My dad was fired from his job. It was a happy day.
We celebrated with a walk around the village. Everywhere we went, people would greet us. My dad knew many storekeepers, cooks, cleaners, and repairmen, and they all knew him.
When we reached the clothing district, we decided to visit the fabric shop. Ms. Hyuuga and Emi were there. Hiro sat further away, on the low cutting table next to the counter.
Hiro beamed seeing my dad, who brought him his favorite choco-bun. He shared the choco-bun with Ms. Hyuuga's niece, who had been hiding behind a spool. Hiro shared half the choco-bun. That was how I knew their friendship was serious.
"I thought you worked on Sundays, Kenta. Did something happen at the Research Facility?" Ms. Hyuuga asked.
"Oh, no no, it's running great! I'm just fired," my dad said cheerfully.
Ms. Hyuuga recovered. She looked amused. "I see." To me, she asked, "What about you, Ayae? How is your apprenticeship going?"
"Oh, I got fired too," I said, pointing to myself.
According to Shisui, I had done it. I had messed up so badly, not even nepotism and five years of sparkling friendship could save me. He had patted my head in congratulations and pinned a job ad outside my school.
My dad and I laughed.
Ms. Hyuuga sweat-dropped. "I suppose this shouldn't surprise me. We're lucky, at least, that income is never a concern."
She paused.
"Kenta?"
Ms. Hyuuga slowly realized.
Over the years, Ms. Hyuuga had been very kind to me. She bought all my yukata and dance competition costumes.
She must have done them thinking I didn't have a mom to take care of me. It never occurred to her that it was because we didn't have enough money. After all, my clan, like her clan, was very wealthy.
It was an easy mistake. My dad and I could have money, and lots of it, from our clan. But that meant agreeing to everything the clan wanted. It meant giving me up. I wouldn't have been able to live with my dad, but put under one of my relatives in Konoha. Or worse, sent to Miyako and trained under Tomoe.
I hadn't fully understood when I was younger. Now I understood my dad had to make lots of hard choices. He made those choices so I could keep all my choices.
In exchange, it meant we now had to cut back. This meant less dessert, less meat, and less fruit. Earlier, my dad explained that we might not have strawberries in our cereal anymore.
I had nearly cried at that. No cake was expected. And okay, I could give up chicken. But no strawberries?!
My dad had been grim. He warned it could get worse. Worst case scenario, we'd have to go on Shao's diet.
We had both shivered at the thought. To be honest, I didn't think we were strong enough to pull that off. You had to be sennin-level to pull that off.
Ms. Hyuuga was quiet.
She had an idea. She needed another stage hand for the upcoming dance competition. It'd only be for a short time, but she could hire me.
"Really?!" I exclaimed, teary.
Ms. Hyuuga nodded. She was startled by my hug. She patted my head.
Ms. Hyuuga saved us. We still couldn't eat everything we wanted, but if we were careful with our money, we could have strawberries every other week. We just had to cut them into very thin slices. I made sure to nibble around the stem.
My dad also got good at making a lot of food out of very little food.
Low on milk? Put it under the faucet and boom, more milk!
Low on eggs? Mix in flour and wow, extra scramble!
My dad was very smart.
In the following month, my dad enjoyed his freedom. No place would hire him, so he volunteered. He cleaned up parks and fixed appliances for grandmas. He helped out with the normal school, like packaging and delivering school lunches.
Then our math teacher had to leave. She was pregnant. With her belly getting bigger, she wanted to focus on herself and her soon-to-be baby. Our class sent her and her baby our good wishes.
So my dad stepped in. My principal was overjoyed. It was hard to get volunteers. But to get a volunteer who also understood higher-level math? My principal kowtowed.
"Hey, Mr. Kenta, what are you doing here?" Dai asked. She opened the classroom door wider for him. The rest of the Dropouts looked up, surprised.
"My dad's going to teach us today!" I exclaimed, peeking out from behind. "He'll be our new math teacher!"
My dad was carrying a huge stack of books that he brought from home. The stack was tall enough that he swayed.
"Would… you like some help, Mr. Kenta?" Tamaki asked.
"No, no, I'm good, got this, ahaha!"
When class started, everyone was curious about their new teacher. They slowly settled back to their desks.
I was bouncing in my seat. Having my dad teach math was exciting. Finally, the class wouldn't be so hard!
"Ah, so, welcome class!" my dad said. My dad noticed his stack of books were in the way, so he pushed them aside. The top ones fell. He rushed to pick them up.
Jumping up, he held the books in his hands. "Very happy to meet everyone. My name is Uchiha Kenta, but you can call me Teacher Kenta… well, technically I'm not a real teacher, more like a substitute, so I guess you don't have to say the teacher part if you don't want to, just call me Mr. Kenta! Well, unless you're my daughter—hi, sweetie!" He waved. I waved back. "She can still call me dad… though, hm, that might be unfair, so I guess everyone can also call me dad if they want! Or just Mr. Kenta, or Teacher, or whatever works for you!"
The class stared in silence.
My dad looked at me.
I gave him a double thumbs up.
"Alright! So, what are all your names?"
I shook my head, pointing to the clock.
My dad jumped, understanding. "Right, no time. There's a lot of you, ahaha! Okay, how's this. Everyone take out a piece of paper and write your names on it. Then fold it in half like this, and put it on your desk. I'll try to remember them as the class goes on."
I gave the double thumbs up. My dad gave a thumbs up back.
His first lecture went great. Everything he said was super clear. The hardest part was getting everyone's names right, but my dad was getting better. It helped that he had already heard most of my classmates' names from me over dinner.
Time went by fast. Before we knew it, our homeroom teacher had come back in.
"Oh, I guess we're stopping here," my dad said, putting down the chalk. "Thank you for having me today! Good luck and study hard, class!" My dad waved, closing the door behind him.
Just as our homeroom teacher opened her mouth, the door opened again.
"Sorry, sorry, forgot these, ahaha!" my dad said, grabbing his stack of books. After steadying his pile, he turned to the class. "Bye bye!" he said and went out again.
"Your dad… is something," Reina told me after class.
My eyes shined. "I know, isn't he great?!"
Ayame sweat-dropped.
It took about a week.
My dad put down the chalk and gestured to the board. "And so, in conclusion, integration is just squiggly multiplication. Which makes derivation... squiggly division!"
My classmates closed their mouths.
The cheers were so loud, the teachers next door rushed in to check everything was okay.
"It makes sense now!" Setsu wept into her hands. "Everything makes sense!"
"I think I might pass this class. I might pass math," Dai said in disbelief.
"Ayae, your dad… is something," Reina sighed dreamily.
It wasn't just math. My dad would sometimes substitute in for industrial arts. Other times, he'd take over domestic arts.
All of his classes were fun. He never made you feel bad if you didn't know the answer. After all, why go to school if you already knew everything?
He never assigned homework either. He thought school hours were for school. But the other hours were for the students.
Some students might have to work. Others might have chores. Or maybe they wanted to go out and have fun.
If nine hours a day, six days a week was not enough for the students to learn everything, then the school was not doing a good job at being a school. The solution was to teach better and help students learn faster, not take up more of their time.
My dad didn't believe in quizzes either, much less pop quizzes. Those things gave him heart attacks.
All put together, my dad became everyone's favorite teacher.
Every morning, students would clap their hands before the school entrance. They would pray for my dad to be their teacher that day, in the same way people prayed for rain at temples.
