Knock knock knock

Mutsuko groaned at the sound and rolled onto her side, pulling the covers over her ears.

Knock knock knock

She peeked over at the door, squinting at the sunlight that was streamed through the window. She sloppily slid out of bed and pattered over to the door, flinging it open.

"What?" She shot tiredly

"Shiromori-san, your training will begin precisely at seven. I will bring you to our Hokage, please follow me." A masked man stood at her door, wearing a sort of uniform. Probably a shinobi thing.

"...one minute..." She said as she shut the door. 'Guess I won't be sleeping in...' She thought, getting changed into her clothes from the day before. She quickly patted her left hip and checked the strap before opening the door once again to face mystery shinobi. "Ok, let's go."

A minute later, she was sitting in an oversized arm chair across from unfamiliar old man.

"How are you liking Konoha?" The gruff voice asked with an unexpected warmness.

"It's... nice." She answered briefly. As if she'd been here long enough to know.

"Good, good. I'm glad you're adjusting well. Now, as an ambassador for your nation, you will be learning about our village and its shinobi. Your first stop is the academy, you'll attend a lecture that will be held by some high ranking shinobi from our village. I'm sure you will find it quite interesting. This anbu here will make sure you get there safely." She didn't need to glance behind her to know that the man from earlier was standing there. The old Hokage smiled. "That's all I have for you today, I hope you enjoy your first day in Konoha." He gestured towards the other man who stepped forward.

"Shiromori-san, please follow me." Mutsuko stood and turned to follow the anbu. She glanced back at the Hokage who nodded encouragingly and waved for her to go. "This way please." He instructed. She turned again and the two exited the tower.

Going in a direction unknown to her, they walked for a little while before she identified the academy building. As they drew closer, she marveled at how large it was. How many students went here? Whatever the number was, she was sure that it was many times greater than it would be in the Land of Iron. There were fewer people there and with fewer people came fewer children. Actually, the number of kids was small enough that there never needed to be an academy; samurai children learned the skills they needed from either a parent or a hired master. Evidently that wasn't how things worked here.

The anbu lead her down a series of mostly empty hallways and came to a stop in front of one of the classroom doors. He pushed it open slightly and nodded at someone inside. A second later, an older man with bandages over his right eye emerged from behind the door. He eyed Mutsuko carefully, as if sizing her up. It was rather uncomfortable, honestly.

"This is the class you will be attending today, taught by Danzo-sama. Please excuse me." The anbu bowed to the one named Danzo and promptly disappeared.

"Come in." He said, sounding as if he was forcing himself to speak to her. She followed hesitantly as he entered the classroom. "Take a seat. The class will now begin." She shuffled to the back of the lecture hall and found a seat at the very top that overlooked the room.

"Today," Danzo's voice boomed, silencing the chatter of the students, "We will be analyzing the range of potential abilities that chakra users may utilize. But first, may I introduce you all to our guest for the day: Shiromori Mutsuko." He raised an arm towards her and everyone turned around. The said girl shifted awkwardly in her seat. "She is a young samurai from the Land of Iron and will be attending our class today. I expect you to welcome her with the upmost respect." Mutsuko fidgeted with her hands as she forced a small smile and nodded at everyone. Confused stares were exchanged between the students as they glanced back at her. "Now let's begin the lesson. In order to understand the capabilities of chakra, we must know this history of it. Long ago, there was a woman who ate the chakra fruit from the divine tree..."

'Make it stop...' It took every ounce of self-control Mutsuko had to keep from ripping her ears off.

It had been three hours.

Three.

Hours.

Of.

This.

Which bitter administrator decided that these children needed to listen to this insipid man and his baritone for that long? Certainly this was in violation of some sort of ethics code, right? And she wasn't the only one who found the lecture bland, numerous other students looked to be in physical pain: hands on their foreheads and clutching their pens much too hard.

Mutsuko had just begun to devise ways to escape when she heard the words of salvation,

"That concludes today's lesson. You are dismissed."

Her head snapped up and she leapt from her seat. She made a frantic beeline for the door with the other students and managed to slip out near the front of the herd.

"Shiromori-san." A voice called from somewhere to the right. She turned and spotted the same uniform clad man from earlier approaching.

"Can I not come here again?" She asked, relieved to see him. At least she wouldn't get lost trying to leave the building.

"Unfortunately, I am not in charge of such decisions." He stated, earning a huff of exasperation. "But I will mention your dislike to the Hokage. He may change your schedule." He finished flatly. Mutsuko's expression immediately brightened and she broke into a grin.

