Sick of the Usual

[Aiko Uchiha]

It was another day filled with doing nothing but what her mom told her to do. Aiko was once again cleaning the house while her mom was in the kitchen cooking. Her mother had promised that if Aiko finished her chores she could be free to roam today since it was her day of rest from training. That didn't mean Aiko necessarily like being done with her chores quick, seeing as someone outside ALWAYS found something for her to help them with.

After about an hour of finishing everything that needed to be done Aiko left the house and stood looking around for a second before starting to walk around the compound. It had been a while since she had seen any kids her age around here and things were starting to get quiet boring. As she walked her eyes darted from grown up to small child looking and watching.

Today felt a little bit different though, as if she was going to find something to occupy her interest while roaming around the compound.

[Zephyr Uchiha]

Just another morning. This was the thought oozing through Zephyr's head as he performed his daily routine, consisting of clothes, shower, breakfast, stretches, and not necessarily in that order. After he was done with everything he needed to do, he felt the urge to make this day something special. His eyes scanned outside through the few windows in his relatively small home. It was so nice outside that he was inspired to just walk today. No training, no more exercises - just a stroll through the compound, and maybe the village if he felt particularly bored. Zeffy quickly ran out of his house and onto the streets of the Uchiha Compound.

Life was going as usual. People flooded in and out of houses, and most of the crowds were either going to the market district or to the exit gate. This time, he would go towards the market. His house was on the outskirts of the compound, so the closer to the market he went, the more people he'd find. Maybe he could find somebody to talk to...

Out of the corner of his eye, something caught him. A graceful yet powerful prescence. Zephyr scanned the field of his vision and practically zoomed in on a girl who appeared to be not much younger than him. She bore the headband of the Leaf Village, like him, and so had to be a Genin, or the youngest ever Chunin.

Zephyr slowly made his approach. He gulped, not even knowing what he would say. He'd start with a simple hello, he supposed. He'd never really talked to girls much in his day. Normally, they just went for the people that showed off their awesomeness in class or could perform the biggest jutsu. Zephyr was a behind-the-scenes person.

In what seemed like a flash, Zephyr was standing just a few meters away from this young Uchiha female. The corner of his lip curled upward in a smile and he said softly, "Hello. I've not seen you around before. My name's Zephyr..." He dragged on the end of the sentence to lead to his question.

"And you are?"

[Aiko Uchiha]

Aiko took in a deep breath as the sun seemed to shine brighter all the sudden. The suns rays warmed her skin as she continued to walk. Her eyes had shut for a brief moment before hearing a baby cry, opening them up again a woman seemed to be struggling handling the baby and the bag from the market since it was sliding out her hand.

Walking up to the woman Aiko smiled politely before offering herself to help the woman get situated. Aiko held the baby and played with him until he started laughing and smiling while the mom was fixing herself and the bag up in a comfortable position. The next thing Aiko did was hand the woman her child before the lady thanked her and went on by her buisness. Aiko nodded to herself in approval before heading her way again.

Something however made her slow down, there was someone that was definitely worth talking to around here. But before Aiko was able to find them she believed he had already found her, seeing a boy about her age made her relieved inside...finally someone her age to hang out with.

A giggle escaped from her mouth as her approached, her eyes locked with his showing nothing but happiness. Her mood had suddenly shifted to bored to interested in a matter of minutes. Aiko had waited until the boy introduced himself before she told him her name.

"Hi there, my name is Aiko. I haven't seen you before either..well maybe it's because I rarely go outside, and I live on the other side of the compound. Anyway, it's really nice to meet you Zephyr..." Normally Aiko wasn't this impulsive but she couldn't help but smile widely and giggled one more time, "You want to hang out?"

[Zephyr Uchiha]

He received a smile in response to what he said. That was a good sign to him. He grinned even wider when she invited him to hang out.

"Sure. I was just about to take a walk. We can go together!" He said with a little bit of enthusiasm. He was new to this experience of interacting with girls, so he went very proactive on his approach. He took her hand with his hand and walked at a slow pace in no particular direction.

