Mirai Chapter 3: Introducing Leaf: Exploring the New Home, a naruto fanfic

Welcome back to Mirai! How's everyone doing? Well, here's chapter 2 of Mirai and I do hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Naruto or this story except for Chieko.

You are like a shining star.
Like a lonely bird.
We can go through the darkness of the night.
In the cracks of the block
The times it looks like it's about to flow away
Don't forget that you aren't alone

- Ryuusei by TiA (Naruto Ending 6)

Chapter 2: Introducing Leaf: Exploring the New Home

It was a good day. Well, it looked like it would be a good day. I locked the door behind me and stretched my arms out in front of me. It had been a while since I had the chance to meditate for a long period of time. Although, it was only two days since I arrived at Leaf Village. I watched the sun blazing high above the Hokage Monument. The villagers must have started preparing for the day. I ran and jumped onto the rooftop of my apartment building.

It felt strange to see so many people walking about. I placed my hand over my mouth, trying to hide the odd grin that was showing up. People might think I went crazy. But it made me happy and nervous to be surrounded by so much energy—by so much chakra. I shook my head. I had to get to the training grounds before someone else gets there and before all the chakra in the air messes up my balance. I jumped from rooftops to rooftops, channeling my chakra to my feet.

Chakra.

Hideo-sensei said that chakra was everywhere in the shinobi world and that it can be found in other living beings such as animals and trees. I believed him because I felt it. Chakra surrounded us. It traveled in the air and it was a part of the earth. But, I didn't understand how some people could be ninjas and that they had chakra to use ninjutsu and genjutsu but others did not. Why did some people have chakra but only enough of it to live? It wasn't fair. But, I stared at the villagers living such peaceful lives, maybe it was just something people learned to live without.

I shook my head. I didn't have the time to think through the existence of chakra. I had to start training again. No slacking off, Chieko! I laughed. Talking to oneself was viewed as a sign of insanity by some people. I rolled my eyes. I didn't believe that.

I jumped onto the still river and focused my chakra to keep myself from falling into the water. The chakra around me started to swirl. I closed my eyes and formed the hand seals for Clone jutsu. Two clones of me showed up. I opened my eyes and looked at them.

"Ready for some training?" I asked.

"Definitely!" My clones started attacking me with a couple of punches and kicks. They pushed me to a corner as I worked to block them. I dropped to the floor and swung my leg out to knock out one of them. She went down with a sheepish smile and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The other one frowned at the spot where our clone was standing. "I think we need new sparring partners."

I nodded. "For sure. I know myself too well."

"We're going to enter the Academy soon, right?"

I nodded again. "That's the plan. So, before that happens, mind throwing weapons at me and training my evasive tactics?"

She grinned, pulling out a string of kunai. "My pleasure!"

By the time we were done with training, I decided to brave through the village once more. I remembered seeing a flower shop around. I needed to start adding life into my apartment. I rubbed my nose. I needed some refreshing scents. It had to be around here somewhere… I squinted my eyes, staring off into the distance. It was after a couple of blocks later that I found the vibrant flower shop. I pushed open the door and peered inside.

"Welcome!" A blonde girl around my age greeted. "Eh? You're young."

I blinked. She had shoulder length blonde hair with her fringe sweeping over both sides of her face. Although, there was a clip holding one side of her fringe from falling into her face. Her curious blue eyes took in my appearance with some kind of scrutiny but it didn't feel mean in any way. She grinned and grabbed my hand to pull me deeper into the shop.

"I know just the flowers for you!" We kept moving while I tried my best to keep up with her energy. Maybe I shouldn't have trained before coming over here? We stopped right in front of an assortment of red and purple flowers—flowers that I have been familiar with. "What do you think of these irises?"

I beamed at her, taking both of her hands into mine. "I love these! You're really amazing…um, who are you?"

"Ino! I'm Ino Yamanaka. And you are?"

"Chieko." I grinned. "Thank you, Ino-chan! I'll definitely get these!"

