Naruto: Heavy Metal Chronicles

by UltimateSmolBrain

What would you do if you knew the future? That is a question Meiko struggles with everyday. By some strange twist of fate she had been reincarnated into the universe of Naruto. Possessing memories of her past life and thus, the future of her new world, she holds the power to completely upend the entire world. For even the smallest ripples can create the greatest waves.

16. Chapter 16: Orientation Day - Afternoon

Chapter 16

Mana and I were the first ones back to the classroom and quickly took our seats at the front. With a loud groan, I flopped down onto my desk feeling surprisingly exhausted after that very eventful lunch period. While I could console myself with the fact that Mana and I had made a new friend in Naruto, now that things had quieted down the emotional toll of it all hit me like a sack of bricks.

At least the afternoon was set for the fitness examinations, I could sweat out my worries there. For now at least, I could take a breather and try to relax.

A familiar and annoying grumbling broke the silence in the empty classroom. Thankfully it wasn't the usual feral roaring, more a mumble of frustration at not having enough food. "Shut up, stupid stomach." I mumbled aloud. My complaining caught the attention of my seat mate as Mana started poking me with another baby carrot soon after. Many times I found myself wondering where she kept all those bags since I had never seen her run out.

Still feeling drained, and therefore lazy, I simply opened my mouth, not even lifting myself off my desk. Mana then placed the carrot into my mouth which I slowly began to chew. "Thanks." I mumbled through my chewing, Mana giggling at my sloth impression.

People began returning to the classroom mere moments after I finished that little snack. A group of three who's names I couldn't recall. I never was good at remembering people's names right off the bat, which did feel a bit rude considering they were my classmates. "I'll try and make more of an effort on that." The first group were too involved with their own conversation to notice Mana and I as they made their way to the back of the room, the second however did. Two more students entered and, upon seeing us, froze up.

"Hey isn't that-" One began.

"Shh!" The other quickly silenced them, shooting me a suspicious glance before they both scurried to their seats.

"Great, looks like I'm famous now." I grumbled. This pattern continued as students continued to flow in. Happily chatting away before hushed whispers, stares and scurrying to their seats. At least, the ones that noticed me. There were some who had different reactions though. Rei and Shun entered together, Shun looking quite unsatisfied and irritated. He was completely indifferent to me but when Rei saw me, the girl quickly moved in front of me, hands over her chest.

"Meiko! Are you alright? I heard you got into a fight!" She stared at me through her large glasses, her concern palpable.

I lightly chuckled, waving my hand to indicate it was no big deal. "Yeah no worries, it wasn't even a fight. The teacher broke it up before anything could really happen." That seemed to calm Rei down a bit as she visibly relaxed. From the sound of it she had not seen what happened and only heard about it from the ensuing gossip.

"Thank goodness." Rei sighed with relief and made her way back to her seat. Behind me, Shun flopped himself down.

"Ugh, so hungry." He groaned, pulling out a pack of dried meats. "Did they really think two skewers would be enough to feed anyone?" Just as with Mana, I was really curious where he was keeping all those snacks.

"Hey, you!" Came an unfamiliar voice, causing me to whip my head around to face the source. My head cracking into something hard.

"ACK!"

"OW!"

Rubbing my forehead, I looked through squinted eyes to see a boy rubbing his own skull. "Ah damn it!" He said loudly, glaring at me with a couple tears in his eyes. "What the heck is your head made of? Lead!?"

"You're one to talk." I replied, quite annoyed. "Why would you get that close?"

"I didn't think you'd swing your head like a bat!" The boy retorted. With the pain fading, I took a deep breath to calm down, sitting myself upright. Now able to see clearly again, I did recognize this guy from the morning introductions. Mainly from the wooden sword he had strapped over his back.

"You're..." I struggled to recall his name, but considering he was the only one in the class to have been openly brandishing a weapon i was able to do so, "...Ken right? What do you want?"

Still grimacing, the boy managed to compose himself "Ah, right." He moaned before shaking his head wildly, "I just wanted to say that what you did, standing up to those bullies, was really cool!" He flashed me a bright grin and a thumbs up. Maybe it was the lingering head trauma but that compliment hit me with the same impact as his skull and I felt myself shrinking in my seat, cheeks flaring with warmth.

"O-oh..." I stammered, shifting awkwardly on the spot, "Than-"

"You're a pretty cool dude, Mako!" Ken interjected.

And the moment was gone, shattered like a plane of glass.

I sighed loudly, I couldn't blame him for not remembering my name, I myself wasn't great with names but the way he said that irked me. "My name is Meiko." I calmly corrected him. Instead of apologizing, Ken looked back at me in confusion.

"Meiko? But that's a girl's name?" He said.

"Yes." I replied through gritted teeth, "It is." Apparently my hint wasn't obvious enough as Ken put on a pitiful smile and patted my shoulder.

"Sorry man, guess some people just have bad luck. Don't worry though, you're still cool in my book!" At this point, I couldn't even be angry anymore. With a moan my head fell forward onto the desk with a loud thunk. The pain returning once more like an annoying migraine. Ken jumped back with a start on the loud bang.

"W-what!? Are you okay!?" He called out, greatly concerned. Honestly, the fact that this idiot was clearly well meaning in his misunderstanding made it all the worse. If it was malicious I could get angry at him without any guilt. "Hey, seriously. Cheer up, I'm sure no one will make fun of you for having such a girly name."

"This guy really couldn't help but dig himself deeper and deeper could he!?" I thought to myself as I slammed my hands onto the desk, pushing myself up, nearly bashing him again with my still throbbing forehead. "I am a girl dammit!" I shouted at him in frustration, no doubt catching the attention of the whole class. Behind me, Shun unleashed a very hearty belly laugh which did nothing for my morale. Ken reaction was anything but subtle. It took a moment for him to process but once the light bulb turned on, the boy leaped back with a loud scream.

Ken stood there, blank face and blinking several times before unleashing a deafening "WHAAAT!?" Before quickly devolving into a stammering mess. He at least managed to stumble out an apology before running back to his seat. "I'm so, so sorry!" Said seat, funnily enough, was right beside Mana which left him blushing and unable to look to his left at all. Under different circumstances, I certainly would be laughing up a storm like Shun behind me. Under these ones however, I could only turn to Mana with pleading eyes.

"I don't look like a boy, do I Mana?" I asked, nay begged for her opinion. What I saw however, were silver eyes full of pity. "M-Mana?" I stammered, growing more desperate. "I don't right? Right?" Remaining silent, Mana turned her head away from me. My hands clamped down on her shoulders and I began to shake vigorously. "Oi! Mana! Its not true right? Mana! Come on! Manaaaaa"

My whining continued for a few more seconds or so when Rei suddenly spoke up, although not to me. "Oh, Kiyomi!" She said, quite happy at first before saying, "You look awful!" Ceasing my shaking of Mana I looked towards the doorway. There, Kiyomi stood slumped over and fuming. Looking up from underneath her brow, our eyes met and I could immediately feel the hostility from over here. She then began to stomp her way across the floor and towards me.

"Meikooo." Kiyomi said, putting heavy emphasis on each syllable. I leaned back into my chair, trying to reduce my presence as much as possible. Kiyomi appeared to be quite angry and aiming it at me, why I had no idea but was about to find out.

"H-Hey, Kiyomi..." I said warily as she stood in front of me and harshly slammed both hands onto the desk, causing me to jump back with a surprisingly high pitched yelp.

"How dare you..." Kiyomi said, glaring at me from underneath her bangs. "How dare you abandon me like that. Do you know what Ino put me through!?"

"L-lunch?" I asked cautiously. Kiyomi was not impressed.

"Very funny." Kiyomi replied, leaning in closer until our noses were almost touching. "She made me watch that friend of yours, Sasuke, eat his lunch while she and a bunch of other girls from her class stood around pestering him. It was soooo annoying!" Kiyomi leaned back, stomping a few times on the spot, "All because he could use the clone jutsu, like big freaking deal I can do that too!" She then sighed heavily, her face contorting in frustration then, surprisingly, defeat.

"At least that's what I thought." Frustration returning to her face, "I got tired of everything so I tried to challenge him to see who's clone was better but he just ignored me. So I tried to grab him but..." Once again, Kiyomi huffed and fell silent for a few long moments. Whatever she was trying to say next seemed to be almost painful for her. "...It was a clone..." Kiyomi's voice was low, barely above that of a mumble. I barely managed to stifle a snicker, my hand slapping over my mouth. Thankfully, Kiyomi was still stewing over herself and did not appear to notice.

Instead, she let out a loud, aggravated roar, scratching at her skull before once again falling limp. "And then," Kiyomi continued, straightening up her posture again. "All the girls started freaking out and ran off to find him so I could finally get away, only to find out that there was a fight and I MISSED IT!"

"O-oh! That's too bad!" I said, trying my best to keep up a strong poker face but instead it felt like I was wearing a stone mask, solid yet brittle and could crack at any moment. I figured it would be best for Kiyomi to not find out I had been involved in that little incident. With her current mood I had no idea what she might do.

"What are you talking about Meiko?" Shun said through a mouthful of snacks, "You were the one who started it."

Spinning around on my seat, I glared up at Shun, "I didn't start anything! I was just trying to get them to stop!"

"Ooooooh?"

I froze, realizing my mistake far, far too late. Slowly, almost mechanically, I turned back to face my friend. There was a smile on her lips but not in her eyes, her eyes were cold and hard, sending shivers down my spine.

