The next day, Hanako went with her father to the training field. They stood in the middle of it as he handed her a kunai.
"To begin, I'll teach you how to use a weapon. First of all you must seize it in the correct position." Hanako observed how her father did it and tried to copy him. "Okay, now throw it." She did what he said but the kunai did not even reach one meter when it was already sunk on the ground.
"I can't..." Hanako mumbled embarrassed, picking up the weapon.
"Try using your wrist and not your complete arm." Her father smiled. "Like...this," he said while, with a subtle flick of his wrist, he threw his kunai to the trunk of a tree. It was fully buried in the trunk, leaving his daughter impressed.
"I want to do that!" the little Uchiha exclaimed excited while she imitated what her father had done previously and threw her kunai towards the trunk of the tree. However, the knife did not reach its destination. Yusuke began to laugh.
"Don't stress yourself. Practice makes perfection," he commented as he watched how his daughter maneuvered the knife, correcting her at every error she committed.
Every day, Hanako improved in her training with the kunai and Yusuke finally began teaching her how to use it as a weapon. Hanako used her kunai to evade his attacks, even if they were very slow and he constantly advised her where he was going to hit.
After the first month of training, Yusuke had taught Hanako how to use a kunai properly. He also taught her the Shuriken Jutsu, although she still had not been able to master it properly. Now the next lesson before enrolling her into the Academy would be Taijutsu. First he taught her to battle, some kicks once in a while, but she always tired easily. In the next few months, she managed to significantly improve and then Yusuke decided to finally enroll her in the Ninja Academy.
In her first day, he accompanied her and met the one who would be his sensei from now on. "Good morning, Uchiha-sama," the man spoke. "My name is Tokuda Yakumo and from now on, I'll be the one to take care of Hanako. It is an honor to have again an Uchiha with us. I'm sure she will be an elite ninja like the rest of the members of her clan." Hanako smiled, nodding happily.
The little Uchiha looked at her surroundings, observing how the kids had already started playing with each other. Hanako then looked up at her father, "You're not leaving yet, right Daddy?"
Yusuke looked down at her daughter and chuckled at her puppy eyes. "You have to stop depending so much on me," he said, crouching down to be at her level. "Although, I still have to stay for the Ceremony, so today's your lucky day." He patted her head.
Hanako smiled victoriously and hugged her father tightly. "I love you, Dad." Yakuma chuckled as he observed Hanako.
"Isn't she a clingy one?" Hanako heard his comment and looked at him with a pout.
"I'm not clingy!" she scoffed.
Yusked chuckled, straightening himself. "She is when she wants to be," he said. "Otherwise, she would've pushed me away by now." Hanako stuck out her tongue towards her teacher, who only chuckled.
"Takeshi, wait!" Hanako heard a man yell to his son at the same time she saw a boy her age approaching her. He had spiky brown her and honey brown eyes, and he smiled at her brightly.
"Hello," he greeted Hanako with a wave of his hand. "My name is Takeshi Komatsu! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Hanako only stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "Do you want to be my friend? Let's play together!"
"Takeshi! Don't run off like that!" The boy's father quickly appeared behind him, putting both his hands over his shoulders. "I'm sorry mister Uchiha, we didn't mean to bother you," he apologized with a cheeky smile.
"It's okay." Yusuke shook his head with a chuckle. "Hanako, do you want to play with him?"
Hanako looked up at her father and smiled with nod. "Hai!"
"Let's go!" Takeshi took Hanako's hand and pulled her with him.
Takeshi's father let out a sigh and looked at Yusuke. "Thank you, mister Uchiha. Takeshi only asked who that pretty girl was while pointing at your daughter and before I knew it he was already here asking..." The man was out of breath.
Yusuke stopped him from continuing while putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, you can call me Yusuke."
The man smiled. "Hai, Yusuke-san. I'm Inoue Komatsu, it's a pleasure to meet you." Yusuke nodded in approval when something caught his eye. Fugaku was standing in the middle of the crowd with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a frown in his face.