She giggled. "Great, Chieko-chan! You know," she paused, turning to me with her index finger on her chin. "These flowers represent hope and wisdom. You looked like you needed that." I stared at her and smiled. First Naruto and now Ino. Were a lot of people in Leaf that observant and honest?

Ino grabbed a bunch of red and purple irises and formed a bouquet out of them. She wrapped them up in some newspapers and walked over to the counter to put it into a bag for me. I trailed after her, staring at the other flowers in the shop. It must be amazing to wake up and see all these flowers.

I took a vase with me and placed it on the counter. "How much for everything, Ino-chan?"

"It'll be 250 ryo." I handed her the money and she grinned. "Thank you! Say, Chieko-chan, are you new here?"

I nodded. "Yup! I arrived two days ago but I've wanted to come in here since then."

Ino hmm-ed. "Are you going to join the Academy too?"

"That's the plan. I mean, it looks cool to be a ninja." And scary.

Ino grinned, pumping her fist into the air. "Yes! I'm going to be the coolest and prettiest kunoichi in the world!"

I giggled, looking at the bubbly blonde. "Then, I'll be the second coolest kunoichi!"

Her eyes widened. She looked surprised. Then she smiled and held out her pinky. "Let's pinky promise on that, Chieko-chan! We'll be the coolest and strongest and prettiest-"

I wrapped my pinky over hers, returning her bright smile. The door behind Ino opened and an older man walked out. He looked exactly like Ino with his knowing eyes and blond hair. "What's this I hear about being the coolest kunoichi?" He placed his hand on top of Ino's head and looked at me. "Kushina?" I heard him whisper. "Oh! Sorry, you reminded me of someone." Ino and I exchanged a look.

"Geez, dad! Way to creep my new friend out!"

I laughed, smiling at Ino for introducing me as her friend. She didn't seem to mind as the both of us held hands. She squeezed my hand and plucked a flower from beside her. She placed the flower in my hair. Ino's dad chuckled.

"I'm Inoichi Yamanaka, Ino's dad." He introduced himself with a slight nod. "And what's your name, Ino's new friend?"

"She's Chieko!" Ino replied, bouncing on her feet. "She's going to join the Academy too!" My cheeks felt warm and I used my free hand to try to cool it down. I was used to getting so much attention, but it still felt awkward. Hideo-sensei said it was because of my unusual hair color. He said it was beautiful and people were jealous. I glanced at my hair, twirling my finger through it. I just thought it was normal.

Inoichi-san walked over and placed his hand on top of my head like he did with Ino. "Is that so?" I nodded my head, my face getting warmer by the second. "Well, I hope you and Ino will be great friends. Tell you what, why don't you girls go have fun and I'll watch over the shop?"

Ino grinned. "Really? Thanks dad!" Ino held onto my hand and I hurriedly grabbed the bag with my vase and flowers as Ino tugged me out of the door. "Let's go!"

"It was nice meeting you, Inoichi-san!" I yelled. The older blond waved with an awkward smile on his face. But, just before he went out of view, I saw his mouth curved into a thoughtful frown. I furrowed my eyebrows. I wondered what that was about. Who was this Kushina person? I shook my head and focused my attention on following Ino. She slowed to a stop and looked sheepish. I blinked as my own feet skidded to a halt.

"We should probably get your flowers home first." She glanced at the flowers in my other hand.

I giggled. "That sounds like a good plan. I'll lead the way!" In a role reversal, I pulled Ino along to my strange apartment building. We climbed up the stairs while talking about anything and everything. "So, as a kunoichi, we have to attend kunoichi classes too?"

Ino nodded, her smile widening. "Yup! I can't wait to learn how to dance, and how to be a noblewoman!"

I scrunched my nose. But I only wanted to learn how to fight and protect people. Was learning how to dance that necessary? Did people really hire shinobi to pretend to be a noble? I twisted the key on my doorknob and opened the apartment door. Ino's pale blue eyes widened and she ran into my apartment after kicking off her shoes. She ran to the window with an excited gasp. I took off my shoes and placed the vase and the flowers on the coffee table. I tilted my head. What was Ino excited about?

