Another quick update, I know. But this story really does write itself.

Before I forget to mention, Kurenai is in this chapter and she may seem a bit out of character, but when I picture her-I see her as a tough as nails type with a soft side, so that's how I kinda wrote her.

Also, someone has mentioned about Emily's thought process being complicated for a seven year old. The reason for her thought process being that way is because of her sister. Emily strives to be like her and soaks up any piece of information she can gather in hopes of impressing her big sister. Because of this she is rather intelligent for someone so young but she also lacks in other aspects such as exercising. Emily likes to know things, so when she doesn't know something, she'll jump to conclusions and sometimes, very extreme conclusions.

Anyway, thank you to the lovely people who have messaged me and another big thank you to the others who have faved and followed. I also apologize if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes.

Enjoy.

)()()(

Any earlier assumptions that I was being pranked had quickly flown out the window. Now I really didn't know what to think. All I could do was numbly follow along given orders and trail after a woman named Kurenai Yuhi after I was escorted to the lower level of the Hokage Tower. I only learned it was called that after I heard an elderly couple walk in the front doors of the building, muttering something about how it was impossible to miss.

Kurenai Yuhi didn't seem like a scary person, but she didn't exactly give of any friendly vibes ether. If I had met her at any other place back home, I would have immediately labelled her as an outcast with no possible way of fitting into society. Call it judgemental, but it's not everyday you meet a woman with red eyes, which may or may not be contacts. It goes without saying her clothing didn't match up to my definition of 'normal'. But then again, what is normal anyway?

Since when did wearing bandages become a fashion statement anyway? Even the sleeve length didn't match on each arm. It would suck if she ended up with one tanned arm and one not so tanned arm. It was her own decision at the end of the day, so I didn't dwell on her appearance besides wrinkling my nose at her.

Any other day I would have happily stared at her weird appearance, but not today, I had too much crap whizzing about inside my head to handle. Adding her into the mix and focusing too much was a sure fire way to give me a headache.

She had quickly introduced herself before walking out of the building with me following quietly behind. I was already given a few textbooks, five to be exact, which I managed to juggle in my arms without dropping them. They were thicker than I had thought and a lot heavier than I'd imagined. The muscles in my arms were already beginning to tire, which I was ashamed to admit. But I didn't complain.

If I was going to enter the stupid academy, I may as well start out with carrying a few heavy books. It was only going to get worse anyway.

Kurenai had led me out onto a semi-busy street and I had paused a few times to take everything in, and at the same time, attempting to memorize where I was going.

Konoha. It was very much real, I had come to sadly realize but I couldn't get over the surprising beauty of it. There was no way it could possibly be fake. Everything fit perfectly, even the Hokage mountain which sat happily near the Hokage building, it was like the four engraved faces were watching over everyone.

It was peaceful.

I continued to follow in suit of Kurenai. She gracefully weaved in and out of villagers and I just hobbled along after her, occasionally bumping into the odd stranger and would mutter out an apology each time. Though, it didn't stop the person from grumbling 'brat' right back before sulking off. I ignored it, I was too enthralled and dazed with the idea of Lara being right, as wrong as it sounded, this is Konoha. A ninja village. An freaking anime.

I had to find out how she did this. The second I see her again, it the first thing I'm going to ask her.

Kurenai lead me into a multitude of different stores when we made it into—I think—the market area. There was more people running around this time, each person varying in age. From as young as two, to as old as eighty. My head just kept twisting and turning, eyeing up everything within my line of sight.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to do that.

Kurenai continued to drag me into shops. The first being a clothing store, where I had the daunting task of picking out outfits. I promptly froze at the sight of clothing racks. I never did my own shopping, my mother did that for me and I always wore what I was given, no matter how ugly. Though, my mother never really picked out ugly clothing. It was usually my grandfather that would give me ratty old jumpers or dresses that he would call 'cute'.

I had no idea what to do.

I was getting dizzy just look at all the different types of fabrics.

Kurenai soon clicked on, which I was grateful for, and picked out a few pieces for me. She would ask me a few easy questions, such as what was my favourite colour. My answer being anything as long as it's not snot green, neon orange or bubblegum pink. I think I did her a favour, though it was hard to tell. She kept a blank face on.

