Review response: JJafan: It's not negative at all! Truthfully, the way she speaks it 100% on purpose. Not only is she kind of a SI cause that's the way I spoke when I was 7, but also the fact that her wisdom and intelligence, though I suppose she doesn't know this, is slightly higher than the others due to the natural sage perk. As for the nickname thing, well, Naruto doesn't mind because at that point she's the only one that has called him a friend at this point in time, so he'd let it slide anyway ( being alone does that to a person). Which even if she did have an ulterior motive, Naruto's clueless enough at this stage that he takes everything at face value. He doesn't really learn the ' not everyone means what they say' shtick canonically until Mizuki betrays his trust as a sensei. Everything and everybody had been upfront about the deposition they had with him. But, thank you for the follow and the review. I'll make sure for my next story that I fit everything in a bit more appropriately.
It'd been 3 years since I joined the academy. I leveled up a total of 33 times due to finding my ability of creating instant dungeons with various monsters. My stats now are as follows
'Name: Aya
Age: 10
Level:36
EXP: 1500/55000
HP:6500
CP: 8900
STR: 64 (+15
INT: 80
DEX: 75 (+15)
VIT: 80 (+20)
WIS: 45
LUK: 20'
I barely open up any of the menus wanting to go for the most realistic thing as possible while still at the very least an A rank genin, which the next graduation exam is in 4 hours. I apparently don't really need sleep due to the Gamer's ability. Naruto and I... well We're still friends, best friends.
There's just one problem.
I had gained a crush on him. He's a knucklehead sure, but he always does his best, no matter what. He never gives up. His chakra feels warm, and it's like receiving a hug when I focus on it and it alone. There's just something about him that makes me love him. The only problem is that he's too damn oblivious. I could openly flirt with him and he thinks I'm just teasing. At this point, probably the only thing that's going to make him realize my feelings if I outwardly stated it through a certain... action or by outright telling him. But prepubescent hormones and anxiety tells me that I'm too afraid of being rejected by the boy to do either thing.
Currently, I stood in my room going through several exercises physically and doing control exercises during my breaks in between sets. Which, by the way, while I'm 10 years old, Naruto and the rest of my class is 12. I helped Naruto as much as I could with his chakra control, but he still can't perform the basic clone jutsu, likely due to his massive reserves of chakra. I told him to ask the Hokage or even Iruka-sensei, who has come to like him and view him as surrogate brother. He refused though saying,' It's already embarrassing to ask for help from you, let alone the old man or Iruka!' Admittedly, that statement stung... a lot. From that statement I gathered, he respects my opinion of him a lot less than Iruka-sensei or The Hokage. That particular night, I had bawled my eyes out, but I quickly got over it.
Soon, I heard a knock at my door, shaking from my musings. Getting completely dressed ( I wasn't wearing the top half of my outfit, not that there was much to see of my chest anyway), I opened the door to see Naruto panting. " Aya-chan!" He said," We're late!" I shook my head at him
" No we're not, Naruto." I told him," I reset your alarm clock to go off earlier, so that way you'll actually wake up on time. " He seemed shocked by my admission." Come on, I'll make breakfast." It used to be that ramen and cereal was the only things in Naruto's diet aside from a few snack foods. Now, I got him eating more healthy foods along with his normal foods. It was a pain, admittedly, to get him to eat vegetables because he honestly doesn't like their taste, but I managed.
Today, I made fried eggs, over easy, with bacon strips, toast served with jasmine tea. Not a traditional breakfast admittedly, but it is something both Naruto and I liked. We ate in silence, Naruto mainly just trying to wake up peacefully, and me sneaking glances at Naruto's bare chest.
It was the middle of the summer season and the apartments cooling system doesn't really work, so it was dreadfully hot and to combat it, Naruto and I wore only what was strictly necessary to keep our private areas tucked away while inside our home. Naruto by pretty much walking around in his underwear and me just wearing a tank top and shorts.
Soon, it was time to start heading our way to the academy. We put on our normal day-to-day clothes, and left for the academy, for hopefully, our final day in it. Approaching the doors of the academy seemed a bit more daunting than it should have.
