"Everyone, I would like to introduce Kato Mako-san. She will be joining our class for a while."

I awkwardly gave a slight bow from where I was standing in front of the room.

"Nice to meet you."

A multitude of eyes stared back, some looking more confused than others. They were all about eight or nine years old, an age I was all too familiar with.

On my dad's side I have a large extended family. My cousin's ages range from elementary schoolers to college students. And when someone needs a babysitter, they all decide to call me. It used to be my sister they relied on, but once she left for college I suddenly became the go to person.

I was used to this age range, but it didn't make the situation less humiliating; especially with lots of not-so-quiet whispering going on around me. I guess it could be worse though.

"Why is she here?"

"She's so old."

"How many times did she fail to still be going to the academy?"

"Isn't that the weird lady who ran through town?"

"She broke into my Dad's restaurant! "

"My Mom's store too!"

Iruka walked in front of me, waving his arms to command attention.

"Everyone quiet down. We should give our new classmate a warm welcome."

I turned to Iruka and began to speak in a low voice.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here? I'm not exactly…"

He gave me a sympathetic smile.

"I also had my concerns, but after speaking with some of the higher ups this was all approved."

I guess the Hokage and the leaders really did trust me more than I thought.

I let out a little laugh.

"I'm sort of surprised. I honestly thought that I was going to be with put with the youngest age group. I don't really have much knowledge about this sort thing you see."

"I asked about that myself, but the best balance we thought was this setup. If you need any extra help, just find me and be happy to catch you up on anything you've missed."

"Won't you be teaching this class?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a nervous laugh.

"I will be coming here and teaching a specific topic to this class, but each grade has a teacher that teaches the majority of the subjects."

Hmm. That was similar to how the Japanese school system worked. Students for most classes would stay I their classrooms while teachers come and went.

I quickly nodded.

"Ah, that makes sense. Who will be my teacher then?"

Iruka looked away, suddenly very nervous at the question.

"I-I'm sure she'll want to introduce herself. She just started teaching this year, and I guess you could say that she's… unconventional. She was chosen by the Hokage herself though. "

"That's no problem then. I'll just explain the situation when she gets here."

"She's been told there is a new student, but it would be for the best if you filled her in on your particular skills."

The class was beginning to get a bit restless.

"Alright class! Take your seats! Mako-san, your spot is over there."

He pointed to an empty seat in the back right-hand corner.

I climbed up the steps and walked over to my seat as the kids around me stared.

A couple of girls sitting together started to giggle as they watched me go by.

"What ugly clothes."

One girl with blond hair snickered.

Another with dark blue hair laughed.

I couldn't help but look down at what I was wearing. In preparation of my first day of ninja school I went out and bought myself some ninja-y attire. I bought a bright blue t-shirt, dark grey short, black ninja sandals, and just for a little pizzazz fishnet leggings.

Looking over at the girls, they all seemed to be wearing some sort of dress-skirt thing in shades of pink and purple. At least mine was easier to move in.

Being bullied by ten year olds was almost laughable. I had to hold myself back from letting my babysitter instincts from coming out. Instead I said something completely over their head, or more accurately out of their world.

"I'm just expressing my first amendments rights to dress how I want, same as you guys."

They stared back at me blankly, eventually turning away to talk among themselves again. I kept walking until I reached my destination, sitting down on the bench next to a boy with dark brown hair, brown eyes, a green t-shirt, and khaki pants.

Unlike the other kids, he didn't even to acknowledge my presence and kept his face stuffed in some sort of text book.

Iruka began the class by going over some things concerning international politics and government in the ninja world. It was all really interesting and I began to take notes in English inside a notebook I brought with me.

It was strange. Though I was technically speaking Japanese, it was all translated inside my head to English. I could easily take notes because of this, but it was kind of mind boggling to think about.

The teacher began to speak a bit about the inner workings of Konoha, and one statement he said really made me wonder something.

I raised my hand.

"Yes Mako-san?"

I put my arm down.

"So in this government system, basically normal people have no power. It's the ninja who decide how their lives are run without their consent."

"Civilians of Konoha do have input within the council though. They select an individual to represent themselves."

"I get that, but how are they selected? Is it selected democratically in an election?"

"I believe the current representative is an influential business man. They tend to be chosen by the Hokage."

"I don't think he really represents the interests of the common people then. The vast majority of them aren't rolling in cash. This is beginning to seem life soft authoritarianism. Does the Hokage select the other council members as well? If so it only proves my point."

"Some are elders and others are the head of clans. We also have the advisors under the Hokage."

"So would you say that it's traditional legitimacy then?"

Iruka let out a long sight.

"Mako-san, I'm sorry but I don't really understand some of the things you're saying. Let's get back to the lesson alright?"

"O-Oh, ok."

I slunk down into my seat feeling slightly dejected. It looked like my attempts to understand the government system fully would have to wait for another day.

It took a while for me notice, but the kids around me minus my table partner were staring at me in awe.

