Disclaimer: Aki is © to me, all events referring to Naruto and his friends that Dragon Man included in his fic, "Naruto the Kitsune Hanyou" are hereby © to him. All other things are hereby © to their respectful and rightful owners.

Eighth Shadow: Rin-sensei

Five o'clock rolled around and at long last I put up the "Closed" sign on the shop door. My mother wasn't home so I decided I'd go and practice my taijutsu before going up to make myself dinner. I had to learn to cook on my own, the hard way. Mother was hardly ever home. She seemed to have missions every five minutes. And with an empty house and no means of preparing food, I had to learn or starve. A few burned dinners later, I learned.

I had gone upstairs to get a drink after an intense training session, only to find that my house was completely empty. Of course, Okaa-san had a mission tonight. It amazed me how much noise the chinking and clinking of her glasses and plates made filled our home. It was so quiet that I could clearly hear the neighbors' conversation next door.

The silence that penetrated the house was deafening. It wasn't that I hated silence, I liked it, but what I didn't like was how alone I felt in that silence. The worst of all, it allowed me time to reflect back on memories I had thought that I'd long since laid to rest. My thoughts were drawn to today's Genin exam and my graduation. Today was not my first graduation, but my second. Last year when I had first turned twelve and it was time for the Genin exam, I had made the choice to fail.

Last year's exam was also a Bunshin no Jutsu. I did technically create the three required clones of myself, only the third was roughly half the size of the other two and it was somewhat deformed. Iruka-sensei had told me that I had passed and had tried to hand me a hitai-ate. I refused. I had made the choice to remain at the academy until I could pass the exam perfectly. So I handed back the object the symbolized my graduation and walked out the door without another word.

Okaa-san was furious when she found out. She tried to force me to accept the hitai-ate. But I still refused. I wanted to earn it by myself, not because my mother was overly threatening to me. I wanted to prove that with my own skill I could accomplish whatever I set my mind to. But after a while, once my mother had finally allowed me time to explain, she didn't push the issue. She actually understood me for once. I was grateful for that. But now that I had passed myself, it seemed I had nothing left to work for.

The silence was everywhere. I couldn't stand it. Then my thoughts drifted to him. What would he think now if he could see me? Would he recognize me? Where was he right now? Why did he have to leave? The one day I would have loved to have had him here with me, my stupid brother was off with an organization whose ideals he didn't even believe in, fighting for causes that were lost to him. Even as much as I hated the fact that Toji had left our family and killed our father to join Akatsuki with Itachi, I couldn't hate my brother. I'd tried many times, but the harder I tried, the more pain it brought me.

I went to bed, trying to clear the thoughts from my mind. Okaa-san wouldn't be back for a while. There was no sense in waiting up for her.

That night I dreamt of him. I dreamt of that night and the blood showered over me once more.

x0x0x0x

The morning routine was the same. I got up, ate some toast, and went to the Academy. Iruka-sensei was halfway through a speech about being official shinobi, and I was half-asleep.

"We tried to balance each team's strength," Iruka began, holding up his clipboard.

The rest of the students, myself and Shikamaru excluded, let out a loud "What?" of protest, which Iruka-sensei ignored. When silence had settled in once more, Iruka-sensei continued and began announcing teams. I fell back into my state of half-sleep, not listening. I came back to the world just in time to hear Iruka-sensei announce the team I would be on.

"Team nine, Suzuki Jun, Watanabe Mariko, and Tamahashi Aki." He said.

I inwardly groaned. Mariko was a member of Sasuke's fan club and she just so happened to be the person I'd yelled at about Naruto the previous day after graduation. Glancing over at her, I could see she was just as displeased about the idea of having me on her team as I was.

Iruka finished up the list and then looked up at the class from his clipboard. "Ok, this afternoon we'll introduce the Jounin senseis. Take a break until then," he said smiling.

The class began to filter out the doors; I simply stayed in my seat, slumped over the tabletop.

"Ugh, why'd I have to get stuck with you on my team?" came Mariko's disgusted sounding voice.

I ignored her. This only seemed to infuriate her.

"Um, hello! I'm like, talking to you! It's only polite to listen to the person that's speaking to you, or at least PRETEND you're listening!" She continued to rant on.

"Hm? What was that?" I said raising my head slightly to look at her, the sound of her voice finally seeming to penetrate my dulled senses.

"AUGH! You're just-you-oh forget it!" She yelled angrily, storming off.

I sighed and lowered my head back onto the desk and really did fall asleep.

x0x0x0x

A while later I was being poked awake. I opened my eyes and looked up.