Delinquents who used to skip school came back after hearing cool things were happening in his classes.
My dad was so popular, many students stayed after class to talk to him. Students came to me for rule changes, but they would go to my dad for advice. He was good at giving advice.
Even Mimi, who avoided everyone when she came back, warmed up to my dad. After talking to him, she no longer looked so awful. I noticed her talking to Yuuka again. Midway into their talk, Yuuka hugged her.
My dad might be too popular.
"Daddy-!"
I walked into a wall of people. A new crowd had come out of nowhere, surrounding my dad in the hallway.
A whistle blew.
It was Dai.
"No crowding the hallway," Dai said, dropping the whistle around her neck. "Single line this way."
I breathed in relief when everyone moved and I could see my dad again.
Dai grabbed my shoulder.
"Hold it, where are you going?"
"To talk to my dad," I said.
"Back of the line," Dai deadpanned, pointing to the line.
"What!"
"I can't just let you cut the line, Ayae."
"But he's my dad!" I said, stomping my foot.
My dad popped his head out. "No my, only our!" he reminded.
My eye twitched.
"Yeah, I need to talk to Father Kenta too," said my classmate in line.
"We also need a word with the Exalted Father," said another group grimly.
"I want to show Papa!" exclaimed a third grader, showing me her doodle.
"Tamaki?!" I asked, feeling betrayed.
Tamaki sweated but didn't move from her place in line.
"I… I think I need advice on the whole apprenticeship thing," she confessed.
I deflated.
My dad must have given Tamaki good advice because she came into the club room the next day bursting with confidence.
In front of Ayame, she slammed down her filled apprenticeship form.
The rest of us immediately crowded around, curious. I wondered if Tamaki finally found a tailor who accepted her. Maybe all her lessons with Riku paid off!
We went eye-wided at the name in the employer box.
Koyabashi Tamaki.
"Riku said I'm as good as any professional," Tamaki said, hands at her hips. "So to hell with all of them! If they won't hire me, I'll hire myself!"
The point of the apprenticeship was to learn skills for a job, but Tamaki had already been learning all the skills… on her own! There was no point in working for someone for free, when she could work for herself and get all the money too!
"You know anyone who's done this?" Setsu asked Ayame.
Ayame shook her head.
Tamaki didn't look worried. In fact, she grinned.
"Good. You don't become a fashionista by following trends."
At home, I gave my dad the last strawberry.
"What's this?" he asked.
"A thank you for being the best dad ever," I said, serious.
He gave a wobbly smile.
He couldn't accept it though. He pushed it back to me.
I insisted.
He insisted.
We pushed the carton back and forth until we both pushed at once. The carton went flying.
We watched in horror as it fell.
The carton landed on the side. Before we could breathe in relief, we watched the strawberry roll out...
Onto the floor.
We both cried waterfalls as Doku happily munched down on his new meal.
.
The day of the new dance competition came. I set up the tables and chairs and lights. I did registration. The judges had to be escorted in, as well as the girls from other dance schools.
An hour before the competition, I ran back and forth helping the girls with their makeup and hair and outfits. I was in the middle of braiding when Ms. Hyuuga came backstage.
"Has anyone seen Kimiko?" she asked. "It's almost twenty to start."
Someone came in, huffing. "Hyuuga Kagami?"
Ms. Hyuuga turned around.
The messenger passed her the note.
Ms. Hyuuga read it.
"What's wrong?" I asked, seeing her expression.
"Kimiko is sick with the flu," Ms. Hyuuga said calmly.
The girls were less calm.
"What! But she's the lead dancer! The second act is all her!"
"Kaori."
Kaori jumped.
"Fill in for Kimiko. Haruka, fill in for Kaori. Ayae, fill in for Haruka."
It was my turn to jump.
"Wait, wait!" I rushed to follow Ms. Hyuuga. "Ms. Hyuuga, I don't know the advanced dances."
"You've seen them in practice, haven't you?"
My head spun. "Yes… but!"
She held my shoulder. "Just do your best, Ayae. Now go change."
Ms. Hyuuga wasn't wrong. I did watch the girls in the advanced division practice. Many times. Enough times to know… Haruka had a solo piece.
But Ms. Hyuuga didn't want to risk rearranging more girls. Kaori and Haruka were the two best dancers after Kimiko. They could do many roles. But the other girls might get confused if asked to switch positions last minute.
Before I knew it, I was on stage. I stared out at the crowd. The judges watched us intensely.
My heart pounding, I got into position.
Whelp. Here goes nothing.
The group dance wasn't too bad. I just had to copy the other girls. After years of shinobi sparring, anticipating their movements was a breeze. There was music to help and everything.
But then came the solo…
Ms. Hyuuga did say just do my best.
I might have gone off script and made up some moves.
Okay, I made the whole thing up.
When I was done, some of the judges looked horrified. I gave a cheesy smile.
Despite my disaster, our school did well in the judging. The bespectacled lady gave us an eight. The old bearded geezer gave us a seven, and he was usually the harshest. We then got an eight and a nine.
We nearly cheered until the last judge showed his score.
Four.
I recognized this judge from one of the previous competitions. He was hard to forget, with dark skin and golden hair and strange fashion.
"I must respectfully disagree with my peers. From a technical perspective, the execution is precise but trite. All the main roles are ill-fitted. As for that third act…" He paused. "For such a carefully crafted narrative, it is entirely derailed by the solo, which comes off as glaringly ad-libbed. It makes the rest difficult to care for."
Wah, so harsh! He was talking about me too. I wanted to huddle in the corner and cry.
Because of that four, we didn't even place. It was disappointing. Many of the girls got upset. They thought he was totally unfair. Some thought he hated Konoha, or Ms. Hyuuga, or both, and that was why he gave us such a low score.
"Why would he hate Ms. Hyuuga?" I asked, confused.
Did Ms. Hyuuga and the judge know each other? Did they have a fight at some point?
I peeked at the judges table. He was… handsome. And Ms. Hyuuga was easily one of the most beautiful women in Konoha. They had to be around the same age.
My eyes went wide.
"Did they have a bad breakup?" I whispered frantically.
One of the girls giggled.
Another face-palmed.
"No, Ayae, look at his skin color. He's from Lightning."
I didn't understand.
"The Hyuuga clan and Lightning don't get along," one the girls explained.
Konoha and Kumo had fought on opposite sides of the war. The girls said there had been rumors of the Hyuuga clan almost declaring war again, had the Hokage not stepped in and made peace.
"I bet he only attacked Ayae because she's Uchiha. Everyone knows the Uchiha kicked their ass. He's just a sore loser his country lost."
"Ugh we have such bad luck! Why did he have to be our judge?"
Everyone hushed when Ms. Hyuuga walked in backstage.
At the end of the competition, all dancers went back on stage to give bows. I looked up and noticed the Lightning judge staring at me. Haruka noticed and held my arm protectively. She walked with me out of sight.
The winners, the school from Honey, were the last to leave the stage. They were happy, jumping and hugging each other. Some came to me asking for recommendations of good Konoha restaurants. I happily listed all the ones I knew.
Then all the dance schools split ways. A few left the village. Others went back to their inns.
Soon it was just me and the stage movers.
It was evening. I had just put away the last of the chairs when someone approached me.
To my surprise, it was the Lightning judge.
