My punishment for missing curfew was bed by nine every day. My kunai kit was also taken away for a month. Ginjiro was upset that we could not practice in the park anymore. We had a system down and everything, with many made-up games.
Without my fake kunai, I tried to get the real ones in Itachi's scroll. I still got a shock whenever I tried to touch. Whining, I popped my finger in my mouth to stop the hurt.
From the kitchen, my dad called me down to dinner. Quickly, I tapped the edge and hid my scroll in my desk drawer. If my dad knew about my scroll, he might take it away too.
Downstairs, my dad was eying a blender. He pressed the power button. Everything inside turned to mush.
"Perfecto!" he exclaimed. He uncapped the blender and held out the contents to me. "Take a whiff! It's creamy potato soup!"
I smelled it. "Hey, not bad!"
"With leaks, pork, mushrooms…"
"Sounds yummy!"
"Squid, white vinegar, black vinegar, soba sauce, peaches, chopped liver, cucumbers, lentils, and, of course, salt! Or was it sugar. Right, it was sugar, but I fixed that by counteracting it with salt…"
My dad had a spoonful of his "soup".
He chugged down a tank of water.
The soup was a failure. No matter how many times I told my dad that liver and peaches do not mix, he stubbornly believed that one day he would make a breakthrough. Until then, we ate cup ramen.
When winter came, I locked myself in my room, studying. A big exam was coming up. There was no way I would let Ginjiro beat me in grades.
Still, studying was hard. I had trouble sitting in a chair for a long time, so I read on my bed. I shifted often so my arms would not go numb.
I read a lot. About the world, about the Kages, about the ninja rules. I breezed through the chapter on enshrouding. I finished the chapter on stealth. I made it all the way to survival. I read and read until everything blurred and the ink started dancing.
Then I started math. Five minutes in, I slammed my head on the table.
The next morning was horrible. If Teacher Funeno's quizzes were killer, his exams were death.
Next to me, Hana was scribbling away at the paper. She flipped through one page after the next. I could not help but stare in awe. But then I looked down at my own paper.
To my joy, I could answer all the questions on the first page. The second page asked me to write down the ninja rules 1 through 10. The first rule was easy: protect the village. I wrote that down. However, as the numbers got higher, I forgot more and more.
In the end, I decided to skip the ones I could not remember and go on to multiple choice.
When I finished the last page, I went back to the questions I skipped. I hit my head repeatedly, but I could not remember some of the rules.
I gave up and made up answers.
'Love everyone.'
'Practice a lot.'
'Always eat breakfast.'
My dad did always tell me to eat breakfast. Done, I handed the exam in and scurried out the classroom.
Outside, Shisui was relaxing under a tree. He was alone.
"Where's Itachi?" I asked.
"He had something important to attend to."
"Oh, okay."
Shisui and I hit the pavement. As we walked to the dance studio, he asked me, "So how was school today?"
"I had a test," I said.
"How'd ya do?"
"Horrible! I could not remember three of the answers. Stupid ninja rules."
"They aren't so bad."
"Say that to the three blanks on my page!" I exclaimed, hitting myself on the head.
Shisui laughed. "Okay, looks like you could use a Shisui trade secret. Listen, to ace written exams, you just need to remember these funky mnemonics."
"Funky what?"
"Please remove the foot fungus from my toe." He stopped and counted his fingers, sounding off each syllable.
"Ew!"
He laughed. "Don't ya get it? Please. Protect. Re. Respect. Move. Time. Finish. Forget. Gloat. Forfeit. Maintain. Together."
I blinked.
"Beginning of each sound..." Shisui led.
It took a while, but then I jumped up and down. "They match with the beginning sound of each rule. I get it!"
"Okay then. If you got it, recite! Let's see what you've got."
I hesitated, but then I became confident. "One, protect the village, no matter the cost. Two, get along. Three, hurry and move. Four, timing is everything. Five, do your best to finish. Six, forget the past. Seven… Protect, Respect, Move, Time, Finish, Forget… What does gloat mean?"
"Brag."
"Oh right. Seven, be proud of your village. Eight, know when to give in. Nine, be calm and okay. Ten, teamwork is everything."
He patted me on my head. "Not bad! You improvised now and then, but you got the points down. Remember foot fungus, and you'll do fine."
"Did you have to make it foot fungus?" I asked, grossed out. "Isn't that like the green stuff coming out of your foot?"
"How do you know what foot fungus is?"
I told Shisui about these two boys who hung around Ginjiro. They started eating with us girls. Foot fungus had been talked about before, unfortunately.
"Ah. Well, the best thing about foot fungus is that you never forget foot fungus. You'll need it on your graduation exam."
