The weeks rolled on by, and the academy ended up being not that bad. Yeah, maybe I did not end up with some of the greatest scores on tests, but at least I managed to prove my strength with all of our physical and jutsu lessons. Me and Kiba work together an awful lot of the time, and I frequently go and walk home with him when the academy day is over. I have also noticed that Aya and Sasuke have been getting on a lot better as well. I think I have actually seen the pair of them actually crack a smile every now and again.
The day started off as per usual, Aya oversleeping and me having to pinch her awake. Gently, I sat down on her bed next to her sleeping body and pinched her cheeks between my finger and thumb, "Wakey wakey, sleeping Aya-chan." I whispered, "Graduations start today."
Aya stirred and screwed up her eyes before opening them a small fraction and grunting as always. But as soon as she saw it was me she closed her eyes again and fell asleep.
I sighed and pouted before grabbing her arm and tugging her out of the bed and topple to the floor, "Come on lazy bones! We need to get to the academy otherwise we will be disqualified." And if Dei-Dei found out that I failed to become a stupid Genin, then I won't hear the end of it... my Inner Self started puffing out her cheeks.
Aya did not seem to move for a second and just remained sprawled on the floor, but when I gave her the threat of giving her a wake up boot, she was quickly on her feet and getting dressed in a flash. While she was doing so, I headed to the kitchen to whip up some breakfast. But the only breakfasty thing in the cupboards were cereal and milk.
"Woo, looks delicious." I muttered to myself grabbing two bowls and pouring the cereal into the bowls, "Could have at least had some pancake mix or something a bit more adventurous. All the Akatsuki ever eat is plain cereal or toast."
Aya opened the door to her room and stood at my side, adjusting her wrappings on her arms before picking up her cereal bowl and pouring milk into the bowl before collapsing on the sofa next to me.
Huh, good morning to you too Aya-chan, I thought before pouring milk onto my cereal and started a conversation, "So what do we do to become Shinobi?"
Aya shrugged her shoulders and ate her final mouthful of cereal, "Probably a doppleganger or something like that."
A what? Great, the exam is based on something that I have never even heard of! What are the odds of me graduating then?! "A what what?" I asked, hoping that I misheard her or something.
"A clone. A doppleganger. Whatever you prefer." Aya replied, adjusting her sandals onto her feet and heading to the door.
I nodded slowly, "Oh." At least now that I now what a dopple-blah-blah is, at least now there is actually a good chance of me graduating,
But when we arrived at the academy, something wasn't right. We arrived early to see if we could do some last minute training, so we were expecting the academy to be virtually empty. But we could hear voices. A few of them. And I could hear a name being mentioned. Not entirely sure who it was though.
As we edged closer, the voices became clearer, "I swear Neji-kun. Her body is gone. I have no idea where it has gone or who was last with it. We are just saying, Hitomi's body has vanished. No traces were left either." I peered round the corner and saw that it was a medical ninja speaking with Iruka, Neji and Sasuke.
Hitomi? I thought to myself, Now why does that name ring a bell?
"A body cannot just vanish. Was there anything, anything at all, left behind?" Iruka asked, looking at the medical nin with a suspicious glance.
The medical nin hesitated, "W..well, there was a log left in its place. It could have been put there, or..." he trailed off.
"Then maybe there was a substitution. It may have happened before she was killed! Hitomi might still be alive!" Sasuke interrupted, before I heard him come running in our direction.
I was debating whether to grab Aya and run, but then the footsteps came to a halt, so I stopped and continued to listen from behind the wall.
"No, no Sasuke. Your graduation is today. Do not be foolish. Wait a while and a search and rescue will take place." Iruka spoke to Sasuke, a hand on his shoulder and gently leading him back to the classroom, "There must be an explanation for all this."
Neji then spoke, as he folded his arms and took a step forward, "And I believe I know what is going on. I bet that this new girl, Aya, knows more than she is letting on. The time she disappeared and the time Hitomi was killed does not add up."
Wow this guy is seriously clever. It would seem he has done the maths, but I still am not one hundred percent sure I remember everything that is going on. I should have paid more attention to the Akatsuki meetings, then maybe I would be more aware of what is going on.
"I agree." Sasuke muttered, "Then we shall have to deal with Aya."
Oh god, I thought as I turned to look at Aya, who was listening really hard and intently at the conversation. Her hands were clenched and her teeth were chattering in rage. Sasuke had better know what he is doing threatening Aya like that.
The conversation carried on, me trying my hardest to pay attention to what was going on, but after a while I began to lose interest and just leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling until I heard the medical nin speak up.
"Ok, I shall be heading off. I shall do more investigating and call back to you all if I find out anything new." he said before walking off in the other direction.
"I am making my leave too. The sooner we find Hitomi the better." Neji added before leaving as well.
Aw, so cute! Neji has feelings for this Hitomi girl! How super cute. I hope they find her soon. It would be so kawaii! But then again, what about Aya? Ok, maybe not as adorable as I hoped.
That only left Sasuke and Iruka, who were left outside the classroom. Both of them did not really say anything but then they both headed back inside, and that is where we should be heading too if we want any chance of having just a little bit of training.