I rose my arm for a block, then slid in with my elbow. When Gin dodged, I spun back for a kick. My foot met his hat.

"Shit-"

My knee hit his jaw. One final kick later, he flew back towards a tree. My smirk disappeared when I saw a log slammed into the tree instead.

Next thing I knew, his elbow locked my neck in a choke hold. I struggled to get him off me. We rolled on the grass, but he had me good. I gave in.

After Gin let go, I sat up and took a big breath.

"Damn it!" I screamed.

Gin and I were no longer tied. After the summer, it was clear that I bested him in taijutsu. Stances were all about counter and balance. No matter how many times I was hit, I could find balance. Gin could not. Once I figured how to use that against him, he kept losing.

But I also could not do any ninjutsu. Gin was in the top three for best in ninjutsu. So if a match did not allow ninjutsu, I won. But if it did, he won.

We helped each other up. It was good that Gin and I got better in different places. That way, we could teach each other.

Ever since I had beaten Hana in Traditional Sparring, Gin had wanted to know my secret. I told him that it was just yin.

"What the heck is yin?"

I opened my mouth. Huh. Itachi had explained it, but he used big words. "It's like... a circle thing..."

Gin gave me a funny look. I stammered some more, trying to explain. "Um, um, it's like... a vitamin!"

"A vitamin?"

"Yeah! It sounds nasty and you don't think it's going to work, but it does!" I stopped. "How about I just show you?"

I showed Gin the whole opposites thing. After a while, Gin thought it was stupid. He said I was just letting him hit me. I told him he was wrong. It was not about doing nothing, but letting the other person move first. It was about letting the other person tire out and waiting for them to mess up somewhere.

Gin still thought it was stupid.

"You're supposed to go back when I go forward!" I told him.

"Why would I do that! If you move closer, then I can punch!"

"But that's not how yin works!" I said, stomping in place.

"Well, I don't like how it works."

"But you asked!"

In the end, we gave up on yin and punched each other senseless.

My ninjutsu lesson did not go any better. I held my breath until I was blue in the face. Nothing. There was no smoke. There was not even the tingle. I started to think there was no such thing as the tingle, and that the world made it up as a prank.

"Maybe you just don't have chakra," Gin mumbled.

"Of course I have chakra! Everyone has chakra!" I groaned, curling into my knees.

Ninjutsu always got me sad. I got nowhere after every session. I worried that I might not be able to use chakra at all.

The main difference between ninja and civilians was that ninjas can use chakra, but civilians cannot. The number one reason people left the Academy was chakra. Those who could not use chakra could never be a ninja.

People said you get chakra from your parents, like your looks. So if your parents were not ninja, you were not one either. I got scared, but then I remembered Gin's parents were not ninja either. His dad worked in cargo and his mom chopped fish in a convenience store. Meanwhile, I was part of a clan, the most famous in Konoha.

It did not make any sense!

I picked up Gin's fallen hat and noticed something inside. "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh, let me show you!" Gin pulled free a paper from the inside of his hat.

He flatted the paper out on his lap. The color was rare, but the leaf stamp was clear. It was a thousand ryou bill. I had only seen those once, during the time that Tomoe threw a hundred sixty of them in the air and burned them all.

My dad never used any bill bigger than two hundred. Tamaki got fifty ryou bills for her allowance, and I got a ten a week for ice cream. Gin only got one, though his mom gave him a five if he did chores.

"What- how!" I exclaimed.

Gin crossed his arms and gave a fat grin. "My bro gave me this after he got promoted on his job! He's now the head honcho of every mail from here to Tanzuka!"

That was huge news. "But your brother hasn't ever settled on a job before! Does that mean he's given up on ninja?"

"As if! My bro said that they're going to let him test to be a courier ninja. You need an Academy diploma for that, but his boss likes him and is willing to give him an exception!"

I knitted my eyebrows. "What's a courier ninja?"

"Only the best kind of ninja ever!" Gin said, plopping down on the patch of grass next to me. "They travel the world and risk their lives to make sure people get their things. Couriers are the fastest, most honest, respectable, and trust-worthy ninja there could be!"

"Wow, that's so great!" I beamed, then looked at the money. "What are you going to buy?" I asked, excited.

"Buy! No, I am saving this for something special." He was hiding the money back under his cap when there came a voice.

"Gin?"

It was one of Gin's friends, standing by the school entrance. He was holding a cardboard box with a lot of gadgets inside.

"Hosei!" Gin waved.

"Hey, you up for a game? We just got the Nindo Eight!" Hosei said. Then he noticed me.

I gave him a wave. I saw Hosei a lot around school. Sometimes he even ate lunch with us.

Since Gin was excited about the game, I jumped up and said, "Well, I'm off then! See you later, Gin." I was covered head to toe in bruises and icky sweat. I wanted to go home for a shower.

"You know, you can play with us too," Hosei told me.

Gin dropped the game he picked up from the box. "Game? Her?"

"What, I thought you would want your girlfriend to come with you."

Gin and I choked.

"She is not my girlfriend!"

"I am not his girlfriend!"

Hosei was kidding, as usual. When not trying to gross me out, boys were always joking.

Hosei usually did not talk to me, but now that he did, I saw that he was nice. He invited me to join them in the game club. There, the boys complained. They said girls were not allowed in the club. Hosei ignored them. He taught me the controls. For the rest of the evening, I got caught up in some video game about a fat plumber, a frog princess, and weird turtle mushroom monsters.

Afterward, everyone talked about the upcoming Autumn Festival. Gin was going with his brother this year. I planned on sticking with my dad.

I had not been spending time with my dad. He worked hard Sunday to Friday, so Saturday was our day together. Saturday was grocery day. But for me, Saturday became training day, like every day. I hurt my dad's feelings when I left him on grocery day.

When the Autumn Festival came, Aunt Mikoto helped me into my yukata and put pretty ribbons in my hair. I was excited until I saw Sasuke sitting on the veranda, sighing.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Come on, spill."

"Mind your business."

