"Haru…"
She tested the sound of the name.
Now that Haru was going to be entering the Ninja Academy, she wanted her name to not sound so much like Naruto's.
So a shortened form of her name, a nickname, worked.
"Haru…"
Yeah. "Haru" sounded great.
She smiled. "Haru."
It had a nice ring to it.
"What? You're leaving?" Gotaro regarded Haru with shock.
Haru nodded. "I'm officially enrolled in the Ninja Academy. I'm allowed to receive my own housing now."
"Do you even know how to cook? How to do laundry? How to manage finances? You know, big adult stuff?" Gotaro sneered.
"Yeah! I know a lot from books and TV! If I want to learn more, I could teach myself or get someone to teach me!" Haru said.
Konoha's childcare system was atrocious. But since Haru retained all that practical knowledge from her past life, she knew she'd be fine. She didn't need another adult to supervise her.
Gotaro snorted, but made no protests. "Whatever, as long as we don't have to babysit you anymore, we're happy."
Gotaro rifled a hand through his desk drawers. He pulled out an envelope and held it out to Haru.
Haru blinked. "What's this?"
"Your mother left this letter for you before she died," Gotaro said.
Haru gingerly took the envelope into her hands. She frowned at Gotaro. "Why didn't you give this to me sooner?"
Gotaro rolled his eyes. "Can't have your grubby baby hands accidentally tearing the paper to bits."
"Hmph." Haru looked at the envelope.
Scrawled across the front of the envelope was: To Kuzumaki Haruto. From your mother, Momoko.
Oh. So this was what her mother's handwriting looked like.
Should she ask Gotaro to read her mother's last words to her?
Haru's fingers trembled as her thumb rubbed at the flap of the envelope. But she made no moves to peel the envelope open.
No. She wasn't ready yet.
"I'll go pack up my stuff. Once I'm done, I'm leaving right away," Haru said.
The very moment Haru stepped outside with her backpack, Gotaro slammed the door shut on her back. "Goodbye and good riddance!"
Haru snorted.
Well, goodbye to you too, dickhead.
"So the image you want to be embroidered on the left side of your sweatband. What was it? A Turtle Ninja?"
"Ninja Turtle, actually," Haru corrected the seamstress.
With some extra money so generously provided to Haru by the village administration after her enrollment in the Ninja Academy, she was going to indulge herself for a bit.
Haru looked into the mirror, admiring the sweatband on her head with a small smile.
The grey fabric of the sweatband was stretchable so it would still fit her head as she grew older.
The Ninja Turtle head bore a cheeky grin and donned a red bandana. Not because her favorite was Raphael, that was actually Donatello. The Ninja Turtles all wore red bandanas in the original gritty black-and-white comics. So it was the best way to have good luck that embodied all of the turtles' skills and aptitudes.
Leonardo's levelheadedness and leadership, Raphael's ferocious boldness, Michelangelo's happy-go-lucky party attitude, and Donatello's intelligence.
After the sweatband, came clothes with Haru's clan crest.
The clothing was simple. - Pairs of pants, shorts, and t-shirts.
In the Ninja Academy, everyone had to wear clan crests, whether to show off the pride of their family name or to simply make others aware of which clan they hailed from (a noteworthy one or an insignificant one).
On the backs of each of Haru's tops was a single green kudzu vine with three leaves sprouting from its stem.
Kudzu, the Japanese arrowroot was derived from 'Kuzu' in Kuzumaki.
An invasive vine.
How fitting.
Haru locked her apartment door and adjusted the straps of her backpack.
Today would be her first day at the Ninja Academy.
Ok. She already made sure that everything was packed and ready to go. Snacks, notebooks, textbooks, and even a novel!
(She'd shown the librarian at the front assistance desk her Ninja Academy enrollment papers. The library couldn't refuse entry to her now. The librarian grumbled something along the lines of "Why would they let you become a ninja?" but Haru chose not to reply, keeping a sweet smile plastered on her face.)
On Haru's walk to the Ninja Academy, she saw many other children carrying schoolbags and bouncing excitedly with their relatives.
