I'm laying in my bed when my dad opens up my door. "Good morning sweetheart," he says softly. There's something off about his voice, but I don't pay much attention to it.

I jump out of my bed. "Daddy, Daddy," I squeal, "It's my birthday!"

"Yes it is pumpkin. Now let's go open your presents and have some birthday pancakes!" He picks me up and spins me around before carrying me to the kitchen.

I sit at the table, barely able to see over the many gifts my parents got me. My parents sing to me before letting blow out the candles on my pancakes.

"Present time!" I yell with joy after finishing my breakfast. I open all of my presents with the speed of any crazy five-year-old.

When I finish, my mom is still smiling at me like I've got one more present. "What is it, Mommy?" I ask.

"Well, Daddy and I decided that you are now old enough to join the ninja academy!"

I jump up and down with excitement. "We've got to take you there now though, because you start today," Daddy says. "So let's get going!"

My parents drop me off at the school before going to work. I spend the day learning the basics of ninja lifestyles and meeting a few people. At the end of the day, I wait outside for Mommy and Daddy to come pick me up. There's another boy who's parents don't come, but he walks home by himself.

I wait for what feels like hours before deciding to walk home alone. When I reach my house, none of the lights are on but the door is unlocked. I let myself in.

I walk into the kitchen, thinking that they might be trying to surprise me. When I turn the lights on, there's no one there. I turn around but something catches my eye. I walk over to the table and read the note sitting on my spot.

A wave of sadness rushes over me. I feel myself lose control and I see my familiar black chakra run over my body. I lose control completely all because they left me.

My eyes flash open and I jump out of my bed. I bend over, panting heavily. I can here a few sets of feet running up the staircase and someone barges through my door.

My three teammates are standing in my door, each one covered in sweat with a worried expression on their face. Sasuke is closest to me and, although his face barely shows it, I can tell he was worried.

"Ayaka," Kakashi says, walking behind the genin, "I see you're awake."

"Yeah, how long have I been out?"

"Two days." Damn. This one was pretty bad.

"What happened to Zabuza?"

Kakashi opens his mouth to answer but Naruto butts in before he can say anything. "You totally whooped him, believe it!"

"You turned into this really scary mister thing though. That's how you nearly beat him." Sakura looks a me nervously from behind Sasuke's back, as if I have some sort of disease.

"What was that thing, Ayaka?" Kakashi asks.

"It, uh, it was me." The room is silent. They want me to tell them more than that, don't they. "It only happens when I lose control of my emotions which really only happens around my birthday so it's not like it will be a regular occurrence. You guys have nothing to worry about." I smile at my team and they stare back at me doubtfully. Ugh, please don't make me explain more.

"Alright," Kakashi speaks up, "Seeing as I still need to recover from, uh, Ayaka's incident, you guys will be learning to climb trees." What?