~ Hyuuga compound~

"Hinata-sama, it is time for you to wake up. Today is your first day of school."

"Thank you for waking me," she called back politely to the elderly branch member through the door.

"I really pushed myself yesterday with "family training," and my own training on top of that," she thought as she pulled on her favorite tank top. It was lavender on the top half, and covering her midriff was closely knit fish netting. She pulled on her black shorts and her fishnet shorts over that. She looked at herself in her full length mirror and smiled; being in her training clothes made her feel confident and powerful. Her father would never approve or even let her use these as pajamas since they were so unladylike and revealing, but they let her move and were super breathable. She took a longing look at her reflection and went into her closet, grabbing her tan jacket and baggy blue capris.

She began attaching her kunai, shuriken, and first aid pouches on different parts of her legs. Her kunai pouch lay on her right mid-thigh, shuriken pouch on left thigh just below her hip, and lastly her first aid box was connected to her back hooked though her belt. Her mother had told her that you can never be too careful when it comes to safety, thus she had begun to ask Ko to teach her a bit of medical ninjustu. She quickly ran a brush through her fine indigo hair; she had it short since it always got in her eyes and in the way during training also it was difficult to keep in order when it was long. She looked one last time into the mirror to make sure everything was in order for her first day at the academy.

She carefully slid the door to her room aside and went into the hallway, silently closing the door behind her. She glided down the mahogany halls like a ghost without a sound; if any normal person had seen her they would have seen an adult instead of a girl who had just turned nine. Then again, Hyuuga weren't normal people. Oh no, they were better than that. They were smarter, stronger, quieter, and more mature than other people and ninja; it was just another "unique" part of being part of "the clan".

She glided past the kitchen doors but came to an immediate stop when she got a small whiff of cinnamon. She calmly stepped backwards and stuck her head through a small crack in the door; she knew there were cinnamon rolls in there. Carefully she sneaked into the kitchen to grab one. She glanced around; seeing that no one was in there, she discreetly grabbed one of the warmth-emanating buns with her pale, slender fingers. She took a bite and was in her own personal heaven thanks to the melted icing, chewy dough, and spices blending together perfectly. But, as they say: all good things must come to an end.

"Hinata-sama, what are you doing?" a voice behind her whispered playfully into her ear.

"N-nothing Ko, j-just making s-sure everything is in o-order. Y-yep everything l-looks just f-fine," she stuttered as she tried to hide the rest of her half-eaten cinnamon bun behind her back. Her cheeks starting to turn pink from being caught by her guard Ko, he had brown, spiky hair and a hitai-ate that covered his head like a bandana.

"Hinata-sama, you have icing on your cheek," he snickered at her attempt to cover the evidence.
This was one of the reasons Hinata was glad that Ko was her bodyguard. Even though he was a branch member, he didn't hold any resentment towards the main house. He laughed and smiled on a daily basis, even though this was unusual for a Hyuuga, but that made Hinata love him even more. He could make her laugh and had her best interests at heart. He was like the big brother she had always wanted.

"W-well I thought I s-should c-check if t-they w-were okay t-to serve. Y-yep, and I b-believe they a-are," she squeaked as she placed the rest into her small mouth.
"It's all right Hinata-sama; I had them made for you since they're your favorite. I thought they might help you have a good first day of school," he said gently ruffling her hair as he grabbed one for himself and popped it into his mouth.

"W-well thank you Ko," she replied with a happy smile while snatching another warm bun. After they had finished eating, Hinata began to grab the used plates.

"No Hinata-sama, there's no need for you to do it. It is my job and other branch member's jobs to do," he said urgently, not wanting Hinata to have to clean up, being the heir to the Hyuuga clan.

"If you say so Ko," she reluctantly said as she put the plates back on the table.

"Are you ready for school Hinata-sama?" Ko asked while gathering the two plates in his hands.

"Yes, b-but allow m-me to grab my s-school things," she replied as she began walking towards her room for the bag she had filled with new scrolls, and brushes for notes. She quickly grabbed her plain lavender bag off her new desk. As she crossed through her doorway, she nearly ran into her older cousin Neji. She loved her cousin a lot; he had gone through so much even though he was only a year above her.

His father had died when they was younger, though she did not know why. If anyone were to wonder what a Hyuuga was supposed to be, Neji would be the perfect example. Calm, collected, expressionless, and a prodigy: the perfect Hyuuga. Yet while he had all of these, there was still so much hate in his eyes - not only for her, but for every main branch member. It hurt her heart to see the pain in his cold eyes.

"M-my apologies, Neji-nii-san," she said as she grazed past him gracefully, and he went by without even acknowledging her presence or words.
She sighed and began to walk towards the front gates to meet Ko and go to school.

~ Uchiha Compound ~

"Sweetheart, it's time to wake up. You need to get ready for school," Mikoto Uchiha said as she rubbed her youngest son's back.

"I have fresh tomatoes and rice balls filled with bonito since today is your first day of school. I know they're your favorite," she remarked tauntingly. He snapped one eye open, declaring he was definitely awake.

