warnings: bullying, parents fighting, food descriptions

I manage to get back home, even though I'm so tired. I pretty much throw the folder on the table before shrugging off my bag and falling on the futon in my room. I'm asleep within seconds.

Mom and Dad are arguing about something again. I don't know about what. Mom opens her mouth to yell something and then she turns into an ogre, skin turning blue and pointy horns growing from her forehead. She grows bigger as she yells, but then Dad starts growing too. He's turning into an ogre, too, though his skin is red. Dad punches the wall, and then a ninja bursts through the window, rolling to a stop before picking me up and squishing me in a ball-form.

"This is my special human transportation technique," he tells me. His forehead protector is green like the leaves on trees. As I watch, a leaf falls onto it, sticking there. "We need you for the war. Come on!" he shouts, and then runs away from my parents, sticking me to his back so I don't fall off.

And then Mom is there, back in human form, shaking me, shaking me-

"Setsuna, you can't be asleep right now-"

I open my eyes, Mom's blurry face sharpening into focus. "Wh?"

"If you sleep now, you'll never fall asleep at night," she says sternly.

I yawn, but sit up. "Wh... what time is it?"

"About 6 o'clock, sweetie. Come to dinner, okay?" We move to the table; Dad and Yasumaru are waiting for us. After we eat for a few minute, Dad clear his throat.

"So, you'll be graduating early?" he asks, sounding pleased. Mom makes an angry noise and I tense, looking away from her.

"Yeah..." I answer.

"No she won't," Mom snarls, and I look at her with wide eyes, feeling frozen in place.

"If she has the ability, then she should do her duty as a citizen of the Hidden Leaf Village and become a ninja, Teruko," Dad answers back, his voice getting louder.

"She'll di-" Mom cuts herself off, not finishing her word. She slouches back down, closing her eyes. "Fine. Fine! Let her become a ninja! But when-" she glances at me, and I want to know what she's talking about, why she's so worried, but I can't, tears are in the corners of my eyes and I'm frozen still.

"She won't, Teruko. I'm not discussing this with you here," Dad says, and stands away from the table to leave the room.

Mom turns to me after a moment. "Setsuna... Becoming a ninja is dangerous. I thought- I thought you would have more time. Four years, not three."

I don't say anything, still too shocked and upset to answer.

Yasumaru begins to cry, wailing loud and harsh, and I wince at the noise. Too loud! Mom tries to distract him with food. It works, but Yasumaru is still pretty annoying. Why does he have to be so loud?

After a moment, I begin to move again, slowly eating the rest of my food before cleaning up. I start to head to my room. I don't want to talk to Mom or Dad or anyone right now. Once I get there, I open a book I got the other day and begin to read. A story is better than real life, right now.

I don't become the number one person in our physical techniques class - the Hyuuga kids and Uchiha kids always beat me - but I like the class anyway. When we start on throwing techniques a few weeks after our first matches - not with kunai or shuriken yet, but wood replicas - I end up doing well there, too. It's easy for me. I don't understand how some kids can't even hit the targets yet; all I do is aim, breathe, and throw, and even though I'm not the best - that's Uchiha Kei and Yanagi Tsukiko - I still hit the target every time.

We've apparently learned 500 kanji so far, from what Miss Momoko says, but I think I'm closer to knowing a thousand. I can read big kid books really easily, even better than the clan kids. No one wants to talk to me, though, and if they do, they just make fun of me.

Inuzuka Haruki and Etou Hikaru are the worst, though. They always say my hair is weird, and it's not, my mom has that color hair, even if no one else does.

I'm always the last chosen for games and it's really lonely. Eventually, I just give up on trying to interact with my other classmates, throwing myself into books and studying.

My grades are the best in the class in academics, though, except for math, which is still so difficult. Mom won't help me with anything school related anymore, but Dad is usually too busy with Yasumaru to help me out. I don't really need too much help, though, I guess. Everything but math is so easy. I feel like I only have to hear it once before I know it, and I read the textbooks for fun, so I'm always ahead. That makes class kind of boring because I usually end up knowing what we go over already.

Right now I've worked it out so I pretty much read a book a day; I go to the library after school to return a book and then check one out. I read books pretty much anytime I have freetime. Lunch is less lonely now that I read through it. I read books in class, too, but sometimes that makes Miss Momoko a little mad. I can usually answer whatever she's asking, though, so it's not like I stop reading during class, especially when I get good scores on tests anyway.

