I do not own Naruto or any associated characters. Enjoy the 2nd chapter!
To put it simply the academy is boring. I've been at the academy for seven months already, and it's been the longest seven months of my life. It may be a ninja school, but it is still a school. In my past life I coasted through high school, averaging B's and C's, and never really putting in any effort. I found the teachers dry and the curriculum boring. That doesn't mean I wasn't smart, my IQ was well above average. I just didn't try.
This life, however, I was determined to be the best student possible. Not because I liked school, but because I wanted to graduate early. That was my initial plan. I still want to graduate early, but I'm not exactly the best student. I never pay attention in class since I know most of the material already. Kosuke-nii taught me chakra control, katas, hand signs, along with kunai and shuriken throwing. Not to mention, I'd continue practicing, do laps around the back yard, and read his old academy books while he was at the academy. I know most of the book work already, and I am pretty good with the practical stuff. During class, I end up reading advanced ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu scrolls, chakra theory ones, studying vital points, or daydreaming about the future. Itachi will eventually graduate from the academy in 1 year, hopefully I can do the same.
"Aka!" Sensei calls out.
"Hai Sensei?"
"Since you weren't paying attention..." See what I mean? I'm not the best student. It's just so boring. I even have to learn basic math again.
"Aka?"
"Ah? What was that Sensei?" The class bursts into laughter.
Sensei rolls his eyes. "I said why don't you tell us the hand signs for the Bunshin, Kawarimi, and henge no jutsu."
I'm pretty sure that's not what he said. We learn those in the final year of the academy, not the first. Either that or you learn them from your older brother who literally can not say no to your puppy dog eyes. Wait... The academy three? Those are the jutsus you need to know to graduate from the academy..."Would you like me to demonstrate them to Sensei?" I smile sweetly at him.
He raises a skeptical eyebrow. "If you can Aka."
Henge: transform into Sensei. Bunshin: form three clones. Kawarimi: Switch with an empty chair. I smile, dropping the henge. "Like that Sensei?"
"Uh… yes. If you could stay after class for a minute."
"Hai!" I sit back down and open up a scroll, a taijutsu one, as Sensei continues with his lecture. It's probably bad that I forgot his name, and the names of all my other classmates. To be fair, I really am bad with names. It does not help that I tune out the rest of the class. I'll make sure to remember my genin team mate's names to make up for it.
Eventually the bell rings and I skip over to Sensei's desk. "What's up Sensei?"
"You're a very smart young lady Aka. Honestly, you could probably move up several years. I have a test I can give you to see if you can move up. It's your choice though, if you want to talk it over with your parents, or wait, it's more than fine."
"Can I take the test now? I'm sure my parents would be fine with me moving up a year."
He nods his head in assent. Rifling through the file cabinets in his desk, he pulls out a thick pamphlet. "Here you go. You have 90 minutes to complete the test."
The test is easy. There are a few questions I don't know the answers to, but I'm certain I passed. I'll probably be moved up to the sixth year or Sensei will talk with the hokage so I can graduate now. That was definitely the graduation exam. Most of the stuff on it was from Kosuke-nii's final year text books. Not to mention, tensions are rising between the various shinobi villages. The 3rd shinobi war is fast approaching, and Konoha will soon need all the shinobi it can get.
Sensei collects my papers as I finish. "If you could come in before class to speak with me Aka-chan, that would be wonderful."
"Okay Sensei!"
"Kosuke-nii!" I grin, throwing myself at my brother as I arrive home.
"Hey Imouto. How was school?"
"It was Awesome! Sensei gave me a test to see if I could move up a year."
"Really?"
"Yes really." I whine, sticking my tongue out at him.
He ruffles my hair. "Awwww, my cute little Imouto is growing up"
"Nii-san, don't touch my hair" I whine. Honestly, I love my hair. It's fluffy and wavy, and dammit, Kosuke will take any excuse to mess it up. I keep it shoulder length and braid the sides back so it stays out of my face. He knows I love my hair which is why he'll go out of his way to mess it up, annoying bugger that he is.
"Do you want me to help you with your taijutsu?" Kosuke-nii asks.
"Do you have to ask?"
"Sassy little girl aren't you?" I stick my tongue out at him "And immature to."
"Laugh it up Nii-san. This little girl will beat your ass in this sparring match."
