A month had passed since Naruto's fight with Sasuke, the two of you had grown closer - and you managed to get yourself into the academy. Thanks to the help of Minato and Kushina - who led you back to the Hokage's office. You couldn't say you were a big fan of the third Hokage, but the first step of being in a village was to honor your Kage, you supposed.
Although you were keen on the idea at first, you found yourself nervous a week before your first day.
"Those people of the academy are cocky, that's all! But, well. You're a year above me so I have no idea about those people." Naruto tried his best to reassure you - he invited you out to eat at his favorite ramen place. As much as you appreciated the sentiment, it didn't do much to ease your nerves.
"Maybe they're even lamer than Sasuke!" He laughed, saying they were lamer than Sasuke and didn't do much, according to Sakura, he was a very cool guy. You only interacted him with a few times as a result of sticking around Naruto, but he seemed far from lame - seeing as he was deemed a prodigy from a strong clan.
You sighed, playing with your chopsticks - circling a single one around your bowl.
"And besides, who wouldn't want to befriend you?" he forced more ramen into his mouth. "I mean, you're super cool, and seeing ghosts is bound to attract attention!" He said that all with a mouth full of food. "Only a bunch of idiots, really! I mean, my class is full of them!"
You processed his compliment before you finally began to eat your own food. Maybe he was right - maybe they would think you were cool. Or maybe they were horrendous bullies that hated people from other villages. You forced the food down your thrown as you rested your hands on both sides of your bowl.
"I think you're the only one that thinks I'm cool." You admitted, head hung low in defeat.
"No..!" He immediately blurted before being hummed. "Well, actually, you might be right.." He corrected. "But hey, you're the only one that talks to me, but that's enough for me!" He smiled.
You side-eyed him before smiling. "You're right... That's enough for me, too."
He giggled, messing with the goggles on his face. "Once we both become Shinobi, then they have no reason to deny that we're shinobi of the leaf, right?" He grinned, facing you before looking back at his meal.
You looked back at your meal. He was right, if you wanted to be seen as a Leaf civilian, you had to earn the title. Not just wish the 'the one from the sand' title would go away.
"Thanks, Naruto. You're right." To make this place your home, you'd fight for it. And nobody would deny it. You ended up enjoying your meal.
The next day Naruto had taken you to the academy, it wasn't too confusing of a place - there weren't many classrooms, to begin with - there was a courtyard - where Naruto told you of any other fights he had with Sasuke there - which he lost each time. Your classroom's position wasn't hard to remember, since it was the one at the very end of the hall. Naruto had peeked his head in to make sure it was your sensei in the room - which it was, but everybody looked at him with ludicrous faces as he apologized for 'getting the classroom numbers wrong'.
You recognized the crestfallen expression he carried after that. "I bet if Sasuke walked in there, they would all cheer." He scoffed. He almost seemed obsessed with the idea of Sasuke at this point.
"Do you want to be friends with Sasuke?" You asked - walking him back to his classroom after his tour was over.
"Huh? No way!" He said, back turned to you as he rested his hand on the door, ready to open it. "Well... Maybe." He mumbled, lowering his head.
"It's... It's complicated!" He whined. "I'm just jealous of him, I don't know if I want to be him, or be friends with him!"
Yeah, he definitely sounded obsessed. "Well, you can sort that out by talking to him normally. Instead of picking a fight every time." You suggested.
He thought it over, eyes shut as he thought of it. But it wasn't long before he shook his head.
"Nah, no way! He might not know it, but we're rivals me and him! Believe it!" He declared before swinging his classroom door open - stepping inside.
"I'm back, Sensei!" He announced loudly, turning to you to wave goodbye with a smile before he closed the door. You stood there for a second, watching his behavior. Having no family really meant you could do anything, it gave you a few ideas, but just because you could, didn't mean you should. After all, you wanted the village to like you - not hate you.
You sighed, turning toward the exit only to stop. Somebody was just a little ways away, watching you from around the corner. But the moment you noticed them - they hid away with a squeak. You weren't sure if they actually believed that would hide them away - seeing as you had to walk that way to leave the building, but you weren't waiting. Instead, you walked over - whoever it was was silent, so silent you thought for a moment that they were a ghost.
But it definitely wasn't a ghost, seeing as they seemed more scared of you as you turned your head to look at them once you caught up.
"I-I'm sorry." They stuttered, blinking their plain eyes. For a second, you thought they were blind. "I swear I wasn't trying to be creepy. I was just getting back from the bathroom." She excused, watching you nervously as you shifted your foot - turning your body to look at her. Your expression almost reminded her of her cousins, she found herself scared all of a sudden.
"It's alright." You said suddenly, smiling. It made her loosen up her posture, a small smile coming over her own face.
