Michiko was training with Hinata at her house, and was resting while Hinata left to get something from her room. Michiko was proud of her friend, who had actually gotten stronger and had lost the stutter in her voice around her. She felt eyes on her, and said, loud and clear, "You can come out! I know you're there!" A boy a year or so older than her jumped down from a tree branch a few yards from her, and she smiled invitingly, saying, "You can sit here if you want." She was sitting on a bench beside the small pond, and she moved to make space. He sat down next to her, and she smiled softly, saying, "You must be one of Hinata-chan's closer cousins…" he gave her a confused look. "You two look a lot more a like then you think." There was a moment of silence before she decided to introduce herself. "My names Michiko, by the way…" "…Neji…" she saw a bandage on his forehead, and she asked, tilting her head to the side in a cute manner, "What happened to your forehead?" He looked a bit surprised at first, but he looked downward.
She understood the feeling. "It's okay…you don't have to tell me…" he seemed surprised she wasn't going to pry, and looked at her questioningly. "I know what it's like to have something painful that you don't want to talk about…it just makes the pain worse…" "What about you?" her eyes softened. "My memories are too painful to share, even with my closest friends…" He seemed to understand, and he looked her in the eyes for a moment before saying, "You're hiding something…something dark…you shouldn't bottle things like that up…" she smiled reassuringly. "If I were to share them, it would make my friends…guilty…and I don't want to do that to them…" he seemed to understand, and that's when Hinata came back. After a few minutes, Michiko had to leave, and she started walking home.
She was walking past a butcher shop, and saw the butcher chase a small white puppy out with a huge knife. The pup hid behind Michiko's legs, and she picked him up carefully. She looked at him curiously, wondering who his owner was, when she heard someone shouting, looking for someone…the puppy perked, and barked happily, wagging his tail. She smiled, and headed towards the voice, and finally understood what he was shouting. "Akamaru!" She caught sight of a boy her age, and the puppy jumped out of her arms and ran to him, barking happily all the while.
He seemed as happy as the puppy when he lifted him into his arms. Michiko smiled, moving closer, and said, "I guess this puppy's yours…" her smile softened. "If I were you, I'd keep a close eye on this little guy. He almost got his head cut off by that butcher." "Are you the one that found him?" she nodded. "Thanks! I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't found him…" "It's no problem…my name's Michiko by the way." "Kiba Inuzuka…" After they talked for a little while, she had to keep heading home, and ran into another boy on her way there. And I mean 'ran into' rather literally. She fell backwards, onto her backside, and she cursed silently before looking at the person she'd ran into.
She got up, and held out a hand to help him up, which he accepted. "Sorry about that…I wasn't looking where I was going and all…" She saw a bug on her hand, but instead of crushing it, like YOU might have, she let it crawl onto a bush. "You're not scared of bugs?" she shook her head. "They're still living creatures, so I respect them, just like I respect other living creatures."
She smiled knowingly. "Because if you don't respect anything, how can you expect respect back?" "That's true…" They even got to talking, but it was more of wisdom and understanding then anything else. "Well, I've gotta go, Shino…I'll see you another time!" 'Maybe things will get better from here on out…'