I rolled my eyes. Picking up the edge of my yukata, I was ready to leave, when Sasuke grumbled, "I don't think my brother's coming. He's been gone for two months."

"He'll come," I said.

Sasuke did not look sure. I was less sure than he was. Because Sasuke lived with Itachi, they could at least talk to each other. But I had not seen Itachi since his hospital visit. By the time I learned he had gotten back from one mission, he had already left for another.

"And if not, just hang out with your other friends," I said.

When Sasuke shrunk, I stopped. Did he have other friends? Before I could ask, Aunt Mikoto called his name. He left.

A jingling sound came from the trees. Michio flipped down.

I held a grudge against Michio ever since our spar. The spar that never happened. Because he forfeited. I knew it was stupid to take on Michio, but he did not have to forfeit. It felt like he was belittling me, like how Shisui and Itachi belittle me.

"Honey doll!" he exclaimed, arms wide.

I was ready to turn a cheek and ignore him. But then I saw something that made it impossible to look away. My jaw dropped.

"Y-you, you-" I pointed a finger.

Michio tilted his head. "Me, me?"

I slapped my face. "Why are you in a PINK yukata?!"

Michio looked down, before biting down on his index finger. "Because it's got pretty flowers on it," he said in a girly voice, his eyes wide. "You no like?"

I fell to the ground. When he made that face, he won the trophy for the cutest girl of our school!

That was when I remembered something. "No, you have to change back into a boy!" I said.

"Why?" he asked. I never cared what he wore or transformed into, unless it was Itachi. If it was Itachi, then I would whack him back to normal.

"Because! I…" I scratched my head. "Look, one of my friends likes you, and I kind of promised…"

Michio lowered his eyelids. "You promised that I'll be her date this festival?"

I clapped my hands together. "Please, please, please?"

"Well, I don't know. I don't know this girl, I don't know if I'll like her…"

"I'll owe you!"

I winced at the gleam in his eyes. "You'll owe me a date."

I collapsed. I knew it. "Oka-"

"Whenever, wherever, however I say it. And you gotta pretend you like it."

"No!"

Pouting, Michio curled his hair. "Then I don't wanna be a boy," he whined.

I hung my head and held out a hand. "Fine, deal."

Michio took my hand and yanked me to him in a tango, the wind blowing behind him. The pink fluttered away, replaced by dark cloth. He lost the softness of his face, and now stared back as a handsome boy. "Deal." He grinned.

Michio flickered out. Sasuke went with his family. I went home.

I took my dad's hand. Together, we walked through the Konoha streets together. Lanterns hung everywhere. Children ran around in masks. Everywhere were booths for street games.

"Whatever you knock down, it's yours!" a game vendor said, handing my dad and me slingshots.

I pulled the elastic band and aimed for a pack of cards. Instead of knocking down the cards, my pebble bounced off the wall and hit the vendor on the head. Oopsies.

A second pebble smacked the vendor on the head. My dad nudged up his glasses. "Oops!"

The vendor snatched away our slingshots and pointed at us to leave. We laughed nervously and ran. We tried more games. When we got hungry, we bought sponge cakes and chocolate covered bananas.

Along the way, I saw masks on sale. There was a monk, a bumblebee, a panda, and a monkey. I even saw some characters from popular TV shows and a Nata. I took out some ryou from my pockets and asked for a cat mask.

"Hey, hey, sweetie, look at what I won!"

My dad came and held up a cage with a baby turtle inside.

"Wah! So cute!" I exclaimed.

My dad beamed. "Yup, say hello to our new family member, Dokuta Mikuninja!"

I fell. "Dr. McNinja?" What a bad name!

"Yeah! Doctor, because doctors are great, and ninja, because we're in a ninja village! Ahaha!"

I hid my face in embarrassment. Oh daddy. I crouched down and looked at the baby turtle in pity. "How about just Doku?"

The turtle nodded with me.

I strapped on my cat mask, and we set off again. We heard the pounding of drums and saw a mob of people carrying a mikoshi to a temple. They bobbed the mikoshi up and down while chanting. A little further away, a crowd of kids giggled, shouting and lugging a smaller mikoshi.

My dad and I joined the mob, shouting and laughing with them.

Finally, the real party came. There was a gong that could be heard through the streets. Then the sound got louder, and the people parted for a group of dancers in colored feathers. People walked on bamboo sticks as tall as buildings. Some were covered head to toe in fire. People gasped when a monstrous cat pounced in front, baring fangs.

Every Autumn Festival, Konoha brought entertainers in, whether puppeteers or samurai, dancers or musicians. This was my first time seeing a circus. The parade passed by, as did their carriages and stands. On top of one carriage rested a person in a noh mask, white as a ghost.

I yelped when a demon burst out, a red mask with a long nose and scary smile. The actor waved his hands. Then he disappeared to frighten another part of the audience.

My dad had fainted.

I grabbed him, following the crowd to see the shows. In one of the shows, they made weird animals appear and turned them different colors. In another show, they did fire tricks with the monster cat. But the show with the most people was the noh theatre group.

The stage masks were scary and strange. When the actor looked in one direction, the mask looked evil. But when the actor looked in another direction, the mask looked like it was crying. And if he faced us head on, the mask was laughing again.

"He has returned."

At the voice, I jolted.

Tomoe was sitting next to me.

She was in a mask too. It was broken, only covering around her eyes and one side of her face. Curls of silver and gold circled down to her cheeks, dripping down like jewels. The mask was beautiful, but cold. It looked like Tomoe was not wearing a mask.

Her eyes did not leave the noh show. "Go to him."

I turned to my dad and shook his arm. "Daddy, is it okay if I go on my own for a while? I promise I'll be careful."

"Don't wander too far!"

"I won't." I leaned down to the baby turtle and whispered, "Doku, take care of daddy, okay?"

I ran.

The Uchiha district was always empty this time of year. There were no guards, few police, and no one at home. I tried the front door of the main house and found it was locked. I tried the back. To my surprise, the back door was locked too.

"Itachi?" I called.

