Monday came, and I was filled with an odd mixture of excitement and dread as I made my way down the streets of Konoha to the academy. This would be my first day at school, and while I knew we probably wouldn't be doing much, I was absolutely bursting with emotions as I thought of all the things that may happen.
My parents came with me all the way to the doors of the building.
"Do you want us to go in with you?" Mom asked, and I shook my head. I wouldn't want the other children thinking I was one of those kids that needed their parents to go with them everywhere.
I was almost regretting my decision however, as I walked down the giant hallways of the school. It was made even more imposing by their complete lack of anything other than me. Inoichi had given me a letter the day we had dinner that told me which room I would need to register in. It was on the complete other side of the school. I passed several flights of stairs on my way to the main office, most of which had a sign labeled Restricted on them. I had no doubt that they would be the object of many dares in the years to come.
I knocked on the door to office, and was met by a cheerful voice, telling me I could come inside.
"Good morning," I said, bowing to the woman behind the desk.
"Good morning to you too," she said, greeting me with a pleasant smile.
"My name is Kurenui, but you can just call me Sensei. Where are your parents at?" I felt a bit of heat rush to my face as I realize that my mom and dad were supposed to be here to help me get signed up.
"They had some work they needed to get done, and I didn't want to keep them, so I told them it would be okay if they just helped me get here."
"Oh, I see. That's very considerate of you," she gave me a bit of a knowing look.
"Am I correct in assuming that you're Yushido Tsubaki?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I figured you were. Inoichi-san gave me quite the detailed analysis on you in his sponsorship. Said you have a very… determined character. Anywho," she said white a wave of her hand, "let's get you set up for your classes."
I walked out of the room with a much clearer understanding than I had when I first entered. My classroom was room 312, and my teacher was none other than Umino Iruka. I received a small amount of comfort from the fact that I already had met him. He had struck me as a cheery type, and I was hoping that would persist in the six years he would be teaching my class.
Entering room 312, I realized I was the first one to show up. Even Iruka-sensei wasn't there yet. I looked around awkwardly before sitting in the back of the room, in a small corner. The room was just as I has seen when I was climbing the tower, filled with all the general supplies that any school room would have. Only these were directed toward ninjas in training, and focused more on how on effectively block a punch, or dodge a kick.
I sat there for what I felt was forever, but was really only ten minutes, if the clock on the wall was to be trusted. Iruka walked in soon after that, but he didn't seem to notice me, since he busied about his desk, shifting around the multitudes of paperwork. It was another five minutes before he noticed me, and that was only because I accidentally scraped my chair against the floor.
"Ah! Uh, good morning?" He said weakly.
"Good morning sensei," I replied evenly.
"You haven't been there for too long, have you?"
"Just fifteen or so minutes."
"I see. Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait some more, since everyone else will probably show up in about a quarter hour."
I gave a little shrug at his words, and went back to my silence. I figured I may as well utilize my time as I wait, so I tried meditation again. I could still feel the current of chakra beneath my skin, but I hadn't had much luck trying to access it since that day at the Yamanaka's. It just wouldn't show up again, and I felt like I was back at square one.
Seeing as it would only work if I blocked out the outside world, I didn't notice when the first few kids came in. After I had given up and opened my eyes, I saw that at least six other students had entered the room. None of them seemed to have noticed me though.
As the minutes ticked by, and more kids trickled in, I smiled. Not a single person had so much as looked back, and the only reason Iruka had seen me was because of a blunder I made. It was like a game of hide and seek, and so far, I was winning. It made me wonder for a minute if I was really that generic, that easy to overlook, like I wouldn't become anything, but I shoved the thought aside.
Suddenly, the door was thrown open, and was nearly decapitated from its hinges. Everyone turned to see what the commotion was, and my eyes grew to twice their size as I took in the neon form before me.
The boy had ragged blonde hair and blue eyes, much like my own. He stood with a cheeky grin on his face, and I knew immediately that he had opened the door like that just so he would be the center of attention. I doubted he really needed to though, given the orange monstrosity he was wearing a the moment. A pair of goggles crowned his head, completing his rather insane look.
"Hey guys! My name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage! Believe it!"
He was met by howling laughter from almost everyone in the room. I remained silent, my brain still trying to catch up with what had just happened. Did he really just stay he was going to be the Hokage? That was a big goal.
