Disclaimer: Naruto is in no way mine. Its characters, plot, and setting all belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 2:

Academy Arc: II

Morning found her awake, bright and early, humming cheerfully to herself as she got dressed in the outfit the old man had picked out for her as a gift for entering the Academy. It was a simple lavender t-shirt with accompanying black leggings and a pair of blue shinobi sandals; she wouldn't be needing a real genin outfit with padded protection and all that until she graduated. She tied her crimson-red hair back with the pretty violet ribbon also given to her by the Hokage. It was a vibrant shade of violet, matching her eyes almost perfectly. It seemed to be made of silk, and was decorated with lovely floral designs, easily being the nicest thing she owned, other than the calligraphy set the Sandaime gave her. Altogether, she thought her outfit looked rather pretty.

Today was orientation, so most likely nothing interesting would happen, but still — it was her first day at the Academy! The thought made her giddy with excitement. She put together a small breakfast of a hastily made onigiri and an omelette, and practically scarfed down her food. She decided to break in her new sandals with a light jog to the Academy, locking the door behind her as she left, and then she broke into a run, keeping to the side of the road.

It was the hour which the Market opened, so she could see many stall vendors and shopkeepers bustling about, opening their shops or stalls for the day. There were all sorts of stalls, from clothing stalls to food to jewelry. She saw, to her right, there was a man selling mouth-watering delicious breakfast foods, wafting their aroma out in the air. To her left, a woodworker and a blacksmith were having a conversation, likely discussing something related to their businesses. The sound of the market was a loud cacophony, filled with people talking, kids shouting, pots clanging, and carts rolling. She kept away from the din, knowing that they most certainly would not appreciate her presence. It also made her over-sensitive ears hurt.

The Academy was only two blocks away from her apartment, a fact she was grateful for as she came to a stop in front of the open gates. She'd managed to avoid most of the glares and had not stumbled into someone even once. She hoped that meant today would be a good day.

She walked inside to the courtyard, where she found a large crowd of people standing. Most of them were parents, bringing their children for their first day at the Academy, or they were close family friends that came to see the children off. She quickly stifled the envy and sadness she felt, seeing that.

The crowd seemed to be expecting someone to appear on the raised platform in the front, and she guessed it was probably the Hokage. They hadn't seemed to notice her yet, so she placed herself along a large tree, hiding in its shadow. A old swing set hung from one of the lower branches of the tree. The swing seemed to be a plank of wood held up by two worn, fraying ropes that attached it to a low-hanging branch, which was probably only six feet off the ground.

From this vantage point, she could clearly see the Hokage Mountain, its four stone faces staring down impassively at the village. She definitely wasn't going to be Hokage, she'd decided. She saw the amount of paperwork the Hokage did, as well as how stressed he always seemed to be, although he did a good job of hiding it. He was well-respected, yes, but he was always stuck behind a desk and unable to actually fight for Konoha. She would never be able to stand just sitting behind a desk while other loyal shinobi fought and died out in the field.

So no, not Hokage. Maybe jounin then? Yeah, she decided, I'll become the most powerful kunoichi in Konoha, an S-rank ninja. Then, she hoped, the villagers wouldn't hate her anymore. (Because even underneath all her maturity, she was still a child and a child cannot understand why someone hates them for no reason; does not understand how emotions cloud judgement. In the end, she was still a young child just yearning to be accepted.)

Cheers heralded the arrival of the Hokage from the civilian parents. They seemed to stare wide-eyed at the Sandaime, likely because otherwise they would not see the Hokage. Usually, civilians did not interact much with shinobi unless they were family members or friends, and certainly not with someone as powerful or respected as the Sandaime Hokage, who, right then, appeared on the stage in a puff of smoke. She had no doubt he could appear without the smoke too, but she had to admit it had a nice dramatic flair. He was still wearing his white and red robes and that funny hat with the kanji for fire on it, but the pipe she'd been accustomed to seeing was nowhere in sight.

"Greetings, citizens of Konoha." He spoke, his words resounding around the courtyard, despite them not being spoken very loudly. "I would like to welcome you and your children to the Academy. It is always a gift for a leader to see the next generation of shinobi who will become the support pillars of Konoha, and guard, protect and fight for her and all she stand for. For the peace of our land and the happiness of the civilians, the role of the shinobi… " She stopped paying attention to his speech. It was a basic speech about the Will of Fire and welcoming the parents and other children to the Academy that lasted for approximately five minutes.

