Child of the Moon

Aki finds her nose

"There you all are," Kurenai said as she approached three students. Aki strolled just behind her, her hands folded behind her head.

"Kurenai-sensei," one girl said, timidly looking at Aki. "There's someone with you..."

"Woah!" Aki ran right up to the girl and stared into her eyes, which were large and featureless, white with a hint of lavender. "Your eyes are just like Nanami's!"

"Uh..." she turned bright pink and started to stutter rapidly as she backed up from Aki, only to trip and start falling backward.

"Woah, careful!" Aki yelled, catching the girl's arm and righting her.

"That's Hinata Hyuga," Kurenai explained, a small smile on her face. "She's from the same clan as Nanami."

"Oh, that makes sense, I guess," Aki grinned. "Who the heck are you guys?"

Her question was directed at the slightly creepy boy with glasses and a high collar, and the wild-looking boy with a mass of black... hair? Or was it fur?

Aki couldn't quite tell and had the sudden urge to remove his hood to find out.

"Is that a dog on your head?" she suddenly said, getting in his face so she could look more closely.

"Arf!"

"It is!" she said cheerfully, reaching up so he could sniff her hand.

"You're... a little weird," the wild-looking boy said. "Who the heck are you?"

Aki stared right at him for several seconds, until the dog licked her hand.

"Oh, I'm Aki Yamada," she said cheerfully, jumping back so she could do a dramatic bow. "My sensei assigned me to this team while she was away on a mission."

"Oh," the boy said. "Well I'm Kiba Inuzuka, and this is Akamaru-"

"IT'S YOU!" she yelled, pointing at him. "Sensei said you could help me fight with my nose!"

"Huh?"

Kurenai laughed, though the creepy boy seemed a little annoyed.

"You've forgotten about me entirely," he said. "You should be more sensitive to the people around you, or you might hurt their feelings."

"Oh, right," Aki laughed. "What's your name then? And what can you do? Sensei said this team had the makings of a brilliant tracking team but didn't say much except about a byakugan, noses and -"

She gasped loudly and pointed at him. "YOU MUST BE THE BUG GUY!"

He sighed and held up one hand. Some bugs came out his sleeve and swirled around his hand.

"I am Shino Aburame, and yes, my clan is known for its bug techniques," he said.

"Cool," Aki said, grinning at him. "Kinda weird, but he has a dog on his head, so I guess that's the theme for this team."

"You're rather blunt, aren't you? How could I tell?" he started.

"Anyway, what now, Kurenai-sensei-for-now?" Aki said, turning to face the woman, who looked both exasperated and amused.

"Well, Tsukiko made it clear that she wanted you to learn to fight without your eyes," she said. "I'm not sure what the benefit would be, to my team, but we could try to practice it."

"ARGH NO! I CAN'T DO IT!" Aki moaned dramatically, before sighing and pulling her headband over her eyes. "Just so you know, I take no responsibility for accidentally hurting people."

"Duly noted," Kurenai laughed. "Shino and Hinata, you two pair up. Kiba, you and Akamaru will be with Aki. Kiba, I'd like you to blindfold yourself too."

"What?"

"Aki's sensei suggested that by blocking off one sense, the others will improve," Kurenai explained. "This way, you can improve your sense of smell, and teach Aki any tricks you can."

"I'm gonna rely on you, kay?" Aki said sweetly.

"What? Uh, I mean, yeah, I got this!"

"I was talking to Akamaru," Aki said.

"Arf!"

"See, he knew what I meant," Aki laughed, as Kiba pouted up at Akamaru.

"Traitor," he pulled his headband over his eyes.

"Alright, begin!"

֍

"Argh!" Aki growled in frustration, before flopping onto the grass. The rest of Kurenai's team had called it a day and gone home, but Aki had hung back to try and improve her technique.

She'd sat there for almost four hours, trying to smell as many smells as she could, while also listening to everything around her.

She felt something wet on her cheek and turned her head to see a small dog sitting by her head, wagging his tail.

"Arf, arf!"

"Oh, hello," she said, scratching his ear. "Where'd you come from?"

"You're still here?"

Aki sat up quickly to see Kiba standing at the edge of the clearing, his arms folded and watching her with a cocky grin. Akamaru barked, then jumped into her lap.

"Uh... yeah," Aki glanced at the dog, then resumed scratching his ear. "The other two on my team? They're a little older and have been training longer than me, so I have a lot of work to do to get to their level."

"But you just spent hours sitting there?"

"How long have you been there?"

"If you couldn't tell when we got here, then you're definitely in sorry shape."

Aki pouted, then as Akamaru jumped off her lap, she flopped back in the grass. "My style involves lots of different animals. Taijutsu techniques based off of movements by animals, manipulation of wild animals, and summoning various ninja animals. But for me? I can't actually use some of the abilities you'd expect from them."

There were some footsteps, then Kiba sat down heavily next to her.

"Well, you don't need to smell everything, you know? Just important scents."

"Like my comrades?"

"Yeah, then you can worry about the other stuff later."

"Huh..."

"Here," Kiba pulled off his jacket, and Aki sat up swiftly.

"It's fur!" she said, pointing at the wild black fur along the edge of his hood.

He laughed, running a hand through wild brown hair, though not as long or bushy as the black fur.

"Here," he said, holding it out. "Try by learning my scent first. Then I'll hide, and Akamaru will help you out if you go too far."

"Like hide and seek, but blindfolded?"

"Well maybe you should start with one thing at a time," Kiba said. "Don't blindfold yourself until you're confident."

"Right," she held his jacket up, sniffing it, before bursting into laughter.

"What?"

"It's just..." she wiped a tear from her eye. "It's just so weird that I'm sniffing someone's clothes."

He blinked a few times before he also burst into laughter. "That's true! But, humor me, ok?"

"Right," she chuckled.

The three trained together for another hour, before heading back to the village together. Aki carried Akamaru in her arms, as she and Kiba laughed together about various things, making impressions and discussing the best foods.

Aki was sure she'd found another friend.