D: I do not own any Naruto copyrights.

It was on my second day at the Academy that I figured out something rather important; it was then that I (finally) discovered where in the timeline I had landed.

To be honest, what I discovered was in no way what I had been expecting.

It happened during lunch break, when me and Akio (the boy had yet to leave me alone) were eating our bentos. I was peacefully munching on my rice with chopsticks that had taken a good portion of my childhood to master; when suddenly a loud 'KAORI-CHAN!' was screamed across the courtyard.

I barely had time to look up before a blond blur slammed straight into me. Imagine Akio's surprise when we (powered by momentum) kept on going until we had crashed into him as well.

As Akio had been taking a sip of juice at the time, all three of us wound up drenched with the stuff when we finally ground to a halt. The two of us (as in Akio and me) shook off the orange liquid with identical expressions of disgust; looks we soon shot at the blond boy before us, as he had burst out laughing.

I recognized our attacker and my nasty look instantly disappeared; replaced by a good natured eye roll. It was Naruto; a grinning, laughing Naruto that looked a lot more the boy he should be than the boy he had been in the park. He didn't look angry, alone, or sad anymore; only bright and smiling. It made me curious as to what had made him change.

"Sorry about that." Naruto chuckled as he rubbed a sheepish hand through his hair. "Iruka sensei caught me painting the bathroom mirror." The boy chuckled again before another grin lit up his face. He didn't elaborate as to why he was running; but he didn't really have to. Iruka had been infamous for getting after Naruto's pranks in the series; there was no reason for that to change now.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before both Akio and I watched a very pissed off Iruka run into view; screaming Naruto's name as he (and Naruto looked rather relieved at this) passed us by.

I rolled my eyes again, (I was just beginning to remember who Naruto had been in his academy days) and opened my mouth to tell him it was fine. Akio however, decided it was best to cut me off. As he probably thought Naruto was a stranger to me (even though the kid had screamed my name); I doubt he expected me to be able to speak at all.

"Go away," The clan boy hissed, moving to stand in front of me. "We don't want someone like you here." At first his tone confused me (it sounded far too nasty to use on someone you just met); and then I remembered something.

Before he became a genin; Naruto had been hated by everyone. Suddenly I recalled how ecstatic the kid had been when I had announced myself his friend.

Had I really been the first person to ever show him kindness?

My confused look vanished as I looked at Akio's back with a furious scowl; hating to think that such a nasty thing would apply to him as well. What had Naruto ever done to him? It wasn't like having the Kyuubi made him the monster. Couldn't Akio see how his words had all but ripped the happiness from Naruto's face?

My fists clenched tightly as I shoved Akio out of the way; I didn't even care that the other boy's look of fury had transformed into one of hurt.

Positioning myself directly between the two boys; I shot Akio a vicious glare.

He made me sick.

"What do you have against Naruto?" I demanded hotly, extremely conscious of the blonde's awed eyes on me. "He's my friend and I won't let you be mean to him. I thought you didn't like bullies; way to prove it."

"But. . ." Akio started only to stop and bite his lip at my glare. He looked shocked beyond words; something that wasn't too surprising if you considered how shy I had been around him until now.

To him, seeing me like this was probably something like seeing the Hokage in a tutu. It (as far as I knew anyway) just didn't happen.

"He's a kid just like the rest of us." I stated firmly, my eyes daring him to disagree with me. "Get to know him before you decide you don't like him."

Hanging his head in shame; I watched skeptically (ready to step in if he was mean to Naruto again) as my self-proclaimed friend stepped around me. After a very deep breath, Akio stuck out his hand.

"I'm sorry." He said as Naruto cautiously shook his offered hand (the poor guy's eyes were practically bulging out of his head) "I don't know you and it was stupid of me to judge you."

I beamed as Naruto muttered a quiet acceptance of Akio's apology; returning instantaneously to the boy I had met in the park. I felt (though it makes me feel old to say it) proud of Akio.

I mean, this kid was five for Pete's sake; never in my wildest dreams had I expected him to be this mature. Then again, in this world kids grew up fast; we were expected to be trained killers by 12.

Was this maturity normal here? I looked at Naruto as he and Akio struck up a (very tentative and awkward) conversation.

He wasn't any more mature than a kid would have been in my old world (not that I would have been the best judge of that) but maybe he was expected to be; as, from what I knew anyway, he had been given an apartment before he graduated.

Come to think of it, when did Naruto graduate? Had he already started trying? Was he in the same year as the other rookie nine yet? Or maybe he was in their year every year (the series had never had much to say about how the academy worked); had he just tried to take the graduation exam before everyone else?

I looked at the blond curiously, scratching my head as I did so. When he looked up (he had probably felt me staring at him) I piped up and voiced my questions.

"Naruto, what year are you in?" I asked innocently, "You said you started already but you never said when."

"Oh, I um. . ." Naruto started, suddenly coming across as a bit nervous. "I started last year. I just turned 6."

