Yes I know. Another story. I'm still writing Stupid Ninjas, but this popped into my head and wouldn't leave! By the way, Gaijin means stranger

Rain tapped gently against the window of the black car as the tires sprayed water from the side of the road. My mind was blank as I watched the water run in rivets down the glass. I could barely see my reflection in the fogged up window, not really liking what I saw. My brown hair was frizzed up from when the rain hit it and it had time to dry. The blond highlights that usually stuck out in my hair were lost in the untamed waves. I pushed my glasses back onto the bridge of my nose. People usually described my face as 'mousey'. I had delicate cheek bones perched high on my face that gave me a mouse like appearance. The only thing I really even liked about myself was my eyes. Most of the time they were green with blue and brown in them or brown with green and blue in them. Sometimes my eyes were blue with green and brown in them, sometimes they were even fully gray. I had inherited the star burst gene from my mom. Her flecks were green, and mine were a golden color.

I watched as we turned onto an empty street. The numbness that had been in my body thawed, giving way to a wave of sadness. My mom had decided that I needed a change in my life and was making me move in with my uncle. I loved my uncle, but he was just so...weird. I know that's mean of me to think, but he was an odd man. The town he lived in (I lived in too, now) was called Konoha. Weird name right? Not to mention that everyone here (and everyone in the closest two towns as well) was extremely strange. They didn't like outsiders, so nobody knew just what exactly made them so weird. I suppose I'll find out soon enough.

"I want you to be on your best behavior Ayako," my mother started from the seat next to me, "your uncle is kind enough to take you in and I expect you to do well for him." The car pulled up into the driveway as she told me things like 'call me often,' or 'Iruka knows he can call me anytime if you're misbehaving.' Speaking of Iruka, there he is now. My uncle strode from the house and helped take my suitcases. I only had two, one with clothes, necessities, and my giant pillow, and another small one with my books, movies, notebooks, art supplies, and various chargers. My laptop hung from its case on my shoulder.

Once we had the suitcases (and laptop) set in the living room we all went and sat in the kitchen. It was the same old semi-polite stuff that went on between my mom and Iruka. He'd offer her some tea, she'd decline in a nice way saying she had to go, he'd tell her to drive safe, she'd say she would and for him to get out of the house some, then he'd say he's to busy for that. Small mindless banter. Finally my mom turned to me and gave me a quick hug.

"Call me whenever ok?" I nodded my head before she left, leaving me and my dear uncle. Iruka set a bowl of ramen and a cup of tea in front of me. There was a comfortable silence as we both ate.

"Do you still teach school, uncle?"

"Hm? Oh, yes I do."

"Sixth grade right?"

"Yes, and each year they get louder and more rowdy." I tilted my head a bit at this statement.

"There are finally kids louder than that Naruto you always talk about?" Iruka grinned at me, a small laugh bubbling from his lips.

"No I suppose not." We had a pleasant conversation for a few more minutes to catch up before we put our dishes away and he showed me to my room. We exchanged quick good-nights before I took my shower and got dressed for bed.

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"Ayako! Get up, it's time for school!" Iruka's voice roused me from my sleep with a start. I had almost forgotten just how loud his voice could be. Almost. I stretched, popping my shoulders in the process, and threw on a pair of jeans and a gray shirt with peace written down it in shiny light blue letters.

Iruka tossed me a poptart as I stepped into the living room. I watched amused as he scrambled around for papers and folders. It was funny how he ran around like a headless chicken. While he was hastily shoving things into his bag and stuffing his hair into a ponytail, I slipped on my tennis shoes and grabbed my black jacket. The jacket was so big I could easily get lost in it. I loved this jacket though, probably because it had Gir on it. Iruka rushed out the door towards the school. I knew that my uncle didn't own a car and walked to school, and I even thought it was a pretty good start for someones day.

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This was ridiculous. Iruka couldn't have been in that big of a hurry. He ran into some guy near my new high school, said a few words to him, then nudged me towards the guy. He told me he was one of my teachers, his name (which is Kakashi), then left! Kakashi and I had walked in silence to the office. I received a few curious/hostile looks. Kakashi mumbled a few words to the secretary and handed me a schedule.

"Looks like the first class you have is with me." Sure enough my first class was art with Kakashi.

"You don't look like much of an art teacher."

"You don't look like much of an art student." I had to stop myself fro calling Kakashi an immature name. Once we stepped into the room there was a bombardment of 'you're late Kakashi-sensei!' I could feel my eye twitch as he gave stupid excuses as to why he was late. Why couldn't he just tell them Iruka stopped him and he had to take me to the office? It took a while for the kids to notice I was even here. Idiots. They looked at me suspiciously, even going so far as to glare. I, of course, glared right back.

