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"𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐖𝐄'𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌?"
The shy Hyuga whispered into the sleepy Akashi's ear, "I hope not." Inari remarked, half asleep with her face resting on her arms. She turned to Hinata who looked at her with a sad face, Inari then realized Hinata thought she was serious, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." She reassured her with an awkward smile.
Hinata sighed in relief and gave her a soft smile, "You are really bad at jokes." She said before their heads turned to Iruka-sensei who just started to speak.
A month had past since the argument Inari had gotten into with Kiyoko and Amaya. For some reason, Amaya had been avoiding Inari the past month and Inari didn't know why. She asked Kiyoko why Amaya was acting so distant but even he didn't know why.
"You'll all be split into a three-man team. Who you end up with will depend mostly on how you scored on the test you were given a few days ago. It will be based on your skill and efforts and how smoothly you would run with your teammates." He said, Inari glanced over at a certain whiskered boy who could barely sit still in his desk, "Are you excited Naruto?" Inari asked in a whisper. He turned back to her and nodded, "I wonder who I'll be in a team with. Hopefully it'll be you and Sakura!" He whispered back while smiling widely.
"Can you both shut up?" The Uchiha asked, clearly annoyed, Inari blinked slowly, "Of course, Sasuke." She blinked again, she sluggishly moved her head back up to listen for the team parings.
Iruka-sensei held a paper in front of him as he skimmed through the words and smiled, "Alright our first team... is Team 6...consisting of Inari Akashi, Hayase Kiyomizu... and Hoshi Cho."
Inari let out a exasperated sigh, this is probably her nightmare came to life. Out of everyone in this classroom, the only person she wouldn't want to be with is Hoshi Cho.
"I am cursed. Definitely cursed." She whispered to herself, she turned her head in the direction of Hoshi, he looked at her with a smug smirk, winked and waved. Even though she's twelve years old now, the hate Inari has for Hoshi hasn't changed at all. Every chance he got to tease her, he did. When she apologized
"Team 7- Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno," Inari noticed Naruto jump up in triumph as Sakura kept her head down low in shame, "and Sasuke Uchiha." Then Sakura shot up with glee and Naruto did the opposite.
"Hey! Why do I have to be on a team with Sasuke?" The two boys glared daggers at each other, Iruka sighed deeply and closed his eyes, "You two were placed together because you, Naruto had scored the lowest in grades where Sasuke has the best in this class."
Laughter rippled around the classroom, Inari sighed softly and lost interest in the situation.
"To even out the teams, we put the best with the worst." He finished, Inari assumed that Kiyoko got a bad grade on the test from Iruka's statement, she was fine with that. Her brother is smart but at the same time an idiot.
"Just make sure you don't get in my way, loser." Sasuke opened his eyes and glanced at Naruto.
Naruto puffed up his cheek and his blood boiled, "What did you just say?" He raised his voice and was then face to face with the raven haired boy, they flared daggers at each other until Sakura tugged on his orange jacket and moved him away.
She told him something and Naruto pouted before sitting down and crossing his arms.
All teams were announced, Hinata was on a team with a boy named Kiba and Shino. Kiyoko was also on Hinata's team due to the unevenness. Inari didn't Amaya's name though, she assumed that she just wasn't paying attention."
Iruka cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, "After lunch, you'll meet up with your new sensei's, until then--class dismissed."
Everyone got up and chatter went around the classroom.
Inari put her pens and notebooks into her little bag and Kiyoko tapped her shoulder, "I wish we were on the same team." He threw his arms over his head in a bored manner.
Inari blinked, "I have an idea, which ever team completes the most higher-ranked levels before we become Jonins...the twin with the most completed missions will be able to 10,000 yen from the loser and buy whatever they want."
Kiyoko debated her offer for a while, "Fine. Deal." They shook hands and smirked, "May the best twin win." He exclaimed.
"I'm so glad we're on the same team, Inari." Hoshi appeared behind her, Inari almost spun around and punched him but she squinted her eyes instead and slowly turned around, "Kiyoko, how are you?" He tilted his head with a wide smile. Kiyoko rolled his eyes, "I'll see you later." He mumbled before walking away.
Inari sighed, "What do you want, Hoshi?" She narrowed her red eyes at him, his golden eyes flicked and he put his hands on her shoulders, "What does that mean? We are on the same team, can I not greet my colleagues?" He asked with a pouty lip.
She scrunched her nose, "Just don't get in my way." A fake smile formed on her face and she walked off.
Hayase walked next to her, "So we're on the same team, huh?" He asked with a bored face, Inari exhaled, "Yup, I guess so." She responded as she threw her bag over her shoulder.
Inari glanced behind the two and saw Hoshi keeping his distance but still held her chin up high, "This freaking guy." She muttered under her breath, but he made a quick turn and was finally out of her sight.
"Who do you think our sensei will be?" Inari asked, trying to make conversation. Hayase shrugged sluggishly, "I barely know any Jonins." He responded in a uninterested manner. She nodded to his response and clicked her tongue, "So...you wanna eat lunch with me?" She asked, perked up.