Most of these children bore their clan crests on their clothing as well. Haru spotted some Naras, Akimichis, and Yamanakas. Luckily, no Shikamaru, Choji, or Ino.
Haru gathered her thoughts.
All right, so what knowledge about ninjas from her past life was actually going to be useful here?
If she remembered correctly, ninjas were prominent during Japan's Sengoku era hired as spies for the warring samurai clans. Other than that, she didn't know much else about real-life historical ninjas.
Now, what else? What else?
Ninja Turtles?
…No. Sure, there was some ninja lore incorporated into the series. But it was mostly an action-packed superhero franchise about mutated turtles fighting off an evil ninja clan and aliens.
Aliens…Haru really hoped Kaguya and the chakra tree didn't exist. That whole plot point was so ridiculous though. Whatever, Naruto could handle that mess.
Sekiro?
…No. One orange-clad ninja in this world was enough. Haru didn't want to get into combat where she had to parry with her weapons all the time. She died a ton of times in that game too. She didn't have resurrection abilities and immortality here. Those damn centipedes…
Ninja Gaiden?
…No. Haru didn't have such a good death record with those games either. Those damn birds…
Tenchu?
…Hmmm, actually…Yeah! That was Haru's best bet! Instead of charging forward and hacking and slashing at enemies, she should quietly creep around and avoid direct confrontation! Can't go wrong with focusing on stealth and the way of invisibility! At least Tenchu wasn't as difficult as Sekiro, and Sekiro was originally supposed to be a new Tenchu game.
"Oh wow! I can't believe we're finally here!" A child's excited voice broke Haru out of her thoughts.
The Ninja Academy was just like it was in the anime and manga.
The large sign with the leaf symbol at the entrance.
The swing hanging from the lone tree across from the entrance. - Oh. Naruto's swing…
The swing lay empty with Naruto nowhere in sight.
Haru hoped that she and Naruto would not be put into the same classes. And if that happened (please no)…well, she'll just have to make herself as boring and unnoticeable as possible.
Haru gathered along with the other Academy entrants in a crowd for the entrance ceremony.
Haru looked around at the other children and their families.
Huh. None of the Rookie Nine in sight. She must be starting earlier than they were, then.
Ninja clan kids definitely started training from a young age with guidance from their relatives, according to Haru's memories of Kakashi's generation and the practices of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans. If she remembered correctly about Sasuke's first day at the Academy, they usually started schooling around seven years old instead of five.
Being a civilian, Haru had to start her ninja training as early as possible.
A puff of smoke appeared in front of the crowd.
"Look! Look! It's Lord Hokage!" the children squealed excitedly.
Unlike Danzo, the Third Hokage looked exactly like he did in the anime, an old man with a goatee wearing a pointy red and white hat.
The Third Hokage gave a speech. General welcoming stuff. Same spiel about the Will of Fire and the glories of shinobi life.
Whatever…
Once the entrance ceremony was over, a flurry of murmurs started up around Haru.
"Oh no. That brat chose to go into the Ninja Academy, after all."
"You see that kid with spiky black hair over there? Don't play with her, okay?"
Haru kept her eyes on the ground. She didn't have to look up to know that the adults were sending her nasty glares.
She couldn't wait for this to be done and over with.
The Academy instructors passed out paper slips with the students' assigned classrooms. They held big signs with the classroom numbers so that the students could follow them in orderly lines.
When Haru and her sensei met eyes, they both froze.
It was Aki.
Aki sharply turned away from Haru.
Considering Aki's reaction to her that day at the Hokage Tower, Haru wasn't surprised. But as long as Aki taught her what she needed to know about the ninja arts, Haru could bear it.
Once the students settled themselves into their seats and Aki introduced herself to the class, she went on ahead with the day's lessons.
The Ninja Academy didn't waste any time with class introductions and icebreakers.
Haru didn't really mind. The sooner she delved into the ninja arts without having to socialize, the better.
Uzumaki Naruto was flying.
He whooped as he swung high in the air.
This was his new favorite swing.
It was recess time and none of the other kids really wanted to play with him…
But at least he got this swing all to himself! He'd found it tied to the tree right in front of the Ninja Academy!
