Sarutobi looked out his window. The sun had long since set and the moon was hanging over the edge of town, giving just enough light to make out the forms of people walking through the streets. The town had grown quieter since Aiko had left with her parents. That's not to say that there weren't troublemakers, but there was just something about the blonde that just brought such a…a spark to any room she was in that he sorely missed.
It had been eight years since she had left with Tsunade and Jiraiya. Eight very long years that dragged on with every day. Looking at the waxing moon, the aging Hokage sighed. Even after this time, the people of the village still celebrated the defeat of the Kyuubi with such vigor that it shocked him. For the most part, the shinobi knew that Aiko wasn't the demon, there would always be one or two, but they tended to be few and far between. The civilians were such an eclectic and fluid group that it was tough to get a feel for how they viewed the girl, but it seemed that they had forgotten her. He supposed it was all for the better this way, he didn't even know if she would ever return, and he honestly couldn't blame her if she didn't. What she had gone through would scar most people for a good while, especially if the cold treatment of nearly everyone you saw on a day in and day out basis was all you had known.
He had received some letters from the family, mostly from Jiraiya and Aiko, who still viewed him as her grandfather. Jiraiya's had been normal for the toad sannin, sending back reports on Orochimaru and his movements. Aiko had just written for the sake of it, but seemed exited to hear from the old man whenever he wrote her.
He returned to his paperwork, realizing that it wouldn't do to put it off anymore. Things sure had been different without Aiko.
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“Do we have to, Kaa-san?” Aiko was digging in her heels, again. It was a habit she hadn't really ever been broken of, and truthfully, probably inherited from her mother, but she just too stubborn for her own good sometimes.
“If we didn't have to, than we wouldn't; but we don't really have a choice.” Tsunade answered her daughter, who wasn't too happy with their current situation. They were heading back to Konoha, so that Aiko could get registered as a ninja.
Despite the eight years that had passed since that incident, Aiko still didn't want to return to Konoha. She was just worried that others would see her as the Kyuubi, and if they did, she wouldn't be able to stand it.
The girl had grown up though, and people would be hard pressed to recognize her now. Her hair, which was once messy and disorganized, was now pulled into a short ponytail and bangs that framed her face in a jagged manner. She tied it high on her head, to make sure it didn't flop around too much. She had gained almost a foot and a half in height, she was still short, but not by so much anymore. She had properly fitting clothes now, consisting of black Capri pants, with a kunai holster tied to her right leg, and a white shirt, like what her father wore under his red vest, except in white. She had a coat like her mother's, except it was black and didn't have anything written on it. However, as is usual when a person grows up, it isn't the physical, but the mental things that change the most. She had been trained by her mother as a medic since she could properly control her chakra, and by her father in other ninja arts, such as ninjutsu and taijutsu. She was more than prepared for any genin exam that could be given.
Aiko's shoulders sank, she really didn't want to return to Konoha; she had such a good time with her parents and Shizune-neechan. The only problem was that she desperately wanted to become a ninja. Not one of those kunoichi who were more useful as store manikins, but as a serious ninja, like her mom and dad. She blew a strand of hair out of her face and followed after her mom, who was hoping to make it to the village sooner rather than later. She might have given up gambling, but drinking wasn't included, and she was pretty hung-over.
Jiraiya would be meeting them in Konoha, he had to go check in with one of his contacts, who was in a far off town and would still be away for about three more weeks. Though she would never admit it, Aiko greatly missed her dad when he went away like this, and she knew that Tsunade did too. That was one of the ways she knew her parents were in love. Her mom would always raise a fuss whenever Jiraiya went to meet his contacts, even though she knew he was more than capable of taking care of himself.
`Unfounded worry about someone's life.' She would think. `Not being able to live without someone's presence, being willing to sacrifice your own life, instead of seeing your precious person die, that is true love.'
“Tsunade-sama, we need to continue on if you want to make the village in time for lunch.” Shizune reminded the blonde sannin, who waved her arm at her assistant before continuing on.
The trio continued onwards to their home village and as they crested over a hill, the village appeared on the horizon. It had been so long that many of the fine details had fled from Aiko's mind, but she was back home, kicking and screaming, but home none the less.
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The Sandaime was just about to take his lunch break (and far more importantly, a break from the papers he would have nightmares about), when his door was rudely knocked open.
“Sensei, those gates are going to get you in trouble one of these days.”