I grimaced, but he was right. I did not stop thinking about foot fungus for days!
Thankfully, after the exam was winter break. My dad's birthday came. We spent the day cooking. He wanted to master the art of baking his own cake. I played the assistant. We failed and went over to the Uchiha dessert shop.
As with all school breaks, I stayed with Aunt Mikoto while my dad was away at work. Aunt Mikoto would always say okay. She even knitted me a scarf. It was to keep me warm in the colder weather.
Sometimes Shisui would pop in, but I saw him less and less. He had "police crap".
Even though I was living in Itachi's house, I saw little of him too. I eavesdropped on Aunt Mikoto talking to another relative and learned Itachi was preparing for something called the Chuunin Exam.
I decided to use my time to prepare too. I danced. Ms. Hyuuga had told me that there was a dance competition coming up.
"Now you say encore," I said, bowing in the living room.
"Un?"
"Say encore!"
"Jeez, squirt, encore, encore. No need to shout."
"Unko," Sasuke said, clapping his hands.
"Encore. Oh, whatever. So how was it?"
"Very good."
"Thank you, Sasuke," I said, and bowed again. "What do you think, Shisui?"
"Eh, what was it that Itachi said before? Oh right, 'Ayae, your landing posture needs work. Your center of gravity is unstable. Your eyes are too fixated on the ground. Tilt your left foot 19 degrees clockwise.'"
My eye twitched. "Should I try the landing one more time?"
For the tenth time.
Shisui hesitated. "Um…"
"Um…" Sasuke copied.
"I think that's my mom calling. Yeah? What's that mom? Okay, I'll look for your spatula for you. Oh, more time? I'll clean that toilet too."
"Okay, okay, I get it!" I said. "Don't leave."
Sasuke whined. "He not going?"
"Yes, Shisui is staying with us," I said.
"His mommy calling him," Sasuke said grimly. "He should leave."
"Stay!"
"Leave!"
"Ignore him. You're staying."
"Bye bye!"
"If you stay, I'll stop dancing."
"If he not going, I leaving." Sasuke pouted and walked to the stairs. He climbed the steps one at a time. Then he looked back and stuck his tongue at Shisui.
"I swear he doesn't like me," Shisui said, baffled. "Is it because I smell or something?" He sniffed his armpits.
I shrugged. I picked up the pieces of ribbons littered on the floor.
"I don't get why! I'm funny, and cool, and amazingly hot."
"Sure you are, Mr. Hotness. Pick up your foot?" He did and I snatched the ribbon he was stepping on. "Maybe he's not used to you yet. Sasuke did not play with me either on the first day."
"Did he try to bite off your finger on the first day too?"
"Point taken."
Shisui crashed on the couch and fidgeted with one of Sasuke's toys.
I looked at the ribbon in my hand. I grew nervous. My land could use some work.
I turned to Shisui. "How about—"
"Oh god, have mercy on me."
"Just one more time!" I begged.
Shisui hit himself with Sasuke's toy. "Your. Dance. Is. Fine!"
"But maybe Itachi is right—"
"Well, he's wrong!"
"He's been wrong before?"
"Okay, no, but—"
"Eep!"
Hands were covering my mouth.
"Mmhm! MLET GO—mmm!" I did not need to look up to know who was muffling me. I squirmed.
I waved my fist. I will punch him if he did not let me go!
"Dude, the flirty thing is to cover her eyes, not her mouth," Shisui said.
"Shisui," Itachi said, "make sure she does not alert my mother."
"Ah, the old sneak in-n-out. Where were you all day? Apparently, you no longer live here."
"I've been busy," Itachi said, letting me go.
I gasped for air. "You are so going to get it! Auntie's been worried sick for you! She says you've been coming home so late every day!" I said.
"You won't even tell your best bud?" Shisui pleaded, giving the puppy dog eyes.
Itachi sighed. "You'll see at the examination, if anything should develop from this." He turned to me. "Ayae, I ask you to remain silent?"
I glanced out the window. Aunt Mikoto was outside in the backyard. She was trying to save flowers from the winter. "I won't tell…" I said.
Itachi went upstairs. He made no noise. In a few seconds, he came back with a backpack. He was going for the front door.
"You know, I wasn't done yet," I said. I glanced out the window again. I could see Aunt Mikoto clearly now.
Itachi turned to me. "You said you will not tell."
"Only if you tell me where you've been," I said. I never knew where he was or what he was doing.
Shisui whistled. "Now you're being a ninja, squirt. Always bargain."
"Cousin," Itachi warned.