"Hey. Do you think he's met the girl yet? The girl with spiky black hair and red eyes who our parents also told us to stay away from?" Naruto heard some kids say to each other.
"I don't think so," one kid answered. "I never see those two anywhere together. Which is weird. They look like they could be brother and sister!"
Naruto paused.
Black-haired girl with red eyes? A girl who was just like him?
Naruto grinned mischievously. Sure, class was going to start again in a few minutes. But now he had a brand new activity that was too fun to pass up. And hopefully, a new friend to find…
Naruto got off the swing and searched every nook and cranny of the Ninja Academy.
But no matter how much Naruto looked, he could never find this black-haired girl everyone kept mentioning.
Naruto's shoulders slumped. Maybe he had been pranking people so much that they'd decided to play a big sick prank on him for payback.
Naruto rapidly shook his head. - No! No! He couldn't let this get him down! Not when he was going to become the greatest Hokage one day!
"Maybe this other girl is just having a hard time finding me too! I'll meet her someday, dattebayo!"
With that, Naruto held his head up high and ran off with a huge grin on his face.
In the distance, an adult shouted, "Naruto! There you are! Get back to class this instant!"
Once Naruto and his sensei were gone, Haru jumped out of a nearby bush, panting with leaves sticking out of her hair.
That-that was way too close…
Naruto knew that she existed?
Konoha's villagers could never keep their damn mouths shut, could they?
Wonderful. Just wonderful.
Haru's sandals clacked against the dirt road.
The sunset painted the sky in rich bright red and orange. - A nice view to enjoy walking home alone.
"Hello there, young lady."
…So much for enjoying the view alone.
Haru turned around.
The Third Hokage? What was he doing talking to her, some clanless civilian kid?
Haru gripped her backpack. Ok, she needed to play the part of an innocent and clueless child. Yeah, she could totally do that. She bowed respectfully. "Lord Hokage. I listened to your speech earlier at the Ninja Academy."
The Third Hokage nodded, smiling. "Yes, that's right. And what might your name be, young kunoichi-in-training?"
"Kuzumaki Haruto. Please call me Haru."
The Third Hokage's thumb brushed his goatee. "Kuzumaki Haruto. A fine name." An amused smile came over his face. "Your name sounds very much like another child I know."
Haru gave him a strained smile. "Oh…really?"
The Third Hokage looked up at the clouds in the sky. "I'm sure you two will meet one day. I wonder what that will be like."
The Third Hokage didn't have to keep it all mysterious. Haru knew exactly who he was talking about.
But the Third Hokage could keep on wondering. There was no way in hell Haru was going to bump into Naruto. She'll avoid him at every turn no matter what!
…But her track record with canon hadn't been great so far.
The Ichiraku Ramen man, Danzo, and now the Third Hokage.
Who was next? Orochimaru?!
No! No! Don't even go there! Anyone but that creepy snake guy!
Welp, Haru shouldn't stick around any longer. She had to get out of here before she did anything that piqued the Third Hokage's interest.
Haru fidgeted. "Umm…Lord Hokage, I really need to get home. I gotta eat dinner and sleep."
The Third Hokage nodded. "Hmmm yes, that is true. You have to get good rest for classes tomorrow after all. Rest well, young Haru."
"Thank you, Lord Hokage. Same to you." Haru gave the Third Hokage a quick bow goodbye and took off running back home.
A/N: From now on, Haruto will be called Haru. Reading "Haruto" and "Naruto" in the same chapters and sentences would be annoying, right?
Some other ninja games I've played are I-Ninja and Mini Ninjas. I'm thinking of watching a playthrough of Aragami when I have the time.
I can't stop listening to remixes of "Unbreakable Determination" (also known as "Ryu Hayabusa's Theme" or "Stage 4-2") from Ninja Gaiden. Especially the Warriors Orochi 3 & 4 versions. They get me all fired up.
If there are any fellow Ninja Turtles fans reading this…the new Rise of the TMNT movie, Shredder's Revenge game, and Mutant Mayhem movie in 2023, let's gooooo! Oh, and The Last Ronin made me cry.