"Please do!" She bowed dramatically, hands clasped together. The man seemed taken puzzled as it took him a second to respond.

"We need to get to your next class. Please come with me." He turned and started towards an unknown destination.

"Yes sir!" Mutsuko followed eagerly, hopeful that wherever they were headed was better than that lecture.

It was.

Well, a little.

"Good morning, Shiromori-san, you will be joining my class today." A young man with a scar across his nose greeted. A dozen other children stood in the small field behind him. "Of course, this training is for shinobi but I'm sure you'll be able to benefit as well. Class!" He shouted, effectively silencing the students. For the second time today, she felt all too many eyes on her. She was fine with attention, just not this much. "Please say hello to Shiromori Mutsuko, she will be joining our class for the rest of this semester."

Whispers and questioning glances were exchanged among the class as Mutsuko kept her eyes on the ground.

"Alright, we'll begin. Please line up as I call your name. Yuri! Stand here. Setsu! Over here. Naruto! Next to him. Ino!..." And the list of unfamiliar named went on. Soon it was her turn. "Mutsuko! Please stand here. Sasuke! To her right..." The sixteen students were quickly arranged in a four by four square, Mutsuko being the first person in the third row, and the lesson began.

"Many of you know me already, but my name is Iruka, you can call me Iruka-sensei. For our first class, we will be seeing how well each of you can control your chakra. Copy my hand signs." He formed a short chain of seals and a white puff of smoke appeared. Once it cleared, he was gone and a log stood in his place. Another puff of smoke and he was back again.

The class eagerly mirrored the seals and transformed into logs one by one. Soon, the students had disappeared and were replaced by variously shaped pieces of wood. Well, fourteen of them had anyways. There were two remaining students who had yet to adopt the ligneous cylindrical figure.

"Mutsuko, please try the jutsu." Iruka-sensei encouraged upon seeing her blank stare and confused blinking.

"...what... what was that thing you did with your hands?" She questioned uncertainly, eyebrows knit. There was a moment of silence before realization suddenly dawned on Iruka.

"Ah! I forgot you don't use hand seals. I'll give you a quick explanation. So there are twelve basic seals that are used to help shinobi direct chakra. There's the rat, bird, snake, dog, dragon, ram, monkey, tiger, horse, bird, ox, and hare." He demonstrated each one as he listed them. "Here, try to copy this sequence." He slowly repeated the seals of the transformation jutsu. Mutsuko watched his hands closely, trying her very best to replicate his motions. The moment her fingers formed the first seal, however, a pulse of chakra escaped her hands and slammed into a nearby tree. She flinched at the loud boom that sounded upon contact.

Iruka stared wide-eyed the dented tree. Never in all his years of teaching had he seen that happen. He'd have to be more careful with her.

"L-Let's try again, this time try letting just a little bit of chakra into your hands." Mutsuko nodded hesitantly and concentrated all her strength into only letting small bits of chakra trickle to her fingers. She again attempted to copy his hand motions and, once she finished the last seal, a puff of gray smoke appeared and at the center of it sat a log. Though it was slightly shorter and thinner than the others, it was a success nonetheless.

"That was great! You learn fast!" He grinned enthusiastically. "Now, what seems to be the problem, Naruto" The blonde looked up from his intense concentration and sweat dropped.

"N-Nothing! I can do it, Iruka-sensei! Watch!" The boy snapped his attention back to his hands and carefully formed each seal, clearly using all the concentration he could muster. A puff of smoke appeared and quickly dissolved, revealing nothing but a single leaf on the ground. By now, everyone had returned to human form and was staring at the blonde's failed attempt at a transformation, a few snickers and mocking glances being exchanged among the students. The boy released the jutsu and frowned to himself, eyes glued to the ground and hands clenched into fists.

Mutsuko, after struggling to figure out how to undo the jutsu, puffed back into her normal self and glanced over at the poor boy who seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"H-How about we move onto some more jutsus?" Iruka-sensei quickly spoke up, apparently not wanting to further upset the boy. The class turned its attention back to their teacher and all but forgot the boy's embarrassment.

After another hour and a half of trying desperately to correctly execute the newly learned hand signs and keep up with the class, Mutsuko found little relief when Iruka-sensei said they would be moving on to taijutsu.

'Oh no, what's that? More hand seals?' She felt a headache coming on at the mere thought.

