[Chapter 21: It's Almost the End of the Month]

"Megumi?" I hummed in response as I straightened my back to face an approaching Ino. It was morning, the day before the final phase of the chunin exams.

Tilting my head away from the pretty flower, I smiled at the blonde. "Heya, Ino. How are ya doing?" I greeted her, placing my hands behind my back. "Looks like you're faring well with your new hair cut."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, raising a brow as she placed a hand on her hip and shifted her weight on one leg.

"Ah, sorry: I just said that cuz you seemed to care a lot about it." I casually apologized, forming my face to express it. She hummed, seeming to take my excuse. Even though she's a Genin and young, I still have to be cautious around her: she's basically trained to notice any body language and we don't wanna give away anything, do we?

Ino glanced at the flowers I was observing before. "What kind of flowers do you need?"

"Hmmm..." I let out, pretending to think, placing my thumb and index finger on my chin to indicate that. Can throw up be used for a torture method? "How about flowers to give to someone in the hospital?"

"Lee-san?" She asked, hitting spot on.

I did an audible intake, "How did you know? Did you read my mind?" I questioned her, inching just a bit closer.

"No, I can't do that just yet." She responded with a high-pitched laugh. "Sakura just has been coming here for the same reason." Aww... I guess that even if Lee developed a crush for me (still have no idea how that happened honestly), he still helped and protected her~ But then again, it's that we're talking about. The young kunoichi glanced up at the ceiling (why does everyone do that?) as she searched for an answer. "Oh! Why don't you get violet chrysanthemums? They can mean longevity, joy, and optimism. Also, the violet ones can mean healing."

"Uwahhh... Ino, you know a lot about flowers."

"Of course I do! Who do you take me for instead of the Yamanaka heiress?"

"But isn't managing a flower shop just being good at taking care of and arranging flowers?"

"What gave you that idea?" Ino scrunched up her nose, now she really lives up to her name. "Didn't you learn this in the kunoichi classes we had?" No, no I did not. I was too busy thinking about how cute Minato and Kushina were. Man, I really wish they were still alive, if only...

"Creating a bouquet with both beauty and meaning is very important to those doing assassination or seduction missions! Most nobles are taught about flower language so if we give the wrong flowers towards someone in an attempt to enchant them then, it will probably fail the mission or worse, lose our lives!" The blonde thoroughly explained, crossing her arms in slight pride.

...Huh. To think that the author actually made an explanation to that. I mean what? "Wow, you really know about these things, huh?" I blinked in mild amazement.

"You should too!"

I giggled at her, thinking that her words were cute. I'm sorry, I doubt I'll need- Other thoughts abruptly ambushed me in an instant. What if I had to go to a seduction mission and I got pregnant? Holy mother of ducklings, that would cause a fucking riot: village or brothers, which is worse?! I internally grimaced, oh god, why did I think about that?!

I pouted childishly, skillfully covering up the fuckery that slapped me mere seconds ago. "Well, it's not my fault. Why would I when they teach us this!" I countered, bending down slightly reaching forwards to jab my finger to her tummy. The girl recoiled back, stepping away as she rose a brow in confusion.

"Wh-what was that for?!"

"Well, lack of teaching, I guess," I corrected myself, not missing a beat as I looked up at her. "You are, believe it or not, skinny. Too skinny. So skinny that Yugi Toshinori can't compare! And he's just bones." I released a sigh through my nose and straighten up, swaying side to side as I resumed placing my hands behind my back. "Geez, why are you and Sakura the same when it comes to this."

"Hey!"

I darted my eyes backs at her form, "I'll say the same advice-that-should-not-have-to-be-said that I gave to Sakura: fricking eat for once, Jebus Rice. We need energy for our missions to succeed, something water and a sandwich won't be enough for." I stated, using the same logic as her.

"That's what my dad says." She admitted sheepishly, turning her light blue eyes as she pretended to kick an imaginary rock. "But Sasuke-kun—"

"Don't care about my foolish little brother." I bluntly butted in like a Danganronpa protagonist. "Winning his heart ain't gonna save your ass; this isn't some fluffy shojo manga."

The female ninja grumbled in defeat, taking my words into consideration. I giggled, "Well, for now, let's find some pretty flowers for Lee."

After we did that (did I ever mention that Ino's really picky about these things?), we hopped over to the cashier counter to buy said flowers. "Ne, Ino-chan," I started when I was about to head out of the shop, slightly tilting my head towards her. The said girl let out a curious noise, noting the sudden addition of an honorific. I smiled at her, "I'm glad you and Sakura-chan made up."

And I was off.

"Heyyyy, Gaara, are ya planning on stabbing an unconscious person?" I asked the boy when I found him in Lee's hospital room. The short boy darted his teal eyes at me, the sand surrounding the boy dropping flat on the bed. Well, I guess it that time in the series.

"And if I am?" He asked the question in such a flat tone that it didn't even sound like one.

"Ok, so you're not planning to kill him; that's nice," I concluded, walking past him casually to carefully place my flowers into the vase that was on a counter next to Lee's body. I rotated my body and spread my arms apart, bearing a smile just for him.

