A/N: Bored on a Sunday. Should be working on Chinese project. Is Koiketsudayou doing that. No. Is her project important. Yes. Does she care.

No.

Fanfiction always comes first. No matter how addicting and detrimental it is to one's academic career. If you end up reading fanfiction while taking AP Tests, and when you're supposed to be paying attention in class and passing with a 3.465 GPA…something is seriously wrong.

Question: Why did you decide to give Itachi swag?

Answer: Have you seen his hair. I think that says it all.

P.S. This chapter is more toned down than the last, and I can say from this chapter on out, the plot line will be moving along quickly. I feel like you guys are going to start hating some of the characters because of what they're doing or what they're about to do.

Mornings just weren't my things. Whether it was the sunlight that was streaming through my window, or the birds perched right outside chirping happily, none of that increased my mood. As a matter of fact if made me want to close my blinds and plug my ears so that I wouldn't have to see or hear anything. What I wanted to do was sleep, but like most people once you're up…you're up. No matter how hard you try to force yourself to drift off into slumber, it never works. An alternative to all of this though was lying in my bed and staring up at my drab ceiling. The texture of the ceiling was rough, and you could see tiny little pebbles peeking through little cracks in the paint. That made me wonder what exactly the wall was made of?

The ticking of my bedside clock had my eyebrow twitching in annoyance as each time I breathed out it would tick louder. Louder, and louder, and louder, till the point where I glared at the clock with all my might, just wishing that I had superpowers to destroy the clock with my vision. I didn't want to remove my hands from the warm cocoon that the comforter created around my body just to toss the clock across the room. It would be a waste of energy, and not to mention the fact that the heat would escape the confines of my covers.

I don't know how long I was in bed, but I knew it was late enough as the sun rose higher and the shadows in my room slowly dispersed until there was nothing but bright light shining throughout my bedroom. A quiet moan of displeasure escaped my lips as I slowly unraveled myself and headed into the bathroom. The light in the bathroom blinded me making me quickly shut my eyes to block out the harsh light. Since when were bathroom lights so bright? I couldn't remember them ever being this bright, but I guess I was more sensitive to light when I was half asleep.

"I wonder what time it is?" Great. Now I'm mumbling to myself.

The shower that I took was quite relaxing as warm water traveled down my body making me shiver in pleasure. Warm water never felt so good. I enjoyed being warm so much that I ended up taking a half hour shower. By the end, the water was practically freezing which was perfect as I woke up instantly.

After toweling off I felt refreshed and ready to head to the academy. I had some papers that needed to be graded and getting there early meant that I would be able to leave work early. I decided to be different today and instead of wearing my usual kimono and long pants, I decided on a light blue skirt that reached my thighs, and donned it with a white button down shirt. I left the shirt loose so that it wouldn't be too constricting and added a pink flower behind my ear.

A little girly, but I felt like dressing up a bit today. I slipped on the typical ninja sandals, which I actually have yet to get used to, and brushed my hair to one side exposing the pink flower. After dressing I made some instant ramen and stuffed my face quickly before leaving my apartment in a rush.

The walk towards the Academy was peaceful. Apparently today was a sales day as the marketplace was booming with business, women buying groceries, children running up and down the dirt road yelling, and couples just walking and enjoying the view. It was a sight to see, but I was sad I couldn't partake in it. I had to go grade stupid papers that the sensei's were too lazy to grade. They figured that dropping it off at my desk was more efficient than them grading it themselves.

Before I knew it I was inside of the Academy signing in my name and what time I arrived. No one was there to greet me at the front desk which was very odd. Usually Ishida-sensei would have bombarded me with piles and piles of paper to file away, but it was actually deathly silent. What if everyone had a day off and I was the idiot that actually came into work? I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. I do tend to be a bit of an airhead sometimes. Maybe Naruto has been rubbing off on me a little too much. I decided that whether anyone was here or not, I'd get a head start on my grading and take the rest of the papers home to grade.

Thinking about going home by myself had me shivering though. What if that ANBU person visited me again? I couldn't rely on someone pounding on my door to get me out of a situation like that. Avoiding talking to him was out of the question as he could probably find me anywhere in this village, even if I did hide. There was just too much on my mind and I couldn't fully concentrate on Chiyaki-san's answers on how to hold a kunai properly.

I placed the ink pen down and stared outside the window, watching as the sun rose higher into the sky to show that it was a little before lunchtime. I hadn't really been here that long then. Just an hour ago I was inside of my apartment and here I was grading seven year olds papers as if I was an actual teacher.

