Age: 8 years old
TWO GRADUATES STARED AHEAD AT THEIR OLD, MEMORABLE ACADEMY WHILE THE THIRD PARTY MEMBER STARED AT HER NEW FOUND HELL.
Yumi had spent her whole summer, and part of her fall, up in Konoha getting adapted to her new life, getting comfortable with her reality. She was starting to let her walls down around her new caretakers, Minato and Kushina, allowing them to see the kid she once was before everything had happened. She was trying so hard to regain her smile, her laugh, and her personality. She forced herself to do all these things and would mentally abuse herself if she failed at bringing any of this back. She thought that she was doing so well...
And her reward? A slap to the face.
She was told only a week ago that she would be enrolled into the academy. She thought for sure they weren't going to put this type of turmoil on her this early. She believed that she had at least till December to prepare for this social monstrosity! Instead they sped up the process to the middle of October to send her into hell.
Yumi didn't even have the time to process the cold weather in the beginning of October. She was so used to her summer life down at her old village, that when the weather went from a 75 to a 65 she about dropped dead.
Even her attire screamed that she still wasn't ready for the weather. She wore a red t-shirt with some shorts she found while digging around in her messy room. Kushina wasn't yet comfortable enough to tell her to clean her room, but boy did it drive her up the walls every time she opened her door.
Her frail arms wrapped tightly around her shaking body, like a chihuahua left out in the snow, hoping to find some kind of warmth within them. Kushina noticed this, bringing a smile to her face.
Her warm hand laid gently on Yumi's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, "Are you nervous?"
She scoffed, rolling her eyes, "As if. I'm just cold...that's all." She was lying, yet telling the truth at the same time. While yes she was freezing her ass off, nerves pricked at her skin like nobody's business. The moment she walked through those doors, all eyes would be on her. She would be the center of attention for an entire day to kids that she had been watching from afar for months. She now had to present herself to them with a smile on her face, not knowing if they already had an idea of her already set in stone.
Kushina turned towards Minato, giving him a wide eyed stare from his jacket over to Yumi. With a head jerk towards the young girl, he finally understood what his wife was trying to tell him. He slipped off his jacket hanging from his shoulders and loosely slipped it over Yumi, startling her.
Before she could protest about wearing his jacket, he spoke first, "You can return it at the end of the day if you'd like. This is just to keep you warm on your first day." He sent a wondering glance towards Kushina, letting her give him a thumbs up.
"You should really get going now though," Kushina said through a laugh. "You're already late and it's only your first day."
That's when the real panic struck her. Her scared eyes stared the older woman down, "What! I'm late? Oh it's already ruined! Can't we just wait another week to get a fresh start? Please?"
The panic that emitted from her, concerned the two of them, but they had already waited long enough with her enrollment. Letters from her Uncle flooded the Hokage's mansion, leaving Hiruzen a bit impatient.
The two of them in unison shook their heads quickly. Kushina now put both of her hands upon Yumi's shoulders, pushing her forward no matter how hard she fought back. Minato was a few steps ahead of them, running to open the door for her.
"Nope!" Kushina answered. "You're going to have to go in today because we said so!"
Minato turned back with a smile, "You'll do great though!"
"Yep! And you'll make lots of friends!"
"You know, Kushina and I met here, right?"
"You'll do amazing on all of your tests!"
The list went on and on with their encouraging words as Yumi desperately tried to break free from the path she was being pushed upon, not registering any of their words. As soon as the door was opened, she felt her stomach churn at the thought of even stepping in that place, but it was too late. She was quickly shoved inside without a second thought. She didn't have time to say anything before her lunch was shoved in her hands.
"We'll be sure to pick you up at the end of the day. Be good, Yumi!" Was the last thing she heard before the door slammed on her face.
The two adults on the other side of the door relaxed every bit of their body as soon as she was gone from their sight. Their fake personalities dropped as did their smiles. Kushina rubbed a hand down her face, louding groaning as her tiredness weighed heavily over her shoulders. Minato leaned against the old building, trying to regain the strength to get back up again.
She took a hold of his hand and started to drag him away from the academy, sighing happily, "Let's go home and nap."
He weakly smiled at her, "Sounds like heaven."
Meanwhile, Yumi stood at the other side of the door, too scared to move. She was contemplating all of her decisions that she could make that would define her day. She could simply walk right out that door and spend the day in the village, maybe even hide in the bathroom all day, or she could face her fears and walk right into class.
With a gulp, she took a brave turn around. The hallway that extended out in front of her seemed to stretch out further the longer she stared down it. The shadows that clung to the sides of the walls looked as if they wanted to snatch her up and take her away to some place worse than here.
Squeezing her eyes shut and keeping her lunch close to her chest, Yumi took a deep breath. She reminded herself that it'll be okay. Repeating her mom's last words to her always brought comfort to her in her times of need. Her eyes fluttered back open, looking down at the neatly wrapped lunch that Minato and Kushina had made for her. Her thumb ran over the fabric, her nerves starting to slowly dilate.