"You're... You're not from this academy, are you?" She asked, curiosity evident by the way she tilted her head.
"No, I start a week from now." She suddenly found herself hoping you'd be in the same class as her, after all, if you were talking to her here, why wouldn't you talk to her in class? "I'm just a year above you." Her smile dropped as quickly as it came.
"Oh, really?" She stood straight from her hunching position, a hand on the wall. "Wh-which class are you in?" She asked.
You turned your head - looking down the hall. "Class three, the one all the way in the back."
She blinked sheepishly. "I see, you're in a class with my cousin."
You found yourself relieved for a second, but her worried expression suddenly had you nervous. "Are they... Nice?"
She was silent. Lowering her head. "Neji was very nice to me before." She sighed, "But.. He's suffered a lot." She looked back up at you. "I don't think I know him that well anymore." She said a whole lot, but not the answer you were looking for. He seemed like a complicated guy, but that was alright. You hoped.
"Well, thanks." You nodded, "You should get back to class. Maybe I'll see more of you around?" You suggested.
She stared at you - wide-eyed before smiling sheepishly. "Yes, I hope so." She nodded.
Four days before you started, you went out to an empty field with Kushina and Minato following behind. They had offered to teach you a few tricks - since both of them had been Shinobi at one point. They started with techniques they thought someone your age was capable of learning, which mostly had to do with Kunai - it was boring, but probably the first thing a Shinobi should learn. It was easy enough, seeing as that was the first thing your mother taught you as well.
"Let's try something else. Something simple." Kushina proposed, hands on her lap as she sat on the floor.
"Hmmm... Flying Raijin?" Minato suggested from beside her, on his knees with a smile.
Kushina glared at him, struggling to keep her anger in check. "Come on, as a former sensei, you of all people should know how impossible it is for a seven-year-old to learn a Jutsu like that!" She scolded.
Minato laughed sheepishly, lowering his head. "I guess it's been a while since I last taught anyone. I'm a little eager."
You sat awkwardly, watching as Kushina chided Minato for his suggestions before he landed on the perfect one.
"Simple Chakra control would be a good start..." He concluded, a nervous sweat on his face as he awaited Kushinas reaction. She was silent before nodding.
"That's perfect! Chakra control is the base of all Jutsus!" She agreed, nodding.
Minato let out a sigh of relief, "Well, even that can be challenging for someone so young."
Though, that's what the two agreed upon - and what you ended up being taught first. That's what you spent your remaining days, out on the fields learning chakra control. Climbing trees initially had you scared - you'd never climbed one before, and suddenly having to reach the top without your hands seemed impossible. But you eventually got the hang of doing it without Chakra - so then you moved on to doing it with Chakra. It was hard - you had no idea how to focus Chakra, or even get it to charge in general.
It was like a second variation of energy, but you had no clue what to make of it. But Minato was a very patient teacher, and it seemed he truly was happy to have a new student. He had helped you find out your Chakra nature - which unsurprising to you, was fire. A direct result of a fire dragon, you were sure.
Though, a little surprising to the two of you was the second nature - wind. Minato gave you a million and one recommendation as a result. You didn't understand or comprehend a single technique that came out of his mouth.
Your last day was when your nerves truly flared up, taking Naruto out to the field you'd been training in for so long to try and help him learn whatever it was his father was teaching you - you felt it was the least you could do, seeing as you saw his parents more than he. You hadn't told him exactly who taught you, but you told him that at that very moment - his parents were watching. Which led him to trying hard to impress them - though it didn't amount to much.
"Every time I'm given an opportunity to graduate early, I'm hit with the same problem each time! I can't do a clone Jutsu to save my life!" He groaned, sitting on the grass with both his arms and legs crossed.
"A clone Jutsu?" You repeated. If you remembered correctly, your mother had brought that up at least once. It was a basic technique that almost anyone could learn.
"Yeah... But... I know a Jutsu is way more impressive than that! Believe it!" He cheered, getting back onto his feet. Both you and his parents watched closely, anticipating whatever trick he was going to pull.
"I made it up myself, I call it-!" He put his hands together. "Sexy Jutsu!" For a second, you assumed the name was just misleading as a cloud of smoke surrounded him. Though, once it cleared, you figured that was the best suited name.
It was a girl, with Narutos eyes and whiskers, but a lot different as he striked a pose. You were thankful for the clouds of smoke covering parts of his body - you already found yourself gawking at the technique.
"This is - what is this!?" Kushina asked, speechless for a second before she felt her anger get the best of her.
"What would you even use a technique like this for?!" You asked, voice louder than you'd like it to be as you covered your eyes with your hands.
Naruto stood up straight, giggling. "I figured it'd work well for distractions, I mean, it even worked on you!" He took good notice of your reaction, you slowly uncovered your eyes.