Funny thing about me being an Academy teacher (more of an assistant) was that I didn't have to really know a lot about the History of Konoha and ninja basics. I was more of an assistant to everyone that needed help. Grading papers was easy because there was an answer key. If there were short answers that needed to be graded I would pass that off to someone else who knew what exactly to look for. It was a fairly easy job and I was glad that it paid well.

But seriously I digress. The matter at hand was me, a mere civilian, trying to find a way to avoid an ANBU member that was most likely out to get my head. That probably wouldn't happen in a million years, but I could at least try. Maybe I could hide out at Iruka's house, or temporarily steal Kakashi's home and make him switch apartments with me.

If I did that though, Kakashi would immediately become suspicious of me and ask why I would want to switch apartments with him. "Arrghhh." I crumpled up Chiyaki's quiz by accident and tossed it across the room. Just thinking about ANBU made my blood boil. This was the sole reason why getting involved with ninja affairs was a bad idea. Just look at the position I put myself in. It's not like I could go around and start telling people to protect me because an ANBU member was out for my blood.

I could probably be overreacting, but it's better to be cautious than to be oblivious to your surroundings. What I needed to do was talk to the Hokage. All I would need to do is request an audience with him and everything would be smooth sailing from there. The only thing I had to worry about was if he would believe me or not.

"Excuse me, but I'd like to see the Hokage if that isn't a problem." The woman at the front desk was being obnoxious by smacking loudly on her gum and ignoring me as if I wasn't even there. "Excuse me." I repeated a little louder. She glanced up at me for a split second before returning back to her magazine that was on her desk. At that rude gesture an irk mark appeared on my face. Who does she think she is? You can't just ignore someone that wants to speak to the Hokage.

"Umm….It's kind of urgent so if you could be so kind as to—"

"Yeah. Well this magazine is kind of…like urgent as well. Latest fashion trends in Konoha. Hellooo." Turning to the left and right I checked to see if she was talking to me or someone else standing behind me. She turned to stare at me as I continued my search for the person she was addressing. "Are you talking to me?"

She blinked stupidly at me and blew a bubble in my face only for it to pop and send little droplets of spit on my nose. "Oh no. I know you're not talking to me."Wiping the saliva off of my face, I turned and stalked off into the lobby area to cool myself off. Blowing up at an assistant wasn't going to get me anywhere. If anything it would just make a scene and embarrass her rather than me. If she wanted to play games then we were seriously going to play games.

Taking a huge breath I returned to where the woman was sitting hoping that she would be in a better mood. From the time it took me to cool off and walk back she now changed positions so that her legs were now propped up on a desk with her face literally buried in the magazine. "Excuse me." I hissed while banging on the table. The sudden noise of my hand making contact with her desk had her jumping ten feet into the air as if she were a kangaroo.

"You either let me see the Hokage now, or I embarrass you in front of your colleagues."

It only took a second for her nose to turn upward and a hateful glare to be sent in my direction. "Listen here you little prick. I work the shift here, not you. So if you want to see the damn Hokage then I'll let you see him when I please. Not on your time missy."

"I don't think you understand what position you just put yourself in honey. I have urgent business with him and standing here talking to you is shortening the time I have left with him. Offices close at three and it's nearly two fifty five. So I suggest you march your little tan ass up into his office and say that there is a Cho Uchida here to see him."

"And if I don't?" She asked while crossing her arms over her flat chest.

"You better wish that you had, because when I'm through with you, you won't be able to tell your left hand from your right."

The both of us glared each other down, none of us wanting to lose the fight. It seemed that she was a little taken back by my forwardness, but when I want something I'm going to get it, especially if it has to do something with my future. I'm not about to let this brunette stop me from talking to the Old Man. Instead of waiting for her to give me a response I turned away from her and started heading in the direction of his office. "You can't go down there!" A hand now gripped my shoulder tightly, stopping me in place.

"Get your hands off of me." I hissed. She instantly recoiled as if touching my skin had burned her hand. I snorted and continued on towards my destination as if nothing that had just taken place happened. Upon arrival I swiftly knocked on the door politely before entering. What surprised me though was the fact that he wasn't in his office. If he wasn't here, then how was I supposed to get a hold of him?

I realized that I just went through all that trouble with his assistant just to get here and see that he wasn't even in. That pissed me off more than I already was. Would he mind if I just sat in his office and waited for him to return. I know that the chunis….chuunin….exams were going on at the moment, but I thought that he wasn't supposed to be a part of it.

I ended up waiting for three hours in his office and he still hadn't showed up. Right now I was thoroughly cranky and pissed. What business did the Old man have that took three hours? Yeah so he runs a village, but doesn't he usually do it from the comforts of his own office. I bet you he was doing this on purpose. He was probably in some secret room next door watching me fume in the chair that I was sitting in. Bastard.