"Eh? I'm not going to rat you out, buddy," Shisui said. "But don't count on me to stop her. She has girl germs!"
"Hey!" I said.
"Hay is for horses."
"Hit him for me," Itachi said.
I did, before turning to find Itachi already gone.
"Ah, another rule of the ninja. Don't expect the opponent to give into your demands," Shisui said, grinning.
"Oh, shut up!"
Aunt Mikoto entered through the back door. She took off her apron and shoes. "Itachi was just in here, wasn't he?"
Shisui and I laughed guiltily.
Surprisingly, Aunt Mikoto did not look upset. Instead, she smiled. She presented us with a bento and asked if we wanted to play a game.
The "game" was hide and seek. Itachi was hiding, and Shisui and I were seeking. Whoever found Itachi and gave him his lunch won. Shisui was out the door when he learned the reward was Mikoto's cooking. He had not eaten since his mom tried an all-vegetable diet, so he would do anything for good food.
The only problem was that Konoha was really big. We ran everywhere. But Itachi was not in the dumpling shop, he was not by the lake, he was not at the police station.
I gasped, out of breath. My cheeks were rosy from the wind. "Doncha think… he would… be at a training place?" I asked.
Shisui blinked.
"You make a point," he said. "But there are hundreds of training places."
"Do you know which one?"
"It would be amazingly helpful if I did, wouldn't it?"
I groaned. For hours, we moved from training field to training field, passing through grass and trees and streams. Shisui said that Itachi must be in a private field. A well hidden one.
As we walked through training fields, I wondered if I could play with Gin here. The park was nice, but there were sometimes too many people. When I asked Shisui about it, he said that the grounds were only for ninjas only.
We walked some more. Once or twice, we saw ninjas practicing. Shisui led me away from them. He told me to not disturb others when training, because I might cause an accident.
Finally, we reached a boulder. Shisui sighed. "You know, this might be easier if we split up. I'll take the left, you take the right. It'll cover more area. Think you can go straight that way and come right back here without getting lost, squirt?"
"I can handle it," I said.
"Remember, go straight and come back here in thirty minutes. Oh, and like I said, you see or hear any ninjas, go around them."
"Okay."
"Thirty minutes," he said again. Then he swung up a branch and hopped out of sight.
As told, I went right. There were more fields, bordered by trees. Along the way, two ninjas were fighting. Their fight moved closer to me, so I turned to the trees to go around them.
I tried to be at least ten meters away from the ninjas, so I went deeper into the woods, hopping over a fallen log. I grimaced at the moss and wiped my hands on my pants. Through the bushes and branches, I saw bugs and crawlers too. I skipped around those.
Soon enough, I saw a clearing again. I had circled back into the fields. I looked ahead and saw no sign of Itachi. It might be time to head back.
I blinked, wondering which way was back. I did not want to go back through the woods again.
Well, I had started walking right, and the trees were on my left. I turned left into the woods, then circled back to the fields. So if I turned right, then went straight, I would be back at my meeting place! Wait. Which way was right again? Left hand, right hand… That way!
On my way, I thought I would see the ninjas again. I planned to circle them the other way this time, around the fields. But I did not see them. They must have finished and left.
After a while, I looked for the boulder. I tiptoed and saw no boulder ahead. I sighed and ran.
I ran out of breath. There was still no boulder. I panicked and looked back. Why did it take so much longer to get back?
Confused, I walked a little further.
Then I stopped.
"Ah, crap."
The woods stretched over the field, looping. A dead end.
"Okay, this is not the right way," I muttered.
A breeze came. I zipped my jacket and wrapped my scarf. I looked around, but the Konoha buildings were nowhere in sight. I could go back the way I came, but I did not have time. Shisui said thirty minutes.
So I crouched down and drew a map in the dirt. I decided the best way back was to cut through the woods again.
About halfway in, I realized my plan was stupid. I cursed as the woods got thicker. But it was too late to go back. So I went further, going around the bugs and branches.
After tripping over a root for the third time, I saw a clearing ahead. Victory!
I ran to meet Shisui and apologize for being late.
I reached the clearing.
This was not the right place. There were burned trees and uplifted dirt. The clearing was a big circle where no grass grew. By luck, the person in the middle was the person I was looking for.
"Itachi!"
Itachi spun around.
I could not believe it. I ran closer, waving.
I stopped. Itachi was not alone.
There was a flash. A kunai hit the dirt before my foot. Shocked, I stumbled back. The kunai was real, the metal gleaming in the sun.
I realized I was in a different world. The wind blew. The trees whispered warnings. Something told me to get out of here.
I stood, numb.