She instead took her time observing her (possibly) new classmates. There were two classes for the first year, and she wasn't sure which class she may be in. She noted that there were quite a lot of clan children who would be entering this year, though none were clan heirs. Many of the clan heirs had been born around the same time, and she guess they were probably around her own age and so would not start at the Academy for another two years. Of those who were starting the Academy this year, though, she saw a female Hyuuga with long, black hair having a stare-off with a male Uchiha. An Akimichi female sat with a female Yamanaka talking about something and sharing snacks, and, like her, not really paying attention to the Hokage's speech. The Nara stood off to the side, and oddly enough, was actually paying attention to what the Hokage was saying. A motivated Nara? That was a new one, though she supposed since she'd never had any interaction with them it was possible that the females were motivated. There was no Aburame as far as she could see, nor Inuzuka. Seems like the Aburame-Hyuuga-Inuzuka team would not be created from this class. She was sure she saw some of the more minor clans present though. Was that a Kurama over there?

Not many civilians were present, but she could tell right away that they not clan children by their posture and the way they held themselves. Perhaps normal six-year-olds would not have caught it, but her observation skills were higher than most, as she spent most of her time watching others since she could not join them.

Most of the other children were one or two years older than her, except for one unusual-looking blond. He had bright, spiky, golden-yellow hair and unique cerulean-blue eyes. He seemed about her age, though he was smaller than normal six-year-olds. Maybe he was an orphan like her? She made a mental note to talk to him later. He seemed like he was lonely, too, and maybe they could be friends. She turned her attention back to the Hokage just as he was finishing his speech. "— and show us your Will of Fire!" His statement was met with cheers and applause, and the parents began dispersing, taking their children to their respective classes. She quickly lost track of the enigmatic blonde in the crowd. She made her way to the list posted on the wall, and saw she was in the first class, so she trailed behind the group of parents making their way to the classroom. The blonde kid, she noticed, had been put in the second class. She frowned. She would not be able to see him much, then, except for lunch break, until third year when the two classes were combined.

She took her seat at the very back of the classroom so at all times everyone would be in front of her, and so her back would not be turned to anyone. She watched the other children mingle and talk. It seemed a lot of the clan children already knew each other, and the civilian children likewise. None of the clan children were heirs, so perhaps their parents were simply friends? That seemed likely. After all, even the non-heir children of the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans were grouped together to form the famous Ino-Shika-Cho trio, although the most well-known and successful one, by far, was the one with the leaders of the clans, Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, and Shikaku Nara, even if it had been somewhat disbanded when Inoichi became the head of the T & I and Shikaku became jounin commander. (It was amazing how much one could pick up if they sat in the Hokage's office, observing the gossip and watching the interactions between the Hokage and his shinobi, especially if one was a five —no, six— year old girl who everyone thought could not understand what was going on. Except she did understand and soaked up the knowledge she gained like a sponge.)

The door swung open, and their teacher walked in. She was ordinary-looking, with shoulder-length brown hair and warm, honey orbs, and looked to be about twenty-five years old. She wore the standard Chunin flak vest and blue shinobi sandals. She carried a stack of papers with her.

"Hello everyone!" she said cheerfully. "Please take a seat." Their new sensei waited as the children piled into the seats, some arguing over who sat next to whom. Only a few seats were empty, including the spot next to her in the very back. "Welcome to the Academy," their new sensei greeted. "My name's Yamamoto Minori. I am going to be your teacher; call me Minori-sensei or Yamamoto-sensei if you must.

"I will be taking attendance first. Just say 'here' when I call you name, okay?" She read through the list, starting at the Akimichi and ending with her. "Now, why don't we all introduce ourselves?" Minori-sensei suggested. "Just say your name, likes, dislikes, and so on.

"Akimichi Cho," she called. The Akimichi she'd seen earlier walked up to the front, and waved.

"Hi! My name's Akimichi Cho! I like eating, playing with my friend Yamanaka Kiyoko, and cooking with my mom. I dislike people who call me fat, and who disrespect my clan because of our techniques. Please take care of me."