She squealed. "Look at your view! You can see the Hokage Monument from here. Oh, you must be so inspired every day to train!"

I scratched the back of my head while being careful not to knock the flower off my hair. "Well… I didn't actually notice the view."

She frowned. "Oh, come on, it's better than what you can see from my room."

"I guess? Anyway," I filled the vase up with some water and started filling the sink up with water. "I can see why the Hokage Monument would be very inspirational, but I have something more inspiring." Then, I took a pair of scissors and cut an inch of the flowers' stems while they were in the water. I placed the flowers into the vase and rubbed my hands together after setting the vase on the coffee table again. There, it was perfect now.

"Really?" Ino walked over to sit by the coffee table and perched her head on her hands. "What's more inspiring, Chieko-chan?"

I pointed my finger at her. "You are. Fighting to protect my friends…that is my dream."

I watched as Ino's cheeks turned pink and she giggled. She reached over and held my hands in hers. "I like that dream!" She winked at me. "I just might steal it!"

I laughed and she joined in. We left my apartment and decided to walk around the village. She pointed at a small dango shop at the edge of town. It was close to the training grounds. Ino said she was craving sweets and we decided to order some dango to share.

It had been a while since I had dango. Okay, that was a lie. It had only been three days since. I took a dango in my mouth and savored the sweet red bean paste. I looked over to see Ino already on her second stick of dango. That was fast! She swept her fringe behind her ear and grinned at me, starting on her third stick.

"I thought we were sharing, Ino-chan?"

She giggled. "You're too slow!"

"Oh ho. Do you want to race?"

She smirked, her hands already up in the air to call the waitress over. "Bring it, red head!"

"I will, blondie!"

I had no idea how much time passed before Inoichi appeared right beside our table with a look of exasperation and confusion. He shook his head and placed both of his hands on our heads. He didn't even bother asking us about our twenty-five sticks each of dango lying scattered on the wooden table. The waitress came over with two glasses of hot tea and placed them in front of Ino and I while Inoichi nodded his head in thanks.

"So, how sick are you both feeling?" I groaned in response while Ino slumped over and rested her head on the table. Inoichi shook his head again. "Come on, girls. Drink the hot tea and let's go."

He had no idea how much pain Ino and I were in. He didn't understand! I exchanged a look with Ino and she nodded her head. Ah, it was time to plot the murder of Inoichi Yamanaka. Just kidding. We drank our cups of tea and forced ourselves up. I placed my hand over my mouth. Inoichi kept an eye on us as we dragged our feet to my apartment building. I had a feeling he was laughing at us internally. I glanced at him. He had an awkward smile on his face. Yup, he was definitely laughing at us.

Once we stood right in front of my apartment building, I turned and bowed at Inoichi and Ino. Hideo-sensei taught me to be polite, after all. But my face felt like it was too warm after bowing. "Thanks for everything, Ino-chan, Inoichi-san! It was fun!"

"Yup! Thanks for hanging out, Chieko-chan! You must come and visit soon, kay?" Ino demanded, giving me a wink.

I laughed and we agreed to meet sometime this week again. Inoichi said he was glad that Ino met me and that we will be joining the Academy at the same time. He patted me on the head and smiled his awkward smile. He held onto Ino's hand and walked off. I heard Inoichi trying to scold Ino for eating too much dango but it didn't look like Ino was listening. I laughed before turning around to walk up the stairs to my apartment. It had been a really fun day. Naruto and Ino were such kind people. I wanted to meet more people. I wanted to make more friends. I opened the door to my apartment and my eyes immediately went to the red and purple irises on my coffee table. Beautiful flowers representing hope and wisdom. I looked at the seal on my arm. Hideo-sensei said that my time would be the start of a new era. I hoped so.

