I pushed open the temple door and dropped my backpack. Rubbing my hands, I asked, "Alright, what kanji we doing now? Elephant? Shoe?"

Something was wrong. There was no warmth in the room, no warmth from Itachi. My nerves shot up.

From the shadows, Lady Tomoe stepped up behind him.

"Why is she here?"

I had a bad feeling. There was no brushes in sight. Although calligraphy got annoying, I liked my time with Itachi. Only during these lessons could we be together.

What Tomoe said made my heart drop. "I am here as his replacement."

"What?! No!"

Tomoe was in a bad mood. "You have no say."

"Um, yes, yes I do!" I said, tiptoeing for height. "I'm the future clan lady!"

"Do not grow attached to that title."

Seeing I would be disagreeable, Itachi stood up from his chair. "I apologize, Ayae, but Lady Tomoe will serve as a better mentor than I will."

When he took her side, I knew I lost. "B-but what about us?" I asked. "When will I see you again?"

Instead of an answer, he gave an apologetic smile. Then he dulled.

My hands balled into fists as I watched him go. I yelled, "It better not be another two years!"

The door closed with a slam.

And so, torture began. With a yank of my hair, I was pulled to a chair.

"We do not have two years," Tomoe said.

I winced but held my ground. "You did this! You did this to him!" I shouted. "You're always pulling us apart!"

It did not matter how loud I was. Tomoe was never affected. "You are not the sole person seeking the heir's attention, child, though you are the least significant. He should have thrown you away long before."

I forced down the heave of air in my chest. I wanted to grab my backpack and throw it at her face.

"I'm sorry you got the trash then," I spat.

Surprisingly, I got the last word. Tomoe was bitter, but I was not the reason. I was just the chore she wanted done as soon as possible. She was saving her energy for something else.

Her tiredness, I realized, was the same as Itachi's. She overlooked me, as if I was no more than a piece of furniture or cloud in the sky. She locked the cabinets and capped the fires.

"You are in your fifth year and still cannot perform ninjutsu," she said.

As bad as it was to hear, it was the truth. I doubted she learned this from Itachi. Probably Michio.

"So?" I crossed my arms.

"So," she said, "if that does not change, the clan will invest elsewhere. There is real potential we neglect." Before I could argue, she pressed a thin piece of paper into my palm. "While you are a hit or miss."

I stared at the piece of paper, then at her. What? Did she want me to write the word 'tree' on it? But she did not get out any calligraphy brushes.

The door unbolted.

"Find the type of tree that paper originated from. Find the right tree." She readied to leave.

Baffled, I chased her down the temple stairs.

"What! You're just going to leave?" I yelled. Tomoe descended three more steps, and then disappeared with the wind.

I had crumpled the paper. I straightened it out, looking at it again for any writing. Blank.

I sat on the steps, burying my head into my arms. Find the tree? Are you kidding me?

You know what, screw her. Tomoe had no right telling me what to do. I was not wasting my time chasing down some stupid tree.

I ran to the main house. I knew Itachi wouldn't be there, but I was surprised to find Aunt Mikoto and Sasuke missing too. I leaped in from the back door. In the living room was Sasuke's school bag. Their shoes were missing.

I decided maybe Shisui would have answers, but his house was empty too. His mom was gone. Even Michio was gone. Suddenly, the district felt too quiet.

Against my better judgment, I tried one more door. By the lake, I knocked on a formerly abandoned mansion. To my relief, the door opened. Auburn eyes bore down on me.

"Hi Otoha! Is—"

"No."

"I haven't even asked my question yet!"

"Is Master Itachi here, no. Is the ma'am here, no. Is anyone of the surname Uchiha in this house, no. Bye."

"Wait, that's not my question!" I yelled, just in time for Otoha to pause. But then I realized, yeah, those were my questions.

"Bye." The door slammed in my face.

If Itachi left district, I would have a better chance chasing trees than him. Frowning, I looked out into the landscape. The wind blew, shaking the leaves of trees everywhere. Paper was made from trees, but Konoha was in the middle of a forest. Trees were everywhere.

I shook my head. Was I really going to do this? But Tomoe was probably the one person who would tell me what was going on. For years and years, everyone in the clan would dodge my questions. Turning to them was no good.

Gritting my teeth, I ran out of the district.

I had no idea where to go. There were plenty of trees in the parks, so I went there first. Along the way, though, I stopped. From the street I was on, I saw the peaks of the Konoha Library. I changed my path.

The library was silent except for the pull of a chair or the scribble of pencils. The place was big, with many spiraling levels. There were compartments of scrolls all the way up to the high ceilings. People sat at the tables, reading textbooks. In a corner was a little girl with pink hair, curled up with a scroll in her lap.

I was not a big fan of books, so the only time I went to the library was during class trips. My eyes wandered.

I bumped into someone. A stack of books fell down. "Oh no, sorry—!" I reached down to pick a book up and noticed the cover. One Hundred and One Exotic Tales.

"Ayae?" It was Setsu.

After gathering all the books, Setsu led me to a table. "It's funny seeing you here. Are you checking something out?"

"Actually..." I took out the piece of paper and explained my situation. Setsu looked at the paper.

"Hm. I'll be right back!"

Minutes later, Setsu returned with a giant book.

"What's that?"

"Dendrology, the Encyclopedia. Anything about trees, we'll find it here." Setsu went through the index and flipped to a page. While she skimmed, I looked through her books. Most of them were romances. The language was old. The words were long.

"Aha!"

I jolted when Setsu turned the encyclopedia to me, holding my paper next to a picture. They matched. "Same color, texture, grain, and fiber pattern," she said proudly. "This is the tree you're looking for." She pointed to a thin tree with split blue-green leaves. "They only grow in soil rich with chakra, which should be around... here." She tapped on the map beneath the glass of our table.