"Mouuu, Imouto! Where did you learn such naughty words?"
"Naughty words?" I blink innocently at him "You mean like…"
"Fine, fine." Kosuke-nii interrupts. "I won't ask, but Aka, don't curse around Kaa-san and Tou-san, they'll think I taught you."
"Okay Nii-san, but only if you teach me more cool Jutsu!"
He grins. "Got it, but first we should check your chakra affinity."
I perk up at that. Sparring can wait, Chakra paper was the one thing Kosuke has always refused to buy me. I'd buy it myself, but you need to be a genin to buy it. "Really!" I light up.
"Consider it a present for possibly moving up a level."
I grin as he pulls out a slip of paper from his pocket. "Nii-san why are you carrying chakra paper around?"
"Ahh… my Sensei had us test our affinity a few days ago. I tore a tiny piece off of my sheet to give to you the next time you asked. I would have bought you some the first time you asked, but it's super expensive." I facepalm. He really can't say no to my puppy dog eyes.
"Mahh don't look at me like that my cute little Imouto. Anyway," Nii-san explains "Fire will burn, rock will crumble, Lightning will wrinkle, wind will cut, and water will soak. Uchiha normally have a fire affinity, but there are a few outliers."
"Got it!" I take the small piece of paper, grinning as it splits in two then burns. I cackle. "Wind and Fire! Bow down before the destructive force of my pyromaniac tendencies!"
Nii-san slowly backs away. I may have accidently set the house on fire once. I swear, it wasn't intentional. Only a tiny corner of our house got burnt. It really wasn't that bad.
"Aka. Fire bad." Nii-san slowly says, as if talking to a two year old. It's also why Kaa-san and tou-san refuse to teach me any fire jutsus. Not that it matters since Kosuke-nii will teach me them. As much as fire is really pretty with its flickering tongues of red and yellow, and it's gorgeous ruby reds, Nii-san knows I'll be careful. I only tried a fire jutsu inside once, and sure the house caught fire, but to be fair, I didn't think I'd actually make it work. At least it wasn't a large fire jutsu, just a small campfire starting one, but fire is still fire, and the house definitely got a bit singed.
The next morning I skip over to the academy. Sensei is sitting at his desk grading papers when I pull open the door. "Ahh, Aka."
"Hey Sensei. What's the verdict?"
"He smiles at me. Well, I ended up giving you the graduation exam instead of a placement exam. Besides taijutsu, which I didn't test you on, you passed with shining colors. Even then, your taijutsu is at least fourth year level. Not to mention, your parents commented that you can keep up with your older brother, who's a genin, in a taijutsu spar, even if you don't win. I talked to the Hokage and your parents, and they all agree that you can graduate early."
I perk up. "Really sensei?"
"Yep." He passes me a Hitai-ate. Grinning, I tie it around my neck.
"You can meet your new team at training ground eleven."
"Got it! Thanks Sensei!" I shout, running out of the academy.
Training ground eleven is only a few minutes away from the academy. It's a large open field, perfect for practicing ninjutsu or sparring. There's a small stream near the edge for water ninjutsu and learning to water walk.
There's three people, all guys, and a ninken already at the training ground.
"Uchiha Ayaka is presume." A man, in his early twenties, speaks up. He's obviously from the Inuzuka clan. He has messy brown hair, red triangles, and a large, very wolfish ninken as his partner.
"Yep. You can call me Aka though. I don't particularly care for my full name."
He grins, "Inuzuka Yokuto. This is my partner Hiroto."
"Pleasure to meet you." I smile.
"Okay. Why don't we all go around and introduce ourselves. Likes, dislikes, dreams. Also strengths, weaknesses, and something you want to learn." We all sit down in the shade beneath the trees. "I'm Inuzuka Yokuto, your new Jounin sensei. You can call me Yokuto-Sensei. It's my first time as a Jounin Sensei. I like Hiroto, my ninken, taijutsu, and barbeque. I dislike most sweet foods. I'm pretty good at taijutsu, but could be better at genjutsu. I hope to help all of you grow into wonderful young shinobi."