"K-Kiyomi, I can explain!" I pleaded, but my words fell on deaf ears.

"Oh really?" Kiyomi replied before lunging forward and drilling her knuckles into the sides of my skull. "So you leave me to suffer while going off to have all the fun!? Is that it!?" She shouted as her arm snapped forth like a whip, coiling around my neck and drawing me over my desk and into her chest. Followed immediately by a drilling sensation on the top of my skull.

Pain shot through my head as I cried out, "Noooo! Kiyomi I'm sorry! Its not like that!" Wriggling back and forth I just couldn't get my head free.

"Not like what!?" She shouted as her finger drove harder into my scalp, "Not like you abandoned me to go off and have your own fun!?" It wasn't until the door to the classroom slammed shut that I was freed from Kiyomi's assault.

"Alright all of you quiet down! I could hear you clear from the other side of the building. Take your seats!" Mizuki-sensei commanded, looking rather annoyed. The classroom was instantly silenced and those loitering around hurried to their seats.

Kiyomi looked to me and whispered, "We'll talk about this later!" Before she too, returned to her seat. Once everyone was settled, Mizuki nodded and took his spot behind the podium.

"Alright everyone, as you know this afternoon you will be taking some fitness assessments. Before that however," He cut himself off, eyes falling on me with a harsh glare. "I heard there was some unruly students getting into trouble during lunch." He continued and now I could feel the entire class's eyes were on me. I wished I could just melt into my seat to escape from this pressure. With a sign, Mizuki continued. "I know that we will be teaching you combat here, but that is for your own protection. Fighting will not be tolerated, you can consider this your first, and only, warning on the matter."

After taking a few moments to slowly scan over the classroom, Mizuki took another quick, loud breath through his nose before standing upright. "Good, now back to the fitness assessment." Turning, he picked up a piece of chalk and began writing on the board. "There will be four tests in total, one will test your stamina, one your strength, one your accuracy and finally your chakra." On the board, Mizuki had drawn up a table with four columns, each one headed by one of the categories.

"Now, remember these are not official exams and will have no effect on your grades. This is just for us teachers to get an understanding of your skill level. Because you all come from different backgrounds, some students will naturally be ahead of others. Those of you who come from shinobi families obviously have an advantage while some will have little to no prior experience." Turning to face the class again, Mizuki casually tossed the chalk in the air several times.

"Of course, don't let that discourage any of you. We all have to start somewhere after all." He continued with a smile. "But don't rest on your laurels either, yes we will do everything in our power to guide you but in the end your success will be down to your own hard work. Whether you start at the top or the bottom doesn't matter, its the destination that counts. My advice to you is find and use any and every tool at your disposal. This world is unforgiving and will devour the weak and careless. If you want to survive, you need to be willing to do whatever it takes."

I had to give him credit, going into this I was quite uncertain about having Mizuki as a teacher but his advice there resonated in me. For someone like myself, I definitely needed to use whatever I could to try and get ahead. "Whatever it takes, huh?" I thought to myself. I turned to look out the window. The sun was shining bright over the village as usual, although some clouds were starting to move in. My mind wandering as I considered Mizuki's words. What could I do? It was something I had to figure out soon. Memories of the future played in the back of my mind once more and I could only wonder what sort of tools I would need to confront them. Of course, before all that, there was one other event coming up fast. One I had no idea if I could do anything about.

"Misaki..." I quietly said under my breath, trying to think of what I could do with my meagre abilities to save her. It was honestly overwhelming. I was just a brat, a dumb kid who certainly didn't have the strength to fight yet. And telling people about what I know was extremely risky. Although, perhaps that was a risk I would need to take. Would Misaki believe me if I told her? And what would she do if I did? Only more questions continued to bubble up in my mind.

"Hey, Meiko! Stop spacing out!" Kiyomi brought me back to reality with a firm shaking. "Seriously, you have a problem. Everyone is heading out now, let's get moving!" Grabbing my arm, Kiyomi pulled me from my seat with a loud grunt, "Sheesh you're heavy." She said before running off after the class, annoyed with her comment and with a sigh I followed suit. Stopping at the doorway, I turned back for a moment, looking out the window again. "I'll find an answer Misaki. I promise."

Mizuki led the class outside and to one of the track fields. Along the way, we passed by several other classes, including Iruka's, who were already getting started with their assessments. Our field had an oval track around it's perimeter and in the centre grassy area were some training dummies and other pieces of equipment.

"Okay, we're running slightly behind schedule so I'm just going to go right into things." Mizuki said, reading off of his clipboard. "First test is going to be on your stamina. Really simple, just run around this track until I say stop. Oh and remember, I want to see your natural skills so no funny business. Every year some smartass tries to cheat on these tests and it only screws them over later." He then motioned to a thick white line drawn on the track and the students started to line up behind it.

I was at the back of the group, feeling confident going into this first test. After Misaki's training a little jog along the track would be a walk in the park. Although there was that little caveat Mizuki added, he wanted to see our natural abilities and he even took time to explain the different levels of experience people had coming in. "So, perhaps he meant I shouldn't use chakra reinforcement?" It would make sense in this context. Taking in a deep breath I focused inward. Cutting off the supply of active chakra at the source. Then, the rest I forced out of my body.

"There we go." I muttered just a split second before I realized my mistake. With the chakra no longer enhancing my strength, my arms suddenly tried to fall out of their sockets. "GUH!?" I barely managed to stifle a cry of pain as I slowly raised them back up. "Crap, I forgot. The weights." It was such a stupid mistake, I was so used to wearing them and always having chakra reinforcement up that I couldn't even remember how much these things weighed at this point. Without the buff from my chakra it felt like I had two anvils latched on my forearms. Not to mention the two I had around my legs. I needed to get these things off before the test started.

"Alright, get going." Mizuki then said at the absolute worst moment and blew on a whistle. The rest of the students darted off into light sprints and I was left standing there like an idiot.

"Um Sensei?" I called for his attention, wanting to explain the situation.

"Shut up and get going or else I will mark you down." He replied, clearly having no interest in hearing what I had to say. With no other option, I started running too. The first step causing me to really feel the weights on my legs as my foot hit the ground with a powerful thunk.

"This is going to suuuuuck" I moaned and tried to catch up with the group.

This exercise was certainly bringing back memories, it was as though I was back to day one of Misaki's training. Actually, this may have been even harder. Back then I was pushing my body to it's limit every day, using all of my strength. Now, after gotten so used to having chakra reinforcement active, my body felt sluggish and weak. It made me wonder if I had actually grown stronger at all. "Ah, so that's it..." I realized after some time, "I was using reinforcement as a crutch." All this time I had basically been using my chakra as a sort of doping and forgot my own limits. "Maybe this is a good lesson, I should go back to the basics and start training my body directly without using reinforcement."

"Meiko, are you alright?" Kiyomi asked, sounding quite concerned as she was lapping me yet again. "You should be doing way better than this."

"Y-yeah..." I somehow managed to wheeze. "Just... An off... Day."

"Do you want me to call Mizuki-sensei? I think you should rest if you're not feeling well." She offered. I must have really looked like crap if Kiyomi of all people was that worried.

I shook my head, "No.. I'll... Be... Okay... Thanks..." Kiyomi didn't say anything, but her face scrunched up to tell me she wasn't buying it. However, watching out for me allowed Ken to pass her, taking first place.

"Alright, don't push yourself too hard though. I gotta go!" Kiyomi said, her competitive spirit not allowing someone else to take the top spot and she dashed off to retake it.

The rest of the class then passed by, following in Kiyomi's tracks. I lost count how many times they had lapped me at this point. My score for this test was definitely going to tank and that was my own fault. At least I wouldn't be alone at the bottom. There were two people who had only lapped me a couple times and at this point, all three of us looked like hell.

I estimated that we had been running for a good hour or so. Fatigue was hitting most of the class by this point, some far more than others. Kiyomi, Ken and a couple others were still going strong, easily able to pass by the entire class over and over. Most of the others were able to keep a decent pace, bunching up in a large ball of bodies with the weaker ones trailing behind like a long tail. Then, at the very end was Mana, Rei and myself. The three of us looked like hell, gasping for every bit of oxygen our lungs could take. Kiyomi had said that Mana had learned chakra reinforcement but even with that she really didn't seem the type to enjoy physical labour. And since it was banned for this test, the poor girl was really struggling. I could only assume Rei was a similar case.

Still, both were holding up better than me. Everything was burning. Every step sent waves of pain throughout my being. The weights on my limbs now upgraded to tree trunks, I could barely lift my feet off the ground. The soles of my sandals dragging along the dirt track yet somehow I could keep going. I had to thank Misaki for that, her and that insane training had certainly given me an absurd amount of stamina and a very broken mentality. So long as I could take that next step, I could take one more. Over and over again. Even with that however, I could tell my limit was fast approaching. What the heck had Dad set these weights to anyway? My vision was starting to fade and sweat coated my entire body. "Just a bit... further..." I willed myself to continue, the worst thing I could do at this point would be to fall.

The high pitched sound of a whistle pierced the air. "Alright, that's time." Mizuki called out and everyone came to a stop.

"Haa... finally..." I wheezed in relief, somehow I had made it. Although I felt weird, the pain in my body faded, replaced by a numbness. My eyelids were heavy and I couldn't quite get enough air. "Oh... crap..." The last thing I registered was the ground quickly approaching my face and a scream from somewhere.