I could not see much of the fight. It was a giant blur, with sounds that did not match. Then there was an explosion of debris. I covered my head until it was clear. Even with the dust, the fighting did not stop.
Then I heard a sick crack. Itachi's back hit a tree. He hit it so hard that the tree trunk cratered.
Someone walked up to Itachi.
My eyes widened.
It was his dad. He punched Itachi in the stomach, then kicked him back into the clearing. Even this far away, I saw the cuts in Itachi's skin. There was blood from his lips.
He tried to get up but fell back down.
"Pathetic."
His dad picked him by his shirt. Itachi faced him, but said nothing. He did nothing. His dad got mad. He threw Itachi back into the ground. "I told you to come at me with intent to kill. Get up."
Before he could hit Itachi again, I screamed.
Itachi's dad turned to me.
I stumbled back. I fell down.
My legs were shaking. My heart was pounding. I was afraid. The closer Itachi's dad came, the more afraid I got.
"What are you doing here? You are a distraction."
"Ayae, leave!"
My gaze snapped to Itachi. He sounded cold. Mad. His eyes locked onto mine. He looked worried. He looked scared. His nails dug into the dirt, as he tried to get up.
A hand grabbed me. My eyes snapped back to his dad. I tried to squirm away. His grip was too strong. I screamed and hit him, so he would let me go.
There was the sound of a slap. I froze.
I began to feel the burn on my face. It hurt. It hurt really badly. My eyes got watery.
"Proper kunoichi do not cry." He lifted his hand again.
I closed my eyes, cringing, but the blow never came. When I opened my eyes, Itachi stood in front of me. He was blocking the hand with his arm.
"Father, the fight is between us."
There was a kunai in his other hand.
"Are you finally serious?"
Itachi's dad was gone. At the same time, I felt myself yanked back. Something cold and sharp was pressed against my neck. My breathing hitched. I made myself not swallow.
I looked at Itachi out of helplessness. I could not tell what he was thinking. In his eyes were surprise, fear, and anger. The emotions swirled with one another until his eyes glassed over and went red. He was gone.
I did not realize I was already free. I stood alone in a clearing, surrounded by sounds of metal against metal, thuds and wind. I sometimes caught blurs.
Then the fight came to a stop, with a sword and two kunai locked together.
"Perfect." Itachi's dad smiled.
Itachi stared back. Without looking away, he told me, "Ayae, leave."
His voice was cold. So cold that I shivered.
I listened. I turned around and ran, not looking back. I did not care where I went. I just needed to go as far away as I could. Whenever I tripped, I picked myself up and kept running, ignoring the scratches or bugs or dirt.
Finally, I could not run anymore. I fell against a tree. My hand went to my neck again. I could still feel the blade. I wrapped my scarf around my neck to protect myself.
I curled up into a ball and hugged my jacket. I wiped my eyes. The tears kept coming, so I gave up and sobbed into my knees.
I did not notice there was someone coming until I heard branches crunching. I backed further into the tree, scared again.
"Gee, are you crying, squirt?" Shisui asked, scratching his head. "At least with your bawling, I found ya."
"Shisui!" I hugged him. I had never been so glad to see him in my life.
Shisui was taken aback. He patted my head.
He noticed something wrong. He squatted down. His eyes went wide. "How did that happen?" he asked, looking at my cheek.
I could not make words to tell him, so I cried into his chest.
Shisui carried me home. I fell asleep in his arms.
I woke up to a lot of shouting.
Dizzy, I opened my eyes. I saw a blurry Aunt Mikoto next to me. She was wiping me with a wet towel.
"Auntie?" There was another person pacing in the living room. "Dad?"
They both stopped talking to each other.
"Honey!" My dad ran to me. He started asking me a billion questions. Aunt Mikoto shushed him.
Aunt Mikoto cradled my head. She brought me to her chest in a hug. "Ayae dear, are you okay?"
I did not know what to say, but I felt comforted in her arms. I nodded.
Smiling, she kissed me on the forehead. She went back to cleaning my hands. My palms stung wherever the towel touched. I had scraped myself badly in the woods.
There were more cuts on my knees and elbows too from the falls. My clothes were dirty and torn. My backpack was next to me. It was open, food spilled out from the lunch box. Rice and beans were on the floor.
My head hurt. My eyes were dry.
After Aunt Mikoto cleaned me, she rubbed cream on my wounds, and then bandaged everything.
"Isn't anywhere else badly hurt?" she asked.
I shook my head. My hands stung, but I was okay.
"Would you like anything to eat or drink?"
I shook my head again.
"How about water?"
I realized my throat was dry. "Okay."
