Dear Mother, Father, and Anna,

I have started the academy here and have settled in nicely. I have made a few really good friends, who both have welcomed me to the village and helped me feel at home. One of my friends is Hinata. She is part of a noble family here. She is very shy and has trouble sticking up for herself but is also very nice. Her father is very strict though and makes life hard on her, but something about him makes me think that he isn't a bad man. He might just not understand what his daughter needs from him. Hinata also has a little sister, though she is younger than Anna so she can't join in with us when we get together, but she also seems nice, if a little cold. Kind of like their dad.

My other friend is named Naruto. He is somehow connected to the leader of the village because he keeps calling him grandpa but I don't think they are related by blood. Naruto is also very nice and he always seems happy, but sometimes he fakes it. For some reason, people don't treat him very nicely, and that makes him sad. For the longest time, he never let people know but then I remembered what you told me, Mom. How if you don't cry, no one would know that you needed help. So I told him to cry if he needed to and then he cried for a long time. I think he is getting better now because he is smiling again and this time he really seems to mean it.

I also met someone else. Her name is Yugao and she works for the village leader. She lives in the rooms next to mine and she normally helps guide me around town and she also works as a bodyguard. I haven't had much time to talk with her yet but she seems nice so maybe she will also be my friend but she is a grown-up so she probably won't be the same type of friend as Naruto and Hinata.

I miss all of you and I hope you are doing well. Tell Anna that I am sorry that I had to leave and that I can't wait to see her again. I love all of you.

Love,

Elsa

"Hello again class," The teacher said as he entered the room.

"Good morning Sensei," The class responded, standing by their seats as they waited for permission to sit down.

Elsa smiled when the teacher gave the signal and sat down, pulling out a pencil and notebook for the class. This was the usual ritual that the students went through at the start of each class period, and over the last six months, it had become a practiced habit for them all. The academy was structured such that the morning was spent learning generally academic subjects: reading, writing, mathematics, and so forth. Then, in the afternoon, there were shinobi-specific courses such as physical fitness, wilderness survival, stealth, and movement. Elsa had been told that in the future years they would include more dangerous classes such as chakra basics and combat.

Elsa wasn't sure how comfortable she was with the idea of learning to fight. She had grown up in a very peaceful kingdom, and even though the guards in the castle were armed, she had never even seen them draw their weapons. But she also knew that many of the students from clans had already begun combat training so she guessed it wasn't such a bad idea.

The subject that she was most excited for was chakra basics. If the trolls and Jiraiya were to be believed then chakra was what powered her abilities. By learning to control it she wouldn't have to be afraid anymore.

Shaking that from her thoughts, she focused back on the class around her. The teacher was covering math which was always easy for Elsa. Most of the math she was learning had to do with counting quickly or recognizing patterns. She had always liked patterns, they just seemed to make sense in her head. Given that, she was quickly bored by the subject and began to observe the other students in the room. To her right and left sat her two friends Hinata and Naruto.

Hinata sat quietly with her hands in her lap listening to the teacher politely. Elsa quickly peeked at her notes and saw that Hinata was already ahead of where the professor was in the chapter of the workbook. Knowing Hinata's father, he had probably made her study ahead so that she would not appear to be behind anyone else. In fact, that was probably true for every Hyuuga in the school.

Elsa had the opportunity to visit Hinata at least once a week and every time she was in their compound she was surprised by how strictly everyone followed their traditions. Not even the royal palace in Arendelle had such a stifling atmosphere. Of course, Elsa's mother was very sociable and would often leave the gates open for any citizen of the kingdom to come and enjoy the gardens of the courtyard. She had even started giving small groups tours of the halls so that they could view all of the art that Elsa's family had collected over the years. The Hyuuga compound on the other hand was always locked up tight with guards always posted at the gate. The only way in was by invitation which Elsa was lucky enough to have in perpetuity thanks to her relationship with Hinata.

She and Hinata often spent their visits talking in one of the many immaculate gardens inside the Hyuuga compound. Though at times they would sneak off to the kitchens so that Hinata could cook something for them to snack on. Hinata had told Elsa that her father was fine with her having the ability to cook but that he disapproved of her actually cooking at home when she should be having the servants they employed complete the task. Hinata enjoyed the activity so much however that it was one of the few things that she was willing to disobey her father about.

Another of their favorite pastimes was to spend time with Hinata's little sister Hanabi. The girl was two years old and she was such a dour child that Elsa had decided she needed to hear the girl laugh. Hinata, hesitantly at first but with greater gusto as time went on, would join her in her quest as they played with the young girl. They had tried everything from playing peek-a-boo, putting on shows with her stuffed animals, and even straight-up tickling the child and so far they had only been able to get her to slightly smile.

"She's just too much like Father." Hinata had said once.

"Well in that case this is even more important," Elsa had replied, "If we can find out what makes her happy maybe you could finally get him to smile for once too."

The intense look in Hinata's eyes that appeared after she said that had caused both Elsa and the young girl to gain an uneasy feeling. Particularly Hanabi who somehow seemed to realize that she was the target of that intensity.

Smiling to herself at the memory, Elsa then turned her thoughts to her other friend who occupied the seat to her left. Naruto was currently sitting with a bored expression on his face as he listened to the teacher explaining the mathematical concept that they were learning today. In the first couple of weeks of school, Naruto had the bad habit of trying to sleep through the classes that he found boring, such as math and reading. Elsa had quickly let him know that she was disappointed in his lack of work ethic, and as soon as he was aware that what he was doing was displeasing her he did his best to stay awake, though he did still find the subjects boring which led to his current half-awake condition.

Surprisingly, he seemed to pick up the skills as quickly as she did. She wondered if that was why he was so bored, because he understood already so it felt like the teacher was droning on about the same things over and over again.

