Diary of a Wimpy Ninja

By - AhriRose

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize.

Naruto & Naruto Shippuden © Masashi Kishimoto

. . .

After we were done and sensei paid, we made arrangements to train the following day, with hopes of completing a second D-rank within two days time. If our training leading up to said day was satisfactory.

Ichiro was beyond stir crazy to complete the six D-ranks. Mainly because he wanted to get a C-rank as quickly as possible.

At our current level, and given we had never done a C before, there was no telling how long it would take to complete. It could be over in a day, or take two months. So it was important that we finished it before the chuunin exams, thus leaving time to train more as well.

Dad had briefly spoken to me about the exams. Simply stating that they were bi-annual, and prior to the third shinobi war the exams were held in each individual village. Now all the villages sent their genin to participate in each village. This year it would be held in Konoha.

That would be advantageous to us, if we were allowed entry.

Unfortunately each exam varied, so there was no way for us to prepare for them.

Mom and Dad were still home once I entered, just having finished their dinner. I apologized for missing it, but Dad brushed me off and said he'd known that Jin-sensei would more than likely be treating us to a meal.

"Tell us about your teammates."

"They're both boys, both graduated last year. There's Suzuki Osamu, and Akemi Ichiro —Izu's older brother."

"Suzuki?" Mom looked deep in thought, before divulging, "I knew his mother, Kyoko."

From the far off look in her eyes, it seemed it was more than just knowing her. I'd wager they were probably friends. Close friends judging by the way Dad grasped her hand.

"Kobayashi Jin is your sensei, right?" Dad changed the subject, continuing at my nod, "He was always a bit… eccentric. I hope he hasn't changed since last I saw him. That eccentricity saved my life once."

I edged forward in my seat, hoping to hear a tale, but I was ultimately disappointed.

"Well," I began once more, "They all seem great, and our skills all compliment one another. We each cover the others' weaknesses."

They both nodded, sharing an eager expression.

"And sensei said he might recommend us for the exams," I spoke slowly, taking in my parents' expressions. Mom had her lips sewn together tightly, forming a thin line. Dad's lips were upturning at the ends.

"I know they're being held in six months' time, but he said he'd only recommend us if we completed six D-ranks and at least one C before then."

That seemed to smooth over my mom, as her lips seemed to relax.

"That means you'll have to train twice as hard," Mom narrowed her eyes at me, "I'll be overseeing your training personally whenever I'm home and you're free."

Dad gulped at the look in her eye.

. . .

The next morning it was straight to the training grounds after breakfast with my mom. Dad had left sometime in the night for a last minute mission he was needed on.

"If I'm not home by the time you return you better do seventy push-ups, sit-ups, and squats! And work on tree walking in the backyard! Walking, Shiori! Not running!"

There was no use arguing with Mom when she got into her training mode.

She would be one scary sensei someday, if she chose to be.

Osamu was already at the training grounds when I arrived.

He was stretching his legs out on a tree, waving as I entered his view. I returned it as I sauntered up to him, "G'morning."

"Ichiro is always late," he said with a roll of his eyes, "but sensei should be here in a few. It'll be nice to have someone else to spar with. I might stand a better chance of winning against you than sensei."

That made me bit my lip, "I'll give it my best shot, but I haven't properly sparred with someone in awhile."

He shrugged his shoulders as he stood upright, "No biggie. Wanna give it a shot while we wait?"

It made me anxious, knowing that this was my life. Fighting and violence. But there was another part of me that felt exhilarated. That made me feel slightly disgusted at myself. How could I be looking forward to fighting with a child?

But you are a child, and you are both shinobi.

"Okay," I nodded, "First blood wins?"

Osamu smirked, "Good thing you're wearing black."

I immediately jumped backward, somersaulting in the air as I removed four senbon from my pack. Two between each knuckle on each hand.

My opponent had a kunai in his left hand, his right remaining unarmed.

There was a pause before I jumped into action, making the first move by throwing two of my senbon toward him.

He jumped out of the way, veering to the left and throwing his kunai.

I jumped straight up, using chakra to launch further than normal, and tossing the senbon from my other hand.

Once I was at the appropriate height, I released the ribbons around my fingers, allowing the red to flow freely for a mere second before surging chakra into them.

Osamu shouted in surprise as he darted out of the way in the knick of time, my ribbons striking the earth and causing rocks and dirt to fly in the air. He had no time to react as I wrapped by ribbons around him, or so I thought.

I shredded the replacement log as soon as I realized it was a clone.