Aunt Mikoto came back with a glass of water. My hands were weak and shaking as I held the glass. She brought the glass to my lips instead.
When I finished, she knelt by me and asked, "Tell me, Ayae dear, what happened out there today?"
I looked between her and my dad. I looked down.
"We… I got lost. And… and... I saw him."
"Who did you see?"
"I-Itachi…"
Her lips thinned. "Did my husband do that to you?" she asked softly, stroking my face.
I flinched.
"Yes." I looked into her eyes and begged that she would keep the scary man away.
She smiled reassuringly and hugged me again. The glass in her hands had cracked.
The front door slid open.
"Aunt Mikoto! I found him!" Shisui shouted.
Aunt Mikoto gasped. In Shisui's arms was Itachi, covered in dirt and blood.
"Hurry! He's dangerously low on chakra!" Shisui said.
My dad ran over. "We need to get him to the hospital!"
Aunt Mikoto stood up. "Where is his father?"
"I don't know! I found him alone and unconscious in the woods. He must have left his father to search for her."
"Ayae?"
"Ayae dear!"
"Ayae! Honey, can you hear me….?"
I could hear him, but I fell to the floor before I could say, "Yes."
.
I curled up in my bedroom, hugging Utako. After that horrible day, I stayed inside all day, every day. Even when winter break was over and school started, I did not go.
My dad skipped work to comfort me. I was glad he did.
Aunt Mikoto came over often. She stayed to help with cooking and cleaning. She kept my dad company when I just wanted to be alone. The first few days when I could not sleep, she read me a story or sang me a lullaby. She was around so often it felt like she lived here.
Sasuke did not like staying at our house at first. After a while, he got used to it. He liked our T.V.
Shisui showed up often too. I liked Shisui, but he got annoying, especially when he tried to get me to go to school.
"You know, you have to go back eventually."
"Go away, Shisui, if you have no reason to be here," I said.
"On the contrary, I have a perfectly almost decent purpose to be here." From his pockets, he took out a crumpled paper ball. "I saw your detention buddy outside the district. He told me to give this to ya."
Shisui did not give it to me. I reached. He kept it away, teasingly.
"Give me!" I said.
He tossed it to me. I unwrinkled the note.
'Ayae where r u? everyone is wondering what happened to u because u did not come to school. R u still sick? get better soon or else u'll miss praktis! it was fun and we can work on it at the park. if u get better, come to the park saturday okay? i'll show u how! Gin.'
'Ayae! What's wrong?! Why aren't you here in class? Teacher already started the next lesson. Well, it was easy stuff so I bet you'll do fine. Here's the hoemwork. It's the textbook, 78. Just read it until the end. Math is page 144. I don't remember if there is anything else. Hope you get better! ~Tamaki. P.S. You, me, shopping, Friday, marketplace no. 3. Got it?'
'Hope you feel better Ayae! We miss you. Come eat ramen when you are good. Dai and Setsu say hi and hope you get better too. - Ayame.'
'Ayae, Tamaki told me to write on this note so you have the full homework. It's History: worksheet. Beginners: 67-68, 70-73, 78, in order of each day you miss. Math: 143-144. Skills: I'll tell you later. Heads up, quiz Friday. Also, our team is now in 3rd place because we got beat by table seven. Get well soon so we can get our 2nd place title back. Minoji can't learn for his life. At least you get the stuff after a while. Hana.'
I wrote down the homework problems. Then, I wrote on the back of the note and crumbled it again. "Shisui, can you give this to Gin?"
"Or you can when you go back to school tomorrow!"
I moaned and pulled the covers over my head.
"Get out of bed!"
"I'm sick."
"No, you're not! Now get out!"
"No."
"Come on!"
"No."
"If you get up, I'll get you some of the famous-Uchiha-grandpapa-specialty-hot-spice-drink! "
"I hate tea."
"How did you know the famous-Uchiha-grandpapa-specialty-drink was tea?"
"Because that's all this clan drinks."
"Oh. Wait, how can you not like tea? Give me one reason."
"It's nasty, it's bitter, and it's boiling hot. Now, go away, Shisui. I'm going to bed."
Shisui would not give up. He thought of something.
"You know, squirt, Itachi might have woken up by now. The hospital allows visitors until six. It's five now, so..." he sang.
I pushed the covers off me and went to the bathroom for a five-minute shower.
After I cleaned up, I followed Shisui downstairs. In the living room, my dad and Aunt Mikoto were talking over tea. They were surprised that I had left my room. I told them that I would like to go outside. My dad was so happy. He said he would come along. I said I wanted to just go with Shisui.
The trip was quick. Shisui and I jogged, since we had less than an hour left.
