Girl Next Door

*Kaori POV*

Shinji-kun is weird. Well, he is cool too. He is cool and weird. People are saying that he is one of the most talented shinobi in training within our generation after he got first place for our end of year examinations.

It had been a surprise when a civilian-born student, an orphan no less, received perfect scores for the written examinations. A surprise, yes, but not unbelievable, as many academy students from civilian backgrounds would often push themselves more on theory in order to compensate for their lacking physical abilities. Naysayers had commented then, remarking that that would be the limit of a no-name orphan. But they were wrong.

And when Shinji-kun received perfect scores for the shurikenjutsu test as well, people were astonished but, again, it was not particularly extraordinary. But when he got first place for the physical proficiency test, they had to shake their heads in disbelief. And finally, when he fought the reigning, top student of their year, Uchiha Sasuke, and only barely lost – people started changing their tune.

With him receiving the highest scores in the theory test, shurikenjutsu assessment and physical proficiency evaluation, Shinji-kun was able to clinch first place for our end of year examinations even after losing to Sasuke.

That was when the people around us started praising him as a contender for Rookie of the Year when we graduate in three years' time. They said that for a civilian-born orphan to reach that level, he must have worked extremely hard. They commended his diligence and determination, asking him to keep it up.

As much as I want to say that it was only as I expected, truth be told one year ago I would never have guessed this would be the case.

When we were still in the orphanage, Shinji-kun used to be so messy and playful. He would whine and complain during our lessons and Rie-san would have to scold or punish him just to get him to sit still. Then he would get in to all sorts of trouble with the other children in the orphanage.

But slightly over a year ago, Shinji-kun suddenly changed. He went from a noisy, but sweet troublemaker to becoming quieter and more serious. It was as though he had matured overnight and took his shinobi academy studies a lot more earnestly than before.

I remember he used to say that he didn't even want to go to the Shinobi Academy, his dream was to explore the world and travel to every village amongst the Elemental Nations, regardless if they were 'hidden' villages or not. He had wanted to try all the various culinary specialties and visit the defining landmarks of these villages.

I used to laugh at Shinji-kun, scolding him for not taking his studies in the orphanage more seriously, because how else would he be able to accomplish such an ambitious endeavour? But I was fine with that, since together we would manage somehow.

However, I stopped laughing when Shinji-kun started practicing punching and kicking on a tree at the orphanage, instead of conducting his usual pranks and mischiefs - merely curious at the sudden shift in priorities.

Then he began helping out around the orphanage, more than was asked of him, even going so far as to proactively ask the adults if they needed his assistance. Yet just a few weeks before that he had been actively whining and complaining whenever Rie-san or another adult requested for his help.

Shinji-kun even started to read – he hated reading!

That might have been when I started realizing that was what it meant to be growing up. Rie-san had once mentioned that we would start noticing changes in ourselves and the children around us when we grew older; something about physical changes and hor-mor-nes or something like that. I didn't think Shinji-kun would grow up so fast. I hadn't even noticed it even though we used to spend so much time together.

Well, I'm happy Shinji-kun found something he is passionate about and is willing to devote so much time and energy into his craft.

Although, one thing that saddens me is the fact that after Shinji-kun matured in his mindset, he also began spending less time with me. It wasn't obvious to the outside observer, but I definitely noticed it since we used to spend almost every waking hour together playing in the orphanage, whereas now we only hung out during academy hours.

After class ends, Shinji-kun would almost immediately run off to do one thing or another that needed his attention. He would spend hours upon hours in the library, and even longer on the training grounds. When I asked to follow him, he would either reluctantly agree or reject me altogether. And even when he did let me join him, he wouldn't talk to me at all, only engrossing himself in his training or as he put it, 'preparing for the future'.

Not to mention all the other harlots who started following him too. I grinded my teeth at the mere thought of those bitches. They had gathered slowly. At first it was just one girl who, after Shinji-kun had helped with her shurikenjutsu form, started behaving obsessively excited around him. Then slowly, as Shinji-kun's talent, friendliness and helpful personality began surfacing, so did the others.

But it was after he obtained first place in the end of year examinations did the vultures descend, and just like those scavengers, so too did they squawk about noisily, clamouring for the slightest shred or attention from her Shinji-kun.

I couldn't blame them for their affections. Of course not. Shinji-kun was adorable after all. What abhorred me, however, was their hypocrisy.

The girls in our class were mostly split into two camps – team Shinji and team Sasuke.

Initially, most of the girls in our class were head over heels for the Uchiha, which I didn't mind one bit. What I did mind was them trying to put down Shinji-kun whenever they had the opportunity. They generally badmouthed his civilian origins, scorning his orphan background, or even things as ridiculous as accusing him of trying to 'steal the spotlight' from Sasuke.

Of course I stepped forward to counter-attack whenever they did, even if Shinji-kun himself paid no attention to their words, partly to defend him but also partly to defend our orphanage. So what if we didn't have shinobi parents? So what if we were orphans? Shinji-kun still proved them all wrong by attaining high scores at every turn. Thus it didn't matter what vile lies they utterred, since Shinji-kun would always refute their slander with his actions.

However, it was their hypocrisy I couldn't tolerate. When Shinji-kun started excelling in the academy and took first place for the end of year examinations, more girls joined team Shinji. However, I had recognized some of them to be the very ones who had found fault with Shinji's orphan background and badmouthed him in the first place!

Despite their slanderous abuse, they had the audacity, the sheer shamelessness to proclaim their affections for Shinji-kun? Disgusting.

I had made known my distaste for these fake-fans from day one, even directly informing Shinji-kun of their two-faced treachery. Yet, in spite of my warnings, Shinji-kun paid no mind to their wretched participation in the collective infatuation for him. Thankfully, however, Shinji-kun was entirely indifferent to their advances as well. In fact, the only girl he ever sincerely interacted with was me.

Sure he would regularly help out our classmates with their training or politely converse with them during lunch breaks or after school, but that was with everyone, not just girls and not anyone in particular.

Although, I did notice he would often spend more time with the clan members, in comparison with the others. But there was no way Shinji-kun would discriminate against civilian born academy students, since he himself was one after all.