“Tsunade, how are you? I wasn't expecting to ever see you again, frankly, so pardon me if I seem unprepared.” The Hokage was truly shocked at this turn of events. Not one night earlier had he been wishing to see his former students and their daughter, and today here they stood.
“We've been good, Sensei. We're here so Aiko-chan can get certified as a ninja.” The slug sannin explained. Upon hearing her name, Aiko smiled and waved at the old man, while still standing close to Tsunade.
“Really? I honestly wasn't sure if you would return for the genin exam or not. None the less, it's good to have you back Aiko-chan. If you want, you could head over to the academy, they should be reviewing for the graduation exam, since its tomorrow. I can have someone escort you over.”
“That's not necessary, Hokage-sama, I can take her there.” Shizune offered.
“That's not necessary, Shizune, I could have someone do it for you.”
“Honestly, I don't mind, besides, it would be nice to see whose teaching.” The brunette insisted on her course of action.
After agreeing to meet Tsunade back at the Hokage's office when she was done; Shizune and Aiko left the old acquaintances to talk.
“So, what have you been up to?” Sarutobi asked, expecting the entire story.
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Aiko and Shizune found the academy easily enough, but when they went their separate ways, Aiko found her classroom deserted.
`Must be lunch time.' Not seeing any reason not to eat, the blonde took out some onigiri and quickly ate. Not a second after she had finished a chuunin with brown hair in a spiked ponytail walked in.
“Hello sir, my name is Aiko, and I'm here to take the graduation exam.” Aiko walked up to the stranger and introduced herself.
“Well, I've never heard of someone entering so late in the year, are you sure you're prepared? These kids have been studying here for years-oh, where are my manners, my name is Umino Iruka.”
“Don't worry Iruka-sensei; my parents have been training me, so I'm more than qualified to take the exam. Kaa-san says it's more of a formality than anything else, at this point.”
“Well, I hope you're right, because this test is pretty hard. We've only got a couple of hours left today, so we were going to review some of the techniques that you will be tested on tomorrow. I'd recommend sticking around to see what's on the test.”
Aiko just nodded and walked back to her seat, which was in the back and waited for the rest of the class to file in. Slowly they trickled in from lunch and filled in the seats. Having long since learned the value of observing people from her father, Aiko made notes about her various class members.
There were a bunch of kids that were just plain, probably from civilian homes, judging by their chakra levels and more care free attitude. She noted that there was a loud boy with a small white dog sitting on his head.
`Inuzuka by the way he's talking with that dog of his.'
Another boy, with dark hair pulled into a ponytail that oddly resembled a pineapple was laying his head down on the desk and apparently sleeping. He was seated next to a rather fat boy, who was munching on a bag of chips, despite having just eaten at lunch.
`Well the large one is obviously an Akimichi and I don't know about the other one, but I'd guess he's from the Nara family. I wonder if there's a Yamanaka in here?'
As if to answer her question, a loud blonde girl stormed into the room, arguing with another girl who had pink hair.
“No way forehead-girl, Sasuke-kun is mine! He'd never date someone like you!”
`Well it's not for certain, but I'd say that's our Yamanaka. I wonder who the pink headed girl is though? She has such low chakra levels, I'm surprised she's walking, let alone arguing.'
She watched the two fighting kunoichi wannabe's walk up the aisle and head towards a black haired boy sitting in the opposite corner of the room. He wore a blue shirt and shorts, and though Aiko couldn't see it, there was a red and white fan printed on the back.
`Uchiha Sasuke? Last I heard he was the rookie of the year so far. No matter, I just hope he isn't as one minded as I heard.'
In front of Sasuke, there was a brown haired boy who had a large tan coat and sunglasses on, even though they were inside.
`Wow, there's even an Aburame, this class is stacked. All we need is a Hyuuga and we'd be set.' She was joking of course, the chances of there being a Hyuuga in this class was-
“E-excuse me, is an-anyone s-sitting h-here?” A quiet voice snapped the blonde from her musings. She turned to look over her left shoulder and came eye to eye with-
“Holy crap! A Hyuuga! I-I-I mean, no, no one is sitting here. My name is Aiko, what's yours?”
“I'm H-Hyuuga Hinata. It's nice to meet you, um…Aiko-san.”
“Nice to meet you too! So, what's this teacher like? Is he a hard grader, or does he let you guys get away with stuff?”
As Hinata tried to answer the blonde's questions, Iruka began to review some of the material from before lunch, for Aiko's benefit, which no one paid attention to. After that was a quick review over the henge no jutsu (transformation technique) and a parting message to get some sleep before the exam tomorrow.
