Disclaimer: Mia is mine.

Warning: Death. Death. Oh yeah. More death. And fluff.

Beta: featherstofly

Editor: Sansho

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I muttered under my breath, marching my way across the pathway and into the academy.

Instead of picking Naruto up at his usual time, Iruka sent me a message informing me that my son was serving detention and that I had to wait two more hours before picking him up. Naturally, I was a bit annoyed. I knew Naruto was a rascal, but I also knew that the majority of the teachers at the academy openly despised him. I wouldn't put it past them to punish him unfairly.

Upon entering the academy, I nearly ran into one Tsume Inuzuka. I blinked in surprise upon finding her and her faithful canine companion.

"Sorry," I apologized automatically.

Tsume gave me a feral grin. "No harm done. I don't recognize you, who are you here for?"

I smiled easily, relaxing. "Ah, Uzumaki Naruto."

An interested gleam entered her eyes. "I see."

"Tsume, who's this?"

At the voice, I immediately recognized Yoshino—Shikamaru's mother, and Akiko—Chōji's mother, who stood behind me. I quickly moved out of the way to allow them through.

"Mia," I answered. "I'm here for Naruto-chan."

Yoshino eyed me curiously. "My husband mentioned you, you're training with Jiraiya-sama, yes?"

"I was," I answered. "But he left a few months ago."

Akiko gave me a bright smile. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Akimichi Akiko, and this is Nara Yoshino and Inuzuka Tsume."

"A pleasure to meet you," I murmured, nodding to each of them.

"New mother?" Tsume asked, grinning widely.

"I guess you could say that. I'm new to Konoha and Naruto-chan was one of the first people I met, we sort of clicked," I chuckled.

"That's nice. That boy needs a good influence and a mother's hand. Kami knows he has enough troubles," Akiko said softly.

My eyes snapped in her direction, open skepticism and curiosity on my face as I studied her. Yoshino immediately caught my look, as well as Tsume. Yoshino raised an eyebrow.

"I'm used to most people frowning at my son," I answered slowly. "It's a bit of a surprise to hear someone saying something nice about him." Someone that wasn't Iruka, Hiruzen or Jiraiya. And occasionally Obito.

"I can see how that may come as a surprise," Yoshino replied. "Seeing how we're being honest, I must confess it came as a surprise that you seemingly adopted him. Even though you must have seen how the others treat him, weren't you worried about being ostracized?"

I blinked. "No? They're strangers and if they're too much of an idiot to not be able to tell two entirely different people apart then they deserve to remain in ignorance. At least, that's my opinion. Hokage-sama tells me that I should be more open-minded about them, though."

Tsume snickered. "That sounds like him, alright. What does he believe in? Everyone has a hundred chances?"

Akiko and I giggled while Yoshino smirked.

"So how do you like Konoha so far?" Akiko inquired politely.

I beamed. "I love it here. Though, I still get lost every once in a while and I don't quite know where everything is."

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" Yoshino asked.

"Nope. Naruto-chan has school tomorrow and I was going to do my homework that Jiraiya-sensei assigned me," I answered. "But I have until the next time he comes to Konoha to do it, and that won't be for a while."

"Akiko and I were actually planning a small picnic," Yoshino explained. "You and Tsume are welcome to come."

Tsume grinned. "I wouldn't mind that. Besides, I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other if today is any indication."

"I'd love to," I accepted, beaming. "And I have a feeling you're right, Tsume-san."

Akiko and Yoshino both gave me a smile and Tsume smirked.

I smiled back. I kind of liked them.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Naruto steadily looked down on our way home.

"Sorry," Naruto muttered.

I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Getting in trouble."

"Did you do something wrong?"

Naruto looked back up at me, eyes wide. "I don't know."

"Why not?" I asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Sensei, not Iruka, said I had detention today."

"And they didn't give you a reason?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Then don't feel bad. If you didn't do something wrong then there's no reason for you to feel regretful. And if they tell you that without giving a reason, you tell me, Iruka, or Hokage-sama right away. They shouldn't be doing that," I told Naruto.