After a while, he turned to her and asked, "So what's your story? You said you rarely go outside, too... What do you do if you don't go outside?"

[Aiko Uchiha]

The smile on her face seemed to be brighter when seeing him grin wider. This day was starting to get better already.

"Aren't you enthusiastic?" Aiko replied with a smile towards him and a giggle. Talking to girls wasn't really the normal for him and she could tell but that didn't bother her at all. He seemed to be really nice, when he had taken her hand and walked at a slow pace she looked at him curious a bit.

"By my story you mean? She looked at him with the most innocent look before answering his other question, "Well..I like to read, help my mom with anything, or just switch the art around my room."

Aiko then decided to ask him a question, "What about you? How come you don't come out much?"

[Zephyr Uchiha]

Zephyr laughed. He had not even mentioned not going outside. In truth, he was almost always outside, training. He was improving his taijutsu, or mastering a new ninjutsu, or meditating on the open grass... He had to prove to everyone, but mostly himself, he could get better.

"I'm almost always outside," he began. "I like to improve my abilities and learn new things. I want to learn every jutsu in existence. That's my main goal in life. My mindset." The duo continued walking, passing by houses and yards.

"There hasn't been a day like this in months. It's so... Serene." Birds were flying and chirping playfully, and squirrels were out in full force. Out of the corner of his eye, Zeffy could see a flash of movement on top of one of the buildings, and blinked. Had he really seen that? It could have been a ninja on a mission, or reporting to the Hokage... Or an infiltrator.

But, what could he do? So he kept silent, and gave no outward indication of what he observed.

[Aiko Uchiha]

Aiko laughed a little bit when he mentioned that he was always out, maybe she was just the only Genin that really did not go outside much around here.

Realy?! That sounds like a pretty good mindset! I want to be able to learn every of the clans ninjutsu and perfect my technique as well" Aiko wasn't really sure if she should mention her Chakra abnormality and what it resulted in, he seemed to be very trustworthy but as of right now she did not want to be the center of attention.

When he mentioned about the day being so serene her eyes couldnt help but look upon the scene there were in at the moment. However, she turned looking back over at him and noticing a certain look on his face...she was pretty good at reading people.

"Hey, is something the matter? You can tell me I won't tell anyone." Aiko then stopped when they had come to path that had two ways. She grinned and still holding his hand pulled him towards the right side, where she unknowingly was pullingg him towards whatever he say heading that direction. But all the sudden she had had a rash change of mind about the chakra abonormalty.

"Zephyr, I have to show you something, I can show you better than I can explain it because I don't even know what is really going on with it." Aiko looked at him a trusting glare.

[Zephyr Uchiha]

Zeffy's focus rolled over to Aiko as he listened to her. She definitely noticed that he had seen something or another, because she started dragging him towards a path to the right, saying something about "showing" him something. He was confused and interested at the same time, so he elected to walk with her instead of being dragged by his arm across the pavement.

"What did you want to show me?"

[Aiko Uchiha]

Aiko looked up at him since he was a few inches taller than her. When he walked with her she stopped pulling him and walked into a clearing making sure no one was looking or around.

"It's nothing special..it is just something I am struggling with.."

After saying those words she let go of his hand and made a tiger handseal, within a few seconds her hand set ablaze but shown white and blue as she looked over at him smiling just a little bit.

"This is weird isn't it? My parents freaked out and asked the clans leader and even a blonde hair woman about it...she said it was a chakra abnormalty."

[Zephyr Uchiha]

Zephyr stood waiting, wondering what she was going to show him. She formed a tiger handseal, and bells alarmed loudly in his head. He thought, a Tiger handsign? That's for Fire techniques! What is she trying to do? He took a step back, but then he realized, she wasn't aiming at him. In her hand, a small fire formed, blazing a brilliant blue and shining white. It was so odd, so strange... So amazing. Zeffy was taken aback by the event.

