Beginning at the Academy-Play/Talk/First Impressions

A few months flew by and it was September. The leaves had already started turning into their beautiful shades of red and yellow. Einjeru spent the morning at the park with Shikamaru, Choji and Naruto.

"Hey guys! Let's play ninja!"

"Sounds funny, considering we start at the academy next week."

"Sounds fun. We're not going to have much time to spend with each other when the academic year starts. Between class, homework and our parents training us, we won't see each other as often as we want to."

"You guys haven't started training yet?"

All of them looked at Einjeru, confused. "What do you mean Einjeru?"

She looked down. "I stopped coming to the park for a couple months after I was jumped by the rejected genin. My dad didn't like that I couldn't defend myself and almost suffered a hemorrhage, so he started training me in taijutsu. When the academy starts and we get our schedules, he's going to introduce me to kenjutsu."

"I wish I could have been there! I would have beaten them to a pulp!"

"And then you would have ended up in the hospital Naruto… Lee was lucky and only got off with bruises."

"Troublesome, but she is right. Kids who haven't started in the academy yet would have been beaten like Einjeru was. Lee was already in his first year."

"I don't like bullies. Unfortunately, our parents pull such weight that no one would dare touch us."

"I wish I could be like you guys. Even with my dad's reputation, I'll still be known as someone who can't wield chakra."

"You know we don't care! If you can graduate the academy without using chakra, that just means you're super awesome."

"Not to mention, you might be able to pursue an apprenticeship upon graduating. There are tons of shinobi that have specializations outside of ninjutsu and genjutsu."

"I'm aware. My dad knows a couple of kenjutsu specialists and a taijutsu specialist. Actually, there isn't a person in the village that doesn't know my dad."

The four of them nod in agreeance. All of a sudden, an owl started circling them and hoots.

"Why is there an owl circling around us?"

"Troublesome. That's normally a sign that the hokage wants to see someone."

"You haven't pulled any pranks lately, have you Naruto?"

"Shikamaru! Choji! It's time for lunch!"

"We have to go. See you guys later."

"Bye Shikamaru. Bye Choji."

"See ya guys. I'm going to head home too. See ya Einjeru!"

"Bye Naruto."

Upon seeing Naruto head towards his apartment, Einjeru looks to the sky and still sees the owl. 'I wonder…' She holds her arm out as a perch to see the owl descend. Feeling the talons wrap around her wrist, she takes inspection and sees a note attached to its tarsus.

Taking it off, she recognized Kakashi's writing. "You couldn't come get me, and explain in person?" She read it off in her head. 'Einjeru, obviously I can't come get you from the park because I'm stuck in the hokage's office. You need to come here as soon as you read this. -Dad.' Heaving a sigh, Einjeru starts walking toward the tallest building in the Hidden Leaf.

On the top floor of the building, was the most important office in the whole village. Three parents, two outsiders, one child and the leader sat there waiting for the other child to come.

"I don't see why we're here waiting on a chronically late brat. Not that we don't know where she gets it from."

"Honey, don't blame the father. It's not his fault that communication is slow. She's probably on her way."

"Excuse me, but please don't criticize my parenting. I'm doing my best as a single father here."

"You should teach your daughter the value of punctuality."

"I can't help that I'm not allowed to leave this office. Otherwise, she'd be here now."

"Enough, we sent an owl to see if she would notice it. Plus, she's at Senju park."

"I apologize for the suddenness, but the academic year for these guys start next week and ours starts tomorrow."

"It's perfectly fine. The Lee's are known for their impatience."

As if time flew by, a shallow knock on the door alerted them to a new presence.

"Come in Einjeru."

Einjeru opens the door to see the hokage, Kakashi, Lee and four other people she didn't know. "I apologize for taking so long. I…"

She was cut off by the grown-up Lee's. "About time. Now can we figure out why we're here."

"Yes. Kakashi, privacy seals. This must be kept as silent as possible."

Kakashi puts up the seals and comes back over, gripping Einjeru's shoulder.

Dumbledore steps forward, giving them the knowledge that he was speaking. "I know the parents have many questions, and I'm sure I have the answers to most of them. First of all, my name is Albus Dumbledore, I'm the headmaster of a school called Hogwarts. Second of all, my second and I are not from here."

"These two live outside in a world, similar yet different from our own."

"As I was saying, we have noticed faint traces of magic from our realm, mostly centered around here. Upon observing the village, we noticed the traces coming from your two kids."