Gasping as I felt a kunai slice my cheek as I flung myself downward and to the right, skidding as I regained my self, "Release!" I made my hand sign as I sighed, rewrapping my ribbons as the field changed slightly.

"That was a cheap move, casting a genjutsu just as your teammate strolled into the grounds."

Sensei was seated against the tree Osamu had been previously stretching at. The teammate in question was behind me, where I had thought there had been a bush.

Ichiro entered view, scowling, "I can't believe you got to spar her first, and see her hidden technique before me!"

Osamu held his arms up in defeat, "Honestly I didn't think it would work, but I had to try it. No hard feelings Shiori?"

I nodded, frowning slightly, "I'm not mad at you. I'm disappointed in myself. I should've realized…"

"You felt like you could let your guard down," Sensei began as he crossed the grounds, "No harm in letting it down among teammates."

"But remember," He looked upward into the clouds, "Just because someone looks like your teammate, doesn't mean they are."

That caused my frown to deepen, "I'm not sensitive enough to pinpoint exact chakra signitures sensei. And my sense of smell isn't nearly strong enough to differentiate that way either." All I had was my sight.

"Maybe you aren't strong enough to recognize whose chakra it is, but you are able to feel changes in chakra amounts, right?"

I quirked an eyebrow at that, my frown dispersing.

"Osamu and Ichiro both know exactly what each other's chakra feels like when in use and when sedentary. And while it isn't a fool-proof method, its better than nothing."

That was actually ingenious, and I was a bit disappointed I hadn't thought of it.

"Study their chakra right now," I did as asked, closing my eyes to help myself concentrate on the distinct signatures. They had the same warmth, and with my eyes closed I couldn't tell who was who.

"Now continue to focus on them as they fight, keeping your eyes closed," they began to spar, and I could pinpoint where they were, but not who they were.

. . .

It went on for hours. Each of us taking turns sparring and feeling chakra. As Osamu and Ichiro needed to be acclimated with mine as much as I needed to acclimate to theirs.

By the time we were done, we were all feeling a bit lethargic from chakra use and sweaty from physical exertion. It was then that we decided to part ways, Osamu pausing to speak to us briefly, "Dad's away on a mission, and I'm not the best cook… anyone want to stop for ramen?"

Sensei declined, "Normally I would, but I've got a date with a busty brunette across town."

"My parents just got home last night, so we're having a big family dinner. The four of us haven't had dinner together in months, so… sorry," Ichiro left with a sympathetic smile, and a wave.

It was down to Osamu and I, "I haven't really eaten at a ramen place before… and my Dad's away too. Mom's working, filing duty since she's pregnant."

We began walking, with me staying diagonally a step behind to follow.

"I didn't know your mom was pregnant, congrats on getting a sibling." I hummed, biting my lip in uncertainty.

"I-uh…"

Osamu glanced at me, waiting for what I had to say with patience.

"I already have a sibling. He's twelve years older than me, but… lives across the village alone. I haven't really met him, met him."

He quirked an eyebrow at my wording.

"Like… I guess he lived at the house when I was little, but he left when I was like three or four. I never really spoke to him or anything." It was strange speaking about Yuudai, because I never had. I never spoke about him to Mom or Dad, or even Kiba or Shino.

It made me feel slightly guilty.

"Thanks for opening up," Osamu gave me a genuine smile. It eased the guilt a little.

"Seriously," he paused, "We were a bit worried when you hadn't spoken about your home life."

At dinner I had only spoken about my skills. My weaknesses and strengths were all I thought about. Even though they had been transparent with me, I hadn't awarded them the same.

"Sorry," I sheepishly looked toward my feet, "I didn't mean to seem unforthcoming, I just didn't think to say anything." It wasn't a lie. I had become so zeroed in on getting my stats out, that I hadn't thought to mention my home life.

"Don't apologize." Osamu gave my shoulder a pat, "I do appreciate it though. Ichiro will never let it go though, so best not to tell him you confided in me first." He gave me a wink at that.

"Osamu!"

A familiar face called out from a popular ramen stand I had seen once or twice in passing.

"Hey Naruto," Osamu gave him a friendly smile and waving, leading me to assume they were friends, or at least seen each other often.

"Who's the girl? You on a date?" He wiggled his eyebrows, causing me to sigh in exasperation.

He didn't even seem to remember us going to school together, which wasn't all too surprising, other than the fact that he's a ninja and should've at least tried to remember his classmates.

Osamu simply laughed, "No, this is my new teammate, Ikeda Shiori. Shiori this is Uzumaki Naruto, we met a few years ago here."