All the other judges had left hours ago. I wondered what he was still doing here.
"Uchiha Ayae?"
I nodded. "That's me. Are you lost?"
"No, I wanted to follow up on today's performance."
"Oh! Ms. Hyuuga is with the other girls at Shushuya. I can take you there."
"Actually, I was hoping to speak with you, Miss Ayae. In private preferably."
I stared.
He was very different from most people I knew. I couldn't read his expression.
"Okay," I said.
.
The Lightning judge, Mr. Ekkusu, followed me to Ms. Hyuuga's dance hall. It was dark and empty. I turned on all the lights.
"Does this work?" I asked.
He nodded.
He finally told me what he wanted to talk about. Well, it wasn't so much a talk. He wanted me to dance. He wanted to see that solo again.
I had not been expecting that. Sweating, I waved my hands. "Ah! Sorry, I don't think I can."
"You can't?"
I couldn't tell if he was surprised or skeptical or something else.
"It's just… um, well, you see, the main dancer, Kimiko, had the flu…"
I explained to him what happened. The solo dance wasn't something we rehearsed. I made it up on the spot. I couldn't dance it again even if I wanted to. I wouldn't remember.
His expression changed.
"I see."
I thought that would be it. I felt bad. I should have asked sooner what he wanted. Then I wouldn't have wasted his time bringing him all the way to the studio.
"Could you make another one?" he asked.
"Eh?"
"It doesn't have to be the same."
I looked closely and believed he was serious. This was important to him.
"Please," he said, bowing.
My shoulders lowered.
I did as he asked.
He asked for more. He wanted to see another dance. And another one.
The entire time, he did not speak, just watching me closely.
Finally, he showed me some sort of earpiece. It came with a device, but the device didn't look like any type of walkie-talkie that I had ever seen.
He asked if I could dance again, but this time with the earpiece on.
Curious, I agreed.
He kept the device in his hand. I noticed him click a button.
I jumped.
To my amazement, I could hear music. There was music coming from the earpiece!
Dancing to the music was lots of fun. The music was also different from anything I had ever heard. He clicked a button, then another button. The music changed. It was also different, but a new type of different.
Some of the music even had singing. It was so strange and wonderful, I had never danced to music with words before!
I giggled.
I was so caught up in the moment that I never heard the front door open. I never saw Ms. Hyuuga come in.
"Ayae?"
My foot stopped.
Ms. Hyuuga froze when she saw Mr. Ekkusu.
"May I ask what's going on?" she asked, giving a polite smile.
Mr. Ekkusu did not bow.
"I'm taking her, Kagami."
"You want to take Uchiha Ayae from Konoha."
"She's wasted here."
They stared at each other. I looked back and forth.
Ms. Hyuuga sighed, not looking very surprised. "It's late, Ayae. Come, let me walk you home."
I closed my mouth.
I didn't argue, only glancing back at the lit dance studio.
Once we were far enough on the street, I couldn't hold my tongue anymore.
"Ms. Hyuuga, what's going on? What does he mean he's taking me?"
I wasn't sure I liked the sound of that! I hoped I hadn't done something wrong, bringing him to the studio without permission.
"Mr. Ekkusu likes you, Ayae. He wants to be your new mentor."
"What! But he gave us a four! Because of me!"
Ms. Hyuuga shook her head. "Yes, you're the reason it wasn't lower."
Ms. Hyuuga said our poor ranking this competition was her fault. Her work this time just wasn't good. The last minute role switching hadn't helped, but even if the dance had been performed perfectly, she didn't expect a good score.
She respected Mr. Ekkusu's honesty.
Me, on the other hand, I had caught his eye since the first time he saw me dance.
I didn't understand. I wasn't a judge, but I knew enough ballet to know I wasn't the best. Why wouldn't Mr. Ekkusu want Kimiko or any of the other girls instead?
"I thought I messed up on weight," I said.
"You did. You're still not light enough for advanced ballet."
Ms. Hyuuga smiled.
She explained that taijutsu clashed horribly with ballet. Learning both had mixed up my style in both.
But ballet was only one type of dance. Gravity and weight and strength might be bad in ballet, but not in others.
"Konoha is insular from the dance community. The only three types of dance that we teach in this village are the three that I know. But in reality, there are thousands of different forms and styles. Mr. Ekkusu is famous for his mastery of them all." She looked at me. "He doesn't care if you're not perfect at ballet. He doesn't train pretty ballerinas. He trains professional dancers. He has no student that doesn't go on to become world-class."
My eyes widened.
Then I frowned.
"So he wants me to go with him?"
Ms. Hyuuga nodded. "To approach you like this, he must see great potential in you."
"Well, tell Mr. Ekkusu I'm very sorry, but I already have a great teacher. I'm not leaving my home for Lightning."
"Who says he's taking you to Lightning?"
I blinked.
"Isn't he… from Lightning?"
Here, Ms. Hyuuga looked a bit disappointed. "Konoha does not admit people from Lightning without special permission. He's a citizen of Fire, Ayae. He's been a citizen of Fire for twenty years now. The place he would take you isn't one you're unfamiliar with."
It took me a moment.
"You mean…!"
"He's from the Fire capital, Ayae."
.
I agreed to see Mr. Ekkusu again.
I wasn't going to go with him, of course, not in a million years. But I was curious. I wanted to know what it was that he wanted to show me.
It was a dance.
He unrolled a hairband from his wrist. He tied up his braids, so that his neck and shoulders showed.
My dad and I sat at the bench of the dance studio. Ms. Hyuuga played the music.
Not even three notes in, I understood.
I understood why Mr. Ekkusu gave us a four.
Because he showed what a ten looked like.
He took the same music, the same steps, the same technique… and showed the better way to put them together. The better way to pivot from one spin to the next. The better way to move across the stage. The better way to face the audience, so that anyone would only need to look once and not ever look away.
If I wanted to learn ballet, he could teach me ballet. He could teach me a hundred times better than anyone else. That was a promise. He'd fix my weight problem, easy.
But…
He had a feeling there was something else I might like to try.
The music fastened. Haruka's solo had arrived.
His heel kicked. And suddenly, a spin became a flip... a drop... a quarter turn. As swift as wind. As smooth as water. As whimsical as fire.
And suddenly, I was back in the Chuunin Exam, one of hundreds in the crowd.
These…
These were Itachi's movements.
I couldn't speak.
How did this person know Itachi's fighting style?!
Mr. Ekkusu didn't.
Just like how he was able to see Ms. Hyuuga's vision and make it real, he had seen mine.
He had seen from what I had done, what I was trying to do. And he had seen from what I was trying to do, everything that I dreamed and wanted.
He wasn't showing me Itachi's dance. He was showing me mine.
When he was done, he studied my reaction. He noticed my trembling.
"What type of dance is that?" I asked.
Mr. Ekkusu was very calm, his breathing even, his heartbeat steady.
"I don't know. I made it up on the spot."
He looked thoughtful.
"We can call it… martial dance."
.
The Ekkusu-Wai Dance School was the most prestigious dance school in Fire. Signing their offer meant being trained by top dance experts all day, every day, with Mr. Ekkusu's mentorship once a week.
It was all expense paid. My room and board would be covered, on top of any fees.
Once I got good enough, I would be able to travel. A school as elite as theirs meant performing around the world.
It was a very good offer. It was a dream offer for anyone serious about dance.
I didn't take it.