I pondered that for a moment; if I was a year younger than him than I would be either older or younger (depending on how the Academy system worked) than the other genin in the series. After a few seconds, I fired a new question.

"Hey Naruto, do you have any friends in your year?"

A frown fell upon Naruto's face as I waited anxiously for his reply. This was the moment (or at least close to the moment) where I finally figured out where in the timeline I was. I really, really hoped I wasn't younger than all the main genin; I would hate to have to miss half the plot because I hadn't even graduated yet.

"No one likes me," Naruto stated sadly, though he continued before I could comfort him. "Sometimes Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru will skip class with me though." In an action that I was beginning to learn meant he was embarrassed; Naruto ran his hand through his hair.

I almost groaned, not at the gesture, but at what his information meant for me. I, Kaori Maito, was exactly 1 year younger than Naruto and the rest of the rookie nine.

Great, just great, I wouldn't even graduate until after the Sasuke arch; and even then I'd be doing D-ranks for months.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

After that, my days in the Academy began to fall into a steady routine. In the mornings that he wasn't on missions, I would train with Gai (a man who was constantly coming up with new cruel and unusual exercises) and then head back home for breakfast. We'd walk together to the Academy while I'd listen to him chatter about 'youthfulness' and 'power'. Occasionally he'd stop to challenge Kakashi (this was actually a rather common thing with him) but eventually we'd end up at the Academy gates and he's say goodbye.

On the day's Gai was away on missions, my days usually ended up a bit differently. I'd still train in the morning (though not nearly as hard) and I still went home to shower and such, but I could never really find it in me to eat alone. It just reminded me of the hospital days to much for my own good; reminded me of how it felt to eat nasty hospital dinners alone in a sterile bed because my mother was working, paying off my bill.

So I asked Naruto if I could join him for his breakfast (he was ecstatic) and ended up finding out first hand just how good Ichiraku's really was. Let's just say that, if you wanted to find out what heaven in food form tasted like, you went to Ichiraku's.

In class, I would like to say that I was a model student and excelled in everything; but unfortunately, that's not quite true. It was the writing and reading that really got to me; as it had never really occurred to me before just how bad I was at these things.

Japanese had never been my first language (and it wasn't like Junko would have bothered) so I never quite got the early start on reading and writing that I should have. I did learn to read eventually around the time I turned 4; though that was mainly through studying Gai's only book.

This, ironically enough; was a Taijutsu handbook.

Suffice to say that learning to read from such a book stunted my vocabulary quite a bit. Thankfully by the time I had failed my (third) written test; Mizuki-sensei caved into giving me private lessons and I began to improve at a more normal rate.

Unfortunately, this was only one of my problems.

On the first day bullies had been quite the problem for me (mainly because I couldn't actually speak around them); and, for the first month or so, a lot of them continued to tease me. The main antagonist was the boy with black braids from the first day; his name was Chiyoki Katsu, and he was the bane of my existence.

The boy was mean, spiteful, and ruthless; which, combined with a knack of knowing where I was, made him irritating very quickly.

In the first few months, Katsu would gather hoards of school children to ambush me almost daily. No matter how many times Akio would defend me or Naruto would prank them; they were always there. It would have gotten quite unbearable if it wasn't for one important detail; and that detail was Taijutsu.

Ah Taijutsu class; I guess they just didn't know what to do when they figured out how easily their victim could beat them up.

Gai hadn't trained me since I was two for me to be the worst in the class after all. It only took me once to figure out that I was far from a disappointment.

I wasn't the worst, not by a long shot; in fact, I was the best.

In Taijutsu class I didn't have to speak, nor did I have to figure out ways to make the other kids like me. All I had to do was beat down my opponent, wait, and then beat down the next one; never once did I (though everyone else seemed to enjoy shouting insults) speak aloud. After countless battles where I was the victor; not only did the bullies back off, but I developed quite the reputation as well.

I think the English translation was: 'silent but deadly'. I liked it.

Katsu was the only one who didn't back down after my Taijutsu prowess became known (turns out he was somewhat of a natural himself); though for some reason he did stop teasing me. Instead he would pop up wherever my little group had situated themselves and try to induct himself into our conversation.

Akio and Naruto never hesitated to chase him off of course; but I couldn't help to wonder why he had suddenly become so persistent.

Eventually my first year came and went; and Akio and I entered our second year along with everybody else.

Apparently this was the year that we started something that proved to be rather interesting (not to mention something I'd all but forgotten about); we began our chakra classes.

I was pretty average at this, no better or worse than any of the other kids. I had a chakra system and could (after quite a bit of concentration) tap into it, but I was in no means extraordinary. In some ways my mediocrity disappointed me; I guess I had just been hoping that my unusual circumstances would give me a bit of an edge.

Not to mention that Akio of all people was declared a chakra prodigy (something to do with his clan); and Mizuki sensei never failed to praise him for it. I'll admit it, I was insanely jealous.

