Article 12 - Chapter 9 - Academy Arrival
Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.
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Pre-Notes: Finally get to the academy. Had to take some time to develop some characters before the future chapters.
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(1 Week Later - Age: 4 Years, 10 Months. )
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"Do you have everything?" Ayasha-san asked as she was pulling out the drawers in the kitchen peering inside.
"Yes, I made sure that I packed it fully the night before." I said picking my bag off the floor.
"Wait a second, I'm looking for something before we leave." She said while still fumbling in the drawers.
I sat on a chair waiting for the perpetual procrastinator genius Ayasha-san. She amazed me how she could wait until the very last minute to do things and manage to make it work, surely it was a gift… and a curse.
"Ah here it is! Dan-Dun-dun-Da!" She said as she pulled out a black elastic mesh hair scrunchie.
My eyes darted from the article to her eyes.
"What? Don't you like it?"
"-Of course! It's nice and compact, but in my hair it will draw people's attention wont it?"
"Baby, you are already gonna have everyone's attention, that should be the least of your worries. -Beside's, this scrunchie was given to me by my mother when I graduated the academy."
I couldn't believe that. I know she was going for sentimental, but that means it was subjected to years of sweat and filth right?
I looked at the item in Ayasha's hand for a moment longer before picking it up in my hand.
It seemed the mesh itself was elastical and oddly metallic. It felt well made and the fabric that covered it looked completely new.
I looked back to her with confusion.
"Oh, you can replace the cover silly. If you don't like the color we can always change it some other time. -But now we gotta get you to the academy, lets go missy!"
What a useful item to give me. That paired with its make quality and sentimental value makes it an excellent gift.
"I don't think I thanked you properly… Thank you."
She just flashed me a smile and grabbed me by the hand.
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"You know you don't have to stay here. I'm perfectly capable of doing this on my own if you want to leave."
She looked over and wacked me on the shoulder. "Trying to get rid of me already? I'll have you know this is a mothers birthright. A right of passage for all we have to put up with until now."
"No, no. I'm just making sure you didn't have anything you were missing." I said sheepishly.
"I made sure my whole day was clear."
'Oh no… I hoped she didn't intend to stay after I went off to go to classes. Why do I even have to worry about this? I guess I can embrace it if it happens. Besides… I'll probably be able to test out of my class on the first day.' I thought to myself.
In front of the academy building there was a cluster of people waiting to get processed. The chatter of the crowd was pretty loud but I overhead "Yeah, it's a drag." I looked over and saw what could only be Shikamaru and Choji waiting in the middle of the line.
Before I even stepped behind everyone to get in line I already had a few people staring at me. Mostly parents but also some kids I didn't know or didnt recognize.
The line moved little by little until finally Ayasha-san and me were the front.
"Next… Oh Mina Hyuga?!" the man behind the table said.
He had on the typical chunin uniform and looked far more oriential than the rest. I wonder if it would make me racist if I asked him if his eyes were open.I hadn't even handed him the papers yet, he must have recognized me just by looks.
"Hi. I'm supposed to have everything ready, I just needed to give this to you guys right?" I finished before handing him the advanced physical.
"Hmm… Yup it all looks… wow… Y-yeah it all looks good here." He said waving like I could go inside.
I turned around to ask whether Ayasha-san wanted to go in with me, I figured it was fair enough that the way she's treated me she had a right to these things… but tears were leaking down her cheeks.
She quickly wiped them away with her sleeve and bent down to my level.
"You just are growing up so fast… I just want you to be my little girl a bit longer." she said.
I pulled her into a hug spectators be damned. If anyone opens their mouth about it I can lay them out and they'll learn quick.
"I'll try not to grow up too fast." I said with a smile.
"You do that…" She said finally letting me go. "Alright, well I guess this is where I leave you. Have a lovely day sweetheart."
"Mhmm. Thanks." I said with a nod before running inside.
Finding my way to my class was a little confusing. They hadn't provided me with any type of map and just gave me the room number. I contemplated just using my byakugan to look for my room but I figured that felt a bit like dependency. I could definitely find my room quickly if I just… Oh here it is. Easy.
