So, I realize that my previous chapters are short. Like REALLY short. I apologize. I'm still getting the hang of writing. I have a new goal to write at least six pages in Microsoft Word. Well, on with the show!
Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. I am just bending it to my fancy.
Chapter 3: Graduation and Weird Hair
Mirai had come to actually enjoy her time enrolled at the Academy. From pranks with Naruto, to fights with Sasuke and his fan-girls, she had the most fun she thought she could have.
"Naruto?" Mirai asked, running next to the boy, both being chased by jounin.
"Yep, Mi-chan?" he asked nonchalantly.
"WHAT THE HELL GAVE YOU THE IDEA TO PAINT HOKAGE MOUNTAIN!" Mirai's face grew red as she screamed at him in anger. Naruto laughed nervously and shot her a smile.
"I thought it would be funny."
"Did you think running past me and shoving a paint brush into my hand so it looked like I helped would be funny too?" Mirai growled a vein clearly visible in her temple.
"Yep, dattebayo!" Naruto laughed.
"I'm going to kill y-"before she could finish her sentence Mirai was tackled by one of the pursuing shinobi. He pinned her arms behind her back and slammed her to the ground.
"Run, Naruto!" she yelled before having her face slammed into the dirt.
"That's enough out of you," the shinobi pinning her spat as he slung her over his shoulder.
"Nevah!" Mirai sank her teeth into the man's shoulder, enticing a grunt of pain. He gripped her tighter and began running to the Academy. Upon reaching Iruka's class, the shinobi opened the door and dropped Mirai on the floor by Iruka's feet. Mirai huffed, getting up and dusting off her shirt. She still wore her brother's old shirt, but with the added combination of black skin-tight shorts and her weapon pouches. Iruka glared down at the girl who dared to disrupt the class.
"And what do you have to say for yourself?" he asked.
"I was an innocent bystander until I got smacked with a paintbrush?" Iruka sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Just sit down." Mirai slunk to her seat on the edge of the bench usually occupied by Naruto and Sasuke. She shot him a glare before sitting down, receiving one back. Iruka began to teach again only to be interrupted by another shinobi entering the class. He whispered something to Iruka, causing his face to turn deadpan.
"Class, I'll be right back," he said as he walked out of the room. Mirai took a senbon out of one of her pouches and began to balance in on one of her fingers. She dropped it when a tied-up Naruto was thrown into the class room by an angered Iruka.
"Tomorrow is the graduation exam! This is no time to be causing trouble, baka!" Iruka angrily spoke, pointing down at Naruto. Naruto looked away with a scowl causing Iruka's anger to grow.
"Time for a review test on the henge no jutsu! I want everyone to transform into me!" Iruka addresses the whole class. Shouts of protest and sarcastic comments directed at Naruto were heard all around the classroom as the students all lined up in the front. Mirai stayed in her seat with her senbon hanging from her mouth.
Why do I have a feeling I know what Naruto is going to turn into? She thought to herself. When it came to be his turn, Naruto poofed into a naked teenage girl, her naughty parts covered by clouds of smoke. Naruto blew Iruka a kiss, sending him flying backwards with a nosebleed. Mirai burst into laughter at the sight and almost choked on the senbon she was chewing on. Naruto changed back and joined in her laughter.
"That was my sexy no jutsu!" Naruto stated still laughing.
"Don't invent stupid things like that!" Iruka yelled furiously. The rest of the day went on uneventfully, Mirai and Naruto being held back from leaving to go clean Hokage Mountain.
"This sucks… And it's your fault." Mirai scowled at Naruto from where she was scrubbing the stone.
"I'm not letting either of you leave until all this is clean." Iruka said to the both.
"It's not like I have anyone to go home to," Naruto said in an annoyed tone. Mirai softened her scowl at him and looked at her feet. Iruka's features softened as well.
"Naruto…" Mirai whispered. She didn't know what it was like to not have a family, even if hers was broken. The two eventually finished getting the paint off the mountainside and went their separate ways. Mirai made it home, happy that she didn't run into her mother, went to her room and instantly fell asleep.
