Night Rain
Chapter Six

The first weeks of the Academy had brought joy and satisfaction but also inner hell for me. On the outside I had tried to stay positive, to act normal. In every situation that had required me to give an opinion or a reaction, I'd first think 'Yes, that's what Amaya will do'. My inner self had been in a paranoid crisis regarding two reasons – the missing bits of my memory and Sasuke, who hadn't had showed to school for way too much time.

With my memory I had reached a dead end and although knowing it had something to do with Kamiko, I hadn't been able to confront her.

Since day one I've felt something malicious in her and the feeling didn't go away. It hadn't helped that I did not remember ever having a one-on-one talk with her, which had only made me believe I had had erased memory before. It wouldn't stop her from doing it again – that had been part of the reason I had tried to avoid her. If I'd tried to go with someone else, that someone being Dai, she would just have lied.

At that point, it had seemed like I couldn't do a thing to protect myself so I gave up.

The Sasuke problem had been more in my head rather than a real issue, though it could've been a possibility. I hadn't paid much attention when I didn't see him on my first day; it had been logical and to some extent necessary for him to be absent. I'd begun to worry once there had been no sign of him for over two weeks. Rumors of the massacre had begun spreading, people slandering Itachi and not a single word for the younger Uchiha. As if I hadn't been anxious enough, the thought of him dying, because of my sudden appearance, had temporary settled in my brain.

All I had known about the Academy had been from what I'd seen in the anime, narrowing the circle to its attitude towards the students compared to the other nations. Although thankful for that, I had been reserved at first, having been aware of the fact it was a school and no school was nice.

My first impression of the Academy had been pretty bad just because it reminded of a classic school.

We had different subjects, although not the traditional ones, grades, tests and all the stuff I despised in my first life.

The difference had become noticeable once I'd spend about month or two there.

Other than the whole idea of the educational system, the way the material was taught was vastly different, for the better. Instead of a number of teachers, only one could teach per class. This way he/she had enough time to grow a bond with the children, get to know their personality, their strong and weak spots etc.

Personally for Iruka I hadn't been sure if he had extraordinary pedagogical abilities but looking back now, he had Dai and me accessed on first sight.

Another thing that had surprised me pleasantly back then was the distribution of the teaching material.

Normal kids spent six years in the Academy before graduating. All they had to learn for those years was some theory, some tai- and ninjutsu and other basic skill. A standard school would teach all of that in one single year, whereas here they really took their time. The material was hammered into their heads for so long, it was nearly impossible to not memorize it.

In class was emphasized on proper explanation and setting an example instead of pointing out someone's flaws.

When Dai and I had joined in the third year Iruka hadn't taught any jutsu yet. All they've studied was how to read, write and count, and the basics of the ninja laws.

"Before becoming a real ninja one must first have the basis," Iruka had once said to a very eager to fight Naruto, who had protested against the lack of activity.

It had been exactly the year we began studying about chakra. In my opinion Dai and I couldn't have been luckier because we had an advantage in form of previous knowledge in front of the others. While they had still struggled to grasp the concept of chakra, we had been able to catch up on the previous years and even further develop out skills.

Tai- and ninjutsu had finally come in the year after. Those had been and still were the years every Academy student eagerly looked forward to. The two techniques were studied together, their time equally distributed in the weekdays. Ninjutsu had been nothing special, just a repetition of what I had already known, therefore I had given prominence to taijutsu. I had never tried marital arts in my previous life, although I had been pretty much surrounded by it, and I'd been ready to give it a chance.

Taijutsu was essential to a ninja and being influent in at least one of its subcategories brought distinct advantage. I had for sure known I wasn't becoming another Rock Lee but I believed it'd be from good use one day.

It had been those last years that I'd finally felt the pressure of learning. I had been trying to concentrate on my aim with shuriken and kunai and in the meantime not fall behind with handseals.

To describe my performance in the Academy I could only use the word 'average'. I had both strengths and weaknesses like most of my classmates but was one of the few that was happy with it. As normality went, everyone was aiming for the top and got envious and angry upon seeing it wouldn't happen.

Personally I tried to stay away from such unneeded attention.

Eventually Sasuke had shown up bringing both relief and a new reason to worry. Mere seconds after I had sighed, relieved that he wasn't dead and the plotline was still most certainly intact, I had to look away and hope he wouldn't recognize me.

It wasn't really hard to avoid him since he wasn't searching for interaction anyway but it left me with a few limitations.