Ever since the first day of the academy, Elsa and Naruto were practically inseparable. After the boy had cried for a while he eventually calmed down and Elsa had asked him what was really wrong. He had then told her about his life, how he had been an orphan from the day he was born. As long as he could remember he had been taken care of by a nanny that would show up to cook for him in the mornings and evenings, but she never really spent time with him. The closest thing to a family he had was the Hokage, but the old man was so busy running the village that Naruto was lucky if he got an hour of the man's time every day or two. Before meeting Elsa, Naruto spent most of his time wandering the village or planning pranks. Ever since learning about the boy's lonely past and seeing his tears, Elsa made sure to spend as much time as she could spare with the boy so he wouldn't be lonely again.

Naruto reminded Elsa of her sister in many ways. Anna was always more energetic and scatter-brained than Elsa, often becoming distracted in the middle of a game because she wanted to try something new that had popped into her head. Naruto often acted the same way but for him, it was more that he wanted to try out everything that he had felt that he missed out on because he lacked a true friend. For example, the boy had never tried ice cream before. Their first trip to get the frozen treat had definitely been odd for Elsa. As they had approached the small cart Naruto had slowed down and told Elsa to go ahead and order ice cream for the two of them. Elsa had been confused at the boy's sudden hesitance but had gone along with it because she trusted him. The ice-cream vendor had smiled at her as she approached and ordered two single scoop cones. Once the cones were paid for and in her hands, Elsa had turned around to see Naruto rushing up to her and accepting the cone she offered him. When the cone changed hands Elsa heard a shocked gasp behind her and she turned quickly to see a look of shocked anger on the face of the previously smiling ice cream man. Looking back at Naruto she saw him smirk mischievously before he grabbed Elsa's hand and they hurried away, careful not to spill their frozen treat.

As she spent more and more time with Naruto she had continued to see the hidden disdain that the citizens held for the boy, which puzzled her. There had even been an incident in a clothing store that Elsa had convinced Naruto to visit with her. She had been approached by one of the clerks when she was alone, and was told that the boy was dangerous to be around. Elsa had told the clerk that she was mistaken and found Naruto quickly so that they could leave.

After a month or two, the populace seemed to warm up to the two children as it became expected for them to be seen together. A part of Elsa wondered if it was because Naruto now was spending more time with her than he was trying to prank the shop owners around town. The one shop owner that didn't change how they treated her friend was the owner of Ichiraku Ramen. A food stall that was Naruto's favorite place to eat.

Elsa still remembered her first meeting with the owner and his daughter. She had been living in the village for a few weeks by that time, and she was spending the afternoon with Naruto after the academy classes for the day had ended. They had decided to go to her apartment and work on the homework that had been assigned, when Elsa's stomach growled in hunger. She had blushed in embarrassment at the sound but Naruto seized the opportunity as a way to take a break from work.

"You're hungry," Naruto said, taking a moment to ponder before a look of exaggerated horror came over his face. "Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed, "I have committed a grave sin."

"What?" Elsa asked with an aghast tone, going along with the theatrics. Naruto would often exaggerate to make simple things more exciting. She wondered if he was getting it from Jiraiya, she sometimes caught the two spending time together.

"You have been here for weeks already and I haven't taken you to Ichiraku Ramen yet," Naruto explained.

"What's ramen?" Elsa asked, her expression shifting to one of genuine confusion.

Now it was Naruto's turn to drop his act but his face switched to a genuine look of shock. "What?" he asked, "you don't have ramen where you're from?"

Elsa shook her head in answer and Naruto immediately went into action. He closed all of their workbooks and stood waving wildly for Elsa to follow him. As he went he began to explain.

"Ramen is the best food in the whole world. It is like someone took every good thing that has been, or will ever be, made and put it into a bowl filled with steaming broth and noodles."

"So it's soup?" Elsa asked, hoping for clarification.

"How dare you," Naruto suddenly said, his eyes narrowing in mock betrayal, though he didn't stop his progress out the door, "to try and simplify Ramen by saying it is just soup is a nearly unforgivable offense, but I will forgive you because you obviously sin in ignorance. Now come on."

With that final urging, the two children finally made it out the door and walked excitedly down the street. Elsa greeted some of the people they passed but stopped when she noticed that they would often smile at her while giving her friend narrow-eyed glances. Eventually, the pair arrived at the small food stall with the words Ramen Ichiraku printed on a half curtain hanging on the front.

"Mr. Teuchi, Big Sis Ayame, I'm back," Naruto called as they entered the small eatery.

A few moments later a voice called out from the other side of the door behind the store's counter.

"Is that my favorite customer," A man's voice called out warmly.

Elsa looked around curiously taking in the atmosphere of the quaint little stall. It had a short counter with six stools fixed to the ground in front of it. Even though it wasn't big, the establishment was clean and well cared for. As they had walked up Elsa had noticed that the stall was attached to a larger building that she guessed must be the home of the owner. All in all, the place gave off an intimate and inviting feeling that Elsa found quite pleasant.

Elsa was pulled from the inspection of her surroundings when the sound of a door swinging open caught her attention and she saw a man walk out followed by a girl, that appeared to be his daughter if the resemblance in their features was to be believed. The man was just barely entering middle age and the girl appeared to be starting her teen years. When they took their places on the other side of the counter, the ramen vendors looked expectantly at the two customers.

"Well Naruto, it looks like you finally convinced someone else to give our ramen a try. Please, introduce us," the man said.

"This is my best friend, Elsa," Naruto said, taking special pride in calling someone his best friend.

"Hello," Elsa said in greeting, followed by a quick bow.

"Welcome to our ramen stand," the man said, speaking with the same warm voice he used when addressing Naruto, "My name is Teuchi and this is my daughter Ayame. We hope you will enjoy our food."

"Oh, she will," Naruto assured him, "I told her on the way here just how great your ramen is."

