A long time ago, a demon fox with nine tails existed.
When that tail was swung, it would destroy a mountain and cause a tsunami.
To counter it, the people gathered ninjas.
One ninja sealed the monster in a life or death battle and died.
That ninja was known as the fourth Hokage.
"Listen Naruto," droned through the room as Iruka, the sensei of the graduating class at the academy, began to lecture the boy about his actions. It was the same old spheel that just kept getting added to as Naruto screwed up more and more.
The class was tired of it and didn't really react to the lecture or the loud noises that had preceded the lecture as Iruka struggled to get Naruto into the classroom. The two chronic sleepers in the class didn't even seem disgruntled, though one did wake up at the change in sound and she was met by the most pleasant of words, "Review test for the transformation technique!"
Such as it was the girl stood up after the class let out its whine of displeasure and shook the shoulder of the boy next to her, waking the other chronic sleeper of the class up. He looked annoyed as the girl only mumbled, "Transformation review test."
He would've scoffed at her if he wasn't as lazy as he was but he still let out a huff of air as the girl averted her gaze and let the boy go first. This was not a good day.
All of the students lined up at the front, a girl with mild schizophrenia first, a boy with a bitter personality after, then the loud irritant, the second chronic sleeper next, and lastly a persistent girl who always smelled of flowers. There may have been more people in front of her but that was all the first sleeper cared to recognize.
She heard the loud shout as the first girl asked the first boy if he liked what she did, noticed the silence as the first boy did what he did best, and even the murmurings of disgruntled classmates as they berated Naruto, the second boy, who used too much effort to complete the simple technique. Everyone had already mastered this technique and so all of the transformations were roughly of the same level, except for Naruto who decided it was a good idea to transform into a naked girl. The boys appreciated it but the teacher did not. He yelled at the trouble maker while the whole class listened and thought of other things. These scoldings were a regular occurrence, why would they be interested any more?
Perhaps his transformation was wrong but the girl's was the worst in the class. It was the most accurate yet it was one which could easily be discerned from the real person. Transformations couldn't be real after all and this one seemed to want to teach the class and live life as Iruka did, not just impersonate him to complete a goal. It was strange and the experienced teacher didn't know what to do about it. Their little talk about the matter, after class but before punishing Naruto, was all the girl could think over, her mind traveling other avenues related to the lecture, as she walked home with her friend.
Hyuuga Hinata was a small girl with indigo hair, it was much too dark to be blue, and wide pupil-less eyes that stared down most of the time. She was just as quiet as the first chronic sleeper, though, unlike her, Hinata was simply lacking in self worth.
They became companions one day because the teacher asked the girls to gather flowers and arrange them artfully. The sleeper had simply stood there and Hinata had slowly and nervously gone about the task before a bouquet was held in front of her face along with the words, "This is okay?"
The whole bouquet was weeds with small flowers, most of them with the roots still on and dirt hanging down. Hinata was speechless at the girl's lack of taste, even the boys knew how to make a better bunch of flowers than that!
"Uh… Uhm…" the Hyuuga's voice was higher back then than it was now and it was high in pitch now at twelve years old, "N-no. H-here, l-let me h-help."
After that incident, Hinata's friend always came to her first when she needed help, and she needed help about a third of the time before entering the academy proper and then only occasionally after entering into it.
It wasn't just a giving relationship on Hinata's part though; her friend helped her to believe she could reach her goals, that she was worth something, an idea her father never helped to foster. Her confidence really had grown since becoming friends with that tasteless girl, she never regretted their nearly silent friendship.
"Goodbye Hinata-chan," both girls turned to face each other outside of the gate to the Hyuuga compound, "I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early. Be sure to get a good night's sleep, the exam is tomorrow, I know that you'll pass."
"P-please…" the bashful girl rouged up and looked away, "I-I know that y-you'll pass too."
The friend looked off to the side, her voice fading slightly, "Perhaps… Either way, I hope to see you healthy and confident tomorrow. Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Hinata slightly squeaked out as the other girl bowed and left, "I'll see you tomorrow, Bakushuu. Please take care of yourself."
If it weren't for the light and large bruise that covered the left side of her face, Bakushuu would have smiled ever so slightly at her friend's words. Hinata was always worrying over Bakushuu, ever since the girl came in with a reddening bandage over her palm and refused to admit it. Hinata had to force Bakushuu to go to the hospital where they discovered that the hand required nine stitches and antibiotics to fight the infection that was developing. Hinata was going to tell their teacher but Bakushuu had seemed so in despair when Hinata mentioned the idea that it never happened; Hinata did not like to make others unhappy, she couldn't stand it.
It was very early in the morning when the 'best friend' got a chance to collapse onto her bed, only Bakushuu's idea of collapsing was really putting the covers over herself and immediately going lax. Not the idea most others had about it. And even then the girl had had to do more than most others in order to 'collapse' onto her bed. She had to train, regardless of the fact that she had a very important exam the next day. Then she also had to clean, do laundry, shop for groceries, cook dinner, make tomorrow's lunch, and quickly lay out her clothes for the exam day. She knew that she was going to be too tired to do so properly the next day. Besides, she was never one to be late.
"Good morning, Hinata-chan, I hope that you slept well," was the formal greeting that Hinata always met when exiting her compound. Usually followed with, 'I've made us both a lunch to share.' Today was no exception.
"I've made us both a lunch to share," her green haired friend looked away into the distance before her hollow words left her mouth, "Unless you would rather eat at home after the exams have finished."
"Ah…" Hinata was always unsure of how to deal with this side of Bakushuu, the lonely, depressed side that hardly ever made an appearance. Hinata quickly linked fingers with the suddenly startled girl, "No. I would love to enjoy lunch with you, I'm sure that you've made a delicious one."
And it was not the steady yet weak Bakushuu that took the lead but the timid yet committed Hinata that lead the girls to their exam location, holding hands the whole way. And it was then, though it hurt to begin and maintain, that Bakushuu allowed a small smile to live on her face, if only for a moment.