"Huggie?"

"No."

"Awwww." Nonetheless, I giggled, stepping just a bit closer to him. The red head's nonexistent brows furrowed, shifting just a bit but enough to express dissatisfaction. "Anyways, what's the point? It's not like he did anything to really give you a grudge so what's the tea?"

He glares at me, probably not wanting to be here any longer but that's just me, right? "I just felt like it."

I hummed in response. Even though he literally killed someone just nights ago. Moving an unused chair to sit on it, I crossed one leg over the other. "Well that's not an excuse. Also, ya shouldn't really kill for no valid reason: makes everything complicated."

He rose his brow bone slightly in confusion, probably wondering why I didn't just flat out say no killing so I elaborated. "Just think of all the paperwork! Like, I get it, the killing can be fun and shit but— ya can't make all those people suffer from the hellspawn that is called paperwork! And don't get me started on all those emotional connections those people had." You know, maybe that's why people are less hesitant to kill missing-nin: they are taught to assume that they have no emotional ties with anyone.

"...Why are you not afraid of me." It was more of a statement than a question. And oh, I guess that's what he was confused about.

Awww, isn't that adorable? I giggled in my fangirlyness. "Well, I know that if you did try to kill me, it wouldn't go good for you since I can do a pretty good Sasuke fangirl impression. Which means that people will be alerted immediately. It will, in the end, tarnish Suna's reputation, especially since I'm the so-called 'Uchiha Princess'." I explained with a smile. Yeah, I just used the lineage card, what' cha gonna do about it? Call my parents?

A millisecond later, a stream of sand suddenly surrounded my form. I blinked before turning my head at the red panda. "And what makes you think that I care about that?" He boldly inquired with a glare, a hand stretched out as he moved his sand around as if to intimidate me. Gaara has another hand on his head, clutching it as if he was in pain.

"Because it would be a bitch if—" I didn't finish when I noticed his shadow acting up. Not even missing a beat, Naruto dashes in, one-punching the other boy in the face.

"What the hell are you doing to Megumi?!" He shouted in alarm and anger, grabbing my arm and stepping away.

"Oi! Naruto, when I'm using the shadow jutsu, I feel the same pain as them!" Shikamaru complained, presenting himself into the scene.

"Well, this is certainly a nice tea party." I joked as if I wasn't in death's reach. Again.

"What makes you think this is a tea party?" The male questioned as if questioning my insanity. What is the point of asking when the whole idea of it is that you can't understand it?

"Well, there's biscuits and the tea was spilled. Also, Bethany isn't here—"

"Forget I said anything." The intelligent raven head decided, clicking his tongue as he then muttered, "Troublesome woman." I giggled before looking back at our current situation.

"I was going to harm her." The red panda answered your Naruto. At least he didn't want to kill me. Score!

"He was gonna do the same to Lee too~!" I tattled like a tattletail, earning a well-deserved pointed glare. 'Be glad I didn't tell on Kugui on you.' I wanted to add but decided not to. Hehe, I can't believe I get to have leverage against pre-talk-no-jutsu Gaara!

"What?!" The usually energetic blond step forward boldly, "What's up with that?! You won the match- ya shouldn't be having a grudge, dattebayo!" He stated.

"I don't. I simply want to kill him." Responded the Suna shinobi. He had lowered his head as if to make his adorable face intimidating. "And if you get in my way, I'll kill you all."

"Again, politics!" I butted through the strong tension, shifting my weight with a small giggle. I bet if he wasn't using his jutsu, Shikamaru would've kicked me.

The said boy sighed deeply, absolutely done with his life at the moment. "Look, you can try but we're not that bad ourselves. Besides, you're outmatched 3 versus 1, now isn't that a landslide?" He tried to bluff but I guess that wasn't enough.

"It doesn't matter."

Man, I am really tempted to just zone out. The raven head clicked his tongue before the fluffy bum bum holder interrupted them, "I won't be killed by the like of you!" He declared. "I've got a real monster within me: I'll never lose to the likes of you!"

"Then it's the same as me then," Gaara concluded, closing his eyes with crossed arms. "I too have a monster within me." And thus starts his fairytale of the past. I know that people have probably heard it a million times so I'll spare the details. Just know that all that really changed was that his backstory was slightly better because of our favorite reincarnated jonin.

❁❁✲

"So, dear little brother, are you ready for tomorrow?" I asked Sasuke at the dinner table. It was the evening in the dumbass household and he looked just about ready to do the flop.

"Hnnnnnn." Oh god he's slurring. "No, I need to get stronger..." I guess I should've mentioned this before but my twin really likes to break away from his edgy persona. when he's really tired. Weird, right? But also I giggled as he kept on last-minute stopping himself from face-planting onto his food.

"Ok," I said as I leaned over to slightly slap his cheek. He groaned but didn't really do anything to stop it. I squealed over my own brother's adorableness, why couldn't Kishimoto draw this down? Oh wait, he had to keep Sasuke's asshole personality intact. "Come on, we're crashing Naruto's place!"

"What." The raven head demanded, suddenly blinking wide awake.