If she didn't like today, then it didn't matter. They would be there to pick her up and bring up the mood like they always try to do. Besides, she could always just beg them profusely to never send her there again until they're forced to say yes.
With another fresh gulp of air, Yumi was moving forward down the hall. In the back of her mind she had stored her class number so she was all set on not getting lost. With a free hand, she held Minato's jacket tightly on her shoulders, not wanting the cold air inside the building to get to her.
Who in their right minds makes a building cold when the outside is just as cold? Demons! That's who.
Before she knew it, she was staring death in the face. The closed door towered over her small, childlike body like a skyscraper. The knot in her stomach was twisting and turning like a necklace that you just can't unravel.
Her shaking hand slowly inched towards the door handle. The thought of everyone's eyes on her flashed through her mind as a last minute resort to pull her away from the door. They're going to judge her every move. The way she walks, the way she talks, what she wears, her personality. Everything would be on display for these people.
Her thumb ran along the fabric wrapped around her lunch once more, her nerves sinking back down temporarily.
Moving quickly now, her hand shoved itself into the small crevice of the door knob pushing it to the side leaving the other side of the room now completely exposed to her.
Her eyes didn't know where to start. In front of her stood her new teacher staring down at the scared girl with a confused look. Behind him sat a mountain of students ogling at her as she stood in the doorway waiting for something to happen. Every student had character blazing out of them just by one glance. Goggles, scarfs, sunglasses, orange hair, purple hair, black hair, brown hair, and so many other attributes of these students shined down on her.
The room was silent. No one was moving, everyone was left waiting for the next move. Yumi stood there feeling like she was either going to hurl her breakfast or pee her pants.
Finally, the world hit play on it's paused motion as her teacher finally recognized who she was, "Ah!" He happily exclaimed while turning to the rest of his students, his arm extending towards Yumi who was still glued to her spot at the door. "I seemed to have forgotten about our new student." His eyes turned towards her as his hand motioned her over. "Would you please come over and introduce yourself?"
The room fell silent once more. The students were now even more eager to find out who this new girl was, some even craning their necks to peer over other students' heads.
Yumi had no choice now. She couldn't run back out of the room and hide away in the bathroom and she couldn't cry home. She was stuck. Each step she took forward was another tug at the knot in her stomach. She felt woozy like she might fall over at any second and knock herself out.
Soon enough her small, little legs had managed to carry her over to her teacher. Turning towards the rest of her classmates she wasn't sure if she was going to pass out, puke, pee, or cry. Maybe even all four at once.
Her lips pulled into a smile, or at least they tried to. It ended up looking like an awkward line spread across her face. Her trembling hand raised up in order to give an even more awkward wave. With her shaking voice she said, "Hello, I'm Yumi Hebi."
All their faces still held bewilderment to them, but no one uttered a word.
I think I'm gonna vomit.
After a few more seconds of insufferable silence, the teacher once again spoke out, "Alright then! You can go take a seat next to Rin right over there."
His finger pointed towards a young girl sitting in the back with brunette hair hanging softly above her shoulders and purple marks covering her cheeks. Her brown eyes lit up happily hearing that she'll have the new girl sitting right next to her. Her pale hand raised, giving Yumi a small wave as the sweetest smile appeared on her soft looking skin.
Yumi felt her heart flutter for a moment while staring at her. With each step she took towards her, the anxiety that wanted to consume her was slowly drifting away. By looking into her eyes Yumi felt safe. Even as everyone continued to stare down into her soul with their scary thoughts that she painted out herself.
She finally sank down into her seat, letting everyone know that her spotlight was gone. Everyone eventually turned back to the teacher who had resumed teaching today's lesson. Her eyes may have been glued to the front board, but her mind was elsewhere. Her heart was still thumping harshly in her chest, ringing up into her ears. Her foot bounced against the floor sending a quiet tapping sound into the room. Her small fingers continued to tug at her lunch box hoping for that calming feeling once again.
The warmth that came from the young girl next to her got closer causing her to turn over, only to make direct eye contact with Rin. She smiled once again, making Yumi's cheeks dance with a small amount of heat.
"Hey," Her voice was even perfect, but not in a way that made Yumi envious but in a way that made her swoon. "I don't think I've seen you before, are you new to the village?"
She slowly nodded. This was her first time in months interacting with someone her age, making her realize she was going to struggle with feeling normal again, "I've been here since this summer, I just haven't really made any friends."
Her smile only grew, "Well if you'd like, I can be your first friend."
The heat around her cheeks grew at the thought of having a friend. Minato and Kushina would be proud to hear that she already managed to make a friend on her first day. The first real smile from Yumi of the day twisted against her face, "I think I would like that."