A week went by and I wondered how could it have disappeared so quickly. I hoped to get more training done before the start of the Academy. I had about two more weeks before it was time. I hadn't met anyone new in the past week though. But that was fine! I visited Ino and had dinner with her family. The food was amazing and Ino's mom was so cool! Inoichi kept blushing around Ino's mom and Ino pretended to be embarrassed by her parents.

Naruto and I met almost every day to train together. Today happened to be one of those days.

"Ready, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm ready, believe it!" He threw the kunai at the target but it missed completely and landed on the ground further back. "This is…this is hard." Naruto looked upset.

I blinked. "You've only been practicing for a short while, Naruto-kun. I promise you'll get better!" Although, I had to admit in my mind that it might take a while before Naruto would be better at it. I had the excuse of training since I was young, thanks to Hideo-sensei. But it wasn't the same for Naruto. I held the kunai in my hand and walked up to Naruto. "How about you look at how my hand moves instead of staring at the target? Try to see if what you did and what I did were the same or were they different."

Naruto nodded. "Okay!" He watched my hand. "Mm..." A low hum escaped from his throat as he focused. I felt my cheeks heating up. It wasn't fun to be stared at, but it was a sacrifice I had to make. I threw the kunai and watched it fly through the air before hitting dead center.

"Did you see that?"

He nodded his head, grinning wide. "I think I understand now! I'm going to give it my best, believe it!" He took a kunai in his right hand and stood at the spot I was standing on. Then, he threw it with enough force to stab the tree behind the target. "Huh?!"

I laughed. Oh, Naruto… "Keep doing your best, Naruto-kun. I'm going to go sit-" I pointed at the huge tree with the biggest shade, "right there."

Naruto gave me a thumbs-up and continued with his training while I watched from the spot I said.

I yawned, running my fingers through the cool grass. This seemed like a great spot to take a nap. But that sounded like a bad idea. What kind of future ninja falls asleep out in the open like that? I stretched my arms out and sank lower against the tree.

It was almost time for Ino, Naruto, and I to join the Academy. I wanted to be ready. Ino said that a lot of the students are from the known clans in Leaf.

The Uchiha Clan. The Hyuuga Clan. The Aburame Clan. The Akimichi Clan. The Nara Clan. The Yamanaka Clan. The Inuzuka Clan. The Sarutobi Clan.

I smiled, running my fingers through my hair. Most of the clan names held no meaning to me now. But maybe learning about them would help? What did Inoichi say again? Knowledge is power. I chuckled a little as an image of Ino punching her father in the arm after that sudden statement. But Inoichi had a good point. If I had known about the Cloud ninjas, maybe I could have… I sighed and turned to look up at the floating clouds. I rubbed the seal on my arm. Hideo-sensei, what would you have done?

I walked over to where Naruto stood, practicing with everything he got. It had been a week since that strange image appeared in my mind. I had no idea what it meant. Was it just a figment of my imagination? Did I want something amazing to happen to Naruto? Maybe all his talks about being the future Hokage made me think about that. I shrugged. Could it actually be a vision of the future? I scoffed, shaking my head at the silly thought.

"Chieko-chan!" Naruto's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I blinked at him. "Look, look! I hit the tree!"

I turned to look at the tree that he gestured at and grinned. He did. He nicked a tiny piece of the tree but it wasn't anywhere near the target. "That's great, Naruto-kun!" I looked up at the sun, furrowing my eyebrows at its brightness. I glanced at Naruto as his stomach growled and mine followed suit. I grinned while Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Hey, want to go get lunch now?"

"Yeah, yeah! Let's go to Ichiraku Ramen!"

We race over to Ichiraku Ramen, dodging people while trying to beat each other. "Sorry! Excuse me! Coming through!" I kept yelling, pushing my way through the narrow gaps between the villagers walking at their slow pace.

"Hey, watch it!" An old man held up his fist in my direction. I held my hand up to apologize. I glanced at Naruto and watched as people backed away from him. Huh. So they were avoiding him. But why?