We reached a building with wide glass doors and the words 'Konoha Hospital'. I ran in first.
The hospital smelled bad, like medicine. I wrinkled my nose.
I went to the counter. I tiptoed and asked the nurse, "Which way to Itachi?"
At the name, the nurse got jumpy. "Pardon?"
"Itachi! Which room?" I said, impatient.
"Are you referring to Uchiha… Itachi?" she asked, cautious.
"Yes!"
"Ah, I am sorry, little girl, but visits to him are restricted on behalf of…"
"Oh, cut us a break with the formality. This is his cousin," Shisui said when he walked in.
"Shisui!" The nurse knew Shisui and smiled. She told us upstairs, last door on the left. I rushed upstairs. The last door on the left was closed.
When I tested the handle, it opened.
I peeked in. The room was quiet. Shisui walked beside me. He patted me on the back to go on.
The room had many beds, but only one was used. Itachi was sleeping. Carefully, I came closer.
Bangs covered most of his face, and bandages covered the rest. There was an IV needle in one of his arms. I cringed.
I watched him breathe.
"He isn't breathing right," I told Shisui. Itachi's chest was rising up and down strangely.
Shisui got me a chair and joked, "He's asleep, squirt. You can't control your breathing when you're asleep."
I sat in the chair and watched Itachi some more. "Why isn't he up?" I asked. "Doesn't he know we are here?"
"Maybe we just have to wait a little longer."
I sat and waited. In the silence, I felt my heart drop. I asked, "Why so long? Why isn't the medicine helping him? I thought medicine makes you better."
"Medicine is helping him, squirt. You just have to be patient. When someone is low on chakra, they get super tired. We just have to wait for the chakra to come back."
I bit my lips and looked at the hospital floor. "Okay," I said.
I did not know why I started to rub my eyes, or why my eyes started to get wet again, but Shisui caught me.
"Hey, are you crying?"
"No."
He leaned closer.
I wiped my eyes again.
"You are!"
"No, I'm n-not." My voice cracked. I could not stop the tears from coming.
Shisui jumped to his toes. He started going through the cabinets for a box of tissues. "Oi, don't— you can't— Gah! Here! Stop crying!" He waved a tissue in front of me.
"I told you, I am not crying!" I blew into the tissue. "I'm not sad!" I took ten more tissues and blew into them too. I looked at Shisui. "I'm scared," I cried. "I'm scared Itachi won't wake up! Then it'd be all my fault!"
Shisui was frantic, carrying in his arms a stack of tissue boxes. "What! No, no, no, don't even think that! This was just a bad accident, how can you think it's your—"
"Because!" I looked at the tissues in my hands and broke down. "B-because, I ran away. I knew Itachi was hurt, but I ran away."
"Squirt, there was nothing you could have done in that situation. You got involved in something out of your control. You did the right thing by leaving."
I shook my head. "No."
"Itachi would have wanted you to—"
I shook my head more. "No."
"Squir—"
"Shisui," I said quietly. "If I were hurt badly, and I saw you there, I would not want to be left alone. If I said anything different, I'd be lying."
Shisui said nothing.
I buried myself in my knees. "Itachi needed me, but I left him. I am a bad friend."
The door opened. The nurse came and shooed us out. Visiting hours were over.
I wanted to go back to my room and lock myself inside again.
But when we got to my house, we heard yelling inside. Shisui and I looked at each other. Shisui cracked open the door. We peeked in.
"How dare you show your face here! How dare you?"
"Mikoto, calm down," my dad said. He turned to Itachi's dad. "How dare you come into my house after what you have done!"
Itachi's dad caught my dad's fist. "Relax, Mr. Kenta. I did not come here to start a fight."
"Have you come to apologize?"
"No," Itachi's dad said. He threw my dad's hand aside. "And I can charge you with assault of an officer, but I'll overlook it. I did say I came here for peace."
My dad went red with anger.
Aunt Mikoto stepped in. "Kenta, he's not worth it."
My dad breathed. His chest inflated. He pointed to the door. "If you are not here to apologize, then get out of my house."
"Mr. Kenta, this is Uchiha property. I have permission to enter any residence I wish, without constraint."
"I don't care about permission. Get out, or I'll force you out!"
"Mr. Kenta, if you have not noticed, I am a shinobi, and you are a mere civilian. You have no force against me."
"Fugaku," Aunt Mikoto began, "if you do not leave Kenta's home…"
"Stay out of this, woman," Itachi's dad said. "We will discuss what is necessary at home."
Aunt Mikoto was hurt. My dad had enough. He went into another room. When he came back, my eyes widened. Shisui's jaw dropped.
