"I'm out, daddy!"

"Good luck!"

Toast in mouth, I ran to the main house, where I pulled the brat by the backpack.

"Hey!" Sasuke struggled behind me.

"Come on, first day of school!" I said. "We can't be late!"

Michio joined us at the gate, where we waved good bye to our aunties and uncles. For once, I put the express in the Shisui-Itachi-Michio-Ayae-Sasuke express and made us sprint to the school.

I was crazy excited. Senior year. My class was now the top dogs, the ones all the other kids looked up to. First and second years clung onto their parents, watching in awe as my classmates sparred in the fields, mediated on posts, or somersaulted down trees.

"Ayae!" Tamaki rung her arm around mine.

Fate was on our side this year. Tamaki and I both got placed in the same classroom. After we slid open the door, though, our excitement turned into confusion.

I blinked at the gang of boys chatting by the window. Down the aisle, two more boys were tossing some poor kid's backpack back and forth. A few others were squatted on top of the desks, in a game of pencil dice. In the back, Gin's friends snorted, making goofy faces.

Did we step into a shinobi seminar...?

When the teacher came in, people hushed. Tamaki led me to a corner table, where one boy sat by himself. He was covered by a hoodie, so I did not even notice him until we accidentally bumped.

Our teacher for senior year was young. He was new, just like my last teacher, but did not look as strict. To everyone, he introduce himself as Teacher Mizuki.

Like last year, the class began with a congratulations for passing the second bar exam. Teacher Mizuki told us to be proud of ourselves, since only sixty percent of us made it. The weak were weeded out, leaving the strong behind.

Many boys high-fived at that, until Teacher Mizuki reminded us that there were still weeds left. That the final bar exam would fail another half of us.

Smiling, Teacher Mizuki told us to not worry. With his preparations, we would do well. Of the two senior classes, ours would come out triumphant.

He was ready to start our first lesson when the door slid open.

Gasping, Gin ran in, cap in hand. "I'm so sorry I'm late, I-"

My stomach flipped. I was super happy that Gin was in my class, but nervous for him too. I remembered how strict Teacher Iruka was on tardiness.

Instead of a lecture, though, Teacher Mizuki just asked Gin to take a seat. Surprised, Gin nodded. We exchanged a glance, before he took a seat by Hosei.

"Unlike other years, you only have one semester this time. Then, you will take your final examination," Teacher Mizuki said, writing on the chalkboard. "Because time is short, we will focus on how to pass the exam above all else."

I sweated. The board was filled with a list of ninjutsu.

"Note how some other categories, like team, positivity, and attitude, do not appear on the day of the bar exam. That is because your assessments for these start today." Teacher Mizuki smiled when the class stiffened. "That is right. Every mark, every point from now until examination day will weigh into your final score. Test scores and behavior will matter."

Someone raised a hand.

"Yes."

"For team, what if my former teammates are not in this class?"

There were murmurs. Even though students switched between classes every year, the tables always stuck together. This was the first time in four years that I did not see Hana or Minoji with me.

"Ah yes, many of you may have realized that some of your former teammates have dropped out, or have been sent to the other class," Teacher Mizuki said. "That is inevitable, both here and in life. After all, did you think that as genin, a teammate would never be promoted? Would never be reassigned? Would never die?"

At his last word, Tamaki flinched. Teacher Mizuki turned his back and went back to writing on the board. "Part of your assessment will be on how well you can adapt to a new team. From now on, that will be the people at your current table. Why don't you use this time to get to know them?"

I could not help but feel disappointed. Tamaki and I sat together, thankfully. But had we known that Gin would be with us, we would have grabbed a table with three empty seats.

I sent Gin a sorry look. He waved it off. It was fine. To be in the same class was already lucky enough.

While Gin turned to his table, Tamaki and I tried to get to know our new table member. He wore a grey hoodie and a pair of shades. Funnily enough, in all my years here, I did not recall ever seeing him.

The kid knew us though. "Kobayashi. Uchiha." He did not even look at us. "Aburame."

"Wait, you are Aburame?" Tamaki asked in disbelief. From her bag, she grabbed her notepad and flipped through the pages. I peeked over and saw Tamaki had copied down the exam scores for everyone.

Without a doubt, the fourth name on the list was Aburame Ijouna. Gin and I had wondered who she was, since all of the other top scoring kids were well-known, except her.

I could not believe my luck. Not only did we get a top student, we got another girl too! I had been worried that Tamaki and I were the only ones.

"Ah, nice to meet you!" I said, holding out a hand.

She did not take it.

I jumped back. Something was crawling down her cheek. "Um- Ah- You've got a little-" I paled when I saw dozens of bugs on the inside of her hoodie.

Tamaki saw too. She fought hard to not scream, holding onto me tightly as shield. Both of us hated bugs.

Ijouna said nothing. She did not bother with us, not even looking up. When I dared get closer, I saw that there were two bigger bugs on the back of her hand.

They seemed to be fighting each other.

.

Within a week, our entire class turned into a battlefield.

Ever since Teacher Mizuki told us that our graduation depended on class work, the students had been trying to get as many points as possible. If you got a question right, your score would go up. But if you got a question wrong, not only would your score go down, your entire table lost points too. That caused a lot of bitterness between teammates.