When there was no reply, I grabbed a windowsill and crawled up. I struggled with the window, but pushed it open and leaped onto the kitchen counter. I jumped down and went to Itachi's bedroom.

The room was empty.

Tomoe had lied. There was no one here.

From the shadows, someone grabbed me and threw me against a wall. Before I could blink, an elbow locked me tight, a katana pressed against my neck. In the dark was a bone-white mask.

I was about to scream. But then, I saw the person was not any bigger than me.

"I-Itachi?"

The katana fell.

His hands were as shaky as mine when we took off each other's masks at the same time. I looked at Itachi, and he looked back. But it did not look like he could see me.

"Itachi?" I got scared. "Are you okay?"

I reached for his hand. He grabbed me before I could touch him. Everything happened so fast. The next thing I knew, I was flipped in the air and sent down.

"Yeeee– ow?" I blinked, finding myself suspended in the air. The tip of my nose stopped short of the floor. Then, I was pulled up and plopped on the bed with an oomph. I bounced on the mattress, staring at Itachi. I waited. If Itachi was going to attack me, he needed to make up his mind.

"I apologize, Ayae," he said. "You startled me."

Hearing his voice, I let out a breath. Once he switched on the light, I was glad to see he was okay, though he did look awfully tired.

I watched him hide away the katana, then unclasped his cloak. I knitted my eyebrows at the funny clothes he had underneath. It was a uniform, but not the usual flak jacket. I stared harder, before my eyes widened.

"Hey, you got a funny mark there," I said, pointing to his arm.

Instantly, his hand covered the mark. He turned so that it was out of sight. "Ayae, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"To pick you up for the Autumn Festival!" I looked down at the mask in my hands and tilted my head. "Huh, did you already drop by? You sure bought a creepy mask." The mask was heavy in my hands. Curious, I turned the mask in the light, trying to figure out what it was. "Hey, wait, isn't this a weasel?" I rubbed the ears, and snickered. It was! "Real creative, I-ta-chi."

Speechless, Itachi looked at my cat mask.

"You know, if you were going to buy a mask too, we should have gotten them together. The vendor told me kiddie masks are buy one, get one free. I bet I could have found you a cuter one too!" Giggling, I set his mask down.

"Ayae?"

"Hm?"

"May I have a moment… please?"

I hopped off the bed. "Yeah, sure!" I left for the hallway, so he could change. A few minutes later, the door slid open. I saw he was in a yukata.

"You're coming?" I almost did not believe it. It was never this easy to drag him out!

"May I?" he asked.

I was sputtering. "Yeah! Let's go!" I dragged him half way out of the house, until I remembered I forgot our masks in his room. I was ready to dash back, when he grabbed my wrist.

"There is no need. Let's get that discount from the vendor."

I stared at him like he was stupid. "Itachi, buy one get one free is great and all, if we both haven't bought masks already. Why would we get two more when we already-"

"I'll pay."

"But that's a waste-!"

"I want you to find me something cuter."

I blinked. "Are you serious?"

"I am."

Well, in that case, I could not say no. Still, it was weird how Itachi said yes so quickly. He never said yes to fun things.

On our walk to the streets, he was more quiet than usual. Half the time, I felt he was not even there. If he was sleepy, then the festivals were not going to be much fun. But maybe enough fun would also wake him up.

At the vendor, I looked through a lot of masks. I held each one up to Itachi's face and tilted my head. The dragon was too angry. The hawk was too pointy. The tiger was too furry. As I went through more masks, I could not help but snicker more and more. Itachi was definitely not a chicken, beaver, or froggie!

Finally, I picked one out. I tried not to giggle when I brought him to the mirror.

"Ayae, I think I will have to rescind my offer."

"But it's so cute-nhm-" I burst out laughing when Itachi gave me a look.

When he unstrapped the peanut mask, I pouted.

"Itachi, you promised!"

"I'll wear it," Itachi said, much to my glee. Until I saw his smirk. "If you wear this." He held out an edamame mask.

"What!" I exclaimed. "I'm not being a soybean!"

"Then I'm not a peanut."

I looked at the peanut, then at the soybean, and puffed a cheek. "Fine!" I said, snatching the edamame mask.

I regretted it. Being a soybean was so embarrassing! People were snickering as we walked, and every time Itachi looked with me, I swear he was so smug.

"You know, you are very cute, Ayae," he said.

I blinked. "Huh?"

"Cute enough to eat."

Seconds later, I was chasing him through the streets, angrily waving my arms. "Say that again, and I'm turning you into peanut butter!"

The stupid masks aside, we did have a lot of fun throughout the night. We watched the performances, ate a lot of candy, and played the street games. I was not good at the scooping and aiming games through, so Itachi pointed to a high striker for me to try.

"Step right up, and test your strength!" the vendor called, holding a big mallet.

Shrugging, I stepped up and took the mallet. The mallet was heavy, but with a jump, I slammed it down as hard as I could. The puck rose up, then fell down.

"Not bad, young lady," the vendor said. I beamed when he handed me a keychain as reward. Excited, I rushed over to Itachi to show him my first prize.

Then, I heard the top bell ring. I whipped around to see Michio set down the mallet. Setsu squealed when the vendor gave her a stuffed panda bigger than her body.

I dropped my jaw when I saw the wagon behind her. On it was a mountain of prizes.

"Well, if it isn't honey doll."

Setsu followed Michio's gaze. "Ayae?" She dashed up to me. "Ayae! Hey- why are you a soybean?" Confused, she pulled up my mask.

I clapped both hands over my burning face. "What are you doing here, Setsu?"

Setsu glowed. "Michio and I were just playing the games! He's really good." Cupping a hand to my ear, she whispered, "And he's so cool!" She squealed.

Michio stepped up from behind and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Anything to please my lady," he said, chuckling. Then he lowered his eyelids at me. "How are you faring, honey doll?"

I looked down at my keychain. "Um..."

Michio raised an eyebrow. Itachi took off his mask, and Michio's eyebrows rose even higher. A devious grin spread across his face. "What's this? A black ops can't get his date more than a pitiful keychain?"