"Lee? You can't be serious. He has a chakra coil deformity. Nothing more."

"That could be a reason that Einjeru can't use chakra. Can you continue?"

"I see two differing views from two different families. Maybe we should test the two of them?"

Einjeru and Rock Lee look at Dumbledore like he's crazy. He chuckles. "I enjoy seeing kids' reactions upon hearing the potential of testing their magic. Let's test Einjeru first."

Einjeru stood there confused. "What do I do sir?"

Dumbledore thinks for a moment. "Just stand there. The parents will provoke you."

Kakashi's visible eye widened. "What do you mean by 'provoke?'"

The Lees shook their heads. "For the daughter of the Copy ninja, you sure aren't capable of much."

Einjeru's head jerked towards them. "What would you know…"

Rock Lee started moving toward Kakashi, not wanting to be included in that.

His parents continued taunting her, figuring that was what Dumbledore had meant. "We know a lot more than a five-year-old riding on her fathers' vest."

Einjeru's teeth started to grit, and her eyes started to gloss over with unshed tears. "You two are ones to talk…" The lights started to flicker and the winds outside started getting violent.

"Alright, that's enough. A young witch or wizards magic is influenced by their emotions until they get their wand. Now it's time for Lee."

Kakashi grabbed Einjeru and started soothing her. "It's ok. Relax." The unshed tears started running down her cheeks. Her voice was almost at an inaudible whisper. "I hate this…"

At the same time, Lee stood in front of everyone. Used to the teasing and bullying, he wasn't sure if it would bring it forth. Einjeru wiped her face and watched, wondering what his parents or Kakashi would say to provoke him.

No one was able to say anything, and Einjeru ended up getting an idea. She's figuring it could backfire, but it was better than doing nothing. She shoved him to the floor.

"What was that for Einjeru?"

"Provocation. Words won't work, so I'm using fists. I'm the closest one to your skill level, so it won't harm you so much. Just take it and think of those bullies that beat us up two months ago."

"Visualize?"

Einjeru nods and starts to kick him. With each hit and kick landing, the air started feeling heavy. The lights started flickering and a burst of air threw Einjeru back.

"Whoa! Hoow-ooh!"

Luckily Kakashi teleported behind her and caught her. "Nice."

McGonagall stepped forward. "Now that you've seen the results, we need to discuss how to minimize their bursts."

Kakashi was carrying Einjeru piggy-back style. "I know most of her emotional fits are due to her inability to mold chakra. She has an inadequacy problem, so it's mostly confidence building and a harsh training regime."

"Lee is always bullied. We thought he was doing fine."

"There's a possibility that Einjeru might be bumped a year or two based on her entrance exam alone. I think it would be good to keep them together as an emotional bumper."

"But Lord Third, the last time someone was bumped up… The Uchiha massacre happened."

"Bumped up a year, not six. If they were able to, I would have them skip out on the ninjutsu classes."

"Either way, the year when Einjeru turns 11, it will be time for them to start their magical training at Hogwarts. We want to prepare them, so it's not a total shock to them."

"So what kind of instruction are we talking about? There's no fighting involved is there?"

"It's mostly breaking down the language barrier and acquainting them with the etymology of the spells. We could give them the pendants that we're wearing to allow them to communicate, but it would be better, just so they won't be so nervous when it comes down to speaking with other students."

"So, an enhanced language curriculum."

"Pretty much. There may be a time where we might take them outside the barrier, just to test them, and get them adjusted to what they would see when it comes to getting ready to come to Hogwarts."

"Language, etiquette, societal norms. Anything else?"

"I'm pretty sure the field trips will be as much as a reward as well as a learning experience. Kids need something to look forward to and work towards."

"You're saying that these two can defend themselves using not only their feet, fists and kunai?"

"It'll be an enhancement to what they're learning now. I do have a question. What happens if they graduate and pass their genin test as you call it?"

"They would become shinobi of the Leaf and take missions. However, in cases such as theirs, there may be an exception."

"An apprenticeship, Lord Third?"

"Exactly Einjeru, but how did you guess?"

"Shikamaru mentioned it while we were playing at the park."

"Why an apprenticeship?"

"Lee, Einjeru. An apprenticeship doesn't follow normal shinobi protocol. They train on their own time as they and their master see fit. Also, they don't follow traditional chunin exam guidelines either. Apprentices don't take the exam don't take them as the relationship is usually one on one. However, when there's more than one apprenticeship going on, it tends to form into a team."

