Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original characters.
Author Note: I would like to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows as well as everyone who reviewed the last couple of chapters.
"Kokoro-san, why were you being nice to Uzumaki Naruto? You don't do nice! Or cheerful!"
Kokoro tore her eyes away from the stadium and fixated her gaze on Inasa. Her ears rang and throbbed as black eyes continued to gaze down at her with surprise. Standing right behind him were their seniors. Seji looked down at her with irritation flashing through his eyes. Camie only tilted her head while Nagamasa just gazed at her.
With all that hair covering his body, it was rather difficult to guess what was going through his mind.
"Uzumaki Naruto is my distant relative and the daughter of my great-grandmother's favorite great-niece," Kokoro replied blankly. Inasa and Seji blinked while the black-haired teen turned away from them. Several students gazed at them. Their eyes fixated on their uniform before moving to the other students gathering around them. "As to why on Earth I'm being nice to her then it is the simple fact that she's family."
"So what? You are only nice to family and impassionate to people who don't belong to that family?" Inasa demanded.
Kokoro sighed. "Yes, in a nutshell that is the reason."
The buzzcut teen curled his lips into a frown and narrowed his eyes at her while Seji thinned his lips at her. Ah, right Kiko-chan and Father told me that I have to soften the blow when I explain things. People were rather odd. They prefer if people lied to them then to hear the truth from her own lips. She scratched her neck and then fiddled with the hair on the back of her neck.
"If you are only nice to family then why did you show blatant disrespect to Uzushiokage?" Seji growled.
She tilted her head. "Because I don't see any point pretending that I respect him in public when I don't respect him in private. He is the biggest idiot that I know and that is saying something when we have Inasa and you on the team."
Both males glared and growled at her. Nagmasa grabbed hold of the two teens while Camie let out a giggle. Kokoro pursed her lips into a very thin line and regarded the fawn-haired older girl standing behind her. She doesn't act like Camie. Her senior was a bubbly airhead who spoke in ways that brought blanks to her head.
Camie would have tried flirting with Todoroki Shouto and would have ignored Naruto.
The girl was a well-known flirt and her target hadn't been either Naruto's boyfriend or Bakugou Katsuki. She had immediately zoomed into her cousin and demanded for her cousin to be friends with her. Something doesn't feel right. Kokoro glanced at the dark shadows behind Camie. She deepened her frown.
"You are representing the school and that signifies the idea that you need to treat him with respect," Seji stated. Annoyance coated his tone as his slanted eyes glowed with irritation. Kokoro let out a yawn and stared blankly at the older teen. "You acted in a manner unbefitting of this school when you interacted with him in such undignified manner!"
Kokoro sighed. "You are currently not acting dignified with the way you are yelling at me."
"I'm your senior and I should—"
"—You are the reason that we have people staring at us, Seji-senpai," Kokoro observed. The male blinked and the black-haired teen pointed to the gawking people around them. Seji stumbled and then jerked his head at her. The pink-eyed girl tilted her head up. The bright blue skies seemed to have become vibrant with the sun gazing down at them with all of its glory. "Dignity is about composure and you currently have none."
It would have been better if Inei was here but he had to be born two years earlier.
She rubbed her eyes and straightened her back when a couple of students snuck glances at them. Once you get into at least one of the most famous schools in the country then it is expected that people will target you to prove a point. Maybe it would have been a good idea for her to join one of the less popular high schools.
They would have less people targeting them because they don't have anything to prove.
"Uzumaki-san."
Kokorok jerked her head up and furrowed her eyebrows as Nagamasa looked down at her. His lone visible eye inspected her like he was trying to figure her out. What do people do in this scenario? Do I have to smile like how Kiko taught me to do whenever I see family? Or do I have to act in another fashion? She let out a yawn and looked at the towering man right in front of her.
"Yes, Nagmasa-senpai?"
"Are you going to demand that we don't try to attack your cousin?" The older male asked. The other students swirled their heads at her and the pink-eyed girl only tilted her head. "You made it clear to us that Uzumaki Naruto is your relative and it is reasonable if you don't want us to harm a member—"
"You won't be able to beat her," Kokoro stated. Seji's eyebrows twitched while Inasa frowned at her. The black-haired girl darted her eyes to her smiling cousin, who stood in the far corners. Blue eyes glowed with happiness and amusement as a green-haired woman leaned closer to Naruto's teacher. "You will be an idiot to try and fight her."