"Arai Riko." A civilian girl walked shyly forward and introduced herself. "Aoki Takara." "Chiba Yumi." "Hyuga Sakiko." She snapped her attention to the front and saw the Hyuuga walk up with a slight bounce in her step. She still exhibited childishness that could not be found in the older Hyuuga. When she spoke, emotion was still present, unlike the monotone voices of some others in her clan. Sakiko introduced herself, smiling. A Hyuuga smiling. Odd. "Nara Shikari."

In this manner, they continued until Minori-sensei read, "Uzumaki Kazumi." She stood up, and hoped she hadn't imagined the way Minori-sensei's eyes didn't change when they looked at her like so many others' did. Minori-sensei's eyes stayed warm, even when looking at her. Kazumi sucked in her breath, trying to keep her eyes from moistening. Was there finally someone other than the Hokage who would treat her like a normal child and not a monster?

She made her way to where Minori-sensei stood. "Hello," she said shyly, not used to speaking in front of others. "My name is Uzumaki Kazumi. I… I like collecting flowers, meeting with my jiji, and eating daifuku at the cafe jiji takes me to, and I dislike people who judge others without getting to know them." Thus finishing, she ducked her head and practically raced back to her seat, missing the worried and concerned look Minori shot at her.

Minori-sensei turned and addressed the room. "Alright. Now, that we have all gotten to know one another, I will be introducing our curriculum for this year." She paused, eyes scanning over the class. "This year we will be brushing up on your reading and math skills, and we will be learning history in the morning. We will not touch basic taijutsu until around the middle of the year, nor will we be touching chakra until the second year, so please, be patient. The Academy is here to prepare you to become shinobi to serve the village, and do not forget I am also here to guide you. After four years, you will be taking the graduation test, unless you are one of the ones who drops out… or graduates early.

"We will be learning how to throw kunai this year as well. If you wish to learn to throw shuriken, ask a parent or relative, as we will learn how to throw shuriken second year. If you wish to learn a projectile other than the two standard ones, like senbon, then you will have to ask an on-duty shinobi since I'm afraid we do not cover them in the academy." She paused. "Any questions?"

The class was silent, until one brown-haired civilian girl spoke up. "When will the special kunoichi classes start?"

Minori-sensei grinned. "Those will also start second year. You'll have another teacher for them. Alright then, if there's no more questions, we will have a test to see where you are at. This will determine the basic rankings until we begin projectile training or basic taijutsu training. Don't worry, rankings can, and likely will, change throughout the year." She began passing out the tests.

Kazumi looked at her test when it landed in front of her, frowning a bit. It seemed the clan kids would, once again, have an advantage over civilian-born kids, since she doubted any civilian parents would have taught their children to calculate the trajectory of a kunai or the basic information about the elemental affinities. Lucky for her, then, that the Hokage let her read some of the books in his office.

The first problem was a simple Konoha code that she knew about because she saw some of the Hokage's paperwork had been written in it. It was a common, easily decipherable Academy-standard code. Heck, she bet all the clan kids already knew this code. She'd never learned it, though she picked up enough from watching in the Hokage's office to get the gist of what was being said. She picked up her pencil and quickly jotted down the answer, making her way to the next question, which was a "what would you do if you were in this situation?" question. In this case, the problem went something like this: If you and your team of two chunin and two jonin were to fight a group of five or six enemy jonin in a stronghold or other building, what would you do? She wrote down, I would camouflage the team and go straight forward since the enemy shinobi would not expect us to take a frontal attack. Instead, because of their instincts, they will guard the side-doors and other more hidden and concealed entry-ways. However, just in case, I will have whomever is the fastest of the team stay behind as backup in case we are in a sticky situation. If one member of the team was a fuinjutsu specialist, I will have them create summoning scrolls to get out of any dangerous circumstances. She moved on to the next question.

She finished the test forty-five minutes later, being the first of the orphans and civilian children to finish. The Nara (Shikari was it?), she noted, finished first with the Hyuga Sakiko following soon after. Akimichi Cho and Yamanaka Kiyoko finished after them, and spent the rest of the time chatting quietly with each other. The other clan kids had finished earlier than her as well, and were now either squirming in their seats, or (in the case of the Nara) staring out the window.

Kazumi handed the test to Minori-sensei. Minori-sensei looked over it, checking for her name, and put it on top of the stack of the already turned-in tests. "Thank you," she said. "Please wait quietly for the others to finish, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay, Minori-sensei."