"Hey, my keychain is not-" I was cut off when Michio turned his back.

With a snap of his finger, the mallet jumped to life and flew to his hand. "If you don't mind," he told the vendor with a smile.

Michio tossed the mallet up and balanced it on the tip of his finger, before he let it drop into his palm. With one hand, he slammed the mallet down. Only to let it hover a hair above the button. Here, Michio winked at me, then gave a small tap.

The puck soared up and up until it slammed into the bell.

Setsu jumped in place, cheering. I folded my arms. Michio was show-offy as usual, and I was not impress-

"Honey doll?"

I blinked at the giant kitty plushie he held out to me. With a squeak, I jumped and hugged the kitty with both arms.

"Why don't you join us, honey doll," Michio said, looking at Itachi with a smirk. "There are even better prizes to be won." There was a twinkle of a challenge in his eyes.

Itachi only smiled politely.

"Ayae?"

"Hm?"

Itachi touched my hand. I let him hold the plushie for me.

"Why don't you try again?" he said, nodding toward the high striker.

I was confused, but I did not mind playing again. I took the mallet and swung the heavy load back. I hit the button again.

Something weird happened. Unlike my first time, the puck soared up at a blinding speed. My jaw dropped when the puck not only hit the bell, it broke the bell, sending it sky high. The vendor gawked, looking up so high that he had to hold his hat to keep it from falling.

Thirty seconds later, the bell fell down before Michio's feet in a loud, heavy clang.

Michio look at the broken bell, then at Itachi. "Touche."

Itachi kept his politeness, though he kept his eyes locked with Michio's. Not that Michio backed down either.

But then, Michio bounced back. "No luck tonight, huh!" Laughing, he lifted Setsu up in a hug. "In that case, we better get going before my cousin steal this beauty too!"

"Oh stop it!" Setsu giggled, squirming against his grip.

Michio set her down. They waved bye, heading off for more games.

I numbly waved back. Then I turned to Itachi. "I don't know what you did," I deadpanned, "but can you magically make my aim better too?"

Itachi looked away and broke into a chuckle. "That," he said, "might take a little more effort."

"Hey!"

He blocked my punch with the plushie.

After Itachi paid the vendor for the damages, we ran off for more games. We got to a dart game. Usually I stay far away from those, but Itachi showed me the right grip, even nudging me into the right position.

Four tries later, I scared away all the other players and nearly killed the vendor. Another four, I got it somewhere near the wall. After Itachi took my hand in his, we finally put an end to the embarrassment with a bullseye.

"Ayae?"

I walked with him down the street, prizes in hand. "Yeah, Itachi?"

"This has been fun, but is it okay if I return to my family after the next game? I believe my brother is waiting for me."

I was disappointed that he had to go, but I was glad to hear he had a good time. "Sure, I've got to return to my dad too." I looked around, wanting the last thing we do to be super fun.

"Would you like a fortune, little one?"

I whipped around to see a cloaked figure in a tent. Before him was a table of many little trinkets and incense sticks that gave smoke.

Intrigued, I pulled on Itachi's sleeve and led him inside the tent. The air inside was heavy and hot, with a strong, old smell. Looking closely, I saw the table had a spread of cards, wooden beads, wax sticks, bronze coins, red paper, and bones bits. It was all a little creepy.

I glanced at the fortune teller. His face was hidden by a mask, and his voice was raspy when he spread his hands over the things.

"Different relics tell different stories. Choose one."

I scratched my head. There were so many choices. I could not make up my mind, so I pushed Itachi in front of me. "Why don't you pick for us?"

Itachi glanced over all the things, before his eyes locked on one set. The fortune teller caught his gaze. In a hiss of smoke, all the items on the table disappeared except for the bones.

"You have chosen Death."

When the bones began to stir and shake, I squeaked and clutched Itachi tighter. "Wah, why'd have to pick the creepiest one!"

The bones floated in the air, trembling. I felt cold shiver down my spine. There was a howl of wind that sent my hair fluttering. The lantern lights in the tent flickered on and off.

I was so entranced by the magic show that I jumped at the sudden noise of an explosion. It came from outside. We ran out the tent to see a crowd of animals running away. The people cried and gasped and pointed.

In the distance was fire and a huge tower of smoke where the main stage was.

My eyes widened. "Oh no. Daddy! My dad's there!"

Itachi froze, then grabbed my arm. I yelped when I felt a tug and lift of gravity. My world turned dizzy. After the flicker, the air was hot and choking. There were screams and cries everywhere. Civilians ran and vendors pulled their carts away, while shinobi leaped in.

It was not just the stage on fire. It was the entire tree. Downtown was not like the Uchiha district. We lived in separate houses. But here, all the homes and shops were a chain tree houses and buildings. Everything was tight, connected, and wood.

My eyes stung with tears from the ashes. I coughed again. The fire was spreading badly, around the entire square. We could not let it reach the market areas, where paper banners hung everywhere and the people crowded even closer.

I felt Itachi's hand squeeze mine. "Ayae, stay here." Itachi let go. He flickered away, to the closest roof. His hand moved, and the building trembled. All the pipes and windows shattered as a water dragon dove into the center of the fire.

Itachi was not the only one using water jutsu. Many shinobi were. My eyes widened when I saw Shisui land beside Itachi, and the dragon doubled in size.

"Hurry!" I heard a man shout. He and some others were carrying barrels of waters over their shoulder. I glanced at Itachi again, then ran. I lifted the bucket from a struggling lady.

"Let me help!"

I ran back and forth helping carry water between people in a chain. I was on my fifth run when there was a scream from one of the abandoned shops. "Help! Help!" The door frame had caved in. All the men rushed over to help lift the beams. I handed over my bucket.

"Girl, what are you-"

I pushed my way through and crawled inside.

A little boy saw me and extended a hand. "Sister, help!"

