Chapter 132: Return to the Academy

Kokoro PoV

Taking a deep breath, I stared at the purpled haired girl before me, my heart aching slightly.

"Ami..."

The little devilish rogue smiled at me, even as her eyes showed a small amount of hurt.

"You've been allowed to return to the Academy and continue to pursue the Shinobi Arts, but... you will need to undergo annual psychological evaluations, as well as other medical examinations going forwards. Additionally, should you have a... 'slip' again, I've been advised to subdue you before transporting you to the Hospital for further evaluations, during which your registration to the Academy may be revisited."

The girl nodded, while her mother grit her teeth as she stared down at the table, where the official documentation sat inside a large folder.

"For now, this is to be kept confidential, so that we may prevent any explicit targeting and bullying, unless Ami herself decides to put this information forwards herself. Otherwise, Ami 'had a medical issue that needed treatment and rest for a week'. Miss Aika, your daughters condition is... unique, so the village simply doesn't know how exactly to proceed. Hopefully the treatments and evaluations help diagnose and prevent another slip, but for now..."

Aika, Ami's mother, nodded, her amber eyes slightly wet as she took in a deep, shaky breath, only to flinch slightly as Ami laid her hands on her mothers.

"It's alright mom! I'll be fine, and careful~!"

Seeing the grin on the young girls face, Aika and I both smiled sadly as we saw the forced grin, before Aika nodded, reaching forwards and ruffling the girls purple hair.

"I don't think I can see you being careful, Ami... It simply doesn't suit you, you little demon!"

The girl giggled, her grin fading to a smile, but a genuine one; one that didn't hurt to see.

She nodded as she looked up at her mother, and the two stared at one another for a few moments, before Aika turned towards me and leaned forwards, the sadness in her eyes gone, replaced instead with a mischievous mirth.

In a loud, conspiratorial whisper, Aika said "Maybe put her together with that Tenten girl some more~! They seemed to get along well~!"

"MOM!"

Ami shrieked at her mother, making both of us chortle as she glared and huffed at the woman, before turning away, her arms crossed.

"I might just~!"

Ami turned to give me a sharp glare as well, before pouting as she saw me raise my brow at her.

Hearing the bell ring in the halls, Aika stood up and bowed to me, her voice filling the room as she thanked me.

Waving it off, I watched the mother give her daughter a kiss on the brow before leaving, the folder filled with her daughters evaluations tucked securely inside her flak vest.

Alone now with the young girl, I saw her expression shift back to a melancholic one as she asked "Kokoro-Sensei, will I really be fine back here..?"

My heart clenched painfully again, and I let out a sigh as I crouched beside her, staring up into her downcast eyes.

Laying my hand on her shoulder, I pursed my lips as I said "I... I don't know, Ami. I can't know, because... it's on you from here on out. We've done all we can for now, and it's on you to make sure you can continue forwards as you used to. What I do know is that, as long as you keep believing in yourself and your goals, you'll be fine. I'm not supposed to say this, but by far, amongst the entire class, I've the most hope in you."

Tapping her brow, I gave her a small smile as I added "You have the right mindset for a real Shinobi, you don't shy away from training or tedious situations, you're marks in all your courses are amongst the top... you have all the makings of a really, really good Shinobi. So it's up to you if you want to continue forwards with this path. This is an unknown situation, Ami, but it's your situation. You need to make your own decisions as best you can. What do you want?"

The young girl stared at me for a few moments, gritting her teeth before saying "I want to be a Shinobi. I want to protect my family and home. That's what I want."

"Then let's go. Class started a minute or so ago."

Ami grinned up at me as I stood up, following behind me as I exited the small Sensei-Parent council room and led her towards the class, where I opened the doors and coughed, getting everyones attention.

"So..."

Stepping inside, I gestured to the door, grinning as everyone gasped when Ami walked in, the normally confident girl rubbing the back of her neck as she took a few steps in.

Instantly, all of the girls rushed down from their seats, surrounding Ami and asking her various questions; 'where have you been?', 'are you okay?', and so on.

Moving over to my desk, I let them have a few minutes to talk to the girl, a small smile on my lips as everyone began to grin with Ami as she cracked a few jokes, acting just like she used to.

Of course, my smile widened slightly as I saw that Tenten had pushed her way towards the front, standing beside her best friend and grinning beside her, the happiness and relief in her grey eyes.

Ami blushed slightly as Tenten gave her a hug, before the rest of the class surged forwards, a giant group hug taking place as Tenten was gradually pushed out.

Making her way over to me, the young girl with twin buns gave me a concerned look as she asked "Is... Ami really alright?"

I nodded, which instantly put Tenten to ease as she sighed in relief, her head turning back towards the arrogantly grinning Ami.

"She'll be fine~! Just needs to get back into the groove of things for now, so watch over her for me, okay?"

Tenten absently nodded, her eyes fixed to Ami's grin, before returning to her side.

Chuckling softly, I leaned back in my chair before laying my hand on my stomach, my thoughts drifting for a few moments.

Letting out a sigh, I shook my head before clapping my hands, gesturing for the girls to return to their seats.

"Alright, picking up from last time... This here is the skeletal structure, right? Now who can tell me-"

The day passed by quickly enough, and I made sure to keep an eye on Ami, tracking her progress like a Hawk as I made sure she didn't slip back into that weird 'side' of her that she had been in those first few days...

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Since people will ask, I don't have an exact direction with Ami just yet, but figured that it could be a mixture of split personalities and sociopathy, sprinkled in with a penchant for cold, calculative murder~!

And I don't know how well the people of Naruto actually knew about the mind at this point in canon, so I'll be looking into that a little for the moment; I don't think this is something a Genjutsu could completely solve, nor is it something that they could treat, so for now it'll be a... nice little thing~!

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