"Well if you put it that way, I guess I have no choice but to tickle you awake." She then began to tickle her playful little nine-year-old son.

"Stop! Stop! I'm awake," Sasuke cried, out-of-breath but smiling all the same.

"Good! While I'm here I'll help you get dressed for your first day of the academy."

"I can get dressed by myself mom," he said when she took a step towards his dresser. Going over, he pulled out his dark blue Uchiha shirt and a pair of his white shorts shooing her out the door. He proudly strode out of his room towards the lovely smell emanating from the kitchen.

"Nice to see you dressed sleepyhead!" Mikoto said as she continued to set food onto the table. He quickly began to scarf down the ripe tomatoes and rice balls.

"Slow down tiger. The food is not going to run off," she giggled at her son's eating tactics.

"All done kaa-san, love you," he said as he ran up from behind and hugged his mom, surprising her.

"I love you too Sasuke-kun. Now go and grab your pack and head to school, or you'll be late."

"Bye, kaa-san," he said as he ran out the door and though the Uchiha compound.

"Good morning, Sasuke-chan."

"Morning, baa-chan."

"Good luck today, Sasuke-chan."

"Morning, Itoko-san."

This is what Sasuke heard regularly when he left his house since it was at the very back of the compound - he was glad he had such a big family. As he ran out of the gates, he passed a girl with a ninja beside her. Too excited to walk, he began to run to the academy for his first day of ninja training.

It was a beautiful day outside: birds were singing; children were laughing; it was perfect

~ The Academy Building ~

After she walked to the classroom, she sat all the way in the back so she could observe others around her. Ko taught her that it is best to know about your friends and foes, and the best way to do that is through observation. She began to look around and the pink hair immediately caught her attention; it was a girl. She had a red ribbon in her hair and looked very shy and quiet. She had to be a Haruno since no other clan has that color hair and jade eyes.

She sat near a blonde girl with blue, pupil-less eyes who had her hair in a high ponytail. The traits she had could only be those of a Yamanaka since they were not otherwise common in Konoha. She was talking at a rapid speed to the girl with pink hair and a few other girls that were crowded around her desk.

Continuing her observations she found a boy with a large jacket that had a collar that went all the way up to his nose. He had dark hair and wore sunglasses even though he was inside. He obviously was an Aburame and a well-trained one from the buzzing she heard from his coat.

Looking towards the front of room, she laid eyes on a boy with brown spiky hair talking animatedly to a few other boys. Seeing the dog atop his head and the small red markings on his cheeks, she came to the conclusion that he was an Inuzuka.

Her eyes examined the other three boys he was talking to. One had a dark brown hair put up in a high, spiky ponytail, making his head a pineapple shape. From that, and from the crest on his shoulder, he had to be a Nara.

The boy to the left of him was chubby in a cute way. He had red swirls on his cheeks marking him an Akimichi, though it also helped that she had seen his family crest on his shirt when she passed him the hall.

The boy to the right of the Nara was very unique; she couldn't really place him since he didn't look like a civilian or a clan member. He had golden hair and cerulean eyes, and even though these are Yamanaka traits, his hair and eyes were far darker shades than ever been seen on a Yamanaka.

So, that meant that in her class there were seven kids, including herself, from high class ninja clans: Haruno, Yamanaka, Aburame, Inuzuka, Nara, and Akimichi. All the rest were obviously civilians; one could tell from their clothes and the way they held themselves. Grabbing her medical cream, she applied some to her chakra points which were still red from yesterday's training.

She jumped when she heard the door slam. Looking up, it was student who had accidentally shut the door with too much force. He had spiky ebony hair that looked very much like a duck's rear end. He turned around for a minute, and she caught a glimpse of the Uchiha fan on the back of his navy shirt. "And then there were eight," she joked to herself.

'So most likely, all the clan kids will pass since we've been trained for this since before we could crawl. At least, that's how my life has been.' She thought calculatingly.

Ko had told Hinata that usually nine people from each class actually go on to become ninja. They would probably put clan kids together to get strong teams such as the Ino-Shika-Cho team. It's kind of weird for a seven year old girl to know all these things about clans and the way the ninja system worked, but when you're small and quiet, people tend to forget that you are there and you get to learn some very interesting things. Also, the forbidden section in the library is not very well guarded.

A voice shook her out of her thoughts "Hey, can I sit here?" The blonde haired boy had left his friends since there weren't enough seats.

"Sure," she replied as the teacher entered the classroom slightly out of breath and told us to quiet down.

"Good morning class. I am Iruka Umino, but you will call me Iruka-sensei and this is my assistant Mizuki-sensei. We will be your teachers for the placement testing, there are four sections: a written portion, ninjustu, taijustu, and a physical portion. For the first two days we will be giving assessments to see what you can do. First, can anyone do any ninjustu?"

Five people raised their hands.

"Ok, please make a line to show me these jutsu. You're up first."

"What a drag," Shikamaru said as he went through a few hand signs. His shadow began to stretch and then connected with Iruka's. He then lifted his arm, and Iruka's did the same; he lifted his leg, and Iruka followed. Then he released the jutsu.