I halted to a stop in front of Ichiraku Ramen with Naruto running right into me. I groaned as the both of us toppled to the ground. Naruto rolled off me and blinked. "So, who won?"

I stared at him, dusting off the dirt that got on me. Naruto grinned back. We both burst out laughing. Teuchi lowered his head to peek at us and chuckled to himself. Naruto stood up and held his hand out to me to help me up as soon as our laughter dissipated in chuckles. We walked into the shop.

"Ah, my two favorite customers are here!" Teuchi announced, gesturing at us to take a seat. I grinned, knowing that he had already seen us outside his stall. "What'll you have today?"

"The usual." I answered, a bright smile on my face as I waved at Ayame standing at the back. She waved back, grinning. "What about you, Naruto-kun?"

"Yup, me too!"

"Coming right up!" Teuchi nodded as he began preparing our orders.

Naruto laughed again. "You should have seen your face!"

"Hey, you were the one who ran into me!" I protested, pointing my index finger at him.

He held up both of his hands in front of me. "Okay, okay! But," he tilted his head and scratched his whiskered cheek. "Who won?"

I blinked. Teuchi placed our orders in front of us. "It doesn't matter." I grinned, gesturing at the steaming hot bowl of delicious ramen. "Food's here!"

Naruto laughed again as he watched me dig into my ramen. Teuchi smiled at us as he walked over to prepare more ramen. He probably knew that Naruto and I would order seconds. And thirds. And maybe even a fourth bowl each.

But it was fine. Hideo-sensei said that I am a growing child. I had permission to eat.

I sighed happily to myself. It was nice now. Peaceful. The image of the war-torn battlefield appeared in my mind again. So, how long would peace actually last?

I stretched after practicing my chakra control. The forest seemed so quiet and serene. I jumped out of the lake and walked deeper into the forest. There was still so much I did not know about the Leaf Village—so much I have not explored. I continued walking, looking at the herbs and plants that grew on the wet ground. I wondered if Ino knew about herbs and plants. Wouldn't it be useful to know about them for missions? I chuckled to myself as I imagined Naruto picking poisonous things off the ground without a second thought.

I looked up, seeing several ninjas jumping from tree to tree. But they didn't look like normal ninjas. No, they had masks on their faces and they looked like they're in a hurry. I narrowed my eyes, trying to make out the masks they wore. Were they animal masks? I frowned, pinching the bridge of my nose and continued wandering through the forest.

The sunlight was sparse under the large trees blocking it. The air felt cooler too. I scrutinized every corner of the forest. Wouldn't this place make an awesome training space? Quiet, not crowded, and less likely to be disturbed. I bent down, picking a pretty pink flower off the ground. Putting it close to my nose, the flower smelled sweet. I was about to start walking again when a voice called out.

"You there." I turned around to see one of the masked ninjas from before. I blinked at him. "What are you doing here?"

I pulled on the sleeves of my hoodie. "Exploring."

"Well, you shouldn't." I had no way of knowing if he was glaring at me from beneath the mask, but his voice sounded serious.

"Why? Is there something wrong in this forest?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"No."

So there is something! But what? I stared at his mask. Huh. It looked like a fox? Maybe a wolf? It was hard to say. I took a deep breath. "Okay." As I walked past him, I dropped a flower in his dark hair and smiled. "Have a good day, ninja-san."

I took my time walking back to the village and began exploring again. The most important place in Leaf had to be the buildings located right at the village's center. The Hokage Tower and the Academy stood there. According to Naruto, he said it takes about five minutes to run to the Academy from our apartment building. I had a feeling he was betting on that because he probably had no plans to wake up early.

I waved at Inoichi as he stood right in front of their flower shop. He was conversing with a black-haired man and a porcupine-like red-haired man. The men he was talking to smiled at me as I approached. "Inoichi-san, how are you?" I grinned, looking at his visible frown.

"Ah, Chieko-chan!" He smiled. "It has been busy but with Ino's help, we have been doing really well. Oh! Are you here to see Ino?"