"No whats, no butts, no chicken butts!" I changed as I grabbed both of our plates in one hand and his hand with my other. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance (he really wasn't) but complied as I continued to drag him along.

"What's up fucker?!" I shouted as I kicked Naruto's door down. The boy jumped from his seat in his own table, darting his crystal blue eyes at us, Sasuke lagging just a bit behind.

"U-uh, welcome to Bob's pizzeria and abortion clinic! Your loss is our sauce!" He hastily recited in shock. I wiped a faux tear with a hand (the one that I released my foolish little brother from), they've learned so well!

"Hey, Naruto!" I greeted gleefully as I waltz in to place our food onto his table. "I know we just saw each other from an almost death-experience but we're gonna crash starts your place tonight!" In the corners of my eyes, my younger brother rose a brow at me but just thought to sluggishly move in. Not before fixing the door in flash-speed, of course. He has mastered the art of fixing doors after all.

"Uh, okay?" The blond then turned his attention to the other male in the apartment. "Is teme in one of those moods again?"

"Shut it, dobe."

"Oh, so he is, dattebayo!"

I giggled. Man, if only the mangaka showed us more of these relaxed moments. I thought as I sat down to resume eating. Sasuke has taken the other side of me, both of us surrounding Naruto.

"Kakashi-Sensei's been pushing my limits yet I can't even muster a simple jutsu...!" My brother let out in frustration as he sloppily jabbed a spoonful of rice into his mouth. It's at this point that he's even conscious because of the many jolts he's had to endure and pure willpower.

"God, that dum dum ain't even supposed to make you so exhausted to the point that you're like this. In fact, you're also dumb for allowing this!" I objected as I am some more food myself. "It's surprising that the person that takes care of themselves the most in this team is me and Naruto," I added in, earning an irk and happy fox noises. I'm sure you can guess which is from.

"Hah! Take that teme!" The fox-like blond boasted, enthusiastically pointing a finger at the tired Uchiha. The boy let out of an annoyed 'Hn', silently telling him to go die. Awwww, they're bonding so well! "Oh!" Naruto then positioned his body towards me, "How's training with Sakura-chan, Megumi?"

"Oh, her." I giggled at their looks, especially Sasuke's. I mean, can you really blame him? All he really knew about her was that she was just a random fangirl and she didn't really do anything memorable when they did missions, according to him, so it would make sense if he didn't believe that she could really improve.

Also, oh my god, his look when he found out when I was training her. Heheheh, he looked like he was just about to yeet himself.

I propped my elbow on the wooden table and placed my chin on them, "Well, she's definitely improved a lot. That's something I can say for certain!" I smiled as I then asked a question myself, "How about you?"

The foxy boy grinned as if he was gonna do the best show-and-tell ever. "Yeah, yeah! I finally got to learn a new jutsu! So there was Ero-seinnin and..."

And there goes the rest of the night.

Extra:

"How come you don't try to see my face?" Kakashi asked one day. It was an afternoon in the Ichiraku Ramen shop and we were feasting on the meals after all the missions we did. It was also one of those days where the team tried to uncover Kakashi's face, in which right now they're stuffing their faces after their failed attempt.

I blinked at him as I slurped my noodles. I didn't think he would ask such a question— is it really bothering him? I placed my chopsticks on my bowl and turned to him. Maybe he wanted to troll me too, "I guess it's because I don't need to." I responded with an innocent smile.

He hummed, seeming to be all casual at this as he hid his confusion, "What makes you say that?"

"Well," I started to explain, it's time to spew out some bullshit. "You seem like the type of person who does things for a good reason. So I thought at first it would be a scar that could ruin your appearance."

Picking up my chopsticks again, I entertained myself with spinning hem in between my fingers. "But then I quickly dismissed that idea, cuz I'm pretty sure ya don't give a frickle frackle about that so I think it's actually the opposite. You seem like an introvert and not the one who likes to be bothered. Based on that, I can only assume that not using your mask can only burden you in the long run."

I darted my eyes at him. "So, I can conclude that you actually have a pretty face underneath that piece of cloth!" I concluded with my chopsticks pointing at the jonin. We only stared at each other as we both thought about my explanation. Huh, that actually sense. I put my chopsticks away with giggles, breaking eye contact with the scarecrow, "Or ya can do it just cuz ya can!" I added.

I then childishly pouted when I noticed his silence. "Whaaaat? I can think too!" I whined at him.

"Mahhhhhh... I just wasn't expecting that." He reasoned bashfully.

"So you were thinking that! Ya dum dum!"

"Why does my dear student have to call me that. It breaks my heart~" He complained dramatically, placing a hand over his heart to increase the effect.

I giggled at him, "Because you are a dum dum." I answered, taking another bunch of noddles and gulping them. "Hmmm... but if I were to give an actual reason then I guess I just pity you."

"...Huh?" His only visible eye had been widened, actually not expecting that response. Pfffft, just because I'm a kid doesn't mean a kid can't say that.

"When I found out you were my teacher, I did a bit of research," Thanks narutopedia! "And apparently you were an absolute prodigy. I also found out that you were the son of the White Fang."