"We know all of her moves," Seji stated. "There is nothing that she can do that can surprise us."
Kokoro gazed at the preening boy before gazing up at the sky. The clouds swirled and twirled before dancing away from each other. The birds flocked together in a v-shape form before flying away from them. Why must I have a senpai who thinks he knows everything? I wish I have the other senpais. They would have been so much less annoying than Seji.
"You will be an idiot if you think that you can take her on," Kokoro said flatly. She tilted her hat downwards and closed her eyes. "Between me, Inei and her…Naruto is the strongest person in our age range. If you want to pass then I recommend to find someone else, idiot Senpai because I'm not going to try a fight that I can't win."
You should always retreat when you know you can't win.
It would be rather easy to win against the other students if combat aroused. Her father and great-grandmother had been rather strict when it came to her own training. Tired already, Koko-chan? You have to go harder if you want to represent our clan. Her mother never did like it when her father say such things but it made sense.
Their clan had been so strong that three villages tried to annihilate them and as a member of the Uzumaki clan, she must show the same strength that made them so feared.
"That girl stronger than you?" Seji scoffed and turned his head to gaze at the smiling blond-haired girl. Kokoro nodded and stared at the golden-hair of her distant relative. She is being trained by the Toad Sannin and that makes her in another league of her own. "I find that hard to believe that she is stronger than you when she went for a cheap, vulgar trick during the Sports Festival."
Kokoro gazed at him. "If you had been in the race then you would have passed out."
"I have manners and I'm a respected—"
"You are a closet pervert," Kokoro stated. Seji spluttered and flushed a bright shade of red while Inasa coughed. Nagamasa let out a sigh and dropped his shoulders before looking at her with exasperation. What? Was I not supposed to state it? But what do you call it when he passed out from watching Naruto make a harem worth of naked girls? She scratched her neck. "If you had any real dignity then you wouldn't have passed out from seeing Naruto's jutsu."
Seji narrowed his eyes at her. "You don't think that shows that your cousin lack any manners or shame?"
"Senpai, you are lucky that we are in public," Kokoro said as she slid her hands into her pocket. Seji blinked and the girl regarded him with apathetic eyes. "Because I'm very tempted to hit you for shaming my cousin for her behavior. The way she was brought up means that what you see is vulgar, is what she sees as a weapon."
"Do you know what a kunoichi's greatest weapon was beside her brain, Koko-chan? It was her body. Men are weak and spill everything once a woman strokes his ego and fulfills their fantasy."
What happened during the Sports Festival proved her great-grandmother's point. Men were nothing but fools who wanted a fantasy over the real thing. Although there are some women who probably enjoyed what Naruto did. Some of the females in their school had been rather fixated on her cousin's jutsu and even had a nosebleed.
"A woman should respect her body," Seji grumbled.
Kokoro stared at him. "You have only yourself to blame. Naruto didn't force anyone to stare at her when she did the jutsu and chose a tactic that would get her ahead of the race. You are the pervert who couldn't stop fantasying about her tits and ass."
Inasa flushed a vivid shade of red while Seji glared at her with reddened cheeks. Right now, I should hear Camie agreeing with me. A frown tugged on her lips and the black-haired girl darted her eyes to her senior. The frown deepened when blood dribbled down the girl's nose. That could mean a lot of things but it was rather convenient that Camie had a nosebleed at the mention of what Naruto did.
It is probably better that I keep an eye on her.
Camie was not acting like Camie and that meant she had to keep an eye on her.
"You know I can't ever picture Aizawa-sensei dating anyone!"
Several of the girls nodded their heads in agreement as Ochako zipped into her hero outfit. Naruto gazed at her smiling classmates before darting her eyes at the otherwise empty locker room. The people in the front desk had informed them that each school had been given their own respective locker room, which was rather interesting when there were so many people doing the exam.
"I think Aizawa-sensei doesn't have time to date," Naruto commented. Ochako and Ashido exchanged glances before locking their eyes on her. The blonde hummed and leaned against the locker as her hands slid into her skirt pocket. I should thank Nejire-chan for giving me back my confidence when it comes to skirt or else I wouldn't have this outfit. She shook her head. "He is a hero that works nights and has a daughter to look out for. Any time he does have, seems dedicated to sleep."