" Well, Naruto," I started," Let's become genin yeah?" He nodded and gave me a thumbs up," Let's do this Aya-chan!" We walked into the building and was, surprising one of the first of six there. Sasuke, Shikamaru, Shino, and Hinata were the only ones there before us. Naruto and I both sat down next to Shikamaru and Shino. After a few minutes, I got a bit bored," Hey Sasuke, Shino, Shikamaru, Hinata?" All the aforementioned people looked at me curiously alongside Naruto, " You guys don't mind If I sing a bit do you? I'm bored and I don't have any books or anything here to read. " I asked. Sasuke grunted in response which I took as ' I don't really care' Shika just shrugged, Shino shook his head, and Hinata looked down and tapped her fingers together. I nodded in acceptance of their answers, and I looked at Naruto," Mind providing a beat to the song?" Naruto shook his head and began tapping on the desk in a rhythm that told me what song he'd like me to sing. I began humming for the opening of the song
Mhmmmm-Hmmmm Will you hold the line? Everyone one of them is giving up giving in. Tell me, In this house of mine. Nothing ever comes without consequence or cost, Tell me. Will The stars align? Will heaven step in? Will it save us from a sin, will it?
Cause this house of mine stands strong.
That's the price you pay Leave behind your heart, and cast away Just another product of today Rather be the hunter than the prey And you're standing on the edge, face up 'cause you're a
Nat-ur-al
A beating heart of stone You gotta be so cold To make it in this world Yeah, you're a na-tu-ral Living your life cutthroat You gotta be so cold Yeah, you're a na-tu-ral
Will somebody Let me see the light within the dark trees shadowing? What's happening? Looking through the glass find the wrong within the past knowing Oh, we are the youth Cut until it bleeds, inside a world without the peace facing A bit of the truth, the truth
That's the price you pay Leave behind your heart and cast away Just another product of today Rather be the hunter than the prey And you're standing on the edge, face up 'cause you're a
Na-tu-ral
A beating heart of stone You gotta be so cold To make it in this world Yeah, you're a na-tu-ral Living your life cutthroat You gotta be so cold Yeah, you're a na-tu-ral
Deep inside me, I'm fading to black, I'm fading. Took an oath by the blood of my hand, won't break it I can taste it, the end is upon us, I swear I'm gonna make it I'm gonna make it
Na-tur-al
A beating heart of stone You gotta be so cold To make it in this world Yeah, you're a natural Living your life cutthroat You gotta be so cold Yeah, you're a na-tur-al
Na-tur-al
Yeah, you're a na-tur-al
After I wrapped up the song, I noticed that there were now more people in the room, and they were all staring at me in awe.
" What?" I asked them, blushing red in embarrassment. They all just shook their head in shock and Iruka-sensei gave me a thumbs up. Which told me that they were actually in shock at my performance. I blushed and grinned sheepishly," Sorry, got bored waiting for you guys to show up." I told them.
" It's fine, Aya-Chan." Iruka-sensei told me, waving me off," You have a great voice by the way. I see a future in the infiltration squads for you." I blushed even deeper at his praise of my voice. Iruka-sensei cleared his throat and announced to all of us," All of you thus far have made it to the academy graduation test to genin." He started off," But make no mistake, the life of a shinobi is not easy, you will need to kill. You will see some teammates or close friends die. You will be the frontlines to defend the village and the civilians in it."
" That being said," Iruka-sensei said more cheerily," You all completed the written portion and Taijutsu portion yesterday, though you didn't know that. So, today is the ninjutsu portion. You are to perform the academy three: The kawarimi, the bunshin, and the henge. If you know any extra jutsu, you may use them as extra credit." I wish I had known that the written and Taijutsu portions were yesterday because I would've purposefully performed worst.
" When I call your name, you will come to the classroom next door to perform the jutsu. We'll start with Aya, as she only has her first name." Iruka-Sensei said seriously. I got up and started walking to the next room," Good Luck Aya! " Naruto called to me, and I gave him a grin and a thumbs up before I left
Inside the room was Mizuki-sensei, whose chakra felt very... shady to say the least, and Iruka-sensei, who seemed to be constantly pulsing his chakra, like some echolocation technique.
"Alright Aya-chan," Iruka-sensei started," Perform the henge."
