Chapter 10: First Day at the Academy and New Friends!

I woke up and found myself in my apartment. 'Oh, so it wasn't a dream' I thought, sadly. I turned my head and saw Kiyoshi sleeping soundly on one of my pillows. I smiled at him and climbed out of bed.

I made my way to the bathroom and began to take a hot shower. After I brushed my teeth and washed my face, I went over to my drawer and got dressed in a black, open-back t-shirt and black jeans. I went over to Kiyoshi and saw him still asleep.

I looked up at my clock and saw it was 8:00. I sweat dropped. Was he really that tired last night? I went over to him. "Kiyoshi, get up." I said as I nudged him slightly. He made no movement. I poked his head and that got him up.

He blinked his eyes before giving a slight yawn. "Morning, sleepyhead." I said, smiling. He stared at me with a blank expression before putting his head back down on the pillow, going back to sleep.

"Come on, Kiyoshi. Don't go back to sleep. If we don't hurry soon, we'll be late for the academy." I told him. Only problem is, I don't know where it is. I guess I could ask Hokage-sama from some help.

"Kiyoshi, do you want some breakfast?" I asked. He opened one of his eyes and looked at me. "Come on." I said, heading into the kitchen. Kiyoshi slithered off the bed and followed me. Okay, so the pills I'm taking are, for some reason, not doing their job.

So, last night, I decided to do some food shopping. The only time I did went to sleep was when I took at least four pills. Yep, that did the trick. I gave Kiyoshi some lettuce and I made myself some cereal.

After we got finished eating, I put on my black, hooded cloak and wrapped Kiyoshi around my arm. "Ready to go?" I asked him. He hissed in response, saying yes. I went out the door and towards the Hokage House. I knocked on his door and heard a low, "Come in".

I opened the door and walked towards Hokage-sama. "Good morning, Hokage-sama." I greeted. He looked up from his papers and smiled at me. "Good morning, Nue." He said back. I walked over to his desk. "Is there something I can help you with?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. I need help finding the academy. I'm a little lost." I admitted.  He chuckled, making me blush in embarrassment. "I'll have Iruka come in and take you to the academy. He'll also be your teacher there." Hokage-sama explained.

I nodded my head, saying I understood. He called in this Iruka person and he appeared within two minutes. "Yes, Lord Hokage?" He said. "This is Nue Houjuu Satori. She's new to the village and she'll be attending your class." Hokage-sama explained to him.

Iruka looked at me. "I'll have to confirm it with her parents." Iruka said. "Um, yeah. About that..." I said, trailing off. "This is Luna Satori's daughter." Hokage-sama said. Iruka's eyes went into shock for a moment. "She's related?" he asked.

"I'm actually adopted." I corrected him as I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. Hokage-sama chuckled before petting my head. "Welcome to the Leaf, Nue. I'm Iruka Umino and I'll be your teacher." Iruka introduced.

"Yes, sir, Iruka-sensei." I said, bowing my head slightly. I waved goodbye to Hokage-sama, then walked out of the Hokage House with Iruka-sensei. After a few minutes of walking, we were at the academy. Iruka-sensei led me into a room filled with kids my age.

Well, some were a little older than me. "Alright, class. Settle down." Iruka-sensei said to the class. Everyone in the class stopped what they were doing and looked at him. I felt uncomfortable since their eyes were staring at us. "Who's the girl?" A random boy asked.

"This is Nue Houjuu Satori. She'll be attending this class just like all of you. So, I would like all of you to try and get along with her, okay?" Iruka said to the class. "Hai." The class chorused. I shyly looked at the ground.

I didn't like it when people stared at me. It feels weird. "Nue," Iruka-sensei said, grabbing my attention. "Yes, sir?" I asked. "Why don't you go take a seat next to Naruto?" He suggested. "Naruto?" I repeated.

He pointed at a boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and... Are those whispers on his face? Is he cat? I walked over to my assigned seat and sat next to Naruto. I laid my head down and sighed to myself. "Hi!" Naruto greeted with a smile. 

"Hi." I said back. "So, your name's Nue, right?" He asked. I nodded my head, answering his question. "What's wrong? You look upset." Naruto said. "I just feel a little tired, that's all." I said, truthfully. "How old are you, Nue?" Naruto asked. 