"Let's get married!"
Naruto's lips tugged into a smile and a laugh escaped from her lips. Irritated but amused black eyes flashed before her eyes and the smile widened. I think she will be a good fit for our logical sensei. It never escaped her notice how Aizawa did not seem to hang out with many people. The only people Aizawa hanged out was either Present Mic or Midnight.
"Naruto-neechan, I think Dad is lonely! All the other kids have a Mommy and a Daddy but Daddy only has me!"
The birds chirped in the distance and Naruto gazed at the window on the high wall. The dazzling sunrays shone down on them with an intensity that could blind a normal person. If I didn't know you should never interfere with the matters of the heart then I would push Aizawa-sensei to give Ms. Joke a chance. The way Ms. Joke worded her request was so different from the way Ino and Sakura worded their requests.
"No thanks? Good one!"
From the way those two interacted, Ms. Joke did not seem like she was actually hounding her teacher for a date. It feels like she is just trying to get Aizawa-sensei to laugh. Naruto hummed and bobbed her head. Yeah, that would make sense with what her hero name was. It also made sense of how her teacher kept making blunt statements without even smiling at what the bubbly woman had been trying to do to him.
"Hey Naruto, are you related to everyone with the last name Uzumaki?"
Naruto blinked and looked away from the window. She fixated her eyes on Jirou. The purple-haired girl tied up her shoe laces and gazed at her with curious eyes before moving to the others in the room. Do they want me to answer that? The nods and tilted heads of her fellow female classmates told her that they wanted to know the answer.
"Most likely," Naruto tightened her orange obi and lifted up her hair. "My mother came from the Uzumaki Clan and since Kokoro and Eisuke have the same name as me, means that we come from the same clan."
Yaoyorozu blinked. "Clans? Do you guys still follow that feudal system of feudal Japan?"
"Yup," the blonde confirmed. She weaved her hair into a braid as several eyes widened at this piece of information. "Clans are very common in the Elemental Countries. In every shinobi village, there is at least one clan. Konoha has at 17 clans living there. The rest of the village is made up of ordinary shinobi and civilians."
Uraraka bobbed her head. "Does Hinata belong to a clan? I know she mentioned that her family was important in your home."
"Hinata-chan comes from one of the four noble clans," Naruto replied. Everyone jerked their heads at her and the blonde tightly wrapped her hair around her blue ribbon before looking up at the ceiling. "The Hyuga Clan is now the strongest clan in Konoha and Hinata-chan will be their leader once her father dies or when she gets married."
"Father will probably arrange my marriage, Naruto-chan."
Hinata should marry someone that she loves and not be stuck in a loveless marriage.
"Our duty to our clan is far more important than any dreams and wishes we will ever have."
Life was still cruel even to those born to important famous clans.
"You don't seem happy about the fact that Hinata has a huge position," Yaoyorozu observed. Naruto blinked and reached her hand out to her cheeks, only to relax her shoulders at the dryness of her cheeks. Black eyes gleamed with concern and curiosity. "Aren't you happy that your best friend has such an honor in such a big clan? It is nice that her father chose her as the heiress instead of some distant relative."
"Yaoyorozu?"
The black-haired girl blinked before vigorously shaking her head at them. I wonder if there was a story behind those choice of words? Naruto's lips tugged downwards and she snuck a glance at Jirou. The purple-haired girl shook her head and offered her a feeble shrug. The blonde poked her tongue against her cheek and frowned when the girl offered them a smile.
Did she want to work in her family's company?
That would be a question for another day.
"I'm happy and proud that Hinata-chan was reinstated as the heiress of her clan," Naruto admitted. Her heart tightened and cried as faded pale, lavender eyes flashed before her eyes. Everyone blinked and the blonde cleared her throat. "But the price she pays for being the heiress of her clan is one that I don't want her to pay."
Naruto-chan, I have a crush on s-someone but promise me that you won't tell anyone!
She clenched her jaws together and balled her hands into a fist as mournful pale, lavender eyes danced in front of her eyes. Why? Why did her best friend had to give up on something that she deserved? Why did she have to do what those elders ask? Wasn't it bad enough that they made her have to kill that gentleness in her heart?