It was the fabric shop. During the collapse, spools of cloth had fallen from the walls. Unfortunately, the boy was under a mountain of them. I coughed. "Hold on." By the time I was done, I was sweating from the heat. It was so hot, it stung. The air was so thick, I could not breathe.

I pulled the little boy out. We were ready to leave, when several burning spool fell. One fell in front of the exit and unraveled. We jumped back at the fire. It grew fast and tall.

Uh oh.

My heart thumped. I panicked, looking around for something to use, but everything was burning.

We were trapped.

That was when I realized the shouting by the door had stopped. Someone stood outside. Before I knew it, a gust of wind blew in, so strong that I fell back. Fire touched my cheek, but then it was gone.

Dizzy, I grabbed the boy, and we crept out.

I let an adult help me up and took a deep breath. Tomoe was already in the distance. Everywhere she walked, the fire responded, swirling away into nothing.

Finally, she stood at the base of the tree. "What a mess."

She opened her palm and twisted it up. I watched in awe as the fire began to weave in a pattern, spiraling higher and higher. It rose up to the leaves, then above where it blew out in a wisp.

It was done.

I collapsed in relief. I never thought there would come a day I was so glad for Tomoe. She really was incredible.

All of a sudden, a dozen uniformed shinobi had appeared in front of Tomoe, many in masks.

One shinobi flashed in front. "Uchiha Tomoe, correct? What do you think you were doing?"

Tomoe did not blink. "Your job," she said.

The shinobi stepped closer. To me, Tomoe was intimidating and tall. But she was a teenager, and he was an adult. He was huge in comparison, and he looked mad.

"Do you have license to perform this type of jutsu in civic areas?"

"I'm sorry, would you like me to put the fire back?"

When she opened her palm, several shinobi leaped back.

"Detain her!"

Startled, I ran forward. Shisui and Itachi beat me to it. They flickered down by her side.

"Sorry, but is there a problem here?" Shisui asked. "Don't get me wrong. I don't typically defend her, but she did just-"

"You were involved too. And you!" The shinobi pointed to Itachi. "Do you both have license?"

Shisui took a step back, offended. "Why, as a matter of fact, yeah, we do." He pulled out his shinobi identification card, while Itachi flipped his.

Tomoe showed hers, as well as a police badge. She asked in her sweetened hostess voice, "Now, may we see yours, sir?"

I had no idea what was happening. The way they talked was scary, and it only worsened when I saw police officers show up. On the other side, more masked shinobi appeared. My uncles looked tense.

"I think there's a misunderstanding here."

Meanwhile, the crowd around me whispered. The little boy tugged my sleeve.

"Where is mommy?" he asked me.

I bit my lips.

Where is my dad? I wanted to ask back.

.

"Unbelievable!" Shisui threw open the station door. "Did they really, did they really just accuse us of setting half of downtown on fire because, what, we can blow a lousy katon? Did they really fail to see how many fire shows were performing tonight?"

"A fire of that magnitude is no accident," Itachi whispered lowly.

"Even then, why us? In case you haven't noticed, we're in the Fire country. Half this village know the katon! Why not, I don't know, the Sarutobi clan! They like katon too!"

"People see what they wish to see. I-" Itachi stopped when he saw me.

I led the little boy through the crowded police station. "Shisui, Itachi, did you guys see my dad?" I asked. "I don't know where he is, and I don't know if he's safe or got into an accident, but I can't look for him because they kicked us out, and-"

"Woah, squirt, calm down." Shisui knelt by my side. "Tell us what happened."

I blurted out the whole story. My dad sat directly where the fire was.

Itachi held my shoulder. "The performance would have ended. It is possible that he had left the area in the time you were gone."

I tried hard to fight back tears. I hoped Itachi was right, and my dad did not wait for me there. I promised him I would be back, but I went to play instead and forgot. How could I have been so irresponsible.

I felt Itachi's grip tighten. "I will help you search."

Shisui looked nervous. "I don't think it's a good idea to go back out there, given-"

"Shisui." Itachi sent a look that made Shisui dropped his shoulders.

We left the little boy in Shisui's care at the police and set out again.

The burnt district was fenced off by yellow tape. Inside, shinobi worked to rescue people who could have been trapped under the mess. There was also an investigation on the cause of the fire. Scared, people rushed indoors.

The Autumn Festival was almost ruined until the Hokage came. He stood on top of a balcony in middle of downtown, his presence calm. He told everyone that the fire was nothing but an accident. In light of the festivities, the spirits would want us to put this behind us and have fun throughout the night.

Both Itachi and I were relieved to hear that.

Eventually I found my dad. I jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. He had been looking for me too.

I rubbed my eyes, so thankful he was safe. That was when I saw he had skewers of sugar-coated fruit.

My dad gave me one. Tucked under his arm was a bag full of treats. He had gotten them for us after Tomoe sat next to him during the second replay. Tomoe had told him she was going to watch the show, so she would not mind waiting for me there in his place.

"It had not been even thirty minutes I left that I saw smoke in the sky! Imagine, I rushed back as soon as I could, but they had already fenced us out, and oh I hope she is alright!"

"She is," I said.

When my dad asked me where I had been, I told him I was with Itachi. But when I turned around, I saw Itachi had long left. My heart dropped. So much for ending our night with lots of fun.

.

Because of the fire, school got canceled for the next two days. I did not mind, because my dad also had a day off from work. We played cards. It was fun because my dad was awful. I had a fat grin whenever I snatched another one of his cards.

We also used the time to give Doku a great home. At first, we thought the sink was fine, until he got out and hid under a piece of lettuce. My dad and I freaked out when we scooped him up with the vegetables and almost cooked him!

After that, we worked to give him an outdoor pen. I lifted all the heavy rocks. My dad did the smart engineering stuff, like making a pond. I thought all you had to do was dump water in a hole, but then the soil drank it all up. Apparently we needed pipes and filters and tarp things.

When we finished, Doku looked happy.

Tamaki called on the second day and invited me for a girls get-together at her place. When I got to her apartment, I got attacked by all my giggling friends. They dragged me into Tamaki's bedroom, pulling me into their circle on the carpet.