"Fantastic then, what can I get you?" the man asked

Elsa looked at Naruto looking for some kind of recommendation. The boy just smiled and gave her a thumbs up and said, "two large pork ramen please."

The old man seemed pleased at the order and said boisterously, "Coming right up," before he turned and started to work on the dish. Ayame stayed at the front of the counter and began to work preparing some other ingredients that Elsa couldn't quite see over the counter.

"So how did you and Naruto meet?" Ayame asked as she worked.

"Oh," Elsa said, surprised at being addressed, "I am actually visiting from another land to study at the academy here. I met Naruto on the first day and he offered to show me around."

"Aww, how sweet," The older girl responded, "good job Naruto."

Naruto smiled brightly and scratched the back of his head bashfully at the praise he received. "It wasn't anything special," the boy said.

Elsa smiled at the boy's reaction, she could tell that his reactions were genuine and she liked seeing that he was happy.

"How did you meet Naruto?" Elsa asked in turn, "you treat him much better than the other storekeepers."

Ayame smiled at the question but Elsa could see that it was strained at the edges like the other girl was upset. Elsa quickly backtracked trying to fix the situation.

"I am sorry if the question upset you. You don't have to answer if you don't want to," she said.

The ramen girl looked at Elsa and her expression softened,

"No, I am sorry. I wasn't upset with your question, I just was thinking about the people you mentioned," Ayame explained, "How we met Naruto is actually a funny story. One day Naruto ran in here and hid behind our counter. He had pranked the beef bowl shop down the road and was running from the owner. When my father found him he asked what had happened and Naruto told us that he did it because the other store kicked him out when he tried to buy something to eat."

The girl's story was interrupted when her father put two large bowls of broth and noodles down on the worktop Ayame had been using to prepare ingredients.

"And, I am almost grateful he did, if he hadn't then Naruto may never have found his way in here and become our best customer." the man said, before signaling for Ayame to finish the preparation of the two bowls by adding toppings to the soup.

"No way!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, "there is no way some beef bowl could ever compare to how good ramen is. This place will always be the best place to eat in the entire world."

"Good to hear," The man said, his smile widening at the young boy's claim, "with how much you eat if you keep coming here when you become a ninja I will be able to retire before I hit 50." When he finished his statement he winked at Elsa showing that it was all in good fun.

The food was then served and conversation paused as the two children ate their meal. Elsa was surprised at the quality of the soup. The broth had a complex flavor that was very pleasing and the noodles were the perfect texture, soft but not soggy. She surprised herself by finishing the whole bowl rather quickly, but when Naruto ordered a second and offered to buy one for her as well she declined, stating that she was satisfied after the first serving.

Due to the stall not being busy the two children stayed for a few hours talking with Teuchi and his daughter. Elsa told them about her homeland and the two ramen vendors told her funny stories about Naruto and some of his more memorable pranks.

The memory was a treasured one for Elsa. She and Naruto would go back to the stand regularly for dinner and over time the two kind merchants became close friends with the girl. Thanks to the wonderful relationships she was making she was starting to feel that she was making a new home for herself in the village, though she still missed her first home dearly.

Elsa sighed as she put away the last of her supplies at the end of the final lecture class of the day. Now she would need to get ready for the more physically demanding classes that were held in the afternoon. She felt lucky that her reminiscing hadn't caused her to fall behind during the morning classes. But she had, embarrassingly enough, needed to ask Hinata if she could peek at her notes to double-check. Elsa always tried her hardest but she was human, luckily she could count on her friends to help her rectify any mistakes she makes. With all of her stuff packed up, Elsa placed her bag on her chair and followed the rest of the class out to the training grounds for their physical education.

Outside the academy was a large space that was used as the training area for the ninja hopefuls. Spread around it were various amenities: Shuriken targets, obstacle courses, sparring rings, and a large empty lot where the students currently waited for instruction. Elsa sat near the rest of her class, but as they waited for their instructors to arrive most of the students gathered in small groups with their friends. Elsa sat in a trio with both Naruto and Hinata. Hinata was sitting quietly wearing a simple black shirt and pants, the regular training gear that Elsa had seen her wear whenever she was training in her clan compound. Elsa was also sitting quietly waiting for the start of class, she was wearing similar pants to Hinata but was wearing a light blue tunic-style shirt. When Elsa had come to the village, she had packed several outfits that she thought would be sufficient for the physical portion of the curriculum, but when she had seen the obstacle course on the first day, and thought about trying to run it while wearing a skirt, she had immediately asked Yugao where she might be able to find some more appropriate clothing. One shopping trip later and Elsa now owned a few pairs of pants, some shirts, and a pair of thin but sturdy leather gloves that were much more comfortable to wear during the physically demanding portions of the school day.

"Ugh, I don't know how you pay so close of attention Elsa, it was all I could do not to fall asleep during class today," Naruto said, grabbing the attention of the two girls that had been waiting patiently for the start of class. Elsa smiled but then blushed as she thought about her morning.

"Actually," Elsa admitted, "I found today's lessons quite boring as well, I caught myself daydreaming and had to ask Hinata for some of the notes I missed."

"You're lucky I wrote my notes out yesterday because I was lost in thought for most of the class as well. I agree that it was quite dull." Hinata said in a quiet voice.

Naruto was aghast, "After all the stink you make about me having to pay attention, you're telling me that you guys were just as bored as I was," he said in an accusatory tone.

The three sat staring at each other before they all began to laugh at the circumstances. Their laughter was interrupted shortly after it began by a haughty voice calling out to them.

"Will you lot pipe down, some of us are trying to focus before class starts." the voice said.