"Oh? Fugaku?!" Yusuke laughed at the same time he approached his friend. "You are here as well?"
Fugaku looked at him and smiled. "Yusuke? You finally decided to enroll Hanako in the Academy?" Yusuke nodded.
"Yeah, and I suppose you're here for Itachi, aren't you?" Fugaku chuckled. "Where is he, though?" Yusuke asked, looking all around for the Uchiha boy.
"I don't know, I was just looking for him. He ran off to Kami knows where. I hate it when he does that..." Fugaku sighed. "And well, did you lose your daughter as well?"
Yusuke shook his head with a roll of his eyes. "A little boy came here asking if Hanako could play with him, so I let her go."
Fugaku chuckled. "Merely a six-year-old and she already has boys asking her out?"
Yusuke punched his arm playfully. "It's not like that..."
* * *
"So, you're from the Uchiha Clan?" Takeshi asked the brunette as he looked at her sitting on the swing. Hanako nodded with a smile. "And your name is Hanako-san?"
"Yup!" She giggled lightly. "And you are Takeshi."
Takeshi smiled mischievously. "Shouldn't you be calling me Takeshi-kun?" He raised an eyebrow.
Hanako shook her head, copying his smile. "Nah, I don't feel like it."
Takeshi pouted, sitting on the floor. "Not even if I call you Hana-chan?" Hanako scrunched her face in disgust.
"I don't like that," she said. Takeshi laughed.
"All right!"
"Um, excuse me." A girl approached them with an innocent smile. "We are missing two people to play ball, do you want to play?" she asked.
"Sure!" Takeshi answered excitedly. "Do you want, Hanako?"
Hanako had zoned out while staring at the girl. 'Izumi?' she thought. 'She's also in the Academy?'
"Hanako?" Izumi looked at her with widened eyes. "Hanako Uchiha?" Hanako nodded with a smile.
"It's been awhile, Izumi..." she said.
"Izumi! Are you bringing them to play or what?" Izumi turned at the boy.
"Shut up, Kaichi-kun. We're coming!" She then turned to Hanako and Takeshi. "So, should we go?" Hanako looked at Takeshi and nodded.
"All right, let's go."
* * *
"How are you so fast?" Takeshi was having trouble breathing after running after Hanako for almost ten minutes, trying to take the ball from her.
"How are you so slow?" Hanako laughed in chorus with the rest of the kids. Takeshi's face became red and he looked away.
They were divided into two teams with four kids each. Hanako and Takeshi were playing in different teams. When the boy noticed that Hanako had lowered her guard, he kicked the ball away. "Ha! I got you!" he exclaimed.
The ball went flying away from the kids. "Thanks a lot, genius. Now we have to go look for it," Kaichi said, rolling his eyes. Kaichi was a blond boy who happened to be in the same year. According to Izumi, he was the second best looking boy in their generation, but that left Hanako wondering who the first was.
"No," Izumi said looking at a boy with short black hair at the distance. "Itachi-kun!" she called at him, waving her hand.
Hanako lifted up her head in curiosity. She was calling Itachi, the leader's son. Itachi looked towards Izumi and then at the ball. He took the ball in his hands and threw it towards them. Kaichi caught it, nodding at the boy.
"Thanks," he muttered.
Itachi's eyes then met Hanako's. The girl could feel her heart stop as she focused on the boy's black orbs. They were empty. Like if there was something missing. She didn't know for how long did they stare at each other, but it felt like an eternity. Itachi then looked away and continued his way. Hanako bit her lip as she looked at the ground.
Izumi had noticed how Hanako and Itachi were staring at each other and approached the girl with a sneaky smile. "Itachi is the number one," she said with the giggle. "He's cute, right?" Hanako blushed at Izumi's comment, she had quite forgotten how troublesome this girl was when it came to boys.
This boy had caught her attention; he had intrigued her and she wanted to know more about him. Since they were in the same generation, Hanako would take her chance and figure the boy out. She just had to hope they were put in the same class.