I walked into the room that was full of chatter. As I walked in it seemed like everyone stopped talking to look at me.
My eyes glazed over the room. It had far too many students and I could tell many of these kids would never even make genin. I walked up the steps to take a vacant desk with two chairs at the top. This class would be a joke and my vision would be plenty good enough to read anything off the board necessary, being in the back of the class gives you a better chance to multitask.
I was getting some glances from some of the boys, especially the civilian boys. They whispered amongst themselves nudging each other and giggling and then looking back to me again.
Annoying…
Sasuke entered the room and looked around. His eyes bounced around the room until falling on me and… was that a smile?
All the girls swooned over him as he walked. I personally didn't really see the appeal, the kid was 6.
I guess he was pretty symmetrical and everything but i'm not one for the broody types… Besides I hadn't even decided whether I liked boys or girls yet. Obviously I still like girls, but I'm likely genetically predispositioned towards men.
He kept walking up the steps… and kept walking up… and he took the seat next to me.
I eyed him curiously and he gave me a smirk. "Sasuke Uchiha." He said holding out his hand.
"Ehh?!" I let out uncontrollably. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb. What the hell is wrong with me? No, what was wrong with him. That's not the broody edgelord personality I remembered… Maybe he only got that way after his family died?
"-Sorry for my rudeness. Mina Hyuga" I said as I shook his hand.
I heard gasps around the room and I was bathed in mean and dirty looks. I met there eye's with as bored and disinterested of an expression as I could manage. That served to rile them up more. They just made it too easy.
"I watched your exhibition match a while ago. You're pretty talented hn?"
"Good enough to earn the moniker Prodigy of Prodigies I suppose."
Sasuke folded has hands together and placed them on the desk. "... How early did you start your training?" he asked.
"My clan wouldn't let me start training until I was two."
"... wouldn't let you? You were the one pushing for your training?" He asked in disbelief. I noticed he squeezed his hands and his knuckles turned white.
"Yeah… I guess you could say I love pushing myself to my limits and exceeding them. Plus I knew I was going to be a kunoichi, I wanted to be as prepared as possible to limit my chances of an early death."
He just stared blankly at me until his hands finally relaxed. His head dropped, hanging down toward the desk.
Did I say something off? I thought.
A instructor with a scar across his face and brown hair pulled back walked into the room. The children from the class began quieting down. "Alr-"
"I'm here!" a rambunctious blonde said as he ran through the door. He closed his eyes and flashed a cheesy smile.
"Alright, class is about to start, go ahead and take your seat." the instructor said. " You can call me Iruka-sensei, and today we're going. . . . ."
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The classes were so boring. We didn't learn anything pertaining to combat or tactics preparation which I had fully expected. We introduced ourselves and began learning mathematics and history. At one point I had to hold myself back from laughing at what one of the history books said. I had known it to be completely false but I guess the winners get to retell the story and fill the heads of those it indoctrinated with propaganda to help nurture the will of fire. It was both disgusting and intriguing to see it's effects.
The class moved outdoors to the training grounds in preparation for a Taijutsu evaluation to determine where everyone was at.
The class was split down the middle into males and females and I noticed that each side was uneven and that would likely mean that one of the boys and one of the girls would spar together.
"Sensei, it seems the number of boy's and girls are uneven. I volunteer to spar a boy."
The sensei looked down at his clipboard and I felt the heat of everyone's stares.
"I'm sorry, the arrangements have already been made." He said before listing off the pairings.
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"...Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame… Sasuke Uchiha and Choji Akimichi …"
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"... Ino Yamanaka and Mina Hyuga…"
I blinked. Ino was a weak Taijutsu user. I would have prefered a stronger opponent but who else were they going to give me Hinata? I'm sure they don't want the same clans going against each other during evaluations… damn.
I could see a mixed expression on Ino's face. Her face was red with what I could only assume was anger but she didn't say anything… In fact she looked unprepared for the fight. It would seem my reputation precedes me.
We took our stances as we waited for our instructor to start the match.
"You won't steal Sasuke away for us girls even if your some kind of hotshot." she whispered just loud enough for me to hear.