"Ngh... Ugh..." I moaned and slowly opened my eyes, blinking hard as they were assaulted by a bright light. "Where am I?" Muttering, I rolled my head to try and take in my surroundings. I was lying in a bed, curtains surrounding every side. Above a single, unusually bright florescent light hummed away. This must have been the infirmary. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to recall what happened. "I was running and... the whistle blew to stop the... Oh god I did pass out..." My hand slid down my face as I sighed. That was most definitely a failure.

"Wait... CRAP!" I shouted, shooting up into a sitting position. "I gotta get back out there!" I was about to swing my legs over the side of the bed when everything began to spin and I fell back onto the pillow. "What was that...?" I wondered aloud as I awaited the world to settle itself down. Only now noticing how weak my body felt. "That's not good..." I mumbled before closing my eyes. Remembering how I had disabled my chakra reinforcement, I decided to undo that. Focusing my mind inwards, I began to churn the energy within my body and unleashed it. A familiar hum spread throughout my body, alleviating my fatigue somewhat. I still felt extremely weak and thirsty, chakra reinforcement could only do so much after all.

The curtain surrounding my bed whipped open and there stood an older woman stood beyond it, a bit portly, she wore a white coat and her deep green hair was tied in a tight bun. Square-rimmed glasses reflecting the light so I couldn't see her eyes. "I see you're awake and eager to get moving again." She said with a very judgmental tone.

Slowly, I sat myself up again. My head feeling a little light but not anywhere as severely this time. "What happened? I need to get back, are the tests still going? How long was I out?" I assaulted the nurse with a barrage of questions and she only sighed.

"You aren't going anywhere. I'm honestly amazed you're even awake." The nurse said, placing two firm hands on my shoulders and pushing me back down onto the pillow. "You came in severely exhausted and dehydrated." Her tone was gentle yet stern as she spoke, I could tell she was not happy with me. "What were you thinking pushing yourself that hard!? Do you realize the danger you put yourself in!?"

"I-I'm sorry..." I apologized. I had really thought I'd be able to handle something of that level, having spent an entire month doing just that. Yet today I clearly overstepped my limits. Honestly, it was humiliating. Actually, now that I was thinking about it, I noticed my weights had been removed.

"Looking for these?" The nurse asked, opening the curtain more to reveal my weights sitting on the counter. "Seriously, something is wrong in your head wearing these. They weigh over twenty kilograms a piece! You're lucky you didn't tear up your muscles with these!" Her voice steadily rising in tone along with her temper as she scolded me for my foolishness. The verbal berating continued for several minutes, basically devolving into how kids these days are so careless and constantly getting themselves hurt. Finally, when she was done, she took a moment to catch her breath and took a seat.

"Anyway, I'm prescribing bed rest until the day is done. If your family is coming to pick you up then I'll let you go, otherwise I'll have to ask someone to escort you. Also, drink lots of water today and take things easy." The woman then turned her gaze towards the weights on the desk. "And no more of those. You're too young to be worrying about that sort of thing. I'll be confiscating them."

"No you can't!" I shouted, rising up from the bed only to fall back down as my head quickly felt light and things started spinning again. When things calmed down once more I continued, "My Dad made those for me. They're special. I promise I won't wear them until I recovered but please don't take them." Sure, it was easy enough to get them replaced. If I asked Dad he would probably throw together a new set in a matter of days. Plus I had all the previous sets still in my room. But what I said was true, they were all precious gifts to me.

Several long and uncomfortable seconds passed in silence, our gazes locked in a battle to see who would break first. Finally, the nurse sighed and lowered her head. "Alright. I'll relent this time. But I don't want to see you in here again about this."

"Thank you. I'll be more careful" I agreed, taking a deep breath and letting myself sink further into the bed. My eyelids were becoming heavy again and I could feel sleep creeping up on me. "Hey..." I spoke again, mostly to keep myself awake a bit longer. "What will happen, since I couldn't complete the tests?"

The nurse took a few moments to think, tapping her lip with a pencil. "Well, that depends on your teacher. You'll probably just have to retake them later when you've recovered. Don't worry about it too much for now and get some rest."

"Okay. Thank you." I replied, allowing my eyelids to fall and I quickly drifted off to dreamland.

When I next awoke, it was difficult to tell how much time had passed. The curtains had once again been drawn so I could not see anything beyond the scope of my bed. However, thanks to having my chakra active, I was feeling a bit better. To the point I was able to sit myself up on the bed without things spinning. Looking down at my now bare arm, the skin was a little red but otherwise no worse for wear. Well, other than the dull pain of muscle fatigue. And yet, even now having my arms and legs bare like this felt so off. I really wanted to put them back on, at this point it felt as natural as wearing a shirt. But I made a promise and I would stick to it.

Somewhere off to my left, I could hear the sounds of muffled conversation. I couldn't quite make out what was being said, but it was quickly made known to me. Moments later, I heard a door slide open and the clicking of heels on the floor approaching. The curtain was pulled open and once more the nurse stood there. "Ah good, you're awake. Your friends are here."

Before she could even move aside, Kiyomi shoved her way past. I braced myself for the expected tackle hug but somehow, she was able to restrain herself. Although there was one knee already on the bed so it was only barely.

"Hey... How are you feeling?" She asked, gripping the blanket tight and eyes filled with worry. "I should have made you stop earlier... And you should have told me you were feeling sick!" Kiyomi then threw her arms around me, pulling in for a hug. I must have really scared her, going down like I had. Kiyomi had been checking up on me almost every time she lapped me but I brushed it off each time.

"I really have been a pain in the butt for everyone today, huh?" Giving her a reassuring smile, I placed a hand on my friend's shoulder. "Yeah, I'm okay. Don't blame yourself." I said gently, patting her on the back, "It was my own fault really. I messed up and pushed myself too hard. I also couldn't take my weights off in time and, without using chakra reinforcement, they were a whole lot heavier than I thought." I chuckled a bit, it was all so stupid in hindsight. Had I not spaced out in class I would have understood what was happening sooner and had time to remove the weights and all this could have been avoided.

Kiyomi's grip around me grew tighter, her fingers digging into the back of my shirt. "Kiyomi? I said I'm alright." I repeated, but her grip only grew even tighter. "K-Kiyomi..?" I stammered, starting to get a little worried myself.

"Yoooouuuu..." Kiyomi finally said, "BIG DUMB IDIOT!" In a flash, she spun around me and I found myself in a headlock. "GIVE ME BACK MY CONCERN YOU DUMMY!" She screamed before driving a knuckle into my skull.

"AHH!" I cried out as she rapped her fist against my head over and over, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" All I could do was apologize as I struggled to pull myself free. Even with my chakra active again, my muscles were so tired I simply lacked the strength to do so.

"Why would you not use your chakra you moron!" Kiyomi continued to berate me with each strike. The nurse now moving in and yanking the angry child off of me. Kiyomi refused to give but the nurse was stronger, my head coming free from her grip with an imagined pop. The struggle, of course, returned my hair to it's natural wild state. The hairpin Mom set falling to the floor with a metallic clink.

"Aw man, Mom isn't going to be happy." I moaned, rubbing the sore spot on my head while Kiyomi settled down after a short struggle with the nurse and a threat of being thrown out if she didn't. Once everything had settled, I turned to a still quite angry Kiyomi. "So..." I started, feeling a bit awkward as I asked the question, "What did you mean by that? Not using my chakra. Mizuki-sensei said we had to use our natural abilities, right? And not everyone can use chakra reinforcement so it would be cheating."

Kiyomi sighed, her anger replaced by a look of utter disappointment. "Stupid Meiko. Chakra IS natural. If you can use it, then use it. Its not your fault other people don't know how to use it right." She explained while crossing her arms and glaring at me.

"O-Oh..." Was all I could say in response, my face heating up as I realized just how dumb I had really been. "I... didn't think of that..."

"You didn't think of anything at all." Kiyomi responded, annoyed and angry. She then noticed something, turning her attention to the wall on her right. "Those your weights?" She asked, motioning with her head to the counter. I nodded silently. "Why would you even wear them to school? Are you so dumb you forgot to take them off?" Walking over, Kiyomi tried to pick up one of the weights. As soon as she did however, the weight was practically dropped immediately. Even though it had only been lifted a couple inches, the weight fell down with a deafening smash.

"W-What the heck!?" Kiyomi yelped, checking her fingers to make sure they were still there. "Why are they so heavy!? WHY DID YOU WEAR THOSE AT ALL!?" She screamed at me in utter disbelief.

"I mean... I wear them all the time." I replied frankly. It wasn't exactly a big secret. The only reason I hid them was the fact that they were tacky looking. Although the large knitted warmers I wore over top weren't exactly peak fashion either. At least with those, Mom did her best to make them look cute.

"All the- What!?" Kiyomi replied in bewilderment. "You're wearing that, all the time!?" Her head darted between me and the weights several times in quick succession.

Scratching my head, I just nodded back, "Yeah. Its so I can always be training." "So I can keep up with you." That last bit I had wanted to say but something kept my mouth shut. My own competitive spirit perhaps, it certainly kept me from mentioning a few things to Kiyomi in an attempt to one up her out of nowhere in the future. Even if I wanted to talk with her about jutsu and even get pointers from my prodigal friend. "This must be what pride feels like. Of course its for something pointless though." I chuckled internally.