"Yea right dork!" one boy called out.
"Lord Hokage it's an honor." another one said sarcastically.
"What's with the orange jumpsuit?" one girl, whom I thought was particularly slow, asked.
The boy's face turned a bright red as the insults poured out of the children's mouths. I winced as I heard a particularly vicious one. Forget kids being innocent little angels. They could be the meanest people out there, only because they didn't know the full extent of their words. And to think the first day hadn't even officially begun.
"Very good to know Naruto," Iruka-sensei sighed from the front of the room.
"Now would you please take a seat? There's an empty one right next to Tsubaki-chan."
I froze as I heard my name, and the boy, Naruto, searched about the room wildly, trying to pinpoint who our teacher was talking about. I still had yet to be noticed by the entire class, so I gave out a polite cough. When his gaze swiveled over to me, I flicked my wrist in a sort of tiny wave. He adopted the same grin I had previously seen on his face, and plopped into the seat beside me.
"Hi! My name's Uzumaki Naruto!" He said excitedly. I smiled a little back at him.
"My name is Yushido Tsubaki. It's nice to meet you Naruto-kun."
His face lit up as he heard the honorific attached to his name.
"Ne, Tsubaki-chan, what clan are you from? The lady in that office place said that there was a lot of kids from clans here!"
I was kinda proud that he thought I was from a clan. Of course, that probably wasn't saying much, since he didn't seem to be the brightest bulb, but it still felt good to hear. Sadly, it wasn't true.
"My parents are civilians," I told him. "I got my sponsorship to the academy from Yamanaka Inoichi."
"Hey, that's so cool! I'm an orphan, so I don't know who my parents were. I'm pretty sure they were civilians too though." His good mood was apparently contagious, since I found myself smiling in response to almost everything he said.
"Well, we can just help each other out," I said.
"Yea! We'll be better than all those clan kids! We'll rise to the top of the class in no time!"
He held his hand out for a fist bump, and I didn't even feel all that awkward when I returned it.
"Hey Tsubaki!"
I turned to see that Ino had entered the classroom, and was currently standing in the doorway, though not in the same grandiose manner as Naruto.
"Hi Ino, good to see you."
"Alright, I'm gonna get straight to it," she said, leaning onto my desk. My eyebrows furrowed at her business-like manner.
"I need a rival," she announce, "someone who will make me want to do my best, because they'll always be right behind me. I'm going to find out who that is today, but I have a pretty good feeling I already know who it's going to be." She looked pointedly at me.
"I'll be over here, thinking of new ways to be better than you, my soon-to-be rival!" She said, walking off with a flick of her wrist over her back.
"Huh? Tsubaki-chan, do you know who that was?" Naruto asked, majorly confused. I couldn't help but share the emotion. Where had Ino gotten that idea from? I was just a civilian kid, hardly worthy of being considered an equal foe against her. Plus, why did she need a rival? I had thought we were going to be friends.
"That was Yamanaka Ino. She's the daughter of the man that sponsored me. She's really friendly, at least I think so, but I'd be careful about getting on her bad side. Her father is a Clan Head after all."
"Uh, ok. What's a rival?"
"A person you compete with. Someone who seems to always make you try harder, because you always think that if you let your guard down, they'll swoop in and take your spot."
"Soo… like friends?" He asked. I pondered over that for a minute.
"I guess it is a little like that. But rivals don't see it as friendly competition. For them, it's more like a fight over who's better."
Naruto's nose crinkled, "I'd rather have a friend than a rival. I already know I'd be the best, so I wouldn't really have to fight over it."
I giggled at his words, and he leaned toward me, confused.
"Ne, Tsubaki-chan, what's funny? What'd I do?"
I shook my head and was about to answer when Iruka-sensei stood up from behind his desk.
"Good morning everyone! Welcome to your first day at the academy. My name is Iruka-sensei, but you can just call me sensei if you want. I figured we might as well start out with introductions. But" he paused, "I decided it could also be a game."
The level of interest in the room spiked the minute the word 'game' was mentioned. Naruto was the leading factor, his anticipation nearly overwhelming me, since I was right beside him.
"We're going to need some toilet paper," Sensei said, grappling a roll of TP from his desk that had originally escaped everyone's notice. I too was curious to see how a game could be made with something as odd as toilet paper.