"So." Tamaki closed the door. "Now that everyone is here, let's begin." She, along with everyone else, jumped towards Setsu.

"Come on, Setsu, spill!" Dai said.

"It was perfect." Setsu sighed, her face blushing. "Michio was so courteous and dashing, and said all these sweet things. And before the fireworks, we held hands and he... he kissed me!"

Everyone went crazy. They prodded Setsu to go into more detail, only to gasp or sigh some more. Ayame had her hands to her lips, her face flushed as Setsu went into the juicy bits.

Then Setsu said something that turned everyone's attention towards me. "Ayae, you were with Itachi that night, weren't you?"

"No way!" Dai shouted. "You went on a date with him?"

Everyone scooted closer until I backed into a wall.

"Was it official? Did he ask you out?"

"What did you guys do!"

"What did he do?"

I held my hands up and laughed nervously. I told the truth. Everyone slumped back, disappointed. I was a bit disappointed too. I wanted to tell a good story like Setsu did.

"Dude, Ayae, what is going on with you two? All of fourth and fifth year, you don't talk about him once, like you guys had a big fight or something. And now, Setsu sees you together and you telling us you're friends again?"

My back pressed against the wall. I laughed harder. "I don't know. Itachi's weird."

"He's still really cute! I saw him!" Setsu added.

"No way!"

I buried my face into my hands.

We went on with more silly gossip. We did other fun things too. Tamaki showed everyone the nail polish her mom bought for her. We were all excited because nail polish had always been forbidden. It was the cool teenager thing. The only time I ever touched a bottle was during my trip with the Fire Princess.

We fought each other over who got to go first.

Setsu had also sneaked out her sister's makeup kit. My eyes widened when she twisted up a tube of lipstick. Dai glanced back and forth between weird pencils.

"What are these for?"

"I'm not sure," Setsu confessed. "I think you draw on your face with them."

Tamaki snatched one of the makeup pencils and stared hard. She popped open the cap and drew a dot below Ayame's eye.

"It's for beauty marks," Tamaki said proudly. We stared in awe. Ayame looked just like an actress!

Dai snatched the pencil. "I got a better idea!" she said and doodled on my face. I looked in the mirror and screamed at seeing a curly mustache on my face.

Everyone laughed until I picked up the pencil and drew a unibrow on Setsu, who then yelled and drew a Funeno beard on Dai. Giggling, Ayame drew a monocle on Tamaki.

We all laughed until Tamaki tried to wipe her face with a towel. She paled. "This... doesn't come off."

"EEHHHHHHH?"

That afternoon, I had a bandana over my mouth. I tiptoed across downtown, looking back and forth, all the way back to the Uchiha district.

When I reached the main house, I sighed in relief and dropped my bandana. "Auntie, I need help!"

I walked in, only to freeze. Itachi's dad was in a meeting with some police officers. Shisui sat there too.

Everyone stared at me. An officer dropped his pen.

"Nhn-" Shisui's eyes watered. He brought his hand to his mouth, his whole body trembling.

Aunt Mikoto rushed to my side.

"I'm sorry, Auntie. Did I interrupt something important?" I asked her, feeling small.

"Ah, oh no, no." Aunt Mikoto stared my face, her mouth slightly open. "Ayae dear," she said calmly, "what happened?"

Right then, I burst into tears and hugged her. "It won't come off, Auntie!" I cried. "I'm going to be Mr. Mustachio forever!"

At the table, Itachi's dad gave an eye twitch. Shisui gave another choked noise.

I sniffled all the way to the bathroom. Once we were there, I rubbed my eyes and confessed to Aunt Mikoto about the whole makeup thing, my face burning with embarrassment. Half way through my story, she finally cracked. Holding onto the sink, she laughed and laughed.

I stomped in place. "It's not funny, Auntie!"

Tears in her eyes, she held my face and kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you."

It turned out I did not have to worry about having a mustache forever. Makeup came off with oil. Oh.

When I told my friends over the phone, they all collapsed with relief.

Although the makeup ended in a disaster, I did love my pink nail polish. My nails were ugly after the cliff incident, but with nail polish, I felt pretty again. So I was sad when they chipped more and more after every spar.

Gin stopped when I looked at my nails again.

"Ayae!" he growled, stomping across the field. "We're fighting. Stop looking at your fingers!"

"But look," I said, deflated. The pink was all ruined.

Gin was a boy. He did not understand. "So what?"

I pouted. "I want to be pretty!"

"You're already pretty!"

I looked down at my mud stained shirt, then at my knotted hair. I looked at Gin. No wonder he failed Art our second year.

Sighing, I gave up and kneed his chin. He punched my stomach, and our spar went back on.

Sadly, Gin was right. There was no time to worry about being pretty. We had only one more year until graduation, and sixth year winter was harsh. Teacher Iruka was nice but super strict. All my years with Funeno were about books and study, but everything after the first bar was physical training.

First thing every morning we had five laps around the fields, then lectures on genjutsu and strategies. We would switch between sparring and ninjutsu sessions in the afternoon, then finished off with survival and shuriken.

I swung another shuriken across the gym. It landed on the arm of the dummy. Breathed hard, I pulled out another shuriken and threw again. It stopped short.

I glanced over at Gin's post. His aim was excellent. His ninjutsu was excellent.

I pulled out another shuriken.

"Hey Ayae!"

I jumped when Dai swung an arm around my shoulder. "The girls are heading off for the winter sale. We're going scarf shopping. Wanna join?"

Behind, Tamaki and Setsu were waving to me at the door of the gymnasium, already changed. School was over.

"That sounds like a lot of fun!" I beamed, until I saw my post. "But I still have to practice," I mumbled.

Dai peered up at my post. "Looks fine to me! Come on, you're already one of the best in class." Leaning in, she whispered, "Enough to make Tamaki jelly." She winked.

"Why? Tamaki's scored eight on shuriken today! I can't even get three!"

"But you can fight. She can't. Look, we're all strong at things and weak at other things, right? No one's perfect so stop stressing out about your shuriken score and have fun with us!"