She grabbed a few tops, jumpers and shorts for me which were dumped into the small basket I had dangling from my elbow. I had to clench my jaw, stopping myself from swearing. It added to the heaviness of the books. Kurenai then picked out a few pairs of sandals and even a few dresses and skirts. I kept quiet through the whole ordeal, occasionally saying 'yes' or 'no' when she would hold up another piece of clothing to see if I liked it or not. But for the most part I didn't say anything.

After the clothes were paid for and said and done, she handed the bags back to me before dragging me off into another store.

At this point my arms were screaming in protest and I played with the idea of dropping everything to simply throw a fit in the middle of the street.

I didn't go along with it, as much as I wanted to.

The next place I was shown into was a bookshop. I didn't know what to do in there ether, so instead I watched as Kurenai fluttered around the place, filling up another basket with different types of books. But from what I could see, they were all pretty thick books and I was tempted to walk right back out. I really hope I don't have to carry that.

It only took her a matter of ten minutes to gather everything and an additional five minutes of waiting in line to pay. After that, the books were separated into two bags, one of which was handed to me and I grudgingly took, hooking it onto my elbow where the other bag was that was full of clothing.

After that, I continued to trail after Kurenai until she told me to wait outside of another shop. I did what I was told and leaned against the wall next to the shop door, idly watching as people walked passed, a few even gave me an odd stare and I turned my head to look away.

My trail of thought drifted off on to the idea of my own apartment. I didn't exactly like the idea, but that was mostly due to my own irrational thinking. I was terrified of being alone. Living by myself would only reinforce that. Even when I was left alone at my mother's house, after she had left for work and Lara was out doing who knows what, I was scared of moving around the house in case some psycho killer heard me and decided to come in—or even the thought of some invisible and malevolent entity suddenly making an appearance just to drag me around by my hair.

Most of the time I would hide up in my room, or stay put in the closet with a flash-light and book until she came home.

But having my own apartment meant I couldn't hide. I would have to cook for myself, which also scared me because I had never cooked for myself before. I wasn't even sure I knew how to cook meals. It also meant I'd have to buy all the ingredients, that meant money and I doubted I would receive that much allowance each month.

Living by myself also meant cleaning and housework. I watched my mother do it a thousand times so I knew that wouldn't be a problem. It was just knowing where to buy cleaning supplies.

I knew I wouldn't be entirely alone, I would probably have neighbours. But I would also receive weekly visits, from who I didn't know. I would have some social interaction, I guess. Though, what about the academy? I'm going to be laughed at. I know it. I'm fine with studying but exercising... I'm going to struggle.

I scowled and sighed heavily.

I'm sure I had to learn martial arts. Or did I? A ninja has to fight, to learn how to fight, you have to train and be taught. It has to require martial arts, it's not like someone was going to throw their weight around.

I shook my head.

What am I thinking? I'm going to drop out in my last year anyway, there's no way I'm going to be a ninja. I don't want to die, I want to get home as soon as possible.

"Let's go,"

I jumped, my head snapping in the direction of Kurenai. She peered down at me with a raised eyebrow, her red eyes twinkling with amusement, before turning and walking up the cobblestone pathway. I quickly hurried after her.

)()()(

I wasn't given a real tour of the village. I was more or less dragged from place to place, picking up random items along the way. Or, more specifically, Kurenai picked up random items, filling up shopping bags along the way. Most of which I was left to carry, much to my displeasure.

I was ready to drop at any given moment. My feet hurt from the new sandals and my arms burned from carrying so much. At that point I quietly wished I had a more active lifestyle instead of acting like a shut in. Reading has always been my favourite pass time, but exercise was a big no-no for me. I didn't like sweating and I didn't like the way my muscles trained from the lack of use.

It was torture for me.

I was just glad it was quickly over.

Kurenai had led me toward a less crowded area, albeit, more duller part of the village. I wasn't going to deny the attraction I felt toward it, after all—it was a lot better looking than the neighbourhood back home. I noticed it was rather quiet too, which could mean a number of things. But I didn't dwell on the thoughts of where everyone was.

I did see a few people, however. A few kids, actually, playing in a garden that we had passed. But other than that, it seemed completely deserted. I wasn't complaining ether, I liked the quiet.

Kurenai continued to walk until we made it to some sort of apartment complex before turning back to me as I caught up to her. I huffed, red faced and uncomfortable from the sweat—causing the overly large jumper I wore to stick to my body.

