"Alright, new students, come here!" a Chunin called.
"Pencils?" Keiko asked her daughter.
"Packed." Amaya sighed.
"Notebooks?"
"Packed."
"Lunchbox?"
"Kaa-chan, I have everything." Amaya groaned.
"I'm sorry, Ama Your poor kaa-chan can't help but worry, you know."
"I know..."
"Any more new students?"
"Go on, Ama." her mother ushered.
Amaya nodded and followed the Chunin into the Academy, up two flights of stairs, and stopped outside a classroom.
"You'll see that there are names on the desks. Please sit at the desk with your name on it for today. Afterwards, you can sit wherever you wish."
"Hai!"
Amaya walked into the room with the rest of the children and made her way to the back upon noticing the Akimichi sitting down in the front.
"Murakami... Nakajima... Nakayama... N– Namikaze... Nara." she sighed.
'Y– Yondaime!'
She pulled out the chair beside the spiky blonde and sat down.
"Hello! My name is Namikaze Minato!
'He looks the same! Does that mean– Are they true?!'
And even though she didn't know it then, that was the start of a beautiful friendship.
Four years later:
"Everyone! This is our new transfer student!" Asahi-sensei said, bringing all the nine and ten-year-olds' attention to the front of the room.
"I'M UZUMAKI KUSHINA, DATTEBANE!" she blushed and clapped her hand over her mouth
Majority of the class burst out laughing save for a few like Amaya and Minato.
"How did it get so red?!"
That hair is so weird!"
"I... I WILL BECOME THIS VILLAGE'S FIRST FEMALE HOKAGE!" the redhead declared.
She was met with even more laughter.
"You? An outsider? Hokage? As if!"
Amaya stared at her desk and bit her lip.
'Oh why are you feeling guilty? The visions say she gets friends in the end!'
From beside her, Minato stood up, smiling.
"Oh! I also want to become a great Hokage, respected by all the villagers."
Kushina blushed.
There was an awkward silence.
"I need to go get some things for the lesson. Please make Uzumaki-san feel at home." Asahi-sensei said, walking out the door.
With her head bowed, Kushina walked up the stairs, making her way to an empty seat at the back.
Amaya turned back to her best friend.
You have competition!" Amaya snickered.
"I always did. It may have increased, but I will still reach my goal."
"Aw man, it's so hard to tease you," she sighed.
"Sor–"
"Tomato!" one of the boys in the class declared. "Your nickname is now tomato! You have such a fat, round face and your hair is so red."
Amaya and Minato turned to the scene, watching Kushina's face scrunch up in anger at the insult. She noticed their stares and tensed up even further.
Then Kushina beat the bullies to a bloody pulp.
"What a drag... Now I need to rework my whole formula for remaining smack in the middle in class rankings..." Amaya sighed.
Minato burst out laughing.
"Keep calling me Tomato and making a fool out of me and you're gonna get it, dattebane!" she looked up at the sound of Minato's laughter. "What are you laughing at?"
Minato's eyes widened and he stared at Amaya with a look that screamed 'help me.'
Amaya shrugged.
'Yep. That's the Kushina I remember.'
Soon, Kushina was the talk of the whole school. A girl was rarely seen beating all the boys so thoroughly, and it didn't help that her hair stuck out so much. Not long after she first arrived, she was known as 'The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero.' Minato was one of the rare boys who hadn't faced her wrath, and subsequently, had a crush on her. Amaya found it funny that he didn't notice.
The Academy was quite boring for Amaya, but once they started learning about flowers in kunoichi class...
Well, there was certainly more spice in her life.
"Today you will all be making a bouquet for me to evaluate. It's time to see what you've learnt." said Sachiko-sensei.
The girls nodded with varying amounts of enthusiasm.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Get to it!" Sachiko-sensei demanded.
Amaya slouched and got to work, staring at the field full of flowers.
'Hm... Some white baby's breath can be the complimentary flower and for the main... Yellow tulips! Brightness and innocence, a perfect message.'
Amaya was minding her own business, picking her baby's breath, when the sound of cruel laughter met her ear. She looked up to see, once again, Kushina being bullied. Again.
"Tch. You're picking an azalea? Figures. It means fragility. You act tough, but deep down you know you're a pitiful, ugly, outsider. And, seriously, that flower's pink! It clashes with your disgusting hair. Who has hair that colour anyway?"
'She's just a kid trying to feel at home!'
Sighing, Amaya stood up, flowers in hand, and made her way over to the gaggle of girls.
The unspoken leader, Hanako, noticed Amaya and smirked.
"Hey, Amaya-san. Are you here to tell Tomato how ridiculous she is?"
Amaya glared at the girl with such ferocity that Hanako took a step back.
"I'm here for the opposite, actually. You know, the Shodaime Hokage's wife's name is Mito Uzumaki." Hanako paled. "Sounds familiar, right? Funnily enough, Uzumaki-san over here shares her hair colour as well as name. As for her being a foreigner, well... she's from Uzushiogakure. Uzushio is Konoha's sister village. It's widely known that the seal masters over there are invaluable allies to us– especially during this war. Uzumaki-san belongs here. You know, you're going to be a ninja of Konoha. Bullying a future comrade isn't acceptable."
Kushina stared at Amaya wide-eyed.
Hanako flushed. "Well, what do you know? I'm top kunoichi! You're not even in the top twenty-five!"
"I know that the flower in Uzumaki-san's hand is a rhododendron. Its leaves are way too big for it to be an azalea. You know what else I know? Rhododendrons symbolize danger. If you don't leave us alone I'll show you why you were warned," Amaya sneered.
Hanako's face went from bright red to ghostly white.
"Let's go, guys!" she squeaked.
Once the girls were gone, Amaya turned to Kushina.
"Are you alright?"
"Why are you helping me?" Kushina asked, glaring at the ground. "You never did before. Is it because you think I know Mito-sama?"
Amaya sighed. "No. It's true I never helped you until now, but that was because I knew you could handle it. I thought they'd stop because their parents made them or that they'd warm up to you. I didn't really want to do more work if things would smooth over regardless. But, you've been here for a few months and I thought you might want a friend."
"This isn't some huge plan that involves you getting information and then spreading rumours, right?" Kushina asked, still not looking at Amaya.
"No. That would be too much work and pointless in the end," Amaya laughed.
"Well, I guess we can be friends," Kushina mumbled.
"That's great! I'm Amaya Nara, if you didn't know."
"Kushina Uzumaki," she exclaimed, all traces of gloom gone. "Say, you know a lot about flowers, right?"
"Just a bit. They're really interesting!" Amaya grinned. "Why? Do you want your bouquet to have a special message?"
Kushina nodded eagerly. "Something like bravery. So that I can show everyone that I'm strong and that I can be Hokage no matter what they say!"
Amaya hummed thoughtfully. "Well, lilac-coloured primroses mean confidence, so they can be your main flower. For the complimentary flower... edelweiss? No, that's more of a noble courage and it wouldn't work with the primrose. Hmm... Oh! Thyme! Yeah, thyme symbolizes strength and courage. What do you think? Purple primroses and thyme?"
"Yeah! You're not too bad, ya know!" Kushina smiled.
"Heh. You aren't either."