"I'm going to pass this around," he told us, "and you can take as many squares as you want. Just make sure you leave enough for the rest of the class."
The TP was passed around, and each kid took about three pieces each. There were a few daredevils who got more, and some others who only took one. The pattern was completely disregarded by Naruto, who promptly grabbed half the role. I saw Iruka shake his head in the corner of my eye. Oddly enough, I thought I noticed a glare as well, but it was concealed so quickly I thought it may have been my imagination.
I got two squares, setting them out on the desk in front of me.
"Everybody has some?" Iruka asked us, glancing about the room. "Good."
"Now, we'll start at the front with Kiba and make our way around. For each square, you'll say one thing about yourself."
As the other kids went, I thought about what I would say. I didn't want it to be something useless, like my favorite color or something. I wanted it to be something meaningful, like what I wanted to do as a ninja, how I wanted to spend my life.
Naruto, instead of being overwhelmed by the sheer amount he had, was just smiling along, ticking off one after another as he went down the line. He seemed to have everything figured out, and I frowned as I realized I was having trouble with just two.
It was nearing the end of the line, and as I Naruto got up, I hurried to put my scrambled thoughts together into some sort of order. Naruto was absolutely rushing through his, doing five in a second, and before I knew it, it was my turn.
I stood up, feeling a rush of fear as the eyes of every person in the room settled on me.
"My name is Yushido Tsubaki," I announced, my fingers twisting the edges of my shirt nervously. I hadn't thought of what I was going to say, and I stood there awkwardly for a minute. I felt like that little girl who had introduced herself as Hinata, too timid to do anything other than stutter and quickly sit back down. I had to think of something quick, but I wasn't sure what.
"I want to be a good shinobi, and make at least chunin rank. My parents are civilians, and I was sponsored by Yamanaka Inoichi for the academy." That was ok, right? I'd said two things, and they were both about me. That should be enough.
I quickly sat back down, ready to move on to the next activity. Naruto gave me two big thumbs ups before Iruka started speaking again.
"Good to meet all of you! I'm sure we'll all have a great time learning together, and that you all will pass with flying colors." I highly doubted that, seeing as how only about nine genin actually graduated each year.
"The next part of our day will be a quick paper assessment to see how much you know. Don't worry, it's not for an actual grade. We just want to see where you are when you start."
That was fair, I conceded. I was a bit scared about it though, since I knew I would be near the end of the list.
"The outside assessment will be after lunch. Out there we'll see your technique with your kunai, shuriken, and chakra, as well as your physical capability," Sensei continued. There I knew I was probably going to be last. It didn't stop me from wishing that it weren't so.
Sensei set about passing out the papers, weaving in between the desks to get to every seat. I was the last to receive mine, since I was sitting in the back of the room. I flipped it over to the front the minute I got it, pulling out one of the two pencils I had brought with me that morning.
It really wasn't anywhere near as hard as I had thought it was going to be. It was really just a bunch of common sense questions. One of them actually asked what three plus nine was.
I finished the test within ten minutes, and that was just because of the sheer size of the packet. Naruto was close to finishing the packet as well, and grinned when he saw me looking over at him. I wasn't sure how much time we had to complete the assessment, but I figured it would probably be a long time before we did something else. Sensei had said that we would go straight to lunch when we were done after all.
Naruto's hand shot up the minute he finished writing, and Iruka's face twitched as he saw it. Again, I was confused by our teacher's annoyance with the boy, since he never really did anything too bad.
"Sensei, me and Tsubaki-chan finished early, and we really need to use the bathroom. Can we go?"
I hid my shock at Naruto's blatant lie, but otherwise didn't say anything. I didn't want to get into trouble on my first day, but I didn't want Naruto to either. I figured he just didn't want to go to the restroom alone.
"Fine, just try to be back in a couple minutes," Iruka sighed.
"Thanks Sensei! Come on Tsubaki!"
We both got out of our chairs, and Naruto raced over to the door before me so he could hold it open. I smiled at him in thanks and made my way into the hallway, Naruto following right behind me.
"You're really smart Tsubaki-chan! You finished that test before I did, and I learned all that stuff last year." He told me, a grin spread out across his face.
"You learned this last year? I thought you were the same age as me? Did you fail?" I asked him. I couldn't think of any other explanation as to how he could have learned the stuff, since he told me he was an orphan.