"Haaaaaaah" A long, exasperated sigh came from the nurse as I said that. Mumbling something about kids being too extreme nowadays. I really couldn't see what the big deal was though, the only reason I had any issues was from my own stupidity. Honestly, pretty much any other kid here worth their salt could do what I do but with half the effort. If Kiyomi started to copy me with this weight thing, I was certain her physical capabilities would skyrocket and leave me in the dust.

"I have to work even harder now if I want to keep up." I thought to myself as movement in the doorway caught my eye. Peering past Kiyomi, I saw Mana peeking awkwardly into the room. "Hey Mana" I said with a wave, Kiyomi then spun around to see her as well.

"Mana, why are you waiting out there? Come on!" She said, beckoning her inside. Now that she had permission, Mana came trotting in, stopping at my bedside.

"Are you okay Meiko?" Mana asked, showing just as much concern as Kiyomi had earlier. The sight of which practically broke my heart.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm really sorry I worried you." I replied and Kiyomi scoffed.

"She'll be fine. Although there's no healing stupid." Kiyomi added.

"Yeah, I deserved that." I admitted, much to Mana's confusion. "I'll explain later, first I have to ask, how did things go after I passed out?"

Kiyomi and Mana looked to each other for a moment before turning back to me. Kiyomi taking the lead, "Well, everyone freaked out a bit after that. Mana had it the worst, she was in tears you know." Biting my lip, my gaze turned to Mana. A hint of blush on her cheeks as she squirmed a little.

"I was worried..." She said, staring back at me. It felt like a punch to the gut, hearing how much trouble I had caused Mana.

"Sorry..." I apologized to Mana again as my hands tightened around the blanket. Turning back to Kiyomi, I nodded for her to continue.

"After Mizuki-sensei calmed everyone down, he carried you here. When he got back, we just continued the tests." Kiyomi explained with a shrug. I was quite surprised that Mizuki had taken it upon himself to bring me to the infirmary. Perhaps I was letting my preconceived notions about him to cloud my judgment. I should give him a fair chance, he could very well be a good teacher.

"I see. I'll have to thank him then." I said, a slight smile spreading across my lips. "So, how did you guys do?" I could already tell my results, a big fat F across the board unless I was permitted to take a retest. But I was quite curious as to how my friends measured up to the rest of the class.

A massive grin spread across Kiyomi's face, "Hehe, I got the top spot in the class of course. Did you expect anything less?" She proudly stated, nose turned upward.

"But, didn't Mizuki-sensei say I was the best with magic?" Mana interjected, surprising the both of us.

"W-Well yeah, I meant overall of course! And you mean chakra control!" Kiyomi quickly corrected herself and Mana, "Shun also beat me at the strength test but I (basically) beat everyone else!" She continued to boast before shooting me a strange side eye, "And if someone wasn't so dumb I probably..." Her voice quickly trailed off, the rest of her words quietly mumbled and unintelligible.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing! Just complaining about someone being stupid." Kiyomi replied with a huff. I could only apologize again.

"Well, congrats you two. Especially you Mana." I said as I slid my legs over the side of the bed. "So, was there anything else?"

"Nope, after the tests were done, Mizuki-sensei brought everyone back to class and told us to be ready for tomorrow. Then Mana and I rushed over here. Its time to go home." Kiyomi responded, outstretching a hand towards me. "So get off your butt."

As I was about to take her hand, I hesitated for a moment. Turning my attention to the nurse working away in the corner of the room, trying to ignore us. "Um, excuse me. Is it alright for me to go home?"

The nurse turned, giving me a quick look over before nodding. "So long as you take it easy." And quickly returned to her work. With a smile, I then took Kiyomi's hand and stood up from the bed. A very brief head rush hitting me but dissipating just as quickly.

"Just let me get my stuff." I said as I slid my feet into my sandals which, thankfully, were kept at the foot of the bed. As I went to get my weights, by instinct I went to put them on before the nurse's words echoed in my mind. "Oh.. right." Gently, I placed the weight down so there wouldn't be another deafening bang. Turning, I looked to my friends for a moment and considering if I should ask them for their help carrying them. Kiyomi could probably do it but even with her chakra reinforcement, Mana was still on the weaker side from what I had seen during the test. Plus it would just be cruel to ask them to carry these things all the way back to my house. I'm sure the nurse would be quite cross if I tried to carry them too, much less wear them.

"Excuse me," I said again, "Would it be okay if I got my Dad to come in and carry these for me? And would you happen to have a bag I could borrow?"

My query was immediately met with a scoff from the nurse. "Do you really think I have any bags capable of holding those things?"

"O-Oh, right..." I replied, saddened but honestly I should have realized that. Those weights were way, way heavier than I had thought. Dad was strong, yes but it was going to still be difficult to carry them. They were designed to be worn after all, not carried.

Another loud sigh came from the nurse as she got to her feet. "Hold on, I have something here." Moving to a cabinet, she opened it and began to rummage through the things in there. A moment later, emerging with a red cylindrical object. "Does your Father know any sealing techniques?"

I shook my head. "No, he's a blacksmith. I don't think he knows anything like that. My family aren't shinobi."

Sighing again, the nurse strode across the room towards the counter where my weights sat. Unrolling what turned out to be a scroll, she placed it beside the weights. Intricate writing decorated the scroll's interior and, with a few grunts, she began to pile the weights atop of it. Then, with a simple hand seal, she tapped the edge of the scroll and my weights vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Whoa!" Mana and I echoed one another upon seeing this. They really were just gone. Effortlessly, the nurse rolled up the scroll and passed it to me.

"There. Take them out when you get home but make sure you place it somewhere safe and have someone else pick them up for you. Releasing them is easy enough. Just insert your chakra into the scroll when its unravelled and the seal will come undone automatically." The nurse explained as I took the scroll in hand. For some reason, I had expected it to be extremely heavy but it was practically a feather in my hands.

"Thank you. This means a lot to me." I said, gently cradling the roll in both hands. Expecting another scoff, I was surprised when the nurse returned a gentle smile to me. Of course this was short lived as she quickly spun around and returned to her work.

"Get going then. I'm sure your parents are here and waiting already." With that, the three of us made our way out. I stopped in the doorway and gave one final bow and thank you before leaving.

As we made our way down the hallway to the exit, we passed by our classroom, the door still wide open. Peering inside, I saw Mizuki writing some stuff down. "Hey, give me a second guys." I said to my friends before knocking on the door frame. "Hello, Mizuki-sensei?"

Mizuki raised his head a hair from his work, turning towards me. "Oh, its you. I see you're feeling better." He said before returning to his work.

"Ah, yes." I replied, "I heard you carried me to the infirmary. Thank you and I apologize for that." Bowing deep and polite. "I promise I'll do better in the future and, would it be possible for me to retake the tests?"

"Nope." Was Mizuki's only response, not even bothering to look up from his work this time.

"B-But..." I began to stammer before being cut off as Kiyomi came charging into the room

"What do you mean 'nope'!?" She shouted, "Meiko had to go to the infirmary! She should be allowed a second chance!"

"That," Mizuki said very sternly, still not even bothering to look in our direction, "Was her own fault. If she wanted to perform properly, she shouldn't have been wearing weights that were far too heavy for her."

"That's not true though!" Kiyomi retorted, "Meiko can handle those weights just fine, she just misunderstood the instructions and stopped using chakra reinforcement!"

"Then that's her fault too for not paying attention." Punctuating this remark by slamming his book shut, standing and turning in our direction. "Take this as a lesson. If you screwed up like that out in the field, you would be dead. There's no second chances in real life." As much as it sucked to admit it, Mizuki was right. This all happened because of my own failure and now I just had to live with the consequences.

Before Kiyomi could protest further, I placed a firm hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. "Its okay Kiyomi, he's right." I said, shaking my head. Kiyomi glared at me for a moment before sighing and stepping back. Once more, I bowed to Mizuki, "I understand, thank you for your time." Turning back, Kiyomi and I moved to exit the room.

"One last thing," Mizuki suddenly said just as we were about to leave, "If that's the extent of your abilities, then you should drop out right now. Save everyone the headache."

I froze on the spot, beside me Kiyomi was flaring up and ready to jump to my defence but I shot my arm out just as she was turning. This was something I had to answer myself. "No, far from it. I screwed up today, bad." Spinning around, I glared at my teacher, "But I know I can do much, much more than that. I swear it!"

Mizuki looked down on me,"I'll believe it when I see it. If you want to get anywhere in this class, you'll have to prove it to me. So make sure you can back up those words."

"Yes!" I responded resolutely.

"Good," He responded and, for a moment, I thought I saw a smile on his face. "Now get out. I have work to do." He said with a stone cold face once more, waving us off like a couple of annoying gnats before returning to the podium and reopening his book. Quickly scribbling something down as we left.

"I can't believe that guy!" Kiyomi said as she angrily stomped down the hallway. "That's so unfair, not letting you to retake the tests."

"Its fine, really." I said, trying to calm her down. "Like he said, I just need to work hard and prove myself in class instead. That's all." With a quick pat on her back, the girl sighed and finally dropped the subject. As we neared the exit however, another thought suddenly shot through my mind, causing me to stop. "Hey... guys." I said, my voice meek and needed a bit of coercing to actually come out. "Could I ask for a huge favour?"

"What's up?" Kiyomi asked.

"Of course!" Mana replied cheerfully.

Taking in a deep breath, I popped the question, "Could you two... Keep it a secret about what happened? My Dad has always been hesitant about me coming here, Mom was too but she finally decided to support me. I don't want to let them down or worry them."