"We're here," she stated, nodding in the direction of the greying apartment complex. It looked like it had seen better years. I bobbed my head in acknowledgement. Kurenai offered me a small smile at me and land I blinked back, before she led me up a rusted metal staircase. I hesitantly stepped up, unsure of the creek that it was letting off.

I did my best to ignore it and hopped up the steps. I had to stop a few times, fearing I might drop something but luck was on my side and I managed to reach the top despite the fact my body wanted to give up on me.

Kurenai looked back at me, stopping in the middle of a corridor. "Hurry up, short stuff," I scowled at her, picking up my pace until I reached her side. She shook her head but didn't budge from the spot.

I continued to frown. "Where to now?" I grumbled breathlessly.

"We're here."

Kurenai jabbed her thumb to the left and I followed to where it led to.

I was met by a faded brown door with the number five hanging loosely at the top of the door. It didn't look very safe.

"This is it?" I huffed "My...apartment?" it felt weird saying that.

She nodded and fished out a key—from where, I had no idea. I didn't see any pockets. "There are other children living in this apartment complex, some with family and some without. I would expect it to get rather loud in the evening, but I could be wrong." I wrinkled my nose, just great "There are a few civilians living in the complex, but most are children currently being taught in the academy or have already graduated and are ether genin or have already been promoted to chunin."

That made absolutely no sense to me.

Was it like a rank? I shrugged it off.

Kurenai placed the key into the lock and gave it a quick twist before pulling it back out and carefully opened the door. Without a word of warning, she plucked the books I had been carrying from my hands along with a few plastic bags before slipping into the apartment. I followed slowly behind.

"This apartment hasn't been used for awhile," I heard her say while she walked further in, her voice carrying. "It's probably going to need some sprucing up."

She wasn't lying ether.

My feet scuffed the ground and I noticed a thick layer of dust lifting into the air. I held my breath, I didn't want to breathe it in, I had no idea how long the dust had been sitting there, but by the looks of it, it had been awhile.

Even the pale walls had darkened over time, in need of a desperate makeover and paint job.

I quickly scurried into the room Kurenai had walked into. She was currently opening the windows, which by the looks of it, was also very filthy. "Looks like you've got your work cut out for you, kid." she hummed. I shot her a glare and shuffled over to the farthest corner of the room where Kurenai had placed the books and bags. I carefully placed the remaining items next to it, ignoring the dusty floor.

The hall and this room was barren by the sight of things.

There was still three other rooms to check, I really hoped the bedroom had a bed at least and if I was lucky, maybe the kitchen had a few pots and pans I could use—if it wasn't dirty, that is.

I turned back to Kurenai, who had finished opening the windows. She clapped her hands together. "Well, that just about does it for me." she said, looking over at me "Have fun cleaning."

I bristled, puffing my cheeks, but I didn't reply.

"Calm down, I was only kidding," she chuckled, waving it off. "Tomorrow you will be meeting your weekly visitor and they will help you get settled. Maybe if you're lucky they'll help you get a couch." she joked, winking. I wasn't laughing. Kurenai rolled her eyes at me. "Tough crowd..."

I crossed my arms stubbornly. "Who exactly is coming to see me tomorrow anyway?"

Kurenai shrugged. "Beats me, all I know is that this person is going to help you around. Probably help you clean up too, by the looks of things, you sure need it." she shook her head "Anyway, I left you a map of the village in one of your bags, so it should help you find your way around. Hmm, what else...?" she tapped her chin thoughtfully "Hmm, oh before I forget, here..."

Kurenai reached back and grabbed something—in which I still didn't know where it came from—and handed it to me. It was a small brown envelope.

I hesitantly reached out, taking it from her hands, eyeing it suspiciously. "What's this?"

"Your monthly allowance."

I blinked. I thought I had already spent most of that on shopping. Who's money did I spend, exactly? I shook my head and placed the envelope into the pocket of my shorts.

"Thank you," I said "For helping me around, uh, you know..."

It was still rather hard to say 'Konoha'. Despite coming to accept it, it was still a lot to take in.

"No problem. Just doing my job," she chuckled while she headed for the exit "I guess I'll see you around, kid."

I nodded, watching as the red eyed woman left. As soon as I heard the soft click of the front door, I crumbled to the ground, not caring if I got dirt all over myself. My body hurt and damn it, I needed to sit down.

I glanced over at the pile of bags and books before shaking my head.

I had a lot to do, that was for sure. But first things first, I really need to get this floor cleaned.