"Is that a—" Shisui choked.
"I am giving you until ten to leave my house," my dad said, his voice flat. "Otherwise, I am giving this flamethrower a test drive." He switched on a button on the big, scary machine in his hand.
"Your dad has a flamethrower?" Shisui whispered to me.
"He— It— maybe?" I said. "I don't know what he does at work."
"Where does he work?"
"I don't know!" I said. "Konoha Del something. I think it began with an U. Or was it… hm."
"Konoha Ninja Tool Research Facility's Department of Secretive and Deadly Military Weapons?" Shisui said, squinting at the label on my dad's flamethrower.
"Yeah, that!"
Shisui stared at me. "And suddenly, I just gained a whole lot of respect for your father."
"Oh, thank you! You know, he also made the future ball and the little froggy. I'll show you once the coast is clear."
We went back to eavesdropping. Aunt Mikoto had wrestled the flamethrower away from my dad, thankfully. Else, our house would have burned down.
"I can't believe you got your own son into the hospital!" my dad said.
"It was necessary," Itachi's dad said.
"He was eight. It was child abuse!"
"Mr. Kenta, you are being overly dramatic. There were reasons behind my actions, and everything would have been under control had my son not made the foolish decision to leave in his condition."
"I do not blame Itachi for leaving a father who would beat him until he's unconscious."
Itachi's dad was not happy. I backed up into Shisui, wanting to run away again.
"Uchiha Kenta, exactly what are you insinuating?"
"I think you know perfectly," my dad said.
"No. I do not," Itachi's dad said. "If you are questioning my parenting skills, I shall be blunt: you shall have no interference. If you are questioning the condition of my child, I suggest you brush up on basic shinobi codes. If you are questioning me personally, I shall tell you that no matter what you tell me, I have no guilt for what I have done."
My dad stared at him for a long time, his hands clenched. "You are a sadistic bastard."
"And you are an idiotic fool."
"Madman."
"Idealist."
"Go to hell!"
"If you are to throw insults, at least make them meaningful. I can get you arrested for harassment."
"Fine, arrest me. I will go to jail knowing I do not harm children!"
"And I will rest comfortably at home knowing I do not baby them."
Their voices rose. I was waiting for the fight. I hoped my dad would beat him up.
The fight never happened.
"ENOUGH!"
Aunt Mikoto got everyone to shut up. She stood still, staring at her husband.
"Mikoto—" my dad said.
She held her hand out. She spoke, her voice hardened and low. "Kenta, shut your mouth. His threats are not empty, and I'm not in the mood to burn down the station nor demand any release forms. Your concern is improperly placed. Worry for your own daughter and stay out of my family's business."
She then wiped the smirk off her husband's face.
"And you," she said. "I have entrusted my son to you. All these years, I have stayed out of your discipline methods, buried my calamities, and forfeited my own flesh and blood to you as part of my duty to this marriage. I have watched my son grow up, knowing nothing about him. But if you hurt him like this again, if you dare lay another hand on that little girl again, I am not sparing any mercy on you."
"What are you saying?"
"I am filing for divorce."
"Mikoto!" my dad said.
"It is not permitted," Itachi's dad said. He sounded angry, but he looked scared.
"I will plead with the Hokage."
"He won't. You can't."
"Watch me."
Before I could hear or see anything more, Shisui pulled me away from the door. "Adults are funny, aren't they?"
"What—"
"Come on, let's go to my house and share an all leafy and nutritiously gross diet!" he said and dragged me along.
I did not understand. Shisui was laughing, but I felt there was something wrong.
.
"This has got to be the worst food I have ever eaten," I said.
My eye twitched at the bowl of raw vegetables in front of me. I did not even like cooked vegetables, let alone raw ones. Leaves just sat there, in a bowl, with carrots, all nasty and covered in vinegar.
Shisui called it, "rabbit food." He used his fingers to make bunny ears above his head.
Gods, the food was awful. I could not tell Shisui's mom that though. She was weird at times, but she was nice to me.
I wondered how I could make my bowl disappear. It would be rude to Shisui's mom to leave the bowl full.
I looked around. I dumped my food down Shisui's bowl.
"Hey!"
"Hay is for horses," I said, sticking my tongue out.
"Horses don't eat rabbit food!"
"Shisui, Ayae baby, what are you kids talking about now? Of course horses don't eat rabbits. They eat hay!" Shisui's mother said, carrying another big bowl of…
Gods.
Please, no more green!
It could not be helped. My dad had to go back to work, and Aunt Mikoto had shut the doors to her house. So, between eating rabbit food all day at Shisui's or going back to school, I chose school. Anything to get away from the vegetables.