"Wow, that's... wow! You're so smart, Setsu!" I exclaimed. Setsu pulled off the impossible without a sweat!

She rested her head on a fist and grinned. "Well, you can return the favor," she said, handing the paper back to me.

"Sure, anything!"

"I heard a circus is coming. Can you see if your cousin might be interesting in going? With me?" Her voice rose up in hope.

My head slammed down on the table. "I thought you were over him."

"Oh no, not Itachi. I'm talking about the Peculiar Uchiha."

Somehow, that did not make anything better. Sighing, I peeled my forehead off the table. I offered my hand. We shook.

"Deal. Thanks for the help, Setsu."

"Any time, Ayae."

As I was leaving, she added, "It's during the Autumn Moon Festival! And if you can get Itachi, we wouldn't mind seeing him too!"

"Yeah, yeah." I waved bye, shoved the paper back in my pocket, and went officially tree hunting.

The things I did for friendship.

.

I now knew why Konoha was the village hidden in leaves. With 25.5 million trees, Konoha took the trophy for having the most trees in a village. And that was not including the forest around the village! The forest, unfortunately, was where my tree was.

Konoha only had one gate that led in and out of the village. Gin was already waiting for me there, roundhouse kicking the posts. Hana was handling registration. For this trip, I recruited help. Gin and Hana eagerly agreed.

Our fourth member was not as excited. Minoji slouched by the gate, having been pulled along by Hana.

Minoji, Hana, and I were Funeno's center table for years. We always ranked in first or second place. But in Teacher Iruka's class, we got destroyed when Michio replaced Ayame, and Table Nine jumped from dead last to first.

The person dragging our team down was Minoji. I could not get ninjutsu, but Minoji could not get ninjutsu, did not read the assignments, got distracted, and was plain careless the time he forgot to double the knot. As a result, we had all gotten a good soaking in the river. Hana did not approve. So when she saw an opportunity for a team training session, she jumped at it.

At the post, Hana told security our group would be leaving on a camping trip for the weekend.

"Bag please."

I let the gate security check my bag. I only packed crackers, canned food, bottles of water, and whatever I raided from the pantry. Those, and the camping essentials.

"Alright, be careful, and remember to not go beyond the patrol border. Set a flare if you come into any trouble."

"Rogue ninjas?" Gin jumped in, excited.

The guard laughed. "That, I wouldn't worry of. But if you kids do come across any S-ranked criminals along your way…"

"Oh, we'll kick their asses!" Gin said with a tip of his cap. "You are looking at the future Hokage, you know."

Hana facepalmed. "Another pre-adolescent boy fallen into the Hokage obsession. When did this happen?"

"Over the break," I said. I did not mention that I wanted to be Hokage too. Hey, who would not their head on a mountain?

"Figures."

Two hours of hiking later, the village was hidden by all the trees.

It was in leaving the village that I understood danger. There were the beetles the size of watermelons and spiders that had me screaming.

"I thought you left the village before," Hana said, pulling me away from the furry spider in my face.

"On the road! The road!" I said, saddling a mossy log. The Grey Triplets barked and leaped beside me, wagging their tails before dashing ahead.

"Ayae, you're a bigger chicken than ever," Gin scoffed. A leech dropped on his hat. He paled.

I waited. He would have fainted, had Hana not grabbed his hat, flinging the leech aside. "Come on, Mr. Hokage. At this rate, we won't even get there in a week."

Hana knew the way.

We groveled through snaggy bushes and ferns. We climbed, fell, and faced anything nature threw at us, from mosquito bites to thorny vines. We were not even half a day in when Minoji started repeating, "Are we there yet." I was scratching obsessively. Gin collapsed against a tree stump for his fifth water break.

"Lunch?" Hana suggested.

That got our motivations up. I took out my canned peaches and… a red bottle?

"The tomato in the bottle!" Gin said.

Huh. Ketchup. It had been a while. I had not eaten this stuff since two years ago. Back when my dad put some on my omelet, and I had reacted so badly that he never gave it to me again. That had been around the same time Aunt Mikoto disappeared, her house unlit and cold. Around the same time I spent my Sundays alone in the house, or in front of the door to the Uchiha main house, or in the parks practicing until late evenings.

"What's tomato in a bottle?" Minoji asked, confused.

"Uh, it's like tomatoes… in a bottle." I flipped open the cap.

None of us had bento anymore, but that did not mean lunch was bad. We shared my peaches and crackers. Gin got dried sardines, Minoji got cashews, and Hana got pickled veggies. Our biggest surprise was that ketchup made an excellent dressing for canned meats.

After eating, we were pumped. The terrain got flatter, and the swarms of mosquitoes died down. Hana's dogs kept a happy lead, sniffing around.

"So." Gin struck up conversation. "Whose parents know what we're doing?"

I laughed nervously. I had told my dad I was at a sleepover at Tamaki's.

Hana said, "I told my mom we're camping in the woods for team bonding."

"Isn't that what we're doing?" Minoji asked.

I laughed more nervously. It did not take much to convince Gin to go on stupid quests for no reason. Minoji was different. When I took out the paper in my pocket, explaining my need for a tree hunting group, he stopped.

"Hold on. We're traveling for two days, getting eaten alive by bugs, for a tree?" Minoji demanded.

"Um…"

Hana came to my rescue. "It's a test of stamina, endurance, navigation, and detection. It's a team training session. Is there a problem?"

"Yeah! There is! Like I'm wasting my time helping this crazy girl look for a tree!"

Hana narrowed her eyes. Her dogs stiffened. Gin and I backed away. I respected Hana enough to know she could kick my butt, and Gin had gotten his butt kicked before. There was a reason Hana was number one in school.