* * *
Hanako hurried the next day to look at the list of the names for each class. She arrived earlier, so she was the first one to stand in front of the board. "Uchiha..." she muttered while she moved her finger down the list searching for her name in the first class. She stopped when she found it and smiled. "Hanako...here I am. Class 1-1." She continued down the list and her smile vanished. The next person was a Yamanaka. She was the only Uchiha in the class. "So... I'm not with him?" Hanako checked the list once again.
"I did it!" Hanako turned to her side when she heard Izumi's voice. "Itachi-kun is in my class!" she cheered out loud. "1-2! 1-2!"
Suddenly a boy came from behind Hanako and pushed her down to check on the list. "Oh! Here I am! Did you see that Hana-chan? I'm in your class!"
Hanako pushed him away and rolled her eyes. "I know, I checked the list twice, Takeshi!"
"And you're not a bit excited?" Takeshi pouted.
Hanako didn't listen to him as she was still staring at Izumi celebrating with her group of friends. Itachi was in their class, he was probably already inside, waiting for their teacher to arrive. "Don't worry about it!" Takeshi noticed her mood down and hugged her to lift it up. "We're far better than them! That's why we're 1-1! We're the best from the best!"
Hanako smiled at him and nodded. "You're right..." She looked once at the class and shook her head. She didn't know why in the first place she had become interested in being in the same class as Itachi. She didn't even know him, besides, she already had a friend and they were in the same class. Takeshi entered the room and looked at her with a huge grin as he pointed his finger towards the back. Hanako nodded again before following him. "Uchiha or not, I'm going to be the best!" She grinned.
* * *
"Oi! Wake up!" Takeshi muttered to the brunette in a low voice so the teacher wouldn't hear them. Hanako didn't respond, she was fast asleep. "Idiot, is this how you plan to be the first rookie?"
"So, in this situation to escape from the enemy inside a cave full of bats, what would be the best jutsu?" Yakumo looked at his students, waiting to see a hand raised. When he saw none, he decided to call upon a student. "Hanako Uchiha! The answer?"
Hanako jumped awake in her seat and looked at their sensei with wide eyes. "Henge no... Jutsu?"
"Henge?" asked the teacher with a raised eyebrow. "How would you use a transformation jutsu to escape?"
"Well, if you fight inside the cave, all bats are going to fly together outside. So, you transform yourself into a bat and escape with the rest. It's unlikely the enemy would find you that way..." Hanako finished with a thoughtful face.
The teacher looked from his student to his book. "That's actually a better answer than the one written here..." Yakumo then seemed to think about something and looked back at his student. "Wait a moment, we haven't seen the Henge no Jutsu yet-"
He stopped talking when he saw that in his student's desk there was a bat instead of the Uchiha girl. The girl then appeared in a cloud of smoke and smirked at him playfully. "Sorry sensei, I just had to do it."
"Sugoi, she can already do the Henge?!"
"Sugee, Hanako-chan. I didn't even see you!"
Takeshi clicked his tongue. "Show off..." he muttered at her.
"Number one rookie," Hanako replied with a smirk.
"Are you making fun of me, Hanako?" Yakumo called upon her with crossed arms. "You are going to stay after class cleaning the classroom."
"Huh?" Hanako's jaw dropped. Takeshi only shrugged with a smirk. "Come on..."
* * *
"It's been six months already..." Hanako let out sigh as she looked down from the rooftop to the ground.
"Yeah... Time does go fast, right?" Hanako chuckled.
"Right." The Uchiha didn't have trouble in staying as the first in her class. Even though the second place wasn't too far from her. It was a boy named Kazuki Mitokado. He never spoke to anyone, he didn't have any friends. He preferred to be a loner who read in the recess instead of playing.
Kazuki had almost perfect notes, he only missed a little in hand to hand combat. He lost once against the brunette, and since then he hasn't stopped training. He also wanted to be the first place, but he had to put all of his effort if he wanted to beat the Uchiha girl.
"I don't understand, how do you manage to sleep in class and still get perfect grades in the exams?" Hanako looked at Takeshi with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"I just wonder how you do it. I never see you studying, you're always training near your clan's district."