"Yea, I kinda did," he said, rubbing the back of his head, "but that just means I've got a head start on everyone here! Jiji helped get me signed up a year early, so I'm totally gonna be the best!"
We were walking randomly down the hallway, and there wasn't anyone else but is out of class. There were blank boards on the sides of the walls that would soon be filled with different papers by teachers. When I had thought of the academy, I had imagined it as a sort of military camp, not a normal classroom that taught you basic kindergarten skills along with shinobi skills. It was a bit of a relief.
"I didn't know you had a grandfather. Does he help you with your homework?" I asked.
"The old man isn't really my grandpa, but he may as well be. Sometimes he'll help, but he usually doesn't have enough time. He has actual mountains of paperwork he needs to get done." I giggled as I thought I of an old man writing out paper after paper.
"Do you know how to hold kunai and everything too?"
"You bet! Jiji got me my first set of ninja gear, and he even taught me how to hold them. Iruka-senei taught me how to throw them last year."
"That's really cool," I told him, and I meant it. Being a year ahead of everyone else would be a huge advantage, and I wondered just how far ahead Naruto was compared to all of us.
"Do you think you could help me?" I asked him nervously. "I've never really done this before, and I really don't want to be dead last on the outdoor assessment."
"Of course!" His big blue eyes were shining. "I can teach you right now if you want! Or maybe during lunch and recess, since Sensei will know somethings up if we stay out here too long."
"I'm pretty sure he already knows we aren't really going to the bathroom," I told him, my mouth quirking up in one corner.
"Ne, Tsubaki-chan, whattya mean? I did that perfectly! There's no way Sensei could've known!"
"Naruto, you may be a year ahead of everyone else, but you really need to work on your lying. Everyone knew we were just going outside to talk."
"Really!?"
—
"Alrighty! I want you to pass your papers in even if you haven't finished them yet. People at the end, I need you to make sure that everyone's names are on their paper, then we can all go to lunch."
Everyone shuffled their papers over to the people at the end of their row, eager to get out of the room they had been sitting in for two hours. I nearly shoved my paper in Naruto's face in my hurry to get out of the class. I had thought the test was going to take a while, but two hours was just too much for me to handle. Naruto had had to take four more "bathroom breaks" just to survive the boredom.
All the children filed out the door in a hurry, nearly running down the halls to get to the playground outside. Iruka walked through the middle of the swarm, trying to bring some sort of order to the hyper kids.
At first I tried to walk down the hall normally, but then Naruto grabbed my arm, and we ran to the front of the hoard. I laughed as we raced out into the open air, my lunchbox in hand. Naruto immediately led us over to where the practice targets were. I was momentarily surprised that he had remembered to help me.
"Alright Tsubaki-chan! Here's how you hold it," he said, pulling one of his kunai out and demonstrating for me. They weren't the fake wooden ones that Aunt Miyu had given me, but real metal kunai, albeit blunted.
"Alright," I said, taking the kunai he had proffered, and trying to copy the way he was holding his. My hand closed around the pommel, and it felt comfortable in my grasp, instead of the awkward position I was expecting.
"Great! Now here's how you throw it." He wasn't really telling me how to position it, but that was ok, since I learned best by demonstration. I watched the flick of his wrist as he released the weapon at a straight ninety degree angle, and heard the solid thunk as the kunai struck the middle ring on the target.
My brows crinkled as I attempted to copy his movements. I swung my arm out, and threw the kunai in what I thought was a straight line. The weapon flew right past the target, and I frowned at the failure.
"Hey, that was really good for a first time!" Naruto told me. "It took me three hours to get even that close when I first tried." I smiled over at him, thankful for his attempt to cheer me up.
I went and picked up the kunai, then got into position again. The process repeated itself all through lunch, and I switched to shuriken when recess 'officially' started. Before I knew it, Iruka was calling us all over to start the next part of our day.
"Alright guys, you remember the physical test I said I would be giving you? That's going to start now. And it's probably a lot simpler than you're thinking. I'm not going to measure how strong your punches are anything silly like that. Instead," everyone shuffled a little closer, "you all are going to run around that track until you drop."
Everyone groaned while Sensei smiled at us, but I wasn't too upset. I'd done that quite a few times over the past year, since I knew that endurance was one of the few things I could actually work on being good at. We were all led over to the track, and the lanes were shared between two people, since we were small enough to do that. Iruka blew a whistle, and we all took off.