"If you do not want to help, you are welcome to leave," Hana said, before whipping back and marching on. Her dogs were the first to follow.

"Come on! Ginjiro, you're not going to follow girls, are you?" Minoji asked Gin.

Gin exchanged a look with me. "Sorry, but if Ayae's getting any unfair special Uchiha training, I'm not missing out. Whatever she did on her vacation, she got faster."

I grinned, until Gin nudged his cap. "But still scored two points below me, ha!"

Gin stuck out his tongue. He marched on. I followed, which left Minoji alone. He ended up tagging along. Only Hana and her dogs knew how to get through the forest, and he did not want to go back alone.

Hana had gone way ahead, so we needed to run to catch up. Soon, the forest grew less dense, the leaves above breaking apart to reveal blue skies.

When Hana stopped, I nearly crashed into her back. She had stopped for good reason.

Below us was a chasm. The rope bridge across was severed at the other side.

Hana's dogs sniffed the edge. One nudged a pebble with his nose. The pebbled tipped over the edge. If the pebble hit bottom, we did not hear.

I peeked over the edge. There were sprouts of branches and roots near the surface, but nothing further down. I looked at the other side of the chasm, where monstrous trees were but little sprouts of broccoli.

Gin joined me by the edge. He looked at the bridge, a tattered mess that was a rope and some splintered boards. "Is there a way around?"

Hana shook her head. "A detour will take us five days by foot."

"See! Now can we go back?" Minoji kept his distance away from the edge.

The three of us said nothing. I was at a loss of words. My only thought was…

Stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was a stupid idea to come out here without an adult, scratching my arms red, dirtied and sore, scared for my life because half the wild life here was poisonous.

It was stupid, because I expected to be stopped by ferocious boars, or S ranked criminals, not a paper cut in the ground. How was I to be a ninja, out traveling the world and going on missions, if I could not even get past a few kilometers from my house!

I buried myself into my hands. Getting past this obstacle was not impossible. With a simple flicker, we could be on our merry way. But I could not do ninjutsu, not even the most basic substitution. And if someone told me there was some damn princess on top of a tree in need of rescuing, she would be so dead before I even got anywhere near the fire-breathing dragon, because I would still be kneeling here, wondering how to cross over a damn cut in the ground!

Hana touched my shoulder.

"Ayae, how badly do you want that tree?" she asked.

Seeing my reaction, Hana rolled up her sleeves. "Well then, let's get a move on. We still need to get back by Monday for school."

"Wait, WHAT?" Minoji beckoned to the chasm. "How do you expect us to get across?"

Hana had the answer. After a quick test of the bridge anchors, she gathered her puppies into her backpack. She started to climb down the rope bridge.

"Are you crazy! That's… that's like a billion kilo drop!" Minoji said.

"It's five hundred meters max," Hana said.

"That rope doesn't go down that far!"

"You don't need rope the length of a mountain to climb one."

"We don't know how to climb a mountain!"

There was an alarming drop. When the three of us looked down, Hana stood at the root of a tree, arms crossed. "As far as I'm aware, the Academy has been teaching us how to climb for three years now."

"Yes, up a rock three meters high!"

While Minoji argued with Hana, I kept quiet. Hana was not worried. Hana was not scared.

"Three meters, three thousand, does it matter? Teacher Funeno and Teacher Suzume have taught us all the technique and safety that we need to know."

"But-"

"Minoji." For the first time, Hana interrupted. I winced, because Hana could be exasperated, frustrated, even mad with baring fangs, but never intolerant.

"Do you want to be a ninja?" she asked.

"What does that-"

"Answer the question."

"Yes, but-"

"Then understand that we have a year left, before we test to become official nin, and we are asked to go anywhere, anytime, to do anything, whether it be to survive a blizzard or fight a war. As the heiress of the Inuzuka, I promised myself that I will not back down my duty to my clan and my village. I will be a ninja, I will be the strongest I can be, and I will survive. Now, you are with me, or you are out, but I do not want a half-assed commitment, or a half-assed teammate."

The look in Hana's eyes was intense. But a five hundred meter drop was enough to make my knees weak. I did not blame Minoji when he shook his head. The resignation on Hana's face told me she saw this coming. From her bag, she threw him her compass. "Get out."

Minoji did. I felt uncomfortable watching him go.

With the team tension gone, Gin stepped in. He took the rope. "Heh, didn't like him that much anyway." He grinned. "Ayae? Coming?"

With that, he hopped down.

It took me a long time. Finally, "Yeah."

Five hundred meters was not too bad. Compared to getting locked up by suspicious chuunin competitors, ambushed by rogue nin, shot by missiles of fire, forced to duel Itachi… oh no, this was cake. That was not to say I did not miss the days when the scariest things imaginable were Funeno pop quizzes or detention.

As I climbed down the rope bridge, a plank gave away. I fell into Gin. We managed to grab the rope again, burning our hands on the way down. My breath was in hysterics, as the rope swung through the air, twisting left and right. My stomach churned so badly, I wanted to throw up.

"You two alright?" Hana called.

"Fine!" we lied.

When the rope settled, I forced my eyes open. I dropped centimeter by centimeter. Nothing more than another rope climbing exercise, I reminded myself.

Suddenly, there were barks.

"Guys! Hold on!"

A gust blew in, one big enough to send us for another ride. My hair slapped against my face. My arms and hips hit the cliff.

Damn, I missed detention. I missed paper balls and flinging erasers. I even missed math.

A snag in the cliff gave us a break. I collapsed onto the platform and examined my palms. I forgot to pack gloves.

