What a terrible year.
Kaina Uzumaki just wants a quiet life. What she hated the most is bringing attention to herself. And she did that merely by existing.
It's easy to hate yourself when you keep falling short of your expectations.
As the only student with red hair, she is the most common target for harassment, even though this has had little effect on her.
Children are cruel. It's a phrase that has been said over and over by every adult.
The older academy teachers seem to be afraid of her. Which is a good thing. Konoha's Red Hot Habanero is no more, but her legacy still remains forever in their hearts.
Kaina doesn't know her father better than her mother. She doesn't even know his name, but she wanted to follow his footsteps instead of her mother.
A less known ninja is a successful ninja. The fact that only a select few seem to know his identity made him sounds cool. For the girliest boy in his graduating class, he is not too bad. At least according to the Uchiha Clan Matriarch who used to have a crush with the unnamed boy.
Somehow, the name of the now grown up and dead boy has become a taboo subject. The Hokage must be worried if that person can still appear out of nowhere whenever someone said his name as if summoned. Even in death. Threatening the balance of the world and bringing it closer to the brink of destruction.
The Kyuubi made no attempt to correct his host's mistake. He can't wait to see her reaction when someone revealed her father's true name. It's going to be a spectacle for sure.
"Aaah! It burns!"
Someone screamed. It turned out to be the Ami girl who forcefully grabbed Kaina's hair earlier.
Remember, kids. Bullying others never ends right. See?
Genjutsu is awesome. She has to thank Mukumo-san later. Or maybe now. Classes are boring anyway. It's not like being late is a bad thing.
The difference between reality and illusion is important to understand unless when you're about to face a Kurama Clan member. At that point, it doesn't matter very much if it isn't real.
"Mukumo-san. Thank you."
"I didn't do anything. Must be static electric shock."
Attracted by the commotion, Kaina's favorite academy teacher passed by. Something told her it was a good idea to practice the art of being a normal girl right away.
"Suzume-sensei, look! Mukumo-san is teaching me how to apply the no-makeup makeup!"
"This is going to work, Kaina-san. I know it is because I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't."
"Aren't you too young to use makeup? Shouldn't you two be in the classroom right now?"
The bespectacled Chuunin had no idea how Kaina managed to get along with the most withdrawn girl in the class. One with a melancholic disposition and the tendency to sigh a lot.
"But it's Mizuki-sensei's class. We learned nothing there."
That, and he hates ramen. Everyone who hates ramen with passion couldn't be trusted to do the right things right.
"I don't trust him. He could be sabotaging our grades by only teaching everything that isn't in the exam."
"Well said, Mukumo-san!"
Mukumo-san liked ramen. Unlike her cousins Yakumo and Tsukumo who only tolerated it. If Kaina finds anyone else who liked ramen she might consider adding them to her friend list.
The other reason why Kaina befriended the Kurama Clan branch family member is that she divert everyone's attention away from her by being prettier and more likely to be noticed first.
Why are all Clan children in her class so good looking? Centuries of selective breeding tends to do that.
She predicted most of them will pass this year. Izumi Uchiha did graduate at age 11, after all.
Which reminds Kaina, if she graduated later than her seniors and classmates, no one will consider her as a prodigy or Hokage material.
She certainly doesn't look forward to being a Genin at age 10, being promoted to Chunin at age 12, being an ANBU at age 13, and being a Hokage at age 23. Only to die at age 24.
It's not like she is related to the Yondaime Hokage or anything right? Her hair isn't blond and spiky.