"Okay!" Mana immediately agreed. She was such a sweetheart, not even taking a moment to consider what I was asking. If only Kiyomi was so kind. Instead, the Yamanaka fell quiet in thought for a moment before a devilish grin spread across her face.

"Oh, I don't know." She spoke in her no-good tone, grin growing ever wider, "I guess I could, but I'm veeeery forgetful. Maybe if I had something to help me remember?" Her little eyebrow wriggling at the end was the icing on the cake. I worried for her future if she was already learning how to become an extortionist at this age.

"Haaa..." I loudly sighed, "What do you want?"

Kiyomi's smile turned into a full on grin, "You and Mana, the two of you are going to come over to my place for a sleepover this weekend!"

That... Was unexpected. I had thought Kiyomi would have demanded all my sweets for the next month or something like that as a punishment for causing that incident earlier. In contrast, a sleepover actually sounded fun. "Sure, I'll ask my parents but I'm pretty sure I'll be free." I replied with a smile

"Me too! I'll be there!" Mana added, practically bouncing with excitement at the prospect.

"Great!" Kiyomi said with a fist pump, "I can't wait!" She then turned and the three of us continued down the hallway a few more steps before Kiyomi added in one last bit. "I'm gonna get Kazuma to whip the both of you into shape!" And ran off.

"What, hey, KIYOMI!" I called after her, "What do you mean by that!?"

"Oh no... More training..." Mana moaned, suddenly losing all that excitement from a moment ago.

"There's always a catch with her." I chuckled and followed after her, Mana reluctantly following suit.

Stepping outside, the sunlight was absolutely blinding. For a moment it was like a flash bang hit my eyes as the entire world turned to white. My eyes were quick enough to adjust though, a couple blinks and using my arm to shield my face was more than enough. Almost immediately I was greeted to a sea of bodies. Parents and students all happily chatting away only a few meters from the doorway. Kiyomi was nowhere to be found, nor were any of our parents. Normally it was easy as heck to at least find my Dad in a crowd due to his sheer size, but unfortunately due to my short stature I couldn't see past the first row or two of adults. If I had to guess however, they would most likely be near the gate.

Sighing, I offered a hand to Mana, "Come on, let's go try and find Kiyomi." The two of us made our way around the large crowd and, as I had thought, I was able to instantly spot my Dad standing near the gate. There was another crowd waiting there, much smaller than the one by the door at least. With him were Kiyomi's parents and Mana's mom. "There they are." I said, pointing out our families. Mana however, stood frozen for some reason. Turning to figure out what was going on, I found her staring wide eyed at the gate. "Mana?"

"DADDY!" She suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs and began sprinting towards the group. Beside Mana's mom I now noticed, was a man wearing a shinobi's garb. He was rather tall, still dwarfed by my Dad but most people were. His hair was the same midnight black as Mana's but his skin was much lighter in tone. His face was somewhat gaunt and even at this distance I could see deep bags under his eyes. Although the moment he saw Mana running towards him, his face lit up and practically removed twenty years from his appearance. Once Mana reached him, the man picked her up and spun around, her laughing the entire time.

I hadn't met Mana's father yet, he had always been out on some kind of mission or another. Something Mana made no secret about her resentment for. But like any other kid, she really loved her Dad and the fact he was able to make it to pick her up must have meant the world to her.

My own family spotted me and I waved as I jogged over. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" I said cheerfully, Sengo was there too in his stroller but the kid was out like a light. Seeing that, I slapped a hand over my mouth, apologizing for being too loud.

"Its alright. Sengo tired himself out today. He's been asleep for the entire walk-Wait..." Mom said her words suddenly cutting off as her eyes went wide, "What happened to your hair!?" Instantly, she lunged forward, grabbing my head and started combing through the bird nest on my head. "Really? And after all that work I put into it." She sighed as she rubbed her fingers together, the tips slightly glossy, "Its so greasy too, what have you been up to?"

"We had some tests to well... test our abilities and I kinda got... really sweaty." I replied with an awkward chuckle while rubbing the back of my head. Realizing just how bad it was when my hair felt like a damp old mop. "Ew, that's... actually worse than I thought..." I mumbled, wiping off what I could on my pant leg.

With a long sigh, Mom straightened up, wiping her own hands with a handkerchief. "So anyway, how was your day?"

A shock ran up my spine, I knew this question was coming but had yet to come up with something to say considering I basically missed the entire afternoon. "It was fine," I said as some filler, trying to think of any notable events that didn't involve me passing out. From the corner of my eye came the answer. I could just see Naruto sitting on that swing again, sadly watching as all the other kids met up with their families.

"I made a new friend!" I said with a wide smile.

"That's great!" Mom said, clapping her hands together. Dad too, smiled and nodded before his gaze fell onto my bare arms.

"Weren't you wearing your weights this morning?" He asked, swinging a massive punch to the gut with that question.

"O-Oh yeah..." I stammered, a shaky hand reaching for the scroll the nurse had given me. "We, uh, had some physical tests to do so I had to take them off. They put them in this scroll here..." Swallowing a lump I held out the small roll of paper. I hadn't technically lied, I may have just... misrepresented the order of things and omitted a few details.

"Ah." Dad replied plainly, and I tried to hide my sigh of relief. "Do you know how to get them out? If not I can do it." I hadn't expected Dad to be familiar with how scrolls and sealing jutsu worked. Were they really that common? If so why did he never use them to transport his own stuff? Whenever he had finished an order, he'd load up some crates and use a hand cart.

"You know how?" I questioned and he nodded.

"I've occasionally had to deal with it. Usually from material suppliers. They'll just send some scrolls. I'm no good at making them myself though, never could quite figure that part out. Better with a hammer and chisel than a brush and ink." Dad chuckled and held out his hand.

Chuckling myself, I withdrew the scroll. "Its okay, I want to try doing it myself first. They said it should be easy, I just need to insert some chakra into it to undo the seal. If I can't though, I'll bring it to you." While it was true, I did want to try opening this seal myself, I also didn't want to run the risk of Dad popping it open on the spot, forcing me to give the full explanation of what happened when I refused to put them back on.

"So, who is this friend of yours?" Mom interjected, her eyes scanning the crowd.

Hesitating, I thought for a moment if I should introduce Naruto to them. Misaki had warned me not to get involved with him and I went and did just that. Although I'm not sure if my parents had heard that conversation. Plus, I had no idea how they would react to him. I know my folks were very kind but when it came to stuff like that, it was so hard to judge people's reactions. That said, seeing the expectation in Mom's eyes, it was hard to deny her.

"Um, if you want I could go get him?" I replied.

"Him?" Mom's voice and interest rose several levels.

"Him?" Dad's voice the opposite.

"Uh oh." I thought as I cleared my throat with a small cough. "Yeah, I met him at lunch." I said, their reactions leaving me a bit worried and self conscious now.

"Oh, I thought we'd have a few more years." Mom said, placing a hand on her cheek and tilting her head, "Already interested in boys. She's growing up too fast dear." Dad, on the other hand, remained silent but his eyes were going dark and his face red.

"No no no no!" I shouted, waving my arms while my cheeks flared, "Its nothing like that! I swear!"

Mom laughed, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." Then driving a bit of an elbow into Dad's side, "Right?"

"Huh, wha?" Dad stood bewildered, "Oh right. Yeah. Kidding."

Embarrassed as I was, even I couldn't resist chuckling at that little exchange. "If it makes you feel any better Dad, Mana met him too."

"So he's a playboy." Dad replied, his voice getting darker again.

"Oh boy..." I worried as Mom elbowed him again. "Maybe I should hold off on introducing them to Naruto..." Dad's reaction was extreme for sure, I worried for any boy who crossed his path in the future and giving him the wrong idea. Mom however, I had a feeling she would be teasing me about this for a long time to come.

"So, are we heading home now?" I asked, trying to shift the subject to a more neutral subject. Mom sighed, disappointed I was cutting off the fun.

"Aw, and here I wanted to meet this friend of yours. All kidding aside." Mom replied, Dad grumbled a bit more but a quick twitch from Mom was all it took to quiet him up. She really didn't want to drop the subject. And come to think of it, I should at least say bye to Naruto. Glancing back over again, he was looking quite lonely over there on the swing. I could feel the tug on the old heartstrings seeing that.

"I'll go see if he wants to talk then," I sighed. Clapping her hands together, Mom looked positively thrilled. I could only laugh awkwardly at that, as I began to walk towards the swing. "Oh right," I said, stopping for a moment, "Kiyomi wants to have a sleepover on the weekend at her place, is that okay?"

"Oh? I don't think we have any plans for the weekend, do we dear?" Mom asked, turning to Dad who stroked his beard in thought.

"There's not going to be any boys is there?" He asked in a threatening tone.

With a heavy sigh I shook my head. "Other than her brother, no. She's only inviting Mana and me."

"Oh, well then, that should be fine." He replied.

With that done, I turned back and continued approaching Naruto. As I did however, a familiar person broke out of the crowd and began running towards the gate. It was Sasuke with a gigantic grin on his face, behind him a group of fans sighed as he made his escape. It had only been one day and he had already cemented himself as the popular kid in school.

