Chapter One: It's Gonna Be a Great Day, by Geoff Smith

The first rays of the sunrise peeked over the treetops, bathing the quiet streets and buildings of Konohagakure in pale orange light. A single beam fell on a certain window, where a 12-year-old girl sat happily observing. The feeble morning light lit her delicate features and gave her pale blonde hair an ethereal glow. Aya sighed happily, soaking in the warmth. 'Another beautiful day in the making,' she thought. Pushing away from the windowsill, she turned to face her tiny bedroom. Her gaze fell on the sleeping Kunming wolfdog lying in the middle of the floor, and a fond smile lifted her lips. 'Oh, Michi, you're not going to be able to fit in here when you're older.' The female dog was still a puppy by ninken standards, but the room was so small, and she so fluffy, that she still took up about half of the purple rug. Standing up from the window seat, Aya lifted her arms over her head in a stretch, popping a few joints in the process. The loud cracks awoke the canine, which gave a toothy yawn and shot her human companion a still-sleepy look.

"You call that a stretch?" she challenged. "Watch and learn." She arched her back, and a chorus of pops and snaps filled the air, making the girl giggle. She raised one hand in surrender, while the other made a few signals. 'Okay,' they said, 'you win.'

"Hmph," Michi grunted. "You're always so willing to concede first. At least put up some sort of fight."

'Well,' the girl signed, expression suddenly sad, 'when you can't talk, it's hard to protest.'

The hound huffed and rubbed her nose against Aya's hand. "Hey, no brooding. It doesn't suit you. Come on, gimme a smile." She growled a little at the subsequent weak attempt. "Seriously? You can do better than that." She nuzzled the girl's ribs, making her giggle and squirm to escape the tickling. She grinned wolfishly when the smile was more genuine. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Aya shook her head. No, it really was not; it just wasn't in her nature to frown anyway. She turned her head at the sound of familiar footsteps passing by her door. 'Hiro is awake,' she signed to her partner.

Michi nodded and sniffed the air. "Mana is making breakfast." She looked at the girl. "She'll come looking for you soon."

Aya nodded and dressed for the day. The bandages came first; ankles to knees, mid-thigh to hip, and finally ribs and all the way to mid-bicep. Her aunt always asked why she wore so many wrappings, but honestly, it just made the girl feel more ninja-like and less exposed. She donned her light purple zip-up vest and knee-length, split skirt and then made for the door. 'Guess we'll go then. It is my first day as a Genin, so I should eat a nice, healthy breakfast.'

"You always eat healthy. Seriously, most kids have a giant sweet tooth, but you're a health nut!" The human gave a smile, showing off her pearly whites. 'Sugar rots your teeth.' Michi snorted. "Yes, well, at least at your funeral people will be able to say you had nice teeth." The blonde girl giggled.

Half an hour later, the two were saying their goodbyes. "Have a good day, sweetie," the girl's aunt said, handing her a bento. Aya just nodded and smiled.

"Don't worry Hiroshi-san. I'll make sure she stays out of trouble," the canine promised.

The brown-haired woman smiled. "Thank you, Michi. I know you'll take care of her." With one last hug, girl and dog departed for the Academy. 'Do you think I'll be a good ninja?' the former asked, 'voicing' her inner fear. Michi grinned. "Girl, we'll hit them so hard they won't have time to say otherwise." Aya gave another giggle and ran a hand through the dog's tan and black fur in silent gratitude.

*IN KONOHA'S CIVILIAN DISTRICT*

BEEP. BEEP. BEE-. Juro quickly slammed a hand down on the alarm clock. He shot a glance at the two other beds in the room, letting out a small sigh of relief when his brothers did not move. The last thing he needed today was Nagano and Hitoko loudly complaining to the entire household that they did not get enough sleep, again. Honestly, the twins could wake up the dead with their voices. Being as quiet as possible, the twelve-year-old gathered up the brown t-shirt, black pants, and wrappings he needed for the day and crept out of the room. The bathroom across the hall was empty at this hour; no one fighting for counter space or shoving others aside to look in the tiny wall mirror to make sure their hair was perfectly in place. He loved his older brothers, sure he did; but did all nine of them have to be drama kings? At least Kito and Giichi didn't live at home anymore. He indulged in a rare eye roll. 'Not that it makes it any less crowded around here,' he thought, lip twisted in the barest hint of a scowl.

One five-minute shower later, Juro emerged from the bathroom, dark auburn hair dripping, to be greeted by the faint smell of bacon drifting up the stairs. He descended swiftly, careful to avoid the creaky fifth step, and walked left into the kitchen. "Ohayo, otou-san, okaa-san," he murmured. His mother, Hayashi Mei, looked up from the stove, smiled and replied, "Ohayo, Juro-kun." His father, Hito, sitting at the table, merely grunted and turned the page of his newspaper. The boy fought the urge to sigh; the man never seemed to bother with words anymore. It was just grunts and such now.

"Juro-kun, you have excellent timing. I just finished the bacon." His mother moved to set a steaming plate down on the table amidst the other dishes already in place. "Why don't you sit down?"

"Hai," he conceded and made for the chair that was his usual spot. He heard shuffling behind him, but chose to pretend ignorance.

"KYAAAAA!" a high-pitched voice screamed and Juro felt a large mass collide with his back. He stood firm against the onslaught and turned his head, faking surprise.

