An Unexpected Friend (Book 1 of the Unexpected Series)

Ch. 8 - The One Chapter About the Academy

"Hello, everyone," he started, "I am your teacher, Iruka. Please address me as Iruka-sensei. I will now start roll-call."

Kokoro observed her teacher. He was tanned with brown hair pulled into a floppy ponytail and brown eyes filled with care. His most defining feature was a thick scar that used his nose to bridge each cheek. It didn't make him look menacing, though, like most scars did. If anything, it added to his caring features. After he called roll, he started teaching about the basics: math, reading, writing, and history. Kokoro was able to keep up with the lesson. In fact, she was rather bored with it. Still, she made the lesson fun in her own way. When he handed them a worksheet to assess their basic math skills, she timed herself to see how fast she could complete it. And when they started learning kanji, she tested herself to see how many characters she remembered.

When lunch rolled around, she grabbed her bento and ran outside with Naruto in tow. She saw that he didn't have his own, so she shared with him and made a mental note to pack more the next day. When she finished eating, there was enough time to play a quick game of ninja tag. After lunch, they learned more about the basics. Iruka-sensei explained that they would focus more on school essentials and would move to ninja essentials next year. And they did. The next year, they were introduced to fighting techniques and knife throwing. Like the clan kids, Kokoro excelled in those activities. Naruto, however, struggled. Even with Kokoro's sessions, he struggled. She couldn't figure out why he was struggling so much, but she figured he might not be as coordinated as the other kids.

For some reason, the girls were never allowed to fight the boys. Kokoro was deemed the best female fighter in the class, something she bragged about to her dad every day, and unsurprisingly, Sasuke Uchiha was deemed the best male fighter in the class. She always wondered what it was like to fight him. She thought she could beat him, but, then again, she always thought she could do something before the time came to actually do it. She didn't know much about him, but she did hear stories about the Uchiha, especially his older brother, Itachi Uchiha. Apparently, he'd risen through the ranks and was already in ANBU even though he was only thirteen years old. It was crazy to think that someone could do that, but it made Kokoro even more determined to do the best that she could.

Her curiosity regarding Sasuke was ever-growing. She really wanted to see what he was all about. So one day, when they were paired off to fight each other, she started an argument with her teacher.

"Kokoro Hatake and Sakura Haruno," Iruka called out. Sakura Haruno, a pink-haired girl with a wide forehead walked a ways away from the line of students and waited for her opponent to stand across from her.

"I don't want to fight her," Kokoro refused.

"I've paired you against one another based on your skills," Iruka said.

"If that were true, you wouldn't have paired me against someone so weak," Kokoro countered. Iruka grew annoyed and sighed.

"You haven't fought Sakura yet," he said. "Besides, you need to experience fighting different types of opponents."

"Then by that logic, I should be able to fight one of the boys," she said.

"Kokoro-"

"I've seen Sakura fight and I already know she won't be able to beat me. I want to fight Sasuke Uchiha," she declared. The girls in the class gasped and glared at her. Kokoro rolled her eyes in response. For some reason, all of the girls were obsessed with Sasuke. Well, except for her and Hinata Hyuuga, a black-haired girl with pale eyes who undoubtedly had a crush on Naruto. She was a clan kid like a lot of the other kids in class, but she didn't act like one. She was shy and didn't like bringing attention to herself.