"Been friends ever since!" Naruto finished with a grin.

It made me nauseous. Not his smile, but the happiness behind it. Because I felt guilty that he went so long without it. I seen him constantly as a child. Constantly he sat alone. He was alone.

Osamu was a better person than me.

"I remember you," I bit my lip as the words left my mouth, "We— we uh… went to the academy together. Iruka-sensei's class?"

Naruto's eye widened in realization, "Oh! I remember you! You were always hanging out with dog breathe!" My eye twitched at the nickname he had for Kiba, but I couldn't call him out on it.

Not only was I a coward, but I also knew Kiba had called Naruto worse things in and out of school. Two wrongs didn't make a right, but I couldn't speak out. Even though I should.

"Mm," I frowned, "Yeah, I stayed with Kiba and Shino… mostly. I hung out with Sakura a bit—."

"You're friends with Sakura-chan!?"

I jumped at the sheer volume as he hopped out of his chair and grabbed my hands, "Can you put a good word in for me please!? She's on my team, but she hates me! Sasuke-teme has her wrapped around his finger!"

"W-well I haven't seen her since we all became genin," I had to think quick if I wanted to get out of this, "and I honestly don't know you well enough to put in a good word."

His face fell, and I instantly regretted what I then spat out, "but I'm sure if we spent more time together I would be more than happy to tell her my honest opinion of you!"

Mom will kill me for this, and Dad… I don't even know how he'll respond if he finds out.

"Wow, really?!"

That's all it took for a tentative friendship to bloom.

With just spending that one meal with him, it was strange to me that him and Osamu were friends. Mostly because Osamu was so quiet. Near the end of the meal I realized that being quiet, and being introverted, did not necessarily go hand and hand.

"And tell her what the— what the old woman said when we ran out of the bathhouse!" Osamu was howling with laughter.

"Next time I see you in here, you'll be honorary women when I'm done taking my blade to your bits!" Naruto imitated the woman in question perfectly, even though I had never met her.

Osamu was pounding on the table, and the ramen worker joined in with the contagious laughter.

I had even found myself grinning, despite the fact that I disapproved of the boys sneaking into the women's bathhouse as many times as they had told me.

The lights were flickering on, as the sun began to set behind the Hokage mountain.

"Well I better get home, gotta make sure Myoga has enough food! See you later on this week Naruto, and see you tomorrow Shiori!" Osamu bolted from the booth so quickly I hadn't even seen him slap his payment down. He had not only paid for all three of our meals, which was saying something as Naruto had eaten several bowls, but he had left a generous tip for the server and cook.

It was just Naruto and I, and he had suddenly looked crestfallen.

Determined to draw his attention elsewhere I questioned, "Who's Myoga?"

"Oh," his eyes instantly brightened, "Myoga is Osamu's cat! He's pretty old and fat, but not as fat as that terrible cat Tora."

I shivered at the mention, "You took that mission too? We just found him the other day."

"Really? We had that mission today, and boy was it boring," Naruto rolled his eyes, "I can't wait till Kakashi-sensei gives us a C-rank. Maybe tomorrow!"

His mood had lifted exponentially.

"You never know," I shrugged, lying through my teeth.

He had been a genin for all of two days. There was no way he was doing anything other than D-ranks for a long time. Even with Sakura and Sasuke as teammates. Although that seemed to be a disaster waiting to happen.

Sasuke was a selfish person, and I had no clue how he would fit into a team. Sakura, while highly intelligent, lacked confidence and physical prowess. Add into the fact that she was still head over heels infatuated with her dark-haired teammate (I refuse to call that "love"), and hated her blonde teammate, and that meant dysfunctional with a capital D.

Naruto was the wildcard.

I had seen him be incredibly selfish, and incredibly selfless throughout the years. I watched him give a stray dog what had looked to be his last bit of food, and I had watched him ridicule Kiba for 'smelling like a dog'.

He was two sides of the same coin it seemed.

Maybe team seven isn't as bad as I thought.

It would be interesting to see how they operated during a mission, even more interesting to watch them spar.

"Do I have something on my face?"

My face heated up in embarrassment, having been staring at Naruto the entire time my mind had wandered off.

"I-I was just admiring your markings!"

His eyes widened, clearly confused at my shouting.

"It's just," I struggled to find something to say, "It's just that they're adorable. They remind me of cat's whiskers."

The apples of his cheeks lit up, as his arm shot up for his hand to run through his locks, "Oh. Thanks, I guess."