Dai and I could rival Sasuke in terms of jutsu skill, though we never showed it. I didn't want to trample on his dignity.

If he was to remember who I am, it'd be a pain to explain. Mainly, because I didn't know the details myself such as how I ended up there. Lying was pointless since it was Sasuke we're talking about. He would surely catch on at some point and make my position even more complicated.

It's sad to say nothing really happened in the past 4 years I spent in the Academy. Maybe the one distinguishing thing was I achieved inner harmony. Harmony with my dark side, which by now was residing in the very back of my mind and was deep asleep. I found that 12 years was approximately the time one needed to get used to a new world. To accept that the people who raised you were actually your parents, the place where you found yourself after being reborn was your motherland and the peers that reminded you so much of the friends of your previous life were completely different people with their own personality. And this all meant so much.

Finally, I recognized myself as Amaya Hoshino.

The nights, which I had spent thinking about my old life were in the past. Now, I was doing different plans during that time. On the sound of the rain, which happened to fall pretty often during the night, I dreamed of the not-so-bright-future that was before me.

At some point I had lost the paranoia of being around too many people or Kamiko. In the rare occasions I had run into her, she hadn't shown any excessive will to harm me therefore I had forcefully convinced myself the missing memory was a hitch of being reborn.

I've always known it wasn't that but the need of peace was stronger than my common sense. I couldn't live in constant fear anyway.

A few weeks before graduation I saw Dai talking exactly to Kamiko on my way out of school. It hit me hard. The bond between Dai and me was stronger than ever and despite all my warnings he still couldn't see anything wrong with the girl.

I watched as they talked and laughed together, unaware of my presence. I was jealous and I knew it was obvious.

My face turned an angry red color when I'd had enough. I made a fierce 180 degrees turn and bumped into someone.

I looked up to see who I almost took down, instantly blushing when I met cold black eyes and a stern face.

"Ugh, sorry," I muttered. When our glances met I sensed him tense and decided it was better to go. I sidestepped and continued down just to be stopped.

"Wait," Sasuke finally spoke, a hint of curiosity in his voice. "I've seen you before."

'Oh come on… Did you really notice me just now?'

"Yeah, I am in your class," I tried to say without sounding annoyed.

"No. I saw you then."

"What?" My heart started beating faster as I caught on what he meant. "I think you mistook me for someone else."

I hurried to leave before he could protest, making the situation even more awkward.

Graduation was just like in the anime; smooth. For Dai and me the Clone Technique was like reading or talking – we could perform it at any given time. Not surprisingly, the majority of the students passed the test. All without Naruto, who now had a scroll to steal.

I was happy to graduate the Academy, however this was just the first step. Now I had to pass the test my jounin instructor would give me. I wasn't stupid, I knew the chances Dai or I to be promoted to genin were little to zero. I had reached a consensus with myself and was ready to fail.

What scared me more was that I had absolutely no idea, who my teacher was going to be or who were my teammates. For the latter there were two variations – I would either be with Dai or not. Iruka had to know we'd work the best together.

Otherwise, disorder would become possible even in the Rookie 9, something I couldn't, under any circumstances, afford. From what I knew only Team 7, 8 and 10 had managed to get to genin from the whole class and if that got messed up the entire plotline would change.

In simple words, no matter how much I wanted to be a ninja, I had to fail.

On the day of announcing the teams I was even more nervous than that dreaded first day.

I observed the future Team 7 members and their behavior for an eventual sign of disturbance. So far, everything was as it should. The tension between Sasuke's fangirls had everyone's attention so I could stare undisturbed.

I raised suspicion only in Dai, when I accidentally pre-giggled at the infamous kiss.

Iruka showed up just in time to spare Naruto more serious injuries from the fangirls and, thankfully, didn't waste time in announcing the teams.

"Team 7 –"

My heart skipped a bit.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha."

I only let out the breath I was holding after hearing Team 8 had the same members as well.

"Team 9 – Dai Izumi, Taichi Nagata and Amaya Hoshino."

I snorted and glanced at Taichi, who didn't necessarily look happy to be with 'the foreigners'.

During the given lunch break most of the teams went out together in order to get to know each other or something of that sort. I was with Dai alright, but Taichi was nowhere to be seen. Not like we minded. He was one or even the only kid I couldn't stand. He had been the first to call us names when we arrived and his attitude towards us never changed. He was stupid and arrogant, his head always lifted up.

"Let's not search too hard for him," I suggested.