I didn't want to leave Konoha. I didn't want to leave behind my friends and family.
Everyone else felt differently.
"Ayae, we've been talking… and we think you should go."
It was Ayame. The rest of the Dropouts stood behind her in the club room.
I sweated.
"Guys, I already decided…!"
"We think you decided wrong," Dai said, crossing her arms.
"What! But you guys already approved!"
"That was before we saw you like this," Setsu said. "You've been spacing out all of last week, Ayae."
"You want me gone?" I asked quietly.
"Of course we don't want you gone!" Dai said, knocking my head. "But it's not about us! It's about you. It's about your future."
"Everyone knows you love dance," Ayame said. "Not everyone gets to do what they love for a job."
I didn't love dance more than my friends, I wanted to say.
I looked at Tamaki, who had been silent the whole time.
"What do you think, Tamaki?" I asked.
Tamaki opened her mouth.
"She agrees with us," Dai said.
Tamaki closed her mouth. She looked away. She said nothing.
"I think you should do it," Tamaki finally said.
My eyes widened.
"And if you don't like it, you can always come back," Tamaki added quickly. "But you'll never know if you don't try."
"Yeah, we'll always be here!" Dai said, grinning.
"Ginjiro has something to say too," Ayame said, passing me a note.
'Ayae u dum dum. Go do ur girly dance.'
.
When I came back home, Michio had already packed all my things. Utako sat at the top of the cardboard boxes.
"Tada!" he said, gesturing.
I pulled my hair. "What—!"
"Honey doll going back to Fire capital," he chirped.
He didn't let me argue. Crying into his arm, he said, "Honey doll will be missed. Don't ever forget us!"
"But I'm not—!"
I got glomped.
Michio was not the only one who decided that I was already gone.
Shisui also treated me like I was leaving Konoha. He gave me advice on how not to get food poisoning or abducted by strangers.
Sasuke got scarily polite, talking to me the same way he would talk to adults.
Even Itachi's dad acted differently. He got awkward.
I came in and out of the main house whenever I felt like. I spent more time at their house than I did at mine. Itachi's dad didn't like that, but he was never weird about it.
Now he was being super weird, coughing or getting up whenever I sat down. He would switch what he was doing if I walked into a room. One time I caught him reading the newspaper upside down, and with a very serious expression too.
He still ignored me, though. So I ignored him back, running up the stairs.
I found Aunt Mikoto in the attic of their house. She had dust all over her.
"Oh, Ayae dear! Come!"
Against the walls were rolls of thick scrolls. There were containers of all kinds sealed with paper tags. I squeezed between them to see what Aunt Mikoto wanted to show me.
Aunt Mikoto was hugging something, looking happy enough to cry. She was crying.
"Ayae dear, meet Komai."
Komai was a porcelain doll with a beautiful black lace dress. Aunt Mikoto didn't need to tell me who Komai was. I knew immediately upon seeing her.
Komai was Aunt Masako's doll. Utako's sister.
"Thank goodness I found her in time," Aunt Mikoto said, laughing. "She shouldn't be buried here alone. Here, Ayae dear, the capital will be such a wonderful adventure for all of you."
Aunt Mikoto hurriedly placed the doll in my arms.
She looked so happy, I had no heart to tell her that I had stopped playing with dolls a long time ago.
With all the open scrolls and dust on Aunt Mikoto, I wondered how long she had been up here. Had she stayed up all night?
I stared more at Komai, just as dusty, and hugged her tight.
"I'll take care of her, Auntie," I said.
Aunt Mikoto's happy tears fell down her face.
She grabbed me in a hug.
I didn't know what to say.
Itachi found me alone a few days later.
I was in their family's garden. I lay on my stomach, staring blankly at all the hollow white stalks. The water fountain was dry, the bamboo unmoving against the stone.
Itachi removed his scarf. He hid away the rest of his ninja gear, so that he was in only a turtleneck and plain pants when he knelt beside me.
"Itachi, is everyone hoping I leave?"
"No one wants to lose an important person in their lives," he said.
My lips trembled. "Then why are they all so happy at the idea of me gone?"
"They aren't happy for your leave, Ayae. They're happy despite it. They are happy for your future prospects, that you have a chance to fulfill your dream."
"My dream?"
He smiled. "To wear pretty clothes and dance all day. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
I stared back, my mouth open.
"When I was like… what, seven? That's not... I'm not..." I breathed. "Itachi, I think I already have everything I want. I'm happy where I am."
Itachi's smile became strained, then faded altogether.
"And what do you see yourself doing, where you are?"
Confused, I looked at him.
He wasn't looking back.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What future do you see in Konoha, Ayae?"
My brows furrowed. I was not understanding the question. Or rather, the point of the question.
"I… I see it like this."
"This?"
"You know, talking, having fun, figuring things out, helping people. And okay, maybe dance, but other things too. Like making oyakodon! I want to one day make oyakodon as good as Auntie, so that you can eat it when you come back from your missions. Or maybe grow a pineapple. I bet you and Sasuke never even heard of that, ha! We can plant one right here and see if it really does grow upside down like the legends say."
I could go on for hours. The more I said everything aloud, the more confident I felt in my choice to stay. I didn't need to be special to be happy. I didn't need to travel the world to feel complete. I could have a lifetime of adventures right here!
All I needed were my friends and family.
But the more I spoke, the worse Itachi looked.
Like my words were hurting him.
I stopped.
Worried I might have said something wrong, I crawled up into a kneel, so we could look at each other better. But Itachi still didn't look back.
"Itachi, what I'm trying to say is—"
"You have no ambition."
My hand stopped short of touching his.
I hadn't meant to hurt Itachi. He must not have meant to hurt me either.
I told myself Itachi simply made a mistake with his words. I told myself that his sudden expression was regret and not something else.
"You'll be content, wherever you go," he tried again, softer, staring at the same dead stalks I had been staring at earlier. He bowed his head. "Have I made an... inaccurate statement?"
.
"Sasuke?"
Sasuke lost concentration. His shuriken went astray.
He whipped around, not expecting the person behind him to be me. I had no reason to be at the Academy training grounds.
"What is it, Sister Ayae," he mumbled.
AHHH! Sasuke calling me 'sister' was so cute! Okay, this I could get used to!
"About Itachi…"
He rolled his eyes, not surprised by that. Then he remembered he had to be polite and tried to listen seriously.
"Does he have any ambitions?" I asked.
Sasuke just stared at me like I was stupid, like I had just asked him if his brother was a boy. Then he remembered to be polite again.
"Yes," he said.
I waited.
He didn't say more.
"What are they?" I asked.
Sasuke got annoyed, wondering why I was asking him obvious questions. "To rise in ANBU. Get higher in rank." He paused. "He will be Hokage one day," he said matter-of-factly.
"He wants to be Hokage?"
"He wants to be the strongest in the world."
"Why?"
"To have all the power."
"To do what?"
It was Sasuke's turn to be confused.
He came around. "Whatever he wants, that's the point of power," he scoffed.
"But what does he want?"
"To be the strongest."
My finger traced the logic. I grew dizzy. Was it just me, or were we drawing a circle?
I gave up.
Before Sasuke could return to practice, I had another question.
"Do you have any ambitions, Sasuke?"
Sasuke said nothing. I thought he was going to ignore me or pretend he didn't hear. But he answered.
"I want to be where he is."
