"oh crap, oh crap! Why am I always so late!? My parent's always forget to wake me up!" I yelled, my words coming out between gasps for air. The sound of my beating heart matched the sound of my footsteps pounding on the ground. I was sprinting all the way to class, and it was hard to sprint such a long way. I lived in the Hidden Leaf village, but just barely. Our house was on the very outskirts of the town, and was probably the farthest house away from the academy housing a student.

God only knows why my parents chose to live there. It's not like they didn't know they were going to have a child. My brother was 5 when they moved here, and he was now a chuunin ninja, one of the smartest and most cunning ones at that. I was 12 now, and he was 18. I figured he was going to become a jounin soon, and I was only just starting as a ninja. Well, hopefully anyways.

Today was the day before exam day, and I was nervous as hell (anticipating the exam, really), being late didn't help either. I was praying that they wouldn't fail me when the time came like they had failed this other kid a few times…Naruto was his name? Yeah, I think that was it, too bad his last name escapes me for the time being. My parents never acted very nice around him, and nor did my brother.

I could tell why, though. He was such a big trouble-maker, though I can't say I'm a little angel either. I really did feel bad for Naruto though, no one ever seems to give him a chance, and no on even bothers to talk to him or get to know him.

I would myself but…I'm scared. Not of him particularly, but of everyone else, the horrid judging people they are. I try not to judge others and care what other people think, but sometimes I really do. What would my friends say if I were to befriend Naruto?

I cursed myself for thinking that way, it wasn't a good way to think of anyone and I knew it. Heh, then again, I only had a few friends; I'm not exactly Mrs. Popular. I guess I'm just too weird for them all, any guy who's ever bothered to talk to me is usually freaked out by me. But I can't really say I know of anyone who rejects me…

Except that Uchiha kid…Sasuke's his name (I'm so bad at remembering names, I should pay attention more)? But he rejects everyone, or almost everyone. He always calls me a "weirdo" or a "loser" even when I haven't done anything. I don't get what all the girls see in him, he may be handsome but he's emo and treats everyone like crap, like he's so far above us that he doesn't feel the need to talk to us. I think, if anyone's the "loser", it's him. Not to mention he looks like a cockatoo.

Finally, I reached the classroom. I burst through the door and everyone stared at me, even the teacher had stopped mid-lecture. The blonde kid, Naruto, was on the floor being lectured by the sensei and I kind of blushed as everyone stared at me.

I scratched the back of my head and closed my eyes, laughing nervously, "I'm…I'm sorry I'm late sensei. I didn't wake up on time and…uh…I'll go take my seat now…."

"don't bother. We're about to review our transformation jutsu because of Naruto's mistake. You can go first since you're already standing." Iruka called out, signaling all the other kids, who groaned and complained, to get in line.

I blushed and grimaced. Oh joy, I get to go first. Lucky me, I thought, then stood in front of the sensei and made a hand signal. I focused a bit of my chakra for a moment and regained my composure. Then, I mumbled,"transformation jutsu."

For a few moments, I sustained my new image. I looked like Iruka-sensei, but the real sensei couldn't even congratulate me before my transformation wore off.

"Well, you did transform. You just need to sustain it a little longer. Next; Sakura, you're up." He smiled and I nodded in response to his comment about my jutsu. I could never quite get a jutsu right. I mean, I always seemed to get it faster than most people, but I couldn't ever seem to be able to hold it as long. It annoyed the hell out of me, and Iruka-sensei said it was because I don't stay focused on it long enough.

My mind often wandered to different things and I just started to daydream. I didn't have ADD or anything, but I always had my head up in the clouds. I really did try to focus, but it's a bit hard for me to do sometimes. And it was especially hard for me to focus when everyone was watching me. I hated it when teachers singled out a student like that and forced them to do something in front of the class. I always get nervous and don't perform right. I think I'd do much better in action, but I haven't ever gotten a chance to prove myself. I assumed I would once I became an official ninja.