To make it worse, there were only so many points per lecture, so when teammates were not fighting each other, they were fighting other tables.

I felt bad for Gin. His teammates were not good, so he was doing all the work. But even he was not enough. Their table was dead last. He may not graduate at this rate.

My table turned out to be great. Tamaki took the best notes and knew how to answer all the questions. I won all the spars. Our biggest weakness, ninjutsu, was covered too. Ijouna was incredible at it. Together, we tied for first.

But being first had problems too. At first, the class was nice to us. A few boys would tease us now and then, but they never got mean. That changed.

After Tamaki got every question right, they started groaning, calling her a bossy miss know-it-all. They called Ijouna a freak. They called me a tomboy. Worse, they kept complaining about how unfair it was that the normal schools got all the cute girls. They asked why there could not be cute girls here too.

Their words hurt. I did not want people to think I was not cute. Or worse, not even a girl at all.

I had to admit I had gotten lazy with my looks. So I worked harder. Every morning, I spent more time on my hair. I tried to match my clothes and make the colors look nice together. Still, it felt like it was never enough.

On my way to ballet, I passed a group of civilian girls my age. They smelled nice, like strawberry-lemon, and their hair were soft. All of their clothes were clean and fitted, with three of the four wearing leg warmers. Leg warmers must be the new trend.

I stopped to watch them leave. One of the girls in the middle had twin braids. She was giggling. Plushie keychains dangled off her backpack and bounced whenever she skipped.

By my side was a glass window. My stomach sank when I realized I could not compare.

Tamaki was hurt even more than I was. Unlike me, she always made a huge effort to look nice. The weekend before school started, we had gone clothes shopping together. One of the pieces Tamaki bought was this beautiful purple top that had polka-dots at the cuffs. She had been excited to wear it.

But on the day she was wore it to school, no one complimented her. In the past, lots of girls would compliment her, but the girls were gone now. The boys were still around, but the boys did not notice at all. Instead, they were gathered around a desk, fawning over some singer idol in a magazine.

It made Tamaki quiet for the rest of the day. She never wore the blouse again.

A few times, I whispered to Gin, trying to get him to say nice things to Tamaki. It did not work. Gin was too clueless, and Tamaki was too smart. She knew it was me. Still, she broke out a smile at our attempt.

While Tamaki and I struggled to be cuter, Gin had his own problems.

At first, Gin and I were excited to be in the same class. It meant we could chat and help each other out during breaks. But then, he kept getting mocked for always coming to the "girl's table". One time, when we were exchanging homework answers, some kid snorted about how this loser was so bad, he was asking girls for help on how to be a ninja. Another kid joined in and said maybe Gin was asking for help on how to be a girl himself. A third kid laughed and said that if so, he was asking the wrong people.

Paper balls smacked all of them in the face. Gin crushed another ball in his hands.

"Gin, don't!" I pulled him back down.

One of the kids that got hit sneered. I dropped my pencil when I heard what he said next. Sometimes, I would say bad words, but none of us ever dared say that kind of word.

Before anyone knew it, Gin had the guy on the ground. One of the other boys kicked Gin, knocking his cap off, while the third stomped on it. I snapped. They would pay for that!

Tamaki stood up from her seat. "No Ginjiro, Ayae! Stop it!"

Neither of us listened. I was about to punch again when a hand caught mine. The entire classroom went from hollering loud to dead silent.

Teacher Mizuki let my hand go. "Ginjiro, Ayae, please see me after class."

I glanced around. On the floor, one of the boys had a swollen eye. Another was clutching his bleeding nose. All eyes were on me.

I winced. So much for cute.

.

"Looks like we have two delinquents on our hands."

"Teacher-!"

Before I could explain, Teacher Mizuki held up a hand. On his desk was a folder. My stomach fell. I knew what was in there.

"This is quite an impressive record of misbehavior. It appears both of you have also broken Konoha law. Community service, is it?"

Neither of us had anything to say to that. This was it. A big fat F. We were done.

Teacher Mizuki just smiled. My eyes widened when he ripped both our records in half and threw the papers in the trash.

"Go on now. You'll be late."

Gin looked at him in disbelief. We both scrambled out of the classroom before our teacher could change his mind.

In the hallways, we collapsed. Gin clutched onto his cap, his voice shaken. "I was so sure he was going to suspend us."

I nodded. That was too close. A more strict teacher would have kicked us out for sure.

From that day on, Gin and I did not to talk to each other in class anymore. It was Tamaki's idea. Both Gin and I had bad tempers, so the best way to deal with the situation was to give them no reason to make us mad.

Tamaki was right. The other students made fun of us for a few more days. Then, they got bored and stopped.

Under the table, I crumbled another piece of paper into the size of a pea. I flicked it over my left shoulder. A minute later, a paper pea bounced on my desk and fell into the crack between by textbook pages.

'too left.'

I flicked another pea.

'too right.'

I flicked another.

'that one wasn't even close!'

'u just nailed Hosei in the ear.'

'u suck at this.'

'o, come on, Ayae!'

'...ur aim. it makes me hate u all over again.'

Halfway through, Gin started drawing scribbles instead. Growling, I crumbled my 668th paper note and flicked it. I waited. A paper pea landed on my book. I uncrumpled the paper.