The trio of friends turned to the speaker and each gave different reactions. Hinata blushed in embarrassment, Elsa sighed, and Naruto just glared. Standing a few steps away from them and returning Naruto's glare with one of his own, was Sasuke Uchiha. If there was one aspect of Konoha that Elsa was upset with, it was this boy's attitude. She still remembered her first interaction with Sasuke when she and Naruto had bumped into him on her first day. When they had started the academy they had seen each other again during these afternoon classes, luckily they were in separate classrooms for the morning courses, and Sasuke had approached them demanding an apology for the way they treated him. Elsa had been about to just give the asked-for apology hoping that would end things with the rude boy but Naruto had interjected and started trading verbal barbs with the boy. That eventually degenerated into the two boys just calling each other names and Elsa got bored, so she left them to find Hinata and spent time with her for the remainder of the class. A part of her wishes that she had interrupted them and had tried to settle things, because now Sasuke would always find some way to involve himself in the friends' discussions which would eventually lead to Naruto responding and they would once again begin their verbal sparring.

"Shut up Sasuke, none of us were bothering anyone,"

"You were bothering me, idiot, that's what I was just saying,"

"Like I said you're a nobody, so nobody was bothered,"

"Yeah right, I am top of the class and your average at best,"

"At least I have friends,"

"I don't need friends,"

"Spoiled brat,"

"No name loser,"

Elsa's face eventually found its way to her gloved palm. She didn't know how the two boys didn't get tired of going through the same routine nearly every day. She hoped that the teachers would come soon to put an end to this. She had tried once and Sasuke had snapped at her causing Naruto to get even more vicious in his name-calling in her defense. In the end, she had eventually decided it was too much of a hassle and would just leave it to the adults. As if in answer to her plea a voice ripped through the air.

"Uchiha, Uzumaki, stop your bickering or you will be stopped."

Elsa turned to the source of the command and saw two figures approaching the group of students. They were both young men, probably a few years younger than Yugao. One, Mizuki-sensei had shoulder-length grey hair that was kept out of his face by a bandana with a metal plate on the front inscribed with the sigil of Konoha. The other, Iruka-sensei, had his hair in a short ponytail on the top of his head and wore a headband showing the same metal plate. He also had a noticeable scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. He was the one who had spoken.

Elsa shuddered slightly at the implied threat in his command. She remembered one of the first days of school when Naruto and Sasuke had been so focused on their shouting match that they had ignored the teacher. Iruka had then vanished from the front of the class and appeared above the two boys before slamming them to the ground and pinning them using a single hand for each. The two instructors wore vests that indicated that they had earned the rank of chunin and that incident had been a demonstration to the class of just how much the two ninjas outclassed them. Ever since that day Naruto and Sasuke learned that when Iruka spoke it was in your best interest to listen. Mizuki on the other hand was a much more soft-spoken and kind teacher. He would offer encouragement to the students as they went through the tasks they were assigned by the teachers. Elsa liked their teaching style. Iruka was the tough no-nonsense type of instructor who expected you to get things done, while Mizuki was the calm and kind one that would listen and explain things in a more gentle tone. Elsa's one issue with the teachers was how Iruka treated Naruto. He always seemed extra strict with the boy, demanding that he be quiet and stop messing around whenever he stepped out of line. Elsa guessed that it must be because of her friend's reputation as a prankster, but while some of the population seemed to be warming up to him thanks to Elsa's influence, Iruka wasn't one of them. It often seemed that Mizuki was extra encouraging to Naruto as a way to try and balance out his colleague's attitude.

Elsa was pulled from her musings on the teachers by them starting to instruct the students on what the day's activities would be. The class started with some warm-up exercises. They ran a few laps around the training ground, then came back to the central space for calisthenics and stretching. Elsa got separated from Naruto so she partnered with Hinata during the stretching. Naruto had apparently taken the opportunity to treat the warm-up laps like a race and had been sprinting at the front of the pack neck and neck with Sasuke. This had led to them being partners for the stretching portion of the class and Elsa had winced when she caught a glimpse of the boys pushing on each other to the point that they were causing pain while they stretched, but she trusted that they wouldn't go so far as to cause injury. After all, doing so would gain the ire of Iruka, something neither of them wanted.

Having finished their warm-up, the class lined up in two lines for the main event of today's class, timed runs through the obstacle course. The obstacle course on the training ground held a series of challenges that tested a student's speed, balance, and agility. It started with a balance beam that was only one foot off the ground. At the end of the balance beam, the course runner faced a 6-foot high wall that had hand-holds attached and cut into it to mimic a rock face. At the top of the climbing wall, there was a platform for the runner to stand on before the next obstacle, a series of posts of various heights and sizes that they had to jump their way across. Once they reached the other side they had to traverse a 10 foot long set of monkey bars. At the end, were a set of walls set about 3 feet apart, which the course runner had to use to descend by pressing against each wall with feet and hands. At the bottom was a 20 yard open stretch for the course runner to sprint across, before arriving at the penultimate obstacle, a 15-foot wall that the runner scales using a rope. Once the runner reached the top they would then race down an angled bridge that was only 1 foot wide to the finish line at the bottom.

At the start of the year, the students had learned how to do each obstacle on its own, then they had slowly worked at completing two at a time, then three, until finally, they had reached the point where they were expected to complete the entire course. This was only their third time running it so everyone was eager to see if they could improve their time.

Hinata and Elsa purposefully placed themselves in the lines so that they would be able to run it at the same time. She didn't want to be next to someone that would try to race her, preferring to focus on her own performance. As she settled into the line she could hear, from a couple of spaces behind her, something she had been worried about.

"Just you wait, jerk, when we get up there I am going to blow you out of the water."

"Hn, yeah right,"

Either by luck or design, Naruto had taken the spot that would allow him to run the course at the same time as Sasuke. Elsa was often puzzled by the boys' antics, Sasuke would always seek out Elsa's trio of friends. She honestly wondered if he was lonely and was just bad at making friends. If he came and asked to be friends she would be fine with it but instead, he always acted like a jerk to them. Naruto also acted weird when Sasuke was around. Normally he was inseparable from Elsa, they spent most of their free time together. But when Sasuke came around he would focus completely on having his shouting match even when Elsa would wander off to spend time with Hinata instead. She wished they would just become friends already so they didn't have to put on the act.