"But..." I looked at Gin, who was still practicing on the other side.

Dai looked at Gin too. She frowned. "Ayae, I thought we were your friends, but you only hang out with Ginjiro. We barely see you outside class."

Her words hurt because it was true. I would still go to birthday parties and we would eat lunch together, but it just was not the same friendship we had when we were younger. Every time I ditched them for training, I felt more and more out of the circle.

I was not going to let training push my friends away. I put back the shuriken. "Okay! Can you wait for me to get ready?"

"Yeah! Sure!"

I started packing my stuff. Gin saw me.

"I'm going!" I called out to him.

Gin looked shocked and a bit hurt. But there were two other boys also practicing in the gym, so he was not alone.

"Whatever! Watch me get perfect by the time you're done with your girly stuff!" he yelled, waving his cap.

I stuck out my tongue and left.

"You're actually coming!" Setsu exclaimed, hugging me.

I gave a toothy grin and zipped up my jacket. "Yeah! Hey, what are you guys getting?"

"I heard the stringy kind are all the rage! I want one of those!"

"Did you see the kitty one? With the yarn? You would totally love it!"

"Really?"

The shopping was the most fun I had. Tamaki surprised me with a scarf, wrapping it around my neck. The design had a bunch of black kittens chasing balls of yarn. When I looked at the mirror, I jumped in glee. She was right; I loved it.

Dai wrapped a scarf around her eye like a bandana and pretended to be a pirate. Setsu showed me a sparkly one with bunnies. It matched a pair of earmuffs and was super cute.

I was bubbly and broke at the end of it all. By the time we separated, the sun had already begun to set.

Shopping bag in hand, I ran back to the school.

The lights were off in the gym, the space quiet and empty. I turned the lights on and saw post after post.

I stopped at Gin's and was surprised to see ten shuriken perfectly in the middle. There was also a note pinned to it.

'Ayae, if u see this, ha! Ha! Ha! Told u!' There was a doodle of a smiley with a tongue stuck out.

Something funny hit my stomach just then. It had been a while since I got a note from Gin.

I dropped my shopping bags in favor of a shuriken. I was so focused on my practice that I did not notice a presence behind me.

"What are you still doing here, Ayae?"

I spun around. "Teacher Iruka?"

Teacher Iruka smiled.

We sat down on the benches. I asked if I was in trouble. I thought the gym was open for practice after school, as long as we did not break anything.

Teacher Iruka scratched his nose. He said that he was passing by when he saw a light still on. All the teachers had their hands full with a troublemaker lately, so when he saw the lights, he got worried some prank was being set up here.

Phew. I was always in trouble, so I was happy to hear it was someone other than me.

"Actually, it's good that I caught you, Ayae. I've been wanting to talk to you."

Uh-oh.

"I had a parent-teacher talk with your dad recently."

Double uh-oh.

Seeing my panic, Teacher Iruka laughed. "Oh no, nothing like that. I can't say much for your past record, but in my experience, you've been an excellent student."

Phew, again. I listened to Teacher Iruka. He talked about about my grades and spars. I felt warm at all the praise.

"Your father says you were born in the Fire capital, right?"

I nodded.

"When did you move to Konoha, Ayae?"

"Seven," I said, kicking my legs.

"Can you tell me why you picked the ninja path?"

"It's cool! You can substitute and make clones and transform! I want to do all that like my cousins!" I stopped and lowered my gaze. "I don't know why I can't do it. I've been practicing everyday on my ninjutsu. I really have."

"I believe you," Teacher Iruka said. "I never once thought your inability to do ninjutsu had anything to do with lack of effort."

"Then why!"

Teacher Iruka looked away. "Well, the greatest power of the shinobi is the ability to use chakra. Hard work can improve that ability, but to have the ability or not is not something hard work can change. That's up to fate. The Academy had to let many good students go in the past because of it."

My gut twisted. I trembled then stood up. "Teacher, I already know this! I read that chapter years ago. I know about clans and blood," I said. "But that's not me. I'm Uchiha. And Uchiha can do it!"

"Yes, Uchiha can. But you were never like the rest of the Uchiha, were you?"

I bit my lips. Was I really not going to ever do ninjutsu? Was Teacher Iruka asking me to drop out?

"I have it," I said. "I'm just late."

Teacher Iruka stared at me. Finally, he sighed and patted my head.

"That may very well be the case. But if not, know that not being a ninja is not the end of the world." He smiled. "In fact, if current shinobi could go back, many would not choose ninja a second time."

He asked me to be careful and safe, then left. I watched him go.

Hands clenched, I stomped back to my post. I took out another shuriken and threw it.

When I left school, I was horribly late. The sky was pitch black. I was running too fast to notice someone ahead. We hit each other and fell.

There was a groan.

"You again." Sasuke held his head.

"Sasuke?" Wincing, I grabbed my backpack and bag. "Why are you out so late?"

"None of your business!"

I stared at him.

He looked away and pouted. "I was training. I lost track of time."

That made two of us. We walked together back home. It was too quiet, so I started talking. I asked him about school, even though I already knew he was first of his class. I saw from his semester report card. I thought he would brag, but he just mumbled that he was doing okay.

Sasuke did not seem excited about school, so I ask him about his brother instead. It had been a long time since the Autumn festival. I wanted to know what Itachi was up to.

But as soon as Sasuke heard Itachi's name, he stiffened. He crossed his arms and turned a cheek. "Like I know!"

"Come on, you live with him," I said. "You must have seen him once! Is he happy? Is he sad?"

"I don't know, and I don't care!" Sasuke said, stomping in front. "It's not like Brother and I are friends!"

I stopped mid-step.

What?

Whoa, whoa, what? Last time I checked, the brothers were, as Michio put it, best friends forever and ever and EVER.

"What's going on, Sasuke?" I asked. "Did you guys have a fight?"

Sasuke ignored me. He was not going to tell me.

Once Itachi decided he would not tell me something, he really would not tell me. Unlike Itachi, Sasuke needed only two more pokes before he gushed it all out.