'u got it.'

I blinked, not understanding the words. Finally, I dared look back to see Gin smirking at me, my note between his fingers. At the next question, he rose his hand.

I held back my smile. It took two weeks, but we finally got our note passing to work. Every note from then on, I would make it hit the same spot on the ceiling, so it could bounce off the back wall, and land on top of Gin's cap.

After I started sending Gin answers, his table got much better. I could finally stop worrying about him not being able to graduate.

During lunch break, Gin and I huddled in a gymnasium supply closet, the one in the far back with the outdated weapons that no one ever used anymore. The space was cramped. The only light being the cracks and keyhole in the door. The smell was not great either, with the metal and grease and all. But at least we would be together again without any bullying. Gin made all the inconveniences worth it.

Gin and I did our usual exchange of juices. I took another piece of his fried fish, and he had some of my potatoes. At the third corner, Hana opened her own bento. Because finals were coming soon, Hana had been in full training mode with her family. Now that we were no longer in the same class, finding time with her had been hard. We had not spoken since our last trash pickup for community service. That was all the way back towards the end of spring break, so we had a lot of catching up to do.

As we ate, I filled Hana in on our situation, and she did hers. As it turned out, the other senior year class was tamer than ours. Not as mean and cut-throat. I thought maybe it was because all the girls ended up in her class, but Hana told me her class was mostly boys too.

"I'm not surprised," Hana said, sighing. "Ninja isn't an appealing profession. Too much stress, not enough security. In terms of money, girls are better off marrying into a good family. Even the ones who do well at the Academy eventually get pressured to leave. Just how it is."

Gin and I exchanged a look. He was as confused as I was. "Okay, so girls don't want to be ninja. Why come here again? Or why wait until the last year to drop out?"

"I said the ninja profession isn't appealing. I didn't say anything about the school." Hana leaned back against a bucket. "Parents have incentives to let their daughters stay. Proper self-defense training, useful ninjutsu skills, a relatively cheap education with much higher state protection. Not to mention..."

"What?" Gin asked.

Hana shook her head. It was not her place to talk. Maybe because it was because Gin was a boy, or maybe because it was an adult thing, but she changed the topic.

I was mainly curious about the girls who were left, so I asked Hana how many there were in her class. She told me, including her, four and a half.

Gin raised an eyebrow. "And a half?"

"About that. Ayae's cousin is, ah, an interesting person."

I dropped my chopstick. Hana told me that because there were no more girls to flirt with, Michio dressed up as a girl and started flirting with the boys instead. Since Michio was super cute as a girl, the boys got all red and flustered. It made them super confused.

Hana massaged her temples. "It's a complete mess and… Ayae? Ayae."

I bit my tongue. When I could not hold it in any longer, I laughed and laughed until my lungs hurt. I did not know why, but hearing that story made me feel better.

.

As the weeks went on, it became increasingly hard to pretend Gin and I were no longer friends. Not being able to talk to him in class was tough enough, but we had to cut our time together after school too. Parks were fine, but we had to avoid each other on school grounds. Our classmates would see us, and the bad gossip would start all over again.

Only, all the training equipment was in school. If either of us wanted to get better, most of our time had to be at the training fields or gym. At first, we rotated places. He would take the outside posts, and I would take the indoor targets. That way, we would not be seen together. But that was not the point. Gin and I liked being together for a reason.

After three rounds of shuriken practice, I packed my bags. It was still early, but training alone had been too depressing.

Instead, I found myself at Aunt Mikoto's house more often. My dad had a huge project, so he could not always cook dinner in time. He asked if Aunt Mikoto if I could join her family on the days he was working late. Aunt Mikoto was more than happy to agree.

At her home, I focused on my textbooks. When not studying, I enjoyed Aunt Mikoto's company and treats. Her desserts brought back my seven year old memories, back when we were chatting in the kitchen over cups of milk. It felt even more at home whenever Shisui made his unexpected visits, sneaking food into his backpack before his next police shift or mission. Shisui's presence never failed to brighten my day.

Then came the day Sasuke scrambled past me on the way home. Sasuke never rushed home except for one reason. Disbelieving, I chased after him.

There in the living room was Itachi, in his casual clothes and socks. He had returned from his last mission, his gear stowed away. Even better, I learned he was taking the following weeks off from ANBU.

As soon as he said that, Sasuke and I jumped on him.

"Please please! If you don't tutor me, I'll fail!"

"Brother, you promised me! You promised."

I pushed the brat down. "Come on, kid's in his second year. He's, like, coloring."

Sasuke shoved me aside. "If she still needs help in her seventh year, she's already a fail-ure."

"Pick me!" we cried.

Itachi backed away in distress, before he thought of an idea. In a poof, two of him stood in the living room. He looked at us expectantly.

"Dibs on the real one!" Sasuke and I shouted, before we shot lightning bolt glares at each other.

"If you can tell which one is real, you are free to choose to him," said both Itachi.

We paused. Fudge, he was too good. I could not tell at all! I stole a glance at Sasuke, who looked stuck too. In the end, we each grabbed one and pretended ours was the real one.

At the table, Itachi and I flipped through textbooks. Itachi explained things that confused me. If I still did not understand, he switched his approach.