Awaiting him was his older brother Itachi with a woman at his side. The boys bore a great resemblance to her so it was safe to assume she was their mother. Although that was it, there was no sign of their father. Then again, being the head of the family he was probably quite busy. Plus, from what little I could remember, his relationship with Sasuke was a bit strained. Still, for the moment, they were a happy family. Seeing the three of them together was bittersweet, reminding me of the daunting task I had given myself. My hands gripped themselves into tight balls as Misaki's face came to mind.

I guess my staring caught his attention as Itachi glanced up at me. Even from this distance, his presence was an intimidating one and caused my body to freeze up for a moment. Taking back control, I raised a hand and waved with a smile. His attention then quickly returned to his little brother and the three of them turned to leave. Realizing I had stopped breathing, I exhaled loudly before resuming what I was doing beforehand.

Naruto hadn't noticed my presence, being too preoccupied by staring forlorn into the crowd of families before him. "Hey Naruto." I said softly and yet it still startled him.

After a quick yelp, he spun on the swing so he could face me, "Who the heck are you?" He asked, staring at me with squinted eyes.

"What? You forgot already? Its me, Meiko. From lunchtime?" I replied, pointing at my face.

For several long seconds, Naruto just stared back at me through his squinted eyelids, a low humming sound which may have just been his brain overclocking from thinking too hard.

"Oh Meiko!" He said, eyes wide as the recognition finally kicked in, "You look awful! What happened!?" His laughter barely contained as he asked the question.

With a loud sigh I just stated; "The tests kicked my butt."

"Yeah, they were pretty tough." He chuckled back, doing a couple full rotations on the swing, twisting the ropes. "So, what's up?"

"I just wanted to say bye. I'm heading home for the day." I replied. "I really, really need a bath."

"Oh..." Naruto's mood quickly dropped, realizing he was going to be alone again. "I see. Well, goodbye then. Thanks for talking to me at least."

I sighed once more, it may not have been intentional but that was quite the guilt trip. "Hey, cheer up. I'll be back tomorrow you know." When that did little to alleviate his mood, I decided to sweeten the deal a bit, "And, if you like, we could hang out sometime."

"Really!?" He practically shouted at the suggestion, a massive smile on his face, "Yeah! Definitely!"

Chuckling a bit, I nodded. "Alright, well I'll see you later." With a wave I ran back to my waiting family. Mom was the first to notice my return, turning with a smile that quickly faded to confusion and concern. She muttered something to get Dad's attention wherein he had a similar reaction.

Stopping a few steps away, I returned a quizzical look. "What's wrong?"

"Meiko, is that... your new friend?" Mom asked warily, raising a finger and pointing past my shoulder. Turning, I was suddenly face to face with Naruto.

"Whoa!" I cried out in surprise and hopped back a step. "Naruto? Why are you here?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused, "You said you wanted to hang out right?"

"Ah, my bad." I apologized, giving a quick bow, "I meant some other day."

"Oh... Right." Naruto slumped over. "I get it."

I wanted to groan, he was very quick to jump to the worst conclusions. "Sorry, I'm just really tired from the tests today. But since you're here," I then slid over to his side, facing my parents. "Mom, Dad, this is my friend Naruto."

Naruto looked to me with wide, surprised eyes. "Friend? Heh... Yeah!" He then turned to face my parents, puffing out his chest. "Hello! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet ya!" His greeting was met with silence as my parents just looked down on him, disbelief plastered across their faces.

"Mom? Dad?" I gently prodded, "Are you two okay?" There was a heavy lump steadily growing in my stomach. The impromptu introduction was not going as well as I could hope. All I could do was pray they showed Naruto the same consideration they had for me so many times.

"Isn't that the nine-t-Urf!" Dad began to ask in a hushed tone before Mom swiftly implanted an elbow into his side for the umpteenth time today. "Right." Clearing his throat, Dad stood upright and took a step forward, glaring down at Naruto the entire time. Mom too had a look in her eyes I had never seen before. It wasn't outright malice, but they certainly were wary. It was as though they were looking at a wild animal, not sure if it would lash out at any given moment rather than a six year old kid wanting to make a good first impression. It... hurt me deep to see that.

I looked over to Naruto, expecting him to shrink away like most people did when Dad was glaring them down but Naruto was not most people. In fact, he was looking up in awe. "Whoa," He said with a hint of wonder, "You're huge!" I guess one thing I had forgotten was the fact this guy had zero filter.

"So much for a good first impression..." I thought, resisting the urge to facepalm.

"Hi Naruto!" Came a soft voice as Mana approached. I thanked whatever Gods were listening for this little bit of divine intervention potentially saving Naruto's hide. That relief however, was short lived as Naruto was barely able to raise his arm to wave back when Mana's father swooped in, scooping her up off the ground and pulling back.

"Mana, no." He said in a harsh tone, eyes locked on Naruto with a gaze so sharp I felt needles on my skin. Naruto himself was instantly paralyzed, his body locking in place, arm mid raised. "You need to stay away from that boy." His words were as cold as his gaze. Unlike Mom and Dad, Mana's father seemed to hold active malice towards Naruto.

"But why? He's my friend." Mana asked him, quite confused.

"Because I said so." Her father answered in a manner that left no room for discussion.

"No, but..." Mana moaned as she tried to struggle free but could only flail about uselessly in his arms.

"Kei, we're going home." He stated as Mana's mom took to his side. Stopping for a moment to glance down at Naruto and I.

"Nooo!" Mana continued to whine as she looked to me for aid. As I was about to call out however, Kiyomi stepped in. Curious as to what all the commotion was about.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked, looking up at the distressed Mana, then over to Naruto and myself. Seeing the blonde boy at my side, her eyes widened a bit. "Aren't you that kid who's always getting in trouble around the village?"

From there, things only continued to escalate. Before Naruto or I could respond, Kiyomi's parents stepped in between us. Kiyomi's mom placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder and pushing her back. Like my parents, they had that same wary look in their eyes. Except theirs was a bit sharper, likely due to their training that my folks lacked.

"Come on Kiyomi, time to go home." Ai said, pushing Kiyomi back further. Confused, the young Yamanaka of course pushed back.

"Already? But I wanted to ask about the sleepover!" Kiyomi protested.

At that point, everything quickly began to break down. With Kiyomi and Mana utterly confused as to what was going on and questioning their parents who could not give a straight answer. Defaulting to simple dismissals which, of course, only frustrated the kids resulting in more questions and rising voices. Even my parents joined in on the chaos as they tried to explain what happened and everyone was just talking over each other with no one listening.

"Why is he here?"

"What's going on?"

"Meiko says he's a friend, maybe we should give him a chance."

"Not a chance in hell."

All this just from Naruto coming over to say hi. I really had underestimated just how deep the resentment towards him ran. Even my parents, who seemed to be so caring and accepting, were not immune. At my side, Naruto was staring at the ground, body trembling. Reaching out, I placed a hand on his shoulder, the boy flinching at my touch. The commotion was also drawing the eyes of the crowd. Less than hushed voices were added to the cacophony and none of them positive.

"Hey, Naruto..." I started to say but very quickly my hand was swatted away.

"Don't touch me!" He shouted, glaring at me with hurt rage, "I thought you were different! I thought we could be friends!" Flinching back, I couldn't find the will to say anything. "And the rest of you!" Naruto's attention then turned to the adults, "Always looking at me with those same damn eyes! What did I ever do to any of you! What did I ever do to... Deserve any of this...?" His voice falling quiet and trailing off before, with tears building up in his eyes, he dashed off. Shoving his way through several onlookers through the gates and out of sight.

A deafening silence hung in the air for what felt like an eternity. Then, the background onlookers began to find their voices once more, one by one.

"Well, looks like that is over."

"Good riddance, what were they thinking? Letting 'that' attend the academy."

I myself continued to stand silently, eyes locked in the direction Naruto had run off while I struggled with the emotional tornado swirling inside me. Everything had happened so fast I was still trying to process it. Yet one thing was for certain, "This was all my fault..." If I had been a bit more careful, told my parents who my new friend was or heck, even paid the slightest bit of attention to my surroundings I would have noticed Naruto following me. Now, from his perspective, everything I had done must have seemed like one big joke. Pretend to befriend the kid no one likes, then humiliate him in front of a crowd! Real freaking funny.

I felt like a piece of trash.

I felt the comforting weight of my Dad's hand rest upon my shoulder. "Come on Meiko, let's go home and forget about all this."

Just forget about it, huh? Don't think too hard about it, its just Naruto after all. Is that how it was going to go? In the back of my mind, there was a tiny voice that agreed with what Dad said. To just forget about all of it and let things run their natural course. Naruto would suffer a bit, sure, but he was the type to always bounce back stronger. That was just how things were supposed to be.

The thought made me sick to my stomach. Even more so because, until this point, I had been trying to convince myself of that very thing for years. Stay out of it, its none of my business. Don't get involved. Well, stupid me I went and got myself involved. And now that I had screwed it all up I was just supposed to wash my hands of it all and abandon a person I called friend? My emotions finally stabilized and they chose to settle on anger. I clenched my tiny hands around Dad's wrist and squeezed.

"No."

"Meiko?" He asked, concerned and confused.

"I said no!" I suddenly shouted, throwing his hand away. "I told you he was my friend and you all looked at him like he was some kind of animal! Everyone does! What has he ever done to earn that sort of treatment!" While I was shouting directly at my Dad, the words were aimed at, well, pretty much everyone in the vicinity. "You all can just go screw yourselves!"

With that, I charged off too in pursuit of Naruto. My parents calling out for me but I ignored them, rounding the gate as quickly as I could. Naruto had quite the head start but thankfully I was just able to catch a glimpse of him rounding a corner a ways ahead.