"He ditched me! FIVE times!" Sasuke yelled. "At home, he's either making up stupid excuses or waving me off as some nuisance! He treats Mother and I like we're not even there. He doesn't even care about me. All he ever cares about is his stupid ANBU stuff!"

Sasuke exploded on me. He stood, breathing heavily.

I opened my mouth when he exploded again.

"And don't get me started on Father!"

I closed my mouth. I let him rant. Something told me the kid had been bottling a lot of things up. When Sasuke finally let it all out, he looked defeated.

I tried to comfort him. I told him that Itachi might just be really busy. I told him how at the Autumn festival, Itachi was thinking about him. He wanted to see him and would have too, had it not been for the fire.

Hearing that, Sasuke looked at me.

"Come on, Itachi is a lot of things, but he's not a meanie." Not always. "You know he loves you."

Sasuke grumbled and turned away. He looked slightly ashamed of himself.

"And hey, I can help you practice instead, if you want!" I grinned, pointing to myself.

Sasuke paused. "Why would I want that?" he sneered. "You're worse than me."

My eye twitched. Could I just strangle him and be done with it?

But Sasuke did seem to feel better. As we walked, I thought over what he said. "So, what exactly is this ANBU again?" I asked.

Sasuke gave me the look. "How many years have you lived in this village?"

"Of course I've heard of the word!" I said. "But it's not like anyone ever explained it."

"They're a bunch of top shinobi chosen by the Hokage."

I raised both eyebrows. First Shisui and Tomoe getting jouninship, and now Itachi chosen by the Hokage now? "Wow! What does ANBU do?"

"ANBU stuff, duh."

"What's ANBU stuff?"

"Secretive stuff."

"Like what?" I asked.

"If it we knew what, then it wouldn't be secretive, now would it?" Sasuke scoffed.

I stared at Sasuke. I grinned. "You don't know, do you?"

Sasuke whipped to me. "Of course I do! They do, like, secret missions and secret spying and- and things that are full of secrets!" he stammered.

I grinned wider. He totally did not know.

Whatever ANBU was, it sounded great. I wanted to buy Itachi a present as congratulations, but I had spent all my money on my scarf. I ended up picking wildflowers. He was not home, but Aunt Mikoto was.

She wiped her hands on her apron. "What's that, Ayae dear?"

I held out the wildflowers. "For Itachi! I heard he got into ANBU, and I wanted to say congrats!"

Aunt Mikoto took them. "How sweet! I'll be sure to give it to him." She handled the flowers delicately and even got a vase with water for it.

I looked around the empty house. It used to be so loud and lively here, especially on Sundays. "Aren't you lonely, Auntie?"

Aunt Mikoto almost dropped the vase. "Why do you ask that?" she asked.

"There's no one here," I said. "Aren't you bored being in the house all day?"

She was. We ended up bonding in a dango shop. We giggled and chatted in between bites of anko dumplings. Since the window was open, a cool breeze came in and blew our wrappers away. The next thing I knew, the wrappers were pinned to the wall by skewers.

"I didn't know you could do that, Auntie!" I was surprised to learn Aunt Mikoto used to be a kunoichi. She used to be a strong one too.

She leaned in and said she would show me something cool if I promised to keep a secret. I nodded furiously.

She led me to a lake, where she took off her shoes. I held my breath when she walked on top of the water, a ripple of footsteps behind her. The water was stirring. My eyes widened when water butterflies lifted out of the water, glittering in the air.

That was not all. Pillars of water rose, vines of ivy growing in curls. Branches sprouted, growing into trees. Flowers of all kinds bloomed. Everything rose taller and taller as a spiral of stairs appeared.

Aunt Mikoto spun. With every step and wave of her arms, the fairy tale kingdom grew. Birds perched on the branches, shuffling their watery feathers and splashing drops everywhere. Squirrels chased one another up the trees.

To me, Aunt Mikoto held out a hand.

I looked at the road of water. I left my shoes on the pier. Closing my eyes, I dipped my feet down and took the first step.

The water felt funny. As I walked into the garden, it felt like the the bottom of my feet was touching jelly. All around, little fishes swam across the walls and towers.

A bird flew toward me. Curious, I touched its beak and felt water drip down my finger.

I was halfway up the stairs when the architecture changed. Water lifted me up and up, all the way to the balcony.

Aunt Mikoto had one more trick. In her hands were little beads of charcoal. They lit in her hand, and she threw them. The water carried the balls of fire, then twisted and changed into chandeliers or street lamps along the road. Everything was now clear and lighted, warm and magical.

I was breathless.

Beside me, Aunt Mikoto leaned against the railing. "Do you like it?" she asked. "It's my secret garden."

She told me only one other person knew about the garden. That was her best friend from school. It made me feel special to be the second person ever to see her beautiful world.

Slowly, the world melted back into the lake. Aunt Mikoto took my hand. We walked back to the pier.

After the show, she spent the rest of the day teaching me shuriken. I had told her about my aiming problem, and she was happy to help.

Aunt Mikoto was incredible. She could throw over a hundred senbon needles at once and pin a hundred falling leaves by the stem. It was almost unreal, just like her secret garden.

"So that's why Itachi is so good," I said. "His mommy is a goddess!"

Aunt Mikoto laughed and handed me a shuriken. "I'm not so sure about that, Ayae dear," she said. "But I do know some things."

I blinked when she moved my hands and arms into a weird position, then nudged my hips and feet.

"The gods gave men the ability to throw," she told me. "The Academy is teaching you the shuriken form for boys. If you try to do them in a girl's body, you will never get it as fast, as far, or as accurate as them."

Smiling, she lowered my elbow. "Which is why we need to find our own way to do it."

The shuriken spun and stuck into the tree with a thick thud.

Once I got over my shock, I turned to Aunt Mikoto. "Auntie, are you free a lot?"

Two months later, I pinned a note to my own post.

'Hey Gin! if you see this, MuahahaHA! – loves, Ayae.'