When I was younger, I used to get so upset whenever he strayed from the books. I had thought he was not paying attention or did not understand the problem. I was too impatient to hear his explanation through to the end, or else I would have realized we were talking about the same thing all along. Like how one-half is the same as fifty percent, or how multiplication is a type of scaling. Everything is a matter of perspective, and Itachi was simply trying to show me another way to look at it.

"Oh no, it's a target problem again!"

My second bar exam had target problem. It was the one that asked about the pill.

Target problems always asked to identify a target, like a person or object. Except instead of telling us what the target looked like or where to find him, it gave us chunks of nonsensical information. That information was supposed to contain clues. The trick was to then use if-then logic to put all the clues together.

After reading through ten pages of information, I still had no idea.

"Try this," Itachi said.

He held up a diagram of circles and arrows. He had turned the words into a picture that was easier to follow. For the next hour, I walked through my logic with Itachi and crossed out names along the way. The farmer did not have the jar since he was not in town all weekend. Since the angry customer was telling the truth, then the target was not a lady, so it could not be the baker's wife or fisherman's daughter.

Finally, I crossed out all names but one. "Aha, so it was the grocer after all!"

"Not quite."

Itachi pointed to one of the clues.

"If the fisherman's daughter was lying, then the grocer was at the pier on Thursday," I read. I blinked. "EH?" According to the diagram, that was true, so it could not be the grocer either! I double checked my work. Everyone was crossed out.

I pulled my hair. "How! There's no one left!"

"Except the cat," Itachi said, the corners of his lips twitching.

"Cat?"

"The cat was present with the baker, was not female, had no hat, was known by the farmer, and sat on the doorstep of the fisherman's daughter three of the seven days."

After hearing that, I threw my book.

I switched to dance.

The last time I danced in front of Itachi, in this same living room, was ages ago. I swear the space was much bigger back then! The ceiling felt so much lower now, and I had not gotten even two spins in before I found myself banging into the walls and tripping over the couch.

Soon, my world turned topsy-turvy, my feet in the air. Amused, Itachi helped me up.

The weather was nice, so we moved outside, where Aunt Mikoto was tending the garden. I surprised Itachi when I took both his hands for a duet. He caught on fast.

Before I knew it, I had sunken into his arms, spinning through the air. Giggling, I flipped up into a handstand, my palms against his. Aunt Mikoto clapped to our freestyle, while Itachi now smiled at me from above, his hand balanced on mine. Then, we surprised Aunt Mikoto. She laughed as we dragged her into our dance, her dress swaying in the breeze and sunhat falling.

At the end of our dance, Itachi and I gathered on patio for drinks. I was rubbing my arms. Lifting Itachi had been tough. He was much heavier than he looked! It was no fair, because he did not even break a sweat. He had made lifting me look so easy too, like I could not have weighed more than a bird.

Itachi admitted to me he had to think hard on the rhythm though. His body was not used to tempos. Guilty, I stuck out my tongue. I certainly did not make things easier for him by switching beats so often.

"I can see why you like it."

"Hm?"

"Dancing," he said. "To be in the moment, without any cognizance. To lose everything except feeling. Dance is just… feeling." He averted his gaze, looking slightly embarrassed. "It's nice."

After gulping down another mouthful juice, I said, "Want to know a secret?"

He waited.

I leaned in and whispered, "It's even better with music."

Giggling, I fell back, just as Aunt Mikoto called us for dinner.

I bounced up. Itachi gathered our empty glasses. He paused, then asked, "You still have your dance lessons, Ayae?"

I nodded. "Why, want to become a ballerina now?" I teased. "You know, our school doesn't usually accept boys, but if you beg, I'm sure Ms. Hyuuga can make an exception. I'll even put in a good word for you."

"Will I qualify for the advanced division?"

He grinned at my reaction.

"Kids, I said dinner's-" Aunt Mikoto paused at the door. Her hands fell to her hips, as Itachi and I rolled in the grass. "Ayae dear, what are you doing?" she asked, lips quirked.

"Knocking Itachi off his high horse!" I wrestled against Itachi's grip. He chuckled.

Dashing to Aunt Mikoto, I cried, "Auntie, as Itachi's mommy, please forbid him from being a ballerina. I'm supposed to be the pretty ballerina, and if Itachi joins, he will surely make me look bad. And that will make me sad."

Aunt Mikoto accepted my hug. Humoring me, she said, "Of course, it is now law."

"He can still have the tea and flower-arranging, if he wants," I said, serious.

"And the calligraphy too, I presume," Itachi said casually on his walk past us.

I left Aunt Mikoto in favor of chasing him inside. There, I bumped into him the same time Sasuke did. We never did figure out who had the real Itachi.

Because their dad was away, we goofed off throughout dinner. We chatted nonstop. Well, Sasuke and I did. Itachi mostly listened.

Despite the teases, I was happy that Itachi liked my dance. He told me he would like watch me in the dance hall again, if that was okay. I told him only on one condition.

When he asked what that might be, I set down my bowl. Then, trying not to blush too hard, "You have to braid my hair."

.

