I awake the next morning finding myself slightly surprised by my surroundings. ' That's right, I'm in Konoha now.' Removing my head from my pillow I get up and stretch my body as I try to relieve the slight numb sensation in my arm. The stiffness I feel makes me wish I had a bed too. I use the utilities and I found myself hearing a boy
" Oh crap! Iruka-sensei is going to kill me!" then I hear a door slam shut and running feet. The voice is very familiar as much as the name is. I find myself lightly thinking that it could have been Naruto. I banish the thought though because I knew the chances of that were slim to none. ' Besides,' I figure, ' its best I don't meet him. He doesn't need a creepy adult fan or anything like that.'
I leave the bathroom and go into the kitchen and drink from the sink there knowing dehydration would kill me faster then lack of food. The thought of food made me feel the hunger pains I had been able to ignore before. I looked around my kitchen for once and noticed that the floor was wooden planked. The walls were white just like my living area and there is only one window in my kitchen. Walking to the window I found myself looking at the village below. There was another building across from mine and I could somewhat see the road bellow.
Homesickness strikes me and I cannot seem to get out of my mind how much different this world was to my own. Never the less I do try to remove it from my mind by remembering my goal.
" I have to learn how to read and the only place I can learn is from the Academy." I know I could risk humiliating myself asking for schooling; but I don't have the luxury to decide on going to school or not. ' Even if they did accept me who was to say I would become a Shinobi?' I shook my head and reminded the voice. " I just need to learn to read if I become a Shinobi fine if I don't fine I just need this education." A part of me was pretty upset about that reminder. I was just about to finish my last year of high school before I had come here which frustrates me a lot.
" God that frustrates me!" I say out loud and put my pointer finger and thumb about an inch from each other.
" I was this close! This freaking close to freaking getting out of there! Now I have do deal with this bull crap!" I start trying to strangle air as I repeated the f-bomb feverishly to myself. I end up asking loudly.
" Why did you have to do this to me God!" Then I hear
" Shut up! People are trying to sleep here!" I found myself sheepish as I say,
" Sorry!" but instead of thinking that the noise came from outside of my head I began to believe its from inside my own mind.
" Crap, don't you people get that I am trying to express myself?" The same voice that spoke before is female and sounds like a second soprano like Sakura Haruno. ' Yea but that doesn't mean you have to be loud about it.' I find myself frowning and quietly apologizing and feeling a lot calmer. There was really no need to worry about impressing anyone and I can feel that stressful weight being lifted from my shoulder. There was no need to prove myself there was no one who I needed to act for. In that thought I felt the loneliness creep out inside of me.
' Don't you have to register for the Academy?' I could hear a voice ask. It drags me away from my feelings of loneliness and brings me back to the subject at hand.
" Right I have to get registered. Or at least try to." I look at the ceiling and say,
" Oh god please let me be able to register." I mutter in my mind ' In lord Jesus name ...'
Before I know it I find my way back through the town and back up to the Hokage's building. On the way there I had found myself thinking of asking the front desk if I needed to go inside the academy for student registration since I figured that both the Academy and the Hokage's building were both under the same operation.
I enter the office and have the great pleasure of meeting the same young woman who worked with me yesterday. The woman gives me a smile.
" Well you certainly know your way around the place back again so soon?" I answer her.
" Yes, I need to know if you have to enter the Academy for student registration." She waves her hand and says.
" You actually have to talk to one of the teachers there to actually register." ' Oh crap.' I think and then ask " How long do I have to wait for them to be available?"
" You usually have to wait until," She stops talking for a moment and I notice she's looking past me.
" Well its your lucky day. Umino-san!" I turn around and see a young man in a green vest with three small scroll pockets set on his left chest area. Both of my eyes widen because this man looks strikingly familiar to the anime character Iruka. He bared the same scar across his nose and had the same dark tan. Despite the familiarity I let my mind go blank and let myself be open to the possibility that I wasn't actually about the greet the same man. He has a smile and he asks.
" Hey Wakari-san what is it you need?" I look back to the Secretary and she closes a book she was working on and she says,
" This woman would like to talk to you about registering for the Academy." I look back at him and he says with a smile.
" Help her? I'm afraid I can't do that right now." I find myself feeling disappointed and the girl says.