"I'm twelve." I answered. This feels like a game of 20 questions. "Ne," Naruto said. I looked at him. "Yes?" I asked. "Why are you wearing that cloak? Are you cold?" He asked me. "No. I'm just wearing it because I have to." I said.

"Why?"

"Because if I were to remove this cloak... Well, let's just say you might get scared."

"Scared? How?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

I looked at Iruka-sensei and tried to focus on what he was saying, but it was hard to do that since Naruto was still talking to me. "Ne, Nue-chan," Naruto whispered. "Yeah?" I asked. "I like your hair. It goes perfect with your red eyes." He said, smiling.

I blushed a little. "Thank you." I said. I was about to turn my head back to Iruka-sensei until a random question popped in my head. "Naruto, why do you have whiskers on your face? Are you a cat by any chance?" I asked. Naruto laughed a bit.

"No, I'm not a cat. I was just born with these things on my face." He said. "Cool. I think it's a good look for you." I said with a smile. Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. When class ended, I got up from my seat and made my way to the door.

I was trying to get Kiyoshi to wake up from his nap, but due to the distraction, I accidentally bumped into someone, knocking me off my feet. I looked at the person I bumped into. It was a boy wearing a gray hoodie with red marks painted on both of his cheeks.

Not only that, but I saw a white puppy lying on his head. "Sorry for bumping into you. I guess I was a little distracted." I said. "It's all right. No harm done." He said. He took my hand and helped me to my feet. "What was your name again? Chue, right?" He asked.

"It's Nue." I corrected him. "Right."

I stared at the dog on is head. "Uh... You do realize you have a dog on your head, right?" I asked. "Yeah, I know. This is my partner, Akamaru, and I'm Kiba." The boy introduced. "Nice to meet the two of you, Akamaru. Kiba." I said, bowing my head respectfully.

Akamaru barked, then jumped on me, making me catch him in my arms. "Easy, boy." I said. "Looks like Akamaru likes you." Kiba said, chuckling. "I can see that." I said, smiling, before giving Akamaru back to Kiba.

"Hey, you wanna go on a walk with me?" Kiba asked. "A walk?" I repeated. "Yeah, just you and me. What do you say?" He asked, grinning. Should I? I don't even know him. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt.

I mean, I don't this village very well and I could really use a tour of this place. "Sure, I'll walk with you." I said, making up my mind. Kiba grinned at me and lead me out the academy. I stopped when I felt someone grab my wrist. I turned my head.

"Naruto?" I asked with a confused look, realizing he was the one who had hold of my wrist. "What's the matter?" I asked him. "What are you doing with Kiba?" He asked. "I'm just going to take a walk with him." I answered.

"But I wanted to walk with you, Nue-chan." Naruto whined. "You can walk with me, too. Besides, I would actually like a tour of the village since I don't know it all that well." I said. "I'll be glad to show you around, Nue." Kiba cut in as he pulled me back towards him.

"Nue-chan was talking to me, Kiba." Naruto said with a frown. "Okay, before you two turn me into a tug-of-war match, why don't you both show me around the village?" I suggested. Kiba and Naruto looked at each other, but Naruto frowned as Kiba smirked.

"Sure, Nue." Kiba said, agreeing with me. I sighed in relief. I didn't want them to get in a fight, so I'm glad I was able to resolve the problem before it could even start. "But I get to hold Nue-chan's hand because I'm her friend." Naruto said quickly as he took my hand.

I sweat dropped, smiled sheepishly, then paused. "What did you just call me?" I asked. "I said, you're my friend." Naruto repeated. "Friend?" I repeated. "Yeah, you're my friend, Nue-chan. Right?" He asked.

I can't believe I made a friend in just one day. "Yeah, we're friends." I said, smiling. "Yeah, but Nue's my best friend." Kiba said as he pulled me towards him with a smirk. Here we go again. I was about to argue until my stomach growled.

The two boys looked at me, causing me to blush with embarrassment. "Looks like someone's hungry." Kiba teased. I frowned, but the blush didn't leave my face. "I know! Let's go to Ichiraku's and get some ramen!" Naruto said.

"Ramen?" I repeated. I've never had ramen before. "Let's go, Nue-chan!" Naruto said, grabbing my hand. He and Kiba lead me to a small ramen shop. "What can I get you, folks?" The owner asked. I looked at his nametag and read Teuchi.