"Who is she sensei?" I noticed a blond kid who had just stared up in his chair. Let's see, blond, rude, loud, and annoying...yup. That has got to be the Naruto Iruka talked about.

"Sit down Naruto. This is Ayako Toushi. She's a new student, so quit staring at her like she just ran over your dog." I heard some kids mutter under their breath before turning their gazes away from me. Naruto sat down and received a punch to the shoulder by a pink haired girl. Kakashi motioned for me to take a seat, so I found one that kept me away from most of the students. That would be the back of the class near some kids that looked like they could be in a gang. They shot me a look before choosing to ignore me. That was fine with me, seeing as how I was ignoring them from the start. Kakashi told everyone to make some form of art. Isn't he just the best art teacher? Some kids went for the clay, some went for blocks of wood, and some went to giant pieces of paper. I fell into the last category, sitting down with the over sized piece of paper I tried to think of what to do. I slipped in the ear buds of my ipod, listening to violin remakes of Linkin Park.

It was a cracked mirror leaning against one of the walls that gave me my inspiration. I got back up to retrieve one of those note boards. You know, the ones that are like spongy cardboard that you can tack pictures and stuff to? I quickly sketched out what I wanted to do on my paper as the violin picked up, blaring its sweet notes into my ears. My hand moved under me like it had a mind of its own, determined to make its thoughts known on paper. I tacked the paper onto the board, ripping the excess edges off. I stood up (again) and walked over to Kakashi's desk.

"What do you need Ayako?"

"Can I have that cracked mirror?" Kakashi looked up at me curiously.

"Why?"

"Art." Kakashi studied me for a second before shrugging.

"Fine with me." Some kids looked at me curiously as I took the mirror back to my desk, grabbing paints and a glass cutter on the way. I set the paints out of the way and balanced the mirror on the table. Carefully I cut out three small rectangles from the mirror to make smaller mirrors the height of my paper. I set the rest of the mirrors aside and got some heavy duty gorilla glue out from one of the cabinets. I glued the three mirrors onto my paper, one on each side then one near the top of the page. I slipped a small rag out from my bag (yes I carry a rag in my bag. Got a problem with it?) and tied it around my hand. I clenched my hand into a fist, not caring that most of the students (and Kakashi) were watching me, and slammed it down onto each of the mirrors on my paper. Satisfied with the cracks and few missing pieces I unwrapped my hand. Everyone had been staring at me, and to tell you the truth it was getting on my nerves.

"Don't you have something better to do than watch me?" I asked irritated. People quickly turned away from me as I brought out my paints. I turned the volume up louder on my ipod, my brush strokes just as fast and crazy as the violin was. The paper that showed was completely covered in paint, and figures were painted in the mirrors. I laid the final brush stroke just as I ran out of violin music.

There was a tiger crouched on the page, its fur dark and matted with dirt and blood. Its left ear was torn at the top and its face was open in a snarl. It's claws raked the ground in front of it as it stared out of the page with fierce golden eyes. It looked ready for a fight, and it looked like it would win. Its surroundings seemed to be in a room surrounded by mirrors, one on either side of it and one behind it. On the ones to the sides you could see the profile of a feline. Only thing was it wasn't the battle ready tiger that sat in the room. What you could see from the cracked and distorted mirror was a dirty kitten. Its head was hung in shame instead of held with pride. It was crouched in fear rather than tensing for a pounce, and it looked weak and broken. The mirror behind the tiger portrayed the same kitten, only from a back view. I had glued a few pieces of broken glass around the mirrors and near the paws of the tiger for added effect.

I turned my ipod off and slipped it into my pocket as Kakashi prowled around the room to see what the other students had done so far. When he reached me I could see both awe and confusion on his face.

"What exactly does this mean?"

"You're the art teacher. Figure it out." Kakashi studied me for a moment before letting forth a small chuckle.

"Had that one coming, didn't I?" I only nodded at his question. Others were craning their necks to see exactly what I had done. I could see some mouths drop open, and others looking just as confused as Kakashi had. One girl leaned over her desk to get a better look. She pushed her red hair out of her purple eyes to study my painting. She looked up at me and smiled.

"This is cool. I like it."

"Thanks." She nodded at me.

"My names Mitsuru, but you can call me Mitsu."

"Ayako."

I had to end it here or it would have ended up being too long....

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