" You know the rules don't you Umino-san?" I watch him nod and say with a hand behind his head.
" Yes I remember, I just can't do it right now." He looks at me and asks,
" Are you able to wait until classes are done?" I nod and reply,
" Yea what time will you be done?" He removes his hand from his head.
" I will be done around two o'clock. Will you wait for me until then?" I nod and answer,
" I will be here at that time." He smiles and replies,
" Well that's a relief. Thanks for your co-operation." I smile.
" Oh yea, no problem." in my mind a picture flashed within my mind and I found myself shaking my head. I had seen that the man before me had 'stars' in his eyes. ' Boy my imagination is a moron.' I think as I watch the man leave. I turn back to the lady behind the desk and bow shortly
" Thank you for helping me." She sighs.
" Its no problem. I would just like Iruka to take his job more seriously." I feel surprise and curiosity wrap my mind as I ask.
" His name is Iruka?" I turn to look back at him to find him gone.
" He's a bit of a hunk isn't he?" Furrowing my eye brows I turned to her with confusion, " I suppose…" but I see the lady acted as if she said nothing. Both of my eyes wander to the clock and I see its ten twenty in the morning. ' I've got some time before I have to meet with him.' I figure I can go home and I'm about to leave when the woman says.
" Oh ma'am," I turn around and look back at her she looks sheepish as she's pushing her fingers together.
" Would you mind not telling him about what I said?" I gave her an unsure look,
" Sure," I don't think it really matters if I say anything but have her give a sigh of relief had me thinking that I should at least keep my comments to myself. With that I left the building and I found myself unsure of what to do.
I decided then to look around town and explore around the town; but when I began to smell food I found myself unable to continue my adventure through town and returned to the Hokage building. I approach the Hokage building once again and find myself once again in awe. As I look at the mountain face I can scarcely believe I am here and can't help but internally admit that it all feels like a dream. Both my eyes water and I wipe away my tears.
'This is a reality a reality I must live in.' I have to choke back my tears because I don't like crying in public. I force the thought away easily as another entered my mind.
' This is what you wanted once.' I feel the tears disappear as I analyze that thought. I knew very well a long time ago I had indeed wanted this event to happen to me. In fact I was thirteen when I made the wish to be here. I could only furrow my brow with confusion.
' Why now though?' I shake my head.
' It doesn't matter right now.' I find a sense of familiarity as I feel a thought burrow into my mind.
' Here everything's different. Here everything can change. We can change.' I understood what it meant easily. To me it meant that life for me was no longer conformed to the same rules as it once had; but now I am able to live out dreams. Dreams that I had never been allowed to explore.
' Yea right.' an nuisance says in my mind. ' you can't even read kanji let alone become a Shinobi.' Both my heart and my mind was infuriated that the nuisance had the gall to use Sakura's voice to taunt me.
" How freaking dare you talk to me like that!" I say under my breath; but there was only silence and I was left to mull over the facts on my own. I know that it would be a very slim chance that I could be accepted and really become a Shinobi; but I also know there was that slim chance that would allow me that dream to be realized if only for a short time.
With a new resolve I entered the Hokage tower and looked at the clock. Both of my eyes became wide as my heart dropped. ' But how could I have been late?' it's a quarter past three. My hope was killed and I found myself leaving the building. Just as I was about to go out the door I ran into the same man who I saw just hours before. " Ah! Sorry!" He says apologetically and I shake my head.
" Oh its ok." My hope was sparked as I asked.
" Am I too late to register?" He shakes his head
" No of course not!" I give a huge sigh of relief.
" Oh good! it's a quarter past three so I thought." He gives me a confused look
" Three?" He looks past me and says " Wakari-san! You forgot to change the clock!" I hear,
" Oh my gosh your right!" He smiles and looks back at me.
" Now lets get you registered." I nod and I ask with concern,
" Where are we going for that?" He had just turned to leave and he turns his head back to me and says,
" Well we're going to the school for that."
" Oh, ok." I keep my excitement to myself as we walk towards the school because I didn't really want to look like a total nitwit.