"I'm sorry to wake you, but our sensei's arrived," came a voice.

I rubbed the sand from my eyes and realized that Jun, the only boy on the team, had woken me. I stood and stretched, following after him.

We ended up at one of the training grounds. There I saw a woman with brown hair and purple rectangle marks on each of her cheeks. Mariko was waiting, angrily tapping her foot.

"Well, now that we're all here, we can start the introductions!" The woman said cheerfully. "So, I'll go first. My name is Kiyouindo Rin. I like medical jutsu, the time I spent as Ken-sensei's student, and helping people. I dislike Iwa shinobi, losing my comrades, and perverts that don't take a clue to not act perverted in my presence. My dream is to become a great medic-nin like Tsunade-sama and Kyuubi-sama. My hobbies are singing and sword dancing. Also, like Naruto I'm a hanyou, a wind hanyou to be exact, so I don't have any animal ears or limbs."

I shot Mariko a quick glance. It was bad enough she was against Naruto for his hanyou heritage, but if she was going to be against our sensei, there'd be hell to pay from me.

Rin-sensei turned to Jun. "You next," she said.

Jun nodded. "My name is Suzuki Jun. I like to practice medical jutsu and mizu jutsu. I dislike seeing my family or friends getting hurt or getting into arguments. It's my dream to one day live in a world free of foolish wars between the bordering shinobi countries. My hobbies are practicing jutsu, helping the elderly, and spending time with my family."

Rin then turned to look at me. I simply nodded and went into an introduction of my own. "My name is Tamahashi Aki. I like to paint, read, and learn new jutsu. I dislike annoying people, perverts, people who think they know everything when they don't, and people who call others hypocrites and bigots when they should take a look in the mirror. My dream is to be accepted into society as a normal person and become a powerful shinobi, as well as create a new clan skill so I can finally make a contribution that will prove my worth of having the Tamahashi name. My hobbies are tinkering in my family's shop and making new weapons and reading."

Finally Rin-sensei turned to Mariko. "My name is Watanabe Mariko. I like-no love Sasuke! I also like the girls in the Sasuke fan club and going to parties. I dislike people who are completely rude and heartless and yell at you for expressing your own opinion," she broke off and shot me a death glare. I smiled innocently and waved. "It's my dream to launch my own supply of beauty products and get married to Sasuke-kun! My hobbies are putting on make-up and playing with my hair in different ways to get Sasuke to notice me."

Our sensei faced the three of us and beamed. "Well, I've learned a lot about you. So, what type of jutsu to each of you specialize in? Jun, I know you work with medical jutsu and water, but how about you guys?" she said, gesturing to me and Mariko.

"Kage jutsu, some taijutsu," I said before Mariko could open her mouth.

"What type of kage jutsu?" Rin-sensei asked.

"Well, my family is distantly related to the Nara's so we're more practical and offensive-oriented, while the Nara clan specializes in assassination types of kage jutsu." I replied.

It was really amusing to watch Mariko get more and more upset. Rin-sensei directed her attention to the beauty-obsessed girl and even I was inclined to listen. I just had to know if this girl was actually good at anything.

"I'm very skilled with genjutsu and scented beads. I'm more of a long-range person so I don't have a lot of expertise in taijutsu." She said, her voice sounding glum.

I was surprised. She really WAS good at something. My thoughts of shock were soon interrupted by our sensei.

"Well guys, it's been great getting to know you all. But tomorrow, I want you three to show up at this spot at eleven o'clock. We're going to practice our teamwork skills. So until then, ja!" She said.

With that, Rin-sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke. Seeing as our meeting was over, I began to walk home. It was getting late and I needed to get home in time for my shift at the shop, otherwise Okaa-san would have a fit. I shoved my hands into my pockets, reminding myself of how Shikamaru often walked like this. The thought brought a small smile to my face. I made it home and walked through the door, prepared to face my mother's wrath.

"You're late, two minutes," she said in a hard voice.

I sighed. Geez, hello to you too, mother. Of course, I couldn't expect her to say that. I don't know why after all this time I'm still so surprised when she complains about me as a form of greeting. Instead of voicing my thoughts, I nodded and took my place behind the counter. My mother retreated upstairs and I was left alone.

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long delay. I've been really busy with school, plus recently my internet's been having issues. Hopefully I'll get more updates out, but I can't make any guarantees. I'm supposed to be moving this summer, so if that's the case, don't hold your breath for any new updates for quite some time. Hehe…anyway, review!