A Painful Life

Author's POV

Yumi scratched her head, thinking. "Er...today? I wasn't really planning on it as today." She thought some more. "Well, okay! Sure. Let's do it!" She glanced down at her outfit. "Hey, can I get a blue uniform instead. Red kinda....y'know..matches my head."
She made an attempt to flatten her skirt.

I smacked the stick onto the nearest table.

" This is the only chance you will receive. And this is the only day I can do it...I've...er..planned something with Len-kun..not to mention there is training," Kimura muttered, her cheeks heating up at the mention of her secret crush's name.

"You're going on a date?!" Yumi exclaimed, jumping up. "How did I not know this??"

"It's not a date!!!" Kimura defended. "It's training for the upcoming part of the Chunin Exams. Besides, I need more improvement."

"Ah, so this "training", when is it?" Yumi questioned.

I slapped the ruler onto the table again.

"Nevermind that! Focus! I will help you with flirting..but now I'm getting the feeling I am not very good at this kind of stuff." Kimura bit her lip.

Kimura's POV

"Okay, sit, sit," I said, pointing at a chair. Yumi sat. I pointed at the board.

"Do not ever lie to the guy...trust me...you will regret everything afterwards. Act casual around him. Smile. Ummm...don't lie." I nodded.

"You said 'don't lie' twice, Kim ," Yumi pointed out, " and you look uncertain."

I tugged at my sleeve. The whole time, I was imagining myself with Len. Do I look stupid around him?? Do I act stupid around him? Do I SEEM stupid around him?!? Oh god, oh lord, oh man. I nervously ran my fingers through my hair.

Wait, and why am I making a big deal over this guy? It's not like I really like him or anything. Pft. Sure. I don't like Len, I don't like Len. Not one person will ever think I like Satori Len.

Yumi gawked at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"You look really uncomfortable," she said.

"I'm alright," I sighed.

She perked up. "Hey! Let's go to Ichiraku's!!! I'm hungry and I haven't been there in a while." She grinned. " And I can focus better when I'm eating."

"Bu---wait!"

Yumi grabbed my arms and yanked me out the door, towards the shop while I constantly complain that I didn't want to go. She forced me to sit in a booth beside Naruto.

"Um, hello, Naruto," I said.

"Oh, hey!" he said.

I smiled.

"You O.K.? I heard about you in the hospital for a while 'cause of the curse mark and all through Kaka-sensei. Want some ramen? My treat," he offered.

I shook my head. "Not today, thank you. I'm not that hungry today."

"Kids! Kyoro, honey! Uchiha princess! Welcome!" Teuchi cheered.

We laughed. "Hello!"

"How were the Primarily Rounds?" he asked.

"It was alright, " I replied for them. "A bit challenging, no? But we did it."

They nodded in agreement.

"Yumi and Naruto were great!" I grinned enthusiastically. " I wish I was that good. I couldn't do anything."

"Nuh-uh!" Yumi argued. "You were better than me! You could've seriously kicked my butt!"

I shook my head. "Either way, the curse mark thing kind of made me feel queasy." I put my hand behind my neck. "Unbalanced maybe, too."

Teuchi clapped his hands together. "Well, I'm pretty sure you did quite well, Kimura! All of you the same. Now I am sure both of you children are starved! What would you like to eat?"

"The special!!" Yumi cheered.

The chef made a mental note and nodded. "And you, Kimura?"

"No, thank you. I'm not quite hungry today," I assured, smiling.

Suddenly, two hands out of nowhere covered my eyes. I gave a laugh.

"Guess who?" the voice asked.

I decided to play around a bit.

"Hum, " I began, "Gaara?"

"Pft," Len scoffed, a hint of adhesion in his voice. " Try again."

"Lemme guess....er--Len, is it?" I confirmed with a laugh.

He pulled his hands away and smiled. "Yo."

"Hey," I replied. " What're you here for?"

"I might sound a tad stupid but I got you something," he said, his cheeks a bit flushed from embarrassment," and...well, I'm afraid I might lose it before I get the chance to give it to you."

I stood up. "Well, let's take a little walk, shall we?"

"Uh--wait! Hold on a second. I can wait til you eat."

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. I'm not hungry."

He lifted an eyebrow. "You sure?"

I smiled, nodding. "Mhm!"

We began to walk. I ignored Yumi's smug looks as we walked pass her to avoid getting myself embarrassed.

He took my hand, suprising me. I turned a light shade of red. He chuckled.

He is so cute!

"So," he began, " I sorta came across this...Tsubaki....and I guess it looked kind of pretty. So I crystalized it and saved it for you to keep." Len flashed his teeth at me, giving me a broad grin. "Here, close your eyes."

"Um..."

"Please."

I closed my eyes. I felt his fingers in my hair for a brief moment.

"Kinda think of it...you look really cute."

I opened my eyes. "Thanks, Len."

"Welcome, welcome! I better go now, Lukashi is waiting for me. I'm doing him a favor. Haha! I'll see you, then, Kimura."

He let go of my hand, softly kissing me on the cheek and disappeared.

I scoffed." Pft. See you, then." Quietly laughing to myself and walking the way back to Ichiraku's, my fingers touched the crystallized rose upon my head.

"No---wait, just friends, just friends," I sighed.