Tamaki stared at my notes in disbelief. She demanded how on earth I solved problem eight. Problem eight was the super difficult extra credit assignment. Everyone tried for hours, days even, to solve it. Chest puffed, I told her it only took some good old brain power and hard work and-

"Itachi's back, isn't he."

"Two weeks."

"His handwriting is beautiful," Tamaki said, tilting the paper at every angle.

"He does calligraphy."

"No wonder."

At the end of lecture, Tamaki and I high-fived. Thanks to Itachi's help, our table finally broke the first place tie.

Everyone filed outside for afternoon spars. Outside the ring, I stretched. Sparring was always my favorite part of class, because of all the points I could rack up for my team.

Tamaki threw me my gear. "Kick ass."

"Will do!" Pumped, I flipped up, fists ready.

All my opponents were easy-peasy. Out of everyone I faced in class so far, Gin was the toughest. No one else even came close. So bored, I got creative. For my first match, I did a handstand and drop, kicking my opponent in the face. Another time, I leapt up, swung my legs around my classmate's neck, using his own weight to slam him down.

Teacher Mizuki smiled the whole time. When my next opponent left the ring, defeated, he told the class, "Now, now. How do any of you expect to be men when you cannot overpower one little girl?"

Giggling, I grabbed my water bottle. As I drank, Teacher Mizuki called out the next person, some kid named Kou. His name sounded familiar, but we never met. He must have been in the other class my other years.

The boy stepped in the ring. He did not look tough at all! He was small and skinny, his eyes white like Ms. Hyuuga. One hit, and he should be done.

When the match started, I went in with a kick. My eyes widened when I fell on my back.

I… missed? That was embarrassing. I got off my butt.

The boy watched me, waiting. I came in with a side strike. An arm blocked mine. Oh no, he was fast! Before I knew it, his footing had changed, stepping in between mine and hooking my ankle.

As I fell, I twisted and grabbed his wrist to pull him down with me. His foot swiveled again, and I found my arm locked behind my back. He pushed me. I rolled to the side so I would not slide out the ring.

I winced at the cuts on my arm, while he returned to his first stance. We exchanged more blows. Sweating, I realized it was useless. His defense was too good. No matter what angle I came from, he blocked. Worse, his balance was better than mine. His weight was never off. Not once.

Breathing heavily, I separated and started into his eyes. This was bad. He knew about yin.

He unraveled from his kata. "I win," he said.

Confused, I was about to say something when my body froze up. I fell.

"Ayae!" Tamaki yelled, rushing to my side. She gasped at all the bruises down my arms. I did not even know he had hit me that many times.

Then the pain came. The pain came all at once, so hard and so bad that I could not even cry.

My vision spotted.

The next thing I knew, I was in the nurse's office. Groaning, I tried to get up from the bed. No good.

"Should not move."

Beside me sat Ijouna. Her hood was up as usual, and she sat so still, I did not even realize she was here. She did not look up from the bug fight in her palm.

"What time is it? Where's Tamaki?" I asked.

Ijouna did not answer me.

I glanced at the clock. Only thirty minutes until dismissal. I could not believe I was knocked out that long.

I slumped.

"Owie…" It was hard to move the bedding off me. I grew uneasy at the bruises all over my arms and legs. Peeking under my shirt, I saw more blue and purple. I swallowed. Scary.

"Take." Ijouna handed me a cup of water. On the rim of the cup was a beetle bug. The longer I knew Ijouna, the less scary bugs became, especially hers. This beetle bug was an especially friendly one, a pill held up for me in its horn.

I took the painkiller and water. "Thanks."

Ijouna readied to leave. At the door, she stopped. "Word of caution," she said. "Noble clans spared no mercy."

The door closed.

It took me a long time to get up. My muscles were so sore, the slightest movement stabbed pain into me from all sides. By the time I limped back to class, the room was empty.

On the desk, my books were already stowed away in my backpack, stacked all neat and orderly. By my backpack was a sticky note. On it, Tamaki had written down her worries. I was unconscious for a long time. She wished she could have stayed with me longer, but the nurses had kicked her out. She hoped that by the time I got her note, I would be better. She told me not to worry about the homework. She would take care of it for the both of us.

I flipped the note over. There was a different handwriting, and only one line.

'he'll pay.'

I set the note down. From the blackboard, I saw my table had slipped back into a tie once more.

Kou.

Now I knew why his name had sounded familiar.

Uchiha Michio. 300.

Inuzuka Hana. 259.

Hyuuga Kou. 257.

.

I managed to limp to the dance studio, but only after several face-plants against the road. Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself forward, dragging myself by the nails. Ms. Hyuuga would be disappointed if I were late again, and that would not do.

Once I got to the changing room, I sighed, leaning against a wall as I pulled up my shirt. There were gasps, and I looked up to see the other girls staring at me, hand over their mouths. They asked if I was alright.

Embarrassed, I held my shirt against my chest. Laughing nervously, I said yes, I was fine. Just a rough sparring session. The girls looked at each other. None of them were ninja, so it was hard for them to understand that a few injuries now and then was normal. Kurenai would, I thought sadly, if she were still here.

From my bag, I found my old roll of bandages. I worked fast to wrap the bandages over myself, tearing at the fabric with my teeth. When I was done, it covered all the damage that my dance shirt and tights could not.

