Ataraxia--A Naruto Fanfic

Chapter 3

This is dedicated to hina_chvn. Thanks for your comment! It inspired me to put up more chapters!

"Gah! Stupid Kakashi sensei! Stupid Sasuke Uchiha," Asami said harshly. She kicked the small nightstand next to her bed with such force that she thought she broke her foot. She grabbed ahold of it, bouncing around. "Ow, ow, OW!"

"Hey, Asami, whatcha doing?" Konohamaru's voice called.

Asami looked up to see his tiny head poke into her room. She grimaced. All she needed right now was to have Konohamaru tattling on her for breaking furniture.

"Practicing my new dance moves, what did you think I was doing?"

He gave her a look before coming further into her room. "I heard you're on a team with Naruto. That's pretty cool."

"Not really."

"Is that why you're upset?"

She sighed. "Not really...not anymore." She sat down on her bed and placed her head in her hands. Konohamaru followed and sat down beside her. "It all started with being in the four-man group. Then, I had a fight with Grandfather. Then, our sensei was late, which you know how badly that irritates me. Then, he told us we were going on an impossible mission and we might get sent back to the Academy. We might not even make the cut. We haven't even started and I already want to give up."

Konohamaru suddenly smacked her arm out from under her, causing her head to wrench forward.

"Hey! Watch it, you helmeted freak!"

He fixed her with a menacing stare. Well, as menacing as a ten-year old can get. "Sarutobi's don't give up."

Asami looked at him in surprise. He was right. Here she was complaining about how Sasuke and Kakashi sensei spoke to her today and all she'd done since she got home was whine and give up. They would never respect her if she gave up now. Besides, that wasn't who she was. She was Asami Sarutobi; giving up didn't suit her. Did her little brother just motivate her?

"Yeah," she said enthusiastically, "You're right! This won't stop me! This is just a bump in the road!"

He crossed his arms and shook his head knowingly. "Mhmm, mhmm."

"Thanks, Konohamaru."

"Welcome, sis. Every great ninja needs a reminder every once in awhile."

She smiled at that. He just called her a great ninja. Sometimes Konohamaru was the perfect brother.

>^. .^<

Asami slumped into the kitchen. The sun wasn't even out yet. She looked longingly at the food on the counter. Maybe she should just have a small snack. No harm in that, right? If she didn't eat, she would surely throw up from fatigue. So it would be a lose-lose situation. She'd throw up either way. She started reaching for a banana, but stopped herself.

"Kakashi sensei said no breakfast," she scolded herself quietly.

No breakfast meant no breakfast.

She closed the door behind her and started towards their meeting place. Blinking hard, she desperately tried to keep her eyes open. She was so tired it took her forever just to get there. Her feet dragged against the ground as she sluggishly walked forward. Her shoulders sagged. She was having a hard time remembering how important today was, which was extremely. Basically her whole future as a ninja was riding on today

Asami plunked down on the ground. "First one here."

She closed her eyes, hoping to get a couple minutes more of rest.