A loud thud echoed in a small apartment, the lone inhabitants of said apartment jerking awake with a gasp.

Aya Shi groaned and threw a slender arm over her eyes before realizing what day it was. She gasped and sat up, scrambling to her feet and showering. She threw some clean clothes on, blue eyes gleaming with excitement as she brushed her teeth, grabbing some food to eat on the way. She stopped by a photo of her parents, where her ninja headband lay before it.

She stared at her mother and father, smiling in the photo and holding a tiny Aya in their arms. She kissed her hand and placed it on the photo before placing her headband on her leg, tying it and saying, “i’m Off, mom and dad! See you tonight!” She opened the door and put on an emotionless expression, ready for ridicule on the part of her fellow villagers.

The ‘cursed child’ made her way through the streets, ignoring the hateful glares of the villagers. Her family was said to be cursed by god himself to bring death to every person who got close to her, mostly for their unusual abilities.

Aya arrived at the academy and took a seat in the back, sitting silently with her gaze trained on the head of the boy before her: Uchiha Sasuke. Her teeth grit before she looked away, noticing most of his fan girls glaring at her. She shit them a look and they looked away, frightened. Typical kids...

Ssssnnnnoooorrrrrrreeeeeee Ssssssnnnnoooorrrrrrreeeee Snore!
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DING DING DING DING DING

“AH!” A yellow haired young man shot up from his bed, his drool falling from his lips and slashing onto his blanket. “OH NO I’M GOING TO BE LATE!” With that the young man spring from his bed and struggled to get himself into his clothes before falling onto the ground just at his door to leave, “OH FOR PETE’S SAKE!” He screamed as he scampered to his feet and grabbed his headband. Tying it firmly around his head, he locked the door to his small apartment and took off running towards the academy.

Today was the day! Today was the big day where the students would be paired into groups and assigned their teacher. Their teacher determined whether they pass or failed their exams and would become Ganin. Today was the day though, the young boy with the whisker indents in his face and the sparkling blue eyes knew, today was the day he would pass and become an official Ganin, one step closer to Hokage.

“Excuse me!”
“Pardon me!”
“Coming through!”
“I’m in a hurry!”

Were continuous calls as the boy weaved through crowds at his sprint.

Sliding into the academy, he hurried into the classroom and slid the door open, his body huffing up and down as he realized he wasn’t late. A large grin moved across his face showing his straight white teeth as he walked inside and sat down at an open seat. His gaze moved around the classroom to see how many people did actually show up. Oh this is awesome! A closed lip smile moved across his face and chuckled softly. Today was the day! Today was the day he took the first step to Hokage.

His gave moved around the room before settling on Aya Shi, so she did come. Rumors went around that the ‘cursed child’ wouldn’t show up for the exams, much less pass. But if Naruto knew anything, it was that being ‘cursed’ wasn’t really a bad thing… and it even was a motivator for those who are ‘cursed’. Maybe they could even be friends!

Aya glanced up, blue glass-like eyes meeting the blond Uzumaki's for a moment, face expressionless before she looked back down, then around the room. Her eyes scanned the room, several kids meeting her eyes for barely a second before looking away from her. She scoffed quietly before taking out a book. She opened the book to a specific page and began to read. She wasn't shy, oh no. She simply disliked people. She hadn't met any exceptions quite yet.

Hearing the sliding door open again she looked up, her eyes narrowing seeing both Sakura Haruno and Ino- Or in her words, INU- Yamanaka standing in the doorway, panting, glaring at each other. The Shi girl, younger than most of her classmates, rolled her eyes before turning back to her book. Sakura looked down where Sasuke was and smiled. Aya tensed slightly, sensing tension brewing.

They made eye contact and Naruto felt his face flush but he pushed a bright smile in her direction only to be shunned. He groaned internally throwing himself back in his seat with an outward huff. He was never good with girls; maybe it was because he never understood them as they seemed to keep all their emotions inside or let out so many emotions that you were never which one is the real one. Aya seemed like the type to keep everything locked away. If there was one thing Naruto didn’t understand… it was that. Why keep your emotions bottled up?

His mind finished wondering as the sensei entered the room with a line of Chuunin following him in. Naruto perked up in his chair with a serious look on his face. Today was the day! The day he was assigned a sensei and determined whether he passed or failed as an Academy student and became an official Genin. The blonde’s cheeks puffed out as he held his breath listening to the teams being announced off one by one and assigned to their perspective Senseis. It was no surprise that the young man could barely hold still, excited about his chance to take another step forward.