"Hai, Kaa-chan," Naruto mumbled, a pleased little smile on his face.

"What do you think of the others? The ones that were with you in detention?" I inquired.

Naruto shrugged. "Don't know them."

"I think you should try," I suggested. "I think they'd become invaluable friends to you."

Naruto glanced up at me, his eyes looking up at me innocently. "You think? The others don't like me though."

"I think they will," I persisted. "Give them a chance. You might be surprised."

Naruto looked down thoughtfully. "'Kay, Kaa-chan. I will."

"Good boy. Ah, that reminds me, I'll be a couple hours late picking you up next week. I have an appointment. So you can either wait for me at the academy and train or go home," I said.

"I'll wait," Naruto promised. "I wanted to work on my shuriken-throwing anyway."

"Very well."

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

The 'appointment' I had was actually a small check up with Obito. Seeing how he didn't trust Konoha that much, or at all to be honest, he designated himself as my sort of 'doctor' until he either found someone he trusted enough with me, or until he got sick of the position and passed it on to someone else. It didn't make a difference to me. He wanted to make sure my body wasn't becoming corrupted from the nature chakra along with basic examination.

I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised of his knowledge in the medical field; he did successfully implant eyes into both himself and Sasuke, not to mention his laboratory (which I had yet to see in person, though I was definitely planning on it) sort of implied he was knowledgeable enough to need one in the medical field.

Once that was over, I gave him my report verbally on Konoha and he questioned me.

I didn't have much to report on. I was becoming fast friends with Tsume. While the others were definitely friendly, I wasn't as close to them. I wasn't exactly best friends with Tsume either yet, so once again, I reiterate—nothing much to report on.

With massive amounts of time on my hands and little else to do, I had taken to either studying various and random things at the library (from Kumo history to the theories of genjutsu and about everything in between), or helping Iruka at the academy which actually proved kind of fun. I couldn't help them with taijutsu (as Obito was still instructing me on that) or ninjutsu, or really anything chakra-related, but I could help them academically and doubled as an unofficial... academy counselor? We had them in my old world, but I wasn't quite sure if they were really acknowledged in this world, but that was the best way to describe it.

I remember the one time I actually sort of acted like one. It wasn't all that long ago, a couple of days perhaps.

It was recess for the children and I normally ate with Naruto during it, but the boy was off playing with his friends that day so I opted to eat at the training grounds. The grounds were normally deserted, but this time there was a familiar little boy there, training his heart out. He looked exhausted and was about to drop down on his knees when I reached the grounds. After hesitating a moment, I approached him.

"Ohayō," I greeted, crouching down to the boy's eye level.

The boy, Lee I recognized, stared at me with wide eyes. "H-Hello, Sensei. I-I was training!"

"I can see that," I observed. "But it's lunch time, so don't you need to eat? How else will you regain your strength?"

"It matters not," Lee declared. "I must get stronger. I must become a shinobi."

"And I'm sure you will," I told him, ignoring how his eyes widened even further, "but you still need to eat. Where's your lunch?"

He flushed. "I-I left it at the orphanage."

" Hm. Then we'll go buy some lunch. Come on, Lee-chan, I'll pay," I said brightly.

"But, Sensei!"

"Ah-Ah, better do as Sensei says," I chided. "Besides, I could go for some ramen now."

"But I have to train!" Lee burst out. "I have to prove to them that even though I cannot use ninjutsu or genjutsu, I too can become a great shinobi."

"And I'm sure you will," I repeated, raising an eyebrow. "There are taijutsu masters in the world that are rather fearsome in battle. Why, Konoha has their own taijutsu master and he doesn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu at all. His name is Gai. And you certainly have the spirit to match his, so I'm sure you'll be a wonderful shinobi, Lee-chan. But that doesn't mean you can work yourself to exhaustion. So come along now. Ichiraku, here we come."