"Who's there?" he questioned.

"It's me, nii-san!" his sister cried, wrapping thin arms around his neck. "Did I sneak up good this time?"

"Oh yes, very much so," he nodded with conviction. "I definitely did not expect the attack from behind."

"Yatta!" the little girl cried. "I snuck up on a ninja!"

Juro's face softened into a small smile. "Aa, you did. A very good job, Naiya-chan. But you know what you forgot?"

Her little mouth puckered in confusion. "What, nii-san?"

He grinned. "Never sneak up on a ninja!" He grabbed one of her legs and swung her, upside down, off of his back, then brought her upright in front of him and tickled her sides. She giggled and tried to escape but he held her fast.

"Oh, Juro-kun, please don't swing her around like that!" his mother fretted. "You know it scares me to death when you do that. And Naiya-chan, please go wake the rest of your brothers and tell them that breakfast is ready, if the noise hasn't already woken them."

"Gomen, okaa-san," the boy apologized, repressing a sigh. He set Naiya down, then took a seat and helped himself to some food while the five-year-old zipped out of the room. As he ate, he could hear her voice screeching to the others upstairs, followed by several loud, masculine groans and thumping sounds.

"Juro-kun, don't eat so fast, you'll get sick."

"I'm fine, okaa-san. I want to finish before the stampede arrives." His mother tsk-ed but didn't argue, and went about setting plates at each of the empty places. After finishing his food, Juro took his plate to the sink and then went to the refrigerator to grab the lunch bento he had made up the night before.

"Oh, are you leaving already?" Mei asked. "But don't you want to say goodbye to your brothers?"

"Iie, they won't mind. I'll just take up space and make it more crowded."

"Well, if you're sure…" she trailed off, turning away. "Have a good day, sweetheart."

"Arigatou, okaa-san," he murmured back. "Sayonara, otou-san." His father only grunted again. Just as Juro was leaving the kitchen, his brothers came barreling down the stairs.

"Hey, little Juro-chan's off to ninja school!" Sento cried. At 17, he was the oldest child still living at home, and he felt the need to patronize every single one of the younger kids.

"Don't let the other kiddies kill ya!" the 16-year-old triplets, Yuu, Miyumo and Kento called out, cackling in perfect sync. It annoyed the hell out of the boy when they did that, but he remained impassive as always.

"You better clean the bedroom when you get home," the twins warned, "or you'll regret it!" Juro nearly broke his apathetic façade to scoff at their empty threat; a Genin he may be, but he could beat those two up any day of the week, they were so much weaker than him.

The last remaining brother, Saito, actually stopped in front of him. They met each other's eyes, Juro's dark green to Saito's chocolate brown. "Be careful out there," the older one said, placing a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. Juro got along with Saito the best out of his brothers. At 14, he was the closest in age to himself, other than the 13-year-old twins, and he was much mellower and less egotistical than the others. Juro offered him a half-smile. "I will," he assured. Saito nodded once and entered the kitchen.

"NII-CHAN!" Naiya yelled as she came rushing down the stairs. She took a flying leap into the boy's arms. "When will you be back from being a ninja?"

"Probably not until later tonight. I might have missions to do and stuff." He smiled at her cute pout. "I promise I'll play with you when I get back though."

"Okay!" she said, instantly cheered. Wriggling down, she called out a good-bye before dashing into the chaos in the other room. Juro dropped his smile and suppressed a sigh, then made for the front door. He looked down at the lone pair of blue shinobi sandals lined up among the brown and black civilian shoes. 'Another reminder of how much I don't fit in with my family.' He shook his head free of the damning thoughts. 'Iie. I'm going to prove to them that becoming a shinobi wasn't a mistake. I'll be the one laughing someday.' He pulled on the sandals over his leg bandages, then took his brand-new hitai-ate out of his pocket and tied it around his neck. 'I'm going to be the best there is,' he thought in determination, then pulled open the door and walked away.

*IN ANOTHER PART OF KONOHA*

"Wake up! You're going to be late!" Miyuki groaned at her grandmother's screechy, warbly voice. She glanced at her clock and moaned louder. 'Kuso! It's too early for this!' A series of sharp taps on the door had her pulling the blanket over her mussed black hair. "Miyuki, you have to get up! Do you want to be late on your first day as a Genin?" The 12-year-old reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and across the room. She fixed a halfway-pleasant smile on her face before opening the door to confront the short, wrinkled figure on the other side.

"Of course not, obaa-chan," she said in as docile a way as she could manage, which for her wasn't much. "I would hate to miss out on such an important day as this."

The old lady stared at the younger female with sharp, charcoal-colored eyes. If she caught the overly-sweet tone of voice, as Miyuki was sure she did, then she did not call her out on it. "Breakfast is waiting in the kitchen," she announced. "You only have 20 minutes until the school bell rings, so I suggest you hurry." The girl only bowed her head and continued smiling until the woman walked away. It was only after she closed the door that she dropped the expression, suppressing the urge to sigh in annoyance.

"Stuffy old biddy," she mumbled as she dragged her hair back into its customary messy ponytail, letting her long bangs frame her face. Seventeen minutes later she was out the door, with a hasty goodbye to her grandmother and a lunch bento clutched in one hand. Two more minutes saw her at the doors of Konoha's Ninja Academy. 'Sometimes it's nice living a block away from school,' she thought.