Some kids broke into a sprint right off, while others, mostly the civilians, though I did notice one or two clan kids, just bounced on their feet as they walked. I took off at a pace that was somewhere in between. I knew that the purpose of the test was to see how far you could go, but I also knew that they didn't want some half effort. So I went around and around the track, keeping up a light jog the entire time.
I was on my ninth lap when the first kid fell over. Of course, the chubby clan kid had stopped after about the first three, and another one with spiky hair, whom I assumed was a Nara, walked off with him, but that was because they just refused to do anymore. The girl was named Chihiro, and she was a civilian, if I recalled her introduction correctly. She had fallen flat on her belly, and was breathing in great big gulps.
Nobody came over to help her up or get her out of the way, and I glanced down in sympathy at her crumpled form. Another kid dropped down a couple laps later, and then another. Soon it was just me, Naruto, and the clan kids.
Naruto was somehow at the very front. He looked like he was going so far as to even race an Inuzuka. And the thing was, he was winning. He kept yelling out jibe after jibe, and the boy and his wolf pup couldn't do anything but keep falling farther and farther behind. It was almost as if my new hyperactive friend had an unlimited amount of stamina.
I was almost gasping when the first clan kid fell over. It was Hinata, the shy little girl who had stuttered over her introduction. Her face was red and she was clutching her side as she sat there on the track, somehow forcing herself into a sitting position. I gave her a small nod as I passed her, but she was too out of breath to respond.
Ino fell soon after, her face an even deeper red than the Hyuga's. I couldn't see her very well since I was on the opposite side of the track, but I was pretty sure she was glaring. I couldn't see why though, since she had already done so good. She just didn't pace herself as much as she should have.
All to soon, my legs began to tremble, and I could feel myself start to fall. My pace hadn't ever slowed, but my insides were burning, and my pent up energy from the test had all leaked away a long time ago. I was about to fall to my knees when Naruto ran up behind me. I wasn't sure what lap he was on, I had stopped counting his once I got near twenty nine.
"You got this Tsubaki-chan! We're gonna be the best, remember? You can't give up now!" He gave me a thumbs up before racing ahead, making sure of his lead on the little Inuzuka boy. I shook my head at his antics, but kept going. His words seemed to have instilled some sort of energy in me, and I found that I was able to keep going.
But not for long, I had only gone two more laps when I felt the awful weight of exhaustion settle on me once more. And with it came paranoia. I could feel all the other kid's eyes on me, staring at me, waiting for me to fail. Waiting for me to fall over and be just another stupid civilian kid who had had the audacity to think that they were good enough to be a ninja.
I growled as I thought of all the stupid, mean things things that I knew they were thinking. I knew they were just waiting for me to fall, to prove that I was the silly prey the predators had all thought I was. My eyes narrowed, and the strange energy I had coursing through me expanded as I felt conviction run through me.
I wasn't going to prove them right. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of watching me fail. New strength flowed through me, and I picked up my pace easily. Soon I had caught up to the other kids still on the course, even going so far as to pass a couple of them.
I went on for another half hour, and I could feel the angry energy swirling around me, keeping me from stopping. There were only four of us left now. Naruto, the Inuzuka boy, a raven haired kid, and myself.
At first I had disregarded the black haired boy, but quickly realized my mistake as he easily overtook the Inuzuka boy. He had just been holding out the entire time, waiting for all the others to grow tired, then come out on top. But he still couldn't catch up to Naruto.
Naruto was just really something else. He was laughing as he went lap after lap, never stopping, not even faltering in his rhythm. He passed me on more than one occasion, and each time he did we gave each other a quick high five.
I wasn't really sure why I hadn't dropped out yet, but I wasn't complaining. I watched the others run around and around in circles, my resolve never once wavering. I knew that it was a competition now, a fight to see who would be the first to give out, and I wasn't going to give up easily.
I wasn't sure how many laps we had gone before the Inuzuka boy fell over. He just flopped down, his entire body shuddering as he struggled to breathe. I didn't even spare him a glance as I passed him. I just kept going, falling into the steady pace I had started, feeling content and safe in the pattern.