I shook my head. I mean, it would have been nice to see Ino too but it hadn't crossed my mind. I wanted to spend today exploring the village and finding places that aren't as noisy. "No, I was just passing by." I tugged at Inoichi's sleeve and pointed at the men standing by him.

The red-haired man grinned and laughed, patting Inoichi on his back. The other man placed his hand on his head and chuckled. Inoichi's cheeks turned pink as he scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "Chieko, this is Choza Akimichi and Shikaku Nara. Oh, that reminds me! Their sons will be joining you and Ino at the Academy."

"That's right," Shikaku answered, nodding his head with a thoughtful look. "But I can imagine Ino being more excited about the Academy than our boys, right Choza?"

Choza bellowed a laughter, his hand on his stomach as he nodded his head. "I'd say!"

Inoichi laughed. "Is that so?"

I tilted my head. "Why wouldn't they be excited to join the Academy, Nara-san? Ino-chan, Naruto-kun, and I are all happy to start learning to be a Leaf shinobi!"

Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi exchanged amused looks. Shikaku lowered himself to my height and asked, "are you new here, Chieko-chan?"

I nodded. "Well, I got here about a week ago."

"And yet you have such a passionate spirit!" Choza patted my head. "I hope you'll be great friends with my son, Choji."

Shikaku chuckled. "Maybe with Ino and Chieko here, Shikamaru might have to try harder at the Academy."

I blinked at them. They seemed like great and close friends. The Akimichi Clan. The Nara Clan. The Yamanaka Clan. Wasn't there something about them in Hideo-sensei's Bingo Book? But, they looked like really kind people. I grinned at them. "Thank you, Inoichi-san, Nara-san, Akimichi-san! You've made me even more excited to join the Academy!" I stood on my tiptoes but it didn't work. I gestured at them to bend a little and kissed each of their cheeks. "Gotta go, bye!"

I rushed off to the training grounds. I didn't have the time to slack off. I needed to prove my worth if I really want to join the Academy.

It has been two months since my first arrival at the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I spent most of my time with Ino and Naruto and meditating. I had to admit that it took a while for me to get used to the bustling excitement of a large village but it felt like home now, mostly. I sidestepped as a small boy came running past me. Tomorrow was the first day of the Academy.

Kurenai wanted to have tea and dango today after I panicked about entering the Academy and making new friends. What if Ino and Naruto found newer and better friends? What if people didn't like me? I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. No, everything will work out. It had to. I made my way to the dango shop near the training area and ran over to Kurenai as I spotted her wavy black hair. I threw my arms around her and gave her a tight hug.

"Kurenai-san!"

She laughed, patting my hair with a serene smile. "It's nice to see you again, Chieko-chan." I released her from my hug and she led us to a table. "How are you feeling? Nervous for tomorrow?"

I nodded. "Kind of." I twiddled with my fingers. "It's going to be…weird and scary and different and diff-"

Kurenai reached out and placed her index finger on my lips. Her lips quirked into a smile."Shh. Everything will work out. Trust me."

The waitress took our orders. Although, Kurenai gave me a stern look when I tried to order for twenty-five sticks of dango. I scratched the back of my head and she told me that as a kunoichi, I had to be careful with what I eat. A ninja must always care for one's own health.

"You never know when you might be called out on a mission. If you were sick from eating too much dango, well, you won't be much help." Kurenai warned.

"I understand." But it still didn't keep me from pouting. "Kurenai-san, can you tell me more about the Academy?"

Two mugs of hot tea were placed in front of us. Kurenai held one of them up. "Hmm… what would you like to know, Chieko-chan?"

"Was it…easy to make friends? What techniques did you learn? How hard are the tests?" I fired questions after questions, not wanting to forget any one of them.

Kurenai chuckled. "You'll make friends, Chieko-chan. Just be yourself. As for techniques…well, you'll have to wait and find out." She reached over and patted my head. "If you practice and study, the tests will be easy."