Before Elsa realized it, she was nearing the front of the line of course runners. Focusing back on the task at hand, Elsa looked to Hinata and the two girls gave each other nods of encouragement. Now at the starting line, they sat like coiled springs, and once they heard the whistle from Mizuki-sensei, they took off.

Elsa hurried to the first obstacle and made the short hop to the top of the balance beam making her way across as smoothly as she could. If you fell off one of the obstacles you could get back on but it would add a penalty to your score. If you got more than 3 penalties you were taken off the course and failed your run. Elsa made it to the other end without falling but she was a half step behind her friend. Even though Hinata had Elsa beat in balance, Elsa made up for it in strength allowing her to climb the wall slightly faster meaning that they reached the top at the same time. Planning out their routes the two girls made their way onto the posts. Again they both finished the obstacle neck and neck. The trend continued throughout the rest of the course. Elsa pulled ahead slightly but Hinata caught up in the next obstacle, then vice versa. In the end, they both started descending the ramps toward the finish line at the same time and Hinata, thanks to her better balance, made it to the end slightly ahead. When they heard their times they were both pleased to have beaten their previous records. Smiling and congratulating each other the two girls made their way to where the rest of the students that had already run were waiting and watched the rest of the class.

A couple of the kids still couldn't run the entire course, they would either fall off one of the balance obstacles too many times or fail to climb the rope wall at the end. Whenever a student was eliminated this way Iruka would silently mark something down in his clipboard while Mizuki would offer encouragement. After a few more students went, it was finally time for the runners that Elsa was nervous about. Naruto and Sasuke made their way up to the starting positions and Elsa sighed. They were taking this far too seriously, if the glares they were throwing at each other were any indication.

"All right boys, you can do it. Are you ready?" Mizuki asked in a chipper voice.

Naruto and Sasuke both just nodded their heads, their eyes not leaving their self-appointed opponent. With a sharp whistle from the teacher, they took off. The two boys mounted the balance beam already sprinting. Naruto kept his balance thanks to the practice he had from running on rooftops and fences while performing his various pranks. Sasuke on the other hand obviously received extra training at home, as prideful as Sasuke was, he did have skill. He regularly outperformed the other students in these physical classes. But as much as Sasuke claimed that Naruto was only average, and he was when it came to skill-based activities like shuriken throwing, he was Sasuke's equal when it came to pure physical ability. This was perfectly illustrated by the fact that they were neck and neck upon finishing the monkey bars. Sasuke, seeing that he wasn't ahead of his opponent, barely slowed himself down at all as he dropped between the two walls. This ended up costing him the lead because he landed poorly at the bottom making him stumble slightly and preventing him from starting his dash until after Naruto had caught up and passed him. Naruto reached the rope first and started up but Sasuke leaped up and grabbed the rope at a higher point, letting him again catch up to the blonde. The group that was watching this race held its breath as the two boys climbed. The rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke was one of the most entertaining things about these classes due to how intense the two boys got during their matches.

As the two boys crested the rope wall, they met each other's eyes for a moment before scrambling to their feet and sprinting down the narrow ramps to the finish line. It was like watching a close horse race, first one would pull slightly ahead then the other. When they were about halfway down disaster struck. For some reason Naruto stumbled slightly, the stumble caused him to lose his balance and he started to fall off the ramp. As he fell he let out an involuntary yelp. That yelp caused Sasuke to lose his focus for an instant and made him miss his next step so that he began to fall. Luckily he was able to catch himself and turn his fall into a somersault that let him land on his feet. Naruto on the other hand was nowhere near as graceful leading him to hit the bridge and then bounce off and land on his back.

The class was frozen for a second after seeing the fall until it became too much and one of the other students let out a barely contained giggle at the sudden end of the race. Immediately the giggle spread like wildfire and eventually erupted into laughter from all the students that had seen the fall. Naruto slowly sat up and looked at the students laughing. Elsa noticed that his face briefly showed shame before the boy defaulted to his usual response and smiled brightly while rubbing his head apparently joining in on the joke. That response however did not go over well with the teacher.

"Uzumaki!" Iruka called sharply, his tone putting a swift end to the laughter amongst the students. Naruto looked up watching as the teacher approached his face stormy.

"Is this a joke to you?" the teacher asked. Naruto sat frozen by the man's words, his eyes wide. "You think that you can just use this time to play around and still be a ninja. Look what happened," with this command Iruka pointed at Sasuke, "due to your joke Sasuke fell off the course as well. Imagine if this were a mission and because of your inability to take things seriously you got a teammate hurt, or worse killed."

Naruto's eyes drooped in shame.

"Hey Iruka," Mizuki said, running up from the start of the course, "lighten up, nobody got hurt."

"No Mizuki, we can't afford to coddle them if they are going to be ninja," Iruka responded. Turning back to the two boys he continued speaking, "Naruto, you have detention with me after class, we will talk further about what it means to be a ninja. Sasuke, unfortunately, you will still get a penalty for falling off. Distractions will come on missions you have to learn to not let them affect you. Now both of you get off the course so that we can continue."

Both boys left neither pleased with how their battle had ended. Naruto walked directly for the spot where Elsa and Hinata were standing. Sasuke started going the same way but he stopped when he was halfway there and walked in a different direction scowling.

"Are you okay?" Elsa asked as soon as Naruto was reunited with them.

"Yeah," Naruto answered sullenly.

"So what happened?" Elsa asked, "I know that you didn't fall on purpose." Elsa was sure of this because of Naruto's initial reaction when he fell. She fully planned to talk to Iruka-sensei after class to try and help Naruto get out of detention, the only reason she hadn't spoken up during his initial rant was that she had been so far away.