He saw my reaction. I must have reacted very strongly, because something strange flickered in his eyes.
Sasuke put away his shuriken.
We sat down and talked.
It wasn't a long talk. Sasuke didn't know how to talk about feelings. He cut straight to the point.
"You want to marry my brother, don't you."
"EH?!"
I stammered.
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Well, you can't. You're too big of a loser."
I internally cried. I didn't know why I thought talking to Sasuke of all people would make me feel better.
"Mother said you're going somewhere where you can grow. You better not screw up. You better not disappoint her."
I blinked.
Sasuke was dead serious.
"Our clan has no place for losers, you understand? So until you're stronger than Lady Tomoe, don't bother coming back."
It took me a while to come around. Something hit me.
Wait.
No way.
Could it be…?
"Sasuke, do you want me to marry Itachi?"
Sasuke froze.
"As if!" he growled, face red. "Brother shouldn't have to marry anyone!"
He huffed, looking away. "But if it's between you and that lady…" He hunched. "He looks happier being with you."
We were quiet. I stared at the Academy building, then up to the Hokage statues. Despite the overcast, it was a nice, calm day.
"I don't want to marry Itachi," I said.
Sasuke snapped his head toward me.
I shrugged.
He realized I was telling the truth. His brain broke. He hadn't been this broken since learning non-shinobi could do senjutsu.
He opened his mouth. "Then why are you always at our house?"
"To see Itachi," I said.
He lost his calm.
I giggled. "Auntie's also great. Her cooking is the best. You're okay too."
"So all these years... you take his money, you waste his time, and you don't plan on marrying him?!" Sasuke demanded, so insulted.
"I—"
"What's wrong with my brother?!"
"There's no—"
"There's no shinobi stronger than him!"
"I don't—"
"He's perfect! What's wrong with you? You… you... tasteless person!"
I sweated, letting Sasuke fume.
It took time for his steam to evaporate. He crossed his arms.
When he was calm enough to listen again, I said, "Itachi is important to me." My chest tightened. I shrunk. "You're right, Sasuke. He shouldn't have to marry anyone he doesn't want to."
I paused, thinking.
"Daddy says not everything is one or the other. It's not me or Tomoe. I don't want him to choose the one he dislikes least. I want him to be with the one he likes most, out of everyone."
After saying it aloud, I realized those words applied to me too.
After another moment, I believed I understood what Itachi had meant.
.
My dad and Ms. Hyuuga met up to talk about me. After listening to her story, my dad was supportive of me studying under Mr. Ekkusu.
Unfortunately, my dad wouldn't be able to go with me. Something about Konoha and his old job and security. It was okay. My dad would see me once all his papers were approved.
It was good he stayed. He could watch over the school and Shao and Naruto, who had become especially glued to him.
Me leaving meant the school would no longer have a student representative though.
The principal didn't want trouble. He didn't want to risk upsetting me or my clan. Sweating, he told me whoever I gave the extra wristband to would be the next representative.
That only made me sweat. I didn't know who to give it to either!
I thought of returning it to Takahashi.
My friends did not like that idea. They listened to me, not Takahashi. They had a different idea.
"It's obvious. Tamaki should get it!" Dai said.
Tamaki was already our leader anyway.
That was settled.
And just like that, I was… done with school. When I left the building, I left without a wristband. It felt like yesterday that I had gotten it.
It didn't feel real.
As I reached my district, I was surprised to see Otoha kneeling outside the gate. There were bags tossed around her.
Alarmed, I ran over to see what was going on.
Otoha was in too big of a shock to tell me. There were tears in her eyes, something I never thought I'd see from someone as tough as her.
I learned what happened from the guards.
Tomoe had fired her. From this day forth, Otoha had no more association with the Uchiha clan. It came without warning.
Not knowing what to do, I brought Otoha to my house. I gave her a cup of hot water and some cheap snacks my dad kept for busy days.
Otoha silently sat on the couch. The few times she looked at me, she looked super angry. But then the anger would turn teary and she wouldn't look anymore.
Since Otoha was too hurt to talk, I decided to go to Tomoe.
Tomoe wasn't at her house or the temple or the shrine.
I found her in a quiet spot far away in the fields of our district, practicing her naginata. She was calm, like today was any other normal day.
"Why did you kick her out like that?" I asked.
The naginata came to a sweeping stop before my face. I didn't move.
Tomoe tucked her weapon by her side.
"She is of no more use to me."
My fist clenched.
"Otoha came all the way to Konoha to accompany you! She has no other home or family here, and you just… you just left her on the street?" I yelled. "Isn't she your friend?!"
"No."
My eyes widened.
"Our clan has not had the luxury of friends for a while now. That is an exclusive privilege." Her smile had no warmth. "Your privilege."
Tomoe turned her back.
Her hand raised. Her eyelids lowered at the pebble caught between her fingers.
I stared angrily.
"You should know better than to challenge me," Tomoe said.
"And you know you can't threaten me," I said.
Something in me snapped. My chest flared, bursting after days, weeks, months of heaviness. Like I had been walking around drenched in coat after coat of oil, and Tomoe was the match.
I said what I thought. "You shouldn't be wearing it!"
Tomoe followed my gaze to the ring on her finger.
I changed my mind. I didn't care if Itachi chose to give her the ring. I refused to believe Itachi wanted to marry someone this cruel.
I couldn't see Tomoe being any less cruel to him after becoming the clan lady. Not after what she did to Otoha, who followed her for years, lived with her, served her. Otoha never once spoke badly of Tomoe, not once, not even when Tomoe punished her horribly.
"You should say no if you don't like him," I said.
The pebble fell from between Tomoe's fingers. Her fake smile slipped, leaving her face expressionless.
It was a warning, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.
"You should marry someone you like. Or do what makes you happy. Then you can stop being so awful and cruel and... and mean!"
I couldn't stop the tears down my face. I didn't know whose tears they were. If they were Otoha's, or Itachi's, or…
Tomoe turned around.
Alarmed, she sensed what was going on. A wind immediately cut between us.
And just like that, my tears stopped. I blinked fast, not understanding the burst of emotion that had been inside me. I thought I was angry. But that wasn't anger...
That was a storm. That was a feeling I had never felt before, so strong that I was scared it would break me open trying to come out.
After studying me for a while, Tomoe closed her eyes. When she reopened them, they were no longer red.
"To think we'd have two in the same generation," she said dryly. "I should have seen this."
She paused, considering a thought. She dismissed it.
The last of her mask slipped back on. And then she, too, acted as if I was gone.
Tomoe gave her hostess smile, like this was the first time we had ever met.
"Do enjoy the Fire capital."
.
Because Otoha had no home, we shared ours. My dad refused to let Otoha sleep on the couch. So we gave her my room, and I shared my dad's room. I didn't mind, and after the first few nights, I could fall asleep even with his loud snoring. My dad got good at rolling away from my kicking.
The three of us were having a watery breakfast when there came a knock from the front door.
I got up and opened it.
It was Shisui.
"Hey, if it isn't my second favorite minion!"
I pouted. "I'm not your minion anymore!"
"Once a minion, always a minion." He held up a big paper box. "You mind delivering this?"
Without waiting, he placed the box in my arms.
"What about Kouta?" I asked, stumbling back.
Kouta was Shisui's actual minion. He was from a year below me in normal school. From what I heard, he was fantastic. He always had a thermos of hot tea ready and called Shisui "Boss" and everything.
