UNKNOWN PLACE
"Where am I?" I can't move at all, heck, I can't even move my eyes, and the only thing I can see is the starry sky. Just then, I see something suddenly fly past me, and as if possessed, I follow the thing, and I can see that it's bright, very much so, but it somehow doesn't hurt to stare at.
Then, the thing crashes to the ground with a deafening boom, but my ears aren't even ringing in the slightest. As I look at what I know recognize as a small asteroid, I see something crawl out of it's cracks. It looks like a weird mess of black slimy tentacles, and it then slithers away in the dark forest, the trees resembling those of Hi no Kuni.
I wake up with a gasp, drenched in sweat, looking around frantically for that creepy thing, just to then realize that I'm simply in my bedroom, the warmth of the blankets wrapped around me providing me with comfort. Looking at the alarm on top of my night table, I can see that it's just 4:12am, which makes me growl a little in frustration.
It's not the first time I've woken up early in the morning, since I often have nightmares about THAT day. I've also had frequent dreams amount my old life, especially my family. I miss them a lot, but there's not much I can do about it, and I also feel really lonely here. Sure, I may have Might Guy and Rock Lee, but it's not like I spend everyday training with them. There's no one waiting for me at home. Most of the time is just me and my thoughts, and I'm often… scared of things. I'm scared of dying again. I'm scared of this world. I'm scared of failing. I'm scared of the full Moon. I'm scared about the future. I'm scared of Orochimaru discovering my heritage. I'm scared of everything…
I wipe a stray tear away, slowly getting up from bed, just to slump on the ground, my knees too shaky to support my weight. I don't want to be a Kunoichi, but I have to. This is the type of world where strength and rank matter more than anything else. I don't want to be held hostage again.
After a few minutes, I manage to get up, walking in the kitchen to cook myself breakfast. I grab 1kg of guanciale from the fridge, a chopping board, a rather large pan, a bottle of olive oil, 42 chicken eggs, 2.2kg of Linguine(rectangular Spaghetti) and 350g of Pecorino cheese. Yes, I'm making myself 7 people's worth of food in Carbonara. So what? I'm a growing Saiyan!
As I finish eating the outrageous amount of delicious food in front of me, I find myself much calmer and in a better mood than before. I then go wash up in the bathroom, coming out roughly 30 minutes squeaky clean, and I decide to wear a simple short-sleeved white shirt with pastel blue shorts, since it's rather toasty in Konoha in all seasons except for winter.
I glance at a clock, noting that it's around 6am, and since school starts at 8am, I have some free time in my hands. I'm a bit nervous about going to the Academy, considering how brutal I was in yesterday's spar with Naruto. Sure, he forgave me, but what if my classmates are now scared of me? What if they avoid me? W-What if they bully me aga- "It's not going to be like Elementary school, idiot. They're completely different people, besides, you likely already have a possible friendship open with Naruto, and maybe Hinata too, so stop whining like a little b*tch and Grow. The. F*ck. Up!" A part of myself yells at me, and it makes me chuckle a little. Scolded by own mind, huh? That's new.
After I recover from my near panic attack, I decide to get some fresh air, sighing as I feel the cold wind gently caress my skin, feeling my spiky hair gently sway to the current. This is so peaceful… nothing could ruin this mome- "Watch out!" Before my mind could even register the shout, a blur of yellow and orange slams into me with the force of a freight train, knocking the wind out of me and sending me and the person who oh so gracefully bumped into me sprawling on the ground like a sack of potatoes.
I groan a little, and the weight on top of me finally disappear, and I see a familiar face looking at me sheepishly, "Naruto…" I whisper quietly, slowly getting up, dusting myself off as best as I could, "That's why I never wear light-colored clothing." I think to myself in irritation. Damn hyperactive kids running in the streets. I definitely am not pouting.
"Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to, I swear! I just was in a hurry because I didn't want to arrive at the Academy late again." I'm a little surprised at how… soft his voice sound, and looking at him in the eyes reminds me of a kicked puppy, and it makes all my anger fizzle out. "Don't worry, I'm completely fine." I can literally see his blue eyes become a shade brighter from my answer.
