping in joy and clapping the loudest as well as screaming out "WOOOOH!" the loudest too.

"Nice Uzumaki!" I hear someone cheer me.

I grinned at them and waved. "I managed to win…! Yeah!"

Then I paused and nervously laughed. "Well, I kind of wasn't expecting to win, but…oh well." I stood up from sitting on Himawari and offered my hand to her.

"…you didn't?" Himawari questioned me surprised. "You were…rather confident and goading me at the same time…I'd rather think that indicates you would have thought you would won?"

I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly with my other hand as my right one was preoccupied dangling in air waiting for her to accept it. "Well, I, sort of, you know…just…went with the flow and used bravado to try and pummel through?"

She hummed and in the end, finally, took my hand. I pulled her up and helped her get out of the center for the next spar.

"Himawari…! Are you alright?" I heard Tadashi go over to us and worriedly ask her.

She waved it off. "I'm fine Tadashi…You just focus on class…who knows, you might be up next."

He froze at that, and relented. "…fine, I'll…I'll be sure to see you later after class is done during lunch break, alright?"

Himawari sent him a smile and nodded. "Yeah, that'll be fine Tadashi."

Tadashi blushed but immediately scurried off elsewhere into the crowd.

"Well then…Do you mind sending me to the nurse? I think you've broken one of my ribs…" She asked me.

I blinked. Paused. Panic. "Ah! Did I really?! Shoot! Sorry! I wasn't really watching my strength….!" I babbled.

Seeing her rather strict gaze at me, I froze. "Well, not…not that I have anything much to say…erm, Okay. Let's bring you to the nurse's office…!" I nervously rambled on.

"…next fight. Nohara Rin..." My ears twitched at that and I looked back. "…and Nara Tsubasa, please come to the center."

"Good luck, Rin-chan! I know you can do it!" I heard Obito cheer for her.

I grinned. "Rin-chan! I have to send Himawari to the nurse, but I'll be sure to come back to see you kick some ass! So draw it out for me, would you?"

I saw Rin look at me and sent me a nod. "I'll try my best!" She cheered back.

"The rules are the same as the previous round! Taijutsu only…Now…! Begin!" Was the last thing I heard as I accompanied Himawari back into the academy's halls with my arm underneath her arm and helping her walk to the nurse's office.

CUT OUT SCENES:

[#3. Obito | Discontinued | Incomplete]

I smirked. Hoh. Did he want to say what I whispered to him? "Oh? Obito? You mind telling us the reason then?"

Obito flushed but nodded. I blinked. Huh? Seriously? Okay then…

"You whispered to me that Rin and I eloped…!" I gaped at him. Then looked at my parents and Rin's reaction.

I flinched and backed away, holding my hands up. "I did not…! I said Kakashi and Rin, not you Obito!"

"…oh." He blankly said, eyes downcast.

[#4. Kaoru | Discontinued | Incomplete]

"FULL SPEED AHEAD!" I yelled and somehow managed to not bump into anyone with the speed I had been going. I paused and stopped myself in front of school.

"…the gates are closed." I bit out, staring at the sign in front of it.

Closed for the festival tonight! We hope to see everyone else in the festival!

I turned to them. "…well. Did any of you know today we're going to have a festival?"

Author's Notes

Hey! Happy holidays to everyone and Merry Christmas!

Sorry for the late update. I've been busy with stuff in real life. Hahaha.

I hope everyone has a merry and cheerful time during the holidays~ ^^

The next update will probably be sometime in 2015…! So…see you 'til then! :)