"How will it affect us then?"

"According to our visitor, Hogwarts meets for 10 months out of the year, breaking for Christmas and other holidays. When you come back home for break, you'll train and take on missions. While you are at school, your masters would be taking on missions of their own and honing their skills as well. Also, if things go smooth enough, you two might be able to meld into a team and become eligible for the exams."

"How long would the schooling take place for?"

"On average, it takes a witch or wizard seven years to hone their powers. However, with the way things work in the barrier, if you train your magic, the ministry could not touch you. However, to be able to train your magic in the time that you guys have between terms, you could end up graduating early, but that depends on your answers."

"Answers to what?"

"Will you accept the extra hand from us, and attend Hogwarts when the time comes?"

Lee and Einjeru look at each other, unsure of how to answer the question in front of them. "Can we have some time to discuss this? This is really sudden."

"Of course. How does a couple of hours sound?"

"Fine."

"We're discussing this at the park, however. We need to make sure that we're not being pressured into an unwanted decision."

Einjeru and Lee walk out of the room, leaving Kakashi confused, the Lee's doubtful, and Dumbledore and McGonagall with the wheels turning.

At the park, Einjeru sits on a swing with a sigh. "This is all too enticing Lee. What do you think?"

"We can't argue with the results Einjeru. We could end up harming someone unintentionally."

"True, but why wait until now to tell us?"

"That is the million ryo question."

"Either way, it could help us in the long run and with spells we could have our enemies running scared."

"True, given the fact that we can do things that other ninja couldn't do would give us an edge."

"I would like to be able to defend myself and be able to proudly say who I'm related to without getting an 'Ohhh…' It's frustrating to explain how I'm related to one of the most dangerous ninja here and not use chakra. It's a little bit easier to explain now, but still hard to deal with the whispers."

"That's all I hear at the academy. People act like we can't hear them and that we don't have feelings that are easily hurt… Do you think we'll surprise everyone at the academy when we graduate? I mean if we do this?"

"I'd love to rub their elitist noses in it. Show them that chakra isn't all that. Magic surprisingly never runs out. It's all around us. We'd make a great backup squad, especially if they're on the brink of chakra exhaustion. I say we do it."

"I think we should. It would be great to explore the world. Also, with learning other societal norms, we'd blend in better on espionage missions."

They give each other a high-five and walk back to the office, their decision set.

They get to the hallway and see the door sitting open for them. Seeing a familiar shadow, Einjeru started running to the room, hoping to land a sneak attack on her doting father. As soon as she got near the door, she jumped up, cocking her fist back. Unknown to her, he was expecting it and caught her. "Nice try, but you're 50 years too early to attempt a sneak attack of that measure on me."

"Drats. I was so close."

Lee caught up, laughing. "How are you so fast?"

"Perks of being smaller."

Dumbledore and McGonagall stepped forward, hoping for a favorable answer. "Have you come to a decision?"

Rock Lee and Einjeru looked at them, nodding. "We agreed and we think this would be good for us."

McGonagall looked like she was glowing and Dumbledore looked at Lord Third. "We have everything ready and our tutor will be at the academy after their first day is complete. Heads up, he's half giant."

Everyone looked at Dumbledore like he grew a second head. McGonagall then spoke up. "I will be conducting the tests and seeing how you guys are coming along."

The two walked out of the room, allowing Lord Third to have a smile. "A witch and a wizard in our village. What a wild coincidence. Everyone else besides Kakashi and Einjeru are excused."

Einjeru stands there looking as if she had done something wrong. "Have I done something wrong Lord Third?"

Lord Third looked at her, giving a smile that a grandparent gave when they were pleased. "With your academy scores, you could skip to the last year of practical theory, however, your inability to use chakra is a hindrance and your taijutsu is below genin level. Your schedule would have serious impacts in terms of socializing."

Kakashi spoke up at this point, needing to do some explaining. "Lord Third, Einjeru has been struggling with her taijutsu movement. Her gender alone is a problem. There aren't any female taijutsu masters in the leaf. However, I feel she could become a kenjutsu master."

"You mean under Yugao, Kakashi?"

"Exactly. Yugao is an ANBU that specializes in it. She's expressed to me on more than one occasion that she wants to take on an apprentice."

"Wait a minute. Don't I get a say in this?"

Lord Third and Kakashi forgot she was in the room for the few seconds it took to speak, and looked at her. "Well, what do you want to do?"