Lee stared after me, dumbfounded, before tears sprang up from his eyes. "Th-Thank you, Sensei! I won't let you down."

He proceeded to then collide into my legs, forcing me to stumble as he cried out. Feeling incredibly awkward and uncomfortable, I hesitantly patted the boy's head. "There there. Please stop crying?"

Once that was done, it was already pretty late so I prepared to head off to the academy.

Obito's hand on my shoulder was the only thing stopping me.

I paused, turning back to Obito and once again feeling a flutter in my chest.

Obito stared at me for a while, his gaze contemplative. "I will not be visiting you again tonight. When I do visit you next, I will be taking you to the Akatsuki."

I blinked, mildly surprised. "Then the massacre will be occurring soon?"

"Very," Obito replied.

My brow furrowed. "How soon?"

Obito didn't reply, squeezing my shoulder once before disappearing.

I frowned.

How soon?

With a shake of my head, I headed off to fetch Naruto.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

"Sasuke-chan?" I asked incredulously, staring at the boy who was currently in a conversation with Naruto. Naruto beamed at me, rushing forward and tackling me.

Sasuke gave me a sheepish smile. "Ohayō, Mia-sensei."

I smiled back at him. "What are you doing at the academy so late? Wasn't Itachi-chan supposed to pick you up?"

Sasuke shifted. "I dunno where Aniki is. I was going to wait a bit longer before going home myself."

"Naruto-chan and I can walk you home if you like," I offered. "It's not an issue and I know it's already getting late. I'm sure that you're anxious to get home."

Sasuke hesitated, staring at me and Naruto. "Um... Alright."

Taking Naruto's hand in my own, I began to walk the two boys towards the Uchiha Compound, content to listen to their chatter in the background as I mulled over Obito's words.

Nearing the compound however, Sasuke noticed something.

"Aniki?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

Following his gaze, I turned to look up to find Itachi up on a pole. I had seen that before... Oh... Oh.

"Naruto," I whispered. "Go home. Go home right now. I'll be there shortly."

Itachi flickered away, leaving the two boys frowning and me, deathly pale.

Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit ohshitwhatdoIdo? Do I take Sasuke away from the compound? But then what about Itachi? Would he come for him? That would be too risky, too chancey for him. He could and most likely would be caught. But then again he adored his brother, he would desperately want one last goodbye.

But could I risk...?

"Kaa-chan?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Now," I ordered. Naruto's eyes widened and his brow furrowed. "Please honey. Go. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Sasuke was staring at us worriedly. "What's going on, Sensei?"

As Naruto hurried away I turned to Sasuke. "Stay close to me. Don't run off on your own."

Sasuke seemed to pale under my tone but nodded, this time allowing me to take the lead.

I could give them one last goodbye. But if he thought I'd simply allow a child to be placed under that hellish genjutsu...

I personally thought Itachi could have handled it a bit better so that way Sasuke wouldn't be so emotionally scarred down the road. Granted, he would always be scarred as it wasn't a pretty event. But it could have been better.

Besides... I wasn't supposed to know what was going on. I had already risked enough by sending away Naruto. If I took Sasuke away too that was asking for it. And that also brought up the point that Itachi would more than likely look for us and stage the final confrontation anyway.

As I entered the compound, I steered Sasuke towards the main building, being sure to keep his focus away from the ruined lawns and still bodies. Sasuke had taken a more deathly tone of pale white and he huddled close to me.

Upon entering the compound, I stretched out my senses, feeling for other chakra signatures aside from my own using my bastardized chakra as I had been taught. Two. I recognized both of them and began steering Sasuke towards Itachi. Let's get this done and over with.

"Kaa-san and Tou-san's room... They should be in there," Sasuke whispered, peering at the closed room where I knew Itachi was.

"Stay behind me," I ordered, opening the door and fighting back down the bile that rose to my throat at seeing the two dead bodies.

Itachi's back was to us.

I could feel Sasuke trying to lean around me, wanting to see what was in the room.