"Very impressive job," Iruka praised while writing something down, "Next up."

"My name is Ino Yamanaka," the girl next in line said, and with a flip of her ponytail, she went through a few hand signs. Holding her hands up in a rectangle, she aimed her jutsu at Mizuki-sensei. Her body began to crumple, but Shikamaru caught her before her head struck the floor.

"Check this out Iruka-sensei! I'm Mizuki-sensei!" she said girlishly hand on her hip blowing him a kiss from Mizuki's body.

"Interesting Ino, you can release it now," he said in approval, writing something down on his clipboard. "Next," he called.

"Shino Aburame," he said from behind his high collar. He lifted his arms, and many insects began to crawl out. Many cries of cool, gross and ewe exploded from the other students as the bugs formed a shapeless blob, transforming into a perfect replica of Shino.

"Very nice, Shino," Iruka said, once again scribbling onto the paper. "Next."

"Hinata Hyuuga. I d-do not b-believe it w-would be safe for m-me to show y-you on a p-person, but I c-can activate my b-Byakugan and d-do Juuken ," she said quietly.

"Ok, can you activate it?"

"Sure Byakugan." As she said that, the veins around her eyes began to bulge.

"Very nice, Hinata," he said. "Last but not least, you're up."

"I think that we need to go outside for my jutsu," Sasuke smirked cockily.

"Class, let's head outside." Iruka said. Once everyone had made their way outside, Iruka gave the signal for Sasuke to begin. He went through hand signs, put his fingers to his lips, and breathed out a huge fireball.

"Wow Sasuke, that is an amazingly good job," Iruka said. "Ok class; let's go inside for the written assessment."

The written assessment was about an hour long and contained questions that were moderately difficult, well at least for kids like Hinata and Sasuke they were. For kids who hadn't been studying ninja skills their whole life the test would be near impossible.

After the hour of assessment was over Iruka strolled to the front of the room and announced, "We are going to do our physical assessment after lunch, so eat light. Dismissed."

As the kids raced outside Hinata was pushed out the door blinded by the sun. She quickly closed her eyes and didn't see the stair bellow and began to fall. Bracing herself for the impact against the hard concrete but instead she felt herself being caught by a thin pair of arms.

"Are you ok?" a voice asked. She looked up and saw that she had been caught by the Uchiha boy. Now that she was close to him, she noticed his eyes, which were as dark as the night's sky and his skin, which was as pale, if not more pale than, hers - a feat in itself.

"Do you need to go to the nurse?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

"N-no, I'm fine. Y-you can put me d-down now," she replied, trying to keep her face from turning red.

"Oh yeah, sorry," he said, a blush gracing his features while he gently placed her down.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. And you?" he asked.

"Hinata Hyuuga. Nice to m-meet you Uchiha-san, would you l-like to eat lunch with me?" she replied.

"Yeah I'd love to eat lunch with you. Let me go grab my bento." While he ran off to grab his lunch, she walked towards a bench. She sat down and began to unwrap her lunch when a shadow blocked the light from above. She looked up and saw the blonde boy who had sat next to her in class.

"Can I sit next to you again?" he asked with a grin.

"Sure, I would love for you to sit by me," she quickly answered.

"Hinata-chan, who's sitting with you? Sasuke asked, smiling as he sat down on her other side. "I don't know, what's your name?" she asked, feeling foolish that she had sat with him twice and still did not know his name.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he replied opening his cup of ramen.

"W-would you like s-some of m-my bento?" she asked, knowing that eating ramen would make him energetic for about an hour, and then he would crash and be very sleepy the rest of the day, and we still had three hours of school left.

"Naw, I always eat ramen, but thanks," Naruto replied as he slurped up the ramen.

"No, I insist. Y-you will be tired if you j-just eat ramen."

"Fine, if you will stop that stuttering," He said with a sly grin.

"You dobe, she can't just stop stuttering," Sasuke said.

"Why? I've never stuttered before why does she?"

"Its cause you're different people you idiot! You probably hurt her feelings you dobe."

"Oh no, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I just didn't understand! Please forgive me Hinata-chan!" he said loudly, his eyes full of sorrow.

"It's f-fine Naruto-san, y-you did n-not mean t-to," she said with a smile.

"If I promise not to make fun of your stuttering again can we be friends Hinata-chan?"

"Of c-course we c-can Naruto-san in f-fact I would l-like that v-very much!"

"Thanks so much Hinata-chan!" he said, lifting her off the bench with a big hug "and call me Naruto or Naruto-kun no need to be so formal." He wore a huge smile as he set her back on the bench.

"Same goes for me Hinata" Sasuke added.

She was so happy to have two new friends that she began to hum a little tune (the tune her mother used to lull her to sleep with). As she ate her bento, she watched Naruto snatch a few pieces here and there.

After a few minutes of peaceful quietness, they heard the bell ring. Quickly wrapping up the rest of her bento, she ran into class with the two boys at her side.