"I have to learn taijutsu anyway… You said you were going to introduce me to kenjutsu as well, but isn't a little soon for determining if I should undergo an apprenticeship with someone like that?"

"Maybe, but maybe not. When you graduate, students are divided into teams. If there are an unequal number of students to teams, that means too many have graduated that are considered worthy of being shinobi. For those weeded out, it's hard to determine if any of them are worthy of apprenticeship. We take a look at the students' background, entrance scores, yearly exams and the graduation exam to determine this. Everyone has a different aptitude, and every jonin doesn't always want to take on an underling."

"I understand. It's just… I still have a few years to discover my aptitude outside of magic. I need time."

"Speaking of time, it's time for dinner."

"It's that late already? Time flies when you're determining the future of the next set of budding leaves. I'll give you two your leave. You've earned it. Head to the barbeque restaurant. It's on me."

At that moment, a tiny stomach growl rang out. "You don't have to tell me twice. I'm starving!" Einjeru ran out of the office with Kakashi not too far behind.

The following week, Einjeru stood in front of the academy, the doors intimidating her. Kakashi grabbed her shoulder, turning her to face him. "You may have skipped out on most of your practical theory which means you have a shorter day than the rest in your age group, but that means you have extra time to work on your taijutsu with me if you want."

"I'm nervous. All of the kids from my year are in the same group. I'm with Lee's group, meaning I don't know any of them except for Lee."

"Just be yourself. No one can fault you for that."

"You mean be honest and take the ridicule from the clan kids and the civilian kids that can use chakra?"

"Yes, but don't let them walk over you either. The only one who could probably best you a taijutsu is a Hyuga and that's because of their byakugan."

"Aren't you and Guy still going to train us?"

"On our spare time. It depends on your schedule."

The chime of the school bells goes off signaling that it was time to head to class. Einjeru waited outside the room until she was called in. She was technically new regardless if she was from the village or not.

Upon being called in, she stood next to the sensei's desk with her hands intertwined in front of her. Her black hair, having been tucked back by Kakashi, untucked itself and hung in front of her face. The sensei looked at all of the students, noticing their lack of attention.

"Everyone, pay attention. We have a new student who just joined the academy." He faces Einjeru and gives a welcoming smile. "Go ahead, introduce yourself."

Einjeru felt like she wanted to die and serve herself on a barbeque pit. "Hi. I'm Einjeru Hatake. I like to read and enjoy spending time with my friends. I dislike being picked on for something I have no control over, and having to ask my dad for intervening on my behalf… My aspirations? If I had to give one, it would be to become an awesome ninja, capable of defending our village without using chakra." Her eyes drifted to the floor as she started hearing the murmurs from her classmates.

Rock Lee stands up giving Guy's signature nice guy pose. "I say that's an admirable aspiration, considering that we started training together 2 months ago and didn't hear much out of you aside from grunts and mutters. Welcome to our class!"

Einjeru smiled a little before hearing an indignant scoff. "Another one like Lee? Fate has already declared that you'll fail. Not to mention the only other Hatake in this village has proven that the use of chakra is essential in fighting or else he wouldn't be here."

"Neji! That is so rude! I will prove that those without chakra are just as capable as those with it! Also, Einjeru just said she dislikes being picked on for something she has no control over!"

"It's the truth and she knows it."

A girl started speaking at this point. "Stop it you two! I already know that you don't like each other's differing point of view, but it doesn't mean you start the bickering in front of our new classmate." She gestures at Einjeru. "She is our classmate whether you like it or not Neji, and Lee is right, it is an admirable dream." She gives a smile to Einjeru. "I'm Tenten, welcome to our class."

"Doesn't make a difference Tenten, fate has decided…"

Einjeru intervened at this point. "Fate has decided what? That you are doomed to a life of servitude? I can tell by the bandages on your forehead and your eyes that you are of the branch family of the Hyuga clan. Fate has opened a door for me that I never thought possible until last week, you don't know what fate has in store for you until you go out and face the world." Her fist clutched. "I know I have no chance against a Hyuga, but I don't go cursing my life for something I have no control over. I work past it and become better than I was."

The sensei rounded the class, settling everyone. "Alright, now that we have introductions out of the way, Einjeru could you sit next to Tenten, so I can begin the lesson."

Einjeru sits down next to Tenten, hoping the day would over with quick, so she can start on her extra instruction.