Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Simple Things

Chapter 1

I don't have an interesting past. Not tortured, not tragic. Simple. Better than most, though, I probably worked a lot harder than the average civilian. Living on a farm all my life, I guess I grew up differently than most kids. I didn't really have a town… I lived in the Land of Grass, near the edge of the county. I guess I lived somewhere, but our family's small farm was about an hour's walk away from the nearest store. I don't think we had any neighbors, either… but that's beside the point.

So, yeah. I enjoyed my life. I like to ride horses in my spare time, I loved running through the vast fields on my family's property. What I didn't like was mucking out stalls. Or milking cows at five o'clock in the morning. (I'm not a morning person.) I think I took these things for granted… I never expected financial troubles to mess up my quaint little life. I can remember the sad, disappointed look on my mom and dad's faces, telling me that we had to move in with my Nana and Papa. Apparently, because we were a small, family owned farm, we couldn't sell our milk or grain for as cheap as, say, a large factory, or company-owned farm, with vast amounts of workers, and more land… we had to sell the farm and move on.

So here I am. In Konoha. My grandpa owns this ramen shop, Ichiraku Ramen (yes, that's my last name), and the entire complex above it. There is a medium-sized guest area on the top floor, with a couple bedrooms and a small kitchen, which is good. I'm starting school tomorrow. I thought it was a little soon, but my parents insisted over dinner that I don't fall behind in my studies. The school is really tiny, from what I hear. Since Konoha is a ninja village, most kids my age are ninja. Which, by the way, freaks me out. Fourteen year olds, or younger, be trained to kill? Yikes.

I sat up from the odd-smelling, floral-patterned bed in one of my grandparent's guest bedrooms and started pacing. For some reason, I pace when I'm feeling anxious or nervous. I was very nervous, by the way, about school the next day. I was about 8% excited, because of a fresh start. I could be anybody. I'd probably ends up being myself, though. I'm no good at pretending. The remaining 92% was nervousness. I had no idea what city people were like. Would the think my jeans were weird? Would they think I was freakishly tall?

I slumped on the bed to get a good night's sleep. At the very least, I shouldn't go to school tomorrow with giant circles under my eyes.

***

I stood rather awkwardly at the principal's office. Here to get my schedule and a map. I patted my crazy-curly red hair and looked around stiffly, shifting my weight from leg to the next. The secretaries were gathering my things, handing me a map, schedule, a faint "good luck", and I was off into the terrifying world of learning.

This school is tiny. I don't even need the map. I crumpled up the map and threw it into a nearby trashcan as I walked into my first class. No one really noticed; the class hadn't started yet, and most people were either just arriving on not there yet. I walked to the back of the room and went up to the teacher's desk.

"Um, hi. I'm Madoka Ichiraku… the new student." I spoke quietly, hoping to go unnoticed by my classmates.

"Ah, yes. You can call me Mr. H. Anyway, because you entered the school about halfway through the year, you're not caught up with the curriculum. I'm going to have to ask you to stay after class so I can explain the expectations and tell you what materials you need. Please, take a seat," he said normally, motioning to the back corner.

By this time, the students had taken their seats and were all staring at me. They were whispering, too… though, I suppose that's normal, me being a new student and all.

"Class, this is Madoka, a new student at this school. I expect you all to answer any questions she has and help her out as best you can. Now please, lets start the lesson," Mr. H commanded.

On the inside, I felt vulnerable and awkward. They were all so… different from me. First of all, I was about 6 inches taller than the tallest boy in the class. I didn't think I was that tall… I mean, in the Grass, most women were around my height, and men were even taller. I guess it has to do with race and ethnicity and whatnot… but still, 5'8" is not super tall for a fourteen year old. Also…I seemed…I don't know, bulkier than them. I mean, I'm not fat, but I'm not skinny, either. I had broad shoulders, prominent hips, and strong arms and legs, probably because I had worked on a farm for my entire life. They, however, were all… slim… poor-postured… smaller in general. I don't know why, but that annoyed me, for some reason. The hair was different, too. They all had dark brown or black hair, or some ridiculously unnatural hair color, like turquoise, for example. I stared at the annoyingly bright-haired guy sitting in front of my. Everyone's hair was stick-straight.

I tugged at the red spirals of hair on my neck, and sighed. Twenty-seven minutes into the school day, and I already felt like an outcast.

A/N: Just so you know, this story will NOT be focused on Madoka's school life. I just felt it was necessary to show you more of Madoka's character. Any reviews are appreciated, though please try to give constructive criticism! Thanks!