“Naruto Uzumaki.” The announcer called out and the boy jumped to his feet with excitement.

“Sasuke Uchih.” Naruto’s eyes expanded as he turned his head, his attention landed on the Uchih clan’s only living member as he rose to his feet in a nonchalant ‘I don’t care manner’. This ticked Naruto off inside, why didn’t this guy CARE?! This was the NEXT STEP! And an important one at that and this guy looked like he didn’t care at all! Something about that made the young man’s blood boil and he opened his mouth bark at the young man before the announcer called out their third partner.

“Aya Shi,” was the final announcement that moved from the lips of the man at the front of the class and Naruto’s head jerked towards the girl. This was surprising! The three orphaned children together in a group… “And your Sensei will be Kakashi Hatake.” Now that left Naruto stunned. There wasn’t a single person in the Village Hidden in the Leafs who didn’t know who Kakashi Hatake was and… and… he’s walking out of the room already! Scampering quickly, the blonde haired boy hurried to follow his new sensei out of the room hearing his fellow teammates following behind him.

@Nikki Moonlight

Aya noticed the flush on the blond's face but that got her thinking. What was going on through that guy's head to make him blush? She always thought he'd had a crush on Pinky--Er, Sakura. She also knew a certain Hyuuga girl was into him, so she figured she'd let him choose either of those...besides, she had no room to be getting into romance of any kind with anyone. After all, she needed to track down...that man. Demand to know why he killed her parents in cold blood and awakened her Yin. She clenched her fists. That snake would be brought to justice for what he'd done--and not by her. Her hand slowly went to her left shoulder, where his mark remained burned into her skin. She was lucky to be alive after that...

She shoved the memory away as the sensei came in with the Jounin and rested her hands on her desk--clasped before her pristinely. As the teams were called her eyes narrowed very slightly, standing up with a guarded motion and following her team out of the room, right behind Kakashi Hatake. She stood tall, many fangirls glaring at her. She shot them a glare and made them all shut up in fear.

Once outside and at the spot they decided on, Aya sat on the steps before looked up at Kakashi, who was leaning on the railing. "Now," Kakashi said to them. "Let's introduce ourselves. Of course I can read your files, but let's face it, it's more fun to do this ourselves than for me to read some boring files, isn't it?" His eyes rested directly on Aya, who stiffened. There was a time when Aya had broken into the Hokage's house and read many files, trying to find the man who had killed her parents. His gaze went along the other two. "Now, you!" he said, pointing to Naruto. "Introduce yourself. Name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams."

Kakashi-sensei pointed at him first and Naruto sprang to his feet with joy, “My name is Naruto Uzumaki! You got that?! I like Ramen and training and I dislike people who give up! And I’m going to be the next Hokage so people will give me the respect I deserve! That’s a promise and I never break a promise! That is my nindō, my ninja way!!” His announcement echoed around the small area as he threw a fist into the air… only to be met with silence.

“Alright, settle down.” Kakashi instructed seeming more exasperated than anything with the high energy the spunky blonde put forward. Soon attention moved to the pink haired girl next to him.

Sakura wasn’t afraid to share her information except she was more less enthusiastic compared to her counterparts then the attention moved to Aya. Naruto’s blue gaze turned up and to his right to look at her. A big grin on his face; he had two girls in his group. Boy was he lucky!!

Aya stayed in her lounging position for a while before she finally spoke up. "I'm Aya Shi. I like a few things I will not disclose, and I hate a lot of things." Her eyes met Naruto, then Sakura's, then Kakashi's, her eyes devoid of emotion. "What I want to do is to find the man who killed my parents and bring him to justice..." At all costs, She thought.

"...And then I'm going to make my way up in the village." Of course, she was lying. She was going to leave once the snake was brought to justice. Make her own way in the world, start with a clean slate. Kakashi seemed to see she was lying and his eyes narrowed, unseen by anyone but Aya herself thanks to her sharp vision. She stared calmly right back at him, innocence feigned in her glassy eyes. No, she'd lost her innocence long ago with her parents.

Kakashi then looked around at the three. "Well then, Let's get something across here. I'm going to put you three through a survival exercise tomorrow. This will determine whether you pass or fail as an Academy student. And let me tell you now...The graduation exams? Those were nothing compared to what this will be. You will be required to use every bit of your training to pass. These tests have a 67% rate of failure. And those who fail...Are sent back to the academy."

Aya's eyes narrowed as she stared at him, then her gaze went around the team, watching their reactions. Hmmm... She had a feeling something would go wrong.