I found my first aid kit. It stung moving my fingers, but I got the job done, pulling on the bandages with my teeth. Then I helped Gin, who gave me an earful for falling on top of him.

"Do you know how much your butt hurts!" he said.

"Just be glad I didn't nail you with my head," I said, tightening his bandages. He cursed. I stuck out my tongue.

We had a good banter before Hana decided our break was over.

The bridge ended past the halfway point. For the second half, we latched onto the rocks and climbed the hard way.

The cliff was nearly vertical, but we chained a rope between us for safety. Hana shouted out instructions.

Both my hand and foot grips were steadier than Gin's. Even though rock climbing was much slower, I preferred rock over rope, because at least rock did not swing.

My heart thumped and my ears burned red, but I pushed myself further. Even if I was leaving bloody handprints everywhere, and my muscles hurt, I repeated to myself that I was rank nine. Rank nine. I could do this.

"Ayae, get a move on!"

"I can't do this!" I screamed.

"There's only a hundred meters left!"

Only a hundred?

I was in hell.

Miraculously, we made it.

Unfortunately, Gin had badly sprained his ankle after a slip, and his foot was swelling. Hana had to deal with her scared puppies. Her voice had gotten coarse from the shouting. I lifted up the edges of pants and found bruises too tender to touch. My nails were broken from my earlier slips. Ms. Hyuuga would scold me for this.

I lost all feeling in my hands and feet. The bandages I had put on earlier had ripped, darkened by dirt and blood. I wiped alcohol over it, picking the dirt out of my palm.

We ate dinner. At the bottom of the chasm was a stream, hardly at our knees at its deepest. The barren wonderland did not have much else, so we pulled off bits of a rotten log, and used the wood to make a fire for the night.

"So, now what?" Gin asked.

"Tomorrow, we climb up the other side, then continue," Hana said.

I groaned, burying my face into my futon. "Can't."

"Ayae, you can-"

"No, we can't," I said, pointing to Gin's foot.

"Don't use him as an excuse."

Before Gin could say anything, I said, "Hana, I've been spewing excuses all the way down here, but this time, I mean it. You and I both know he can't walk, let alone climb. We need to get that checked out by a doctor, not go deeper into the woods."

Hana looked at me. "So you're going to abort mission, after we've come this far."

I did not back down from Hana's stare. "Gin's a little more important to me than a tree."

"Just a little. Gee, flattered, Ayae." Gin conked me with his cap. I whacked him back with my pillow.

But I meant every word I said. We nearly died up there. Every slip had my heart in cartwheels. I would break my fingers to hold on, but I could not stand hearing one of my friends stumble, feeling the tug on my body that told me my grip was the only thing keeping them alive.

That tree could contain a princess in diamonds, with magical Uchiha mojo that would turn me into a super-nin more powerful than the Hokage. But if getting there costed my friends, screw it.

When morning arrived, I stood by my decision to get help. That still left a problem.

"Even if we launch an emergency flare, we're too far down. No one will be able to see it."

I bit my lips.

"Ayae, we don't have an option. The Triplets aren't feeling good either, and I'm worried for them. But one of us needs to get up there and launch that flare."

"Or we can all go," Gin joked. Hana and I shot down his idea.

Hana and I, as miserable as we were, could climb. That was not the problem. The problem was, which side to climb: the one we came down, or the one at the other side. From either side, we could launch a flare. But going up the other side meant...

"You could still get to that tree."

I said nothing. Hana took me by the shoulders. "Ayae, once that flare launches and they get taken to a medic, there's nothing more you can do. But you can still go after what you came here for."

"You know, I bet I can get to the hospital faster than you can to your tree," Gin challenged teasingly. I shot him an Uchiha glare.

"I can stay with him," Hana whispered.

I took out the crumbled piece of paper from my pocket. Find the tree, said Tomoe. The tree. The tree. The tree. Four steady strokes, as Itachi took my hand and made the calligraphy brush stop shaking.

How badly did I want that tree? How badly did I want Itachi to not go. I felt it in my gut that I could not afford to lose him for another two years.

I clenched my fist and opened my eyes. My friends were waiting for my answer.

I made my decision.

"If no one sees that flare, I'm not going to let Gin be stuck here." I strapped on my backpack. "Besides, we still have school Monday."

I was ready to start climbing the side back to Konoha, when Hana grabbed my shoulder. "I'll go up first," she said. She was the stronger climber and had a better eye for footholds. She would go up with me.

I let Hana take the lead. Gin and the puppies watched us go.

For safety, Hana and I had linked a rope around our waists. Hana was great with anchorage. Still, the climb was risky, and many times we had to jump or get creative. I was sloppy twice, rushed, and fell. My link to Hana saved me.

At a platform, I winced at the deep cuts on Hana's hands and arms, from when she held both our weights until I got back my footing.

She said nothing of it. We ate lunch.

Over the edge, I shouted, "HEY! GIN!"

There was some echo from him that sounded like "Alive?"

"YUP!"

Eventually, Hana and I reached the edge of the bridge. We took a hold of the rope. By then, we had no strength left to hold on, let alone climb up.

But I was still stunned when it was Hana who lost grip and fell.

I felt the tug around my waist and fell too. My arm went through one plank after another. I could not carry both my and Hana's weight, but I entangled my arm and body around the rope. My elbow locked with a plank.

I squeezed shut my eyes and used all my strength to hold on. Hana was too far gone. She was out of reach of the bridge.

Breathing hard, I looked up and saw the clear sky far above the chasm. I wrapped my legs tighter around the rope. I freed a hand and reached into my pockets.

With my teeth, I yanked off the string of the flare and launched it loose, just as I slipped and lost another meter of rope.

Everything went white. The noise came after, a deafening boom. Then, there was silence.