"Hey, what's taijutsu?" She whispered to the boy next to her. He had deep blue hair and wore a shirt of a similar shade that donned an unfamiliar symbol on the back. His bored black eyes only flicked to her briefly before turning back to the teacher.

"No chakra." He said flatly.

Mutsuko, although profoundly ticked at his high-and-mighty demeanor, was overwhelmingly relieved at the thought of not having to keep practicing those painfully complicated hand signs. Emphasis on painfully.

"Now, I know the academy teaches plenty of taijutsu so most of you have a strong sense of what it's all about. We'll have each of you spar with one of your classmates to see what you know and what you need to work on. For today, weapons are allowed." At this, the class bristled with excitement. Looks like they were glad to see some action. "The first pair will be Sasuke and Shikamaru. As I'm sure you know, both graduated at the top of the class and excel in hand-to-hand." Iruka-sensei said as two boys stood up and stepped forward. One of the selected boys was the dark haired one she had spoken to a moment earlier. Mutsuko's eyes focused on him as Iruka spoke again. "Begin in three, two, one!" He leapt back just before the blue haired boy charged. The other boy, who had a spikey black ponytail, easily dodged and landed a distance away. Wasting no time, the former again, this time disappearing before he was five feet from his opponent. The black haired one spun around to block a kick from behind and quickly delivered one of his own. Unsurprisingly, his leg was caught and flung to the side, causing him to land sloppily a few feet away. Quickly regaining his footing, he jumped just in time to dodge a small knife thrown his way. Their spar continued like this for a while longer, they were almost evenly matched but the blue haired one had been steadily gaining ground. Soon, he had pinned his opponent against a tree and pressed a blade to his neck.

"Stop!" Iruka called, landing behind the two and ending their battle. "You both did very well, I'm impressed!" He smiled as the two boys abandoned their battle stances.

The spar had lasted just over five minutes and Mutsuko wondered how the black haired one had graduated at the top of his class. His hand to hand abilities were nothing outstanding nor was his skill with weapons to be envied. Well, not in Mutsuko's eyes anyways. The blue haired boy, on the other hand, was quite interesting. His movements were sharp and pointed, as was his use of those small black blades. What she was most interested in, however, was the way they fought. Even though she didn't think the black haired boy was particularly skilled, she was thoroughly fascinated by how they moved. They were jumping and leaping all throughout the battle, even throwing punches and kicks at each other. Back in her country, Mutsuko had never seen such a style, it had what the older samurai would call "disregard for grace." She'd always been taught to keep her movements smooth and her steps fluid, and though she was accustomed to fight in such a manner, the style she had just witnessed was oddly intriguing.

"Next up are Sakura and Ino." Iruka's voice pulled Mutsuko out of her thoughts. She saw that a pink haired girl and a blonde haired girl had stood up and were ready to spar.

Through the next few rounds, Mutsuko was transfixed by their movements. They all seemed to have a similarly rough style of battle and it was something she had instantly taken a liking to. Maybe she could learn to move like that. These shinobi turned out to be a lot more interesting than she'd thought.

"Alright, our last pairing of the day will be Mutsuko and Naruto." Upon hearing her name, Mutsuko slowly stood up and stepped out in front of the class. The blonde boy who had been unable to transform earlier had also come forward and now stood across from her. He offered a friendly smile and she nodded politely in return. They took a step back from each other and prepared to fight. She focused on her chakra flow and lowered into a battle stance. "One, two, three, begin!" Iruka called and leapt back. The blonde boy, Naruto, immediately charged straight at her, aiming a punch at her stomach. In one movement, Mutsuko stepped forward, leaned to the side, caught his ankle with the side of her foot, and turned to watch as he stumbled and fell. Resolve clearly unaffected by the tumble, he jumped back up and charged again. Once he was close enough, Naruto drew a leg back and swung it at her shoulder only to see her duck under his leg, causing him to lose balance. He rolled a few feet before gathering himself enough to regain his posture. He stood up and pulled a few small blades from the pouch strapped on his leg. With a flick of the wrist he sent them flying towards Mutsuko at an impressive speed. She, however, seemed to predict the move and simply stepped to the side, swiftly catching one out of the air as it zipped by.

Glancing at the dark piece of metal in her hand, she was able to see the foreign weapon up close: a tall pyramidal blade with a thin handle wrapped with lighter colored cloth. Of course, she couldn't spend too much time examining the weapon during a battle. She glided out of the way as Naruto ran at her once again.

