Thanks to Mimzy for the review! Here comes a new chapter: enjoy!
Chapter 7 – Get the party started
« I've got some good news for you!" Tsunade exclaimed as she entered Ayane's room. "You're leaving the hospital today. I found a place where you can stay. I'll take you there tonight. I think you're totally able to take care of yourself now and so is the nurse."
Of course she is, Ayane thought. Since the age-thing accident, she 's held a grudge against me: she must be so happy to get rid of me...
"It seems like Kakashi's lessons are doing you a world of good" her aunt went on. "Kakashi told me you were doing well."
Did he say that? Well, he can't really say the contrary: he's just sitting there reading his book – which has been the same for a week: he must really be a slow reader – while I'm working like mad. No wonder I fall asleep out of exhaustion half of the time...
"What about you? How do you feel about these lessons?" Tsunade asked.
"Hmm... They're okay" she answered vaguely. It's just that I can't stand the man who teaches them, she added in her mind. Yet, she had tried being more receptive to Kakashi. She would often start the training session with the resolution to be a model student, thinking that, after all, he was the man who saved her and that he couldn't be such a moron. But, each time, he would trample on her good intentions with his sarcastic remarks, his teacherlike tone and his man-I'm-so-cool look.
"Good! I'll see you tonight then" her aunt said as she got out of the room.
"This is our house! Ayane exclaimed. "So you kept it after Aneko and I left!"
"Of course, I did!" Tsunade replied indignantly. "This house has been in the family for ages. Your mother and I were born and raised in that house and so were you and your sister. Did you think I was going to sell it? I'm not that greedy!"
Ayane would rather have said "bet", not "sell". She remembered times in her childhood when Tsunade would come back from gambling nights totally drunk and broke...
"I kept it the way it was when you left. One of the advantages of being the Hokage is that you can have other people do your chores, like the cleaning or the gardening!" she added with a wink. "What are you waiting for? Go in!"
Ayane obediently opened the door and turned the light on.
"WELCOME BACK!" they all greeted her, echoing the huge banner going from one wall to the other. As she came in, she was showered with confetti by her former schoolmates. Even Iruka-sensei was there, next to her present and beloved sensei, Kakashi, who was leaning against the wall, looking bored as usual.
"Surprise!" Sakura said with a big smile.
"That's a surprise indeed!" Thanks! It's really sweet..." Ayane sincerely told her.
"That was Sakura's idea" Tsunade informed her niece.
"But everyone helped me set this up" Sakura humbly stated, yet beaming with pride.
"Can we eat now?" Naruto interrupted , his eyes fixed on the food displayed on the lounge table.
"Naruto!" Sakura growled, digging him with the elbow.
"But, Sakura-chan, I'm hungry!" Naruto insisted, earning another punch from Sakura.
"Ouch! That hurts..." the blond boy complained, rubbing his side.
"Things really haven't changed" Ayane remarked, laughing. It felt so good to be home!
She was having some fresh air in the house's back yard, sitting under a cherry tree and waiting for a fish to break the smooth surface of the water. She remembered how she used to dive in that pond when she was little and how her sister would systematically give her in to their aunt.
"Ayane, stop acting like you were a fish, especially with your clothes on. And Aneko, quit denouncing your sister. Solidarity is a thing you've still got to learn" Tsunade would lecture them.
At the thought of her sister, she couldn't help from feeling a twinge of sadness. She knew it was silly but she also felt kind of guilty for what had happened or rather for not remembering what had happened.
"Nice party!" Kiba remarked, interrupting Ayane's reverie. He sat down next to her.
"Yeah and it's really nice of you all" she thanked again.
"It was Sakura who organized it. She's rather good at that though she can be slightly bossy at times..." Kiba mused.
As if to confirm his words, the music and the laughters coming from the living-room were suddenly covered by Sakura's yelling, probably at Naruto.
"I doubt whether these two will ever get along" Kiba commented, shaking his head.
"I think they actually do" the black-haired girl asserted. "It's just Sakura's way to show she cares about Naruto."
Kiba looked even more sceptical. "Girls are definitely too complicated."
"Or maybe boys don't have enough brains to understand us" Ayane challenged.
A few minutes passed during which they both seemed to be meditating on those words, each one probably sure to be the one to be right. It was finally Kiba who changed the subject.
"Do you remember when we used to play hide and seek in your house?" he questioned her with his eyes fixed on the water. "That time when you decided to hide in the pond, I thought I was turning mad: I just couldn't find you! I still haven't made out how you did that."
"I always had a thing for water and I knew it would disorient you and your legendary sense of smell!" Ayane stated playfully.
"And you always knew how to bug me too" the boy replied with a knowing smile on his face.
Noooo! Someone help me! Now he's giving me his killer smile, the one that gives him these cute dimples! She could feel a ball of heat growing in her stomach and slowly invading her whole body. Come on Ayane! Come up with some sort of diversion, she silently told herself.
"You know that's not like me at all" she replied, smiling back as casually as she could though her answer came a bit late. That cue seemed oddly familiar. She was sure she heard that not so long ago...
But it was Naruto who granted her wish by flying through the open window down into the pond.
"Naruto? What did you do this time?" Kiba asked trying to repress a fit of laughter.
"Nothing really... Sakura just seems a bit touchy tonight, that's all" the blond boy explained between two coughing fits.
"If it's only tonight, it's okay then" Kiba commented with a sarcasm that the other boy didn't seem to get.
While Kiba was helping Naruto to get out of the water, Ayane came back inside. Sakura was moaning something about Naruto being as pervert as Jiraya and Kakashi combined and Tsunade was in the middle of a poker game with Shikamaru and Iruka-sensei. Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.
"Ayane! You just missed Kakashi-sensei" Sakura told her in a collected tone. No one could have presumed she had blown a fuse a few minutes ago. "He asked me to tell you tomorrow's session is off."
"Thanks, Ino! See you later!" she told the blond girl while leaving the flower-shop with a big bunch of white irises. They had always been Aneko's favourite.
Sakura had come in the morning to help Ayane clean the remnant of the party. She had spent the rest of the day going through her things in her bedroom and re-discovering the old house room by room, each time with memories surging up. She didn't find the courage to enter Aneko's room though...
Ayane hadn't been to her sister's grave since the funeral. Not that she did not care, on the contrary, she cared too much and had not felt strong enough to face the stone-cold reality. As she approached Aneko's tomb, she noticed someone was already there. As she got even closer, she was able to make out a ninja outfit and silver hair. Kakashi?
"Kakashi!" her mouth echoed her mind.
At the mention of his name, the ninja turned his head. "Hi Ayane!" he greeted her, glancing at the flowers she was holding in her hands. A smile flashed under his mask, or so it seemed to Ayane. "It looks like we had the same idea" he remarked.
"I didn't know you were that close to Aneko" she couldn't help from pointing out, secretly hoping he would give her more details. "I mean, I'm happy that other people care about her and honour her memory" she corrected.
"I"m not someone who forgets about his teammates. We used to be in the same ANBU team and I could always rely on her and on her skills. She was secretive though. She never told me she had a sister."
There, Ayane couldn't help from feeling a bit offended.
"Anyway, in ANBU, keeping a low profile is a quality if not a necessity" the silver-haired man added, as though he had sensed the girl needed that soothing explanation.
"I'll see you tomorrow then!" Kakashi took his leave.
Ayane carefully laid the flowers on her sister's grave, next to another bunch of white irises.
Thank you for reading! Don't hesitate to click on the review button and tell me what you think about it ;) The poll is still available on my profile page and I changed my avatar for a picture of Ayane. Feel free to have a look!