But…what kind of tests did the Academy give to students? Kurenai said practice and study. That had to mean that there will be written and practical exams for the students to graduate then. I assumed we must learn a lot about the other countries and the other ninja villages. But could we learn about the specialty techniques of shinobi from the other villages? Would that actually be public knowledge? I knew that the Cloud ninjas I faced had swords behind their backs. Though, it was impossible to say that the Village Hidden in the Clouds specialized in kenjutsu when I've only met three of them with swords.

Imagine how useful it would be in missions to have such knowledge before going on missions. Hideo-sensei believed that a true mark of a great ninja is to be prepared for any situation.

I looked up at Kurenai while chewing on a piece of dango. "Kurenai-san, what techniques do you use?"

She smiled. "Now, that's not knowledge you would ever want to advertise as a shinobi. You always want to have an element of surprise." She paused, taking a sip of her tea. "But, I am known for being a genjutsu user."

Illusions, then. But people had to have excellent chakra control to be able to use genjutsu. I grinned at Kurenai and she laughed. I must have looked at her with admiration because her cheeks looked a little pink. I looked down at my own hands and wondered. I knew that I spent more time training my taijutsu and ninjutsu, but I wondered about everything else that made up being a ninja. I hadn't thought of being a genjutsu user but it still might be good to learn how to dispel illusions. I pressed my lips together. How about swords? I shook my head. I doubted that idea. But Kurenai pointed out that the Academy would be the time to learn more about the different roles and techniques of field ninjas.

Kurenai and I talked for a couple of hours before I decided it was time for me to head back to training.

I stood up, brushing my pants as though there was dust on them. I pulled out my wallet and was about to pay my share when my hand brushed against the staff's hand. An image flooded into my mind. I saw our server take a step back and bump into another staff. That other staff carried several mugs of hot tea. The hot tea spilled over both servers and the customer seated nearby. I blinked and saw Kurenai staring at me in concern. I didn't have time to answer her as I reached out and pulled the server closer to the table.

"Careful!" I yelled. I watched as the staff behind her sighed in relief and walked on by with her tray of hot tea. I looked up at our server and her face looked pink. I let go of her wrist. "S-sorry… I didn't mean to…um, use that much force."

Our server smiled and shook her head. "No! I mean, I should be the one thanking you. I should have been more aware of my surroundings. We were saved because of you. Thank you, miss."

Kurenai patted my head. "She's right, Chieko-chan. You were really quick to react. That is a great skill to have when you become a ninja."

I scratched my cheek, smiling. "R-right." Because, honestly, who would have believed me if I told them that I saw it happening before it happened in real life? I placed the money on the table and slung my backpack over one shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay." I turned to face Kurenai. "Thank you for today, Kurenai-san! But, I really have to go now!" I rushed off, waving at the black-haired beauty who blinked in surprise.

I pushed through the crowd of people and ran back to my apartment. By the time I made it back to my apartment and shut the door behind me, I sank down and panted. What just happened? I clenched my fists together, taking in a couple of deep breaths. How did that image appear? Why did it appear? It didn't make sense. It was actually the future. What about the other images I saw? The ones about Naruto and the huge war.

I removed my hoodie and focused on the seal on my arm. Hideo-sensei, did you know something about this? Is this…is this how Hideo-sensei knew about those Cloud ninjas coming?

I needed to find answers. I poked the seal. I wondered if this might be the cause of it. I needed to find answers right now.

First off, thank you for taking the time to read this till the end. I know there's a lot of other Naruto fanfics that you could be spending your time on so I'm really happy you decided to choose this blossoming fic. Hopefully, this chapter revealed quite a bit of where I plan to take the story and who Chieko is as a person. Thanks again and please review!

Sneak Peek for Chapter 3:

I looked at the blond boy beside me. The nervousness and excitement in his eyes. Grinning, I grabbed onto Naruto's hands. "Come on, let's go!"

"Mm! We're going to be the best, believe it!" He shouted back, leading me straight into the Academy with a more confident stride.