"Why did her father take away the position from her?" Hagakure asked. Because he saw the fact that Hinata-chan could never bring herself to hurt her little sister. A bang echoed in the changing room as the invisible girl slammed the locker door at her. "Why would he do that? Was it because Hinata is a girl or—"
"Hinata-chan has always been the gentle type," Naruto answered dully. Everyone blinked and the blonde looked up at the ceiling. The story of what happened to Hinata-chan isn't one that has been kept secret, not when certain members of her clan spread the story. She clicked her tongue. "Being gentle in the eyes of a shinobi is weakness and her father prides strength. Her little sister doesn't have that gentleness, which is why for a time he placed Hanabi as the heiress."
Hyuga Hiashi was a lot of things but he was not as sexist man or else he would have placed Neji in place of his two daughters.
"How did Hinata restore her place?"
"I had to request for a rematch, Naruto-chan. I-I broke the promise that I made to our mother: I gave the final blow to Hanabi. I have to protect her, Naruto-chan and protecting her means giving up on my happiness."
It might had been a few weeks since Hinata told her the story but the regret in her tone still lingered and echoed in her ear. Hinata-chan could have been selfish and just let Hanabi endure the training. Then again it was never in her friend's nature to be selfish. Hinata always placed the needs of her sister and her clan above her own.
"She showed her father that she could harden her heart," Naruto finally answered. The other girls nodded and gazed at her for the longest time. The blond-haired girl reached her hand out to the window and stared at the flying birds zooming past them. Her heart grew heavy with grief as the smiling face of her best friend played before her eyes. "I doubt she would have done it, if Hanabi-chan wasn't upset with the strict regime."
Naruto-neechan, I don't understand how Hinata-neesama was able to keep her cool! They constantly criticize my nature!
Hanabi had always been the more outspoken one between the two of them.
"It must be painful to know and watch Hyuga-chan give up on happiness, isn't it Uzumaki-chan?"
The blonde closed her eyes and nodded.
"It might have been painful but it was inspiring to watch my best friend fight back on what people expected out of her. It made me think that if Hinata was willing to work hard to prove her strength then I had to work hard to prove that society shouldn't put fix roles for females."
Hinata made her want to work harder in proving the idea that she was not a monster. That she was as human as the children running around in the Academy and more capable than any silly boy in the village. I might not have achieved that aspect of my goals but it doesn't matter anymore. She found people who accepted her.
Her goal changed so much from her 7-year-old self goal and it was all thanks to the people around her.
"Why did you have to tell Naruto-chan about Sakura?"
Hinata folded her arms against her chest and narrowed her eyes at Shizune. Aizawa and Kakashi flickered their eyes between her and Shizune while Eisuke and Tomoyo tilted their heads at her. We are lucky that Naruto-chan regained control of herself. What if her exam was going to be affected by this piece of information? There was a reason Sakura had never been brought up between them.
There was a reason Tsunade did not tell Naruto about Sakura being her apprentice.
"Naruto is going to find out eventually," Shizune explained. Her tone was flat and devoid of emotion as her black eyes fixated on the building in the middle of the stadium room. The black-haired womancracked her knuckles. "If I leave it to you and Tsunade then you would leave her in the dark about the matter. Naruto needs time to prepare herself if she sees Sakura again."
The Hyuga Heiress pursed her lips into a thin line. "Did you think that Naruto-chan need this bomb dropped on her before her exam? This is the worst time for her to learn about this."
"I probably should have not dropped the news to her before her exam," Shizune agreed. "But Naruto has always been stronger than you think, Hinata. Out of everyone in Konoha, Naruto has always been the most resilient one and the one to focus on her goals. If Naruto was going to crack then I made the presumption she won't think about it until later."
"I'm not going to think about what happened to Third Hokage until we bring back Tsunade, Hinata-chan! I can be upset about it later."
Hinata closed her eyes. "Shizune, Sakura was the final blow to her mentality and I can't be down there to calm her down. What if she breaks down and starts to believe that Tsunade-sama just took in Sakura without ever considering her behavior? Naruto-chan really didn't need this news."