"Itachi-chan," I greeted, my voice strained.

"Aniki?" Sasuke asked, his voice raising a bit at the end to little more than a squeak.

Without warning, Sasuke shoved his way past me and into the room, stopping short upon seeing what was in the room. He blanched, the shock enough to make him fall on his butt. "Wh-What?"

My hands snapped over his eyes as Itachi snapped around, his eyes whirling to life and preparing a genjutsu.

"No," I hissed. "You will not."

His eyes flew towards mine and I scowled. "Genjutsu doesn't work on me, I don't have a chakra system to influence."

Sasuke struggled to free himself from my hands. "What's going on? Aniki? Aniki?!"

"Don't you dare place him under a genjutsu, Itachi," I warned.

Itachi stared at me, his fingers ghosting towards the katana he had strapped to his back. I tensed. Would he attempt to kill me?

A flicker of motion caught my eye before a sharp pain raced down my neck. Then, darkness clouded my vision and I promptly passed out.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

When I awoke, I was back at home in my bed.

Obito was sitting in my bed, reading. When he realized I was awake, he looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"You knocked me out," I accused, irritation seeping through my voice.

"Yes," Obito agreed. "You were interfering with Itachi's plans for his brother."

"Excuse me for trying to minimize the psychological damage he'd inflict on his baby brother," I snapped. "What about Naruto? How did I get here?"

"I carried you here in my ANBU disguise, told Naruto something occurred at the compound and you were in need of rest. He was worried, but eventually went to bed himself and has been asleep ever since," Obito informed me.

"You shouldn't have knocked me out," I grumbled, scowling at him. I was too disoriented to work up real anger, but I knew it would come soon enough.

"I don't care about Sasuke," Obito snapped, his Sharingan whirling to life. I blinked in surprise, for the first time since coming here, being face to face with his red-eyes. "My concern was keeping you alive. Had you prevented Itachi from his original plan, he would have removed you. I was not about to let that happen."

I flushed, realizing and acknowledging that Obito was right. If I had prevented Itachi from his goodbye with Sasuke, Itachi wouldn't have hesitated to end me. I was over careless in thinking I could minimize the damage by myself.

Still...

I sighed, closing my eyes and sagging into the bed. I didn't want to fight Obito. I didn't like being knocked out, but if our places had been reversed, my priority would have been his safety over Sasuke's sanity. I at least would still have a chance to help Sasuke, where I wouldn't have a second chance if Obito had allowed me to die.

"Thank you," I grudgingly said, "for saving my life again."

Obito's Sharingan faded away and he eyed me. He closed his book before moving around the bed to lay down next to me. I didn't glance at him, but when I felt his arm brush against mine, I felt that sort of odd heart-skipping sensation again. I gritted my teeth, but eventually managed to relax. It wasn't like it was an unpleasant feeling. Just... different.

We stared up at the...

"When the hell did I get a skylight?" I asked incredulously, looking up at the stars.

"I had it installed weeks ago," Obito replied dismissively. "You're seriously just now noticing?"

"Yes," I admitted. "You know how oblivious I can be."

"I know," Obito sighed. "Kami, I know."

I half-heartedly kicked his leg; it ended up being more like a nudge from the lack of effort I had placed in it.

"Why did you install a skylight?"

"Honestly? Because I could. And I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice."

I gave another kick, this one turning out to be like a nudge as well.

"Are you alright?" I asked softly, turning my head to look at him.

"I finished massacring my entire family; I'm peachy," Obito said dryly.

For a while, I didn't respond. Obito had confessed to me over the years that he never really saw his biological family as his family. If anything they were perfect strangers to him. He had a younger cousin, Shisui, that he adored, but he was the only one. His mother had passed away some time ago, he and his father had never been on good terms and he was ostracized by everyone else in his 'family'. I knew now that was because he hadn't activated his Sharingan until the day he died and thus was considered a failure.