Hayase glanced at her.
The two were setting together on an unvacated picnic bench, Hayase was finishing his last rice ball, Inari stared at her food and moved them around with her chopsticks.
Hayase noticed and raised an eyebrow, "If I tell you to stop playing with your food, will you?" He asked, glancing at her with an annoyed look.
Inari set her chopsticks down, "You want some of my food?" She proposed as Hayase slowly chewed his food. He shrugged, one thing Hayase loved is food so he couldn't deny, "Sure."
Her chopsticks picked up pieces of food from her bento and set them down on his, she took very big portions out of her food and Hayase didn't even notice there was barely anything left in her box. Inari ate the small remaning bits of food in her bento and closed it while Hayase devoured the food she gave him.
While she watched him stuff his mouth, she laughed a bit, Inari was both amused and disgusted, Hayase looked at her with stuffed cheeks, almost like a chipmunks, "What?" His word came out muffled and Inari covered her face as specks off food flew at her, "You're disgusting." She commented while smiling.
He swallowed his food and blushed in embarrassment, Inari rested her cheek on her hand and stared at the maple trees, the leaves were as red as her eyes almost. "Sometimes I wish I could just--be a flower." She admitted, her eyes softened.
Hayase made a 'pfft' noise, trying to hold in his laugh, "Why a flower?" His blue eyes observed Inari's face, watching her think about what she was going to say next and the way her eyes looked around as she thought.
"Being a flower would seem so simple. All you need is the right amount of sun and water, and I would be happy being knowing that bees would need my pollen and that when I wither away, my seeds would've been left for other flowers to grow." She responded while smiling softly.
If he was being honest, he didn't really know what to say to her, only, "That's nice."
Inari appreciated the silence that fell upon them, they both just stared at the red maple trees surrounding them, all while listening to the birds chirping and the vibrant colors of the flowers around them, but then Inari could sense this irritating, grating noise coming closer.
Her ear twitched, "Oh God..." She groaned as her head slumped down, Hayase turned around and there was Hoshi running up to them. Hayase's expression dropped and he turned back around.
"Maybe if we ignore it. It will disappear." He said to Inari in a low whisper, she snickered at his comment as Hoshi in between the two.
Hoshi sighed deeply and looked at both of them with a wide smile, "Robot, Hayase." He bowed his head while greeting them. Inari rolled her eyes at that nickname, "This should be Team Six's meet up spot." He commented while his amber eyes scanned the scenery, both Inari and Hayase didn't respond, which made him scoff, "Come on guys! Lets forget about what happened in the past and lets all turn a new leaf! This is a new era, the rise of Team Six!" He exclaimed and put his arms around their shoulders and pulled them into a hug.
Inari pushed him off and eyeballed him, Hayase sighed deeply and stretched his arms, "Where are we supposed to meet our new sensei?"
The amber-eyed boy ran his fingers through his honey-blonde hair and clicked his tongue, "It said that we meet her at eight in the morning tomorrow at the mountain villa, and there are special instructions from her stating we have to run all the way up there and we can't stop, and she will know if we do." He answered and groaned when he finished.
"I'll be going now." Inari got up and patted down her clothes, "Send your dad my regards if you can, Hoshi." She looked at him and gave him a fake smile. Hoshi waved, "I won't." Inari glared at him before biting the inside of her cheek, "See you tomorrow, Hayase." She said while exhaling and walked away.
It took about nine minutes for Inari to make it back home, "Lady Inari!" Akira stopped her in her tracks and she bowed, "Is something wrong?" Inari asked, Akira handed her the latest newspaper and Inari read the headline cover, her eyes widened, "Documents have been leaked of the current Pure Daughter of the Akashi clan--Inari Akashi is being looked into as a co-conspirator to Akane Akashi's death...some say that she worry she is a spy for the infamous Orochimaru...down below shows the overwhelming evidence to prove so."
Inari looked up at Akira in disbelief; and she looked at her with a worried face, "Is this actually real? They are saying this about me?" Her hands clutched onto the newspaper.
Akira nodded slowly, "Everyone is talking about it, I wanted to make sure you knew about this." Inari's tongue pressed against her cheek and she nodded while narrowing her eyes, "Thank you, Akira." Inari bowed her head and walked past her.
Inari's eyebrows furrowed and she bit her bottom lip, "It's fine, it's fine." She muttered to herself while her hand tightly gripped onto the newspaper.
She walked into her room and sat on her bed, clutching to the mattress.
A shaky breath escaped her lips and her bottom lip quivered. Inari reached her hand to her hair and took off her ribbon; and let her hair fall down to her back, "I'm fine. I'm fine." She told herself and looked at the newspaper again, reading the article about her.
She scoffed while reading it, "These people don't even know anything." Her eyes squinted at the words, the so-called documents were saying that Inari was a person of interest in the investigation, yet no one ever told Inari that. Supposedly, the investigation closed after a week. She shook her head while reading the article, ever since they suspected Akane may have had her body harvested a lot of Akashi's were put on edge, the last person who was kidnapped in her clan happened before Inari was even born.