"I don't know," Naruto admitted, "I think a bug bit me or something. I was running and suddenly I felt like a sting on my leg."

Naruto twisted his leg, trying to see the outside of his calf. Elsa bent down to look at it and saw what appeared to be a small red mark which she supposed could have been a bug bite.

"Whatever," Naruto said, deflecting the focus away from himself, "what do you want to do after the rest of the class finishes the course."

In these physical classes, there was always one organized class activity, but after it was done the rest of the period was free training time where the students were allowed to practice what they wanted while the teachers would oversee the students and give pointers. Elsa frowned slightly at Naruto's deflection, he had a habit of doing this when she tried to worry about him. She didn't fully understand this quirk of his. As much as Naruto liked being the center of attention he seemed to not want people to worry about him. She had thought to ask him about this but couldn't think of the proper way to describe it, so she knew he would just look at her with a confused expression and say he didn't understand.

Elsa sighed and decided to let it go for now before she responded, "We haven't practiced with shuriken yet this week," Elsa said before turning to her other friend, "What do you think, Hinata?"

"Uhm, my trainers say that I get tired too quickly so if you guys are ok with it we could work on stamina," the other girls responded in a quiet voice, "but it's fine if you don't want to."

Naruto smiled at Hinata's words and spoke loudly, "That sounds fine Hinata after all stamina is my speciality."

Naruto and Hinata were not as close friends with each other as they were with Elsa. Though often the boy would try to pull Hinata out of her shell by speaking loudly whenever she spoke quietly. It had taken several months for the shy girl to even work up the courage to talk to the boy, and Elsa was pleased with the progress Hinata had made from the morbidly shy girl she had been when they first met.

Now that they had a plan, the small group of friends patiently waited for the rest of the students to run the course. None of the other students worked with the same intensity that Naruto and Sasuke had shown except for maybe Kiba Inuzuka but the person he ran with hadn't engaged him in a race so it didn't have the same competitive feel as Naruto's run. Shikamaru Nara had the oddest run because he walked the entire course except for the parts where you needed to traverse with your hands, but he didn't put any extra effort into those parts either, but he did it all with perfect balance.

Eventually, the class was finished with the course, and they started to disperse to their own activities. Elsa, Naruto, and Hinata started walking to the edge of the training group, they planned to run laps to build stamina.

"Listen Hinata," Naruto explained as they walked, "The secret to having good stamina is to just not get tired. If you feel your body starts getting tired you just say 'stop it!' and then keep on going."

The two girls smiled wanly at the boy's words, trying to be polite but finding it hard with the way Naruto tried to explain things. However, their walking was interrupted by the arrival of Iruka.

"Uzumaki, in addition to your detention you will also be spending this free training time with me. You failed the course run so you will need to do extra work if you hope to get points for today."

The group froze momentarily at the man's appearance but Elsa took the opportunity to step in on behalf of her friend.

"Sir, I didn't get the chance to say this earlier because I was too far away, but Naruto didn't fall on purpose he told me that he felt something sting his leg and I even saw a red mark on his calf."

Iruka looked at her before calmly responding though he directed his response to Naruto, "If that is true then why didn't you tell me that when I confronted you?"

"Uhm, I-I..." Naruto seemed to be unable to respond. Before meeting Elsa, Naruto's default response to criticism was loud denial and promises of prankster retribution. Although since the start of their friendship he had fallen out of practice due to the improved reactions he got from the people in the village. Naruto also still remembered the day when he and Sasuke had ignored this teacher and been subdued. A part of Naruto respected this man as a ninja and he wanted to please him. Due to all these conflicting feelings, Naruto was floundering for how to explain himself.

Sighing when he got no response Iruka continued, "Naruto, you just went along with the rest of the class when they started laughing, assuming that you made a joke. When you are in the field as a ninja you will often be forced to act independently, you can't just let yourself be caught up by the atmosphere of a situation." Elsa opened her mouth to give a rebuttal, but Iruka raised his hand stopping her comment, and continued to speak, "Regardless of that, I have already made my decision about this situation, the time for additional defenses has passed. Elsa if you had suspected something you should have stepped forward even if it was inconvenient. There are many times in the world where things happen that are irreversible, you have to learn to act at the moment, not let yourself stop always waiting for the best time to act."

With that said, Iruka began to walk away motioning for Naruto to follow him. Elsa looked to offer a final protest, but Naruto shot her a look pleading with her to let it go so that she wouldn't get in trouble. When the teacher and her friend had left Elsa stomped her foot in frustration.

"He is right you know," Hinata commented, "there are often times when things happen and they can't be taken back."

"I know he's right," Elsa huffed, "that's why I am so upset."

With that, the two girls left to continue with their plan of running laps, though neither of them was quite as enthused after they lost their other friend to the teacher.

After classes had ended for the day Elsa sat on the swing that had been installed on a tree in front of the academy waiting for her friend's detention to end. Hinata had been with her initially but had left after a short while explaining that her father expected her home early today. The rest of the students had also quickly left hoping to get any homework done quickly so they could enjoy their evenings.

Elsa wasn't nervous about being alone out here though. The academy was right there and it was staffed with competent ninja in case anything happened, and Elsa also knew that she was never really alone when she was out and about town. Once all the students had left Elsa had looked around and caught a brief flash of purple on a nearby rooftop. She knew that Yugao had let her see on purpose so that she would know she was being looked after because as hard as she looked she could never find another hint of the woman's presence.