Naruto and the black haired boy were ahead of me, and I knew it would take a miracle for me to make my way up to them. I could feel my entire body clenching as I continued to make my way around the track. I ground my teeth together, and tried to keep going. Naruto seemed to have noticed my diminishing energy, and fell back, looking at me with worry. I gave him a feeble smile, but it soon fell.
It took me a couple seconds before I realized he had linked his arm with mine, and that we were running in step together. He was practically dragging me along by then, but we were still keeping the same pace that I had managed before. We continued on, and at one point I think my entire body was leaning against his.
I collapsed. I just couldn't keep going. I fell over, curling into a fetal position on the ground, shivering and whimpering quietly. I felt more than saw Naruto fall to the ground beside me, and I forced my eyes open to see why. He flashed me a brief smile, and I let out a strangled laugh.
The black haired boy managed five more laps before he too collapsed.
"Good job everyone," Sensei called out.
"You all know this isn't for a grade, but I'm pretty sure you want to know how many laps you ran anyway. I've got a list if you want me to tell you," he invited. "but you have to promise that you won't lord anything over anyone else."
The children that had all dropped out earlier met him with a semi-loud reply, while those of us who had pushed ourselves to our limits, and quite possibly over, merely lay there where we had first fallen on the track.
Sensei started listing out the numbers. I wasn't even surprised that the two kids with the lowest numbers were a Nara and an Akimichi. I was surprised when the person who had come in third was called out. It was the black haired boy, Sasuke Uchiha, who had come in third. Apparently he'd lost quite a few laps to me and Naruto when he'd been saving his energy in the beginning. He'd managed to get sixty two laps.
I came in second place, having completed seventy one laps around the track. I was too dead to do anything except lay there, though Naruto made up for both of us as his name was announced in the first place slot. He had run around the accursed track a hundred times.
I watched him bounce up and down as he shouted, wondering just how the tiny boy had achieved such a lofty thing, and then given up on purpose. He knelt down beside me, and before my tired body could do anything, I was being dragged to my feet.
"Come on Tsubaki-chan! We gotta show off how awesome we are some more!"
Iruka and the class had already made their way over to the practice targets that Naruto and I had used during lunch. I made my way over, feeling like I was walking through mud the entire time. Naruto had to actually keep my arm over his shoulders just to keep me upright. Thankfully, he didn't seem to care.
"Ok, now that we've gotten a good measure of your endurance, we need to see how your aim looks," Iruka announced. I had plopped onto the ground, and was looking up at him wearily as he spoke.
"If you don't know how to hold a kunai or shuriken, then please let me know, so that no one ends up hurt. And if you don't let me know, I'll be able to tell anyway, so it's in your best interest to just tell me in the beginning, okay?" His cheerful tone didn't sound threatening, but his body language was saying something else entirely. I wasn't sure what the consequences of lying would be, but I couldn't bring myself to care in that moment. I would be fine anyways, since Naruto had given me a quick lesson during lunch/recess.
I felt an odd sensation between my shoulder blades, and turned to see Sasuke glaring at my back. I glared back at him, thinking of how stupid Uchiha were. They were too self entitled and arrogant to think of anything as lowly as common courtesy. And here I had been thinking it was just the two guards at the gate that were like that.
Iruka was calling us up one by one to the targets, and I redirected my attention to the people currently holding the sharp pointy things that would most certainly hurt if they came my way. I could still feel his glare, but was able to ignore it better when I was focusing on something else.
We were being called up in alphabetical order, so Sasuke went before me and Naruto. I had to force my jaw to not drop as he made near-perfect bulls eyes with each throw. He walked back over to his original spot when he was done, a smirk settled upon his face. If that smirk weren't coming from a jerk and being directed at me and my friend I would have been tempted to call it cute, but as it was I was merely annoyed.
Naruto went up, and I cheered for him as best I could. I was normally a quiet and reserved person, but that kid had done a lot for me, and I wanted to stand up for him as best I could. He didn't do as good as Sasuke, but he was still higher up on the list. He walked back with a proud grin on his face. He paused to glare over at Sasuke, before the expression was plastered back onto his face, and he sat down beside me. I was called up after Ino, and I felt butterflies make their way into my chest for what felt like the umpteenth time that day.
I stepped up to the black square on the ground, staying in the middle of it. Iruka handed me a shuriken first, and I had to think a minute before my hand found the right way to grip it. I tried to even out my shuddering breathing to no avail, before taking up the stance Naruto had taught me. Holding my arm off to the side, I brought it around, letting the shuriken slip out from between my fingers.