As I continued the chase, I couldn't help but notice how light my body felt. Without the training weights on I was able to close in the distance quite rapidly. Catching up to the point that Naruto was certainly within earshot I began to call out his name.

"Naruto! Wait!" I cried between laboured breaths. My body may have felt lighter but my muscles were still exhausted. The little bit of rest I had was nowhere near enough to have recovered much at all and the progress I had made catching up was beginning to slip away.

"D...Darn it..." I wheezed as the gap between us grew wider and wider. At this rate I was going to lose him. Ahead was one of the main streets and at this hour it was jam packed. If Naruto reached it, he would be able to disappear into the crowd. The street we were running down was more of an alleyway, wide enough for about four people to walk down comfortably side by side but still just a bit too narrow for a cart to squeeze through. Neatly organized piles of trash lined the walls of the building, as this was the administration district most of it was discarded bundles of papers and other office supplies.

Naruto was continuing to pull ahead, in a matter of seconds he would be completely out of reach. "Naruto! Please!" I continued to plead.

"Stop following me!" He shouted back, increasing his speed.

"Damn it." There was only one option left at this point. Of course I hadn't even done this outside of practice and even then my success rate was an astounding zero. But this was the only way. Going through the hand seals, chakra surged into my legs as I focused on a spot up ahead that would, ideally, have me heading off Naruto with enough space to come to a stop. Taking in the biggest breath I could, I made the final Ram seal.

"Here we go!" With the jutsu complete, my body rapidly accelerated, the world turning into a familiar blur. Only my destination was still visible to me as I quickly approached it. "NOW!" On a hope and prayer, I cancelled the jutsu and the world instantly came back into view. The momentum however, was not cancelled and I once more overshot my destination. Worse still, I veered off-course and careened into one of the trash piles.

Papers, plastics and other discarded bits and bobs went flying. Thankfully, it was mostly paper and thus, somewhat cushioned the impact. With a groan I pushed aside some of the junk atop of me. A few steps away, Naruto was just standing there, watching. At least he didn't continue running off.

"Good..." I panted, "I finally caught up." Trying to stand, my legs trembled underneath my weight and quickly gave out. "Crap, maybe I overdid it." I said with an awkward chuckle.

"Hey, are you alright?" Naruto asked tentatively. Even after all that, he was still kind enough to at least check on my well being.

With a smile, I nodded and held out a hand. "Yeah, I've had worse. Could use a hand getting up though." Naruto hesitated for a moment before outstretching a hand, taking mine and pulling. Even with his help it was a bit of a struggle on my part to stand back up. My legs still shaking a bit but now that I was upright, standing was a bit easier. Carefully, I stepped out of the pile of scattered garbage and brushed a few more scraps off my shoulders. At least it didn't stink.

"Thanks." I said gratefully to Naruto, "And, I just really wanted to say, I'm so sorry about what happened." I had wanted to bow as deeply as I could, in fact if it were possible I'd have dropped to my knees and shamelessly begged, but as it was, if I leaned any further forward I was going to drop to the ground again and I doubted I could stand up again. "I had no idea my parents would react that way. They're really nice but I really can't excuse that. Really, I'm sorry."

"H-Hey, its alright..." Naruto stammered, obviously not accustomed to being on the other hand of an apology, "I'm used to it. Its no big deal."

Shaking my head, but not rising from my bow I continued, "No, it isn't. You did nothing to deserve that. It was my fault, I should have said something to them beforehand. If you're going to be angry at anyone, be angry at me."

For a couple seconds, Naruto made some strange noises before letting out an annoyed moan. "I'm not angry..." He finally said, "And stand up already, this is getting weird." Slowly, I did so. Facing Naruto again.

The two of us stood there in awkward silence for a long time, neither one sure what to say. Even looking at the other was difficult. Our eyes would meet, we'd try to say something simultaneously, then fall silent again and break our gaze. "God this is so stupid!" I thought as I finally got too frustrated with the current situation.

"Hey Naruto-"

"Hey Meiko-"

Once again, we were acting in unison. Not wanting to repeat the pattern again, I continued speaking, "Mind if I go first?" I may have asked but really didn't wait for confirmation. "I... Wasn't lying when I said I wanted to be your friend, Mana wasn't either. But I understand if you don't want to be mine after that."

Naruto's face scrunched up in pain at that, "I never said that!" He shouted, eyes starting to turn glossy again as they began to water, "I never said... I didn't want to be your friend."

I took a step back, wobbling a bit. Then, I started to chuckle as a gentle warmth began to grow within, "Yeah, that is true." I said as I stepped forward again, holding out a hand. "Then, how about we try this again. I'd still like to continue being friends after all."

Sniffing back his tears with a large snort, Naruto grabbed my hand firmly and grinned, "Yeah! Me too!"

With that out of the way, my eyes wandered over to the mess I had accidentally made of the trash pile. "We should get out of here before someone notices the mess." I laughed and Naruto agreed. We started to leave but my legs decided to give out again and I found myself stumbling and falling once more. "Ah, darn it..." I grumbled as I pushed myself back to a sitting position. I really had pushed myself too much today it seemed. Running after Naruto like that was one thing but I guess using the Body Flicker technique was just a bit too much.

"Hey, are you alright?" Naruto asked with concern.

I nodded, "Yeah, yeah." Honestly, I was more embarrassed than hurt. A month of rigorous training and here I was collapsing multiple times in one day. Like, what the heck was wrong with me? "I just need to take it slow, mind helping me up again?"

"Sure." Naruto offered his hand again and helped me back to my feet. Once I was standing upright however, I almost fell again immediately once I put weight onto my right leg. My knee buckling as pain shot through it. "Argh!" I yelped and thankfully Naruto caught me.

"Whoa, careful! What's wrong?" He asked, as the two of us looked down. There we could see my knee coated in a nice layer of blood and dirt. The last fall having scraped it pretty damn good. It certainly stung like a bugger too. With Naruto's help, I balanced myself on my slightly better left leg.

"Well, that sucks." I said rather nonchalantly. I was pretty used to minor injuries like this. Pretty much any time I had a sparring session with Misaki I'd end up with my fair share after all. They tended to heal up within a day or two so overall I wasn't too worried. But in my current state it would mean taking even longer to get back to everyone at the academy.

An idea crossed my mind to ask Naruto to run ahead and tell them what happened but in all likelihood he would just be blamed for hurting me. "Man, today really isn't my day. I'm just screwing up left and right." Muttering under my breath to try and dispel the frustration I had with myself. This was supposed to be my big debut and I was just screwing it up at every point. "Kiyomi was right, I really am stupid."

"Mind lending me a shoulder for a bit? I should be able to walk again in a few minutes." I asked, swallowing what little I had left of my pointless pride. Naruto, however, only glared at me.

"No, you shouldn't walk on your leg like that at all." He said sternly which surprised me.

"But, I need to get back. I kinda ran off after yelling so they're probably getting worried..." I replied, only now realizing what I had done with my little outburst back there.

"Then just leave that to me." Naruto said as he turned around and knelt down, "Hop on. I'll take you back myself."

"N-No, I couldn't" I stammered, suddenly quite self-conscious, "I'll be fine walking! Really! Besides I'm... really heavy and stuff..."

"Don't worry about it." Naruto interjected, "I'm stronger than I look you know and besides..." His voice trailed off for a moment as he looked away, raising a hand to scratch his cheek, "What are friends for, right?"

There was no real arguing with that. "R-Right. Yeah, okay." I said, giving in and carefully I leaned into his back, wrapping my arms around his front. He, meanwhile, slid his arms under my legs and stood. "I'm not too heavy am I?" I asked worried as he let out a small grunt.

"Nah, you're fine." Naruto replied and set off back down the alley. I could feel my face burning hot with embarrassment.

"O-Okay... Thanks Naruto." I mumbled.

As we neared the corner, Kiyomi suddenly rounded the bend and came charging in our direction. Raising a hand slightly, I have a light wave in her direction, one she started to return. At first she looked happy to have found us but that quickly changed. Her waving hand freezing, then falling as she began sprinting towards us.

"Meiko!? Are you okay!? What happened!?" She shouted her questions as she approached, barely stopping mere steps before Naruto. "Did you do anything!?" The accusation was shot at Naruto.

Before this could start escalating any further, I waved my hands once more to try and calm my friend, "No no, Naruto didn't do anything. In fact, he help me. I just fell down and scraped my knee pretty bad is all. Its my fault really."

"Really?" Kiyomi asked and I nodded in affirmation. She then looked down to my knee, seeing the blood running down it and winced before turning her attention to Naruto. "Sorry, for saying that." She apologized, "When I noticed you were carrying Meiko I knew something bad must have happened. She's so dumb she'd probably try walking on a broken ankle before asking for help." I wanted to argue the point but Naruto's laughter cut me off.

"Yeah, she actually tried to do that." He said, causing Kiyomi to chuckle for a moment before shooting me an icy glare. "You're going to be in so much trouble you know. Everyone is worried and, well, you'll see when you get back."

I swallowed a sudden lump in my throat. "Yeah, I guess that's fair."

The next few minutes spent walking back, Naruto and I explained how the events at lunch had played out to Kiyomi after she asked how we had met. Naruto kept playing up my contributions while I tried to downplay them. I really hadn't done anything but he was making me sound like some kinda superhero, swooping in to save the day.