Yugao had become a very special lifeline for Elsa over the months she had lived here. True she had Greta to take care of her in her apartment, and she was incredibly grateful to the troll for all she did. But Greta insisted on not showing herself to anyone except Elsa, so Elsa only got to interact with her when she was at home by herself. Yugao was there for everything else, and after she had been introduced to Yugao's two friends, Kurenai and Anko, the three had become like a trio of older sisters that Elsa knew she could count on. Spending time with them would make her miss her relationship with Anna, but she also liked having the chance to be the younger sister in the relationship. As she mused on her life here in Konoha she was suddenly interrupted by a voice calling out to her.

"Hey,"

Elsa looked up and was surprised to see Sasuke walking up to her. He had apparently doubled back if the direction he was coming from was any indication. Giving him a puzzled look, she waited for him to explain himself.

"Tell… tell the idiot that I didn't fall because of him," the boy said with a slight glare on his face.

"What?" Elsa replied, not fully understanding what Sasuke wanted.

"Tell Naruto that he didn't make me fall, it wasn't his fault. And tell him I will win for sure next time." The boy said quickly before turning away and walking off.

Elsa's puzzled expression slowly softened as she understood what the boy was saying. Then she smiled.

"Maybe they will start being more honest with each other." Elsa thought to herself.

Yugao settled back into one of the several hiding places that she had set up to watch the front of the apartment building she and Elsa called home. She would alternate between them randomly so that her reconnaissance of Elsa didn't follow a predictable pattern. Yugao smiled as she thought of the young girl she had been charged with protecting. Jiraiya had been right that forming a bond with her wouldn't be hard. She was basically a little ball of sunshine to everyone she met. In all honesty, Yugao was a little sad that she was here in the shinobi world because often people with her disposition lost it quickly when faced with the harsh realities that ninja faced. In the six months that she had been watching over the girl, Yugao had faced off against three more groups of the ANBUesque ninjas that she had faced on that first night.

There were never any casualties in her battles with the shadow organization. The ninja never fought with real killing intent and Yugao responded in kind, after all, they were all ninja of the leaf and if they started killing each other then they would only be weakening their ability to face outside forces. Instead, the fights were opportunities for Yugao to reaffirm the Hokage's message that Elsa was not to be touched.

It hadn't been very long since the last run-in with a team of masked ninjas so she didn't expect them to be back soon. Yet, tonight she was on edge. While most people were living peacefully there was an underlying tension in the shinobi community. Uchiha ninjas were showing up less and less in the village. Over the last six months, many of the Uchiha that served on ANBU had begun to resign, instead taking positions in the Uchiha run Ninja Police Force. There were whispers that the Uchiha might be planning something, many sparked by the suspicion that an Uchiha had somehow been involved in the Nine-Tailed Fox's attack years before. Even though the civilians of the village didn't realize it, Konoha was a powder keg one spark away from exploding into civil war.

While Yugao contemplated the state of her village she was pulled from her thoughts by the appearance of an ANBU agent in an alleyway on the side of the building. Yugao recognized the mask as belonging to the ANBU agent codenamed Mole. Yugao didn't know him personally but she recognized his mask from the running joke among ANBU that if anyone leaked information he should always be the first suspect. As she watched he signed out a message using ANBU hand signals.

"Neko, report, urgent."

The ANBU sign language was sophisticated enough to communicate whole sentences but when on assignment it was common practice to use simplified grammar to get a message across. Yugao was unwilling to go to the alley and lose her view of the apartment complex's front, so she used a shunshin to appear on the other side of the street from the building so she still had a vantage point.

The other ANBU seemed to watch her expectantly. She was puzzled by this but guessed that the man hadn't been told about how important her current assignment was so she signaled back

"Unable to leave post."

Mole stood for a moment before leaving his position to approach her. When he was within speaking distance he started to speak.

"Neko, there is a situation. Itachi Uchiha has betrayed the village and all available ANBU are being redistributed to attempt to apprehend him before he makes it out of the village."

Yugao was momentarily shocked at the news. Much like her relationship with Mole, Yugao wasn't well acquainted with the man. She had heard of Itachi's skill as a shinobi, and on the occasions that she did meet him, he always seemed like a kind, soft-spoken person. But Yugao didn't let the news affect her for long and quickly focused back on her mission. The chaos something like this would create would be the perfect opportunity for the organization she had been dealing with to strike at Elsa.

"Code 16374," Yugao responded

"Very well," Mole said back.

Immediately Yugao dropped and a kunai flew through the air that her head had occupied. She flooded her body with chakra and in one fluid motion drew her weapon, moved forward and removed Mole's head from his shoulders as he was in the middle of pulling out his own weapon. Many people didn't understand killing intent, they supposed that since the emotions of a person had been dampened their intent to kill would be harder to sense. In actuality, it highlighted the phenomenon because when you chose to kill it went deeper than mere emotion. It was a primal switch that, when flipped, made them look at another human being not as a person, but as a collection of targets used to end someone's life. It had been easy for Yugao to tell that the ninjas she had faced before weren't seriously trying to kill her due to the lack of this sense. Now though, as she looked at the fifteen opponents arrayed before her, she knew that each one planned to kill her. She quickly threw down her hand and a released pellet. It hit the ground with a small pop, and caused red smoke to billow into the air.

The enemy ninjas attacked, presuming that Yugao was trying to summon additional ANBU support and hoping to finish their work before any could arrive. When the fastest one reached Yugao his hand shot out and buried a kunai into her chest. Blood sprouted from the wound and he watched as Yugao's mask fell from her face and her eyes turned lifeless as blood and spit fell from her mouth. Then her corpse smiled and the ninja never felt the razor-sharp edge of a kunai glide through his throat.

"So they are finally coming for our little sister eh?" a voice said as two kunoichis walked out of the smoke.