"Wha, what," he started saying, stumbling to find the correct words. "...Is that? Blue and white fire... That's cool. It means you're just special, then. In a good way." The last note was added afterwards, just to make sure she knew he wasn't trying to call her weird. Something she said irked him, though. To himself, he thought, the clan elders... and a blonde-haired woman? It's not often there are blondes in the Uchiha compound. Could it be that woman?

That woman. Zephyr's mom's life was saved earlier in his childhood by a blonde-haired woman. She appeared mysteriously and healed her with some amazing ninjutsu, and left just as mysteriously. He was eternally grateful, but he never heard anything from her or was even able to speak to her. If Aiko knew of her, then he had a chance to thank her!

"A blonde-haired woman, huh? Pretty rare around here. I remember one from a few years ago, but I just.. Wasn't able to talk to her..." His voice had dropped, obviously because he had remembered what his mom was going through at the time. Zephyr didn't know what he would have done if his mother had passed away then... If not for that woman, he'd be a wreck.

[Aiko Uchiha]

Aiko couldn't help but giggle when seeing him take a step back, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt a new friend. With a smile Aiko made the fire disappear just as quick as it started, while doing so his words were processing in her head and before Aiko knew it she had hugged Zephyr as tight as she could.

Seperating from him and taking his hand Aiko had started down the trail once more, "I am really glad you don't see me as a freak..some people are scared of me because of it...stupid right?"

Her smile had seem to fade when his voice had dropped, it was obvious that something had happened in his past that still caused him turmoil inside. Her eyes looked away to a building for a couple of minutes before building up the courage to ask,

"If you want to talk about it you can tell me, I wouldn't tell a soul I trust you already and we just met!" A trusting yet soft smiling was on her face after saying those words.

[Zephyr Uchiha]

Zephyr was definitely surprised when Aiko squeezed him in a bear hug. It didn't hurt him, it just wasn't expected. He half-smiled and then walked alongside Aiko down the road. After a while, she popped the question that obviously had been turning in her mind.

"I guess... I've never told anybody this. A few years ago, my mother was deathily ill. She was pale, feverish, and none of the doctors knew what was wrong with her, or had the ability to heal her. They all gave up on her. She was lying in bed, barely breathing, and in the door walked a goddess. Her hair was golden, eyes a fair blue, and her dress was stunning. She was calm and quiet. She merely placed her hands on my mother, and in moments, my mother was completely herself again. She left without another word." He started to choke up a little, but held back his emotions. He wouldn't do well bawling in public with a girl.

"She saved my mom. When you mentioned a blonde-haired woman, I thought, maybe it could be her. I could give her my thanks, one that I was never able to give. Hopeless idea. It's probably not her anyways." He continued walking, admiring the landscape to get the picture of his dying mother out of his head. He turned to Aiko and smiled.

"Everything's all right now. No need for me to worry about the past. Just gotta keep moving forward." Zeffy shut up after realizing he was going on and on, rambling about himself.

[Aiko Uchiha]

While he told his story a unsettling feeling was making its way into the pit of her stomach. Here she was complaining about her mother and father always pushing her and this boy was just grateful to even have his mother still in his life.

"I am really sorry about your mom..but I am happy that she is very well and alot better. As for the woman I believe we are talking about the same woman and yet I sadly don't know where she could be..maybe we can go ask around or look for her?" Aiko then looked at him, "Maybe I can meet her sometime, that is if you want me to."

A giggle escaped past her lips as he suddenly got quiet again, "You're pretty cool you know that? As long as you follow that then you should go far in life. Its nice to know alot about your friends, I believe it makes the bond stronger."

[Zephyr Uchiha]

"Thanks. I don't really think so, but you can think that if you want to," he said playfully. He looked down the road. It seemed as though they had looped back, somehow, to the village. The duo was approaching the market square again.

"Adults. Always busy. Heh," he remarked, talking about the very busy market.

[Aiko Uchiha]

Aiko blinked when they had reached the market again her head shook before looking and watching the adults move around and about. "My sense of direction is horrible.. Laughing softly the girl continued to watch the men and women before commenting.

"Its kind of funny how they are always rushing here and there..have you ever just really watched them though? It seems like everything they pick up is for their family or someone they care about. Adults can sometimes be a pain but they are always thinking about someone other than themselves. At least from what I am seeing."