"Isn't it kinda early? It's 6am, class doesn't start for 2 hours." I point out, tilting my head a little to the side in a questioning manner, "I need to get breakfast, dattebayo!" Huh? Wasn't he saying 'Believe it' as a catchphrase just yesterday? Did I hit him harder than I thought? "I… see? I already ate at home, but if you want to, I can come with you to keep you company?" I offer, a small smile on my lips.
He looks surprised, but he's also very, very happy, his innocent sapphire orbs looking at me as if I just told him he won a lifetime supply of ramen, "Huh? That'd be awesome, dattebayo!" I giggle a little at his excited tone, and we start walking side by side through the village, "Soooo… What's your favorite food?" He asks with a bright smile on his face, most of his attention on me. "Pizza." I answer without any hesitation. "Pizza? What's that?" I freeze in horror at his innocent query, looking at him as if he just said that he'd burn down an orphanage in a heartbeat, but then a wave of realization hits me, "Now that I think about it I've never seen pizza in Konoha. Does it not exist here?" I send a quick prayer to whatever Pizza God is out there, vowing to show this kid the wonders of pizza before it's too late.
"Saturday morning come over at my house and I'll show you, ok?" He looks at me uncertainly, then he looks down, "Are you sure your parents would be alright with someone like me going in your house?" Hearing him speak so timidly makes my heart melt completely. He looks terrified of something, and I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but I decide to just be blunt. "I don't have parents, so it's ok." He looks back up at me, his eyes wide as saucers, "I didn't know you were an orphan too!" He exclaims in a surprised tone, and I raise an eyebrow at him, silently asking him to talk in a quieter tone, since, judging by the whispers around us, we're gathering too much attention.
Noticing the stares too, his expression falls and he looks scared again. "Come on… let's go to where you wanted to take us…" I murmur softly, gently patting his shoulder, and he finally starts walking again, looking rather uncomfortable under the whispers and looks of scorn and mistrust following us. "Don't mind them. We were having a lot of fun before, weren't we? So don't let anything dim your mood" I whisper gently, and slowly but surely, he starts smiling again, and in a few minutes, we reach a rather familiar Ramen booth.
"Ramen? For breakfast?" Came my dry comment, ignoring the little detail that I just ate enough Carbonara to feed an entire family. "But Ramen is just soooo good! Something that tastes so heavenly should be eaten everyday, no?" He even dares to defend his point and POUT! "I WANT TO PINCH HIS CHEEKS SO BAD! HE'S TOO ADORABLE!" Barely managing to restrain myself, I look away from him. "You win this time." I admit defeat with a sigh, "But I will have my revenge."
We take our seats, a girl a few years older than us coming to greet us and take our orders. She has dark brow hair and large black eyes, wearing a white apron? I don't really know much about all the different types of clothes now that I think about it. Maybe I should go read a book about it? Does such book even exist? "Welcome back to Ichiraku, Naruto!" She says cheerfully, then she turns to look at me curiously, "Are you a friend of Naruto?" She asks, looking at me carefully, as if a predator staring at a potential pray, wondering if she should devour it or not.
"Y-Yeah… We're classmates. My name is Zucchina" I stutter a little, feeling genuinely scared of her, but luckily, my answer seems to satisfy her and her smiles widens and looks less terrifying. "Nice to meet you! My name is Ayame. So… What will your orders be?" I turn to look at Naruto with a blank expression. I've never eaten Ramen before. Never. So I have no idea on what to even order. Heck, I shouldn't even be hungry but all the thinking I did earlier made me hungry again!
"You can't go wrong with Miso Ramen It's the best! Well, everything is the best, but that's the bestest, dattebayo!" I nod at his words, turning to look at Ayame, "A bowl of Miso Ramen, please." I ask politely, and the waitress then turns to look over at Naruto, and he just grins, "You know what I want, Ayame!" The girl chuckles, then turns towards the back, "Ya hear dad? One Miso and a Naruto!"
I freeze at her words, "A Naruto? Does he have some kind of special menu dedicated to himself?" She then turns to look at us again, her eyebrow raised, "How was the Academy?" WE both shrug, since yesterday we skipped most of it because… a pang of guilt cuts through my heart again. I really need to make it up to him someway. "We kinda spent most of the day in the infirmary." Came Naruto's sheepish reply, and I just sigh.