"She knows things even Iruka-sensei doesn't!"

"Maybe she's not as dumb after all."

Oh yeah. Public high school education in the works.

"Settle down, settle down. I hope you're all paying attention. This is going to be on the test."

There was a loud collective groan.

…

Iruka closed his textbook, packing up his belongs into a bag he had with him.

The class stood up and collectedly bowed, similarly to how we did at the beginning of every Japanese class.

"Thank you very much!"

He nodded and smiled back.

"Test Tuesday everyone! Remember to study!"

And with that he exited the room, pulling the door quietly behind them.

Suddenly, instead of getting up and talking like I expected them to do in between classes, everyone went dead silent; pulling out their books and staring straight ahead, while sitting up in their seats.

It was… really odd.

The kid next to me though was still reading whatever it was and hadn't bothered to move an inch. I debated whether or not to alert him, but judging by the fact he was nonchalantly turning to the next page in his book, he really didn't seem to care.

I kicked back in my seat, leaning against the wall behind me.

Whatever what was going on couldn't really be that big of a deal. Plus I still had time before the teacher arrived.

I found myself closing my eyes and nodding off a bit. Sleep was just so boring these days. The less of it I got the more of others things I could do.

SLAM

I was instantly jerked awake by the sudden noise.

Entering the room was a woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She had soft features, long dark purple hair that was tied into a loose pony tail, and grey eyes. A headband was tied around her left arm, and her current outfit was… quite revealing.

She was wearing a very low-cut black long sleeve shirt with red spirals on both sides, a tan skirt with long slits on the sides and black short shorts underneath.

Instead of simply walking behind the desk like a normal human being, she jumped on top of it and took a seat; making sure to cross her legs.

She scanned the room, chugging a bottle of sake she had with her.

"You."

She made eye contact with me.

"You the new student?"

"Y-yeah."

She took another swig.

"You can start calling me sensei then. I'm Mitarashi Masuyo. You might have met my adorable younger sister Anko before."

A-Adorable…? Not exactly the word I would have used…

"I guess I might as well get you started then. Class, what is our motto?"

Almost robotically they all replied.

"Don't fail."

"Good. If you can just do that we'll have no problems."

I nodded, suddenly questioning my choice to come here.

"Now that that's out of the way…"

She pointed to some poor kid with black hair in the front row.

"Go get me a refill."

She chucked the sake container at the kid's head.

"If you're not back in ten minutes, besides being pathetic, you'll have to do an extra hundred pushups. Understand?"

The boy frantically nodded, running out of the room at what must have been a record speed.

Masuyo let out a sigh.

"Scenario time kids. You're on an escort mission and you're attacked by a group of bandits. You are on a four man team in a wooded area far away from the nearest town. What do you do?"

The blond haired girl from before raised her hand.

"Rika-san."

"Um, use taijutsu and take them down yourself."

"Not even close. Add five laps today. Next?"

A boy who no doubt by his looks must have been a hyuuga raised his hand next.

"Isao-kun."

"I would use the gentle fist style and incapacitate them before they could make any moves."

"God no. And with your taijutsu skill? Add fifty reps to whatever is your usual."

Isao sat down, looking too proud to make any big reaction.

"Who wants a turn?"

The class went silent, many trying to avoid eye contact with the teacher.

"I know, how about my cute little nephew answer this time?"

To my surprise the boy next to me spoke, pulling a Kakashi and not looking up from his book.

"Just go die auntie."

"Incorrect answer. Fifty more sit-ups."

He just shrugged, returning to reading like before.

"Anyone else?"

Heck with it. Since this is the Naruto world, the answer should be obvious.

I raised my hand.

"Newbie."

"Work together with your team to take them down."

"Correct, ten minutes of extra break time today."

A few of the kids looked annoyed with me, especially the blond girl Rika.

"Can anyone tell me why she's right? Double reward for a correct answer."

Several hands instantly shot up.

"Yes, Takeo-kun?"

"You can make up for each other's weak points and get stuff done faster."

"Good enough. Twenty minutes."

The teacher leaped off the desk and picked up a piece of chalk from the chalkboard. She wrote out a very complicated kanji which I copied down in my notebook.

"For those of you who actually do their work in this class and go on to becoming ninja, without teamwork you can and will die. You can train your little hearts out and become the strongest, but there's always things you can't do alone, or you would be stupid to do alone."

I could see a couple of the kinds roll their eyes, obviously not taking it very seriously.

"Oh, you don't believe me huh? I guess then it's a good thing we're doing sparing next."

There was suddenly a heavy air of dread.

"What's our motto for training, class?"

"If you're not dying then you're not trying."

She brushed away a nonexistent tear.

"I've taught you all so well."

AN: I had a hard time deciding what to do with chapter, but in the end I came out with a new character. Anko will probably show up at some time to visit.

Thank you everyone for all of the reviews and favorites! I really appreciate it.