To Yugao's right was a woman with purple hair a shade darker than Yugao's own that was styled in a messy bun at the back of her head. She wore a beige trench coat over a mesh armor singlet and a burnt orange mini skirt. In her mouth was a wooden skewer that she idly chewed on before spitting it out and letting her face form a vicious grin. To Yugao's right, the other woman stood stoically, her wavy black hair swaying gently in the night air, and glared at the enemies before her with scarlet eyes. She wore an intricate dress made from a wide wrap decorated with a stylized thorny vine. Her right arm was covered in a red sleeve and underneath it, she appeared to be completely wrapped in bandages. The image of Yugao with the kunai stuck in her chest wavered before disappearing like a mirage and showed that the actual Yugao was standing a foot behind where the image had been. Stepping up so the three women were all abreast of each other they shared a quick glance.

Yugao was immensely grateful that the Hokage had approved of her bringing in these two as auxiliary support for her mission. He knew Anko personally due to her history with his wayward student and trusted her as an important member of the T&I division in the village. He also was familiar with Kurenai due to the relationship she had with his son. Yugao's reasoning had been that having the two women, ranked tokubetsu jonin and jonin respectively, that shared the building with Elsa on standby for rapid response support would be great for added security. As had been proved tonight. It also helped that as soon as she introduced Elsa to them they had fallen in love with the girl. Anko had expressed it by saying that if anything were to happen to her she would kill everyone in the village then herself. Which Yugao saw as a good sign. Kurenai had been won over by seeing how good of an influence Elsa was on Hinata Hyuuga, with whom the woman had already been starting a mentorship.

As one, the three women leaped into battle attacking the remaining fourteen enemy ninja. Yugao struck the center with her sword drawn as she moved she didn't fight with her sword, she seemed almost to dance with it, moving fluidly between enemies at a blinding speed each time she swung she left a cut on a major artery causing three of her enemies to drop their weapons and grab at their leg, arm, or throat in an attempt to stem the blood. Another enemy ninja seemed to appear behind her, kunai raised to strike, when he was suddenly grabbed by a plethora of enormous snakes that restrained his limbs. One of the snakes bit into his shoulder, and soon the veins under his skin were raised and purple showing that he had been poisoned.

"I think I'll keep you for questioning later," Anko said in a creepy voice into his ear.

Dropping him to the ground with the snakes still restraining him, she then turned to another of the enemies and rushed him striking with her special brand of taijutsu which used her fists, feet, knees, and elbows to strike from unpredictable angles. The man would raise his hands to block an elbow strike only to get a backhand to the opposite side of his head. With chakra pumping through her limbs each strike was debilitating if not fatal allowing her to drop an additional two opponents in quick succession.

On the other side of the battlefield, one of the enemy ninjas clashed in a melee with Kurenai, kunai flashing as the two combatants tried to take each other out, eventually, the enemy won, driving his weapon into the side of the throat of his opponent. He had no time to celebrate though, as another Kurenai appeared behind him and wrestled him to the ground driving a kunai into his chest. As the struggle continued, the real Kurenai watched as she pulled a kunai from the throat of another enemy ninja that had been aiming a volley of shuriken at his ally that currently wore her face.

Soon the three women stood surrounded by the corpses of their enemies, blood dripping from their weapons and faces. Many who are unfamiliar with ninja rankings assume that ANBU agents are higher ranked and therefore more powerful than jonin. This is incorrect and those that do are comparing apples to oranges. ANBU are ninja specially trained for stealth, reconnaissance, and assassination. An ANBU could hide in the corner of a circular room and kill you three times before you realized what had happened. A jonin on the other hand was the ninja that you sent in when you wanted a town wiped off the map. Put ten jonin in a head-to-head fight against ten ANBU agents and the jonin will win 9.5 times out of the ten. In contrast, tell an ANBU to kill a jonin without being seen and the jonin will be dead by sunrise at the same ratio. With Kurenai and Anko on her side, these ninjas had been dead the moment they showed their positions.

"Well," Anko said, stretching out her shoulders like she had just finished a good workout, "that was fun and I was able to catch one for Ibiki and me to play with tomorrow. Maybe we can find out where these masked dorks are coming from."

"Yes," Kurenai said smoothly, "maybe then Elsa will be safe for real inside our village walls."

"Whatever happens," Yugao said finally, "thank you both for being here for me, and her."

"Of course," Anko said as she walked over to the ninja she had restrained and paralyzed, "what are friends for."

As she bent over to inspect her captive however she grimaced and cursed.

"Damn," she said, "looks like he took himself out."

The other two kunoichis hurried over to look and saw that the man was slumped down with foam leaking from his mouth.

"Must have had some hidden poison or a suicide seal," Anko explained, "I will take him in for an autopsy to see for sure, maybe we can still get some clues off the body."

When she finished speaking another ANBU suddenly appeared in the street.

"What happened here Neko, report," commanded the ANBU, who Yugao recognized by his dog mask.

Yugao stood at attention, "This group attempted to kill me, sir, most likely trying to reach my charge." she explained.

The other ANBU sighed and rubbed a tired hand to his head. "What is this village coming to that on the same night we have two instances of leaf ninja killing each other." He said with a note of despair.

"Two?" Kurenai said in shock.

Looking up the ANBU explained, "The Uchiha are dead. All of them were killed by Itachi Uchina before he fled the village."

Yugao felt a touch of the same despair, "So Mole was telling the truth."

"Mole?" Inu asked.

"He began the attack, sir. He at first tried to lure me away from my post by telling me that all ANBU were ordered to help in the search for Itachi."

"Huh, that actually was true but we didn't send anyone for you because we knew you were on an important assignment." Inu sighed again, before chuckling morbidly, "Who would have guessed that all of those jokes would turn out to be true." Standing up straight the man put back on the airs of an ANBU captain and took charge. "You three stay here and keep this scene secure, I will send over a cleanup team to get these bodies sent to T&I," he then spoke in a softer voice, "I am glad that you are ok."

With a nod, the ANBU captain left and the three Kunoichis settled in to wait for the cleanup team.

Beta: Creativemindatworkhere