"Oh, he's at the station. But this is technically not police work so…" Shisui laughed, shameless. "Anyway, Kurenai is waiting for it at the park."
Furrowing my brows, I looked at the box. It was big and heavy. Before I could say anything, Shisui dangled a bribe in front of me.
My eyes sparkled.
"Eh? Eh?" he teased, keeping it out of reach.
"Okay! Okay! Yes!" I said. I opened my mouth.
Shisui lowered the strawberry. I bit down, getting everything except the stem and Shisui's fingers. In bliss, I chewed.
"Where in the park?" I asked, swallowing.
Shisui said by the picnic area, the main road. There would be no way I'd miss it.
Nodding, I followed his instructions.
When I got to the park, however, I saw it was busier than usual. The picnic area was crowded with hundreds of people! Finding Kurenai might be harder than I thought.
But as I got closer, some of the people waved. It was my friends. I waved back. Then more people waved.
Slowly I realized I knew everyone there. Then I saw the banner.
"Ah, there you are, Ayae!" Kurenai said, taking the box from me. When she opened it, I saw it was a creamy chocolate cake with endless strawberries on top.
"You didn't think we'd let you leave just like that?" Tamaki said, hands at her hips.
My friends all giggled at my reaction. They did everything to keep the party a surprise. It was hard too, with so many people from all over Konoha.
"Yeah, you're way more popular than we thought—!" Dai was saying. Everyone froze at my tears.
Ayame rushed to hand me her handkerchief.
Nodding in thanks, I took it and blew my nose.
Done, I sniffed. "Let's party!" I exclaimed. Everyone cheered.
There were many games throughout the day. We played kemari. The Triplets really liked it, chasing and barking as we passed the ball.
Magical Girl Veda was also popular. We had a massive battle tournament.
I lost in the first round to Ijouna, who then lost the second round to Sakura, one of the girls from the flower shop. Sakura was slow in choosing her cards and bit her lips a lot. Despite being slow, she went on to win her next match too.
Then there was Shisui and Sasuke, two of the fastest players. Against each other, they both played one card after the next without blinking. When it came time for the final reveal, we saw Shisui had no strategy at all! He was bluffing the whole time. I was unsure he even knew the rules of the game. He lost hilariously bad.
Tamaki turned out to be a star player. She defeated many seasoned players in a row, including Reina. Against Gin, she cornered him so well, Gin would have lost no matter what he played.
Everyone also had eyes on Itachi and Michio, two other good players. When they matched, they went thirty whole rounds in stalemate. Then Michio fell into one of Itachi's trap cards and got KO'ed in a single turn. Sobbing, Michio plopped next to Shisui in the loser's circle.
Finally, there was Ino. Some players won through card combinations and strategy. Others won through bluffing and mind games. Ino was good at both. After she defeated Hana, everyone had bets on her as champion.
But then, Ino lost to Naruto.
Naruto struggled at the game. He could barely read, needing my dad to read for him. He mispronounced half the card names. Ino had the game in the bag until by some miraculous luck, Naruto ended up winning on the last turn. Ino was super angry about that.
Then the first semi-final match got announced.
It was going to be the Uchiha brothers, Itachi and Sasuke. Theirs was the most intense game ever. Everyone watched wide-eyed, as counters after counters, traps after traps, went off in a never-ending chain. Sasuke's AVENGING ANGEL had an attack of over 9000 towards the end! I didn't even think it was possible for attacks to be that high!
Itachi forfeited. He had only one card left in his hand and nothing on the field. Not that it mattered. Reina confirmed there was no card in the entire Veda universe that would have a higher attack.
Sasuke couldn't believe he won. Once he recovered, he looked happy enough to scream. He was so happy, he even said thank you when Sakura complimented him.
As the gravekeeper, I cleaned up all the cards for the next game.
I stopped when I picked up Itachi's last card.
CHANGE OF HEART. 0. REVERSAL.
Speechless, I looked up.
Itachi looked away.
Huffing, I shuffled his card in, hiding my smile. I'd keep his secret.
Next, Sakura and Tamaki faced off. They were both cautious, strategic players. They also both liked taking their time setting up spells, which caused a lot of suspense.
To everyone's surprise, Sakura won again. She was clever, damaging herself to trigger her own counter. She ended the game with a one-hit KO.
With boosted confidence, Sakura excitedly went onto semi-finals. She kept on glancing at Sasuke, who was waiting to play the winner. I could tell she really wanted to face him.
To her dismay, she lost to Naruto immediately after.
Naruto drew a perfect combination on his first turn. How lucky!
So it ended with Naruto and Sasuke in the final round.
Sasuke wasn't too excited. He thought it'd be an easy match, especially after defeating Itachi.
But the match dragged on and he still wasn't winning.
Sasuke frowned.
His eyes narrowed. Naruto countered him perfectly again.
Naruto grinned stupidly, now ahead in the game.
"Wah! Naruto's good!" I said, proud at how fast he improved.
"No, he's not!" Ino hissed. "He's just drawing all the right cards at the right time!"
"No one can be that lucky," Sakura grumbled.
"Hey, who said it's luck?" Naruto said, overhearing. "Maybe I just know the trick."
"And what's that?" Sasuke asked, cold.
Naruto wondered whether or not he should tell Sasuke the secret. In the end, he decided Sasuke needed all the help he could get.
"Okay, fine, listen," Naruto said, beckoning us closer.
We leaned in.
"You have to…" he whispered. "...believe in the cards!"
Sakura and Ino collapsed.
Sasuke's eye twitched.
I stared in awe. I liked that!
"Your strategy is… believing in the cards," Sasuke deadpanned.
Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! Think about the card you want, and it's there!"
Sasuke breathed hard.
Slowly, his anger turned into a smirk.
"If that's how you want to play."
Naruto's eye widened when Sasuke drew the perfect counter and destroyed Naruto's field in one blow. Naruto laughed, then realized he was losing now and got serious.
Naruto drew the exact card to defeat Sasuke's card.
And Sasuke drew the exact card to defeat Naruto's.
It went back and forth like that.
"Wow, the cards can hear your wishes!" I breathed.
Gin facepalmed.
Itachi hid his smile behind his fist.
"Ayae… I think they're just cheating," Tamaki said, sweating.
"EH?!"
"Not intentionally," Itachi said, looking at Naruto. He paused at Sasuke. "Sasuke is cheating."
Apparently, Naruto wanted to win so badly, he was transforming the cards with henge. He didn't realize he was doing that though.
"He can do a henge that young?!" Gin demanded.
I could believe it. Naruto was very smart.
Naruto's cards were all made up now, the names and pictures getting weirder and weirder.
Sasuke hated him. He cheated even more blatantly, stealing cards straight from the gatekeeper and gravekeeper.
They insulted each other.
MASTER SAGE NARUTO got summoned.
Sasuke screamed.
I giggled. It looked like they were having fun.
The match drew the attention of the people not even in the tournament.
I noticed Ise and Shao watching the game from the other side.
Shao saw me and smiled. Then he noticed Itachi. Itachi noticed him back.
They studied each other for a long time. Itachi looked curious, enough to almost step forward, as if drawn by what he saw.
Shao was the opposite. He looked like he was getting sick, even sicker than when he was inside the jail cell. He was about to step back.
But then, the match ended.
"I WIN! I WIN!"