"Next up, Sasuke Uchiha," I flinched and watched as the cockatoo performed a flawless jutsu but remained silent and went back to his place in line once the sensei congratulated him. Next came Naruto and he did…an interesting jutsu…

He turned himself into a woman…a naked woman, except she was covered by mist. The sensei yelled at him…he kind of deserved it for a dirty trick like that. Though, I have to admit it was funny…though in a different way kind of wrong. I believe he called it his 'sexy jutsu'

The rest of the day flew by as an average, boring day. Except I had expected it to go by slowly because of the upcoming exam, but it had gone by pretty fast. I guess it's because I had been day-dreaming all day…Yeah…I've wasted whole days daydreaming many times…

Not a very productive way to spend your day, but it was good enough for me. I decided to take a walk around in the evening; I wasn't quite ready to go home. No doubt my parents would be fussing over my brother's upcoming exams and predicting how amazing he'll do and how he's so accomplished and how he's going to be the best ninja one day and other crap like that. I didn't need to hear that at the time being.

Before my brother declared he was going to take the jounin exams, I never knew a family could talk about one person for so long. I mean for hours my mom would brag to her friends and…just, ugh, it was getting pretty damn annoying!

I put my hands in my jeans pockets and continued down the street and into the woods. I yawned and climbed up a tree when I heard someone coming down the path. Hiding in case it was my family looking for me.

It was my brother, "Sonya, come on, You have your exam tomorrow don't you? Yiou need your rest…mom told me to find you! Come out now…you know you can't hide from me, I'm almost a jounin ninja! You're just barely a genin!"

I held in my urge to yell out at him and insult him. That would've given my location away in an instant though, so I remained silent. I heard him walk away and for once, I thought I had lost him. I heaved a breath of relief and then heard a voice on the branch behind me.

"Like I said, I'm almost a jounin, you can't hide from me."

I screamed in shock and lost my balance, falling out of the tree and landing with my face in the dirt. I groaned and pushed myself upwards and looked at my brother, "the hell was that for!?" I yelled at the top of my lungs, he just remained cross-legged up in the branches, his eyes were closed and he was grinning, holding back laughter I could tell.

I stood up and brushed myself off, and then looked back at my brother, but he was gone already, probably on his way back home. My brother was really good with silent escapes and entrances. I sighed and put my hands back in my pockets, then started my own way back home. I could have ran or jumped from tree to tree, but I decided to walk and take as long as I could to get home.

I looked at the trees and watched a few bats fly by over head. The sun was fully set now and the forest was shrouded in a dark blanket that had not been there ten minutes ago. The stars were popping up one by one like little diamonds. After a while I could start to make out a few constellations. I pointed up at one and began to trace around the stars, making my own constellation. It was almost like connect the dots, a game I used to love to play.

I was so lost in my own thoughts I wasn't paying any mind to where I was going and I ran into a tree. I fell backward and rubbed my head, "ow…that hurt…"

"sure glad no one saw that…how embarrassing…" I mumbled and stood up, then continued my walk home with a steady pace. I was fortunate enough not to run into anymore trees on my way there… though I did trip over a rock and a bush…I'm such a klutz….

Finally, I arrived at my small home and opened the screen door. Our real door was wide open, because it was pretty warm out, so we only had our screen door covering the entrance. There was a soft glow from the lamps resonating through the windows and door. Just as I suspected, my parents were praising my brother and basking in his 'glory'. I could've been a robber and have cleaned the whole house out, they wouldn't have noticed, they were so busy.

I walked up the stairs and went into my room, and changed into a tank top and sleeping pants. I went halfway down the stairs and bid my family good night. Of course, when I spoke they responded.

"good night honey!"

"Good, you're going to bed early, you need to be well rested for your exam tomorrow!"

"g'night"

Those were the basic comments from my family before they went back to admiring my brother. I heaved a sigh and dragged my feet up the stairs, then trudged into my room. I turned on some music and leapt into my bed. I pulled the covers over me and turned the small source of light that was keeping my room dimly lit off. Now, the only light that shone in my room was from the moon itself, making everything in my room glow a silvery blue. I stared up at the ceiling and put my hands behind my head, then closed my eyes.

Hour after hour passed and I just kept tossing and turning, but no sleep had come to me. Hell, I wasn't even tired. But I knew if I didn't sleep, I would be exhausted for the exams, and I couldn't have that. I forced myself to keep my eyes shut until I fell asleep. But I couldn't even keep my eyes shut; they kept wandering around and staring out the window. I groaned loudly and threw the sheet over my face, hoping it would prevent my eyes from staring around at my room.

I flipped over on my stomach and held on to my pillow, burying my face into it so hard I could barely even breathe, "sleep! Sleep! Sleep!" I yelled in a whisper and gritted my teeth. Then lifted my head from the pillow and gasped for air. I cursed under my breath and turned over on my side, the brought my knees up to my chest and closed my eyes again.