Flipping through the three handseals with quick speed, I transformed into Naruto. " Turned into Naruto, good job. If you two were side-by-side would never know to check for genjutsu." Iruka-sensei said," Alright, now replace yourself with any object in the room. "
I flipped through the five handseals in a blur of speed again and stretched my chakra to a chair behind me and gave a tug once it connected, Instantaneously swapping places with the chair. " Good job, very fast. An opponent would have to get the jump on you to beat that." Iruka-sensei praised," Now, the bunshin. Perform three at least, and you'll pass, plus whatever personal jutsu you know for extra credit."
I flipped through the three handseals with ease and produced seven imaginary clones.
Iruka-sensei nodded his assent," Alright, you officially pass." He told me," Is there any jutsu you know that you want to use as extra credit towards your final score?"
I thought about it and shook my head no. " Alright then, here's your headband. Tomorrow, you'll take your shinobi identification picture and fill out the required information."
I took my headband and immediately wrapped it around my head, liking the feel and getting used to it already. " Now, return to the other room, send in Shino and then head out. Congratulations Aya! You have officially graduated."
I smiled at the man brightly and left the room, heading back to the classroom, when I opened the door, I was shocked to what I saw. I saw Sasuke, Shikamaru, Naruto, and a few others playing a card game. Whatever it was, I had no idea. The obviously heard the sound of the opening door as they all turned to stare at me, and Naruto smiled brightly," Aya! " He called out," You passed! I knew you would!"
I grinned at him and approached Shino," You're up next, Shino." He nodded, not saying anything and walked down the aisle out of the room.
" Alright Naruto, When it comes time for you to take the test, remember," I told him," As little chakra as possible for the bunshin, and if you need to make more than three. Remember last time that you made your clones, you did pretty well because you used as little as possible and divided them up amongst fifteen of them." He nodded as I told him this quietly.
" You got it, Aya!" he said," I'll pass, don't you worry! Because if I can't make Genin, how could I ever become the Hokage?! " I smiled at him as he became excited again. I walked back down and before leaving the door," Naruto, I'll wait for you at the Ichiraku's ramen shop. " He nodded and grinned," Oh, and if you pass, I'll pay for three ramen bowls for you." It was almost as if his grin became even wider than what it already was, threatening to split his face open. I left the classroom and did as I said, walked to the ramen shop and waited.
"Ohayo, Aya!" Ayame, the daughter and coworker of the owner of the stand Teuchi, said," I see you passed. What about Naruto?" I shrugged at her.
"He's still waiting on his turn for the test." I told her honestly," I hope he doesn't get too excited and accidentally forget what I told him. Because if he does, he likely won't pass. I mean, he probably only barely passed the written portion yesterday, that was his worst type of test throughout the years of the academy. His taijutsu is better, but still poor enough to not really gain him many points. His ninjutsu would be a whole lot better... if they didn't require the academy three, he can perform the kawarimi just fine, as well as the henge, but it's the bunshin that's got me worried. " She nodded her agreement to the facts laid out before us.
" I'm sure he'll still pass. After all, he never stops, does he?" She sighed. I shook my head," Technically, this is also his final year regardless of whether or not he passes. We're only allowed three tries for the graduation exam, and the doofus used up his other two trying to pass early." I told her, fuming slightly, knowing that if he didn't pass, his dreams would go up in smoke.
" Hmm," she hummed, with a knowing smirk," Though, his stubbornness is part of the reason why you love him though, isn't it?" She said sneakily, and me not paying attention," Yeah, I just wish he could see that, but he's so-," I cut myself off, realizing what I was saying and I blushed deeply," Ayame, why?" I asked her pouting.
" It's easy to tell." She claimed ," It's true!" Teuchi said in the back, and my pout deepened.
" Then why doesn't he see it?" I asked her," I know he's clueless but dang! Everyone knows that Hinata likes him too, except for him and she's much more obvious about it."
Ayame shrugs," Honestly, guys are oblivious for the most part to things right in front of them." She told me and I nodded," Naruto especially, after all, he's never been the person who was on the receiving end of a crush, well that he knows about anyway. He probably feels that they should be as open about it as he is with his crush on that pink-haired girl."
I shook my head," I don't know what he sees in her either. Honestly it's quite ridiculous. She's rejected him, beat him, and she says and does things to make fun of him that make me almost well... you know." She nodded, knowing about my issue with nature chakra to a certain degree.