"Hi. I'm Ito Hisao. Please take care of me. I'm fourteen years old and work at the hospital part time as a medic-nin. I like my younger sister and reading while I dislike people who don't think before they act." He nervously runs a hand through his spiky blue hair. He seems very shy and fidgety. "I'm good at medical ninjutsu, poison, and throwing sebon. I'm not that good with elemental ninjutsu, but I would like to get better at it. In the future, I would like to be an awesome medic-nin."
"Hey! I'm Tanaka Saburo. I have two older brothers. I'm ten. I like dessert and working at my dad's weapon's shop. I don't like udon. I'm pretty good with kenjutsu and traps, but horrible at genjutsu. I want to join ANBU, and beat my brothers in a spar. I'd also like to learn more ninjutsu." Saburo seems super bubbly and bright. He's a pretty cute kid with sandy brown hair, freckles, and dimples. A tanto is strapped to his back. He seems like the kind of person that everyone likes. Honestly, I think we'll work well as a team.
"I'm Uchiha Aka. I'm six. I like my older brother, reading up on ninjutsu theory, fire, and miso soup. I don't like fangirls, they show the worst side of kunoichi. I'm good at ninjutsu, but could improve my taijutsu. I would like to create my own justus. Also I would like to improve on my taijutsu, and eventually create my own Taijustu style. My dream is to make jounin." It's probably a bit too morbid to say that my dream is to not die.
"Okay! Great." Sensei continues. "Now as Saburo-kun and Hisao-kun already now, there's a second genin graduation exam. The goal of the test is to work as a team to land a hit on me, I'll even handicap myself by not fighting with Hiroto. Use anything at your disposal. I'll give you 15 minutes to strategize! After that you'll have an hour to hit me." He vanishes in a shushin after setting an alarm clock near the edge of the training ground.
I stare awkwardly at my new teammates. "So, it's nice to meet you guys I guess."
"Nice to meet you Aka-Chan" Saburo grins. "And you as well Hisao-kun or san? Which one do you prefer. Or can I call you Senpai? You guys can call me Saburo-kun if you want or you can use san if you're not comfortable with using kun yet.
"Um, whatever you prefer Saburo-kun." Hisao stammers.
"Got it Senpai! So does anyone have a plan?" Saburo asks.
"Well," I explain. "I guess Saburo-kun could set up traps around the training ground. Hisao-kun and I can help with that. Once the fifteen minutes are over, we can try to herd Sensei into the traps"
"That makes sense. I can provide support with senbon and attack Sensei from behind while you two attack him head on." Hisao says.
"Sounds good." Saburo agrees.
We quickly get some basic traps set up using ninja wire, kunai, and some of Hisao's poisoned senbon. With some of the traps, setting off one will put you directly into the path of another. After fifteen minutes have passed, Yokuto-Sensei reappears with a shunshin.
I run towards him, throwing a punch. Sensei easily ducks out of the way, dodging Hisao's sword strike as well. Me and Saburo rush forward, attacking together. I swing low, and he swings high, while Hisao throws several senbon at Sensei. Sensei dodges both the senbon and our attacks.
As Saburo and I move in to attack again, exchanging several volleys with Sensei, we don't hit him once. Hisao attempts to attack him from behind, but we end up crashing into each other as Sensei disappears with a substitution jutsu.
As time ticks by, we can't land a single hit. Yakuto-Sensei dodges the fire jutsus, sword strikes, traps, senbon, and chakra scalpels with ease. Nothing we try works. We come close to hitting him a few times, but Sensei is a jounin. He's drastically faster and better at fighting than us.
"Any last minute ideas?" I pant.
"No. Let's just rush him all at once. Maybe we can overwhelm him, but I doubt it will work." Saburo frowns.
We all rush Sensei, I throw out several small fire balls, Hisao fires several senbon, while Saburo lashes out with his Tanto. Sensei dodges each attack.
BZZZZZ. The alarm clock blares as our time runs out. Yakuto-Sensei waves us over to the shade of one of the trees. We all plop down, exhausted. Sensei looks like he's barely broken a sweat. "I've decided that you all pass!"
"Pass!" Saburo squawks, jolting in surprise "But we didn't land a single hit."
Sensei grins. "It doesn't matter. I just wanted to see if you could fight well and as a team. So congratulations! You are now team eleven." He wraps us all up in a hug. "Come on, let's head over to Yakiniku Q, I'll treat you guys to lunch."