This time though, they stayed shut, and I drifted off into the world of dream. Next thing I knew my dad was in my doorway yelling at me to get up. I half sat up, supporting my body with my elbows. I yawned and blinked a few times, the blurs of colors that had been blended together soon took on their real form as my vision cleared. I swung my legs out of bed and stretched my arms, then glanced over at my clock. Good, my dad hadn't woken me up too late today… I had a good 30 minutes to get ready. I stood up and walked down the stairs, almost tripping and tumbling all the way down. Luckily, the hand rail saved me.

I grabbed a piece of toast my mom had made and devoured it in record time, but in turn leaving butter all over my face. I groaned and grabbed a napkin, wiping my face. Then I walked to the fridge and pulled out a glass of milk and drank that in record time as well.

It felt good to drink something, I was parched. With my makeshift breakfast eaten in less than five minutes, I ran back up the stairs (surprisingly, I didn't slip or fall) and looked for my regular outfit. I pulled on a plain white tank top and then put on a black T-shirt with sleeves that showed my shoulders. I pulled on my bark blue, loose jeans and put a belt on. I sighed and wrapped white bandages around my feet; I hated shoes so I used bandages instead. I also pulled on a pair of fishnet gloves and then put a scrunchie around my wrist, just in case I wanted to put my hair up later. I brushed my hair while examining myself in a full-length mirror.

I walked out of my room with a grin on my face. I don't know why but I had a sudden optimism, and I was even happier that I didn't trip while going down the stairs. The exams would be short but they would mean a lot. I started my long walk to the class and enjoyed the morning air.

After my refreshing walk, I finally reached the classroom. I had butterflies in my stomach, nervous about the exam. I took my seat and the sensei spoke.

"Alright, we will now begin with the exam. When you hear your name, go to the testing room. This test is on the clone jutsu," He finished up and I frowned.

Clone jutsus weren't very easy for me…the most copies I had ever made of myself was 5…or was it six? Ah, who's counting anyways. I hadn't done a clone jutsu in quite a long time and tried to recall all I had learned about it…the form, how to focus my chakra…

I closed my eyes and focused on all things that had to do with cloning. In fact, for once in my life, I was so focused I had almost missed them call my name. They called it once, and I made no effort to get up and proceed to the testing room, but the second time they said my name they shouted it…right by my ear.

I blushed as several kids giggled and I stood up and went to the testing room. Two men sitting at a table with headbands on it were the only things that filled the otherwise empty room.

"Take your time," Iruka-sensei said to me, probably knowing how I always take a while to get totally focused. I cleared my mind and made the hand signal, focusing only on the jutsu, chakra, and technique. I said, a bit louder than normal but not screaming, "clone jutsu!"

Several puffs of smoke appeared, and I fought my urge to cough, fearing I might loose focus and destroy any clone I had managed to make before Iruka-sensei got a chance to even see them. When the smoke finally cleared, six clones stood next to me, all in identical positions. I held it for a few minutes, longer than I ever had before and then Iruka congratulated me. I took my hands out of the signal and stood normally, the clones disappeared

"excellent performance Sonya. You seemed much more focused than normal. You pass!" Iraku smiled and ushered me to come over to the table. I smiled and walked forward, laughing a little. I was very relieved, I had thought for a moment, because sensei had been so quiet that I hadn't made a single clone. Iruka handed me a head-band and I proudly took it. Now, I could really start working towards becoming better than my brother.

I guess I was wrong earlier, a little pressure put on someone can help sometimes. As long as it's not too much. Like, if I hadn't been so focused and set on not making a fool of myself, my clones would've disappeared before the smoke had even cleared. I stared at the headband, walking down the class hallway. Not even the Emo Cockatoo and his sour presence could've made me unhappy.

"maybe," I said aloud, "Maybe now my parent's will realize I can be just as good as my brother!" I whispered what I said, but it was still clear to me. These were only my first steps to becoming a great ninja. "It might be hard work, but I think I can handle it."

"So…what am I supposed to do now?" I questioned, I had the rest of the day off pretty much and I had no clue what to do. I shrugged and tied my ninja headband around my arm. It was almost blinding too, I was right near a window and the sunlight shone directly on the steel of the headband, and it reflected on to my face.