"Covering your eyes around a naked person is just common curtesy." You answered smoothly, trying your best to act nonchalant as you put your hands on your hips. Minato sighed beside you.
Naruto struck another pose. "This technique will be passed down for generations, believe it!" He declared.
Silence, that's all there was as you stared at him - along with Kushina and Minato. He was still stuck in his weird pose before he blew a kiss toward no one in particular. Even as the kiss he blew floated away, there was silence until the comedic heart burst.
"That's... Disturbing." You finally spoke, face covered with just a smidge of horror.
His body was surrounded by another puff of smoke - the beautiful girl replaced with the sight of Naruto. "Heh, everyone will know such a technique came from nobody but Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage!" He declared boldly.
You found your smidge of horror quickly being replaced by a small smile. "I'm definitely glad to be the first one to see it."
When you went home that night, you couldn't sleep. Instead, you stared at the ceiling and thought of any scenario that could come true on your first day.
'You're so nervous, it's almost making me anxious.'
You continued to stare at the ceiling, ignoring the intruding voice in your head. Ever since you had come to the leaf, the voice would always make itslf known at night. You happened to ignore it everytime.
'Your stress is for nothing, really... As far as I can remember, the Shinobi of the Leaf have always been weak-minded...' Its voice was bothersome, grainy enough to give you a headache despite coming from your head. 'If they start bothering you too much, I could just kill them... Things like that bother me, too.'
You closed your eyes, the ceiling you once found interesting was replaced with darkness. "You're not killing anybody. Stop dreaming." You responded out loud - voice in a whisper.
'So you have been able to hear me this whole time. I knew you were good at acting nonchalant but this is a different level.'
"Shut up." You responded quietly, eyes opening back up to the ceiling above.
'Feisty today... I've never seen you be so rude to anyone else...' Their grainy voice responded, you could just hear the smile in the way they spoke. 'I have feelings, too.'
"I don't care about how you feel." You responded, batting your lashes at the noises down the hall. They went silent, listening to your loud neighbor bang around the kitchen to make himself something to eat. "Whenever I hear your voice, all I can think about is how much better off I would be if you weren't apart of me." You confessed.
'That would be impossible. Unless you were never born to begin with.'
"You say that like it would really be so bad."
'A little emotional...' They laughed lightly. 'That neighbor of yours is a little annoying, isn't he?'
"Not nearly as annoying as you."
They chuckled again, going silent before they wished you a quiet goodnight.
'Goodnight, good luck tomorrow.'
You felt bad for being so rude after that.
"Goodnight." You responded.
. . .
You woke up just as the sun was beginning to rise - soft light filling into your room as you stared at your curtained window. Dread piled into your gut along with the sun spilling into your room. Maybe you shouldn't have signed up for it, so you would remain with no responsibilities. Though, having something to do would make it so you didn't feel like such a loser.
You sighed, slowly forcing yourself out of bed. You slowly walked toward your light switch, flipping it on before you inched back to your bed to sit down. Your eyes were trained on the floor, arms resting on your thighs as you lent over. It was silent, not even a single thought in your head. You found that you spent a lot of your day like this, if it weren't for Kushina asking you to be friends with her son, you'd probably spend all day like this. Though it wasn't like you had the motive to get up at all.
But.. You had something to do for once.
You stood up grudgingly, standing in place for a second before you picked your outfit up off the desk. You had left it there untouched ever since you bought it, it was the best one you could find with the lack of money you had, but you liked it. It was perfect for a ninja, as you unfolded the shirt to hold it out and look at it - you felt yourself almost joyful.
'When'd you get that? I don't remember seeing it.'
You were silent for a second, blinking as you lowered the shirt. "You mean to say you're not watching every second of the day?"
'You don't exactly live an entertaining life.'
You were silent, disappointment on your face. That was right, despite all the 'special' things you were born with, you were boring. "I bought this last week. I had to mop their floors to afford it all, but atleast I have something to wear."
You quickly got changed, carefully putting on your new outfit. The dragon had gone silent, probably to give you some sort of privacy as knelt on the floor, head back to laying on your mattress. You listed out anything that you'd need for your first day, though the only two things you ended up with were; eating breakfast and getting changed. You already did both of those, all that was left was to actually get to the academy.
You buried your face into the mattress, your sigh muffled by it before you got off the floor, standing up. If you sat down once more, you'd probably end up being late - so you turned toward your door, opening it and stepping out of your apartment.
Naruto swung his door open at the exact same time, turning his head toward you before quickly shutting his door. "I knew it was your first day, so I woke up extra early today, believe it!" He greeted, catching up to you as you began to walk. "Since we're both headed to the same place every morning now, I decided we can walk together, right?" He asked, throwing his hands behind his head.
