<span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: palatino;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;">"That sounds nice." Midori offered quietly, taking Sunako out of her lap and setting the kitten in the grass again to play. Relaxing sounded good, especially when the alternative was a bunch of rowdy kids running around and being loud. Loud noises were not something Midori appreciated anyway. "You are welcome..." No one had answered her on what to call either of them, but she could still respond to Choji's thanks politely. Maybe she could get by without addressing anyone by their names? That seemed a little rude. But maybe because Shikamaru had used her given name, in a familiar sense, then she was supposed to address them as they did her? She would wait and see, maybe.<br/><br/>It was nice that Choji was helping her eat her lunch. She would have to tell Jinmi-sama that she had made too much today, and maybe she could make less tomorrow? Now, though, it was nice to just <em>be</em>. To sit quiet but not alone, enjoying the time before class began again. Maybe making friends was easier than she had thought, easier than it had seemed before. Or maybe she just hadn't found the right sort of people to try to be friends with? The ones she had tried with before were all excitable and rude and mean sometimes.<br/><br/>"Oh! Um... well, I was born here, but Otousan travels, he's a trader, so he taught me a lot because I got to travel with him before he left me behind. But nothing about Chakra theory or... or anything like that. Mostly writing and math and history and those sorts of things... I suppose I should talk to Iruka-sensei, I don't want to be too behind everyone else. I do not quite understand how to know if I am mixing the chakra correctly or not..." It was a good suggestion, speaking to the instructor. She should do that after class, before going to Kanetaro-oji's home.<br/><br/>Lunch concluded and they returned to class, Midori scooping Sunako, carrying her back with them. "Thank you. That would be nice, if there is space." There was, so she sat in the empty seat, deciding that it might not be so bad, living in Konoha without Otousan. At least she was not lonely now, and Choji and Shikamaru seemed to be friendly. So they might spend more time together also?<br/><br/>As class resumed, Midori turned her attention to Iruka-sensei, struggling to catch up and make up for what she did not yet know...<br/><br/>____ ___ __ _<br/><br/>Iruka smiled as he observed Yuhara Midori enter the classroom with Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. They seemed the sort who would get along with the quiet, awkward girl. He felt quite pleased that pushing her outside had worked so well, including that little lie about students not being allowed in the classroom during lunch. Perhaps now the girl's guardian would stop worrying about her so much. She was fitting in just fine.<br/><br/>____ ___ __ _<br/><br/>The review continued for the rest of the day, until Iruka-sensei finally dismissed them. Midori gathered her empty bento and set a sleepy Sunako on her shoulder. The small kitten seemed less than enthused about being woken up, but she would just have to deal with it if she did not want to get left behind at Kanetaro-oji's house. It would not be fair to Jinmi-sama to have to care for Sunako when it was her responsibility to do so.<br/><br/>Was she supposed to tell Shikamaru and Choji that she was going to stay behind to talk to Iruka-sensei? Friends did that, right?<br/><br/>"Um.. I am going to ask Iruka-sensei about the things I do not understand..." Midori turned to look at the two boys, trying not to feel so awkward in speaking to them. They were probably going to go home, as she was supposed to. But maybe she could sit with them tomorrow again, if they wanted...</span></span>