Chapter 3

Ari groaned as she opened her eyes and saw the sun setting behind the trees. Her cheek felt like it was on fire and her head swam when she sat up. She was sure when she passed out that the clone at the academy had disappeared. She would be in trouble with her sensei tomorrow at the academy. Although she thought that he would love to know she had so much control. But somehow, telling him, wouldnt make him proud of her.

Slowly, she gathered chakra and concentrated on healing her wounds. She would jump in the stream to wash the blood off. It wouldn't come out of her clothes but she wouldn't let her parents notice.

After her wounds were healed, she stood up and walked out of the clearing towards the stream in the woods. Without bothering to remove her clothes she jumped into the water and started scrubbing the blood off of her skin. Once that was done she got out and headed towards her house.

As luck would have it she happened to live next to the Uchiha's. She glared at their house as she walked. But her glared softened into a smile when she saw a woman in front of the house helping a baby learn how to walk. Itachi's mom and little brother, Sasuke. Though she didn't like Itachi she thought his little brother was adorable.

Ari watched Sasuke take hold of the porch and try to stand up on his own as she went passed them. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her when he pulled himself up and grinned up at his mother, raised his hands in the air and plopped down on his butt in the dirt. The look of confusion on his face was priceless. His mother looked up when she heard Ari's giggle.

"Konichiwa, Ari," Mikoto said smiling at the little girl. Her smile quickly turned to a frown when she saw the blood on Ari's clothes. "Are you alright? It looks like you got into a fight."

"Hai, Mikoto-sama," Ari said bowing respectfully. "I am fine. I was training."

"Training? You should be spending more time playing and having fun then you do training." Mikoto shook her head saddly. "You are only 6 and yet you act so much older. You and Itachi need to slow down or soon you will not have a childhood left to enjoy."

As though saying his name summoned him, Itachi walked out of the house and stood next to where his mother and little brother sat.

"Did you call me, Okaa-san?"

Mikoto looked over at her oldest son with a smile.

"No, Itachi, I was just talking with Ari."

Itachi looked at Ari. Her eyes were blank, no hint of emotion as she stared back at him.

"Ari-chan." he said addressing her politely.

"Itachi-san." she relpied before facing his mother.

"I must go now Mikoto-sama, my father will be looking for me." she said bowing respectfully to her. "Good-bye Sasuke-kun!"

She then turned and ran to her house, never even acknowledging Itachi as she left.

Ari slipped quietly into her house and could hear her dad in the kitchen making dinner. She tiptoed silently towards the stairs nervously glancing in the kitchen doorway as she passed hoping he wouldn't see her.

'Good, his back is turned. This should be easy.' she thought as she slipped passed the doorway and down the hall to her room.

Once there she quietly shut the door and went to her dresser to pull out a clean yukata to wear to dinner. After she was done changing she walked, still silent, down the hall to the kitchen. Her father still had his back turned to her and was finishing up the rice for supper.

"Konichiwa, otou-san, supper smells good." she said sitting at the table. She took the tea pot and poured two cups as her father brought over the finished rice.

"Konichiwa, joshi" Rayku said, giving her a smile. "How was your day at the Academy? You were attentive i hope?"

"Hai, I did. I passed the suprise test Kaito-Sensei gave us."

"Subarashii! I am very please with how well you are doing." his smile turned into a slight frown as he ate. "I must go on a mission. I will be gone for two weeks and i must leave tonight."

Ari's head shot up to look at him. "But otou-san what about the parents day at the academy? I was going to show you everything i learned so far."

Rayku continued to eat without looking at her. "Another time. I must go and that is final."

"But ot---!"

"Its final!" her father said harshly cutting off her protests.

Ari finished the meal in silence, then gathered the dishes while her father left to prepare for the mission. Since the sink was so high she had to stand on a stool to wash the dishes and put them away. Just as she finished her father appeared in the doorway, bag slung over one shoulder and Anbu mask in place.

"I'm leaving now." he stated.

Ari climbed off the stool and went over to give her father a hug.

"Chuuisuru, otou-san." She said, stepping back and looking up at him.

"You too, Ari-joshi." Rayku said before opening the door and disappearing into the darkness.

Ari extinguished the lights in the house and walked in the darkness to her room. She carefully made her way to the bed, found her nightclothes, and slipped them on. After making sure the window was locked she climbed into her bed and lay curled in a ball hugging her pillow. As she slept, a single tear escaped the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek before dripping onto the pillow. In the morning there would be no evidence, and she would never know she had let it fall.

Authoress Note:

Translations are listed below. You should be familiar with the honorifics such as -san, -chan, -sama and the like so i won't translate those. Just the words that you might not be familiar with.

Konichiwa - Hello

Okaa-san - Mother
Otou-san - Father

Joshi - Daughter

Hai - Yes

Subarashii - Wonderful

Chuuisuru - Be careful

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PunkKitten