Come on, how unfair was it that I, the inter-dimensional traveler, was only average at the most important thing of being a ninja?

I never voiced it to Akio of course; he was my only friend in my year after all. I didn't want to risk our friendship over something so stupid. That didn't necessarily mean he didn't guess though; in fact I wasn't all too surprised he did.

If there was one thing I wasn't good at; it was hiding my thoughts when something bugged me.

Akio didn't actually confront me until the end of the year; but I'm guessing he figured it out quite a while before then.

It was one of those days that Gai was away on a mission; so I was helping Naruto study for his first final exams in one of the Academy training grounds. It wasn't like I was much help (I was younger than Naruto) or that I really expected him to pass, but that didn't stop me from trying to make the kid as ready for this as he could possibly be.

Akio approached us when we were half-way through kunai practice; so when he tapped me on the shoulder (not too smart to startle an armed 6-year-old) I almost sent one straight though him.

"Oh! Sorry!" I called as Akio pulled a split-second replacement jutsu, pushing down the familiar sting of jealousy as I ran over to my friend. "I didn't hurt you, did I? I'm so sorr-"

"Kaori!" Akio cut me off, sending me an 'I'm fine' gesture with his hands as he began to chuckle. "You didn't kill me, alright. You didn't even hurt me."

"Yeah!" Naruto cried enthusiastically as he too ran over to us. "Did you see that replacement jutsu? Oh man I'm so jealous! I wish I could do that!"

At the mention of Akio's feat of chakra genius, I scowled slightly; something that both Naruto and Akio (we weren't trained to be ninjas for nothing) noticed immediately.

While Naruto looked confused; Akio sighed and frowned to himself. That was the moment when I realized that he knew; that my jealousy hadn't been quite as subtle as I had imagined.

Ashamed, I hung my head. "Sorry." I mumbled; this time in no way referring to the kunai incident.

Rather than answer me, Akio walked to his replacement log and wrestled my kunai free; after a moment's pause, he handed it to Naruto.

"Why don't you just keep practicing Naruto?" Akio suggested with an amiable smile. "I'm going to have to steal Kaori-chan for a bit."

I bit my lip when Naruto cheerfully agreed. Why did I feel like I was in for a scolding here? Only when Naruto had trotted back over to the training dummies did Akio finally turn back to me. His first words were a statement, not a question.

"You're jealous of me."

I looked down at my shoes, suddenly feel the shyness (that hadn't been present around Akio for nearly two years) rear its ugly head. Rather than reply verbally; I nodded instead.

Akio sighed. "And you're jealous that I'm good with chakra?"

I nodded again; Akio sighed again. Inwardly I braced myself, fully expecting to get the full force of his anger. I expected his next words to end our friendship forever; instead, I was surprised.

"Well, that's stupid."

My head shot up instantly; I was shocked. I had just spent the better part of the year in petty jealousy; all he could say was that he thought I was being stupid? I blinked, and then I began to laugh. It was such an Akio thing to say that I don't even know why I hadn't considered it before.

"I guess it is, isn't it?" I got out after my laughter had died down and my voice had returned. "I guess I just thought it was unfair that you were so good at something useful."

"Useful." Akio repeated, sounding a bit dumbfounded. "You have beaten every person in our class to a pulp. . . and you think controlling chakra is more useful?" He sounded incredulous, like he thought my brain was missing a few screws.

"Well yeah." I replied with a pout (I didn't quite like what his tone was implying), crossing my arms. "All I can do is beat people up; you can blow them up. Plus I'm not exactly a natural; my dad has basically raised me in Taijutsu. I've been training since I was two."

Suddenly Akio burst into his own fit of laughter (he was practically bent over double); and his reply came out in the gaps between his uncontrollable chuckles. "You thought I was a natural?"

There was a long moment (with me scowling all the while) where he kept laughing; it was nearly ten minutes before he finally quieted down.

I shot him a half-meaningful glare. "Are you saying that you're not?" This was the boy that already knew jutsu that were not taught in school after all; there was no way that he wasn't a prodigy.

"Oh course I'm not!" He cried with a sort of wheezy voice. "My clan specializes in the manipulation of chakra, I've been drilled in it since before I could walk."

I pondered that for a moment; still finding what he was saying hard to believe. Even if it was in his blood then that didn't mean he wasn't a prodigy. Hinata hadn't been the best at her clan trait after all. Akio being so good just meant that he was even more of a natural then I had originally thought.

"It takes more than years of training to get that good." I told him sternly, voicing my thoughts. "If that was all it took, then everyone in your clan would be as good as you are."

For some reason (and this instantly made me very suspicious) this made Akio grin. "Well if that's the case," he told me, "Then that makes you just as much a prodigy as I am."

I scoffed. How ridiculous. Me? A prodigy? Pssh, like that would ever happen.