Concern flashes in the young woman's face, "What happened? Why were you 2 in the infirmary?" I look down in shame, "It's my fault. I went too hard on Naruto during our spar and I ended up hurting him…" I whisper quietly, feeling tears start prickling my eyes, which really happens too often in my opinion, "But she didn't mean it! And she apologized a lot afterwards, dattebayo!" Whiskers is quick to defend me, looking up at Ayame with a grin, "Besides, she looked so cool! Even if a little scary. Her eyes turned golden, and she was so fast I couldn't even see her."
I turn to look at him in shock, my mouth agape, "What do you mean I had golden eyes?" I ask in a concerned tone, looking at him seriously, wanting as much information as possible. "Yes! You looked amazing! Can you teach me how you did that?" After a few seconds of silence, I shake my head, my tail moving to lay the tip in my lap, as I look at it carefully. "That had never happened to me before. It probably has something to do with my tail." I murmur quietly, wondering what the heck that could be. I don't remember any Saiyan transformation that came with golden eyes. Then again, there may be something that I'm missing. Could it be related to the Super Saiyan? I doubt it, but I don't have anything else in mind.
I'm pulled out of my thoughts as Teuchi arrives with mine and Naruto's ramen, and I mumble a quick "Thank you," as me and Whiskers start eating. Now, I do admit that this tastes quite good, in fact, I end up finishing my ramen almost as fast as Naruto, and I quickly ask for more, My blonde friend doing the same, and he shoots me a challenging grin, me returning it, and we start wolfing down bowl after bowl, and Ayame just stares at us in amusement.
After our 30th bowl, Naruto finally slumps on the counter, waving a white flag. "Where the f*ck did he get that?" I give him a pat in the back, a smug smile on my lips, "You were a worthy opponent. Take pride in this defeat, Naruto Uzumaki, for few could handle the might of Zucchina's stomach." I say solemnly, and he shots back up, glaring at me, "Next time I'll win, dattebayo!" I giggle, poking him on the cheek playfully, "Keep dreaming, buddy."
As we walk through the village towards the Academy, thanks to my keen eyesight I notice a rather… peculiar entry on today's newspaper from someone reading it. It says that last night a meteor crashed around 20km from the capital. What a coincidence, huh?
We enter our class, finding Hinata already at her desk, and I wave at her, while Naruto grins at her, "Hi! Hinata, right?" He asks, shaking her hand, and she faints. I snort, looking at the scene in amusement. "I forgot that Hinata did that." I shake my head, as Whiskers panics, thinking that he killed her or something. "She's fine, don't worry. She's just… very shy, even more so than me." I decide to take pity on him, and I hear him sigh in relief, so I take my seat to the left of Hinata, so that I can gaze out of the win- erm, so that I can pay better attention to the lessons. Yep. Definitely that.
Author Notes: Sorry if this took so long to upload, but I just didn't know what to do. I want to give some more insight on Zucchina's character and give her some more friends. Problem is that I have no idea on how to portray conversations. I'm very unsatisfied with what I wrote, but I have no idea on how too. Maybe someone has some advice? I'm trying to not make her too overpowered, considering just how much of a cheat the Zenkai is alone, so I came up with a 'nerf' of sorts, taking inspiration from 'Dragon Ball Alternative' from EquuleusNox. Basically the Zenkai only activates when the saiyan is in real danger of dying, almost dies to said threat, but somehow survives, and they get a boost in Ki. It's still overpowered, but remember that there are no Senzu here, nor are there dragon balls nor people who could heal you from having your organs blasted out of you. Ignoring the Byakugo seal. But Naruto's healing factor is still going to be much more a cheat than her Zenkai. It allows him to heal very quickly from every type of injury, even muscle tears, so you can probably guess what I'm getting at. If you have any pairing in mind for Zucchina that may happen in the distant future don't hesitate to tell me. Just keep in mind that she wasn't originally a girl, and when she was a boy she was attracted to girls. At the moment she isn't really thinking about it because she has much more important things to do. And her body is 7 years old, so I'd rather not write weird shit until she's at least in Shippuden, so at around 16, and even then, most of the romantic things will be happening in the background. She will eventually learn the kamehameha, but at the moment she just isn't skilled enough to try her luck at it, and even then, she has to reverse engineer it by some rather hazy memories.