Shisui would have already died before tonight—did actually if I recalled hearing that piece of news vaguely from Iruka. I hadn't given it much thought, but it should have probably clued me in that the massacre was going to happen soon.

Essentially, Obito didn't kill anyone he was attached to tonight.

But that didn't mean he wasn't bothered by it.

I stared at him for a long time, wondering what I could do. I thought about it, my mind conjuring ideas as quickly as dismissing them before I remembered that night in the hospital. What he had done for me and how much it helped.

"I had a nightmare the other night," I said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Obito turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep. It was pretty bad. I don't think I'll be able to sleep on my own tonight," I decided.

Obito continued to stare at me.

"That's your hint, idiot," I sighed. "You're supposed to say 'Oh, well, Mia-chan! Seeing how I'm your bestest, bestest buddy in the whole wide world, I'll stay with you tonight and keep you company so you can get a good night's sleep.'"

Obito smirked. "Oh, well, Mia-chan!-"

"Don't even think about it," I interrupted before he could quote me exactly. "And yes, you will be staying here. It was a horrible nightmare. It had bunnies in it."

"Bunnies," Obito repeated.

"Bunnies," I confirmed. "Evil little bunnies, all with cyborg modifications and bazookas popping out their asses."

Obito snickered. "What have you been drinking and where can I get some?"

"Rainbows," I deadpanned. "Now move your ass. I want to get under the covers. it's freezing."

"Hai, hai."

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

The following day at the academy, Iruka handed me a stack of papers.

I stared at them, raising an eyebrow at him.

Iruka gave me a sheepish smile. "Sasuke will be missing two weeks of the academy due to his... circumstances. This is his homework. I was hoping you could take it to him and if he needs help..."

"Ah, alright," I agreed, a bit hesitant. I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to approach Sasuke. 'Hey, sorry buddy. I knew this was going to happen and let you into the compound anyway so Itachi wouldn't go ballistic. Yeah... Sorry you got mind-raped. Oh, and sorry your entire family is dead and I didn't do shit about it.' Yep. That would go over super well.

After making it to the hospital, getting clearance by ANBU, I finally entered Sasuke's room and dumped his school work next to his bed.

Sasuke flinched at the loud sound. His eyes, so wide, turned to look at me. His bottom lip trembled. "M-Mia-s-sensei? Y-You're alive?"

I blinked at that before recalling how it must have appeared. I doubt Obito made his presence known so when I had looked at Itachi's eyes and suddenly toppled over, coupled with how Sasuke was essentially mind-raped by those very same eyes...

"yeah," I managed. "You..."

You...? What was I going to say? What could I say? 'You alright?' He so wasn't. 'You'll be okay.' Not too sure about that one. 'You're strong.' Maybe, if nothing else. 'You need anything?' His family would be the obvious answer. Probably best not to remind him about them.

"You know Naruto's having a hissy fit without his 'Epic Rival' not being at school," I finally settled on.

Sasuke snorted.

Good, a reaction.

"Dobe isn't strong enough to be my rival," Sasuke muttered, looking down at his hands.

"You'd be surprised," I retorted. "My son is quite capable. Why, the other night he made ramen."

Sasuke snorted and snickered. It was a hollow laugh, a weak one. But it was a laugh nonetheless, and I'd take it.

"Ramen. Let me guess, cup ramen? Instant?" Sasuke asked sardonically, a sneer on his face.

"Made with love," I sighed happily. "You should come over some time. Have dinner with us."

Sasuke didn't respond to that, choosing instead to glance at his schoolwork. "What is that?"

"Exactly what you think it is," I said.

Sasuke sighed. "Damn."

I patted his head.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Answer: I feel like summer. Why? Because I finished planting a whole bunch of bright and pretty flowers and I feel summer-y. So summer.

Question: What is the one thing you will never do? Like skydiving, surfing, stripping down nude and streaking across New York's Time Square or around Big Ben?

Reviews are love!

Picture by TransformiceGurl on deivantART.