"Gah! I wish I had been there!" Kiyomi bemoaned, punching her fist into her palm, "I would have taught those three a lesson they wouldn't forget! Yamanaka style!"

"Its a good thing you weren't there then!" I said with a chuckle as we rounded another corner and could finally see the gates. Mom, Dad, Sengo and the others stood there waiting. Mana pointing us out and waving as my parents came running. Mana was still held back by her dad who kept a grip on her other hand while Kiyomi's parents also started moving closer, albeit at a slower pace.

"Meiko! Thank goodness." Mom said with relief while Dad looked like he was about to burst. Hands raised, I was worried he might just grab Naruto but instead he stopped short, looking unsure as to what he was going to do.

"Are you alright!? What happened!?" He shouted before noticing my leg, "You're hurt!"

"Yeah, I took a bit of a fall. I'll be alright though. Naruto was kind enough to help me back after all." I replied. Both my parents then looked to the boy, their eyes thankfully no longer containing that wariness, instead they harboured regret.

"Ah right, listen kid..." Dad began before clearing his throat, "No I mean, thank you Naruto. For helping my daughter. I'm sorry, about earlier."

"I am too, and thank you." Mom added in. Somehow, through all of this, Sengo was still snoozing away without a care in the world in his little stroller.

"We're sorry too." Ai said as she stepped up beside Mom, her husband following suit. "And, while he probably won't admit it," She continued, turning her head back to look at Mana's family, "I think they're sorry too. After Meiko's little outburst, Mana really gave her parents a talking to."

"I didn't think Mana could yell like that." Kiyomi added, laughing. "Once she was done I came running after you guys and-" Kiyomi suddenly froze for a moment, "Are you alright?" Her question wasn't aimed at me, but at Naruto whom I noticed now had tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Hey Naruto! What's the matter?" I asked as well.

"I-Its nothing!" He stammered, quickly wiping his eyes, "I just got something in my eyes is all! That's all!" His voice trembled as he fought back the urge to cry. Meanwhile I was starting to panic, not understanding what brought this on. It was at that moment however, that Dad reached over and lifted me off of Naruto's back and onto his shoulders.

"Come on Meiko, I think its time we went home." He said gently, Mom nodding in agreement.

"But Dad-" I started to protest but he raised his hand over my mouth to quiet me.

"Don't worry." He assured me before looking to Naruto. "Say goodbye to your friend now."

My eyes went wide for a moment as I realized what he was saying. "Okay." I replied softly before waving to Naruto. "Bye Naruto! See you tomorrow okay!?"

Sniffing back the tears, the young blonde boy returned my wave with a thumbs up. "Yeah! Tomorrow!"

With that, everyone said their goodbyes and we all parted ways. Mom pulling out some medical supplies from her bag and began cleaning my wound. The alcohol wipe stung worse than the wound itself as I bit my lip to keep from crying out while wriggling around on Dad's shoulders.

"Hey, so... I should come clean..." I said once my knee had been bandaged, "About today..." I then began recounting the actual days events, sparing little detail. My parents, to their credit, said nothing and listened intently.

"Oh dear, you've had quite the day." Mom said, her voice filled with sympathy.

"Why did you try to hide all that?" Dad asked.

"I didn't want to worry you guys..." I admitted, "And... I was embarrassed."

"Everyone makes mistakes." Mom replied, rubbing my back. "So long as you don't make them again, then I'm sure everything will be fine."

"...Thanks."

After that, exhaustion and relief got to me and I fell asleep for the rest of the trip home. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We got home, I had a bath then spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch. Sengo had woken up at some point so I read him a few books while we waited for dinner. Afterwards we ended up spending time playing a few board games together until the sun went down. I had the urge to go outside and get some training in, but in my condition rest was the number one priority. So instead I decided to call it an early night and made my way to bed.

I did not go straight to sleep however, instead I pulled out the old weathered notebook from underneath the floorboards and began my review of it once more. It had taken some time but English was finally coming back to me. I still had issues translating my chicken scratching but that too was getting easier. Since reviewing this book I surprised myself with just how much I had written down all those years ago. So much information I had forgotten was here and reading it had the added benefit of awakening long dormant memories. Perhaps I should have documented memories of my past life too, maybe then I could remember the faces of family members long gone...

Shaking my head, I returned to the task at hand. Right now I needed to focus on anything and everything I had written down about the Uchiha. To find any sort of clue that would help me in saving Misaki. Sadly, information there was scarce. Mostly all I had to go on was related to Sasuke and his brother Itachi. My younger self had wanted to avoid interacting with the 'canon cast' and thus had focused more on them in an attempt to be able to better know to how not change things. So information on events directly tied to the clan itself was slim at best.

There was little that I didn't already remember that my notes could provide. At some point before Sasuke graduates, Itachi, alongside 'Madara' would put down the Uchiha clan before they could start an uprising or something. Leaving Sasuke as the only survivor so he could one day take revenge. There was some things I had forgotten. Another name had come up during my review. Danzo. It was written that he had pushed Itachi towards purging his kin and in return Sasuke would be spared.

That was certainly a familiar name. Once I had read it, a few scarce memories began to surface. Danzo was the head of the Anbu Black Ops, or no wait, a special division. Secret even to the village. The name had something to do with trees but I couldn't recall at the time. I did remember that he would try to take the seat of the Hokage in the future and he was known for his rather ruthless methods.

"If Danzo was out of the picture, then the massacre would never happen?" I mused, but shook my head. There was no way in hell I could do anything about a man like Danzo. He had far too much power and influence. It was likely I'd never even see him until he made himself public. But still, it might do good to look further into him.

Skimming my notes, I searched for any other mentions of Danzo and, in fact, I found something. Not about him directly, but in relation to another Uchiha, one I had actually met recently.

'Danzo steals Shisui's eye.'

"Steals his eye?" I wondered aloud, "But why? What's so special about..." And then it hit me, the memories came racing back into my mind, as if plucked out of a vault. Shisui Uchiha, Itachi's best, and perhaps only, friend. He possessed an extremely powerful genjutsu within his Sharingan. It was so powerful that Danzo coveted it and tried to take it. Shisui escaped, but lost one of his eyes in the fight. He then entrusted the other to Itachi before he...

...Died.

"Crap." Again, perhaps the worst thing about all this was the fact there were no dates. What I did know was that Shisui's death preceded the Uchiha Massacre and perhaps cemented its certainty. Skimming through my notes again held little else regarding Shisui beyond the fact that he advocated for peaceful coexistence with the village. If he were to survive, then perhaps the massacre wouldn't happen at all. If he and Itachi were to work together, I doubted there was anything in the world that could stop them. But how? There was no way I could fight off Danzo. I could warn him or Itachi perhaps? But would they believe me? And if they did, what would they do? They might want to find out what else I knew. With the Magenkyo Sharingan it would be trival to extract the information.

"But what if I did it in a way that they wouldn't suspect me?"

Maybe I could send a letter or something. Find some way to share the information in a way that couldn't be traced back to me. It was possible but I had no idea how tight the security on mail in this world was. I could hire a courier-nin perhaps but I had no money for that sort of thing. If I didn't want it intercepted, I'd have to give it to them directly. But then they'd know it was me.

"Argh!" I scratched furiously at my scalp. I wished I had more time. If I did I could think of a proper plan. But no, time was against me. I had to get the warning out to Shisui before Danzo did and had no idea when that could happen. If I was going to act, it would have to be as soon as possible.

Pulling out some sheets of paper, I got to work writing down various versions of notes detailing what I knew about Danzo's plan. Through several versions I tested how much or how little information I felt comfortable with sharing. Eventually settling on keeping it focused on Danzo's desire to take Shisui's eyes. Then there was the issue of the sender, aka me. It was cheap but the best I could think of was writing this as some kind of third party just using me as an intermediary. Honestly it was the best I could come up with on short notice. I wished I had more time to come up with something more concrete but this would have to do for now.

Once I felt that what I had written was the best I'd be able to do, I began to refine it. Namely by writing it again on a new sheet of paper in a manner that did not resemble my natural handwriting. Again, if I had more time and materials I might have done the old trick of cutting out letters from a magazine and gluing them to a page. This way my writing couldn't be back tracked. That said, it did remind me about fingerprints. I wasn't sure how far forensic sciences had advanced in this world but I did start over by wiping the new paper down with a tissue and handled it only with other tissues covering my hands.

Finally, the note was complete and I very carefully folded it over several times until it was but a tiny rectangle I could easily hide on my person. With a long yawn, I wrapped the note in a fresh piece of tissue and turned my attention to the other versions. For now I would hide them and if I got the chance, toss them out in the forge fires or find some other way to dispose of them. Other than that, I looked down on the small bundle. This one little piece of paper held the potential to alter the course of history, assuming I could get it to it's target.

"Do I even have the right to do this?" I wondered aloud and waited in silence for the world to respond. Of course, there was none. I looked out my window to see a full moon shining through a break in the clouds. Right or not, I had to at least try. To save Misaki, I would try and save Shisui.

But right now, it was time for bed. I had to be up early for school after all. The next part of the plan would be to find a way back into the Uchiha compound and encounter Shisui. Getting in was going to be the biggest hurdle. I wasn't exactly welcome in the place after all. That would have to wait until morning however. Yawning again, I was completely exhausted. Curling up under the sheets, I double checked that my alarm was set and drifted off to sleep.

Tomorrow, operation Save Shisui begins.