In front of the mirror, I breathed. Okay, all good and new!

Ready, I pushed open the door to the studio. To my surprise, there was someone waiting for me on the other side. Itachi stood by the benches, giving me a small smile.

AAH, I totally forgot! Mentally, I hit my head. Of all the days to get beaten up!

On the outside, I forced out a giant grin and waved back, pretending that my arms and legs were not on fire. Move, stupid body, move! He'll notice!

My stomach fell when I saw Itachi's expression change. Something about his eyes was different. It felt like he could see straight through me, and his tone was more cautious than usual. "Ayae, is everything-"

"Great!" I interrupted, clapping my hands together.

He quieted.

Together, we sat on the benches. While I watched the other girls prepare stretches, Itachi focused on me, his fingers working slowly through my hair.

I thought I would be happy, to be next to Itachi like this. But the air between us was so awkward. My heart was thumping the entire time, and I could tell he wanted to say something. I never gave him that chance, running away as soon as he was done braiding.

I joined the other girls at the bar. Biting my lips, I went into position. Another flash of hot pain went through me, my heart drumming now.

No, no, I was fine. I could handle this. I thought back to the Chuunin exam. Then, Itachi had shown his growth. Now, it was my turn. Itachi was watching, and he needed to know I was no longer that little girl with the clumsy hops and tumbles.

I breathed. I could handle this.

In the background, Ms. Hyuuga began the rhythm.

Step one, step two. And so, it began.

My foot swiveled, and my body dipped. With a smile, I realized what dance Ms. Hyuuga had chosen. The swan. Wasn't that the first dance I ever gave him?

The pacing picked up, and soon came the twirl one a single, double, triple pirouette. Faster and faster, a spin that carried our feet from the ground into the air. Weightless.

Ballet was about defy gravity. It was about flying.

So why was I only falling.

I realized too late that I was not okay.

Arms wrapped around me before my body hit the floor. The only thing I saw was light from the ceiling. There were screaming and movement above, and a repeated call of my name.

My heart was deafening now, beating without rhythm. I wanted to say Itachi's name. I wanted to ask him to help me, please. Everything was hurting again, I was hurting real bad, and I was starting to get scared. But I could not. The words would not come out.

Itachi was calling out to me, but any words I wanted to say were lodged in my throat. When I opened my mouth, something thick and warm was coming out. It tasted bad.

It tasted like blood.

My blood.

.

"Everyone, clear!" Ms. Hyuuga commanded. All the girls backed away, leaving only Itachi and me in the middle. He hugged me tighter.

As Ms. Hyuuga knelt by my side, the girls told her they had saw me with bruises. I could have been hurt badly before coming in. Ms. Hyuuga noticed my bandages and unwrapped them, layer by layer.

Itachi froze when they came off.

"Who did this to her?" he whispered lowly.

Ms. Hyuuga did not know, but her silence suggested she had a few guesses. While the girls ran to call a doctor, Itachi brought me to Ms. Hyuuga's office, where he laid me down on the chaise. By then, my breaths had gone shallow. I could not get air.

Ms. Hyuuga took me by the hand. "Ayae, can you hear me?"

I swallowed, then gave a small nod. Another jolt of pain went through me, causing me to gasp. Ms. Hyuuga stroked my hand. "It's okay. Everything will be okay." She tried her best to comfort me. "I know this must be scary for you right now, but will you do your best to remain calm for me?"

I tried. In the background, Ms. Hyuuga and Itachi spoke in hushed tones, though their whispers got quicker and louder. I could hear both becoming more tense.

"... not at that caliber of control."

Ms. Hyuuga noticed my breath got shorter. "We don't have time."

Itachi fell silent. Finally, he looked to me.

Our gazes met, and I saw his eyes had turned red. To be honest, I did not like them that color. Itachi felt off to me in red. Like he was mad or sad or scared, all of those bad feelings that he should not have to feel. I wished I could talk to him then, but only more blood came out.

My chest got tighter, but my heart, it felt like it wanted to come out.

Itachi did not disagree with Ms. Hyuuga anymore. "Tell me what to do," he whispered, shaken.

Ms. Hyuuga nodded. She knelt by my side again. She told me how everything will be okay. In fact, Itachi was going to do something that would help me feel better. But in order for that to work, I needed to stay calm.

I did not understand what she meant by that until a sudden brightness burst free. Fire had coated Itachi's fingers. I had only seen Tomoe perform something like this before, and the technique seemed strange on Itachi.

"Ayae, I'm going to ask him to strike a few of your pressure points," Ms. Hyuuga said. "This might sound scary, but I promise it won't hurt. He won't hurt you."

I stared at the fire, then at Itachi. His palms were open, waiting for my permission. He looked vulnerable, like he was scared that I would be scared of him. That I would say no.

I did not know why he would think that. Ms. Hyuuga did not need to explain any more to me. Itachi was my good friend. If she said he could help me feel better, then I trusted that he would.

My eyes closed. I needed to stay calm, so I did my best to do that. In my head, I tried to think of calming things, like wind chimes and ice cream cones and kittens chasing yarn, meters and meters of yarn.

Ms. Hyuuga was telling Itachi the order of the points he had to unlock. I felt warmth against my skin, and sometimes a touch, but Ms. Hyuuga was right. It did not hurt.