"Can't we ask for a change in teams or something?" Dai murmured and shook his head. "I can't stand the guy."

"I'm afraid we can't. We'll have to find a way to cooperate."

'Don't worry Dai, you won't actually have to be with him after we fail.'

Our sensei was one of the first to arrive.

He was one of the many jonin I had never seen, which kind of disappointed me.

"Team 9, come with me," he ordered.

We followed him out in the yard.

"Now, don't get full of yourself just because you have a headband. This doesn't mean you are shinobi. Tomorrow is your final test. I'll meet you here at 7am exactly so if even one of you is late, I'll fail you," he adjusted his own hitai-ate. "You can now go."

"Wait, shouldn't we introduce ourselves? Can we at least know your name?"

He shot me a threatening glare, "I do not need plain names in my head. If you pass your test tomorrow, then we'll chat."

He then disappeared.

"That was rude," Dai concluded.

Taichi frowned and looked at us, "Don't be late."

"Yeah, don't worry," I waved my hand and sent him off. "Bye."

"So, do you want to train later today?" Dai asked, carelessly putting his hands behind the head.

"Yeah. Are you going home now?"

"I have to," he sighed. "My room won't clean by itself."

"Oh, better go then," I laughed. "Bye Dai."

"See you later."

I didn't want to go home yet, not on that sunny day, so I headed to the center.

I was planning to kill the time before the training with Dai, then go home and straight to bed since I had a lot to think about.

The center was buzzing with life. The stalls were fuller than ever, clients lining to get fresh food. I passed by several kids pleading their parents for Dango. I myself felt like eating some just because of the smell that hung in the air.

"Aya!"

I turned around to see who called me and suppressed a pouting expression, "Kamiko?"

"Long time no see, ne?" the eggplant haired girl smiled brightly. "What are you up to?"

I shivered. There were a lot of people around so she couldn't potentially harm me. Still, being alone with her made me uneasy.

"Nothing really."

"Great, wanna come with me then?" she blinked her brown eyes expectedly.

Sweat broke on my forehead, "Um, come where?"

I did not want to go anywhere with her but if we stuck to a crowded space there shouldn't be a problem. I could observe her this way, without exposing myself to danger and see if I could extract some information out of her. She was the only one that possible what had happened with me on that day.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "You can chose."

"Let's go this way." I pointed to the most crowded street.

3rd Person POV:

Genma Shiranui loved his job. To be a shinobi – that was his dream from when he was still a naïve kid. Now that he had been into the profession for decades, he couldn't help but regret his decision. A little and just on rare occasions.

He was supposed to have a few days off but both today and yesterday only were busier than the past few months. When he had first started, unexpected situations excited him, made him feel from real importance. It had been the sudden adrenaline rushes that ignited his love for the most dangerous job and nothing could extinguish it.

However with age, he began to prefer more accurate time distribution. Surprising duty was no longer appealing; just a drag.

Yesterday, the 4th Hokage's son had once again caused trouble when he had somehow stolen the Scroll of Seals.

Genma wondered, what would've come out of the lad if Minato was still alive. Having served under the 4th, he knew the man could deal with serious political problems with ease, let alone raise a child. He and Kushina would've been amazing parents if they'd only survived.

A lot of people speculated that sealing a Bijuu in his own child had been an act of panic of not knowing what to do. Those people were unthankful and undeserving of protection in Genma's eyes. For him what Minato had done was plain genius. To be able to come up with a long-term plan to grant your child power and simultaneously save a village, all under pressure, was an act only a true shinobi could execute.

If anything the jonin hoped Minato and Kushina couldn't see what their son was doing; they didn't deserve it.

Today, a word came that one A-rank mission had ended with an ambush. It happened so that the jonin assigned to night patrol had suffered serious injuries and now Genma had to take his shift.

Night patrol was mostly ANBU's work, only on rare occasions, during wars or suchlike measures, were assigned jonin. It didn't mean that something will happen. Actually it was most likely to not stumble at anything. What everyone hated in these patrols was their 12 hour duration. Elite shinobi or not, Genma was a human being and suffered fatigue.

The sun was just beginning to settle.

'This will be a long night.' Genma thought.

Amaya's POV (Normal POV)

A sudden burst of panic overwhelmed me.

"Kamiko, we strayed, didn't we?"

A/N: So after this chapter the story will go just a little bit AU-ish. Actually I'm not sure if it classifies as AU or not. Just be ready for action.