The next day, Mirai waited patiently for her name to be called to take her test. Naruto had been called in earlier and she wasn't to know if he passed or not until later. Mirai heard her name called and followed Mizuki outside to the schoolyard. Mirai's test was different from the rest of the students because of her being forbidden to use her chakra.
"So," she drawled, leaning against the lone tree, "what's my test?"
"Your taijutsu abilities and weapons abilities with be examined and critiqued," Iruka said to her. She nodded and pulled out three senbon. With practiced ease, Mirai threw them into a target dummy ten meters away, hitting multiple vitals. She cracked her knuckles and turned toward her sensei.
"How's my taijutsu going to be tested?"
"You will fight a fellow student who passed. If you do well enough or win, you pass." Mizuki went back into the building, coming out with one of the graduated genin that was waiting. The fight went smoothly. Mirai dodged every attack and managed to catch the kid off guard. With one swift chop to his neck, he was out like a light. Mirai was handed a hitai-ate to which she tied around her neck. She was dismissed until later for team assignment. Mirai instantly went off to find Naruto and show him her new hitai-ate. The rest of the newly-graduated genin had started to gather by the time she saw him on the swing. Mirai began to run to him until she noticed his expression. Her face turned downtrodden as she realized what had happened. She walked up to the boy and sat behind him on the swing.
"Depression doesn't look good on you, 'ya know," she quietly spoke.
"That's easy for you to say, you passed," Naruto retored.
"I only passed because they gave me a special test." Mirai looked to the ground and scratched at the dirt with her foot. She got up, moving to stand in front of Naruto. She instantly saw the pain he held in his eyes.
"I'm sorry. You'll pass next time." She gave him a small smile. He got up and began to walk off. Mirai watched him walk away knowing that he wanted to be alone. She began her own trek home.
Mirai walked into the entrance of her home and sighed, pulling off her sandals.
"Mirai? Is that you?" Mirai immediately tensed at the voice she heard come from the kitchen.
"H-hai, 'kaa-chan."
"It's time for dinner," came the singsong voice. Mirai gulped loudly, slowly making her way to the dining room. She sat down at the table as a woman sat one last plate down and sat across from her.
"I called your brother in to dinner too, so he should be coming" the woman cheerfully said.
"K-kaa-chan?"
"Hm?" Mirai began to play with her fingers. She looked down to her plate and began to shake nervously. She knew she had to say it. Her mother would never let her eat until Akira had come, which would never happen.
"Kaa-chan. Akira-nii won't be coming to dinner," she began slowly. Her mother narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"What do you mean, my little Mirai?" she said in a measured tone.
"Akira-nii is dead, 'kaa-chan," Mirai squeaked. Her mother stood up. Mirai couldn't clearly see her face, but she knew her mother was going to snap again.
"That's right, isn't it? He's gone… Akira is gone," her mother spoke, an edge to her words.
"And it… It's all your fault." Her voice began to rise in volume. Mirai started to shake harder, her mother's words cutting into her like a sharp knife.
"It's your entire fault!" the woman screamed, "If you wouldn't have gotten taken, my son would still be here! Leave my presence you akuma no ko (1)!" Mirai ran out of the room with tears falling from her eyes. She had taken this abuse since her brother had first been killed, but it still tore away at her. She raced into her room, covering herself with the blanket on her futon and curling into a ball. Mirai drifted to fitful, nightmare-filled oblivion.
Mirai slipped into her seat next to a grinning Naruto the following day. She was too tired to question him about how he had gotten his own hitai-ate. Mirai rested her head on her hands, falling asleep. Not long after her slumber was interrupted by Naruto jumping onto the table in front of them.
"What the hell are you doing?" she growled, turning her head to see him. Her growl fell on deaf ears. Naruto was glaring at Sasuke, who, in turn, returned said glare.
