Chapter 6.

Leaving the academy, I wasn't surprised to find Obaa-san there, gazing at me, she offered her hand, a wordless demand that I happily complied with.

"How was your first day?" Glancing up, my eyes widened slightly, I knew she'd been disapproving, but she seemed like the person to make it well-known of her ire.

"... it was alright," my voice was hesitant, certain that she would be having words with me at a later date.

"Good, that's good,"

The rest of the walk to the clan compound was filled with a tense silence.

When we'd finally arrived back at the compound, Obaa-san hadn't wasted time in quietly interrogating me more thoroughly on the matter of school. It was… nice to be worried over.

Once the impromptu interrogation was complete a world-weary sigh escaped her chest and she gazed down at me, "I was afraid this would happen…" she didn't elaborate past that and that night I went to bed feeling like the weight of the world was on my slim shoulders.

Kogarashi hid the heartache when she'd seen her granddaughter leave the room. She knew that it would end like this, curse that woman and her foolishness.

She'd always thought that her son, her baby was too good for her, and she was proven right too. To hide a child from the Inuzuka? Foolish.

She couldn't hate the child though, strange though she may have been. Her granddaughter was an odd one, too mature, too different. But she loved her anyway.

Opening the eyes she hadn't realised she'd closed, she steeled her resolve. She wouldn't allow harm to come to her precious granddaughter.

The Academy was boring, to say the least. Everything that they gave me was too easy, the advantage of remembering her own struggles through university. I easily took the top score in academics, though I felt more like a cheat, no-one else had the knowledge of a 24 year old former University student.

It caused a lot of strife between me and my classmates, again I was ostracized, at least in this, Shouji, who was in the same class as I, stood by me. The clan must seem united after all.

I tried to show my appreciation, and he seemed to realise this, the animosity that had risen between us edged down and I hesitantly called the relationship between us… friendly.

Taijutsu in class was… easy. I don't mean to brag, but for my age I was holding myself well, placing a respectable 7th on the class score. I wasn't the best, but I was far from the worst.

So I guess that's why I wasn't surprised that I was pushed into classes ahead of my age even further.

My new class was just as welcoming as my last one, which was to say, not at all. They all seemed to resent the fact that I was younger than them, most of the clan kids seemed to at least respect the fact that I was able to advance, but the civilian born? They hated my guts. It didn't help that I regularly won against them all. The civilians, that is. Even though they'd been taught the basic Academy style, clan training was more than enough to make sure I didn't lose against the civilian children too much.

The clan born children were a different matter, I lost against them far more, but I was still able to pull a few wins. I wasn't like them, it took effort to make sure that I didn't fall behind too much. But with every loss I learnt, and everytime I lasted longer in a spar, I knew that I was getting stronger.

Didn't stop me from almost giving up when it seemed too much though.

Everything in this new life was hard. My body ached constantly, I was sore in places I didn't know could get sore.

Since I'd been deemed old enough to understand and learn the clan's Taijutsu the lessons I already had increased. Yeah. I was irritated too. I understand that the village needed to churn out new Ninja so that they could replace those lost in the Kyuubi attack, but I still resented the fact that they were pushing me to be better, stronger, faster.

The Taijutsu of the Inuzuka clan was… strange for lack of a better word. It was feral, yet graceful, filled with jerks and what felt like unnatural twists, yet smooth, flowing from motion to motion.

It was invigorating.

I'd never felt more alive then when I used this Taijutsu. It was where every move was worth the energy expended, every subtle shift, a silent cue for engagement. I loved it.

I was well on the way to graduating from the Academy, according to Obaa-san my skills were coming along nicely. She expected I'd graduate by the time I became 8. Even as she spoke those words towards me I could tell that she wanted to hold me back. To let me be a kid, a child for a little while longer. I didn't know how to tell her that I'd never really been a kid.

I hadn't been idle, in the time I'd been in the Academy, although the memories of my past life were fading rapidly. Learning how to sense Chakra was weird, I was in no way a natural at it. Sensing Chakra was near impossible for me, I could barely sense my own chakra, moulding it was easy, once I willed it to move through my body it was far easier to sense, but I couldn't even begin to apply it to other people.

It was frustrating. So I gave up and decided sensing wasn't for me.

Even if it was a really OP ability.

As much as I tried not to show it, the lack of positive relationships in the Academy was hurtful. I knew it wasn't good to deny the fact that I craved positive relationships outside of my Obaa-san and my still absent Father.

Whenever I tried to become involved in their games, they'd make it explicitly clear that I most definitely wasn't invited to hang out or play the popular game of Ninja with them.

"Obaa-san… why don't people like me?"

The question hung in the air, and the silence seemed to drag on for an eternity before she set her tea cup down and turned to me to answer my question.

"... Why do you ask?"

Irritation flared through me, "Because nobody in my class will play with me during the breaks."

"Why do you think they dislike you?" What was this? A soul-searching session?

"Because I'm younger than them, yet am in the same class as them…?" I hate to say it, but I really wasn't sure of why they didn't like me. Sure I was younger than the others, but I tried to be friendly, unfortunately my attempts were based on my own, limited exposure to others in my previous life.

In my last life I'd had a small group of friends who were only friends because we'd found that it was easier to pair together than have the teacher assign us groups. Most of the people I'd hesitantly classed as friends, I'd met through my brother and they were more his friends than mine.

My Obaa-san's voice cut through my thoughts, "Mariko," I startled, rarely did she call me by my given name, "The reason they treat you they way they do, is because you are different." Sitting up, I started to object, but her stare stopped me in my tracks.

"It is not bad to be different, Mariko, but they simply do not know how to interact with someone who is younger, yet far more mature than they are." Kneeling in front of me, Obaa-san cradled my face in her calloused hands, "You are far more mature than most in your class, Mariko." Her eyes were dark, glinting in the dying rays of the sun, "It will take some time for them to catch up."

Standing, she returned to her tea.

The conversation was over.

And I… I think I understood her.

Word Count: 1351

So Chapter 6 here, Mariko's slowly forgetting her past-life, it's likely she'll have to write it down at some stage!

As always please leave a review telling me what you think! Seeing them gives me a helluva lot more motivation to continue with this thing.

ATTENTION! I do have a Poll up on my profile about what Mariko's future should look like! I'd really like to have your opinions on the matter!

Have a great day! ~ Sytry