Naruto jumped up and down, arms up in the sky.
"Look dad, I won!" he told my dad. He turned to Shao. "Boss! Boss! Did you see, did you see? Sage training worked! I won!"
Shao raised an eyebrow.
Naruto realized his mistake. "Sorry, we," he said sheepishly. "We won."
Sasuke lifted his head, as if he had just risen from the dead.
"I knew it. I knew it!" he hissed. He banged the table, leaning in. "Who. Who was helping you? It's you, isn't it?" He shot a nasty glare at Shao.
"What! No! That's cheating!" Naruto said, very offended.
Sasuke screamed again. "Fess up, loser! If you tell me it's believing in the cards one more time…" he threatened.
"You do have to believe in the cards!" Naruto screamed back.
Then Naruto stopped, realizing something.
"Wait, you haven't been thinking about the card you want… to yourself, have you?"
Based on Sasuke's expression, he was.
Naruto closed his mouth. He held back a snicker. Then he burst out laughing.
"Oh man, you dumb! You thought that would work?!" Before Sasuke could interrupt, Naruto wiped the tear from his eye. "No, you have to think about what you want to things that can help you," he said. "Like Lil Gama."
"Who?"
"My imaginary friend!" Naruto proudly declared. "He's the frog who lives in my tummy!" He paused, stroking his chin. "At least, I think he's a frog. He feels very…" He drew a spiral with his finger. "Hm." He looked up. "Anyway, it can be an animal or tree or whatever, but senjutsu won't work unless they want to help you. And nothing will want to help you if you're like... that. See, I'm trying to help you right now, and you won't listen! You're the worst best friend ever!"
"Since when I was your friend?!"
Naruto didn't blink. "Since now. We just played a game together, didn't we?" He looked around, bored. "Want to get cake?" he asked, beaming.
"I hate sweets."
"Dad made this thing called a pizza," Naruto said, jerking his thumb.
Sasuke liked the pizza. Sasuke was the only one who liked the pizza.
Ayame, who had been one of the people adventurous enough to try, politely suggested maybe less wasabi.
Itachi and I put together couldn't even finish one slice. We both took a bite before dying inside.
The cake brought us back to life. We both sighed at the sugary goodness. I waved to Uncle Tekka and asked if he could pass us two cups of hot tea. I handed one cup to Itachi and kept the other for myself.
"I thought you didn't like tea," Uncle Tekka said, confused but also delighted.
I paused, looking at my cup, then at Itachi, then at my cup again. I smiled. "I don't mind if it goes with something sweet!"
Before the day was over, a group of us played Magical Girl Veda one last time. Only this time, we tried love mode. To this day, Reina had not beaten it. She wasn't aware of anyone who had. Masae said it might be unbeatable.
But I was optimistic. Love mode allowed as many players as you wanted. And we had so many smart people at the table! And adults too! My dad and Ms. Hyuuga and Teacher Iruka and Aunt Mikoto.
We lost on the third turn.
Shisui held up one of his cards, showing it had died.
He laughed nervously while both Sasuke and Naruto yelled in outrage. It took forever just to set the game up. They couldn't accept it was already over.
Teacher Iruka had to rein the boys in and get them to behave.
My dad said it was okay. We lost, but the game didn't have to be over. We could continue playing and see how well we do.
And so, despite our rough start, we did do very well.
DRUNKEN MECHANIC summoned lots of dangerous cards, but we learned that if you combined him with MERRY TUNE early enough, MUSIC BOX would be summoned instead.
And if you gave that to NOVICE MAGICIAN, she could transform it into TINY DANCER GIRL.
And if you took both TINY DANCER GIRL and LITTLE SOLDIER BOY to meet THE ICE QUEEN, she would gift the players with CHANGE OF HEART!
And if you handed that to RED ARCHER and have her encounter AVENGING ANGEL, he would turn into MERCIFUL DEVIL. He countered the effects of DARK ILLUSIONIST, allowing PRIESTESS OF THE MOON to finally come out.
She was hard to get in play, but once she was, the game suddenly became easy. She could summon PEACEFUL NIGHT, which changed all the cards from aggressive to passive. We could then stop worrying about cards damaging each other and focus on fulfilling their win conditions.
We ended up saving all the cards. Well, all except the card Shisui lost in the very beginning.
The card was FIRE JUGGLER. It was a very silly-looking card, especially the picture in love mode. We made a mistake of keeping TIMEBOMB with him instead of CHAIN MISTRESS.
The rules were very unforgiving. Because of that one mistake, we couldn't claim victory. It was super upsetting, enough to make Gin want to eat his cap.
Reina, who had been trying to win love mode for forever, was the most upset. To be so close and still fail… it might have been better than saving no cards at all!
"That's not true," Riku said, sweating.
My dad agreed. "We didn't win this time. But we did learn something important."
"What's that, daddy?" I asked.
"That the game is winnable."
Masae's eyes widened.
"Proof of concept," Shao whispered, staring at all the cards. He glanced at everyone around the table before his gaze fixed on Itachi, and finally, on me.
My dad nodded. "Right, proof of concept."
Love mode was harder than power mode. But beating it wasn't impossible. In fact, it wasn't even improbable.
The cards had the ability to hurt each other, but it was clear now that they hadn't been designed for that. They had been designed to fill each other's story, to realize each other's dream. They were there to help the players succeed.
We just had to keep trying.
Gin's eyes burned at that. "Alright, let's go!"
"Next game! Next game!" Naruto agreed.
"Nope! Bedtime!" my dad said, picking him up. "Besides…" My dad looked at me with a soft smile. "Someone has a long trip tomorrow."
Naruto blinked. He peered down at me from our dad's shoulder. "You're leaving, Sister Ayae?"
Ino facepalmed. "What did you think the party was for?"
Naruto didn't know parties needed reasons. He thought people just threw them because they were fun.
"But… you'll be back, right?" Naruto asked me.
I noticed Naruto wasn't the only one looking at me and waiting.
I softened. What a silly question.
"Of course."
.
"They're here! Did you get everything, sweetie?"
"Wait, wait, one more minute!" I yelled, running back upstairs.
I opened the door to my room, where I grabbed both Utako and Komai. I placed them in my backpack, their heads peeking out. I frantically looked around to see if there was anything else I might have forgotten.
I noticed my desk drawer was slightly open. My important papers weren't inside. My dad must have taken them.
My summoning scroll rolled out. After a pause, I decided to take it with me, fastening it to my belt.
As I was about to go, I saw one last thing on my desk.
My All-Gift Box.
Before I could reach for it, my dad called again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I said, throwing on my backpack.
I thought of the things inside my All-Gift Box. I decided I was being silly. I was right to leave it in my room, where I would never lose it.
"Here!" I said, saluting.
The guards at the Konoha main gate looked amused. They flipped through more of my papers, and Otoha's too. With no more place in Konoha, Otoha decided she was going to the capital too.
"Well, everything seems to be in order, Miss Uchiha. Your leave has been granted for ten years," he said, stamping my papers.
"Ten years!" I exclaimed. "I'm not going away that long!"
The guard chuckled. "That's the maximum," he said. "Of course you can come back before then. But not a day longer, not without coming back for renewal, is that understood?"
"Oh." I nodded, smiling.
The Dropouts pulled me into a big group hug. Tamaki showed her extra wristband. Grinning, she promised to hold down the fort while I was gone.