We walk to the red stone wall and I find myself in awe at the building behind it. The building is connected to the wall but it outgrows it five times as much and I assume the building wall is pretty thick. We walked cross a courtyard and a single tree by the wall that held one wooden swing. The building was white with red trimmed shingles and it stretched out to the right pretty far to the point I had to assume this building was built in either a 'T' shape or a very big 'L' shape. The building was at least two stories high and looked pretty spacious to me. The buildings front door was located near the wall where the two buildings connect and is wooden but not as massive as the Hokage's office its simple size felt very ordinary.
A thought came to mind as we walked up to the Academy's doors.
" If you don't mind me asking, don't you have a age limit on people who can attend the academy?" Iruka looks back at me and replies, " We usually do have an age limit." I couldn't help but ask.
" Then why are you helping me?" He answers plainly.
"I have to at least hear you out before declining your application."
" Oh." Light answers return to me as I gratefully say.
" Thank you for at least hearing me out."
We walk inside the building and I am left with amazement . Its walls were plain white but still had the basic office space to it. On the left was where I assumed the office was and we headed toward the left door which I couldn't figure out.
" We'll do I interview in here." I nod and found my mind clouded with worry. Inside the room was a desk and two chairs. He took the seat farthest from the door and I found myself taking the closest seat.
" Alright Miss tell me why you want to apply to the academy." I found myself ridiculing my answer as it left my mouth.
" I want to learn to read Japanese." He gave me a confused look and I found myself slightly embarrassed by my circumstance. He asks me after a moment of speculating me.
" Shouldn't you all ready know how to read Japanese?" I answered with surprising confidence.
" Well I grew up speaking and writing English so I wasn't prepared when I arrived here. Knowing how to speak Japanese as I am right now is very confusing so I was hopping that you would allow me to at least learn to read and write Japanese before kicking me out for my lack of skill in the ninja, I mean Shinobi art."I was mentally kicking myself as I had caught my mistake too late. Ninja is the derogatory term we Americans give to the people who practice the Shinobi art. In truth the proper name for them is Shinobi and when dealing with Japanese Shinobi it's highly disrespectful to call them ninja. At least I believe that to be the case. He actually doesn't look to be too offended. In fact he is actually smiling at me and it has me very worried.
" I can see that your educated in the proper use of our name." I nodded.
" You speak good Japanese for being raised in an English speaking community." I tell him.
" Japanese sounds like English to me sir so I don't know what you would call it." I find my ears notice a slight change in my dialect as I said. " This whole understanding Japanese naturally is actually kind of weird if not cheating." My eyes widen in surprise and he says.
" You speak very good English as well." my eyes widen and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.
" That was English to you?" He nods and says.
" I'm afraid I don't know where your getting at so lets concentrate on this interview." I quickly say with embarrassment
" Oh right." I tried not to show the embarrassment I feel with not a lot of luck and he asks me.
"Do you have your papers?" I could only say intelligently,
" I didn't know I was supposed to have papers with me." My face feels hot as he smiles and says,
" Well its not a big problem as long as you're a registered citizen of Konoha we should be able to find out your records." I'm very thankful at that moment that I had indeed gotten registered with the city and I nod.
" Yes I am a registered citizen of Konoha." He nods and asks me,
" Where are your parents?" I struggled to find an answer and I knew each moment I wasted it would raise his suspicion of me. " I…uh…They're in a different country right now!" I struggled to keep from panicking as he says in a eerie calm.
" Oh really? What is this country of yours?" I know its to late for me as I sigh and decide to get it over with.
" The country is called 'The United States Of America.'" He furrows his brow and asks me.
" Are you seriously thinking I'm going to believe that's a country?" I look down at the table.
" No." He sighs and asks
" Why are you lying to me instead of telling the truth?" I sigh and try to explain.
" I can't tell where I'm from even if I wanted to. Please believe me Konoha is safe from my country." He states.
" Except you could be a enemy Shinobi for all I know." I nod.
" I understand this and I look at him and say.
" All I really want to do is learn how to read and write Japanese. You could just kick me out after I learned a sufficient amount of Japanese." He shakes his head.
" This is a Shinobi training school if you applied here you would not only be learning that; but you would also be learning trade secrets of our country's training system. Not that I expect you to know anything about being a Shinobi in the first place since you are indeed just a civilian." I decided to be silent and nod. ' I probably shouldn't say I know some of the simple basics of Shinobi training. The rest is really just dependent on the school itself.' I thought those words somewhat in the same concept. I decide to ask.