I hugged the last plank of the bridge. The rope swayed with my weight. I snapped shut my eyes so I would not look down. I made myself think of nothing. I made myself feel nothing. Instead, I counted.

One. Two. Three.

Eighteen. Nineteen.

Eighty.

Two eighty.

Through the shaking, I breathed.

Three eighty.

I was a statue. I did not bend. I breathed.

Eight hundred.

Eight zero one.

Eight zero two.

Eight zero three.

The world was black. Itachi sat in front of me, cross-legged. His eyes were closed too. Just count. It was okay. Once we reached a million, we would wake up together.

.

I dozed in and out several times. When I did wake up, I was numb.

I stared at a white ceiling. There was a beeping noise somewhere behind me. Past that, it was quiet.

I tried to get up. I could not. I could not move my hands. I could not even move my head.

In a slump, I waited. For hours, I waited. Finally, I was awake enough to scream.

A nurse ran into the room. "You're awake!"

I looked at him. "I'm hungry!"

As the nurses came and fed me, they told me what happened. I was sleeping for a week. No wonder I was starving. Once they sat me upright, I saw the cast on my arm. Falling through all the planks had broken my arm in three places, and my hand. I had surgery. The doctors had done a lot of work on other parts of me too.

I asked how bad. I winced at the answer. I had lost many nails. There would be scars. Everything would hurt later. I did not feel anything now, but the medicine would wear off.

"But my feet are okay, right?" I asked.

"As I've said, there are-"

"They will be okay, right?"

The nurse stopped, then nodded.

Life would be bad for a while, but it would get better. As long as I could still do ballet, I was fine.

My dad was not fine. Later that day, the door opened and he stomped to my bed side, his face bloated and red.

"Oh no." I shrunk. "No, daddy, no."

He clenched his fists.

"Dad, I was bad. I'm sorry I lied to you. I was stupid. Please ground me. Come on, daddy, please don't cry!"

It was hopeless. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me blue. He was crying waterfalls. I felt so bad.

"Sweetie," he hiccupped. "You are grounded forever, you hear me! You are never ever allowed to leave the house again!"

"But- but-"

"No but!"

"But school-"

"No school!"

More waterfalls. I sighed.

"You will not keep her away from ballet at least, Mr. Kenta."

By the door, Ms. Hyuuga stood. Heads also peeked out from behind her. My entire dance class was there. While Ms. Hyuuga tried to talk sense to my dad, my dance class sent their get well wishes.

I was visited by many people in the next few days.

Hana came first. She sat by my side, looking down. She made it through our adventure okay, though I saw bandages around her hands and fingers, and a patch on her cheek.

"Ayae, I need to apologize."

"What! Listen Hana, it's NOT your fault that you slipped. You know how many times I-"

Hana shook her head. "I was far too aggressive. I overestimated my abilities and put us all at risk." She sighed. Then, she looked at me. "I think I underestimated you."

"Eh?"

"You held on to that rope for twenty-two minutes, carrying both our weights, until the border patrol arrived." Hana stood up and grinned. "I'm glad to have you on my team."

With that, Hana slid the door open and let the awaiting mob in. Giant balloons and baskets came flooding in.

"AYAE!" my friends shouted. "How are you feeling?"

Tamaki, Setsu, and Dai clustered around the bed. Even Ayame had come from normal school. She brought me homemade dessert. While we dug into Ayame's cakes, my friends demanded I tell them what happened. I went into story-telling mode and told everyone about the chasm.

"At least you'll ace those rock climbing drills now," Dai joked.

"You don't think Teacher Iruka would give me extra credit, would he?" I asked, serious. My grades needed any boost it could get.

There was knock on the door. Hana slid it open, and a red cap popped in. Gin blinked at the room of girls. He would have run away, had he not been on crutches. Everyone dragged him inside.

"Um… got news that you're awake." Gin scratched his head, then looked away and held out a mug for me. Growing out of the mug were wildflowers of all colors. He must have dug them out of the park. "You're supposed to give flowers… right?"

I beamed. I hated being locked in the hospital. The grass helped to bring the outside indoors.

All of my other friends started to giggle. "Ooh!"

Gin got embarrassed, and I turned red too. Thankfully, Tamaki saved us. She got up from my bed and pushed everyone except Gin out of the room. "We'll let you guys talk in private," she said and slid the door close.

Once everyone was gone, I dropped my shoulders.

"Hey, how's your foot?"

Gin took the chair by the bed. "Eh, the doctor said I could rid of the cast in a week or two. How are you?"

"Horrible! I can't even MOVE!" I said, squirming. "And I'm still on that weird medicine!"

Gin made a face. "How long are you going to be here?"

"At least another week!" I cried. "I can't stay here that long! I'm missing enough school work as it is!"

"It's only practices," Gin said, waving it off. "You'll be okay. What are we going to do about your tree thing, though?"

I moaned. "We're going to need a better plan, seeing how that trip was a disaster. After we're all better, I'll speak to Setsu again. There must be a safer way to get there."

Gin was about to say something when we heard a ruckus in the hallway. The door opened again.

Tamaki peeked in. "Ayae?" She looked nervous.

"What's up?"

Tamaki slid the door a little wider. Itachi was there.

The girls looked at Itachi, then at Gin, then back at Itachi. Gin looked at the bouquet of flowers in Itachi's arms, and Itachi looked at the mug Gin was holding.

Oh…

Shit.

"I apologize. It seems as if I came at an inappropriate time," Itachi said.

"Yeah, we're in the middle of something," Gin said.

Before Itachi could leave, I shouted, "Wait!"

Itachi stopped. Gin looked at me. I glanced back at him. The girls looked at me.