Men. Mirai thought to herself, smirking. Fan-girls around the room began to egg on the two. Mirai suddenly noticed she had been moved down the bench and that Sakura was sitting where Naruto usually sat. Mirai glared at the pink-haired girl, hoping said hair would catch fire. She was stopped willing death upon the girl when a boy in the row in front of them moved his elbow back, knocking Naruto off balance. He tumbled forward into Sasuke, their lips meeting. Mirai started in shock, along with the other girls in the room. The boys recovered, both gagging. Mirai's shock wore off and she fell to the floor cackling. The fan-girls glared at Naruto, and he, sensing danger, took off running. By the time he returned, he was covered in bruises, with Mirai still on the floor. She finally calmed herself and sat up in the bench, wiping a tear from her eye. Iruka walked into the room, clipboard in hand. He explained about the children being split into teams with jounin sensei and began to read off the teams.
"Next, is team 7. Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto…" Naruto stood and cheered as Sakura hung her head.
"Uchiha Sasuke…" Naruto plopped onto the bench as Sakura cheered.
"And also because we have an uneven amount of students, team 7 will include Kirakoto Mirai," Iruka finished. Mirai and Naruto jumped up to high-five each other while Sasuke glared at the wall in front of them.
"Hear that Duck-Butt? We be teammates now!" Mirai taunted. The boy glared harder, Mirai swearing she could see the wall begin to smoke from the look. He snapped his head to glare at her.
"If looks could kill…" Mirai sat down, losing her happy mood.
"Why does an outstanding ninja like me have to be on a team with that bum?!" Naruto raged. Iruka sighed and started to explain.
"Sasuke had the best grades out of all twenty-eight of you. Naruto… You were dead last. We do this to balance the teams, understand?" Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, still not pleased with the idea of Sasuke sharing the same team.
"Don't get in my way, dobe," Sasuke said looking to the front of the room.
"What did you call me, teme?!"
"Give it a rest, Naruto," Sakura screamed punching the boy. Mirai slammed her head on the table trying to drown out the noise and, hopefully, knock her out.
"You will all meet your sensei later. Until then you all get a break," Iruka addressed the class. Mirai yawned and stretched then followed Naruto outside. He fidgeted for a second then scratched his head.
"I got something I got to go do," he told her, running off. Mirai stared after him confused, but shrugged it off. Having nothing to do until later, she decided to go to her favorite tea shop. Mirai ordered several sticks of dango, devouring multiple before she left the shop. She put some away for later, knowing she would need it if Naruto and Sakura were going to carry on like they did earlier. Mirai walked back to the Academy, hoping that soon the others would be there. Seeing no one, she went inside to the classroom and lay down on her usual bench. She hadn't been sleeping well, like usual, at night, so to her small moments like this where she could rest were bliss. Her pleasant nap was soon disturbed by the flood of children into the room. With a sigh she slowly sat up and rubbed her dark ringed eyes. She groaned and slammed her head unto the table.
Teams left the room one by one, leaving the four still waiting on their new sensei.
"Naruto, sit down before you give me an aneurism," Mirai warned. She sat watching him pace around the room. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed him grab the eraser and sit it in the crack between the doors.
"What are you doing?" Sakura inquired. Naruto smirked.
"It's what he gets for being late."
"I'm not involved," Sakura huffed. Mirai could see in her eyes that Sakura was really enjoying the prank.
"Pft, like a jounin is going to fall for that," Sasuke scoffed. Mirai turned her head to glower at him just as a gloved hand reached into the room and opened the door. The eraser fell onto the unsuspecting head of the four's new sensei creating a cloud of dusk. The dusk quickly disappeared to reveal a man in his mid-twenties, wearing the standard jounin uniform and with grey hair that stood up and to the side. Naruto laughed, while Sakura apologized. Mirai stared at the man's hair, mesmerized by the way it defied gravity.
"Hm, how can I say this? My first impression of you guys is… I hate you all," he bluntly stated. The four of them deadpanned.
The five ninja gathered on the roof, the four genin sitting on a stair way with their sensei leaning against the railway.
"Let's start by introducing ourselves," he began.
"What do you want to know?"
"Oh, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, that kind of thing."
"Why don't you introduce yourself first?" Naruto said looking at him suspiciously.
"Yeah, dude. You look kinda sketchy," Mirai piped in.
"Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future? Hmm… I have lots of hobbies…. Well, now it's your turn." All four genin sweat dropped. Mirai leaned closer to her teammates to whisper to them.
