8 Transfer student

The fourth match of the competition between Katsumi Saeki and Hitomi Hyuuga turned out to be less impressing than expected. Neither of the two girls knew any ninjutsu and just relied on their taijutsu. Hitomi overwhelmed her enemy with a series of quick jabs.

It was decided that the semifinals will take place three days later, to let the participants return to their peak condition.

Everyone left the arena and went their own way.

-----

Next day at the academy.

The classmates quickly surrounded the four academy students that qualified for the semifinals. Minato and Ryoma were still in the hospital, so they were absent from the class.

"Aizen that was awesome, man! It was about time that somebody taught Ryoma a lesson!"

"Yeah! Those damn Uchiha! They believe that they are superior to everyone just because of their kekkei genkai!"

"Screw you Shimei! How dare you hurt Minato-kun!"

"Ah, Ayumi-chan! You were great, would you like to hang out with me?"

"Hyuuga-sama, do your best in the semifinals! I believe that you can win!"

"Silence! Silence!" Said the chūnin as he came to the class, holding a red-haired girl by her hand.

It took the students three minutes to calm and sit down. They were quietly speculating who will become the champion of the competition.

The bearded chūnin stood in front of the class with the girl. He let go of her hand and said "Well, this is our new transfer student... Introduce yourself."

"I'm Kushina Uzumaki, dattebane!" She shouted, with a nervous expression on her face.

She had a round face, which, with her red hair naturally framing both sides of her face, made her resemble a tomato. She wore a sleeveless, yellow kimono-style blouse with a short-sleeved mesh shirt underneath.

The curious expressions of students quickly turned into mocking smiles.

"Look at that hair colour!"

"I can't believe it! How did it get so red!"

"Her hair is so weird..."

Kushina touched her hair with an embarrassed expression, that quickly turned into determination.

*I will prove everyone wrong and become the greatest kunoichi in this village!* Kushina thought.

"I... I will become this village's first female Hokage!" Kushina announced.

Everyone excluding a few children and their teacher began launching like they just heard a hilarious joke. With amused expressions, they continued mocking the girl.

"From today you'll be known as 'tomato'!"

"As if a tomato could become Hokage!"

"I hate tomatoes!"

"Me too!"

"Oh, and it's even ripening!" Said one of the kids when Kushina's face became red from humiliation.

"If I get any in my salad, I just leave it!"

"There's no way that the people of the village will ever acknowledge you!"

"Don't you have any shame? You must be so proud of yourself that you're bullying a powerless girl." Aizen exclaimed, his cold voice made many students shiver. They remembered what happened to Ryoma and decided to shut up.

The chūnin pretended that nothing happened and instructed the girl to sit down.

Kushina went towards the end of the class, taking place next to the brown-haired boy.

She leaned toward his side and whispered: "Thank you" that could only be heard by both of them. She then tried to lean back and take out her notebook, but she suddenly felt a hand on her waist, pulling her even closer. The boy also leaned closer and whispered into her ear "Your hair is beautiful, don't listen to those fools." Kushina just looked away nervously, but she couldn't hide the red glow that came over her face.

*Why is he so kind to me?* Kushina thought.

The bearded chūnin began talking about weapons used by shinobi. It was another long and tedious day at the academy.

-----

After the lesson.

Aizen was leaving the building of the academy when he heard a shout coming from behind him.

"Aizen! We are going to the training ground outside of Konoha, do you want to join us?" Shimei asked.

"Come on! It will be fun!" Ayumi said.

"Fine, I don't have anything else to do until the semifinals." Aizen answered.

"Cool, let's go!" Ayumi smiled brightly.

-----

They were walking through the forest just outside of Konoha, trying to find the training ground.

"Why did you help that new girl?" Shimei asked.

"Because that was the right thing to do." Aisen answered looking at Shimei's disappointed face. "What did you expect?" He continued.

"I don't know, maybe love at first sight or something like that? I saw you observing her with great interest." Shimei said with a slight smile.

"Hey! Shimei! Don't even joke like that. It's not funny." Ayumi pouted and glared at Shimei with an annoyed expression.

"I just thought that her hair is unique, that's all. I'm sorry to disappoint you." Aizen answered, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, we found it!" Ayumi shouted when she spotted the training ground.

"Great! There's a lot of space, a small river and nobody will find us. We are going to stay here until the semifinals." Shimei said and took out a scroll from his pouch.

He unsealed the scroll.

*Poof!*

The scroll contained a small tent that could comfortably accommodate all of them.

"Wow! You know fūinjutsu!?" Ayumi asked with a shocked expression on her face.

"It's just a trick that my father taught me. I can only transport some small objects, nothing else." Shimei answered.

"That's still awesome!" Ayumi said, slightly jealous.

"On the other side, I don't know any ninjutsu. What made you think that I would be a good training partner for you?" Aizen asked curiously.

"Of course, it's because you have beaten the Uchiha! It even looked like you were toying with him. Who if not you? " Shimei said.

"You never learned ninjutsu? That's great! I can teach you the basics!" Ayumi said with a bright smile. She wanted to use the opportunity to get to know him better.

"You overestimate me, Shimei and thank you, Ayumi. That would be great." Aizen answered. He was curious about the white-haired boy. Shimei could easily graduate from the academy if he wanted to.

*Ninjutsu... even if I can use Kidō, I should probably give it a shot.* Aizen thought and decided to at least try learning ninjutsu.