In my head, kittens were still chasing the yarn. I was chasing alongside them, only to bump into Itachi. He had been following the yarn from the other end. We were rubbing our bruised foreheads and laughing.

.

My recovery took painfully long. Even the cliff accident was not this bad.

I did not stay in a hospital, but with Aunt Mikoto. I was given Sasuke's bed, and Sasuke moved in with Itachi. This was because my condition was sensitive, especially my heart. Aunt Mikoto did not trust the nurses at the hospital to keep me well. If I stayed close to her, at least she could save me in case of an emergency.

Doctors came in and out for days, some not even from Konoha but brought in from far away. They all would check up on me and said more or less the same thing. My chakra points got locked, and I ruptured something important when I tried to move.

Using the fire palm, Itachi had gotten enough of my circulation going to save me from a heart attack. He could not undo all the damage, though, so I ended up lying in bed and drinking bitter medicine for weeks.

I was grateful that Aunt Mikoto did most of the talking with my dad. My dad took the news that hardest. After learning this happened in school, he wanted to pull me out of the Academy. He had angry words for the student who did this to me, and the student's parents, and the teachers, and the supervisors, and even the Hokage if he had to.

Thankfully, Aunt Mikoto calmed him down. In the end, I was safe and okay, and she asked him to not lose sight of that. My dad calmed down, but I did not think I would ever forget his heartbroken expression.

Word of my match with Kou traveled fast. Uchiha and Hyuuga were both big names. Even my friends from civilian school heard, and they called to asked if I were okay.

Hana was concerned. She knew Kou from back in her first and second years. She had also heard of his reputation, but he never struck her as dangerous. Then again, he never struck me as dangerous either.

Meanwhile, I urged Tamaki to get Gin to calm down and not do anything stupid. If Gin challenged Kou, he could get beaten just as bad as me, or worse, expelled.

"So."

On my bed sat Michio, cross-legged. He had just returned from school. With him were notes from my friends, mostly get-well cards.

"So?"

"The Hyuuga. What should Michi do about him?"

I looked up to see Michio was restless. At first, I was confused by his question. But then, I realized he was like Gin. Only unlike Gin, Michio would probably win.

"Nothing," I grumbled.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," I repeated. Fights outside sparring were not allowed. What Gin or Michio wanted was not even a spar. They did not want to prove that we could beat Kou. What they wanted was to hurt him for hurting me. Supposedly that would teach him a lesson. That would make everything fair again. Yet, the idea only made me uneasy.

Michio tilted his head. "Then what do you want to do about him?"

I wish I knew. I was still shocked I was hurt this bad. Worse, that someone tried to hurt me on purpose. The technique used against me was not something for use in random class spars. His attack had been serious.

At this, Michio sighed. "Let me know if you change your mind. I do not like honey doll being bullied like this. I do not like the attitude in this school either."

"Attitude?"

Michio gave me a sad look. He told me something all my friends left out in their notes: my class was cheering.

Kou was a quiet kid before, and no one thought much of him. But after beating me, he became the cool kid that all the boys looked up to. He was a hero for putting the ugly Uchiha girl in her place.

Not only that, they were placing bets on when I would drop out. Girls always drop out. They need only to be hurt slightly, and that is enough to make them quit. Others argued maybe not. After all, I was super stuck-up and stubborn, to the point it was embarrassing and not cute at all. My bar score was not even that high, but I still had the arrogance to think I could keep up with boys.

There was more, but I told Michio it was okay, I had heard enough. I thanked him for his honesty.

Michio felt bad for leaving me in such down spirits, so he ran to grab Shisui. Seeing Shisui again did help. He even brought me leftover cupcakes from the police station!

It was great, because we smeared frosting on each other and pretended to be the cupcake monster and frosting princess. We snickered until we noticed Itachi was standing by the door, a tray of my dinner in hand.

Itachi looked down at the half-empty cupcake box, then at our blue and green streaked cheeks, then finally at Shisui.

"You did not just spoil her appetite."

His tone did not sound happy, and I forgot how serious Itachi could get, even worse than an adult. While Shisui gave a guilty laugh, I held up the last choco-cream cupcake to Itachi as a peace offering. I added on the puppy dog eyes, just in case.

Itachi deflated.

Although the cupcakes did fill me up, I made an effort to eat lots of my dinner too. After all, Aunt Mikoto and Itachi worked hard to make it for me. It also helped that the miso soup was delicious.

When Itachi saw I was about half-way done with my meal, he excused himself. He was going to shower before the rest of his family needed the bathroom. He would come pick up my tray afterwards.

As soon as he left the room, Shisui and I exchanged a look. We waited until we were sure Itachi was gone.

Then, "So, uh, ya want that?" He pointed to the chicken in my bowl. He had been eying at it the entire time.

"Please take it!" I could not hand Shisui the bowl fast enough.

Cupcake or no cupcake, Aunt Mikoto and Itachi forgot I was an eleven year old girl, not a sumo wrestler!

"Hurry, hurry!" I told Shisui. Itachi showered fast, and all this food needed to disappear before he came back.