Hanako smiled sheepishly.
"You've seen me?" She scratched the back of her neck. "Well... the truth is..."
"Hanako, what are you doing here?" Yusuke found his daughter at the lake as she practiced her shuriken jutsu.
"I'm really bad at throwing shuriken. If I don't become better, I won't be the first place..." she muttered, hitting the center of the target with a kunai.
"But, isn't it class time?"
"I'm not missing class..." Yusuke looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I found a scroll in your office at home. I learned a few jutsu from it..."
"Kage Bunshin?!" Takeshi's eyes widened immeasurably. Hanako nodded with a smile.
"You can do something like that? We are not supposed to learn it until the last year, sensei says it's too difficult!"
"Difficult?" Hanako tilted her head in confusion. "I did it in the first try..."
"Teach it to me!" Takeshi smiled at her. "Teach me the Kage Bunshin!"
Hanako looked at him seriously before dedicating him a smile. "Hai, after class. I believe I don't have to stay and clean today..."
"That's right... you have stayed every day, right...the teachers must have something against you..."
"I don't think..." Takeshi lost his balance and fell forward. "Takeshi!" Hanako looked at him wide eyed as he fell rapidly towards the ground.
"Somebody help me!" The boy yelled as he approached the ground and closed his eyes.
Hanako took two of her kunai and tied a metal wire to both ends. She threw herself after Takeshi and launched one kunai into a tree in front of them and the other she nailed it into the building, creating a wire bridge in between. She moved towards Takeshi and grabbed his clothes, pulling him closer to her.
All the kids looked up at her in awe. Hanako had landed swiftly over the wire with Takeshi hanging from his clothes over the ground. The boy was heavy breathing once he opened his eyes and saw the ground so close to him.
"Try to be more careful next time, okay?" Hanako smirked.
Itachi had been reading a scroll in a bench beside the building, but he looked up when he heard the commotion. He saw everything, the boy falling from the roof of the building and the girl saving him. "Who is she?" he asked one of the boys beside him.
"Oh? That's Hana-chan. She is in the class 1-1, they say she's the number one rookie in that class." The boy seemed to remember something and looked at Itachi with wide eyes. "You really don't know her? She's also an Uchiha."
Itachi widened his eyes. "Really? I have never seen her in the clan..."
The boys laughed. "How come? You're both in the same clan and haven't seen each other. I don't believe it!"
"It's one-sided," said one of the boys. The rest looked at him in confusion. "Maybe Itachi-san hasn't seen Hanako-chan. But, Hanako-chan knows who Itachi-san is."
"Really?" Itachi asked.
"Well, you're the son of the Clan leader, aren't you?" The boy shrugged. "But she really doesn't care... After all, she is amazing on her own..." the boy sighed. "That Takeshi is such a lucky guy..."
Itachi turned away from the boys and looked at the brunette. She had put Takeshi on the ground and untied the string. All the kids surrounded her but she ignored them as she pulled her friend out of the crowd.
"Hanako Uchiha? I wonder... if Izumi might know something about her."
* * *
"You're concentrating your chakra the wrong way!" Hanako nagged at his friend when he made a bad clone of himself, it didn't even have the correct proportions. "Balance, Takeshi! Balance!" Hanako crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"I know!" Takeshi shook his head and made the hand seal once more. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Finally, a perfect copy of himself appeared standing right beside him. "I did it!" They both cheered together.
"Right about time..." Hanako sighed.
"What are you two doing?" A boy their age appeared, his black hair covered his electric blue eyes until he pushed his hair back.
"Kazuki?" Hanako asked. "Your name was Kazuki, right?"
The boy just nodded. "You just did the Kage Bunshin, didn't you?" he asked, looking at the brunet boy.
"Yeah, why?" Takeshi asked as he made the clone disappear.
"You do know that's a kinjutsu, right?" Takeshi widened his eyes and looked at the brunette.
Hanako just shrugged. "Everyone still uses it." She smirked. "If you stay silent, I'll teach it to you as well, do we have a deal?" Kazuki sighed.