This girl was so clueless. If she worked on herself to make her better, she wouldn't need to fawn over boys. People will recognize your individuality and your strength be it emotional or physical. I reached both hands behind my head pulling the gift which was around my wrist to hold my hair back.
I let a sadistic grin spread across my face.
"Start!"
I launched forward and threw out a palm without the use of Gentle Fist. I aimed it at her shoulder and it slipped through her guard. I rotated hooking my foot behind her ankle and moved to a handstand while I lifted her leg with mine overhead. She had fallen backwards landing on her back and I brought my spare hand down to balance myself before I pushed off the ground.
I pulled my legs back and behind me as I rotated from my makeshift backflip landing on top of Ino stopping my fist before impacting her neck.
Her face was painted with horror as she was piecing together how she got here and what happened. "Victor Mina! -Seal of Reconciliation both of you so we can move on to the next match."
Ino's look went from terrified to furious. I could see tears start to form in her eyes even though they burned with… hatred? It would seem I had made an enemy today.
Both of our two outstretched fingers embraced, then Ino stomped off to her group of friends in a huff.
I heard grunts and gasps around me that faded into whispering. Everyone were glancing over to me quickly until they saw I noticed and they quickly turned their head.
"Hinata Hyuga and… Naruto Uzumaki."
Hinata's face turned red and she began quietly stammering to herself. Naruto was complaining to sensei because he was paired up with a girl and demanded to get a different partner.
Iruka looked towards Hinata and asked "Hinata… would you rather spar with one of the girls who's already went or with Naruto?"
She looked like she was going to implode on herself. I walked behind her and gave her a firm pat on the shoulder, I swear she almost jumped out of her skin, but it looked like that eased a bit of her tension.
"I...I-Accept Na...ruto." She squeaked out.
"I don't want to hurt you Hinata." Naruto announced.
Iruka gave Naruto a dirty look and said "Don't go easy on her Naruto... unless you want to lose to a girl?"
Oh that did it. He was bouncing around and shouted "You sure Hinata?"
Her face still red as a tomato, she nodded affirmative to his question.
"Take your places. I'll count you down…" He said before counting down and shouting "Start!"
Naruto didn't look like he had his whole heart in the fight but then again neither did Hinata.
"Show him how strong you are Hinata!" I shouted.
Doing that got me some surprised looks from our classmates but they quickly focused their attention back to the fight.
Naruto charged her and aimed a punch into her gut. She slapped his punch with a palm to knock it to the side and half-heartedly hit his chest with her other palm. Naruto was knocked backwards but didn't fall over. A look of surprise flashed across his face and he yelled "Wow Hinata, your pretty good aren't you?"
Her face flushed even redder and I saw her knees wobble for a moment.
"-But I won't be beaten by you!" he yelled before advancing again. Naruto threw a more compact punch which was caught and he twisted trying to add a kick. Hinata reached out and pushed under his armpit and he lost his balance landing on the ground. She leaned over him and made a fist questionably looking up at the teacher but he didn't say stop.
Naruto rolled backwards into a summersault landing clumsily on his feet before being struck again and landing on the ground. This time Hinata moved in position and threw her punch but stopped it quickly glancing over to Iruka again. He sighed.
"Victor Hinata! Make the Seal of Reconciliation and we can head inside.
Sasuke started walking towards me with a cocky smirk on his face. "I challenge the girls best to a spar. I want to see which of us is stronger." he said while he crossed his arms.
"I accept." I said immediately and looked over to Iruka. He shook his head to himself.
"I guess It would be a good showing to see how the classes top two compair." he said with a shrug. "We only have time for this one more spar before we're going inside. Let's make it fast."
I smiled internally. Sasuke would be no match for me but I guess he wanted to see that for himself. I'll show you the vast difference between our knowledge, experience, and skill.
This would be fun.
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Authors Notes: Zemptai-sama again, Mina's mask is getting easier for her to wear. The emotions she shows externally are mostly deductions of what other people around her want and then giving it to them. In the next chapter Mina will be testing to advance out of her class and attempting to procure a Hospital Library pass - [ along with a few other things ;) ]
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