At school, all my friends asked me why I was gone for so long. I lied and said I caught a cold. Hearing that, Ayame made me homemade soup. I shared it with Shisui.
Back at home, my dad and Itachi's dad fought so often, the clan elder stepped in. The elder told them both to behave.
I ran away from their adult stuff. I locked myself in my room. I tried to catch up on homework. I studied and studied.
Then came the day that Itachi woke up.
As soon as I heard the news, I grabbed the basket in my room and ran to the hospital.
I had spent all my allowance on a get-well gift for him. There were chocolates and boxes of desserts, toys, and books. I made a card. Everything was wrapped in a big bow that I had tied myself. The bow was a little lopsided, but I hoped that he would like it.
In the hospital room, I tackled Itachi in a hug. I sat by him. I asked if he was okay. I told him everything that he had missed out on, from school to the horrible rabbit food.
But as I blabbed on, I realized he was not listening. He did not look at me. He did not talk back. Even his eyes were blank.
I thought maybe it was the medicine.
Days later, I learned Itachi could walk again. I ran to the hospital room, hoping to see him okay.
He did talk to me then.
"Ayae, leave my life. I do not wish to see you again."
He walked past without looking at me. He closed the door behind him and left with his family.
I stood in the hospital room, confused. I saw my basket by the window. My lopsided bow was still there. He never opened it.
I ran to the hallways, but he was already gone. No matter where I looked from that day on, I could not find him again. I didn't even know that I had lost a friend until it was too late.
The one time I heard anything about him was toward the end of my third year. Within the clan, there was gossip about Chuunin Exams and divorce papers.
I was buying some buns from the Uchiha dessert shop. The auntie asked if I would support Itachi at the Chuunin Exam. I asked her what that was. She was surprised that I did not know. The Chuunin Exam was a battle tournament. She said fantastic things happened there.
When I got home, I asked my dad if I could go. I could not. Tickets were expensive. You needed to know people to get in. It did not matter, though, because I heard that Itachi could not take the Exam.
That was Aunt Mikoto's revenge. She had spoken to the Hokage. Itachi's dad had worked so hard to get Itachi into the Exam. But now, Itachi could not go until he was ten. Otherwise, their marriage was over, and Mikoto would leave with Sasuke.
I did not understand. Whenever I asked Shisui about the gossip, he would go, "Huh?" or "Whatcha muttering about, squirt?"
There was little other news about Itachi. I heard he went on a mission in Snow while Shisui stayed to take the Exam. Shisui won first place.
I was surprised. Shisui had always been a big goof in my heart. Still, everyone praised him. They called him Shisui of the Body Flicker. He got the name after a cool stunt he pulled in his final match, in which he put together super speed with illusions to make an epic finale.
Time passed, and I felt pressured to do something great too. My grades were average. The closest I came to winning was my dance competition. I got fourth place.
Toward the end of my third year, our grade had a special history class. We went to the top roof to study the Hokage monuments. Teacher Suzume and Teacher Funeno took turns talking about the Hokage. Then suddenly, the real Hokage popped in.
He was an old man, with white hair and a white beard. He wore cool robes and smoked a pipe. For our sake, he pocketed his pipe.
The Hokage congratulated everyone for finishing our first true year of ninja school. He talked about things like goals and dreams. He took the time to learn everyone's names and made us promise him one thing. To love, and to protect those you love. That was the first and foremost duty of a ninja.
One kid's hand shot up. "If I do, does that mean I can become Hokage too?"
The Hokage chuckled. "If you put in enough determination and effort, that is possible. Who knows, the next Hokage might be someone in this very class."
That got everyone excited.
"And before any of you kids get too caught up, remember to take things one step at a time. There are no shortcuts to being a ninja, and you will have to face every obstacle head on! Including passing my not-so-popping pop quiz tomorrow!" Teacher Funeno laughed.
My class groaned.
"Heh, good luck, Ayae. You'll need it," Ginjiro said, elbowing me.
"Shut up."
"Says the one who scored a point lower than me on the test."
I slammed his cap down his face. "I'll get you next time."
"Sure you will."
After the history lesson, we went back to class, had lunch, and then learned hand signs.
I met up with Shisui after school. We talked about ways to live off bread sticks until his mom got common sense and stopped making us eat green stuff.
For a long time, though, I thought about the Hokage's words. I thought about Itachi. I realized, painfully, that I had not been a good friend, or a good ninja. I wished I could have gone back in time and stayed with Itachi. Stopped him from getting hurt.
But I could not go back, and Itachi was gone.