" Are you going to let me become a student?" He shakes his head.
" That isn't really my authority, Miss." I decide to ask another question with genuine curiosity.
" Have you had others like myself ask to join the Academy?" His answers
" We've had people come in because it was their dream to become a Shinobi. We have not had a case like yours before."
" May I ask you a question?" He answers,
" Sure, ask away."
" Do you think you would trust me, despite my story?" He answers stiffly,
" I'm not really allowed to answer that question."
" Ok." I can't help but feel disappointed as I look down at the table. a hand lands on my shoulder gently as he says. " Hey you still could be allowed to register despite your story." I look back up at him feeling my hope return.
" You really think so?" He nods.
" Yes just because I say no doesn't mean the Hokage will." Now my eyes widen at that and ask with disbelief.
" You mean the Hokage is the one who's going to read my request?" He answers.
" Yes, you'll fill out the registration papers and I will present the papers to him and he will officially decide if you can register or not." I feel confusion fall on me as I ask.
" Isn't there someone else who looks at the registration papers?" He answers.
" Normally I would give the papers to the registrar and he would pass them through. You however are a special case that the registrar is not allowed to handle and it must be done by the Hokage. Unless you decide not to register at all." I find myself slightly angry at him as I say.
" I do want to register." He nods and stands up."
" All right, I will grab those registration papers." As he is about to leave I stop him and say. " I cannot read Japanese, so please get an English copy." He leaves with a curt nod and I am left alone in the room.
My mind's sanity almost instantly starts to waver as I sat in that room. I fought to keep my mind empty and from repeating random instances from my childhood. I do not want to dwell on things that make me immature or are a result from child hood interest. I force my mind to replay a song from the band Flyleaf as one of my coping mechanisms to the schizophrenia. I can hear the guitar solo in my mind and I relax as I let it play out. ' Had a dream that we were dead; but we pretended that we still lived.' I began to mouth the lyrics and tried my hardest not to sing.
The door opened and I was startled enough to become quiet. He places a packet of paper in front of me and a pencil beside my paper.
" Here is the papers you have to sign. I'll be back in a little while." I set my mind to working on the papers alone as he shuts the door. I look at the papers and I'm happy to see he could find some English. I take the pencil and begin working on the papers humming the flyleaf song 'This Close.'. When I do finish filling out the papers to the best of my ability I find myself drawing on the paper; taking careful note that I would have to erase it once he returned. I had drawn a simple anime girl with eyes that looked too big for the face and found myself less then happy about the lack finesse the character's hair had. I remember wanting to create a manga book with the Japanese cartoon style. Erasing the character was easy as I felt it was not up to my standards, which were pretty high. I remembered with a happy fondness that at home I had actually drawn one picture I was very proud of; it was a picture of Sakura Haruno who was smiling warmly as she looked at you from the page. My heart hurt slightly as I heard in my mind. ' Doesn't this mean I could meet her?' I had to shake my head and reply. ' You know as well as I do its disastrous to think about it; besides she could already be a trained Shinobi for all I know. You know as well as I do she wouldn't be interested without good reason.' I added out loud.
" They are human beings now, whether they exist in the cosmos or heaven forbid they are children living like normal humans. You are not going to fan girl or I swear to god I will put us out of our misery!" I had a hissing comeback come to me. ' You wouldn't do that.' I replied out loud threateningly,
" Don't tempt me." I know it was right though, I had made a promise to not to harm myself or willingly commit suicide and while I did have a knack for making false promises. I wasn't going to break that particular promise just because of a stupid voice in my head. So with a grumble I began to draw another character knowing that it had won a victory over me once again.
This character had an interesting look to her. She was very gentle looking and had a small smile. Her hair was long and she had elf ears poking out of her hair. Before I had realized what I did Iruka returned to the room and I quickly erase the character drawn on there.
" All right Miss, are you done with your papers?" I answer.
" Yes, here ya go." I raise the papers to him and he takes them out of my hand.
" Well I will see you in two days time all right?" I asked him.
" What's the week day?" Iruka answers me easily.
" Today is a Monday." I'm pleasantly surprised by his use of the English days.
" Thanks." I stand up and I ask.
"Do we meet at the same time?" He answers.
" We'll have our answer to your request by Thursday." I nod and leave muttering to myself.
" I assume that's a yes."