Thankfully, Shisui got the last bite in. When the door opened, we both smiled. Our poses were awkward and stiff, and I had no idea what my elbow was doing, but I did not think Itachi suspected anything.

The rest of the night was like a sleepover. Shisui shared police stories, like these kids who tried to use the bushin technique on money. They had gotten away with it at three stores too, until one storekeeper realized the paper felt too thin.

Then there was the time a lady wanted her ex-boyfriend arrested for deceiving her and other women. Because he was handsome, many women showered him with time and money. One day, she found out he had been using henge all along. He only pretended to be handsome, but his true self was fat and ugly.

That story got me indignant. I could image how the lady must have felt. It was like the prince and the toad story, but instead of a toad transforming into a prince, a prince revealed to be a toad!

Shisui said the latter was unfortunately much more likely. Abuse of henge was the most common crime by shinobi and kunoichi alike, right after the flicker. It was almost unavoidable at this point.

"But you wouldn't ever do something like that, right?" I asked Shisui.

"Henge? Oh gods no!" Shisui looked away and whistled. "Genjutsu is so much better."

I rattled him. "Shisui!"

"Sorry squirt, but there are days when you're out of a shower for two weeks. And, well, this hair needs love."

I puffed my cheeks. Then, I glanced at my own hair and a stray bang. Well… maybe that would be nice, not having to comb so hard at it every day. I shook my head. No, no! If I started thinking like that, then I might just be the next toad in the story!

At least Itachi would never-

Itachi would not meet my gaze, and I remembered that I had caught him using genjutsu too. And unlike Shisui, he used it heavily.

Itachi looked uncomfortable, so I decided to quickly drop the topic. But then, Itachi spoke up.

"Do you… want to know?"

That caught me off guard and left Shisui completely still. He never expected Itachi to say that.

"K-know?" I asked.

Itachi forced out a smile. He did not want me angry with him too, if he failed my expectations and also turned out to be a toad. That was when I realized how carelessly I had used my words. My earlier rant must have hurt him, even if he did not show it.

Slowly, the genjutsu faded. Shisui must have seen Itachi without genjutsu before, because he was more concerned than scared. On the other hand, I found myself clutching the blankets.

As my eyes traced across his skin, my stomach dropped. Though faded now, scars branched everywhere, some long, some deep. Halfway, I wanted to close my eyes and tell Itachi to stop.

Most people tried to trick people into thinking they were prettier than they were. Itachi tried to trick people into thinking he was stronger than he was.

He did not want to deceive people, but he thought this would make his father less mad and his mother less sad. Then there was Sasuke, who still thought he was invincible. Itachi wanted to be the hero his little brother thought he was. As for me, he-

I shut him up with a hug.

"You're not a froggie, Itachi," I mumbled, holding him tight. It hurt me to see all those scars on him, but he had been hurt far worse, and his pain was what mattered right now.

I jerked a thumb to myself. "You'll always be a prince to me!"

Itachi did not know what to say at first, but then his lips pulled into a smile to mirror mine. His shoulders dropped, as if a weight had been lifted off him.

But then, our moment was ruined by a "D'aw." From the other side of the bed, Shisui watched us, making my face go all red.

It was getting late, so Shisui excused himself. His tone was teasing though, and I could tell he just wanted to give Itachi and I some alone time.

After Shisui left the room, our conversation took an unexpected turn. We had our first real heart-to-heart, as I asked if Itachi remembered our first ever fight.

It was years ago, back when I was seven. I remembered we were standing at the gate. I had been very angry and upset, because Itachi did not support my choice to be a ninja. The second time he upset me, it was over the same thing.

My gaze met his. I never asked Itachi why. Besides my dad, no one else thought I made a bad decision. All my friends congratulated me on joining them in becoming ninja. Even after they left, they congratulated me on staying. Why was Itachi the only one of my friends so against it?

Itachi stared at the opposite wall. "You remembered wrong."

"Huh?"

"That wasn't our first fight." Our first fight was that day I told him ninjas were stupid.

My mouth opened. "I said that?"

"You did."

I went quiet, racking my brain. Then, "No, I definitely did not ever say that!"

He gave me a look. "Lame and a huge waste of time. Those were not your words?"

Oh. Okay, that sounded familiar. I may have said that.

"I was upset, because as much as I tried to deny it, I knew you were right. Shinobi is a miserable profession, and the one pathetic argument I had you countered easily. Worse, I had proven your point when I tried to intimidate you into silence." Itachi lowered his gaze. "So to go back to your question, why would you want it? It's harsh. It's dirty. It's, on the most part, for boys, usually boys with no other option. And it doesn't come without pain or enemies."

I looked at his arms again and compared it to mine. Ever since my fall, my arm was crooked, a long ragged scar running through it. My nails were still ugly. To add to all that, my skin now had patches of purple and yellow and green. My arm was slowly beginning to look like his arm.

My hand pressed against my chest. I felt my heartbeat. It had slowed down, but the rhythm still was not right. I was not as scared as back in the dance studio, but I was still scared.

Itachi shared with me his secret, so I felt it was time I shared mine. It was something I never told my friends, something I did not even want to admit to myself. Maybe because I worried this would make me less brave. Make me a quitter or a disappointment.

"Itachi, I'm not sure if I still want to be a ninja."