Chapter 3 - The Academy
Standing alone at the gate, Kaida looked in awe at the school building in front of her, and the other children playing around the dirt square. She took a few nervous steps forward, and was knocked to the ground by some kids playing, 'Catch the Intruder', a glorified version of Tag.
She stood, glaring angrily at the running children as she dusted herself off, and then headed into the reception area. She was too short to see over the desk, so she pulled the chair in the corner over and stood on it to get a clear look at the woman sitting there. She shoved the letter in her hand at the woman. It was from Toshi, explaining Kaida's situation. The woman nodded and lead the child to the staff room.
After being introduced to her new teacher, a bell rang out across the school, calling the young students to class. Kaida was lead through the maze of corridors, told she'd get used to it, and stepped into a good-sized classroom. She stood beside the teacher glancing at the other students, she recognised some of them as the ones who had knocked her down earlier. She was made to introduce herself in front of the whole class.
"My name is Kaida Suzaku, I'm five years old and have nothing else to say that doesn't involve some kind of swearing."
The teacher and class stared at her in shock and confusion for a moment. She then took the only open seat in the room, next to a rather wimpy looking boy called Iruka. She stared at him for a moment, he didn't dare meet her gaze. And so the first lesson began. The history of the ninja… rather boring thought Kaida, she'd rather read a book about swords…
Lunch time came as a blessing and the class spilled out into the playground as fast as their short legs could carry them. Iruka and Kaida were left alone after the rush, and just looked at each other for a moment. Iruka held out his hand to the girl, and she took it reluctantly. He lead her out into the playground and towards a small swing in the shade of a large tree. Just before they reached the sweet shadows, they were stopped by the three oldest boys in the class. They were taller and mean looking. They taunted Iruka about his new 'girlfriend', and moved to punch the boy to the ground. Kaida stepped in the way, blocking the punch, and launching a kick of her own. The boy went flying, his two friends stared at her, fear glimmering in their eyes.
"No one hurts my friends and gets away with it."
Her voice low and warning, the bullies pulled up their leader and ran away. The head teacher had seen everything, and only called the three boy to his office, glad that Iruka finally had someone to look after him.
The bell rang for the end of lunch, and the pair ran back to class, happy as could be. The days passed quickly, and Kaida and Iruka soon became the best of friends. Staying at each others houses, playing 'Ninja' in the street (Which Kaida always won), and sitting next to each other in every class.
Konoha was starting to feel a little more like home.
(AN: Chapters will start getting longer from here on out, R+R please!)