"I should go," I suddenly stood, fulling intending to bolt from the ramen shop. I just couldn't manage to say or do the right thing it seemed.

Naruto sighed, "Well I'll see you around, Shiori."

"Bye," I waved as I sauntered off, stopping just before he left my vision, "Naruto."

Mom was nowhere to be seen, but judging from the faint chakra I sensed upstairs, I'd wager she was passed out upstairs.

I quietly slid the backdoor open, closing it behind me, before settling into the grass to begin my workout. I promised Mom I would give it my all, and she had told me to do the extra workout.

By the end I was panting, holding onto my knees as I felt the sweat drip from my brow.

"I really need a shower," I mumbled as I made my way back inside.

After a shower and change of clothes I was in my bed asleep. Luckily my dreams were just that, dreams. I dreamt of swimming in a bowl of pork ramen. Lounging on a cutlet as the broth sloshed.

. . .

Two months passed, and I found myself settling into a decent routine with my new team.

We had managed to complete a solid five D-ranks, two of which included finding Tora, which I felt was Jin-sensei's way of truly testing us.

Our team had also managed to allot a fair amount of sparring and bonding.

For the first time in my life, I understood how it felt to have siblings, because Osamu and Ichiro were like the brothers I never had. They treated me how Yuudai should've all along. If we had a 'free' day, which was few and far between, they always made it a point to seek me out.

Osamu in particular managed to drag me down to Ichiraku's at least three times a week, where Naruto was usually waiting with a bowl of ramen.

Ichiro and I had our own 'solo' bonding as well, both having a love for sharp objects and throwing them. I also made it my own personal mission to help him with his chakra control. I usually implemented exercises my mom used on me; tree walking slowly, or water walking.

Sensei also took us out twice a week for yakitori, which was slowly losing my 'favorite' spot for food as it was had so often.

I hadn't seen much of Kiba or Shino. We had all met once two weeks ago for dango. It was a bit awkward considering it was Hiro's family stand. And he was working it, without his headband. It meant that he wasn't even able to be in the genin corp, which said a lot about his personality and skill, or lack thereof.

Hiro scowled as soon as we entered view, "What can I get you?"

We strolled closer, Kiba smirking as soon as he recognized the boy. He held up three fingers as he spoke, "Three dango."

As Hiro began grabbing the skewers, Kiba spoke again, "Green looks good on you."

His face began reddening. The green was undoubtably a reference to his apron. Shino elbowed Kiba, and I was nearly certain there was a glare in his eyes.

I flinched as Hiro handed over the dango, and quickly laid out my money. Aware I overpaid, but wanting nothing more than to be far, far away.

It was a fond memory.

Lee and I hadn't seen one another except for two occasions when I noticed him running around the outskirts of the village… on his hands.

He hadn't stopped, opting instead to scream at me, "Good afternoon Shiori! I hope you are training hard with your team!" It felt like complete deja vu the second time I seen him and he said the exact same thing.

Ichiro was with me at the time, cringing as he questioned, "You know him?"

Sakura was the only one I had managed to see several times, for more than an hour. We managed to see each other once a week, usually on Saturday or Sunday. Opting to either shop, or stop at the local tea shop for a small meal and chat about lives.

"How goes things for Team 7?" I inquired as I picked up my tea cup.

She cringed, "Okay, I guess."

I raised an eyebrow, to which she sighed, "It's just that Sasuke-kun just ignores me, and Naruto-baka won't stop trying to get me to date him!"

My body shivered, just envisioning how much cringe there must be between Sakura lusting after Sasuke and Naruto lusting after Sakura. The only thing that would make it worse would be if Sasuke was lusting after Naruto.

"What do I do Shiori? I really want to make a decent impression on Sasuke, but I can't when the baka is ruining it!"

"Well…"

I paused to briefly wonder how to word my suggestion so she didn't take offense.

"Maybe you should focus more on training? I mean, when he eventually wants to find a wife he'll want someone competent right? In the same league as himself?"

That seemed to set off a lightbulb in her brain, "You're right! I need to train more and show him my cool moves! Then he'll see how beautiful and strong I am!"

"That's not exactly…"

But she was done listening as she fled the tea house, leaving me with the bill.

It was nearing sunset when I found myself being corned by a familiar brunette sensei. Jin-sensei was sporting an almost psychotic grin as he tossed me over his shoulder and speeding off into a random direction.

I screamed briefly, before shouting, "Where are you taking me Sensei?!"

"Hospital! Your mother is giving birth!"