I thought it over and realized that it really would be better if Itachi came back later. But I had already spoken. And it would be rude to make Itachi go away.

"No, come in," I said, ignoring Gin's glare.

The girls let Itachi through, before closing the door and whispering loudly in the hallway.

Itachi placed the flowers in a vase by the windowsill so they would catch the sunlight. The petals were white and yellow with seashell-like buds.

"How are you feeling, Ayae?"

"Great! The doctor said I can probably get out in another week or so," I said.

Itachi paused, listening. "I was informed you were injured in an accident during your camping trip," he said softly. He looked at me. "Is that true?"

My breathing stopped. I got nervous.

"Yeah." I laughed. "Kind of sad, huh? We have survival training all the time in school, but I guess I still need to brush up on my basics."

"I heard you left the village."

"Yeah."

"You left the village unsupervised."

I got really nervous. "Well, I was with Hana, Gin, and Minoji too."

"Three Academy students." His voice was not soft anymore.

I swallowed. But before I could say anything, Gin set down his mug. Impatient, he said, "Look, why do you care?"

Itachi turned to Gin. "I beg your pardon?"

"So we left Konoha. You got a problem with that?"

"Actually, yes. I will object to anything that may lead her to harm, and I do not know what gave her the idea to leave the village with three liable Academy students, but she will never do such a foolish thing again."

"Itachi!"

Gin grabbed a crutch and stood up. "And who are you to say what she can and can't do?"

Itachi did not blink. "The clan heir," he said. "Ayae is of my clan, my family, and under my jurisdiction."

Gin did not back down either. "What clan? What family? You don't talk to her. You don't even know her, and you think some fancy title allows you to walk in anytime and boss her around?"

"Gin!"

"I wonder, Ayae, if this is the source of your misconstrued judgments."

"Ayae, I think he's done giving his flowers now."

"Guys, cut it out!"

"I would send you my condolences too, but I do remember hearing that it was your incompetency that caused her hospitalization."

"If you think I'm not cut out for it, why don't you help her? Oh that's right, you didn't. You weren't in the picture at all."

"Are you suggesting I should be?"

"Getting the hell out? Yeah!"

I wanted to bury my face into my pillow and pull the covers over my head. When they continued fighting, I had enough of the noise and yelled, "OUT!"

Itachi and Gin both stopped and turned to me. "Both of you! Out, out, out!"

"Ayae-"

I would not hear it. I called for the girls and made them kick both out for me. Then I buried my forehead on Ayame's shoulder. "Great, now I feel bad! I hate boys!"

Ayame patted me on the back. "It's okay, Ayae. I've heard boys come up with awkward ways to show they care."

"I think it's kind of romantic." Setsu giggled.

I paused, looking at the mug of wildflowers. Then at the gardenias by the window.

I buried myself again and cried, "If it were romantic, you'd think at least one of them would have gotten my favorite flower right!"

.

"He's gone."

"You know, Itachi was supposed to have left for his mission a week ago. He stayed in the village and visited you every day until you were awake. He and Aunt Mikoto both," Shisui said.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I slumped on the couch of Aunt Mikoto's home. The medicine wore off. I had screamed and cried and screamed some more, until I got another painkiller popped in my mouth and Aunt Mikoto fed me yummy tomato soup.

"Ooh, this will make honey doll feel better!" Michio jumped in and held out a pot.

I looked up from my homework and raised an eyebrow at his gift. "You got me a cactus."

"A very prickly cactus! It represents the endurance of a thousand men!"

I shied away from the cactus and went back to my homework. It was hard writing with my left hand. I only got three lines in when Shisui spoke up again.

"Squirt, this is serious. You're making everyone worry."

I sighed. "Shisui, I've already gotten the lecture from my dad, my teachers, even Aunt Mikoto! Do I really need one more?"

"You almost died, squirt. Had the border patrol arrived a few seconds late…"

"They didn't!"

"More importantly, Itachi's worried. He's scared you'll pull another stunt like this again."

I frowned and wrote a crooked ta. "Well, tell him not to. I made a mistake. I'll just get stronger, and it won't happen next time."

"There… is no next time."

I stopped. "What?"

"Because you are forbidden from leaving the village again," Shisui mumbled in one breath.

I stared.

Shisui looked away. "Look, squirt, I'm sure that once you're a genin and under a jounin teacher, you can do as you like. But until then, well…"

"I can't believe it! Did Itachi make you tell me this?"

"And me," Michio said, smiling. "A lot of people actually. Before Itachi dearest left, he has placed a mandate on the eight members of the police, five guards of the clan, four guards of the Konoha gate and the commander to detain and return you back to the village if they ever catch you trying to leave."

"Did Itachi just ground me?"

Michio chuckled. "If you want to put it that way," he said. "Just because he's never used his power before doesn't mean he doesn't have it. Only six people in this clan can override his order: the two clan elders, the clan head and chief, the lieutenant, Lady Mikoto, and Lady Tomoe. And I doubt any of them will evoke his order for you."

"Maybe it's for the best, squirt," Shisui said, scratching his head. "The forest isn't exactly the safest."

"I don't care if the forest is safe or not!" I yelled. I was counting down the days I could go back again, because in that forest was where I could test myself. I had enough of the stupid homework and practice drills. I was confident in the playground and parks, but I was nothing in that forest. I was pathetic, I was struggling, and I was getting somewhere. "You and Itachi go off to other countries every day, and you expect me to stay home like a good girl? How can I ever get better, how can I ever be a ninja, if you won't let me leave my own home!"

"Squirt-"

"I'm the same age as Itachi, and do you see what he's doing? It's everything I can't! I'm putting everything I have to catch up to him, but how are we ever supposed to meet eye to eye if he treats me like some child!"