Now that she had a weapon, Mutsuko shifted to offense mode. She drew one leg back and brought the short blade into her right hand, holding it as she would her sword. With it positioned just above her left hip, she imagined that she was holding a sword. A very light, very small sword.

In the blink of an eye, Mutsuko had backed Naruto up against a tree and pointed the tip of her blade at his neck.

"Stop!" Iruka called, signaling the end of the match. Mutsuko took a step back, loosening her grip on the blade and relaxing her stance. She flipped the weapon around and held the handle out to Naruto who hesitantly took it. "Well done, both of you! I'm glad we all got a chance to see how a samurai fights! Thank you Mutsuko, it was very interesting." Iruka grinned and patted both of them on the back, sending them to sit down in their spots. "Alright class, that's all for today! I'll see you back here tomorrow, have a nice afternoon!"

After the class was dismissed, Mutsuko watched as the other children left as she waited patiently for her anbu guide who was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey! Your name's Mutsuko right?" A voice from behind her asked. It was the blonde boy she'd spared with.

"Yea, and you're Naruto?" She confirmed, receiving a nod from the boy.

"That's me! By the way, you're really strong! I've never seen anyone move so fast! It was super cool, one second you're there and then whoosh you're right in front of me!" Naruto waved his hands wildly in the air.

"Oh, um, thanks." Mutsuko smiled slightly. "You were good too."

"Hehe, thanks!" He scratched the back of his head. "So what's it like in your country? What kinds of things do samurai do?" His eyes shimmering as he spoke.

"Well, in the Land of Iron it's a lot colder and there's almost always snow. We don't have big cities like Konoha either, just a small main village and a few towns around it. As for what samurai do, I'd think we're just about the same as you. We just have a different training process is all." She explained, glancing around for any sign of the anbu.

"How do you guys train?" He asked the instant she finished talking. She blinked at him incredulously, he seemed a little too excited to hear her response

"We don't have an academy or anything so kids usually just learn from their parents. Sometimes parents will hire tutors instead, though."

"Cool! Did you learn from your parents or did you have a sensei?"

"Well, my parents were killed sometime after I was born, but I was taken in by an older couple so I learned from them." Naruto's expression dampened at this.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up..." He apologized quickly. She shook her head.

"Don't worry about it, it's not like I remember them." She offered a small smile. "How old are you, Naruto?" She asked, changing the topic.

"Me? I'm twelve." He grinned, instantly back to being loud and bubbly. "You?"

"Fourteen..." She sighed. Why couldn't she be put in a class of kids her age? 'Sucks to be me.' She moped silently. Suddenly, she saw something from the corner of her eye that prompted her up turn her head.

It was a tall boy with straight black hair tied into a ponytail. He was waving at the blue haired kid in her class. For some reason, she could have sworn he looked familiar.

"Hey Naruto, who's that?" She questioned, gesturing at the taller boy.

"Oh, him? He's Sasuke's brother, Itachi. He's super cool." He stated as if that was all she needed to know about him. The blue haired one must be Sasuke. "Is something wrong?" He asked upon seeing her inquisitive stare. Mutsuko shook her head and turned away.

"Nothing. I just know someone who looks like him." She lied casually. Diverting her gaze to the tree line behind them, she suddenly spotted a familiar face, or rather, a familiar mask. "Oh! I have to go, see you around!" She hopped up and began jogging towards the trees before he could respond.

"I apologize for the delay, I hope I did not keep you waiting." The anbu apologized. Mutsuko smiled as they began walking towards the village.

"Not at all, I was able to make a new friend. So where are we going?" She asked, peering curiously at the eyes of the clay mask.

"It's about twelve thirty now so you may take a half hour break." He stated just as they entered the busy marketplace. "You may do whatever you please during this time but please be at the academy building by one o'clock." He nodded in the direction of the building which she had to tiptoe to catch a glimpse of. It wasn't very far from where they stood. "I will meet you there when break ends. Just call if you need anything." He said, only waiting to see her nod before disappearing.

Mutsuko glanced at the bustling midday crowd and sighed. 'Not hungry... Might as well wander around for a while.' She concluded, heading back towards the outskirts of the village.

It was so peaceful, so beautiful. The lively green trees danced in the breeze, waving to the grasses that moved along with them. The lush patches of open fields was a picture perfect scene to someone like Mutsuko who had grown up in the cold, barren Land of Iron. Of course, she loved her country but there was nothing quite like this back home. She could get used to this weather.