I play around with my chakra sometimes, if I finish with a book early. One of the books I read about chakra in the civilian section of the library told about some exercise with a leaf where you stick it to your forehead. That seems a little silly to me - I don't want to go around carrying leaves - so I usually end up making paper stick to my hands when I'm bored. I tried to move the paper around my body with chakra, like the chakra was a river and the paper was a log or something, but Miss Momoko wouldn't let me do that for very long. On the days I use chakra like that I usually end up going to bed early because I get so tired.

The school year goes by pretty quickly. For our summer break, I try to train with my chakra more. Miss Momoko told me I have really small chakra reserves and that was why I shouldn't use my chakra right now, but a book I got on chakra from the library said the best way to get more chakra was to use most of it up again and again, and I want to be able to use my chakra more, so I don't really listen to Miss Momoko on that. I ended up pretty much being asleep for half of summer.

Mom said she wanted to have us go visit our relatives in the Land of Water, but decided not to, because of the war.

We visit Dad's relatives, though. Most of them live in the Land of Fire's capital, and Dad has eight other brothers and two other sisters. He's the youngest, though. It's funny. Everyone is named after the order of birth, even my aunts, so my oldest uncle is called Ichirou and my oldest aunt is called Ichiko. I don't think my grandparents were very imaginative.

Once we get back to school, there's a lot of new work. We start on chakra control, and I tie with Hyuuga Haruko for the best in that. We go on an overnight trip to a forest in the Village to learn how to camp and hunt, a few weeks in. I found a rabbit with a trap, but it was difficult to kill it at first. Miss Momoko had to tell me to look somewhere away from its eyes. Killing fish is easier, though - they're kind of weird looking and I don't really feel anything for them - and I'm better at fishing, too. I know ninja have to kill other people sometimes, but I hope I don't have to. All the books I've read have death as a really sad and tragic thing, and everyone is upset when a character dies. No one I knew has died, except for my grandfather, and I barely knew him anyway.

I keep on reading, and I pretty much read every single book in the fiction section of the civilian part of the library. The nonfiction books I find aren't as interesting, but I'm not allowed in any of the ninja sections yet.

The second year ups the work and training - I can hit moving targets every time now - and it kind of passes really slowly, but also really quickly. Near the end of it, I start to get the hang of basic math skills. The third year is interesting, though, because we've moved on from chakra exercises to the three basic ninja techniques - the Transformation technique, the Replacement technique, and the Clone technique. I still have really, really small chakra reserves, though. I can do the Replacement technique over and over easily enough, but the Clone and Transformation technique take more out of me. I make sure I use the smallest amount of chakra possible for each technique, though, because I have so little. I have really good chakra control because of that, even better than most of the clan kids. I wish I had more chakra, but another book said that chakra reserves won't expand very much until puberty begins, which is annoying, because I've kind of been driving myself to chakra exhaustion for nothing, then, but I figure that since I've got such small reserves, I'll need to know how to deal with chakra exhaustion when in the field.

And now, today's the day - the day we take the test to become a low-rank ninja. Well, the written and basic ninja techniques portions, anyway; we took the test on throwing and traps and stealth and other stuff like that yesterday.

But honestly, I'm so ready. I know I'll pass the test - but I can't help the flutter of anxiety low in my stomach. I stare back at my reflection in the mirror, tying my shoulder-length blue hair back with both a hair-tie and a grimace. I want to cut my hair short, but my mom says I'll look too much like a boy if I do that. She already gets on my case about how I don't like girly stuff that much. I don't get the point of makeup or nail polish or spending an hour getting ready for the day.

I brush my teeth, sticking out my tongue a little bit and making a weird noise to myself before I remember I need to get going. I slip on my black hoodie and say a quick goodbye to Mom and Dad and Yasumaru.

"Good luck," Dad says, and Mom nods, face twisting before she turns away. I don't like how Mom doesn't want me to become a ninja, and it's a little painful how she won't help me, but I wave at them anyway.

Yasumaru tries to ambush me near the doorway, but I evade, rolling my eyes. "I'll be a better ninja than you one day," he says petulantly, and I slip my shoes on, ignoring him as I walk out the door.

The walk to the Academy talks about thirty minutes, but I left pretty early, so I get to the Academy about half an hour before class starts. I read a book to pass the time.

Miss Momoko arrives five minutes before class begins and sits down at her desk, shuffling through papers. Once the clock hits the hour, she stands up and calls off four names:

"Aburame Nao, Uchiha Kei, Hyuuga Haruko, and Matsushita Setsuna, please go to room 1-E for your assessment."