With a sob, I fell back down on the couch. The medicine was wearing off again. I looked at my cast and closed my eyes. I decided I was not calling Aunt Mikoto for another painkiller. Some pain was good. Some pain let me understand Itachi a little better.

There was a chuckle.

"Honey doll, in case you've forgotten, you are a child."

Before I knew it, there were the jingles of bangles, and Michio was crouching on top of me, staring down. His eyes were black as coal.

"This clan of ours don't have too many of those. I don't blame Itachi dearest for wanting to keep this one alive just a little longer." I thought he was going to kiss me, but he just flashed his crooked teeth. "But you can die, honey doll. You can die and join us."

His hand went to my neck. "Just start digging. Only seven people in this clan can override your orders."

He pulled out my necklace. The ring gleamed in the evening light.

.

My grades sank. I had okay grades before, but after my injuries, they got abysmal. I would not take any more painkillers, but the pain made it hard to sleep at night, pay attention in class, or even walk straight. I could barely write, let alone do any hand signs. Except for some running, I stayed out of the physicals. I was no help to my table.

Thankfully, I had a summer before my second term. I crammed, tested my katas, and sparred with Gin in the parks. I did not plan on leaving Konoha for a while, but I could not even if I wanted to. Not one gate guard would let me through. I would need to plan to get around them someday.

My cast came off on my eleventh birthday. My arm was not straight, and the scar was ugly. In the streets, people would stare. I got so embarrassed I wore long sleeves even when it was too hot. I worried I could not do ballet anymore. Dancers had to be beautiful. I also worried what all my friends would think when I went back to school in the fall.

Aunt Mikoto saw I was sad about this, so one day she took me to Itachi's room.

"What-"

She took out a roll of bandages from his desk. I sat on Itachi's bed, while she wrapped the strips of cloth around my fingers, around and around, all the way to my arm.

When she brought me to a mirror, I looked like a real ninja.

"My sons wear these all the time. It helps to protect your skin when you train." She knelt by my side and smiled. "I cannot say this will make you as pretty as a swan, but it does make you a pretty kunoichi. A kunoichi who can wear her dresses again."

My lips quivered. I tackled Aunt Mikoto in a hug.

Back in the living room, I saw something among all the papers on the floor.

'Uchiha Sasuke.'

I opened the report card.

"Auntie, where is Sasuke?" I asked, setting the card down.

In the kitchen, Aunt Mikoto chopped a few greens. "He left for training," she said, shaking her head. "Boys." She turned to me. "Ayae dear, you must be hungry. What do you feel like eating today?"

I looked out the window. I was going to run over to Gin's and get started on our park races. But then I looked at Aunt Mikoto. Now that Sasuke was gone too, she looked lonely.

"Hm, I wouldn't mind some oyakodon!" I dashed up to her. "Can I help you make it, Auntie? I want to learn how to cook too!"

Aunt Mikoto was surprised. Then she laughed and handed me an egg. "Of course."

Aunt Mikoto made very good oyakodon. I made very bad oyakodon. And tempura. And sushi. Especially sushi.

When fall semester started, I brought everyone my newest batch of sushi. Since Ayame was not around anymore, I thought it would be nice to treat everyone instead. All my friends spat out their pieces.

I winced. "That bad?"

"Ugh, Ayae, I don't know what gave you the idea to cook, but you're damn awful at it!" Gin said, gurgling on his apple juice.

I pouted and tried a piece for myself. After going green in the face, I spat out my piece too and wondered if I could switch my sushi with Sasuke's bento. He was still in class.

The bell rang. We went back to Teacher Iruka, who took us to the side fields. We stopped before the sparring grounds.

"For the new semester, we will return to Traditional Shinobi Sparring, one on one. Victor moves to next round. One point will be given to their table for every win."

Everyone got ready and stretched. I glanced at Hana. Her eyes were focused. Our table was in last place, but sparring was Hana's strong point. She could get a lot of points for us.

Michio smirked and flashed me a look too.

I frowned. His table was first place.

"First match, Dai and Ayae-" Teacher Iruka looked up from his clipboard. He laughed apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ayae. If your arm is still weak, you are welcome to sit out."

I pushed up front. "No, no! I'm better now!" I said, showing the teacher my bandaged arm. "Please let me fight!"

Teacher Iruka nodded. "If you're sure."

In the rink, Dai gave me a funny look. "Dude, Ayae, are you sure?" she whispered.

I nodded. I hurried to braid my hair.

At the signal, we both held up the sign of confrontation.

Dai walked closer, but she did not attack. So I did. I went from my first kata to my second in a drop.

"Dang, Ayae!" Dai leaped out of the way of my thrust. I did not give her the chance to get away again. I untangled into my next stance, spun, and kicked down. Hard.

I breathed.

Dai got up and rubbed her back. "Well, guess I'm not going easy on you," she said, laughing. When I did not smile, she got confused, then nervous. "Ayae-?"

I slid in, jabbed her with my elbow, and weaved around her back to finish with a roundhouse.

Dai fell. The class got quiet. Teacher Iruka watched me closely.

Dai reached out her hand and locked two fingers with mine. Laughing sheepishly, I pulled her up. "Ahaha, I got a bit restless after all those months," I said. "Sorry!"

"Ow ow ow, if I end up in a hospital, you're going to be treating me to mochi next!"

Dai left the grounds, rubbing her neck, embarrassed. Teacher Iruka said, "Victor, Uchiha Ayae. One point for table five!" My friends cheered.

I stood in the sparring ground while another classmate of mine was called up. We made the sign of confrontation and attacked. I swiveled away and kicked him. When he got up, I kicked him back down. When he got back up, I blocked his punch and pushed him out of the circle.