"I'd like two bowls of ramen for me and my friend, Nue-chan." Naruto said. "I'll have the pork ramen." Kiba said. "Coming right up." Teuchi said before heading to the back. About a minute later, he came back with our food.

"Try it, Nue-chan. It's delicious." Naruto said as he began eat his ramen. I looked at the bowl in front of me. It looked nothing like what Julia or Sharon makes for me. But it did look good. I picked up my chopsticks and took a bite out of the ramen.

My eyes sparkled when I tasted it. "This is delicious!" I said, happily. "I'd knew you'd like it. Ichiraku's has the best ramen in the Leaf Village. Believe it." Naruto explained. I nodded in agreement as I happily ate my food.

I gave some of my food to Kiyoshi, knowing he was hungry, too. "Cool snake you got there." Kiba commented. "Thanks. His name's Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi, this is Kiba and his dog, Akamaru. They're my friends." I said.

Kiyoshi hissed before snatching the small lettuce leaf out of my hand. "Cranky, much?" I said as I fed him. "Kiyoshi, huh? That's a pretty cool name for a snake." Kiba said. "Thanks." I said again.

"Did you give him that name?"

"No, a friend of mine did."

I stopped eating and stared down at my bowl as I thought of Orochimaru. I smiled, remembering how he wanted to help me while I was training. But the way he talked to me was a little... weird. It was like he knew me.

I really wish my family was here. Iri was right. Looks like I did make some friends here. Not to mention, cute. After we finished our food, we began to walk to our different directions, to our own homes. "Bye, Nue-chan! See you tomorrow!" Naruto called.

I waved to him with a smile before heading home. Once I got there, I flopped on my couch. 'Man, today was so much fun. What made it more awesome, is that Naruto and Kiba didn't see my wings and tails' I thought happily.

I took off my cloak and stretched out my wings and tails. I wonder how long I can keep up this secret? They're going to find out sooner or later and that's what bothers me. I snapped out of my thoughts when Kiyoshi hissed at me.

"One of these days, I'm going to understand what you're saying." I said to him. "You mean you ssstill can't underssstand me?" He hissed, causing me to gasp. "Now I can!" I said. Kiyoshi sighed before slithering off my arm and into the hallway.

I followed him. "It'ssss nice that you made friendssss today." Kiysohi said. "Thanks. I like them a lot." I replied with a smile. "Aren't you worried?" He asked. "What do you mean?" I questioned with a raised brow. "I'm talking about your wingssss and tailssss." He hissed.

"Oh, yeah. That." I said, a bit worriedly. "What will happen onccce they find out about your ssssecret?" Kiyoshi asked as we entered my room. "I don't know. But I hope I can still be friends with them." I said, holding out my hand to him.

He slithered up my arm and I placed him on my bed. "Do you honessstly think they'll ssstill be your friend after they find out the truth about you?" Kiyoshi said. "Well, when you put it that way, it does sounds kind of worrisome." I commented.

Although, Kiyoshi had a point. No one would want to be friends with someone who looked... different from everyone else. I sighed before going to the bathroom to take a shower. I let the hot water fall on my face as I washed my hair and body.

I noticed my hair has gotten a bit longer. It's actually at my waist. I'll have to cut it eventually. When I was finished in the shower, I went back to my room and got dressed in my tiger/kitten-like pajamas. "Hey, Kiyoshi," I said as I was by my dresser, opening my bottle of sleeping pills.

He hummed in response. "How long have you been with Orochimaru-san?" I asked him. "About two weekssss." He answered.

"Is he a bad person?" 

"I wouldn't sssay he'sss bad. I would jusssst say he'ssss complicated."

"Complicated?"

"Let'ssss jusssst sssay he hassss a bad temper."

I blinked my eyes before taking my pills. "Anyway, get ssssome resssst, Nue. SSSSomething tellssss me you'll need your ssstrength tomorrow." Kiyoshi said. "Right." I agreed before getting into bed. He slithered neared me and rested himself on a pillow near me.

"Goodnight, Kiyoshi." I said to him.

"Goodnight, Nue." Kiyoshi said back.

I pulled the cord of the little lamp near my bed, turning it off, then closed my eyes, smiling to myself. I think I'm beginning to like my stay in the Leaf Village. I rolled on my side and fell asleep.