If it was not for the fact that there were so many people watching them, she would have pulled Todoroki aside and requested that he made sure to keep an eye on her. I'm already putting so much on his shoulder by having him keep Naruto-chan distracted. She combed through her blue hair and let out a sigh.
"It might have been too soon but does it really matter if her teammate learns from Tsunade-sama?" Tomoyo asked as she leaned her body forward to fixate on the building in the middle of the stadium. The gray-haired woman twisted her head around and locked her gaze on them. "Isn't it amazing thing that all three members of her genin team has been taught by all three Sannin? I thought she would be pleased so why would she be that upset?"
Hinata rubbed the back of her neck and inspected the curious violet eyes of Tomoyo before flickering her eyes at the others. Aizawa regarded her with curious eyes while Kakashi grimaced. She rubbed and cracked her knuckles as Eisuke knitted his eyebrows together into one single line.
"Sakura always made Naruto feel bad about herself and her capabilities," Hinata inhaled as the birds continued to chirp in the background. She stretched her back and groaned when her back sang in relief. "Naruto-chan always had to save her because someone here didn't even try to get her to focus on her training. Sakura only began trying because Naruto and Sasuke were no longer in the village."
Tomoyo thinned her lips. "Did she ever dream of becoming a medic?"
"No," Hinata answered, letting out another sigh. She rubbed the sides of her temple and curled her lips into a very thin line as light violet eyes flashed with slight irritation. "From what Naruto told me about their introduction, Sakura confessed that her dream was to marry Sasuke and have his acknowledgment. Naruto-chan complained about it for a whole two hours."
"I don't understand how we live in a place where a dream like that doesn't get scoffed! That no one tells us to dream bigger, Hinata-chan! What is so great about marrying Sasuke?"
Naruto had always been the type to dream and challenge everything about the world around them. It had never made sense on why her best friend put up and made excuses when it came to Sakura's behavior towards her. Maybe, I'm the weird one for not thinking of making the idea of getting married as a goal! I mean all the girls from civilian families and Ino have this goal. That was just one of the many excuses.
Her best friend should have never been challenged when it came to her thinking process.
"Then how did someone like her ended up having the honor of being trained by the greatest medic-nin in the world?" Tomoyo asked. Violet eyes showed no emotion and her tone lacked any emotion. The gray-haired woman tightened her grip on the rails and stared at Shizune. "Being a medic-nin means you have to have a drive and a goal. This kind of job isn't the kind of job that you can give up once you are married."
Shizune sighed. "We had her have do a test because of her actions towards Naruto."
"If someone hurt a person and not apologize for their actions then they shouldn't be a medic," Tomoyo said flatly. Violet eyes looked down at the floor and the woman took a deep breath. "A medic needs to have compassion and empathy, not just have brains and understanding because you are going to be dealing with patients who might be fragile."
Hinata blinked and flickered her eyes to Shizune. The black-haired woman nodded and grimaced. I don't know what Sakura is like with her patients but she is smart enough to know that she shouldn't hurt her patients. The blue-haired teen grimaced and cracked her knuckles while Kakashi looked away from them.
"Sakura is walking on thin ice with Tsunade," Shizune commented. "If she fails any of the task that Tsunade gives her, then Sakura will be dropped as her apprentice."
Tomoyo smiled wearily. "Tsunade-sama is going easy on her because if I knew that this girl picked an occupation because her teammates were no longer there to save her…I would never agree to take her on. People like her teammate are people that I hate."
"Why?"
The question hovered between them and the gray-haired woman only stared out at the arena below them. Tomoyo's shoulders stiffened and Hinata flickered her eyes to Eisuke. Green eyes softened and a sad smile played on his lips. He probably knows the whole story on why Tomoyo-san dislikes someone like Sakura. She gazed at the smiling boy.
"Tomo-chan has been dreaming of becoming a doctor since her Kekkei Genkei manifested," Eisuke answered, leaning back on his chair. His green eyes moved from Tomoyo to Shizune and then to Kakashi. "She was always working hard to become a doctor and it is all because she saw the injuries on our best friend. You can say that Tomo-chan is becoming a doctor out of love."
Shizune furrowed her eyebrows while Hinata tilted her head at the red-haired male. Tomoyo stiffened before swirling her whole body around to glare at the male. The 22-year-old woman placed her hands on her lips and curled her lips into a tiny scowl as the blush on her face deepened. The smile on Eisuke's face did not fade, instead it become wider.