The four of us stand up before making our way out of the classroom. The other students start to whisper as we leave, obviously confused, and I can hear Inuzuka demand to know why we get to skip the 3rd year end exams. As the door closes behind us, I hear Miss Momoko saying how we're taking a test to see if we can graduate early, which doesn't actually help the noise level in the classroom from what I can tell.

The four of us make our way to 1-E in silence; Uchiha and Hyuuga don't like me or each other and Aburame never talks anyway. Once we get there, we arrive at a bustling classroom full of the kids a year ahead of us.

The class stops talking for a moment to look us over. "What're they doing here?" a brown-haired boy demands to the bored looking teacher.

"Taking the test," he answers blandly. "Now sit down and shut up, unless you want to go home and try again in six months." He has a quiet voice, but everyone immediately stops talking. The four of us take the hint and sit in the seats that are open. After we're all sitting down, he pushes his hands together to form seals. I recognize it as the Clone technique a split second before another one of him pops into existence.

"Alright, take these tests," he says, giving them to the first person in each row to pass back, "and begin the test as soon as you get it."

Once I get my test, I turn paper over, shifting so I could sit on my leg a little bit. I nibble the end of my pencil. The test looks easy. No, it is easy. It's just long. I end up finishing it before everyone else, but I don't want to stand up first. I look around for a minute or so before a brown-haired girl smoothly stands up, and I get up almost immediately to hand in my paper to the teacher after her. We both go back to our seats. I end up daydreaming about Matsu Akira and her next adventure (recovering a treasure from somewhere in the Land of Fire's capital) while I wait. After everyone is done, the original teacher exits the room while the clone begins to call off names.

I end up not really noticing the people who get called out until it's my turn. After the teacher calls my name, I exit the classroom and follow him down the hall. We don't really go very far, though; he swings into 1-F, and I follow.

"Matsushita Setsuna, right?" he asked. I nodded. "Great. First, Replacement technique," he tells me, and I flip my hands through the seals - I made sure I practiced and practiced them until I could do them really fast. My chakra focuses, gaze sharpening on what I want to switch with: the chair in the middle of the room (probably left out for this purpose).

I release the technique and adjust as I switch with the wooden chair; it clatters against the floor a little bit as I turn around to look at the teacher.

"Cool. Transformation technique now," he says, and I go through the seals for this technique, feeling my chakra shape and form in time with the seals, and as I form a picture in my mind, I let go.

I hope I got it right.

The teacher blinks, looking away before chuckling. "Yeah, that definitely looks like Kuba. You can let go of that now." I do so, aware of how I've burned through about a sixth of my reserves so far. Better than the beginning of the year, though. "Okay, Clone technique this time."

Hand seals. Focus my chakra. Release. Another me pops into existence and I sag, feeling exhaustion hit me after that chakra technique. I look at it, though, and it looks fine. Looks like me as far as I can tell.

The teacher smiles at me. "Good job, kid, you passed. Congrats, you're a low-rank ninja now." He opens a box and pulls out a blue forehead protector with the Leaf symbol engraved on its gray metal. He hands it to me, and I start to grin. I can't believe it. I'm a ninja! I made it!

Before I can start bouncing around or anything, though, he waves his hand dismissively. "Alright, shoo. I gotta test the next kid. Go back to Kuba tomorrow when class starts, she'll tell you what team you'll be in."

I grip the forehead protector tightly, dismissing my clone before bowing slightly. I practically rush out of the nearly empty classroom. I head to the bathroom first because of the full-length mirror there; I want to see how it looks on me.

I tighten it around the top of my head before loosening it, scowling. My hair is all bunched up and weird looking that way. I try it around my neck, but it bounces around too much for it to be comfortable. Next, I tie it around my waist - well, technically, across my gut, crossing over about where my stomach lies. There was a whole two weeks spent on anatomy last year, so I'm pretty sure I know where most of my organs are in my body. I eye the forehead protector. It looks a little weird over my hoodie, but it's better than my forehead or neck, so I guess it's a gut protector now.

But I can't help but giggle as I remember that I passed! Oh, right, I should go get my stuff from Miss Momoko's room and then head on home to tell Dad and Yasumaru I'm a ninja now.

I race back to Miss Momoko's classroom, easing open the door, but still making everyone look up at me. Oops. I snake over to my desk, grabbing my pack from where it was before turning to head out.