Then her eyes looked at the scene and then back at Zephyr, "You said you go outside alot...so does that mean you have a lot of friends?"

[Zephyr Uchiha]

"Haha. It does seem so," he responded to her initial question that wasn't really a question. But then, she asked a new one, one more personal. He felt oblidged to answer because she was so nice to him.

"Well, actually... No. I don't. I'm not usually very social."

[Aiko Uchiha]

"I'm a bit shocked, you are so nice and interesting. I'll never understand why people like yourself aren't really social. Well, what do you do if you're stuck inside or something?"

Aiko pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear as she stared at him, Zephyr was really nice and all but something was just telling her that this boy had so much potential in him.

[Zephyr Uchiha]

Zephyr just gazed at Aiko as she talked to him She brushed a strand of her hair back - a "tell" of sorts, a sign that she was flustered or something. He studied human tendencies on his free time; it was kind of his knack. He knew people better than they knew themselves often times. It's funny, because he never talked to people much. He was just a good observer.

"Well... I meditate sometimes for chakra control... Or I sketch. I'm a pretty amateur artist. What about you? You said you were cooped up in your house, but what could you possibly do for the entire day?"

[Aiko Uchiha]

Aiko's eyes seemed to brighten hearing him say he sketched when he had some free time. Her mother was an artistic person as well but for some reason her mom had stopped painting a few years ago. But before Aiko knew it her mouth began moving right away again.

"Wait! You can draw? I love to put art all around my room, it keeps it looking very intersting. "

When he did mention about her always being cooped up in the house all day her gaze seem to dwindle a bit, "It depends, I love to read..alot particulary books about ninjutsu or scrolls. Its a bit embarassing because I feel like I am the only girl that reads so much the day flies by.

But then she spoke up about something else, "At night though I sneak out of the compound. Find a quiet wide open space and spar with a clone, you know just to find any of my weak points. Last time I tried to practice the fireball jutsu and I accidentally set a fence on fire." Aiko laughed a bit embarrassed at what she had just told him but she believed that he did not think anything weird out of it...maybe.

[Zephyr Uchiha]

Zephyr simply nodded when she asked if he could draw. He didn't pride himself in being the best artist around, because he wasn't even close to that title... He just thought he was mediocre. He always found mistakes in his work, but could never fix them.

And then Aiko presented an opportunity to him. She spoke about sneaking away at night to train.

"The Fireball Jutsu? Maybe I could help you with it sometime, if you're having trouble. Or at least, be a sparring partner." He kind of put it as a joke, with a smile, but he meant every word.

[Aiko Uchiha]

"You would really do that for me? That would be great Zephyr, how about tonight then? We can meet right here, I would love to spar with you too. You know get a good feel on where we both stand."

Aiko looked more than excited and happy to know that he would help and spar with her. Maybe he could give her a few pointers and vise versa. Zephyr seemed strong no doubt about that even for a Genin, the girl did start questioning if she was going to even be able to put a mark on him if he agreed to come tonight.

[Zephyr Uchiha]

Zephyr smirked and then nodded. He needed more actual practice, and he could possibly learn something from Aiko. Of course, helping somebody in itself was enough to make him go.

"That sounds fine to me," he stated. "I'll see you later, then." Zeffy grinned and then walked away, waving goodbye over his shoulder for a short moment before continuing onward to his home. He had a lot to plan...

[Aiko Uchiha]

Aiko smiled a bit when he waved and simply waved back before heading back home herself. Anticipation was slithering up her spine since they had agreed to meet up tonight. Then she had began thinking about everything that she was actually going to do tonight.

[i]I really have to do my best tonight, I dont want to disappoint him at all. After all, he is a fellow Uchiha the least I can do is make this spar worthwhile. I wonder if he has activated his sharigan..who know if he hasn't maybe we can push eachother to activate them. I doubt that is going to happen tonight, though you never know."

She stepped inside her home greeted her mother before rushing upstairs and making sure everything was ready.

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