After ten minutes of aimless walking, the girl came across a pond. It was right on the edge of one of the smaller training fields and was about seventy feet across. She decided to sit for a while, plopping down next to the water and leaning in to see her reflection. On the surface of the blue-green water was a young girl with dull brown eyes, tangled hair, and a fair amount of dirt on her face. She wiped the dirt off and ran her fingers through her long brown locks. 'What a mess.' She thought. She looked down at her yukata and noticed it was even dustier than yesterday. 'I might have to get some new clothes soon.' Crossing her legs, she settled down on the warm grass and tossed her head back to stare at the sky. It really was a beautiful day; the sky was blue with scattered white clouds floating under it, the sun was warm and beaming, why couldn't it be this nice all the time? She returned her gaze to the lake's surface and stared blankly for a few moments. Unconsciously sending a tiny ball of chakra into the lake, she watched as it wiggled through the water and jumped to the surface before vanishing. She grinned. For some reason, she found it amusing. She sent another marble of chakra through the water and it did the same as the first, this time jumping in and out twice before disappearing. A light giggle escaped her lips as she released three at the same time, they spun and chased each other around as if they were dancing. She dipped both her hands into the water and scooped up a handful. Excess liquid cascaded down the sides of her hands, leaving only the water caught between them. Without thinking, Mutsuko pushed some chakra through her palms and into the clear pond water, she dropped her hands and the chakra infused liquid was now a blob floating in the air. With just a thought, it morphed it into a tiny samurai, fully equipped with water armor and swords. Deciding that her new creation needed a friend, she touched the pond's surface and transferred another small portion of chakra to it. She pulled it out and suspended it next to the little warrior. In a spilt second, the second blob had also turned into a samurai. The two locked in a stare-down while drawing their weapons and circling each other. In a quick motion, they sped towards the center and their tiny swords clashed, sending water sparks flying. One pushed the other back and raised his sword, bringing the hilt down on his opponent's head. The second spun to the left, dodging the attack and slicing at the other's side. Thanks to his armor, the first man was only pushed to the right and-

"Strange to find you out here, Shiromori-san." She jumped, the two water samurai lost all form and splashed into the pond.

"Hokage-sama!" She hastily stood and bowed her head. He laughed and patted her shoulder.

"Bring them back, I'd like to see them." He said, looking at the water's surface. Mutsuko blinked momentarily before bending down and touching the water twice, instantly bringing up two miniature samurai identical to the ones before. The Hokage seemed to marvel at the tiny figures as they came up to eye level. "My, my, if I remember correctly, this is similar to the armor samurai really wear, yes?" Mutsuko nodded proudly.

"It's exactly the same." She grinned.

"Very impressive, your people are quite brilliant with armor and weaponry." He stated, examining the little man carefully. After a moment, Mutsuko piped up.

"Speaking of weaponry, I saw some of the people in my class using a weird looking dagger. It was sort of diamond shaped in the middle and narrowed to a point." She squinted, recalling the strange weapon she had held. The old man looked surprised.

"You must be talking about kunai. It's very common among shinobi, we carry them in weapons pouches along with some other types of supplies." He explained.

"That's cool, we don't use weapons pouches. It must be nice having a bag full of sharp things everywhere you go." She grinned and they both laughed.

"I suppose so!" The wrinkles around his eyes deepened with his smile. "So how do you like Konoha so far? Are the people treating you well?" He asked with honest curiosity.

"Definitely! And the village is really interesting, everything seems so different here." She nodded to herself. "Oh! I've been meaning to ask you something! Um... why did you agree to the treaty?" She tilted her head. "Shinobi outnumber samurai a thousand to one. You don't need a treaty to know we won't attack." The Hokage chuckled, causing her to frown in confusion.

"It's not about threat of invasion, the culture of your people is rich and fascinating. I simply thought it should be spread, that more people should know of it." He explained.

'Liar.'

"Well that's nice to hear! But then why'd you agree to give military support? And why would I be needed?" She pushed further, trying to pry as much information about the whole thing as possible.

"Your leader and I both thought it would be beneficial to give a gesture of peace. For us it was offering full military alliance, for them it was sending one of their own." He said, shrugging. "But let's forget that, now that you're here I hope you can learn plenty about our culture in your time with us." He smiled, skillfully sliding away from the topic. Speaking of time...

"Oh! It must be past my break! Sorry sir but I have to go!" She bowed hastily before sprinting back towards the center of the village.

Hiruzen blinked at the girl's rapidly retreating back.

'What an interesting young lady.' He smiled to himself.