"Sure."
* * *
"You are a tough girl, aren't you?" A group of last year students approached Hanako while she was reading a scroll with Kazuki and Takeshi. Hanako just looked up at them and arched an eyebrow.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"You know, a kid from first year should have respect towards a student from last year," the boy said as he pointed his finger at her. "There's huge gap of experience between us." The boy grinned.
"You were the ones who approached us in the first place," Hanako frowned. "Don't come demanding respect if you're not going to give it in return."
The boy grabbed her collar and lifted her up. Hanako remained stoic. "I hate when kids like you are so arrogant and act as if you're the best in the world." Hanako just looked at him, while the boy clenched his fist and was ready to hit her.
"Stop!" Izumi and Itachi suddenly appeared. "Let her go," Izumi said as she looked at them with her Sharingan activated. Itachi looked at Izumi in surprise.
"Those eyes..." the kids muttered in surprise and suddenly they let go of Hanako. The brunette clicked her tongue and looked at Izumi with a glare.
"I don't need you to defend me, stay out of this."
The boys broke out of the trance and looked back at Hanako. "But, they were about to hit you!"
Hanako activated her Sharingan and looked at Izumi more intently. Her three tomoes made her eyes more menacing in comparison to the one tomoe Izumi had. "I can defend myself!" Izumi gasped at the look in Hanako's eyes and backed away. Hanako sighed and deactivated her eyes before looking back at the bullies.
The kids were sweating until more of them came and cracked their knuckles. The boy who had grabbed her was looking at her with fear in his eyes but the lots of people behind him encouraged him to speak. "We are going to destroy you!" Hanako pursed her lips. "You guys have no chance against us!" There were indeed more than 20 students from last year, all male. Hanako raised an eyebrow at them and smirked.
"You think you can win if you outnumber us?" The boys glared at her.
"You think you can take out all of us?!"
"Well..." Hanako made a seal with her hand and made 20 copies of herself. "Yes, I do."
The students widened her eyes at the amount of copies she made, all perfect. Izumi gaped while Itachi only stared at her interested. Takeshi smirked and made ten copies of himself, just like Kazuki did. "Who's outnumbered now?" Hanako asked.
"What is going on here?!" Yakumo appeared and looked at the bunch of copies of his students. His jaw dropped. The kids undid their jutsus, and the clones poofed away in clouds of smoke. "When did you learn to do that?" he inquired. His eyes fell on Hanako specifically.
Another teacher, who had been watching them, came beside Yakumo. "However you learned it, it's unacceptable that you are using it against a comrade of your own village!"
Hanako snapped at his accusation and looked at him with gritted teeth. "They were the ones who started!" She pointed her finger towards the last year students. The teacher smirked as he leaned down towards her.
"You really expect me to believe a troublemaker like you? I read your record, Hanako Uchiha," he said. "You're the number one rookie in your class, but also the number one trouble. I guess though, that's to be expected from someone of the Uchiha Clan." Hanako widened her eyes. "Itachi and Izumi behave well, though. Unlike you..."
Hanako activated her Sharingan and glared at the teacher. Izumi widened her eyes and tried to stop her but Itachi put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't believe me? Alright, then I'll just show you!" Hanako casted a Genjutsu on her teacher and he fell down, unconscious. Yakumo caught him before he could hit the ground and looked at Hanako with worried eyes.
"Ehem..." Hanako froze when she felt someone clear his throat behind her. It was a prominent chakra. She looked from over her shoulder and pressed her lips when she saw the Hokage looking down at her with calm and analytical eyes.
"Hanako Uchiha, Kazuki Mitokado, Takeshi Komatsu... I would like to see the three of you in my office. Now." The Hokage disappeared. Hanako deactivated her Sharingan, and looked at her sensei with worry.
"I'm getting expelled, aren't I?" Yakumo sighed.
"I don't know...With the Third is hard to know."
"Okay..." Hanako started walking towards the Hokage mansion, closely followed by Takeshi and Kazuki. Izumi and Itachi just watched them go.