"Victor, Uchiha Ayae. Two points for table five!"

The next boy fell too. Setsu was easy to push out. Blue Hair, I kicked to the ground hard. And her friend. The next two classmates went down too.

"Ten points for table five!"

"Holy cow, she's on a roll," Setsu said, hanging onto Dai.

"Uchiha Ayae versus Kobayashi Tamaki, begin!"

"Wow, you've really gotten strong, Ayae," Tamaki said. "It's almost like you've never gotten injured."

I grinned, before I extended my arm for a punch to her face. Startled, she squeaked and backed away. Tamaki dropped her smile and got serious, going down to trip me. I landed on my palm and cartwheeled, then twisted and struck.

"I forfeit!"

My eyes grew wide. I could not stop my hand. Tamaki did not move, so I hit her across the face. It made a loud noise. Her head turned to the side. It looked like she was going to cry.

"Tamaki- I'm sor-"

Tamaki gave a bitter smile, took my hand, and locked two fingers with mine. "You've gotten strong."

When she got back in the crowd, she called out to me and wished me luck, cheering.

Two more went down before I finally got to Gin.

He had on a smug grin, stretching as he walked into the circle. "Someone's hogging all the spotlight."

"You're welcome to take some," I said, grinning back. "If you can."

Of all the people I had fought so far, Gin was the only one who did not back down when I charged at him. He met me with full force, grabbed my fist or leg instead of running away. He was the one I trained with. He was the one who knew my moves well enough to counter with his own. It was dirty, it was messy, with both our backs rolling in the dirt and everything banging against everything else. His cap fell. One of my braids became undone.

But while he wanted to knock me down, I wanted him to get out of my way. I wanted to beat him, go past him, and move ahead. Tying for three years was long enough.

He winced when I got his leg. I winced when he hit my arm. But I blocked, held on, then grabbed his arm and yanked him to me. He lost balance, and with one push, I forced him out of the circle.

Breathing heavily, I fell. I sat for a while, waiting for my heartbeat to calm.

"Hey, you can't give up yet."

I looked up to see Gin extending a hand to me. We locked fingers, and he helped me up. Then he whispered, "And you got lucky."

He picked up his cap and walked back to the crowd. I stuck out my tongue at him.

Even though I was exhausted, everyone after Gin was easy. Minoji went down. Other classmates went down.

"Eighteen points for table five! Table five is now in third place."

People cheered louder than ever. There were whispers too.

Hana stood in the sparring circle. "Looks like you've picked up the slack. You want to hand the baton over?"

When I got up, Hana frowned. "Ayae, you took some pretty hard hits. You really should rest."

I shook my head and made the sign for confrontation. Hana looked at me hard, and then made the same sign. "You're asking for pain."

"You know what a wise friend once told me?" I asked, going into my first kata again.

"What?"

"The pain goes away." And I was not scared of it anymore.

Hana was too fast. I was skidding across the ground within seconds of the match. I shielded one kick after another. I opened my eyes and saw the whip of a ponytail, as Hana hit me with her knee, flipped me over, and finished with a kick.

I landed within a centimeter of the boundary line.

Hana let out a soft breath and straightened from her crouch.

Hana was too fast. She worked to instinct. Fighting was natural to her.

I breathed, feeling the sweat down my back.

Ballet tricks were not enough to win here. Force was not enough.

I looked at the bandages around my arm. I needed something else.

My eyes went to Hana. It was time for some yin.

It was time to stop fighting a current and set a sail. When she gave, it was time to take. When she stepped forward, it was time to step back. It was time to shrink and fall, follow and defend. It was time to take the pain and weaken the opponent; it was time to throw her off rhythm, leave her in confusion, and at the borderline, end the fight with one simple pull.

Hana was done.

I won.

There was only one person left in the class.

Michio tilted his head, his hands pocketed.

"Honey doll don't look too good."

My knees were shaking when I tried to stand up. There was the taste of blood in my mouth. My lungs burned. Teacher Iruka called for me to take a break, but I only asked for a hair tie. I pulled out the ribbons still tangled in my hair and threw them aside. Instead of braiding my hair again, I pulled it together into a messy bun.

Then I made one last seal of confrontation. One last person.

"Let's go, Michio," I breathed.

"Honey doll don't look too good," Michio repeated. "Honey doll is supposed to be pretty and cute."

I laughed, wiping the dirt from my cheeks. "You're telling me Itachi was pretty when he did this."

"Itachi dearest is a boy, honey doll. Boys are supposed to be dirty so the girls don't have to be. If you're getting dirty along with him, then that defeats the whole point, doesn't it?"

"And Tomoe?"

Michio looked at me weirdly. "Does Lady Tomoe look pretty and cute to you? Michi does not think so. She had no boys, so she had to get dirty in their place. And because of that, instead of a beautiful princess, she is a wicked witch."

I had no words when Michio looked at me pitifully. "Aunt Miko really wanted to be a princess. She had so many dolls, and read so many fairy tales, and even dreamed of marrying the prince charming of the clan. She was so close to being one too, had it not been for the stupid wars that turned her prince into a dragon and her heart to ice. It's sad, really. The clan has beautiful girls, all sweet and graceful, with wide eyes and pure skin, but all of them have traded their beauty for power when their boys failed them."

"I'm not-"

"Itachi dearest is the boy. The more he sees you hurt, down in the dirt like this, the more he will think he has failed you."

I dropped my stance.

Michio still had his hands pocketed. "You can still grow up to be a pretty swan, honey doll. Remember that, before you give everything up and I knock out your two front teeth," he said.

Grinning, he held up two fingers for the sign of confrontation.

"Michio?"

"Hm?"

"Shut up and let me kick your ass."