Aiko walked out with Hinata, once more trying to get the Hyuuga heiress (it had come out grudgingly) to talk, but Hinata was proving almost as stubborn as Aiko.
“Ok, well I have to go find my Mom, so I'll see you tomorrow Hinata-chan.” Aiko waved to the girl, who was now being eyed by most of the class, who somehow hadn't noticed the addition of the new student. She was quickly beset by a number of the other girls, who wanted nothing more than to know if the `new girl' was interested in Sasuke-kun. This of course led to a whole round of `He's mine' that lasted well into the night.
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Aiko found Tsunade easily enough; she still hadn't left the Hokage's office, as the Sandaime had taken every opportunity to keep his former student there. When she entered the room, Aiko was greeted warmly by the Hokage, who set upon her and proceeded to ask about the academy.
“It's ok, I guess. Iruka-sensei seems nice enough, but he is pretty boring when he starts to talk about the village history. It was pretty hard to not fall asleep, but at least I wasn't the only one who had trouble, Hinata said most of the class slept through class when he lectured.”
“Yes, well she would know, Hinata is the top ranked kunoichi of the year, despite her low self esteem. A pity really, ever since her mother died, she just hasn't been quite the same.” Sarutobi added.
“Well, I think we need to take our leave now, we still need to unpack our things and get food. That and you need to finish your paperwork, Sensei.” Tsunade stood and thanked the Hokage for the tea they had, before she left, Aiko in tow.
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The next day's exam was all too easy for Aiko. Even the written part was a breeze, and she hadn't even had to sit through Iruka-sensei's boring lectures! After that was a quick accuracy test with kunai and shuriken, which she aced; before finally moving onto the ninjutsu section. The students were asked to make three clones, a feat that she had long since mastered. She graduated easily, getting the highest grade of any of the students, including Uchiha Sasuke. She noted out of the corner of eye, that he didn't like the fact she beat him very much.
“Ok, congratulations to everyone who passed, from now on, you are shinobi and kunoichi of Konoha. You should come back here tomorrow and we'll announce the teams you'll be working with until you are promoted.” Iruka addressed the graduates for possibly the last time. He still had to make the teams up, but he could do that tonight.
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Elsewhere, there was an assembled meeting of jounin, specifically those who would be taking on a genin team tomorrow. The mass of ninja were looking at the graduates though the Hokage's crystal ball and noting different things about each one.
For instance, Asuma noted that Nara Shikamaru was best friends with Akimichi Chouji, two thirds of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio of fame. If he could just get Yamanaka Ino to work together with the boys, he would have a nice team.
Hatake Kakashi noted that Sasuke graduated, meaning that he would be forced to be the boys teacher, even if it was only for two days this time.
Yuhi Kurenai noticed that whenever the focus of the ball fell onto Tsunade-sama's daughter; that Kakashi would stiffen in anger and glare even harder at the figure. As the jounin cleared out, she approached the Hokage with her findings.
“Hokage-sama, I noticed that when Aiko was being shown, Kakashi would tense up. I'm just wondering if it's such a good idea that he be her sensei. He seems to dislike her fairly passionately.”
The Hokage laughed. “Don't worry, it is not for the reason you think it is. He knows what the Yondaime is capable of, and I assure you he doesn't mistake the girl for the prisoner. His resentment is of a different nature. You see, when Jiraiya became a father, he gave up his writing so he could raise Aiko properly. Kakashi is just angry that she is the reason for the death of the Icha Icha franchise.”
The genjutsu mistress felt a relief over this, she didn't think that Kakashi would be the kind to mistake Aiko for the Kyuubi, but she also didn't think he would blame her for the `death' of his beloved book franchise.
`How in the heck did that man become so messed up?' She thought as she walked out of the office, leaving the Hokage to his work.
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(A/N: Wow, you like it, you really liked it! I'm really glad that so many of you like and reviewed my first chapter, I hope that this one kept pace with the first one. I'd like to say now, that Aiko has good chakra control because A) her mom is the legendary medic and B) she did inherit the Shodai Hokage's ability to control the chakra of the Biju, so she is able to control her own chakra much better than in cannon.
I'm still looking for a beta; once again all I ask is that you be able to finish a new chapter in a week. Please contact me if you're interested.
Thanks for the reviews; I certainly hope you will review this chapter as well!)