I felt a familiar chakra approaching, and it was depressed. " Oh no..." I said quietly. I quickly got up and ran out the stand. I hugged the familiar blond comfortingly," I'm sorry Naruto." I told him
I felt his arms get around me and I felt my shoulder getting wet as he cried. I felt another chakra approaching, this one slimy and dark. " Ohayo, Naruto, Aya. " Mizuki's voice rang out behind me. Naruto and I pulled away from our hug, and I glared at Mizuki, still not trusting his chakra. " Hey Mizuki-sensei." Naruto and I said simultaneously
" Aya, do you mind if I talk to Naruto alone? " He requested of me, and I stared at him suspiciously.
"It's okay Aya," Naruto told me," I'll talk to him and meet up with you later. I stared at Naruto, unsure of his decision. He seemed determined and I sighed and nodded," Alright Naruto."
I watched as Mizuki and Naruto walked away, narrowing my eyes,' Mizuki has a plan, and it involves Naruto.' I thought to myself,' Whatever it is, it is sure to be bad' I suppressed my chakra as much as I could, and followed them steathily.
Their ending location was the hokage mountain, on top of the fourth's head. For a little while, they were both quiet as I hid behind them. " Iruka-sensei is tough, but he's not trying to stop you from being a ninja Naruto." Mizuki said somberly," He just wants to make sure you would survive your career as a ninja. But, I suppose you used up all genin exams now haven't you?" He was a good actor, I'd give him that, but he had a weird tenseness in his shoulders. He was uncomfortable around Naruto and I don't know why.
"Yeah, now I'll never be a ninja." Naruto said sadly," What am I going to do? Most of the village hates me for no reason that I know of... and what about Aya?" he looked down completely dejected," She's strong but she's my first friend, and I wanted to make sure that she wouldn't get hurt y'know?"
My heart warmed at hearing this, and I felt a blush creep up my face. " Well, I suppose... Nah, I don't think I should tell you." Mizuki said, obviously teasing him with some information that only he knew between the two.
" What? What is it?" Naruto asked curiously, his normal exuberance rearing its head.
"Well, it's generally reserved for people who have another genin exam opportunity, but sometimes we allow those who fail to take a secret genin exam." Mizuki said, I could sense some deception in his tone but a truth to it as well. I couldn't tell for sure whether or not he was lying because since my chakra was suppressed, I couldn't feel his either.
" Really?!" Naruto asked and Mizuki nodded," Well, alright! If you let me take it, Mizuki-sensei, I'll be sure to pass! Believe it!" He jumped up from his sitting position, to show that he was ready to go ahead and take whatever this secret test was.
" Alright, Alright," Mizuki chuckled darkly in a placating gesture," All you have to do is sneak into the hokage tower, find a scroll about this big," He showed the size of the scroll with his hands," It'll be the only one. Take it and bring it to a little gardening shed on the outskirts of the village, and learn the first jutsu you see in the scroll. Do that, and you'll pass."
"Alright, I just gotta tell Aya!" Naruto cheered, and was about to run back to the ramen stand where he presumed I was.
"Naruto," Mizuki scolded," You're not supposed to tell anyone, that's why it's a secret exam, remember?" Naruto's made an 'Oh' face and nodded. He took off to get ready for this 'secret genin test' and I unsuppressed my chakra when Mizuki disappeared.
'I have to stop this!' I thought to myself, and began running towards the hokage tower. I burst through the doors, and the secretary, obviously a jonin, stopped me," You're not allowed in there right now! " She said," He's not in there, he's in a council meeting, and I was told to make sure nobody disturbed him for any reason."
I growled and ran back outside and searched for Naruto's signature, he was...
already halfway towards the outskirts of the village. I knew what gardening shed Mizuki was talking about, so I decided to run all the way there before Naruto could get there.
I didn't make it.
By the time I got there, the alarms have been sounded that something was stolen from the hokage tower, and Iruka-sensei had already found Naruto.
"What do you mean,' Did I pass?' Naruto?" Iruka-sensei asked as I landed in a tree.
"The secret graduation exam that Mizuki-sensei told me about! He said, all I had to do was take this scroll and learn a jutsu! And I did it!" Naruto claimed loudly, and I felt a chakra signature land in a tree behind Iruka-sensei.
It was the eerie chakra of Mizuki.
A/N: Going to end it here guys! I'll pick up right where I left off in the next chapter. Promise! No timeskips!