It didn't fly right past the target, and for that I was grateful. It had landed on the third ring, and I smiled at the tiny success. I hadn't been able to put much speed behind my throw, since my body was still recovering from my run, but it stuck nonetheless. All in all, it was much better than what I had been expecting. And then I was handed another one.
I kept repeating the process, all but two of the projectiles sticking to the target. Two shuriken and one kunai we're sticking out of the target by the time I was done. One of the shuriken was barely in the second ring, but there nonetheless, and I was proud to not be at the bottom of the list here. I wasn't as good as the clan kids, but I'd managed to trump over all the civilian children, which was the best I could have hoped for.
Naruto and I first bumped when our names were called out by Iruka, him in fifth place and me in ninth. Most of the civilian children hadn't even participated, and of the three that tried, two had no clue what they were doing, and were immediately sent inside by Iruka-sensei.
"All your scores are really impressive," he told us, smiling at everyone, and yet I could feel him pointedly not looking in mine, or more specifically Naruto's, direction.
"You all should be really proud. You've proven to me that you have the ability to be great shinobi, and some of you are already a bit above your peers in skill. There's only one last thing we need to see before I can send you all home. I need to see how good you are at meditating and reaching your chakra. Then we'll all go back inside, get our stuff, and everyone can go home." My body sagged as I let out a huge sigh of relief. It was almost over.
We were led over to a small section of forest at the edge of the playground/training ground. I didn't question why it was there, since there were many other forests just like scattered throughout other training grounds in the village. I'd heard of one that was a full lake, and another that was actually nicknamed the Forest of Death.
"You all should already know what to do," Sensei told us as we all settled into a comfortable position. "If you don't, don't fret, you'll know how to by the end of the year," hopefully, I added silently in my head.
I slowed my breathing, trying my best to act like I was going to sleep, which didn't take a lot of work. My run had really taken everything I had, and I was struggling not to actually get lost in dreams. I shook my head to get myself out of the reverie, before I settled back into my original position.
I really didn't want to put much effort into it this time, I really just wanted to go home and die on top of my bed. I focused on my mindscape, trying to find my chakra and be done with this as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the mysterious annoying crap didn't want to show up, and I was stuck looking at a bunch of black.
Why wouldn't this stuff just work? It never really did anything when I actually needed it to, and I was really starting to get mad at it, and myself. I saw a brief flicker of orange before it darted back out of view, and I wanted to hit something. It shows up for two seconds, and then just leaves?
Nuh uh, no way am I gonna let you do that.
I breathed in a big, deep breath, and then reached out into the black, forcing the chakra to show itself. I struck out farther and farther, searching for the elusive color.
It seemed that the harder I tried to reach it, the farther it tried to get away from me. I could feel the flow receding, and I scowled as it tried to get away from me. It would have to hit a wall eventually, and when it did, I would be there to grab it.
But that wall never appeared. I kept going on, and so did the chakra, like it was just taunting me with its existence. I was just about to give up when I felt the chakra reach out and engulf me.
My eyes flew open as I gasped out in surprise. Everything looked like it was in HD colors, and my every sense had been kicked up a couple of hyperactive notches. It was too much to handle at once, and I quickly screwed my eyes shut again, waiting for the world to go back to normal. I curled up a little as I waited for my head to stop spinning.
"Ok," I heard Sensei breath out, "looks like we're out of time. Let's all head back inside, and then we can get ready to go." I noticed that he didn't read off a list as to who was able to access their chakra, and I didn't have to ask why. No one had succeeded.
I cautiously opened my eyes to a normal world, one that wasn't filled with neon colors in every direction, and uncurled myself form the hunched form I had acquired. Naruto was immediately by my side, and he and I walked back inside together.
I sagged down into my seat the minute we were back in the classroom. The bell rang to dismiss everyone, and I headed outside while everyone else got their stuff together. I gave a quick goodbye to Iruka-sensei, who oddly enough didn't return it, and then I was on my way outside. My mom was at work, and my dad was sleeping since he worked night shift, so I was going to be walking home by myself.
I had just stepped out the door when I accidentally ran into someone.
"Sorry!" I hurriedly apologized.
"It's quite alright," the boy said. Something about his black hair seemed familiar, and then it hit me.