Kazumi gathered all of her courage and approached the small group of the clan girls eating lunch together. "Can I join you?" she asked hesitantly, preparing herself to be rejected. She was caught off guard by the Yamanaka's response.

"Sure!" the Yamanaka chirped. "'course you can! My name's Yamanaka Kiyoko, but you probably already knew that." She pointed to the dozing Nara behind her. "That's Shikari, and that," she said, pointing to the Akimichi, "is Cho." Akimichi Cho waved, and offered her some dango. Kazumi declined politely. "Oh!" Kiyoko exclaimed. "And that's Sakiko," she introduced, now pointing to the Hyuuga. "Don't worry; she's not a stick in the mud like most Hyuuga."

"Nice to meet you," Sakiko greeted warmly. Kazumi eyed them warily, wondering why they were being so nice to her.

"It's 'cuz you looked lonely," Kiyoko said. Kazumi blinked. Had she read her mind? "Nope," Kiyoko grinned. "I'm reading your posture and facial expression. Yamanaka are great at reading people, you know."

"I'm Kazumi," she offered.

"Come join us, Kazumi, no need to be shy," Cho said.

Kazumi blinked. Should she trust them? It could lead to a lot of heartbreak later when inevitably their parents told them to stay away from her, but… she really did want to have some friends. Sighing, she made up her mind. "Okay."

Kazumi raised her hand to wave goodbye, then thought better of it and let her hand drop down. She didn't want to ruin Minori-sensei's reputation like she would if the villagers saw her associating with "the demon". She was happy, though, her steps bouncy and light as she walked home from the academy, clasping her new Academy-issued textbook to her chest. The female clan children were much more accepting than she'd thought they would be, being not hesitant at all in letting her join them. Kazumi practically glowed. It was the first time she'd eaten lunch and conversed with someone other than the Hokage, and she much enjoyed the light atmosphere and friendly conversations.

She'd found that Shikari was actually quite motivated and seemed to be a sort of genius in her clan, and though her chakra pool was slightly less than an average kunoichi's, her unusual (for her clan) motivation more than made up for it. Kiyoko and Cho had been friends since they were young because their fathers had been teammates on the same genin team in the Second Shinobi war. Both of their parents were quite close to their clan heads, being cousins of a sort, so they sometimes had dinner with their clan heads' families.

Yamanaka Kiyoko, she discovered, was a social butterfly. She had a huge gossip network and seemed to know everything that was going on. She could be considered pretty for her age, with her blonde hair and baby-blue eyes, though she didn't seem to care much for her looks.

Akimichi Cho, on the other hand, enjoyed eating, much like her clansmen, She was usually eating sweets like daifuku (which she'd shared with Kazumi despite her protesting that no, she didn't need it and it's your food, you should have it. Still, though, Kazumi had been surprised Cho even remembered her saying that she liked daifuku in her introduction), dango, and chocolate pocky.

Hyuuga Sakiko was, as she thought, more open in general than most Hyuuga. Though her covered forehead indicated she was a Branch member, she did not seem to have any hate in her. She just seemed determined to help her clan however she could. Kazumi admired her loyalty and dedication to a clan who would enslave their own family members. (She'd been shocked and disgusted when she'd learned, one day in the Hokage's office, that the Hyuuga put the cage bird seal on their own family. That wasn't how family should be like, she'd thought.)

She observed the rays of light that shone down from the sun in the clear, blue sky. The afternoon wind brushed through her hair, fluttering the red locks behind her and she smiled at the Hokage monument, at Konoha, her home. Maybe, just maybe, a new chapter of her life was beginning.

A.N. Hey everyone! So her name was revealed in this chapter! I'm sure you all can guess who her family is. :)

And thank you, everyone, who favorited this story! This chapter is for you all. I hope you enjoy it. Please give constructive criticism, especially if you see a grammatical or spelling error, since I might not have caught all of them. Any feedback is much appreciated.

Sorry for the long wait, but I usually post the chapters as soon as I write them, and it took me three days to be inspired enough to write this. I'll probably have the next chapter written and up in about two weeks, so please, stick with me.

I know this may not be as good as the previous chapter, but I'm still working on my writing skill, and I'm afraid action scenes are a little hard to write (I'm still trying to figure out how to transition between scenes smoothly. It doesn't seem to be working all to well.) :)

Once again, thank you for reading my story!

~Iridescent Moonflower