I catch the eyes of Miss Momoko as I was leaving, and she nods at me. "Good job, Matsushita," she said, having seen what's tied around my waist. Before I could leave, though, Etou Hikaru - the worst, I hate him, why can't he just leave me alone - stands up and points at me.

"What the hell? How did you become a ninja, Matsushita?" he demands, and I flush. "You think you're so great when you have that ugly hair and weird attit-"

Miss Momoko stands up, effectively cutting off Etou. "Etou. Be quiet or you will fail this test," she says tersely. "And you," she says, turning to me. "Matsushita. Please leave now that you've collected your things. Thank you." She sits down again, looking kind of annoyed, and I take that as my cue to get out of there, feeling embarrassed at her calling me out like that.

I practically run out of the Academy, a smile returning to my face as I remember my new accomplishment. The normal trip back is cut by half because of me running, and I throw open the door with a "bang". "Dad! I'm a ninja now!" I say loudly as I shrug off my shoes and put on my house slippers.

"You are?" he calls back. "Hold on-"

There's a crash of pots and pans for a moment, causing me to wince, and then Dad is picking me up and hugging me. "My baby girl is a ninja! We're going to have to celebrate tonight, then, sweetie," he tells me, letting me go after a moment. "Is there anything you want to eat?"

I think about it. "Mochi ice cream!" I say, smiling at him. We had that for my birthday a few months ago when I turned eight. It was delicious.

"I think I know of a place. Any flavor you want in particular?"

"Green tea!" I say. It was good last time, and I want to try some again.

"Okay. Yasu! Yasumaru!" Dad calls, heading back toward Yasumaru's room.

Yasumaru barrels past him, rubber kunai - his most recent birthday present - in his hand. "I'll get you!" he shouts, and I twitch in annoyance as I dodge out of the way.

"What's your problem, Yasu?" I ask, scrunching up my nose.

"What's your problem!?" he parrots back, trying to hit me with the fake kunai again.

"Yasumaru, stop attacking your sister, or you won't get any mochi ice cream later," Dad scolds, trying to take the kunai from Yasumaru. He pouts but let Dad take it. What a brat.

We eat lunch, and afterward I ask Dad if I can go to the library while he and Yasu are at the park. He agrees, and I head on out. Now that I'm a ninja, I can get into the low-rank ninja section! I'm so excited. I don't run there, but it's pretty close.

Once I get there, I head to the door that separates the ninja sections from the civilian section. There's another low-rank ninja standing guard, looking bored. They're probably around twenty years old, I think. I'm nervous, but I approach anyway. They look at me up and down. "Name and registration number?"

"Registration number?" I ask. "Uh, I'm Matsushita Setsuna. Low-rank ninja!" I say after a moment.

"Right, the exams were today, weren't they? You look kind of young. How old are you?" they ask, leaning back on the wall next to the door and picking dirt out of their fingernails with another fingernail.

"Eight," I answer.

"Aren't most graduates supposed to be nine or something?"

"I graduated a year early," I say in slight annoyance. Just tell me if I can go in or not.

They study me for a moment before shrugging and waving me in. "Yeah, alright. Just stick to the low-rank section and don't bother anybody."

I smile widely and head through the door before becoming a little disappointed at how small it is compared to the civilian section. I head to a nearby bookshelf and look at the spines of the books. Oh. Huh. They're all non-fiction stuff. Makes sense, I guess. Probably why the room is so much smaller than the civilian section.

I pick up a book called "Essential Ninja Skills" and settle into one of the chairs situated around the room. It isn't until about two books and several hours later another low-rank ninja sticks their head into the room.

"Matsushita, there's some civilian here to see you," they announce to the room at large, sounding pretty annoyed. There's only me and a few other people in this room, so I figure that it's my dad.

I put the book back and then head back home with Dad, who asks me what the test was like (boring) and if I did any cool ninja techniques (yes).

Once we get back to the house, Mom is there - makes sense, since Dad wouldn't have left Yasu alone in the house. We eat dinner, and then Dad opens the freezer, bringing out some mochi ice cream. Yes! There's two that are green tea flavored, and one that's strawberry, and another that's vanilla flavored. Green tea for me and Dad, strawberry for Yasu, and vanilla for Mom.

Mom congratulates me on passing a difficult test and becoming a ninja, but she doesn't really seem happy. She's never wanted me to become a ninja, and it sours the mood at the table a little bit. But I just eat the mochi ice cream and chat with everyone, trying to keep away from ninja related topics.

I wonder what team I'll be in.