Michio squeezed me blue, almost lifting me up off my feet. Hana lightly punched my arm.
"Hey, what's with that face?" Gin asked when I reached him. "You're going to the capital, not the moon. I can run to the capital in like an hour."
"Can not!"
"Can too," he bragged.
Despite myself, I did feel better.
My dad gave me the hundredth hug for that day. In his hands was Doku, who gave me a nose tap.
Ms. Hyuuga patted my dad before he could cry again. She remembered something, taking out a beaded bracelet from her pocket.
"Ah, if you may do me the favor, Ayae… Mr. Ekkusu left this behind at the studio. Do you mind returning it to him?"
Curious, I took the bracelet. It was wood and looked odd enough to belong to Mr. Ekkusu. To Ms. Hyuuga, I nodded.
She smiled.
Aunt Mikoto sadly couldn't make it, but Sasuke was there. He gave me something wrapped in cloth. I knew immediately from the smell what it was. Her cookies!
Finally, Shisui. He stared at me seriously. "Okay, squirt, one last time. Fungus, let's go."
I cleared my throat.
"A girl must protect herself at all times.
"A girl must respect herself at all times.
"A girl must make herself comfy.
"A girl must trust her senses.
"A girl must feed herself.
"A girl must find herself.
"A girl must go have fun.
"A girl must follow her heart.
"A girl must make lots of friends.
"A girl must tell Shisui all about it, her super-duper fantastically awesome adventure!"
I grinned madly as he patted my head. "You're ready," he said, proud.
Otoha was waiting for me at the back of the wagon. But I couldn't go yet. Time ticked by but I still couldn't go, waiting.
Shisui knew who I was waiting for. I knew I was being silly, waiting. I already knew that he couldn't come today, no more than Aunt Mikoto could come.
Yet, my feet wouldn't move.
Before Shisui could say something, there came a lift in the wind.
"Sorry I'm late."
My head whipped around, just as the person took off their ANBU mask.
"Wait. You? He sent you?" Shisui demanded.
Mr. Hatake shrugged.
I learned that Mr. Hatake would be my escort to the capital. As the wagon pulled away, he sat on one side. Otoha sat on the other side, a cat on her lap. I sat in the middle, watching all my friends and family disappear, watching the village disappear.
It was going to be a long trip. Both Otoha and Mr. Hatake had brought a book to read.
I just hugged my backpack with my dolls. At some point, I remembered the bead bracelet in my hand and decided to put it somewhere safe. I got out my wallet.
I stood up.
"Wait! Stop!"
Mr. Hatake lazily glanced up.
"Stop, stop, I need to go back!" I yelled to the wagon driver.
"We aren't—" Otoha began, annoyed.
"No, I still have Itachi's card! I have to go back! I have to give this back to him!"
Curious, Mr. Hatake took the card for a look. He relaxed and motioned for the driver to continue.
"This is an old card. It's expired," Mr. Hatake said.
Eyes wide, I looked at him, then at the card. Expired? But the photo couldn't be more than a few years old. My identification papers hadn't changed since I was seven.
"ANBU don't have identification cards," Mr. Hatake continued. "This one should have been destroyed a long time ago." The, and you definitely shouldn't have it, went unsaid.
Horrified, I snatched the card back. I hugged it close to my chest.
Mr. Hatake looked me up and down, finding me more interesting than his book.
"Uchiha Itachi never struck me as a rule breaker."
"He's not! I—" I shrunk. My head spun, trying to understand this new information. "He's not in trouble, is he? You won't report him?"
He blinked. "Over an ID? No. I'm not scum." He leaned into his hand. "Photos are rare," he said. "Photos of precious persons, even rarer. We all wish we had more."
We looked at each other. That was when I understood… Mr. Hatake was not a tattletale either.
We opened up. I shared Aunt Mikoto's cookies. Mr. Hatake put away his book.
Our conversation felt a lot like my conversation with the Hokage. Maybe because our one thing in common was Itachi.
But unlike the Hokage, Mr. Hatake did not know Itachi at all, despite working together on countless missions. This was because it was not appropriate to speak during work. And they never spoke to each other after work either.
Mr. Hatake was surprised by some of my stories of Itachi. Before the school fundraiser, it never occurred to Mr. Hatake that Itachi might have a friend. And even then, he didn't realize that when we said "friends", we meant friends.
He didn't realize that I went over to Itachi's house a few times a week, and Itachi would drop me off at mine. That we did fun things together, that we spent hours and hours chatting and playing games and watching movies and eating watermelons on hot summer days.
Mr. Hatake had trouble imagining Itachi doing things like that. To him, it was all so… childish and quaint.
He thought we had meant the shinobi meaning of "friends". Which was just anyone you liked. Anyone you'd want to protect.
I suppose you could look at it that way, and that definition was certainly true in our case. But...
"Mr. Hatake," I said, a little in disbelief, "if put it that way, then everyone in Konoha would be Itachi's friend."
"Because Itachi likes everyone," he said flatly.
I nodded. "And he would protect anyone."
Mr. Hatake said nothing.
Then he sweat-dropped.
"I see now. No wonder he dismissed me back then," he said, scratching his nose.
I relaxed. His feelings didn't seem very hurt by this discovery.
"You considered him your friend?" I asked.
"After the third time he saved my life, ah, I did assume we had something special," he joked. He stared at the card in my hands, and everything made a little more sense to him. "But I admit, that's something different, and I don't blame Itachi for seeing it differently, if you're the comparison."
"It's not too late, you know," I said grimly. "You just have to talk to him after work… and buy him dango."
His eye curled into a smile. "Maybe."
He said it was very strange. I was now the fourth or fifth Uchiha he knew. The Uchiha were supposed to be cold and selfish, but all of us turned out to be surprisingly warm-hearted.
"Who told you the Uchiha are cold and selfish?" I asked, alarmed.
"Hm?"
"Who told you the Uchiha are cold and selfish?"
My clan got grumpy when they hadn't had their tea. And a few got mean at times and did mean things. But as a whole…
I thought of all my aunts and uncles and cousins.
As a whole, the Uchiha sacrificed themselves and their families to protect others and their families. As a whole, they were the third largest patron of the hospital. As a whole, they gave Konoha the gift of fire.
Itachi couldn't come to say goodbye because he was too busy serving the Hokage, too busy serving the village.
My shoulders rose. I wanted to know who was telling these lies, because the truth was very clear from our actions.
"Maybe, Mr. Hatake, you've only met warm-hearted Uchiha, because the Uchiha are very warm-hearted," I said.
His eye widened.
Then, very slowly, he grew serious.
"If I may ask, Ayae, why are you going to the Fire capital?"
I blinked. "You don't know?"
"I tend to operate on a need-to-know basis." He paused. "In this case, I need to know."
"To dance. I'm going to dance school," I answered.
"To dance," he echoed.
I nodded.
I wiggled my arms. I would have done a full dance in the wagon, if there were more room. But somehow, I felt neither Otoha nor the cat would appreciate that.
Mr. Hatake still looked like his world had turned upside-down.
"Mr. Hatake?"
He snapped back.
"Hm?"
"You see Itachi a lot, right?"
"You could say that."
"Could you pass him a message? Could you tell him… I'll get better. And when I do, he can come see me dance." I breathed. "If he could come to my performance… that would make me really happy." My voice cracked.
Mr. Hatake recovered.
"Okay."