"So all we learned is his name?"
"You go first," Kakashi said, motioning for Naruto to begin.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like cup ramen and the ramen Iruka-sensei buys me at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand. I dislike the three minutes you have to wait for cup ramen to cook. My dream is to surpass the Hokage, so everyone in this village will have to acknowledge my power! Hobbies? Pranks I guess," Naruto stated, playing with his hitai-ate. Mirai smirked as he said his dream, but dropped it when she realized something.
"You baka! I'm your best friend and yet you fail to mention me in your likes!?" Mirai yelled, grabbing the poor boy and shaking him ruthlessly.
"I-I'm sorry! S-s-stop shaking me!" Mirai huffed and sat back in her place. Kakashi stared at the scene exasperated.
"Okaaay. Next?"
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." Mirai made a face at Sasuke to which he chose to ignore and continued.
"There are a lot of things I dislike and I don't particularly like anything. I don't have a dream, but an ambition. I will restore my clan and I will kill a certain man." The three other genin gave Sasuke different looks, Mirai's and Naruto's being of nervousness and Sakura's of admiration. Kakashi gestured to Mirai, telling her to start.
"My name is Kirakoto Mirai. I like dango, my best friend Naruto," She glared at him as he sweat dropped and she went on," and nights when I can sleep through them. I dislike guys with hair that mirrors a duck's butt and poles permanently shoved in their asses." Sasuke glared at her, Naruto snickering.
"My hobbies are singing and origami. As for my dreams of the future…. I want to be rid of my curse…" Mirai clutched at her shirt and looked down. Kakashi studied the girl before glancing over to Sakura.
"Your turn."
"Um, okay. My name is Haruno Sakura. The thing I like is… Or well the person I like is… Um, should I say my dream for the future?" She blushed and squealed causing a recovered Mirai to sigh and take out one of her saved dango sticks.
"The thing I dislike is Naruto. My hobby…"
"Yo, fan-girl," Mirai spoke, chewing on her dango, "We already know how you stalk the emo kid over there, so there's no need to tell us." Sakura gasped and glowered at the eating girl. Mirai shrugged and continued to snack on her treat.
"Okay! That's enough of that. Tomorrow you start your duties." Kakashi spoke, worried a fight might ensue. Naruto beamed.
"Yay! What kinda of duties?" he cheered.
"First we'll be doing something with only the five of us." Kakashi answered.
"What? What!?"
"Survival training." Naruto pouted as the two girls looked disappointed.
"We did enough training at the Academy, old man," Mirai scoffed. Kakashi started to explain, choosing to ignore what he had been called.
"This is different than at the Academy," he told them starting to chuckle to himself. The genin looked concerned at him.
"Then what is it?"
"It's just that… Well…. You guys are gonna flip when I tell you this."
"Out with it!" Mirai shouted, fed up.
"Of the twenty-eight graduates, only nine will be chosen as genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This is a super difficult test with a 66% fail rate," he menacingly said. The four children looked at him in shock. No, no, no, no, NO! Mirai thought to herself. She knew she had no hope of passing. Kakashi snickered at their expressions.
"Didn't I tell you?" he nonchalantly said, his visible eye crinkling as if he was smiling.
"What the hell!?What was the point of graduating?!" Naruto yelled in outrage.
"You were only selected as candidates. Tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring your shinobi tools." Kakashi walked forward and placed a stack of paper on the ground in front of them.
"The details are on this printout," he informed them as he was about to leave.
"Oh, and one more thing. Don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up." He eye-smiled at them and disappeared. The genin each took a sheet and looked it over. Mirai could feel all the determination she had drain from her body. Defeated, she got up and slowly made her way off the roof and on her way home. Once in her own room, Mirai flopped onto her un-made futon and did something she hadn't done in years: she cried. Quickly wiping her tears, Mirai rolled onto her side in order to try and sleep, for she knew that tomorrow was going to be a long day.
There's chapter 3. I hope you liked it. I just want to say, I don't get riled up by people insulting me or my story, like someone who reviewed tried to do. Just sayin'. Until next time!
Akuma no ko – demon child
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