"If I entered the medical field because of love then you know I would never enter medical school, Eisuke!" Tomoyo grumbled, furiously shaking her head. Violet eyes fixated on the sky before moving to them. "Can you imagine how stupid it would have sound if I gave that kind of reason during my interview? Besides, I became a doctor because someone has to heal your reckless ass."
Eisuke smiled even wider. "And here I thought I was an afterthought!"
"If you were an afterthought then I would never fret over you whenever you get into fights," Tomoyo stated. "You and every hero in this country don't seem to give any regards on your own personal safety."
The red-haired man chuckled and walked up to the petite gray-haired woman. Hinata blinked when Eisuke ruffled Tomoyo's hair and the gray-haired woman scowled before smacking the man's hand. I can imagine how much of a headache those two would have been for Kenji-sama. She shook her head and regarded Tomoyo.
Eisuke was a hero and it was clear from the appearance of Inei and Kokoro that there were some children in the Uzumaki clan, who were following in that heroic pathway. If she cares about Eisuke then why didn't she become a hero? It would have been more benefical for her, wouldn't it? Why did she simply choose to be a doctor?
"Tomoyo-san, why didn't you become a hero?"
Tomoyo blinked and looked down at her with furrowed eyebrows. Hinata inspected her while Aizawa and Kakashi exchanged glances. Shizune bobbed her head and leaned her body forward. I know from listening in on Sakura and Ino that medics must be able to fight in the field and it is not far to presume that her family hadn't taught her how to fight. Looking at Eisuke hinted that the Uzumaki Clan still kept to certain expectation.
"Being a hero is nice but I don't need to be a hero to save people," Tomoyo replied, shaking her head. She gazed out to the building below, where students seemed to be lining in to go in. "I like helping people and even though being a doctor is a long, grueling process, the rewards are far better than any reward that a hero would get. Besides, there are so many diseases and illnesses that needs to be treated and you learn something new every day on the field…"
Violet eyes grew excited as the woman continued to babble about the wonders and importance of her chosen career path. I can definitely see how she and Naruto-chan can be related. Hinata hummed and nodded while Eisuke dropped his shoulders at the girl. Kakashi just scratched his head while Shizune smiled even wider.
"You can really babble about the medical field, can't you?" Shizune asked. Tomoyo blinked and then let out a laugh before rubbing the back of her neck. She shot an accusing glare to Eisuke and the red-haired male raised his hands up at her. "I have never seen someone ramble about being a medic for that long. You still have that much passion after studying for so long?"
"It is what keeps me motivated whenever I hit a road block and it doesn't help I learn a lot of interesting cases from my senior," Tomoyo answered with a slight blush. "Besides it feels like I'm making a difference in the world when I do this job. You know I only volunteered to help out with this round of exams because I thought Tsunade-sama would be here. I wanted to ask her about her experiences and her discoveries."
Shizune inspected the woman and smiled slightly.
"I think I can arrange something with Tsunade-sama."
Tomoyo blinked and then hugged the older woman. Hinata giggled and laughed as Shizune tried to push Tomoyo off of her. Eisuke let out a loud laugh while Kakashi only shook his head. Aizawa pinched his nose and then groaned as a green-haired woman took the empty seat beside him.
None of them noticed a pair of turquoise eyes watching them.
A/N: So this chapter was short but that is because the next chapter will be when the exams will start. You saw a little bit of Kokoro and the differences in her personality with her family and schoolmates. She is also noticing that Camie is not acting like Camie and egging Seji. Naruto elaborated a little bit about Hinata's past while Hinata is upset with Shizune for her actions. Tomoyo has already decided to dislike Sakura. Now here are a couple of questions for you:
Q1: From the glimpse of Kokoro, how do you feel about her?
Q2: How did you feel about Naruto's growing relationship with the other girls? And the interaction between them in the chapter?
Q3: How did you feel about the third scene? And what do you think of Eisuke and Tomoyo?
Q4: Can anyone figure out why Naruto hasn't been affected by the knowledge that Tsunade has Sakura as an apprentice?
Please do tell me of your thoughts on this chapter and the story so far.
