Bethany took a deep breath. Today was the day. Today, everyone would be entering the Ninja Academy. Unfortunately the young girl didn't know if her class would have any of the other 26 in it or not. The teacher led her into the class, where everyone else was already waiting. Looking around, the young Uzumaki knew she had been right. There were hardly any of the 26 in the classroom. Well, except for Minato. "Attention everyone, today we're getting another new student," having the eyes of everyone else in the room on her made Bethany self-conscious. "My name's Kushina Uzumaki, Dattebene!" she exclaimed. The young girl turned beet red and lowered her fringe, so it shadowed her eyes. "Hey, hey, look at her hair, what person would go out with hair like that?!" one boy in the middle row exclaimed.
"Yeah, how do get it that red anyway?" another asked his friend. Bethany looked at her hair, or, at least her virtual version of it. It was still as long and as red as it was the day she first started this game. So what if nobody liked it, Kushina's hair was awesome!
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Unfortunately, Bethany was forced to spend the whole of first period theory ignoring the snickers, taunts and insults sent her way. At one point she became so mad that she snapped her pencil in half. That was when she started radiating KI, or killing intent. Who wouldn't, after hearing the near constant flow of whispers about how: the new girl is so stupid, how can she not know the answer to that or, I heard from my parents that people with bright hair colours are the ones who will always be dumb. Such was the intensity of her rage and hatred that the teacher actually started backing away in fear and some of the more weak-willed students ran out of the classroom with their hand over their mouths, desperately trying to keep from throwing up on the floor.
Finally the lunch bell rang, and Bethany quickly got out of her seat, intending to escape out to the fresh air. Unfortunately, if luck did exist, it was defiantly not on her side. She was cornered by three boys at the back of the classroom. One of them, possibly the leader of the little group pointed at her: "tomato!" he exclaimed, "you have a fat round face and that ugly red hair, just like a tomato!" the boys all snickered at her, "I hate tomato's, their disgusting!" one complained, sticking out his tongue as if to show how much he hated the fruit, "me too, I never have it in my salad!" another said. The leader grinned evilly, "as if a tomato that everyone hates could ever become a respected Shinobi!" all three of them began laughing. Bethany blushed in anger, radiating so much killer intent that one girl in the front of the class actually wet herself.
The main boy grabbed her hair and pulled on it, "look, you're getting ripper, tomato!" Bethany's hand shot out and took hold of his wrist in a death grip, twisting it painfully and forcing him to release her. "Listen, you brat, I hate tomato's too unless they're in pasta, Dattebene, and if you ever call me tomato again, I will kill you!" she exclaimed, throwing the boy into the front of the class, so he landed on the ground with an audible: crash! Bethany leaped over the desks and proceeded to beat the boy to within an inch of his life.
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Bethany was walking home at the end of the school day with her father. Within two hours in the Academy, she was already known as the Red Hot Habanero, and her reputation was that she would beat all the boys to death. The red-head didn't care about that, she just hoped that her time in the Academy would be a little more bearable from now on. Paul, being in a different class to her, didn't know a thing about what had been going on that day. "So, Bethy, how was your day?" he asked cheerfully. Suddenly Paul stopped and shivered. Turning around with a look of dread on his face, Paul noticed that his daughter was crouched on the ground with an aura of deep depression emanating off of her. The older Middleton sweat-dropped, "that bad, huh?" When Bethany looked up, Paul could swear she was dead inside. The look in her eyes was so lifeless and blank, that it caused the white haired boy to become worried, "uh, y-you okay, Bethany?" he asked, kneeling down next to her.
Bethany took a deep breath then sighed, "I just wish the others didn't hate me so much" she said sadly. Bethany looked up when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Paul smiled comfortingly at his daughter, "not everyone hates you, so you should just ignore the percentage who are idiots, you are strong Bethany, and if those other kids don't see that, then too bad for them," Bethany grinned and nodded, "you're right!" she stood up and started walking again. Paul followed behind her. As they were walking through the forest, Bethany saw the same boy who'd called her a tomato before walk out from behind a tree in front of her. Paul narrowed his eyes and watched as a taller boy with a Leaf Village Headband walked up next to the other boy.
Bethany glared at them, "what do you want?" she asked indignantly, "get lost brats, we have places to be!" she called, but didn't move an inch. The older boy smirked, "are you the girl who made my kid brother cry?" he asked. Bethany growled, "so what if I am? It's his fault, if he and the other boys didn't make fun of me, I wouldn't get so angry, Dattebene, besides, what would you do if someone made fun of you just because you're different?!" she exclaimed. Paul looked around worriedly. They were completely alone, and despite having some skills with their swords, this boy was too strong for them to fight at the moment. The older boy pointed at his headband, "I'm a Genin, cool huh?" he asked, walking forward while cracking his knuckles, "I have to teach anyone who bullies my little brother a lesson" Bethany readied herself for a fight.
The older boy shot forward, aiming to punch the girl in the stomach. Bethany dodged by jumping straight up into the trees. The other boy followed, while Paul jumped behind them at a slower pace. As Bethany jumped to another tree branch, the boy that was following her threw a kunai at her back. Bethany caught the glint of the blade as it shot towards her, and twisted her body to avoid it, landing on the tree and gripping the kunai. After pulling the short blade out of the bark, the red-head pushed off of the tree, spun around in mid air and landed on the ground. Upon landing, Bethany looked up, ready to fight back, only to find the clearing in front of her empty. 'What?' she thought, looking around for her adversary. Feeling a presence behind her, the young girl spun around, only to get hit in the neck with a knife hand.
Letting out a yelp of pain, Bethany suddenly felt a foot connect with her back, knocking her to the ground. As she came to her forearms and knees, the young Uzumaki was distracted by a strong grip taking hold of her hair, and yanking her up to her knees. It was at that time that Paul finally caught up with his daughter. He gasped, and could only watch as Bethany was tormented right in front of him. Bethany gritted her teeth and shut her eyes as her hair was continuously pulled, and pain shot through head. "Look at this, this hair is too red, and stiff like straw, hair like this is ugly," the older boy taunted, pulling tighter. Bethany gasped and opened her eyes as a few tears fell down her cheeks. "Huh, a great Shinobi, you? You're nothing but a kid, a weakling like you could never be anything more than that, a weakling, you're worthless, no one wants you, no one needs you, you should just disappear!"
Paul couldn't take it anymore, and leapt at the older boy. Being a newly entered Academy student, he knew that he didn't stand much of a chance, but at least he might be able to distract the Genin so that his daughter could escape. Thankfully it worked, not by much, but enough to cause him to loosen his hold on Bethany's hair. The young Uzumaki pulled away quickly, and, shooting to her feet, she spun around, and punched the older boy in the face, knocking him to the ground, "you, what do you know about me? About my pain? You don't know anything, anything! Just leave me alone!" she cried, choking on a sob. The young girl slowly got up, her face clouded with pain. She lowered her head and bit her lip. Meanwhile the older boy had stood up, "outsider!" he exclaimed. The young girl felt her eyes burning with unshed tears. Panting, the Genin boy sneered at her, "you'll never be worth anything, outsider!" he spat. Then he ran off, leaving Bethany to her tears.
Paul ran up to his daughter as soon as he was sure the other boy had left. "Bethany, are you okay?" he asked, looking her over. The young girl gave a teary nod, "y-yeah, I'm fine, let's just get home" she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
To Be Continued