"You're Sasuke Uchiha's brother," I stated, and it came across as an almost accusation.
"That I am," he agreed, and I got the sense he was amused. "I suppose my foolish little brother has already managed to leave an impression of himself?"
"You could say that. I don't think he likes me all that much," I informed him. I didn't want to deal with Sasuke's attitude all year, and I figured his family would be the people to go to about it, so I felt absolutely no guilt from my snitch.
"And why's that?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.
"Because I beat him during our endurance assessment. I caught him glaring at me earlier, and found it a bit annoying."
"That sounds about right," the boy agreed, "Sasuke hates to lose at anything. He's a very competitive spirit." I nodded in agreement with him.
"My name is Yushido Tsubaki, by the way. Just in case you ever need me to do anything for you," I told him. I still wasn't over my whole 'crusade' against the Uchiha Clan, but this kid seemed like a nice guy, and I didn't want to hate him.
"Pleasure to meet you Tsubaki-chan. My name is Uchiha Itachi, and you can call upon me for a favor at any given time. I'm usually quite busy with work though, so it may be awhile before I'm able to respond."
"I'll be sure to remember, thank you." At that moment Sasuke walked out, his entire face seeming to light up when he saw his brother.
"Nii-san! I thought you were going to be on another mission today."
"I was hardly going to miss the chance to pick up my otouto on his first day of school," Itachi replied to him, lightly poking him on the head. I shook my head at the two brothers' antics, then turned to begin my walk home. I had only gone about ten steps when Naruto suddenly appeared on my right.
"Hiya Tsubaki-chan! Do you wanna go get ramen with me? I know this super awesome place called Ichiraku's. Old man Teuchi makes the best ramen in the entire world! His daughter Ayame is super nice too, and I'm sure you'd like it. Will you come, pretty please?"
I had been planning on telling him that I needed to get home, which was true, because my parents would be wanting to know what we'd done. That, and I felt like I was going to drop dead any second. Then he'd turned the puppy eyes on me, and I felt my resolve crumble away.
"Alright, one bowl, and then I have to get home," I told him.
"Yes!" Naruto jumped up and down, "It's the best ever, I promise!"
—
Naruto hadn't lied, this was the best ramen I had ever tasted. I slurped up another mouthful of the noodles, reveling in the absolute good of their taste.
"So how was your first day at school Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked the boy.
"It was awesome! I did way better than anyone else their, except for Tsubaki-chan and this Teme named Sasuke."
"Good to hear," she said, laughing.
"It's reassuring to know that our future Hokage is top of his class."
"So your name's Tsubaki, huh?" She said, turning to me while Naruto continued to vacuum up his noodles, "Nice to meet you."
I swallowed the rest of the noodles in my mouth before answering, "Likewise."
"I take it you like ramen too?"
"I'm now officially in love."
Ayame laughed as an older man, whom I assumed was her father Teuchi, came out of the back of the shop. His smile widened when his eyes fell upon Naruto.
"Naruto my boy, you haven't been here in ages! And here I'd been thinking I'd lost you to another ramen stand," the elder man said, his tone a mocking serious.
"No way old man!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes alight with horror, "Your ramen's the best in the world, no one could ever replace it!"
"You need to come back more often. You're one of the main reasons we're able to stay in business. Plus it's good to see you. We can always count on you for a good laugh." I flashed an amused look at no one in particular at their friendly antics, draining the empty broth from my bowl.
"I'm sure we've heard enough about Naruto-kun's day for now," Teuchi chuckled. "How about you Tsubaki-chan? Did your first day go well?"
"It was a very good start," I told them. I then launched into a brief description of my day, going nowhere near as into detail as Naruto had. Even so, they listened as I recounted what had happened, asking questions every once in a while. It was kinda nice, being able to have people who would listen and pay attention to you, especially when you were just six years old.
Naruto finished his third bowl, then we both left. Naruto hugged the two ramen chefs bye, while I waved as we walked out the door. His apartment was on the way to my house, so we walked home together, Naruto talking animatedly all the way.
He gave me a hesitant hug when we got to my house, and I returned it. He left with a quick and cheerful, "see you tomorrow", and I headed inside.
I went through the usual night time routine, getting supper, talking to my family, and getting a bath, before crawling into my bed. I had barely closed my eyes before sleep enveloped me, dragging me into its realm of dreams.