"Yeah..." You trailed off, looking away from him. "Thank you, by the way. Talking to you this past week has really helped me ease my nerves."
He was silent, tilting his body to get a good look at your face before he smiled. "Don't mention it! I mean, you're my first friend, but I'm pretty sure this is the type of stuff they do for each other!"
You smiled softly at the ground before you looked up, Naruto reminded you of Gaara in a way. You were their first friend, and in a way, they were both your first friend. Though, Gaara had known you during a lot less vulnerable time in your life.
"And by the way, I think your outfit is really cool!" He complimented, a wide smile on his face - "I mean, it totally goes with your.. Eyes? Hair?" He lost his way through the sentence, growing silent.
"Thank you." You nodded. "I guess I'll use something like this when I become an actual Genin." You suggested, lookiny down at your own outfit.
"Well I'll have to get an even better outfit, believe it! Even if you are a year above me, I'll catch up and surpass you, believe it!"
"Can't be the hokage if you don't, right?" You asked, stopping at his classroom door. He turned toward you, a large smile on his face accompanied with a small blush.
"You're right!" He nodded, staring at you for a good second. "Good luck on your first day, by the way! This is the earliest I've been to the academy in a while." He laughed.
"I'm glad you woke up early for me." You smiled back, "I'll tell you how it goes, alright? I'll see you later." He took that as his sign to turn around, entering his class as he spared you a wave.
You waved back - standing outside of his classroom for a while longer to control your nerves. At this point, you were wishing you were born in Konoha.
"Todays your first day, you don't want to be late!" You rose your head at the familiar voice - Kushina had followed you and you didn't even notice. "You know, I accompanied Naruto on his first days, too. But he wasn't really so nervous." She admitted, a kind smile on her face. "I promise you it won't be so bad," she lowered herself to your eye level, hands on her knees. "How about I accompany you? You won't be so lonely that way."
You stared at her wide-eyed. Despite her extreme hot-bloodedness, Kushina truly was some sort of angel. You nodded eagerly in response, walking toward your classroom as she followed behind. You only stopped at the door for a few seconds before you opened it, standing at the doorframe.
Your teacher turned her head toward you face full of curiosity before she lit up. "Oh, you're the new student, [Firstname]." She acknowledged. "There's no need for introductions, please just find an empty seat." She instructed, hand pointing toward the classroom.
It was smaller than you expected, there weren't too many students. But the one that caught your attention was the one with round eyes, bushy eyebrows, and long black hair. He... Looked very unique. The two of you made eye contact, and although he was looking first, he looked away nervously. At that very second, you decided thats where you would sit.
Kushina followed behind you - glancing toward your classmates as you made your way up the class - sitting beside him. The seat next to him was the only one open, anyway.
The boy bounced his leg nervously, resting his head in his palms in an attempt to act nonchalant. Though it wasn't as if you were any calmer, you were just far better at hiding it.
He turned his head toward you - opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water before he finally spoke. "... If I am not mistaken, you are a/an [Lastname]?" He asked, eyes wide as he leant in just a little closer.
You stared ahead wide-eyed before you looked toward him, "Um.. Yes, I am. Why do you... Ask?"
His expression which was once full of curiosity turned into one of utter excitement. "That is truly amazing! I knew I had recognized that symbol on the back of your shirt...! I've heard of your clan, the things your Kekkei Genkai can accomplish are incredible!"
You sweatdropped, completely taken aback by his excitement when it came to the topic of your clan.
"To think! A/an [Lastname] all the way out here in the leaf! Sitting next to me! I am truly as honored as one could be!"
You blinked, finding yourself speechless at his surprising amount of knowledge. You understood why someone like the fourth Hokage would know of your clan, but someone your age? It was a bit unexpected.
"Being able to use just about any Jutsu makes me envious, but that is okay! Because I will be a fine ninja even without the ability of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu!" He declared.
You barely had enough time to process the onslaught of information he threw at you as you blinked - a nervous smile creeping onto your face out of reflex. "... Pure Taijutsu is just about as ninja as you can get, I suppose." You answered, your jaw tense. Although the prospect of a ninja with no jutsus during the modern-day sounded.. Idiotic, you went along with it.
"Ah..! I never thought of it that way! Before the art of Ninjutsu, that is all there was!" He concluded, "That is... All I have ever wanted to hear! Thank you!"
"Rock Lee, can you please quiet down?" The teacher asked loudly, a hand on her hip as she held her lecture book in hand. Quickly, the boy turned mellow as he turned back toward the board. You turned your head the other way, to the left to look at Kushina beside you, who smiled.
"See? Not so bad. But you're much more easygoing than I was when I came to a foreign academy far from home." She chuckled.
"It's impossible to get along with everyone, but you'll always be able to find those who adore you."