If they knew anything, they would've talked about how close the two were. Inari looked at Akane as the mother she wished she had, until she wasn't. Inari couldn't believe it at all, she tore the newspaper into shreds and let it scatter across her floor.
Stupid girl, stupid, stupid.
The next morning, she met up with her teammates and they followed the instructions that was left for them. Mostly because they were nervous about what would happen if they didn't.
Inari was the first to make it up, then followed Hayase and Hoshi. She tilted her head as they saw a woman sitting on a stone with her back facing to them.
"Excuse me-"
The woman spun around with a big, bright smile on her face. With the words, 'I am the embodiment of sunshine' written all across her face.
"Hello, my three little pupils!" She hopped up land landed on the ground and bowed. The three students sweat-dropped as they watched their new sensei, begin to introduce herself, "Good morning students, I'm your new sensei Kiyomi Motsuki--and I am so excited to help you all grow to become flamboyant shinobis!" Kiyomi flashed a bright smile and gave them a thumbs up. Inari scrunched her nose at the word 'flamboyant' she is certain she has never heard anyone say that word before.
Kiyomi on first impressions is a very optimistic, cheerful type of person and is pretty tall. She has dark long hair that stops at her stomach with a side bang that covered a bit of her left eye. Her eyes are both big and blue, there's a tiny mole right under her right eye and another one underneath her bottom lip. She wears the standard jonin uniform with her forehead protector dangling down her neck and an orange bandana on her shoulder that was distracting to Inari.
She motioned for everyone to sit down, "A few fun facts about me, I am outstanding in taijustsu, most people say that it's useless compared to ninjutsu but that isn't true! Taijutsu is an amazing style of jutsu, someone I really admire and is as flamboyant as me also excels in taijustsu! I am 25 years old and I love training! Now, lets introduce our names, age and things that we like to do and why we want to become a ninha. Who wants to go first?" Kiyomi looked around at her exhausted students with a content face.
Hoshi raised his hand, "My name is Hoshi Cho, I am twelve years old and I like to train whenever I can. I want to become a strong shinobi because my mother always told me I had the fighting spirit in me, and I think I can use my fighting spirit to fight bad guys." Kiyomi clasped her hands together, "That's wonderful Hoshi! How about you?" She pointed towards Hayase, he sighed "I'm Hayase Kiyomizu, I'm twelve and I like to drink tea and swim. The only reason I have to become a shinobi is because I'm bored with life." Kiyomi raised her eyebrows but gave him a sweet smile,
"Well Hayase, you're in luck! Becoming a shinobi means you will have to put your blood, sweat, and tears into this! You will have to endure grueling long weeks of endless training only to find out you still have so much work to do, and when you go on missions you learn to sleep comfortably with the knowledge that at any given moment, death is the closest thing sleeping next to you." She responded with a smile and a dark shadow cast down her face.
They all looked at her with a nervous expression and then she laughed, "And finally, you." She pointed to Inari.
Inari took a deep breath, "I am Inari Akashi and I'm also twelve years old. I like to practice with swords and I love rice balls--a lot. I hope that I can become a powerful shinobi to show everyone that Pure Mothers are more than just sitting around and acting fancy." Hoshi rolled his eyes and Kiyomi nodded with an understanding expression, "You all have such amazing drives to becoming a shinobi. I am eager to see you all become your true flamboyant selves!"
The three took a sigh of relief and let go of their tensed up bodies, "However..." They all tensed up again, Kiyomi stood up and revealed an apple in her hand.
They all tilted their heads at the same time, "In order for you to pass, you all must knock the apple down as it sits on my head! And give it all you got, but be warned, I can defend myself!" She explained with an optimistic face.
Inari studied her and smirked a bit, she was certain this would be a walk in the park.
It wasn't a walk in the park.
Inari was laying in her bed, completely bruised up and exhausted. She underestimated Kiyomi by a lot, she was able to dodge them all with such ease and she barely even moved, and the apple stayed completely still. But due to sheer luck, Hoshi was able to move it just a little bit for it to roll off of her head. And they all passed.
All Inari could do was lay in her bed and get lost in her own thoughts. Her mind raced on how she is supposed to handle to the recent rumors that involve her. Inari has been losing her temper with everyone, people keep on babying her and keep telling her how to act and it has really annoyed her, annoying her to the point where she has been snapping at even her close freinds.
Orochimaru taught her two things, Always be two steps ahead- and she is. She always has to be one step ahead, she refuses to fall behind. Avoid the ones you know are worthless. And she does. she doesn't like to associate with people she declares as worthless.
She kept on thinking about how to get ahead of this.
Then she thought about killing the person who wrote that article about her, maybe that would make everything go away. But she wasn't sure.
Inari stared into the night sky and looked at the crescent moon lighting up the dark abyss, she opened her window and slipped through.
The wind howled, gently brushing her dark hair back, her eyes closed as she took a moment to just forget about everything. She walked into her backyard, her hand glided against the wooden bridges railing as she stared at the water and listened to the soft current.
She leaned against the railing and closed her eyes while smiling,
"Maybe being a fish would be nice."
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