The sound of a door opening had me spinning around in my chair to look at the person that was coming in. There stood the Hokage with his crisp white robes on and an awkward shaped sombrero like hat. He seemed a little shocked at me sitting in his office but as soon as he closed the door his eyes returned back to the indifferent state that it must have been in prior to him seeing me.

"Ah Cho. What a surprise? I would not have expected you to be here."

"I was actually here to ask you a question." I watched as he walked around his office picking up files before slowly lowering himself into the chair behind his desk. He stared at the documents for a moment and scrunching up his nose at something he didn't particularly like that was written on the paper. Instead of jumping right in and asking him about the ANBU member, I patiently waited for him to finish what he was doing. I could see his eyes quickly skimming over some lines and he wrote on the paper occasionally, as if he was dissatisfied with what was there. It wasn't long before he looked up at me urging me to continue on what I was saying.

"Yesterday an ANBU member visited me…" Taking a deep breath I looked into his eyes and continued.

"He told me that Bear was only supposed to guard me for a week to see if I was a threat to the village and then afterwards he was supposed to return to headquarters. Is that true? I don't remember you giving him a specific time limit…" I wanted to hear the truth come out of his mouth rather than some stranger that I didn't particularly like. "Cho..." He sighed as he set his ink brush down next to his files and proceeded to light his pipe. After a minute or two of him tasting the pipe he looked at me with a hard look

"Bear wasn't meant to be by your side every day."

"But he wasn't. Half the time I didn't even see the man."

"That's not the point. The point is, is that Snake is correct. Bear was supposed to return to his duties after making sure you weren't a threat to this village, or its people."

I clenched my fists to keep my anger at bay. How did I not realize that he wouldn't be with me forever? Was I really that oblivious to everything? And how exactly did he know that the ANBU that visited me had a snake mask. I never told him that…at least I don't think I did. I'm pretty sure I left that detail out of my explanation.

It was as if the cliché line of, a ton of bricks, hit me on the forehead. Of course he would know what ANBU visited me. He's the one that issued the order. But why did Snake ask me if I forced him to stay. Did the Hokage think that I did it on purpose? Something wasn't adding up here.

"You were the one that issued the order, didn't you. It makes sense now. You made it seem like it was Snake that visited me of his own will, but now I see that that wasn't the case."

"Listen Cho. I'm not trying to be the bad guy. It's just that, I felt that he was getting attached to you. As a matter of fact I felt like all eleven ANBU that visited you frequently were becoming attached. ANBU aren't meant to be people. They are meant to be tools, used for Konoha, and they know that. The day they entered ANBU and an oath meant that they understood what lifestyle they would be leaving behind. The fact that eleven of them were starting to break that norm had me worried. I can't let eleven of my best shinobi be weakened by a mere civilian as yourself."

"But they weren't even weakened!" My voice was close to breaking as I tried to plead this case. "Bear barely even spoke to me, and the only thing I did was give them food. Otherwise than that they were never there!"

"You do realize that eleven shinobi were missing."

"But that's not my fault. I'm not their keeper. I didn't know that they never returned back to their headquarters. No one ever told me anything."

He stared at me long and hard. The scrutinizing gaze that he gave me had me shifting uncomfortable in my seat. The Hokage was never like this when I had met him the first time. What changed?

"Are you saying that you would rather selfishly keep all eleven ANBU shinobi to yourself. They would be more useful on missions that staying around the likes of you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to fill out."

And with that he dismissed me out of his office. The door closed in my face, but it might as well have just hit me. Those words that he spoke stung my heart so bad that nothing registered properly as I stood staring at the door, just waiting for the tears to start running down my face. I wanted to cry because of the tone he said it in. It was as if he didn't want anything to do with me, and that I was ruining his shinobi purposely. I never meant to change them. They changed on their own. I just added more wood to the already blazing fire.

I think I understand a little bit of where he was coming from though. These ANBU were trained to be hard. They were trained to not show emotion and to be socially unattached compared to other ninjas. And at that point in time, I realized that I didn't really like the Hokage anymore. He was all smiles and kind the first time I met him, but now…he just seemed cold.

If I said I hated the Hokage I would be lying.

If I said I highly disliked him as of now, then I would be telling the truth.

The Hokage was a man that I utterly disliked. He was two-faced, and didn't give a damn about a mere civilian like me.

"I hope you die." I whispered. I know I didn't mean it, but at the moment I let my anger get a hold of me.

E/N: So this chapter is a little shorter than the others, and it was actually really hard to put onto paper. Hopefully it sounded alright. Was a little choppy, but the next chapter will be better. Now here's a little something for all you people that like to giggle.

Wise words from Itachi:

A wise Itachi once said," My Swag runs faster than diarrhea."

Copyright Koiketsudayou 2012